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SearchToday in Islamophobia: As the Kashmir crisis drags on, the Gates Foundation plows ahead with its decision to award Modi. An essay analyzes its far-reaching impact of governments suspending internet. In Belgium, an animal slaughter ruling stirs freedom of religion debate. Our recommended read today is by Riffat Hassan titled “If the world doesn’t intervene to stop the brutality in Kashmir, all will suffer.” This, and more, below:
India
Opinion | If the world doesn't intervene to stop the brutality in Kashmir, all will suffer | Recommended Read
More attention is being paid to the illegal annexation of Kashmir by India is very timely. It is critically important to let our community know about the unspeakable atrocities being committed in Kashmir by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-supported government of Narendra Modi. A month ago, Modi revoked Article 370 and made Kashmir a part of India. He also abrogated Article 35A, which empowered Kashmir’s state legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and gave them special rights and privileges. The primary purpose of removing Article 35A from the Indian Constitution is to change the demography of Kashmir from a Muslim-majority state to a Hindu-majority state. read the complete article
Opinion | The Gates Foundation shouldn’t give an award to Narendra Modi
On Monday, an Indian minister announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is planning to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi an award this month for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), a sanitation and toilet access initiative across India. While public health is undoubtedly a priority in India and around the world, such an honor would come as his Hindu nationalist party has incited violence against minorities, silenced dissent and curtailed freedom of expression. In light of Modi’s record, including promoting repressive policies in the past month in Kashmir and the northeastern state of Assam, he should not be given the award. read the complete article
Kashmir: how Modi’s aggressive ‘Hindutva’ project has brought India and Pakistan to the brink – again
Many within the region feel that Modi’s BJP is brazenly trying to change Kashmir’s ethnic composition to disadvantage India’s Muslim minority by encouraging more Hindus into the region. Since the revocation of Article 370 (which assured the region’s autonomy), Indian Kashmiri leaders who vehemently opposed the decision – including two former chief ministers – have been sent to jail. Modi’s government has a history of stoking tensions between Hindus and Muslims, with its political rule now focused on “Hindutva”, which translates roughly as “Hindu-ness”, and reframes Hinduism as an identity rather than a theology or religion. read the complete article
India tightens Kashmir lockdown over Muslim processions
Authorities on Sunday tightened a month-long security lockdown in Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar after breaking up religious processions by Shiite Muslims who defied a ban. Shiite Muslims worldwide stage processions and hold rallies during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar -- which started on September 1 this year -- to mark the anniversary of the death of a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. Most such processions have been banned in Indian-administered Kashmir since the outbreak of insurgency against New Delhi's rule in 1989, on grounds that the rituals could be used to stoke anti-India sentiment. read the complete article
United States
Dingell, others condemn anti-Muslim events planned at Bloomfield Hills church
Michigan congressional leaders are speaking out against anti-Muslim events planned around the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “There is no place for hate in Metro Detroit, in Michigan or anywhere in the United States,” U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell and Andy Levin said in a statement condemning the events scheduled for Sept. 11-12 at Bloomfield Hills Baptist Church, northwest of Detroit. read the complete article
Alaska reaches settlement in case brought by Muslim inmates
A federal judge Friday signed the agreement in a case brought on behalf of two Muslim inmates by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which argued that meals provided to the men during the holy month of Ramadan did not meet caloric standards under federal health guidelines. They also said the meals were cold when others received hot meals and sometimes contained pork at odds with their faith. The lawsuit also said the department had not allowed Muslims to perform Friday religious services or hold study groups. read the complete article
Canada
Opinion | By naming Dominic Barton to be Canada’s Chinese envoy, Ottawa has left Uyghurs worried
The appointment of Canada’s new ambassador to China was a much-watched affair. So it is a surprise that Dominic Barton has been chosen to serve in the high-profile envoy position. After all, Mr. Barton was the global managing director of McKinsey & Co., one of the world’s largest consulting firms, from July, 2009, to September, 2018. In December, 2018, The New York Times reported that McKinsey consultants have been heavily involved in advising companies owned by the Chinese state – at least 22 of the 100 biggest ones, in fact. Just six kilometres away from a lavish corporate retreat held last year in the city of Kashgar, the 2,000-year-old epicentre of Uyghur civilization and culture, more than 120,000 Uyghurs were languishing in camps. And the Times lays out a client list that includes the governments of authoritarian leaders. read the complete article
China
My father won’t get hospital treatment because he’s terrified we’ll be reported to China as Uighur Muslims
A few weeks ago, my father fell seriously ill. So ill that he stopped going to work. He urgently needed to be taken to the hospital but he refused to go. His reason for not doing so introduced me to a new fear many Uighur Muslims like ourselves are facing. My father was afraid that if any hospital staff reported our Uighur identity to the Chinese embassy, then we could be deported too. Since that fateful day when India revoked Article 370, people all around the world, especially the Ummah (Muslim community), started speaking up. Pakistan became active and asked the world to stop the “genocide”. In a blink of an eye, the Organisation of Islamic Corporation (OIC) called an emergency meeting to condemn the lockdown. And the world stood together against it. read the complete article
Islam’s 1300-year history in China
This rich tapestry of religious and cultural exchange and growth is being denied its rightful place in history. The faith has been present for over 1300 years in China: the Tang Emperor Gaozong gave official authorisation to allow Muslims to practice in the city of Xian, in the Shaanxi Province, in 651 AD (the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 AD). The Communist Party of China (CPC) maintains that Muslims are being put into "reeducation camps" so that they can learn Mandarin and Chinese laws, and prevent them from becoming influenced by Islamic ideas, which are “extremist” and “foreign.” read the complete article
“Key Individuals Management” and the Roots of China’s Anti-Muslim Surveillance System
Previous research has illustrated how such policies have their roots in earlier (and ongoing) repression campaigns against Falun Gong and other religious groups (China Brief, February 1). However, evidence now suggests that these systems of social surveillance and repression also originated in programs directed at wider groups of Chinese citizens, identified as “key individuals” (重点人员, zhongdian renyuan). Systems of “key population management” (重点人口管理, zhongdian renkou guanli) possess many of the features associated with Xinjiang’s security state: profiling, extensive personal and biometric data collection, and location-based tracking. Drawing on dozens of local government notices, government bid tenders and promotional material from Chinese technology companies, a composite picture of key population management can be assembled. By examining key individuals management, we can learn more about the roots of the PRC’s anti-Muslim surveillance programs—programs that one day may be directed against ever-increasing new segments of the Chinese public. read the complete article
Europe
Animal slaughter ruling in Belgium stirs religious freedom debate
On September 1, Vandenbosch and fellow supporters of the ban claimed a victory when the second such law went into effect in Brussels. Flanders and Wallonia are Belgium's two largest regions. Only Brussels, Belgium's third region, has not imposed the ban. Some claim the bans are discriminatory, but Vandenbosch rejects framing them as a target on Muslims or Jews. "It does not apply only to members of religious communities," he said. "It does apply to each and every single Belgian citizen period, whatever his religious beliefs may be." He explains his organisation took on the cause around 1995, when Belgium's far right began pushing for a religious slaughter ban. Activists like him feared that the far right had tinged the issue with Islamophobia. read the complete article
Behind Norway’s terrorist attack that was luckily thwarted
On the 10th of August 2019, the young radical right extremist Philip Manshaus broke into the al Noor mosque in Bærum, 14 km south west of Oslo. He started shooting but was stopped by 65-year-old Mohamed Rafiq who held him while two others went to get help. Emergency services were contacted immediately but it took the police 20 minutes to arrive. Once there, they were slow to enter and even asked Irfan Mushtaq, a board member who arrived later, if he was the gunman. Mushtaq had been notified about the shooting by a joiner who worked on a roof nearby. When he arrived, one of the men was on the phone with the police, but Mushtaq took over. He was surprised that the police delayed entry to the mosque and were more keen on interrogating him about possible internal conflicts within the mosque. read the complete article