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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Delhi Muslims fear they will never see justice for religious riot atrocities. India rescues 81 Rohingya on drifting boat, 8 dead, one missing. Our recommended listen today is a podcast from The Intercept titled “France and the Myth of a Color Blind society.” This, and more, below:
France
France and the Myth of Color Blind Society | Recommended
A controversial new bill proposed by President Emmanuel Macron targeting “Islamic separatism” is meeting with fierce opposition. French author, journalist, and filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo joins guest host Vanessa A. Bee to discuss. read the complete article
Islamogauchisme: French education minister fans Islamophobia
At first appearance, the drama could very well be playing out in India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Ruling party members and none less than the education minister accuses campuses across the nation, especially the most prestigious ones, of being ‘infested’ by scholars sympathising with radical Islam. The minister goes further and orders the top research institute to audit research being done in the country to differentiate academic research from militantism and opinions. read the complete article
Sri Lanka
Cabinet approval sought to enforce ban on burqa
The Government is considering enforcing a ban on the burqa, Justice Minister Ali Sabry said today. The Justice Minister said the Government is looking to ban full face coverings in public places. He insisted that the move is not an attempt to target any community but is in the best interest of National security. read the complete article
Sri Lanka: Ending of forced cremations for COVID-19 victims restores dignity of Muslim burials
“This is a long overdue but welcome move by the Sri Lankan authorities. Forced cremations, which should never have been carried out in the first place, have denied the Muslim community the right to say goodbye to loved ones in accordance with their religious beliefs. The ending of this cruel practice, which has not been scientifically proven to prevent the spread of the virus, allows Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority a dignified burial in line with Islamic burial rites. The decision is a testament to the tireless struggle of families of victims, activists, and members of the Muslim community. read the complete article
India
India: BJP’s rise in former communist bastion has Muslims worried
Around the same time, authorities in the state of West Bengal – about 900km (559 miles) away – fenced a two-acre (0.8-hectare) land parcel in a sleepy neighbourhood of Hooghly district and barred all entry. Hindu pilgrims argue the site, with remnants of a mosque and a robust minaret, in Pandua town about 100km (62 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of the West Bengal state, is a Hindu shrine of goddess Shrinkhala Devi. This is precisely how the movement to build a temple for Hindu deity Ram in Ayodhya started. In 1949, Hindu activists surreptitiously placed idols of Ram inside the Babri Mosque. It was eventually demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992. read the complete article
A Year After the Delhi Violence, a Letter to Our Friends in Jail
A year after the pogrom in Delhi, there are two dimensions to the magnitude of loss. The first is more tangible, with 53 lives lost, homes destroyed and the cementing of fear and a life of segregation amongst Northeast Delhi’s Muslims, against whom the violence was primarily targeted. The other side, however, is less palpable, instead casting itself as a shroud of silence with a quiet crackdown on Delhi’s Muslims, students, activists, and unspoken friction between those who once tried to live up to the ideal of solidarity. read the complete article
International
India rescues 81 Rohingya on drifting boat, 8 dead, one missing
India’s coastguard has found 81 survivors and eight dead on a boat crammed with Rohingya refugees adrift in the Andaman Sea, an Indian foreign ministry official said. The official on Friday added that the survivors would not be allowed to enter Indian territory. The boat had set off on February 11 from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where refugee camps have been established for more than a million Rohingya who fled a military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in 2017. read the complete article
Prey: Immigration, Islam and the Erosion of Women’s Rights by Ayaan Hirsi Ali review
She says the British grooming gangs illustrate ‘the persistence of misogynistic attitudes in immigrant Muslim communities.’ She adds that ‘increasing numbers of Pakistani-British men have become involved in crime since the 2000s’ in the UK and that there have been ‘significant increases [in sexual violence offences] in several regions and countries (England, Wales, Denmark, Sweden) after 2015, which surely cannot be explained away by technicalities.’ read the complete article
India urged to provide refuge to Rohingya adrift at sea
Human Rights Watch and Rohingya Muslim refugees in India urged the government on Monday to provide refuge to 81 Rohingya people whose boat has been drifting in the Andaman Sea for over two weeks. Since last month, India has been providing food, medical and technical aid to Rohingya crammed on a fishing boat that was found drifting in international waters after it left southern Bangladesh. The Rohingya had hoped to reach Malaysia but the boat’s engine developed technical snags. read the complete article
Capitol Hill Insurrection: Hindu Supremacists And The Looming Threat To Democracy In The US
Although US agencies have acknowledged the serious threat posed to national security by the pro-Trump white supremacists, there were other supporters at the siege, a group of Indian Americans waving the Indian national flag and shouting ‘Stop the Steal,’ who have mostly gone unnoticed. A closer look at the links of some of the identified individuals’ reveals that they adhere to the ideology of Hindu nationalism or Hindutva that advocates for Hindu supremacy, especially over Muslims and have intense disgust for non-violent and democratic ethos. read the complete article
China
'Inferior' women: China counters Uighur criticism with explicit PR attacks
China, under growing global pressure over its treatment of a Muslim minority in its far west, is mounting an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse. Chinese officials have named women, disclosed what they say is private medical data and information on the women’s fertility, and accused some of having affairs and one of having a sexually transmitted disease. The officials said the information was evidence of bad character, invalidating the women’s accounts of abuse in Xinjiang. read the complete article
New Zealand
Christchurch terror attack: Muslim groups want Royal Commission's recommend
Muslim groups are calling for more action and accountability over the mosque attacks in a new report out today. They want action on a dozen of the Royal Commission's 44 recommendations including mandatory reporting of firearm injuries and better training in security agencies. read the complete article
United States
‘I will be dead before working for Roman’: 14 Female Employees Share Harrowing Stories of Sexual Abuse and Misogyny at the Middle East Forum
As a woman, Lisa Barbounis felt so threatened that day while sharing a living space with her boss, Gregg Roman, in a foreign country that she could not wait to leave and fly home. She felt so intimidated by his inappropriate sexual advances that she thought of keeping a knife with her in the room to protect herself. It was not her choice to stay with her employer in the same space but a precondition set by him to obtain the opportunity of a work trip to Israel, a country she always wanted to visit. read the complete article