Sexting: It’s the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you’re Jeff Bezos and worth $135 billion, when horniness calls, you have to send that thirst text.  

The Amazon CEO recently exposed The National Enquirer when he was threatened with the publication of intimate photos of Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez in the wake of his divorce. 

It didn’t help that Bezos’ texts were a little cringe-y. “I love you, alive girl. I will show you with my body, and my lips and my eyes, very soon,” Bezos allegedly wrote in one text.

Naturally, the text was ripe for the meme-ing.

“Jeff Bezos sexts like he’s an AI in a human suit,” writer Dana Schwartz tweeted. 

Jokes aside, who among us hasn’t dashed off a dirty text that read a little awkwardly? These days, sexting is a common part of early-phase intimate relationships. According to Michelle Drouin, a psychology professor at Purdue University Fort Wayne, more than 80 percent of young American adults have sent or received an explicit message or photo.

“It’s a way to establish intimacy with a partner, to tell them you’re having sexual thoughts about them, to convey sexual plans that you might have with them later on,” she told The Atlantic earlier this month. “This is all part of the normative sexual experience now.” 

Billionaires: They really are just like us. (Though, frankly, we’re a little disappointed; what good is it being the richest man in the world if you have to sext like the rest of us? You’d think he could’ve at least holographed his junk.)

Since we’re all clearly busy thirst texting, we figured it was time to write a primer on how to draft a text that wouldn’t embarrass you if it went public. Whether you’re rolling in the dough or a frequenter of the McDonald’s dollar menu, we hope you find it useful. 

Make sure it’s consensual.  

You wouldn’t send an unsolicited dick pic to someone, right? That goes for an unwanted dirty text, said Kenneth Play, a sex educator and coach in Brooklyn, New York. Read the room. Only send a sext if you’re at a level of intimacy where it makes sense to do so.

“If you spam with an offer, it doesn’t matter how good the offer is, it’s still spam,” Play said. “Make sure your sexting is not unsolicited, but is welcome and expected.”

Aim to be genuine and honest about how you feel in your messages, versus overly sexy. 

If you rarely sext ― or are a recently single billionaire who primarily lives in Seattle ― don’t feel like you have to jump into the deep end with how explicit you are. You’re not writing a porn scene or erotica; you’re trying to connect with your S.O. in a sexy, genuine way. If you’re feeling a little shy, emojis (🍑,🍆) are always helpful.

“Build anticipation, and don’t be afraid to be silly,” said Heather McPherson, a sex therapist and owner of Respark Therapy in Austin, Texas, and Denver.

“It might be helpful to use innuendo at first as well,” she explained. “Be subtle about what you would like to do with them or subtly reference a previous experience you’ve had together. Leave it up to the imagination to fill in the gaps.”

Tailor the text to your S.O. 

You know what gets your partner off. Draw on your erotic knowledge of them while you’re texting, working in their fantasies and some of the hottest moments you’ve shared in bed.

“Personally, I love receiving a sext where someone really knows my arousal and kink ― whether it’s photos or words ― something that crafts a story that just perfectly tickles my brain and turns me on,” Play said. “Psychological arousal is so potent.”

Describe what you’re doing without skimping on the details. 

Dirty talk doesn’t have to be complicated: As sex columnist Dan Savage once summed up, the best dirty talk is simple and straightforward: “Tell ’em what you’re going to do, tell ’em what you’re doing, tell ’em what you did.” 

The same general guidelines apply to sexting, said Andrea Glik, a therapist at The Gender & Sexuality Therapy Collective in New York City. 

“A memorable sext is any sext that makes you feel like what the person is describing is happening right now,” she said. “Detail, detail, detail!” 

So, for instance, instead of telling your partner you can’t wait to have your way with them, explain exactly what you’re going to do to them later, word for word. 

“Tell them how you’re feeling, too,” Gilk said. “Write, ‘You should feel how hard/wet I am,’ ‘I can’t concentrate. All I can think about is you,’ or ‘I need your body.’”

If you receive a thirst text or nude pic, show appreciation for it. 

And now a little etiquette on receiving a dirty text: Please do not think this is the time to be brief in your reply. If someone has sent you a sext or nude, make sure you’re doing more than sending a thumbs up emoji in response. 

“No ‘nice tits’ replies. Comment on what they’re wearing, the background, scenery, lighting, and use sophisticated language,” Play said. “I often say something like, ‘I love the curve of your lower back and how it moves down into your beautiful ass.’ You’ve really got to add some poetry to it.”

It really is that simple: Make sure the sexting is consensual, know your audience and get a little playful.

Go forth and get your sext on, all you billionaires, millionaires, thousandaires and hundredaires out there.

Carbohydrates get a bad rap these days. Die-hard keto adherents ― those people in your Instagram feed posting photos of bacon-wrapped cheese sticks and tagging them #healthylifestyle ― swear off all carbs. Paleo dieters shun all whole grains and legumes, both of which have long been considered healthy. Fitness enthusiasts extol the virtues of protein when it comes to muscle growth and performance, but don’t always see carbs as a necessary piece of this puzzle.  

The truth? Carbs are an important fuel source and have plenty of well-documented health benefits. Here’s what you need to know about carbs, and why you definitely shouldn’t be afraid to eat them.

1. Sugars and starches are carbs that give you energy

Most cells in our body are powered by glucose, the main building block of carbohydrates. Two of the three types of carbohydrates, sugars and starches (more on the third type below), are energy-yielding, meaning our bodies can break them down for fuel. All energy-yielding carbs contain 4 calories per gram (protein also has 4 calories per gram; fat has 9 calories per gram).

“Starches are long chains of glucose that your body can very readily break apart,” said Kevin Klatt, a molecular nutrition scientist. Sugars, he explained to HuffPost, are smaller molecules containing a single glucose molecule, plus another sugar molecule (more on these sugar molecules later). Because of these structural differences, starches are often referred to as complex carbs, while sugars are simple carbs. Both get broken down into individual sugar molecules in your small intestine, Klatt explained, and the body is efficient at breaking down both.  

2. Fiber is a carb ― it doesn’t give you energy, but it’s super important

The third type of carbohydrate is fiber. It’s also made of glucose, Klatt explained, but the molecules are bonded in such a way that makes it impossible for our bodies to break them down. Although we can’t use fiber for fuel, adequate fiber consumption ― the U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines recommend 25 grams per day for women and 38 grams per day for men, or about 14 grams per 1,000 calories consumed ― comes with loads of health benefits.

Within the fiber category, there’s soluble and insoluble fiber. “Soluble fiber absorbs water,” explained Nina German Hall, a dietitian and former nutrition researcher. “Sources of soluble fiber include dried beans and peas, oats, barley, apples and citrus fruits.” On the other hand, “insoluble fiber [doesn’t absorb water], and is beneficial to intestinal health and is usually found in whole grains, vegetables and fruits,” Hall said.

3. If you combine fiber with starch and/or sugar, you’ll get sustained energy and steady blood sugar levels

Klatt explained that all types of fiber slow your digestion (protein and fat does this, too) by slowing gastric emptying, i.e., how quickly food passes from your stomach to your small intestine (where carbs are broken down into smaller glucose molecules that are then used for energy). Without fiber, the glucose from carbs hits your bloodstream quickly and leads to an energy spike that won’t last long. With fiber, the glucose hits your bloodstream gradually, providing more sustained energy.  

Because of these regulating effects, “dietary fiber can help you improve blood cholesterol levels and lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity and even type 2 diabetes,” according to the American Heart Association.

4. Fiber also helps keep you regular

Both soluble and insoluble fiber are important for digestion and regular bowel movements, Klatt explained. Soluble fiber draws water into your stool (your poop), making it easier to pass. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to your stool and helps keep things moving in your digestive system, Hall said.

5. Prebiotic fiber has been linked to increased immunity and a healthy gut microbiome, too

Certain types of fiber are classified as prebiotics, which are defined by the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics as “a selectively fermented ingredient that results in specific changes in the composition and/or activity of the gastrointestinal microbiota, thus conferring benefit(s) upon host health.” In other words, prebiotic fiber feeds the probiotic bacteria in our gut microbiome that support gut health.

Research on the health effects of prebiotics and probiotics is still in the early stages, but it’s promising. A 2018 review in Current Developments in Nutritionlinked prebiotics to the presence of more “good” bacteria in the gut microbiome and to increased immune function.

6. Processed carbs are what give all carbs a bad rap

Processed carbs ― added sugars, refined grains and other refined products like juice ― have been stripped of their fiber and often of other important nutrients. Without fiber to slow things down, these carbs are broken down into glucose and released into your bloodstream really quickly, which isn’t good.

We often refer to this effect as a “sugar high,” but Klatt pointed out that refined starches can cause it too since enzymes in the small intestine are super-efficient at breaking apart starch molecules into single glucose molecules.

It’s worth noting that you don’t need to completely cut added sugars and other processed carbs out of your diet to be healthy. The American Heart Association recommends getting no more than 10 percent of your daily calories from added sugar (about 6 teaspoons for women and 9 teaspoons for men), and the USDA dietary guidelines recommend that at least half of the grains you eat be whole grains.

7. Whole grains contain iron, B vitamins and other important nutrients

Whole grains tend to be high in B vitamins such as thiamin (Vitamin B-1), riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), niacin (Vitamin B-3) and folate (Vitamin B-9), plus other essential and nonessential nutrients (“nonessential” doesn’t mean they’re less important; it just means your body is capable of making them) like iron, magnesium and selenium. According to the American Heart Association, “these are all important for a variety of body functions like forming new cells, carrying oxygen in the blood, regulating the thyroid, and maintaining a healthy immune system.”

8. Folate is especially important for pregnant women, and it’s tough to get enough without eating grains

As mentioned above, whole grains contain vitamin B-9, or folate. And, processed grain products in America are often fortified with folic acid, the synthetic form of folate. Both “help to prevent neural tube defects in the babies of pregnant women,” Klatt explained. “If you don’t eat grains, your folic acid intake will be lower and tend to not meet recommended levels. The problem is, the neural tube closes within 30 days of [the beginning of] pregnancy, before many women even know they’re pregnant.” So, cutting out whole grains is risky for any woman who might become pregnant.

9. A diet rich in whole plant-based foods (carbs) has been shown to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes and other problems

Like whole grains, beans and legumes contain important vitamins and minerals. They’re also a good source of plant protein and contain very little of the potentially harmful saturated fat that’s found in animal protein sources.

A 2015 review in Clinical Diabetes found that a diet high in plant-based whole foods and “lower in refined grains, sugar-sweetened beverages, and processed meats, has been shown to reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.”

The review also found that “a diet that regularly includes legumes may help with weight control. The fiber, protein, and slowly digested carbohydrate found in legumes may aid in satiety.” What’s more, a 2016 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that daily consumption of beans and legumes may help with weight loss.

10. Fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants, which are also good for your health

The National Institutes of Health defines antioxidants as “man-made or natural substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage.” Naturally, antioxidants are found primarily in fruits and vegetables, which contain carbs. Current research links a diet high in fruits and vegetables to better overall health and a lower risk of several diseases, although it isn’t totally clear whether this is due to antioxidants. What is pretty clear from the research is that antioxidant supplements don’t provide any measurable benefits.

The bottom line here: Fruits and veggies are healthy carb sources high in fiber and antioxidants, both of which are linked to better health.

11. A low-carb diet may lead to weight loss but that’s likely because of fewer calories, not fewer carbs

The basic thinking behind low-carb diets is that minimizing glucose as an energy source will force your body to burn fat for energy instead and will prevent excess glucose from being stored as fat.

But scientists have long debated whether cutting carbs inherently causes weight loss. A 2018 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found no inherent benefit to a low-carb diet for weight loss. In fact, while all study participants were on specific calorie-restricted diets, the amount of weight lost varied greatly, independent of whether a person was following a low-fat or low-carb diet, and some participants actually gained weight (one more reason to ditch the diet mentality).

Still, you probably have friends who have lost weight on low-carb diets, and maybe you’re curious as to why. “Most of the junk food in America contains lots of refined carbs,” Klatt said. “These are hyperpalatable foods, so we tend to overeat them. Cut these out, and it’s likely you’ll eat less overall ― a strict low-carb diet becomes a very restrictive diet.”

Eat fewer calories than you need, and it’s likely you’ll lose weight in the short term. On the other hand, a low-carb diet may be tough to sustain long term because it’s inherently restrictive.

One important note: In some cases, a low-carb diet may be beneficial for managing certain conditions, such as diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Always consult a doctor or dietitian before adjusting your diet for medical reasons.

12. The keto diet is a very extreme low-carb, high-fat diet, and it can have negative side effects

Klatt pointed out that low-carb and keto aren’t the same thing, and that many people who claim to be on a keto diet, aren’t. Most research considers a low-carb diet to be one where less than 30 percent of your daily calories come from carbs ― on a keto diet, only 5 to 10 percent of your daily calories come from carbs, with 15 to 20 percent coming from protein and 75 percent from fats.

“Severe carb restriction can result in ketosis, a process in which ketones are produced as a result of the body’s breakdown of stored fat secondary to the scarcity of glucose for energy,” Hall said.

The ketogenic diet has been used medically for decades, primarily to treat kids with epilepsy. “Having less glucose in your brain lowers the activity of some of the neurons that are overactive in epileptic kids,” Klatt said.

But keto wasn’t designed as a weight-loss diet. “In the long term, ketosis and carbohydrate deficiency can be unhealthy,” Hall said. “Effects of long-term ketosis and carbohydrate deficiency include fatigue, bad breath, constipation, hunger, dehydration and headaches.”

13. If you’re active, carbs are especially important

“The more active you are, the more carbohydrate you need, as carbohydrates are the main source of fuel,” Hall said.

Klatt broke things down even further: “When you’re working out intensely, your muscles tend to be low in oxygen. Glycolysis (the first step in carb metabolism) can happen without oxygen, whereas you need oxygen to break down fat and get energy from it. So, your muscles can get some energy from glucose, even if they’re short on oxygen.”

“Marathon runners often participate in ‘carb-loading’ before a race,” Hall explained. “This strategy maximizes glycogen (the storage form of glucose) stores, which provides the runner with the energy needed to run long distances.” But, carb-loading isn’t necessary for the everyday athlete, since normal carb intake is enough to fuel a regular workout.

For all the reasons listed above, the USDA recommends that 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories come from carbs

Everybody is different, and it’s OK to experiment and see what types of carbs make you feel best and in what amounts. Overall, though, healthy carb sources are important for energy, digestion and blood sugar control, and they also play a role in disease prevention and weight management.

Instead of cutting carbs, “focus more on reducing ... added sugars, and eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables to maximize energy levels and avoid gastrointestinal issues (often experienced when eliminating high-carbohydrate, high-fiber foods),” Hall said.

NEW DELHI —The National Commission for Minorities is concerned about the attacks on students and traders from Kashmir residing outside the valley, especially about the message that singling them out for attacks will send across India as well as among residents of the valley, Chairman Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi said.

Rizvi has previously served as the state president of the Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)’s unit’s Minority Morcha.

He also said that he had raised this issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh in a “telephonic talk” on Saturday after television news reported the attacks in Dehradun and was assured that an advisory had already been issued to the Director Generals of Police of all states about providing security.

“Wherever there are Kashmiri students or those Kashmiris who are doing business, they should be given safety. One-off incidents have happened. After such a big incident, a couple of incidents occurred because there was public anger but it is wrong and it should not have happened,” Rizvi said in an interview with HuffPost India. “This message should not go across the country, and in Kashmir, that Kashmiris are being singled out as a reaction. At this point, the country is united.”

Rizvi said it was important to make a clear distinction between militants and civilians in the Kashmir valley. 

“There cannot be any leniency towards terrorists; they should be dealt with firmly,” he said. “But innocent people should be protected as well.” 

Barely two days after a young suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Mohammad rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a bus which the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers were travelling in, attacks against students and traders of Kashmiri origin were reported from multiple states including Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These attacks provoked wide ranging concerns about the safety of residents of Kashmir-origin, especially Muslims, and prompted the CRPF to advertise toll free helpline numbers for assistance in distress.

On Monday, Rizvi told HuffPost India that the National Commission for Minorities was “satisfied” with the actions that the union government, particularly the Home Ministry, had taken in this regard.

“The Home Ministry is keeping a close watch on this,” he said.

When asked whether it was true that some hardline communal groups of the saffron brigade were behind the attacks, Rizvi, who has also been the National General Secretary of the BJP ’s Minority Morcha, said it couldn’t be established if that was the case.

“There is anger among people across the country and it should be there after an incident like that. But everyone across religions is united,” Rizvi said. “So it should not be seen in a distorted way. Some people end up doing such things but it is not linked to any RSS, VHP, BJP or any communal organisations.”  

The Delhi Minority Commission Chairman Dr. Zafarul-Islam-Khan has taken a different stance.

In a letter to the Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, a copy of which was shared with HuffPost India, Dr Khan wrote, “Hindutva crowds are taking out rallies in Muslim areas and in front of Muslim homes in mixed population areas, raising provocative slogans. Unless Delhi police is alert and proactive, riots will erupt like those in Jammu city for instance.”

When asked what prompted him to write that, Dr Khan told HuffPost India that the Commission had received “inputs from multiple advisory groups” working with it about tensions brewing in multiple parts of the city but did not go into details. He said the idea was to alert the police in time. He refused to say anything about the NCM’s statements on the matter.

PULWAMA, Kashmir —Gundibagh, like most Kashmiri villages, is an idyllic landscape of paddy fields, orchards and houses. At one end of the village is an inconspicuous grey two-storey home with a neat vegetable garden where kohlrabi and turnips are nearly ready for harvest.

Last week, Adil Ahmad Dar, a young man who grew up playing in this house with his brothers, drove a car full of explosives into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force, killing at least 44 troopers. He was 20 years old.

Over the weekend, a small tent, adorned with two small banners with pictures of Dar posed with a gun, was erected in the courtyard for mourners to pay their respects.

Despite the enormity of the attack, and its national repercussions, Dar’s funeral in Gundibagh was not unlike similar moments of grief in this village of about 400 residents. 

The attack, conversations with the steady stream of visitors suggested, was not entirely unexpected — rather it was the most recent chapter in a cycle of killings that has gone on for far too long. 

One of the speakers at the gathering extolled the stature of a martyr as depicted in the scriptures, following which he pointed to “certain contradictions” in the Kashmiri society that prevent it from achieving their goal. The contradictions themselves were left unsaid, and such speeches are now a familiar sight in Kashmir and often made at events meant to commemorate a militant’s death.

Since nothing — not even “a tiny piece” of Dar’s flesh — reached the family, they were initially dismissive of his involvement. However, militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad made a statement claiming responsibility of the attack. Dar made no last call, unlike most militants who, sure of their impending death, call their parents or siblings. Nor, said the family members, did he contact them after joining the militancy.

Dar’s uncle Abdul Rashid sat in the living room, amongst a small huddle of  mourners, neighbours, friends and relatives.

Rashid said that not only could he not imagine Dar would be capable of carrying such an attack out, the thought that he would become a militant never occurred to them in the first place until he vanished in March last year.

 Why?

“Because he liked to work, earn. He would do manual labour, work with Wazwan chefs, with masons. He funded his own education. But then, one can never escape the situation in Kashmir,” Rashid said.

During the months-long anti-India protests in 2016, Dar suffered a bullet wound in the leg and spent about six months in hospital and home. Rashid’s elder son Manzoor Ahmad Dar had also gotten involved in militancy and at 21, he was killed in a gunfight with security forces. His other son, Tauseef Rashid, gave up militancy 14 days after embracing it.

The family said that police assured them that Tauseef won’t be ‘touched’ but he is at present spending the fourth month of his preventive detention in a jail in Jammu. Dar’s relative on his father’s side, Sameer Ahmad, who was pursuing a Masters in Zoology at Kashmir University, had picked up arms four days before him. Dar, Manzoor and Sameer are the only three militants the village has ever seen.

Dar’s family alleges that their house was nearly set ablaze by the army last year after a soldier was killed in an attack on the army camp in nearby Kakapora. The Indian Army, the family said, suspected Dar’s hand in the attack. Family members recounted how men in military fatigues had bolted the house from the outside and sprinkled kerosene oil and petrol on the windows. Dar’s brother Javid smelled the kerosene and raised an alarm. Neighbours, including Rashid, let them out after hearing their cries for help.

They filed a complaint against the Indian Army with the local police but nothing came out of it. However, the family added, they did not face any ‘harassment’ after that.

PICKING UP ARMS

Sameer’s father blames the ‘brutalisation of Kashmir in the past 30 years’ as the reason their children are turning to militancy.

Yet, Dar resorted to suicide bombing, a tactic used only once since 2000, when a militant named Afaq rammed a car into the gate of 15 Corps Headquarters in Srinagar.

A young man in the gathering at Rashid’s place offered to explain why Dar might have chosen the method.

“He might have thought ‘no one listens when we die in twos, threes and fives, even 13 on a single day, so let me do something that would be heard’. He thought and planned differently. Otherwise, our pain doesn’t seem to matter to the world,” he said, requesting anonymity. 

 In 2018, Kashmir witnessed the highest number of insurgency-related deaths in the past decade. Approximately 253 militants, 102 civilians and 88 security personnel were killed in 2018, according to police records.

The clashes intensified particularly since the death of Burhan Wani in 2016 and culminated in the attack which had the most number of casualties since 1990.

However, the small gathering at Dar’s uncle’s house was more weary than anything else. The militant’s uncle Rashid said he couldn’t sleep for most of the night after watching the clip of an aged father bawling over the coffin of his son — a CRPF jawan who was killed in 14 February attack.

“No one should die. Bloodshed should stop. We are all humans. But I don’t think it will stop until Kashmir is resolved,” he added.

“What prevents someone who has left his home for a cause from emulating Adil? You see, when Burhan was killed, the tehreek (freedom movement) became more resurgent. You think someone who has been detained unjustly would stay quiet?” said a young man present at Dar’s funeral.

Soon, another young man entered the room and declared that Dar’s father’s statement has been twisted and made to follow an old trope of state propaganda that seeks to blame everything on unemployment in Kashmir.

Dar’s brother Javid mentioned that there were rumours that the CRPF had set fire to their house after the attack but they were proven to be untrue.

Outside Dar’s home, some of the visitors questioned the country’s outrage over the killing of CRPF soldiers.

One of them, who claimed to be ‘suspicious’ of the media, said, “India doesn’t seem to mind as long as soldiers die incrementally and our brethren die on a daily basis. But once their soldiers die in large numbers it becomes an issue. Is this about the numbers only?”

Jalandhar, PUNJAB: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura firing incident arrested IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal from Chandigarh on Monday.

Confirming this to HuffPost India, SIT member IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap said that there were enough evidence against Umranangal for his alleged role in the firing incident at Punjab’s Kotkapura, which claimed two lives on 14 October 2015.

“On the day of the incident, IG Umranangal was posted in Ludhiana and had no authority to be at the incident site. Despite this fact, he reached there and commanded the whole operation. He also misled us during interrogation and  failed to give a satisfactory reply when asked under what capacity and whose orders he had steered the unprovoked firing that claimed two lives,” said Kuwar Vijay Pratap.

On 12 October 2015, protests broke out after the holy book Guru Granth Sahib was found desecrated at Bargari in Faridkot district .

Two days later, early in the morning, two Sikh protestors were shot dead by police, allegedly in an unprovoked attack while sitting on a peaceful protest reciting prayers.

As per SIT sources, Umranangal had allegedly directed the police officials at Kotkapura to fire weapons to disperse the protesters who were sitting on protest at the main chowk of Kotkapura town. The incident was condemned by the Sikh diaspora across the world.

Umranangal had earlier been questioned by the SIT in November last year. This is the second arrest in the case so far by the SIT, which was formed by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

 While the SIT had arrested former SSP Moga Charanjit Sharma on 27 January, three other prime accused including SP Bikramjit Singh, inspector Pardeep Singh and Amarjit Singh Kular have been granted anticipatory bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap had also issued summons to Punjab’s former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and his son and SAD President Sukhbir Badal as well as Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar on November 11 last year.

While Kunwar Pratap was asked to leave in a high-voltage drama reported at the Badal’s residence in Sector 4 in Chandigarh when he reached at the venue  to interrogate the Badals, Akshay Kumar had joined the investigations recently.

The Commission of Enquiry headed by Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh probing into the incident had submitted its first report on June 30 last year.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena have decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls in the state together, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Monday.

Fadnavis said that the BJP will contest 25 seats and the Shiv Sena in 23 seats. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats. 

This was announced at a joint press conference in Mumbai, in the presence of Amit Shah and Uddhav Thackeray. 

Fadnavis said that the BJP and the Shiv Sena will contest equal number of seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

Meanwhile, Shah told the media that crores of BJP and Shiv Sena workers wanted the alliance between the two parties. “Sena is the oldest ally of BJP,” he said. 

The leaders of both the parties expressed confidence that the BJP-Sena alliance will come to power in the state and that the NDA will come to power at the Centre. 

PTI reported Thackeray as saying, “Ram temple has been the common thread for alliance between BJP and Shiv Sena, it has to be built at the earliest.”

Fadnavis said that the BJP was in full support of Sena’s demand for the Ram Temple. 

PTI also reported Fadnavis as saying, “BJP and Sena are parties with national ideology which have come together in wider public interest. In principle, both the parties are pro-Hindutva.”

(With PTI inputs) 

Leaders from 16 states joined together to file a federal lawsuit on Monday arguing that President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency is unconstitutional.

The Washington Post reported that the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The states that have now joined the suit are New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia and Michigan.

After failing to obtain congressional support for a spending bill that included $5.7 billion in funding to begin building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, then signing a bill that included $1.375 billion for border security, the president declared a national emergency last week so he could go around the legislative branch to secure billions more that he says is needed to start work on the barrier.

“Contrary to the will of Congress, the President has used the pretext of a manufactured ‘crisis’ of unlawful immigration to declare a national emergency and redirect federal dollars appropriated for drug interdiction, military construction and law enforcement initiatives toward building a wall on the United States-Mexico border,” the lawsuit states. The suit also alleges Trump has veered the country toward “a constitutional crisis of his own making,” adding that a national emergency declaration is not necessary, by the president’s own admission.

When making the declaration last week, Trump admitted he “didn’t need to” declare a national emergency to build the border wall, but he wanted to “do it much faster.” Critics quickly noted the president’s own words could be used against him in court.

The federal lawsuit is the latest in what’s expected to be a series of legal challenges against the president’s emergency declaration. On Friday, the same day Trump declared a national emergency, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a suit claiming the Department of Justice failed to produce the requisite documents justifying the president’s declaration. The American Civil Liberties Union also plans to sue the administration, arguing that Trump cannot legally use the emergency declaration to circumvent Congress for funding a border wall. 

Read the full lawsuit by clicking here or scrolling below.

Nick Visser contributed to this report.

Lawyers for Empire actor Jussie Smollett have hit back at reports he “played a role” in an attack against him last month. 

Smollett contacted emergency services on January 29, telling police he was attacked by two masked men shouting racial and anti-gay slurs and “This is MAGA [Make America Great Again] country!”.

He said they looped a rope around his neck before running away as he was out buying food at a Subway restaurant in the early hours, near his Chicago home. He said they also poured some kind of chemical on him.

But after weeks of investigation, authorities have now said “the trajectory of the investigation” into the attack has shifted, adding that they want to conduct another interview with the actor.

The update came after they questioned two Nigerian brothers in relation to the incident, before releasing them without charges. 

In response to this, and media speculation that the actor was somehow “involved” in the incident, Smollett’s lawyers have said he is “angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with”.

“He has now been further victimised by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack,” Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson added.

“Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”

One of the Nigerian men questioned was Smollett’s personal trainer, who he hired to get him physically ready for a music video, the statement from the actor’s lawyers said.

“It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity,” the statement added.

Police said they combed surveillance video but were unable to find any footage of the attack.

Smollett turned over redacted phone records that police said were not sufficient for a criminal investigation.

People took to the streets in cities across the country on Presidents Day to protest against President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration to build his border wall.

On Monday, demonstrators marched in cities from Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Austin, Texas, carrying signs declaring “Trump is the emergency” and chanting things like “Love, not hate, makes America great.” Thousands of people joined more than 260 rallies across 48 states, according to nonprofit group MoveOn, which organized the protests.

“Trump has declared a #FakeNationalEmergency — an illegal power grab from an unhinged man to push his racist, dangerous policies,” MoveOn’s website read, adding that the protests were “against Trump’s fake crisis and racist deportation force and to stand with immigrant, Muslim, and Black and brown communities to stop Trump’s dangerous and illegal power grab.”

Trump declared a national emergency Friday, aiming to divert billions of dollars from the Defense Department and other earmarked government funds to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

He announced his declaration a day after Congress passed a bill to avert another government shutdown; the legislation did not include more than $5 billion Trump wanted for a border wall.

In December his demands for wall funding led to a record-long partial government shutdown, which left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay for weeks.

On Monday, people braved the cold in states like New York, Maine and Ohio to carry signs calling for “No wall, offer asylum” and deeming the declaration a “Trumped up crisis.”

Some Democratic lawmakers tweeted support of the demonstrations, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), who called the “fake” national emergency “fearmongering of the worst kind.”  

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) attended a protest in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Starting Friday, lawsuits began rolling in against Trump’s declaration, largely arguing that he cannot legally use the emergency declaration to evade funding limits imposed by Congress.

On Monday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that about a dozen states were joining to file a lawsuit challenging the declaration. “We’re going to try to halt the President from violating the Constitution, the separation of powers, from stealing money from Americans and states that has been allocated by Congress, lawfully,” Becerra told CNN.

Check out images from the President’s Day protests nationwide against Trump’s declaration:  

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suffered a series of political reverses in recent months but widespread anger after 40 troopers were killed in an Islamist militant attack last week could lead to a surge in support for his Hindu nationalist party, the BJP.

As emotions run high following the deadliest attack on security forces in decades, Modi, who faces a general election by May, said he had given a free hand to security forces to avenge the killings in Kashmir, the region disputed with arch-foe Pakistan.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have ratcheted up and shouts of “down with Pakistan” and “blood for blood” have reverberated at funerals of the victims. Many Indians have held candle-lit marches across the country demanding the government “not forget, not forgive”.

The attack has been claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group but the Pakistan government has denied any responsibility.

Rakesh Kumar, a 32-year-old part-time teacher in Kasba Bonli town in the western state of Rajasthan, said he was now inclined to vote for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the national election after backing the main opposition Congress in a state vote late last year.

“If he teaches Pakistan a lesson, support for him will rise,” Kumar said in a telephone interview. “It’s a matter of the country’s security, and we need to see what he can do for us.”

The BJP was ousted from power in three major states, including Rajasthan, in December, and Modi has been blamed for weak rural incomes and an inability to provide employment to the millions of young Indians entering the job market each year.

Although still tipped to win, pollsters had said before the attack that the ruling party could fall short of a majority in the general election.

No polls have been published since the attack, but political analysts say the anti-Pakistan wave has become a rallying point for the BJP.

Yogendra Yadav, a former pollster and now a political activist, said the Kashmir attack would be a distraction from economic challenges facing the government.

“Ever since those issues have emerged, there have been systematic attempts to divert attention, some by design, some by accident,” he said.

“The consequence (of the attack) would be to bring the spotlight on issues of national security, which is exactly what the ruling party may have wanted.”

No compromise

The BJP has not lost time in underlining its nationalist credentials. Addressing a political rally on Sunday, party president Amit Shah ended a brief period of bipartisan politics by saying that Modi was better at responding to militant attacks than the previous government headed by Congress.

“This time it’s not a Congress government that is in power. The BJP government of Narendra Modi does not do any compromise in matters of national security,” Shah said to loud cheers.

“The BJP government will completely uproot terrorism. Narendra Modi’s political will to finish terrorism is the highest among global leaders.”

Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal state and an outspoken critic of Modi, has lashed out at the BJP comments.

“We didn’t raise any questions (about the attack) because we thought we will be united in the fight (against terror),” she told reporters. “But now we see that we are silent and they are giving such speeches that it seems only they are patriots and the rest are outsiders.”

Modi has often spoken about adopting a more muscular approach to Pakistan, after a surprise visit to the neighbour in 2015 failed to improve ties.

BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli declined to say if the response to the attack would be an election issue for the party. But he defended party chief Shah’s comments as a reflection of the “national mood of grief and anger”.

In 2016, Indian forces carried out what they called a “surgical strike” on militant targets across the border in Pakistan in retaliation to an attack on an army camp in Kashmir.

Earlier this month, before last week’s attack, Modi said the strike had “shown to the world what will be the new policy and culture in India”.

On Monday, he said any hesitation to take action against militancy and those who support it was akin to encouraging the menace.

“Terrorism is a very serious threat to global peace and stability,” Modi said. “The brutal terrorist attack shows that the time for talks is over.”

ISLAMABAD — Close allies Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on Monday called for avoiding “politicisation” of the UN listing regime at a time when India was stepping up its efforts to brand the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group’s chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, a move that may not go well in New Delhi.

Ahead of his visit to India amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed that dialogue is the only way to ensure peace and stability in the region to resolve “outstanding issues” between India and Pakistan, according to a joint statement issued at the end his visit.

Crown Prince Salman’s high-profile visit to Islamabad comes in the midst of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. The attack was carried out when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying huge quantities of explosives into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama district last Thursday.

Crown Prince Salman, who is visiting India on February 19-20, held talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the issue of terrorism. 

“They also underlined the need for avoiding politicisation of UN listing regime,” the joint statement said in an apparent reference to India’s bid to list JeM’s Pakistan-based chief Azhar as a global terrorist.

China, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a close ally of Pakistan, has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee by putting technical holds.

The Saudi Crown Prince “praised openness and efforts of Prime Minister Imran Khan for dialogue with India and the opening of the Kartarpur crossing point for Sikh pilgrims, the joint statement said.

It also pointed out to the “efforts exerted by both sides, stressing that dialogue is the only way to ensure peace and stability in the region to resolve outstanding issues”. The joint statement avoided mentioning Jammu and Kashmir by name, which has angered some Pakistanis.

“I am disappointed that Kashmir is not mentioned in the joint statement but I also understand why it is not,” former foreign minister Khursheed Kasuri told Dunya TV.

However, a separate statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Office showed that Khan in his meeting briefed the royal guest about the violation of rights in Kashmir.

The Prime Minister briefed the Crown Prince on the “grave human rights violations” in Kashmir and the need for resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people, the Foreign Office said.

The two countries “reiterated their commitment to continue combating extremism and terrorism and expressed their deep appreciation for the achievements and sacrifices made by the two sides in the war against terrorism, the joint statement said.

“They also applauded the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in order to confront this serious scourge and called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to join all international efforts to combat global terrorism,” it said. 

The Pakistan-Saudi joint statement also says that the two sides agreed on the importance of political settlement and promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan so that millions of Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries can return to their country and contribute to their development and lasting peace. 

The Saudi side appreciated Pakistan’s generous hosting of millions of Afghan refugees and other initiatives by Pakistan in the Afghan context.

The two countries expressed their hope for achieving a fair, comprehensive and long-lasting peace in the Middle East in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and the resolutions of international legitimacy guaranteeing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state based on internationally agreed standards 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital, the joint statement said.

The Pakistani side appreciated the leadership and positive role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in resolving the issues facing Islamic Ummah worldwide. 

The Saudi side lauded Pakistan’s important positions in the Islamic world and its efforts for regional peace and security. 

Both sides noted with satisfaction their strong defence and security ties, and agreed to further enhance cooperation in this field to advance shared objectives, the joint statement said. 

The two leaders witnessed the signing of a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding. “The total investment opportunities resulted in over $20 billion, which would increase the mutual investment and volume of trade between the two brotherly countries,” it said.

The Crown Prince stressed the potential of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which will contribute to the development and prosperity of the region.

The two countries called to promote dialogue, respect and understanding among followers of different faiths to promote peace and interfaith harmony.

The Foreign Office said in its separate statement the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince has laid the foundation for a new chapter in Pakistan-Saudi relationship, marked by high level institutional framework to guide future direction of political, diplomatic, economic, investment, trade, people-to-people, defence, security and cultural aspects.

NEW DELHI — Yesteryear actor and TMC member Biswajit Chatterjee along with his party colleague Shanku Deb Panda joined the BJP on Monday in presence of its general secretary and Bengal unit in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Chatterjee, who made his Bollywood debut with Hemant Kumar’s Bees Saal Baad in the early 1960s, is the second prominent film personality from Bengal to join the party after Moushumi Chatterjee, who joined BJP last month.

The veteran actor, father of Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee, fought the last Lok Sabha elections on a Trinamool Congress ticket from the South Delhi constituency.

On the other side, Panda was once the chief of Trinamool Congress’ students’ outfit, TMCP, and was considered close to party supremo Mamata Banerjee. He was even appointed the party’s state general secretary. However, he was removed from party posts in 2015 after his name surfaced in the Saradha chit fund scam and was questioned by the CBI.

Panda’s name also surfaced in the Narada sting case.

Later he changed tracks and went on to make a film on the Nandigram-Singur issue that rocked state politics a decade ago and helped the Trinamool Congress to oust the Left Front government.

Besides, Ranjan Bhattacharya, a politician from the state, also joined the BJP.

The BJP, which won only two seats from the state in the last Lok Sabha elections, has set a target of winning at least 22 seats this time. The party emerged as the main opposition to the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state over the last few years, making significant inroads in bypolls and last year’s panchayat elections.

Shehla Rashid, JNU scholar and political activist, was booked by the Uttarakhand police on Monday for her tweet on the harassment of Kashmiri students in Dehradun, in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack. 

The Uttarakhand police filed an FIR against Rashid for “spreading rumours and creating panic,” The Times of India reported. 

Rashid had said in a tweet on Saturday that Kashmiri girls were trapped in a hostel in Dehradun after an angry mob gathered outside demanding that they be expelled from the hostels. 

The police filed an FIR against her based on this tweet.

Rashid tweeted the copy of the FIR against her. It showed that the police have charged her under Sections 153b (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (1) (b) (disturbing public tranquility).

She said, “The price you pay for seeking justice under a BJP govt.”

“We received a complaint against her, following which an FIR has been registered. Through her tweets, she tried to spread rumours and create panic among people about an incident in Dehradun on February 16. In her tweet, Rashid claimed that Kashmiri girls were ‘trapped’ for hours and mobs outside were ‘baying for their blood’, both of which were factually incorrect and aimed at disturbing peace in the area,” Senior superintendent of police Nivedita Kukreti told The Times of India.

Several news outlets including HuffPost India, Scroll and The Indian Express have published detailed reports of Kashmiri students being harassed across north India, including Dehradun. 

HuffPost India reported on Saturday that 150 Kashmiri students had to be evacuated from Dehradun in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack. 

Jammu and Kashmir Students Organization member Khawaja Itrat told HuffPost India, “Dehradun is the worst. Students were locked in their room for three days. They were having to go to the toilet in polythene bags.”

A 20-year-old student  of the Combined Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Dehradun told HuffPost India, “They were coming to our rooms and telling us to leave. We put locks outside our houses for three days. We did not switch on the light. We did not even remove the curtains for a minute. We did not go outside to get food.”

French cyber security researcher Baptiste Robert, who goes by the name Elliot Alderson online, has exposed an Aadhaar leak on gas company Indane’s website.

In a post on Medium, Alderson broke down how the part of Indane’s website meant for dealers and distributors was exposing an estimated 6.7 million Aadhaar numbers through this leak. The leak was brought to his attention through a private message on Twitter.

Indane’s portal for dealers and distributors can only be accessed by a valid username and password. According to TechCrunch, since this part of the site is indexed on Google, it could be accessed by anybody without having to log in.

Alderson used a custom-built script and found the customer details for 11,000 dealers. The data retrieved included customer names, addresses and Aadhaar numbers.

Alderson says he was able to access 5.8 million customer records before his script was blocked by Indane. He estimates that around 6.79 million customers have been affected by this leak.

Alderson added he made the leak public on Tuesday after receiving no response from Indane.

TechCrunch said it verified a sample of the leaked Aadhaar numbers on the UIDAI website and found them to be a match.

According to its website, Indane serves 140 million households. Last year, security researcher Karan Saini found an endpoint on a system run by Indane that would let anyone download Aadhaar details, ZDNet reported. The endpoint was pulled offline after the leak was made public and UIDAI issued a statement saying there had been no data breach.

SRINAGAR — The Pulwama suicide bombing was masterminded by Jaish-e-Mohammed and Pakistan’s ISI, a senior Army officer said on Tuesday, five days after 40 CRPF personnel were killed in one of the deadliest terror attacks in the Valley.

Corps Commander Lt Gen KJS Dhillon of the Chinar Corps said this in a joint press conference by IG Kashmir S P Pani and IG CRPF Zulfiqar Hasan.

He also said he requested mothers of Kashmiri militants to persuade their sons to surrender.

“Anyone who picks up the gun will be eliminated,” the officer said.

According to Dhillon, security forces had been tracking the top leadership of the JeM since the 14 February bombing in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

“We have eliminated the top commander who carried out the Pulwama attack,” Dhillon said.

On Monday, three JeM terrorists were killed in a 16-hour encounter in Pinglan in Pulwama district, about 12 km from the site of the 14 February attack. An Army major and five others were also killed.

NEW DELHI — Four days after 49 Indian soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in Kashmir, Vishal Verma, a Bajrang Dal leader in Uttarakhand, told HuffPost India that Kashmiri students had to leave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state. 

Verma, who is the right-wing organisation’s convener for Dehradun, Vikas Nagar and Purola, said that the Kashmiri students could return to Uttarakhand only after Kashmiris stopped throwing stones on the security personnel stationed in Kashmir, and the Indian flag was raised in every house in Kashmir. 

Verma also said that students could return to Uttarakhand after Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir State, was abrogated, and Indians could live, work and buy property in Kashmir. 

“Kashmiri students cannot come to Uttarakhand until the stone pelting in Kashmir stops. Kashmiri students cannot come here until there is an Indian flag raised in every house in Kashmir,” he said. 

The deadly attack on Indian soldiers stationed in Pulwama on 14 February has triggered a backlash against Kashmiri students in different cities of the country, but largely in BJP-ruled Haryana and Uttarakhand. 

HuffPost India has previously reported that locals, led by a village sarpanch, demanded that Kashmiri students studying in the locality of Mullana in Ambala, Haryana, leave within 24 hours. 

Kashmiri students have been forced to leave hostels or rented rooms in Haryana and Uttarakhand. Almost a dozen have been either suspended or expelled from college for expressing “offensive” views on the Pulwama attack. At least five students — one in Bengaluru and four in Rajasthan — have been booked for sedition under the Indian Penal Code by the local police. 

While, on the one hand, Verma says the Bajrang Dal is targeting Kashmiris who allegedly raised “pro Pakistan” slogans and lauded the 19-year-old suicide bomber, Adil Ahmed Dar, on social media.

On the other, the 41-year-old activist, who has studied till class 12 and has worked with the Bajrang Dal for the past five years,  accused “all” Kashmiri students in Uttarakhand of engaging in some kind of “anti-India” activities. 

“Our campaign against them will continue,” he said. 

Hundreds have fled Dehradun

Dehradun, worst hit by the Bajrang Dal-driven backlash, has seen hundreds of  Kashmiri students fleeing their colleges and heading to a makeshift shelter set up by the Jammu and Kashmir Student Organization in Chandigarh, Punjab.

Khwaja Ittar, who is handling the relief operations in Chandigarh, told HuffPost India that he received 300 phone calls from Kashmiri students on Monday. Out of the 200 students who were at the shelter on Monday, Ittar, said, 110 had arrived the same day and 84 were dispatched for Jammu in seven jeeps. 

Ittar said that the J&K Students Organization had managed to arrange for two private buses that were ferrying the students from Uttarakhand to Punjab. 

On Tuesday, Ittar estimated that 700 students — 80 percent from Dehradun — have arrived at the shelter since it started functioning on Sunday morning. 

Ittar, based on conversations with the new arrivals at the shelter, 
said that most Kashmiri students have left Dehradun, with around 100 remaining in the city. “I’m still getting calls but now I’m asking students to go directly to Jammu as the situation there has also improved,” he said.  

Preparing a ‘dossier’

Verma, who claims to have the backing of senior leaders in the Bajrang Dal, said that his workers were tracking the social media accounts of Kashmiri students to prove that they were engaging in “anti-India” activities and they would soon submit a “dossier” to the Uttarakhand police. 

“We will file cases against them,” he said. 

Claiming that his actions were legal, Verma said that the Bajrang Dal was only appealing to landlords as well as heads of colleges to remove Kashmiri students. 

The Indian Expressreported on Monday that at least two colleges in Dehradun have said that Kashmiri students will not be admitted in the new academic year. 

FIR filed against Kashmiri activist 

In addition to the shelter in Chandigarh, political activist Shehla Rashid has led a social media campaign to reach out to distressed Kashmiris, coordinating with activists and the local authorities to help them. 

Citizens in different cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru and Rajasthan, have offered to open up their homes to Kashmiris who are feeling unsafe.

The “group of concerned citizens” says it intervened in about 25 cases - seven cases from Jammu, five from Rajasthan, four from Delhi, four from Punjab, three from Dehradun, and two each from Haryana and Bangalore.

On Sunday, Rashid, who had highlighted the case of 15 to 20 students “trapped” inside the girls hostel of the Dolphin Institute in Dehradun, was slapped with an FIR for allegedly spreading rumours on Twitter. 

HuffPost India spoke with one student at the Dolphin Institute on Sunday, who said that she had locked herself in her room and needed safe passage out of the premises. 

Verma has alleged the women students at the Dolphin Institute had raised “pro-Pakistan” slogans and thrown stones at a candlelight march to honour the soldiers. 

Rashid has pointed out that the FIR makes no sense because she was coordinating with Uttarakhand police personnel who eventually reached the women. “The claims of the police on social media are misleading. Why would they put up a helpline and protect the girls if all is well?” she said. 

‘No one has any sympathy left for them’ 

Verma said that feelings against Kashmiri students have been simmering in Uttarakhand, but the recent violence in Pulwama was the “last straw.”

Of the four security personnel killed in Pulwama in a second attack on Monday, 34-year-old Major General Vibhuti Dhoundiyal is the second officer from Uttarakhand to be killed in the past three days. Major Chitresh Bisht, who was killed while defusing a bomb in Jammu, was 31-years-old and getting married next month. 

“No one has any sympathy left for the Kashmiris. We have to stand together. We have to show them that we are one nation. We have to show them that until the attacks against our soldiers stops, Kashmiris are not welcome,” Verma said. 

A spike in fatalities in Kashmir since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, and in the Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir State as the partner of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) in 2015, is worth noting. 

Some analysts believe that BJP’s brand of Hindutva politics has hurt not helped the conflict in Kashmir. 

The South Asian Terrorism Portal, a website which tracks fatalities in Jammu and Kashmir, shows a spike in the deaths of security personal from 2014 to 2017 as compared to 2007 to 2013. 

In one telling remark, which exposed a prejudice more generic than only a concern for the Indian soldiers, Verma echoed the oft-repeated claim of “love jihad” made by the Hindu right. 

Kashmiri male students, he said, were using their female classmates — “our Hindu sisters” — as “honeytraps.”

Anuj Walia, the state coordinator of the Bajrang Dal in Uttarakhand, said that Verma and his colleagues were carrying out the will of the people. 

“The public is very angry. This is what the public wants. We are doing what the public wants,” he said.

Claiming that only those Kashmiri students engaged in “anti-India” activities were targeted, Walia said, “We are not responsible for people running away.”

Degree left behind

One Kashmiri, who had reached the shelter in Chandigarh on Monday, said that he was staying at the boys hostel of the Dolphin Institute in Dehradun, waiting to collect proof of his degree in bio technology.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the Kashmiri said that he decided to leave when he heard about a Kashmiri student getting beaten up by goons, not far from where he was staying. 

“I managed to get my mark sheets but I left without my degree. The atmosphere was really scary and I wanted to leave immediately,” he said. “I don’t know if I will ever come back for my degree.”

Before real-life candidates make a fool of themselves on the campaign trail, the new season of “Veep” is upon us for one last expletive-filled hurrah. 

The first trailer for the final season of HBO’s Emmy-winning political comedy fittingly arrived on Presidents Day with a message from Commander in Chief Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to her constituents: “You’re welcome.”

The seventh season, which was delayed for a year following Louis-Dreyfus’ cancer treatment, will follow Meyer’s re-election campaign as she hits the road to understand “real Americans,” which goes about as well as you’d expect. 

“This entire country is getting more disgusting by the second,” Meyer says in the trailer, to which her senior strategist adds, “That’s the demo we’re targeting mostly on Facebook.”

Louis-Dreyfus is back for one final round ― and a boatload of awards, if history has taught us anything ― along with cast members Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Sam Richardson, Kevin Dunn, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Gary Cole and more. 

The actress, who made history for her sixth consecutive Emmy win for best actress in a comedy category, has described the closing of the series as “bittersweet.”

“I adore these people,” she told Jimmy Kimmel in October. “I adore the show and what we’ve been able to achieve with it.”

Watch the trailer below. 

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s foreign minister appealed to the UN Secretary General on Tuesday to help ease tension with India that has escalated sharply following a suicide bomb attack in Kashmir, that India blamed on Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, facing an election by May, has warned Pakistan to expect a “strong response” to the bombing claimed by a Pakistan-linked militant group, raising fears of conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

“It is with a sense of urgency that I draw your attention to the deteriorating security situation in our region resulting from the threat of use of force against Pakistan by India,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

“It is imperative to take steps for de-escalation. The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions,” he wrote, blaming India for deliberately ratcheting up its hostile rhetoric for domestic political reasons.

The Pakistani appeal follows days of rising tension between the old rivals after a suicide bomber blew himself up near a CRPF convoy in Kashmir on Thursday, killing at least 40 paramilitary police.

Jaish-e Mohammad, a militant group said to be based in Pakistan which wants Jammu and Kashmir to be part of Pakistan, claimed responsibility but the Pakistani government has denied any involvement.

“Attributing it to Pakistan even before investigations is absurd,” Qureshi said.

“India must be asked to conduct an open and credible investigation on Pulwama incident,” he said.

ISLAMABAD — Saudi Arabia on Monday vowed to try to “de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan” in the wake of the deadly terror attack in Pulwama by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman prepares to head to New Delhi from Islamabad.

The terror attack happened when a suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near a convoy of CRPF buses in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing at least 40 CRPF soldiers.

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir met Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday.

Officials said that Qureshi briefed him in detail about the situation after the Pulwama attack in Kashmir.

Tensions have been mounting between the two nuclear-armed neighbours amidst war of words and diplomatic brinkmanship over the attack.

“Our objective is to try to de-escalate tensions between the two countries, neighbouring countries, and to see if there is a path forward to resolving those differences peacefully,” Jubeir told the media.

He also said both countries were facing similar challenges, including the scourge of terrorism.

“We want both countries to resolve their conflicts and have peaceful relations,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has influence over Pakistan and the Crown Prince during two-day visit inked at least seven MoUs and agreement to make investments of worth $20 billion.

The Kingdom also provided $3 billion loan and another $3 billion oil facility on deferred payment during the past three months.

Jubei’s remarks to make efforts for reducing tensions came as Pakistan on Monday called back its envoy from India for consultations.

Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood was on Friday summoned in New Delhi by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale who lodged strong protest.

Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria was also called to New Delhi for consultations in the wake of the attack.

India has blamed Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group for the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday.

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court Tuesday disposed of a plea challenging the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as the interim CBI Director.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Vineet Saran said no further interference is required as the relief has already been granted with the appointment of a full time CBI Director.

The verdict came on a plea of NGO, Common Cause, which had challenged the appointment of Rao as interim CBI director.

In a previous hearing on February 1, the top court had said that it was “averse” to the arrangement of an interim CBI Director and the Centre should “immediately” appoint a regular chief of the probe agency.

The bench had said the agency was not functioning properly and the officers were fighting and levelling corruption allegations against each other which was wholly unbecoming of them.

The court had also said that the new CBI director who would be appointed must “trace the movements of files” during the period when former CBI chief Alok Kumar Verma was reinstated to the post for two days.

Three judges of the apex court ― Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices A K Sikri and N V Ramana had recused themselves from hearing the matter.

In its petition in the apex court, the NGO had sought specific mechanisms to ensure transparency in the process of appointing the CBI director.

The plea had alleged that the October 23 last year order of the government appointing Rao as interim CBI director was quashed by the top court on January 8 but the Centre “acted in a completely malafide, arbitrary and illegal manner” to appoint him again in “complete contravention” of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.

On January 10, Rao, additional director in CBI, was made interim chief till the appointment of a new director, after the removal of Verma.

On February 4, Rishi Kumar Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer, took charge of the probe agency as a full-fledged director.