Islam a Religion of Human Rights: Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
New Age Islam News Bureau
4 March 2012
• At al-Azhar mosque,
struggle over Islam roils a revered Egyptian institution
• Violence turning
Arab Spring into winter
• ‘Muslim Facebook’
to be launched in Istanbul in Ramadan
• Hindus in Baloch
moving to other parts of Pak amid abductions
• Plebiscite is the
only solution to Kashmir problem, says Pakistani novelist
• Christian’s safe in
Kashmir: Chairman, JKLF
• A Muslim Chaplain
Who Matters For Non-Muslims, Too
• No one can utter a
word of Pakistan in Balochistan: Former Chief of Jamaat-i-Islami
• Clerical
hard-liners appear headed for big victory in Iran
• The swagger of PPP
candidate, Waheeda Bukhari
• Gilgit-Baltistan
students demand protection
• Both Gaddafi, opp
committed war crimes: UN
• Three Baloch youth
have been shot dead
• Four dead in south
Yemen blasts; al Qaeda claims
• Pak approaches
Interpol for Red Corner notice for Musharraf
• ‘We’d be thankful
for a peaceful summer’: Kashmiris
• Pakistan censors
Internet out in the open
• Pakistani
government urged to stand firm on Pak-Iran gas project
• Pakistan, China,
Afghanistan to support regional stability
• Romania seeks
economic ties with Pakistan: envoy
• Pakistan is inching
towards self reliance: Minister for Finance
• Three Americans
briefly detained in Pakistan
• Afghan army says
Taliban infiltration very sophisticated
• Muslim Brother
picked to lead new Libya party
• Worldwide Outrage
Grows Over Condemned Iranian Pastor
• Visa expired, but
Israeli writer wants to stay back
Complied
by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo:
At al-Azhar mosque, struggle over Islam roils a revered Egyptian
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/islam-religion-human-rights-shaykh/d/6784
Islam a Religion of
Human Rights: Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
3 March 2012
Addressing the
millions of people, which was the biggest gathering in the history of Hyderabad
City of India, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that no
religion respects the humanity more than Islam. The Muslims should strengthen
their bond with the Holy Prophet (PBUH) for their success and welfare not only
in this world but also in the world hereafter. He said that the solution to our
contemporary challenges lies in following the life and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet
(PBUH).
Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri expressed these views while addressing historic public
meeting of Seerat-un-Nabi (PBUH) in Hyderabad Deccan. The event coincided with
the completion of 54 years of All-India Majlis Ittehad-ul-Muslaimeen under the
supervision of Sahibzada Asad-ud-Din Owaisi, the president of Majlis and the
member of the Indian Parliament.
The vast grounds of
Dar-ul-Salam where the gathering took place were filled with the people to the
last end. A sea of people could be seen who were listening to the speech of
Shaykh-ul-Islam with rapt attention. The hundreds of thousands of people were
standing on the roads leading to the main venue. The open skies continued to
reverberate with the chants of slogans. Before the speech neared its
conclusion, thousands of people rushed to the main stage to catch a closer
glimpse of the visiting scholar. The commandoes, who were deputed for the
security of Shaykh-ul-Islam, took him out of the venue under their protection.
Citing the
references from the Holy Quran and Hadith, Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri urged the
Muslims to become one nation, which is solid like a rock. He said that the way
to eliminate differences among them was through consultation and mutual
engagement. He asked the Muslims to shun individuality and dissentions and stay
connected with one another by forming collectivity.
Dr Muhammad
Tahir-ul-Qadri said that Islam is based on three things namely ‘Iman’ (faith),
prayer, and organization. He said that he who shunned collectivity knowingly it
was as if he did away with his connection with Islam. Shaykh-ul-Islam said that
the founder of the parliamentary democracy was not western world but the Holy
Prophet (PBUH). The Prophet (PBUH) is the paragon of peace and mercy for all
the worlds. He said that he who thinks that terrorism was connected with Islam
was in manifest error. He said that terrorism had nothing to do with either
Islam or Islamic system as such. He said that the world was talking of such
issues as democracy, human rights, rights of children and women today but the
Holy Prophet (PBUH) gave a charter of human rights at a time when these things
were not even heard of.
Dr Muhammad
Tahir-ul-Qadri said that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was invested with the
authority to intercede and the Muslims would resort to him for intercession on
the Day of Judgment. He said that the Prophet’s teachings urge the people to
hate sin but not the sinners. He said that no religion has presented more
comprehensive philosophy of respect for human rights than Islam. He said that
the Holy Prophet (PBUH) taught to take care of rights of even animals through
his actions at different occasions.
Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri
said that the love and affected shown by the people of Deccan reminded him of
Hazrat Qarni (RA). He expressed his good wishes for Majlis on its 54th
foundational day.
http://www.minhajsisters.com/english/tid/16212/Islam-a-religion-of-human-rights-Dr-Tahir-ul-Qadri-addresses-biggest-gathering-in-history-of-Hyderabad-Deccan/
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At al-Azhar mosque,
struggle over Islam roils a revered Egyptian institution
By Griff Witte
CAIRO — March
4, 12,They came by the thousands,
pouring through the ancient stone archways and into the gleaming white marble
courtyard of al-Azhar mosque. The faithful had come to pray, to hear a
thundering sermon from a leader of Hamas and to witness a rebirth.
Co-opted for
decades by irreligious and autocratic Egyptian governments, al-Azhar was
retaking its rightful place as the world’s leading voice of Sunni Islam,
worshipers said. The presence of a once-banned Hamas preacher willing to speak
incendiary truths was proof that the millennium-old mosque and university that
bear the al-Azhar name had finally been set free.
“Before, al-Azhar
was covered by dust,” said Yasser Abdel Monen, 32, beaming in the shadow of the
building’s towering minarets. “Now we have removed the dust to show what it is
truly made of.”
But to others, that
Friday sermon late last month was proof of something more ominous: the perverse
outcome of a revolution built on a thirst for freedom but overtaken by a hunger
for hard-line religious dogma.
More than a year
after an uprising that deposed longtime president Hosni Mubarak, just about
everything in Egypt feels up for grabs. Yet the struggle for the soul of
al-Azhar carries a special resonance here and across the Islamic world. At a
time when the Middle East boils with debate over the proper role of religion in
public life, al-Azhar is poised to wield vast influence over how political
Islam is implemented regionwide.
Now, forces from
across Egypt’s political and religious spectrum — including a group preaching a
puritanical, Saudi-style doctrine of Islam — are maneuvering to influence
al-Azhar.
Since its founding
in the 10th century, al-Azhar has been an unrivaled touchstone of Islamic
thinking, guiding the devout in their understanding of the faith and educating
millions through its distinguished university and education system. In modern
times, it has been a moderate bulwark against more extreme interpretations of
Islam, condemning terrorist attacks, sanctioning broader rights for women and
building bonds with Egypt’s Christian minority.
But in recent
decades, al-Azhar has also been sullied by its affiliation with a string of
Egyptian leaders who used the institution’s good name to give their policies a
religious blessing. Since 1961, al-Azhar’s top official — the grand sheik — has
been appointed directly by Egypt’s president. For many Egyptians, al-Azhar
became just one more tool of state control.
In the aftermath of
the revolution, there is widespread agreement among politicians in Egypt that
al-Azhar needs greater independence. The question is whether that also means a
lurch toward a more rigid and less tolerant school of Islam to match the increasingly
doctrinaire mood of the Egyptian people.
There is evidence
that such a shift is underway and that it could go much further.
Members of Egypt’s
two main Islamist groups — the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist Nour party —
control between them an overwhelming majority in Egypt’s new parliament. Seated
in January, they are already working on legislation that would strip the grand
sheik of his lifetime appointment and that could give them a major say in
picking a successor.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/at-al-azhar-mosque-struggle-over-islam-roils-a-revered-egyptian-institution/2012/03/01/gIQAIzmNpR_story.html
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Violence turning
Arab Spring into winter
By Michael Stott
and Samia Nakhoul
BKIRKI, Lebanon
(Reuters), Mar 4, 2012 - Violence and bloodshed is turning the "Arab
Spring" into winter, the head of Lebanon's Maronite Church said,
threatening Christians and Muslims alike across the Middle East.
Patriarch Beshara
al-Rai, whose Maronite Church also has a strong presence in Syria, said change
could not be brought to the Arab world by force and that Christians feared the
turmoil was helping extremist Muslim groups.
"We are with
the Arab Spring but we are not with this spring of violence, war, destruction
and killing. This is turning to winter," Rai told Reuters in Bkirki, seat
of the Maronite church in hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea north of
Beirut.
The upheaval
sweeping through the Arab world, toppling four veteran leaders, gave voice to
millions of people who suffered decades of repression. But it also brought
conflict in Libya and has tipped Syria toward civil war.
"We say that
we cannot implement reforms by force and arms. No one can guess the scale of
the great losses and damage which could result," said Rai, speaking this
week in an ornately decorated reception room in the patriarchate in Bkirki.
Unlike the U.S.
invasion of Iraq in 2003 which overthrew Saddam Hussein, the Arab uprisings
started as largely grassroot protests against entrenched leaderships.
But Rai, who
attended a memorial service in Iraq last year for Christians killed in an
attack on a Baghdad church, drew a parallel between Iraq and the rest of the
Arab world, saying Christians could bear a disproportionate share of the
suffering.
"How can it be
an Arab Spring when people are being killed every day?" he said.
"They speak of Iraq and democracy, and one million Christians out of an
original 1.5 million have fled Iraq."
The patriarch said
all communities in the Middle East were threatened by "war and violence,
economic and security crises," but Christians were particularly vulnerable
because of their relatively small and dwindling numbers.
Maronites, who have
a presence in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus, follow an Eastern rite of the Roman
Catholic church and number about 900,000 in Lebanon, around a quarter of the
population.
CHRISTIANS UNEASE
Lebanon's Maronite
leaders have had tense relations with Syria and led calls for an end to its
military presence in Lebanon in 2005.
But since protests
erupted against President Bashar al-Assad many Christians have been uneasy
about supporting the increasingly militarised and mainly Sunni Muslim uprising
against his secular Baath Party, which ensured freedom of belief for minority
faiths.
The 72-year-old
Rai, elected patriarch on the same day in March last year that serious protest
first broke out in Damascus against Assad, said Maronites were neither
supporting nor opposing the Syrian authorities.
"Syria, like
other countries, needs reforms which the people are demanding," he said.
"It's true that the Syrian Baath regime is an extreme and dictatorial
regime but there are many others like it in the Arab world."
"All regimes
in the Arab world have Islam as a state religion, except for Syria. It stands
out for not saying it is an Islamic state ... The closest thing to democracy
(in the Arab world) is Syria."
"We are not
defending it. But we regret that Syria, which wants to take a step forward ...
is undergoing this violence and destruction and (use of) power and
weapons."
The United Nations
says more than 7,500 people have been killed in the uprising and puts the blame
for the bloodshed mainly on Assad's government, saying it has reports of
summary executions, imprisonment and torture by authorities.
Syrian government
forces have bombarded opposition districts of the city of Homs for weeks,
killing and wounding civilians cowering in its ruined buildings.
Assad's government
said in December more than 2,000 police and soldiers had been killed by what it
describes as "terrorist armed groups," backed by foreign powers,
which it says are trying to stir up violence in Syria.
Rai has expressed
fears the Arab uprisings could replace autocratic leaders with radical Islamic
groups, and said extremist groups were getting foreign support.
"It's not the
people who want them. There are countries behind them, supporting them
financially and militarily and politically," he said. "Moderate
people do not want them."
"We do not
speak out against any sect and we do not fear moderate Islam. We fear the
extremists groups that use the language of violence."
Many Lebanese of
all religions, still recovering from their ruinous 1975-1990 civil war, fear
the violence in Syria will upset their own fragile sectarian balance and could
push the country toward its own renewed conflict.
Rai said Lebanese
were divided by events across the border, and he feared the shockwaves could
have an impact in Lebanon, home to Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims, Maronite and
Orthodox Christians, Druzes and Alawites - the same sect as Assad.
Two people were
killed in street battles in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli three weeks
ago between Alawite supporters of Assad and Sunni Muslims who back the uprising
against him.
"God forbid
that the conflict turns into a sectarian conflict between Sunnis and
Alawites," said Rai.
"In Tripoli we
have Alawites and the situation there is like a fire (smouldering) under the
ashes."
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Violence_turning_Arab_Spring_into_winter.html?cid=32229048
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MEHMET SOLMAZ
İSTANBUL, March 2012, Described as a “Halal
Facebook,” the new social networking phenomenon, Salamworld, set to hit the
Muslim world during the fasting month of Ramadan, will create an Internet
platform for Muslims of all ages. The headquarters of the company are located
in İstanbul.
There are currently
800 million Facebook users around the world, 300 million of whom are Muslim.
This number is expected to increase by 100 percent in 10 years’ time. Speaking
to Sunday’s Zaman in an inclusive interview, the chairman of Salamworld,
Abdulvahit Niyazov, said that the platform has been developed with the aim of
providing a more “halal” (Islamically permissible) website for Muslims to interact
with each other online.
Hindus in Baloch
moving to other parts of Pak amid abductions
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-273202-muslim-facebook-plans-to-be--launched-in-istanbul-in-ramadan.html
---------
Hindus in Baloch
moving to other parts of Pak amid abductions
PTI
ISLAMABAD: Mar 4,
2012, A total of 23 Hindus have been abducted in Balochistan province over the
past few months, forcing members of the minority community to migrate to other
parts of Pakistan, an official has said.
Incidents of
kidnapping for ransom and other heinous crimes have increased, Balochistan Home
Secretary Naseebullah Bazai said.
Seventy people were
abducted from Quetta Division alone during the past three months, he said.
Bazai told Dawn
News channel that 53 of the 70 abducted people had been recovered while the
others were yet to be traced.
He added that 23
members of the Hindu community were kidnapped from the province over a period
of several months.
The rise in
kidnappings had forced the Hindu community to migrate from Balochistan to other
parts of the country, Bazai said.
An anti-kidnapping
force had been formed to curb such incidents, he said.
Balochistan and
Sindh provinces have sizeable Hindu populations.
Over the past few
years, dozens of Hindus, most of them petty traders, have been kidnapped for
ransom in Balochistan.
Several cases of
forced conversion of Hindus have also been reported from Sindh.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Hindus-in-Baloch-moving-to-other-parts-of-Pak-amid-abductions/articleshow/12133905.cms
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Plebiscite is the
only solution to Kashmir problem, says Pakistani novelist
By Virinder Pramod, Punjab Newsline Network
LUDHIANA: March 4,
2012, “Kashmir is a core issue between India and Pakistan and a solution to
this problem is a basic requisite for normalisation of relations between the
two countries," said a Pakistan National Assembly Member and a leading
Novelist Bushra Rehman here. She was talking to media persons after
participating in a Urdu Mushaira held here last night.
According to her
plebiscite was the only solution to the vexed problem of Kashmir and it was the
same solution which was also favoured by the first Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru.
In reply to a
question Bushra Rehman claimed that terrorism was under full control in
Pakistan and more over it has become a
normal international phenomenon these days from which every country was
suffering in one way or the other . News of terrorist activities in Pakistan
were being blown out of proportion by vested interests to malign Pakistan's
image, she asserted.
She exuded full
confidence that the present Pakistan government would complete its full tenure
and that there was no truth in the rumors of political uncertainty in that
country.
Bushra strongly
advocated the resumption of Indo - Pak cricketing ties and favoured the
simplification of the visa procedure between the two countries.
http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/plebiscite-only-solution-kashmir-problem-says-pakistani-novelist/37192
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Christians safe in
Kashmir: Chairman, JKLF
GK NEWS NETWORK
Srinagar, Mar 3:
The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Muhammad Yasin Malik
on Saturday assured the Christians that they are very much safe in Kashmir.
“Christians have been living in the Valley
with honour and dignity from centuries and Muslims of Kashmir have never
interfered in their religious affairs nor have they ever tried to harm them,”
Malik told Executive Secretary of National Council of churches in India, A
Samuel Jayakumar, representing the head of the church of north India Dr Rouger
and other Christian leaders who visited JKLF headquarters here this morning and
met Malik and other Front leaders.
“Islam preaches tolerance and respect for
other religions. There is no compulsion in religion and Holy Quran is a beacon
of light for us. Kashmiris are famous for their religious tolerance throughout
the world at many critical stages of history we also have not abandoned this
particular attribute of ours,” Malik said.
The JKLF Chairman referring to the ongoing
struggle said, “Millions of people during past 20-years have suffered heavy
losses. Some NGOs tried to exploit the poverty of some people and offered them
huge amounts to get converted. Such acts have hurt the sentiments of Muslims.
But this doesn’t mean that we will try to harm our Christian brethren.”
The JKLF Chairman said members of Christian
community have played a vital role in education and health sectors in the
Valley and no one can ignore their contribution. “I assure my Christian
brothers living here that they can live here without any fear and perform their
religious duties,” he added.
Samuel Jayakumar described offering money for
conversion as an “immoral practice” and against the teachings of Christianity.
“National Council of churches in India does not favour this kind of corruption.
Inciting religious transformation by bribing people is an unethical and
inhumane. National Council of churches in India opposes this policy,”
Samuel Jayakumar praised the tolerance,
humanity and hospitality of Kashmiris.
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2012/Mar/4/christians-safe-in-kashmir-malik-51.asp
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A Muslim Chaplain
Who Matters For Non-Muslims, Too
By Noah J.
Silverman, CGNews
March 4, 2012
In 1924, Norman De
Nosaquo, a Jewish student at the University of Wisconsin, wrote a letter to the
editor of the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle in which he observed, “It is only
through organised groups [that one can] accomplish anything of good for the
advancement of the knowledge of the Jewish people.” The occasion of the letter
was the recent establishment of a new institution at the University of Illinois
– the first of its kind – dedicated to proactively helping Jewish students
maintain and strengthen their Jewish identity.
De Nosaquo called
for Jewish leaders in Wisconsin to “launch a state-wide campaign for a
community house for the Jewish students” at the University of Wisconsin as
well. The name of this nascent Jewish student organisation was Hillel. The word
“Hillel” derives from the name of a rabbinic sage from the first century, now
famous for the ethic of reciprocity: “That which is hateful to you, do not do
to your fellow.” A few months later, Hillel expanded to the University of
Wisconsin. Nearly 100 years later, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus
Life serves students at over 500 college and university campuses across North
America.
Hindus in Baloch
moving to other parts of Pak amid abductions
http://www.eurasiareview.com/04032012-a-muslim-chaplain-who-matters-for-non-muslims-too/
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No one can utter a
word of Pakistan in Balochistan: Former Chief of Jamaat-i-Islami
MARCH 04, 2012
Former Chief of
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Qazi Hussain Ahmad, on Saturday showed apprehension over
the deteriorated political and security situation in Balochistan, saying
"no one can utter a word of Pakistan in the province".
But, he urged the
nation to speed up preaching of Islamic teachings in the province to unite the
fragmented nation.
He said the
situation in Balochistan and elsewhere in the country is a result of betraying
the Islamic ideology which is the essence of Pakistan's creation.
Addressing at a
book-launching ceremony at Karachi Press Club, he said the country could reach
its ultimate glory if it acted in line with teachings of Islam.
He said the
establishment is the servant of British rulers which now ruling the nation.
He said the nation
is under the debris of English colonial culture and education systems which
damaged Pakistan's Islamic identity.
He said Pakistan
was created in the name of Islam and the religious ideology should be its
identity.
He said land
without religious ideology is insignificant.
Hussain said the
country's intelligentsia has lost its path to revive the nation with Islamic
notion.
He said the
uprising in Arab World is the result of Islamic teachings.
He said Islam is
the only religion to brighten the world with its teachings.
He said communism,
capitalism are the symbols of darkness.
He also
congratulated Jamal Abdullah Usmani for authoring a book titled "Jo Hum
Pay Guzri Hey" - the plight we suffer.
The book is a
collection of newspaper articles which he contributed in a local Urdu daily.
On the occasion,
JI's Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, Meraj-ul-Huda Siddiqi and other prominent
figures spoke.
http://www.brecorder.com/general-news/172/1161487/
---------
Clerical
hard-liners appear headed for big victory in Iran
March 3, 201
REPORTING FROM
TEHRAN AND BEIRUT -- Iranian officials Saturday were touting a high turnout in
parliamentary elections that most analysts predict will bolster clerical
hard-liners and do nothing to defuse global tension arising from Iran’s nuclear
program.
The Interior
Ministry said Saturday that 64.2% of the nation’s eligible voters cast ballots
in Friday’s elections, close to the 65% figure that officials had predicted in
a campaign that saw the government equating voting with loyalty to the 1979
Islamic Revolution.
Turnout has become
a pivotal focus as Iran’s leadership seeks to restore its international
credibility after the disputed 2009 presidential election, which sparked
widespread allegations of vote-rigging and months of protests.
Government opponents
called for a silent boycott of Friday’s elections, alleging that dissent had
been crushed and that reform-minded candidates were blocked from running. The
government denied any effort to shut out reformist views and launched a massive
get-out-the-vote campaign.
Although final
results won’t be available for another day or two, various press accounts
predicted an overwhelming victory for parties professing their primary loyalty
to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The official Press
TV network cited “unconfirmed reports” that candidates associated with
pro-Khamenei factions could take as many as 75% of the seats in the 290-seat
parliament, or Majlis.
Analysts have
viewed the race as a contest between two hard-line camps: the supreme leader’s
adherents and backers of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose disputed
reelection triggered the mass protests of 2009. Since his reelection, some have
questioned Ahmadinejad’s loyalty to the clergy’s preeminent place in the
nation’s Islamist rule.
Hindus in Baloch
moving to other parts of Pak amid abductions
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/03/clerical-hard-liners-appear-headed-for-big-victory-in-iran.html
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The swagger of PPP
candidate, Waheeda Bukhari
By Editorial
March 4, 2012
What happened at
the Tando Muhammad Khan polling station in Sindh on February 25, has angered
the nation, compelling the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice and call the
guilty PPP candidate, Waheeda Shah Bukhari, to explain why she did what she
did. Bukhari slapped a polling officer and also landed a blow on the face of an
opponent as the TV cameras took in the entire sorry episode. Those who saw her
shenanigans on TV must have hated her swaggering attitude towards the entire
process of elections and the humiliating manner in which she treated those
present at the polling station.
The effect was
stunning. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was
understandably stung by the incident into issuing her the notice. There is so
much going on in the country that he is helpless to take action simply because
of the scale and complication of our law and order situation; this time he
simply had to act, not only to make the people realise that this kind of action
cannot go unpunished but also to shake-up the relevant institution that should
have taken prompt action after the entire country had seen an elitist
politician inflict injury on a schoolteacher. Of course, the relevant
institution was the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which nobody
expected to do the needful given its past reputation for being lax in its
supervision of elections.
Full Report at:
Published in The Express
Tribune, March 4th, 2012
http://tribune.com.pk/story/344998/the-swagger-of-waheeda-bukhari/
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Gilgit-Baltistan
students demand protection
Staff Report
LAHORE, March 04,
2012: Students from Gilgit-Baltistan have condemned the ongoing killings of
innocent people, and demanded protection from the government.
Addressing a press
conference on Saturday, the students said they wanted a high-level probe into
the Kohistan massacre, saying that the people of the region had never indulged
in such sectarian attacks.
“It is a conspiracy
hatched against the people of Kohistan,” remarked one of the speakers.
Chaudhry Aashaan
Ahmed, Rabnawaz Malik and Amir Azeem Qureshi were prominent among the speakers.
They alleged the
security situation in the area had turned the worst during Chief Minister Mehdi
Shah’s tenure. They said that around 650 people had been killed since January
8, 2005, of which 450 were killed during CM Mehdi’s government.
They alleged that
the CM was supporting a specific sect, adding that the killings of the people
belonging to Sunni sect were much more than the killings of Shias.
They said the
security budget of Gilgit-Baltistan was Rs 800 million, which was being spent
on the security of VVIPs and VIPs.
They also held
Mehdi Shah responsible for the deteriorating security situation in the area,
and demanded his resignation.
They urged the
government to deploy Rangers in Gilgit, saying that the police had failed to
protect citizens.
They also
criticised the police for not handling the situation properly.
The students
demanded compensation for the families of the Kohistan victims.
They said it was
shameful that people from a specific sect were being targeted since long across
the country, while the government and establishment acted as silent spectators.
They maintained
that those who had been killing innocent people in the name of Islam respected
neither women, nor children, while the state had been keeping its eyes closed
to the barbarianism.
The speakers urged
the government to take decisive measures to end sectarian violence across the
country and protect religious minorities.
They said such
target killings displayed the appalling degree of religious hatred in the
country and urged the government to step up security in the face of the “clear
and present threat faced by certain religious groups”.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\03\04\story_4-3-2012_pg7_23
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Both Gaddafi, opp
committed war crimes: UN
GENEVA, March 04,
2012: A United Nations expert panel said in a report on Friday that forces
loyal to late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and opposition fighters, both
committed war crimes during the conflict in the Arab country last year.
The UN appointed
Commission of Inquiry on Libya concluded that "international crimes,
specifically crimes against humanity and war crimes, were committed by Gaddafi
forces".
"Acts of
murder, enforced disappearance, and torture were perpetrated within the context
of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population," it
said.
Anti-Gaddafi forces
also committed serious violations, "including war crimes and breaches of
international human rights law", according to the report. Human rights
abuses by former rebels were continuing, particularly against those perceived
to have sided with Gaddafi, the report added.
The panel led by
Canadian Judge Philippe Kirsch was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council on
February 25 to investigate allegations of serious crimes in Libya, during and
after the conflict.
It also examined
claims that NATO's air campaign had resulted in civilians being killed, and the
circumstances surrounding the deaths of Gaddafi and his son Mutassim.
The panel said it
was unable to reach a conclusion on either of those issues citing lack of
evidence. The experts urged further investigation, noting that the new
government would need outside support to conduct credible probe. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\03\04\story_4-3-2012_pg7_24
------------
Three Baloch youth
have been shot dead
Balochistan: Within
last 24 hours, three Baloch youth have been shot dead and the tortured and
mutilated bodies of two previously abducted Baloch were recovered from
different areas of Balochistan. This seemingly unending wave of state sponsored
violence in Balochistan is being covered by Pakistan’s claims of reconciliation
with the Baloch nation.
According to
details two young Baloch students were gunned down in broad daylight in the
district Khuzdar of Balochistan on 29-02-2011. Abdul Waheed Baloch (who would
turn 20 today, 1st March) and Salman Baloch 21, were on their way home from a
cell phone franchise when they were intercepted and shot dead by gunmen of
Musalla Diffa Tanzeem, a death squad of Pakistan Army to target kill and abduct
the educated and the more socially active class of the Baloch society. Abdul
Waheed was the younger brother of Kabir Baloch, who went missing on 27th March,
2009 and is still in custody of Pakistan Army.
Separately, Bilal
Bangulzai, nephew of Khuda Rahim Bangulzai, was shot dead by the Pakistan army
in Quetta, the current capital of Balochistan. According to eye-witnesses
report Bilal Bangulzai was shot dead upon resisting his abduction. He died on
the spot while two of his friends who were accompanying him were taken away by
the forces and were shifted to an unknown place.
Meanwhile, two
mutilated and bullet riddled bodies were found, each from Chagi and Mastung.
The body found in Chagi was 20 days old and barely recognizable, and was
shifted to Prince Fahd Hospital Dalbanden for identification.
The second body was
of a person presumably around 50 years of age, his disfigured and brutally
tortured body was found from the Dasth area of Mastung and was shifted to Civil
Hospital Quetta where he was identified as Takkari Rahim Dad Nichari Baloch, a
pro-freedom tribal Elder from Mastung. Family sources said that he had been
abducted along with his nephew, Zinuddin, on December 19, 2011. Zinuddin had
been released after 19 days.
It is worth
mentioning that Pakistan is double crossing the international community by
claiming to reconcile with the Baloch nationalists and denying the human rights
abuses that it’s committing in Balochistan, whereas on the other hand it has
continued its policies of the slow genocide of Baloch people. The time has come
for the international community and humanitarian organizations to intervene in
Balochistan and put an end to the Pakistani state's brutalities against the
indigenous Baloch populace.
---------
Four dead in south
Yemen blasts; al Qaeda claims
SANAA, March 04,
2012: Two suicide bombers drove a car packed with explosives into a Yemeni army
base in the southern province of al Bayda on Saturday, killing one soldier, the
Yemeni Defence Ministry said, in an attack for which al Qaeda claimed
responsibility.
Another soldier was
killed by one of two blasts aimed at a central security forces building in the
southern coastal town of Mukalla, where a suicide bombing a week ago killed at
least 26 people. Authorities said they had made several arrests.
Terrorists linked
to al Qaeda have exploited political upheaval to strengthen their foothold in
Yemen, particularly in the south, which is also home to rising secessionist
sentiment.
Yemen’s south has
been mired in violence since protests against former president Ali Abdullah
Saleh took hold early last year, weakening already loose central government
control over whole swathes of the country.
Saturday’s attack
in al Bayda, which targeted barracks of the Republican Guard forces, came just
days after the Interior Ministry said it had information about an al Qaeda plot
to blow up eight cars in the capital Sanaa and the port city of Aden.
“The explosion was
very loud and took place in Dar al Nasr, which is a military site of the
Republican Guard,” said an opposition website.
“Residents of the
town were frightened by the force of the blast, which was felt more than two
kilometres away and damaged dozens of neighbouring houses and blew their
windows out.”
In a text message,
al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack it said was revenge for crimes
committed by the Republican Guard. There was no way to verify if the text was
from the terrorists but they have used the method to communicate with media in
the past. The United States, wary of al Qaeda entrenchment in Yemen, backed a
plan brokered by Yemen’s wealthy Gulf Arab neighbours under which Saleh handed
over power to his deputy last month and secured himself immunity from
prosecution.
Saleh’s opponents
accuse him of exaggerating – even encouraging – the threat of terrorism to
scare Washington and Riyadh into backing him as a bulwark against al Qaeda and
protecting him from reprisals after 33 years in power.
The suicide bombing
in Mukalla last week coincided with the swearing in of new president, Abd Rabbu
Mansour Hadi, and also targeted the Republican Guard, which is commanded by
Saleh’s son. reuters
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\03\04\story_4-3-2012_pg7_4
--------
Pak approaches
Interpol for Red Corner notice for Musharraf
PTI
ISLAMABAD: Mar 4,
2012, Pakistan has approached France-based Interpol for a Red Corner notice
against former President Pervez Musharraf, seeking his arrest and extradition
to the country over his alleged involvement in the assassination of ex-Premier
Benazir Bhutto.
The Interior
Ministry has forwarded the request to the Interpol Secretariat through the
global police organisation's representative in Pakistan, the Dawn newspaper
reported today, quoted sources.
Federal
Investigation Agency (FIA) senior prosecutor, Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, said a
letter had earlier been sent to the Director of Interpol (Pakistan) by the
officer leading the investigation into Bhutto's assassination in 2007.
The formal request
states that 68-year-old Musharraf, who has been living in self-exile in Dubai
and Britain since 2009, is an accused in the case.
The investigating
officer handed over to the Interpol director in Pakistan investigation reports,
copies of statements by then director-general of ISI's counter-intelligence
wing Javed Iqbal Cheema and former Intelligence Bureau director general Ejaz
Shah, US-based journalist Marc Siegel's email to Bhutto and copies of orders
issued by an anti-terrorism court.
The letter sent by
email to Interpol Pakistan on February 2 stated: "Secretary General of
Interpol Secretariat Lyon (France) is requested to issue 'red warrants' for
Pervez Musharraf, former President of Pakistan, and arrest him through
Interpol. A copy of red notice may please be furnished to this ministry."
The email mentioned
the computerised national identity card number of Musharraf.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-approaches-Interpol-for-Red-Corner-notice-for-Musharraf/articleshow/12133881.cms
---------
‘We’d be thankful
for a peaceful summer’: Kashmiris
Randeep Singh
Nandal, TNN
Mar 4, 2012
It's like watching
a puppet show." As cynicism goes, it can't get sharper than this. But the
wry comment of a Kashmiri shopkeeper reflects the deep frustration and
hopelessness of 20 years of false starts. The "puppet show" in
discussion is the latest peace moves between India and Pakistan on Kashmir. The
puppets in question are the Hurriyat leaders, the many-hued, many-faced
conglomerate in charge of the tehreek (movement) for azadi.
Will Kashmir be
resolved? Is Pakistan ready to put the issue on the backburner? Will the
hardliners and the moderates in the Hurriyat come together to bring peace to
Kashmir? These are questions that would have elicited comment and hope a few
years ago. Today, for the man on the street, these are just the latest scenes
of a film where they figure merely as extras.
"Part of the
problem is that for the average Kashmiri nobody seems to be an honest player in
this game," says an academic. "They have heard promises from India
only to see them broken; they have watched Pakistan go into a spiral from the
country that would offer a better life to one that's almost a failed state. As
for the Hurriyat leaders, the fact is that 20 years of death and destruction in
Kashmir has bizarrely led to them getting more prosperous, feted equally in
Islamabad and Delhi. So who do you trust?"
Full Report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Wed-be-thankful-for-a-peaceful-summer/articleshow/12129795.cms
---------
Pakistan censors
Internet out in the open
New York Times :
Paris, Sun Mar 04
2012, Many countries censor the Internet, but few spell out their intentions as
explicitly as Pakistan.
In an effort to
tighten its control over the Internet, the government recently published a
public tender for the “development, deployment and operation of a
national-level URL filtering and blocking system.”
Technology
companies, academic institutions and other interested parties have until March
16 to submit proposals for the $10 million project, but anger about it has been
growing both inside and outside Pakistan.
Internet censorship
is nothing new in Pakistan, which, like other countries in the region, says it
wants to uphold public morality, protect national security or prevent
blasphemy. The government has blocked access to pornographic sites, as well as,
from time to time, popular services like Facebook and YouTube.
Until now, however,
Pakistan has done so in a makeshift way, demanding that Internet service
providers cut off access to specific sites upon request. With Internet use growing
rapidly, the censors are struggling to keep up, so the government wants to
build an automatic blocking and filtering system, like the “Great Firewall of
China”.
While China and
others that sanitize the Internet generally do so with little public disclosure,
Pakistan is being surprisingly forthcoming about its censorship needs. It
published its request for proposals on the Information and Communications
Technology Ministry’s Research and Development Fund website and even took out
newspaper advertisements to publise the project.
“The system would
have a central database of undesirable URL’s that would be loaded on the
distributed hardware boxes at each POP and updated on daily basis,” the request
for proposals says, referring to uniform resource locators, the unique
addresses of Web pages, and points of presence, or access points.
The tender details
a number of technical specifications, including the fact that the technology
“should be able to handle a block list of up to 50 million URL’s (concurrent
unidirectional filtering capacity) with processing delay of not more than 1
milliseconds.”
Full Report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pakistan-censors-internet-out-in-the-open/919729/0
-----------
Pakistani
government urged to stand firm on Pak-Iran gas project
Economic Desk
LAHORE, 04 March
2012 - Political leaders want the government to stand resolute on Iran
gas-pipeline and cut off space-route facility for the US and Nato forces in
Afghanistan to counter the US pressure and threat.
Jamaat-i-Islami
Ameer Syed Munawar Hasan, while strongly condemning the US threat to Pakistan,
has stressed upon the government to speed up the project with Iran. He said
that the US designs towards Pakistan had never been hidden, adding that the US
has never been Pakistan’s friend nor could it be in future. He said that the US
was friend to India alone and wanted to build India as regional ‘police’ and
had been protecting its interests.
The JI Ameer
demanded the government to give a clear message to Washington that Pakistan
could no more offer itself as fuel to the US war, wherein it has already spent
$70billion of the nation besides suffering huge vital losses. He said that the
US resolution on Balochistan aimed at destabilization and disintegration of the
country, adding that no more concessions be given to the US.
PML-N Information
Secretary Senator Mushahidullah Khan fully supported ties with Iran, saying
that his party wanted to further cement with it. He said that the Pakistani
rulers must act like independent ones, adding, “Pakistan is a sovereign state
and we must not stoop down to the pressure of America and act whatever is in
the interest of the country.” In the same spirit, he said, “America has no
right to threat Pakistan which has its own interest to guard.”
Full Report at:
http://tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/96026-pakistani-government-urged-to-stand-firm-on-pak-iran-gas-project
---------
Pakistan, China,
Afghanistan to support regional stability
BEIJING, March 03,
2012: The first China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Dialogue concluded in
Beijing with the three nations pledging to support regional countries in
enhancing political mutual trust and accommodating each others’ concerns, the
Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
The three countries
agreed to explore the feasibility of trilateral cooperation in connectivity,
resource development and combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, the ministry
said. The Afghan reconciliation process and regional socio-economic development
are the keys to overcoming the current challenges, reported China Daily on
Friday.
“China and Pakistan
support the ‘Afghan-led, Afghan-owned’ reconciliation process,” said the
ministry. The trilateral dialogue that concluded on Wednesday was chaired by
Director-General Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Asian Affairs, Luo
Zhaohui; Additional Secretary Pakistani Foreign Ministry, Alamgir Babar; and
Director General of the First Political Department of the Afghan Foreign
Ministry, Amanullah Jayhoon.. “The creation of the arrangement has provided a
new model for unity and cooperation among the three countries. The dialogue
will play a positive role in enhancing friendly cooperation among the three and
maintaining peace and stability in the region.”
Analysts spoke high
of the significance of the dialogue, which marked the beginning of new process
for countries in the region to tackle problems by themselves. “Afghanistan and
Pakistan have suffered from turbulence and wars in the region for a long time,
which have been created by third parties outside the region,” said Su Hao,
Director Centre for Strategic and Conflict Management at China Foreign Affairs
University. “As a neighbour of Afghanistan and Pakistan, China is also a
country in this region. Peace and stability in the two countries greatly
influence the situation in China. It is essential for China to deal with issues
in the region.”
“The stability of
neighbouring countries is good not only for China but all the relevant
countries,” said Shen Dingli, Director Centre for American Studies at the
Shanghai-based Fudan University, How to maintain the stability and development
of the region has aroused great concerns, as the United States has decided to
withdraw 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan this year. “Security problems in the
region remain complicated, there is still a long way to go for all of the
countries in the region,” Su said.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-Pakistan-China-Afghanistan-to-support-regional-stability-13-12898
---------
Romania seeks
economic ties with Pakistan: envoy
ISLAMABAD:
Ambassador of Romania in Pakistan has said there is tremendous potential and
both countries should enhance economic and cultural activities.
Mr. Emilian ION
said that cooperation between the business communities of both countries can be
given a boost.
He made these
remarks during a meeting with Yassar Sakhi Butt, President, Islamabad Chamber
of Commerce & Industry (ICCI). He exchanged views on common interests and
agreed to strengthen bilateral trade relations between the two countries.
Mr. ION said that
there were around 700 Pakistani investors, who were involve in profitable
business ventures in Romania, adding that local business community could export
their products especially textile, garments, leather articles, sports and
surgical instruments to Romania. He informed that the Pakistan Romania-Business
Council has provided various linkages for the exchange of business related
information between the two countries.
The Ambassador
proposed that youth of both countries should also be connected as youth
delegations could be helpful in identifying more areas of cooperation to move
forward. He said that construction of the monument which was dedicated to
national poets of Romania and Pakistan, Mihai Eminescu and Allama Iqbal has
brought a new bond of friendship and enhanced cultural relations between
Romania and Pakistan.
In his welcome
address, Yassar Sakhi Butt President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and
Industry termed the annual bilateral trade between Romania and Pakistan was
very low which is around US$ 150-million and underlined the need to further
improve it.
He said that
organizing of joint cultural shows and frequent exchange of business
delegations are the options which could be used to exploit untapped bilateral
trade and investment potential in both countries.
Yassar Sakhi Butt
said Pakistani products including rice, sports goods, surgical instruments,
pharmaceutical, leather & textile products could be exported to Romania and
proposed that Romanian businessmen should look into the opportunities to
develop business relation in the identified areas.
ICCI President said
that the business communities of Pakistan and Romania have to play a vital role
for promotion of bilateral trade and their greater mutual interaction is needed
to achieve the ultimate objectives.
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=189824
-----------
Pakistan is inching
towards self reliance: Minister for Finance
ISLAMABAD: Federal
Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has said that government is
offering lucrative facilities for investment in all provinces including
Baluchistan.
He was speaking to
the journalists after inaugurating a private airline at Karachi airport. He
said that for the first time during four years the growth rate has reached to
four percent and now the country is moving towards self-reliance. He said that
there are massive opportunities for investment in the country and it is being
carried out in every sector.
“The export has
been increased significantly, as the revenues target of Rs 25 billion were
achieved from the export”. He said that Finance Ministry has issued almost 74
percent funds for the development projects out of total Rs 300 billion
allocated. He said that the energy crises and inflation in the country is due
to price hike of petroleum products in international prices. The government has
given subsidy of Rs 1000 billion on electricity during four years.
He said that the
center has provided Rs 800 to 900 billion to the provinces under National
Finance Commission (NFC). Government is giving relief to the people of
Baluchistan, FATA and Gilgit Baltistan through special packages.
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=189830
---------
Three Americans
briefly detained in Pakistan
PTI
Lahore: March 04, 2012,Three Americans and their two
Pakistani companions were briefly detained for visiting Punjab province's
Attock city, where foreigners are barred from entering, officials have said.
The Americans and
the Pakistani women were taken into custody at the office of an
Afghanistan-based NGO in Attock. "We detained the foreigners as they did
not have visas for Attock," a senior police officer said. <
The US nationals
James Richard, Jonathan Paul and Daniel Ryan were freed after the intervention
of the US Consulate in Lahore. The two Pakistani women detained along with them
were also released, police officials said.
"We have freed
them after investigating the matter," the officer said.
A source said that
the Americans were freed after the US Consulate intervened in the matter. The
Americans work for an NGO and had travelled to Pakistan from India via the
Wagah land border.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/three-americans-briefly-detained-in-pakistan_762079.html
----------
Afghan army says
Taliban infiltration very sophisticated
KABUL, March 04,
2012: The Taliban have a sophisticated system in place to infiltrate
Afghanistan’s security forces and vetting of recruits must be severely
tightened, an Afghan army general said on Saturday.
Infiltration has
come under sharper focus because of a string of fatal attacks by Afghan
security forces on US soldiers since the desecrating of the holy Quran at a
NATO base last month ignited widespread protests.
“Placing the rogues
inside the army is well-planned by the enemies. The Taliban give them special
training,” General Abdul Hameed, top army commander for the southern region of
Afghanistan, told Reuters by telephone.
“We must enhance
intelligence gathering on the movements of recruits, tap their cell phones and
we must find out who they are in contact with outside the army,” he said.
Two US soldiers
were shot and killed on Thursday in an attack involving at least one Afghan
believed to be a soldier and a civilian, Western and Afghan officials said.
The killings at a
base in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan came less than a week after two senior
US officers were gunned down in the Afghan Interior Ministry by what Afghan
security officials said was a police intelligence officer.
About 70 members of
the NATO-led force were killed in 42 insider attacks from May 2007 through the
end of January this year.
These attacks have
become more frequent as the United States has sent tens of thousands of more
soldiers to Afghanistan as part of a surge to fight in Taliban strongholds.
Some of these
incidents have been carried out by Afghan security forces reacting to the
recent holy Quran desecration, some have been due to private grievances and
others have been carried out by Taliban insurgents who infiltrated the security
forces.
The killings in the
Interior Ministry stunned NATO and cast doubt on its strategy of replacing
large combat units with advisers as it tries to wind down the war, now in its
11th year.
The Taliban claimed
responsibility for the double murder but there has been no independent
confirmation of that.
Such attacks cast
doubt on the effectiveness of Afghan government forces, which will be tasked
with taking over security in one of the world’s most unstable countries once
foreign combat troops head home at the end of 2014.
The Taliban have
proven remarkably resilient in the face of far superior Western firepower.
“One of the reasons
enemies infiltrated inside the army is because they are not properly identified
when they are enrolled,” said Hameed.
“The procedure is
that new recruits must present birth certificate or any other documents to
prove their identity but many present fake documents or don’t have any,” he
added.
An Afghan Defence
Ministry official said the large size of the Afghan army and police - about
250,000 - made it difficult to stop infiltration. Afghanistan hopes to create a
force of about 350,000 and then trim some of it.
“We have identified
and detained a number of suspicious soldiers recently who planned to carry out
such insider’s attacks,” said Hameed. reuters
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\03\04\story_4-3-2012_pg7_2
------------
Muslim Brother
picked to lead new Libya party
By Dominique Soguel
(AFP)
TRIPOLI, March 4,
12 — Libyan Islamists and independents on Saturday formed a new political
party, electing as its leader a Muslim Brotherhood member who was a political
prisoner under the regime of dead dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
Mohammed Sawan,
jailed for eight years under the ousted regime of Kadhafi who had outlawed
political parties as an act of treason, was elected Justice and Construction
party leader after a three-day conference in the capital.
"I have real
mixed feelings because I was imprisoned under Kadhafi for my attempts to create
a political party, and I am grateful to the people here who have placed their
trust in me," Sawan told AFP.
The Tripoli meeting
brought together hundreds of people keen to take part in the launch of the new
party. Votes on a wide range of issues, including the party's name, were taken
by a show of hands.
Sawan nailed the
support of 51 percent of those present in a run-off vote.
The party charter
is still under discussion by an elected body, but Muslim Brothers, Islamists and
independents held the conference with the shared aim of forming a
"national party with an Islamic frame of reference."
"We aim for
diversity and a state of law where differences in opinion are respected,"
Sawan said, later telling journalists that the party sees Islam as a religion
that regulates all aspects of life, including politics.
There may be no law
governing the formation of political parties in the new Libya, but political
associations and coalitions are forming at a rapid pace.
Political associations
of any kind were banned for decades under the iron-fisted rule of Kadhafi, who
was toppled and killed in last year's popular uprising.
A sizeable number
of the party's 1,360 constituent members are former prisoners, including Ali
al-Kermi, an elderly Muslim Brother who says he spent three decades in prison
for his political activities.
Full Report at:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gsKmUTpZr_7WD60ynhCtwD18NNLQ?docId=CNG.02723b6732025f27b3266c9616104121.4d1
---------
Worldwide Outrage
Grows Over Condemned Iranian Pastor
03 Mar 2012
By Paul Scicchitano
The U.S. House,
Donald Trump, worldwide Christian and human rights groups, a Brazilian soccer
legend, and Twitter users in 198 countries have created a growing international
coalition of millions trying to stop Iran from executing a modern-day Christian
martyr who refuses to renounce his faith and embrace Islam.
Dr. Richard Land, a
leading figure in the influential Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), tells
Newsmax that Youcef Nadarkhani is still alive today only because of the
worldwide outpouring of support.
“The only thing
that has kept this dear pastor from being executed already is the cold, public
light of world opinion being focused on Tehran,” he said.
Nadarkhani, the
father of two small children, was sentenced in 2010 to death by hanging, and
has now been imprisoned for more than 873 days in northern Iran. His case has
ignited a maelstrom of outrage that has reached more than 960,000 Twitter users
around the world and done something that few thought possible in Washington,
D.C. — unite Republicans and Democrats in an election year.
“People are working
together that probably never thought they would work together because you can
put a lot of differences aside versus such a basic right and such an abuse of
power,” declared Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for
Law and Justice (ACLJ), which launched the Twitter campaign to overturn
Nadarkhani’s death sentence on a charge of apostasy.
The ACLJ also heard
from more than 180,000 Americans who urged the House to approve Thursday’s
resolution condemning Iran for its continued “persecution, imprisonment, and
sentencing” of Nadarkhani, something it did by a margin of 417-1.
In this case,
apostasy is interpreted as abandoning Islam. The original indictment against
Nadarkhani, an evangelical pastor who became a Christian at age 19, also
accused him of organizing evangelistic meetings, sharing his faith, trying to
convert Muslims to Christianity, running a house church, and rejecting Islamic
values.
Iranian officials
amended the indictment last fall to include allegations of rape, extortion, and
threats to national security, as well as Zionism. Critics viewed the additional
charges as trumped-up allegations by Iran to counter international outrage over
the case.
Full Report at:
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/WorldwideOutrageGrowsOverCondemnedIranianPastor/2012/03/03/id/431293
----------
Visa expired, but
Israeli writer wants to stay back
Mahir Haneef, TNN |
KOCHI, Mar 4, 2012:
Susan Nathan, the British-born Israeli writer who achieved fame through her
book 'The Other Side of Israel', is continuing to stay in India despite her
visa expiring as she wants to be in a war-free zone, her counsel submitted to
the Kerala high court.
When the writer's
petition challenging the deportation move came up for hearing on Friday before
division bench of acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice PR
Ramachandra Menon, her counsel Manjeri Sunder Raj submitted that she was
staying in India as she wanted to be in a "war-free zone" in the last
years of her life.
The counsel's
submission was in response to the court's statement that she could have left
the country after completing the medical treatment for which she came to
Kozhikode.
Susan, who migrated
to Israel from England in 1999 to make aliyah - the Hebrew term for Jewish
people migrating to Israel - had later highlighted the oppression faced by
Israel's Arab population through her writings. The district administration of
Kozhikode ordered for her deportation after a translation of her book by a
local publisherbecame controversial. The deportation order was based on an
intelligence report that she was in contact with Muslim extremist outfits.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Visa-expired-but-Israeli-writer-wants-to-stay-back/articleshow/12129659.cms
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/islam-religion-human-rights-shaykh/d/6784