Latest news with #Rashid
Shafaq News
18 hours ago
- Health
- Shafaq News
Rwanga Foundation rescues ailing Erbil Kolbar with furnished house
Shafaq News – Erbil The Rwanga Foundation in Erbil has donated a fully furnished home to a young Kolbar* suffering from kidney disease, honoring his resilience and daily struggle to support his family amid severe economic and health challenges. In a statement on Friday, the foundation said its team, under the direction of its President Idris Nechirvan Barzani, visited Aland Hamid Rashid, a young man whose story went viral this week after he appeared in a video speaking about the high cost of living and his fight against illness. Despite suffering from a serious kidney condition, Rashid works from 7 am until nightfall, earning just 5,000 Iraqi dinars (about $4) per day to help provide for his family. The foundation described Rashid as a symbol of 'hope, dignity, and strength,' and said the gift of a home reflects Rwanga's broader mission to support vulnerable Iraqis facing extreme hardship. 'This initiative embodies our core values of compassion, solidarity, and empowerment,' Rwanga said in its statement, reaffirming its commitment to uplifting individuals who demonstrate courage and perseverance in the face of adversity. Rwanga, a non-governmental organization based in Erbil, has been active since September 2013 and operates across Iraq in four main sectors: education, youth, environment, and vulnerable communities.
Time of India
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Jailed MP Engineer Rashid threatens hunger strike in Tihar
SRINAGAR: J&K MP and Awami Itihaad Party (AIP) president Engineer Rashid on Friday announced a 24-hour hunger strike from Sunday inside Tihar Jail to protest what he called 'continued denial of democratic rights to Kashmiris'. He has been in jail since 2019 in a terror funding case. An AIP spokesperson said, 'This hunger strike seeks to highlight the deafening silence of national parties about the hundreds of Kashmiris languishing in Tihar Jail and other prisons under draconian laws like UAPA, merely for political beliefs.' He said Rashid conveyed his decision at a meeting with his family and asserted that the hypocrisy of both BJP and Congress in accusing each other of throttling democracy must be exposed. Both the parties 'are partners in crime when it comes to snatching the constitutional, democratic and human rights of Kashmiris,' the MP told his family as per the spokesperson. 'While BJP is correctly highlighting the atrocities committed during the 1975 Emergency, it conveniently forgets how it has treated Kashmiris over the past 11 years, jailing legitimate political voices, silencing dissent and branding political belief as criminality. Congress and others, on the other hand, accuse the Modi govt of imposing an undeclared emergency but remain silent about the hundreds of Kashmiris in Tihar and other prisons under draconian laws like UAPA, simply for their political beliefs,' Rashid told his family, the spokesperson said.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Centre to challenge Jammu and Kashmir High Court order on repatriation of deported woman
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is likely to appeal against an order of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to repatriate a 63-year-old housewife who was deported to Pakistan following the crackdown against Pakistani nationals post-Pahalgam terror attack. A government source said the order would be challenged soon in a higher court. As reported by The Hindu on June 23, Judge Rahul Bharti had ordered the Union Home Secretary to 'retrieve' the petitioner Rakshanda Rashid from Pakistan, 'given the exceptional nature of facts and circumstances of the case.' Ms. Rashid had been living in Jammu with her husband and two children for the past 38 years, till April 30 when she was deported to Pakistan through the Attari land border check point in Punjab. Her family moved the High Court, which ordered on June 6 that she be brought back in 10 days. Ankur Sharma, petitioner's counsel, told The Hindu the order could be challenged before the Division Bench of the High Court, and they were prepared to file a caveat. 'We understand that if the order is challenged by the Union government, we may also file a caveat so that whenever the case comes up for hearing we are also given a notice to present our case,' said Mr. Sharma. As reported, the petitioner is living at a hotel in Lahore with little money as she has no immediate family members in Pakistan. Her daughter had said Ms. Rashid was on a long-term visa (LTV) in India and had applied for citizenship in 1996 which was never processed. After the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, where 26 people were killed, the MHA cancelled the visas of all Pakistani citizens and asked them to leave the country by April 29. Though the order exempted those with LTVs or Pakistani women married to Indian citizens, Ms. Rashid was picked up by the Jammu and Kashmir police and deported to Pakistan, her lawyer said. Judge Bharti noted in his order, 'Human rights are the most sacrosanct component of a human life and, therefore, there are occasions when a constitutional court is supposed to come up with SOS-like indulgence notwithstanding the merits and demerits of a case which can be adjudicated only upon in due course of time. Therefore, this court is coming up with a direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to bring back the petitioner from her deportation.'
Scroll.in
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Rush Hour: Rahul Gandhi seeks machine-readable voter rolls, Iran-Israel ceasefire violated and more
We're building a brand-new studio to bring you bold ground reports, sharp interviews, hard-hitting podcasts, explainers and more. Support Scroll's studio fund today. Alleging that 'vote theft' took place during the Maharashtra Assembly elections held in November, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday demanded the immediate release of machine-readable digital voter rolls and CCTV footage. The leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha made the statements after Newslaundry reported that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' constituency saw an 8% increase in voters between the Lok Sabha elections, held in May and June 2024, and the Assembly polls in November. Gandhi has frequently demanded access to voter lists, polling data and election footage, alleging irregularities. His statements on Tuesday came days after the Election Commission wrote to him saying all polls are held strictly as per laws passed by Parliament. Read on. The Israel Defense Forces has accused the Iranian military of violating the ceasefire hours after it came into effect. Tel Aviv will 'respond with force' in retaliation to the 'severe violation of the ceasefire carried out by the Iranian regime', said Israeli Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir. On the other hand, Iranian state-run Press TV quoted the country's armed forces as having denied that it had launched fresh missile attacks on Israel. On Tuesday, Tel Aviv and Tehran agreed to the truce after 12 days of conflict. Hours later, United States President Donald Trump said that both countries had violated the terms of deal. 'They violated it but Israel violated it too,' said Trump. 'I am not happy with Israel.' Read on. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered the Union government to facilitate the return of 63-year-old Rakshanda Rashid from Pakistan to India on humanitarian grounds. Rashid had lived in Jammu on a long-term visa for 38 years with her husband, a retired government official, and two children. She was deported to Pakistan on April 30 during a crackdown on Pakistani citizens following the Pahalgam terror attack. According to her husband, Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed, Rashid suffers from several ailments and has no one in Pakistan to care for her. The terror attack at Baisaran near the town of Pahalgam on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 16 injured. Following this, New Delhi had on April 24 announced that the visas of Pakistani citizens in India would stand revoked from April 27. Read on. India has evacuated 2,295 citizens from Iran amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, said the Ministry of External Affairs. This includes 292 Indian citizens who arrived in New Delhi on a special flight from Mashhad at 3.30 am on Tuesday as part of Operation Sindhu. Another flight had brought 290 Indians and one Sri Lankan citizen from Mashhad to New Delhi at 7.15 pm on Monday. The first evacuation flight arrived in New Delhi on Thursday. This was followed by a series of special flights.
Scroll.in
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
J&K High Court orders government to bring back woman deported to Pakistan
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered the Union government to bring back a 63-year-old woman to India on humanitarian grounds after she was deported to Pakistan during a crackdown on Pakistani citizens following the Pahalgam terror attack. The order was passed on June 6. Rakshanda Rashid, the petitioner, had lived in Jammu on a long-term visa for 38 years with her husband, a retired government official, and two children, The Hindu reported. She was detained by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and taken to the Attari-Wagah border checkpoint, from where she was deported to Pakistan on April 30. Since being deported, Rashid has been living at a hotel in Lahore, her daughter Falak Sheikh told The Hindu. Rashid has no relatives in Pakistan and may soon run out of the cash she had taken from India, her daughter said. Sheikh told the newspaper that her mother had applied for Indian citizenship in 1996 but the application had not been processed. The petitioner's husband Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed said that Rashid had no one in Pakistan who could take care of his wife, who was suffering from several ailments. According to the court order, Ahmed said that Rashid's 'health and life is at risk with each passing day and [she had been] left to fend for herself as abandoned'. Judge Rahul Bharti said in the order that human rights were the 'most sacrosanct component of a human life' and, therefore, 'there are occasions when a constitutional court is supposed to come up with SOS-like indulgence notwithstanding the merits and demerits of a case…' The merits of the case can be adjudicated separately, the judge said. Given the 'exceptional nature of facts and circumstances' of the case, the court ordered the Union home secretary to comply with the order within 10 days. The petitioner's counsel Ankur Sharma told The Hindu that the authorities had not acted on the order so far and Rashid had not yet returned to India. The bench will hear the matter next on July 1, when the government is to file a compliance report. The terror attack at Baisaran near the town of Pahalgam on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 16 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu. Among several diplomatic measures, New Delhi had on April 24 announced that the visas of Pakistani citizens in India would stand revoked from April 27 and that they had to leave the country before the deadline. Following the deadline, the police in many states had deported several Pakistani citizens who remained in the country.
