Several killed in firing by Taliban, stampede in flag-waving protests in Asadabad, Jalalabad, other cities
The ongoing chaos in Afghanistan over the national flag is increasing. Taliban infuriated when Afghan youth hoisted their country’s official flag at a rally in the city of Asadabad on Afghanistan’s Independence Day.
Taliban fighters on Thursday opened fire at the protestors taking part in the flag-waving demonstration on several cities of Afghanistan including Asadabad and Jalalabad. Several people are reported being killed when the Taliban fired on a crowd. With this, it has once again become clear that no matter how much the Taliban try to improve its image, but still its attachment to the bloodshed remains intact.
Afghanistan has once again been occupied by the Taliban. The militant group have captured Afghanistan at a time when the country is celebrating its 102nd year of independence.
A crowd of men, women waving black, red and green national flags in the capital city of Afghanistan chanted, Our flag, our identity. One woman walked with a flag wrapped around her shoulders. Some of those marching also chanted God is greatest.
People are tearing down white Taliban flags and the Taliban handling of the protest is enough for people to determine whether there assurances that they have changed since their 1996-2001 rule are to be believed, when they severely restricted women, staged public executions and blew up ancient Buddhist statues.
The ongoing chaos in Afghanistan over the national flag is increasing. Taliban infuriated when Afghan youth hoisted their country’s official flag at a rally in the city of Asadabad on Afghanistan’s Independence Day. The Taliban opened fire on unarmed people, in which many people were killed and several injured. However it is not clear if the casualties resulted from Taliban firing or from a stampede that it triggered. In the last several days, the dispute between the Taliban and the Afghan people over the flag is increasing in different cities of the country.
Protesters also took to the streets of the city of Jalalabad and a district of Paktia province, both also in the east.
On Wednesday, Taliban fighters fired at protesters waving flags in Jalalabad, killing three, witnesses and media reported. Media reported similar scenes in Asadabad and another eastern city, Khost, on Wednesday.
Independence day protest in #kabul. Women and girls, men and boys screaming LONG LIVE #Afghanistan OUR NATIONAL FLAG IS OUR IDENTITY! They marched past #Taliban with some Talibs screaming back at protestors, waving their guns at them but finally the protestors passed.
One angry Talib was about to shoot a protestor when another Talib grabbed his gun and stopped him. #Afghanistan
Incredibly daring #AfghanWomen led the way screaming on the megaphone!
First Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who is trying to rally opposition to the Taliban, expressed support for the protests. Salute those who carry the national flag and thus stand for dignity of the nation, he said on Twitter.
Saleh said on Tuesday he was in Afghanistan and the “legitimate caretaker president” after President Ashraf Ghani fled as the Taliban took Kabul on Sunday.
Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief on Tuesday expelled five rebel leaders for anti-party activities after they failed to withdraw nominations filed for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.
The expelled leaders include Bhiwandi East MLA Rupesh Mhatre, Vishwas Nandekar, Chandrakant Ghugul, Sanjay Awari and Prasad Thackeray. Reportedly, 14 leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP had filed nominations, defying party command.
Among those who withdrew their nominations by the Monday deadline was Congress’ Mukhtar Shaikh, who withdrew from the Kasba Peth assembly constituency in Pune and announced his support to the party’s official candidate Ravindra Dhangekar.
In addition, royal scion Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati’s withdrawal as Congress candidate from Kolhapur North minutes before the deadline left the party without representation in one of its western Maharashtra strongholds. Madhurima Raje was nominated in place of ex-corporator Rajesh Latkar after a party office was vandalised by those opposed to the latter.
Hemalata Patil from Nashik Central, Madhu Chavan from Byculla and Vishwanath Walvi from Nandurbar are among the seven Congress rebels who withdrew their nominations. Only two NCP(SP) rebels are in fray.
Furthermore, among those to withdraw from the electoral race was Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who has held on-and-off hunger strikes and protests to demand reservation for the community in education and jobs over the past year. The activist said that the Maratha community will decide on its own whom to defeat and whom to elect. He also announced he would support two candidates from Parvati and Daund in the state assembly polls, though he said their names will be disclosed later.
Following the withdrawal of nominations, around 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats, while 2,938 candidates withdrew their papers. The figure is a 28 per cent increase from the 3,239 candidates who fought the 2019 assembly polls.
This year, the Maharashtra Assembly election will see major regional parties NCP and Shiv Sena contesting after a split down the middle. The factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP have joined hands with the BJP to form the Mahayuti. The Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.
The Centre on Tuesday has issued a notice to Wikipedia over multiple complaints about bias and inaccuracies on the platform. The government in its letter to Wikipedia highlighted that a small group of editors appears to have significant control over the contents, particularly influencing its neutrality.
Reports said that the government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary. However, neither Wikipedia nor the government has issued an official statement on the matter so far.
Wikipedia, popularly known as free online encyclopedia, allows volunteers to create and edit pages on a wide variety of topics, including people, issues and various fields of knowledge. This recent development follows two months after the Delhi High Court slammed Wikipedia and also warned it of a potential ban in India during a case filed by news agency ANI, which alleged that its Wikipedia page contained inaccuracies and defamatory content.
In the last hearing, Justice Subramonium Prasad further observed that Wikipedia might not be entitled to defend the defamatory edits since it claims to be only an intermediary. The Delhi HIgh Court also questioned if Wikipedia is an intermediary, why is it bothered? It added that if somebody else has edited and that addition is without basis, then it comes down.
It further stated that Wikipedia is not here to protect the editors but is a mere wall. The court opined that it will only see whether the opinion given in the encyclopaedia does not depict the correct picture, as not true representation of the article. However, Wikipedia clarified that it was not defending the statements or edits made on Wikipedia’s page about ANI. It further sought to assist the court in the matter, particularly with regard to the architecture of the platform.
Notably, Wikipedia has faced growing criticism for alleged bias and inaccuracies, especially amid the ongoing US presidential elections. Elon Musk, owner of X, has publicly accused Wikipedia of supporting far-left ideologies. He also urged the public to stop donating to Wikipedia, claiming it is controlled by far-left activists.
Ahead of the Jharkhand Assembly election, PM Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the incumbent Hemant Soren government, accusing it to put appeasement at the top of its agenda.
While addressing a rally in Jharkhand’s Garhwa, the Prime Minister said the coalition government of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and RJD are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators. He said that the JMM-RJD-Congress government has taken appeasement to its peak, and that these parties are destroying the state’s social harmony. He alleged that the parties are supporters of infiltrators, and to get votes of Bangladesh infiltrators, they are getting them settled across Jharkhand.
The Prime Minister stated that when schools disallow Saraswati Vandana, one can imagine how big the danger is. When there is stone-pelting during festivals, Maa Durga is stopped and curfew is imposed, one knows how dangerous it is, he continued. The Prime Minister also added that when the issue of infiltration goes to court and the administration denies, it becomes clear that the government machinery has been infiltrated. PM Modi was referring to allegations that a Muslim teacher stopped prayers to Goddess Saraswati at a school in Jharkhand’s Giridih.
Narendra Modi further claimed that if the bad policies of JMM, Congress and RJD continue, the adivasi society in Jharkhand will shrink, and advised people to use their vote to uproot this infiltrator coalition. He maintained that Jharkhand’s swift development is possible only if it has a government that expedites the implementation of central schemes.
Referring to the JMM’s decision to replace Champai Soren as Chief Minister after Hemant Soren was granted bail in a money laundering case, PM Modi said that the party has left no stones unturned in humiliating an adivasi son. He asked how the party will take care of the people of the state when nothing matters to them more than family. He added that he does not have a family, and the people are his family. He also mentioned that Champai Soren, once a trusted lieutenant of Hemant Soren, is now with the BJP.
Slamming the ruling coalition of corruption, he said that corruption hollows out the country like termites, and destroys the poor, Dalits, people from backward classes and tribals. He claimed that Jharkhand has seen for five years the corruption of the JMM-Congress-RJD government.
He also referred to the massive cash haul from the home of Congress’s former Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu last year. Mentioning that mountains of cash are recovered from the home of Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP, he questioned if this money didn’t belong to Jharkhand.
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