Nearly 35 houses were buried in a landslide in Malappuram’s Nilambur in Kerala on Thursday night, Manorama News said. Nearly 80 people are missing, the news channel reported.

According to Mathrubhumi, the landslide occurred at Bhoodhanam near Kavalappara in Nilambur. The body of two children and a woman have been recovered from the site.

State and national rescue teams will reach Kavalappara soon, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted.

While residents told Manorama it was part of a hill that had collapsed, Mathrubhumi reported an entire hill had collapsed onto Bhoodhanam.

Reports of the incident came out on Friday afternoon as there were no means to communicate the news earlier, Nilambur MLA PV Anwar told Manorama.

According to Anwar, nearly 100 acres of land came crashing down in the hilly area. The landslide was triggered by incessant rains.

A resident told Manorama that the incident took place at 8 pm but there was no phone network in the area to reach out to authorities for rescue efforts.

Nine districts of Kerala are on red alert due to heavy rains and a flood warning has been issued by the Central Water Commission.

In Malappuram district, the district collector said rescue operations were ongoing in Nilambur, Edavanna and Vazhakkad areas, which have seen heavy rains. He called for people to donate basic amenities to the district’s relief camps where over 5000 people have been shifted.

Reuters just released a video that shows two owls spot a hidden camera – that they then proceed to dismantle immediately.

Meanwhile, we – unwise humans – are still struggling to wrap our heads around privacy, Aadhaar, Facebook taking out data and more. 

SRINAGAR, Jammu & Kashmir — A steady trickle of civilian victims of pellet-gun injuries at the city hospital has lent credence to reports of unrest in the Valley, despite the Modi government’s insistence that Kashmir’s population has welcomed the decision to nullify Article 370, a constitutional provision that granted Jammu & Kashmir special status, and bifurcate the state.

The Indian government has deployed thousands of troops, arrested political leaders, severed phone lines, blacked out the internet, and shared carefully choreographed videos of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval meeting “locals”, in an attempt to control the narrative emerging from Kashmir.

However, a visit to the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMSH) in downtown Srinagar, wire reports and accounts in Indian and international publications suggest that Kashmir is witnessing civilian protests that are violently suppressed by pellet-gun wielding paramilitary forces, often at the cost of injuring bystanders.

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The total communication lockdown has made it hard to establish the exact sequence of events, but a Reutersreport dated August 8 2019 quoted two unnamed officials, who said there had been sporadic protests.

At the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, this reporter met seven men and one woman who had been injured by pellets. Patients at the hospital said they had witnessed a protest at Nowhatta locality in downtown Srinagar, where security forces fired on protestors using pellet guns. 

A doctor at the hospital said they had attended to approximately 40 pellet victims in the past three days. However, this number could not be independently verified.

In the ophthalmology ward, 31-year-old Rafia Bano lay on a bed, her eyes puffy from a pellet that had hit her in the face. “God, save her eyesight,” said her mother, Mehmooda Akhtar. “She has a baby to look after.”

“I was in my courtyard when they fired pellet on me,” Rafia said. “I felt my eyes burning as if someone had set them on fire.”

In the men’s section of the ward, a young man who declined to share his name said he was visiting a friend in Nowhatta when he was caught in a protest, and was hit in the face with pellets fired by security forces.

An attending doctor said the young man had lost vision in his right eye, while his left eye was partially damaged and was still embedded with pellet fragments. 

In a report dated August 9 2019, Al Jazeera documented the case of Asrar Khan, a class 11 schoolboy, who was hit by pellets and is currently under sedation at the hospital, fighting for his life.

“He has suffered serious head injuries and our priority right now is to save his life,” a hospital official told Al Jazeera.

Given the information blackout in Kashmir, HuffPost India will update this story as more information is available.

NEW DELHI—The Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government should have handed over relief and rescue work relating to the flood affected people to the Indian Army as the National Disaster Response Force teams were inadequate in number considering the extent of flooding, said Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar on Friday.

“It doesn’t look like the situation is in the administration’s control,” claimed Wadettiwar over the phone while speaking with HuffPost India.  “Teams of the National Disaster Response Force are working but seem inadequate. Given the wide extent of flooding, the Army should have been called in to lead the relief and rescue operations. This could have reduced damage.” 

Three districts of Maharashtra —Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli—have been affected by floods. Reports suggest Kolhapur is the worst affected as the city and villages around it continue to be submerged under water. Wadettiwar spoke with HuffPost India while he was touring Kolhapur and Satara districts on Friday. 

“People are still stuck in the villages. Just one village near Kolhapur had 2000 residents stranded. There is a shortage of boats despite supplies arranged by the NDRF as well as those privately arranged for by people themselves. The damage is big enough for this to be declared a national calamity,” said Wadettiwar.  

The Vidarbha MLA said, while he was travelling in the two districts, he heard from people that at least a 100 people may be dead and the state government was underreporting the actual numbers. 

This claim could not be independently ascertained. The NDRF’s Maharashtra battalion could not be reached for a response. The Maharashtra government has said 27 people died due to flooding.  

Drawing from his visit to the near most accessible village to the Kolhapur city, Wadettiwar claimed, “I could visit till Shiroli village, which was about 11 km Kolhapur. Water with a depth of more than 5 feet could be seen on the highway leading to Kolhapur. Rains are continuing and it is unclear when they will stop. Villages are submerged under water.” 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is reported to have blamed excess rainfall for the unusually severe flooding in Kolhapur. “From June to August, Kolhapur has received more than 104% of normal rainfall,” he said. 

But the Leader of Opposition Wadettiwar blamed “apathy” in the state administration for its “failure” to remain alert to the possibility of flooding. He also said the promised discharge of 5 lakh cusecs water from Karnataka’s Almatti dam to tame floods in Kolhapur did not seem to have happened when he visited the region, either. “Had that been done, flood waters would have receded. Instead, I saw that water in Satara appeared to be growing,” he said.  

When the Indian government issued an advisory asking Amarnath pilgrims to leave citing a ‘terror threat’ a week ago — an advisory which was later learnt to be a lie — Sheikh Ashiq, the president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry held a press conference and demanded to know what measures were being taken for Kashmir’s indigenous population.

As a prominent face in Kashmir’s business community, Ashiq was familiar with various government functionaries but nobody knew, and more importantly, nobody spoke.

It struck him as strange.

“Even in my wildest dreams, I could not imagine something like this could happen, that they would lock the state up, literally and impose its wishes,” Ashiq, who travelled to Delhi three days after the clampdown, told HuffPost India. Ashiq owns carpet export and tourism businesses in Kashmir.

Yesterday, when Narendra Modi addressed the nation, his faithfuls trended #KashmirWithModi on Twitter even as internet, phone and landline remained suspended in Kashmir. In his speech, the Prime Minister said that the move to abrogate Article 370, scrap Kashmir’s special status and cancel its statehood was done in mind to improve the region’s economy, invite investment and increase jobs for the youth.

For businessmen in Kashmir, it’s a difficult promise to believe as a state under complete clampdown is probably the last sign of a promising economy.

Excerpts from an interview with Ashiq, where he explained why the government’s statements and actions on ground seem contradictory.

One of the reasons the government has said they decided to abrogate Article 370 is because it would improve the region’s economy. Do you believe that?

(Laughs) Is that the only reason they did that?

I think the reason they did this thing is because it was on their election manifesto. They are just fulfilling the promises they made to people.

Which people?

Definitely not Kashmiri people.

Uday Kotak has called for an investor’s summit after Article 370 was abrogated and companies like Amul and Lemon Tree hotels have apparently showed interested. What does that mean to you?

I don’t know why it is being said in the media that talks of big companies investing in Kashmir has begun after this Article 370 thing happened, or that the plan for an investor’s meet is being done now.

This has been in the works for the past 5-6 months and as the head of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries, I was a part of it.

I have a whole bunch of documents with details about the investor’s meet that the commerce and industries department of the government had been planning for a while now with us and Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Organisation.

 Satyapal Malik, who has the governor ― is he the lieutenant governor now? — had also announced the meet. They were in talks with us and we had assured them complete support.

Who doesn’t want a prosperous economy? We all want it and we were working towards it as well. In fact, a few months back, we had a delegation from the Tata Group which wanted to do a joint collaboration, we said we will provide every support we can.

So, yes, this is not new or so don’t know what all these announcements are about. I will be happy if they work out for everyone. But yes, this government’s Article 370 decision could not be about development I think.

What did the special status of Kashmir mean for the businesses of Kashmir, especially since are mostly small businesses and not big industries?

The special status protected small businesses in Kashmir, to be very honest. It was like a guard to the local industry. It’s very simple actually, be it networking, be it finance, be it distribution, be it competition, local businesses can’t stand in front of big business with country-wide infrastructure. Initially, with the special status, big businesses would have to do joint ventures mostly and in that locals stood to gain and also, production remained with the local businesses in most cases. Now that is no more necessary. Under the old laws, we were not under the purview of GST and things which affected a lot of small business, now we will have to bear the brunt of that too. Small businesses with lose ground to big corporations.

Will it generate more jobs for the region? However, there is the fact that unemployment is at a 45-year-high under the Modi government. Are you optimistic?

What will I say? We need peace and assurance in the region before even begin to talk about these things. Here we are talking about businesses and the labourers who were here to work have all fled in the last two-three days. Common people fear all kinds of backlash and anger. I think they were also issued an advisory and asked to leave. How will the work that was happening, now even continue?

The government has said that economy is Kashmir was suffering due to its special status and this move will open up investments, boost businesses and economy.

Sometimes they say we are doing good, sometimes they say, when convenient that we are doing bad. Now, the economy was suffering, there was no denying that. But why was it suffering?

It was suffering because of the perception that Kashmir is not safe, there is no ‘normalcy’ in Kashmir, we are always in a state of conflict.

Now, look at what’s happening right now? How will we prosper when the situation is very far from being normal in the state. We don’t have working landlines, internet and mobile phones and how can I explain how this will be good for any business?

We will have to wait and see what happens, but right now, Kashmir is suffocated, Kashmiris are suffocated. We have a right to speak but we have been denied that ―you can barely hear what Kashmiris have to say about all this, because everyone is gagged.

If I had not travelled out to Delhi, would I be able to speak to you? I wouldn’t. How does anyone know how small businesses feel at this moment?

You were in Kashmir when this happened and yesterday you were in Delhi when Narendra Modi delivered his speech about the benefits of his government’s move. Can you explain what you felt, knowing what is happening on the ground?

How many Kashmiris, who are in Kashmir have you heard from? They are under a siege. How would you feel if the government asked you to go back to your house and stay there and not come out? That is what is happening in Kashmir. There is a curfew for so many days.

Why are you only listening to outsiders saying things about Kashmir? Is it because Kashmiris are happy with the government’s decision and decided to stay at home, not come out and speak and celebrate in silence? (laughs)

We are talking about development and I am hearing, businessmen, politicians, civil society members, artistes are all being put under preventive arrest. Why?

Because they can speak and their voices matter and will paint a true picture of Kashmir? Let us at least speak and then if you find it offensive, arrest us. But we have a right to speak, speaking up is not a sin!

I just got calls from people, who like me, travelled out of Kashmir that a Kashmiri businessman has been arrested and his wife is sick from crying and fear. Now, look at our condition, we cannot even find out if our colleague is safe and this news is true or not.

Farooq Abdullah and people always tried to act as a bridge between Kashmir and India, and we appreciated that, and he was crying on national television. Crying. Maybe, he now thinks he misjudged and made a mistake.

As someone who a lot of businessmen will probably turn for guidance at the moment, what are your priorities?

Just before I came, a friend who is a diabetic couldn’t access medicines or go to the hospital to get supplies because of the curfew. It was frightening, we tried for a whole day and he went without a few dosages after we were finally allowed to the place where we could buy medicines.

What are people’s priorities as businessmen now? They will say, ‘These days we are only talking about saving our lives.. Forget business.’ 

I will also say that, let us survive first, then we will talk about the economy.

There was a lot of chatter about people wanting to buy land in Kashmir. How will that affect local businesses?

I mean, people get to know land is available in moon and in two days they start talking about buying land there. It’s like that.

Say you are a businessman from Delhi and want to invest in Kashmir. What will you want? Chances of the economy to grow, for which you need peace. Where is that peace and normalcy?

The government should have thought 100 times before imposing its wishes without a dialogue. They keep saying they did it for us. Then why is the whole of Kashmir under a blackout and not able to speak their mind?

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On Friday, a week after our interview at Mumbai’s Yash Raj studios, I was having a conversation with Ayushmann Khurrana over WhatsApp.

A few minutes later, the I&B ministry began announcing the National Film Awards, with Andhadhun winning the Best Hindi film award. I congratulated him. Minutes later, it was announced that Khurrana had won the Best Actor award, also for Andhadhun. “Dude, you got a National Award,” I wrote. He was confused. “Best Film na?” No, you won Best Actor, I excitedly said.

“WOW” And then “Okay.” And then a bunch of emojis. 

So Khurrana, who was the winner of the second season of the MTV reality show Roadies, is now a National Award winner with a successful acting career that’s only getting better.

“Today’s honour is a validation of my hard work,” he said, adding that he was proud of the ‘disruptive content’ that he was backing. “It’s my reason to be an actor.”

Having carved a space for himself as an actor who’s both affable and accessible, Khurrana is part of the new order in Bollywood, a wave of actors who are challenging the star system, dominated by legacy players, by infusing the industry with adventurous narratives. 

The power equations in the industry are changing and Khurrana, along with Vicky Kaushal and Rajkummar Rao, is leading the pack. The Khans, who always played it safe by enacting roles that conformed to traditional heteronormative narratives, are feeling the heat as the new generation dives into complex characters and progressive storylines involving everything from erectile dysfunction to sperm donation and feminist horror.

From a gay love story (Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan) to premature balding (Bala), Khurrana’s upcoming titles sound as radical as his previous films. But is pushing the status quo only restricted to films? 

In this interview, the actor speaks about the triumphs and failings of Article 15, the right-wing populism that’s consuming Bollywood and what stardom looks like from the top.

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From 2017 to now, you’ve had two solid releases a year and the consistency with which they’ve worked—critically and commercially—is astounding. This year, it would be three releases, which is a pretty stunning strike rate.

I used to do one film a year. The scripts that I’m getting now are pretty brilliant, I just don’t know how to say no to that? They are all good films, different films, radical films. However, post September, I won’t be shooting anything. I am planning to take a three-month break. I will have already finished two films that will come out in 2020 (Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and Gulabo Sitabo)

But I’m guessing with the influx of great offers, there’s also a lot of trash that comes your way?

Of course. That is always going to come. At times, before going to the meeting, you know the film is going to be trash before the meeting.With your precious work, the credibility comes forth. Sometimes people just surprise you, even when their previous work is nothing. For example, just yesterday, I had three script narrations and to be honest, all of them were pretty good. But what do I do? You look out for brilliant stuff. Good doesn’t just cut it anymore.

A lot has been said about your penchant for choosing great stories. When someone gives you a script narration, are you responding to it emotionally or analytically?

Emotion. I listen to it as a consumer of the product, not as somebody who’s going to be a participant. When a writer or director is pitching me something, I take the seat of the audience. If I’ve had fun listening to it, chances are I’ll have fun doing it too.

How has the success of your past several films empowered you as an actor? Other than negotiating better pay, what are some of the ways in which you can harness your stardom?

Well, I feel I am now in a position where I can manoeuver and build a project. I can get a solid DoP (director of photography) or if I’m sold on the script, I can attach it to a good production house. That can happen. With my upcoming film Bala, it was me who took the project to Dinu (producer Dinesh Vijan). The story came from a writer based out of Kolkata. Rani, my ex-manager and RS Prasanna, the director of Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, separately called and told me about this guy from Kolkata who has a very different script for me. Once I heard the story, I approached Dinu, who in turn got Amar Kaushik (Stree) on board as a creative producer. Amar got so involved in the project while developing it that he said he wanted to direct it.

There is a plagiarism accusation against the film. An assistant director, Kamal Kant Chandra, has claimed that it was his idea.

He’s got these conspiracies going on. The case is in court. This isn’t the Kolkata guy, it’s another person saying it’s his story. But we aren’t worried at all because we’re clean. If you’re right and you know what you’re doing is right, then what’s to stress?

With 2-3 films every year, do you ever worry that the audience might get saturated with too much Ayushmann Khurrana or there isn’t such a thing?

Well, there’s a gap of at least 2-3 months between my two releases. A lot of people do 3 films a year, I normally do 2 but this is the first time I’m doing 3.
And the films I’m doing are based on different subjects and genres and that’s why they’re interesting. It’s not like I’m giving all 3 back to back. Saturation would happen if I’d be doing the same sort of films repeatedly.
If you offer something that starts a conversation, people will keep talking.

At a time when your peers’ careers took off (Ayushmann was launched the same year as Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra), you witnessed a lull post Vicky Donor. The want-to-do-3-films-a-year, does that come from a place to overcompensate and solidify your artistic footprint within a largely star-driven industry?

I remember that time. It was a period when I just wasn’t getting the films in the Vicky Donor mould. That film had created a benchmark—both for the audience and for myself—and I was desperately looking for great scripts. Back then, Vicky Donor was an anomaly. People weren’t even writing those kinds of films. There came a point when I was like, I can’t just sit at home and not do anything. I have to sign something. I was in that phase where I did 1 film a year, Nautanki Saala was 2013, Bewakoofiyan was 2014, Dum Laga Ke.. and Hawaizaada was 2015 and there was no release in 2016.

It was a great learning curve for me. I realised it was better for me to not do anything than to do bad films.

It’s remarkable in an industry with a 90% failure rate.

The other day my friend Atul Kasbekar told me that you’re like Rahul Dravid. You’re not Sachin. (Laughs) But I don’t know. You can’t be overconfident or cocky with your script choices. Anything can go wrong at any time. Whatever is relevant right now will not be so 5 years down the line. The idea is to trust your instincts.

Would you do a film that has an okay script but a great character?

I don’t think so. I did that before. I’ve gone through a phase where I was looking at the character and not the script. I wanted space, kind of like an elbow room as an actor to portray my acting skills. But nobody cares about that. People are not obsessed with you or to see you be different with every film. They just want to see a different story, not a different you. If the script and the film are good, you will be good. Not the other way round.

Unless you’re Salman Khan…

Exactly (Laughs).

Tell us about the motivations for picking up a subject like ‘Article 15’.

I was aware of casteism, but at the same time, I learned a lot while we were filming and also after the film’s release. I come from a protected environment. I’ve not undergone discrimination in life. While we were filming, I started reading about caste. I read a lot of B.R. Ambedkar and that really, really shook me as it brought in a different kind of awareness. It wasn’t the same as before. I knew of the problem but not nearly enough.

Which is an indication of your privilege as your privilege allows you to be ignorant of your caste.

Absolutely. At the same time, I read your review and some other pieces which had a contrarian viewpoint. I read your interview with Anubhav Sinha, post release too. And when I really think about it, I think you were right. It was seen through the eyes of a privileged guy and that has its own problems. At the same time, I feel the film also worked as an induction for the multiplex audience towards casteism. For a subject that hadn’t been explored, we can’t directly shift the proceedings to the 5th gear. Next film, I hope, could be about a hero from the Dalit community.

How did you process the criticism of the film having a Brahmin saviour complex?

Most millennials are like Ranjan. Privileged and ignorant about caste. So we thought having him would be a good way to enter the conversation around the subject. He’s a relatable guy. He will empower the downtrodden due to his position and there will be a next film where the society is prepared for more complex narratives. I’ve decided that after every 3-4 films, I should do a film like Article 15.

In my initial conversations with Anubhav, I told him how we should make a satire more than a dark film. That was my response after reading the first draft. But when he started writing it, he felt that it’s a hard-hitting subject and so should be treated as such. In our discussions, we were aware of the fact that the hero is Brahmin and that the villain is also an upper caste or a so-called upper caste.

A section of the Hindu community protested as their problem was the villain, who they thought was one of them. They don’t see that the hero too is one of them. They focus on the villain. So somewhere you have to neutralise that anger and release the film.

I’m just talking practically as someone who’s a mainstream actor. If this was an off-beat arty film where there wasn’t a mainstream actor, you would be showing it to people who are already converted.

Is ‘Article 370’ next?

I knew this was going to come (Laughs). But let’s see. After every 3-4 films there should be a film where there’s no commercial aspirations and you make a film that comes from a place of social responsibility. We never thought Article 15 would clock 65 crores at the box office. These numbers further incentivise you to do more of such films.

The saviour complex comes in sharp focus when it’s your character who rescues Pooja, the missing Dalit girl. It could’ve been Gaura or Jatav instead. This reinforces the same problematic dynamic the film is trying to critique—the Brahmin will brutalise the Dalit and will also rescue them.

When we were filming it, this thought didn’t occur to us. It was only when I read your review and some pieces by other people I realised that we could’ve probably gone that way. I’m still learning. I thought I was a socially aware citizen and socially active but this film and the response that has followed has taught me that I have a long way to go.

When we were shooting the sequence you mentioned, it was just about the lead protagonist rescuing someone. We never thought this could be an angle. We discovered certain optics later. We had discussions about it later as well about how we could’ve gone this route. We will do it in the future, if we do it again. Maybe we do it in a different way.

Which is what I mentioned to Anubhav Sinha in our interview. Had there been a Dalit writer on board or a co-director, there’s a good chance that they might have seen the problem with the narrative.

That’s a very good point and I fully agree. There had to be creative participation. You’re absolutely right about its importance. A friend of mine suggested the same thing. She said if I wanted to meet her boyfriend, who’s a Dalit and works in the industry. For some reason I couldn’t meet him but it would’ve been great to have involved him. Anubhav Sinha was in touch with a lot of people from the Dalit community so we thought we were on solid ground.

Teju Cole, a Nigerian-American author, says, “Those who are being helped ought to be consulted over the matters that concern them.” Ironically, that’s what happened a few days ago. Article 370 was abrogated without consulting or taking into account the people whose lives it exclusively affects.

I get what you’re saying. In a democracy, it’s very important to involve everybody, of course we’re making something about somebody, they have to be a part of it. As we are moving forward, I think I will see cinema in a different light if I have to make a film based on OBCs or Dalits or any marginalised minority. It’s not a bad first time. The experience has changed me as a person and I’d love to do another film in a different way on the same subject. Having said that, I think Article 15 is a great starting point.

Have you found any time to catch up on everything else that’s happening?

Movie wise? No yaar. I have hardly watched movies. In Lucknow, I was jamming with Lucknowi students, getting to know the crew members, having chai with the chaiwala at the tapri. I was close to reality.

Well, you are an actor, you plagiarise from reality for a living.

Yeah, because when you’re climbing up the success ladder, you get alienated from people. So the idea is to be there with the people to retain your vulnerability as an artist. As you succeed more and more, you lose that. And most of my characters thrive on their vulnerabilities so if I lose that, I’d have lost everything.

Tell me about Bala, how mad is that going to be?

I realise I’ve touched upon many taboo subjects such as erectile dysfunction and body shaming but this is the most common one. 40% of men suffer from it after the age of 30. It is more relatable, it is funny and light-hearted and at the same time, motivating. It is one of the toughest films for me because I was shooting in the peak of summer in Kanpur with 3 layers of prosthetics on my head. By the end of the day, the sweat used to pour out of my skull, it was quite taxing.

You spoke about the fear of losing touch with reality.

Every space nourishes you as an artist, could be your family space, your friend space or your all-boys gang space. But being a young parent nourishes because it makes you more empathetic and patient and makes you see life in a different spectrum because maybe guys your age haven’t seen that. It makes you more evolved as an artist because it’s showing something that others may not see.

In the past few years, we’ve seen massive polarisation in Bollywood. How do you negotiate the space where the politics has seeped into the personal—which it always is—but more divided now than ever.

As an artist, I’ve always been apolitical. Whatever I have to say, I say it through my art, through cinema. More than anything else, I firmly believe that there has to be a strong opposition in our country. Good governance can only happen if there’s a strong opposition. Right now there’s no strong opposition and this has happened for the first time in the history of our country. We need to strike that balance to begin with. What can we do now? As an artist you make art and send across messages, because that’s a full-time job. As an opinion leader, I fight for the voice of sanity.

Recently, a section of the artistic community wrote a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to act strictly on an epidemic of lynchings we’ve witnessed. Not a lot of mainstream actors were a part of that though.

I think lynching is lynching, whether a Hindu or Muslim is getting affected.

We should not colour that act with religion, that’s about it.

But when the violence is directed at a specific community, then it most certainly becomes a religious issue.

Like I said, there are extremists in both religions and both should be booked.

But if you have a Hindu nationalist party at the centre, it’s the minorities who are largely at the receiving end of violence.

As I said, we have to have a strong opposition for this.

And in the lack of one, don’t you think it becomes the responsibility of culture to become a dissenting force? Actors, writers, comedians, musicians—shouldn’t art’s very nature be to question establishment?

I am apolitical as a person. In Article 15, we dealt with an issue which is against caste system and caste system is part of our religious texts. So we’re condemning that. As artists, we can probably condemn a particular practice in our society. Anything more than that is beyond my realm. Being a wise person, I know right from wrong (Laughs) You can have a certain belief system. But there has to be a voice of sanity which you can induce through your art and that’s what I’m doing.

In that regard, I think Article 15 is very anti-establishment. In the current context, it would mean anti right-wing. The right-wing thrives on ideas of Hindu supremacy which is coded in the caste system.

True. I was glad it got cleared by the censors without a single cut. We openly called out political parties towards the end of the film and despite that, it got cleared. We have certain heads at the censor board which are or align from a political party right but yet they cleared it. So maybe not the entire party is like that? There are still people who are compassionate. (Laughs) Okay, there are a few who are compassionate and who think about humanity over anything else.

But at times such as these, when majoritarian politics threatens to rip apart the fabric of our country, can you afford to be a fence-sitter, Ayushmann? Can you sit and watch and be indifferent to what’s happening?

Being apolitical means I’m not taking sides. I can only register dissent through my art. I cannot be vocal about my political beliefs.

Does that come from a culture of fear this regime has instilled within people?

It doesn’t come from fear. I’m probably too selfish as an artist. As an artist I believe that one should be like a clean canvas. I don’t wear the religious thread that I used to wear. I used to wear a kada when I started my career and thought that I should be areligious. I should not be known as somebody who belongs to a certain religion or a certain belief. Because whatever I’m portraying on screen shouldn’t be clouded by my off-screen beliefs. For example, if I’m a right-winger in real-life and I portray a left winger on screen it will be unbelievable. Nobody will buy it. So for me as an artist, that comes first and I’m too selfish as an artist to exhibit my political beliefs.

Would that mean would you not play somebody or would you play somebody who you don’t particularly ideologically align with?

You know I was playing somebody from shakha in Dum Laga Ke Haisha and in Article 15 I was playing left of centre. So I have played on both ends of the political spectrum. You get audience from both sides and well, the majority is on their side (laughs). You know that!

And this year’s elections prove it.

Majority is that side. I have my audience on both sides. Why do I have to express my political views?

Wouldn’t you agree that the films that you do are an extension of your world view? In Article 15, a very left liberal view comes across which you were playing more closely.

(Laughs and claps) Let it be, Mr. Pathak. You’ll take everything from me. You’ll see me play everything, every different genre, every character.

Even that of a bhakt (laughs)?

It will be very interesting and exciting at the same time.

Thank you so much for your time, I hope I didn’t traumatise you too much.

No, I was expecting this. (Laughs)

After mass shootings in El Paso, Texas,and Dayton, Ohio, killed 31 people in less than 24 hours, Walmart is ordering its stores to take down violent video game displays. Some Republicans ― including the US president ― have blamed video games for the bloodshed, despite no evidence that they influenced either attack.

“We’ve taken this action out of respect for the incidents of the past week, and this action does not reflect a long-term change in our video game assortment,” corporate spokesperson Tara House told HuffPost on Friday. “We are focused on assisting our associates and their families, as well as supporting the community, as we continue a thoughtful and thorough review of our policies.”

House did not elaborate on why Walmart is continuing to sell guns.

On Wednesday, an image circulated on social media of Walmart’s directive, which reads: “Immediate Action: Remove Signing and Displays Referencing Violence.”

The memo instructs stores to turn off video game display consoles showing graphic imagery, asking employees to focus in particular on Xbox and PlayStation units. Hunting season videos playing in the Sporting Goods section are also to be switched off, and signage “referencing combat or any third-person shooter video games” is to be removed.

On Saturday, a gunman killed 22 people at an El Paso Walmart. Police told The New York Times he posted a white supremacist manifesto online minutes before opening fire. The four-page hate-filled screed railed against “the Hispanic invasion of Texas,” referring to immigrants as “instigators” and warning against “race-mixing.”

Authorities are treating the case as domestic terrorism, and prosecutors will seek federal hate crime charges against the gunman.

On Sunday, another gunman opened fire in Dayton’s downtown district, leaving nine people dead and 27 injured. Police killed the shooter seconds into his rampage.

Though Walmart stopped selling assault rifles in 2015, it remains one of the nation’s largest retailers of guns and ammunition, a company spokesman told PolitiFact.

On Monday, President Donald Trump cited the accessibility of “gruesome and grisly video games” as an issue in the wake of the violence, rather than the widespread availability of firearms in America.

“It is too easy today for a troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence,” he said during a White House press conference. “We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”

Describing video games as the gateway to mass shootings has become a talking point for members of the GOP who have sought to divert attention from calls for gun control and outcry over the president’s history of xenophobic and racist rhetoric that critics fear is simply a dog whistle to white supremacists.

Studies on the potential link between video games and aggressive behavior have yielded mixed results, providing no absolute certainty that the pastime has substantial psychological impacts.

In February, Oxford University researchers reported that they “found no relationship between aggressive behaviour in teenagers and the amount of time spent playing violent video games.”

In 2016, Dr. Whitney DeCamp, a sociology professor at Western Michigan University, came to a similar conclusion, finding that “violent video games were a poor predictor of violent behavior.”

However, in 2015, the American Psychological Association stated that research showed “a direct association between violent video game use and aggressive outcomes.” The following year, the American Academy of Pediatrics cautioned that more than 400 studies had found “a significant association between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior.”

On 25 March 1971, soldiers of the 18th Panjabi, 22nd Pashtun, and 32nd Panjabi regiments of the Pakistan Army, along with several battalions, attacked the campus of Dhaka University, armed with tanks, automatic rifles, mortars and rocket launchers. By the end of the day, hundreds of students, teachers and staff members were murdered as part of the horrific Operation Searchlight that clamped down on the Bengali nationalist movement in East Pakistan, leaving at least 300,000 dead.

The army’s orders were not only restricted to the occupants of the university that had become a hotbed for intellectual and political activism in its 50-year-old existence. After the massacres, soldiers were ordered to destroy what was perceived as another threat: a generations-old banyan tree. A social hub for students and professors alike, it was under the shade of the “Bawt Tawla” that the Language Movement was born in the 1950s and where fevered plans for the birth of an independent Bangladesh were made. The symbol had to be destroyed. By the morning of 26 March, the massive tree lay in ruins.

Or so official records say. In Numair Choudhury’s imaginative, sprawling novel, Babu Bangladesh!, the story takes on a very different colour. Over the course of five days, the tree’s felling is stalled by a group of student freedom fighters and sympathetic soldiers of the Pakistani Army, and by the vast, invisible power of the banyan itself. It finally falls, its spirit broken, but not before multiple explosives fail to ignite, the army camp is inundated with poisonous snakes, perfectly-aimed tank missiles mysteriously miss the gargantuan tree and Pakistani officers have inexplicable psychological breakdowns.

A botanically-armedrebel group is however far from the singular focus of Choudhury’s wildly ambitious debut novel, which, over the course of five sections, sets out to chronicle the life of a political luminary and environmentalist who is simultaneously shrouded in mystery and celebrated or reviled (depending on whom you ask) in Bangladesh and the world over. But this fictional documentation of the life of Babu Abdul Majumdar, known later in his life simply as Babu or Babu Bangladesh, is also a vivid biography of a young country, born and raised in violence, fraying under the assault of corrupt governments, foreign intelligence agencies, religious fundamentalists and ruthless oligarchs.

Told from the year 2028, the novel is narrated by a coder who becomes obsessed with piecing together the puzzle that is Babu, once a sensation in his home country (and celebrated by the likes of Gayatri Spivak, Arundhati Roy and U2 internationally) but relegated to hazy memory since his disappearance in 2021. The real bonanza, our unnamed narrator tells us, is when providence hands him a collection of Babu’s personal diaries and essays, sparking a whirlwind journey to offer, at the very least, a “blurry likeness of his character”. Readers expecting a peek into the near future – a cursory glance at the news should tell us that a cautious decade at a time seems the most practical at the moment – should look elsewhere. Climate refugees, race wars, rampant environmental degradation and US President “Tulsi Harris” are fleetingly alluded to but Babu Bangladesh!’s intention is one that is almost trickier than divining the future – making sense of the past.

Through the course of the novel, our biographer affirms his dedication to write an account that neither excessively deifies the man at the centre of his story, nor unfairly vilifies him. This avowed determination to present the truth – rigorous verification of oral accounts, tracking down eyewitnesses, corroborating evidence – is easier said than done in a narrative that merges history, folklore, superstition, fact and fiction. “It must be admitted there is little separating the fantastic from the quotidian in Bangladesh,” the narrator says. 

In the audaciously conceptualised world of Babu Bangladesh!, a mysterious island is both a home for intelligent, tailed hominids possessed of great strength and skill, as well as a made-up location orchestrated out of thin air by corrupt naval chiefs for the misappropriation of funds; a Yazidi-origin bird-god helps our protagonist play a modern-day Robin Hood; and the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, the house of Parliament in Dhaka and one of the largest and most architecturally remarkable legislative complexes in the world has within its folds, pools, alcoves and atriums, the physical power to shape fortunes, influence decisions that fuel nations and in one stunningly-realised sequence, hold a group of terrorists in a state of listless suspension.

It is in the nooks of legendary architect Louis Kahn’s most iconic building that Babu first realises the existence of forces beyond his understanding, dictated by a complex and potent geomancy. He’s guided along this path by a secret group of mystagogues studying the powers of this sprawling concrete behemoth. It’s not the only time that a covert organisation of scholars shows up in the novel either as we inch closer to understanding what led to our protagonist’s sudden disappearance.

For a novel that is, at its surface, the unravelling of a mystery – both of a man and his vanishing act – Choudhury is in absolutely no rush getting there. Lengthy expositions make up a significant chunk of the book, not only on the political history of Bangladesh but also a blending of mythology, microbiology, evolutionary science, religious iconography and anthropology, to name a few disciplines, with footnotes to boot. They’re fascinating, meticulously detailed and admittedly, occasionally tedious. But to call them digressions would be to shortchange the vision of Babu Bangladesh!, a novel that demands more from its readers – a deep curiosity and a slow immersion in narratives that embrace the arcane, even if it comes with a small sacrifice of heart and pure playfulness.

As traces of Umberto Eco meet the hallowed traditions of South American magical realism in his novel, Choudhury adds a further layer of complexity by thumbing his nose at chronology. It’s a discomfiting but satisfying choice that foregrounds the priorities of his storytelling, some of which are pointed out by writer Amitava Kumar in a blurb for the book – “obsessive about truth, drunk on language and life” –  before going on to compare him to the renowned Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño.

Bolaño, while leaving behind a prolific body of writing, famously did not live to see the publication of his masterpiece, the novel 2666, published one year after his death. Apart from rich imaginativeness, it’s a commonality that the two writers share. 

In September 2018, on a visit to Kyoto to deliver a paper at a literary conference, Choudhury lost his footing while taking a late night walk by the Kamo river and drowned in the water. The writer was feverishly making final edits to his novel during that time, one that he had been working on for the last 15 years. Choudhury’s literary agent, Kanishka Gupta explained that Babu Bangladesh! was born during his PhD thesis at the University of Texas in Dallas and publishing was a big step for him. “He was a perfectionist,” Gupta recalled. “If he was alive, I’m sure he would still be working on the manuscript. He once told me he wanted to figure out a way in which the name of every country in the world could go into the book!”

While disillusioned by the elite literary gatekeepers of Bangladesh, as his friend and author Nadeem Zaman wrote in an obituary, Choudhury was nearing readiness to publish his carefully polished magnum opus in India. His sister discovered a final, reworked draft on his laptop months after his death, based on discussion with his publisher and so Babu Bangladesh! was born – a strange, brilliant work of erudition told in prose that sings and charms.

Yet even as the book neared completion, Gupta said Choudhury wanted to do more, wondering if he should include the 2018 student protests in Dhaka as an additional chapter. It’s a hint of what finally animates Choudhury’s novel – a quest for justice. The figure that it ostensibly revolves around remains largely shadowy even at the end, our biographer unable to completely bring him to light (a warning he issues us at the very start). Yet Babu, for all his legendary standing, is not a strikingly revolutionary figure. What he wants to fight for are the “simple things about Bangladesh that made him most happy: its vegetal abundance, its colourful animal kingdom, and diversity of religions, cultures and peoples – all of which were rapidly disappearing.”

Keenly tuned to a country (by no means the only one) unable to secure these “simple things”, Choudhury, from the vantage point of the future, perhaps turns to “alternative narratives”, “indigenous superstitions” and “enchanted and inexplicable byroads” to right these wrongs. When scientific and corporate greed threatens to overrun the home of amphibian-hominids, they call on the waters to submerge their island. When military oligarchs tear into their land, the women of Madhupur use all powers at their disposal to have their champion elected and when the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, built to house a government that is supposed to uphold constitutional equality and secular values, witnesses gross injustice, perhaps it is able to summon from the depth of its alcoves, the potential for change.

At the end of his novel, one step ahead of the reader, Choudhury, predicts the effects of the disorienting ride that has come to its conclusion. “There will be much to consider, much to reconsider, rearrange and to file away for future returns. To measure the past, even if it does not wholly belong to us is a tedious thing,” his departing narrator says. “If we are able to bear these most harrowing of reckonings, we will be rewarded with new growths, and peace and light.”

Pakistan has suspended the Lahore-Delhi friendship bus service, after suspending two cross-border trains, in the wake of India’s decision revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcating the state into two Union Territories, a senior Pakistani minister has said.

The bus service was first started in February 1999 but suspended after the 2001 Parliament attack. It was restarted in July 2003.

The move is in line with the decisions taken during a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) held on Wednesday, Pakistan Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed said.

“In line with the decisions of NSC, Pak-India bus service is suspended,” Saeed tweeted on Friday.

The Lahore-Delhi bus service is operated from Ambedkar Stadium terminal near Delhi Gate. DTC buses ply every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) buses every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, from Delhi to Lahore.

For the return trip, DTC buses leave Lahore every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday whereas the PTDC buses are available every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Earlier, Pakistan Minister of Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad had announced on Friday that it will suspend the Thar Express train service with India which links the two countries across the Rajasthan border, a day after it stopped the Samjhauta Express following its decision to downgrade bilateral ties.

Rasheed announced to suspend the services of Thar Express and said that the last train would leave for India late Friday night, the official APP news agency reported.

The Thar Express has been running between Jodhpur’s Bhagat ki Kothi station to Karachi every Friday night since services resumed on February 18, 2006, after a 41-year suspension.

He said the 133 km new track was built with the cost of Rs 13 billion for Thar Express and now the track would be used for Thar coal project.

On Thursday, Pakistan suspended the Samjhauta Express train service with India.

Rasheed said that the train service will not operate till he is the Railways minister and the bogies of the train will now be used for passengers traveling on the occasion of Eid.

The Samjhauta Express, named after the Hindi word for “agreement”, comprises six sleeper coaches and an AC 3-tier coach. The train service was started on July 22, 1976, under the Simla Agreement that settled the 1971 war between the two nations.

On the Indian side, the train runs from Delhi to Attari and from Lahore to Wagah on the Pakistan side.

Pakistan’s decision to suspend the services of the two trains came after it expelled Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria on Wednesday and decided to downgrade the diplomatic ties with India over what it called New Delhi’s “unilateral and illegal” move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

India on Monday revoked Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories ― Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The Jodhpur-Karachi Thar Express left Bhagat ki Kothi station at its scheduled time at 1 am Saturday, officials said, amid apprehension that its run may end a few hours later at Munabao, the last station on the Indian side of the border.

On Friday, Pakistan’s Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed announced in Islamabad that this would be the last Jodhpur-Karachi train.

But as the passengers got aboard the train at Jodhpur’s Bhagat ki Kothi station, there were concerns that the journey could even end at Munabao in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, the border station it was scheduled to reach at 7 am.

“The train departed with 165 passengers as per its schedule at 1.00 a.m. after the due formalities. There was no message till its departure about cancellation of the train,” said Gopal Sharma, divisional PRO of the Jodhpur Division of the North Western Railway zone.

Among the 165 passengers, 81 are Indians, who are visiting their relatives in Pakistan. Eighty-four Pakistan nationals are returning to their country after completion of their visa limit in India, he said.

The Thar Express has been running between Jodhpur and Pakistan’s Karachi every Friday night since services resumed on February 18, 2006 after a 41-year suspension.

Pakistan announced the suspension of the Thar Express and the Samjhauta Express following its decision to downgrade bilateral ties after India revoked the special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.

At the station, Roshan Bibi (51), who acquired Indian citizenship about three months ago, waited to begin the journey that would allow her to see her sick daughter Sana Yasser.

“I am not sure now whether I would be able to see her or not,” she said. Her married daughter is in Karachi.

Kaneeza Bi from Indore worried whether the gifts she had bought for her niece would go waste.

“I spent a week in Delhi to get the visa, purchased the gifts for my niece’s wedding. I was very happy yesterday. But today I am not sure whether I would be able to attend the wedding of my niece or not,” she said.

Boarding for the Pakistan-bound passengers began at 9 pm Friday, about four hours before the train’s scheduled departure from Jodhpur.

On Thursday, Pakistan’s Federal Railways Minister Ahmed told the media in Islamabad that the Samjhauta Express train has been suspended. On Friday, he made a similar announcement on the train across the Rajasthan border.

But Indian Railways officials said they had no information on it from the neighboring country.

The Samjhauta Express was held up at Wagah on Thursday for some time by Pakistan authorities, citing security concerns. An Indian locomotive then brought the train to its side of the border.

Since its resumption in 2006, the Thar Express has been popular with people visiting families across the Rajasthan border, and for Pakistani Hindus who plan to migrate to India.

According to one estimate, over four lakh passengers have taken the train in the past 13 years.

Though the Samjhauta Express was briefly suspended after the Indian Air Force struck a terror base in Pakistan’s Balakot in February, the Thar Express continued unaffected.

Hindu Singh Sodha, president of the Seemant Lok Sangthan, said it would be unfortunate if the train falls victim to the recent turn of events.

“The train has been an important medium of transportation for the people from the border areas of both nations for maintaining their relations since Partition,” he said.

In Islamabad, Railways Minister Ahmed was quoted as saying, “As long as I am the Railways Minister, the services of Thar and Samjhauta Express would remain suspended.” 

Pakistan’s decision to suspend the services of the two trains came after it expelled Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria on Wednesday, downgrading diplomatic ties over what it called New Delhi’s “unilateral and illegal” move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Russia has backed India’s move on Jammu and Kashmir, saying that the changes in the status are within the framework of the Indian Constitution and hoped that the differences between India and Pakistan are resolved bilaterally on the basis of the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration. 

India on Monday revoked Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories ― Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

“Moscow expects that India and Pakistan will not allow aggravation of the situation in the region due to the change by Delhi in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in a response to questions on Friday.

“We proceed from fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its division into two union territories are carried out within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India,” the ministry said.

“We hope that the parties involved will not allow a new aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of the decisions.” 

Russia is a consistent supporter of the normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan.

“We hope that the differences between them will be resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Simla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999,” it added.

Former Union minister Arun Jaitley, who has been admitted to the AIIMS Delhi after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness, is stable and responding to treatment, the Vice President’s office said on Saturday after Venkaiah Naidu visited the hospital.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to enquire about his former cabinet colleague’s health on Saturday.

“The doctors informed the Vice President that Shri Jaitley is responding to the treatment and his condition is stable. The Vice President also met Shri Jaitley’s family members who were present,” the Vice President’s secretariat tweeted.

Former finance minister Arun Jaitley was admitted to the AIIMS Intensive Care Unit on Friday morning after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness but doctors said he is “haemodynamically stable”.

A hemodynamically stable patient has a stable heart pump and good blood circulation.

A multidisciplinary team of doctors is supervising Jaitley’s treatment, the AIIMS said on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS for Health Ashwini Choubey, BJP working president J P Nadda and Loktantrik Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav among others visited the hospital on Friday to enquire about Jaitley’s health.

Authorities enforcing a strict curfew in Kashmir will bring in trucks of essential supplies for an Islamic festival next week, as the divided Himalayan region remained in a lockdown following India’s decision to strip it of its constitutional autonomy.

The indefinite 24-hour curfew was briefly eased on Friday for weekly Muslim prayers in some parts of Srinagar, the region’s main city, but thousands of residents are still forced to stay indoors with shops and most health clinics closed. All communications and the internet remain cut off.

Kashmir is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan and is divided between the archrivals. Rebels have been fighting New Delhi’s rule for decades in the Indian-controlled portion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir, as the state is known, that normalcy would gradually return and that the government was ensuring the current restrictions do not dampen the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha on Monday.

New Delhi rushed tens of thousands of additional soldiers to one of the world’s most militarized regions to prevent unrest and protests after Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government said Monday it was revoking Kashmir’s special constitutional status and downgrading its statehood. Modi said the move was necessary to free the region of “terrorism and separatism.“

The relaxing of the curfew in Srinagar was temporary, officials said. Friday prayers began at 12:37 p.m. and lasted for about 20 minutes, followed by protests in some parts of the city. Police used tear gas and pellets to fight back the protesters who gathered in their largest numbers since authorities clamped down and detained more than 500 political and separatist leaders.

Other stone-throwing incidents were reported from northern and southern parts of Kashmir.

Authorities were closely watching for any anti-India protests, which will determine a further easing of restrictions for the Eid holiday.

The top administrative official, Baseer Khan, said that essential commodities including food, grains and meat will be delivered to different parts of the region by Sunday.

In the meantime, most residents were waking up before dawn to get food and other supplies stockpiled by neighborhood shopkeepers and pharmacists inside their homes. Shortly after dawn, police and paramilitary soldiers swiftly occupy the roads and streets as part of the restrictions on movement.

While some easing on the movement and opening of shops is expected around Eid, officials are still holding reservations against restoring mobile and internet services. Some relaxation of curbs on landline communication, however, could be considered, they said.

Hundreds of migrant laborers from other Indian states also have fled in fear of unrest. Meanwhile, thousands of villagers living along the heavily militarized Line of Control dividing Pakistani and Indian-controlled Kashmir have migrated to safer places in fear of artillery fire exchanges between the rivals.

The United States on Friday said that there has been no change in its policy on Kashmir, as Washington continues to regard it as a territory disputed between India and Pakistan.

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus described Kashmir as “certainly an incredibly important issue” that the United States continued to “follow closely.“

In Islamabad on Friday, about 8,000 supporters of the Pakistani Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami marched toward the Indian Embassy to denounce New Delhi’s action on Kashmir. Hundreds of activists held similar peaceful rallies across Pakistan.

Pakistan says it is considering a proposal to approach the International Court of Justice over India’s action. It also has downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi, expelled the Indian ambassador and suspended trade, train and bus services with India.

India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar asked Pakistan to reconsider its decision, but he also said it should accept the reality and “stop interfering in internal affairs of other countries.”

As the Congress Working Committee began consultations on Saturday to find its next president, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and outgoing party head Rahul Gandhi left the meeting midway, saying they couldn’t be part of the process.

“We cannot be part of this process,” Sonia Gandhi said after she recused herself from the deliberations.

Rahul Gandhi left soon after, saying he would be visiting his parliamentary constituency Wayanad in Kerala, which is currently ravaged by heavy rains.

Sonia Gandhi said her name was included by default in the region-wise committees formed for wider consultations on selecting a new party chief.

The CWC has decided to have consultations with leaders from across the country and the party’s top decision-making body then was divided into five groups for different regions ― northeast, east, north, west and south.

Rahul Gandhi, while resigning as the party president on May 25, had asked the CWC to elect a president from outside his family. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is a Congress general secretary.

The National Conference on Saturday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Presidential Order on Article 370 that revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

The petition filed by NC leaders Mohammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi sought a direction from the apex court to declare the Presidential Order relating to Article 370 as “unconstitutional, void and inoperative” in Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC also sought to declare the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 as “unconstitutional”.

The Congress Working Committee on Saturday again urged Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his decision to quit as party chief and said it was yet to take a final call on his resignation.

The CWC unanimously appealed to Gandhi to lead the party, saying he was the best person for the top post at the time when the BJP-led government was “assaulting democracy and undermining people’s rights”.

After Gandhi refused to reconsider his decision, the CWC began consultations on finding his successor under five regional sub-groups led by younger leaders.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the CWC will meet again during the day to discuss the reports of the sub-groups and take a call on Rahul Gandhi’s resignation by evening.

“The CWC will meet again this evening to take a call on the reports of CWC sub-groups. There was a sense that the situation of impasse on Congress leadership should be resolved as soon as possible. Therefore it was felt that the CWC should meet again this evening and take a call on the issue,” Surjewala said.

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell overnight Saturday, according to multiple reports.

The multimillionaire financier, who was awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking underage girls, died from apparent suicide at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. He was 66.

Epstein was last month found semiconscious in his cell, with marks on his neck. Prison officials treated it as a possible attempted suicide, a law enforcement official told The New York Times at the time.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of resources.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Saturday sought deferment of the upcoming Assembly polls, due in September-October, to the next year citing the large scale devastation caused by floods in the western region of the state.

Observing that it would take time to restore normalcy in the flood-hit districts, Thackeray has sought the intervention of the Election Commission to postpone the elections.

“I would also write to the poll panel on the issue,” he told reporters.

The Opposition has been accusing the state government of inept handling of the flood situation.

“The situation there (in Western Maharashtra) is unlikely to be brought under control until October given the large scale devastation. The code of conduct will come into force in September and the government will stop the relief work citing the same. So it is better to postpone the polls to the next year,” Thackeray said.

Observing that lakhs of people in Kolhapur and Sangli districts have lost the shelter, the MNS chief has expressed fear of breaking out of an epidemic once the water levels recede. “It will take more time to restore normalcy there,” he said.

He accused the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena of being “ruthless” towards the plight of people and “occupied with politics”.

Thackeray, who has been backing the Congress and the NCP on various issues against the ruling NDA, also accused the government of not providing adequate assistance to flood victims.

The MNS, which has witnessed a huge slide in popularity from once sending 13 MLAs to the Assembly to no representation, has been struggling to stay afloat in the state politics.

Apparently referring to the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, Thackeray alleged while the ruling BJP can spend Rs 3,000 crore on constructing a statue but it cannot extend adequate relief to save the lives of the people in Maharashtra.

“The Army should have been approached earlier to take charge of the largescale rescue works (in Sangli and Kolhapur). But they (the BJP and Shiv Sena) had no time from their ‘yatras’ (campaigns) and politics to think on this line,” he said.

Heavy rains have triggered floods in the rivers flowing in the western Maharashtra region, affecting districts of Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune, and Solapur.

Over four lakh people have been evacuated so far from the flood-hit areas, mostly from Kolhapur and Sangli, apart from Satara, Ratnagiri, Sindgudurg, Raigad, Thane, Nashik and Palghar districts.

The death toll due to floods in the districts of Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune, and Solapur stood at 29 till Friday.

Though the flood situation in Kolhapur and Sangli districts showed signs of improvement on Saturday as water started to recede, it would take at least two to three days before water could be discharged completely from these districts, according to officials.

PUNE, Maharashtra: Twenty-nine people have died, 11 are missing and close to 3 lakh people have been relocated to relief camps due to floods caused by heavy rains in Western Maharashtra over the past five days, but BJP politicians seem far more interested in taking selfies and enjoying boat rides in flood-affected areas than helping people.

Girish Mahajan, senior BJP leader and water resource minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government, was seen smiling, waving and enjoying a boat ride during his “stock-taking” tour of Kolhapur district in a video which has now gone viral on social media.

And it’s not just him. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has already faced the opposition’s flak for continuing his “Mahajanadesh Yatra” in Vidarbha despite West Maharashtra battling floods. The CM eventually suspended his yatra for two days.

Three districts in western Maharashtra—Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara—are the worst-affected districts due to incessant rains in the past week, which filled dams in the area to their full capacity, necessitating the release of water, which resulted in the inundation in plains areas.

All roads to Kolhapur have been closed and around 17,000 vehicles are stuck on the Pune-Bangalore highway, said Deepak Maiskar, the divisional commissioner of Pune.  

“Thousands of people remain stranded in Kolhapur and Sangli district. Luckily, there was no rain today and yesterday, which has helped water level recede and we could provide food packets through choppers. Over 285,261 people have been relocated to 265 relief camps in both these districts,” Maiskar said in a press conference.

Girish Mahajan could not be contacted for his reaction as his personal secretary, Nishkant Deshpande, did not answer calls from HuffPost India.

However, the minister faced flak from opposition parties for his “disaster tourism”.

“This is insensitivity of the utmost level. The government is not serious at all. The entire rescue operation is being delayed. People are not getting help but boats meant to be used for rescue operations are being used for clicking selfies. They are doing everything for publicity. This is disaster tourism in the name of disaster management,” alleged NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik.

Kerala and Karnataka were facing a grim situation on Saturday due to floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains that have left 54 people dead in the last couple of days and disrupted normal life, while 19 people lost their lives in Gujarat since Friday evening in rain-related incidents.

Rescue operations were also underway in deluge-hit parts of Maharashtra, where 29 people have died, to move stranded people to safer locations.

Nearly 1.25 lakh people have been displaced in Kerala including nearly 25,000 each in worst-hit Wayanad and Kozhikode. Forty-two people died in rain-related incidents with 80 landslides in eight districts of Kerala since August 8, officials said.

Many people are still feared trapped under debris following major landslides in Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Meppadi in Wayanad.

A red alert for rainfall has been issued in eight districts of Ernakulam, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod.

One of the four shutters of the Banasurasagar dam, located about 21 km from Kalpetta in Wayanad, one of the worst affected districts, was opened at 3 pm to discharge excess water and people on the banks of the Kabini river have been asked to be cautious.

Banasurasagar, one of the largest earth dams in India and the second largest of its kind in Asia, impounds the Karamanathodu tributary of the Kabini River.

Across the state, 1,24,464 people have been shifted to 1,111 relief camps, including 25,0028 in Kozhikode and 24,990 in Wayanad, the officials said.

As rescue operations were on in Kavalappara, another landslide occurred in the region on Saturday due to which search operations have been halted.

The continuous rains have triggered multiple landslides and overflowing rivers have caused flooding in several parts of Malappuram, Kannur, Idukki, Palakkad, Chalakudy in Thrissur and Kasaragod districts.

Several trains have been cancelled and flight operations from the Kochi international airport, which had been suspended following inundation, will resume at noon on Sunday, an airport official said.

In Karnataka, 12 people have died so far in rain-related incidents in the state.

Besides Belagavi, the affected districts are Bagaklote, Vijayapura, Raichur, Yadgir, Gadag, Uttara Kannada, Haveri, Hubballi-Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, and Kodagu.

The backwaters of Tungabhadra flooded parts of Davangere district blocking many roads.

Landslides were reported near Maranahalli in Sakaleshpur, said official sources.

The entire Pane Mangaluru village in Dakshina Kannada district was inundated by the swollen Netravati river, they said.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa asked people of the state not to worry as relief measures were his government’s top priority.

The flood situation in Kolhapur and Sangli districts in western Maharashtra showed signs of improvement as water started to recede from inundated areas, officials said.

Three more bodies were recovered in the boat capsize incident that took place on Thursday near Brahmanal village in Palus tehsil of Sangli district during the flood rescue operations.

Nine persons had drowned and as many others had gone missing in the incident.

With the recovery of three more bodies, the death toll in the incident has gone up to 12.

A total of 26 Navy teams with 110 personnel and 26 boats have been deployed in Kolhapur and Sangli districts. They will continue to remain stationed in the area till the flood situation improves, a defence statement said.

Additional 15 teams of the Navy from Visakhapatnam will reach Kolhapur by Saturday afternoon to assist in the rescue operation, a defence spokesperson said.

At present, there are 14 Navy teams in Kolhapur district and 12 in Sangli helping the state administration in evacuating the flood-hit areas, the official said.