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Last week Pierre Poilievre took a strong stand on Iran. Taking a stand against oppression and interference in Canadian affairs by Beijing is the logical next step

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In an era of increasing geopolitical instability, sovereignty has become a hot topic for governments worldwide. Mexico is seeking to establish energy sovereignty. France is planning ways to establish food sovereignty. And of course, countries around the world have denounced the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty in the four sham referenda recently held by Russia.

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So why is Canada, a fully sovereign nation, tolerating the presence of foreign police offices on Canadian soil?

The NP Comment newsletter from columnist Colby Cosh and NP Comment editors tackles the important topics with boldness, verve and wit. Get NP Platformed delivered to your inbox weekdays by 4 p.m. ET.

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As reported in the National Post last week, the government of China is currently operating at least three such offices here. Their purpose is ostensibly to persuade suspects of telecom fraud and other felonies to return to China to face prosecution. But according to a recent report by the group Safeguard Defenders, they form part of the United Front efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to intimidate and control its diaspora. In just the past year, 230,000 expats have been persuaded to return, often by denying family members in China access to health care and education and seizing their assets.

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What is more disturbing is that this type of CCP interference in Canada is nothing new. In 2015 Charles Burton, a former counsellor to the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, penned a column in the National Post. In it, he excoriated then-foreign minister John Baird for having Ottawa sign agreements allowing Beijing to forcibly repatriate Chinese citizens accused of corrupt activities, as well as to exchange information with China on customs investigations. As Burton noted, At the same time that Chinese state enterprises are evidently behind much illegal export of Canadian classified and proprietary technology in the military and commercial sectors, (w)hy would we give China a heads-up on our interdiction methods, all the better for them to figure out how to evade them?

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Why indeed. The question today is why the current government has let this state of affairs continue. Throughout his prime ministership, Justin Trudeau has mishandled relations with China. Two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, were detained for over 1,000 days by the Chinese state on trumped up charges. In 2020 Trudeau wasted millions of dollars attempting to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in co-operation with China, which ultimately came to nothing. And in 2021, he and his cabinet abstained from a House of Commons vote condemning the CCPs horrific genocide of the Uyghur people.

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If the Liberals will not stand up for Canadian interests, including those of Chinese Canadians, then the Conservatives must. And to their credit, they are. The party has revived its Canada-China committee under the stewardship of MP Michael Chong. And Conservative Senator Leo Housakos, a long-term critic of the Liberals foreign policy failures, has twice advanced The Foreign Influence Registry and Accountability Act, legislation that would require public disclosure of the lobbying of politicians and combat foreign infiltration into Canadian affairs.

Lets hope Housakos counsel on China is the one that prevails in new leader Pierre Poilievres inner circle. For the Tories will no doubt be nervous on this issue. Chinese state interference in the form of disinformation and intimidation likely cost them several seats in the 2021 federal election, notably those of Kenny Chiu, Alice Wong and Bob Saroya.

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The Conservatives will also be concerned about being called racist. But it isnt racism to call out the actions of a malign foreign government that oppresses its own citizens and those of foreign countries as well. The West did it for decades during the days of the former Soviet Union, which engaged in similar forms of repression.

If the Conservatives are going to call for freedom, let them do so where it really matters. Last week Poilievre took a strong stand on Iran, another dictatorship where human rights are routinely crushed. Taking a stand against oppression and interference in Canadian affairs by the CCP is the logical next step. Poilievre and his colleagues should use the next question period to ask Trudeau why foreign police offices are present on Canadian soil and demand that they be closed. While they may not get answers, the Tories will put the Liberals on notice that Canadian sovereignty is not to be compromised.

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Tasha Kheiriddin: The Conservatives must take the Liberals to task on Chinese interference - National Post

President of MLO, Cde Paul Siwela

Contrary to the lies by the Emmerson Mnangagwa that his administration respects the rights of the minorities, Matabele genocide, tribal oppression, segregation, gross human rights abuse, political persecution death threats against tMatabeles who dare speak against their plight in Zimbabwe and farm grabs has forced Matabeles to call for the breakaway of Matabeleland to form the Republic of Matabeleland.

The white minority could only submit and watch helplessly in 2000 when their properties that included farms and companies where grabbed by Zanupf leaders and war veterans. The bulk of the white people were also dispersed into exile. These are other events that demonstrate the gross abuse of minorities rights in Zimbabwe.

To this effect the Zimbabwe government through former President Mugabe and incumbent President Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa has been served with a Notice of Demand For The Restoration of Matabeleland State by Matabeleland Liberation Organisation through our President Cde Paul Siwela.

Right now as we speak the President of Zimbabwe Mr Mnangagwa, knows pretty well that his government is operating on borrowed time in Matabeleland after receiving the Notice. He is aware that Zimbabwe has technically split into two states, the Republic of Matabeleland and Zimbabwe pending the official announcement of Matabeleland breakaway.

Matabeleland genocide wherein The Zimbabwe National Army 5th Brigade, deployed by the Zimbabwe government, slaughtered more than 40 000 innocent Matabele civilians including women and children, raped more than 100 000 Matabele women, burnt down more than 100 000 Matabele homes, maimed more than 300 000 Matabeles and displaced more than 1 million Matabeles into South Africa and Botswana, remains unresolved.

The perpetrators of Matabele genocide like the current President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa, 1st Vice President of Zimbabwe, Constantino Chiwenga and many others in government and different sectors were rewarded with higher positions and hailed as heroes in Zimbabwe. The government of perpetrators will never solve a case of genocide which they committed. Matabeles and other minorities lives are not safe in Zimbabwe. The very government that is supposed to protect being the dangerous and number one killer of Matabeles.

Under the government of Zimbabwe which promotes the Shona people as superior to others, which has gone as far as killing raping, burning down homes and displacing Matabeles to demonstrate their hatred for Matabeles, tribal discrimination of Matabele children at institutions of higher learning, discrimination of Matabeles in the job market, politically, economically, socially and all spheres of life continues unabated.

Those Matabeles who dare speak against it are threatened with death or persecuted politically. We all know about President Mnangagwa's chilling threat that he will "shorten" the lives of any Matabele who speak openly about the right of Matabeleland self determination.

In 2011 the President of MLO, Cde Paul Siwela was arrested and charged with treason for publicly calling for the restoration of Matabeleland state. The government of Zimbabwe, feeling exposed and fearing the split, sent state agents on a mission to assassinate Cde Paul Siwela. Fortunately Cde Paul Siwela was tipped and he escaped to exile. After him, many Matabele youth have been in and out of Zimbabwe prisons for advocating for the independence of Matabeleland.

There is no unity in Zimbabwe but tribal oppression disguised as unity. There is no devolution in Zimbabwe but empty words written in the Zimbabwe constitution to prevent the right of Matabeleland to breakaway from Zimbabwe to restore the statehood of Matabeleland.

Zimbabwe will never know peace as long as Matabeleland is still part of Zimbabwe. Matabeleland will remain a thorn in the flesh of the Zimbabwe President Mnangagwa and future leaders as long as Matabeles are denied the right to self determination.

Give us Matabeleland or death!

Israel DubeMLO Secretary for Information and Public Affairs

All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.

Originally posted here:

Oppression of minorities has caused the split of Zimbabwe into two states - Bulawayo24 News

UNITED NATIONS -- Russia made its case to the world Saturday for its war in Ukraine, repeating a series of grievances about its neighbor and the West to tell the U.N. General Assembly meeting of leaders that Moscow had no choice but to take military action.

After days of denunciations of Russia at the prominent diplomatic gathering, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sought to shift the focus to Washington. His speech centered on a claim that the United States and its allies not Russia, as the West maintains are aggressively undermining the international system that the U.N. represents.

Invoking history ranging from the U.S. war in Iraq in the early 2000s to the 20th-century Cold War to a 19th-century U.S. policy that essentially proclaimed American influence over the Western Hemisphere, Lavrov portrayed the U.S. as a bully that tries to afford itself the sacred right to act with impunity wherever and wherever they want and can't accept a world where others also advance their national interests.

The United States and allies want to stop the march of history, he maintained.

The U.S. and Ukraine didn't retort at the assembly on Saturday but can still offer formal responses later in the meeting. Both countries' presidents have already given their own speeches describing Russia as a dangerous aggressor that must be stopped.

Lavrov, for his part, accused the West of aiming to destroy and fracture Russia" in order to remove from the global map a geopolitical entity that has become all too independent.

The Ukraine war has largely dominated the discussion at the assembly's big annual meeting, and many countries have laid into Russia for its Feb. 24 invasion denouncing its nuclear threats, alleging it has committed atrocities and war crimes, and lambasting its decision to mobilize call up some of its reserves even as the assembly met.

Neither partial mobilization, nuclear saber-rattling, nor any other escalation will deter us from supporting Ukraine, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde declared Saturday.

Russia does have some friends in the sprawling chamber, and one Belarus offered a full-throated defense Saturday of its big neighbor. Echoing Russia's talking points, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said it was precisely the West that made this conflict inevitable in Ukraine.

The speeches came amid voting in Russian-occupied parts of eastern and southern Ukraine on whether to join Russia. Moscow characterizes the referendums as self-determination, but Kyiv and its Western allies view them as Kremlin-orchestrated shams with a foregone conclusion.

Some observers think the expected outcome could serve as a pretext for Russian President Vladimir Putin eventually to escalate the war further.

We can expect President Putin will claim any Ukrainian effort to liberate this land as an attack on so-called Russian territory," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

Lavrov dismissed the complaints as the West throwing a fit about people making a choice on where they feel they belong.

Russia has offered a number of explanations for what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine. Lavrov recapped a couple: risks to Russia from what it considers a hostile government in Kyiv and a NATO alliance that has expanded eastward over the years and relieving Russians living in Ukraine especially its eastern region of the Donbas of what Moscow views as the Ukrainian governments oppression.

The incapacity of Western countries to negotiate and the continued war by the Kyiv regime against their own people left us with no choice but to recognize the two regions that make up the Donbas as independent and then to send troops in, Lavrov said.

The aim was to remove the threats against our security, which NATO has been consistently creating in Ukraine, he explained.

While Ukraine has recently driven Russian troops from some areas in the northeast, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week warned the assembly that he believes Moscow wants to spend the winter getting ready for a new offensive, or at least preparing fortifications while mobilizing more troops.

Regardless, he declared that his forces will ultimately oust Russian troops from all of Ukraine.

We can do it with the force of arms. But we need time, said Zelenskyy, the only leader who was allowed to address the assembly by video this year.

The war has disrupted the trade of Ukrainian and Russian grain and Russian fertilizer, touching off a global food crisis. A deal recently brokered by the U.N. and Turkey has helped get Ukrainian grain moving, but fertilizer shipments have proved more difficult.

At a news conference after his speech, Lavrov said he discussed problems with the deal at a meeting this week with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Although international sanctions against Russia did not target food and fertilizer exports, shipping and insurance companies and banks have been loath to deal with Moscow and the Kremlin has frequently pointed to that in alleging that Western sanctions have exacerbated the crisis. Lavrov told reporters Saturday that Russia wants fertilizer stuck in European ports to be given to needy countries quickly.

At the Security Council on Thursday, Ukraine and Russia faced off, in a rare moment when Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, were in the same room though they kept their distance.

The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in March to deplore Russias aggression against Ukraine, call for immediate withdrawal of all Russian forces, and urge protection for millions of civilians. The next month, members agreed by a smaller margin to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report. For more AP coverage of the U.N. General Assembly, visit https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations-general-assembly

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On Ukraine, Russia repeats insistence that it had no choice - ABC News

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Thursday drew a line between poverty and backwardness created through centuries of oppression while hearing petitions challenging the economically weaker sections (EWS) quota, saying reservations are meant to tackle only the latter.

The Supreme Court observed that poverty is not a permanent thing, adding that the economically weaker sections among upper castes could be aided through various affirmative actions at the threshold level like scholarships instead of the 10% quota in government jobs and educational institutions.

It said the term reservation has different connotations such as social and financial empowerment and is meant for the classes that have been oppressed for centuries.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said reservation has been given to those stigmatised for centuries due to their caste and vocations and the EWS among the forward classes could have been given facilities like scholarships and free education without the government getting into the reservation issue.

When it is about other reservations, it is attached to lineage. That backwardness is not something which is temporary. Rather, it goes down to centuries and generations. But economic backwardness can be temporary, said the bench.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, defended the 103rd constitutional amendment, saying the 10% quota for the EWS has been provided without disturbing the 50% reservation available to SCs, STs and OBCs, and the parliamentary wisdom, leading to a constitutional amendment cannot be set aside without establishing that it violated the basic structure of the constitution.

The other side is not denying the fact that people, who are struggling or who are poverty-stricken in that unreserved class, needed some support. There is no doubt about that, the court said.

What is being submitted is that you can try to elevate that class by giving them sufficient opportunities at the threshold level, say at the 10+2 level Give them a scholarship. Give them the freeship so that they get the opportunity to learn, to educate themselves or to elevate themselves, said the bench which also comprised Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S. Ravindra Bhat, Bela M. Trivedi and J.B. Pardiwala.

The court said reservation as a traditional concept has different meanings and connotations and it is not just about financial empowerment but social and political empowerment.

It enables the disadvantaged class to be part of the apparatus of the government. So, the reservation has various other facets to it not just trying to improvise the economic situationBut, here is only one facet which is to improve the economic status of a man or a woman of the general class. You could have done anything else. Why do you have to indulge in this reservation issue, it said.

The solicitor general argued in detail on the states power to take affirmative action to elevate the poor among the general category and said the constitutional amendment furthers and strengthens the basic feature of the constitution and its validity cannot be tested on grounds of some statistics.

While analysing the basic structure, the principle guide is the preamble. Considering the preamble of the constitution, the amendment does not destroy the basic structure, rather it strengthens it by giving justice economic justice to those who have not been the beneficiaries of affirmative action like reservation, the law officer said.

When a statutory provision is challenged, then it is often said that it violates a particular article of the Constitution, but, here Parliament has inserted a provision of the constitution itself and hence its validity cannot be questioned, he added.

The constitution is not a static formula and Parliament can always take a decision to cater to the aspirations of the nation and, if some action has been taken without disturbing the quota for SCs STs and OBCs, then it cannot be set aside, he said.

At the outset, Mehta said the constitutional amendment made by Parliament by exercising its powers make the job difficult for those who are challenging it like any other statute.

He said the income figure of Rs 8 lakh per annum to grant the EWS quota has been arrived at after a detailed study.

The bench reiterated its stand on socially and economically backward classes (SEBC) above the creamy layer being denied the opportunity of availing reservation that is due to the EWS from the upper classes.

So now that person (above the creamy layer) is from SEBC but still not getting any benefits (of reservation). For them you are reducing the pool from 50-40%, the bench said.

It said, moreover, there has been no anthropological study to show that there are families who have suffered for generations from poverty, if they are not from a socially backward class.

Poverty is not permanent which will go down from generation to generation, the bench said.

One idea which is getting projected is that you are creating the EWS reservation for the general category candidates on the premise that they are from the weaker sectionwhen it comes to SCs, STs, you are not giving equal treatment to them, it said.

Senior lawyer V.D. Makhija supported the EWS quota on behalf of some general category poor students from Uttar Pradesh, saying the classification on the sole economic criteria for grant of reservation is valid because this is an enabling provision.

The bench would resume hearing on September 27.

On Wednesday, it had posed a slew of queries to the Centre on the grant of 10% quota in admissions and government jobs to the EWS category, saying the slice of cake of 50% open general seats available to OBCs above creamy layer now stands reduced to 40%.

(With PTI inputs)

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Poverty and Backwardness Through Centuries of Oppression Not Same: SC on EWS Quota - The Wire

Last week, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, was arrested for not wearing her hijab properly while visiting Tehran. At the police station, she fainted from a brain injury caused by police battery during her arrest. By the time she arrived at the hospital, she was in vegetative state, and her heart stopped beating a few days later. This incident sparked yet another round of mass protests in Iran. The provincial capital city of Sanandaj, Mahsas Kurdish-majority hometown, was the center of the protests this time, and the internet there was disconnected soon after. As the protest spread to the rest of the country, users began losing connection en masse in other cities too, including Tehran.

A quarter century ago, President Bill Clinton promised that the internet would bring freedom to the world. His prediction of the internets ineluctable, liberal triumphNow theres no question China has been trying to crack down on the Internet. Good luck!led to American complacency that ceded the internet to tyrants. The Chinese government wasnt lucky; it was determined: It heavily censors what its people can see online and uses the internet to track and arrest dissidents, collect intelligence, control the society, and prevent or suppress protests. Others did the same.

Disconnecting the internet has been a relatively recent tool of oppression in Iran. In 2019, the Islamic Republic witnessed a popular uprising, the most threatening to the regimes survival (so far). After violence alone failed to end it, the regime disconnected the internet nationwide for a week. That did the trick. People had no means of communication, mobilization, and organizing. Since then, the regime has made a habit of disconnecting the internet whenever and wherever there are protests, and it has worked every time.

The regime in Iran has mulled implementing a national interneti.e., an intranet, disconnected from the internet and only accessible inside Iran. Other dictatorships are toying with similar ideas. There are even concerns of an eventual internet bipolarity: two internets, disconnected from each other, one for the free world, and one (or several) for the unfree one. Russia has considered RuNet, a bid to show that the countrys online infrastructure could survive even if disconnected from the rest of the world. China, while coy about establishing an intranet, uses its Great Firewall to control the internet, and its Internet Plus project was designed to integrate all new digital technologiesthe internet, quantum computing, cloud data, etc.to serve the state and its mercantile policy.

To many in the United States, especially technocrats under the influence of Silicon Valley, the idea of decoupling the free worlds internet from the autocratic intranets is unfathomablebut they should fathom it, because it may happen soon, and they have no control over it. But it can be preempted.

To appreciate how important the free flow of information is to dissidents, one need only consider the lengths dictators go to censor the internet. Iran has an entire cabinet ministry increasingly devoted to digital contentand another concerned with digital repression. Other unfree countries behave similarly. Last year, Cuban protesters were forced to resort to all kinds of tricks to bypass internet censorship. The investment both tyrants and protesters make in internet technology indicates how important an open internet is.

The decoupling between free and unfree networks might happen in the medium-term future. Or it might not. If it doesnt, it will likely be because dictators from Havana to Moscow to Tehran to Beijing figure its not worth the expense, given how easily they can control the internet now. Far from being the libertarian super-highway it once appeared, the internet has been serving tyrants.

As much as we might anthropomorphize it in everyday speech, the internet is an inanimate thing. Free countries rely on open access to information, which makes regulating the internet difficult and uncomfortable. Dictatorships dont have this problem, and they censor and surveil with abandon. The best counter-practice for free countries is to ensure that the enemies of freedom fail in restricting access. This would redound to the benefit of the United States, as well as those it would help get online. American support of VPNs to help Russians circumvent the Kremlins censorship is a good start, but a small oneand it wouldnt help if Russia or another tyranny decided to cut access to the internet altogether. We have yet to see the potential of Starlink to maximize access to the internet, but its use in Ukraine is a good case to study (which was also financed by the U.S. government). And Elon Musk recently requested a waiver from sanctions to give access to the Iranians, which the Treasury Department quickly approved. A day later, green spots in Iran began popping on the Starlink tracker Satellite Map.space, proving that people were already using Starlink in Iran. Other technologies such as internet balloons show promise. Investing in such technologies is now a matter of foreign policy necessity for the United Statesand it is worth remembering that the internet itself is a DARPA product.

The U.S. government needs to begin serious investment in technologies that would assure access to the internet before the great internet schism occurs. More than that, once a solution is found, there needs to be investment to ensure the reach of that technology to peoples living under tyranny. Dictatorships keep telling us what they fear. It is only natural to give them exactly that before its too late.

Read more here:

The Internet Is a Playground for Tyrants - The Bulwark

LAHORE - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Monday called former finance minister Ishaq Dar the biggest cheater of Pakistan and attributed his homecoming to an underhand deal.

Over here, thieves are involved in deals. Ishaq Dar left Pakistan for London. Ishaq Dar could not justify his assets, which is why he absconded. He is returning under a deal, Imran said

Addressing a political event at the Government College University (GCU), Lahore campus here, the PTI chief said that the country could not move forward because of the thieves who were offered deals and given NROs here in Pakistan.

He said this was the reason that thefts would not end, and the money laundering would go unabated. Khan said Ishaq Dar had left the country on the PMs plane because he had no answers to the questions of the National Accountability Bureau about his assets. He said Dar fled the country under the pretext of getting treatment, but many would not know what treatment he was seeking abroad.

He urged the people not to watch this, what he called, a theatre like goats and sheep and rise against oppression and injustice. Borrowing a quote from Aristotle, Khan said the great philosopher had said 2500 years ago that if there was oppression and injustice in a society, all the sections of society would rise against it except the cowards and the selfish.

He also cited the oft repeated example of the people of Kufa who did not side with Imam Hussain (RA) out of the fear of Yazeed despite knowing that he [Imam Hussain (RA)] was on the right path. Giving these two examples, Khan concluded that this was how they become a slave.

When a person bows down before a fear, he commits shirk, he said and added that this was why the God Almighty had made Jehad obligatory to fight against oppression. Talking about the recent audio leaks, Imran said that the story had unfolded with Wikileaks followed by Dawn leaks, and now comes the audio leaks. He said it was quite evident from the audio leaks that the current chief election commissioner was the house servant of the Sharif family.

He said that he had struggled hard to introduce electronic voting machines (EVMs) for free and fair elections, but the chief election commissioner opposed the move at the behest of Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari. If he has even a fraction of shame, he should resign now; and if he does not, we will force him to resign. He predicted that more audio recordings of the present rulers will come to surface soon. The former prime minister also asked the students of the Government College University, to whom Donald Lu was addressing in the cipher to remove my Govt? Students replied neutral neutral. The PTI chairman appreciated them by saying you passed the first test.

Addressing the gathering at Government College University (GCU) in Lahore, Imran also said that the audio leaks had made it apparent that CEC Raja was a servant of the Sharif household.

In the audio leaks, Nawaz is telling him [CEC] who should be disqualified and when to hold elections, the former premier said. After the audio leaks, the CEC should resign if he has even an ounce of shame, he said. But he doesnt [have any shame], so we will have to make him resign. Turning his guns on Maryam, the PTI chief referred to one of the audio recordings purportedly featuring a conversation between PM Shehbaz and an unidentified official about the possibility of facilitating the import of Indian machinery for a power project that was linked to the PML-N vice presidents son-in-law.

Lambasting the PML-N, particularly PM Shehbaz, Imran said that his government had ended trade ties with India after New Delhi had revoked occupied Kashmirs special autonomy in August 2019.

There are still no ties, but Maryams son-in-law [intends] to procure machinery from India, Imran continued, adding: And what is prime minister cherry blossoms response? He suggests that they bring the machinery via another country instead of telling them not to import it at all.

Originally posted here:

Imran claims another audio of Maryam Nawaz will surface soon - The Nation

Putin has been rattling his saber, making threats and calling for mobilization. Just last week the news and social media were full of stories and images of torture, killings and mass graves.

In the face of mobilization, there are protests on the streets across some cities in Russia while many more men are trying to flee the country.

And while all this is happening in Russia, there are also protests on the streets of Iran.

At first glance, it appears the Iranians are far braver than the Russians. It has been noted, for instance, that Iranian protesters aggressively protect each other in their struggles against government enforcers, while many Russian protestors hang back to protect themselves.

Of course, theres nothing brave about men who flee the country instead of taking to the streets.

But even with all that said, I think the comparison between the current situation in Russia and Iran is flawed. In fact, I think it is better to compare the Iranian situation to the situation in Ukraine, and to consider the Russian situation as a completely different beast.

First, the Ukrainians and the Iranians are both fighting the same enemy; an oppressive government. Its true that the Iranians are fighting their own government and the Ukrainians are not; but lets not forget that if Putin had his way the Russian government would be tpresideding over the Ukrainian people as well.

For the Russian protestors, it is a very different set of circumstances. Even though they are clearly oppressed, their protests today are not against oppression. They are against mobilization. They are fighting against a specific circumstance; they are not fighting for freedom and against tyranny, as the Ukrainians and Iranians are.

Even if you think back to the protests in Russia immediately after the invasion, you realize those protesters were not fighting for freedom against tyranny either. Rather, they were fighting against the specific circumstance of the invasion. This is why such protests often dont last and dont bring about meaningful change.

Its no secret that I am a Russian who has devoted himself to bringing about an end to Putin and Putinism, and bringing democracy to my Russian motherland. But I know democracy will never be possible in Russia unless the Russian people are willing to risk their lives and fight the way we see the Ukrainians fight.

Ironically, Russians must fight tirelessly against the same enemy the Ukrainians are fighting against.

But what is it going to take to get my fellow Russians to fight against their government for freedom the way the Ukrainians are fighting for theirs?

The obvious but unhelpful answer is: the future.

Its a redundant answer because while it sounds and feels good, its been the same answer forever in Russia, and it has never actually brought about any change.

But today, some very important things have changed in Russia:

1. Thousands and thousands of soldiers have gone to Ukraine. They were told they were liberators, but they found out they were invaders.

Lesson: I cant trust my government; my government lies to me.

2. These soldiers expected to be greeted with flowers. But instead, they were greeted with bursts of automatic gunfire and deadly shots from Javelins and Stingers.

Lesson: My government neither cares about me nor protects me, its protecting itself.

3. These soldiers were told Ukrainians live like animals. Then they saw with their own eyes how much better life is in Ukraine than it is in Russia.

Lesson: Ive been tricked. Everything I have been told about my country and my way of life is false.

4. These soldiers see beautiful cities and parks and homes in Ukraine; their own cities and parks and homes are embarrassingly poor in comparison.

Lesson: My government must be keeping all the wealth for itself.

5. These soldiers will eventually return to Russia (a country with strict gun control laws, for obvious autocratic reasons) with both weapons and training, and they will be armed with the knowledge that life in Russia is neither better nor more righteous, as has been fraudulently pounded into their heads by the Putin-controlled media.

Lesson: I dont want to live like a Russian. I want to live like a Ukrainian.

And another lesson: Ukrainians have a country they are proud of. A country they know is worth fighting for. A country and a life with a bright shiny future, even in the middle of an invasion. I want to have a country I am proud of. I want to have a country worth fighting for. I want a country and a life with a bright shiny future.

If youre that Russian soldier, you can now envision the possibility of the kind of future that you and I live for in the West, instead of the bleak future that Putinism promises. You and I know our futures are worth fighting for. Now these Russian soldiers know what that future might look like, too. And theyre going to take that new-found vision of the future back to their homes and families and friends. They will share what they saw in Ukraine and that vision of the future with others. They will infect others with that vision of the future. And they will have weapons and training and experience fighting; only now they can fight for themselves, for their families, for their friends. For their freedom.

The Ukrainians are often telling us during this war that they are fighting Russia for every free country in the West. I wholeheartedly agree with this. But I think what is overlooked is that the Ukrainians are also, ironically, fighting this war against Russia for the Russian people, too. Or to say it another way, the Ukrainian people and the Russian people share a common enemy.

After all, a future in which Russia remains an enemy of the West, an existential threat for much of the rest of the world, is a terrible future for everyone. For Ukrainians and other Eastern European nations, as well as for Russians who remain at home. Russia as a democratic nation and trusted partner with shared values benefits both Russians and most of the rest of the world.

Yes, it is up to us as Russians to stand up to Putin and Putinism and to fight for our freedom and democracy. Our victory will be the worlds victory, just as Ukraines victory against Putin will be the worlds victory.

The beginning of a revolution in Russia is already happening. Every day in the news you can see evidence of this if you know what to look for; its just a matter of understanding how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

It is the New Russian Revolution with two very clear goals:

I and many other Russians have been preparing for this moment for many years. And now, the moment has arrived.

Ilya Ponomarev is a is a leader of the Russian democratic oppostion. A former member of the Russian Duma, he was the only deputy to vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014, which then forced him to go into exile.

The views expressed in this article are the authors and not necessarily those of the Kyiv Post.

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The New Russian Revolution Is at Hand - Kyiv Post

The Kings College hosted economic philosopher and author Dr. Rachel Ferguson to discuss her new book Black Liberation Through the Marketplace on Thursday, Sept. 22 in the City Room. Ferguson presented her research, specifically by observing the extreme division in Americas thought processes concerning race. She also asked students to have a more open view of exploring and understanding the forces at work behind both sides of race-based issues in the U.S.

If I use the phrase classical liberal, do you know what I mean? asked Ferguson. The audience was silent. She went on to list three major factors that developed her ideology on the issue: private property rights, freedom of contract and equality of law. These principles led Ferguson directly into the history of oppression inside slavery.

Ferguson started her lecture by delving into the founding themes of America. The students in attendance followed her speech through the reconstruction of the southern states, Jim Crow laws and modern-day America. However, according to Ferguson, one thing remained constant throughout history: extremism on both sides hindered the process of creating change.

The Bob Jones curriculum, a right-leaning homeschooling syllabus, and the 1619 Project, a left-leaning revisionist history project, both came up during the Q&A portion of the event. Both have been commonly recognized for radicalistic ideas on how the issues of race and slavery have shaped our nation. The Bob Jones Curriculum does not lend any weight to the idea of race shaping America, whereas the 1619 project believes slavery to be the principal issue of America and its founding.

This information led freshman Rehannah Tejiram to ask, What do you think is the rationale behind the 1619 Project?

There seems to be a neo-Marxist train of thought a pedagogy for liberation, said Ferguson. It seems to be a critique of an American conservative tradition. [The intention was] a lot more government control, a lot more regulation of the way corporations are run, and you have an extremely thick welfare state. She supplied a multitude of reasons behind this agenda, specifically the increase in progressives leaning towards Marxism as well as Nicole Jones personal beliefs informing the project.

Ultimately, the 1619 Project did not correspond with Fergusons views, specifically the agenda clashing with the classical liberal values she set in place at the beginning of the lecture.

After the Q&A, Ferguson had much to say about the Bob Jones school of thought. The Bob Jones curriculum is really bad on slavery, said Ferguson. It's way too happy. It's never a fun experience to have someone claim to own you.

Her dialogue eventually led to discourse about the benefits and costs of having an extremist view. This is a very controversial statement, Ferguson said. Lets take critical race theory as an example. Philosophically, I do not core align at all(sic), but because they are focusing on the history of race and the system of oppression they do end up paying attention to real episodes of oppression in history We can gain things from ideas way over there because they draw our attention to something new.

According to Ferguson, she remains steadfast in her faith in neutrality. Her views correspond to her idea of a classical liberal constantly examining the issue through the lens of private property rights, freedom of contract and equality of law.

In regards to an optimistic point of view like the Bob Jones curriculum, Ferguson commented, They draw advantages to some of the American system and Constitutional thought, and produce students that read James Madison and Thomas Jefferson and really know those founding documents really well.

Colton Taussig is a freshman at The King's College majoring in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He is an avid film-lover and takes great pride in his home state of Missouri.

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Mediating the Extremes Dr. Rachel Ferguson Discusses Issues on Race in America - Empire State Tribune

Five Venezuelan men walked together in the dark, trying to find the address US immigration officials had given them. It was almost midnight in downtown Sacramento, a city they had never heard of and an unexpected destination.

One of them, Juan, 29, who asked for his real name to be withheld out of fear of jeopardizing his asylum request, had expected to end up in New York. Hed spent more than a month on the journey from Venezuela to the US-Mexico border.

But right then, he just wanted a roof over his head something an immigration agent promised him before his release from a detention center in Eagle Pass, Texas.

The group spotted the address but before they could even knock on the glass door, a tall man in a blue uniform stopped them. It was Derek Smith, a 36-year old security guard, and Juan quickly showed him the government documents that included the address. Smith didnt speak Spanish, but he recognized the despair in their eyes, he said.

I pulled out my translator and I went from English to Spanish. I wrote, This is not a shelter, this is an office building. They responded, Yes, but we were sent here and kept showing me their paperwork, Smith said.

So I told them, Come back by 7am and Ill have more information.

He indicated a nearby park. So they walked there, where dozens of unhoused people slept on the ground or in dirty tents.

At that, one of Juans exhausted group fell to his knees and cried. They roughed it, but Juan couldnt sleep and asked himself all night what he was doing there.

Other asylum seekers are being bussed to New York without that necessarily being their choice, or Chicago, or Washington or Marthas Vineyard, in moves by the Republican governors of Texas, Arizona and, lately, Florida to make a statement about immigration.

But Juan mystifyingly ended up in the California state capital. Hes part of a mass exodus fleeing danger, hunger amid economic collapse, political oppression or all of the above in Nicols Maduros crisis-torn, authoritarian Venezuela.

His journey started, he said, at his home in Tchira, in north-west Venezuela, when he refused to join the rebel National Liberation Army, a Marxist guerrilla group that operates along the border with Colombia.

Armed guerrillas threatened to harm his family if he didnt leave Tchira within 20 days, so on 7 August, he said goodbye to his 14-year old daughter, other friends and relatives and set out for the US with the equivalent of $80 in his pocket an amount he said he struggled to make in three months.

Juan went by bus to Medelln, Colombia, then north by bus and boat until he braced himself to walk across the mountains of the infamous Darin Gap, roadless jungle connecting Panama with South America that tens of thousands of migrants risk their lives each month to traverse.

Its hell. You see cadavers. Desperate people steal food from other people. At night, when you are camping, you hear people screaming for help, Juan said.

After a stretch of four days without food and money, Juan earned some money by cleaning restrooms to pay for a boat ride from Panama to Costa Rica. It then took him about two weeks to reach Guatemala City, where someone helped him buy a bus ticket to southern Mexico and from there he eventually reached Nuevo Laredo, on the border with Texas in late August.

We were practically about to cross the Rio Grande when we were kidnapped, he said. Drug and smuggling cartels prey on migrants near the border, often shaking them down for money. He was let go after two days, threatened with death if he came back into town, he said. He fled further back into Mexico, then clung to the top of a freight train known as La Bestia and ended up back at the border 100 miles further west, where he safely crossed the treacherous river and surrendered to US authorities at Eagle Pass.

There, he exercised his legal right to seek asylum. For the next three days, Juan slept underneath a Mylar blanket inside a frigid border patrol cell that migrants often refer to as a hielera, or ice box, before being transferred to a detention center then bussed to a shelter in San Antonio.

On 15 September, Juan was told by city officials at the citys migrant resource center the same place the Venezuelans taken to Marthas Vineyard earlier this month said they were lured from that there was a plane to board.

They [immigration officials] asked, Where do you want to go? I said, New York. But when they gave us the paperwork, it said Sacramento, Juan said. Out of money and options, he took the ticket.

On the plane, Juan and the other four Venezuelans hed met were discussing how they would get from the Sacramento airport into town. All were broke. But a female passenger overheard the conversation and, Juan said, offered all the cash in her purse: $24. It was enough for a bus ride, 11 miles to downtown Sacramento, where they ended up in the park.

At 6.50am the following morning, the men went back and Smith, the guard, who was about to end his shift, gave them another address.

After traversing seven countries, walking three more miles in shoes riddled with holes was okay, and the address turned out to be the Sacramento food bank & family services non-profit. There was breakfast available. And someone turned up from NorCal Resist, a group of activists who offer legal, educational and housing services to immigrants.

This was the first time having people show up in Sacramento with paperwork for a shelter that doesnt exist, said Autumn Gonzalez, a volunteer attorney helping with asylum claims.

Juan was baffled about why the very last stretch of his journey had been so stressful.

We were trying to do things right, like the paper says, but we found out that the address was not right. Why would they do that to us, if we come with such good intentions? Juan told the Guardian.

NorCal Resist put Juan up in a hotel, the safe, warm bed at last. He told the Guardian that, whether he ends up in New York or staying in Sacramento, he is optimistic about his asylum claim. Gonzalez concurred that Juan has a strong claim.

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No money or options: a migrants unexpected journey to California - The Guardian US

Delhi: Now I get to speak about what is happening to the freedom of expression in India, Meena Kandasamyan anti-caste feminist, novelist and poettold us during an interview, after becoming the winner of the 2022 Hermann Kesten Prize, announced by the German chapter of the PEN International writers association.

The award, instituted in honour of the 20-century renowned German novelist, Hermann Kesten, recognises and honours individuals who defend the rights of persecuted writers and journalists.

Kandasamywhose work primarily revolves around the themes of gender, caste, sexuality, and ethnic subjugationjoins a group of renowned individuals who PEN regards to be champions of free expression, including German novelist and social critic Gnter Grass, British writer Harold Pinter, assassinated Russian journalist Anna Politkowskaya, Chinese writer and dissident Liu Xiaobo, and exiled Turkish journalist Can Dndar.

Speaking out, Kandasamy said, comes at a cost for anyone speaking against the government in todays India, but it is, she added, worse for women.

It is just that when you happen to be a woman writer these attacks get very personal, said Kandasamy, who confessed to worrying about her two children. They have a template: they attack your looks, they attack your character, they attack your personal life, they threaten and your children with rape and death.

In 1985, on the occasion of the 85th birthday of German novelist and dramatist Hermann Kesten as its honorary president, the German chapter of PEN presented the first Hermann Kesten Award medal. Since then, it has recognised individuals whose work has supported persecuted writers. The medal was awarded annually beginning in 1993 after previously being awarded every two years. It was renamed the Hermann Kesten Award in 2008.

Born in 1984 in the capital of southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, to parents who were university professors, Kandasamy, 37, has been writing poetry and translating books by Dalit writers and leaders into English as early as the age of 17. A fierce critic (here, here and here) of Brahmanical oppression and narratives of caste and gender segregation, the author uses her writing to deconstruct trauma and violence.

Some of her notable works include The Gypsy Goddess (2014), When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife (2017), Ayaankali (2007), and poems including Touch (2006), and Ms Militancy (2010).

Referring to Ms. Militancy, vice-president of the German PEN Centre, Cornelia Zetzsche, called her a fearless fighter for democracy and human rights, for the free word and against the oppression of landless, minorities and Dalit in India; not a Ms. Pleasant, rather a Ms. Militant.

Kandasamy has used poetry and prose as tools of political dissent and her novels have been shortlisted for various literary awards, such as, the Womens Prize for Fiction, the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Jhalak Prize and the Hindu Lit Prize. In July 2022, she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) of the United Kingdom. She also released a collection of essays in 2021 titled The Orders Were to Rape You: Tamil Tigresses in the Eelam Struggle.

Kandasamy has been vocal against the persecution and detention of notable writers and poets, including poet-activist Varavara Rao and former Delhi University professors GN Saibaba and Hany Babu from Delhi University, under the current far-right regime of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).

In August, 2018 the Pune Police arrested Rao on charges of making incendiary remarks at the Elgar Parishad gathering on 31 December 2017, at Shaniwar Wada in Pune, leading to rioting at the Bhima-Koregaon war memorial the next day. Saibaba and Babu have been detained since March 2017 and July 2020, respectively, in the Nagpur and Taloja central jails in Maharashtra.

Saibaba and Babu have also been accused by the government of belonging to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) and participating in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These activists are among prominent public intellectuals and leaders in India who have been critical of the government and as a result detained under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA, an anti-terrorism law that makes it almost impossible to get bail.

Crimes against Dalits increased by 6% from 2009 to 2018 with over 391,000 reported, according to a study by the National Dalit Movement for Justice based on National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. The latest NCRB data, released on 29 August 2022, said atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis rose by 1.2% and 6.4% respectively in 2021 compared to 2020. Indias most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, home to 16.5% of Indias population, accounted for more than 25% of cases, more than any other state.

Hate crime against the religious minorities have increased manifold after Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in May 2014: in 2018, IndiaSpend reported that as many as 90% of religious hate crimes since 2009 occurred after 2014.

As a result of increased violence against minorities and a crackdown on dissidents in the course of the eight years that the BJP has been in power, multiple international reports have downgraded Indias rankings on social and personal freedoms.

It (India) is not a place where some discourse is happening, said Kandasamy. It's a place where people are just getting charged with draconian laws, framed by the establishment and picked up.

India ranked 46 (an improvement from 53 in 2020) of 165 independent countries, in the 2021 Democracy Index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, down from 27th rank in 2014, the year Modi was elected.

India was counted among the top 10 autocratising nations according to the latest report of the V-Dem Institutewhich referred to India as an electoral autocracy, in the company of, among others, El Salvador, Nigeria, Tunisiaat the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

The Freedom In The World report by Washington DC-based Freedomhouse, which produces research on issues related to democracy, political rights and civil liberties, pegged India as partly free.

The situation is that its not just ranks [in which India is getting] downgraded, said Kandaswamy. ...its also because there is so much dependence (of the media) on the government for finances, and, so, a lot of newspapers and media outlets are afraid of going all out against the government.

How do you feel about winning this prize and what is its significance, especially, in the current political scenario of India?

When I heard news of the prize, beyond my initial shock and disbelief, my thoughts were: Okay, now I get to speak about what is happening to the freedom of expression in India. I get to talk about how some of the most brilliant minds of our country, whether Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, G N Saibabab or Hany Babu, have been unfairly incarcerated.

You have been vocal about minority rights and atrocities against them. What do you think, why is there so much hostility and increasing violence against religious and caste minorities?

I think part of whats happening is that there's vast religious polarisation. And this polarisation is part of the fundamentalist right-wing BJP and RSS regime. They want this, the othering of Muslims, the othering of minorities. Because this is one way for them to consolidate Hindu vote banks but some of it is because ideologically that's where they're headed. Though this is a regular left argument, it really deflects them from the serious economic crisis that we are witnessing in the country. At this point, we have a record-breaking unemployment level, growth rates are dropping and so many serious things are happening.

Despite increasing caste-based atrocities, how has the current establishment still managed to use caste for their vote bank?

I think that there is something very intrinsic to Hindutva, which is the consolidation of caste identities. And this is a very interesting process because what they want to do is they want to consolidate everyone as Hindus but on the other hand, they want to sharpen the caste divide among the intersectional groups of Hindus. So they want all the others to identify themselves as allall Naidus as Naidus, all Chettiars as Chettiars etc. So, the caste structure becomes stronger and stronger. And at the same time, they broadly identify as Hindus.

Because it's only through these consolidation and strengthening of caste and the casteist mindset that they're able to engineer hate, they're able to keep the system in place, because once you consolidate caste, they also become easily tappable vote banks.

India has been downgraded from free to partly free in the US-based Freedom House's annual report Democracy under Siege and the human rights situation is also deteriorating in the country. Your comments?

India has very poor ranks on so many indices. There's also a Reporters Without Borders ranking that talks about how Indias fallen many places (150 from 136 over five years). The situation is that its not just ranks [in which India is getting] downgraded. Also, who owns the media? So, there's so much privatisation of media, as well as a single owner (she would not say who) controlling literally vast sections of media.

Then there's all these cases being filed against journalists and independent news media portals. And its being done to frighten them. Amnesty India closed down. The attacks on Peoples Watch in Tamil Nadu. Last week, there was even a raid on the Centre for Policy Research and Oxfam India.

Many human rights organisations are in such vulnerable conditions because most of these organisations are NGOs. And as NGOs, they have to survive on voluntary funding. There's no state funding. You cannot raise these funds on the ground itself so they're dependent on funding from western democracies and then this kind of crackdown just makes them unable to function. So, they become reliant on corporate social responsibility funds, (CSR), but then CSR funding is not going to go to any of them because again, companies are also fighting, they wouldn't want to face the ruling regime. So, it's such a tough situation to be in.

How difficult is it to be a (female) writer in today's India? What are the challenges that you personally go through?

I think that all writers who are not allied with Hindutva today are facing the heat. It is just that when you happen to be a woman writer these attacks get very personal. They have a template: they attack your looks, they attack your character, they attack your personal life, they threaten and your children with rape and death.

For example, the most fierce intellectuals have been picked up whether it's Anand Teltumbe, Varavara Rao or Hany Babu. Not many people talk about Hany Babu, but he was very instrumental in fighting for reservation and social justice politics. He's very different from the rest of prisoners because they are kind of left oriented but Hany Babu was quite vocal about social justice for it takes courage to fight for reservation policy in universities and all of this.

So, once you pick up all of these key voices, it often silences everyone because you see the professor of your university was just put in prison. So a lot of the academics start thinking, should I be opening my mouth next time. It's a kind of shock tactic. Because you just realise what can I do? Should I be able to speak when someone as famous as that, as important as that is in jail? All these people are being used to serve as examples, to silence others.

Also the arrest of Rona Wilson, which I always think is a really peculiar case because this guy was running a committee to release political prisoners and then he himself became a political prisoner. So, the thing is then who is going to remain and run an organisation. Talking about the right political business, you speak and then you're joined in the jail. It's a really vicious circle.

I'm a young mother. And I speak out about all of this, but at the same time, I'm also a human being, I have two little children. Who's going to take care of my two preschoolers if something happens to me?

So, all these people also have this kind of compulsion because at this point it's not like if somebody objects to a viewpoint, they're just going to write another article. If the State objects to a viewpoint, it's not like somebody's going to sit down and explain why we do what we do. It's not a place where some discourse is happening. It's a place where people are just having cases filed against them, getting charged with draconian laws, framed by the establishment and picked up.

(Jyoti Thakur is an independent journalist based in New Delhi. Hanan Zaffar is a reporter based in South Asia. He has reported for, among others, VICE, Al Jazeera, DW News, Newsweek.)

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'Now I Get To Speak Out About What Is Happening To The Freedom Of Expression In India' Article 14 - Article 14