Muslim Intellectuals Meet RSS Chief Bhagwat, Discuss Plan to Strengthen Communal Harmony in Country
New Age Islam News Bureau
22 September 2022
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
met five Muslim intellectuals, addressing issues ranging from cow slaughter to the
use of derogatory references. (Express file)
-----
• RSS, Muslim Intellectuals to Hold Periodic Talks,
Address Issues of Concern to the Two Sides
• No Concept of Forced Marriage or Conversion of
Religion in Islam: Pak PM’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony
• Hindu Places of Worship, Cultural, Religious Symbols
Targeted by Islamic Extremists: VHP in Letter to UK PM
• Leaders of UN and League of Arab States Discuss
Palestinian Cause in New York
India
• RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Meets Chief of All India
Imam Organisation at Kasturba Gandhi Marg Mosque
• At RSS Chief with Muslim Leaders, Commitment to
Toning Down Rhetoric
• Hijab, like Eid cow slaughter, not an Article 25
right: Karnataka in SC
• Gyanvapi Muslim family weaves Sarees for goddess
Sharada
• MP: Muslim Family Attacked in Chhindwara as
‘Revenge’ for Interfaith Relationship
• MP: Muslim men accuse jail official of forcing them
to shave beard, probe launched
• Hijab ban not changing Islam, Karnataka govt tells
Supreme Court
• Over 100 leaders of PFI arrested in pan-India
crackdown on 'radical' Islamic outfit
• State Has Not Touched Any 'Religious Aspect' In
Hijab Ban Case: Karnataka To Supreme Court
• Muslim Couple from Chennai Donates ₹ 1 Crore to
Tirupati Temple
--------
Pakistan
• Khyber jirga rejects peace bodies, opposes military
action in Tirah
• Militants free two workers of mobile phone firm in
Swat
• Indonesian envoy expresses desire to work in
Pakistan’s housing sector
• Stability and security of Saudi Arabia most
important for Muslims: Custodians of Eidgah shrine in Pakistan
--------
Europe
• Violence between Hindus and Muslims in Leicester
spreads to Birmingham
• Hindu and Muslim Communities In UK Make Joint Appeal
For Harmony; Police Make 47 Arrests
• From Syria to Ukraine, children bear the brunt of
forced displacement crisis
--------
North
America
• Top US diplomat voices support for Lebanon at
meeting with PM Mikati
• US, Saudi Arabia, France call on Lebanese officials
to elect president without delay
• US thanks Türkiye for its support in Russia-Ukraine
prisoner exchange
• Yemenis condemn Saudi war, voice support for
September 21 Revolution
• Foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, Turkey meet in
New York to discuss Syria crisis
• Two Muslim men in Oakland shot dead near mosque,
assailants at large
--------
South
Asia
• Islamist Radicals from Afghanistan Now Fighting for
Tajikistan against Kyrgyzstan
• Explosion kills 3 people in Afghan capital
• Bangladesh to evacuate people from Myanmar border
• Taliban Distributes Aid to Families in Central
Afghanistan
• Uzbek leader ‘Dostum’ criticizes Hazar leader
‘Khalili’ for his secret ties with Pakistan
• Taliban supreme leader appoints new Education
Minister
--------
Arab
World
• Arab Youth Name the UAE as the Top Country to Live
In For the 11th Year in a Row
• Egyptian archaeologists discover coins from
different reigns of Islamic rulers
• Two Americans among 10 prisoners released to Saudi
Arabia from Ukraine
• IMF condemns Lebanon ‘very slow progress’ on reforms
• Turkish security forces ‘neutralize’ 3 PKK/YPG
terrorists in northern Syria
• Saudi Arabia urges Iran not to interfere in domestic
affairs
• More than 1 million people register for voluntary
work ahead of Saudi National Day
• UAE foreign minister meets Ukrainian counterpart in
New York
--------
Africa
• God against Muslim-Muslim Ticket, It’ll Drive
Christians to Slavery – Primate Ayodele
• Ivory Coast’s president calls for release of 46
troops detained in Mali in UN speech
• US airstrike kills 27 al-Shabaab terrorists in
Somalia
• Libya on the path toward democratic transformation,
Al-Menfi tells UNGA
--------
Mideast
• Iran’s Raisi accuses West of ‘double standards’ on
human rights
• Iran’s Khamenei ignores widespread protests over
Mahsa Amini’s death
• Suspected Palestinian murderer found hanged in
Israel’s Tel Aviv
• 6 killed in Iran protests over woman’s death in
police custody
• Soleimani’s picture: Burned by protesters in Iran,
paraded as ‘martyr’ by Raisi at UN
• Iran, US clash at UN on nuclear deal, human rights
issues
• Iran restricts access to Instagram as protests
intensify: Report
• Iran president says not seeking nuclear weapons,
urges US guarantees
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Put Patriotism First, China Tells Its Muslims
• Survey: Growing religious observance reshaping
consumer landscape in Malaysia, SE Asia
• Foreign student caught with ‘large amount’ of child
porn
• Loke rubbishes rumours Parliament to be dissolved on
Oct 10
• 2023 will be challenging for all countries, says
Tengku Zafrul
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/muslim-rss-bhagwat-communal-harmony/d/128007
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Muslim Intellectuals Meet RSS Chief Bhagwat, Discuss
Plan To Strengthen Communal Harmony In Country
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
met five Muslim intellectuals, addressing issues ranging from cow slaughter to the
use of derogatory references. (Express file)
-----
Sep 22, 2022
NEW DELHI: A group of Muslim intellectuals, including
former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi and former Delhi Lt Governor
Najeeb Jung, recently met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and chalked out a plan to
strengthen communal harmony in the country, sources said on Tuesday.
In the meeting, which has come at a time when the
Gyanvapi mosque issue is being heard in courts, it was decided to build a
platform for strengthening communal harmony in the country.
Former Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Lt
General (retd) Zamiruddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui, and philanthropist
Saeed Shervani were also present in the closed-door meeting recently held at
Udasin Ashram, the temporary office of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),
sources told PTI.
Wide-ranging discussions were held on strengthening
communal harmony and improving intra-community relations during the
two-hour-long meeting, sources said.
However, no contentious issues such as the Gyanvapi
mosque and controversy over Nupur Sharma's recent comments came up for
discussion during the meeting, they said.
Bhagwat and the group of intellectuals agreed that
without strengthening communal harmony and reconciliation among communities,
the country cannot progress, sources present in the meeting told PTI.
"Both sides appreciated the need for communal
harmony and to remove differences and misunderstandings among communities. A
plan was chalked out to pursue this initiative," sources said.
It was suggested during the meeting to follow Gandhian
philosophy and late South African President Nelson Mandela's approach for
strengthening the bond between communities for the overall well-being of the
country, they added.
Of late, the RSS has reached out to Muslims with
Bhagwat holding several meetings with leaders from the community.
While last year, he met a group of Muslim
intellectuals at a hotel in Mumbai, in September 2019, Bhagwat had met Jamiat
Ulema-e-Hind head Maulana Syed Arshad Madani at the RSS office in the national
capital and discussed a host of issues, including strengthening unity between
Hindus and Muslims and incidents of mob lynching.
These meetings were coordinated by Ram Lal, Sangh's
senior functionary and former organisational secretary of the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP).
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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RSS, Muslim Intellectuals to Hold Periodic Talks,
Address Issues Of Concern To The Two Sides
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
-----
By Shyamlal Yadav, Esha Roy
September 22, 2022
A RECENT meeting between RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and
five Muslim intellectuals addressed issues ranging from cow slaughter to the
use of derogatory references, with the two sides resolving to meet periodically
to continue dialogue on issues affecting both communities.
Scheduled for half-an-hour but stretching for 75
minutes, the meeting held at the RSS’s makeshift Delhi office, Udaseen Ashram,
a month ago included Bhagwat and Sah Sarkaryavah Krishna Gopal of the Sangh and
former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi; ex-Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb
Jung; former AMU vice-chancellor and Lt Gen (retd) Zameer Uddin Shah; RLD
leader Shahid Siddiqui; and businessman Saeed Shervani.
Quraishi and Siddiqui told The Indian Express that the
talks were held in a very cordial atmosphere. “After the meeting, Bhagwat
appointed four senior functionaries to keep in touch with the Muslim community
on a regular basis. On our side, we are reaching out to Muslim intellectuals,
journalists, writers and professionals to keep this dialogue with the RSS
going,’’ Siddiqui said.
Quraishi, who initiated the dialogue, said: “He
(Bhagwat) told us that people were unhappy about cow slaughter and words like
kafir (used for non-Muslims). In response, we said that we are also concerned
with that, and if someone is involved in cow slaughter, he must be punished
under the law. We told him that kafir is used for non-believers in Arabic and
this is not an issue which can’t be resolved… We told him that we also feel sad
when any Indian Muslim is termed a Pakistani or jehadi.”
Quraishi said they also questioned the frequent
vilification of Muslims, particularly the propaganda about their population and
practice of polygamy, reinforcing negative stereotypes about the community.
Siddiqui, the RLD national vice-president, said they
had first sought a meeting with the RSS when the Nupur Sharma incident took
place (the BJP spokesperson spoke out against the Prophet, leading to her
suspension from the party, and violence at several places). “We felt a toxic
atmosphere had been created due to the incident, within the Muslim community as
well. However, by the time we received a date for meeting Mohan Bhagwat, it was
already a month since the Nupur Sharma incident, and it had died down quite a
bit. So we discussed matters of communal disharmony between the two
communities,” he told The Indian Express.
While RSS prachar pramukh Sunil Ambekar declined to
comment on the meeting, a source in the Sangh said Bhagwat gives such
appointments to whoever asks for them.
The Muslim representatives told Bhagwat that they
wanted to keep in touch over such issues, and the RSS chief advised them to be
in contact with Krishna Gopal, Indresh Kumar and Ramlal. While Indresh Kumar is
the ‘marg darshak’ of the RSS’s Muslim Rashtriya Manch, founded in December
2002, ‘sampark pramukh’ Ramlal oversees the Sangh’s outreach programmes such as
this.
Quraishi said they came away impressed. “We realised
that he (Bhagwat) is a patient listener and lives very simply. We were much
impressed with the fact that despite being so powerful, he lives in a very
simple room with very simple furniture, etc.”
The former CEC said the talks were very cordial. “We
discussed that 99 per cent of Indian Muslims have not come from the outside but
got converted here. Bhagwat said while Hindus worship statues, Indian Muslims
also pray at kabra (grave)… For the progress of the country, communal harmony
is a must, we all agreed.”
Quraishi said that while they had not decided the next
step, “we will be in touch”, and that they would also talk about what was
discussed at the meeting with others.
Siddiqui said that in the vitiated atmosphere, “when
even small issues spiral out of control”, it was essential to put across the
voice of “the middle class and educated Muslim”. “We felt that we must relay
our voice, build bridges with everyone, but in particular the RSS since they
have a tremendous impact on public opinion, especially in North India.”
The RLD leader said that while both the leaders of the
Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, Arshad Madani and Mahmood Madani, have met with Bhagwat in
the past, “really no Muslim organisation is regularly in touch with the RSS to
raise concerns of the community”.
The five who met Bhagwat on behalf of the Muslim
community had come together a year ago to launch an Alliance for Education and
Economic Development of Underprivileged – an organisation that has been working
in education, particularly on bringing madrasas into mainstream modern
education.
Siddiqui said that when they met Bhagwat, the survey
of madrasas ordered by Uttar Pradesh was not an issue. “So we did not raise it.
However, since it is a field we work in, we did raise concerns about the
perception regarding madrasas, and they told us that they did not have any
issues with madrasas,” he said.
While various outfits of the Sangh keep raising issues
seen as directed against Muslims, Bhagwat has made similar overtures towards
the community before.
In September 2018, during a three-day lecture series
at Delhi, Bhagwat said there could be no “Hindu Rashtra” without Muslims in
India and that Hindutva encompasses fraternity and unity in diversity, and was “the
basic thought of all communities residing in India”.
During the event, Bhagwat had also distanced himself
from M S Golwalkar’s ‘Bunch of Thoughts’, which referred to Muslims “shatru
(enemy)”. “As far as Bunch of Thoughts goes, every statement carries a context
of time and circumstance… his enduring thoughts are in a popular edition in
which we have removed all remarks that have a temporary context and retained
those that will endure for ages. You won’t find the (Muslim-is-an-enemy) remark
there,” he said.
However, the RSS annual report of 2022, released on
March 15, talked of religious fanaticism growing in the guise of “Constitution
and religious freedom”. It also talked of “elaborate plans” by “a particular
community to enter the government machinery”, which was seen as a reference to
minorities.
Months later, in his first remarks on the row over the
Gyanvapi mosque, now part of a court hearing, Bhagwat questioned the need to
“look for a Shivling in every mosque (har masjid mein Shivling kyun dekhna)” and
said the RSS was not in favour of launching any other movement (andolan) on
these issues.
Source: Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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No Concept of Forced Marriage or Conversion of Religion
in Islam: Pak PM’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony
Representative Photo
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September 21, 2022
KARACHI: Prime Minister’s Special Representative for
Interfaith Harmony and Middle East, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi
Wednesday said that there was no concept of forced marriage or conversion of
religion in Islam.
He was addressing “National Dialogue with Religious
Scholars” organised by UN Women in collaboration with UNFPA and UK Aid here for
deliberating on negative effects of child marriage and devising a way forward
to address the issue through effective awareness raising and advocacy.
Council of Islamic Ideology’s Chairman Doctor Qibla
Ayaz and other members of the council, representative of UN Women, UNFPA, UK
Aid, and international and national organisations and health experts among
others attended the dialogue.
Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi terming child marriages as an
important social issue said that well-being of girls should be given priority
as only a healthy mother could give birth to a healthy child.
He said that associating child and forced marriages
with Islam was totally erroneous and baseless notion as it was the religion of
peace and it had granted a respectable status to the women.
Hafiz Ashrafi referring to Ahadis Mubarka said that
being mature physically and mentally was specified as prerequisite for entering
into matrimonial bond.
Last Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) had sought consent
of Bibi Fatima before her marriage with Hazrat Ali and set an everlasting
guiding example for the entire Muslim Ummah, he added.
A girl who was being married had to manage three
homes- of her husband, of in laws and of parents- and the gigantic task was not
possible without maturity and intellect, he opined and said that it was prime
responsibility of parents to take best care of health of girls, well educate
them for future life and ensure every possible facility to them.
Hafiz Ashrafi also lauded the CII for adopting a clear
and comprehensive approach towards the issue.
All the stakeholders including health experts should
sit together to assess and analyze problems and issues arising from child
marriages and reach at a conclusion acceptable to all, he suggested and urged
that everyone should come forward to do away with health problems being endured
by women due to marriages in minor age.
He also stressed on all concerned organisations as
well as media to play proactive role for the cause and initiate a vast scale
mass awareness campaign while engaging the religious scholars to sensitise the
public about harsh effects of child marriages.
Special representative to PM also stressed on
comprehensive measures to deal with challenges and diseases arising after
torrential rains and floods across the country and appealed the government and
international organisations to take every possible step to save the flood
victims particularly children and women from the diseases.
Chairman, Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Dr. Qibla
Ayaz, speaking at the occasion said that child marriages were leading to
medical, psychological and social problems particularly for women and it had
become a widely debated issue around the world.
The CII had conducted a comprehensive research on the
issue of child marriages and collected detailed data and reference material and
hold in depth deliberations on it, he informed, adding that prominent Muslim
scholar Allama Muhammad Shafi Usmani in his Fatwa (religious decree) maintained
“Child Marriage is fraught with problems.”
He said that CII had recommended imparting awareness
to the masses, engagement of all the relevant institutions, inclusion of
informational material in syllabus and dealing with root causes of child
marriages so that the issue could be addressed in a gradual manner.
He said the CII was committed to work with UN Women to
overcome the issue.
The Country representative of UN Women in Pakistan
Sharmeela Rasool and country representative of UNFPA Dr. Bakhtior Kadirov also
spoke at the occasion.
Source: Pakistan Today
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/09/21/no-concept-of-forced-marriage-in-islam-ashrafi/
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Hindu Places of Worship, Cultural, Religious Symbols
Targeted by Islamic Extremists: VHP in Letter to UK PM
Working president Vishva
Hindu Parishad (VHP) Alok Kumar wrote to U.K. PM Liz Truss comparing the recent
attacks on Hindus with London Metro bombings (2017) and the London Bridge
attack in 2019. File | Photo Credit: AP
-----
SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Wednesday urged
British Prime Minister Liz Truss to ensure the protection of Hindus in her
country and strict action against those targeting them against the backdrop of
violent clashes in the eastern England city of Leicester.
VHP working president Alok Kumar wrote in a letter to
Truss that the Hindus have continuously been subjected to violence and
intimidation in Leicester since September 4 and accused the local police and
administration of being lax and irresolute in quelling such violence.
“The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) is
deeply concerned and alarmed at the ongoing violence in Leicester in which a
large number of Hindus of Leicester, their places of worship, their cultural
and religious symbols have been wantonly targeted and damaged by Islamic
extremists and hoodlums," he wrote. “These violent, hateful, and extremist
acts are entirely unidirectional, and unilateral."
However, a strong but false narrative is being
constructed that it is the Hindus of that area, who triggered this wanton
violence, and are responsible for the same, he added.
“We request that strong and immediate efforts be made
to protect Hindu lives, dignity and properties. We also urge that strong
punitive action be taken against all who are involved in such violent and
heinous hate crimes,” he said. “Sans such strong actions, peace and social
fabric of the country will get damaged. The law and order and the due
protection of law to all Hindus, particularly in Leicester and Birmingham must
be provided.”
He also urged for strong punitive action against those
involved in such “violent and heinous hate-crimes”.
The VHP said it has requested the UK High Commissioner
in India for an appointment to convey its concerns over the violence against
Hindus in Leicester.
“We have not received any response till yet.
Therefore, this letter is sent by e-mail, the letter said.
Representatives of the Hindu and Muslim communities in
Leicester on Tuesday presented a united front while appealing for harmony in
the wake of violent clashes following an India-Pakistan cricket match that have
led to 47 arrests.
India on Monday condemned violence against the Indian
community and vandalisation of Hindu premises in Leicester and sought immediate
action against those guilty.
In a statement, the High Commission of India in London
said it had “strongly” taken up the issue and called for protection for those
affected from the UK authorities following reports of clashes over the weekend
in the city, described as “serious disorder” by the local police.
Source: News18
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original story:
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Leaders of UN and League of Arab States Discuss
Palestinian Cause in New York
UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres, left, and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
(Twitter: @arableague_gs)
-----
Gobran Mohamed
September 21, 2022
CAIRO: The Palestinian cause was among the topics
discussed when Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the League of Arab
States, and Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the UN, met on Wednesday on
the side-lines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.
Their representatives said the two officials talked
about a number of matters related to international crises, along with the
latest developments in the Middle East.
A spokesperson for Aboul Gheit said the Arab League
chief expressed to Guterres his appreciation of the important role the UN
leader has played during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Guterres
reportedly spoke about the current situation in the Middle East and the role of
the UN in Somalia, Yemen and Syria.
Aboul Gheit also highlighted the great frustration
Palestinians feel as a result of the number of political obstructions to their
cause. Both men agreed that the Palestinian issue remains a priority in efforts
to achieve stability and prosperity in the region.
They expressed their commitment to working together as
part of a coordinated approach to seek political solutions to the crises facing
some countries in the region.
In a message posted on Twitter, Aboul Gheit wrote: “We
agreed on the danger of ignoring the serious efforts to settle the Palestinian
issue and the importance of continuing our joint work for this purpose.
“The international situation is very difficult and
thorny, yet Guterres is working tirelessly on various political, environmental,
developmental, and other fronts.”
Aboul Gheit also met Ian Borg, Malta’s minister of
foreign and European affairs and trade on Wednesday, and congratulated him on
his country earning a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for
2023-2024. He said the Arab League is counting on Malta’s support for Arab
issues on the council’s agenda during that time, especially those related to
the Palestinian cause.
Last week, Aboul Gheit called on Spain to support
Palestine’s bid for full membership of the UN, amid preparations for a new
diplomatic drive for recognition. Palestine is currently afforded observer
status by the UN. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is due to speak at
the General Assembly on Sept. 23 and highlight the campaign for full
membership.
A spokesperson said Abou Gheit leader had met Spanish
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares in Madrid to discuss issues of common
interest and ways to enhance bilateral relations.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2167181/middle-east
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India
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Meets Chief of All India Imam
Organisation at Kasturba Gandhi Marg Mosque
22.09.22
Reaching out to the Muslim community, RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwat along with senior Sangh functionaries on Thursday met Imam Umer Ahmed
Ilyasi, the chief of All India Imam Organisation.
The closed-door meeting at Kasturba Gandhi Marg mosque
lasted for more than an hour.
Bhagwat was accompanied by senior Sangh functionaries
Krishna Gopal, Ram Lal and Indresh Kumar.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief has been
holding discussions with Muslim intellectuals for strengthening communal
harmony.
Source: Telegraph India
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At RSS Chief with Muslim Leaders, Commitment To Toning
Down Rhetoric
September 22, 2022
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has
said he is concerned about the current "atmosphere of disharmony,"
former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi told NDTV today. Mr Quraishi was
one of the five Muslim intellectuals who attended the 75-minute meet with Mr
Bhagwat yesterday. The dialogue, he said was "positive" and
"constructive" and covered aspects of mutual concern.
The group had sought the meeting in August, weeks
after Mr Bhagwat's statement questioning the need to "look for a Shivling
under every mosque". In the backdrop of the Gyanvapi case and its effect
on other religious places, Mr Bhagwat had also said the RSS - the BJP's
ideological mentor -- does not favour any other movement ("Andolan")
on these issues.
The group had flagged their concern about the
situation in the country, Mr Quraishi told NDTV in an exclusive interview
today. "Mr Bhagwat said even he was worried," Mr Quraishi said.
"I'm not happy with the atmosphere of disharmony. It is completely wrong.
the country can move ahead only with cooperation and cohesion," he quoted
the RSS chief as saying.
Mr Bhagwat, he said, shared a couple of points that
were of particular concern to him. One was cow slaughter, which upsets the Hindus,
he said.
"So we said it is banned practically across the
country. The Muslims are law abiding and if anyone violates it, it is a huge
mistake and there should be punishment," Mr Quraishi said.
The other was the use of the word "kafir",
which "gave the Hindus a bad feeling".
"We said the originally in Arabic, the word means
non-believers. Some people believe in Islam, they are called "Momin".
The non-believers are "kafir". It was a neutral word and now it has
become abusive. We don't have a problem stopping it," Mr Quraishi said.
The Muslim group, he said, made the point "that
some right-wing people call Muslims jehadi, and Pakistani".
"They are suspicious of Muslims' loyalty and want
them to prove their patriotism at every turn. The Muslims are also Indians,"
Mr Bhagwat, he said, agreed. "We share the same DNA. The majority of
Muslims here are converts," he quoted the RSS chief as saying in response.
"He gave us much assurance. His statement on
Shivling was also very strong and we welcome it," he added.
The session, initially supposed to be for only 30
minutes, stretched to an hour and quarter, Mr Quraishi said.
Source: ND TV
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Hijab, like Eid cow slaughter, not an Article 25
right: Karnataka in SC
Sep 22, 2022
NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government on Wednesday told
the Supreme Court that enforcement of uniforms may prevent students from
wearing any kind of religious clothing, including hijab, but it would not
amount to stifling one's rights to freedom of religion or expression.
Hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam
and students are free to wear it outside their schools, where strict adherence
to prescribed uniforms create an irreligious disciplined atmosphere conducive
for education and promotes equality and unity, argued advocate general
Prabhuling K Navadgi.
A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia
pointed out that the Muslim side had argued that hijab fell under their
religious rights guaranteed under Article 25 and as a choice of dress also
formed a part of the right to freedom of expression under Article 19.
Navadgi said as far back as 1958, the Muslim side had
argued that cow slaughter on Eid al-Adha (Bakrid) was their religious right
protected under Article 25, which was squarely rejected by a five-judge bench
of the SC at a time when the total strength of SC judges was 11 including the
CJI.
Since 1958, the SC has consistently ruled that all
religious practices are not essential in character to get protected under
Article 25, as is being sought by the Muslim side for hijab, he said. The
Karnataka government provides free uniforms to all students till class 10 and
the aim is to create an irreligious atmosphere for learning, the AG added.
Additional solicitor general K M Natraj took forward
Karnataka's argument about the secular nature of its directions to educational
institutions to enforce uniforms. "In guise of religious rights, can Muslims
offer namaz or Hindus perform havan in the Supreme Court? Mixing religious
rights and right to freedom of expression would result in serious
complications, especially in educational institutions," he said.
Teachers from the educational institution at Udupi
from where hijab controversy started last year, told the SC through senior
advocates R Venkataramani and V Mohana that schools and colleges are unique
spaces for imparting knowledge and that the atmosphere should not be disturbed
by students exhibiting their distinct religious identity by wearing separate or
additional clothing.
Senior advocate D Sheshadri Naidu, appearing for
another teacher, said: "Students should be free from religious dogmas and
have a free mind when they come to learn in educational institutions. Let them
have religion in their hearts and not wear it up their sleeves," Naidu
said.
Source: Times Of India
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of the original story:
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Gyanvapi Muslim family weaves sarees for goddess
Sharada
21.09.22
While Gyanvapi in Uttar Pradesh is in the news for the
Hindu-Muslim rift over right to pray, a Muslim family there is presently
engaged in weaving a green silk sari with golden embroidery for the idol of
goddess Sharada here.
The idol will be installed on the Acharya mutt
premises of Sri Venkataramana temple in Car Street here.
The goddess will be draped in the sari, costing about
Rs 8 lakh, on the day of 'Shobha Yatra' to be held here on October 6, Sharada
Mahotsav Samithi media coordinator Manju Neereshwalya said.
He said the sari is sponsored every year by Sudheer
Pai of the Kulyadikars textiles. The embroidery is handmade by the
fifth-generation weavers of a Muslim family in Gyanvapi.
Though the goddess is usually adorned with a Benares
silk sari with silver zari (thread made of silver) which costs around Rs 2
lakh, this year the sponsor decided to weave golden zari embroidery work for
the sari, as this happens to be the centenary year of Sharada Mahotsava,
Neereshwalya said.
Sharada Mahotsava was started in 1922 to bring
together people during the independence movement.
Source: Telegraph India
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MP: Muslim Family Attacked in Chhindwara as ‘Revenge’
for Interfaith Relationship
Sep 22, 2022
Bhopal: Nearly a month after a 23-year-old Muslim man
eloped with a Hindu woman in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district, the man and
his parents were attacked by a mob on September 15 – allegedly as an act of
“revenge”.
According to Wajid Al, a resident of Lalgaon – which
is nearly 35 km from the district headquarters – he, his mother Sameena Ali
(48) and father Sayed Layak (52) were on their way to meet a relative who was
newly wed when a large mob intercepted them near Auriya village, which falls
under the limits of the Chouria police station.
Chanting religious slogans, the mob tied Ali to a bike
and dragged him from one village to another in full public view. Sameena’s
clothes were torn and Layak was thrashed and his beard was pulled, they said in
a police complaint.
In videos of the incident which have gone viral on
social media, the mob can be seen thrashing Ali and his father with sticks
while a group of women are assaulting his mother. At one point, Wajid can be
seen lying motionless near a tree while his mother begs the mob to spare their
lives.
The Wire has seen the videos but is not posting them.
“We would have been lynched by the mob if the police
did not rescue us on time. They assaulted us for three-four hours but no one
came to our rescue,” said Sameena over the phone. “The attackers were unknown
to us and we had no clue why they were assaulting us then. They were using
religious slurs, so it seems that we were attacked because of our faith,” she
added.
“They looted all my ornaments and gold and Rs 10,000
in cash. When I tried to dial 100 to get police help, they snatched the three
mobile phones which were in our procession,” Sameena said.
The police rushed them to the hospital, where all
three were admitted. Hours later, a first information report (FIR) was lodged
at the Chourai police station against ‘unknown persons’ under various sections
of the Indian Penal Code including uttering obscene words, voluntarily causing
hurt and criminal hurt.
Ali said that though the faces of many people can be
seen in the videos that are circulating on social media, the police lodged an
FIR against “unknown persons”.
Almost 40 hours after the incident, when police still
did not act, the victims approached Chhindwara SP Vivek Agrawal. In a two-page
complaint, they sought prompt action and protection for the family.
According to Shashi Vishwakarma, town inspector of
Chourai police station, Ali eloped with a Hindu woman from the same village
about a month ago. Taking action on a missing complaint filed by the woman’s
family, they were traced in Hyderabad. The woman was handed over to the family
and they refused to file an FIR against Ali.
“Soon after the incident, the woman’s family sent her
to her uncle’s home in Auriya. The boy might have gone to the village to meet
the woman when locals and family spotted them and it led to a scuffle,” said
Vishwakarma to reporters in a video clip.
“Four people have been arrested in connection with the
incident and sent to jail,” said the police officer in the video clip.
The arrested persons are Santosh Pal (40), Mahesh Pal
(32), Nekram Pal (35) and Sushma Pal (30). They are relatives of the woman with
whom Ali eloped. The town inspector said, “We are examining the facts and
evidence and if required, we will add more sections to the existing FIR.”
Responding to the police officer’s claim, Ali said,
“First of all, we were in Nasik, not Hyderabad. Before we could marry, the
police detained us. They kept the woman in 24 hours of police custody, forcing
her to give a statement against me. But she did not budge. With the police’s
support, she was handed over to the family against her will.”
He said the family did not file an FIR despite alleged
pressure from right-wing groups because they feared that she may give a
statement against them in the court “and they may lose her”.
Refuting the police’s claim that he went to Auriya to
meet with the woman, Ali claimed, “The police are supporting the woman’s family
since the matter came to light as the woman and the town inspector belong to
the same caste. Besides, they have also changed our statement in the FIR from
the actual one which was taken soon after the incident.”
Source: The Wire
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MP: Muslim men accuse jail official of forcing them to
shave beard, probe launched
September 21, 2022
Rajgarh: Five Muslim men arrested for an offence have
alleged that a Rajgarh district jail officer forced them to shave their beards,
following which a senior Madhya Pradesh prison official on Wednesday said a
probe was on into the matter.
A Congress MLA alleged that these men were abused in
the jail, while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin
Owaisi claimed it was an act of “custodial torture”.
The five men – Kalim Khan, Talib Khan, Arif Khan,
Salman Khan alias Bhola and Wahid Khan – were sent to the district jail on 13
September after being arrested under Indian Penal Code Section 151 (disturbing
public peace).
They were released on 15 September.
On Tuesday, Bhopal Congress MLA Arif Masood along with
the five men met MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra.
Masood accused the jail authorities of forcing the
five men to shave their beards and demanded action against the jail
authorities.
He alleged that these men were also abused in the
jail.
Masood later said Mishra assured him of action in the
matter.
Rajgarh’s district prison jailor S N Rana, who was
accused by these men, said there may be a possibility that their beards were
shaved on their own request as such arrangements are in place in the jail.
He said everyone in jail has the freedom to keep beard
and hair according to their own faith and belief.
Rana said eight to 10 Muslim prisoners having beard
are already lodged in the jail.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Jails, M R Patel said
nothing can be said as of now as a probe is underway into the matter and
information will be shared after completion of the investigation.
Meanwhile, AIMIM chief Owaisi in a video shared on his
Twitter handle claimed it was an act of custodial torture.
Source: Firstpost
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Hijab ban not changing Islam, Karnataka govt tells
Supreme Court
Aneesha Mathur
New Delhi
September 21, 2022
The Karnataka government on Wednesday informed the
Supreme Court that banning hijab is not equivalent to altering Islamic faith,
as wearing the headscarf is not an essential religious practice.
“The fact is that not wearing hijab will not change
the colour of the religion. It cannot be said that Islamic faith will change
without hijab. It is not a binding practice,” Karnataka advocate general P
Navadgi argued before the top court.
The Supreme Court was hearing arguments on a batch of
petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban
on hijab in educational institutions of the state that have prescribed
uniforms.
The Karnataka AG put forth that the Education Act and
the government order (GO) of February 2022 do not ban hijab, and the law is
only to allow college administration to regulate and impose uniform.
“Everytime the school administration tries to bring in
discipline, some part of fundamental rights would be affected. Can you test
ever discipline and rule over reasonable restrictions for public order and
morality?” he argued.
“If someone covers their head, how are they violating
public order or unity?” the bench queried.
Source: India Today
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Over 100 leaders of PFI arrested in pan-India
crackdown on 'radical' Islamic outfit
Sep 22, 2022
NEW DELHI: In a pan-India crackdown on ‘radical’
Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), NIA, Enforcement Directorate and
concerned state police arrested more than 100 top leaders and functionaries of
outfit in coordinated raids across 11 states and Union territories on Thursday morning.
The states and UTs that saw the raids are Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi
and Puducherry.Incidentally, NIA had written to the home ministry way back in
2017, seeking a ban on PFI in view of findings of its probe into cases
involving allegedly violent and extremist activities of its cadres. “PFI has
consistently been indulging in actions detrimental to overall national
security,” NIA dossier on PFI had stated while blaming the hardline outfit for
seeking to impose religious orthodoxy on Muslims and using sister outfits like
Sathya Sarani based in Malappuram to carry out “forceful conversions”.
NIA had them claimed that PFI pursues a strategy aimed
at communalising Indian polity, enforcing Taliban brand of Islam, heightening
existing social divisions and maintaining a trained bank of volunteers for
physical actions.
The dossier pointed out that many of PFI’s founding
leaders were associated with SIMI before it was banned. This includes former
PFI chairman E M Abdurahiman, who was all-India general secretary of SIMI in
1980-81 and 1982-93, PFI national vice-chairman P Koya who was with SIMI in
1978-79 and SDPI president E Aboobacker who was Kerala state president of SIMI
in 1982-84, among others.
NIA added that PFI — which has presence in many states
and UTs and is strongest in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — has a well
oiled-machinery to meet its violent ends. “The outfit has squads of trainers
and experts in making crude bombs and IEDs, an intelligence wing...and action
squads to run unlawful and violent activities. It has clandestine training
centres...where training in martial arts and indoctrination is given,” stated
the dossier.
PFI on its part has maintained that it believes in
identity politics but does not work on sectarian lines.
“PFI only trains its cadres in fitness and
self-defence,” PFI leader P Koya had earlier told TOI.
Source: Times Of India
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State Has Not Touched Any 'Religious Aspect' In Hijab
Ban Case: Karnataka To Supreme Court
22 SEP 2022
The Karnataka government told the Supreme Court on
Wednesday that the state has not touched any "religious aspect" in
the hijab ban row and that the restriction on wearing the Islamic headscarf is
limited to the classroom.
The state government said there does not exist a ban
on the hijab even beyond the classroom on the campuses. It's counsel emphasised
the state has only said educational institutions can prescribe uniform for
students, something which is "religion neutral".
Karnataka's Advocate General Prabhuling K Navadgi told
a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia that countries like
France have prohibited hijab and the women there have not become any less
Islamic.
Mr Navadgi said unless it is shown that wearing the
hijab is compulsory and an essential religious practice (ERP), one cannot get
protection under Article 25 of the Constitution, which deals with freedom of
conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
"We do not place restrictions on wearing hijab
outside school…. There is no restriction even in the school campus. The nature
of the restriction is only inside the classroom," the advocate general
told the bench.
The top court was hearing arguments on a batch of
pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban on
hijab in educational institutions of the state.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K M Nataraj, who
also appeared for the state, said the petitioners' entire case is based on a
right, which they claim is an absolute right.
"Let me make it very clear at the beginning. The
state has not touched any religious aspect or religious issue….Much hue and cry
is made by saying that hijab is banned. Let me clarify, hijab is not banned and
the state never intended (to impose one) as such," the ASG said, adding
that school is a secular place.
He asserted the state has neither prohibited nor
promoted any religious activity.
"You will not permit them if they wear
Hijab?" the bench asked the government lawyer.
The ASG responded, saying the state's decision is not
based on any religion and it only says educational institutions can prescribe
uniform.
"Will you permit a girl wearing a hijab inside
the school, yes or no?," the bench persisted with its query.
Nataraj replied the school concerned will have to
decide depending upon the uniform they have prescribed.
During the hearing, Mr Navadgi also argued on the
aspect of ERP.
"The question would be, even if we presume that
it (the hijab) is not an essential religious practice, then what kind of
practice it is and to what extent the court can go into it," the bench
asked.
The advocate general, who referred to a previous
verdict delivered by the top court, argued that every activity related to
religion cannot necessarily be called an essential religious practice.
"Today, we have a large number of sisters and mothers
belonging to the Islamic faith who do not wear hijab, who as a matter of their
choice do not wear hijab.
"We have countries like France… which have
prohibited the wearing of hijab. But in both these situations, when a woman
does not wear hijab, she does not become any less Islamic," Mr Navadgi
said, adding that Islam continues to flourish in countries which have banned
hijab.
Justice Gupta noted he knows a former judge of the
Lahore High Court who used to visit India with his family, including his two
daughters, and they did not wear hijab.
"I can share one thing. I know somebody in
Pakistan, a former judge of the Lahore High Court, who used to visit India
quite often along with his family. He has two daughters and a son and I have
never seen these young girls and the mother wearing hijab, at least in
India," Justice Gupta said.
The bench observed that arguments raised on behalf of
the petitioners is that whatever is mentioned in the Holy Quran is mandatory
and sacrosanct.
"We are not experts in Quran. But this court in
at least three instances have said every word in the Quran may be religious but
not essentially religious," Mr Navadgi said while referring to some
previous verdicts of the top court.
He denied the submissions advanced by the petitioners'
counsel that the state has acted against one community.
"We have lots of material to show to your
lordships the kind of schemes and programmes the government has for minority
children," the advocate general said.
Senior advocate R Venkataramani, who appeared for a
teacher, said they want a free and unhindered atmosphere where teachers can
communicate with the students without a wall of separation.
"Hijab creates a wall of separation?" the
bench asked.
Venkataramani said schools must be essentially free
from all these elements where even the slightest distraction will be an
impediment in free transmission of knowledge.
Source: Outlook India
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Muslim Couple From Chennai Donates ₹ 1 Crore To
Tirupati Temple
September 21, 2022
A Muslim couple from Chennai has donated ₹ 1 crore to
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the trust which manages temples in and
around Tirumala and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
Subeena Banu and her husband Abdul Ghani made the
offering on Tuesday, according to news agency ANI.
The couple donated furniture and utensils worth ₹ 87
lakh for the newly constructed Padmavathi Rest House in Tirumala. In addition,
they also handed out a demand draft for ₹ 15 lakh to the SV Anna Prasadam
Trust, the agency added.
In a picture, shared on Twitter, the Chennai-based
family is seen standing with temple officials.
The donation was formally received by TTD executive
officer AV Dharma Reddy. The family handed a cheque to Mr Reddy who thanked
them for the generous gesture, reported The Times Of India.
The Lord Venkateswara temple is situated in the hill
town of Tirumala near Tirupati. It is located in the Chittoor district of
Andhra Pradesh, which is around 600 km from Hyderabad.
Source: ND TV
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Pakistan
Khyber jirga rejects peace bodies, opposes military
action in Tirah
Ibrahim Shinwari
September 22, 2022
KHYBER: The participants of a peace jirga rejected
formation of peace bodies or raising any armed Lashkar to tackle the existing
law and order situation in Khyber.
Organised under the banner of Bara Siyasi Ittehad on
Wednesday, the jirga also opposed any military operation in Tirah where some
militant groups had recently resurfaced. The participants of the jirga said
that majority of the locals were not willing to vacate their houses.
Local elders, representatives of political parties and
activists of civil society organisations attended the jirga. Taking serious
notice of the insecurity in the region, they said that they would not allow
anybody to disturb the peace of Bara and Tirah in particular and the entire
Khyber in general.
They blamed the law enforcement agencies for their
failure to check the movement of suspected militants. They also questioned what
they called the criminal silence of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government about the
presence of armed groups in different parts of the province.
Questions govt’s ‘criminal silence’ on presence of
armed groups in province
They resolved that a series of dialogue would be
initiated with the authorities to apprise them of their concern over the
growing insecurity for finding a peaceful solution to the current situation.
IDPs: The fate of the recently displaced families from
some pockets of Tirah valley still hangs in the balance as the situation is far
from stable in the troubled areas due to presence of undesirable elements,
according to local sources.
However, the law enforcement agencies were yet to
initiate any operation in the area as was told to the displaced families, they
said.
The exact number of the families recently evicted from
Baghrai, Jarrhobi, Dray Nagharee and Dwa Khulay is not known as no official
record of the same was kept during their displacement, which started about
three weeks ago.
However, local sources told Dawn that about 100
families mostly from Sipah and Kamarkhel while some others from Akkakhel and
Zakhakhel tribes had taken temporary abode in Dars Jumaat locality. They said
that a small number of displaced families had gone to bordering localities of
Orakzai.
Hunar Bagh, a Sipah resident of Dray Nagharee, told
Dawn that he along with his family walked for almost five hours to reach Bara
and take shelter in a deserted warehouse.
He said that he himself bore all the expenses of his
arduous journey up to Bara with no official assistance. “Why were we forced to
vacate our houses again when we were allowed to go back only two months ago
after an official assurance that the region was safe for living” he questioned.
Sipah tribe was the last of the seven Bara tribes, who
were allowed to return to their homes, mostly damaged, after decade-long
displacement.
Hunar Bagh said that the returned families had only
started rebuilding their destroyed houses in anticipation of a harsh winter
when they were again ordered to leave as some armed militants had sneaked into
their areas even before the start of their return.
Some Kamarkhel displaced families currently lodged at
Dar Jumaat area of Akkakhel refused to go back after they were given a green
signal about their return only after three weeks of their second phase of
displacement.
The Kamarkhel families told the security officials
that they would go back to their homes only if they were given full assurance
about their security and also they were accepted as registered internally
displaced persons while providing them with a suitable relief package, which
the government had announced for the displaced families of other militancy-hit
areas of the province.
The authorities concerned had earlier contended that
some ‘undesirable’ elements had entered the area in the garb of IDPs and a
fresh exercise of their registration would be conducted after their return to
their homes.
Many of the Kamarkhel and Sipah families believe that
the situation is not yet conducive for their return as they still fear presence
of armed people in their areas, though small in number.
They said that they were asked to vacate homes so that
a limited scale military operation could be initiated against those elements
but no such exercise was conducted so far.
Deputy Commissioner Shah Fahad, when contacted, said
that the situation was unnecessarily blown out of context.
“We are keeping a close watch on the situation in the
region and as per policy necessary steps are taken to handle the situation,” he
said. He added that soon the situation would be brought under control.
He said that hype was created about the situation in
the area as it was not as troubling as it was portrayed by some elements.
About the displacement of families, Mr Fahad said that
it was not ‘so massive’ but was a ‘localised’ issue, which would be taken care
of in due course of time.
Source: Dawn
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Militants free two workers of mobile phone firm in
Swat
Fazal Khaliq
September 22, 2022
SWAT: The remaining two abducted employees of a
private mobile phone company were released by militants on Tuesday evening.
According to one of the abducted person, who was
released with four other employees on the second day, told Dawn that he and six
other employees were working at a mobile phone tower near Barthana Mountain
when 10 masked men armed with modern weapons blindfolded them and took them to
an unidentified place.
The seven abducted persons included Yousaf Shah,
Mohammad Khalid, Arsalan, Mohammad Asbar Malik, Abdul Hakeem, Waqat Ali and
Qayyum Khan.
“At the unknown location, the armed men started
questioning us,” he said, adding that the five persons including Mohammad Asbar
Malik, Abdul Hakeem, Waqat Ali and Qayyum Khan were released while Yousaf Shah
and Mohammad Khalid were kept there by the kidnappers.
He said that the militants demanded Rs100 million
ransom for the release of the two remaining persons. “However, I learnt
yesterday that the remaining two persons were also released. I tried to call
them by their mobiles but their phones were powered off,” he added.
A contractor, who also wished not to be named, told
Dawn that they were installing a mobile phone tower at Jana Mountain near
Barthana area. “On Sept 13, I was away to bring necessary items for the tower
installation. When I came to the tower, I learnt from locals that all the seven
workers were abducted by the militants,” he said.
He said that initially the militants were demanding
Rs100 million but all of the abducted people were released without any ransom.
Recently, many people including elders and elected
representatives in Swat complained that they received telephone calls and
messages from militants, asking them to pay a huge amount for release of the
abducted men.
Source: Dawn
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Indonesian envoy expresses desire to work in
Pakistan’s housing sector
September 21, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan Adam
Mulawarman Tugio Wednesday expressed his country’s desire to work with the
housing sector in Pakistan.
The ambassador in a meeting with Federal Secretary,
Ministry of Housing and Works Iftikhar Ali Shallwani discussed matters of
mutual interest.
Both the sides talked over similarities between
Indonesia and Pakistan within the realm of history, culture, religion, as well
as education.
They agreed to further enhance collaboration and
contribution to bilateral relations between the two countries.
Secretary Housing extended a cordial invitation to
Adam Mulawarman, to attend the upcoming first International Housing Expo-2022
to which he extended his support and pleasure and expresses his country’s
participation.
Adam Mulawarman Tugio conveyed his deepest sympathies
to the government and the people of Pakistan over the devastation caused by the
recent floods
Source: Pakistan Today
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Stability and security of Saudi Arabia most important
for Muslims: Custodians of Eidgah shrine in Pakistan
September 22, 2022
RAWALPINDI - Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy historic,
religious and spiritual relations of friendship, faith and brotherhood. The
stability and security of Saudi Arabia is most important for Muslims and we
have great reverence for the sacred places in the Kingdom.
Pir Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rehman and Pir Muhammad Hassan
Haseeb-ur-Rehman, custodians of Eidgah shrine stated this in their message on
the National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia here on Wednesday. In their message, they expressed the warmest
and heartiest felicitations to His Majesty King Salman bin Abdul Aziz AlSaud
and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, the custodian of the two holy mosques,
the royal family and people of Saudi Arabia.
Source: Nation Pakistan
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Europe
Violence between Hindus and Muslims in Leicester
spreads to Birmingham
Gillian Duncan
Sep 21, 2022
Violence between young people in Leicester appears to
have spread to Birmingham, where UK police were sent to disperse a masked mob
surrounding a Hindu temple on Tuesday.
Riot squads were summoned to deal with clashes between
members of Hindu and Muslim communities in Leicester at the weekend.
Footage shared on social media shows disorder has now
erupted 65 kilometres (40 miles) away in Smethwick, near Birmingham.
Masked and hooded men were seen congregating outside
the Durga Bhawan Hindu temple, which was reportedly pelted with bottles and
firecrackers.
In footage shared on Twitter and seen by The National,
officers wearing vests push the crowd back, away from the temple.
British police were diverted from Queen Elizabeth II’s
state funeral in London following disorder in Leicester at the weekend.
The trouble was sparked by a protest in the east of
the city on Saturday, according to police.
But a Leicester faith leader said violence first began
between the communities as a result of a “country-based dispute” after the Asia
Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan on August 28.
India defeated Pakistan in the fixture, prompting
celebrations in Leicester, where young men reportedly draped themselves in
Indian flags.
Violence broke out and one man was arrested. Footage
appeared to show Indian supporters chant ‘Pakistan Murdabad’, a Partition-era
slogan which means “death to Pakistan”.
A series of incidents followed, said police, and the
disorder has since led to 47 arrests.
Half of the first 18 people arrested came from outside
the county, it has been reported. Sixteen officers and a police dog were
injured in the violence.
Community leaders have claimed outsiders were sowing
disorder by spreading false information to inflame religious tension.
Tensions in Leicester have been simmering for months,
said independent MP for Leicester East, Claudia Webbe.
She said some constituents had voiced fears to her
that violence was driven in part by “underlying Islamophobia in parts of
Leicester’s communities, rather than an isolated incident”.
Suleman Nagdi, from the city's Federation of Muslim
Organisations, said it was the first time he could remember the Hindu and
Muslim communities becoming violent. Mr Nagdi said “loyalties kicked in” after
last month's cricket match.
“The start [of the disorder] was the cricket match ―
it is a country-based dispute.
Source: The National News
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Hindu and Muslim Communities In UK Make Joint Appeal
For Harmony; Police Make 47 Arrests
21 SEP 2022
Leaders of the Hindu and Muslim communities in the
eastern England city of Leicester presented a united front on Tuesday as they appealed
for harmony in the wake of violent clashes following an India-Pakistan cricket
match, which has led to 47 arrests.
Pradyumna Das, President of the city's ISKCON Temple,
read out a statement joined by community leaders outside a mosque in the city to
express “sadness” over the violence which escalated over the weekend.
The community leaders demanded that the “inciters of
hatred” leave Leicester alone and called for an immediate cessation of
provocation and violence, both in thought and behaviour.
“Our message to anyone that sows disharmony between us
is clear: we will not let you succeed. We ask all to respect the sanctity of
religious places, both mosques and mandirs alike — whether provocation with
loud music, flag bearing, derogatory chants or physical attacks against the
fabric of worship. This is not acceptable nor upheld by our faiths,” the
statement said.
“We are a strong family, we will work together to
resolve whatever concern may arise — we do not need to call up any assistance
from outside our city. Leicester has no place for any foreign extremist
ideology that causes division,” he said, highlighting that Hindus and Muslims
have lived “harmoniously” in the city for over half a century.
It came as police patrols continued in the city as the
Indian High Commission in London issued a strongly worded statement condemning
the violence against the Indian community and called for protection for those
affected.
Leicestershire Police said a 20-year-old man has been
sentenced to 10 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of an
offensive weapon during clashes in the city. Amos Noronha, from the local area,
appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court after his arrest during Saturday’s
incident and was quickly charged due to “overwhelming evidence”.
“The sentence is reflective of the fact that this was
a serious offence and he has ended up with time in prison,” said Rob Nixon,
Temporary Chief Constable at Leicestershire Police.
“We will not stand for this unrest in our city. There
is an extensive policing operation ongoing, acting on information and reports
of gatherings and offering community reassurance. Be reassured: we are working
to keep you safe and to arrest and bring to justice those that are causing harm
in our communities,” he said.
It follows a weekend of what the police termed as
“serious disorder” and “significant aggression” as Hindu and Muslim groups
clashed in the wake of the India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match in Dubai at
the end of last month.
“A policing operation to deter further disorder
continued in east Leicester...In total, 47 people have been arrested for
offences in relation to the unrest in the east of the city. Some of those
arrested were from out of the city, including some people from Birmingham,”
Leicestershire Police said.
The force said it had to be supported by resources
from a number of neighbouring police forces, including the mounted police unit,
as the clashes escalated over the weekend. Dispersal and stop and search powers
have been used repeatedly to restore calm. There were social media videos
circulating showing a temple flag being ripped out and glass bottles being
hurled.
The Indian High Commission said in its statement on
Monday: “We strongly condemn the violence perpetrated against the Indian
community in Leicester and vandalisation of premises and symbols of Hindu
religion.
“We have strongly taken up this matter with the UK
authorities and have sought immediate action against those involved in these
attacks. We call on the authorities to provide protection to the affected
people.”
Diaspora group Insight UK has claimed that much of the
violence was the result of “misinformation” and fake news circulating on social
media.
Leicester city mayor Peter Soulsby agreed, saying
“very, very, very distorting” events were being shared on social media and
blamed outsiders for coming into the city to stoke violence.
“We condemn damages to Hindu temples which are a place
of worship and should not be disrespected,” Hindu Council UK said in a
statement.
“We call upon the Hindu community to work with the
authorities to bring calm and peace as Leicester is renowned for its cultural
diversity, unity and community cohesion,” the UK-wide community organisation
said, adding that it is working on developing strategies to bring about
stronger inter-community relations in the city.
Leicester, in the East Midlands region of England, is
known as a city with a large chunk of the population of South Asian descent.
The city’s Belgrave Road is famous as the Golden Mile, packed with Indian-origin
jewellery, food and other businesses, and also a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
The city’s former Indian-origin member of Parliament,
the first of South Asian heritage, took to social media to appeal for calm.
“To me, Leicester is the greatest city in the world.
Nowhere else do so many different people of different languages, cultures and
ethnicities live together in harmony,” said Goan-origin Keith Vaz, who was MP
for Leicester East from 1987 to 2019.
Source: Outlook India
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From Syria to Ukraine, children bear the brunt of
forced displacement crisis
September 22, 2022
NEW YORK CITY: Nearly half of the world’s forcibly
displaced people are still children under 18-years-old, according to data
published by the UN refugee agency — that is 1.5 million more people than the
entire population of Saudi Arabia.
It is an old problem, but it is not going away.
By the end of 2021 the UNHCR data put the number of
forcibly displaced people of all ages as a result of persecution, conflict,
violence, human-rights violation or events seriously disturbing public order,
globally at 89.3 million. This has risen to 100 million since the Russian invasion
of Ukraine in March.
“The situation with the forcibly displaced is very,
very worrying,” Raouf Mazou, assistant high commissioner for operations at
UNHCR, told Arab News on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“To this year we came to a total number of about 100
million people forcibly displaced. These include refugees and internally
displaced people.”
But even with the figures released in June, the 42
percent of children forced out of their homes stands at approximately
37,506,000.
To give this some perspective, that is 15,756,000 more
than the entire population of Cairo, nearly five times the number of people in
Riyadh, and nearly 28 million more people than London.
Moreover, the problem is growing. While many children
and adults — usually women — were forced from their homes by drought, food
insecurity and armed conflict, there are also 1.5 million children who were
born as refugees.
Annually, between 2018 and 2021, this equated to an
average of between 350,000 and 400,000 children born into a refugee life each
year. Whether on their own or with family, all face food insecurity, poverty
and threats to their safety.
“If one looks at the past 10 years, we’ve seen every
year an increase in these numbers,” Mazou said.
In turn, this exposed them to increased vulnerability
and attacks, often violent sexual assaults. The victims range from children to
adults, the attackers operate alone and in groups.
Gang rapes have become worryingly common in South
Sudan as the flimsy truce moves closer to complete failure.
“That is as a result of conflict, as a result of
climate, as a result of a number of reasons. It’s a very (concerning)
situation,” Mazou told Arab News.
On Monday Martin Griffiths, the UN
under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief
coordinator, told the Security Council that hunger is being used as a “tactic
of war,” something humanitarian organizations are trying to combat through
lifelines, by working with local groups who are the first, sometimes only,
“responders on the ground.”
He warned that the presence of humanitarian aid
workers does not spell the end of suffering for those displaced.
South Sudan is “one of the most dangerous places to be
an aid worker last year, with 319 violent incidents targeting humanitarian
personnel and assets.”
Griffiths said five aid workers were killed in 2021 —
five more have died since the beginning of this year.
Up until the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a big
majority of refugees — 69 percent of the global number, to be precise —
originated from just five countries, notably Syria, South Sudan and
Afghanistan.
In Syria more than 6.9 million people have fled their
homes internally, and more than 6.5 million remain outside Syria, of whom 5.7
million are refugees in the region, still being hosted by neighbours. Up until
Ukraine happened, Syria accounted for the highest number of displaced people.
Currently 14.6 million people in Syria rely on aid —
1.2 million more than a year before. More than 90 percent of Syrians live in
poverty.
After 11 years of conflict, those displaced by the
Syrian war are beginning to become a forgotten cause.
“There’s always an element of asylum fatigue,” Mazou
said. “Because after some time, people expect that the solution would be
resolved and therefore, there is less attention. And then you see a reduction
in the funding.”
According to him, the events of 2021, such as the war
in Ukraine and the violent regime change in Afghanistan, have pushed Syria even
further out of the limelight.
“Each of these new situations require additional
funding and reduce the availability of funds for other locations,” Mazou said.
He said the ripple effect has been an increase in the
amount of need.
“The resources that are being mobilized are not
increasing as fast as the number of refugees and the amount of need that we
have,” he said.
Among the issues faced by refugees is gender-based
violence and risks to children, which are on the rise.
Then there is the food-security crisis, which has set
new records with 13.9 million people going hungry every day, and is being
aggravated by the conflict in Ukraine.
“We have about 11 million refugees in 42 countries,
which are dependent on food assistance,” Mazou said.
“And what we are seeing now is that in a number of
countries, we do not have enough resources.”
He said the cost-of-living crisis had exacerbated the
problem, meaning the amount of food being made available was decreasing as
costs soared.
The situation is so bad, according to Mazou, there are
refugees who are receiving little or no food assistance.
The problem is not just food scarcity, though. One of
the first things child refugees lose is access to education.
Nearly one-in-two Syrian children are out of school
and vulnerable to child labour, early and forced marriages, trafficking, and
recruitment by armed actors, according to UNHCR data.
Mazou said just 37 percent of all refugee children
have access to secondary education, while those in tertiary education amount to
just 6 percent of those who need it.
“The problem is that less access to education means
that they are less prepared and ready to be part of the country when they are
able to go back. So, definitely one can speak of a lost generation,” he said.
Mazou said the UNHCR is in ongoing discussions with
governments to ensure that refugee children are included in existing education
systems.
According to the UNHCR Data Finder report, a vast
majority of those people forcibly displaced from their homes and countries are
hosted by low- and middle-income countries — not richer Western ones.
“Low- and middle-income countries host 83 percent of
the world’s refugees and Venezuelans displaced abroad,” the report said,
adding: “The least developed countries provide asylum to 27 percent of the
total.”
Many Syrian refugees who left the country during the
war now find themselves in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
It is well documented that Lebanon, a country the size
of the British county of Cornwall and with a population of four million, hosts
somewhere in the region of 2 million known refugees.
Lebanon is in a financial crisis of its own where
banks are denying citizens access to their own savings.
It is clear that the cost-of-living crisis has hit
funding for refugees significantly in the past three years, with the pandemic
and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan forcing millions to flee.
In its 2021 donor impact report, the UNHCR said: “2021
was another difficult year.”
It went on to add: “Economic crisis, conflict, climate
change, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have demanded that we adapt to new
challenges every day.”
“But the trials and tribulations of 2021 especially
impacted some of the world’s most vulnerable people: the over 84 million forced
to flee their homes to escape war, persecution, and other life-threatening
situations.”
In January, 2022, the UN Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced it was seeking from the
international community $ 1.6 billion this year.
UNRWA was established by the General Assembly in 1949,
mandated to provide assistance and protection to 5.7 million Palestine refugees
registered with the agency across its five fields of operation.
UNRWA’s mission is to “help Palestine refugees in
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip
achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting
solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care,
relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and
microfinance.”
In January Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA
commissioner-general, said the international community recognized the
“lifesaving role of UNRWA” and its role in contributing toward stability in the
Middle East.
“In 2022, that recognition must be supported by the
adequate level of funding to meet this critical moment for Palestine refugees,”
he said.
“Chronic agency budget shortfalls threaten the
livelihoods and well-being of the Palestine refugees that UNRWA serves and pose
a serious threat to the Agency’s ability to maintain services.”
Earlier in September Lazzarini concluded an official
visit to Cairo during which he met with Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the
secretary-general of the Arab League, and Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign
minister.
Commending Egypt and the Arab League for their
political support, he called for continued Arab solidarity with Palestine
refugees, not least in their financial support of the UNRWA.
"But it requires adequate resources to implement
the mandate that this region, and most of the world, gives it,” Lazzarini said.
“Political support — without matching financial resources — will not cover the
cost of 700 schools, 140 health centres, and food and cash assistance for over
two million poor and conflict-affected Palestine refugees.”
It is no different for the UNHCR, said Mazou, who
explained that while the pandemic has seen an increase in donations both from
the private sector and individuals – likely driven by their own newly found
hardship — the needs continue to grow.
“There are a number of situations — in Yemen for
instance, where you have 5 million internally displaced people, plus about
100,000 refugees in a situation where there’s been conflict for quite some
time,” Mazou told Arab News.
“It’s clear that financial support is required and
also support to deal with the root cause of the conflict, which have, as an
impact and as a consequence, displacement. So more financial resources are
needed for sure.”
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2167196/world
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North
America
Top US diplomat voices support for Lebanon at meeting
with PM Mikati
22 September, 2022
US Secretary of State met with Lebanese Prime Minister
Najib Mikati at the United Nations Tuesday.
Lebanon has been in the grips of a three-year severe
economic crisis that has left three quarters of its population in poverty after
the Lebanese pound lost more than 90 percent of its value.
Lebanon’s GDP has sharply dropped from about $55
billion in 2018 to $20.5 billion in 2021. Tens of thousands have lost their
jobs since 2019 as the crisis was made worse by coronavirus and a massive blast
at Beirut’s port in August 2020, that killed over 200, wounded thousands and
caused damage worth billions of dollars.
Lebanon’s caretaker government hopes to adopt key
reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund for a long-delayed but
urgently needed bailout before the end of next month.
“We are working very closely in support of Lebanon in
a number of ways, particularly working through the incredibly challenging
economic issues, and very much supportive of Lebanon moving forward in dealing
with these challenges, including with the IMF,” Blinken said at the start of
their meeting.
The political class, blamed for the decades of
corruption and mismanagement that led to the crisis, has been resisting reforms
demanded by the international community.
Talks between Lebanon’s government and the IMF began
in May 2020 and reached a staff-level agreement earlier this year in April.
Source: Al Arabiya
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US, Saudi Arabia, France call on Lebanese officials to
elect president without delay
22 September, 2022
The US, France, and Saudi Arabia called on Lebanon’s
rulers to elect a new president without any delay after Michel Aoun’s term ends
next month.
In a joint statement from the three countries, which
wield significant influence in Lebanon, they voiced their support for Lebanon’s
sovereignty, security and stability.
Analysts and observers believe Lebanon will once again
enter a period of presidential vacuum, similar to the case before the election
of Aoun in 2016.
“It is critical to elect a President who can unite the
Lebanese people and work with regional and international actors to overcome the
current crisis,” the joint statement read. “We call for the formation of a
government capable of implementing the structural and economic reforms urgently
needed to address Lebanon’s political and economic crises, specifically those
reforms needed to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.”
On Wednesday, the IMF lambasted Lebanon’s political
elite for failing to implement needed reforms in order to unlock international
funds to help the country climb out of its unprecedented economic and financial
crisis.
Washington, Paris and Riyadh said they were willing to
work jointly with Lebanon to support the implementation of these reforms and
acknowledged the “critical role” of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Internal
Security Forces.
The two security agencies are the “legitimate
defenders of Lebanon’s sovereignty and internal stability” the three countries
said, in an apparent jab at Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group as well as
Palestinian refugees in camps are the only sides to have weapons outside of the
state’s control.
Source: Al Arabiya
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US thanks Türkiye for its support in Russia-Ukraine
prisoner exchange
Servet Gunerigok
22.09.2022
WASHINGTON
The US thanked Türkiye on Wednesday for its role in a
prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia, hours after the Turkish president
announced the swap.
"I would like to thank the Turkish government for
helping facilitate the exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia,
building on their leadership on the grain deal," President Joe Biden's National
Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter.
His tweet came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
announced that the two nations had exchanged 200 prisoners as a result of
Türkiye's mediation and diplomatic efforts conducted with the leaders of the
two countries.
Erdogan told reporters in New York City that the
prisoner exchange under Türkiye's mediation was an "important step"
towards ending the war between the two countries.
He said efforts to establish peace between Russia and
Ukraine continue.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Yemenis condemn Saudi war, voice support for September
21 Revolution
21 September 2022
On the eighth anniversary of the September 21
Revolution, Yemeni people pour into streets in the northwestern city of Sa’ada
and other parts of the country to voice their deep resentment over acts of
aggression and war crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition against the Arab
country.
The Sa’ada protesters waved national Yemeni flags,
carried banners in condemnation of the Riyadh-led airstrikes, held up pictures
of the former leader of the popular Ansarullah movement Hussein Badreddin
al-Houthi and its current chief Abdul-Malik
al-Houthi, and shouted slogans against the aggressors on Wednesday
afternoon.
The demonstrators made it clear in a communiqué that
the September 21 Revolution was an authentic uprising staged by the entire
Yemeni society, and not provoked by any foreign country.
The statement pointed out that the revolution put an
end to foreign tutelage, and its notable achievements turned it into one of the
most honorable and successful revolts of the present world.
It underscored that Yemeni people from all strata of
the society are tough-spirited and wholly committed to the path of resistance
against the brutal Saudi-led aggression until full independence is restored,
and every inch of the Yemeni soil is liberated from the clutches of invaders.
The statement went on to commend the Ansarullah leader
for his sagacity and prudence as to leading the Yemeni nation and thwarting the
enemies’ conspiracies and seditious plots.
It also hailed the mass participation of all Yemeni
tribes in the September 21 Revolution, emphasizing that they made generous
contributions in this regard in order to preserve their faith, values, pride, identity and moral principles.
The statement stressed that the National Salvation
Government will spare no effort to improve the Yemeni nation’s livelihood
through reforming state institutions and supporting social solidarity and
popular fronts.
The participants in Sa’ada march also lauded last
week’s massive military parade in the capital Sana’a, and the strong
steadfastness and resilience of Yemeni army troops and fighters from allied
Popular Committees.
They called on the Riyadh-led coalition of aggression
to stop its aggression and lift its crippling siege on Yemen.
The statement stressed that the September 21
Revolution cannot be constrained within Yemen’s borders, as it has serious
impacts on regional and international developments, and maintains a firm and
principled position vis-à-vis the Palestinian cause.
In 2014, the people of Yemen led a popular uprising
against the Saudi-backed unpopular regime of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
As protests gripped the country, the Ansarallah
resistance movement on September 21 took control of the capital Sana’a
following a rapid advance south from their northern stronghold of Sa'ada.
The massively popular protests were against the
incompetent and corrupt regime in Sana’a backed by Riyadh.
Source: Press TV
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Foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, Turkey meet in New
York to discuss Syria crisis
22 September 2022
Iran, Russia and Turkey have held a trilateral meeting
on Syria in the Astana Format amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to find a
political solution to the crisis in the war-torn Arab country.
The joint meeting was held on the sidelines of the
77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday,
and attended by Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen was also
present at the talks, which took place at the Turkish Embassy, near the UN
headquarters.
Speaking at the event, Amir-Abdollahian reiterated
that there is no military solution to the Syrian crisis, adding that the
conflict must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the principles of
international law.
He also emphasized that the withdrawal of all foreign
forces from Syria, the end of the occupation and full respect for the country’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity are essential prerequisites for achieving
this goal.
The top Iranian diplomat further highlighted the need
for removal of sanctions on Syria and increased humanitarian assistance to the
Syrian people, given the negative impact of sanctions on ordinary people and
the economic situation in the country.
At the end of the summit, the foreign ministers once
again reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, and
territorial integrity of Syria.
Iran and Russia, as the allies of the Syrian
government, as well as Turkey, which sides with the opposition, set up the
Astana peace process in January 2017 intending to put an end to the Syrian
conflict through the involvement of the Syrian government and the opposition.
Back in July, a trilateral meeting was held between
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Iranian capital Tehran.
The leaders gathered for the seventh summit of the
Astana process, where they condemned foreign meddling and emphasized Syrians’
right to determine their country’s fate.
Source: Press TV
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Two Muslim men in Oakland shot dead near mosque, assailants
at large
21 September, 2022
Multiple assailants are believed to be behind the
fatal shootings of two men and the wounding of a third man that occurred near a
mosque in the northern California city of Oakland.
The incident occurred Monday evening after several men
had finished their evening prayers and were heading to a nearby restaurant.
So far, the police say there is not yet a clear
motive, they don't know if any one person was being targeted, and no suspects
have been arrested.
"This incident is very obviously tragic, and
shocking for our community to experience this over and over again," Deputy
Chief James Patrick said at a news conference, according to local news outlet
KTVU. "We're taking nothing off the table, but we're investigating every possible
scenario that may have resulted in this violent crime."
The report also suggested that the city's police force
was understaffed considering the high homicide rate, with two unrelated murders
occurring within hours of the mosque-area shootings.
Police said that when they arrived at the scene they
saw the two victims, one in a store and the other inside Layalina, a Middle
Eastern restaurant. The men, who were pronounced dead at the scene, were 27
years and 59 years old.
"We are deeply saddened by these horrific murders
and urge anyone in the community with information to immediately contact
Oakland Police," said Council on American-Islamic Relations-San Francisco
Bay Area Executive Director Zahra Billoo in a public statement. "We urge police
to be swift and thorough in their investigation."
Source: The New Arab
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/two-muslim-men-oakland-shot-dead-assailants-large
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South
Asia
Islamist Radicals From Afghanistan Now Fighting for
Tajikistan Against Kyrgyzstan
By: Paul Goble
September 20, 2022
One of the greatest nightmares for the countries of
Central Asia; outside powers, such as Russia, China and the United States, who
are worried about regional stability; and even for Kabul itself, which fears
regional blowback, is that radicals from Afghanistan will cross into the region
and destabilize the situation. And that reality appears to be becoming true.
Marat Imankulov, secretary of the Kyrgyzstani Security Council, claims his
country’s special services have now identified Afghans who are fighting for
Tajikistan in the latest round of border violence between the two countries.
Such people are readily identifiable, he says, by their beards and informal
dress and by their propensity to engage in extreme forms of violence. They
often torture people and even “cut off their ears,” something the security
official says “has never happened before” in previous clashes between
Kyrgyzstani and Tajikistani forces. While some might be inclined to dismiss
this as Kyrgyzstani propaganda, Imankulov says that the Afghan government, at
Bishkek’s request, has confirmed that the photograph they provided to Kabul was
an Afghan citizen fighting for Tajikistan (Eurasia Today, September 19).
Perhaps even more to the point, residents of the Tajikistani exclave Batken say
they are certain those attacking them are Afghans and not Tajikistani citizens
(Fondsk.ru, September 16).
Clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan over their
shared border and especially over the status of the noncontiguous enclaves each
state has inside the other’s territory have been going on for more than two
decades. The most recent flare up was on September 14, when border guards fired
on each other and crowds of people from both sides fought pitched but not
especially violent battles with each other. In the last week, more than 100
people have been killed, more than 200 wounded and more than 100,000 have been
displaced by the violence. What makes the most recent clashes more dangerous
than earlier ones, however, is not so much these statistics but more so the
appearance of Afghan fighters on the Tajikistani side, combatants who appear to
be far more violent than the regular Tajikistani forces and whose presence
helps explain why Tajikistan’s attacks on Kyrgyzstani targets have been far
broader than in the past. That in turn explains why the current fighting risks
becoming a full-scale war between the two countries, one that could easily draw
in others and thoroughly destabilize the region. (For a map showing the
locations of the most recent clashes, see Fondsk.ru, September 17; for a
discussion of how different the current situation is from the past, see
Stoletie.ru, September 16)
One Russian military analyst, Andrey Uvarov, suggested
that fighters from Afghanistan on the Tajikistani side, in his view, have
possibly been pushed into the conflict by the West, which is seeking another
way to put pressure on Moscow. Tensions are now so high that it is possible to
speak about the appearance of “a third force” in the conflict, one whose goals
are far broader than those of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan themselves and one
whose actions have kept both Bishkek and Dushanbe from agreeing to have the
Kremlin serve as a mediator (Fondsk.ru, September 17). Some Western observers,
however, are more inclined to see this unwillingness to involve Moscow as a
reflection of Russia’s declining influence in its neighbors because of its
aggression against Ukraine (Al Jazeera, September 17.
The involvement of Afghan fighters in these clashes
raises the stakes not only for the two countries directly involved but also for
the other Central Asian states, who are certain to be affected, as well as the
three great powers most closely involved in the region—Russia, China and the
US—not to mention Afghanistan itself. For Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the
consequences of these developments are obvious and frightening. Not only is the
conflict becoming more violent and widespread, but it is also raising the
prospect that one or both of these countries may descend into chaos, with
Tajikistan being particularly at risk (see EDM, February 15). Meanwhile, the
three other Central Asian countries are also at risk. While it is likely that
most of the Afghans involved in Tajikistan so far are ethnic Tajiks, Islamist
groups in Afghanistan do not feel constrained by ethnicity and are almost
certain to view the borders among the Central Asian countries with contempt.
That in turn means that many now fighting for Tajikistan may enter Uzbekistan
or even Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to stir up trouble in the near future.
Overall, the danger remains that the intensification
of violence brought on by the arrival of Afghan militants may threaten the
interests of the three outside powers. In the past, Russia, China and the US
have worked together to promote Tajikistan’s security by protecting it from
Afghan fighters (see EDM, June 22). More recently, Moscow and Beijing have
edged toward a division of responsibilities in the troubled country, given that
each has significant security assets there (see EDM, December 7, 2021). Yet,
the Afghan combatants’ assertiveness and the Kremlin’s declining influence in
the region could trigger conflicts among all three powers, either directly in
the case of Russia and China, or through proxies in the US case (see EDM, May
24).
At the same time, the involvement of Afghan fighters
in the Kyrgyzstani-Tajikistani clashes, beyond any doubt, will have a negative
impact on the Afghan government in Kabul, which has sought to prevent radicals
in the north from entering Central Asia lest their presence heighten tensions
between Afghanistan and Central Asia—and indeed tensions between Afghanistan
and the major powers. The appearance of Afghan fighters highlights Kabul’s
inability to control its own territory and population, a failure which ensures
that other countries will treat it with ever greater suspicion (see EDM,
February 15, August 1).
Source: James Town
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Explosion kills 3 people in Afghan capital
Sep 21, 2022
ISLAMABAD: An explosion in Afghanistan's capital has
killed at least three people and wounded 13 others, a Taliban official said on
Wednesday.
According to Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed
spokesman for the Kabul police chief, the blast occurred in a restaurant in the
city's western Dehmazang neighborhood. A team has arrived in the area to find
out the cause of the blast, he added.
Police did not say if the blast was an accident or the
result of an attack. Afghan cities are sometimes the target of the local
Islamic State group affiliate.
Residents and workers in the area said the restaurant
was a popular place to eat for low-income workers and poor people because it
was cheap.
One of those killed in the explosion was a teenager
who worked in a photography shop in the area. His funeral took place on
Wednesday, several hours after the incident.
An eyewitness, Hamid, said three of his friends were
killed. "There were many casualties and we put them into a civilian
vehicle and some other vehicles, and they were taken to Isteqlal
hospital."
Mohammad Mukhtar, the father of one of the victims,
said his son had been having lunch at the restaurant.
"Five minutes later, we were informed that my son
was martyred in the explosion. When I went to the hospital, I saw my son's dead
body. Who is responsible for it? Whom I can hold accountable for his
loss?"
IS's local affiliate, known as the Islamic State in
Khorasan Province, has increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the
country since the Taliban seized power last August.
Source: Times Of India
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Bangladesh to evacuate people from Myanmar border
By Stephan Uttom Rozario
September 21, 2022
Bangladesh is to evacuate hundreds of villagers from
risky border areas amid ongoing conflict between the military and Arakan Army
rebels in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, a security official said.
“The local administration has been advised by the
Border Guard Bangladesh [BGB] to temporarily evacuate the Bangladeshi nationals
living near that part of the border, considering the security issue,"
BGB’s Director of Operations Lt. Col. Faizur Rahman told UCA News.
Rahman said the steps have been taken to ensure the
safety of people in the context of ongoing clashes between the Myanmar military
and rebels just across the border.
The official said the fighting has prompted Bangladesh
to increase security and surveillance in recent weeks.
“Due to the situation arising along the Myanmar
border, the number of BGB personnel deployed there has been increased as well
as intelligence and patrolling activities," said Rahman.
The official didn’t provide the number of people being
moved, but local media reported that about 370 families were to be evacuated in
Tombru and Ghumdhum border areas.
The reactions in Bangladesh come amid weeks of intense
fighting in Rakhine state in western Myanmar, the home of Buddhist Rakhine and
minority Muslim Rohingya.
Bangladeshi media reported earlier this month that
Myanmar fighter jets violated the country’s air space on several occasions and
the military fired mortal shells that fell on Bangladesh’s side.
In response, Bangladesh summoned Myanmar's envoy to
protest against the military actions.
On Sept. 16, mortar shells hit and killed a Rohingya
refugee and injured at least five in a makeshift refugee camp at Zero Line of
the Tumbru border of the Naikhongchhari area of Bandarban district. The dead
Rohingya man was identified as 18-year-old Mohammad Iqbal.
The refugee camp shelters 4,500 Rohingya refugees from
621 families who fled a military crackdown in Rakhine in 2017. They are among
more than 750,000 Rohingya who crossed the border into Bangladesh following the
atrocities dubbed by the UN as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
Pope Francis met a group of Rohingya refugees during
his visit to Bangladesh in 2017 and called on the international community to
assist them and find a solution to the crisis.
Catholic charities — Caritas, Jesuit Refugee Service
(JRS), and Catholic Relief Service (CRS) — have been supporting refugees in
camps in Cox’s Bazar district.
Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya leader from Tombru camp said
the refugees have been living in fear due to clashes.
“We are in fear because we believe the Myanmar
military is targeting us. We don't know what to do now. We seek help from
Bangladesh and also from the United Nations,” Dil Mohammad told UCA News.
UCA News spoke to five local villagers in Tombru and
Ghumdhum areas of Bandarban who also said they have been living in fear as
fighting has continued in the border zone for weeks.
They said that farmers have stopped cultivating,
markets are deserted and some families have already moved from the area to stay
with relatives.
Moushumi Akhter, 29, along with her husband and two
children, took shelter at her cousin's home in Chittagong, about 150 kilometers
from Tumbru, about a week ago.
“We heard gunshots continuously and a mortar shell
fell about 200 meters from our house. We moved to Chittagong due to
insecurity,” Akhter told UCA News.
Akhter says her family owns some land in Tombru where
they cultivate paddy and vegetables. She said several other families have left
the border area.
She said that they have left all their belongings at
home, which remain unsafe.
Salma Ferdous, the head administrative officer in
Naikhongchhari of Bandarban told UCA News the administration has started
preparing a list of people to be evacuated, while locals have been advised to
maintain a safe distance from the border.
Source: UCA News
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https://www.ucanews.com/news/bangladesh-to-evacuate-people-from-myanmar-border/98834
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Taliban Distributes Aid to Families in Central
Afghanistan
By Saqalain Eqbal
21 Sep 2022
The Taliban distributed food assistance to over 1,600
needy families in Ghor province, in central Afghanistan, the Taliban-controlled
Bakhtar state news agency reported.
According to the report, the Taliban government’s
State Ministry for Disaster Management distributed aid to 1,609 impoverished
families in Ghor province who were affected by the recent natural disasters.
Among the disaster-hit families, needy families,
families of the martyrs, and the disabled also received the aid that the
Taliban ministry distributed.
According to Hossamuddin Mansoor, the Taliban director
of disaster management in Ghor province, 239 families affected by the reported
floods in the Taywara and Passaband districts were eligible for relief, and 25%
of the aid was given to the families of martyrs and people with disabilities.
The relief, which was provided to needy families by
the Taliban State Ministry for Disaster Management, is comprised of staple food
rations including flour, cooking oil, and rice, according to Bakhtar’s report,
which was released on Tuesday, the 20th of September.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/taliban-distributes-aid-to-families-in-central-afghanistan-87680/
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Uzbek leader ‘Dostum’ criticizes Hazar leader
‘Khalili’ for his secret ties with Pakistan
21 Sep 2022
Abdul Rashid Dostum, political figure and leader of
Uzbek community in Afghanistan accuses Mohammad Karim Khalili, a Hazara leader
for having secret ties with Pakistan.
In an online meeting among the anti-Taliban figures,
Abdul Rashid Dostum criticized the absence of Mohammad Karim Khalili in the
meeting and accused him for having secret ties with Pakistan.
Mohammad Karim Khalili has received money from
Pakistan to stay ‘silent’ against the Taliban, Abdul Rashid Dostum said in the
meeting which was held on the death anniversary of former Afghan President,
Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Mohammad Karim Khalili has shown reactions to Dostum’s
statement and has asked the Uzbek leader to apologize for his words.
Khalili has written on his Facebook page that his
political party believes that war and violence is not the solution of
Afghanistan’s crisis and the country needs to switch from a centralized system
to a fully decentralized administration system through negotiations.
This comes as the majority of political figures in
Afghanistan are living outside after the intra-Afghan peace negotiations failed
and the country fell in the hands of Taliban last August.
The world did not recognize the Taliban’s government
which was taken by force and asked the Taliban to form an inclusive
administration having all other ethnic and religious groups in the circle, but
the Taliban has not showed any positive intention to include others in the
government.
Source: Khaama Press
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Taliban supreme leader appoints new Education Minister
SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
The international community has made the reopening of
secondary schools for girls a key condition for recognising the Taliban
government
The Taliban supreme leader has installed a loyalist
cleric as Afghanistan's Education Minister, with the hardline Islamists
doubling down on their ban on secondary education for girls.
Hundreds of thousands of girls and young women have
been deprived of an education since the Taliban returned to power a year ago.
Habibullah Agha, a member of reclusive supreme leader
Hibatullah Akhundzada's inner circle, was named the new Education Minister in a
reshuffle announced by the government spokesman on Tuesday.
"We can't make any plans on our own. We don't do
that. Rather, I will act according to the instructions given by the supreme
leader," Mr. Agha, 68, told AFP on Wednesday.
He refused to share his personal views on girls'
education, and said he had not received any orders yet on the matter.
Many conservative Afghan clerics within the Taliban
are sceptical of modern education.
"The appointment of Habibullah Agha... indicates
the Taliban are elevating loyalists who reject the reopening of girls'
schools," said Nishank Motwani, an Afghan specialist and fellow at Harvard
University's Kennedy School.
Outgoing Education Minister Noorullah Munir was in
charge when the government announced the reopening of girls' schools in March.
Akhundzada blocked the decision in a move that upset
the Taliban's political leadership in Kabul.
Mr. Munir was named the head of a body that issues
religious edicts in the Tuesday reshuffle.
The international community has made the reopening of
secondary schools for girls a key condition for recognising the Taliban
government.
Taliban officials say the ban is temporary, but they
have also wheeled out a litany of excuses for the closures — from a lack of
funds to time needed to remodel the syllabus along Islamic lines.
Mr. Munir told local media this month that it was a
cultural issue, claiming many male elders in deeply conservative and
patriarchal Afghanistan were against their teenage daughters attending school.
Within weeks of seizing power last year, the Taliban
began imposing severe restrictions on women to comply with their austere vision
of Islam — effectively squeezing them out of public life.
Apart from closing high schools for girls, the Taliban
have barred women from many government jobs and also ordered them to cover up
in public, preferably with an all-encompassing burqa.
Source: The Hindu
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Arab
World
Arab youth name the UAE as the top country to live in
for the 11th year in a row
21 September, 2022
Arab youth have named the United Arab Emirates as the
country in the world they would most like to live in for the eleventh straight
year.
This was one of the major findings of the 14th Annual
ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey released on Wednesday.
The survey, which was commissioned to IDS Research
& Consultancy, carried out face-to-face interviews with 3,400 Arab
citizens, equally split between men and women, aged 18 to 24 in 50 cities
across 17 Arab countries from May 13 to June 16, 2022.
Around two-thirds of the participants, 57 percent,
selected the UAE as their top choice while their other choices included the US
(24 percent), Canada (20 percent), France (15 percent) and Germany (15
percent).
Most Arab youth also selected the UAE as the country
which they would like their own country to emulate for the eleventh year in a
row.
With a 37 percent of the participants selecting the
UAE, the latter ranked ahead of the US, Canada, Germany, France and Turkey.
According to the survey, over 80 percent of young Arab
women and men in the Middle East and North Africa think that promoting
stability is more important than promoting democracy.
“Most of the so-called Arab Spring generation, which
entered adulthood after the momentous events of the early 2010s, say they have
more freedoms today because of the protests,” the survey said, adding that 59
percent of the respondents believe that women have equal rights.
“While this year’s study arguably paints the most
enigmatic picture of Arab youth in its 14-year history, some characteristics of
the so-called Arab Spring Generation are clear to see. They are united by their
faith, their roots, their resourcefulness, and their demand for a fair chance
to succeed,” Donna Imperato, Global CEO, BCW, said.
Sunil John, President, MENA, BCW and Founder of ASDA’A
BCW, said the research provided further valuable insights about the thoughts of
Arab youth across MENA, and the issues decision-makers must address to utilize
their potential.
“These evidence-based insights inform governments,
businesses, multilateral institutions and academics on policymaking and
strategy. At ASDA’A BCW, we believe that to understand the Arab world, we must
first understand the hearts and minds of its largest demographic, its youth.
Once again, this year’s survey pinpoints critical themes in their outlook,” John
added.
According to the survey, 35 percent said the rising
living costs is one of the major obstacles facing the region, with 32 percent
citing unemployment as another obstacle.
The quality of education seems to be a concern for
youth as 83 percent said they were very or somewhat concerned about it.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Egyptian archaeologists discover coins from different
reigns of Islamic rulers
Hagar Hosny
September 22, 2022
CAIRO — The Egyptian archaeological mission of the
Supreme Council of Antiquities operating in the city of Esna in Upper Egypt has
recently discovered a cache containing coins from different historical decades
of the Islamic era, in addition to parts of molds to mint and weigh coins.
In a Sept. 11 statement published by the Ministry of
Tourism and Antiquities on its Facebook page, Secretary-General of the Supreme
Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri said that this discovery may indicate the
existence of a mint and weighing house in the city of Esna.
He noted that the archaeological mission will work on
uncovering this house in the coming period.
The head of the Central Administration of Antiquities
in Upper Egypt at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Mohamed Abdel Badie,
said in the same ministry statement, “The archaeological mission began its work
on the site last year in the part located directly behind the Temple of Esna,
until it found this huge number of coins, which included a gold coin dating
back to the era of Al-Aziz Billah Bin Al-Mu’izz Li Din Allah Al-Fatimi [a
Fatimid ruler], and 286 silver coins dating from the reign of 19 different
kings and sultans of the Mamluk era during different historical periods.”
He continued, “A foreign currency dating back to the
days of King Leon II, King of Armenia, who lived during the Mamluk era, was
also uncovered, as well as bronze and copper coins from the Ottoman era.”
Fathi Yassin, director general of Antiquities of Upper
Egypt, explained in the same statement that among the coins discovered recently
was a Fatimid gold dinar that dates back to the era of Al-Aziz Billah, a dirham
of Najm al-Din Aibak and another made of silver of the just King Badr al-Din
Solamish.
He said that half a dirham of King Mansour Saif al-Din
Qalawun, and a number of silver dirhams, including two dirhams of the just King
Zain al-Din Katbugha, one dirham of King al-Mansur Saif al-Din Abu Bakr and a
dirham of King al-Kamel Saif al-Din Shaaban, were also discovered.
The collection also included a commemorative dirham on
the occasion of the coronation of King Typhon II, and a set of bronze and
copper coins from the Ottoman era, according to Yassin.
Muhammad Hamza, professor of archaeology and Islamic
civilization and former dean of the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University,
told Al-Monitor, “The villages and cities of Upper Egypt were no less important
in the Islamic era than they were in the periods of the ancient Egyptian
civilization. On the contrary, they played an important role in trade and
pilgrimage, which was performed at the time through the Nile from Upper Egypt
to the Arabian Peninsula.”
He said, “The discovery of coins is evidence of
prosperity and that this region played an important role for the trade convoys
for a long time, especially since the discovered coins dated back to different
eras. Upper Egypt had a major role in the Fatimid era, and many Fatimid
emirates were formed there.”
Hamza added, “Finding antiquities dating back to the
Islamic era is not new to Esna and Upper Egypt in general, but foreign
propaganda for Pharaonic antiquities has consolidated the idea that Upper Egypt
is a center for antiquities belonging to the ancient Egyptian civilization
only. Discovering whether this area includes a coin mint requires more
excavations and consultation of old documents that dealt with Esna.”
The city of Esna lies on the west bank of the Nile, 55
kilometers (34 miles) to the south of Luxor, and it was known by different names
in the past, like Latopolis and Senat.
Abdel Rahim Rihan, member of the History and
Antiquities Committee of the governmental Supreme Council of Culture, believes
this archaeological discovery highlights the historical importance of the city
of Esna as a commercial city in the Islamic era, especially the Mamluk and
Ottoman eras.
He told Al-Monitor that trade flourished in the Mamluk
era and commercial centers were established, consisting of hotel rooms for
major merchants coming from Egypt or Europe to carry out various trade
operations. Such commercial centers include Khan Hassan Al-Jeddawi (1207
A.H./1792), 30 meters (98 feet) north of the Temple of Esna.
Rihan noted that Esna played “a civilized role in the
Fatimid era, which was evidenced by the discovery recently of a single gold
coin dating back to the Fatimid era of Al-Aziz Billah Bin Al-Mu’izz Li Din
Allah Al-Fatimi. Esna is also famous for Al-Omari Mosque. The mosque’s memorial
plaque includes 10 lines of prominent Kufic writings stating that the mosque
was founded during the era of the Fatimid Imam al-Mustansir Billah (429-487
A.H./1036-1094).”
Source: Al Monitor
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Two Americans among 10 prisoners released to Saudi
Arabia from Ukraine
21 September, 2022
A plane carrying 10 prisoners of war arrived from
Russia to Riyadh on Wednesday following successful mediation efforts by Saudi
Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the Saudi Press Agency
(SPA) and sources familiar with the matter.
The Saudi Crown Prince had been in direct contact with
the Kremlin and Ukraine as part of the mediation efforts for the release of the
prisoners, which included five British citizens, one Moroccan, one Swede, one
Croat, and two Americans.
The prisoners were captured in what the Russians call
separatist regions in Ukraine. The SPA reported that the POWs will now be
transferred to their home countries.
The two Americans released were US Army veteran
Alexander Drueke, 39, and 27-year-old Marine Corps veteran Andy Huynh, family
members told Reuters. They were captured in June while fighting alongside
Ukrainian forces near Kharkiv.
“I never dreamed that it was a possibility that the
Saudi government would be able to do something like this,” Drueke’s aunt told
The Washington Post. “But any port in a storm.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the
prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia and confirmed the two US citizens
were captured while serving in Ukraine’s military. Blinken thanked Ukraine for
including all prisoners of war, regardless of nationality, in its negotiations.
“We also thank our Saudi partners for helping to
spearhead this humanitarian initiative and facilitating the return of ten
foreign nationals, including the two US citizens greeted earlier today by our
embassy team in Riyadh. I conveyed my gratitude to Saudi Foreign Minister
Faisal bin Farhan in a call this morning,” Blinken said in a statement.
The top US diplomat reiterated previous calls for US
citizens to refrain from traveling to Ukraine to fight. “We encourage US
citizens to devote their energies towards the many other opportunities that
exist to help the country of Ukraine and its people,” he said.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan took to
Twitter to thank Ukraine’s president and the Saudi Crown Prince for their help
in securing the release of the two Americans.
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss welcomed the release of
five British nationals. “I thank @ZelenskyyUa for his efforts to secure the
release of detainees, and Saudi Arabia for their assistance. Russia must end
the ruthless exploitation of prisoners of war and civilian detainees for
political ends,” she tweeted.
British MP Robert Jenrick said Aiden Aslin was one of
the British nationals released. Aslin was captured earlier this year by Russian
forces during the battle for Mariupol and later sentenced to death by a court
in the Russian-backed breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic.
There are ongoing efforts to secure a prisoner swap of
50 Ukrainians in exchange for 200 Russians, including what reports indicate
could be one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close allies, Viktor
Medvedchuk. Medvedchuk was captured by Ukrainians in April.
It is unclear whether Wednesday’s prisoner release was
part of that specific deal.
In recent weeks, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive
and recaptured land taken by Russia in northeast and southern Ukraine,
including the towns of Izyum and Kupiansk and around Kharkiv.
Source: Al Arabiya
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IMF condemns Lebanon ‘very slow progress’ on reforms
21 September, 2022
The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday condemned
Lebanon's “very slow” progress on implementing reforms needed to unlock a
$3-billion-dollar loan crucial to revive its battered economy.
Lebanon and the IMF reached a conditional agreement on
the loan in April to help the country stem its worst-ever economic crisis,
which the World Bank has branded one of the planet's worst in modern times.
But Lebanon has yet to enact the reforms needed to
unlock the funds.
“Despite the urgency for action to address Lebanon's
deep economic and social crisis, progress in implementing the reforms...
remains very slow,” said Ramirez Rigo, who headed an IMF delegation that
visited Beirut this week and met with top officials.
“The majority of prior actions have not been
implemented,” he said in a written statement, adding that delays in
implementation will “only increase the costs to the country and its
population”.
The IMF conditioned the funds on a series of measures,
notably parliament approving a 2022 budget and a reformed bank secrecy law as
well as restructuring the banking sector and the implementation of formal
capital controls.
“Completion of these and other prior actions is also
needed for the IMF board to consider the request for a financial program with
Lebanon,” Rigo said.
Lebanon's economy minister Amin Salam, who met with
the delegation, said the IMF was pushing Lebanon to enact reforms before the
country heads for presidential elections in the coming weeks.
“Before we enter the period of presidential elections,
we must try to enact those four” measures, he told AFP.
The mandate of President Michel Aoun ends on October 31
but there is no consensus on naming his successor, as Lebanon's economy
continues to crash.
In a possible protracted political deadlock,
politicians have yet to agree on a new government since the mandate of the
outgoing cabinet expired in May.
Ministers are currently operating in a caretaker
capacity until a new team is formed.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Turkish security forces ‘neutralize’ 3 PKK/YPG
terrorists in northern Syria
Merve Berker
22.09.2022
Turkish security forces “neutralized” three PKK/YPG
terrorists in northern Syria, the National Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
The terrorists, who opened harassing fire on Turkish
soldiers, were targeted in the Operation Euphrates Shield zone, the ministry
said in a statement.
Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply
the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful
anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the
formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents:
Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Saudi Arabia urges Iran not to interfere in domestic
affairs
Mahmoud Mohamed Barakat
21.09.2022
Speaker of the Saudi Shura Council, Abdullah bin
Muhammad Al-Sheikh, has called on regional rival Iran to cooperate and adhere
to the principle of non-interference in the affairs of other countries.
This came during a meeting of the heads of the Shura
Councils of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the Omani capital, Muscat,
according to Saudi media.
"The kingdom calls on Iran, as a neighbor whose
people we have religious and cultural ties, to cooperate with the countries of
the region by adhering to the principles of international legitimacy," he
said.
He added that Riyadh calls on Tehran “not to interfere
in the domestic affairs of other countries, to cooperate with the International
Atomic Energy Agency, and to fulfill its obligations in this regard."
Saudi Arabia and Iran severed their diplomatic
relations in 2016 following an attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after Shia
cleric Nimr al-Nimr was executed by Saudi authorities.
Their relationship further nosedived after Iran in
September 2016 accused Riyadh of deliberately causing the death of around 400
Iranian pilgrims in a 2015 stampede in the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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More than 1 million people register for voluntary work
ahead of Saudi National Day
GHADI JOUDAH
September 22, 2022
RIYADH: As the 92nd Saudi National Day approaches, the
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has revealed that more than
1 million people have registered with its National Volunteer Portal.
The portal aims to promote voluntary work
opportunities offered by organizations in various sectors, including chances to
help with National Day activities and initiatives. It is described as an
incubator that provides a safe environment for volunteers, coordinates their
efforts with those of the organizations offering voluntary opportunities, and
protects the rights of both parties.
The platform includes offers a number of advantages
for volunteers, the ministry said, the foremost of which is full documentation
within the Absher government services platform of the hours of work they
donate.
Mashael Al-Mubarak, general director of volunteering
at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, told Arab News that
her team has been focusing recently on opportunities for volunteers to
contribute to the celebrations for National Day, which takes place on Friday
this week.
“This is what we have worked on during the last period
and we have (been) receiving requests from volunteers wishing to register in
volunteer opportunities, contribute to various sectors and support activities
and initiatives to celebrate the 92nd Saudi National Day,” she said.
“The opportunities that were presented on the occasion
of the National Day cover various fields of community service and related
sectors, in accordance with the controls that were set by the Ministry of Human
Resources and Social Development and the General Administration of Voluntary
Work in the ministry.”
She added that the official efforts to promote the
value of volunteering are designed to help achieve the goals of Saudi Vision
2030 relating to “encouraging volunteer work, with the aim of strengthening and
consolidating the values of giving, generating awareness of the culture of
volunteer work and achieving Vision 2030’s goal of reaching one million
volunteers in 2030.”
Al-Mubarak said the generous nature of the Saudi
people is reflected in the fact that more than 1 million people and 3,629
public and private-sector organizations have registered with the National
Volunteer Portal and the number of people who have benefited from the work of
volunteers has reached more than 34 million.
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2167206/saudi-arabia
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UAE foreign minister meets Ukrainian counterpart in
New York
September 22, 2022
NEW YORK: The UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan met with his
Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in New York on Thursday, the Emirates News
Agency (WAM) reported.
The two officials had their meeting on the sidelines
of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, according to WAM.
The officials discussed bilateral relations between
the UAE and Ukraine and ways to further develop joint cooperation across
various sectors, especially food security and trade exchange.
Al-Nahyan and Kuleba also reviewed the latest
developments in the Ukrainian crisis, with the UAE official highlighting his
country’s readiness to support all efforts to restore stability and peace
through a sustainable diplomatic solution, WAM reported.
The meeting was attended by Reem bint Ibrahim
Al-Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation; Mariam bint
Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment; and
Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Permanent
Representative of the UAE to the United Nations.
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2167451/middle-east
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Africa
God against muslim-muslim ticket, it’ll drive
Christians to slavery – Primate Ayodele
September 21, 2022
By Seun Opejobi
The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church,
Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Wednesday warned Nigerians against supporting the
All Progressives Congress, APC, Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
Primate Ayodele warned that people supporting the
ticket are only driving Christians into severe slavery because God is not in
support of it.
In a statement signed by his spokesman, Oluwatosin
Osho, the clergyman said those supporting the ticket are blind spiritually.
Ayodele pointed out that he isn’t against any
presidential candidate or interested in trading words with them.
He insisted that God has spoken against the same
religious ticket, adding that, as God’s prophet, he needs to warn the people
against it to avoid God’s wrath.
Ayodele added: ‘’Only Nigerians that are blind
spiritually will support Muslim-Muslim ticket, it will drive Christians to
slavery.
“Anyone who supports the same religious ticket is
against his creator because God is against it.
“I am not against any candidate or trading words with
anyone, but this is what God says, Muslim-Muslim ticket is against the
country’s progress and is satanic.‘’
The APC had settled for a Muslim-Muslim presidential
candidate in 2023.
APC’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, picked
Kashim Shettima as his running mate despite agitations by Nigerians.
Source: Daily Post Nigeria
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Ivory Coast’s president calls for release of 46 troops
detained in Mali in UN speech
James Tasamba
22.09.2022
Ivory Coast’s president called Wednesday for the
“immediate” release of 46 troops from his country who were arrested in Mali in
July while addressing the UN General Assembly in New York City.
The soldiers were “unjustly arrested” as they are part
of Ivory Coast’s logistical contingent to support its troops deployed under the
United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali
(MINUSMA), said Alassane Ouattara.
“My country encourages the Malian authorities to focus
their efforts on the fight against terrorism,” he added.
On July 10, Mali's transitional government arrested 49
Ivorian soldiers upon their arrival in the capital Bamako, accusing them of
possessing weapons and ammunition of war “without a mission order” and
considering them “mercenaries” to be prosecuted.
The military junta released three female soldiers in
the group.
Last weekend, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
said the 46 soldiers are not mercenaries.
In July, the government said no Ivorian soldiers in
the contingent were in possession of weapons and ammunition of war as alleged
by the Malian authorities.
Mali’s junta leader Col. Assimi Goita has indicated
that freeing the remaining troops would be tied to the extradition of Malians
being sought on international warrants in Ivory Coast, a condition dismissed by
Abidjan as “unacceptable blackmail.”
An extraordinary session of leaders of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is due Thursday in New York to
discuss the crisis among other issues on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly.
Ouattara, however, reiterated Ivory Coast’s support
for UN peacekeeping operations.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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US airstrike kills 27 al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia
Mohammed Dhaysane
21.09.2022
MOGADISHU, Somalia
A US airstrike in central Somalia killed 27 al-Shabaab
terrorists, the American military said on Wednesday.
The airstrike was conducted on Sept. 18 “at the
request of the Federal Government of Somalia … against al-Shabaab terrorists
who were attacking Somali National Army forces near Buulobarde,” the US African
Command said in a statement.
No civilians were injured, it added.
“The defensive strikes allowed the Somali National
Army and African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) forces to regain
the initiative and continue the operation to disrupt al-Shabaab in the Hiran
region of central Somalia,” the statement said.
“This operation is the largest combined Somali and
ATMIS offensive operation in five years.”
Violence has increased in the Hiran region this month
as authorities have engaged locals in efforts to reclaim villages from
al-Shabaab.
Residents reported fierce fighting between Somali
forces and terrorists in Booco this week, while senior military officials told
Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that there were casualties on both sides.
Booco, a strategic town some 55 kilometers (35 miles)
east of Hiran’s capital Beledweyne, has been under al-Shabaab’s control for
more than 13 years.
Somalia has been grappling with increasing insecurity
for years, with al-Shabaab being one of the main threats in the Horn of Africa
country.
Since at least 2007, the terrorist group has waged a
deadly campaign against the Somali government and international forces.
The UN has also warned of growing instability in the
country, with its periodic reports on Somalia this year detailing attacks by
al-Shabaab and pro-Daesh/ISIS groups.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/us-airstrike-kills-27-al-shabaab-terrorists-in-somalia/2691381
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Libya on the path toward democratic transformation,
Al-Menfi tells UNGA
September 22, 2022
LONDON: The head of Libya’s Presidential Council
Mohamed Al-Menfi spoke to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday about the need
for unity in his country.
Al-Menfi reiterated his commitment to the Libyan
Political Agreement, and as “the supreme political authority,” efforts to prepare
for a peaceful and democratic transfer of power through presidential and
parliamentary elections.
He also said that the ongoing crises in the country
had been exacerbated by foreign intervention, while paying tribute to the
spirit and patriotism of Libyans.
“The Libyan people have demonstrated to the entire
world that they represent a unified nation in spite of the challenges,” he
said.
“Individual interests of different countries involved
in the Libyan situation as well as proxy wars and diverging views on how to
solve the situation in Libya have not given us an opportunity to develop our
own national path," he added.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2167301/world
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Mideast
Iran’s Raisi accuses West of ‘double standards’ on
human rights
Syed Zafar Mehdi
21.09.2022
TEHRAN, Iran
In his first-ever appearance at the UN General
Assembly on Wednesday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi accused the West of
adopting “double standards” on human rights and justice.
He said Iran bats for the “globalization of justice”
while referring to the recent incident of an Iranian woman whose death in
police custody has sparked countrywide protests.
Raisi said double standards exhibited by some Western
governments have fueled human rights violations, pointing to the widespread
coverage of the incident related to the 22-year-old woman’s death and what he
called “deathly silence” of the death of homeless women in the West.
Raisi’s trip to New York to take part in the 77th
session of the UN General Assembly has coincided with angry protests across
Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who died in police custody on Friday
after being detained over an alleged violation of the Islamic dress code.
Raisi has asked the interior ministry to investigate
the death as protests continue to grow louder.
The incident has drawn condemnation from many world
leaders and human rights groups, including the United States, to which Iran’s foreign
minister on Tuesday took strong umbrage.
Rights violations
In his UNGA speech, Raisi slammed Western countries
for what he termed “violations of human rights and the rights of nations,”
including those of the indigenous people of Canada.
He said the world has stayed silent on the
"killing of tens of defenseless women" in a Western country, without
naming it, while also criticizing Canada for the treatment of its indigenous
population.
The Iranian president referred to the “change in world
order” where international organizations have become “instruments of
repression”, saying this order has lost support among people.
He said his country has faced “coups, foreign
interventions, and coercive sanctions” over the decades, while also referring
to foreign interventions in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
Raisi further said that dialogue, not war, is a
solution, hastening to add that Iran as an important regional player is ready
to help solve regional crises through dialogue.
He said he had told his counterparts from regional
countries on the margins of the UNGA summit in New York that the security of
the region must be secured by the regional countries themselves.
Iran’s president went on to accuse the US of
“creating” the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group, saying former US President Donald
Trump had “admitted to it”.
He held aloft a picture of slain military commander
Gen. Qassem Soleimani during the speech, saying his country will pursue the
“trial of the former US president’s crime through a fair tribunal”.
Soleimani was assassinated outside the Baghdad airport
in January 2020 in a US airstrike. Iranian leaders have often spoken about
avenging his death.
Nuclear deal
On Iran’s nuclear program, Raisi said the country is
not after developing nuclear weapons, invoking the religious decree issued by
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He said only 2% of nuclear activities in the world
take place in Iran, while 35% of inspections of the UN nuclear watchdog are
focused on the country.
Raisi described sanctions as “weapons of mass
destruction”, blaming the US for “trampling” the nuclear agreement reached in
2015 and procrastinating on its revival.
The indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to
revive the nuclear deal, from which the US withdrew in May 2018, have been
underway in the Austrian capital since April last year.
While both sides have noted progress in recent rounds
of talks, mediated by the European Union, some key sticking points, including a
probe into undeclared nuclear sites in Iran, have prevented a
breakthrough.
Raisi, putting up a tough front, said Tehran has
“found a path independent of any agreement”, an indication that the revival of
the deal is not on top of his government’s agenda.
Before departing for New York on Monday, the Iranian
leader had ruled out the possibility of meeting US officials on the sidelines
of the summit to end the nuclear deal deadlock.
In an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes on Sunday,
he said Biden was following Trump’s roadmap, stressing that his meeting with
Biden will be “futile”.
In the last two days in New York, Raisi held a series
of meetings with the leaders of France, Iraq, Pakistan and Switzerland, and the
European Union Commission president.
Raisi told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that
an agreement was impossible without Iran’s case at the UN nuclear agency being
closed. Macron, however, refused to put pressure on the watchdog, urging Iran
and the IAEA to resolve the issue through cooperation.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Iran’s Khamenei ignores widespread protests over Mahsa
Amini’s death
21 September, 2022
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei refrained on
Wednesday from commenting on ongoing protests in his first public appearance
since anti-regime demonstrations sparked by the death of a young woman in
police custody escalated.
Khamenei addressed a gathering in Tehran that included
senior military commanders ahead of the anniversary of the start of the
eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war in 1980. The speech was broadcast on state TV.
Khamenei’s speech did not include any remarks about
protests in Iran and instead focused on the war with Iraq in the 1980s.
Some observers had expected Khamenei to comment on the
ongoing protests in the country. The supreme leader has in the past blamed
anti-regime demonstrations on the Islamic Republic’s foreign “enemies.”
Khamenei’s apparent “indifference” to the ongoing
protests shows that “he has not woken up yet,” Iranian journalist Reza
Haghighatnejad wrote on Twitter. “Sleep, old man, the people are awake.”
Iranian journalist Behnam Gholipour said Khamenei did
not address the ongoing unrest to protect President Ebrahim Raisi, who is
currently in New York and is due to address the UN General Assembly on
Wednesday.
“(Khamenei) did not talk (about the protests) so that
Raisi would not be under pressure from the media, and his speech at the UN
would not be sidelined,” Gholipour wrote on Twitter.
“After Raisi returns and if protests continue,
(Khamenei) will undoubtedly take a stand,” he added.
Protests erupted across Iran after Mahsa Amini, a
22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, was pronounced dead on Friday. Amini fell
into a coma shortly after she was detained by the morality police for allegedly
not complying with the regime’s strict hijab rules in Tehran on September 13.
Activists and protesters say Amini was beaten by
police officers while in detention, causing her serious injuries that led to
her death. Police deny the allegations.
The protests continued for a fifth consecutive day in
dozens of cities on Tuesday, with demonstrators chanting against Khamenei and
calling for the downfall of the regime, footage circulating on social media
showed.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Suspected Palestinian murderer found hanged in
Israel’s Tel Aviv
21 September, 2022
A Palestinian suspected of beating an 84-year old
Israeli woman to death was found hanged in the heart of Tel Aviv Wednesday,
Israeli police said.
Police had launched a massive manhunt for the suspect
identified as Mousa Sarsour, 28, following Tuesday’s murder in the town of
Holon just outside the Israeli metropolis.
“The body of a man has been found on Bar Kochba Street
in Tel Aviv and a preliminary examination shows it to be the body of the murder
suspect,” police said in a statement.
The body was found hanged at the corner of Bar Kochba
and Dizengoff Streets, a busy nightlife and shopping district, by a passerby
who notified the police, the officer in charge of the area said.
Israeli media quoted police as saying his death was an
apparent suicide.
They said Sarsour, from the town of Qalqilya in the
occupied West Bank, had entered Israel with a valid permit to work on a
building site in Holon.
Authorities have not identified his victim, who was
killed with a metal pole.
In a statement late Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister
Yair Lapid described the incident as “a shocking attack by a despicable and
cowardly terrorist who murdered an elderly woman who could not fight back.”
Overnight, the Israeli army said it had arrested 11
suspects in raids across the West Bank, among them “five individuals suspected
of assisting in the terror attack.”
Israel has stepped up operations in the northern West
Bank in particular after a wave of attacks against Israeli targets killed 20
people, mostly Israelis, since March.
The army has carried out near nightly raids on
Palestinian-administered towns and cities, sparking frequent clashes with
residents.
Dozens of Palestinians, including civilians and
members of armed groups, have been killed.
Source: Al Arabiya
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6 killed in Iran protests over woman’s death in police
custody
21.09.2022
At least six Iranians were killed in protests
triggered by the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody, according to
officials and local media.
Prosecutor-General of Iran’s western province of
Kermanshah, Shahram Karami, said two people were killed and 25 others injured,
including a police officer.
Four other people were killed in demonstrations in
several cities in Kurdistan province, Governor Ismail Zarei said in a statement
cited by the semi-official Fars news agency.
He added that the protesters had been
"suspiciously" killed, without providing details.
Mahsa Amini was on Friday taken to a police station in
Tehran by members of the morality police for alleged violation of the Islamic
dress code.
Inside the police station, the 22-year-old woman
fainted in mysterious circumstances and was later pronounced dead at a Tehran
hospital, according to a CCTV footage released by the police.
Her death has triggered a wave of angry protests in
Iran in the past few days, with protesters calling for justice and
accountability.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Soleimani’s picture: Burned by protesters in Iran,
paraded as ‘martyr’ by Raisi at UN
22 September, 2022
Iranian protesters set fire to a banner of slain
commander Qassem Soleimani on the sixth day of continued anti-regime
demonstrations. Meanwhile, at the United Nations General Assembly, President
Ebrahim Raisi held up a photo of Soleimani demanding those behind his killing
be brought to justice.
Protests continued to sweep the country for a sixth
consecutive day on Wednesday. Footage circulating on social media showed people
chanting against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, calling for the downfall of the
regime, clashing with security forces, and attacking police vehicles.
Demonstrations reached the city of Kerman, Soleimani’s
birthplace, where two protesters set fire to a large banner featuring the late
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, as seen in a video shared on
Twitter.
Meanwhile, Raisi vowed, in a speech to the UNGA, to
seek “justice” for the 2020 US killing of Soleimani while holding up a picture
of the slain commander.
Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the overseas arm of
the IRGC, and was seen as Khamenei’s right hand man.
Since Soleimani’s death, Iranian protesters have
targeted him, shouting slogans against him and tearing down his banners, to
express discontent with the regime.
More deaths
Security forces opened fire on protesters, killing and
wounding several people, according to videos shared on Twitter by @1500tasvir,
an account with nearly 100,000 followers that posts protest videos received
from inside Iran.
Iranian Kurdish rights group Hengaw said on Wednesday
security forces shot dead seven people over the past four days in
Kurdish-majority regions in western and northwestern Iran, where heavy clashes
have been taking place between protesters and security forces.
The protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini
in police custody. She was from Iran’s Kurdistan province.
More than 500 Kurdish citizens have been arrested,
Hengaw added.
Iranian authorities have confirmed several deaths,
holding anti-regime protesters responsible.
Hossein Ojaghi, a member of the Basij, a paramilitary
arm of the IRGC, was stabbed to death by “rioters” during protests in the
northwestern city of Tabriz, the semi-official Fars news agency reported late
on Wednesday.
Ojaghi was present at the protests to “confront rioters,”
it said.
State news agency IRNA said police arrested “some
riotous leaders” during Wednesday’s demonstrations in Tehran.
The agency also said a “police assistant” died from
injuries on Tuesday in the southern city of Shiraz following clashes with protesters.
Khamenei ignores protests
Supreme Leader Khamenei gave a televised speech on
Wednesday in which he refrained from commenting on the ongoing protests. That
was his first public appearance since the demonstrations sparked by Amini’s
death escalated.
Khamenei addressed a gathering in Tehran that included
senior military commanders ahead of the anniversary of the start of the
eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war in 1980.
The supreme leader has in the past blamed anti-regime
demonstrations on the Islamic Republic’s foreign “enemies.”
Instagram, WhatsApp restricted
Authorities restricted on Wednesday access to
Instagram and WhatsApp, internet blockage observatory NetBlocks said.
Instagram is the only major unblocked social media
platform in Iran and as a result is widely popular with millions of users
inside the country. Facebook and Twitter have been banned for years.
“The Instagram social media platform and WhatsApp
messaging app were subsequently restricted nationally on Wednesday 21
September, followed by a nation-scale shutdown of mobile networks,” NetBlocks
said.
“The network disruptions are likely to severely limit
the public’s ability to express political discontent and communicate freely,”
it added.
Iran has in recent years restricted internet access
during anti-regime protests to stymie demonstrations.
“Iran is now subject to the most severe internet
restrictions since the November 2019 massacre,” NetBlocks said, referring to
when authorities shut down access to the internet for several days amid widespread
anti-regime protests.
During the 2019 protests, security forces killed about
1,500 people, according to a Reuters report. There are now concerns Tehran is
gearing up for a similar crackdown amid reports about internet restrictions.
The latest protests erupted across Iran after Amini, a
22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, was pronounced dead on Friday. She fell into
a coma shortly after she was detained by the morality police for allegedly not
complying with the regime’s strict hijab rules in Tehran on September 13.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Iran, US clash at UN on nuclear deal, human rights
issues
22 September, 2022
The US and Iran clashed on security and human rights
on Wednesday, with Iran's president demanding US guarantees to revive the 2015
Iran nuclear deal and the US president vowing Tehran would never get an atomic
bomb.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi struck a defiant tone
at the United Nations General Assembly by decrying “double standards” on human
rights after the death of an Iranian woman in police custody that has sparked
protests around Iran.
Raisi also said Tehran wanted former US President
Donald Trump to face trial for the 2020 killing of Iran's top Quds Force
commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone attack in Iraq, holding up a picture
of the general.
“There is a great and serious will to resolve all
issues to revive the (2015 nuclear) deal,” Raisi told the UN General Assembly.
“We only wish one thing: observance of commitments.”
Speaking later, US President Joe Biden reiterated his
willingness to revive the nuclear pact under which Iran had agreed to restrain
its atomic program in return for relief from economic sanctions.
In 2018, Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal
and unilaterally reimposed sanctions that have hobbled Iran's economy.
A year later, Tehran reacted by gradually violating
the deal's nuclear limits and reviving US, Israeli and Gulf Arab fears that
Iran may be seeking to obtain an atomic weapon, an ambition Iran denies.
“We have before us the experience of America's
withdrawal from the (deal),” Raisi said. “With that experience and this
perspective, can we ignore the important issue of guarantees for a durable
agreement?”
Raisi did not mention Iran's demand that
investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into traces of
uranium found at three undeclared Iranian sites be closed, a major stumbling
block to reviving the deal.
US and European officials have said the probes can
only be closed if Iran provides satisfactory answers to the UN nuclear watchdog
whose chief, Rafael Grossi, said these issues cannot be wished away.
‘Double standards’
Raisi also sought to deflect criticism of last week's
death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in Tehran
for “unsuitable attire”. Amini's death has unleashed anger in the streets since
Friday over issues including freedoms in the Islamic Republic and an economy
reeling from sanctions.
At least seven people have been killed in protests
with some demanding “regime change”.
“The Islamic Republic considers the double standards
of some governments in the field of human rights as the most important factor
in the institutionalization of human rights violations,” Raisi said in a text
of his speech released by his office.
He said this led to “diverse and numerous positions
towards an incident under investigation in ... Iran,” an apparent reference to
Amini's case, and “the deathly silence” about allegations of human rights
violations in the West.
“Human rights belongs to all, but unfortunately it is
trampled upon by many governments,” he added, referring to the discovery of
unmarked graves of indigenous people in Canada, the suffering of the
Palestinians and images of migrant children held in cages in the US.
Biden expressed a willingness to return to the nuclear
deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and made clear
US sympathies lay with the protesters in Iran.
“While the US is prepared for a mutual return to the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action if Iran steps up to its obligations, the US
is clear: We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,” he said,
repeating a long-held US position.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Iran restricts access to Instagram as protests
intensify: Report
21 September, 2022
Iran has restricted access to Meta Platforms Inc’s
Instagram, one of the last remaining social media platforms in the country,
amid protests over the death of a woman in police custody, internet shutdown
observatory NetBlocks said.
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested
by morality police in Tehran for “unsuitable attire,” last week has unleashed
simmering anger over issues including freedom in the Islamic Republic and an economy
reeling from sanctions.
London-based NetBlocks’ data shows a near-total
disruption to internet service in parts of Kurdistan province in west Iran
since Monday, while the capital city of Tehran and other parts of the country
have also faced disruptions since Friday when protests first broke out.
Protests have been particularly intense in Kurdistan
where Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has a history of suppressing unrest.
Iran’s minister of communications said earlier on
Wednesday he had been misquoted after news outlets cited him as saying the
authorities might disrupt internet services for security reasons.
Social media websites such as TikTok, YouTube, Twitter
and Facebook are routinely blocked in parts of the Islamic Republic, which has
some of the strictest internet controls in the world.
But tech-savvy residents bypass curbs using virtual
private networks (VPNs).
Meta and Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Iran president says not seeking nuclear weapons, urges
US guarantees
21 September, 2022
Iran's president told the United Nations on Wednesday
that his country was not seeking an atomic weapon and demanded US guarantees it
would abide by any revived nuclear deal.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking to build
or obtain nuclear weapons and such weapons have no place in our doctrine,”
President Ebrahim Raisi told the UN General Assembly.
Raisi, a hardline cleric, addressed the world body
just hours before US President Joe Biden was set to take the stage, amid a
surge of tension over an Iran nuclear deal that remains blocked despite months
of negotiations, and mounting pressure over the country's human rights record.
“All of this is taking place in an environment where
countries themselves that seek to show us unjustly as a threat keep pursuing
nuclear weapons and development and testing,” Raisi said, claiming there is a
“double standard” when it comes to discussion of Iran's nuclear science
capacity as well as women's rights.
He denounced the lack of pressure on Israel, an
undeclared nuclear power, saying that Iran has complied with international
commitments.
“We all know that it's only for human and peaceful
endeavors,” Raisi said of his country's nuclear program.
“But some countries are keen on portraying this as a
threat, in order to sweep under the rug what they should rightly face
themselves, which should be denuclearization.”
The West has been calling on Tehran to revive the 2015
nuclear accord -- four years after Biden's White House predecessor Donald Trump
pulled out of the deal and reimposed major sanctions on Iran.
Raisi voiced doubt about the Biden administration's
sincerity.
“They keep repeating the same stories of the past
which puts a great deal of doubt on their true commitment to return to the
agreement,” he said.
“Can we truly trust -- without guarantees and
assurances -- that they will decide to live up to that commitment?”
French President Emmanuel Macron met with Raisi in New
York Tuesday, saying afterward that “the ball is in Iran's court.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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Southeast
Asia
Put
patriotism first, China tells its Muslims
Ananth
Krishnan
SEPTEMBER
21, 2022
Most
Muslim countries have kept a studied silence on Xinjiang, as has the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which has often criticised India over
Kashmir
The
Chinese Communist Party’s top leader in charge of religious affairs has called
on the country’s Islamic associations and Muslim communities to “maintain the
correct political direction” and “uphold the banner of patriotism”.
Wang
Yang, the fourth-ranking member of the party’s top Politburo Standing
Committee, who heads the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, in
a meeting with the official China Islamic Association “called for full
implementation of the Party’s basic policy on religious affairs and efforts to
rally Islamic figures and Muslims closely around the Party and the government,”
State media reported.
He
also called on the association’s new leadership “to maintain the correct
political direction, uphold the banner of patriotism and socialism, further
strengthen the Chinese orientation in developing Islam in China, and facilitate
the adaptation of Islam in China to socialist society.”
His
comments came weeks after an August 31 report released by the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said China had committed
“serious human rights violations” against its Uyghur Muslim minority in the
western Xinjiang region.
The
report said the “extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of
Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups”, referring to a network of
reeducation centres built by China in the past five years which the government
has called “vocational training” institutions, “may constitute… crimes against
humanity”.
China
slammed the report as “a patchwork of disinformation that serves as a political
tool for the U.S. and some Western forces to strategically use Xinjiang to
contain China”.
“The
fact that this assessment, despite its illegality and zero credibility, did not
go so far as to play up false allegations such as ‘genocide’, ‘forced labour’,
‘religious oppression’ and ‘forced sterilisation’ shows that the lies of the
century concocted by the U.S. and some Western forces have already collapsed,”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
Most
Muslim countries have kept a studied silence on Xinjiang, as has the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which has often criticised India over
Kashmir.
Source:
The Hindu
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Survey:
Growing religious observance reshaping consumer landscape in Malaysia, SE Asia
By
Ashman Adam
22
Sep 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR, Sept 22 — Growing religious observance — fuelled by government policies
implemented to promote sectors such as halal foods and Islamic banking, as well
as political parties courting Muslim votes — has reshaped the Muslim consumer
landscape in Malaysia and its neighbouring countries in merely a single
generation, a report has indicated.
Because
of this, the report, penned by Wunderman Thompson Intelligence, in
collaboration with VMLY&R Malaysia’s Muslim Intel Lab titled “The New
Muslim Consumer: How Rising Observance is Reshaping the Consumer Landscape in
South-east Asia and Beyond”, showed that 33 per cent of its respondents say
they are more observant of their faith compared to their parents at their age.
The
report said that prior to this, Muslim-influenced consumerism would only
encompass food — primarily the avoidance of pork and alcohol — but has now
expanded to include fashion, banks, travel, education, as well as personal
spending, investment and donations, leading to the emergence of modest fashion
brands, Shariah-compliant banks, hijabi-only hair salons, as well as halal dim
sum restaurants.
It
also noted that this urbanisation of Islam has prompted the growth of Islamic
stamps of approval, such as halal certification for products or services.
Hew
Wai Weng, a research fellow at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) who studies
the Muslim middle class in Malaysia and Indonesia, dubbed this “liquid
Islamism”, a riff on the concept of “liquid modernity” which describes constant
change within contemporary society.
“Urbanisation
is one of the reasons halal certification has become so important in Malaysia
and Indonesia.
“This
(certification) is especially important for those who leave the familiarity of
close-knit small towns and villages for cities, as they look for a network they
can trust,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Based
on this, the report found that Islam has become a significant part of daily
life, with 91 per cent of respondents saying that having a strong relationship
with Allah is very important, on par with health care and followed closely by
family, at 89 per cent.
On
the other end of the spectrum, only 34 per cent of the respondents view wealth
as important, only 28 per cent say following their passions is important, and
only 12 per cent cite fame.
The
report also stated that men are significantly more likely than women to
prioritise marriage, children and career, while women are significantly more
likely to place importance on having new experiences and experiences that are
different from their parents, as well as travel.
In
terms of gender roles and responsibilities, the report found that a majority of
respondents indicated that men provide the most financial support for their
households.
However,
a significant minority — two out of five — of women say they provide the most
financial support for their household.
Of
that number, 17 per cent of women consider themselves to be heads of their
households as they provide the most financial support within it.
The
urbanisation of the Muslim consumer has also led to an agreement that young
women should have more access to education.
However,
fewer than one-third strongly feel that young women should have more freedoms
than they do now, or more of a voice in their mosque community or government.
In
terms of travel, the availability of halal restaurants and hotel options are
just as important as the cost of travelling for Muslim consumers and have
become top drivers of destination choice when considering international travel.
Muslim
consumers will also now take note of the friendliness of the destination’s
governments and citizens towards Muslims when deciding.
The
survey also showed that Muslims are adopting technology to further their halal
lifestyle, including using mobile apps, with 42 per cent and 39 per cent of men
shopping online at least once a week.
It
said that consumers are most likely to turn to online shopping for clothing,
household products, beauty products, tech products and groceries, while men are
more likely to purchase tech products online, but otherwise women are more
likely to make online purchase.
Source:
Malay Mail
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Foreign
student caught with ‘large amount’ of child porn
September
22, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: A 24-year-old foreign university student was caught by the police in
Seremban on Monday for possessing “a large amount” of child pornography on his
laptop and mobile phone.
Federal
police secretary Noorsiah Saaduddin said the suspect used social media to
communicate with his victims – all children from overseas – and coerced them to
provide him with pornographic materials.
She
said the arrest was the result of close cooperation between the police and the
US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
The
arrest was carried out by a team from the police’s sexual, women and children
crime investigation division (D11).
The
suspect will be brought to the Seremban magistrates’ court today to be charged
under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which carries
a punishment of not more than 30 years’ jail and whipping for each charge upon
conviction.
He
will also be charged under Section 10 of the same Act, which carries a
punishment of not more than five years’ jail and a fine of not more than
RM10,000 or both, for each charge.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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Loke
rubbishes rumours Parliament to be dissolved on Oct 10
September
22, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook has dismissed talk of Parliament
being dissolved days after the tabling of Budget 2023, warning that it would
destabilise the country’s administration.
Speaking
at an online forum titled “Anthony Jawab Jujur”, Loke said it would be too
short a period for Parliament to approve the budget.
“The
process of approving the annual budget would usually take between six to seven
weeks,” he pointed out, saying it would need to undergo the requisite debates
and voting in Parliament.
He
was commenting on speculation that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob would
call for a dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10, a mere three days after the
tabling of the annual budget.
Loke
said if Parliament was to be dissolved just a few days after the tabling of the
budget, then the budget would effectively not be approved and thus could not be
implemented in time for 2023.
He
said that if the next general election (GE15) was called in mid-November, then
it would take weeks before a new government and Cabinet could be formed.
“This
means the (whole) process will need to restart as the new finance minister
would likely table a new budget,” he said.
He
added that if the budget was not approved by December, then the government
would not be able to pay the salaries of civil servants come the new year.
On
Saturday, at the launch of the Barisan Nasional Youth machinery, Ismail had
urged Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to hold discussions quickly about the
date for GE15.
Ismail,
who is an Umno vice-president, said he needed a bit more time to decide on the
date together with Zahid, Bernama reported.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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2023
will be challenging for all countries, says Tengku Zafrul
Tsubasa
Nair
September
21, 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR: Finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has dismissed claims that Malaysia
is in an economic crisis, but cautions that 2023 will be a challenging year for
all countries.
Tengku
Zafrul told a press conference here that Budget 2023 will need to include
measures to mitigate the coming slowdown in the global economy.
“Next
year will be challenging. What is happening in the US, China, and Europe will
have an impact on the global economy, including Malaysia,” he said.
He
noted that some of the effects of the 2008 financial crisis had been mitigated
by an 8% growth in China’s economy, but said all major economies were expected
to slow down simultaneously next year.
“(The
economies of) Europe, the US and China are all expected to slow down in 2023
compared to 2022, but this is, again, just a forecast. It’s only September.”
In
dismissing claims of an economic crisis, Tengku Zafrul pointed out that the
country’s gross domestic product (GDP) had seen a positive growth of 5.0% in Q1
and 8.9% in Q2, this year.
He
added that based on the recovery rate, the country’s economic growth is
expected to surpass its initial forecast.
Tengku
Zafrul compared the nation’s current circumstances with the situation during
the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997.
“In
1997, the ringgit fell by 53.8%, while interest rates went up to 11% and GDP
was also down by negative 7.4%. Interest rates are currently at 2.5% and GDP is
8.9% in Q2.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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