Boycott TV Debates That Insult 'Islam': All India Muslim Personal Law Board Appeals to Community Leaders and Intellectuals
New Age Islam News Bureau
11 June 2022
People watch TV at a store in New Delhi |
Representational image | Amit Bhargava| Bloomberg
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• 70 Percent of British Muslims Report Anti-Muslim
Behaviour in Workplace: Savanta ComRes Report
• Pakistan’s Impending Deal with Tehreek-e-Taliban
Makes Lawmakers Furious
• Protests in Bangladesh over Anti-Islamic Comments in
India Urge Muslim-Majority Nations to Cut Off Diplomatic Ties and Boycott Its
Products
• Push Islamic Economics as Global Recovery Solution
at G20: Indonesian VP
India
• 'If Prophet Muhammad Was Alive Today, He Would Have
Been Shocked To See the Madness of the 'Muslim Fanatics' Around The World ':
Taslima Nasreen
• ‘Hate Politics Can’t Go On’: Muslim Bodies in Punjab
Protest against Nupur Sharma’s Remarks
• Violence over Prophet Remark: Two Dead in Ranchi
• Muslims Hold Protests outside Mosques in Several
Parts of India
• Shops close in Kashmir as Muslim traders protest Indian
ruling party
• Prophet remarks row: Clashes break out in Bengal,
Gujarat as Muslim community demands action against Nupur Sharma
• Prophet remarks row: Muslims protest across
Maharashtra to demand action against Nupur Sharma, Naveen Jindal
• Lucknow clerics urge Muslims to stay away from
protests
• Man Walking On Foot to Mecca Gets Rousing Reception
in Mangaluru
• Jama Masjid Shahi Imam distances self from protest
over Prophet row, seeks action against violators
• India goes with Pakistan & Libya, abstains from
vote on IAEA resolution slamming Iran
--------
Europe
• Mosque Security Funding: Crumbs That Don't Stop
Islamophobia
• Over 800 mosques attacked in Germany since 2014:
Rights group
• Paris prosecutor requests life sentence for main
suspect in 2015 terror attacks
• Israeli settler group's attempts to seize Jerusalem
Christian properties must stop: EU
• Sweden hopes for progress on NATO bid with
constructive approach on Türkiye's concerns
--------
Pakistan
• Imran Khan criticises Pak-American visiting Israel
reveals his ‘double standards’
• Pakistan Urges UN Not to Be Silent On BJP Officials'
Offensive Remarks about Holy Prophet
• Pakistan's ex-military dictator General Pervez
Musharraf critical; recovery not possible, says family
--------
South Asia
• Afghan Taliban unlawfully detaining, torturing
civilians, says Human Rights Watch
• Rights watchdog condemns the Taliban for violently
beating Afghan journalist
• QATAR Vows Continued Political, Economic Cooperation
with Afghanistan
• Taliban assure India to act on Pakistan-based terror
groups in Afghanistan: Report
• Taliban want army training in India
• Taliban rejects report on human rights violations in
Afghanistan
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Deputy Minister (Religious Affairs): Muslims Must
Unite Over Insults against Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in India
• Respect Muslim rights on Bon Odori issue
• Kelantan religious authorities deny barring Perlis
mufti
• Activists laud ‘first step’ to totally abolishing
death penalty
• Penang Mufti says former chief secretary to govt
Mohd Sidek's hefty 1MDB perk 'haram', should be returned
--------
Arab
World
• Tombstones in Northern Syria Document Terror Group YPG/PKK’s
Use of Child Soldiers
• Lebanese civilians ‘suffer harm’ from flights by
Israeli spy planes and drones
• MP: Call for safe zone in northern Syria is
Erdogan’s brainchild, rooted in colonial projects
• Iran denounces Israeli strike on Damascus airport,
reaffirms support for Syria
• Report: Israel deploys radar systems in UAE, Bahrain
to counter ‘threats’ from Iran
• Lebanon says to resume passport appointments after
pause
--------
Mideast
• Eight Iran Convicts Face ‘Imminent’ Finger
Amputation: Rights Group
• AEOI Chief: Iran Starts Injecting Gas into Advanced
Centrifuges
• Senior Cleric Calls IAEA's Politicized Resolution As
Failed Attempt to Pressure Iran in Vienna Talks
• Venezuela, Iran to sign 20-year cooperation plan
including weekly flight route
• Int’l Congress in Iraq Discusses Seerah Of Ayatollah
Hakim
--------
Africa
• Tunisia's Dismissals of Judges 'Blow To Judicial
Independence': NGOs
• Suspected Islamist insurgents kill 25 in Nigeria's
northeast
• 11 gendarmerie officers killed in Burkina Faso
terrorist attack
• Lake Chad Task Force Extends Operation to Flush Out Islamist
Militants
• EU warns Algeria against any ‘discriminatory
treatment’ of Spain
--------
North
America
• Rights Groups Say Biden's Visit Will Fuel Saudi
Regime's Human Rights Abuses
• Prosecuting Mississauga Mosque Attack as Terrorism
An Unusual ‘Test Case,’ Experts Say
• Senior US diplomat heading to West Bank, Israel this
weekend: State Department
• Call for action on Islamophobia as Canada Muslims
remember Afzaal family killing
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/boycott-tv-debates-aimplb/d/127227
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Boycott TV Debates That Insult 'Islam': All India
Muslim Personal Law Board Appeals to Community Leaders and Intellectuals
People watch TV at a store in New Delhi |
Representational image | Amit Bhargava| Bloomberg
----
Jun 11, 2022
LUCKNOW: All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)
on Friday issued an appeal to community leaders and intellectuals to stay away
from the debates of TV channels which aim to ridicule and make mockery of Islam
and Muslims.
AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah
Rahmani in a statement said that Board's president Maulana Rabe Hasani, along
with vice-president Maulana Sayyed Jalaluddin Umri, Maulana Kaka Sayed Ahmed
Umri, Maulana Sayed Shah Faqruddin Ashraf, Maulana Sayed Arshad Madni and
Maulana Sayed Ali Muhammed Naqvi has issued a joint appeal to all Muslim
leaders and intellectuals not to participate in debates and discussions of such
channnels.
"These individuals should realise that they are
not serving the community in any manner. On the contrary, they become a party
to the attempts to bring disrepute to Islam and its followers," Rahmani
said quoting the joint appeal.
He said for some channels, the agenda behind
organizing debates is not to reach a constructive consensus or look for
solutions but to make fun of Muslims and Islam. "Such channels include a
Muslim face in their panel of guests who they invite only to send across a
message that they are impartial in their discussion. Our leaders and
intellectuals do not realise this and fall prey to the trap," the appeal
said. Rehmani said if Muslims will stay away from such debates, it will limit
the scope of others making fun of Muslims and Islam.
Source: Times Of India
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70 Percent of British Muslims Report Anti-Muslim
Behaviour in Workplace: Savanta ComRes Report
Representative Image
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08 June 2022
Seven out of 10 Muslims in the UK say they have
experienced some form of anti-Islamic treatment in their workplace, a recent
poll shows.
According to a poll conducted by the Savanta ComRes,
anti-Islamic behaviour in Europe and in the UK has increased in recent years.
The survey found that 69 percent of Muslims currently
employed in the UK experienced some sort of Islamophobic behaviour during
work-related engagements.
Forty-four percent of British Muslims said they faced
anti-Muslim behaviour during interactions with customers, clients, and other
people in the workplace, 42 percent experienced it during work-related social
events, and 40 percent when they were seeking promotions.
The poll was conducted among 1,503 British Muslims
from April 22 to May 10. The results of this survey show that Black English
Muslims have experienced the highest level of discrimination than other
Muslims.
While discriminatory treatment of all Muslims in the
UK is reported at 37 percent, the figure stands at 58 percent among Black
Muslims.
The British Muslim community has felt the brunt of the
cost of living crisis in the country as well, with 54 percent of respondents
saying that providing for their households has become a major challenge
compared to five years ago.
A recent report on Islamophobia in the UK showed that
British Muslims are among the groups facing the most discrimination in the
country.
An analysis by the University of Birmingham showed
that 25.9 percent of the British people, the majority of whom are conservative
and elitist, have discriminatory views against Muslims in the country.
Source: Press TV
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original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/06/08/683533/Islamophobia-UK-Muslims-anti-Islam-workplace-
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Pakistan’s Impending Deal with Tehreek-e-Taliban Makes
Lawmakers Furious
Representative image
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11 June, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], June 11 (ANI): Pakistan’s
ongoing negotiations with the terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is
making young lawmakers in the country furious as Islamabad has already agreed
to release hundreds of detained and convicted TTP members and withdraw court
cases against them, local media reported.
Under the negotiation, a large portion of thousands of
Pakistani troops stationed in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) — where the TTP first emerged as an umbrella organization of small
Taliban factions in 2007 — will be withdrawn.
However, the two sides have yet to agree on retracting
democratic reforms and the merger of FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and whether
thousands of TTP terrorists can return with their arms and keep their
organization intact.
Talking to Gandhara, a news portal, lawyer Fazal Khan
said he Feel furious following Pakistan’s ongoing peace negotiations TTP as his
eldest son, eighth-grader Sahibzada Omar Khan, was killed in the TTP’s most
horrific attack.
On December 16, 2014, a group of TTP terrorists
stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Province, he added, saying they massacred Sahibzada and 131 other students.
Khan is not alone in questioning the mostly opaque
talks, which senior Pakistani officials say are aimed at ending the TTP’s
14-year insurgency. A deal between Islamabad and the TTP now appears to be in
sight after the group declared an indefinite cease-fire this month following
months of parleys brokered by the Afghan Taliban, Gandhara reported.
Moreover, Islamabad has also agreed to implement
Islamic Shari’a law in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malakand region lately.
After the Taliban seized power in August, the TTP
launched an offensive regime targeting Pakistani troops in the tribal areas. A
recent UN report said some 4,000 of its members might be sheltering there.
Islamabad also won respite from TTP attacks as
Pakistani officials pushed to reconcile the group through talks, which resulted
in a month-long cease-fire in November last year.
“They will only gain strength and will be able to run
their militant campaign more effectively,” Mohsin Dawar, a young lawmaker who
represents North Waziristan in the Pakistani parliament, said of the possible
fallout from a peace deal.
“If the TTP foot soldiers won’t benefit from the
impending deal, they are likely to switch over to Bahadur’s group or move on to
join Daesh,” he said, referring to Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) by its Arabic
acronym. “These talks will have far-reaching and very dangerous results because
violence will continue.”
“If the government goes ahead with this agreement, we
will hasten our resistance,” he said.
A 57-member jirga of notable tribal leaders
negotiating with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has returned to Pakistan
without any major breakthrough over the group’s demand for the reversal of
FATA’s merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The jirga consists of tribal elders, politicians, and
parliamentarians who met with senior TTP leaders at Kabul’s Inter-Continental
Hotel for two days and held threadbare discussions over demands, including the
most contentious issue of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)’s
merger. (ANI)
Source: The Print
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Protests in Bangladesh over Anti-Islamic Comments in
India Urge Muslim-Majority Nations to Cut Off Diplomatic Ties and Boycott Its
Products
Muslims shout slogans against Nupur Sharma, a
spokesperson of India's governing Hindu nationalist party as they react to the
derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad made by her, during a
protest outside a mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, June 10, 2022. Thousands
of people marched in Bangladesh's capital on Friday to urge Muslim-majority
nations to cut off diplomatic ties with India and boycott its products unless
it punishes two governing party officials for comments deemed derogatory to
Islam's Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
----
10 June 2022
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in
Bangladesh’s capital to protest offensive comments by two Indian figures
against Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), urging Muslim-majority nations to
cut off diplomatic ties with India and boycott its products.
The protesters marched after Friday prayers through
streets near the main Baitul Mukarram Mosque in downtown Dhaka in protest
against the offensive comments.
They also criticized the country’s government for not
publicly criticizing the comments made by two officials in Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The global Muslim community has been united. We ask
the whole world to boycott Indian products,” said Moulana Imtiaz Alam, leader
of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, The Associated Press reported.
In remarks on a TV news debate, BJP’s spokesperson
Nupur Sharma made inflammatory comments against the Prophet of Islam, which led
to widespread condemnation in the country and throughout the Muslim world.
The reactions prompted the BJP to suspend Sharma from
the party while distancing itself from her offensive remarks.
The party also expelled Naveen Kumar Jindal, who heads
its Delhi media, from the party, after he allegedly posted a tweet about the
Prophet but later deleted it. The BJP said Jindal’s views on social media
undermine communal harmony and are in violation of the party's fundamental
beliefs.
On Thursday, Bangladesh’s biggest non-political Muslim
platform, Hefazat-e-Islam, also held a big rally in Dhaka in protest against
the comments.
The leaders of the Islamic organization called on the
senior officials of Bangladesh to condemn the comments in an official message
to the Indian authorities and ask them to apologize to the Islamic community
for the behavior.
As protests erupted throughout the Muslim world,
India’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said that the views of some
members of Indian parties did not in any way reflect the views of the Indian
government on Muslims.
Pakistan, Qatar, Kuwait, and some Islamic
organizations and groups like the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and
Yemen’s Ansarullah movement have strongly condemned the offensive remarks.
Last week, Iran also reacted to the desecration of
Islamic values and summoned the Indian ambassador to convey the Iranian
government and people’s strong protest.
Source: Press TV
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Push Islamic Economics as Global Recovery Solution at
G20: Indonesian VP
Photo: Antara News
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June 11, 2022
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf
Amin has said that the 2022 G20 forum in Indonesia could be used to present
Islamic economics as a solution for supporting global economic recovery.
"The G20 can be used to offer the Islamic economy
as a solution for an inclusive and sustainable global economic recovery,"
he suggested at the 2022 Halalbihalal and National Working Gathering of the
Association of Islamic Economists (IAEI) here on Friday, which was accessed
online from here.
He said the G20 can also further strengthen the
synergy between Islamic economists to realize national and global economic
recovery, and also achieve Indonesia's goal of becoming the world's leading
halal production center.
Global economic recovery is still overshadowed by
several risks on account of a number of extraordinary events, ranging from the
climate crisis to wars that are disrupting the world's food and energy supplies
and triggering record-high inflation rates in many countries, he noted.
However, Vice President Amin said that the Indonesian
G20 Presidency could be used as a momentum for global economic recovery.
"Indonesia needs to collaborate with G20 member
countries so that the global community can get long-term benefits in three
priority sectors, including strengthening global health architecture, digital
transformation, and energy transition," he added.
The Vice President emphasized that progress in the
three priority sectors can only be realized if all elements of the Indonesian
nation work together and encourage the growth of innovation.
"We must be able to create innovations and new
ideas to facilitate global economic recovery," he said.
He also emphasized that all countries must work hard
to help each other so that no country is left behind. This is, he said, in
accordance with Islamic values, where when one recovers, then all recover.
As the country with the largest Muslim population,
Indonesia must show that the Islamic economy is a solution for a just global
economic recovery, which can be felt by all levels of society, he added.
Source: Antara News
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original story:
https://en.antaranews.com/news/233673/push-islamic-economics-as-global-recovery-solution-at-g20-vp
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India
'If Prophet Muhammad Was Alive Today, He Would Have
Been Shocked To See The Madness Of The 'Muslim Fanatics' Around The World ':
Taslima Nasreen
Jun 11, 2022
Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen waded into the
ongoing controversy over remarks made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma
as she said if Prophet Muhammad was alive today, he would have been shocked to
see the madness of the 'Muslim fanatics' around the world. The statement came
as protests erupted in several states on Saturday forcing authorities to
suspend internet services in some parts. "No one is above criticism, no
human, no saint, no messiah, no prophet, no god. Critical scrutiny is necessary
to make the world a better place," the Muslim author who prefers to call
herself an atheist said. Day of protests: From Delhi to Ranchi, stir over
Prophet remarks rocks India
In wake of the protests following Friday prayers, all
internet services were suspended in Ranchi in Jharkhand and in Howrah in West
Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, people pelted stones at police personnel in Prayagraj
and Saharanpur while Delhi witnessed a massive congregation of protesters
outside Jama Masjid. Internet services were snapped in Bhaderwah and Kishtwar
towns and Srinagar city as a precautionary measure. Mobile Internet was also
suspended in parts of Kashmir.
The Union home ministry asked the police heads of all
states and the Union territories to be prepared and alert after sporadic
incidents of violence were reported.
Source: Hindustan Times
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‘Hate politics can’t go on’: Muslim bodies in Punjab
protest against Nupur Sharma’s remarks
June 10, 2022
Protests were held by Muslim organisations across
Punjab after Friday prayers on a call by the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid,
Ludhiana, over the controversial remarks of BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen
Kumar Jindal against Prophet Mohammad.
Speaking about the protests, Shahi Imam Maulana
Mohammad Usman Rehmani Ludhianvi said, “Hate politics cannot run for long in
the country.”
“In the recent past, the above-mentioned BJP leaders
passed derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammad and we need to raise our voice
against this. Hence, Muslims gathered after Jumma Namaz outside Jama Masjid,
Ludhiana, and other cities of Punjab to burn effigies of Nupur and Naveen,” the
Shahi Imam, who is the president of Majlis-Ahrar Islam Hind which organised the
protest, added. Muslim organisations also submitted a memorandum addressed to
President of India Ram Nath Kovind through Ludhiana additional deputy
commissioner (general) Rahul Chaba.
In addition to this, another protest was also
organised in Muslim-dominated Malerkotla where members of the minority
community did a protest march from Sirhindi gate till the office of the DC in
Malerkotla where they submitted a memorandum, addressed to the President of
India, to the deputy commissioner.
Source: Indian Express
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Violence over Prophet remark: Two dead in Ranchi
11.06.22
Two people died and 10 others were injured in a
violence in Ranchi that was triggered by derogatory remarks by suspended BJP
spokespersons Nupur Sharma against Prophet Muhammad, reports ndtv.com..
Officials at the Rajendra Institute of Medical
Sciences informed that the two succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. Ten
others were under treatment..
Prohibitory orders were imposed in parts of Ranchi
after some policemen and others were injured here on Friday while trying to
control a mob near a temple, an official said.
The incident occurred after protests erupted with
hundreds of people demanding the arrest of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur
Sharma for her controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad.
Police fired in the air besides resorted to
lathi-charge to control the mob which spilled out on the road after Friday
prayers in a mosque located close by.
The protestors shouted slogans and pelted the police
with stones.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC,
(prohibiting gathering of five or more people) has been imposed in an around
the affected area, the official said.
Ranchi Deputy Commissioner, Chhavi Ranjan told PTI
"The prohibitory order is applicable on 500 metres of both sides of the
main road from Albert Ekka Chowk to Sujata Chowk near overbridge.
Source: Telegraph India
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of the original story:
https://www.telegraphindia.com/jharkhand/violence-over-prophet-remark-two-dead-in-ranchi/cid/1869415
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Muslims Hold Protests outside Mosques in Several Parts
of India
11.06.22
Muslims held mostly peaceful protests outside mosques
after Friday prayers in several parts of India, calling for quick prosecution
of the now-suspended BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Navin Jindal who have
made derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammed.
Clashes between protesters and police were seen in a
few places such as Ranchi, Allahabad and Bhaderwah town of Jammu.
A small group held placards and chanted slogans
outside Jama Masjid in Delhi, with neighbourhood residents joining in. The
police persuaded the crowd of about 300 to disperse — after continuous TV
coverage of alleged communal tension in the area —and said action would be
taken against those protesting without permission.
Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of the mosque, told
reporters: “I don’t know who these protesters were. They do not have our
permission, nor has anything been discussed. We discourage people from doing
politics on this issue.”
Varanasi — home to the Gyanvapi mosque, the subject of
a controversy that triggered Sharma’s remarks — remained peaceful. The mosque
management had appealed to people to offer Friday prayers at any mosque near
their home and ignore rumours. As a result, only about 20 people offered
prayers at the Gyanvapi.
Protests were reported from many places in Uttar
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir. Central
forces were deployed in several places although most of the demonstrations were
peaceful.
Curfew was imposed in a part of Ranchi after
police-protester clashes during an attempt to shut shops.
Friday’s protests outside the Jama Masjid in Delhi
come after Yati Narasinghanand — an Uttar Pradesh monk known to deliver hate
speeches — announced he would visit the mosque to engage the faithful in an
open debate on Islamic scriptures.
The Ghaziabad district administration has served
Narasinghanand with a notice to desist from incitement, and Delhi police have
booked him.
Protests took place in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar locality as
well.
The Popular Front of India hit out at the parallel
hate-speech cases the Delhi police have registered — against Sharma, Jindal and
Narasinghanand as well as against Muslim politicians, activists and social
media users.
“While the present issue is all about BJP national
leaders insulting the Prophet of Islam, rather than addressing the real issue,
these FIRs are basically equating the actions of the hate speakers with that of
those who demand action against it,” the statement said.
“Rather than controlling the hate speakers, the
intention behind the FIRs is to hush up the issue and prevent people from
speaking against it.”
An outfit called the Hindu Sena has called for a march
in East Delhi on Saturday in support of Sharma.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has appealed
to “Islamic scholars and intellectuals to not participate in those television
debates whose sole intention is to make a mockery and insult Islam and
Muslims”.
Sharma’s comments had come during a TV debate on the
Gyanvapi mosque.
Allahabad clashes
Uttar Pradesh witnessed police-protester clashes in
Allahabad, Moradabad, Firozabad and Saharanpur.
Allahabad Zone additional director-general (ADG) of
police Prem Prakash blamed the violence in Atala locality on “members of the
masjid, Samajwadi Party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and
Left parties”.
“They used children as a shield and threw stones and
crude bombs at the police,” said Prakash, who later led a police flag march
with a rifle in hand.
The police have taken into custody about a dozen
people in Allahabad and about 100 across Uttar Pradesh — including 21 from
Deoband in Saharanpur, 12 from Moradabad and 20 from Firozabad — on rioting or
incitement charges. Videos purportedly show police firing in the air in Allahabad.
Uttar Pradesh director-general of police D.S. Chauhan
said a Rapid Action Force jawan was injured in the Allahabad violence. “Mild
force was used to maintain peace at some places,” he said.
Kanpur, Bareilly, Aligarh, Jhansi and Lalitpur too
witnessed protests.
Jammu tensions
In Jammu’s Muslim-majority Chenab Valley, protesters
defied a curfew and clashed with the forces, a day after controversial social
media posts and inflammatory speeches had caused tensions to flare.
Protests also broke out in Srinagar’s Batmaloo
locality, and Friday prayers were not allowed at the city’s main Jamia Masjid.
Authorities had clamped curfew on parts of the Chenab
Valley on Thursday night after large crowds from two communities held
demonstrations in different areas.
“It all began with a (social media) post. There were
counter-posts and statements which hurt a particular community,” Jammu ADG
Mukesh Singh told reporters. “The situation is under control now.”
Residents said protests had broken out in Bhaderwah
town in the Chenab Valley after an anti-Islam post on social media.
A local cleric later publicly threatened to behead
Sharma and a Jammu-based journalist, who had purportedly supported her, if the
government failed to act against them.
A police officer said a case had been registered in
Bhaderwah on the charges of insulting religious beliefs and criminal
intimidation.
Officials said Internet services were snapped in
Bhaderwah and Kishtwar towns as a precaution. Mobile Internet services too were
suspended in parts of Kashmir.
The situation in Jammu and Kashmir has been tense
since Wednesday after a BJP politician and two other Right-wing leaders
supported Sharma’s comments, prompting the police to lodge an FIR.
Union minister Jitendra Singh, whose constituency of
Udhampur includes the Chenab Valley, appealed for peace in Bhaderwah.
Source: Telegraph India
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Shops close in Kashmir as Muslim traders protest
Indian ruling party
10 June, 2022
Scores of Muslim traders and transporters in Srinagar
staged a protest and raised slogans against Indian ruling party officials on
Friday following comments from the officials deemed derogatory to Islam’s
Prophet Mohammed.
In Indian-controlled Kashmir, authorities locked down
two towns on Friday and snapped internet on mobile phones in the disputed
region’s main city, fearing anger against the insulting remarks to Islam could
morph into larger, anti-India protests.
Shops and business in Srinagar spontaneously shut.
Authorities also did not allow Friday congregational
prayers in the main mosque of Srinagar and in the remote, mountainous towns of
Bhaderwah and Kishtwar.
Protesters criticized the Indian government for not
publicly condemning comments deemed derogatory to Islam’s Prophet Mohammed made
last week by officials in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing
Bharatiya Janata Party.
One official has been suspended and the other expelled
after the BJP denounced insults of religious figures, but protesters in India
and neighboring Muslim countries said the actions were not enough.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Prophet remarks row: Clashes break out in Bengal,
Gujarat as Muslim community demands action against Nupur Sharma
10th June 2022
KOLKATA: Hundreds of protesters on Friday blocked
roads in different parts of Howrah district of West Bengal over controversial
remarks made by two now-suspended BJP leaders against Prophet Mohammad, police
said.
The agitators clashed with police personnel at
Dhulagarh, Panchla and Uluberia when they tried to lift the blockade on
National Highway-6, a police officer said.
The two saffron party leaders should be immediately
arrested for their remarks that have hurt religious sentiments,one of the
protesters said.
Police had to baton-charge to disperse the crowd at
Dhulagarh and Panchla, where the demonstrators pelted stones in retaliation,
causing damage to nearby cars, the officer said.
The protesters also blocked railway tracks between
Fuleswar and Chengail stations in the Howrah-Kharagpur section from 1.22 pm, a
South Eastern Railway official said.
Bengal Imams Association president Md Yahia said it
had called for protests inside mosques across the state, demanding the arrest
of the two BJP leaders, but said the administration is free to take action
against people who are blocking roads and inconveniencing the public.
Demanding immediate arrest of suspended BJP leader
Nupur Sharma over her alleged objectionable remarks on Prophet Mohammad,
members of the Muslim community held protests in some areas of Gujarat's
Ahmedabad and Vadodara on Friday.
Shops and markets in Muslim-dominated Dariyapur and
Karanj areas here remained shut as part of the protest.
Source: New Indian Express
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Prophet remarks row: Muslims protest across
Maharashtra to demand action against Nupur Sharma, Naveen Jindal
10th June 2022
MUMBAI: Members of the Muslim community staged
protests in several cities of Maharashtra on Friday demanding action against
suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and her former party colleague Naveen
Jindal for their alleged objectionable remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
No untoward incident was reported from anywhere during
the protests, police said.
The protests were staged by various organizations
following the Friday prayers after 3 pm, a police official said.
In Panvel city in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, at least
3,000 protesters including around 1,000 women took out a protest march, seeking
the arrest of Sharma and Jindal.
A delegation submitted a memorandum to Panvel
tehsildar and the protest was over peacefully by 4 pm, said a local police
official.
A protest was also held at Shivaji Chowk in Vashi,
where a delegation submitted their demands to the Vashi Police Station, he
said.
Similar protest gatherings or marches were also held
in Thane, Aurangabad, Solapur, Nandurbar, Parbhani, Beed, Latur, Bhandara,
Chandrapur and Pune districts.
Everywhere, protestors shouted slogans and demanded
registration of FIRs and arrest of Sharma and Jindal, police said.
Heavy police security was deployed at all protest
venues but there was no untoward incident anywhere, officials said.
State home minister Dilip Walse-Patil said the
protests passed off peacefully as police handled the situation well.
Nobody should offend other people's faith, he said.
The BJP suspended Nupur Sharma following her remarks
about Prophet during a TV debate, while Jindal was expelled from the party when
he tweeted similar remarks.
Source: New Indian Express
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Lucknow clerics urge Muslims to stay away from
protests
Jun 11, 2022
LUCKNOW: City clerics extended an appeal to Muslims to
stay away from demonstrations and protests and not pay heed to rumours. The
appeal was made when the namazis congregated at mosques to offer Friday
prayers.
“We appeal our Muslim brethren to stay away from
controversies and not take part in any protest,” said Maulana Khalid Rasheed
Farangi Mahali, Imam Eidgah. However, despite an appeal, a few namazis
reportedly raised slogans in protest after offering namaaz at Tile Wali Masjid
in the state capital.
“A few people began sloganeering after offering namaaz
but the Masjid committee swiftly reacted and pacified the protestors,” said
Maulana Wasif Hasan, co-Mutwalli, Tile Wali Masjid.
Shia clerics too made an appeal to their congregations
to not take part in protests or demonstrations.
On Thursday, a delegation from the Islamic Centre of
India, Lucknow met additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Awasthi, demanding
strict action against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for committing
blasphemy. Besides, the delegation also demanded constitution of a law to keep
a check on the recurrence of such incidents.
Source: Hindustan Times
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Man walking on foot to Mecca gets rousing reception in
Mangaluru
Jun 10, 2022
MANGALURU: A young man from Athavanad near Valanchery
in Malappuram district of Kerala, who is on an 8,640kms journey on foot to perform
Haj, was given a rousing welcome by the Muslim community here during his entry
into the coastal city.
Shihab Chottur, 30, who had set out from his native
place on June 2, entered Mangaluru city late on Thursday and stayed at the Juma
Masjid in Pumpwell before resuming his journey on Friday. Shihab, who runs a
supermarket in Kerala, aims to walk all the way to Saudi Arabia via India,
Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait.
A large crowd received Shihab at the border in
Talapady. Shihab was making preparations for the past eight months to perform
Haj by crossing six nations, without travelling in vehicles. Union minister of
state for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and several others helped Shihab to
make his dream a reality. He will be walking through Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and will enter Pakistan via Wagah
border.
Shihab said, “My goal is to walk 8,640 kms in 280
days. Hence, I have been walking an average of 25kms a day. My aim is to
perform Haj in 2023. Haj pilgrimage is one of the pillars of Islam that
everyone from the community would like to perform at least once in a lifetime.
My family members, friends and others have extended cooperation for my
journey."
He has been carrying a 10kg backpack containing a bedsheet,
t-shirts and trousers and an umbrella in his hand. He takes shelter in masjids
on the way.
Source: Times Of India
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Jama Masjid Shahi Imam distances self from protest
over Prophet row, seeks action against violators
10.06.22
After a protest erupted outside Jama Masjid after the
Friday prayers against the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad, Shahi
Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari distanced himself from the demonstration saying
"nobody knows who the protesters are" and demanded action against
them.
A large crowd gathered on the steps of the popular
mosque carrying placards and shouting slogans demanding the arrest of suspended
BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her controversial remarks a few days ago.
"After namaz, around 40-50 people staged a
protest shouting slogans of different kinds and showing posters. There was no
announcement for a protest from Jama Masjid. Nobody knows who those people were
because thousands had gathered for the Friday prayers," Bukhari told PTI.
The cleric said several people had contacted him
seeking clarity about protests and shutting of shops in the area to condemn the
remarks against the Prophet.
" but I advised them to desist from such action
and maintain peace. Delhi Police can probe who the protesters were because
there was no permission for the demonstration," he said.
According to senior police officials, the protest was
held peacefully on the stairs near Gate Number 1 of the mosque, and it lasted
for around 15 to 20 minutes. The protesters were dispersed later.
The row over the remarks against Prophet Mohammad
escalated on Sunday with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran
marking their protests, prompting the BJP to take action against its
functionaries and assert that it respects all religions.
As the row intensified domestically and abroad, the
BJP on Sunday suspended Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Jindal, both of whom
were the party's spokespersons.
Source: Telegraph India
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India goes with Pakistan & Libya, abstains from
vote on IAEA resolution slamming Iran
Jun 11, 2022
NEW DELHI: India joined Pakistan and Libya in
abstaining from voting on a resolution at the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) that slammed Iran for its lack of cooperation with the global
community on the nuclear issue. Thirty countries voted in favour of the
resolution, that was drafted by the US, UK, France and Germany. Russia and
China voted against it.
“Yesterday, we joined the overwhelming majority of the
IAEA board of governors in expressing support for the IAEA’s essential mission
of safeguarding nuclear material to prevent nuclear proliferation. Iran must
cooperate with the IAEA and provide technically credible information in
response to the IAEA’s questions, which is the only way to remove these safeguards
issues from the board’s agenda,” said the US in a statement.
The voting took place while Iran’s foreign minister
was in India for a meeting with his counterpart, S Jaishankar. India’s
abstaining from voting is another example of its differences with the US on
major international issues.
According to the US, the resolution is at the heart of
the IAEA’s mandate and Iran’s core obligations under the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, and not about the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA).
“The US remains committed to a mutual return to full
implementation of the JCPOA. We are prepared to conclude a deal on the basis of
the understandings we negotiated with our European allies in Vienna over many
months. Such a deal has been available since March, but we can only conclude
negotiations and implement it if Iran drops its additional demands that are
extraneous to the JCPOA,” it said.
Source: Times Of India
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Europe
Mosque security funding: Crumbs that don't stop
Islamophobia
Afroze Fatima Zaidi
10 Jun, 2022
As Muslims in the UK continue to face Islamophobia,
the government’s response is to offer £24.5m in funding to securitise mosques.
Where even to begin with how woefully inadequate this approach is in addressing
the cause of Islamophobia and tackling the issue at its root?
While we know that Islamophobia exists, it may
surprise some to know the extent to which it has pervaded society. In the UK, a
survey recently revealed that an alarming 70% of Muslims have experienced
Islamophobia in the workplace. We face Islamophobia when we go to work, when
we’re out in public, when we leave our mosques, in universities, schools and
hospitals, and in the form of racial profiling from police.
But Islamophobia goes beyond discrimination, hate
crime or any expression of animosity towards Muslims. These are only
manifestations of a phenomenon that has its tentacles deeply embedded in the
psyche of people not just in the UK or even the West, but in many parts of the
world.
So by offering security funding to mosques, the
government is attempting to address only one facet of an exponentially larger
issue. What’s worse, and what makes this gesture even more hypocritical, is the
role the state has actively played, and continues to pay, in entrenching
Islamophobia within British society.
When announcing this funding for mosques, securities
minister Damian Hinds said, "[i]t is a fundamental right to be able to
practise your faith in your community". As ever, the British government is
full of contradictions. On the one hand, it’ll talk about rights and freedoms
as though they were equally available to everyone. On the other, it’ll actively
demonise, marginalise and expel people from minority groups to further its own
agenda.
It’s hard to overstate the cognitive dissonance it
must take for a Tory minister to proclaim that Muslims have a fundamental right
to practise their faith, while school governors and teaching staff in the
Trojan Horse scandal got blacklisted for trying to instil in and facilitate for
Muslim students the very same principle.
Those involved faced repeated accusations of ominous
‘Islamisation’ plots and pointed questions about their potential ‘Salafi’
leanings. The situation for Muslim students has since become so toxic that even
nursery-age children aren’t safe from Prevent’s tyrannical reach. And
subscribing to certain Muslim schools of thought, or signs of increased
religiosity, continue to be criminalised.
Much has already been said about the havoc Prevent has
wreaked on Muslim communities. But the foundational principles which feed the
criminalisation of Muslims extend well beyond one single policy. The War on
Terror, and the associated demonisation of ‘radical’/‘extremist’ Islam, feed
and sustain a global Islamophobia machine – one that states and institutions
continue to not only prop up but also profit from.
During his premiership, David Cameron’s comments and
policy focus on “Islamic extremism” contributed to the creation of an
‘environment of hate’ which persists to this day. More recently, Cameron went
as far as to accuse campaigners speaking out against Prevent of "enabling
terrorism". And despite loud and persistent objections from Muslims to the
way Prevent targets them, the Shawcross Review has doubled down on encouraging
a hardline approach against ‘Islamist extremism’.
It is therefore utterly tone deaf for the British
state to now talk about Islamophobic hate crime and freedom of religion without
acknowledging its own role in how we got here.
Hinds went on to say in his statement, "[t]his
new round of funding will cover the costs of security measures for places of
worship to deter and prevent hate-crime attacks on vulnerable communities,
making our streets safer.” There’s no acknowledgement here of how Islamophobic
hate crime rose astronomically as a direct result of comments from Hinds’ boss
and the current Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Moreover, the idea that we need greater securitisation
in order to ensure safety is in itself a neoliberal fallacy. It’s also the very
same ideology that is responsible for Prevent. Meanwhile what the Tories never
seem to acknowledge is that one of the key factors leading to rising crime in
general, and making our streets less safe, is poverty.
The Tories have inflicted upon working class
communities over a decade of austerity combined with disaster capitalism. As
inflation rises, energy prices aren’t being regulated in any real sense and
wages remain stagnant. In reality, the cost of living crisis is little more
than class war.
And to top it off, the government’s culture war
narrative and scapegoating of immigrants is so effective that despite its
failings, immigrant communities bear the brunt of the frustration from white
working class people.
It’s the colonial divide and rule tactic that remains
as effective as ever. Hate crime, then, is the inevitable result. So before
funding mosque security, maybe stop fuelling the hatred in the first place.
Perhaps it’s not surprising that this is what the
government has chosen to do in order to ostensibly tackle Islamophobia.
Reducing the complex, structural nature of anti-Muslim racism to hate crime
absolves the state of any accountability for its own role. It’s important,
however, that Muslims are paying attention.
Where our communities remain chronically neglected as
we face cuts and underfunding, it’s essential to recognise these crumbs for
exactly what they are. The government wants to be seen as tackling Islamophobia
on the surface while simultaneously entrenching and sustaining it behind closed
doors. We need to call it out for what it is: at best inadequate, and at worst
a distraction tactic to minimise the impact of the state’s own Islamophobia.
Source: The New Arab
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https://english.alaraby.co.uk/opinion/mosque-security-funding-crumbs-dont-stop-islamophobia
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Over 800 mosques attacked in Germany since 2014:
Rights group
10.06.2022
BERLIN
More than 800 mosques in Germany have been the targets
of threats and attacks since 2014, but in most of the cases, crimes were not
properly investigated, according to Brandeilig, an initiative of rights group
FAIR International.
The group, which has founded Germany’s first reporting
center for attacks on mosques, recorded nearly 840 incidents of attacks,
vandalism and threats between 2014 and 2022.
A detailed analysis of the crimes in 2018 revealed
that perpetrators remained unidentified in most of the attacks, fueling further
attacks against Muslim worship sites by neo-Nazis or left-wing extremists.
“In general, the clearance rate for mosque attacks can
be considered very low,” the group said in a recent report.
Among the 120 attacks recorded against mosques in
2018, only in nine cases perpetrators could be identified.
“This rate is a cause for concern,” Brandeilig’s
experts stressed, pointing out that in at least 20 cases, which included arson
attacks, suspects intended to cause death or great bodily harm.
“In general, the police officers arrived on the scene
very quickly and immediately started the investigation. Nevertheless, almost
none of the incidents could be solved until today,” the experts said.
Left-wing extremists and followers of the YPG/PKK
terror group were behind several attacks targeting mosques, while majority of them
were committed by right-wing extremists or neo-Nazi groups, according to the
report.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/over-800-mosques-attacked-in-germany-since-2014-rights-group/2610525
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Paris prosecutor requests life sentence for main
suspect in 2015 terror attacks
Cindi Cook
11.06.2022
PARIS
The office of the Paris prosecutor requested a life
sentence without the possibility of parole Friday for Salah Abdeslam, the main
suspect in the trial of the November 2015 terror attacks that killed 130
people.
The National Anti-Terrorism Office (PNAT) requested
the sentence after deliberations that lasted nine months and it came six and a
half years after Nov. 13 night during which a series of unexpected attacks
unfolded throughout the city, starting with suicide bombers at the Stade de France,
shootings at various cafes around Paris and a mass shooting at the Bataclan
nightclub where 90 people were killed.
The carnage was finally brought to an end in a police
shootout.
“The crime is of such gravity that the sanction can
only be in line with this gravity,” said
the trial’s chief lawyer, Camille Hennetier, as she
requested the sentence along with an “incompressible security period” for
Abdeslam, who is the only perpetrator to have survived the attack.
He was arrested in Belgium after five months on the
run.
Hennetier requested a life sentence for accomplice
Mohamed Abrini -- who is said to have driven Abdeslam to Paris -- along with a
security period of 22 years.
Life sentences are rarely carried out to their
completion in France as most prisoners who receive the penalty are released in
20 to 25 years. Life sentences have been handed down just four times in France
since being initiated in 1994.
Two life sentences were given to two high-ranking
members of the Daesh/ISIS terror group thought to have been killed in Syria or
Iraq.
Sixteen other defendants stood trial and were handed
sentences from five to 16 years. Fourteen of the accused men are in court, with
all but one of the six absent men thought to be dead.
The trial has taken place in a newly-built,
high-security complex installed inside the Palais de Justice, France’s main
courthouse in Paris.
An additional 12 overflow rooms were built to handle
journalist, victims and their lawyers.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Israeli settler group's attempts to seize Jerusalem
Christian properties must stop: EU
By Abdelraouf Arna'out
10.06.2022
The European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah
on Friday voiced concern over an Israeli group’s takeover of Greek Orthodox
properties in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City.
“Attempts by settlers to take over Christian property
in the Old City of Jerusalem must be halted as they jeopardize the heritage and
traditions of the Christian community,” the representative office of the
European Union in Palestinian territories said in a statement.
Earlier, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal
by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate against the takeover of Christian properties
by settler organization Ateret Cohanim.
Such a ruling by the Israeli court poses “a threat to
the peaceful coexistence of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem, as
well as to the established religious equilibrium,” the statement added.
The EU called for maintaining the city’s “status quo”
by preserving and respecting its character.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Sweden hopes for progress on NATO bid with
constructive approach on Türkiye's concerns
Atila Altuntas
10.06.2022
STOCKHOLM
Sweden aims to proceed in a constructive manner on the
concerns that Türkiye has raised against Stockholm's bid to join NATO,
country's foreign minister said on Friday.
Presenting a document on Swedish foreign policy to
lawmakers, Ann Linde stressed that her country would contribute to Turkish
security in line with the alliance solidarity.
Linde said Sweden would maintain a constructive
attitude to address the concerns of Ankara, which has repeatedly said it would
not permit the ascension process while terror affiliates move freely within the
Scandinavian country.
Condemning terrorism, she noted that the country's new
terror law would go into effect as of July 1 and that her country could alter
the conditions stipulated for arms exports for sake of its NATO bid.
Linde takes flak over deal with pro-PKK/YPG lawmaker
In criticism of Linde, Mikael Oscarsson, a lawmaker of
the Christian Democratic Party, pointed to a reported deal between the Swedish
Social Democratic Party and Amineh Kakabaveh, an independent member of
parliament who supports the PKK terror group and its Syrian offshoot YPG.
Oscarsson asked how it could be possible to keep
negotiations going with Türkiye while a deal with Kakabaveh had already been
struck, calling the lawmaker a "political savage."
Linde, for her part, took issue with Oscarsson's
language, saying it was derogatory and underlining that talks with Ankara was
ongoing to find mutual ground.
Sweden is under pressure from Türkiye to end its
support for the PKK/YPG terror group if it wants to join NATO, with Ankara
saying the bloc is a security alliance and that any potential members must take
a clear stance against terrorism.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Pakistan
Imran Khan criticises Pak-American visiting Israel
reveals his ‘double standards’
11 June, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], June 11 (ANI): Pakistan’s former
prime minister Imran Khan has criticised the Pakistani American’s visit to
Israel in a desperate reaction as he linked the visit to the alleged American
conspiracy to throw out his government.
Leader of the Pakistan-American interfaith, which
visited Israel, Naila Ali however, replied to ousted prime minister Imran
Khan’s criticism of the Israel visit by saying: “stop using Muslim women
peacemakers to yield your lost power”, as she asked Imran to stop maligning
women, reported Islam Khabar.
A delegation of 15 Pakistani Americans visited Israel
recently and shook Pakistan where the people are taught from their childhood
that Israel is the No.1 enemy of Islam, Islam Khabar reported.
In fact, Pakistan, which claims it to be the citadel
of Islam, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and does not allow its
citizens to visit Israel or play games with it. That is the reason why there is
so much hue and cry over the Israel visit of Pakistani Americans.
Many educated adults are unsure of Pakistan’s Israeli
policy. Even the country’s military dictators Gen Ziaul Haq (1977-88) and Gen
Pervez Musharraf (1999-2007) had soft corners for Israel but were afraid of
those who could launch a campaign against them if they signalled recognition of
Israel, Islam Khabar reported.
Moreover, the 2020 accord which the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed with Israel was named Abraham Accord to
emphasise the commonality of the fatherhood of Jews and Muslims.
Another interesting aspect of the Israelis’ presence
in Pakistan was the jamaat-i-Islami, the Chief of which called Gen Zia his
nephew, was in the Zia government at that time. The party did not raise its
eyebrows at the Israeli presence for fear of being thrown out of the
government. But outside the government, it made Israel bash its Islamic duty,
Islam Khabar stated.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has married a Jew
wife and received millions of Pounds from his Jew father-in-law to build up his
party and fight elections and has also been called a Jewish agent in Pakistan by
Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Islam, Islam Khabar reported.
Moreover, he has not been able to rebut Jamiat’s
charge but on the contrary, he has taken an anti-Jew stand by criticising
Pakistani Americans’ visit to Israel and their meeting with its President Isaac
Herzog.
This is one of Imran’s desperate reactions to
Pakistani Americans’ visit to Israel.
Source: The Print
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Pakistan urges UN not to be silent on BJP officials'
offensive remarks about Holy Prophet
Anwar Iqbal Published
June 11, 2022
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the UN General
Assembly not to be silent on the offensive remarks made by BJP officials in
India last week, warning that silence on such issues could be mistaken for complicity.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called UN
General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid on Friday and apprised him of the
derogatory remarks made by two senior officials of India’s ruling party BJP
against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).
Noting that such willful and deliberate provocation
had deeply hurt the sentiments of billions of Muslims around the world, the
foreign minister urged the UNGA president to “take cognizance of this abhorrent
development amidst growing hate speech and rising Islamophobia in India,” said
a statement issued in New York.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1694191/pakistan-urges-un-not-to-be-silent
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Pakistan's ex-military dictator General Pervez
Musharraf critical; recovery not possible, says family
Jun 10, 2022
LAHORE/DUBAI: Pakistan's former military dictator
General Pervez Musharraf is critical and on a ventilator support at a hospital
in the UAE, his close aide and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry said
on Friday.
Gen. Musharraf, 78, ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008.
"Musharraf is critical as he is on a
ventilator," Chaudhry told PTI.
Message from Family:He is not on the ventilator. Has
been hospitalized for the last 3 weeks due to a complication…
https://t.co/topjH6OvM7
— Pervez Musharraf (@P_Musharraf) 1654864321000
Chaudhry, who was the information minister in the
Imran Khan government, was once a media spokesperson for Musharraf.
He said that he spoke to Musharraf's son who confirmed
his illness.
"I have just spoken to Gen Musharraf's son Bilal
in Dubai who confirmed that he (Musharraf) is on ventilator," Chaudhry
said.
Reacting to reports, Ifzaal Siddique, the President of
the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Overseas -- founded by Musharraf -- said
that the former president is little bit ill but fully alert.
"General Pervez Musharraf is at home (a little)
bit ill though, but fully alert as usual, please don't listen to fake news.
Just pray for his good health, Ameen," Siddique said.
Musharraf has been declared a fugitive in former prime
minister Benazir Bhutto murder case and Red Mosque cleric killing case.
The former president, living in Dubai since 2016, was
facing the treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007.
Source: Times Of India
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South
Asia
Afghan Taliban unlawfully detaining, torturing
civilians, says Human Rights Watch
10th June 2022
ISLAMABAD: Taliban security forces in northern
Afghanistan have unlawfully detained and tortured residents accused of
association with an opposition armed group, New York-based Human Rights Watch
said in a statement Friday.
Since mid-May 2022, fighting has escalated in Panjshir
province as National Resistance Front (NRF) forces have attacked Taliban units
and checkpoints, HRW said.
The Taliban have responded by deploying to the
province thousands of fighters, who have carried out search operations
targeting communities they allege are supporting the NRF, the group added.
“Taliban forces have committed summary executions and
enforced disappearances of captured fighters and other detainees, which are war
crimes,” also in other provinces, it said.
In a mountainous valley north of Kabul, the last
remnants of Afghanistan’s shattered security forces have vowed to resist the
Taliban in a remote region that has defied conquerors before.
Nestled in the towering Hindu Kush, the Panjshir
Valley has a single narrow entrance. Local fighters held off the Soviets there
in the 1980s, and the Taliban a decade later under the leadership of Ahmad Shah
Massoud, a guerrilla fighter who attained near-mythic status before he was
killed in a suicide bombing.
His 33-year-old foreign-educated son, Ahmad Massoud,
and several top officials from the ousted Western-backed government have vowed to
resist the Taliban.
Source: New Indian Express
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Rights watchdog condemns the Taliban for violently
beating Afghan journalist
June 10, 2022
LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned
the Taliban on Thursday for violently beating an Afghan journalist and charging
three others over corruption reporting, urging them to file an immediate probe.
“Taliban leaders must take action to prevent their
members from attacking journalists like Reza Shahir, and must immediately drop
the spurious charges against three journalists in Faryab province over an old
corruption case,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator.
“The detentions, beatings, and harassment of media
workers has continued to rise in Afghanistan under the Taliban, which indicates
a worrisome trend for press freedom.”
Last Friday, Afghan journalist Reza Shahir was stopped
by Taliban forces while he was on his way to his home in Kabul, searched him,
and proceeded to punch him in the head and beat him on the shoulder with an
AK-47.
Shahir was stripped of his mobile phone and left
unconscious on the street.
Previously a reporter for the local broadcaster Rahe
Farda TV, Shahir was also beaten and detained by Taliban forces last April, but
has since worked as a freelancer to avoid such violent incidents.
According to Shahir, Taliban fighters beat him after
they searched his mobile phone and found screenshots of media reports about his
April detention and beating.
He said the Taliban accused him of being a spy and
working for foreign governments.
Separately, three Afghan journalists have been charged
with as yet unspecified criminal offences after being questioned and detained
numerous times throughout last month.
Source: Arab News
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of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2100806/media
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QATAR Vows Continued Political, Economic Cooperation
with Afghanistan
By Arif Ahmadi
11 Jun 2022
Kabul, Afghanistan – In a formal trip to Kabul this
week, the Qatari National Security Advisor (NSA) Mohammed bin Ahmed al-Misnad
and his accompanying delegation pledged its government’s continued cooperation
in political and economic affairs of Afghanistan.
Qatari delegation met with Abdul Ghani Baradar, First
Deputy Prime Minister; Sirajuddin Haqqani, Acting Minister of Interior; Amir
Khan Muttaqi, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mullah Khairullah
Khairkhah, Acting Minister of Information and Culture during a formal visit in
Kabul.
“Now that security has been restored in Afghanistan,
employment for the people has been created, it is time to show the world the
actual picture of Afghanistan,” said Baradar, as TOLOnews quoted.
Welcoming the supportive gesture by Qatari government,
the First Deputy PM further said that all commercial and investment facilities
have been provided in Afghanistan, paving the way for regional and
international allies, including Qatar, to invest in infrastructure projects in
the country.
Meanwhile, a number of local economists believe
Qatar’s investment in economic sectors may help alleviate poverty and boost
government income, saying such opportunity could as well increase employment
rates in the country.
“Afghanistan can be saved from poverty and millions of
jobs can be created if mines are extracted optimally and legally, have the
proper legal framework, and the interests of the Afghan people are properly
considered.” said Azarakhsh Hafezi, an economist.
“Investing in Afghanistan’s water and mining sectors
is a good and golden opportunity for both international and domestic companies,
and such investments may create a lot of jobs.” said Hamidullah Yalani, another
economist, according to local media.
While foreign investments in Afghanistan seem
promising, alleviating financial struggles since the takeover last August, the
economic committee ordered concerning ministries to revise the Mining Law at
the Economic Commission meeting.
Mohammad Karim Azimi, Executive Director of
Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines (CIM) said the recommended changes
in mining law could potentially benefit the country, attracting regional and
international investment opportunities.
“The involvement of foreign investors, particularly
Qatari investments, in the country’s mines, is important, provided that the new
rules give more benefits and place a greater emphasis on domestic investments.”
This marks the first official visit to Afghanistan by
the high-ranking Qatari delegation since the United Arab Emirates (UAE) took
over the ground operations and aviation security contract at Kabul Airport,
including three other local air facilities, according to the local media.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/qatar-vows-continued-political-economic-cooperation-with-afghanistan/
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Taliban assure India to act on Pakistan-based terror
groups in Afghanistan: Report
Jun 10, 2022
The Taliban's top leadership assured India during a
bilateral meeting in Kabul last week that it would not allow terrorism against
third countries from its soil and that it would act against terrorists from Pakistan-based
groups based on specific intelligence, Indian media organisation the Hindustan
Times reported.
According to the report, a visiting team led by senior
diplomat JP Singh met with Taliban government officials in Kabul, including
Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, in
addition to Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Singh is the MEA's joint
secretary for PAI (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran).
The meeting came after National Security Advisor Ajit
Doval requested fellow NSAs from Russia, China, Iran, and Central Asian
Republics to improve Afghanistan's capability to combat terrorism and
terrorists who constitute a threat to regional peace and security during a
Regional Security Summit in Dushanbe.
According to a report by Deccan Chronicle, during the
conference, New Delhi is said to have told the Taliban that Pakistan-linked
terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed should not
utilise Afghan soil for terrorism against India. The delegation will also meet
with representatives from international organisations involved in the delivery
of Indian humanitarian aid, which has so far included 20,000 metric tonnes (MT)
of wheat, as well as vaccines, medications, and winter clothes. Outside of
Kabul, the delegation will visit "other sites where Indian programmes and
projects are being implemented."
The Taliban administration is not officially
recognised by India.
According to the HT report, Taliban officials
committed to taking action against Pakistan-based terrorist groups such as
Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. The Taliban also
vowed to take action against Al Qaeda in the Sub-continent (AQIS) terrorists if
specific information was provided.
Source: WIO News
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Taliban want army training in India
11th June 2022
By Yeshi Seli
NEW DELHI: India’s gesture of sending an official team
to Kabul last week has prompted the ruling Taliban Defence Minister Mullah
Yaqub to seek training of its army personnel in India. Mullah Yaqub said
strengthening of diplomatic ties with India was the first step for which a
beginning has been made by the visit of Indian officials. It is learnt that
Yaqub has also been asking India to reopen its embassy in Kabul.
Yaqub’s comment has not yet elicited any Indian
response as New Delhi does not recognise the Taliban as the elected
representative of the Afghan people. “It is a long shot as of now to consider
this (Mullah Yaqub’s offer), but things seem to be settling on the ground
between New Delhi and Kabul. The recent trip by Indian officials is proof that
India is willing to take the next step. We will have to wait and see how things
take shape,’’ said an expert on India-Afghanistan relations.
Source: New Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2022/jun/11/taliban-want-army-training-in-india-2464223.html
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Taliban rejects report on human rights violations in
Afghanistan
Jun 11 2022
Kabul, Jun 11 (IANS): The Taliban-led government in
Afghanistan has rejected a recent report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) which
expressed concerns over the violations of human rights, especially those of
women and girls, in the war-torn nation.
In a statement on Friday, spokesman of the Taliban's
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government Zabihullah Mujahid said that
citizens were currently being provided with better human rights than any other
period in the country, reports TOLO News.
"The Islamic Emirate asks the UN and human rights
advocate agencies not to listen to the propaganda... They must consider and
accept the truth in the country. Human rights are respected in comparison to
the past 20 years in Afghanistan," he said, adding that the HRW report was
"incorrect and baseless".
Mujahid's remarks came a day after the HRW released
its report which also called for an end to an exemption on travel bans of the
IEA.
"Human Rights Watch has issued a new statement
today calling for some specific action by the Security Council of the UN in
response to the rising level of abuses by the Taliban against women and girls
in Afghanistan," Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women's Rights
Division at the HRW, was quoted as saying in the report.
"In June, the travel ban exemptions that are
currently in place for fourteen members of the Taliban leadership will expire,
at that point we are asking the Security Council, not only to end those
exemptions but also to consider whether there might be a need for a travel ban
against additional individuals."
Travel bans on some IEA leaders were first imposed in
1999 as part of the UN response to violent activities in Afghanistan and it was
partially suspended three years ago to allow 14 members of incumbent Taliban
government to attend peace talks, reports TOLO News.
Source: Daiji World
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=967672
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Southeast
Asia
Deputy Minister (Religious Affairs): Muslims Must
Unite Over Insults against Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in India
10 Jun 2022
KOTA BARU, June 10 — The government has urged Muslims
in the country to unite against two politicians from India who insulted Prophet
Muhammad SAW.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department
(Religious Affairs) Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary said the insults were considered
an act of extremism and unacceptable.
He said Muslims must rise and act in solidarity as a
show of strength and togetherness to ensure no one repeats such acts in the
future.
“The Prophet did not teach Muslims to insult other
religions fearing how non-Muslims would react and insult Islam. That is why if
there are people who try to insult the Prophet, we consider that an act of
extremism.
“In fact, we should learn from this incident that
Muslims must rise and be united, only then will they realise that they cannot
simply insult Islam and the Prophet and at the same time be cautious when they see
Muslims unite because if we are divided, they can do as they please,” he said
at a press conference after officiating the ‘Lambaian Kaabah’ programme at the
Dewan Nik Abdullah Arshad at the Kompleks Purnama in Pengkalan Chepa here.
Media outlets had earlier reported that Malaysia along
with Indonesia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries
condemned the statements of politicians from India that insulted Islam
recently.
Elaborating further, Ahmad Marzuk, who is also the
Pengkalan Chepas MP, denied allegations that he did not act firmly regarding
insults against the Prophet Muhammad SAW.
He said the allegations were untrue and in fact, the
Religious Affairs Minister had earlier issued a statement about the matter and
stressed that they strongly condemned the insults against Prophet Muhammad SAW.
“I also issued two statements condemning the actions
and Alhamdulillah we can see the sensitivity of Muslims towards the Prophet is
still high based on the response to the statements issued.
Source: Malay Mail
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of the original story:
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Respect Muslim rights on Bon Odori issue
June 10, 2022
Malaysia is truly unique. We are a nation of different
races and faiths living together, making us one of the world’s most diverse
societies.
Respect has been instrumental in safeguarding this
harmony even as other societies implode with violence and prejudice. Malaysians
live harmoniously, barring a few incidents, because we are a tolerant country
where people have the right to worship what they believe and observe their
respective festivals and traditions with no interference from other races or
folks of other faiths.
Indeed, respect in Islam is at the core of its belief:
Muslims are commanded to respect their parents, elders, colleagues, neighbours
– even animals and the environment. Respecting the beliefs and values of others
has allowed Muslims to safeguard and honour the rights of others.
The problem now is that many Muslims feel that our
values and beliefs are being challenged. We are provoked by interference from
non-Muslims.
Take the Bon Odori tempest. Why are non-Muslims
commenting on guidance from a Muslim minister and scholar that is specifically
for Muslims?
We’ve never interfered. Therefore, we ask for the same
courtesy.
How would you feel if we asked a Hindu to help the
Muslims in the slaughter of cattle during the festival of Aidiladha in the name
of harmony? But, Muslims have never done that and asked others to abandon their
beliefs or forced our beliefs on non-Muslims.
You may say Bon Odori is just a cultural festival with
no religious connotations. But here’s what my Japanese friend has said: “Bon
Odori began as a memorial service for the spirits of the ancestors. It has now
evolved into a festival featuring a choreographed dance that emphasises the
movement of the feet, where stepping on the ground is a ritual to send out the
ancestors to find their way home.”
Islam is clear on what is permissible or otherwise. Supplications
for the dead are fine, but ritualistic dances are a no-no.
Muslims are guided by divine laws: the commands of
Allah and the examples of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It’s not about
opinions, or what I say, or what this or that scholar says.
Muslims don’t look to the Middle East just because
it’s the birthplace of Islam. Muslims don’t follow the Arabs just because
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is one of them.
Although the Middle East is now inviting Western
ideals to be seen by the world as being liberal, inclusive and pragmatic
(hello, BTS concert!), these are not Islam’s values. Everything a Muslim does
needs to be guided by the Quran and evidence exemplified by the Prophet (peace
be upon him).
But what about harmony, you ask? Islam encourages us
to embrace other people’s traditions and cultures as long as they do not go
against Islam.
See Surah Al Kafirun 109, verse 6, meaning: “we
worship not what you worship, nor do you worship what we worship”. Thus,
Muslims in authority, such as Jakim and the religious affairs minister, Idris
Ahmad, have the responsibility to advise fellow Muslims on the guidelines of
how to live in accordance with Allah’s and the Prophet’s commands.
Again, the guidelines are for Muslims. Whether or not
they are followed is up to each individual Muslim. People of other faiths are
free to observe the festival and do as they please.
But my liberal Muslim friend says Bon Odori is fine!
Just like many people, Muslims in general always conflate religion and what is considered
culture and tradition.
Opinions will always be there. But for Muslims who
only want to please God – without needing approval in the court of public
opinion – we know what we need to do.
Muslims as followers are not perfect, but Islam is a perfect
religion from the Almighty Creator. The Quran says: “Today I have perfected
your religion for you” (Al-Maidah, verse 3).
For anyone to say anything about Islam, they should be
learned and guided by the Quran and the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) examples
and have knowledge about the religion.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Kelantan religious authorities deny barring Perlis
mufti
Nora Mahpar
June 8, 2022
PETALING JAYA: Kelantan’s religious authorities have
denied barring Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin from holding ceramahs in the
state, though he is still required to request permission from them.
This follows Asri’s claim that he was not allowed to
speak in a programme in Taman Aulia, Kota Bharu, for not having the necessary
“credentials”.
The director of Kelantan’s Islamic affairs department,
Che Rahim Jusoh, said discussions were held with the organisers of the
programme and that the matter had been resolved.
“There are no problems between the state government
and the organisers. There are no restrictions. One can (hold ceramahs) but they
must apply to do so, the same way they have to in other states.
“They don’t have to have credentials, but if they do,
then it’s better. If they don’t, they can request for temporary permission,
it’s not a problem,” he told FMT.
Asri was supposed to appear on a forum with Kolej
Universiti Islam Perlis rector Rozaimi Ramle and Kelantan PAS leader Johari
Mat.
However, the programme, organised by businessman Wan
Ariff Wan Hamzah, was understood to have been cancelled after orders from the
state religious department as Asri and Rozaimi did not possess the required
credentials.
A letter said to have been issued by the department
had also gone viral, warning that action would be taken if the forum went
ahead, with the organisers liable to a RM5,000 fine or a maximum jail sentence
of three years, or both.
While the forum was cancelled, it was changed to a
casual get-together, which was later interrupted by a group of youths who
chanted “tolak Wahabi” (reject Wahhabism).
Previously, Asri had not been allowed to hold ceramahs
in Selangor and Terengganu as he also did not possess the credentials required
by the states’ religious departments.
Wahhabism, sometimes used interchangeably with
Salafism, has its origins in the teachings of 17th century scholar Muhammad ibn
Abd Wahhab, who sought to end practices deemed “un-Islamic” and led a campaign
for a return to a more austere version of Islam.
Wahhabi ideas inspired restrictions in Saudi Arabia,
such as the ban on women driving and the rule that women travellers are to be
accompanied by male family members, although these have eased in recent times.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Activists laud ‘first step’ to totally abolishing
death penalty
Nicholas Chung
June 10, 2022
PETALING JAYA: Human rights activists have lauded the
government’s decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty, saying this is the
first step towards totally doing away with the death sentence in Malaysia.
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) adviser N Surendran said
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government deserved praise for this
long-awaited decision, adding that this was “the right thing to do”.
“However, the government must not stop there. The
current moratorium on executions must continue until a full abolition of the
death penalty is achieved.
“The death penalty is cruel, irreversible and has no
effect in preventing serious crime. Our society must not stop until capital
punishment is thrown into the rubbish heap of history,” he told FMT.
Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan) executive
coordinator Dobby Chew also welcomed Putrajaya’s announcement on the matter,
saying it was about time that the mandatory death sentence be abolished.
Chew said that judges must have the discretion to
sentence offenders based on the facts of each case so as to ensure that justice
was served.
“The mandatory death penalty has been a source of
injustice in our criminal justice system,” he told FMT, adding that the move to
abolish it was long overdue.
Singaporean human rights lawyer M Ravi applauded
Putrajaya’s move and hoped the republic would soon follow in Malaysia’s
footsteps.
“It’s so heartening that Malaysia has taken this
enlightened path after years of campaigning,” said Ravi, who briefly
represented Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who was executed in Singapore in April.
Rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said this
decision gave judges the discretion to mete out an alternative sentence rather
than the death penalty.
It agreed with Surendran and Chew that Putrajaya
should go on to abolish the death penalty as a whole, but said today’s
announcement was a “significant step forward”.
Earlier today, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
said Putrajaya had agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty, giving judges
discretion in sentencing.
The Cabinet had also agreed for a further study to be
carried out on the proposed substitute sentences for 11 offences carrying the
mandatory death penalty, one of which is under Section 39B of the Dangerous
Drugs Act 1952.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Penang Mufti says former chief secretary to govt Mohd
Sidek's hefty 1MDB perk 'haram', should be returned
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
11 Jun 2022
KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Wan
Salim Wan Mohd Noor suggested yesterday that the hefty allowance given to former
chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan as 1Malaysia
Development Berhad (1MDB) board member was "haram”.
Wan Salim was quoted by Sinar Harian as saying that
Islam forbids a worker from taking a wage that does not commensurate the labour
put into the specified work, a comment following Mohd Sidek’s testimony that he
was paid up to RM30,000 monthly to sit in the fund’s advisory board.
"The Prophet had asserted that whoever is hired
to perform a task is paid a certain wage. Whatever excess taken from that is
deemed to be haram,” Wan Salim said.
Under Islamic law, the degree of sin is higher if the
wage was taken from public funds, the Penang mufti added.
He then advised Mohd Sidek to return the money.
"If it can’t be returned to the government as an
alternative it can be channelled into any programmes that benefit the public,
such as helping the poor or through the court,” he was quoted as saying.
The former chief secretary told the High Court as a
witness in Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak’s corruption trial that he had never
attended a single board meeting despite receiving a premium emolument.
Mohd Sidek testified that he was a board member from
July 1, 2010 to June 23, 2012,. His contract was later extended to June 2015
but with the allowance reduced to RM10,000 a month.
He claimed Najib had put him on the Finance
Ministry-owned 1MDB because the former prime minister felt his salary was too
low, with the role initially providing an additional income of RM30,000 per
month.
Meanwhile legal group ProGuam said Mohd Sidek is
morally obligated to return the allowances.
Source: Malay Mail
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Arab
World
Tombstones in northern Syria document terror group
YPG/PKK’s use of child soldiers
Ömer Koparan, Mehmet Burak Karacaoğlu, Ethem Emre
Özcan
10.06.2022
AYN AL-ARAB / AZAZ, Syria
Tombstones in northern Syria, close to the Turkish
border, provide grim evidence of the fate of underage boys and girls forcibly
recruited by the YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the terror group PKK.
According to footage obtained by Anadolu Agency, the
tombstones of several YPG/PKK members at a cemetery in the city of Ayn al-Arab
(Kobani) show that they died at age 14 to 17. The slain YPG/PKK members were
born in the late 1990s and died in the mid-2010s.
The use of children as armed combatants, by terrorist
groups or otherwise, is expressly forbidden under international humanitarian
law and is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court.
The YPG/PKK's use of child soldiers was highlighted by
the US State Department’s 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report.
The report underlined that the YPG/PKK continued to forcibly
recruit boys and girls as young as 12 from refugee camps located in
northwestern Syria.
This week, locals in Aleppo, Syria – near northern
areas controlled by YPG/PKK terrorists – said two brothers, just 9 and 10 years
old, had just been kidnapped by the terrorist group.
Moreover, a January 2020 UN human rights office
(OHCHR) report said its findings suggest the YPG/PKK is using children as
fighters in Syria.
In July 2019, Virginia Gamba, the UN
secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict,
signed an action plan with the SDF – the label the YPG/PKK terror group uses in
Syria – to end and prevent the recruitment and use of minors under 18, but the
terror group has violated the plan.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Lebanese civilians ‘suffer harm’ from flights by
Israeli spy planes and drones
June 10, 2022
BEIRUT: There have been 22,111 Israeli violations of
Lebanon’s airspace since 2007, according to a database that wants to show the
effects of “systematic and prolonged exposure to the roar of these military
planes in the airspace, and their impact on the physical and psychological life
of those who have had to withstand constant air pressure” from above.
Airpressure.info compiled the database to make all
Israeli air violations visible.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, a 37-year-old Jordanian who lived
in Beirut for years, is behind the information. He said he wanted to shed light
on “an accumulated event, one extended crime” that had taken place over the
past 15 years.
“It is an atmosphere of violence that takes its toll
over time. That is why it might be ignored, although it shouldn’t be ignored
any longer.”
Lebanon and Israel are still in a state of war despite
the Israeli withdrawal from the south of the country in 2000. The last Israeli
attack witnessed by Lebanon was in the summer of 2006 which lasted a month.
Hamdan is also a contemporary artist who specializes
in the political effects of listening, using various kinds of audio to explore
its effects on human rights and law.
Airpressure.info said that 8,231 fighter aircraft and
13,102 drones had violated Lebanese airspace since 2007.
It said: “These acts of aggression in Lebanese
airspace are not short overflights, but last for four hours and 35 minutes on
average. The total duration of these violations amounts to 3,098 days. This is
equal to eight years and a half of continued occupation of Lebanon by jet
planes and drones.”
These violations meant that life in Lebanon was under
random group surveillance, it added.
“These are an unprecedented violation of people’s
privacy by a foreign state. Through these airspace violations, people’s phone
calls and text messages are being monitored and their homes and movements are
being randomly filmed.”
Journalist Samer Wehbe, who is from the southern city
of Nabatieh, told Arab News that Lebanese people living in the south had become
used to the sound of the Israeli aircraft every day.
"They find it odd when these aircraft do not
violate the airspace for one or two days. Apart from watching the movements of
the Lebanese, the Israeli spy planes, roaring all day and night, cause
disturbance, anxiety, and stress. Even children complain about the sounds.”
The website relied on the findings of 17 articles
published in popular international journals detailing “the severe physiological
effects of airplane noise.”
These articles showed that “hypertension, circulatory
effects, sleep disorder, and psychosocial pain” were usually associated with
long-term exposure to this type of noise pollution.
The website recorded 30 times where around eight to 12
aircraft breached Lebanese airspace at the same time, "regularly violating
the sound barrier above civilian areas, causing a sonic boom known to smash
windows.”
It was possible that all residents would hear these
aircraft while they flew north over the mountains and south to the coast as
Lebanon was just 88 km at its widest point, it said.
It noted that Israel used advanced military aircraft
and modern surveillance aircraft.
Wehbe said: “Adults who have lived through Israel's
wars and invasions of Lebanon suffer from anxiety more than others. During my
fieldwork, I have often seen women having panic attacks because they expect to
be raided after hearing the roar of flying aircraft, especially since this roar
lasts hours and becomes disturbing as minutes and hours pass.”
In a survey of Lebanon's complaints against Israeli
air violations, the website said 243 letters were uploaded to the UN Digital
Library from 2006 to 2021. “They are addressed to the Security Council and
contain all radar information, including time, duration, type, and route for
each violation of the aircraft.”
The Lebanese Defense Ministry, the UN Security Council,
and UNIFIL forces usually monitor and record such violations. But the website
said this information was stored in a “partial and uncoordinated manner” by
these three institutions.
It published a map of the airspace violations above
Lebanon’s regions and showed the routes followed by the aircraft in the form of
overlapping circles that covered most of the country.
The flights are concentrated in the south, where they
appear to follow set routes. But Beirut is also a frequent destination, as are
areas north of the capital and closer to the Syrian border.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2100976/middle-east
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MP: Call for safe zone in northern Syria is Erdogan’s
brainchild, rooted in colonial projects
11 June 2022
A Syrian legislator has dismissed Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call for the establishment of a so-called safe zone in
the occupied northern part of the war-ravaged country, stating that the
proposal is rooted in his colonial projects.
“Erdogan's plan aimed at creation of a 30-kilometer
(18.6-mile) deep in northern Syria is emphatically rejected. His dream of the
Ottoman empire rebirth will never come true,” Ammar al-Assad said in an
exclusive interview with the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency on
Friday.
“We are already familiar with the hostile views of the
Turkish regime towards its neighbors, its colonial approaches, as well as its
support for terrorism, sabotage and blackmail to achieve political goals,”
Assad added.
The Syrian lawmaker noted, “He is now pushing to
establish a so-called safe zone 30 kilometers deep south of the border with
Syria. There is no such thing in international principles or agreements. There
are also other inventions like the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Hayat
Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist groups, which he created and financed
himself."
“Such hostile statements are in support of terrorists,
and give them a free hand to occupy a neighboring country and to displace local
residents with the intention of demographic change,” Assad commented.
He went on to say that “the so-called safe zone will
not be established at all. All traces of the Turkish occupation will be
obliterated as the Syrian army and the Damascus government is unified in the
face of plots seeking to destroy the fabric of our society."
“We also have Russia and Iran as allies as well as
freedom-loving people of the world on our side, who condemn the plan and will
not allow these terrorist and colonial projects to be carried out," Assad
noted.
Earlier this month, Russia’s Foreign Ministry urged
Turkey against launching another incursion into northern Syria under the
pretext of fighting off anti-Ankara “terrorists.”
“We hope that Ankara will refrain from actions that
could lead to a dangerous deterioration of the already difficult situation in
Syria,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on June 2.
“Such a move, in the absence of the agreement of the
legitimate government of the Syrian Arab Republic, would be a direct violation
of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and would “cause a further
escalation of tensions in Syria,” she added.
“We understand Turkey’s concerns about threats to
national security emanating from the border regions” with Syria, she said,
adding the concerns, however, could also be alleviated if the Syrian military
were to be deployed to the areas.
Her remarks came a day after Erdogan warned that the
country was to take yet “another step” to “clean up” the northern Syrian cities
of Tal Rifat and Manbij.
Turkey has been conducting several incursions against
Syria’s northern parts since 2016 to fight back against Kurdish militants known
as the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Source: Press TV
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Iran denounces Israeli strike on Damascus airport,
reaffirms support for Syria
10 June 2022
Iran has strongly condemned the Israeli regime’s
renewed aggression against Syria after Friday's attack targeting the Damascus
airport, reaffirming its unflinching support for the Arab country.
Foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the
remarks during a telephone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Faisal
al-Mekdad on Friday, hours after an Israeli airstrike targeted the vicinity of
the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital.
The Islamic Republic has always stood by the Syrian
government and people and would continue to do so in the future, the Iranian
top diplomat, who is presently visiting India, asserted.
He said the Israeli regime’s relentless attacks on
Syria’s infrastructure were not only in violation of the country’s sovereignty
and territorial integrity, but also constituted a contravention of all
international laws and humanitarian norms and principles.
Amir-Abdollahian deemed the silence of the
international community and regional organizations in the face of the Israeli
aggression as “pathetic and reprehensible.”
The Syrian official, for his part, expressed his
country’s gratitude to the Islamic Republic and said the Syrian nation would
sustain its resistance against the Zionist regime’s occupation and aggression.
Syria and the Israeli regime are technically at war
due to the latter’s 1967-present occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights.
The regime maintains a significant military presence
in the occupied territory, which it uses as one of the launchpads for attacks
on Syrian soil.
The regime's attacks on Syria have grown significantly
in scale and frequency after 2011 when Syria found itself in the grip of
foreign-backed terrorism.
Referring to the Friday airstrike, Mekdad said the
Israeli regime resorts to such desperate attacks to disturb the calm and
stability in the region so that it can deflect attention from its domestic
crisis.
He further said the attacks were meant to reinforce
the remnants of Takfiri terrorist outfits, such as Daesh and al-Nusra Front,
adding that the aggression would lead to nowhere.
Such incursions, the Syrian official concluded, would
only strengthen the Syrian government and people’s resolve to confront
occupation and terrorism.
‘Flights suspended at Damascus airport’
In the wake of the Israeli attack targeting the
airport in Damascus on Friday, Syria’s al-Watan newspaper reported that the
country suspended all flights at the airport.
According to the daily, the attack partly damaged the
runway at the airport.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) also
reported the halt in the airport’s operations but said the issue was due to a
“technical” malfunction.
Earlier on Friday, for the second time this week,
Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles launched by the Israeli military at
targets south of the capital Damascus, bringing down most of them.
SANA, citing a military source, said Israeli warplanes
fired several missiles from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights at some
targets south of Damascus at around 4:20 a.m. local time (0120 GMT) Friday, but
Syrian air defenses brought down most of them.
Syria had last month urged the United Nations to issue
a "clear" condemnation of the regime's relentless airstrikes on the
Arab country.
Source: Press TV
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/06/10/683683/Iran-Syria-Israel-attack-airport
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Report: Israel deploys radar systems in UAE, Bahrain
to counter ‘threats’ from Iran
10 June 2022
Tel Aviv regime has deployed radar systems in some
West Asian countries as part of joint cooperation with the region’s Arab states
to counter what the Israeli media claims to be “missile threats” from Iran.
“Israel has deployed radar systems in several
countries in the Middle East, including the UAE and Bahrain,” Channel 12 said
on Thursday, claiming the measure was in line with joint cooperation in
confronting “Iranian missile threats” and creating an early warning system.
The media also said the US administration was seeking
to establish a security alliance consisting of Israel and a number of Persian
Gulf countries, including those that do not have diplomatic relations with
Israel.
“It is a defense-security cooperation agreement between
Israel and several Arab countries against threats from Iran,” the Channel 12
news said. “Under the emerging agreement, the United States will work on
cooperation between Israel and six Persian Gulf states, in addition to Egypt,
Jordan and Iraq. It is a joint proposal between The Democratic and Republican
parties and will be tabled on Thursday in the House of Representatives."
According to the Israeli channel, members of US
Congress had already put forward a bill requiring that the US Department of Defense
integrate the air defense systems of Israel and some Arab countries.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that the
Republican and Democratic parties have submitted the bill to Congress,
recommending that the Pentagon work with Israel and the Arab countries to
incorporate air defense capabilities to “counter the threats from Iran.” The
bill was the latest attempt inside the Beltway to improve military cooperation
between Israel and West Asia after normalization of ties between the occupying
regime and some Arab countries.
“Israel will cooperate and coordinate on military and
security measures with many countries without diplomatic relations, whose laws
have recently banned measures that promote normalization and relations with
Israel,” the Journal said.
The Israeli media report came on the same day Israeli
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited the United Arab Emirates, his second
official trip to the Persian Gulf country since the two sides formally
normalized in 2020 under the so-called Abraham Accords brokered by then US
President Donald Trump.
Source: Press TV
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/06/10/683680/Israel-Channel-12-news-radar-systems-West-Asia
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Lebanon says to resume passport appointments after
pause
10 June, 2022
Lebanon said Friday it will resume appointments to
issue and renew passports next week after suspending such bookings in late
April due to supply shortages that sparked nationwide alarm.
Grappling with its worst-ever financial crisis,
Lebanon has seen passport renewal requests surge tenfold since 2020 amid a
massive population exodus that is only worsening as politicians fail to chart a
path towards recovery.
“The General Directorate of General Security announces
that the (passport) platform will be relaunched as of Monday, June 13,” the top
security agency said in a statement.
General Security had announced on April 28 that it had
stopped taking appointments to issue and renew passports because of a shortage
of travel documents, in part due to the government failing to pay a company
tasked with printing new ones.
On Friday, General Security said that it had been
informed that the company had been paid the amount outstanding.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Mideast
Eight Iran convicts face ‘imminent’ finger amputation:
Rights group
10 June, 2022
Eight Iranian men convicted of theft and held outside
Tehran are in imminent risk of having their fingers cut off, an NGO warned on
Friday, decrying the punishment as “inhuman.”
The men are being held in the Greater Tehran prison
waiting for their fingers on one hand to be amputated, the Abdorrahman
Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran (ABC) said in a statement.
Three of them had been transferred from Orumiyeh
prison in northwestern Iran specifically for the amputation.
It added they had been told that their punishment
would be implemented once a guillotine-like device for the purpose was
operational in Evin prison in Tehran.
On June 8, all eight were summoned for transfer to
Evin for the amputation which was postponed for unknown reasons.
In a joint statement with the Kurdistan Human Rights
Network (KHRN), the ABC said it was concerned by “credible reports” that the
device had now been installed in a clinic in Evin and had already been used for
at least one amputation in recent days.
“Carrying out such a cruel and inhuman punishment
violates the minimum standards of humanity and decency,” said ABC executive
director Roya Boroumand.
“The international community can and should react
urgently to stop the implementation of these amputations,” she added.
Finger amputations are permitted in the Islamic
republic under sharia law, but have been rarely carried out until now.
The ABC said it had collected reports on at least 356
sentences of amputation issued since the Islamic revolution in 1979, but added
the real number is believed to be much higher.
If the sentences are carried out, the men will have
four fingers of their right hand cut off, according to Iran’s penal code.
The concern over their pending punishment comes as
rights groups also raise alarm over surging numbers of executions in Iran at a
time of protests over price rises.
Source: Al Arabiya
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AEOI Chief: Iran Starts Injecting Gas into Advanced Centrifuges
2022-June-10
Eslami made the remarks in an interview with Iran's
National TV on Thursday night.
"In the last 20 years, all the methods,
behaviors, psychological operations, sanctions, and resolutions that they have
exercised and imposed have been in line with the policy of stopping the Islamic
Republic of Iran," Eslami said while referring to the anti-Iran resolution
that was passed at the IAEA Board of Governors on Wednesday.
"It is regrettable that an international
institution has been exploited by an illegitimate regime and its reputation has
been destroyed," he added.
He added that Iran's goodwill in the JCPOA was never
admitted, stressing, "We don't look for adventurous operations. We have
officially announced what our nuclear program is according to the IAEA charter,
the IAEA has a duty to assist countries in developing their nuclear
programs."
"The IAEA is held hostage by the Israeli
regime," Eslami pointed out.
Regarding the Thursday AEOI move in disconnecting the
IAEA's surveillance cameras that were installed beyond the Safeguards
Agreement, he said, "We kept the cameras in place in accordance with the
JCPOA to show our goodwill, but now that false and unacceptable accusations
have been made against Tehran, the recent decision was made."
He also pointed out that Iran's peaceful nuclear
activities continue in an environment in a technical, excellent environment
under the influence of the agency's rules.
The IAEA approved a resolution, proposed by the US,
Germany, France and Britain, against Iran late Wednesday with 30 votes in
favor, two against and three abstentions.
The Iranian foreign ministry denounced the
"non-constructive approach" of the IAEA, saying the Islamic Republic
"has taken practical quid pro quo steps which include installation of
advanced centrifuges and deactivation of cameras operating outside the
Safeguards Agreement".
"The adoption of this resolution, which is based
on the hasty and unbalanced report of the Director General of the IAEA and on
false and fabricated information of the Zionist regime, will only weaken the
process of cooperation and interaction of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the
IAEA," it said.
The statement said the IAEA appeared to have
resurrected issues which had been settled between the two sides seven years
ago, despite the Islamic Republic having "always cooperated
constructively" with the agency in recent years.
Iran, it said, had showed its good faith in
cooperation with the IAEA by providing accurate technical information as
confirmed by their joint statement issued in March when IAEA Director General
Rafael Grossi visited Tehran.
"Likewise, the Agency was expected to take an
independent, impartial and professional approach, taking constructive and
realistic steps to normalize safeguards issues that according to the Agency own
admission did not bear proliferation concerns," the statement said.
"It seems some have forgotten that all past
issues were closed once and for all on December 15, 2015 by the Board of
Governors," it added.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Senior Cleric Calls IAEA's Politicized Resolution As
Failed Attempt to Pressure Iran in Vienna Talks
2022-June-10
Addressing a congregation of people at Tehran's Imam
Khomeini Grand Mosalla (congregational prayers site), Ayatolallah Khatami said,
"The Wednesday anti-Iran resolution at the IAEA Board of Governors was
aimed at making the Islamic Republic to give concession in the
negotiations."
Ayatollah Khatami said that the Islamic Republic will
not give in to the Western countries' pressures and will remain loyal to the
ideals of its revolution set out by Late Imam Khomeini.
The senior Iranian cleric also criticized the visit of
the IAEA director general Rafael Grossi to Israel, saying, "The anti-Iran
resolution drafted by the Western countries in fact came after the visit,
pointing out that the visit was to coordinate the attempts to approve the
resolution."
The IAEA approved a resolution, proposed by the US,
Germany, France and Britain, against Iran late Wednesday with 30 votes in
favor, two against and three abstentions.
The Iranian foreign ministry denounced the
"non-constructive approach" of the IAEA, saying the Islamic Republic
"has taken practical quid pro quo steps which include installation of
advanced centrifuges and deactivation of cameras operating outside the
Safeguards Agreement".
"The adoption of this resolution, which is based
on the hasty and unbalanced report of the Director General of the IAEA and on
false and fabricated information of the Zionist regime, will only weaken the
process of cooperation and interaction of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the
IAEA," it said.
The statement said the IAEA appeared to have
resurrected issues which had been settled between the two sides seven years
ago, despite the Islamic Republic having "always cooperated
constructively" with the agency in recent years.
Iran, it said, had showed its good faith in
cooperation with the IAEA by providing accurate technical information as
confirmed by their joint statement issued in March when IAEA Director General
Rafael Grossi visited Tehran.
"Likewise, the Agency was expected to take an
independent, impartial and professional approach, taking constructive and
realistic steps to normalize safeguards issues that according to the Agency own
admission did not bear proliferation concerns," the statement said.
"It seems some have forgotten that all past
issues were closed once and for all on December 15, 2015 by the Board of
Governors," it added.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Venezuela, Iran to sign 20-year cooperation plan
including weekly flight route
10 June, 2022
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on
Friday that a 20-year cooperation plan with Iran will be signed, as he arrived
in Tehran for a two-day official visit.
In an interview with the Iranian television station
Hispantv, Maduro announced the opening of a weekly flight route from Caracas to
Tehran and said Venezuelan coffee could be sold to Iran, alongside the plan to
sign an agreement on Saturday in different areas of cooperation.
Details on the cooperation plan were not provided.
Hispantv also said Maduro will meet with Iran’s
president, Ebrahim Raisi, during the two-day visit.
Iran and Venezuela, both sanctioned by the United
States, since 2020 have expanded cooperation, particularly for energy projects
and oil swaps, helping the Caribbean nation ease the effect of Washington’s
measures.
In May, Iran’s state-owned National Iranian Oil
Engineering and Construction Co signed a contract worth about 110 million euros
to repair Venezuela’s smaller 146,000 barrel-per-day refinery.
The agreement was sealed after recent negotiations
attended by Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji, who was in Venezuela early last
month and met with Maduro.
Maduro arrived in Tehran on Friday as part of an
official trip that earlier this week included Turkey and Algeria.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Int’l congress in Iraq discusses seerah of Ayatollah
Hakim
June 11, 2022
An international congress is underway in the holy city
of Najaf in Iraq to commemorate and review the Seerah of late Iraqi source of
emulation Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim.
The scholarly event got underway at the conference
hall of the Alawi Complex in the holy mausoleum of Imam Ali (AS) on Thursday,
Al-Forat News reported.
More than 1,000 scholars and figures from Iraq and a
number of other countries are taking part in the congress, which has been
organized by the Astan (custodianship) of Imam Hussein (AS) holy shrine.
Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalayi, the custodian of Imam
Hussein (AS) holy shrine, in an address said it is a duty to preserve the
legacy of great scholars and that is why the Astan has organized the congress.
He said late Ayatollah Hakim was a brilliant page in
the book of Najaf Islamic Seminary who spent his life on serving Islam.
Ayatollah Hakim played a great role in elevating the
scientific level of the seminary’s scholars and strengthen the bond between the
seminary and the sources of emulation, he added.
Next, a message was read out by Sheikh Ali Rabiee, in
which senior cleric Ayatollah Muhammad Is’haq Fayyaz called for documenting the
Seerah and achievements of Ayatollah Hakim.
Ayatollah Bashir Najafi, another senior scholar also
sent a message to the event, which was read out on the first day.
He described Ayatollah Hakim as a pioneer in many
important fields in the Islamic seminary and one who spent his life in serving
Islam and the motherland.
Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim was a Shia
source of emulation (marja) and one of the Big Four Grand Ayatollahs of the
Najaf Seminary.
Born to a family of clerics in Najaf in 1354 Hijri
(1936), he was a grandson to late Grand Ayatollah Muhsen al-Hakim. His father
was Mohammad Ali al-Hakim, one of the most respected clerics in Najaf.
Source: ABNA24
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Africa
Tunisia's dismissals of judges 'blow to judicial
independence': NGOs
Merve Aydogan
10.06.2022
Ten international human rights groups criticized the
dismissal of more than 55 judges on June 1 by Tunisian President Kais Saied,
describing the move a "deep blow to judicial independence."
The president’s moves are an assault on the rule of
law. He should immediately revoke the decree and reinstate judges he fired
under its provisions," said a joint statement by the human rights
organizations that included among others Human Rights Watch, the International
Federation for Human Rights, Lawyers Without Borders, World Organization
Against Torture and Amnesty International.
Emphasizing that the "independence of the
judiciary is a crucial element of the right to a fair trial," the joint
statement noted that "states have an obligation to take specific measures
to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and protect judges from any form
of political influence."
On June 1, the Tunisian president sacked 57 judges,
accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists.
Among those sacked was Youssef Bouzaker, the former
head of the Supreme Judicial Council whose members the Tunisian president
replaced this year.
Another prominent judge on the list was Bachir Akremi,
whom Saied’s supporters accuse of being too close to the Ennahda Party.
In response to dismissals, Tunisian judges started a
week-long strike on Monday to pressure Saied to reverse his decision.
The sacking of judges by the Tunisian president has drawn
widespread condemnations from political parties across the North African nation
as well as from the US.
Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political
crisis since July 25, 2021, when Saied dismissed the government, suspended
parliament, and assumed executive authority, in a move decried by opponents as
a “coup.”
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Suspected Islamist insurgents kill 25 in Nigeria's
northeast
June 10, 2022
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, June 10 (Reuters) - Suspected
Islamist fighters killed 25 people on Thursday in a village in Nigeria's
northeastern Borno state, two residents and a military source said on Friday.
An insurgency by Boko Haram and Islamic State West
Africa Province in Nigeria's northeast and southern Chad has killed thousands
of people and displaced millions more in over a decade, humanitarian groups
say.
The residents said gunmen arrived on motorbikes in
Boboshe Mukdala village of Dikwa local government area of Borno, where they
shot at people who were searching for scrap metal in a nearby forest.
"We recovered 25 bodies of the victims and we
took those who sustained bullet wounds to (the) general hospital in Dikwa
town," said a military source who declined to be named because he is not
authorised to speak to the media.
Source: Reuters
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11 gendarmerie officers killed in Burkina Faso
terrorist attack
James Tasamba
10.06.2022
KIGALI, Rwanda
At least 11 gendarmerie officers were killed in an
attack on a security post in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, the army said on
Friday.
“A particularly large number of attackers” targeted
the Seytenga Territorial Gendarmerie Brigade in the province of Seno on
Thursday night, according to a military statement.
Several terrorists were also neutralized by the
security personnel, the army said.
Earlier on Thursday, five soldiers and a civilian were
killed in two separate attacks in Burkina Faso, a country battling an
insurgency that has spread from neighboring Mali over the past decade.
The first attack on an army post in the western Kossi
province also left around a dozen people injured.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Lake Chad Task Force Extends Operation to Flush Out
Islamist Militants
June 10, 2022
Moki Edwin Kindzeka
YAOUNDE, CAMEROON —
The militaries of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria
have hailed the success of a joint security operation they say has freed 4,500
civilians and killed more than 800 militants since late March.
The Multinational Joint Task Force agreed to extend
Operation Lake Sanity during a meeting Thursday in the Cameroonian town of
Mora, on the border with Chad and Nigeria. The task force commander, Nigerian
Major General Abdul Kalifa Ibrahim, declared Operation Lake Sanity a success.
Ibrahim said 3,000 troops from the participating nations
launched the operation in late March to clear the Lake Chad basin of Islamist
insurgents.
Speaking on Cameroon’s state broadcaster, CRTV, he
said the task force had destroyed scores of houses and vehicles used by Boko
Haram militants.
"We have cleared a lot of settlements" that
Boko Haram had used before, including on islands in Lake Chad, "and so far
over 800 of the Boko Haram criminals have been neutralized or killed in
Operation Lake Sanity," Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim said the task force had freed 4,500 people
held captive by the insurgents, who killed five task force troops and wounded
20. He said the joint forces also had seized large quantities of ammunition and
weapons, but he did not elaborate.
At Thursday's meeting, the four militaries agreed to extend
the operation for two more months.
Ibrahim said insurgents were hiding in communities
around the Lake Chad basin, which stretches across the task force nations.
Plea for cooperation
"The population has been very good," he
said. "We are there to protect them. They should continue to cooperate
with us; if they have information, they should pass it to us. When they see
people who are strange in their neighborhoods, they should report to the
nearest security official."
Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon's Far North
region, which borders Chad and Nigeria, said through a messaging application
from the capital, Maroua, that during the operation they have been urging
villagers to help them flush out the militants.
Bakari said he had personally embarked on an
awareness-raising campaign in border towns and villages. He said he had spoken
with clerics, chiefs, and community leaders and elites who feared payback from
Boko Haram. Bakari said he'd told them to immediately distance themselves from
terrorist groups, who are responsible for disorder and conflict in their areas.
Nigerian Islamists Boko Haram began launching attacks
at home in 2009 before spreading to Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The
Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission was created in
2014 to fight the militants and has about 11,000 troops and rescue workers.
Source: VOA News
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EU warns Algeria against any ‘discriminatory
treatment’ of Spain
10 June, 2022
The European Union on Friday warned Algeria against
any “discriminatory treatment” of Spain after it suspended a cooperation pact
in a row over disputed Western Sahara.
“The decision taken by Algeria to suspend the treaty
of friendship and good neighborly relations signed with Spain in 2002 is of
utmost concern,” the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a
statement.
“We are assessing the implications of the Algerian
actions, including the instruction given to the financial institutions to stop
transactions between the two countries.”
Borrell warned that the move “would lead to a
discriminatory treatment of an EU member state” and said Brussels was reaching
out to Algeria to clarify the situation.
“We trust that, in the name of our strong and
long-term partnership, a swift solution will be found to fully re-establish
commercial and investment relations,” the statement said.
“The EU is ready to stand up against any type of
coercive measures applied against an EU member state. However, the EU continues
to favor dialogue first to solve controversies.”
Algeria on Wednesday suspended its 2002 friendship
treaty with Spain and its banking association then urged members to restrict
business ties.
The moves came after Madrid in March reversed its
decades-long stance of neutrality on the Western Sahara conflict, saying it
would back Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed region as it sought to end
a lingering diplomatic spat.
Spain’s move, widely seen as a victory for Morocco,
infuriated its regional rival Algeria, which has long backed the Polisario
Front, Western Sahara’s independence movement, and which also supplies vast
quantities of natural gas to Spain.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares vowed
that Spain would “defends its interests.”
“It is obvious that the EU has the tools and
instruments to deal with any situation,” he said.
Source: Al Arabiya
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North
America
Rights groups say Biden's visit will fuel Saudi regime's
human rights abuses
10 June 2022
US President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to Saudi
Arabia, a country he once vowed to make a “pariah”, has again laid bare the
duplicity of Washington’s foreign policy and human rights rhetoric.
The visit, which has now been postponed until July,
has already stirred up a hornet’s nest, with human rights campaigners across
the world urging Biden to call off the trip.
In an open letter on Thursday, a coalition of rights
groups called on the US president not to go ahead with the trip in the absence
of human rights commitments by Riyadh, warning it could encourage “further
violations.”
“Efforts to repair the US relationship with the
government of Saudi Arabia without a genuine commitment to prioritize human
rights are not only a betrayal of your campaign promises but will likely
embolden the crown prince to commit further violations of international human
rights and humanitarian law,” reads the letter by 13 NGOs.
“We urge your administration to secure genuine
progress on human rights before acting in a manner that would bolster the
status of the crown prince and his government.”
The letter has been signed by groups including Gulf
Centre for Human Rights, Freedom House, The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation,
and Project on Middle East Democracy, among others.
Biden earlier this month confirmed he was planning a
trip to Riyadh — a long-time US ally in the Arab world – in a startling
volte-face that many have linked to Washington’s energy needs in the wake of
the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.
Pertinently, Biden had vowed to make Saudi Arabia a
pariah state during his campaign for the presidency in late 2020, in contrast
to his Republican rival Donald Trump’s appeasement of Saudis.
Saudi regime's crimes
The oil-rich country’s leadership faces accusations of
rampant human rights abuses, especially against religious minorities.
The country’s de-facto ruler, crown prince Mohammad
Bin Salman, also stands accused of ordering the brutal killing of dissident
journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in 2018.
“On the campaign trail, you promised that your
administration would seek to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are” and
indicated that “they have to be held accountable,” the letter states.
“Indeed, a congressionally mandated report from the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence that was declassified by your
administration in 2021 pointed to responsibility at the highest levels of the
Saudi government, including Mohammed bin Salman, for the brutal murder of
Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Yet there has been no progress
toward accountability for his murder, nor for any of the other abuses carried
out by the Saudi government.
The letter further accuses the Saudi regime of
continuing to “arbitrarily imprison, torture, and execute numerous individuals
in violation of the internationally protected rights to a fair trial and due
process”.
It refers to the cases of human rights defender
Mohamed al-Rabea arbitrarily detained since 2018, humanitarian aid worker
Abdelrahman al-Sadhan sentenced to 20 years in prison and a 20-year travel ban
for his tweets, prominent scholar Salman Alodah sentenced to solitary
confinement for nearly 5 years, and physician Dr. Lina al-Sharif imprisoned
since May 2021 for promoting human rights online.
Last week, social activists had condemned Biden’s
planned visit to Riyadh, calling it a blatant insult to human values amid
Riyadh's war in Yemen.
Abdullah Alaoudh, a Saudi academic who is also the son
of jailed Islamic scholar Salman al-Awda, said he and other Saudi activists
felt "betrayed" by Biden.
"President Biden came into office promising
accountability for the crown prince's reign of terror. But with one fell swoop,
Biden is gambling all hope of justice for MBS's countless victims like my
father," Alaoudh was quoted as saying by Middle East Eye.
Ukraine war and Biden's U-turn
Biden’s U-turn on Saudi Arabia comes in the wake of a
worsening crisis in the global energy market and soaring oil prices, fueled by
the war in Ukraine.
The war, now into its fourth month, has led to the
biggest disruption in energy supplies in decades, forcing Biden to re-calibrate
his position on Saudi Arabia, according to observers.
However, Goldman Sachs' head of energy analysis Damien
Courvalin has already quashed hopes for a quick-fix solution to the world's oil
problem.
In an interview last week, he said the market was in a
structural deficit that has been years in the making, and while some additional
Saudi barrels could prevent a further spike in the immediate term, they are not
a panacea to the problem.
The chairman of the US House intelligence committee,
Adam Schiff, was quoted as saying last weekend that if he were Biden, he
wouldn't go to Saudi Arabia.
"I wouldn't go. I wouldn't shake his hand. This
is someone who butchered an American resident, cut him up into pieces and in
the most terrible and premeditated way,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre,
however, defended the trip, saying it would be in the context of “significant
deliverables” for the American people in the Middle East.
"If he [the President] determines that it's in
the interest of the United States to engage with a foreign leader and that such
an engagement can deliver results, then he'll do so,” Karine said.
Source: Press TV
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Prosecuting Mississauga mosque attack as terrorism an
unusual ‘test case,’ experts say
By Jason Miller
June 10, 2022
The decision to prosecute a recent attack on a
Mississauga mosque as a terrorism offence is an unusual step that may be
difficult to prove in court, terrorism experts say.
Proving that 24-year-old Mohammad Moiz Omar committed
a terror offence when he allegedly attacked worshippers at the Dar Al-Tawheed
Islamic Centre earlier this year will require prosecutors to argue a complex
and “rarely used” clause in the Criminal Code. That clause, which has been in
place since 2001, “essentially requires proof of a political or religious motive
and attempts to intimidate a population,” said Kent Roach, a University of
Toronto law professor and policing expert.
That standard is difficult to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt, he said.
Omar, 24, was arrested on March 19 after police say he
entered the mosque and unleashed bear spray at worshippers during the Fajr, or
dawn prayer, while allegedly wielding a hatchet.
Congregants were able to restrain the attacker before
his arrest; some worshippers received minor injuries due to the bear spray.
On Wednesday, police announced that the Deputy
Director of Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the Ministry of the
Attorney General had consented to treat the case as a terrorism offence under
Section 83 of the Criminal Code.
The terrorism designation can apply when prosecutors
believe a violent crime was committed for a political, religious or ideological
cause, with the intention of intimidating some segment of the public or forcing
action from a government or other organization.
The terrorism designation is not a separate charge,
but it does mean an offence can carry a possible sentence of life in prison — a
maximum far higher than what Omar would otherwise face if convicted on his
initial charges, which ranged from assault with a weapon and administering a
noxious substance to uttering threats and mischief to religious property.
Barbara Perry, the director of the Centre on Hate,
Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, said the prosecution decision
strikes her as “odd,” a “sort of test case, almost.”
At first glance, the slate of offences laid against
Omar “don’t seem to warrant this response” because there were no deaths and no
reports of this being repeated behaviour, she said.
“It’s a very unusual decision, and I suspect that
there is plenty that we’re not hearing about in terms of a longer history,” she
said.
Police initially described the mosque attack as
“hate-motivated,” but have not released any information about what specific
motivations they believe applied.
On Wednesday, police also did not explain what
evidence led to the decision to pursue the terror designation.
The fact the attack seems “relatively low on the scale
— relatively — to some of the offences we’ve seen in the past” may suggest that
police have a broader objective of using this move as a deterrent to others.
She added: “There has been a lot of dissatisfaction
within the Muslim community about the response to right-wing extremism and
attacks against the Muslim community,”
Jessica Davis, the principal consultant at Insight
Threat Intelligence and a former Canadian Security Intelligence Service analyst
said a decision to consider the Mississauga incident in the broader bucket of
terrorism speaks to the challenges police face in understanding, investigating
and prosecuting these types of cases.
“It seems to me that, through the course of their
investigation, they found something that suggests an ideological motive and are
then making the case that this should be considered of a kind, as a terrorism
charge, but without actually laying the terrorism charge,” Davis said. “This is
where it’s sort of confusing and a bit of head scratch.”
Soon after the attack, the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic
Centre launched a fundraising effort for repairs and increased security.
In 2020, the terror designation was applied to a
17-year-old accused of murder in the stabbing death of a 24-year-old woman at a
North York massage parlour.
Source: The Star
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Senior US diplomat heading to West Bank, Israel this
weekend: State Department
10 June, 2022
The newly confirmed top US diplomat for the Middle
East will head to Palestine and Israel this weekend, the State Department announced
on Friday.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Barbara Leaf will travel to Israel and the West Bank June 11-14 to consult with
Israeli and Palestinian partners on a range of priorities, according to a
statement.
Leaf will voice US support for a two-state solution
and deepening bilateral US cooperation with Palestine and Israel.
She will also discuss “deterring Iran’s aggressive
regional activities, and support for Israel’s integration into the broader
Middle East region,” the State Department said. While on her visit, Leaf will
meet with officials as well as members of Palestinian and Israeli civil
society.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Call for action on Islamophobia as Canada Muslims
remember Afzaal family killing
08 June 2022
Muslim community leaders in Canada have renewed
demands from the government to deal with Islamophobia a year after four members
of a Muslim family were killed in a terrorist hate attack.
They met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
and lawmakers in the capital, Ottawa, on Monday to call for meaningful measures
to address persisting Islamophobia and hate crimes in the British Commonwealth
nation.
The demand came a year since four members of the
Afzaal family were killed in London, Ontario in a heinous terrorist attack. It
also came a day after thousands of local residents took to the streets for a
protest rally.
The incident occurred last June, when 20-year-old
Nathaniel Veltman deliberately slammed his pick-up truck into Salman Afzaal,
46, his wife Madiha, 44, his 74-year-old mother Talat, their 15-year-old
daughter Yumna and their 9-year-old son Faez as they waited to cross the road.
Only Faez survived the brutal attack.
Veltman is facing four counts of first-degree murder,
one count of attempted murder and terrorism charges. His trial is set to begin
in September 2023, according to local press reports.
The Toronto police chief confirmed at the time that
the victims were “targeted because of their Islamic faith.”
On Sunday, Trudeau attended the London march.
"This afternoon in London, thousands of people showed up to honour the
Afzaal family; to be there for Fayez, who survived; and to march against
Islamophobia," he tweeted.
"In memory of #OurLondonFamily, we must keep
working together and using every tool we have to combat this hatred,"
Trudeau added.
Later Monday, he tweeted a photo of a meeting with
delegates from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM).
Last year’s terror attack placed the Muslim community
in Canada in a state of fear, grief and anxiety, renewing the same sorrow many
held in the aftermath of a deadly 2017 assault on a Quebec mosque that left six
worshipers dead, and a fatal stabbing at another mosque in Toronto in 2020.
In 2020, researchers found the number of hate groups
operating in the country had tripled in recent years.
‘Islamophobia envoy’
Responding to demands from Muslim community leaders,
the Canadian government is said to have begun taking applications for an envoy
for combating Islamophobia, a role that would reach out to communities and
advise the prime minister and the government on the best ways to fight hate
crimes against Muslims in Canada.
“It is impacting Muslim Canadians from across the
country,” said Canada’s Minister for Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen.
"The application process is open for anyone
interested to fulfill the role," he said. "They will issue
recommendations and they will work tirelessly to promote work to combat
Islamophobia."
Fatema Abdalla of the NCCM said while the announcement
is a step in the right direction, more needs to be done to ensure better
protection of Muslim communities.
“It’s about time that we see action,” she said in an
interview with the local CityNews radio station.
The NCCM is further calling for more measures to
tackle online hate, a national public education campaign on Islamophobia, as
well as changes to the criminal code.
Last year, the group presented a list of 61
recommendations to counter Islamophobia in the country, including the
discontinuation of "Countering Violent Extremism" programs that have
been found to target Muslim communities.
Source: Press TV
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/boycott-tv-debates-aimplb/d/127227