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India’s Congress begins 3,500-km march against ‘hate’

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Opposition party members are holding the rally, dubbed “Unite India Rally”, from Kanyakumari town on the southern tip of India and will try to reach northernmost city of Srinagar in India-administered Kashmir in about 150 days.

India’s main opposition Congress party members have gathered for a cross-country march against “hate and division”, hoping to turn its fortunes around and regain some of the popularity it has lost to the ruling Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Party members will begin walking from the coastal town of Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India on Thursday, planning to cover more than 3,500 kilometres to reach Srinagar city in northernmost India-administered Kashmir in about 150 days.

The march, named “Bharat Jodo Yatra” or “Unite India Rally”, is led by a scion of the influential Gandhi family and comes on the heels of several veteran members leaving the party.

“I lost my father to the politics of hate and division,” Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter on Wednesday after visiting the site where his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991 by an ethnic Tamil suicide bomber.

“I will not lose my beloved country to it too,” he said.

The BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consolidated its control since 2014, when it came to power in nationwide elections, by winning many states still ruled by the Congress.

The BJP has been riding a Hindu-nationalist wave, while the 137-year-old Congress has typically promoted secular politics.

READ MORE: In India’s battle for Hindu supremacy, the bulldozer is its newest weapon

READ MORE: The role of the West in the plight of India’s Muslims

Hate can lead to ‘civil war’

“Hate has brewed in the country in the name of caste and religion. If we don’t control this now, there can be a civil war,” Ashok Gehlot, a Congress leader and chief minister of western Rajasthan state, told reporters ahead of the march.

The march comes ahead of elections in the western state of Gujarat — Modi’s home state — this year and the central state of Madhya Pradesh next year, both of which are currently ruled by the BJP.

Analysts say Congress lacks a counter-narrative to the BJP’s politics, which is infused with a heavy dose of “Hindutva” — a supremacist ideology that believes in making India an exclusive Hindu state.

The march “is not a gimmick. Rahul Gandhi sincerely believes in religious harmony. But the people are not interested. So, it will fail,” said political analyst Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Junior.

“Rahul and Congress would have to work hard on the ground, find out the problems people are facing in different parts of the country,” he told the AFP news agency.

“(The people) need someone to voice their dissatisfaction.”

READ MORE: A silent invasion: How Hindutva infiltrated US politics

Source: TRT

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Russia says NATO preparing for potential conflict in Eastern Europe, Black Sea

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NATO’s activities in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region are focused on preparing its allies for a potential confrontation with Russia, said the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday, citing militarization activities in the region.

The Romanian authorities have previously announced their readiness to invest 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) into modernizing the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in Constanta County. The base is set to expand into a military town capable of accommodating the families of 10,000 military personnel, with plans to create urban infrastructure, said the ministry.

Construction has begun in the southern part of the future military town, where access roads and a robust power grid are currently being built. The modernization of the air base could make it the largest North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) base in Europe by 2040. The U.S. military has been using this base since 1999, it said.

“The expansion of the Romanian air base is yet another proof that the North Atlantic bloc continues its unrestrained militarization of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The ministry added that “the forced enhancement of coalition capabilities is also taking place in Poland and the Baltics.”

“Such activity by NATO members is provocative, exacerbates military tension along our borders and creates additional security threats to Russia. All this is aimed at preparing the bloc’s allies for a potential collision with our country,” the ministry said.

“We will monitor the developments in Romania, assess the emerging risks and take them into account during military planning,” the ministry added.

Source(s): CGTN

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Usable reserve will exceed USD 100 million by the end of this month: MMA

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Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman, on Thursday, revealed over 900 undocumented immigrants have been deported as part of efforts to decrease the number of foreigners living in the Maldives unlawfully.

Speaking at a joint press conference held by Local Governance Ministry, Home Ministry, Maldives Immigration and Department of National Registration on Thursday – Shamman said two to three major operations are conducted every week to identify undocumented immigrants.

“We are removing them based on the capacity available at the detention centre. After their removal – the deportation of such individuals from the Maldives is proceeding at a fast pace,” he said.

Speaking further, Shamman underscored that there is a large number of foreigners involved in black market sale of US dollars in the Maldives – which he detailed is carried out near ATMs and through Viber groups.

Seven foreigners unlawfully selling US dollars in the black market were detained on March 15th in an operation carried out by Immigration’s Risk Intelligence and Legal Affairs and Enforcement and Compliance Division.

Shamman noted that some of these detainees have been deported already. Underscoring that some of the detainees lacked the necessary documentation – he said the documents have been requested from the embassy.

“As soon as the documents are received, they will be deported,” he added.

Source(s): sun.mv

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Over 900 undocumented immigrants deported: Immigration Controller

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Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman, on Thursday, revealed over 900 undocumented immigrants have been deported as part of efforts to decrease the number of foreigners living in the Maldives unlawfully.

Speaking at a joint press conference held by Local Governance Ministry, Home Ministry, Maldives Immigration and Department of National Registration on Thursday – Shamman said two to three major operations are conducted every week to identify undocumented immigrants.

“We are removing them based on the capacity available at the detention centre. After their removal – the deportation of such individuals from the Maldives is proceeding at a fast pace,” he said.

Speaking further, Shamman underscored that there is a large number of foreigners involved in black market sale of US dollars in the Maldives – which he detailed is carried out near ATMs and through Viber groups.

Seven foreigners unlawfully selling US dollars in the black market were detained on March 15th in an operation carried out by Immigration’s Risk Intelligence and Legal Affairs and Enforcement and Compliance Division.

Shamman noted that some of these detainees have been deported already. Underscoring that some of the detainees lacked the necessary documentation – he said the documents have been requested from the embassy.

“As soon as the documents are received, they will be deported,” he added.

Source(s): sun.mv

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