Indian students protest for Gaza, urge government to end arms deals with Israel

MUMBAI, INDIA: A mob ransacked a club in India’s financial capital after a stand-up comedian ridiculed one of the city’s leading politicians from the stage, prompting a police investigation into the performer.
Kunal Kamra, one of India’s leading comics, is known for his acerbic commentary on Indian politics.
His Sunday performance in Mumbai included a parody song referring to Eknath Shinde, the number two figure in the state government, as a “traitor.”
Soon after the show finished, supporters from Shinde’s Shiv Sena party stormed The Habitat comedy venue and began wreaking havoc.
Footage widely shared on social media showed dozens of men throwing chairs, smashing light fittings and breaking apart paintings mounted on the wall.
At least 20 people were being sought in relation to the vandalism at the club, local media reported.
The Habitat said in a Monday social media post that it was shutting its doors until it determined the “best way to provide a platform for free expression” without putting the venue “in jeopardy.”
Police were attempting to locate Kamra after an official complaint was registered against him for making defamatory remarks.
Maharashtra state chief minister — and Shinde’s boss — Devendra Fadnavis said the comedian “should apologize” and that “insult of leaders cannot be tolerated.”
“Everyone has a right to perform stand-up comedy. But freedom should not be unrestrained behavior... Action will be taken against him as per the law,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying.
The “traitor” remark was a reference to Shinde’s decision to switch his political allegiance in 2022, precipitating a weeklong political crisis in the state that forced the resignation of the then-chief minister.
Kamra has yet to publicly comment on the incident, but the backlash against him is not the first time that an Indian comic has come under fire from supporters of politicians.
In 2021, Muslim comedian Munawar Faruqui was held in prison for more than a month after being accused of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses.
He later canceled three shows in Mumbai after a Hindu activist group threatened to set the venue on fire.
 

GENEVA: The UN said Monday it and partners were seeking nearly $1 billion to provide life-saving aid this year for some 1.5 million Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh.
The United Nations said that it and more than 100 partners were launching a 2025-26 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya crisis, amid “dwindling financial resources and competing global crises.”
The appeal, it said in a statement, “seeks $934.5 million in its first year to reach some 1.48 million people including Rohingya refugees and host communities.”
Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of whom arrived after fleeing the 2017 military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar.
“In its eighth year, the Rohingya humanitarian crisis remains largely out of the international spotlight, but needs remain urgent,” Monday’s statement said.
It stressed that “any funding shortfalls in critical areas, including reductions to food assistance, cooking fuel or basic shelter, will have dire consequences for this highly vulnerable population.”
It could, it added, “force many to resort to desperate measures, such as embarking on dangerous boat journeys to seek safety.”
The UN said that more than half of the refugee population in the camps are women and girls, “who face a higher risk of gender-based violence and exploitation.”
And it highlighted that a third of the refugees are aged between 10 and 24, warning that “without access to formal education, adequate skills building and self- reliance opportunities, their futures remain on hold.”
“Until the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is peaceful and conducive to returning safely and voluntarily, the international community must continue to fund life-saving assistance to refugees in the camps.”