Insulting Holy Prophet Is an Invitation to Extremism, Hatred and Sedition: Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic Centre
New Age Islam News Bureau
07 June 2022
Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic
Center condemned recent derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a
TV program in India.
----
• We Strongly Encourage Respect and Tolerance for All
Religions: UN on Row over Prophet Remarks
• Libya’s Fatwa House Calls on Muslims to Boycott
India In Support Of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH)
• The Taliban Strongly Condemns Insulting Remarks to
the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Made by India’s Ruling Party Spokesperson
• Malaysian Religious Affairs Minister Tells Muslims
Not To Take Part in Bon Odori Festival As the Festival Contains Elements of
Other Religions
Arab
World
• Kuwait Supermarket Pulls Indian Products As Row
Grows Over Prophet Remarks
• Qatar to re-install Zidane statue that sparked
backlash
• Lebanon asks US to resume mediation efforts on
Israel border dispute
• YPG/PKK terrorists hide weapons among civilians in
Syria's Tal Rifat
• PKK terror group attacks Peshmerga forces in
northern Iraq
• Dozen terrorists killed in northern Iraq as
resistance fighters strike Daesh positions
• Syria’s air defences confront Israeli aggression on
Damascus suburbs
--------
India
• Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Moves SC Seeking To Become a
Party in the PIL Challenging the Constitutional Validity of Provisions of the
Places of Worship
• Blast Case: Ghaziabad Court Awards Death Penalty to
Waliullah, an Imam from Allahabad
• Strong Action Taken Against Individuals: Indian
External Affairs Ministry Has Conveyed To Multiple Governments in West Asia
• Remarks against Prophet: Hardline Followers Upset
but BJP Defends Its Stand for the Action against Its Spokespersons
• Suspension ‘Inadequate’, AIMPLB Seeks Legal Action over
Prophet Remark
• Muslim nations slam India over insulting remarks
about Islam, Prophet Muhammad
• Row over Remarks on the Prophet: UAE and Maldives
Join Islamic World Criticism
• How BJP's spokespersons created a diplomatic
headache for India
• HC declines urgent hearing on plea against stopping
of prayers at mosque
• LeT module busted in Doda, terrorist arrested with
IED material
• Assam: NIA busts racket to smuggle Bangladeshi
Muslims and Rohingya into India
• BSF resorts to firing along India-Pak border in
Jammu on drone suspicion
• 2 LeT militants, including 1 Pakistani, killed in
encounter in J&K's Kupwara
--------
Africa
• Sheikh Shuaib Agaka Imparted Islamic Knowledge on My
Family – Emir of Ilorin, Gambari
• Many feared dead after gunmen attack church in
southwestern Nigeria
• Algerian court jails brother of ex-president
Bouteflika for 8 years
--------
South
Asia
• Islamic Emirate Denies Reports of Reopening Girls’
Schools
• Explosion in Kabul Targets Kabul Municipality’s Head
of District 4
• Christine Fair: The Taliban Are Incompetent in Terms
of Governance
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Cultural diversity builds a nation, Shah Alam
councillor tells PAS minister after Bon Odori advice to Muslims
• After veterans’ protest, Anwar tells Hisham to protect
their rights
--------
Pakistan
• Muslim Countries Urged To Devise Grand Strategy
against Islamophobia: PPP Spokesman
• Pakistan Summons Indian Chargé D'affaires over
Controversial Remarks By BJP Leaders Against Prophet
• Pakistan lawmaker threatens to carry out suicide
attack if ex-premier Imran Khan is harmed
• No need for financial emergency as Pakistan ‘out of
crisis’: Miftah
• Imran appoints nephew as focal person on legal
affairs
• PM Shehbaz invites economic gurus for pre-budget
huddle
• NA calls for moving apex court over Imran’s remarks
--------
Mideast
• Zionism Has ‘Failed’ and Israel Is In ‘Big Trouble’,
Says Prominent Lobbyist
• Iran, Qatar Vow to Strengthen Mutual Cooperation
• FM Warns of Consequences of Any Anti-Iran Resolution
at IAEA
• Indian Envoy Summoned to Iranian Foreign Ministry
over Sacrilege of Islam's Prophet
• Iran Foreign Minister: Referendum, return of
refugees only solution to issue of Palestine
• Arab League calls on UN to end Israeli occupation of
Palestinian territories
• Gazans express solidarity with Palestinian prisoners
languishing in Israeli prisons
--------
North
America
• India Has a Set Of Interests When It Comes To
Engaging With The Taliban Regime: US
• Solemn Ceremonies Honour Muslim Family Killed In Canada
• Afghan leader unlikely to have fled Kabul with
millions in cash: US watchdog
• US sanctions 2 Bosnia and Herzegovina leaders
--------
Europe
• France Deplores Israeli Plans to Expand Illegal
Settlements In Occupied West Bank
• UK reopens its embassy in Libya after 8-year hiatus
• US, Europe may seek to censure Iran amid stalled
nuclear talks
• Mosque in Austria Suffers Islamophobic Attack
• Türkiye reiterates discomfort over PKK terrorist
activities in Italy
• Swedish opposition seeks to cut ties with MP who
supports terrorist YPG/PKK
• IAEA Board of Governors meeting kicks off, Iran
nuclear talks to take centre stage
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/holy-prophet-extremism-hatred-sedition-azhar/d/127192
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Insulting Holy Prophet Is an Invitation to Extremism,
Hatred And Sedition: Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic Centre
Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic
Center condemned recent derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a
TV program in India.
----
June 7, 2022
Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic Centre condemned recent
derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a TV program in India.
Al-Azhar said in a statement that the insulting
remarks by members of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) signifies their
ignorance about history and the Seerah of messengers of God, RT Arabic
reported.
It said sacrilegious remarks like this by those who
despise interfaith dialogue are an invitation to extremism and spreading hatred
and sedition among followers of different religions.
Al-Azhar said such remarks and conducts are examples
of real terrorism that can plunge the word into crisis and wars.
That is why the international community must
decisively and resolutely counter such actions, the center added.
BJP national spokeswoman Nupur Sharma was suspended
from the party’s primary membership on Sunday for comments made in a recent
television debate, while the BJP’s Delhi media operation head Naveen Kumar
Jindal was also expelled.
The insulting remarks by two BJP spokespersons namely
Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal have been vehemently condemned by Muslim
countries.
Netizens in a number of Islamic countries in the
Persian Gulf have called for boycotting Indian products following the incident.
Facing the backlash, the BJP took action on Sunday and
suspended the two officials from the party's primary membership till further
notice.
In a statement, the BJP claimed that it “strongly
denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion,” without
directly pointing to the recent incident.
Iran, Qatar and Kuwait also summoned Indian envoys to
voice their strong protest.
Source: ABNA24
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original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//insulting-holy-prophet-is-real-terrorism-al-azhar_1264672.html
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We Strongly Encourage Respect and Tolerance for All
Religions: UN On Row Over Prophet Remarks
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric. File photo
| Photo Credit: AP
-----
07.06.22
Amid sharp reaction from several Muslim nations over
remarks by BJP leaders against Prophet Mohammed, a spokesperson for UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that we strongly encourage respect
and tolerance for all religions.
The spokesperson was responding to a question by a
Pakistani journalist on the condemnation by several Muslim nations over remarks
by BJP's former national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and its Delhi media head
Naveen Kumar Jindal against the Prophet and the Secretary General's response to
it.
"I've seen stories. I haven't seen the remarks
themselves, but I mean, regardless, I can tell you that we strongly encourage
respect and tolerance for all religions," Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for
the Secretary-General, said on Monday at the daily press briefing.
The BJP on Sunday suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal
as the row over their remarks against the Prophet escalated with protests from
many Muslim countries.
Amid demonstrations by Muslim groups and the sharp
reaction from countries like Kuwait, Qatar and Iran, the BJP had issued a
statement asserting that it respects all religions and strongly denounces
insults of any religious personality.
Seeking to defuse a diplomatic row, spokespersons of
the Indian Embassy in Qatar and Kuwait said on Sunday that the Ambassadors have
"conveyed that the tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the
Government of India. These are the views of fringe elements."
Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain and
Afghanistan and the Maldives on Monday joined several Muslim nations to condemn
the controversial remarks of BJP leaders against Prophet Mohammed, stressing
the importance of respecting all religious beliefs.
Source: Telegraph India
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original story:
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Libya’s Fatwa House Calls on Muslims to Boycott India In
Support Of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH)
Libyan Fatwa House
-----
June 06, 2022
The Libyan Fatwa House has called on all Muslims to
boycott India after statements of defamation and mockery made by the spokesman
for the Indian ruling party against the Prophet Muhammad – Peace Be upon Him
(PBUH) – in which he verbally attacked the Prophet’s wife Aisha.
The Libyan Fatwa House denounced those offensive
remarks and described them as “an announced war on Islam and Muslims as well as
a systematic policy for ending the presence of Islam in India.
The Fatwa House appealed to the entire Islamic
nation: individuals, groups,
institutions and governments; to come to the aid of their Prophet - PBUH - with
whatever actions they are able to take, whether by boycotting Indian products
or expelling Hindu workers.
“We call for an end to any kind of dealing with India
until an official apology is issued for these statements, and until they end
the injustice practices against Muslims in their country.” The Fatwa House
said.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the ruling party in
India, Navin Kumar Jindal, published an offensive tweet taking an aim at the
Mother of the Believers, Aisha, that sparked the anger of Muslims.
Source: Libya Observer
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original story:
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The Taliban Strongly Condemns Insulting Remarks to the
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Made by India’s Ruling Party Spokesperson
Photo: Khaama Press/ Taliban
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
---
By Saqalain Eqbal
06 Jun 2022
Taliban officials have strongly condemned insulting
remarks to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) made by a member of India’s ruling party
and called on the Indian government to not to “allow such fanatics to insult
the holy religion of Islam and provoke the feelings of Muslims”.
“We urge the Indian government not to allow such
fanatics to insult the holy religion of Islam and provoke the feelings of
Muslims.” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted, today, Monday, June 6.
In a televised conversation, Nupur Sharma, the
spokeswoman for the Bharatiya Janata Party of India, questioned why the Holy
Prophet (PBUH) married Hazrat Aisha (RA), who was less than ten years old.
BJP’s spokeswoman’s words sparked outrage and
displeasure among Muslims in India, as well as a strong reaction from a great
number of Islamic countries.
In a statement, the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) denounced the Indian officials’ remarks, saying they would
exacerbate hostility, hatred and ill-treatment of Islam and Muslims in India.
Following the remarks and widespread calls on social
media for a boycott of Indian goods in Gulf Arab states, the Kuwaiti government
summoned the Indian ambassador to the Gulf states. Pakistan and Iran have also
expressed their dissatisfaction with the Indian official’s words.
Several other Islamic countries summoned India’s
ambassadors who officially apologized to the world’s people, particularly
Muslims.
As public outrage mounted over two members of India’s
ruling party insulting the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), the party released a
statement firing one of the two members and suspending the membership of the
other pending further investigation.
Source: Khaama Press
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original story:
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Malaysian Religious Affairs Minister Tells Muslims Not
To Take Part in Bon Odori Festival As the Festival Contains Elements of Other
Religions
Malaysian Religious
Affairs Minister/ Bernama Pix
----
06- 07- 2022
SUNGAI BESAR: Muslims are advised not to participate
in the Bon Odori Festival to be held at the Shah Alam Sports Complex on July 16
as the festival contains elements of other religions, says Minister in the
Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad.
“A study conducted by the Malaysian Islamic
Development Department (JAKIM) found that the festival does have religious
elements, so we advise Muslims not to participate in it,“ he told the media
after attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the Selangor Islamic Education
Foundation’s (Yapis) Education Complex Project here today.
He said this when asked to comment on the organisation
of the annual Japanese festival, which has also received negative reactions on
social media, especially among Muslims in the country.
The event’s promotional poster also depicted an anime
of a kimono-clad woman wearing a hijab.
“That’s why we hope such confusion does not arise.
JAKIM as the coordinating party (of Islam in the country) advises Muslims not
to participate in programmes like this or any programme that could affect our
religion and beliefs,“ he said.
Meanwhile, on a separate matter, Idris said that a man
referred to on social media as ‘The Hood Man’ had been located and all the
information given by the individual would be used as material for his (Idris)
team to take the next course of action.
JAKIM was previously trying to locate the man to
assist with allegations he made on social media that the Thomas Foods
International (TFI) Lobethal slaughterhouses in Australia did not comply with
Malaysian halal standards and procedures.
“So far, the company involved has been suspended, and
we hope he (individual) is fine (after the disclosure). We are grateful for the
disclosure.
“I am confident that in Australia there is no problem
with such disclosures because it (the country) give great importance to
consumerism,“ he said, adding that JAKIM had suspended TFI’s slaughtering
approval with immediate effect until the results of a comprehensive probe are
obtained.-Bernama
Source: The Sun Daily
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original story:
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Arab
World
Kuwait supermarket pulls Indian products as row grows
over Prophet remarks
Jun 6, 2022
KUWAIT CITY: A Kuwaiti supermarket pulled Indian
products from its shelves as a row grew on Monday over a ruling party
official's remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.
Workers at the Al-Ardiya Co-Operative Society store
piled Indian tea and other products into trolleys in a protest against comments
denounced as "Islamophobic".
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the region,
as well as the influential Al-Azhar University in Cairo, have condemned the
remarks by a spokeswoman for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, who
has since been suspended.
At the supermarket just outside Kuwait City, sacks of
rice and shelves of spices and chilies were covered with plastic sheets.
Printed signs in Arabic read: "We have removed Indian products".
"We, as a Kuwaiti Muslim people, do not accept
insulting the Prophet," Nasser Al-Mutairi, CEO of the store, told AFP. An
official at the chain said a company-wide boycott was being considered.
Certain comments by Bharatiya Janata Party spokeswoman
Nupur Sharma about prophet Mohammed have sparked furore among Muslims.
Sharma's remarks during a televised debate last week
were blamed for clashes in Uttar Pradesh and prompted demands for her arrest.
Anger spread overseas to Muslim countries about the
remarks.
Modi's party BJP on Sunday suspended Sharma for
expressing "views contrary to the party's position" and said it
"respects all religions".
Sharma said on Twitter that her comments had been in
response to "insults" made against the Hindu god Shiva.
"If my words have caused discomfort or hurt
religious feelings of anyone whatsoever, I hereby unconditionally withdraw my
statement," she said.
On Sunday, Qatar demanded that India apologise for the
"Islamophobic" comments, as India's Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu
visited the gas-rich Gulf state in a bid to bolster trade.
Iran followed Qatar and Kuwait by summoning the Indian
ambassador to protest in the name of "the government and the people",
state news agency IRNA said late on Sunday.
Al-Azhar University, one of Islam's most important
institutions, said the comments were "the real terrorism" and
"could plunge the entire world into deadly crisis and wars".
The Saudi-based Muslim World League said the remarks
could "incite hatred", while Saudi Arabia's General Presidency of the
Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque called them a
"heinous act".
The row follows anger across the Muslim world in 2020
after French President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of a satirical
magazine to publish caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in October
2020 by a Chechen refugee after showing the cartoons to his class in a lesson
on free speech. Images of the Prophet are strictly forbidden in Islam.
In further criticism of the Indian official, the Gulf
Cooperation Council, an umbrella group for the six Gulf countries,
"condemned, rejected and denounced" her comments.
Bahrain also welcomed the BJP's decision to suspend
Sharma over "provocation to Muslims' feelings and incitement to religious
hatred".
Gulf countries are a major destination for India's
overseas workers, accounting for 8.7 million out of a worldwide total of 13.5
million, Indian foreign ministry figures show.
They are also big importers of produce from India and
elsewhere, with Kuwait importing 95 percent of its food according to the trade
minister.
Source: Times Of India
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Qatar to re-install Zidane statue that sparked
backlash
06 June, 2022
Qatar plans to re-install a sculpture immortalizing
French-Algerian soccer player Zinedine Zidane’s head butt during the 2006 World
Cup final, which had been removed in 2013 amid a domestic backlash, the head of
Qatar Museums said on Monday.
The 5-meter bronze work called “Coup de tête” was
removed days after its unveiling after people in the conservative Muslim country
criticised it for promoting idolatry and others said it encouraged violence.
“Evolution happens in societies. It takes time and
people may criticize something to begin with, but then understand it and get
used to it,” said Qatar Museums Chairperson Sheikha al-Mayassa al-Thani, who is
the sister of Qatar’s ruling emir.
She said the original site on the capital’s seafront
corniche was “not right” and that the sculpture would be remounted at a new
sports museum in Doha, which is hosting soccer’s World Cup later this year.
Some conservative Muslims believe artistic depictions
of human forms should be forbidden to avoid idolatry.
The sculpture by Algerian-born French artist Adel
Abdessemed depicts the moment during extra time in the 2006 World Cup final when
Zidane head-butted Italy’s Marco Materazzi. Zidane was sent off and Italy went
on to beat France on penalties.
Al-Mayassa told reporters the aim of displaying the
work was to promote conversations about “stress on athletes...and the
importance of dealing with issues of mental health.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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Lebanon asks US to resume mediation efforts on Israel
border dispute
Wassim Seif El Din
06.06.2022
BEIRUT, Lebanon
Lebanon on Monday called on the United States to
resume indirect talks with Israel to demarcate their maritime border.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with
President Michel Aoun to discuss developments related to a disputed maritime
area with Israel and agreed to invite US mediator Amos Hochstein to resume his
mediation efforts, the government said in a statement.
Mikati also held a series of "diplomatic
contacts" with the United Nations and other concerned states on the issue,
the statement said, without giving further details.
"Any exploration or drilling activity Israel
might undertake in the disputed zone constitutes a provocative and hostile act
[...] and impedes the negotiations over the maritime border," the
statement said.
Tension rose on Sunday following the entry of a ship
called Energean Power into the disputed area between Lebanon and Israel, with
the Lebanese president describing the move as "provocative and
hostile."
Lebanon and Israel are engaged in a dispute over a
maritime area that is 860 square kilometers (332 square miles), according to
maps sent by both counties to the UN in 2011.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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YPG/PKK terrorists hide weapons among civilians in
Syria's Tal Rifat
Mohammad Mistou
06.06.2022
ALEPPO, Syria / ISTANBUL
The YPG, the Syrian branch of PKK terror group, is
digging trenches in residential areas to hide weapons in Tal Rifat in northern
Syria.
An Anadolu Agency aerial footage showed YPG/PKK
terrorists digging tunnels and trenches in the villages around Tal Rifat,
including Sheikh Issa, Menagh, Al-Alqamiyeh, Ayn Daqnah, Kashtaar and
Tatmarash.
YPG/PKK terrorists were also seen hiding military
tanks and other types of weapons inside civilian homes in the area.
Over the past years, the terrorist group managed to
dig a network of tunnels in Tal Rifat and surrounding villages, which YPG/PKK
terrorists occupied in February 2016 and forced tens of thousands to leave
their homes and areas.
The YPG/PKK terror group uses Tal Rifat and
surrounding villages to launch attacks against areas cleared from terrorists by
Türkiye.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said his country is set to clear two areas of northern Syria, near the Turkish
border, of terrorist elements in a bid to eliminate the terror threat from the
region.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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PKK terror group attacks Peshmerga forces in northern
Iraq
06.06.2022
DUHOK, Iraq
The PKK terror group attacked Peshmerga soldiers of
the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), security sources said late Sunday.
Commenting to Anadolu Agency on the attack, which took
place in Kani Masi village in Duhok province, local Peshmerga commander Major
General Salar Teymur revealed that the terrorist group used rockets and machine
guns.
The terrorists were repelled without causing any
casualties among the Peshmerga’s ranks, he noted.
On June 5, 2021, five Peshmerga soldiers were killed
in a PKK ambush in Duhok.
According to official data from the KRG government,
the PKK had occupied 515 villages on the border of Erbil, Duhok and
Sulaymaniyah in 2015. Of these, 304 were in Duhok province, while 177 were in
Erbil and 34 in Sulaymaniyah.
Following Turkiye's successful cross-border operations
in recent years, the PKK retreated from the Turkish border into Iraq. It
occupied 285 more villages in the last seven years.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Dozen terrorists killed in northern Iraq as resistance
fighters strike Daesh positions
07 June 2022
At least a dozen Daesh terrorists have been killed in
northern Iraq in a sweeping operation by the Arab country’s resistance
fighters, as the Iraqi army and its allies strive to flush the last remnants of
the foreign-sponsored outfit out of the Arab country.
It occurred when the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU),
an umbrella organization composed of Iraqi resistance groups, launched barrages
of artillery rounds on Daesh positions around the town of Tarmiyah, located in
Salahuddin province, Sabereen News reported.
Twelve terrorists were killed during the operation,
which was carried out by the PMU’s 12th Brigade on Monday, the PMU affiliated
Telegram news channel added.
The development came a day after the Iraqi National
Intelligence Service (INIS) announced in a statement that it had arrested 14 people responsible
for planning and carrying out attacks during a large-scale operation in
Baghdad.
According to the intelligence service, the detainees include
senior Daesh commanders, namely Abu Safana, Abu Omar, and Abu Musab, who were
arrested during several ambushes.
Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014,
overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.
Iraq declared victory over the terrorist group in
December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign, in which
the PMU, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Sha’abi, also played a major role.
However, Daesh’s remnants keep staging sporadic
attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash fresh violence in the
Arab country.
The Takfiri terrorist group has managed to intensify
its attacks in Iraq, particularly since January 2020, when the United States
assassinated top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem
Soleimani and PMU’s deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike
near Baghdad International Airport.
Anti-US sentiments sharply increased in Iraq in the
aftermath of the assassination, prompting Iraqi lawmakers to pass a bill – only
two days after the assassination – that required the Baghdad government to end
the presence of all foreign military forces led by Washington.
Source: Press TV
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Syria’s air defences confront Israeli aggression on
Damascus suburbs
06 June 2022
Syrian media say the country’s air defenses have
intercepted Israeli missiles in the sky over the southern part of the capital,
Damascus, with no casualties reported as a result of the aggression.
Official SANA news agency, citing an unnamed military
source, said the air defenses late on Monday confronted an Israeli missile
aggression that targeted the southern countryside of Damascus, shooting down
most of the missiles.
“At exactly 11:18 p.m. this evening, the Israeli enemy
carried out an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan,
targeting some points south of the city of Damascus, and our air defense media
confronted the aggression's missiles and shot down most of them," the
military source said.
"The losses were limited to material
damage," the source added.
Media reports said earlier that loud explosions had
been heard in the area, with the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
claiming that the airstrike had targeted sites in the southern Damascus
countryside where Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement and Syrian air
defense units are active.
The latest Israeli aggression came less than three
weeks after at least three people were killed in the regime’s airstrikes on the
outskirts of Damascus.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy
since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western
and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc
in the country.
Israel frequently targets military positions inside
Syria, especially those of the resistance movement Hezbollah which has played a
key role in helping the Syrian army fight foreign-backed terrorists.
The Tel Aviv regime mostly keeps quiet about its
attacks on Syrian territories which many view as a knee-jerk reaction to the
country's increasing success in confronting terrorism.
Israel has been a key supporter of terrorist groups
that have opposed the government of President Bashar al-Assad since the
foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria.
Source: Press TV
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/06/06/683457/Syria-air-defenses-intercept-Israeli-missiles-
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India
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Moves SC Seeking To Become a Party
in the PIL Challenging the Constitutional Validity of Provisions of the Places
Of Worship
Jun 7, 2022
NEW DELHI: In the wake of the Gyanvapi controversy,
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has moved the SC seeking to become a party in the PIL
challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of the Places of Worship
(Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which froze the religious character of structures
as it was at the time of Independence.
Seeking to be impleaded as a respondent in the PIL
filed by Ashwini Upadhyay challenging provisions of the Act purportedly to
restore temples that were converted to mosques during Islamic rule, Jamiat,
through advocate Ejaz Maqbool, said judicial proceedings could not be resorted
to in a bid to right historical wrongs.
Jamiat quoted the Ayodhya judgment, in which the SC on
November 9, 2019 had said, “law cannot be used as a device to reach back in
time and provide a legal remedy to every person who disagrees with the course
that history has taken” and that the courts of today cannot take cognisance of
historical rights and wrongs unless it is shown that their legal consequences
are enforceable in the present.
It said the SC had categorically held that the apex
court cannot entertain claims from actions of Mughal rulers against Hindu
places of worship in a court of law today.
Source: Times Of India
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Blast Case: Ghaziabad Court Awards Death Penalty to
Waliullah, an Imam from Allahabad
Piyush Srivastava
07.06.22
A Ghaziabad court on Monday awarded the death penalty
to Waliullah, an imam from Allahabad, for his direct involvement in two bomb
explosions at Varanasi’s Sankat Mochan Temple and Cantonment Railway Station on
March 7, 2006.
Sixteen people had died in the two blasts and 76 were
left disabled after suffering grievous injuries.
The court of district and sessions judge Jitendra
Kumar Sinha found that Waliullah, the imam of a mosque in Phulpur, was involved
in a rarest of rare crime. A fine of Rs 2.65 lakh was also imposed on the
55-year-old cleric.
Government counsel Rajesh Chandra Sharma told
reporters: “We had argued that Waliullah was dangerous for the society and he
should not be allowed to live. The way his action had killed the people was
horrible. He did not have any emotion and he could commit any crime against the
humanity.”
“Varanasi belongs to Lord Shiva and the terrorists had
attacked the city of God,” Sharma added.
Four cases were filed against Waliullah. He was booked
by Varanasi police for murder, attempt to murder and voluntarily causing
grievous hurt by dangerous weapons. Waliullah was also booked under the
Explosive Substances Act.
Initially, the case was going on in session court of
Varanasi but it was shifted to the Ghaziabad district court by Allahabad High
Court in November 2006 because lawyers in Varanasi had refused to represent the
accused.
According to the court, Waliullah was initially
identified by Ram Awadh Yadav, a police constable who has retired. Yadav had
told the Ghaziabad court that posted as constable in the office of Allahabad
city police superintendent in 2001, he had seen Waliullah and his brother when
he was produced in court in another case.
“In 2001, the accused Waliullah and his brother were
arrested. His brother’s name is not known. He (Yadav) had seen Waliullah when
he was produced there. Thereafter, he (Yadav) was transferred to the SP city’s
office in Varanasi. He (Yadav) was going from Cantonment Railway Station to the
court at 10am on March 4, 2006, when he saw Waliullah along with three others
at the petrol pump near the Roadways Bus Stand. He (Yadav) thought that he (Waliullah)
had come visiting a relative or to attend some meeting.
“When the blasts took place on March 7, 2006, he
expressed the possibility that he (Waliullah) would be involved in the crime,”
read the order.
Sitaram, a local shopkeeper, had claimed that he had
seen four persons carrying bags before the incident. One of them had left one
bag on the road. Later, he saw a picture of Waliullah in a newspaper and
confirmed that he was one of those four men.
The government counsel said 47 witnesses had confirmed
the role of Waliullah. Mohammad Zubair, an alleged accomplice, was killed by
the security forces during an encounter
in Kashmir. The cases of two others are pending.
Contending that Wailullah was innocent, his lawyers
had pointed out that most of the witnesses came much later and their statements
were not believable. No witness was brought before Waliullah and so it could
not be said that they correctly identified him as the executor of the crime.
Source: Telegraph India
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Strong Action Taken Against Individuals: Indian
External Affairs Ministry Has Conveyed To Multiple Governments in West Asia
Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, Anita Joshua, Pheroze L.
Vincent
07.06.22
The Indian external affairs ministry has conveyed to
multiple governments in West Asia that “strong action has already been taken
against these individuals”, referring to the now-axed BJP spokespersons who
denigrated Prophet Mohammed.
If this is indeed so, the Indian foreign ministry has
shared with foreign governments classified information that is not accessible
to Indian citizens.
So far, neither Nupur Sharma, the suspended national
spokesperson of the BJP, nor Navin Jindal, the expelled Delhi BJP spokesperson,
has been arrested. No police force would even confirm whether they had been
questioned.
The question whether Delhi police, the country’s most
high-profile police force which reports to the Union home ministry and under
whose jurisdiction the residences of Sharma and Jindal fall, have registered an
FIR against them on their own over acts that were carried out at least over a
week ago is met with stony silence.
Several police stations in Maharashtra and Telangana —
both Opposition-ruled states — had booked Sharma for inciting hatred between
communities and insulting religious sentiments.
On Monday afternoon,
Mumbai police said they would summon Sharma to record her statement.
Which means “strong action”, if any, is still pending, and if it comes, the
Modi government will owe it to a government in which the Shiv Sena and the
Congress are partners.
Ironically, sources said, Delhi police have registered
an FIR against “unknown persons” over complaints from Sharma that she was
receiving threat calls.In a tweet, Trinamul national spokesperson Saket Gokhale
referred to the Delhi police FIR based on Sharma’s complaint and added:
“However, no FIR registered yet on a complaint I filed last week against her
communal remarks.”
On Monday, the Indian external affairs spokesperson
Arindam Bagchi said: “The offensive tweets and comments denigrating a religious
personality were made by certain individuals. They do not, in any manner,
reflect the views of the Government of India. Strong action has already been
taken against these individuals by relevant bodies.”
It is getting bad to worse.
So far, the only known “strong action” has been that
taken by the BJP, not by an arm of the executive, which raises the question
whether a political party is the “relevant” body to take action for what looks
like a criminal offence that has already triggered clashes in some parts of the
country and shamed India abroad.
Unless evidence emerges that the police had taken
strong action against the duo by the time Indian ambassadors briefed the
foreign countries on Sunday, it can be contended that the Indian government has
delegated to the BJP the responsibility of taking action that the party deems
fit.
Even if the cases initiated by Mumbai and Hyderabad
police are taken into account, the proceedings so far can by no means be described
as “strong action”.
The Delhi police have not always displayed such
restraint.
“Remember that while Munawar, his friends and an
Amazon employee were thrown behind bars for offending Hindu sentiments, Sharma
and Jindal have only been suspended from the party,” social media user Dushyant
Arora tweeted.
In January last year, stand-up comedian Munawar
Faruqui was arrested by Madhya Pradesh police on the charge of hurting
religious sentiments through his remarks about Hindus deities during a gig at a
café in Indore. Witnesses had told reporters that he had been arrested before
his alleged performance.
In May 2019, Noida police had registered a case
against Amazon for allegedly hurting sentiments after rugs and toilet seat
covers with pictures of Hindu gods became available for sale on its US website.
An FIR was lodged in Lucknow last year against the makers of an Amazon Prime
Video web series on charges of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus and
promoting enmity on grounds of religion.
Then there are the young Indians who were charged with
the stringent UAPA and thrown into jail over the Delhi riots two years ago.
They have been charged with incitement — the same allegation levelled against
the erstwhile BJP spokespersons.
The youngsters include JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia
students, alumni and activists such as Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal,
Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Meeran Haider and
Gulfisha Fatima.
Zargar was pregnant when she was arrested in April
2020 and was released on bail two months later on humanitarian grounds. Kalita,
Narwal and Tanha were arrested in April 2020 and released on bail in June 2021.
The Indian foreign ministry was livid on Monday after
suffering the humiliation of being lectured by Pakistan.
But Indians are also asking questions.
Twitter user Sandeep Sarma asked: “Why has not yet
UAPA been slapped against Nupur Sharma? There has already been violence in
Kanpur because of her derogatory remarks.”
Ashok Kumar Pandey tweeted: “Suspension from party is
not any action at all. If BJP thinks both (Sharma and Jindal) have indulged in
inciting religious sentiments, then action should be taken against them under
relevant sections of the IPC.”
Source: Telegraph India
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Remarks against Prophet: Hardline Followers Upset but
BJP Defends Its Stand for the Action against Its Spokespersons
Jun 7, 2022
NEW DELHI: Amid sharp criticism from its hardline
followers for the action against its spokespersons, Nupur Sharma and Naveen
Jindal, BJP justified its decision that the duo crossed a line and deviated
from the party's strict insistence not to dilute the focus on development. As
the party came under criticism for not standing by its spokespersons and for
giving in to critics who routinely make and justify provocative remarks against
Hindu gods and goddesses, a senior party source said that nobody has the
licence to vent his controversial personal opinion through party platforms.
"Party has been consistently opposed to 'minority appeasement' and will
continue to do so but, at the same time we need not be offensive and should
exercise restraint while appearing on party platform," said a senior
leader in response to the criticism.
The justification came against the backdrop of a
growing chorus of criticism from supporters known for their sharp advocacy of
Hindutva and who enjoy huge followings on social media platforms. They have
been critical of the Modi government of giving in to pressure from Islamic
countries known for religious intolerance. They have highlighted that countries
like Qatar which are funding extremist political Islamism and had given
honorary citizesnhip to famous painter M F Hussain who had to leave India
following protests over the way he depicted Hindu gods and goddeses in his
paintings.
"They may be upset. We value their commitment to
Hindutva and their support. They have been boldly defiant in the face of
political intolerance, often at great cost to themselves. But fact remains that
in public life you have to be restrained. When you take up membership of a
party and are given an assignment, then you are expected to adhere to the
party's stand", said a minister.
He said that a party member does not have the freedom
to express his personal opinion when he appears on a platform as a
representative of a party, adding that both Sharma and Jindal deviated from the
party's clear instruction to focus on development and Modi government's efforts
to help the poor and the underprivileged.
Source: Times Of India
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Suspension ‘inadequate’, AIMPLB seeks legal action
over Prophet remark
Jun 6, 2022
LUCKNOW: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board
(AIMPLB) has called the suspension of BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen
Jindal “inadequate”. Board general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani
on Monday demanded strict action and legal proceedings against the offenders
and also formation of a law that “condemns and criminalises insults done to
religious figures of any religion”.
Maulana Rahmani also extended support to protests in
the country against the controversial remarks by the two spokespersons. He
expressed his disappointment at the alleged biased approach of administration
towards protesters of one community in the Kanpur clashes that broke out
between two communities earlier on Friday.
Meanwhile, national general secretary of
Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind (MuH), Maulana Kalbe Jawad Naqvi, also demanded legal
action against the “offending former BJP members”.
“Suspending the party members for their insult of
Prophet Muhammad is not enough. Muslims across the world have been hurt by
these baseless and insensitive comments which have affected the country’s image
on a global level. It is good that they have been suspended from the party, but
this is not enough,” said Maulana Rahmani.
“We demand strict action against the offenders. There
should be legal action against them. Also, a law should be enacted that holds
all those responsible who insult holy figures of any religion,” he added.
Maulana Rahmani said, “All protests against the
controversial comments are legitimate and warranted and I extend my support and
approval to them. The one-sided action against protesters of one community in
UP related to the Kanpur clashes is condemnable and disappointing.”
Source: Times Of India
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Muslim nations slam India over insulting remarks about
Islam, Prophet Muhammad
By SHEIKH SAALIQ
Jun 7, 2022
NEW DELHI (AP) — India is facing major diplomatic
outrage from Muslim-majority countries after top officials in the governing
Hindu nationalist party made derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet
Muhammad, drawing accusations of blasphemy across some Arab nations that have
left New Delhi struggling to contain the damaging fallout.
At least five Arab nations have lodged official
protests against India, and Pakistan and Afghanistan also reacted strongly
Monday to the comments made by two prominent spokespeople from Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Anger has poured out on social media,
and calls for a boycott of Indian goods have surfaced in some Arab nations. At
home, it has led to protests against Modi’s party in some parts of the country.
The controversial remarks follow increasing violence
targeting India’s Muslim minority carried out by Hindu nationalists who have
been emboldened by Modi’s regular silence about such attacks since he was first
elected in 2014.
Over the years, Indian Muslims have often been
targeted for everything from their food and clothing style to inter-religious
marriages. Rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International
have warned that attacks could escalate. They have also accused Modi’s
governing party of looking the other way and sometimes enabling hate speech
against Muslims, who comprise 14% of India’s 1.4 billion people but are still
numerous enough to be the second-largest Muslim population of any nation.
Modi’s party denies the accusations, but India’s
Muslims say attacks against them and their faith have increased sharply.
The anger has been growing since last week after the
two spokespeople, Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, made speculative remarks that
were seen as insulting Islam’s Prophet Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisha.
Modi’s party took no action against them until Sunday,
when a sudden chorus of diplomatic outrage began with Qatar and Kuwait
summoning their Indian ambassadors to protest. The BJP suspended Sharma and
expelled Jindal and issued a rare statement saying it “strongly denounces insult
of any religious personalities,” a move that was welcomed by Qatar and Kuwait.
Later, Saudi Arabia and Iran also lodged complaints
with India, and the Jeddha-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation said the
remarks came in a “context of intensifying hatred and abuse toward Islam in
India and systematic practices against Muslims.”
India’s Foreign Ministry on Monday rejected the
comments by the OIC as “unwarranted” and “narrow-minded.” On Sunday, India’s
embassies in Qatar and Kuwait released a statement saying the views expressed
about the Prophet Muhammad and Islam were not those of the Indian government
and were made by “fringe elements.” The statement said that strong action had
already been taken against those who made the derogatory remarks.
The criticism from Muslim countries, however, was
severe, indicating that insulting Prophet Muhammad was a red line.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it expected a public
apology from the Indian government, and Kuwait warned that if the comments go
unpunished, India would see “an increase of extremism and hatred.” The Grand
Mufti of Oman described the “obscene rudeness” of Modi’s party toward Islam as
a form of “war.” Riyadh said the comments were insulting and called for
“respect for beliefs and religions.” And Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque, the Sunni
world’s foremost institution of religious learning, described the remarks as
“real terrorism (that) can plunge the entire world into severe crises and
deadly wars.”
The remarks made by Sharma during a TV program in
India and Jindal in a tweet risk damaging India’s ties with Arab nations.
India maintains strong relations with Gulf countries,
which rely on millions of migrant workers from India and elsewhere in South
Asia to serve their tiny local populations and drive the machinery of daily
life. India also depends on oil-rich Gulf Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia,
to power its energy-thirsty economy.
The remarks also led to anger in India’s archrival and
neighbor, Pakistan, and in Afghanistan.
On Monday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned an
Indian diplomat and conveyed Islamabad’s “strong condemnation,” a day after
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the comments were “hurtful” and “India under
Modi is trampling religious freedoms & persecuting Muslims.” India’s Foreign
Ministry responded by calling Pakistan “a serial violator of minority rights”
and said it should not engage “in alarmist propaganda and attempting to foment
communal disharmony in India.”
“India accords the highest respect to all religions,”
ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Criticism also came from Kabul. The Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan said the Indian government should not allow “such fanatics to
insult … Islam and provoke the feelings of Muslims.”
Modi’s party also faced anger from some of its own
supporters, but it was for a different reason. Many Hindu nationalists posted
comments on social media saying the government was buckling under international
pressure.
Anti-Muslim sentiments and attacks have risen across
India under Modi. Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said India
was seeing “rising attacks on people and places of worship,” eliciting a
response from New Delhi, which called the comments “ill-informed.”
Source: Times Of Israel
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Row over Remarks on the Prophet: UAE and Maldives Join
Islamic World Criticism
By Krishn Kaushik
June 7, 2022
The United Arab Emirates and the Maldives, counted
among India’s closest partners, Monday joined criticism from the Islamic world
against remarks on the Prophet by the now-suspended and expelled BJP leaders
Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal.
Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Libya,
Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
joined Qatar, Kuwait and Iran, which had summoned Indian envoys Sunday, in
condemning the remarks against the Prophet.
Expressing its “denunciation and rejection of insults
of the Prophet”, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation (MoFAIC), in a statement, “affirmed the UAE’s firm rejection of all
practices and behaviours that contradict moral and human values and
principles.” It “underscored the need to respect religious symbols and not
violate them, as well as confront hate speech and violence.”
“The Ministry also noted the importance of
strengthening the shared international responsibility to spread the values of
tolerance and human coexistence while preventing any practices that would
inflame the sentiment of followers of different religions,” it said.
The UAE is India’s third largest trading partner — the
second largest importer and exporter last year — and home to over 3 million
NRIs.
Indonesia, the country with the world’s largest Muslim
population, “strongly” condemned the “unacceptable derogatory remarks” by “two
Indian politicians”. It said it had conveyed the message to the Indian
ambassador in Jakarta.
The Maldives, where India has considerable influence,
said it “unreservedly condemns all and any action that purports to pervert the
true nature and teachings of Islam” and “attempts to demean” the Prophet. The
Maldives government said it is “deeply concerned by the derogatory remarks made
by some officials of BJP” but welcomed the “denouncement” by the Indian
government of the remarks and the “prompt action taken by BJP against those
officials.”
Bahrain too commented, but appreciated the action
taken by the BJP against its two leaders.
Amid the chorus of criticism, New Delhi rejected
comments by the OIC as “unwarranted and narrow-minded” and slammed “its
divisive agenda being pursued at the behest of vested interests.”
The Ministry of External Affairs also hit out at
Pakistan over remarks by its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying “the
absurdity of a serial violator of minority rights commenting on the treatment
of minorities in another nation is not lost on anyone.” On Monday, Pakistan
summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires to convey its displeasure.
In a statement Sunday, the OIC expressed its “strong
condemnation and denunciation of the recent insults issued by an official in
the ruling party”.
“These abuses come in the context of the escalation of
hatred and abuse of Islam in India and in the context of the systematic
practices against Muslims and restrictions on them, especially in light of a
series of decisions banning headscarves in educational institutions in a number
of Indian states and demolitions of Muslim property, in addition to the
increase in violence against them,” the OIC said.
Responding to the OIC statement, Arindam Bagchi,
spokesperson for the MEA, said, “We have seen the statement on India from the
General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Government of India categorically rejects OIC Secretariat’s unwarranted and
narrow-minded comments.”
Stating that the Indian government “accords the
highest respect to all religions,” Bagchi said the “offensive tweets and
comments denigrating a religious personality were made by certain individuals.
They do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India.
Strong action has already been taken against these individuals by relevant
bodies.”
He said it was “regrettable that the OIC Secretariat
has yet again chosen to make motivated, misleading and mischievous comments.
This only exposes its divisive agenda being pursued at the behest of vested
interests.” He said the OIC Secretariat should “stop pursuing its communal
approach and show due respect to all faiths and religions.”
In Islamabad, the Foreign Office summoned the Indian
chargé d’affaires to convey its categorical rejection and condemnation of the
remarks by two BJP leaders against the Prophet.
Responding to the statement, the MEA spokesperson said
the “absurdity of a serial violator of minority rights commenting on the
treatment of minorities in another nation is not lost on anyone. The world has
been witness to the systemic persecution of minorities including Hindus, Sikhs,
Christians and Ahmadiyyas by Pakistan.” He reiterated that the Indian
government “accords the highest respect to all religions,” which is “quite
unlike Pakistan where fanatics are eulogized and monuments built in their
honour.”
“We call on Pakistan to focus on the safety, security
and well-being of its minority communities instead of engaging in alarmist
propaganda and attempting to foment communal disharmony in India,” Bagchi said.
Saudi Arabia, one of the most significant voices in
the Islamic world, also issued a statement late Sunday evening, but did not go
as far as issuing a démarche like Qatar, Kuwait and Iran. Its Ministry of
Foreign Affairs expressed “its condemnation and denunciation of the statements
made by the spokeswoman of the Indian Bharatiya Janata Party, which insult the
Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.”
Source: Indian Express
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How BJP's spokespersons created a diplomatic headache
for India
Jun 7, 2022
India has hit out at the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) for its criticism of the country in the wake of the alleged
derogatory remarks made against Prophet Mohammed by two functionaries of the
ruling BJP.
The OIC, which projects itself as the “collective
voice of the Muslim world”, slammed India for the comments against the Prophet.
It also urged the UN to take necessary measures to ensure that the rights of
Muslims are protected.
More nations decry remarks
Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain and
Afghanistan on Monday joined several Muslim nations to express their
condemnation of the controversial remarks. Pakistan summoned the Indian chargé
d'affaires to register its protest.
India hit back
External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi
said India categorically rejects the OIC Secretariat's “unwarranted and
narrow-minded comments” and asserted that New Delhi accords the highest respect
to all religions.
In response to Pakistan’s action, he said the
“absurdity of a serial violator of minority rights commenting on the treatment
of minorities in another nation is not lost on anyone”.
The BJP has already suspended its national
spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled the party's Delhi unit media head Naveen
Jindal over the matter following widespread anger in several Gulf countries
with some of them threatening to boycott Indian products.
Sharma getting ‘threats’?
Source: Times Of India
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HC declines urgent hearing on plea against stopping of
prayers at mosque
JUNE 07, 2022
‘ASI stopped namaz on May 13 without serving any
notice’
The Delhi High Court on Monday declined an urgent
listing to a plea by the managing committee of the Delhi Waqf Board against the
stopping of offering namaz by devotees at a Mughal mosque in South Delhi’s
Mehrauli area.
A Vacation Bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri and
Justice Poonam A. Bamba said there was no urgency in the matter when it was
mentioned by advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui on behalf of the managing committee of
the Delhi Waqf Board.
Advocate Siddiqui said it is not the contentious
‘Quwattul Islam Mosque’ and is a duly gazette notified Waqf property that has a
duly appointed Imam and Moazin. He said the Mughal mosque is situated within
the ‘Qutub Complex’ but outside the ‘Qutub Enclosure’.
He submitted that namaz was regularly performed at the
mosque and has never been closed for worship.
However, the officials of the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI) in an “absolutely unlawful, arbitrary and precipitous manner”
completely stopped the namaz on May 13, 2022, without serving any notice or
order, Mr. Siddiqui said.
Source: The Hindu
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LeT module busted in Doda, terrorist arrested with IED
material
Jun 7, 2022
JAMMU: A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module run by a
terrorist based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was busted in J&K’s Doda
district on Monday with the arrest of one suspect and the recovery of explosive
material used to manufacture IEDs.
Additional director general of police (ADGP), Jammu
zone, Mukesh Singh said, “The module was working to revive militancy in the
Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban region. Based on specific input, a cordon-and-search
operation was launched by the Army’s 10RR, CRPF and district police in Doda’s
Kastigarh area. During the operation, explosive material, one mobile phone and
other incriminating items were recovered from the house of one Irshad Ahmed of
Dhandal, Kastigarh.”
More arrests were expected, said the ADGP, adding that
the module was operating under Pok-based terrorist Mohammad Amin alias Khubaib,
who has been making desperate attempts to revive militancy in the Chenab
region.
Source: Times Of India
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Assam: NIA busts racket to smuggle Bangladeshi Muslims
and Rohingya into India
Jun 7, 2022
GUWAHATI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has
busted a human trafficking racket in Assam and Meghalaya, involved in smuggling
in Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims into India and settling them across the
country as Indians.
The NIA has filed a chargesheet against five persons
in Assam and one from Meghalaya on charges of trafficking Rohingya and
Bangladeshi Muslims into India through the porous international borders to
"destabilize the population ratio and demographic scenario of the
country."
The NIA arrested these six people - five from Assam's
Cachar and one from Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills - in March this year.
The Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization
(CTCR) division of the MHA, on whose information the suo moto FIR was filed by
NIA in December last year, states, "The central government has received
information that the racketeers from India who are in collusion with their Bangladeshi
counterparts are inducing Rohingya Muslims and Bangladesh Muslims for their
illegal entry into lndia through several porous border passages in Assam,
Mizoram, Meghalaya and West Bengal and facilitating their entry with fake
Indian documents."
The FIR also states, "The racketeers are carrying
out human trafficking of foreign nationals and arranging for their
transportation with fake Indian documents to different parts of lndia. These
racketeers have contacts all over lndia. These infiltrated foreign nationals
mix up with common masses in the long run and settle in India
permanently."
Source: Times Of India
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BSF resorts to firing along India-Pak border in Jammu
on drone suspicion
07.06.22
BSF troops resorted to firing briefly along the
India-Pakistan border in the Jammu district on Tuesday after hearing a humming
sound which led to suspicion that a drone was flying around.
Alert troops fired two rounds on hearing that humming
sound coming from a height of about 800 meters in the Akhnoor area, a BSF
officer said.
He said all concerned have been informed and further
details are awaited.
Drone-threat is present everywhere along the
India-Pakistan border but security forces are alert to foil any nefarious
design from across the border in the region, a senior Border Security Force
officer said.
Source: Telegraph India
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2 LeT militants, including 1 Pakistani, killed in
encounter in J&K's Kupwara
07.06.22
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, including one
from Pakistan, were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Kupwara
district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, police said.
Based on information about the presence of militants
in the Chaktaras Kandi area of Kupwara, security forces launched a cordon and
search operation, a police official said.
The search operation turned into an encounter after
the militants fired upon the security forces who retaliated, he said.
In the exchange of fire, two militants were killed,
the official said.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said
one of the slain militants was a Pakistani, identified as Tufail.
Source: Telegraph India
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Africa
Sheikh Shuaib Agaka imparted Islamic knowledge on my
family – Emir of Ilorin, Gambari
06 June 2022
The Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu Gambari on Monday
expressed shock and grief over the death of Dr Abdulhameed Shuaib Agaka.
Alhaji Gambari recalled benefitting immensely from the
late cleric’s preachings about Islam and Holy Quran.
The traditional ruler also disclosed that his mother,
at a tender age, learnt about the Holy Qur’an from Agaka.
The deceased, 77 years old, was the father of
PRNigeria publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Yushau Shuaib.
At his palace on Monday, Gambari told a delegation of
the family led by Daudu Agaka, Alhaji Hanafi Kawu, to take solace in the
departed soul’s unblemished and righteous life.
“Kwara and Nigeria have lost an iconic Islamic
preacher of unrivalled acclaim. The family is synonymous with Islamic
evangelism and crusade.
“The late Abdulhameed remains one of the greatest
Arabic Islamic scholars produced by the Emirate”, the monarch said.
The Chief Imam of Agaka in Ilorin died at a hospital
in the state capital. He was born into the family of Imam Shuaib Saeed, a
renowned Qur’anic teacher and Islamic leader.
Agaka attended School for Arabic Studies (SAS) in
Kano, and Bayero University Kano (BUK), where he obtained a Ph.D in Qur’anic
Morphology and Arabic Grammar.
The late Sheikh taught Arabic and Islamic Studies at
Kano Educational Development Centre (KEDC) between 1971 and 1974.
He was the Head of Arabic Studies Departments at the
School for Arabic Studies; Women Arabic Teachers College; Aminu Kano College of
Islamic and Legal Studies, among others.
Chief Imam of Ilorin, Alhaji Muhammadu Bashir Solihu
described Sheikh Agaka as an exemplary preacher who promoted tolerance,
humility and peaceful coexistence.
Speaking on behalf of the Forum of Arabic Scholars of
Darul Markaz, Prof. Badmus Yusuf called the deceased a unique religious leader,
who nurtured many young scholars on the true teachings of Islam.
“Dr Shuaib Agaka was not only an author of exceptional
Islamic literature, he was a community leader and philanthropist.
Source: Guardian Nigeria
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Many feared dead after gunmen attack church in
southwestern Nigeria
Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu
06.06.2022
KANO, Nigeria
Many people are feared dead after gunmen opened fire
on worshippers at a church in Nigeria’s southwestern Ondo state, officials
said.
The attack occurred at St. Francis Catholic Church in
the town of Owo.
Officials at the Federal Medical Center in Owo said at
least 50 injured people were rushed to the hospital.
Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu
expressed sorrow over the incident and extended condolences over the loss of
lives.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Richard Olatunde, chief
press secretary to the governor, said that the “vile and satanic attack” is a
calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Owo who have enjoyed relative
peace over the years.
“It is a black Sunday in Owo. Our hearts are heavy.
Our peace and tranquility have been attacked by the enemies of the people. This
is a personal loss, an attack on our dear state,” Olatunde said.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Algerian court jails brother of ex-president
Bouteflika for 8 years
Abdelrazzak bin Abdullah
06.06.2022
ALGIERS, Algeria
An Algerian court on Monday sentenced the brother of
former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to eight years in prison for corruption,
according to the official Algeria Press Service.
Said Bouteflika was convicted of issuing secret
funding for a presidential election campaign that was cancelled in 2019.
The Sidi M'hamed court in the capital Algiers also
slapped Said Bouteflika with a fine of 3 million dinars (about $20,000) and the
confiscation of all of Said Bouteflika's properties.
The court also slapped a former businessman close to
the presidency, Ali Haddad, with a four-year jail term and the same fine in the
case.
Monday’s rulings are preliminary and can be appealed
by higher judicial bodies.
The case, according to previous statements by the
Public Prosecution, concerns the transfer of funds abroad in 2019 to establish
a TV channel to support Bouteflika's candidacy for election that was scheduled
for April 2019 and was then canceled due to a popular uprising.
Said Bouteflika, 66, the younger brother of the former
Algerian president, had joined the presidency in 1999, and emerged as an
influential and powerful man after Bouteflika's health deteriorated in 2011.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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South Asia
Islamic Emirate Denies Reports of Reopening Girls’
Schools
June 7, 2022
The Islamic Emirate denied the authenticity of a
statement leaked on social media suggesting that girls' schools would be
reopened in the next two weeks, saying that a final decision is yet to be taken
in this regard.
A statement has been circulating on social media since
yesterday about the reopening of schools for girls above grade six, but the
Ministry of Education called it fake.
“Once again we are harmed, our hearts are broken--
when we heard that such (news) is not official and is just an allegation. This
is a game involving the education of women and girls,” said Momina Nazir, a
student.
“Unfortunately, it has been nearly two months that we
have not been allowed to go to the schools,” said Shiba, a student.
The Islamic Emirate announced a committee to
facilitate the reopening of the girls’ schools beyond grade six, but there has
yet to be any progress reported.
“This is a crisis and a disaster which we will not be
able to compensate for--this one year of suspension of the educational sector,”
said Faraha Mustafavi, a women's rights activist.
“Education is not only a personal or social need but
is a religious obligation,” said Hekmat Mirzad, a university instructor.
Source: Tolo News
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https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-178351
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Explosion in Kabul Targets Kabul Municipality’s Head
of District 4
By Saqalain Eqbal
06 Jun 2022
The Taliban security officials in Kabul confirmed the
explosion in Taimani Project, the capital’s fourth district, stating that many
civilians were wounded.
The explosion, which took place in Kabul’s PD 4 around
6:00 p.m., was caused by a magnetic bomb embedded on a bicycle, according to
Khalid Zadran, the spokesman for the Taliban police in Kabul.
The explosion targeted Sayed Mahmood Hashemi, Kabul
Municipality’s Head of District 4.
A close source to the Head of 4th district of Kabul
Municipality told Khaama Press that Sayed Mahmood Hashemi is unharmed; but some
of his guards were injured.
Zadran said that the explosion injured a number of
civilians, but he did not specify exact number.
Taliban security forces had arrived at the scene,
according to Zadran, and were investigating the cause of the explosion.
No group or individual so far has claimed the
responsibility for the explosion.
Despite the Taliban’s claims that security has been
restored following their takeover of Afghanistan, some cities, including Kabul,
have experienced explosions.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/explosion-in-kabul-targets-kabul-municipalitys-head-of-district-457484/
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Christine Fair: The Taliban Are Incompetent in Terms
of Governance
By Saqalain Eqbal
07 Jun 2022
Christine Fair, a security studies professor, recently
told Open magazine that the Taliban are inept at governance and that they (the
Taliban) could not continue if Pakistan did not support the military.
Christian Fair, who also has a working experience in
Afghanistan, was interviewed on Sunday, June 5th, and was assigned by the
United Nations to conduct security and geographical research.
In the interview, she stated that the Afghan people
despise Pakistan and instead praise India, and that the Taliban, realizing
this, have expressed interest in restoring diplomatic relations with India.
A delegation from India visited Afghanistan at the
request of the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, to hold
talks with the group.
Christian Fair went on to say that the Taliban had not
abandoned their long-standing relationships with ISIS, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and
Jaish-e-Muhammad, putting India’s security in jeopardy and rendering the
Taliban unable to ensure security for Indians in Afghanistan.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/christine-fair-the-taliban-are-incompetent-in-terms-of-governance-56437/
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Southeast
Asia
Cultural diversity builds a nation, Shah Alam
councillor tells PAS minister after Bon Odori advice to Muslims
By Radzi Razak
07 Jun 2022
KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — PAS has shown its ignorance and
lack of understanding on cultural diversity in Malaysia, Shah Alam councillor
Muhammad Shakir Amir said today after a federal minister advised Muslims
against joining in the upcoming Japanese Bon Odori festival in the Selangor
capital next week.
The DAP man said Shah Alam had benefited from strong
diplomatic relations with Japanese companies and questioned why the advice for
Muslims came only after more than three decades of Bon Odori celerations in the
country without issue.
"Bon Odori has been celebrated for more than 30
years in Malaysia. Throughout the years it has been commercialised and
celebrated via commercial or community centres to cater to non-Japanese as
well. In Malaysia we have many manga and anime fans as well through the
Japanese influence.
"This is something a party like PAS don't
understand. They only care about judging others and will never look at the
bigger picture on nation building.
"We have a sizeable number of Japanese expatriates
living here. We even have a Japanese school to cater to the Japanese community.
It is only natural that they will celebrate their cultural celebration through
their community clubs or associations,” Shakir said in a statement today.
Yesterday, national news agency Bernama reported
Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Idris Ahmad advising Muslims not to participate
in the Bon Odori Festival to be held at the Shah Alam Sports Complex in
Selangor on July 16, claiming that it contains elements of other religions.
The PAS vice-president cited a study by the Malaysian
Islamic Development Department that purportedly found religious elements in the
Bon Odori Festival that reportedly received negative reactions on social media,
especially among Muslims in the country.
Source: Malay Mail
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After veterans’ protest, Anwar tells Hisham to protect
their rights
June 6, 2022
PETALING JAYA: After a peaceful demonstration by
hundreds of army veterans at Tugu Negara (national monument) this morning,
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim called for defence minister Hishammuddin
Hussein to uphold the rights of veterans.
“I have been following the peaceful assembly by the
veterans of the armed forces today.
“It is clear that they were left with no other option
but to uphold their rights and air their grievances in this manner, after
having failed to get the attention of the defence ministry,” the Port Dickson
MP said in a Facebook post.
Anwar said Pakatan Harapan MPs had repeatedly raised
the issue of veterans’ pension in the Dewan Rakyat, urging Hishammuddin to
resolve this issue immediately.
“Don’t ignore the voices of the army veterans who have
sacrificed a lot for the country,” he said.
Earlier today, Utusan Malaysia reported that about 500
army veterans held a peaceful assembly at Tugu Negara this morning.
The veterans said they were left with no other option
but to assemble peacefully after eight years of attempting to use the right
channels to air their grievances on the issue of pensions.
The veterans outlined several demands including a
review of the pension rate and pension payments for those who served in the
army for less than 21 years.
Currently, only members of the army who served for at
least 21 years were able to get a monthly pension.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Pakistan
Muslim Countries Urged To Devise Grand Strategy
against Islamophobia: PPP Spokesman
JUNE 7, 2022
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Spokesman Faisal
Karim Kundi Monday urged all the Muslim countries to devise a grand strategy to
curb Islamphobia and blasphemy about the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Addressing a press conference along with Minister for
Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Shazia Atta Marri, he said that the PPP
condemned blasphemous remarks about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) by the Indian
extremist Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the strongest terms. Faisal
Kundi said that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should take some
practical steps and work out the punishment to discourage such types of
incidents.
He said the BJP’s spokesperson blasphemous remarks
received strong reaction from every nook and cranny of the world as it was
totally unacceptable to the entire Ummah whose sentiments got hurt with the
blasphemy of the Prophet (PBUH).
As regards the official foreign visits of Foreign
Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Kundi said the PPP Chairman would soon take
the Parliament and the nation into confidence in this regard.
He said that Bilawal Bhutto recently had visited two
major and powerful countries including United States of America and China, and
other neighboring countries to improve the cordial relations which were damaged
by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership.
“Imran Khan had compared himself with Shaheed Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto on different occasions, but ironically he
had taken refuge at the Chief Minister House in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa out of his
fear of arrest,” he said.
He said that PTI chief should refrain from using
resources of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for his personal and political
gains. The PTI Members of National Assembly should return to the Parliament and
play a constructive role as opposition for progress and development of the
country.
Source: Daily Times
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Pakistan summons Indian chargé d'affaires over
controversial remarks by BJP leaders against Prophet
Jun 6, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Monday that it has
summoned the Indian chargé d'affaires to convey its categorical rejection and
condemnation of the controversial remarks by two BJP leaders against Prophet
Mohammed.
The Indian diplomat was told that these remarks are
totally unacceptable and have not only deeply hurt the sentiments of the people
of Pakistan but of Muslims across the world, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a
statement.
The FO conveyed the Government of Pakistan's categorical
rejection and strong condemnation of the highly derogatory remarks made by two
senior officials of India's ruling party BJP.
“The Indian diplomat was further told that Pakistan
deplores the belated and perfunctory disciplinary actions taken by the BJP
government against the said officials, which cannot assuage the pain caused to
the Muslims," the FO said.
In New Delhi, the BJP on Sunday suspended its national
spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal
after their controversial remarks against the Prophet.
Amid protests by Muslim groups over the remarks, the
party also issued a statement aimed at assuaging the concerns of minorities and
distancing itself from these members, asserting that it respects all religions
and strongly denounces the insult of any religious personality.
The FO said Pakistan was deeply concerned over the
alarming rise in communal violence and hatred against the Muslims in India.
“The growing mainstreaming of the reprehensible
anti-Muslim sentiment and the increasing attempts at depriving the Muslims of
their centuries-old places of worship citing frivolous historical claims, are
nothing but the obvious outcomes of the deep-seated Islamophobia in the Indian
society,” the FO said.
Pakistan strongly urged the BJP leadership and the
government of India to unequivocally condemn the sacrilegious comments of the
BJP officials and ensure that they were held accountable through decisive and
demonstrable action against them for attacking the dignity of the Prophet.
“The government of India is also reminded of its
obligations under international law to take immediate steps to protect its
minorities from human rights violations, ensure their safety, security and
well-being and allow them to profess and practice their faiths in peace,” the
FO said.
Pakistan also asked the international community to
take cognizance of and stop the “dangerously rising ‘Hindutva' inspired
Islamophobia” in India and prevail upon the Indian authorities to prevent the
human rights violations against minorities, according to the FO.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday
condemned the "hurtful" remarks against the prophet of Islam.
Source: Times Of India
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Pakistan lawmaker threatens to carry out suicide
attack if ex-premier Imran Khan is harmed
Jun 6, 2022
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party lawmaker
loyal to former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday threatened to target the
current rulers of the country with a suicide attack if his leader was harmed.
Attaullah, elected from Karachi in 2018 on the symbol
of PTI, posted a video clip on Twitter to make clear his intention in case Khan
was harmed.
"If a single hair on Imran Khan's head is harmed,
then those running the country be warned: Neither you nor your children will
remain. I will be the first to carry out a suicide attack on you, I will not
let you go. In the same way, thousands of workers are ready," Attaullah
said in the video message
Attaullah is a lawyer by profession and an ardent
supporter of Khan.
Khan, who was ousted from power in April through a
no-trust vote, has been claiming that the no-trust motion against him was the
result of a “foreign conspiracy” because his independent foreign policy and
funds were being channelled from abroad to oust him from power. He has named
the US as the country behind the conspiracy, a charge denied by Washington.
His supporters have warned of threat to his life and
then information minister Fawad Chaudhry in the beginning of April had
disclosed that a plot to assassinate Khan had been reported by security
agencies.
Khan on May 14 reiterated that there was threat to his
life and told his supporters at a rally that he had recorded a video in which
he had taken the names of all those who "conspired against me".
The government has enhanced his personal security as
well as augmented the security cordon around his palatial residence in the
Banigala suburbs of Islamabad.
But it is rare that a sitting lawmaker threatened a
suicide attack.
After the video went viral, a journalist reminded the
authorities to take action against Attaullah for terrorism.
Source: Times Of India
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No need for financial emergency as Pakistan ‘out of
crisis’: Miftah
Khaleeq Kiani
June 7, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Monday
said Pakistan has come out of the financial crisis after two episodes of
increase in petroleum prices in quick succession and hence no need of declaring
an economic emergency.
The minister, however, said the prime minister would
soon be announcing austerity measures to reduce government expenditure. This
followed a day-on-day downward revision in the rupee’s value by Rs2.14 to
Rs200.06.65 against the dollar in the interbank and rumours about an impending
financial emergency on social media.
“The prime minister will at some point announce
austerity measures to save government expenditures. But there is not going to
be any declaration of financial emergency. Nor is there any financial
emergency. After two increases in petrol prices, we are out of the financial
crisis”, the finance minister said in a tweet to reassure the markets.
The government has increased by 40 to 51 percent the
prices of various petroleum products since May 26 to bring back the
international monetary fund to the negotiating table and scale down fuel
subsidies that had climbed to Rs125bn per month following a reduction and
four-month price cap announced by the previous government on February 28.
SBP refutes rumours about restrictions on foreign
currency accounts
Separately, the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank
of Pakistan in a joint statement also dispelled such rumours. “The government
and SBP refute baseless claims circulating on social media regarding Foreign
Currency Accounts (FCAs), Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs) and Safety Deposit
Lockers (SDLs)”.
The joint statement said that both the government and
the central bank “assure all account holders maintaining FCAs, RDAs and SDLs in
banks in Pakistan that their accounts and lockers are completely safe, and that
there is no proposal under consideration to put any restriction on them”.
The statement said rumours were circulating on social
media that the government or State Bank was considering freezing or placing
restrictions on withdrawals from FCAs, RDAs and SDLs. “Such rumours are
absolutely incorrect and baseless,” the joint statement said, adding that ‘such
a proposal has neither been considered presently nor in the past.’
The joint statement assured the account holders that
foreign currency accounts including Roshan Digital Accounts were legally
protected under the Foreign Currency Accounts (Protection) Ordinance 2001, and
the Government and the State Bank were committed to protecting all the
financial assets in Pakistan including the ones mentioned above.
It said the government and the SBP were taking all
necessary measures to ensure macroeconomic stability in the country. “The
recent difficult decisions taken by the Government, including the reduction of
subsidy on petroleum products, will pave the way to reach an agreement with the
IMF and release of the IMF tranche and financial assistance from other
multilateral agencies and friendly countries.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1693515/no-need-for-financial-emergency-as-pakistan-out-of-crisis-miftah
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Imran appoints nephew as focal person on legal affairs
Ikram Junaidi
June 7, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has appointed his nephew as the
party’s focal person on legal affairs.
In another development, two former legislators of
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from south Punjab joined the PTI.
According to a notification signed by PTI secretary
general Asad Umar, Barrister Hassaan Khan Niazi has been notified as the focal
person on legal affairs to the chairman/party.
“The focal person on legal affairs would report to the
chairman on matters pertaining to his functions,” the notification said.
In a statement, the PTI claimed that the appointment
had been made under a well-conceived strategy to deal with the dictatorial
tactics and unconstitutional and undemocratic steps of the ‘imported’
government.
Barrister Hassaan Niazi held a meeting with Imran Khan
and expressed his gratitude for appointing him the focal person.
He has been associated with the PTI for the last 17
years and remained at the forefront of every movement.
“As a student, Barrister Hassaan Niazi played a key
role in laying the foundation of the Insaf Students Federation. He has also
served as the Insaf Students Federation Punjab president from 2008 to 2010,”
the party statement claimed.
Meanwhile, former PML-N MNA Pir Iqbal Shah from
Lodhran and ex-MPA Pir Amir Iqbal Shah met former prime minister Imran Khan on
Monday and formally joined the PTI.
“During the meeting, they discussed the current
political as well as the economic situation in the country. Pir Iqbal Shah and
Pir Amir Iqbal Shah expressed full confidence in Imran Khan’s leadership and
both vowed to play an active role in Imran Khan’s struggle for real
independence,” the statement issued by the party stated. PTI vice chairman Shah
Mehmood Qureshi said the nation was expecting Foreign Minister Bilawal
Bhutto-Zardari to talk to his Indian counterpart on the blasphemous and
condemnable remarks made against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by
leaders of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Talking to media after a delegation level meeting
between PTI and Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen on Monday, Mr Qureshi said the
remarks made by the two BJP leaders had hurt the sentiments of the Muslims
worldwide and Pakistan should take up the issue with the Indian government
vociferously.
Talking about the water crisis, he said there was
severe water shortage in Sindh, south Punjab and Balochistan, but the present
government seemed oblivious to the looming crisis. He said Pakistan Peoples
Party observed a criminal silence over the plight of the people of south
Punjab, adding that no one was bothered about the problems being faced by the
farmers of Sindh.
“The most valuable crop of south Punjab is mango and
orchards have been ruined due to water scarcity,” he added.
The PTI vice chairman said PML-N voters were
questioning their leadership as to why turncoats had been imposed on them,
adding that the PML-N in connivance with the Election Commission of Pakistan
(ECP) was planning to rig the by-elections.
He made it clear that the by-polls on 20 vacant seats
in Punjab were being held for a specific purpose and the people were well aware
of the game.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1693568/imran-appoints-nephew-as-focal-person-on-legal-affairs
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PM Shehbaz invites economic gurus for pre-budget
huddle
Syed Irfan Raza
June 7, 2022
ISLAMABAD: In order to combat unprecedented economic
crisis in the country, the government has arranged a gathering of top
economists, industrialists and businessmen to find short-, medium- and
long-term solutions to the problem, besides providing relief to inflation-hit
people in the forthcoming federal budget 2022-23.
According to the Prime Minister Office, Shehbaz Sharif
will address a day-long ‘Pre-Budget Business Conference’ on Tuesday (today) to
explore avenues of consensus-based economic measures with all stakeholders
on-board.
In line with the PM’s vision of ‘Charter of Economy’
and an inclusive economic policy-making approach, the conference will bring
together leaders from a wide range of sectors at a single platform for a
vibrant and interactive dialogue.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in her
tweets that a day-long, meaningful and substantive dialogue had been convened,
bringing together leaders from agriculture, IT, textile, manufacturing and many
other business sectors to “interactively assess Pakistan’s existing economic
challenges and devise short-, medium- and long-term solutions. Obtain
recommendations for FY 2022-23 budget for across the commercial spectrum.”
The prime minister will take stock of the
recommendations and proposals presented by the participants for a prosperous
economy with a rock-solid foundation for progress and development.
The conference will focus on the PM’s vision of a
Pakistan where the social, political and economic rights of the people are
insured. Through mutual consultation, the conference will endeavour to find
ways to end the economic strife of the people and help the nation get back on
the path to a better future.
The event will focus on the way forward to a
prosperous Pakistan with a vibrant economy, where growth is sustainable and
inclusive. It will evaluate options and opportunities for employment and
business opportunities for all, and eliminate poverty and provide a decent
standard of living for all our citizens. This initiative will also welcome
recommendations from these sector-leaders for fiscal budget for the year
2022-23 across the entire commercial spectrum.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1693569/pm-shehbaz-invites-economic-gurus-for-pre-budget-huddle
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NA calls for moving apex court over Imran’s remarks
Amir Wasim
June 7, 2022
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Monday adopted
a resolution with a majority vote urging the “state” to move the Supreme Court
against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan over his
“anti-Pakistan and anti-armed forces” remarks during a TV interview last week.
The lawmakers passed four Imran-era bills, including
those required to meet conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
after the lower house opened its budget session.
The resolution “condemning” the former prime minister
for speaking about the country’s disintegration, threat to nuclear assets and
against the armed forces was presented by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf immediately put it before
the house for a voice vote without allowing members to hold a debate.
The opposition Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) opposed
the resolution, stating that it should not have been person-specific and must
have mentioned all those people who had in the past issued statements targeting
the armed forces, the judiciary and the country’s disintegration.
“The House demands that the state should approach the
Supreme Court for legal action against the former prime minister as his
statement is directly affecting Pakistan’s security and integrity as well as
its atomic programme,” said the resolution.
It further says: “This House condemns the efforts
being made by Imran Niazi to defame the armed forces of Pakistan for political
purposes.”
The resolution says that “the House is well aware of
the fact that the armed forces are not only discharging their responsibilities
according to the Constitution and laws, but are also the guarantors of
Pakistan’s geographical boundaries.
“The House acknowledges the sacrifices rendered by the
brave armed forces for the defence of the country and tackling the issue of
terrorism.”
In an interview with Bol TV last week, the PTI
chairman had warned that if Pakistan were to lose its nuclear deterrence, it
would break up into “three pieces”.
The NA resolution referred to Mr Khan’s controversial
remarks in the interview: “If the establishment doesn’t make the right
decisions then I assure you, they and the army will be destroyed, because what
will become of the country if it goes bankrupt.”
After passage of the resolution, GDA’s Saira Bano said
“we did not sign it as it was against a person” who was not present in the
house to defend himself.
She criticised the treasury members for constantly
attacking the PTI. She asked the speaker to hold discussion on “real issues”
instead of “wasting time on targeting previous rulers”.
Noor Alam Khan, a PTI dissident, said mere resolutions
would not serve any purpose and called for holding trial under Article 6 of all
those who attack state institutions.
He asked the interior minister to take action against
those who had damaged public property during the long march.
Later, speaking on points of order, a number of
lawmakers lashed out at Imran Khan for allegedly trying to create anarchy after
losing power.
The most hard-hitting speech, however, came from
Salahuddin, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) member from Hyderabad.
Mr Salahuddin said it seemed that Imran Khan had “lost
senses after losing power”. He held the PTI government responsible for the poor
state of the economy.
Meanwhile, the lower house of parliament passed four
bills.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1693570/na-calls-for-moving-apex-court-over-imrans-remarks
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Mideast
Zionism has ‘failed’ and Israel is in ‘big trouble’,
says prominent lobbyist
07 June 2022
As the Tel Aviv regime grapples with a heightened
sense of insecurity due to the Palestinians’ spirited resistance, a prominent
lobbyist acknowledges that Zionism may have “failed” and that the Israeli
regime is in “far bigger trouble than anyone understands.”
Michael Koplow, the chief policy officer at New
York-based Israel Policy Forum, made the remarks in an article on a bill
banning the raising of Palestinian flags, although the pro-Israel lobby group
claims it is dedicated to preserving Israel’s future as a Jewish state.
“If waving a flag threatens Israel’s existence, then
not only is Israel in far bigger trouble than anyone understands, but Zionism
itself has failed,” said Koplow.
“Protesters waving Palestinian flags and mourners
displaying them at funerals does not threaten Israel’s … security in any
tangible way, and to think otherwise betrays a deep and unwarranted sense of
insecurity about Israel’s durability and legitimacy,” he added.
His comments come as the image of Israel as a vital US
ally facing “an existential threat” is beginning to “shatter not least because
of the consensus amongst major human rights groups that Israel is committing
the crime of apartheid.”
The pro-Israel lobbyist himself slammed the double
standard applied by the Israeli regime, which approved the so-called Flag March
while considering raising Palestinian flags as incitement.
“There was a particular irony at work this week with
Israeli arguments that marching through the Old City with Israeli flags is
nothing but a demonstration of legitimate Israeli pride and should not be
construed in any way as incitement or threatening toward Palestinians, while at
the same time insisting on multiple fronts that Palestinian flags are
inherently illegitimate and should be construed as incitement and threats
toward Israelis.”
The so-called Flag March, a yearly event, features
extremist settlers marching through the heart of the main Palestinian
thoroughfare in East al-Quds’ Old City and waving Israeli flags and chanting
provocative slogans.
It commemorates the Israeli regime’s 1967 occupation
of East al-Quds, which Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.
The parade is associated with violence against Palestinians and the “display of
incitement, Jewish dominance, and racism,” according to Israeli NGO Ir Amim.
This year’s march was reportedly partaken by around
25,000 settlers, who were being accompanied and protected by Israeli forces.
Koplow argued that Israel should have been “less
sensitive” to the display of Palestinian flags, given the “structural
imbalance” between Palestine and Israel, which, he said, has “the most powerful
military in the Middle East.”
“The fact of Israel’s existence and Israel’s
strength—not only relative to the Palestinians but in absolute terms—has not
appreciably lessened Israelis’ insecurities, and Palestinian flags are still
treated in many instances as physical threats that somehow have the ability to
snuff out Zionism or Israel’s existence.”
The Middle East Monitor, however, noted that Koplow
failed to mention that the Israeli bill is “part of an ongoing attempt to
criminalize expressions of Palestinian nationhood and symbols of their
identity.”
On Friday, Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett also
acknowledged that the Tel Aviv regime is on the brink of collapse, as it is
“facing a real test.”
'Israel’s calculations entirely wrong'
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme
National Security Council (SNSC), said via Twitter that the Israeli
acknowledgment of an imminent collapse of the Israeli regime proves that the
resistance has been moving in the “right direction.”
The senior official added that the Israelis’
“calculations have been wrong” since the formation of the regime.
Referring to Israel’s threats against Iran, he noted
that they have only been out of fear of the axis of resistance.
Source: Press TV
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Iran, Qatar Vow to Strengthen Mutual Cooperation
2022-June-6
During the meeting in the Qatari capital on Monday,
Mehrabian and al-Kaabi explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating
bilateral relations in different fields.
"Iran is interested to further expand relations
between the two countries in various fields," Mehrabian said during his
meeting with al-Kaabi.
Describing the cooperation capacities of the two
countries as appropriate, Mehrabian called for removing the existing obstacles.
Referring to the good relations between the two
countries of Iran and Qatar in various fields, the Iranian energy minister
stated the current Iranian administration emphasizes the development of
relations with neighboring countries, and accordingly these relations are
increasing every day.
Mehrabian traveled to Qatar on Sunday to participate
in the eighth meeting of the Joint Economic Cooperation Commission.
Source: Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010316000647/Iran-Qaar-Vw-Srenghen-Mal-Cperain
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FM Warns of Consequences of Any Anti-Iran Resolution
at IAEA
2022-June-6
“Those who push for anti-Iran resolution at IAEA will
be responsible for all the consequences,” Amir Abdollahian wrote on his twitter
page on Sunday.
“We welcome a good, strong and lasting agreement,” he
added.
“It's within reach if US/E3 (Washington and the
European trio) are realistic,” Amir Abdollahian said.
Iran has also repeatedly cautioned in the past that
adoption of an anti-Iranian resolution was counterproductive to ongoing talks
aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
The remarks came a day before a meeting of the IAEA’s
Board of Governors. The event is reportedly set to adopt an anti-Iran resolution,
drafted by Britain, France, Germany, and the US, to accuse the Islamic Republic
of withholding cooperation with the agency.
The expected adoption of the resolution also comes
following a trip by IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi to the Israeli-occupied
territories.
Iran has previously cautioned the IAEA against
allowing the Israeli regime—which is leading a constant bid aimed at
incriminating Iran’s nuclear work—against allowing Tel Aviv to influence the
agency’s independent mandate and decision-making.
Source: Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010316000226/FM-Warns-f-Cnseences-f-Any-Ani-Iran-Reslin-a-IAEA
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Indian Envoy Summoned to Iranian Foreign Ministry over
Sacrilege of Islam's Prophet
2022-June-6
The Iranian foreign ministry's director general of the
South Asia Department summoned the Indian envoy on Sunday to convey the strong
protest of the Iranian government and people over the sacrilegious comments
against Prophet Mohammad.
The Indian envoy, for his part, expressed regret,
saying that any sacrilege against the Prophet of Islam is not acceptable at
all.
The ambassador also clarified that the comments made
by two officials of the ruling party did not reflect the position of the Indian
government, which he said reveres all religions.
In recent remarks on a TV news debate, the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)'s spokesperson Nupur Sharma made inflammatory comments
against the Prophet of Islam, which led to widespread condemnation in the
country and also triggered violent clashes in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur on Friday.
The BJP on Sunday suspended 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.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Iran Foreign Minister: Referendum, return of refugees
only solution to issue of Palestine
06 June 2022
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says
the sole solution to the issue of Palestine is the return of refugees to their
homes and holding of a referendum to be attended by all the original
inhabitants of the occupied territories.
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks on Sunday in a
meeting with religious leaders and officials of Lebanese and Palestinian groups
who took part in the 33rd anniversary of the passing of the late founder of the
Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini.
Iran’s top diplomat noted that the Islamic Republic
will never back down on the rights of the Palestinian nation and will continue
to support the resistance and struggles for the liberation of the Palestinian
people.
Amir-Abdollahian described some Islamic countries’
move to establish and normalize relations with the Israeli regime as a
"betrayal of the Palestinian cause," and said those countries would
regret their action.
Referring to Iran’s full support for the Palestinian
resistance, the top Iranian diplomat noted that the Islamic Republic would not
retreat from its principled policy despite all pressures.
Four Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – agreed to normalize relations with Israel under
US-brokered agreements in 2020, when former US President Donald Trump was in
office.
Spearheaded by the UAE, the move has sparked
widespread condemnations from the Palestinians as well as nations and human rights
advocates across the world, especially within the Muslim world.
Palestinians see the accords as a stab in their back
and a direct affront to their cause to liberate their lands from Israeli
occupation.
Between 600,000 and 750,000 Israelis occupy over 250
illegal settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian
territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds. Palestinians want the West Bank
as part of a future independent Palestinian state, with East al-Quds as its
capital.
Source: Press TV
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Arab League calls on UN to end Israeli occupation of
Palestinian territories
06 June 2022
The Arab League has called on the UN Security Council
to force Israel to end its occupation and withdraw all of its forces from the
occupied Palestinian and Arab territories.
In a statement released on Monday, the General
Secretariat of the organization said that the 15-member council should assume
its responsibilities and implement its decisions against the Tel Aviv regime's
violations.
The statement was issued on Naksa Day, or the Day of
Setback, which is commemorated by Palestinians on June 5 every year, marking
the displacement of the Palestinian people following the 1967 war with Israel.
"Despite the passage of more than five decades
since the Naksa and the long record of the occupation crimes and violations,
this will not change the fact that these Palestinian and Arab lands seized by
Israel since 1967 are occupied lands in accordance with international law,"
the statement read.
More than seven decades down the road, millions of
Palestinian refugees are still scattered
across refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Palestine’s
neighboring countries, it noted.
It further said that the anniversary of the Naksa this
year coincides with a dangerous Israeli escalation, an aggravated aggression
and countless raids across occupied al-Quds.
The Israeli regime occupied the West Bank, including
the western part of the holy city of al-Quds, in 1967. It later annexed East
al-Quds, which Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.
Also in 1948, eighty-five percent of the Palestinian
people were forcibly displaced from their homeland and over 500 villages were
destroyed in order to establish the Israeli regime. Over five million Palestinian refugees are
currently estimated to be still displaced.
According to international law, refugees have the
right to return to their homes of origin, receive real property restitution,
and compensation for losses.
Elsewhere, the Arab League also said that Israeli
forces were enabling extremist settlers to carry out their attacks at the holy
al-Aqsa Mosque compound and desecrate Islamic and Christian sanctities across
the holy city.
The Arab League earlier warned that constant Israeli
violations and incursions at the holy site in the occupied Old City of al-Quds
had been a flagrant affront to Muslim feelings that could trigger a wider
conflict.
Source: Press TV
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Gazans express solidarity with Palestinian prisoners
languishing in Israeli prisons
06 June 2022
Families of Palestinian prisoners and rights activists
have held a sit-in protest inside the office of the International Committee of
the Red Cross in Gaza.
They protested Israel’s inhumane treatment of some
five thousand political prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Their solidarity action comes as some 450
administrative detainees have been refusing to show up for their military court
hearings for more than six months.
These detainees are held in Israeli jails without
charge or trial for a long time. Their only recourse to call attention to their
plight has been hunger strikes.
Among them, Khalil Awawdeh has been refusing food for
more than three months and Raed Rayyan has adopted the same passive resistance
approach since more than two months ago.
Palestinian prisoners are held in 24 Israeli prisons
and detention centers where rights groups say they are denied their basic human
rights.
Prisoners’ advocacy groups also condemned Israel’s
inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners especially those suffering from
chronic medical conditions.
Securing the release of prisoners is a highly emotive
issue for Palestinians who regard them as prisoners of war and as symbols of
resistance against the Israeli occupation.
Source: Press TV
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North
America
India has a set of interests when it comes to engaging
with the Taliban regime: US
Lalit K Jha
07.06.22
New Delhi has a set of interests when it comes to
engaging with the Taliban regime, the United States said on Monday, days after
the first-ever Indian delegation visited Kabul since the hardline group took
control over Afghanistan last year.
Last week, India sent a team led by a senior diplomat
to Afghanistan to oversee the delivery of its humanitarian aid and meet with
senior members of the Taliban regime.
The team, led by JP Singh, the external affairs
ministry's point person for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, met the senior
members of the Taliban and held discussions on India's humanitarian assistance
to the people of Afghanistan, India's Ministry of External Affairs said.
There are a number of countries around the world that
have a discrete set of interests in Afghanistan and who predicate their
engagement with the Taliban on those interests, State Department spokesperson
Ned Price told reporters at a press conference on Monday.
India similarly has a set of interests when it comes
to the Taliban. Different countries will engage with the Taliban in different
ways. We have a team on the ground in Doha that is responsible for, as
appropriate, engaging with the Taliban on our set of interests just as other
countries do, Price added.
The United States will continue to monitor and take
steps to increase pressure on the Taliban government to reverse some of its
recent decisions in restricting the rights of women and girls, Price explained.
India has no formal diplomatic ties with the Taliban
government, but its envoys have met previously with Taliban representatives in
Doha, where they have an office.
The template behind India's engagement with the
Taliban is based on India's historic ties with Afghanistan, India's Foreign
Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi has said.
India had sent 20,000 tonnes of wheat, 13 tonnes of
medicines, 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and winter clothing to
Afghanistan as humanitarian aid.
New Delhi has been pitching for providing unimpeded
humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in
the country.
Source: Telegraph India
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Solemn Ceremonies Honour Muslim Family Killed In
Canada
Barry Ellsworth
06.06.2022
Canada
TRENTON, Canada
Ceremonies in Canada on Monday marked the first
anniversary of the attack that killed four members of a Muslim family.
The events in the city of London, Ontario, were
particularly poignant because that is where, on June 6, 2021, a man driving a
vehicle deliberately struck the Afzaal family, killing the parents, a daughter
and a grandmother, and leaving a nine-year-old boy an orphan. Law enforcement
officials said the crime was anti-Muslim and hate-oriented.
One of the many vigils was at the scene where the
vehicle ran down the family as they were out for a Sunday evening walk was
organized by the friends of Yumnah Afzaal, the 15-year-old daughter who died
along with her father, Salman, his wife Madiha and Talat, Salman's mother. More
events were scheduled in London through the week.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with others,
spoke at one ceremony in London, a city of about 405,000 southwest of Toronto.
“On this day, that we grieve, we also come together in
commitment and resolve to make sure that tomorrow and next year, and all the
days in the future, are also better,” Trudeau said to hundreds of people in
attendance.
“The lives of three generations of the Afzaal family
were taken by a brutal, cowardly and brazen act of terrorist violence.”
Politicians, Muslim organizations and anti-hate groups
called for action after the attack and a National Summit on Islamophobia summit
was held last summer. But some insist little has changed.
“Despite all of the promises we heard last year, one
year later, it feels there’s still an unwillingness by our elected leaders to
take concrete action against Islamophobia,” Esa Islam told the crowd at the
event where Trudeau was a speaker. He is a cousin of the Afzaals.
Provincially the New Democrat Party proposed the Our
London Family Act which called for a review of all hate incidents, but it was
defeated. That brought 11 Muslim groups together to ask all provincial party
leaders to revive and pass the legislation, but it is still in limbo.
Taha Ghayyur, executive director of Justice for All
Canada, said Islamophobia is rampant in Canada.
"The attack on the London Muslim family is a
result of years of systemic Islamophobia and online hate percolating and thriving
in Canada," he said Monday in email comments to Anadolu Agency.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/solemn-ceremonies-honor-muslim-family-killed-in-canada-/2607097
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Afghan leader unlikely to have fled Kabul with
millions in cash: US watchdog
07 June, 2022
Former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani almost certainly
did not flee Kabul as it fell to the Taliban with millions of dollars in stolen
cash, a US government watchdog’s report said Monday.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
Reconstruction (SIGAR) report, which will be published on Tuesday, is an
interim document, as the office is still awaiting answers to questions sent to
Ghani.
First reported on by Politico, it interviews witnesses
as well as officials who were in the helicopter convoy with Ghani as they
hastily fled the Presidential Palace in Kabul while the Taliban marched into
the capital on August 15, 2021.
In subsequent days, multiple reports suggested that
Ghani and the other officials took up to $169 million in Afghan government
money with them. Ghani has always fiercely denied these claims.
“Although SIGAR found that some cash was taken from
the grounds of the palace and loaded onto these helicopters, evidence indicates
that this number did not exceed $1 million and may have been closer in value to
$500,000,” the report states.
It based that assessment heavily on interviews with
the witnesses and officials involved, all of whom said they saw no signs of
such large amounts of cash on the helicopters already overloaded with people
fleeing for their lives.
“$169 million in hundred dollar bills, stacked end to
end, would form a block 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet
tall... This block would have weighed 3,722 pounds, or nearly two tons,” SIGAR
noted, adding that witnesses reported “minimal luggage” on the helicopters,
which had no cargo holds.
Instead one official carried around $200,000, another
carried some $240,000 and others had “$5,000 to $10,000 in their pockets... No
one had millions,” one former senior official told SIGAR.
“If true, this puts the total amount of cash on board
the three helicopters at approximately $500,000, with $440,000 belonging to the
Afghan government,” the report said.
“SIGAR also identified suspicious circumstances in
which approximately $5 million in cash was allegedly left behind at the
presidential palace,” the report added.
It was not clear where the money came from or what it
was for, “but it was supposedly divided by members of the Presidential
Protective Service after the helicopters departed but before the Taliban
captured the palace,” it said.
The report said there appears to have been “ample
opportunity and effort to plunder Afghan government coffers.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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US sanctions 2 Bosnia and Herzegovina leaders
Michael Hernandez
06.06.2022
WASHINGTON
The US sanctioned on Monday two leaders of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, alleging they have undermined regional stability and the country's
Dayton Peace Accords.
Marinko Cavara, the Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina president, and Alen Seranic, the Republika Srpska health minister,
are being added to the US blacklist, the Treasury Department said in a
statement.
The Republika Srpska is the Bosnian entity that
comprises part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Cavara has refused to nominated judges to the
country's constitutional court since 2019, and has thereby blocked its Court’s
Vital National Interest panel from functioning, the department said. Seranic
has been behind efforts within the Republika Srpska to secede, it added.
“Marinko Cavara and Alen Seranic have each sought to
pursue ethnonationalist and political agendas at the expense of the democratic
institutions and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Brian Nelson, the
Treasury Department's senior official for financial intelligence, said.
“Today’s action demonstrates the United States’
steadfast commitment to the stability and prosperity of Bosnia and
Herzegovina," he added.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-sanctions-2-bosnia-and-herzegovina-leaders/2607138
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Europe
France deplores Israeli plans to expand illegal
settlements in occupied West Bank
06 June 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the Tel
Aviv regime’s insistence on illegal settlement construction and land
expropriation policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, asserting that
Paris supports the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
During a telephone conversation with his Palestinian
counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, Macron expressed his concern in the face of the
growing tensions and worsening situation in the occupied lands.
He condemned the Israeli regime’s settlement expansion
policy and reiterated that France is committed to respecting the legitimate
rights of Palestinians.
Macron went on to claim that France is prepared to
help contain any escalation in the occupied Palestinian lands and foster the
resumption of the so-called peace process in order to secure fair and lasting
peace in the region.
He underlined the sanctity of holy sites in the Old
City of al-Quds, as well as the need to maintain regional stability and
security.
The French president also offered his condolences to
Abbas and the Palestinian nation for the killing of veteran journalist Shireen
Abu Akleh, who was shot dead by Israeli forces on May 11 near the Jenin refugee
camp in the occupied West Bank.
Macron stated that France attaches importance to
efforts to shed light on the circumstances surrounding her death.
Late last month, the European Union deplored the
Israeli regime’s plans for the construction of nearly 4,500 new illegal settler
units in West Bank, calling on Tel Aviv to reverse the decision.
The remarks were delivered by Geraldine Byrne Nason,
Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations on behalf of current
and former European Union Members of the Security Council, France, Ireland, and
Estonia, joined by Albania, at a UN Security Council session in New York on May
26.
The joint statement stressed that the illegal settler
units “would constitute an additional obstacle to the [so-called] two-state
solution,” and “are in clear violation of international law and stand in the
way of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace” between the two sides.
The statement further said the decision, in addition
to the retroactive approval of three illegal outposts and demolitions and
evictions that affect the Palestinian populations in East al-Quds and Area C,
directly threatens the possibility of a future Palestinian state.
Between 600,000 and 750,000 Israelis occupy over 250
illegal settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian
territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future
independent Palestinian state, with East al-Quds as its capital.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed
in 2014, with Israel’s continued settlement expansion emerging as a key
sticking point.
All Israeli settlements are illegal under
international law as they are built on occupied Palestinian land.
Source: Press TV
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UK reopens its embassy in Libya after 8-year hiatus
Ebu Bekir Aşkın
06.06.2022
The UK reopened its embassy in Libya on Sunday after
an eight-year hiatus.
"This is a demonstration of the UK’s commitment
to the whole of Libya. I am proud our work touches the lives of Libyans across
the whole country already,” said Ambassador Caroline Hurndall on Twitter.
UK-Libya relations are deep and historical, she added.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/uk-reopens-its-embassy-in-libya-after-8-year-hiatus/2606448
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US, Europe may seek to censure Iran amid stalled
nuclear talks
June 7, 2022
VIENNA: Major European countries and the United States
are expected to seek to censure Iran as the UN atomic watchdog started meeting
on Monday with talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal stalled.
The resolution drafted by the United States, Britain,
France and Germany is a sign of their growing impatience as diplomats warn the
window to save the landmark agreement is closing.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of
Governors meets on Monday through Friday in Vienna. If the resolution urging
Iran to “cooperate fully” with the IAEA is adopted, it will be the first motion
censuring Iran since June 2020.
Source: Dawn
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Mosque in Austria suffers Islamophobic attack
Aşkın Kıyağan
07.06.2022
VIENNA
A mosque in Austria was subjected to an Islamophobic
and racist attack on Monday.
The words "Go back home" were written on the
walls of the Yesil Mosque in Lower Austria by an unidentified individual who
entered the area without permission, according to mosque officials.
Türkiye’s Ambassador to Austria, Ozan Ceyhun, condemned
the incident and said he hopes this will be the last "racist attack"
that disturbs the peace in Austria
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Türkiye reiterates discomfort over PKK terrorist
activities in Italy
Busra Nur Cakmak
06.06.2022
Türkiye on Monday reiterated its discomfort over the
activities of the terrorist group PKK in Italy, according to Turkish diplomatic
sources.
Giorgio Marrapodi, Italy’s ambassador to Ankara, was
summoned on Monday to the Turkish Foreign Ministry to convey Türkiye’s
discomfort over a PKK demonstration in Rome, said the sources, who asked not to
be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
The demonstration included symbols of the outlawed
terrorist group and photos of its convicted terrorist ringleader, Abdullah
Ocalan, despite previous protests by the Turkish Embassy in Rome.
Türkiye reiterated its dissatisfaction with PKK
propaganda spreading into the public sphere, its activities under the guise of
an NGO, and the 2020 granting of honorary local citizenship to Ocalan by the
town of Fossalto in southern Italy.
Türkiye also repeated its demand that the Italian
government prevent such actions by terrorist groups and its sympathizers and
stressed the responsibility of the Italian government.
Despite the PKK being officially banned in the
European Union, a number of its member states have allowed demonstrations and
fundraising by the terrorist group, including in recent weeks.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Swedish opposition seeks to cut ties with MP who
supports terrorist YPG/PKK
Atila Altuntas
06.06.2022
STOCKHOLM
Feeling the heat over Sweden’s support for a terrorist
group based near Türkiye’s borders, the country’s opposition has proposed cutting
ties with a deputy who supports the terrorist YPG/PKK.
The country’s NATO membership bid faces an uncertain
future due to Sweden’s attitude, as Türkiye says Stockholm must take a clear
stand against all terror groups before it could gain membership. Türkiye, a
NATO member for 70 years, has a veto over any new members, as any expansion of
the alliance must be agreed to unanimously.
On a public affairs program, Ebba Busch, the leader of
the Swedish Christian Democrats Party, urged Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson
to cut ties with independent Deputy Amineh Kakabaveh, who is a supporter of the
terrorist YPG/PKK, a terrorist group based around Türkiye's borders.
Kakabaveh took the country's security and NATO
membership bid hostage, Busch argued.
Andersson said she would seriously consider the
proposal.
NATO bids blocked by terrorist support
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO last
month – a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.
But Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance,
has voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for
tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against
Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and
the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people. The YPG/PKK
is PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
Terrorist group supporter uses no-confidence vote as
blackmail
Speaking to a Swedish public broadcaster on June 2,
Kakabaveh said the government should not agree to Türkiye’s demands to stop
supporting terrorists to get NATO membership
Frustrated that the government did not do as she
demanded, Kakabaveh told Dagens Nyheter daily that she was preparing to vote
against Morgan Johansson, the justice and interior minister, in a no-confidence
vote set for Tuesday that could end the government.
Andersson has said she would step down if Johansson
does not survive the vote.
Michael Sahlin, the former Swedish ambassador to
Türkiye, said that Sweden's international security should not depend on
Kakabaveh, stressing that the country should consider its own interests.
Kakabaveh's threat was roundly criticized on social
media.
On June 2, right-wing parties in parliament submitted
a no-confidence motion on Johansson over his handling of gang crime.
Agreement between Social Democratic Party, Kakabaveh
to support terror group
Last November, Andersson was proposed by departing
Premier Stefan Lofven to fill her post.
Andersson needed 175 out of 349 parliamentary deputies
to form a government and was elected premier on Nov. 24 by one vote, including
Kakabaveh’s.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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IAEA Board of Governors meeting kicks off, Iran
nuclear talks to take centre stage
06 June 2022
The International Atomic Energy Agency has begun its
Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, where the talks with Iran are expected to
take center stage.
The event is reportedly set to adopt an anti-Iran
resolution, drafted by Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, to
accuse the Islamic Republic of withholding cooperation with the agency.
The expected adoption of the resolution also comes
following a trip by the IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi to the
Israeli-occupied territories.
Iran has previously cautioned the IAEA against
allowing the Israeli regime—which is leading a constant bid aimed at
incriminating Iran’s nuclear work—against allowing Tel Aviv to influence the
agency’s independent mandate and decision-making.
On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian said, “Those who push for anti-Iran resolution at IAEA will be
responsible for all the consequences.”
Source: Press TV
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of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/06/06/683421/Iran-nuclear-talks-IAEA--
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/holy-prophet-extremism-hatred-sedition-azhar/d/127192