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SearchToday in Islamophobia: A Muslim initiative raises $13,000 for the release of detained migrants. An op-ed by a Muslim US marine offers support for protesters in El Paso and Dayton. Our recommended read of the day is by Dibyesh Anand who argues Kashmir is a ‘dress rehearsal’ for a Hindu state. This, and more, below:
India
Kashmir Is a Dress Rehearsal for Hindu Nationalist Fantasies | Recommended Read
It’s not the assimilation of Kashmir—whose autonomy in practice has long disappeared, diluted over the decades by military and bureaucratic means from the center—that brings this excitement. It’s not even the thought of giving the finger to India’s old archenemy, Pakistan, for daring to court U.S. President Donald Trump over Kashmir. The joy stems from the humiliation of Kashmir’s Muslims for daring to be different and the thought that this is a warning signal to all of India’s Muslims that the Hindu body politic is resurgent and unstoppable. read the complete article
The Islamophobic roots of population control efforts in India
Across northern and central India, a campaign advocating for a population control law is gaining momentum. its subtext reflects a core belief of right-wing Hindu organisations: that Muslims are trying to "overtake" Hindus. The campaign, underpinned by Islamophobia, is being promoted in the real and online worlds. read the complete article
United States
Muslim initiative raises $13,000 to release detained migrant parents
Led by two of the country’s most prominent imams, hundreds of U.S. Muslims have raised more than $13,000 to bail out detained migrant parents. Launched on Monday (Aug. 5) by the Islamic nonprofit CelebrateMercy, the Muslims for Migrants campaign has already exceeded its original goal of raising $10,000 in two weeks. Funds will go to the National Bail Fund Network, which works with more than two dozen local community bond funds. read the complete article
U.S. Foreign Service Officer Resigns Over Donald Trump's 'Toxic Agenda'
Chuck Park, whose most recent duties focused on trade development with British Columbia, explained his decision to step down in a searing opinion piece published Thursday in The Washington Post. read the complete article
Op-ed | I'm a Muslim U.S. Marine and I Stand with the Protesters in El Paso and Dayton
President Trump's visits on Wednesday to the two communities in mourning were met with widespread protests criticizing his virulent anti-immigrant language and demanding that he "do something" to curb such domestic terrorist attacks and gun violence in general. A spokesman for University Medical Center in El Paso told The Washington Post that none of the remaining eight patients in the hospital even agreed to meet with the president. And Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley called his language "racist" and "divisive." read the complete article
China
‘My Parents Were Disappeared’: NYC Foreign Student Fears Going Home to China (
In 2015, Aierken “Alfred” Ailapati left his home and family in Xinjiang, China, to study finance at a university in New York City. Now, Alfred says he can't remember the last time he heard his parents' voices. In August of 2018, he says he learned both of his parents had been sent to what he calls “re-education camps” in China. Alfred believes this was retaliation by the Chinese government for his decision to study abroad, and because of his family's ethnicity. read the complete article
Myanmar
The Schoolteacher and the Genocide
Futhu was the first in his extended family to attend school — the first of 22 uncles, countless aunts and cousins — and though he excelled at Burmese and English class, he could not really understand the book on his own. His father was himself illiterate, as were most people in their community. So Futhu asked a village trader who often visited their home to read him the stories in the book, one by one. read the complete article
What Happened to Aung San Suu Kyi?
The first time I met Aung San Suu Kyi, she embodied hope. At her house, Suu Kyi spoke with pride about the work that her political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was doing in Parliament, challenging the military and learning the intricacies of parliamentary maneuvers—the nuts and bolts of the democracy she said she wanted to build. In her years as a political prisoner, Suu Kyi—the daughter of Aung San, who led the country to the brink of independence in the 1940s—had become a potent symbol, an international icon of resistance against the military junta and the repository of the Burmese people’s remaining hopes. read the complete article
International
In seeking to control Kashmir, Modi may look to China's actions in Xinjiang and Tibet
This is Xinjiang, where thousands of kilometers of rail have connected one of China's most remote areas to the country's wealthy center and east coast, bringing with it billions of dollars in investment and hundreds of thousands of tourists. It's also pulled the region closer and closer, increasing government control and cracking down on any suggestion that Xinjiang, which has a history of independent and autonomous rule, could break away from China. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Op-ed | Our Islamophobia definition is no backdoor blasphemy law – the government must stop dawdling and take it on board
Last weekend, I welcomed James Cleverley’s announcement as the new Conservative Party Chairman that his party had finally accepted the need for an independent inquiry on Islamophobia as it was long overdue. Given the catalogue of evidence – example after example of misconduct by members of the Conservative Party, they simply could not continue to bury their heads in the sand. But his assertion that the Conservative Party is waiting for a definition is ringing alarm bells with those looking for leadership and action. read the complete article