Haveeru reports that English teacher Jinto Thomas is being deported for the “crime” of having an “anti-Islamic passage” in a test that reads:
— “All of us are human persons. We are created by God. There are numerous religions in the world. Christianity is the largest religious in the world. There around 2,500,000,000 Christians in the world. The second place goes to Islam. There are about 1,3000,000,000 Muslims.”
British media are reporting on the activities of Indian Muslim cleric Zakir Naik who has been permitted to enter the United Kingdom for evangelist activities on his interpretation of Islam.
Religious extremist Zakir Naik has repeatedly called for denying human beings their universal human rights of freedom of conscience, calling those who leave Islam as “traitors.” The London Times has quoted Zakir Naik as stating that “People who change their religion should face the death penalty.” On May 30, 2010, Zakir Naik was speaking at a Maldives event where a man publicly renounced Islam in the form of a question to Zakir Naik, and Zakir Naik again called for the death penalty for those Muslims who leave Islam and who propagate another faith. The man asking Zakir Naik the question was taken into custody in the Maldives and is expected to be prosecuted.
In a widely broadcast video, Zakir Naik has called for the death penalty for those who leave Islam and promote another religion as “apostates.” In the broadcast, Zakir Naik states “if a Muslim becomes a non-Muslim and propagates his/her new religion, then it is as good as treason. There is a ‘death penalty’ in Islam for such a person. In many countries, the punishment for treason is also death. If an army general discloses his army’s secrets to another country, then there is a ‘death penalty’ or life imprisonment for such a person according to the laws of most of the countries. In the broadcast, Zakir Naik also states that the death penalty for leaving Islam (“apostasy”) should also apply to “non-Muslim countries.” Zakir Naik also challenges other “Islamic scholars” who believe in such death penalty for “apostates” to extend such defiance of religious freedom not just to Muslim majority nations, but to the entire world. Zakir Naik states “If these scholars are really righteous people then they must welcome their own principle (of death for apostates) in the non-Muslim countries as well.”
London Times: “Muslim preacher of hate is let into Britain” — Zakir Naik
— London Times: “Zakir Naik, an Indian televangelist described as a ‘hate-monger’ by moderate Muslims and one Tory MP, says western women make themselves ‘more susceptible to rape’ by wearing revealing clothing.”
— “Naik, who proselytises on Peace TV, a satellite television channel, is reported to have called for the execution of Muslims who change their faith, described Americans as ‘pigs’ and said that ‘every Muslim should be a terrorist‘”
— “In a recent lecture, he said he was ‘with’ Osama Bin Laden over the attacks on ‘terrorist America’, adding that the 9/11 hijackings were an inside job by President George W Bush.”
— quotes Zakir Naik: “Beware of Muslims saying Osama Bin Laden is right or wrong. I reject them … we don’t know. But if you ask my view, if given the truth, if he is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him. I don’t know what he’s doing. I’m not in touch with him. I don’t know him personally. If he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist … I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”
— quotes Zakir Naik: “People who change their religion should face the death penalty”
In Pakistan’s Lahore, terrorist attacks on two minority Muslim mosques have reportedly left 98 killed. The attacks are suspected to be the actions of the religious extremist Taliban organization, which used a combination of grenades, guns, and suicide bomb vests to attack worshipers during Friday Muslim prayers at two mosques by the minority Ahmadi Muslim sect, which represent 4 million Pakistani Muslims. The attacks took place at the in Garhi Shahu and Model Town mosques, while thousands were attending worship services. Dawn reported that at the Garhi Shahu mosque, terrorists exploded two suicide vests inside the entrance, injuring nearly 100 worshipers. Multiple reports stated that the terrorists also took Muslim worshipers hostage during the attacks on the two mosques. GEO Pakistan reported that the terrorist attacks took place while people where praying. The Ahmadi Muslims have received threats over the past year, but this did not deter them from exercising their universal human right of freedom of religion and freedom of worship. The Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital, is also a haven for many of the Taliban organizations. The Pakistan Interior Minister indicated today that the Pakistan Taliban and similar organizations were being suspected for the mosque attacks in Lahore on May 28, 2010.
The Ahmadi minority Muslims face discrimination throughout Pakistan according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which states that they face “the most severe legal restrictions and officially-sanctioned discrimination” (2009 USCIRF Report page 6). In 1974, the Pakistan government declared that the Ahmadi minority Muslims were “non-Muslims,” and in 1984, the Ahmadi Muslims were banned from proselytizing and identifying themselves as Muslims.
— “A Christian girl who was kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam has been reunited with her family after three years apart. Tina Barkat, now 28, was kidnapped by the family of her friend Sobia, who together with her uncle forced her to convert to Islam and marry one of their relatives, Qaiser.”
— “Joseph Francis, director of CLAAS Pakistan, said the kidnapping and forced conversion of Christian and Hindu girls was on the rise in Pakistan. Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS UK, agreed that it was a serious problem.”
— “CLAAS has brought the worrying trend to the attention of the Pakistani government and is pressing for legislation to end forced conversions and ensure the protection of women and young girls belonging to a minority group, who are particularly at risk.”
In the ongoing investigation of the NYC Times Square Car Bomb Plot, CNN reported on May 17, 2010 that emails reportedly written by terror suspect Faisal Shahzad as a “frustrated Muslim.”
An aspect of Faisal Shahzad’s emails not addressed by CNN is his rejection of democracy and calls for an extremist caliphate.
As shown in the Adobe Acrobat file of reported emails by Faisal Shahzad, he wrote that : “Why do you have to follow Democracy (Human made Laws) if you’re already given Laws revealed from Allah, Quran, and Sunnah. Khilafath is what we Muslim ruled the world with, weren’t we successful in world then?”
Faisal Shahzad (Photo: Online Social Networking site Orkut.com)
We remain concerned that those that seek to defy democracy are actually seeking the destruction of our unqualified, universal human rights. Terrorist suspect Faisal Shahzad’s attacks on democracy and call for a Caliphate have been echoed in public forums by the Hizb ut-Tahrir America organization in July 2009 in Oak Lawn Illinois. Such individuals and groups that we have called “extremists” are unquestionably against democracy, against our unqualified universal human rights, and seek the recreation of a global Islamic caliphate.
Those of us Responsible for Equality And Liberty stand to defy those who seek the destruction of our universal human rights, and who reject our unity in pluralism that respects all religions, races, genders, and ethnicity.
In the United Kingdom, anti-democracy leader of the banned group “Islam4UK” Anjem Choudary has condemned and spoke of threats to the new Muslim woman Member of Parliament (MP) Sayeeda Warsi.
Minister of Parliament Sayeeda Warsi (Photograph: Rex Features)
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has previously reported on Anjem Choudary’s attacks on democracy, pluralism, and our universal human rights, and his demands for anti-democratic version of Sharia to be imposed on the United Kingdom which would deny democracy and our human rights.
The UK Daily Star reported on Anjem Choudary’s rant against the woman Muslim minister, reporting that Anjem Choudary stated: “Sayeeda Warsi is not a Muslim in my eyes. She may look like a Muslim and have a Muslim-sounding name but she does not represent Islam or anyone in this country who is a Muslim. She is a ‘coconut,’ brown on the outside but white on the inside. In fact, she is whiter than most of the other white people in government. How can she be a Muslim and support the military involvement of the British Army in Islamic countries? She is somebody who pretends to be a practising Muslim but, from her views and statements, she is clearly against Sharia. She is a disgrace and many true Muslims are angry that she claims to stand for Islam despite betraying Allah.”
The Daily Star also reports that Anjem Choudary stated that Sayeeda Warsi would be the target of hate, stating: “She will be attacked by eggs every time she goes near a Muslim community. Some more extreme protesters may take the attacks further. There is no doubt she is in danger.”
In regards to an upcoming protest in Belgium, Choudary told the Daily Star “there will be blood on the streets.”
Today, at the White House, supporters of R.E.A.L. will be asking U.S. President Obama and Afghanistan President Karzai to reconsider the planned discussions on “reintegration” and “reconciliation” of Taliban supremacists in Afghanistan, including suggestions to allow them to return to the police and armed forces.
The reason that the United States of America is in Afghanistan today is because of the September 11 attacks on America by Al-Qaeda terrorists, with the Afghanistan Taliban providing a safe haven for such terrorist training and plots to kill thousands of Americans. The statutory reason that the United States is in Afghanistan is based on the September 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which gives vague terms around what the American military can do in response to those associated with the 9/11 attacks.
But if we have learned anything from the 9/11 attacks, it is that there are those in the world who deliberately and consciously seek to reject our unqualified, universal human rights. There are those who reject our freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of press, and our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There are those who reject a pluralist society that respects our differences, but ensures our unity in an omniculture of universal human rights.
Any foreign or domestic policies that ignore human rights and that ignore women’s rights (half of humanity) are bad decisions, and directions that we will not support.
We have seen a steady stream of HATE against women in Afghanistan, some of it by the Taliban, and some of it by the Afghanistan government. Such hate begins with a conscious and deliberate rejection of our unqualified, universal human rights. Such hate and rejection of human rights is the same root cause of terrorist tactics whether they are domestic or international. This is what American and Afghanistan government policy must first address.
But the rejection of human rights for women and others goes beyond the Taliban. The Taliban are a reflection of such hate also found in the Afghanistan government and society.
In Afghanistan, Americans must ask where is the policy for human rights? Where is the policy to address the root causes of terrorism?
What are we fighting for?
Human rights and women’s rights are not an afterthought, not a marginal issue for human peace, and certainly not inconsequential in addressing the ideological basis for terrorism tactics.
We will have no security without human rights. We will have no security without women’s rights.
We will have no conscience if we abandon the Afghanistan women to hate, misogyny, violence, and yes – the TERRORISM – of the Taliban and those who view women as less than human beings.
When we abandon the victims of terrorism, we enable terrorists ourselves.
Choose Love, Not Hate. Love Wins.
Afghanistan: Girls recovering from poison gas attack (Photo: Reuters/Mohammad Ishaq)
— AFP reports: “Thousands of Christians protested in northern Iraq on Monday to condemn a bomb attack on a bus carrying students and workers which left one person dead and 80 wounded.”
— “‘We are not a minority, we are an authentic part of the Iraqi people,’ said a banner at the demonstration. ‘We ask the prime minister (Nuri al-Maliki) to stop the tragedy of the Christians,’ it added.”
— “Church leaders, supported by Arab tribes, led between 2,500-3,000 people at the demonstration.”
— “‘The government is silent and is doing nothing about (the trouble) we face,’ said Basim Sameer, a 47-year-old engineer.”
2,500 and 3,000 Christians Protest Bus Bomb on Christian Students in Iraq (Photo: AFP)
On May 2, 2010, multiplenewsmediareportsaddressed the targeted attack on Christian students in Iraq on buses traveling to Mosul University with multiple bombs. The bombings wounded at least 80 and killed at least one person who was a Christian shop keeper.
On May 2, 2010, Radio Free Europe reported: — “Police say a Christian shop owner was killed when a car bomb and a roadside bomb exploded near buses transporting students from the predominantly Christian town of Hamdaniya, some 40 kilometers east of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.”
— “Hamdaniya mayor Nissan Karoumi says everyone in bus was Christian, and they were traveling to the University of Mosul.”
On May 2, 2010, the Voice of America reported that:
— “Two separate bombs exploded along the road leading into the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Sunday killing at least one person and wounding at least 80 others. The bombs exploded near buses carrying Christian students who were traveling to Mosul University. Violence targeting the large Christian community in and around the city continues to anger and worry residents.”
— “The students were travelling by bus from Hamdaniya into Mosul when back to back bombs exploded with at least one blast tearing through the side of one of the buses, injuring dozens. Eyewitnesses say that shrapnel and shattered glass left many students dazed and bloodied, while a nearby shop-owner died from the force of the blast.”
— “A young man whose head was bandaged, face puffy and swollen, explained what happened from his hospital bed. He said that after his bus reached a clearing in the road the explosion took place about 100 meters further on. He goes on to say that he wasn’t paying attention when the blast occurred, but that he believes that two cars exploded.”
— “Another student described the situation on the bus after the explosions as ‘chaotic,’ with students screaming and blood all over. ‘I won’t forget (this day) for the rest of my life,’ he said.”
— “Christians in the violence-wracked northern city of Mosul have repeatedly been victimized by terrorist attacks in recent weeks and months. Some Sunni fundamentalists consider Christians to be infidels and supporters of the Shiite-led government in Iraq.”
On May 2, 2010, the New York Times reported that:
— “‘We were going for our education and they presented us with bombs,’ said Jamil Salahuddin Jamil, 25, a sophomore geography major, who was on board the lead bus. ‘I still do not know what they want from Christians.'”
— “The convoy of about 20 buses was taking students from Christian towns and villages in the Nineveh Plain, between Mosul and the semiautonomous Kurdistan region, back to classes at the University of Mosul.”
Fragments of a Blood-Stained Notebook After Targeted Bus Bomb Attack on Christians (Photo: AP)A wounded Iraqi woman receives medical care at a hospital in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, after a double bomb attack targeting buses carrying Christian students and university workers near Mosul in killed a shopkeeper and wounded 80 other people, 02 May 2010 (Photo: AFP)
