Kolkata: Amid spurt in dengue attacks, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said three persons have died of the disease in the state so far.

“As per information available with me, so far three persons have died of dengue in the state,” the chief minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters at Writers’ Buildings. According to a Telegraph report, she also said, But a false propaganda is on about dengue. Please desist from false propaganda. Mamata added that she would speak more on the issue today.

The paper also quotes Mamata as saying, Dengue is a natural phenomenon. The government alone can’t check dengue. Citizens have become alert, but they have to be more alert.

Apart from Kolkata, other districts hit by the disease were North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Nadia, official reports said.

The health department website said dengue has so far claimed three lives in the metropolis with 405 cases reported and 1,2152 rapid tests done for dengue diagnosis.

Health department sources said the deaths were caused by dengue shock syndrome.

Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim said the state government and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation have taken steps to deal with the situation.

He said orders of Rs 1.39 crore have been placed for purchase of oil for repelling mosquitoes.

On reports on non-availability of beds in hospitals, he said no patient should be turned away.

State-run hospitals were ready to admit dengue patients, he said, adding he himself helped in the admission of some patients who were later diagnosed to be suffering from typhoid.

Congress leader Omprakash Mishra charged the Trinamool Congress with opening “unnecessary debates” on dengue which had been spreading fast.

Unofficial reports said over 20 persons lost their lives in dengue attacks either in hospitals or in residences, and the disease has affected over 1,700.
Apart from Kolkata, other districts hit by the disease are North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Nadia, official reports said.

The health department website said dengue has so far claimed three lives in the metropolis with 405 cases reported and 1,2152 rapid tests done for dengue diagnosis.

Health department sources said the deaths were caused by dengue shock syndrome.

A report from Nadia district said a number of people have been attacked with symptoms similar to dengue.

Some patients were admitted to Shaktinagar and Kalyani JNM Hospital since last week. The blood of many of them were sent to Kolkata NRS for test whether there is dengue.

Nadia Health Department sources said that so far 18 persons were confirmed with the disease including two on Monday since 28 July and other 45 are under observation.

District Magistrate Abhinav Chandra said, “The maximum number of patients with symptoms similar to dengue were attacked in Nadia Krishnaganj block. So we have arranged for the preventive health camp there”.

SOURCE:FIRSTPOST.INDIA

Indian Muslim youth should refrain from attacking the media, a leader activist on Muslim issues has said.

In a telephone interview, Zafaryab Jilani, who is the convener of the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee and the advocate general of Uttar Pradesh state in India, said the state of Assam, due to its difficult terrain and jungles, had become a safe haven for the opponents of the Assamese Muslims.
The state is almost inadmissible for the outside media, so for any news one has to depend on the local media that is sympathetic or influenced by the Bodos tribe, according to Jilani.

He recalled the 2002 Gujarat massacre of Indian Muslims, when India’s national media did expose the nefarious designs of the communal outfits and the wholesale massacre of the defenseless Muslims.

The activist advised Muslim organizations to train and educate Muslim youths to know their democratic rights and duties.

He scoffed at the way the demonstrations were held in Mumbai, Lucknow and Allahabad to express anger at the ongoing massacre of Assamese and Myanmar Muslims.

He said the organizers of these demonstrations should have done some homework before giving a call for demonstrations. The organizers of the Lucknow and Allahabad demonstrations should have taken lessons from the violence that took place in Mumbai.

He gave the example of the Babri Masjid movement in this regard, saying that he advised Muslim youth time and again to hold fast to patience and democratic principles and assured them that through the democratic process one could achieve all the constitutional rights.

While holding marches, the demonstrators should refrain from violence, because violence backfires, he said.

Reza Academy, which gave a call for the Mumbai demonstrations, is a responsible organization that never believed in violence.
It was the work of some antisocial elements that took advantage of the huge crowd, Jilani believed.

He refuted the claim that Assamese Muslims are Bangladeshis and added that Assam for many decades had been suffering from internal divisions and violence.

He was amazed and annoyed that such a huge minority like the Assamese Muslims, who constitute 30 percent of the province’s population, is at the receiving end due to the indecisive, timid and selfish Muslim leadership that is letting down other Muslim leaders for their own agenda.

He said some people blamed a member of the Indian Parliament born in Assam for this poor state of the Assamese Muslims.

Sonia Gandhi’s latest trip to Assam was not able to wipe out tears from the faces of Muslim women, children, the sick and old, who are at the mercy of the armed and violent gangs that have no fear of being taken to task by the government in most of the interior of Assam.

Jilani believed that the government is busy in lip service. The media blackout of the riots makes one think that Sonia Gandhi does not have the upper hand and has lost control there. It is not clear if Assam’s home secretary or the chief minister has cards of the Assam policy, he stated.

The Muslim leaders have met the prime minister to find a solution to this terrifying crisis. Come what may, the Muslims should abide by law, Jilani advised.
SOURCE:MENAFN.COM

Government forces are continuing to persecute Muslims in Burma’s Rakhine state after failing to protect them during deadly clashes in June, Human Rights Watch has said in a report.

Security forces had killed and raped members of the Rohingya group and arrested hundreds of others, it said.

The 56-page report is the second in a fortnight to draw attention to abuses in Rakhine state.

The UN has sent an envoy to investigate the violence that killed at least 78.

”To demonstrate its seriousness in addressing abuses, the government should grant the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Quintana, full access to investigate abuses on all sides and take action to hold perpetrators accountable,” Human Rights Watch said.

In the weeks since the worst of the violence the Burmese authorities have stopped journalists and aid workers from getting to most sensitive parts of the state, says the BBC’s Jonah Fisher in Bangkok, so getting accurate information is extremely difficult.

Burma denies its security forces are guilty of human rights abuses in Rakhine. A presidential adviser responded to the Human Rights Watch allegations by saying the government had responded to the violence there as quickly as it could.

The Human Rights Watch report was based on 57 interviews in both Burma and neighbouring Bangladesh.

It said that security forces had failed to stop the unrest, which led to houses being razed and tens of thousands of people losing their homes.

“Burmese security forces failed to protect the Arakan (Rakhine) and Rohingya from each other and then unleashed a campaign of violence and mass round-ups against the Rohingya,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The findings in the HRW report are similar to an earlier report by Amnesty International – dismissed by a government spokesman in the state as “groundless and biased”.

Long-standing tension
A state of emergency was declared in Rakhine in June after deadly clashes between Buddhists and Muslims.

Violence flared after the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman in May, followed by an attack on a bus carrying Muslims.

Communal unrest continued in parts of Maung Daw as Muslims attacked Buddhist homes. Reprisal attacks then targeted Muslim homes and communities. The attacks left many dead and forced thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes.

There have been long-standing tensions between Rakhine people, who are Buddhist and make up the majority of the state’s population, and Muslims, many of whom are Rohingya.

Many Rakhine Buddhists have said that much of the violence in June was carried out against them by Rohingya groups. Rohingyas say they have been forced to flee because of the violence.

Burma’s President Thein Sein has said that the “solution” for the Rohingya was deportation or refugee camps.

SOURCE: NEWS ASIA