Foreigners in Maharashtra will have to undergo a 'character' check

Foreigners in Maharashtra will have to undergo a 'character' check


The government has come up with the idea of
assessing the character of foreigners staying in the state and keeping
a strict vigil on their activities.

"We will check the records of foreigners and seek character
certificates from their respective countries," home minister RR Patil
said in the legislative council on Monday. "If we find that they have
a dubious record, we will ask their countries to take them back."

Patil was replying to a calling-attention motion on last month's
German Bakery blast in Pune. The issue of foreigners was raised by the
Shiv Sena's Neelam Gorhe. "What steps has the government taken to keep
a check on foreigners," she asked.

Patil said, "We have already started checking foreigners' visas and
taking action against suspect people." He appealed to citizens to
alert the police if they spotted anything suspicious.

The police already have a rule in place that requires flat-owners in
Mumbai to inform them if they give out their premises toforeigners.
Hotels and lodges in the city have also been told to inform the police
about guests from abroad. The owner of a South Mumbai flat, where US
terrorist David Coleman Headley stayed for more than six months, had
failed to inform police about his presence in the city.

Patil admitted in the council that the state had received specific
intelligence alerts about a possible terrorist strike at Chabad House
and Red Temple in Pune. On the day of the blast, chief minister Ashok
Chavan had said the state had had no inkling about a possible attack.
The Centre, however, said it had issued an alert in October 2009.

Patil asserted that the state police was competent to investigate the
German Bakery blast but would not hesitate to seek the help of other
agencies like the National Investigation Agency, CBI, IB, and the anti-
terrorism squads of other states. Last week, he had rejected an
opposition demand to hand over the probe to the CBI.
“Terrorists are changing their techniques every time," Patil said.

"We can neither deploy police everywhere nor frisk every single
person. There is only one solution — to strengthen the intelligence
system. For that we have set up the Maharashtra Intelligence Academy.
The first batch of this academy has completed its training and will be
operational soon."

Muslim marriage age issue: Bombay HC notice to Centre


The Bombay High Court today issued a notice to the
additional solicitor general who represents union government in a case
where marriageable age of Muslim girls has become an issue.

The notice was issued after the petitioner has the challenged the
constitutional validity of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA),
saying it violates freedom of religion.

The division bench of Justices D B Bhosale and A R Joshi also directed
that the girl, who is currently 15 years old, be produced in the court
on March 29, so that the judges may interview her.

Zakia Begum, the girl's mother, moved the High Court in January after
police took the girl into custody at the behest of child welfare
committee.

The girl's uncle had informed CWC that she was going to be married
off, in violation of PCMA. Police also filed a criminal case against
her parents for violating the act.

The parents have sought the custody of their daughter -- who is
currently in a shelter home and quashing of the criminal complaint.

Today, petitioner's lawyer Prakash Wagh told the court that the girl's
parents are ready to give an undertaking not to marry her off till she
turns 18. Similar undertaking has already been given to CWC, he said.

The judges said that before ordering her release from shelter home,
they would like to talk to her.

The judges also restrained the girl's family members from meeting her
till she is interviewed by them next Monday.

The Judges said that they would like to deal with the larger issue
involving conflict between Muslim personal law and PCMA. As per PCMA,
a girl cannot get married before she is 18 years of age, but according
to Shariat law, she can marry on reaching puberty.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board too has been impleaded by the
petitioner. Appearing for the Board, senior counsel Yusuf Muchhala
said the court will have to see if the issue involves "core beliefs"
of the religion.

Advocate Mihir Desai, representing two NGOs who have intervened in the
case to oppose the petition, said, "It cannot be said that if I do not
get married before 18, I am not a Muslim."

"Well, I did not get married before 18 myself," advocate Muchhala,
himself a Muslim, remarked, evoking laughter. He, however, said that
he would have to study original Islamic scriptures to formulate his
response to the petition, and that will take some time.

The hearing has been adjourned till March 29.

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‘Islamist extremists can destabilise Bangladesh’
Most of the Muslim population in Bangladesh
supports the secular state and abjures violence but Islamist
extremists have the potential to destabilise that country, say experts
from a leading Dhaka-based think tank.

“The Islamist extremists represent a minuscule proportion of the
population; nevertheless, the potential for Bangladesh to be
destabilised by these extremists is fairly strong,” says a paper by
Humayun Kabir and Shahab Enam Khan.

It speaks about the causes of militancy in that country. Titled
“Understanding the threats from Islamist Terrorism in Bangladesh”, the
paper was presented at a security dialogue organised here by the
Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Bangladesh Enterprise
Institute (BEI).

Kabir is a senior research director and Khan a project director at the
BEI that has partnerships with many international agencies.

The paper says Islam in Bangladesh has always been defined by
tolerance, moderation and pluralism. Muslim-dominated Bangladesh has a
population of 160 million.

“In general, most of the Muslim population in Bangladesh support(s)
the secular state and abjure(s) the violence and distorted
interpretations of Islam that have plagued countries like Pakistan,
Afghanistan and some in the Middle East.”

Noting that Bangladesh has witnessed a sharp rise in terrorism
primarily from the mid-1990s, the paper points to four complex forms
of terrorism in the country - political, anti-state, ethnic and
social.

It says there exists a nexus between terrorist groups and smuggling
syndicates, criminal gangs and politically sponsored cadres to nourish
a supporting network for each other.

Citing 2007 statistics mentioned in a BEI report, the paper says
Bangladesh has 1,027 organised criminal groups, two insurgent groups,
five outlawed groups, at least four ideologically digressed groups
with militant intent, 16,062 criminals operating in various gangs and
762 politically sponsored criminal groups.

“Extremist groups such as Hijbut Tahrir, Harkat ul-Jihad-I-Islami-
Bangladesh, the militant jihadi Jamat-ul Mujahdeen Bangladesh or their
dissident groups are at the forefront of promoting religious terrorism
in Bangladesh,” the paper says.

The paper mentions that Bangladesh continues to be a transit and
launching point for Pakistan-based terrorist groups that target India
and Southeast Asia.

“Groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami retain
a significant presence in Bangladesh and have used its territory to
launch terrorist attacks against India…there is ample evidence to show
that the student front of Jamaat-i-Islami Bangladesh, Islami Chhattra
Shibir, also acts as an extremist group that resorts to violent
activities.