Chapters On Foundation Of Islam Replaced By “Nomadic Empires” In The Class 11 Syllabus For 2022-23 Released By CBSE
New Age Islam News Bureau
22 April 2022
Image used for representational purpose
----
• Anger As UK PM Climbs JCB After Indian Muslim
Properties Are Bulldozed in Various Cities Violating Human Rights
• UK PM Boris Johnson’s Silence On Jahangirpuri
‘Deafening’: Amnesty India
• Explosion in Mazar-e-Sharif Killed 30, Wounded 80
Shiite Worshipers
• Canada's South Asian Diaspora Condemns 'Brazen Calls
for Muslim Genocide in India'
India
• Hindu, Muslim inmates of UP prison keep alive
50-year Roza tradition
• Congress’ Adhir Ranjan writes to Mamata Banerjee on
‘pathetic, miserable’ condition of Muslims in Bengal
• Bangladeshi, Rohingya Muslims set up by BJP to cause
riots: AAP’s Atishi
• Five arrested for allegedly murdering Muslim man
during Khargone communal violence
• Old structure behind mosque sparks communal debate
in Mangaluru
• Security personnel, two terrorists killed in Jammu
encounter ahead of PM Modi's visit
• Gyanvapi case: HC junks plea of Muslim body
• Top LeT commander Kantroo among 3 terrorists killed
in Baramulla encounter
• Members urge mosque managements in Pune to observe
SC norms on loudspeakers
--------
Europe
• Leaders Of Spain, Germany, Portugal Urge French
Voters To Reject Far-Right Le Pen
• Ramazan Coincides Presidential Elections In France
This Year: Anti-Islam Narratives Has
Left Many French Muslims Feeling Marginalized
• Kyrgyzstan condemns terrorist attack on Shiite
mosque in Afghanistan
• Attack on Muslims outside London mosque condemned
• Turkish society in France expects solution to high
cost of living from elections
• Syrian-Palestinians win ‘protection rights’ under UN
in Switzerland
--------
South Asia
• Seven Afghan Men Flogged On Taliban-Run Supreme
Court Order
• UN, Iran Condemn Explosion on Shiite Mosque in
Mazar-e-Sharif
• IS Claims Responsibility for Explosions across
Afghanistan
• Taliban condemn blasts in Afghanistan
--------
North America
• US Couple Of New Jersey Convicted Of Anti-Muslim
Harassment
• US Muslims Gave Estimated $1.8B In 2021 Charity:
Report
• Ilhan Omar on 'unofficial, personal' Pakistan visit,
does not represent US government policy, says Biden official
• Ilhan Omar regrets Kashmir not getting US attention
it merits
• US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tours Pakistan, meets
families at LoC
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistan’s Prominent Religious Scholar, Mufti Taqi
Usman, Urges Taliban to Reopen Schools For Afghan Girls
• Imran Khan Once Again Praises India's Foreign Policy
At Lahore Rally
• IMF wants Pakistan to reverse Imran Khan's relief
package
• President Alvi administers oath to 4 new members of
PM Shehbaz's cabinet
• PM to convene grand Jirga over North Waziristan
situation
• No agreement signed with PPP, says MQM-P leader
• Pakistan PM Shehbaz withdraws foreign affairs
portfolio from Tariq Fatemi
--------
Arab World
• Arab League Urges Israel To Stop Jewish Prayers At
Al-Aqsa Mosque
• Christians in Syria's Idlib worship freely:
Archpriest
• Umrah Security Forces gear up for huge flow of
pilgrims during last ten days of Ramazan
• Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque distributes 30,000 iftar
meals daily at 10 worker accommodations
• Egyptian man kills his two brothers, injures another
over inheritance dispute
• UAE astronomy centre says Eid al-Fitr to fall on May
2 in most countries
• YPG/PKK terrorists set fire to office of Kurdish
opposition group in Syria
--------
Southeast Asia
• The Sin Of Lying Vs Accused’s Right Under The Law
• Long associated with Ramazan, how did dates become
popular in Malaysia?
• China Calls For Truce As Pakistan, Afghan Taliban Ties
Turn Violent
• PAS veep told to solemnly swear there’s no plot
against Umno
• We don’t know if PAS’ leaked documents are genuine,
says PM
--------
Mideast
• Iran Voices Deep Concern over Israeli Crimes in
Letters to UN, OIC, Muslim FMs
• Iran Asks Taliban for Protection of Afghan
Children’s Lives
• Israeli police, Palestinians clash at Jerusalem holy
site
• Israel says no change to status-quo at Jerusalem
Al-Aqsa compound
• Iran Arrests 3 Mossad Spies
• Iran Asks Afghanistan to Honora Undertakings about
Water Rights
--------
Africa
• Zamfara NSCDC Warns Hoodlums, Miscreants To Stay
Clear Of All Mosques
• Libya’s rival government meets for first time
• Nigerian state confirms bombing of 6 children by Air
Force fighter jet
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
--------
Chapters
On Foundation Of Islam Replaced By “Nomadic Empires” In The Class 11 Syllabus
For 2022-23 Released By CBSE
Image used for representational purpose
----
Apr
22, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Chapters on “Central Islamic Lands”, which focused on the foundation of
Islam, have been replaced by “Nomadic Empires” in the Class 11 syllabus for
2022-23 released by CBSE on Thursday, several school teachers have pointed out.
The curriculum is also missing sections on the Industrial Revolution, they
added.
There
are tweaks in the Class 12 history syllabus too, with a section on “Kings and
Chronicles” that covered the administration of the Mughal empire giving way to
“Peasants, Zamindars and the State”, which focuses only on its economic
aspects.
Senior
CBSE officials could not be reached for a response on the omission of the
chapters.
Kanu
Sharma, a teacher at The Indian School, said, “By deleting sections like
‘Central Islamic Lands’, an interesting portion has been left out. It
essentially covered the foundation of Islam as a religion, Sufism, the Prophet,
and so on. Instead, it has been replaced by ‘Nomadic Empire’, which includes
Genghis Khan as a personality and ruler. This section can get heavy for
students.”
Stating
that ideally everything should be included in the curriculum, Payal Gupta, a
teacher at Evergreen Public School, said, “Maybe the board wants to minimise
the burden on students and hence the deletions. From the students’ perspective,
the chapters included for this academic session will be easier to study.”
Stressing
on the importance of seeing the “larger picture”, JNU professor Moushumi Basu
said, “Though I have not seen the sections that have been deleted, one needs to
note why any deletion is happening. What are they aiming for? This is where
things become problematic, as there are no guidelines or scrutiny of the
deletions. Are academics being consulted or is there a body which is going
through the deletions?”
Basu
added, “Whether it is school textbooks or college curriculum, things are being
omitted without any reason. This is not something which is in sync with what
our country stands for… There has to be some scrutiny of what is being taken
out and what it is being replaced with. There is a very small team which is
doing this currently, which is problematic.”
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Anger As UK PM Climbs JCB After Indian Muslim
Properties Are Bulldozed in Various Cities Violating Human Rights
Boris Johnson is slammed for
inaugurating a JCB factory in India while ignoring the demolition of
Muslim-owned shops and homes in the region by the UK company's equipment.
(Reuters)
-----
2022-April-21
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stirred a
backlash after inaugurating a JCB backhoe and excavator factory in the Western
Indian state of Gujarat, just a day after authorities illegally demolished
mainly Muslim-owned properties and a Mosque entrance in New Delhi with
bulldozers made by the same British company.
Amnesty India campaign group slammed the British PM in
a series of tweets on Thursday, calling his silence over the human rights
violations against Indian Muslims under the right-wing government
"deafening."
"In the backdrop of Municipal Corporation of
Delhi using JCB bulldozers to raze down shops of Muslims in Northwest Delhi's
Jahangirpuri yesterday, UK Prime Minister's inauguration of a JCB factory in
Gujarat is not only ignorant but his silence on the incident is
deafening," Amnesty India said.
JCB is a British digger firm owned by a Tory donor.
In another tweet, the rights body urged the UK
government not to remain silent as Indian authorities clamped down on human
rights.
"It must bring human rights to the discussion
table. India cannot wait another day for justice. These brazen attacks on the
right to livelihood and adequate housing of religious minorities in India is an
attack on their hopes for a secure future."
Major human rights controversy
In his first visit to New Delhi as prime minister,
Johnson will discuss boosting trade and security ties with the South Asian
country that buys more than half of its military hardware from Russia.
The rights group said the demolition of Muslim homes
and shops came despite an order of the Supreme Court of India, which will
resume hearing on the matter after two weeks.
Indian political analyst Sushant Singh told The
Telegraph those working in PM Johnson's office "are clearly unaware of the
major human rights controversy over the use of JCB machinery in the bulldozing
of Muslim homes and businesses in states ruled by Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata
Party [BJP] and in India's capital."
"Inaugurating a factory which is producing
machinery seen to target Muslims at the behest of Mr Modi does not set a good
image for Mr Johnson or the United Kingdom in India."
'Justice should be equal for all'
Opposition parties and activists in India have
criticised the "selective" demolition drive carried out by the
Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-controlled North Municipal
Corporation in the violence-hit locality in the capital city of Delhi.
But critics say more than 70 percent of New Delhi's
properties are built on encroached land and Muslims were deliberately targeted
by the right-wing government.
BJP says the demolitions were not related to religion
or retribution.
The incident came soon after several Muslim homes and
shops were torn down in the central Indian province of Madhya Pradesh and
Gujarat states following communal clashes.
Earlier on Thursday, Indian police detained several
Indian students protesting the demolition of Muslim-owned shops and homes.
Authorities say they want to remove illegal stores in
Jahangirpuri, where clashes broke out between Muslims and Hindus over the
weekend near a mosque and temple in which several people, including police
officers, were injured.
Residents said fighting broke out on Saturday when a
crowd of Hindu worshippers, some carrying sticks and knives, moved through the
area during a Hindu religious festival. At least 20 people were arrested.
The area was peaceful during riots that swept parts of
India in 2019 and 2020, in the country's worst communal clashes in decades over
India's new citizenship law that Muslims said discriminated against them.
Now residents fear those tensions have reached them.
An imam, who declined to be named, said the mosque
where he worked had been damaged during the clearance operation.
"Justice should be equal for all, they have
broken parts of the mosque and not touched the mandir," he said through
the mosque's gate, referring to the nearby Hindu temple.
Hate speech and Islamophobia
Similar clashes in other parts of India have been
followed by demolition drives, which critics say are an attempt by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP to intimidate India's 200 million
Muslims.
Since Modi came to power in 2014, Hindu mobs have
lynched scores of people — mainly Muslims and Dalit Hindus — suspected of
illegally transporting cows or consuming beef.
Hindu far-right groups have also targeted Muslims over
"love jihad", the conspiracy theory that Muslims are luring Hindu
women with the aim of conversion and eventually national domination.
Muslims were also accused of spreading Covid-19. In
recent years, Hindu mobs have targeted Muslims praying on Fridays in northern
India.
BJP recently banned wearing the hijab in classrooms in
Karnataka state. Hardline Hindu groups later demanded such restrictions in more
Indian states. Muslim mutton sellers and fruit vendors have become the latest
victims of the far-right Hindu groups.
During a Hindu festival earlier this month, Hindu mobs
pelted stones on mosques in several areas while DJs played loud music outside
the mosques as worshippers prayed.
Hindu monks known for their incendiary anti-Muslim
rhetoric have been calling for Rohingya-type ethnic cleansing of Indian
Muslims.
Source: Trt World
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
UK
PM Boris Johnson’s Silence On Jahangirpuri ‘Deafening’: Amnesty India
British PM Boris Johnson
-----
22nd
April 2022
Amnesty
India on Wednesday expressed concern as the United Kingdom’s (UK) Prime
Minister Boris Johnson inaugurated a JCB factory in Gujarat during his two-day
visit to India amidst the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in New Delhi.
The
human rights body also questioned the PM’s silence over the plight of Muslims
due to the municipal corporation’s decision to demolish houses and shops owned
by the minority community.
Amnesty
India put up a series of tweets expressing concerns over Johnson’s
participation in the inauguration of the factory in Gujarat and said, “In the
backdrop of Municipal Corporation of Delhi using JCB bulldozers to raze down
shops of Muslims in Northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri yesterday, UK Prime
Minister’s inauguration of a JCB factory in Gujarat is not only ignorant but
his silence on the incident is deafening.”
In
the following tweets the organisation urged Johnson to initiate the discussion
on the state of human rights in India. “As Indian authorities clamp down on
human rights daily, the UK government must not remain a mute bystander. It must
bring human rights to the discussion table. India cannot wait another day for
justice,” it said.
It
is to be noted that the Delhi civic body went ahead with the demolition of
Muslim owned properties despite the orders of the Supreme Court, which directed
the former to halt the operation. The demolition drive did not even allow the
residents to salvage their belongings.
The
organisation also expressed concerns over the bleak future and security of the
displaced people. It also called out the Indian administration for its brazen
attacks on the Muslim community.
UK
minster Naz Shah asks PM Johnson to raise the issue of anti-Muslim violence.
Apart
from Amnesty India, UK shadow minister Naz Shah also urged Johnson to confront
the Indian government over the deteriorating state of human rights in the
country. Shah had a message for the British Premier with regards to the grave
situation of Muslims in India.
She
took to Twitter to share the message and said, ” My message to @BorisJohnson on
his visit to India is that our nation’s foreign relations must not just be
based on trade & internationalism but also on human rights. My plea to the
@10DowningStreet is to raise the growing issue of Islamophobia with the Modi
Government. (1)”
Shah
further stressed on the human rights violation in India as she referred to a
recent report by doctor Gregory Staton who sensed that India is fast moving
towards a genocide.
The
minister further expressed concerns over physical and mental torture Muslims
are bein subjected to in India and said, “Muslims beaten, threatened of rape
and lynched has become a norm in India. In 2019, a fact-checker website (2019)
that counted “hate crimes” in India reported that more than 90% of victims in
the past 10 years were Muslims.”
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/uk-pm-boris-johnsons-silence-on-jahangirpuri-defeaning-amnesty-india-2313185/
--------
Explosion
in Mazar-e-Sharif Killed 30, Wounded 80 Shiite Worshipers
Explosion
in Mazar-e-Sharif
-----
21
Apr 2022
Health
officials in Abu Ali Sina hospital in the Mazar-e-Sharif city of the northern
Balkh province said that 30 killed and 80 wounded have been dispatched to the
hospital after an explosion hit “Se Dukan” mosque in the city.
Local
residents said the blast that occurred in the mosque at 12:40 PM local time
targeted a Shiite Muslims mosque in the northern city.
It
is still not clear how the blast took place.
The
health officials have said that the number of victims is feared to increase as
the statistics are preliminary.
The
Afghan capital Kabul has also witnessed two blats on Thursday, April 21, 2022,
that wounded two children.
Spokesperson
of Kabul police Khalid Zadran said that a bomb was planted by a road in Police
District 5.
The
northern Kunduz province was also hit by a planted bomb that resulted in the
killing of four civilians and wounding of eight more while four Taliban members
died after a bomb blasted in the Khugiani district of the eastern Nangarhar
province.
It
comes two days after three bomb blasts in a school and educational center in
Kabul killed six students and wounded 24 more.
No
one has claimed responsibility for the blasts yet.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/explosion-in-mazar-e-sharif-killed-30-wounded-80-shiite-worshipers-576576576/
--------
Canada's
South Asian Diaspora Condemns 'Brazen Calls for Muslim Genocide in India'
Representative
image. Photo: Reuters
-----
APRIL
22, 2022
New
Delhi: A group of individuals belonging to the South Asian diaspora in Canada
has issued a statement condemning the most recent wave of violence against the
Muslim community in India, “…unleashed by Hindu right wing groups affiliated
with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)”.
The
statement notes that the country has seen a steady increase in “Islamophobic
and misogynist actions taken by Hindu-fascist groups” over the last few months
and goes on to detail some of the most recent, specific incidents of the same.
The
first such incident that the signatories of the statement mention is the
anti-Muslim violence that surrounded Ram Navami, which concluded on April 10.
The statement notes that the nine-day occasion, wherein Hindus are required to
maintain a vegetarian diet, was used as an opportunity by “right-wing
nationalists” to attack shops selling non-vegetarian food.
The
group specifically mentions the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the
BJP’s youth wing, for demanding a meat ban and assaulting meat vendors, “who
mostly belong to Muslim or ‘low caste’ communities.”
It
also notes that the demands for a meat ban were not limited to states in which
the BJP was in power, highlighting that municipal authorities, too, joined in
to “prohibit small businesses from selling meat”.
The
statement also details how Muslims vendors were disproportionately targeted,
not only in relation to the meat ban, but also being barred from selling their
wares at temple festivals on the basis of a state law in Karnataka, which has
never been enforced in the past.
“Secular
spaces such as university campuses were also not spared,” the statement reads,
going on to describe the Ram Navami violence that occurred on the Jawaharlal
Nehru University (JNU) campus. ABVP-affiliated students took objection to
non-vegetarian food being served on campus, which triggered a clash between two
groups.
The
statement also mentions an incident at Hyderabad University where alleged ABVP
members installed portraits of Hindu deities Ram and Hanuman on campus “in a
brazen demonstration of Hindu majoritarianism, and to provoke minority
communities.”
The
group then goes on to detail various reports from across the country which
describe Muslim homes and shops being destroyed and torched and communal
slogans and threats of violence against Muslims being raised by
“BJP-affiliated” groups on April 10.
“We
are outraged to note that the state authorities in India were complicit in the
rampage caused by the right wing mobs, whose brazen calls for the genocide of
the country’s Muslim population are in keeping with the BJP’s policy of
establishing a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation),” the statement reads.
The
statement also places these recent incidents of violence directed at the Muslim
community in the context of the larger trend of Islamophobia and misogyny in
the country. It mentions the controversy in Karnataka surrounding the ‘hijab
ban’ wherein Muslim girl students were barred from entering college premises and
taking exams while wearing hijab, which the statement describes as
“apartheid-like conditions” for Muslim women.
It
also highlights the hypocrisy of the establishment in this regard, detailing
how Hindu students were encouraged to “publicly assert their religious
identities by donning saffron clothes, and sacred threads on wrists”.
The
group expresses concern at the fact that the anti-Muslim sentiment being
conveyed by these incidents are not limited to the policies of the government;
rather, the “reveal a deepening social polarisation that makes Muslims
vulnerable to attacks in all spheres of social, economic and political life.”
The
statement concludes with a plea to the international community to take note of
the “genocidal violence” which the BJP and its supporters are perpetrating
against Muslims in India.
Alleging
the complicity of the Indian judiciary and other state institutions in the
violence, the group notes that it has “little hope” that the victims of the
violence will get justice. However, it notes that there is a need for the
international community to continue to put pressure on the BJP government. As
such, it puts forth three demands that it wants the international community to
make of the government:
1)
Take immediate action against the Hindu right wing groups that orchestrated the
recent violence against Muslims in various parts of the country.
2)
Provide immediate and unconditional compensation to the victims of recent
ethnic violence.
3)
Stop the persecution of Muslim and minority communities in India, and uphold
the secular and democratic values enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
The
full text of the note is as follows:
We,
the undersigned, strongly condemn the recent wave of violence against the
Muslim community in India unleashed by Hindu right wing groups affiliated with
the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The latest incidents of anti-Muslim
violence occurred during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami which concluded on
April 10th. The festival comprises a nine day long fast held by Hindu
communities during which many of them maintain a vegetarian diet. The festival
was used as an opportunity by the right-wing nationalists to attack shops
selling non-vegetarian food, and aggressively police the food habits of Indians
who are predominantly non-vegetarians.
The
days leading up to Ram Navami witnessed members of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi
Parishad (ABVP), the youth wing of BJP, demanding a meat ban across the country
and assaulting meat vendors, who mostly belong to Muslim or low caste
communities, particularly in states/provinces where BJP is in power. Even in
states where BJP is not in power, municipal authorities doubled down on the
meat ban and prohibited small businesses from selling meat. Muslim shopkeepers
were disproportionately targeted, and even banned from doing business around
Hindu temples. Secular spaces such as university campuses were also not spared.
In New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), ABVP goons unleashed a reign
of terror on the students who resisted the meat ban, along with meat vendors
and hostel staff. In Hyderabad Central University, ABVP forcibly installed
statues of Hindu deities such as Ram and Hanuman in a brazen demonstration of
Hindu majoritarianism, and to provoke minority communities.
On
April 10th, many Muslim homes and businesses were torched and destroyed across
the country by organized Hindu mobs. Organized rallies known as ‘Shobha Yatras’
were held by BJP-affiliated groups, which included participants making
inflammatory hate-speeches against the Muslim community, the desecration of
Mosques, destruction of properties owned by Muslims, arson, and rioting. The
worst hit places include the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,
and Gujarat. Many places in North India also reported instances of mob lynching
of alleged beef vendors by so-called ‘cow vigilantes’ who operate with utmost
impunity under BJP rule. We are outraged to note that the state authorities in
India were complicit in the rampage caused by the right wing mobs, whose brazen
calls for the genocide of the country’s Muslim population are in keeping with
the BJP’s policy of establishing a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation).
This
recent wave of violence around Ram Navami follows the steady increase in the
Islamophobic and misogynist actions taken by Hindu-fascist groups over the last
few months. Notably, the state of Karnataka banned the hijab from being worn in
schools, leading effectively to apartheid-like conditions targeting Muslim
women. School gates became the scenes of mob justice, as Muslim students were
humiliated and barred from entering, even as Hindu students were encouraged by
authorities to publicly assert their religious identities by donning saffron
clothes, and sacred threads on wrists among other Hindu religious symbols. We
are concerned that, far from being limited to state policies and actions
against India’s Muslims, these incidents reveal a deepening social polarization
that makes Muslims vulnerable to attacks in all spheres of social, economic and
political life.
As
members of the South Asian diaspora, we urge the international community to
take cognisance of the genocidal violence being perpetrated against the Muslim
community by the BJP government and its supporters in India, and organize
against it. Given the extent to which the Indian judiciary and other state
agencies are compromised, and even complicit in perpetrating Hindutva violence,
we have little hope that the victims will ever receive justice. It is incumbent
upon us, nonetheless, to ensure that the pressure on the BJP Government
remains. We, therefore, join the progressive groups in India such as the Bebaak
Collective to demand that the international community call on the Government of
India to:
1)Take
immediate action against the Hindu right wing groups that orchestrated the
recent violence against Muslims in various parts of the country.
2)
Provide immediate and unconditional compensation to the victims of recent
ethnic violence.
3)
Stop the persecution of Muslim and minority communities in India, and uphold
the secular and democratic values enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
Signatures
collected on April 19, 2022:
Sudipto
Basu
Rahul
Varma
Komal
Mohite
Ishita
Tiwary
Aparna
Sundar
Feroz
Mehdi
Ajay
Bhardwaj
Pasha
M. Khan
Dipti
Gupta
Sneha
Kumar
Chinnaiah
Jangam
Pankaj
Narayanaswamy
Mukhtiar
Singh
Lorraine
MichEl
Sushil
Handa
Amina
Bambotia
Florenciavallejo
Venkat
Maroju
Sara
Grewal
Sailaja
Krishnamurti
Manum
Shahid
Arif
Ali Khan
Dr.
Jyotika Virdi
Johny
Amruth
P
Sushmai
Farzana
Mussa
Dayasagar
Nadir
Ali Khan
Raghu
Krishnan
Nazar
Ghania
Javed
Umer
Faroo
Roy
Manthena
Kapil
Zafar
Khan
Masoon
Balouch
Nilambri
Ghai
Imtiaz
Popat
Nazir
Diwan
P
S Jaya
Martin
Duckworth
Cheryl
Simon
Shubhra
Gururani
Siddan
Chandra
James
Douglas
Chelliah
Premarajah
K.
Ahmed
Anita
Lal
Ayesha
Vemuri
Dionne
Bunsha
Anis
Ali Khan
V.
Mann
Kiran
Sunar
Sadeqa
Siddiqui
Sana
Khan
Nandini
Saxena
Raj
Sohi
Khalid
Khan
Julie
Vig
Sameena
Siddiqui
Critical
Diasporic South Asian Feminisms in Canada
Sadhu
Binning
Gurcharan
Singh
Rana
Tanveer
Neelukang
Mehak
Sawhney
Muhammad
Qadeer
Touqeer
Sohail
Mohammed
Khan
Kiran
Mirchandani
Farzana
Alam
Syed
Fahad Ahmad
Kiranpreet
Kaut
Baltej
Dhillon
Sukhwant
Hundal
Navdeep
kaur
Kamran
Abbasi
Mariam
Zaidi
Ashok
Gupta
Farha
Najah Hussain
Malavika
Kasturi
Farooq
mehdi
Jody
Freeman
South
Asian Diaspora Action Collective (SADAC), Canada
Harinder
Singh
Sana
Khan
Farrukh
Bibi
Emina
N.
Bhattacharya
Kajri
Jain
Ajay
Rao
Sheetal
Lodhia
Bhavani
Raman
Sowparnika
Balaswaminathan
Canadians
Against Oppression And Persecution(CAOP)
Younus
Mohammed
Saleem Padinharkkara
Naeem
Siddiqi
South
Asian Dalit Adivasi Network, Canada(SADAN)
Abdul
Khan
Payoshini
Pandey
Terry
Zacko
Sanchia
deSouza
Prem
Sylvester
Sharique
Ahmad
B.F.
Saptel
Sejal
Lal
Harsh
Naik
111.
Ameen Mohammed
Source:
The Wire
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://thewire.in/communalism/canada-diaspora-condemns-calls-for-muslim-genocide
--------
India
Hindu, Muslim inmates of UP prison keep alive 50-year roza tradition
Apr
22, 2022
LUCKNOW:
In the dingy confines of a cell in UP's Barabanki district jail, Rakesh Kumar
and Javed Khan share more than just the few square feet that echo their
loneliness, despair and occasional stirrings of hope.
This
Ramzan, a 50-year-old jail tradition born of Awadh's famous "Ganga-Jamuni
tehzeeb" has helped strengthen their bond in ways alien to those
imprisoned in conflict.
"I
wanted to make my cell mate feel as close to home as possible; so I have been
fasting along with him. I had observed roza last year, too, with a fellow
prisoner named Saleem," said Rakesh, who is serving time for theft.
For
Hare Ram, an accused in a dowry case, fasting along with Muslim prisoners or
joining them at Iftar goes beyond religion. "It symbolises belief in our
culture and the unity of our religions. Muslims are not different; they are
part of us, and we have to co-exist in the same cultural milieu," a jail
official quoted him as saying.
Dinesh
Kumar, an accused in a robbery, said Ramzan fasting had been a learning
experience for him so far. "It disciplines your body, makes you introspect
and helps you build a habit," he said. Akbar Ali, standing trial for fraud
and theft, said he couldn't be more touched by what fellow prisoners from the
Hindu community were doing. "We feel proud to have set an example of
communal harmony. We have befriended so many Hindus, and the environment inside
the jail has become peaceful and harmonious."
Jailor
Alok Shukla said the tradition owes its origins to two men - a Hindu and a
Muslim - who were inmates of the jail around five decades ago. "It isn't
documented exactly when Hindu prisoners started fasting during Ramzan. What we
know is that the duo who started it belonged to Dewa."
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Congress’
Adhir Ranjan writes to Mamata Banerjee on ‘pathetic, miserable’ condition of
Muslims in Bengal
21
April, 2022
Kolkata
(West Bengal) [India], April 21 (ANI): Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday
wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking her attention to
the “pathetic and miserable condition” of the Muslim minority in the state.
“I
wish to draw your kind attention to the very pathetic and miserable condition
of the Muslim minority in West Bengal. Every year programmes and policies are
framed for the welfare of minorities but their social and economic condition
has not improved at all,” Chowdhury wrote to Chief Minister Banerjee.
The
Congress leader said his parliamentary constituency Berhampore in Murshidabad
district constitutes 70 percent of the Muslim population. He said Murshidabad
is still categorized as an aspirational district.
“It
clearly means that development has not taken place in this district. The
Government of West Bengal has completely failed in looking after the welfare of
the minorities in the state otherwise district like Murshidabad would not have
been an aspirational district till date.”
Chowdhury
alleged that the Aligarh Muslim University satellite campus project at
Murshidabad could not move well due to the lack of support from the State
Government. As a result, the Muslim minority is deprived of huge jobs and
educational opportunities in this district.
He
said a sizeable population of the Muslim minorities of the Murshidabad migrated
to different parts of the country in search of jobs.
Source:
The Print
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Bangladeshi,
Rohingya Muslims set up by BJP to cause riots: AAP’s Atishi
21st
April 2022
Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi Marlena in a video has blamed Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) for sheltering Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims by “illegally
allowing them to stay” in different parts of the nation so that they “incite
communal violence.”
In
a video that was shared by AAP’s Twitter page, she says, “It is the work of BJP
who have illegally placed Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims in different parts
of the country to provoke riots.”
Accusing
Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating an environment of communal hate and
violence across India she said, “The day a bulldozer is razed on Amit Shah’s
house, then only this gundagardi (hooliganism), these riots will stop.”
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/__trashed-117-2312855/
--------
Five
arrested for allegedly murdering Muslim man during Khargone communal violence
APRIL
22, 2022
The
Madhya Pradesh Police on Thursday said it has arrested five persons for
allegedly killing Ibraish Khan during the communal clashes in Madhya Pradesh’s
Khargone city on April 10, The New Indian Express reported.
Khan,
who was initially reported missing, is the lone casualty so far in the communal
violence which had left 24 people injured, including a police official.
“The
arrested men, who have confessed to the crime, have also been identified by the
eyewitnesses to the crime,” said Rohit Kashwani, superintendent of police. “The
arrested men have told the police about committing the crime out of religious
frenzy.”
Kashwani
said that the accused persons were residents of the Anand Nagar-Rahimpura area,
a communally sensitive locality. They have been identified as Dilip, Sandeep,
Ajay Karma, Ajay Solanki and Dipak Pradhan.
Kashwani
said that Khan died due to serious injuries to his head caused by stones.
A
first information report was registered on April 14 under India Penal Code
sections about murder and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common
intention at Khargone’s Kotwali police station. On the same day, Khan’s family
had also filed a missing person’s complaint.
The
victim’s brother, Ikhlaq Khan, had said that the police did not disclose
Ibraish’s whereabouts even after the family had filed a complaint. He also
alleged that his brother was seen in police custody on April 12.
The
police informed the family about Ibraish Khan’s death and the whereabouts of
his body only after Ikhlaq Khan had allegedly threatened to inform the media.
The
communal violence
On
April 10, some people had allegedly hurled stones at a Ram Navami procession,
objecting to loud and provocative music being played in the Talab Chowk area of
Khargone. Subsequently, clashes broke out in the Gaushala Marg, Tabadi Chowk,
Sanjay Nagar and Motipura areas.
At
least 24 people, including Khargone Superintendent of Police Siddharth
Choudhary, were injured in the violence. Ten houses were also burnt during the
clashes.
On
April 11, the Madhya Pradesh government demolished homes and shops belonging to
Muslims in Khargone. Deputy Inspector General of Police Khargone Range, Tilak
Singh, claimed that the homes that were demolished belonged to those who had
thrown stones during the procession.
Source:
Scroll
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Old
structure behind mosque sparks communal debate in Mangaluru
22nd
April 2022
By
Vincent D’Souza
MANGALURU:
Dakshina Kannada district administration on Thursday stopped the renovation of
a centuries-old mosque in Malali near Ganjimutt on the outskirts of Mangaluru
city after an old structure that had remained hidden for long emerged, which
Hindutva outfits claimed it to be a temple.
Deputy
Commissioner KV Rajendra said that after the front portion of the mosque was
pulled down as part of the renovation, an old structure — which some said
resembled a place of worship of “some other religion” — was discovered behind
it. Soon, pictures of the rear structure went viral with people indulging in a
debate over it on social media over what that hidden structure was.
The
DC then rushed Mangaluru tahsildar Purandara to the spot, and the latter convinced
the mosque management to stop the renovation works till the confusion was
cleared, and security was beefed up at the mosque.
Later
in the day, the DC in a statement said: “District administration is looking
into the old land records and entries regarding the ownership details. We will
get reports from both, the Endowment Department and the Waqf Board. We will
check the veracity of the claims and take an appropriate decision very soon.”
Until then, the DC said, he has instructed the stakeholders to maintain a
status quo, while appealing to the public to maintain peace and not jump to
conclusions.
‘Structure
resembles a temple’
Meanwhile,
president of Jumma Masjid, Mohammed Mamu, maintained that the structure in
question was an old mosque which is being mistaken to be a temple. He said it
was a nearly 900-year-old mosque and said there are land records to prove it.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sharan Pumpwell, who visited the spot, said the
architecture of the structure resembled a temple and demanded an investigation
into the same by the archaeological department.
Source:
New Indian Express
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--------
Security
personnel, two terrorists killed in Jammu encounter ahead of PM Modi's visit
Apr
22, 2022
JAMMU:
One security personnel and two terrorists were killed in an encounter near an
Army camp in Jammu after gunmen targeted a CISF bus early Friday.
The
encounter in Sunjwan comes just two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's scheduled visit to Samba district of Jammu. Nine security personnel were
injured in the attack.
The
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials said a bus carrying 15
personnel for their morning shift came under attack at 4.25am near the Chaddha
camp in Sunjwan area.
A
senior official of the paramilitary force said the terrorists fired at the bus
and lobbed grenades, killing Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) S P Patil and
injuring two other occupants of the bus.
The
force retaliated effectively, the officer said.
According
to officials, after the attack on the CISF bus, the terrorists took shelter in
the house of Mohd Anwar in the area and were eliminated.
In
the ensuing operation, two terrorists were killed, a police officer said.
However,
according to the police, the gunfight began when terrorists opened fire on a
search party.
Security
heightened
Meanwhile,
security arrangements have been heightened ahead of the Prime Minister's
scheduled visit to the Union Territory.
Officials
said that mobile internet services were suspended and schools closed for the
day in the vicinity of the encounter site as a precautionary measure.
Earlier,
the officials had said at least two heavily armed terrorists, likely belonging
to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) outfit, were believed to be
trapped in a vicinity adjacent to the sprawling Sunjwan military station. They
had apparently come to carry out a major strike in the city.
On
February 10 in 2018, three JeM terrorists stormed the Sunjwan Army camp and in
the subsequent gunfight, seven persons, including six soldiers, were killed.
All the three terrorists were also gunned down.
On
National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24, PM Modi is scheduled to visit Pali
village, 17 km from Jammu, to address a gathering.
This
will be PM Modi's first visit to Jammu and Kashmir other than borders since the
abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state and its bifurcation in
August 2019.
He
had celebrated Diwali with Army jawans on October 27, 2019 in Rajouri and on
November 3, 2021 in Nowshera sector in Jammu division.
Top
Lashkar terrorist killed in Baramulla
In
a separate encounter, top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Yousuf Kantroo along with
three other terrorists was killed in an encounter with security forces on
Thursday.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Gyanvapi
case: HC junks plea of Muslim body
Apr
22, 2022
PRAYAGRAJ:
The Allahabad high court dismissed on Thursday a petition filed by C/M Anjuman
Intazamia Masajid, Varanasi, challenging the order of the civil judge (senior
division) on April 8, 2022 that appointed an advocate commissioner in a case
related to the worship of Shringar Gauri and the protection of idols of other
deities on the premises of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
The
civil judge had also directed advocate commissioner Ajay Kumar to visit the
Shringar Gauri site in the presence of both parties to prepare a report on the
actual status and submit it to the court.
It
had asked the advocate commissioner to ensure that his exercise was
videographed and to seek the assistance of the police, if required.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Top
LeT commander Kantroo among 3 terrorists killed in Baramulla encounter
Apr
22, 2022
SRINAGAR:
Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Yousuf Kantroo, possibly the longest surviving
terrorist in Kashmir, was among the three terrorists killed in an encounter on
Thursday in the Malwah area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
Kantroo
had been a militant since 2000. He had given up the gun twice over two decades
but had become more aggressive since 2017, IGP (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said. The
second slain terrorist was as yet unidentified but suspected to be from
Pakistan.
Four
soldiers and a policeman were being treated for injuries received in the same
gunfight.
The
IGP tweeted a list of the police’s “top 10 targets”, listing seven (Salim
Parray, Yousuf Kantroo, Abbas Sheikh, Reyaz Shetergund, Farooq Nali, Zubair
Wani and Ashraf Molvi) as “old terrorists” and three (Saqib Manzoor, Umer Must
Khandey and Wakeel Shah) as “new terrorists”. Six of these terrorists have been
killed in under a year.
IGP
Kumar said the security forces had been conducting a search operation in the
area on Thursday morning when they were fired upon by the terrorists,
triggering the encounter.
An
audio clip, purportedly of the parents of a terrorist named Faisal asking their
son to surrender, went viral on social media. Faisal did not surrender and was
killed in the encounter.
IGP
Kumar yet again appealed to the parents of other terrorists to plead with their
wards to shun the path of violence.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Members
urge mosque managements in Pune to observe SC norms on loudspeakers
Apr
21, 2022
By
Nadeem Inamdar
Members
of Pune Muslim community on Thursday appealed to the mosque trustees and
managements to abide by the Supreme Court guidelines related to playing
loudspeakers at religious places.
The
community meeting took place at Azam Campus. The meeting was set up to ensure
that the mosque management has necessary permission in place from the district
magistrate’s office for playing the Azan.
As
per data, Pune has 450 mosques and 90 per cent of them have valid loudspeaker
permission from the government.
The
SC’s June 2005 order had banned the use of loudspeakers and music systems in
public places between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. (except in cases of public
emergencies) in July 2005, citing the serious effects of noise pollution on the
health of those resident who live in such areas.
Educationist
PA Inamdar who presided over the meet said, “Those mosques whose permissions
have expired, will be renewed. Mosque mutawallis (administrator)will be
provided legal support. In case temple trustees want to hold meetings on this
issue, they too can come and conduct their meetings and will be guided for the
same. No law permits for removal of loudspeakers from any religious place.”
Inamdar
explained that the community elders have already discussed about lowering the
loudspeaker decibels with the mosque management. “Azan is given five times a
day and lasts for two-three minutes. The SC order over the issue is final and
has to be followed in its letter and spirit ,” added Inamdar.
Maulana
Mohammad Hasan from Shaheen Academy said, “There is a provision in the religion
that the three-minute time of Azan delivery can be reduced by half. We also
offer to train all the muezzins (a man who calls Muslims to prayer) in this
specific skill ,” he said.
Source:
Hindustan Times
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
Leaders
of Spain, Germany, Portugal urge French voters to reject far-right Le Pen
Shweta
Desai
22.04.2022
PARIS
As
France heads for crucial polls to elect the country’s next president, European
leaders rallied Thursday in support of incumbent Emmanuel Macron and warned
French voters against choosing "a far-right candidate who openly sides
with those who attack our freedom and our democracy."
“We
need a France that defends our common European values,” Spanish Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Portugal’s premier Antonio
Costa appealed in a jointly published column in Le Monde, France’s leading news
daily.
The
three leaders noted that the second round of the presidential election on April
24 “is not an election like the others” as the French are facing a crucial
choice “not just for France but for all of us in Europe.”
Without
naming either of the final candidates -- Macron or far-right contender Marine
Le Pen -- they said the French have the “choice between a Democratic candidate
who believes that France is stronger in a powerful and autonomous European
Union and a far-right candidate who openly sides with those who attack our
freedom and our democracy – fundamental values that come directly from the
French Enlightenment.”
The
European leaders believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against
Ukraine is an attempt to rewrite history and it "targets the values that
France and our countries defend: democracy, sovereignty, freedom and the rule
of law." They said Putin was an ideological and political model for the
populists and the extreme right political parties to make nationalist demands
“even if these politicians today try to distance themselves from the Russian
aggressor.”
Macron
accused the National Rally party’s candidate Le Pen of depending on “Mr. Putin”
due to her longstanding ties with Moscow and for financing her party through a
9 million euro ($9.7 million) loan from a Czech-Russian bank. Le Pen has denied
being friends with Putin or drawing financial favors.
Her
statements of wanting a rapprochement between Russia and NATO if elected,
withdrawing France’s membership from NATO, reducing Paris’s contribution to the
European Union, and overriding EU laws have alarmed world leaders.
Macron,
on the other hand, has reinforced that France is stronger with the EU,
supporting NATO militarily against Russia and working towards peaceful
solutions to the Ukraine war. He has denoted that the election in France is a
referendum on (whether to remain in or leave) the EU.
"We
need France by our side...A France which defends our common values, in a Europe
in which we recognize ourselves, which is free and open to the world,
sovereign, strong and generous at the same time," the three leaders said,
commending France’s leadership and solidarity with Europe in the crises time
including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Ramazan
Coincides Presidential Elections In France This Year: Anti-Islam Narratives Has Left Many French
Muslims Feeling Marginalized
April
22, 2022
Hiba
Latreche took a last gulp of water and reached for a date, her eyes flitting
between the plates of food before her and her phone screen as it blinked toward
5:42 a.m., the beginning of her fast.
This
year, the month of Ramazan coincides with the presidential elections in France,
the climax of a campaign that has been marked by anti-Muslim vitriol on a scale
not seen for decades.
As
France goes to the polls for the presidential run-off on April 24, many French
Muslims like Latreche have been facing a difficult question: Do these would-be
presidents really represent my interests?
Considering
the candidates who entered the race, the answer for many is no.
Marine
Le Pen, the far-right candidate who will challenge incumbent Emmanuel Macron in
Sunday's final round, lists "eradicating Islamist ideologies" from
France as her second manifesto priority.
Eric
Zemmour, a former TV pundit convicted three times for hate speech, racial or
religious hatred, has said he wants to "save France" from Islam.
Center-right candidate Valerie Pecresse declared the headscarf a "sign of
a woman's submission," claiming with a nationalistic flourish that
"Marianne is not a veiled woman." Zemmour and Pecresse polled fourth
and fifth, respectively, in the first round and have been eliminated.
Even
Macron found time in his only campaign rally before the first round vote to
highlight the threat of Islamists and Muslim "separatists" in France,
entwining France's motto of "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" (liberty,
equality, brotherhood) with another favored French Republican value: Laicité
(secularism).
Only
one candidate, the third-placed far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, has
historically taken a position more supportive of the Muslim community. First
round polling by Ifop suggested that some two thirds of French Muslim voters
backed him. He too was eliminated after the first round of voting.
"What's
really scary with this upcoming election is that most of the (top) candidates
simply rely on programs based on stigmatization of minorities, on the erosion
of our most basic rights and freedom," Latreche, a law student, said ahead
of the first round.
With
the "normalization of Islamophobia, we directly face the
consequences," added Latreche, who is also a vocal activist for the civil
liberties of young Muslim women.
The
French political landscape this year is vastly different from just a few
elections ago. With the country's traditionally heavyweight center-left and
center-right forces struggling, the political extremes have profited.
In
the first round of the presidential election on April 10, Le Pen and Zemmour,
the two far-right candidates with the most extreme policies affecting the lives
of Muslims in France, together collected just over 30% of the total votes; Le
Pen alone received enough votes to enter the runoff with 23% of the first round
votes. Their surge has been accompanied by a clamor of anti-immigrant and
anti-Islam narratives that have dominated much of the debate and coverage.
'We're
constantly being marginalized'
Strasbourg's
Grand Mosque -- the largest in France -- sits tucked discreetly away on a
riverbank in the eastern border city.
Many
of the worshipers there say they don't feel represented by any of the dozens of
candidates who competed for the presidency in the first round.
"We're
constantly being marginalized, excluded from society and then being told that
we're not taking part in society," said Latreche. Being refused agency and
choice over her own life and contribution to society, she felt, inevitably had
a negative effect on her mental health and that of her friends, she added.
As
he entered for evening prayers, Wagner Dino expressed dismay at the choice of
candidates.
"There
is no one who presents himself, who really has the necessary parameters to put
everything in place, to have a France united with Muslims," he said.
Mosque
volunteer Safia Abdouni said she believes none of the candidates "know
what we are going through, our daily life and what we really need."
"I
feel that I'm not represented as a young, female student. As a young, female,
Muslim student, even less," she added.
Yet
Saïd Aalla, the president of the Grand Mosque, said that if young Muslims
"want to change the situation, that can only happen with the vote."
Aalla
did not express a preference for any of the contenders. As a cleric, he's
prohibited by French law from publicly backing a political candidate.
The
secularism debate
In
successive election seasons, hijabs and Muslim women's headscarves have been
easy targets for politicians trying to fire up support for traditional French
Republican values.
"Laicité"
-- or secularism -- claims to ensure equality for all by removing markers of
difference, rendering all citizens French first and protecting freedom of
worship in the private sphere. Religious symbols are banned in primary and
secondary schools, public office and state places of work, as well as even in
some sports federations.
"Laicité
per se is not a problem," according to Rim-Sarah Alouane, a PhD candidate
in comparative law at the University Toulouse-Capitole and a specialist on
religious freedoms and human rights in Europe.
"Laicité
has been transformed (and) has been weaponized as a tool for political identity
in order to target the visibility of Muslims in France, of French Muslims, and
especially Muslim women, and the wearing of the headscarf. So it's more of the
modern illiberal interpretation of laicité that is problematic, than laicité
itself," she said.
Today's
laicité debate has put hijabs front and center in France's culture wars pitting
what conservatives describe as "secularism" against religious civil
liberties
Le
Pen and Zemmour both proposed banning what they refer to as "the
hijab," but neither campaign has offered detail on what exactly such a ban
would encompass, or how it would be enforced. In her campaign manifesto, Le Pen
has proposed banning in public all "Islamic attire," a definition
that critics say is open to arbitrary and imprecise interpretation. The French
government has already banned women from wearing the niqab -- a full-face veil
with an opening for the eyes.
The
Macron government reacted furiously to a diversity campaign funded in part by
the European Union last year, which depicted pictures of women wearing the
headscarves superimposed over the same images without the head covering. The
campaign tagline was, "Beauty is in diversity, as freedom is in
hijab."
The
French government demanded an investigation into the campaign and its
withdrawal in France. In the words of one minister: "We can't confuse
religious freedom and a campaign for the promotion of the hijab, it's not
acceptable."
Last
month, the French Supreme Court ruled that local bar associations can ban
headscarves, and other "religious symbols," from courtrooms in the
name of secularism -- forcing hijab-wearing women like Latreche to choose
between their career and the public practice of their faith.
"It's
actually extremely demotivating and disheartening to see that, you know, we
wouldn't be able to help to contribute to society and to make it more vibrant
despite our abilities," Latreche said, "just because we are choosing
to exercise our rights.
"We
(should) have control over our own rights and bodies and beliefs," she
said.
Ludwig
Knoepffler, a member of Le Pen's campaign team, denied that Le Pen's anti-hijab
platform is done "in the name of laicité." Rather, he said the intent
was to combat totalitarianism.
"The
idea is to fight the hijab as a political tool used and promoted by Islamist
militants," he said. "If you believe that the Islamist political
project is indeed totalitarian, then you have to fight its distinctive signs.
The same way you would ban the swastika in the public sphere, as is the case
already."
Le
Pen addressed the topic during the presidential debate Wednesday night, calling
the headscarf "a uniform imposed by the Islamists."
Macron
accused her of creating a "system of equivalence" among Islamism,
terrorism and foreigners that would "create civil war."
'Liberté,
egalité, fraternité'
Aalla,
the mosque president, said France's Muslims have the same aspirations as other
citizens.
"The
Muslims of France have been here for several generations, but we still continue
to regard them as strangers," he said.
Aalla
decried the idea of a "Muslim vote." There are Muslims who support
all French parties, he said -- people that hope to be taken into consideration
by politicians, particularly regarding religious freedoms.
For
legal scholar Alouane, debate about the headscarf is a fearmongering
distraction: "I mean, we have inflation, the price of energy has increased
massively, there is poverty, our public services are being dismantled, unemployment
and so on... and all we talk about, is a piece of cloth that women wear...
like, seriously."
Aalla
said that French Muslims expect France and French society to devote themselves
to economic, social questions, to those of housing or discrimination, the
questions "that all citizens, Muslims included, expect from their new
president."
Source:
CNN
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/22/europe/french-muslim-voters-2022-election-intl-cmd/index.html
--------
Kyrgyzstan
condemns terrorist attack on Shiite mosque in Afghanistan
APRIL
22, 2022
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan has condemned terrorist attack during
the holy month of Ramazan at Shiite mosque in northern Afghan city of
Mazar-e-Sharif with praying worshipers inside, in which dozens were killed and
injured.
The
Foreign Ministry offered condolences to family members and relatives of those
who were killed and wished speedy recovery to the injured.
The
Foreign Ministry said it expects those behind blasts will be held accountable.
The
attack occurred as worshipers were kneeling in prayer, DW reported.
It
comes just two days after several blasts hit educational facilities in
Shiite-majority areas of the capital, Kabul, killing at least six people,
mostly children.
Source:
Aki Press
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--------
Attack
on Muslims outside London mosque condemned
Karim
El-Bar
22.04.2022LONDON
Mosques
and an anti-Muslim monitoring group on Thursday condemned an attack against
Muslims earlier in the week at a mosque in East London.
Two
Muslims were injured in a racially aggravated assault around 9 p.m. Tuesday
outside the Sri Lankan Muslim Center in East Ham.
The
attack was carried out by thugs carrying bottles and hockey sticks. It took
place as worshippers were going inside for iftar, the fast-breaking meal during
the Muslim holy month of Ramazan. Two of them suffered minor injuries from
broken glass.
The
Evening Standard, a London newspaper, reported eyewitness saying there were
around 15 “European males” armed with “wooden poles, beer bottles, fluorescent
light tubes and stones.”
A
spokesman for London’s police confirmed they were investigating “a report of
racially aggravated common assault following an incident outside a mosque in
East Ham.”
“Police
were called to reports that a group of men in Pilgrims Way, armed with bottles
and hockey sticks, had attacked members of the mosque,” the spokesman said.
“One
suspect is said to have set alight some paper in a bin outside the mosque. The
suspects fled prior to the police’s arrival.
“Officers
searched the area but found no trace of the suspects. A number of people
suffered minor injuries but did not require medical treatment.”
The
police spokesman added that they would put on extra patrols in the area and
that no arrests have been made.
Tell
MAMA, an organization that supports victims of anti-Muslim hate and records
anti-Muslim incidents, re-issued its personal safety tips for Muslims and
advice guides for mosques.
The
East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre, which is London's oldest,
largest and busiest mosque and separate from the one that was attacked,
condemned the incident on its Twitter account.
“We
are appalled by the attack on worshipers outside Masjid Bilal in East Ham. No
communities should have to live in fear of far-right threats and violence,”
they tweeted.
“We
recognise that whilst Islamophobic incidents have increased, they are not often
covered widely in the media, so it is more important now than ever to report
anti-Muslim hate crimes.
“We
remain committed to working with our local authority to be a centre where
Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crimes can be reported. We ask our
communities to stay vigilant in the face of ongoing threats.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/attack-on-muslims-outside-london-mosque-condemned/2569908
--------
Turkish
society in France expects solution to high cost of living from elections
Esra
Taşkın
21.04.2022
PARIS
Turkish
society in France expects a solution to the high cost of living from Sunday’s
presidential elections.
In
the second round of the presidential election, President Emmanuel Macron and
the far-right Marine Le Pen will compete to rule the country for five years.
Ahmet
Ugurlu, who works in a kebab shop in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, told Anadolu Agency
that he thinks it is certain that Macron will win on Sunday.
“Our
expectation from the election is that life will get cheaper and go back to the
way it used to be because the high cost of living has really made things
miserable,” he added.
Mehmet
Askan, living in France for 18 years, said people went through a difficult
situation over the last two to three years and their purchasing power has
dropped significantly.
Stressing
that people's earnings are no longer enough for their expenses, he said thefts
have also increased.
He
said he expects a rise in the minimum wage and added: "(The price of)
everything is rising, we change labels every day."
The
high cost of living adversely affects Turks like everyone else in France, and
so Turkish people living in the country are not able to visit Turkiye due to
financial difficulties they are having in France, he added.
Abdullah
Tutkun, a dual citizen working in a furnishing shop in Sarcelles, said that if
Macron wins the election, he thinks the prices in the country will not increase
further. If Le Pen wins, Tutkun said he wishes that the Muslims "see the
least damage" from this situation.
-
More freedom needed in France
Suheybe
Kurul, who came to France in 1986 and working as a tailor, expects that the
election helps the minimum retirement age for women be changed to 55.
Underlining
that there should be more freedom in the country, she said the women wearing
headscarves in France should not be defamed.
There
may be a problem with the headscarf if Le Pen is elected the president, she
said, adding: “They are against the headscarf of foreigners, I'm a little
worried about it.”
Another
difficulty of being a woman with a headscarf in France is that people judge and
despise these women based on their appearance, she added and said it might be
better for them if Macron came to power again.
Hasan
Yildiz, who works in a Turkish market in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, expressed that
he wants Macron to win the election.
Listing
his expectations from Macron, Yildiz wanted the streets to be kept cleaner,
with at least two trash cans on each street.
He
criticized the waiting times in hospitals and red tape in bureaucracy, saying:
"I hope (Macron) can reduce the appointment times."
Traffic
around Paris is very suffocating, he said, adding that the number of
educational institutions in the country should be increased as well.
Ahmet
Karaagac, a restaurant manager in Sarcelles, said he wants the next election to
be for the benefit of the citizens.
He
thinks Macron is better than Le Pen, although, he said, Macron does not give
people much opportunity in terms of taxes and minimum wage. "(Macron) at
least has no racist thoughts,” he stressed.
Regarding
the rumors that Le Pen will ban the headscarf if she comes to power, he said:
"This situation would not affect the Turkish society and the Muslim
society in a good way."
He
added that they could not vote because they are not citizens, but they still
live in France and they should think about the future of their children.
Around
700,000 Turks live in France, the highest Turkish population in a European
country after Germany.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Syrian-Palestinians
win ‘protection rights’ under UN in Switzerland
Riyaz
ul Khaliq
21.04.2022
A
long battle of Palestinians with Syrian backgrounds has concluded, with those
coming from the war-torn Middle Eastern nation winning protection rights under
the UN Convention in a European country.
Ghada
al-Rayan, a Palestinian-Syrian human rights defender, told Anadolu Agency that
the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland decided in favor of her family,
granting them residency rights after “acknowledging the statelessness of
Palestinian refugees from Syria and their right to protection.”
The
plea by al-Rayan had sought an amendment in the description of Palestinian
refugees coming from Syria from “de facto stateless persons or citizens of an
unknown state to de jure stateless refugees.”
“The
decision is a fundamental change in the practical application of the Convention
that previously prevented Palestinian refugees from Syria from obtaining the
right of protection, which guarantees them the basic rights of residency, work,
and movement,” she said.
The
Palestinian activist said Switzerland was “one of the first countries in Europe
that have agreed to the fact that Palestinians who are born in Syria are also
stateless and eligible to all rights under 1954-Convention Relating to the
Status of Stateless Persons.”
Who
is a stateless person?
The
UN's legal definition of a stateless person is someone who is “not recognized
as a national by any state under the operation of its law.”
"This
means that a stateless person is someone who does not have the nationality of
any country,” says the UN’s description.
The
1954 Convention establishes minimum standards of treatment for stateless people
with respect to a number of rights which include, but are not limited to, “the
right to education, employment and housing.”
“Importantly,
the 1954 Convention also guarantees stateless people a right to identity,
travel documents and administrative assistance,” the description adds.
The
case
It
was in 2014 when al-Rayan along with her parents, brother, and sister reached
Switzerland after the war broke out in Syria. Her grandfather left Palestine in
1948 and settled in Syria where her father was born. Al-Rayan’s mother is a
Syrian.
“We
were treated like any other Syrian in Switzerland who fled the war in their
country,” al-Rayan, who works as a researcher at the UK-based Law for
Palestine, a legal forum that works on Palestinian issues, told Anadolu Agency
by phone from Switzerland.
However,
the majority of fleeing Syrians were issued only humanitarian residency permits
which restrict their movement.
“My
family filed the case that Palestinian-Syrians be also considered stateless
people and the court decision case finally came early this week,” she said.
Switzerland,
she said, is a signatory to the UN Convention, but “it has not implemented it
yet.”
“Ours
is the first case where the Swiss top court has acknowledged us as stateless
people which allows us to seek protection under the UN Convention under which
signatory nations have to issue full residency permits which has no bar on
travel, etcetera.”
Under
the court’s direction, she added, “Palestinian-Syrians have a strong case in
hand to seek protection under the UN Convention on stateless people and file
for residency permits in Europe.”
Lawfare
‘tiring, but not impossible’
Acknowledging
that the use of the law is a time-consuming process, al-Rayan, who is pursuing
a bachelor’s degree in economics, said one must have legal knowledge besides
“patience and hope.”
Following
the court verdict, she said, cases of Palestinians with Syrian lineage will be
taken on a case-by-case basis.
“It
may not be that all Palestinians who come from Syria will get this right,” she
cautioned.
“When
we came to Switzerland, we only got a humanitarian residency permit, and we
were treated like any other Syrians who fled their country because of the war,”
she said.
Al-Rayan
said the Swiss authorities are empowered to send Syrians back home but
"due to the verdict we are now protected under the UN Convention on
stateless people.”
“The
Swiss authorities will have to implement the convention now onwards,” she
added.
The
human rights defender said that previously, based on Article 2 of the UN
Refugee Convention, “Palestinian refugees were excluded from the right to seek
protection based on the Convention.”
“Consequently,
they were not able to seek asylum in the countries they moved to, since they
were supposedly already under the protection of the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South Asia
Seven
Afghan men flogged on Taliban-run Supreme Court order
APRIL
21, 2022
They
were ‘punished’ for crimes including selling and consuming alcoho
Taliban
authorities flogged seven men on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, for crimes
including selling and consuming alcohol, an official said — the first such
sentence to be handed out by Afghanistan's courts since the hard-line Islamists
seized power.
The
lashings were a grim reminder of the harsh punishments the Taliban delivered
during their first regime between 1996 and 2001.
The
seven accused had confessed to their crimes and were sentenced to 35 lashes
each, the Supreme Court said in a statement.
"The
punishment was carried out today" in the capital, Supreme Court official
Abdul Basir Mashal said.
"It
is the first time that a court has issued such an order according to the sharia
law since the Islamic Emirate was formed in Afghanistan," he said.
Taliban
fighters have reportedly carried out floggings without court orders since
taking power, according to social media posts that could not be independently
verified.
The
seven men had been charged in separate cases for offences such as selling and
consuming alcohol, as well as stealing cars, the court statement said.
Five
were also sentenced to six months in jail.
During
their first stint in power, the Taliban earned notoriety for their strict interpretation
of sharia law that punished even petty crimes with public floggings and
executions.
The
rulings at that time were particularly harsh for women, with those who broke
the rules suffering humiliation and public beatings by the regime's feared religious
police.
The
Taliban had also carried out public executions, chopped off the hands and feet
of thieves, and stoned women accused of adultery.
When
they seized power last year they promised a softer version of their previous
rule, but insisted it would still be guided by sharia law.
Over
the past eight months, the Taliban have cracked down on several freedoms women
enjoyed for 20 years under the previous Western-backed government.
Women
have been effectively shut out of most government jobs, and ordered to dress
according to the Taliban's strict interpretation of the Koran.
Source:
The Hindu
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UN,
Iran Condemn Explosion on Shiite Mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif
22
Apr 2022
The
United Nations Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett has taken to his Twitter post
and termed recent attacks against the Hazara community systematic attacks.
Richard
Bennett called for immediate investigation, accountability, and an end to such
human rights violations.
“Today,
more explosions rocks Afghanistan, striking Shia mosque in Mazar e Sharif and
again the systematically targeted attacks on crowded schools and mosques.”
Reads the Twitter post.
In
the meantime, Iran’s embassy in Kabul condemned the explosion against Hazara
worshipers and expressed deepest condolences to the families of the victims
while asking highest reward for martyrs of the incident.
The
embassy in a Tweet termed the attack a terrorist one.
The
spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Zabiullah Mujahid also
condemned the explosion of Mazar-e-Sharif including that in the northern Kunduz
province and the capital Kabul.
Zabiullah
Mujahid in a Tweet said those who commit such crimes have no relations with
Afghan society.
The
Twitter post reads, IEA has good experience in eliminating vehement elements,
the perpetrators will be arrested and will be held accountable.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/un-iran-condemn-explosion-on-shiite-mosque-in-mazar-e-sharif-5478576567/
--------
IS
Claims Responsibility for Explosions across Afghanistan
22
Apr 2022
Islamic
State (IS) in a statement has claimed responsibility for the explosions in four
different Afghan cities that killed over 40 civilians and wounded more than
eighty more, India Today reported.
The
IS in their statement said that explosives were set in a bag inside the mosque
in Mazar-e-Sharif and were blown up from afar.
The
explosion that targeted Shiite Muslims in She Dokan mosque killed at least 37
and wounded more than 80 more.
In
another explosion in the northern Kunduz province, four people were killed and
eight more wounded after a planted bomb exploded near a car of mechanics
working for the Taliban.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/is-claims-responsibility-for-explosions-across-afghanistan-65658767576/
--------
Taliban
condemn blasts in Afghanistan
22
April, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], April 22 (ANI): The Taliban condemned the blasts which occurred
in different places in Afghanistan including Kabul, Balkh, and Kunduz on
Thursday.
Earlier
on Thursday, an explosion at a mosque in the Afghan city took place in which
dozens of worshippers were killed.
Other
explosions were also reported in the country. One of the explosions took place
in a square in Kabul, injuring two children, while a car blew up near an
airport in Kunduz, killing and injuring at least 22 people.
“The
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns the explosions in the
provinces of Kabul, Balkh, and Kunduz. These crimes are the work of forces that
have nothing in common with Afghan society. We express our deepest condolences
to the families of the dead and injured… those responsible for these crimes
will soon be found and severely punished,” Mujahid wrote on social media, as
per Sputnik.
Around
400 people were attending the prayers in the Si-Dukan Mosque when it was hit by
a blast, reported ToloNews citing witnesses.
The
responsibility for the attack was claimed by Islamic State (ISIS), also known
as Daesh, according to a statement on the group’s Telegram channel.
Notably,
three separate blasts took place in Afghanistan on Thursday, one in Kabul, one
in Mazar-e-Sharif, and a third in Kunduz province.
The
first blast occurred in the Kabul’s police district 5 (PD5) and two children
were slightly wounded, TOLOnews reported citing Afghanistan’s Ministry of
Interior.
The
second blast hit the mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province
while the third blast took place in Kunduz city of Kunduz province.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://theprint.in/world/taliban-condemn-blasts-in-afghanistan/925881/
--------
North America
US
Couple Of New Jersey Convicted Of Anti-Muslim Harassment
Darren
Lyn
21.04.2022
HOUSTON,
Texas
A
couple in the US state of New Jersey was convicted of harassing their Muslim
neighbour for several years.
William
Ong, 76, and his 73-year-old wife Betty were convicted of bias intimidation
Tuesday in Hudson County Superior Court.
Investigators
determined the Ongs made threatening and harassing statements to a Muslim
neighbour about his religion between 2016 and 2018.
According
to police, at the time of the couple’s arrest in 2018, William Ong imitated
shooting his neighbour with his finger. He also pointed at the victim’s 3- and
7-year-old children making a slashing motion with his finger across his own
throat.
Investigators
say Beverly Ong called the victim “dirty” and told him “you are going to rot in
hell.”
“Hudson
County is one of the most diverse communities in the country and there is no
place for hate or discrimination here, or anywhere,” said Hudson County
Prosecutor Esther Suarez in a statement.
“The
Hudson county Prosecutor’s Office is committed to prosecuting anyone
responsible for bias crimes to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.
The
Ongs were found guilty of bias intimidation after a two-day trial. The couple
is scheduled to be sentenced June 7.
This
is not the family’s first run-in with the law. Beverly Ong and her daughter
were previously acquitted of a similar offense in 2012. However, both were
convicted of harassing and damaging the property of their Iranian neighbor.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-couple-convicted-of-anti-muslim-harassment/2569763
--------
US
Muslims gave estimated $1.8B in 2021 charity: Report
Servet
Günerigök
21.04.2022
WASHINGTON
Muslim
Americans gave an estimated $1.8 billion in zakat, or charity, in 2021,
according to a report.
The
average Muslim gave $2,070 in zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam,
according to the report released last week by the Muslim Philanthropy
Initiative at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI.
The
report shows American Muslims are more apt to view zakat as an act of
philanthropy or charity rather than as a tax imposed by religious authorities.
Shariq
Siddiqui, the director of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, said much of the
figure was donated during the month of Ramazan.
"It
is critical that nonprofit organizations and charities find meaningful ways to
engage with Muslim-American donors around Ramazan," said Siddiqui.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-muslims-gave-estimated-18b-in-2021-charity-report/2569796
--------
Ilhan
Omar on 'unofficial, personal' Pakistan visit, does not represent US government
policy, says Biden official
Apr
22, 2022
WASHINGTON:
US lawmaker Ilhan Omar's meeting with recently ousted Pakistani Prime Minister
Imran Khan and her "unofficial, personal" visit to Pakistan Occupied
Kashmir (PoK) did not represent the United States government in any way, an
official said on Thursday.
India
had on Thursday condemned Omar's visit to PoK as violative of India's
territorial integrity and sovereignty and that it reflected her
"narrow-minded" politics.
The
Democratic Congresswoman is on a four-day visit to Pakistan that began on April
20. On Wednesday, she met Imran Khan as well as visited a part of PoK.
Speaking
to ANI, Derek Chollet, counselor to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said
"It's an unofficial personal visit and it does not represent any policy
change on behalf of the United States government."
Omar,
a Somali American who belongs to President Joe Biden's Democratic Party, had
after her visit to PoK said Kashmir should get more attention from the United
States, which elicited stern condemnation from India.
"I
don't believe that it (Kashmir) is being talked about to the extent it needs to
in Congress but also with the administration," Omar told reporters after
visiting PoK. Condemning her visit to PoK, External Affairs Ministry
Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi reporters in New Delhi at a media briefing,
"Let me just say that if such a politician wishes to practice her
narrow-minded politics at home, that's her business."
"But
violating our territorial integrity and sovereignty... makes this ours and we
think the visit is condemnable," Bagchi said.
The
Islamabad visit by Omar, who represents Minnesota in the US House of
Representatives, is the first by an American legislator since the new Pakistan
government took office. Her meeting with Imran Khan at his residence at Bani
Gala has been criticised since the ouster Pakistan premier had accused
Washington of conspiracy to dislodge his government.
When
asked what the US made of the Omar-Khan meeting, in particular, Chollet said,
"Congresswoman's visit was a personal visit. It was not something that the
State Department helped to organize so I don't have much to comment on it.
Because it was a visit made in her personal capacity."
Omar
is the first naturalized citizen of African birth to sit in the US Congress.
She has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has previously
questioned Biden administration officials over what she said was their
"failure" to criticize the Indian government on the issue of human
rights and its actions against its Muslim minorities in India.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Ilhan
Omar regrets Kashmir not getting US attention it merits
Tariq
Naqash
April
22, 2022
MUZAFFARABAD:
US Congresswoman Ilhan Abdullahi Omar on Thursday acknowledged that Kashmir
dispute was not being talked about in the power centres of the United States of
America at the required level, but expressed the hope that the situation would
change.
At
an interaction with local media at the President House, Rep. Omar said, “On the
question of Kashmir, we held a committee hearing on the foreign affairs
committee to look at the reports of human rights violations and to talk about
the bigger issue with the [Narendra] Modi administration’s anti-Muslim rhetoric
and how that’s leading to human rights violations as well.”
On
the occasion, Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) President Barrister Sultan Mahmood
was present.
In
the same breath, she added: “I don’t believe that it [Kashmir] is being talked
about to the extent it needs to be, not only in Congress but also with the [US]
administration.”
India
reacts strongly to US Congresswoman’s visit to AJK
She,
however, expressed the hope that her visit would pave the way for “many more
conversations” on the Kashmir issue.
“And
that the condemnations and concerns of those who fight for human rights and the
question of the Kashmir issue will be included in those [hearings],” she said.
Local
reporters had asked questions about anti-minorities legislation and
state-sponsored assaults on religious minorities, mainly Muslims, in India, as
well as the worsening human rights situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir,
particularly after it was stripped of its special status in August 2019.
One
of them also asked if former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan, who
blames the US for regime change in Pakistan, had also complained about it
during their meeting the other day and if yes, what was her reply? However, Ms
Omar avoided replying to it.
She
thanked journalists for their “very spirited questions” and said she would
address a formal press conference at the end of her trip and “probably answer
some of the questions you all asked [here].”
Earlier,
during her meeting with President Mahmood, she said she had voiced serious
concern over the human rights violations in India and Kashmir and would [again]
take up the issue with the US Congress as well as the Biden administration.
“We
are deeply worried about India’s August 5, 2019 move,” she told the AJK
president, according to a press release by the latter’s office.
She
said she was delighted to be given this opportunity to be in meetings [with
officials in Pakistan and AJK] and looked forward to seeing different parts of
it and learning more first-hand.
“For
me, human rights have been the priority of my work, and you can’t fight for the
rights of others if you are not doing it in partnership with them,” she said.
On
his part, Mr Mahmood said India’s traditional intransigence was the stumbling
block in the way of resolving the longstanding Kashmir issue that had now
assumed dangerous proportions.
Due
to India’s obduracy, no progress whatsoever has been made on the issue since
1947. Instead of resolving the dispute peacefully, India has deployed over
900,000 troops in the disputed territory, who are engaged in the systematic
genocide of Kashmiris. “
The
AJK president also drew her attention to demographic engineering in occupied
Kashmir and said India had issued fake domiciles to 4.2 million Indian Hindus
to change the proportion of the population in occupied Kashmir.
“Under
the prevailing circumstances, there is a dire need for the international
community, particularly the US, to come forward and help resolve this dispute
between the two nuclear powers.”
He
expressed gratitude to Ms Omar for taking a strong stance on human rights
violations and underscoring the importance of dialogue.
“The
manner in which you have condemned the human rights violations in occupied
Kashmir by India is a source of strength for us,” he said.
According
to official sources, the Congresswoman was also flown to the Line of Control
(LoC) in the Chakothi sector, where she was briefed on the situation before and
after the fresh understanding between the Pakistani and Indian armies to
respect the 2003 ceasefire agreement.
Some
residents, who had been affected by Indian shelling prior to the ceasefire, had
also gathered there and shared their tales of horror with the visitors.
The
Chakothi sector was home to one of the three active crossing points along the
LoC, which had been opened in 2005 as a Kashmir specific confidence-building
measure (CBM). Three years later, barter trade between the divided parts of
Kashmir was also started as another CBM to increase people-to-people contact.
However,
India unilaterally discontinued both travel and trade on flimsy grounds in
April 2019 – just four months after scrapping the special status of occupied
Jammu and Kashmir in a blatant disregard of the UN Security Council
resolutions.
It’s
not the first time that Ms Omar, a Somali-American who belongs to President Joe
Biden’s Democratic Party, has drawn attention to India’s poor human rights
record.
In
early April, she questioned the alleged reluctance of the US government to
criticise Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on human rights.
Days
later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington was monitoring
the rise in human rights abuses in India by some government, police, and prison
officials.
On
Thursday, while Rep Omar was still in AJK, India issued a strongly-worded
reaction to condemn her visit.
According
to Indian media reports, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for India’s ministry of
external affairs, said: “Let me just say that if such a politician wishes to
practice her narrow-minded politics at home, that’s her business.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1686221/ilhan-omar-regrets-kashmir-not-getting-us-attention-it-merits
--------
US
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tours Pakistan, meets families at LoC
Riyaz
ul Khaliq
22.04.2022
US
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has met with Pakistan’s top leadership and paid a
visit to Azad Jammu and Kashmir as part of a four-day visit to the country that
began on April 20.
Omar,
a vocal lawmaker who has raised the issues of Islamophobia, Palestine and
Kashmir in and outside of the US Congress, met with President Arif Alvi, newly
sworn-in Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his predecessor Imran Khan in
Islamabad on Wednesday.
Omar
is the first US lawmaker to visit Pakistan after the recent change in
government in which former Prime Minister Khan accused Washington of effecting
a regime change in Islamabad.
President
Alvi appreciated the “outstanding role” of the US Congresswoman “in upholding
Muslim values, fighting against Islamophobia and in the cause of Palestinians
and Kashmiris.”
“The
world must be made aware of the suppression and possible Muslim genocide in
India,” Alvi told Omar, saying Washington and Islamabad “need to come closer.”
“Ms.
Omar also appreciated Pakistan's role in the Islamophobia resolution of the
UN,” said a statement by the Pakistani presidency.
Pakistan
along with Turkiye played a leading role in moving a resolution at the UN to
declare March 15 a day to combat Islamophobia.
Sharif
hoped that Omar’s visit “would lead to a deepening of people-to-people ties and
strengthen exchanges between the Parliament of Pakistan and the US Congress.”
“Pakistan
values its longstanding relationship with the US and wants to further deepen
bilateral cooperation based on mutual respect, trust, and equality,” Sharif
told the Congresswoman.
Emphasizing
constructive engagement between the two countries, Sharif said it could “help
promote peace, security and development in the region.”
A
statement by the prime ministry said Sharif also highlighted the “serious human
rights situation in IIOJK (Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir) and
stressed the importance of a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir
dispute, enabling the region to realize its economic potential and promote
social progress.”
“A
peaceful and stable South Asian region can focus on its growth and
development,” he said, adding concerted efforts at the global level “were
needed to deal with the scourge of Islamophobia.”
The
US lawmaker also met with Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf
and Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
Omar
also called on former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party
Chairman Khan at his Bani Gala residence on the outskirts of the capital
Islamabad.
“They
discussed Islamophobia and related issues. Ilhan Omar expressed her admiration
for Imran Khan and his position on and work against Islamophobia globally,”
said Khan’s party colleague and former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari
after the meeting.
“Imran
Khan appreciated her courageous and principled position on issues,” she added.
Tour
of Azad Kashmir
During
her maiden trip to Pakistan, Omar on Thursday reached Azad Jammu and Kashmir,
where her delegation met with President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhary of
the Pakistan-controlled part of the UN-designated disputed region.
Omar
assured Chaudhry that “she would join hands with other members of the US
Congress to show solidarity with Kashmiris and will raise the plight of
Kashmiris in the (Joe) Biden Administration,” said a statement by the Azad
Kashmir government.
She
also visited the Line of Control (LoC) – the dividing line between the
Pakistani and Indian controlled parts of Kashmir. The two countries claim the
region in full. However, the UN resolutions passed on the disputed region call
for a plebiscite to decide the future of the divided state.
The
US congresswoman also visited the Chakothi bridge that connects the two sides
of Kashmir and was seen peering into Indian-administered Kashmir through the
iron gate mounted by the Pakistani side.
At
the LoC, she met residents living on the Pakistani side of the dividing line
who have been victims of cross-border shelling that has stopped ever since
Pakistan and India revived a 2003 cease-fire in February last year.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Pakistan’s
Prominent Religious Scholar, Mufti Taqi Usman, Urges Taliban to Reopen Schools
For Afghan Girls
22
Apr 2022
Eminent
religious scholar of Pakistan Mufti Taqi Usman wrote a letter to the interim
government of Afghanistan to reopen girls’ schools for Afghan girls.
The
letter that is written to the supreme leader of the Taliban Mullah Hebtullah
Akhundzada emphasized the importance of girls’ education adding that the enemy
of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has used it as propaganda against the
IEA.
Usmani
in the letter, appreciated the recent measure taken by the IEA while insisting
that making appropriate arrangements in accordance with Shaira law is
necessary.
Further,
he added that women’s education is necessary so the women deal with women’s
education, health, and welfare activities and to avoid the mixture of men and
women.
“Second,
there is a need to dispel the impression that Islam or the Islamic Emirate are
against women’s education. However, it is necessary to make segregated
arrangements for girls’ education – separate from those for boys.” Reads the
letter.
In
the end, Mufti Taqi Usmani suggested different timings and different parts of
the same buildings of schools so that girls and boys are segregated.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Imran
Khan once again praises India's foreign policy at Lahore rally
Apr
22, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan once again lauded India's foreign
policy over importing oil from Russia, saying that "New Delhi's decision
is for the betterment of its people."
Speaking
at a rally in Lahore, Imran Khan said: "India, which is a strategic
partner to the United States, is importing oil from Russia, saying that its
decisions are based on the betterment of their people. But our foreign policy
is for the betterment of other people."
Earlier
in March, Imran Khan has admitted that the foreign policy of India is
independent and for the betterment of the people.
During
a public rally in the Malakand area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Imran Khan had said:
"I praise our neighbouring country as they always had an independent
foreign policy. Today India is in their (America) alliance and they are part of
QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue); they say that are neutral. They are
importing oil from Russia despite sanctions because their policy is for the
betterment of people."
He
further justified the reason for his visit to Russia. Imran Khan said he went
to Moscow so that the growing inflation in Pakistan could be controlled.
"I
went to Russia because Russia gave us oil at a discount of 30 per cent,"
he said at the Lahore rally.
The
PTI chairman, not for the first time, claimed that he was out of power due to
pursuing an independent foreign policy for Pakistan, which he said was not liked
by international powers.
He
accused global forces of colluding with local "Mir Jaffars and Mir Sadiqs
among others" to end his government at a time "when the economy was
shooting, the exports were record high -- and all of this at a time when the
coronavirus was wreaking havoc."
Imran
Khan explained the cablegate issue, repeating his allegation of US Assistant
Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Donald Lu threatening Pakistan's
ambassador to the US that Khan must be ousted from the power to get back in
American good books.
"What
crime had we committed that it warranted forgiving? Was it that we went to
Russia? Or that we said we won't give military bases? Remember Lahore where
they got these bad habits from. Why don't they ask the same of India?" he
asked.
Khan
said the foreign powers did not like him boosting trade with China as well.
"Since
they did not like all of these things, a conspiracy was planned. But no
conspiracy can be successful without the support of Mir Jafars and Mir
Sadiqs," the ousted premier said.
He
said the incumbent government -- comprising three stooges, Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and JUI-F chief Maulana
Fazlur Rehman -- fully supported the foreign conspiracy.
Khan
claimed that his government was removed from power at a time when the country
was progressing, with the remittances, tax collection, and development at
historic levels.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
IMF
wants Pakistan to reverse Imran Khan's relief package
Apr
21, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday said that the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants the country to revoke the subsidies
extended by the Imran Khan government by increasing fuel prices and power
tariffs, to revive its Extended Fund Facility (EFF), reported local media.
Noting
that the fund had set a series of prior conditions involving steep fiscal
adjustment close to Pakistani rupees 1.3 trillion, the finance minister said
that the IMF wants fuel prices raised to breakeven and taxes restored, amnesty
scheme discontinued for industries, circular debt reduced, power rates
increased and fiscal savings ensured in order to completely reverse the
February 28 relief package extended by the previous government, reported the
Dawn newspaper.
However,
Ismail said that the government has not made any commitment to the IMF yet,
adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has advised him to pass on the
minimum possible burden to the people.
"We
will not pass it on as suggested but something would have to be done because
the IMF programme is inevitable," the media outlet quoted him as saying.
Notably,
the previous government had a commitment to have a primary balance of PKR 25
billion which was now in deficit at PKR 1.3 trillion.
The
minister stressed that the IMF's greater focus was on ending fuel subsidy,
which is creating a fiscal hole while the power tariff could be delayed as it
does not have a direct bearing on the budget. He also hinted at doing away with
tax amnesty for industries at the outset.
Ismail
said that the petrol price required a hike of PKR 21 per litre for breakeven
followed by PKR 30 per litre petroleum levy and 17 per cent GST that would take
its price to PKR 234 per litre. "This is not possible," he said.
The
finance minister accused Imran Khan for a totally "ill-advised and
illogical" package that was not based on the finance ministry's summary.
He
added that Khan approved PKR 67 billion fuel subsidy for April which had no
prior approval while PKR 96 billion subsidy was now estimated each for next two
months as per litre subsidy on diesel had increased to PKR 51.52.
"Not
only the government is paying these amounts out of the budget every month, but
PKR 25-50 billion due in taxes was not coming. This, on an annual basis,
translates into PKR 1.8 trillion - larger than the country's defence
budget," the media outlet quoted him as saying.
"What
you have done Khan Sahib to this country," he added.
Notably,
the oil prices in Pakistan have become Hobson's choice for the government as no
budgeting could possibly be done with an over PKR 150 billion subsidy on oil
alone, however, raising the oil prices as per international market rates will
invite a strong public reaction against the government.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
President
Alvi administers oath to 4 new members of PM Shehbaz's cabinet
April
22, 2022
President
Dr Arif Alvi administered oath to three federal ministers and one minister of
state for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's cabinet at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on
Friday, the first time the president led the ceremony involving members of the
new government.
The
president had previously "complained of discomfort" just a day before
then prime minister-elect Shehbaz was to be sworn in as head of government.
Shehbaz was then administered the oath of office by Senate Chairman Sadiq
Sanjrani.
On
Tuesday, 33 lawmakers were inducted in the new premier's cabinet after they
were sworn in by Sanjrani in the absence of the president, who had refused to administer
the oath to the lawmakers, a Dawn report said, adding that a Cabinet Division
notification issued at the time carried the names of 26 federal ministers and
two ministers of state.
In
Friday's oath-taking ceremony, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid's (PML-Q) Chaudhry
Salik Hussain — son of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain — Balochistan National
Party-Mengal's (BNP-M) Agha Hassan Baloch and PML-N's Javed Latif took were
sworn in as federal ministers, state-run APP reported.
After
the three were sworn in a federal ministers, BNP-M's Hashim Notezai was
administered the oath of office and inducted into the cabinet as a minister of
state.
No
details of their portfolios were immediately available.
PM
Shehbaz was also present at the oath-taking ceremony, and was seated next to
President Alvi.
The
oath-taking had taken place just days after the president and the prime
minister held their first meeting since Shehbaz became premier. The President's
Secretariat had said the leaders discussed issues related to the evolving political
and economic situation in the country.
PM
Shehbaz's cabinet continued to expand amid reports of differences among allies
in the new coalition government and even within the PML-N over the selection of
members and distribution of portfolios among them.
A
source in the PML-N had told Dawn that there was a divide within the party over
the selection of cabinet members and distribution of portfolios among them. He
had said PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz was “unhappy” with the PM for not
considering names of veteran party leaders, who had a close and long
association with the party’s supreme leader Nawaz.
Later,
another Dawn report had identified Javed Latif as one such party member, saying
that PM Shehbaz had accommodated him in the cabinet to honour Nawaz's wish. The
report stated that Latif and Shehbaz had were not on talking terms since the
former had raised questions over the latter's alleged links with the
establishment.
According
to the report, Latif had not taken oath on Tuesday citing that he was busy in a
party rally in Okara, a PML-N insider had told Dawn that the PML-N leader had
done so because Shehbaz would not have been comfortable with his presence at
the ceremony.
Meanwhile,
there were also reports of the BNP-M of not joining the cabinet, as the party
had accused the government of not preventing violent incidents in the province,
such as the recent firing on protesters in Chagai.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
PM
to convene grand jirga over North Waziristan situation
Pazir
Gul
April
22, 2022
NORTH
WAZIRISTAN: Terming restoration of lasting peace in North Waziristan tribal
district the top most priority of his government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
said on Thursday he would soon convene a grand jirga of elders of the area in
Islamabad in this regard to find a way out of the prevailing situation.
Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Miramshah, the headquarters of North
Waziristan, on a day-long visit and addressed the elders of Uthmanzai tribe.
Senior civil and military officials and elders of the area received the prime
minister.
Interior
Minister Rana Sanaullah, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, Minister for Religious
Affairs Mufti Abdul Shakoor, PM’s adviser Amir Muqam and MNA Mohsin Dawar were
also present. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa acting Governor Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani and Chief
Minister Mahmood Khan were conspicuous by their absence on the occasion.
According
to officials, Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Faiz Hameed briefed the prime
minister on the prevailing law and order situation in the area.
Visits
Miramshah, addresses tribal elders; KP governor, CM conspicuous by absence
during trip
Addressing
the jirga, PM Sharif said the people of North Waziristan had suffered miseries
and rendered matchless sacrifices for the motherland, adding that the
government would not ignore their sacrifices.
On
the demand of Mohsin Dawar, the prime minister announced the establishment of a
university, a medical college, a mobile hospital and Danish school in North
Waziristan. The prime minister said he would soon announce more development
schemes for the district.
He
thanked the tribal elders for their support in the war against terrorism for a
peaceful and prosperous Pakistan and assured them that the government would do
all to bring comfort in local populace and ensure socio-economic development as
dividends of the fight against terrorism.
Speaking
on the occasion, chief of Waziristan Malik Nasrullah Khan Wazir drew the prime
minister’s attention to the recent bombing of displaced people of Waziristan in
Afghanistan and urged him to conduct an impartial investigation into the
incident.
On
arrival in Miramshah, PM Sharif was received by Chief of the Army Staff General
Qamar Javed Bajwa. The prime minister laid floral wreath at the Shuhada
monument and offered fateha for valiant sons of the soil who rendered supreme
sacrifices while defending the territorial integrity and sovereignty of
Pakistan.
Later,
the prime minister was given a detailed briefing on the security situation with
special focus on terrorist activities from across the border. He was also
briefed on the western border management system, including the status of border
fencing.
Mr
Sharif paid rich tribute to the officers and men of Pakistan Army for their
success in breaking the back of terrorism. He said it was not too long ago that
terrorists had been indiscriminately targeting innocent men, women and
children, educational institutions and state infrastructure across the country.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1686217/pm-to-convene-grand-jirga-over-north-waziristan-situation
--------
No
agreement signed with PPP, says MQM-P leader
Mohammad
Hussain Khan
April
22, 2022
HYDERABAD:
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui
has said that Muttahida has not signed any agreement with Pakistan Peoples
Party and rather it has established a sort of working relationship with the
party.
In
fact, the same demands that MQM-P had taken up with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
(PTI) had been presented to PPP for which meetings were now being held between
the two parties, he said.
He
was speaking to journalists at an annual charity programme organsied by the
party’s welfare wing, Khidmat-i-Khalq Foundation, at its office here on
Thursday. Former Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar and other party leaders also
attended the programme.
Siddiqui
said that substantive progress was yet to be seen on the demands, which were
the same for which MQM-P had been holding protests in past. MQM-P had succeeded
to convince national leadership to recognise the issues, crimes and injustices
committed against urban areas of Sindh, he said.
He
said that if the demands were fulfilled then MQM-P would sit together — with
present coalition partners — but if the demands remained unmet then everyone
was free to take a decision. MQM-P had agreed to be part of federal cabinet
because some people thought that it would strengthen democracy and the
situation might improve, he said.
Siddiqui
said that PTI government did not fulfill its promises made with MQM-P about
development works in the areas which contributed 70 to 80pc to total revenue
collection of the country.
He
said that had Imran Khan’s own party fellows been loyal to him, the situation
would have been different. MQM-P had signed an agreement with PTI but had not
made a pledge of loyalty, he said.
He
said that even that pact was conditioned with PTI’s execution of works in the
areas where MQM-P’s mandate had been ‘stolen’. Initially, MQM-P thought Imran
Khan was inexperienced but it transpired later that he believed the party’s
missing persons were terrorists and that it was better they were in jails, he
said, adding that MQM-P had taken the decision as an organisation.
About
the offer of governorship to Muttahida, Siddiqui said that this office had been
rendered totally powerless. Governors must at least have some powers with
regard to human rights and justice. If someone talked to MQM-P in this regard
the party would discuss it, he said.
He
said that MQM-P was least concerned about differences in other parties. There
was no difference of opinion over demands presented by MQM-P as the demands had
been presented in writing and if someone declined to accept them then the party
would reciprocate in the same manner, he said. ‘MQM-P to benefit if polls held
early’
Siddiqui
said that it would benefit MQM-P if elections were held early as the party
would regain its ‘snatched’ seats in Karachi. MQM-P would face ‘policy’ in next
elections instead of ‘political parties’, he said.
He
said that a new spirit was infused into MQM-P after its offices were snatched.
Muttahida was demanding its offices back because it was its right, he said,
adding that the family and feudal politics were shaking because of MQM-P’s
presence in political arena.
He
said that MQM-P had demanded that general election should be held on the basis
of new census, fresh voter lists and delimitations. If whereabouts of missing
persons could not be traced by head of the state then who was to be approached,
he said.
Earlier,
he said at the programme that MQM-P had a long history of serving people. KKF
ranked the second in the country in terms of charity programmes, he said.
He
said that Hyderabad faced atrocities in MQM-P’s early period of politics.
Without MQM-P’s support no government could either be formed or unformed, he
said.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1686121/no-agreement-signed-with-ppp-says-mqm-p-leader
--------
Pakistan
PM Shehbaz withdraws foreign affairs portfolio from Tariq Fatemi
April
21, 2022
In
a setback to Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he was forced to
withdraw the appointment of seasoned diplomat Tariq Fatemi as his Special
Assistant on Foreign Affairs on Thursday after coalition partner Pakistan
Peoples Party opposed the move.
Fatemi
is considered a close aide of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz
Sharif. The 77-year-old former diplomat was not initially made part of
Shehbaz's Cabinet which took oath on Tuesday after days of deliberations
between the premier and his coalition partners.
He
served as the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Foreign Affairs
from 2013 to 2017 but removed after the so-called Dawn-leaks scandal.
The
Pakistan government led by Shehbaz, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, on
Wednesday appointed Fatemi as the SAPM to the Prime Minister.
The
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) immediately raised concerns at his appointment as
its chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is expected to be appointed as foreign
minister in the coming days.
Prime
Minister Shehbaz, in an effort to allay the concerns of the PPP, asked the
relevant department to change the appointment order.
According
to a Cabinet Division notification, Fatemi will continue to serve as a SAPM
without a portfolio and has been granted the additional status of a minister of
state.
Minister
of information Marriyum Aurangzeb told the media that the notification was
changed to enlarge the role of Fatemi.
"First
he was SAPM on foreign affairs only, now he is advisor on all departments, she
said, downplaying U-turn by the prime minister.
Another
reason for changing the notification was that Fatemi was sacked after
Dawn-leaks and his reinstatement in the same position might have not gone well
with the powerful establishment (military).
Source:
Business Standard
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab World
Arab
League urges Israel to stop Jewish prayers at al-Aqsa mosque
21
April ,2022
The
Arab League called on Israel on Thursday to end Jewish prayers inside the
compound of Islam’s third holiest shrine in East Jerusalem, warning it was a
flagrant affront to Muslim feelings that could trigger wider conflict.
They
said while Israel was restricting the right of worship of Muslims in
Jerusalem’s Old City, ultra-nationalist Jews under police protection were being
allowed at the height of the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan to enter the
al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Sitting
atop the walled Old City plateau, the site is known to Muslims as Haram
al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site
in Judaism, where they believe two ancient temples were located.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“Our
demands are clear that al-Aqsa and Haram al-Sharif in all its area is a sole
place of worship for Muslims,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told
reporters alongside the Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit after an emergency
meeting in Amman on the matter.
Gheit
said Israel was violating centuries-old policy according to which non-Muslims
may visit the al-Aqsa compound, Islam’s third most sacred site after Mecca and
Medina, but not pray there.
Israeli
leaders have said they are ensuring freedom of worship for all religions in
Jerusalem.
The
al-Aqsa Mosque area is the most sensitive site in the generations-old conflict.
Tensions this year have been heightened in part by Ramazan coinciding with the
Jewish celebration of Passover.
“These
violations are a blatant affront and provocation of Muslim feelings everywhere
and they risk a cycle of violence that threatens security and stability in the
region and the world,” the Arab League said in a statement.
Israel
regards the whole of Jerusalem as its capital and the center of the Jewish
faith. It annexed East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, after a 1967
conflict, in a move that has not won international recognition.
An
upsurge of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories in
recent weeks has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict.
Since
March, Israeli forces have killed at least 29 Palestinians in West Bank raids,
and a series of deadly Arab street attacks have killed 14 people in Israel.
Safadi,
who spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week, met senior US
State Department officials touring the region on Wednesday to discuss reducing
tensions.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Christians
in Syria's Idlib worship freely: Archpriest
Mehmet
Burak Karacaoglu and Ahmet Karaahmet
22.04.2022
IDLIB,
Syria
Christians
in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province have been performing their religious
duties freely, said Hanna Celluf, the archpriest of Qunayah Church.
Speaking
to Anadolu Agency, Celluf said: "No one disturbs us while we are
performing our prayers. No one harasses us. We don’t come across any adverse
condition while carrying out our activities in the church."
The
70-year-old Franciscan has been serving as an archpriest for Qunayah Church for
21 years.
Qunayah
Church, which was built in the 5th century in the village of Qunayah, is
located in a mountainous and green area, and several historical artifacts are
also preserved in the church.
Now,
only around 210 Christians in Idlib gather and worship at the church in Jisr
al-Shughur district due to the civil war that broke out in 2011.
Celluf
said that before the civil war, the Christian population of Qunayah, Yacubiyeh
and Jdayde villages used to be around 10,000 and Syrian Christians lived mainly
in the Aleppo, Idlib, Damascus, Hama and Jazira regions.
But
due to the war, most Christians had to leave the country or were internally
displaced.
Christians
living in areas under the control of military opposition groups in Idlib are
among the most ancient inhabitants of the region, although they are in a
minority.
While
the number of Christians in Idlib exceeded 10,000 before the civil war, it has
dropped to 600 due to the attacks of Bashar Assad regime forces and the
Daesh/ISIS terror group.
"Occasionally,
(Christian) families living in other provinces of Syria return to their homes.
We welcome them," Celluf said.
'Brotherly
love between us'
"In
general, our relations with people are excellent. There is a brotherly love
between us. I hope those who left their homes will return to their families and
lands so that we can live in love and peace," he went on to say.
In
response to a question on why he didn’t leave Idlib, the archpriest said:
"No one abandons their roots. Because the Christians took root in Antakya.
Our roots have stood firm since then. Our ancestors and families lived here. We
will live here until we die."
He
noted that there are many Christians in the region from the Armenian Church of
Dhok and the Greek Orthodox, Protestant and Latin Catholic churches.
"As
the Catholic Church, we are no different from other sects. We do our prayers
together. We live together, we commiserate with each other,” he said, adding,
“There is no difference between us as Greek, Orthodox or Armenian. We all
worship the one God and the one Christ."
Expressing
his honor to serve the Christians in Idlib as a Christian of the Franciscan
Priests of the Guardianship of the Holy Land, Celluf said that Pope Francis,
the spiritual leader of the Catholic world, wrote a letter to them.
"The
Pope wrote us a letter of encouragement to continue our lives and sacrifices by
living with the people here," he said.
He
said the Pope encouraged them to give hope to the Christians living in Idlib,
writing in his letter that one day peace will come to these lands.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/christians-in-syrias-idlib-worship-freely-archpriest/2569913
--------
Umrah
Security Forces gear up for huge flow of pilgrims during last ten days of
Ramazan
April
22, 2022
MAKKAH
— The Umrah Security Forces reviewed their plan to cope with the anticipated
huge flow of pilgrims to the Grand Mosque in Makkah during the last ten days of
Ramazan.
Senior
officials of the forces briefed on the salient features of the foolproof plan
at a press conference held at the Security Forces Officers Club in Makkah on
Thursday.
Addressing
the press conference, Maj. Gen. Muhammad Al-Bassami, commander of the Umrah
Security Forces, said that the security plan for Ramazan achieved its goals
since the start of the holy month. He stated that the forces are geared up to
cope with the huge flow of pilgrims during the last ten days of Ramazan.
Al-Bassami
explained that apart from the mataf (circumambulation area around the Holy
Kaaba), the front part of the first floor, the roof of the Grand Mosque and the
ground floor have been set aside for performing tawaf. The command and control
center of the Umrah Security Forces is working professionally by applying the
highest levels of security and safety ever since the beginning of the holy
month, he pointed out.
Al-Bassami
said that there is great harmony and high coordination with all the partners.
“This enabled the security forces to remove all obstacles that stand in the way
of providing comfort to the pilgrims and worshippers. The plan also entails
confronting negative phenomena such as beggary,” he said while noting that the
security forces are working with high intensity with a security cover over the
entire city of Makkah.
Al-Bassami
called upon the Umrah service providers to enlighten the pilgrims about the
necessity of adhering to the scheduled time for the performance of Umrah and
complying with the instructions of the authorities in this regard. He thanked
the people of Makkah for their positive response to the Umrah security plans.
For
his part, Maj. Gen. Salman Al-Jumei, assistant commander of the Umrah Security
Forces for traffic affairs, said that the human and mechanical support has been
reinforced to manage the traffic flow around the Grand Mosque and within the
holy city. The movement of vehicles has been completely rerouted to facilitate
the flow of pedestrians along designated paths.
Al-Jumei
said that the traffic plan for the last ten days of Ramazan aims to manage,
monitor and control the flow of traffic throughout the holy city. The traffic
authorities would follow up the transportation of visitors to the Grand Mosque
from the beginning of their arrival at the bus stations in the outskirts of the
holy city and from there to the premises of the Grand Mosque on board buses
through approved routes in accordance with set schedules.
Addressing
the press conference, Maj. Gen. Saleh Al-Murabba, deputy director general of
Passports, revealed that technical and technological support teams are
available round the clock in all the entry points to the Kingdom in order to
ensure the smooth flow of pilgrims. He said that the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah
has received several requests for extending Umrah visas in the case of sick
pilgrims and the necessary measures have been taken to extend the visas.
Meanwhile,
Col. Muhammad Al-Lihyani, director of the Unified Security Operations Center in
Makkah, said that the center attaches great importance to serving the pilgrims
by receiving all calls via the number 911 in the holy city and various
governorates under the Makkah region.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Sheikh
Zayed Grand Mosque distributes 30,000 iftar meals daily at 10 worker
accommodations
Nilanjana
Gupta
Apr
22, 2022
The
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre has been distributing 30,000 iftar meals every
day at 10 worker accommodations across Abu Dhabi since Ramazan began.
Meals
are prepared at Erth Abu Dhabi hotel, close to the mosque.
Before
the pandemic hit, the mosque grounds would be full of people from all walks of
life on a Ramazan evening. But that has changed in the past couple of years as
the mosque has been delivering meals to workers' accommodations.
The
9,000 square-metre kitchen at Erth Abu Dhabi hotel is where all the action
happens. Since 2004, it has served more than 15 million iftar meals. This year,
the centre cooks more than 30,000 iftar meals every day and delivers them to
different locations across Abu Dhabi.
The
planning started two months before the holy month.
“We
do the tasting and decide the menu. We agree on how the food should be
presented and what kind of spices we could add,” said Aztaj Eddoukani, senior
director of culinary operations at Erth Abu Dhabi.
“We
talk to our suppliers and make sure they have the right and enough ingredients
for the entire month.”
On
the day The National visited, the kitchen was preparing marinated roasted
chicken, biryani rice, vegetable salona (stew), and salad.
More
than 425 staff members, including chefs, stewards and drivers, raced against
time to deliver 30,000 meals before sunset.
The
preparation starts at 5am. The chefs cook 15,000kg of chicken, 4,000kg of rice,
6,000kg of vegetables and 230kg of spices.
“We
have different sections in the kitchen. One is for cutting and preparing
vegetables for salad and salona,” Mr Eddoukani said.
“We
also have a hot kitchen where we prepare spices and cook rice. We have about 14
ovens where we can put 500 portions of chicken at a time. We usually prepare
850 portions of chicken in an hour.”
Around
noon, the meals are put inside warming cabinets at 80°C until they are ready
for distribution.
The
boxes are then loaded onto 13 trucks that set out in different directions. The
staff hand out the meal boxes to workers living in 10 locations, including
Mafraq, Hameem and Al Raha Village.
“For
locations that are far from us such as Hameem, we transport the meals in hot
cabinets and package them after reaching the workers' accommodation. This is
done so that the meals are hot when served,” Mr Eddoukani said.
“We
serve people of all faiths and backgrounds. Non-Muslims can receive the boxes
way before iftar time.”
When
the call to prayer is heard, they end their fast at their residences, away from
gatherings.
This
year, the mosque has resumed welcoming worshippers for Taraweeh and Tahajjud
prayers, after the National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority relaxed
Covid-19 rules during the holy month.
Source:
The National News
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Egyptian
man kills his two brothers, injures another over inheritance dispute
21
April ,2022
An
Egyptian man shot dead his two brothers and injured a third during Iftar during
a dispute over inheritance, news website El Watan News reported.
According
to a relative of the victims, identified as Mustafa, the dispute erupted when
the perpetrator, Hani, argued with his brothers during an Iftar gathering at their
father’s house in Giza over the inheritance of two apartments.
As
the quarrel intensified, Hani grabbed a machine gun and shot dead his two
brothers, Saad and Mohammed. He also opened fire on Salah, one of his seven
brothers, hitting his leg and severely injuring him leading to an amputation.
Both
Saad and Mohammed died immediately, according to the report.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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UAE
astronomy centre says Eid al-Fitr to fall on May 2 in most countries
21
April ,2022
The
UAE’s International Astronomical Center confirmed that Eid al-Fitr will fall on
May 2 in most countries where the holy month of Ramazan started on April 1,
state news agency WAM reported on Thursday.
Engineer
Mohammed Shawkat Odeh, the center’s director, explained that sighting the
crescent moon on April 30 “will be impossible because the moon will set before
the sun.”
Therefore,
countries which marked the beginning of Ramazan on April 2 will conclude
Ramazan on May 1 and mark Eid al-Fitr on May 2, Odeh explained.
Countries
that marked the beginning of the holy month on April 3, such as Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, India, Oman, Jordan and Morocco, will
sight the crescent moon on May 1 – which would mark the 29th of Ramazan for
them – to determine when the first day of Eid al-Fitr is.
Odeh
noted, however, that sighting the crescent moon on May 1 “is not possible at
all in Australia and surrounding areas,” adding that it’s possible to sight it
via a telescope only in central and western Asia, most of Europe and south of
Africa.
“Most
countries that will try to sight the crescent moon on May 1 will most likely
announce that May 2 is the first day of Eid al-Fitr,” Odeh said, adding that
it’s expected for India, Bangladesh and Pakistan to announce May 3 as the first
day of Eid.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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YPG/PKK
terrorists set fire to office of Kurdish opposition group in Syria
Ethem
Emre Özcan
21.04.2022
AL-HASAKAH,
Syria
The
YPG/PKK terrorist group raided and set fire to an office of a Kurdish
opposition group in Syria’s Al-Hasakah province Wednesday.
In
a statement, the Kurdish National Council (ENKS) said a group affiliated with
the PYD/YPG/PKK terror group raided the office of the Kurdistan Democratic
Party of Syria (KDP-S), a member of the Kurdish National Council in Syria, in
al-Darbasiyah subdistrict.
The
office of the KDP-S was set on fire with Molotov cocktails, it said.
The
ENKS also noted that it was not the first such instance and that the offices of
the member parties of the ENKS had been subjected to similar attacks before.
“The
terrorization policy of the PYD against our people and the burning of the
offices of the ENKS and its member parties are happening in front of the
coalition forces and the USA, which supports that organization that uses force
against us,” the statement said.
The
Kurdish opposition group urged the US to put pressure on the YPG/PKK terror
group to put an end to such raids and attacks on offices.
YPG/PKK
terrorists burned the ENKS office in al-Darbasiyah on Dec. 17, 2021 and
attacked two offices of the ENKS and the office of a media organization in
Qamishli district of al-Hasakah on Sept. 28, 2021 with Molotov cocktails.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Southeast Asia
The
sin of lying vs accused’s right under the law
Predeep
Nambiar
April
22, 2022
GEORGE
TOWN: Former law minister Nazri Aziz and Bar Council president Karen Cheah are
at odds over a mufti’s condemnation of lawyers as sinners if they defend
criminals in full knowledge of their guilt.
Nazri
gave his support to the mufti’s view, saying his conscience was important to
him and it would prevent him from being a lying lawyer.
Cheah
said any accused person retained the right to be defended by a lawyer and added
that this was a fundamental right under the Federal Constitution.
Last
Tuesday, Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin, referring to concerns raised by some
lawyers about having to defend the guilty, said Islam forbade Muslims from
protecting wrongdoers and it would be sinful to accept service payments from
them.
Accepting
money from offenders would be worse than earning an income from prostitution,
he added.
Speaking
to FMT, Nazri acknowledged the principle of innocence until proven guilty, but
he said Muslim lawyers should follow the dictates of their conscience.
He
said he would feel “caught in between” if he had to defend a person he knew to
be guilty.
“It
would force me to cook up stories, lie, create doubts and poke holes,” he said.
“I don’t think I can do that. To me, my conscience is more important. If a person
is guilty and I defend him, I will be doing so at the victim’s expense.
“I
want to be a lawyer, not a liar.”
Nazri
also said the law did not prevent a person from representing himself or herself
in court and this negated the need for a lawyer if the person had broken the
law.
Cheah
said lawyers did not prejudge a case and would merely argue the facts of a case
before a judge.
“To
prejudge a case would go against the grain that a person is innocent until
proven guilty,” she said. “Without a lawyer, an accused person may be at a
disadvantage in knowing what to do in court and putting forward the best
defence.
“It
is the duty of the lawyer to raise any discrepancy found in a charge against
the accused within the confines of the law, which may lead to questioning the
validity of the charge itself. But the ultimate adjudicator is the court.”
Lawyer
Rafique Rashid Ali agreed with Cheah, saying the presumption of innocence was a
basic principle of criminal law.
He
said a lawyer’s duty, regardless of his religious affiliation, “is to ensure
that the evidence is properly tendered and that there is no miscarriage of
justice and to ensure that the accused’s defence, his version, is put forward
during the trial.”
He
said the prosecution could not be given a free hand to present evidence without
being challenged by a defence lawyer.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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Long
associated with Ramazan, how did dates become popular in Malaysia?
22
Apr 2022
BY
ASHMAN ADAM AND SHAHRIN AIZAT NOORSHAHRIZAM
KUALA
LUMPUR, April 22 ― Dates have come to be synonymous with the Muslim holy month
of Ramazan but there was a time when these sweet dried fruits were not a
fast-breaking staple in Malaysia.
Luqman
Hakim Mansoor, who was selling dates at the Bukit Rahman Putra Ramazan Bazaar,
said that in his 22 years of life, he has always remembered his family breaking
fast by eating dates.
After
all, eating dates during Ramazan is considered to be sunnah ― or the way of the
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) ― as he is credited with saying “break your fast by
eating dates, if not, do it by water as it is purifying.”
“We
started this as a side gig, wanting to make some extra money for Hari Raya.
Everyone else here is selling lauk or kuih, but everyone looks for kurma,” he
said, using the Malay word for dates.
According
to academic Mohd Faizal Musa ― more popularly known by his pen name Faisal
Tehrani ― dates have always been popular among Malaysian Muslims, as evidenced
in several old Malay texts.
“In
fact, there’s a kampung called Parit Kurma in Muar which dates back to 1924,”
he said. The village is also called Parit Keroma.
However,
he said the widespread popularity of dates can be traced back to the 1990s when
the large diaspora of Egyptians and Iranians living in Kuala Lumpur started
bringing in large quantities of dates from their homelands.
“Iranian
and Arab grocery stores also helped grow the popularity of dates. Iranian dates
from Bam (a city in the Kerman Province of Iran) were a huge success here,
together with the Egyptian Mariami,” he said, referring to Mariami dates, which
are considered the most delicious of dates.
This
coincides with data from the International Trade Centre, a body under both the
World Trade Organisation and the United Nations, which shows a slow rise in the
import of dates into Malaysia from the year 2003.
From
there, Malaysia’s date fruit import data shows that from importing 5,000 metric
tonnes a year in 2003, Malaysia imported around 25,000 metric tonnes of dates
in 2019.
In
a blog post earlier this month, economist and former special officer to a
finance minister Hafiz Noor Shams cited the aforementioned data showing that
date imports in Malaysia were approximately 440 g/person in 1989 and rose
merely to 480 g/person in 2000. However, it surged to 640 g/person in 2010 and
more to 700 g/person in 2020.
Hafiz
proposed that the period between 2000 and 2010 coincided with the rise of
Tunisia as an exporter of dates to Malaysia, outstripping China, Iran and Egypt
which were the biggest suppliers prior to that period.
Rising
demand as ‘sunnah’ becomes more integral
Malik
Mohd, owner and proprietor of Bazaar Kurma Malik Mohd in Shah Alam, told Malay
Mail he has been selling dates for over 30 years, seeing it as a business as
well as a way to help fellow Muslims perform sunnah.
Sunnah
refers to the traditions and practices of Prophet Muhammad, which include
consuming dates. As an exemplar, Muslims strive to follow the prophet’s
actions.
After
inheriting his father’s convenience store in 1982, Malik said he made the
decision to import dates from various Middle Eastern countries including Iran,
Iraq and Egypt.
But
it was not always smooth sailing. “Back in 1992, we struggled to sell even one
container’s worth of dates.
“But
at the turn of the century, the demand for dates started to boom and my
business grew with it. By the mid-2000s,
I could sell three to four containers of dates during Ramazan alone,” he
explained.
He
said that over the last 10 years, the demand for dates has become so high that
business during non-Ramazan times is still very good. Malik added that even
non-Muslims have now been buying his products in bulk.
The
popularity of dates grew with the internet and access to more Islamic
knowledge, according to Adira Adipso, a trader of sunnah food ― a term used for
foods believed to be consumed by Prophet Muhammad during his life such as
dates, honey, figs and olives.
Adira
― whose parents are the owners of Rimbun Serai which creates beautiful sunnah
food hampers and gift sets sold at the Shah Alam Convention Centre ― said that
before the 90s, Islamic influence was not as strong as it is now, and breaking
one's fast with eating dates was never a mainstream practice.
“People’s
knowledge about sunnah food is now so much better since the 2000s, when
information became more easily accessible and as a result of that, the practice
of eating dates to break fast is now so widely practised among Malaysians.
“Now,
you will encounter businesses like my family’s more easily compared to the 90s
and even early 2000s. The demand for dates, not just for consumption but also
as gifts it’s there,” Adira told Malay Mail.
The
whisper that gets you searching for dates
Meanwhile,
the Malaysian king of dates, the man whose name is “whispered” every fasting
month on radio and television all across the country, Datuk Seri Yusuf Taiyoob
said that dates are not new to Malaysia.
Yusuf
has been in the dates business for 30 years, with his brands previously
dominating the market with various varieties of dates, opening customers’ eyes
to the different tastes of dates as Ramazan arrives.
He
told Malay Mail that since the demand for dates has skyrocketed over the years,
so has the quality of dates that get imported into the country.
The
George Town-based entrepreneur said that before the boom in the late 90s, the
dates that were available in Malaysia were not of good quality and they were
not marketed so widely.
“Back
in the day, people just scooped their dates out of an old dusty sack and the
quality of dates that we got was not very good.
“But
for the past 20 years, Malaysians' view of dates has changed. People look at
the advertising, the packaging and are attracted to it. Even the taste of dates
has become better and better which is drawing in more demand,” he told Malay
Mail in an interview over Zoom.
His
company Yusuf Taiyoob Sdn Bhd now sells 25 varieties of dates from the
sought-after Safia, Wasem and Ajmal, to Nefisa, Deena and Jebel.
On
its website, the company said it was established in 1988, now with a storage
and distribution facility in Bukit Minyak, Penang which handles 7,000 metric
tonnes of products in cold storage and 1,000 metric tonnes in ambient storage
for distribution all over Southeast Asia.
Source:
Malay Mail
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China
calls for truce as Pakistan, Afghan Taliban ties turn violent
Apr
21, 2022
BEIJING:
A worried China on Thursday called on Pakistan and the Taliban-led interim
government in Afghanistan to resolve their "concerns" through talks
after Pakistani air raids reportedly killed 47 Afghans, prompting Kabul to
lodge a "strong demarche" to Islamabad.
"Afghanistan
and Pakistan are close neighbours with traditional friendship with China,"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here when
asked about the recent border skirmishes between close allies sparked by
recurring terror attacks on Pakistani troops allegedly from across the borders
in Afghanistan.
"I
believe the countries can properly settle their concerns through dialogue and
consultation and jointly maintain peace and tranquility," Wang said,
declining to elaborate on Beijing's apprehensions over its trilateral
initiative of forming a China, Pakistan, Afghanistan alliance.
The
Pakistani air raids on Afghanistan came about a fortnight after Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi held the third meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the
neighbouring countries of Afghanistan comprising Pakistan, Iran, Russia,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan at Tunxi in China on March 30-31 for
which interim Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was invited.
Wang
later held a meeting of Foreign Ministers of China, Pakistan, Afghanistan which
was attended by the then Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Despite
the "close ties" China and Pakistan are yet to recognise the Afghan
Taliban's interim government.
The
widening differences between Pakistan and the Taliban in the meantime resulting
in violent clashes was seen as a setback for Beijing and Islamabad efforts to
gain control over the volatile Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the US
troops.
China
is also eyeing the lucrative mines and oil deposits in Afghanistan.
For
its part, Pakistan was saddled with recurring terror attacks by the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) based in Afghanistan leading to many
casualties for Pakistan military in the troubled tribal Waziristan region.
Islamabad
is angry that the Taliban is not cracking down hard on the TTP despite its
repeated requests.
The
situation turned worse on April 16 when the Taliban accused Pakistan of
launching cross-border military raids inside Afghanistan resulting in deaths of
47 Afghans.
The
Pakistani air raids prompted a massive demonstration in Khost in which
protestors chanted anti-Pakistan slogans, according to reports from Kabul.
Officials
said the military actions prompted the Taliban interim Foreign Minister Muttaqi
to summon Pakistani ambassador in Kabul Mansoor Ahmad Khan to his office and
lodge a "strong démarche" or official protest note to him.
"The
Afghan side condemned the recent attacks on Khost and Kunar provinces,
stressing prevention of such acts," Muttaqi's office said in a statement.
It
warned that military violations by Pakistan would deteriorate bilateral ties
and allow "antagonists to misuse the situation leading to undesired
consequences."
Taliban
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a statement, later stressed the need for resolving
bilateral problems through political means.
Source:
Times Of India
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PAS
veep told to solemnly swear there’s no plot against Umno
Robin
Augustin
April
21, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: A Barisan Nasional leader has challenged PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri
Mokhtar to take an Islamic oath in denying that his party is plotting to topple
Umno leaders.
Specifically,
Samsuri was told to utter a “sumpah laknat”, which means he has to be willing
to suffer God’s curse if his oath is false.
Selangor
BN information chief Isham Jalil issued the challenge during an interview with
FMT.
“These
days, people do not believe the mere denials of politicians who say one thing
but do the opposite,” he said.
He
was referring to Samsuri’s denial of the veracity of documents said to be the
minutes of a PAS meeting that have been leaked. The alleged minutes mention a
plot to disrupt and topple Umno and BN.
Samsuri,
who is the Terengganu menteri besar, said he did not know the origin of the
documents.
However,
he acknowledged that meetings between top PAS and Bersatu leaders had taken
place.
Isham
said he would like to ask Samsuri what the meetings were about if there were no
discussions on the alleged plot.
He
said PAS leaders had previously spoken of a tactical plan to make Umno accept
Bersatu in the Muafakat Nasional alliance.
“Is
part of the tactical plan to topple Umno leaders who disagree with PAS and
throw them in jail before the next general election?
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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We
don’t know if PAS’ leaked documents are genuine, says PM
April
22, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has decided not to comment on leaked
documents from a PAS meeting allegedly of a plan to topple certain Umno
leaders, saying its authenticity remained unclear.
“We
don’t even know if the documents are authentic or not,” Ismail told reporters
after an event in Putrajaya today, Sinar Harian reported.
The
leaked documents are said to be minutes of a PAS meeting that allegedly
mentioned a plot to topple and disrupt Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN).
Umno
president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s lawyers previously said they will lodge a police
report over the documents that allegedly mentioned the need for “interference”
in court cases involving certain Umno leaders to “hasten their sentencing”.
Several
prominent figures have been linked to the alleged plot, including PAS
vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar and secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan,
as well as Bersatu leaders Azmin Ali and Hamzah Zainudin.
Meanwhile,
Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin urged party leaders whose names were
mentioned in the document to explain themselves over the matter, saying their
silence would only raise more questions.
While
he did not name them specifically, Khaled told Malaysiakini that these Umno
leaders must clarify why they had held meetings with PAS.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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Mideast
Iran
Voices Deep Concern over Israeli Crimes in Letters to UN, OIC, Muslim FMs
2022-April-21
In
his letters on Wednesday, Amir Abdollahian voiced deep concern over the Tel
Aviv regime’s raids at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the flare-up in attacks
against the Palestinians during the holy fasting month of Ramazan.
He
said that any violation of the holy places revered by Muslims as well as
lacerating their feelings were rejected and unacceptable.
“The
Islamic Republic of Iran …. in accordance with the international law … has put
unwavering support for the liberation fight and resistance of the Palestinian
people aimed at the full realization of their human rights among the planks of
its foreign policy,” Amir Abdollahian added, condemning the regime’s violations
in the strongest terms.
He
said, in his letters, that the recent Israeli aggression clearly attests to the
regime’s policy to alter the identity of al-Quds.
The
Iranian foreign minister also called for immediate and firm action of the
international community and the UN, particularly the United Nations Security
Council, to support the Palestinians and urged the UN to immediately address
the recent developments in the occupied territories.
The
establishment of lasting and fair peace in the region is possible only if the
occupation of Palestine ends, Palestinian refuges return to their homeland and
an independent Palestinian state is established with al-Quds as its capital,
concluded the letter.
Tensions
have flared in recent days after Israeli police raided the al-Aqsa Mosque
compound.
At
least 170 Palestinians have been wounded and hundreds of others arrested since
Israeli forces launched incursions into the mosque compound for the fourth
consecutive day on Wednesday.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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Iran
Asks Taliban for Protection of Afghan Children’s Lives
2022-April-21
In
a letter addressed to his Afghan counterpart, Nouri underlined the necessity
for safeguarding the lives of innocent children and adolescents against the
criminal acts of terrorist groups.
He
condemned the Tuesday terrorist attacks in a Kabul school which led to death
and injury of a large number of students, and extended his condolences to the
Afghan nation on the sad incident.
“The
painful catastrophe that took place today in Kabul and the martyrdom and injury
of a large number of students was very sorrowful and saddening. While
sympathizing with the bereaved family members of the victims and praying for
the fast recovery of the injured people, I pray for the salvation of the martyrs’
souls,” Nouri said.
He
also stressed the need for Afghan officials’ to safeguard the lives of the
innocent children and young adults against the terrorists’ attacks so that such
criminal acts will not occur again and the people will send their children to
schools with peace of mind.
At
least 26 people, mostly students, were killed and tens of others wounded after
two blasts targeted a boys’ school in Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood.
Two
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) blew up outside the Abdul Rahim Shahid high
school in Western Kabul.
A
third blast occurred at an English language center several kilometers away but
in the same area.
Iranian
President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi blamed the terrorist groups and foreign
countries which interfered in Afghanistan in recent years for the recent
terrorist attacks in the war-torn country which killed tens of people,
including students.
In
addition to the terrorists, the responsibility for these attacks in Afghanistan
lies with the countries that with their irresponsible interventions under the
pretext of establishing security have played the biggest role in destabilizing
the country in recent years, Rayeesi said on Wednesday.
He
condemned the terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital of Kabul which led to the
killing of more than 26 people, mostly students, and offered condolences to the
families of the victims.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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Israeli
police, Palestinians clash at Jerusalem holy site
22
April ,2022
Israeli
police and Palestinian youths clashed again at a major Jerusalem holy site
sacred to Jews and Muslims on Friday despite a temporary halt to Jewish visits
to the site, which are seen as a provocation by the Palestinians.
Palestinians
and Israeli police have regularly clashed at the site for the last week at a
time of heightened tensions in the region following a string of deadly attacks
inside Israel and arrest raids in the occupied West Bank.
Three
rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
Palestinian
youths hurled stones toward police at a gate leading into the compound,
according to two Palestinian witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity out
of security concerns. The police, in full riot gear, entered the compound,
firing rubber bullets and stun grenades.
The
Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said nine Palestinians were wounded,
two of them seriously.
The
al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City is the third holiest site in Islam. The
sprawling esplanade on which it is built is the holiest site for Jews, who
refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of two Jewish
temples in antiquity.
It
lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and clashes there have
often ignited violence elsewhere.
Tens
of thousands of Muslim worshippers are expected at the site later in the day
for the main weekly prayers.
Palestinians
and neighboring Jordan, the custodian of the site, accuse Israel of violating
longstanding arrangements by allowing increasingly large numbers of Jews to
visit the site under police escort.
A
longstanding prohibition on Jews praying at the site has eroded in recent
years, fueling fears among Palestinians that Israel plans to take over the site
or partition it.
Israel
says it remains committed to the status quo and blames the violence on
incitement by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza. It says
its security forces are acting to thwart rock-throwers in order to ensure
freedom of worship for Jews and Muslims.
Visits
by Jewish groups were halted beginning Friday for the last 10 days of the
Muslim holy month of Ramazan, as they have been in the past.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Israel
says no change to status-quo at Jerusalem Al-Aqsa compound
21
April ,2022
Israel
said on Thursday it was enforcing a long-standing ban on Jewish prayer at the
compound of Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, rejecting an Arab League accusation
that it was allowing such worship to take place.
Violence
at the compound, revered in Judaism as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the
Noble Sanctuary, has surged over the past week, raising concerns about a slide
back into wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli
security forces have been on high alert with the Muslim holy month of Ramazan
coinciding with the Jewish holiday Passover and Christianity's Easter.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
Arab League said Israel has broken the status-quo and was allowing Jews to pray
at the compound, calling it a “provocation.” Israel, however, said there has
been no change in its long-standing ban on Jewish prayer at the flashpoint
site.
“Israel
is maintaining the status quo, which includes the freedom of prayer for Muslims
and the right to visit for non-Muslims. The police enforce the ban on Jewish
prayer,” said Lior Haiat, a spokesperson for Israel's Foreign Ministry.
“Over
the last few years, Israel is not allowing Jews to visit the Temple Mount
during the last 10 days of Ramazan to prevent any friction,” he said.
That
10-day period starts on Friday.
The
future of Jerusalem is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The
Old City is in East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in a 1967 war and annexed in
a move that has not won international recognition.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Iran
Arrests 3 Mossad Spies
2022-April-21
The
intelligence ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday that the spies were
involved in disseminating classified information and documents.
It
added that the three spies had been arrested upon a judicial order, without
specifying their nationalities.
In
a relevant development in March, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)
Intelligence and Security Organization forces arrested members of a sabotage
team which plotted acts against Fordow nuclear facility in Central Iran.
The
IRGC security forces managed to prevent a major act of sabotage at the Iranian
nuclear facility in the Northeastern part of Qom province, as the network was
attempting to carry out its act before the Persian New Year holiday that starts
on March 20.
Officers
of the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, attempted to get close to one of staff
members of the IR6 unit of the Fordow facility. To that aim, the officers first
attracted the trust of one of the neighbors of that person by providing the
neighbor with money and devices like a laptop and a cell phone.
To
collect information, Mossad officers then got close to the IR6 staffer who was
paid in cash and cryptocurrency in order to hide any evidence.
A
Mossad agent communicated with the Fordow staffer under the guise of a Hong
Kong company and with the help of the middle man, and ordered software and
gradually got closer to the staffer.
The
staffer continued cooperation with the Mossad spy even after realizing their
real identity, but without knowing that all the process was being monitored by
the IRGC Intelligence Organization.
Iran's
nuclear program has been the subject of sabotage for more than a decade.
Several Iranian scientists have also been assassinated by Israel.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010201000126/Iran-Arress-3-Mssad-Spies
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Iran
Asks Afghanistan to Honora Undertakings about Water Rights
2022-April-21
Iran’s
Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber asked the governing body in Afghanistan to
immediately resolve issues surrounding Iran’s water rights from the Helmand
River.
Mokhber
in decrees addressed to the Iranian foreign ministry and a government
department on regional cooperation urged the authorities to press the ruling
group in Kabul to honor Afghanistan’s undertakings under a 1973 treaty signed
with Iran on water allocations from Helmand.
The
official said that the release of water from dams built on the river on the
Afghan side of the border will be desperately needed in Iran to prevent a
shortage of water in Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan over the
upcoming months.
“The
ruling group in Afghanistan must commit to this water right as stipulated under
international treaties and resolve the issue as soon as possible,” Mokhber said
in his decree.
He
asked officials to introduce interim measures to prevent any shortage of
drinking water in southeastern Iran over the summer and said that the region
will benefit from a stable supply of water from desalination plants on the Sea
of Oman within the next few years.
The
ruling Taliban group in Afghanistan announced in January that they had released
water from the Kamal Khan Dam on Helmand for a first time decades.
Iranian
authorities said at the time that the decision had been taken to comply with
the terms of the Afghan-Iranian Treaty on water allocation from Helmand.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010201000460/Iran-Asks-Afghanisan-Hnr-Underakings-ab-Waer-Righs
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Africa
Zamfara
NSCDC warns hoodlums, miscreants to stay clear of all mosques
April
22, 2022
By
Ifeanyi Nwannah
The
Zamfara State Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), has
warned that all hoodlums and miscreants should stay off all mosques and places
of worship where the last ten days in the month of Ramazan 2022 will be
observed.
The
commandant of the Corps, Mr. A. A. Sparks issued this statement when he
addressed personnel of the Corps deployed to keep watch over the TAHAJJUD and
ITIKAFI prayers in Gusau, the State capital.
Sparks
said the holy month of Ramazan is held in high esteem as Muslim faithfuls use
the period for sober reflections and to make amends with God Almighty,
stressing that “on no account will anyone be allowed to truncate the flow of
prayers in this period with nefarious activities.”
He
said for these last 10 days of Ramazan, the Rapid Response Squad and the
Special Intelligent Squad of the Corps have been charged to monitor and place
an intensive surveillance in all the Mosques where these prayers will be
conducted to avoid any breach of security.
The
State NSCDC boss said that all the Mosques have become the proteges of the
Corps and as such no hoodlum or miscreant will be spared in an advent of any
breach of peace or show of criminality.
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
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Libya’s
rival government meets for first time
21
April ,2022
Libya’s
rival government selected by parliament in the east met for the first time
Thursday, challenging a cabinet brokered by the UN and based in the capital
Tripoli in the west.
The
troubled North African nation has had two opposing executives since February,
when parliament named ex-interior minister Fathi Bashagha as the new prime
minister.
Bashagha’s
appointment was in opposition to prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who was
installed following painstaking United Nations-led talks just over a year ago.
On
Thursday, the cabinet led by Bashagha met in the southern desert town of Sebha,
650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Tripoli.
“We
are keen to carry out our work as the legitimate Libyan government emanating
from the legislative authority,” Bashagha said.
“After
chaos and tyranny, a new era begins today,” he added.
The
rival administrations are the latest political split since the fall of dictator
Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
On
Wednesday, Bashagha repeated his intention to assume office in the capital,
while stressing his commitment to a “peaceful option” to achieve this.
Dbeibah,
in Tripoli, has said he will only hand power to an elected administration, but
polls scheduled to be held in December were indefinitely shelved.
His
political rivals say his term ended with the postponement of the elections.
Bashagha
is backed by Khalifa Haftar, the eastern military commander who led a failed
bid to seize Tripoli in 2019-20, and who maintains control of several oil
installations.
The
creation of two governments echoes Libya’s troubled period of double
administrations between 2014 and 2021, when the oil-rich nation was ripped
apart by civil war.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Nigerian
state confirms bombing of 6 children by Air Force fighter jet
Ibrahim
Garba Shuaibu
22.04.2022
KANO,
Nigeria
Nigeria’s
north-central state of Niger has confirmed the accidental killing of six
children by a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet in a local community.
The
Secretary to the Niger State government, Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, confirmed the
incident to Anadolu Agency on Thursday, adding the children were killed during
an air raid on terrorists.
“Yes,
it occurred. The government is looking into the incident and an investigation
is ongoing to ascertain what happened,” he said.
Speaking
earlier to reporters in the state’s capital, Minna, Salis Sambo, the spokesman
of the Coalition of Shiroro Associations (COSA), accused the NAF of killing six
children and bombing houses in Kurebe in the Shiroro Local Government Area.
Sambo
said the strikes occurred on April 13.
He
said the children were killed when the fighter jet tried to bomb some
terrorists who ran into the community for safety.
Sambo
said the children were returning home after they had gone to fetch water,
adding four of the children were members of the same family.
In
February, military airstrikes killed 12 people in a town bordering the Republic
of Niger.
Medical
charity Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which cared
for some of the wounded, confirmed the strike.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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