Tag: minorities

  • Twitterati praise Police, Rangers for saving blasphemy-accused from charged mob

    Twitterati praise Police, Rangers for saving blasphemy-accused from charged mob

    The Sindh Police and Rangers dispersed a mob that had gathered outside the home of a Hindu sanitary worker accused of alleged blasphemy on Sunday. The incident took place in Hyderabad, Sindh.

    People on social media are praising the role of the law enforcement agencies for saving the accused from the charged mob.

    Have a look at some reactions:

    https://twitter.com/alysalmaan/status/1561453107803979776

    https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1561386456739971073
    What happened?

    According to the police, a Hindu sanitary worker was targeted as a result of a personal dispute with a local resident. The accused man has been identified as Ashok Kumar, and he was charged with blasphemy under Section 295-B for allegedly desecrating the Quran.

    The case was registered on the complaint of Bilal, son of Bundo Khan Abbasi.

    After the news spread, a charged mob gathered around an apartment building and demanded that he should be handed over.

    Police then dispersed the violent mob.

  • ‘Give me back my right to live,’ Indian Muslim woman Bilkis Bano fearful after release of 11 men who gang-raped her

    ‘Give me back my right to live,’ Indian Muslim woman Bilkis Bano fearful after release of 11 men who gang-raped her

    Bilkis Bano, an Indian Muslim woman who was gang-raped in the 2002 Gujarat riots, said that her peace has been taken away after the Gujarat government released her 11 rapists on Monday. Her rapists were released on August 15, i.e. Independence Day of India. They were convicted in 2008.

    https://twitter.com/Huda_asiana/status/1559476323852099584

    She has requested the government to reverse the decision.

    “How can justice for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma. The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice,” said Bilkis in her statement.

    “My sorrow and my wavering faith are not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts,” she added.

    “No one enquired about my safety and well-being, before taking such a big and unjust decision… Give me back my right to live without fear and in peace. Please ensure that my family and I are kept safe.”

    What happened with Bilkis Bano?

    At the age of 21, Bilkis Bano was five months pregnant when she was brutally gang-raped in 2002 in Gujarat.

    The 2002 Gujarata riots are considered one of the worst anti-Muslim riots in India that saw nearly 2,000 people — mostly Muslims — killed.

    On March 3, 2002, Bilkis and her family members were attacked by about 30 people armed with sickles, swords, and sticks. Among the attackers were the 11 accused men.

    Bilkis, her mother, and three other women were raped and brutally assaulted. Seven members of Bilkis Bano’s family, including her three-year-old daughter, were also murdered.

    Bilkis is now in her 40s.

  • Sikh Gurdwara in Kabul attacked, Daesh claims responsibility

    Sikh Gurdwara in Kabul attacked, Daesh claims responsibility

    The Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh, has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Sikh Gurdwara in Kabul that killed at least two people and injured seven on Saturday (June 18). Reuters reported that on an affiliated Telegram channel, the local branch of Daesh said the attack was in response to the derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by BJP spokespersons in India.

    The attack on Karteparwan Gurdwara killed one Sikh worshipper and a Taliban fighter. A Taliban interior ministry spokesman told Reuters that the attackers had laden a car with explosives but it had detonated before reaching its target.

    Karteparwan Gurdwara was the only operational Sikh temple in Kabul of the four Gurudwaras in the Afghan capital. This is not the first attack by Daesh on a Gurdwara. In 2020, the militant group attacked a 400-year-old Gurudwara in Kabul, which left 25 dead.

    Read more- ‘We will hunt you down and make you pay’: Biden reacts to 85 killed in Kabul blasts

    There has been a rise in attacks on religious minorities in Afghanistan. Most of these attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), the regional branch of ISIL/Daesh.

  • 18-year-old Hindu girl shot dead for resisting kidnapping and forced conversion

    18-year-old Hindu girl shot dead for resisting kidnapping and forced conversion

    Trigger Warning: Violence/Senstive Content

    Pooja Kumari, an 18-year-old Hindu girl was murdered in Rohri, Sindh. As per media reports, she was shot during a failed abduction attempt. As per reports, the name of the deceased soul is Pooja Kumari Oad.

    Three men reportedly broke into Pooja’s house to kidnap and forcibly convert her. She was shot dead by a man named Wahid Bux Laghari, after she resisted a kidnapping attempt. According to journalist Sanjay Sadhwani, accused Wahid Laghari has been arrested.

    https://twitter.com/TheSindh8/status/1506006522542833665

    Hashtag #JusticeForPoojaKumari has been trending on Twitter, as people are using this hashtag to condemn the incident to demand justice for Pooja and her family.

    Read more- Forced conversion issue in only three districts of Sindh: Noor-ul-Haq Qadri

    https://twitter.com/AsadSol13260604/status/1505883862320226304
  • Priest shot down dead in Peshawar

    Priest shot down dead in Peshawar

    William Siraj, a priest, was shot dead while another was injured after armed assailants opened fire on them in Peshawar, reports Dawn.

    After the incident, evidence was collected from the scene and the body was shifted for an autopsy while further investigation is underway. However, the injured priest was discharged after being provided medical treatment for sustaining minor injuries.

    According to the police, “Siraj was a padre at a church within Chamkani police station limits.” Moreover, police have launched a comprehensive investigation.

    Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Abbas Ahsan said, “We are determined to protect minorities.” He added that a team consisting of officials from the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Peshawar police have been formed to probe the case.

    Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan took notice of the incident and condemned the fact that religious leaders of the Christian community were targeted. He also directed the Inspector General of Police (IG) to take necessary steps for arresting the culprits.

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman strongly condemned the attack.

    “Terrorism that targets anyone, especially for their faith, is heinous and must be fought against with the full force of a clear, concerted policy and state power. No compromise, no equivocation,” she tweeted.

  • Equal citizens

    Recently, we heard about two bakeries in Karachi that refused to write ‘Merry Christmas’ on cakes. Both Delizia and Aunty Munaver turned away customers who wanted cakes with Christmas greetings. It is deeply disturbing to see such acts of bigotry in a country whose founder and others who fought for its freedom believed in rights for all and equality regardless of caste, creed, and faith. Yet we see how non-Muslims in Pakistan continue to face discrimination on a regular basis.

    Today, when we celebrate Christmas with our Christian brethren and wish them a day full of joy, we hope that our society will change for the better. Today is also the birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who taught us the meaning of tolerance and who believed in pluralism and inclusiveness.

    We often repeat and quote Jinnah’s August 11 speech but it is important to reiterate what he said again and again: “We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one state.”

    This is what Pakistan stands for as this is what our founder taught us. It was good to see many people raising their voices against those bakeries that refused to write Merry Christmas on their cakes. It was social media outcry that led to Delizia bakery management on the backfoot and saying that it was an individual act. Whether it was an individual act or not can be ascertained as this isn’t the first time that such an incident took place. This year, we saw the horrible lynching of a Sri Lankan national. The government took strong exception to the incident and promised to take action against all those responsible. But the incident also showed how intolerance has seeped into our society. It is this bigotry and intolerance that has to end. On the birth anniversary of Jinnah, we should pledge to make this Jinnah’s Pakistan and not a Pakistan where extremism prospers. Once again, Merry Christmas to all those celebrating. 

  • President, PM extend their wishes to the Christian community on Christmas

    President, PM extend their wishes to the Christian community on Christmas

    President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan have greeted the christian community on the occasion of Christmas.

    President and Prime Minister in separate messages, have assured that the government will continue to safeguard rights and privileges of all minorities living in the country, Radio Pakistan has reported.

    They also commended sincere and invaluable services rendered by the Christian community in the fields of defence, education, health as well as economic development of the country.

    They said that the government will empower the minorities to use their abilities for national development

  • ‘Kill them’: Three-day hate speech conclave held in India as Hindutva leaders call for killing Muslims

    ‘Kill them’: Three-day hate speech conclave held in India as Hindutva leaders call for killing Muslims

    A three-day “hate speech conclave” was organised by Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand in Uttarakhand’s pilgrimage city of Haridwar, India, where multiple calls to kill minorities and attack their religious spaces were made, reports The Quint.

    The gathering had speakers like Annapurna Maa, Dharamdas Maharaj from Bihar, Anand Swaroop Maharaj, Sagar Sindhuraj Maharaj, Swami Premanand Maharaj, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Upadhyay.

    “If you want to finish them off, then kill them… We need 100 soldiers who can kill 20 lakh of them to win this,” said Annapurna Maa.

    Dharamdas Maharaj from Bihar said: “If I was present in the parliament when Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh said that minorities have first right over national resources, I would’ve followed Nathuram Godse, I’d have shot him six times in the chest with a revolver.”

    “If the governments do not listen to our demand [the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra through violence against minorities], we will wage a war far scarier than the 1857 revolt,” said Anand Swaroop Maharaj.

    According to the report, religious leader Swami Anandswaroop gave an example of how Muslim street vendors should be treated. “The street in which I live, every morning I used to spot a mullah with a big beard and nowadays they keep a saffron beard. This is Haridwar, Maharaj. There is no Muslim buyer here, so throw him out,” he said.

    Videos of the event have been circulating on social media and people are reacting to the threats being directed towards the minorities in India.

  • Indian retailer Fabindia withdraws Diwali ad after backlash from Hindu groups

    Indian retailer Fabindia withdraws Diwali ad after backlash from Hindu groups

    Indian retailer Fabindia, which sells home furnishings, furniture, clothes and food, has withdrawn an ad about a new Diwali line after backlash from right-wing Hindu groups, reported BBC.

    Social media users accused the ad of using Urdu — a language spoken by many Muslims in India — to celebrate a collection for the Hindu festival of Diwali.

    #BoycottFabIndia trended on Twitter in India on Monday after Fabindia called Diwali “Jashn-e-Riwaaz” (celebration of tradition) in a tweet. Following the tweet, many social media users called for a boycott of the company, claiming that the Urdu phrase had been used to hurt sentiments of the Hindu community.

    A spokesperson from Fabindia told the Times of India newspaper that Jashn-e-Riwaaz was not its Diwali collection.

    The tweet, which went viral on Monday, said: “As we welcome the festival of love and light, Jashn-e-Riwaaz by Fabindia is a collection that beautifully pays homage to Indian culture.” The tweet has since been deleted and the ad has also been withdrawn.

    Fabindia’s deleted tweet

    This is not the first time an Indian brand had to withdraw ads following backlash from right-wing Hindu groups. Last year in October, popular Indian jewellery brand Tanishq had to withdraw an advertisement featuring an interfaith couple after a right-wing backlash on social media.

    A recent advert by clothing brand Manyaavar featuring Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt in a wedding attire also caused a social media furore. The ad, which appeared to question an old tradition (Kanya Daan), received widespread backlash as it was seen as an attack on Hindu wedding rituals.

  • Pakistan celebrates National Minority Day

    Pakistan celebrates National Minority Day

    Pakistan celebrates National Minority Day today, remembering the contribution of minorities in the progress of Pakistan.

    August 11 marks the day to reaffirm our founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision that despite belonging to different faiths, we are one nation.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted, “Let Quaid e Azam’s historic speech of August 11 1947 resonate & let us unite to honour spirit & sanctity of his words. Celebrating the white in our flag.”

    Qureshi also shared a video message.

    Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari tweeted that August 11 is a reaffirmation of the vision of Quaid-e-Azam.

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry tweeted, “Reopening of the mandir in Rahim Yar Khan on August 11 signifies the importance government attaches to rights of minorities, respect for religious beliefs is our core policy.”

    “We will ensure all citizens enjoy life and liberty as per Constitution of Pakistan mandate,” tweeted Fawad.

    A Hindu temple in Bhong town was recently vandalised by a mob, but is has been completely restored to its original structure and handed over back to the members of the minority community.