Muslim rocker on his 'jihad' against extremists
Hindu
population: Door out of Dhaka
Gujarat: Hard facts to face
Minorities can set up academic institutes:
SC
Now, Muslim boy faces khap ire for same-gotra
marriage
Rabat expels 100 for proselytizing
Car bomb in Shia town near Baghdad kills 23
Moms leave Iran, but jailed Americans not
freed
Politics of Fatwa in India
Prophet toon surfaces, SA on edge
Cartoonist denies 'Draw Muhammad' role, says
sorry
Indian Muslims call for ban on Facebook
Indian militant outfit says Pakistan's ISI offered
help
Collapse of meritocracy and the rise of ‘politicocracy’ in
Bangladesh
Double tragedy for businessman who lost 16 relatives in
crash
Facebook page that led to Pakistani ban
removed
Pak detains 5 over Times Square plot: Report
Week out: Iran is in the dock, again
Pakistan to hike defence budget to Rs 448
billion
Hurriat lays down rules
Protests over screening of France-Algeria war film at
Cannes
Pak yet to approach Interpol over Kasab, Ansari
At Ayodhya, BJP chief invokes Ram temple issue
Banning the niqab
UN: Afghan war killed, injured over 1,000
kids
Isolated Jama’at hits back at CPM
Pak Taliban blow up two American spies
Mush sets eyes on PM chair
US drone attack kills at least six in Pakistan
Embassy caterer among 6 arrested in NY bomb
plot
Jews in Arab east Jerusalem defy Obama peace
push
Mideast nuclear ban US, Egypt work to narrow
gap
Just drop the arrogance with Iran
Forces kill 27 militants in Orakzai
Internalising impunity in Afghanistan
Compiled by
Asit Kumar
Photo: Pakistani-born rock star Salman Ahmad
-------
Muslim rocker on his 'jihad' against
extremists
22 May 2010
Pakistani-born rock star Salman Ahmad says he is using music to fight
the cultural battle against Muslim extremism. Currently in the UK, he has been
speaking to the BBC's Caroline Hawley about his own personal
"jihad".
His rock band have been described as South Asia's U2. They have sold
about 30 million albums around the world.
And now the pony-tailed, Pakistani-born Muslim rocker Salman Ahmad is
in the UK to sell his message of tolerance and non-violence to Muslim groups,
and promote his autobiography, Rock & Roll Jihad.
Ahmad is fighting a cultural battle against those he calls "murderous
thugs masquerading as holy men".
Extremists are reaching out to the same youth market that he is, he
says. But Salman Ahmad believes that arts and culture can play an important role
in combating extremism.
"Music has the power to bring people together," he insists. "And
that's what the extremists don't want."
Ahmad, who trained as a doctor, formed his band, Junoon, in 1990
after giving up medicine for music - a passion since
childhood.
At the age of 18, in President Zia ul-Haq's Pakistan, Salman Ahmad
suffered the loss of his precious first guitar which was smashed by extremist
students who had stormed into a secret talent show in which he was
participating.
"After they'd broken my guitar, they threatened to shoot me if I ever
played it again," he says. "I saw radicalisation first
hand."
Culture 'hijacked'
Salman Ahmad - a Beatles fan inspired by Led Zeppelin - refused to be
silenced.
He now lives in the United States but travels regularly to Pakistan
where, he says, today's artists have to perform "like
guerrillas".
And he has had his own troubles, even in the
US.
He told the BBC he was almost prevented from performing last month in
New York's Times Square when the mayor's office was alarmed after an internet
search revealed the word "jihad" in the title of his new album, due out on 1
June.
Ahmad, 46, defines jihad as "striving".
"The Muslim community is allowing their language and culture to be
hijacked," he says.
"There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and they enjoy music and
poetry and dance and laughter, but the picture that goes out in the world is the
extremist picture. I wouldn't have been able to sell 30 million records if the
extremist view had been the majority view".
He vehemently rejects the hardline view that Islam forbids
music.
"I am a practising Muslim and I've studied the Koran," he says, "and
I believe my faith inspires my creativity - 1,400 years of Muslim culture has
seen artists, singers, and beautiful love poetry."
Salman Ahmad, with his felt hat, necklace, and dark glasses, sees
himself as a cultural bridge between East and West.
He has played his blend of Western and Eastern music at the UN
General Assembly. He has also performed - under tight security - at a concert in
Indian-adminstered Kashmir.
And he has a huge following in his home country, Pakistan, where, in
the 1990s, his band were banned from performing after they took a stand against
political corruption in a song called Accountability.
"The extremists hate it," he says. "They would like nothing better
than to ban all of this. But they can't because millions of kids listen to music
and watch Bollywood films.
"I'm saying to the extremists, you don't speak for Islam. You don't
speak for me. I say to them: 'If you want to go and blow yourself up it's your
choice, if you want to commit suicide, but do not assign any spiritual value to
it.'
"My faith tradition has no tolerance for suicide or for killing
innocent women and children."
So is he making headway with his jihad?
"The job of an artist is to express what's in his or her heart and to
be a mirror for society," he says. "What's important is to keep doing what
you're doing, whether you get instant gratification or
not."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/10138395.stm
-------
Hindu population: Door out of Dhaka
Rema Nagarajan
May 22, 2010
Pre-Partition, Hindus in Bangladesh constituted 28 per cent of the
population. Their numbers have been steadily declining since then. Most of this
drastic demographic shift was during the Partition and the two decades of East
Pakistan, claims Dhaka. Yet, the minority in the country that Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman built has a different story to tell.
Are Hindus in Bangladesh quietly giving up on their country? Has the
deep brotherhood forged by a shared language, culture and history caved in? Is
the country’s biggest minority group being forced to migrate in large numbers
due to persecution? Though no one can deny that the Hindu population of
Bangladesh has been slowly declining over the years since it got independence
from Pakistan, questions of how much it has declined and why it has happened
generates heated debate among both the communities, Muslims and Hindus.
According to the census website of Bangladesh, in 2001, Hindus were
9.6 per cent of the population. Most blogs and websites devoted to the status of
the Hindu minority in Bangladesh contrast this with the 28 per cent that once
existed there. But they don’t take into account the fact that this was the
pre-Partition figure, calculated during the 1941 census. Soon after Partition in
1947, millions of Hindus fled to India.
In the census after the Partition exodus, in 1951, the Hindu
population had already fallen to 22 per cent and this again fell to 18.5 per
cent by the 1961 census. “During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, Hindus
in particular bore the brunt of the Pakistan army’s onslaught, leading to more
migration,’’ a Bangladesh government official told TOI-Crest . “Though many
returned after the formation of Bangladesh, the 1974 census showed that the
population had fallen to 13.5 per cent, mostly because of steady emigration to
Burma and India. Obviously, since Bangladeshi independence, the Hindu population
has not fallen as much as is being claimed. Bangladeshis cannot be held
responsible for what happened even before they became an independent country.”
Rabindranath Trivedi, president of the Human Rights Congress for
Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM), has a different take altogether. According to
Trivedi, the census was deliberately undercounting Hindus in Bangladesh, who, by
his estimate, constitute about 15 per cent of the population even today. “The
government does this on purpose to deflect the charge of large scale Hindu
migration due to state oppression,’’ he said. “With a low percentage to start
off with, there can be no declining population due to migration. In reality,
there is continuous migration of Hindus from Bangladesh because of torture and
humiliation.”
But there are other, equally compelling, reasons for the demographic
shift. India’s long and porous borders with Bangladesh, old family ties and
ethnic similarity coupled with better economic opportunities have resulted in
continuous illegal migration of poor Hindus and — not to forget — a considerable
number of Muslims. In fact, the home ministry concedes its inability to fix a
number to the volume of Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants coming into India. “India
being economically better off, it is the natural destination for the poor, both
Hindus and Muslims,’’ explained a Bangladeshi official. “A lot of migration is
on economic grounds rather than due to any persecution.”
Government officials and civil society leaders further argue that
violence against religious minorities comes with its share of political and
economic undertones rather than purely religious ones. “It suits those who have
fled to India to make the situation seem worse for Hindus in Bangladesh than
what it is. This helps justify their fleeing and seeking refuge in India,” one
of them said.
Farid Hossain, journalist and social commentator, who accepts that
Hindus don’t have it easy in Bangladesh, said, “Hindus perceived to be
supporters of the Awami League become opposition party targets, especially at
the time of elections. No matter who wins or loses, Hindus are the target of
violence. But as even stray incidents of violence against Hindus are widely
reported, it adds to their sense of insecurity. This, in turn, affects their
sense of belonging and induces them to leave.’’
International rights bodies such as Amnesty International and UNHCR,
too, have repeatedly castigated the Bangladesh government for its treatment of
minorities. Even the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
(USCIRF) slammed Dhaka in 2006 for continuous persecution of minority Hindus.
Historically, though, Bangladesh was founded as a secular republic in
1971. However, Islam was declared the state religion after the military takeover
in the 1980s. The constitution, of course, guarantees the right to practice and
propagate all religions.
Bimal Pramanik, director of the Centre for Research in
Indo-Bangladesh Relations, Kolkata, said, “Bengalis fought communal forces to
fight for independence as a Bengali nation. There was only one identity, that of
a Bengali. But after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and the army
takeover, total Islamisation started and the Hindus felt betrayed.”
While freedom of religion might be publicly supported by the
government, all international reports observe that attacks on religious and
ethnic minorities are an unremitting problem. Almost all the reports refer to
numerous instances of illegal land seizures, arson, extortion , sexual assault
and intimidation of religious minorities, particularly Hindus. Most of these
refer not only to the 1990s, but also to the period when the BNP led by Khaleda
Zia shared power with Islamist parties during 2001-06 , a time when the country
witnessed an unprecedented rise in religious intolerance.
After the Awami League’s victory in 2008, Sheikh Hasina came to power
and initiated steps to secure the rights of minorities. International bodies
have since then been more positive about Bangladesh’s efforts to protect
minorities. This even as one of the most vexatious of issues, land grabbing,
continues unaddressed.
Professor Abul Barkat of Dhaka University’s Department of Economics,
in his survey on the status of Hindus since independence, found that the Vested
Property Act was the single largest cause of migration of Hindus from
Bangladesh. The law, which allowed the government to possess property abandoned
by those who fled during Partition, soon metamorphosed into something abused by
both citizens and the state.
The study found that 2.01 million acres, comprising 45 per cent of
the land owned by Hindus, was lost due to this Act. Though there were attempts
to amend the law, little has changed. Sustained campaigning on the issue led to
the Awami League government passing the Vested Property Return Act 2001. But
this law to return appropriated land is caught in bureaucratic and legal
tangles. “When it comes to land, there is no secularism. All parties have been
involved in land grabbing and no one is keen on implementing this law,” Hossain
said.
Faced with charges of persecuting minorities, the pomp and peaceful
conduct of Hindu festivals like Durga Puja and Saraswati puja are often held up
by the government as examples of religious tolerance and proof of the rule of
law. But Trivedi has a counter view. “Muslims, too, participate in our
festivals,’’ he said. “But that is because it is part of their culture as
Bengalis. Hence, even if the last Hindu leaves this country, Muslims will
continue to celebrate the festivals.”
Many Hindus see the Pujas more as a sort of dole and appeasement of
minorities, seeing no hope for real improvement in their status. “The
persecution will continue till the last Hindu is driven out. Hindus will become
objects in a museum, a people who once inhabited this land,” Trivedi said.
Pramanik agrees. “Despite all efforts of the Awami League to undo the damage
done to Bangladeshi society from decades of Islamisation, it just might be a
case of too little too late,’’ he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/South-Asia/Door-out-of-Dhaka/articleshow/5962198.cms
-------
Gujarat: Hard facts to face
May 22 2010
The normally sedate Planning Commission found itself the venue for
some unexpected aggression at the annual discussion for Gujarat. Chief Minister
Narendra Modi brandished his own data, and vented his sense of victimhood when
it was pointed out that his state seemed to studiously ignore its Muslim
children. In a letter to Modi on May 18, Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, had pointed out the disparities in primary
and upper primary school enrolment: while the state’s Muslim population hovers
at 9.1 per cent, only 4.7 per cent of primary school children and 4.8 per cent
of upper primary school children were Muslims. However, Planning Commission
member Syeda Hameed (who had once headed a women’s rights forum to investigate
the Gujarat riots and its traumatic aftermath) was the clear target of Modi’s
ire.
Whatever the actual state of schooling in the Muslim-dominated area
of Juhapura, Ahmedabad — the specific area that was disputed — there is little
point objecting to a critical assessment of the gradual disentitlement and
ghettoisation of Gujarat’s Muslims. After the violence and pain of the 2002
riots, one of the most scarring incidents in India’s recent history, and the
state administration’s perceived complicity, Muslims have been fearful and
insecure, and have increasingly retreated behind their own walls. There is
persistent anecdotal evidence of how Muslims are being cut off from public
services, including NREGA, and that Muslims who inquire about jobs are turned
away. Despite all Modi’s attempts to refashion himself after the riots and talk
a bland “development” talk seemingly emptied of ideology, there is no denying
that his politics thrives on, and exploits, these social
divisions.
In fact, it is precisely in that realm, of education and health and
social services, that Modi’s rhetoric must be tested. How effectively has he
drawn in the state’s religious minorities into Gujarat’s growth and success?
Does his fabled governance genius translate into a better life for those his
politics rejects? If he is confident that it does, then Modi should be open to
verification of his claims. That could undercut the idea that Gujarat’s Muslims
are deliberately deprived of public services. A question as important as this
should not be taken over by bluster — and neither side in this confrontation
should object to impartial, empirical facts on the state of Muslim welfare in
Gujarat.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hard-facts-to-face/622193/
-------
Minorities can set up academic institutes: SC
May 22 2010
New Delhi : The Supreme Court has reiterated the fundamental right of
minorities to establish educational institutions without the government imposing
any unreasonable restrictions.
“It appears that the appellant is a religious minority. As a
religious minority, it has a fundamental right to establish and administer
educational institutions of its choice in view of the clear mandate of Article
30,” the apex court said in a recent judgment.
According to Article 30, “All minorities, whether based on religion
or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational
institutions, in the country.” The Article further provides that the State shall
not discriminate against such institutions even if they obtain aid from the
government.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Minorities-can-set-up-academic-institutes--SC/622060
-------
Now, Muslim boy faces khap ire for same-gotra
marriage
Manveer Saini
May 22, 2010
CHANDIGARH: Haryana's khap menace is crossing religious lines and
spreading to the formally casteless Muslim community. An eight-time national
wrestling champion, Ikhlash, 22, is facing the wrath of a khap of 360 villages
of Meo Muslims for getting married within the same gotra.
Little did Ikhlash, a resident of Mewat's Dwarka village, know what
he would be up against when on May 9 he married Anjum, whose ancestors had
migrated to Rajasthan almost a century ago.
Now, instead of planning his honeymoon, Ikhlash, a constable in the
Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at Bhondsi, finds himself and his family
excommunicated for marrying the girl, who according to the khap, belongs to the
same gotra.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Now-Muslim-boy-faces-khap-ire-for-same-gotra-marriage/articleshow/5960361.cms
-------
Rabat expels 100 for proselytizing
By LAMINE GHANMI
May 22, 2010
RABAT: Morocco has expelled foreign Christians who tried to convert
Muslims because, as an Islamic state, it wants to foster "order and calm" and
avoid a clash between faiths, its Islamic affairs minister
said.
The government has expelled around 100 foreign Christians since
March, many of them aid workers, in what Western diplomats have called an
unprecedented crackdown on undercover preaching.
"These incidents (expulsions) were prompted by the activism of some
foreigners who undermined public order," Religious Endowments and Islamic
Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufiq told Reuters in an interview late Thursday. "There
are some who hide their proselytism and religious activism under the guise of
other activities," he said.
The latest expulsion was that of Spaniard Francisco Paton Millan, the
head of a small energy company, who was ordered last week to leave the country
for trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, church workers and European
diplomats said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article56324.ece
-------
Car bomb in Shia town near Baghdad kills 23
22 May 2010
A car bomb exploded Friday at an open-air market in a Shia town
northeast of Baghdad, killing 23 people and wounding more than 50, Iraqi police
and hospital officials said.
The bombing struck the town
of Khalis, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad, a former al-Qaida in Iraq
stronghold that has seen several powerful blasts. In March, twin bombings struck
a restaurant in the same town, killing 57.
Khalis is a Shiite enclave in the largely Sunni province of
Diyala.
The dead and wounded were taken to the nearby city of Baqouba, said
city officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to speak to the media. Baqouba is the provincial capital of
Diyala.
While violence has fallen dramatically in Iraq since the height of
the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, there are fears that militants are taking
advantage of political uncertainty after an inconclusive election to try to
destabilize the country.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/May/middleeast_May375.xml§ion=middleeast&col
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Moms leave Iran, but jailed Americans not freed
By NASSER KARIMI
May 22, 2010
TEHRAN: The mothers of three Americans jailed in Iran for 10 months
left for home Friday, getting one last chance to embrace their children but
failing to secure their immediate release.
In a glimmer of hope, Iran announced that two of its nationals held
in Iraq by US forces for years were freed Friday. The release raised the
possibility that a behind-the-scenes swap was in the offing or that their
release was a gesture of goodwill in an attempt to free the
Americans.
The Iranians' release "may have some diplomatic effect on this case,"
the Americans' lawyer, Masoud Shafii, told The Associated
Press.
The US has said it is not offering a direct swap, and Iranian
officials made no public connection between the freed Iranians and the
Americans.
Sarah Shourd, 31, her boyfriend Shane Bauer, 27, and Josh Fattal, 27,
were arrested in July along the Iran-Iraq border, and Iran has accused them of
espionage. Their families say the three were simply hiking in Iraq's largely
peaceful mountainous northern Kurdish region and that if they crossed the
border, it was accidental.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article56384.ece
-------
Politics of Fatwa in India
By Navaid Hamid
May 22 2010
Indian Muslims are not aloof from the global Muslim community which
is feeling the brunt of a crisis from within. They suffer from an identity
crisis in spiritual, social and political spheres. Muslim intellectuals today
follow western modules in order to pretend that they are secular and liberal. On
the other hand, Muslim clergy fails to give weightage to changed times,
conditions and social realities while pronouncing edicts - opinion - fatwas - on
issues of social importance while Muslim politicians are not only busy
safeguarding their petty interests but also feel shy to actively take up the
case of the community to which they belong. Most of the time, the only common
thread between all of them is a visionsless approach to deal with a
crisis.
Full report at:
http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/headlinenewsd.php?hnewsid=1988
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Prophet toon surfaces, SA on edge
May 22, 2010
JOHANNESBURG: A South African weekly on Friday published a cartoon of
the Prophet Muhammad complaining that his followers lack a sense of humour,
angering Muslims and raising fear of reprisal attacks during next month's World
Cup.
South Africa will host the month-long soccer tournament from June 11
and police have pledged to protect the 300,000 expected foreign visitors and the
teams taking part.
The Mail & Guardian newspaper published a sketch by renowned
South African cartoonist Zapiro after a court rejected an overnight bid by
Muslim advocacy groups for an injunction to prevent the newspaper from printing
the cartoon. The cartoon depicts the Prophet on a psychologist's couch saying
that his followers do not have a sense of humour.
Muslims consider any depiction of the founder of Islam to be
offensive. In 2005, a Danish newspaper published cartoons of Muhammad which were
subsequently republished elsewhere, sparking violent protests that killed
several dozen people.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Prophet-toon-surfaces-SA-on-edge/articleshow/5960288.cms
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Cartoonist denies 'Draw Muhammad' role, says
sorry
May 22, 2010
WASHINGTON: An American cartoonist whose work inspired the
controversial 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Page' on Facebook has condemned the
effort and issued an apology to Muslims.
Molly Norris, of Seattle, drew a cartoon in April to protest the
decision by the US TV channel Comedy Central to cancel an episode of the popular
show 'South Park' over its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. In
her cartoon, Norris satirically proposed May 20 as an 'Everybody Draw Mohammed
Day'.
An 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day' page quickly turned up on Facebook
but Norris said she had nothing to do with it. "I did NOT 'declare' May 20 to be
'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day'," she said, adding her idea was satire but "was
taken seriously, hijacked and made viral".
"I apologize to people of Muslim faith and ask that this 'day' be
called off," she said. Among the dozens of pictures submitted to the page are
depictions of a man in Arab garb engaged in sexual acts.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Cartoonist-denies-Draw-Muhammad-role-says-sorry/articleshow/5960278.cms
-------
Indian Muslims call for ban on Facebook
22 May, 2010
NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s anger against religiously offensive web-based
networking groups spread to India on Friday as Muslim protesters in Mumbai
demanded a ban on the Facebook website. India has periodically banned websites,
but mostly for their alleged links with terrorism.
United News of India said Muslims in the country’s financial hub
protested against the Facebook website for hosting a competition of offensive
caricatures.
In a protest meeting at Minara Masjid at Bhendi Bazaar and at
Hindustani Masjid at Byculla in South Mumbai, various Muslim organisations
demanded a permanent ban on Facebook and chanted slogans against the website’s
operators.
The protest at Minara Masjid, conducted by Raza Academy, asked the
government to take action against the organisers of the
competition.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/indian-muslims-call-for-ban-on-facebook-250
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Indian militant outfit says Pakistan's ISI offered
help
May 22, 2010
The Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), a militant outfit in
Meghalaya, said that Pakistan's main intelligence agency and jehadi groups
offered it help to fight the Indian state.
"The ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and several jehadi groups
extended help to the GNLA but I refused," GNLA chairman Champion R Sangma said
over telephone from an undisclosed location.
Sangma, a former Deputy Superintendent of Police, deserted the
Meghalaya Police and floated the GNLA due to alleged harassment by his
seniors.
The outfit's cadres are deserters, mostly from the National
Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the Achik National Volunteers Council
(ANVC) and the Liberation of Achik Elite Force (LAEF).
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Indian-militant-outfit-says-Pakistan-s-ISI-offered-help/H1-Article1-546987.aspx
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Collapse of meritocracy and the rise of ‘politicocracy’ in
Bangladesh
22 May 2010
What we have been witnessing over the past three decades in
Bangladesh is that everything in the nation has been boiled down to politics,
and not the other way round. ‘Politicocracy’ has grown so deeply and pervasively
in the entire fabrics of the society that the much-needed meritocracy for the
nation’s progress has embraced an early death,
writes Dr Md Saidul Islam
THOUGH the term ‘meritocracy’ was first used in 1958 by Michael Young
in his book Rise of the Meritocracy, albeit in a pejorative manner, the positive
practice of this culture dates far back in most developed nations in order to
harvest the best talents for development and progress. In meritocracy,
appointments are made and responsibilities are assigned to individuals based
upon demonstrated talent and ability (merit), and not upon other considerations
such as political affiliation and social location. A long array of research
overwhelmingly supports that a nation’s development is largely contingent upon,
and deeply connected to, the culture of meritocracy in higher
education.
Full report at:
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/may/22/oped.html
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Double tragedy for businessman who lost 16 relatives in
crash
May 22, 2010
MUMBAI: For 24-year-old Saudi-based businessman Sameer A Shaikh going
to attend the last rites of his grandmother, the Mangalore plane crash was a
double blow as he lost 16 relatives in it. All of them, like Sameer, were going
to Mangalore for the last rites of his grandmother, who died on Friday.
"I flew into Mumbai from Saudi Arabia yesterday and was scheduled to
catch a Jet Airways flight to Mangalore this morning as I could not get a
connecting flight from there," he said. Distraught over the tragedy that struck
the family, Sameer said his maternal uncle, his wife and two children, besides
12 distant relatives were among those killed when Air India Express flight from
Dubai crashed near Mangalore airport.
"I have been waiting here since morning and there is nobody to inform
me about when the flight will depart. Several other overtaxed people who look as
if they just ran the marathon are waiting like me for information about the
flight to Mangalore, but there is no one to give us the correct information," he
said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Double-tragedy-for-businessman-who-lost-16-relatives-in-crash/articleshow/5962054.cms
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Facebook page that led to Pakistani ban removed
By CHRIS BRUMMITT
May 22, 2010
ISLAMABAD: A Facebook page that was considered offensive to Islam and
led to a Pakistani ban on the site has been removed, possibly by its
creator.
Facebook said Friday it has not taken any action on the page, which
had attracted more than 100,000 users and encouraged users to post images of
Islam's Prophet Muhammad, purportedly in support of freedom of
speech.
Most Muslims regard any depiction of the prophet, even favorable
ones, as blasphemous.
Najibullah Malik, the secretary at Pakistan's information technology
ministry, said earlier Friday that the government had no option but to shut down
Facebook on Wednesday after a court order to do so.
"We know some people are suffering because of this blockade, but we
have to obey the court order in letter and spirit," Malik
said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article56356.ece
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Pak detains 5 over Times Square plot: Report
May 22, 2010
WASHINGTON: Pakistan has detained a co-owner of an upscale catering
company in Islamabad and at least four others in connection with the botched
Times Square bombing plot for which Pakistani-American terror suspect, Faisal
Shahzad has been arrested in the US, a media report confirmed on Saturday.
The suspects, including Salman Ashraf of 'Hanif Rajput Catering
Service', were taken into custody following the May 1 Times Square terror plot,
'The Washington Post' reported on Saturday.
The report came a day after Pakistan's Geo News channel said that six
persons had been detained in different places in the country on suspicion of
having links to Shahzad.
Citing a US embassy alert in Islamabad, the Post said Americans have
been warned about the 'Hanif Rajput Catering Service' as "terrorist groups may
have established links" to it.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-detains-5-over-Times-Square-plot-Report/articleshow/5962114.cms
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Week out: Iran is in the dock, again
May 22, 2010
The world’s biggest economic and political powers are tightening the
screws on Iran over that country’s nuclear weapons programme. This week, Germany
joined the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council — the US, the
UK, France, Russia, and China — in agreeing upon a new round of sanctions
against Iran. This came a day after the Islamic Republic committed to ship half
of its nuclear fuel to neighbouring Turkey — an attempt to placate the US.
President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad, however, did not help matters by shooting off his
mouth and railing against the US. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed
the new agreement on sanctions and said, “We have reached agreement on a strong
draft with the cooperation of both Russia and China... I think this announcement
is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few
days as any we could provide.”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Middle-East/Week-out-Iran-is-in-the-dock-again/articleshow/5962285.cms
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Pakistan to hike defence budget to Rs 448
billion
May 22, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has decided to hike defence
spending for 2010-11 to Rs 448 billion(Rs 24,835 crore in Indian currency),
marking an increase of Rs 105 billion(Rs 5,821 crore in Indian currency) over
the outlay for the current fiscal.
The defence ministry had sought an increase of Rs 110 billion(Rs
5,821 crore in Indian currency) in the upcoming budget while the finance
ministry allowed a hike of Rs 105 billion in view of the tight fiscal position,
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has said.
While briefing parliament's Standing Committee on Finance, Sheikh and
Finance Secretary Salman Siddique said defence expenditure increased by Rs 60
billion in the current fiscal because of military operations in parts of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province and the tribal areas.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-to-hike-defence-budget-to-Rs-448-billion/articleshow/5962987.cms
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Hurriat lays down rules
May 22, 2010
SRINAGAR: Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (Moderate) Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq on Friday rejected “quiet diplomacy” as “tactics” to create confusion
among the Jammu and Kashmir people. He asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to
announce “meaningful” talks with the Kashmiri people and Pakistan during his
proposed visit to Srinagar.
Addressing a rally organised to commemorate his father Moulvi
Farooq's death anniversary, the Mirwaiz said it was time to initiate purposeful
dialogue with people. “The Prime Minister is visiting the Valley next month. I
urge him to come here not just to announce economic packages, subsidies, loans,
and inauguration of railway lines. During his visit he should declare a
programme for a meaningful dialogue with the people of Kashmir and the
Government of Pakistan for resolution of the long-pending Kashmir
issue.”
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/22/stories/2010052264311100.htm
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Protests over screening of France-Algeria war film at
Cannes
May 22 2010
Cannes : Palace, the main venue here was turned into a fortress as
hundred of people turned up to protests against the screening of Rachid
Bouchareb's film 'Outside The Law', dealing with Algeria's struggle for
independence from France.
The security was beefed-up at the festival yesterday for the first
screening of the film as protesters, called by right wing National Front party,
demanded that the film be removed from the competition.
The party and other political organisations are peeved with the
inclusion of the movie in the festival line-up. They are calling it an
inaccurate version of the 1945 Algerian revolt against
France.
Incidentally, the film, which is an Algerian entry, is a strong
contender for the Cannes' top prize --Palme d'Or tomorrow.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/protests-over-screening-of-francealgeria-war-film-at-cannes/622309/
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Pak yet to approach Interpol over Kasab, Ansari
May 22 2010
Islamabad : Pakistani authorities were on Saturday caught on the
wrong foot as an anti-terror court hearing the 26/11 case was told that Interpol
was yet to be approached for a Red Corner notice for Ajmal Kasab, weeks after
they claimed the matter had been taken up with the Paris-based
agency.
The Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of
LeT's operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects in the Mumbai
attacks adjourned the case till June 5.
Judge Malik Mohammad Akram Awan adjourned the trial after hearing
arguments by the prosecution and defence on whether Kasab and Fahim Ansari could
be made part of the trial.
Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested alive during the November 2008
Mumbai attacks, was given death penalty by a Mumbai court earlier this month
while Ansari, who was also an accused, was acquitted for want of
evidence.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-yet-to-approach-interpol-over-kasab-ansari/622335/
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At Ayodhya, BJP chief invokes Ram temple issue
May 22 2010
Ayodhya : The newly-appointed state BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi
visited the disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya and vowed to
construct a Ram temple there.
“The BJP is committed to the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya as
it is a matter of faith and belief of crores of Hindus and not a political
agenda of the party,” Shahi told mediapersons after offering prayers at the
site.
He said the day BJP will form government both at the Centre and in
UP, the path for construction of Ram temple would be cleared. Shahi, who also
visited Hanuman Garhi temple, said the “emotions of crores of people had led to
the demolition” of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992 and that no
particular party should be blamed for it.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/at-ayodhya-bjp-chief-invokes-ram-temple-issue/622257/
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Banning the niqab
22 May 2010
Across Canada there has been considerable debate concerning the
expulsion of Naema Ahmed from a French-language class following her refusal to
remove her niqab, a garment that covers its wearer's face except for the eyes.
In the aftermath of this debate, legislators in Quebec have been weighing the
merits of Bill 94, a proposed law that aims to ban face coverings from public
and government buildings.
I encountered the first signs of controversy over this bill in the
form of a poster that was clearly opposed to the proposed law with the
challenging question: “Will you allow your government to deny essential services
to women based on what they wear?”
Another poster claimed, “governments have no right in women's
closets,” going on to say that “Bill 94... would deny essential government
services, public employment, educational opportunities, and health care to
Muslim women who wear the niqab.” As a footnote, it appealed to the reader to
“take action to defend women's rights and freedoms in
Canada.”
Full report at:
http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca/2010/may/21/opinion/banning-niqab/
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UN: Afghan war killed, injured over 1,000 kids
22 May 2010
NEW YORK (dpa) – More than 1,000 children were killed or injured in
the war in Afghanistan in 2009, including 131 killed by airstrikes and bombings
by international forces, a United Nations report on children in armed conflict
said Friday.
The Afghan National Police was cited for the first time in a list of
worst violators of children's rights. Others included the rebel Convention of
Patriots for Justice and Peace in Central African Republic and the insurgent
Hizbul Islam in Somalia.
The annual report to the UN Security Council was drawn up to alert
the international community to the plight of children caught in armed conflicts
and to seek government assistance in improving their condition. Ironically, some
of the violators are beneficiaries of UN support, including Afghanistan, Somalia
and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The armed groups involved in sexual violence against children as well
as in recruiting children operated also in countries where UN peacekeeping
troops are deployed.
Full report at:
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/258540/un-afghan-war-killed-injured-over-1000-kids
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Isolated Jama’at hits back at CPM
VR Jayaraj
May 22, 2010
Following the setback it suffered to get a foothold in mainstream
politics, the Kerala Jama’at-e-Islami on Friday hit back at the CPI (M) saying
Marxists did not have the right to speak about democracy. “When did the
communist movement begin to respect Indian democracy? Weren’t they calling it a
bourgeois democracy?” asked Jama’at’s Kerala Amir T Arifali.
The Jama’at’s efforts to establish its position in mainstream Kerala
politics suffered a blow when the Indian Union Muslim League, a Congress ally,
dropped the plan to forge an electoral alliance due to objections from within
and the Marxist party’s vehement campaign that the Muslim outfit’s ideology was
based on the concept of religious nationhood.
Arifali claimed that his organisation was not working for the
creation of a religious state but was trying to form a party of all sections of
people. “[CPI(M) secretary] Pinarayi Vijayan need not teach us to be democratic.
How can Pinarayi’s party, which idol-worships Joseph Stalin, claim to be
democratic?” Arifali asked.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/257354/Isolated-Jama%E2%80%99at-hits-back-at-CPM.html
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Pak Taliban blow up two American spies
Omer Farooq Khan
May 22, 2010
Islamabad: Taliban militants blew up two men,accusing them of spying
for the US,with explosives at a public place in Pakistans lawless North
Waziristan tribal region,intelligence and local sources said on
Friday.
The killings took place at Datta Khel area of North
Waziristan,Pakistans lawless tribal region on the border with Afghanistan,where
al-Qaida and Taliban have established their writ.
Sources said five masked militants paraded the handcuffed men before
hundreds of people in the Datta Khel area and accused them of passing
information to the US.They strapped explosives around their bodies and then blew
them up, said a Pakistani intelligence official.
Taliban militants have killed dozens of people they suspect spying
for the US or the Pakistani government over the past few years.They usually
decapitate or shoot the suspects.Residents of North Waziristan said this was the
first time the militants had blown up suspected spies.
Since January 2010,43 drone attacks were carried out in Waziristan
while the total number of drone strikes in the tribal areas reached
214.
The Times of India
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Mush sets eyes on PM chair
May 22, 2010
Washington: Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf plans to
return home to re-enter politics and has indicated that he wants to be the prime
minister.
In an interview to CNN on Thursday,he also discounted the findings of
a UN probe that laxity on his governments part had resulted in the December 2007
assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in a gun and bomb attack
in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
Musharraf initially declined to say whether he was eying a particular
office,telling CNNs Wolf Blitzer: The question ... of whether I am running for
president or prime minister will be seen later.
But his subsequent remarks clearly implied he wants to be the prime
minister.We run a parliamentary system there Musharraf said,adding: So you have
to your party has to win in the election.Then only do you decide to run.
Basically,you are heading the party,you are running for the prime
ministership, he said.Because in Pakistan,the chief executive is the prime
minister,not the president.
Full report at: The Times of India
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US drone attack kills at least six in Pakistan
By HAJI MUJTABA
May 22, 2010
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan: At least six people have been killed in a US
drone missile attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan, a major Al-Qaeda and
Taleban sanctuary, Pakistani intelligence officials said on
Saturday.
The missiles struck a house around midnight in a village about 25 km
(15 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, the officials
said.
"US drone aircraft fired five missiles at a house owned by a
tribesman identified as Khayli, killing six militants," said one intelligence
official who declined to be identified.
But residents in the area said 12 people, including four women and
two children, were killed. They said those killed were not militants and were
from the same family.
Six women and two children were also wounded in the attack and being
treated at a hospital in Miranshah, one witness said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article56399.ece
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Embassy caterer among 6 arrested in NY bomb
plot
By ASIF SHAHZAD & KATHY GANNON
May 22, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The co-owner of a catering company that organized events
for the US Embassy is among six men detained by Pakistan for allegedly helping
the failed Times Square bombing suspect, a senior Pakistani intelligence
official said.
In a statement on its website, the US Embassy warned the catering
company was suspected of ties to terrorist groups and said American diplomats
had been instructed to stop using the firm.
Like Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American accused in the failed New
York bombing, the six Pakistani detainees were all members of their country's
urban elite, including several who were educated in the United
States.
One was a former major who bought his way out of the army because of
a "disagreement with its policies," the Pakistani official told The Associated
Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the
investigation.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article56424.ece
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Jews in Arab east Jerusalem defy Obama peace
push
By TIA GOLDENBERG
May 22, 2010
JERUSALEM: When Devorah Adler's children go to school, they pass
underneath the gun-toting security officer who stands on their roof 24-hours a
day, walk down a path dotted by surveillance cameras and get in a van manned by
another armed guard.
Adler is one of 2,000 Jews who reside in predominantly Arab
neighborhoods in the heart of east Jerusalem, part of a movement that aims to
ensure Israel's hold on the sector, which Palestinians seek as the capital of a
future state.
Revved up by the Obama administration's latest attempts to limit
Jewish encroachment in disputed areas of the holy city, they are working
furiously to cement and expand their presence.
Adler believes her neighborhood, which Palestinians call Silwan and
Jews call the City of David, was where the biblical King David once walked and
is the heart of Israel's historic capital. She is willing to brave the
occasional rock-throwing and rioting that erupt in the sector — sometimes
sparked by Jewish expansion moves — to remain in the place she believes is so
tied to Jewish history.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article56352.ece
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US, Egypt work to narrow gap on Mideast nuclear
ban
By LOUIS CHARBONNEAU
May 22, 2010
UNITED NATIONS: The United States and Egypt are working to bridge
differences on a proposed Middle East nuclear arms ban, an idea that could one
day force Israel to scrap any atom bombs it has, UN diplomats
say.
The US efforts to secure a deal with Egypt and other Arab countries
reflect Washington's concern to win their backing for sanctions against Iran
over its nuclear program by offering a concession over US ally Israel, even
though Washington says such a ban is impossible without peace in the Middle
East.
Western diplomats say that the success or failure of a month-long
meeting on the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) currently under way
in New York hinges on the sensitive negotiations on an Egyptian proposal to hold
a conference on establishing a zone free of nuclear arms in the Middle
East.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article56325.ece
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Just drop the arrogance with Iran
May 22, 2010
The agreement on Iran’s nuclear fuel announced on Monday after
mediation by the Turkish and Brazilian governments should be good news for those
who seek to use the rule of law to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation. From
both the American and Iranian perspectives the political dimension of the
current dynamics is more important than the technical one. The accord should
remind us that the style and tone in diplomatic processes is as important as
substance.
Iran and its international negotiating partners have not reached
agreement on Iran’s nuclear programs in the past half-decade, to a large extent
because American- and Israeli-led concerns have been translated into an
aggressive, accusatory, sanctions-and-threats-based style of diplomacy that Iran
in turn has responded to with defiance.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article56273.ece
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Forces kill 27 militants in Orakzai
May 22, 2010
PESHAWAR: Twenty-seven were killed and 21 injured during fresh
offensive of security forces against militants in Orakzai
Agency.
Sources said a militant commander among 27 killed during a clash
between security forces and militants in Orakzai Agency. Twenty-one militants
wounded whereas two security men also sustained injuries. Four militants hideout
were destroyed in the clash.
On the other hand, security forces operation is underway in Dabori
and other adjoining areas.
http://thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=105224
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Internalising impunity in Afghanistan
Wazhma Frogh
May 22, 2010
The key to lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan is not in
encouraging the culture of rewarding bullies and strongmen, but in providing
justice and so winning public support
A woman is yelling in pain but the man continues to beat her on her
back with a whip. With every lash, her body jolts, moving up and down while she
cries for forgiveness. A large number of men, and some women, are gathered
around her, watching the scene. With each lash, the man shouts at her, “Shame on
you...You must be punished...Others should learn a lesson from your punishment.”
The flogging continues for around three minutes in this video that was shown on
the national television channels in Kabul on February 18, 2010 and we are told
that there was another woman who would be flogged
afterwards.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\22\story_22-5-2010_pg3_4
9:51 PM
Sultan Shahin
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