Tag: human rights

Hindu College history professor booked for post on Gyanvapi ‘Shivling’ / Teachers, students demand immediate release of associate professor Ratan Lal

A Delhi University professor has been booked for an allegedly objectionable social media post on the claims of a ‘Shivling’ being found at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. Ratan Lal, an associate professor of history at the Hindu College, has been booked under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion,… Read More Hindu College history professor booked for post on Gyanvapi ‘Shivling’ / Teachers, students demand immediate release of associate professor Ratan Lal

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Coffin carrying veteran journalist's body shown falling as Israeli police beat mourners with batons / Shireen Abu Aqleh: press freedom under attack

There was unrest in Jerusalem Friday as thousands attended the burial of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead two days earlier while reporting on a military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin. Mourners had marched from Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate to Mount Zion cemetery. They were met with violence at the St.… Read More Coffin carrying veteran journalist's body shown falling as Israeli police beat mourners with batons / Shireen Abu Aqleh: press freedom under attack

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P. B. Mehta: With eyes wide open, we’re hurtling into an abyss / In Jahangirpuri, bulldozers leave trail of despair

 Anyone who has ever genuinely immersed themselves in Ramcharitmanas will recognise the singular poignancy of one moment in the Sundarkand where Hanuman meets Sita. Until that point the story is hurtling towards disaster. Sita has been abducted. Ram is distraught and unsure of himself. But the moment Hanuman meets Sita is the point at which… Read More P. B. Mehta: With eyes wide open, we’re hurtling into an abyss / In Jahangirpuri, bulldozers leave trail of despair

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Under Myanmar’s junta, art has become an act of resistance

A bold new exhibition by a young Myanmar artist challenges people not to turn away from dead babies and brutalised women in conflict zones overlooked by the world’s media. The London show, ‘Please Enjoy Our Tragedies’, is by Sai, a multimedia artist who blocks out his last name for security reasons. Some of Sai’s work will… Read More Under Myanmar’s junta, art has become an act of resistance

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The latest UN report blasts Israeli apartheid re: Palestinians, Demands Countries Take Action

UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk has issued one of his strongest condemnations yet of Israeli apartheid in a report to the 49th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council for Agenda Item 7; the session which, claims Israel, singles it out unfairly. Referring to various statements, including those of former Israeli ministers and officials in state… Read More The latest UN report blasts Israeli apartheid re: Palestinians, Demands Countries Take Action

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More rights defenders murdered in 2021, with 138 activists killed just in Colombia

A Colombian conservationist who saved a rare species of parrot from extinction, a young feminist activist in Afghanistan, and two poets in Myanmar who used words to protest against the military coup were among 358 human rights defenders murdered in 35 countries last year, analysis has found.  The environmentalist Gonzalo Cardona Molina, 55; Frozan Safi, a 29-year-old Afghan economics… Read More More rights defenders murdered in 2021, with 138 activists killed just in Colombia

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‘Nobody can say anything’: China cracks down on dissent ahead of Olympics

A chill is blowing through Chinese civil society as activists, journalists and academics report receiving police warnings and censorship of their social media platforms in recent weeks as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics beginning on Friday. In mid-January, the Beijing-based human rights activist Hu Jia said in a tweet that China’s state security… Read More ‘Nobody can say anything’: China cracks down on dissent ahead of Olympics

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Increased repression and violence a sign of weakness, says Human Rights Watch

Increasingly repressive and violent acts against civilian protests by autocratic leaders and military regimes around the world are signs of their desperation and weakening grip on power, Human Rights Watch says in its annual assessment of human rights across the globe. In its world report 2022, the human rights organisation said autocratic leaders faced a significant… Read More Increased repression and violence a sign of weakness, says Human Rights Watch

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Eastern European countries adopting authoritarian measures in face of Covid

Europe’s political approach to the coronavirus pandemic has divided down stark east-west lines, a Guardian analysis has found. Five of 18 eastern European countries have registered major violations of international democratic freedoms since March 2020, according to research conducted by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute, compared with none of 12 western European countries. The research also… Read More Eastern European countries adopting authoritarian measures in face of Covid

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