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New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Fare well VS Achuthanandan: The leader who never lost his soul
It's the day when Kerala is seeing the last farewell for the late VS Achuthanandan. The outpouring of love for the Communist stalwart, with 'Samaram aanu VS' booming all along the way, stands testimony to the fact that the 101-year-old will always live on in the hearts and minds of the millions who cherish their Comrade. Never an ideologue, the legendary leader was able to effectively fill the political vacuum left by EMS Namboodiripad's demise in Kerala politics. Till the end, he championed both the party's and the Leftist cause in Kerala and remained the quintessential people's leader. The election memories he left behind are many. In the state's first-ever bypoll in 1958, he brought in the one-and-only MGR to campaign for the Left. With MGR was a then unknown boy who would sing at campaign meetings. He later went on to be known as the legendary Ilayaraja. In 2015, he led the Left battle against KM Mani in the assembly. Even in the 2019 by-election—his final political outing—VS was in his element, unleashing a scathing attack on political opponents. Though a leader with limited formal education, he stood out from his peers for his political wisdom, which led him to take up a slew of people's issues—be it environmental issues like Pooyamkutty, or issues related to women's safety. People saw in him their saviour. Someone who was patient enough to lend an ear to their woes, a politician who was never reluctant to take up their causes, an Opposition within his own party, a leader of the masses. Patient listener who was open to new ideas His once close associates clearly remember how VS took up various causes like the free software movement at a time when such concepts were unheard of in Kerala. "In fact, I had met a couple of senior Left leaders at the time, and none of them were even ready to listen. That's when one of them—obviously to get rid of me—directed me to VS, who was then the Opposition Leader. I was given only five minutes to explain and was obviously worried as to how to explain in such a short period. VS was sitting in his office at Cantonment House. He gave me a patient hearing and kept jotting on a brown cover. Once I finished, he asked me to repeat everything slowly. I was sweating profusely. I repeated everything in the same order. "He kept on asking me whether I was exaggerating. He finally realised its immense significance, and could sense the politics behind it. He then asked me to come up with a statement. He told me, 'Only the truth must be told, but that doesn't necessarily mean a narration of mere facts'. This was a rare quality among politicians. It's surprising how he was able to grasp the politics of free software. At a time when even youngsters were unable to comprehend, VS immediately grasped its core concept," VK Sasidharan once told The New Indian Express. Later during his Chief Ministerial tenure too, VS actively took up the free software movement and even shared a dais with Richard Stallman, the world-renowned American free software movement activist. 'How will you profit, if you gain the world, but lose your soul?' How VS took on the late Kerala Congress supremo KM Mani in the assembly over the bar bribery scam is a lesson in itself for political aspirants. It was on March 10, 2015—just two days before the notorious Assembly bedlam—that VS tore into Mani in the Assembly, quoting from the Holy Bible: "Mr Mani, there will come a time when verses in the Bible will come true. I can't even imagine Mani rotting in hell's eternal fire, surrounded by deadly worms." He even had the audacity to read aloud from the Gospel of Matthew for Mani's benefit. Unleashing a barrage of vitriolic humour on the hapless minister, Achuthanandan solemnly quoted from the Holy Bible. "Aren't Mani, Oommen Chandy and PC George all believers? Aren't they well-versed with the Bible? Let me quote from the Gospel of Matthew: How will a man profit, if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? - Chapter 16: Verse 26", before staging a walkout. Mani couldn't be blamed for losing his cool and terming Achuthanandan 'Antichrist'. Soul-searching leader who was CPM's biggest crowd-puller Though VS chose to be the voice of dissent within the party, he simultaneously managed to remain its most reliable soldier. A scathing internal critic, he was yet its biggest crowd-puller. A soul-searching leader, who would put his party in a spot, he was yet the one who would also come to its rescue. No wonder Achuthanandan would be remembered as a study in contrast. A revolutionary Marxist. Having said that, it wouldn't be right if we forget to say that his party—the CPI(M)—never gave up on him. VS may have nurtured political ambitions, but never at the cost of his convictions—be it political or personal—a rare characteristic that made him a true-blood comrade! Undoubtedly one of the greatest mass leaders the state ever had, frenzied masses hung on to his every word, relishing his adept feints, pointed barbs and striking analogies—all rolled out in his quintessential colloquial style. The silence and emptiness he leaves behind is numbing.
CairoScene
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Palestinian Comedian Mo Amer to Perform at Dubai Opera in October
Amer's set will be one of several performances scheduled during Dubai Comedy Festival. Jul 22, 2025 Palestinian-American comedian and writer Mo Amer is set to perform at Dubai Opera on Thursday, October 9th, as part of the Dubai Comedy Festival. Known for his sharp observational humour and storytelling focused on family and identity, Amer's set will be one of several performances scheduled during the festival, which runs from October 2nd to 12th. Presented by Live Nation Middle East, the festival will also feature comedians including Tom Segura, Akaash Singh, Joanne McNally, John Achkar, Amer Zahr, and Zakir Khan. Amer has received multiple awards for his work, including a Gotham Award and a Peabody Award, and is recognised for his appearances in the Netflix series 'Mo'. Tickets start at AED 295 and are available through PlatinumList's official website.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Health
- Irish Independent
‘They executed him then called his wife to brag': Inside Sweida, the Syrian city ravaged by militias
On the fourth day of fighting in the Druze-majority city, Dr Amer was shot in the head as he tried to return to work. 'He was dressed in scrubs and they executed him. Then they called his wife on his phone and bragged about it,' said Sami, a surgeon at the hospital. Witnesses reported it was regime forces wearing Islamic State badges on their military fatigues. The fighting that has consumed the region started on July 13 as a dispute between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes, but quickly escalated into deadly clashes. Syrian government forces deployed to quell the violence instead became embroiled in it, drawing in Israeli intervention. Syrian soldiers, many of whom came from former jihadist ranks, are accused of aligning with other militias and attacking Druze fighters and civilians, carrying out a bloody rampage across the city. After six days of terror, the death toll is estimated to be more than 900, but confirmation will take time as bodies are recovered and identified. An 'immediate and comprehensive' US-brokered ceasefire was declared between Syria and Israel on Saturday in Sweida, but it is failing to hold. Multiple witnesses say militias are still attacking villages and the city. Sami, who is currently hiding with his family and speaking under a pseudonym for fear of retribution, was working at the hospital on Tuesday when he said government forces attacked. 'We saw the soldiers, and the bombs were landing on the hospital. We hid, but then tried to continue treating patients. Then we lost electricity and water,' he said. He was not there on Wednesday when Syrian soldiers allegedly detained the doctors and nurses in the operating rooms. 'They killed a maintenance man and told the doctors they would be executed at 6pm.' The soldiers were forced to withdraw and his colleagues escaped, Sami said, but he still does not know how many staff were killed during the attack on the hospital. Videos filmed inside the building show corpses piled up in hallways, blood-soaked floors, rooms stacked with body bags and a chaotic makeshift morgue set up outside. When Sami reached the hospital on Thursday, passing civilian bodies littering the roads nearby, he found a Syrian tank at its front entrance – and more bodies. 'It looked like a massacre,' he said. 'The hospital was partly destroyed. There were a lot of bodies put on top of each other. We still do not know who is dead. I haven't been able to make contact with all of my colleagues.' The surgeon estimates that there are 400 bodies at the hospital. Most are piled outside in the back yard because the morgue ran out of space. 'I think they will reach 1,000 soon. We do not have time to identify them or bury them,' he said. Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the Syrian president, has vowed to protect the Druze minority, but his forces have been accused of executing them in the street. Nawaf Al-Shabli, a doctor who lives on the outskirts of Sweida, described feeling powerless as he heard that his friends and colleagues might be being killed inside the National Hospital. He is trapped inside his own village on the outskirts of Sweida, which he said is still under attack from neighbouring Bedouin tribes and Arab militia groups. 'You cannot imagine the horrors,' said Dr Al-Shabli, who is also a prominent peace activist. 'These are my friends. They were so innocent. All the world will be shocked when it comes to light what happened.' Dr Al-Shabli has been distributing food and aid to his neighbours. 'I am trying to help, but there is nothing – no electricity, no clean water, no medicine. All the villages have been burnt around us.' The Druze have faced a history of persecution When the violence broke out last week, he said many villagers fled to Sweida, where they believed they would be safe. Some were killed, he said, and those that returned are traumatised. 'They came from all directions, all roads, with all resources and heavy weaponry. They wanted to destroy the Druze. They oppose our beliefs.' The Druze – whose religion is rooted in Islam, but who do not identify as Muslim – have faced a history of persecution. The sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam. More than half of the world's roughly one million Druze live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed in 1981. In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military. In Syria, the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country's new leaders, with some advocating for integrating into the new system, while others have remained suspicious of the authorities in Damascus and pushed for an autonomous Druze region. 'We are peaceful,' Dr Al-Shabli said. 'We do not usually fight. We want to help others. Our saying is to 'hurt no one, love all, serve all'.' Inside the city, residents are pleading for help from the outside community, saying that aid is not reaching them as militias have blocked all the roads. 'The situation is very bad. This is a disaster. We are asking for a humanitarian corridor to open up,' said Kinan Azzam, a dentist who lives in the east of Sweida city. Please, we need help. Time is running out. Why isn't anyone helping us? He described seeing bodies all over the streets and hearing of Druze women and children kidnapped, while parents were killed in their homes in front of their children. He said the fresh ceasefire agreement − the second this week after an earlier agreement on Wednesday quickly collapsed − is being broken continuously. 'Please, we need help. Time is running out. Why isn't anyone helping us?' Burcu Ozcelik, a Middle East security analyst at the Rusi think-tank, said: 'The ceasefire remains extremely fragile.' Ms Ozcelik said that a range of armed groups – operating beyond the control of the government and driven by divergent agendas – were converging on the area 'in anticipation of renewed conflict'. The deadly violence is the worst in this corner of Syria since the height of the country's nearly 14-year civil war. It has underscored the challenge the new Islamist regime is facing in stabilising the country and exerting centralised rule. The interim government, led by Mr Al-Sharaa, has failed to unite Syria's diverse religious and ethnic factions since the ousting of Bashar Al-Assad in December. Mr Al-Sharaa – a former al Qa'ida leader turned statesman – has promised tolerance and acceptance, but authorities have been accused repeatedly of trampling over the rights of the country's diverse minorities.
Black America Web
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Federal Judge Rules ICE Engages In Racial Profiling, DHS Denies It (While ICE Director Admits It)
Source: Carlin Stiehl / Getty Just last month, the Los Angeles Times published an article titled 'Fears of racial profiling rise as Border Patrol conducts 'roving patrols,' detains U.S. citizens.' The article quoted the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which said, 'We are seeing ICE come into our communities to do indiscriminate mass arrests of immigrants or people who appear to them to be immigrants, largely based on racial profiling.' The Department of Homeland Security wasn't thrilled about this article, saying in a statement, 'Any claims that individuals have been 'targeted' by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE.' Well, it only took a few short weeks for a federal judge to order the Trump administration to stop allowing ICE agents in southern California from 'indiscriminately' arresting people based on — you guessed it — racial profiling. According to USA Today, on July 2, a group of immigration advocates and five people arrested by ICE filed a lawsuit against the DHS over what it called a 'common, systematic pattern' of arresting brown people in the Los Angeles area based on their perceived race. In fact, the plaintiffs alleged that the area had come 'under siege' by masked immigration agents 'flooding street corners, bus stops, parking lots, agricultural sites, day laborer corners, and other places,' and arresting people or forcibly detaining them for questioning after targeting them because of their skin color, because they spoke Spanish, because they spoke English with an accent and/or because of their occupation. The suit also claimed those arrested were denied access to lawyers and held in 'dungeon-like' facilities where some were 'pressured' into accepting deportation. The judge agreed. From USA Today: Judge Maame Frimpong of the Central District of California wrote in her order that the group would likely succeed in proving that 'the federal government is indeed conducting roving patrols without reasonable suspicion and denying access to lawyers.' Stopping the indiscriminate arrests was a 'fairly moderate request,' she wrote. Her order granted an emergency request, and the lawsuit is ongoing. Mohammad Tajsar, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the group that brought the lawsuit, said, 'It does not take a federal judge to recognize that marauding bands of masked, rifle-toting goons have been violating ordinary people's rights throughout Southern California.' 'We are hopeful that today's ruling will be a step toward accountability for the federal government's flagrant lawlessness.' Unsurprisingly, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin feels differently, accusing Frimpong of 'undermining the will of the American people,' because, once again, a Trump administration official doesn't seem to understand that federal law enforcement is supposed to follow the law, not the 'will' of Trump voters, who, by the way, are not interchangeable with 'the American people.' (It's as if MAGA math has left these people completely unaware that while just over 77 million Americans voted for President Donald Trump, just over 75 million voted for former VP Kamala Harris.) 'America's brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists,' McLaughlin claimed, conveniently ignoring the data that shows nearly half of ICE detainees either have no criminal record at all or have only been convicted of minor offenses, including traffic violations. McLaughlin also reiterated almost verbatim the DHS's previous denial that ICE agents are making arrests based on skin color, calling them 'disgusting and categorically FALSE.' 'DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence,' she said. Here's what I wrote about that last month: Part of the reason millions of people engaged in 'No Kings' protests across the nation over the weekend is the people's opposition to ICE tactics, which include raiding schools, workplaces and immigration courts to arrest allegedly undocumented migrants and set them up for deportation, often, without due process. Earlier this month, White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller reportedly set a new quota for ICE agents to arrest 3,000 undocumented migrants each day. 'Stephen Miller wants everybody arrested. 'Why aren't you at Home Depot? Why aren't you at 7-Eleven?'' an ICE official claimed, according to a report in The Washington Examiner. So, if ICE agents are to increase the agency's deportation numbers by going to Home Depot, 7-Elevens and other places they might expect to find undocumented migrants, how else would they know who to target for questioning, unless they were looking for people who looked and sounded like they might not be American? Also, if it's true that ICE doesn't engage in exactly the kind of racial profiling the plaintiffs described in their lawsuit, somebody should probably tell ICE Director Tom Homan that. 'Look, people need to understand, ICE officers and Border Patrol don't need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them. They just need totality of the circumstances, right? They just go through the observation, get our typical facts — based on the location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions,' Homan declared during a recent appearance on Fox News. Apparently, Homan and the DHS need to sit down for a chat about their mixed messaging. Because somebody's lying. SEE ALSO: ICE Masks Are Just Modern Ku Klux Klan Hoods [Op-Ed] ICE Agents Claim Assaults Are Reasons For Masks, But That's A Lie SEE ALSO Federal Judge Rules ICE Engages In Racial Profiling, DHS Denies It (While ICE Director Admits It) was originally published on
Black America Web
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Federal Judge Rules ICE Racially Profiles
Source: Carlin Stiehl / Getty Just last month, the Los Angeles Times published an article titled 'Fears of racial profiling rise as Border Patrol conducts 'roving patrols,' detains U.S. citizens.' The article quoted the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which said, 'We are seeing ICE come into our communities to do indiscriminate mass arrests of immigrants or people who appear to them to be immigrants, largely based on racial profiling.' The Department of Homeland Security wasn't thrilled about this article, saying in a statement, 'Any claims that individuals have been 'targeted' by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE.' Well, it only took a few short weeks for a federal judge to order the Trump administration to stop allowing ICE agents in southern California from 'indiscriminately' arresting people based on — you guessed it — racial profiling. According to USA Today, on July 2, a group of immigration advocates and five people arrested by ICE filed a lawsuit against the DHS over what it called a 'common, systematic pattern' of arresting brown people in the Los Angeles area based on their perceived race. In fact, the plaintiffs alleged that the area had come 'under siege' by masked immigration agents 'flooding street corners, bus stops, parking lots, agricultural sites, day laborer corners, and other places,' and arresting people or forcibly detaining them for questioning after targeting them because of their skin color, because they spoke Spanish, because they spoke English with an accent and/or because of their occupation. The suit also claimed those arrested were denied access to lawyers and held in 'dungeon-like' facilities where some were 'pressured' into accepting deportation. The judge agreed. From USA Today: Judge Maame Frimpong of the Central District of California wrote in her order that the group would likely succeed in proving that 'the federal government is indeed conducting roving patrols without reasonable suspicion and denying access to lawyers.' Stopping the indiscriminate arrests was a 'fairly moderate request,' she wrote. Her order granted an emergency request, and the lawsuit is ongoing. Mohammad Tajsar, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the group that brought the lawsuit, said, 'It does not take a federal judge to recognize that marauding bands of masked, rifle-toting goons have been violating ordinary people's rights throughout Southern California.' 'We are hopeful that today's ruling will be a step toward accountability for the federal government's flagrant lawlessness.' Unsurprisingly, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin feels differently, accusing Frimpong of 'undermining the will of the American people,' because, once again, a Trump administration official doesn't seem to understand that federal law enforcement is supposed to follow the law, not the 'will' of Trump voters, who, by the way, are not interchangeable with 'the American people.' (It's as if MAGA math has left these people completely unaware that while just over 77 million Americans voted for President Donald Trump, just over 75 million voted for former VP Kamala Harris.) 'America's brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists,' McLaughlin claimed, conveniently ignoring the data that shows nearly half of ICE detainees either have no criminal record at all or have only been convicted of minor offenses, including traffic violations. McLaughlin also reiterated almost verbatim the DHS's previous denial that ICE agents are making arrests based on skin color, calling them 'disgusting and categorically FALSE.' 'DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence,' she said. Here's what I wrote about that last month: Part of the reason millions of people engaged in 'No Kings' protests across the nation over the weekend is the people's opposition to ICE tactics, which include raiding schools, workplaces and immigration courts to arrest allegedly undocumented migrants and set them up for deportation, often, without due process. Earlier this month, White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller reportedly set a new quota for ICE agents to arrest 3,000 undocumented migrants each day. 'Stephen Miller wants everybody arrested. 'Why aren't you at Home Depot? Why aren't you at 7-Eleven?'' an ICE official claimed, according to a report in The Washington Examiner. So, if ICE agents are to increase the agency's deportation numbers by going to Home Depot, 7-Elevens and other places they might expect to find undocumented migrants, how else would they know who to target for questioning, unless they were looking for people who looked and sounded like they might not be American? Also, if it's true that ICE doesn't engage in exactly the kind of racial profiling the plaintiffs described in their lawsuit, somebody should probably tell ICE Director Tom Homan that. 'Look, people need to understand, ICE officers and Border Patrol don't need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them. They just need totality of the circumstances, right? They just go through the observation, get our typical facts — based on the location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions,' Homan declared during a recent appearance on Fox News. Apparently, Homan and the DHS need to sit down for a chat about their mixed messaging. Because somebody's lying. SEE ALSO: ICE Masks Are Just Modern Ku Klux Klan Hoods [Op-Ed] ICE Agents Claim Assaults Are Reasons For Masks, But That's A Lie Federal Judge Rules ICE Engages In Racial Profiling, DHS Denies It (While ICE Director Admits It) was originally published on
