Tag: Islam

Soldiers without ranks
2Nov By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Asia, Business, Conflict, Opinion

Soldiers without ranks

Young Muslims trained in arms and light ammunition are sought after pawns in the markets of conflict and turmoil. Wearing the masks of Islam, they are out to create mayhem and massacre. In most cases, theses forces are out to challenge the State and its well-structured armies and police forces. In old times, such confrontations were a part of the game between rulers and their opponents.However, in modern times, the rules of the game have changed. Generally, the confrontations take place according to rules of war, as well as according to the international law approved by international community. But in this case, the engagement and employment of pawns is either overlooked or ignored. This strategic game was being played in pre-colonial and even colonial era as a state craft.The rulers who u...
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Farooq Abdullah, Mir demand probe into Kashmiri Pandit exodus
21Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia, Opinion

Farooq Abdullah, Mir demand probe into Kashmiri Pandit exodus

Kashmir is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits, said former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah demanding a probe by retired Supreme Court judges into the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in early 1990s.Replying to questions during a webinar, Abdullah said he was of the firm belief that Kashmir is incomplete without Pandits and that he would support any mechanism to bring them back honorably.Nearly 60,000 Kashmiri Pandit families are registered as migrants after the onset of militancy in the Kashmir Valley in early 1990s. Abdullah chose to blame the then former Governor Jagmohan for the exodus and said that he “took them away” on the false promise of ensuring their return within three months.Meanwhile, questioning the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and establishment of I
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Accused of ‘Defaming Islam’, Bangladesh blogger fears for family
11Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Accused of ‘Defaming Islam’, Bangladesh blogger fears for family

Accused of defaming Islam, Bangladeshi blogger and secular activist Asaduzzaman Noor, fears for the safety of his family living at Amtali Upzila of Barguna district (around 320 km south of Dhaka).He says that his family is being harassed by the government for posting a Facebook video criticizing alleged appropriation of a Buddhist temple.Noor has been in hiding — in Bangladesh and abroad — for past several years after receiving death threats from Islamist groups for defending a Buddhist monk, and 10 Minute School, a pro-LGBTQ platform.He has been charged under the Digital Security Act, 2018, for defaming Islam — an offence punishable with a jail term of up to 10 years. Amnesty International has described the law as a serious threat to freedom of expression in Bangladesh.Bloggers, social me
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In Pakistan’s Islamabad, a centuries-old temple where Hindus are not allowed to pray
17Jul By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

In Pakistan’s Islamabad, a centuries-old temple where Hindus are not allowed to pray

For centuries, Hindus traveled a long way just to worship at a tiny sixteenth century temple built against the foothills of the Himalayas in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad where Hindus believe ancient god Ram lived with his family during 14 long years of exile.  To continue their journey, Hindus used to stay peacefully in an adjoining dharamshala, or rest house for pilgrims, in what is today called Saidpur Village.According to official records dating as far back as 1893, a fair was held each year at a pond near the site to commemorate that Ram and his family had once sipped water from it.But since 1947, Hindus have not been allowed by authorities to worship at the temple and the compound in which it is housed.Visitors can tour the temple, but all idols have been removed and the shrine
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Pakistan must protect religious freedom for Hindus: Human Rights group
17Jul By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Pakistan must protect religious freedom for Hindus: Human Rights group

A human rights panel has called on the Pakistani authorities to protect the right to freedom of religion and belief for the country’s beleaguered Hindu community, including the construction of temples to exercise that right.“The respect for the right to freedom of religion was promised to Pakistan’s Hindus by the country’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Those who deny a long-marginalized community the right to practise their faith freely not only betray his legacy, but also violate the human rights of religious minorities protected under Pakistan’s constitution and its international human rights obligations,” said Omar Waraich, Head of South Asia at Amnesty International.The human rights organization’s call came as authorities in Islamabad capitulated to pressure from a discriminatory campa
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New coercive order spreading over Muslim society is not political, but intellectual
21Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

New coercive order spreading over Muslim society is not political, but intellectual

Professor Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, who holds a PhD in nuclear physics, and teaches physics and math at Lahore’s Forman Christian University, has been told that his contract will not be renewed in 2021. This happened in the same week the Punjab governor announced that all universities of the province would be required to teach the Holy Quran as a compulsory subject.Hoodbhoy objects to acts of state and society against reason. His book, Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality, explains the source of his trouble with the ideological state of Pakistan. It is not that he hates religion — he objects to acts of irrationality in the name of religion.He protested, however, when the Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer was murdered by his police guard when he defended a Ch
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