Television channels reported that police in the Indian capital, New Delhi, arrested opposition representatives, including Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka, while they were trying to break through the barriers during a demonstration organized today, Tuesday, to demand the resignation of the head of the Commission. Elections in the country.
Earlier today, the authorities deployed hundreds of security personnel in the center of the Indian capital, and barriers were set up ahead of an opposition march to demand the resignation of the Chief of the Election Commission against the backdrop of a controversial amendment to the voter lists.
The protests, in which parties opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a popular youth movement are participating, are centered around Election Commission Chief Gyansh Kumar, after the Indian Express newspaper published a report last month about divisions within the commission.
The differences referred to in the report regarding lists and registration procedures raised concerns about the impartiality of the Commission, according to Reuters news agency.
Television channels showed hundreds of security personnel, some carrying batons, around the Electoral Commission headquarters near Parliament and government headquarters.
The march, in which representatives from parties opposing Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party will participate, is scheduled to begin at eleven in the morning, starting from Parliament and arriving at the headquarters of the Election Commission, according to what was announced by the main opposition party, the Congress Party.
The Congress and other parties say that the voter lists were amended in a way that favored Modi and his party. Kumar did not comment on the issue, but the Commission and Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party denied the accusations.
Yesterday (Monday), the Supreme Court of India agreed to hear the legal defenses demanding its intervention in the accusations related to voter registration and the behavior of the head of the commission.
The Australian Department of Defense said on Tuesday that a soldier was killed and five others were injured during military training in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The ministry said, in a media statement published on its website, that the accident occurred at the Mount Bondi training area on October 5.
She added that five other Australian army soldiers were injured, according to what was reported by Reuters news agency.
No additional details were available regarding the accident.
The statement said: “The soldier’s family has been informed. The Ministry of Defense will provide further updates when this becomes possible.”
The International Criminal Court said on Monday that it will reveal arrest warrants against four senior Taliban leaders, on charges of committing a crime against humanity represented by persecution against women, girls, and members of the LGBT community in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The court said in a statement that arrest warrants were issued in July and September last year against the supreme leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and the President of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, Abdul Hakim Haqqani. Also wanted are Education Minister Habibullah Agha and Higher Education Minister Nada Muhammad Nadeem.
It was revealed that arrest warrants were issued against Akhundzadeh and Haqqani last year, but the warrants remained secret. With the Taliban controlling Afghanistan and the court not having a police force to enforce arrest warrants, the possibility of any suspects being arrested is remote.
Since regaining control of the country, the Taliban has prevented women from working, from being in most public places, and from education after the sixth grade. Last year, Akhundzadeh banned buildings from opening windows overlooking areas where women can sit or stand.
The former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced in January of last year that he had requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Akhundzada and Haqqani, saying that his requests “recognize that Afghan women and girls, as well as the LGBT community, face unprecedented, unjustified and ongoing persecution from the Taliban.”
The court said on Monday that the four suspects are accused of gender-based persecution against “girls, women and other people who do not conform to the Taliban’s policy on gender, sexual identity or expression; And on political grounds against people who are seen as allies of girls and women.” Full details of the orders disclosed were not immediately revealed.
