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Tenth Emergency Special Session of UN: Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory

https://www.un.org/en/ga/sessions/emergency10th.shtml Links to the videos of the proccedings..

UN General Assembly adopts Gaza resolution calling for immediate & sustained humanitarian truce https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9wAZVTlAZM The United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza. It also demands “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of lifesaving supplies and services for civilians trapped inside the enclave, as news reports suggest Israel has expanded ground operations and intensified it bombing campaign

Human rights activist Tushar Gandhi talks about the erasure of his great-grandfather Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals, and how Hindutva has weakened the fabric of society  https://thefederal.com/category/features/tushar-gandhi-interview-dont-know-how-long-india-will-hold-together-99401

There is talk that Mahatma Gandhi is being erased. Do you agree? TG : What is being attempted is to erase the ideas of Gandhi: truth, ahimsa (non-violence), inclusiveness and equality. These are the cornerstones on which man has built civilisations. The hate campaign against him is systematically orchestrated and conducted. The government has created a Gandhi, which is convenient: the Gandhi of his spectacles and of cleanliness. They don’t want a Gandhi who is pointing a finger and saying, ‘You are wrong’. They have erased him from textbooks. But they are also erasing whole chunks of history, which is not acceptable to their viewpoint.

Do you detect a pervasive fear in your travels around the country?

I do. The liberal and secular-minded people feel they are in a minority. They are feeling intimidated. The minorities are always fearful. There is a concerted campaign to terrorise the Muslims and Christians: the mob-lynching, the economic boycotts, and hate speeches. They also target the lower castes.

The Bahujans, Adivasis and Dalits may be over 60 percent of the population, which is why the Centre does not want to conduct a national census.

India Charges Novelist Arundhati Roy Over a 2010 Speech https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/world/asia/arundhati-roy-kashmir.html  the government had approved charges against Ms. Roy and the Kashmiri law professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a move required for certain crimes in India. The two have been charged under several sections of Indian law, including offenses related to provocative speech and the promotion of enmity between different groups... The lieutenant governor of the Delhi region said the government had considered filing a more serious charge of sedition against Ms. Roy and Mr. Hussain in the case, which sprang from a complaint filed in October 2010 by a right-wing Kashmiri Hindu activist against speakers at a conference on Kashmir....

(In view of https://www.boomlive.in/law/supreme-court-sedition-law-section-124a-23033 Supreme Court Constitution Bench To Examine Validity Of Sedition Law By - Ritika Jain | 12 Sept 2023  the Supreme Court referred the batch of pleas challenging the validity of the sedition law to a Constitution Bench of “at least five judges”. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the bench would also decide if the top court’s 1962 verdict upholding the sedition law required reconsideration.

The Kedarnath Singh judgment was decided on a narrow understanding of fundamental rights that were prevalent at the time, the top court said. Sedition was examined only in the context of free speech, the bench further observed. Since then, several judgments have been passed which say Articles 14 (right against discrimination), 19 (free speech), and 21 (right to life) must operate in harmony, it added.

The action against a Booker Prize winner was the latest in a growing crackdown on free expression by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.