Uttarakhand Family of Minor Denies Religious Angle, Says It Was Never a 'Love Jihad' Case
New
Age Islam News Bureau
20
June 2023
The Purola
marketplace on June 15. Photo: Atul Ashok Howale
-----
India
• Word 'Secular' Has Harmed Country and
Muslim Population Most: BJP Leader
• Cleric Cautions Muslims against Slaughtering
'Particular Animal' As Anti-Cow Slaughter Law Still In Place in Karnataka
• Youth Allegedly Tortured, Forced To
Bark like Dog, By Muslim Men InMadhya Pradesh
• In Egypt, Modi to Visit Mosque Bohras Restored
• Modi to visit mosque in Egypt renovated
by Bohri Muslims
--------
Arab World
• Islamic Affairs Minister Launches
Several E-Apps
• Saudi Arabia’s Hadiyah charity
launches ‘Breaking the Silence’ initiative
• Saudi-French relations are
experiencing a ‘quantum leap,’ Adel Al-Jubeir tells Arab News en Francais
• Saudi Arabia launches exhibitions
showcasing services for pilgrims
• Iranian pilgrim has life-saving
open-heart surgery in Makkah
---------
Southeast Asia
• I’ve not asked for action to be taken
against anyone - Anwar
• Human rights principles in Malaysia
based on OIC
---------
Europe
• Far-Right Suspects On Trial for
Terror, Mosque Attack Plots in Paris
• Blackburn Muslim group to get own
place of prayer and education
• Anti-gov’t Islamic preacher released
from pre-trial detention on judicial probation
-------
Mideast
• Jerusalem Municipality Caves, Allows
Renovation of Al-Rahman Mosque, (Nicknamed The “New Al-Aqsa Mosque”)
• Turkey's New Intel Chief Hides Ties
with Iran's Mullahs and Quds Force
• Muslim Unity Worst Blow to Israel:
Iran’s Top Security Official
• Iranian President: Muslim Nations
Boycotting Normalization with Israel
• Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims will
celebrate Eid Al-Adha on different days
• Islamic Jihad chief meets Iran’s
president, FM, thanks Tehran for supporting Palestine cause
--------
Pakistan
• Court Confirms PTI Chief’s Bail in
Five Terrorism Cases
• Government selects three assets for
Islamic bond issue
• PM Shehbaz to leave for 2-day visit to
France on Thursday
• PTI govt ‘imposed’ to fulfil foreign
agenda: Fazl
--------
North America
• Muslim-Led Michigan City Bans Pride Flags
after Heated Council Meeting
• Missionary kidnapped by Islamic
extremists for 6 years alleges FBI withheld intel, misled wife
• Expelled Minnesota Democrat’s son
suspect in hit-and-run crash that killed 5 Muslim women
--------
South Asia
• Taliban Arrests Two for Smuggling
Lithium Ore To Pakistan
• PM for peaceful resolution of Ukraine
crisis
• Bangladesh signs new LNG deal with Oman
• EC registers Bangladesh JSD as
political party
• Iran Continues Deporting Afghan
Refugees in Large Numbers
• Afghan Security Forces Rescue
Kidnapped Turkish Engineer
• Crackdown on Afghan Refugees Continues
in Pakistan
--------
Africa
• Group Blamed In Uganda Attack 'Funded
By Islamic State'According To A UN Report Seen By AFP
• Muslim lawyers task UHRC to
investigate raid on Sheikh Kamoga's home
• Osun Govt Accuses Ex-Senator Of Threat
To Peace
• How Buhari reshaped Nigeria,
entrenched Northern/Muslim dominance
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/uttarakhand-religious-love-jihad/d/130037
-----
Uttarakhand Family of Minor Denies Religious Angle, Says It Was Never a 'Love Jihad' Case
The Purola
marketplace on June 15. Photo: Atul Ashok Howale
-----
New Delhi, 20 June 2023:
The man whose niece was the target of an
alleged abduction attempt in Purola has denied any religious angle to the
matter, the Hindustan Times reported.
“There were attempts from the first hour
to make this a communal issue. Right-wing activists even prepared a police
complaint for us on their own, but the police didn’t accept it. It was never a
love jihad case, but a regular crime. Those that committed it, are behind bars.
The judiciary will now decide,” he told the Hindustan Times. His identity is
being withheld to avoid identification of his niece, the report said.
The man said he has been approached by
several right-wing groups, but he is firm on not joining the agitation being
led by the Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). “I
have turned them down every time. Their attempts to reach me have made my life
hell. I can’t even go out. I understand all they want to do is to create
communal tension and their only aim is raising slogans. I have stopped
responding to calls from unknown numbers and have even bought a new number,” he
said.
On the afternoon of May 26, the man’s
niece sought directions from Ubed Khan, 24, and Jitendra Saini, 23, when they
allegedly attempted to bundle her into an auto-rickshaw, the Hindustan Times
reported. “They took the girl away from the main market area near a petrol pump
and called an auto-rickshaw to the spot. Locals saw the girl being made to sit
in the rickshaw and raised an alarm. The accused then fled from the spot,”
Purola police station in-charge Khajan Chauhan said.
A case was registered on the same day at
the Purola police station under sections 363 (kidnapping), 366A (procuration of
minor girl) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the POCSO Act, and the
next day both men were arrested.
While grateful to the police for the
prompt arrest of the two men, the man said he was unhappy that the incident was
“used” to make Muslims leave, the report said.
“I wanted to extend my support for
Muslims but was afraid that it wouldn’t be taken positively in this atmosphere.
Every time I open Facebook, most news-related videos say this was a case of
love jihad. It makes me depressed. Nobody asks me what the real story is,” he
said.
Over the past two weeks, over 40 of the
45 Muslim families among Purola’s 8,000 residents have either left for Dehradun
or Uttar Pradesh, the Hindustan Times reported. “Those who left should have
never gone. I want them back. The whole community shouldn’t be targeted for the
offence of one,” the girl’s uncle said.
The communal strife in Purola and
neighbouring areas ensued after right-wing groups began calling the incident a
‘love-jihad’ case and forced Muslims to shut their shops or flee the town.
At least 30 shops owned or rented by
Muslims were attacked on May 29 and four days later, on June 3, another
procession was carried out with at least 25 more shops attacked in Barkot, the
Hindustan Times reported.
Posters warning Muslim shop owners to
leave the town by June 15 or face consequences surfaced ahead of a proposed
‘mahapanchayat’. A case was registered on June 5 under sections 153-A
(promoting enmity between different groups) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of
the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The mahapanchayat was not allowed to be organised
but there have been no arrests of those making hate speeches and promoting
communalism, the report said.
The 40-year-old said that the law had
taken its course but now believed that he may not even have filed a complaint
if the accused had apologised. “We now keep her (girl) inside the house. It has
left a psychological scar on her. She is good academically, but now remains
concerned all the time about her future,” the girl’s uncle said.
Source: thewire.in
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://thewire.in/communalism/uttarakhand-family-of-purola-minor-denies-religious-angle-says-it-was-never-a-love-jihad-case
--------
Bulldozers Tear into Cairo Historic
Islamic Cemeteries To Expand Roads And Bridges
A view shows
the City of the Dead, where tombs and historic cemeteries have been demolished
due to a new construction project underway on the Salah Salem road, in the
capital city of Cairo, Egypt, June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Hadeer Mahmoud
------
June 19, 2023
A project to expand roads and bridges to
ease congestion in Cairo has put thousands of tombs in a vast and ancient Islamic
cemetery under threat, causing outcry among conservationists and family
members, Reuters reports.
Known as the City of the Dead, the
cemeteries along the eastern edge of Historic Cairo have been a resting place
for Egypt's deceased since the arrival of Islam in the seventh century AD.
The UNESCO World Heritage site extends
for 10 square kilometres (3.9 square miles) and many of Cairo's most prominent
families maintain a deep bond with the cemeteries, where they continue to bury
their dead.
In recent months, the government has
used diggers and bulldozers to rip up thousands of graves for wide highways
that will link Cairo to a new capital under construction, 50 kilometres (31
miles) to the east.
Some tomb owners, who want to transfer
the bodies of their family members, say they are given little time before-hand.
"We are standing here in the
graveyard where my mother is buried, along with my grandmother, her father and
many other family members," said Hisham Kassem, a political activist and
former publisher.
"I was told a few days ago to get
ready to move the bodies to another spot called Al-Roubaiky and that I will be
notified three or four days prior."
After a social media outcry, President
Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi last week ordered that a committee be formed to
"assess the situation and consider available alternatives".
The government says it has no intention
of destroying monuments designated as historic. But only 102 sites among more
than 2.5 million tombs in the area have received this designation, conservationists
say.
UNESCO says the area should be
preserved. It will examine the case in September 2023.
Unique architecture
Typically built around private
courtyards, the tombs have been constructed over the span of Islamic history in
a multitude of styles, many of them unique to Egypt, specialists say. Many
contain marble, wood and metal artwork carved in ornate Arabesque.
Among the tombs are those of 19th and
early 20th century politicians, including nationalist leader, Ahmed Urabi, and
spectacular mausoleums of Mamluk sultans who ruled Egypt from 1250 AD to 1517
AD.
Also buried there is Imam El-Shafei, the
founder of one of Sunni Islam's four schools of Islamic law, who passed away in
820 AD.
Hossam Abdel Azeem, a culture
enthusiast, is working alongside other volunteers to rescue artefacts,
including two 9th-century tombstones recently found in the rubble of demolished
tombs.
The dead have been buried in the area
since after the Arab army, led by Amr ibn Al-Aas brought Islam to Egypt in 640
AD, Moaaz Lafi, a specialist in Islamic art and architecture said, adding much
of that long history could now be lost.
"I imagine that, in five years'
time, we won't find anything except maybe 20 per cent of the current City of
the Dead," Lafi said.
Source: middleeastmonitor.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230619-bulldozers-tear-into-cairo-historic-islamic-cemeteries/
--------
Perlis Shariah Court To Conduct
In-Camera Proceeding For Divorce Cases
The Syariah
Court in Perlis will conduct in-camera (closed-door) proceedings involving
divorce cases next month. - NSTP pic
-------
19-06- 2023
KANGAR: The Shariah Court in Perlis will
conduct in-camera (closed-door) proceedings involving divorce cases.
Istana Arau, in a statement today, said
that the directive was issued by the state Shariah Chief Judge Jaidi Ahmad
after receiving consent from the Regent of Perlis Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra
Jamalullail.
Tuanku Syed Faizuddin, who is also the
state Islamic Religion and Malay Customs Council president, has consented to
in-camera proceedings to be implemented by the Perlis Syariah Judiciary
Department (JKSNPs) starting July 1, 2023.
The directive was announced during the
MAIPs forum held in conjunction with the sighting of the new moon of Zulhijah,
organised by the state Mufti Department at the Al Hussain Mosque in Kuala
Perlis yesterday.
The statement said that the decision was
made to protect the interests of the parties involved as well as to avoid the
element of slander that could lead to defamation.
Also in the same statement, Jaidi said
the implementation was made as a result of a study of the practice implemented
in Doha, Qatar.
Meanwhile, state Mufti Datuk Prof Dr
Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, in the same statement, said Islam stresses the
obligation to protect someone’s dignity by concealing his or her ‘aib’ (shame)
which cannot be known and commented on by others.
He said that people often judge other
people’s marriages without understanding the actual situation, even though
there is no interest for them to know or comment in the first place. – Bernama
Source: thesundaily.my
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thesundaily.my/local/perlis-syariah-court-to-conduct-in-camera-proceeding-for-divorce-cases-HD11122630
--------
‘Islamophobia in Germany Underreported
Because Muslims Distrust Authorities’
(Aşkın
Kıyağan - Anadolu Ajansı)
-----
19/06/2023
The number of unreported Islamophobic
attacks in Germany is becoming much higher due to a growing distrust of
authorities, a Muslim community leader in the capital Berlin has warned.
There were 124 attacks on Muslims and
mosques across Germany in just the first 90 days of 2023, an alarming average
of more than one a day, according to figures revealed during a parliamentary
question-and-answer session last month.
The numbers include cases of
intimidation, as well as vandalism and damage to other properties.
There were two arson attacks at mosques
in the cities of Hannover and Dresden in May, sparking renewed calls for
stricter measures to protect the Muslim community.
“The number of attacks against mosques
has increased in the past few months … and we assume that the number of
unreported cases is much higher,” Burhan Kesici, chairman of the Islamic
Council for the Federal Republic of Germany, told Anadolu.
“Many Muslims do not report incidents of
Islamophobia because such acts are not clearly defined or because they do not
trust (the authorities). So, we assume the number of unreported cases is much
higher.”
Another problem Kesici pointed out is
that “sometimes attacks against mosques are not listed under the category of
Islamophobic attacks.”
“They are registered in other
categories, for example as just arson attacks, so one needs to take a closer
look at these statistics,” he said.
- Criticism or anti-Muslim hostility?
After France, Germany has the
second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe. The country of over 84
million people is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, according to official
figures.
Data for 2022 shows German police
registered at least 610 Islamophobic hate crimes, including attacks on 62
mosques, between January and December, with at least 39 people injured in
anti-Muslim violence.
In 2021, there were at least 662
Islamophobic crimes, including attacks on some 46 mosques, and at least 17
people were injured.
Interior Ministry figures for 2020
showed more than 900 Islamophobic hate crimes were recorded across Germany that
year, with nearly 80 mosques attacked and at least 48 people wounded.
The attacks were mostly carried out by
neo-Nazi and right-wing extremist groups, according to police.
The growing Islamophobia threat in
Germany also ties in with a surge in support for far-right political forces.
A new poll last week placed the
far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party in second place, ahead of
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats for the first time since the 2021
elections.
In such an environment, hateful comments
from politicians are further fueling anti-Muslim hostility in Germany, Kesici
asserted.
“I do not think that authorities are
doing enough (against Islamophobia). They must give a message underlining that
Muslims belong to this country and enrich our society. They must take stronger
action against anti-Muslim hostility,” he said.
At a conference last December, German
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser promised just that, vowing resolute measures to
combat Islamophobia.
Speaking at the German Islam Conference,
a forum for dialogue between authorities and representatives of the Muslim
community, she acknowledged that “many people face racism each and every day in
Germany.”
“Muslims experience double racism. They
are often facing hostility and rejection as members of the Islamic religion,
but also as people with immigration background,” she said.
Kesici said the Muslim community expects
“politicians to counter Islamophobic sentiments in the first place.”
“If someone starts disseminating
anti-Muslim hatred, one should intervene and counter this. But, unfortunately,
what we see is that in politics, and also in society, what is often presented
as ‘criticism of Islam’ is actually anti-Muslim hostility,” he said.
Source: yenisafak.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/islamophobia-in-germany-underreported-because-muslims-distrust-authorities-3665361
--------
Israeli occupation police force all
Muslim night worshippers and guards out of Al-Aqsa Mosque
People
waiting outside one of the gates leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque after it was closed
by the Israeli police.
-------
20/June/2023
JERUSALEM, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 (WAFA)
– The Israeli occupation police last night broke into Islam’s third holiest
site, Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem’s Old City, and forced everyone there,
including the official Waqf employees and the all-night worshippers, to leave
the compound, according to witnesses.
They said the police closed all gates to
the walled holy compound and prevented people from entering it without giving
any explanation for their actions.
The women all-night worshippers decided
to hold their vigil at the steps of Damascus Gate, the main gate to Jerusalem’s
Old City, in protest of the police action before the police also forced them to
leave the area.
The police act is believed related to
keeping the Muslim holy compound empty of Palestinian worshippers when the
fanatic Jews start their morning provocative storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The gates to Al-Aqsa Mosque were later
reopened but only older people were allowed in.
This morning, dozens of Jewish
extremists and settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque and walked around its
courtyards, some holding Jewish rituals in violation of the status quo, which
states that only Muslims can hold prayer in the walled compound.
Muslims usually hold all night and day
prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the first 10 days of the Muslim Thu al-Hijja
month, which reaches a high point on the 10th of the month with the pilgrimage
in Makkah.
Source: english.wafa.ps
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/136380
--------
India
Word 'Secular' Has Harmed Country And
Muslim Population Most: BJP Leader
June 20, 2023
Prayagraj: No word has harmed the
country and its Muslim population more than 'secular', BJP leader Shahnawaz
Hussain said here on Monday.
Addressing a public meeting at
Karchhana, 30 km from the district headquarters, he said the Opposition has
used this word as "fevicol" to keep its vote bank glued.
"They have been scaring Muslims for
the last 75 years and made them a vote bank. The shop of secularism in Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar is about to shut now," the BJP spokesperson said.
"If any word has harmed this
country and Muslims the most, it is the word secular," he said.
Taking a jibe at Opposition parties over
their June 23 meeting to forge unity for the 2024 polls, he said, "These
people will come to Bihar, have international litti chokha, raise their hands
for 35 seconds and go their own ways." Mr Hussain had come to attend the
programme to popularise the achievements of the Modi government.
State cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta
Nandi, Lok Sabha MP from Allahabad Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Karchana MLA Piyush
Ranjan Nishad also addressed the programme.
Source: ndtv.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/word-secular-has-harmed-country-and-muslim-population-most-bjp-leader-4135411
--------
Cleric Cautions Muslims Against
Slaughtering 'Particular Animal' As Anti-Cow Slaughter Law Still In Place In
Karnataka
19 JUN 2023
The president of the Karnataka chapter
of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind Maulana Mufti Ifteqar Qasmi has cautioned Muslims
against slaughtering a 'particular animal' during Bakrid saying that though the
government has changed in the state, the law promulgated by the earlier BJP
regime is still in force.
Qasmi advised Muslims not to create
legal hurdles and allow trouble-mongers to create a fuss as the Karnataka
Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act has not been repealed.
He also asked Muslims against parading
animals on roads, especially in full public glare.
"The particular animal is being
worshiped by the large community and is termed as gau mata (mother cow). In
this context, it is not advisable to sacrifice (the animal) when there is
already a law in place that prohibits the sacrifice of a particular
animal," Qasmi told PTI on Monday.
"Let us not create legal hurdles
and allow trouble-mongers to create a fuss in the name of sacrificing large
animals on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha referred to as Bakrid," he added.
Though there is a new government in
place, legally speaking the law against sacrificing a particular animal is
prohibited in the state, the cleric pointed out.
He urged Muslims to abide by the law and
maintain law and order besides following the cleanliness drive on the eve of
Bakrid.
Ministers in the new Congress government
have been vocal about repealing the anti-cow slaughter legislation that was
brought in by the previous BJP regime.
Source: outlookindia.com/
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.outlookindia.com/national/cleric-cautions-muslims-against-slaughtering-particular-animal-as-anti-cow-slaughter-law-still-in-place-in-karnataka-news-296221
--------
Youth allegedly tortured, forced to bark
like dog, by Muslim men in Madhya Pradesh
19th June 2023
BHOPAL: A Sindhi youth was allegedly
abducted and tortured by at least six Muslim men in Madhya Pradesh capital
Bhopal.
The six men allegedly tied a belt around
the neck of the victim with one of the accused holding the other end of the
belt like a leash and forced him to bark like a dog. The accused forced the
victim, identified as Vijay, to convert to Islam.
The video of the abuse, which took place
on May 9, has gone viral.
Vijay's Lokesh alleged that the six men
were known to the victim. Lokesh also alleged that because of the six men, his
brother became addicted to drugs and started stealing money and valuables from
their house.
Lokesh alleged that they were forced to
sell their house, which would have easily fetched Rs 22 lakh, for Rs 16 lakh,
and for their safety shifted their house.
Enraged over the video, activists of
right-wing Hindu outfits, including Bajrang Dal protested outside the Tila
Jamalpura police station of old Bhopal on Monday.
They alleged that the station in-charge
Anurag Lal, had failed to act on the complaint lodged by the Sindhi youth who
had approached them several times seeking action against the perpetrators.
Taking cognizance of the matter, the MP
home minister Narottam Mishra directed the Bhopal police commissioner
Harinarayanchari Mishra to probe the video and act on the matter with results
within 24 hours. Just a few hours later, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed to
invoke the National Security Act (NSA) against the accused.
A senior Bhopal police officer said
three of the six accused, identified as Faizan Khan, Sameer Khan and Sahil
alias Salauddin have been arrested and efforts are underway to arrest the
remaining accused. The accused have been booked under IPC Sections 365, 341,
342, 323, 327, 294, 427 and 34, besides the provisions of the MP Religious
Freedom Act.
The three accused already have dozen
criminal cases, including murder and attempted murder cases.
As per police sources, the accused men
and the victim know each other very well and there was some dispute between
them over some social media posts, which happened due to their common friend
Shahrukh.
Source: newindianexpress.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2023/jun/19/youth-allegedly-tortured-forced-to-bark-like-dogby-muslim-men-in-madhya-pradesh-2586552.html
--------
In Egypt, Modi to visit mosque Bohras
restored
Jun 20, 2023
NEW DELHI: During his state visit to
Egypt, on his way back from the US, PM Narendra Modi will visit the Al-Hakim
mosque in old Cairo which was recently restored by the Dawoodi Bohra community,
the government said Monday. Modi will arrive in Cairo on June 24 for what will
be the first bilateral visit by any Indian PM to Egypt since 1997.
The 11th century Shia mosque reopened in
February this year after renovation work over six years. The renovation was
co-funded by the Bohra community that is concentrated in India.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
visited India in January this year as the chief guest for Republic Day
celebrations. The visit saw the two leaders committing to a stronger defence
partnership, denouncing terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and also
underlining the need to together counter radicalism and extremism.
El-Sisi has in the past received leaders
of the Dawoodi Bohra sect from India in Cairo and, according to reports in the
Egyptian media, hailed their openness to other sects and religions and also
their belief in the importance of dialogue among various communities across the
world. The Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam visited India
last month.
Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said Modi
will also visit the Heliopolis War Cemetery to pay tribute to the Indian
soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice for Egypt during World War I.
Before meeting El-Sisi, the PM will hold
talks with the India Unit, a group of high-level ministers constituted by the
Egyptian president to boost relations with India.
Kwatra said there had been an “intense
level of ministerial engagement” between India and Egypt, which is among the
special G20 invitees under India’s presidency.
“We are confident that the visit of
Prime Minister Modi to Egypt will not just ensure continuing momentum to the
relationship between our two countries, but will also help it expand to new
areas of trade and economic engagement between our two countries,” Kwatra said.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/in-egypt-modi-to-visit-mosque-bohras-restored/articleshow/101116571.cms
--------
Modi to visit mosque in Egypt renovated
by Bohri Muslims
June 19, 2023
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his
first tour of Egypt, will visit the 11th century Al-Hakim mosque and will also
pay tribute to the Indian soldiers who died fighting for Egypt during the First
World War, said Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday.
The foreign secretary made these remarks
while addressing a special briefing on the prime minister's upcoming visit to
the US and Egypt.
Modi will make a state visit to Egypt on
June 24 and 25.
Kwatra said, "It is worth
mentioning here that this will be the prime minister's first visit to Egypt and
I might also mention that this would be the first official bilateral visit of
the Indian prime minister to Egypt since 1997."
He added that there have been visits in
between, but they have mostly been for multilateral or plurilateral events.
Kwatra also said that PM Modi, upon
reaching Cairo on June 24, will first meet with the India unit, a select unit
of high-level ministers that the Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had
constituted after his return from India.
"Most recently, the Egyptian
president had paid a state visit to India when he graced our Republic Day
earlier in the year as the chief guest.
“At this stage, the prime minister is
expected to reach Cairo in the afternoon of June 24 where his first interaction
will be with the India unit," the foreign secretary said.
He also mentioned that over the last
several months since the visit of the president of Egypt, India has seen an
intense level of ministerial-level political exchanges with Egypt.
"The external affairs minister
himself, the defence minister and the minister of environment have travelled to
Egypt. We have had, similarly, at least three to four ministers from the
Egyptian government who have visited India. Even as we speak a
ministerial-level delegation led by the chairperson of the Suez Canal Authority
is in India, which clearly shows you the extent of very sharp focus that both
India and Egypt are placing on strengthening all aspects of their
relationship," the foreign secretary added.
Speaking further about Modi's visit,
Kwatra said after the interaction with the India unit, the prime minister will
have an interaction with the small Indian community that is there in Egypt and
will likely also meet some of the prominent personalities in Egypt.
"His next day will begin with a
visit to the Al-Hakim mosque. It is an 11th century mosque which was
refurbished and renovated by the Bohra community and the visit to Al-Hakim
mosque will be followed by a visit to the Heliopolis War Grave cemetery to pay
tribute to the Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice fighting for
Egypt during the First World War," he added.
After this Prime Minister Modi will have
an official engagement with President El-Sisi, including bilateral talks, and
the signing of various MoUs and agreements on that day, said Kwatra.
Recalling the recent India visit of the
grand mufti of Egypt to India, he said, "Egypt has also been invited as a
special guest during India's G20 presidency."
Kwatra also noted that PM Modi's visit
is a "very quick reciprocal visit," which came just within six months
of President Sisi's visit to India.
"We do expect and are confident
that the visit of PM Modi to Egypt will not just ensure continuing momentum to
the relationship between our two countries, but will also help it expand to new
areas of trade and economic engagement between our two countries," Kwatra
said.
Source: rediff.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.rediff.com/news/report/modi-to-visit-mosque-in-egypt-renovated-by-bohri-muslims/20230619.htm
--------
Arab World
Islamic Affairs Minister Launches
Several E-Apps
19 Jun, 2023
Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and
Guidance Sheikh Dr. Abdullatif Al Al-Sheikh yesterday inaugurated at the
ministry in Riyadh several e-applications that contribute to improving the
ministry work serving all beneficiaries, in and out of the Kingdom, but
especially pilgrims and Umrah performers.
Among the applications, one seeks to
improve pilgrims knowledge of Sharia issues by enabling video calls between
pilgrims or Umrah performs and preachers; another, the ministry’s official
application called Rushd, promotes verified e-books.
Al Al-Sheikh stressed that by launching
these applications, the ministry works toward carrying out the digital
transformation in a way that ensures better performance and higher quality of
information exchange, automates administrative work, helps achieve continuous
development, guarantees access to a digital working environment, and utilizes
modern technologies to serve pilgrims, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.
Source: alriyadhdaily.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
http://alriyadhdaily.com/article/c3ce3dca22394c16bfbe5ccf6104bcb5
---------
Saudi Arabia’s Hadiyah charity launches
‘Breaking the Silence’ initiative
June 20, 2023
RIYADH: The Haji and Mu’tamer’s Gift
Charitable Association, also known as Hadiyah, has launched a “Breaking the
Silence” initiative, the Saudi Press Agency reported recently.
Hadiyah seeks to provide pilgrims with
translation services, information on the Grand Mosque and other holy sites
during the annual pilgrimage. Three-hundred volunteers are involved in the
project.
Turki Al-Hetershi, Hadiyah’s executive
director, emphasized that the charity provides a platform for individuals who
want to do volunteer work.
The aim is to have 1 million volunteers
participate, as envisaged by the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2324661/saudi-arabia
--------
Saudi-French relations are experiencing
a ‘quantum leap,’ Adel Al-Jubeir tells Arab News en Francais
June 19, 2023
PARIS: The relationship between Saudi
Arabia and France is going through a “quantum leap,” Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi
minister of state for foreign affairs, told Arab News en Francais in Paris, as
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman continues his official visit to the French
capital this week.
“We’re witnessing a quantum leap in
Saudi-French relations,” said Al-Jubeir. “Saudi Arabia and France have been
strategic partners and allies for many, many decades. We have commonality of
outlook with regards to international relations, with regards to the
sovereignty of nations, the principle of non-interference, respect for
international law.
“We both believe in our people. We both
believe in empowering youth and women. We both believe in providing
opportunity. We both believe in connecting with the world. And we both are
working to connect with the world and be connected with the world.
“The relationship between our two
countries is very strong, has been very strong. And we’re looking forward to
elevating the relationship on a personal level between our leaders. It is a
very strong personal relationship.”
The crown prince arrived in Paris for an
official visit at the end of last week, meeting with French President Emmanuel
Macron at the Elysee Palace on Friday to discuss bilateral, regional and
international affairs.
In Al-Jubeir’s view, the strength of the
Saudi-French relationship is owed, to a great extent, to the shared values of
the two leaders, who are of a similar age and outlook.
“We have young leaders who have visions
and ambitions and courage to move their countries to a better level. And this
is all the coming together of all of these different elements,” he said.
“We have tremendous opportunities to
further our trade and investment relationship. We have tremendous opportunities
to further our cultural and educational relationships. We have tremendous
opportunities to further our people-to-people relationships, and nothing comes
better, more clearly, than when you have a summit.
“And this is what we have during this
visit: His royal highness’s meeting at the Elysee with the president of France,
the Saudi business and investment delegation in France with the accompanying
events, the meeting of the Bureau of International Exhibitions, and the bid
announcement for Saudi Arabia to host Expo 2030 in Riyadh.”
One issue on which France seeks Saudi
support is Ukraine. French media outlets recently indicated that Paris wants
Riyadh to leverage its relationship with Russia to help find a peaceful
solution to the conflict.
Asked by Arab News en Francais whether
there was any basis to these reports, or any progress on the issue, Al-Jubeir
highlighted the Kingdom’s proactive role in prisoner exchanges, the
facilitation of grain exports from Ukrainian ports, and engagement with the
international community to try and bring a negotiated end to the conflict.
“There is a dialogue and an exchange of
views on how to deal with any challenges and how to overcome obstacles. And we
do this through a serious and intensive consultation mechanism. The objective
of both countries is to bring peace and stability to the Middle East region and
to the world,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s relationship with France
and other European nations goes beyond strategic partnerships. Energy security,
particularly as the world makes the transition to cleaner sources of energy,
has become a significant area of cooperation.
Long a major supplier of hydrocarbons,
Saudi Arabia is now moving to supply Europe and its neighbors in the Middle
East with clean and renewable sources of energy.
“We are one of the largest investors in
the world in renewable energy, whether it’s solar energy, whether it’s wind,
whether it’s hydro,” said Al-Jubeir.
“We are working on building, as we speak,
transmission lines into neighboring countries so we can more efficiently
distribute the energy to other countries. We are working with Europe to see how
we can provide Europe’s requirements for green hydrogen.
“We are, in particular, working with
Germany and with the Netherlands, because of the Port of Rotterdam, and Germany
is a strategic partner in technologies for green hydrogen. We are building the
largest green hydrogen plant in the world in NEOM.
“We are also working on providing Europe
with electricity generated from renewable energy because Europe requires up to
30 percent of its electricity (to come from renewables) in the coming decades.
They may require that that be important and we want to be the supplier of that
energy.
“And we have agreements with, or
understandings with, Cyprus and Greece with regards to energy cooperation and
with regards to transmission lines, so we can deliver this energy efficiently
to Europe.”
Saudi Arabia’s investment in renewables
is part of a wider environmental strategy, implemented through the Vision 2030
social reform and economic diversification agenda, the Saudi Green and Middle
East Green initiatives, and the Kingdom’s embrace of the circular carbon
economy.
“Saudi Arabia’s climate agenda is very
clear and very, very ambitious,” said Al-Jubeir. “The issue is really to employ
what we call the circular carbon economy approach, where we look at
environmental and climate issues in a holistic manner and we seek a solution to
it in a holistic manner, rather than in a one-size-fits-all approach.
“The approach we take is producing
energy more efficiently and more cleanly, capturing carbon, sequestering
carbon, working on redesigning our cities to make them more efficient so we
reduce the amount of time that people drive … We work on better standards for
energy consumption in all aspects, whether it’s household appliances, whether
it’s public buildings.
“The other part of the circular carbon
economy is also to use nature in order to capture carbon more effectively. We
have designated 30 percent of Saudi Arabia as protected areas and we’re working
on making sure that that’s in place.
“We have committed to designating 30
percent of our oceans as designated protected areas. We are now at about 22
percent. We will be reaching 30 percent in the next very few years.
“We are part of the global methane
pledge and we doubled our commitment to reducing methane; that was announced
last year, where we doubled our goal because we were able to acquire the
technology and the ability to do more. We were one of only three G20 countries
to do so.”
Given the breadth of achievements that
Saudi Arabia has to share, it is perhaps no surprise that the Kingdom has made
its bid to host World Expo 2030 such a high priority. Indeed, the event would
coincide with the completion of the Vision 2030 reform drive.
The crown prince himself is presenting
the Saudi bid during the International Bureau of Exhibitions meeting in Paris
this week, and on Monday night he participated in an official reception for 179
countries as part of the Kingdom’s bid.
Asked by Arab News en Francais whether
the crown prince’s personal presence in Paris to promote Riyadh’s bid is a
signal that Saudi Arabia feels it has already secured the nomination, Al-Jubeir
said: “The vote will be in November. We are in a good position. We will be in a
much, much better position thanks to the presence of his royal highness here in
Paris to talk to delegates and to oversee the opening of the Saudi bid for
hosting Expo 2030.
“Having his royal highness the crown
prince here at the presentation of our bid is very significant because he is
the driving force behind Vision 2030 … I have no doubt that his presence here,
during the launch of Saudi Arabia’s bid, is going to have a huge impact on
signaling the commitment of Saudi Arabia to this expo, signaling the commitment
of his royal highness to this expo and to his Vision 2030.”
If Riyadh secures the nomination,
Al-Jubeir said the World Expo venue would become a permanent part of the city’s
cultural fabric and a monument to its achievements.
“The exhibition that Saudi Arabia has in
mind, and that his royal highness charted out, is that this is going to be an
unprecedented exhibition,” he said.
“It will be an exhibition like no other.
We are allocating tremendous resources to this exhibition. We want this exhibit
to be a permanent exhibit, not a temporary exhibit. We want it to become part
of the cultural scene of Riyadh.”
He added: “I have no doubt that the
world will be positively stunned by what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is able to
do, should we have the honor of receiving the votes to be able to host this
important event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the city of Riyadh, in
2030.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2324501/saudi-arabia
----------
Saudi Arabia launches exhibitions
showcasing services for pilgrims
June 19, 2023
RIYADH: The Ministry of Interior is
launching exhibitions in Makkah, Jeddah, and Madinah highlighting its services
for pilgrims during Hajj, Saudi Press Agency reported .
The exhibition, which will run until
Thursday, will feature several electronic services that improve pilgrim
experience and boost security
It will highlight the “Nation without
Violations” campaign, which gives residency, labor law violators and
infiltrators the chance to leave the Kingdom without having to pay penalties.
The exhibition will also highlight
Absher, an interactive online platform, set up to provide explanations to more
than 300 services offered to citizens, residents and visitors.
In addition, the exhibition will review
the successes of the Makkah Route initiative, which was launched by the
ministry in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.
It aims to streamline immigration
procedures for pilgrims from seven countries, including Pakistan, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Morocco and Bangladesh, Turkey and Côte d'Ivoire.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2324466/saudi-arabia
--------
Iranian pilgrim has life-saving
open-heart surgery in Makkah
June 19, 2023
MAKKAH: An Iranian pilgrim in his 60s
had life-saving open-heart surgery at King Abdullah Medical City’s Heart Health
Center in Makkah on Sunday, according to the Saudi Ministry of Health. He had
suffered an acute heart attack as a resulting of narrowing and blockage of his
coronary arteries.
“The Iranian pilgrim made a full
recovery after receiving integrated medical services provided by specialized
medical teams,” Hatem Al-Masoudi, official spokesperson for the Makkah
Healthcare Cluster, told Arab News. He added that staff at all medical
facilities are fully prepared to help pilgrims around the clock in the holy
city and at other holy sites.
“Serving and taking care of pilgrims is
an honor all workers seek to achieve during Hajj season,” he added.
“It is also an opportunity for them to
project the quality of their services and the sophistication in dealing with
all aspects thanks to the accumulated experiences they have gained working
during Hajj season for decades.”
The ministry said the surgery took five
hours, after which the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit for
further monitoring. He has made a good recovery and is now preparing to resume
his religious rituals.
The Heart Health Center at King Abdullah
Medical City has built a reputation for the expertise of its highly qualified
and experienced staff in performing such procedures. It receives support from
the Saudi government and the Health Ministry, in keeping with the determination
of authorities in the Kingdom to ensure the health and well-being of all
citizens, residents and pilgrims.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2324431/saudi-arabia
---------
Southeast Asia
I’ve not asked for action to be taken
against anyone - Anwar
18-06- 2023
KOTA BHARU: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
today stressed that he has not issued instructions for action to be taken
against any specific quarters since being appointed as prime minister.
He said what he had done was to tell the
authorities to act against anyone involved in wrongdoings.
“I have never ordered for action to be
taken against anyone in particular. I just give instructions that action be
taken against all those linked to problems.
“I’m saying this because I want the
family of civil servants to work in a spirited manner with the knowledge that
the leaders are on the right track,” he said.
He said this when delivering his special
mandate to Kelantan state civil servants at Dewan Besar Balai Islam Lundang
here.
Also present were Menteri Besar Datuk
Ahmad Yakob, Public Service director-general Datuk Dr Zulkapli Mohamed, Prime
Minister’s Department Implementation Coordination Unit director-general Datuk
Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz and Kelantan State Secretary Datuk Nazran
Muhammad.
Anwar said he wants to put a stop to the
attitude of greed exhibited by certain people when holding positions of
authority, such as awarding contracts to family members and cronies without
following regulations.
“I am not here for the position or to
take revenge, insult and punish people; that is not my job.
“My order is clear, reminding state and
federal civil servants at all levels to discharge their duties in a proper and
trustworthy manner,” he said.
“My instruction to the Inland Revenue
Board, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Royal Malaysia Police, Bank Negara
Malaysia and all other enforcement agencies is to discharge their duties
without fear or favour,” he said. –BERNAMA
Source: thesundaily.my
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thesundaily.my/home/i-ve-not-asked-for-action-to-be-taken-against-anyone-anwar-BD11120724
--------
Human rights principles in Malaysia
based on OIC
15-06- 2023
KUALA LUMPUR: The human rights
principles practised in this country are based on the stance of Islamic
countries and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) through the
Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) and not just that of
Western countries.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar said the government
is of the opinion that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) should
not be the only source in dealing with human rights issues.
“Islam has uplifted human dignity by
prohibiting discrimination against women and children, urging the people to
seek knowledge and education and requiring leaders to provide the basic rights
and needs to the people such as welfare and peace.”
He said this when winding up the debate
on the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) annual report for his
ministry at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Several Members of Parliament previously
raised the issue of Islamic and Western concepts of human rights and proposed
that the existing concept used in the country be re-examined.
Elaborating, Mohd Na’im said the
Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) had organised relevant
seminars and the Convention on Human Rights from Islamic Perspective to create
a good understanding of the issue.
He said the programme would continue to
be held to provide a clear understanding of the Islamic view of human rights,
while JAKIM and State Islamic Religious Departments also touched on the matter
in Friday sermons.
Regarding Islamic education for the
Orang Asli community, he said 232 Penggerak Masyarakat Orang Asli in the
peninsula could not cover the services that need to be provided to almost 700
Orang Asli villages.
“This causes the planned classes not to
be implemented. Apart from teaching, they are also tasked with assisting Orang
Asli with Muslim welfare affairs. This can also disrupt the class schedule,” he
said.
Mohd Na’im said that informal Fardu Ain
classes are held twice a week in surau or community halls, in addition to house
visits and worship guidance to empower the knowledge and understanding of Islam
among the orang Asli community. – Bernama
Source: thesundaily.my
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thesundaily.my/local/human-rights-principles-in-malaysia-based-on-oic-AB11104316
--------
Europe
Far-Right Suspects On Trial for Terror,
Mosque Attack Plots in Paris
19.06.2023
The trial of four far-right individuals
accused of planning terrorist attacks in 2017 and 2018, particularly targeting
mosques, began on Monday in Paris.
Prosecutors revealed that the suspects,
aged 22 to 28, had joined a private online neo-Nazi chat group called
"Operation WaffenKraft."
The targets of the planned terror plots
included neighbourhoods with significant foreign communities, the Omar Mosque
in Paris, a mosque in Creil, the European Parliament, and a meeting involving
Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the La France Insoumise party. Alexandre Gilet, a
former volunteer assistant gendarme in Isere, emerged as the alleged leader of
the group.
Gilet drafted a "manifesto," a
term used by ultra-right mass murderer Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people
in front of two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, 2019.
He was arrested after authorities
figured out that he had ordered equipment for making explosives.
By searching the home of Gilet, the
investigators found many long weapons and handguns, including two Kalashnikovs
with 21 magazines and numerous pieces of ammunition, Franceinfo reported.
Further analysis of his digital devices
revealed numerous photos and videos showcasing forest training sessions.
Investigators also found the photographs capturing the four suspects posing
with arms slung over their shoulders while making the Hitler salute.
One co-defendant described Gilet as the
most radical and determined member, saying: “He wanted to make a carnage worse
than the Bataclan.”
Dozens of people were killed in Bataclan
concert hall during a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015
which left 130 people dead.
The trial of the men is scheduled to
continue until June 30.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/far-right-suspects-on-trial-for-terror-mosque-attack-plots-in-paris/2926268
--------
Blackburn Muslim group to get own place
of prayer and education
20-06-23
A NEW religious education and worship
centre to cater for 7,500 followers of the Shafi'i Madhab section of the Muslim
community could be coming to Blackburn.
The Bayt Muhammad Academy has earmarked
a piece of vacant land on the corner of Eleanor Street and Higher Audley Street
for a new two-storey seminary and prayer hall.
It would be the first such institution
in Blackburn with Darwen dedicated to serving this part of its Islamic
population.
A supporting statement submitted with a
planning application to the borough council says: "The site is an existing
brownfield infill development plot created by the demolition of former terraced
houses.
"The development is for a new
two-storey religious education seminary with additional undercroft car parking
and associated landscaping.
"It aims to provide religious and
educational facilities to the Shafi'i Madhab section of the Muslim community
within the area.
"This development intends to be the
first educational seminary dedicated to serving this demographic of the Muslim
community in the local area.
"Within Blackburn with Darwen, the
proportion of Muslim population is the third highest among all local
authorities in the UK outside of London.
"According to the latest census
information the proportion of Muslims within the Borough is 26 per cent and a
significant number (circa 7,500) follow the Shafi'i Madhab religion.
"Due to the sharp elevation drop
along Eleanor Street, the opportunity has been presented to allow for a lower
ground floor parking area with 35 car parking spaces,
"The lower ground floor level will
provide access both for visitors and employees.
"The ground floor features the
primary feature access from Higher Audley Street with stepped and ramped access
leading to a centralised entrance with a front-facing office.
"The remainder of the ground floor
will consist of eight classrooms surrounding a central auditorium that will all
be used by students.
"This floor is primarily occupied
by the prayer hall orientated towards Mecca that is accessible for site users.
"Additionally, there will be more
classrooms, a library, and a roof terrace. Additional evening classes will
operate from this floor
"A core principle during the design
has been to create a high-quality building that not only reflects the stature
and importance of the buildings use for the Shafi'i Madhab community but also
to create a building that can be a net positive for the whole borough's
community.
"The proposal would create a
high-quality building that will significantly uplift the existing site and
provide a new feature point along Higher Audley Street."
Source: lancashiretelegraph.co.uk
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/23599564.blackburn-muslim-group-get-place-prayer-education/
--------
Anti-gov’t Islamic preacher released
from pretrial detention on judicial probation
June 19, 2023
The leader of the anti-government Furkan
Foundation, a religious group, who was arrested last year in connection with
the abduction of a businessman in the southern province of Adana, has been
released from pretrial detention on judicial probation, Turkish media outlets
reported.
Furkan Foundation chair Alparslan Kuytul
was released late Friday after the Adana 8th High Criminal Court ruled for his
release at the latest hearing of his trial on Friday.
Kuytul was arrested in May 2022 for
involvement in the abduction of businessman Koray Sarısaçlı in September 2021
allegedly by members of the Furkan Foundation, which was closed down by the
Turkish government in 2018 in a decree. He is facing charges of the instigation
of deprivation of liberty, extortion, bodily harm and torture, which he
describes as politically motivated.
The preacher said during his defense
statement on Friday that neither he nor his foundation had anything to do with
the crimes enumerated in the indictment and that he is being tried due to his
anti-government statements.
“We are a religious community. We have
nothing to do with a criminal organization. A criminal organization would sell
arms and heroin and kill people for money. If we had been a criminal
organization, there would have been hundreds of incidents that we were involved
in,” Kuytul said in his defense, adding that he was arrested to force him to
toe the line and to stop criticizing the government.
The court ruled for the release of
another defendant in the trial, while two other suspects would continue to
remain in detention. There are a total of 13 defendants in the trial.
Kuytul was welcomed by hundreds of his
supporters in Adana.
An outspoken critic of the policies of
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP)
government, Kuytul and members of his foundation are facing growing pressure
from the government for strongly advocating that religion and politics should
not mix and criticizing the AKP government for that.
Kuytul was also arrested in 2018 for
criticizing Turkey’s military involvement in northern Syria. He publicly
opposed the government’s decision to send Turkish soldiers to Afrin, after
which he was detained along with 28 other people from the foundation.
They were charged with “abusing their
religious power” and “organizing a terrorist organization.” Kuytul was
acquitted in 2020, but raids on members’ homes and offices in various cities
have repeatedly taken place since then.
Source: turkishminute.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.turkishminute.com/2023/06/19/antigovt-islamic-preacher-released-from-pretrial-detention-judicial-probation/
--------
Mideast
Jerusalem Municipality Caves, Allows
Renovation OfAl-Rahman Mosque, (Nicknamed The “New Al-Aqsa Mosque”)
Jun 19, 2023
Residents and visitors of southern
Jerusalem would be quick to notice an eye-catching structure, which might seem
out of place: a large, golden dome, towering out from the Arab village of Beit
Safafa, which straddles the municipal boundaries of the city.
Reminiscent of the Dome of the Rock,
this is the Al-Rahman Mosque, (nicknamed the “New Al-Aqsa Mosque”), which was
built before the establishment of Israel, albeit without the more recent
addition of the gold cap.
In January of 2022, the Jerusalem
Municipality approved the demolition on the basis that a floor in the building
was built without a permit. The municipality further added that 700 square
meters of the compound were built without permits or the approval of certified
engineers, and therefore posed a safety risk.
Despite being built illegally and the
construction violating safety codes, the dome and the mosque underneath it have
been relatively untouched. In recent days, there have been discussions between
the representatives of the neighborhood and the city, ending with the
municipality deciding to advance permits for the building. The mosque will be
renovated by changing the color of the dome and lowering it one meter.
Im Tirtzu, one of the organizations
pushing for the demolition of the mosque, called on authorities to demolish the
illegal mosque.
“We condemn the compromise that was
reached with the criminals from Beit Safafa, that following our protest it was
agreed that they would paint the illegal golden dome gray. An illegal structure
that is illegally erected to symbolize the absolute opposition to the existence
of the State of Israel should have been painted blue and thrown into the sea.
Otherwise it's just surrender.”
Source: israelnationalnews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/372968
--------
Turkey's New Intel Chief Hides Ties with
Iran's Mullahs and Quds Force
June 15, 2023
In a resumé posted on the official web
page of Turkish intelligence agency MIT, İbrahim Kalın, the newly appointed
spymaster, did not mention his work for an Iranian-funded, radical Islamist
publication that was shut down over its links to terrorism.
Kalın's connection to the Yeryüzü
magazine, which promoted an Iranian-style religious revolution in Turkey, and
his past work that praised Iran's Khomeini was deliberately omitted from the
long resumé published by the agency last week about the new chief of the
notorious intelligence service.
Yeryüzü is no ordinary magazine. It was
named a focal point for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force
in the Turkish capital in an indictment drafted by the chief prosecutor's
office at the State Security Courthouse in 2000. The cell was run by Ferhan
Özmen, who was trained in arms and explosives in Iran and was convicted of a
series of murders including that of journalist Uğur Mumcu in the 1990s.
In every issue the magazine ran
viciously anti-Semitic and anti-Western content, endorsed violent and armed
jihad and often featured prominent Iranian mullah figures as revered
personalities.
Kalın appeared in Yeryüzü's December 15,
1990 edition, which featured an article under the title "Muslims can fight
only for Allah." The article was written to promote a view against
Turkey's involvement in the First Gulf War to help a US-led, multi-nation
coalition to respond to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990.
Then-Turkish President Turgut Özal was advocating Turkey's participation in the
coalition, while the military was reluctant to do so.
Kalın, a young student at Istanbul
University's faculty of literature at the time, said in the article that large
protests must be organized nationwide and that people must react to actions
such as mobilization of the military or Turkey sending troops to join the US
coalition. In the same article others were quoted as saying that if they were
sent to fight, they would first kill the US or British officers in their units
rather than fire on Iraqi troops. Muslims need to wage a war against the
Americans and their collaborators and not fight for the interests of the US,
some said in the same article.
During the First Gulf War, Turkey did
not send troops to fight against Iraq's invading forces but allowed American
aircraft to operate out of Incirlik airbase in Turkey's southern Adana
province. Turkey also beefed up its troop presence near the Iraqi border,
preventing the regime of Saddam Hussein from moving some of its forces to
active conflicts in the south against the coalition forces.
In an article titled "Geç Kalmış
Bir Tanıtım" (A late introduction) published in the Kitap Dergisi (Book
Journal) in December 1989, he praised Iran's Islamic revolution and its late
leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, drawing on rhetoric from the mullah
regime. Kalın characterized Khomeini as "the guide [rehber] of the
uprising [kıyam]," "leader of the Islamic revolution,"
"imam of revolutionary Muslims" and "an example of devout
Muslims."
Quds Force operations that were centered
around the Yeryüzü magazine were well documented by Turkish investigators in a
landmark criminal case in early 2000. According to court testimony by Turkish
police chief Erkan Ünal, who investigated Quds Force cells between 2011 and
2014, Iranian agents used the magazine to run their clandestine operations. He
told the judges at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court on March 19, 2018 that
many reactivated Quds Force assets, some in fact later designated under
sanctions by the US Treasury, were members of this Yeryüzü cell in Ankara.
Almost every issue of the magazine was
subject to legal action by the authorities, and judgments were rendered to
confiscate all copies of the magazine in circulation. The magazine was forced
to shut down under a series of criminal investigations that charged many of its
employees including editor-in-chief Burhan Kavuncu, a leading Quds Force
operative, under counterterrorism laws.
The ensuing trials revealed how Iran
planned and committed murders, bombings and kidnappings in Turkey using its
Turkish operatives working in coordination with Iranian handlers. Many were
identified as members of the Yeryüzü cell. Evidence confirmed that the offices
of Iranian-funded magazines and newspapers such as Yeryüzü, Tevhid and Selam
were used as meeting venues for Quds Force operatives and that the publications
also served as a means to reach new recruits.
Most Quds Force suspects who were
convicted on serious charges were released after Erdogan came to power in the
November 2002 election, some through amnesty bills pushed through parliament by
the government, and others through retrial schemes orchestrated by the Justice
Ministry, which was dominated by Islamists.
However, a renewed counterterrorism
probe into the Quds Force, known by its Turkish name, Selam Tevhid, was
launched in 2011 by prosecutors in Istanbul after tips and intelligence picked
up domestically by Turkish police as well as intelligence passed from the US
and Israel revealed that Iran had reactivated many of its former operatives who
were in fact identified in investigations during the 1990s and early 2000s.
As the probe deepened, some senior
government officials including two advisors of President Erdogan as well as
then-head of MIT Hakan Fidan were incriminated over links to Iranian Quds Force
cells and Iranian generals. Erdogan killed the probe in February 2014 as soon
as he was alerted to its existence, and the case never went to trial. Instead,
investigators who mapped out the Quds Force network in Turkey were punished by
the Erdogan regime, and some were imprisoned on bogus charges.
The evidence collected in the Turkish
investigation between 2011 and 2014 was corroborated by the US as well when a
designation, announced by the US Treasury in May 2021, sanctioned key
operatives of the Quds Force who had already been identified during the probe
run by Turkey's public prosecutors and police until 2014.
According to the US Department of the
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Turkish nationals Hakkı
Selçuk Şanlı, Abdulhamit Çelik and Seyyid Cemal Gündüz worked with IRGC
official Behnam Shahriyari, who was in Turkey under the assumed name of Sayyed
Mir Vakili, in an international oil smuggling and money laundering network that
generated hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of Iran and its proxy
Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Şanlı was arrested on May 13, 2000 and
was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for involvement in terrorist
plots targeting Turkish and US interests. The trial revealed how he and his
associates helped set up the Quds Force network in the 1990s on the orders of
then-IRGC general Nasir Takipur.
But he was freed in 2004 when the
government of then-prime minister Erdogan pushed an amnesty bill through
parliament, reducing the sentences for some convicts. He was put to use again
by his handlers after keeping a low profile for years and started running
several operations including moving funds on behalf of the Quds Force,
providing financial support for Quds Force operatives in prison and managing a
recruitment and asset development program for Iranian intelligence in Ankara.
Like Şanlı, his associate Çelik also has
a long rap sheet in the Turkish criminal justice system. In 1996 Çelik was
convicted of killing two opponents of the Iranian regime in Turkey and
sentenced to 12 years, six months in prison, though he was released in 2004 as
a result of the amnesty. He admitted in testimony in May 2000 as part of the
Tevhid Selam probe that he had been trained for over two months in Iran to
stage attacks in Turkey and conduct intelligence operations on behalf of Iran.
Gündüz, another associate of Şanlı, was
also red flagged in the Turkish probe. Married to an Iranian woman, Gündüz had
had contacts with Iranian intelligence since the 1980s and established
businesses in both Iran and Turkey.
Today Kalın, who was associated with the
Quds Force, is now in charge of the Turkish intelligence agency, an institution
that was restructured to keep Erdogan in power through false flags and
clandestine operations. In the last decade MIT has become notorious for
kidnapping Erdogan's critics, detaining them unlawfully for a long period of
time and subjecting victims to torture at black sites.
MIT's aggressive operations abroad
elicited pushback from foreign countries and resulted in criminal
investigations and even trials. In June 2018 the Office of the Attorney General
of Switzerland issued arrest warrants for the two Turkish diplomats, then-Press
Attaché Hacı Mehmet Gani and Hakan Kamil Yerge, then-second secretary at the
Turkish Embassy in Bern, for plotting to drug and kidnap a Swiss-Turkish
businessman in 2016. Some Turkish diplomats are believed to be MIT agents
working under the cover of a diplomatic position.
In 2015 Germany's federal attorney
general charged Muhammet Taha Gergerlioğlu, a close advisor of Erdogan and a
MIT operative, with espionage because he and two of his associates collected information
on people of Turkish origin living in Germany who were critical of the Turkish
government. Gergerlioğlu was later released as part of a political bargain
between Turkey and Germany.
Source: meforum.org
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.meforum.org/64526/turkey-new-intel-chief-hides-ties-with-iran
--------
Muslim Unity Worst Blow to Israel:
Iran’s Top Security Official
June, 19, 2023
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The secretary of
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council described unity among Muslim states,
particularly the regional actors of resistance, as the greatest harm to the
Zionist regime.
“The strengthening of unity among
Muslims, especially the regional actors of resistance, deals the biggest blow
to the Zionist enemy and its supporters,” Ali Akbar Ahmadian said in a meeting
with the political bureau chief of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement,
Hamas, held in Tehran on Monday.
Describing Palestine as the overriding
issue of the Islamic world, the Iranian official emphasized that resistance is
the most effective way to end more than 75 years of occupation of Palestine.
Lauding Hamas for its struggle against
the Zionist enemy, Ahmadian said the ongoing developments across the occupied
territories have confused and frightened the Zionist regime’s leaders.
“The Palestinian resistance that once
fought in Gaza to defend itself has reached a stage of preparedness that now
consolidates its presence in the West Bank,” he added.
For his part, Ismail Haniyeh highlighted
Iran’s significant and effective role in promoting unity and cooperation among
Islamic countries and the Palestinian resistance groups.
He also briefed the Iranian official on
the political developments in Palestine and the resistance’s plans to take
initiatives in the face of the Zionist regime.
Source: tasnimnews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2023/06/19/2913351/muslim-unity-worst-blow-to-israel-iran-s-top-security-official
--------
Iranian President: Muslim Nations
Boycotting Normalization with Israel
2023-June-19
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Seyed
Ebrahim Rayeesi cautioned that Israel is seeking to normalize ties with Arab
states to dash the Palestinian people's hopes of liberating their motherland,
but meanwhile underlined that the Zionist regime's all-out efforts will be
futile as the Muslim nations are the most serious opponents of the Abraham
Accord.
President Rayeesi made the remarks in a
meeting with visiting Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad
resistance movement, Ziad Al-Nakhaleh, and his accompanying delegation in
Tehran on Sunday.
"One of the main objectives behind
the Zionist regime’s attempts at the normalization of ties with a number of
Arab and Islamic countries is to disappoint the Palestinian younger
generation’s hopes for the liberation of the occupied territories," Iran's
president stated
“We deeply believe that these attempts
(at normalization of ties) won’t bear fruit, because the first and most serious
opponents of such normalization of relations are the people of the very same
(Muslim and Arab) countries,” he underscored.
The president insisted that acts of
resistance by Palestinians have brought them ever closer to triumph over the
Israeli regime, stressing, "With Jihad and resistance, we will approach
victory day by day."
He also praised the persisting struggle
of the Islamic Jihad and other resistance movements fighting the growing
atrocities of Israeli forces across occupied Palestine.
The president once again reiterated the
Islamic Republic's support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and their
"just cause", which he stressed "remains the cause of all
Muslims".
Rayeesi went on to call for more unity
among the entire forces of different resistance factions.
Nakhala, for his part, praised Tehran
for its constant support for Palestine, describing Iran as a major and
influential country in regional and international developments.
Expounding on the resistance forces’
achievements and victory in a recent 5-day war in Gaza, The PIJ chief stated
while the Zionist regime claimed that it had reached an agreement with Egypt
for an end to the clashes with the resistance forces, it later had to announce
following the most recent round of conflicts that it has come to an agreement
with the resistance forces.
He described such an admission as a big
victory for Palestine that resulted from the Palestinians’ resistance and
perseverance.
Back in 2020, the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) and Bahrain signed United States-brokered agreements with Israel to
normalize their ties with the TelAviv regime. Some other regional states,
namely Sudan and Morocco, followed suit soon afterward.
Palestinian officials censured the deal
between the Arab countries and Israel to establish normal diplomatic relations,
describing the agreement as a “treacherous stab in the back of the Palestinian
nation”.
The international community has strongly
condemned the latest Israeli brutal raids in the Gaza Strip, voicing its deep
concern over the latest rounds of violence by the Tel Aviv regime against
Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned
about the serious threat posed to the West Asian region by Israel, and stressed
that normalization of relations with Tel Aviv will not bring security and
stability to the regional Arab states.
Iran describes Israel as the root cause
of the region’s instability and insecurity, but also stresses Israel's
US-supported barbarity will not change the inevitable fate of the Tel Aviv
regime.
Tehran says the history of the apartheid
regime is full of assassinations, massacre, torture and killing of Palestinian
kids, and described Tel Aviv regime's atrocities and massacre of Palestinian
women and children as indicative of the destitute of Zionists. Iranian
officials say the Tel Aviv regime has been struggling for more than 70 years to
exit its identity crisis which has been mixed with genocide, plunder, forced
displacement and scores of other inhumane moves.
Source: farsnews.ir
Please click the following
URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14020329000681/Iranian-Presiden-Mslim-Nains-Bycing-Nrmalizain-wih-Israel
--------
Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims will
celebrate Eid Al-Adha on different days
19 June, 2023
The religious authorities of Iraq's
Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities on Sunday announced two different dates for
this year's Eid Al-Adha celebrations.
The Diwan of Sunni Endowments identified
19 June as the first day of Dhul-Hijjah month, making 28 June the first day of
Eid al-Adha.
The office of Grand Ayatollah Ali
Al-Sistani, the top religious authority for Iraq's Shia Muslims who make up the
biggest religious grouping in the country, named 20 June as the first day of
the month of Dhul-Hijjah – meaning the country's Shia Muslims will celebrate
Eid Al-Adha a day later than their Sunni compatriots.
"Monday will be the complement of
Dhu al-Qi'dah month... Tuesday June 20 will be the first day of Zul Hijjah
month for the year of 1444," the office of Al-Sistani said in a statement.
Islam uses the moon as the basis of its
calendar with sightings of a new moon crescent in the sky or through
calculations determining the dates of religious festivals and months.
As per the teachings of the Prophet
Muhammad, the sighting of the new moon marks the start of a new month.
The difference in these sightings
between Sunni and Shia Muslims in Iraq – and further afield – is said to be
beyond disagreement on when a new moon is sighted or mathematical calculations,
but instead reflect political divisions.
Eid Al-Adha ("Feast of
Sacrifice") is celebrated by Muslims worldwide two months and 10 days
after Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.
Communal prayers, visits to neighbours
and relatives, and, for many, the slaughter of livestock and donations of meat
to the poor are common acts of Muslims during Eid Al-Adha.
The origin of Eid stems from the story
of when Prophet Abraham saw in his dream that God ordered him to slaughter his
son, Ismail.
The story is mentioned in the Quran, the
holy book of the Muslims.
When Abraham was about to sacrifice his
son, the Angel Gabriel was sent by God with a huge ram to sacrifice instead.
Sunnis – the vast majority of Muslims –
also celebrate Eid Al-Adha and other festivals on different days, for reasons
again put down to political differences.
Source: newarab.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.newarab.com/news/iraqi-sunni-shia-muslims-celebrate-eid-different-days
--------
Islamic Jihad chief meets Iran’s
president, FM, thanks Tehran for supporting Palestine cause
June 19, 2023
Amirabdollahian has held a meeting with
Nakhalah and his accompanying delegation, congratulating the recent major
victory of the resistance fighters in the 5-day Gaza war and the key role the
unity of resistance groups played in this regard.
Amirabdollahian described the issue of
Palestine as a pivotal issue of the Muslim world and reiterated the support of
the Islamic Republic of Iran for the Palestinian cause, the holy al-Quds and
the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian nation against the Zionist occupiers.
The Iranian foreign minister described
the racist Zionist regime as the root-cause and the main source of insecurity
and instability in the region.
He called for coordinated and effective
measures by the Islamic countries and governments to halt the inhumane crimes
of the Zionists against the oppressed people of Palestine and in support of the
Islamic sanctities in the holy al-Quds.
Elsewhere in his remarks,
Amirabdollahian touched on the role late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani
played in shoring up the Palestinian resistance, adding that strengthening the
solidarity of Muslim nations, eliminating the threats posed by the regime to
the Islamic Ummah and countering the US hegemony were top priorities in the
viewpoints and sincere efforts of the general.
He said, on Palestine, just as
reiterated in the deep comments by the Islamic Revolution Leader, general
Soleimani, in the true sense of the word, propped up the Palestinian resistance
against the aggressive regime, which is armed to the teeth, and enjoys an
all-out support by the US and the West.
He added that the result and fruit of
the efforts and sacrifices of the general is today’s belief among many regional
governments and nations in the need to take the reins of the fate of regional
security and stability in their own hands and pursue regional development away
from meddling by foreigners.
Also during the meeting, Nakhalah
offered his assessment of the process of developments in Palestine and occupied
territories and stressed that Palestinian resistance groups are in the best
possible shape in terms of preparedness and unity of action against the Israeli
regime and, with the absolute support of the Palestinian nation, can resist any
act of aggression by the usurper Zionist regime and obtain major victories.
On Sunday, Nakhaleh also met President
Raisi, who, for his part, stated that attempts at normalizing relations between
the Zionist regime and Muslim states will get nowhere. The Iranian president
stressed that ultimate victory belongs to the Palestinian resistance.
One of the main objectives behind the
Zionist regime’s attempts at the normalization of ties with a number of Arab
and Islamic countries is to disappoint the Palestinian younger generation’s
hopes for the liberation of the occupied territories, Raisi noted.
“We deeply believe that these attempts
(at normalization of ties) won’t bear fruit, because the first and most serious
opponents of such normalization of relations are the people of the very same
(Muslim and Arab) countries,” the Iranian president added.
Hailing the Palestinian resistance
groups for their initiatives in the battle against Zionists, Raisi stressed
that the Palestinian nation has become united more than ever while the Zionist
community has been torn apart and is heading towards downfall.
Palestine has won the hearts and minds
of people all over the world, from the region to Latin America, he stated.
Describing Iran as a major and
influential country in regional and international developments, Nakhaleh
described the Iranian president’s recent tour of Latin America as a testimony
to the Islamic Republic’s success in defeating the sanctions.
Expounding on the resistance forces’
achievements and victory in a recent 5-day war in Gaza, he said while the
Zionist regime claimed that it had reached an agreement with Egypt for an end
to the clashes with the resistance forces, it later had to announce following
the most recent round of conflicts that it has come to an agreement with the
resistance forces.
The PIJ chief described such an
admission as a big victory for Palestine that resulted from the Palestinians’
resistance and perseverance.
Source: ifpnews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://ifpnews.com/islamic-jihad-chief-iran-president-fm-tehran-supporting-palestine-cause/
--------
Pakistan
Court confirms PTI chief’s bail in five
terrorism cases
JUNE 20, 2023
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday
confirmed the bail of PTI’s Chairman in five cases and extended interim bail in
other three FIRs registered by capital police under anti-terrorism laws. ATC
Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan heard the bail petitions of the PTI chief in
eight cases. The PTI’s head appeared before the court along with his legal
team. At the outset of the hearing, Imran Khan’s counsel Salman Safdar Advocate
said that his client had joined the investigation in all cases and also
appeared before the joint investigation team and answered their questions.
He said that his client had a clean
character record and he also had won several awards for the country as a
sportsman. He said that PTI’s chief also had been at the forefront of social
services as Shaukat Khanum Hospital was its example. The lawyer said that his
client always had been respecting the judiciary and appeared before the courts.
His client was 71 years old so he was entitled to the relief, he said, adding
that after 2022 more than 150 cases had been registered. He said that there was
no proof against his client for instigating his followers. The court had already
accepted the bail of Asad Umar and other co-accused in a case registered by
Sangjani police station. The prosecutor adopted the stance that PTI’s chief had
joined the investigation in only five cases. He said that the court was already
granting relief to the accused to which he was entitled. He said that Imran
Khan instigated the protesters for violence.
He said the PTI chairman was not proven
innocent during the investigation, adding that the petitioner have to present
the evidence regarding his allegation of dishonesty to the prosecution. He said
other co-accused and PTI workers had committed violence at various localities
at the instigation of the petitioner as he had the commanding authority in the
party. The prosecutor said that as per the eyewitnesses chairman PTI had been
giving instructions to his party workers while sitting in his vehicle. The
protesters attacked the judicial complex and IHC in the presence of Imran Khan,
he said. The IHC had already declared that ATC sections should be applied in these
cases.
He further contended that there was no
such provision in the law to give relief to an accused due to being old. He
said that the petitioner had committed the same offence twice. He prayed the
court to terminate the bail petitions of Imran Khan. He said that IHC
instructed Imran Khan to maintain peace but he arrived judicial complex along
with a mob. The whole leadership of PTI was involved in violence and riot, he
said.
The prosecutor said that the police had
demonstrated tolerance and avoided violence against the rioters. The court
noted that the other court had fixed cases of the PTI chairman for July 4,
adding that it wanted to fix the same date due to security issues. The PTI
chief on the occasion said that he had never asked his followers for committing
violence.
The lawyer said that his client arrived
judicial complex for an appearance before the court but a case of terrorism act
was registered against him regarding vandalizing. His client had no connection
with the violence and vandalizing in the judicial complex, he said. He further
said that his client was even not named in the case of the Ramana police
station. Imran Khan said that none of his party workers had been involved in
burning the vehicle of police as footage of the incidents was on the record.
The prosecutor said that the co-accused had confessed that the PTI’s chairman
had given instructions for violence.
After hearing arguments, the court
confirms the bail of Imran Khan in five cases and extended in other three till
July 4.
Source: dailytimes.com.pk
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://dailytimes.com.pk/1105150/court-confirms-pti-chiefs-bail-in-five-terrorism-cases/
--------
Government selects threeassets for
Islamic bond issue
June 20, 2023
KARACHI: The cash-strapped government
has selected three assets to be used to issue local-currency-denominated
Islamic bonds in an effort to meet its financing needs and boost Islamic
banking in Pakistan.
These assets include the Islamabad
Expressway (from Faisal Mosque Chowk to T-Chowk near Rawat), the Islamabad
Metro (Islamabad Portion), and the Islamabad Sports Complex.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)
announced the transaction structure related to the issuance of Ijara Sukuk.
"(Included are) the identified
underlying assets of the Capital Development Authority, along with the
identified, unencumbered, and undisputed land of CDA surrounding the identified
assets," stated the circular from the State Bank of Pakistan. "These
lands would be identifiable by survey numbers and area, and would be identified
as the proposed assets to facilitate the issuance of GoP Ijarah Sukuk," it
added.
According to the SBP, the Islamabad
Motorway (from Faisal Mosque Chowk to T-Chowk near Rawat) will serve as the
underlying asset for the inaugural Sukuk issue. Other specified assets may be
utilized based on the provisions of the transaction structure and the
government's needs.
Bankers project that this will be a
significant Sukuk program, with the government aiming to raise up to Rs700
billion through the auction of domestic Islamic bonds. The bonds will have
terms of one, three, and five years, with fixed and variable rates of return.
The first auction of this Sukuk will
take place on June 22.
By issuing Sukuk, the government may be
able to reduce the cost of servicing its domestic debt. Bankers state that the
government can secure lower rates from Islamic banking compared to conventional
financing options like T-bills and PIBs.
The SBP will conduct an auction to
identify Sukuk investors. Non-competitive bidders may also submit bids for the
Sukuk. For this purpose, non-competitive bidders will authorize any of the
primary bidders by signing an authorization form, as stated by the SBP.
The government aims to eliminate the
interest-based financial system by 2027. As part of its objective to increase
the share of Islamic banking from 20 percent to 35 percent in the next two
years, the State Bank of Pakistan has guaranteed assistance to banks planning
to convert their business operations to an Islamic mode.
In a groundbreaking decision issued last
year, the Federal Shariat Court ruled that the current interest-based banking
system contradicts the basic principles of Islamic law.
The court ordered the government to
facilitate all loans using an interest-free basis and to enact fresh laws and modify
existing ones promptly in order to introduce Islamic banking nationwide.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1082444-government-selects-threeassets-for-islamic-bond-issue
-------
PM Shehbaz to leave for 2-day visit to
France on Thursday
June 20, 2023
The Foreign Office (FO) said on Tuesday
that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will depart for a two-day official visit to
France later this week to participate in a financing summit being held in
Paris.
he FO said that the premier was
undertaking the visit at French President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation, adding
that the ‘New Global Financing Pact Summit’ would be held from June 22-23.
“The summit offers an opportunity for
leaders to engage in discussions regarding the development of a new global
framework capable of addressing the challenges related to sustainable
development financing, environmental concerns, energy transition, and the
climate change agenda,” the FO statement said.
“In the run up to other important
international events and conferences during the next two years, the summit aims
to define the principles and steps required for a comprehensive reform of the
international financial system, and pave the way for a more balanced and fair
partnership between the north and the south,” it added.
The FO said that PM Shehbaz would
present Pakistan’s perspective and proposals for reforming international
financial institutions, climate finance, green infrastructure, attainment of
sustainable development goals and solutions related to debt.
“The prime minister will also hold
bilateral meetings with other world leaders on the sidelines of the summit,”
the FO said.
Source: dawn.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.dawn.com/news/1760782/pm-shehbaz-to-leave-for-2-day-visit-to-france-on-thursday
--------
PTI govt ‘imposed’ to fulfil foreign
agenda: Fazl
June 20, 2023
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday said that he had
repeatedly claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was imposed on
the nation to fulfil a “foreign agenda” in the country, and the time proved him
right.
Addressing a public meeting in Tank area
after inaugurating development projects, Mr Fazl said that PTI chief and former
prime minister Imran Khan was an enemy of the country.
He said that the last PTI government was
responsible for maintaining law and order in the country but it did nothing for
it.
The JUI-F chief, who also heads the
ruling coalition in the centre, Pakistan Democratic Movement, said that the
2018 general elections were rigged for the formation of the PTI’s government.
He called Imran a fitna [evil] and said
that the PTI chief had no role in national politics any longer.
“We won’t allow his [Imran’s] return to
power,” he said.
Mr Fazl said that Islam’s “economic
system” was the only solution to Pakistan’s woes.
He said that his party along with
coalition partners would develop the country and improve its image
internationally.
The JUI-F chief said that after the PDM
formed the government in the centre last year, the JUI-F got development
projects worth billions of rupees approved.
He said that the JUI-F had always served
the people and would continue doing so.
On the occasion, Mr Fazl inaugurated a
36km long Tank-Pezu Road and a link road from Tank to Yarik Interchange of the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The project’s cost is Rs4 billion.
Federal communications minister Asad
Mahmood, who was also in attendance, called the PTI government in the province
a decade of darkness, which, he said, had come to an end.
He said that he was aware of the
deprivation and sufferings of his voters, so he got the streets in his district
paved at a cost of Rs500 million.
The minister also said that the
upgradation of the district headquarters hospital and work on the Tank Zam Dam
project would begin soon, while a pipeline would be laid from the dam to
address water shortage in Tank city.
He said that Tank was a stronghold of
the JUI-F and would elect the party’s nominees in the next polls.
On arrival, the JUI-F chief and minister
were given a warm welcome by the party workers.
The gathering was also addressed by
former MPA Mehmood Bhatni.
On the occasion, political and social
leaders of Garha Baloch, including village council nazims Naveed Qazi and
Alamgir Baloch and former nazim Ashraf Baloch announced the joining of the
JUI-F.
Source: dawn.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.dawn.com/news/1760689/pti-govt-imposed-to-fulfil-foreign-agenda-fazl
--------
North America
Muslim-led Michigan city bans Pride
flags after heated council meeting
JUNE 19, 2023
LGBTQ+ SUPPORTERS EXPRESSED
disappointment after the all-Muslim Hamtramck City Council passed legislation
prohibiting the flying of Pride flags on city-owned properties.
Neutrality flag: On June 13, city
officials unanimously approved a resolution sponsored by City Councilman
Mohammed Hassan called a “Resolution to Maintain and Confirm the Neutrality Of
the City of Hamtramck Towards Its Residents.”
The “neutrality flag resolution,” which
restricts the display of religious, ethnic, racial, and political flags,
emphasizes that the city will not provide “special treatment” to any particular
group.
Its critics, however, view the
legislation’s passing as choosing bigotry over inclusivity.
Long, heated debate: The decision
followed an impassioned discussion that lasted over three hours, with dozens of
supporters and opponents voicing their opinions about the proposal during
Hamtramck, Michigan’s City Council meeting.
In her public comment, Rose Carver
mocked the city’s claims of diversity by wearing a clown nose and holding up a
sign that read, “Hamtramck welcomes you if you’re straight.”
Sure, many Hamtramck residents have fled
countries where being gay is a death sentence, but nothing says we have to make
it comforting and welcoming here. While we can’t legally discriminate against
LGBTQ people in the United States anymore, the City of Hamtramck can say, “Ew,
no, be proud somewhere else.”
Hassan Aoun, an activist from Dearborn,
rejected the notion of displaying Pride flags on city property.
“I am a Lebanese person, and I support
the American flag,” he said. “We are not going to sit here and tolerate you
guys coming in here and saying, ‘Oh, it’s Pride Month.’ If you’re gay, no
problem. Be gay by yourself. Don’t sit here and throw it down my throat or
anyone’s throat.”
In her defense of the ban, City Councilman
Nayeem Choudhury stated that the legislation was meant to “respect the
religious rights of our citizens.”
You guys are welcome. … (but) why do you
have to have the flag shown on government property to be represented? You’re
already represented. We already know who you are. … By making this (about)
bigotry … it’s making it like you want to hate us.
Michigan lawmakers’ reactions: Among the
elected Michigan officials that criticized the legislation include state Sen.
Stephanie Chang (D, MI-3), U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D, MI-13), U.S. Rep.
Rashida Tlaib (D, MI-12), Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Oakland County
Executive David Coulter.
Source: nextshark.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://nextshark.com/muslim-led-michigan-city-bans-pride-flags-after-heated-council-meeting
--------
Missionary kidnapped by Islamic
extremists for 6 years alleges FBI withheld intel, misled wife
June 19, 2023
Missionary Jeff Woodke, who was held
captive by Islamic extremists for more than six years, alleges the FBI withheld
information and misled his wife regarding his captors.
Woodke was captured in October 2016 in
Niger by Islamic militants and was released this March.
In an interview with the Associated
Press, Woodke and his wife said that they had reason to believe that FBI
officials withheld information and misled them about the scope of demands from
the kidnappers.
“It was hell. I think the hardest part
was knowing that my family, if they were alive, they were suffering too,” he
said during the interview.
The Woodkes allege that the FBI
officials had poor communication when it came to the status of the negotiations
and offered barely any assistance with raising money for a ransom.
Woodke's wife Els said she had some
harsh words with Secretary of State Antony Blinken just weeks before her
husband came home.
“I said, if it was you that had been
kidnapped, you would be free in a week because your wife is free to take from
your money and buy you free,” she recalled telling Blinken. “So because you are
rich, you can pay the ransom. But a poor person is never able to do that.”
While the U.S. government does not pay
ransom to kidnappers, it does allow families of hostages to raise money for a
ransom. Els said that government restrictions made it near impossible to raise
any money.
Woodke was released March 20, although
it was never explained fully how the government got him home.
Source: justthenews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/missionary-held-captive-islam-extremists-6-years-alleges-fbi-withheld
--------
Expelled Minnesota Democrat’s son
suspect in hit-and-run crash that killed 5 Muslim women
20-06-23
The son of former Minnesota state Rep.
John Thompson, a Black Lives Matter activist who was expelled by his own party,
was arrested Monday in connection with a deadly hit-and-run crash that killed
five people last week, three years after he was convicted in another tragic
hit-and-run.
Derrick John Thompson, 27, of Brooklyn
Park, was arrested and booked into the Hennepin County Jail on two charges of
murder Monday, according to local reports.
Derrick is the son of John Thompson, who
was expelled from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party caucus in
September 2021 after allegedly falsely accusing a police officer of racial
profiling and after his past legal troubles, including allegations of domestic
assault, became public.
The elder Thompson made headlines during
the George Floyd protests in 2020, when he and Black Lives Matter protesters
descended on the home of police union leader Bob Kroll in Hugo, Minnesota.
Thompson was running for the state
legislature at the time and went on to win his election that November after
being endorsed by Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota
Attorney General Keith Ellison. He was unseated in the November 2022 election.
On Friday, a speeding vehicle ran a red
light and collided with a vehicle carrying five Somali women, all under 20
years old, Minneapolis police said. All five victims, who were reportedly
members of the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center, were killed, and the suspect was
being treated for his injuries over the weekend, according to local media.
Now-viral surveillance footage of the
crash showed the speeding SUV slamming into the other vehicle’s driver’s side.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said his department is investigating the
video's unauthorized release, the Star Tribune reported.
Derrick Thompson is awaiting charges
that could be filed as soon as Tuesday, the Star Tribune reported.
Derrick has a long history of driving
and drug-related offenses. In 2020, he was sentenced to eight years for a 2018
hit-and-run while fleeing police in Montecito, California. Officers found 17.6
pounds of marijuana and more than $20,000 in cash in the vehicle Derrick was
driving, the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office said. The woman he struck
spent several weeks in a coma after the crash and suffered life-altering
injuries, the office said.
"This case was a series of
dangerous criminal choices that resulted in a horrendous conclusion,"
District Attorney Joyce Dudley said at the time. "The victim has made a
miraculous recovery but will still live with the injuries inflicted by this
defendant for the rest of her life."
Derrick was sentenced to eight years in
prison on Feb. 4, 2020, and he was given 502 days as credit for time already
served and another 75 days credit for good behavior.
It’s not clear when Derrick was released
from the California state prison system or why he was out of prison at the time
of Friday’s crash in Minneapolis. His parole information is not public.
"This is certainly a terrible heart
wrenching story and our hearts go out to the families of the five young women
who lost their lives," a representative for the Santa Barbara District
Attorney’s Office told Fox News Digital.
"Mr. Thompson received 577 days
credit (for the time he spent in custody pending disposition) at the time of
sentencing," the representative continued. "Based on the fact that he
was sentenced to a violent felony statutorily the defendant would have been
required to serve 85% of his time, meaning he would have had close to 5.5 years
left to serve from the time of sentencing.
"However, CA proposition 57 (passed
in 2016) changed potential credits calculations and gave CDCR wide latitude to
award additional custody credits, as well as, early parole opportunities."
The District Attorney’s Office has no information
regarding when or why Mr. Thompson would have been released early.
In 2016, California voted on Proposition
57, which was designed to give nonviolent offenders an opportunity to be
released early after earning good behavior credits. Critics, however, have said
violent criminals are being released with no explanation.
Moreover, after the COVID-19 pandemic
struck in 2020, California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom started releasing
thousands of violent criminals early, including those doing time for murder in
an attempt to reduce to virus' spread within the prison system, according to a
Los Angeles Times report.
In Minnesota, Derrick has faced dozens
of arrests and been convicted at least six times. He was sentenced to a year in
prison and two years probation for carrying a firearm without a permit in 2014.
The next year, he was convicted of a drug-related felony and sentenced to more
than a month in prison and five years probation.
Thompson's campaign did not immediately
respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Source: foxnews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/expelled-minnesota-democrats-son-derrick-john-thompson-reported-suspect-hit-run-crash-killed-5-muslim-women
--------
South Asia
Taliban Arrests Two For Smuggling
Lithium Ore To Pakistan
June 19, 2023
The Taliban have reportedly detained two
persons in the eastern Nangarhar province for allegedly attempting to smuggle
lithium ore into Pakistan.
Two men were detained on Sunday at the
Torkham border crossing while carrying four tons of lithium ore were found
concealed inside a truck beneath a shipment of coal, provincial officials said.
Earlier, two chines nationals and three
Afghans were arrested while trying to smuggle about 1,000 tons of rocks
containing raw lithium.
The lithium was impounded when smuggled
from Nuristan and Kunar to the province of Nangarhar.
According to the Ministry of Mines and
Petroleum, approximately 300 tonnes were taken in Nangarhar and turned over to
the ministry, and another 700 tonnes were seized in the province of Kunar.
A rare metal called lithium is mainly
employed in modern technology, such as batteries in smartphones, electric
motors, computers, and drones.
Afghanistan, one of the wealthiest
countries in terms of natural resources, is said to contain enormous lithium
deposits and rare earth minerals worth an estimated $1 trillion.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-arrests-two-for-smuggling-lithium-ore-to-pakistan/
--------
PM for peaceful resolution of Ukraine
crisis
Mon Jun 19, 2023
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today
called for resolving any dispute peacefully and extended Bangladesh's support
to this end.
The prime minister made the call while
having a telephonic conversation with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal
this afternoon.
"Bangladesh is respectful towards
sovereignty and regional integrity according to the objectives and principles
of the United Nations," she said.
Pointing to the Russia-Ukraine war,
Sheikh Hasina expressed sorrow over the death of common people and children due
to the ongoing war.
"We also emerged from war, war does
not bring any good for any side, we believe in the principle of peace,"
she said.
In this regard, the prime minister said
that Bangladesh wants immediate stop of the Russia-Ukraine war so that food
grains could easily be transported from Ukraine-widely known as "Bread
Basket".
During the time, she hoped uninterrupted
transportation will be maintained for imports of food grains from Ukraine.
Sheikh Hasina extended full support of
Bangladesh to the "Black Sea Grain Initiative" under the UN and
thanked all involved in such initiatives.
In this connection, she expressed her
optimism that such noble steps would continue in the days ahead.
During the telephone conversation, the
Ukrainian PM renewed his stance to work together with PM Sheikh Hasina for
taking the existing bilateral relations between the two countries to a new
height.
Denys Shmyhal requested Hasina to stand
beside Ukraine in the international arena particularly at the UN and in other
forums.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/diplomacy/news/pm-peaceful-resolution-ukraine-crisis-3350711
--------
Bangladesh signs new LNG deal with Oman
Mon Jun 19, 2023
Bangladesh has signed a new deal with
Oman to get an additional 1.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) for the next 10 years from 2026.
The deal can be extended for 5 years
more.
Today, Bangladesh's state-owned
Petrobangla signed the new agreement with Oman's OQ trading at a function at
Hotel Shonargaon.
Currently, Bangladesh has been importing
1-1.5 MTPA of LNG since 2019 under an existing deal.
Under the new deal, the number of
additional cargos will be four in 2026 and upto 16 cargoes till 2028 and 24
cargos later till 2035.
Petrobabangla's secretary Ruchira Islam
and OQT's executive director Said Al Maawali signed the contract for their
respective side.
Tawfiq E Elahi, Prime Minister's advisor
on energy and power, and Oman Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdul Ghaffar Albulushi
were present at the contract signing ceremony, said a press release of the
Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
The price of LNG was not disclosed.
However, the energy advisor Tawfiq said,
"It will be a good rate."
He said this deal will enhance the
energy security of the country. "We have two floating LNG regasification
unit, another two will be set up soon. One land-based LNG terminal will also be
set up in future."
Energy Secretary Dr Khairuzzaman
Majumder and Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker were also present on the
occasion.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/diplomacy/news/bangladesh-signs-new-lng-deal-oman-3350556
--------
EC registers Bangladesh JSD as political
party
Mon Jun 19, 2023
The Election Commission has registered
Bangladesh Jasad as a political party following an order of the High Court.
The party's electoral symbol is a car.
The EC's joint secretary Abdul Baten
confirmed the development.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/ec-registers-bangladesh-jsd-political-party-3350301
--------
Iran Continues Deporting Afghan Refugees
in Large Numbers
June 20, 2023
Iran has deported nearly 14,000
undocumented Afghan refugees over the past nine months, according to media
quoting from Iranian border officials.
The Iranian state news agency IRNA on
Monday, June 19, published a comprehensive report, stating that at least 13,897
undocumented Afghan nationals who were illegally residing in the country were
handed over to Afghan officials through the Dogharun border.
Since the return of the Taliban to power
in August 2021, Afghanistan’s two immediate neighbors including Iran and
Pakistan witnessed unprecedented waves of migration, most of whom feared
persecution and death threats from the Taliban regime.
However, contrary to normal standards and
international principles, these two countries have persistently mistreated
Afghan migrants and have been accused by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) of violating refugee rights.
In a separate report titled “Iran, a
decent destination for asylum seekers” on the occasion of ‘World Refugee Day’
on June 20, IRNA claims that roughly 5.5-7 million Afghan migrants either
legally or illegally reside in this country.
Meanwhile, both Iran and Pakistan have
continuously incarcerated, detained and forcefully deported Afghan refugees in
large numbers in the recent past due to failing to provide legal stay permits
or valid visas.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/iran-continues-deporting-afghan-refugees-in-large-numbers/
--------
Afghan Security Forces Rescue Kidnapped
Turkish Engineer
June 20, 2023
Taliban’s police command in Kabul said
that Afghan security forces have rescued a kidnapped Turkish engineer in the 12th
provincial district of capital Kabul.
Kabul security chief in a news release
said that the Turkish engineer was abducted on Monday, Jun 19, from the ninth
provincial district in Kabul.
According to the news release, the
foreign national was rescued through a joint operation conducted by the
security forces and the Taliban’s intelligence unit in provincial district nine
of Kabul city.
Prior to this, several similar criminal
incidents took place in Kabul and other provinces resulting in the death of
engineers and business people.
This increased number of kidnapping
individuals is worrying for the people – therefore calling on security forces
to initiate decisive actions to prevent such criminal incidents in the heart of
Kabul.
Security remains a major challenge for
the de facto authorities of Afghanistan. Since the group’s return to power in
August 2021, terrorist attacks, targeted killings and abductions continue in
Kabul and other parts of the country, claiming the lives of scores of innocent
individuals.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-security-forces-rescue-kidnapped-turkish-engineer/
--------
Crackdown on Afghan Refugees Continues
in Pakistan
June 20, 2023
Pakistani police and other agencies
continue harassing and detaining Afghan refugees in Islamabad and other major
cities for failing to provide legal stay permits and valid visas, sources
said.
According to reliable sources, through
special search operations, police has been arresting Afghan refugees in
Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other parts of the country.
Recently, the Pakistanis government has
taken extra measures to incarcerate and extradite those foreign nationals
including Afghan migrants who are illegally staying in the country.
On June 7, police arrested at least 250
Afghan nationals from Islamabad and Rawalpindi due to overstaying and failing
to provide valid visas, and imprisoned them accordingly.
Following the arrest, the Embassy of
Afghanistan in Islamabad urged the Pakistani government to stop arresting
Afghan refugees “as it can adversely impact bilateral relations between the two
countries, reported TOLOnews.
On Thursday, July 8, Afghanistan Embassy
in Islamabad on Twitter said that the POR, ACC, and passport holders were among
the Afghan citizens detained by the CTD-ISB and other Pakistani agencies.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani authorities
assured the leadership of the Afghan embassy of cooperation and added that they
only arrest those who do not have legal documents and are all illegally
residing in the host country.
The Human Right Commission of Pakistan
and refugee advocacy organizations have repeatedly called on the Pakistani
government over cracking down on Afghan refugees and forcefully deporting them
to Afghanistan. furthermore, the commission stressed that seeking asylum is not
a crime, and the Pakistani police should respect human rights, dignity and
values.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/crackdown-on-afghan-refugees-continues-in-pakistan/
--------
Africa
Group Blamed In Uganda Attack 'Funded By
Islamic State'According To AUN Report Seen By AFP
19th June 2023
A notorious armed group suspected of
massacring at least 41 people at a Ugandan school has received funds from the
so-called Islamic State (IS), according to a UN report seen by AFP on Monday.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF),
accused of the attack last Friday in the western Ugandan town of Mpondwe, has been
blamed for thousands of civilian deaths in neighbouring Democratic Republic of
Congo.
In a report due to be published this
week, UN experts on the DRC shed light on the hazy financial connections
between the two groups.
The IS has "provided financial support
to ADF since at least 2019, through a complex financial scheme involving
individuals in several countries on the continent, emanating from Somalia and
going through South Africa, Kenya and Uganda," it said.
The evidence comes from documents and
testimony, it said.
Historically linked to predominantly
Muslim Ugandan rebels opposed to President Yoweri Museveni, the ADF established
itself in eastern DRC in the mid-1990s.
It became one of scores of outlawed
forces in the troubled region, but in 2019 pivoted towards radicalism, pledging
allegiance to the IS.
The IS describes the ADF as its regional
affiliate, the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). In March 2021,
the United States placed the ADF on its list of "terrorist groups"
affiliated with IS.
In November 2021, Ugandan troops crossed
into eastern DRC, joining Congolese forces in a crackdown on the ADF after a
string of bombings in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
Military officials on both sides
proclaimed Operation Shujaa to be a success, but attacks by the group have
continued.
The new UN report says the ADF
"sent combatants and/or collaborators on scouting missions" to try to
expand beyond North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
The group "sought to recruit and
conduct attacks in Kinshasa as well as Tshoppo, Haut-Uele and South-Kivu
provinces," it adds.
The attack in Uganda occurred less than
two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the border with the DRC.
Officials said 37 students at the
Lhubiriha Secondary School were killed -- 17 in the torched men's dormitory,
and 20 female students who ran, but were hacked to death.
Four non-students were also killed.
Major General Dick Olum, who has been
leading the Uganda side of the operation against the rebels in the DRC, told
AFP that intelligence suggested the ADF had been in the area at least two days
before the attack.
They were apparently on a scouting
mission to plot the raid on the school, he said.
"We have called for more firepower,
planes to help in the rescue operation of those abducted, and locating the rebel
hideouts for military action," he said.
In June 1998, 80 students were burnt to
death in their dormitories in an ADF raid on Kichwamba Technical Institute,
also near Uganda's border with the DRC
Source: newindianexpress.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2023/jun/19/group-blamed-in-uganda-attack-funded-by-islamic-state-2586544.html
--------
Muslim lawyers task UHRC to investigate
raid on Sheikh Kamoga's home
June 18, 2023
Lawyers under the Uganda Muslim Lawyers
Association (UMLAS) have tasked the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) to
investigate the police for the unprofessional conduct of its officers during a
recent raid on Sheikh Mohammed Yunus Kamoga's home.
In a video circulating on social media,
police officers are seen kicking and slapping youths who were found at Kamoga's
home in Tula, Kawempe Division, Kampala. The police claims that Kamoga was
training the youth in Sharia law at Tula Rehabilitation Centre.
Siraje Katantazi Mukasa from UMLAS
condemned the brutal acts of the police and other security personnel who raided
the home. Katantazi said that they plan to petition UHRC over the matter.
He said that the police officers who
raided Kamoga's home and assaulted the youth should be arrested. Kamoga told
journalists that the rehabilitation is a registered centre that was established
in 2007.
He displayed the registration
certificates and memorandum as well as articles of association from the Uganda
Registration Service Bureau (URSB). He also said that the school is a separate
entity from his home and denied police reports that the rehabilitation
accommodates 42 people.
According to Sheik Kamoga, the school
has passed out 1,440 graduates since it was established and appealed to the
security agencies to treat all Muslims fairly in the country. The police have
since suspended the 13 officers who were captured torturing and manhandling the
people found in Kamoga's home.
Source: observer.ug
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.observer.ug/news/headlines/78223-muslim-lawyers-task-uhrc-to-investigate-raid-on-sheikh-kamoga-s-home
--------
Osun Govt Accuses Ex-Senator Of Threat
To Peace
Jun 20, 2023
OSOGBO
– Osun State Government has accused the immediate Senate spokesperson,
Senator Ajibola Bashir of allegedly planning to cause mayhem in the state.
In a statement issued by the media aide
to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed said the former senator has
constituted himself to be a direct threat to peace by inviting some policemen
to the state through a petition written against some party and state officials
in the state.
The State Government in the statement
alleged the former Senator of importing unauthorised policemen to the state to
create confusion and mayhem to destabilise the peace of the state.
But Former lawmaker, Ajibola Bashiru
has denied the allegation levelled against him by the state government
describing the government as a comedian for pointing accusing fingers at
disrupting the peace of the state to him.
Rasheed in the statement said the
ex-lawmaker had submitted names of top leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) and that of the state government to the police so as to cause instability
and tension in Osun.
The statement reads: “We urgently bring
to the attention of the Inspector General of Police, the State Commissioner
of Police and the general public that former Senator Ajibola Bashiru has
imported some unauthorized policemen into Osun State to create confusion,
mayhem and destabilise the peace and stability of the state.
“The former Senator is reported to have
submitted a list of top leaders of the People’s Democratic Party and Osun State
government for arrest on trumped-up charges. We reliably gathered that the
Osogbo-born politician is personally coordinating the team in gross violation
of extant laws and practice of law enforcement.
“We call on the Inspector General of
Police to order the immediate withdrawal of such policemen as their invitation
under the control of a politician constitutes a grave threat to the peace and
stability of Osun State. We urge the Commissioner of Police to urgently look
into the matter before a breach of peace across the state.
Source: independent.ng
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://independent.ng/osun-govt-accuses-ex-senator-of-threat-to-peace/
--------
How Buhari reshaped Nigeria, entrenched
Northern/Muslim dominance
June 19, 2023
By the time President Muhammadu Buhari
left power on May 29th, he had cemented a legacy of northern domination of
Nigeria. By handing over to Bola Tinubu, former Lagos State governor, and
Kashim Shettima, former Borno State governor, in what would be the first time
in the country’s democratic history that both the president and the vice
president would be people of Muslim faith, he sealed what he started in 2015.
It’s not an outcome that would surprise
any keen observer of the country’s politics and power play. While many,
especially in the south, assume, often, that the country is a settled secular
state, there has always been a lurking push by elements to inevitably define it
as one dominated by the Muslim faith, and within the eight years of his rule,
Buhari brought it closer to that outcome more than at any other point in
history.
Most commentaries about Buhari’s
eight-year reign have been about his failures in the areas of the economy,
security and anti corruption, which were the key planks of his campaign going
into the 2015 election that brought him to power.
But while there is a consensus among
observers that the former president performed below expectation in all three
areas, he was, many would agree, very successful in accomplishing a Northern,
cum Islamic domination of the Nigerian polity, which was the underlining force
behind his rise to political prominence.
First, at the helm as military head of
state in 1983, until he was booted out of office in a 1985 palace coup led by
his eventual successor, Ibrahim Babangida, in part for failing to recognize the
country’s diversity, Buhari would gradually rise to prominence with the return
to democracy in 1999, in the wake of the post year 2000 Sharia crisis in the
north that greeted Olusegun Obasanjo’s ascension to power.
Obasanjo, who was backed by the northern
establishment to take power as a compensation to the Yoruba, who had become
restive over the MKO Abiola June 12, 1993 debacle, was to hold same for four
years and hand it back. But it was soon clear that he wasn’t keen on serving
one term in office as president, and this realisation frayed nerves in the
north. Part of the response was the recourse to Sharia, a perfectly crafted
trap laid for the Ogun State born former general, but which he cleverly
avoided.
But beyond Sharia, the north needed a
champion, and with the likes of Babangida declining to lead the charge on
account of, it was gathered, Obasanjo being his boss, Buhari stepped into the
picture as the face of the north’s opposition to Obasanjo.
Speaking openly for Sharia, he gradually
built cult following in the region, such that by the time another election was
due in 2003, he had gathered sufficient political weight to beat Obasanjo in
much of the Sharia north. And although his ever growing northern support base
was not able to see him go over the line in subsequent elections in 2007 and
2011, an alliance with the Tinubu-led South West saw him achieve his dream in
2015.
Obasanjo’s eight years, which favoured
market economy, had brought about a burgeoning private sector. Lagos was emerging
from the ashes of the June 12 unrest into a thriving commercial hub, and it was
becoming clear that it was no longer a country that existed on northern terms.
And although Obasanjo handed over to
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a northerner from same Katsina State as Buhari, he only
spent three years in power before passing away after an illness. His death
inevitably meant power return to the south, with Goodluck Jonathan, then vice
president, taking the mantle in 2010.
Jonathan, who would go on to win the
2011 presidential election ahead of Buhari – a victory that led to sporadic
violence against Southerners by infuriated supporters of the former head of
state in the north – would consolidate on the market economy favoured by
Obasanjo. This led to even more prosperity in the South. Such that by time
another election was due in 2015, it had become, for the north, an all out war
to regain power and control.
The region found the right platform in
the APC, which had been formed in 2013, birthing an alliance between the North
and the South West. In the lead of up to the polls, leading northern figures in
the then ruling PDP, such as Atiku Abubakar, former vice president; Aminu
Tambuwal, then speaker of the House of Reps, and former Sokoto State governor;
Bukola Saraki, former senate president, among others, ditched the party for the
APC.
And with Buhari as its candidate, the
APC took power in 2015, as Jonathan, probably aware of the odds against him,
easily conceded defeat. Once in power, Buhari made his intention of returning
the north truly to power, but more specifically, entrenching Muslim dominance
of the polity, known from the get go.
Starting with the appointment of his
kitchen cabinet in 2015 – the first set of appointments he made, which had an
overwhelming Northern domination – the former president made it immediately
clear, some say, that contrary to his inaugural speech postulation of
“belonging to everybody and to nobody”, he, indeed, belonged to the North. He
didn’t looked back, and eight years after, he successfully reshaped the
country.
“President Buhari deliberately
sacrificed the dreams of those, who voted for him to what seemed like a
programme to stratify and institutionalise northern hegemony. He has pursued
this self-defeating and alienating policy at the expense of greater national
cohesion,” declared Matthew Kukah, bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, in a
scathing 2020 Christmas homily.
“Every honest Nigerian knows that there
is no way any non-Northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what
President Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it. There would
have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war. The
President may have concluded that Christians will do nothing and will live with
these actions.
“He may be right and we Christians
cannot feel sorry that we have no pool of violence to draw from or threaten our
country. However, God does not sleep. We can see from the inexplicable dilemma
of his North.”
The Buhari administration will be the
first in the country’s history that all three arms of government would be
headed by Northerners or people of Muslim faith, in a country that has nearly
even Christian and Muslim population.
In his second term, which began in 2019,
both the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the speaker of the House of
Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, were people of Muslim faith. And the
unceremonious dismissal of Walter Onnoghen, as Chief Justice of Nigeria, meant
that the mantle fell on Tanko Muhammad, yet another Muslim.
Beyond the three arms of government, the
former president’s direct appointments reflected a certain agenda to achieve
northern hegemony. He filled nearly all strategic revenue collecting and
security agencies with Northerners, ensuring that ranging from the military to
the police and civil defence, including other arms bearing security agencies,
and over 80 percent of key government ministries, agencies and departments were
disproportionately headed by Northern Muslims.
Perhaps, even more infuriating to many,
the administration seemed unwilling to act while marauders, often identified as
Fulani herdsmen, unleashed mayhem in Benue, Plateau and many parts of the
country, in what many saw as an expansionist agenda.
Yet, while not doing enough, in the
estimation of many, to tackle the challenge, he would add insult to injury by
proposing such obnoxious ideas as Ruga, a programme meant to create settlement
for the same herders in every locality in the country; as well as the National
Water bill recently rejected by the National Assembly.
Yet, when that failed after several
attempts, his administration sneaked in another suspicious bill, the Water
Resources Bill, which sought to cede control of water bodies in the country,
and the adjoining lands to the federal government.
Seen by many as attempt to seize water
bodies and lands for the benefit of herders, many lawmakers in the south and
middle belt rose up in arms against the bill, buoyed by strong rejection of the
bill in their respective constituents. Only last week, the national assembly
eventually threw out the bill, and Buhari, whatever his administration planned
to achieve with it, failed in the event.
“Buhari came and put Fulani herdsmen in
place for the destruction of the non-Fulani. That is his achievement as far as
I am concerned. All other things said about his achievements are begging the
issue,” declared Ayo Adebanjo, elder statesman and leader of Afenifere, a pan
Yoruba sociocultural group.
“He made sure he pursued the
Fulanisation agenda in the country, ensuring displacement of people from their
homes by the Fulani, who are from all parts of Africa, by by because he
believes they have no home and must, therefore, come to take over Nigeria. All
other things he does is just camouflage. That is his best achievement.”
But, while Buhari failed his seeming
quest to legitimately settle the Fulani herders in various parts of the country
through Ruga, the herders never relented in their campaign of bloodshed in many
parts of the country, but particularly in Christian majority north central
states like Benue and Plateau, and Southern Kaduna, where inhabitants of a
number of communities now live in IDP camps, and their homelands allegedly
occupied by same marauders without let.
“Another problem is the Fulanization
agenda, which gave the Fulani the right to embark on the occupation agenda. At
the time he assumed office in 2015, he said he belonged to everyone and
belonged to no one, but the experience of the past eight years has shown that
he belongs to his Fulani people,” noted Iorbee Ihagh, a retired Comptroller of
Prison and the President General of Mzough U Tiv, in an interview with Tribune.
“Take for example, all those killings
across the country, in Yoruba land, Igbo land, Benue and other parts of the
country and ask yourself, has Buhari for once called these people to order? So,
it was purely his agenda to ensure that Fulani occupied the whole country.
“Part of his agenda was the population
census. We told him that the moment he succeeds with the census, his people
(the Fulani) who have forcefully chased people away from their ancestral homes
and occupied the place will be registered in those places and will
automatically become owners of those places.
“Until you allow all the displaced
persons to return to their ancestral homes, a census cannot be done. For
instance, in my country home, the Moon council ward in Kwande Local Government
Area for the past seven years, the Fulani have occupied the place having chased
away the people and destroyed their houses and public institutions and have
occupied the place.”
Beyond the activities of herdsmen and
what has been described as conquest agenda, Buhari has also left Nigeria’s
hitherto thriving private sector comatose. By slamming the country’s borders
close for 18 months, and imposing ill-advised import restrictions, among other
anti market policies, the once burgeoning private sector is battling to regain
its flair.
“You know, if one wants to be a
conspiracy theorist, one could suggest that the failures recorded under Buhari
were deliberate outcomes targeted at achieving certain objectives,” said Chidi
Anthony, lawyer and public affairs commentator.
“For instance, we say that Buhari failed
in tackling insecurity, but the other side of it is that Fulani herdsmen have
sacked communities and occupied their lands. We also say that he failed in his
anti corruption fight, but look at how people close to him have become
stupendously rich. In essence, he has empowered several of his people, which is
largely what he came to do.
“Also, look at our flawed electoral
system. What the rigging of votes has done is to give the impression that the
north now has all the numbers.”
Indeed, prior to his coming to power in
2015, Buhari, despite sweeping votes across the core northern states, often
failed to pose serious threat to successive PDP candidates, not until the South
West came into the picture.
However, after eight years in office, he
has left behind a country that has the north as an overwhelming majority of
voters, in what many say is an impression created by inflated vote numbers in
the region and suppressing those in the South.
“Yes, if you look at how the electoral
map has changed in the past few years, you will discover that while the south
has gone down, the north has comparatively increased,” said Anthony. “And my
guess is that they wanted to use the planned 2023 census to validate the
anomaly.”
Many observers agree that at no point
since the country’s 30 months civil war, has it been as divided. The former
president’s policies, coupled with growing mass of unemployed, hungry youths,
they say, portend an already manifesting danger.
“The chicken has come home to roost,”
political scientist, Professor Anjorin Adesida had noted in an interview with
BH. ”Buhari’s idea of change is in line with the Fulani caliphate, it has
nothing in common with western liberal democracy that his southern backers had
in mind.”
Also miffed by Buhari’s lopsided
appointments while in office, former military governor of Kaduna State, Col.
Abubakar Daginwa Umar, once cautioned the then president that, “I regret that
there are no kind or gentle words to tell you that your skewed appointments
into the office of the Federal Government, favouring some and frustrating
others, shall bring ruin and destruction to the nation.”
But like that of everyone else, Umar’s
warning was ignored. Buhari doubled down and ensured that he achieved northern
and Muslim domination of the country, even if he failed in everything else,
which would have given the APC the impetus to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket in
the 2023 polls; what was perhaps the perfection of an experiment started by
Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, in 2018 when he
first opted for a Muslim-Muslim ticket ahead of the 2019 election, in a state
that had, in recognition of its significant Christian population in its
southern part, run balanced ticket to accommodate the two leading faiths.
Confirming the fear of Christians, the
former Kaduna governor, while addressing Imams in a viral video that came to
light recently, told his audience before handing over to his successor that the
Islamic dominance in Kaduna had been successfully replicated in Nigeria and
that it shall continue.
El-Rufai noted that in the course of the
electioneering campaigns, when “they”(Christians ) tried to ask questions on
why the Muslim/Muslim t byicket, he deceived ‘them’ that it was not for
religious dominance when in reality, the tickets both nationally and at the
state level were for Islamic dominance.
“Religion was used, God made Asiwaju
victorious. What we did in Kaduna has now been done in the country. No liar,
who is going to contest using politics of Christianity will ever win any
election again. Peter Obi tried and see how he ended. We’ve tackled it,” he
said in the video.
“Since Asiwaju won the election CAN has
been quiet. That is how there will be peace in the country. If this is done
again and again and again everything will….. wallahi (swearing) that was what
we did. And myself and others, we think we have done our part, Asiwaju has won
the election, so our job is done. Our appeal to you is to pray for him to find
good people to work with him.”
El-Rufai’s comments predictably elicited
angry reactions from a number of individuals and groups, particularly the
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
But the Supreme Council for Sharia in
Nigeria promptly defended him.
The Sharia Council, in a statement on
Sunday fortnight ago by its Secretary, AbdurRahman Hassan, said “For the past
one week, the Christian Association of Nigeria, Kaduna State Chapter has been
wagging tongues, accusing the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru
Ahmad El-Rufai, of making some inciting statements as far as CAN is concerned,
simply because he aired his view on the political realities of Muslim-Muslim
ticket.
“During the campaigns for the just
concluded elections in this country, where was CAN when majority of pastors
were making unguarded utterances, which if not for the help of Allah (SWT),
Nigeria would have been history.
“Where was CAN when a pastor stood on
the pulpit with an AK-47 in Abuja? Where was CAN when some Christian clergy
were making prophecies of doom for this country? But Alhamdu Lillah, all the
hullabaloo and all the fake and false prophecies, nothing negative happened to
our dear country, Nigeria.
“The Muslim Ummah have been tolerant
enough, if not, there is no way a Muslim-dominated state like Taraba will be
governed by a Christian. If Plateau State, with a population of over 35 per
cent Muslims, were denied the deputy governor slot, why should Kaduna State,
with Muslim population of close to 75 per cent, not have Muslim-Muslim ticket?
“Good men of God always preach peace,
not violence and inciting tendencies which, in turn, will be a threat to peace
and development. We enjoin CAN to toe the line of honour in neutrality, rather
than playing double-standards.”
Source: hallmarknews.com
Please click the
following URL to read the full text of the original
https://hallmarknews.com/how-buhari-reshaped-nigeria-entrenched-northern-muslim-dominance/
---------
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/uttarakhand-religious-love-jihad/d/130037