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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Kashmir, children find themselves in jail; in Bangladesh, 1 million Rohingya refugees find themselves unwanted. A racist inspired by the Christchurch shooter roams the streets of west London vowing ‘to kill Muslims’. Our recommended read of the day is by Kevin Schwartz on India’s “bludgeoning of Kashmir”. This, and more, below:
India
India's bludgeoning of Kashmir is a new low for global anti-Muslim violence | Recommended Read
Alongside China, which has imprisoned perhaps more than 1 million Uighur and other Muslims in its "re-education camps," the world can now bear witness that its two most populous countries - comprising more than a third of the global population - have made the subjugation and repression of Muslims a cruel element of their ongoing nation-building projects. Add to this the unspeakable crimes and forced migration committed against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar two years ago and the manner Muslims and Islam have increasingly become a proxy for western democracies to debate and frame issues around national culture across Europe. read the complete article
‘Our children are in jail’: How India is keeping Kashmir isolated and in fear
After much persuasion, they called Ashiq, who had been playing cricket with his friends outside. He removed his T-shirt, drenched in sweat, to show the cuts and bruises covering his back. He screams in pain when his father tries to touch one of the wound marks. “The SP saheb (superintendent of police) beat me the night I was dragged to the police station," he told me. "There were other boys in the van. When I told them I studied in class eight in school and knew nothing about the protests, they would start beating me again.” After 18 days of detention, Ashiq was released with physical and psychological scars that he will carry the rest of his life. Close to 3,000 people have been detained in Kashmir — many of them children — since Aug. 4, when a curfew and communication blackout were imposed in the valley. It has now been a month, and many locals have no reliable information about their future. Fear and uncertainty permeate the atmosphere. read the complete article
‘We Are Shocked’: India Citizenship Rule Splits Muslim Families
Morisful Begum couldn’t eat or sleep after she discovered on Saturday she had been declared a foreigner while her husband and three children had been recognized as Indian citizens. She’s eight months pregnant, and can’t afford the cost of appealing the decision on top of expenses for food and school. “Committing suicide is on my mind,” said Begum, 26, her eyes full of tears. “I can’t live in a detention camp away from my children and husband. A sense of betrayal and anger is growing in Muslim communities, which are most affected by the National Register of Citizens that aims to separate genuine citizens from illegal migrants. Instead, the country’s biggest and most complex registry is dividing families and causing ripples across the political spectrum, fueled by concerns Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party is using the measure to advance a hardline Hindu agenda. read the complete article
United States
Media Coverage of Muslims More Negative than other minority groups
The Media Portrayals of Minorities Project Lab at Vermont's Middlebury College analyzed 26,626 articles from 2018 that mentioned African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Jews and Muslims. The articles selected were published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Coverage of Muslims was rated an average of -.092, compared to -0.13 for Latinos and +0.17 for Asian Americans. Researchers at Bleich's lab found only 2 percent of articles on Muslims mentioned Islamophobia or anti-Muslim sentiment, with 3 percent explicitly noting anti-Muslim hate crimes. That compares to the 17 percent of Jewish articles that mentioned anti-Semitism. read the complete article
'I'm on active duty': Meet the Texans arming to fight Islamophobia in America
Around them, 40-odd protesters, some with hand guns in holsters, hold up signs that read: "Stop Islamophobia" and “United against Racism and Facism". “We are here to provide security to Muslims at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention,” 64-year-old Smith, a retired political scientist, activist and former military veteran, tells Middle East Eye. “There's a number of fascists threatening to disrupt this event, just as they did last year. And we believe that the Muslim community has a right to have a convention, work and worship without any fear or intimidation,” Smith said. The protest, organised by a coalition of organisations, including the Houston Socialist Movement (HSM), the Democratic Socialists of America Party (DSA) and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, had been arranged to counter an anti-Muslim protest by groups associated with white supremacists, outside the venue during the convention last weekend. read the complete article
Muslim man says Starbucks barista wrote 'ISIS' on his cups
Niquel Johnson told NBC News he told a Starbucks barista on Aug. 25 that his name was “Aziz,” giving a shortened version of his Muslim name, Abdul Aziz. He noticed about 20 minutes after picking up the three drinks he ordered that the cups had “ISIS” written on them, the acronym for the Islamic terror group. A Starbucks spokesperson told The Hill that, after investigating the incident, the company does not believe it was a case of discrimination or profiling. “The customer approached and provided the name Aziz. The barista mistakenly spelled it incorrectly,” the spokesperson said. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Racist inspired by Christchurch attack roamed streets vowing to ‘kill Muslims’
Vincent Fuller, 50, lunged at 19-year-old Dimitar Mihaylov’s neck with a 12-inch kitchen knife through a car window in a Tesco car park in Stanwell, west London, on the night of March 16. He calmly said “you’re going to die” in an “evil way” before plunging the blade into the victim’s left hand, which he raised to defend himself, Kingston Crown Court heard on Thursday. Fuller pleaded guilty to attempted murder over the attack at a previous hearing and prosecutors say he is a far-right terrorist who, in the hours leading up to the attack, was heard shouting: “All Muslims should die. White supremacists rule. I’m going to murder a Muslim.” read the complete article
Under Boris Johnson, it seems punishment is reserved for rebels, not racists
Islamophobia in the Conservative Party is not just a case of one or two reckless comments – we have seen hundreds of instances of islamophobia from MPs to councillors and ordinary party members. The problem is not only widespread, but institutional. Yet, we have barely seen any attempts by the Conservative Party to address, or even acknowledge the problem. In contrast, the Conservative Party has been very quick off the mark to enforce the harshest form of discipline for MPs who came out against the prime minister’s plans for a no-deal Brexit – immediate removal of the whip, deselection and a ban from standing for the party in future elections. read the complete article
Bangladesh
A Million Refugees May Soon Lose Their Line to the Outside World
About one million Rohingya Muslims in camps in Bangladesh could soon lose a vital connection to the outside world if the government moves forward with a threat to suspend cell service to the world’s largest refugee settlement. Citing “state security” and “public safety,” the Bangladeshi telecommunications minister ordered a halt this week to mobile phone service in camps crowded with Rohingya Muslims who fled ethnic cleansing in their native Myanmar. The blackout is scheduled to take effect by Sunday. read the complete article