Indian students protest for Gaza, urge government to end arms deals with Israel

Activists protest in New Delhi to demand the Indian government stop arms deals with Israel on Oct. 7, 2024. (AISA/File Photo)
Activists protest in New Delhi to demand the Indian government stop arms deals with Israel on Oct. 7, 2024. (AISA/File Photo)
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Updated 21 March 2025
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Indian students protest for Gaza, urge government to end arms deals with Israel

Indian students protest for Gaza, urge government to end arms deals with Israel
  • Protest comes in wake of Israel’s new massacres after unilaterally breaking Gaza ceasefire
  • Demonstrators call for return of India’s historical support for Palestine

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of people gathered for a protest organized by Indian university students in New Delhi on Friday to demand that the government act against Israel’s breaking of the ceasefire in Gaza and renewed deadly strikes on its population.

Israel unilaterally broke the ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas on Tuesday by bombarding displaced people sleeping in tents. At least 400 — half of them children — were killed, while hundreds more were severely injured.

The ceasefire was mediated by the US administration in January. Israel earlier violated the agreement by stopping all aid, electricity and water from entering Gaza — days before it launched the wave of deadly airstrikes. About 700 people have been killed since.

“The Indian government should take a stand. They should reassert our traditional stand on Palestine,” Dhananjay, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union, told Arab News.

The union is part of the All India Students’ Association, which organized the protest at the Jantar Mantar site in the center of New Delhi.

“The way Israel keeps on pounding Gaza and kills more than 400 people in one day despite the ceasefire, this I feel is an attack on humanity and all civilizational values.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates that at least 49,617 Palestinians have been confirmed dead and 112,950 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. The real toll is likely to be much higher as thousands of people are missing under the rubble.

About 500 people, including students and members of other groups such as the All India Progressive Women’s Association, joined the protest to demand a return of India’s historical support for Palestine.

Many years before the establishment of Israel, Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India’s freedom movement against British rule, had opposed a Jewish nation-state in Palestine, deeming it “inhumane.” For decades, other Indian leaders also viewed Palestinian statehood as part of the country’s foreign policy.

The support has only waned recently, with the current government in New Delhi being mostly quiet in the wake of Israel’s deadly siege and onslaught on Gaza and forging partnerships with Tel Aviv.

“We are registering our resistance, our voices in support of Palestine and against the kind of partnership that we are seeing between India and Israel … India and Israel have partnerships on each front — we are the second largest exporter of Israeli arms, several Indian companies are manufacturing arms in partnership with Israeli companies … and we are sending workers to Israel,” said Ambika Tandon, doctoral student at a university in Delhi.

“These partnerships of arms manufacturing are making India directly complicit in the ongoing war crimes in Gaza.”

Anjali, another student and member of the India for Palestine collective, said links with Israel were affecting Indians too, especially young people.

“Young people should be very concerned … The Indian state is playing a role in this genocide, and its friendship with Israel is harming citizens of India,” she told Arab News.

“Israel has broken the ceasefire. They don’t understand the meaning of ceasefire … We have gathered here today to create some pressure on the Indian government to take a stand against what Israel is doing.”

The protesters believe that India has the leverage to play a meaningful role in stopping Israeli massacres.

“India should immediately pressurize Israel, the US, and Western powers to stop the bombardment. It should bring the third-world countries united,” said N. Sai Balaji, former president of the JNU Students Union.

“The open, brazen violation of the ceasefire unilaterally by Israel — supported by the US — clearly shows that they were never intended to bring any peace … The silence of leaders across the world, even our own Indian prime minister and Indian government, (is) not just shameful but a disgrace on the history of India’s solidarity with Palestine.”


FACTBOX-Major militant attacks in Indian-controlled Kashmir

FACTBOX-Major militant attacks in Indian-controlled Kashmir
Updated 7 sec ago
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FACTBOX-Major militant attacks in Indian-controlled Kashmir

FACTBOX-Major militant attacks in Indian-controlled Kashmir
  • At least 20 people feared dead after suspected militants opened fire on them in Indian controlled Kashmir
  • India and Pakistan, who administer parts of Kashmir but claim it in entirety, have fought two wars over Kashmir 

NEW DELHI, April 22 : At least 20 people were feared dead after suspected militants opened fire on them in India’s Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, with officials saying it was one of the deadliest such attacks in recent times.

Here is a look at major attacks over the years in India’s only Muslim-majority region, where militants have fought security forces for decades.

NOVEMBER 2024

At least 11 people were injured when militants threw a grenade at security personnel in a crowded flea market in the main city of Srinagar.

OCTOBER 2024

Six migrant workers and a doctor were shot dead by militants who opened fire near a tunnel construction site. The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility.

JUNE 2024

At least nine people died and 33 were injured when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims plunged into a deep gorge after a suspected militant attack.

MAY 2024

Suspected militants opened fire on a tourist couple from the northwestern city of Jaipur, injuring them both.

FEBRUARY 2019

At least 44 security personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir. The militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility.

JULY 2017

At least seven Hindu pilgrims, on their way back from the revered Amarnath shrine deep in the Himalayas, died when their bus got caught in crossfire after two militant attacks on police in the area.

SEPTEMBER 2016

At least 17 soldiers were killed as separatists armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades stormed an army base in Uri near the disputed border with Pakistan.


Pentagon says leak probe may lead to US prosecutions

Pentagon says leak probe may lead to US prosecutions
Updated 27 min 16 sec ago
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Pentagon says leak probe may lead to US prosecutions

Pentagon says leak probe may lead to US prosecutions
  • Hegseth left open the possibility that individuals could be exonerated
  • “We said enough is enough. We’re going to launch a leak investigation,” he said

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Tuesday of possible prosecutions of former senior advisers who were fired during a probe into leaks of Pentagon information to the media, saying evidence would be handed over to the Department of Justice once the investigation is completed.
Dan Caldwell, who was one of Hegseth’s top advisers, and two other senior officials were fired on Friday after being escorted out of the Pentagon. But they have denied any wrongdoing and said they have been told nothing about any alleged crimes.
Hegseth, who has come under fire for using unclassified messaging system Signal to discuss plans to attack Yemen’s Houthi group, left open the possibility that individuals could be exonerated during the investigation but played down those chances.
“If those people are exonerated, fantastic. We don’t think — based on what we understand — that it’s going to be a good day for a number of those individuals because of what was found in the investigation,” Hegseth told Fox News.
Hegseth said there had been a number of leaks that triggered the investigation, including about military options to ensure US access to the Panama Canal and Elon Musk’s visit to the Pentagon.
“We said enough is enough. We’re going to launch a leak investigation,” Hegseth said.
“We took it seriously. It led to some unfortunate places, people I have known for quite some time. But it’s not my job to protect them. It’s my job to protect national security.”
He said evidence would eventually be handed over to the Department of Justice.
“When that evidence is gathered sufficiently — and this has all happened very quickly — it will be handed over to the DOJ and those people will be prosecuted if necessary,” Hegseth said.
Caldwell had played a critical role as an adviser to Hegseth and his importance was underscored in a leaked text chain on Signal disclosed by The Atlantic last month.
In it, Hegseth named Caldwell as the best staff point of contact for the National Security Council as it prepared for the launch of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
On Sunday, news emerged of a second Signal chat, a disclosure that Hegseth and other officials have blamed on former Pentagon employees.
Despite growing calls from Democrats for Hegseth to resign, President Donald Trump has stood firmly by his defense secretary.
John Ullyot, who was ousted from his job as a Pentagon spokesperson after two months, said on Sunday that Hegseth’s Defense Department was in “total chaos.”
“The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership,” Ullyot wrote in an opinion piece in Politico.
Asked about Ullyot’s remarks, Hegseth said: “He’s misrepresented a lot of things in the press. It’s unfortunate.”


Ghana in fresh drive to woo back Sahel states to West African bloc

Ghana in fresh drive to woo back Sahel states to West African bloc
Updated 33 min 54 sec ago
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Ghana in fresh drive to woo back Sahel states to West African bloc

Ghana in fresh drive to woo back Sahel states to West African bloc
  • John Mahama: ‘The recent decision by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to withdraw from ECOWAS is a regrettable development’
  • Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are led by juntas that seized power in coups between 2020 and 2023

ACCRA: Ghana’s new leader said Tuesday he initiated a fresh bid to woo back Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to the west African bloc ECOWAS after the junta-led countries quit earlier this year.
President John Mahama said his government had appointed a special envoy to “initiate high-level conversations” with the three countries after their withdrawal from the political and economic group.
“The recent decision by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to withdraw from ECOWAS is a regrettable development,” said Mahama at the launch of the bloc’s 50th anniversary celebrations in Accra, Ghana’s capital.
“We must respond not with isolation or recrimination, but with understanding, dialogue and a willingness to listen and to engage,” he said.
Before him, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye had initiated similar efforts but said earlier this month he had “done everything possible” to bring the three countries back into the bloc, to no avail.
ECOWAS earlier said it had extended invitations to the junta leaders to attend the event at Accra’s International Conference Center.
Officials acknowledged the presence of representatives of the three countries at the event, but did not specify who they were, with the junta leaders apparently having declined to attend.
Mahama, who took office in January, said he has “prioritized diplomatic re-engagement with our Sahelian neighbors.”
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are led by juntas that seized power in coups between 2020 and 2023 and have since turned away from former colonial power France and moved closer to Russia.
They lie in the region known as the Sahel, which stretches between the dry Sahara desert in the north and the more humid savannas to the south.
They quit ECOWAS at the beginning of the year, accusing the regional bloc of being subservient to France.
They have joined together in a bloc called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which was originally set up as a defense pact in 2023 but now seeks closer integration.
Each has been wracked by attacks by extremists allied with either Al-Qaeda or Daesh for a decade — violence that governments have not been able to eradicate despite previous help from French forces.
Together the three countries sprawl over an area of some 2.8 million square kilometers (1.1 million square miles) — roughly four times the size of France — in Africa’s northwest.


Vietnam urges stricter controls on origin of goods after tariff shock

Vietnam urges stricter controls on origin of goods after tariff shock
Updated 22 April 2025
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Vietnam urges stricter controls on origin of goods after tariff shock

Vietnam urges stricter controls on origin of goods after tariff shock
  • The ministry called for stricter controls to avoid “sanctions that countries may apply on goods imported to their countries“
  • “Uniform and determined measures are required... to stop and prevent fraud in the origin of goods”

HANOI: Vietnam’s trade ministry has ordered authorities to tighten control over the origin of goods to avoid sanctions by trading partners in the wake of threatened US tariffs, according to a document seen by AFP on Tuesday.
A document by the ministry dated April 15 said escalating trade tension meant Vietnam was increasingly exposed to trans-shipment fraud.
Less than two weeks earlier, US President Donald Trump had threatened massive 46 percent levies on Vietnam, with Washington accusing the country of facilitating Chinese exports to the United States and allowing Beijing to get around tariffs.
In the document, the ministry called for stricter controls to avoid “sanctions that countries may apply on goods imported to their countries.”
“Uniform and determined measures are required... to stop and prevent fraud in the origin of goods... especially illegal imported raw materials and goods without origin for the production of goods for export,” it added, without naming China.
Hanoi is now trying to negotiate with Trump over the so-called reciprocal tariffs, which have been paused until July.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh urged for “negotiations to promote balanced, stable, sustainable, and effective trade relations with the United States.”
He warned however that the talks were “not to affect another market.”
China on Monday said it “firmly opposes” other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing’s expense, warning it would take “countermeasures” against them.
During his visit to Vietnam last week, China’s President Xi Jinping urged the communist neighbor to join forces in upholding free trade.
Trump, however, said the trip was aiming to “screw” the United States.
Vietnam was Southeast Asia’s biggest buyer of Chinese goods in 2024, with a bill of $161.9 billion.
In the first three months of this year, the United States was Hanoi’s biggest export market.
Vietnam has long pursued a “bamboo diplomacy” approach — striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States.


Many feared dead in gun attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir

Many feared dead in gun attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir
Updated 22 April 2025
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Many feared dead in gun attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir

Many feared dead in gun attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir
  • Initial reports say shots fired at mostly Indian tourists visiting Baisaran meadow
  • Attack much larger than anything directed at civilians in recent years, says official

SRINAGAR, India: Many people are feared to have died after gunmen indiscriminately fired at tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said.

Police have described the incident as a “terror attack” and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule.

“This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, wrote on social media.

“The death toll is still being ascertained so I don’t want to get into those details,” he said.

Initial reports said shots were fired at mostly Indian tourists visiting Baisaran meadow, some 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam.

Police and officials said tourists with gunshot wounds were evacuated to local hospitals.

The scene of the attack was cordoned off as police launched an operation to track down the attackers.

India’s home minister, Amit Shah, is heading to Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where he said he would review the situation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on an official visit in Saudi Arabia, has been briefed about the incident, Shah said.

“We will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences,” Shah wrote in a post on the X social media platform.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key Kashmiri resistance leader, condemned what he described as a “cowardly attack on tourists.”

“Such violence is unacceptable and against the ethos of Kashmir which welcomes visitors with love and warmth. Condemn it strongly,” he wrote on X.

The attack coincided with the visit to India of US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a largely personal four-day visit.

The meadow in Pahalgam is a popular sightseeing destination, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and dotted with pine forests. It is visited by hundreds of tourists every day.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Tuesday’s attack seems to be a major shift in the regional conflict where tourists for many years have largely been spared from violence despite a spate of targeted killings of Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, after New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms.

Tensions have been simmering ever since as India has intensified its counterinsurgency operations.

The region, known for rolling Himalayan foothills, exquisitely decorated houseboats and pristine meadows, has also become a major domestic tourist destination, with hotels booked out for months. Kashmir has also drawn millions of visitors, who enjoy a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers.

Although violence has ebbed in recent times in Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion, fighting between government forces and rebels has largely shifted to remote areas of Jammu region including Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua, where Indian troops have faced deadly attacks.

Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored “terrorism.” Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.