Amid Hijab Ban, 40 Muslim Girls Skip Pre-University Examination in Udupi; Some Private Colleges Allowed Students Wearing the Hijab to Sit For the Examination
New Age Islam News Bureau
31 March 2022
(Photo: OneIndia for Representative Purpose)
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• PM Imran Says ‘Letter Carrying Threat from Foreign
Power Was Written By Pakistani Envoy’
• Afghanistan Religious Scholar Calls to End Ban on
Girls' Schooling, Calls it Un-Islamic
• Jordan’s King Abdullah Says Palestinian Inclusion a
Must for Regional Peace and Prosperity during Talks with Israeli President
• Top US Commander, David Frodsham, Led Child Sexual
Abuse Racket at Afghan Airbase: Report
India
• Karnataka: Bajrang Dal asks Hindus not to buy meat
from Muslim vendors
• Markaz Nizamuddin Mosque Can Reopen During Ramzan,
Curbs to Stay: Delhi Police
• Muslim Mechanic Helps Install Mammoth Bell at MP
Temple
• Brotherhood on Display as Hindus, Muslims Celebrate Hindu
fair Ashtur Jathra in Karnataka
• Injustice Led To Ban on Muslim Vendors: Swami of
Pejawar Math
• Legal Experts Question Ban on Muslim Traders around
Hindu Temples
• Religious Preacher Zakir Naik's Islamic Foundation
Banned, Unlawful: Anti-Terror Tribunal
• Muslims Can’t Be Denied Adoption Rights: Delhi HC
• J&K sacks 2 cops, 3 other employees over terror
links
• Jasbir Singh Gill, Congress MP Wants A P Pakistan
and Afghanistan-Like Law To Cut Down Expenses In Indian Weddings
• Religious divide will destroy India’s IT leadership:
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw to Karnataka CM Bommai
--------
Pakistan
• COAS Bajwa Says ‘Unified Response Needed To Defeat
Terrorism Decisively’
• Mysterious Bill Gates photo highlights Imran Khan's
army crisis
• Going into trust vote, Imran Khan doesn’t have
history on his side
• PPP Accepts Old MQM Demands In New Deal against Imran
Govt
• 8 personnel martyred in Tank, South Waziristan
clashes
--------
South
Asia
• Taliban intensify attacks on Afghanistan media, says
rights group
• Prosperous Afghanistan is in interest of regional
countries, international community:
President Xi
--------
Africa
• Jordan, Israel leaders urge calm after historic
meeting following spike in violence
• Tunisian crisis escalates as president dissolves
parliament
• Tunisia union warns of public sector strike against
proposed reforms
• 8 soldiers killed in attack in Mali: Army
--------
North
America
• US City Of Minneapolis Allows Muslim Call to Prayer
from Mosque Speakers
• US trial for member of Islamic State group begins in
Virginia
• US sanctions Iran ballistic missile program supplier
after Saudi Aramco, Erbil attack
• Top Yemeni official: Saudis are irrelevant; final
decision to end Yemen war hinges on US, UK
--------
Europe
• UN's Aid Coordination Office, Backed By Britain,
Germany and Qatar Seeks Record $4.4B for Afghans Struggling under Taliban
• Russia Concerned At Islamic State's Plans To
Destabilise Central Asia -Report
• UK employed ‘double standards’ over treatment of
Ukrainian, Syrian refugees
• Germany repatriates women, children from suspected
ISIS camp in Syria
• Russia looking to recruit fighters from Libya,
repositioning troops around Kyiv
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Chinese Shows Duplicity towards Muslims In Xinjiang
• Xi Jinping Strongly Backs Afghanistan At Regional
Conference
• Adam Adli can rejuvenate ‘weak’ PKR Youth, says
party man
--------
Arab
World
• Saudi Arabia Deposits $5 Billion In Egypt’s Central
Bank: Report
• UAE updates protocol for Taraweeh and Tahajjud
prayers in mosques during Ramadan
• Supreme Court calls on people to sight Ramadan
crescent on Friday
• Saudi Arabia to open a railway that reaches Jordan’s
borders
• Parliament fails to elect Iraq president for third
time
--------
Mideast
• Turkiye’s Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque to Hold 1st
Tarawih Prayer in 88 Years
• Ansarullah Member Hails Latest Anti-Israel
Operation, Says Tel Aviv After False Security
• Israel raids West Bank refugee camp, Palestinian
killed
• Orthodox Church slams partial takeover of historic
hotel in Jerusalem by Israeli settlers
• Intra-Yemen dialogue opens in Riyadh amid Houthi
absence
• Jews dreading Ramadan amid surge of violence -
comment
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hijab-ban-examination-udupi/d/126701
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Amid Hijab Ban, 40 Muslim Girls Skip Pre-University
Examination in Udupi; Some Private Colleges Allowed Students Wearing The Hijab
To Sit For The Examination
(Photo: OneIndia for Representative Purpose)
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March 30, 2022
At least 40 Muslim girls in Udupi, including the two
who are fighting a legal battle against the hijab ban, skipped the first
pre-university examinations in Karnataka.
The absentees in the communally sensitive district on
Tuesday included 24 girls from Kundapur and 14 from Byndoor. The two
petitioners, from Udupi Government Girls Pre-University College, had boycotted
the practical examinations also.
The Karnataka High Court on March 15 dismissed their
petitions seeking permission to wear the headscarf in class, saying that
wearing it was not an essential practice in Islam. The court also ruled the
uniforms and dress codes should be strictly followed in educational
institutions.
At RN Shetty Pre-University College, 13 out of the 28
Muslim girl students appeared for the examination. Though some students reached
the examination centre wearing the hijab, they were not allowed to take the
exam.
Four of the five Muslim girls appeared for the
examination at Bhandarkar’s College, as did all the girl students of Basrur
Sharada College. Six of the eight Muslim girls of Navunda Government
Pre-University College abstained from the examination.
However, sources said that some private colleges in
the district allowed students wearing the hijab to sit for the examination.
Maruti, deputy director of pre-university department,
told The Indian Express, “Some of the students have abstained from the
examination. We have been trying to convince students and their parents.”
An official said the government officials were trying
to convince students that the court order was applicable only to colleges that
disallow the headscarf as part of dress codes or uniforms. But the students and
their parents are deeply hurt by the incidents that took place in the district,
he added.
Source: Indian Express
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original story:
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PM Imran Says ‘Letter Carrying Threat from Foreign
Power Was Written By Pakistani Envoy’
Prime Minister Imran Khan
addresses the Pakistan Overseas Convention in Islamabad in this undated photo.
— PID/File
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March 30, 2022
Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that a Pakistani
envoy posted in a foreign country wrote the memo that he flashed on March 27 in
a rally and termed it “threatening”
The premier, while interacting with journalists, said
the envoy had sent the letter to Pakistan after he met an official of a foreign
country, according to sources.
PM Imran Khan said the memo was shared with the
military leadership, according to sources, and mentioned that the tone used in
the cable was “threatening”.
The prime minister said the memo would be shared with
parliamentarians during an in-camera session, but noted that the name of the
country that “threatened” Pakistan could not be shared — as national security
laws are applicable.
Minister for Planning, Development, and Special
Initiatives Asad Umar, who attended the briefing, according to sources, told
the journalists that the memo mentions that if the no-confidence motion passes,
everything will be forgiven for Pakistan.
Umar further said that the letter mentions that “in
case of its failure, the problems for Pakistan will increase.”
In his March 27 address to a PTI rally, the prime
minister had revealed that “foreign elements” are involved in the attempts to
topple his government and said, “some of our own people” are being used in this
regard.
In a press conference Tuesday, Minister for Planning,
Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar had said PML-N supremo Nawaz
Sharif joined hands with foreign powers and is involved in the “conspiracy”
against PM Imran Khan.
The PML-N supremo is in London and he has met
officials from the “intelligence agencies of other countries”. The federal
minister said the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) leadership is not
“unaware” of the letter.
The letter was waived by PM Imran Khan in a public
rally as he faces a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. The premier
on Wednesday had lost his majority in Parliament after MQM-P decided to party
ways with the PTI.
Source: Pakistan Today
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original story:
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Afghanistan Religious Scholar Calls to End Ban on
Girls' Schooling, Calls it Un-Islamic
Sheikh Faiq called on the
Islamic Emirate to reopen schools for female students over grade six.
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31 Mar 2022
Sheikh Faqirullah Faiq, an Islamic scholar, has
challenged the decision of the Islamic Emirate to ban girls above grade sixth
from going to school.
Sheikh Faiq is the second Islamic scholar in
Afghanistan to criticize the closing of schools for female students in grades
7-12.
On March 23, the female students above grade six were
told not to go to school until the next decision is announced by the Islamic
Emirate.
Sheikh Faiq, an instructor at Nauman Ibn-e-Sabit, in a
15 minute audio message, said that Islam allows for the education of girls in
modern studies in addition to religious lessons.
“Who has given this Fatwa (order), why?—and what is
the reason for it? They give me one reason for the closing of the female
schools,” he said.
Sheikh Faiq called on the Islamic Emirate to reopen
schools for female students over grade six.
Sheikh Faiq also said that if his statement is not
considered, he will go with other Islamic religious leaders to the supreme
leader of the Islamic Emirate, Mawlawi Hebatullah Akhundzada.
“The pagans laugh at us. The pagans call us wild
because we don’t focus on main issues and divert our attention to unimportant
issues,” he said.
The banning of female students from school has faced
national and international reactions.
Earlier this week, Maullana Khwaja Jalilullah
Mawlawizada, an Islamic scholar, said that based on Islamic principles girls
are allowed to have access to education.
“What is important to be mentioned is that the
education of women should be under an Islamic format which is respecting Hijab
and the segregation of male and females,” he said in a letter.
Source: Tolo News
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original story:
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-177340
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Jordan’s King Abdullah Says Palestinian Inclusion a
Must for Regional Peace and Prosperity during Talks with Israeli President
Jordan’s King Abdullah II,
right, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting along with members
of their governments in on March 30, 2022. (Jordanian Royal Palace/AFP)
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March 31, 2022
DUBAI: Jordan’s King Abdullah has stressed the need
for Palestinian inclusion for regional peace and prosperity during talks with
Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
During talks with the visiting Israeli leader at
Al-Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah said the region stood to gain from
cooperation and economic integration, but for the process it “should and must
include the Palestinians,” and that requires maintaining calm and ceasing all
unilateral measures that undermine the prospects of peace.
King Abdullah said the Palestine-Israeli conflict had
lasted too long, and the violence it had produced continued to cause too much
pain and fueled extremism, state news agency Petra reported.
Herzog’s visit to Jordan was an opportunity to discuss
ways forward to achieve “just and lasting peace and build a future of
opportunity for all,” the monarch added.
The King reaffirmed the need to avoid any measures
that could impede the access of Muslim worshippers to Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram
Al-Sharif, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, emphasizing the need to
preserve the legal and historical status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Israel recognizes Jordan’s oversight of Muslim holy
sites in east Jerusalem, the Palestinian sector of the city occupied and
annexed by Israel since 1967, under a 1994 peace deal.
Known by Muslims as the Haram Al-Sharif, or Holy
Sanctuary, and as the Temple Mount by Jews, the compound houses the golden Dome
of the Rock shrine and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli president echoed the King’s call for
worshippers to exercise their religious rights, and noted ongoing dialogue
between the two countries regarding the Muslim faithful’s access to their holy
sites.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2054151/middle-east
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Top US Commander, David Frodsham, Led Child Sexual
Abuse Racket at Afghan Airbase: Report
Afghan soldiers stand
guard at the gate of Bagram airbase, on the day the last of American troops
vacated it, Parwan province, Afghanistan July 2, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
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30 March 2022
US military officials missed multiple warnings that
allowed a top civilian commander at Afghanistan’s Bagram Airbase to run a child
sex abuse racket for a decade, a report has revealed.
A senior commander at the notorious US airbase in the
Afghan capital, David Frodsham, was reportedly sent home after multiple
allegations of sexual harassment against him were verified.
Frodsham, who pleaded guilty to the charges in 2016
and is now serving a 17-year-sentence, led a network that included an army
sergeant who posted child pornography online, says an AP report.
One of the alleged victims of the ring was Frodsham’s
adopted sons - Trever and Ryan.
According to the report, Frodsham, during his time in
Afghanistan, “jokingly” asked an IT technician to allow him access on his work
computer to the free pornographic video-sharing website Youporn.
He also reportedly told a female colleague that she
had only been recruited because he wanted to be “surrounded by pretty women,”
and regularly called others “honey,” “babe,” and “cougar.”
“I would not recommend placing him back into a
position of authority, but rather pursuing disciplinary actions at his home
station,” a commanding officer reportedly wrote in a US Army investigative
file, recommending Frodsham be sent back from Bagram to Fort Huachuca in
Arizona.
Notwithstanding almost 20 complaints of abuse,
neglect, maltreatment, and licensing violations, Frodsham and his wife were
allowed to retain custody of their three adopted sons, the report notes.
At the same time, the report states, the US Army gave
Frodsham security clearances and access to sensitive information, despite his
vulnerability to blackmail due to his offending behavior.
When Frodsham returned to Fort Huachuca, he rejoined
the army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM), serving as director
of personnel for a global command of 15,000 soldiers and civilians, AP has
reported.
“He would have been an obvious target of foreign
intelligence services because of his role and his location,” Frank Figliuzzi, a
former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, is quoted as saying.
He adds that the location in which Frodsham had worked
on his return from Afghanistan was “one of the more sensitive installations in
the continental United States.”
Two of his adopted children have each filed a civil
suit against the State of Arizona for allowing the couple to continue parenting
them despite the allegations of abuse.
Ryan Frodsham, one of the three young men to file a
lawsuit, claimed that his adoptive father started sexually abusing him when he
was 9 or 10 and later offered him to other men to be abused.
He claims to have informed state representatives that
he was a victim of abuse.
Source: Press TV
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original story:
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India
Karnataka: Bajrang Dal asks Hindus not to buy meat from Muslim vendors
30th March 2022
The Neelamangala Ugadi fair in Bengaluru saw various
workers of the Bajrang Dal flocking around Hindu vendors asking them not to buy
meat from Muslim vendors.
A protest has been printed in Kannada asking Hindus
not to do any business with Muslim vendors during Ugadi.
Reacting to this, opposition leader K D Kumaraswamy
said that this is just an excuse while the main agenda is to completely stop
trading with Muslims in the state.
Islamophobia has been rampant in Karnataka with the
hijab ban and Muslims unable to do business in temple fairs and festivals.
Recently a member of the Hindu Jana Jagruti, Mohan
Gowda, called for boycotting all halal products in the country.
In another episode, Muslims were harassed in Karantaka
by Hindutva goons in the Kodagu district on Friday. They forced Muslim vendors
to shut down fruit and juice stalls set up at the premises of the venue where a
state-level agricultural programme was scheduled to take place.
Several saffron scarves clad Bajrang Dal goons in
Shaniwarpet forced Muslim traders to empty the premises of the venue where a
state-level programme related to agriculture and domestic cows was scheduled to
take place in Manehalli village.
In no respite to the ongoing Islamophobia, the
government is taking a cold stand on the issue. Recently, Karnataka Secondary
and Higher Education minister BC Nagesh on March 23 justified the anti-Muslim posters put up in
Shivamogga.
Source: Siasat Daily
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of the original story:
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Markaz Nizamuddin mosque can reopen during Ramzan,
curbs to stay: Delhi Police
by Sofi Ahsan
March 31, 2022
The Delhi Police told the Delhi Waqf Board Thursday
that the mosque at Markaz Nizamuddin will be allowed to reopen during the month
of Ramzan, but while adhering to the terms and conditions as laid down by the
High Court on March 16 for Shab-e-Barat.
The Police has also directed the Markaz management to
re-install the missing CCTV cameras at the entrance and the exit gates, and the
staircase of each floor of the mosque. The Police has also ordered the
management to put up a notice board specifying the conditions for entrance of
foreign devotees.
Almost two years after the Markaz Nizamuddin was
locked and public entry was prohibited in connection with a case alleging
violation of Covid norms, the High Court on March 16 said devotees,
irrespective of their number, be allowed to offer prayers on Masjid Bangley
Wali’s four floors on Shab-e-Barat.
The Police earlier had said that less than 100 people
would be permitted on each floor. Delhi Waqf Board’s petition seeking easing of
restrictions is listed today (Thursday) for further hearing. The board is
seeking permission to hold prayers on all floors of the mosque.
Source: Indian Express
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Muslim mechanic helps install mammoth bell at MP
temple
31st March 2022
BHOPAL: A Class
III dropout Muslim mechanic, Naru Khan Mev, has fitted a 3,700-kg Maha Ghanta
(mammoth metallic bell) in the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Mandsaur
district of Madhya Pradesh. Khan, 66, who runs a small factory, complete the
difficult task free of cost and within
10-15 days. The mammoth bell manufactured in Ahmedabad was waiting to be
installed for about two years.
Acknowledging the efforts of Khan in installing the
Maha Ghanta in the temple premises in a short time, the district collector
Gautam Singh said, “The Maha Ghanta has been manufactured in Gujarat out of the
metal pieces donated by families from across Mandsaur and nearby districts.
Thanks to the efforts by Naru Bhai, the mammoth bell has been solidly fixed at
the most suitable place in the temple premises. The Maha Ghanta will be
dedicated to devotees in the coming days by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.”
According to Dinesh Nagar, the head of the
Pashupatinath Temple Maha Ghanta Mandali, “The Maha Ghanta was manufactured out
of brass and copper pieces and utensils donated by families across Mandsaur
district. It was Naru Bhai who, along with his men, completed the onerous task
of lifting the bell to the temple and then installing it at a solid foundation,
which is worthy of bearing three times more weight than the 3,-700-kg bell.”
Source: New Indian Express
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Brotherhood on Display as Hindus, Muslims Celebrate
Hindu fair Ashtur Jathra in Karnataka
31st March 2022
By Sunil Patil
BELAGAVI: In what can be described as a great display
of religious brotherhood and bonhomie, a large number of Hindus and Muslims
joined to celebrate the famous Hindu fair, Ashtur jathra, in Bidar, that too at
a time when attempts are being made to keep Muslims away from religious fairs
in the state.
The Hindu devotees offered prayers to Allama Prabhu,
while Muslims to paid obeisance to Ahmed Shah Wali. Both prayers and poojas
were done at the same spot in Ashtur. What made this three-day Hindu-Muslim
jathra special this time is its celebration after a gap of two Covid-hit years.
A large number of people from all religions took part in the cultural events,
deepotsava and music shows organised during the fair that ended on Wednesday.
Several devotees who thronged Ashtur near Bidar, where
the fair is held, feel it is a great annual feature which brings Hindus and
Muslims together. “Irrespective of their religions, caste and creed, the people
offer prayers at the same place. There’s no discrimination between devotees and
not at all at a time when attempts are being made to disturb the age-old
tradition of jathras. Prasad is accepted by both Hindus and Muslims and the
devotees participate in bhajans, kawalis, pravachans and all rituals of the
jahtra,” says an ardent devotee of the jathra.
The devotees offer naivedya and fruits to the grave of
Hazrat Sultan Ahmed Shah Wali and also to Allama Prabhu Devaru. Devotees
believe that the jathra also marks the birthday of Hazrat Sultan Ahmed Shah
Wali. The crowd was huge as the fair was being held after a gap of two years
due to the Covid pandemic.
Source: New Indian Express
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Injustice led to ban on Muslim vendors: Swami of Pejawar
Math
31st March 2022
Bengaluru/Udupi: With Muslims vendors being prohibited
from doing business on temple premises during Hindu religious festivals and
fairs in parts of Karnataka, Vishwesha Teertha Swamiji of the renowned Pejawar
Math on Wednesday said certain incidents of injustice with Hindus have led to
this “explosive situation”.
He also said the solution should emerge from within
the society and religious leaders voicing their opposition to the move is
unlikely to help matters.
“The Hindu society has suffered a lot in the past.
People are extremely hurt due to some unpleasant events. The problem will not
solve if a few religious leaders speak against it. It should come from within
the society,” the seer of the Pejawar Math, belonging to the sect founded by
Madhwacharya in the 13th century AD, told reporters in the temple town of Udupi
in coastal Karnataka.
Udupi recently witnessed the hijab row first flaring
up with a few Muslim students of the Government Girls Pre-University College
alleging that they were denied entry to the college with the headscarf.
The Muslim students later approached the Karnataka
High Court against the ban on Islamic headscarves inside classrooms. The court
dismissed their petition saying that they have to abide by the school uniform
rule.
“Injustice leads to anger and if it goes to the
extreme level then it explodes. This is what we are witnessing in our society
today,” the seer said.
Stating that the pain has reached a flashpoint and it
has exploded, the Swami said people should understand how much Hindus have
suffered. That pain has to be addressed first.
If people say that such incidents will not take place
in the society then no intervention or pressure is required. Peace will prevail
in the society on its own, the seer said. He added that people have to sit
together, discuss and ponder over it.
The seer spoke to reporters after some Muslim leaders
called on him and appealed to him not to impose any ban on Muslim vendors
inside the temple premises during the festival.
He was apprised of the problems faced by small traders
who depend on the income received from shops set up around the temples during
the annual fairs.
The delegation, led by Abubakker Atrady, also
submitted a memorandum to the Swami on the various problems faced by traders
belonging to the Muslim and Christian communities due to the boycott.
The hijab issue also might have led to the boycott of
Muslim traders, he said, adding the root cause of the problem should be
addressed.
Udupi Mother of Sorrows Church priest Fr Charles,
Udupi priest Inamullah Khan and various trade outfit leaders were part of the
delegation.
Many temples in Karnataka, especially in the coastal
region, banned Muslims from doing business on the temple property. Their decision
was based on a petition by right-wing organisations, who contended that the cow
slaughter was going on unabated in the state.
The organisations stated that when the Hindus took out
a march in Gangolli in the district, the Muslims had stopped purchasing fish
from Hindu fishermen.
Former chief minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy
also commented on the issue. You (Hindu seers) do the job of propagating the
messages of Hinduism, which emphasises on Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavantu’ (Let
everyone be happy) and not restricting people not to go to Muslim shops,
Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bengaluru.
“Karnataka is a garden of racial peace, which no one
should spoil,” he said. He pointed out that 15 Muslim families in Shivarapatna
in Malur Taluk of Kolar district have been carving Hindu idols for the past 30
to 40 years.
Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang
Dal have intensified their drive against halal meat during the Hosa Tadaku’
after Hindu new year Ugadi’.
The drive has taken a proportion of a state-wide
campaign where some Hindutva activists are seen asking at many places to the
Hindus, who eat non-vegetarian food to avoid halal meet during Hosa Tadaku’.
Source: Siasat Daily
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Legal
experts question ban on Muslim traders around Hindu temples
Mar
31, 2022
By
Sharan Poovanna
Legal
experts have questioned the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and
Charitable Endowments Act, 1997 provisions which have been used by rightwing
groups to stop Muslims to do business in and around Hindu temples in the state.
“Firstly,
the said Rule is delegated legislation under the 1997 Act, which deals in
immovable property belonging to, or given, or endowed to the institution. This
cannot at all be said to govern public property through which ‘jathras’ or
processions pass. The applicability of such a Rule is constrained by its parent
legislation,” All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ) said in a
recent statement.
The
Basavaraj Bommai government has been accused of using– or misusing – provisions
of the endowments law not to intervene against right-wing groups who continue
to force Muslim traders to close their shops and even publicly ask Hindus not
to do any business with them.
While
the BJP leaders have made scathing remarks in favour of such a call, the BJP
government too is yet to make its stand clear on the issue, fueling speculation
that it was tacitly backing these bans.
On
Wednesday, Bommai remained non-committal in making the state government’s stand
clear. “Several organisations will keep banning things, so we know what to
respond to and what not to respond to. Whichever subject requires a response,
we will respond and where it is not required, we will not give one,” Bommai
said on Wednesday.
The
temple committee at Mahalingeshwara Temple in Puttur district of Dakshina
Kannada, Hosa Marigudi Temple in Udupi and Sri Durgaparameshwari Temple in
Dakshina Kannada among others have enforced such bans.
In
Nelamangala, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, organisers of the Basaveshwara
Temple Festival have also enforced similar rules while the Hindu Janajagruthi
Samithi forcibly closed shops owned by Muslims in Upparpete in the central
business district of Bengaluru.
In
2016, the Karnataka High Court allowed Muslim traders to participate in the
Laxmi Janardhana Temple in Mandya after 11 Muslim shop owners challenged the
2002 notification, Bengalore Mirror reported in April 2016.
Maitreyi
Krishnan, Co-Convenor of AILAJ, said the Supreme Court has recently stayed the
operation of the judgment of the Andhra Pradesh high court at Amaravati
relating to a similar provision in the AP Charitable and Hindu Religious
Institutions and Endowments Immovable Properties and Other Rights (other than
Agricultural Lands) Leases and Licenses Rules, 2003, prohibiting non-Hindus in
participation of tender-cum-auction process of shops.
“Whereas
the Hon’ble High Court had upheld the same, the Supreme Court stayed the High
Court judgment vide Order dated 27 January 2020, in SLP(C) No 1989 of 2020.
Thereafter, the government proceeded to implement the Rule and contempt
proceedings were initiated,” she said in the statement.
In
an order on December 17 last year, the apex court said: “It is impermissible for
the respondent – contemnors to either exclude the license holders from
participating in the auction or from being granted leases, including in the
shopping complex constructed by the State, on the ground of their religion.”
“The
definition of ‘Hindu’ for the purposes of the 1997 Act, excludes Buddhists,
Sikhs and Jains. Therefore, all persons who are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists,
Sikhs and Jains would be excluded from vending around Hindu temples,” AILAJ
said.
JC
Madhuswamy, Karnataka’s minister for law, parliamentary affairs and minor
irrigation, on Wednesday informed the legislative assembly that these laws were
made in 2002 when the Congress itself was in power.
“Under
rule no 12, any nearby land, building and housing included, none of them should
be given to anyone from other communities,” Madhuswamy said.
Senior
advocate and former Advocate General of Karnataka, Ravi Varma Kumar told HT
that it was a discrimination purely on the basis of religion and the act itself
has to be challenged. “If they are private temples the question of raising the
constitutional issue does not arise. Because fundamental rights are guaranteed
only against the government. But temples under Muzrai department, these
(constitutional rights) are applicable,” he said.
Source:
Hindustan Times
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Religious
Preacher Zakir Naik's Islamic Foundation Banned, Unlawful: Anti-Terror Tribunal
March
31, 2022
New
Delhi: The Tribunal under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act or UAPA in its order confirmed the notification by the Union
of India declaring religious preacher Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation
an "unlawful association".
The
Tribunal in its order stated that it is in full agreement with the argument
made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing on behalf of the Central
Government and the evidence brought on record has also proved that the
respondent Association is indulging in unlawful activities.
The
Tribunal order states "the convincing and persuasive evidence placed on
record, this Tribunal is of the view that there are sufficient reasons and
causes for declaring the Islamic Research Foundation as an unlawful association
and consequently, this Tribunal confirms the Notification dated 15 November
2021, issued by the Government of India for the imposition of ban on IRF for a
period of five years with effect from the date of the aforesaid
notification."
The
Ministry of Home Affairs in a notification issued on 30 March 2022, stated that
the Tribunal in the exercise of the powers passed an order on 09 March 2022,
confirming the declaration made in the notification.
After
going through the evidence, the Tribunal said, "It is satisfied that there
existed sufficient cause for imposing the said ban on IRF as its unlawful
activities are subsisting through various mediums, which are detrimental to the
sovereignty, unity, integrity, security of India and causes disaffection
against India".
Earlier,
the Islamic Research Foundation stated that the Central Government's action to
declare the Foundation as an unlawful association' is unwarranted and
unjustified, besides being wholly arbitrary and illegal, and amounts to abuse
of the draconian provisions of the Act.
Islamic
Research Foundation in its reply to the UAPA tribunal stated that "There
is not an iota of evidence to show that the Foundation has ever indulged in any
unlawful activity in the past. The Foundation also does not have for its
objects any unlawful activity or any activity punishable under sections 153 (A)
or 153 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Foundation is a registered
charitable Public Trust and has in its aims and objects, activities which
inter-alia promote charitable, educational, moral and socio-economic
development, besides establishing schools, orphanages, research and educational
institutions, hospitals, etc. and also giving scholarships and educational
support to deserving students."
In
the matter, Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India with Sachin Datta, Senior
Advocate, Amit Mahajan, Capital Goods Skill Council (CGSC), Advocates Rajat
Nair, Jay Prakash Singh, Kanu Aggarwal, Dhruv Pande, Himanshu Goel and Shantanu
Sharma appeared for the Government of India.
Advocates
Rahul Chitnis and Aaditya Pande appeared for the State of Maharashtra.
Advocates S.Hari Haran, Shakul R. Ghatole, Bhavana Duhoon, Jaikriti S. Jadeja
appeared for Islamic Research Foundation.
The
Tribunal earlier had sought the response of Zakir Naik and the Islamic Research
Foundation in the plea to confirm the Centre's decision to declare religious
preacher Zakir Naik's organization Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) as an
"unlawful association" under the UAPA.
The
Home Ministry had set up a tribunal headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN
Patel under the UAPA to adjudicate over Islamic Research Foundation ban.
The
Home Ministry had extended the ban imposed on Islamic Research Foundation
(IRF), an NGO headed by Islamic evangelist and India-born preacher Zakir Naik
for a further five years.
In
its notification issued, the ministry mentioned if the activities of the
"unlawful association" were not curbed, it would continue its
subversive activities and reorganise its missing activists to create communal
disharmony, propagate anti-national sentiments and support terrorism.
The
ministry in its notification had said that Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's
speeches and statements were meant to inspire youths of a particular religion
in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts.
Zakir
Naik's statements and speeches are objectionable, subversive that promote
enmity, hatred among religious groups, the Home Ministry said on extending the
ban on Islamic Research Foundation.
According
to the ministry, "Zakir Naik makes radical statements and speeches which
are viewed by crores of people worldwide."
The
ministry said that "these statements by Zakir Naik can also disrupt the
secular fabric of the country by polluting the minds of the people by creating
communal disharmony, propagate anti-national sentiments, escalate secessionism
by supporting militancy and some people may undertake activities which are
prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country".
Source:
ND TV
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Muslims
can’t be denied adoption rights: Delhi HC
Mar
31, 2022
NEW
DELHI: A Delhi court has held that merely because a man happened to be a Muslim
and governed by personal laws in various issues like adoption, he cannot be
debarred from availing the rights conferred upon him by general and benevolent
legislation.
The
observations came while granting custody parole to an accused to visit the
concerned officer in Nuh, Haryana, for signing the adoption papers. The public
prosecutor had opposed the custody parole on the grounds that in Islam,
adoption is legally not permissible. He had said that personal laws were
applicable in issues related to adoption and that the very ground for custody
parole was specious.
Advocate
Qausar Khan, appearing for the accused, had argued that under personal laws,
adoption was not permissible in Islam but under the provisions of the Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, even a Muslim is entitled
to adopt a child and the rights of the accused cannot be nagged on the ground
that he is facing trial in a case.
Additional
sessions judge Dharmender Rana said, “I concur with the defence counsel that
merely because the applicant/accused happens to be Muslim and governed by
personal laws on various issues, he cannot be debarred from availing the rights
conferred upon him by general and benevolent legislation like Juvenile Justice
(Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.”
Source:
Times Of India
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J&K
sacks 2 cops, 3 other employees over terror links
Mar
31, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Sources told TOI that Tawseef Ahmed Mir, a constable with J&K
police, was allegedly working for Hizbul Mujahideen and even tried, though
unsuccessfully, to kill an SPO and a fellow constable. He is alleged to have
provided logistical support to five terrorists in Shopian. After his attempts
to kill cops failed, he began recruiting youth for Hizb. Ghulam Hassan Parray,
a computer operator from Srinagar, was appointed in J&K government,
purportedly with the blessings of Jamaat e Islami member Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
He is learnt to have been tasked by separatist groups to motivate youths to
join terror ranks.
Arshid
Ahmad Das, employed as a teacher in Awantipora, was allegedly actively involved
in JeI activities, sources told TOI.
Shahid
Hussain Rather, a constable from Baramulla, was hired as SPO in 2005. It’s
learnt that he took advantage of his cover as a police constable and started
transporting arms and ammunition for terrorists operating across Kashmir
Valley.
Source:
Times Of India
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Jasbir
Singh Gill, Congress MP Wants A P Pakistan and Afghanistan-Like Law To Cut Down
Expenses In Indian Weddings
Mar
30, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Congress MP from Punjab, Jasbir Singh Gill, on Wednesday requested the
government in Lok Sabha to bring a law, like the ones in Pakistan and
Afghanistan, to cut down the number of guests and dishes to save people from
unnecessary expenses in Indian weddings.
Speaking
during Zero Hour, Gill termed the practice of calling huge numbers of guests
and spending a lot of money on food in weddings as a "social evil",
and said he had a menu which showed 289 food items in the list, costing Rs
2,500 per plate. “I would like to request that we bring in such a law that can
restrict the 'Baraat' with a gathering of 50 guests each from girl's and boy's
sides, and the number of dishes to 11," he said.
Responding
to his request in the House, speaker Om Birla suggested Gill to take a lead on
this by practicing it as an MP. "As a parliamentarian, why don’t you start
this practice and then the country will follow,” he said, noting that such
practice can be stopped not by law but by parliamentarians' action through
their willpower. “If all the MPs start doing this, then the country itself will
follow. We all lead the nation,” said Birla.
Source:
Times Of India
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Religious
divide will destroy India’s IT leadership: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw to Karnataka CM
Bommai
March
31, 2022
In
the first significant corporate voice of concern in India’s technology capital
over efforts by hardline Hindutva groups to keep out Muslim traders from temple
festivals in Karnataka, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon
Ltd, has urged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to resolve the “growing
religious divide” in the state. She warned that the country’s “global
leadership” in tech and biotech was at stake.
Taking
to Twitter on Wednesday, Shaw referred to a report published in The Indian
Express Wednesday: “Unease grows, Karnataka temple committees, traders admit
pressure”.
“Karnataka
has always forged inclusive economic development and we must not allow such
communal exclusion — if IT/BT became communal it would destroy our global
leadership,” wrote Shaw, who heads Asia’s leading biopharmaceuticals
enterprise.
In
the tweet, she tagged Bommai and said: “Please resolve this growing religious
divide.”
In
a subsequent tweet, she posted: “Our CM is a very progressive leader. I am sure
he will resolve this issue soon.”
The
Indian Express had reported how the campaign to blacklist Muslim vendors has
spread in several temple towns shutting down many local businesses. Several
temple committees organising the festivals have expressed their dismay over the
curbs and say these hit at longstanding social relations. The curbs come after
the hijab ban in the state’s government colleges that has been upheld by the
High Court.
The
report quoted the management committee head of the Durgaparameshwari temple,
which is said to have been built by a Muslim merchant, as saying that he had
turned down the VHP’s demand to keep Muslim traders out, but that they had
themselves stayed away due to the row.
Over
the past few weeks, groups like VHP and Bajrang Dal have sought to impose bans
on Muslim traders at temple festivals in Dakshina Kannada and Shivamogga.
The
Karnataka government in an official statement in the state legislature this
week said the restrictions on non-Hindus conducting business within the premises
of temples is as per a rule introduced in 2002 under the Karnataka Hindu
Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997. This rule, many
vendors say, has been weaponised to turf them out.
Source:
Indian Express
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Pakistan
COAS
Bajwa says ‘unified response needed to defeat terrorism decisively’
March
30, 2022
Chief
of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday urged for a “whole
of nation approach and unified response to counter extremism and defeat
terrorism decisively” in the country.
According
to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army chief visited the Corps
Headquarters in Peshawar today.
During
the visit, the army chief was given a “detailed briefing” on the prevailing
security situation and the progress of development works in the newly-merged
districts.
Gen
Bajwa appreciated the security forces for providing an enabling environment for
the completion of socio-economic development projects in the newly-merged
districts. He termed the projects “vital for enduring stability and sustainable
progress of the area”.
“There
is a need for a whole of the nation approach and unified response to counter
extremism and defeat terrorism decisively,” said the COAS.
Earlier
on arrival at the Corps Headquarters, the army chief was received by Commander
Peshawar Corps Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid.
The
ISPR said that after visiting the Corps headquarters, the army chief attended
the funeral prayers of martyred Captain Saad Bin Amir and Lance Naik Muhammad
Irfan who were martyred while fighting the terrorists in South Waziristan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman and provincial ministers were also
present on the occasion.
“COAS
reiterated the resolve of the Pakistan Army to fight against terrorism till the
elimination of this menace. COAS vowed that sacrifices of martyrs will not go
in vain and complete peace will return to Pakistan,” said the ISPR.
Capt
Saad and Lance Naik Muhammad Irfan were martyred on Tuesday during an exchange
of fire between security forces and terrorists in Makin, South Waziristan.
Source:
Pakistan Today
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Mysterious
Bill Gates Photo Highlights Imran Khan's Army Crisis
Mar
31, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
When Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan released a photo of a luncheon with
Bill Gates last month, social media users noticed something odd: The round
table had 13 seats, but only a dozen men.
The
vacant space contained a ghost-like figure who appeared to be conversing with
others around him, raising questions about whether the image had been doctored.
Shortly afterward, local news outlets reported that the country’s new spy
chief, Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum, had been erased out of the shot.
The
drama began four months earlier, when army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa appointed
Anjum to lead the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, which oversees
Pakistan’s internal security. Khan then delayed the appointment and publicly
voiced support for General Faiz Hameed, widely seen as his ally, to stay in the
role. After a standoff lasting several weeks, the army chief got his way.
Pakistan’s
civilian leaders have long clashed with the military, which has ruled the
country for about half of its history. Yet if anything, Khan has been
criticized for being too close to the army since he promised to oversee a “New
Pakistan” rid of corruption and favoritism following his 2018 election win.
His
relationship with Hameed drew particular scrutiny. While the law says the
premier appoints the ISI chief on the recommendation of the military, the
opposition questioned Khan’s motives: Nawaz Sharif, a three-time prime minister,
accused Hameed of orchestrating his ouster on corruption charges in 2017 and
swinging the election a year later.
Khan’s
own actions didn’t help. Besides seeking to keep Hameed at the ISI, the prime
minister broke taboos by mentioning a private discussion with the army chief at
a public rally, countering the military’s own claims that it doesn’t interfere
in politics.
“Naming
the army publicly on political forums is the biggest mistake this government
has committed,” said Shaista Tabassum, former head of the international
relations department at the University of Karachi. Khan and his ministers, she
said, “have been publicly dragging the army into politics, saying things like
the army is very much behind us or that we enjoy the support of the army chief.”
That
served as the backdrop for last month’s luncheon with Gates, who was in
Pakistan to promote a campaign to eradicate polio. Unlike his predecessor,
Anjum ordered the media to avoid any pictures or videos of him -- leading to
the strange altered image of the luncheon with the Microsoft Corp founder.
The
unusual episode provides a glimpse into Khan’s behind-the-scenes tussle over
military promotions that has underpinned a raft of troubles facing the
69-year-old former cricket star. A unified opposition is vying to oust him in a
confidence vote in the next few days, as Asia’s second-fastest inflation
jeopardizes his chances to become the first prime minister in Pakistan’s
75-year history to complete a full term in office.
Even
if Khan stays on, his high-stakes showdown with top generals risks leading to
months of instability that could determine whether the world’s fifth-most
populous nation shifts even further toward China and Russia or leans back to
the US and Europe.
The
Gates photograph provided a vivid example of how the military was now acting
“neutral” toward Khan, signaling to Pakistan’s political parties that he no
longer had establishment support. Last year, the army’s tacit backing helped
Khan survive a similar challenge when he was forced to test his majority in
parliament.
In
one example of how that works on the ground, intelligence officers would often
call up certain politicians that criticized Khan on television talk shows and
warn them to stay quiet. Now that’s no longer the case, according to a person
familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified given the sensitivity
of the issue.
Khan’s
office and Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry didn’t reply to requests for comments.
Pakistan security sources called allegations that the army or its affiliated
institutions affected the outcome of the 2018 election “baseless and
unfounded.” They reiterated that the army has “nothing to do with politics” and
blasted claims to the contrary as “disinformation.” The Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation referred queries to Khan’s office.
For
the military, referred to locally as “the establishment,” Khan once represented
stability -- especially as the economy recovered from a pandemic-induced
contraction. Top generals had a say in every element of the premier’s
administration, from foreign policy and security matters to economic decisions.
Bajwa and other generals regularly held private meetings with top business
people and policy makers.
But
the relationship began to deteriorate, both over Khan’s involvement in military
promotions and souring relations with the US Reports said Pakistan’s military,
once a top recipient of American arms, has sought a more balanced foreign policy
after becoming increasingly reliant on China for weapons.
Ties
got off to a bad start just days after Joe Biden’s inauguration, when a
Pakistan court ordered the release of four men who had earlier been convicted
of decapitating Wall Street Journal bureau chief Daniel Pearl in 2002. The case
drew outrage from the White House, where a decade earlier Biden sat next to
Barack Obama watching Navy SEALs secretly enter Pakistan and kill Osama bin
Laden.
Biden
didn’t invite Khan to his climate summit last April and wouldn’t speak to him
on the phone. Relations got worse as the Taliban took power in Afghanistan,
with Khan saying the militant group had “broken the shackles of slavery.”
Biden
appeared to offer an olive branch last year when he invited Khan to join his
democracy summit in December. But the Pakistan leader snubbed the request in a
move welcomed by China, which has funded projects in the nation valued at more
than $25 billion. Khan has since boosted ties with Russia, holding the first
top-level meeting in more than two decades with Vladimir Putin just hours after
the Russian leader invaded Ukraine.
Shehbaz
Sharif, who leads the main opposition party and is poised to take power if Khan
is ousted, has vowed to improve ties with the US and European Union if he wins.
He has said the army has been staying neutral ahead of the confidence vote, a
notable claim given his older brother was ousted in a 1999 coup. Nawaz Sharif
is currently self-exiled in London after being convicted in a corruption case
he calls politically motivated.
The
342-member National Assembly will start a debate on the opposition’s
no-confidence motion on Thursday, with a vote expected over the weekend. This
week Khan lost his slim majority in the chamber after two coalition allies
withdrew support for his government.
Ahead
of the vote, Khan has vowed to stay on. He rallied thousands of supporters in
Islamabad last Sunday and claimed “foreign forces” were out to remove him.
Still,
a Gallup poll last month showed Khan’s approval rating has dropped to 36% from
40% in 2018, while Nawaz Sharif’s had more than doubled to 55% in that time. In
December, Khan lost a local election in a stronghold it had ruled for eight
years, while lawmakers from his party have sought to leave ahead of the vote.
A
big reason is the economy. Khan has grappled with some of Asia’s fastest price
increases for a few years now while managing a $6 billion program with the
International Monetary Fund that calls for tax increases set to further boost
the cost of living. Khan this month unexpectedly cut fuel and electricity
prices to pacify public anger, disregarding the IMF agreement.
A
win for Khan would help him silence critics who say he can only win with the
support of the army. A loss, on the other hand, could help him deflect blame
for the economic slowdown ahead of national elections that must be held by
August 2023.
“Nobody
will be going to say in future he is selected or he came to power with their
support,” Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, a professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University in
Islamabad. “This would in a way become political mileage for Khan in the next
elections.”
Source:
Times Of India
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Going
into trust vote, Imran Khan doesn’t have history on his side
Mar
31, 2022
Pakistan’s
National Assembly is set to vote on a no-confidence motion that could seal the
fate of PM Imran Khan, 69, who came to power in 2018. If the opposition
prevails, it will be that rare case of a Pakistani PM being ousted by a
noconfidence vote in a country where none of them has completed a full term.
Skyrocketing
Inflation
The
country is caught in the grip of high inflation, which has driven up prices of
essential items and energy. Reports cite data from the Pakistan Bureau of
Statistics as saying that the consumer price index clocked a twoyear high of
13% in January this year. Food items were among those that registered a
double-digit jump in prices yearon-year, Pakistani media has noted. Putting up
a brave front amid inflationary pressures, Khan said at a recent rally he
hadn’t joined politics “to know the prices of ‘aloo and tamatar’ (but) for the
sake of the country’s youth”. While he had won power on a promise of building a
“Naya (new) Pakistan”, Khan has presided over a period of low economic growth
that was exacerbated by the Covid crisis. Pakistan sought a $6 billion bailout
package from IMF in 2019 with reports saying that political uncertainty has
affected the Pakistani rupee and foreign currency reserves had dropped to $14.
9 billion as of mid-March.
Tensions
With Army
Though
Khan won his election with the army’s backing, he locked horns with army chief
Qamar Javed Bajwa last year over the appointment of the Inter-Services
Intelligence chief. Khan had wanted Faiz Hameed, an ally, to be reappointed and
potentially become the next army chief after Bajwa’s term ends in November. But
the army chose another candidate. The no-confidence motion was likely timed to
prevent Khan from appointing Hameed as the army chief and strengthen his
position ahead of the 2023 polls. Some interpret the army’s “neutral” position
on the trust vote as its tacit approval.
Discontent
Within PTI Khan’s
Pakistan
Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) emerged as the single-largest party in the 2018 polls and
formed the government with the support of allies to cross the 171 mark needed
for a simple majority. The no-confidence motion was proposed by Shehbaz Sharif,
leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and chief of the Pakistan
Muslim League (Nawaz) par-
Source:
Times Of India
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PPP
accepts old MQM demands in new deal against Imran govt
Imran
Ayub
March
31, 2022
KARACHI:
In a major success after days-long exercise, anxious wait by workers and
picking every so-called ‘card’ with due care, the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) finally succeeded on Wednesday in striking a deal
with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on almost all of its years-old demands,
which would be agreed under a guarantee offered from the leadership of the
opposition alliance.
The
demands of the MQM-P agreed upon under the deal range from municipal government
structure to future power sharing formula and recruitment policy in Sindh to
local policing system.
Although
the MQM-P rivals and ruling partner Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf saw the agreement
as a ‘betrayal’ from the MQM-P, the party in its politics over the past couple
of weeks managed to gain ‘maximum’ from the deal that, if implemented in true
spirit, could provide the MQM-P a new lease of life to its ‘fast shrinking’
political space after 2018 and may re-energise its workers at grassroots level,
observers believe.
Signed
by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool
Siddiqi on behalf of their parties, the document also carried signatures of
Mian Shahbaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Maulana Fazlur Rehman of
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Sardar Akhtar Mengal of Balochistan National Party
and Khalid Magsi of Balochistan Awami Party as guarantors.
Describing
it as a beginning of a ‘long-term partnership’, the parties through the agreement
expressed their resolve to honour their commitments.
18-point
agreement
In
the 18-point agreement with the PPP, the MQM-P succeeded in incorporating
almost all of its demands regarding reforms in the Sindh local government
system which it had been seeking for nearly a decade.
The
draft of the agreement released to the media shows two parts of the agreement.
In the first part, the MQM-P demands were related to the local government
reforms, quota system, recruitment policy and policing system while the second
one addresses overall reforms in the governance.
“The
parties [PPP-MQM-P] through this covenant pledged to develop a long-term
partnership to ensure harmony amongst people; to promote social justice and to
secure economic well-being of the people of Sindh, especially of those who are
left behind for various reasons,” said the agreement.
The
first point the agreement called ‘Charter of Rights’, was directly related with
the Sindh local government in which the two sides agreed that the decision of the
Supreme Court regarding local governments in a constitutional petition filed by
the MQM-P in 2017 would be “implemented in letter and spirit within one month
and with mutual agreement”.
The
agreement said “the positions in jobs shall be holistically assessed and the
deficiency, if any, of those hailing from urban/rural Sindh shall be removed by
enhancing the quote for them. Once the parity of 60:40 is achieved, the agreed
job quota of 60:40 shall be fully observed”.
The
agreement also precisely addressed the issue of fake domiciles and agreed that
a joint commission with mutual consultation would be formed to investigate and
cancel all those documents in every district of Sindh.
“The
commission shall also give recommendations to develop a transparent procedure
in this respect,” it added.
The
two parties also decided to set up a ‘quota observance’ joint committee
comprising legislators from both sides to monitor its effectiveness in
recruitment process while agreeing that in appointments of officials from BS-1
to BS-15 the principle of local presentation provided in defined rules shall be
strictly followed.
In
another major breakthrough, the PPP agreed with the MQM over local policing
system which had been a key demand of the MQM for the past many years.
“Local
policing shall be introduced to address the issue of lawlessness and street
crimes in accordance with law,” said the agreement.
In
its second half, the agreement addressed the issues of up-gradation of
transport system, completion of safe city project, a women university in
Karachi, establishment of a university in Hyderabad, rehabilitation of
infrastructure in industrial zones, immediate attention on health and education
and a dedicated cottage industrial zone for employment opportunities.
However,
the accord is silent on the future of current local government system in
Karachi.
Sources
said that the two parties had also agreed on an “addendum agreement” which
allowed the MQM-P to take over the city administration.
In
that case, they said, the incumbent city administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab
would resign in line with the party’s commitment.
Source:
Dawn
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8
personnel martyred in Tank, South Waziristan clashes
March
31, 2022
PESHAWAR:
Eight security personnel, including an army captain, were martyred and seven
terrorists were killed in clashes between security forces and members of the
proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank
district and adjacent South Waziristan tribal district on Wednesday.
Soon
after the incidents, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa
landed in Peshawar and was briefed at the corps headquarters about the security
situation in tribal districts, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said
in a statement.
“COAS
reiterated the resolve of the Pakistan army to fight against terrorism till the
elimination of this menace and sacrifices of martyred will not go in vain and
complete peace will return to Pakistan,” the statement quoted Gen Bajwa as
saying.
The
ISPR said the terrorists launched a pre-dawn attack on a military compound in
Tank, but security forces foiled their attempt to enter the complex. “During an
intense exchange of fire, six soldiers, having fought gallantly, embraced
shahadat (martyrdom),” it said.
The
martyred soldiers have been identified as Subedar Major Sher Mohammad, 48,
resident of Naushahro Feroz; Naib Subedar Zubaid, 39, of Khairpur; Havildar
Sohail, 39, of Rawalpindi; Lance Naik Ghulam Ali, 36, of Tando Allahyar; Sepoy
Maskeen Ali, 32, of Khairpur; and Sepoy Mir Mohammad, 37, of Sukkur.
In
a statement, TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani claimed responsibility for the
attack on the FC fort in Tank.
Tank’s
District Police Officer Waqar Ahmed told the media in Dera Ismail Khan that the
militants attacked Frontier Constabulary (FC) Qila Tank. He said 22 FC and army
personnel were also injured in the gunfight. The injured were shifted to the
Tank district hospital. Those in critical condition were later referred to
Combined Military Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan.
The
exchange of fire continued for several hours. Police officials said the
terrorists attacked the compound, where FC and army troops were stationed, at
around 3am on Wednesday.
According
to reports, terrorists attempted to sneak into the compound from behind a wall
where concertina wire was not installed and the area was surrounded by bushes
and hedges. Officials said the terrorists used ladders to climb the wall.
Clashes
in Makin
Clashes
also took place between security forces and terrorists in the Makin area of
South Waziristan. During an intense exchange of fire, Captain Saad Bin Amir,
25, of Rawalpindi, and Lance Naik Mohammad Irfan, 37, of Tank were martyred,
the ISPR said.
However,
troops responded in a befitting manner, killing four terrorists. Security
forces later combed the area for other terrorists.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1682628/8-personnel-martyred-in-tank-south-waziristan-clashes
--------
South
Asia
Taliban
intensify attacks on Afghanistan media, says rights group
March
31, 2022
Taliban
have intensified attacks on media as the journalist in the country said that
it's hard to report from Afghanistan anymore, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on
Wednesday.
"It's
so hard to report from Afghanistan anymore," a journalist in the eastern
province of Nangarhar said. "Anything can happen, you could be arrested,
beaten, tortured or even killed, just for a report or a program," said
Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch.
In
a report, Abbasi said, on March 28, security officers from the Taliban's
General Directorate of Intelligence raided the offices of four radio stations
in the southern city of Kandahar for violating a ban on music and detained six
journalists.
All
were released only after they promised they would never broadcast music again.
"I want to leave this job," one said. "Being a journalist has
always been my dream job but not anymore," according to the report.
On
the same day, Taliban authorities banned outlets in Afghanistan from
broadcasting international news programs, including Voice of America and the
BBC, in Dari, Pashto, and Uzbek languages. This new restriction is the latest
Taliban measure to limit access to independent information, HRW reported.
According
to the Journalists, Taliban intelligence officials hold regular meetings with
the media to inform them of any new rules. In some cases, journalists have
reported that they have been harassed, beaten, and arbitrarily detained without
explanation.
On
March 17, the Taliban detained three staff members from Tolo News, including
news presenter Bahram Aman. All were released after 21 hours without
explanation, HRW said.
"The
Taliban do not explain why a journalist has been detained or, in some cases,
where they have been taken," a Kandahar journalist said.
The
growth of Afghanistan's media was one of the signal successes of the post-2001
reconstruction effort. Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, restrictions
on media have escalated, and hundreds of media outlets have closed.
Source:
Business Standard
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Prosperous
Afghanistan is in interest of regional countries, international community: President Xi
31
Mar 2022
China’s
President Xi Jinping said a prosperous, peaceful, and stable Afghanistan is not
only a hope of the Afghanistan people but also in the interest of the countries
in the region and the world community.
President
Xi said Afghanistan has come to the critical point of transition from chaos to
order.
The
remarks were made in the written message of the Chinese president to the
Foreign Ministers’ meeting among the neighboring countries of Afghanistan.
“President
Xi underscored that amity and good neighborliness are invaluable to a country. China
always respects Afghanistan’s
sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, and has committed to
supporting its pursuit of peace, stability , and development.” Reads part of
the written message.
The
Chinese president stressed that the neighboring countries of Afghanistan should
do their best to build consensus and coordinate efforts to support the Afghan
people in building a brighter future.
The
third meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries was
held in Tunxi town in China’s Anhui province on Wednesday wherein Afghanistan’s
economic and humanitarian crisis were discussed.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Africa
Jordan,
Israel leaders urge calm after historic meeting following spike in violence
30
March ,2022
Jordan’s
King Abdullah called for calm following a historic summit with Israeli
President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday after the sharpest spike in street violence
in years stoked fears of a wider escalation ahead of the holy Muslim month of
Ramadan.
King
Abdullah told Herzog after receiving him in the Husseiniya Palace in the first
official visit by an Israeli head of state that peace was more pressing now to
end a conflict that he said had “lasted too long.”
A
palace statement said the king condemned “violence in all its forms” including
the latest attack on Tuesday in which an Arab gunman killed at least five
people in a Tel Aviv suburb.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“This
conflict has lasted for very long and the violence it has resulted in continues
to cause much pain and creates a fertile soil for extremism,” the monarch was
quoted as saying in the statement.
The
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including Israel’s nearly 55-year-old occupation
of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has long weighed on relations between
Israel and Jordan, who have been peace partners since 1994.
An
Israeli statement said King Abdullah offered Herzog his condolences to the
victims’ families amid fears in both countries of a surge in assaults in the
run-up in April to the holy month of Ramadan.
“I
always say, the fact that Muslim leaders are meeting together Jewish leaders
and Israeli leaders is an alternative to the abyss of hatred and bloodshed,”
Herzog was quoted as saying in a statement.
“As
we enter these holy days... we must move toward enabling everyone to practice
their beliefs in safety, in security, in calm circumstances. This is what we
need to work toward,” Herzog added.
Israeli
security forces were on high alert on Wednesday after the Tel Aviv shooting,
the latest in a string of fatal attacks in the past week - the sharpest spike
in attacks on city streets in years.
Both
countries have engaged in a flurry of top-level diplomatic and security talks
in recent days to reduce tensions that Jordan fears could spiral with
repercussions in a kingdom where many of its citizens are of Palestinian
origin.
Last
year, clashes erupted between Israeli police and Palestinians around
Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque at the height of the Ramadan fasting month. The
violence helped ignite an 11-day war in May between Gaza militants and Israel.
In
his meeting with Herzog, King Abdullah urged Israel to allow freedom of prayer
to Muslim worshippers, an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told
Reuters.
The
king also asked that Israeli police stop provocations by Jewish worshippers in
the al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Tunisian
crisis escalates as president dissolves parliament
31
March ,2022
Tunisian
President Kais Saied late on Wednesday issued a decree dissolving parliament,
which has been suspended since last year, after it defied him by voting to
repeal decrees that he used to assume near total power.
Speaking
after an online session of more than half the parliament members, their first
since he suspended the chamber in July, Saied accused them of a failed coup and
a conspiracy against state security and ordered investigations into them.
The
parliament session and Saied’s response intensified Tunisia’s political crisis
though it was not clear if they will prompt any immediate change in his grip on
power.
Any
move to arrest parliament members who took part in Wednesday’s session, as
Saied’s threat of investigations may imply, would represent a major escalation
in the confrontation between Saied and his opponents.
“We
must protect the state from division... We will not allow the abusers to
continue their aggression against the state,” Saied said in a video posted
online.
Saied’s
opponents accuse him of a coup when he suspended the chamber last summer,
brushed aside most of the 2014 constitution and moved to rule by decree as he
set about remaking the political system.
“We
are not afraid to defend a legitimate institution,” said Yamina Zoglami, a
parliament member from the Islamist Ennahda.
“The
people did not withdraw confidence from us. The president closed parliament
with a tank.”
Saied,
a former law professor, says his actions were constitutional and necessary to
save Tunisia from years of political paralysis and economic stagnation at the
hands of a corrupt, self-serving elite.
He
says he will form a committee to rewrite the constitution, put it to a
referendum in July then hold parliamentary elections in December.
Tunisia’s
2014 constitution says the parliament must remain in session during any
exceptional period of the kind announced by Saied last summer and that
dissolving the chamber should trigger a new election, though he has not yet
announced one.
The
Free Constitutional Party, a main opposition party that polls project would be
the biggest in parliament if elections were held, urged Saied to call early
elections following the dissolution of parliament.
Abir
Moussi, the party head and a supporter of the late President Zine El Abidine
Ben Ali, said that Saied has no choice, according to the constitution, and
should call elections within three months.
Major
Western donors have urged Saied to return to the democratic path and normal
constitutional rule.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Tunisia
union warns of public sector strike against proposed reforms
30
March ,2022
Tunisia’s
powerful labor union warned on Wednesday public sector workers could strike to
oppose economic reforms the government has proposed to try to secure an
International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package.
The
UGTT union is Tunisia’s most powerful political body with more than a million
members and has brought the economy to a halt in previous strikes over state
spending cuts.
“In
UGTT we defend the poor and the marginalized .... We will not betray our
principles, whatever the price,” said UGTT head Noureddine Taboubi, addressing
workers in the northern port city of Bizerte.
A
general strike would represent the most significant challenge to President Kais
Saied yet, amid growing opposition to his march towards one-man rule since he
suspended parliament last summer and assumed executive authority.
Taboubi
said two of the union’s subordinate bodies, the public sector and public
services departments, had approved the principle of a strike and the UGTT’s top
national body would meet soon to decide on it.
Tunisia
faces a rapidly looming crisis in public finances as it struggles to meet
budget and debt commitments, and is in talks with the IMF for a rescue package.
However,
the IMF wants the government to agree to cuts in spending on subsidies, on the
public wage bill and on state-owned companies, and donors have said such
reforms will only be possible if they are accepted by the union.
The
UGTT says the government has proposed freezing wages, privatizing state
companies and eliminating subsidies in the coming years and that all of those
are unacceptable.
It
has demanded a dialogue on both political and economic reforms with Saied,
whose attempts to restructure Tunisia’s political system with a new
constitution are complicated by the government’s fiscal problems.
“We
know they want to sell companies like the Tobacco Company and Tunisair,”
Taboubi said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
8
soldiers killed in attack in Mali: Army
Fatma
Esma Arslan
31.03.2022
DAKAR,
Senegal
At
least eight Malian soldiers were killed in an ambush in the Bandiagara region,
the country’s military announced on Wednesday.
The
Malian army said in a statement that the soldiers patrolling between the
Songoiba and Yaokanda districts in the Bandiagara region were ambushed by
unidentified persons.
Mali
has been battling an insurgency linked to the al-Qaeda and Daesh/ISIS terror groups
since 2012, when unrest erupted in the north of the West African country.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/8-soldiers-killed-in-attack-in-mali-army/2550865
--------
North
America
US
city of Minneapolis allows Muslim call to prayer from mosque speakers
By
Zainab Iqbal
30
March 2022
The
US city of Minneapolis has passed a resolution allowing for the adhan, the
Muslim call to prayer, to be broadcast year-round over loudspeakers.
The
city council approved the resolution - which was to recognise the start of the
holy month of Ramadan which commences on 2 April - to allow the adhan (which
typically lasts 3 to 5 minutes) to be broadcast by loudspeaker between the
local hours of 7 am and 10pm.
Under
the measure, mosque loudspeakers will be able to call to prayer three times a
day, provided that the volume is below a certain decibel limit.
"Muslims
have been a part of the fabric of America for over 400 years since the first
Muslims in America arrived as slaves… and Minneapolis has become home to one of
the largest populations of Somali and East Africans in the nation, and their
Muslim faith is welcome here," the resolution said.
"And
mosques around the city can celebrate this Ramadan, and every day with the
centuries-old call to prayer observed by Muslims around the world."
Council
member Jamal Osman, who presented the resolution, told Middle East Eye that
"ideally this would show, that like church bells and other aspects of
religious worship that we take for granted, the call to prayer is equal to
them. And that is fundamentally the purpose behind this resolution.
"Islam
is on equal footing with every other religion in Minneapolis. Now, we have this
growing largely East African, Muslim population who get a chance to have their
faith acknowledged in the same way as everybody else."
He
continued by saying that he hopes every other city in the US can follow this
lead and make policies that are reflective of every faith and community.
"This
is honestly such a big win for our city. It shows Muslims here are strong and
we can get our voices heard," Rabya Mustafa, a Minneapolis resident for
over 10 years, told MEE.
"Can
you imagine hearing Allahu Akbar throughout the day from a loudspeaker as
you’re going for a walk... in America? This is a big win for sure."
In
2004, Hamtramck, Michigan, became the first city to legalise the public call to
prayer, followed by Dearborn, where Muslims are a majority.
In
2020, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey approved a permit for the Dar al-Hijrah
Mosque to broadcast the call to prayer five times a day during Ramadan.
Minneapolis
and St. Paul, which are referred to as the Twin Cities in Minnesota, have a
population of around 182,000 Muslims, according to 2017 statistics.
In
a statement, the Islamic Association of North America (IANA) said:
"Muslim, Somali, and East African Minnesotans have been a part of
Minnesota for many years and this move highlights the importance of inclusion
and that the Muslim faith is accepted and celebrated here.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
US
trial for member of Islamic State group begins in Virginia
30
Mar 2022
Prosecutors
told a federal jury in Virginia on Wednesday that a British national on trial
for terrorist acts that resulted in the gruesome deaths of four American
hostages had a reputation for outsize brutality.
Opening
arguments began in the first trial on US soil of an alleged major figure in the
Islamic State (IS) group – an accused member of the kidnap-and-murder cell of
four men called the “Beatles” by their hostages.
El
Shafee Elsheikh, 33, is accused of involvement in the murders of American
journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig
and Kayla Mueller.
Foley’s
parents, John and Diane Foley, arrived at the federal courthouse in Alexandria,
Virginia, shortly before the proceedings began at 9am local time, making no
comment to reporters outside.
Speaking
to AFP this week, Diane Foley said the trial had “been a long time coming”.
“Accountability
is essential if we’re ever going to stop hostage-taking,” she said.
Elsheikh
and another former British national, Alexanda Amon Kotey, were captured in
January 2018 by Kurdish forces in Syria while attempting to flee to Turkey.
They
were turned over to US forces in Iraq and flown to Virginia in October 2020 to
face charges of hostage-taking, conspiracy to murder US citizens and supporting
a foreign terrorist organization.
Kotey
pleaded guilty in September 2021 and is facing life in prison. Under his plea
agreement, Kotey will serve 15 years in jail in the US and then be extradited
to Britain to face further charges.
Elsheikh
opted to fight the charges. He faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Kotey
and Elsheikh’s four-member jihadist cell, called the “Beatles” by their
captives because of their British accents, was allegedly involved in the
abductions of at least 27 people in Syria from 2012 to 2015.
The
hostages, some of whom were released after their governments paid ransoms, were
from at least 15 countries, including the United States, Denmark, France,
Japan, Norway and Spain.
They
allegedly tortured and killed their victims and IS released videos of the
murders for propaganda purposes.
Elsheikh
was not a typical IS foot soldier; he was a senior leader who took particular
pleasure in mistreating the hostages he held captive, the jury was told.
Prosecutor
John Gibbs said that Elsheikh played a leadership role and was known by his
captives not only for his British accent but for his unusual penchant for
brutality, even within a terrorist group known for its cruelty.
According
to Gibbs, surviving hostages will testify that Elsheikh and two British
compatriots were more likely than day-to-day guards to hand out beatings.
Even
hostages about to be released after paying a ransom were given “going-away
beatings” by the British men, Gibbs said.
When
Elsheikh and friends learned that a European hostage was marking his 25th
birthday, they ensured they inflicted exactly 25 blows, Gibbs said.
The
individuals “were utterly terrifying” to the hostages, Gibbs said. If the
Britons came into contact with hostages, they were supposed to kneel down, face
the wall and avoid eye contact at all times.
“If
a hostage looked at any of the three men, they would be beaten,” Gibbs said. “In
fact, they did not have to do anything to be beaten.”
Waterboarding
and other forms of torture were also inflicted on hostages, Gibbs said.
Ringleader
Mohamed Emwazi, referred to by some as “Jihadi John”, was killed by a US drone
in Syria in November 2015. A fourth man, Aine Davis, is imprisoned in Turkey
after being convicted on terrorism charges.
Defense
attorney Edward MacMahon highlighted a discrepancy about the number of
so-called Beatles as he argued for his client’s innocence, saying Elsheikh was
not part of that “cell” of men but a simple Islamic State foot soldier.
MacMahon
said surviving hostages have different recollections about each of the
“Beatles” and their characteristics, and about whether there were three or
four.
He
noted that the British speakers were careful to always wear masks, making
identification difficult.
According
to the US authorities, Kotey and Elsheikh allegedly supervised detention
facilities for hostages and coordinated ransom negotiations.
The
pair were also accused of engaging in a “prolonged pattern of physical and
psychological violence against hostages”.
Ricardo
Garcia Vilanova, a Spanish photographer held captive for six months in 2014,
told AFP that “torture and murder were daily occurrences” in an atmosphere of
“sadism”.
Several
former European hostages are expected to testify at the trial along with a
Yazidi woman detained with Mueller, a humanitarian worker who was abducted in
Syria in 2013.
Mueller’s
parents say she was tortured before being handed over to Islamic State group
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who allegedly raped her repeatedly before killing
her.
According
to the indictment, Elsheikh was born in Sudan and moved to Britain when he was
a child.
Source:
The Guardian
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/30/the-beatles-trial-isis-terror-group-virginia
--------
US
sanctions Iran ballistic missile program supplier after Saudi Aramco, Erbil
attack
30
March ,2022
Washington
slapped new sanctions related to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday
despite reports suggesting the Biden administration may soon remove the group
from the US foreign terrorist organization blacklist.
The
sanctions targeted Iranian national Mohammad Ali Hosseini and his “network of
companies” for procuring materials needed for the IRGC’s ballistic missile
program.
“This
action reinforces the United States’ commitment to preventing the Iranian
regime’s development and use of advanced ballistic missiles,” said Brian
Nelson, the undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial
Intelligence.
The
US and Iran are currently holding indirect talks in Vienna to reactivate the
now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, which Democrats say curbed Iran’s nuclear
program in return for access to billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
Former
President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, citing Iranian-backed attacks
on US interests in the region and saying the agreement was “decaying and
rotten.”
The
deal does not address Iran’s support for proxies and other terrorist groups,
nor does it handle its ballistic missile program.
While
US and Iranian officials have repeatedly said a deal was close to being
finalized, Tehran is demanding that the terror designated be lifted off the
IRGC.
“While
the United States continues to seek Iran’s return to full compliance with the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we will not hesitate to target those who
support Iran’s ballistic missile program,” Nelson said after Wednesday’s
sanctions announcement.
The
Treasury Department said it was imposing the new sanctions after Iran’s missile
attack on Erbil, Iraq on March 13 and the “Iranian enabled” Houthi missile
attack against a Saudi Aramco facility on March 25.
The
attacks are a “reminder that Iran’s development and proliferation of ballistic
missiles continues to pose a serious threat to international security,” the
Treasury Department said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Top
Yemeni official: Saudis are irrelevant; final decision to end Yemen war hinges
on US, UK
29
March 2022
Yemeni
Deputy Information Minister Fahmi al-Yousefi says Saudi Arabia and its allies,
which are involved in a devastating military campaign and brutal all-out siege
against the impoverished country, cannot decide to end the ongoing Yemen crisis
as the United States and Britain have the final say.
Yousefi
made the remarks in an interview with the IRIB news agency on Tuesday,
following the announcement of a three-day truce by Yemen’s popular Ansarullah
resistance movement with the Saudi-led coalition.
“Once
we receive a response, we would seriously study it. But it seems as if the
Saudi regime and other members of the coalition of aggression cannot take such
decisions, because the decision for the Yemen war was made in Washington and
London,” he said.
The
Yemeni deputy information minister further said Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) must obtain the White House’s approval for such decisions
and that they cannot even decide on prisoner exchanges or humanitarian issues.
Saudi
Arabia launched the devastating war against Yemen in March 2015 in
collaboration with a number of its allies, chief among them the UAE, and with
arms and logistics support from the US and several Western states.
The
objective was to bring back to power the former Riyadh-backed regime and crush
the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs
in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.
The
war has stopped well short of all of its goals, despite killing hundreds of
thousands of Yemenis and turning the entire country into the scene of the
world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Officials
with the Ansarullah movement frequently refer to the war as the “US-Saudi
aggression” to highlight Washington’s leading role in the bloody military
campaign.
Yousefi
also said that Yemeni armed forces will continue their retaliatory operations
by all available means in order to break the cruel siege, stop the war, and
start peace negotiations between the Sana’a-based National Salvation Government
and the Saudi-led military coalition in case Riyadh and its allies miss the
three-day truce opportunity.
“We
will never back down from the initiative. We consider it a real and practical
mechanism to stop the aggression and start serious negotiations. Any
negotiations or dialog must guarantee cessation of hostilities and the lifting
of the siege and must put forward solutions to humanitarian issues,” he stated.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/03/29/679339/Final-decision-end-Yemen-war-hinges-US-UK
--------
Europe
UN's
Aid Coordination Office, Backed By Britain, Germany and Qatar Seeks Record
$4.4B for Afghans Struggling under Taliban
31
MAR 2022
The
UN's aid coordination office, backed by Britain, Germany and Qatar, is
launching its biggest-ever appeal for funds for a single country in hopes of
collecting USD 4.4 billion to help Afghanistan, a decidedly ambitious call to
assist the impoverished country again run by Taliban militants when much of the
world's attention is on Russia's war in Ukraine. “Ukraine is of vital
importance, but Afghanistan, you know, calls to our soul for commitment and
loyalty,” said Martin Griffiths, who heads the U.N. Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs, ahead of Thursday's pledge drive. “In simple terms,
the humanitarian program that we are appealing for is to save lives.” Less than
a year after Taliban fighters toppled its internationally backed government,
Afghanistan is buckling beneath a debilitating humanitarian crisis and an
economy in free fall. Some 23 million people face acute food insecurity, the
U.N. says. “The economy is too weak to sustain the lives of everyday people,
women, men and children,” Griffiths told reporters on Wednesday. “Given these
terrible circumstances, we are asking donors today to fund the largest
humanitarian appeal ever launched for a single country: We are calling for USD
4.4 billion to help the people of Afghanistan, at their worst hour of need, for
this year. The appeal is three times what the agency sought for Afghanistan a
year earlier, an amount donors met. “I have no doubt that we will not achieve
the target of $4.4 billion tomorrow in pledges, but we will work on it,”
Griffiths said.
Since
a leadership meeting in the southern city of Kandahar in early March, Taliban
hard-liners have issued repressive edicts almost daily, harkening to their
harsh rule of the late 1990s, further alienating a wary international
community, and infuriating many Afghans. The edicts include a ban on women
flying alone; a ban on women in parks on certain days; a requirement that male
workers wear a beard and the traditional turban. International media broadcasts
like the BBC's Persian and Pashto services have been banned and foreign TV
series have been taken off the air. A surprising last-minute ban on girls
returning to school after the sixth grade shocked the international community
and many Afghans. In schools across the country, girls returned to classrooms
on March 23 — the first day of the new Afghan school year — only to be sent
home. “Constraining rights based on gender is contrary to the values that we
all hold very dear, and also is a constraint on the development and eventual
prosperity of this extraordinary country that we are here to assist and serve,”
Griffiths said. “We want to see those prohibitions, those constraints removed.”
“I hope it will not mean that the pledges that we have from this conference are
limited,” he added.
Source:
Outlook India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Russia
concerned at Islamic State's plans to destabilise Central Asia -report
March
31, 2022
March
31 (Reuters) - Russia is concerned about the plans of militant group Islamic
State to destabilise central Asia and spread instability to the country as
well, the RIA news agency said.
It
was quoting remarks on Thursday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at an
Afghanistan-focused conference in China.
Source:
Reuters
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
UK
employed ‘double standards’ over treatment of Ukrainian, Syrian refugees
March
30, 2022
LONDON:
Britain and other European countries have been accused of employing “double
standards” over their treatment of Ukrainian and Syrian refugees.
Raed
Al-Saleh, chief of the search and rescue White Helmets charity in Syria, said
that all refugees should be “treated equally” and not receive “preferential
treatment.”
In
an exclusive interview, he told Times Radio: “The preferential treatment of the
Ukrainian refugees is there — we can see it. It is double standards. Refugees
should be treated equally regardless of their race, ethnicity, or religion,
because they have equal rights.”
The
White Helmets group has supported civilians in Syria targeted by Russian-backed
airstrikes and attacks ordered by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. It
claims to have saved the lives of up to 125,000 people.
Britain
has granted 22,000 visas to Ukrainian refugees under a family visa scheme
launched on March 4. A further 2,000 are expected to be supported in an
additional program.
But
Britain resettled just 20,000 Syrians fleeing the conflict over a six-year
period, with a further 666 arriving in the country via a separate scheme.
Al-Saleh
told the Times that the work of his White Helmets team possibly reduced the
flow of refugees to Europe.
“The
White Helmets are still providing an array of services including ambulance
services, urban search and rescue, fire extinguishing services, healthcare,
utility maintenance — whether it is electricity, power, or water networks — and
they are providing maintenance and repair wherever it’s needed, so that they
support the steadfastness of civilians so that they remain in their home areas.
“This
led to the mitigation of the refugee crisis because without the White Helmets,
the refugee crisis would have been worse and would have been bigger and would
have continued for more years,” he added.
Al-Saleh
was visiting London this week to meet politicians but has not secured a meeting
with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
He
told the Times that he would issue a plea to Johnson to secure an end to the
bombardment of the Syrian people and hold to account “those who perpetrated
those violations against them, especially the use of chemical weapons.”
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2053586/world
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Germany
repatriates women, children from suspected ISIS camp in Syria
31
March ,2022
Germany
says it has brought home 10 women and 27 children from a camp in northeastern
Syria where suspected members of ISIS have been held.
Foreign
Minister Annalena Baerbock said the group was repatriated from the Roj camp on
Wednesday in what she called an “extremely difficult” operation. She said some
of the mothers were taken into custody immediately after arriving in Germany.
“The
27 children are, at the end of the day, victims of ISIS, and they have a right
to a better future far from its deadly ideology, and also to live in security,
as we would wish for our own children,” Baerbock said in a statement. “The
mothers must be held accountable for their actions.”
Germany
previously repatriated 23 children and their eight mothers from Roj in October.
At the same time, neighboring Denmark brought home 14 children and three women.
Baerbock
thanked Kurdish authorities in Syria and “our US partners, who once again
provided us with logistical support.”
With
Wednesday’s operation, “the majority of the German children whose mothers are
willing to return to Germany have been brought to safety,” she said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Russia
looking to recruit fighters from Libya, repositioning troops around Kyiv
31
March ,2022
Russia
intends to begin recruiting fighters out of Libya, the Pentagon said Wednesday,
adding that about 20 percent of Russian forces around Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv
were repositioning elsewhere.
“We
have seen, over the last 24 hours, the repositioning of a small percentage of
the troops… that Russia had arrayed against Kyiv. Probably in the neighborhood
of 20 percent… we assess some are repositioning into Belarus,” Pentagon Press
Secretary John Kirby said.
Speaking
to reporters during the daily press briefing, Kirby said none of the
repositioned forces went back to their home garrisons. “That’s not a small point.
If the Russians are serious about de-escalation because that’s their claim,
they should send them home.”
But,
he was quick to point out that Russia was still carrying out air and ground
strikes on Kyiv. “The air strikes have not stopped, not at all. So, Kyiv… is
still very much under threat,” Kirby said.
The
Pentagon official repeated previous comments that Russia appeared to be
focusing on attacking the Donbas. He added that the Russian mercenary Wagner
Group had deployed around 1,000 fighters to the Donbas region.
In
a new development, Kirby said the Wagner Group was now looking to recruit
mercenaries from Libya. The Pentagon had previously said it had indications of
recruitment from Syria, but this was the first mention of Libya.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Southeast
Asia
Chinese
Shows Duplicity towards Muslims in Xinjiang
31st
March 2022
Beijing:
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s assurance, during the OIC Conference in
Islamabad recently that China would look after the interests of Muslim nations,
is in total contradiction to events in his backyard.
There
are widespread atrocities committed against Muslims of the Uyghurs community in
Xinjiang, China. Pakistan too has developed amnesia on this issue and ignored
the genocide among Uyghurs.
Since
2017, the Chinese government has detained about 1.8 million Uyghurs and other
Turkic minorities in hundreds of “re-education camps” in Xinjiang.
An
effort to prevent possible religious extremism and terrorism had led to “terror
capitalism” – a system that justifies oppression by branding Uyghurs a security
threat to generate state investment in policing and surveillance technologies
to monitor and control them.
The
rise of an economic form of a kind of security-industrial complex where the
state has hired over 1,000 contractors – private companies – to build forms of
surveillance that will sort through Uyghur and Kazakh behaviour and diagnose
who is potentially a criminal.
They
are using Chinese counterterrorism laws, which are very broad and define things
as terrorism like having WhatsApp on your phone, using a VPN, and having
relatives who live abroad and sending them money.
Witness
testimonies and investigative reports have since alleged that the Chinese
government has tortured detainees, sterilized Uyghur women, and conscripted
Uyghurs for work in factories.
China
also continues to carry out discriminatory work policies, such as forced
labour, impossible production expectations, and long working hours, against the
Uyghurs in Xinjiang, a United Nations committee stated on February 11.
The
report from the International Labour Organization stressed that China has
violated various articles of the Employment Policy Convention of 1964, which
Beijing ratified in 1997, including the right to freely choose employment.
The
870-page report, titled Application of International Labour Standards, was an
assessment by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
The
report stated that China continues to engage in widespread and systematic
“programs” involving the extensive use of forced labour of the Uyghur and other
Turkic and Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
Some
13 million members of the ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang are
targeted based on their ethnicity and religion, adding that Beijing justified
its methods in a context of “poverty alleviation”, “vocational training”,
“re-education through labor” and “de-extremification”.
A
key feature of China’s program is the use of forced labour in or around
internment or “re-education” camps housing some 1.8 million Uyghur and other
Turkic or Muslim peoples in the region.
The
abuses take place in or around prisons and workplaces across Xinjiang and other
parts of the country.
From
an international perspective, the US Senate unanimously voted in December last
year to ban virtually all imports from China’s north-western Xinjiang region
over concerns about the prevalence of forced labour.
The
US government stated that more than one million Uyghurs and other
Turkic-speaking Muslims are incarcerated in camps to root out their Islamic
cultural traditions and forcibly assimilate them into China’s Han majority.
The
United States has described the campaign as genocide. Along with Australia,
Britain, and Canada, it had announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing
Winter Games over the issue.
The
Biden administration also sanctioned Chinese firm SZ DJI Technology, the
world’s largest producer of consumer drones used in filmmaking and aerial
photography, over surveillance in Xinjiang, where China has been honing new
technologies in artificial intelligence and DNA tracking to keep a track of
Uyghurs.
Source:
Siasat Daily
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https://www.siasat.com/chinese-shows-duplicity-towards-muslims-in-xinjiang-2299909/
--------
Xi
Jinping strongly backs Afghanistan at regional conference
Mar
31, 2022
BEIJING:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday issued strong backing for Afghanistan at
a regional conference, while making no mention of human rights abuses by the
country's Taliban leaders.
Xi
pledged China's support in a message to a gathering of representatives from
Afghanistan, China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan in a central Chinese city that spotlights Beijing's aspirations to
play a leading role in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. forces last
August.
A
``peaceful, stable, developed and prosperous Afghanistan'' is what Afghans
aspire to, which ``serves the common interests of regional countries and the
international community,'' Xi said.
`China
has all along respected Afghanistan's sovereignty, independence and territorial
integrity, and is committed to supporting Afghanistan's peaceful and stable
development,`` Xi said in his message to the gathering in Tunxi, a center of
the tourism industry in Anhui province.
Xi
gave no specifics, although China has already shipped emergency aid to
Afghanistan and is seeking to develop copper mining there.
China
follows what it calls a strict policy of ``non-intervention`` in other
countries' internal affairs, including opposing those staged for humanitarian
purposes unless sanctioned by the United Nations. Despite that, Beijing is
frequently accused of meddling to further its own domestic and international
interests.
Special
envoys for Afghanistan from China, the United States and Russia, a group known
as the ``Extended Troika,'' were also meeting concurrently in Tunxi.
Although
it has yet to recognize the Taliban government, China has moved quickly to
shore up its ties with the radical Islamic group.
A month
before the Taliban took power, Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a high-powered
delegation from the group for a July 28, 2021, meeting in the Chinese port city
of Tianjin. Wang referred to the group as ``pivotal'' force important to peace
and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
On
that and other occasions, Chinese have pushed the Taliban for assurances they
will not permit operations within Afghanistan's borders by members of China's
Turkic Muslim Uyghur minority intent on overthrowing Chinese rule in their native
region of Xinjiang.
Wang
also made a surprise stop in Kabul last week to meet Taliban leaders, even as
the international community fumed over the hard-line movement's broken promise
a day earlier to open schools to girls beyond the sixth grade.
China
has studiously avoided mentioning the limits on girls' education and other
human rights abuses, particularly those targeting women, while keeping its
Kabul embassy open.
Source:
Times Of India
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Adam
Adli can rejuvenate ‘weak’ PKR Youth, says party man
Nora
Mahpar
March
31, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: PKR’s Najwan Halimi believes that youth activist Adam Adli can inject
some much needed life into the party’s youth wing, which Najwan described as
being “weak and lethargic”.
Najwan,
who was sacked as Selangor PKR Youth chief last year, slammed the wing’s
current head, Akmal Nasir, for failing to draw the interests of youths, with
PKR losing them to other parties like Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s Muda.
“My
view is that Adam can bring a new breath of life that can attract the interests
of youths to PKR again. This term, PKR Youth looked weak and lethargic, as
though it was sidelined from the national movement of youths.
“People
are more attracted to Muda than PKR Youth or Pakatan Harapan Youth. It’s an
open secret that PKR Youth is a weak wing that has no attraction for youths,”
he told FMT.
The
Kota Anggerik assemblyman said the wing needed to come to terms with the fact
that it was nearly non-existent to most youths, whether it liked it or not.
Yesterday,
Adam announced that he will be contesting for the PKR Youth chief’s post in the
upcoming party elections, with lawyer Kamil Munim being his running mate for
the number two post.
He
said that his team, known as Seangkatan, would also have three vice-chief
candidates and 20 executive council candidates.
Adam
will be competing against another former student activist, Fahmi Zainol, for
the Youth chief’s post. Fahmi’s team comprises Rawang assemblyman Chua Wei
Kiat, Batu MP P Prabakaran and Melaka Youth chief Prasanth Kumar.
Najwan
described Adam as a young leader who was not just capable of mobilising youths
at the grassroot level, but also an intellectual who had a grip on issues and
ideas.
“This
is what we want in the PKR Youth leadership,” he said, describing Adam as the
right man for the post in this “critical” time.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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Arab
World
Saudi
Arabia deposits $5 billion in Egypt’s central bank: Report
30
March ,2022
Saudi
Arabia has deposited $5 billion in Egypt’s central bank, the official Saudi
Press Agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday, as the Egyptian economy faces new
economic pressures as a result of the war in Ukraine.
On
March 21 Egypt devalued its currency by around 14 percent after investors had
pulled billions of dollars out of Egyptian treasury markets.
Last
week the government announced it was in talks with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) for potential funds and technical support to hedge against the
effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on its economy.
Funding
from additional donors is often a condition for finance from the IMF.
“The
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to implement the directives of the Custodian of the
Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Highness the Crown
Prince, deposited five billion dollars with the Central Bank of Egypt,” the SPA
report said.
Saudi
Arabia said in October it had deposited $3 billion with Egypt’s central bank
and extended the term of another $2.3 billion in previous deposits. The new
deposit would bring the total to $10.3 billion.
Egypt
and Qatar have agreed to sign investment deals worth $5 billion, the Egyptian
cabinet said in a statement on Tuesday.
The
move “[confirmed] the distinguished bilateral relations between the two
countries and the two brotherly peoples in all fields,” according to the Saudi
Press Agency.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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UAE
updates protocol for Taraweeh and Tahajjud prayers in mosques during Ramadan
March
30, 2022
The
National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) announced
on Wednesday the new updates to the protocol for organising prayers in mosques
and women prayer rooms during the holy month of Ramadan.
NCEMA
said: "The month of Ramadan coincided for the third year in a row with the
Covid 19 pandemic, and the past two years witnessed an acceptable commitment by
society and a commendable response to the precautionary measures. We hope that
commitment and awareness will continue during this year."
NCEMA
called on all society members to adhere to all necessary precautions and
measures to curb the spread of Covid 19, represented in physical distancing,
avoiding gatherings as much as possible, and wearing the face mask in gathering
places.
Regarding
the protocol for organising prayers in mosques in Ramadan, the number of
worshipers has been increased and many procedures which were suspended due to
the pandemic conditions have been resumed,” NCEMA indicated.
According
to the updated protocol, it is allowed to resume prayers in women's prayer
rooms, resume daily mosque lessons after Asr or Isha prayers.
Also,
lectures by the guests of His Highness the UAE President are allowed.
Drinking
water will be allowed to be distributed to worshipers, provided that it is
canned, and there should be volunteers to monitor the precautionary measures,
such as wearing masks, using a personal or single-use carpet, and adhering to
the previously announced precautionary measures, the Authority affirmed.
The
updates also stipulate keeping a distance of one metre between worshipers,
performing Taraweeh prayers throughout the month, and Tahajjud prayers in the
last ten nights, according to certain regulations.
The
authority affirmed that the time between the Isha Adhan to prayer will be 20
minutes, with 45 minutes for the Isha prayer with the Taraweeh prayer (8
rak’ahs) and two rak’ahs of Shafa’ and Witr prayer.
Taraweeh
prayers are to be held immediately after the Isha Sunna prayer.
A
time not more than 45 minutes is allocated for the Tahajjud prayer in the last
ten days of Ramadan, according to NCEMA.
The
updates also stipulate that the worshipers have to line up in a straight
vertical line instead of an (X) shape, in order to facilitate the entry and
exit.
Source:
Gulf Today
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Supreme
Court calls on people to sight Ramadan crescent on Friday
March
30, 2022
RIYADH
— The Supreme Court has called all Muslims around the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
to sight the holy month of Ramadan’s crescent on Friday night, 29 Shaban 1443
AH corresponding to April 1, 2022.
Anyone
who can sights the crescent of Ramadan with the naked eye or through binoculars
must report it to the nearest court and register his testimony, the Supreme
Court said.
It
is noteworthy that the ministries and authorities in Saudi Arabia have made a
lot of preparations and efforts to ensure the success of the operational plans
for the holy month of Ramadan.
Most
notably: the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques Sunday
implemented periodic maintenance for Kaaba Kiswa in preparation for the holy
month of Ramadan.
While
the Ministry of Education has approved the revised timing of all public and
private schools in the Kingdom for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan.
The
school day would start at the flexible time from 9 to 10 in the morning. The
duration of class hours will be 35 minutes.
In
the labor market, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development
(MHRSD) clarified that the working hours in the private sector establishments
during Ramadan for the year 2022 -1443 will be 6 hours per day.
Additionally,
the ritual itikaf will resume at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s
Mosque in Madinah during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan after a hiatus of
two years.
The
Presidency has also launched an online portal to give guidelines and
registration facilities for the prospective worshippers intending to perform
itikaf.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
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Saudi
Arabia to open a railway that reaches Jordan’s borders
30
March ,2022
Saudi
Arabia will in the upcoming days open a new railway that reaches Jordan’s
borders, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics Saleh bin al-Jasser
announced on Tuesday.
The
railway will enhance the movement of passengers, vehicles and trade and
facilitate various services to both countries, Jasser added.
The
announcement came during his meeting with Jordan’s Minister of Industry and
Trade Youssef Shamali at the 17th session of the Jordanian-Saudi Joint Trade
Committee held in Jordan’s capital of Amman.
Jasser
told Al Arabiya news channel that the railway will extend from Saudi Arabia’s
city of al-Qurayyat in the province of al-Jawf to the Jordanian borders and
will boost economic activity between the two countries.
The
railway route length exceeds 5,000 kilometers and will be extended to 8,000
kilometers during the upcoming years to link Saudi areas together as well Saudi
areas with neighboring countries.
Meanwhile,
Shamali voiced the importance of linking between Jordan and Saudi Arabia via
railway networks, noting that this will contribute to serving mutual interests.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Parliament
fails to elect Iraq president for third time
30
March ,2022
Iraqi
lawmakers Wednesday failed for a third time to elect a new national president,
for lack of a quorum, officials said, prolonging the political paralysis in the
war-scarred country.
“The
assembly adjourned its session until further notice,” the parliament’s press
service said without giving a new date.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Mideast
Turkiye’s
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque to hold 1st tarawih prayer in 88 years
Zeynep
Rakipoglu
31.03.2022
ISTANBUL
Turkiye’s
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul will hold its first tarawih prayer in 88
years, a special evening prayer during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
A
number of events for Ramadan will also be held at the mosque, which was
converted into a museum in 1934 and regained its status as a mosque in 2020,
when it was opened for worship on July 24 of that year.
As
part of COVID-19 restrictions in Turkiye, however, the mosque could not be used
since the pandemic began due to the risk of infection.
But
with most of the population vaccinated and the number of new cases and
fatalities declining and recoveries increasing daily, Turkish authorities
decided to reopen the mosque for Ramadan, the holiest month of the year for
Muslims.
Hagia
Sophia was built in the year 532 CE. It was turned into a mosque in 1453 after
the conquest of Istanbul.
It
served as a church for 916 years and 86 years as a museum. But for most of its
existence – from 1453 to 1934, or nearly 500 years – it served as a mosque.
In
1985, Hagia Sophia was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Ansarullah
member hails latest anti-Israel operation, says Tel Aviv after false security
30
March 2022
A
senior member of Yemen’s popular Ansarullah resistance movement has praised the
latest anti-Israel operation that was conducted in response to intensified
crimes and violations committed by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians.
On
Tuesday,a motorcycle-riding gunman killed five illegal Israeli settlers in an
attack near Tel Aviv before being shot by Israeli forces.
The
attack is the third such incident in a week, in response to the Tel Aviv
regime’s continued violence and expansion of its illegal settlement projects in
Palestine.
Speaking
at an interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network on Wednesday,
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of Ansarullah’s political bureau, described the
incident as “the operation of lonely lions,” noting that the operation was“a
message” to the Israeli regime, which, he said, was looking for “false
security.”
“Meetings
and visits won’t achieve security for Israel,” Bukhaiti said, in an apparent
reference to the meetings between Israelis and officials from some Arab regimes
on normalization of ties.
On
Sunday and Monday, top diplomats from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Morocco,
Bahrain, Egypt, the United States, and Israel met to press ahead with a
US-brokered normalization of relations between the Arab states and the Israeli
regime.
In
1980, Egypt established diplomatic relations with Israel as the first Arab
country to forge diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv. The UAE and Bahrain reached
normalization agreements with Israel in 2020 through mediation of former US
President Donald Trump's administration.
Morocco
and Sudan later reached similar US-brokered deals with the Israeli regime.
The
deals have been roundly condemned by Palestinians as a brazen betrayal of their
cause.
The
Yemeni official further said that the anti-Israel operations would play a role
in tipping the balance not only in Palestine, but in the entire region.
Israel
has put its forces on “heightened alert” following the deadly operation near
Tel Aviv.
On
Wednesday, Israeli forces opened fire on two young men working in a shop west
of the occupied al-Quds, before arresting them, the Palestinian Information
Center said.
The
PIC cited Israeli media reports as saying that the two were arrested on
suspicion of allegedly planning to conduct a stabbing attack in al-Quds.
Tensions
heightened across the Palestinian territories on February 13, when Israeli
forces and illegal settlers renewed their attacks against Palestinians in
Sheikh Jarrah in al-Quds.
The
neighborhood has been the scene of frequent crackdowns by Israeli regime forces
on the Palestinians protesting against the threatened expulsion of dozens of
families from their homes in favor of Israeli settler groups.
The
initial tensions that erupted in Sheikh Jarrah last year in part sparked a May
2021 war between the Israeli regime and resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.
In
the latest bombardment campaign, at least 260 Palestinians, including over 60
children, were killed in a time span of 11 days that began on May 10, 2021. The
Gaza-based resistance movements retaliated.
Source:
Press TV
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of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/03/30/679412/Yemen-Bukhaiti-hails-anti-Israel-operation
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Israel
raids West Bank refugee camp, Palestinian killed
31
March ,2022
Israeli
forces raided a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank early Thursday, setting
off a gun battle in which a Palestinian teenager was killed and several others
were wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Videos
circulated online showed smoke rising from the center of the Jenin refugee camp
as gunfire echoed in the background. Others appeared to show Israeli soldiers
and Palestinian gunmen moving through the narrow streets.
The
raid came two days after a Palestinian from a village near Jenin shot and
killed five people in central Israel, part of a wave of attacks in recent days
that have left a total of 11 people dead.
The
Palestinian Health Ministry said a 17-year-old was killed. It had earlier said
seven Palestinians were brought to local hospitals, including three who were
seriously wounded.
There
was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The
Jenin refugee camp was the scene of one of the deadliest battles of the second
Palestinian intifada, or uprising. In April 2002, Israeli forces battled
Palestinian militants in the camp, leading to the deaths of 23 Israeli soldiers
and more than 50 Palestinians.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Orthodox
Church slams partial takeover of historic hotel in Jerusalem by Israeli
settlers
Mahmoud
Barakat
30.03.2022
ANKARA
The
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has condemned the seizure of a
historic hotel in the occupied city by a settlers group.
On
Sunday, Israeli police forces and members of Ateret Cohanim group forced their
way into the historic Petra Hotel and seized a part of it.
The
hotel, which the church says it owns, is usually used by Christian pilgrims as
it falls on their pilgrimage route.
The
historic hotel is located at the entrance to Bab Al-Khalil (Gate of Hebron),
one of the gates of Jerusalem’s Old City, which leads to the Christian and
Armenian quarters in the city and to Christian holy sites, including the Church
of the Holy Sepulcher, which is considered one of the most sacred religious
sites for Christians around the world.
“The
seizure of the Little Petra Hotel by the radical extremist group Ateret Cohanim
is a threat to the continued existence of a Christian Quarter in Jerusalem,”
the patriarchate said in a statement carried by Orthodox Times website.
The
patriarchate warned against the repeated illegitimate Israeli actions which
“followed a pattern of intimidation, violence, and lawless action to drive
Christians and Muslims from the city that we share.”
Ateret
Cohanim, a group that works to establish a Jewish majority in Jerusalem’s Old
City, claims that it had bought Little Petra hotel.
Israeli
courts are still looking into the dispute between the two parties and have not
decided on the ownership.
The
Israeli move “will lead to instability and tension at a time when all are
trying to de-escalate and build trust, to build toward justice and peace,” the
patriarchate warned.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Intra-Yemen
dialogue opens in Riyadh amid Houthi absence
30.03.2022
RIYADH
Intra-Yemeni
talks started on Wednesday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, under the auspices of
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
"Today’s
talks are closely followed up by all Yemenis, amid hopes to reach a solution
between rivals,” GCC Secretary-General Nayef al-Hajraf told the opening session
of the talks.
“A
peaceful solution is the only way to Yemen's crisis," he stressed.
The
GCC-sponsored talks seek to probe ways of restoring peace to Yemen, which fell
into civil war since 2014.
Secretary-General
of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hussein Ibrahim Taha, said
dialogue is the only way to resolve the 8-year conflict in Yemen.
“The
Yemeni people have the right to aspire to a decent life and a better future,”
he added.
Houthi
rebels have boycotted the talks, demanding the dialogue be held in a “neutral
country”.
Yemen
has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned
Houthis captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Jews
dreading Ramadan amid surge of violence - comment
By
HERB KEINON
MARCH
30, 2022
It
used to be Good Friday, but now it’s Ramadan – a non-Jewish holiday that Jews
dread.
In
medieval times, Jews in various lands stayed home or were instructed to stay
home, lest Christians inflamed by Good Friday – the day marking Jesus’
crucifixion – took out their religious passion on a passing local Jew. It was
also a day throughout the ages that provided an excuse for a pogrom.
But
now, “Oy, Good Friday is coming” has been replaced, at least in Israel, by “Oy,
Ramadan is coming.”
Why?
Because Ramadan, which begins on Saturday, has over the years been accompanied
here by a marked increase in terrorism.
Just
as most Christians did not partake in anti-Jewish violence as part of Good
Friday commemorations, most Muslims, obviously, do not see violence against
Jews as part of their Ramadan rituals. The problem is that enough of them do
see terrorism as sanctifying Ramadan so that in the minds of Israelis, the
month is linked not with Muhammad’s first revelation, reading the Koran or
giving charity, but rather to an uptick in terrorism.
Something
is fundamentally wrong when the phrase “the upcoming holy month of Ramadan” is
said in news reports to explain why a sudden surge in terror is expected. It
would be the equivalent of saying that since Passover is coming, Arabs should
be wary of being attacked by Jews. Were that the case, it would simply be
obscene.
According
to a Dutch project called Datagraver that culls data from various online
government pages and databases to create “figures and dashboards,” Ramadan
brought with it a 200% increase in terrorist attacks in Israel between 2005 and
2016.
In
2015, following the fatal shooting of Malachi Rosenfeld on June 29 near Shilo,
then-ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor wrote a letter to the UN Security Council
saying: “In the two weeks since the beginning of Ramadan... there has been a
dramatic increase in attacks against Israelis. Each day seems to bring with it
news of a shooting attack, or a stabbing.”
The
following year, six Israelis were killed during Ramadan.
“Ramadan
is supposed to be a time of peace,” the IDF Spokesman said at the time.
“Instead, terrorists and extremists have exploited this holy month. Six
innocent civilians were murdered in three terror attacks over the course of the
holiday, and many more were wounded.”
In
2017, Border Police officer Hadas Malka was stabbed to death by a Palestinian
terrorist at the Damascus Gate during Ramadan. In 2019, the Foreign Ministry
reported “a dramatic increase in the number of terrorist attacks” during the
month. In 2020, one of the three Israelis killed in terrorist attacks that
year, St.-Sgt Amit Ben Yigal, was killed during Ramadan.
And
then last year, Hamas fired rockets on Israel that led to Operation Guardian of
the Walls during the month of Ramadan.
Ramadan
has turned into a month to be dreaded. And that is obscene.
This
obscenity, however, needs to be pointed out not in an English-language
newspaper by an Israeli Jew, but in Arabic, by Muslims.
One
hopeful development that has emerged from the recent spate of terrorism is the
condemnations that have come from Arab and Muslim countries: the United Arab
Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey all condemned the Bnei Brak attack. The
attacks of the last week have been roundly condemned by Israeli Arab
politicians as well. Ra’am Party head Mansour Abbas, for instance, called the
Bnei Brak attack a “heinous and indecent terrorist crime.”
Even
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas squeezed out a begrudging
condemnation on Tuesday evening, apparently under intense pressure from Israel
and the US to do so. He has not condemned a terror attack in Israel since 2011,
failed to condemn any of the previous attacks this month, and PA television
labeled the Bedouin terrorist who killed four in Beersheba last week as a
“martyr” in a picture on its Facebook page before Israel reportedly pressured
them to remove it.
According
to Abbas’s office on Tuesday, he “expressed his condemnation of the killing of
Israeli civilians tonight, emphasizing that the killing of Palestinian and
Israeli civilians only leads the situation to deteriorate.” He added that this
incident could be exploited to justify attacks on Palestinians “at the hands of
settlers or others.”
Lest
one get too excited about this condemnation, the head of the Fatah branch in
Jenin, near Yabad where the Bnei Brak terrorist was from, went to the house of
the murderer and hailed him to a cheering crowd as a hero who killed five
Zionists.
That
sentiment was shared by all those who handed out sweets celebrating the murders
in various Gaza and West Bank towns, and – most gallingly – by those who
gathered at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate after the murder.
The
murder of 11 people in three terrorist attacks in eight days has led to Israeli
pain, distrust and anger – all of which only got hotter with images of people
at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate celebrating random murder. These attacks and the
gleeful response of some pull heavily at the already taut fabric enabling Jews
and Arabs to work and live alongside each other in this land.
These
attacks leave their mark on the national psyche, and there is no magic stain
remover that will readily erase it. But one welcome restorative at this painful
time would be to see a large Israeli Arab rally – say a demonstration in the
central square in Umm el-Fahm – against the terror.
There
is often discussion about the need for Israel to give the Palestinians
confidence-building measures. But Israeli confidence and trust also need to be
shored up, especially during weeks like these.
Source:
J Post
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-702741
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hijab-ban-examination-udupi/d/126701