The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views
The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views |
| Pakistani killed in fresh clash with India in Kashmir Posted: 15 Feb 2013 07:56 AM PST  France's President Francois Hollande (L) speaks with the media as India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh looks on after the signing of agreements ceremony in New Delhi February 14, 2013. — Reuters pic The Pakistani army said one of its soldiers yesterday inadvertently strayed across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing the mountain territory. It said civilians had seen him being picked up and questioned by the Indian military, but that when the military commanders from both sides spoke by telephone today, the Indian commander said the Pakistani had been killed. "We condemn such an inhuman and brutal act of killing our soldier after he had identified himself and explained his position," the army said in a text message. "We have returned Indian soldiers in the past who have similarly strayed." But an Indian defence spokesman said there had been a firefight in the Rajouri district after two militants in combat dress crossed the LoC from Pakistan. He said one militant had been killed and an Indian soldier injured. "Our troops continuously tracked their movement and they were asked to surrender when they entered over 200 metres inside Indian territory," spokesman S.N. Acharya said. "They opened fire indiscriminately, to which our men retaliated, and in the exchange of fire one militant was killed." Last month, three Pakistani and two Indian soldiers were killed in a series of attacks along the LoC. India said the body of one of its slain soldiers had been decapitated, which provoked public outrage in India, and in uncharacteristically blunt language Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there could be "no business as usual" with Pakistan. Now both nuclear-armed, India and Pakistan have fought three wars since becoming independent from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. — Reuters |
| Islamists rally against violence in Egypt Posted: 15 Feb 2013 07:52 AM PST  Demonstrators, who support the Islamic Jama'a and the Muslim Brotherhood, chant slogans in support of Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi and the Islamic Shari'a around al-Nahda Square in front of Cairo University in Cairo February 15, 2013. — Reuters pic The "Together against Violence" rally was called by a hardline Salafi Islamist group that waged an armed revolt against the state in the 1990s. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, whose leadership renounced violence more than a decade ago, has entered mainstream politics since autocratic president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party said it backed Friday's rally in a symbolic way but did not mobilise supporters for the event, meaning the numbers were smaller than at previous Islamist protests. Around 60 people have been killed in Egypt since late January in unrest touched off by the anniversary of the uprising against Mubarak and exacerbated by a court ruling that sentenced 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster a year ago. It has been the worst bloodshed since Mursi assumed office, underlining the instability that continues to thwart government efforts to restore a sense of normalcy and revive an economy in crisis by attracting fresh investment and tourism. The unrest has been stirred by anger at Mursi and his Islamist backers, who the opposition says have betrayed the revolution and sought to monopolise power — accusations dismissed by the Muslim Brotherhood. Repeating the pattern of recent weeks, Mursi's opponents rallied again today, this time gathering outside El-Quba, one of the presidential palaces in the northern suburbs of Cairo. The activists dubbed it "Checkmate Friday". The protesters numbered several hundred by early afternoon. WARNING FROM CLERIC Recent protests have routinely turned violent, with government buildings, police stations and the presidential palace coming under fire from petrol bombs and rocks. But, "the person who came (to power) through ballot boxes will not leave by petrol bombs," said a cleric who led the crowd in Friday prayers as the rally got under way outside Cairo University. "He who came to power by direct, free choice will not leave by the rocks thrown by children." The crowd grew to several thousand after prayer. "No to Violence. Yes to sharia (Islamic law)," declared a banner held aloft from the crowd. "With our blood and souls we will sacrifice ourselves for Islam!" chanted the crowd. "The people want an iron fist," read another banner. Some people journeyed in from the provinces for the rally. At one point, the mother of Khaled al-Islambouli, one of the Islamists behind President Anwar Sadat's 1981 assassination, appeared on stage, drawing cheers as she waved to the crowd. "Mohamad Mursi is a legitimate leader who was elected by the will of the people," said Mohamad Omar, from Mansoura, north of the capital. He came on a bus chartered by al-Gama'a al-Islamiya. "The opposition's methods of violence, petrol bomb-throwing, igniting fires and causing destruction is not accepted by the Islamists," added Alaa Abdulwahab, a 45-year old who had travelled from Minya, a four-hour journey south of Cairo. Mursi's most prominent liberal and leftist opponents have distanced themselves from the violence, saying they support only peaceful agitation. Islamist leaders and their rivals all renounced violence at crisis talks on January 31 chaired by al-Azhar, a Sunni Muslim seat of religious learning. Islamist groups such as al-Gama'a al-Islamiya were repressed by Mubarak during his 30 years in power. But they have moved into the heart of public life since his fall, alarming secular-minded Egyptians who worry they aim to dominate the new Egypt. — Reuters |
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