Do you know MBS?
In 2015, his father, King Salman, ascended to the throne and made his son in charge of important government sectors, rising MBS from relative insignificance to prominence.
On July 15, US President Joe Biden visited the Saudi city of Jeddah and met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, known by his initials MBS. President Biden’s visit marked Washington’s attempt to thaw diplomatic relations with Riyadh, stabilize global energy markets, and strengthen regional security.
According to critics, Biden changed his position on Saudi Arabia, becoming a “pariah” because of its alleged role in the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
In 2015, MBS rose to power from relative insignificance when his father, King Salman, ascended to the throne and appointed his son to important government positions, including defense, economy, and Oil. The most influential personality in Saudi Arabia today, he is considered the power behind the throne.
The king replaced his nephew Mohammad bin Nayef with his son, placing him next in line for the throne. In November 2018, MBS combined his power by detaining several powerful and wealthy businessmen, including several of his own royal kins, as part of an “anti-corruption campaign .”They had to hand over expensive real estate and shares of their companies to the government to end their detention, according to the New York Times.
MBS has presented himself as a kind of social reformer in order to rebrand the conservative socio-religious image of his country. The crown prince has stated that he wants Saudi Arabia to return to a “moderate Islam.”
In 2016, he curtailed the powers of the religious police and began granting Saudi women modest rights, a development lauded by western liberal commentators. As part of these reforms, women were allowed to drive, attend football games at stadiums and travel freely without a male guardian, including pilgrimages to Mecca.
The lifting of a 35-year ban on movie theatres and mix-gender concerts were also socially liberal evolutions.
It has been stated that these modest changes are intended to whitewash his “autocratic rule” and the kingdom’s alleged abuse of human rights.
Saudi Arabia has been routinely criticized by human rights firms for its record on human rights, freedom of expression, and crackdowns on dissent. The government beheaded 81 people in March, which many called the country’s largest mass execution.
In 2015, shortly after becoming defense minister, MBS launched a military intervention in Yemen to crush the Iranian-backed Shia Houthi rebels. Approximately 150 airstrikes on civilian targets have been carried out by the Saudi-led coalition, according to the Washington Post.
Saad Hariri was accused of resigning from office in 2017 after the kingdom forced him to do so. Both Hariri and Saudi Arabia have denied that he was forced to resign.
There has been long-standing security and economic relationship between Washington and Riyadh. One of the longest ties in the region dates back to 1945 when US President Franklin D Roosevelt met Saudi King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud.
In the past, these ties have been tested by the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, the 9/11 attacks in which Saudi hijackers were involved, and the Gulf kingdom’s human rights violations in Yemen.
Saudi Oil, however, has consistently massaged these tensions.
With the second largest oil reserves in the world, the country is the third largest oil importer to the United States. In addition to importing US weapons, Saudi Arabia receives more than $100 billion in foreign military sales from the US Department of Defence.
Jamal Khashoggi’s murder temporarily damaged the historical ties between the two countries.
In October 2018, Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a fierce critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was ambushed and killed. Saudi officials deny ordering the killing, but the CIA and some Western countries believe he did. Trump, who enjoyed a close relationship with MBS, subsequently questioned the intelligence and emphasized the long-standing economic and strategic ties between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Biden had been a vocal critic of the Gulf kingdom’s human rights record and blamed the country for Khashoggi’s death.
In addition to strained relations between Washington and Riyadh, the war in Yemen was prolonged.
Biden, after taking office, had snubbed MBS by refusing to speak to him and instead interacting with his “counterpart,” King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The Biden administration’s stance has changed, however, due to geopolitical and economic concerns. One of the most significant factors causing oil and gas prices to rise is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With November’s midterm elections fast approaching, Biden seeks to drive down oil prices domestically and increase his dwindling approval rating by increasing Saudi oil production.
Iran’s nuclear ambitions are yet another contributing factor to their fluctuating relationship.
Biden told reporters after the meeting with Saudi officials that he had raised Khashoggi’s murder privately with MBS. “He basically said that he was not responsible for it,” Biden said.
In contrast, the Saudi side gave a different account of the meeting.
In an interview with Reuters, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said he had not heard Biden blame Mohammed bin Salman for Khashoggi’s death.
According to another Reuters report, Biden failed to procure commitments on Israel’s security axis or a rise in oil production immediately after his Middle East trip.
As a result of Biden’s visit, 18 partnership agreements were signed between the US and Saudi Arabia in the fields of clean energy, communications, space, healthcare, and cybersecurity, according to Reuters. Additionally, the US will remove its peacekeeping force stationed on Tiran Island for more than four decades.
The 1989 abduction case
As Rubaiya was returning home from the Lal Ded Memorial Hospital, where she was a medical intern, she was abducted from a minibus in Srinagar on December 8, 1989.
In a 1989 kidnapping case, Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, identified Yasin Malik, the jailed JKLF chief, and three others as her abductors. Having been summoned as a prosecution witness, Rubaiya appeared before a Special TADA court for the first time.
After being convicted in a terror funding case in May, Malik is currently serving a life sentence at Delhi’s Tihar jail.
As Rubaiya was returning home from the Lal Ded Memorial Hospital, where she was a medical intern, she was abducted from a minibus in Srinagar on December 8, 1989.
Her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, had just been sworn in as the Union Home Minister in the V P Singh government six days before the incident.
Rubaiya’s bus was intercepted by four armed men a few hundred meters from Mufti’s residence at Nowgam on the outskirts of Srinagar city.
Her car was shifted to an undisclosed location, and she has whisked away. A local newspaper was contacted hours later by the JKLF, headed by Ishfaq Majeed Wani, claiming responsibility for the abduction.
When Rubaiya was 23, the militants abducted her to get five JKLF militants released from prison – Abdul Hameed Sheikh (Wani’s deputy), Ghulam Nabi Bhat (brother of JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat), Noor Mohammad Kalwal, Mohammad Altaf and Javed Ahmad Zargar.
When Farooq Abdullah cut short his London visit after the abduction, he rushed back to Jammu and Kashmir. Senior officials from the Centre, including the then IB chief, were sent to Srinagar through a local journalist to begin negotiations with the JKLF.
Inder Kumar Gujral and Arif Mohammad Khan, also in the Janata Dal government, were sent to the Valley five days after the abduction.
Eventually, a deal was struck, and five JKLF militants were released. After five days in captivity, Rubaiya was also released a few hours later.
At the time, Farooq Abdullah’s reluctance to release the jailed militants was attributed to the delay in Rubaiya’s release. After a decade, Abdullah confirmed that he had been against the swap, adding that he had even been threatened with dismissal by the Centre.
The threat was carried to Srinagar by a senior minister in the V P Singh Cabinet. In February 2000, Abdullah resigned from the office of Chief Minister after refusing to release any militants. Mufti Sayeed, however, secured their release, which prompted his resignation.
As soon as Jagmohan was appointed as the Governor, Governor of J&K, Abdullah resigned as the Chief Minister just 37 days after Rubaiya’s release.
The new appointment to the Governor’sGovernor’s office was Mufti’s handiwork.
A watershed moment in Kashmir’s militancy occurred when five JKLF members were released from jail.
A massive victory procession in old Srinagar city to celebrate the release of JKLF militants was the first time locals expressed support for militancy.
A series of kidnappings followed the abduction and its successful outcome for militants.
Among those abducted were Kashmir University Vice Chancellor Mashir-ul-Haq, his personal secretary Abdul Gani, and Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) General Manager H L Khera. The government turned down their demands for militants’ release, however, resulting in the deaths of all three abductors. K Doraiswamy, the executive director of Indian Oil, was also abducted. However, he was freed after nearly two months in a swap involving nine militants.
Rubaiya Sayeed’s abduction was first reported to Srinagar’s Sadar Police station on December 8, 1989, under Section 364 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), Section 3 of the TADA, and Section 3/25 of the Arms Act. The investigation was taken over by the CBI in the early 1990s.
A court had framed charges against ten people, including Malik, in the abduction case in January last year.
The other suspects identified by Rubaiya on Friday are: Ali Mohammad Mir, Iqbal Ahmad Gandroo, Javed Ahmad Mir alias Nalka, Mohammad Rafiq Pahloo alias Nana Ji alias Saleem, Wajahat Bashir and Showkat Ahmad Bakshi.
Black fever was detected in West Bengal
A total of 165.4 million people are at risk of contracting the disease in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
Based on state-administered surveillance, at least 65 cases of black fever or Kala-Azar disease have been reported in 11 districts of Bengal in the last few weeks.
“It has been practically eradicated from West Bengal.”. In recent surveillance, 65 cases have been discovered in 11 districts. The state can now combat the spread of the disease now that these cases have emerged,” an official told PTI. As of early this year, Jharkhand had reported its first kala azar-related death in over eight years.
Here’s what you need to know about the symptoms, treatment, and prevalence of this parasitic disease, which can be fatal in over 95 percent of cases.
Kala-azar, also known as Visceral Leishmaniasis, is a protozoan parasitic disease spread by bites from sandflies. Sandflies are brown in color and have hair on their bodies. A parasite known as Leishmania donovani infects the flies.
It is known that the vector sandfly lives in dark and humid corners of muddy houses, especially in cracks and crevices. In the WHO’s opinion, there are three basic types of leishmaniases, of which kala-azar is the most serious.
Malnutrition, population replacement, poor housing, a weak immune system, and a lack of financial resources contribute to the disease among the poorest. Globally, leishmaniasis is also linked to environmental changes such as deforestation and urbanization.
Over 90% of new cases reported to WHO in 2020 occurred in 10 countries: Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen.
The districts with the highest number of cases in West Bengal are Darjeeling, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, and Kalimpong. Several cases have been reported in Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia, and Murshidabad, but none have been found in Kolkata.
The disease was found to be most prevalent in people who lived in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh for a long time. “Some Bangladeshians are also experiencing symptoms of kala-azar,” said the official. According to a top bureaucrat at the state secretariat, the government will treat everyone diagnosed with the disease for free.
Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal are endemic areas for the disease. The National Centre for Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NCVBDC) estimates that 165.4 million people are at risk. Over the years, the number of cases in the country has decreased simultaneously. Around 9,200 cases were reported in 2014, while 1,276 cases were reported in 2021.
There are many symptoms associated with this disease, including fever and weight loss, enlargement of the liver and spleen, and anemia. There may be dry, thin, scaly patches of skin and hair loss in people with a light skin tone, as well as greyish discoloration of the hands, feet, abdomen, and face, which is why the disease is also known by the name of “Black fever.”.
Leishmaniasis is a treatable and curable disease, which requires an immunocompetent immune system, so those with a weak immune system are at higher risk. The treatment of all patients diagnosed with this disease must be prompt and comprehensive.
Treatment for leishmania is available with anti-leishmanial medicines. By decreasing the number of sandflies in surroundings through insecticide spray, using insecticide-treated nets, etc., the World Health Organization also recommends vector control.
In 2015, the government hoped to eradicate the disease in India, but that deadline was not met. By implementing the National Kala-Azar Elimination Programme, the number of cases has been notably reduced.
The central government provided medicines, insecticides, and technical support, while the governments of other states covered implementation costs. In this program, the basic health care system and the State and the District Malaria Control Offices were responsible for implementing the program.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
