Category Archives: Government Oppression

After the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues tofunnel millions of dollars into checkpoints across the United States. Still, many Americans may still find themselves questioning what freedom and liberty mean to them. These questions have become a matter of life or death for many minoritized Americans over the past 20 years.

Sept. 11 marked the moment in American history when the government expanded its surveillance power beyond the scope of what Americans had ever experienced. Since then, we have seen technology and procedural systems developed that affect people disproportionately because of their gender, race and ethnicity.Muslim individuals, along with other racial and ethnic minorities, areovertly profiled, harassed and unable to travel freely. The impact of these is harrowing when at the intersections of these identities.

Our new systems of hyper-surveillance often lead totraumatic experiences for millions of transgender Americans who are forced to walk through body scanners yearly while a TSA agent guesses their gender. The agent must select either pink or blue buttons, following which, the body scan is algorithmically compared to two binary models: one based on a cisgender man with male genitalia and without disabilities, another based on a cisgender woman with breasts and female genitalia and without disabilities. If the individual does not match up with the models, they can expect a grueling and often humiliating and traumatizing ordeal. AProPublica investigation found that many transgender travelers are subject to misgendering, invasive screenings and unwarranted exposure of body parts. Trans travelers havecalled for a change in policy but have seenlittle reform.

Black women have beenraising alarms about how TSA scanners have repeatedly flagged hair as suspicious. The ACLU reports that racial profiling has dramaticallyincreased since 9/11. This insidious culture has even led to TSA agents creatingracist displays at airports. This discrimination has been baked into algorithms by humans who either were looking to racially profile after 9/11 or caught a wide swath of diverse people who dont fit the narrow, fear-based definitions created in the wake of the attacks.

The American police state has become a self-reinforcing loop that preys on those who are not in positions of authority. Diversity, identity and expression get corralled into myopic categorizations decided by those in positions of power. These categories then are deemed a threat because they are different.

Profiling identity fosters unfounded alarm. The impact of this fearmongering can be seen across the country. When reporting identity and having that data be meaningfully collected we are not a United States. This can be seen amongstate and federal identity documents and howhospitals and clinics reportsexual orientation, gender identity and intersex traits. For many, the inability to have their identity reflected properly on a driver's license is not only ahealth issue but also limits their own freedom, liberty, and the ability tovote. While some states and recent moves by the federal government haveexpanded the right to self-identify, many across the country still struggle. For these people, policies that are decided without gender-diverse individuals at the table limit their ability to travel bycar orplane, toparticipate in democracy, and leads toincreased discrimination. While these systems may seem discreet, they can impact the ability of many to receive safe housing or other basic social needs. When synchronized they create an almost impenetrable system of exclusion and oppression.

For many trans and gender-diverse Americans, along with other minoritized populations, the narrowing of identity forced by the government bakes fear into daily life. Many minoritized individuals, including trans and gender-diverse folks,fear even being counted by the government. Unfortunately, going uncounted means a lack ofhealth data and research. It becomes much more difficult, if not impossible, to be able to study theimpact of diseases like COVID-19 within our communities. And not being counted on a federal level can often mean a lack ofresource distribution to the communities that need it most.

The founders endeavored to create a more perfect union. This ideal is one that not only welcomes all individuals to the table but guarantees the freedom and liberty for individuals to express themselves and to identify authentically. Unfortunately, our current systems continue to make this impossible for many.

After 20 years of the impact of 9/11, we as Americans should reflect on freedom and liberty for all, not just those who own the table and get to write the code. We need to work to rebuild an America based on hope, unity, and compassion, rather than fear. We need to create systems that allow each person to live and be seen authentically. To fulfill a vision of a more perfect union, we must build for inclusion, not exclusion, and welcome our diversity as a core characteristic of what it means to be American.

Dallas Ducar NP is the founding CEO of Transhealth Northampton.

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The exclusions that followed 9/11 | TheHill - The Hill

Express News Service

VILLUPURAM: As rural areas in Villupuram prepare to face local body elections, the question remains whether caste discrimination would continue to rear its ugly head or access to social media would make life easier for leaders belonging to the oppressed classes.

TNIE spoke to a few former panchayat presidents in the district about their experiences of caste oppression over the past decade and the scope of rural administration.

Dalit Panchayat President K Mangavarathal (49) of Yeppakkam in Olakkur is now contesting for the post of district ward member. In 2010, villagers expected her to resign after her husband died.

However, she became the next panchayat president between 2011 and 2016.

Mangavarathal said: Whenever I tried to bring in new roads, villagers belonging to the dominant caste wrote to the officials claiming there was no need for the new road. So I had to write to multiple authorities for genuine demands for facilities.

She added: Being a Dalit and a woman meant double trouble for me. During campaigns, the opponents would assassinate my character. Some were even annoyed by seeing me using a table and chairs at the panchayat office.

Managavarathal, however, hopes things will change for good after 10 years.

The future of rural administration seems less troubling with parties like the VCK rising to power with four MLAs and two MPs, and the DMK-led government announcing prizes for anti-caste villages, she added.

M Renganathan (70), a member of the Irula tribe, was the panchayat president of Rettipalayam village in Gingee taluk between 2011 and 2016. According to him,

Every year during the Gram Sabha meeting on Republic day, the panchayat president would announce a list of beneficiaries of government schemes. I was forced to choose names selected by the village chairman belonging to the AIADMK.

Renganathan highlighted the reasons for the social privileges enjoyed by local politicians.

Our people work on their fields. So, if I asserted my power as the panchayat president, then the caste Hindus would deny work to our people. Socially and economically, we were unable to fight them and so I had to suffer in silence.

Renganathan also alleged the female panchayat secretary used to give him Rs 200-300 daily and asked him to sign documents.

I was never told what the documents were for. If I denied, I was threatened by the woman and her husband that my family members would be assaulted. I am not literate so I used my thumbprints, claimed Renganathan.

However, now the evidence of discrimination can be easily brought to light with the help of technology, he said, adding, Now a video or a photo can bring immediate change by inviting government action.

N Senthil Kumar from Vazhudhavur village in Kandamangalam block said: I was not as vulnerable as others, who did not have party support, as I belonged to the VCK. For the upcoming panchayat leaders, it is a golden period because of the easy access to global knowledge and the government through social media.

Awareness of social justice has increased

N Senthil Kumar from Vazhudhavur village in Kandamangalam block said awareness of social justice has increased and the future panchayat presidents might not suffer discrimination like their predecessor.

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Tamil Nadu: Memories of caste discrimination haunt Villupuram as rural poll nears - The New Indian Express

VARANASI: BJP national president JP Nadda said on Saturday that other political parties only talked about Scheduled Castes, OBCs, and the poor in the country and used them as vote bank, but didnt do anything for their welfare, while the BJP government was working tirelessly for empowerment and uplift of these sections of society by ensuring benefit of various schemes to them.

Nadda was addressing the opening session of national executive of the BJP SC Morcha in Kashi virtually.

Nadda said, Social justice is not merely a word but a commitment for us. Ensuring equality and social justice to poor, tribals, Scheduled Castes and OBCs was the dream of Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar. Our government is working tirelessly to fulfill his dream.

Nadda said that by following the path shown by Ambedkar, the government was ensuring all round development and extending benefits of various schemes to all classes of society.

Calling caste distinction a big hurdle in development, Nadda said that because of it, development caught pace so late. The BJP was the only party which never accepted caste discrimination since its inception.

Nadda said, Several parties did politics on caste-based issues and also talked about dalits, ObCs and poor. But it is disappointing that they did not do anything for uplift of the poor, dalit and OBC communities.

He said, The BJP is ensuring all round development of dalits, poor and OBCs under its mantra sabka saath, sbka vikas. It is working for ensuring equal opportunities to these communities. Several schemes have been started for their empowerment. Ensuring benefit of development to every poor Dalit is priority of our government.

Nadda said that for the first time, a Prime Minister (PM Narendra Modi) paid tribute to Dr Ambedkar at his birthplace Mhow. For the first time, at the initiative of PM Narendra Modi, Dr Ambedkars 125th Jayanti was celebrated at UNO.

Nadda said, I would like to mention CAA here. Ambedkar wanted that the dalits who were left in Pakistan at the time of division should come back to India. But the Congress governments didnt take any step for their rehabilitation. The Modi government has implemented the CAA which has immensely benefited the SC community. A large number of people of Dalit community have been given citizenship under it.

Hindus, most of them Dalits living in Pakistan, were victims of atrocities and oppression, Nadda said and added that when the BJP brought CAA to fulfill the dream of Ambedkar (to bring them back), the opposition parties opposed it. By doing so, they opposed Baba Sahab.

BJP SC Morcha national president Lal Singh Arya said that the BJP was serving the people by ensuring benefit of welfare schemes in states where the party was in power and in other states which had non BJP governments, it played the role of active opposition by raising issues of public interest.

The people of SC community felt safe in Uttar Pradesh since the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath created a fear-free environment, said Arya.

Appealing to Morcha members and leaders to work hard, Arya said the BJP SC Morcha workers would play an active role in ensuring victory of the party in five states, including UP, in the coming state assembly elections.

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Only BJP worked for SC, OBC and poor: Nadda - Hindustan Times

Another year, another day, yet the problems remain the same, especially for those seeking social justice. One may grit ones teeth, but the feeling of helplessness does not help one forget being marginalised, of being cast aside and robbed of an opportunity to cast off the archaic yoke that has suppressed the aspirations of the marginalised. Nepal today completed six years of the constitutions promulgation. Amidst all the revelry and fanfare, there are important issues that need quick redress for large sections of society that have been overlooked.

If the promulgators are touting the charter as progressive and even the best in the world, it has certainly failed to live up to its expectations. Large sections of society are up in arms about it, and yet, the political class turns a deaf ear to their concerns. The masters well equipped with the gift of the gab are quick to provide lip service to uphold progressive values, but none of it really exudes functional application. Every government that steps up to hold the mantle has made a mockery of the fundamental law book of Nepal. Whats more, constitutionalism has gone for a toss as political parties abuse the constitution even as they try to outperform each other in doing politics sans principles.

Its not that the constitution is not forward-looking at all. It has imagined Nepal as a secular state, although its very definition of secularism is somewhat archaic. Federalism, one of the founding pillars of the current charter, has given way to decentralisation and devolution, but the centre still calls the shots. With a mind-boggling 550 members in the provincial assemblies and nearly 60 provincial ministers, the strain on the state coffers has been immense. Stretched to provide for remuneration and pay for their upkeep, there is little money left for regional development. This begs the question of priorities. At least we can rest assured that those that represent us have utilised an opportunity borne out of a crisis to further their own gains.

The protests of the marginalised Tharus and the Madhesi communities have largely gone silent for now. The leaders of the Madhes based parties that once objected to the discriminatory provisions of the constitution, have over time joined the federal government, leaving the marginalised community disillusioned. The face of New Nepal has been served another blow, where provisions have been made to uplift our brethren from the Dalit & Muslim community, but in stark contrast, they still languish in the depths of despair. It is not just the minorities that have been cast aside. Women, comprising more than half the population, have yet to overturn their demand for unequal citizenship right into reality.

The preamble of the constitution clearly imagines ending all forms of oppression and discrimination created by the feudalistic societies of the past, and yet we seem unable to meet the basic rights listed therein. At a time when the country is grappling with the snags heaped on it by the pandemic on an unprecedented scale, the voices that now seem inaudible too need to be given an ear by those at the helm. The ruling class that is celebrating the triumph of the constitution must remember that large sections still feel dehumanised and neglected. Without a doubt, the onus lies on the architects to ensure wider acceptance of the charter.

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Just another day - The Kathmandu Post

Karachi has been home to various political parties and mass movements against governments over the past seven six decades. The metropolis' complex politics and demography has birthed a number of political parties over the years, with each claiming its own dominion over the city.

We spoke to digital team leads of the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Jamat-e-Islami (JI) to see where each party stands as far as their social media teams are concerned.

Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) may not have yet gained a foothold in Karachis constituencies. However, the party, led by ex-mayor of Karachi and MQM dissident, Syed Mustafa Kamal, wants to take great strides on social media.

Kamals return to Karachi in 2016 and the explosive press conference against MQM founder Altaf Hussain, was enough to inspire Nadir Qureshi, founder of the online business company N2N solutions, to join his ranks.

Any citizen of Karachi who has some civic sense was witness to the citys destruction after Mustafa Kamals era as mayor ended, says Nadir. I was handed the responsibility to galvanise the partys digital media presence after it lost in General Elections 2018.

Running PSPs digital media team is a tough task for Nadir, who looks after his clientele early morning after Fajr prayers. Around noon is when he starts off with his voluntary work.

My core responsibility includes ensuring our hashtags are trending on social media, updating Mustafa Kamal and Anees Qaimkhanis social media pages and ensuring that our narrative reaches our popular base, he adds.

He says the PSP is the only political party in Pakistan that shares even corner meetings of the party on its social media pages and even updates its base on union council meetings.

PSP, according to him, is most active on Facebook and Twitter because the former connects with the masses while the latter is for the news-based, informed audience.

According to Nadir, the main challenges that come with leading the PSPs digital media have all to do with funding. Other political parties have ATMs. If we get even a small ATM, we can tackle other political parties on social media in a more enhanced manner, he says.

We are limited due to funds hence the PSP is forced to go to public groups and do aggressive social media work there.

In the days to come, his vision to enhance the PSPs digital media includes hiring vloggers, promoting content through paid advertisements and boosting posts on Facebook.

There is no politician in Pakistan who understands the importance of social media better than Mustafa Kamal, says Nadir. He goes live on social media fortnightly to make sure the masses are aware of his message. Kamal takes a lot of interest in the findings that our digital media research and analysis team comes up with and provides his feedback on it regularly, he adds.

According to Nadir, Mustafa Kamal places a lot of importance on digital media. He says that the former mayor of Karachi often speaks to YouTubers and vloggers (some of whom he refused to name as they do not want to have their identities disclosed).

Nadir says he has worked with many companies and reported to a lot of bosses. However, he has never met anyone like Mustafa Kamal. The perception about Mustafa Kamal is that he is a very aggressive person. That is not at all true. I havent ever met a more humble and caring person than him, he says.

He also says he hasnt seen a more straightforward person than Kamal.

He is a blunt man hence he doesnt bite his tongue for anyone, says Nadir. And why wouldnt he? Kamal represents millions of people.

When asked whether Mustafa Kamal follows any YouTubers and if he does, who are his favourites?

He has no time for fun or entertainment, replies Nadir.

Nadir says recently, the PTIs social media team lead from Gujranwala joined the PSP. The youth from the PTI are joining our ranks, he says. They joined the PTI and fell for Khan sahabs golden promises. However, they got fed up of the PTIs dirty politics and have hence decided to join the PSP.

Nadir says the PSP, unlike other political parties, does not seek to create divisions based on caste, creed, culture or religion. Rather, he says the party focuses on uniting the masses. We do not gain from dividing Shias and Sunnis or Sindhis and Mohajirs, he explains. We may be small in size and short of funds, but our vision is strong.

Shamsuddin, a journalist by profession, has been leading the digital media team of the Jamaat-e-Islami since 2012. He joined the right-wing party in 2004 and has since then served as the media secretary to former JI heads Munawar Hassan and Qazi Hussain Ahmed.

My day begins and ends with social media, he says. The Jamaat has a very organized system when it comes to social media, extending right from the partys centre to the provincial, district and tehsil-level leadership.

Shamsuddin says his daily work involves ensuring JIs favourable hashtags trend on social media websites, making sure his team counters the negative propaganda perpetuated by rival political organisations and ensuring the JIs supporters are aware of the partys narrative.

The JI is currently trying to wrap its head around the changing algorithm of social media websites. Every single day, social media platforms, especially Facebook, change. Our pages and active accounts are deleted. Our numerous pages reach also gets limited, he says.

Kashmir issue, he says. Ever since the August 5, 2019 [Indian attempt to annex Kashmir] issue has come forward, our party workers have taken an active and keen interest in it. The Palestine issue has also been an area of major interest for the JI workers, he adds.

The JI digital media lead feels one of the biggest challenges for him, on social media, is to stay away from abusive language and ensure none of his teammates get caught up in it.

The third challenge is to reach as many people as possible through our platforms, he says.

Shamsuddin says he spends 12-14 hours on a daily basis managing the JIs digital media affairs. He heads a team of 14 persons while there are different teams at the provincial and lower level, while thousands of volunteers help him with his daily functions.

Siraj ul Haq keeps a very close eye on social media, reveals Shamsuddin. He stays updated with current affairs and gives his feedback regularly. As a leader, he listens to us attentively and values the opinions that team leaders give him, he says.

Shamsuddin says he has known Siraj ul Haq to be a person who always empathises with the destitute and stands up to oppression. Id like to share an example. During the coronavirus pandemic, he instructed party leaders and workers to work for the rights of transgenders. On his directives, food was given to animals as well during the lockdown, he adds.

It doesnt take Shamsuddin long to answer that question. He ignores them, he says, adding that, unlike other politicians, the JI chief is not tainted with scandals of corruption, money laundering or that no one can accuse him of promoting dynastic politics.

Hence, time and again, political rivals accuse him of being a hypocrite.

In response to a question, the JIs digital media team head says if the party comes to power, it will grant social media creative freedom. Our government will use social media to improve Pakistans economy and use it to provide people employment, he says.

Shamsuddin says the JI, unlike all political parties in Pakistan, does not abuse rival political parties or its members. He says the JI mainly focuses on promoting its own ideology, which other political parties hardly do anymore.

Moreover, we focus more on highlighting our positive aspect and showcasing our political activities, he adds.

Are the accusations against JI digital team members true that they abuse political opponents on social media and consider themselves better Muslims than others?

Absolutely not, he says. And for the JIs digital media team, I can say for a fact that that is not true. Whenever any complaint comes to light, immediate action is taken, he says.

Shamsuddin dismisses the notion that JIs digital media team members consider themselves better Muslims than others, adding that this is propaganda that has its roots in history, when ideological politics of the right and left were on the rise.

Well, what if someone violates the JIs social media policy? We issue show-cause notices to them and if they persist, we expel them from the party, responds the JI digital media team lead. However, this rarely happens.

Tanzeel Rauf Patker heads the MQMs digital media cell and professionally, owns his own digital ad agency known as TMA (The Marketing Arm).

In Pakistani politics, there is no start or end of the day, says Tanzeel when I ask him how his day goes. We all work 24/7. In MQM, we are not hired. We are all working here as volunteers. I have been a part of the MQM since my childhood.

A digital marketer by profession, Patkar believes party chief, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui is a true leader who runs the show from front and has a vast vision for MQM and Karachi.

When asked how does the party chief deal with controversies, Patkar says he isnt involved in any controversies.

MQM is currently active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where it shares the partys vision through social media posts and videos. Made up of 10 central committee members, the digital media works nine to 11 hours a day to push the partys vision. This is important because Patker, like Siddiqui, believes that digital media is the future. We have a strong belief that digital media would soon become the leading platform to push your message out from.

Responding to a question about how his party deals with accusations of the MQMs social media team and its followers of misbehaving with others, Patker says his party welcomes criticism as it helps MQM iron out the kinks and lets the party update its policies.

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PSP, JI or MQM: Which political party has the upper hand on digital media? - Geo News

Speaking at Kushinagar Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reiterated a prominent BJP theme that while earlier ruling dispensations limited themselves to the politics of caste, faith, region and language, in the Modi government, the poor, women and youth are beneficiaries of schemes, bina bhed bhaav (without discrimination). Now vikas or development, he said, is har tabke ke liye (for every section). He chanted the familiar slogan: Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas. And then, switching to his own governments record in UP since 2017, the CM said: Ration sabko mil raha hai? tab toh abbajaan kehne wale rashan hazam kar jaate the (is everybody getting their share of food rations? Before 2017, those who called their father abba jaan would monopolise it. That latter comment was crude Muslim-baiting that ill behoves a chief minister. It seemed to fit in easily with the tone and tenor of some of the CMs other remarks in Kushinagar, where he spoke of tushtikaran or the politics of appeasement in loose terms, sweeping into its fold a wide array of separate and specific ills dange bhrashtachaar atyachaar aatankvaad arajakta anyay (riots, corruption, oppression, terrorism, anarchy, injustice). And yet, the abbajaan slur, as much as it seems part of the BJP and Yogis dog-whistle politics, runs counter to the other BJP message that Yogi underlined the Modi governments labharthi (beneficiary) politics.

The fundamental promise of the governments labharthi politics is this: That development includes and encompasses all, regardless of their caste or religion. And that it singles out for special treatment only the poor. The JAM trinity (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) is about a number not a first or last name. So whenever the BJP is accused of majoritarianism, its best defence has been that the development schemes that its governments promote and implement, at the Centre and in the states, from Ujjwala to PM Kisan, from scholarships for the poor to free or subsidised housing for the needy, are non-discriminatory and blind to religious differences, that they count in all communities as beneficiaries. And yet the CM, six months before elections, paints a brutish zero-sum game, in which they take away benefits meant for us.

Of course, the abbajaan slur also makes a claim visibly belied on the ground. In this country, the Muslim minority continues to lag behind the rest of the population on most development indices. The politics of appeasement that the BJP lavishly accuses its political opponents of practising while in power has been mostly effete and gestural, largely by-passing and leaving unchanged their economic concerns and quotidian well-being. Moreover, the UP CMs rhetoric was not just playing on stereotypes, it was also reductionist: It seems not to acknowledge that the citizen is more than the beneficiary of government patronage. Both the BJP and its chief minister need to recognise that the real challenge for a ruling party and government is to accord all individuals the freedom, equality and the enabling environment that helps them exercise to the fullest their rights of citizenship.

This editorial first appeared in the print edition on September 15, 2021 under the title JAM & Abba Jaan.

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Yogi Adityanaths rhetoric was not just playing on stereotypes, it was also reductionist - The Indian Express

On September 12, 2020, just over a year ago, the Islamic Republic of Iran displayed unparalleled agility in executing Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari, merely because he had dared to protest against the conservative Islamic states political and economic corruption.

Now, on the first anniversary of the execution of Navid Afkari, the repressive Iranian regime has trained its guns on his family members even as they were preparing to honour his memory. Saeed, Navids brother, wasassaultedby security forces when he arrived at Shiraz to pay tributes to his brother in his native village of Sangar, Fars province.

Saeed was subsequently taken into custody by the police on trumped-up charges, several news reports said. He was accompanied by his sister, Elham, who was also subjected to assault and arrested by the police.

The action against Saeed came days after Saeed had posted a critical tweet accusing the Iranian regime of coercing his family for not holding a ceremony in remembrance of his slain brother.

As we approach the anniversary of the death of my brother, security institutions have been pressuring our family and acquaintances to prevent us (from holding a ceremony). We have been enduring your savage oppression for three years, and while we still mourn, we will stand against you, Saeed had defiantly tweeted.

The ceremony was scheduled to take place on September 13, 2021. But action against Afkaris family suggests Iran remains incredibly wary of the domestic churning that the ceremony could touch off and mobilise people around Afkaris killing and the first anniversary of his execution. Last year, outrage swept across the world, bringing the Islamic Republic of Iran under the spotlight for using oppression as a tool to exact obedience after Afkari was sentenced to death over the alleged murder of a security guard during anti-government protests in 2018.

It was then widely reported that the Iranian regime inflicted horrifying torture on Mr Afkari and hustled him into confessing crimes he did not commit, in a bid to justify his execution and undercut the groundswell of opposition building around his death sentence.

On Saturday last week, a new video of Navid Afkari confessing to the murder of a water company security guard, for which he was subsequently executed, was released by Fars News, a channel affiliated to Irans Revolutionary Guards. The aim was to deflect the criticism that Afkari was a victim of state oppression. But, the Afkari family, their lawyer and human rights defenders, as well as Afkari himself during his trial said that the confession was taken under duress.

Afkari was sentenced to death for allegedly murdering a security guard during the anti-government protest in Iran in 2018. The verdict sparked a massive furore across the world, with widespread protests by human rights organisations, sports federations, and athletes around the world to revoke his death sentence.

The then United States President Donald Trump too had implored Iran to overturn the wrestlers death sentence and grant him clemency. To the leaders of Iran, I would greatly appreciate if you would spare this young mans life, and not execute him, Trump hadtweeteddays before Afkari was executed.

According to a recently publishedreportin the Jerusalem Post, the Intelligence agents from Iran were worried about the growing popularity of the wrestler and therefore, they had no other option but to execute the wrestler, lest he sparks a revolution that would endanger Iranians conservative regime.

Along with Afkari, his two brothers, Habib and Vahid, were also arrested. They have been incarcerated in the Adel Abad prison of Shiraz and held in solitary confinement since Navids execution.

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First anniversary of wrestler Navid Afkaris execution: Siblings Saeed and Elham arrested as Irans Islamic regime continues to harass the wrestlers...

LAHORE - Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammed Sarwar said on Wednesday that the opposition would only waste its time and also of the public by taking to the streets because the government was not going to fall by such protests and elections would be held in 2023.

It was not the time for personal interests but to protect national interest, he said and added that sacrifices of Pak Army against terrorism were praiseworthy. He stated this while talking to the Chairperson Punjab Women Protection Authority Fatima Chadharr, delegations of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf and media here. The Governor said that people had given the mandate of five years to the government and completing its tenure was the constitutional and democratic right of government, adding that the government would complete its legal tenure and elections would be held on time. Chaudhry Mohammed Sarwar said that the incumbent government believed in the rule of law and targeting political opponents was out of the question. He further said that for the first time in the country, transparency and supremacy of merit had been ensured at every level. He said that Tehreek e Insaaf saved Pakistan from economic crisis by making difficult decisions, and, today, economic stability of Pakistan was being acknowledged by all international institutions.

Says govt will complete its legal tenure and elections to be held on time

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammed Sarwar said that opposition parties have had protested against the government in the past but the government was not intimidated by such protests. The opposition should understand that the government was stable and strong under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and enjoyed the full support of masses. The Governor Punjab said the government would ensure all steps for the protection of women and any kind of oppression and injustice with women would not be tolerated. An awareness campaign for the protection of women was also being launched in universities, he added.

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Opposition doesnt matter now, says Governor - The Nation

In recent months, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria has embarked on a spree of opening Windows on America, U.S. cultural hubs in local communities across the country. The centers, similar to the United Kingdoms British Council and Frances Alliance Franaise, offer educational and cultural programs designed to promote U.S. higher education and highlight aspects of American culture and welcome youth and people from underserved communities to learn more about the United States.

The unstated but no less important aim of the centers is to create cultural inroads with Nigerian youth to counter Chinas influenceespecially the influence it exerts through its Confucius Institutes.

The first Nigerian Windows on America center opened in March in Lekki, Lagos; since then, the U.S. Consulate General has established four other centers, mostly in universities. Meanwhile, Chinas Confucius Institutes, created to promote Chinese language and culture, have been established at Nigerian universities for more than a decade. Chinese firms in Nigeria have recruited alumni from the institutes, further enhancing Chinas socioeconomic standing. The institutes have also created a pathway for young Nigerians to go to China for studies on scholarships and to get jobs.

In recent months, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria has embarked on a spree of opening Windows on America, U.S. cultural hubs in local communities across the country. The centers, similar to the United Kingdoms British Council and Frances Alliance Franaise, offer educational and cultural programs designed to promote U.S. higher education and highlight aspects of American culture and welcome youth and people from underserved communities to learn more about the United States.

The unstated but no less important aim of the centers is to create cultural inroads with Nigerian youth to counter Chinas influenceespecially the influence it exerts through its Confucius Institutes.

The first Nigerian Windows on America center opened in March in Lekki, Lagos; since then, the U.S. Consulate General has established four other centers, mostly in universities. Meanwhile, Chinas Confucius Institutes, created to promote Chinese language and culture, have been established at Nigerian universities for more than a decade. Chinese firms in Nigeria have recruited alumni from the institutes, further enhancing Chinas socioeconomic standing. The institutes have also created a pathway for young Nigerians to go to China for studies on scholarships and to get jobs.

Already, many young Nigerians travel to China for trade purposes, and a grassroots trade relationship has been established by which cheap goods from China are brought into the country. The Made in China tag has become a marker of cheap goods compared to more expensive U.S.-made items that most Nigerians cant afford. Chinese retailers as well as other workers who can be found in many parts of Nigeria constructing railway lines and airports have been referred to by some observers as Chinas silent army. This army has penetrated Nigerias hinterland outside of Lagos and Abuja, further unofficially cementing Chinas influence across Nigeria.

This is precisely what the United States wants to counter. But its policy has been reactive rather than proactive. Rather than break ground on its own initiatives, the United States has tried to reduce Chinas influence on the continent by raising the specter of debt trapsin which China provides developing countries with loans they cant afford to trap them into becoming beholden to Beijing.

Now, with its Windows on America initiative, Washington is taking a more active approach to trying to counter Chinese influence. Yet a recent misstep reveals the hollowness of this strategy.

On Aug. 21, the U.S. mission in Nigeria tweeted out a photo of U.S. officials from the State Departments Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs standing alongside Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammedthe architect of the countrys recent Twitter ban and a prominent mouthpiece of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buharis repressive government.

That the United States was proudly touting cultural and educational cooperation with Mohammed on Twitterthe very platform hed been instrumental in blocking in an effort to silence dissentwas not lost on people. The photo circulated widely on social media among Nigerians who were able to get around the Twitter ban using virtual private networks. In one fell swoop, the United States managed to undermine its efforts to make inroads with Nigerias youth.

The incident was indicative of a deeper problem with U.S. policy toward Nigeria and Africa more broadly. The United States has a long history of preaching the importance of human rights and freedom while simultaneously working withand, in many cases, bolsteringbrutal authoritarian regimes, including in Africa. Values, Washington has shown repeatedly, can be sacrificed for interests.

But this game could only last if there was no equivalent opposing power that could provide an alternative for African governments. With Chinas increased influence on the continent, the tables have turned. Beijing presented African leaders with a different set of values: a win-win cooperation based on what China described in a 2006 paper on Africa policy as equal and mutual-beneficial cooperation.

When China engaged with African countries, diplomatic talks revolved around partnership and how China did not play the role of an occupational force or colonial ruler in Africa. This was further cemented by Chinas policy of noninterference in countries domestic affairs. By highlighting this, China was playing into a very important anti-colonial sentiment.

This approach did not carry the terms and conditions the United States relationship with many African countries came with, leading former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to declare at the end of the 2006 Sino-African summit that China is a source of inspiration for all of us.

Although the United States has the huge advantage of soft power on the continent, it has not tapped into it. Despite its many State Department programs, Washingtons actions are elitist and out of touch with the reality of situations on the ground. The focus is stability, not human rights, yet the protests that have rocked Nigeria and several other African countries have stemmed from human rights abuses and the lack of government accountability.

Matthew Page, an expert on Nigeria at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Washington is doing the right thing in the wrong way. I think theyve fallen short when it comes to human rights and promoting governance, said Page, who previously worked at the U.S. State Department and Defense Intelligence Agency.

Their long-term interests are for Nigeria to be stable and prosperous and secure, but they need to look beyond the elite in Nigeria, Page added. They need a people-centric foreign policy, a policy that recognizes the pitfalls of engaging with older people who are corrupt but in power and balancing it with engaging with younger people.

Many African countries have seen a rise in protests over the last decade. On a continent where almost 60 percent of the population is below the age of 25, there is a disconnect with those in power. Nigerias government is not only clueless on how to harness its youthful population, but it also sees them as a group that should be tamed.

In October 2020, young Nigerians took to the streets to protest police brutality at the hands of the countrys Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in what became known as the #EndSARS movement. But it also showed the dynamism of Nigerias youth, from how the protests were funded using cryptocurrency to how they were organized with no central figure. The Nigerian government sent soldiers to crush the protest, leading to the Lekki massacre, in which as many as 12 people were estimated to have been killed, according to Amnesty International. (The Buhari government disputes this number.) It was a watershed moment for a young generation fighting for justice.

Mohammed later said no massacre had happened and quoted the U.S. State Departments 2020 human rights report as having vindicated the Nigerian governments version of the incident despite the report making no such claims.

The report stated, accurate information on fatalities resulting from the shooting was not available at years end and cited both Amnesty Internationals accounting of the event and the governments refutation of that account. It noted that no other organization was able to verify the [Amnesty International] claim, but the report did not make a definitive conclusion as to what occurred.

This, however, led to a huge Twitter debate on the United States position regarding the massacre. The young protesters expected Washington to speak out in defense of their human rights. Yet only Canada strongly condemned the actions of the Nigerian government. Meanwhile, the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Ireland, and Norway (as well as Canada) gave tepid responses in a joint press statement.

To create real cultural impact among Africas youth, the United States will have to do better than that. It must reexamine its positions in light of the continents changing demographics, where a younger population is increasingly challenging the authority of the old, authoritarian men who have long dominated politics.

These are the men the United States and other Western governments are used to working with. Nigerias close to four decades of military rule means Washington dealt with a crop of military officers, mostly in their 30s, who trained in U.S. and British military academies, came back to power as civilians, and have clung to power since the 1960s. But they are starting to die out and lose their influence, albeit gradually.

Those existing power structures have yet to be upended, of course, and the possibility of young people capturing political power in many of these countries in the near term is slim to none. But the #EndSARS protests showed a competence and organization among Nigerian youth that has never been seen in the country. Washington could position itself as an ally to Nigerian youth in the coming decades, but it is still preoccupied with the current crop of old leaders.

While China has used its economic strength to expand its influence in Africa, the United States and other Western countries are still the ones many youths turn to when they think of freedom and human rights, not China. If Washington wants to build tiesand trustwith Africas next generation, instead of highlighting the perils of Chinas debt trap, Washington should focus on supporting the human rights of young people, not the authoritarian leaders those young people are protesting against.

Although the focus of the West is on Chinese debt, young Africans will not protest those debts. What they will protest is injustice as that is the immediate oppression they feel.

During the #EndSARS protests, a common line was repeated in pidgin English, na who support EndSARS we go supportbasically meaning young Nigerians were keeping a scorecard of those who supported them during the protests.

Africas youth are paying attention to who supports themand who doesnt. Washington would do well to understand that.

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US Policy Toward Africa Is Alienating the Young Generation - Foreign Policy

LAHORE - Punjab Governor Ch Sarwar said on Monday that the public stood with the narrative of the government and not with that of the opposition.

In a meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Aamir Kiani here, he said that the PTI had become the most popular national party, and victory in the recent Cantonment Board elections reflected the confidence of people in the policies of the government. The governor and the PTI general secretary also discussed political, administrative and other issues. The governor congratulated Prime Minister Imran Khan, the PTI leadership and the party workers on the victory in the Cantonment Board elections. Ch Sarwar said that victory in Cantonment Board elections proved that Prime Minister Imran Khan was the most popular leader of Pakistan. He said that the only mission of the government was to strengthen Pakistan and make it prosper. There was no such example in the past regarding the steps taken by the PTI government in education, health and other sectors, he added.

Steps taken by PTI government in education, health and other sectors are unprecedented

Aamir Kiani said that the PTI believed in public service, adding: We are thankful to people for reposing confidence in the party leadership in the Cantonment Board elections. He said that the promises made to the public would be fulfilled. Earlier, in a tweet, the governor shared a video of a UK parliamentarian, who exposed India.

In his tweet, the governor said that India was the biggest enemy of Muslims and peace, and he was a facilitator of terrorists. Pakistan stands with peace, but India is supporting terrorists, he lamented. He said that Pakistan was exposing Indian terrorism and oppression to the whole world. The world should take notice of India for fanning Islamophobia and crimes against Muslims.

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People stand by narrative of government, not oppositions: Ch Sarwar - The Nation