Tag: Islamophobia

  • Pakistani-American doctor stabbed to death in front of 17 people

    Pakistani-American doctor stabbed to death in front of 17 people

    52-year-old Pakistani American paediatrician Dr. Talat Khan was stabbed to death in a park in her apartment complex on Saturday afternoon, in front of 17 people.

    The suspected murderer is 24-year-old Miles Joseph Fridrich, and is a white male.
    One of the witnesses, Mathew Amador explained what he saw when he got to the scene of the crime. He said that Fridrich stabbed Khan in broad daylight over and over again, checking to see if she was alive. “When I got there, he was checking her pulse to make sure she was alive,” Amador said, “and then stabbed her three more times.” Amador also yelled out the description of the suspect as the police arrived and they quickly took him into custody. The relationship of the suspect with the victim is unclear and witnesses declared that they have not seen him in the locality before. “I’ve never seen evil like that in my life,” Amador said.

    The Council on American Islamic Relation (CAIR) stated that, “police have not released a motive for the killing. We want to assure everyone that we are in conversation with law enforcement agencies. We are unsure at this moment if this was a hate crime; however, given the tragic circumstances, we are paying very close attention to the investigation.”

    Khan’s brother Wajahat Nyaz said his sister was a kind soul. “Talat’s life revolved around those two things, her kids — her son and daughter — and her kids [patients] she looked after as a paediatrician,” he said.

    The Associate Director of the Al Ansaar Mosque, Mohammad Ayubi said that Khan was a regular visitor and the whole community of 300 to 400 families are grieving. The security around the complex has also been increased.

  • Hassan Minhaj says New Yorker lied and he has the receipts

    Hassan Minhaj says New Yorker lied and he has the receipts

    American Comedian of Indian origin Hasan Minhaj, most famous for his Netflix standup special “Patriot Act” has lately found himself in a heated controversy post a New Yorker article which questioned the authenticity of anecdotes he has shared over the time in his performances.

    Hasan’s comedy is mostly centred around the racism faced by the diaspora and his quintessential ‘desi’ upbringing in a country like America. He has jokingly called himself ABCD (American Born Confused Desi). The article, titled Hasan Minhaj’s “Emotional Truths” criticised him for exaggeration of some of the incidents he has told, specifically his high school prom experience, an encounter with an FBI informant and a fictionalised anthrax scare.

    The writer of the article related his experience of seeing Hasan at a comedy club where he had said that “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth,” he reportedly has acknowledged that his comedy is seventy percent emotional truth-this happened-and then thirty percent hyperbole, exaggeration and fiction. He was further accused of using racism and islamophobia as a medium to establish his career.

    Minhaj has released a video on his YouTube channel and Instagram handle in response to this article. “With everything happening in the world, I’m aware that even talking about this now feels so trivial, but being accused of faking racism is not trivial. It is very serious and demands an explanation” he stated in the beginning. Treading on the safe side, he further acknowledges that “I made artistic choices to express myself and drive home larger issues affecting me and my community, and I feel horrible that I let people down.”

    However, he goes on to explain his side of the story for he felt that the article painted him in a negative light and a “con artist” who uses racism and Islamophobia to “advance his career”.

    While relating the prom story he referred to the doxed girl as Bethany Reed to protect her identity. Messages from the girl after a show displayed appreciation for his support and protection.

    He appreciated the creative liberty he has taken with the story of FBI informant in his show The King’s Jester but the underlying objective was to highlight the issue of FBI infiltration in Muslim communities. Using humour and presenting the story in an engaging manner is his forte and part of a job as a comedian. His intention was not deceive but to convey a tint of truth that comes with it.

    Lastly, Minhaj responded to the allegation of fabrication in his story of anthrax scare where he framed it in a way as to let audiences feel the shock he and his wife went through. The character of the investigator was certainly introduced to balance it out.

    He delineated in detail about his two roles. One of the storyteller comedian and the other of a political comedian. “In my work as a storytelling comedian I assumed that the lines between truth and fiction were allowed to be a bit blurrier and I totally get why a journalist would be interested to know where that line sits,”

    Minhaj reasserted, “If the reporter was genuinely curious about the idea of truth in standup, they would have had to report that the majority of my stories are true. But their article led with the opposite.”

  • Friday prayers banned for second week in a row in occupied Kashmir

    Friday prayers banned for second week in a row in occupied Kashmir

    Jamia Masjid in Srinagar was closed down last Friday, October 20, during Friday prayers to bar prayers for Palestine.

    Kashmir Life reported that a press release from masjid authorities stated that for the second consecutive Friday, “police officials once again closed the gates of Jama Masjid Srinagar and informed the Auqaf not to open the gates for Friday prayers”.

    Jammu Kashmir People’s Freedom League Chairman Muhammad Farooq Rehmani condemned authorities for barring Muslims from praying and banning them to pray for Palestine.

    He highlighted the restraining of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and others throughout Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK) who had been praying for peace and safety in Gaza.

    He further called out on Modi and his approach towards Palestine as it contradicts the central stance of India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and other advocates of the freedom movement.

    India had taken a pro-Palestine stance in 1948 in the UNSC and voted against the Palestinian segregation to provide a separate state for the Jews in Palestine.

    He also reflected on undermining peace and freedom in Kashmir and Palestine, both, under India and Israel through forces.

  • Constable suspended in India for a pro-Palestine post

    Constable suspended in India for a pro-Palestine post

    A new wave of anti-Palestinian hatred is sowing seeds in the religiously charged environment of India.

    The latest victim is UP constable Suhail Ansari, a Bareilly resident posted in Lakhimpur Kheri district since the past few months.

    A departmental enquiry has been launched against the constable for sharing a post, two days ago, in support of Palestine amid the ongoing war between Palestine and Israel, as per a report from The Hindustan Times.

    The Deputy Superintendent of Police in Kheri, Sandeep Singh informed media that the constable was suspended for sharing an objectionable post in which one dollar was to be donated for Palestine on sharing that post through his Facebook account. He said, he’ll be probed and if found guilty then stern action will be taken against him.

    The post read, “Help save Palestine. 1 repost=$ 1. All donations are directly to IslamicRelief USA. Add to the story to help save Palestine.”

  • Naseeruddin Shah opens up about ‘love jihad’ accusations on marriage to Ratna Pathak

    Naseeruddin Shah opens up about ‘love jihad’ accusations on marriage to Ratna Pathak

    Bollywood veteran Naseeruddin Shah recently wrote an open letter to the National Herald where he addressed his 41-year long marriage to Hindu wife and actress, Ratna Pathak. He wrote that their bond has remained strong despite accusations of ‘love jihad’ levied by the spouse of an ex-prime minister, who told him “No one said anything when you married outside your religion.”

    “I had no compunctions or hesitation about marrying a Hindu, and vice-versa.” wrote the ‘Masoom’ actor. “I didn’t dream that some put-out-to-pasture spouse of an ex-cabinet minister would, 38 years after my marriage, threaten me with ‘no one said anything when you married outside your religion’, stopping short of accusing me of love jihad but clearly implying that my time was now up.”

    The actor, who met Ratna during the rehearsal for Satyadev Dubey’s play ‘Sambhog se Sanyas Tak’ in 1975. The actor went on to clarify that he was incredibyl supportive of whether the actress wished to convert to Islam or not, and so was his mother:

    “As it happened, the subject of my wife Ratna converting to Islam was brought up just once by my mother and that as enquiry, to which on receiving a reply in the negative, she concurred with a ‘Haan, mazhab kaise badla jaa sakta hai.’ Whether this statement of a woman weaned exclusively on a diet of the Quran makes more sense than the hate-filled rhetoric of ‘Hindus and Muslims cannot live together’, I will leave to the judgement of the reader.”

    The ‘Ishqiya’ actor went on to emphasize how his strong partnership is proof that Muslims and Hindus can live together peacefully:

    “All I can say is that my union (accepted unquestioningly by both families) with a Hindu woman for 40 years so far is proof— if proof were needed—that it is not only possible but desirable for Hindus and Muslims to live together. So, from where did this poison appear? Or were the seeds of hatred planted during Partition slowly germinating all that while?”

    READ MORE: ‘Her parents were against it’: Naseeruddin Shah opens up about obstacles to marrying Ratna Pathak

    The actor had previously gushed about Ratna being a supportive partner who stuck with him through thick and thin, and how the two have remained close friends:

    “I just felt I’d like to know this person. Over the process of rehearsals, we got to know each other. I think she also liked what she saw. It’s been a great blessing because we have stood by each other through thick and thin. She has stood by me rather through thick and thin, through very difficult times, and through very good times. I think the main reason for that is because we have remained friends – that’s the most important thing.”

    “Ratna was a blessing for me. In hindsight, she probably deserved better—I had been married before and was a drug addict when I met her. In fact, her parents never approved of our match. But Ratna being who she was, never paid any heed to it. We never paid any heed to it. We knew we wanted to be together and that’s what we did. And that resulted in this beautiful partnership and friendship that we share to this day. I consider myself very lucky to have had Ratna with me through every thick and thin, and every sadness and happiness. It’s beautiful how we still find something new about each other every day, even after all this time–something more to love and cherish about the other person. More than anything else, that is what I live for.”

  • FIR registered against Muslim journalist for sharing video of Muslim boy slapped in class

    FIR registered against Muslim journalist for sharing video of Muslim boy slapped in class

    Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani, president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, visited Khabbapur village to meet the family of the Muslim boy who was slapped by his Hindu classmates on the teacher’s directions. A video of the incident went viral on social media, causing outrage on a wide scale.

    “Today, the environment of the country has become so polluted that now security institutions and even schools, which are called the temples of knowledge, are falling prey to it,” said Maulana Mahmood.

    He wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, urging for strict action against the accused teacher.

    Likewise, he has also written to the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), National Human Rights Commission, National Minorities Commission.

    In his letter, he stated, “You should instruct the concerned district administration to not try to cover up this serious matter by imposing minor clauses of the law.”

    According to Geo news, Jamiat Ulema Hind has undertaken to sponsor the education of the Muslim child Muhammad Al-Tamish and the child has been admitted to an English medium school.

    The organization has also made arrangements for the child’s travel facility and has also undertaken to bear the cost of the child’s education.

    Update on the case:

    Uttar Pradesh Minority Commission has taken suo motu of the incident and has asked the District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar and the Senior Superintendent of Police to send an eight-point report on the incident.

    The commission has directed Muzaffarnagar BSA and teacher Tripta Tyagi to appear in Lucknow on September 6.

    Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered against journalist Mohammad Zubair for sharing the video of the incident on social media.

    Zubair told The Wire that an FIR had been lodged against him even though he had later deleted the video and notified his followers on social media site X (formerly Twitter).

    According to The Wire, Zubair has been on the radar of right-wing forces including BJP-ruled state governments. He has been charged under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which is punishable by imprisonment up to six months.

    School shut down

    Neha Public School, where a teacher made students slap their Muslim class-fellow, has been shut down. According to Indian officials, the school “did not meet the education department’s criteria.”

    Former students are to be shifted to other schools or a government school.

    Teacher in denial

    Tripta Tyagi, the Indian teacher who was seen in a viral video asking her students to hit a “Mohammaden” student has denied making Islamophobic remarks against her Muslim student, stating that “it wasn’t my intention.”

    She also justified urging the students to beat their classmate by claiming that she is handicapped and could not get up herself so, in order to discipline the student, she asked other kids to take the lead.

    “I made a mistake by getting the child beaten up by the students. I am handicapped and could not get up, so I asked the students to beat the child. The video has been tampered with,” she alleged.

    Tyagi said that she used the word Mohammaden in a sentence where she said that Muslim mother’s should not take their children to their relatives’ houses as they must study.

    She also believes that in order to maintain discipline in the class, one has to take strict measures.

    The video

    On Friday, a video circulated across social media in which a  school teacher, Trapta Tyagi, in Uttar Pradesh, India, is asking her students to slap a seven-year-old Muslim class fellow.

    Apart from making Islamophobic remarks, she  can be heard prompting the students to hit the boy, Mohammad Altamash, harder: “I have declared that all Muslim children should go,” Tyagi says while a male voice behind the camera can be heard agreeing with the teacher, “You are correct, it ruins the education,”.

    The student stands still, crying and scared, while the students, one by one, come forward to slap their classmate.

    According to Al-Jazeera, Muslims constitute approximately a fifth of the 235 million population of Uttar Pradesh.

    Al-Jazeera also spoke with Altamash’s parents, who said that the incident took place on Thursday in Neha Public School in Kubbapur village.

    “Yesterday, my son came home crying,” Rubina, his mother, said. “He was traumatised. This is not how you treat kids.”

    The father, Mohammad Irshad, is a farmer. He said that the teacher justified her actions by saying the boy did not memorise his lessons.
    “My son is good at his studies. He takes tuitions. We fail to understand why the teacher treated him like this. It seems that the teacher is filled with hate,”

    According to Al-Jazeera, Indian police have asked social media users not to share the video, persuading many users to remove it.
    Irshad believes that the mistreatment of his son was the result of “hate that is being spread against Muslims in the country”.
    Rubina also stated that the teacher reportedly would get her students slapped by their classmates and only a few days ago, another student from their family was put through a similar treatment after he failed to memorise his lessons.

    In a video shared by an X (formerly Twitter) user, Irshad states, “I didn’t want to file a police complaint because I don’t want to be called by Police or by court every now and then,” 

    https://twitter.com/zoo_bear/status/1695080844879421468?s=20

    However, according to a  police officer, as reported by Al-Jazeera, a case will be filed after recording the statement of the child and the parents.

    The school in question has students from the Hindu and Muslim communities in the area. And while the teacher has acknowledged her mistake and apologized for her misconduct, Irshad has firmly decided to admit his son to another school.

    “She said she will never treat her students badly again,” he said. “But this is not the environment where I want my son to get an education and grow up in.”

    People react

    https://twitter.com/Shadab_doha/status/1695214943224623187?s=20
  • Indian professor compares how Pakistani artists respond to communal riots vs Bollywood

    Indian professor compares how Pakistani artists respond to communal riots vs Bollywood

    After the Jaranwala riots, where a Christian neighborhood was burned down by a violent mob because of blasphemy allegations, many Pakistani celebrities and public figures were quick to condemn the authorities that failed to control the violence , and called for swift action to be taken against the perpetuators. Ashok Swain, the chairperson of the UNESCO International Water Cooperation and professor at Uppsala University, pointed out how Pakistani celebrities were quick to condemn communal riots and ethnic violence against minorities, while in Bollywood the silence of public figures is deafening when it comes to speaking out against the rising hate crimes against minorities.

    “Pakistani film stars have spine. Indian film stars only know how to count money,” Swain tweeted.

    Since Wednesday, prominent public figures like Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Mahira Khan and Azekah Daniels have all spoken against the brutal act of injustice against the Christian community in Pakistan. Taking to her Instagram stories, Chinoy, a two- time Oscar winner, slammed ‘hypocritical’ Pakistanis who are quick to react when the Holy Quran was burned but were silent when churches were demolished yesterday by a lynch mob.

    “Two faced: That word best describes Pakistanis who are quick to point out the state of Muslims in India but who turn the other way when someone says look at the state of minorities within your own borders.”

    ‘Pasoori’ singer Shae Gill, who is a Christian, described how the incident made her completely speechless, and expressed hopes that the masses are educated so that these atrocities can come to an end.

    Meanwhile, celebrities in Bollywood have been called out publicly in the past for promoting communal violence and Islamophobia through their films. Akshay Kumar was publicly criticised when his film ‘Sooryavashni’ promoted Islamophobia. During an interview when he was asked about the anti-Pakistani themes of his film ‘Bell Bottom’ to which the A-list actor had responded: “It’s just a film.”

    Recently, Shah Rukh Khan was targeted by BJP politicians as a ‘terrorist’ and in January, the music video for his film ‘Besharam Rang’ was targeted because of the baseless ‘Love Jihad’ theory- that claims Hindu women are seduced by Muslim men and then converted into Islam- by conservatives who threatened to burn down the theaters where the movie would play.

    This obviously doesn’t mean that cinema in Pakistan is more progressive and open to accepting minorities, but we cannot deny the power of public figures who use their platforms to educate masses about sensitive topics, is far more important in today’s troubling issues in order to help fight against the growing communal violence and hatred.

  • Nationwide protests on Friday against Holy Quran desecration in Sweden

    The federal government has announced a nationwide protest on Friday, July 7, against the recent incident of dishonouring the Holy Book in Sweden.

    A man burned a copy of the Holy Quran publicly outside a mosque in the capital of Sweden. This hateful act of public burning in Stockholm has hurt the sentiments of Muslims all over the world.
    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided in a meeting on Tuesday to stage nationwide protests over the incident. He appealed to all the political parties and the nation to take part in the rallies.

    “Speaking with one voice, the whole nation will give a message to the evil minds,” said the premier. He added that the nation will observe the “Youm-e-Taqaddus Quran” on Friday.

    The prime minister has also decided to call a joint session of parliament to frame a national strategy.
    Earlier today, the United Nations Human Rights Council announced it would hold an urgent session to address Islamophobia and religious hatred at the request of Pakistan.

  • ‘Fashionable now to hate on Muslims’: Naseeruddin Shah slams Modi on Islamophobia

    Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah spoke to Indian Express about growing Islamaphobia under the rule of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its influence on Bollywood.

    “Oh sure, these are worrying times absolutely,” the veteran actor said. “The kind of stuff that’s pure, undisguised propaganda is being lapped up and it’s a reflection of the zeitgeist of the times. Muslim hating is fashionable these days, even among educated people. It’s what the ruling party has very cleverly tapped into this nerve. We talk about secular this, democracy that, so why are you introducing religion into everything?.”

    The actor is well known for his out-spoken critique on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the spread of fascism in India, especially on the Indian Premier’s silence on growing hate speech in India.

    “I mean how spineless is the election commission of ours? Who doesn’t even dare utter a word. If there had been a Muslim leader who had said, ‘Allah Hu Akbar bol ke button dabao’, sh*t would have hit the fan. But here our Prime Minister goes ahead and says things like this and yet he loses. So, I have hope that this will wear off. But it’s definitely, at the moment, at its peak. It’s been a very clever card played by this government, and it has worked. Let’s see how long it continues to work.”

    Speaking on the rise of state propaganda films like ‘Mission Majnu’ and ‘Kashmir Files’, Shah said that the best thing that actors can do in these times is stay quiet and not participate in any propaganda, because artists these days are scared to raise their voice or fear their movies will be boycotted by the masses.

    Further addressing the role of art in influencing society, Shah urged all artists to raise the right questions, but also stressed on the need to come from a place of fearlessness. He further said that words and no action will not resolve the issue, but one has to practice what they preach.

  • Trouble, Trouble, Trouble: Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Matty Healy faces backlash from fans for problematic history of islamophobia, racism, sexist jokes

    Trouble, Trouble, Trouble: Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Matty Healy faces backlash from fans for problematic history of islamophobia, racism, sexist jokes

    We knew you were trouble when you walked in like quite literally the receipts are right here.

    Taylor Swift made headlines when the ‘Anti Hero’ singer started dating the frontman of The 1975 band, Matty Healy, after splitting up from her longtime boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.

    However, the news was not received well by fans, who criticised Healy’s problematic history of making racist, sexist and Islamophobic jokes.
    Swift has been extremely vocal about her activism for gay rights and feminism, with songs like ‘Mad Woman’ discussing female rage and sexism, and ‘You Need To Calm Down’ from her Lover album empowering the transgender community.

    It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero? Not for Tay-Tay it seems.

    Fans began sharing clips and problematic posts Healy had posted in the past where he appeared to be mocking Islam. For instance, a fan shared a screenshot of his Instagram stories with a tweet:

    “You start dating a Muslim girl then BOOM”

    Another user shared a clip of ‘The City’ singer’s interview with Brut Mexico where he slammed religious people by saying they should be ashamed of themselves, addin that he had no rights as an athiest.

    “Religious people are always allowed to be offended: ‘Oh, we’re offended by this, I’m offended by that,’ I have to get up every day and read something abhorrent that’s happened in the name of religion.”

    https://twitter.com/msatermnid/status/1657258113324441601?s=20

    The ‘Medicine’ singer has been slammed for his controversial racist and sexist comments about rapper Ice Spice. During his appearance at The Adam Freidland Show, the episode was immediately pulled from Spotify and Apple after backlash, but is still available on Youtube.

    Healy had also courted controversy in January when videos emerged of him doing the Nazi salute on stage, a move that has enraged many Swifties

    These recent controversies have led to many Swifties starting to retract their support for Swift, and even criticising her for working with problematic men but yet being quite vocal about social issues.

    Fans even began using the hashtag #speakupnow to demand Swift addressed the problematic history of her boyfriend, and stand up for the rights she claims to be advocating.

    https://twitter.com/laurenelectro/status/1658968672428343297?s=20