Indian media professionals have appealed to institutions to uphold their constitutional mandate amid open calls for attacks on religious minorities, especially Muslims. In an open letter, they wrote “The concerted amplification of hatred has been growing over the past years and months.” Some groups have advocated violence during elections, pol...
Authorities in Bahrain’s capital Manama shut down an Indian restaurant after it denied entry to a woman wearing the hijab. Video footage of restaurant staff barring a veiled woman from the restaurant in the Muslim-majority country went viral on social media causing outrage. On Friday, the friend of the woman in question explained what happened...
A member of the Karnataka legislative council in India called the banning of Muslims from conducting business on temple grounds “illogical.” Senior leader of India’s ruling BJP party H. Vishwanath said the government should break its silence and take action against temple authorities. He said the state of Karnataka is moving in the wrong direc...
A rise in anti-Islam rhetoric in the French presidential election campaign risks creating a “spiral of hatred,” the rector of a Paris mosque said. Chems-eddine Hafiz, the rector of Paris’s historic Grande Mosquée, said law-abiding Muslims are being scapegoated just like Jews were vilified in the 1930s. He also said French society is weakened ...
Amnesty International is describing India’s repeated denial of bail to jailed Muslim activist Umar Khalid as a “big blow” to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Thirty-four year old Khalid, along with more than a dozen other Muslims, is accused of being part of a “larger conspiracy” that led to religious riots in New Delhi […]...
WASHINGTON (AA) – The US has sanctioned five individuals and five entities in Myanmar over “genocide” of its Rohingya population. Those designated include Myanmar’s 66th Light Infantry Division, including its leaders Brigadier-General Ko Ko Oo, and and Major-General Zaw Hein. Three individuals identified as arms dealers...
HOUSTON, Texas (AA) – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of three Muslim American citizens who said they were unconstitutionally questioned about their religion at the border. “How often do you pray?” was one of the questions listed by the plaintiffs...
On Thursday, a human rights organization decried Israel’s policy of placing Palestinian children 14 years and younger under house arrest. The Beirut-based Palestinian Association for Human Rights, known as Shahed, said Israeli authorities continue to oppress Palestinians, especially residents of Jerusalem. Shahed said Israel’s policy of house...
A French court Wednesday voided the government’s decision to close a mosque near the city of Bordeaux for six months, Anadolu News Agency reports. Sefen Guez Guez, attorney for the Al Farouk Mosque Association, said the Bordeaux Administrative Court annulled the Gironde Governorate’s March 14 decision. Al Farouk Mosque was closed for allegedly...
Lawyer and activist Ishrat Jahan was released from jail in the Indian capital New Delhi last week, after more than two years of imprisonment. She was hugged by her sister, and the duo burst into tears as relatives gathered around to welcome her home. Jahan said she was subjected to extra surveillance as well as […]