Author: Priya Saha

New reports in India indicate that the Tehreek-e-Taliban India (TTI)—a chapter of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—is being set up by India’s intelligence agency, RAW. There is no doubt about the fact that the lives of all Muslims and Kashmiris will be in grave danger with this faction operating as a tool through which India is able to subjugate its minorities without the risk of accountability. So long as tensions rise, a conflict will inevitably ensue and that will have a destabilising impact on the region altogether. The international community has finally started to take note of the intense prejudice held…

From Russia to North Korea to Zimbabwe, the impact of diplomatic sanctions has long been questioned. But Bangladeshi activists have no doubts: extrajudicial killings have suddenly stopped since punitive US measures were imposed two months ago, they say. Around 2,500 Bangladeshis have allegedly been killed by security forces since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power in 2009, according to rights group Odhikar, which maintains detailed records, with hundreds more enforced disappearances. It has tallied nearly 1,200 such deaths in the last four years, or an average of 25 per month. But since Washington on December 10 imposed sweeping Magnitsky Act sanctions against the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) elite security force including…

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spoiling the country’s economy by disturbing religious harmony. “It is time people responded and reacted to such attempts,” he said.The CM was referring to the recent incidents in Karnataka targeting girls of a particular community. “They (BJP) are trying to turn Karnataka into a Kashmir Valley by fanning communal passions,” he said while addressing a public meeting at Raigir in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district on Saturday.Stating that Bengaluru is the Silicon Valley of Inida, he sought to know whether investments would flow to the country in the times to…

The messages were last week by the Pakistani branches of firms including Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, fast food chain Domino’s Pizza and Yum Brand Inc’s Pizza Hut and KFC, which also operate in India.They were issued by the companies on Feb 5 to coincide with Pakistan’s Kashmir Solidarity Day, held annually to commemorate the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for self-determination, and caused anger among social media users in India.”These companies cannot be doing business in India and at the same time supporting Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir,” Dinesh Navadiya, national treasurer of Hindu nationalist organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), told Reuters…

A European political party slammed Greece on Friday for a new probe launched into a Turkish minority association that organized a march for rights in July.The march by the Xanthi Turkish Union (Iskece Turk Birligi-ITB), one of the oldest and most influential associations of Turkish minorities in Greece, had been attended by thousands of people and prominent figures who protested that Greece had not applied decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which favored the minority.The European Free Alliance (EFA) reiterated on Twitter its support for the ITB leaders, who were summoned Wednesday by authorities.“Unjustified repression from the…

By GRANT PECK, Associated PressBANGKOK — The head of Myanmar’s military government appealed Saturday for national unity among the country’s restive ethnic minorities as he presided over a parade marking the 75th anniversary of a historic agreement that has failed to ensure harmony. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military council that seized power last year from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, praised the minorities for signing the 1947 Panglong Agreement, which was supposed to unify ethnic groups following decades of British colonial rule. But the army’s seizure of power last year has added to the decades…

“The humiliation of being asked to leave my classroom for wearing a head scarf by college officials has shaken my core belief,” said the 21-year-old student from southern Karnataka’s Udupi district, where protests over the head covering ban began.”My religion has been questioned and insulted by a place which I had considered as a temple of education,” she told Reuters.”It is more like telling us you chose between your religion or education, that’s a wrong thing,” she said after studying for five years at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial college in Udupi.Several Muslim girls who protested the ban had received threatening…

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military council, speaks during the ceremony marking Myanmar’s 75th anniversary Union Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Feb. 12, 2022. (AP Photo) BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military government appealed Saturday for national unity among the country’s restive ethnic minorities as he presided over a parade marking the 75th anniversary of a historic agreement that has failed to ensure harmony. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military council that seized power last year from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected…

The International Labour Organization has slammed China for racial and religious discrimination in the Xinjiang region. “The Committee expresses its deep concern in respect of the policy directions expressed in numerous national and regional policy and regulatory documents and requests therefore the government to … review its national and regional policies with a view to eliminating all distinction, exclusion or preference,” the report released by the UN agency said. “As a ILO member state, the Chinese government is firmly committed to respecting, promoting and realizing the full access to productive and freely chosen employment and decent work for all China’s ethnic…

There is practically no difference between a Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Hindu fundamentalist. They are all primarily ‘intolerant’. Standing next to the mortal remains of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, Muslims have prayed to Allah, Hindus to Bhagwan, and Christians to their almighty God. Seeing Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan lifting his hands in prayer and blowing on her body, some Hindu extremists thought that he was spitting. Then social media mayhem descended. I have noticed that in India, while Muslims are largely aware of Hindu rituals and practices, most Hindus are ignorant about Muslims ones. Similarly in Bangladesh, Hindus understand Muslim rituals more than what Muslims know of Hindus. To a…

“I will bring toughness, post moves, rebounding, everything. I will try to do everything to make it to the playoffs,” a young Enes Kanter Freedom stated after being the third overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. A walking example of a scrappy big man player, Freedom’s efforts go far beyond the basketball court. Freedom’s one of the most outspoken basketball players and athletes in the professional level when it comes to activism, religious freedom and standing up for the oppressed.  Lately, he’s been one of the few professional athletes willing to criticize China for its treatment of religious minorities.…

A group of UN labour experts have expressed their ‘deep concern’ after evaluating the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in China, and in particular in the northwestern Xinjiang region. A committee of 20 experts appointed by the International Labour Organisation to evaluate how countries apply various international labour conventions took China to task in its annual report, published this week. The committee had evaluated allegations by the International Trade Union Confederation in late 2020 that Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang were systematically being used for forced labour in agriculture. Rights groups also say at least one million…