Page 7 - Protest

Iran police fire tear gas at protests over Mahsa Amini's death in custody

Iranian police fired tear gas to disperse a protest in the western, mainly Kurdish city of Sanandaj, where hundreds rallied to decry the death of a young woman while in police custody in Tehran last week, reports said. The case of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained last Tuesday after Iran's so-called morality police found fault with her headscarf, or hijab, has set off a public outcry in the country, mainly on social media. Police said she died of a heart attack and have denied any allegations of torture or abuse. The semiofficial Fars news agency reported late Sunday that police also arrested several people from about 500 protesters who had gathered on Sunday at Azadi Square in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran's Kurdistan province. Fars said the protesters smashed car windows and set fire to street garbage cans. The agency's website carried a brief video showing scores of men and women protesting, claiming the police's explanation about Amini's death was not ...

Thousands march in Turkey to demand ban on LGBTQ associations, activities

An anti-LGBTQ group marched Sunday in Istanbul, demanding that LGBTQ associations be shuttered and their activities banned, in the largest demonstration of its kind in Turkey. Several thousand people joined the demonstration dubbed The Big Family Gathering. Kursat Mican, a speaker for the organisers, said they had gathered more than 150,000 signatures to demand a new law from Turkey's parliament that would ban what they called LGBTQ propaganda, which they say pervades Netflix, social media, arts and sports. Hatice Muge, who works as a nanny, came to the gathering from Bursa province. People are here despite the rain for their children, for future generations, she said, urging the Turkish government to take action. They should save the family, they should save the children from this filth." The group held banners that read: Protecting the family is a national security issue. LGBTQ parades have not been allowed in Turkey since 2015. Ahead of Sunday's demonstration, the organisers .

Protest at Chandigarh varsity as videos from girls' hostel leak; 1 arrested

Students of a private university in Punjab's Mohali held a protest on the campus after videos of several women students were posted on social media, police said Sunday. The protest was held on the university campus located at Ludhiana-Chandigarh road past midnight. The woman student who was involved in sharing the videos online has been apprehended. She had made videos of some women students and sent those to a youth in Shimla who allegedly uploaded those on social media, they said. Police said an investigation into the matter was underway. Punjab Minister for School Education Harjot Singh Bains asked the students of the university to stay calm and assured them that the guilty will not be spared. "It is a sensitive matter and concerns the dignity of our sisters and daughters. We all, including the media, should be very cautious. It is also a test of ours as a society," Bains said in a tweet.

Bilkis Bano case: Activists will march 180 kms to protest convicts release

A group of social activists will take out a 'padyatra' (foot march) from Randhikpur in Dahod district of Gujarat to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to protest the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. The 11 were released from a jail in Godhra on August 15 after they were granted remission by the Gujarat government. The activists will march under the banner of 'Hindu Muslim Ekta Samiti' and cover the 180-kilometre distance between September 26 and October 4, with social activist Sandeep Pandey and MLA Jignesh Mevani set to participate along with 25 others, organising committee member Kalim Siddique said. The release of the convicts is a matter of shame in a country that is identified the world over for its spirituality and the values and virtues of Mahatma Gandhi, the group said in a release. "It is a shame that Gujarat, which produced a global stalwart like Mahatma Gandhi, is silent today on people who have committed heinous crimes," it added. There was need to speak out

Kolkata streets turn into war zone as violence shrouds BJP's protest march

Roads around the 19th century iconic Howrah Station resembled a battleground on Tuesday with brickbats aimed at police personnel flying thick and fast, and drenched protesters hit by water cannons limping to the safety of nearby alleyways and shops. BJP agitators brought in by special trains for a protest march to the Bengal secretariat turned violent when they found roads leading to the state's seat of power barricaded by riot police. Dilip Biswas, 34, who had boarded one of the special trains to come to the metropolis from Andal, said, I never realised the protest march would turn into such a fierce combat... The police were relentless, while those in the crowd besides me were equally violent. I don't know who started throwing stones at the police, but after two officers went down like nine pins, they started firing water cannons, burst tear gas shells and lathicharged us. The protesters also hurled glass bottles at police personnel, while some of them were seen lifting tree logs

Govt insensitive to pain of common people, alleges Congress ahead of rally

The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of being "insensitive" to the pain of the common people due to rising prices and said it will continue fighting for their cause on the streets as the principal opposition. Speaking with the media ahead of the 'Mehngai par halla bol' rally of the party at the Ramlila Maidan here on Sunday, General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal hit out at the Modi government for its "wrong policies" and alleged it was busy "buying MLAs" and toppling Opposition governments. "This government is totally insensitive. You can compare the prices, from 2014 to 2022, how the prices of essential commodities have shot up," said Venugopal, flanked by Congress general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Maken at the Ramlila Maidan here. The Congress has been raising the issue on the streets, protested with a Black Day in August when several leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, courted arrest, and also pressed for a debate in Parliament on t

Protesters demand reopening of Sterlite Copper plant, submit memorandum

The urgency stemmed from more than 15,000 families losing their livelihood since the plant's closure. These also include the port workers, lorry drivers, contract labour workers and breadwinning women

Students, activists protest Bilkis Bano convicts release at Jantar Mantar

CPI-Marxist-Leninist-backed AISA and several other organisations on Saturday staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar against the release of 11 convicts by the Gujarat government in the Bilkis Bano case. The activists said that the decision to release the 11 convicts on 'remission' on August 15 was a slap on the constitutional values and secular fabric of the country. The protest was also joined by documentary filmmaker Gauhar Raza who recited Faiz Ahmed Faiz's nazm 'Chand Roz Aur'. "The pattern from Kathua to Unnao to Hathras and Gujarat is the same - rapists being shielded by the government," All India Students' Association (AISA) said in a statement. Kavita Krishnan, National Secretary of All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), said the early release of the convicts was actually a reward for their heinous acts, which was evident in their garlanding. "This was a signal to the voters of Gujarat that the government of Gujarat and BJP-RSS stands with the rapists and ...

TMC's women wing protests release of 11 convicts in Bilkis Bano case

Members of the TMC women's wing hit the streets across West Bengal on Friday, protesting against the release of 11 convicts in the 2002 case of Bilkis Bano's gangrape and murder of her family members. Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said releasing the convicts has set a dangerous precedent. "We are ashamed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about 'nari shakti' and giving respect to women. Yet, his party members in Gujarat allow the convicts of the heinous crime to be released," she said. Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning in 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven killed. The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail. The Trinamool Mahila Congress has been protesting since Thursday over a host of ..

BJP attacks Nitish govt over baton charge on protesting job aspirants

The baton charge on protesting teaching job aspirants in Patna on Monday gave BJP leaders another opportunity to hit out at the Nitish Kumar government

Protests against me with black flags 'state sponsored,' says Siddaramaiah

A day after eggs were hurled at his car and black flags were waved during his visit to Kodagu, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Friday termed it a "state sponsored" protest. Alleging that those who pelted eggs at his car were from "an organisation to which Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse belonged," the senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister wondered whether such people will spare him, as he was speaking against them. "Yesterday at Titimati there were about 10 youths shouting slogans; after that at four places they had gathered, Couldn't the police have stopped it? If the Chief Minister comes, will they let people protest with black flags? Won't they carry out preventive arrests? What was wrong with the Superintendent of Police (SP)?" Siddaramaiah said. Speaking to reporters, he said on August 26, he along with Congress workers will lay siege to the SP's office in Kodagu, alleging that there is no law and order and that the official had

BJP to stage protest against rising crime in Rajasthan on Saturday

In the wake of rising incidents of crime, BJP will stage a major protest in Jaipur against issues like atrocities on women and saints, illegal mining, mob lynching, attacks on Hindus among others

Four months on, anti-govt protests over crisis in Sri Lanka fizzle out

Demonstrations planned by Sri Lankan opposition parties and trade unions have fizzled out, with smaller crowds turning up to mark the fourth month of an anti-government protest campaign

Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra, other Congress leaders detained amid protest

Congress MPs including Rahul Gandhi were detained at Police Lines Kingsway Camp during their protest against the Centre

What was built in 70 yrs destroyed now: Rahul calls it era of dictatorship

After the Congress was denied permission to hold protests in New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi alleged that 'this was an era of dictatorship' and whatever was built in the past 70 years has been destroyed

Delhi Police denies permission to Congress for protest in New Delhi

Delhi Police has denied permission to the Congress for holding a protest in the national capital on Friday, citing that prohibitory orders are in place in New Delhi district, officials said

Pakistan FM Miftah to withdraw taxes on energy bills amid traders' protest

Amid strong opposition from small retailers over the collection of taxes through electricity bills, Pakistan FinMin Miftah Ismail has decided to exempt bills of less than 150 units from the tax

'No home to go': Sri Lanka's Prez Wickremesinghe on protestors threat

Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday said that there is no point in demanding that he "goes home" as he has no home to go to while referring to the threats received from the protestors

Suspended MPs continue 50-hour day-night sit-in protest in Parliament

Opposition MPs continued their 50-hour day-night sit-in protest on Friday morning inside Parliament premises to mark their strong protest against their suspension and the Centre

Hundreds of Iraqi protesters storm Baghdad's parliament: Report

The majority of the protesters were followers of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr