Children, Volunteers of Durga Vahini, Carrying Swords and a Muslim Child Shouting Incendiary Slogans against Hindus and Christians Are Faces of Rot Fundamentalism and Polarisation
New Age Islam News Bureau
31 May 2022
A person carrying a sword
leads the Durga Vahini march near Thiruvananthapuram city on May 22. Many of
those following her are carrying long sticks. (Face masked by this newspaper as
it is not clear whether she is an adult or a minor)
The Telegraph
-----
• Taliban Orders Kandahar City Transportation to Not
Transport Women without a Male Chaperone
• Supporters of Kurdistan Workers' Party Terror Group
Hold 'Ideological Training Camp' In France
• ‘Kurdistan Workers' Party Terrorists Target Only
Civilians': Father of Injured Child in Northern Iraq
• Zionist Attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque Are Provocative,
Message to Muslims: Al-Houthi
• Do Not Instigate Muslims, Desist From Creating
Communal Disharmony: VHP to Jamiat
• Delhi: Jama Masjid finial, minaret stones fall off;
Shahi Imam to approach PM Narendra Modi
• 4 Years On, Decks Cleared For First Muslim J&K
High Court HC Judge From Jammu
• Legal Expert Faizan Mustafa Calls For Flexibility In
Shariah Law; Maulana Rahmani Ticks Him Off
• BJP May Have No Muslim Face in Parliament after
Rajya Sabha List
• Gyanvapi Mosque Panel, Anjuman Intezamia Masajid,
Urges Varanasi Court to Reject Suit, Next Hearing In July
• J&K: Migrant Kashmiri Pandit teacher shot dead
by terrorists in Kulgam district
• Two terrorists killed in encounter in Jammu and
Kashmir's Awantipora
--------
South
Asia
• Taliban crackdown on journalists continues, another
Afghan scribe disappears in Kabul
• UNICEF: 1.1 Million Afghan Children Expected To
Suffer Severe Acute Malnutrition
• Qatar Warns Western Countries: Taliban Sanctions
Increase Extremism
• The Taliban Bans Coal-laden vehicles from Passing through
the Torkham Border Crossing
• Thomas West Meets with the Representatives of Afghan
Political Parties in Turkey
--------
Europe
• As Islamophobia rise in France, many Muslims leaving
the country
• Mount Gambier Mosque in South Australia Welcomed
People Of All Faiths
• Head of Iranian Islamic seminaries meets with Pope
Francis at Vatican
• Despite direct economic consequences, study finds
majority of Arabs do not care about Ukraine-Russia war
--------
Arab
World
• Turkiye ‘Neutralizes’ 5 YPG/PKK Terrorists in
Northern Syria
• Kuwait deplores Al-Aqsa Mosque storming by
extremists
• Egypt condemns allowing Israeli extremists to storm
Aqsa Mosque premises
• Bahrain condemns Israeli settlers’ storming of
Al-Aqsa Mosque
• Iraq court sentences ISIS plotter of 2021 Baghdad
market bombing to death
• Court jails Egyptian former presidential candidate
for 15 years
--------
Mideast
• Israel’s FM Says Normalization with Saudi Arabia
‘Long, Cautious Process’
• Turkey's Erdoğan Not Ready to Give Up on Muslim
Brotherhood
• Turkey calls on Israel to preserve status quo of
Al-Aqsa Mosque
• Israel should consider ‘terror’ tag for Jewish
extremists
• Israeli PM defends march marked by violence, racism
• Protests over deadly building collapse in Iran’s
southwest intensify
--------
Southeast
Asia
• The Somad Affair and Singapore’s Battle against
Religious Extremism
• Malaysia strongly condemns Israeli incursion at
Al-Aqsa mosque
• 25 missing after cargo boat sinks in Indonesia
• PM moots shariah compliance commission to regulate
halal economy
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistani Senate Condemns Israel's Atrocities in
Al-Aqsa Mosque
• Conference on Imam Khomeini’s political thought held
in Lahore
• Proceedings of conference on Islamic financing: Call
for replacing interest-based banking with Shariah-compliant system
• Pakistan, Turkey support each other on all core
issues, says PM ahead of visit
• Islamabad, TTP agree on indefinite ceasefire
• Punjab govt plans unprecedented security if PTI
holds another march
• PM Shehbaz seeks 10-year roadmap for deepening Pak,
UK ties
• Pakistan needs investments from its Chinese friends,
not handouts: PM Shehbaz Sharif
--------
Africa
• Islamic Cleric, Jangebe Begs FG To Negotiate With ASUU
• Somalia warns it is facing famine-like conditions
• Bomb blast in southwestern Somalia kills 3, wounds 4
• Tunisian president slams Venice Commission over
report on constitutional referendum
--------
North
America
• US President Abandoned Plan to Open Consulate for Palestinians
in Al-Quds
• Blinken says US strongly condemns Iran seizure of
Greek-flagged vessels
• US Secretary of State thanks Saudi Arabia’s FM for efforts
to extend Yemen truce
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/children-durga-muslim-fundamentalism/d/127142
--------
Children, Volunteers of Durga Vahini, Carrying Swords
and a Muslim Child Shouting Incendiary Slogans against Hindus and Christians
Are Faces of Rot Fundamentalism and Polarisation
A person carrying a sword
leads the Durga Vahini march near Thiruvananthapuram city on May 22. Many of
those following her are carrying long sticks. (Face masked by this newspaper as
it is not clear whether she is an adult or a minor)
The Telegraph
-----
K.M. Rakesh
31.05.22
Place books, not swords, in the hands of your
children.
The unlikely advice to Kerala underscores the depth of
the rot fundamentalism and polarisation can inflict even on a state that is
considered among the most progressive in the country.
Harish Shivaramakrishnan, singer and front man of the
popular band Agam, issued the appeal after the emergence of video clips that
showed children carrying swords at a recent march near the capital,
Thiruvananthapuram.
The marchers are said to be volunteers of the Durga
Vahini, women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
The visuals have surfaced close on the heels of
another clip that shows a child shouting incendiary slogans against Hindus and
Christians at a rally in southern Kerala.
Several people have been arrested so far in connection
with the offensive sloganeering, led by the child and chorused by others, at
the “Save the Republic” rally held by the Popular Front of India (PFI) on May
21 in Alappuzha. The PFI, whose leaders are mostly Muslim, says it champions
justice, freedom and security for all but critics describe it as an extremist
outfit.
The Durga Vahini event took place a day later. The
images show a march by women and young girls wearing white churidar-kameez and
saffron sashes and bandannas. At least three girls at the head of the march can
be seen carrying swords while the rest appear to be carrying long sticks.
Some of the marchers, including those carrying swords,
seem to be minors. The video clips appear to show the girls marching to beats
from an accompanying band and chanting slogans such as “Bharat Mata ki jai”.
Known leaders of the Durga Vahini and the VHP did not
answer calls from this newspaper.
A portal quoted a VHP leader as saying on Monday that
the swords were “dummies”. The leader seemed oblivious to the message such a
march is spreading, regardless of the material with which the swords were
purportedly made.
Kerala police have now filed a case against the Durga
Vahini. Officers said the organisers had informed the local police station
about their route but did not say the marchers would be carrying swords.
A source at the Aryancode police station where the FIR
was registered on Monday said the march organisers and the about 200
participants had been booked under the Arms Act and several sections of the
penal code.
The march was held at Keezharoor in Neyyatinkara,
Thiruvananthapuram district, as the concluding part of the Durga Vahini’s
Shaurya Prashikshan Varg — a seven-day “valour training camp” — at the Sree Saraswathy
Vidyalayam. Schools in Kerala are now closed for summer vacation.
The event became widely known after several video
clips and images were circulated on social media over the weekend, prompting
the police to register the FIR on their own.
The FIR invokes penal provisions under Sections 143
(unlawful assembly), 144 (unlawful assembly armed with a deadly weapon), 147
(rioting), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 149
(common object in unlawful assembly) apart from Section 4 of the Arms Act read
with Section 25(1b)(b), which relates to possessing a deadly weapon.
Similar events are regularly held in neighbouring
Karnataka where the Bajrang Dal allegedly imparted training in airgun shooting
to boys at a camp in Kodagu district earlier this month.
The young volunteers also participated in a “trident
initiation” where each of them was given a small trident, one of the emblems of
the Sangh parivar.
Shivaramakrishnan, the singer, wrote a Facebook post
saying: “Place books, not swords, in the hands of these children. Teach them
about brotherhood and peace, and not revenge and hatred. Teach them to live as
human beings.”
Congress Lok Sabha member T.N. Prathapan blamed the
CPM-led state government.
“It’s clear that such dangerous demonstrations
continue to take place in Kerala because of the home ministry’s failure,” he
wrote on Facebook, directly targeting chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan who
handles the portfolio.
Source: Telegraph India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/swords-in-childrens-hands-that-need-books-in-kerala/cid/1867626
--------
Taliban Orders Kandahar City Transportation to Not
Transport Women Without a Male Chaperone
A new Taliban advisory says that women should not be
offered transport for long trips unless they are accompanied by a close male
relative. (file photo)
-----
By Saqalain Eqbal
30 May 2022
The Kandahar Provincial Directorate for Propagation of
Virtue and Prohibition of Vice has issued a directive prohibiting single women
(without male Mahrams) from being transported by the province’s urban
transportation.
The Kandahar provincial Director for the Ministry of
Propagation of Virtue and Prohibition of Vice, Mawlawi Abdul Rahman, stated in
a video released yesterday, Sunday 29th May, that women travelling alone
promotes moral corruption.
He ordered Taliban fighters to stop taxis and other
vehicles that disobeyed the order, adding that they would be punished and held
accountable.
The Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prohibition
of Vice’s restrictive policies have prompted outrage and has taken a different
approach, lately separating men’s and women’s dining halls in Herat.
All of this Ministry’s measures are restrictive on
girls’ and women. If women do not wear the hijab, their male parents will be
punished, according to one of the ministry’s measures.
The Taliban have also ordered the female TV anchors to
wear a face mask while performing on air, in addition to observing the
mandatory hijab, which considers “no exception”.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Supporters of Kurdistan Workers' Party Terror Group
Hold 'Ideological Training Camp' In France
Photo: aa.com
----
Esra Taskin
30.05.2022
Supporters of the terrorist group PKK were allowed to
organize an "ideological training camp" in southern France.
Images of PKK supporters holding an "ideological
training camp" under the guise of a "festival/cultural event" in
a green area near the city of Marseille appeared on social media.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkiye, the
US, and EU, and also by France.
In the footage, dozens of PKK sympathizers dressed in
clothes representing the terrorist group march in pairs, chanting slogans with
symbols of the group and posters of terrorist PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Reached by Anadolu Agency, Marseille officials and
police declined comment, and no official statement has been made yet regarding
the images.
Turkiye's Ambassador to Paris Ali Onaner told Anadolu
Agency that they contacted French authorities about the images to confirm that
they were shot in France and also asked what measures were or will be taken
regarding this activity by terrorist group sympathizers.
Onaner said they once again stressed that Ankara
expects French authorities to put an end to PKK attacks on Turkish missions and
pro-PKK activities that contain terrorist propaganda.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against
Turkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people,
including women, children, and infants.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
‘Kurdistan
Workers' Party Terrorists Target Only Civilians': Father of Injured Child in
Northern Iraq
Photo:
aa.com
----
30.05.2022
DUHOK,
Iraq
A
father of a child who was wounded in a terror attack last week in northern Iraq
told Anadolu Agency that the PKK terrorist organization targets only civilians.
The
PKK attack on Amedi town's Bamarni district in the Duhok province killed at
least two civilians, according to local authorities.
"My
child was injured in the attack organized by the PKK. ... The PKK targets only
civilians," Farhad Narvayi said, adding that he expects Iraq's Kurdish
Regional Government to put an end to PKK attacks in Amedi.
Narvayi
said they were in their village in Bamarni at around 4.30 p.m. local time
(1330GMT) when three mortar shells fired by the PKK terrorists dropped nearby.
"Two
children died in the attack and my child was injured," he said.
"Everyone
knows very well that the PKK is behind this. Security forces arrived on the
scene and it was known that the PKK made the attack.
"The
Kurdish Regional Government (in Iraq) must act seriously to stop the PKK's
attacks. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last," he
stressed.
Narvayi
also underlined that the PKK is constantly targeting the people of the Amedi
town and the stability of the region.
In
its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a
terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for
the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Zionist
Attacks On Al-Aqsa Mosque Are Provocative, Message To Muslims: Al-Houthi
Al-Aqsa
Mosque
----
May
31, 2022
Sayyed
Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi affirmed on Monday that the Jewish-Zionist attacks on
Al-Aqsa Mosque are provocative and sent a message to all Muslims.
Sayyed
Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi said, in his speech during an extended meeting with the
Dhamar tribes and sheikhs, that incursions and attacks are all preliminary
steps with the goal of reaching their declared goal of demolishing Al-Aqsa
Mosque.
“If
the nation neglects Palestine and Al-Aqsa Mosque, that means enabling the enemy
to set out with its humanity and its conspiracies for all the sons of the
nation,” he stressed.
Sayyed
al-Houthi pointed out that the Jews have a policy of taming and preparing for
any dangerous step in terms of its importance and provocation to the Islamic
nation they prepare the atmosphere for that.
He
stated that the Emirati and Saudi appeared carrying the banner of hypocrisy and
moved in the region under the title of normalization with the Zionist enemy,
stressing that the aggression coalition against Yemen came in the context of
empowering the Israeli enemy and removing everything that represents an
obstacle and a problem in front of it.
The
leader of Ansarullah said that the Israeli enemy pushed the stupid hypocrites
to attack Yemen under other headings, and they spend the high costs.
“We
have announced with all sincerity that we are part of the equation announced by
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and will be among those present to have a position of
fighting for the sake of Allah,” He added.
Source:
ABNA24
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
India
Do
not instigate Muslims, desist from creating communal disharmony: VHP to Jamiat
30th
May 2022
NEW
DELHI: Slamming the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind that has raised concerns over the
alleged spread of communalism, the Vishva Hindu Parishad on Monday said Muslim
leaders should not instigate their community and desist from creating communal
disharmony by spreading "false stories" of atrocities on Muslims.
The
VHP's attack came after the Jamiat accused the BJP government of protecting
people engaged in poisoning the majority community's mind in the country.
It
also expressed concern over the alleged spread of communalism.
Hitting
out at Jamiat leaders Maulana Mahmood Madani and Badruddin Ajmal, senior Vishva
Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Surendra Jain alleged that radical leaders like
them had tried to instigate the Muslim society once again by raising the slogan
that "Muslims are suffering in India" at a conference in Deoband.
The
Muslim Personal Law Board and radical leaders from Kashmir to Kerala have come
together to challenge the Constitution, the judiciary and the Hindu society to
implement their "separatist agenda", he said.
"It
is India's misfortune that till a few years back, Muslim appeasement was the
focus of India's politics. Radical leaders have been blackmailing Indian
politicians to get their illegitimate demands accepted," Jain said.
The
consent of the Congress leaders for the partition of India was the result of
this blackmail politics, he claimed.
"But
for some years the centre of Indian politics is not the Muslim vote bank or the
Shariat, but the Constitution of India. That's why they are creating communal
disharmony in the country by spreading false stories of atrocities on
Muslims," Jain said in a video statement.
Jamiat
chief Mahmood Madani Sunday said those who ask Muslims to leave the country
should leave themselves.
According
to a statement issued by the organisation, Madani objected to the plans of some
states to implement a Uniform Civil Code.
The
former Rajya Sabha member was addressing the annual two-day session of the
Jamiat's management committee in Uttar Pradesh's Deoband.
He
urged people to take along those who care for nation-building.
"We
have to defeat the merchants of hate with wisdom, courage and a long-term
strategy," he said.
"We
will not leave this country, those who want to send us out should themselves
leave."
According
to the statement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind's Assam unit president and Lok Sabha
member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal criticised the government over various issues
and said the "silence of Muslims should not be taken as weakness".
The
organisation also passed resolutions on the Gyanvapi Masjid case of Varanasi,
the Shahi Idgah mosque dispute of Mathura and Uniform Civil Code, urging all
Muslims to shun fear and despair, and work for the betterment of their future.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Delhi:
Jama Masjid finial, minaret stones fall off; Shahi Imam to approach PM Narendra
Modi
May
31, 2022
NEW
DELHI: High-intensity wind and lashing rain on Monday damaged the finial of the
main dome of Jama Masjid and several stones came off minarets and other parts
of the historic mosque, injuring at least two persons.
The
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari said, “The kalas (finial) of the
main dome fell off. It needs urgent repair to prevent further damages. Some
stones of the mosque structure also loosened and fell off.”
Bukhari
said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the director general of
Archaeological Survey of India for immediate repair of the mosque. The finial,
said officials, weighed around 300kg.
Officials
of Delhi Waqf Board, which looks after the mosque, said they had deputed a team
to inspect the mosque and assess the damages. “It is difficult to repair and
fix the finial back. We will take a decision after the damage is fully
assessed,” said an official.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
4
Years On, Decks Cleared For First Muslim J&K High Court HC Judge From Jammu
By
Utkarsh Anand
May
31, 2022
The
Union government has approved the oldest pending recommendation of the Supreme
Court collegium, clearing the decks for the appointment of Wasim Sadiq Nargal
as the first Muslim judge from Jammu in the J&K high court, people familiar
with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Following
a nod from the Union law ministry, senior advocate Nargal, whose name was first
cleared by the Jammu & Kashmir high court collegium in August 2017 and who
was later recommended by the Supreme Court collegium in April 2018, is finally
set to be appointed as a judge, the people added.
President
Ram Nath Kovind is expected to put his seal of approval on Nargal’s appointment
soon, and the official notification for his appointment could be out as early
as this week, the people said.
With
the approval of Nargal’s name, the Centre has cleared the longest pending name
recommended and reiterated by the Supreme Court collegium for appointment as a
judge. The only other recommendation that comes close to it relates to pendency
of five names for appointment in the Calcutta high court that were recommended
by the collegium in July 2019. Despite reiteration by the collegium in
September 2021, they are yet to be approved.
The
memorandum of procedure (MoP), which guides the appointment of judges in the
higher judiciary lays down that the government is bound by the decision of the
collegium after the names are reiterated. MoP, however, does not prescribe a
deadline for the government to notify appointments.
Nargal
was one of five names recommended for elevation by the Jammu and Kashmir high
court collegium on August 24, 2017. The Supreme Court collegium also ratified
the high court’s recommendation regarding Nargal on April 6, 2018, and
forwarded the name to the Union law ministry. But the Centre returned Nargal’s
name after sitting on it for a few months. It urged the collegium to reconsider
Nargal’s name for the judgeship but did not provide reasons for its request.
In
January 2019, the collegium asked the government to furnish specific
information on the basis of which the reconsideration was being sought.
At
its meeting on January 16, 2019, the collegium headed by then Chief Justice of
India Ranjan Gogoi said: “As regards Shri Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Advocate,
consideration of the proposal for his elevation is deferred for the present.
Meanwhile, Department of Justice be requested to furnish specific information
in detail on the basis of which the proposal for elevation of Shri Nargal has
been referred back for reconsideration by the collegium.”
In
July 2019 justice Gogoi further wrote to the government on 10 recommendations,
including that of Nargal, with respect of which pertinent information was still
awaited from the government.
Finally,
the apex court collegium reiterated Nargal’s name in February 2020. But the
government, for the third time, asked the collegium to reconsider. Rejecting
all objections, the collegium sent back Nargal’s name again in March 2021.
After
sitting over Nargal’s name since March 2021, the government has finally cleared
his appointment as a judge in the J&K high court, the people cited in the
first instance said. With Nargal’s appointment, the strength of the judges in
the high court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh will go up to 16, against its
sanctioned strength of 17 judges.
Nargal,
who has around three decades of experience as a lawyer, was appointed senior
additional advocate general of Jammu and Kashmir in February 2017 and handled
cases related to the Home Department, including the Information Department
under the BJP-PDP government. Earlier, from September 2015 until November 2016,
he served as an additional advocate general in the state.
Nargal
was 49 when his name was recommended by the Supreme Court for elevation. A
timely elevation would have brought Nargal in the zone of a potential chief
justice of a high court by virtue of seniority.
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Legal
Expert Faizan Mustafa Calls For Flexibility In Shariah Law; Maulana Rahmani
Ticks Him Off
JS
Ifthekhar
30th
May 2022
Hyderabad:
What happens when a legal expert and a specialist of theology come together?
Sparks are bound to fly. And that’s what exactly happened the other day with
Prof. Faizan Mustafa, Vice Chancellor, NALSAR Law University and Maulana Khalid
Saifullah Rahmani, Secretary, Muslim Personal Law Board, sharing the dais at a
book launch programme. No, they did not spar. But each held on to his position
on what is modern law and what is Shariah and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).
Soon
after Mustafa completed his address, the Maulana intervened to what he believed
setting the record straight. Without mincing words he explained the Shariah
position and mildly ticked off the VC for his interpretation of Hadith and
Fiqh. “He might have said these things with sincerity but one can commit a
mistake even being sincere,” Maulana Rahmani remarked.
Then
he put the question to the audience and wanted to know, being Muslims, whether
they considered the law of Parliament supreme or the command of Allah and His
Messenger? Everyone said in one voice that they would abide by the divine
command.
The
occasion was the launch of the book – Answers By Prophet Mohammad, A Ready
Reckoner compiled by Mohammad Abdul Rahim, a retired Doordarshan engineer. Dr.
Rashid Naseem Nadvi, Professor of Arabic, EFLU, was also present.
Earlier
in his speech, Mustafa said in the compilation of Hadith (the sayings of Prophet)
lot of focus was given on the narrators and not on the content. Not much
critical evaluation was done. Many things had crept in the Hadith literature
which a court of law sees differently. Religious books and scriptures–be they
of Hindu religion, Christianity or Jainism–should not be read like Articles of
modern law. It would be wrong to read a verse of the Quran like Article 14 of
Constitution or Section 10 of the Contract Act. Hadith is not a book of law. It
is a comprehensive book containing many things — stories, principles, morals.
But it is definitely not enacted by any Parliament — Indian, British or
American. “Hadiths are the source of law and not law themselves. Law is
extracted from it,” Mustafa explained.
There
is a methodology of reading law and it is different from that of the study of
Hadith. As such there is a lot of confusion when they are quoted in the court
of law. Translations of Quran and Hadith presented to court are not of good
standard and this had a bearing on the verdict. In this connection he cited the
recent court verdicts in respect of triple talaq, hijab and age of marriage.
There
is some confusion over the authenticity of Hadith. The kind of research
required is not done. The language used to translate them is not modern. “We
can’t win cases on the basis of theology but law,” the NALSAR University VC
said. He cautioned against taking Hadith or a verse of Quran as a modern
enacted statutory law since they are two different things. “You can’t play
football with the rules of cricket,” he said.
He
cited some incidents of the Prophet’s life and said how the marriage of a
couple was dissolved on the evidence of a woman who said she had breastfed both
the man and women when they were children. “On the basis of single
uncorroborated evidence the marriage was dissolved,” he remarked. In the same
vein he wondered whether the Hadith literature quoted by Hazrath Ayesha, the
Prophet’s wife, would be given half value since a woman’s evidence is
considered half to that of man’s.
Stating
that sin and crime were two different things, he said sin was concerned with
theology and not law. Today adultery has been decriminalised by the court. But
nevertheless it remained a sin. Not just sin it will have legal consequences
too. If a husband or wife is involved in adultery it would become the ground
for divorce.
Mustafa
wanted Ulema to understand the principles of modern law and change the language
of fiqh. Till then the confusion would prevail. For this he wanted the Ulema
and law experts to sit together and sort out the matter. He further referred to
the inbuilt flexibility in the Shariat Application Act and wanted Muslims to
end rigidity to solve issues.
Maulana
Rahmani said Shariah laws drawn from Quran and Hadith were supreme and they
couldn’t be subordinate to any other law. There is no scope for change in them
as they are ‘up-to-date’ till eternity. But ijtehad (independent reasoning) is
different and there could be a change in it, if needed. He agreed with the
suggestion that Ulema needed to know about the Indian Constitution and modern
laws and judges and lawyers about Shariah laws.
Referring
to the recent court judgments, Maulana Rahmani said they were devoid of justice
most of the time since the opinion of Ulema was not being taken. The judiciary
was familiar with the law of the land but it had no knowledge of Shariah.
Therefore, it is necessary that the views of Ulema are taken when the issue
involves the community. In this connection he recalled how the Muslim Personal
Law Board was not in agreement with the Shah Banu judgement which was in
conflict with Shariah.
Referring
to the just released Hadith book, he said the Prophet of Islam encouraged
questioning as it was a source of learning. Everybody questioned and a special
session was earmarked for women to ask questions and seek clarification. No
other religion encouraged its followers to question.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
BJP
May Have No Muslim Face In Parliament After Rajya Sabha List
May
31, 2022
New
Delhi: The BJP will soon have no Muslim MPs in either house of the parliament.
The ruling party has three parliamentarians in the Rajya Sabha and none in the
lower house. However, with the tenure of the three upper house representatives
coming to an end and the party not having nominated any Muslim candidate for
the upcoming elections, BJP may not have any Muslim MPs.
The
three BJP MPs in the Rajya Sabha -- Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Syed Zafar Islam, and
MJ Akbar -- are completing their tenures soon but haven't been renominated. The
party has announced 22 candidates for the upper house elections to be held on
June 10, and none of them is a Muslim.
Mr
Naqvi, who is the Minority Affairs Minister, will lose his cabinet seat if he
doesn't get elected as an MP in the six months after his tenure gets over on
July 7. Sources say he might be BJP's candidate in the byelections for the
Rampur Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
The
Rampur Lok Sabha seat was vacated by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan who has
been elected to the legislative assembly. The by-poll on Azamgarh and Rampur
Lok Sabha seats will be held on June 23.
Mr
Islam completes his term on July 4 and Mr Akbar on June 29.
The
President has the authority to nominate 12 MPs to Rajya Sabha and currently,
there are seven vacancies in the nominated category. The BJP might try to get a
prominent Muslim leader nominated to the upper house through this route.
Source:
ND TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Gyanvapi
Mosque Panel, Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, Urges Varanasi Court To Reject Suit,
Next Hearing In July
Lalmani
Verma | Varanasi
May
31, 2022
The
Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, the committee that manages the Gyanvapi mosque,
urged the Varanasi district court on Monday to dismiss the petition of women
seeking the right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of the mosque
complex, saying the women’s suit filed in “individual capacity” could not apply
to their “prayer for all Hindus and Hindu religion followers”.
The
matter will be heard next on July 4 when the mosque committee, which has
challenged the maintainability of the suit, resumes its argument. While
flagging what it called the “wrong rule” under which the suit had been filed,
it also claimed that the petitioners did not provide details of a 1936 ruling
on the Muslim right to offer namaz at the mosque.
Contesting
the maintainability of the suit filed by five Hindu women, Abhay Nath Yadav,
counsel for Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, said the petitioners have filed the suit
in their individual capacity. “But after reading their entire suit, it is clear
that they have made a prayer for all Hindus and Hindu religion followers. Such
a suit cannot be filed in individual capacity. Such a matter is filed as a
public suit. Also, before filing any public suit, one needs permission from the
court. Hence, I argued that the suit of the five women should be dismissed,” he
said.
In
their petition, the women, he said, had referred to Deen Mohammad’s civil suit
of 1936 and stated that 12 witnesses in that case had proved that Shringar
Gauri and other deities were being worshipped there, that it was a temple.
“They
have mentioned the statement of witnesses to strengthen their case, but they
have not mentioned the order passed by the court in the case of Deen Mohammad…
In the Deen Mohammad case, the judgment was that the mosque, its courtyard and
its land were Wakf properties of Hanafi Muslims. Also, Muslims have the right
to practice Urs and perform religious activities like offering namaz there… But
they (petitioners) hide that important fact. I argued that in the court,” Yadav
said.
He
made his submissions over two hours in the court of District Judge Ajaya
Krishna Vishvesha who is hearing the matter following directions from the
Supreme Court.
“Our
arguments have not been completed. The next date of hearing is July 4, and our
arguments will continue on that date,” Yadav said.
District
Government Counsel (Civil) Mahendra Prasad Pandey too said that the mosque
committee counsel will continue arguments on July 4, the next date of hearing.
The
counsel for the five women petitioners will then make their submission in
support of the maintainability of their suit.
Meanwhile,
a fast track court Monday listed for July 8 a petition seeking permission to
worship a Shivling claimed to have been found in the Gyanvapi complex during a
videography survey, and prevent the entry of Muslims there.
In
the suit, the petitioner has also sought that the entire complex be turned over
to Hindus.
Advocate
Shivam Gaur filed the suit on behalf of Kiran Singh, international general
secretary of the Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh.
Gaur
said the court directed the mosque committee and other respondents to file
their objections to the application. He said the hearing in the matter will
take place on July 8.
Source:
Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
J&K:
Migrant Kashmiri Pandit teacher shot dead by terrorists in Kulgam district
May
31, 2022
NEW
DELHI: A migrant Kashmiri Pandit high school teacher was shot dead by the
terrorists in the Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.
Rajni
Bala (36), a Hindu and resident of Samba (Jammu division), sustained injuries
when terrorists fired at her in Gopalpora area of Kulgam where she was posted
as a teacher, police said.
An
injured Bala was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead
on arrival, the officials said.
"The
terrorists involved in this gruesome terror crime will be soon identified and
neutralised," the police said. Meanwhile, the entire area attack has been
cordoned off to nab the assassins.
Meanwhile,
former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar
Abdullah took to Twitter and condoled the teacher's death saying, "Rajni
was from Samba District of Jammu province. A government teacher working in
Kulgam area of South Kashmir, she lost her life in a despicable targeted attack.
My heart goes out to her husband Raj Kumar & the rest of her family.
Another home irreparably damaged by violence.
Very
sad. This is yet another targeted killing in a long list of recent attacks
directed at unarmed civilians. Word… https://t.co/tUPHb9Uutp
— Omar
Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) 1653974910000
This
is the second killing of a Kashmiri Pandit in the month of May. Earlier this
month, two civilians – including Kashmiri Pandit employee Rahul Bhat -- and
three off-duty policemen were killed in Kashmir by the terrorists.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Two
terrorists killed in encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Awantipora
May
31, 2022
SRINAGAR:
Two local terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces on
Tuesday in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
The
encounter broke out at Rajpora in the Awantipora area of Pulwama district late
on Monday night after security forces launched an anti-militancy operation, a
police official said.
Two
local terrorists were killed in the gun battle. Two AK rifles and incriminating
material were seized from the scene of the encounter, he said.
Inspector
General of Police, Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar said the slain duo were involved
in killing civilians, including a government employee.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South
Asia
Taliban
crackdown on journalists continues, another Afghan scribe disappears in Kabul
31
May, 2022
Washington
DC [US], May 31 (ANI): Raising concerns about the increasing human rights
issues in Afghanistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said the
Taliban must investigate the disappearance of journalist Ali Akbar Khairkhah
and ensure that local officials allow female journalists to do their jobs
without interference.
On
Tuesday, Khairkhah, a photojournalist and reporter with the local Subhe Kabul
newspaper, disappeared from the Kote Sangi area of District 5 in the capital of
Kabul, according to his nephew Mohammad Abbasi, who spoke to CPJ in a phone
interview, and media reports.
Khairkhah
told his family that he was going to the area to report and would attend his
evening university classes, his nephew said, adding that his uncle did not
attend the classes and they could not find any information about him in the
hospitals, police districts, or the Kabul police command.
In
a separate incident, on May 19, Naimulhaq Haqqani, the Taliban’s director of
information and culture in western Herat province, told his personal assistant
to expel Marjan Wafa, a reporter with the independent local Radio Killid
station, from his press conference, according to CPJ.
Wafa,
the only female journalist at the press conference, reportedly was complying
with the Taliban’s dress code by wearing a face covering that exposed only her
eyes. Haqqani’s personal assistant did not give her any reason for the order to
leave.
Wafa’s
expulsion came amid a broader crackdown on women reporters, with Taliban
ministries ordering female TV journalists to wear masks while on air.
“The
disappearance of journalist Ali Abar Kharikhah in Kabul and the expulsion of
female reporter Marjan Wafa from a press conference in Herat add to growing
concerns about the dangers and abuse journalists face in Afghanistan under
Taliban rule,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UNICEF:
1.1 million Afghan children expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition
May
31, 2022
In
Afghanistan, 1.1 million children under the age of 5 will likely face the most
severe form of malnutrition this year, according to the U.N., as increasing
numbers of hungry, wasting-away children are brought into hospital wards.
U.N.
and other aid agencies were able to stave off outright famine after the Taliban
takeover of Afghanistan last year, rolling out a massive emergency aid program
that fed millions.
But
they are struggling to keep pace with relentlessly worsening conditions.
Poverty is spiraling and making more Afghans in need of aid, global food prices
are mounting from the war in Ukraine and promises of international funding so
far are not coming through, according to an assessment report issued this
month.
As
a result, the vulnerable are falling victim, including children but also
mothers struggling to feed themselves along with their families.
Nazia
said she had lost four children to malnutrition — two daughters and two sons
under 2 years old. “All four died due to financial problems and poverty,” the
30-year-old Nazia said. When her children fell ill, she didn’t have the money
to treat them.
Nazia
spoke to The Associated Press at Charakar Hospital in the northern province of
Parwan, where she and her 7-month-old daughter were both being treated for
malnutrition. Her husband is a day laborer but is also a drug addict and rarely
brings in an income, she said. Like many Afghans, she uses only one name.
UNICEF,
the U.N. children’s agency, said 1.1 million children this year are expected to
suffer from severe acute malnutrition, also known as severe wasting, nearly
double the number in 2018 and up from just under 1 million last year.
Severe
wasting is the most lethal type of malnutrition, in which food is so lacking
that a child’s immune system is compromised, according to UNICEF. They become
vulnerable to multiple bouts of disease and eventually they become so weak they
can’t absorb nutrients.
The
numbers of children under 5 being admitted into health facilities with severe
acute malnutrition have steadily mounted, from 16,000 in March 2020 to 18,000
in March 2021, then leaping to 28,000 in March 2022, the UNICEF representative
in Afghanistan, Mohamed Ag Ayoya, wrote in a tweet last week.
Hit
by one of its worst droughts in decades and torn by years of war, Afghanistan
was already facing a hunger emergency; but the Taliban takeover in August threw
the country into crisis. Many development agencies pulled out and international
sanctions cut off billions in finances for the government, collapsing the
economy.
Millions
were plunged into poverty, struggling to afford food for their families. By the
end of last year, half the population of around 38 million lived under the
poverty line, according to U.N. figures. As the economy continues to crumble
and prices mount, that could rise this year to as high as 97% of the population
by mid-2022, according to the U.N. Development Program.
Because
of poverty, “mothers do not have proper nutrition during pregnancy, and are not
able to eat properly after birth, said Mohammad Sharif, a doctor at Charakar
hospital.
At
the Mirwais Hospital in southern Kandahar province, 1,100 children with
malnutrition have been admitted in the past six months, 30 of whom died, said
Dr. Mohammad Sediq, head of the children’s ward.
One
mother, Kobra, said she had been unable to breastfeed her 6-month-old child.
“He is constantly losing weight and cries a lot, I know it is all because of
hunger, but I can’t do anything” she said.
At
her home in an impoverished district of Kandahar city, Jamila said her
8-month-old son died last month after being diagnosed with severe malnutrition.
If she doesn’t get help, she fears for her other four children, she said.
“The
government hasn’t helped us at all, no one has asked us if we are hungry or
have something to eat or not,” she said.
U.N.
agencies launched a massive, accelerated aid program after the Taliban
takeover, ramping up to a point that they now deliver food assistance to 38% of
the population.
The
number of people facing acute food insecurity fell slightly from 22.8 million
late last year to 19.7 million currently, according to a May report by IPC, a
partnership among U.N. and other agencies that assesses food security. From
June to November this year, that number is expected to fall a little further,
to 18.9 million, IPC said.
But
those small reductions “are far from indicating a positive trend,” it warned.
The
decrease was low compared to the scale of the aid, it said. Moreover,
deteriorating conditions threaten to overwhelm the effort. It pointed to the
continued crumbling of the economy, higher food and fuel prices and supply
disruptions caused by the Ukraine war, and “unprecedented inflation” in
Afghanistan.
Meanwhile,
lack of funding threatens aid’s reach. The proportion of the population
receiving food aid could plummet to only 8% over the next six months because so
far only $601 million of the $4.4 billion needed has been received from the
world community, the IPC said. Just over $2 billion has been pledged.
Melanie
Galvin, chief of UNICEF’s nutrition program in Afghanistan, said the 1.1
million children figure came from the agency’s annual assessment, conducted
last fall and based on expected conditions.
“Every
year, all the factors connected to malnutrition keep going up,” she told the
AP. It just keeps going up and up in terms of a deteriorating situation.
Drought
has been the main driver of food insecurity, she said, compounded by growing
poverty, lack of access to clean water and to medical care, need for greater
vaccination for diseases like measles that hit malnourished children.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Qatar
Warns Western Countries: Taliban Sanctions Increase Extremism
By
Saqalain Eqbal
30
May 2022
Qatar
has pressed the West to strengthen its engagement with the Taliban, stressing
that if it does not, Afghanistan will descend into instability and extremism.
Sheikh
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister, has said that
keeping the status quo “where the west boycotts Afghanistan and just focuses on
part of the humanitarian activities through international agencies” would not
keep “Afghanistan intact.”
He
told the Financial Times, “We will see maybe a rise of extremism.” “We will
start to see an economic crisis, which has already started, and this will just
drive the people to more radicalisation and conflict,” he added.
Qatar
is one of the few countries that deals with the Taliban, and Al-Thani justified
Qatar’s approach to the Taliban by claiming that isolating the Taliban
exacerbates extremism, which is “what [Qatar is] trying to avoid.”
He
also condemned the Taliban’s attitude and actions toward women, claiming that
such extremist behavior would not have occurred if the international community
had dealt harshly with the Taliban following the withdrawal of US soldiers from
Afghanistan.
Qatar
is a key country in the relationship between the Taliban and Western
communities, and the United States and the Taliban signed a peace pact in Doha,
Qatar’s capital.
According
to Al-Thani, the Taliban maintains a relationship with Western communities
through Qatar, but Western policy toward the Taliban remains uncertain.
He
urged Western governments to collaborate with the Taliban, particularly in the
economic sector, to increase employment in Afghanistan following capacity
building.
The
Taliban are in total political, cultural, economic, and diplomatic isolation,
as they were in the past decades.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/qatar-warns-western-countries-taliban-sanctions-increase-extremism67483/
--------
The
Taliban Bans Coal-laden vehicles from Passing Through the Torkham Border
Crossing
By
Saqalain Eqbal
30
May 2022
The
Taliban’s Ministry of Finance has announced that coal trucks are being stopped
at the Torkham border in Nangarhar province.
According
to a statement released Monday, 30th May, the decision was made to prevent
fresh fruit from spoiling at the Torkham crossing.
According
to the ministry, the transportation of coal trucks during this season, when
fresh fruits are exported to Pakistan via the Torkham border crossing, causes
congestion and causes the fruits to rot.
Coal
trucks will pass through Paktika, Paktia, and Khost provinces, according to the
Taliban Ministry of Finance.
The
Taliban have relatively good relations with Pakistan, Afghanistan’s southern
neighbor, which has resulted in the export of Afghan goods abroad, even as the
country’s most catastrophic humanitarian crisis has cast a pall over the
people’s lives.
According
to the United Nations, one in every two Afghans does not know where their next
meal would come from.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Thomas
West Meets with the Representatives of Afghan Political Parties in Turkey
By
Saqalain Eqbal
30
May 2022
Thomas
West, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, met with representatives
of a number of Afghan political parties in Turkey, including members of the
Supreme Council of National Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan, Afghan
women, and civil society.
Representative
West met with representatives of the parties to discuss Afghanistan issues,
according to Mohammad Mohaqqeq, the leader of the People’s Islamic Unity Party
of Afghanistan and a member of the Resistance Council, who stated on his
Facebook page on Sunday, May 29.
He
further wrote that the meeting’s focus was on reaching a comprehensive
administration through dialogue and political agreement on the Afghan people’s
achievements and rights.
A
meeting in Turkey was recently convened by a number of politicians establishing
the Supreme Council of National Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan.
The
meeting concluded with a declaration stating that the Taliban should not
continue to destroy Afghanistan and should instead negotiate a solution.
According
to political figures, no group has been able to establish long-term rule in
Afghanistan through force or pressure. They continued by stating that they were
attempting to form an inclusive administration in Afghanistan through dialogue,
and that if that failed, they would consider the military option.
The
Taliban, on the other hand, have recently established a commission to return
political figures and have stated that a Loya Jirga will be held soon. The
Supreme Council of National Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan, on the
other hand, referred to the Taliban’s actions as a “ploy”.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
As
Islamophobia rise in France, many Muslims leaving the country
May
31, 2022
With
Islamophobia on the rise in politics and on the street, many Muslims are
leaving France. Muslim women are very often the driving force behind the
departure of an entire family because many cannot find work in France that
matches their skills and training.
“I
didn’t feel at home there anymore,” said Bilal, 27, without a moment’s
hesitation, when asked why he and his wife, Rahma, left France two years ago.
Since
then, the couple, of Algerian and Tunisian descent, have settled in Istanbul,
Turkey.
“I
was born in France, I had only been to Algeria a couple of times on holiday. I
don’t even speak Arabic! I’m French historically and culturally, but I felt I
was seen as less than a fully fledged citizen,” Bilal told Middle East Eye.
When
he thinks back to his day-to-day life in France, Bilal recalls his constant
fear of being viewed as an outsider.
One
time in particular that sticks in his memory was the day when his line manager
told him his employment had been a source of debate among the staff.
The
reason? He was an Arab with a beard.
“I
was tired of being obliged to work twice as hard to prove myself,” he said.
“And honestly, it didn’t always work out.”
More
and more departures
Fateh
Kimouche is the founder of the website Al Kanz, a platform for French Muslim
consumers.
“You
see, it’s like when you love a woman but you can’t live with her anymore,” said
Kimouche, in reference to the growing numbers of his fellow Muslims leaving
France.
In
his community, Kimouche is now seeing entire families leaving the country.
“It’s
a silent exodus. These people all say the same thing: I love France but I’m
leaving. Their primary motivation is escaping the climate of Islamophobia. It’s
a stressful way to live,” he said.
In
2021, the French interior ministry recorded 171 Islamophobic attacks, an
increase of 32 percent in just one year.
In
parallel, attacks against other religions have fallen, with, for example,
antisemitic attacks down by 15 percent.
As
collecting ethnic data remains banned in France, it is impossible to measure
with any degree of accuracy the number of Muslims leaving the country.
But
Michel Pham, creator of Muslim Expat, a website supporting French-speaking
Muslims living overseas, sees a clear trend emerging. “Right now, our websites
are getting about 7,000 visits per month,” he said. “And enquiries are increasing
in number.”
On
the website discussion board, the most common questions asked concern the
living conditions in countries such as the UK, Canada, Turkey, and the United
Arab Emirates.
“You
may be surprised to know that, despite it being the heart of Islam, very few
people want to go and live in Saudi Arabia,” said Pham.
“They
don’t really have the infrastructure to attract families, there are no parks
for the children… Plus, Muslims leaving France are looking to go somewhere that
at least gives everyone their basic rights.”
Women
particularly targeted
Muslim
women are very often the driving force behind the departure of an entire family
because many cannot find work in France that matches their skills and training.
In
an interview with Lallab, a feminist association, sociologist Fatiha Ajbli said
that Muslim women face a dilemma of “choosing between the freedom of working as
a French woman and the freedom of wearing the hijab as a Muslim woman”.
These
two freedoms sit uneasily together in French society, where the secularism
principle is often interpreted restrictively.
In
constitutionally secular France, public sector employees are not allowed to
wear religious symbols, including the hijab.
Although
this does not apply to workers with private companies, these can still legally
prohibit the wearing of the hijab as long as it is for hygiene or safety
reasons and, in practice, very few companies at present will agree to employ
women wearing the hijab.
“When
I lived in France, I applied for a job in a public hospital. The first question
I was asked during the interview was ‘are you going to take off your hijab?'”
Diaba, a 39-year-old nurse, told MEE.
“There
was me thinking they were short-staffed,” she said, scornfully, from her home
in Quebec, where she immigrated eight years ago, an easy choice, especially
financially, since she earns twice the salary of her French counterparts.
“Of
course, I miss my family and my friends. But when I watch the French news
channels, I tell myself I did the right thing by leaving.”
Brain
drain
In
Istanbul, Bilal and Rahma are now running several businesses, including a
training company providing online English courses.
Rahma
has also launched a YouTube channel, with nearly 35,000 subscribers, which she
uses to talk about her day-to-day life in Turkey. Their one-and-a-half-year-old
daughter was born there.
“It’s
extremely important to me that she doesn’t have to deal with being eyed with
suspicion because of her religion. That kind of thing leaves its mark on you,”
said the 25-year-old French woman.
“If
one day she decides to wear the headscarf, I don’t want her getting reproving
looks. People don’t realise how humiliating it is to have to, for example,
remove your headscarf to go into a school or a college. If she takes it off, I want
it always to be her choice.”
Since
Article L-141-5-1 was introduced into the French Education Code on 15 March
2004, children at public schools and colleges have been prohibited from wearing
“conspicuous” religious symbols.
The
young couple have left France, but this does not mean they have entirely
escaped anti-Muslim racism. On social media, where they are highly active, they
still receive very regular hate mail.
“Yesterday,
someone posted a comment on one of my videos. A single word: ‘cockroach’. I asked
them to explain. His answer was, ‘you, cockroaches, you don’t know how to
integrate!'” Rahma said.
Medhi,
42, has been living in London for 11 years and has no intention of returning to
France.
“From
the moment I stepped off the Eurostar in 2011, it became obvious to me that
religious symbols are not synonymous with tension. In the street, I walked past
policewomen wearing the hijab,” the football agent said.
“Things
in France are going from bad to worse. The language used during the
presidential campaign reached an intolerable level of violence. I wouldn’t go
back for a million euros.”
It
seems that many of the Muslims leaving their home country are highly qualified.
But for these young people, expatriation is first and foremost a way of
breathing new life into their careers.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mount
Gambier Mosque in South Australia Welcomed People Of All Faiths
May
31, 2022
The
Mount Gambier Mosque in South Australia welcomed people of all faiths through
their doors earlier this month.
The
mosque held an open day recently to give locals a chance to see the building,
and learn more about Islam.
They
were invited to look through the mosque, enjoy some good food and observe the
afternoon prayer.
Secretary
of the Islamic Council of SA Adnan Abu-Ajemieh said they had been trying to
hold the event for several years, ever since the the mosque opened two years
ago, but they were unable to due to Covid.
“We
opened it up for the wider community so they can come and see what is happening
inside the mosque, observe the prayer and share the ideas and explain the
beliefs of Muslims and share some food and culture as well,” he said.
“It’s
a good initiative to build bridges with the wider community; sometimes there are
some misconceptions about Islam and the community and sometimes we feel that
our communities are isolated from each other, so we are trying to build these
bridges with the wider community.”
Prior
to the opening of the mosque, the community shared facilities with the Anglican
Church.
The
event was well supported, with Mount Gambier City Council Mayor Lynette Martin
and other well-known faces in attendance, along with neighbours and locals.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Head
of Iranian Islamic seminaries meets with Pope Francis at Vatican
May
31, 2022
On
Monday, head of the Iranian Islamic seminaries Ayatollah Alireza Arafi held
meetings with the head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis and high-ranking
prelates at the Vatican.
The
prominent Iranian cleric presented the pontiff with refined artifacts from his
hometown of Meybod, in Yazd province, and the holy city of Qom. After that, the
two religious personalities held private talks.
Iran
and the Vatican established full diplomatic ties in 1954 and the bond has
remained uninterrupted ever since. Not many reflect on the fact that the
Vatican and Iran both represent spiritual traditions that have much more in
common than might initially come to mind.
Ayatollah
Arafi's visit to the Holy See coincided with the commemorations of the 33rd
anniversary of the demise of Imam Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
On
Sunday evening, Arafi paid a visit to the Imam Mahdi Islamic Center where he
met with members of Rome's Shia community. Here, the cleric attended a
commemoration of the late leader of Iran's 1979 revolution.
The
commemoration held at the Imam Mahdi Islamic Center was also attended by Iran's
diplomats and representatives of Rome's Palestinian community. There was much
anticipation at the center for Ayatollah Arafi's visit.
In
November 2020 Ayatollah Arafi sent a letter to the Holy See in which he
expressed his concerns regarding insults made against Prophet Mohammad (Peace
upon Him) and the hatred expressed by some magazines, journalists, and
political figures in different societies.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Despite
direct economic consequences, study finds majority of Arabs do not care about
Ukraine-Russia war
May
30, 2022
LONDON:
According to an exclusive Arab News-YouGov poll, the majority of people across
the Middle East and North Africa do not seem to care very much about the war in
Ukraine.
Experts,
however, say there are plenty of reasons why they should.
“It
does seem like it is taking place so far away,” said Abeer Etefa, the
Cairo-based senior spokeswoman for the UN World Food Programme in the Middle
East and North Africa.
Kyiv,
Ukraine’s capital, is more than 3,000 kilometers from Riyadh.
“But
also, the politics and dynamics of the conflict in Ukraine are far too
complicated for a lot of the audiences in this region.”
The
survey was carried out among 7,835 people across 14 countries in the MENA
region between April 26 and May 4.
Asked
where they stand in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, 18 percent sided with Ukraine,
and 16 percent with Russia.
But
an overwhelming 66 percent of respondents answered with a collective shrug,
opting to take “no stance” on the crisis — indifference that peaked in Jordan
and Algeria (74 percent) and Saudi Arabia (71 percent).
The
complexities of European history and politics aside, Richard Gowan, UN director
of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, sees another reason for the
apparent indifference of many Arabs to events in Ukraine.
“We
are seeing a very big gap between how Americans and Europeans see this
conflict, and how it’s viewed in other parts of the world,” he said.
“One
key issue is that many people in the Arab world see this as NATO pitched
against Russia, and the reality is that you’re not going to be able to turn
around suspicions of NATO and the US in the Middle East and North Africa any
time soon.”
Although
the fighting in Ukraine and the reasons behind the conflict do indeed have
nothing to do with the Arab world, shockwaves from the conflict are already
affecting millions of Arabs, who are faced with rising costs of basic foodstuffs,
said Etefa.
She
added that even if the fighting stopped tomorrow, “the world will need between
six months to two years to recover, from a food security perspective.”
Even
before the conflict, she said, “by February food prices in many countries across
the region had already reached an all-time high.
“Last
year the cost of a basic food basket, the minimum food needs per family per
month, increased by 351 percent in Lebanon, the highest increase in the region,
followed by 97 percent in Syria and 81 percent in Yemen.
“And
now the Ukraine crisis is driving up prices even higher.”
Experts
had expected wheat from India to make up some of the shortfall from Ukraine,
but last week the Indian government banned exports after crops in the country
was hit by a heatwave, driving up the prices of some foods to a record high.
Even
before the conflict, the WFP was providing assistance to millions across the
region, in Yemen, Lebanon and Syria. Now, even as demands on its resources grow
rapidly as a result of events in Ukraine, the rise in food and oil prices means
the WFP’s own costs have escalated alarmingly.
“This
is happening at a very difficult time for the World Food Programme,” said
Etefa.
“Because
of the war in Ukraine our global operating costs have been pushed up by $71
million a month, reducing our ability to help those in need in the region at a
time when the world is facing a year of unprecedented hunger.
“That
means that each day, globally, there are four million people fewer we can
assist with a daily ration of food.”
Many
countries in the region are heavily dependent on food exports from Russia and
Ukraine which, thanks to a combination of disruption to farming, port blockages
and sanctions, have slowed to a trickle.
Both
Russia and Ukraine are among the most important producers of agricultural
commodities in the world — in 2021, either Russia or Ukraine, or both, ranked
among the top three global exporters of wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower seeds
and sunflower oil.
Russia
is also the world’s top exporter of nitrogen and other fertilizers,
indispensable make-or-break ingredients for countries with significant
agricultural sectors of their own.
In
a recent report, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warned that
disruption of harvests and exports in Ukraine, combined with the impact of
sanctions on Russian exports, threatened to create a “global supply gap that
could raise international food and feed prices by 8 to 22 percent above their
already elevated baseline levels.”
Economically
vulnerable countries would be the first to feel the effects of a prolonged
reduction in exports from Russia and Ukraine — and countries across MENA are
directly in the line of fire.
The
FAO predicts that “the global number of undernourished people could increase by
8 to 13 million people in 2022/23,” with the worst effects felt in the
Asia-Pacific, followed by sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa.
“The
region collectively imports 42 percent of its wheat, and 23 percent of the
vegetable oil from Russia and Ukraine,” explained Etefa.
“In
the month following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the price of wheat
flour, a staple in the diet of most families across the region, had already
gone up by 47 percent in Lebanon, 11 percent in Yemen, 15 percent in Libya and
14 percent in the Palestinian territories.”
One
of the countries most exposed to food shortages and price hikes triggered by
the Ukraine crisis is Egypt, which has been struck a double blow. Egypt sources
85 percent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, and a large part of the
country’s tourism sector is dependent on visitors from the two countries.
Back
at the beginning of February, just before the Russian invasion, Egypt was
already suffering from high global wheat prices and the government was considering
controversial reforms to the expensive national bread subsidy scheme.
Under
the scheme, which at 2022 prices cost the government $5.5 billion, more than 60
million Egyptians receive five loaves of bread a day for just $0.5 a month.
Regional
governments are also keenly aware that in various countries spiralling food
prices were linked to the uprisings of the Arab Spring — and in March this year
protests erupted in Iraq against a big hike in the cost of flour, triggered by
the war in Ukraine.
Indeed,
warned Dr Bamo Nouri, a lecturer in international relations and honorary
research fellow in the Department of International Politics at City University
of London, “Iraqis may be the first in a global movement of protests over price
rises as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues.”
There
had, he highlighted, “indeed been a trend in various Middle East countries
where there has been little interest, with no particular stance on the
Russia-Ukraine conflict.”
One
reason was that in many Middle Eastern states, “the responsibility to resolve
any given crisis is placed on the government, and unless and until it reaches
ordinary the reaction or debate around it will be minimal.”
He
added: “In the stable oil rich Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and
Kuwait, this may be justified, because the government has the means and the
infrastructure in place to keep the domestic impact of any external crisis to a
minimum.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2092891/middle-east
--------
Arab
World
Turkiye
‘neutralizes’ 5 YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria
Beyza
Binnur Dönmez
30.05.2022
Turkish
forces "neutralized" five YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria, the
National Defense Ministry said on Monday.
The
terrorists were targeted with fire support vehicles in the Euphrates Shield and
Peace Spring operations zone, the ministry said on Twitter. "Our
operations will continue without slowing down!" it added.
Turkish
authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question
surrendered or were killed or captured.
Since
2016, Turkiye has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across
its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and
enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive
Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Kuwait
deplores Al-Aqsa Mosque storming by extremists
May
31, 2022
KUWAIT:
The Foreign Ministry voiced Sunday Kuwait’s condemnation and denunciation of
Al-Aqsa Mosque’s storming by extremists under the protection of the Zionist
entity’s forces. In a statement, the Ministry said these flagrant violations,
which provoke Muslims’ feelings and run counter to international law, portend
repercussions on international and regional stability and security, and
increase the opportunities of religious-based confrontations.
The
Ministry called on the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities
against these violations and compel the Zionist occupation forces to respect
international law and international legitimacy’s resolutions, and to provide
required protection to the brotherly Palestinian people. It further stressed
Kuwait’s principled and firm stance supporting the legitimate rights of the
Palestinian people to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its
capital, according to the statement.
Meanwhile,
Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) strongly denounced the
Zionist entity’s authorities for allowing the extremist settlers to break into
Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of East Jerusalem in the occupied Palestinian
West Bank under police protection. The permission for extremists waving the
Zionist entity’s flag to organize a provocative march in the occupied Jerusalem
constitutes a flagrant and abhorrent violation of the international laws, and a
serious escalation of the already tense situation, Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf said in a
press release.
Source:
Kuwait Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://kuwaittimes.com/kuwait-deplores-al-aqsa-mosque-storming-by-extremists/
--------
Egypt
condemns allowing Israeli extremists to storm Aqsa Mosque premises
May
30, 2022
The
Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned a move by the Israeli authorities to allow
scores of extremist settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque premises under the
protection of the Israeli police.
In
a statement, the ministry warned of the consequences of these developments,
which predict more tension and escalation in the Palestinian territories.
Al-Aqsa
is “purely for Muslims”, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Ahmed Hafez
said.
He
called for stopping any violations targeting the Arab, Islamic and Christian
identity of the holy city and all its sanctities, as well as changing the
existing historical and legal status quo.
Source:
Egypt Independent
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Bahrain
condemns Israeli settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque
30
May 2022
Manama,
May 30 (BNA): The Kingdom of Bahrain has strongly condemned the Israeli
extremist settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque under Israeli police protection
in a provocation to the feelings of Muslims.
In
a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the need to respect the
historical and legal situation in Jerusalem, without prejudice to the role of
the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the management and protection of holy places
under international law, and the need for the Israeli authorities to prevent
any actions or practices aimed at targeting the Arab Islamic and Christian
identity of Jerusalem and its holy sites, and to prevent any acts of
provocation that would induce tension, violence and hatred.
Source:
BNA
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.bna.bh/en/news?cms=q8FmFJgiscL2fwIzON1%2bDgVPCyv8aM6jE9fgsoYQ5aE%3d
--------
Iraq
court sentences ISIS plotter of 2021 Baghdad market bombing to death
30
May, 2022
An
Iraqi court on Monday sentenced to death an ISIS group member convicted of plotting
a 2021 bomb attack that killed 32 people in a crowded Baghdad market.
It
was the city’s first major suicide bombing in three years that ended a period
of relative calm after Iraq declared the defeat of the extremist group in late
2017.
The
man, who was not named, was found guilty of planning the January 2021 twin
suicide bombing that hit the market at Baghdad’s Tayaran Square and also
wounded 110 people.
A
Baghdad court has sentenced the attack’s “primary perpetrator,” the Supreme
Judicial Council said in a statement.
He
had confessed to being part of ISIS since 2012 and to having equipped the two
suicide attackers.
In
the attack, one man drew a crowd by claiming to feel sick before he detonated
his explosives belt, the interior ministry said at the time.
As
more people flocked to the scene to help the victims, the second suicide bomber
set off his explosives.
Iraq
frequently hands down death sentences, usually for terrorism or murder
convictions.
Amnesty
International’s 2021 death penalty report ranks Iraq near the top worldwide in
terms of death sentences and executions.
The
London-based rights group recorded at least 17 executions in Iraq in 2021, down
from 50 the previous year, but said death sentences “rose more than threefold
from 2020.”
In
April, eight people were sentenced to death in two trials, four over a car
bombing and four for murder.
The
last major ISIS attack in the capital came in July 2021, when a bomb ripped
through the crowded al-Woheilat Market in the Sadr City suburb, killing more than
30 people.
The
ISIS group has “maintained the ability to launch attacks at a steady rate in
Iraq, including hit-and-run operations, ambushes and roadside bombs,” a UN
report said in January.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Court
jails Egyptian former presidential candidate for 15 years
30
May, 2022
An
Egyptian court sentenced former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul
Fotouh and several prominent figures from the banned Muslim Brotherhood to
lengthy jail terms on Sunday on accusations including plotting to overthrow the
state.
Aboul
Fotouh, who is in his early 70s and according to his family suffers from
several medical conditions, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, subject to
appeal, the court ruling said.
Aboul
Fotouh quit the Muslim Brotherhood in 2011 after disagreements over the role of
religion in politics and founded the more centrist Strong Egypt party,
launching an independent bid for the presidency in 2012.
The
interior ministry later accused him of meeting Brotherhood leaders to stir
unrest, which he denied.
He
was arrested in February 2018 after giving interviews that were sharply
critical of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a month before Sisi was re-elected.
Others
sentenced on Sunday include Mohamed al-Qassas, Aboul Fotouh’s deputy, who
received a 10-year sentence, Mahmoud Ezzat, the former acting Brotherhood
leader detained in Cairo in 2020, who received 15 years, and Ibrahim Mounir, a
Brotherhood leader living in exile, who was handed a life sentence.
Egypt
banned the Brotherhood after Sisi, then army chief, led the overthrow of
democratically elected Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi following mass
protests in 2013.
Authorities
accuse the Brotherhood of promoting militancy and subversion, accusations it
strongly denies.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Israel’s
FM says normalization with Saudi Arabia ‘long, cautious process’
30
May, 2022
Israel’s
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that reaching an agreement to normalize ties
with Saudi Arabia will be a “long and cautious” process, but Israel believes in
the possibility, the Times of Israel reported on Monday.
“We
believe that it is possible to have a normalization process with Saudi Arabia.
It’s in our interest… We’ve already said that this is the next step after the
Abraham Accords, to talk about a long and careful process,” he said.
Lapid
added that should an agreement be signed, it would not come as a surprise
announcement like it happened with previous deals signed with the UAE and
Bahrain.
“This
won’t happen the same way it did last time… We won’t wake up one morning
suddenly and it will be a surprise,” Lapid said referring to the US-brokered
Abraham Accords signed in 2020.
He
added that Israel is working with the US and Gulf countries towards the goal of
normalizing ties with the Kingdom.
Saudi
Arabia and Israel share no diplomatic ties.
The
Kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had said in March that Saudi Arabia
views Israel as a “potential ally,” noting however that several issues need to
be resolved first.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkey's
Erdoğan Not Ready to Give Up on Muslim Brotherhood
by
Abdullah Bozkurt
Nordic
Monitor
May
30, 2022
The
VIP treatment recently accorded to visiting Muslim Brotherhood figure Ousama
Jammal and his entourage in Turkey signals that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
is not ready to give up on the Muslim Brotherhood as his government tries to
normalize ties with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel
amid diplomatic isolation and domestic economic woes.
Jammal,
secretary-general of the United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO),
led a delegation of Muslims from the US and Canada to Turkey, meeting with
President Erdoğan and a number of government officials. On May 25, 2022 the
delegation was hosted in the lavish palace Erdoğan had built in one of the rare
open spaces left in Ankara amid a huge outcry and criticism.
Photographs
from the closed-door meeting show that Jammal was seated on Erdoğan's right,
across from Vice President Fuat Oktay, another Islamist. Efkan Ala, who runs
foreign operations on behalf of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
and a former interior minister, as well as Presidential Special Envoy to Libya
Emrullah İşler, who harbors sympathetic views of the Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria (ISIS), were also present at the meeting.
Jammal
and his delegation were later received by Ali Erbaş, head of Turkey's Religious
Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), and traveled to Konya, where they were greeted
by local officials.
In
his reported remarks, Erbaş asked the delegation to hold their meetings in the
religious compound built by Turkey in Lanham, Maryland, in 2016 at a cost of
$110 million. The center is run by the Diyanet and functions as the Erdoğan
government's proselytizing arm in exporting political Islam abroad. He asked
them to be more vocal and effective in the US and Canada, saying they need to
fight hostility towards Islam.
The
venue, officially called the Diyanet Center, frequently hosts members of the
Muslim Brotherhood.
Jammal
concurred with Erbaş on how to use the Diyanet Center, saying they had already
held a number of events there. "The Diyanet Center has become a place for
us to conduct our activities and meet with our leadership," Jammal said,
adding that the help provided them reflects the approach of Turkish leadership.
Erdoğan
met with Jammal several times during a visit to the US, and the Muslim
Brotherhood figure is on the VIP list for invitations to events organized by
the Turkish Embassy and consulates in the US.
The
visit of Jammal and his delegation comes at a time when Erdoğan is taking steps
to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and
Israel. The reports that his government has been clamping down on Muslim
Brotherhood activities in Turkey appears to be more tactical than a strategic
realignment in order to curry favor in Cairo, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
While
he was president of the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Chicago, in 2004
Jammal ran a fundraising campaign for Palestinian activist Sami Al-Arian, who
was charged with terrorism and accused of being the US leader of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad. After a long legal battle, a plea bargain and house
arrest, Al-Arian was deported to Turkey in February 2015.
Source:
meforum
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.meforum.org/63265/turkey-erdogan-not-ready-to-give-up-on-muslim
--------
Turkey
calls on Israel to preserve status quo of Al-Aqsa Mosque
May
30 2022
The
raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli parliament member Itamar Ben-Gvir and
radical Jewish groups under the protection of the Israeli police, as well as
the attempts of these groups to worship in this area, are a “clear violation”
of the status quo of Al-Haram Al-Sharif and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Foreign
Ministry said on May 29.
“We
call on the Israeli government to take the necessary measures to preserve the
status quo of these holy places. Reiterating our call not to allow provocative
actions that will escalate the tension in the region,”
the
ministry said in a statement.
Thousands
of Israeli nationalists, some of them chanting “Death to Arabs,” paraded
through the heart of the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City
on May 29, in a show of force that risked setting off a new wave of violence in
the tense city.
The
crowds, who were overwhelmingly young Orthodox Jewish men, were celebrating
Jerusalem Day - an Israeli holiday that marks the capture of the Old City in
the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians see the event, which passes through the
heart of the Muslim Quarter, as a provocation. Last year, the parade helped
trigger an 11-day war with Gaza militants, and this year’s march drew
condemnations from the Palestinians and neighboring Jordan.
Israel
said it deployed thousands of police and security forces for the event, and
violent scuffles between Jewish and Palestinian groups erupted inside the Old
City before the parade even began.
Source:
Hurriyet Daily News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israel
should consider ‘terror’ tag for Jewish extremists
May
31, 2022
JERUSALEM:
Israel should consider placing on its terrorism list two right wing extremist
groups accused of violence towards Palestinians and who called for the death of
Arabs, defence minister Benny Gantz said Monday.
“I
believe it is time to examine defining groups like La Familia and Lehava as
terror groups, and I know the issue is being presented to security forces,”
Gantz said during a faction meeting of his Blue and White party.
Thousands
of flag waving Israelis on Sunday marched through Jerusalem’s Old City during a
nationalist procession marking Israel’s 1967 capture of east Jerusalem.
Some
marchers chanted “death to Arabs”, as a number of Palestinians hurled
projectiles from the rooftops.
Prime
minister Naftali Bennett ordered police to show “zero tolerance” towards Jewish
extremists who planned to “incite” tensions, singling out La Familia.
Foreign
minister Yair Lapid described Lehava and La Familia as a “disgrace” who weren’t
“worthy of holding the Israeli flag”.
La
Familia is a group of fans of the Beitar Jerusalem football club, notorious for
their anti Arab racism and violence.
Lehava
is an extremist right wing group that fights against fraternisation between
Jews and non-Jews which could lead to intermarriage. It is affiliated with the
teachings of the late Rabbi Meir Kahana, whose Kach group is outlawed in
Israel.
Not
the first time
To
designate an organisation as a terrorist group, one of Israel’s security
organisations – the Shin Bet internal security agency, police, army or Mossad –
must issue a request to the defence ministry and receive the consent of the
attorney general.
Following
the defence minister’s approval, the group will receive a three-month temporary
designation, during which it can appeal the decision to the ministry as well as
a special judiciary panel.
If
no appeal overturns the decision, the group will then be formally declared a
terrorist organisation.
Israeli
officials have from time to time previously raised the issue of designating La
Familia and Lehava as terrorist groups, but have never gone through with the
process.
La
Familia brushed aside the latest wave of condemnation and attention as an
attempt to garner political support.
“Time
and again political groups or members of Knesset try to ride on the
organisation’s back to try get votes and take down the group with incidents
that never happened,” they wrote on their official Facebook page.
“La
Familia is a football organisation only, and as regular civilians we have the
right to march in Jerusalem,” they said.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israeli
PM defends march marked by violence, racism
30
May, 2022
Prime
Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday defended the decision to hold an annual
march that celebrates Israel's takeover of east Jerusalem and was marked by
violence and anti-Palestinian racism.
Authorities
called up thousands of police, forcibly cleared out Palestinians and risked
another war with the militant group Hamas to ensure that tens of thousands of
mostly right-wing Israelis could parade through a dense Palestinian neighborhood
and hundreds could visit an intensely contested holy site.
Israel
had changed the route at the last minute in 2021, at a time of soaring tensions
over violence at the holy site and attempts by settlers to remove dozens of
Palestinian families from their homes in east Jerusalem. Hamas still fired
rockets, and an 11-day Gaza war ensued.
Israel
avoided that scenario this year and allowed the parade to take its traditional
route through the heart of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
But
the march saw Israeli nationalists chant racist slogans, including “Death to
Arabs," and attack Palestinians and journalists. Fights broke out along
the route, as police mainly intervened to protect Jews and disperse
Palestinians.
The
Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said 62 Palestinians were wounded,
including 23 who needed hospitalization. Israeli police said they arrested over
60 suspects and that five officers were wounded. The vast majority of those
arrested appear to have been Palestinians, though police refused to provide a
breakdown.
Bennett
praised the police's handling of the event and said Israel was obliged to hold
the march in the face of threats by Hamas.
“If
we hadn’t done it along the regular route, we would – in effect – never go back
to it,” he said. “This could have been a retreat on sovereignty.”
Bennett
praised the marchers, saying that “except for an extremist group, whom we will
deal with to the fullest extent of the law, those who celebrated yesterday did
so in a very special, heart-lifting way."
Israel
captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City with its holy sites sacred to
Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 war, and annexed it in a move not
recognized internationally. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the
capital of their future state.
Also
on Sunday, Israel allowed hundreds of mostly nationalist and religious Jews to
visit the holy site that Jews refer to as the Temple Mount and Muslims know as
the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. The site, which is the holiest for Jews and the
third holiest in Islam, has frequently been the epicenter of
Israeli-Palestinian violence.
The
Palestinians fear Israel plans to take over the site or partition it. Israel
says it is committed to a decades-old set of arrangements known as the status
quo, under which Jews can visit the site but not pray there — but that rule has
steadily eroded in recent years. Some of Sunday's visitors were seen praying
with little interference from police.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Protests
over deadly building collapse in Iran’s southwest intensify
30
May, 2022
Thousands
of protesters took to the streets on Sunday in Iran’s southwestern city of
Abadan where anger with the regime over a deadly building collapse is high.
A
10-storey residential and commercial building collapsed on May 23 in Abadan,
killing dozens. The death toll rose to 31 on Monday, according to official
figures.
Protests
have been taking place in the city on a daily basis over the incident which protesters
and activists blame on regime corruption.
Protesters
interrupted a state-sponsored mourning ceremony where a senior cleric was
speaking on Sunday, forcing state TV to cut out sound. “Dishonourable!
Dishonourable!” protesters chanted just as Mohsen Heydari, a member of the
Assembly of Experts – a clerical body in charge of selecting Iran’s supreme
leader – began speaking.
Videos
shared on Twitter showed large crowds gathered in Abadan, located in the
oil-rich southwestern province of Khuzestan – an ethnically diverse region.
One
video showed protesters chanting, in Arabic, “We sacrifice our soul and blood
for you, Abadan.” Khuzestan is home to a large Arab population.
“I
will kill whoever killed my brother,” protesters could be heard chanting, in
Persian, in another video.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Southeast
Asia
The
Somad Affair and Singapore’s Battle Against Religious Extremism
By
Bilveer Singh
May
31, 2022
Singapore’s
racial and religious fault lines are sharp, reflecting its status as an ethnic
Chinese majority state located in what is perceived as a Malay Southeast Asian
world. In this context, the deportation this month of Abdul Somad Batubara, a
radical Indonesian Muslim preacher, once again demonstrates the nation’s
intolerance for any kind of extremism, regardless of its origin.
Who
is Abdul Somad Batubara?
A
North Sumatran from Asahan, and Batak by ethnicity, Somad, 45, is a well-known
preacher who also teaches at the Sultan Syarif Kasim Islamic University in
Riau. The internet and social media made him a celebrity, a leading digital
preacher, through his literalist interpretations of how Islam should be
practiced in Indonesia and abroad. Extremely charismatic with strong oratory
skills, his ability to gain traction with his followers stem from his
simplistic, yet extreme views on day-to-day aspects of Muslim lives, especially
in the context of the rising Islamization of Indonesia. He is also very political,
as seen in his endorsement of Prabowo as Indonesia’s president in the 2019
presidential elections. Somad’s Islamist credentials have been enhanced by his
higher education in Egypt and Morocco as well as his fluency in Arabic,
bolstering his standing against other preachers in the competitive market place
of Islam in Indonesia.
Somad’s
extreme views include demands that Muslims not patronize non-Muslim retail
outlets such as Starbucks. He holds strong anti-LGBT views and has even
sanctioned suicide bombings as a means of achieving certain political ends.
Somad has also tried to dissuade Muslims from visiting hospitals that display
crucifixes, implying a boycott of Christian hospitals and any building or
outlet featuring non-Islamic signs and symbols.
Due
to his radical views on Islam and other subjects, Somad has been banned from a
number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong, the
Netherlands, Switzerland and Timor-Leste. This is largely due to his
ultra-conservative interpretations of Islam, which are largely aligned with the
outlook of Hizbut Tahrir (HT).
Somad’s
HT-inspired Islamist worldview aims for the establishment of an Islamic
Caliphate, for governance to be based on Sharia law, and for all Muslims to be
united into a single ummah (community). Somad believes that Muslims are being
persecuted worldwide, including in Muslim majority states, and is opposed
Western democracy and governance, which he perceives as disadvantaging and
undermining Muslims’ interests. While HT ideologues tend to oppose the use of
violence, Somad supports violence as a means to an end, especially with regard
to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Singapore
and the ‘Somad Affair’
On
May 16, Somad and six others entered Singapore by ferry from Batam, an Indonesian
island off the southern coast of Singapore, ostensibly for a holiday, including
to celebrate Somad’s birthday which falls on May 18. On reaching Singapore,
Somad and the others were questioned by the immigration authorities and
deported to Batam for their past extremist views on Islam and the radical
actions that Somad had called for, including in the Middle East.
Singapore
has banned other radical preachers in the past, both Muslims and non-Muslims,
for their radical views. Following his deportation, Somad and his followers
criticized Singapore on a number of counts, including that the city-state was
an illegal creation as it was founded by the Western colonial power on land
that belonged to the Malays, that most of Singaporeans were migrants and not natives,
and that the Malays would reconquer Singapore and reclaim what was theirs. He
added that Singapore should be made to feel the pain that it has inflicted on
others, especially the native Malay-Muslims, and that Singapore could be easily
sunk by the 270 million Indonesian Muslims urinating on it. Somad’s supporters
also talked of Singapore deserving a 9/11-style attack for its impudence and
anti-Malay-Muslim policies.
In
protest against Somad’s deportation, the preacher’s supporters took to the
social media to condemn the Singaporean authorities, including writing to
various government office holders, including President Halimah Yacob, herself a
Muslim. Somad’s supporters also demonstrated outside Singapore’s consulate in
Medan, Sumatra and outside the country’s embassy in Jakarta. Singapore was
condemned for allegedly pursuing Islamophobia policies, including against
preachers such as Somad.
What
Was Behind Singapore’s Deportation of Somad?
While
Singapore has in the past deported Christians and other Muslim preachers, the
Somad affair stood out on a number of counts. First, it stemmed from Somad’s
ultra-orthodox interpretations of Islam, largely HT in orientation, which
denies the legitimacy of the worldwide nation-state system, does not believe in
the practice of democracy, which he has called on his supporters in Indonesia
and abroad to boycott.
Second,
Somad has championed the creation of an Islamic state, even if it was
established through violence, and approved of suicide bombings as part of the political
struggle, especially by the Palestinians against the Israelis.
Third,
Somad has advanced the irredentist notion that the region’s Malay-Muslims were
the genuine owners of Singapore and that non-Malays and non-Muslims should be
expelled, including through the use of force. As Singapore was part of
“Tanah-Air Melayu,” non-Malays and non-Muslims did not belong there other than
being temporary guests. In short, Somad argued for the idea of a Malay-Muslim
ethnocratic state in total opposition to Singapore’s successful multi-racial
and multi-religious society.
Fourth,
as a charismatic preacher with immense oratorical skills, Somad has been highly
effective in winning followers to his radical causes, not just in Indonesia but
also abroad. According to the Singapore authorities, a 17-year old Singaporean
was detained in January 2020 for being radicalized by Somad’s lectures on the
YouTube, clearly demonstrating the danger of Somad’s radical appeal among the
uninitiated, especially the young, on social media. Somad is believed to have
some 9.6 million followers on Instagram, 2.7 million subscribers to his YouTube
channel, and more than 700,000 followers on Facebook.
The
Implications of the ‘Somad Affair’
First,
Somad’s deportation reaffirmed Singapore’s strong and principled stance that it
will not tolerate extremism and radicalism, violent or non-violent, from any
quarter, including from Singapore’s largest and most important neighbor.
Second,
even though there was the expectation that there would be some degree of
backlash from Indonesia and Indonesians, what eventually happened was extremely
heartening. While Jakarta argued that it was Singapore’s right to deny anyone
entry into the state, the level of support for Somad in Indonesia was almost
non-existent, especially for someone believed to have a few million followers
on social media; in the end, this did
not translate into real-world clout.
Third,
as a democracy, Indonesia’s hands may be tied in taking action against a
radical preacher that openly advocates violence, all the more with the
Indonesian authorities not wanting to be seen to be accused of persecuting
Muslims or Islamic preachers. From this perspective, Singapore seems to have
done Indonesia a favor by acting against Somad for his radical and extremist
views, which are largely unacceptable in Singapore and probably by most states
and peoples. The signals it sent were clear: while Somad’s activities may be
tolerated in the fast-democratizing Indonesian setting, it does not mean that
Somad and his beliefs would be allowed to germinate beyond the Indonesian
borders.
Fourth,
what Somad and some of his followers expressed were ideas and beliefs that are
anathema to Singapore, namely, that Singapore as an ethnic Chinese majority
state has no right to exist in the “Malay world” of maritime Southeast Asia.
This has been something that Singapore has tried to debunk since its
independence in 1965 and the Somad affair was another opportunity not just to
signal to champions of irredentism in the region but also to remind the
Singapore public of its precarious existence and the need for enhanced
nation-building and national defense policies that can safeguard its existence
over the long-term.
Source:
The Diplomat
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/the-somad-affair-and-singapores-battle-against-religious-extremism/
--------
Malaysia
strongly condemns Israeli incursion at Al-Aqsa mosque
31
May 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR, May 31 ― Malaysia unreservedly condemns the assault and incursion by
the Israeli extremists and officials in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday.
Foreign
Ministry (Wisma Putra) in a statement today said the premeditated incursion on
the Holy Site of the Muslims and the rallies of the flag march in the Old City
was clearly a provocation and a flagrant violation against the revered Holy
Site and its sanctities.
“This
latest raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque was undoubtedly an act of aggression by the
Israeli occupation regime and Israeli extremists, unduly fanning the flames of
tensions among the region and beyond,” the statement read.
Malaysia
calls upon the international community to immediately demand the Israel regime
to cease any provocative acts in the interest of peace and stability, said
Wisma Putra.
“Malaysia
stands strong in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and reiterates the
status of AlQuds Al-Sharif as the Holy site of the Muslim Ummah,” it said.
Malaysia
also reaffirms its unwavering support and solidarity with the Palestinians and
their cause to achieve freedom from the Israeli illegal occupation and realise
their aspirations for an independent State of Palestine based on the pre-1967
borders, with East Jerusalem as their Capital.
According
to media reports, thousands of Israeli settlers staged a flag march on Sunday
to mark what they call the day of unifying Jerusalem, about Israel’s occupation
of the city in 1967.
Israel
occupied East Jerusalem, where the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex is
located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980,
in a move never recognised by the international community.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
25
missing after cargo boat sinks in Indonesia
May
29, 2022
MAKASSAR,
Indonesia: Rescuers in Indonesia were searching for 25 people who were missing
after a cargo boat sank in the Makassar Strait in South Sulawesi province,
officials said Sunday.
A
total of 42 people were on the boat when it sank in bad weather on Thursday
morning while traveling from a seaport in Makassar to Kalmas Island in Pangkep
Regency, said Djunaidi, the head of the provincial search and rescue agency.
Like many Indonesians, Djunaidi goes by only one name.
Seventeen
people were later rescued, including some by two tugboats that were at sea at
the time of the incident.
Djunaidi
said the search and rescue agency received new information about the location
of the sunken boat on Saturday and dispatched crews to the area. Two motor
boats and a search and rescue boat, along with local fishing boats and
Indonesia air force helicopters, are involved in the search for the missing
passengers.
The
sunken vessel was initially said to be a passenger ferry, but Djunaidi later
clarified that it was a cargo boat carrying construction materials. Thirty-six
passengers had asked for a ride on the boat and there were six crew members.
Ferry
tragedies are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands,
where ferries are often used as transport and safety regulations can lapse.
In
2018, an overcrowded ferry with about 200 people on board sank in a deep
volcanic crater lake in North Sumatra province, killing 167 people.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2091706/world
--------
PM
moots shariah compliance commission to regulate halal economy
May
30, 2022
PUTRAJAYA:
The regulation of the halal economy in the country can be consolidated with the
establishment of a shariah compliance commission, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri
Yaakob said today.
In
his keynote address at the Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Lecture here, Ismail said
the existing regulatory proposal is limited with the Islamic financial sector
coming under Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Securities Commission (SC),
while the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) regulates the halal industry.
“As
such, more comprehensive regulations can be consolidated with the establishment
of a shariah compliance commission.
“I
urge that this recommendation be given due attention so that the aspiration to
make Malaysia the main reference model in the field of halal economy can be
realised,” he said.
Also
present were public service department director-general Shafiq Abdullah, Tun
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Legacy Association chairman Jefridin Atan, and Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) vice-chancellor Ekhwan Toriman.
Ismail
said the role and contribution of the local halal economy to the national
economy could be improved further to be more significant.
“Based
on the Global Islamic Economy Report (2016/2017 to 2020/2021), Malaysia ranks
first in terms of the global Islamic economic indicator score. In fact,
Malaysia was top in the Islamic financial sector.
“However,
there is still room for improvement in six other sectors, namely halal food,
tourism, fashion, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, media, and recreation,” he
said.
According
to Ismail, the halal economy was seen to be mainly covering and developing
around the financial and food sectors, and so this justifies the need to focus
and redress other aspects of the halal economy.
Ismail
said, as such, a Halal Economy Master Plan should be pursued and undertaken by
stakeholders to empower the halal economy, and that this could be accomplished
by enhancing its role in the various halal economy sectors.
He
added that the halal economy combines elements of religious needs in business
by emphasising human relations based on brotherhood and equality, while all the
resources on the earth are fully controlled and owned by Allah.
“That
is why I believe the halal economy must be promoted as one of the competitive
systems and contributors to the national economy.
“In
addition, the halal product market should also be expanded to non-Muslim
countries,” he said.
At
the event, Ismail also launched the Halal Economy Endowment Fund established by
the Legacy and Hadahri Global Foundation in collaboration with UKM’s economics
and management faculty, with an initial fund of RM1 million.
“The
main objective of the endowment fund is to develop leadership in research and
education in halal economics. This covers the fields of science and technology,
and the humanities.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Pakistani
Senate condemns Israel's atrocities in Al-Aqsa Mosque
May
31, 2022
The
Senate of Pakistan on Monday unanimously passed a resolution on longstanding
Israeli illegal occupation of Palestinian territories and atrocities against
the innocent Palestinian people.
The
Senate of Pakistan in strong terms condemned the recent atrocities and violence
of Israeli forces over the innocent pilgrims and worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque
and the decades-old blockade of Gaza by the Israeli forces.
The
house called upon the government to utilize all diplomatic and publicity
resources for highlighting the Palestinian dispute on all international and
regional fora in coordination with all Muslim States and prepare a roadmap for
the liberation of Palestinian territories.
The
house called upon the government to explore the opportunity of appointing a
joint representative of all Muslim States for highlighting the Palestinian
dispute at the international level.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Conference
on Imam Khomeini’s political thought held in Lahore
May
31, 2022
A
conference featuring discussions on Imam Khomeini’s (RA) political thoughts and
the Islamic Revolution of Iran was held in Lahore, Pakistan.
The
city’s Mohammadi Mosque hosted the event, whose title was “Imam Khomeini’s
Political Thought, Islamic Revolution and Its Effects on Other Nations”.
The
Iranian Culture House in Lahore and the Quran and Etrat Academy for Women in
Pakistan’s Punjab Province co-organized the conference ahead of the demise
anniversary of Imam Khomeini.
Speakers
included Iranian Consul General in Lahore Mohammad Reza Nazeri, head of the
Iranian Culture House Jafar Ronas, former Pakistani ambassador to Iran Shimshad
Ahmad Khan, President of Ummah Wahida Pakistan Hojat-ol-Islam Muhammad Amin
Shahidi , Punjab representative in Pakistani parliament Seemin Bukhari, and
head of the academy Dr Mahdavi.
They
discussed, among other topics, the roots of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the
role and status of women, the US and the world arrogance’s confrontation with
the Islamic Revolution, and the Islamic Revolution’s connection to the global
revolution of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his glad advent).
Grand
Ayatollah Seyed Rouhollah Mousavi Khomeini, better known as Imam Khomeini,
passed away on June 3, 1989 at the age of 87.
As
an anti-imperialist icon, he devoted his life to standing up to Iran's former
Pahlavi monarchy, a key ally of the United States, and eventually paved the way
for the regime’s downfall in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
He
spent many years in exile in Iraq, Turkey and France, from where he led a
swelling grassroots movement, which ultimately put an end to millennia of
monarchical rule in Iran.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Proceedings
of conference on Islamic financing: Call for replacing interest-based banking
with Shariah-compliant system
Muhammad
Shifa
31
May, 2022
KARACHI:
Known Islamic scholar and former judge of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) Mufti
Muhammad Taqi Usmani on Monday urged the Islamic banking professionals and
other stakeholders of financial institutions to replace interest-based banking
with a Shariah-compliant system, saying the dream of serving the humanity at
large and a fair distribution of wealth will remain unfulfilled without
adopting a Riba-free financial system.
Addressing
the opening session of the Third World Islamic Finance Forum-2022 as a chief
guest via Zoom, Mr Usmani said that the abolition of Riba from the financial
system is not just the need of an Islamic system, rather it is the need of the
humanity and the world at large.
Themed
‘Development of Islamic finance ecosystem for global prosperity’ the two-day
mega event has been organised by the Institute of Business Administration’s
Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance (IBA, CEIF) here at a hotel.
The
former judge of FSC said: “Without going into the depth of this topic, I will
discuss only some points that need our consideration. The financial system
developed today has not succeeded in catering to the needs of the global
society and humanity, and many scholars of economy and financial experts have
accepted and admitted to this very fact.
“Because
of this [interest-based financial] system... the economies of the world very
frequently have had shocks, and due to these shocks the whole economy gets
shattered, as happened in the crisis of 2008.”
He
went on to say that scholars at times suggested solutions, made their efforts
to bring reforms through mere patchworks within the existing system, without
eradicating the biggest evil, the Riba, from it.
Riba,
or interest, has been prohibited in all divine books like the Bible and finally
the holy Quran. Jews, Christians and Muslims all agree that usury was
prohibited by Allah. But, unfortunately, this has been the most evil practice
in commercial transactions.
“Allah
has given clear-cut instructions about the prohibition of Riba, and the Holy
Quran has conveyed these directives about its prohibition. Hazrat Muhammad
[Peace be Upon Him] also announced the total prohibition of Riba at the time of
Hujjatul Wida,” said Mr Usmani.
He
said he had explained this concept in a number of writings, and it was
confirmed and ratified by many scholars of the day that Riba is the biggest
evil that has spoilt the whole system of finance in the society.
“I
request the participants of the forum... to discuss and study this aspect of
our financial system, if we really want Islamic finance (to) serve humanity for
global prosperity,” he added.
“It
is very fortunate [that] this august conference is being held at a time when
the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan has given a historic judgment about the
ban on Riba-based transactions.
Some
35 years ago, a similar judgment was given by the FSC. However, later on the
decision was challenged before the Supreme Court’s Shariat Appellate Bench
which gave a detailed judgment consisting of around 1100 pages (that) discussed
different aspects of Riba and interest.
This
judgment was reviewed by another Shariat Appellate Bench of the apex court, and
the case was sent back to FSC for fresh thinking on the issues involved.
The
case had been pending in the FSC for the last 20 years, until a verdict was
announced on April 27, 2022. Now the FSC has declared that prohibition of Riba
is absolute in all its forms and manifestations according to the injunctions of
Islam and in accordance with the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Therefore, it should be
eliminated in five years.
Mr
Usmani said it is high time to ponder over the matter and develop a roadmap to
achieve this goal, as ordered by the FSC. “It is imperative for all of us, and
persons involved in Islamic finance, that we make the roadmap to ensure an
interest-free financial system,” said Mr Usmani.
He
requested the participants of the conference to come up with workable
recommendations to achieve total elimination of Riba, and make Pakistan an
example for the rest of world to follow.
On
the occasion Sima Kamil, the deputy governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP),
highlighted six strategic pillars of the Islamic Banking Industry under the
Third Strategic Plan 2021-25.
She
said the plan included strengthening the local landscape, enhancing
conduciveness of regulatory framework, reinforcing comprehensive Shariah
governance framework, improving liquidity management framework, expanding
outreach and market development, and bolstering human capital.
She
said the banking regulator has taken some key steps for promotion of Islamic
banking in the country, including establishment of three centres of excellence,
regular issuance of five-year strategic plans to guide the industry, and
Shariah-compliant standing ceiling facility and open market operations.
In
her detailed presentation, she informed the participants about issues and
challenges faced by the Islamic Banking Industry. She said that perception and
capacity-building issues, lack of regular supply of sovereign sukuk, lower
penetration in strategic sectors like SMEs and agriculture, lack of research and
development of innovative products and services and adoption of technology and
digital transformations are some challenges that need to be addressed.
Irfan
Siddiqui, the president and CEO of Meezan Bank, said some 22 players are
operating in the Islamic Banking Industry. Its market share is increasing with
each passing year.
In
March 2018, the Islamic Banking Market share of deposits was around 14.5
percent, which grew to 19.4 percent by December 2021. He said the SBP’s vision
for Islamic Banking is to achieve some 30 percent market share of deposits by
2025.
As
of December 2021, the deposits of conventional banks were around 80 percent,
deposits of fully fledged Islamic Banks were 11 percent, and Islamic Windows 9
percent or Rs 1.86 trillion.
He
said if a minimum of 5 percent incremental growth is achieved then the Islamic
Windows’s deposits will go up to 30 percent or Rs 10 trillion by 2025.
Aamir
Khan, the chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP),
said the commission is promoting Islamic finance under its principles of
protection, circulation, justice and fairness, promoting real economic
activity, and enhancing the wellbeing of society.
In
line with these goals, he said SECP has been facilitating sustainable growth of
Islamic Finance in different sectors.
Chairman
of IBA-CEIF Dr Ishrat Husain, its Director Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, and Executive
Director of IBA Dr S. Akbar Zaidi also spoke on the occasion.
Source:
Brecorder
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan,
Turkey support each other on all core issues, says PM ahead of visit
May
31, 2022
Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif has hailed "exemplary" relations between
Pakistan and Turkey, saying the countries support each other on all issues of
core interest including the disputes related to occupied Kashmir and Northern
Cyprus.
He
made the remarks in an interview with Turkish media outlet Anadolu Agency ahead
of his three-day visit to the country.
The
prime minister will leave for Turkey today. During his trip, he will meet
Turkish businessmen and traders, visit the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,
the founder of the Republic of Turkey, and issue a commemorative plaque
alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to mark 75 years since the
establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Foreign
Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached Ankara yesterday, and was received by
Ankara Governor Vasip Sahin.
In
the interview, PM Shehbaz said Pakistan and Turkey had always stood by each
other for the last 75 years. "These historical relations are grounded
firmly in common religious, cultural and linguistic links and transcend
political changes on either side."
Both
countries had similar views on regional and international issues and
collaborated closely on bilateral, regional and multilateral forums, he said.
He
also thanked Turkey's leadership for its principled support on the Kashmir
issue.
The
prime minister said that while cultural and people-to-people relations between
the two countries were on an upward trajectory, Pakistan was now focusing on
increasing economic cooperation.
"The
current level of bilateral trade is still not a true reflection of the
excellent state of our relationship. This is also an area where immense
opportunities exist for both countries. During my visit here, I am meeting
leading Turkish business companies to encourage them to utilise the immense
opportunities existing in Pakistan in various fields, including energy,
infrastructure, e-commerce, municipal agro-based industry and IT sectors,
etc."
Trade
with India
In
response to a question about trade with India, Prime Minister Shehbaz said
Pakistan and India had a "lot to gain from mutually beneficial
trade".
However,
Pakistan had taken the decision to downgrade relations with India after Aug 5,
2019, when it revoked occupied Kashmir's special autonomy, he recalled.
"We
are cognisant of the economic dividends that can be accrued from a healthy
trade activity with India. However, in the wake of continued brutalisation of
the Kashmiri people, attempts to change the demographic structure of the
occupied territory, and continued denial by India of the Kashmiris' rights, it
is hard to imagine that progress can be made on the trade front."
He
further said that India would have to take the onus for normalisation of
relations by revisiting its decision of Aug 2019 and creating a conducive
environment for dialogue.
Pak-US
ties
When
the premier was questioned about Pakistan's place in the United States' policy
on the Asia-Pacific region, he said the two countries had a "longstanding
and broad-based relationship".
Pakistan
wanted to deepen and widen its engagement with the US, he said, pointing out
that the country was the biggest export market and a major source of investment
and revenue.
There
is a lot of potential to expand the trade, commercial and investment aspects of
this relationship even further, he added.
The
prime minister also urged US companies to invest in Pakistan, especially in the
information technology sector.
PTI
invited to discuss charter of economy
Prime
Minister Shehbaz stressed that the PML-N-led coalition government did not
believe in "any kind of polarisation". The incumbent government was
formed of "almost all" political forces from the provinces, except
the PTI, he added.
"I
believe in political accommodation and dialogue. For this reason, I have
invited all political forces, including the PTI, to sit together and agree on
the charter of the economy. For Pakistan to break the boom and bust cycle and
gain economic stability, it is important that all political forces work out the
minimum rules of the game that ensure continuity of economic policies and
provide enabling environment for this purpose.
"While
we are aware of the menace of political polarisation, we are working to promote
political dialogue and engagement."
The
PML-N government's priority since coming into power in April has been to
stabilise the economy, he said and noted that Pakistan was facing several
challenges, including external fiscal pressures, inflation and rising food
prices.
"We
are paying the price for the indecisiveness of the previous government, for
example, the failure to purchase fuel in a timely manner and the absence of
strategic reserves of essential commodities, which was subsequently followed by
purchases at a higher price. This impacted the poor people."
However,
the incumbent government was focused on improving socioeconomic indicators,
particularly for the vulnerable segment of society, he added. He further said
the government was working on a tight monetary policy, reduction of fiscal
deficit, relief package for the poor, and building strategic reserves of
essential commodities.
"We
are hopeful that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) will release the next
tranche, which will build the confidence of the international market for
investment in Pakistan, thereby alleviating the pressure on foreign exchange
reserves."
CPEC
Prime
Minister Shehbaz said Pakistan fully supported the five-pronged approach of
China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the emphasis on physical
connectivity, financial cooperation, trade facilitation, policy consultation,
and people-to-people linkages.
"With
the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), we have successfully realised our
countries' shared vision and the BRI's ideals. With CPEC entering a new phase
of high-quality development, our Belt and Road cooperation will accelerate
Pakistan's industrial and economic modernisation.
"Pakistan
is committed to the high-quality development of CPEC, including improvements in
Pakistan's railways' infrastructure and full realisation of Gwadar Port's
potential," he added.
'Necessary
to engage with Afghan govt'
The
premier also said that it was a necessity and not a matter of choice to engage
with the interim government in Afghanistan.
"The
world cannot abandon the Afghan people. It must shoulder the responsibility to
immediately address the country's humanitarian crisis and fragile
economy," he said and warned that a "total collapse" of its
economy would be disastrous for Afghans, Pakistanis and the international
community.
"The
outflow of refugees and transnational terrorism from a destabilised Afghanistan
does not serve the interests of anyone," he cautioned.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Islamabad,
TTP agree on indefinite ceasefire
Ismail
Khan
May
31, 2022
PESHAWAR:
The government of Pakistan and the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
have agreed to extend the ceasefire, this time, indefinitely and continue
negotiations to find an end to the nearly two decades of militancy in the
tribal border region, it has been reliably learnt.
The
extension in ceasefire, which was to come to an end last night, indicates
significant progress in talks between the two sides in the Afghan capital
Kabul, sources familiar with the development said.
Sources
told Dawn that the two sides had agreed to extend the ceasefire and continue
peace talks following separate meetings with Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund,
Acting Prime Minister of the ‘Islamic Emerate of Afghanistan (IEA)’ at his
office the other day.
These
sources said that in his meetings with the two sides, the soft-spoken septuagenarian
leader expressed his desire that the talks and ceasefire should be allowed to
continue without any cut-off date.
Afghan
Taliban’s acting PM Mullah Akhund helping with ‘peace talks’
In
a subsequent joint meeting, the two sides agreed to extend the ceasefire
indefinitely and pursue negotiations to end the conflict that has seen mass
dislocation and killings of thousands of people in Pakistan’s tribal region and
the country at large.
IEA
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid and TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani had issued
statements early this month, announcing extension in the ceasefire till May 30.
No
official statement has been issued so far regarding the indefinite extension in
ceasefire but Dawn has been able to get confirmation of this significant development.
The
development follows days of “intense and extensive negotiations” in the Afghan
capital attended by senior level delegations from the two sides that at one
point seemed close to breakdown.
IEA’s
Acting Minister for Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is the central mediator,
helped bring the talks back on track, sources said.
The
GoP, sources said, had demonstrated its seriousness by acceding to some of the
TTP’s demands and after the IEA suggested it would be important for
confidence-building to move from preliminaries to formal and structured
negotiations.
The
release of prisoners and presidential pardon to two key militant commanders,
including TTP Swat spokesman Muslim Khan, was one such demand.
Compensation
for the dead and wounded, enforcement of Shariah regulation in Malakand,
withdrawal of military from the borders and reversal of Fata merger into Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa were key demands from the TTP side, these sources said.
The
Shariah Nizam-i-Adl Regulation, 2009 is still operational in Malakand division.
The law was enacted following marathon negotiations with the late Maulana Sufi
Muhammad.
The
GoP, these sources said, had no issue with some of the TTP’s demand, but two
major issues remained challenging: the reversal of Fata merger and the disbandment
of the TTP as an armed militant group.
The
GoP delegates made it clear that the merger brought about through a
constitutional amendment was not up for discussion and that tribal people were
the main, important stakeholders.
The
TTP on its part had brought documents containing the commitment made by
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah with the tribal people guaranteeing their
autonomy in an independent Pakistan.
They
were told that the reversal of the merger would mean return to the Frontier
Crimes Regulation which was a relic of the British Empire and did not contain
anything that could be considered ‘Islamic.’ They were asked to identify laws
that had been enacted post-merger which they deemed to be in contravention of
their customs or the ‘riwaj.’
Besides,
the 25th Constitutional Amendment that brought about Fata’s merger into KP is
pending before a larger bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since March,
2022 on a petition filed by some tribal elders opposed to it.
The
disbandment of the TTP is another make-or-break issue, these sources said. The
government delegation has made it plain that no armed group would be allowed to
enter Pakistan territory or operate as such. Options are being discussed and
the IEA is fully on-board in this regard.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1692383/islamabad-ttp-agree-on-indefinite-ceasefire
--------
Punjab
govt plans unprecedented security if PTI holds another march
Mohammad
Asghar
May
31, 2022
RAWALPINDI:
The Punjab government has decided to put in place unprecedented security
measures - double to those made during Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)’s ‘Haqiqi
Azadi March’ on May 25.
The
move came about after former prime minister Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa
(KP) Chief Minister Mehmood Khan approached the Supreme Court seeking
permission for a fresh march to Islamabad.
Although
it has been decided to put in place “double layer” of heavy freight shipping
containers filled with sand and concrete to block the roads leading to
Islamabad, the police have been asked to submit their demands for required
containers and other tools.
The
sources said the sand filled containers will be joined with each other with
electric welding and razor wire and will be placed in the surrounding areas.
This
time, the sources said, loopholes or mistakes made during the previous long
march will not be repeated while taking the security arrangements.
Although
the PTI has not announced any date for the fresh long march, the district
administration has started confiscating heavy shipping containers to block the
roads and streets.
Extra
police, tear gas shells and other anti-riot tools will also be sought from the
provincial authorities to strengthen security measures.
During
the May 25 march, the police had sealed roads at seven major points in the
garrison city to prevent the participants from heading towards Islamabad.
In
Rawalpindi district, 150 freight shipping containers were placed on different
points to seal roads.
Soan
Bridge’s both sides were sealed with heavy shipping containers while the road
users were advised to use Bahria Town Phase VII route to proceed to Saddar or
Peshawar Road.
The
Airport Road from Green Garage to Islamabad Expressway and Gulzar-i-Quaid to
Aammar Chowk was sealed with shipping containers.
And
roads to and from Haider Road turn to Murree Road were also closed.
Alternatively, Peshawar Road and Mall Road were open for traffic.
Murree
Road from Mareer Chowk to Faizabad was completely closed on both sides while
alternatively Gawalmandi, Kamran Chowk and Kutchery Chowk were open.
Likewise,
Rawal Road remained closed for traffic from Shaheen Chowk to Murree Road and
Double Road was also closed on both sides and traffic was allowed on IJP Road.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
PM
Shehbaz seeks 10-year roadmap for deepening Pak, UK ties
May
30, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday underscored the importance of
Pakistan-UK Enhanced Strategic Dialogue (ESD) and suggested to develop 10-years
roadmap for taking relations forward in diverse fields.
The
Prime Minister expressed these views during a telephone call with his British
counterpart, Mr. Boris Johnson.
PM
Shehbaz Sharif stressed the ESD should deepen mutual engagement and the
bilateral partnership elevated to the next level. The Prime Minister also
appreciated the work undertaken by the UK in promoting education, health and
other social sectors in Pakistan.
Prime
Minister Johnson reiterated his felicitations to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
on his election and assumption of office and underlined UK’s desire to further
enhance its bilateral relationship with Pakistan.
Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended felicitations to UK on platinum jubilee
celebrations of Her Majesty The Queen’s coronation. Both leaders emphasized the
importance of celebrating the 75th anniversary of establishment of Pakistan-UK
diplomatic relations in a befitting manner.
The
Prime Minister stated that Pakistan highly valued its relations with the UK,
which were based on historical linkages and convergent interests on a broad
range of issues. The Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s desire to bolster its
ties with the UK across diverse fields, with a special emphasis on an enhanced
trade and investment partnership.
Highlighting
the long-standing Pakistan-UK ties, the Prime Minister appreciated the positive
role played by 1.6 million Pakistani diaspora in forging closer links and
building bridges between the two countries. He further emphasized the need to
strengthen cooperation in the field of legal migration to fully realise the
potential.
In
the regional context, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif underscored the importance
of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the need to scale up efforts to avert
the humanitarian crisis. He added that the international community’s
constructive diplomatic and political engagement with the Interim Afghan
government was vital for sustainable peace and stability.
He
also underscored the importance of release of Afghanistan’s frozen assets to
bring stability to the fledgling Afghan economy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson
conveyed his government’s deep appreciation for Pakistan’s cooperation with UK,
particularly with regard to evacuations in the aftermath of developments in
Afghanistan post-15 August 2021.
The
Prime Minister highlighted the grave violations of human rights in the Indian
Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). While reiterating Pakistan’s
commitment towards promotion of peace in the region, he stressed the importance
of peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. He also underscored
the need for maintaining strategic balance in the South Asian region.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
needs investments from its Chinese friends, not handouts: PM Shehbaz Sharif
May
30, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said Pakistan doesn’t want handouts,
but investments from its Chinese friends.
During
a meeting with the representatives of Chinese companies investing in Pakistan
here, the premier said that Pakistan and China’s unwavering friendship has
weathered storms and strengthened overtime.
He
praised China for progressing in various sectors and lifting numerous above the
poverty level during the last three decades.
Pakistan
has China as a model to emulate and replicate its development reforms, PM
Shehbaz Sharif said.
The
premier said that Pakistan looks forward to seek support from China in every
walk of life and it will benefit from China’s experience in the fields of
industries and agriculture.
Pakistan
has resolved that we will meet all the challenges however difficult they are
and take Pakistan towards progress, the premier said.
“For
this, Pakistan needs real support from our Chinese friends, not in terms of
money, aid or handouts, but in terms of investment, trade and expertise.”
PM
Shehbaz Sharif said that China is the most reliable friend of Pakistan.
He
thanked the Chinese leadership, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for
their unstinting support towards Pakistan in the shape of the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor.
He
said that CPEC has helped Pakistan move forward a huge way. Recalling the start
of the last decade, when electricity load-shedding was at its peak, PM Shehbaz
Sharif said that the Chinese president and then prime minister of Pakistan
Nawaz Sharif made various deals to set up power plants to overcome the issue by
2017.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Islamic
cleric, Jangebe begs FG to negotiate with ASUU
May
30, 2022
By
Ifeanyi Nwannah
The
Zamfara State commissioner of Religious Affairs and Chief Imam of Muslims
Foundation Jumu’at Mosque in Gusau, the State capital, Dr. Muhammad Tukur Sani
Jangebe, has urged the Federal Government to as a matter of fact address the
demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Sheikh
Jangebe stated this in Gusau while answering questions from newsmen.
According
to him, the strike was seriously affecting the entire teaching and learning
system among students and their lecturers across the country.
“The
Federal Government should look into negotiating with ASUU and bringing back our
children to their respective universities for them to continue with their
studies.
“Everyone
knows that the contribution teachers are giving to nation building can never be
overemphasised and we are calling on the government to provide a mechanism to
boost their morale,” he said.
He
also called on parents and teachers of various institutions of learning to
intensify prayers.
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://dailypost.ng/2022/05/30/islamic-cleric-jangebe-begs-fg-to-negotiate-with-asuu/
--------
Somalia
warns it is facing famine-like conditions
Mohammed
Dhaysane
31.05.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
Somalia
is experiencing its worst drought in decades, approaching famine-like
conditions amid a worsening hunger and nutrition crisis, the special
presidential envoy for drought response said Monday.
Abdirahman
Abdishakur Warsame said 6.1 million Somalis are facing an extreme level of food
insecurity while 330,000 children are facing severe acute malnutrition due to
the prolonged drought.
"The
Special Envoy for Drought calls on all stakeholders to increase efforts to
support communities affected by drought," the Office of the Special Envoy
for Drought Response said in a statement.
The
statement underscored the need for an urgent and well-coordinated response and
for all Somalis to stand to save lives.
"The
contentious political environment which led to the prolonged electoral process,
global political crisis, and the emergence of humanitarian crisis fronts
elsewhere in the world have contributed to the inadequate response to the
drought in the face of the impending famine in the country," the envoy
said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-warns-it-is-facing-famine-like-conditions/2601612
--------
Bomb
blast in southwestern Somalia kills 3, wounds 4
Mohammed
Dhaysane
30.05.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
At
least three people were killed and four others wounded in a bomb blast in
Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region on Monday.
The
target of the blast in Afgoye, located some 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest
of the capital Mogadishu, was Hussein Jibril, the town’s former deputy mayor, a
police officer told Anadolu Agency.
“It
was a remote-controlled explosive device. Three people have been killed and
four, including Jibril, are injured,” said the officer, who requested anonymity
due to safety concerns.
Earlier
in the day, the al-Shabaab terror group attacked a bridge running across a
river in Afgoye, according to Somali military officials.
Security
forces successfully repulsed the attack, the officials said, without sharing
any details on casualties or damage.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/bomb-blast-in-southwestern-somalia-kills-3-wounds-4/2601433
--------
Tunisian
president slams Venice Commission over report on constitutional referendum
May
31, 2022
TUNIS:
Tunisian President Kais Saied threatened on Monday to suspend the country’s
membership of the Venice Commission and expel its representatives, after it
published a report criticizing his plan to hold a referendum on a new
constitution.
Said
pledged earlier this month to move forward with a proposal for a referendum on
July 25 to replace the country’s democratic 2014 constitution, ignoring
opposition calls to reverse the controversial decision.
The
move has added to growing internal and external criticism that he has
entrenched one-man rule since he seized control of executive power last summer,
dissolved parliament, and began ruling by decree.
The
report issued this month by the Venice Commission, a panel of experts of the
human rights body Council of Europe, said it was unrealistic to hold a credible
referendum in the absence of clear and pre-established rules.
It
added that changing the electoral law should be preceded by a “broad
consultation of political forces and civil society” in order to reach a
consensus.
Saied
this month named a law professor to head an advisory committee including law
and political science deans, to draft a new constitution for a “new republic,”
excluding political parties from the restructure of the political system.
Tunisia’s
main political parties said they will boycott the unilateral restructuring of
politics. University deans have also refused to join the panel.
The
powerful UGTT union refused to take part in a limited dialogue proposed by
Saied as part of the process. It said it would hold a national strike at state
firms and public services. “If necessary, we must end our membership in the
Venice Commission, they are persona non grata in Tunisia,” Saied said on
Monday.
“Blatant
interference is unacceptable,” he added.
The
Venice Commission said in its report that elections for a new parliament should
be held before any referendum.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2093181/middle-east
--------
North
America
US
President abandoned plan to open consulate for Palestinians in al-Quds
May
31, 2022
A
new report has revealed that US President Joe Biden's administration has
abandoned its plan to reopen a consulate specifically designated for
Palestinian affairs in the occupied city of al-Quds.
In
a report published on Monday, the al-Quds-based Hebrew newspaper Israel Today
said the Biden administration has given up on the establishment of a US
consulate in the holy city, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
The
report further noted that the United States intends to upgrade the post of
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israel and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr
to the Special Envoy for Palestinians.
He
would work directly with the Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU) of the US Embassy
in the Occupied Palestine and indeed would be a separate representative for
Palestinians in every sense, it added.
The
latest development comes as the Israeli regime has already expressed its
opposition to the US plan to reopen a consulate for Palestinians in occupied
al-Quds, saying the move would challenge its "sovereignty" over the
contested city.
Back
in November, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett rejected the US-promised
reopening of its consulate for Palestinians in East al-Quds.
He
said at the time there was “no room” in al-Quds for the American diplomatic
mission.
The
administration of former US President Donald Trump signaled support for
Israel’s claim on al-Quds as its “capital” by moving the American embassy there
from Tel Aviv.
It
also shuttered the US consulate in al-Quds, which had served as a de facto
embassy for the Palestinians, saying it was no longer needed because the new
embassy had taken over its functions.
Moving
the US embassy to al-Quds was among several US acts against Palestinians, who
want East al-Quds as the capital of their future state.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Blinken
says US strongly condemns Iran seizure of Greek-flagged vessels
30
May, 2022
US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday condemned the “unjustified seizure”
of two Greek-flagged vessels by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard last week,
the State Department said.
Iranian
forces seized two Greek tankers in the Gulf on Friday, shortly after Tehran
warned it would take punitive action against Athens over the confiscation of
Iranian oil by the US from a tanker held off the Greek coast.
“Iran's
continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights and
freedoms are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,” Blinken
said in the statement.
Blinken
made the comments in a telephone call with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos
Dendias, the department said.
The
US and Greek diplomats called on Iran to immediately release the seized
vessels, their cargoes, and their crews. Blinken said the United States stands
with its NATO ally “in the face of this unjustified seizure.”
Iran's
state maritime body said on Saturday the crew of the two Greek tankers not been
detained, and were in good health and being cared for onboard their vessels.
Greek
authorities last month impounded the Iranian-flagged Pegas off Greece due to
European Union sanctions. The United States later confiscated the Iranian oil
cargo held onboard, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
Secretary of State thanks Saudi Arabia’s FM for efforts to extend Yemen truce
31
May, 2022
The
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister
Prince Faisal bin Farhan for the Kingdom’s efforts to extend the truce in Yemen
in a phone call on Monday, the State Department said.
Both
sides in the warring Gulf state agreed on a two-month ceasefire beginning in
early April and coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan.
Talks
to extend the truce past the end of May have been ongoing for several weeks,
according to the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg.
It
was the first respite in violence since civil war broke out in 2014, with Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervening on the side of the
internationally-recognized government in 2015.
The
truce has largely held up despite some reports of violence, Grundberg said on
May 17.
Humanitarian
aid had been able to reach previously inaccessible frontlines, and the first
commercial flights out of the capital Sanaa in almost six years were able to
take off.
Yemen’s
government also gave clearance to ships delivering fuel to the port of Hodeida,
easing the fuel crisis in Sanaa and surrounding areas.
Blinken
and Prince Farhan discussed a range of other issues in their call on Monday,
including efforts to avert the economic, environmental, and humanitarian threats
posed by the Safer oil tanker in the Red Sea.
The
aging tanker holds more than a million barrels of oil and has been anchored off
Yemen’s coast for more than 30 years.
Maintenance
and offloading were halted when the war started, and it is considered a major
ecological threat due to the risk of a significant oil spill that could
devastate fishing communities, according to the UN.
An
action plan to transfer the oil from the decaying vessel to a newer ship has
been outlined by the UN and is awaiting the funding needed to carry it out.
Blinken
also outlined in the call the importance of international support for Ukraine
and the need for a global response to respond to the food security crisis
resulting from the violence.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/children-durga-muslim-fundamentalism/d/127142