Mid Day: Sushant Singh. Last Saturday, Shri Rama Pir Mandir, a century-old Hindu temple in Soldier Bazaar in Karachi, along with surrounding houses of the Hindus, was destroyed by the authorities. Although the Sindh High Court is hearing a petition on the matter, Karachi police denied the existence of […]
Daily Times: Saad Hafiz. A clear unified lobby who are strong proponents of religious domination, and who provoke attacks on those who value their own autonomy and political choice, are in the driver’s seat The unequal battle between the depleting ranks of secularists and the growing band of Islamists in […]
Huff Post: Murgan Salem al-Gohary, an Egyptian jihadist who claims he has links to the Taliban, has called for the “destruction of the Sphinx and the Giza Pyramids in Egypt.” Al-Gohary, an Islamist leader and jihadist sentenced twice under President Hosni Mubarak for advocating violence, urged Muslims to “destroy the idols” […]
Egypt Independant: Members of the Constituent Assembly agreed last week to remove a proposed article which provided some constitutional support for gender equality — provided that such equality did not violate the provisions of Islamic Sharia law. The episode showed the ability of both liberals and ultra-conservative Salafis to stamp […]
Anti-Islam film bounty: Bilour, wife banned from entering US By Hassan Ali Published: November 9, 2012 US embassy in Islamabad cancels visas of Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Billour and his wife. PHOTO: AFP/FILE PESHAWAR: In a reaction over the bounty placed on the head of the producer of the movie ‘Innocence of Muslims’, […]
Source: The Blitz While Bangladesh Election Commission has already served notice on Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami asking it to make some changes in its party’s charter which do not conform to […]
theguardian: Linda Woodhead. Who could have imagined that a court in Cologne would, this year, rule the ancient and sacred practice of male circumcision illegal, or that the previous year the European court of human rights (ECHR) wouldoverturn its earlier ruling that crucifixes should not be displayed in state schools? The see-sawing […]
theguardian: Jason Burke. “The last decade of conflicts has created a massive new body of writing about Muslim extremism. The difference with the late 1990s, when I first started reporting on Muslim extremism while working in Afghanistan andPakistan, is immense. The works below all helped me focus and broaden my own thinking, […]
theguardian: A court in southern Egypt has convicted a teacher of child abuse and given her a six-month suspended sentence after she cut the hair of two schoolgirls for not wearing the Muslim headscarf. The incident last month in the village of Qurna sparked criticism from rights groups and local officials. The […]
Dawn.com: by Waris Husain. An obstacle that seems to define US-Pakistan relations is the lack of a common enemy recognised by both parties. There is a mutual threat within the military ranks of both nations in the form of infiltrators, using their military training to assist extremist groups. Pakistan’s Army […]
Dawn.com: PESHAWAR: Following the deadly attack on activist Malala Yousafzai a few weeks ago, another schoolgirl from Swat, Hina Khan who was a pioneer in raising her voice publicly against Taliban atrocities in the Malakand Valley, is now also claiming to be on the Taliban’s hit list. What has been further worrisome […]
Dawn.com: by Kaiser Bengali. TWO events in recent weeks have shaken the country and — fortunately, for a change — led to intense soul-searching. The first event was the response to the anti-Islam film in the US and the second the shooting of 14-year old schoolgirl and anti-Taliban blogger Malala […]
The Express Tribune: by Syed Mohammad Ali. The Pakistani diaspora is usually at the forefront of expressing disgruntlement when it comes to complaining about Islamophobia abroad. Yet, as a nation, we continue to treat minorities within Pakistan itself abhorrently. ………Hatred and fundamentalism have fermented to unacceptable levels. They need just the […]
The Express Tribune: by Muhammad Ali Ehsan. The cowardly attack on Malala Yousufzai, a 14-year-old child, is a tragic reminder of the violent blowback that Pakistani society continues to bear and sustain at the hands of religious extremists who are extremely upset and frustrated because their creators and mentors are no […]
The Express Tribune: SWAT: The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which attacked National Award Peace winner Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday have said that they will target her again if she survives because she was a “secular-minded lady”. A TTP spokesperson told The Express Tribune that this was a warning for all youngsters who were involved […]
Dawn.com: by Faiza Mirza. Although, on the surface, the constitution of Pakistan vows to protect the Muslim and non-Muslim minorities of Pakistan, however, in practice we have yet to see a time when Ahmadis, Christians, Shias, Hindus and other religious communities were treated on the same footing with Sunni Muslims. […]
Huff Post: by Sophia Khan. I wept this morning, the tears of a half-Pakistani American whose human brethren around the globe are once more catching fire and burning each other down. Caught between two worlds, I have always found myself speaking on behalf of a group I felt ill-equipped to […]
Source: Amnesty International. The perpetrators of arson attacks on temples and Buddhist villages in the south of Bangladesh must be brought to justice and steps taken to ensure ethnic minorities are protected, Amnesty International said. More than 20 Buddhist temples and monasteries and at least one Hindu temple, along with […]
Source: Stratfor By Kamran Bokhari Vice President of Middle Eastern & South Asian Affairs (“Salafism and Arab Democratizationis republished with permission of Stratfor.”) Read more: Salafism and Arab Democratization | Stratfor The outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011 brought significant attention to groups — known as Islamists — seeking to […]
Dawn.com: by Hajra Mumtaz. NOT so long ago, the radio was in the news for all the wrong reasons. That was the medium chosen by the militant leader Fazlullah, who became known as Mullah Radio, to spread his messages of hatred and divisiveness. For a long time, he broadcast his […]