Search
SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, a Doctor who was initially suspended for nine months in 2022 for criticizing his patients’ English skills and asking a woman to remove her veil, was given an additional of 12 months due to a sentence violation, meanwhile in Europe, a civil petition calling for the total suspension of the EU–Israel Association Agreement for alleged war crimes has reached one million signatures across all 27 member states, and lastly in the US, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) urged Harvard to discipline the Harvard Republican Club over a social media post criticizing a campus Eid celebration. Our recommended read of the day is by Ritwika Mitra for Al Jazeera, on how the key eastern state of Bengal (India) will be heading to polls this month under the shadow of a controversial revision of electoral rolls, which many say excludes Muslims disproportionately. This and more below:
India
Muslims the target? Fury as millions lose voting rights in India’s Bengal | Recommended Read
Nabijan Mondal, 73, has voted in every Indian election – national, state or local – for the past 50 years. Suddenly, she finds her name missing from the list of voters published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in her home state of West Bengal as it heads for a two-phase assembly election on April 23 and April 29, with votes to be counted on May 4. Nabijan is among more than nine million people to lose voting rights in West Bengal – nearly 12 percent of the state’s 76 million voters, after the SIR process was concluded earlier this month. Almost six million of these nine million voters have been declared absentee or deceased, while the remaining three million will be unable to vote until special tribunals hear their cases. The analysis of voter deletions across West Bengal shows that Muslims have been disproportionately affected by the SIR exercise, mainly in districts where they constitute a high percentage of the population and could sway the election, including Murshidabad with 460,000 deletions, followed by 330,000 in North 24 Parganas and 240,000 in Malda. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Quakers among charities warning new regulator powers could stifle advocacy
Several leading civil society organisations have urged the government to consult the sector before introducing new powers for the Charity Commission, which they caution risks “suppressing legitimate advocacy” at a time when civic space is under increased pressure. Signatories, including leaders from some of the UK’s largest civil society bodies, alongside faith-based and community organisations, wrote to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, saying the proposed social cohesion measures could lead to the “suppression of lawful advocacy, campaigning and community engagement”. The letter, which was signed by leaders from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, the Muslim Charities Forum, Quakers in Britain and Oxfam, among others, cautions against a government proposal to introduce broader grounds on which organisations could be reported for extremism. read the complete article
GP suspended for asking Muslim woman to remove her veil because he 'was struggling to understand her' is struck off
Keith Wolverson, who worked at Royal Stoke University Hospital and Derby Urgent Treatment Centre, was suspended for nine months in 2022 for criticising his patients’ English skills and asking a woman to remove her veil. At the time, the hearing was told that Wolverson made a series of inappropriate comments about his patients' language skills and noted in medical records that they “need to learn better English”. He allegedly told a senior colleague in an interview that he "shouldn't have to see patients who can't speak English". In 2024, Wolverson was suspended for a further 12 months after it was revealed that he was working. He said the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) appeal process was “unclear”, which the panel rejected, saying that he had “clearly” been informed his registration had been suspended. read the complete article
Councillors condemn Islamophobic graffiti at Walsall cemetery
Councillors in Walsall have united against hatred after anti-Islamic graffiti was sprayed near graves at Streetly Cemetery. Twelve members condemned the vandalism which was discovered in the early hours on March 20, the day muslims were set to celebrate Eid. Members from the Walsall Independent Group put forward a notice of motion at a meeting on April 13 calling for CCTV at the entrance and exit at the site. Leader of the group, Councillor Aftab Nawaz, said: “On 20 March somebody decided to jump over the gates and spray some horrid graffiti next to the graves at the cemetery. “I‘m sure we all agree that it’s not only unacceptable but it’s detestable that someone would think of going to a graveyard to put hateful graffiti on. “There’s a sanctity that we all accept in all graveyards. It’s a place people go to to reflect, to mourn and honour the people that have left their lives. read the complete article
United States
Muslim Civil Rights Group Calls on University to Discipline Harvard Republican Club Over Eid Post
The Council on American-Islamic Relations on Tuesday urged Harvard to discipline the Harvard Republican Club over a social media post criticizing a campus Eid celebration, arguing that the post singled out Muslim students and contributed to a hostile campus climate. In a two-page letter addressed to University President Alan M. Garber ’76, CAIR’s Unhostile Campus Campaign Specialist Maryam Hasan wrote that the club’s April 4 post — which described Harvard as “captured” during a Harvard Islamic Society Eid al-Fitr celebration — disparaged a core religious observance and amounted to discriminatory targeting of Muslim students. “The post singles out members of the Harvard community for apparent discriminatory harassment based solely on their Islamic faith,” Hasan wrote. The post, which as of Thursday remained pinned to the Harvard Republican Club’s X account, claimed that the celebration disrupted students studying for midterms with “loud prayers and music.” It also alleged that attendees sold religious items, spread “large prayer mats” across the grass, and drew “dozens of unvetted strangers” near student dormitories. Attendees, however, were required to register in advance, and the items described as prayer mats were tarps used for seating. read the complete article
Arkansas lawmakers not moving forward with Muslim-tied bill
Arkansas lawmakers will not move forward with a proposal tied to what they called concerns over "Sharia law." read the complete article
International
One million Europeans ask the EU to suspend association agreement with Israel for 'crimes in Gaza'
Citizens Initiative calling for the full suspension of the EU–Israel Association Agreement has reached the one million signatures required to trigger a response from the European Commission and the European Parliament. A civil petition calling for the total suspension of the EU–Israel Association Agreement for alleged war crimes has reached one million signatures across all 27 member states. read the complete article