'Amidst the criticism over the handling of the coronavirus crisis, the Indian government has decided to go ahead with an arms deal with Israel worth hundreds of millions of dollars. According to a statement released by the Indian government, Israel will supply the Indian military with 16,479 Negev light machine guns, despite growing concerns over the health emergency facing the country of 1.3 billion people.
'Exactly a month ago, on February 20, a petite, young woman, Amulya Leona Noronha, got on to a stage filled with men and shouted “Pakistan Zindabad”. The event was part of the ongoing nationwide agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The slogan she shouted alarmed the men present — including All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi who was on the stage — so much that they tried to snatch the microphone away and prevent her from speaking another word.
'While quashing the "Leave India" notice issued to a Polish student for participating in an anti-CAA rally, the Calcutta High Court applied the principle that even a foreigner, who is in Indian soil, has the fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India...'
'An international lawyers’ body has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind raising concerns over the “hasty decision” of the government to transfer Justice S Muralidhar from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the night of February 26, a day after he had pulled up Delhi Police for failing to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for allegedly giving hate speeches ahead of the communal riots in northeast Delhi.
'A Dharwad District Court today denied the bail applications filed on behalf of the three Kashmiri students who were arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting it on social media (Basti Aashiq Sofi v. The State of Karnataka).
'Joe Biden's presidential campaign has appointed a former aide to Hillary Clinton as senior advisor on Muslim American engagement following revelations that his predecessor has close ties to India's right-wing Hindu government. The appointment of Farooq Mitha, a longtime Biden supporter and former Muslim advisor to the Clinton campaign in 2016, comes after weeks of pressure to remove Amit Jani as coordinator given his strong ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party...'
'In a ruling about the future arrangements of the Dubai ruler’s two youngest children, a UK family court judgment has ruled that the account of the abduction of another daughter of his, Sheikha Latifa by Indian special forces commandos, is accurate and not contradicted by the father. In April 2019, Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, the UAE prime minister’s second official wife, fled to London with her 12-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son. A month later, the Emir of Dubai began legal action in the UK seeking the return of the children to Dubai.
'A tweet by Tulsi Gabbard, the only woman remaining in the US presidential race, about experiencing “Hinduphobia” in the US has added fuel to escalating communal tensions in India. “Unfortunately, Hinduphobia is very real,” Gabbard wrote, “I've experienced it directly in each of my campaigns for Congress & in this presidential race."...'
'India’s score has shown the biggest decline among the world’s 25 largest democracies in the new report from Freedom House, the oldest American organisation devoted to the support and defence of democracy around the world. The steep fall has been blamed on three actions of the Narendra Modi government: the unilateral annulment of the semi-autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir, the implementation of the National Register of Citizens in Assam and the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)...'
'A Hubballi court on Monday extended the judicial custody of three Kashmiri students who were arrested for sedition, till March 7. The students of the KLE Institute of Technology, who were arrested on February 15 for allegedly saying Pakistan Zindabad, will continue to be lodged at the Belagavi district jail, as the police cited safety concerns. Nasir Khuehami, the spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, confirmed the development...'
