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Scroll.in
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
How Poonch residents took on godi media for defaming a Muslim cleric killed in shelling by Pakistan
In Baila village in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, almost everyone remembers Qari Mohammad Iqbal for two things – for being a Hafiz-e-Quran, someone who has memorised the entire Quran, and his soft-spoken, calm demeanour. 'He was a very patient person. Even if someone was harsh or rude to him, he would talk politely,' said Chirag Din, a relative from Baila. 'He would never argue or fight with anyone.' The head of the Jamia Zia-Ul-Uloom seminary in Poonch city where Iqbal worked for over two decades agreed. 'He would never talk back even if I reprimanded him,' said Maulana Sayeed Ahmed Habib. 'For him, everything revolved around his duty as a teacher.' The 47-year-old, who spent his life memorising the Quran or helping others learn it by heart, died doing his duty as a teacher. In the early hours of May 7, Iqbal was at the seminary when he was hit by splinters of a shell that was fired on Poonch city by the Pakistan army. But the denigration that followed his death shocked all those who knew him. In the coverage following the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack, several news channels in Delhi and the National Capital Region labelled Iqbal a 'Pakistani terrorist' who had been 'neutralised' during the Indian military strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. They also used his picture in their broadcast. 'It was like rubbing salt on our wounds,' said one of the residents of Baila, asking not to be identified. 'How can the media label such a humble and pious human being as a terrorist?' Though Poonch police immediately rebutted the claims of the news channels and issued a statement asserting that Qari Iqbal was a 'respected religious figure in the local community and had no affiliation with any terror outfit', they did not register a case against the news channels, as the family had demanded. Eventually, a social activist in Poonch city, with the support from Iqbal's family members, moved a local court in Poonch district of Jammu on May 28, seeking a first information report against the news channels. 'The fake news didn't only vilify one particular community of Poonch but also hurt the feelings of our Hindu and Sikh brethren,' said Sheikh Mohd Saleem, who filed the petition. 'By labelling a respectable citizen as a Pakistani terrorist, these news channels didn't only hurt the feelings of his family but defamed the entire Poonch district.' On June 28, the court directed the police to register a case against the erring television news channels. In its order, the court observed that while some news channels had tendered an apology after their mistake was pointed out, that should not have stopped the police from registering a case. '…the act of branding a deceased civilian teacher of a local religious seminary as a 'Pakistani terrorist', without any verification, particularly during a period of Indo-Pak hostilities, cannot be dismissed as a mere journalistic lapse,' wrote Shafeeq Ahmed, the special mobile magistrate, Poonch. He directed the police to file an FIR under multiple sections including those pertaining to public mischief, defamation and promoting enmity between religious groups, and ordered a 'fair, impartial and time-bound investigation'. He also sought a compliance report from the station house officer of Poonch in seven days. For a relative of Iqbal, the cleric's vilification was an example of the Islamophobia peddled by a section of Indian news media. 'He just fit the stereotype these TV channels have about Muslims – a practising Muslim in shalwar-kameez with a long beard [was easy to demonise],' the relative added. Under fire On the morning of May 7, hours after India launched Operation Sindoor – military strikes at alleged terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir – the peace along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir lay in tatters. Pakistan responded by firing shells at border areas of Jammu and Kashmir. The shelling was intense in Poonch city, a border town where Pakistan has an edge owing to its control of the heights. 'The shelling started in the night, soon after India announced that it had launched military strikes on Pakistan,' said Ishtiaq Ahmad, a resident of Poonch. The city was in panic but Iqbal had not wavered from his routine. Before dawn broke, he had reached the seminary to take his class. 'Those who are memorising the Quran have to take classes before the sunrise,' said Maulana Sayeed Ahmed Habib, chairman of the Zia Ul Uloom group of institutions that ran the seminary. After his class and morning prayers, Iqbal retired to his room in the seminary. Around 8 in the morning, one of the shells fired by Pakistan landed on the roof of an under-construction building in the seminary compound. The explosion was so big that splinters tore through the seminary hostel opposite it. Parts of the shell landed outside Iqbal's room. 'The splinters tore through the door of his room and one of them hit him on his mouth,' said Habib. A few seminary students were also injured in the blast. At the time of the incident, Maulana Habib said, the seminary management and staff was engaged in moving students to safer locations within the campus or sending those who lived nearby to their homes. 'When we heard that Qari Sahab got injured, we immediately took him to the nearby hospital,' he recalled. Habib recalled Iqbal coming out of his room on his own and walking to the ambulance. 'It just looked like a small cut on his lips but he was bleeding profusely,' he said. Within 30 minutes, Iqbal had breathed his last at the hospital, making him one of the first Indian civilians to be killed in Pakistani shelling in the aftermath of 'Operation Sindoor'. In the four days of military clashes between India and Pakistan, Poonch district bore the brunt, with 15 civilian deaths, including several children. 'We want to set a precedent' When news channels based in the National Capital Region began to call Iqbal a 'terrorist' killed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Choudhary Tariq Manzoor, one of his nephews, called up the police. 'We informed them about the fake news. Thankfully, they issued a statement about his innocence but they did not register an FIR,' Manzoor told Scroll. Saleem, the advocate who filed the petition in court, said he initially requested the Poonch district magistrate to order the registration of a case against the culpable news channels on social media. However, there was no response. 'On May 22, I approached Poonch police authorities by submitting an application for an FIR. When there was no response, I approached the court on May 28,' said Saleem. Iqbal is survived by his two wives and eight children, one of whom is disabled and three are under the age of 10. With Qari Iqbal's first wife, Naseema Begum, unused to dealing with strangers, other relatives and villagers have taken up cudgels on his behalf. Getting a case registered against the news channels involves sending a larger message, they said. 'We want to set a precedent,' said the relative, who did not want to be identified. 'We don't want these news channels to think that they can label any poor man from a remote village a terrorist and go scot-free. We will not stop without teaching them a lesson.'
Indian Express
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
File FIR against channels that showed teacher as Lashkar terrorist killed during Op Sindoor: J&K court
A local court in J&K on Saturday directed the police to register an FIR against some news channels that had aired the photograph of a local religious seminary portraying him as an LeT terrorist killed in Kotli in Pakistan occupied Kashmir during Operation Sindoor. The teacher Qari Mohammad Iqbal of Qari Mohalla was in fact killed during cross-bordering shelling by Pakistan in Poonch on May 7. India launched Operation Sindoor and hit nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 in which 26 people were killed. Referring to a report by SHO Poonch that two news channels had initially aired that Iqbal was a Pakistan terrorist, later withdrew it and issued an apology following clarification, Sub Judge/Special Mobile Magistrate, Poonch, Sjafeeq Ahmed, said, 'the subsequent apology by the news channels does not cure the mischief already caused''. 'An apology may have mitigating value at the state of sentencing, but does not preclude the statutory duty of police to register an FIR once a cognizable offence is disclosed,' the judge observed, directing the SHO of Poonch Police Station to register an FIR under Sections 353(2) (public mischief) ,356 (defamation) and 196(1) (outraging religious sentiments) of BNS, 2023, read with Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. 'While freedom of the press is a vital part of democracy protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, it is subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) on grounds such as defamation, public order, decency and morality,' the judge said. 'In the present case, the act of branding a deceased civilian teacher of a local religious seminary as a Pakistani terrorist without any verification, particularly during a period of India-Pakistan hostilities, cannot be dismissed as a mere journalistic lapse,' he said. 'Such conduct amounts to public mischief and defamation, capable of causing public outrage, disturbing social harmony, and tarnishing the reputation of the deceased and the institution he served,'' the judge said. '… In today's digital era, misinformation can spread rapidly, creating confusion and unrest,' the judge said. An application seeking registration of an FIR against the news channels was filed by advocate Sheikh Mohammad Saleem, who claimed that the news channels not only displayed his name and photograph portraying him as an LeT terrorist, but also linked him to the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. Referring to the SHO's report that the family members of the deceased did not lodge any complaint and the broadcast of the news had originated from Delhi, the judge said there is no legal bar to any person with knowledge of the offence, including a public spirited citizen, to initiate such action. The SHO's second contention about the territorial jurisdiction in view of broadcast originating from Delhi also fails in the light of Section 199 BNS which provides that when an act and its consequences occur in different places, jurisdiction arises in either location, the judge said. In the present case, the consequence of the broadcast — defamation, emotional injury and public unrest — occurred in Poonch, where the deceased resided, served and was martyred, he pointed out. Earlier, Iqbal's family members had served legal notice through advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed to both the news channels seeking damages of Rs 5 crore each.
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
J&K govt charts plan to revive tourism after Pahalgam attack
The government Jammu and Kashmir government has chalked out a detailed plan to revive the tourism sector that took a hit after April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. With an aim to increase footfall at prominent tourists spots, the government is starting with school and college excursions, conferences, tour delegations to get back tourists at famous resorts which witnessed 90% cancellation. 'We are planning to hold picnics and tours of students and this will start from next week and will continue for atleast next two months,' said a senior education department officer. Before the Pahalgam attack, the valley recorded tourist footfall of 7 lakh. Tour operators are hopeful that successful Amarnath yatra could bring back tourists to Kashmir which saw around three million tourists visiting Kashmir last year. After one month, tourists are returning to Kashmir but the numbers are still low, however officials are hopeful that the numbers will start gradually picking up. 'After three days of Pahalgam terror attack, every single tourist left Kashmir. All tourists places looked deserted but now tourists are coming back. In past four five days some big groups also came to Kashmir,' said Mohammad Iqbal a hotel owner in Srinagar city. 'After the attack many hotels got completely closed now they are again reopening,' he said. J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, who held cabinet meeting in Pahalgam and then meeting of administrative secretaries in Gulmarg, had already hinted about school picnics and other activities and had asked education minister Sakina Ittoo to chart a plan for the same. Even many schools and colleges have already made arrangements for beginning of this activity. 'At least when local and tourists will be at picnic spots it will send a positive signal across the country,' said Mushtaq Ahmad, a cab driver who also said last five-six days has seen tourist arrivals in Kashmir. CM Omar recently said, 'Our priority right now is peaceful yatra and that can help to improve tourism.' After Pahalgam attack, the officials are tight lipped on daily tourists arrivals. However, the number of tourists coming to Kashmir post the Pahalgam attack is increasing day by day. 'Its slowly picking up. Now there are daily 1,000 to 1,300 tourists coming into Kashmir which is an encouraging sign,' said a tourism department officer. Even from the last couple of days eight judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court along with their families, are touring Kashmir and the pictures of Judges on famous Dal Lake went viral on social media. Mushtaq Pahalgami who heads the hotel Union in Pahalgam said that now people have started visiting the resort again. 'Now 10 to 20% tourists are visiting the resort. The shops and hotels have started opening, this time more tourists are coming from Haryana, Punjab and southern states and many locals from J&K,' he said many people even now stay for a biggest impediment is the closure of local sites and parks. Unless those places are not opened, Pahalgam won't have tourists in big numbers,' Pahalgam who closed his 30 room hotel said.
Arab News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
New Trump ban puts thousands of Afghans in US resettlement limbo
KABUL: A new US travel ban, which lists Afghans among nationals of 12 affected countries, has put on hold the lives of thousands of refugees who fled Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American-led troops in 2021. US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning nationals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the country — part of a broader immigration crackdown launched by his administration earlier this year at the start of his second term. The move has placed in a state of indefinite waiting some 25,000 Afghans who have been approved for relocation to the US and are awaiting departure in Pakistan. One of them, Mohammad Iqbal, a 35-year-old former government employee, told Arab News that his refugee resettlement application has been active for the past two years. Having completed two interviews with the UN refugee agency and the necessary medical check-ups, he was waiting for his final visa appointment. He is not allowed to work in Pakistan, and he also cannot go back to Afghanistan — both for safety reasons and since that would halt the refugee process. 'I am running out of money and there is no work for Afghans here in Pakistan. We are also facing an increasing risk of deportation. My passport will expire if I don't make it to the US in a few months. It will be very difficult to go back to Afghanistan. I won't be safe there,' Iqbal said. 'I have done my master's degree abroad and worked in some highly technical positions before 2021 ... The current decision by the US president is very unfair and is against the promises made to us by the US government.' Besides those in Pakistan, thousands more Afghans are in the same situation stranded in Qatar and in the UAE, and another few hundred have been kept waiting at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo — the largest US military base in the Balkans. The US travel ban will be in effect from June 9, according to a presidential proclamation released by the White House, which said that it was needed to protect the US from 'from terrorist attacks and other national security or public-safety threats.' Justifying the decision on Afghanistan, Trump cited its lack of a 'competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents' and screening and vetting capabilities. Another reason was that the Taliban, 'a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group,' controls Afghanistan. The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, when its Western-backed administration collapsed as American-led international forces withdrew after two decades of occupation that started with the US invasion of the country in 2001. The troop withdrawal was followed by an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Afghans — many of whom had worked as translators or local staff for foreign governments, organizations or for the previous administration, and feared potential retribution by the Taliban. 'The US played a direct role in creating this situation. As a result of the 20-year US occupation, Afghan society was divided into hostile groups that turned against each other,' said Nasir Ahmad Nawidy, political science professor at Salam University in Kabul. 'Because of the improper policy of the US — without an agreement and peace being reached — the country collapsed, and the systems and order were destroyed. As a result, many people who were prominent figures or experts in the previous regime, or other people who had held important positions in this country, were forced to leave Afghanistan.' He was still hopeful that the US justice system would challenge Trump's decision. 'The US has a commitment to these people,' he said. 'They have been promised it, and their visas are in process. Ignoring these commitments and halting or delaying ongoing processes is against all humanitarian laws.'
New Indian Express
03-06-2025
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Former national basketball player Iqbal passes away in Kerala
KOCHI: Veteran basketball player Mohammad Iqbal, who was the first Keralite to be a part of the Indian basketball team, passed away at 73 on Monday at his residence in Ernakulam. He represented the nation in several events, including the Asian Basketball Confederation Championship. Iqbal, who captained the Kerala basketball team in the 1970s, featured regularly in the national tournaments throughout his career. A native of Kottayam, he lived in Panakkaparamb in Madavana, Kochi. He was the team captain of Baselius College, Kottayam, and the Kerala University. He also played for YMCA Kottayam, where the first basketball court in Kerala was built in 1926. Iqbal was also the president of Rebound Kerala, an association of over 400 retired basketball players from the state. He is survived by his wife Rabiya and children Tina and Asif. The funeral was held at the Juma Masjid in Aluva town on Monday.
