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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Myanmar, a deeply flawed EU-funded app highlights a divided and exclusionary election process. Writing for The Print, Zainab Sikander argues that Indian politics is driven by caste and religion. Our recommended read today is by Will Marrow on France, where Macron’s government has unleashed a broad crackdown on Muslim communities after Friday’s gruesome terror attack. This, and more, below:
France
Macron launches anti-Muslim police-state crackdown after terror attack in France | Recommended Read
After Friday’s terrorist attack that killed middle-school teacher Samuel Paty in Conflans, the administration of Emmanuel Macron is carrying out a police-state crackdown. Hundreds of people have been deported, more than 50 Muslim associations have been targeted for dissolution, dozens of people are being arrested or raided with no connection to the terrorist attack at all and the government is seeking to criminalize protected free speech activities and eliminate anonymity on social media. read the complete article
After Teacher’s Decapitation, France Unleashes a Broad Crackdown on ‘the Enemy Within’
France on Monday unleashed a broad crackdown on Muslims accused of extremism, carrying out dozens of raids, vowing to shut down aid groups and threatening to expel foreigners as anger swept the country following the decapitation of a high school teacher for showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class. read the complete article
Myanmar
Myanmar Elections Set to Exacerbate Erasure of the Rohingya Identity
Politics and elections in Myanmar have always been tangled with matters of identity and citizenship. But in the 2020 elections, the Rohingya are being disenfranchised en masse because of their ethnicity. The electoral process is proving yet another bureaucratic procedure that serves to erase their legal existence and compound the ongoing genocide against them. read the complete article
United States
The 116th Congress’s Record on International Human Rights: The Good, the Bad, and the Unfinished Business
The 2019-2020 congressional session has been marked by important progress in addressing the human rights of Uyghurs in China, but also by devastating setbacks for Yemeni civilians subjected to war crimes and for asylum seekers denied access to protection at the U.S. border. Meanwhile, there was limited movement in Congress on addressing the human rights of Venezuelans and the Rohingya, and little action to address international human rights amid the COVID-19 pandemic. read the complete article
International
‘No one bothered’: Afghan mother waits for son held in Guantanamo
Hundreds of detainees including senior Taliban leaders have been released from the notorious detention centre run by the United States military. But Asadullah Haroon, who has never been charged with a crime, remains. “No one is bothered about my son still being in Guantanamo Bay. All the other prisoners have been released but he is still languishing there,” Bibi told AFP news agency in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar where the family lives as refugees.“I have no more patience. I have lost my mind.” read the complete article
Poland
Deporting Muslim Immigrants Won’t Make Poland Safer
In a quick trial that took place over video link due to the coronavirus pandemic, the state charged Abdusalom with unspecified crimes—falling under a wide definition of “terrorism” and “espionage.” According to Polish law, terrorism and espionage cases are a state secret, leaving even the defendant in the dark about the specific charges. If the authorities choose to pursue deportation in cases related to national security, neither the suspects nor their lawyers can access the classified case files. The judge approved Abdusalom’s transfer to a detention center, where he would await deportation to Tajikistan. read the complete article
India
India is wearing hate in 2020. No space for Tanishq’s secular jewellery
Much of India’s politics and the driving force for voting has been based on either caste or religion, because Indians are primarily driven by these two factors in their day-to-day lives. The fact that auto rickshaws, trucks and buses with Jai Shri Ram or 786 stickers are a common sight in India shows how people wear religion on their sleeves. Even government offices have pictures of gods and goddesses — tells a lot about how a State views religion. Religion in India isn’t private. Governments in India flirt with it all the time to their advantage. Even the Constituent Assembly had thrice rejected the proposal to add the word ‘secular’ in the Constitution. read the complete article
Here’s A Necessary Reminder About Kolkata’s Hindu-Muslim Durga Pujas
Kidderpore’s 5 Star Club hosts one of the smallest pujas in Kolkata, the Durga Puja capital. And yet, it manages to capture a steady flow of press every year. In this Muslim-majority red light area, the puja is organised by more Muslims than Hindus who call the goddess ‘Ma’ like their own. A little distance away, in Ekbalpore, Munshotola Sharbojonin Durgotsav Club is organising a Durga Puja celebration that was started 80 years ago by a Muslim politician. read the complete article