Fron the urdu Press: Dada in Parliament

Pune killing

Referring to the killing of IT professional Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh in Pune, Hyderabad-based Rehnuma-e-Deccan, on June 9, writes: “Mohsin was returning home after work. His friend Riaz was also with him, but the killers targeted him because he was wearing a cap and had a beard… He had nothing to do with the dissemination of the objectionable photographs. He was killed only because of his identity. Preparations for the election to the Maharashtra assembly are in full swing. Taking a lesson from the voting pattern at the Centre on the basis of communalism, the gates of violence have opened in the state.”

Inquilab (June 16) writes: “on the one hand, Narendra Modi has claimed that he would change the country in 100 days, in the very first month of his government assuming office, a shameful incident has occurred against Muslims and no statement condemning it has come from his office so far.”

Striking a different note, Nai Duniya, edited by former SP and BSP MP, Shahid Siddiqui, writes: “the Centre did not keep quiet on the Pune killing… It has sought the details of the matter, something that can be described as a good beginning by the Modi government. But would Narendra Modi see that justice is done?”

Trouble in Baghdad

Delhi and Lucknow-based daily, Roznama Khabrein, on June 18, writes: “The present situation in Iraq has been created by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by making Shias and Sunnis fight. The current struggle in the country is directly between the Shia government and the ISIS, that may change the politics of the entire Middle East. It is true that even in the days of Saddam Hussein’s rule the Shia-Sunni divide was there, but that can in no way be compared to the present. The tragedy is that Iran is now prepared to collaborate with the US and leaders of Lebanon’s Hezbollah seem to be prepared to help the government in Baghdad.

If the crisis turns into a civil war, the entire Middle East will be destablised… and there are thousands of Indians working in Iraq.”

Rashtriya Sahara, on June 15, wonders how “the rebels in Iraq possess the most modern weapons. Who has given them these weapons? Is it that a part of the Iraqi forces has joined the rebels? It should be remembered that the present Iraqi government has the same armed force that was with Saddam Hussein.”

Compiled by Seema Chishti