Author: Priya Saha

London: Clerics and religious scholars have expressed serious reservations over the draft of the anti-forced conversion bill. At a meeting called by the Ministry of Religious Affairs they/clerics warned the ministry it cannot be implemented as it stands. Only Muslim stakeholders were invited to the meeting held in-camera. Members of the National Commission for Minorities were not invited. But the lone Muslim member of the NCM, Mufti Gulzar Naeemi, was invited in the capacity of a local cleric. Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri chaired the meeting. While the meeting agenda has not been made public, one participant…

Even more worrying is the fact that though the annual growth rate of the country’s core economy is 7.5-7.8%, in the case of the fundamentalist economy, it is much higher at 9-10% Fazle Hossain Badsha 20 September, 2021, 11:25 am Last modified: 20 September, 2021, 03:32 pm Fazle Hossain Badsha. Illustration: TBS”> Fazle Hossain Badsha. Illustration: TBS The aftermath of the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly clear following the failure of the United States. Gradually, it has become clear that Afghanistan and the whole of Southeast Asia can be in danger.  Over the last few days, the leaders…

Rawalpindi : President of Parsi Union of Rawalpindi Isphanyar Bhandara has demanded of the government to protect Parsi cemetery, tucked between the shops of the New Jewellery Market near Benazir Bhutto Hospital, along Murree Road. Currently a handful of Parsi community families reside in Rawlapindi. Isphanyar Bhandara, former member of the national assembly from the minority community, Sunday while talking to ‘The News’ asked the government to secure this graveyard for being an important part of the cultural heritage of Rawalpindi, a reminder of an era gone by to current and future generations. However, so far it has not received…

What is the impact of hate speech, stigmatisation, stereotyping, and mockery upon the psyche, the sense of self-respect and the self-confidence of Indians who happen to belong to the minority community?  The holders of power and their minions refer to members of the Muslim community in disparaging and dismissive terms; perverse ideologues misuse social media to target them in brutal ways and foot soldiers of the currently-dominant ideology regularly waylay them, bully them and demand that they chant an ode to a Hindu God.  How many of us even think about how our fellow citizens feel when they are mercilessly…

Even before my son was born, I used to imagine all the things I would feed my future children. They would come home from school, backpacks hanging off their shoulders and tummies rumbling, and ask what was for dinner. I pictured them round-faced and cheerful, tucking into the same meals that I grew up with. I would heap their plates with hot white rice, garlicky dal garnished with coriander, and spicy fried fish. They would eat with their hands of course, like any well brought-up child of Bangladeshi origin, deftly picking out the tiny bones, and squeezing wedges of lime…

Oregon lawmakers will convene Monday morning to try to reach agreement on new legislative and congressional district maps. The chances of that happening by the Sept. 27 deadline set by the state Supreme Court are, to put it mildly, slim to none. editorial.jpg Drawing new districts, a process that happens every 10 years following the U.S. Census, is never easy. It is fraught with politics, because where the lines are drawn affects which party controls the Legislature and the congressional delegation for the ensuing decade. The party in power wants to stay in power, and the party out of power…

Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka has allegedly launched a disinformation campaign based on religion using social media platforms through a section of the civil society, political parties, academia and media, claimed a sensational report in Bangladesh’s leading daily Prothom Alo. The Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka has allegedly launched a WhatsApp group with representatives of Bangladesh’s political parties, civil society, prominent citizens, academics and the media, alleged Prothom Alo in a report published on Thursday, quoting informed sources. “Pakistan’s ISI has been running various campaigns from behind the scenes by capitalizing on religious sentiments. Pakistan’s intelligence agency is spreading misinformation…

The government awaits a consensus among community leaders for the proposed reform of the Hindu inheritance law as protests for and against the proposed reform continue. Right groups, some Hindu scholars and organisations continue their campaign for the reform while Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance, a coalition of some Hindu platforms, keeps opposing the move. The recent wave of protests for and against the reform came up following the submission of a proposed Hindu Inheritance Bill to the law ministry in March by Citizens’ Initiative to Enact Hindu Law, a coalition of rights organisations, including Manusher Jonno Foundation, Bangladesh…

Representative imageBy Saurabh TrivediNew Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will provide a ‘stay visa’ to all Afghanistan nationals who are staying in India due to disturbed conditions in the war-ravaged country.It will allow them to stay for a longer period in the country.Afghan nationals, who were evacuated to India under the new e-Emergency X-Miscellaneous visa, were initially granted a six months visa.A senior MHA official confirmed that initially a one-month visa was granted to all the Afghan nationals who came to India after political turmoil in their country before the emergency visa was introduced…

09/18/2021 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – According to the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), Muslim clerics in Pakistan are opposing a proposed law aimed at stopping the forced conversion of minorities. The Prohibition of Forced Religious Conversion Bill has been put forward by Naveed Amir Jeeva, a Christian legislator. Currently the bill is pending before the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony. For years, human rights defenders and leaders of Pakistan’s minority communities have been asking the government to pass a law that would criminalize abduction, forced conversion, and forced marriage. In February, a parliamentary committee recommended…

BANGKOK —  Analysts say China’s recent invitation of Myanmar’s ousted pro-democracy party to a regional summit is an old move from its foreign policy playbook aimed at burnishing its bruised image in Myanmar and helping protect its economic and strategic interests there. Even as Beijing forges ever-closer ties with the junta that seized power February 1, China’s Communist Party openly welcomed the deposed National League for Democracy to a September 9 virtual summit of South and Southeast Asian political parties. “There is resentment on the public opinion side that China needs to deal with, and to engage NLD and to…

Single national curriculum a national disasterSUCCESSIVE regimes and political leaders in Pakistan have failed to acknowledge the fact that education is the antidote or panacea to most of our political and socio economic problems and practically nothing seems to have been done to reform our education system during the last seventy four years.Imran Khan has finally launched the Single National Curriculum calling it God’s gift to Pakistan that will end all inequalities in the education system of the country.The first phase of the SNC has been launched at the primary level from class one to class five.Presently there are a…