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INTERNATIONAL THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015 Jain monk requires eight months to walk to court AHMEDABAD: An itinerant Jain monk from Ahmedabad-a journey the 60- documents endorsing the practice. before court by November 4,” Gandhi stepping on or swallowing insects. ordered to appear in court in the year-old says he will only undertake The charge was filed by Jashmin said yesterday. They live an itinerant life, meaning Indian city of Ahmedabad has said he on foot. But a court rejected his Shah, a local Jain community leader Jainism is an ancient Indian religion Maharaj has no fixed address although needs eight months to get there request for the lengthy journey and who has fought a campaign against whose followers live a spartan lifestyle he regularly visits Ahmedabad in the because his strict faith prevents him told him to appear in court next Bal Diksha. Shah’s lawyer Nitin Gandhi according to strict non-violent princi- western state of Gujarat, home to from using any form of transport. month. Maharaj faces charges of pro- told AFP the court had ruled out an ples. Jain monks renounce all worldly many Jain holy sites. Hindu-majority Acharya Kirti Yashurishwarji moting Bal Diksha-the recruitment of eight-month delay. “The court has goods and even sweep the floor in India is home to around four million Maharaj is currently in the eastern city children into the Jain monastic order- issued a fresh bailable warrant against front of them and cover their mouths Jains, many of whom live in Gujarat of Kolkata, about 2,200 kilometers by publishing forged government the monk and directed him to appear with their hands as they walk to avoid and neighboring Rajasthan. —AFP Tough times ahead for Japan’s yakuza gangs Influence of Japanese mafia begins to fade HIMEJI: A decade after retiring from a life of things done quickly-however dubious the possession and the 73-year-old has since crime, Satoru Takegaki now spends his days means-the yakuza blossomed from the demanded about 30 million yen ($250,000) a helping other ex-gangsters find regular jobs chaos of post-war Japan into a multi-billion- year from each of his gang’s 70-odd factions and adjust to life outside Japan’s notorious dollar criminal organizations involved in across the country, along with other gifts. yakuza mob. The former mafia boss body- everything from gambling, drugs and prosti- “The head of the Yamaguchi-gumi is esti- guard hopes he will see a lot more disaffect- tution to loan sharking, protection rackets mated to have an annual income of about ed yakuza on the doorstep of his anti-gang and white-collar crime. one billion yen,” Mizoguchi told AFP. “On the support group, as Japan’s underworld faces other hand, a low-ranking yakuza member its biggest shakeup in years. ‘Mob uprising’ feels rich and happy with a 10,000 yen bill in In September, the Yamaguchi-gumi, Yakuza numbers have been falling steadi- his wallet-that is how much the income gap Japan’s largest organized crime gang, was ly for years, last year there was estimated to has widened.” shaken by the high-profile defection of be 53,000 yakuza members-down from about a dozen top leaders who formed their 180,000 at their peak in the sixties. The Legal grey zone own group. The split prompted police warn- Japanese mafia’s self-professed claims of Unlike the Italian Mafia or Chinese triads ings of a possible repeat of a 1980s gangland operating with honor took a blow when a in other countries, yakuza have long occu- bloodbath, but also revealed the internal financially struggling mobster murdered the pied a peculiar grey area in Japanese society- struggles and fading influence of the mayor of Nagasaki in 2007 because of a they are not illegal and each group has its HIMEJI: Satoru Takegaki, 64, a one-time bodyguard for a former Yamaguchi-gumi leader, Japanese mafia, once infamous for a rigid grudge against city officials. own headquarters in full view of police. But shows an anti-gang campaign poster during an interview. —AFP honor system that called on them to chop It is estimated around 10 percent of the “the law is not meant to recognize them as off fingers for even minor transgressions. Yamaguchi-gumi’s 23,000-strong member- legal entities to protect-it is meant to control “Looking back, there was nothing to earn ship have now defected to a breakaway their activities”, said Kazuhito Shinka, who by being yakuza, except for some temporary group leaving its leader-Kenichi Shinoda, heads up Japan’s organized crime unit. pleasure,” 64-year-old Takegaki told AFP, his also known as Shinobu Tsukasa-vulnerable Now, stiffer anti-mafia regulations are Pakistan hangs voice thick with an accent long associated to charges of tax evasion like those that top- making life a struggle as businesses are with Japanese gangsters. “We no longer live pled Chicago mobster Al Capone, Mizoguchi banned from dealing with yakuza and mob- in a world where yakuza can do business in said. sters struggle to even open a bank account more prisoners the open. They’re no longer needed,” he said “Those that split off are believed to have or receive mail at their office. The changes from his home in Himeji city, not far from data about how much Tsukasa has pocketed” have even led to a handful of lawsuits filed Kobe where the Yamaguchi-gumi are based. over the years, Mizoguchi, adding that defec- by legitimate businesses against mobsters to MULTAN: Pakistan yesterday hanged at least the death penalty in December, after Taliban Observers said the turbulence highlights tors might pass the sensitive information to recover years of protection money. five more men for murder, an official said, militants gunned down more than 150 peo- the fact all is not well in Japan’s quasi-legal police. A rival crime boss was arrested this Retired mobster Takegaki-who still keeps bringing the total number of people executed ple, most of them children, at a school in the organized crime groups, as a poor economy summer on tax evasion charges. The break- “heartfelt” letters that his late Yamaguchi- in just 24 hours to 14. The latest executions restive northwest. Hangings were initially rein- and steadily falling membership hurt the away mobsters left after becoming angry at gumi boss sent to him while doing prison took place in cities of Lahore, Bahawalpur, stated only for those convicted of terrorism, bottom line. Less organized rivals are also the millions of dollars which they had to time — said the loyalty and brotherhood Toba Tek Singh, Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan in but in March they were extended to all capital muscling in on traditional yakuza territory, hand over to top brass annually, including that he insists once typified the yakuza central Punjab province. offences. while at the same time public tolerance for their dapper boss who is known for donning are long gone. “Everything seems to “One convict was hanged in each jail in the The European Union, the United Nations their actions is disappearing. expensive Italian suits. revolve around money now, not ‘giri’ five cities,” a senior prisons official, who did not and human rights campaigners have all urged “The split means both sides get weaker- “What was behind the break-up is that the (duty) and ‘ninjo’ (humanity),” said want to be named, told AFP. On Tuesday, Pakistan to reinstate the moratorium. you cannot deny that Japan’s mafia is fading Yamaguchi-gumi’s top management was Takegaki, whose life of crime started at Pakistan executed nine convicts, also in pris- Amnesty International estimated in away,” said Atsushi Mizoguchi, a freelance siphoning off too much money — (prompt- the tender age of 21. “I’m hoping the ons in Punjab. The hangings brought the tally December that Pakistan has more than 8,000 journalist and expert on Japan’s organized ing) an uprising among members,” breakup will convince more yakuza mem- of executions to more than 250 since the prisoners on death row, most of whom have crime. Long tolerated as a necessary evil for Mizoguchi said. Tsukasa was released from bers to leave that life and become Pakistan ended a six-year moratorium on exhausted their appeals. — AFP ensuring order on the street and getting prison in 2011 after serving six years for gun upstanding members of society.” —AFP BISARA: A bruised Asgari Begum, mother of 52-year-old Muslim farmer Mohammad Akhlaq, killed over rumors he slaughtered a cow stands by the entrance of her home. — AP Mob killing over beef pre-planned NEW DELHI: Government investigators said yesterday the mob standable or justified. killing of a Muslim man over rumors he slaughtered a cow was Hindus consider cows to be sacred, and for many, eating premeditated, and not a spontaneous act stemming from beef is taboo. The debate - highlighted by Indian media head- heightened emotion and religious devotion as many Hindu lines about similar attacks and editorials on religious intoler- nationalist politicians have claimed. The killing of Mohammed ance - has forced the nation into a period of soul-searching that Akhlaq in north India last month has sparked furious debate many have said is needed to reaffirm India’s secular identity. about religious tolerance within India and what role Indian politicians play in defusing or exacerbating communal tension. ‘Hapless family’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticized for not Amid the uproar, the National Commission for Minorities saying enough, or not saying it quickly enough. Two weeks sent three investigators to Bisada village, on the outskirts of after the attack, he called it “sad and undesirable” but ques- Delhi, to investigate the attack.

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