People of Shambhala

Asian human rights group: attacks on minority faiths go "largely unchallenged" in Indonesia

2012-02-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

In the wake of attacks on the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia the Asian Human Rights Commission have issued a report concerning attacks on religious minorities and the apparent reluctance of the police and authorities to prosecute offenders. This is the most usual way in which regimes cultivate -- intentionally or not -- an atmosphere of impunity for violence directed at certain, second class, groups.

The AHRC says it is concerned about "the ongoing violence against religious minorities in Indonesia. Many cases of such violence are characterized by a lack of protective action by the police and institutional discrimination against minority groups." It also notes that Indonesian law "limits institutional recognition and thus protection of religious beliefs to only six main religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism."

Although, today, it is Islamic extremists persecuting minorities in Indonesia, the AHRC notes that "in 1984 hundreds of Muslims were killed in the Tanjung Priok case, with hundreds more being killed in the 1989 Talangsari incident. No perpetrators were held accountable in either case."

These attacks took place under the rule of President Suharto, who held power from 1967 until 1998. "After the fall of Suharto," the AHRC says,

"the freedom now enjoyed by dominant religious groups has not been balanced with the protection of religious minorities. Islamist leaders were able to gain support to spread fundamentalist views violating Indonesia's constitutional values and international human rights norms, due to youth unemployment, poverty and the lack of effective justice mechanisms in public institutions. Largely unchallenged inter-religious conflicts and an increase in the number of attacks on minorities have been witnessed since then."

"For instance, a fatwa was issued against Ahmadiyah followers by Indonesian Muslim scholars (Majelis Ulama Indonesia - MUI) in 1980, and republished in 2005. The fatwa declared the Ahmadiyah community an errant sect and has since encouraged violent attacks, persecution and discrimination against its members. Pressure on the government resulted in a Joint Ministerial Decree in 20081 prohibiting the Ahmadiyah community from promulgating their religion. Both the fatwa and the Joint Ministerial Decree remain in force today."

"Organisations like the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam -- FPI), the Islamic Community Front (Front Umat Islam -- FUI), and the Party of Liberation (Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia -- HTI) developed extremist tendencies, but their criminal raids on entertainment venues and restaurants were not effectively countered by the police and judiciary."

"On February 6, 2011 for instance, an angry mob attacked the premises of the Ahmadiyah congregation in Cikeusik, Pandeglang -- Banten, West Java. Three Ahmadiyah followers were killed and five injured. The Ahmadiyah followers on site were trying to protect their congregation's property against an announced attack aimed at forcing the community out of the village. The police, aware of the upcoming incident appeared with a few officers on the scene but were outnumbered by the attackers. While they witnessed the killings, they were unable to stop the crowd. Roni Pasaroni, Tubagus Candra Mubarok Syafai, and Warsono were killed."

Read the entire report here.

First non-Islamist Syrian dissident bloc formed, embraces ethnic and religious minorities

2012-02-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

"If somebody says ‘I am the only representative of the Syrian people’ they would be no different from al-Assad’s Baath Party,” says Dr. Ommar Qurabi, the leader of a new dissident bloc in Syria. Qurabi, who left Syria last April, is a former Chairman of the National Organization of Human Rights in Syria.

The new bloc, called the “National Change Movement,” is being billed as an alternative to Syrian National Council, or SNC. "Like many other dissidents, I am not in the SNC," says Qurabi, "SNC is not the only group that represents the opposition."

According to the Turkish Daily News, Qurabi said his bloc "represented all the religious and ethnic groups in Syria and all the minority groups such as Turkmens, Yezidis and Druzis, who couldn’t find a place in the SNC."

“We support the revolution. Our mission is going to start when the al-Assad regime is toppled. We will rebuild the country from the beginning. We are the first Syrian opposition party that is not Islamist,” Qurabi also says.

Bekir Atacan, one of the founders of the bloc claims “The SNC has not accepted us as Syrian Turkmen." However, he says, "we are highly represented in the Change Movement, just like the other ethnic groups in Syria."

Vahid Saqir, the vice chairman of the group, and a Syrian Alevi dissident who has been living in London since 1996, says there are many Alevis in Syria who want change, but who are afraid of speaking out against the regime. Saqir says the bloc has “80 founders, 400 members, and offices in nine different countries. We will be opening an office in Istanbul soon."

Saudi national faces prospect of execution for tweeting

2012-02-20T16:39:00.002-08:00

“Insulting the Prophet [Mohammed] is considered blasphemous in Islam,” notes OnIslam.net, “which is a crime punishable by execution in Saudi Arabia.” Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old Saudi blogger, now faces the prospect of execution for tweeting this message on Islam’s Prophet Mohammed’s birthday:

“I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don’t understand about you. I will not pray for you.”

Kashgari was en route to New Zealand when he was detained by Malaysian authorities at the request of Interpol because of the tweet. He was then deported to Saudi Arabia, where he was arrested for blasphemy.

Saudi clerics have declared the 23 year-old to be an apostate, and, as Charles Santiago, DAP’s MP for Klang, notes in Free Malaysia Today, “13,000 people have joined a Facebook page titled ‘The Saudi People Demand the Execution of Hamza Kashgari’.”

Regarding the deportation of Kashgari, Santiago says that,

“There is no extradition treaty between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Hence there was no necessity to quickly hand Kashgari over to the people who are calling for his head.”

“The deportation is unlawful as Kashgari’s lawyer, Muhammad Afiq Mohamad Nor, had obtained a court order to block the deportation.”

“with complete disregard for human rights,” Santiago says, Malaysia “sent a young man to face possible death in his home country.” For a Tweet.

Kalash: White survivalists in Afghanistan?

2012-02-18T09:13:00.002-08:00

Remember the National Geographic cover of the Afghan woman with pale skin and green eyes? It wasn't the image that most people had of the peoples of Afghanistan. Razib Khan has been shedding some light on Afghan genes in the science magazine Discover this week. In particular Khan looks at the enigmatic Kalash.

The Kalash, a little-known, largely isolated, and religiously pagan tribe, in Afghanistan claim to be the descendants of Alexander the Great.

Numbering only a few thousand, the Kalash have been pressured by Islamic extremists in Afghanistan to convert to Islam. Female Kalash in particular are targeted for conversion, undermining the small tribal community.

Khaliq, a Kalash elder, complained the Guardian that Pakistan had also "treated us like animals, and [the] valley [home of the Kalash] like a zoo."

A Kalash girl in traditional
clothing.

But the Kalsh appear to have the type of character that has allowed them to survive in a historically extremely hostile environment. But culture isn't the only thing that has set the Kalash apart. Peculiarly, this small tribe has pale skin and fair hair, and looks every bit European. Khan even says -- half jokes, I think -- that the Kalash and Burusho "are the best refutation of the 'blondes going extinct meme'." But he doesn't buy their claims to be descendants of Alexander the Great.

"The Kalash mtDNA is almost totally West Eurasian," he says, "but looking at the “Kalash” component above you don’t see particular closeness to the Russian/European modal component in comparison to the South Asian ones. Yet looking through the images at the links above I think you’ll be struck by how European some of the Kalash and Burusho seem in visible appearance, as well as how similar to each other they look."

The Kalash "arise from the fringes of the ancient admixture between West Eurasians and South Eurasians, but their phenotype exhibits far less of the South Eurasian imprint than the lowland peoples of the Punjab. I have no good model for why mountains would foster such a phenotypic difference[...]. "

What can the Kalash tell us about cultural survival in a hostile world? Read the whole article here.

Islamic hardliners attack Mosque used by Ahmadiyya

2012-02-18T06:36:00.004-08:00

The mosque in Cipeuyeum village is inspected after being
attacked and vandalized by Muslims upset by the Ahmadiyya
using it for Friday prayers.

A mosque in Cianjur, West Java, was attacked yesterday by about 50 Islamic hardliners, because it was being used by local members of the Ahmadiyya faith for Fridays prayers. Ahmadis regard themselves as Muslims but believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (who founded the faith in India during the 19th century) to be the Mahdi or final messenger of Islam.

During the attack the mosque was ransacked, its windows were broken, and its roof was damaged.

The mosque's caretakers had allegedly been warned not to allow the Ahmadis to use the Arrohim Mosque in Cipeuyeum village. Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) spokesman Firdaus Mubarik also told the Jakarta Post, "The police warned our congregation on Thursday not to use the mosque for Friday prayers, which means that they knew about it.”

Indonesia has a history of attacks on Ahmadis by Muslim extremists, encouraged, implicitly at least, by draconian laws aimed at oppressing the Ahmadis. As the Jakarta Post noted last year, "at least 26 regencies and municipalities have passed bylaws restricting or banning the Ahmadiyah sect, 11 of them in West Java" where the latest attack took place.

In January the Front Umat Islam converged on an Ahmadiyyah religious study session held at the Piri vocational high school in Yogyakarta, because they were upset by its teaching materials. The group said that they would monitor the Ahmadiyya.

JAI spokesman Mubarik noted that “The mosque in Cipeuyeum was the target of a similar attack last year when its books and carpets were burned by neighboring residents.” Last year Ahmadiyah in Cikeusik, Banten, were attacked, killing six.

However, there appears to be some consensus that the minority faith is not about to experience a continuous campaign of violence. Ismail Hasani, a researcher at the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, says that "“The political situation right now is against hard-line organizations."

JAI's Maubarik also said “The momentum is not there. Last year the campaigns against us were massive, from [Religious Affairs Minister] Suryadharma Ali to hard-line organizations actively campaigning for us to be disbanded in different places.”

Sri Lanka's Muslims condemn Maldives Buddhist statue destruction

2012-02-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

A Buddha statue from the Maldives,
on display in the Sri Lanka
National Museum, Colombo 2011

Sri Lanka's Muslims have strongly condemned the destruction of Buddhist statues by Islamic extremists in the Maldives.

Mubharak Abdul Majeed, President of the Sri Lankan Muslim organization Ulema Kacchi, condemned the vandalism, saying "Muslims in Sri Lanka unequivocally condemn any acts of vandalism committed against other religions."

Parliamentarian A.H.M. Azwer said "This is an act of insanity committed by extremist elements. There is no place in Islam to harm any other religion. Islam teaches complete tolerance of other religious rights and customs."

“The Muslim fraternity in Sri Lanka vehemently condemns the damage caused Buddhist statues in the Maldives by extremist gangs," said Sri Lanka's Western Province Governor Alavi Moulana today, "They [Sri Lanka's Muslims] voiced their anger over this dastardly act. The Muslim community in Sri Lanka always respects other religions."

Sri Lanka's national newspaper Daily News also reports that Governor Alavi Moulana said that Muslims are blessed with an opportunity of coexisting with other religions.

Al Arabiya: conspiracy theories "haunting Egypt"

2012-02-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

"Conspiracy theories are haunting Egyptians in a way that makes them steer away from all logic and refrain from examining the information presented to them," says Ahmed I. Abdallah in Al Arabiya.

In an interesting and sobering personal story, Abdallah recounts how he "was shopping with some relatives near Tahrir Square." "We went into one of the stores," he recalls, "and found a TV screen hanging from the wall showing a heated debate in one of those satellite channels that have for some strange reason multiplied after the revolution even though they cost millions of pounds."
"The majority of those in the store were watching with great interest. The volume was put up to the maximum and we had no choice but to follow the TV program which was not really different from the rest, for it was all screaming and arguing and people who see themselves as experts on everything and who find many to cheer for them. Yet, what really struck me was a long phone call in which the caller stressed that what is happening in Egypt is a Masonic-American-Zionist conspiracy and that Egyptians carrying American and European passports, who live outside the country are part of this conspiracy in one way or another. Those dual nationals, she said, wreak havoc in Egypt, then go back to live in their other homelands while never bothering about how they harmed those who remain in Egypt."

"For a moment, I felt I wanted to ask her what the word Masonry means in the first place."

Abdallah's comments and point of view are not often aired in the Western media, and shows us that some in the Middle East value reason, and dislike superstition. Read the whole article here.

Thailand rocked by three bomb explosions

2012-02-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

The Iranian man alleged to be responsible for three explosions
in Bangkok lies on his back, his legs blown off in one of
the blasts.

An Iranian man was seriously injured in Bangkok, Thailand, today when a bomb he was carrying exploded.

Two other explosions also went off in Bangkok, apparently connected to the Iranian. One of those occurred earlier in the day inside a house in the Ekamai area of central Bangkok.

The Hindustan Times reports that Police General Bansiri Prapapat said, "We discovered the injured man's passport. It's an Iranian passport and he entered the country through Phuket and arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport on the 8th of this month."

Israel has blamed Iran for the explosions in Thailand, calling them an act of terrorism. The previous day there had been terrorist attacks at the Israeli embassies in New Delhi, India, and Tbilisi, Georgia.

A Lebanese man with alleged ties to the Shiite militia Hezbollah was arrested in Thailand last month. Iran denies any involvement in terrorism.

Understanding anti-Buddhist terrorism and "ethnic cleansing" in Thailand

2012-02-14T09:52:00.001-08:00

Indonesians prevent Islamic extremists from preaching

2012-02-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

"Don’t stay silent when you see people breeding hatred and intolerance." That was the message of Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, on Saturday. And it was the message of those of the Dayak group from the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan (Central Borneo), who were with Naipospos, as they demonstrated against the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

Naipospos said The FPI had previously "harassed Ahmadiyah members in East Kalimantan." There are more Ahmadiya there than in any other Indonesian province.

“No wonder the people of Central Kalimantan are worried. The province has the biggest number of Ahmadiyah followers on the island," Naipospos said. "They are afraid that the FPI’s presence will taint the religious tolerance in their province.”

"Members of the Dayak tribe protested at Tjilik Riwut airport in Palangkaraya on Saturday, hoping to stop members of the FPI from arriving to attend the opening ceremony of the FPI branch office in Central Kalimantan," reports the Jakarta Globe.

The protest closed the airport for for more than two and half hours. Airport authorities then redirected the plane carrying FPI leader Habib Rizieq Syihab and his entourage to Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan. Reportedly "the FPI executives then continued to Tjillik after the airport returned to normal."

Bagladeshi Jamaat-e-Islami activists vandalize Hindu temples

2012-02-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

A Hindu temple smashed up by Islamic extremists on Friday.

Authorities in the city of Chittagong, south Bangladesh, banned public gatherings on Friday after several Hindu temples were ransacked and vandalized by Islamic extremists. Footage of the temples shows broken windows, overturned and smashed furniture, and even statues and paintings of Hindu deities thrown to the ground or broken.

Hindu-owned shops were also vandalized and looted, reportedly by students of a nearby madrassa, who had gathered following an announcement over the PA.

According to Bangladesh's bdnews24, "Local people claimed religious bigots of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Chhatra Shibir incited the vandalism and arson of the temples from Thursday evening to Friday noon."

Tensions had arisen, leading up to the attacks, after a group of Hindus processed through the city, Thursday morning, to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the temple at Loknath Sebasram. Muslims inside a mosque objected to the Hindus drumming, and came outside to protest. An altercation ensued, and the police later arranged for the two groups to meet to discuss the issue.

Several of the attendees told bdnews24 that while the meeting was in progress "several miscreants" vandalized the Loknath Sebasram temple as well as a number of cars owned by local Hindus.

Puja Udjapon Committee convenor Ashok Kumar Deb also told bdnews24 that a window of a mosque was broken the following morning, and rumors quickly spread that Hindus were responsible.

"Tensions mounted following a misunderstanding. Security in temples and mosques in the area has been strengthened and the law enforcers have been alerted," said primary and mass education minister Afsarul Ameen, who visited the area in response to the troubles.

There were signs of vandalism at three Hindu temples (Sri Sri Jagadeshwari Ma Temple and Jagannath Bigroho Temple at Nandirhat and Kalibari Temple at Sadar upazila), and another (Sri Sri Jagadeshwari Ma Temple) was set on fire.

British Islamist launches anti-Hindu Shariah4India group

2012-02-10T18:55:00.000-08:00

Anjem Choudary, a British Islamist who described himself as "in the camp" of Osama bin Laden, has founded Shariah4Hind (India). Choudary has headed several radical Islamist organizations in Britain, including Islam4UK. All of these organizations were proscribed by the UK Government in 2010. However, despite swearing allegiance to Osama bin Laden on CNN, he has been able to continue his propaganda activities with virtual impunity.

Choudary's new website comes in the wake of a failed coup in Bangladesh, one of India's neighbors, by members of the radical pan-Islamic party Hizb ut Tahrir, as well as a successful coup in the nearby republic of the Maldives.

On the Shariah4Hind website (shariah4hind.com), the people behind it say that they are calling the region back to the "period under the divine [i.e., Islamic] law [...]. This involves a call for all those in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to come out of the darkness of man made law [...]" and to sharia.

Another page on the website, entitled "the need for Muslim rule in India," says that there is broad consensus among Muslim clerics that "it is not permitted for non-Muslims to have authority over Muslims."

In its press release, Shariah4Hind says "the time is rife today to make the shari’ah sweep across India and insha’allah from there to the whole world. Let us take a lesson from the Arab spring and rise up against the tyrants in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. But let us not make the mistake of calling for the false idols of democracy and freedom but rather the truth of Islam and the Khilafah [Caliphate]."

Ron Banerjee of the Canadian Hindu Advocacy group has previously told People of Shambhala that "Islam was introduced into the Asian subcontinent with the objective of occupying and exterminating the Hindus." He noted that historian William Durant believed that about "80 million Hindus were killed, were slaughtered, and thousands and thousands of Hindu temples were smashed, and mosques were built on top of them [during the centuries of Muslim rule]. The Muslims of India tried very hard over the period of their 700 years [of occupation] to wipe out the Hindus. But there was resistance from some of the Hindu kingdoms. They never had full control over India so they were unable to achieve that goal. But that’s the eternal goal. According to Islam, Hinduism is the lowest form of life on the planet. Because Hindus, according to them, they’re polytheistic, they believe in multiple gods. They believe we worship idols, and idol worship is a sin in Islam."

Shariha4Hind sees Islamic law penetrating well beyond India, which it would use as a launch pad to spread into China and other neighboring states. "[A]ll non-Muslims will be given the Zimmi ["protected" but second class] status," says the press release, "where their life and wealth will be protected in return for obeying the divine law of the land who will never be asked to be part of the Muslim armies whose job it will be to expand the frontiers of the Islamic State (into China, Indonesia, Malaysia etc…) and protect it from its enemies."

"With a united Indian sub-continent and with the annexation of the Muslims around it from China, Indonesia, Malaysia etc… we will have united together over a billion Muslims, creating a superpower unparallel in the world," the press release continues. "It being obliged for every mature, sane and capable Muslim man to be part of the armies of Jihad, this will be the beginning of the end of man made law on the Earth insha’allah and could fulfil the prophecy of the Messenger Muhammad (saw) i.e. Izhar ud-Deen, the complete domination of the world by Islam."

Choudary also calls "upon all the serious Islamic movements and scholars to support this call, especially their physical support on the streets with the Muslims masses insha’allah."

At the bottom of the press release "Sheikh Anjem Choudary, Manager of the Shariah Court of the UK and former spokesman for Al-Muhajiroun" is listed as a contact. According to the Center for Social Cohesion, "one in seven Islamist-related convictions in the last decade have had links with the extremist group [AL-Muhairoun]" [pdf].

Choudary is also the first person featured in the media section. Omar Bakri Muhammad is also listed on the site, as an apparent founder. Muhammed left Britain in 2005, and sort refuge in Lebanon, fearing that he was about to be investigated by the British authorities for alleged involvement in financing terrorist organizations.

Troublingly, Shariah4Hind calls "upon all Muslims to rise on the 3rd of March 2012 (the 88th anniversary of the destruction of the last Islamic State) in New Dehli [Urdu for Delhi] in a public demonstration and demand what is rightfully theirs i.e. the authority, to establish the Khilafah and rule by the [sharia] laws of God alone."

The British Government has consistently put its own citizens at risk by allowing preachers of hate to go unchallenged. Now Islamists in the UK are threatening those abroad. The call for "the armies of Jihad" in combination with the call for "physical support" for Shariah4Hind's objectives would appear to be in violation of the UK's stringent hate speech laws. Do the British authorities wish to put the citizens of Indian and other nation states in Asia at risk of violence whipped up by one of their citizens, and within their borders? Or will they investigate this incitement to violence to the fullest extent?

Maldives: Muslim hardliners smashes Buddhist statues in national museum

2012-02-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

Former President Mohamed Nasheed before his resignation
on Tuesday.

On the same day as the Maldives President resigned, after a coup by police, Islamic hardliners burst into the national museum and smashed Buddhist statues.

Police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam told police that “A mob entered the museum yesterday (Tuesday). They smashed many statues. This included some statues of Buddha," reports Al Arabiya News.

Former President, Mohamed Nasheed, blamed the attack on hardliner Muslims.

There has been a debate for some weeks over statues in the Maldives. Several that had been gifted to the nation from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and other nations, were denounced by extremists as "idolatry," and as unacceptable to Islam. The statues were removed from public view after protests.

After being forced to resign yesterday, Nasheed's Democratic Party headquarters was also reportedly smashed up by a mob, and a member of the party was killed.

The destruction of the Buddha statues suggest that Islamic hardliners are intent on establishing sharia as the state law of the Maldives.

Does resignation of Maldives President foreshadow Talibanization?

2012-02-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

The Maldives' first elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, resigned today after a "coup" by police. Nasheed has been under pressure for some weeks, largely by Islamic hard liners, who have been demonstrating against the Democratic Party Government, and for the implementation of sharia as state law.

The opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party also accused Nasheed of being under the influence of Jews and Christians, partly because the Transport Ministry recently allowed direct flights to and from Israel.

Early Tuesday morning between several dozen and two hundred police officers refused orders to break up anti-Government demonstrations in the Maldives' capital, Male. A number of officers later arrested members of Nasheed's Democratic Party, and seized the state television station.

Nasheed also appeared to have lost the support of the military. Pakistan's Daily Times reports Colonel Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef as saying "The president on his own initiative came to the military headquarters for advice on whether he should resign and then he got the message."

The Government had made some attempts to appease the Islamist faction, ordering spas and massage parlors to close. However, the opposition extends beyond protest groups. The Adhalaat Party, which has called for Sharia to be implemented, controls the nation’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

Adhalaat is also reportedly sympathetic to the Taliban.

With Islamism on the rise in the Maldives, especially among the youth, some analysts are concerned that the island nation may be turned into an Islamist state. Alok Bansal a senior fellow at the Centre for Land and Warfare Studies believes the “Maldives can be [turned into] a Talibanised version of a Sunni state," reports India's Daily Pioneer.

India is said to be following events carefully. It foiled a 1988 coup against the Maldives Government after it sent a battalion of troops to protect it, in Operation Cactus.

Indian Muslim scholars seek to ban triple talaq divorce, limit polygamy

2012-02-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

Muslim scholars and secular activists in Delhi, India, have been debating together and working toward codifying sharia personal law.

The group -- comprised of The Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, the Institute of Islamic Studies organized the meet in Delhi, and the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism -- will send a draft of the codification to India's Parliament, "amendments into the law," and, afterward, it hopes to make its contents known to Muslims in the country.

Secularist Asghar Ali Engineer said, "We are not bringing any new law but only reiterating the provisions which the Quran makes for Muslim men and women."

However, the rights of women in Islam appear to be of particular concern. Among other things, the draft prohibits Muslim men from divorcing women by merely repeating "talaq" three times, as is customary in some Muslim societies. Qutub Jehan Kidwai of the Mumbai-based Institute of Islamic Studies told the Times of India, "There is no place for triple talaq in one seating. It must be abolished."

The Times of India also reports that the draft "appeals to the governments to appoint Nikah registrars who will maintain nikahnamas. The consent of the bride will be made mandatory and the minimum age of the bride will be 18 and that of the groom 21."

Widespread arrests of Bahai's in Iran

2012-02-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

30 Bahai homes were raided between 7 a.m. and noon on Friday. At least 11 Bahais have been arrested.

Those arrested were taken to Detention Centre 100 in Shiraz. According to The Baha'i Cause, four of the Baha'is were briefly released before being rearrested and traken to Centre 100.

"Numerous personal possessions, computers, CDs, photographs and books were seized," The Baha'i Cause reports.

India: Muslims help build Hindu temple in show of communal unity

2012-02-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

Tensions and outbursts of violence between Muslims and Hindus is common in India and neighboring countries. Although the Gaya district has suffered such tensions, with Muslims and Hindus often polarized, Muslims in the area have shown a different face of their faith. They have helped Hindus there build a temple dedicated to goddess Durga, donating money and overseeing its construction.

"We joined Hindus to collect donation for the temple construction and also supervise construction work," said Mohammad Rafiq, a local resident.

"There was active help from Muslims, all of whom are railway employees. This temple is a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity as both joined hands to construct it," said Ashok Kumar, another resident of the district, reports NDTV.

This is not the first such act of cooperation in the Gaya area, however. Over three decades ago local Hindus donated land for the construction of a mazar (Sufi shrine).

ICLA: Western governments must support progressive Muslims

2012-02-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

The International Civil Liberties Alliance has accused the British Government of acquiescing to "the Islamist interpretation of Islam" and undermining "the liberal movement and its courageous advocates within Islam." In recent years the British Government has been accused of funding radical organizations, and in sidelining peaceful and progressive Muslim groups.

The ICLA, an international NGO based in Great Britain and the USA, says, "It is vital that liberal Islamic reformers are supported by our Government and by the general public."

"Instead of endorsing Islamist interpretations of Islam, the Government should be standing full square behind those courageous individuals who are willing to stand up to the extremists."

ICLA spokesperson Chris Knowles.

Chris Knowles, a spokesperson for the ICLA, told People of Shambhala today that he believed governments and media that worked with Islamists were essentially "Islamophobic."

Inevitably, he said, by supporting the extremists -- who are often invited on to television shows to give the "Muslim perspective" -- it portrays Muslims in general as extremist. "By definition, that's Islamophobic," he said.

Mr. Knowles said that instead of sidelining progressive Muslims, it was time for governments and media to support and work with them.

Bangladesh war crimes trial raises specter of mass rape in 1971 Liberation War

2012-02-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Delwar Hossain Sayedee, leader of Jamaat-e-Islami,
is accused of helping the Pakistani army rape Hindu
women, and of forcibly converting Hindus to Islam
during the 1971 Liberation War.

The 1971 Liberation War between East and West Pakistan saw the Pakistan army commit countless atrocities, mostly against Hindus. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu women were raped.

The war was sparked when East Pakistan seceded, declaring itself the independent nation of Bangladesh.

To call the war brutal would be an understatement. Mass graves were still being discovered decades later.

The ghost of the 1971 war still refuses to disappear. Over the last few months -- ignored by the Western media, which always reveals itself to be myopic and provincial whenever opportunity arises -- the International Crimes Tribunal has been hearing the case of Delwar Hossain Sayedee (usually known simply as "Sayedee"), leader of the extremist Islamist movement Jamaat-e-Islami.

We will probably never know how many women were raped by Pakistani forces in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), but the most frequently cited figure is over 200,000. Some authorities believe the number of victims to be considerably higher; possibly up to 400,000. Whatever the case, the brutalization of the Bangladeshis was at once savage and calculated.

Sayedee is accused of helping the Pakistani army rape Hindu women, and of forcibly converting a number of Hindus to Islam.

We should not lose sight of the fact that the conflict was one primarily about land and culture, and the war about independence verses the loss of territory, and the loss of face on the world stage. The East Pakistanis (now Bangladeshis) were more educated than the West Pakistanis, and their economy was stronger, largely as a result of East Pakistan's tea, jute, rice, and mango exports, among others. Although the two halves of Pakistan communicated in English, out of necessity, the two sides spoke different languages. The East Pakistanis spoke mostly Bengali. The West Pakistanis spoke mostly Urdu.

Nevertheless, Islam was used to justify, and to encourage, violence on a massive scale against the Hindus of East Pakistan. As the Indian Daily Star put it, "Islam cannot countenance the practice of Muslims brutalising and annihilating other Muslims. But the stark reality of the demons of radical religious forces raising ugly faces surfaced in the form of torture and killing of the people in the then East Pakistan. The way the whole country meaning the then East Pakistan inhabited by Bengali speaking people suffered and witnessed torture, rape and massacre nothing could stop its 75 million people from going the separate way after that fateful night of March 25, 1971."

Sayedee is innocent until proven guilty. Testimony so far, though, cannot but raise the specter of the mass raping of innocent women, and the hundreds of thousands of lives shattered by the war.

We know from history that if religion is used to justify war and violence, forced conversions -- along with forced rape -- will become a strategy of war. Jews, we know, were forced to convert to Christianity in some parts of late medieval Europe. At other times they were subject to pogroms, including into the early twentieth century. But it is something that we would hope had been left to history. Yet, today, in Bangladesh, there are still thousands -- possibly hundreds of thousands, whose lives are still affected by the war and the atrocities visited upon them.

Earlier in January, choking with emotion, one witness told the court, "They [Sayedee and his fellow collaborators with the Pakistani army] picked up three of my sisters and handed them over to a Pakistani soldiers' camp in Pirojpur." The man told the court that his sister "were raped at the camp... and sent back home after three days…" before breaking down, crying. ""They forced me, my parents and siblings," he said, "to convert to Islam and made us say prayers at the mosque."

The Daily Star reports that the witness believed Sayedee had forcibly converted between 100 and 150 Hindus to Islam.

In early February another witness described how he had returned to his house one day, only for his to tell him that she had been raped by Sayedee. They had been married only a few days before the war broke out.

Traumatized by the rape, the couple later agreed that she should go to live in India. The witness -- whose name is not being released for his own safety -- said that he had not seen her since. He was also forcibly converted to Islam at the time, but returned to his original religion after the war.

Court was adjourned as the witness -- who is now 81 years-old -- felt sick giving testimony.

Three witnesses for the prosecution have since disappeared. They had been in the custody of the prosecution, but were released to visit relatives in Dhaka. The three judges have adjourned the case while they are being searched for.

However the trial ends, it is a painful reminder of one of the worst atrocities of the twentieth century, and of how religion can be used to justify the most barbaric forms of violence.

By A. Millar, journalist for the Weekly Blitz (Bangladesh).

Mumbai police arrest young Muslim man in acid attack on Hindu girl

2012-02-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

Brutal: a young Hindu woman attacked with acid last week
in Mumbai. (Photograph copyright Hindu Existence.)

Railway police in northwest Mumbia arrested a male youth after hew threw acid on a a young woman’s face at a suburban railway station on Tuesday.

“The accused, identified as Pintoo Sheikh, has been arrested by the railway police. He had thrown acid on the victim, identified as Aarti Thakur, at Goregaon railway station yesterday,” an officer at the Borivli Railway Police Station is reported as saying.

The incident occurred just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday when Aarti was talking on her cellphone at the railway station. She was on her way home from work. Sheikh approached her and apparently threw the acid at her without warning. Aarti was admitted to a private hospital for treatment. She has 15-20% burns.

Acid attacks against women are a brutal, but common form of violence, used by Muslim extremists against women and girls. Such attacks have taken place in numerous countries, including some Western states. The Muslim extremist men that have attacked women with acid usually do so because the women or girl refuses to go on a date with them, or to marry them. Girls in Afghanistan have been attacked with acid for simply going to school.

The Indo Asian News Service reports that the young man in the Mumbai case has been charged with attempted murder.

Pakistan Prime Minister: terrorism "incompatible with Islamic teachings"

2012-02-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

Pakistan's Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, has said that there is no room for terrorism, militancy or extremism in Islam.

With the persecution of Sufis, Ahmafiyya, and other other forms of Islam in Afghanistan, Libya, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere, it is clear that peaceful and extremist versions of the religion are in conflict today. Since the Arab Spring, many peaceful Muslims and liberals have found themselves attacked and discriminated against in the Middle East.

We shouldn't pretend that there are no troubling passages in the Koran that have, traditionally, been used to justify discrimination, violence, war, and rape. But nor should we make the mistake of the Western media, that routinely ignores the voices of peaceful, progressive Muslims, and which instead endorses organizations and Muslims with very troubling backgrounds and opinions.

According to Dawn.com, Gilani described Islam as preaching peace and love, and said Muslims must do the same. Speaking on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi (the celebration of the birth of Islam's prophet Mohammed), Gilani said, "those, who spread disorder and chaos, cannot even claim to be Muslims as the scourges of terrorism and extremism are incompatible to the essence of Islamic teachings."

Attacks on Sufis in Pashtun regions increase

2012-02-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Attacks on Sufis in the Pashtun regions, including the Pakistani and Afghanistan tribal areas, have risen over the last five years, reports Pakistan's Friday Times.

The Taliban attacked the shrines of Sufi saints Sheikh Nisa Baba and Sheikh Bahadur Baba in Khyber Agency on December 11.

A few days earlier, on December 7, at least 56 people were killed in a suicide attack at the gate of Abul Fazil's shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday Times reports. "All the victims were Shia mourners and a majority of them were children," reports the Pakistani newspaper.

"Thousands of Arab militants who arrived in Afghanistan under the leadership of Al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden brought with them foreign ideologies, especially Wahabism," Sahibzada Amir Muhammad, a Kabul-based Sufi preacher, told the Friday Times.

Nevertheless, despite the attacks, Amir Muhammad says that Sufism is re-emerging in Afghanistan.

Islamists dominate post-Gaddafi Libya, make it unwelcome to Sufis

2012-02-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

Sayyid Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad
al-Mahdi as-Senussi, head of the Senussi
Sufi Order and Libya's only king. He
reigned from 1951-1969.

Remember how we ousted Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi so that the Libyan people could be free? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Gaddafi's gone. The man was a bully and a psychopath that terrorized his own people. And Gaddafi funded every oddball political and militant group he could find, including Islamist, neo-fascist, and militant Left-wing.

Like you, probably, I was more than a little concerned by the appearance of al-Qaeda-types among the anti-Gaddafi militias. And I was pretty much certain that it would lead to a very troubled post-Gaddafi Libya when the Western governments -- who were actively engaged in ousting the dictator -- chose to ignore the emergence of the armed Islamist ranks.

Not everyone was convinced, of course. Stephen Schwartz saw Sufism as the moral and ethical foundation of the revolution. "Libya stands as one of the distinguished centers of a Sufism opposed both to unquestioning acceptance of Islamic law and to scriptural absolutism," said Schwarts. This Islam, he said, was "dedicated to freedom and progress."

With Gaddafi gone, Schwartz believed, it would "be necessary to analyze whether and how Libya's Sufi past can positively influence its future."

Not a bad plan, but it hasn't exactly panned out. In the new Libya, Islamists have made sure that everyone knows who is -- or who will soon be -- running the show. The old intolerance and persecution may be gone, but there's a new one in town now.

The Sufis are among the first victims of the Islamists.

The school of Libyan Sheikh, Adl Al-Aref Al-Hadad, was attacked by Islamists. Office equipment was destroyed, and, according to Reuters, the Islamists "dug up graves of sages buried there." They then proceeded to turn the school into a Salafi mosque.

The Sufis of Afghanistan have faced similar persecution.

"On January 13," Reuters reports, "extremists crashed a bulldozer through the walls of the old cemetery in the eastern city of Benghazi, destroyed its tombs and carried off 29 bodies of respected sages and scholars. They also demolished a nearby Sufi school."

Politically, Sufism is also being outmaneuvered. Salafi political parties are also dominating the landscape. And most of the officials in the new Libya are also Salafis.

They oppose other more tolerant forms of Islam, including Sufism. Many do so peacefully. But others are willing to use violence to impose their political Islamic order on those with dissenting views.

Once again the West seems to have missed an opportunity, at the expense of peaceful Muslims.

American Muslim leaders speak in support of anti-Jihad movie

2012-02-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

The American Islamic Leadership Coalition has issued a press release supporting the controversial movie the Third Jihad. The AILC says it has "serious concern at the vilification of the documentary The Third Jihad by the New York Times, which appears to be echoing and amplifying the party line of well-known Muslim Brotherhood supporters." The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928, with the aim of restoring the Islamic Caliphate, and sharia law. It is considered an Islamist party by most analysts.

The AILC syas it has "viewed The Third Jihad, and regard the information presented therein to be both factually accurate, and important for our fellow Muslim and non-Muslim citizens to understand, debate and address."

The Third Jihad, notes the AILC, "explicitly distinguishes between the religion of Islam, and the highly politicized ideology of religious hatred, supremacy and violence characteristic of political Islam, often referred to as 'Islamism'. While the film does not examine the pluralistic, tolerant and spiritual traditions of Islam that lie at the heart of our own understanding thereof, this does not imply that the film is inaccurate in its depiction of what it specifically terms "radical Islam," as exemplified by movements such as al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Wahhabism (aka "Salafism") and the Muslim Brotherhood."

The movie has been used in NYPD training. However, says the AILC, "Islamist groups and their allies are, predictably, now seeking to exploit the opportunity presented by the current controversy over The Third Jihad to call for 'oversight,' 'corrective training' and 'participation' by the "Muslim community" (i.e., Islamists!) in all counter-terrorist programs initiated by the NYPD."

"Islamist opposition to The Third Jihad, a film narrated by Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, clearly demonstrates this point. The Islamists' uproar is driven by a desire to stifle alternative and truly moderate voices such as that of Dr. Jasser, a member of this coalition whom we know to be a devout Muslim committed to the highest values of Islam, and to our nation's founding principles. The New York Times'decision to embrace the Islamist "party line" on this matter hinders sincere efforts to identify and address the ideological source of Muslim radicalization, and to promote true reform within Islam, consistent with its primary message of universal love, compassion and mercy for all God's creatures."

Sikhs "vanishing" under Afghan intolerance

2012-02-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

The few religious minorities that remain in Afghanistan do so at considerable risk. The Kalash, an ethnic and religious minority, have found that they are discriminated against, and persecuted. Some have complained that they are "treated like animals," because they are not Muslims. The Hindustan Times reports that the situation is little different for the few seeks that remain in the country.

Afghanistan was once a Buddhist country, although Buddhists were driven out by Muslim armies in the ninth century, and pursued across parts of India and into Tibet. After this, Afghanistan was essentially a Muslim nation.

Sikhs had also once prospered in Afghanistan. However, as the Hindustan Times reports, "in recent decades, as the country has become more religiously conservative, they have been harassed and disparaged as statue-worshipping infidels."

They have moved en masse to India and other countries, and community leaders say there are now no more than a few hundred or at best a few thousand Sikhs left in Afghanistan.

Life for Sikhs there has become especially hard in recent years according to community leader Awtar Singh, a former lawmaker. Thousands had their property stolen during the civil wars of the 1990s. Job prospects are bleak outside of Sikh enclaves. And thegovernment refuses to let Sikhs open cremation facilities, barring them from following an important religious tradition.

“The living conditions are getting hard for Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan,” said Awtar Singh, who is not related to the detainee. “The remaining people who can afford to do so want to go to India,” he added.

Iran tries to extract confessions from imprisoned bloggers

2012-02-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

Iran continues to attempt to extract public confessions from thee imprisoned bloggers. The Iranian authorities have reinstated the death sentence for Saeed Malekpour, one of the three men.

According to the Human Rights House of Iran (HRHI), "During the past week, 3 imprisoned [bloggers] Saeed Malekpour, Vahid Asghari, and Hossein Ronaghi Maleki were removed from their cells and interrogated by agents from the Cyber Intelligence Unit of the Revolutionary Guards. These agents who are affiliated with the unit battling organized crime, put great pressure on the prisoners and demanded that they make false televised confessions."

The HRHI says that the sentenced passed on the three web developers are "so obviously illegal that the interrogating and intelligence agents now ask the prisoners to make false confessions for broadcast in return for guarantees such as being granted furlough, having sentences reduced and being transferred to a public ward."

The family of blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki said to Human Rights House of Iran, “On Tuesday of last week, the interrogators transferred Hossein to solitary confinement and put immense pressure on him, demanding that he agree to making a televised confession.”

"Imprisoned death row blogger Vahid Asghari was also transferred to solitary confinement and under severe duress was coerced into making another false confession. This imprisoned blogger has been suffering from acute psychological distress due to the relentless torture he was subjected to when he was detained."

Indonesia: 10 Islamists imprisoned for attack on police mosque

2012-02-01T10:58:00.000-08:00

An Indonesian court has sentenced 10 Islamic militants in relation to a suicide bombing of a mosque attended by police in the West Java town of Cirebon. The attack took place in April 2011 and wounded 28 people. Suicide bomber Muhammad Syarief blew himself up in the attack.

The ten men have now been found guilty of acquiring materials to be used in terrorist activities. They have each received up to eight years in prison, despite prosecutors in the case demanding that the perpetrators be given sentences of more than ten years.

According to the Jakarta Globe, Zulkifli Lubis was sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty of participating in terrorism. Saiful Mubaroq was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for participating in terrorism training.

"I Madhe Suparta, the presiding judge at Zulkifli’s trial, said Zulkifli was guilty of aiding terrorists and buying, keeping and selling ammunition to alleged terrorists," reports the Jakarta Globe. Zulkifli denounced the verdict, saying “God is Great! This trial is cruelty!”

The Middle East, women, sex, and the awful double standard

2012-01-31T10:56:00.000-08:00

What to conclude when an Egyptian newspaper is condemned for reporting gang rapes and sexual assaults on women in Tahrir Square? Or that a self-appointed "morality police" now patrols Egypt's streets with rods to beat any woman dressed in normal, causal clothes? Should we conclude that, in the Middle East, it is acceptable for men to rape, but not okay for a woman to show the least bit of skin?

A few days ago Egyptian newspaper Bikya Masr reported that an Arab-American woman had been "stripped of her pants, assaulted and beaten by a mob of men in the center of the square."

"Surprisingly," says Bikya MAsr, "this led to a backlash against us, in comments on the article, emails and on a private listserv here in Cairo." Journalist Joseph Mayton says he

received a number of emails condemning reporting such incidents, with the correspondence saying Bikyamasr.com is “anti-revolution,” “Orientalist,” and even patronizing and victimizing toward women by detailing the sexual violence that was perpetrated in the square.

This misses the reality. Sexual violence in Egypt, and around the region is not new. It seems to occur whenever large crowds gather in this country. As a media outlet, we can only do our best to report on such incidents. Many argued that we did not contextualize the situation by reporting the story of the woman being assaulted.

They argued Tahrir was “safe” for women and that even men were protecting women throughout the day. Certainly, this was correct, but it misses the point. Sexual assault needs no contextualization. Assault is assault, in our view.

Apparently in Egypt it's a controversial view.

However, some in the Middle East are fighting back. With Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani told not to return to Iran because of a naked photo shoot published in Madame Le Figaro more than one Facebook group has been launched in support of the actress.

One, called, simply, Support of Golshifteh Farahani, says it "has been formed, in order to support Golshifteh's move, in order to say NO to relegion [sic], tradition, culture and anti women's law.Viva freedom !!!"

Reuters says "movement has sprung up, with supporters encouraging others to post Farahani's topless photo as a "PicBadge" of the actress' photo-shoot to their Facebook profiles." Activists are encouraging people to read The Stoning of Soraya M.

A number of activists -- men and women -- are also posting nude photos of themselves in protest at the treatment of Farahani and of women in the Middle East in general.

Nude protesting might be extreme, but --whatever one may think of it -- it is clear that a lot of people in the Middle East are getting fed up with rape being "contextualized" and portrayed as okay, while self-expression is seen as absolutely immoral.

Pre-election, Iran arrests journalists, bloggers

2012-01-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

Parastoo Dokouhaki, journalist
and blogger arrested in Tehran
this week.

Last week Human Rights Watch reported that ten journalists and bloggers had been arrested in Iran since the beginning of the year. Now the regime in Tehran has arrested another two female journalists as it gears up for the election on March 2.

Marzieh Rasouli is one of the latest two victims of of the campaign against against the media in Iran. Rasouli's home in Tehran was raided and, according to the Human Rights House of Iran, "many of her belongings confiscated before she was arrested on the charge of 'acting against national security'."

Rasouli has collaborated with Iran's Student News Agency (ISNA), the Shargh and Etemad daily newspapers, and several film publications.

Journalist and women's rights activist Parastoo Dokouhaki was also arrested in Tehran this week.

Pavand says "Dokouhaki was one of the first bloggers in Iran, and her blog 'Zan-nevesht' received a 'best weblog' prize from Deutsche Welle in 2005. Dokouhaki has collaborated with several Iranian newspapers, including Hambastegi, Etemad Melli, Shargh and Sarmayeh."

Violence and discrimination means Mandaeans "about to vanish" from Iraq

2012-01-29T14:44:00.000-08:00

Mandaeanism, one of the world's oldest surviving Gnostic religions, is under threat in Iraq. Many Mandaeans fled in the years following the US invasion of the country. Most went to Jordan and Syria. But occasionally Mandaean refugees found asylum outside the Middle East.

In some cases, however, asylum laws would not allow families to be resettled together, further undermining the Mandaean community. An earlier report by the Minority Rights Group International noted, for example, that "One Sabian Mandaean refugee in Amman recounted that his sister, who was kidnapped, raped and assaulted for five days, had been resettled in Australia, but he and his mother were not accepted [in that country]."

Attacks on Mandaeans occur frequently. According to the Sabian Mandaean Human Rights Group, from January 2007 to February 2008, 42 Madaeans were killed. There were also 46 kidnappings, 10 threats and 21 other attacks. Many of the victims were women and children.

And the violence and discrimination is continuing with devastating results. "After twenty centuries of history in Mesopotamia, we Mandaeans, are about to vanish," Saad Atiah Majid, chairman of Basra’s Mandaean Council told the Inter Press Service this week.

Mazin Rahim Naif, a local Mandaean spiritual leader, told IPS that local authorities routinely denied them access to the river, which is necessary for the Mandaean rights of Baptism. This is the central ritual of the faith, which honors John the Baptist.

Naif showed the IPS investigator the "Treasure of God," the Mandaean holy book, written in the Mandaean-Aramaic language. "We translated it into Arabic because there were rumours among Muslims that it incited to apostasy," Rahim told IPS. "We wanted to show everybody that we also believe in one god, that we pray and that we also practice zakat (charity)."

But discrimination continues outside of the area of religious practices. Tahseen, a local Mandaean, told the IPS that "The best jobs are given to those families who lost a member in the war against Iran, or during Saddam's repression. The privileges are for those who have ‘martyrs’. Ours do not count according to their standards."

All in all, the Mandaeans appear to feel under siege in their ancient homeland, but their plight rarely receives attention in the West that barely knows of the existence of this ancient faith and community.

Chairman of Basra’s Mandaean Council, Saad Atiah Majid predicts that it will soon shrink from approximately 5,000 to 3,000.

Hizb ut Tahrir moves to take power in South Asia

2012-01-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hizb ut Tahrir demonstrating in
Copenhagen in 2002.

"We have Islam in Egypt; now we need [it] in Bangladesh." That's the message of Shaokat Osman, a spokesperson for Islami Chhatra Shibir, an Islamist movement affiliated to the global Islamic political party Hizb ut Tahrir.

Earlier in January Hizb ut Tahrir operatives were involved in a failed coup against the Bangladeshi Government. According to India's Daily Star, five Hizb ut Tahrir operatives were arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion, in the wake of the attack, two of whom were injured in the confrontation. The arrested Hizb ut Tahrir members were also reportedly hurt.

The Daily Star says Bangladesh Army officials believe "that some present and former army officials had attempted to topple the [Bangladeshi] government and the [Hizb ut Tahrir] outfit is one of the helping elements."

Hizb ut Tahrir was banned in Bangladesh on October 22, 2010.

The Bangladeshi Weekly Blitz has been investigating Islamist movements in the country and says "jihadist groups such as Hizbut Tahrir or Hizb Ut Towhid [have expanded] through the help of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami[...]." The Weekly Blitz also says that various sources have told it "that hidden agents of Hizbut Tahrir and Hizb Ut Towhid are actively trying to propagate the "Khelafat" [Caliphate] mission of these groups amongst the students of various English medium schools and colleges."

The Weekly Blitz says, "In attracting youths towards jihad, agents and members of Hizb Ut Towhid use the social networking sites and continue to spread hate materials against the West as well as neighboring nations of Bangladesh. These members also publicize imaginary stories on repression of Muslims or even non Muslims being oppressed in the non Muslim nations. They portray the Western societies as "perverts" and even try to draw a picture, where youths in Bangladesh would see the Western people growing up with extreme hatred for Islam. In some sites, such as Facebook, jihadist group Hizb Ut Towhid publishes portions of the hate materials from their infamous book and DVD named 'Dajjal' or even sermons of Wajed Panni aka Selim Panni, the kingpin of this group. In most of such sermons, people are called towards jihad against the West."

Hizb ut Tahrir has not limited its activities in the region to the relatively small nation of Bangladesh, however, but has been active for at least two years in India.

"The group has a particularly strong presence in the national Capital, and largely among students," reports the Times of India. It arranged a demonstration at Batla House, New Delhi, in 2010 against Israel's action in Gaza, and has reportedly hosted a number of seminars in India.

Nevertheless, Hizb ut Tahrir has also been expressing anti-India sentiments. In the wake of the failed coup against the Bangladeshi Government, for example, Hizb ut Tahrir has claimed that it "was brought to power by the Americans, in partnership with India."

Oman may fuel Sri Lanka if Iran sanctions prevent exports

2012-01-28T07:16:00.000-08:00

petrochemical plant in Sohar, Oman.

Sri Lankan Petroleum Industries Minister, Susil Premajayantha, has said that the southwest Asian Arabic state of Oman is ready to assist Sri Lanka in the case of an oil import crisis.

Premajayantha made his remarks at the ministry of Petroleum following discussions with Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Roumi, the Minister of oil and gas for Oman.

Sri Lanka is concerned that sanctions against Iran may prevent it from obtaining necessary oil imports.

The Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation says the visiting Oman minister "conducted talks with the president, minister of foreign affairs Prof G.L.Peiris and Minister Basil Rajapakse yesterday."

The "talks were centered on further enhancing bilateral relations in the fields of trade oil and related industries," said Premajayantha who also said that "a Sri Lankan delegation is expected to visit Oman within the next few weeks."

A delegation from Oman is also scheduled to visit Sri Lanka in the near future.

Canadian Federal Court says Buddhist refugee needs asylum

2012-01-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

The secretary of a Buddhist temple in Chittagong, Bangladesh, has appealed for asylum, because of “government goons” and a “militant Muslim faction” in his homecountry.

The National Post reports that "Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board believed Mr. Barua’s testimony of persecution he suffered as an active Buddhist in Chittagong and his fear of continued danger."

The Federal Court of Canada chastised refugee officials for attempting to deport the Buddhist Ruptanu Barua.

Barua was active in protecting the rights of the Buddhists minority in Bangladesh, but fled to Montreal to seek asylum. He had not been involved in politics in his home country.

The U.S. report on Bangladesh states, notes the National Post: “Authors, journalists, academics, and women’s rights and civil society activists debating sensitive social or political issues, or expressing opinions deemed by radical Islamists to be offensive to Islam, have been subject to violent, sometimes fatal, attacks. Some Muslim clerics, especially in rural areas, have also sanctioned vigilante punishments against women for alleged moral transgressions. Rape is reportedly a common form of anti-minority violence.

“The government often fails to punish perpetrators, since the law enforcement and the judicial systems, especially at the local level, are vulnerable to corruption, intimidation and political interference.”

Judge Shore said the IRB needed to dig a little deeper before deciding that conditions in a country had sufficiently changed to send asylum seekers back home.

“Minorities still suffer persecution at the hands of the majority and AL government goons while the police watch,” Judge Shore wrote in his decision.

“The board is required to enter into a detailed analysis of the country conditions, especially where a change of government is recent.

“In the present case, the documentary evidence relied upon by the board clearly demonstrated that persecution against religious minorities continued even after the return of the Awami League in power in 2008. The applicant has a genuine fear of returning to his country and his fear is reasonable.”

Judge Shore ordered the IRB to have a new refugee judge make a fresh assessment of Mr. Barua’s case.

Indonesia: Muslim council to supervise Ahmadiyya

2012-01-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

On Friday, hundreds of people from the Front Umat Islam converged on an Ahmadiyyah religious study session held at the Piri vocational high school in Yogyakarta.

Head of the Yogyakarta branch of the Council of Ulema (MUI), Thoha Abdurahman, blamed the Ahmadis themselves for the incident, saying that they had failed to report their teaching materials as agreed.

The Jakarta Globe reports that Abdurahaman said “We will continue to supervise all activities of GAI [Indonesian Ahmadiyyah Movement] and Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia."

Tibetans injured, killed by Chinese troops in continuing crackdown

2012-01-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

Chinese troops in eastern Tibet fired on a crowd today, killing one man and seiously injuring several others. This is the third such violent incident in the last week. Early in the week peaceful demonstrators were fired on by Chinese personnel.

"At around 12 noon local time [on January 26], a Tibetan man named Tharpa put up signed flyers around Zu To Bharma Shang, declaring that until the demands of the Tibetans who have self-immolated are met, Tibetans will never abandon their struggle and continue to organise more campaigns," reports Tibetan news outlet Phayul.

In a press release today, the exile base of Kirti monastery said that Tharpa had posted flyers, signed with his name, suggesting that Tibetans would continue to self-immolate in protest against Chinese rule.

At around 2 pm local time Chinese security personnel went to Tharpa’s home to arrest him. Although the forces surrounded his house a group of Tibetans had congregated their to protest against it.

"The Chinese security personnel [then] used fire arms, killing one Tibetan on the spot and injuring many more,” Kirti monastery reports.

Sheikh of Al-Azhar lectures on how the aims of Egyptian revolution can be achieved

2012-01-26T10:52:00.000-08:00

The Grand Imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Sunni authority, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, has commemorated Egypt's January 25, 2011 pro-democracy uprising by delivery a speech outlining how its aims might be achieved.

The speech, which was delivered by Dr. Hassan El Shafei, advisor to the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, "stated that the only way to lay the foundation of a constitutional and democratic state is to maintain unity," BikyaMasr reports.

When Al-Tayeb was appointed Sheikh of Al-Azhar in 2010 he was viewed by many as too liberal. Al-Tayeb earned his HD at the Sorbonne, Paris.

Josh Stacher, a political scientist at Kent State University in Ohio said that Al-Tayeb was a "more globalized person who can speak a better game." According to BikyaMasr, Al-Tayeb outlined t12 points to achieve the aims of the revolution. These were:

1- Maintain the spirit of Tahrir Square, manifested during the 18 days of the revolution, which has changed the course of Egyptian history and united everyone.

2- Come to a national agreement on the goals of the revolution.

3- Establish a national government that would work without predominance, hegemony, exclusion or bias.

4- End all military trials for civillians and release all political prisoners.

5- Try all those who must be held accountable in speedy and just trials.

6- Fulfill the rights of the families of those who were martyred and injured with treatment, compensation, work and full care.

7- Construct democratic state institutions and complete a transfer of power without delay.

8- Respect the outcome of free and fair elections and foster cooperation between the youth of the revolution and all elected parties.

9- Eliminate repressive policies and corruption and build a strong economy.

10- Return Egypt to its role as a regional power and contribute positively to international politics.

11- Return the army to its role in guarding Egyptian borders and national security.

12- Utilize the energies of the youth of the revolution in addressing underdevelopment, poverty, disease and ignorance, allowing Egypt to progress politically, economically and morally.

Mob rape of foreign woman exposes scale of sexual violence in Egypt

2012-01-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

A map of incidents of sexual harassment and assaults in Egypt,
many of which have taken place in or near Tahrir Square.

Tahrir Square became synonymous with Egypt's pro-democracy revolution and the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Now, however, it is acquiring an altogether more sinister and shameful reputation as a place where women cannot visit without being sexually harassed or worse.

On Wednesday evening a foreign woman was reportedly attacked by several dozen men. Some of the men raped her.

Her husband was unable to protect her from the mob, and a number of other people that came to her aid were also attacked.

According to BikyaMasr, one witness reported via Twitter that he “saw the woman and then dozens of men surrounded her and started grabbing her, when she screamed for help some people came, but they were hit in the face."

The woman was stripped and attacked for 10 minutes. She was afterward taken away in an ambulance.

HarassMap, a website dedicated to monitoring sexual harassments and violence in Egypt, shows that the number of incidents rocketed in November 2011, and has remained high since then.

Women and men that are harassed or assaulted are able to alert the public by posting details on HarassMap's website. According to several accounts sexual harassment and groping has taken place at Tahrir Square, which appears to be getting a reputation for being a dangerous place for women. "Some people in Tahrir are harassing unveiled girls," writes one woman, "I was sexually harassed many times in 5 minutes."

Blogger Aliaa Mahdy was threatened with rape and death
after she posted nude photos of herself on her blog.

"I got ogled & touched many times in the middle of tear-gas bombs [at] Mohammed Mahmud st[reet], writes another woman" Another woman says that while she was leaving "the square, someone horribly touched me but I couldn't see him cause there were many men around me!!"

A man describing himself as "a male doctor" says that a young woman, who appears to have been a pro-democracy activist, asked for his help after being followed: "a 20 years old girl came to the clinic, she was shivering I thought she's feverish I asked her what's wrong, she asked me to hide her, coz two guys, were stalking her to touch her, through streets, she was begging for protection, with tears in her eyes took her to a safe place in the mosque, and one hour later I took her to the metro station, coz she wanted to go home. also pr[o]mises herself she will never come back to el tahrir for protesting anymore."

When Egyptian blogger Aliaa Mahdy protested for more liberty by posting nude photographs of herself on her website she was threatened with rape and death.

However, as Rime Naguib in Egypt Independent noted, "according to the latest “Google trends” statistics, Egypt ranks fourth worldwide in the highest web search requests for the word 'sex'."

It was not Aliaa's nudity that offend Egyptian men, but the fact that she presented herself as a woman and a person, and as an equal to men.

Bangladesh concerned about oil

2012-01-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has proposed setting up an oil supply company to cater to the the country's power sector.

The board believes that this wil reduce the increasing burden on the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corp.

BPDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir says "We have proposed formation of the firm as state-run entities were struggling to arrange supply of oil products on a regular basis."

According to petrochemicals and metals analyst corporation Platt, Kabir says that "BPDB will have a majority stake of 51% in the proposed company, and the rest may be held by the private sector."

"The proposal was supported by BPC Chairman Mohammad Abubbakar Siddique, who said the firm will supply required oil products -- gasoil and high sulfur fuel oil-- to both private and state-owned oil-fired power plants and thus ease burden on BPC," Platt says.

Bangladesh's natural gas recourses are fast being depleted. The country is determined to increase oil-based power plants, and will commission nearly three dozen new oil-based power plants, which will be built by 2012.

UK Muslim group angry at Ahmadiyya Koran exhibition

2012-01-24T17:31:00.000-08:00

You might expect protests at an exhibition of the Koran to be led by an anti-Islam organization. But, surprisingly, in the British town of Huddersfield an Islamic organization representing more than 15,000 Muslims is campaigning against an exhibition of the Koran that is being held at the local town hall.

The Action Committee is upset that it was arranged by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, which the Action Committee regards as not proper Muslims. Mr Amar Usman Ali, a spokesman for the Action Committee, notes that the Ahmadiyya been declared to be false Muslims.

The Ahmadiyyah sect of Islam was founded in India during the 19th century. It was inspired by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who claimed to be the Mahdi or final messenger of Islam. It is known for its tolerant approach to the religion, although it is frequently suppressed in Muslim-majority nation states.

In Indonesia the Ahmadiyya have been legislated against and attacked.

Mr Amar Usman Alisays that the Action Committee is "offended," and believes “it is time the Muslims of Huddersfield did not allow a local group to use our name to hold any future exhibitions, and have been hurt and deeply upset over the lack of consultation with the Muslim community prior to holding this event."

The Action Committee has been holding a peaceful demonstration outside the town hall.

“Whilst we do not expect the community to be sympathetic we would like to clarify our position on this group," said Mr Amar Usman Alisays.

“The World Muslim League in April 1974 declared that the Ahmadiyya are falsely claiming to be an Islamic sect," he added.

“The Koran is the holy book of the Muslims and it should be patently obvious to all that matters concerning Muslims such as an exhibition should be left to the Muslims themselves.”

The International Civil Liberties Alliance has commented on the case, saying "We see the word ‘offended’ in almost constant use these days as a means to silence debate and discussion on religious issues. It is something that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) seems to want make into a global norm, and which Western governments seem willing to indulge in via the ‘Istanbul Process’."

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently issued a report noting the use of blasphemy laws by nation states in cultivating an atmosphere of intolerance that encourages acts of violence against religious minorities, such as the Ahmadiyya.

"Under an international blasphemy law," the ICLA asks, "would religious minorities in the United Kingdom be persecuted by the state? Would the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community be accused of ‘hate speech’ or ‘blasphemy’ by simply claiming to be Muslims? Since the OIC appears to want to use the ‘Istanbul Process’ to apply OIC values to the entire world, perhaps we should take a look at the model for the international blasphemy law – the member states of the OIC itself. How is the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community treated in OIC member states? The following is from an article entitled ‘Harassment: Three Ahmedis accused under blasphemy laws’ and illustrates the situation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan:

“Sajeel Ahmed, 18, of Khushab was accused of making derogatory remarks about the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in a first information report (FIR) registered under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which carries the death penalty.”

Kashmir Government "total sell out" over sharia

2012-01-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

Allowing Islamic extremism to go unchecked in Jammu and Kashmir could have long term repercussions for the rest of India says Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Executive Member and State Chief Spokesperson Dr. Jitendra Singh.

Dr. Singh has accused the National Conference (NC) party-led Jammu and Kashmir Government of "a total sell-out to religious fundamentalists in the valley in a blatant bid to keep the extremists and separatist elements in good humour so as to ensure its own survival in power."

Dr. Singh syas that the other parties often accuse the BJP, which is India's second largest political party, of being divisive. He says, however, that the Jammu and Kashmir Government is being divisive with religion by turning a blind eye to Islamic extremism and the implementation of sharia.

Ground Report quotes Dr. Singh as saying, "It is a dangerous trend that the NC-Congress coalition government has surrendered its authority in this matter and thus yielded space to Islamic 'Sharia' court which has no constitutional or legal locus standi[ng] to pass self-styled judgements in a democratic setup."

"It is obnoxious,"Ground Report quotes Dr. Singh as saying, "that the state government is a mute witness while Sharia court in Kashmir is passing extradiction orders against other communities, conducting unauthorized court trials and summoning alleged accused to appear before it, thus tresspassing on the jurisdiction of constitutionally established courts of law."

India Announces intention to tap Iran's oil

2012-01-23T16:56:00.000-08:00

India will "endeavor in future to tap the Iran[ian] source [of oil] fully because the terms are fairly favorable,"India's Oil Minister S. Jaipal Redd announced at an energy conference on Monday.

A delegation from India went to Tehran last week to discuss payment for crude oil. Reddy reported that "Iran was very accommodative."

India's announcement comes at a moment of heightened tensions between Iran and the USA over Tehran's nuclear program, and over the alleged planned assassination of the Saudi ambassador to Washington DC. Tehran demanded an apology over the accusation, and denies that it is trying to acquire nuclear weapons.

Reddy says that although India respects United Nations sanctions it will not go along with "sanctions imposed by regional blocks, by certain nations."

"We go by our interest," Reddy said at the conference. "Iran is the second-largest supplier [to India] so we need to utilize that source."

According to Reuters, "Iran offers Indian refiners 90 days of credit, more than other major suppliers. Term contracts run from April 1 to March 31."

Iran is the world's number five oil supplier.

Indian police crack 2011 Mumbai terrorist bombing case

2012-01-23T16:41:00.000-08:00

A car damaged in the July 13, 2011 Mumbai bombings.

When terrorists rampaged through the city of Mumbai in 2008 most of us watched in horror the unfolding scenes of carnage. Only three years later, on July 13, 2011, another well-coordinated terrorist attack took place. Although it has left far less of an impression on the Western mind, three bombs were exploded killing 27 and injuring 150 people.

Maharashtra's elite anti-terrorism squad has announced that it has been holding three men involved in planning and executing the terror attack. One of the detainees has been cooperating with the Delhi Police and India's Intelligence Bureau in the search for two Pakistani nationals believed to have planted the explosive devices.

According to The Hindu, Naquee Ahmed Sheikh and Nadeem Akhtar Ashfq Sheikh reportedly "stole the scooters used in planting the bombs in crowded Mumbai streets and ferried the explosives and detonators used in the attacks from New Delhi."

Naquee Sheikh's family have complained to senior Delhi Police officials about his treatment by the Delhi police authority, after his detention on December 9.

Police sources reportedly told The Hindu that Naquee Sheikh admitted to having helped two of the suspects rent a home in Mumbai. "The two men, he said, were introduced to him by an old friend, Gayur Ahmad Jamali. Jamali, in turn, had known Siddibapa since 2008."

Iran targets Baha'i cemetery for destruction

2012-01-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

Baha'i-owned cemetery near Najafabad bulldozed in 2007

In what appears to be another act of aggression against the Baha'i minority of Iran, authorities there are attempting to repossess a Baha'i cemetery, which will then be bulldozed.

According to Baha'i World News Service, "there have been more than 30 incidents of vandalism, arson, or other problems related to Baha'i-owned cemeteries or efforts by Baha'is to properly bury their dead" since 2007.

In 2010 intruders used a bulldozer to destroy graves in the Baha'i cemetery of Jiroft, Kerman Province. In the same year the Baha'i cemetery in Mashhad was "vandalized at night using a front-end loader and other heavy machinery. The cemetery's walls, the mortuary, and the place where prayers were recited were severely damaged," says BWNS.

Baha'i funerals have also been interfered with, such as the family of a deceased woman that was "told that she would have to be interred with Muslim rites," not with those of the Baha'i faith.

Now the authorities have turned their attention to a Baha'i cemetery at the Iranian city of Sanandaj.

The cemetery began as a one-hectare parcel of barren land. But the Baha'i community "planted and watered by hand 250 cypress and fir saplings, contributed by the Office of Agriculture. They installed electricity and built a small room where bodies could be prepared for burial." BWNS says that

At every step of the way, proper permits were obtained. When the Baha'is wanted to dig a well, permission was sought and granted from the regional water board. At every expiry date, the permit was correctly renewed.

Impressed by the transformation of the site, the Office of Natural Resources suggested that the Baha'is consider planting trees on public land adjacent to the cemetery, thereby expanding the green zone. As a result, the largely Sunni Muslim residents of Sanandaj came to respect the place as a symbol of the Baha'i community's peaceful presence in their city.

But now, the area's beauty and greenery appears to have instigated a change in official attitudes. Authorities want to repossess the cemetery, reasserting the state's claim on the land – even though Baha'is were once granted the deeds. An order for it to be confiscated, and the buildings and graves to be destroyed, will be heard in court at the end of this month.

Sri Lanka deports Islamic radicals

2012-01-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

The Buddhist flag, created in Sri Lanka and first hoisted in
the Buddhist nation in 1885.

The predominantly Buddhist nation of Sri Lanka has ordered a group of 161 foreign Muslim clerics to leave the country.

The clerics, of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Maldivian and Arab backgrounds, are allegedly part of the extremist Tabligh Jamat sect. They travelled to the country in small groups last month, presumably to avoid arousing suspicion.

Chulananda Perera, Controller of Immigration and Emigration for Sri Lanka, says that he received several complaints from Sri Lanka's Muslim community, who claimed that the clerics were practicing an intolerant form of Islam.

Perera told AFP, "We have ordered them to leave the country by January 31. They have violated immigration laws. A tourist visa is to have a holiday or visit friends and family and not to preach Islam."

"Foreign clerics wishing to preach Islam in Sri Lanka, must first apply for permission through the religious affairs authorities," Perera added.

According to the AFP, "in January, Sri Lanka launched an online-visa application system, scrapping the one-month visa on arrival for foreigners, except Maldivians and Singaporeans."

Sri Lanka was formerly a British colony. The colonial authorities attempted to stamp out Buddhism in the 19th century by prohibiting schools from being founded within a quarter of a mile of any other school, which, at that point, were run by Christian missionaries.

Henry Steel Olcott, a member of the Theosophical Society and the primary investigator into the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, encouraged the revival of Buddhism and women's education. He, along with Anagarika Dharmapala, the famed Buddhist anti-colonialist, and several other Buddhists created what would become the universally accepted flag for the Buddhist religion.

The flag is composed of different colored stripes relating to the colors of the Buddha's aura as he attained enlightenment. It was first hoisted in Sri Lanka in 1885.

Libya's draft election laws biased against women

2012-01-22T11:34:00.000-08:00

The ousting of Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi in 2011 was meant to usher in a new era of pluralism and freedom.

However, as has occurred in Egypt, reactionary Islamists have stepped in to fill the political void. Women in Libya fear that they are being sidelined as the new political arrangement takes shape.

A petition calling on the National Transitional Council to ensure greater participation of women in decision-making, circulated by Women4Libya, has attracted more than 3000 signatures.

Recently the two week consultation period on the draft election laws ended abruptly with Libya's Electoral Commission announcing that previously proposed laws have been altered and ratified.

Troublingly, the proposed 10% quota for women in the new 200 seat General National Congress has been abolished, meaning that women may have virtually no say in the running of the country.

Sara Maziq, one of the founders of Women4Libya, says “the drafting team of 8 should have included women representatives and the whole process [should have] been more transparent."

As Women4Libya point out, "the precedent for elections in post-conflict countries is minimum quotas for women of at least 30% - 40%. Even Iraq and Afghanistan had a minimum 25% quota for women."

Women4Libya (W4L) recommends:

• The quota for gender participation should be at least 40% men and 40% women as an interim measure and steps should be taken so that women’s participation represents 50% of governance and across all decision-making bodies.
• The proposed ‘first past the post’ electoral system risks marginalizing women and minorities. W4L asks that it should be revised to take special consideration of Libya’s post-conflict setting; voting districts should be carefully drawn to avoid disputes and further violence and the conditions for candidate disqualification should be narrowed, clarified and should not discriminate against women.
• There should be a public consultation with respect to the choice of electoral system; rules for political parties; training and selection of election officials; and methods to ensure better participation of women, minorities and Libyans in rural areas in the election and constitutional drafting processes.
• Greater transparency and better communication with respect to the elections and constitutional drafting processes will improve the standing of the NTC domestically and internationally.

You can follow Women4Libya on Facebook here.

India: Muslims slaughter pregnant cow in Hindu temple compound

2012-01-21T11:04:00.000-08:00

Krishna sitting with a cow. The cow is regarded as a sacred
animal in Hinduism.

A tense atmosphere has prevailed in Perumbavoor, a satellite town of Kochi city and a municipality in the Indian state of Kerala, after a group of Muslims slaughtered a pregnant cow inside the compound of the Sree Dharma Sastha late Tuesday afternoon. The perpetrators slit the cow's throat.

Cows are considered sacred in Hinduism, and killing them is prohibited. The killing of the pregnant cow inside the temple compound was a deliberate act of sacrilege designed to provoke local Hindus.

A member of the Sree Dharma Sastha temple committee is reported to have said, “If they wanted the cow for meat they could have simply stolen it. That they committed the heinous act right in front of the temple has only one explanation – their intention was perhaps to create trouble."

Three taluks (administrative subdivisions) of Ernakulam district (Muvattupuzha, Kunnathunadu and Kothamangalam) observed a dawn-to-dusk shutdown on Wednesday after calls from Hindu organizations and Sangh Pariwar outfits.

Hindu Janajagruti Samiti reports "the shutdown affected normal life in all the three taluks. Incidents of mild stone-pelting were reported from some places. The police had on Tuesday itself taken three persons – Muhammad (49), his son Anas (23) and Razid (18) – into custody in connection with the cow-slaughter. One person managed to flee the scene."

Hindu Janajagruti Samiti also says that "As per police reports, Perumbavoor and the surrounding areas have witnessed a rise in Islamist operations recently." The Hindu website says

The place is just 25 km away from Muvattupuzha, where activists of Islamist organization Popular Front of India had cut off the right hand of a college professor on July 4, 2010 alleging that he had blasphemed Prophet Muhammad through a test paper for students.

The sacrilegious act of cow-slaughter took place late Tuesday afternoon after the three Muslims reached the temple compound pretending that they wanted to give medicine to the cow which had developed some health problems two days ago. The cow had wandered into the temple area about two weeks ago.

Britain: discontent about sharia and erosion of rights

2012-01-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

According to the International Civil Liberties Alliance, "an important meeting, organised by ‘The Centre for Enquiry UK’ will take place in London’s Conway Hall (25 Red Lion Square, Holborn) on Saturday 28 January 2012. The title for the event is “BLASPHEMY!”

Over the last week we've seen that censorship is alive and well. A Tunisian tv executive will stand trial for blasphemy, for showing a cartoon movie. An atheist is on trial in Indonesia for writing "God does not exist" on Facebook. The Maldives have removed "offensive" statues from view. And Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani has been threatened with execution for a nude photo shoot published in Madame Le Figaro.

The ICLA reminds us that in 2006, in the aftermath of the Danish cartoon crisis, which saw riots break out across the globe in response to several cartoons of Islam's prophet, Mohammed, being published by the small Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, the March for Free Expression (MfFE) took place in Trafalgar Square, London.
The ICLA says "The MfFE event publicised the problem of the erosion of the right to freedom of expression caused by the actions of religious agitators who demand respect for their opinions and unquestioning obedience to their dogmas." Since then, however, "not only have [British] politicians not addressed the problem but have actively made it worse and in the process made the people of Britain less free. Now, nearly 6 years later the campaign against free speech has reached the point where it is on the verge of formal abolition within the European Union."

Tickets for the Blasphemy event cost ten pounds sterling (around $18) and eight pounds for students. You can find more details at the website for the Centre for Inquiry.

Great Britain 2011: a young Muslim posts up stickers
declaring areas "Shariah Controlled Zones.

Another initiative to limit the effects of sharia in the UK, the ICLA also reminds us, is the Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill "put before the United Kingdom Parliament under the sponsorship of Baroness Caroline Cox and received its first reading on 7 June 2011." The ICLA hopes it will "make good progress in 2012."

Great Britain has at least 85 operating sharia courts, although some researchers estimate that there are at least several hundred, with the majority operating out the back rooms of shops, mosques and other types of premises. In 2011 one Muslim organization began calling for several British cities to be made into autonomous, sharia-run city states. There was also a campaign to enforce sharia in certain areas of Britain.

"This Bill," the ICLA says, "seeks to amend the 1996 Arbitration Act which was one of the biggest steps backward for women’s rights in British parliamentary history. The 1996 Arbitration Act allowed sharia courts make legally binding rulings based on the iniquitous and discriminatory principles of sharia such as the testimony of a woman being worth half that of a man. The Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill seeks to remedy this situation and restore full equality before the law to Muslim women. A person’s religion should not impact on their equal rights as a citizen."

Tunisian TV executive to stand trial for "blasphemy" over animated movie

2012-01-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

Nabil Karoui, owner of the Tunisian Nassma TV station is set to stand trial for “violating sacred values” and “disturbing the public order.”

He faces up to three years in jail if he is found guilty. The Tunisian authorities are upset that Karouri allowed the French animated movie Persepolis to be aired on his station in October 2011. (Watch the trailer below)

The French animation is based on an Iranian autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi. Islamic critics have described the movie as "blasphemous" as it shows a dream sequence in which the heroine imagines herself talking with God.
According to Egyptian media outlet BikyaMasr, "The airing of the film triggered a wave of violence, including an attempt to firebomb Karoui’s home on October 14. Salafi activists also staged angry protests in front of the offices of the station."

Karoui has told reporters, “I will plead not guilty, of course. It is outrageous that it was I who appear, as people who burned my house were released.

A scene from Persepolis. A Tunisian tv station owner
will stand trial for showing the French movie.

“The new defenders of the moral order in Tunisia want to make an example out of me. We are in a moral dictatorship worse than under Ben Ali. Under the old system, I have never been threatened with death,” Karoui says.

Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s interim Director for Middle East and North Africa has said "Putting Nabil Karoui on trial simply for screening a film which shows fantasy scenes of God is a very troubling development. “The Tunisian authorities must uphold Nabil Karoui’s right to freedom of expression and drop these charges immediately."

Atheist arrested in Indonesia for writing "God does not exist" on Facebook

2012-01-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

An Indonesian civil servant is facing five years in jail for writing “God does not exist” on a Facebook page, “Ateis Minang” (“Minang Atheists”), that he moderated.

The 31 year-old man, who is known as Alexander, was reported to the police by the Indonesia Council of Ulema, which is not a state organization.

Police have confirmed that they have charged a man with blasphemy in connection to the case.

Dharmasraya Police Chief Sr. Comr. Chairul Aziz told the Jakarta Globe "that the district branch of the council, known as MUI, and other Islamic organizations believed Alexander, 31, had defiled Islam by using passages from the Koran to denounce the existence of God."

Chairul says that because Alexander cited the Koran in defense of his atheism, "it meets the criteria of tainting religion, in this case Islam.”

Ifdhal Kasim, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) told the Jakarta Globe that the police "should protect freedom of expression, instead of listening too much to the majority. Police should remain neutral instead of upholding the law subjectively.”

The Jakarta Globe also quotes a member of a 600-strong Atheist organization, as saying, "If MUI thinks that there’s an imaginary friend up there, it doesn’t mean people should believe it. Why is it that we cannot criticize religion? This is against freedom of expression and human rights."

According to the Indonesian newspaper, "Blasphemy, which carries a five-year sentence, is defined under the Criminal Code as publicly expressing feelings or doing something that spreads hatred, abuse or taints certain religions in Indonesia in a way that could cause someone to disbelieve religion."

Iran: actress should be "put to death" for nude pics

2012-01-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

Golshifteh Farahani. The Iranian regime says she should be
executed for the nude photo shoot published by Madame
Le Figaro.

The Western media has been reporting that Iranian-born actress Golshifteh Farahani has been told not to return to Iran because of her recent nude photo shoot published in Madame Le Figaro magazine.

It's actually much worse, and a little more complicated than that.

When Egyptian blogger Aliaa Mahdy, 20, published nude photos of herself on her blog in December Egypt exploded.

Although Egypt's liberals supported her right to self-expression, and while many women hailed her bravery, the country's religious conservatives in particular were enraged. Mahdy was subsequently threatened with death and rape.

The same is now occurring with Farahani. The Iranian-born actress "has been attacked by the Iranian government, calling her 'anti-Islam' and demanding that she be put to death for 'blasphemy'," Egyptian media outlet BikyaMasr is reporting.

In the West, Farahani's pictures in Madame Le Figaro are merely pictures of an actress, naked. In the Middle East and among certain religious conservatives they challenge convention and, along with it, the holders of power.

Farahani's photo shoot for a French magazine, is seen in Iran in an Iranian/Middle Eastern context. It is as Egyptian media outlet BikyaMasr puts it, "dabbling in women’s issues." Gelareh Bagherzadeh, 30, who campaigned for the rights of Iranian woman was shot dead yesterday near her home in Houston.

BikyaMasr says the actress "protested against the ultra-conservative nature of her home country, which she said in the interview, was “restricting the ability for Iran’s film industry to push forward."

Girls will be boys. Golshifteh Farahani in Paris Vogue
wearing a man's tuxedo.

The "idea that a woman can demand her rights through 'the shock of nudity' is not new to the world," a number of women reportedly told BikyaMasr.

“We have long had nudity in our history, and this concept and act of protest by Farahani is the next evolution in the battle for women to become equal and have full rights in the country,” Nadia, a professor told the Egyptian media outlet.

“It is really easy to condemn and call her ridiculous, but the reality is men are all logging on to see her naked body, just like they did in Egypt. At least now we can talk about women’s issues in this country and push empowerment forward,” the professor told BikyaMasr via telephone.

When Aliaa Mahdy was being denounced in the Egyptian media for her "pornography," as Rime Naguib in Egypt Independent noted, "according to the latest “Google trends” statistics, Egypt ranks fourth worldwide in the highest web search requests for the word 'sex'."

The problem, Naguib explains, was not Aliaa Mahdy's nudity. The problem was that she presented herself as a person, and a woman; not just an object to cover up and undress at will. In both cases, the act of nudity was a challenge to convention. It was, in effect, saying, I am here, I am a person, and I am your equal.

Maldives removes "offensive" monuments

2012-01-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

An "offensive" monument given to the Maldives
by Sri Lanka.

The Maldives republic is currently removing monuments it was given by the South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation when the island hosted its 17th conference in November. This follows a "Defend Islam" protest against the monuments was held on December 23, and calls for the implementation of sharia law.

Hithadhoo Court Magistrate Abdullah Farooq has ordered the removal of monuments gifted by the SAARC nations at the 2011 SAARC Summit “Building Bridges” held in Addu City.

This week, following two months of theft and vandalism, Addu City Council removed the monument given to the Maldives from Bhutan, which is described as "a wooden sign," and which demonstrators have claimed is offensive to Islam.

According to the New Age, "Out of the monuments from the SAARC countries, the one given by Pakistan installed in Seenu Atoll, Hithadhoo, which depicts the country’s conversion to Islam, became the ‘most controversial’ as it shows several deities. Just on the eve of unveiling the monument from Pakistan, detailing the Indus valley civilization and a bust of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the country, a group of protesters had knocked it down calling it idolatrous."

According to the Maldivian newspaper Minivan News. State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Hussein Rasheed had previously said "The Pakistan monument showed how Pakistan became an Islamic country from its Buddhist origins," and that "Although the monument does not contradict Islam, it should not be kept there if Maldivian citizens do not want it to be there."

Hithadhoo Court Magistrate Abdullah Farooq "identified the monuments as “idols of worship” used by non- Muslims which could allow for the growth of other religions in the Maldives," also according to Minivan News.

"Farooq further argued that the monuments conflict with the regulations within the Religious Unity Act and were accepted into the country unlawfully according to the Contraband Act."

Hezbollah spiritual head: chaos in middle east a tool of "Zionism and Freemasonry"

2012-01-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

Speaking at a conference, Head of Hizbullah Juristic Council His Eminence Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek has said that George W. Bush is responsible for chaos in the Middle East, and that its purpose was to allow Zionism and Freemasonry to dominate the region, reports AhlulBayt News Agency.

"It is in fact the chaos spread by Bush, to seize the region," sheikh Yazbek told the international conference Muslims and Christians in the Atmosphere of Major Transitions, "so that there would be no guarantee, immunity or value, but blind dependency controlled by an international Zionism and Freemasonry, which defines freedom, democracy, good and evil, in a way that serves their own project."
Zionism and Freemasonry are frequently cited as the enemies of Islam in the media of the region. While Zionism is associated with Israel, "Freemasonry" usually refers to the USA and the values of liberal democracy, feminism, and so on.

UK Muslims petition against "Jesus and Mo" cartoon

2012-01-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

An ad for Lucky beer. The beer bottle itself is in the
shape of the Buddha. So far no petitions.

Do you wish the West was just a little more like Victorian Britain? No? Then you might be surprised to know that some people do. The Atheist, Secularist & Humanist Society of the University College London is currently under the spotlight for posting an image from the online "Jesus and Mo" cartoon on its Facebook page. The ASHS uses the page to promote social events that usually involving drinking -- they're students. The image depicts Jesus and Islam's prophet Mohammed in a bar with a pint of Guinness beer each.

No prizes for guessing that the college union has received "complaints" and that the society is being pressured to remove the image.

Something needs to be pointed out here. I understand that some Muslims are upset, but how many of them are going to be checking the Atheist, Secularist & Humanist Society's Facebook page for the next boozing session? Err... well... none. That's right, none of the offended actually need to be offended. It's a lifestyle choice.

Anyway, Muslims in Leamington, a northern British town 131 miles from London, have added their names to a petition that demands the ASHS take down a cartoon. The ASHA has received an email from the student union requesting they take down the image from their Facebook page as a the union has received several complaints.

The offending image. Jesus (left)
and "Mo" (right) drinking Guinness.

The Islam is Peace (theartofmisinformation.wordpress.com) website says that there are limits to freedom. "Freedom," the website contends, "should never be taken as an excuse to exploit the sensitivity of others, especially in matters of faith."

Okay, we know that Muslims are going to be upset by a cartoon of Mohammed. Like ASHA, they're exercising their right to free speech. That's how things work.

Let's just move on. A very large part of the problem here is the student union. As human rights activist Peter Tatchell reported in 2009, when Abu Usamah, a homophobic Muslim speaker was invited to speak at UCL, the student union supported the event, despite the fact that Usamah had previously stated that women were "deficient" and that Muslim apostates should be executed -- along with gays -- in the Islamic state.

"If I was to turn around and I was to call homosexuals perverted, dirty filthy dogs, that should be murdered," Usamah had been recorded and shown on a TV documentary saying prior to the event being even planned, "that’s my freedom of speech isn’t it?”

The student union agreed. But now that it comes to the kind of cartoon that gets a chuckle down the "uni" bar and a death sentence in the "Islamic state" they're not quite so sure.

The ASHA is fighting back, although it might be a losing battle. The group set up its own petition, but that appears to have been removed (although the cartoon has not). The petition stated:

In response to complaints from a number of students, the University College London Union has insisted that the UCLU Atheist, Secularist & Humanist Society remove the following image from a Facebook event advertising a pub social. It has done so on the grounds that

This is a gross infringement on its representatives’ right to freedom of expression taken by members of the first secular university in England. All people are free to be offended by any image they view. This does not give them the right to impose their beliefs on others by censoring such images.

We the undersigned urge the University College London Union to immediately halt their attempts to censor the UCLU Atheist, Secularist & Humanist Society and uphold its members’ right to freedom of expression.

According to MDTurner.co.uk, "The union requested the image be removed and to inform the union when this request had been carried out. Unlike most previous examples of this kind of censorship, where media outlets can’t seem to surrender quickly enough, the society has not backed down. Their stance has been backed by the National Secular Society as well as the National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies, an group which represents the interests of all student secular groups."

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA)says "members of all faith-based communities should stand together and condemn this type of profanity in our midst.''

Fair enough. That's their right of free speech, and I'm glad they have it. Just, wouldn't it be nice if they exercised it a little more, and condemned attacks by Muslims on Hindu and Buddhist temples, the forced conversion of minorities to Islam, the ethnic cleansing of Yezidis in Iraq, the persecution of the Baha'i in the Islamic Republic of Iran, etc.? Perhaps they's find people took their outrage at a cartoon a little more seriously if they did.

India: Be careful what you write

2012-01-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

Not smiling now: Subramanian Swamy (Left) is currently
under investigation for his "inflammatory article" on how
to stop Islamic terrorism.

India, as we are often reminded, is the world's biggest democracy. At the moment, however, a cloud hangs over its commitment to freedom of expression. A couple of day ago Subramanian Swamy was questioned by Delhi Police because he had written an "inflammatory article" on how to prevent Islamic terrorism.

Swamy, who is head of India's Janata Party and a well-known columnist, also lost his professorship at Harvard over the article, which -- at its most controversial -- suggested that Muslims should feel proud of their Hindu roots, and those that could not, and saw themselves as separate, should not be allowed to vote. In other words, for Swamy, loyalty to the nation that gives you a vote should be prerequisite to getting the vote. Whatever one might think of this, it should be remembered that acts of violence and aggression against Hindus and Buddhists in the region are common.

According to India Express, "Delhi High Court had on Friday last granted interim protection to Swamy and asked him to give an undertaking that he would not write such articles in the future. The court also issued notice to the Delhi Police, seeking its response to Swamy's anticipatory bail plea."

Next up: Salman Rushdie. Rushdie's Satanic Verses was published in 1988. Or, to put it less technically, a long time ago. But the prospect of Rushdie attending a literary festival in India "sparked protests from some Muslim leaders who have demanded he be prevented from entering the country," says Reuters.

"The vice-chancellor of India's Darul Uloom Deoband seminary has called on the government to block Rushdie's visit, accusing the 65-year-old of hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims. In response to a protest march planned on Friday January 20, the festival's opening day, organizers have rescheduled Rushdie's sessions, but event sources told Reuters that his invitation to take part still stood."

Think all of this worrying about people expressing themselves won't affect you? Well, it just might. The High Court at Delhi is currently hearing a case against Google and Facebook -- which the two internet giants are fighting. Chairman Justice Markandey Katju has called for social networking sites to be prosecuted if users post "objectionable" material, and this unfortunate sentiment is getting some traction among the nation's most easily offended.

Turkish Jewish pop singer accused of being Freemasons' puppet

2012-01-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

The days before Zionist Freemasons were the kings of kitsch.
British hipsters Bucks Fizz strut their funky stuff.

Singer Can Bonomo will be representing his native Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest. Eurovision is an Europe-wide annual event made famous for its kitsch and political squabbling -- you know, where the Russians give their votes to the Ukrainians, and the French gives theirs to the Germans, while pretending its all about merit.

Bonomo is Jewish, but he's keeping that quiet, lest his fellow nationals get upset. in fact Bonomo’s spokesman, Ece Kahraman, wrote in a statement to JTA (the Global News Service of the Jewish people): "We would like to inform that Mr. Can Bonomo is bound to refuse answering all the questions about his religious beliefs, anti-Semitism and political subjects.”

According to JTA, Turkey's "radical right-wing papers had accused Bonomo of being a tool of Zionists and Freemasons."

Bangladesh: Hindu temples under seige

2012-01-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Hindus in Bangladesh come out to demand the authorities
protect Hindu and Buddhist temples from Islamic militants.

Bangladshi Hindus came out to form a human chain on the streets in protest against "land grabs" by Muslim organizations on 15th January, the day of the Makar Sankranti festival. Hindus allege that Islamic organizations have been seizing Hindu property, especially Hindu temples.

Moth Mandir and Debbottor Sampatti Raksha Committee, the Hare Hrishna body ISKCON Dhaka, and the Sree Sree Radha kanto Jeo Temple committee jointly organized the protest, and demanded the authorities ensure the safety and security of Hindu and Buddhist temples in Bangldesh.

According to Hindu Existence, "Over a thousand Hindu protesters today came down to streets before the Press Club Dhaka, Bangladesh and blocked the roads for hours with a demand to arrest the perpetrators." They say the police and authorities have turned a blind eye to the illegal actions.

Hindu Existence alleges that, since 2008, some Islamist groups headed by Hazi Islam, Sarowar Hossian Alo, Ibrahim Molla, Arif Mallu, "have jointly been trying to grab many Hindu Shrines and its property in Dhaka (Capital of Bangladesh), old Dhaka area and adjacent places by ransacking the Hindu temples, bombing and looting of Hindu properties time and again."

"The perpetrators,"Hindu Existence claims, "made fake deeds to capture the SREE SREE RADHA KANTO JEO TEMPLE and attacked the temple and its inmates on 11-08-2010 with bomb sword and other lethal weapons. A diary was also made then for the protection of the Temple properties and its inmates. It may be mentioned that the world famous Hindu Organization and prime Vaishnava Order ISKCON is presently looks after the premises of this complex and consequently ISKCON is also being targeted by [...] Muslim fundamentalist[s]."

The Voice of India and Bangladesh Minority Watch allege that a Hindu temple was attacked in December.

Muslims "armed with deadly weapon jumped over the Hindu devotees without any provocation and seriously injured two Hindu devotees [...]. As a result of [the] attack by iron rod[s the] two victims [were] immediately rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment. The perpetrators not only physically attacked those devotees but also desecrated the Hindu deities, looted belongings," and damaged other property.

Bangladesh Minority Watch says that "some Muslim victims were also found injured due to [a] counter attack," as Hindus tried to defend their temple. Consequently the police put the investigation on hold, "to minimise tension between the two groups."

Activist for women's rights in Iran murdered in USA

2012-01-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

Gelareh Bagherzadeh, 30, An activist for women's rights in Iranian was shot dead early Monday in Houston, Texas.

Gelareh Bagherzadeh, an activist for woman's rights in Iran
was shot dead in Houston on Monday.

Investigators in the case say someone walked up to the passenger side of Bagherzadeh car and shot her in the head.

Her body was found inside her car, which had crashed into a garage, and was still running.

"We don't know if she was being followed at the time," Sgt. Richard Bolton said.

Officers said Bagherzadeh's ex-boyfriend was on the phone with her when he heard what may have been the gunshots and crash.

"He said she screamed for her life," said Lorena Lopez, one of Bagherzadeh's close friends. "He heard screeching and he assumed it was a car accident."

Muslim Brotherhood FJP to nominate Egyptian Parliament's speaker

2012-01-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

Mohamed Morsi, chairman of the Muslims Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) announced during a press conference on Monday that FJP secretary-general Saad al-Katatni will be nominated as speaker of the new parliament. FJP vice president Essam El-Erian was also a possible candidate.

The political parties in Egypt have been debating who would take the position, and who will fill the two deputy speaker positions.

The Muslim Brotherhood-led alliance won more than 45% of the 498 Egyptian Parliament seats, while the Nour Salafist Party won another 25 percent.

Mohammed Morsi said the FJP had met with all the other parties to decide who the speaker should be, and to ensure that there would be "exclusions, no polarization and no conflict" and that there would "be national consensus" in Parliament.

The new Parliament will select a 100-person commission to draw up a new Constitution for Egypt, before presidential elections in June. The Associated Press says "the selection of el-Katatni showed the power of the Islamists to influence that process."

Thailand finds bomb-making materials, suspects Hezbollah

2012-01-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

Jewelry store forced to stop selling Hindu Buddhist Swastika earrings

2012-01-15T15:10:00.000-08:00

In Indonesia in 2010 a Muslim organization forced a Buddhist temple to remove a Buddha statue from public view. Wouldn't happen in the US, right? That's the kind of intolerance Americans are against. As Ron Meier, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League's New York office told Fox News this week, the city is all about diversity. Oh, sorry, no.

It was an "innocent mistake," says Meier. But who's making it? Bejeweled, a jewelry store in Greenpoint, Brooklyn owned by Miss Young Sook Kim, had been selling Hindu/Buddhist swastika earrings for $5.99. Visit the cozy "lemon hued" shop, and you'll be given a "silk-lined straw basket for corralling" the shop's sections, where you can buy "Totes, evening clutches, and jeweled hair accessories," NY Mag says.

But to listen to Meier you'd think Bejeweled is a magnet for neo-Nazi haters.

Is this a hate crime in your eyes? A Buddha
with swastika. Note that it is the same as the
earrings sold by funky NY store Bejeweled.

Despite clearly rotating in the opposite direction to the Nazi swastika, as most Buddhist, and even neo-Pagan swastikas do, pressure from one NY Councilman, as well as politicians, the Anti-Defamation League, and the media, has been brought down hard on Miss Kim.

New York City Councilman Steve Levin personally visited the store and "demanded" the Korean owner remove them from her shelves.

According to Fox News, "A day earlier, politicians and advocates told FoxNews.com that the earrings were the latest example of anti-Semitism in New York and New Jersey. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer demanded that the store immediately stop selling them."

Remember, these are Hindu/Buddhist -- and, yes, occasionally neo-Pagan -- symbols. The swastika traditionally represents peace -- and, by traditionally, I mean for the few thousand years before Nazism. Moreover, the Nazis called the symbol -- not the "swastika" -- but the Hakenkreuz ("Hooked Cross"). Swastika is a Sanskrit word, not a German one. According to Max Muller, swasti appears frequently as a noun for "happy" and as an adverb meaning "well." The word breaks down as:

Su: good, well, prosperity.

Asti: "to be"

Ka: suffix forming the substantive.

Meier says that he was instrumental in getting the earrings removed. Although he acknowledges that the owner understood them -- correctly -- as Hindu/Buddhist, as far as he's concerned the fact that other people will wrongly interpret it as a sign of evil is reason enough to have it effectively banned.

"It took a little while to really bridge the cultural divide," he says, "because they really understood it in one way and New York understood it in very much a different way." Or, because they understood the earrings -- which were manufactured in India -- in the right way, i.e., as Buddhist/Hindu earrings.

The Nazi Hakenkreuz ("swastika").

As a Fox interviewer notes, "the owner didn't comprehend the offense because from Miss Kim's standpoint it's not a Nazi symbol. The swastika is also a symbol in ancient Indian religions like Hinduism and Buddhism." But that doesn't matter. Facts, schmacts.

Lyndon LaRouche PAC currently has a campaign that uses a photo of President Obama with a Hitler mustache. It's in bad taste. You can see the Larouche teams around NY, prominently displaying the image. You can buy tee-shirts with communist symbols on them or with the face of Che Guevera, a man who had the firing squad shoot political prisoners outside his office window so he could enjoy the spectacle each morning. But, the occasional offensive image is the price you pay for freedom.

Here's my question to those offended by the sacred symbol of Hinduism and Budhism -- and let's not forget neo-Paganism: For many Muslims the Star of David is a symbol of the oppression of the Palestinians. That's how they see it. You disagree, but will you be consistent and support Muslims or non-Muslim political activists who call for it to be banned in areas where Muslims make up a certain percentage?

No? Well, you've set a great precedent, haven't you?

Egyptian court bans anti-revolutionary TV program

2012-01-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

TV host and politician Tawfiq Okasha equates democracy
with Zionism and Freemasonry.

Cairo Administrative Court banned a television program on Saturday that has been attacking Egypt's pro-democracy revolutionaries. The television program is hosted by Tawfiq Okasha, an Egyptian Presidential candidate for the Egypt National Party.

According to Egypt Independent, " the General Authority for Investment and Nile Sat authorities should stop the broadcasting of a program titled Misr al-Youm, which is aired by Al-Faraeen private channel and presented by Tawfiq Okasha, the channel's president."

Egyptian Independent has named Okasha as one of Egypt's five most controversial figure.

"Some media professionals have raised concerns over his tendency to label revolutionary forces as agents in a conspiracy by Zionists and Freemasons," a conspiracy theory that was introduced to the Middle East during the 1930s by the Third Reich. Okasha also recently denounced Canadian Sun TV show host as a "Freemason."

Unlike in Europe, where belief in such theories is relegated to a few neo-Nazis, extreme socialists and anti-globalists, it remains popular in the Middle East, among Arabs and Muslims in particular, and is frequently cited in official media. In this case, Egypt appears to be bucking the trend, despite the theory being cited by Salafists and others since the revolution.

Okasha won a meager 112 votes in the recent election.

Egypt Independent, Cairo Administrative Court "said Okasha has violated the professional code of ethics and used his channel to take revenge on individuals."

Closer ties to Israel upsets India's Muslims

2012-01-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Many Muslims view Israel and the USA as enemies
of Islam. India's closer ties to Israel has upset many
of the southeast Asian nation's Muslim citizens.

India has been working hard to cement its relationship with Israel lately, consequently upsetting many of the southeast Asian nation's Muslim organizations. On a recent visit to Israel India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna described the two nation states as natural allies, and as facing international terrorism.

During the visit, it was agreed that Israel would be allowed to open an embassy in Bangalore.

Mr. E. Aboobacker, national president of the Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI) said in a statement on Friday, January 13, that “India seeking to forge a joint strategy with Israel to deal with the scourge of terrorism is a big joke as the latter over nine decades has been massacring unarmed Palestinians, including women and children, with impunity.”

“It is pertinent to note," the Mr. Aboobacker said, "that increasing cooperation between New Delhi and Tel Aviv makes India’s stand on Palestine imbroglio a farce," adding that the closer cooperation contradicted India's position on the Palestinian issue.

Prof. Basir Ahmed Khan of the Indian Union Muslim League described the visit as a “travesty of justice" adding that "what Israel was facing is an struggle of Palestinians to free their own country from the illegal occupation of Israel; this cannot be equated with terrorism."

E. M. Abdul Rahiman, Chairman of Popular Front of India, also described the diplomatic visit as "mere mockery because Israel is by itself a fountain head of terrorism globally."

Mr. Rahiman said he believed the Indian "Government is acting as a tool to implement the aggressive policies of USA and its close ally Israel." The Popular Front, he said, "views the India-Israel joint decision to open Israel’s consulate in Bangalore, as a threat to our national interests. It will be a catalyst to the communal and terrorist agenda of the Hindutva fascist outfits, particularly in Karnataka state which is already in their grip.”

OnIslam reported that the two Muslim leaders also "referred to press reports which blamed the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai on saffron forces with the help of Mossad."

Plight of Baha'i discussed by British Parliament

2012-01-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

A Baha'i temple in New Delhi.

Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Riverside Liverpool, raised the issue of the persecution of the Baha'i in Iran last week, on January 11. Her intention, she said, was to draw "attention to Iran’s horrendous human rights record. The abuses affect a wide range of people — women, gay people, dissidents and the human rights lawyers who try to defend those people..." However, Ellman wanted especially "to focus on an area of persecution that has received too little public notice and attention: the long-standing and ongoing persecution of the Baha’is."

"The persecution is not widely acknowledged, although it is pervasive and is escalating dangerously. There are thought to be more than 300,000 Baha’is in Iran and 188 Baha’i communities worldwide.

"Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, 200 Baha’is were expelled and thousands were imprisoned. The 1991 memorandum of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution set out what still remains official policy towards what is ominously called the Baha’i question. The memorandum makes it clear that official policy is repression of the Baha’is in an effort to crush the religion and its adherents—in the words of the Iranian Government’s official policy, to block their progress and development. The repression takes a number of forms in an ongoing and systematic persecution. It means arbitrary arrest and imprisonment and the denial of access to higher education and areas of employment. The homes and businesses of Baha’is have been subject to arson attacks, cemeteries have been destroyed, and children have been harassed.

"There are 102 Baha’is imprisoned in Iran. One current issue of major concern is the trial of the seven former leaders of the Baha’i community of Iran: Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm. They were detained in 2008 without charge and were denied access to lawyers for a year. In January 2010, they appeared in court on charges that could have led to their execution. In August, they received sentences of 20 years. Although the sentences had been reduced to 10 years following international condemnation, the length has since been restored.

"In May 2011, another series of raids was held on 39 Baha’i homes in Tehran, Karaj, Shiraz, Gohardasht, Sari and Zahedan. In the ensuing weeks, eight people were released, but 11 remain imprisoned. The charges were of conspiracy against national security and conspiracy against the Islamic Republic of Iran by establishing the illegal Baha’i Institute for Higher Education, an online programme to support Baha’i youth barred from universities.

You can read the rest of the debate here.

India's Hindus and Muslims debate anti-yoga fatwa

2012-01-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

From Times Now.

Cleric: "No religious worship should be associated with any kind of yoga."

Malaysian woman challenges forced conversion at age of seven

2012-01-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

The Penang High Court, Malaysia is currently hearing the case of a woman who claims she was forced to convert to Islam at the age of seven. Siti Hasnah Vangarama Abdullah, now 38, was given to the Ramakrishna Orphanage at the age of five, and was living there when the alleged incident took place.

A former Muslim Welfare Organisation named Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Perkim officer Raimi Abdullah, and the Penang Islamic Religious Council have been named as defendants in the case.

Siti Hasnah says she was taken by Mr. Mohamad and Mr. Abdullah from the orphanage to the Kadi Municipal Council, where a conversion ceremony was carried out.

She says that, as a seven year-old, she did not understand the "Sijil Akuan Masuk Islam" document which she was forced to read, recite and sign.

According to the Malaysian Insider, Siti Hasnah "wants the court to order the National Registration Department to alter her recorded information [...] to remove the Muslim status and then revert her name back to the Hindu Banggarma A/P Subramaniam."
The case is being heard by a three-man panel headed by Justice Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin. He has ruled that the High Court has "jurisdiction to hear the originating summons to try her religious status." Siti Hasnah was also awarded RM10,000 (approximately $3,000 US) in legal costs.

This overturns the previous ruling of August 4 2010, when the High Court decision declined to hear the case on the basis that it was a sharia case, and that, as such, the High Court did not have jurisdiction.

Muslims and Christians condemn world's biggest yoga session

2012-01-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

A woman performs one of the asanas of the Surya Namaskar,

The Government of India's central province, Madhya Pradesh, had been planning a mass yoga session on Swami Vivekanand's birthday, today, in hopes of creating a new world record.

The province's school education department encouraged students to participate in the event in the hopes that it would be able to get into the Guinness Book of Records. Students were not forced to attend, however.

But, guess what? Not everyone was happy.

Muslim leaders in the province denounced it as "idol worship," and issued a fatwa against the yoga event, which was ratified on Tuesday by ratified by the Shahar Qazi, Sayyed Mushtaq Ali Nadvi.
The yoga practitioners conducted the 'Surya Namaskar' exercise, which is a series of 12 asanas (yoga postures). Surya Namaskar -- literally "salute to the sun" -- has its roots in the worship of the Surya, "Supreme Light," a Hindu deity, although, like other yoga exercises it has since lost its religious connotations, and is practiced to improve health.

The principles of some Christian schools have also condemned the event, calling it the "saffronisation of schools," and claiming that it is religious and, as such, encouraging school students to participate is in violation of the Constitution.

Archana Chitnis, the province's School Education Minister, has told reporters that "Surya Namaskar is a Yogic exercise aimed at improving one's health and those not interested in taking part in it have an option to stay away from it. Sun is neither saffron [i.e. Hindu] nor green [Islamic]."

The Hindustan Times reported that a "number of muslim students were [...] seen participating in the Surya Namaskar, defying the fatwa issued by the clergy a day ago."

Iran continues it persecution of Baha'i faith

2012-01-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

The execution of Bahá’í, from the Persian magazine, Ima’mat, circa 1911.

It was Iranian Baha'i Youth Day when security forces raided the home of Bakhtiar Rasekhi in Kerman Province.

According to the Human Rights House of Iran (HRHoI), in "an illegal and offensive encounter" the security forces "film[ed] and photograph[ed] the young people gathered in the house," before conducting a search of the property.

Mr. Rasekhi, his wife Farahnaz Naimi and their daughter Farin Rasekhi were then arrested. That was January 6. According to the Human Rights House of Iran, "there is still no news of the whereabout of the three detainees."

Being under the world's spotlight hasn't prevented the Islamic Republic of Iran from continuing its persecution of the Baha'i, it appears.

Also since the beginning of January, the Iranian authorities closed the business of Arman Safai, a Baha’i living in Sari. According to HRHoI, the officials confiscated Mr. Safai's laptop, which financial information, on the pretext of "its containing music material." The officers also reportedly "objected to his sister’s dress, despite her having on a scarf and a headband."

I Iran's continuing campaign to deny education to the Baha'i, Shokoufeh Moeddi, a first semester student of information technology at Payam Nur University in Zahedan, was expelled from the university because of her Baha’i Faith. The university reportedly informed Moeddi that "the reason for her expulsion is her belief in the Baha’I Faith and that the order [to expel her] came from Tehran."

Indian politicians woo Muslim vote

2012-01-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

Digvijaya Singh "rakes up" the arrest of Islamist terrorist in
an incident he believes was faked.

Political parties in Uttar Pradesh are wooing the Muslim vote as the northern Indian state heads to the polls.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh "raked up" the arrest of Islamist terrorists in the Balta House incident of 2008, according to IBN.

Two of the suspected terrorists were killed in an exchange of gunfire during the encounter with police, two others were arrested, and one escaped. However, Singh maintains that the event was "fake."

Uma Bharti, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, accused Congress of trying to divide India by introducing a quota for Muslims. This would mean that around four percent of official jobs, university places, etc., would be reserved for Muslims.

In somewhat tortured logic -- such as we normally associate with Western politicians -- BJP's Uma Bharti claimed that Congress was trying to bank Muslim votes with the move. However, she then suggested that "division within the community on the basis of caste" is "is against the tenets of Islam." Bharti suggested that by reserving a quota for India's Muslims, Congress was trying to turn the country into a Hindu state.

(Traditionally Islam has allowed Christians and Jews the second class status of dhimmi ("protected"), whereas polytheists and others classified as "infidels" have been completely subjugated or ethnically cleansed.)

Indonesia celebrated for diversity, but minority faiths discriminated against

2012-01-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

Soldiers file past a burned out Ahmadiyah mosque in Java,
Indonesia.

Indonesia is often heralded for its pluralism by Western leaders as a nation showing other Muslim-majority states how to do moderate Islam. It is, we are told, a land of peace and pluralism. One pundit, in today's Jakarta Globe says otherwise.

Calvin Michel Sidjaja, a researcher for HD Asia Advisory in Jakarta, calls Indonesia's pluralism "questionable."

Sidjaja alleges that religious violence has increased due to bias at Government levels. The Religious Affairs Ministry, he says, "has been traditionally slanted to favor Muslims. The Religious Affairs Minister openly stated his preference for disbanding Ahmadiyah in August 2010."
The Jakarta Post reported in 2011 that at least 26 regencies and municipalities had "passed bylaws restricting or banning the Ahmadiyah sect." The Ahmadiyah faith was founded in India during the 19th century, and inspired by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who claimed to be the Mahdi or final messenger of Islam.

"The absence of conflict does not mean our nation is peaceful;" says Sidjaja, "it is, in fact, a negative peace. Conflict is still likely in this nation of ours where oppression still continues."

Although it is possible to leave the religious denomination section blank, Indonesians are requested to specify that they belong to one of six officially recognized religions. And, as Sidjaja notes, creates problems, since "the religions of the world are not limited to these six. There are many world religions and faith systems such as Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Paganism and countless indigenous religions that remain unrecognized by the government. Atheism and agnosticism are not allowed, either. To be irreligious or secularist is to be an infidel."

Leaving black the space for religious affiliation means that the citizen gives away the fact that he is a member of a despised class. In the Lebanon state ID also included religious affiliation -- and was used by the warring factions in the civil war to identify members of the religion they were fighting. This meant that citizens could be murdered at the whim of militias.

Sidjaja calls "The open discrimination toward Ahmadis, Baduys or members of any faith outside the six official religions is a serious violation of basic human rights. Public officials should watch their words when commenting about their distaste toward other faiths as they could be charged on the basis of violating laws."

"The sad picture of human rights is ironic as Indonesia constantly appears in headlines as a model example of how Islam and democracy can work together. Despite being the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia is not an Islamic nation."

You can read the whole opinion piece here.

Hundreds of Muslims protest outside Buddhist school

2012-01-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

All-male Muslim demonstrators protesting against a Buddhist
school yesterday. The Muslim men are upset at the school's
ban on the hijab. Photo copyright Bangkok Post.

Hundreds of Muslims have protested outside a Buddhist school in Bangkok, Thailand. The organization named Muslims for Peace is upset at Wat Nonjok secondary school for its refusal to allow a Muslim student to wear the hijab.

The Muslim organization claims that several teachers have refused to teach the 18 year-old student or to allow her to enter the school building, because of her hijab.

Muslims for Peace have called on Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to intervene.

A number of the organization's members have also erected a wall outside the Prime Minister's office, symbolizing the "barrier" against the hijab-wearing student, erected by the secondary school.

Bernama Malaysian National News Agency reports that Education Minister Worovat Auapinyakul met with Muslims for Peace and told them that students were allowed to wear uniforms based on their religion. He also promised to speak with the school about the matter. The student promised the Education Minister for his support.

Wat Nonjok school says it banned the wearing of the hijab because it is a Buddhist school, and wants all students to wear the same uniform.

Canadian professors highlight Iran's campaign to deny Baha'is education

2012-01-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

Sara Mahoubi, a Baha'i student detained in 2010.

Allan Rock (president of the University of Ottawa) and Lloyd Axworthy (president of the University of Winnipeg) have an article in the Huffington Post today in support of the Baha'is in Iran, who have long suffered persecution under the regime.

Professors Rock and Axworthy suggest that, with attention shifting to Egypt and other countries (due to the Arab Spring and the Islamist Winter), we should not forget about Iran's human rights abuses. "Prominent among Iranian victims of hidden but unrelenting persecution," they note, "are members of the Baha'i faith, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority."

As they note, "Hundreds more have been thrown into prison solely because of their beliefs. Baha'i businesses have been routinely shut down. Their cemeteries have been desecrated."

Only the most recent event, The Human Rights House of Iran is currently reporting that at 6 AM on 19 December, officers from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, conducted simultaneous raids of Baha’I homes in Sanandaj. After "massive search of these houses, [the officers] went on to seize books, CDs, several laptop and desktop computers and many other personal items."

With 30,000 Canadians of the Baha'i faith, the two professors hope that their fellow citizens will begin to help keep the issue alive.

The issue that most concerns the two professors is the longstanding campaign to deny Baha'is an education.

With young Bahai's prevented from studying at university level, and with Baha'i professors purged from the universities of Iran, in 1987 the Baha'i community founded a Baha'i Institute for Higher Education.

The following year the institute had 900 students and 150 academics.

Since then faculty and students have been arrested and imprisoned as part of the campaign of persecution against the Baha'i. In 2010 Sara Mahboubi, a Baha'i, student was arrested for her education rights activities. Her house was searched, and a computer, CDs and other items were confiscated.

Last year, in a further attempt to destroy the Baha'i community, Iran arrested 19 members of the faculty. Nine, including Vahid Mahmoudi, director of the Institute, are still in prison. Mahmoudi has been given a five year sentence.

As Rock and Axworthy note, "Their sole offence was to try to educate their young. Two of those arrested are graduates of the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Education. They were charged with teaching without valid accreditation. The Iranian authorities confiscated their U of O degrees and then alleged that they had never earned them."

"The Baha'i of Iran," they say, "must know that in resisting the cruel oppression of those who persecute them, they do not stand alone."

US Gov. Commission: Freedom of religious minorities a security issue

2012-01-08T16:28:00.000-08:00

Yezidis attacked in Sinjar province, Iraq, August 2007.

Persecution of, or discrimination against, religious minorities is a security issue for the USA, says the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

The USCIRF has just published a report by Leonard A. Leo is (Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom) and Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou (Vice Chair of the USCIRF and an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Boston University) called Protecting Religious Freedom Abroad. The highlights the oppression of religious minorities around the world (from Yezidis to Ahmadi Muslims), especially in the Middle East and Asia.

While this is welcome in itself, more interesting, perhaps, the authors of the report conclude that allowing minority religions to be oppressed poses a long term security threat to the US, since regimes that persecute, or facilitate the persecution of, minorities are unstable and volatile.

The violence that is cultivated within the borders of a nation state is liable to spill over them. Recall, for example, that the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan were blown six months before 9/11. Extracts follow:

An Overlooked Threat to Religious Freedom

There is, however, a second and equally egregious threat to religious freedom, which commonly occurs around the world, yet receives far less attention from policymakers, human rights activists, and scholars. The world caught a glimpse of this type of threat on March 3 of this year, when Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for Minority Affairs, who was a Christian and a longtime champion of freedom of religion, was assassinated in Islamabad for opposing his country’s blasphemy law. Bhatti’s murder followed the assassination in January 2011, also in Islamabad, of another Pakistani government official, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, a Muslim, for engaging in similar opposition.

The murders of Bhatti and Taseer signal how in many nations, significant religious freedom violations can be perpetrated just as easily by private actors as by governments. In such countries, the government fosters a climate conducive to these acts of violence. This environment -- ripe for violations of religious freedom -- is known as impunity.

How do states create an atmosphere of impunity, thereby emboldening private actors to commit violence against religious groups and individuals that they oppose? States are implicated in impunity in two related ways: first, through acts of commission and, second, by the failure to act, or omission.

[...]

As in Pakistan, Indonesia has utilized its blasphemy law against Ahmadis. Coupled with a decree that permits discrimination against the Ahmadis, the law has fueled interreligious strife and unwittingly emboldened radical Islamist groups to engage in violence.

[...]

Impunity Across the Globe

In Iraq, Mandaeans, Yazidis, Christians, and other vulnerable religious minorities face similar problems to those in Egypt, and the Iraqi government’s failure, either to protect its citizens against attacks or to bring the guilty to justice, has created a climate of impunity which endangers these minorities and clouds Iraq’s future as a diverse, pluralistic, and free society.

Since 2004, members of Iraq’s diverse minority communities have been kidnapped, raped, tortured, beheaded, and evicted from their homes. The experience of Christians is instructive. They have seen their churches repeatedly bombed. The worst single attack against Christians was launched on October 31, 2010, when an al Qaeda affiliate assaulted the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baghdad, killing or wounding nearly all of the more than 100 worshippers at Sunday mass. Wijdan Michael, then Iraq’s human rights minister and a Christian, said that the goal of the perpetrators was “to empty Iraq of Christians.” Since 2004, there has been a mass exodus of Christians from Iraq, reducing its Christian community by more than half. Significant declines also have occurred among smaller religious minorities such as the Yazidis and Mandaeans, who have seen their numbers dwindle, mostly through emigration, from an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 in 2003 to only a few thousand today.

In Pakistan, the assassinations of Bhatti and Taseer underscore how the government has similarly failed to protect religious minorities--from Shi’a Muslims to Ahmadis (Ahmaddiyas) and Christians--from religiously-motivated violence, as well as to bring the perpetrators to justice. An atmosphere of impunity is fostered by laws, such as the anti-Ahmadi and blasphemy laws, that violate religious freedom directly and indirectly by energizing violent extremists who ultimately threaten the freedoms of all Pakistanis.

Impunity as a Threat to Global Security

In short, the US must realize that religious freedom is, unmistakably, a security issue.

[...]

It is incumbent upon the United States to recognize that violations of religious freedom in these countries can and will have adverse effects on both national and international security.

[...]

In Pakistan, for example, impunity is fueled by the partial infiltration of security and police forces by the ideology and practitioners of radicalized religion. In Nigeria, impunity is more a case of private actors from two competing and equally powerful religious communities helping prevent the machinery of government from grinding toward justice. Not only do these weaknesses lead to egregious violations of religious freedom, they also are capable of creating real crises of legitimacy for the affected governments. Simply put, states that either cause or fail to remedy impunity eventually lose the trust and confidence of a critical mass of their citizens. Depending on the country in question, this could well lead to a downward slide toward anarchy or tyranny. This grim prospect should concern not only their immediate neighbors, but also the United States and the world community.

Combating Impunity

First, the United States must call upon governments around the world to redouble efforts to protect their citizens, including religious minorities. Second, when attacks happen, the United States must urge these governments to hold the culprits accountable and be willing to sanction those governments that do not

[...]

Equally important, the United States should urge governments to eliminate laws that provide a pretext for religiously-motivated violence. This includes laws targeting certain religious groups, either directly by restricting or banning their activities, or indirectly, through prohibitions on blasphemy and apostasy.

Efforts have been undertaken for years by the USCIRF, as well as by members of the U.S. Congress and executive branch, and by non-governmental human rights organizations, against the drive for a global blasphemy law. These efforts produced a significant victory on March 24th of this year, when the UNHRC adopted a resolution against religious intolerance that excluded the infamous “defamation-of-religions” language adopted in resolutions of prior years and, instead, used language that protects individuals from discrimination rather than religions from any criticism.

You can read the entire report here.

You go, girls: Egyptian women beat up "morality police"

2012-01-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

Egypt's self-appointed morality police was chased off by a group of women yesterday. Modelled after Saudi-Arabia's morality police, and reportedly financed by the Nour Salafi Party, the “Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” was established in Egypt in December 2011 with the intention of imposing Islamic law (sharia) on Egypt's women in particular.

According to Egyptian media, the vigilante group has been harassing shoppers and shop owners. Barbers were ordered not to cut men's beards and shop owners were ordered not to sell "indecent" clothing, and threatened with punishment. The vigilantes also said they would be making regular checks in the area.
According to the Al Masry Al Youm newspaper and Bikyamasr, the Committee held its first meeting last week “to determine the tasks and geographical jurisdictions of the first volunteers, who would monitor people’s behavior in the street and assess whether they contradicted God’s laws. Volunteers would wear white cloaks and hold bamboo canes to beat violators and later would be provided with electric tasers.”

However things didn't go quite as planned last week, when they burst into a beauty parlor in the Nile delta town of Benha, and ordered the women inside to leave or face physical punishment. The women hit back, literally. The women in the parlor grabbed the vigilantes' canes and began thrashing them, and chased them off. To use an Americanism, you go, girls.

Two Tibetans self-immolate in protest against Chinese occupation

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Chinese troops occupy Tibet. (Photo copyright
FreeTibet.org)

Free Tibet, the British-based Tibetan rights organization, has reported that two Tibetan nationals self immolated in Ngaba Town on January 6, 2012. An eye witness to one of the acts of self-immolation said that a layperson set him or herself on fire near Kirti Monastery in Ngaba Town at around 2:50pm (local time). A second person, a Buddhist monk, reportedly died at the scene.

In a press release Free Tibet Director Stephanie Brigden said:

“These latest self-immolations confirm that what we are currently witnessing in Tibet is a sustained and profound rejection of the Chinese occupation. It is a damning indictment of the international community that 14 people, in different parts of Tibet, have now chosen to set themselves on fire and the international community has failed to respond.

“We can only expect that such acts of protest will continue for as long as world leaders turn a blind eye to the desperate situation in Tibet.

“People in Ngaba continue to live under security restrictions. Chinese authorities are trying to control all communications. There has been no internet access in the town since the first self-immolation in March 2011 [2] and local people are fearful that their telephones are bugged.

“Despite this, many brave Tibetans continue to disseminate information about what is happening at great personal risk; while the UK government remains silent.

“Next week the UK government will be face-to-face with Chinese officials at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. Free Tibet has long believed that this is a cosmetic exercise. The timings of these acts must surely persuade the British government to take a firm line on human rights with China and show that this is not the case."

Chinese forces extinguished the flames covering the layperson, who was heard calling for the return of the Dali Lama and an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He has since died of his injuries.

Kashag (the central Tibetan governing council in exile) has said that, "The People’s Republic of China government [...] must take full responsibility and immediately take measures to end these unfortunate incidents [of self-immolation] by adopting liberal policies for Tibet and Tibetan people."

You can find out how you can support Free Tibet or join the organization for free here.

Canadian Hindus accuse newspaper of sacrilege over photos of nude deity

2012-01-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

A close-up of the naked statue image of
the Hindu goddess Durga published by
the Toronto Star in August 2011.

We hear a lot about the importance of respecting different faiths these days. Remember how few newspapers carried the drawings of Mohammed after Muslims rioted across the globe, burned down a Swedish embassy and murdered a Christian nun? That was because of respect, remember? The Toronto Star was one of those newspapers sensitive to religion. But, just one.

In 2003, the Star published a photograph of a statue of Durga, the Hindu goddess that provoked demonstrations by 300 Hindus. Statues of Durga are always elaborately clothed. The Toronto Star's photograph upset devout Hindus because she was shown naked, in the workshop of a sculptor.

The demonstrators gave the newspaper a letter that complained about its"entirely inaccurate and misleading depiction of the goddess." A number of Sikhs also joined the demonstration in support of the Hindus who chanted "give respect, get respect" and "we want an apology."

Fast forward to 2011. In a move that was certain to upset the Hindu community of Canada, in August and September the same newspaper again published photos of the goddess Durga naked.

A photo of a naked Durga statue published in the Toronto
Star September 2011.

Through its lawyers the Canadian Hindu Advocacy (CHA) has filed a human rights claim against the Toronto Star, and is appealing for donations to support the claim. The CHA calls the photographs a violation of the sanctity of the Hindu goddess. The organization has also set up a petition to "penalize" the Toronto Star.

One comment on the petition page complains that "The Toronto Star would never publish a derogatory picture of Muhammad, but here they cheapen Hindu Goddess Durga, sexualizing her. Haroon Siddiqui and The Toronto Star are a bunch of hypocrites who are anti-Hindu." Another commenter calls the newspaper "anti-Hindu."

Luxury vacation destination caves in to sharia

2012-01-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

Spas will be closed in the Maldives, to comply
with sharia law. The Maldives is a popular
tourist destination for the rich and famous, and
many resorts offer spas as part of the vacation
experience.

As a destination for the rich and famous, the Indian Ocean's Maldives islands depend almost entirely on tourism, which generates one billion dollars a year. That is now in jeopardy. Although the islands have traditionally practiced a more moderate form of Islam, in recent months, extreme Islam has been on the ascendent.

Now, on the back of protests calling for the enforcement of sharia as state law, and criticizing the Government for not being Islamic enough, it has ruled that spas and massage parlors must close. An essential aspect of luxury resorts, these are crucial to the Maldives' tourism industry.

The Four Seasons, one of the islands' luxury resorts, offers spas and an Ayurvedic retreat (Ayurveda is described as the ancient Indian "science of life") and Yoga, as well as Tantric rituals and chakra therapy. These peaceful, relaxing, and rejuvenating practices are all rooted in ancient Hindu and Buddhist tradition.

Hardline Muslims have often targeted Hindus and Buddhists for violence, and fatwas prohibiting the practice of Yoga have also been issued by several Islamic authorities.

Another attraction for tourists to the Maldives is its seemingly laid back and open atmosphere, which many tourists assume go naturally with blue skies and sandy beaches.

However, the Maldives came in for some negative publicity in 2011 when a video surfaced of a couple being married, in Dhivehi at Vilu Reef Beach and Spa Resort, in what they thought was a traditional Madivian wedding ceremony. It was supposed to be romantic.

Instead, the couple were insulted and told that the wedding was illegitimate in the Maldivian language, which they could not understand.

On the wedding video the Maldivian "official" says to the couple: “your marriage is not a valid one. You are not the kind of people who can have a valid marriage. One of you is an infidel. The other, too, is an infidel – and we have reason to believe –an atheist, who does not even believe in an infidel religion.”

He also calls them “swine” and says “the children that you bear from this marriage will all be bastard swine.”

Abductions of Hindu girls, forced conversions to Islam, on the rise in Pakistan

2012-01-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

Bharti, A 15 year-old, is the 18th Hindu girl to have been reportedly abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and forced to marry a Muslim man, in the Lyari area of Karachi, a city in the south of Pakistan, the Express Tribune of India reported yesterday. The real number is probably much higher. In 2009, in the province of Sindh 18 Hindu girls had also been kidnapped.

The family of the teenage girl filed a complaint with Bhagdadi police station, and a court hearing has begun. On the first day of the hearing Bharti -- who has been renamed Ayesha, apparently after the favorite wife of Islam's prophet Mohammed -- appeared "clad in a black 'abaya' " and hardly acknowledged her parent's presence.

According to The Times of India, her father "[Narain] Das brought a copy of the National Database and Registration Authority's record, which states that his daughter is 15 years old. However, certificates of her conversion to Islam and her marriage claim she is 18."

It is common in cases of child abduction and forced marriage for the age of the child bride to changed, and for the child to be made much older than is the case.

At the launch of its "Perils of Faith" report on the threats to minority religions in pakistan, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said “they kidnap girls who are younger than 15 but they say they are adults and that the girls have accepted Islam and been married of their own free will."

The HRCP said that Hindus receive no support in pakistan, and that the "conversion issue is not acceptable, it has discouraged Hindus in Pakistan.”

Forget tactics; the “clash of civilizations” is spiritual, not intellectual

2011-12-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC),
Chinese philosopher who spoke
about the true nature of the
Gentleman.

By A. Millar.

The words “The Clash of Ideas” are splashed across the cover of the special anniversary issue of Foreign Affairs this month. This is of course a play on the “clash of civilizations” narrative that we’ve heard countless times since 9/11, and a nod to the notion that this clash – between radical Islam and the West, or liberal democracy – is fundamentally a “war of ideas.”

I have come to believe that this diagnosis is not only wrong, but a large part of the reason why we, who believe in freedom and the rights of the individual, appear to be losing ground. (For example, we are seeing more sharia in the West, despite us knowing that full sharia demands the execution of homosexuals, the stoning of women who commit adultery, and discrimination against religious minorities. And we are seeing our right to free speech eroded, especially across Europe.)

The battle is not one of ideas. It is a spiritual battle, pure and simple.

Deploying ideas like soldiers in which the generals do not believe, the “Counter-Jihad” and anti-Islamist pundits have reduced themselves to Sunday intellectuals.

Learn courtesy; have respect: Japanese Samurai with
swords (bottom right) sit quietly, receiving American
visitors who appear to be chatting and laughing together.

A speech by any “Counter-Jihad” spokesperson or anti-Islamist media pundit is liable to denounce the increasing liberalism and “Cultural Marxism” of the West as a symptom of the rot, and to suggest that they are fighting for a more conservative Christian West, before going on to tell us that we are also fighting for liberal ideas, such as women’s rights and gay rights.

Such speeches will only ever appeal to the converted – “sensible people” who are able to shut out one half of the message to find support for their gut instincts. Contrast this with the radical imam, who calls for full sharia in the West, and who speaks with passion and conviction, regardless of what anyone thinks.

The imam knows what the West does not, i.e., that it is about the fire in the belly and in the eyes. It is first and foremost about integrity, conviction, and spirit.

If one wants an example of the ravages of strategy, put above values and integrity, one need look no further than Britain’s main three political parties. With the exception of Brighton – a student city – which elected a member of the Green Party to Parliament in 2010, over the last few decades the members of the British public have ignored those parties that best expresses their values on the grounds that they “won’t get in.”

The leaders of the UK's three main parties. Can you tell their
Policies apart?

Instead they have made the tactical decision to vote for the “mainstream” party that seems most likely to keep out of power the one they dislike more. The result of this “tactical voting” is that the three parties have become indistinguishable ideologically, and appear to be without values or, sometimes, without any morals at all. The complaint that party leaders would “say anything to get elected” reveals only that the leaders are no less tactical than the voters.

1988, the NF, under the leadership of
Nick Griffin, supports Islamists and
fascists everywhere; and calls for
"green revolution" in UK -- green is
the color of Islam, used by Khomeini
(top right) and Gaddafi (top left).

There is also, though, a tactics of the minority, of course, who believe that some extreme minor party should be supported, and its past behavior – which is, for example, racist and anti-Semitic – overlooked. To be sure, politics across the board has changed over the last decade, and so have the political parties. But where such changes appear to be cosmetic, masking a fascist underbelly, they cannot be supported.

Like the follower of Confucius, we need to cultivate integrity, so that we’re supported in our struggle for freedom – a struggle which must, perhaps, take place anew with each generation – by an inner will, and an inner spirit.

Recently, I came across a comment on a blog that suggested violence against Muslim women was an advantage to those who opposed sharia and wanted to defend liberty, since it kept the fanatics busy. This is precisely the wrong attitude, and one that is certainly not supported by Western culture – or most other cultures.

It is completely alien to the notion of chivalry of the West, the Gentleman of Confucianism, etc.

It is the comment of one who believes strategy is to be placed above his own soul. But, without a soul, without integrity, without a clear sense of right and wrong, left only with his tactics, he is doomed to lose. His freedom will go the way of that of the Muslim women we see brutalized in Egypt, Iran, and elsewhere.

"Blue bra woman" being stamped on
by Egyptian police, December 2011.

Either the West – and those who defend freedom most of all – will use this existential challenge to recover themselves, to know who they are, and to act with integrity – criticizing those who deserve it, praising those who deserve praise, and defending those who are subjugated for merely wanting freedom – or they will lose.

Types of Spirituality

I have spoken about spirituality in the Confucian and traditional Christian, European, sense. But we also need to take account of the types of spirituality that occupy the West today. We cannot pretend that the West is one hundred percent Christian, if we are serious about defending it.

In the introduction to her – in many respects fascinating and informative – 2006 book on Islamism in Britain, Londonistan, Melanie Phillips laments the decline of Christianity in the UK, and suggests that its disappearance is paving the way for radical, political Islam.

However, she also notes, somewhat contradictorily, that, so far, the vacuum has been filled by all sorts of New Age-type “cults,” neo-paganism and even Satanism. In the introduction, Phillips exclaims,

Judaism and Christianity, the creeds that formed the bedrock of Western civilization, have been pushed aside and their place filled by a plethora of paranormal activities and cults.

The observation bears reflecting upon, although we should step back from viewing this phenomenon at the most extreme fringe possible.

First of all, we need to ask why the religious vacuum in the UK has been filled – not, as Phillips herself asserts, by Saudi and Tehran-funded Islam – but by other, unorthodox, forms of spirituality?

Secondly, if unorthodox forms of spirituality have flooded in where Christianity has declined, we should ask whether this is in fact part of the character of the West that should be defended against radical religion?

Aum: Meditation at Occupy Wall Street, NY.

The “Occupy Wall Street” movement – which has garnered much media attention over the last few months – seems to supply an answer. Religion, in the traditional sense, has been notably absent. No Bibles. No Korans. No priests. No imams. No calls for sharia. Yet, protesters have been holding mass yoga sessions. Some have been meditating even while being arrested by police. Even Deepak Chopra – a New Age megastar – turned up at Zuccotti Park to lead a meditation. The Huffington Post has also been running stories on spirituality.

Of course, Christianity remains the largest religious denomination in the West, and it is from Christianity that we obtained such bedrock ideas as the separation of Church and State. Nevertheless, to deny that very many Westerners are now simply “spiritual” or religious in a post-Christian sense (of believing in God, but not Christ) is to deny a significant part of the character of the West.

And to snobbishly condemn those practicing New Age spirituality, Yoga, and so on, is simply to disenfranchise the very people that exhibit much of the energy in the West today, and to ignore the direction in which the West has been heading for centuries. To put it bluntly, it is to deny what the West actually is, in favor of a fantasy version of it.

A Long History of “Alternative Spirituality”

Despite being absolutely modern, the spirituality of the Occupy movement is the result of a long history. It obviously resembles the 1960s Hippy movement. However, we should not stop there to find its roots.

For many centuries, non-Christian spirituality has lain just beneath the surface in the West, exerting a strong – although today largely unrecognized – influence on the cultural elite.

The then future Prime Minister Winston Churchill (center)
surrounded by fellow Druids.

Since we have already mentioned neo-paganism, it will be worth mentioning that the first neo-pagan “cult” – a Druid organization – did not appear in the late 20^th century, but was founded in 1717 in London. This was a century in which mystical organizations and movements proliferated across Europe, headed, usually, by aristocrats or members of the continent’s monarchies. In the 20^th century, Winston Churchill – the Prime Minister that the “Counter-Jihad” movement loves to invoke – joined a Druid Order while still a young man, although this was not a religious Order per se.

Again, in recent years there has been a popular call – and an early day motion in Parliament – to make “Jerusalem” the official anthem for England. Surely, we could get no more Judeo-Christian than that? Yet, William Blake’s words – appropriated for Jerusalem later on – were inspired in large part by the works of Emanuel Swedenborg a Swedish mystic, who claimed to commune with angels, and to receive an esoteric interpretation of the Bible from them.

Again, during the Renaissance (14^th-17^th centuries) Hermeticism and neo-Platonism exerted a very substantial influence among the cultural elite, although its members were still Christian.

Although it would be possible to wind our way back through history, we might instead remark that if ancient Greece is the cradle of Western civilization, a few centuries BC, its culture also merged with Buddhism to create a distinct strand of the religion, known today as Greco-Buddhism. And, of course, we must also include Plato (and Socrates) and Aristotle as part of the West.

George Washington, first President of the USA, in
Freemasonic regalia.

But it is important for us to challenge the assertion that the decline of Christianity – which is inferred to be the state, or officially recognized, religion – equals the decline of the West by turning to the US, still the world’s most powerful nation. Notably, many of the US’s founding fathers were Deists, not Christians per se. Several were also members of the mystical and philosophical fraternity of Freemasonry (although certainly most Freemasons were Christians at that time). The cornerstone of the US Capitol was also laid by George Washington in a Freemasonic ceremony, and much of its older architecture contains Freemasonic symbolism.

This is not because of a conspiracy by a “new world order” to announce its secretive existence at every opportunity, but because the fraternity was popular among all classes at the time, and, with no national symbolism, the early citizens of the USA appropriated what was to hand. An examination of quilting, woodwork, and other aspects of folk culture show reveal that the same symbolism was popular among the very poorest Americans.

Spirituality and cultural revival

Odd, in my view, while “interfaith dialogue” with Islamic organizations has never proved a problem for Christianity, many Christians will be deeply uncomfortable with the prospect of acknowledging New Age and related forms of Western-born spirituality. Indeed, many Christians are uncomfortable with the very idea of “spirituality.” Nevertheless, it is imperative that we grasp the essential nature of the West, its history, culture, and its spirit. To acknowledge the considerable presence of practitioners of alternative spiritualities, and to engage them in the defense of liberty, religious and spiritual freedom against a totalitarian, politico-religious movement should not pose any threat to Christianity or to Christians, and may well benefit it.

Contrary to what many conservatives aver, attacks on Christianity are not the cause of the religion’s decline in Europe and Britain, but are a consequence of its decline. While the US has a growing Evangelical movement outside of New York, Los Angeles, etc., Christianity has declined in the West precisely because it has largely refused to acknowledge and engage with its own mystical and intellectual traditions (at least outside of small circles).

According to Time and the BBC the USA’s most popular poet is the Sufi mystic Rumi. Yet virtually no one has heard of Meister Eckhart or Hildegard von Bingen, or – more unorthodox, admittedly – Jacob Boehme.

Joseph de Maistre is known only to Right-wing Catholics, and they would undoubtedly be shocked to learn that de Maistre, a committed supporter of the Papacy, was, at the same time, a committed Freemason and spiritualist. As I have said, the spiritual and religious history of the West is complicated.

Ali Mirsepassi in Political Islam, Iran, and the Enlightenment: Philosophies of Hope and Despair reminds us that “Broadly defined, it is the New Age movement of the twentieth century that most influentially tried to propagate a popular discourse of the problem of the ‘soul’ in Western material society.” Undoubtedly its popularity accounts, at least in part, for why so many Christians, and so many churches, view the New Age as a threat to Christianity, even as they embrace Islam (which believes Jesus was a Muslim who came only to prophesy about the coming of Mohammed, not to die on the cross for our sins) as well as other religions.

Yet, if the New Age movement has been on display lately with the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, it was also instrumental in reviving Hinduism and Hindu nationalism in India, and in defeating imperialism in that country. As Mirsepassi notes, Mahatma Ghandi’s worldview was partly shaped “through his contacts with people on the Western New Age movement,” and that the “views circulated in this milieu were… of a ‘spiritual’ India.”

The New Age movement in question was Theosophy, founded by Mme Blavatsky, a strange, enigmatic, though physically unattractive Russian émigré. Theosophy was spread through the talents of Henry Steel Olcott, who had been the primary investigator of the murder of Abraham Lincoln.

Gandhi, peace activist, Hindu nationalist,
and anti-colonialist influenced by
Theosophy.

A largely forgotten movement today, it was hugely influential, not least of in its effect in the East. Not only did Theosophy help to revive Hinduism in India, it also helped revive Buddhism in Sri Lanka. One of Olcott’s disciples was Anagarika Dharmapala, who helped revive Buddhism in Sri Lanka and India. For Dhamapala, Mark Juergensmeyer tells us, “Buddhism was not only a movement of spiritual reawakening but also a nationalist and anti-imperialist one.”

Blavatsky and Olcott, we should acknowledge, were fervently anti-Christian. However, this was largely due to the devastating effects of imperialism that they saw in the East, especially in the destruction of national and indigenous religious culture. (It’s easy to dislike a religion that seems intent on converting people and destroying their culture.) There is no inherent reason why spirituality in the West would damage Christianity, or perhaps why it would not be able to help revive Christianity in Europe as it did Hinduism and Buddhism and national culture in the East. The situation the West finds itself in is markedly different in many ways, and, yet, remarkably similar in others.

Conflict and creative minorities

For some years now, Pope Benedict has been talking about the role of “creative minorities” in the preservation of Europe’s values. Those in the Counter-Jihad undoubtedly qualify as “creative minorities,” although there are others. Both the (allegedly Republican) Tea Party and the (allegedly Democrat) Occupy Wall Street movements believe themselves to be defending traditional and even timeless values. The phrase, “creative minorities,” as Samuel Gregg observes, “comes from another English historian Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975).” As Gregg notes,

Toynbee’s thesis was that civilizations primarily collapsed because of internal decline rather than external assault. “Civilizations,” Toynbee wrote, “die from suicide, not by murder.”

The “creative minorities,” Toynbee held, are those who proactively respond to a civilizational crisis, and whose response allows that civilization to grow. One example was the Catholic Church’s reaction to the Roman Empire’s collapse in the West in the 5th century A.D. The Church responded by preserving the wisdom and law of Athens, Rome and Jerusalem, while integrating the invading German tribes into a universal religious community. Western civilization was thus saved and enriched.

Like spiritual practitioners generally in the West, those who populate the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, are highly unlikely to find acceptable sharia, or, more especially, such sharia punishments as the stoning of adulterers (and even rape victims), the cutting off of the hand of a thief, or death penalty for homosexuality. Yet, they also see no reason to side with one religion (Christianity) over another (Islam).

1,500 year-old giant Buddha statues
blown up by the Taliban in 2001.

However, the picture painted by Counter-Jihad pundits, of Christianity versus Islam/Islamism, is false. Six months before the World Trade Center was attacked, the Taliban detonated the giant sixth century Buddhas of Bamiyan statues since they were deemed to represent the “gods of the infidels.” Islamism’s war on Buddhism and Hinduism, and the mass murders, and attempted genocide, of Zorastrians and Yezidis, and the persecution of Baha’i, by Muslim extremists should be the natural concerns of those Westerners who regard themselves as “spiritual.” In 2007 350 Yezidis were killed, and 1,000 were left homeless, in one single attack on a village.

A much better job needs to be done at explaining that the clash is not between two religions (Christianity and Islam), or between two types of (religious) conservatives, but between religious intolerance and those who stand for spirituality, freedom of conscience, and pluralism.

Think tanks need to start raising the issue of the ethnic cleansing of Zoroastrians, Yezidis, and Kalash (as well as terrorist attacks on religious and ethnic groups elsewhere, such as Buddhists in Thailand). Counter-Jihad bloggers and anti-Islamist pundits need to acknowledge that a large segment of the West is “spiritual.” Acknowledging that it is not exclusively Christian does not expose some weakness. Rather it illuminates a major strength of the West.

Western conservatives have been extraordinarily snobbish in their dismissal of non-religiously affiliated spirituality – and a large section of the West along with it. Yet, some Islamists clearly recognize the threat it poses to their authority. Notably, on November 11 this year the Egyptian authorities closed the pyramids when it became known that a group of New Age practitioners were planning to hold a meditation ceremony at one of them. According to the New Age group this was to “help Mother Earth.”

Similarly, the regime in Tehran believes New Age spirituality has been exported to Iran in an attempt to destroy Islam. This is incorrect, of course, but the idea that one can have spirituality without a particular religious dogma is, in a religious society, one of enormous revolutionary potential. It changed the shape of the West, and can potentially change the shape of the Middle East.

Neda, a young music student dying in
the streets of Tehran, murdered by the
regime. Like most other Iranians, she
only wanted freedom.

If anti-Islamist pundits are serious about combating religious intolerance and clerical fascism, then they will need to take a lesson from the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, and acknowledge that the spiritual core of the West is today is “spiritual,” not just Christian. To alienate such a large and energetic section of society is foolish. To alienate it when it might provide the best illustration of living a spiritual life without religious fanaticism and religious competition is little short of suicidal.

There are plenty of areas of agreement between “spiritual” people, Christians (and most other religious groups) and even atheists, which should be concentrated on, not for tactical reasons, but from personal conviction and for personal integrity:

1. The separation of Church and State/ support for liberal democracy.

2. Opposition to (state-sponsored/religious) discrimination against, and the oppression of, religious and ethnic minorities, such as the Copts in Egypt, the Yezidis and Assyrian Christians in Iraq, Zoroastrians and Baha’I in Iran, Hindus in Pakistan, Kalash in Afghanistan, and Buddhists in Indonesia.

3. Opposition to the culture of honor violence, and support for women’s rights.

4. Opposition to (usually anti-Semitic) conspiracy theories as peddled in the media of the Middle East (which have come to exert pressure in the West, e.g., with some high school teachers afraid to teach the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslim boys who have been taught, at mosque or by parents, that the genocide of the Jews is a fabrication), and the insistence on a culture of reason and inquiry about the truth.

5. The teaching of proper – not ideologically slanted – history in schools.

6. Respect for the individual and the conscience of the individual, and opposition to degrading treatment and torture of prisoners in Iran, Egypt and elsewhere.

7. Denunciation of the spread of Nazi ideology, and admiration for Hitler, in the Middle East.

8. Support for individuals who suffer death threats, violence, etc., for leaving their religion for another or because they have adopted atheism.

9. Support for science and free inquiry, and for evolution, which, as the Catholic Church, has noted in many different ways, does not conflict with faith. As Pope Benedict has said, “there is friendship between science and faith.” (This is true of Catholicism, and most other Christian denominations. It is also true of New Age spirituality, Buddhism, etc.)

10. Opposition to sharia, which is being pushed in the Middle East, Malasyia, and the West. (Sharia is a complete system of law, which discriminates against women, demands execution for homosexuality, adultery, and blasphemy, and the subjugation of religious minorities. Western Governments have allowed the practice of sharia family law in some instances. However, it is unacceptable to allow legally-binding judgments to be passed when those judgments are based on a discriminatory legal code.)

11. Proper, scholarly and archeological examinations of the religions and their core texts. (Christianity has a long history of such studies, as do most other religions.)

However, more important, yet, we need to acknowledge that we are in a spiritual battle – not an intellectual battle – for freedom. Like the Confucian, and the Gentleman of the West, we need to cultivate integrity and spirit by saying what we mean and speaking the truth, by standing up for what is right and opposing what is wrong, and by not compromising our values and principles. Only if we do that, becoming men and women of spirit, timeless and archetypal, will we secure our own freedom, and the freedom of others now oppressed.

Civil liberties organization gives big shout out to People of Shambhala

2011-12-31T08:43:00.000-08:00

International Civil Liberties Alliance has published a short article on People of Shambhala.

According to its website, the ICLA "is an international network of groups and individuals from diverse backgrounds, nationalities and cultures who strive to defend civil liberties, freedom of expression and constitutional democracy."

The ICLA promotes "the secular rule of law," which it believes "to be the basis of harmony and mutual respect between individuals and groups in the increasingly globalised world." The organization also aims to "draw attention to efforts to subvert" secular law.

The ICLA calls PoS an "interesting and insightful" website that "shows what is happening with regard to human rights in the non-Western world, in places where Western Enlightenment values are not practiced."

Mumbai to Muslimabad?: Pakistan's plan to absorb India into Islamic state by 2030

2011-12-31T08:03:00.000-08:00

Most of us in the West know that the relationship between Pakistan and India has been strained since the former was created as a state in 1948. But it might come as a surprise to many to learn that the Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI, reportedly has a plan to take over India and to absorb it into a "Greater Pakistan."

According to Hindu Existence, Pakistan has revised its plans. It had originally believed India could be taken over by 2020. The estimation has now been revised up to 2030.

However, Hindu Existence says that "Pakistan [...] has come with some new plans to destabilize India by influencing some developments in the north, west and southern parts of the country, as part of its multi-pronged strategy."

According to a summary report of the ISI's plan by the Urdu-language Daily Express, Pakistan's intelligence agency will attempt to infiltrate and subvert India's political parties, will infiltrate "Jihadi and Muslim populace into India from neighboring countries," and will use terrorist attacks to frighten the population. Another strategy is to try to convert en masse Hindus to Islam.

Top left: Pakistan in orange.

The anticipated Greater Pakistan,
in green, 2030.

Yoga to the people?

2011-12-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

A protester in lotus position and about to be arrested at
Occupy Oakland.

None of us who truly believe in freedom and pluralism want a religion telling us what to do -- hence the whole separation of Church and State thing. But we would be fooling ourselves if we didn't think that spirituality are intertwined in the modern world -- perhaps it's one of its defining features -- but we should stress spirituality, not religion.

Multiculturalism clearly has roots both in Cultural Marxism, the civil rights movement, and so on, and in the underground spiritual movements of the West, such as esotericism, Theosophy, etc. And, yes, we should add in Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism -- but those were already incorporated into alternative spirituality a century ago or more.

The first real manifestation of this fusion of "Left-wing" politics and spirituality was in the Hippy movement of the Sixties. But politics and spirituality have continued to intertwine and overlap throughout the decades.

We can see it today in the Occupy Wall Street Movement, especially in its embrace of Yoga -- or Yoga's embrace of the anti-capitalist movement. Mass Yoga sessions have been held by protesters downtown NY and in other cities. There's also an Occupy Yoga group that holds free classes for the protesters.

Illinois studio Yoga 360 Studio and Spa has also begun a Yoga Gives Back program to help the poor women of India.

"Yoga in the U.S. alone is a $6 billion a year industry between classes, products, things like that. Yet, 76 percent of India's population lives below the poverty line of $2.50 a day. So the whole idea was we should rally our yogi troops and give back to the birthplace of our practice," says Chelsea Mack of Yoga Gives Back.

Yoga Gives uses money given through Yoga classes to give poor women in India loans to start their own businesses with the aim of helping them help themselves out of poverty.

Obviously, for many people, Yoga is simply a way of staying fit. For those who are more dedicated it is a way of life, connected to, and perhaps even part of Hinduism and Indian spirituality. As such, it's not surprising that it in some ways has replaced the power that the Christian churches once had in major cities like NY.

The question may be, with Yoga banned by totalitarian regimes, such Egypt, Indonesia, and Malaysia, will Yoga practitioners stand up for freedom, on which peace and prosperity so obviously depend.

You can find out about Yoga Gives Back here.

Ron Banerjee: Understanding Islamic violence; how to defend our freedoms

2011-12-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Interview by People of Shambhala.

Mr. Ron Banerjee of the
Canadian Hindu Advocacy
group.

In the wake of renewed violence against Hindus in Pakistan, and with more than 100 Hindu families seeking asylum in India, Ron Banerjee, Director of the Canadian Hindu Advocacy group spoke to People of Shambhala. Mr. Banerjee talks about the background to the conflict, and why Pakistan was created in 1947. Why the West should include Hinduism, not just the "Judeo-Christian" tradition. And he also discusses Islam and violence against Hindus and the West, and how we can defend our values and freedoms.

PoS: At the moment about 100 Hindu families are seeking asylum in India, from Pakistan, and are claiming discrimination and violence. There were four doctors murdered on the first day of Eid, and, I think, a Sikh was stabbed as well. Can you tell us a little about that situation?

RB: Sure. The situation is very natural. Most people don’t understand what Pakistan is. Pakistan is a country that was formed for the Muslims. India is a multi-ethnic country for everybody. So Pakistan was formed with the very idea that the only people that should be in Pakistan are Muslims. There is nothing strange about what’s going on in Pakistan today. It’s being going on for a long time.

At independence Pakistan’s population was about ten percent Hindu and Sikh. Now it’s less than one percent. So the question is where did that nine percent go? Well, they were either ethnically cleansed, driven away, or slaughtered in large numbers in the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. In East Pakistan an estimated 2.4 million Hindus were slaughtered in just one year, and hundreds of thousands of Hindu women were raped.

There is nothing surprising about any of this because Islam was introduced into the Asian subcontinent with the objective of occupying and exterminating the Hindus. According to the historian William Durant, and other historians, an estimated 80 million Hindus were killed, were slaughtered, and thousands and thousands of Hindu temples were smashed, and mosques were built on top of them. The Muslims of India tried very hard over the period of their 700 years [of occupation] to wipe out the Hindus. But there was resistance from some of the Hindu kingdoms. They never had full control over India so they were unable to achieve that goal. But that’s the eternal goal. According to Islam, Hinduism is the lowest form of life on the planet. Because Hindus, according to them, they’re polytheistic, they believe in multiple gods. They believe we worship idols, and idol worship is a sin in Islam.

PoS: One thing that has struck me is just the extent of the attacks on Hindus, Buddhists, Yezidis, Zoroastrians, Kalash. Yet we don’t hear anything about this. You mentioned the war of 71; 2.4 million dead, 200,000 Hindu women raped, but we don’t hear anything about that in the West.

RB: No you don’t, because there’s a systematic effort by Muslims and petrodollars to cover it up. The reason you don’t hear about it is because they make tremendous effort to silence it.

PoS: In all fairness, some Middle Eastern newspapers that probably cater mostly to Muslims have covered some of it, but you don’t seem to find it in the West, which is even more incredible. Why do you think Western journalists won’t cover something like that? The West always portrays itself as caring about minorities and being the people that always stand up to stop genocide, and that are always campaigning against violence against minorities. But nothing.

RB: This may offend you a little bit.

PoS: It won’t [laughs].

RB: It probably will [laughs]. But, it’s because the West have been hypocrites.

PoS: Yeah.

RB: If you look at Britain, for example, when they went to India they did not stop genocide or massacres, they expedited them. They actually supported the Muslims against the Hindus, helped them to perpetrate massacres. In terms of the establishment of the state of Pakistan, if you read people like William Dalrymple, a British historian, it becomes quite clear that the British encouraged the creation of Pakistan in order to divide the [anti-colonial] independence movement.

PoS: Do you think there is still a kind of colonial residue in the atmosphere. Do you think there is some kind of patronizing attitude in the media? Is that why we don’t see atrocities reported?

I’ve heard this question before. That it’s a form of racism that they don’t condemn Muslims for their human rights violations is because they are non-Western and [therefore] they are expected to be barbaric. There might be some of that, but these days it’s rather more a culture of fear. I mean, if you publish a cartoon of Mohammed, even if you’re in the West, you get threatened, and you possibly get killed, and you have riots going on. So now it’s more of a culture of fear.

PoS: On that note, Subramanian Swamy, the Hindu professor at Harvard, was fired because he wrote an article on how to wipe out Islamic terror [in India]. I read it. I didn’t find it shocking… I suppose [at the most controversial point] he’s saying that non-Hindus would have to appreciate their Hindu roots or they wouldn’t be allowed to vote. What was your take on his article and on his being fired?

Subramanian Swamy.

RB: The article was a hundred percent correct. He did not say – as has been claimed – that all non-Hindus should be forced to convert to Hinduism or anything like that. He didn’t even say that non-Hindus should be oppressed or treated badly within India. He just said they should have a respect for Hinduism, and that they should acknowledge the proper history, especially the history of the Muslims in India. There was no such thing as Islam in India before about 1,000 AD. Muslims invaded and forcibly converted millions of Hindus to Islam. That’s just a historical fact. And that they should acknowledge that historical fact.

PoS: Why is it when it comes to Islam, we don’t stick for minorities? We don’t stick up for women’s rights? We don’t stick up for gay rights? All the things that we would stand up for at any other time.

RB: It’s a combination of different things. Political correctness is part of it, but it’s not the whole explanation. It’s more a simple combination of fear and bribery. In many cases it’s just the money and influence pouring in from the Middle East demanding that no negative aspects of Islam be spoken about. It’s the carrot and the stick, the carrot being the money being the money flowing in from petrodollars, and the stick being [the fear of] rioting and beheading over a cartoon or any slight to Islam.

PoS: In 2008, there was the Mumbai attacks. A couple of things about that were striking. One thing was the way the Western media covered it. If memory serves me correctly – and I think it does – it was implied that the attacks in Mumbai were against essentially Western targets, such as the Taj Mahal Hotel. Do you think they were going after Western targets or do you think there was another incentive?

Breaking news on India TV: the Mumbai attacks that left
more than 100 people dead.

RB: Well, most of the people that were killed were Hindus. So, I wouldn’t call them Western targets… again it’s the stupidity of the West, reporting it in this way… It’s not necessarily the case that they [the terrorists] were trying to kill as many White people, or White tourists, as possible. They just wanted to attack the most visible, or the wealthiest, or the most high profile, targets. Those aren’t Western targets. The only target that they went out of their way to attack that was not related to Hinduism was the synagogue, the Jewish target.

PoS: You probably follow what is going on in Europe, where we hear a lot of calls for sharia. And some people are trying to defend liberal democracy, but they don’t always seem to know what they’re defending. You believe that Hindu values and the values of liberal democracy and modernity are the same. Can you tell me what those would be?

RB: The one mistake that Westerners all make – including conservatives – is that they define Western values and the values of liberal democracy strictly as Judeo-Christian. And I don’t think that's the case. I believe Hindu values have to be included in that as well because India is the world’s largest democracy and it’s 80 percent Hindu, so how can it just be Judeo-Christian. Most people will tell you that it [democracy] comes from the British, which is obnoxious and insulting and racist. I would think that you should want to give credit to the people of that country rather than to an invasive force a hundred years ago.

The values of democracy are more in tune with Hinduism than with many, many, many other faith traditions, because if you look at Hinduism there was an openness – the ability of people within Hinduism to have different gods, multiple deities, and to worship as they please… The ability to allow this freedom, to worship as one pleased without being excommunicated or called a heretic, that’s one of the factors that makes Hinduism a more democratic religion than many others.

When people say that the West is a result of Judeo-Christian civilization, it’s also a combination of that and Socrates, Aristotle, and others, and they were in pre-Christian times, and they were not Jewish either. They were part of a faith that was somewhat similar to Hinduism in the sense that it had multiple gods. I think, on the one hand, it’s difficult because, it [the conception of democracy and the West] has to be more inclusive; it can’t be just Judeo-Christian. You’ve got to embrace some of those other traditions as well. On the other hand let’s not start saying Islam had something to do with it as well; [because] no it didn’t.

PoS: Are there historical links between the ancient Greeks and Hinduism?

RB: I’m not a historian, so I’m not a hundred percent certain, but some of the words and names… Sanskrit is the original Indo-European language… so there are some similarities between ancient Greek and Sanskrit.

PoS: Yes, that’s from Indo-European. Proto-Indo-European is the root of many European languages and Indian as well. And some of the ancient Greeks were influenced by Buddhism(1) as well, so there must be some links [to Hinduism].(2)

RB: Yeah, yeah, I understand there were. There must be some linkages.

PoS: That would be pretty interesting [to research into]. Sort of on that note, today we have a lot of Christian groups that embrace interfaith dialogue with Islam, and they have imams up on stage, and it’s all very lovey-dovey. Yet they react hysterically to New Age spirituality – which is a very pacifistic form of spirituality – but they are extraordinary hysterical about that and think it’s all Satan. It strikes me, whether you like it or not, New Ageism is a big part of Western culture and has been for some time. They’re obviously frightened by it, and think it’s going to destroy civilization. But, I don’t know if you know this, but Hindu nationalism and Buddhist nationalism [and anti-colonialism] were partly revived – or were encouraged to be revived – through a couple of Western proto-New Age people of the Theosophical Society.(3)

RB: Yes, I heard about that… the Theosophical Society in Calcutta.

PoS: Related to that, do you think we should be forming alliances between Hindus, and people who practice Yoga, and spiritual people, and then Christians and Jews and Zoroastrians?

RB: Yes, I think Hinduism, and Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism, are a better fit for Western democracy and liberalism than Islam. I think maybe why some Christians feel kinship with Islam is that – for example, with the Inquisition – Christianity has behaved more like Islam than the peaceful, tolerant, Hindus and the Buddhists… I think you need a combination of tolerance and as strength. You shouldn’t tolerate the intolerant.

PoS: No.

RB: Maybe if you could meld together the toughness of Christianity with some of the tolerance of Hinduism and Buddhism, and form an alliance, you may be able to get the elusive Holy Grail that everyone seems to be looking for, which is how to be strong enough to deter [political] Islam, while not sacrificing our values and principles of liberalism and human rights and democracy.

Notes:

(1) For those interested in the fusion of ancient Greek and Buddhist culture see:

The Buddhist Channel: Gandhara artist’s lasting contribution to Greco-Buddhist art;

Wikipedia: Greco-Buddhism;

UNESCO: images of Greco-Buddhist art;

(2) For those interested in the historical links between ancient Greece and India, see Fordham University: Greek Reports of India & Aryavarta;

Author Thomas McEvilley on Ancient Greek and Indian philosophy [video].

Hindu Wisdom: India and Greece;

Wikipedia: Indo-Greeks;

(3) For more information of the Theosophical Society and its relationship to Hindu and Buddhist anti-colonialism see:

Imperial encounters: religion and modernity in India and Britain by Peter van der Veer [Google Books].

BlavatskyNeet: Blavatsky and Buddhism.

Hindu nationalism: origins, ideologies and modern myths by Chetan Bhatt [Google Books].

Iran: liberal democracy "shaken" by Islam, as Egypt employs sharia

2011-12-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

The "blue bra woman" assaulted by Egyptian
police. One of several woman attacked by
on December 2011 in post-revolutionary
Egypt.

The recent revolutions in the Middle East appear to have given Iran a renewed sense of confidence. Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani has said that "The Islamic Awakening which has started in Islamic countries has created a political earthquake in the western countries," according to Iran's Fars News.

Larijani was addressing a meeting with Foreign Ministry top officials, as well as heads of the Iranian missions abroad and their ambassadors.

Fars News reports that Larijani believes that the "principles of the western liberal democracy have been shaken by Islamic thoughts[sic]."

"The quake," says Larijani, "has shaken many political and social foundations and presented rival foundations for them in a way that they have shaken the West."

Larijani also addressed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, who declared that the support for the Muslim Brotherhood and fundamentalist Salafis in Egypt and elsewhere in the region was "another sign of the Islamic nature of the regional revolutions."

The revolutions in the region were fomented by young pro-democracy advocates. However, the already established Islamist parties have been able to take advantage of the lack of political experience by the pro-democracy movement, and have succeeded in dominating the election in Egypt.

Cartoon by Carlos Latuff. Two Egyptian women beat
Hosni Mubarak. The woman on the left wears Western-
style clothing including jeans, sneakers, and sunglasses.

The hopes of greater freedoms appear to have been dashed. Sharia, not liberal democracy, is emerging in the post-Mubarak era. Egypt Independent is reporting that "the ultra-conservative Salafi Nour Party is funding a sort of religious police, known as the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Authority, according to the authority’s founders." According to the Egyptian daily "volunteers [will] wear white cloaks and hold bamboo canes to beat violators [of the strict code of sharia]."

In scenes reminiscent of those seen previously in Iran, Egyptian women were violently attacked by Egyptian police when they demonstrated on December 17. Video footage of the violent assault of a woman -- known to the world only as the "blue bra woman" -- by police officers, who dragged her along the street and stomped on her body, sent shock waves across the world.

Egyptian female blogger: remove hijab for freedom

2011-12-27T15:21:00.000-08:00

Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda al Mahdy has risked harsh
sharia punishments by calling for greater freedom of expression.

Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda al Mahdy and a male friend recently shocked the overwhelming Muslim Egypt when they posted photos of themselves naked. A coalition of 20 law graduates quickly called for the 20 year-old to be punished according to sharia (which would mean that she would be publicly whipped).

Ahmed Yehia of the coalition pointed out that "The former Constitution and the new articles in the new Constitution say that Islamic law is the basis of legislation, we therefore request that the two bloggers be punished according to Islamic sanctions."

Yehia called their photos “an insult to the Revolution"and complained that they had "present[ed] themselves as revolutionaries [but were now] demanding sexual freedom." In other words, for Yehia, and for very many other Egyptians, the former president was ousted not for more liberalism and democracy but because Mubarak's Egypt was considered too liberal. Yehia said that he was "fighting against [...] sexual liberty,” not for it.

Threats of a public lashing haven't deterred al Mahdy, however. She seems to grasp what most others do not in the West. That is, that the body, is integral to culture. Violence against women is violence not just against the individual woman, but against the culture itself.

"Put on trial the artists' models who posed nude for art schools until the early 70s, hide the art books and destroy the nude statues of antiquity," al Mahdy says on her blog in response to calls for her to be publicly flogged, "then undress and stand before a mirror and burn your bodies that you despise to forever rid yourselves of your sexual hangups before you direct your humiliation and chauvinism and dare to try to deny me my freedom of expression."

A political cartoon by Kaveh Adel, published on Aliaa
al Mahdy's blog. A woman throws off the hijab for a
brighter Egypt for women.

Published on her blog are several paintings and graphics celebrating al Mahdy's bravery, and controversial photographs. One artwork says, "those who disrespect Aliaa will never be the defenders of freedom."

Al Mahdy has now called for women to send two photographs to her, so that they can be posted on her blog. "Women who were veiled and took off the veil and women who are veiled and want to take off the veil," she says, "send me all or some of these items [...] if you agree to publish them."

Al Mahdy has received more than 1,200 comments, most of them praising her. One Egyptian man calls her "the bravest person I've ever seen" and encourages her to "keep it up." Another commenter, called Djam, says, "Very courageous...Freedom must be protected, thanks for the eyptian people who believe that thin[g]s can be changed. Woman have the right to be free we are all human being. The blood of the war is more an offense than nudity who is natural."

Another, anonymous comment, notes correctly that "Freedom starts with the freedom of the body, of our bodies, of Your body!" and wishes al Mahdy "good luck! we love you!!"

Yezidis appeal for protection from genocide

2011-12-26T17:09:00.000-08:00

A letter signed by Aziz Tamoyan, President of the Yezidi National Union of the World, and Khdr Hajoyan, President of the Yezidi National Union of Armenia, has been published by the blog Yezidistan.

The letter accuses Kurdish nationalists of committing genocide against Yezidis in northern Iraq. The letter cites the 2007 bombing of two Yezidi villages, in which, the letter says, 1,000 people were killed.

It also cites the December mobbing and burning of Yezidi and Christian liquor stores in Iraq.

The vicious and large-scale attacks have gone unmentioned in the Western media.

The letter says the Yezidis "have no protector" and appeals for an army to be sent to protect the Yezidis.

Egyptian newspaper: two "Freemason hunters" among nation's most controversial

2011-12-26T14:03:00.000-08:00

Egypt Independent has named Egyptian presidential candidate Tawfik Okasha and his protege Ahmed Spider as two of its five "most controversial figures in 2011."

The newspaper appears to have no love for those named on its list, and subtly mocks Mr. Spider, saying that he believes "Egypt is under attack from the Freemasons, and that the revolution was planned in advance by shadowy figures." Again, note that the push for democracy is equated with "shadowy" behavior and Freemasonry. This myth has long circulated the Middle East, but it is troubling to see it in the post-Mubarak Egypt.

Tawfik Okasha is described as "one of Egypt’s preeminent miners digging for Freemasons." Okasha recently took the time to denounce Canadian TV show host Michael Coren as a "Freemason," much to Coren's surprise. Egypt Independent says Okasha, is "remarkable in his energy and vitality, delivering enraged monologues about the Zionist-Freemason plot against Egypt interspersed with tributes and messages to his flock, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) supporters who gather on some Fridays in Abbaseyya Square."

The Giza pyramid was closed on 11/112011 due to fears that a Masonic ritual with a Star of David was going to take place there. Apparently inspired by this, Okasha, Egyptian Independent says, recently discussed on TV, "the danger of 13/13/2013, the day when Freemason powers are apparently at their highest." The newspaper notes that the message was "undermined slightly by a studio hand pointing out live on air that there is no 13th month in the calendar."

Near death, imprisoned Iranian union leader ends hunger strike

2011-12-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

Trade unions recently wrote to Sadegh Larijani, head of the Judiciary for the Islamic Republic of Iran, highlighting the case of union leader Reza Shahabi. According to the letter, Shahabi,

was arrested June 12, 2011 without any charges no criminal or criticized him. Reza Shahabi is a militant union activist that represents the interests of workers. He appeared on May 25 before the "Revolutionary Court". He and his lawyer brought before the Court evidence that he had not done any illegal action.

Reza Shahabi suffers from several health problems (kidney failure and severe osteoarthritis due to deterioration of four vertebrae).

Mr. Shahbi had begun a hunger strike on November 22, and was still on hunger strike at that point. According to Workers-Iran.org, Mr. Shahabi ended his hunger strike on December 22. His doctor has said "that his health condition is critical and in addition to extreme weakness, he is also suffering from severe anaemia."

Iran arrests fashion designers; wants to impose uniform on women

2011-12-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

I was struck, about a year ago, when I heard an Iranian activist complain that Western media "goes on about" the restrictions on fashion in that country. Perhaps she thought it trivialized the plight of Iranian girls and women. It is a state, after all, in which they are systematically raped by guards and police after arrest for such "crimes" as protesting in support of greater democracy -- or any democracy at all.

But to those of us in the West accustomed to wearing whatever we want, the idea of "morality police" arresting women for showing the front of their hair, or for wearing clothing deemed to be too colorful and life-affirming, is extremely sinister and indicative of the nature of the perverse and totalitarian Government that oppresses its people.

Nearly 70 percent of Iran's 78 million people are under 35 years-old. They overwhelming want liberal democracy and freedom. They also want to wear clothing that they like -- including tight fitting coats. Hijabs are preferred showing as much hair as possible. Should that be a "crime"? President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the regime think so.

As the Washington Post notes, "70 fashion designers were rounded up in November [in Iran], and more than 400 shops selling “improper” dresses were closed." President Ahmadinejad wants to promote government-approved clothes for women, although even these designs are considered too Western by some hard liners.

India complains to Russia of threat to ban Bhagavad Gita

2011-12-26T08:47:00.000-08:00

Have you ever felt afraid by a Hare Krishna? Smiling, dressed in orange, and espousing vegetarianism, Hare Krishnas don't exactly cut the most menacing of figures. But, surprisingly, Russia -- which many politicians and human rights groups fear is falling back into authoritarianism -- is worried by the movement.

Works of Turkish Muslim theologian Said Nursi as well as Jehovah’s Witness books have been classified as extremist and banned in Russia. The Russian administrative center of Tonsk has said that it may ban the Hare Krishna, and Hindu, holy book, the Bhagavad Gita.

However, Tomsk ombudsman Nelly Krechetova has said this would violate human rights. India has raised the issue with Moscow.