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Sunday, February 21, 2016

A growing number of cities in the Indian state Haryana have been under curfew since Friday. At least eight people are reported dead, with government offices, property, dozens of buses, and eight railway stations burned after protests over job quotas for the Jat caste turned violent in several cities including Rohtak, Bhiwani, and Jhajjar. Reportedly some protesters broke into an armory in Rohtak, stealing arms and ammunition.

Shoot-at-sight was ordered for Rohtak, Bhiwani, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Jind and Hisar. Shops, hotels, and restaurants were set afire by protesters. Thirteen national army columns were called, and helicopters were used to reach various places in the state. Internet was disabled in affected districts, and the state government ordered blocks of all social networking websites.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a meeting to decide if Jats should also gain the reservation rights for government jobs and colleges by classifying them under Other Backwards Castes.

Burning of stations and uprooting of tracks affected 810 scheduled trains, according to The Indian Express. Police said protesters torched Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu’s house. The state might face water crises. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was to hold the Haryana Central Teacher Eligibility Test today, but cited “administrative difficulties” for suspending it.

Back in 2014, the UPA government appealed for a Jat quota which was rejected by the Supreme Court. This morning, Manohar Khattar tweeted “I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society.”

Last year, similar protest took place in Gujarat as Patels protested for reservation led by Hardik Patel.

Sunday, July 2, 2006

A suicide bomber exploded a truck bomb in the crowded Al-Ula market in Sadr City in Baghdad on Saturday, killing 66 people and injuring over a 100.

‘At the beginning of this market, the criminal blew up his dynamite-packed truck after trying to go over the pavement,’ said Iraq’s Deputy Health Minister Sabah al-Hussein.

The explosion happened when a police patrol was passing by and caused heavy casualties in the morning market rush. Some shoppers were sent flying on top of nearby two-storey buildings.

The force of the blast left a large crater and wreckage of blown-out cars and windowless buildings. Rescuers were left to pick through a sickening scene of human remains mixed in with exploded vegetable matter and dead animals.

Sadr City, a Shiite city of two million in which religious leader Moqtada Sadr has found popular support, had many times before been targeted by Sunni terrorists who were blamed by some residents for this attack.

It was the deadliest bombing of civilians since Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki‘s government assumed responsibility for domestic security in May 2006.

Experts said the truck bomb was a lethal concoction of explosives, shells and shrapnel hidden under a consignment of fruit. The driver of the truck blew himself up in the explosion.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament Benoit Sauvageau was killed in an automobile accident on Monday morning after his vehicle hit a tow truck at the side of a road in his Montreal constituency.

Sauvageau, 42, had been an MP since 1993 and represented the riding of Repentigny at the time of his death.

Bloc Québécois (BQ) Leader Gilles Duceppe, speaking in Quebec City, remembered Sauvageau as a hard-working representative who was widely respected “not only in the sovereigntist camp but by his adversaries who always recognized him for his honesty and his determination.”

“I think he was a very good member of Parliament, a very good sovereigntist,” added Duceppe.

Visibly shaken by the news, Duceppe said: “It’s awful, at 42 with four children (daughters) between the ages of five and 15, it’s not right.”

Former Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard, who led the BQ when Sauvageau was first elected, told Radio Canada: “It’s a tragedy. It’s unbelievable that he died like that.”

“He is a man who was engaged in political fights but he did it correctly, with nobility and idealism and a lot of respect for others, even his adversaries,” said Bouchard.

Sauvageau was a history professor before entering politics. As an MP he was the Bloc’s spokesperson on public accounts and the treasury board and was also the party’s critic responsible for the Official Languages Act and the rights of Francophones outside of Quebec.

“On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary caucus, I would like to express my deepest sadness and regret at the news of the death of Benoît Sauvageau in a tragic car accident in Repentigny this afternoon,” said interim Liberal leader Bill Graham.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the prayers and thoughts of all Parliamentarians are with Sauvageau’s loved ones at this difficult time.