Islamabad: Thousands of anti-government protesters demanding resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday besieged the Parliament building of Pakistan, trapping dozens of lawmakers inside.

Canada-based cleric Tahirul Qadri asked his supporters to guard all entry and exit points of the building and not let anyone move in or out of it until Sharif resigns.

Qadri and opposition leader Imran Khan have been leading separate protests for the past seven days to force Sharif’s resignation over alleged rigging in the 2013 elections.

Both protest leaders want a change of government through fresh polls.

“It is time to besiege Parliament,” Qadri said as he addressed his followers in front of the building.

“You will not allow anyone to enter or leave [the building], not even a mosquito ... not even the Prime Minister,” the cleric said in his address.

Following the speech, hundreds of protesters wielding shields and sticks moved closer to the gates of Parliament and other buildings, ignoring warnings by the police not to approach closer.

It is not known how many lawmakers are inside the building.

Sharif was also attending the session but there are reports that he safely left the building and reached his official residence.

Geo TV reported that some protesters also tried to march to the Prime Minister’s house but the police stopped them.

As the protests intensified, the military called for dialogue between the government and leaders of two major protests.

Army spokesman General Asim Bajwa made the call for dialogue on his Twitter account.

“[The] situation requires patience, wisdom and sagacity from all stakeholders to resolve prevailing impasse through meaningful dialogue in larger national and public interest,” he said.

He said the buildings in the Red Zone are symbol of state and being protected by army, so the sanctity of these national symbols must be respected.

Sharif also decided to meet Khan in an effort to end the anti-government protests.

“It has been decided PM (Sharif) will meet Imran Khan for the sake of country,” Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, a close aide of Sharif, tweeted. — PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Opposition leader Imran Khan and cleric Tahir ul-Qadri to appear in court the following day over protests in the Capital designed to force the Prime Minister's resignation.

"We would like to give notice to all respondents for tomorrow," Chief Justice Nasir ul-Mulk said in response to a petition filed against Khan and Qadri over their protests.

Qadri's supporters blockaded Parliament on Wednesday in response to calls from their leader not to allow anyone in or out.

Both Qadri and Khan want to force Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down. Qadri says he is corrupt and Khan says he rigged last year's elections. — Reuters

Guwahati/Golaghat: A policeman was injured and a police vehicle and three trucks were set ablaze in Assam’s violence-hit Golaghat district after a blockade of NH 37 against Tuesday’s police action at Rangajan.

The protestors, accusing the police of unprovoked attack on them at Rangajan on Tuesday, attacked police personnel at Moinapara under Golaghat police station with bamboo sticks and injured one of them seriously, the police said.

The protestors then set on fire a police vehicle and three trucks on NH 37 there.

The protestors, armed with sticks, spears, bows and arrows and machetes, told newsmen visiting the area that they were “compelled” to retaliate as “innocent people were yesterday dragged out of their homes by police and CRPF to be fired upon from SLR and AK-47 rifles”.

They blocked the highway early Wednesday morning by burning tyres and felling trees on the road at Borsapori, Borjuri and Kuruwabahi as a mark of protest against the Rongajan police action.

The demonstrators, who carried banners and placards, said they would continue with their protest against the “unprovoked” police action till the government provided them protection from attacks from Nagaland, the police said.

The protestors, who included local people and workers from neighbouring tea gardens, raised slogans against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for allegedly failing to give protection to the people along the Assam-Nagaland border.

Several vehicles, including trucks with essential goods towards Nagaland, remained stranded and people could not go for their work in Numaligarh Refinery due to the blockade. — PTI

BAGHDAD: Islamic State insurgents posted a video on Tuesday purportedly showing the beheading of US journalist James Foley and images of another US journalist whose life they said depended on how the United States acts in Iraq.

The video, titled "A Message To America," presented President Barack Obama with bleak options that could define America's next phase of involvement in Iraq and the public reaction to it, potentially deepening his hand in a conflict he built much of his presidency on ending.

While the video had yet to be verified, its grisly message was unambiguous, warning of greater retaliation to come against Americans following nearly two weeks of US air strikes that have pounded militant positions and halted the advance of Islamic State, which until this month had captured a third of Iraq with little resistance.

The video, posted on social media, brought a chilling and highly personal tone to a conflict that for many Americans had started to become all too familiar.

Foley, 40, was kidnapped by armed men on November 22, 2012, in northern Syria while on his way to the Turkish border, according to GlobalPost, a Boston-based online publication where Foley had worked as a freelancer. He had reported in the Middle East for five years and had been kidnapped and released in Libya.

Steven Sotloff, who appeared at the end of the video, went missing in northern Syria while reporting in July 2013. He has written for TIME among other news organizations.

The video injected an unpredictable element into Obama's deliberations on how far to proceed with US air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, though aides said his vow not to put US combat forces on the ground in Iraq still held.

"We have seen a video that purports to be the murder of US citizen James Foley by ISIL," White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement. "The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity."

"If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends," she said.

A Twitter account set up by Foley's family in Rochester, New Hampshire, to help find him said, "We know that many of you are looking for confirmation or answers. Please be patient until we all have more information, and keep the Foleys in your thoughts and prayers."

Islamic State had not previously executed American citizens publicly. The video was posted after the United States resumed air strikes in Iraq this month for the first time since the end of the US occupation in 2011.

The Sunni militant group, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria in areas it controls, opened the video with a clip of Obama saying he had authorized strikes in Iraq.

The words "Obama authorises military operations against the Islamic State effectively placing America upon a slippery slope towards a new war front against Muslims" appeared in English and Arabic on the screen.

It showed black and white aerial footage of air strikes with text saying "American aggression against the Islamic State".

A man identified as James Foley, his head shaven and dressed in an orange outfit similar to uniforms worn by prisoners at the US military detention camp in Guantanamo, Cuba, is seen kneeling in the desert next to a man standing, holding a knife and clad head to toe in black.

"I call on my friends, family and loved ones to rise up against my real killers, the US government, for what will happen to me is only a result of their complacency and criminality," the kneeling man says.

The man next to him, in a black mask, speaks in a British accent and says, "This is James Wright Foley, an American citizen, of your country. As a government, you have been at the forefront of the aggression towards the Islamic State."

"Today your military air force is attacking us daily in Iraq. Your strikes have caused casualties amongst Muslims. You are no longer fighting an insurgency. We are an Islamic army, and a state that has been accepted by a large number of Muslims worldwide."

Following his statement he beheads the kneeling man. At the end of the video, words on the side of the screen say, "Steven Joel Sotloff", as another prisoner in an orange jumpsuit is shown on screen. "The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision," the masked man says.

Islamic State also released a video on Tuesday that gave the strongest indication yet it might try to strike American targets. The video with the theme "breaking of the American cross" boasts Islamic State will emerge victorious over "crusader" America.

It follows a video posted on Monday, warning of attacks on American targets if Washington strikes against its fighters in Iraq and Syria.

The latest footage speaks of a holy war between the al-Qaeda offshoot and the United States, which occupied Iraq for nearly a decade and faced stiff resistance from al-Qaida.

Islamic State's sweep through northern Iraq, bringing it close to Baghdad and in control of the second city, Mosul, drew US air strikes that helped Kurdish peshmerga fighters regain some territory captured by the Sunni militants.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iraqi forces halted a short-lived offensive on Tuesday to recapture Tikrit, home town of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, due to fierce resistance from Islamic State fighters.

Buoyed by an operation to recapture a strategic dam from the militants after two months of setbacks, Iraqi army units backed by Shia militias launched their offensive shortly after dawn on Tikrit, a city 130 km (80 miles) north of Baghdad which is a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim minority.

But officers in the Iraqi forces' operations room said by mid-afternoon that the advance had stopped.

South of Tikrit, the government side came under heavy machinegun and mortar fire from the militants, a group of Arab and foreign fighters hardened by battle both in Iraq and over the border in Syria's civil war, the officers told Reuters.

To the west, landmines and snipers frustrated efforts to get closer to the city centre in the latest in a series of attempts to drive out the militants. Residents of central Tikrit said by telephone that Islamic State fighters were firmly in control of their positions and patrolling the main streets.

Islamic State has concentrated on taking territory for its self-proclaimed caliphate both in Syria, where it is also fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, and in Iraq. Unlike al-Qaida, the movement from which it split, it has so far steered clear of attacking Western targets in or outside the region.

Coinciding with the Kurdish advances, Damascus government forces have stepped up air strikes on Islamic State positions in and around the city of Raqqa — its stronghold in eastern Syria.

Analysts believe Assad — who is firmly in control in the capital more than three years into the civil war — is seizing the moment to show his potential value to Western states that backed the uprising against him but are now increasingly concerned by the Islamic State threat.

Islamic State added new fighters in Syria at a record rate in July, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict. About 6,300 men — 80 percent of them Syrian and the rest foreigners — joined last month, Rami Abdelrahman, founder of the Observatory, told Reuters. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday asserted that her party will stage a comeback as she attacked the BJP, saying it had woven “false dreams” and people got caught in the “trap”.

She accused the Narendra Modi government of copying the schemes and programmes of the UPA dispensation and taking credit for the same.

Addressing a Mahila Congress convention in New Delhi, Gandhi along with her son and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi sought to reach out to women by promising a larger electoral role for them at all levels and making a strong pitch for reservation for them in Parliament and state Assemblies.

They told the convention organised on the occasion of the 70th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi that women members of the Congress should become a “tsunami” and contribute actively in the battle between ideologies.

“We had done so much. Still some people laid a trap and people got caught in it. Our work, our achievements got ignored and those showing false dreams marched ahead,” she said, targeting the BJP as she looked back at the Lok Sabha poll.

To buttress her point about performance of the previous Congress-led government, she listed a number of measures initiated for women empowerment and other reforms.

Targeting the Modi dispensation, Gandhi said, “Those who have come in the government today are showing an altogether different picture to the nation in accordance with their habit. They are implementing as their own schemes and plans, which were launched by the Congress.”

At the same time, the Congress chief expressed confidence about staging a comeback. “May be the path of our struggle is a bit longer and we may have to work a little more. But if all of us work hard and do it together, the day is not far when the Congress will regain its peak.”

This was the first such party convention since the Lok Sabha poll in which the Congress only got 44 seats.

Addressing the “Sankalp Diwas” convention, Gandhi said her party will put “full pressure” on the NDA government to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill as despite being in Opposition her party cannot withdraw from its commitment on the issue.

In his speech, Rahul Gandhi asked women to join the Congress in large numbers to strengthen it in the “battle of ideologies” after the formation of the NDA government at Centre.

While Gandhi talked the measures initiated for empowering women by Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi promised a “tsunami” of measures to empower women within organisation as it urged them to join the party in large numbers in the “ideological battle” ahead.

“The way tsunami had come, a tsunami of Mahila Congress is also to come in the Congress. Fill the Congress with the strength of women and I will field you from wherever you can fight — be it panchayat, Assembly or Parliamentary elections,” the Congress vice-president said.

Seeking to draw a contrast between the ideologies of the Congress and the BJP in respect to women’s empowerment, Mr. Rahul Gandhi said, “A government has been formed here. This is a battle of ideologies. This is a battle of the thought process.

“In their (the BJP) thinking, the women should be worshipped. Goddesses should be worshipped but women should not be empowered. In their view, women should not come out of their homes.

“Our thinking is that they should come out of their homes, run businesses. We want their empowerment ... you have to fight not only a battle of power but a battle of ideologies.”

He said women are suppressed everywhere — at home, at work place and outside — and this situation can be addressed only by change of thinking and not merely by laws and the police.

He narrated an incident of Uttar Pradesh where he had seen in the night a man dragging his wife and beating her up for not cooking meal properly.

“The same person calls a woman mother and sister and worships her in the form of a goddess and then beats his wife. You have to change this,” he said.

Referring to rape incidents, he said, “Prominent people say ‘shame shame’ but Law and police cannot check it. Only women can do it. Do not leave it to the men (to address this problem)”.

Gandhi, who spoke earlier, said that women empowerment was one of the two priorities of late Rajiv Gandhi, the other being taking the country into the 21st century.

She said Rajiv Gandhi used to say that no country can move forward by ignoring half of its population, she said.

Listing a number of steps taken by Rajiv Gandhi for women empowerment including reservation for them in panchayats and setting up of a national commission for women, the Congress chief said that the late Prime Minister also wanted that women should get representation in Parliament and Assemblies.

Noting that UPA government took up the issue when it came to power in 2004 and ensured passage of the measure in Rajya Sabha, she said, “Unfortunately the Bill could not get passed in the Lok Sabha because of some political parties.”

“Today, we are in opposition but the Congress will not withdraw from its commitment to women’s reservation and we will build full pressure on the NDA government to pass the Bill as soon as possible,” she said.

The 18-year journey of the Women’s Reservation Bill has been marked by high drama and roadblocks in each outing in Parliament before the historic measure cleared the first legislative hurdle in March 2010 when the Rajya Sabha passed it during a sitting which saw marshals being used.

The Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of the seats in Parliament and legislative Assemblies for women.

Observing that victory and defeat were part of life, she said, “The real thing is that one should stick to principles and the Congress has never sacrificed its principles for power ... we do not have to leave any stone unturned in bringing back the glory (aan, baan aur shaan) of Congress."

She asked Congresswomen to raise the issues of women’s exploitation in a big way and help the victims in getting justice from police stations and courts.

Regretting that incidents of female foeticide, domestic violence and rape “make our head hang in shame”, she said, “We have to raise our voice against such crimes.” — PTI

SRINAGAR: The body of an Indian Army soldier, which was found 18 years after he went missing from the Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir, was sent to his home in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, the police said.

Havaldar Gaya Prasad of the 15 Rajput Regiment had gone missing from the Siachen Glacier in 1996.

"The body of Havaldar Gaya Prasad was found a few days back buried under the snow in the general area of the glacier. The body has been retrieved after 18 years," a senior police officer said.

"We have today (Wednesday) sent the body to Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh," the officer said.

The officer said because of extremely low temperatures in the area, the body had remained undecomposed and fairly well preserved.

The Siachen Glacier is the world's highest battlefield, where temperatures drop to minus 45 degrees Celsius and even more during the winter.

Even in summer, the night temperatures drop below the freezing point in the area. — IANS

PUNE: World-renowned yoga guru and founder of the Iyengar School of Yoga BKS Iyengar passed away here early this morning following illness.

Iyengar, 96, had been ailing since some time and was admitted to a private hospital here a week back. He was put on dialysis after his condition worsened two days back.

He breathed his last at 3.15 am.

Iyengar, honoured with Padma Vibhushan, is survived by a son and daughter.
The legendary yoga guru was admitted to a city hospital on August 12 following complaints of acute breathlessness and palpitation, Dr Deepali Mande, who attended on him, told PTI.

"He did not want to be admitted to hospital even though he was unwell at home for almost three weeks. Iyengar had a cardiac (ailment) history. His condition subsequently worsened leading to renal failure after which he was put on dialysis," she said.

During the last phase, Iyengar was feeling drowsy, she said. "He was not keen on having any food," the doctor added.

Iyengar was considered one of the foremost yoga teachers in the world and had written many books on yoga practice and philosophy, including 'Light on Yoga', 'Light on Pranayama', and 'Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali'. — PTI

WASHINGTON: A US court here has ruled that former India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had "head of state immunity" from claims that he supported violence against Sikhs, but it did not cover his tenure as Finance Minister.

US District Judge James Boasberg in the District of Columbia Tuesday ruled that Manmohan Singh was entitled to "residual immunity" even after he ceased to be the Prime Minister as suggested by the US State Department.

US-based rights group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and one Inderjit Singh had alleged that Manmohan Singh had "tortured and killed Indian Sikhs during his time at the helm of that country's government and, before then, as Finance Minister," the judge noted.

Accepting the State Department suggestion of immunity, the judge ruled that "although he is no longer a head of state, Singh is entitled to residual immunity for acts taken in his official capacity as Prime Minister.

"But because such residual immunity does not cover actions Singh pursued before taking office, however, the allegations stemming from his time as Finance Minister survive.

"SFJ and Inderjit Singh had claimed in the 2013 suit that as Finance Minister between 1991 and 1996, Manmohan Singh "funded several counter insurgency operations in state of Punjab during the 1990s resulting in more than hundred thousand Sikhs being killed extra- judicially by the security forces".

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh was accused of being complicit in the torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of Sikhs and for shielding the perpetrators.

Boasberg ruled that US law bars former heads of state from being sued for actions they took while in office, but not for private acts or those taken in prior government posts.

However, "while Singh's alleged acts as Finance Minister are not 'private' per se, they did not occur in the course of his official duties as head of state," Boasberg wrote. –IANS

ONAMARG: Bollywood films like Yash Chopra's "Silsila", Shammi Kapoor-Sharmila Tagore starrer "Kashmir Ki Kali" and Raj Kapoor's "Ram Teri Ganga Maili", to mention just a few, were shot here. 

As hotels, roadside tea shops, eateries and handicraft kiosks crowd this once breathtakingly beautiful Kashmiri tourist resort, one wonders where the "golden meadow", as its name suggests, has gone.

Situated 87 km from summer capital Srinagar in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district on the foothills of the Zojilla Pass, Sonamarg has been the ultimate destination for nature lovers, trekkers, whitewater rafters, anglers and Bollywood.

Thajwas Glacier, situated three kilometres from Sonamarg, is a major attraction for visitors and locals. But, environment scientists say the glacier has shrunk over the years and could be melting fast to become a thing of the past.

Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, a professor in Kashmir University's department of earth sciences, who has done pioneering work on environment in Jammu and Kashmir, told IANS: "A concrete road has been constructed up to the Thajwas Glacier. Everybody who comes to Sonamarg is encouraged to go to the glacier." "If you look at the records of last 40 years, the Glacier has alarmingly shrunken because of its fast meltdown. Human interference is squarely responsible for this.

"Nowhere else in the world one finds a concrete road constructed up to any glacier. If people love to visit a glacier, they must be prepared to trek a few kilometres to see it and not land directly into it with their automobiles," Romshoo added.

Till just a few years back, there were a couple of tourist huts owned by the local tourism department and three to four hotels in Sonamarg.

"Those days, most of the visitors would pitch tents in the vastness of the meadow and then enjoy trout fishing, trekking, mountaineering and the like. There were just a few hotels here and those too did not have more than half a dozen rooms each," 
Nazir Ahmad War, 52, who owns an old hotel in Sonamarg, told IANS.

Today, there are over two dozen hotels here and more are being constructed.
About the never-ending hotel and other infrastructure being built here, Romshoo said: "Under the state laws, it is mandatory that an environmental evaluation is made before allowing any infrastructure development at ecologically sensitive places. 

Sonamarg is one case where no such study was ever made and constructions are being allowed under political influence."