By: Abu Huda Al-Hendi*

In the Arabian Sea, Lakshwadeep is an archipelago of 36 islands, just 220 to 440 kilometers from the southern Indian state of Kerala. Its 70,000-strong population is predominantly Muslim and although the people have strong ties with Kerala. Lakshadweep is a Union Territory, which means it is administered by the federal government through an administrator.

In many more ways than one, the residents of the Lakshadweep Islands take pride in their traditional culture, while maintaining significant environmental safeguards to protect the island. The islands are protected under special provisions where liquor sales are not allowed, outsiders cannot buy land there, moreover, non-residents cannot visit the islands without special permission from the administration

The island chain of Lakshwadeep is in the boil, after a long rage protest against the citizenship amendment bill India is again in the storm as the string of regulations proposed by its administrator, Praful Khoda Patel, a politician of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Political turmoil is not something one readily associates with the Lakshadweep, habituated as it is to a calm and peaceful (if somewhat distant) existence since its formal induction as a Union territory in 1956 with 0% crimes.

All over India calls are mounting for withdrawal of the controversial rules and Patel’s recall. As the distinct identity, culture and tradition of Lakshadweep people predominately Muslims could be under threat and it is explained by a critic as the next step of Modi leaded government anti-Muslim movement to expel the population from their identity, culture and traditions. As the Modi government planning the citizenship amendment to give the nationality according to the religious consideration except for Muslims.

Patel was appointed as Lakshadweep’s administrator at the end of 2020. Soon after taking charge, he scrapped the stringent quarantine measures for travelers from the Indian mainland to the Islands. As a result, Lakshadweep, which had managed to remain COVID-free in 2020, soon became a hotbed of coronavirus infections. On May 22, the Union Territory reported a total tally of 6,611 positive cases. Its positivity rate is the highest in the country

Additionally, Patel has introduced a slew of draft legislation that could have a wide-ranging impact on the islands, and the lives and livelihoods of Lakshadweep’s residents.

A proposed land development plan gives the administrator vast powers to take over land and relocate people and provides for stringent penalties for those who resist. The plan allows for mining and exploitation of mineral resources in the islands. Under the new rules, the slaughter of cows and the transport of beef products has been made an offence. The Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Regulation provides for the detention of a person without any public disclosure for a period of up to a year.

The Patel administration has sought to justify the new rules by claiming that they are aimed at boosting economic development and promoting the archipelago as a tourist destination on par with neighboring Maldives. Indeed, tourist infrastructure in Lakshadweep is rudimentary and unemployment is high. Providing the economy with a shot in the arm would be welcome.

However, critics point out that the law facilitates the transfer of land to corporations and would result in indigenous communities losing ownership of their land. It provides legal cover for the administration to take over land with or without people’s consent. It is the administration’s prerogative whether or not compensation needs to be paid.

Locals fear that they will not benefit much from the development plan. Already, fishermen have been evicted from the coasts; shelters for their boats have been destroyed to clean up beaches for the setting up of resorts. It has impacted the livelihood of many fishermen.

Additionally, the kind of development envisaged under Patel will “cause the delicate ecology of the island to unravel,” according to marine biologist and scientist Rohan Arthur.

Administration officials have said that PASA was necessary to crack down on the smuggling of weapons and narcotics, which is reportedly rising in the archipelago. However, PASA appears to be a sledgehammer to swat a fly given that Lakshadweep’s crime rate is the lowest in India at 0%. Locals fear that the motivation behind the preventive detention law is to choke off protests against the administration’s decisions.

Importantly, there is concern that the BJP’s Hindutva agenda is driving Patel’s reforms. Steps like the beef ban and removing meat from students’ meals are seen as communal and anti-Muslim moves. The administration has also removed restrictions on the sale of alcohol. These moves have hurt the sentiments of Lakshadweep’s predominantly Muslim population.

Patel’s non-consultative style of functioning has come under fire. Elected representatives of the people of Lakshadweep were not consulted in writing up the land development plans and proposed laws.

Protests are growing on the island and on social media. In addition to local residents, celebrities and opposition political parties are calling for the withdrawal of controversial legislations. They are demanding that Patel be recalled.

But the Indian government is moving towards amended regulations creating fear in a calm and peaceful community, by facing the protest with the sedition charges as they put on Aisha Sultana, one of the social activists from Lakshadweep appeared in media against new administration changes threat to their tradition and culture.

Lakshadweep is strategically located. It lies close to the Maldives and important Sea Lanes of Communication in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

The island chain has provided New Delhi with little reason for concern so far. However, the recently introduced changes could turn a peaceful population into an angry and restive one. That is not in India’s interest and critic observes it as the anti-Muslim poison flooding after Modi government in power to far islands of the nation.

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* An Indian writer

**Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of “Al-Mujtama” magazine.

Kuwait City: The weather forecaster at Kuwait’s Meteorological department, Abdulaziz Al Qarawi, reported that the dust, high winds and hot temperature will continue until the end of the week.

The northwesterly winds are likely to average around 40-50km per hour until Thursday, with open areas witnessing stronger winds. As for the sea forecast, the waves, because of the wind, is expected to be around 3-6 feet for the rest of the week.

Accompanying the blazing winds, is gusty weather that has reduced visibility to 2.7km an hour, prompting the Ministry of Interior to call on all citizens and residents to drive slowly and stay vigilant on the road as visibility is bad.

In addition, the Meteorological Department has predicted the temperature will remain in the mid-40s throughout the week, with Tuesday being the warmest day as the temperature is to rise to 46 degrees Celsius.

The bad weather comes right after Kuwait witnessed a heat wave 10 days ago where the temperatures in the north of Kuwait, in Abdali and Jahra, reached 50 degrees Celsius.

Despite the bad weather, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation stated that air traffic is normal and flights will continue to operate as per the schedule.

Heat wave

The bad weather comes right after Kuwait witnessed a heat wave 10 days ago where the temperatures in the north of Kuwait, in Abdali and Jahra, reached 50 degrees Celsius.

According to the Norwegian weather monitor Time and Date, Kuwait and Doha on June 5 were the hottest two capitals in the world as they reached 48 degrees Celsius./agencies

KUWAIT: The health ministry announced yesterday that it had detected an unspecified number of cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, previously known as the Indian variant, amid a clear spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in Kuwait. In a statement to KUNA, Health Ministry Spokesperson Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad provided no details on the number of Delta variant cases, when they were discovered and whether they were detected among citizens or expats.

Dr Al-Sanad said in a statement the ministry is conducting genetic examinations of the virus on a regular basis to study patterns of the spread of COVID strains in Kuwait and coordinating with countries around the world to combat the virus. The Delta strain has been detected in more than 62 countries throughout the world.

With the emergence of new strains of the coronavirus in some countries, the health ministry has scrambled to take precautionary measures such as genetic planning by specialized technical teams to contain the virus, Dr Al-Sanad added. He called on the public to observe strict health precautions to ward off the pandemic, as official statistics show that Kuwait has reported more than 1,300 coronavirus cases every day since June 7. The spike comes shortly after the government ended a partial curfew and reopened malls, restaurants and cafes and a host of other activities.

Health officials announced 1,563 people tested positive yesterday for the coronavirus, while eight related deaths were reported, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 329,526 and the death toll to 1,820. Another 1,464 people recovered from the virus, raising total recoveries to 311,559, Dr Al-Sanad said in a statement. The number of people undergoing treatment currently stands at 16,139, with 172 of them in intensive care units, he added.

The head of the higher consultative committee for the coronavirus Dr Khaled Al-Jarallah said yesterday that new variants of coronavirus are stirring waves of the disease locally and in Gulf countries. He said vaccination and compliance with health precautions are the only measures to deal with the new variants.

Meanwhile, MP Hisham Al-Saleh yesterday asked Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of a Kuwaiti woman who died hours after receiving a dose of a COVID vaccine. The lawmaker said “the woman died on Friday amid reports of other deaths following the vaccination”. Saleh asked the minister about the number of deaths reported after vaccination, if any. He also asked the minister if the ministry has conducted an investigation after the death of the woman, identified as A.D.

According to the woman’s husband, she was in good health. Hours after getting vaccinated, she felt pain in the jaw and later in the neck. She died while being taken in an ambulance to Jaber Hospital, he said. Saleh also asked the minister why the ministry has not held a press conference to clarify the case.

The health ministry issued a statement yesterday saying the woman died at the intensive care unit of the hospital, but provided no details on the circumstances or causes of her death. The statement defended the medical staff and the attention they accorded to the woman, threatening to take action against social media posts that were highly critical of the staff./ agencies

As Brazil approaches the grim toll of 500,000 deaths by COVID-19 and a parliamentary committee in the Senate moves to identify those responsible for the poor management of the pandemic in the country, Brazilians still face a slow situation regarding vaccination, with just over 11 % of the population fully immunized.

On Monday, according to the Ministry of Health, the receipt of 3 million doses of Janssen's vaccine, still not being used in the country, has been postponed, which further extends the expectations of vaccinating Brazilians. Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals single-dose vaccines were scheduled to arrive in the country on Tuesday.

The Ministry did not inform the reason for the delay, but said that the batch should arrive this week, without specifying exactly when.

Meanwhile, data released on Monday by the renowned Faculty of Economics FGV show the magnitude of the impact of the pandemic on Brazil’s economic situation. The average income has regressed to the lowest level since 2012, when FGV began carrying out the survey through its FGV Social study center.

In the first quarter of 2020, the average per capita income had reached the highest level since 2012, R$1,122 ($220 approximately). But, with the crisis, in the period covering the first three months of 2021 it fell 11.3%, to R$995 ($196).

Inequality in the country has increased.

Measured by the Gini Index, in the first quarter of 2021 the indicator reached the mark of 0.674, the highest since 2012. On the Gini scale, zero means total income equality. The closer to one, the greater is the inequality. In the initial phase of the pandemic, the index was 0.642.

Beyoncé campaign

Today, singer Beyoncé joined, through her philanthropic institution Beygood, a campaign focused on hungry people in Brazil. With the motto “Brazilian Lives Matter”, the American singer asks in an Instagram post, liked over 28,000 times, for help in assisting Brazilians facing food insecurity.

The celebrity used a hashtag in Portuguese, #TemGenteComFome (There Are Hungry People) to advertise the campaign.

Over 40 Brazilian actors and singers supported the initiative, which received praise from Beyoncè’s Brazilian fans. "My God, she’s the best of them all,” wrote one follower. Another said that the singer “remembered Brazilians”. Yet another one said the singer “is doing more than the (Brazilian) president”.

The campaign is held by Brazil’s Black Coalition for Rights, Amnesty International Global Movement, Oxfam Brasil Organization, Redes da Maré Institution, Brazilian Action to Combat Inequalities, 342 Artes Group, Network of Activism, Ethos Institution, Orgânico Solidário Platform, Prerrô Group and Fundo Brasil with the goal of distributing food and hygiene products to roughly 223,000 families in vulnerable situations, mapped across Brazil./aa

The UN special envoy for Syria on Monday "strongly" condemned the attack earlier this week on a hospital in Afrin, northern Syria, in which at least 14 civilians lost their lives.

"I strongly condemn the attack on the Shifa Hospital in the northern Syrian city of Afrin, which resulted in the killing and injury of civilians, including medical personnel, and the destruction of parts of the hospital," said Geir Pedersen in a statement.

"Such appalling attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including healthcare facilities and workers, are unacceptable and must cease."

Pedersen said that all parties must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.

"I also reiterate the Secretary-General's call for accountability for crimes committed in Syria," said the UN envoy.

Pedersen said the attack and the continuing violence underscores the importance of putting in place a nationwide cease-fire in Syria and a renewed effort to make progress in implementing relevant Security Council resolutions.

Saturday's attack on the hospital in opposition-held Afrin was carried out by the YPG/PKK terror group, said officials in Turkey which shares a border with Syria.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa

Kenya’s Tourism and Wildlife Minister Najib Balala launched an inaugural elephant naming festival Monday in Amboseli National Park.  

Balala announced at the ceremony that Kenyans and people from across the world now have an opportunity to play a key role in the conservation of elephants following the launch of the event, which is aimed at raising awareness over the conservation of the majestic and endangered wild animals.

“Today’s launch of the Magical Kenya Elephant Naming Festival will be remembered for long in the history of Kenya’s elephant conservation efforts. It is an initiative that will help us scale up conservation of elephants even higher by ensuring that Kenyans and the world at large are a part of it,” he said.

According to Balala, how it works is that in addition to raising funds for the conservation of elephants by encouraging more people to take part, the festival will also offer them an opportunity to learn more about elephants.

People will have a chance to adopt an elephant after contributing funds towards their conservation. The “foster parent” will then be given priority in choosing the elephant’s first name. The second name will be a Maasai name based on the animal’s profile, history, role in the family and physical attributes like the state of its tusks.

The event’s aim is to raise awareness on the plight of elephants and rally support towards their conservation. The initiative will also play a pivotal role in ensuring that the conservation of elephants is not affected by shocks and crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.​​​​​​​ 

Members of Kenya’s Maasai tribe, dressed in their traditional regalia, celebrated during the ceremony with dance and music at the foothills of snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro.

Dozens of elephants could be seen roaming the vast national park, which has been named by environmentalists as one of the safest homes for elephants in all of Africa due to its not having a single case of a poached elephant in 20 years, according to Balala.

The elephants were walking in families with about a dozen members. From a distance, one could see dozens of other elephants all walking together in harmony as hundreds of wildebeests, zebras, flamingoes and deer stared at them passing, with none of the animals bothering the others or scared.

Currently, Amboseli National Park has over 3,000 elephants. Kenya as a country boasts over 34,000 elephants, and the number has been gradually increasing at an annual rate of 2.8% over the last three decades. Remarkably, there has been a 96% decline in poaching with 11 elephants poached in 2020 compared with 386 elephants in 2013./aa

A woman whose daughter was kidnapped by the PKK terrorist organization in Germany visited a sit-in protest against the PKK in southeastern Turkey on Monday.

Maide T, who recently joined the anti-PKK sit-in from Germany, said she decided to visit the protest for her daughter.

She told media outlets that has been protesting against the terrorist group for 93 days since her daughter was abducted.

She said she is continuing a protest that she started in Europe to support the Diyarbakir mothers as well as to receive their support.

She underlined that the mothers’ struggle against the terrorist organization had started in Diyarbakir, adding that “coming here was incumbent upon me. The fact that this place started action was an example for all of us. I hope that these examples will continue.”

Families in Diyarbakir province have been protesting since Sept. 3, 2019, or 651 days, encouraging their children who were abducted or forcibly recruited by the terror group to give up their weapons and surrender to Turkish authorities.

Protests in Diyarbakir outside the office of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) started with three mothers who said their children had been forcibly recruited by the terrorists. The Turkish government says the HDP has links to the PKK terrorist organization.

'PKK cannot be defender of Kurds' rights'

“Just as everyone has stood up for their children here, I hope everyone will stand up in Europe as well, since the PKK has turned more towards Europe,” Maide T noted.

She said the PKK took away the rights of the Kurdish people.

“Most people in Europe see the PKK as a defender of the rights of Kurds. The PKK cannot be a defender of the rights of Kurds. Now we have to show it to Europe,” she said.

“The PKK is taking the lives and property of the Kurds. They take our children, who are our lives. The PKK does not represent the Kurds.

“An army of murderers can't represent us. I never accept that. I'll do whatever I can to save my child,” she added.

“I will never give up this struggle until my child comes. My struggle will continue until my child comes.”

- ‘Mothers will take their children back’

Aysegul Bicer, another mother in the protest, said: “We will be the voice of Maide as well.”

She underlined that the spread of the protest to Berlin, Germany, Turkey’s eastern provinces of Sirnak, Hakkari and Mus and western Izmir province has been a source of great hope for all the protesting mothers.

“I believe mothers will drill mountains if they want to. Mothers will resist and fight and take their rightful children back. They will erase the name of the PKK from the face of the earth.”

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants./aa