Posts

Showing posts from March 24, 2019

Pakistan openly facilitating Khalistani separatists

Ottawa [Canada], Mar 29 (ANI): Pakistan has openly started facilitating Khalistan separatists by pumping in millions of dollars to revive the anti-India movement following their futile attempts at propagating anti-India sentiments in the West. During the Pakistan Day celebrations held at the Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canadian Senator Salman Attaullahjan of Pakistani origin invited prominent proponent of Khalistan, Sukhminder Singh Hansra. Hansra, who openly advocates for Khalistan and is a leading figure in the separatist movement in Canada, was provided with a platform to spew venom against India. Praising Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Hansra openly thanked Islamabad for supporting their satanic movement, which has seen zero support from the Sikhs living world over. Hansra said, "Imran Khan has brought a way of Politics," while relentlessly criticising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Hansra's presence at the event irked the Indo-Canadian

I am starving myself until Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan is taken out of solitary confinement

Image
I am starving myself until Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan is taken out of solitary confinement As the communities in Syria and Iraq were celebrating the territorial defeat of the so-called Islamic State caliphate last week, I too was rejoicing watching the historic images of dancing women and men, after years of violence, enslavement and oppression. When the Syrian Democratic Forces declared their victory over  Isis , I was on the 98th day of my hunger strike. As a Kurd, my commitment to a world of justice, equality and democracy forced me to leave Turkey and become a political refugee in the United Kingdom 15 years ago. I have been living in Newport, Wales, since 2014, where I am actively involved in struggles for coexistence and equality. In December 2018, I went on hunger strike at the Kurdish community centre in Newport, after the elected Kurdish MP, former mayor, and women’s activist Leyla Güven began her hunger strike from her prison cell in Turkey in early November l

China Thanks Kazakhstan for 'Supporting' Crackdown on Muslim-dominated Region of Xinjiang

Omir Bekali, who was arrested in 2017 after he returned to Xinjiang on a business trip for his Kazakh travel agency, said camp inmates were forbidden to pray or grow a beard, and forced to eat pork on Fridays. AFP Beijing: China has thanked Kazakhstan for supporting its crackdown on the restive far west region of Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of rights abuses against minority groups, including ethnic Kazakhs. China is holding one million ethnic Uighurs and other mostly Muslim groups in internment camps in the heavily policed region, according to estimates cited by a UN panel. Beijing has rejected the accusations and says it runs education training centres as part of its fight against Islamist extremism and separatism in Xinjiang. On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Kazakhstan counterpart Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing. According to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, Atamkulov said his country "understands and supports the measures taken by China&

Mexico braces for new caravan of Central American migrants

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is bracing for the possible arrival of the "mother of all caravans," even as doubts arise over whether the group of Central American migrants will be all that big. Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero has said a caravan of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala could be forming. "We have information that a new caravan is forming in Honduras, that they're calling 'the mother of all caravans,' and they are thinking it could have more than 20,000 people," Sanchez Cordero said Wednesday. But a WhatsApp group calling for people to gather Saturday in El Salvador to set off for Guatemala only has about 206 members. Activist Irineo Mujica, who has accompanied several caravans in Mexico, said reports about "the mother of all caravans" were false, claiming "this is information that (U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen) Nielsen is using to create fear." His group, Pueblo Sin Fronteras,

Secularism isn’t the answer to Islamic extremism, but arguably its cause

SOUTH BEND, Indiana - At the end of March Pope Francis will make a quick overnight trip to Morocco, marking the latest chapter in modern papal outreach to the Islamic world. It’s a story that reaches back at least to 1964, when Paul VI became the first pope to leave Italy in modern times by visiting the Holy Land, starting with Jordan. While these outings have many aims, these days one primary objective is to promote a greater climate of religious freedom - which, among other things, should make life a bit easier for the pope’s own small flocks in these places. During his February trip to the United Arab Emirates that featured an interfaith summit, for instance, Francis delivered a mini-manifesto on the topic. Surrounded by imams, rabbis, Buddhist monks and Hindu leaders, the pope distinguished real religious freedom from mere freedom of worship, saying that “without freedom, we are no longer children [of God] but slaves.” In a new book , Professor Daniel Philpott of the Univ

Dalhousie-based initiative seeks to eradicate recruitment of child soldiers

Image
The organization was founded in 2007 by retired Canadian Forces General Roméo Dallaire. A research and training initiative based at Dalhousie University is leading international efforts to prevent children from being recruited as soldiers in war-ravaged countries such as South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Syria. Since the  Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative  was founded eponymously in 2007 by the former Canadian Forces Lieutenant-General, it has made many inroads with global partners towards the goal of eradicating the use and recruitment of children as soldiers in war. General Dallaire was most notably the commander of the UN mission in Rwanda during the genocide there in 1994. He later became an advocate for veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, but now says he has committed “the rest of his life” to the child soldier initiative. Part of that effort includes educating the public on the varied and insidious ways children can become invo

Philippine communist rebels terror strike 50th year with new attacks

Image
FILE - In this Nov. 23, 2016 photo, a woman New People's Army guerrilla with her face painted to conceal her identity holds her firearm inside a shelter at a rebel encampment tucked in the harsh wilderness of the Sierra Madre mountains, southeast of Manila, Philippines. Communist guerrillas are marking half a century of their rural rebellion in the Philippines with threats of more attacks, possibly spreading into cities, as a negotiated settlement remained elusive with peace talks repeatedly stalling. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File) MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine communist guerrillas marked the 50th anniversary of their rural rebellion on Friday with threats of more attacks, possibly in cities, as a negotiated settlement remains elusive and peace talks have repeatedly stalled. The New People's Army marked a half a century after its founding with an attack on a police patrol in northern Mountain Province that killed a policeman. Authorities said a separate rebe

Podcast: Countering violent extremism

This week on  Policy Forum Pod  we take a look at countering violent extremism policies and whether policymakers have a blind spot when it comes to right-wing extremism. The panel also discuss how the mainstream media reports deadly attacks and whether the social media giants are pulling their weight in preventing violent content spreading. The devastating attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand shocked the world and claimed the lives of 50 people. In response, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern rushed through a new firearms policy and openly showed her solidarity with the Muslim community. Social media companies, however, were criticised for a sluggish response in removing footage of the attacks and questions have been asked about how the mainstream media covered the terrible events. This week our expert panel – Jacinta Carroll, Anooshe Mushtaq, Caroline Fisher, and Mathieu O’Neil – take a look at Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) policies, pathways to radica

The specter of Islamist extremism looms over West Africa

The threat of extremism persists thousands of miles from where the Islamic State once established its stronghold in the Middle East. Read More Address:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/worldviews/the-specter-of-islamist-extremism-looms-over-west-africa/2019/03/29/8440a41d-4394-4811-b4da-1d332fb7f62f_story.htm

Danish IS children to lose right to citizenship

Stockholm, March 29 (IANS) Children of Danish citizens who joined the Islamic State (IS) terror organization will be prohibited from receiving citizenship, the media reported on Friday. The new policy is part of a recent agreement between the Danish government and the right-wing populist Danish People's Party (DPP), Denmark's second largest political party, Xinhua news agency reported. A child "born of parents who turned their backs on Denmark should not be part of Denmark", said Danish Minister for Immigration, Integration and Housing Inger Stojberg. "We don't want them back home," said DPP member Christian Langballe. "We never want to have them home again." The policy tightens the law for all Danes who joined the IS, making it much easier to revoke their Danish citizenship. The Swedish arm of the international aid organization Save the Children criticized the move, which will begin in Denmark this summer. "It goes against a

Legal American Residents Held In China Mass Detention Camps, Alleges US

Washington:  American residents, either citizens or people with legal status in Washington, are allegedly being held in  detention camps in China's Xinjiang , media reports quoted sources in the US State Department. There is, however, no exact number of how many American residents are being held, US-based media house CNN reported, adding that there were "a few". A US official said he had a new, unconfirmed report about a California man whose father, a legal US resident, had not been heard from since returning to Xinjiang. "He had legal status being here, travelled back to Xinjiang after being here with his son in California. And then has not been heard from since. And he's deeply concerned about whether, what his treatment is. He has a number of chronic illnesses, he's a 75-year-old man and an intellectual," Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said. "Entire villages are being encased and people limited

World Editors Forum Condemns ‘Continued Targeting’ of Maria Ressa

Image
The World Editors Forum on Friday, 29 March, strongly condemned the arrest of senior Philippines journalist Maria Ressa, stating that she is an example to all those who believe in the ideals of journalism. Ressa was arrested earlier in the day, on a fraud charge, her second detention in what press freedom advocates have said is retaliation for her news site's criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte. “The continued targeting and harassment of Ressa, her staff and directors, using the Philippines legal system, is a clear attempt to silence her and Rappler.com, the independent news operation she runs,” said a statement issued by the World Editors Forum.  Also Read:  Filipino Scribe & Rappler CEO Maria Ressa Held on Anti-Dummy Law Ressa faces seven active legal cases, and there are 11 cases overall against Rappler and its staff. All these cases were reportedly filed in the 14 months since the Securities and Exchange Commission first tried to shut down the news website.