Author: Priya Saha

Turkish-backed fighters are “ravaging” the predominantly Kurdish region of Afrin in north west Syria, the Jerusalem Post said on Thursday. Turkey launched a cross-border military operation against the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin in January 2018. Since then, the region has largely been under control of Syrian rebel groups supported by Turkey, who have been accused by international organisations including the United Nations of crimes against the local population.  “We have strong evidence indicating the involvement of the Turkish authorities and their client extremist militias in the international crime which is taking place in Turkish-occupied Afrin – including…

LAHORE, Pakistan — The cancellation of an event in Pakistan commemorating Bangladesh’s 50 years of independence has precipitated the debate around Pakistan’s acknowledgment of war crimes. Pakistan’s Lahore University of Management Sciences and National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, had organized the online event titled “War, Violence & Memory: Commemorating 50 Years of the 1971 War” from March 23 to 27. The organizers did not point out the reasons for the cancellation of the event. When approached, Ali Usman Qasmi, historian and professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, told Zenger News he would issue a statement. The statement is yet to…

Former US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard took to Twitter on Friday to flag the religious persecution of Hindu religious minorities of Bangladesh. Calling upon the world to work towards Islamist extremism, the former US presidential candidate also condemned the systematic murder, rape of Bengali Hindus by the Pakistani Army. She tweeted a video in which she expressed concern over the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh since 191 and appealed to all world leaders to unite on the issue. She said that the world should face radical jihadists simultaneously. “As a member of Congress, I introduced a resolution that called for the…

A Catholic diocese in northern Bangladesh has started construction of a shelter for orphan girls in an area near the Indian border where poor and destitute children often suffer from homelessness. Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi kickstarted the foundation-laying ceremony of St. Joseph Orphanage at Christ the King of Peace Catholic Church of Chandpukur in Naogaon district on March 27. The center is expected to be completed by Dec. 8 and will allow about 150 girls, both Christian and non-Christian, to reside and get free education from pre-primary to high school (10th grade). Subscribe to your daily free newsletter from UCA News…

Josh Mandel  |  Opinion contributorThe motto that I live by and will lead by in the U.S. Senate was once written by the preacher Oswald Chambers: “When you fear God, you fear nothing else.”Chambers wrote his first book in Ohio over 100 years ago, and his words still ring true today. Similarly, the Hebrew bible, given to us thousands of years ago, directs us “Yirat Hashem” – Fear God.Today, Americans everywhere feel like we are under assault on our culture, free speech and religious liberty, as evidenced by the multi-front war being waged against us by the secular left. But instead…

A controversial report on racial disparities commissioned by the government used “inflammatory” language that could put the lives of minority ethnic communities “at further risk”, health experts have warned.The Consortium of Black, Asian and minority ethnic Health Professional Networks said it is “dismayed” that the report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (Cred) “downplayed the significant impact of racism” in Britain.The report said racism is a “real force” but that Britain is no longer a country where the “system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities”.Dr Tony Sewell, who chaired the commission, said it had found no evidence of…

A photograph of a rioting mob has been shared amid West Bengal elections with the claim that it depicts violence against Hindus in Hooghly. #StandWithBengalHindus is the hashtag used along with the claim.Multiple Twitter accounts have shared the image.This slideshow requires JavaScript.Old image from BangladeshA simple reverse image search takes one to a May 5, 2013 article published in Daily Mail where the same image has been used. “Protesters armed with sticks flee from police tear gas: The Islamic hardliners are demanding the death penalty for blasphemy,” reads its description. The image has been credited to photographer Ibrahim of former…

Imam Idris AhiwaWith over 1.9 billion followers, Islam is the second most practiced religion in the world, after Christianity. However, Muslims (followers of Islam) are still a religious minority in Dominica, but the numbers are growing.With about 300-500 members now, the movement has seen the construction of two mosques –  one in Picard and the other in Goodwill – adding to its initial place of worship, a temporary structure in the Kalinago territory.Islam is a monotheistic religion which teaches that Muhammad was the final prophet of God or Allah as He is known in Arabic. Followers of Islam are called…

Copyright AFP 2017-2021. All rights reserved. A photo of a protest has been shared repeatedly in multiple Facebook and Twitter posts alongside a caption about Bangladeshi Muslims protesting against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka in March 2021. The photo, however, has been shared in a misleading context: it shows an anti-France rally in Dhaka in 2020. The protest was sparked after President Emmanuel Macron defended cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. The photo was published here in a Facebook post on March 19, 2021. Screenshot of misleading Facebook post taken and crossed by AFP on April 5, 2021 The post’s Bangla-language caption translates to English…

According to a May 11, 2020, Ministry of Religious Affairs notification, a national minorities commission was to be reconstituted. The composition consists of six members, representatives of different federal ministries, along with the secretary of Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) is also a member. There are 12 non-official members from the minority community and two Muslim members. The present composition, and its governance, results in no commission at all. Such a commission is a bureaucratic eyewash, a ‘tick box’ and a disingenuous exercise. Through this notification, the federal government has shown contempt…

A Rohingya teenager is stuck in northeastern India because neither Bangladesh nor Myanmar will take her in, in yet another case that highlights the plight of people from the stateless Muslim minority group and barriers they face. Police in India’s Assam state took the 14-year-old girl, Rozia Ahkter, to the Myanmar border to deport her last Thursday, but Burmese officials refused to let her in as they cited the coronavirus pandemic and the situation inside the country, according to reporting by the state-run Press Trust of India (PTI). Mohammed Zaber, the girl’s father who lives at a refugee camp in…

দীর্ঘ দুই বছর আত্মগোপনের পর জনসম্মুখে সেই প্রিয়া সাহা · Lal Sobujer Kotha – April 5, 2021 … Source link