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ASIA / PACIFIC Page 16 n THE ASIAN REPORTER August 1, 2016 Family of Indian man killed by a mob is accused of cow slaughter By Biswajeet Banerjee The Associated press UCKNOW, India — Nearly a year after a mob in northern India killed a Muslim man over rumors that he had slaughtered a cow, his family faces prosecution for alleged cow slaughter following a neighbor’s complaint, according to police. Police registered a case of cow slaughter against Mohammad Akhlaq’s family following a court order, said police officer Daljeet Singh. The court acted on a forensic report that said the meat found in a dustbin outside the family’s home was beef or the meat of “a cow or its progeny.” Hindus consider cows to be sacred, and for many, eating beef is taboo. The eating of beef is not a crime in Uttar Pradesh state, but slaughter- ing a cow carries a punishment of up to seven years in jail. No arrests have been made so far. Yusuf Saifi, the family’s attorney, said he would challenge the court’s order. The court is hearing a petition filed by the neighbor and backed by those accused of Akhlaq’s murder alleging that his family had killed a calf and that his brother Jaan Mohammad was seen slitting the throat of the animal. It names seven members of the family, including Akhlaq’s wife and mother. L PROBLEM SOLVERS. India’s Bezwada Wilson, who is among the six recipients of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award, is seen at the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) office in New Delhi, India. Wilson, who was the first in his Dalit family to pursue higher education, is being honored for his 32-year crusade. He recruited volunteers and worked with Dalit activists to organize the SKA people’s movement that has filed cases and liberated about half of an estimated 600,000 people from manually removing human excrement from dry latrines. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) Two Indians, Filipino among 2016 Ramon Magsaysay awardees MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — An Indian who led a grassroots movement on behalf of the low-caste Dalit community and the Philippines’ chief anti-corruption fighter are among the six recipients of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award, which honors leadership in solving society’s most intractable problems. The other recipients named are an emergency aid provider in Laos, an Indonesian Muslim philanthropy group, an Indian musician, and a Japanese volunteer group. The awards, named for a former Philippine president, are regarded as Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The foundation will formally confer the awards on August 31 in Manila. Bezwada Wilson, who was the first in his Dalit family to pursue higher education, is being honored for his 32-year crusade. He recruited volunteers and worked with Dalit activists to organize a people’s movement called Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), which has filed cases and liberated about half of an estimated 600,000 people from manually removing human excrement from dry latrines. Conchita Carpio-Morales, the Philippines’ ombudsman, or public prosecutor, is also being honored “for her moral courage and commitment to justice” in tackling head on corruption, one of the most intractable problems of the Philippines. The former Supreme Court justice has filed cases against a former president and other high-ranking officials and raised her office’s conviction rate from 33.3 percent in 2011 to 74.5 percent in 2015. The foundation praised her “example of incorruptibility, diligence, vision, and leadership of the highest ethical standards in public service.” Indian artist Thodur Madabusi Krishna has been chosen to receive the emergent leadership award for “his forceful commitment as artist and advocate to art’s power to heal India’s deep social divisions.” Born to a privileged Bhramin family in Chennai in 1976, he was trained in aristocratic Karnatic music that has become almost exclusive to the elite. But he has worked since the 1990s to bring Karnatic music to youth and public schools, identify gifted rural youth to be trained in Chennai under well-known artists, and to bring together students from diverse social backgrounds to interact with renowned artists and learn about different art forms. The Indonesian organization Dompet Dhuafa has redefined the landscape for zakat — the tax on an adult’s wealth that is a cornerstone of the Islamic faith. The group has become the largest philanthropic organization in Indonesia today, in terms of donations received totalling $20.2 million, reaching 13 million beneficiaries as of 2015, with at least 20 percent of them moved out of poverty. The Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers group, founded 51 years ago, sends young adults abroad to volunteer in other communities. The foundation praised its volunteers “for their idealism and spirit of service in advancing the lives of communities other than their own” and laying “the true foundation for peace and international understanding.” Vientiane Rescue of Laos is being awarded for its “heroic work in saving Laotian lives in a time and place of great need, under the most deprived circumstances.” The group was formed in 2007 by volunteers aghast at how victims of road accidents in the capital of Laos are left to die because of lack of emergency assistance, operates a free ambulance service, despite a lack of equipment, sponsors, and formal training. FORBIDDEN FEAST? A bruised Asgari Begum, mother of 52-year-old Muslim farmer Mohammad Akhlaq who was killed over rumors he slaughtered a cow, stands by the entrance of her home in Bisara, a village about 25 miles southeast of the Indian capital of New Delhi, in this September 30, 2015 file photo. Ten months after a mob in northern India killed Akhlaq, his family faces prosecution for alleged cow slaughter following a neighbor’s complaint, according to police. The court acted on a forensic report that said the meat found in a dustbin outside the family’s home was beef or the meat of “a cow or its progeny.” Hindus consider cows to be sacred, and for many, eating beef is taboo. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File) The killing of Mohammed Akhlaq of Hindu culture. Many Indian states last September sparked furious banned cow slaughter long ago, and debate about religious tolerance in hardliners want a national ban. Violent protests have erupted at India. Akhlaq’s family left the village several places in recent months over after the attack and is living in New rumors of cow slaughtering by Muslims. Near the Himalayan town Delhi. Hindus make up more than 80 of Shimla, a mob beat a man to death percent of India’s population of 1.25 and injured four other people in billion, and many have revelled in October over rumors they were Prime Minister Modi’s championing smuggling cows. Flight info screens at Vietnam’s two major airports hacked HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Screens displaying flight information and the public address system at Viet- nam’s two major airports were hacked with deroga- tory messages against Vi- etnam and the Philippines in their territorial row against China in the South China Sea. After the hacking, authorities switched off the screens and the sound systems at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport and the Tan Son Nhat airport in southern Ho Chi Minh City, the online VnExpress said. The website of the national carrier, Vietnam Airlines, was also briefly hacked, it said. The site quoted vice min- ister of transport Nguyen Nhat as saying the inci- dents did not affect the security or air traffic control at the airports. The messages and screenshots with deroga- tory remarks suggested they were purportedly left by Chinese hackers. In July, an international tribunal issued a ruling in favor of the Philippines that invalidated China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea. Vietnam also has overlapping claims to parts of the sea, which is rich in natural resources, and together with the Philippines has been a vocal critic of China. Continued on page 13 Read The Asian Reporter online at <www.asianreporter.com>!