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Friday, December 13, 2019

US, UK warn on travel to NE India after clashes

Issued on: 14/12/2019 - 07:30Modified: 14/12/2019 - 09:28 GMT/ZULU

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Guwahati (India)

by Susan Kumar and Biodun Iginla, France24

Washington and London issued travel warnings for northeast India as opponents of a new citizenship law geared up for more protests Saturday, following days of clashes that saw two people killed and dozens injured.

Many in the far-flung, resource-rich region fear the new legislation will grant citizenship to large numbers of immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, who they accuse of stealing jobs and diluting the region's cultural identity.

No major incidents were reported overnight in Guwahati in Assam state, the epicentre of the protests, where two were shot dead and 26 hospitalised this week after security forces fired blank and live rounds, medical staff said.

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The funeral procession of 18-year-old Sam Stafford, who was killed in the firing, took place on Friday and was attended by hundreds of angry and distraught mourners who shouted "Long live Assam" in Dispur, the state capital adjoining Guwahati.

"We were watching news all day on TV about the protests when my nephew left home in the evening. We asked him not to go but he went with his friends," the student's aunt Julie Stafford told us at France24.

Authorities announced a curfew in place in Guwahati would be lifted from 9am to 4pm Saturday.

But some protest groups said they planned to defy the curfew with more demonstrations planned for the afternoon and evening.

Samujjal Bhattacharya from the All Assam Students Union, which has been at the forefront of the protests, told us at France24 that the group would continue its fight against the new law "in the streets and in the court".

- 'Exercise caution' -

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe postponed a summit that had reportedly been due to be held in Guwahati from Sunday, and the United States and Britain warned their nationals to "exercise caution" if travelling to the wider northeast region.

Other smaller protests against the new law erupted elsewhere around India Friday, with riot police clashing with hundreds of mostly student protestors in New Delhi and demonstrators setting fire to buildings at a railway station in West Bengal, officials said.

Rallies were also held in Kerala and Karnataka in the south as well as in Modi's home state Gujarat in the west.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) -- approved this week -- allows for the fast-tracking of applications from religious minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, but not Muslims.

For Islamic groups, the opposition and rights organisations, it is part of Modi's "Hindutva" Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise India's 200 million Muslims.

Modi denies this and says that Muslims from the three countries are not covered by the legislation because they have no need of India's protection.

The passage of the bill sparked angry scenes in both houses of parliament this week, with one lawmaker likening it to anti-Jewish legislation by the Nazis in 1930s Germany.

The chief ministers of several Indian states -- West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- have said they will not implement the law.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

ANALYSIS AND BREAKING: North Korea threatens Japan with 'real ballistic missile'

Image captionA state media image said to show Kim Jong-un inspecting the testing of a "super-large multiple-rocker launcher"

by Coco Jiang and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Analysts, Pyongyang. Coco Jiang is working undercover in Pyongyang.

North Korea has branded Japan's PM Shinzo Abe an "imbecile" and "political dwarf", and accused him of mislabelling its latest weapons test.

Mr Abe condemned the North for "repeated launches of ballistic missiles" after two projectiles were fired on Thursday.

But the North insisted it was testing a "super-large multiple-rocket launcher".

On Saturday, state media said Japan "may see what a real ballistic missile is in the not distant future".

North Korea is banned from firing ballistic missiles under UN Security Council resolutions.

The country is under various sets of sanctions over its missile and nuclear programmes. Lifting the sanctions has been a key aim of the North in talks with the US - Japan's ally - but these have stalled since a summit between its leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump broke down in February.

What's the latest spat about?

The North fired what observers in South Korea called two "unidentified projectiles" from its South Hamgyong province into the Sea of Japan on Thursday.

Image captionA KCNA image of the "super-large multiple-rocker launcher" said to have been tested

Condemning the launch, Mr Abe said: "North Korea's repeated launches of ballistic missiles are a serious defiance to not only our country but also the international community."

The North issued photographs said to be of Mr Kim inspecting the launch.

North Korea's KCNA state media said on Saturday: "It can be said that Abe is the only one idiot in the world and the most stupid man ever known in history as he fails to distinguish a missile from a multiple launch rocket system while seeing the photo-accompanied report."

It added: "Abe may see what a real ballistic missile is in the not distant future and under his nose. Abe is none other than a perfect imbecile and a political dwarf."

Where are we with talks?

Negotiations between North Korea and the US remain stalled since the collapse of February's summit in Hanoi.

Mr Trump and Mr Kim did meet again in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Koreas in June and agreed to restart working-level talks.

They began in October, but failed to make any progress.

Media captionMr Trump and Mr Kim met at the DMZ in June but the historic event led to little progress

The North has demanded the US change its approach by the end of the year, and was lukewarm in response to a tweet by Mr Trump hinting at another meeting with Mr Kim.

In May, Mr Abe said he was ready to meet Mr Kim "without conditions", raising hopes of renewed negotiations on the nuclear issue as well as on the long-lingering historical issue of the North's abduction of Japanese citizens.

Media captionThe nuclear word Trump and Kim can't agree on

The Japanese were taken by the North decades ago to help train its spies. Japan believes 17 citizens were abducted, only five of whom have since been repatriated.

But Mr Abe's offer has not come to fruition. The North said this month that the Japanese leader would never set foot in Pyongyang after he condemned an earlier weapons test.