Process For Mosque Construction At Ayodhya Started With Unfurling The National Flag On The Occasion Of Republic Day
26 January 2021
IICF members begin process of mosque building in
Ayodhya after unfurling tricolor.
----
• Pakistani Dissident Baloch Activist, Karima Baloch,
Buried Amid Tight Security In The Restive Balochistan Province
• US Treasury: ‘Al-Qaeda Gaining Strength’ Through
Taliban Protection
• Independent Terrorism Watchdog To Open Inquiry Into
Radicalisation In UK Prison
• Taliban Deputy ‘Mullah Baradar’ Leads A Delegation
to Iran
• Stop Using LGBT Community As Punching Bag, Says Malaysian Rights Group
• Syrian Military Source: ISIL Launches Attacks on
Syrian Army from US-Occupied Regions
• Iran Warns Persian Gulf Arab States Not to Cling to
Israel after Trump
• Tunisian President Rejects Reshuffle, Escalating
Political Crisis
India
• Process For Mosque Construction At Ayodhya Started
With Unfurling The National Flag On The Occasion Of Republic Day
• A Muslim Man Is Keeping Alive The Memory Of India’s
Oldest Jew, Sarah Cohen, By Turning Her Business Site Into A Museum
• Identity Politics, Spiritual Leadership: Furfura
Sharif Cleric’s Party Modelled On IUML
• UP's Plea Seeking To Transfer "Love Jihad"
Petitions To Top Court Refused
• In A First, Bangladesh Tri-Service Contingent Takes
Part In India's Republic Day Parade
• Stir at Secretariat; Shabbir Ali decries Muslims’
arrest
• All You Need To Know About Padma Vibhushan Awardee Maulana
Wahiduddin Khan
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistani Dissident Baloch Activist, Karima Baloch,
Buried Amid Tight Security In The Restive Balochistan Province
• Why China-Pakistan ties are 'unravelling' over CPEC
• Pakistan voices opposition for new permanent seats
in UNSC
• Murad Will Not Be Replaced As CM If Arrested In NAB
Case: Minister Ghani
--------
North America
• US Treasury: ‘Al-Qaeda Gaining Strength’ Through
Taliban Protection
• Canada Parl. Asks Govt. To Designate Armed US
Militia Group As Terrorist Entity
• Biden Admin Launches Review Of Trump Decision To
Designate Yemen's Houthis As Foreign Terrorist Organization
• US authorizes transactions with Yemen’s Houthis for
30 days
• Senator: Trump’s campaign against Iran 'catastrophic
failure'
--------
Europe
• Independent Terrorism Watchdog To Open Inquiry Into
Radicalisation In UK Prison
• Russia rejects any closed-door discussion of Syrian
chemical case at UN Security Council
• Schoolboys in court charged with terrorism offences
• Swiss ambassador to Beirut, Lebanese FM hold talks
amid central bank probe
--------
South Asia
• Taliban Deputy ‘Mullah Baradar’ Leads A Delegation
to Iran
• Afghanistan Welcomes US Move To Review Deal With Taliban
• Bangladesh To Buy Myanmar Rice, Putting Aside Rohingya
Crisis
• Afghanistan: Journalists, Reporters Displaced by
Surge of Targeted Assassinations, Killings
• Pakistan to Boost Sustenance Markets along
Pak-Afghan Border
--------
Southeast Asia
• Stop Using LGBT Community As Punching Bag, Says Malaysian Rights Group
• Govt introduces Manhaj Rabbani as basis of Islamic
administration – Zulkifli
• Calls for Zahid to quit as Umno chief impolite, says
Tok Mat
• Will Indonesia’s new Religious Affairs minister
protect religious minorities?
• Father Of A Non-Muslim Pupil Rejects Hijab Requirement
--------
Arab World
• Syrian Military Source: ISIL Launches Attacks on
Syrian Army from US-Occupied Regions
• Citizen attacks member of security forces in north
Lebanon
• Iraq Hangs Three Convicted Of ‘Terrorism’ At Nasiriyah
Central Prison: Sources
• Syria constitution talks recommence in Geneva
• Israel’s F-35 fighter jets violate Lebanese airspace
in south
• Saudi Court Sentences Shia Muslim Eulogist To Nine
Months In Prison
--------
Mideast
• Iran Warns Persian Gulf Arab States Not to Cling to
Israel after Trump
• In Gaza, Palestinian refugees protest cuts to UNRWA
services
• Iranian FM: No Limitation for Cooperation with
Azerbaijan
• Iranian-American facing spying charges arrested
while leaving Iran: Spokesman
• Israel extradites former Australia Orthodox school
principal accused of child abuse
• Yemenis demonstrate against US aggression
--------
Africa
• Tunisian President Rejects Reshuffle, Escalating
Political Crisis
• At least 11 killed after fighting erupts in
Somalia’s Jubbaland: Doctor
• Nigerian security forces attack Sheikh Zakzaky's
supporters
• Ugandan Airstrikes in Somalia Kill 189 Al-Shabab
Fighters
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/process-mosque-construction-ayodhya-started/d/124149
--------
Process For Mosque Construction At Ayodhya Started
With Unfurling The National Flag On The Occasion Of Republic Day
January 26, 2021
IICF members begin process of mosque building in
Ayodhya after unfurling tricolor.
----
The process for starting the construction of a mosque
in the Dhannipur village in Ayodhya began on Tuesday.
The members of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation
(IICF) that will oversee the mosque construction, unfurled the national flag on
the occasion of Republic Day on Tuesday morning and this was followed by
plantation of tree saplings by the chief trustee and the member trustees of the
IICF.
As envisaged in the project, a green area, which will
have plants from all over the world — from the Amazon rainforest to areas in
Australia that report bushfires — and from all different geographical regions
of India will be developed to create awareness on the imminent threat posed by
climate change.
Zufar Faruqi, chairman of IICF, planted a tamarind
sapling and he was joined by other members and local villagers.
The soil from the designated plot was taken out for
testing before the actual construction begins.
The first pictures of the project had been released on
December 19 last year by the IICF.
Following the release, secretary and spokesperson of
the trust Athar Hussain had confirmed that the Dhannipur Mosque project
includes a hospital, a museum, a library, a community kitchen, the Indo-Islamic
Research Centre, a publication house and a mosque.
A mosque measuring 15,000 square feet will be built in
the Dhannipur village. It will be of the same size as that of the Babri mosque.
The shape of the mosque may be completely different from that of other mosques.
Although the blueprint suggests a circular mosque with
a unique minaret over it, project architect S.M. Akhtar hinted that it may be
square-shaped like the Kaaba Sharif in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The five-acre plot had been given to the Sunni Waqf
Board in lieu of the land on which the Babri mosque stood, prior to the
demolition. This was as per the verdict of the Supreme Court in November 2019.
https://www.thestatesman.com/india/process-mosque-construction-begins-ayodhya-1502948719.html
--------
Pakistani Dissident Baloch Activist, Karima Baloch,
Buried Amid Tight Security In The Restive Balochistan Province
Jan 25, 2021
FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2020, file photo, supporters
of Baloch political activist Karima Baloch hold her portrait during a
demonstration to condemn her killing, in Karachi, Pakistan. | AP Photo/Fareed
Khan, File
-----
ISLAMABAD: The body of Karima Baloch, a 37-year-old
Pakistani dissident from the ethnic Baloch community and a prominent women's
rights activist, who died in mysterious circumstances while in exile in Canada,
was brought home and buried in her village in the restive Balochistan province
amid tight security, officials said on Monday.
Karima, who was highly critical of Pakistan's security
agencies and campaigned extensively against disappearances and human rights
violations in the troubled Balochistan province, was found dead in Toronto
downtown waterfront on December 22.
Officials said that her immediate family was present
at the funeral on Sunday in the Tump village of the Keach area of the restive
province.
Security was tight due to the fear of protests by the
Baloch nationalists who cherished her as their leader. Her supporters claimed
on social media that the village was virtually sealed off so that people from
other areas could not attend the funeral.
In some videos, people are seen requesting security
forces to allow them to attend the funeral prayers.
Security sources said that the mobile phone services
were suspended in the area to avoid any untoward incidents as militants often
use it to carry out acts of sabotage.
Toronto police have not treated her death as suspicious
though there were allegations by her supporters that she was killed.
Her family members are not sure what happened.
According to police in Toronto, her body was found near Lake Ontario, but no
further details were given. Police said they did no believe there were any
suspicious circumstances.
"The Toronto Police Service is aware of
heightened community and media interest surrounding a missing person
investigation," the force said in a statement. "The circumstances
have been investigated and officers have determined this to be a non-criminal
death and no foul play is suspected."
"The death of activist Karima Baloch in Toronto,
Canada is deeply shocking and must be immediately and effectively investigated.
The perpetrators must be brought to justice without recourse to the death
penalty,” Amnesty International South Asia said in a tweet last month.
Karima was highly critical of Pakistan's security
institutions like her fellow nationalists who alleged that the federal
government was exploiting the mineral resources while keeping the region
impoverished. The charge is always rejected by the institutions.
She was living in Canada where she was granted asylum
in 2016.
Karima, a critic of the Pakistani government and
powerful military, had campaigned extensively against disappearances and human
rights violations in Balochistan.
In 2016, she was named on BBC's list of 100
inspirational women. At 30, she was the first woman to become the leader of the
Balochistan Student Organisation.
She left Pakistan in 2015, after terrorism charges
were levelled against her. Her family said she had been given death threats.
Her sister told the BBC Urdu service last month that
Karima's death was "not only a tragedy for the family, but also for the
Baloch national movement".
"She didn't go abroad because she wanted to, but
because... open activism in Pakistan had become impossible," Mahganj
Baloch was quoted as saying by the BBC Urdu service.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistani-dissident-baloch-activist-buried-amid-tight-security/articleshow/80452507.cms
--------
US Treasury: ‘Al-Qaeda Gaining Strength’ Through
Taliban Protection
By Mohammad Haroon Alim
26 Jan 2021
Photo Courtesy: Khaama Press
------
US treasury department in an issued memo said that
Al-Qaeda is gaining strength in Afghanistan.
The report indicates that Al-Qaeda being protected by
the Taliban is gaining its strength back, turning a red line on over US-Taliban
agreement.
“As of 2020, al-Qaeda is gaining strength in
Afghanistan while continuing to operate with the Taliban under the Taliban’s
protection. Al-Qaeda broadly still depends on donations from like minded
supporters, and from individuals who believe that their money is supporting humanitarian
or charitable causes,” US Treasury reported.
“Al-Qaeda capitalizes on its relationship with the
Taliban through its network of mentors and advisers who are embedded with the
Taliban, providing advice, guidance, and financial support.
“Senior Haqqani Network figures have discussed forming
a new joint unit of armed fighters in cooperation with and funded by al-Qaeda,”
the report stated.
The report also discussed the elements of Al-Qaeda,
AQIS, TTP Tahrik-e Taliban Pakistan, and continuous use of the Afghan-Pak
Border as safe haven.
“AQIS likely receives funding from al-Qaeda senior
leadership,” the report stated adding that “as of May 2020, the Taliban and
al-Qaeda maintained a strong relationship and continued to meet regularly.”
“Al-Qaeda capitalizes on its relationship with the
Taliban through its network of mentors and advisers who are embedded with the
Taliban, providing advice, guidance, and financial support”, the report
indicates, adding that “Senior Haqqani network figures have discussed forming a
new joint unit of armed fighters in cooperation with and funded by al-Qaeda,”
On the financial state of Daesh Khorasan, the report
says “ISIS-K primarily raises funds through local donations, taxation,
extortion, and some financial support from ISIS-core.
“In 2019, Afghan Taliban and Afghan government forces
retook ISIS-K’s stronghold in southern Nangarhar, which decreases the amount of
money the group could earn exploiting natural resources in this territory.
“As of early 2020, ISIS core was possibly providing
some funds to ISIS-K. According to Treasury’s information, ISIS-K retains at
least some financial reserves and relies on hawalas (Money Transfer),
particularly in Kabul and Jalalabad, to transfer funds,” the report read.
The inquiries at the US Department of Defense,
facilitated Inspector General to discover illicit terrorism financing,
This comes as US Taliban Deal on February 2021,
requires the Taliban to sever ties with Al-Qaeda, but the two groups remained
close allies.
https://www.khaama.com/us-treasury-al-qaeda-gaining-strength-through-taliban-protection-5656565/
--------
Independent Terrorism Watchdog To Open Inquiry Into
Radicalisation In UK Prison
24 Jan 2021
An inquiry into the way prisons deal with convicted
terrorists is being launched by the independent terror watchdog amid concerns
of growing radicalisation behind bars.
Jonathan Hall QC said there had been a succession of
terror attacks on prison officers while other inmates were coming under the
influence of “high status” terrorist prisoners.
Hall, the government’s independent reviewer of
terrorism legislation, said that if terrorist activity was taking place in
jails then it had to be dealt with.
“There has been a steady drumbeat over recent years of
terrorist attacks against prison officers, and an increasing number of
individuals who may well have formed their terrorist intent in prison under the
influence of high status terrorist prisoners,” he told the Times.
“If terrorism exists (in prison) then it ought to be
dealt with. We need scrutiny of how prisons operate to either contain, or worse
encourage, terrorism.”
His comments followed a series of high-profile cases,
including the 2019 London Bridge attack when Usman Khan, a terrorist prisoner
out on licence, stabbed two people to death.
Khairi Saadallah, who was given a whole life sentence
earlier this month for murdering three men in a terror attack in a Reading
park, had been befriended by a radical preacher while serving an earlier prison
term.
Last year Brusthom Ziamani, who was serving a 19-year
sentence for plotting to behead a soldier, was convicted of attempted murder
for trying to hack an officer to death in the maximum security Whitemoor jail.
Hall said that he had been amazed at the way terrorist
prisoners were looked up to by other inmates.
“I find it astonishing that someone should go to
prison for plotting a terrorist atrocity and the concern is not that they
themselves are at risk of attack, like a paedophile is often at risk of attack
because prisoners generally say what they’ve done is terrible,” he said.
“Terrorists automatically achieve a sort of status.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told the Times that
it had trained more than 29,000 prison officers to better spot signs of
extremism, increased the number of specialist counter-terrorism staff, and
would separate the most subversive prisoners where necessary.
“Our tough measures to stop extremists spreading their
poisonous ideologies in prison have been stepped up,” the spokesperson said.
“We ended the automatic early release of terrorists
and our new legislation means they will also face tougher sentences and
monitoring on release.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/24/terrorism-watchdog-to-open-inquiry-into-radicalisation-in-prison?utm_
--------
Taliban Deputy ‘Mullah Baradar’ Leads A Delegation to
Iran
By Mohammad Haroon Alim
26 Jan 2021
Deputy Taliban Leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar led
a delegation to Iran, Mohammad Naeem Taliban Spokesman said on Tuesday.
The Taliban delegation will Talk to Iranian officials
in regards to the current political situation, security conditions in the
region, bilateral relations, and the situation of Afghan refugees.
It is worth mentioning that this is one of the several
visits of the Taliban leadership to Iran.
Earlier, Mullah Baradar had traveled to Iran at the
invitation of Iranian officials.
Iran is accused of supporting the Taliban was
previously blamed several times by US officials for supporting the Taliban
insurgency in Afghanistan.
US officials claimed at the time that Iranians are
providing weapons and ammunition to the Taliban fighters, and some were even
trained across the border.
An accusation that has always been denied by the
Iranian officials, but officials in Tehran during their remarks always have
supported the rule of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its governance.
Two weeks ago, before Joe Biden’s inauguration, Former
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accused Iran of having secret ties with the
al-Qaida network and imposed new sanctions on several senior Iranian officials.
In May 2018, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign
Minister blamed the United States for supporting Al-Qaeda, Taliban, and ISIS.
Despite all these allegations, the Taliban most likely
and for many times visited Iran.
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-deputy-baradar-leads-a-delegation-to-iran-454545/
--------
Stop Using LGBT Community As Punching Bag, Says Malaysian Rights Group
January 20, 2021
PETALING JAYA: Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL)
today urged the authorities to stop using the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) community as a “convenient punching bag”, stating this only
creates an “illusion of rectitude and false piety”.
LFL said the vilification of the LGBT/transgender
community serves to help no one and will only harm the very citizens it is
supposed to protect.
This follows a statement by deputy minister in the
Prime Minister’s Department (religious affairs) Ahmad Marzuk Shaary yesterday
that the government intends to hand out heavier punishments against the LGBT
community by increasing the sentencing limits in the Syariah Courts (Criminal
Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).
“In a time when the country is in crisis due to the
Covid-19 pandemic, it is disappointing that the deputy minister chooses to
focus on the vilification of the LGBT community, which is nothing more than a
tired and cheap political ploy to detract from the real issues currently
affecting Malaysian citizens,” LFL coordinator Zaid Malek said in a statement.
“This is especially more obvious when we consider the
fact that Malaysian-Muslims are still in a state of shock and confusion by the
40-year long halal meat cartel scandal that was exposed quite recently – yet
the spotlight is again cast on LGBT instead.”
Zaid said the “targeted harassment” by the government
against the LGBT Muslim community invades and harasses their rights and privacy
and is in violation of Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, which forbids any
discrimination on the basis of an individual’s gender.
He said LGBT Muslims are entitled to equality and
deserve protection from laws that target them solely due to their sexual
orientation.
He also condemned Marzuk’s statement that religious
enforcers have been told to take stern action against those who cross-dress,
“which indicates that the enforcers have been instructed to target transgender
Muslims specifically”.
He urged the government not to take “such a
restrictive view of Islamic law” and follow the footsteps of other Muslim
majority countries that have recognised the legitimate rights of the
transgender community.
“Egypt and Iran have issued fatwas since the 1980s
that allow gender reassignment surgeries, and even Pakistan has enacted the
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act in 2018 which is a formal
recognition of transgender rights in Pakistan,” Zaid said.
“It is obvious, therefore, that the recognition and
protection of the transgender community is not contrary to the precepts of
Islam and is in fact mandatory under our Federal Constitution.”
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/01/20/stop-using-lgbt-community-as-punching-bag-says-rights-group/
--------
Syrian Military Source: ISIL Launches Attacks on
Syrian Army from US-Occupied Regions
2021-January-25
“The ISIL cells have recently resumed their activities
in two main areas; first, the Homs deserts triangle, Deir Ezzur, and the Iraqi
border; second, the desert between Hama, Raqqa and Deir Ezzur,” the source told
the Arabic-language al-Akhbar newspaper on Monday.
He added that the traffic of a number of ISIL
terrorists have been monitored and it has come to be known that “a number of
attacks start from Al-Tanf area and around the US base there”.
Also, a senior Syrian military source said that the US
facilitates and supports the moves of ISIL-affiliated terrorists in order to
ensure instability and insecurity in the region and continue the war of
attrition against the Syrian army in the Syrian desert region.
He noted that the US goal is to cut off all contacts
between Eastern Syria and Damascus and Homs, adding, “For this reason,
Washington uses the ISIL inmates in the prisons of its supported Kurdish
militias and transfers them to the Syrian desert and the Iraqi borders.”
A senior Iraqi source said that the recent airstrikes
against Jurf al-Nasr region at the bordering areas of Iraq and Syria were aimed
at preparing the ground for the ISIL to enter the country.
Al-Qadir news network quoted a "special
source" as saying that the attack on Iraqi army units in Jurf al-Nasr area
was part of the US ongoing attempts to destabilize Iraq.
He added that the air raids targeted a number of Iraqi
army units, killing several forces and wounding a number of others.
The source noted that the US attacks were aimed at
undermining Iraq's military power in the region in a bid to the pave the ground
for the ISIL terrorists to penetrate into Jurf al-Nasr area from the Syrian
border, specially from the US-occupied Al-Tanf base.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991106000542/Miliary-Srce-ISIL-Lanches-Aacks-n-Syrian-Army-frm-US-Occpied-Regins
--------
Iran Warns Persian Gulf Arab States Not to Cling to
Israel after Trump
2021-January-25
“We remind the regional states that they were waiting
for Trump who brought them nothing. Now they have resorted to Israel; the
Zionist regime will not benefit them either. Israel will not bring them
security. If it could, it would create security for itself. Israel has come to
bring them insecurity, it has come to place the border of its conflict on their
soil, and this is not in their interest, while we have no problem with these
regional states,” Zarif said in an interview with the Persian-language Ettela’at
newspaper on Monday.
He reminded the Arab states that Trump had called them
“milking cows”, and said the Israeli regime is worse than Trump.
“Trump cannot compete with Netanyahu in criminal acts
and malignancy. So the wise way is to accept the proposal of the Qatari foreign
minister, which we have also welcomed, and return to the region, and we are
ready to work with them [the regional states],” Zarif said.
In relevant remarks last year, Supreme Leader of the
Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, in a meeting with visiting
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Tehran, called upon all
neighboring countries of the region to rely on intra-regional capacities to
stop the US from throwing the region into further mayhem.
During the January 12, 2020 meeting with Sheikh Tamim,
Ayatollah Khamenei said corrupt actions taken by the United States and its
allies are the main cause of the current situation in the region, urging
regional countries to boost cooperation to undo such actions.
Describing the current conditions in the region as
unfavorable, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The reason behind this situation in
corrupt actions taken by American and its allies and the only way to counter it
is to rely on inter-regional cooperation.”
In another part of his remarks, the Leader pointed to
good political ties between Iran and Qatar, saying, "The two countries'
economic relations are not on the same level as political relations and
Iran-Qatar cooperation should further improve in common fields."
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly
announced and Mr. President [Hassan Rouhani] has also explicitly stated that
Iran is ready for closer cooperation with regional countries," Ayatollah
Khamenei noted.
The Leader stated, "Of course, some parties who
have come to this region from across the world are not interested in the
expansion of cooperation among regional countries, but this issue has nothing
to do with them and regional countries and nations do not accept such bullying
and interference anymore."
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991106000707/Iran-Warns-Persian-Glf-Arab-Saes-N-Cling-Israel-afer-Trmp
--------
Tunisian president rejects reshuffle, escalating
political crisis
25 January 2021
Tunisia’s president indicated on Monday he would
reject an expected cabinet reshuffle, escalating a dispute with the prime
minister as a political logjam undermines efforts to tackle the pandemic and
its economic fallout.
Kais Saied said the reshuffle would be
unconstitutional on procedural grounds, condemned the absence of women among
the prospective new ministers and said some likely new cabinet members may have
conflicts of interest, without giving details.
The political paralysis comes as the COVID-19 crisis
weakens an already battered economy that shrank more than 8 percent last year,
and as both foreign lenders and Tunisia’s powerful union urge fast reforms.
Protests against inequality and police abuses have
also been building.
Tunisia has been politically all but deadlocked since
two separate elections in 2019 put Saied into office but left a deeply
fragmented parliament in which no party held more than a quarter of the seats.
The constitution worked out in 2014 after the 2011
revolution that introduced democracy gave parliament the main voice in forming
a government. But the president also has a role in a complex system of
approvals and vetoes.
It took several months after the election for a
government to form early last year, but it only lasted until the summer before
falling in a scandal as the pandemic took hold.
Saied then proposed Hichem Mechichi as prime minister,
but fell out with him soon afterwards despite the successful formation of a
government that narrowly won parliamentary backing.
Mechichi is expected to unveil his proposed new
cabinet this week.
The political jostling among parties and prominent
figures that has accompanied each stage of the process has delayed government
efforts to tackle longstanding reforms.
Tunisia’s economy was not delivering even before the
pandemic, with sluggish growth, high deficits and public debt and failing
state-owned companies.
Joblessness, inequality and declining public services
have angered many Tunisians, tarnishing the country’s achievement in throwing
off autocratic rule a decade ago and introducing democracy.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2021/01/25/Tunisian-president-rejects-reshuffle-escalating-political-crisis
--------
India
A Muslim Man Is Keeping Alive The Memory Of India’s
Oldest Jew, Sarah Cohen, By Turning Her Business Site Into A Museum
Romita Saluja
Jan 25, 2021
Sarah Cohen, one of the oldest members of the Paradesi
Jewish community, died in 2019. A year later, her Muslim protege turned her
business site into a museum.
On any regular day in the coastal Indian city of
Kochi, Thaha Ibrahim can be seen stitching colourful kippahs, the traditional
skull caps worn by members of the Jewish community.
The 50-year-old devout Muslim loves to tell the story
of how he came to know a Jewish couple around 35 years ago and ended up
becoming a part of their family. As a child, he used to sell postcards and
souvenirs to tourists on the footpaths of Mattancherry, a spice hub of Kochi in
those days. One day, a ship carrying tourists did not arrive as expected and he
needed to park his postcards somewhere. His uncle introduced him to a Jewish
couple living nearby - Sarah and Jacob Cohen. “Sarah Aunty was reluctant to
help; she did not like me,” he says, laughing. “But Jacob Uncle agreed and
allowed me to keep my postcards at their home.”
The Cohens belonged to the city’s Baghdadi Jew
community whose ancestors are believed to have migrated from Iraq several
generations ago. Jacob was a lawyer, and Sarah was a seamstress. She used to
stitch and embroider challa covers (a cloth used to cover bread loaves), table
clothes, bridal clothes, and kippahs.
“Once she needed help with stitching something,”
Ibrahim says. “And I offered to help, having some knowledge of tailoring.”
Eventually, Sarah hired him as an assistant to work at her embroidery shop,
next to the Cohens’ ancestral residence in Mattencherry’s Jew Town. She taught
him embroidery and stitching while he managed the daily chores at the shop.
Before Jacob Cohen passed away, around 20 years ago,
Ibrahim says that he had asked him to always be by Sarah Cohen’s side, as the
couple didn’t have children. Thus, several years later, an ageing Sarah Cohen
could often be seen walking to a nearby synagogue, supported by Ibrahim and her
Christian caretaker Celine. She died in August 2019, five days short of turning
97.
A Jewish museum in India
Ibrahim continues to run her shop. Last month, he
turned her house and shop into a museum. Here, one can get a glimpse of the
Jewish culture preserved in a Hindu majority city, with considerable
populations of Christians and Muslims.
On the display are old black-and-white photographs of
the Cohens, books on Jewish literature and history, some copies of the Torah
owned by the couple, kitchenware, and Sarah Cohen’s notebooks containing Jewish
songs written in the local language, Malayam. Aside from that, there are
kippahs, embroidered challahs, and table covers for sale.
“It’s not a big museum. It’s very small,” Ibrahim
says. “It’s just to keep alive the memory of Sarah Cohen and other Jews in the
town.”
Located on a colourful street, with shops selling
antiques, brass items, Kashmiri handicrafts and shawls, the museum is 100
metres away from a 16th century synagogue built by the city’s “White
Jews”.
Jewish history in Kochi
Locally known as “Paradesi (foreigner) Jews”, the
“white Jews” are believed to have first arrived in Kochi in the 15th century
from Europe after suffering persecution by the Portuguese and Spanish. They
were later joined by other Jews who came from the Middle East. The King of
Kochi, Kesava Varma, provided them with asylum, and a land that was later
developed into Jew Town. “One year after the building of Jew Town, the Paradesi
Synagogue was built, in 1568,” writes local historian Bony Thomas in his book
Kochiites. Thomas writes that according to some locals, even Mattancherry was a
land donated by the king to the Jews, as “mattan” means “donation” in Hebrew,
although this claim is contested.
There is another community of Jews in the city that
arrived even earlier and is believed to have been living in the country since
the time of King Solomon. They are locally known as the “Black Jews” or the
“Malabari Jews”, named after the Malabar coastline. Various records suggest
that they were exiles or captives taken by King Nebuchadnezzar after the
destruction of the Temple, who managed to escape and sail to India.
Both the communities have separate synagogues and
several personal and cultural differences. “While many Malabari Jews married
Indians and got assimilated into the local community, the Paradesi Jews chose
to marry amongst themselves,” Ibrahim says.
Thomas writes that the Paradesi Jews, being rich
traders and having proximity to the political rulers, always enjoyed a stronger
social standing, and discriminated against the Malabari Jews. “This
discrimination has no relationship with the actual tone of the skin. A White
Jew need not be fair-skinned or a Black Jew need not be dark-skinned. The
White-Black dichotomy is based on racial purity… Paradesi Jews take pride in
the fact that they are Mayookasims (Pure Jews),” he writes.
Sarah was the oldest member of the Paradesi Jew
community. Her death has meant there are only two of them left in Jew Town, as
per Ibrahim. Together with the Malabari Jews, who live in another part of the
city, there are around 25 Jews left in Kochi.
Ibrahim recalls the period when the neighbourhood used
to bustle with Jews. “It was in the early 1980s. Everywhere you turned, there
was a Jewish family. I knew so many of them. But all of them were not as
friendly as Sarah Aunty.”
A Times of Israel report says that there were around
3,000 Jews in Kochi in the 1950s. Most of them later immigrated to Israel. The
Cohens were among the few families that chose to stay back. “Many of Sarah
Aunty’s relatives live outside India,” Ibrahim says. “But she would say, “Why
should I leave Kochi to move to any other place? It’s my home.””
He says that the museum would be emblematic of the
relationship that the Jews formed with the city over the years. Talking about
the global tensions between Jews and Muslims, he says, “I eat halal food and
Sarah Aunty used to eat kosher food. Our religious books are different. Our
laws are different. And yet, there are so many common things between the two
religions. Nobody understands that.”
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/a-muslim-man-is-keeping-alive-the-memory-of-india-s-oldest-jew-43567
--------
Identity politics, spiritual leadership: Furfura
Sharif cleric’s party modelled on IUML
by Liz Mathew
January 25, 2021
Before he launched the Indian Secular Front (ISF),
Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui, the 34-year-old cleric of Furfura Sharif in West
Bengal, visited Kerala and closely monitored the activities of Indian Union
Muslim League (IUML), led by the spiritual leader of Muslims in Kerala.
Inspired by the way the Panakkad Thangal family wields
political and social influence in Kerala politics and among the Muslims in the
state, Siddiqui tried to be part of the IUML, which has units in most of the
states in the country.
However, IUML refused to join hands with Siddiqui or
let him form a political outfit that could work as a coalition.
“The cleric and his associates had visited Kerala
during the floods in 2018 after collecting money for relief work. They had seen
how the Thangals, spiritual leaders, led the political and social activities of
a party. He was impressed by how the party keeps the community moderate and
away from fundamentalist groups,” said Sabir Ghaffar, the former national
president of IUML youth wing who had tried to convince the IUML leadership to
join hands with Siddiqui.
He added that Siddiqui had several interactions with
Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, the number two in the IUML.
Ghaffar resigned from his post in IUML Saturday to
work with ISF.
He has played a key role in the formation of ISF and
its decision to contest the West Bengal elections along with the Asaduddin
Owaisi-led AIMIM.
IUML president Panakkad Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal
has inherited the spiritual leadership of the community from his father P M S
Pookoya Thangal, said to be the 39th descendant of Prophet Muhammad. Everyday,
hundreds visit the family’s ancestral home, Kodappanakkal Tharavad in Panakkad,
Malappuram, seeking Thangal’s blessings and political intervention.
“The ISF will model identity politics with a spiritual
leadership to transform the society into a politically significant, developed,
moderate, modern society. West Bengal has 30 per cent Muslims. If this support
base gets split into groups, the BJP will form the government there. We want to
make the Muslim population a strong support base that prevents the BJP,”
Ghaffar told The Indian Express.
The ISF will work with not only the AIMIM but a number
of other social and political outfits spread across the state, he said. “In its
efforts to stop the BJP, the party is ready for any pre or post-poll alliances
with non-BJP parties. But the TMC should apologise for neglecting the
community. In constituencies where ISF does not have candidates, it will back
other candidates against the BJP,” Ghaffar said, countering the argument that
the new outfit would dent the Muslim support base of the TMC.
While launching his party, Siddiqui said, “Years of
Congress rule, then that of CPM and then Trinamool Congress in Bengal did nothing
for the Muslims or the poor people.”
“Furfura Sharif is the second most prominent Mazar in
the country after Ajmer Sharif. It has followers in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura
and even in Bangladesh. And politics is not strange to the family – it played a
key role in the formation of the Indian Muslim League, but took political
backstage for long,” Ghaffar said.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/identity-politics-spiritual-leadership-furfura-sharif-clerics-party-modelled-on-iuml-7160319/
--------
UP's Plea Seeking To Transfer "Love Jihad"
Petitions To Top Court Refused
January 25, 2021
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to
entertain a petition filed by the Uttar Pradesh Government to transfer all the
petitions against the anti-conversion ordinance from Allahabad High Court to
itself.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde refused to entertain the plea
filed by the Uttar Pradesh government on the "love Jihad" issue.
The CJI, while refusing to entertain the petition,
observed that the top court would like the advantage of having a decision of
the High Court.
The Uttar Pradesh government had moved the Supreme
Court seeking a direction to transfer all the petitions against the anti-conversion
(Love Jihad) ordinance from Allahabad High Court to the Supreme Court.
Earlier in November, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben
Patel had issued the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion
Ordinance 2020.
The new law mandates a jail term of the accused
between one to five years, with ₹ 15,000
penalty, if convicted for carrying out forceful conversions for marriage.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ups-plea-seeking-to-transfer-love-jihad-petitions-to-top-court-refused-2357788
--------
In a first, Bangladesh tri-service contingent takes
part in India's Republic Day parade
Jan 26, 2021
NEW DELHI: For the first time, a marching contingent
and band of Bangladesh tri-services participated in the Republic Day Parade to
commemorate 50 years of its historic liberation.
The 122-member contingent of the Bangladesh Armed
Forces comprising soldiers of the Bangladesh Army, sailors of the Bangladesh
Navy, and air warriors of the Bangladesh Air Force was led by the contingent
Commander Lieutenant Colonel Abu Mohammed Shahnoor Shawon and his deputies,
Lieutenant Farhan Ishraq and Flight Lieutenant Sibat Rahman.
All the three services of the Bangladesh Armed Forces
had played a key role in securing independence for their country in the
Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
The representatives of the battalions that
participated in Liberation War, like 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and 11 East Bengal
Regiment and 1, 2 and 3 Field Regiment Artillery, marched in the parade.
Bangladesh Navy had successfully conducted Operation
Jackpot during the War, destroying 26 enemy ships in sea ports and river ports.
The Air Force conducted 50 successful air strikes on the enemy targets during
the War as part of "Kilo Flight" from the base in Dimapur, India.
The contingent marched to the song of "Shono Ekti
Mujibur-er theke lokkho Mujibur", meaning "Listen, the voice of
Mujibur which has been multiplied by hundred thousands of his followers",
played by the marching band led by Lieutenant Colonel Banazir Ahmed.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, popularly known as Bangabondhu,
was the central figure behind the Bangladesh Liberation Movement and the
Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
Rahman, also known as 'Father of the Nation', served
as the first President of Bangladesh and later as the Prime Minister from April
17, 1971 until his assassination on August 15, 1975.
India was the first country to recognise Bangladesh as
a separate and independent state and established diplomatic relations with the
country immediately after its independence in December 1971.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/in-a-first-bangladesh-tri-service-contingent-takes-part-in-indias-republic-day-parade/articleshow/80462133.cms
--------
Stir at Secretariat; Shabbir Ali decries Muslims’
arrest
25th January 2021
HYDERABAD: Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir
strongly condemned the arrest of activists of various organisations, who tried
to visit the Secretariat to offer prayers at the two mosques, namely
Masjid-e-Hashmi and Masjid-e-Dafatir Mohammedia.
In a press release, Shabbir Ali said that a Joint
Action Committee of various Muslim organisations had given a call for ‘Chalo
Secretariat’ to offer prayers at the same place where the two mosques existed
on the Secretariat premises until they were demolished by ruling TRS government
in July, 2020. He said that the demand for resuming prayers at the Secretariat
mosques’ site was fully justified as Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had
“illegally” demolished them. Alleging that the CM had openly cheated the Muslim
and Hindu communities on the promise of reconstructing the two mosques and a
temple, Shabbir Ali said that their religious sentiments were hurt.
Meanwhile, speaking at Hyderabad, CLP leader Bhatti
Vikramarka demanded that the Centre set up a Turmeric Board in Nizamabad.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2021/jan/25/stir-at-secretariat-shabbir-ali-decries-muslims-arrest-2254745.html
--------
All you need to know about Padma Vibhushan awardee
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
JAN 25, 2021
The Centre on Monday released the list of Padma awards
on the eve of India's 72nd Republic Day in which it has honoured 119 people for
their achievements and contributions to their respective fields of work.
One of the names that is sure to pique interest is
that of renowned Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. He has been given
Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, for his exceptional
contribution in the field of spiritualism.
Khan first shot to limelight when he gave a clarion
call to Muslims to relinquish claims over the disputed Babri Masjid site, one
the first community leaders to do so.
He then floated, along with others, the "Vajpayee
Himayat (support) Committee", which had extensively campaigned for the
former BJP prime minister in the Lucknow constituency in the 2004 Lok Sabha
elections.
Khan is known for his association with Vajpayee and
his senior colleague in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) L K Advani.
Khan has contributed articles to the RSS mouthpiece
Organiser which presents him "as an enlightened alternative to Islamic
fanaticism" for "reportedly counselling Muslims to abandon their
claim on Ayodhya".
His verified Facebook page describes the Islamic
scholar as, "Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is an Islamic spiritual scholar who
has adopted peace as the mission of his life. Known for his Gandhian views, he
considers non-violence as the only method to achieve success."
He established Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS)
in 2001 to promote and reinforce the culture of peace. The website of the
organisation says the Khan was born in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh in 1925.
Padma awards - conferred in Padma Vibhushan, Padma
Bhushan and Padma Shri categories - are among the highest civilian awards given
in various disciplines/fields like art, social work, public affairs, science
and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education,
sports, and civil service.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/all-you-need-to-know-about-padma-vibhushan-awardee-maulana-wahiduddin-khan-101611591256620.html
--------
Pakistan
Why China-Pakistan ties are 'unravelling' over CPEC
Jan 25, 2021
NEW DELHI: The multi-billion dollar Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI) appears to have driven a wedge between all-weather allies
China and Pakistan.
Sharp differences have emerged between the two countries
over a $6.8 billion railway line project which is part of the ambitious China
Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), according to a report in Nikkei Asia.
The impasse has even led to an indefinite delay in the
annual bilateral CPEC summit, claimed the report.
This is not the first that CPEC has triggered a strain
in the long-standing friendship between the two countries.
Here's why China-Pakistan ties are in troubled waters
these days ...
Fallout over rail project
Pakistan has been expecting China to lend $6 billion
at a concessional interest rate of less than 3% for the Main Line-1 project.
The Imran Khan government had even hoped to finalise the lending at an interest
rate of just 1%.
But to Islamabad's chagrin, China has shown increasing
reluctance over lending money for the project.
The project includes dualisation and upgrading of the
1,872-km railway track from Peshawar to Karachi and is a major milestone for
the second phase of CPEC.
A Pakistan-based journalist told Nikkei Asia that
China is not happy about lending the money since Pakistan has already sought
debt relief to meet the G20 lending conditions and is not in a position to give
sovereign guarantees.
The journalist said that China's appetite for
investments in large infrastructure projects has diminished because these
projects are vulnerable to local politics that delay returns on investment for
Beijing.
In December last year, China had even sought
additional guarantees before sanctioning the loan in view of Islamabad's
weakening financial position.
It had proposed a mix of commercial and concessional
loans to fund the rail project, going against Islamabad’s wishes of
"cheapest lending".
A Pakistani official had said that China raised the
additional guarantees issue to get clarity over Pakistan's financial condition
after Islamabad applied for debt relief from the G-20 countries, which is only
meant for the world's poorest nations.
Pakistan is currently renegotiating its $6 million
extended fund facility at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was
suspended in April 2020.
The IMF will reportedly resume the programme only if
Pakistan does not take out any new commercial loans, and that is one of the
reasons it is looking for concessions on loans for the ML-1 project, according
to Nikkei Asia.
CPEC summit delayed
The Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) is the primary
decision-making body of CPEC.
Its first meeting was held in August 2013 and the
latest one in November 2019.
The report said that the 10th JCC was originally
scheduled for early 2020, but has not taken place so far.
It said that Covid-19 pandemic was initially cited as
the reason behind the postponement but sources later revealed that delay has
been caused due to disagreements over the railway project and special economic
zones.
Sources told Nikkei that the meeting will not take
place for at least three more months - by far the longest gap to date.
As a result, Pakistan's desire to start work on the
package-1 from January 2021 would remain unfulfilled due to delay in finalisation
of financing details.
Spate of concerns
Discontentment between the two allies had been brewing
ever since China decided to tighten its purse strings amid concerns over its
investments in Pakistan.
Another report on Nikkei had recently said that China
is slowly backing away from CPEC due to Islamabad's spiraling debt, series of
corruption scandals and rising security costs.
China has rejected claims that it's turning its back
on CPEC but other media reports, coupled with the continuous delay in the CPEC
summit, seem to confirm that it is wary of pumping more money into the
debt-ridden country.
According to Asia Times, only 32 out of the 122
projects under CPEC had been completed till the third quarter of the fiscal
year.
Corruption scandals
Besides concerns over Pakistan's ballooning debt,
Beijing is also believed to be unhappy about reports of corruption involving
Chinese companies that are part of the CPEC projects.
A recent report on Nikkei said that a probe by the
Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) found irregularities worth
over $1.8 billion in the power sector, with many Chinese firms receiving undue
subsidies.
This was further corroborated by another report on
Asia Times recently, which said China's "illegal profiteering" from
the power sector was in fact the reason behind the nationwide blackout in
Pakistan earlier this month.
Citing a report of the nine-member committee, a former
chairperson of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) FM
Shakil made startling revelations about widespread malpractice in the power
sector.
The report lifted the lid on the extent of Independent
Power Producer (IPP) corruption, including among Chinese units installed under
a government-to-government arrangement for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) related operation.
It traced 100 billion Pakistani rupees ($625 million)
in annual over-payment to the IPPs and discussed the magnitude of illegal
"profiteering" of Chinese energy companies.
China has earmarked $30 billion for Pakistan's energy
sector through CPEC funds. Several Chinese IPPs have been involved in the
construction of as many as 27 power plants in Pakistan with a total installed
capacity of 12,000 MW under the CPEC programme, reported Asia Times.
"Analysts, however, have questioned the viability
of these energy projects, primarily because most of the Chinese investments
focused on power generation and ignored the distribution of power, which is
clearly in a shambles judging by the recent blackout," expressed Shakil.
Opposition heat
Adding another layer of controversy is the role of the
CPEC Authority chairman Lt General Asim Saleem Bajwa (retd).
Last week, the opposition parties staged a walkout
from the Senate session over the Pakistan government's "inadequate"
response to their queries on the CPEC Authority ordinance, reported Dawn.
The CPEC Authority ordinance is largely seen as an
attempt by the Pakistan government to allow the military greater control over
the CPEC projects.
The proposed law will allow Bajwa to replace the
planning minister as co-chair of a Pakistan-China joint committee and eliminate
the role of the planning ministry as an administrative division.
Bajwa is already a controversial figure in Pakistan
who is said to have amassed millions of dollars of late.
The opposition had even questioned the meeting of
Bajwa with the Chinese ambassador when the CPEC Authority had no chairman and
the CPEC Authority's ordinance had lapsed.
"Is [retired Lt Gen] Asim Saleem still receiving
the salary of the chairman of CPEC Authority?" questioned Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi. Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami
Senator Mushtaq Ahmad asked in what capacity did Bajwa meet the Chinese
ambassador.
Ahmad said Bajwa was a "controversial"
figure and yet he was made chairman of the CPEC Authority, adding that there
were allegations of corruption against Bajwa.
He further said that "in the future, no such
individual, who has allegations of corruption against them, should be appointed
chairman of the CPEC Authority."
Earlier, local media had exposed Bajwa's several
offshore businesses, including more than 100 companies and franchises in the
US, UAE and Canada in which his families were involved.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/why-china-pakistan-ties-are-unraveling-over-cpec/articleshow/80450316.cms
--------
Pakistan voices opposition for new permanent seats in
UNSC
January 26, 2021
Pakistan has warned that attempts by the aspirants of
permanent seats on the UN Security Council (UNSC) — India, Brazil, Germany and
Japan — to railroad efforts to reform the 15-member body would kill the
consensus-based process to make it more effective, representative and
accountable.
“Inter-governmental negotiations (IGN) remain the only
credible platform for a comprehensive reform of the council,” Ambassador Munir
Akram said while re-affirming Pakistan’s strong opposition to creating new
permanent members.
“Any attempts to undermine or derail the IGN process
will prove counterproductive,” the Pakistani envoy said when the long-running
IGN process resumed in New York on Monday.
Having failed to evoke support for their bid for
permanent membership of the council, he said that G-4 members were trying to
create the "fear" that the opportunity for reform may soon be lost
unless their procedural moves to short circuit the process were endorsed.
“We are prepared to breathe new life in IGN but some
states are bent upon killing the process,” Ambassador Akram said.
Full-scale negotiations to reform the UNSC began in
the General Assembly in February 2009 on five key areas; the categories of
membership, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an enlarged
Security Council, and working methods of the council and its relationship with
the General Assembly.
Despite a general agreement on enlarging the council,
as part of the UN reform process, member states remain sharply divided over the
details.
The G-4 have shown no flexibility in their push for
expanding the UNSC by 10 seats, with six additional permanent and four
non-permanent members.
On the other hand, the Italy/Pakistan-led Uniting for
Consensus (UfC) group opposes any additional permanent members, saying it would
make it less representative, less effective and more divided, and will diminish
the right of the vast majority of the UN membership to serve on the body.
UfC has proposed a new category of members that are
not permanent with longer terms and with a possibility of getting re-elected.
The Security Council is currently composed of five
permanent members which include Britain, China, France, Russia and the United
States, and 10 non-permanent members elected to serve for two years.
In his remarks, Ambassador Akram said that the UfC
proposal to add 11 new non-permanent seats would redress the "deficit"
of equitable representation in the UNSC as it accommodates the interests of all
groups.
"In 1945, the council represented 20 per cent of
the membership of the United Nations. Today, it represents 8pc of the
membership. In 1945, there was one non-permanent seat for eight member states.
Today, there is one non-permanent seat for 19 member states."
He also pointed out that a third of UN members have
never served on the council while Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is only the
second small island developing state to ever serve on the UNSC.
The Pakistani envoy said UfC’s proposal can
accommodate the aspirations of the African Group, small island developing
states, the Arab Group and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
"The G-4 is unlikely to apply Africa’s regional approach to their own
regions," he said.
The consensus-based African model is anchored in the
twin imperatives of "representation" and "accountability",
he pointed out.
"Pakistan and the UfC are keen to build on the
progress made during IGN’s previous sessions," Akram said, adding that it
was only through dialogue and consensus that a solution could be achieved.
“We are ready and willing to work with you to promote
this objective,” the Pakistani envoy said.
'Human rights bodies, media exposing Indian oppression
in IIOJK'
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said
on Tuesday that international human rights organisations and the media are
exposing Indian oppression in occupied Kashmir, Radio Pakistan reported.
In a statement, he said that India's Republic Day —
being celebrated today (Jan 26) to commemorate the day the Indian constitution
came into effect — is being observed as a "Black Day" by Kashmiris
across the world.
"The people are protesting as their rights have
been usurped," he said. The foreign minister said that minorities feel
unsafe in India, adding that instead of democracy "black laws are being
imposed in the neighbouring country".
Qureshi said that the negative policies of the BJP
government were also affecting the Indian economy. He added that all countries
neighbouring India, including Bangladesh, Nepal and China, were annoyed over
Delhi's posturing.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1603739/pakistan-voices-opposition-for-new-permanent-seats-in-unsc
--------
Murad Will Not Be Replaced As CM If Arrested In NAB
Case: Minister Ghani
January 26, 2021
KARACHI: Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed
Ghani said on Monday that Murad Ali Shah would continue to serve as the
province’s chief minister even if he got arrested in a graft case recently
registered against him.
In response to a question at the Meet the Press
programme of the Karachi Press Club about the replacement of Mr Shah as the CM
in case of his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the senior
PPP leader said that he will remain the provincial chief executive.
“We have been saying since day one that NAB is a Niazi
nexus and it has become an instrument of the government,” he said, adding: “NAB
would make a reference against whoever gives a tough time to the federal
government.”
He said Mr Shah had spoken about the rights of Sindh,
talked about the National Finance Commission share of this province and done
“record” development work in Karachi. “He has shown the people of the country
that Sindh has a constitutional right on the gas of this province and in return
for it, there is a NAB reference against him,” he said.
Threatens to air recording of Jan 16 meeting that saw
a spat between chief minister and PTI’s Ali Zaidi
Video of CM-Ali Zaidi spat
Talking about a terse exchange between the CM and
Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi during the Jan 16 meeting of the Karachi
Coordination Committee, he said they had not made any secret recording of the
meeting but many participants had joined in through a video link and “it is all
recorded”.
“If the real face of this PTI government were to be
shown to the people, then we would definitely air that recording,” he said.
Mr Ghani also said that the federal cabinet and the
prime minister were answerable to the people about the sugar, wheat and
medicine scandals.
“Also, with all the reports about the petrol, LNG and
gas scandals coming to light and the involvement of cabinet members including
their prime minister and their ATM and bank accounts that are being filled, there
is also a burden of billions of rupees on the nation. The federal cabinet is
full of crooked ministers and spokespersons and when they get stuck somewhere
they resort to shenanigans,” he said.
Talking about the Pakistan Steel Mills, the minister
said that the Sindh government still wanted to take it over and run it.
“It is the government’s incompetence that the Steel
Mills incurred a loss of Rs42 billion. Instead of questioning those who
destroyed the Mills by cutting off gas connections, punishment is being meted
out to the poor workers there,” he said.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1603673/murad-will-not-be-replaced-as-cm-if-arrested-in-nab-case-ghani
--------
North America
Canada parl. asks govt. to designate armed US militia
group as terrorist entity
26 January 2021
Canada’s parliament has approved a motion calling on
the government to formally designate an American group that supports former US
president Donald Trump as a terrorist entity, alongside outfits like al-Qaeda
and Daesh.
Canadian lawmakers unanimously passed a motion on
Monday that called on the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to
declare as a banned terrorist group the so-called Proud Boys, a white
supremacist group and one of the staunchest supporters of Trump.
It urges the government to “use all available tools to
address the proliferation of white supremacists and hate groups starting with
immediately designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity.”
Although the move is symbolic, Trudeau’s government
said authorities were monitoring the Proud Boys and collecting evidence that
could support designation.
A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Bill Blair
said that security and law enforcement agencies were “very actively engaged in
monitoring the activities of these groups.” According to Mary-Liz Power,
authorities are “gathering the evidence required to support a determination of
listing as a Terrorist Organization.”
Earlier this month, Trump incited armed supporters,
including members of Proud Boys, to storm the US Capitol building, where
lawmakers were in the process of confirming Trump’s defeat and Biden’s win in
the 2020 US presidential election.
The mob assault resulted in the killing of at least
five people, including a police officer who was guarding the Capitol building.
The attack also prompted a historic second impeachment
vote against Trump at the US House of Representatives. Lawmakers cited Trump’s
incitement of an insurrection against the US government in the article of
impeachment.
The Proud Boys had previously offered to serve as
Trump’s private militia.
If the Canadian government designates Proud Boys as a
terrorist entity, the group would be joining a long list of other organizations
including al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and Daesh terrorist groups.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/26/643861/Canada-parl--asks-govt--to-designate-armed-US-militia-group-as-terrorist-entity
--------
Biden admin launches review of Trump decision to
designate Yemen's Houthis as foreign terrorist organization
January 22, 2021
Washington (CNN)The State Department has initiated a
review of the Trump administration's decision to designate Yemen's Houthi
rebels as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), a spokesperson told CNN
Friday.
It is a swift move by the newly installed Biden
administration to examine one of the most consequential 11th hour actions taken
by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who announced the decision less than
two weeks before leaving, with the designation going into effect just a day
before the inauguration on Wednesday.
"As noted by Secretary-Designate (Antony)
Blinken, the State Department has initiated a review of Ansarallah's terrorist
designations," the spokesperson said.
Blinken, President Joe Biden's pick for secretary of
state, said at his nomination hearing Tuesday that his "deep concern about
the designation that was made is that at least on its surface it seems to
achieve nothing particularly practical in advancing the efforts against the
Houthis and to bring them back to the negotiating table, while making it even
more difficult than it already is to provide humanitarian assistance to people
who desperately need it."
He told lawmakers that he would propose to review it
"immediately."
The foreign terrorist organization designation was
swiftly condemned by humanitarian organizations, diplomats, and bipartisan
members of Congress who fear it could further inflame the situation on the
ground, upend UN peace talks, and exacerbate the country's humanitarian crisis.
The State Department spokesperson told CNN that they
"will not publicly discuss or comment on internal deliberations regarding
that review.
"However, with the humanitarian crisis in Yemen
we are working as fast as we can to conduct the review and make a
determination," they said.
Yemen has been embroiled in a years-long civil war
that has pitted a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, a Shia political and military
organization from the north of Yemen. The conflict has cost thousands of civilian
lives and plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis.
The State Department spokesperson said that they
"strongly believe that Ansarallah" -- another name for the Houthis --
"needs to change its behavior," adding that it "bears
significant responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe and insecurity in
Yemen."
"At the same time, we must also ensure that we
are not impeding the provision of humanitarian assistance," they said.
Pompeo said in his statement announcing the
designation that the United States was "planning to put in place measures
to reduce their impact on certain humanitarian activity and imports into
Yemen."
"We have expressed our readiness to work with
relevant officials at the United Nations, with international and
non-governmental organizations, and other international donors to address these
implications," he said.
However, humanitarian organizations and lawmakers
expressed serious concerns that the measures would not be sufficient.
Mercy Corps CEO Tjada D'Oyen said the Trump administration's
designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization would
"undermine the overstretched humanitarian response in Yemen, threatening
the lives of millions of Yemenis who rely on humanitarian assistance."
The head of the International Rescue Committee called
the decision "pure diplomatic vandalism."
"This policy, in the name of tying up the
Houthis, will actually tie up the aid community and international diplomacy.
The opposite is needed -- effective pressure on all parties to the conflict to
cease using civilians as hostages in their war games," David Miliband
said.
The spokesperson said the US "will continue to
support the efforts of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths in bringing the
parties to a political consensus."
"Our focus is on supporting a comprehensive
political agreement that will end the conflict and resolve the dire
humanitarian situation," they said.
In his nomination hearing Tuesday, Blinken told
lawmakers that the Biden administration intends to end its support for the
Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.
"The President-elect has made clear that we will
end our support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. And I
think we will work on that in very short order once the President-elect is
President for the reasons that you cited," Blinken said.
Asked what ending that support looks like, the nominee
for top US diplomat said, "it looks like, first and foremost, making sure
we understand exactly what support we are actually currently providing and
which we need to look at, and then withdrawing that support."
"But I want make clear, I think we have to be in
close contact with Saudi Arabia, with our partner there. We need to be very
clear about what we are doing, why we are doing something and talk it
through," Blinken said. "But the main point is that for reasons that
we have discussed we believe that continuing that support is not the national
interest."
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/22/politics/houthi-designation-review/index.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1933646_
--------
US authorizes transactions with Yemen’s Houthis for 30
days
25 January 2021
The US Treasury Department has issued a license
authorizing transactions until February 26 involving Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah
movement, which was earlier designated by the Trump administration as a foreign
terrorist organization.
The new Treasury Department license issued on Monday
allows all transactions involving the Houthi group or any entity in which it
owns 50% percent or more - though not its blacklisted leaders - until Feb. 26,
2021.
The Treasury Department appeared to be trying to allay
the fears of companies and banks involved in commercial trade to Yemen, which
relies mainly on imports.
The Treasury specifically stated in a Frequently Asked
Question, “Foreign financial institutions do not risk exposure to … sanctions …
if they knowingly conduct or facilitate a transaction” for the Houthis.
Brian O’Toole, a former Treasury official under the
Obama Administration, says the license “essentially wipes out the entire effect
of the designation while giving the Biden administration a chance to make the
decision on its own rather than getting stuck with Mike Pompeo’s decision.”
Donald Trump's administration announced the
designation of popular Ansarullah movement as a terrorist group on January 11,
nine days before new US President Joe Biden took office last Wednesday.
Trump was a staunch ally of Saudi Arabia, offering
logistical help and military sales for the kingdom's six-year war on Yemen to
dislodge the Ansarullah-led and Sana’a-based National Salvation Government,
which is controlling much of the war-torn country.
The Biden administration’s move to approve
transactions with the Houthis came after 22 aid organizations working in
warn-torn Yemen called for Washington to revoke its labeling of the Houthis as
a terror group as the move put "millions of lives at risk”.
The joint appeal was issued by Mercy Corps, Oxfam,
Save the Children and Norwegian Refugee Council, among others.
"This designation comes at a time when famine is
a very real threat to a country devastated by six years of conflict," said
the 22 groups.
The Trump administration had exempted aid groups, the
United Nations, the Red Cross and the export of agricultural commodities,
medicine and medical devices from its designation, but UN officials and aid
groups said the carve-outs were not enough and called for the decision to be
revoked.
Earlier this month, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, had also called on the USA to
reverse the Trump administration's stance.
The US State Department said on Friday that it has
initiated a review of the designation and is working as quickly as it can to
conclude the process and make a determination.
Since late 2014, Houthis have been running state
affairs following the resignation of the Riyadh-back President Abd Rabbuh
Mansur Hadi.
Months later in March 2015, the Saudi regime and a
number of its allies launched the deadly war on Yemen to reinstall Hadi, but
the campaign has flatly failed in the face of stiff resistance by the Yemeni
armed forces.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/25/643843/Yemen-houthis-ansarullah-sanctions
--------
Senator: Trump’s campaign against Iran 'catastrophic
failure'
25 January 2021
A US senator has vehemently denounced former US
president Donald Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran, warning
that the Iran hawks, who used to champion the wrong approach, are now trying to
prevent his successor Joe Biden from opting out of it.
“Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign proved
a catastrophic failure,” Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted on Monday.
Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign proved a
catastrophic failure, but the Iran hawks are unrepentant. Now they want to
dictate Biden's personnel choices, labeling those who support diplomacy as
dangerous.
The hawks have been wrong, over and over. Why listen
to them now?
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 25, 2021
Trump took the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action (JCPOA), a historic 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
He also returned the sanctions that the deal had lifted.
Israel as well as anti-Iran American and regional
officials reportedly played a major role in having the Trump administration
take the unilateral measures that violated the JCPOA - a nuclear agreement
ratified in the form of a United Nations Security Council resolution.
“The hawks' theory was if we pulled out of the nuclear
deal and went back to sanctions and tough talk, Iran would come to the table…,”
Murphy said.
He reminded how the hawkish US officials used to
believe that not only would the pressure force Iran back to the negotiation
table, but also the Islamic Republic would start discussing its missile program
and regional influence as Washington desired.
The Islamic Republic reacted to the campaign led by
the US and its allies by asserting that it would never renegotiate a “done
deal.”
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali
Khamenei has said that Iran would resist the "criminal" US sanctions
and turn the maximum pressure into "maximum disgrace" for Washington.
Murphy said, “Trump tested the theory. Gave it 4 solid
years. It didn't work. At all. And Iran restarted the shuttered parts of their
nuclear program. Unmitigated disaster.”
“When Trump came into office, the JCPOA had aligned
U.S./Britain/France/Germany/Russia/China vs. Iran,” he said, referring to the
nuclear deal’s members.
“Trump and the Iran hawks managed to shift the JCPOA
balance to U.S. vs. Iran/Britain/France/Germany/Russia/China. A total
disaster,” he added.
The anti-Iran forces, Murphy said, are still
“unrepentant,” and now trying to “dictate Biden's personnel choices, labeling
those who support diplomacy as dangerous.”
They “want to tell Biden he can't hire people to work
on the Iran brief who support diplomacy," he added.
“The hawks have been wrong, over and over. Why listen
to them now?” he asked.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/25/643794/Iran-United-States-Trump-maximum-pressure-Chris-Murphy-catastrophic-failure-hawks
--------
Europe
Russia rejects any closed-door discussion of Syrian
chemical case at UN Security Council
25 January 2021
Russia’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations
says Moscow will oppose any attempt to return to closed-door discussions on the
purported use of chemical arms in Syria at the UN Security Council.
Vassily Nebenzia, the permanent representative of the
Russian Federation to the UN, said on Monday that the United Kingdom, which
will become the head of the Council for the month of February, has proposed to
return to discussing Syria’s chemical case behind closed doors.
He added, in an interview with TASS news agency, that
such discussions would be held “without video conference and also without the
participation of the representative of Syria, but we’ll oppose that.”
“With our initiative, these sessions have become open,
and we do not see why they should hide from the public community,” Nebenzia
further said, as cited by Syria’s official SANA news agency.
The Russian envoy said the international community
must be aware of what is going on about the chemical file in Syria, “so we
would insist that the meeting be open.”
The Syrian government surrendered its stockpiles of
chemical weapons in 2013 to a joint mission led by the UN and the Organization
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which oversaw the destruction
of the weaponry.
However, Western governments and their allies have
never stopped pointing the finger at Damascus whenever an apparent chemical
attack has taken place.
Damascus has time and again strongly denied any use of
chemical weapons, saying it is not in possession of such weapons and remains
committed to cooperating with OPCW.
On January 5, Syria lambasted Western pressure aimed
at forcing the OPCW and its member states to adopt a French-Western draft
resolution that falsely claimed its “Syria’s non-abidance” by the obligations
according to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Damascus further stressed that any resolution that
would be released by the Executive Council based on the fabrications of the
OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) was a politicized resolution
with the aim of accusing the Syrian government of using chemical weapons and
acquitting the terrorists and their sponsors.
Back in December, Syria emphasized the necessity of
closing its chemical file for good after it fulfilled all the obligations
entailed by its accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/25/643811/Russia-closed-door-Syria-chemical-case
--------
Schoolboys in court charged with terrorism offences
23 January 2021
Two boys accused of being members of a far-right
extremist group have appeared in court on terrorism charges.
The pair, aged 15 and 16, are alleged to have been
part of a Telegram chat group found to contain images of Adolf Hitler and the
white supremacist behind the 2019 Christchurch massacre.
The boys appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on
Friday but did not enter pleas.
They are due to appear at the same court on 26
February.
The younger boy, from South Derbyshire, is accused of
possessing a terrorist publication, namely the Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000 on
or before 22 September.
He is also charged with disseminating a terrorist
publication on 18 September and has been remanded in custody.
The other teenager, from Kent, is accused of providing
an electronic link that allowed others to access a terrorist publication,
namely the "white resistance manual".
It is alleged he did so with the intention it would
encourage others to commit a terrorist act.
He is also charged with the dissemination of a terrorist
publication on 28 August.
The boy was granted conditional bail with restrictions
on his internet use and a curfew ordering him to remain at home between 20:00
and 06:00 GMT.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-55772245?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1933646_
--------
Swiss ambassador to Beirut, Lebanese FM hold talks
amid central bank probe
25 January 2021
Lebanon’s foreign minister held talks Monday with the
Swiss ambassador to Beirut after Switzerland started a probe into possible
money laundering and embezzlement at the Mideast country’s central bank.
Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbi and ambassador Monika
Schmutz Kirgoz did not offer comments following their meeting, saying only that
the probe is a matter that judicial authorities are dealing with.
Switzerland’s attorney general said last week he has
asked Lebanon for cooperation into the probe, without offering further details.
It’s not clear what prompted the Swiss investigation. Lebanon is facing its
worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.
Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh denied
last week he had made any transfers of the bank’s funds. On Monday, shortly
after the meeting between Wehbi and Kirgoz, the governor issued a statement
saying reports about large transfers “are very exaggerated and have nothing to
do with reality.”
They allegedly aim to tarnish the image of the central
bank and its governor “but lies won’t succeed,” said Salameh, who has been
questioned by Lebanon’s prosecutor general, Judge Ghassan Oweidat.
Swiss legislator Fabian Molina has been campaigning
for months for Swiss authorities to act against corruption in Lebanon. On
Sunday, he said he was pleased “there is finally a movement in connection with
the billions (of dollars) stolen from the Lebanese people.”
Molina added he expects the Swiss government and the
Financial Market Authority to take action “to block further funds and prevent
future cases of money laundering by Swiss banks.”
Lebanon is facing its worst economic and financial
crisis in its modern history and as of late 2019, private banks enforced
informal capital controls, limiting withdrawals and blocking transfers abroad.
The value of Lebanon’s currency tumbled against the dollar amid an
unprecedented shortage of foreign currencies.
The government defaulted on its foreign debts and
began talks with the International Monetary Fund for a rescue package.
Amid the chaos, reports surfaced of capital transfers,
including by government officials.
A government-commissioned international audit of the
central bank faltered after the New York-based company hired to do it said it
was unable to acquire needed information and documents.
Salameh, who has held the central bank post since
1993, has defended his role, alleging a systematic campaign meant to hold him
responsible for the country’s financial crisis.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/25/Swiss-ambassador-to-Beirut-Lebanese-FM-hold-talks-amid-central-bank-probe
--------
South Asia
Afghanistan welcomes US move to review deal with
Taliban
Jan 26, 2021
ISLAMABAD: The Afghan government on Saturday welcomed
the move by the Biden administration to review the February 2020 deal that
Washington had signed with Taliban insurgents.
Sediq Sediqqi, spokesperson of Afghan President Dr
Ashraf Ghani, said in a statement that the US-Taliban agreement has so far
failed to deliver the desired goal of ending Taliban violence and bringing a
ceasefire. “The Taliban did not live up to its commitments,” he said.
His statement followed a phone conversation between
Jake Sullivan, the new US national security adviser, and his Afghan counterpart
Hamdullah Mohib.
The Biden administration on Friday said that it was
looking to review the deal between Washington and the Taliban.
In the conversation with Sullivan, Mohib said that
they agreed to work towards a permanent ceasefire and a just and durable peace
in Afghanistan “capable of preserving the gains of the past two decades,
protecting the rights of all Afghans, and continuing the reforms.”
In a series of tweets on Saturday, Mohib said that
Sullivan affirmed that the partnership with the government of Afghanistan and
Afghan security and defense forces remains a priority and a key to US national
security objectives. “We will continue close consultations in the days and
weeks ahead,” he added.
Last week, following the targeted assassination of two
female judges in the capital Kabul, the US Embassy warned the Taliban to cease
attacks on civilians for peace to come to Afghanistan.
“The Taliban should understand that such actions for
which it bears responsibility outrage the world and must cease if peace is to
come to Afghanistan,” tweeted Ross Wilson, the US chargé d’affaires.
The review comes amid the stalled intra-Afghan talks
in the Qatari capital of Doha, which aimed at ending the nearly two-decade
conflict in war-torn Afghanistan.
Former US President Donald Trump had made the
withdrawal of US Nato troops from Afghanistan a priority. According to the
US-Taliban deal, the US and Nato allies would withdraw all troops from
Afghanistan by May this year if the Taliban upheld its promises.
The promises included not to allow militant outfits to
operate from areas controlled by the Taliban, shunning violence and to start
dialogue with the government in Kabul. Following the deal, the militants halted
attacks to a greater extent on foreign troops but intensified its fight against
Kabul, with the country having seen a wave of targeted killings in recent
months. Journalists, activists, politicians and women judges were among those
killed in targeted assassinations.
Given the volatile situation in the war-torn country,
the new US administration has said that it will review a peace deal that
President Trump had made with the Taliban.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/kabul-welcomes-us-move-to-review-deal-with-taliban/articleshow/80458457.cms
--------
Bangladesh to buy Myanmar rice, putting aside Rohingya
crisis
JAN 24, 2021
Bangladesh will buy 100,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar,
putting aside a rift over the Rohingya refugee crisis as the government races
to overcome a shortage of the staple food for the country's more than 160
million people.
High rice prices pose a problem for the Dhaka
government, which is ramping up efforts to replenish its depleted reserves
after floods last year ravaged crops and sent prices to a record high.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh and mostly Buddhist Myanmar
have been at odds over the more than 1 million Muslim Rohingya refugees in
camps in southern Bangladesh. The vast majority of them fled Myanmar in 2017
from a military-led crackdown that U.N investigators said was executed with
"genocidal intent" - assertions that Myanmar denies.
Bangladesh will import white rice in a
government-to-government deal at $485 a tonne, including cost, insurance and
freight (CIF) liner out basis, said Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum, the secretary at
the country's food ministry.
"Our main priority is to bring down the prices of
rice," Khanum told Reuters on Sunday, adding the government could buy as
much as 10 million tonnes while private traders are allowed to buy another 10
million tonnes in the year to June.
The deal will be signed soon and the rice will be
delivered by April in phases, she said.
Bangladesh is also buying 150,000 tonnes of rice from
India's state-run firm NAFED in a government-to-government deal while it has
issued a series of tender to buy the grain.
"We could buy more rice from India in
state-to-state deals," Khanum said, adding that the Food Ministry was holding
talks with several other Indian state agencies.
Bangladesh, traditionally the world's third-biggest
rice producer with around 35 million tonnes annually, uses almost all its
production to feed its people. It still often requires imports to cope with shortages
caused by floods or droughts.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news
--------
Afghanistan: Journalists, Reporters Displaced by Surge
of Targeted Assassinations, Killings
By Mohammad Haroon Alim
24 Jan 2021
As the targeted killings and assassinations in the
country have increased, more specifically by targeting journalists and members
of civil society, many of the media workers were forced to leave the country.
Last night, Mukhtar Lashkari, the host of the
satirical program “Cactus” on Channel One, left Afghanistan due to security
threats against journalists.
In a video posted on social media, Lashkari says he is
leaving Afghanistan to protect his life.
the recent targeted killings of journalists have
caused many Afghan media figures to leave the country either forever or for a
while, Lashkari added, that a country without journalists and media is like the
“graveyard of information”.
“What should we do? Journalists, are the most
vulnerable segment of society, mostly under the throes of the opposition
without any security protection, and haven’t you heard of what happened to
journalists recently” fearing for his life he whined “I am also one of those
who decided to live abroad for a while”, Lashkari said.Lashkari said that he
will return back to Afghanistan and that currently, he should save his life.
On the other hand, Farahnaz Forotan, a political
presenter who worked with various TV channels has left Afghanistan due to
recent security threats and targeted assassinations of journalists. She confirmed
her migration on Twitter that she had taken refuge in France.
“I went to France on a long-term visa and am currently
in Turkey,” she wrote on her Twitter account”, she also emphasized that she did
not seek asylum in France, but sought refuge in the country.
Meanwhile, Fatemeh Hashim, Editor in Chief of Khaama
Press, has also left the country due to security threats against journalists.
Hashem added, that currently journalists, civil
society activists, public and prominent political figures are living under
extreme disappointing situation.
According to Fatema Hashim, Afghanistan, and
especially Kabul city, has recently become a city of terror, and every day “we
are evident to a targeted killing incident”, Something that has turned our
survival into a “miracle”.
“It simply came to our notice that every moment of
fear prevents a person from reaching the goal he is about to achieve, but I
must survive to achieve all my ideals and goals,” Hashim added.
Last week, RFE\RL (Radio Azadi) correspondent Nusrat
Parsa has also left Afghanistan for Turkey due to targeted assassinations and
security threats.
He also stated that the reason for his departure from
Afghanistan was due to security threats to the lives of journalists, “I fled
the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” he wrote on his Facebook page, escape is
also part of the struggle, “I left Afghanistan to survive.”.
Reports indicate many journalists and media activists
have left the country, either temporarily or permanently, following the rage
and escalation in targeted killings of journalists and members of civil
society.
In the past two months, several journalists and media
workers in the country have been killed by unidentified gunmen or by magnetic
mines, some were also suspiciously announced dead.
Two months ago, Amrullah Saleh, the first vice
president, wrote on his Facebook page that the Taliban had decided to target
Afghan journalists, members of civil society in order to put pressure on the
government.
Just a few days after Saleh’s remarks, a wave of targeted
attacks on journalists, members of civil society, and women’s rights activists
began.
In less than
two months more than a dozen journalists, civil society activists, and women’s
rights activists were assassinated.
But the Taliban have never claimed responsibility such
actions.
Following the international community’s strong
criticism of the recent targeted killings, the Taliban issued a statement
completely denying their involvement in the attacks, and besides the militant
group condemned the killings of journalists, members of civil society, and
civilians.
https://www.khaama.com/afghanistan-journalists-reporters-displaced-by-surge-of-targeted-assassinations-killings-4455544/
--------
Pakistan to Boost Sustenance Markets along Pak-Afghan
Border
By Mohammad Haroon Alim
25 Jan 2021
Pakistan Foreign Ministry in a press statement said,
that Afghan Foreign Minister, Haneef Atmar on Monday in a telephone
conversation spoke with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, both had discussed matters of
mutual interest.
According to the statement, Qureshi stressed
strengthening trade policies between the two countries, adding to the
importance of the Border Sustenance Markets, he underlined a special initiative
by Prime minister Imran khan to improve trade across the Afghan border with
Pakistan.
“Highlighting Pakistan’s policy to strengthen trade
between the two countries, Foreign Minister Qureshi drew Foreign Minister
Atmar’s attention towards proposed establishment of Border Sustenance Markets.
He underlined that it was a special initiative of the Prime Minister Imran Khan
to boost local trade and economic activity in the border regions”.
Qureshi “expressed hope for the earliest finalization
of the MoU”, the statement read.
Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s support to the Afghan peace
process and hoped for a stable and prosperous Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Qureshi “underlined that the
Intra-Afghan Negotiations (IAN) provided an historic opportunity for the Afghan
leadership to achieve an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political
settlement in Afghanistan”, he also expressed “concern on the high level of
violence in Afghanistan and emphasized progress in the IAN which would also
facilitate reduction in violence, leading to ceasefire”.
Qureshi demanded the release of Pakistani prisoners
detained for minor crimes in the Afghan jails.
Foreign Minister Qureshi raised the “issue of
Pakistani prisoners who had been languishing in Afghan jails over minor
crimes”.
The released statement indicates, that Qureshi hoped the
Afghan president will issue a decree, by providing an opportunity for the
prisoners to return home and to their families.
“The Intra-Afghan Negotiations had provided a window
of opportunity for return of lasting peace in Afghanistan. Pakistan had always
held that there was no military solution of the Afghan conflict and a political
settlement was the only way forward. Pakistan would continue to play its
positive role towards supporting the Afghan Peace Process and strengthening
bilateral relations with Afghanistan” Pakistan Foreign Ministry stated.
This comes as President Ashraf Ghani in a Cabinet
meeting said Monday, that a new chapter has been opened in relations between
Kabul and United States.
He added that the US our “main partner” relations with
Afghanistan will be at the government-to-government level.
According to President Ghani, the American government
will consult on a joint-strategy following the review of the US-Taliban
agreement in Doha, Qatar.
“A quick review of the US’s deal with the Taliban will
be done by the US National Security council and then a fundamental consultation
will be done with us,” Ghani said.
https://www.khaama.com/pakistan-to-boost-sustenance-markets-along-pak-afghan-border-445544/
--------
Southeast Asia
Govt introduces Manhaj Rabbani as basis of Islamic
administration – Zulkifli
JANUARY 25, 2021
PUTRAJAYA (Jan 25): The government has introduced the
Manhaj Rabbani policy as the basis of Islamic administration, which is based on
three main features – Thaqafah (knowledge), Ruuhaniyyah (spirituality) and
Dakwah (activism).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious
Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri said the Manhaj Rabbani is a
concept that is close to the community, clear, easy to understand and can be
interpreted at the individual, community, organisational and national levels.
Zulkifli, when delivering an online message in
conjunction with the assembly of agencies under his department, described the
policy required an individual to adhere to the principle of ‘ubudiyyah’
(devotion) to God.
“The policy is also in line with Malaysia’s position
as an Islamic country and is further strengthened through the first principle
of the Rukun Negara, which is Belief in God,” he said.
The core of the Manhaj Rabbani policy was Maqasid
Syariah and the level of achievement under the policy would be measured by the
implementation of the i-MaqSD application, under the purview of the Department
of Islamic Development Malaysia’s Maqasid Syariah Division, he said.
i-MaqSD has been designed to scientifically measure
the level of application of the five principles of Maqasid Syariah on the
implementation of functions of agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department
(Religious Affairs). It is also integrated with 17 agendas of the 2030
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Its implementation will use the mix research method
which is quantitative and qualitative, involving six key areas and 29
indicators that are directly related to the function of each agency.
The areas are Shariah Law and Judiciary; Education and
Human Development; Socio-Economic of Ummah; Dakwah and Media; Mosque
Institution; and Leadership and Governance.
Zulkifli said based on the i-MaqSD pilot project which
has been implemented by the Maqasid Division on 14 agencies under the
department last year, the overall achievement level is at 85.9 per cent.
In his message, Zulkifli also asked the agencies under
the purview of his department to streamline their respective corporate
communication units so that every issue that arises in the media including
social media to be addressed immediately.
“There are agencies which are still unsure on how to
respond even though the issues (in the media) have already been discussed.
There should be a detailed plan if an issue arises, what action will be taken
to resolve it. Silence will not resolve anything,” he said.
He said agencies focusing on the distribution of aid
such as the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council’s Baitulmal, Yayasan
Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia and Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia should
utilise social media such as Facebook and Twitter to disseminate activity
reports.
“We do not want posting on social media done
half-heartedly with only 10 likes. Every time you post something, let it spread
with thousands of shares, likes, retweets. Social media can serve an echo
chamber that transmits true and positive news if we really want it,” he said.
Zulkifli, meanwhile, said that although the two
parliamentary sittings this year may be postponed due to an emergency
declaration, action to resolve issues such as the Endowment Bill, Syariah
Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Bill or RUU355 and Royal Commission of Inquiry
(RCI) to investigate the alleged misappropriation of funds in Lembaga Tabung
Haji (TH), should continue. – Bernama
https://www.theborneopost.com/2021/01/25/govt-introduces-manhaj-rabbani-as-basis-of-islamic-administration-zulkifli/
--------
Calls for Zahid to quit as Umno chief impolite, says
Tok Mat
January 26, 2021
PETALING JAYA: Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan has
spoken out against calls for party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to resign,
pleading for unity and harmony among members.
Mohamad, also known as Tok Mat, said the “impolite”
manner in which the calls had been made was against Umno’s values and culture,
and warned members against being disrespectful towards the presidential
institution.
“We can have different opinions and aspirations
because Umno is democratic, but not to the point where it leads to disputes and
eventually divisions in Umno. I call on all to unite within Umno by reconciling
with one another.
“A little seed of division between us will give our
opponents the opportunity to break Umno apart,” he said in a statement today.
Mohamad urged Umno members to guard the friendships
and camaraderie within the party, adding that no one would benefit nor win from
Umno being divided.
He also said his concern was that the party and the
Malays would pay the biggest price if differences were not settled in a civil
and courteous manner.
“I urge everyone to bring in a new era for Umno with
unity and cooperation. An era where the party is strengthened with the
commitment to champion the interests of Malaysia, the Malays, Islam and
democracy.
“And, finally, an era where Umno is respected as the
true spokesman of Malaysians and the Malays, and not a party that is greedy for
power and position,” he said.
There have recently been a few calls for Zahid to step
down as Umno president, with a division chief most recently saying his weak
leadership had caused “havoc” among members.
Two youth leaders from Johor and Negeri Sembilan had
also asked Zahid to resign.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/01/26/calls-for-zahid-to-quit-as-umno-chief-impolite-says-tok-mat/
--------
Will Indonesia’s new Religious Affairs minister
protect religious minorities?
26 January 2021
Alexander R Arifianto
On 22 December 2020, Indonesian President Joko Widodo
reshuffled his cabinet to replace six ministers. One of the more important
changes was for the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Retired General Fachrul
Razi, who occupied the portfolio since the start of Widodo’s second term
commenced in October 2019, was replaced by Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. Quomas is a
member of parliament from the National Awakening Party, affiliated with the
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation.
Qoumas’ appointment is a sign that Widodo is making
amends with NU, one of Widodo’s key supportersduring his 2019 re-election
campaign. Widodo’s appointment of Razi had alienated leaders of the
organisationsince, by political tradition, the position is usually occupied by
a cleric or politician affiliated with NU.
NU leaders expressed their disappointment through
subtle criticisms in media statements and, more importantly, lukewarm support
for his policies. For instance, they argued that Razi’s proposal to institute a
certification program for Islamic preachers should be implemented by Islamic
organisations themselves instead of the state. The lack of NU support for
Razi’s policy initiatives weakened his ministerial authority and led to the
perception that his brief tenure was controversial and largely ineffective.
Widodo likely reached out to NU to appease his most
important Islamic ally and to work closely with the organisation on two main
priorities: combating Islamic radicalism and protecting the rights of religious
minorities.
Qoumas is chairman of the Ansor Youth movement, NU’s
wing for young activists aged 40 years and under. Ansor was widely considered a
leading ally of the President during last year’s general election. It has also
long been known for its efforts to protect the rights of religious minorities,
as seen in its initiatives to guard Christmas Eve services in Christian
churches across Indonesia for the past two decades.
The organisation’s one-sided actions against Islamist
groups have often created controversy. For instance, it engaged in violent altercations
with the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI)during
the heavily polarised 2019 general election campaigns. Ansor and NU leaders
were thought to have lobbied the Widodo administration to legally ban HTI, a
prohibition which was enacted in July 2017. Incidents like these have led some
observers to question Ansor’s — and broadly NU’s — commitment to genuine
tolerance and pluralism.
Some analysts assert that Qoumas’ appointment
indicates a continuation of the Widodo administration’s harsh measures against
Islamist groups, given the tough rhetoric he issued against FPI and other
hard-line groups as Ansor chairman. The Indonesian government finally
prohibited FPI on 30 December 2020.
But it is unclear whether Qoumas will enact some of
the controversial proposals of his predecessor, such as the preachers
certification scheme and mandatory registration of Islamic community preaching
groups (majelis taklim).
Addressing discrimination against religious minorities
seems to be another new policy initiative for Qoumas. In an impromptu statement
issued on 24 December 2020, he announced that Ministry of Religious Affairs
will review the status of the Ahmadi Muslim minority to ‘reaffirm their
religious rights as well as their rights as Indonesian citizens’.
Ahmadi Muslims have been victims of religious
persecution for more than a decade. The Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) issued a
religious ruling (fatwa) declaring Ahmadi Muslims a ‘deviant’ sect in 2005.
This fatwawas followed up by a joint ministerial decree issued by the Religious
Affairs, Home Affairs, and Justice and Human Rights ministries that severely
restricted the religious activities of Ahmadis outside of their mosques.
Qoumas’ statement immediately invoked a strong
pushback from conservative Islamists. A senior MUI official urged Qoumas to
consult all Islamic organisations and senior clerics before issuing a decision,
since this is considered ‘a sensitive theological matter’. Qoumas was forced to
clarify his initiative, stating that he only intends to restore the rights of
Ahmadi minorities as Indonesian citizens.
This clarification meant that, if implemented, Qoumas’
initiative is unlikely to reverse the MUI fatwa or the joint ministerial
decree. But it would restore the civil rights of Ahmadi minorities as citizens,
including their ability to access public services such as education and health
care. Human rights groups have criticised Quomas’ initiative as inadequate and
called on him to cancel the joint ministerial decree, since it is the root of
the persecution of Ahmadis.
Qoumas’ new initiatives as Religious Affairs Minister
are a welcome move to counter the influence of radical Islamists and address
long-standing injustices against religious minorities. He now has to prove these
are not empty slogans, but an earnest attempt at promoting equal citizenship
for all Indonesians irrespective of their religious beliefs.
Alexander R Arifianto is a Research Fellow in the
Indonesia Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/01/26/will-indonesias-new-religious-affairs-minister-protect-religious-minorities/
--------
Father of a non-Muslim pupil rejects hijab requirement
by Mathias Hariyadi
01/25/2021
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The parent of a non-Muslim pupil
has rejected the discriminatory regulation of the Padang school in Indonesia
which wants to impose the hijab on all female students.
There are two predominantly Muslim provinces in the
country that have rigorously applied Islamic regulations to their local
residents. While Aceh Province became the nation's first province to enforce
sharia law, West Sumatra province has never mentioned sharia law as a daily
"baseline" for residents' everyday lives. But certainly, in dozens of
districts of the province a feeling of intolerance has repeatedly emerged for
which non-Muslim residents have suffered acts of intolerance in forms of
persecution, bullying or even - the most recent incident - have been forced to
respect local regulations mostly inspired by the Muslim "way of
life".
This is what happened to a non-Muslim local high
school student identified as Jeni Cahyani Hia, of Chinese descent, in Padang,
the capital of West Sumatra province. Days ago her father sent a strong worded
message to her daughter's school - the SMKN 2 Padang - stating that as a parent
he strongly rejected the school regulations that all female students must wear
hijabs. In turn, Ms. Hia steadfastly refused to accept the school's regulations,
stating that she and her daughter are not Muslims and therefore her daughter
Jenny should not wear hijab as required by the school.
Her mother publicly posted her strong rejection on
social media, which brought this issue to national attention to such an extent
that both Padang and Jakarta school office branches said they would soon be
addressing this issue.
Ms. Hia's recorded video message on social media got
responses from at least 3,600 accounts, shares from at least 3,400 accounts,
and received 5,500 comments from various people.
The comments have generally expressed great concern
that the educational institution should not impose discriminatory acts on a
student from a different religious background and from a minority group.
Notice of reprimand
Wikan Sakarinto, director general of vocational
education, said Jakarta will give the school an official reprimand for
violating the school regulations, that "religious symbols" should not
be implemented in school. "The regulation on the student uniform has been
officially issued by the Ministry of Education and National Culture,"
Sakarinto said in a press release released today, referring to Ministerial
Regulation no. 45 / Year 2014 which states that a school uniform must not
follow certain religious habits. The school is also not authorized to design
clothes as a uniform.
Indonesian education minister Nadiem Makarim, a devout
Muslim, condemned the Padang incident as an intolerant act on the part of the
state school. He said: “This is a serious offense (of the spirit) of the
Pancasila, an intolerant act that denies our spirit of pluralism. This means
that it is not only an offense to the education regulation, but it also
violates the spirit of our national philosophy: Pancasila. "He added that
such acts of intolerance clearly constitute a serious violation of Law No.
39/1999 on human rights.
A few days earlier, Adib Alfikri, head of Padang's
Education Brach, had said that his office would look into such discriminatory
regulation very soon, but many accused him of late reaction.
On Friday, Rusmadi, principal of the SMKN2 school,
based in Padang, publicly expressed his request for forgiveness for the
incident. "We are very sorry - she said - for a hostile situation caused
by our staff".
The public condemned this incident as a serious
accident caused by the then mayor of Padang, for which the school is supposed
to implement the so-called "local genius" - which means Islamic
clothing.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Father-of-a-non-Muslim-pupil-rejects-hijab-requirement-52159.html
--------
Arab World
Citizen attacks member of security forces in north
Lebanon
Rawad Taha
26 January 2021
A citizen assaulted a member of the uniformed police
officer in Lebanon which resulted in an uproar on social media.
The video showed a person getting out of a car without
a plate number and with dark windows and then violently assaulting a member of
the Internal Security Forces. He then leaves the place of the assault.
On social media, some said the incident involved an
old personal dispute that led to the conflict at a time when the policeman was
out of his service, while others said the incident occurred after the citizen
verbally harassed the policeman’s wife.
Some have questioned the two versions of events, with
one tweeting that “if a man assaulted a woman, the reason is honor, and if the
man assaulted a man, the reason would also be a women.”
Some criticized the attack on the officer, claiming
that the reason behind this type of incident being “the absence of the
[prestige] of the state.”
Later, the Directorate of Internal Security Forces
settled the debate and said, in a tweet, that “the problem occurred on January
24, between the officer outside his work hours and one of the people living in
the neighboring street due to old individual disputes in the port area.”
The directorate added that “an investigation report
was opened on the subject on the same date by the concerned faction under the
supervision of the competent judiciary, and work is underway to arrest the
aggressor.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/media/digital/2021/01/26/Watch-Citizen-attacks-member-of-security-forces-in-north-Lebanon
--------
Iraq hangs three convicted of ‘terrorism’ at Nasiriyah
central prison: Sources
25 January 2021
Three Iraqis convicted of “terrorism” were hanged on
Monday, a security source said, days after a deadly double suicide attack in a
crowded Baghdad marketplace.
“Three people convicted under Article 4 of the anti-terror
law were executed on Monday at the Nasiriyah central prison,” the source told
AFP on condition of anonymity.
The reported hangings came after rights groups warned
Iraq may authorize a spree of such executions in a show of strength following
the bombings on Thursday which killed at least 32 people and were claimed by
ISIS terrorist group.
On Sunday, an official from Iraq’s presidency had told
AFP more than 340 execution orders “for terrorism or criminal acts” were ready
to be carried out.
“We are continuing to sign off on more,” said the
official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another official from Iraq’s presidency said Monday
that all the orders were signed after 2014, most of them under ex-president
Fuad Massum and at a time when ISIS occupied a third of the country.
Thursday’s attack was a jolting reminder of the
persistent threat posed by the extremists, despite the government declaring
victory over ISIS in late 2017.
A 2005 law carries the death penalty for anyone
convicted of “terrorism,” which can include membership of an extremist group
even if they are not convicted of any specific acts.
Since Baghdad officially declared victory over ISIS,
Iraqi courts have sentenced hundreds to death for crimes perpetrated during the
extremists’ 2014 seizure of swathes of the country and their brutal three-year
hold over cities including Mosul.
Only a small proportion of the sentences have been
carried out.
Rights groups have warned that executions were being
used for political reasons.
“Leaders resort to announcements of mass executions
simply to signal to the public that they’re taking... (these issues)
seriously,” said Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human
Rights Watch.
“The death penalty is used as a political tool more
than anything else,” she told AFP on Sunday.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/25/Terrorism-Iraq-hangs-three-convicted-of-terrorism-at-Nasiriyah-central-prison-Sources
--------
Syria constitution talks recommence in Geneva
25 January 2021
Delegations from Syria’s government, opposition and
civil society began a new round of meetings in Geneva on Monday aimed at
revising the constitution of the war-torn country.
The fifth round of the so-called Constitutional
Committee came days after UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the UN
Security Council that many subjects have been discussed for more than a year
and it’s now time for the committee to ensure that “the meetings are better
organized and more focused.”
Syria’s nearly 10-year conflict has killed more than
half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war 23 million
population, including more than 5 million refugees mostly in neighboring
countries.
“I believe that we need to ensure that the committee
begins to move from `preparing’ a constitutional reform to `drafting’ one, as
it is mandated to do,” Pedersen said last week.
The United States and several Western allies have
accused Syria’s President Bashar Assad of deliberately delaying the drafting of
a new constitution to waste time until presidential elections are held this
year and avoid UN-supervised voting as called for by the UN Security Council.
According to Syria’s elections law, presidential
elections are scheduled to take place between April 16 and May 16, at least 90
days before Assad’s seven-year term expires. Assad has been in power since
2000.
At a Russian-hosted Syrian peace conference in January
2018, an agreement was reached to form a 150-member committee to draft a new
constitution, which took until September 2019. A 45-member committee known as
the “Small Body” started its meetings in Geneva on Monday.
Monday’s meeting involved 15 people from each
delegation and was taking place amid measures to prevent the spread of
coronavirus.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/25/Syria-constitution-talks-recommence-in-Geneva
--------
Israel’s F-35 fighter jets violate Lebanese airspace
in south
25 January 2021
Israeli fighter jets have reportedly violated the
Lebanese airspace, carrying out a number of high-altitude flights over several
southern cities.
Lebanon’s state-run media said the regime used F-35
and F-15 warplanes on Monday afternoon to violate the country’s airspace over
the cities of Nabatiyeh, Iqlim al-Tuffah and Tyre.
Reports said it was the first time the Israeli regime
had used F-35 fighter jets of the advanced fifth-generation in such intrusive
missions, and that the flights were conducted at high altitude.
تحليق مكثف للطيران الحربي المعادي من بعد ظهر اليوم في اجواء
منطقتي النبطية واقليم التفاح وعلى علو متوسط
—
nbnlebanon (@nbntweets) January 25, 2021
Israeli aircraft have been intruding into Lebanon's
skies on an almost daily basis since 2006, when the regime withdrew from the
country's south after staging a devastating war against it, claiming the
flights serve surveillance purposes.
Lebanon's government, the Hezbollah resistance
movement and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have repeatedly condemned
the overflights, saying they are in clear violation of UN Resolution 1701 and
the country's sovereignty.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a
ceasefire in the war of aggression Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006,
calls on Tel Aviv to respect Beirut's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In 2009, Lebanon filed a complaint with the UN,
presenting over 7,000 documents pertaining to Israeli violations of Lebanese
territory.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/25/643836/Israeli-fighter-jets-Lebanese-airspace
--------
Saudi court sentences Shia Muslim eulogist to nine
months in prison
25 January 2021
A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a Shia Muslim
eulogist to nine months in prison as the Riyadh regime continues its
heavy-handed crackdown on members of the religious community in the kingdom.
The London-based and Arabic-language Nabaa television
network reported that the so-called Criminal Court in the city of Dammam,
located about 400 kilometers (248 miles) east of Saudi Arabia’s capital city of
Riyadh, passed the ruling on Muhammad Boujabara for practicing religious rites.
The same court also slapped four-month prison sentences
against five other defendants.
On October 4 last year, Saudi regime forces arrested
Boujabara and eight other Saudi citizens in the al-Asfar neighborhood of the
Shia-populated region of al-Ahsa, in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province as they
were commemorating Arba’een, the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of
Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam.
Meanwhile, the European Saudi Organization for Human
Rights (ESOHR) has denounced the prison sentence handed down to the Saudi Shia
Muslim eulogist and his associates, voicing concerns about the dire situation
of religious freedom and spread of extremism in the kingdom.
ESOHR slammed their arbitrary arrest, and said their
imprisonment on charges of exercising religious rites violates international
law.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up politically-motivated
arrests, prosecution and conviction of peaceful dissident writers and human
rights campaigners, in particular in Eastern Province.
The province has been the scene of peaceful
demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms,
freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to
economic and religious discrimination against the oil-rich region.
The protests have been met with a heavy-handed
crackdown, with regime forces increasing security measures across the province.
In January 2016, Saudi authorities executed Shia
cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who was an outspoken critic of the Riyadh
regime. Nimr had been arrested in Qatif, Eastern Province, in 2012.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/25/643833/Saudi-court-sentences-Shia-Muslim-eulogist-to-nine-months-in-prison
--------
Mideast
In Gaza, Palestinian refugees protest cuts to UNRWA
services
25 January 2021
Ashraf Shannon
Palestinian refugees demonstrated in the Gaza Strip
against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
(UNRWA), slamming its cuts to essential services amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The UN agency provides education, health, food aid and
sanitation services to Palestinian refugees displaced and dispossessed upon the
creation of the Israeli regime in 1948.
The vast majority of Gazans are refugees who were
kicked out of their towns and villages that year.
UNRWA’s field of operation also includes the occupied
West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds as well as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
The agency is already suffering from a huge budget
deficit that has forced it to cut back services to Palestinian refugees in
recent years. Things changed for the worse after the United States suspended its
funding to UNRWA in 2018.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/25/643829/Gaza-Palestinian-refugees-UNRWA
--------
Iranian FM: No Limitation for Cooperation with
Azerbaijan
2021-January-25
During the meeting in Baku on Monday, the two top
diplomats discussed important issues of mutual interest in various bilateral
and regional areas.
Zarif, for his part, stressed Iran’s readiness to play
an active and extensive role in reconstruction of regions in Azerbaijan taken
back during the war with Armenia, which are also located at the joint borders
of the two countries.
He also declared serious determination of the two
countries for cooperation.
“We do not see any ceiling for mutual cooperation with
Azerbaijan,” the Iranian foreign minister said, adding that various economic
sectors in Iran are fully prepared to actively participate in economic projects
in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
“Establishment of peace in the region (after an
agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia) provides a great opportunity for
cooperation between the two countries (Tehran and Baku) in the field of transit
and activation of the East-West and North-South corridors,” he said.
In the meeting, Bayramov said relations between the
two countries are based on friendship and historical and cultural
commonalities, and praised the standing of the most ranking officials and
people of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards its territorial integrity and
sovereignty.
He referred to the exchange of high-level delegations
between the two countries, saying that development of economic relations is one
of the important priorities in relations between the two countries.
Cooperation between the two countries in the Caspian
Sea region, cultural issues, cooperation in the field of water, transportation
and international affairs, and trilateral cooperation with Turkey were among
other topics discussed by the two foreign ministers.
Zarif had also earlier today said his country is
prepared to participate in the reconstruction of the war-hit Karabakh region,
reiterating the importance of regional peace and stability.
Zarif said Iran is ready to use its capabilities for
reconstructing Karabakh, and underscored the status of peace and stability in
the region.
During his meeting with the President if Azerbaijan
Republic Ilham Aliyev, Iran’s top diplomat congratulated the people and
government of Azerbaijan on liberation of Karabakh and stressed the importance
of expanding bilateral cooperation.
He welcomed Azerbaijan's proposed regional peace
initiative and stressed Tehran’s readiness for securing peace and stability in
the region.
Aliyev, for his part, welcomed the presence of Iranian
companies in the reconstruction of the freed regions of Karabakh.
Aliyev also expressed satisfaction with Iran’s view on
Azerbaijan's proposed regional cooperation plan on peace, noting that the
ground is set for further development of all-out ties.
He also welcomed the holding of
Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia, as well as the Iran-Azerbaijan-Turkey meetings in the
future.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991106000653/Iranian-FM-N-Limiain-fr-Cperain-wih-Azerbaijan
--------
Iranian-American facing spying charges arrested while
leaving Iran: Spokesman
26 January 2021
An Iranian-American facing spying charges in Iran has
been arrested as he tried to leave the country, judiciary spokesman
Gholamhossein Esmaili said on Tuesday.
“The defendant had been free on bail ... and was
arrested as he tried to leave the country,” Esmaili told a news conference
streamed live.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/26/Iranian-American-facing-spying-charges-arrested-while-leaving-Iran-Spokesman-
--------
Israel extradites former Australia Orthodox school
principal accused of child abuse
25 January 2021
Israel on Monday extradited Malka Leifer, a former Jewish
ultra-Orthodox school principal accused of dozens of sexual abuse cases of
pupils in Australia, ending a six-year legal wrangle, the justice ministry
said.
“We confirm the deportation,” it said in a WhatsApp
message.
Israeli media said she left on an early-morning flight
to Australia, hours before Israel’s Ben Gurion airport was to close down as
part of COVID-19 precautions.
Leifer, an Israeli, is accused of child sex abuse
while she worked as a teacher and principal at an ultra-Orthodox school in
Melbourne.
According to Australian media, she faces 74 counts of
child sex abuse against girls.
After allegations against her surfaced in Australia in
2008, Leifer and her family left for Israel and moved to the Emmanuel
settlement in the occupied West Bank.
In December, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected her
lawyers’ final appeal against extradition in a strongly-worded judgement.
“More than six years have passed since a request was
filed in the Jerusalem district court to declare the appellant extradited to
Australia,” it wrote.
Since then, it said, “there is no proceeding that the
appellant has not taken” to prevent her extradition, including on grounds of
mental illness.
Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday quoted the Zionist
Federation of Australia’s Jeremy Leibler as criticizing the delay.
“That Leifer was allowed to escape justicDubai
announces new 24-hour hotline for reporting child abusee for so long was a
travesty”, he said.
“While it’s a relief that Israel’s justice system has
finally prevailed, the time and process that resulted in these delays are
completely unacceptable.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/01/25/Israel-extradites-former-Australia-Orthodox-school-principal-accused-of-child-abuse
--------
Yemenis demonstrate against US aggression
25 January 2021
Abdullatif al-Washali
On the Global Day of Action for Yemen, Yemenis from
all walks of life took to streets in the capital Sana’a and other major cities
to denounce the US terrorist designation of the Ansarullah movement.
The demonstrators voiced their support for the
Ansarullah movement and called on US administration to reverse the decision.
The demonstrators also confirmed that the Ansarullah
movement is an inseparable part of Yemen and they are determined to defend
Yemen against the Saudi-led coalition’s war.
Earlier, over 170 Yemeni NGOs condemn US terrorist
designation of Ansarullah.
Since the beginning of 2015, Yemenis have been suffering
from war and siege imposed by the US-backed Saudi-led coalition, during which
war crimes were committed and international humanitarian law was violated by
killing thousands of women and children.
Yemenis say the US decision is not against a specific group,
but rather against a nation severely suffering from war and blockade imposed by
Washington's allies in the region.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/25/643846/Yemenis-demonstrate-against-US-aggression
--------
Africa
At least 11 killed after fighting erupts in Somalia’s
Jubbaland: Doctor
25 January 2021
At least 11 people were killed on Monday after
fighting broke out between the Somali federal army and Jubbaland state forces
in the Gedo region of southwestern Somalia, a local doctor told Reuters.
Somalia’s federal government confirmed there had been
fighting, concentrated in the town of Bula Hawa bordering Kenya. But it and
Jubbaland, one of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous states, reported no
casualties.
Mogadishu accused Kenya of backing Jubbaland in the
fighting, an accusation that Jubbaland denies.
“Kenya and its guerrilla rebels attacked Bula Hawa
town last night,” Osman Dube, Somalia’s information minister, told reporters in
Mogadishu. “We overpowered the enemy and captured 100 of them.”
Kenya’s security minister, Fred Matiang’i, said “no
troops” had crossed into Somalia and called it an internal Somali matter.
Kenya’s foreign ministry called for hostilities to
cease, warning that “the situation could further destabilize the region, complicate
the security situation and reverse gains made in the fight against terrorism.”
“We received 11 dead civilians, including five from
one family. And 14 other civilians were injured,” Mohamud Gomey, a doctor at
Bula Hawa hospital, said.
Mohamud Sayid Aden, Jubbaland’s vice president, told
Reuters that federal forces had shelled residential areas.
“The shells landed on a house and killed a family of
five people,” he said.
The Somali government blamed local forces for the
shelling of residential areas.
The fighting precedes an election on February 8 that
was delayed from December because of disagreements between the government and
opposition over the make-up of the electoral board.
The bloodshed could further damage strained relations
between Mogadishu and Nairobi.
Somalia cut diplomatic ties with Kenya in December,
accusing it of political meddling after Somalia expelled Kenya’s ambassador and
recalled its own envoy after alleging interference in the electoral process in
Jubbaland.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/01/25/At-least-11-killed-after-fighting-erupts-in-Somalia-s-Jubbaland-doctor
--------
Nigerian security forces attack Sheikh Zakzaky's
supporters
26 January 2021
Nigerian security forces have attacked a popular rally
of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky's supporters in Abuja.
The protest rally was being held on Monday against
Sheikh Zakzaky's arrest and trial. Those attending the protests called for the
immediate and unconditional release of Zakzaky, who is the leader of the
Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).
A prominent Islamic human rights NGO has urged Nigeria
to release the country’s leading Muslim cleric and his wife, who have been
unlawfully detained by Abuja since 2015 and afflicted with considerable
suffering, now that they have been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection.
The London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission
(IHRC) made the plea with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday,
reminding the illegal grounds on which the duo were being kept.
“Mallimah Zeenah tested positive for COVID-19 this
week in Kaduna state prison,” the body said, referring respectively to Sheikh
Ibrahim al-Zakzaky’s spouse and the facility in the northwestern city of
Kaduna, where they were incarcerated. The release, it added, was necessary “to
protect them from the spread of COVID-19 in the country’s jails.”
A prominent Islamic human rights NGO has urged Nigeria
to release the country’s leading Muslim cleric and his wife, who have been
unlawfully detained by Abuja since 2015 and afflicted with considerable
suffering, now that they have been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection.
The London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission
(IHRC) made the plea with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday,
reminding the illegal grounds on which the duo were being kept.
In late 2015, Nigerian forces brutally attacked
Zakzaky’s residence in the city of Zaria in Kaduna State and the followers of
the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Muslim group that he leads. They laid the
couple under arrest and went on to slay three of Zakzaky’s sons and more than
1,000 of IMN’s supporters.
Abuja ordered the massacre after claiming that the IMN
had “attacked” a convoy carrying Nigeria’s defense minister. Reports, however,
have shown how the convoy intentionally crossed paths with a religious
procession by the movement earlier, prompting a conflict with its supporters
that the state used as a pretext to launch the bloodbath.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/01/26/643851/Nigeria-zakzaky-islamic-movement
--------
Ugandan Airstrikes in Somalia Kill 189 Al-Shabab
Fighters
By Mohamed Olad Hassan
January 23, 2021
Somali officials and the Uganda People’s Defense
Forces (UPDF) claimed killing 189 al-Shabab fighters late Friday and in the
early hours of Saturday in an operation in southern Somalia.
Talking to VOA Somali Service by phone, Lower Shabelle
Governor Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Siidi said Ugandan soldiers under the African
Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), using attack helicopter gunships, have
killed nearly 200 al-Shabab militants.
Earlier, the Ugandan army’s deputy spokesman, Lt. Col.
Deo Akiki, said, “Their soldiers killed at least 189 al-Shabab fighters in the
operation and destroyed two mounted weapons and motorbikes in separate fire
strikes.”
Siidi said the strikes, along with ground assaults by
the joint troops, occurred Friday and early Saturday in a string of villages
between the Qoryoley and Janaale districts in the southern Somali region of
Lower Shabelle.
“The militias were struck in their hideouts in the
villages of Sigaale, Adimole and Kayitoy, just over 100 kilometers southwest of
the capital, Mogadishu,” Nur said.
A statement from the Ugandan Army said that during the
operation, “a large number of military hardware and items used by the terrorist
were also destroyed.”
“The UPDF also disrupted an al-Shabab meeting,
injuring several terrorists in Donca-daafeedow, which is seven kilometers from
the Janaale town,” the statement added.
Residents, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid
retribution, told VOA they could see military helicopters striking key
al-Shabab targets and hideouts in the thickets and farmlands around Janaale
town.
AMISOM has been in Somalia for more than 10 years,
keeping the peace and supporting Somalia’s government to fend off attacks from
al-Shabab militants. The group aims to topple the government and impose its own
harsh interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
The group controlled large swaths of south-central
Somalia until 2011, when it was driven out of Mogadishu by African Union
troops.
Speaking of the latest operations, both Somali and
Ugandan military officials say this was the most al-Shabab fighters killed in a
military operation in a single day.
Governor Siidii says AMISOM has introduced a new
strategy and unveiled fresh military power.
“The Ugandan soldiers are using attack helicopter
gunships in their operations for the first time, and also the Somali National
Army, with the help of AMISOM, came up with a strategy of aggressive attacks
against militants in their hideouts, rather than wait their attacks,” he
said.
This operation comes a week after the United States
military said it had completed the withdrawal of troops from Somalia.
AFRICOM spokesperson Colonel Christopher Karns
confirmed to VOA Somali earlier that repositioning of the troops was completed
ahead of the mid-January deadline mandated by a presidential directive last
December.
The number of U.S. military personnel in Somalia
ranged from 650 to 800 service members. U.S. troops supported and mentored an
elite Somali unit known as the Danab “lightning” brigade.
In recent days, al-Shabab militants had intensified
their attacks using improvised explosive devices and landmines targeting Somali
security officials in Mogadishu and other major towns.
The militant group claimed responsibility Saturday for
a landmine explosion in Mogadishu that killed four people and injured two
former lawmakers, Hussein Arale and Muhidin Afrah.
On Tuesday, the militants claimed responsibility for
another blast that killed the deputy commissioner for security and politics in
Garasbaale, Abdi-Rashid Dubad. Six others were injured.
Security analysts say a day hardly passes in Somalia
without reporting an incident involving al-Shabab attacks.
https://www.voanews.com/africa/ugandan-airstrikes-somalia-kill-189-al-shabab-fighters?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1933646_
--------
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/process-mosque-construction-ayodhya-started/d/124149
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism