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Pakistan’s foreign minister was due to visit Afghanistan on Saturday after his country expelled more than 85,000 Afghans, mostly children, in just over two weeks.Islamabad has launched a strict campaign to evict by the end of April more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled — including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades.Convoys of Afghan families have been heading to border towns each day fearing the “humiliation” of raids, arrests or being separated from family members.Pakistan’s foreign office said its top diplomat Ishaq Dar will hold meetings with senior Afghan Taliban officials, including Prime Minister Hasan Akhund during a day-long visit.”There will not be any sort of leniency and extension in the deadline,” Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Tallal Chaudhry told a news conference on Friday.”When you arrive without any documents, it only deepens the uncertainty of whether you’re involved in narcotics trafficking, supporting terrorism, or committing other crimes,” he added.Chaudhry has previously accused Afghans of being “terrorists and criminals”, but analysts say it is a politically motivated strategy to put pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban government over escalating security concerns.He said on Friday that nearly 85,000 Afghans have crossed into Afghanistan since the start of April, the majority of them undocumented.The United Nations’ refugee agency said on Friday more then half of them were children — entering a country where girls are banned from secondary school and university and women are barred from many sectors of work.- Second phase of deportations -The United Nations says nearly three million Afghans have taken shelter in Paksitan after fleeing successive conflicts.Pakistan was one of just three countries that recognised the Taliban’s first government in the 1990s and was accused of covertly supporting their insurgency against NATO forces.But their relationship has soured as attacks in Pakistan’s border regions have soared.Last year was the deadliest in Pakistan for a decade with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take refuge in Afghanistan, from where they plan attacks.The Taliban government denies the charge.In the first phase of deportations in 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were forced across the border in the space of a few weeks. In the second phase announced in March, the Pakistan government cancelled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans, warning those in Pakistan awaiting relocation to other countries to leave by the end of April.More than 1.3 million who hold Proof of Registration cards issued by the UN refugee agency have been told to leave Islamabad and the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

A mob beat to death a member of Pakistan’s persecuted Ahmadiyya minority on Friday after hundreds of radical Islamists surrounded their place of worship in the port city of Karachi, police said.A mob, many from the anti-blasphemy political group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), stormed through narrow streets of Saddar neighbourhood chanting slogans, enraged that Ahmadis were allegedly offering Friday prayers.”One member of the community was killed after the mob identified him as an Ahmadi. They attacked him with sticks and bricks,” Muhammad Safdar, a senior local police official in the port city of Karachi where the incident happened.”The mob included members of several religious parties,” he told AFP.Safdar said police took around 25 Ahmadis into custody for their safety.An AFP journalist at the scene saw a prison van escorted by police vehicles take the Ahmadi men away, after negotiating with the 600-strong chanting mob.The Ahmadiyya community are considered heretics by the Pakistani government and have been persecuted for decades, but threats and intimidation have intensified in recent years.A local resident among the crowd Abdul Qadir Ashrafi told AFP he joined the mob to pressure police to arrest the Ahmadis.”We requested that the place be sealed and that those conducting the Friday prayers be arrested, with criminal proceedings initiated against them,” Abdul Qadir Ashrafi, a 52-year-old businessman said.The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was “appalled by the orchestrated attack by a far-right religious party on a colonial-era Ahmadi place of worship”.”This failure of law and order is a stark reminder of the continued complicity of the state in the systematic persecution of a beleaguered community,” it said on X.- Deadly mob violence -Ahmadis, who number around 10 million worldwide, consider themselves Muslims, and their faith is identical to mainstream Islam in almost every way, but their belief in another messiah has marked them blasphemous non-believers.Pakistan’s constitution has branded them non-Muslims since 1974, and a 1984 law forbids them from claiming their faith as Islamic.Unlike in other countries, they cannot refer to their places of worship as mosques, make the call to prayer, or travel on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.Hardline TLP supporters regularly monitor Ahmadi places of worship and file police complaints against them for identifying as Muslims and conducting prayers in a manner similar to Islamic practices — illegal in Pakistan.According to a tally kept by the community, six Ahmadis were killed in 2024, and more than 280 since 1984.In the same period, more than 4,100 Ahmadis have faced criminal charges including 335 under blasphemy laws which carry the death penalty.Mob violence is common in Pakistan, where blasphemy is an incendiary issue that carries the death penalty.Dozens of churches were ransacked in the city of Jaranwala in 2023 when clerics used mosque loudspeakers to claim that a Christian man had committed blasphemy, sparking a crowd of hundreds of Muslim rioters.Last August, the Supreme Court was pressured into backtracking on a landmark ruling that would have allowed Ahmadis to practice their faith as long as they do not use Muslim terms, after weeks of protests by fundamentalist groups including death threats to the chief justice. 

Tens of thousands of pilgrims thronged Sri Lanka’s holy city of Kandy on Friday at the start of a rare display of a prized Buddhist relic, triggering traffic chaos and public protests.Devotees who had camped overnight outside the Temple of the Tooth complained that they were confined to a holding area after security checks and were deprived of food and water for hours.President Anura Kumara Dissanayake officially launched the exposition by offering flowers to what Buddhists in Sri Lanka believe to be the left canine tooth of the Buddha.Dissanayake’s office said he was accompanied by Colombo-based diplomats invited as guests to the 16th-century temple shortly before the exhibition opened to the public.Police rushed to prevent a stampede as the gates opened to allow pilgrims to walk past the relic displayed inside the temple.Several older people fainted and were assisted by bystanders.An AFP photographer saw one man stretched out on a bench, a small child fanning him with a bunch of papers while police looked on.”Let us out… We are suffering here. We don’t want to see the relic, please let us go,” one man shouted from inside the holding area as police attempted to confine the crowd within a fenced enclosure.A woman also pleaded to be let out of the holding area so she could return home. “We came out of devotion, but the promised food and water were not provided,” she shouted.- Long queues -Queues from three directions outside the temple compound stretched almost two kilometres (1.2 miles), with tens of thousands of devotees trying to get a glimpse of the relic.Police had estimated that about 200,000 people would visit Kandy daily during the 10-day display but local officials said they had underestimated the crowd badly.The main roads leading to Kandy, 115 kilometres (70 miles) northeast of Colombo, were blocked for long periods despite special traffic arrangements and parking areas reserved for pilgrims.Around 10,000 police officers have been deployed and armed troops reinforced security at the temple, which was targeted by Tamil separatists in a 1998 suicide attack that killed 16 people.Classes in Kandy have been cancelled, with schools repurposed to house the large number of security personnel sent to the city.More than a million people were estimated to have visited the UNESCO-designated temple when the tooth relic was last displayed in March 2009.The 1998 bombing of the temple destroyed walls and windows, in the process revealing 18th-century murals that had been plastered over several times through the site’s history.A section of the exposed murals is displayed in the temple’s tightly guarded museum, which says they date back to between 1707 and 1739 — a period when Kandy was the seat of the monarchy that ruled the island.

Scores of penitents whipped themselves bloody under a scorching Philippine sun while others were nailed to crosses in a polarising Good Friday tradition drawing the most extreme of Catholic devotees.The macabre spectacle, officially frowned on by the Church, attracts thousands of Filipinos — and a smattering of tourists — each Easter weekend to sites across Asia’s only majority Catholic nation.In Pampanga province, two hours north of Manila, 64-year-old Ruben Enaje was nailed to a cross for the 36th time on Friday.Minutes after the nails were gingerly removed from his palms, he told reporters it would be for the last time.”I really can’t do it anymore. They had to aim portable fans at me earlier just for me to breathe normally,” Enaje said, after temperatures reached 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit).In an unscripted moment, Enaje had tumbled down an embankment while navigating the narrow path to the cross after being “pushed a bit harder than usual” by a man playing a Roman soldier.He told reporters he had felt “dizzy” while walking to the venue, needing to rest for 30 minutes before reaching the site.He has hinted at retirement in the past, and this year local officials finally introduced his successor: Arnold Maniago, a veteran of 24 crucifixions. Maniaco conceded he was “a little nervous” about taking on the role of Jesus.- More than penance -Among the procession, men with their faces covered by bandanas rhythmically whipped themselves as they walked towards the cross.But the flails, tipped with bamboo shards, rarely produce the desired blood.An older man showed AFP a small wooden paddle embedded with sharp glass he used on the backs of penitents to make it flow.Children trailed many of the processions.A boy no more than eight years old lightly flailed the back of a shirtless man lying in the road.Mark Palma, whose back was raw and smeared with blood, said flagellation was more than an act of penance.The 30-year-old told AFP he had spent half his life taking part in the flagellation ritual as a way of praying for his sister born with a heart defect.”She’ll be going through an operation this year, she has a hole in her heart,” he said.”I’m praying for her to be healed. I want the operation to be successful.”Raymond Ducusin, 31, said he began taking part in 2022 when his parents developed health issues.Though his father passed away, he had no plans to stop.”I want to commemorate his legacy through this. I still believe in miracles,” Ducusin said.Officials said about 10,000 people attended Good Friday events in Pampanga.More than 50 foreign tourists who had purchased special passes viewed the proceedings from under a tent.David, a 45-year-old from New York City, said he and his partner had planned their holiday to attend the crucifixions.”To see something born at the community level that’s still vibrant… most religious affiliation and sentiment in the West is pretty much fading away and here, it’s still incredibly visceral,” he said.

Thousands of pilgrims camped overnight outside Sri Lanka’s holiest Buddhist temple in anticipation of Friday’s display of a prized relic that will be shown to the public for the first time in 16 years.Around 10,000 police have been deployed to safeguard the Temple of the Tooth as it launches a 10-day exhibition of what Sri Lankan Buddhists believe to be Buddha’s left canine.Police said armed troops will reinforce security at the 16th-century temple in Kandy, which was targeted by Tamil separatists in a 1998 suicide attack that killed 16 people.”We expect about two million devotees to visit Kandy during the 10-day exhibition,” a police officer told AFP. “There will be airport-style security at the entrance,” he added, warning that bags and cameras would be prohibited.  Classes in Kandy have been cancelled as the schools have all been repurposed to house the large number of security forces sent to the city.Queues to enter the temple stretched over two kilometres (1.2 miles) before the exhibition was due to open on Friday afternoon, according to a live map updated by police.Over a million people were estimated to have visited the UNESCO-designated temple when the tooth relic was last displayed in March 2009.The 1998 bombing of the temple destroyed walls and windows, and in the process revealed 18-century murals that had been plastered over several times in the course of the site’s history. A section of the exposed murals is displayed in the temple’s tightly guarded museum, which says they date back to between 1707 and 1739, a period when Kandy was the seat of the monarchy that ruled over the island.

In central India’s dry forests, community trackers hunt for signs of elephants to feed into an alert system that is helping prevent some of the hundreds of fatal tramplings each year.Boots crunch on brittle leaves as Bhuvan Yadav, proudly wearing a T-shirt with his team’s title of “friends of the elephant”, looks for indicators ranging from tracks or dung, to sightings or simply the deep warning rumbles of a herd.”As soon as we get the exact location of the herd, we update it in the application,” Yadav said, as he and three other trackers trailed a herd deep in forests in Chhattisgarh state, preparing to enter the information into their mobile phone.The app, developed by Indian firm Kalpvaig, crunches the data and then triggers warnings to nearby villagers.There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The majority are in India, with others in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.The usually shy animals are coming into increasing contact with humans because of rapidly expanding settlements and growing forest disturbance, including mining operations for coal, iron ore, and bauxite.Mine operations in particular have been blamed for pushing elephants into areas of Chhattisgarh where they had not been seen for decades.- ‘Line of defence’ -“We have to be quiet so that there is no confrontation,” said Yadav, trekking through forests surrounding the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve.”We try and maintain a distance of 200 metres (220 yards) from the herd — so that there is room to run,” added Yadav, who is one of around 250 trackers employed by the state forestry department. Despite weighing up to six tonnes, an Asian elephant can cover several hundred metres in just 30 seconds, according to research published in the journal Nature.And as elephant habitats shrink, conflict between humans and wild elephants has grown — 629 people were killed by elephants across India in 2023-2024, according to parliamentary figures.Chhattisgarh accounted for 15 percent of India’s elephant-related human casualties in the last five years, despite being home to just one percent of the country’s wild elephants, government data show.Authorities say the government-funded alert system has slashed casualties.In the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve area, elephants killed five people in 2022, a year before the app was launched.Among them was 50-year-old rice farmer Lakshmibai Gond, who was trampled while watching her fields in the state’s Gariaband district, her son Mohan Singh Gond said. “She was caught off-guard,” he told AFP. “The elephant ripped her skull apart.”Since the alarm system began in February 2023, just one elephant-related death has been recorded.”Villagers provide their mobile number and geo-tag locations,” said state forest official Varun Jain, who leads the initiative.”They get calls and text messages when an elephant is within five kilometres (three miles).”Announcements are also broadcast on loudspeakers in villages in key conflict zones as a “second line of defence”, he added. – ‘Such a clever creature’ -Residents say the warnings have saved lives, but they resent the animals.”When there is an announcement, we do not go to the forest to forage because we know anything can happen,” said community health worker Kantibai Yadav.”We suffer losses, because that is our main source of livelihood and they also damage our crops,” she added. “The government should not let wild elephants roam around like that.”Forest officials say they are trying to also “improve the habitat” so that elephants do not raid villages in search of food, Jain said. The app requires trackers to monitor the elusive animals over vast areas of thick bush, but Jain said the alert system was more effective than darting and fixing radio collars to the pachyderms.”An elephant is such a clever creature that it will remove that collar within two to three months,” Jain said.Radio collars would be usually fitted to the matriarch, because that helps track the rest of the herd who follow her.But the elephants that pose the most danger to humans are often rogue bulls, solitary male animals enraged during “musth”, a period of heightened sexual activity when testosterone levels soar.”Casualties you see in 80 percent of the cases are done by the loners,” he said.”The app is to ensure that there are no human casualties.” 

Pakistan’s Mahrang Baloch has risen to become the young face of a decades-old movement against rights abuses since she discovered her father’s tortured body when she was a teenager.The 32-year-old, who was arrested last month, is now one of the country’s most recognisable protest leaders representing the ethnic Baloch minority. “Our father made the decision for us when he dedicated himself to Baloch rights. And after him, we all embraced his philosophy and committed ourselves to this struggle,” Mahrang wrote to her family from the cell where she is being held in the provincial capital Quetta.She was charged in March with terrorism, sedition and murder, according to the police charge sheet seen by AFP.Balochistan province, a sparsely populated, rugged region that borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the poorest in the country despite being rich in untapped hydrocarbons and minerals.Security forces are fighting a decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatist militants, led by the Balochistan Liberation Army, which accuses authorities and outsiders, including Chinese investors, of exploiting the region.Rights groups say the violence has been countered with a severe crackdown by authorities that has swept up innocent people. According to Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, an NGO, 18,000 people have disappeared in the province since 2000, figures disputed by the authorities.Mahrang founded the Baloch Unity Committee (BYC) after her brother disappeared for four months in 2018 to mobilise the relatives of victims of alleged extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and other arbitrary arrests.”Mahrang is the child of resistance against brutal state oppression,” former senator Afrasiab Khattak told AFP.A spokesperson for the Balochistan government told AFP that “activists are making claims without any grounds” about rights abuses and enforced disappearances.-‘Mahrang replaced our father’ -Mahrang first began campaigning after the disappearance of her father, defying tribal tradition in a region where less than one in three women can read and write to leave home and demand answers from the authorities.”We could see her blocking the roads crying and pleading for her father, even when there was a police vehicle coming, she was still standing bravely in front of every obstacle,” said Naseem Baloch, president of the Baloch National Movement, who has been in exile in Europe since 2011.The bullet-riddled body of Mahrang’s father was finally identified one July night in 2011, scarred by torture and wearing the same clothes he was kidnapped in.”My brother fainted when he saw him,” her 26-year-old sister Nadia told AFP.”Mahrang then replaced our father: she helped our mother feed us with her medical scholarships and continued her fight for the Baluchi cause.”Not only did she carry on the struggle, she radically changed the Baloch movement, according to her classmates.”Before, everyone was afraid to speak to the media, but Mahrang led the way and succeeded in having her brother released, so now families dare to denounce these kidnappings,” Naseem Baloch said.Above all, Mahrang and Nadia Baloch did not hesitate to voice their accusations that the security services were behind her brother’s kidnapping.Mahrang broke taboos as a student, too. She led protests against her Quetta university after staff were caught secretly filming women on campus to blackmail them.- International recognition -With a father killed, a brother kidnapped and a childhood spent in poverty, Mahrang’s story resonates with families in rural Balochistan.”People identify with Mahrang because she carries their pain,” her sister said.Mohammad Gul, a 55-year-old relative, said: “Baloch people see her as a ray of hope — a true leader challenging those who are responsible.”Baloch armed groups demand independence, sometimes with spectacular attacks such as a deadly train hostage-taking in March, but the BYC advocates non-violence and a negotiated solution within the framework of the federal state.Mahrang gained international attention after leading a “Long Baloch March” of more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) from Balochistan to the national capital Islamabad to denounce the alleged extrajudicial execution of a young Baloch man. Her activism earned her a place among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Promising People of 2024 — an award she was unable to receive because authorities prevented her from leaving the country.Her marches are attended by thousands, almost exclusively women, who stage days-long sit-ins. “They are less likely to be beaten, arrested, or kidnapped,” explained Ayesha Siddiqa, a political scientist now based in London.However, many women protesters have been imprisoned in recent weeks.Mahrang has already “prepared the family” to continue the fight, said her sister Nadia.”Perhaps one day, she will be kidnapped or killed,” she said. 

Time for the daily staff meeting at Sri Lanka’s Hotel Amba Yaalu where woman manager Jeewanthi Adhikari jokes: “This won’t look very serious, there are only girls around the table.”The hotel, on the shores of Lake Kandalama in the green hills of central Sri Lanka, opened in January with a unique selling point — its staff are exclusively women.It is a first in the country, designed to promote women in a tourism sector where men hold up to 90 percent of hotel jobs.”The chairman wanted to start a new hotel with a new concept,” said Adhikari.She explained how the idea sprouted from twin blows that hammered the island’s tourism industry — first Covid-19, then the 2022 financial crisis and subsequent political unrest that toppled the president.”It has been really a bad time,” the 42-year-old said, noting that when there were employment vacancies, only men got the job. “We wanted to give opportunity and attract more women.”Owner Chandra Wickramasinghe, president of the Thema Collection group which runs 14 hotels, said he wanted to showcase what women can do if given the chance.”Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka in the hotels, there is no gender equality,” he said.The blame rests on a mix of factors — lack of training, a culture where women are seen first and foremost as mothers, and very low wages which lead to the perception that women may as well stay at home.”In our men’s society, when it comes to women working in hotels, it’s one nice girl in the reception and housekeepers to clean,” he said. “I wanted to go a little bit further.”- ‘Skills and courage’ -For the 33 rooms of the Amba Yaalu  — meaning “best friend” in the island’s Sinhala language — a team of 75 women handle every task, including those traditionally seen as for men.They are enthusiastic, like maintenance worker Hansika Rajapaksa.”People think it’s difficult for women to be involved in maintenance,” the 28-year-old said.”But after coming here and undergoing training, we also can carry out the work that is expected of us without any difficulty”. Meanwhile, Dilhani, who gave only her first name, feels confident in her role as a security officer after 15 years in the army. “I have experienced war… I have manned roadblocks,” she said. “With that experience, it is very easy to do our work here.”Others want to set an example.”This a good opportunity for women to demonstrate their talents, to showcase our skills and courage to the new generations”, said 23-year-old chef Upeka Ekanayake.Old habits were initially hard to break, manager Adhikari said.”Our experienced staff were used to working around male colleagues,” she said. “Automatically, they waited for someone else to do things, because that is how they had been trained.”But the owner said he shrugged off the doubts of colleagues.”Some people didn’t believe in it,” said owner Wickramasinghe, who dismissed the misogynists who scoffed that an all-women team would just “start gossiping”.The hotel has been welcomed as an “excellent initiative” by Nalin Jayasundera, president of the association of tour operators.”We want to encourage even more women to join the tourism industry,” he said, adding it made a “very good impression on our customers”.Clients have taken notice.”I felt like I could speak up and answer questions ahead of my partner without them looking to him for confirmation,” one Canadian tourist wrote in a review on a booking website. – ‘Power of a woman’ -Women’s rights activist Nimalka Fernando said the initiative was “really path-breaking for Sri Lankan society”.While she noted Sri Lanka was the first nation to elect a woman as prime minister — Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960 — tradition, culture and the labour market continue to block women’s rights.She points out that women dominate the sectors that provide the country with its main sources of income: textiles, tea and foreign remittances. “Women are treated as an exploitable commodity,” she said. “The important thing now is to give dignity to female labour.”The Amba Yaalu is only the first step, acknowledges its manager, but it is making a change.”We have single mothers and mothers with two or three kids,” Adhikari said. “Here, they don’t have to suppress what they want to do in their life.”Wickramasinghe sees it as a way to highlight the lesson he learned as a boy.”I’m inspired by my mother… she became a single parent with eight children,” he said.”She was working in a hospital at the same time and she managed very well. So I realised the power of a woman… that they can do wonders.”

Delhi Capitals edged out Rajasthan Royals in the IPL’s first Super Over of the season after pace bowler Mitchell Starc defended nine off the last over on Wednesday.Left-arm quick Starc restricted Rajasthan to 188-4 after Delhi made 188-5, and then returned to bowl another disciplined over at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.Rajasthan managed just 11 runs from their Super Over after Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag hit a boundary each before both were run out, ending the innings with a ball to spare.Needing 12 to win, KL Rahul started with a two and then hit a four before Tristan Stubbs finished off with a six on the fourth ball from Sandeep Sharma.Delhi, led by Axar Patel, got back to winning ways and returned to take top spot in the 10-team table with five victories and just one defeat in six matches.Rajasthan, who have been chasing the IPL title since their inaugural triumph in 2008 under late Australia great Shane Warne, slumped to their fifth loss in seven matches.Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana hit 51 each to set up Rajasthan’s chase of 189, but wickets at regular intervals kept Delhi in the hunt.Australia’s Starc dismissed Rana in the 18th over before Dhruv Jurel hit back in his 26 and Hetmyer made 15 not out.With Rajasthan needing nine to win off the final over, Starc limited them to ones and twos before Jurel was run out attempting a second run off the last ball, leaving the teams tied and facing a one-over shootout.”I was thinking if Mitch can execute, we will be in this,” Axar said on his choice for the last over.- Starc’s yorkers -“He bowled almost 12 yorkers. That’s why he is such an Australian legend. I guess he missed only one ball as far as execution was concerned. The field was changed but he kept at it.”Starc was named player of the match and the 35-year-old won rich praise from Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson.”I felt it was definitely a chaseable score,” said Samson. “I think as we all saw some fantastic bowling by Starcy. He is one of the best guys around in the world. I would like to give it to Starcy. He won them the game in the 20th over.”Earlier, Rajasthan raced to 50 in five overs with Jaiswal on fire and Samson going well before retiring hurt with rib pain after making 31 off 19 balls.Samson, after the match, said he “feels alright now”.Jaiswal brought up his third fifty of the season before being dismissed by left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav but Rana kept up the batting surge.Rana survived a reprieve on 20 when Stubbs dropped the batter on the ropes and ball went for six. He made the most of his second chance but the batting effort was not enough. Delhi rode on Abishek Porel’s 49 and scores of 34 apiece from Axar and Stubbs.In-form Rahul made 38 and put on 63 runs with Porel.Axar then added 41 runs off 19 balls with South African Stubbs as the two hit the ball to all parts of the ground much to the delight of the home crowd as Delhi managed 77 runs from the last five overs.

India’s main opposition Congress party accused the government of a “vendetta” on Wednesday after a federal agency filed charges against its top leaders in a years-long corruption case.Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi were charged as part of a probe initiated by a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).They have denied the allegations and have accused the BJP of using the state apparatus to target its rivals.Congress lawmaker Abhishek Singhvi said the case was “nothing but vendetta in legal disguise”.He also accused the government of using the Enforcement Directorate — a national agency that probes money laundering and financial crimes — of selectively targeting the opposition while sparing its allies. “Selective justice is nothing but political thuggery,” Singhvi added.The initial 2001 complaint against the Gandhis brought by BJP member Subramanian Swamy accused the Gandhis and others of “usurping” properties belonging to a now-defunct newspaper.He alleged that the Gandhis aimed to grab property worth $332 million owned by the publishing firm using fraudulent papers.Jairam Ramesh, a veteran lawmaker from the Congress party, described the case as “harassment and targeting of rivals”. “We can’t be forced to shut up,” Ramesh said. Critics in recent years have accused the BJP of using the justice system to target political rivals, with several opposition figures the subject of active criminal investigations.But BJP lawmaker Ravi Shankar Prasad said India’s judiciary was independent and investigative “agencies are free to work under PM Modi’s government”.”They (the opposition) have the right to protest — but what are the protesting about?”, Prasad said. “There is no license to loot in this country”, he added. Rahul Gandhi also faces several defamation cases and was expelled from parliament in 2023 after a defamation conviction. He returned months later after his two-year sentence was suspended by the Supreme Court.  He is the son, grandson and great-grandson of former Indian prime ministers, beginning with independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru.His party has struggled to challenge Modi and has lost the last three national elections.