LUCKNOW, Uttar Pradesh — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) couldorganize communal riots, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath islying about the Ram Temple, andchanging the names of cities is pointless — are just some of things that Om Prakash Rajbhar, a political ally of the BJP and a cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh, has said.

In a recent conversation with HuffPost India, Rajbhar even asked why Adityanath was letting sadhus smoke ganja at the Kumbh Mela. “Yogi ji is always beating a drum about law and order. Why is he not cracking down on the users and the suppliers of ganja at the kumbh?” he said.  

Rajbhar, whose community of agricultural labourers is one of the “most backward” of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), is getting away with goading the ruling party because the BJP needs him to fight off the formidable caste alliance forged by the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party for the 2019 general election.

“Only the most backward castes can save the BJP in UP,” he claims.  

In 2017, BJP president Amit Shah extended his social engineering (partnering with parties from marginalized communities) to Rajbhar’s little known Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

Rajbhar exercised his influence in BJP’s favor in 125 Assembly seats in eastern UP. Four out the eight SBSP candidates were elected to the UP Assembly. Rajbhar was made a cabinet minister after the BJP swept to power.

In less than two years, Rajbhar is on the verge of breaking up with the BJP. Citing examples of other “unhappy” allies like  Anupriya Patel, Upendra Kushwaha and Ram Vilas Paswan, he said, “BJP leaders are like the British (colonizers). They use and throw their political allies.”

If Adityanath fails to divide the 27% reservation for OBCs into three categories — backward, very backward and most backward — Rajbhar says his party will contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP.

If Adityanath signs off, Rajbhar is confident that he can deliver 15% to 20% of the “very” and “most” backward votes, which would help BJP get 50% of votes in UP. (The BJP’s vote share in 2017 was 39.65%).  

Rajbhar says that Modi and Amit Shah have until 24 February to decide whether they want to win UP or not.

The BJP, however, is in a bind.

While recommending the division of the OBC quota, a four-member Social Justice Committee has proposed limiting reservation for the dominant castes - Yadavs, Patels, Kurmis and Jats — to 7%, and giving 11% to the very backward and 9% to the most backward.

Yadavs are loyal to the SP, but Kurmis have been voting for the Anupriya Patel-led Apna Dal, a key ally of the BJP in UP.  It is worth noting that the  SPSB won 0.70% of votes in UP and 34.14% of votes in the seats it contested in 2017, and Apna Dal secured 0.98% of votes in UP and 39.21% votes in the seats contested

“There should be no reservation for Yadavs, Patels and Sonars,” said Rajbhar. “But neither the BJP nor the Congress have the guts to do it.”

In a conversation with HuffPost India, Rajbhar spoke about his meetings with Amit Shah, how he felt when Modi picked Yogi Adityanath to be chief minister, why he has fallen out with the BJP in less than two years, and his caste calculation for the 2019 general election.

Did you know that Narendra Modi was going to pick Yogi Adityanath to be CM?

No. At that point, and this is the bitter truth, the BJP asked for votes in the name of the backward castes. They said the CM would be made from the backward castes. That was dokha right there and then.  

Did you want to be CM?

No, I did not want to be CM. I’m just an ally partner. I was not in the race.

Did Amit Shah say that a leader from the backward classes would be CM?

Yes, Amit Shah ji did.

And Modi?

No, not him. I would speak with Amit Shah ji because he is the president of the BJP and I’m president of the SBSP.

Were you upset when Modi picked Yogi Adityanath?

On March 19, one year after we took oath, I did not participate in the celebrations. The chief minister called and said you should participate, but I said no. The backward castes have been betrayed.

On March 20, Amit Shah ji called me to Delhi and we spoke for about two hours. He repeated that the division of 27 percent reservation would be done six months before the election. Amit Shah ji said this. Now, there are 50 days left for the election.

You seem very confident about delivering 15% of the non-Yadav OBC votes to the BJP.

BJP has 35% to 36% of the vote in UP. BJP needs 15% to 20% votes to win. They can get this. These include Nishad, Bind, Kewat, Mallah, Rajbhar, Chauhan, Bot, Prajapati, Pal, Lohar, Kumar… there are so many small subcastes, there is no exact count of their votes. These can all go to the BJP if I say so. The SP-BSP alliance will fail. If it does not, I will give up my ministership and resign from politics.

How have you calculated?

In 22 Lok Sabha constituencies, there are one lakh, 1.25 to 1.50 lakh votes. There are 50,000 to two lakh votes just with the Rajbhar in 22 constituencies. Nishad, Bind, Kewat, Malhar also make up one lakh to 1.25 lakh votes. The Pal, Prajapati, Raghuvanshi, Biyar, Arakh, Gujjar — these votes constitute 2.5 to three lakh votes. If Om Prakash Rajbhar says so, these people will close their eyes and give their vote to the BJP.

What about the rest of the constituencies?

We have had meetings. In Sitapur, 10,000 people came. In Hardoi, 15,000 to 16,000 people came. We have had meetings in Sambhal, Etah, Etawah, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad. There is no place where at least 3,000 to 5,000 people are not turning up. We are not giving them money to turn up like other parties. They come with their tractors. They bring their own food. The stage and mike belongs to them. I just go and give my speech.

Have you spoken to the CM about dividing the OBC quota?

Yes, several times.  Every poor person should get reservation. If you can give 10 percent reservation for the poor — without even forming a committee— then why can you not give reservation to the poorest sections of the backward castes. But Yogi ji has been made by his party. He cannot do anything until his party wants him to.

He is chief minister of UP. Are you saying that he follows Delhi?

Yes, I’m absolutely saying that. Yogi ji cannot act on his own. His masters are Amit Shah ji and Modi ji.

Why are you so angry with him?

I’m a minister for the Backward Castes ministry. The work done in that ministry should be known to me. The CM should asked me do it. We suggested 27 names for the UP State Commission for Backward Classes, but the CM did not take a single name we sent. When there has been a samuhik vivah (community wedding), he goes by himself. Tell me one event in which the chief minister has taken me with him. If you don’t want to have any consultation with me then why have you given me the ministry. Keep it.  

The five crores that were due to Triveni Ram (SBSP - MLA) for constructing a road were given to the BJP MP instead. He spoke about it in the Assembly but we did not get any response. The weakness is with the BJP. They have failed to carry their allies along with them.

Is there anything other than the quota issue that you have raised.

There are 1,59,000 primary schools in UP. There are 1,00,70,000 children studying in these schools. They are all poor children. These students have been sitting on taats (mats) and they continue sitting on taats today. After the government was formed, it was agreed that we would remove the taats and put tables and chairs like they have in convent schools. It has been 22 months since the government came to power but there has been no change in even a single district. There is no studying going on in primary schools. 3,68,000 teaching posts are lying vacant. There are schools that are run by one or two teachers. Until there is education for everyone, the state and the country cannot progress.

Is there anything else?

Sixteen coaching centers have been opened up for Scheduled Castes and tribals, but there is nothing for backward castes. We are 18 mandals. It was decided that after the government was formed, we would open coaching classes in these mandals. But months have gone and there is not a single coaching which has opened up.

How will Priyanka Gandhi change the election scenario?

Priyanka ji’s joining has enthused the Congress Party workers. Rahul ji is saying the right things. Sometimes, I really like what he says. But the BSP vote won’t go to them. The SP vote won’t go to them. Some of BJP’s 38% vote might go to them. The BJP voter today used to be the Congress voter.

What about Muslims, Dalits and Brahmins?

Dalits will stay with the BSP. Brahmins are a caste that stays with the party in power. 

Why did Modi pick Yogi Adityanath to be CM in  2017?

The country has a religious character. The BJP gets votes by swaying people on the basis of religion and by lying. When the elections come, the BJP prays to Lord Ram. They say we can’t make the temple, but please make our government. Lord Ram says okay, but now even Lord Ram is sick of the BJP. Yogi ji said he will build the Ram Temple when he reaches Lucknow, but he has not laid a single brick. Yogi ji says he will build the Ram Temple in 24 hours if the Supreme Court cannot do it. Does he have some machine? Why are you lying, Yogi ji?

You are part of a government that has changed the names of Allahabad, Faizabad and Mughalsarai.

 At the time, I said that changing the name of the station will not ensure that the trains run on time. Education, housing and toilets will not improve if you change the name of the city. Why do you use the Red Fort, made by Mughals. Why do you walk on the Grand Trunk Road, made by Sher Shah Suri. Shah Jahan made the Taj Mahal. Why is this tourist attraction.

The BJP has only one goal, provoke enmity between Hindus and Muslims, and stay in power. But the BJP is also doing the same as previous governments. Mayawati changed names of places and constructed stone statues. Akhilesh Yadav played the Kumbh Mela game. The BJP is also playing the Kumbh Mela game.

Did you oppose changing the names?

I was not there when these decisions were taken, but I made clear that I was not in favor of this.

You are part of a government that is criticized for engaging in extra judicial killings.

There have been fake encounters. I have said this to the CM, and I have made a statement about it. The adhikari (officer) wants a promotion, and the minister wants votes. The officer, who wants a promotion, no longer cares what is right or wrong.

When did you speak with the CM about it?

I tell him when we meet every Tuesday (for cabinet meetings). He says only you say this, but the other 46 people cannot see it. I tell him the other 46 are with your party and they don’t have the guts to tell you. You have put a lock on their mouths. He says that he has not put any lock, and I say he has.

Is the Modi wave over?

The vote that BJP was given in 2014 and 2017, that vote has been hurt. Otherwise, the BJP would not be so stressed out.  If I am angry then crores of other people are also angry. The slogan, Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi, is over. Modi jihas finished jobs. After notebandi, the builder to the laborer is starving. After GST — where there used to be 100 people in a private firm — now there are 20 to 25. The BJP’s biggest agenda is Hindu-Muslim. They will try it but the public is tired. They will fail.

What is your problem with sadhus smoking ganja at the Kumbh Mela?

There is a poor rickshaw driver, and say he buys ganja for 20 rupees after a hard day’s work. If the police catches him, he is put in jail. But the sadhus are having ganja at the Kumbh Mela. Why is Yogi ji allowing ganja at the Kumbh Mela Where is the ganja at the Kumbh Mela coming from? Yogi ji is always beating a drum about law and order. Why is Yogi ji allowing ganja to come into UP? Why is he not cracking down on the users and the suppliers of ganja at the Kumbh.

It is tradition.

How is it tradition? No one has license to sell ganja. Is there an exception for the sadhus?

HYDERABAD — The terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district which killed 40 CRPF jawans, was not the handiwork of a single man but a group, former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Vikram Sood Sunday said. He also attributed the incident to security lapses somewhere.

“The entire episode of Pulwama was not a job done by one man.. There would have been a whole team behind him,” he told reporters after addressing a seminar on ‘External Intelligence for National Security’ here.

“This kind of an incident does not take place without a security lapse somewhere.. they had knowledge about the movement of the (CRPF) vehicles. There must have been group of people who did it,” Sood said.

Asked about India’s possible response, Sood said, “It is not a boxing match.. punch for punch won’t do.”

The timing and place would be chosen by the security forces, as the Prime Minister had said, he added.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

To another query on India not getting China’s support to proscribe JeM chief Masood Azhar as “global terrorist” at the United Nations Security Council, Sood said “China is playing to Pakistan’s requests.. China is the only safeguard for them in UN when it comes to having Masood Azhar declared a terrorist.

He claimed that China was doing it beacuse it harboured apprehensions that Islamic outfits in Xinjiang province might maintain links with their terrorists in Pakistan.

“So, it is a quid-pro-quo. China will do this for Pakistan.. Pakistan will make sure that these terrorists don’t give trouble to them in Xinjiang,” said Sood, a career intelligence officer for 31 years.

Earlier, addressing the seminar, Sood noted that the animus that Pakistan nurtures for India is permanent.

“It’s not going to go away. No amount of peace talks, no amount of concessions, and ‘bada bhai business’ is going to help they (Pakistan) are not interested and they don’t want.

They want us down and out.

We have to frame a policy that takes that into account”.

Highlighting the threat posed by China, he said, “I think China and not Pakistan is the bigger threat. China in control of Pakistan is even worse. So, we have to prepare for that.”

Pakistan is a useful ploy for China to use against us and they will keep using. We have to take our own measures.”.

Stressing the need for a national policy on Kashmir, Former Union Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah in his address said, “There has to be a national policy on Kashmir.. not a BJP policy, not a Congress policy and not a Leftist policy. A national policy where everybody agrees.” 

President Donald Trump vowed on Friday that the total wipeout of the Islamic State caliphate would be announced within 24 hours. It has now been two days and no official proclamation has been made.

Trump made the remark in the Rose Garden speech in which he declared a national emergency in an effort to gain access to billions of dollars for construction of his southern border wall.

The ongoing delay in the president’s teased news on ISIS was flagged by Toronto Star Washington correspondent Daniel Dale on Twitter:

The day of Trump’s Rose Garden speech, the top U.S. general waging the battle against ISIS in the Middle East told CNN he disagreed with the president’s December decision to pull American troops out of Syria.

“It would not have been my military advice at that particular time ... I would not have made that suggestion, frankly,” said Gen. Joseph Votel, warning that “our continued military pressure is necessary to continue to go after that network.”

Still, Trump touted success in the fight against ISIS on Saturday, tweeting that “the Caliphate is ready to fall” and that the U.S. will be “pulling back after 100% Caliphate victory!”

On Saturday, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced that ISIS holds only 700 square meters of territory in Syria, CNN reported. However, Trump’s critics have warned that with its resources and manpower, it will re-emerge once the U.S. leaves.

The Green New Deal unveiled last week by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is a powerful and ambitious statement. It’s more than just a delineation of the enormous changes that will be required to stave off the most cataclysmic impacts of climate warming. It offers a portrait of the better world we can create by doing so.

It also has no chance of becoming law, not while Republicans control the Senate and climate change denier Donald Trump resides in the White House.

Markey and Ocasio-Cortez know this. That’s why the Green New Deal is framed as a joint resolution, not a formal law, meaning even if it passed, the measure wouldn’t bind the government to any new policies. This distinction is key to understanding what the Green New Deal is — and is not — and how to usefully talk about it now. It is a major statement of the Democratic Party’s political priorities. It is not a detailed blueprint of how to get there — or how to pay for it.

The Green New Deal’s agenda, however, is clear: Dramatic action must be taken to avert a climate disaster that will otherwise render much of the world uninhabitable. This is an emergency that deserves immediate attention. Millions of lives are quite literally at stake.

Instead of extreme weather disasters, famines and wars over natural resources, the Green New Deal envisions a future in which our nation overcomes its addiction to oil, gas and coal. The federal government would need so many workers to deploy renewable energy, retrofit buildings to be more energy efficient and construct more durable infrastructure that it could guarantee a job to every American who wants one. Those jobs would pay well and offer union protections. And because climate change touches on every facet of life, the transition away from fossil fuels would happen alongside a rapid expansion of safeguards for Americans already suffering the ill effects of dirty energy, from poisoned waterways to the coal industry’s monopolistic domination of entire regional economies.

One priority the Green New Deal does not include? Balancing the federal budget. Neither the Green New Deal legislation nor an FAQ released by Ocasio-Cortez last week included a detailed set of plans about how to pay for it.

This is as it should be. Anyone who cares deeply about balancing the budget can find a welcoming political home in the arms of billionaire Howard Schultz. Legislation should be crafted to solve social problems. The financial details affiliated with solving those problems are just that ― details ― which can be developed as political circumstances warrant. There is plenty of time between now and 2021 to sort them out.

This was the approach taken during the original New Deal. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt saw fighting the Depression and the Nazi war machine as emergencies that required immediate action. Roosevelt himself liked balanced budgets as much as the next fellow. He raised taxes on the rich repeatedly ― the top rate rose as high as 94 percent during the war. But he didn’t let a balanced budget get in the way of progress. If he couldn’t get enough money from taxes, Roosevelt borrowed it, fighting both the Depression and World War II with enormous federal debts.

And yet among contemporary thinkers, the Green New Deal’s very clear statement of priorities has prompted furious controversy. Noah Smith intones that Ocasio-Cortez is calling for “unlimited deficit spending” that will march America into “oblivion.” Steven Rattneraccuses Green New Deal advocates of “intergenerational theft.” Marc Thiessen declares that Ocasio-Cortez has proffered “the neo-socialist lie that you can get something for nothing.” Even Paul Krugman is warning against putting forward ambitious new government programs without levying new taxes.

But Ocasio-Cortez and Markey haven’t advocated for any of these things. They simply haven’t detailed their tax and debt agendas in this particular piece of symbolic legislation.

Not that Ocasio-Cortez has a problem with tax hikes. In case you’ve forgotten, she has proposed a 70 percent marginal income tax rate for the highest-income American households. There is quite a bit of competition in the 2020 Democratic primary field among different programs to tax the rich ― robust new wealth taxes and estate taxes to go alongside higher income taxes. There seems little risk that supporters of these popular tax hikes will suddenly sour on them once they find out they are not included in the Green New Deal’s first piece of legislative text.

In some ways it’s useful to keep these tax and climate discussions separate, at least for the moment. Doing so sets up taxing the rich as an end in itself ― something that should be done for the sake of democratic fairness and accountability, rather than a mere source of funding. According to new research from University of California, Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman, in today’s America “wealth concentration has returned to levels not seen since the Roaring Twenties.” Billionaires not only can purchase politicians; they can buy their way out of social accountability. Inequality is its own pressing problem.

It is also very likely that even taxing the living daylights out of the rich won’t generate enough money to fund a climate program that gets the job done. And that’s fine. The government runs deficits all the time.

Some of this faux controversy over the Green New Deal comes down to a feud within the economics profession over the rising prominence of a school of thought known as modern monetary theory. MMT began getting a hearing in Washington when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hired economist and MMT proponent Stephanie Kelton as an adviser ahead of his 2016 presidential run. Ocasio-Cortez has created more buzz for the doctrine by talking it up in interviews with journalists.

MMT is essentially a revival of a tradition of Keynesian economics going back to, well, John Maynard Keynes ― the name is a reference to “modern money” in Keynes’ 1930 book, A Treatise on Money. According to MMT economists, taxes are not really a method of raising revenue for the federal government. The government, they note, raises revenue for itself by printing money. Taxes, instead, are a regulatory tool ― a way to manage inflation, economic inequality and production incentives. MMT doesn’t say the government can or should implement multitrillion-dollar proposals without raising any taxes. It just offers a different rationale for taxes, their uses and their limits.

The window for avoiding climate catastrophe is closing fast. In October, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that a world just half a degree hotter on average than today’s will lead to at least $54 trillion in damages. That level of warming is all but guaranteed unless world governments not only halt but cut in half surging global emissions and begin removing carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere over the next decade.

A month after the UN report came out, the U.S. government’s own climate forecast predicted up to 10 times as much warming by the end of the century. Intergenerational theft, indeed.

THE HAGUE — Amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions, top legal eagles of the two countries will present their arguments in the high-profile Kulbhushan Jadhav case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) here from Monday during four days of public hearings.

Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.

India moved the ICJ in May the same year against the “farcical trial” by the military court of Pakistan against 48-year-old Jadhav.

India first approached the ICJ on May 8, 2017 for the “egregious violation” of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 by Pakistan by repeatedly denying it consular access to Jadhav.

A 10-member bench of the ICJ, which was set up after World War II to resolve international disputes, on May 18, 2017 had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing in the high-profile case from Febraury 18 to 21 in The Hague.

The hearings at the ICJ will take place four days after one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 41 CRPF soldiers. The terror attack happened when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near a convoy of CRPF buses in Pulwama district on Thursday.

India on Friday summoned the Pakistan high commissioner to issue a very strong demarche over the terror attack. On Saturday, India hiked the customs duty to 200 per cent on all goods imported from Pakistan, following revocation of the Most Favoured Nation status following the Pulwama attack.

Former solicitor general Harish Salve is expected to represent India while Pakistan will be represented by Barrister Khawar Qureshi at the ICJ.

While India will argue first on February 18, Pakistan will get its chance to make submissions on February 19. Then India will reply on February 20 while Islamabad will make its closing submissions on February 21.

It is expected that the ICJ’s decision may be delivered by the summer of 2019.

While maintaining that India remains committed to make all possible efforts to secure and protect the rights of Jadhav, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar did not make public New Delhi would take at The Hague.

“India will present its case before the court. Since the matter is sub judice it is not appropriate for me to state our position in public. Whatever we have to do, we will do at the court,” Kumar said last week in New Delhi in response to a question.

Pakistan’s Attorney General Anwar Mansoor would lead the Pakistani delegation at the ICJ while Director General South Asia Mohammad Faisal would lead the Foreign Office side.

Ahead of the hearing, a senior Pakistani official said that his country is committed to implement the decision of the ICJ in the Jadhav case.

“We are fully prepared with our strongest evidence being the valid Indian passport recovered from Commander Jadhav with a Muslim name,” the official said.

Both India and Pakistan have already submitted their detailed pleas and responses in the world court.

In its written pleadings, India accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention by not giving consular access to Jadhav arguing that the convention did not say that such access would not be available to an individual arrested on espionage charges.

In response, Pakistan through its counter-memorial told the ICJ that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 applied only to legitimate visitors and did not cover clandestine operations.

Pakistan had said that “since India did not deny that Jadhav was travelling on a passport with an assumed Muslim name, they have no case to plead.” 

Pakistan said that India did not explain how “a serving naval commander” was travelling under an assumed name. It also stated that “since Jadhav was on active duty, it is obvious that he was a spy sent on a special mission”.

In its submission to the ICJ, Pakistan had stated that Jadhav is not an ordinary person as he had entered the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.

However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Jadhav’s sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

Pakistan had rejected India’s plea for consular access to Jadhav at the ICJ, claiming that New Delhi wants the access to get the information gathered by its “spy”.

However, Pakistan facilitated a meeting of Jadhav with his mother and wife in Islamabad on December 25, 2017.

In the pictures issued by Pakistan after the meeting, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom.

Later, India accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhav’s family members under the pretext of security by removing the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife before they could meet him.

India also asserted that Jadhav appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction at the Pakistan Foreign Office.

GORAKHPUR — A 26-year-old man was beaten black and blue by the locals before being arrested for allegedly shouting pro-Pakistan slogans during a march against the Pulwama terror attack in neighbouring Basti district, police said Sunday.

The man, identified as Mohammad Khalid, was arrested on charges of raising slogans hailing Pakistan and denouncing India during a march against Pulwama attack in civil line area of Basti on Saturday, they said.

Khalid was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), SHO, Kotwali, MP Chaturvedi said.

As per reports, the incident took place last Saturday during a march, taken out by girl students and teachers of Begam Khair Inter College on Saturday, against the terror attack when Khalid insisted the marching girl to shout a slogan denouncing India and hailing Pakistan.

When the girl did not pay heed to him, Khalid started shouted the slogan, infuriating the locals who beat him until police rushed to his rescue and took him into the custody .

Angry BJP workers led by party leader Pramod Pandey reached the police station seeking stern action against Khalid who was booked later.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s three decades of militancy, a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district last Thursday, killing around 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize — but he did so at the U.S. government’s prompting, according to a Sunday report in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun.

Government sources told Asahi, one of Japan’s oldest and largest national newspapers, that Abe nominated Trump last fall for the peace prize at the “behest of Washington.” The U.S. had “informally” asked Japan to nominate Trump for the accolade following the president’s landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

Speaking at the White House Rose Garden on Friday, Trump claimed Abe had given him “the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize.”

“I have nominated you, respectfully on behalf of Japan, I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize,” Trump said, apparently quoting the prime minister.  

Trump said he’d thanked Abe for the nomination but added that he did not expect to ever win the prize — even though, he noted, “they gave it” to former President Barack Obama just shortly after Obama had taken office

“[Obama] didn’t even know what he got it for. He was [in office] for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize,” Trump said. “He said, ‘Oh, what did I get it for?’ With me, I probably will never get it.”

A Japanese nomination for the peace prize has not been announced and Abe’s government has yet to publicly comment on Trump’s remarks.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters it “would refrain from commenting on the interaction between the two leaders.” The Japanese Embassy in Washington told Kyodo News that there would be no comment.

Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and 2018, but both documents were determined to have been “forged.” A spokesman for the Norwegian Nobel Committee told The Washington Post last year that the same person is believed to have stolen the identity of a qualified nominator to submit Trump’s name. 

SRINAGAR — Indian forces have detained 23 men suspected of links to the Pakistan-based militant group that masterminded the bombing of an Indian security convoy that killed 44 paramilitary police in Pulwama, a top police official said on Sunday.

The 23 men included members and sympathizers of Jaish-e-Mohammad, the militant group which has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack, the deadliest on Indian security forces in decades.

The attack has fuelled tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has demanded Pakistan close down the Jaish and other Islamist militant groups that operate from its soil, while Islamabad has rejected suggestions it was linked to the attack.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility, is claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan, but is ruled in part by both south Asian countries.

Representatives of India’s National Investigating Agency (NIA) questioned the suspects about the bombing on Sunday, two security officials said.

“They are trying to reach out to the top commanders of Jaish-e-Mohammad, including its Kashmir Chief,” one of the sources said.

Mohammed Umair, the commander of the Jaish in Kashmir who is believed to have plotted the attack, is suspected to be hiding in the region where the attacks took place, the officials said.

The officials say Umair had “radicalized and motivated” the Kashmiri school dropout who rammed a car laden with explosives into the convoy on Thursday.

Umair is thought to have entered Indian Kashmir from Pakistan in September to head the Jaish in the region. Security forces suspect he is in hiding in southern Kashmir, according to the officials, who could not be named as a matter of policy.

Indian officials say Umair is a nephew of the chief of the Jaish, Masood Azhar, who is believed to be in Pakistan.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised a strong response to the attack and says he has given the military a free hand to tackle cross-border militancy.

The Jaish, considered to be one of the most lethal militant groups, has expanded its presence in Kashmir, the police officer said.

India has raided the houses of suspected militants across South Kashmir to find information on those who masterminded and executed the attack.

Muzaffar Ahmad Malik, whose brother declared himself a militant a year ago, told Reuters that his house was raided on Saturday by Indian troops.

“They were looking for militants, as they said that they had information about militants hiding in the house,” Malik said.

Investigators are now trying to figure out how a large quantity of explosives used in the attack was smuggled into Kashmir, the officials said.

A spokesman for the ministry of home affairs declined to comment.

Four soldiers including an army officer were killed in encounter in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, defence sources told PTI.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Pinglan area of Pulwama district of south Kashmir during the night after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

He said as the forces were conducting searches, the militants fired upon them, triggering off a gun battle.

Defence sources said four soldiers, including an officer, were killed in the encounter. 

A civilian was also reportedly killed but there was no confirmation so far. The area is under cordon and the operation is still on.

KASARGOD — Youth Congress has called for an hartal in Kerala on Monday after two of its workers were allegedly hacked to death by unidentified assailants in the northern district of Kasargod late Sunday night.

The incident took place at around 8 pm and the deceased were identified as Kripesh and Sarath Lal (24), a senior police official told PTI.

“Two youths have been killed. We have just confirmed the identity of the deceased. Further investigation is on,” police said.

Sources said the workers were returning home after attending a local function on Sunday night and they were stopped by a gang of unidentified people who came in a car and hacked them to death.

The identity of the attackers was yet to the confirmed, police said. 

CPI(M) denies role

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala lashed out at the ruling CPI(M) and expressed his strong protest against the double murder.

He will visit homes of the two deceased workers on Monday.

“The CPI(M) is trying to destroy the Congress party using the party goons. The youth congress activists were attacked without any provocation. They were not involved in any kind of criminal activities. No cases were there against them. The government should identify the culprits and arrest them as soon as possible,” Chennithala told media persons.

He also alleged that the murder was a conspiracy hatched by the CPI(M) as the Lok Sabha elections are near.

However, CPI(M) district secretary M V Balakrishnan Master categorically denied any role of his party in the killings.

“We strongly condemn this murder. We are against murderous politics. We don’t have any role in this,” he told media persons.

Exams postponed

The model exam for SSLC has been postponed in view of the bandh, Malayala Manorama reported.

Kerala University, Calicut University, MG University and Kannur University also postponed exams scheduled for Monday, Mathrubhumi reported.

 (With inputs from PTI)

Have you ever had a suicidal thought? You are not alone. Thoughts of suicide can enter people’s minds because of reasons ranging from loss and trauma to a mental illness, say experts.

A report by the World Health Organisation last year said that close to 800,000 people across the world die due to suicide every year. For every suicide, said the study, there were many more attempts every year.

Ruchika Kanwal, a psychologist at the Karma Center for Counselling & Wellbeing, said there are two types of suicidal thoughts — suicidal ideation and death wish.

“Suicidal ideation is when people are having passive suicidal thoughts. Death wish is when a person someone is actively contemplating suicide,” she said.

“Suicidal thoughts are seen in those who suffer from chronic mental illnesses or those who are suffering from a physical illness that cannot be cured. Life events like a failed marriage, financial loss or loss of a job could also lead to suicidal thoughts,” she added.

And having suicidal thoughts is more common than one may think. Johnson Thomas, director of suicide prevention helpline Aasra, said, “A majority, say 80%, of our callers express suicidal ideation.”

People who have suicidal thoughts often don’t know how to deal with them.

According to the experts, the extreme step is almost always taken as an impulse and can be prevented with some steps.

1. Keep a ‘hope box’

At Karma Centre, Kanwal said they often ask clients to keep a ‘hope box’ of their best memories, including photos of loved ones, certificates of achievements or the perfume used by their favourite person. “We ask them to keep it handy, so that the moment they feel suicidal,  going through the photos or smelling the perfume can bring them back to the present. It reminds them of how important they are to these people,” she said.

2. Breathe

Though it sounds cliched, both Kanwal and Thomas say that deep breathing can help. “Take slow deep breaths. Inhale, stop for a few seconds and exhale,” said Thomas. Kanwal said, “A lot of people say they feel numb, where they can’t sense anything. Deep breathing slowly gets you back to your senses.”

3. Use all your senses

The numbness people feel when contemplating suicide, said Kanwal, can also be controlled by smelling, touching and feeling objects near them or tasting something, so that they are brought back to the present.

4. Avoid isolation

It is important to just buy time so as to not give into the impulse of wanting to ending one’s life, said the experts.

Calling someone close to you, who knows about the situation, can help.

“But we ask clients not to fix just one person, but a couple of people like close family or friends, so that in case one person is not picking up, you can call someone else,” said Kanwal.

Sitting with your pet can also help, she added.

Thomas said that the person can also call a suicide helpline to talk about their feelings.

5. Go to a public place

There are times when even even the closest friend or family member may not be available on the phone. In such a situation, stepping out into a public space may help. Thomas said, “Go to a garden or a park or do a physical activity.”

6. Don’t wait for the suicidal impulse

 According to Kanwal, when someone is thinking of suicide, the cognition is so challenged that it may be difficult for them to think of anything positive. So, she said, it is important to practice positive thinking. “Maintain a diary where you write down what was great during the day to train your mind to think positive.”

What can you do in the long term?

Both Thomas and Kanwal suggest therapy and counselling as a long-term solution. Kanwal said, “For us, (when) helping people when they have suicidal ideation or active suicidal thoughts, the first step is distracting, crisis intervention, but that’s not treatment or therapy. Until you seek out help, it is not going to effectively change the way you think. Counsellors or therapists can help you look at things in a more positive perspective, alter the way you feel, modify the way you are behaving. Suicidal thoughts can be managed with therapy.”

Thomas adds that changing one’s lifestyle is also important.

“Go to a counsellor or professional, re-adjust your lifestyle habits to destress your life.Take up hobbies that relax you and reaffirm your self-worth. Give yourself regular breaks from stressful activities.”

It also helps to put away the gadgets and relearn socialising.

“Do a tech detox— detach from technology and re-engage with people on a face-to-face, on a one-on-one basis,” he said.

If you or someone you know needs help, mail icall@tiss.edu or dial 022-25521111 (Monday-Saturday, 8am to 10pm) to reach iCall, a psychosocial helpline set up by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

Veewon Thokchom, a former student of Ambedkar University and advisor to the Manipur Students’ Union of Delhi, has been arrested and charged with sedition for Facebook posts on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, reports said. While it is common practice to let family members of the person know where he is being held, Thokchom’s kin and lawyers are not aware of where he is at the moment.

Thokchom was arrested on Friday by a joint team of the Delhi and Manipur Police and charged with sedition under 124A IPC for his Facebook posts on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill for ‘inciting violence’ and demanding ‘Manipur’s right to self-determination’, Manipur police said at a press conference on Saturday. He has also been charged with resisting arrest and promoting disharmony, they said.

Thokchom’s lawyer Ali Zia Kabir Choudhary has called the sedition charge “ridiculous”. “Veewon had helped organise a press conference in Delhi in January to condemn the arrest of Manipur scribe Kishorechandra Wangkhem,” Kabir told Times of India. 

Wangkhem, a journalist, was sentenced to a year’s detention under the National Security Act in December for criticising CM Biren Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video posted on social media. According to The Wire, Veewon had led protests in Delhi against Wangkhem’s arrest and the Citizenship Bill.

Thokchom’s arrest on 15 February in Delhi from his rented house in Saket was based on an FIR filed in Imphal last week. Thokchom’s sister Venuka was present at the time of his arrest and told the Times of India they were not told why he was being detained. The police confiscated Thokchom’s laptop and phone, she said.

Thokchom’s brother told the daily the police had not produced a warrant. 

“My sister was in the house when he was taken away. They had beaten him up, dragged him out of the house, didn’t give him even the chance to wear his slippers, didn’t inform her why they were taking him away,” Victor Thokchom told The Wire.

Choudhary said the police arrived in plain clothes and did not identify themselves.  Fidel Sebastian, from the Human Rights Law Network, who is also representing Thokchom, told Huffpost India the police took him away in an unidentified Alto car.

Sebastian said of the 8 policemen, six were from the Delhi Police. Special cell DCP told Times of India that the Delhi Police had only proved logistical support to the Manipur Police.

Choudhary told the daily they were not informed which police station Thokchom had been detained in. They only found out after Venuka dialled a number she had been given, which turned out to be for the special branch office of the Delhi Police in Janakpuri, The Wire reported.

Days before his arrest, Thokchom had posted on Facebook,“Manipur Police Commando from both Imphal East and Imphal West just came to my house and threatened my parents to silence me. Searched my room and my house. They also took pictures of my parents and said “lairik fajana tammaga leiyu haiyu, makhut masa saangdana leiyu haiyu.” This is just wow. Let’s see how long you can keep on going with this.”

On Saturday, a Saket court issued a remand for Thokchom’s transit to Manipur, directing the police to produce him in Manipur on or before February 19.

Choudhary said he will move the Manipur High Court to quash the FIR against Thokchom. A petition has also been filed to stop Thokchom’s remand to Manipur over fears that he will not get adequate representation in the state.

Amid escalating tensions in the country, news reports say that the aide of Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar and mastermind behind the deadly Pulwama attacks was killed on Monday in an encounter. 

NDTV reported that Kamran who was responsible for running a unit of the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Kashmir was killed in the gun battle with security forces in the valley. 

Kamran was among two terrorists killed on Monday. 

The NDTV report said that the second person killed in the gun battle was identified as Afghan national Ghazi Rasheed who was an IED specialist. 

Four army personnel also lost their lives in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. 

“The terrorists are believed to be linked to the February 14 car bombing. The exact identities of the two terrorists killed are being ascertained,” a defence spokesperson had told PTI earlier in the day. 

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation during the night after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

Militants fired at forces as the searches got under way, triggering a gun battle, officials said.

The Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the February 14 terror attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead and five critically wounded.

(With inputs from PTI)

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has recalled its ambassador in New Delhi for consultations amid escalating tensions with nuclear-armed neighbour India, Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman said on Monday.

“We have called back our High Commissioner in India for consultations. He left New Delhi this morning,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on Twitter.

India recalled its ambassador to Pakistan last week to discuss Pakistan relations in the wake of a suicide bombing in the disputed Kashmir region that killed 44 Indian paramilitary police. New Delhi says Pakistan had a hand in the attack, which Islamabad denies.

The All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) on Monday announced a ‘total ban’ on Pakistani artists and actors in light of the attack on the CRPF in Kashmir’s Pulwama that killed 40 personnel dead. 

Condemning the attack, the statement from the association said, “We’re announcing a total ban on actors and artists working in the film industry. Still if any organisation insist on working with Pakistani artist will be banned by AICWA and a strong action will be taken against them (sic).”

The statement signed by Ronak Suresh Jain, AICWA general secretary, also said, “Nation comes first, we stand with our nation.”

This comes close on the heels of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) and  Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) taking a similar stand. 

India Today quoted IFTDA president Ashoke Pandit as saying, “No Bollywood filmmaker will take any Pakistani artiste in his film. Even music companies will stop working with Pakistani singers. If any filmmaker or music company does not listen to the FWICE, we will stop the shooting of any film with Pakistani artistes and vandalise its sets.” 

A new report issued by British lawmakers argues Facebook “intentionally and knowingly” violated the United Kingdom’s data privacy and competition laws.

The report, published by the U.K. Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Monday local time, suggested Facebook’s “handling of personal data, and its use for political campaigns, are prime and legitimate areas for inspection by regulators, and it should not be able to evade all editorial responsibility for the content shared by its users across its platforms.”

The committee began studying the role of social media platforms ― specifically Facebook ―in peddling disinformation and interfering in political elections nearly two years ago. The report called on U.K. lawmakers to create regulations to hold tech giants like Facebook accountable for the malicious spread of online information.

Parliament lawmakers reviewed a series of internal Facebook documents they obtained late last year from Six4Three, an app developer that filed a lawsuit against Facebook in the United States in 2015. According to the committee, those documents showed Facebook was “willing to override its users’ privacy settings in order to transfer data” to other big tech companies like Netflix and Spotify. Facebook has previously stated that it never sold users’ data and that those companies were business partners.

The report, which is 108 pages, also said Facebook was intentionally “starving” its competitors by limiting data access to those apps, as alleged in Six4Three’s lawsuit. Parliament should investigate whether Facebook is “unfairly using its dominant market position in social media to decide which business should succeed or fail,” according to the report.

Facebook did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. Karim Palant, the platform’s public policy manager in the U.K., told CNN that Facebook had not broken any laws.

“No other channel for political advertising is as transparent and offers the tools that we do,” Palant told CNN. “We have tripled the size of the team working to detect and protect users from bad content to 30,000 people and invested heavily in machine learning, artificial intelligence and computer vision technology to help prevent this type of abuse.”

Facebook has also been accused of spreading false claims during the 2016 U.S. election and the U.K. “Brexit” referendum on European Union membership.

U.K. lawmakers said the tech giant broke the law last year after meddling with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultant that wrongly accessed the data of 87 million Facebook users.

“These last 12 months really have been a period of investigation and discovery,” Damian Collins, the committee’s leader, told The Washington Post. “But I think the year ahead has to be a year of action.”

The report said tech giants like Facebook should be legally required to follow a code of ethics and immediately remove harmful online content like disinformation, and that independent regulators should be allowed to monitor and fine those platforms that don’t follow the rules.

Collins told the Post he plans to make Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testify before Parliament if the the tech mogul ever lands in Britain. The lawmaker first shared that sentiment after Zuckerberg failed to appear at hearings multiple times last year.

A Bengal BJP leader has been arrested for staging the abduction of his daughter while attempting to divert police’s attention from cases against him, reports said.

BJP leader Suprabhat Batabyal’s daughter Prathama was allegedly abducted at gunpoint from her home in Birbhum district’s Labhpur on Thursday, the Hindustan Times reported.

Batabyal, who was earlier a member of the CPM, had switched to the BJP from the Trinamool Congress five months ago, theTimes of Indiareported.

Implicated in several criminal cases, police say Batabyal plotted his daughter’s abduction to put the police under pressure and keep them off his back.

“The police had been looking out for Batabyal for quite some time in connection with a case against him. Based on information gathered so far by interrogating the arrested persons and questioning the woman, we believe the abduction was staged to put pressure on the police to stop looking for him,” Tanmay Sarkar, Birbhum’s additional superintendent of police, told HT.

Sarkar said Prathama was rescued from Malda district.

Police have arrested Batabyal and two of his associates who planned the attack with him and carried it out.

According to Times of India, Prathama’s family said they had not been informed of her rescue and came to know of it through media reports.

Her abduction had created tension in the district as protesters blocked the Suri-Katwa road for three days. 

Following Prathama’s abduction, Batabyal’s supporters had on Saturday chased TMC MLA Manirul Islam and gheraoed Labhpur police station where he took taken shelter.

TMC’s Birbhum district committee president Anubrata Mondal has alleged Islam was complicit in the abduction and had been named by Prathama for his involvement in the planning. 

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court Monday refused to allow reopening of Vedanta’s Sterlite plant in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin, which was at the centre of massive protests over pollution concerns, but granted the company liberty to approach the high court.

A bench headed by Justice RF Nariman allowed Tamil Nadu’s appeal against the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order only on grounds of maintainability and said the tribunal has no jurisdiction to order reopening of the plant.

The court was hearing a plea by Vedanta group seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to implement the NGT order which had set aside the government’s decision to close the plant.

On 8 January, the apex court had paved the way to re-open the plant by refusing to stay the tribunal’s order.

It had also stayed the last year’s 21 December decision of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court which had ordered status quo with respect to re-opening the plant.

The state had moved the top court, saying the NGT had “erroneously” set aside various orders passed by the TNPCB last year with regard to the Sterlite plant.

It had said the tribunal had consequentially directed the TNPCB to pass fresh orders of renewal of consent and issue authorisation to handle hazardous substances to Vedanta Limited.

On 15 December, the NGT had set aside the state government’s order for closure of the Sterlite copper plant, saying it was “non sustainable” and “unjustified”

At least 13 people were killed and several injured on 22 May last year when police had opened fire on a huge crowd of people protesting against environment pollution being allegedly caused by the factory.

The Tamil Nadu government had, on 28 May, ordered the state pollution control board to seal and “permanently” close the mining group’s copper plant following violent protests over pollution concerns.

THE HAGUE — India on Monday said the trial of its national Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court “hopelessly failed” to satisfy even the minimum standards of due process and requested the International Court of Justice to declare it “unlawful”. 

India’s plea came as the top UN court began a four-day public hearing in the case of Jadhav, 48, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage.

India, during the first day of the hearing, based its case on two broad issues ― breach of Vienna Convention on consular access and the process of resolution.

“It is an unfortunate case where the life of an innocent Indian is at risk,” ex-solicitor general Harish Salve, who was representing India, said.

“Pakistan’s story is solely based on rhetoric and not facts,” he said, adding that Jadhav’s continued custody without consular access should be declared unlawful.

Jadhav’s trial by a Pakistani military court “hopelessly failed to satisfy even the minimum standards of due process”, Salve said.

No “credible evidence” was provided by Pakistan to show his involvement in any act of terrorism and Jadhav’s purported confession clearly appeared to be “coerced”, Salve said.

“There is no manner of doubt that Pakistan was using this as a propaganda tool. Pakistan was bound to grant consular access without delay,” Salve said.

“Pakistan used confession document as propaganda. Pakistan has disrespected the Vienna Convention,” Salve said.

He said India had sent 13 reminders to Pakistan for consular access to Jadhav, but Islamabad is yet to accede.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on 3 March, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.

However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Jadhav’s sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

During the hearing, Salve said Pakistan filed the FIR almost a month after the arrest of Jadhav.

“In April 2016 and FIR was registered against Jadhav. In May 2016, Jadhav was interrogated, and India sent reminders for consular access across May, June, and July,” Salve says.

“India reminded Pakistan for consular access - 13 reminders were sent - but to no avail,” he said.

“Pakistan embarrassed to disclose charges against Jadhav,” Salve said.

Pakistan did not inform Kulbhushan Jadhav of his rights, he said.

Salve read out the various sections and articles of the Vienna Convention under which foreign prisoners fall.

“The Vienna Convention is a powerful tool that ensures the facility of consular access to foreign nationals who have been put on trial in foreign trial,” he said.

“Article 36 of the Vienna Convention says that a country must be informed about the detention of its citizens but Pakistan did not inform India about his arrest.”

Without consular access, he said, “India has no information on what happened to Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan.”

“India and Pakistan have a bilateral agreement on consular access,” he said.

“Bilateral treaties cannot modify Article 36 of Vienna Convention. It could only supplement it,” Salve added.

Pakistan should have provided a substantial explanation for why it needed 3 months for providing consular access, upon which it could have claimed that it has complied with treaty obligation, Salve said.

Salve argued that Pakistan did not uphold the Article 36 of the Vienna Convention that states consular access applies all nationals, regardless of espionage claims in Jadhav’s case.

He said that the ICJ has already upheld the importance of consular access under Article 36 in two previous cases LaGrand (Germany vs USA) and Avena (Mexico vs USA).

“This quite plainly, is an egregious violation of Pakistan’s obligations under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention,” said Salve.

“They at one point said they might consider it if India assisted their investigation into him being an Indian spy, asked for evidence of bank accounts, phone numbers, etc,” he said.

Pakistan has not provided any evidence, he added.

“Inhuman detention violation of universal rights,” Salve said.

He said Pakistan offered to allow Jadhav’s family to visit him, the terms were agreed and the meeting was held on 25 December, 2017.

“India was dismayed at the manner the meeting with Jadhav’s family was conducted and wrote a letter on 27 December marking its protest,” he said.

Pakistan didn’t send any details of the probe conducted by the Joint Investigation Team before informing the Indian side about the death sentence handed over to him. Jadhav was not appointed any lawyer during his trial by the Pakistani military court either, he said.

Serious charges need strict adherence to due process, he emphasised.