Belur Temple Continues Tradition Of Kicking Off Rathotsava Festival With Quran Recitation Despite Opposition From Right-Wing Activists in Karnataka
New Age Islam News Bureau
14 April 2022
Chennakeshava temple in
Belur. (Photo: Karnataka Tourism Department)
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• Anjuman-e-Islam Members Offer Pooja At Hanumantha
Temple in Karnataka
• Painting Depicting MPs As Apes, Frogs Against
Islamic Teachings, Says Ex-Minister
• Afghan Taliban Smuggling Weapons To Pak For
Skirmishes Along India Border: Report
• French MPs Ask for Further Imposition Of Sanctions
On Taliban
India
• Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Demands Govts To Curb
Anti-Muslim ‘Mischief’; Appeals Political Parties, To Play Their Roles In
Preventing ‘Cycle Of Hatred, Poisonous Speech, And Violence’
• Message Of Amity In Karnataka: Muslims Of Koppal Village Join
Hanuman Puja
• Hyderabad: Hindutva groups spreading anti-Muslim
hate through music
• Stop unlawful demolitions of Muslim properties:
Amnesty India
• No Anti-Muslim Hate Speech Was Made At Delhi Hindu
Yuva Vahini Event In December, Police Tells SC
• Good move, Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam
Mishra on CCTVs in mosques
• Muslim Clerics Meet State Home Minister, DGP of
Madhya Prasesh To Voice Their Concern Over Khargone’s Communal Violence
• 'Rape threat' to Muslim women: Seer Bajrang Muni Das
held for Sitapur hate speech
• Terrorists gun down civilian in J&K, 6th
targeted attack in 11 days
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Southeast Asia
• Puad Offers To Buy Sultan’s Painting Depicting Mps
As Apes And Frogs
• Rights Groups Slam Harassment Of Thai Muslim
Activist
• Rohingya Militant Group Targeting Malaysia-Based
Refugees with Online Campaign
• Zahid tells court charity work could not continue as
Yayasan Akalbudi funds frozen
• Putrajaya ups special grant for Sabah by more than 4
times
--------
South Asia
• Religious Scholars in Paktika Province Urges Taliban
to Reopen Girls’ Schools
• Ramadan unites Muslims and Christians in Bangladesh
• Taliban Tries Seven Kidnappers and Others in
Military Court
• Afghanistan’s Central Bank Lifts Limitations on
Salary Withdrawal
--------
Europe
• Paris attacks suspect says he changed his mind at
last moment
• Iranian embassy in London denies Guardian's report
• UK has ‘abandoned’ US-Briton held in Iran: Daughter
--------
North America
• Muslim Association Of Canada Says Canada Tax Agency
Guilty Of Systemic Bias And Islamophobia
• US: Minnesota Muslims Ask For Clemency For Mosque
Bombers
• US apologized to UAE for delayed response to Houthi
attacks: Report
• 2 Illinois men get 30 years in Minnesota mosque
bombing
• US Navy says new task force to patrol Red Sea amid
Yemen war
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Pakistan
• US Congratulates Sharif On Becoming Pakistani Prime
Minister, Reaffirms 'Value' Of Their Relationship
• Imran Khan Asks Judiciary To Explain Why Courts
Opened Their Doors At Midnight Prior To His Ouster
• Imran Khan 'forcing' PTI lawmakers to resign from
Pakistan's National Assembly: PML-N leader
• Pakistan: JUI-F activists protest against kidnapping
of prayer leader in Sukkur mosque
• Retired generals term audio clips against army
attributed to them 'fake'
--------
Africa
• Osinachi’s Death: How Pastors, Imams Play Key Role
In Domestic Violence Revealed
• Tanzania’s Kizimkazi Mosque, a reminder of Iranian
culture in East Africa
• Libya’s rival governments start UN-backed talks in
Egypt
• 154 people killed in gun attack in Nigeria
--------
Arab World
• Iraq’s Mosul Revives Shattered Cultural Scene With
Traditional Music Festival
• Swiss prosecutors drop 11-year Arab Spring probe of
Egyptians
• Syrian immigrant Zack Tahhan helps capture New York
subway shooting suspect
• Terror group PKK's presence in N. Iraq prevents mine
clearance: Official
• Iraq thwarts rocket attacks against vital facilities
• Saudi Arabia reiterates support to cash-strapped
Lebanon
--------
Mideast
• Supreme Leader Asks Gov’t to Advance Plans
Irrespective of Vienna Talks’ Results
• Afghan People Call for Unity with Iranians after
Recent Bitter Incidents
• Iran Urges Taliban Gov’t to Account for Attacks on
Diplomatic Missions
• Spokesman: Iran, Afghanistan Able to Resist
Conspiracies
• Two Palestinians killed in Israeli West Bank raid:
Palestinian health ministry
• Iran says preliminary deal reached on frozen funds
abroad
• War in Yemen is ‘model’ for success or failure of
UNSC: Expert
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/belur-temple-rathotsava-quran-recitation/d/126794
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Belur Temple Continues Tradition Of Kicking Off
Rathotsava Festival With Quran Recitation Despite Opposition From Right-Wing
Activists in Karnataka
Chennakeshava temple in
Belur. (Photo: Karnataka Tourism Department)
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by Darshan Devaiah BP
April 14, 2022
The historic Chennakeshava temple in Belur continued
with its age-told tradition of kicking off the Rathotsava (car festival) after
reciting passages from the Quran, despite opposition from right-wing activists.
The state’s endowment department allowed the temple
authorities to go ahead with the practice on Wednesday. The annual celebration
started on Wednesday under strict vigil of the district police. Hundreds of
people from across the state thronged the Chennakeshava temple to witness the
two-day car festival.
“Since a long time, reading excerpts from the Quran
has been the tradition that is followed. However, this year, there was
confusion as the temple authorities had initially issued a notice barring
Muslim traders from setting up stalls. However, the endowment department took
the suggestion from various priests and decided to go ahead with the
tradition,” an official said..
According to the tradition, a Maulvi reads out
excerpts from the Quran to mark the beginning of the celebrations at the
Chennakeshava temple. Recently, as the spectre of communal tension loomed large
over Karnataka, right-wing activists had urged the district administration and
temple authorities to bar Muslim traders from taking part in the festival.
However, the state endowment department had directed
the temple administration not to bar any non-Hindu traders and allowed them to
set up stalls and participate in the celebrations, according to senior
officials from the endowment department.
“Earlier, the temple administration had issued a
notice to Muslim shopkeepers and urged them to close their shops. However, the
government allowed them to take part in the festival and directed the temple
administration to allow non-Hindus to set up stalls. Accordingly, around 15
Muslim traders had set up their shops,” a senior official told The Indian
Express.
Source: Indian Express
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original story:
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Anjuman-e-Islam Members Offer Pooja At Hanumantha
Temple in Karnataka
Members of Anjuman-E-Islam
from Dharwad offered a special pooja at the Sri Nuggikeri Hanumantha temple
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Apr 13, 2022
By Yamini C S
Members of the Anjuman-E-Islam, an educational and
social organization, from Dharwad, offered a special Pooja at the Sri Nuggikeri
Hanumantha temple on Monday where a Muslim vendor's fruit cart was vandalised,
The New Indian Express reported.
Four Sri Ram Sene activists were held by police for
the vandalism, making it one of the first arrests on the matter of economic
boycott of Muslim vendors around temple premises.
The vandalism had reportedly occurred on Saturday when
members of the Sri Ram Sene, donning saffron shawls, allegedly broke and
damaged at least four fruit carts carrying watermelon near the Sri Nuggikeri
Hanumantha temple in the Dharwad district.
Similar incidents have been reported across the
country on the occasion of Rama Navami as several communal clashes broke out
between communities, including stone pelting during processions, arson, and
damage to shops and vehicles at multiple places.
The arrests of Sri Ram Sene members were made by
Karnataka Police on Sunday.
Superintendent of police P Krishnakant has reportedly
told The Indian Express that the accused have been identified as Mailarappa
Guddappanavar, Mahaling Aigali, Chidanand Kalal and Kumar Kattimani. According
to the report, eight people have been named in the first information report
(FIR) and police are on the lookout for the others.
Former CM and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D
Kumaraswamy, condemned the incident and
demanded that the activists be booked for their activities.
The vandalism incident comes after Muslim vendors were
banned from trading their products at several temple fairs and annual festivals
in many parts of Karnataka in retaliation after Muslims called for a state wide
bandh to protest the High Court verdict which upheld the ban on wearing of
hijab (headscarves) in educational institutions.
When asked by opposition Congress leaders to take
action against activists for banning the Muslim vendors, the ruling BJP
government cited a 2002 rule in the Assembly, issued under the Karnataka Hindu
Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, under which
non-Hindus are not permitted to trade on temple premises.
Source: Hindustan Times
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original story:
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Painting Depicting MPs As Apes, Frogs Against Islamic Teachings,
Says Ex-Minister
Mujahid Yusof Rawa says the
artist went overboard by depicting MPs as apes.
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April 13, 2022
PETALING JAYA: A painting depicting MPs in the Dewan
Rakyat as apes and frogs is against Islamic teachings, according to former
religious affairs minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
He said, as a Muslim, he was against such political
satire as the Quran had prohibited name-calling and looking down on people.
The Parit Buntar MP said Allah would brand those who
did not end such practices as cruel.
“Satire in any form must respect Islamic ethics,” he
said in a Facebook post.
Mujahid said this in response to reports that the
sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, had purchased this painting
and that he intended to auction it and donate the proceeds to charity.
Mujahid, who is also Amanah vice-president, claimed
the artist had gone overboard by depicting all MPs as apes, even though it was
meant to be a satirical piece.
“Respect the choice of the constituents who do not
want to be portrayed as voters who backed apes.”
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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original story:
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Afghan Taliban Smuggling Weapons To Pak For Skirmishes
Along India Border: Report
Representative Image
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April 14, 2022
Contrary to its claim that the Taliban will not allow
Afghanistan or the weapons to be used for terrorism, the group has been
reportedly accused of smuggling weapons to Pakistan, which eventually may be
used in cross-border skirmishes against India.
"Taliban has been insisting that there are proper
security checks to prevent any weapons smuggling because they are an improved
Taliban. But the weapons market is thriving and the weapons that are being
smuggled into Pakistan will eventually be used in cross-border skirmishes
against India and make their way into India," according to a Canada-based
think tank, International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) said.
But before that Pakistan will have to pay a huge price
if it does not control illicit arms trafficking. Ultimately it is going to
suffer first when the separatist and terrorist organisations operating from its
land get a hand on these weapons on a large scale, it warned.
In August 2021, the US left much of the military
equipment and weapons at the disposal of the Afghan forces which eventually
fell into the hands of the Taliban.
After capturing Kabul, Taliban not only took political
control of Afghanistan but had also gained control of all the US-made weapons
and military equipment that were left behind by the fleeing Afghan forces.
The US-made arms and military accessories are openly
traded in shops by Afghan gun dealers. The traffickers are collecting the
weapons from the abandoned Afghan army bases, and procuring them from the
Afghan government soldiers and Taliban fighters. These weapons are then mostly
sold in weapons markets or arms bazaar in tribal areas of the Afghan-Pakistan
border, it added.
The arms smugglers in Pakistan's borders are having a
field day. The weapons from Afghanistan are smuggled into Pakistan in trucks
carrying fruits and vegetables. The main points of entry through which the arms
are smuggled are Torkham border crossing Torkham (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Chaman
(Baluchistan), Ghulam Khan (North Waziristan) and Nawa Pass (Bajaur), it said.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan is the prime source of opium
supply to the world drug markets and Pakistan is the transport hub with drug
networks operating from the country using its drug routes to reach
international markets, according to an article in Islam Khabar.
The article said the geographical location of Pakistan
makes it one of the prominent drug transit points along the Southern route. It
said Pakistan is also depending on the narcotic trade for sponsoring terror in
India.
Pakistan shares 2400 kilometres of border with
Afghanistan, which is largely porous. And this has served a transit corridor
for drug traffickers. Forty per cent of Afghan drugs transit Pakistan before
they reach the international markets.
Tonnes of opiates and meth are trafficked from
Afghanistan to the Torkham border crossing, Ghulam Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province, from where they are sent to Lahore and Faisalabad, reassembled into
huge consignments, the article said.
Then they are transported to Karachi and Gwadar, and
fishing vessels in Makran coast are used for drugs transport to the South Asian
markets. Balochistan has also been an important drug transit route in Pakistan.
Islam Khabar said around 60 alternative drug routes
are working through the Balochistan province alone, with major areas being
Chaman, Noshki, Chagaghi, Dalbandeen, Panjgor, Turbat, Gawadar and Jeewani.
Source: Business Standard
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original story:
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French MPs Ask for further Imposition of Sanctions on
Taliban
Representative Image
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13 Apr 2022
Over 50 French Parliament Members asked the country’s
president Emanual Macron to impose further sanctions on the Taliban and prevent
their free movement.
The MPs in a letter concentrated on the violation of
women’s rights in Afghanistan, preventing girls from getting an education, a
travel ban on women, and depriving women of working.
The letter that was signed by the MPs was sent both to
President Macron and the parliament of the European Union.
The letter further reads that the limitations on women
traveling are inhumane.
Mahdi Obaid, a coordinator of the letter told the
media that the MPs focused much on the closure of schools for girls and the
overall situation of Afghanistan.
In the letter, the MPs asked that process of
normalization of relations with the Taliban should stop and their free
traveling should be prevented.
This comes after the Taliban closed schools for
teenage girls in the country and women have reportedly been arrested in central
Bamyan province.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.khaama.com/french-mps-ask-for-further-imposition-of-sanctions-on-taliban-347457345/
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India
Jamaat-E-Islami Hind Demands Govts To Curb Anti-Muslim
‘Mischief’; Appeals Political Parties, To Play Their Roles In Preventing ‘Cycle
Of Hatred, Poisonous Speech, And Violence’
April 13, 2022
After the recent communal violence witnessed in some
parts of the country over Ram Navami processions, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
(JIH) on Wednesday demanded the Centre and the state governments curb such acts
immediately.
Calling the incidents ‘anti-Muslim mischiefs’, JIH
Vice President Salim Engineer said, “The same pattern was seen in all these places
where processions were first taken out on the occasion of a festival, special
flags were waved, weapons, especially swords and knives, were openly brandished
and provocative and disparaging slogans were raised against Muslims and Islam.
“Attempts were also made to damage some mosques. In
some places, property and shops owned by Muslims were also damaged. Incidents
of arson and looting were also noted. All these incidents reflect the growing
atmosphere of unrest and hatred in the country.”
The engineer said that it is a matter of great concern
that some state governments through their actions are now inculcating a feeling
in the people that they are the governments of a particular people of the
country, while governments should treat all citizens fairly.
“This attitude of some state governments has
emboldened the miscreants. Reports are being received from many places that the
police are targeting the victims instead of taking action against the culprits.
Large number of innocent Muslim youth are being arrested and false charges are
being framed against them. In Madhya Pradesh, there are cases of extreme
cruelty where people’s houses are being demolished by bulldozers,” he said.
Condemning these incidents, Engineer said, “JIH
believes that these incidents are the product of the hatred that is being
spread across the country. Some political leaders known for their vitriolic
speeches are also responsible for the violence. They should be arrested
immediately. These ongoing incidents are undermining public confidence in the
government and the administration.
“It is also the responsibility of the Central
government to take notice of the situation and call upon the state governments
to take timely and stern action against the elements responsible for the
violence as well as the forces inciting sectarian hatred. Action should also be
taken against the police officers who are biased and guilty of dereliction of
duty.”
The engineer went on to say: “JIH has been working for
the establishment of law and order in all these areas since day one. JIH
leaders are trying to liaise with state officials and the police and press for
effective action. A central delegation is also reaching Madhya Pradesh where
the situation is quite grave.
“Efforts are being made to establish law and order in
these areas in collaboration with civil society groups and leaders of different
religions. Efforts are also being made to take legal action against the
oppressors and provide legal assistance to the oppressed.”
On Tuesday, the President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind held
a meeting with the JIH state leadership of all the affected areas, reviewed the
situation and gave necessary instructions to the state leadership and to the
departments concerned.
According to its state leadership, various efforts are
being made to provide immediate assistance to the distressed victims, including
legal action against the oppressors and rioters.
The JIH appealed to the Muslim community to continue
building the country and society while adhering to the highest values of prudence,
patience and justice in the current situation.
Engineer said, “Don’t be instigated by any kind of
provocation or fear. Fight the situation within the law without any
psychological pressure and keep trying to improve the situation in coordination
with just people. Fight hatred by sharing love.
“These are the Islamic teachings and this is also the
way of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who was a mercy to the worlds.
In this blessed month of Ramadan, let us also take special care to offer prayers
for the betterment of the situation and peace and order in the country.”
Source: The Statesman
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Message Of Amity
In Karnataka: Muslims Of Koppal Village Join Hanuman Puja
Apr 14, 2022
KOPPAL: Young Muslim residents of a village in Koppal
district spontaneously participated in a community Hanuman puja this week and
chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' along with the Hindu faithful. They sought to send out a
message of amity amid strife in the state over the hijab row, the halal debate
and attempts to shunt out Muslim-owned businesses from temple sites.
The villagers' decision to be part of the event at the
'Devi Camp' in Karatagi taluk was voluntary and didn't require prodding from
anyone, said Rajjabali Bevingidad, one of the participants.
Former Congress minister Shivaraj Tangadagi said he
organised the five-day ceremony, ending Saturday, as a purely religious event
untouched by politics. "I was pleasantly surprised to find youngsters from
the Muslim community voluntarily participating in the puja. We hadn't invited
them to the event; so I appreciate their coming to the puja even more."
Khadar Basha, one of the Muslim participants, said he
felt enriched by the experience. "When we learnt that former minister
Tangadagi was conducting the Hanuman Mala at Devi Camp on Tuesday evening, we
decided to join in. We offered puja to Lord Hanuman and sat through all the
rituals, which went on for hours.''
Basha insisted that talk of a rift between Hindu and
Muslim communities over some issues didn't reflect the relationship they have
shared over decades. "A few elements are trying to sow the seeds of
discord between us. We are all members of the same family, and we must live
like that, respecting each other's faith. In our village and taluk, people,
regardless of their religion, are living in harmony." he added.
Earlier this month, TOI reported on how a decades-old
culture of shared traditions in a Karnataka village cut through the cacophony
of the halal row as Hindu and Muslim residents got together for Ugadi rituals
by the banks of the Krishna before feasting on a festive spread that included
halal meat.
Source: Times Of India
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Hyderabad: Hindutva groups spreading anti-Muslim hate
through music
13th April 2022
Shaista Khan
Hyderabad: It was in the year 2007 when a little-known
singer Tarun Sagar sang ‘Banayenge Mandir, Kasam Tumhari Ram’, a so-called
bhajan, which gained popularity across not only in India, but also in other
parts of the world where many Hindus live. Millions of CD’s and audio cassettes
of the album were sold across the globe.
Initially, intelligence agencies did not see any
specific threat to law and order or the social fabric of the country through
such albums. A year later however, the Maharashtra police found the content was
responsible for spreading riots in the state. In 2009, the police had banned
the VCD of the album ‘provocative’ songs of Tarun Sagar and another singer Saju
Sharma, both produced by Ambe Series Company.
Many in the intelligence circles across the country
then itself knew that hate speeches will no longer be heard at public
gatherings, instead, the ‘venom spreading’ will be done through songs with
provocative and instigative words to promote and spread hatred.
Around 15 years later, during the Shri Ram Navami
procession in Telangana’s capital Hyderabad, songs with provocative phrases
targeting Muslims were sung by none other than Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)
legislator T Raja Singh himself. He was singing songs set to the tune of Hindi
movie numbers, in which he indirectly warned minorities “to leave the country”.
He sang, “Jo ram ka naam na le unko Bharat se bhagana
hai,” [those who don’t take the name of Lord Ram will have to be chased out of
India]. He also said that after Ayodhya, now in Mathura and Kashi, Uttar
Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath (Ajay Singh Bisht) will make India a
“Hindu Rashtra” very soon.
This is not the first time Raja Singh song went viral
on social media platforms at a religious event, or for indulging such a hateful
act. Earlier, he sang another song ‘Baap Bolteh’ and it too created records
albeit in saffron circles.
Intelligence officials monitoring communal hatred
predicted that more such songs and albums in the future will come. “It is a
tested trend. In the last 15 years, Hindutva groups have found that such songs
are sending a strong message to large audiences and showing good impact. Hence
they will be making more albums,” said an official, who did not want to be
named.
In the market, many such CD’s of local singers who are
termed “Hindutva pop artists” are available at a throwaway prices right under
the nose of the police. Thanks to the remuneration received with each hit,
artists and production companies are posting it on YouTube as well.
Law enforcers on the other hand point out that no
action can be initiated unless complaints are received from someone. “It being
a religious matter we cannot book suo-motu cases and seize the CDs even if
found provocative. It will lead to unnecessary conflict,” explained a police
official.
The fact that the law enforcement agencies are
ignoring the point that such songs are recorded at full-fledged recording
studios and music companies in cities are spending a fortune to make the hate
music albums hit and they are not able to impose a clamp down is a worrying
point, said Amjedullah Khan, MBT leader .
Source: Siasat Daily
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https://www.siasat.com/hyderabad-hindutva-groups-spreading-anti-muslim-hate-through-music-2307498/
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Stop unlawful demolitions of Muslim properties: Amnesty
India
14th April 2022
Amnesty International India on Friday demanded Indian
authorities to stop “apparent unlawful demolitions” of largely Muslim owned
properties in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh.
The human rights group was responding to reports of
demolitions of largely Muslim owned shops and houses following incidents of
communal violence during Sri Ramnavami celebrations in Madhya Pradesh Khargone
district. Amnesty India termed the coercive action as a “collective punishment”
and “violation of human rights laws”.
Aakar Patel, chair of Amnesty International India’s
board said in a statement, “Over the last few days, the country has witnessed
some deeply disturbing events related to unlawful action of demolishing private
property of people suspected of rioting, allegedly without notice or other due
process requirements is a major blow to the rule of law. The majority of the
demolished properties are owned by the Muslims. Such punitive demolition of family
homes of suspects could also amount to collective punishment, violation of
International Human Rights Laws”.
He added that the authorities must “urgently” carry
out a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation into the demolitions
and ensure that those responsible for fanning violence and vandalism are
brought to justice through fair trials. “Victims must be provided with
effective remedy. It is the duty of the State to protect all the people within
its jurisdiction, including minority communities,” the chair of Amnesty
International India stated.
Source: Siasat Daily
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of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/stop-unlawful-demolitions-of-muslim-properties-amnesty-india-2308294/'
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No Anti-Muslim Hate Speech Was Made At Delhi Hindu
Yuva Vahini Event In December, Police Tells SC
14th April 2022
The Delhi Police has told the Supreme Court that no
anti-Muslim hate speech was made by journalist Suresh Chavhanke at a religious
conclave organised in Delhi in December by the Hindutva organisation, Hindu
Yuva Vahini, Live Law reported on Thursday.
The police made the submission in an affidavit filed
in response to a public interest litigation filed by former judge of Patna High
Court Anjana Prakash and journalist Qurban Ali. The petition stated that
between December 17 and 19, hate speeches were made at two separate events –
the one in Delhi and another in Haridwar.
In one of the videos of the Delhi event, Chavhanke,
the editor-in-chief of television channel Sudarshan News, could be seen
administering an oath to a group of people to “die for and kill” to make India
a “Hindu Rashtra”, or a Hindu nation.
However, in the affidavit, the police submitted that
an investigation into the videos of the speeches made at the event showed that
the words used did not target any particular community.
“None of the words spoken during the event described
overtly or explicitly Indian Muslims as usurpers of territory and nothing was
said which could create an environment of paranoia against any religion,” the
police told the court, Live Law reported.
The Delhi Police also alleged that the petitioners
have approached the Supreme Court against the events with “unclean hands”, Live
Law reported. The police questioned why the petitioners had moved the court
before approaching the police.
“The allegations made by the petitioners against the
police authorities that police authorities are hand in glove with perpetrators
of communal hate are baseless and imaginary,” the police contended. “The case
is based on videotape evidence. There is hardly any scope on the part of
investigation agencies to tamper with the evidence or hamper the investigation
in any manner.”
Source: Scroll
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Good Move, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam
Mishra On Cctvs In Mosques
Apr 14, 2022
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra
on Wednesday welcomed the initiative to install CCTV cameras in mosques.
“The initiative of the Bhopal city qazi to impose
CCTVs at mosques is good. If it removes confusion and builds mutual trust, it
should be welcomed,” Mishra said after a delegation of Muslim leaders, led by
Bhopal Shehr Qazi Syed Mustaq Ali Nadvi, met him on Wednesday.
The Shehr Qazi has asked all members to install CCTV
cameras around all mosques.
Mishra said: “I met them and tried to resolve all
their apprehensions. I made it very clear that the innocent will not be
harassed but the guilty will not be spared.” He also urged Muslim leaders to
cooperate in identifying those who disturb communal harmony.
Mishra denied reports that many people were putting
their houses on sale and migrating.
Ahead of festivals, all districts of MP in alert mode,
says Narottam Mishra
Mishra denied reports that many people were putting
their houses on sale and migrating. “It’s baseless information,” he told
mediapersons.
On the Khargone violence, Mishra said the local
administration will take its call on relaxation in curfew after reviewing the
situation. There is peace and order in the district now, he said.
Source: Times Of India
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Muslim Clerics Meet State Home Minister, DGP of Madhya
Prasesh To Voice Their Concern Over Khargone’s Communal Violence
April 14, 2022
A delegation of Muslim clerics led by Bhopal Qazi Syed
Mushtaq Ali Nadwi met Director General of Police (DGP) Sudhir Saxena and the
state Home Minister Narottam Mishra to express its concern over Khargone’s
communal violence incident.
The delegation also voiced its concern over Bajrang
Dal and other Hindu religious groups’ announcement of taking out a procession
in Muslim dominated areas on Hanuman Jayanti(April 16).
They urged the home minister and DGP to ensure tight
security in Muslim dominated areas to avoid any untoward incident in the state
capital.
“Bajrang Dal has announced to take out a procession on
Hanuman Jayanti in Muslim dominated areas, which are highly sensitive with
narrow lanes. They are repeatedly warning on social media to carry out a
procession in Itwara and Budhwara localities. During this ongoing Ramzan festival,
people of Muslim community in these areas are worried,” the delegation stated
in a letter handed over to the state home minister.
The Muslim clerics also informed that CCTV cameras
would be installed in all the mosques across the state. Bhopal Qazi – Syed
Mushtaq Ali Nadwi said the state home minister and the DGP have assured heavy
police force to be deployed to maintain a peaceful situation during Ramzan.
Meanwhile, the delegation voiced its concern over
state government’s action against Muslim community in Khargone. It accused the
police and the state government of baised action.
“This is nothing less than oppression of Muslims.
Those who are guilty should be punished but without probing the veracity of
accusations houses and business establishments of Muslims are being razed,”
said Syed Mushtaq Ali.
Source: The Statesman
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'Rape threat' to Muslim women: Seer Bajrang Muni Das
held for Sitapur hate speech
14th April 2022
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday
arrested Bajrang Muni Das of Maharishi Shri Laxman Das Udasi Ashram, days after
he allegedly made a hate speech and issued a "rape threat" in
Sitapur.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order)
Prashant Kumar told PTI that police arrested him in Sitapur.
Bajrang Muni Das, the mahant of Maharshi Shri Lakshman
Das Udaseen Ashram in Khairabad town of Sitapur, had allegedly made a hate
speech against Muslims on April 2.
A video of it later surfaced on social media
platforms.
In the two-minute video of the speech made outside a
mosque, he could be heard using the term "jehadi" to refer to a
community and threatening them if any Hindu girl is harassed by any man of that
community, he would himself rape their women.
A video of him apologising for his statement surfaced
on Friday evening, hours after police lodged an FIR against him.
Questioning the delay in the arrest of the seer, the
Samajwadi Party had on Wednesday called the ruling BJP the "biggest enemy
of brotherhood".
"Why are police still empty handed? The
government should answer.
When will the bulldozer run on the accused? The CM
should tell," the party asked in a tweet.
The post was followed by another tweet by SP president
Akhilesh Yadav in which he asked CM Yogi Adityanath to act against the
criminals hiding behind a saint's robe.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said
there is no place for riots in Uttar Pradesh, stressing that the Ram Navami
celebrations coinciding with Ramzan went off without any incident of violence
-- not even an altercation or "tu-tu, main-main".
His remark at an event Tuesday came against the
backdrop of recent cases of communal violence in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,
West Bengal and Gujarat.
Adityanath said the situation during Ram Navami
reflected the "new thinking of development" in UP.
He said Ram Navami-related processions were taken out
at 800 places in the state that has a population of 25 crore.
It is also the month of Ramzan and
"roza-iftar" programmes are also being held, he added.
"Nowhere has there been any 'tu-tu, main-main'
(altercation), leave alone rioting."
"There is no place for 'danga-phasad'
(rioting)," he said, adding that the state also has no room for anarchy,
goodaism and rumour-mongering.
"Uttar Pradesh has proved this on the occasion of
Ram Navami, the pious 'jayanti' of 'Maryada Purshottam Shri Ram'," he
said.
No communal riot was reported during Ram Navami in the
state.
However, the opposition Samajwadi Party had targeted
the BJP government after a hate speech against Muslims by a seer, demanding his
arrest.
Bajrang Muni Das, who had allegedly made the
provocative remarks in Sitapur on the first day of Navratras, was arrested on
Wednesday.
In the run-up to the assembly polls that brought
Adityanath to power for a second consecutive term recently, law and order was
projected as one of the main agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Source: New Indian Express
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Terrorists gun down civilian in J&K, 6th targeted
attack in 11 days
Apr 14, 2022
SRINAGAR: Terrorists shot dead a 55-year-old driver
from the Rajput community in south Kashmir's Kulgam district late Wednesday,
taking the number of attacks targeting mostly migrants and Kashmiri Pandits in
the Valley to six in 11 days.
The police identified the victim as Satish Kumar
Singh, a resident of Kulgam’s Kakran area. He was attacked around 7.30pm and
took bullets in the head and chest, an officer said. Police suspect the
involvement of a new Lashkar-e-Taiba recruit in the attack.
The rash of targeted terror strikes started on April
2, when two migrant labourers from Bihar suffered bullet injuries in Pulwama.
The next day, another two non-Kashmiris were wounded by terrorists in the same
district, coinciding with an attack in Srinagar targeting two CRPF personnel,
one of whom was killed. A Kashmiri Pandit pharmacy owner was shot and injured
in Shopian the same day. On April 7, another migrant labourer from Punjab, Sonu
Sharma, was injured in a terror attack in Pulwama’s Yadur village.
On Wednesday, two police personnel deployed near
Satish's house heard gunfire and, on looking around, found him lying in a pool
of blood, said officials. The 55-year-old was rushed to a Srinagar hospital,
where he died while being treated.
The area was cordoned off immediately after the attack
to trace the perpetrators. “Terrorists involved in this gruesome terror crime
will be neutralised soon. Search to track the involved terrorists in progress,”
Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.
Source: Times Of India
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Southeast Asia
Puad offers to buy sultan’s painting depicting MPs as
apes and frogs
April 14, 2022
PETALING JAYA: Umno Supreme Council member Puad
Zarkashi has offered to buy the painting that depicts MPs in the Dewan Rakyat
as apes and frogs bought by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris
Shah.
Puad said he would buy the painting from Sultan
Sahrafuddin, which currently hangs in the sultan’s private study room, if the
ruler planned to auction it off one day.
“If the painting is mine, it will not be sold any
more. I will give it as a gift to Muzium Negara to put it up for public
viewing,” said the Rengit assemblyman in a Facebook post.
The sultan’s purchase of the painting generated a lot
of buzz after the Selangor palace posted several photos of it.
The palace said the painting had attracted the
sultan’s attention and that he planned to auction it one day and donate the
proceeds to charity.
While the painting drew a positive response from many
social media users, former religious affairs minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa said
it went against Islamic teachings.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Rights groups slam harassment of Thai Muslim activist
April 14, 2022
The harassment of a prominent Thai rights advocate has
drawn condemnation from rights groups that have called on authorities to
investigate.
An unidentified woman wearing a mask threw a pair of
large scissors at Angkhana Neelapaijit’s house in Bangkok before running away
on April 12, according to CCTV camera footage.
The scissors made a hole in the front door of the
outspoken rights advocate, who once served as a commissioner of the National
Human Rights Commission and is now a member of the United Nations Working Group
on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
Following the incident, Angkhana, 66, said she and her
family are feeling vulnerable because the Justice Ministry canceled her
personal protection under the government’s witness protection program on April
1 with the authorities saying she was no longer in danger of being harmed.
The Muslim woman rose to prominence in Thailand as a
rights defender after her husband, Somchai Neelapaijit, a lawyer in southern
Thailand who represented Muslim men accused of participating in an armed
insurgency against the state, disappeared in 2004.
Somchai, who accused the authorities of torturing and
abusing Muslim detainees, was forced into a car in Bangkok and has not been
seen since in what rights group say was a clear case of enforced disappearance.
Rights groups say the attack on Angkhana’s house was a
troubling development.
“Violent acts intended to intimidate a well-known
figure like Angkhana not only pose a threat to her and her family but send a
spine-chilling message to the entire Thai human rights community,” Elaine
Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
“The Thai government should respond immediately by undertaking
a serious investigation to ensure that everyone responsible for this incident
is held accountable.”
Angkhana has long been a thorn in the side of Thai
authorities with her outspoken stance on cases of enforced disappearances in
the Southeast Asian nation.
Over the years scores of rights activists,
environmental campaigners and political dissidents have disappeared under
suspicious circumstances. Investigations into these disappearances have stalled
or been quietly been dropped.
“[Thai] citizens might fall victim to torture or
enforced disappearance, but the state is not ready to hold perpetrators
accountable,” warned Piyanut Kotsan, director of Amnesty International
Thailand.
Source: UCA News
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Rohingya Militant Group Targeting Malaysia-Based
Refugees with Online Campaign
By Jasminder Singh and Rueben Dass
April 13, 2022
Myanmar has been in a state of constant internal
turmoil since the late 1940s, and one of the deadliest conflicts has been
between the majority Buddhist population and the country’s Muslim minorities,
especially in Rakhine State. There has been a long history of contention
between the two communities in the region.
As a result, more than a million Rohingyas have become
refugees today, primarily in neighbouring Bangladesh, with others finding their
way to Muslim-majority states like Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Today,
there are more Rohingyas outside Myanmar than remain inside the country.
Rohingyas in Malaysia
There are more than 100,000 Rohingyas in Malaysia,
mostly living as refugees, and generally they are well-treated. A major plank
of Malaysian policy has been to extend a humanitarian hand to the Rohingyas
fleeing persecution in Myanmar. The Malaysian government, especially under the
leadership of Prime Minister Najib Razak from 2009 to 2018, was welcoming to
the Rohingyas and was one of the nations most critical of Myanmar’s hardline
policy toward the community. Najib’s successor, Mahathir Mohamad, continued
Malaysia’s critical policy towards Naypyidaw over its policies in Rakhine
State. In July 2019, Mahathir said that Myanmar should either treat the
Rohingyas as its nationals or give them a separate state.
Over the years, the Malaysian security landscape has
had to deal with some extremist Islamist groups operating in the country, such
as the pro-Al-Qaeda Jemaah Islamiyah and elements that supported the
self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). There have been concerns raised about the
possibility of segments of the Rohingya community in Malaysia coming under
radical influence.
Armed Rohingya Groups in Myanmar
An issue that has plagued Rohingya refugee communities
is the possible infiltration of radical or terrorist groups (or individuals).
Given the fierce inter-communal conflict in Myanmar, some Rohingyas have
advocated violence against the government, either to prevent the Myanmar state
and its proxies from harming them or to seek independent statehood.
While many members of the Rohingya diaspora remain in
denial about this reality, a number of Rohingya groups have taken up arms, even
though they remain largely weak and in no position to challenge the security
apparatus in Myanmar. Some of these groups include the Arakan Rohingya National
Organisation (ARNO), Arakan Rohingya Islamic Front (ARIF), Rohingya Solidarity
Organisaton (RSO-Dr. Yunus faction), the Katiba al-Mahdi fi Bilad al-Arakan,
the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO-Mohammad Zakaria faction) and its
armed wing, the Rohingya National Army (RNA). Many of these groups operate in
the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh or along the Myanmar-Bangladesh
border. Since 2017, one group has emerged as a key security concern for
Myanmar, namely, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
There have been rising concerns that some of these
armed groups may have penetrated the Rohingya refugee community in Malaysia.
While one does not see the mass radicalization of refugees in Malaysia, there
is apparently some level of ongoing radicalization. This can be largely
attributed to ARSA’s penetration in the Rohingya community even though this is
publicly denied both by the group and the Rohingyas in Malaysia.
Publicly, ARSA and its supporters have denounced the
use of violence in achieving its political goal, which is to be the voice and
sole representative of the Rohingyas. Despite that, ARSA has been blamed by the
Myanmar security forces for several violent attacks on them along the
Bangladesh-Myanmar border. ARSA has also denied that it is linked to any
transnational jihadist terrorist group such as Al-Qaida or IS and remains
largely ethno-nationalist in its ideology.
ARSA’s Penetration of Malaysia’s Rohingya Community
Evidence is emerging that ARSA and its supporters have
been targeting Rohingyas in Malaysia for recruitment. The view that ARSA is
weak and ineffective in Malaysia in its outreach to Rohingyas can be partly
debunked by the online penetration ARSA has been making in Malaysia. This has
taken place largely through YouTube channels and Facebook pages.
The first example is a YouTube Channel called Rohingya
Malay Kelas (Rohingya Malay Class) that was set up on December 23, 2019 and was
recently renamed Rohingya Reality TV. Ostensibly, it is an instructional
platform, aimed at teaching Malay and English language to the Rohingya
refugees. Yet, when one analyses the more than 4,000 videos uploaded since
2019, there are several that propagate
ARSA’s goals even if many others do not. On the whole, the channel’s videos
have garnered more than 10 million views.
On Facebook, the page RO Malay Kelas was created on
May 8, 2020. Before the page was shut down recently by Facebook, it had
garnered 1,817 followers. Its associated YouTube channel, Rohingya ARSA
Supporters, was established on April 22 of the same year and 396 videos had
been uploaded as of February 2021. The channel has since been shut down. Many
of the videos uploaded on the channel were songs which are related to Rohingya
culture, but mostly depicting the sad and tragic lives of the Rohingya
community. The Rohingya ARSA Supporters channel clocked up 2,909,829 views
during the time of its operation.
YouTube and Facebook platforms are important means of
ARSA outreach in Malaysia. This is evident from the fact that there are a
number of video messages from the ARSA leader, Atta Ullah. The ARSA commander’s
messages are mostly aimed at gaining support and legitimacy from the Rohingya
refugees in Malaysia, and seeking financial, political, and even personnel
support to challenge the Myanmar authorities.
In addition to conveying messages of support and
assistance from the Rohingyas for ARSA, an important aim of these platforms is
to undermine the policies of the Myanmar government and even to criticize
Rohingyas who are prepared to collaborate with the Myanmar authorities. In the
same vein, Rohingya leaders residing in Malaysia who are seen as an obstacle to
the ARSA’s cause have also been criticized. One particular video targeted Zafar
Ahmad Abdul Ghani, the president of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights
Organisation in Malaysia. In the video, it was mentioned that Zafar Ahmad
should refrain from referring to himself as a Rohingya community leader as he
had no knowledge of the problems faced by the Rohingyas in Malaysia.
Implications for Malaysia and the Wider Region
Clearly, ARSA is active in Malaysia within the
country’s Rohingya refugee community, and has been able to penetrate it through
digital means. This suggests that ARSA is simply not an organization that
operates in Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia. Under the leadership of Atta
Ullah, the group has carried out sporadic and violent attacks on Myanmar
security forces along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.
The ability of ARSA to spread its message through
online platforms such as YouTube and Facebook shows its adaptability and the
success of its outreach, not just in Malaysia but also probably elsewhere in
Southeast Asia where Rohingya refugees are found, such as in Indonesia and
Thailand. The use of online platforms has become even more important since the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when more and more people are spending
larger amounts of time in online spaces.
The fact that videos continue to be produced on a
weekly basis demonstrates the activism of ARSA and its intent to spread its
influence in Malaysia. The full impact of this will only be known after
COVID-19 wanes, when ARSA renews its attacks on Myanmar security forces within
the country or Myanmar’s vital interests overseas, including in Southeast Asia.
Source: The Diplomat
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Zahid tells court charity work could not continue as
Yayasan Akalbudi funds frozen
13 Apr 2022
KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — Former deputy prime minister
Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the High Court here today that he could not
continue with his charity work after the Yayasan Akalbudi funds were frozen.
Ahmad Zahid, 69, disclosed this when questioned by his
counsel, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal in his defence against 47 charges involving
criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering.
“Since I was charged in court (in 2018), the (Yayasan
Akalbudi) bank account was frozen and I could no longer provide welfare aid,”
he said when testifying from the witness stand during the first day of his
defence proceeding.
The Member of Parliament for Bagan Datuk said the
foundation’s funds were not only channelled for welfare work in the
constituency, but also for the construction of a mosque in Yunnan, China which
cost RM3.8 million and renovation work for a 400-year-old mosque in a Malay village
in Cape Town, South Africa which cost US$1 million (RM4.2 million).
“Besides that, Yayasan Akalbudi bore the cost of
renovating an old church building that was bought by the Muslim community in
Perth, Australia to be turned into a mosque.
“Yayasan Akalbudi also provided millions of ringgit in
funds for printing the Quran to be distributed to a number of countries with
Muslim minorities such as Cambodia, China and Korea,” he added.
Ahmad Zahid said the foundation also contributed RM8
million for the building of dataran Masjid Tuminah Hamidi (which is still under
construction), besides channelling aid to Chinese and Indian families in
conjunction with the Chinese New Year and Deepavali celebrations.
Ahmad Zaidi: The objectives of Yayasan Akalbudi were
towards contributing to Islam, so why were its funds channelled to other
religions?
Ahmad Zahid: I’m a true Malaysian and Islam is my
religion. I’m being fair to others religion as it is my responsibility to
provide facilities for people of other religions to enable them to carry out
their religious activities.
He said the foundation also bore the expenses for
tickets, hotel accommodation, and food and drinks of police and other security
personnel involved in operations related to the MH17 tragedy (July 17, 2014).
Questioned by Ahmad Zaidi why the Malaysian government
did not bear the cost but the foundation did it instead, Ahmad Zahid said the
incident happened suddenly while the advance had not come yet from the
government.
“Therefore, the foundation bore the expenditure of the
forensic and Royal Malaysia Police teams and members of the other security
forces to be sent there (Ukraine) to identify the bodies of the MH17 crash
victims. The Inspector-General of Police and I also went to Ukraine,” he added.
Ahmad Zahid is facing 47 charges with 12 of these
involving CBT, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering involving tens
of millions of ringgit of Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
Source: Malay Mail
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Putrajaya ups special grant for Sabah by more than 4
times
April 14, 2022
PETALING JAYA: Putrajaya will be increasing its annual
payment to Sabah to RM125.6 million this year, more than quadruple the RM26.7
million paid to the state previously.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob also said this
amount will increase every year for the 2023 to 2026 period, according to a
rate jointly agreed by Putrajaya and the Sabah government.
Ismail said this decision came after the federal and
state governments reached a consensus on reviewing the special grant to Sabah
under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution.
“At the same time, the federal and Sabah governments
will continue negotiating Sabah’s demand for 40% of revenue from Sabah and
reviewing the special grant under Article 112D.
“This is to agree on a new special grant amount that
can balance Sabah’s needs without affecting the federal government’s financial
position,” the prime minister said.
If both sides could agree on the new figure before
2026, he said the amount would replace that of the special grants paid to Sabah
from 2022.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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South Asia
Religious Scholars in Paktika Province Urges Taliban
to Reopen Girls’ Schools
13 Apr 2022
A group of religious scholars gathered from different
districts of the province and urged the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to
reopen secondary schools for girls in the country.
The scholars urged that education is compulsory for
both males and females and that women should avail the same rights to education
as men do in Afghanistan.
“Female education is necessary because women form half
of the society on the one hand and Islam has clarified everything for
dignified, religious, and modern studies on the other.” Said the scholars.
They asked for strengthening Afghanistan’s educational
sector where girls are allowed to get an education so that Afghanistan better
competes with other countries.
The scholars applauded measures taken in terms of
women’s rights but asked for more work in reducing the level of violation
against Afghan women.
Source: Khaama Press
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Ramadan unites Muslims and Christians in Bangladesh
By Stephan Uttom
April 14, 2022
Shofiq Ahmed wished to buy a rich array of food items
for his family of four for iftar (fast-breaking evening meal) during the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan that started in early April.
Spiraling prices of daily commodities thanks to high
inflation, impacts of war in Ukraine and market manipulation by unscrupulous
business syndicates dashed his hopes.
“I wanted to buy eggs, fish and meat for the family
like previous Ramadans, but I cannot. Due to price hikes, I can only afford
eggs, not fish or meat anymore,” Ahmed, 45, a father of two, told UCA News.
The Muslim man runs a small tea stall in Manikganj
town of central Bangladesh, about 60 kilometers north of capital Dhaka. He is
the only breadwinner for the family and the stall is his only source of
livelihood.
From morning to midnight, Ahmed keeps the stall open,
selling tea and snacks including cookies to customers, mostly Muslims and some
Hindus. He can earn about 300 taka (US$3.50) per day.
Due to the month of fasting, his customers have
dropped in a town where Muslims comprise 90 percent of the population. Despite
religious restrictions, he has kept his stall open during Ramadan as he has no
other income.
In fact, Ahmed had hard times during Covid-19 and
lengthy lockdowns in the past two years, forcing him to close the stall. He had
to spend all his savings amid the loss of income.
“Before the pandemic I could earn 500 taka each day,
but it has dropped to 300 taka today. Moreover, the cost of living has
increased. Every day I have to spend 90 taka for rice alone and nothing is left
after daily expenses,” he lamented.
As of now, beef sells for 650-700 taka per kilogram,
chicken for 200 taka per kg, most fish for 200 taka and one dozen eggs for 110
taka.
“Eggs are our last resort but we have managed to have
eggs on only two days since Ramadan started,” Ahmed said, adding that he gets
upset every time he goes to the market to buy daily essentials.
Despite these sorry circumstances, Ahmed says he will
save some money and buy new clothes for his two children to cheer them during
the Eid-al-Fitr festival.
Poor villagers like Ahmed have had some relief as the
government has expanded Open Market Sales (OMS), a state-run subsidized food
security scheme, in urban and rural areas in recent weeks. Over the past week,
Ahmed has been buying daily essentials like rice, lentils, flour and oil from
an OMS point in his town.
Moreover, a local voluntary organization has been
arranging iftar packets for dozens of poor people, so he also collects an iftar
packet, though paltry, for his children every evening.
Like millions of Muslims around the globe, those in
Bangladesh began fasting from April 3, the first day of Ramadan.
To adjust to Ramadan, the government has rescheduled
working times for government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous
offices from 9am to 3.30pm instead of the usual 10am to 6pm, with a 15-minute
prayer break. Non-government organizations have also adjusted their schedules.
Efforts are made to make Ramadan and iftar occasions
for promoting harmony and expressing concerns for the poor in the
Muslim-majority country.
Catholic banker Pradeep Murmu said his colleagues have
been inviting him to iftar meals every day even though he is not fasting.
“I’m a Catholic but my Muslim colleagues always invite
me to participate in their iftar party and I try to join them. It promotes
friendship and brotherhood and eliminates divisions,” Murmu, an ethnic Santal,
told UCA News.
This year he has joined with his Muslim friends and
contributed money for a community iftar.
Though Murmu is happy to share the Ramadan spirit with
Muslims, he also feels uneasy to eat in front of Muslims when he is hungry. “We
feel uncomfortable to eat in front of Muslim friends because this may break
their fast,” said Murmu, who is based in capital Dhaka.
Christians make up less than half a percent of more
than 160 million people in Bangladesh. Most of the estimated 600,000 Christians
are Catholics.
“I know the Caritas NGO is working in Manikganj. I
received some money and daily essentials from Caritas when I was struggling
during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Muslim man Ahmed said.
Apart from attending and hosting iftar parties,
Christians take up various activities during Ramadan to express their respect
for followers of Islam and to promote religious harmony, Catholic officials
say.
Christian education institutes maintain a Ramadan
schedule for the convenience of Muslim students, said Father Patrick Gomes,
secretary of the Catholic bishops’ Commission for Christian Unity and
Interreligious Dialogue.
He said the commission has publicized Ramadan messages
from Pope Francis’ and commission president Archbishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze of
Dhaka. Similarly, Eid messages from the pope and the local Church will be
delivered before the festival.
Eight Catholic dioceses arrange one-day iftar parties
attended by Islamic clerics and social and political leaders, the priest said.
However, Father Gomes said, there has been no custom
of Sunday and weekday collections to provide iftar for poor Muslims like Ahmed,
but individuals and groups arrange iftar meals for Muslims in their areas.
“Ramadan and iftar gatherings are great opportunities
to promote interfaith dialogue,” Father Gomes, based in Rajshahi Diocese, told
UCA News.
Ahead of the Eid festival, churches will send Eid
greetings cards to government institutions and Islamic clerics, while the
diocese will install banners in streets to greet Muslims during Eid, the priest
added.
Source: UCA News
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Taliban Tries Seven Kidnappers and Others in Military
Court
13 Apr 2022
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has announced that they
have tried seven kidnappers, an assassin, a forger, and other criminals in
their military court.
Chief spokesperson of the IEA Zabiullah Mujahid in a
press release on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, said that the criminals were
sentenced to different periods of jail and other punishments.
Zabiullah Mujahid said that the military court tries
only those who pretend to be members of the IEA and then commit different
crimes.
This is the first time that the Taliban tries
criminals in their military court since the takeover of the IEA.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/taliban-tries-seven-kidnappers-and-others-in-military-court-76897687/
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Afghanistan’s Central Bank Lifts Limitations on Salary
Withdrawal
13 Apr 2022
Afghanistan’s Central Bank-Da Afghanistan Bank-
announced that limitations on salary withdrawal of government and private
employees have been lifted.
On Wednesday, April 13, 2022, the spokesperson of DAB
Sabir Momand in a video clip said that all government and private employees can
withdraw their stipends without any limitations.
In Afghanistan, the limitation for money withdrawal
was $200 or Afs 30,000 per week which is now lifted in terms of salaries.
“Da Afghanistan Bank decided to lift limitations on
salaries of government and private employees for the sake of rebuilding the
country’s banking and financial sectors. Hence, all private banks should pay
the salaries of government and private employees based on the demand of
employees.” Said Momand.
It comes days after the Deputy Prime Minister and head
of the economic commission of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Mullah Abdul
Ghani Baradar asked for establishing a mechanism for reducing limitations.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/afghanistans-central-bank-lifts-limitations-on-salary-withdrawal-74756465/
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Europe
Paris attacks suspect says he changed his mind at last
moment
April 13, 2022
PARIS: The last surviving suspected assailant in the
deadly 2015 Paris attacks told a court Wednesday that he changed his mind about
going through with the killings at the last moment.
“The objective I was given was to go to a cafe in the
18th” district in northern Paris, Salah Abdeslam told the special Paris court
hearing the case.
“I’m going into the cafe, I’m ordering a drink, I’m
looking at the people around me — and I said to myself: ‘No, I’m not going to
do it’,” he added.
For the plaintiffs in the case, including the loved
ones of victims of the November 2015 attacks that killed 130 people, this was
testimony they had been waiting months to hear.
Abdeslam, 32, said he was told about plans for the
attack in Paris on November 11, two days before they were carried out.
That happened at a meeting in Charleroi, in Belgium,
with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is accused of having masterminded the attacks.
Until then, said Abdeslam, he thought he was going to
be sent to Syria. Instead, he was told he had been chosen to carry out an
attack using an explosive belt.
“It was a shock for me, but he ended up by convincing
me,” he added.
“I ended up accepting and saying, ‘Okay, I’ll go ahead
with it’.”
But at that meeting, he was given no details about the
targets for the attack.
When he ultimately did not go through with the attack,
he told the court how he took his car and drove around Paris at random until it
broke down.
Then he got out and walked, he said, saying his
memories of that period were “confused.”
Pressed by the president of the court Jean-Louis
Peries, he said only that he knew what he had been supposed to do.
“My brother, he had a belt, a Kalashnikov, I know he’s
going to open fire, I know he’s going to blow himself up, but I didn’t know the
targets.”
The attackers killed 130 people in suicide bombings and
shootings at the Stade de France stadium, the Bataclan concert hall and on
street terraces of bars and restaurants on November 13, 2015, in France’s worst
peacetime atrocity.
Abdeslam’s older brother Brahim opened fire on a cafe
terrace before blowing himself up.
Earlier in court another defendant, Mohamed Abrini,
said Abdeslam simply had not had the nerve to go through with the attack.
Abrini, who is accused of having provided weapons and
logistical support to the attackers, said he had seen Abdeslam when he turned
up at a safe house a day after the attacks.
“He was exhausted, tired, he looked pale,” said
Abrini.
One of the organizers of the attacks had yelled at him
for not having blown himself up.
“I think he told them that his belt hadn’t worked,”
said Abrini.
Abdeslam told the court last month that in fact he had
been lying about the malfunction.
After surviving the attack, Abdeslam fled to the
Molenbeek district of Brussels where he grew up. He was captured in March 2016.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2062706/world
--------
Iranian embassy in London denies Guardian's report
April 14, 2022
The Iranian embassy in London denied a report by the
British Guardian newspaper on 'Russia is receiving munitions and military
hardware sourced from Iraq for its war effort in Ukraine with the help of
Iranian weapons smuggling networks.'
The Iranian embassy in London tweeted, that Today's
(Tuesday, April 12th) article in the Guardian titled "Russia using weapons
smuggling by Iran from Iraq against Ukraine" is unrealistic and baseless
storytelling.
"Trying to link the recent developments in
Ukraine to the developments in the Middle East and mentioning the name of the
Islamic Republic of Iran is an unprofessional and unacceptable act and a kind
of disrespect to the readers of the newspaper," the embassy added.
"The Iranian embassy in London wrote in another
tweet, that The Guardian is expected to publish the truth, but today's article
contradicts this approach. We express our protest against this matter and
demand the necessary action in this regard," the tweet reads.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin
signed a decree recognizing two Russia-backed regions in eastern Ukraine, the
Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in the Donbas region, as independent
criticizing the West for ignoring Moscow's security concerns.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said
in an early morning televised address that he had launched a special military
operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the leaders of the
Donbas republics.
Source: ABNA24
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//iranian-embassy-in-london-denies-guardians-report_1247795.html
--------
UK has ‘abandoned’ US-Briton held in Iran: Daughter
13 April ,2022
The UK government has “abandoned” Morad Tahbaz, an
environmental campaigner held in Iran, his daughter said on Wednesday, a month
after two other UK-Iranians were freed and returned.
Tahbaz, 69, who holds British, US and Iranian
citizenship, remains in prison in Tehran while Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and
Anoosheh Ashoori flew home in March after the UK government repaid a historic
debt to Tehran.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
The British government “led us to believe all this
time that he was to be a part of any deal they were making for the other
hostages,” Roxanne Tahbaz told AFP as she protested outside Britain’s foreign
office in London.
“Yet he’s still there. He’s been abandoned by his
government. And we have still yet to have any answers for that and a plan
forward,” she said, holding a poster reading “Bring My Dad Home.”
Britain’s foreign ministry told Tahbaz’s family that
when the other hostages were released, Iran had agreed to free Tahbaz on
unrestricted curfew.
But Roxanne said that her father, who has been treated
for cancer, was returned to Tehran’s Evrin prison within 24 hours of his
partial release.
Officials from Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s ministry
have said that Tahbaz’s London-born father’s case was different because of his
US nationality.
“The foreign office said that his situation was more
complicated because the Iranians saw him as an American citizen,” Roxanne said.
“But we felt strongly that it wasn’t up to them
actually, the UK should have stood their ground, he’s a British citizen. He was
born here and that should have protected him.”
“We’ve been patient for four years, and quiet, just as
advised, but we can’t wait any more,” she said.
Campaigners are also calling for British-Iranian
labour rights activist Mehran Raoof, who was detained in October 2020, to be
freed.
Amnesty International’s Sacha Deshmukh said he was at
the protest outside Truss’s office “to send a message to the British government
and to the foreign secretary that no one should be left behind.”
“The important thing for us to remember, whether it’s
Mehran or Morad, or indeed Nazanin or Anoosheh when they were in prison before,
is that we’re talking about ordinary people,” Amnesty UK’s CEO Deshmukh told
AFP.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/04/13/UK-has-abandoned-US-Briton-held-in-Iran-Daughter
--------
North America
Muslim Association Of Canada Says Canada Tax Agency
Guilty Of Systemic Bias And Islamophobia
April 14, 2022
Canada's largest Muslim charitable organization
launched a court challenge Wednesday that alleges the Canada Revenue Agency
(CRA) probe into its affairs is rife with Islamophobia.
The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) wants the CRA
audit stopped because it is unfairly "tainted by systemic bias and
Islamophobia," according to a statement by MAC.
The CRA is Canada's income tax department.
“The Audit would never have been approached in the way
it has been had the organization in question been Christian, Jewish or Hindu,”
said Geoff Hall, lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault LLP, in the statement. “Facts
which are innocuous, and that would be regarded as such for a faith-based
organization of a religion other than Islam, have been taken as a basis for
suspicion of MAC and its activities.”
While the conclusion of the audit, which originated in
2015, has not been announced, the Muslim registered charity fears that a
"prejudiced" report will be issued and "extreme sanctions"
will be enacted that could result in MAC losing its charitable tax status.
Donors would not then be issued a tax receipt and
contributions to the charity would be impaired.
"This audit is a textbook example of prejudice
and discrimination," said Hall.
Among the findings the association said are egregious:
"The CRA claims that MAC activities, such (as) Eid celebrations, are not
religious but rather social."
As well, the CRA contends that the association's
sports, social and recreational activities for youths "do not provide a
charitable benefit."
MAC’s court application seeks an order stopping the
audit and confirming that MAC’s rights have been infringed under sections 2(a)
(freedom of religion), 2(b) (freedom of expression), 2(d) (freedom of
association) and 15 (equality) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Source: Yenisafak
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--------
US: Minnesota Muslims ask for clemency for mosque
bombers
By Zainab Iqbal
13 April 2022
Muslims in the US state of Minnesota have successfully
appealed for two people involved in bombing a mosque to be granted reduced
prison sentences after they voiced remorse for their crime.
Leaders from the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in
Bloomington wrote to Judge Donovan W Frank ahead of Tuesday's sentencing,
appealing for the court to exercise compassion and grant reduced jail terms to
Michael McWhorter and Joe Morri.
McWhorter, Morri and Emily Claire Hari - formally
known as Michael Hari - bombed the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in 2017 in an
attack which caused significant damage to the mosque but did not harm
worshippers.
On Tuesday, McWhorter and Morri were sentenced to 16
and 14 years in prison respectively. In September, Hari was sentenced to 53
years.
The trio were part of a white supremacist terrorist
militia named The White Rabbits, established in Clarence, Illinois.
"Our community continues to digest and recover
from this instance of hate, but we will not let it change our outlook for the
future," the letter read.
"The harm that was done is real, the crime that
was committed is real, the horror of what happened is real, but what's also
real is our opportunity to offer real forgiveness, and lead by example. We
believe that only through forgiveness can we have any real chance to heal and
move forward."
What happened?
On 5 August 2017, at around 5:00 am, Hari, Morris and
McWhorter used a sledgehammer to break the window at the Islamic centre.
According to the Justice Department, they threw a
plastic container containing a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline into the Dar
al-Farooq office, and then lit the fuse on a 20-pound (9kg) black powder pipe
bomb. They threw the bomb through the broken window and escaped.
At the time, the mosque's executive director, Mohamed
Omar, was taking a nap in the office next door. He told Middle East Eye he had
been working all night and fell asleep on a sofa. He woke up to a loud bang and
assumed he was hallucinating. He soon found himself confused and on the ground
when a mosque worker came inside and pulled him out.
Board member Abulahi Farah recalled how he was unable
to make it to the mosque for fajr (dawn prayers), as he was getting his
children ready for weekend school.
He received a text message at the time saying:
"Come quick, we got bombed." He thought it must have been mistakenly
autocorrected, and called Omar, who didn't pick up. Another congregant
eventually told him the mosque was on fire .
"I saw Mohamed sitting on the pavement on the
side of the gymnasium. I told him 'don't call anyone'. Because at that moment,
we were afraid. We had gotten so used to hiding. When anything bad happened,
all we did was hide because we didn’t want any media attention. Because all
attention was bad," Farah told MEE. "But Mohamed looked at me and
said ‘What are you talking about? I almost died’, and he walked away with
disgust."
According to the Justice Department, the blast caused
extensive damage to the office and caused extensive fire and smoke damage. At
the time of the bombing, there were several worshippers already inside for fajr
prayers. But no one was hurt.
Where it all began
Farah says the local Muslim community had been living
in fear long before the mosque opened in 2011. They had felt a huge pushback
from the mostly white suburban community when they purchased the former
elementary school in the hopes of building a mosque.
Farah said, however, that those who opposed the mosque
were also against a Walmart moving into the neighbourhood.
"They felt that low-income people would move in
with a Walmart and with our mosque. The majority of the people they were afraid
of moving in were immigrants, Black immigrants. We matched their fight, and
they continued to drive that wrench," he said.
Immediately after the mosque was established, several
people from the neighbourhood created a blog comparing the neighbourhood
"before Black people and Muslims and after", Omar explained. They'd
frequently accuse the mosque congregants of being jihadists, he said.
Every Friday, neighbours would stand outside the
mosque, Omar added, and take videos and photos, harassing congregants as they
would enter the mosque for prayers.
Local media site Sahan Journal reported that a
Confederate flag was raised on a tree near the mosque.
Following the bombing, the administration of President
Donald Trump stayed silent, with Sebastian Gorka, who served as a deputy
assistant to the president, saying the White House would "wait and
see" in case the attack turned out to be a hoax.
"It was everything you don't want to hear at that
point in your life. It made everyone suspect us. We were sitting in fear and we
were hopeless," Omar said.
While he believes retribution is important, he said it
was important that the perpetrators were rehabilitated and reintegrated into
society.
"This closed another chapter of our lives. We can
not live this way. We forgave so that we can heal together. This is what you
call restorative justice," Omar said.
Source: Middle East Eye
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-minnesota-muslim-community-mosque-bombers-forgiveness
--------
US apologized to UAE for delayed response to Houthi
attacks: Report
Michael Gabriel Hernandez
13.04.2022
WASHINGTON
Secretary of State Antony Blinken apologized to the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month for the US response to attacks on the
emirates from Yemen's Houthi rebels, according to a report published Wednesday.
Blinken issued the mea culpa to Crown Prince Mohamed
bin Zayed al-Nahyan during a meeting last month in Morocco, the Axios news
website reported.
The UAE had been frustrated about the US response to
Houthi attacks just as Washington has been vexed by Abu Dhabi's response to
Russia's war against Ukraine.
Washington has been pushing allies, including
long-standing partners in the Gulf, to adopt a hard line against Russia's
aggression. But the emirates and other Gulf Arab allies, including Saudi
Arabia, have maintained a neutral if not pro-Russian policy.
The Emirates abstained from a Security Council vote in
February condemning Russia's assault. It also abstained from last week's UN
General Assembly vote that booted Russia from the Human Rights Council.
Blinken told bin Zayed that the Biden administration took
too long to respond to the Houthi attacks on the emirates, and apologized,
Axios reported.
A senior State Department official who spoke to Axios
on condition of anonymity did not deny that Blinken conveyed the US apology but
did not comment on the private diplomatic discussions.
“The Secretary made clear that we deeply value our
partnership with the UAE and that we will continue to stand by our partners in
the face of common threats," the official said.
But the response to the Houthi attacks was just one of
several significant strains on the bilateral relationship.
In addition to Abu Dhabi's displeasure with the US
response to the attacks, the UAE has also been frustrated with the Biden
administration's refusal to reimpose a terrorist designation on the Houthis.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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--------
2 Illinois men get 30 years in Minnesota mosque
bombing
April 14, 2022
Two Illinois men who helped bomb a Minnesota mosque in
2017 on Tuesday received prison sentences far below the 35-year mandatory
minimum that they had faced, after victims and prosecutors asked for leniency
because the men cooperated and testified against the mastermind of the attack.
Michael McWhorter, 33, was sentenced to just under 16
years in prison and Joe Morris, 26, was sentenced to about 14 years. Both
testified in the 2020 trial against Emily Claire Hari, the leader of a small
Illinois militia group called the “White Rabbits.”
Hari was convicted in late 2020 and sentenced last year
to 53 years in prison for the attack on Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center, a mosque
in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank said Tuesday that
the men's “substantial assistance” allowed him to issue penalties below the statutory
minimums, the Star Tribune reported.
Frank acknowledged the men were under Hari's
influence, but rejected their attorneys' requests for 10-year sentences, saying
their seven-month crime spree was “contrary to everything America stands
for."
“When all is said and done,” Frank said, anything less
would not “promote respect for the law.”
No one was hurt in the Aug. 5, 2017, explosion after a
pipe bomb exploded in the imam’s office as worshippers gathered for early
morning prayers, but community members were shaken by the incident and the
mosque’s executive director testified at Hari's trial that it led to fear and
diminished attendance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Ethen asked Frank for
a 50% reduction from the mandatory minimum sentences for McWhorter and Morris —
a request that she and Frank both said was rare. But Ethan asked Frank to cap
the sentence no lower than 15 years, saying a light sentence would send the
wrong message.
Imam Mohamed Omar, executive director of Dar Al-Farooq
Center, asked fellow clergy and faith leaders to sign an open letter urging
forgiveness. Omar called McWhorter and Morris two young men who “temporarily
were plunged downwards into the darkness of Emily Hari’s world.”
“The harm that was done is real, the crime that was
committed is real, the horror of what happened that day is real, but what’s
also real is our opportunity to offer real forgiveness, and lead by example,”
the letter said. “We believe that only through forgiveness can we have any real
chance to heal and move forward.”
McWhorter and Morris both pleaded guilty to multiple
counts in 2019.
At Hari's trial, their testimony showed that Hari told
them to throw the pipe bomb into the center while Hari waited in a rented
truck. Morris testified that Hari told him the mosque was training ISIS
fighters — something the mosque has denied and prosecutors have never alleged.
Hari was the leader of a group called the “White
Rabbits 3 Percent Illinois Patriot Freedom Fighters." In addition to the
mosque bombing, the group also robbed a Wal-Mart with airsoft guns, tried to
extort the Canadian railroad, invaded homes and attempted to firebomb a women’s
health clinic in Champaign, Illinois.
McWhorter said Tuesday that he feared Hari and Morris
may kill him if he didn’t go through with the plan.
“I bombed a mosque. But it was not by choice,” he
said. “I feared for my life when I bombed the mosque. I didn’t do it out of
just pure hatred. I don’t have any hate” for Muslims.
McWhorter said that in the four years he's been in
jail since his arrest, he’s been studying toward his GED and reading books
about Islam. He has made several Muslim friends in jail, he said, some of whom
wrote letters on his behalf to Frank.
Morris apologized to those he harmed, saying he was
ashamed that he believed the things Hari told him.
“What I did was very, very wrong,” he continued. “But
I ask for your mercy.”
He said he planned to return to the Amish community,
where he once lived, after finishing his prison term, saying “that’s the only
time in my life” I was shown “support and love.” Several members of that
community were in court.
Chris Madel, McWhorter's attorney, said in court
filings that McWhorter committed the crimes “at the invitation, direction and
plan” of Hari. Madel said his client was manipulated by Hari's lies about
Muslims.
Morris’ attorney, Robert Richman, said his client
suffered from undiagnosed mental illness, including schizophrenia and
depression. Richman wrote in court documents that Hari took advantage of
Morris’ illness, telling him to follow the “angels” speaking to him.
Source: ABNA24
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//2-illinois-men-get-30-years-in-minnesota-mosque-bombing_1247817.html
--------
US Navy says new task force to patrol Red Sea amid
Yemen war
13 April ,2022
The US Navy said Wednesday it will begin a new task
force with allied countries to patrol the Red Sea after a series of attacks
attributed to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia in a waterway that’s essential
to global trade.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who oversees the Navy’s
Mideast-based 5th Fleet, declined four times to directly name the Houthis in
his remarks to journalists announcing the task force.
However, the Houthis have launched explosive-laden
drone boats and mines into the waters of the Red Sea, which runs from Egypt’s
Suez Canal down through the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait that separates Africa
from the Arabian Peninsula.
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channel online or via the app.
“In a macro sense, this region literally and
figuratively fuels the world,” Cooper said. “The area is so vast that we just
can’t do it alone so we’re going to be at our best when we partner.”
The Combined Maritime Forces command, a 34-nation
organization which Cooper oversees from a base in Bahrain, already has three
task forces that handle piracy and security issues both inside and outside of
the Arabian Gulf.
The new task force will be commissioned Sunday and
will see the USS Mount Whitney, a Blue Ridge class amphibious command ship
previously part of the Navy’s African and European 6th Fleet, join it.
Cooper said he hoped the task force of two to eight
ships at a time would target those smuggling coal, drugs, weapons and people in
the waterway. Coal smuggling has been used by Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked
al-Shabab to fund their attacks.
Weapons linked by the Navy and analysts to Iran have
been intercepted in the region as well, likely on their way to the Houthis.
Yemen also sees migrants from Africa try to cross its war-torn nation to reach
jobs in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
The Red Sea is a vital shipping lane for both cargo
and the global energy supplies, making any mining of the area a danger not only
to Saudi Arabia but to the rest of the world.
Mines can enter the water and then be carried away by
the currents, which change by the season in the Red Sea.
Source: Al Arabiya
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--------
Pakistan
US congratulates Sharif on becoming Pakistani prime
minister, reaffirms 'value' of their relationship
Apr 14, 2022
WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday
congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on becoming Pakistan's new prime minister
following the ouster of his predecessor in a parliamentary no-confidence vote,
with the top U.S. diplomat reaffirming the "value" of the
relationship between the two nations.
The warm tone of U.S. Secretary of State Antony
Blinken's statement appeared to signal a desire to repair ties damaged by
former Prime Minister Imran Khan's harsh anti-U.S. rhetoric and his unproven
charges that Washington engineered his dismissal.
"Pakistan has been an important partner on wide-ranging
mutual interests for nearly 75 years and we value our relationship,"
Blinken said. "The United States congratulates newly elected Pakistani
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and we look forward to continuing our
long-standing cooperation."
"The United States views a strong, prosperous,
and democratic Pakistan as essential for the interests of both our
countries," he added.
Blinken's statement came two days after the
Western-friendly Sharif, 70, took the oath of office following days of
political turmoil leading to Khan's dismissal in Pakistan's first no-confidence
vote since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.
Khan, a former cricket star-turned politician, sought
to derail the vote by dissolving Parliament and calling early elections after claiming
that Washington was colluding with his opponents to oust him.
Khan, 69, provided no proof of his allegations, which
the United States denied.
Pakistan's highest court declared Khan's actions
unconstitutional and ordered the vote to proceed. A majority of Parliament's
lower house supported his ouster on Sunday.
Despite Blinken's warm tone, analysts said they do not
expect Washington to seek a significant broadening of ties, but to remain
mostly focused on security cooperation, especially on counterterrorism and
Afghanistan.
Source: Times Of India
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--------
Imran Khan asks judiciary to explain why courts opened
their doors at midnight prior to his ouster
April 13, 2022
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan on
Wednesday asked the judiciary to explain why it felt the need to open its doors
at midnight on Saturday, hours before he was ousted from the prime minister's
office via a successful no-confidence motion against him in the National
Assembly.
With the deadline set by the Supreme Court to hold
voting on no-trust move fast approaching after a marathon NA session last
Saturday, the apex court and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had opened their
doors beyond their notified timings. The vote was eventually held and saw Khan
voted out from the top office.
The IHC has since explained that "as a
constitutional court, it ensures that cases relating to extreme urgency are
presented at any time after the notified timings."
The high court's decision to resume court activity at
the unusual hour came after a pre-emptive petition was filed asking the court
to restrain Khan from de-notifying Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as chief of the army
staff. The then government had denied having any such plans.
Khan today, in what was his first public address since
losing his government, directly addressed the judiciary, and asked: "My
dear judges, my judiciary, I have spent time in jail because of your freedom
because I dream that one day the judiciary would stand with the weak people of
the society, and not the powerful.
"I ask the judiciary that when you opened the
court in the dead of night ... this nation has known me for 45 years. Have I
ever broken the law? When I played cricket, did anyone every accuse me of match
fixing?
"During my 25 years of politics, I have never
provoked the public against state institutions or the judiciary because my life
and death is in Pakistan. I ask you, what crime had I exactly committed that
you opened up the courts at midnight?"
Khan addressed his successor and newly appointed prime
minister Shehbaz Sharif and told him to stop the harassment of PTI supporters.
"This crackdown that you're doing against our youth over social media ...
listen to this clearly ... the day we give the call, you would not find a place
to hide."
The former prime minister asked security institutions
if the country's nuclear assets would be safe under the leadership of the
Sharifs-led government.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Khan said:
"Whenever a prime minister of Pakistan was removed, people used to
distribute sweets. But I am thankful to God that I was removed and you all came
and gave me such respect.
"Pakistan has now become a nation. Whoever
thought that an imported government of the US would be accepted by this nation
... on Sunday, the entire nation gave their answer that the imported government
stands rejected.
Khan said that the "decisive moment" has
arrived and the nation needs to choose if it wants slavery or liberty. "Do
we want to be the slaves of the US' slaves or do we want real freedom?"
He said that the 'imported government' currently in
charge was full of individuals out on bail. "Shehbaz Sharif is out on
bail, his son is out on bail, Nawaz Sharif is a convict, and his son is an
absconder in London and the same is the case with his sons, daughter and
son-in-law."
Khan said that the Americans have
"disrespected" Pakistan by "imposing outlaws" on this
nation. "I will go to every city of the country ... and I challenge to
them that they would have never seen the kind of mobility of the public the way
I would do."
The PTI chairman accused newly appointed Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif of being involved in corruption to the tune of
Rs40billion.
"Everyone should know that this is not the
Pakistan of the 1970s when the US conspired to remove Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ...
this is not the same Pakistan. The Pakistan of today is of social media. The
country has 60 million mobile phones. All our youth now have a voice and no one
can zip their mouths."
He told his audience of supporters that he would be in
Karachi on Saturday and urged them to take the streets in the entire country.
"My youth, get ready, I will be out on the
streets with you in every city until we do not force them to hold
elections," he said.
"Today marks the beginning of the struggle to
find actual freedom," he added.
Footage shared by the PTI showed a throng of people at
the rally's site.
Prior to Khan taking the stage, his fellow party
leaders, including Ali Amin Gandapur, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Vice
Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former defence minister Parvez Khattak, Awami
Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim
Suri addressed the gathering.
PTI leader Shibli Faraz, earlier today, said that Khan
would make important announcements at the rally and take the nation into
confidence on the party's future roadmap.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Shireen Mazari alleged that
coverage of the rally was being blocked on the orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif's new coalition government.
According to the PTI, the Peshawar rally is expected
to kick off a new series of demonstrations with one scheduled on Saturday for
Karachi as well.
Sunday's countrywide protests
The PTI took out massive rallies in several cities on
Sunday to protest against Khan's ouster. Karachi, Peshawar, Malakand, Multan,
Khanewal, Khyber, Jhang, Quetta, Okara, Islamabad, Lahore and Abbottabad were
among the cities where large demonstrations were held.
Protests were also staged in Bajaur, Lower Dir,
Shangla, Kohistan, Mansehra, Swat, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Nowshera, Dera Ghazi
Khan and Mandi Bahauddin.
Source: Dawn
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Imran Khan 'forcing' PTI lawmakers to resign from
Pakistan's National Assembly: PML-N leader
Apr 13, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Ousted prime minister Imran Khan was
forcing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers to resign from the country's
National Assembly, senior PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq alleged on Wednesday.
After losing the no-confidence motion against the PTI
supremo and the election of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shehbaz
Sharif as the prime minister, Khan's party had boycotted the National Assembly
session and announced en mass resignation from the lower house of Parliament.
Sadiq, a former Speaker of the National Assembly, at a
press-conference said that Khan was forcefully asking lawmakers to resign and
was submitting their resignations to Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, GEO TV
reported.
"In line with the law, every member should appear
in person and submit their resignation to the speaker [...] there are some
conditions and questions that are noted before the acceptance of the
resignation," Sadiq said, claiming that the PTI lawmakers were pressured
into signing cyclostyled documents, which included their names and
constituency.
"It is clearly stated in the rules that a
lawmaker's resignation should be handwritten," he said.
Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Sherry Rehman also
asserted that the deputy speaker Suri was pressurising the National Assembly
Secretariat on the issue of resignations.
"The deputy speaker is violating the laws [...]
Suri had said that he identified the members based on their signatures, but
according to the rules, every member should be present in person for submitting
their resignations," Rehman said.
According to Rehman, several PTI lawmakers have been
contacting the opposition parties to express their reservations over Khan's
policy of taking resignations forcefully.
Source: Times Of India
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Pakistan: JUI-F activists protest against kidnapping
of prayer leader in Sukkur mosque
13 April, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], April 13 (ANI): Leaders of the
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl(JUI-F) in Sukkur protested on Wednesday against the
kidnapping of Maulana Abdul Hameed Mahar, a prayer leader in a mosque in
Kandowan locality.
Maulana Mahar has been missing since Tuesday morning,
reported Dawn.
Leaders of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl(JUI-F), as
well as the local public, started a protest in lieu of their Imam, who was also
a worker of the JUI-F worker, reported Dawn.
The angry protesters claimed the prayer leader was
last seen leaving his home before sunrise but no one saw him returning home
afterwards.
After Maulana Mahar’s sleepers were found in the
fields located close to the mosque, the police said he might have been
kidnapped after a scuffle with the kidnappers, the newspaper reported.
Source: The Print
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Retired generals term audio clips against army
attributed to them 'fake'
April 14, 2022
Former chief of army staff (COAS) Gen (r) Mirza Aslam
Beg, Lieutenant General (r) Mohammad Haroon Aslam and Major General (r) Ijaz
Hussain Awan have termed audio clips attributed to them, in which statements
have been given against the Pakistan Army and its leadership, "fake"
and a "conspiracy against the Pakistan Army".
In an audio message, Gen (r) Beg referred to the audio
clips circulating on social media and said: "I condemn and reject the
nefarious and preposterous statements against the army and its top leadership
that are attributed to me and have surfaced on free media."
"Army is my identity and honour. Each one of its
soldiers and officers is respectable for me," he said, adding that he
considered speaking against them a misdeed.
The former COAS went on to say he would "continue
to speak the truth in army's honour" till he was alive.
Beg said the campaign against the army was a
"conspiracy of our enemies".
"Don't become a part of this conspiracy against
the army," he added. "Don't tarnish your character and acts. Allah
does not like it."
Major General (r) Ijaz Hussain Awan and Lieutenant
General (r) Mohammad Haroon Aslam also issued similar messages, denouncing
audio clips against the army on social media attributed to them.
While Gen Haroon Aslam said in his video message that
the act of "defaming" a retired official through such audio clips was
"highly reprehensible", Awan claimed that the clip attributed to him
had originated from Indian television.
These clarifications from retired army officials come
two days after the country's military leadership took notice of an ongoing
"propaganda campaign" against the army on social media and endorsed
the position taken by the army's leadership on the political crisis in the
country that climaxed with ex-premier Imran Khan’s ouster.
In a statement on the 79th Formation Commanders’
Conference, a semi-annual event at the General Headquarters where the field
commanders deliberate on operational and training matters, the Inter-Services
Public Relations (ISPR) said: "The forum took note of the recent
propaganda campaign by some quarters to malign [the] Pakistan Army and create
division between the institution and society.
"National security of Pakistan is sacrosanct.
Pakistan Army has always stood by the state institutions to guard it and always
will, without any compromise," the ISPR statement said, adding that the
forum "expressed complete confidence in leadership's well considered
stance to uphold the Constitution and law at all cost".
The military has come under criticism this week,
especially in the wake of former prime minister Imran Khan's ouster through a
successful vote of no-confidence. Trends against the armed forces and its
leadership have seen intense activity on social media platforms such as
Twitter.
According to a Dawn report published on Thursday, the
‘Imported Hukoomat Namanzur’ (imported government unacceptable) hashtag in Urdu
alone generated a volume of 17 million tweets, while one anti-army hashtag
generated over 69,000 tweets and a similar one over 410,000 tweets in the past
few days.
Source: Dawn
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Africa
Osinachi’s death: How Pastors, Imams play key role in
domestic violence revealed
April 14, 2022
By Seun Opejobi
As popular gospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu’s death
continues to draw controversies, religious leaders like Pastors and Imams have
been blamed for domestic violence.
An Abuja-based human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju
said the teachings of religious leaders play key role in encouraging domestic
violence in Nigeria.
Adeyanju lamented that some messages of pastors and
Imams make men to be domineering in relationships.
Speaking with DAILY POST, the activist said religious
leaders, through their messages, have turned some women into second fiddle to
men.
Following Osinachi’s death, a lot of religious leaders
have been airing their views on domestic violence, with a lot of them urging
victims to exit such relationships.
However, Adeyanju said: “It’s a religious thing, and
both religions preach submission to the man.
“And it’s more cultural than religion sometimes
because parents preach the stigma of leaving home, but it’s better for you to
divorce ten men, than for you to die.
“It’s important for this sensitization because many
people don’t believe in this religious thing because they have seen the worst
things happen within the confines of religious homes. You see sexual abuse of
so-called religious men against members of their faith, so the more we
emphasize this fault line, the better for our society.
“This idea of tolerating your abuser, you must stay in
the marriage, and societal stigma attached to divorce makes people willing to
put up with their abusers. You see people online posting pictures of happy
marriages, but when you hear behind the scene, you wonder, so this is what
people have been tolerating.
“I think in our society, we need more sensitization on
why people should divorce, what should be the irreducible minimum in marriage,
and why you should leave when certain things are done badly to you. It is not
as if we are saying divorce is good, but we are saying that you can’t tolerate
a situation where your life is in danger.
Source: Daily Post
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Tanzania’s Kizimkazi Mosque, a reminder of Iranian
culture in East Africa
April 14, 2022
The Kizimkazi Mosque is situated on the southern tip
of the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania and is one of the oldest Islamic
buildings on the East African coast.
it was built in 1107 AD by settlers from the city of
Shiraz, located in southern Iran. The 900-year-old mosque is still used for
prayers, and it is visited every year by many tourists.
According to historians, immigrants from the Shiraz
region in southwestern Iran directly settled various mainland ports and islands
in East Africa, beginning in the tenth century.
The Shirazi are notable for helping spread Islam on
the Swahili Coast.
Among the relics and monuments on the East African
coast that prove that Iranians once lived there, Kizimkazi Mosque is the second
oldest mosque in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
According to an inscription installed at the mosque’s
mihrab, the Kizimkazi Mosque was built over 940 years ago.
The mihrab is a semicircular niche in the wall of a
mosque that points out the qibla, the direction of the Kaba in Mecca, the
direction that Muslims should face when praying.
While the inscription and some coral-carved
decorations date from the time of construction, the majority of the present
structure was rebuilt in the 18th century.
A similar design for the mosque’s mihrab can also be
found in mosques in Tanzania and Kenya, built by Shirazi, Baluchi, Shushtari,
Kazerouni, and Omani people.
The British archaeologist David Whitehouse
(1941-2013), who studied in Iran and Africa, believed that the inscription in
Kizimkazi Mosque is similar to the one in Siraf Port in southern Iran.
Mazunduchi Village residents, which is located near the
mosque, introduce themselves as Shirazi and celebrate Noruz, the Iranian New
Year.
Shiraz and the southwestern coastal region of Iran are
linked to the Shirazi people that inhabit the Swahili coasts of Eastern Africa.
Source: ABNA24
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Libya’s rival governments start UN-backed talks in
Egypt
13 April ,2022
Representatives of Libya’s two rival governments began
talks in Egypt on Wednesday aimed at reaching agreement on holding national
elections, the United Nations Mission in Libya said.
Libya has had two competing governments since March
when the eastern-based parliament appointed Fathi Bashagha to replace the
Tripoli-based prime minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, renewing a standoff between
the east and west of the country.
Dbeibah, who was chosen as interim prime minister a
year ago in UN-backed talks, has refused to cede power to Bashagha.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
“The ultimate solution to the issues that continue to
plague Libya is through elections, held on a solid constitutional basis and
electoral framework that provides the guard rails for an electoral process,” UN
Libya adviser Stephanie Williams told the opening session of the talks in
Cairo.
Williams, supported by Western countries, has been
seeking to resolve a political impasse since a scheduled election collapsed
days before the vote was due to take place in December, amid arguments over the
rules.
Delegates from the eastern-based parliament and the
Tripoli-based High State Council named 12 members of each chamber to
participate in the talks, which parliament spokesman Abdullah Belhaiq said will
continue until April 20.
The parliament, elected in 2014, is recognized
internationally through a 2015 political agreement that also recognized the
High State Council as a legislative chamber formed from members of a previous
parliament elected in 2012.
The planned election is part of a UN-endorsed peace
process aimed at ending a decade of chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising
that ousted Muammar Gaddafi and reunifying the country.
Source: Al Arabiya
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154 people killed in gun attack in Nigeria
Adam Abu-bashal
14.04.2022
ABUJA, Nigeria
At least 154 people were killed and many houses were
torched in an attack in Nigeria's northern Plateau state carried out by bandits
related to Boko Haram, according to officials.
Gunmen on motorbikes opened indiscriminate fire on
shops and houses in Kanem region on Sunday, Ya'u Abubakar, a senior councilor
of the local government, told reporters on Wednesday.
Confirming the fatalities, he said approximately 4,800
people have fled their houses fearing for their lives.
President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack in a
statement saying the perpetrators should not be "spared and
forgiven."
Information Minister Lai Mohammed said in a statement
that armed gangs in cahoots with Boko Haram were responsible for the attacks.
"What is happening now is that there is a kind of
an unholy handshake between bandits and Boko Haram insurgents,” Mohammed said.
Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of humanitarian
affairs, said aid such as food, water and blankets have been delivered to the
displaced people.
Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in
northeastern Nigeria in 2009 before expanding to neighboring Niger, Chad and
Cameroon, prompting a military response.
The terror group has killed more than 30,000 people
and displaced nearly 3 million in Nigeria, according to the UN.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Arab World
Iraq’s Mosul revives shattered cultural scene with traditional
music festival
KAREEM BOTANE
April 13, 2022
MOSUL, Iraq: Five years since the battle to dislodge
Daesh from Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, a four-day festival of traditional
music has taken place with the aim of salvaging the region’s shattered arts
scene and promoting cultural coexistence.
The festival, which ran from March 24 to 27 with the
support of UNESCO, featured musicians from Mosul and the surrounding province
of Nineveh, together with several visiting performers from Europe and further
afield.
“It was a dream to have a festival like this,” Khalid
Alrawi, an oud player from Mosul, told Arab News. “I hope this kind of festival
continues in future. We look forward to it becoming an annual festival,
expanded with more activities.”
Besides seeking to revive the city’s once flourishing
music scene, ruined by war and the flight of artists abroad, organizers wanted
to reflect the region’s true cultural vibrancy and diversity, unbowed by Daesh
extremism.
“A new culture of music is here,” Harth Yasin, the
festival’s coordinator, told Arab News. “This event will open the door to
tourists and let others know more about the city of Mosul, and it will create
opportunities for our young talented musicians and artists.”
Seventeen acts took part in the festival, together
reflecting the region’s broad ethnic and religious makeup, including Arabs,
Kurds, Turkman, Assyrians, and others. The festival also featured performances
by musicians from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Nepal.
“We hope there are more events like this with more
support in the future in the places that represent the culture and history of
Mosul,” Yasin said.
Daesh seized control of Mosul and large swathes of
Nineveh in June 2014, imposing its extreme interpretation of Islam on the
population, which stamped out cultural activities that did not fall in line
with the group’s rigid ideology.
In July 2017, after nine months of ferocious urban
warfare, the government in Baghdad formally declared Mosul had been liberated,
depriving Daesh of its last major stronghold in Iraq.
Victory, however, came at a great cost to the city’s
infrastructure and proud identity. Since then, governments and aid agencies
have funded projects to help rebuild the precious architecture of the historic
old city and its surrounding districts.
Recovering from this period of darkness will take many
years, as displaced communities try to salvage their homes and restart the
local economy. But, thanks to festivals like this one, color is slowly
returning to daily life.
“Mosul was closed to the world. No one knew anything
about it. Now, they will know it better,” Talal Al-Shimali, president of the
Musical Association’s Nineveh branch, told Arab News.
“It is a very important event here in Mosul. It will
strengthen the music scene, and encourage musicians and artists in Mosul to
develop and engage with other cultures and music. It is a good initiative, it
will benefit the city and its people. The festival represents all voices and
the music of all ethnicities and minorities in Mosul.
“My message to all is to support music in Mosul. Mosul
city is tired and needs more support. We ask all international organizations to
support and help Mosul. Music in Mosul has been dying day by day over the last
couple of years. We can still save it with the help of international and local
organizations in Mosul.”
For those trying to salvage Mosul’s artistic scene,
the festival marked an important milestone in the city’s healing process.
Source: Arab News
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Swiss prosecutors drop 11-year Arab Spring probe of
Egyptians
13 April ,2022
Swiss federal prosecutors have dropped an 11-year
investigation of suspected money-laundering by Egyptians related to the Arab
Spring uprisings, they said on Wednesday.
“Despite the numerous enquiries and having transferred
32 million Swiss francs to Egypt in 2018, the Office of the Attorney General
(OAG) must now accept that the investigation has been unable to substantiate
suspicions that would justify the indictment of anyone in Switzerland or any
forfeiture of assets,” the OAG said in a statement.
It said it would release the remaining 400 million
Swiss francs ($429 million) that had been frozen.
The Swiss inquiry began in 2011 following events
related to the protests which led to the downfall of long-time Egyptian leader
Hosni Mubarak.
The “complex and extensive” criminal case initially
involved 14 suspects, including Mubarak’s two sons, as well as 28 persons and
45 legal entities whose assets were seized. Five suspects had remained under
investigation, the OAG said.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Syrian immigrant Zack Tahhan helps capture New York
subway shooting suspect
14 April ,2022
A 21-year-old man from Syria says he helped with the
apprehension of Frank James, the man New York City law enforcement officials
arrested in connection with Tuesday’s shooting at a Brooklyn subway station.
Zack Tahhan was working security for a shop near St.
Marks Place and First Avenue in Manhattan’s East Village when he saw a figure
walk by on the cameras who matched the photos of James, then a suspect.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is the guy, we need to
get him, Tahhan said, surrounded by a drove of reporters who flocked to the
scene after reports of James surfaced.
“He was walking down the street, I see the car of the
police, I said, ‘Yo, this is the guy!’ We catch him, thank God.”
James was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of
setting off smoke bombs and spraying gunfire inside a New York City subway car,
injuring 23 people on Tuesday.
James’ arrest came 30 hours after an attack that
erupted during the morning commuter rush as the Manhattan-bound N line train
was pulling into an underground station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park community,
renewing fears of violence in the city’s subway system.
James’ arrest came 30 hours after an attack that
erupted during the morning commuter rush as the Manhattan-bound N line train
was pulling into an underground station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park community,
renewing fears of violence in the city’s subway system.
“My fellow New Yorkers, we got him. We got him,” Mayor
Eric Adams told a press conference announcing the arrest. “We’re going to
protect the people of this city and apprehend those who believe they can bring
terror to everyday New Yorkers.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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Terror group PKK's presence in N. Iraq prevents mine
clearance: Official
13.04.2022
DUHOK, Iraq
Efforts to clear mines placed along the borders of
northern Iraq’s Duhok province cannot go forward due to the presence of the PKK
terrorists in the region, according to an Iraqi official.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency on efforts to clear mines
that were placed during the Ba’ath regime era, Shilan Samir, head of the mine
clearance department in Duhok, said that the presence of PKK members is
hindering needed activities.
There are 775 minefields on the border of Duhok, but
they are only able to clear 370 of them, he said.
"PKK activity is very intense in regions close to
the Turkish border. So mines can’t be cleared from places where the PKK is
present," he said.
PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq, across
Turkiye's southern border, to plan terrorist attacks in Turkiye.
Samir went on to say that locals are not sure that the
PKK will not lay mines here again.
"In some villages, animal grazing areas are
(also) areas where the PKK moves around. Since PKK members are active there, we
can’t reassure the villagers and clear the mines,” he added.
There are currently 13,500 minefields in the area of
northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).
Between 2008 and 2022, at least 111 people lost their
lives or were injured as a result of 28 incidents during search operations on
the Duhok border.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Iraq thwarts rocket attacks against vital facilities
Ali Jawad
13.04.2022
BAGHDAD
The Iraqi military has thwarted rocket attacks
targeting vital facilities in northern areas of the capital Baghdad.
The Iraqi army’s Baghdad Operations Command said on
Wednesday that its forces "arrested three suspects after monitoring their
movements on the Karkh and Rusafa areas in Baghdad."
"According to information about the enemy's
intention to target vital installations in the Tarmiyah district, north of
Baghdad, two Katyusha rockets and detonators were seized," the command
said.
It pointed out that "the weapons and detainees
were handed over to the concerned authorities."
Daesh/ISIS has been active in the provinces of
Salahuddin, Anbar, Kirkuk, and Diyala, at a time when the federal government is
struggling to contain the attacks of the terrorist group by launching security
and military operations in the northern, western and eastern regions of the
country.
In 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh/ISIS by
reclaiming all territories the terrorist group controlled since the summer of
2014 which was estimated to be about a third of the country’s territory.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Saudi Arabia reiterates support to cash-strapped
Lebanon
Wassim Seifuddin
13.04.2022
BEIRUT, Lebanon
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday vowed support to
cash-strapped Lebanon amid a crippling economic crisis in the country.
Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari met with Lebanese
President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Beirut.
Aoun was briefed by the Saudi envoy on the working
mechanism of the Saudi-French joint fund “dedicated to humanitarian support,
stabilization and development in Lebanon,” the Lebanese Presidency said in a
statement.
According to the statement, the Saudi diplomat
underlined the need to develop the Saudi-Lebanese relations in all fields.
On Dec. 4, 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron
announced a fund dedicated to humanitarian support, stabilization and
development in Lebanon.
Lebanon has been grappling with a severe economic
crisis since late 2019, including a massive currency depreciation as well as
fuel and medical shortages.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Mideast
Supreme Leader Asks Gov’t to Advance Plans
Irrespective of Vienna Talks’ Results
2022-April-13
Addressing a meeting with heads of the three branches
of government and a number of Iranian officials on Tuesday evening, Ayatollah
Khamenei said that the country's diplomacy is moving on a good direction,
stressing that Iran has resisted and will continue to resist against excessive
demands.
He urged the Iranian officials not to be held back by
the negotiations at all and to base their plans on the country’s realities
instead in order to tackle the problems.
The results of the negotiations, either positive or
negative, should never hinder the country’s affairs, the Leader said.
The Leader said the country's diplomacy is moving on a
good direction while the Iranian negotiating team will continue to inform the
president, the Supreme National Security Council and other officials on the
process of Vienna talks, make relevant decisions, and move forward.
“So far, our negotiating team has been resisting the
other side’s excessive demands, and this [trend] will continue, God willing”,
Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader said it was the opposite side of the talks
in Vienna that failed to remain committed to its obligations.
“The other side broke its promise and left the JCPOA.
It now feels desperate and [has found itself] in a stalemate,” the Leader said,
adding that the Islamic Republic has managed to overcome many difficulties
through reliance on the people and will pass through this stage as well.
Ayatollah Khamenei stated that there is nothing wrong
with criticizing the officials’ performance, but such criticism should be based
on an optimistic view and free from suspicion.
“Criticism should be optimistic and should not
disappoint people,” the Leader said.
Elsewhere, Ayatollah Khamenei praised the Yemeni
people’s bravery in facing the Saudi-led aggression against their country.
The Leader advised Saudi Arabia not to keep up the war
that the kingdom knows would not bring any victory for it.
“Why do you go ahead with the war that you already
know there is no possibility [for you] to win? Find a solution and get
yourselves out of this arena,” he told the Saudis.
Ayatollah Khamenei hailed the UN-brokered ceasefire
recently announced in Yemen as “very good”.
If the truce deal is truly implemented, it can live on
and the Yemeni people will be victorious thanks to their own bravery and the
initiatives they and their leaders have come up with, the Leader added.
“God will also help these oppressed people,” he said.
The Leader also touched on the developments unfolding
in the 1948 Palestinian territories, praising the Palestinian youths’
awakening, dynamism and hard work in their confrontation with Israeli
occupation.
The recent activities, he added, “showed that
Palestine is alive despite the attempts of the United States and its stooges
[to bring about the opposite] and it will never be driven into oblivion.”
“With a continuation of the ongoing activities, the
Palestinian people will achieve a final victory with God’s blessing,” Ayatollah
Khamenei said.
Former US president Donald Trump unilaterally left the
JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions that the deal had
lifted. He also placed additional sanctions on Iran under other pretexts not
related to the nuclear case as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign.
In May 2019, following a year of strategic patience,
Iran decided to let go of some of the restrictions on its nuclear energy program,
resorting to its legal rights under the JCPOA, which grants a party the right
to suspend its contractual commitments in case of non-compliance by the other
side.
The Biden administration says it is willing to
compensate for Trump’s mistake and rejoin the deal, but it has retained the
sanctions as leverage.
Last month, the talks in Vienna, aimed at resurrecting
the JCPOA, were paused for an undetermined period of time but later reports
suggested that they were in final stages.
In relevant remarks last week, Iranian Foreign
Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian criticized Washington for raising excessive
demands from Tehran and blocking efforts to reach an agreement in Vienna talks.
"The American side has raised excessive demands
in the last two or three weeks. Although much of the text has been agreed upon,
the US makes suggestions that contradict some parts of the text. They are
sometimes interested in unilaterally raising and imposing new conditions
outside the framework of the negotiations that have taken place in the field of
lifting sanctions," Amir Abdollahian said.
Iran will not cross its red lines, he said, adding
that if Iran's red lines are observed, a good agreement will be reached.
"We will continue to pursue a dignified, good, strong and lasting
diplomatic path to reach an agreement that lifts sanctions," Amir
Abdollahian underlined.
He also said that Iran and Russia agreed that Moscow
will not hinder reaching an agreement in Vienna talks.
"West told us that since the start of the Ukraine
war, the situation is that even if we reach an agreement [in Vienna], Russia
will not go along with the agreement. During the telephone conversation we had
with Mr. Lavrov and during my visit to Moscow, we had very clear and
transparent talks. Our agreement with the Russian side was that if our red
lines were fully observed and we reached an agreement in the Vienna talks on
lifting the sanctions at any time, Russia would not be an obstacle in the way
of reaching an agreement."
"We certainly want the sanctions to be lifted,
but with dignity and stability," Amir Abdollahian said, adding that
however, President Rayeesi has always emphasized to all cabinet members in
meetings that the focus should not be on Vienna, but that all institutions
should act to neutralize sanctions and to promote the sustainable development
of the economy and trade in the country.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Afghan People Call for Unity with Iranians after
Recent Bitter Incidents
2022-April-13
The Afghans denounced actions aimed at driving a wedge
between the Iranian and Afghan people, calling for unity between the two
nations in the face of conspiracies to poison their friendly relationship.
They shouted “no to seditionists” and “unity! unity!”
while hailing the brotherly relationship between the Iranians and Afghans.
A statement was also read out in condemnation of the
recent attacks on Iran’s embassy in Kabul and the country’s consulate in the
Western Afghan city of Herat.
No one was hurt during the attacks, which came amid
resurfaced allegations of systemic mistreatment of Afghan refugees in Iran.
Reacting to the incidents, Tehran called on Tuesday
for legal action against the attackers, stating that Afghanistan’s acting
Taliban government is responsible for protecting foreign diplomatic missions.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed
Khatibzadeh had warned against plots by “certain ill-wishers of Iran and
Afghanistan” to sow discord between the two countries.
The Taliban, for their part, explained that the
protests were “arbitrary” and “not authorized”, adding that the Afghan security
forces rushed to the Iranian consulate in Herat and took full control of the
situation immediately.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Iran Urges Taliban Gov’t to Account for Attacks on
Diplomatic Missions
2022-April-13
Afghanistan’s acting Taliban government is responsible
for maintaining the security of Tehran’s diplomatic missions in the country and
should thus provide explanations for the attacks on the Iranian embassy in
Kabul and its consulate in the eastern city of Herat, Amir Abdollahian said in
separate phone talks with the Iran’s Ambassador to Kabul Bahador Amininan and
consulate general to Herat on Tuesday after videos surfaced online of the
attacks on the two diplomatic missions.
The attackers, who were described in media reports as
extremist elements, only managed to damage the mission’s surveillance cameras
by throwing stones at them.
Amir Abdollahian criticized Afghanistan’s rulers for
failing to make the necessary arrangements to ensure the security of the
diplomatic missions, which is a responsibility of the host country.
He warned of plots being pursued by enemies to sow
discord between the two countries.
In a relevant development on Tuesday, the Iranian
foreign ministry summoned the Afghan charge d’affaires to Tehran to strongly
protest at the attacks.
It also called for legal proceedings to be launched
against those behind the attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi
warned on Tuesday that that attacks had been planned by enemies with the
purpose of fomenting discord between the two neighbors.
Speaking to reporters, Vahidi said the Iranian and
Afghan nations enjoy deep-rooted and very good relations, adding, “Iran has
always been a good host for Afghan refugees.”
Source: Fars News Agency
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Spokesman: Iran, Afghanistan Able to Resist
Conspiracies
2022-April-13
The common civilizational and cultural history of Iran
and Afghanistan, the two nations’ common sacrifice against aggression and occupation
in such fields as the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and in Syria, and years of
peaceful coexistence of Iranians and Afghan immigrants have constituted a
strong fortress against dividing conspiracy against the two states, Bahadori
Jahromi wrote on his twitter page after videos circulated online of the attacks
against the Iranian missions in Afghanistan.
The attackers only managed to damage the surveillance
cameras by throwing stones at them.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh
had warned on Monday against plots by “certain ill-wishers of Iran and
Afghanistan” to draw a wedge between people of the two countries.
He emphasized that Afghanistan’s acting Taliban
government is definitely responsible for safeguarding and protecting the
security of foreign diplomatic missions.
The Iranian government and people have been hospitable
to the Afghan people for decades, hosting some 3.6 million documented and
undocumented Afghan refugees who left their country due to war and harsh living
conditions.
300,000 more refugees have entered Iran since the
Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August last year. This is at a time when
the Iranian nation is facing unilateral US sanctions and the international
humanitarian bodies are keeping silent on such inhumane bans.
Source: Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010124000638/Spkesman-Iran-Afghanisan-Able-Resis-Cnspiracies
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Two Palestinians killed in Israeli West Bank raid:
Palestinian health ministry
14 April ,2022
Two Palestinians were killed early Thursday as Israeli
forces raided the West Bank district of Jenin on the sixth straight day of
operations in the occupied territory, the Palestinian health ministry said.
“Two youths died of injuries sustained in an Israeli
attack in the Jenin district,” the ministry said in a statement, while the
Israeli army said it had been “continuing recent counterterrorism activities” a
week after a Jenin man killed three people in Tel Aviv.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Iran says preliminary deal reached on frozen funds
abroad
13 April ,2022
Iran’s foreign minister said Wednesday that a
preliminary deal had been reached with a foreign bank over frozen funds
belonging to Iran.
“An accord was concluded with a foreign bank to
release a part of our financial claims,” Hossein Amirabdollahian said at a news
conference.
“This is a preliminary agreement on when and how to
release the funds,” he added.
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channel online or via the app.
Tens of billions of dollars in Iranian money were
blocked in a number of countries, including China, South Korea and Japan, after
the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018.
A 2015 nuclear deal had granted Tehran much-needed
sanctions relief but the US unilaterally pulled out and reimposed punishing
sanctions under then-president Donald Trump.
Until then, Iran had been one of South Korea’s main
suppliers of crude.
According to Tasnim news agency, the deal announced on
Wednesday aims to find a solution for frozen Iranian assets valued at more than
$7 billion.
Last year, Tehran threatened legal action unless Seoul
released frozen funds for oil shipments, worth that same amount.
In early January, Iran had urged South Korea to unlock
the funds and not to await the outcome of Vienna talks aiming to revive the
nuclear agreement.
Amirabdollahian said a delegation from the concerned
country, which he did not identify, had visited Tehran on Tuesday to follow up
on the implementation of the deal with the foreign bank.
The delegation met officials from the Iranian central
bank and the foreign ministry, he added.
Iran has been engaged for a year in talks with France,
Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly, and the United States indirectly,
to revive the nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA).
Source: Al Arabiya
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War in Yemen is ‘model’ for success or failure of
UNSC: Expert
Mohammed Alragawi
14.04.2022
ISTANBUL
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on
Wednesday welcomed the announcement of the peaceful transfer of power of the
legitimate Yemeni government by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to the
Presidential Leadership Council.
In a press release, the UNSC expressed hope that this
would constitute an important step towards stability and a comprehensive
Yemeni-led political settlement under the auspices of the UN after the start of
the truce on April 2.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ali al-Dahab, a Yemeni
researcher and military affairs analyst, assessed the UNSC resolutions on Yemen
during the last few years and their effectiveness in bringing peace to the country.
Seven years ago, in resolution 2216 (2015), the UNSC
reiterated its support for the efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in
assisting the political transition in Yemen and commended its engagement in
this regard.
Al-Dahab praised the resolution, saying the UNSC was
“not mistaken” to make such a decision as the situation in Yemen in 2014 was
“threatening regional and international peace and security.”
He noted that the resolution included sanctions
against the Houthi rebels, an arms embargo, and called on all Yemeni parties to
start a peace process, all of which were in the interest of stabilizing
security in Yemen, the region, and the world.
Since 2011, the UNSC has issued many resolutions on
Yemen, including resolutions 2014 (2011), 2051 (2012), 2140 (2014), 2201
(2015), 2204 (2015), 2216 (2015), and 2624 (2022).
Resolution 2216 condemned “any attempt by the Houthis
to take actions that are exclusively within the authority of the legitimate
Government of Yemen, and noting that such actions are unacceptable.”
However, al-Dahab said the resolution was “not very
effective” in preventing arms smuggling, given the improving ability of the
Houthis to develop weapons since its issuance.
“The resolution has only an honorable impact of
endorsing the legitimate government and supporting the regional intervention in
Yemen,” he said.
Al-Dahab also claimed that the imposed sanctions on
Houthi figures did not have any impact on the security of Yemen because those
sanctioned figures have no interests outside Yemen but they support the war
from their financial activities inside the country.
In September 2014, Houthi forces captured the capital
Sanaa, and in January 2015, they attempted to unilaterally replace the
legitimate government of Yemen with an illegitimate governing authority that
the Houthis dominated.
‘Operation Decisive Storm’
In order to reinstate the Yemeni government, the
Saudi-led coalition started a vast military operation in Yemen named
"Operation Decisive Storm."
At the beginning, the operation represented a “source
of hope for those who rejected the Houthis’ coup, Mutahhar al-Sufari, a Yemeni
researcher, told Anadolu Agency.
"In its first few months, the operation was able
to recapture many areas from Houthis rebels, most notably the interim capital
Aden," he said.
Al-Sufari believes that the intervention of the Arab
coalition led by Saudi Arabia succeeded in preserving the international support
of the legitimate government and stopped the country from falling into the
hands of militias.
But he also argues that many problems arose quickly as
the main actors in the coalition started to interfere with the government’s
work.
“The Saudis and the UAE started establishing and
supporting armed groups that are not under the authority of the internationally
recognized government, such as the UAE-backed Giants Brigades and the
separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC),” he said.
“Weakening the government in the liberated areas and
keeping President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in exile in Riyadh for the last 10
years are the main mistakes of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.”
The United Nations says the military conflict has
caused one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with 24.1 million
people, or 80% of the population, requiring humanitarian assistance and
protection. More than 13 million people are in danger of starvation, according
to UN estimates.
Call for changes in UNSC
Both al-Dahab and al-Sufari agreed that there is a
“need for some changes” in the structure and work mechanism of the UNSC.
Al-Dahab said even if it seems difficult to make some
changes in the UNSC, it is “still possible with the emergence of a group of
international powers to impose changes in the future.”
“The Security Council resolutions are subject to
interests, not principles,” he said.
He said talking about international peace and security
is limited to the national and strategic interests of major members of the UNSC
and to the extent of their willingness in dealing with hotbeds of tension in
the world.
“We noticed the different responses of the Security
Council to Ukraine and Yemen, which came according to the extent of the threat
to the security of Europe and the West,” he said.
Al-Sufari sees the war in Yemen as a “model” for the
success or failure of the UNSC.
“If the UNSC succeeds in Yemen, this will contribute
to restoring the societies’ trust in the UN institutions, and in the case of
failure, armed groups around the world will get encouraged to use violence to
achieve their political ambitions,” he said.
He also thinks that the UNSC should continuously
evaluate the performance of the UN envoys to Yemen and the regional actors in
Yemen to ensure their compliance with its resolutions and international law.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/belur-temple-rathotsava-quran-recitation/d/126794