Justice MSA Siddiqui, Ex-Minority Education Commission Chief asks the Centre to Stop All Grants to Fake Madaris as These Grants Are Not Being Spent for the Right Cause
New
Age Islam News Bureau
05
October 2021
Justice MSA Siddiqui, Ex-Minority Education
Commission Chief
-----
•
Had Islam Spread By Sword Not A Single Hindu Would Have Survived: Former
Speaker Karnataka Legislative Assembly
•
Pak, Afghan Madrasas Breeding Grounds for Terrorists: European Foundation for
South Asian Studies Analyst to UN
•
Over 100 Musicians Flee Afghanistan, Fearing Taliban Crackdown
•
UAE Announces New Space Mission To Explore Venus
Pakistan
•
Imran Khan Faces Flak after His Govt Renews Talks with Tehreek-i-Taliban
Pakistan
•
COAS pays tribute to martyrs in investiture ceremony at GHQ, says their
sacrifices won't go to waste
•
Pandora Papers: Opposition calls Imran Khan's investigation cell 'hoax'
--------
India
•
Delhi Govt to HC: Will Update Portal to Register Muslim, Christian Marriages
•
Hyderabad: Free Aid in Mosque Clinic Helps Poor save Money, Better Lives
•
India slams Pak for raising Kashmir issue at UN, calls it world's biggest
destabilising force
•
British historian, Indian scholar to receive Sir Syed Excellence Award at AMU
on October 17
--------
South Asia
•
All ISIL Elements Killed In Last Night's Operation: Taliban Spokesman
•
School Graduates Of 2000-2020, Of No Use: Taliban’s Higher Education Minister
•
Afghanistan’s problems getting solved gradually: Taliban
•
Afghan traders ask for facilitation in trades with neighbouring countries
•
Afghanistan to restart issuing passports to citizens: Passport office chief
•
Taliban unlawfully killed 13 ethnic Hazaras: Rights group
--------
Arab World
•
Grand Imam of Al Azhar Joins Religious Leaders in Launching Joint Environmental
Appeal At Vatican Summit
•
Internet activists dole out virtual justice for Lebanon collapse
•
Play director questioned in Lebanon, fuelling freedom worries
•
Syria must admit chemical weapons inspectors: West
•
Former Lebanon PM says he gave up shares in company mentioned in ‘Pandora
Papers’
--------
North America
•
Canadian Judge Jails Man Who Branded Muslim Businessman 'Baby Killer'
•
Muslims recall questionable detentions that followed 9/11
•
Biden aides to tell Israelis that US will pursue 'other avenues' if Iran
diplomacy fails
•
Most Americans favour granting Afghans who worked with US refugee status: poll
--------
Europe
•
Does Muslim Vote Really Weigh-In In French Elections?
•
Macron: G20 Must Send Taliban Clear Message on Price Of Recognition
•
Turkish Cypriot leader stresses need for sovereign equality on Cyprus
•
Greece says EU must abide by its migration commitments to Turkey
--------
Southeast Asia
•
National Unity Minister Says Racist Slurs Have No Place in Malaysian Society,
After
•
Suspected Muslim insurgents attack train in southern Thailand
•
Sarawak police chief: 28 reports lodged against preacher who allegedly insulted
non-Muslims
•
Prosecution: Zahid orchestrated money-laundering scheme, used moneychanger to
make bags of cash ‘disappear’ into cheques for own benefit
•
Education Ministry must ensure all parties understand National Language Policy,
says minister
--------
Mideast
•
FM: Iran Not to Allow Foreigners Disrupt Friendly Ties with Neighbours
•
Navy Commander: Iran to Build Modern Destroyers
•
Iran Sends Delegation to Armenia to Complete Tatev Road
•
Assyrian Lawmaker: Iranian Army's Wargames Sent Clear Message to Israel, ISIL
•
US citizen blocked in Iran needs surgery within days: Family
•
Bennett spokesman accuses Iran of planning attacks against Israelis living in
Cyprus
--------
Africa
•
Jordan Is Stronger Than Any Campaigns: King Abdullah
•
Clashes erupt in Sudan’s Khartoum week after alleged ISIS killings
•
Jordan says ‘distorted’ claims in ‘Pandora Papers’ are security threat
•
France’s Macron: I hope tensions with Algeria will soon ease
•
Algeria prosecutors seek 18 months’ jail for journalist
•
Crimes against humanity, war crimes committed in Libya: UN Probe
•
8 soldiers killed, 2 wounded in central-north Burkina Faso
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
--------
Justice
MSA Siddiqui, Ex-Minority Education Commission Chief asks the Centre to Stop
All Grants to Fake Madaris as These Grants Are Not Being Spent for the Right
Cause
Jeevan
Prakash Sharma
05
Oct 2021
Justice MSA Siddiqui, Ex-Minority Education
Commission Chief
-----
Justice
MSA Siddiqui, who was the chairman of the National Commission for Minority
Educational Institutions for ten years, from 2004 to 2014, has asked the Centre
to stop all grants to Fake Madaris (madrasas) in India as, according to him,
these grants are not being spent for the right cause. He says that government
must develop a framework to ensure that public money is not being spent on
bogus practices.
Justice
Siddiqui spoke to Outlook about the status of madrasa education in India and
said that Muslim youth are more interested in pursuing a career in Bollywood
and want to become Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan but not IAS officers.
What
are the major challenges that madrasa education is facing in India today?
I
believe it is corruption and the involvement of middlemen in the process of
disbursement of government’s grants. When I was the Chairman of the National
Commission for Minority Educational Institutions from 2004 to 2014, I had
flagged this issue to the government but nothing happened. Even after seven
years since I have left the commission, these issues are as relevant as they
were then. The only way to weed out corruption is to stop giving grants to fake
madaris.
Can
you elaborate on the kind of corruption prevalent and why it is difficult to
eradicate it?
Look,
the government grant is being disbursed to madaris through district minority
welfare officers (DMWO), who are present in every district. Normally, these officers
are hand-in-glove with fake madaris who run on papers by Maulvis. The officers
give grants to such Madaris and get a handsome commission from them. I had
received complaints from media persons during one of my visits to Meerut when I
was in office. They complained that when they went to cover those fake madaris,
they were chased by anti-social elements. Pursuant to their complaints, I had
asked the Collector, Meerut to conduct an enquiry and we found that about 4000
madaris were running on papers only but getting regular grants from the
government.
In
fact, one of the most interesting cases I had found was in Gonda where a Pandit
Ji was running a primary school but was taking a madrasa grant from the DMWO.
But
don’t you think stopping grants will impact the education of several madaris
who can’t afford to run on their own?
No,
what I mean to say is that government should ensure that the grant is going to
the right madrasa. 90 per cent of Madaris don’t accept grants from the
government. They run on donations. The big Madaris such as Darul Uloom Deoband
and Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow don’t take government grants because
they are afraid that the government might interfere in their academic matters.
But the biggest disadvantage of the grant is that it brings a bad name to
madrasa education in India. Fake madaris indulge and promote corrupt practices
and soil the reputation of the good ones and the whole system. I have recently
heard that 2.5 lakh fake students were enrolled in madaris in Uttarakhand.
These Maulvis, who are into corrupt practices, have no respect for the tenets
of Islam.
Why
is there no state-wise data of madrasa or any registration process to keep a
watch on fake and genuine ones?
Some
states have madrasa boards that give affiliation to madrasa but many states
don’t have any such administrative set up to keep a watch on their existence
and activities.
Even
all the madaris don’t have any common curriculum, syllabus or any standard
teaching method. Why?
Yes,
I agree, that’s another challenge. I had proposed a Central Madarsa Board once
when I was the Chairman. The purpose was to develop a class-wise and
subject-wise common study curriculum for all the madaris but many Muslim
scholars raised their objections as they felt that it would undermine their
academic independence. Besides, there are ideological differences among Muslim
communities which has a direct impact on the madrasa education. So they also
oppose the common curriculum.
Do
you think poverty is the biggest obstacle in educating Muslim kids in India?
I
believe poverty cannot come in the way of getting a good and right education
provided youngsters are motivated and driven. We have examples of people like
Lal Bahadur Shastri who belonged to an extremely poor family but still, he got
education despite all challenges. The problem with Muslim youngsters is that
they want to become Bollywood actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan but
don’t want to work hard to become IAS officers. My point is that good education
is very important both for Muslim boys and girls. I think girls are more
focused on education than boys in the Muslim community.
Over
a period of time, madaris have adopted modern education, science and English
teaching among other things, however, what do you suggest to make them more
relevant with the changing time?
Personality
development, skill education, information technology, computer education,
quality teaching are some of the areas they should focus on. But before that, I
think the most important thing is bringing parity with mainstream education and
developing a common curriculum. I don’t mind if they continue to impart
religious education. That’s also important as a religious person can never be
communal and similarly, a communal person can never be religious.
Source:
Outlook India
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Had
Islam Spread By Sword Not A Single Hindu Would Have Survived: Former Speaker
Karnataka Legislative Assembly
4th
October 2021
Former speaker of the Karnataka Legislative
Assembly K. R. Ramesh Kumar
------
Bangalore:
Quashing myths floated by communal outfits regarding the spread of Islam
through the use of the sword, former speaker of the Karnataka Legislative
Assembly K. R. Ramesh Kumar said that if
Islam was spread by the sword, not a single Hindu would have survived in India
today.
On
September 26, the former Congress MLA and speaker of the Karnataka spoke at a
book launch of former Chief Election Commissioner Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, who
launched a book called ‘The Population Myth’ in Bangalore. He also called out
the communal forces stating, “They are undermining the Constitution of India.”
Kumar
went on to say, “It is a completely false propaganda, having no historical
basis.” He further stated that attempts are being made to distort India’s
Muslim-rule and its history, along with their contribution to the development of the country.
MS
Education Academy
Kumar
was the 16th speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly between 2018 to
2019, best known for disqualifying 17 rebel MLAs of Congress and JD(S) in 2019.
He is currently the representative of the Srinivaspur assembly constituency of
Kolar district in the House.
Expressing
his pleasure over Dr. SY Qureshi’s book, Kumar said, “The book is a befitting
reply to the propaganda of Muslim population explosion, and that Muslims will
overtake Hindus in future,” according to a report by Muslim Mirror
Agreeing
with the former speaker’s views, HC Mahadevappa, a former Karnataka minister
stated that “The allegation against Muslim rulers that they did spread Islam by
force has no basis and historic facts.”
“Muslims
ruled this country for 800 years and for 200 years after the Muslim rule, the
British ruled the country, but during that period there was no attempt made to
declare India as Islamic state or a Christian state” he further stated.
On
the occasion of the book launch, the author and former IAS officer S.Y. Qureshi
said, “There has been an increasing rhetoric, propagated by the Right-wing, on
the growth of Muslim population and this rhetoric has given rise to several
myths, which are used to stoke majoritarian fears of a skewed demographic.”
He
further stated that he used empirical evidence and government data to demolish
myths and demonstrated how a planned population is in the interest of all
communities. “It is the first such book in India that evaluates the country’s
demography through a religious lens,” he added.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Pak,
Afghan Madrasas Breeding Grounds For Terrorists: European Foundation for South
Asian Studies Analyst to UN
October
04, 2021
Geneva:
A research analyst at the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS)
has expressed concern over religious schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan
becoming breeding grounds for terrorists.
In
her virtual speech at the 48th session of UN Human Rights Session Anne
Heckendorff said, "It is well-known that the menace of terrorism in South
Asia has largely grown out of religious schools, the so-called Madrassas. These
schools that often times instill a distorted, ultra-conservative interpretation
of Islam still flourish uninhibitedly in Pakistan and Afghanistan".
"The
Taliban and the dreaded Haqqani network were born from such Madrassas in
Pakistan. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and other terrorist
organisations continue operating such terror factories in Pakistan under the
protection of the country's powerful intelligence agency," she said.
In
Pakistan and Afghanistan, there are numerous illegal "madrasas'' or
religious schools which force the youth towards "jihad''. They teach them
hatred against other religions and motivate them towards gun culture.
"The
International Community must not be appeased with the Taliban's false promises
of education. What is schooling worth, if instead of raising a workforce
capable of leading their country onto a path of peace and development, creates
foot soldiers indoctrinated into a worldview defined by misogyny and
hatred?," Ms Heckendorff told UNHRC.
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"The
lack of economic independence of the Taliban and their patron State next door
has a silver lining: it gives leverage to the international community. Leverage
that must be used to prevent the loss of another generation of young Afghans to
Madrassa-bred radicalism", she said in her speech.
The
research analyst concluded by saying, "Placing conditions on diplomatic
and economic engagement to ensure human rights-conform education, without which
the right to development can hardly be realized, is the most meaningful
investment we can make in Afghanistan's future".
Source:
ND TV
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click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Over
100 musicians flee Afghanistan, fearing Taliban crackdown
October
5, 2021
More
than 100 music students and teachers have fled Afghanistan in a nail-biting
flight from Kabul following the Taliban's takeover of the country, their institute's
founder and principal told AFP.
Fearing
a crackdown on music by the country's new leaders, a total 101 members of
Afghanistan's top musical institute landed in Doha on Monday evening, Ahmad
Sarmast said.
The
group, about half of them women and girls, plan to fly to Portugal with the
support of the government there, said Sarmast, founder of the Afghanistan
National Institute of Music, who now lives in Melbourne.
But
the success of the operation was in doubt until the last moment, he said.
With
help from the Qatari embassy in Kabul, the musicians had been ferried in small
groups to the city's airport, Sarmast said.
In
a first hurdle, Taliban forces manning Kabul airport questioned their visas.
But Qatari embassy officials managed to resolve the problem.
Then
the girls and women were told that they could not leave the country with their
temporary “service passports”, which are usually issued to officials.
'Time
of many tears'
“My
understanding is that it was not so much of the type of the passports but that
the girls were fleeing the country,” Sarmast said.
Once
again, Qatari officials managed to negotiate their passage.
When
the flight finally took off hours later with the musicians, including many from
the all-female Zohra orchestra, Sarmast said he was overcome with emotion.
“It
was a time of many tears. I was crying endlessly. My family were crying
together with me. That was the happiest moment in my entire life,” he said.
The
institute's founder said he had lived many memorable moments with his students,
who won standing ovations on international concert tours.
“But
the feeling and the happiness when I heard that their plane took off the ground
is very hard to describe.” The flight was the result of long planning since the
Taliban takeover, Sarmast said.
“From
the moment the Taliban took power in Kabul the discrimination against music and
musicians began. The people of Afghanistan have silenced once again,” he said.
The
Taliban, who banned music outright during their oppressive rule from 1996 to
2001, swept back into power on August 15.
They
have promised a more moderate brand of rule this time — though they have made
clear that they will run Afghanistan within the restrictive limits of their
interpretation of sharia law.
The
movement's position on music is inconsistent and no clear order has yet been
issued.
At
a Taliban rally outside Kabul this weekend, for example, religious music was
played ahead of speeches by ministers and senior Taliban figures.
Told
to stay at home
According
to Sarmast, the Taliban have told the musical institute's members to stay at
home until further notice. Nearly two months later, they have not been given
any further information.
The
escape from Kabul was just the first phase, Sarmast said, vowing to work until
all 184 remaining faculty and students, past and present, were evacuated and
“reunited with the rest of the school”.
During
a visit by AFP to the college in Kabul last month, there was no sound of music.
Instead,
Taliban soldiers chatted and armed guards cradled Kalashnikovs in the
courtyard, shaded by trees with swirling treble clefs spray-painted on to their
trunks.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1650261/over-100-musicians-flee-afghanistan-fearing-taliban-crackdown
--------
UAE
announces new space mission to explore Venus
05
October ,2021
The
United Arab Emirates will launch a new space mission to explore Venus and the
solar system’s asteroid belt, the UAE government announced in a tweet Tuesday.
Plans
include a craft landing on one of the asteroids, marking the first time an Arab
space mission has landed on an asteroid, Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid said
in a tweet.
“The
launch of a new project to explore Venus and the asteroid belt sets an
ambitious new goal for our country’s burgeoning space program,” said Mohammed
bin Zayed, Crown Prince of capital Abu Dhabi in a tweet.
“The
UAE is determined to make a meaningful contribution to space exploration,
scientific research and our understanding of the solar system.”
Mars
has already been targeted by the UAE’s space program with its Hope probe, which
entered the red planet’s orbit in February 2021.
Hope
is collecting data about Mars’ atmosphere by using various visible light and
infrared cameras.
The
asteroid mission will involve a 3.6 billion kilometer journey, seven times
further from Earth than the Emirates Mars Mission, Mohammed bin Rashid said in
a tweet.
Venus,
on the other hand, is less than half the distance of Mars from earth, at 128
million kilometers compared to Mars’ 395 million kilometers.
Venus
is the closest planet to Earth and was the first to be explored by spacecraft
with NASA’s Mariner 2, which flew by in 1962.
Several
Soviet craft landed on the planet’s surface, but did not survive long due to
the intense air pressure (equivalent to one mile underwater on earth) and
temperature, which is around 475 degrees Celsius on the surface.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/10/05/UAE-announces-new-space-mission-to-explore-Venus
--------
India
Delhi
govt to HC: Will update portal to register Muslim, Christian marriages
Oct
04, 2021
The
Delhi government on Monday informed the Delhi high court that it will issue
administrative instructions within two months to update its web portal with the
necessary options to register online both Muslim and Christian marriages.
Justice
Rekha Palli was informed by advocate Shadan Farasat, additional standing
counsel for the Delhi government, that the online software for marriage
registration currently has option to register only marriages under the Hindu
Marriage Act (HMA) and the Special Marriage Act (SMA).
Farasat
said he is writing to the revenue secretary to make the changes across the board
as this is a frequently encountered problem.
Farasat’s
submissions came while the court was hearing a plea by an NGO, challenging the
practice of registering Muslim marriages under the Special Marriage Act (SMA)
instead of the Compulsory Registration Marriage Order, which allows for the
registration of the alliance as soon as it is solemnised.
The
petition, filed by the NGO Dhanak for Humanity, and individual petitioner
Mohammad Adnan, has contended that despite being a religious union and not an
interfaith wedding, Muslims were being subjected to a 30-day notice period --
to call for objections to the union -- under the Special Marriage Act.
The
plea said Adnan and his wife came from their home town to Delhi to solemnise
their marriage and was subjected to the 30-day notice period under the SMA.
The
plea contended that this violated the fundamental rights of the parties
concerned and the requirement of 30-day notice period under the SMA was very
cumbersome to persons who came from another place.
Source:
Hindustan Times
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Hyderabad:
Free aid in mosque clinic helps poor save money, better lives
Oct
4, 2021
HYDERABAD:
Osman Nagar in the Old City has become synonymous with misery due to constant
flooding during the monsoon, but a local mosque has emerged as the messiah.
Come rain or shine, the mosque has been providing shelter to locals and
offering free medical facilities through a clinic on its premises. The money
saved on medical bills has even helped the poor better their lives and put more
food on the table.After treating about 60,000 patients in just nine months
since January this year, perhaps a first for a mosque clinic in the country, it
is now actively campaigning against dengue. Apart from blood tests to detect
the virus, the Masjid Omar Shifa clinic also conducted a massive sanitisation
drive in Osman Nagar under Maheshwaram mandal with the help of local civic
authorities and NGO Helping Hand Foundation (HHF).
Osman
Nagar has been perpetually waterlogged since October 2020 rains. Uncleared
garbage, overflowing drains and frequent waterlogging after rains have turned
it into a breeding ground for vector-borne diseases, particularly dengue and
malaria.
A
survey across 700 households by the mosque clinic in association with HHF
showed that 95% of the respondents highlighted unhygienic conditions and
overflowing drains as the major civic problems affecting the area.
“The
survey was taken up after the primary health care centre at the mosque clinic
in Osman Nagar received 25 dengue cases of children between 10 and 18 years old
within a month,” said HHF managing trustee Mujtaba Hasan Askari.
Another
survey earlier in September revealed that the mosque clinic had helped in
improving the social indices in Osman Nagar.
Source:
Times of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India
slams Pak for raising Kashmir issue at UN, calls it world's biggest
destabilising force
Oct
5, 2021
UNITED
NATIONS: Strongly hitting out at Pakistan for again raking up the Kashmir issue
at the UN, India has said a constructive contribution cannot be expected from a
country that has an established practice of hosting terrorists and is the
"epicentre" of global terrorism, and the biggest destabilising force
in the world.
Counsellor
in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, A Amarnath, said on Monday that India
does not need advice from a nation with a proven track record of illicit export
of nuclear material and technology.
“Pakistan's
desperate attempts to peddle falsehoods and habit of abusing the sanctity of
multilateral forums deserves our collective contempt,” he said.
“Pakistan
has made a number of futile and unsubstantiated allegations against India,
including in relation to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
These do not merit a response, as they pertain to matters internal to India,”
Amarnath said.
India
exercised its Right of Reply after Pakistan's envoy to the UN Munir Akram raked
up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir during the meeting of the General Assembly's
First Committee that deals with disarmament and international security issues.
Amarnath
reiterated that the entire union territory of Jammu and Kashmir was, is and
will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.
“This
includes the areas that are under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. We call
upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation,” he
said in the Right of Reply.
“Given
its established State practice of hosting, aiding, and actively supporting
terrorists, how could one expect any constructive contribution from Pakistan to
the First Committee, that deals with important matters of international peace
and security,” Amarnath said.
With
the Pakistani envoy also referring to India's defence arsenal, New Delhi hit
back saying that as a “responsible State, India strictly abides by its
obligations under international treaties and needs no advice from a country,
which has a proven track record of illicit export of nuclear material and
technology.”
“India's
security concerns are not confined to a region and, therefore, India has always
approached these issues in a global context,” he said.
He
said that in contrast to India's constructive approach on disarmament matters,
Pakistan has only been “disruptive”.
Amarnath
said it is 25 years now that the world is paying the price of Pakistan's
obstructionist tactics in the CD (Conference on Disarmament) that have not
allowed the conference to adopt a Programme of Work.
Pakistan
has the dubious distinction of having single handedly blocked the negotiations
on Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), including in 2009, when the
Conference on Disarmament adopted a consensus Programme of Work, he said.
“Having
joined the consensus on the Programme of Work, Pakistan revealed its true
character by soon taking a complete U-turn and blocking any work by the CD,”
Amarnath said.
Pakistan,
as the “epicenter” of global terrorism, is the biggest destabilising force in
the world and has repeatedly indulged in cross-border terrorism, Amarnath said.
“They
have no regard for UN principles. While Pakistan's Permanent Representative
speaks about peace and security here, his Prime Minister glorifies global
terrorists like Osama bin Ladin as ‘martyrs'. What more could be a better proof
of the utter duplicity that this country is infamous for?” he asked.
Amarnath
asserted that the General Assembly's First Committee is “not the forum” to
address bilateral or regional issues as it has a vast agenda dealing with
global issues relating to disarmament and international security.
“We
wish to reiterate that regional security issues have no place in the First
Committee's considerations,” he said.
He
said the Committee should not only categorically reject Pakistan's “nefarious
and vicious designs” but collectively condemn Pakistan for its repeated efforts
to politicise its work and hijack its mandate.
Source:
Times of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
British
historian, Indian scholar to receive Sir Syed Excellence Award at AMU on
October 17
Oct
03, 2021
British
historian and professor of history of South Asia at the University of London,
Dr Francis Christopher Rowland Robinson will receive the International Sir Syed
Excellence Award 2021 while former president of the Sahitya Academy, prof Gopi
Chand Narang will be given the National Sir Syed Excellence Award during the
virtual Sir Syed Day Commemoration ceremony of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)
on October 17.
Vice
chancellor prof Tariq Mansoor on the recommendation of a jury comprising prof
Asghar Abbas, prof Ishtiaq Ahmad Zilli, prof A R Kidwai, prof Ali Mohammad
Naqvi, Dr Mohammad Shahid, Tariq Hasan and prof M Shafey Kidwai selected the
awardees.
These
International and National Sir Syed Excellence Awards carry cash award ₹2,00,000 and ₹1,00,000 respectively are given to scholars for
outstanding works in areas including Sir Syed studies, South Asian studies,
Muslim issues, literature, medieval history, social reform, communal
harmony, journalism and inter-faith dialogue.
Professor
Robinson’s research has been focused on the Muslim world. He has explored the
great movement of revival and reform in the Muslim world among other things.
Prof Francis is a visiting professor at Oxford University and the University of
Washington.
He
has served as president of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1997-2000 and 2003-06
and was the vice-principal of Royal Holloway College, University of London,
from 1997-2004. He also served as the head of the History Department at the
college from 1990-96.
Prof
Gopi Chand Narang, the recipient of the National Sir Syed Excellence Award is a
literary critic who writes in Urdu and English with a range of modern
theoretical frameworks including stylistics, structuralism, post-structuralism
and eastern poetics.
His
recent books on Ghalib (Oxford University Press), Urdu Ghazal (Oxford
University Press) and Mir Taqi Mir (Penguin) have got widespread acclaim across
the globe. He has published more than 60 scholarly and critical books on
language, literature, poetics and cultural studies; many have been translated
into other Indian languages.
He
has been bestowed with the Padma Bhushan (2004), Padma Shri (1990), Sahitya
Akademi Award (1995), Ghalib Award (1985), Urdu Academy’s Bahadur Shah Zafar
Award (2010), Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award (2010), Madhya Pradesh Iqbal
Samman (2011) and the Bharatiya Jananpith Moorti Devi Award (2012). The Sahitya
Akademi conferred on Dr Narang its highest honour, the Fellowship, in 2009.
Former
CJI to be the chief guest at Sir Syed Day event
Former
Chief Justice of India (CJI), TS Thakur will be the chief guest at the Sir Syed
Day celebrations in the University on October 17. A connoisseur of Urdu
literature, Justice Thakur was the 43rd Chief Justice of India.
In
wake of Covid-19 pandemic, the functions will be held in virtual mode. The
event will be webcast for public viewing.
Aligarh
Muslim University celebrates Sir Syed day to mark the birth anniversary of its
founder Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898).
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
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Pakistan
Imran
Khan faces flak after his govt renews talks with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan
Oct
4, 2021
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing flak after he said that his
government started talks with some groups of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) with the aim of having the group lay down their weapons, local
media said.
On
Friday, Imran Khan had said that the government would "forgive" TTP
members and they would become normal citizens" if they lay down arms.
Reacting
to this statement, Pakistan People Party (PPP) rebuked Imran Khan for holding
talks with banned TTP, terming the move similar to "sprinkling salt on the
wounds of dead soldiers' families".
Why
Pakistan's parliament was not taken into confidence over this 'sensitive
issue', the party questioned.
Usama
Khilji, Director of advocacy, and research group stated that some Pakistani
militant groups have offered ceasefire, but their crimes must never be forgiven
by the state. "Clearly, the life of Pakistani citizens is not worth much
to the PM who has continued to advocate for negotiations with terrorist
groups," said Khilji as quoted by Dawn.
"Terrorism
wreaked havoc in Pakistan for nearly a decade, killing over 80,000 Pakistani
civilians, policemen, soldiers, and children. What gives the PM the right to
forgive butchers so easily?"
PPP
Vice President Sherry Rehman asked Khan whether Imran Khan "asked the
parliament what we think about that". PPP also called the government to
clarify in the parliament the 'terms' under which the talks were being taken
place with TTP.
PPP's
secretary general Nayyar Bokhari said that Khan's announcement about talks
being held with TTP was a 'very sensitive statement' and also demanded that a
session of parliament should be called immediately to discuss it, reported
Dawn.
He
pointed out that parliament had been 'bypassed' and questioned, "Why were
parliament and political parties kept uninformed about negotiations with the
TTP?"
Experts
have cautioned Pakistan to tread carefully in the wake of recent developments
in Afghanistan post-Taliban takeover and asked Islamabad to avoid
oversimplifying the Afghan issue.
Source:
Times of India
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COAS
pays tribute to martyrs in investiture ceremony at GHQ, says their sacrifices
won't go to waste
October
5, 2021
Chief
of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has said Pakistan "owes [its]
peace and stability to the selfless devotion and sacrifices" of its
martyrs.
He
made the comment during an investiture ceremony held at the General
Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in
a statement on Tuesday.
Terming
the martyrs the real heroes of the country, the army chief said, "there is
no cause more noble than laying one's life for defence of motherland and
sacrifices of our martyrs won't go [to] waste."
Gen
Bajwa conferred awards on army personnel for their acts of bravery during
operations and meritorious services rendered to the nation, the ISPR statement
said.
Senior
army officers, families of those receiving awards, as well as martyrs' families
attended the ceremony, it said.
According
to the statement, 47 officers were awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz, while six officers,
seven junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and 12 soldiers were awarded
Tamgha-i-Basalat.
Medals
that were awarded to martyrs were received by their families, it further
stated.
Exercise
with Chinese troops concludes
Meanwhile,
the closing ceremony of the two-week-long Joint Anti-Terrorist Exercise 2021
was held on Monday at the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Pabbi, where the
troops from China and Pakistani armed forces took part in the drill.
Source:
Dawn
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Pandora
Papers: Opposition calls Imran Khan's investigation cell 'hoax'
5
October 2021
Islamabad
[Pakistan], October 5 (ANI): Pakistan's opposition parties on Monday termed
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's move to establish a cell to investigate
the Pakistani nationals whose names appeared in the Pandora Papers "a
hoax" and called for an inquiry through a judicial commission or an
independent commission like that of Panama Papers.
Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National
Party (ANP) said that the investigation cell established by Khan was nothing
but a "hoax" and a move to protect the ministers and other people
associated with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its allies, Dawn reported.
Pandora
Papers were released by the International Consortium of Investigative
Journalists (ICIJ) on Sunday.
The
rejection from opposition comes after Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad
Chaudhry on Monday announced that a high-level commission would be set up to
investigate Pakistanis named in the Pandora Papers.
"The
high-level cell under the Prime Minister's Inspection Commission will
investigate all individuals mentioned in the Pandora Papers and will present
facts before the nation," Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on
Twitter, The Express Tribune reported.
PML-N
Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb on Twitter said that the investigation
of the Pandora Papers was not possible, as long as Khan remained the prime
minister, Dawn reported.
Source:
Yahoo News
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https://sg.news.yahoo.com/pandora-papers-opposition-calls-imran-075444193.html
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South Asia
All
ISIL Elements Killed In Last Night's Operation: Taliban Spokesman
October
4, 2021
A
Taliban spokesman said all of the terrorists had been killed during operations
by Taliban Special Forces against ISIL elements.
Taliban
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group's Special Forces killed all ISIL
elements in an operation last night in northern Kabul, Al-Jazeera reported.
Simultaneously,
Ofoq News Agency quoted a Taliban official as saying that ISIL terrorists had
moved into a house in the Khair Khaneh area of Kabul.
According
to the official, the operation ended with the killing of all ISIL elements.
Further
details of the operation have not been released. Local residents also reported
an explosion.
The
news came as Afghan media reported yesterday evening that there had been a
severe explosion and shooting in the Kariz area, north of the capital.
Shortly
before, the Taliban reported an explosion near a mosque in Kabul that killed
several civilians. The explosion rocked "Eidgah" Mosque in Kabul on
Sunday afternoon.
Source:
ABNA
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School
graduates of 2000-2020, of no use: Taliban’s higher education minister
04
Oct 2021
The
acting minister of the higher education of the Taliban Abdul Baqi Haqqani said
that those who have graduated from high schools during the past twenty years
are of no use.
The
acting minister is meant by the graduates who have studied during the
non-Taliban era when they were fighting the US-backed governments of Hamid
Karzai and Ashraf Ghani.
Abdul
Baqi Haqqani made the statements in a meeting with the university lecturers in
Kabul.
Haqqani
said that they must hire teachers who instill the students and incoming
generations the values that are of use in the country and Afghanistan can
utilize their talents in the future.
Earlier,
the acting minister of higher education had said that the Master’s and Ph.D.
holders of modern studies are less valuable than those who have studied in
madrasas and have religious studies in Afghanistan.
Source:
Khaama Press
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Afghanistan’s
problems getting solved gradually: Taliban
04
Oct 2021
The
administration of affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in its official
Facebook page said that the governance in Afghanistan is getting better and all
the problems of the country will be resolved with the help of ALLAH.
The
administration has accused the so-called “anti-Taliban media” of defaming the
IEA and making the fake news public.
The
Facebook post reads that the media took advantage of the recent situation in
Afghanistan and used it against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
“The
anti-Taliban media outlets were trying to indicate to the world the situation
of Afghanistan as disappointing.” Reads the Facebook post.
The
administration of affairs will be responsible for addressing the affairs of the
high directorate of the ministers- office of the Premier.
Source:
Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/afghanistans-problems-are-getting-solved-gradually-taliban-4457457547/
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Afghan
traders ask for facilitation in trades with neighbouring countries
05
Oct 2021
Afghanistan’s
chamber of commerce and industry in a statement on Monday, October 4 said that
they want more facilitation between them and the traders of the neighboring
countries.
The
Afghan traders said that the recent political changes in the country stained their
relations with not only the neighboring countries but all countries in the
world.
They
said that their ongoing relations with the neighboring traders have negatively
affected demand and supply in Afghanistan’s market and have caused a spike in
prices particularly in the prices of fuel.
The
statement reads that, as winter is approaching there is high demand for fuel
and firewood in the country but their supply from the neighboring countries is
at its lowest level.
The
statement warns that people will face serious problems in winter if the problem
is not addressed.
Source:
Khaama Press
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Afghanistan
to restart issuing passports to citizens: Passport office chief
05
October ,2021
Afghanistan
will start issuing passports to its citizens again on Tuesday after months of
delays, a senior official said.
Alam
Gul Haqqani, the passport office’s acting head, told reporters in Kabul they
would issue between 5,000 and 6,000 passports a day and women would be employed
to handle the processing of female citizens’ documents.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Taliban
unlawfully killed 13 ethnic Hazaras: Rights group
05
October ,2021
Taliban
forces unlawfully killed 13 ethnic Hazaras, most of them Afghan soldiers who
had surrendered to the group, a prominent rights group said Tuesday.
The
killings took place in the village of Kahor in Daykundi province in central
Afghanistan on August 30, according to an investigation by Amnesty
International. Eleven of the victims were members of the Afghan national
security forces and two were civilians, among them a 17-year-old girl.
The
reported killings took place about two weeks after the Taliban took control of
Afghanistan in a blitz campaign, culminating in their takeover of Kabul. At the
time, Taliban leaders sought to reassure Afghans that they had changed from
their previous harsh rule of the country in the late 1990s.
The
world has been watching whether the Taliban would live up to their initial
promises of tolerance and inclusiveness toward women and ethnic minorities,
among them the Shia Hazaras. However, Taliban actions so far, such as renewed
restrictions on women and the appointment of an all-male government, have been
met with dismay by the international community.
Hazaras
make up around 9 percent of Afghanistan’s 36 million people. They are often
targeted because they are Shia Muslims in a Sunni-majority country.
Amnesty’s
secretary general, Agnes Callamard, said that “these cold-blooded executions
(of the Hazaras) are further proof that the Taliban are committing the same
horrific abuses they were notorious for during their previous rule of
Afghanistan.”
Taliban
spokespersons Zabihullah Mujahid and Bilal Karimi did not respond to calls from
The Associated Press seeking comment.
The
rights group said Sadiqullah Abed, the Taliban-appointed chief of police for
Daykundi, denied any killings had happened and only said that a member of the
Taliban had been wounded in an attack in the province.
The
Taliban took control of Daykundi province on August 14, according to the
Amnesty report, and an estimated 34 former soldiers sought safety in Khidir
district. The soldiers, who had government military equipment and weaponry with
them, agreed to surrender to the Taliban.
Mohammad
Azim Sedaqat, who led the group’s surrender, arranged to decommission the
weapons in the presence of Taliban members.
On
August 30, an estimated 300 Taliban fighters arrived in a convoy close to
Dahani Qul village, where the security forces members were staying, some with
family members, according to Amnesty’s report. As the security forces attempted
to leave the area with their families, Taliban fighters caught up with them and
opened fire on the crowd, killing a 17-year-old girl named Masuma. One soldier
fired back, killing a Taliban fighter and wounding another.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Arab World
Grand
Imam of Al Azhar joins religious leaders in launching joint environmental
appeal at Vatican summit
04-10-2021
VATICAN,
4th October, 2021 (WAM) -- His Eminence Dr. Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of
Al-Azhar, signed a joint appeal launched by religious leaders participating in
a meeting themed Vatican’s "Faith and Science: Towards COP26 Summit",
which was held today prior to the United Nations Climate Change Conference
(COP26).
Pope
Francis and dozens of religious leaders on Monday signed a joint appeal to
governments to commit to ambitious targets at the upcoming U.N. climate
conference, while promising to do their own part to lead their faithful into
more sustainable behavior.
"We
have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert to our children," said
the appeal, which was signed at a formal ceremony in the Apostolic Palace
before being handed over to the head of the COP26 conference, Alok Sharma.
The
joint appeal launched by religious leaders participating in COP26, to be held
next month in Glasgow, Scotland, urged those concerned to create effective
solutions to save Earth from an "unprecedented ecological crisis,"
and to work hard to reinforce the solidarity between developing and developed
countries, to reduce the risks posed by climate change and promote common
ethical values to address this critical crisis.
Source:
Emirates News Agency
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http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302977010
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Internet
activists dole out virtual justice for Lebanon collapse
05
October ,2021
Livestreams
of politicians being harangued at restaurants and screenshots of bankers’
addresses: frustrated by the lack of accountability for their country’s
collapse, Lebanon’s digital activists are doling out their own form of virtual
justice.
These
activists are sharing the personal details and real-time locations of those
they blame for Lebanon’s financial tailspin, which has pushed more than
three-quarters of the population into poverty, and for last year’s Beirut port
explosion, which left more than 200 dead.
The
posts - a practice known as “doxxing” - often encourage anyone nearby to
approach those pictured and berate them for playing a role in the country’s
meltdown.
The
hope, they say, is that a public naming-and-shaming could provide relief for
grieving families or serve as a temporary stand-in for justice through the
courts.
“When
we see posts coming from these digital vigilante groups, we feel we’re not
alone,” said Paul Naggear, an engineer whose 3-year-old daughter, Alexandra,
was killed when a massive stockpile of combustible chemicals stored unsafely at
Beirut’s port exploded on Aug. 4, 2020.
He
spoke to the Thomson Reuters Foundation just days after Lebanese authorities suspended
an investigation meant to uncover who knew about the huge quantity of ammonium
nitrate that had been stored at the port.
“In
a country where justice is non-existent, I cannot think of another way (other
than doxxing). It means the population takes justice – and the execution of
justice – into their own hands,” he said.
Lebanon’s
justice minister could not immediately be reached for comment.
Public
interest in the private wealth of political figures has grown since Lebanon’s
deepening economic crisis.
A
massive leak of financial documents was published by several major news
organizations on Sunday that allegedly tie world leaders to secret stores of
wealth, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, ex-premier Hassan Diab, and
central bank governor Riad Salemeh.
Spotted
and spat at
The
most prominent among the virtual vigilantes is ThawraMap, an Instagram page
established in 2019 by anonymous activists who wanted to provide logistical
support to anti-establishment protests in Lebanon.
“This
evolved into helping spot politicians in public spaces and taking more
responsibilities, such as showing their luxurious lifestyles and travels while
(regular) people cannot access their own money,” a page administrator said in
written responses via Instagram.
The
comments were referring to banking restrictions that have locked most Lebanese
out of their savings over the last two years.
Using
“live” reels, the platform crowdsources and publishes information on everything
from a banker’s lunch order and the names of Lebanese security guards seen
beating up protesters to the company catering a politician’s daughter’s
wedding.
Then
it asks its more than 50,000 followers to shun the targets.
Lebanon’s
political elite are feeling the heat.
May
Khreich, a senior official in the Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanon’s biggest
Christian political party, said she “goes out less” after having her
whereabouts posted on line and being accosted three times in different parts of
the country over the past 18 months.
“It’s
always tense – if I’m out somewhere and (anti-government Lebanese) are there,
sometimes they come near me and other times they don’t, they just stare at me,”
she said in a phone interview.
In
July, Mikati said politicians were “ashamed to walk on the streets,” and other
officials have banned photos from events they are attending to avoid leaks.
That
means the push for accountability is working, said Gino Raidy, a prominent
blogger who earlier this year encouraged people to boycott a list of
restaurants and venues whose owners he said were politically affiliated.
“These
people are criminals, and they shouldn’t be able to live their lives normally
or go out as if they did nothing, when they are implicated in all the problems
Lebanon is facing,” he said.
Accountability
These
activists are treading a precarious legal line, said Linda Kassem, a policy
adviser at the economy ministry who co-drafted Lebanon’s 2018 digital privacy
law.
Some
posts sharing private information could be considered illegal, she explained.
“If
they don’t have the consent of the subject, this means that they are violating
the law,” Kassem said.
The
2018 privacy law slaps violators with up to three years in prison and a fine of
between 1 million and 30 million Lebanese pounds, currently equivalent to a
real market rate of roughly $70 to $2,000.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Play
director questioned in Lebanon, fuelling freedom worries
05
October ,2021
A
theater director whose play was reported to the Lebanese authorities for
allegedly criticizing the president was released without charge after
questioning on Monday, his lawyer said, in a case that has fueled worry about
freedom of expression in Lebanon.
The
director, Awad Awad, was also summoned on the grounds the play was staged
without the permission of a security agency that must approve performances
under the country’s censorship laws, the lawyer, Ayman Raad, said.
Presented
as part of a student workshop at Beirut’s Al Madina Theatre on Friday, the
improvised performance dealt with the relationship between people and the
authorities in oppressive regimes around the world, Awad said.
He
said the play did not mention anybody in Lebanon and if anyone felt targeted,
that was their problem. Awad told Reuters after he was questioned on Monday he
would secure the official permission needed to stage the performance.
Reuters
could not independently verify what the play was about. A statement issued
about the incident by General Security, the agency which implements Lebanon’s
censorship laws, did not provide details about its content.
In
the statement, General Security rejected what it described as attempts to
portray the matter as a violation of freedoms, saying that it was applying the
law and would continue to do so.
General
Security said that the play by Awad, a Palestinian, had been performed “without
passing through the legal path” via the media office in the General Security
directorate.
The
Lebanese state says it respects freedom of expression, but human rights groups
have expressed concern in recent years over the issue in a country where media
have traditionally operated more openly than in many other Arab states.
Social
media activists, commentators and journalists were summoned by security
agencies in dozens of cases between 2019 and 2020 for allegedly defaming
President Michel Aoun and criticizing the army or parliamentarians, said Sahar
Mandour, Lebanon researcher at Amnesty International.
While
the number of such cases had dipped in the wake of last year’s catastrophic
Beirut port explosion and as Lebanon descended deeper into an economic
meltdown, she expressed worry that this could mark the start of a new wave.
“We
are very concerned with today’s summoning,” she said on Monday.
“This
is a scary warning that the iron fist is in the making again.”
Nidal
Al Achkar, the founder and art director at Al Madina Theatre, said somebody in
the audience had “told security that we are doing something against the
government and president”.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Syria
must admit chemical weapons inspectors: West
04
October ,2021
Western
countries on Monday called on Syria to allow in chemical arms inspectors,
saying Damascus continued to breach its obligations to the world’s toxic
weapons watchdog.
Britain,
the United States and other allies also pushed Russia for clarity on last
year’s poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, in which Western experts
said the Soviet-designed nerve agent Novichok was used.
Syria
faces fresh pressure at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW) after refusing a visa for a member of an inspection team that
was meant to deploy to Damascus later this month.
“It
is imperative that Syria issues visas... without obstruction or delay,”
Britain’s ambassador Joanna Roper said at a meeting at The Hague of the OPCW’s
executive council of member states.
Roper
also called on Syria to “explain” the fate of two chlorine cylinders identified
as evidence in a chemical weapons attack on the town of Douma in 2018.
Damascus
recently told the OPCW the two cylinders had been destroyed in an unspecified
attack on one of its own chemical weapons facilities in June this year.
More
than 40 people were killed in the Douma incident, prompting Western nations to
unleash a barrage of missiles at three suspected chemical weapons facilities
run by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
OPCW
director general Fernando Arias said the watchdog “noted with concern” the
delays in discussions with Damascus.
The
regulator would not send the inspection team to Syria unless it got visas for
all members, he said.
Arias
added that Syria’s declaration on its remaining chemical weapons “cannot be
considered accurate and complete” due to what he called “gaps, inconsistencies
and discrepancies that remain unresolved.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Former
Lebanon PM says he gave up shares in company mentioned in ‘Pandora Papers’
04
October ,2021
Lebanon’s
former PM Hassan Diab said on Monday he had given up shares in a company he was
linked to in a leak of financial documents and denied wrongdoing.
A
statement by his office said he had taken part in founding the company in 2015
and owned 17 shares, but that the firm had no activity since then and he had
since resigned his management role and sold his stake.
A
Lebanese news organization, Daraj, was one of a number of international media
outlets that reported the “Pandora Papers,” a set of leaked documents purported
to reveal offshore transactions involving global political and business
figures.
Reuters
has not verified the reports or the documents. The use of offshore companies is
not illegal and not evidence of wrongdoing on its own, but the news
organizations that published the trove said such arrangements could be intended
to hide transactions from tax collectors or other authorities.
Daraj
reported that top political figures in Lebanon, including Prime Minister Najib
Mikati, had embraced offshore havens.
“Is
founding a company against the law?” Diab said, adding that he reserved the
right to sue anyone who tries to defame him.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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North America
Canadian
judge jails man who branded Muslim businessman 'baby killer'
Barry
Ellsworth
05.10.2021
TRENTON,
Canada
A
man with a history of promoting hate was sentenced in a Canadian court Monday to
18 months behind bars for contravening six court orders to stop making
defamatory comments about restaurant owner Mohamad Fakih.
Kevin
J. Johnston, a mayoral candidate for the city of Calgary, Alberta, was jailed
by Justice Fred Myers for breaking a 2019 court order to stop defaming Fakih,
something he continued to do six times after the order.
"Almost
all the evidence against Mr. Johnston comes from his own mouth," Myers
said in pronouncing the sentence.
"Mr.
Johnston's words are classic hate speech. They draw on tropes to assign
negative characteristics based on ugly stereotypes like branding Muslims as
terrorists, for example."
Johnston,
who also labelled Fakih a "terrorist" and a “baby killer,” had been
ordered in 2019 to pay CAN$2.5 million for defaming the restauranteur in a
series of comments and videos Johnston posted on his website beginning in 2017.
Johnston
contended that he was a victim of liberal media labelling him as bad. But Myers
was having none of it.
"He
says that he's been painted as a bad person by the liberal media…If Mr.
Johnston's portrait has been painted, he supplied the paint," Myers said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Muslims
recall questionable detentions that followed 9/11
October
4, 2021
Around
New York City in the weeks after the September 11 attacks, as an eerie quiet
settled over ground zero, South Asian and Arab men started vanishing.
Soon,
more than 1,000 were arrested in sweeps across the metropolitan area and nationwide.
Most
were charged only with overstaying visas and deported back to their home
countries. But before that happened, many were held in detention for months,
with little outside contact, especially with their families. Others would live
with a different anxiety, forced to sign what was effectively a Muslim registry
with no idea what might follow.
While
the remembrances and memorials of 9/11’s 20th anniversary slip into the past,
hundreds of Muslim men and their families face difficult 20-year anniversaries
of their own.
______
In
the attacks’ aftermath, the immigrant advocacy group Desis Rising Up and
Moving, or DRUM, anticipated a rise in hate crimes and harassment. So it set up
a hotline and placed flyers primarily in South Asian neighbourhoods.
“We
started getting calls from women saying, Last night, law enforcement busted
into our apartment and took my husband and my brother.’ Children calling us and
saying, My father left for work four days ago and he hasn’t come home, and we
haven’t heard anything,” executive director Fahd Ahmed recalls.
“There
were people who were just disappearing from our communities,” he says, “and
nobody knew what was happening to them or where they were going”.
They
were, according to the 9/11 Commission report, arrested as “special interest”
detainees. Immigration hearings were closed, detainee communication was limited
and bond was denied until the detainees were cleared of terrorist connections.
Identities were kept secret.
A
review conducted by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General
said the Justice Department’s “hold until cleared” policy meant a significant
percentage of the detainees stayed for months despite immigration officials
questioning the legality of the prolonged detentions and even though there were
no indications they were connected to terrorism.
Compounding
that, they faced “a pattern of physical and verbal abuse” particularly at the
Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York. Conditions were, the
report said, “unduly harsh”.
Detainees
were swept up a myriad of ways, the report said. Three were stopped on a
traffic violation and found with school drafting plans. Their boss explained
they were working on a construction project and were supposed to have them, but
authorities arrested and detained them anyway. Another was arrested because he
seemed too anxious to buy a car.
Although
many of those who were held had come into the US illegally or overstayed visas,
“it was unlikely that most if not all” would have been pursued if not for the
attack investigation, the report said.
The
“blunderbuss approach” of rounding up Muslims and presuming there would be
terrorists among them was “pure racism and xenophobia in operation”, says
Rachel Meeropol, senior staff attorney with the Centre for Constitutional
Rights, who filed a lawsuit in 2002 on behalf of several of the men and
continues to fight for additional plaintiffs to this day.
“It
shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that it didn’t work,” Meeropol says. “Of
course, what it did do was destroy whole communities and not to mention the
lives of all the individuals rounded up.”
______
Yasser
Ebrahim, an original plaintiff in the lawsuit, was at a shop in his
neighbourhood and noticed people intently watching the television. “I saw these
images on the screen, and for a moment there was like some kind of a movie or
something,” he recalls. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
He
had been in the United States since 1992 and enjoyed his life. “I loved
everything about America,” he said by Zoom from Egypt. As a teenager, even
before arriving, he idolised American popular culture.
“The
food, the music, the movies, everything was so attractive, and everybody wanted
to go to America,” he said.
After
learning the hijackers were Muslims, he reassured his mother in a phone call
that he and his brother would be fine. In other countries there might be
problems, but America was a place of legal rights, where evidence mattered, he
said. “We still had faith in the system in America at that point,” he said.
That
ended on September 30, 2001. Several federal agents showed up at his door in
Brooklyn. He says he had requested an extension of his tourist visa, but agents
told him they had no record of it. He thought the matter would be straightened
out quickly, or he would be deported. He stayed in custody until the following
June.
For
three months, his family did not know what happened to him or his brother. A
neighbour ended that mystery, explaining they had been taken into custody. Even
then there was little outside communication. And some officers at the facility
in Brooklyn were physically and verbally abusive. It was months before he saw
his brother. “There was the general feeling that we’re going to be here
forever,” he says.
Ebrahim’s
brother was deported first. When Ebrahim was finally allowed to leave, he was
given clothes several sizes too big, including pants he had to physically hold
up with his hands.
He
was placed on a plane without knowing the destination. On board, he realized no
one looked Egyptian. The plane went to Greece and after spending a night in the
custody of Greek authorities, he boarded a flight for Cairo, with no money.
Another Egyptian, deported from Texas, gave him $20 to eat and contact his
family to let them know he was home.
In
2009 he and four others, including his brother, reached a $1.26 million
settlement on the lawsuit. Though not an apology, he says, “we thought it was
sort of admitting that something wrong was done to us”.
______
Umar
Anser was 14 as he and math classmates watched on a classroom television as the
twin towers fell.
“You
can’t accept something like that happening on American soil,” Anser says. “You
know you’re safe in the U.S. but then something like that happens and you
really question how safe you are, especially when you’re that young.”
His
father, Anser Mehmood, left Pakistan in 1988 during a time of political
turmoil, looking toward the safety and promise of the United States. He worked
as a truck driver and sometimes drove a taxi. The family settled in Bayonne,
New Jersey.
Anser
came home from school on October 3, 2001, and found his mom nearly catatonic,
his home ransacked and the family’s computers and his father gone. His uncle
had disappeared in a similar way days earlier.
“We
didn’t know where our father was for the next three months,” Anser says.
He
was, it turned out, in solitary confinement — in the special housing unit of
Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, the same place chronicled by the
inspector general, Anser says. When the family did see him again, they
encountered a different man.
“He
was so weak…I couldn’t see my dad like that,” Anser says. “It was very
emotional for me.” For the remainder of his detention, he wrote letters, talked
about the difficulties and told his family to be strong and support their
mother. “He told us, Allah is there for us. He will be the provider; everything
will be OK.’ I think he had to give us hope so we didn’t lose hope.”
Anser
and his brothers attended protests with their mother organised by DRUM. But
with their father gone, there was no financial support for the family. The sons
were bullied at school; neighbours harassed them at home. It became untenable
and the family returned to Pakistan, leaving Mehmood behind, in jail.
“My
mother was extremely heartbroken to leave the country because she knew the
amount of effort and the amount of work that my father put in to make
everything happen for us,” Anser says.
Mehmood
eventually pleaded guilty to working with an unauthorised Social Security
number and was sentenced to eight months in prison. He was transferred to
Passaic County Jail before finally being deported on May 10, 2002, to Pakistan,
where the family now lives.
______
For
Sultana Jahangir, there was a different anxiety.
It
was one that intensified when her husband, Mohammed Alam, was called to
register through the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or
NSEERS, a government policy introduced in 2002 as part of the war on terror.
Some would call it a “Muslim registry”.
It
required all noncitizen males 16 or older from 25 countries to register with
the US government. The only country among them that did not have an Arab or
Muslim majority was North Korea.
Jahangir,
now living in Toronto with her husband and family, came to the US in 1994 from
Bangladesh to visit her sister. During their stay, her sister’s husband died
unexpectedly, and Jahangir and her husband stayed to help.
“We
worked like crazy — many days, I wouldn’t see the sun,” she says. “The evening
comes, I don’t see the sunset. My life was stuck in a dark place.”
They
worked quietly this way for years — Jahangir at a cafe, Alam driving taxis —
all the while trying to apply for political asylum.
In
the days that followed the September 11 attacks, Jahangir’s co-worker called
her “Bin Laden’s sister”. Shortly after, her manager let her go. She struggled
to find work after that. “Nobody,” she says, “wanted to hire a Muslim then”.
Meanwhile,
she and her family would hear reports of Muslim men being taken off the street
by law enforcement without explanation, and they worried for Alam.
When
Alam responded to the call to register for NSEERS, he was held for hours and
then released with a deportation order. Paranoid about what might follow, he
retreated from public life. “It didn’t feel safe for him to go out and drive
the taxi,” Jahangir says.
“We
discouraged him from going out. He stayed home with the children and I had to
take on more responsibility.”
Ultimately,
the family was able to avoid being deported to Bangladesh by arranging a visa
for Canada.
In
the end, NSEERS resulted in no terrorism convictions. It was suspended in 2011
and completely dissolved in 2016. It did, however, land more than 13,000 boys
and men in deportation proceedings.
______
Two
decades later, no terror attack in the US has come close to the scale of
September 11. The most serious threats have come from lone wolves. The most
public of threats have been from Americans, not foreigners.
Joshua
Dratel, co-chair of the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers’
national security committee, says the detentions are a foundational piece of
something troubling — an acceptance of more invasive law enforcement for
protection from terrorists.
Searches
at airports, in buildings, even on subways — “these are things that were once
exceptional and extraordinary, and now the exception has become the norm. I
think that has put us in a position of vulnerability to more of it and a more
malevolent version of it.”
Shirin
Sinnar, a law professor at Stanford University, says the extreme measures taken
after 9/11 have been normalized to the point that “now we don’t even talk about
them. They’ve just become part of the kinds of surveillance and deprivation of
rights and profiling that we expect to see”.
The
positive, she says: More people seem willing to challenge that.
To
a degree, that is true. Attitudes have trended toward people being more wary of
the government’s counterterrorism efforts. But a recent poll by The Associated
Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research shows that a majority of Americans,
54%, still believe it is sometimes necessary to sacrifice rights and freedom to
fight terrorism.
The
long-running lawsuit in which additional plaintiffs were added after the first
five were awarded a settlement has continued. It has ricocheted through the
court system with mixed results.
Source:
Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Biden
aides to tell Israelis that US will pursue 'other avenues' if Iran diplomacy
fails
October
5, 2021
Top
US officials will tell their Israeli counterparts on Tuesday that the Biden
administration remains committed to diplomacy with Iran, but if necessary would
be prepared to pursue "other avenues" to ensure Tehran does not
acquire a nuclear weapon, a senior US official said.
A
visit to Washington by Israel's national security adviser, Eyal Hulata, will
allow the two allies to share intelligence and develop a "baseline
assessment" of how far Tehran's nuclear programme has advanced, the
official said.
Under
a 2015 deal, Iran curbed its uranium enrichment programme, a possible pathway
to nuclear arms, in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. Then-US
President Donald Trump quit the deal in 2018 and the Israeli government opposes
US efforts to revive it.
In
broad terms, US experts believe the time it would take Iran to achieve nuclear
"breakout" — enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb — has
"gone from about 12 months down to a period of about a few months"
since Trump pulled out of the pact, the official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
"Obviously
that is quite alarming," the official told reporters ahead of Hulata's
talks with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Iran
has consistently denied it is developing nuclear weapons.
Echoing
President Joe Biden's comments in a White House meeting with Israeli Prime
Minister Naftali Bennett in August, the official said: "We of course
remain committed to a diplomatic path."
"But
obviously if that doesn't work there are other avenues to pursue, and we are
fully committed to ensuring that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon."
Asked
what actions were under consideration and whether that included military
options, the official said "we'll be prepared to take measures that are
necessary" but did not elaborate.
The
official said that Iran was "sending indications to a number of parties
that they are preparing to come back to Vienna", where the United States
and Iran held indirect talks earlier this year that stalled.
But
signalling that obstacles remain, Iran's foreign minister said on Saturday that
the United States must first release $10 billion of Tehran's frozen funds as a
sign of goodwill, something the Biden administration has shown no willingness
to do.
Bennett,
a far-right politician who ended Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run as prime
minister in June, has made clear he wants Biden to harden his stance against
Iran, Israel's regional arch-foe.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Most
Americans favour granting Afghans who worked with US refugee status: poll
Michael
Hernandez
04.10.2021
WASHINGTON
An
overwhelming majority of Americans approve of granting refugee status to
Afghans who aided the US prior to their country's violent takeover by the
Taliban, according to a poll released on Monday.
A
full 72% of Americans are in favor of granting refugee status to Afghans who
"worked with the U.S. or Afghan governments during the war,"
according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs survey.
Support is near identical along party lines with 76% of Democrats agreeing to
the proposal, compared to 74% of Republicans.
But
when asked about granting refugee status to "other people who fear living
in Afghanistan under Taliban rule," support dramatically drops to 57% of Democrats,
and just one-in-four Republicans.
Turning
to US President Joe Biden's withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan,
roughly 45% of respondents said they "strongly/somewhat approve"
compared to 39% who said they "strongly/somewhat disapprove." Fourteen
percent said they "neither approve nor disapprove."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
Does
Muslim vote really weigh-in in French elections?
OCT
05, 2021
France
is facing a substantial leadership crisis and a dearth of political ideas and
movements. In light of the presidential elections to be held next spring, there
is no clear frontrunner nor an underdog, a political mood that has provoked
blurry political progress. However, with these alarming elements, an undeclared
hysterical political campaign has set the tone for the voters in the coming
seven months. Analysts argue that France has the opportunity to reshape its
politics, and reach out to voters who are totally shunning the conventional
political parties, as a result, they are lost in the populist discourse of the
darling boy of anti-Muslims and Islam voices in France, Eric Zemmour.
Throughout
the ongoing undeclared campaign, different visions of the declared and undeclared
candidates like Zemmour can be seen. The controversial journalist, Zemmour, who
is loudly imposing his posture as a political and "image" adviser on
national TV, radio talk shows and print, as was seen in the latest Paris-Match
Magazine’s front page, has a message based on two words: Islam and immigration.
In his recent book, "La France n'a pas dit son dernier mot" (France
did not say its last word), he expresses the wish to reinvigorate Napoleon’s
1803 law, to ban all Muslim names and replace them with Christian ones.
Zemmour
factor
Zemmour
is a phenomenon that has become a political reality thanks to the media. He
positioned himself in the political “debate” as a credible and audible voice
for the anti-Muslim and Arab voters. The question of racism in France
politically has slipped from its ethnic expression to a religious imperative
post the so-called controversy in the country over the scarf known as l'affaire
du voile (the veil affair) of 1989.
Ever
since, the French right, far- and extremist-right politicians and voters have
been in conflict with Muslims in France. Where the question is no longer taboo
in the French political and media lexicon, on the contrary, it has become a
banal scapegoating tactic used by politicians and pundits.
How
are the Muslim voters responding to Zemmour and the far-right propaganda
machine? Muslim voters are divided: They vote according to their ideology,
social status, ethnic origin and demography. Though those who are active on
social media, for instance on Twitter, are blaming the media and the political
establishment for letting Zemmour take a free ride. The leader of the leftist
party la France Insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Melenchon challenged Zemmour in a
debate, Melenchon tried to slow down Zemmour’s rolling bulldozer truck.
The
rise of Zemmour in national opinion polls is, however, traumatizing for both
potential contender candidates in the run-off to next spring's election:
incumbent President Emmanuel Macron vs. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the
National Rally Party (RN), according to the leading national polls since last
summer. A remake of the 2017 presidential election that Macron is desperately
praying for!
Nonetheless,
seven months in politics is an eternity, the surprise effect factor is still
valid and French undecided voters are still waiting for the providential man to
show up.
Following
the Zemmour factor, Marine’s confusion and Macron’s panic mode, how would
Muslims vote in the next spring presidential election? This thorny question
raises the paradoxical Muslim vote’s orientation in French elections in
general. Basically, Muslim voters are willing this time to go en masse and vote
for Melenchon who appears to be their “champion” – nevertheless, Muslims in
France are not organized in one political block for the reasons stated earlier.
They do not constitute an electoral block either.
Prisoners
of the semantic and politics
Semantically,
before one speaks about the Muslim vote, it should be said that the Muslim
“community” is a victim of its communities’ leaders and recently of the
republic's new laws that aimed to domesticate Islam in France in general and
French Muslims in particular.
Consequently,
there is no single Muslim community in France, but there are Muslim communities
whose votes tend to be divided among the contenders. In medium-sized cities,
the majority of the Muslim
vote
goes to RN candidates while in the so-called immigrant hubs (banlieues) of
large cities, and in the main large city administrative districts, the Muslim
vote is split between left-wing and ecology candidates and the Republicans
Party (LR). This is the most ideal scenario that one could hope for because in
the last municipal and regional elections of summer 2020 and spring 2021, one
out of 10 Muslim voters did not even bother to register to vote, notably,
mostly the youth and first-time voters who recently became eligible to vote.
For
this reason, the Muslim vote should not be seen as a religious vote but rather
as a social and demographic one like the rest of their fellow citizens, who are
highly cynical about politics and politicians. According to a survey conducted
by Institut Montaigne Parisian think tank, and the French Institute of Public
Opinion (IFOP) in May 2016, there is no Muslim community in France. There are
French citizens who share both Muslim culture values and faith, hence
implicitly Muslims in France and in particular, the third generation of those
originating from Sahel and Maghreb countries, are stuck in the dichotomy of
identity and origin.
This
is a clear observation among the youths. Muslims over the age of 18 represent
around 6% of the French 67 million population, among the 6% only 69% are French
citizens. Some 87% of voters living in France are registered to vote,
therefore, the Muslim vote represents 3% in France. However, only two-thirds of
Muslim voters participated in the 2012 presidential election, which amount to
2% of the French population, 24% abstained and 8% cast a blank ballot. Out of
the 36 million who voted in 2012, 1.3 million were Muslim.
Complex
political context
In
2012, 86% of Muslim voters voted for the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande
in the second round, he was elected with 51.56% of the votes. One could see
that the Muslim vote played a part in Hollande's victory. Eighty-six percent from
3.6% amounts to 3.1% of the total vote. It’s likely that many of these voters
cast their ballot for Jean-Luc Melenchon in the first round.
In
2017, there was a very high turnout of Muslim voters at 62%, and 92% voted for
the candidate of La Republique En Marche (LREM), Macron. According to Opinion
Way, Macron got 2.1 million of the Muslim
votes,
whereas his opponent Le Pen got 200,000. Subsequently, without the Muslim vote,
Hollande would have had been beaten in 2012 by ex-incumbent President Nicolas
Sarkozy and Le Pen would undoubtedly have come out on top in the first round of
2017.
Analysts
are estimating that in the next presidential election in April 2022, the Muslim
vote will undoubtedly make up around 10% of the votes. This means that the
candidate who does not benefit from this vote would have to get about 60% of
the non-Muslim votes to win. An assumption that can already feed the strategies
of political campaign managers, who are unfortunately not paying attention to
the Muslim vote, especially the right, far- and extreme-right and even Macron’s
party and government. Managers of these candidates are doing everything to
alienate Muslim votes further. Because of purely political calculation, genuine
manifestation from the far and the extreme-right candidates, and finally
electoral gesticulation from the government, one could argue it’s a first round
strategy’s complex communication politics.
Source:
Daily Sabah
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/does-muslim-vote-really-weigh-in-in-french-elections
--------
Macron:
G20 must send Taliban clear message on price of recognition
05
October ,2021
France’s
President Emmanuel Macron said the forthcoming G20 summit must send a clear
message to Afghanistan’s Taliban on the conditions for international
recognition.
In
an interview with France Inter radio station broadcast on Tuesday, Macron said
those conditions must include equality for women, access for foreign
humanitarian operations and non-cooperation with terror groups.
“I
believe international recognition should have a price, and the dignity of
Afghan women, equality between men and women, should be one of the points on
which we insist, and should be a condition for us,” Macron said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkish
Cypriot leader stresses need for sovereign equality on Cyprus
Deniz
Açık, Sinan Balcıkoca
05.10.2021
The
president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Monday stressed
the importance of sovereign equality for the Turkish Cypriot people on Cyprus.
Ersin
Tatar delivered the opening lecture of the semester on the history of the
Turkish presence on the island at Anadolu University in the central province of
Eskisehir in Turkey, where he was also bestowed an honorary doctorate.
Speaking
on the history of Turkish Cypriots' "struggle for existence" on the
island, Tatar underlined that their sovereignty on Cyprus was just as legal as
that of Greek Cypriots.
He
argued that for years, there have been efforts to turn Cyprus into a Greek
island. "We wanted to exist, to live on this island together. We always accepted
that they (Greek Cypriots) are also valuable but, unfortunately, we did not
receive the same understanding from them," said Tatar.
Adding
that "games" were being played on Cyprus for a federal-based outcome
on the island, he said: "So, they're saying that once there is a
federal-based agreement, the Turkish Cypriots will be equal, according to them,
but I don't think there would be any equality as they don't even accept a
rotating presidency (between Turkish and Greek Cypriots).
"Therefore,
that federal-based agreement will basically make us a minority in a short time,
later annihilating us and with Turkey's withdrawal from the island (leave us
with) zero soldiers, zero guarantor-ship," he said.
Tatar
said the TRNC is "face to face with such a mentality, a selfishness, an
audacity that would take us back to before 1974 and even 1960," referring
to an era of ethnic attacks against Turkish Cypriots.
"So,
it isn't possible for us to say 'yes' to such a thing (federal-based
agreement)," he added, arguing that efforts to get Turkey to leave the
region were part of a "set-up" to turn it into a "Greek
lake."
Cyprus
issue
Cyprus
has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots,
despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive
settlement.
In
the face of ethnic attacks, Turkish Cypriots were forced to withdraw into
enclaves for their safety.
In
1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's
military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from
persecution and violence.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Greece
says EU must abide by its migration commitments to Turkey
Ayhan
Simsek
04.10.2021
BERLIN
Europeans
must honor their commitments to Turkey as part of a migration deal signed in
2016, the Greek minister for migration and asylum said on Monday.
Notis
Mitarachi said the EU-Turkey migration deal must be implemented by both sides
to manage the refugee flows and stem illegal trafficking in the Aegean Sea.
"The
EU has also made promises to Turkey, with regards to visa liberalization and
trade, and it must abide by these commitments. And we are expecting Turkey to
implement what was agreed upon," he told German daily Die Welt.
Mitarachi
argued that Turkey should take back nearly 1,900 failed asylum seekers as part
of the agreement, and also called for stronger action against human
traffickers.
The
EU-Turkey refugee agreement effectively stopped irregular refugee flows into
Europe, but Ankara has repeatedly criticized its European partners for not
honoring their commitments.
Turkish
officials said while Ankara upheld its end of the pact, the EU did not,
including not fully providing €6 billion ($7 billion) in aid and backing away
from their political commitments.
As
part of the deal, the EU had promised to accelerate Turkey's accession process,
start negotiations on modernizing the Customs Union, and provide visa-free travel
for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Southeast Asia
National
unity minister says racist slurs have no place in Malaysian society, after
derogatory remarks against national shuttler S. Kisona
05
Oct 2021
BY
EMMANUEL SANTA MARIA CHIN
KUALA
LUMPUR, Oct 5 — National Unity Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique today
condemned the racial slurs that a Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu)
member allegedly made towards national women singles shuttler S. Kisona.
When
asked to comment on the issue by Rasah MP Cha Kee Chin, Halimah said such
comments did not represent Malaysian culture and went against the very concept
of national unity.
She
also expressed regret that the comments had involved a national athlete.
“Sports
has long been a platform for national integration that unites us all regardless
of our background, race or religion.
“The
comments against Kisona should not have happened and cannot be accepted in our
Malaysian culture that is multiracial,” she said in Dewan Rakyat today.
This
came after a Bersatu member allegedly made the remarks on a social media post
on Sunday that was accompanied by a picture of Kisona in action during her
semi-final match at the Sudirman Cup 2021 in Finland.
The
posting had criticised the shuttler for losing the match, in racially
derogatory terms. It was later deleted but no before it was widely shared by
other social media users.
Halimah
today advised social media users to be more mindful when posting comments
online, urging them to avoid using sensitive terms deemed insulting to others.
“Do
not raise the spectre of hatred to incite anger with any single race. Avoid
using words that can hurt the feelings of other races to make sure we maintain
national unity,” she said.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Suspected
Muslim insurgents attack train in southern Thailand
October
05, 2021
Suspected
Muslim separatists attacked a passenger train in southern Thailand, causing a
temporary halt to local services during the longest-running insurgency in the
predominantly Buddhist nation.
The
passenger train left Su-ngai Kolok, a border town in the restive
Muslim-majority province of Narathiwat, and was on its way to Yala, another
Muslim-majority province in Thailand’s southernmost region bordering Malaysia,
when gunmen opened fire at the locomotive from bushes by the tracks, according
to the train’s driver.
The
attackers damaged the train’s airbrake system but there were no reported
injuries in the Oct. 3 incident.
Local
defense volunteers aboard the train returned fire and security forces were
dispatched to the scene, but none of the suspected insurgents were apprehended.
In
late August, a bomb was set off as a cargo train approached a railway station
in Narathiwat, badly damaging the locomotive but causing no injuries.
These
attacks suggest that suspected separatists are stepping up their campaign of hit-and-run
attacks during a long-running insurgency that has seen well over 7,000 people,
both Buddhists and Muslims, killed and thousands of others injured since its
inception in 2004.
Some
analysts have speculated that the recent withdrawal of US military forces from
Afghanistan, which has given rise to control of the country by Islamist
hardliners in the ranks of the Taliban, could re-energize Muslim separatist
movements in countries such as Thailand.
“The
southern tracts of Thailand, particularly in places like Pattani, Narathiwat,
Yala [the three southernmost provinces] bordering Malaysia have always been in
adverse light due to sporadic cases of hate and violence targeting Thai
security forces,” Shantanu Mukharji, a security analyst who was a national security
adviser to the prime minister of Mauritius, wrote in an op-ed earlier this
month.
“The
Taliban’s return to power after the 20-year war with US has boosted the morale
of militants in Southeast Asia, inspiring some to make plans to go to the
country and undertake military and other training, though experts say this is a
difficult prospect for now amid pandemic-related travel restrictions.”
Over
the nearly two decades-long insurgency, Islamic separatists have routinely
targeted both security forces and civilians, including Buddhist monks, teachers
and officials.
These
attacks have drawn widespread condemnation from rights advocates, as have Thai
security forces’ heavy-handed tactics, including suspected and reported cases
of extrajudicial killings, unlawful detentions and torture.
The
government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, a former army chief, “has
followed previous Thai governments in dismissing the root causes of ethnic
Malay Muslims’ grievances, specifically a lack of accountability for the government’s
human rights abuses in the region,” Sunai Phasuk, a Bangkok-based senior
researcher for Human Rights Watch, has noted.
Source:
UCA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/suspected-muslim-insurgents-attack-train-in-southern-thailand/94403#
--------
Sarawak
police chief: 28 reports lodged against preacher who allegedly insulted
non-Muslims
05
Oct 2021
MIRI,
Oct 5 — Twenty-eight police reports have been lodged in Sarawak so far over the
incident of a preacher, who is alleged to have insulted the non-Muslims as well
as the Dayak community.
In
disclosing this, Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail said of the 28,
four were lodged at Bukit Sentosa police station.
“The
police stations at Mile 10 (near Kota Padawan), Tabuan Jaya (Kuching) and Bau
register three police reports each, while the stations at Sri Aman and Batu
Kawa (Kuching) receive two reports each,” he said when contacted yesterday.
The
police stations at Satok, Gita (both in Kuching), Kota Samarahan, Engkilili
(near Simanggang), Skrang, Kidurong (Bintulu), Sepaoh, Debak, Sarikei, Kanowit
and Lutong (Miri) each received one report, he added.
All
these police reports were lodged against the preacher, who is alleged to have
made inflammatory remarks against the non-Muslim religion and the Dayak
community in a one-minute video clip, which uploaded online recently and had
since gone viral on social media.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Prosecution:
Zahid orchestrated money-laundering scheme, used moneychanger to make bags of
cash ‘disappear’ into cheques for own benefit
05
Oct 2021
BY
IDA LIM
KUALA
LUMPUR, Oct 5 — Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was the one who allegedly created
a scheme to launder illegal funds, and who used the services of a money changer
who helped convert millions of ringgit in bags of cash into cheques, the
prosecution argued in the High Court today.
The
prosecution said that the “disappearance” of the cash into cheques were then
later sent to a law firm to be placed in fixed deposits in the bank, arguing
that the complex mixture of funds from various other illegal activities that
were channelled into the fixed deposits would then result in Ahmad Zahid being
able to tap into the funds.
In
this trial, Ahmad Zahid is facing 27 money laundering charges relating to funds
allegedly from unlawful activities, including 25 charges involving his alleged
instructions to law firm Lewis & Co on 25 separate occasions to put over
RM53 million into fixed deposit accounts.
The
26th charge is over Ahmad Zahid’s alleged instructions to buy two bungalows
worth RM5.9 million via a cheque involving unlawful funds, while the 27th
charge involves his alleged instructions to moneychanger Omar Ali Abdullah to
convert RM7.5 million of illegal funds into 35 cheques that were then given to
the same law firm to be placed in fixed deposits.
Deputy
public prosecutor Harris Ong Mohd Jeffery Ong today suggested that the alleged
money laundering activities under all 27 charges are interrelated, and argued
that the High Court should look at the flow of these funds in the context of
Ahmad Zahid standing to have the most benefit.
“For
today’s charges, we are looking for the enjoyment of the illegal proceeds. In
the end, who benefits the most? For example, Omar Ali might receive some
commission but in the end all the money converted into cash and ended up in
Lewis & Co, ended up as fixed deposits which the accused will have power to
dispose of the fixed deposits.
“We
have evidence how the accused demonstrated that he could use fixed deposits by
way of purchase of two units of bungalows. It is important to look at how the
money-laundering charges interact with each other.
“The
way how money is mingled around to be cashed in together, to be applied to buy
fixed deposits, it clearly shows the whole scheme is money laundering
orchestrated by the accused,” Harris said, referring to Ahmad Zahid as the
accused.
Among
other things, Harris had spoken about Omar Ali’s role in Ahmad Zahid’s alleged
money-laundering scheme, describing Omar Ali — whose wife is from the same
hometown as Ahmad Zahid — as being a man on a mission to help convert the cash
into cheques.
Harris
urged the High Court to consider the whole chain of events starting from Ahmad
Zahid’s alleged instructions to Omar Ali, the method in which cash was
delivered to Omar Ali and the latter’s subsequent conversion of RM7.5 million
cash into cheques, and Ahmad Zahid’s acceptance of all the “suspicious cheques”
from Omar Ali and how it ended up in the law firm Lewis & Co.
Omar
Ali, who was the 81th prosecution witness in this trial, had previously
testified that multiple unknown individuals that Ahmad Zahid had told him were
from Yayasan Al Bukhary had handed him cash at a shopping mall and hotel
lobbies, with the first involving a piece of luggage which he recalled had cash
possibly in the range of RM1.5 million.
“I
further submit that the evidence of Omar Ali’s action in converting the cash
should be weighed and considered not in isolation, but with careful care in the
light of money laundering schemes operated by the accused.
“Omar
Ali is on the mission. He needs to think fast, act smooth, make sure all the
cash money disappears and finally deliver the ‘proceeds’ to the accused
according to the plan,” Harris said.
Source:
Malay Mail
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Education
Ministry must ensure all parties understand National Language Policy, says
minister
05
Oct 2021
KUALA
LUMPUR, Oct 5 ― The Ministry of Education (MoE) is responsible for implementing
various efforts to ensure that everyone, especially those in the education
sector understand the National Language Policy.
Senior
Education Minister Datuk Radzi Jidin said the MoE has an important role in
ensuring that the Malay language is upheld as the national language in line
with Article 152 of the Federal Constitution.
“In
this regard, the Malay Language Education Roadmap 2016-2025 was clearly and
thoroughly drafted so that all parties will together uphold the Malay
language,” he said when officiating the 2021 Education Sector National Language
Decade (DBK) celebration online, today.
He
said as the Malay language has been set as the medium of instruction in the
national education system, according to the National Education Policy, it was
important for Malay language teachers to cultivate in the new generation a
sense of love and pride for the language.
He
added that to strengthen the Malay language as the national language the
responsibility should not rest entirely on Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, as every
individual in the community, including MoE staff were equally responsible.
He
said a language could be the main platform or medium to foster unity among the
multi-racial communities in the context of the ‘Malaysian Family’ as
understanding and harmony could be developed when communicating with the same
language.
On
the DBK celebration, Radzi was confident that the initiative taken by DBK would
be able to instill love and pride for
the Malay language as the national language, thus strengthening unity in line
with the spirit of the “Malaysian
Family”.
Source:
Malay Mail
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Mideast
FM:
Iran Not to Allow Foreigners Disrupt Friendly Ties with Neighbours
2021-October-4
Amir
Abdollahian made the remarks in a joint press conference with his Armenian
counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Tehran on Monday.
"We
will not allow some foreign states to affect Iran's relations with its
neighbors, including Armenia. Our region will by no means tolerate new
excessive demands. The problems of the region must be resolved by the people of
the region without any foreign intervention," Amir Abdollahian said.
"Today
we agreed to develop cooperation in all areas of economy, trade and tourism.
Trade and operating the Armenian transit route are among the issues of mutual
concern to both countries," he added.
Amir
Abdollahian and Mirzoyan in a meeting in Tehran on Monday underlined the need
to broaden mutual cooperation in different fields.
During
the meeting in the Iranian capital today, the Iranian and Armenian foreign
ministers explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating bilateral relations
in various areas.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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Navy
Commander: Iran to Build Modern Destroyers
2021-October-4
"The
process of building and modernizing destroyer in Navy Force and defense
industries of the country is going ahead and the country has attained
self-sufficiency in the field of construction of destroyer in accordance with
its operational requirements," Admiral Irani said.
He,
meantime, pointed to the presence of the naval fleet of the country in
strategic waters of the world, including the Atlantic Ocean, and said,
"Iran's Navy Force can be present in any part of the world using sea with
utmost power and might."
Admiral
Irani reiterated that the Iranian Navy's fleet showcases the high capability
and authority of Iran in the international arena and is the harbinger of peace,
security and friendship.
In
relevant remarks last month, Admiral Irani said Iran stands at the forefront of
the campaign to establish and promote international peace and friendship.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000712000496/Navy-Cmmander-Iran-Bild-Mdern-Desryers
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Iran
Sends Delegation to Armenia to Complete Tatev Road
2021-October-4
Azerbaijan
is controlling and claiming ownership for approximately 20 km out of a 400 km
route streching from Norduz (in Iran) to Yerevan. Since last month, Azerbaijan
has imposed strict regulations to Iranian drivers which are posing major
problems for them passing through 20-kilometer section of Armenia’s Goris-Kapan
Road including paying tolls levied by Azerbaijani border guards.
Thus,
Iranian delegation in Armenia is considering particiaption for completing Tatev
Road as an alternative route to Goris-Kapan Road.
With
completion of Tatev Road (less than 15 km remaining), Iran and Armenia will
bypass Azerbaijan for their traffic. Moreover, this route is strategic for Iran
in terms of transit and commerce as it links Iran to Russia and Europe. Thus,
Iran has declared its preparedness to complete the remaining part of Tatev Road
in Armenian territory as soon as possible.
Armenia
Deputy PM, Suren Papikiyan, in his previous meeting with Ambassador of Iran to
Armenia, Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri, highly appreciated Iran’s stance for
establishing stability and peace in the region. He also called Armenian-Iranian
relations strategically important.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000712000711/Iran-Sends-Delegain-Armenia-Cmplee-Taev-Rad
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Assyrian
Lawmaker: Iranian Army's Wargames Sent Clear Message to Israel, ISIL
2021-October-4
"The
Army’s drill along the Northwestern borders of Iran was a display of power
indicating Iran’s preparedness to thwart any aggression through borders,"
Anouyeh Tekyeh said.
The
coincidence of the war game with some movements in Northern neighboring
countries caused some misunderstandings, the Iranian lawmaker said, adding that
the Islamic Republic of Iran recognizes territorial integrity of all countries
in the region.
The
lawmaker pointed out that the military exercise showcased Iranian military
scientists' self-sufficiency, specialty, and capacity in every defensive
industrial field, the Assyrian MP said.
Iranian
Army Ground Force held massive military wargames in North-West Iran near the
border with Azerbaijan on Friday.
The
military drill entitled ‘Fatehan (Conquerors) of Kheibar’ is underway by Iran’s
Army Ground Forces in Northwestern Iran.
The
Iranian Army Ground Forces' armored and artillery units, as well as drones with
the support of Army Air Force helicopters are taking part in the military
drills.
In
a relevant development on Thursday, Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force
Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari announced that military exercises of the
Armed Forces of the country are held in line with a detailed planning and based
on scheduled program aimed at testing weapons, military equipment and assessing
the combat readiness of the Armed Forces in the bordering areas of the country.
The
military exercises will be held by using certain equipment and combat
capabilities of Army Ground Forces units with the aim of improving the combat
readiness in this region, he said.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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US
citizen blocked in Iran needs surgery within days: Family
04
October ,2021
A
US citizen blocked from leaving Iran risks death unless he has surgery within
days, his family said Monday, appealing for him to be permitted to leave.
An
Iranian court early last year commuted the sentence of Baquer Namazi, a former
UNICEF official, but his lawyers said authorities have refused to issue him an
Iranian passport, which he needs to leave as Tehran does not recognize dual
nationality.
Namazi,
84, whose son remains imprisoned, has a blockage in 95-97 percent of one of the
main arteries that supply blood to his brain and needs surgery in seven to 10
days, his family said.
Breaking
down with tears, another son, Babak Namazi, said the family was “devastated”
and that the situation was “a type of torture I would not wish upon my worst
enemy.”
“This
is not and has never has been the ending my father deserves. My father is a
selfless individual who spent his life in public service,” he told a virtual
press conference.
In
a letter to the UN special rapporteur on the right to health, lawyers for the
family said Baquer’s case was “dire and extremely urgent.”
“In
his current state, Baquer is at extreme risk of having a stroke, which could
easily prove fatal,” it said.
Namazi
can undergo the surgery in Iran but his lawyers said the environment was too
stressful after four years in detention and that there was a high risk of
COVID-19.
Jared
Genser, an international counsel to the Namazis, said that Baquer Namazi was “a
free man” and should be allowed to leave Iran.
He
said the family had made appeals directly to members of President Joe Biden’s
administration.
“The
time for action is now. I call on President Biden to engage personally to make
this happen,” Genser said.
Baquer
Namazi was taken into custody in February 2016 when he traveled to Tehran in
hopes of assisting son Siamak Namazi, a businessman who had been detained.
Siamak
Namazi is still serving a 10-year sentence for alleged collaboration with a
hostile government.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Bennett
spokesman accuses Iran of planning attacks against Israelis living in Cyprus
04
October ,2021
Israel
accused Iran on Monday of orchestrating an attempted attack against Israelis in
Cyprus after police on the island said an armed individual had been arrested.
“This
was a terrorist incident directed by Iran against Israeli businesspeople living
in Cyprus,” Matan Sidi, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett,
said in a statement.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Africa
Jordan
is stronger than any campaigns: King Abdullah
04
October ,2021
Jordan’s
King Abdullah said there is an ongoing campaign against his country and that it
was not the first one, according to statements after meeting with citizens in
the country’s central Badia area.
Jordan’s
royal court Monday rejected as “distorted” claims made in the “Pandora Papers”
that King Abdullah II created a network of offshore companies to build a $100
million overseas property empire.
The
Royal Court of Jordan said “the failure to announce the real estate properties
of His Majesty the King comes from the matter of privacy and not from the
matter of confidentiality or with the intention of concealing it.”
“The
cost of these properties and all related expenditures have been personally
funded by His Majesty. None of these expenses have been funded by the state
budget or treasury,” the royal court added.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Clashes
erupt in Sudan’s Khartoum week after alleged ISIS killings
04
October ,2021
Clashes
erupted Monday in the Sudanese capital between security forces and alleged
extremists, state media and an AFP correspondent reported, a week after five
officers were killed in the same area.
The
shootout in the Jabra district of southern Khartoum prompted security forces to
seal off streets, the correspondent at the scene said.
It
was not immediately clear if there were any casualties, but ambulances were
seen rushing to the site.
State
media including Sudan TV said “an armed clash with a terrorist cell broke out
in Jabra.”
On
September 28, Sudan’s intelligence services said five counter-terrorism
officers were killed during a raid in Jabra targeting “a cell linked to the
Islamic State (IS) group.”
It
said 11 militants from different “foreign countries” were arrested while four
others escaped.
The
following day, a little-known extremist group claimed responsibility for
killing the intelligence officers.
The
latest clashes came with Sudan in the midst of a rocky transition following the
April 2019 ouster of ex-president Omar al-Bashir.
Under
Bashir, Sudan adopted a more radical brand of Islam and became an international
pariah over links to international “terrorist” organizations and for hosting
extremist militant groups.
Between
1992 and 1996, it also hosted Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden who was expelled
under US pressure after Washington placed Sudan on its list of “state sponsors
of terrorism.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Jordan
says ‘distorted’ claims in ‘Pandora Papers’ are security threat
04
October ,2021
Jordan’s
royal court Monday rejected as “distorted” claims made in the “Pandora Papers”
that King Abdullah II created a network of offshore companies to build a $100
million overseas property empire.
It
said that the reports “included inaccuracies and distorted and exaggerated the
facts”, and that revealing the properties’ addresses was “a flagrant security
breach and a threat to His Majesty’s and his family’s safety.”
The
statement also said that the king had “personally funded” the properties and
all related expenses.
The
investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ), involving some 600 journalists from media worldwide, is based on the
leak of some 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies.
While
not alleging criminal wrong doing by Abdullah II, the reports allege he created
a network of offshore companies to quietly purchase luxury residences from
Malibu and California to Washington and London.
Jordan’s
Royal Hashemite Court said in its statement that “it is no secret that His
Majesty owns a number of apartments and residences in the US and the United
Kingdom. This is not unusual nor improper.”
The
statement added, “His Majesty uses these properties during official visits and
hosts officials and foreign dignitaries there. The King and his family members
also stay in some of these properties during private visits.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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France’s
Macron: I hope tensions with Algeria will soon ease
05
October ,2021
French
President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that he hoped diplomatic tensions with
Algeria would soon ease.
“My
wish is that is that we can calm things down because I think it is better to
talk to one another, and to make progress,” Macron told France Inter radio in
an interview, adding he had “very cordial” relations with Algeria’s President.
On
Saturday, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Paris, citing comments attributed
to Macron, who was quoted in the Le Monde newspaper as saying Algeria’s rulers
had rewritten the history of its colonization based on “a hatred of France”.
The
following day, Algeria closed its airspace to French military planes, according
to France’s military.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Algeria
prosecutors seek 18 months’ jail for journalist
04
October ,2021
Algerian
prosecutors are seeking an 18-month prison sentence against journalist Rabah
Kareche for spreading “false news,” one of his lawyers said Monday as his
appeal trial opened.
The
verdict will be announced on October 11, Zoubida Assoul told AFP after the
hearing in the southern city of Tamanrasset.
Kareche,
of the daily newspaper Liberte, was sentenced on August 12 to eight months
behind bars plus four months suspended, for “spreading false information liable
to damage public order.”
He
was also accused of posting reports that could trigger “segregation and hatred
within society.”
Kareche
was arrested in April after reporting that the Tuareg, a Berber minority who
have long complained of economic and social marginalization, had protested over
“expropriation” of their historical lands.
His
detention triggered protests from fellow journalists, especially after
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune described Kareche as an “arsonist” in an
interview before his sentencing.
Kareche
is one of several Algerian journalists currently behind bars.
They
include his colleague Mohamed Mouloudj, detained last month for “belonging to a
terrorist organization” and “spreading false information.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Crimes
against humanity, war crimes committed in Libya: UN Probe
04
October ,2021
War
crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Libya since 2016, a
United Nations investigation revealed on Monday.
The
Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya, commissioned by the UN Human Rights
Council, said migrants and detainees were particularly exposed to violations.
“There
are reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes have been committed in Libya,
while violence perpetrated in prisons and against migrants there may amount to
crimes against humanity,” the mission said in a statement.
The
unrest in the north African country has had a dramatic impact on Libyans’
economic, social and cultural rights, as borne by attacks on hospitals and
schools.
“All
parties to the conflicts, including third states, foreign fighters and
mercenaries, have violated international humanitarian law, in particular the
principles of proportionality and distinction, and some have also committed war
crimes,” said Mohamed Auajjar, who chaired the three-person mission.
The
mission said it had identified individuals and groups -- both Libyan and
foreign -- who may bear responsibility for the violations, abuses and crimes.
However,
it said the list would remain confidential until it could be shared with
appropriate accountability mechanisms.
Though
the Libyan judicial authorities are investigating most of the cases documented
in the report, the process “faces significant challenges”, the experts said.
In
June 2020, the Human Rights Council -- the UN’s top rights body -- adopted a
resolution calling for a fact-finding mission to be sent to Libya. The move had
Tripoli’s support.
The
experts, appointed in August last year, were charged with investigating alleged
violations and abuses of international human rights law and international
humanitarian law committed in Libya since 2016.
Auajjar
was joined by and fellow human rights experts Chaloka Beyani and Tracy
Robinson.
They
gathered and reviewed hundreds of documents, interviewed more than 150
individuals and conducted investigations in Libya, Tunisia and Italy.'
Their
report documents the recruitment and direct participation of children in
hostilities, plus the enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings of prominent
women.
Oil-rich
Libya has been torn by conflict since the 2011 toppling and killing of dictator
Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising, with rival administrations vying for
power.
The
experts said anti-personnel mines left by mercenaries in residential areas have
killed and maimed civilians.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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8
soldiers killed, 2 wounded in central-north Burkina Faso
James
Tasamba
04.10.2021
At
least eight Burkina Faso soldiers were killed on Monday morning in an armed
attack on a military unit in the central-north Sanmatenga province, local media
reported.
The
attack on the Yirgou military detachment took place at around 5 a.m. local time
(0500GMT) and left two other soldiers wounded, state television said, quoting
security sources.
No
group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but sources said search
operations are underway to find the attackers.
Last
month, Burkina Faso's authorities said unidentified armed men killed six
gendarmeries and wounded seven others in an attack on a convoy of vehicles
returning from a gold mine in the eastern part of the country.
Groups
with links to the Daesh/ISIS terror group are known to frequently carry out
similar attacks in the country.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/8-soldiers-killed-2-wounded-in-central-north-burkina-faso/2382698
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