SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
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Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia March 31-April 6, 2014
BANGLADESH AL leads after fifth phase of sub-District polls: The ruling Awami League (AL) emerged as the winner in the sub-District polls as the party-backed candidates bagged 51 posts of chairman while their rivals backed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secured just 12 in the fifth and final phase on March 31. With the results of 455 sub-District polls after five phases, the ruling AL-backed chairman candidates won 225 posts while their challengers favoured by the BNP got 157. Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)-backed candidates secured 35 chairman posts and Jatiya Party (JP) won three. Daily Star, April 1, 2014. INDIA Indian Mujahideen 'almost finished', says Union Minister of Home Affairs Sushilkumar Shinde: Union Minister of Home Affairs Sushilkumar Shinde on April 4 said Indian Mujahideen (IM) has been "almost finished". "The Indian Mujahideen (IM) cadre is almost finished with the capture of prominent IM leaders. The Naxalite menace and insurgency in the North-East, too, are on decline," he told. Daily Bhaskar, April 4, 2014. Maoists' issue poll manifesto: The Eastern Regional Bureau of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has come up with its 'short-term vision' document, appealing to the masses to decide if they want "real democracy" or go ahead with the existing "pseudo-democratic system" by casting their franchise to form the 16th Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament). "Dismantling the patriarchal and male dominated socio-legal structure, we propose to give equal socio-economic rights to women in the country, thereby making death penalty compulsory for molestation and rape." Times of India, April 4, 2014. Maoists ready for conditional truce: In a statement on April 6, Abhay, 'spokesperson' of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) central committee, said the party was not against peace talks with the Government. The CPI-Maoist laid down five conditions for talks. First, the Government should accept the Maoist movement as political, the 'spokesperson' said. Second, the party reiterated its demand of lifting the ban on it and frontal, mass organisations. "The attacks on leaders and activists should stop," he said. Third, the party demanded that the "killers" of Azad, top leader who was negotiating a framework for peace talks in 2010, be booked and punished. Fourth, the Government should stop paramilitary and Police aggression against people in rural areas under partial control of the Maoists. "In order to preserve our leadership from the conspiracies of the ruling classes to decimate our party leadership one more time in the name of talks, all veteran comrades in prisons should be released," Abhay said. The Hindu, April 7, 2014. NEPAL CA approves CA calendar to enact new constitution by January 22, 2015: The Constituent Assembly (CA) on April 4 approved the Constitution making timetable, called the CA calendar, to enact the new constitution by January 22, 2015. A meeting of the CA endorsed the CA calendar with amendments through majority votes. According to the amended calendar, the certified copy of the approved constitution would be signed by each CA member while CA Chairperson would certify the constitution and President puts signature on the copy and announces the promulgation of new constitution by January 22 next year. Nepal News, April 5, 2014. Conflict-era cases can be tried under existing laws, says SC: The Supreme Court (SC) on April 2 said that the conflict-era cases can be tried under existing laws. The court´s decision has come at a time when both the Maoist parties - Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) and Communist Party Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) - have been continuously exerting pressure on the political leadership not to take up insurgency-era cases until the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission on Disappearance are formed. My Republica, April 3, 2014. PAKISTAN Police asks minorities to secure themselves of terror attacks: A directive by the Punjab Government issued on March 31, 2014, to enhance security for minorities' places of worship has resulted in Station House Officers (SHOs) passing the responsibility by issuing a long list of measures to be taken by the administrations of temples and churches. After a recent directive issued by the Home Department for the security of minorities' places of worship, Christian and Hindu worshippers complained that no steps had been taken on ground. Tribune, April 5, 2014. Attacks on journalist and worship places reflect new wave of intolerance, says HRCP: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on March 31 expressed alarm over a number of developments, including the assault on journalist Raza Rumi and attacks on temples in Sindh, and termed the same a new wave of intolerance. According to a press statement issued, "HRCP has grave concerns over a number of recent incidents, including an attack on Raza Rumi in Lahore, a spate of assaults at Hindu temples, the most recent one being in Hyderabad, and the death sentence for Sawan Masih." The News, April 1, 2014. TTP extends ceasefire until April 10: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on April 4 extended the ceasefire until April 10, the outfit's 'spokesman' Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement, adding that the TTP shura (council) would be meeting after the 10th to decide a future course of action. The extension comes a day after the interior ministry announced that it had released 19 non-combatants TTP as a goodwill gesture for bolstering the peace process with the TTP. At least 19 non-combatant TTP prisoners have been released by the Government. Dawn, April 5, 2014; Daily Times, April 4, 2014. 26/11 terror attack case trial stalled due to security reasons: The proceeding in the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks case (26/11) has come to a standstill as the special judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), Atiqur Rehman, has expressed his inability to conduct the trial of seven Pakistani suspects in the Adiala Jail of Rawalpindi District of Punjab due to security reasons. Sources close to the proceedings revealed that since March 3, 2014, when terrorists attacked the District Courts in Islamabad, there has been no progress on the trial with the ATC unable to complete the cross examination of even a single witness. Dawn, April 4, 2014. PPP calls for action against '150 sleeper cells' of LeJ in Punjab: The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on April 1 called upon the Punjab Government to take action against '150 sleeper cells' of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) in the Province. Fawad Chaudhry, the media adviser of PPP Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the party had taken serious notice of a threatening letter sent by the LeJ to Bilawal Bhutto. Ali Sufian who claimed to be a 'spokesperson' of LeJ threatened in the letter that his group would kill Bilawal for his hostile stance against militants. Dawn, April 2, 2014. SRI LANKA Government proscribes 15 overseas LTTE front organizations as foreign terrorists: The Government proscribed several overseas organizations suspected of being fronts of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as foreign terrorist entities utilizing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1373 which was brought about by the United States (US) on September 28, 2001, after 9/11. The proscribed entities listed in the Gazette consist of the main LTTE and 15 other alleged front organizations - Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC), British Tamil Forum (BTF), World Tamil Movement (WTM), Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), Global Tamil Forum (GTF), National Council Of Canadian Tamils (NCCT), Tamil National Council (TNC), Tamil Youth Organization (TYO), World Tamil Coordinating Committee (WTCC), Transnational Government Of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), Tamil Eelam Peoples Assembly (TEPA), World Tamil Relief Fund (WTRF) and Headquarters Group (HQ Group). Daily Mirror, March 31, 2014.
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