தமிழ்நாட்டு பெண்களில் ஒரு சாரார் முஸ்லீம்களாக இருக்கிறார்கள்.
இவர்கள் பிரா போடக்கூடாது போலிருக்கிறது.
சோமாலியாவில் பிரா போட்ட பெண்களை பிடித்து பார்த்து சவுக்கடி கொடுத்திருக்கிறார்கள் முஸ்லீம்கள்.
தாடி வைக்காத ஆண்களையும் போட்டு உதைத்திருக்கிறார்கள் மற்ற முஸ்லீம்கள்.
நாகூர் ரூமி தாடி வைத்திருக்கிறாரா?
தெரிந்தவர்கள் சொல்லலாம்.
Islamists flog females in bras
Somali hardliners step up 'moral cleansing' of men without beards and 'deceitful' women
October 17, 2009 Edition 2
Somalia's hardline Islamist group al Shabaab has publicly whipped several women for wearing bras, which, they say, violate Islam by constituting a deception.
And men were not spared the "moral cleansing". Any man caught without a beard was flogged in public, and playing or watching soccer has also been banned.
"I was beaten and my hair was cut off with a pair of scissors in the street," said Hussein, who lives in the Somali capital.
"My trousers were also cut up to the knee. They accused me of shaving my beard but I am only 18. They have arrested dozens of men and women. You just find yourself being whipped by a masked man as soon as you leave your house."
The insurgent group, which seeks to impose a strict form of Islamic law throughout Somalia, amputated a foot and a hand each from two men accused of robbery earlier this month. They have also banned movies, musical ringtones and dancing at weddings.
Residents said gunmen had been rounding up any woman seen with a firm bust, who were then publicly whipped by masked men. The women were then told to remove their bras and shake their breasts.
"Al Shabaab forced us to wear their type of veil and now they order us to shake our breasts," a resident, Halima said, adding that her daughters had been whipped.
"They first banned the former veil and introduced a hard fabric which stands stiffly on women's chests. They now say breasts should be firm naturally, or just flat."
The group's hardline interpretation of Islamic law has shocked many Somalis, who are traditionally moderate Muslims. Some residents, however, give the insurgents credit for restoring order to the regions under their authority. Al Shabaab, which means "youth" in Arabic, controls large parts of Somalia.
Abdullahi Hussein, a student in Mogadishu, said his elder brother was thrown behind bars when he resisted a man who humiliated their sister by asking her to remove her bra. "My brother was jailed after he wrestled with a man who had beaten my sister and forced her to remove her bra. He could not stand it," Hussein said.
In Somalia, ravaged by violence and anarchy for almost two decades, the monthly expenditure for food and other basic needs for a family of six has risen 85 percent in the past two years, said Grainne Moloney of the Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit.
"Families are cutting out the school, cutting out the clothes." Moloney added that one in five children is acutely malnourished.
Meanwhile, the African Union wants the UN to impose a sea blockade and a no-fly zone to stop people and weapons reaching Somalia. Somali insurgent groups, including al Shabaab, which Washington accuses of being al-Qaeda's proxy in the region, are fighting the fragile UN-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
The fighting has killed nearly 19 000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes
Saturday, October 31, 2009
இஸ்லாமில் காதலுக்கு மரியாதை
ஒரு முஸ்லீம் ஆண் இந்து பெண்ணையோ கிறிஸ்துவ பெண்ணையோ காதலித்துதிருமணம் செய்து மதம் மாற்றினால், அது அல்லாவுக்கு பெருமை. இஸ்லாம் வளர்கிறது.. மாற்றுமதத்தினர் இஸ்லாமை போற்றி அதில் இணைகின்றனர் என்று பிலிம் காட்டுவார்கள்.
ஆனால், ஒரு முஸ்லீம் பெண் இந்து ஆணை காதலித்து திருமணம் செய்தால், அந்த பெண்ணை கண்டம் துண்டமாக வெட்டி பையில் போட்டு எறிந்துவிடுவார்கள்.
இதுதான் இஸ்லாமில் காதலுக்கு மரியாதை
Parents get life for ‘honour killing’
Post CommentLarger | Smaller Express news service
Tags :
Posted: Saturday , Jul 12, 2008 at 0022 hrs
Mumbai, July 11: Related ArticlesMost Read Articles
Delivering verdict in a case of "honour killing", a sessions court here on Friday sentenced a couple to life imprisonment for killing their 18-year-old daughter after she eloped with a boy belonging to a different community.
Additional Sessions Judge O S Jaiswal held Mohammad Munna Sardar Khan and his wife Shehnaz Khan guilty of murdering their daughter Mehnaz Khan and cutting her body into 11 pieces on July 2, 2006 for eloping and marrying a Hindu Maharashtrian boy, Vidyanand Jadhav.
The court, while sentencing them to life imprisonment, observed that it is not a “rarest of the rare case” since they cut the body into 11 pieces only after strangulating Mehnaz to death with a towel. But the judge said it was “indeed one of the inhuman acts”.
Considering the moral responsibility the couple have towards their other five children, the judge showed leniency while announcing the punishment and sentenced them to the minimum punishment of life.
According to the prosecution case, on July 2, 2006, Mehnaz eloped with her childhood love Vidyanand Jadhav to Panvel where they got married. When Khan learnt about this, he along with his wife approached Mehnaz and convinced her to return home, promising that they would help her settle down in life. They also assured her that they would accept her marriage to Jadhav.
But later in the evening, on reaching the Cuffe Parade residence of the accused, Khan strangulated Mehnaz to death while her mother prevented her from escaping.
Mehnaz’s body was then cut into 11 pieces and her skin peeled off so that the body could not be identified if recovered. Her nose and ears were also chopped. The body was then stuffed into a gunny bag and thrown off the Byculla bridge.
The gunny bag with the body was recovered a few days later from under the bridge. The gunny bag used nailed Khan, as it was found that it came from the grocery shop, G N Shop, he ran in the vicinity.
Police Inspector Hinduram Patil, the investigating officer in the case, said, “When the body was recovered, the face was unidentifiable and badly mutilated.”
Following the “last-seen-with” theory, the police solved the case within a month.
Substantial amount of material evidence found at the spot of the crime and the circumstantial evidence helped the police build their case against Khans. The couple were also fined Rs 1,000 each
ஆனால், ஒரு முஸ்லீம் பெண் இந்து ஆணை காதலித்து திருமணம் செய்தால், அந்த பெண்ணை கண்டம் துண்டமாக வெட்டி பையில் போட்டு எறிந்துவிடுவார்கள்.
இதுதான் இஸ்லாமில் காதலுக்கு மரியாதை
Parents get life for ‘honour killing’
Post CommentLarger | Smaller Express news service
Tags :
Posted: Saturday , Jul 12, 2008 at 0022 hrs
Mumbai, July 11: Related ArticlesMost Read Articles
Delivering verdict in a case of "honour killing", a sessions court here on Friday sentenced a couple to life imprisonment for killing their 18-year-old daughter after she eloped with a boy belonging to a different community.
Additional Sessions Judge O S Jaiswal held Mohammad Munna Sardar Khan and his wife Shehnaz Khan guilty of murdering their daughter Mehnaz Khan and cutting her body into 11 pieces on July 2, 2006 for eloping and marrying a Hindu Maharashtrian boy, Vidyanand Jadhav.
The court, while sentencing them to life imprisonment, observed that it is not a “rarest of the rare case” since they cut the body into 11 pieces only after strangulating Mehnaz to death with a towel. But the judge said it was “indeed one of the inhuman acts”.
Considering the moral responsibility the couple have towards their other five children, the judge showed leniency while announcing the punishment and sentenced them to the minimum punishment of life.
According to the prosecution case, on July 2, 2006, Mehnaz eloped with her childhood love Vidyanand Jadhav to Panvel where they got married. When Khan learnt about this, he along with his wife approached Mehnaz and convinced her to return home, promising that they would help her settle down in life. They also assured her that they would accept her marriage to Jadhav.
But later in the evening, on reaching the Cuffe Parade residence of the accused, Khan strangulated Mehnaz to death while her mother prevented her from escaping.
Mehnaz’s body was then cut into 11 pieces and her skin peeled off so that the body could not be identified if recovered. Her nose and ears were also chopped. The body was then stuffed into a gunny bag and thrown off the Byculla bridge.
The gunny bag with the body was recovered a few days later from under the bridge. The gunny bag used nailed Khan, as it was found that it came from the grocery shop, G N Shop, he ran in the vicinity.
Police Inspector Hinduram Patil, the investigating officer in the case, said, “When the body was recovered, the face was unidentifiable and badly mutilated.”
Following the “last-seen-with” theory, the police solved the case within a month.
Substantial amount of material evidence found at the spot of the crime and the circumstantial evidence helped the police build their case against Khans. The couple were also fined Rs 1,000 each
Friday, October 30, 2009
சிறுபான்மை பெண்களை கற்பழித்து கொடூரம் செய்யும் பெரும்பான்மையினர்
பங்களாதேஷில் இந்துவாக இருந்துவிட்டால், கொடுமைக்கு அளவே இல்லை.
இந்த 13 வயதுப்பெண்ணை கடத்திச் சென்று தொடர்ந்து பல நாட்கள் கற்பழித்து துரத்திவிட்டுள்ளனர் முஸ்லீம்கள்.
இந்த முஸ்லீம்கள் மீது எந்த விசாரணையும் இல்லை.
இந்த சிறுமி தற்கொலை செய்துகொண்டுவிட்டாள்.
நல்லா இருங்கடே.
Beauty a curse in Bangladesh
By William Gomes
Published October 24, 2009
Email Spread the word.
Mili Rani Malakar, a 13-year-old Hindu girl was abducted and gang raped by local Muslims at Sylhet on May 1, 2008; later on, with a battered body and shattered mind, out of fear and extreme shame, the poor girl committed suicide.In the photo Mili with her parents. (William Gomes ) Some people might say that beauty becomes a curse for a woman who is raped. But I disagree with the idea that the woman's physical beauty is a curse, because it is not beauty that causes sexual violence; the main cause is the beast inside of man. Not all of the women or girls who get raped exhibit extreme physical beauty.
Why does the rapist not rape the mother, sister or daughter in their home who may be more beautiful than the woman or girl they rape? The question is what prevents them from raping their mother, sisters or daughter. If it is religious norms, then somehow the same religious norms fail to stop them from raping someone else. Otherwise, the news just never makes it out.
In Bangladesh on any given morning, if you look at the newspaper you will see news about various forms of violence against females of different ages, from two-year-old girls to elderly women. Stories talk about girls that get raped by people outside the home, by relatives inside the home, by teachers in schools, or even by clerics in religious institutions. The victim may go to the police for justice, but then there are also cases of women getting raped inside of police stations when they go to report the violence committed against them.
We talk about educating about violence against women in Bangladesh, but in some cases, female students have been harassed by teachers in school, from the Mohila Madrasa - a girls Islamic school - to well-known higher educational institutions. On May 14, 2009, the High Court of Bangladesh pronounced a judgment to prevent sexual abuse of women at the office, educational institutions and all types of governmental, non-governmental and other organizations.
Especially for minority girls and women, Bangladesh is an extremely fearful place. As soon as a girl is born into a minority family, they have to worry about whether she will be raped by Muslims and how they will save her from that fate. Obviously, not all minority girls and women are raped, but there are uncounted numbers who are, especially in Bangladesh's Hindu community. At the dawn of each day, there is another article about a minority woman or girl who either was raped, maybe even murdered, or committed suicide after rape.
Mili Rani Malakar, a 13-year-old Hindu girl was abducted and gang raped by local Muslims at Sylhet on May 1, 2008; later on, with a battered body and shattered mind, out of fear and extreme shame, the poor girl committed suicide. It must be noted that it’s not the men who commit suicide out of fear and shame, but the girl who was beaten, broken and raped by beasts. It reminds me of the quote by famous U.S. author, educator and theorist Freda Adler, “Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused.”
All the major religions that are practiced here in Bangladesh are male-dominated organizations. In their holy books, creation begins with a man, “Adam”, who establishes pleasure and perfection on a woman “Eve”. The Abrahamic faiths differ from one another in many things, but they are united in this beginning story, which begins the history of male domination and which ends in today's daily life practices. From Adam to the great Prophet Mohammed, all of the prophets were male.
Bangladesh has a vast population practicing and following Islam in their lives. Islam initially controls their way of life. In Islam, the Prophet Mohammed left an example by having sexual relations with different women, from Aisha, the six- or seven-year-old daughter of Abu Bakr, to elderly women, as well as by having thirteen wives or concubines.
In different religions, the institution of marriage has tried to restrain the male, who is normally a polygamist by nature. Especially the Prophet Mohammed, who had several wives, set an example before the followers of Islam of being an extreme polygamist.
The Roman philosopher Seneca advocated that, “Injustice never rules forever.” The injustice that is going on in Bangladesh against women and girls will not continue forever if we can dig out the rotten teachings of religions, especially of Islam, that lead people to be polygamists, encourage male domination and deprive women by making them dependents. We need to hasten the day when men and women will be treated equally, when beauty will not be a curse, but will be a blessing for all.
William Nicholas Gomes is a freelance Journalist and Human Rights Activist. He can be reached by email at cda.exe@gmail.com.
இன்னொரு செய்தி
Mili Malaker (15) Gang Raped
For 7 days: An investigation Report
Investigation Report on Abduction & Gang Rape of Mili Malaker (15) ----By Rabin Ghosh, GHRD, Bangladesh (30-31st May 2008): I, Adv.Rabindra Ghosh along with Adv.Sawpan Roychowdhury, Ms.Shukla Bhattacharjee, Rakesh Roy, Dulal Borman, Tusher Saha, Ajoy Dey and Arabindu Barman (Bindu) investigated the published news of a rape in "Janakantha", "Jugantor" & “Jugaveri", all 6th May 2008 and also another local daily "Sylheter Dak" on 20th May 2008.
Victim & Perpetrators
Name of the victim: Ms. Mili Rani Malakar (15)
Victim’s father: Khoka Malakar (55), a blind handicapped man
Victim's mother: Mrs. Prativa Rani Malakar (45)
Dates of incident: April 25 – May 02, 2008
Place of occurrence: Bhattapara Government Primary School, Zokiganj, Sylhet.
Names of alleged Perpetrators: a) Abdul Lalif (60), Ward Member and local BNP leader b) Moinul Hossain (45), c) Rafique (40), d) Rahat (35), local Chatra Dal leader & an d) and Unknown person – all of Jakiganj, Sylhet.
Ground Information
Zokiganj police station is situated within Sylhet district eastern side of Bangladesh adjacent to Indian Border near Assam. 5% of the total population of this area would be minority community. Ms. Mili Rani Malakar aged about 15 years is a destitute adolescent minority Hindu girl. Her father, Khoka Malakar is blind and handicapped citizen of Bangladesh not capable to walk and see, mother, Prativa Rani Malakar is maid-servant nearby and they all lives hands to mouth. Perpetrator Abdul Lalif is known to this Hindu family and he used to visit their house often. Abdul Latif tried to build a relationship with the girl and on the day of abduction he offered the girl a job. Instead he took her in a room near Zokiganj where he and other perpetrators raped her from April 25th to May 2nd. On May 2nd 2008 at about noon the victim was found unconscious near Bhattapara Government Primary School at Zokiganj.
Investigation
We have investigated the matter on May 30-31. 2008. We had visited Zokiganj Police station, victim's home, talked with local people, took video statements of the victim. The matter is as follows: The victim was interviewed by Ms.Shukla Bhattacharjee and Adv.Rabindra Ghosh separately and she disclosed categorically that she was allured by Md.Abdul Latif in the name of giving her a job. Abdul Latif took her at a remotest place at Zokiganj and kept her in a solitary room and he along with others raped her one after another for about a week or more. She told that they use force to rape her. She also disclosed that the perpetrators locked her from outside. She cried & begged to leave the room but the perpetrators prevented her not to while they gang-raped her day & night. When finally she became senseless they left her near the school. Some one saw and recognized her, sent her home. Local people sent her to Osmani Medical College, Sylhet. From the medical college she filed FIR against the perpetrators responsible for abduction and gang rape. The victim also complained that she was slapped by Sub Inspector of Police to intimidate her not to disclose the names of the rapists.
The incident was too pathetic and the blind disabled father of the victim was given Taka 10,000/ (About US $150/00) by one Gopi Roy of UK through HRCBM-UK which was published in local daily. We have also met with the Superintendent of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet and appraised the situation. Zokiganj police could not arrest the perpetrators yet. Mr. Harun-ur-Rashid Khan, Deputy Commissioner was not interested to talk to us while we met with him at his official residence on 31st May and he took side of UNO Jaintapur Md. Zillur Rahman Chowdhury who threatened us through mobile telephone not to investigate the matter of minority repression. I made a general diary against the UNO Jaintapur for the threat at Jaintapur PS. We also went to the Zokiganj police station, met with OC and took statements. We also asked him why FIR was not lodged in time and why perpetrators have not been arrested, he could not reply.
Suggestions
a) the perpetrators should be arrested immediately and brought to justice.
b) A judicial inquiry team should be formed to investigate the crime.
c) Compensation needs to be paid to victim and the distressed family.
d) Government should protect human rights defenders & distressed family
e) The Minorities of Bangladesh should be protected.
Prepared and submitted by Adv.Rabindra Ghosh
Observer-Global Human Rights Defense, Dhaka, Bangladesh
பிராடுகள் கிறிஸ்துவர்களாக ஆவதன் ரகசியம்
சமூகசேவைன்னு சொல்லிக்கலாமே!
ஆபாசத்துக்கு ஆபாசம்
மரியாதைக்கு மரியாதை
தமிழன் தான் ஏமாளி
இளம் பெண்களை பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்த பாதிரியார் கைது
சென்னை, சனி, 5 செப்டம்பர் 2009( 12:40 IST )
சென்னை அடுத்த மீஞ்சூரில் இரண்டு பெண்களை பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்த பாதிரியாரை காவல்துறையினர் கைது செய்துள்ளனர்.
மீஞ்சூரை அடுத்த வேலூர் கிராமத்தில் சத்யம் சாரிட்டபிள் டிரஸ்ட் என்ற அனாதை இல்லம் உள்ளது. இந்த அனாதை இல்லத்தை சாது இமானுவேல் என்ற கிறிஸ்தவ பாதிரியார் நடத்தி வந்தார்.
1988ஆம் ஆண்டு முதல் செயல்பட்டு வரும் இந்த அனாதை இல்லத்தில் 10 பெண்கள் வசித்து வருகின்றனர். இதில் இரண்டு பெண்கள் பள்ளி படிப்பை முடித்து விட்டு அனாதை இல்லத்திலேயே தங்கி இருந்தனர். மற்றவர்கள் அருகில் உள்ள ஒரு பள்ளியில் படித்து வருகின்றனர்.
இந்நிலையில் அனாதை இல்லத்தில் வசித்து வந்த இளம் பெண் ஒருவர் காட்டூர் காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் ஒன்று கொடுத்துள்ளார். அதில், என்னையும், மற்றொரு பெண்ணையும் பாதிரியார் சாது இமானுவேல் பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்து விட்டார் என்றும் அவர் மீது நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும் என்றும் கூறியிருந்தார்.
இந்த புகாரை பெற்றுக் கொண்ட காவல்துறையினர், பாதிரியார் சாது இமானுவேலை கைது செய்தனர். பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்யப்பட்ட இரண்டு பெண்களையும் காவல்துறையினர் மருத்துவ பரிசோதனைக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்தனர்.
இந்நிலையில் பாதிரியார் சாது இமானுவேல் நடத்தி வந்த அனாதை இல்லத்துக்கு காவல்துறையினர் பூட்டி சீல் வைத்துள்ளனர். அங்கு தங்கி இருந்த குழந்தைகள் அனைவரும் திருவள்ளூரில் உள்ள சமூக நல காப்பகத்துக்கு அனுப்பி வைக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளனர்.
ஆபாசத்துக்கு ஆபாசம்
மரியாதைக்கு மரியாதை
தமிழன் தான் ஏமாளி
இளம் பெண்களை பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்த பாதிரியார் கைது
சென்னை, சனி, 5 செப்டம்பர் 2009( 12:40 IST )
சென்னை அடுத்த மீஞ்சூரில் இரண்டு பெண்களை பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்த பாதிரியாரை காவல்துறையினர் கைது செய்துள்ளனர்.
மீஞ்சூரை அடுத்த வேலூர் கிராமத்தில் சத்யம் சாரிட்டபிள் டிரஸ்ட் என்ற அனாதை இல்லம் உள்ளது. இந்த அனாதை இல்லத்தை சாது இமானுவேல் என்ற கிறிஸ்தவ பாதிரியார் நடத்தி வந்தார்.
1988ஆம் ஆண்டு முதல் செயல்பட்டு வரும் இந்த அனாதை இல்லத்தில் 10 பெண்கள் வசித்து வருகின்றனர். இதில் இரண்டு பெண்கள் பள்ளி படிப்பை முடித்து விட்டு அனாதை இல்லத்திலேயே தங்கி இருந்தனர். மற்றவர்கள் அருகில் உள்ள ஒரு பள்ளியில் படித்து வருகின்றனர்.
இந்நிலையில் அனாதை இல்லத்தில் வசித்து வந்த இளம் பெண் ஒருவர் காட்டூர் காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் ஒன்று கொடுத்துள்ளார். அதில், என்னையும், மற்றொரு பெண்ணையும் பாதிரியார் சாது இமானுவேல் பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்து விட்டார் என்றும் அவர் மீது நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும் என்றும் கூறியிருந்தார்.
இந்த புகாரை பெற்றுக் கொண்ட காவல்துறையினர், பாதிரியார் சாது இமானுவேலை கைது செய்தனர். பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்யப்பட்ட இரண்டு பெண்களையும் காவல்துறையினர் மருத்துவ பரிசோதனைக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்தனர்.
இந்நிலையில் பாதிரியார் சாது இமானுவேல் நடத்தி வந்த அனாதை இல்லத்துக்கு காவல்துறையினர் பூட்டி சீல் வைத்துள்ளனர். அங்கு தங்கி இருந்த குழந்தைகள் அனைவரும் திருவள்ளூரில் உள்ள சமூக நல காப்பகத்துக்கு அனுப்பி வைக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளனர்.
மனத்தில் அன்பு பொங்க வைக்கும் மெக்கா
மாற்றாந்தாயின் 7 வயது மகளை சித்திரவதை செய்து கொன்ற பெண்ணுக்கு மரண தண்டனை விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
நடந்திருப்பது மெக்காவில்.
இதற்கு துணை போன அப்பாவுக்கு 15 வருட சிறைதண்டனை!
Stepmother to die for child murder
Arab News
MAKKAH: A woman who killed and tortured her seven-year-old stepdaughter has been sentenced to death by a General Court in Makkah. The woman’s husband, who is the child’s biological father, was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
The general prosecutor debated the case for several hours and read out all files concerning the case before the judge pronounced the sentence. The stepmother and father’s confessions to murdering the girl, called Kalthom, were also read out. Kalthom’s biological mother, however, rejected the verdict and called for a harsher sentence to be handed to the father.
According to prosecutors, Kalthom’s father was aware his daughter was being tortured and failed to stop his wife from harming her. Investigations found that the father encouraged his wife to hurt her to discipline her.
Kalthom was tortured so much that her entire body was covered in bruises. The stepmother also inserted sticks into her private parts.
After her death, the couple tried to hide their crime by taking the girl’s body to hospital and claiming she was injured after falling down some stairs while running away. The stepmother claimed she “gently” punished Kalthom for bedwetting and that she had then run away and fallen down.
The stepmother also claimed that Kalthom was her daughter, that her husband was away and that the man who brought them to hospital was a neighbor. Hospital staff and police, however, did not believe her and questioned the stepmother, who then collapsed and confessed to torturing her to death with the help and support of her husband.
The father also tried to cover up the crime by going to a police station posing as a neighbor in order to get a death certificate to bury the body. A subsequent autopsy showed that the child had brain hemorrhage and fresh injuries to her body and face.
நடந்திருப்பது மெக்காவில்.
இதற்கு துணை போன அப்பாவுக்கு 15 வருட சிறைதண்டனை!
Stepmother to die for child murder
Arab News
MAKKAH: A woman who killed and tortured her seven-year-old stepdaughter has been sentenced to death by a General Court in Makkah. The woman’s husband, who is the child’s biological father, was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
The general prosecutor debated the case for several hours and read out all files concerning the case before the judge pronounced the sentence. The stepmother and father’s confessions to murdering the girl, called Kalthom, were also read out. Kalthom’s biological mother, however, rejected the verdict and called for a harsher sentence to be handed to the father.
According to prosecutors, Kalthom’s father was aware his daughter was being tortured and failed to stop his wife from harming her. Investigations found that the father encouraged his wife to hurt her to discipline her.
Kalthom was tortured so much that her entire body was covered in bruises. The stepmother also inserted sticks into her private parts.
After her death, the couple tried to hide their crime by taking the girl’s body to hospital and claiming she was injured after falling down some stairs while running away. The stepmother claimed she “gently” punished Kalthom for bedwetting and that she had then run away and fallen down.
The stepmother also claimed that Kalthom was her daughter, that her husband was away and that the man who brought them to hospital was a neighbor. Hospital staff and police, however, did not believe her and questioned the stepmother, who then collapsed and confessed to torturing her to death with the help and support of her husband.
The father also tried to cover up the crime by going to a police station posing as a neighbor in order to get a death certificate to bury the body. A subsequent autopsy showed that the child had brain hemorrhage and fresh injuries to her body and face.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
பிரான்ஸிலிருந்து 21000 முஸ்லீம்கள் துரத்தப்பட்டனர்
பிரான்ஸில் ஏராளமான முஸ்லீம்கள் கார்களை கொளுத்துவது, போலீஸ்காரர்களை கொல்வது போன்ற சமூக சேவைகளில் ஈடுபடுகிறார்கள். எல்லா முஸ்லீம் பெண்களும் புர்கா போடவேண்டும் என்றும் இந்த முஸ்லீம்கள் பெண்களை கட்டாயப்படுத்துகிறார்கள்.
இதற்கு எதிராக பிரான்ஸ் கடும் தீவிரத்தை காட்டி வருகிறது.
இபப்டிப்பட்ட முஸ்லீம்களை பிரான்ஸை விட்டே துரத்தி வருகிறது. இதுவரை 21000 முஸ்லீம்கள் பிரான்ஸிலிருந்து துரத்த்தப்பட்டுள்ளனர். வெகு விரைவிலேயே பிரான்ஸில் வந்தேறி முஸ்லீம்கள் இல்லாமல் ஒழித்துவிடுவோம் என்று சூளுரைக்கிறார் பிரான்ஸ் மந்திரி.
France to launch national pride campaign in battle against Islamic fundamentalism
By Peter Allen
Last updated at 4:17 PM on 27th October 2009
Comments (246)
France is to adopt a series of measures to 'reaffirm pride' in the country and combat Islamic fundamentalism.
They include everybody receiving lessons in the nation's Christian history and children singing the national anthem.
Using words which infuriated ethnic minority groups and Socialist opponents, immigration minister Eric Besson also said he wanted 'foreigners to speak better French'.
French pride: Troops march down the Champs Elysees during the Bastille Day parade (file photo)
He called for all recent arrivals to be monitored by 'Republican godfathers', charged with helping immigrants to integrate better.
His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where 'citizenship education' centres on multicultural diversity.
M Besson, who was born in the former French protectorate of Morocco, suggested a debate on national identity' entitled 'What does it mean to be French?'
He also reignited the debate about face and body-covering Muslim veils, saying they should definitely be banned.
As well as providing civic lessons for adults - including classes about the country's Christian history and liberal political institutions - the government will encourage school children to sing the national anthem at least once a year.
His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where 'citizenship education' centres on multicultural diversity and the European Union, while 'God Save The Queen' is not even taught in schools.
In an interview broadcast on national TV, Mr Besson said : 'It's necessary to reaffirm the values of national identity and the pride of being French.
'I think, for example, that it would be good for all young French people to have the chance to sing The Marseillaise at least once a year.'
Making clear that radical Islam was a threat, Mr Besson said: 'In France, the nation and the republic remain the strongest ramparts against ... fundamentalist tendencies. France is diversity, and France is unity.'
Swing to the Right: Nicolas Sarkozy with his immigration minister, then a political adviser, Eric Besson, left, in 2007
Mr Besson defended a decision to send illegal Afghan immigrants - all of them Muslim - back to Kabul on charter flights organised in conjunction with the British government last week, saying there would be many more.
More than 21,000 people have been deported from France this year - with 27,000 the ultimate target, said Mr Besson.
He also reignited the debate about face and body-covering Muslim veils, saying they should definitely be banned.
'For me, there should be no burqas on the street,' said Mr Besson. 'The burqa is against national values - an affront to women's rights and equality.'
Explaining the apparent shift to the extreme right by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, Mr Besson evoked the legacy of Jean Marie Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front party, which is struggling massively with huge debts and low electoral support.
Mr Besson said: 'We should never have abandoned to the National Front a number of values which are part of the Republic's heritage. I think that the political death of the National Front would be the best news for all of us.'
But Mohammed Moussaoui, a prominent French Muslim leader, said debates like the one about the burqa were stigmatising the country's entire Muslim community, which at some five million is the largest in western Europe.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1223037/France-launch-national-pride-campaign-battle-Islamic-fundamentalism.html#ixzz0VKq0nHPo
இதற்கு எதிராக பிரான்ஸ் கடும் தீவிரத்தை காட்டி வருகிறது.
இபப்டிப்பட்ட முஸ்லீம்களை பிரான்ஸை விட்டே துரத்தி வருகிறது. இதுவரை 21000 முஸ்லீம்கள் பிரான்ஸிலிருந்து துரத்த்தப்பட்டுள்ளனர். வெகு விரைவிலேயே பிரான்ஸில் வந்தேறி முஸ்லீம்கள் இல்லாமல் ஒழித்துவிடுவோம் என்று சூளுரைக்கிறார் பிரான்ஸ் மந்திரி.
France to launch national pride campaign in battle against Islamic fundamentalism
By Peter Allen
Last updated at 4:17 PM on 27th October 2009
Comments (246)
France is to adopt a series of measures to 'reaffirm pride' in the country and combat Islamic fundamentalism.
They include everybody receiving lessons in the nation's Christian history and children singing the national anthem.
Using words which infuriated ethnic minority groups and Socialist opponents, immigration minister Eric Besson also said he wanted 'foreigners to speak better French'.
French pride: Troops march down the Champs Elysees during the Bastille Day parade (file photo)
He called for all recent arrivals to be monitored by 'Republican godfathers', charged with helping immigrants to integrate better.
His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where 'citizenship education' centres on multicultural diversity.
M Besson, who was born in the former French protectorate of Morocco, suggested a debate on national identity' entitled 'What does it mean to be French?'
He also reignited the debate about face and body-covering Muslim veils, saying they should definitely be banned.
As well as providing civic lessons for adults - including classes about the country's Christian history and liberal political institutions - the government will encourage school children to sing the national anthem at least once a year.
His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where 'citizenship education' centres on multicultural diversity and the European Union, while 'God Save The Queen' is not even taught in schools.
In an interview broadcast on national TV, Mr Besson said : 'It's necessary to reaffirm the values of national identity and the pride of being French.
'I think, for example, that it would be good for all young French people to have the chance to sing The Marseillaise at least once a year.'
Making clear that radical Islam was a threat, Mr Besson said: 'In France, the nation and the republic remain the strongest ramparts against ... fundamentalist tendencies. France is diversity, and France is unity.'
Swing to the Right: Nicolas Sarkozy with his immigration minister, then a political adviser, Eric Besson, left, in 2007
Mr Besson defended a decision to send illegal Afghan immigrants - all of them Muslim - back to Kabul on charter flights organised in conjunction with the British government last week, saying there would be many more.
More than 21,000 people have been deported from France this year - with 27,000 the ultimate target, said Mr Besson.
He also reignited the debate about face and body-covering Muslim veils, saying they should definitely be banned.
'For me, there should be no burqas on the street,' said Mr Besson. 'The burqa is against national values - an affront to women's rights and equality.'
Explaining the apparent shift to the extreme right by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, Mr Besson evoked the legacy of Jean Marie Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front party, which is struggling massively with huge debts and low electoral support.
Mr Besson said: 'We should never have abandoned to the National Front a number of values which are part of the Republic's heritage. I think that the political death of the National Front would be the best news for all of us.'
But Mohammed Moussaoui, a prominent French Muslim leader, said debates like the one about the burqa were stigmatising the country's entire Muslim community, which at some five million is the largest in western Europe.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1223037/France-launch-national-pride-campaign-battle-Islamic-fundamentalism.html#ixzz0VKq0nHPo
கன்னியாஸ்திரிகளால் கொத்தடிமை போல நடத்தியதால் தமிழ்ப்பெண் தற்கொலை
மாணவியின் கடிதம் ஏற்படுத்திய பரபரப்பு
Wednesday, 07 October, 2009 12:25 PM
சென்னை,அக்.7:பள்ளி மாணவியின் தற்கொலை விவகாரத்தில் திடீர் திருப்பமாக அவர் எழுதிய கடிதம் கிடைத்ததை அடுத்து, அந்த மாணவியை தற்கொலைக்கு தூண்டிய கன்னியாஸ்திரிகள் யார் என்பது குறித்து போலீசார் விசாரணை நடத்தி வருகின்றனர்.இது குறித்து போலீஸ் தரப்பில் கூறப்படுவதாவது:
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தர்மபுரி மாவட்டம், பள்ளிப்பட்டை சேர்ந்தவர் சார்லஸ். இவர் கார் டிரைவராக வேலை பார்த்து வருகிறார். இவரது மகள் சில்வியா மேரி (வயது 16). திருவண்ணாமலையில் 10 ஆம் வகுப்பு வரை படித்து முடித்து விட்டு கன்னியாஸ்திரியாக ஆகும் ஆசையில் சென்னையில் உள்ள ஒரு கன்னியாஸ்திரி மடம் நடத்தி வரும் பள்ளியில் பிளஸ்1 வகுப்பில் படித்து வந்துள்ளார்.
மடத்தில் உள்ள கன்னியாஸ்திரி களுக்கு சமையல் செய்து கொடுத்து அவர்களுடன் சில்வியா மேரி தங்கி படித்து வந்திருக்கிறார்.சில்வியா மேரி கிராமத்தில் படித்ததால் அவருக்கு ஆங்கில அறிவு குறைவாக இருந்ததாக கூறப்படுகிறது. மேலும் 10 ஆம் வகுப்பில் குறைந்த மதிப்பெண் வாங்கியதாகவும் கூறப்படுகிறது.
இதையெல்லாம் சுட்டிக் காட்டி அங்கிருந்த சில கன்னியாஸ்திரிகள் சில்வியா மேரியை கொத்தடிமை போல நடத்தி கொடுமைப்படுத்திய தாக கூறப்படுகிறது.
இதனால் மனமுடைந்த சில்வியா மேரி தனக்கு இங்கு பெரும் கொடுமை நடப்பதாகவும், கேவலமான முறையில் தன்னை நடத்துவதாகவும் கூறி, கன்னியாஸ்திரியாகும் ஆசையே போய் விட்டதாகவும், உடனடியாக தன்னை வந்து இங்கிருந்து கூட்டிச் செல்ல வேண்டும் என்றும் கூறி தனது தாயார் ஜாய்க்கு சில்வியா மேரி கடிதம் எழுதியதாக கூறப்படுகிறது.
ஆனால் அந்த கடிதம் கிடைப்பதற்கு முன்பாக, சில்வியா மேரி பள்ளி வராண்டாவில் தூக்குப் போட்டு தற்கொலை செய்து கொண்டார்.
நேற்று முன்தினம் காலையில் பள்ளியை திறக்க வந்த காவலாளி ஏகாம்பரம், மாணவி மேரி தூக்கில் தொங்குவதை பார்த்து போலீசுக்கு தகவல் கொடுத்தார். போலீசார் சில்வியா மேரியின் பிணத்தை கைப்பற்றி ஸ்டான்லி மருத்துவ மனைக்கு பிரேத பரிசோதனைக்காக அனுப்பி வைத்தனர்.
தகவலறிந்த சில்வியா மேரியின் பெற்றோர் பள்ளிப்பட்டிலிருந்து விரைந்து வந்து தங்கள் மகளின் உடலை பெற்றுக் கொண்டனர்.கொடுங்கையூர் போலீசார் வழக்குப் பதிவு செய்து மேரி தங்கியிருந்த அறையை சோதனையிட்டபோது அங்கும் ஒரு கடிதத்தை கைப்பற்றிய தாக கூறப்படுகிறதுஅதில் மேலே கூறிய தகவல்களை குறிப்பிட்டு தனக்கு வாழ பிடிக்க வில்லை என்று எழுதியிருந்ததாக சொல்லப்படுகிறது.
இதனையடுத்து போலீசார் சில்வியா மேரியை கொடுமைப்படுத்தி அவரை தற்கொலைக்கு தூண்டிய கன்னியாஸ்திரிகள் யார் என்பது குறித்து விசாரணை நடத்தி வருகின்றனர்.
Wednesday, 07 October, 2009 12:25 PM
சென்னை,அக்.7:பள்ளி மாணவியின் தற்கொலை விவகாரத்தில் திடீர் திருப்பமாக அவர் எழுதிய கடிதம் கிடைத்ததை அடுத்து, அந்த மாணவியை தற்கொலைக்கு தூண்டிய கன்னியாஸ்திரிகள் யார் என்பது குறித்து போலீசார் விசாரணை நடத்தி வருகின்றனர்.இது குறித்து போலீஸ் தரப்பில் கூறப்படுவதாவது:
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தர்மபுரி மாவட்டம், பள்ளிப்பட்டை சேர்ந்தவர் சார்லஸ். இவர் கார் டிரைவராக வேலை பார்த்து வருகிறார். இவரது மகள் சில்வியா மேரி (வயது 16). திருவண்ணாமலையில் 10 ஆம் வகுப்பு வரை படித்து முடித்து விட்டு கன்னியாஸ்திரியாக ஆகும் ஆசையில் சென்னையில் உள்ள ஒரு கன்னியாஸ்திரி மடம் நடத்தி வரும் பள்ளியில் பிளஸ்1 வகுப்பில் படித்து வந்துள்ளார்.
மடத்தில் உள்ள கன்னியாஸ்திரி களுக்கு சமையல் செய்து கொடுத்து அவர்களுடன் சில்வியா மேரி தங்கி படித்து வந்திருக்கிறார்.சில்வியா மேரி கிராமத்தில் படித்ததால் அவருக்கு ஆங்கில அறிவு குறைவாக இருந்ததாக கூறப்படுகிறது. மேலும் 10 ஆம் வகுப்பில் குறைந்த மதிப்பெண் வாங்கியதாகவும் கூறப்படுகிறது.
இதையெல்லாம் சுட்டிக் காட்டி அங்கிருந்த சில கன்னியாஸ்திரிகள் சில்வியா மேரியை கொத்தடிமை போல நடத்தி கொடுமைப்படுத்திய தாக கூறப்படுகிறது.
இதனால் மனமுடைந்த சில்வியா மேரி தனக்கு இங்கு பெரும் கொடுமை நடப்பதாகவும், கேவலமான முறையில் தன்னை நடத்துவதாகவும் கூறி, கன்னியாஸ்திரியாகும் ஆசையே போய் விட்டதாகவும், உடனடியாக தன்னை வந்து இங்கிருந்து கூட்டிச் செல்ல வேண்டும் என்றும் கூறி தனது தாயார் ஜாய்க்கு சில்வியா மேரி கடிதம் எழுதியதாக கூறப்படுகிறது.
ஆனால் அந்த கடிதம் கிடைப்பதற்கு முன்பாக, சில்வியா மேரி பள்ளி வராண்டாவில் தூக்குப் போட்டு தற்கொலை செய்து கொண்டார்.
நேற்று முன்தினம் காலையில் பள்ளியை திறக்க வந்த காவலாளி ஏகாம்பரம், மாணவி மேரி தூக்கில் தொங்குவதை பார்த்து போலீசுக்கு தகவல் கொடுத்தார். போலீசார் சில்வியா மேரியின் பிணத்தை கைப்பற்றி ஸ்டான்லி மருத்துவ மனைக்கு பிரேத பரிசோதனைக்காக அனுப்பி வைத்தனர்.
தகவலறிந்த சில்வியா மேரியின் பெற்றோர் பள்ளிப்பட்டிலிருந்து விரைந்து வந்து தங்கள் மகளின் உடலை பெற்றுக் கொண்டனர்.கொடுங்கையூர் போலீசார் வழக்குப் பதிவு செய்து மேரி தங்கியிருந்த அறையை சோதனையிட்டபோது அங்கும் ஒரு கடிதத்தை கைப்பற்றிய தாக கூறப்படுகிறதுஅதில் மேலே கூறிய தகவல்களை குறிப்பிட்டு தனக்கு வாழ பிடிக்க வில்லை என்று எழுதியிருந்ததாக சொல்லப்படுகிறது.
இதனையடுத்து போலீசார் சில்வியா மேரியை கொடுமைப்படுத்தி அவரை தற்கொலைக்கு தூண்டிய கன்னியாஸ்திரிகள் யார் என்பது குறித்து விசாரணை நடத்தி வருகின்றனர்.
500 ஆண்டுகள் பழைய அக்பர் மசூதியை இடித்து தரைமட்டமாக்கிய பயங்கரவாதிகள்
ஐந்நூறு ஆண்டுகள் பழைய பெஷாவர் மசூதி பயங்கரவாதிகளால் இடித்து தரைமட்டமாக்கப்பட்டது.
பெஷாவரி பயங்கரவாதிகள் நெருக்கடி மிகுந்த சந்தையில் வைத்த வெடிகுண்டால், 100க்கும் மேற்பட்ட அப்பாவிகள் இறந்தது மட்டுமின்றி மூன்றடுக்கு கொண்ட இந்த பழம்பெரும் மசூதியும் இடித்து தகர்க்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
தாலிபான்கள் காபிரிகளையும் நாஸ்திகர்களையும் கொல்லப்போகிறோம் என்று சொல்லிவிட்டு இப்படி மசூதிகளை போட்டு உடைக்கிறார்களே என்று அங்குள்ள “அமைதி மார்க்க” முஸ்லீம்கள் கேட்கிறார்களாம்.
காபிரிகளையும் நாஸ்திகர்களையும் கொன்றால் சரி என்று போய்விடுவார்கள் போலிருக்கிறது.
எல்லாம் நேரம்.
Ancient mosque razed to ground in blast
PESHAWAR (APP): As the death toll continue to rise till the filing of this report with scores of shops and buildings razed to ground, a three storey ancient mosque ‘Akbar Masjid’ completely collapsed in the Wednesday blast here at Pipal Mandi Bazzar. The ancient mosque that used to attract faithful from far and wide was completely destroyed in the blast. The incident left the entire area in rubble with charred bodies and limbs scattered all around the area. The recent spate of terrorism and suicide blasts at commercial markets and busy shopping centers has raised many questions in the minds of independent observers. Questions such as what was the fault of these innocent people and what purpose did it served for Islam arises as Talibans who claim to be the champions of Islam has on many occasions’ targeted mosques and the religious people busy in saying their prayers and meditations. The enraged people who were in state of shock after the powerful car blast asked many questions as to what was the fault of these people was and why their mosques were being targeted if this war was against Kafirs “Atheist” or non-believers.
பெஷாவரி பயங்கரவாதிகள் நெருக்கடி மிகுந்த சந்தையில் வைத்த வெடிகுண்டால், 100க்கும் மேற்பட்ட அப்பாவிகள் இறந்தது மட்டுமின்றி மூன்றடுக்கு கொண்ட இந்த பழம்பெரும் மசூதியும் இடித்து தகர்க்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
தாலிபான்கள் காபிரிகளையும் நாஸ்திகர்களையும் கொல்லப்போகிறோம் என்று சொல்லிவிட்டு இப்படி மசூதிகளை போட்டு உடைக்கிறார்களே என்று அங்குள்ள “அமைதி மார்க்க” முஸ்லீம்கள் கேட்கிறார்களாம்.
காபிரிகளையும் நாஸ்திகர்களையும் கொன்றால் சரி என்று போய்விடுவார்கள் போலிருக்கிறது.
எல்லாம் நேரம்.
Ancient mosque razed to ground in blast
PESHAWAR (APP): As the death toll continue to rise till the filing of this report with scores of shops and buildings razed to ground, a three storey ancient mosque ‘Akbar Masjid’ completely collapsed in the Wednesday blast here at Pipal Mandi Bazzar. The ancient mosque that used to attract faithful from far and wide was completely destroyed in the blast. The incident left the entire area in rubble with charred bodies and limbs scattered all around the area. The recent spate of terrorism and suicide blasts at commercial markets and busy shopping centers has raised many questions in the minds of independent observers. Questions such as what was the fault of these innocent people and what purpose did it served for Islam arises as Talibans who claim to be the champions of Islam has on many occasions’ targeted mosques and the religious people busy in saying their prayers and meditations. The enraged people who were in state of shock after the powerful car blast asked many questions as to what was the fault of these people was and why their mosques were being targeted if this war was against Kafirs “Atheist” or non-believers.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
கிறிஸ்துவ ஒழுக்கம் கொடிகட்டி பறக்கிறது..
தூத்தேறி
டியூசன்-மாணவியை கற்பழித்த ஆசிரியர்: கைது செய்ய உத்தரவு
புதன்கிழமை, அக்டோபர் 28, 2009, 13:34
திண்டுக்கல்: டியூஷனுக்கு வந்த மாணவியை கற்பழித்த ஆசிரியரைக் கைது செய்ய திண்டுக்கல் மாவட்ட கலெக்டர் வள்ளலார் உத்தரவிட்டார்.
திண்டுக்கல் மாவட்டம் நிலக்கோட்டை சிலுக்குவார்பட்டி கிராமத்தை சேர்ந்த அருள்ரேகா என்பவர் இதுதொடர்பாக கலெக்டரிடம் ஒரு புகார் மனுவைக் கொடுத்தார்.
அதில்,
நான் இரண்டு ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் ஜான்பீட்டர் என்ற ஆசிரியரிடம், மாலை நேரக் கல்வி படித்து வந்தேன். அப்போது ஆசிரியர் என்னை பலாத்காரம் செய்தார். இது குறித்து நிலக்கோட்டை காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் செய்தேன்.
புகாரின் பேரில் இன்ஸ்பெக்டர் செல்வராஜ் என்பவர் இரு தரப்பினரையும் விசாரித்து பெரியவர்கள் முன்னிலையில் பேசி முடிக்கும்படி அனுப்பி வைத்தார்.
கடந்த 2008 -ம் ஆண்டு மே 26 ல் பெரியவர்கள் பேசி, எனக்கு திருமண வயது வரும் வரை காத்திருப்பதாக திருமண ஒப்பந்தம் போட்டனர். எனக்கு அதில் உடன்பாடு இல்லை. ஆனால் என்னை, பட்டிவீரன்பட்டி மாணவியர் விடுதியிலும், அருகிலுள்ள பள்ளியிலும், ஜான்பீட்டர் வலுக்கட்டாயமாக சேர்த்து விட்டார்.
கடந்த 2009 ஏப்பல் மாதம் 25 ல் மறுபடியும் என்னை அழைத்து நிலக்கோட்டை ஆர்.சி., ஆலயத்தில் பாதிரியார் முன்னிலையில், ஏற்கனவே எழுதிய திருமண வாழ்க்கை ஒப்பந்த பத்திரத்தை ரத்து செய்து, இருவருக்கும் சம்பந்தம் இல்லை எனக் கூறி பிரித்து வைத்தனர்.
தீபாவளி விடுமுறைக்கு வந்த நான், கடந்த அக்டோபர் 18 ம் தேதி பட்டிவீரன்பட்டி மாணவியர் விடுதிக்கு செல்ல, சிலுக்குவார்பட்டி பஸ் ஸ்டாண்டில் நின்றிருந்த போது, ஆசிரியர் ஜான்பீட்டர் மற்றும் ஏழு பேர் ஆட்டோவில் வந்து என்னை வத்தலக்குண்டு பஸ் ஸ்டாண்டில் இறக்கி விடுவதாக கூறி, காமலாபுரத்திற்கு தூக்கிச் சென்றனர்.
அங்கு என்னை மானபங்கம் செய்து, என் துணிகளை கழற்றி அடித்தனர். என்னை மிரட்டி, என் மரணத்திற்கு நானே காரணம் என எழுதி வாங்கிக் கொண்டனர்.
மேலும், அருகில் உள்ள ரயில் பாதைக்கு கொண்டு சென்று கொல்ல முயன்றனர். அப்போது அவர்களுடன் இருந்த ஒருவரே என்னை காப்பாற்றினார்.
மறுநாள் காலையில், ஜான்பீட்டர், அவரது மனைவி, குழந்தை தெரசு ஆகியோர் என் மீது பொய் புகார் கூறினர். நிலக்கோட்டை இன்ஸ்பெக்டரும், மகளிர் ஸ்டேஷன் இன்ஸ்பெக்டரும் விசாரித்து எனக்கும், ஜான்பீட்டருக்கும் எந்த உடன்பாடும் இல்லை எனக் கூறி, என்னை மீண்டும் பள்ளிக்கு அனுப்பினர்.
காமலாபுரத்தில் என்னை கொல்ல முயன்றவர்களை நேரில் காட்ட தயாராக இருக்கிறேன். ஜான்பீட்டர், அவரது தம்பி தாமஸ் மகிமைராஜ், அம்மா எஸ்ரா, அருகில் குடியிருக்கும் சிங்கராஜ், அவரது மனைவி ஜோஸ்பின் ஆகியோர் என்னையும், என் குடும்பத்தையும் அழித்து விடுவதாக மிரட்டுகின்றனர். எங்களை ஊரைவிட்டு, விரட்ட முயற்சி செய்கின்றனர் என்று புகாரில் தெரிவித்திருந்தார்.
இதனையடுத்து, மாணவி அருள் ரேகா குடும்பத்தினரை மாவட்ட கலெக்டர் வள்ளலார் நேரில் அழைத்து விசாரித்தார். விசாரணைக்கு பின்பு, ஆசிரியர் ஜான்பீட்டர் உட்பட நான்கு பேரை கைது செய்ய, நிலக்கோட்டை போலீசாருக்கு உத்தரவிட்டார்.
டியூசன்-மாணவியை கற்பழித்த ஆசிரியர்: கைது செய்ய உத்தரவு
புதன்கிழமை, அக்டோபர் 28, 2009, 13:34
திண்டுக்கல்: டியூஷனுக்கு வந்த மாணவியை கற்பழித்த ஆசிரியரைக் கைது செய்ய திண்டுக்கல் மாவட்ட கலெக்டர் வள்ளலார் உத்தரவிட்டார்.
திண்டுக்கல் மாவட்டம் நிலக்கோட்டை சிலுக்குவார்பட்டி கிராமத்தை சேர்ந்த அருள்ரேகா என்பவர் இதுதொடர்பாக கலெக்டரிடம் ஒரு புகார் மனுவைக் கொடுத்தார்.
அதில்,
நான் இரண்டு ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் ஜான்பீட்டர் என்ற ஆசிரியரிடம், மாலை நேரக் கல்வி படித்து வந்தேன். அப்போது ஆசிரியர் என்னை பலாத்காரம் செய்தார். இது குறித்து நிலக்கோட்டை காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் செய்தேன்.
புகாரின் பேரில் இன்ஸ்பெக்டர் செல்வராஜ் என்பவர் இரு தரப்பினரையும் விசாரித்து பெரியவர்கள் முன்னிலையில் பேசி முடிக்கும்படி அனுப்பி வைத்தார்.
கடந்த 2008 -ம் ஆண்டு மே 26 ல் பெரியவர்கள் பேசி, எனக்கு திருமண வயது வரும் வரை காத்திருப்பதாக திருமண ஒப்பந்தம் போட்டனர். எனக்கு அதில் உடன்பாடு இல்லை. ஆனால் என்னை, பட்டிவீரன்பட்டி மாணவியர் விடுதியிலும், அருகிலுள்ள பள்ளியிலும், ஜான்பீட்டர் வலுக்கட்டாயமாக சேர்த்து விட்டார்.
கடந்த 2009 ஏப்பல் மாதம் 25 ல் மறுபடியும் என்னை அழைத்து நிலக்கோட்டை ஆர்.சி., ஆலயத்தில் பாதிரியார் முன்னிலையில், ஏற்கனவே எழுதிய திருமண வாழ்க்கை ஒப்பந்த பத்திரத்தை ரத்து செய்து, இருவருக்கும் சம்பந்தம் இல்லை எனக் கூறி பிரித்து வைத்தனர்.
தீபாவளி விடுமுறைக்கு வந்த நான், கடந்த அக்டோபர் 18 ம் தேதி பட்டிவீரன்பட்டி மாணவியர் விடுதிக்கு செல்ல, சிலுக்குவார்பட்டி பஸ் ஸ்டாண்டில் நின்றிருந்த போது, ஆசிரியர் ஜான்பீட்டர் மற்றும் ஏழு பேர் ஆட்டோவில் வந்து என்னை வத்தலக்குண்டு பஸ் ஸ்டாண்டில் இறக்கி விடுவதாக கூறி, காமலாபுரத்திற்கு தூக்கிச் சென்றனர்.
அங்கு என்னை மானபங்கம் செய்து, என் துணிகளை கழற்றி அடித்தனர். என்னை மிரட்டி, என் மரணத்திற்கு நானே காரணம் என எழுதி வாங்கிக் கொண்டனர்.
மேலும், அருகில் உள்ள ரயில் பாதைக்கு கொண்டு சென்று கொல்ல முயன்றனர். அப்போது அவர்களுடன் இருந்த ஒருவரே என்னை காப்பாற்றினார்.
மறுநாள் காலையில், ஜான்பீட்டர், அவரது மனைவி, குழந்தை தெரசு ஆகியோர் என் மீது பொய் புகார் கூறினர். நிலக்கோட்டை இன்ஸ்பெக்டரும், மகளிர் ஸ்டேஷன் இன்ஸ்பெக்டரும் விசாரித்து எனக்கும், ஜான்பீட்டருக்கும் எந்த உடன்பாடும் இல்லை எனக் கூறி, என்னை மீண்டும் பள்ளிக்கு அனுப்பினர்.
காமலாபுரத்தில் என்னை கொல்ல முயன்றவர்களை நேரில் காட்ட தயாராக இருக்கிறேன். ஜான்பீட்டர், அவரது தம்பி தாமஸ் மகிமைராஜ், அம்மா எஸ்ரா, அருகில் குடியிருக்கும் சிங்கராஜ், அவரது மனைவி ஜோஸ்பின் ஆகியோர் என்னையும், என் குடும்பத்தையும் அழித்து விடுவதாக மிரட்டுகின்றனர். எங்களை ஊரைவிட்டு, விரட்ட முயற்சி செய்கின்றனர் என்று புகாரில் தெரிவித்திருந்தார்.
இதனையடுத்து, மாணவி அருள் ரேகா குடும்பத்தினரை மாவட்ட கலெக்டர் வள்ளலார் நேரில் அழைத்து விசாரித்தார். விசாரணைக்கு பின்பு, ஆசிரியர் ஜான்பீட்டர் உட்பட நான்கு பேரை கைது செய்ய, நிலக்கோட்டை போலீசாருக்கு உத்தரவிட்டார்.
பாதிரிகள் கற்பழிக்க கன்யாஸ்திரிகளால் வளர்க்கப்பட்ட சிறுமிகளின் கலந்துரையாடல்
ஆஸ்திரேலியாவில் கத்தோலிக்க கிறிஸ்துவ அமைப்புகள் சிறுமிகளுக்கான அனாதை நிலையங்களை நடத்துகின்றன. அங்கு அந்த சிறுமிகளை பாதிரியார்கள் கற்பழிக்க கன்யாஸ்திரிகள் ஏற்பாடு செய்கிறார்கள்.
இதனை பற்றிய கண்ணீர் கலந்துரையாடல் இங்கே.
The forgotten Australians
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About half a million Australians spent part or all of their childhood away from their families -- either in government-approved facilities or in foster care.
They want an apology from the federal government similar to that given to the Stolen Generations.
And, like the Stolen Generations, their entitlement to monetary compensation or redress varies dramatically from state to state. They say that's grossly unfair
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This transcript was typed from a recording of the program. The ABC cannot guarantee its complete accuracy because of the possibility of mishearing and occasional difficulty in identifying speakers.
Damien Carrick: It's just over a year since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made his historic apology to the Stolen Generation.
It was seen as a wonderful and long overdue step towards reconciliation, although debate continues about whether or not there should be some kind of compensation.
But there is one group of Australians still waiting for their apology from the PM, the non-Indigenous Australians who were separated from their families as children, the so-called Forgotten Australians.
And a warning: this week's program contains some very disturbing material.
Angela Sydrinis: If you speak to some of them, they are just so bloody angry that they haven't had their apology. I think most of them are happy that the Stolen Generation were given an apology, and indeed I think most of Australia was—it was a very healing moment. But even those who are happy about it, feel very much 'What about us? Our stories were no different.'
Damien Carrick: Like the Stolen Generation, their entitlement to financial redress varies dramatically from state to state. WA has the most generous scheme. But in other parts of Australia, including Victoria, there is no redress.
Leonie Sheedy from CLAN, tell me, we're standing outside the electoral office of the state's treasurer here in Victoria. Who's here and why are they here?
Leonie Sheedy: Today we're joined by people who have been raised in car as state wards or Home Children, and we're called Care Leavers. We're here today to send a message to the treasurer that Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland have given redress to their care survivors, and we want the Victorian government to address this social justice issue.
Damien Carrick: How many Australians grew up away from their families, say in state care or church-run orphanages, or homes?
Leonie Sheedy: There was a Senate Inquiry Report that was released in 2004 and the Senate Inquiry stated that there were over 500,000 Australians who were raised in the 500-plus orphanages, children's homes and foster care.
Damien Carrick: It's a huge number.
Leonie Sheedy: It's a huge number. It's the population of Tasmania.
Damien Carrick: Leonie Sheedy, from CLAN, the Care Leavers Australia Network.
While all the state premiers have apologised, the federal government has not, despite this being a key recommendation of a 2004 Senate Inquiry, the Forgotten Australians Report.
Angela Sydrinis is a lawyer with Ryan Carlisle Thomas. She acts for many of the so-called Forgotten Australians.
Angela Sydrinis: The Forgotten Australians, they were, in my view, often removed for no good reason. I mean you meet men who were locked up in a youth training facility for two or three years because they stole a bike, and because their parents were too poor or too inarticulate or too absent, they just appeared before a magistrate and they were locked up. And when I'm talking about a youth training facility, many of these people, they became criminals, if they weren't before, in the youth training facility either because of the abuse they experienced or just because of the situation they were in, many of them actually ended up in Pentridge. They have all said to me, 'Pentridge was a doddle compared to the youth training facility'. So when you look back on that, they richly deserve an apology, they need an apology in much the same way the Indigenous people needed an apology, and I think all of these children, the Stolen Generation, the child migrants, and the Forgotten Australians, they need redress, they need healing.
Damien Carrick: Before we get on to the question of redress, is there an argument that well, with Indigenous Australians, it was a policy based on race, whereas what happened to the so-called Forgotten Australians was more generic and it wasn't targeted at people because of the kind of person they are.
Angela Sydrinis: Well it was targeted to them, because of the kind of person they were. It may not have been about race, but it was about poverty, and it was about the underclass, and it was about disadvantage. Rich kids didn't get banged up, they weren't removed. Even if they were suffering terrible abuse at home. So whether it was race, or whether it was class, as far as I'm concerned they were both policies of discrimination.
Damien Carrick: Leonie, I'm wondering if you could introduce me to some of the people who might be able to be comfortable talking about their experiences?
Leonie Sheedy: I'll introduce you to my brother, because I think he deserves to get some acknowledgement, you know.
Damien Carrick: Anthony, can I ask, what was your experience? What happened to you?
Anthony: Well I went in when I was two, and I didn't get out till I was nearly 20, but I went in to ten homes. Apart from that, I had a very hard life. I didn't know how to spell, I didn't even know how to read or write when I left the homes, because we were made to work, like in the vegetable garden, setting table up, I used to do all that, then iron, and working along, doing laundry and that. And it was a terrible life. And when my sister found me after 41 years, and then I started to learn from her, I used to just kick around in the streets and lived off the streets. But she knew I didn't drink much after she met me, and she was very surprised. And I got on very well with my sister since.
Damien Carrick: So it was very important for you to reconnect with her after 40 years.
Anthony: Yes, but I had a very lonely life; in my whole life I never got married, I didn't know how to make love or anything like that.
Damien Carrick: And can I ask, did you experience any abuse personally in the institutions?
Anthony: Yes, I got sexually abused, not once, four or five times. Then I was put in solitary confinement for a week, and I got sexually assaulted by the staff and four of his pet boys, but I got them, I bashed one of them up and then I was sent back into solitary confinement. I was there for three weeks, then I got handcuffed and I went to this last Bendigo home, I was only 14 at the time, I was handcuffed all the way from Norwell Park to Bendigo.
Damien Carrick: So there were problems with both the carers and some of the other kids around there?
Anthony: Oh yes. That's why I never got married or anything like that. And my sister asked me, 'How come you didn't get married?' I said, 'I never found Miss Right yet, or Mrs Left', I said. And then she asked me 'Did you used to drink?' I said, 'Yes, I used to try and forget the homes', but I said, 'It could never go away from me.' So I just gave up the grog altogether, so I don't drink any more. I haven't drank for nearly 17 years.
Damien Carrick: Anthony, thank you.
Anthony: Oh, that's all right, Damien.
Mike Rann: To all those who experienced abuse in state care, we are sorry.
Damien Carrick: Stories like Anthony's have moved all the state premiers to publicly apologise to the Forgotten Australians. The most recent was South Australian premier, Mike Rann, in June last year.
Mike Rann: We need to show these courageous people that the government and the parliament, on behalf of all South Australians, acknowledge what they have been through and say, sorry.
Damien Carrick: Despite calls for a redress or compensation scheme, South Australia has yet to implement one. And in New South Wales and Victoria, it's not even being considered.
Some years back Queensland and Tasmania offered compensation. And WA is currently actively advertising its scheme.
Public announcement: If you've suffered abuse as a child in state-approved care, you could receive a one-off payment through Redress WA. Don't let your suffering be forgotten. Applications close April 30.
Angela Sydrinis: Tasmania set up the first Redress Fund for Forgotten Australians and they also subsequently set up the first and only compensation fund for Stolen Generation. Queensland followed, and most recently, in 2007, the Western Australian government set up a Redress Fund. Now both the Queensland and the Western Australian Redress funds apply to Indigenous kids, child migrants, forgotten Australians, they don't discriminate, provided you were in an institution, or in Western Australian foster care, then you're entitled to claim compensation.
Damien Carrick: So before we talk about what kinds of money you can get from these schemes where they exist; you live in Victoria, you live in New South Wales, you live in the Territories, you live in South Australia, you have the same experience as say somebody in WA...
Angela Sydrinis: But you, those people, have to go through the court system to get compensation, and for a number of rather complicated reasons, the legal barriers that these people face through the court system are significant, which is why in fact all of the Senate inquiries recommended redress funds, because they recognised that our legal system as it stands, will not deliver justice to these people. Now in South Australia they've had the Mulligan Inquiry into sexual abuse, and they've now got a task force which is looking at redress funds, so I think South Australia will almost certainly do the right thing as well.
Damien Carrick: Well when it comes to the statutory compensation schemes which exist in various parts of the country, how do those systems work, and how much money can you get, say if you're living in Tasmania, Queensland or WA?
Angela Sydrinis: Queensland and Western Australia have a two-tiered system. If you can show that you were a victim of neglect or abuse, you're entitled to what they call a first-level payment, Queensland up to $7,000, Western Australia up to $10,000. Beyond that, Queensland pay a maximum of up to $40,000, Western Australia up to $80,000, Tasmania up to $60,000, but to get those higher level payments, you need to show that you have suffered injury as a result of neglect or abuse.
Damien Carrick: And what kinds of injury are we talking about, and how do you establish that, to get that $40,000 or $80,000?
Angela Sydrinis: Well it's largely psychological injury. You need to provide medical evidence that you've suffered a psychiatric injury, and beyond that, for example, badly-deformed feet, because they were given shoes that were just way too small over a decade. Back injuries from the slave labour that they were required to perform, and of course we see, all too often, very bad in the men, colo-rectal injuries from being sodomised repeatedly over a number of years, and in some of the women, infertility. We've got two clients, twin sisters, who were diagnosed as having gonorrhea at the age of four months. It's in their records. They were never treated for it. Now the first question is, how did they get the gonorrhea? And the next question is, well, you knew it was there, you've recorded it; what did you do for them?
So other situations, children who were given massive doses of lithium, really heavy, heavy psychotropic drugs for years, for conditions they never had. It was a way of 'managing' them. Now those people will never recover from that.
Damien Carrick: Now those amounts of money, especially at the first level, they're not huge, but do they make a real difference to the people?
Angela Sydrinis: Well look, I think in terms of the first-level payments, you know, you get a lot of people who say, 'Yes, look, it was shit, but I probably would have been on the streets if they hadn't taken me in. OK, I'm glad someone's recognised that it was not easy for me, I'm happy with this', because they're not alleging that they really suffered. I mean you often hear it's not about the money. It is actually about someone saying 'Look, we know we hurt you, and we're really sorry, and this is a token of our feelings that we did the wrong thing by you.'
And also the other thing you've got to bear in mind is that many of these people have lived in poverty all their lives, like severe poverty. So $7,000 or $10,000, that's a new car, a new second-hand car, or the new fridge, or they can pay off their credit card. So for some people, that's good and that's enough, and they draw a line in the sand and they can move on.
Now of course those people who've suffered much more severe abuse and ongoing serious consequences, for them I think no amount of money is enough. I think the $40,000 offered by the Queensland scheme is pretty crap, you know I think the $80,000 offered by the Western Australian scheme, you're starting to think, well, OK, that's a decent amount of money. But international schemes, for example, the Irish Redress Scheme, that had no monetary maximum, no limit, and the average payments there were A$150,000. And of course, if you successfully litigate these claims and that's a big if, you might be looking at $200,000 for pain and suffering, and claims for economic loss, which might be vastly more than that. So the case of Bruce Trevorrow for example, he was awarded...
Damien Carrick: He was a member of the South Australian Stolen Generation and a few years ago he won a groundbreaking case.
Angela Sydrinis: Absolutely. He successfully sued.
Damien Carrick: But he was one in a million.
Angela Sydrinis: He was one in a million, and the difference in Trevorrow's case was that his records documented, like in big lights, that the wrong thing had been done by him, and what you see with most of the records is they don't have any bearing on reality or what was going on. It's a litany of blaming the victim and justifying actions.
Damien Carrick: But people were acting according to the law when they took these children into care.
Angela Sydrinis: Sure. But in Trevorrow's case, there were admissions in his records that they were acting against the law, that they had no power to remove him. And he was awarded $525,000 by way of damages, so that was a very big judgment when you compare it to the $40,000 you might get in Queensland.
Damien Carrick: Yes, but of course litigation is a horrible roulette for those involved, and...
Angela Sydrinis: And look, I've looked at hundreds of records in these cases, hundreds and hundreds (Bruce Trevorrow's records were one in a thousand), where they damned themselves by their own actions.
Damien Carrick: Now presumably there are other real problems in terms of litigation. A lot of Forgotten Australians, they were in state care because they came from dysfunctional or abusive families, and they may have gone on to lead dysfunctional lives, and it would be hard to isolate the damage they've sustained and connect it to the time in care.
Angela Sydrinis: Well that's the other issue, and lawyers call it causation. And I call it trying to unscramble the eggs, and it's absolutely so, we cannot pretend that many of these kids weren't already damaged when they were put in care. But they were put in care to do better, not to do worse. And what in fact you see is their experiences in care gave them no hope of recovery. But that's the other thing that a lawyer does, we try and unscramble those eggs, we try and apportion and say, well, OK, this is probably what would have happened had you not been put in care, but these experiences made you so much worse.
Damien Carrick: Victorian lawyer Angela Sydrinis. And in the absence of a WA-style redress system, her only option is to commence proceedings in the courts. It's only at that point that the Victorian government sit down, negotiate and sometimes talk money.
Joan Wallace, who now lives in Queensland, recently received $10,000 from the WA redress system.
Joan Wallace: Like all the other dozens of children in institutions, we weren't fed properly, we weren't dressed properly, we worked, we did all the work. You were told you were nobody; your self-esteem was zero. It was very, very lonely. I used to carve my name on a tree, my initials and the year like prisoners do, 1942, 1943, etc. You learned to just accept whatever was done to you, and you couldn't fight back, you couldn't speak up, although I was always in trouble for speaking up; it was miserable, really, really miserable. Not so much physical abuse, but it was just mental abuse really. So finally I broke free and I got away, I went to Sydney, then Auckland, as far away as I could go from Western Australia.
Damien Carrick: And now you live in Queensland.
Joan Wallace: Yes.
Damien Carrick: But you've just recently applied for compensation under the WA Redress system; tell me, what money have you received?
Joan Wallace: Oh, they gave me $10,000 because of my age, because they don't want us to miss out. I'm 80, and I can't believe that they have been so kind, so respectful. It took seven months from when I applied, and reliving it wasn't— it was very difficult. But it was like a load off my shoulders.
Damien Carrick: As part of the process, you had to write down and tell the scheme...
Joan Wallace: You had to explain why and how you were there, and I did that. And it's a relief to unload it. Because the feeling of being abandoned and lost all your life, now my story's recorded, the money isn't foremost in my mind at all, the $10,000 is like a down payment, and perhaps after April, the cut-off point, perhaps they'll give me more. But it doesn't matter to me. But what amazes me that someone cares after a lifetime; it makes me smile.
And you know, a lot of people feel it's hush-money. That's not so. The people responsible are dead, the government responsible are dead; these people want you to apply for the money because if you don't, it goes back to the government. And a lot of people won't apply. Like my sister. And I feel sorry, because they want to ease our pain, and they've treated me with respect and kindness and caring and understanding. I can't speak too highly of Western Australia and Redress; I'm amazed. I'm amazed that a government department would be like this, and I'm very, very grateful, and I'm happy.
Damien Carrick: Good day, can I ask what's your name?
Jenny Tiffin: My name is Jenny Tiffin.
Damien Carrick: Jenny, you're dressed rather unusually; can you describe yourself for me?
Jenny Tiffin: As you see from the photograph on my sign, I was attending my first holy communion at a Catholic-run orphanage in Ballarat. I was aged seven and a half, and I was approached by Gerald Ridgedale, who was a priest at the time officiating at the ceremony, and he approached me afterwards and said to me, 'You'll have to pay for this', and I certainly did that night. He sexually abused me. And several other times during my stay there at Nazareth House. I was sexually abused by him. And I just feel that putting the veil on as I was then, dressed, that it would make a statement.
Damien Carrick: So you're wearing a veil, and you're also wearing a large sign with a photo of you, I guess at your first communion.
Jenny Tiffin: It was a terrifying time in my life. I was only in the orphanage for a year and a half, or two years.
Damien Carrick: You went back to your family?
Jenny Tiffin: Yes, back to my family. I wasn't able to talk about what happened in there, I was made to be put under—swept underneath the rug, so to speak, and wasn't able to deal with it until probably by 2002 when everything came out about Gerald Ridsdale abusing me; he was in the court case and sentenced to 16 years jail. But things started to slot into place about what actually happened, and now I was able to deal with it eventually, through many counselling sessions and time to deal with post-traumatic stress, depression, all those symptoms.
Damien Carrick: Now Angela Sydrinis, as you've pointed out, a lot of these kids were taken, according to the law, by the state, under the authority of the state, but they were handed to church-run institutions. Well what's the liability of the churches, as opposed to the state and territory governments?
Angela Sydrinis: Well really, they're even more difficult claims than the claims we pursue against the state governments. Many churches, including the Catholic church and the Uniting church, have organised their affairs so that the only legal entity that exists in these religious associations, is a property trust. And that property trust is incorporated for the sole purpose of owning and disposing of property and managing the financial affairs of the church. There was recently a High Court decision where a claimant brought a claim for damages for...
Damien Carrick: A Mr Ellis.
Angela Sydrinis: - Mr Ellis, yes, for sexual abuse when he was a child at the hands of a Catholic priest. He wasn't a ward of the state, but the law applies in the same way to my clients, and the Catholic church in effect, made admissions that they had an arguable case to answer, in terms of the legal liability, but the defence that they ran was that they couldn't be sued, because the only legal entity that existed was the property trust. Everyone agreed the property trust had nothing to do with the supervision of priests; the court found that the property trust couldn't be held liable for the negligent acts of the priest, and as there was no other legal entity, Mr Ellis's claim failed.
Now it amazes me that you get a religious institution which holds itself out as being a moral and righteous organisation. They have in effect hidden behind a corporate veil; they've organised their legal affairs more cleverly than James Hardie ever did. You know, James Hardie tried to dispose of their liabilities by moving offshore. Well the Catholic church is alive and well in Australia and hiding behind this corporate veil when claimants try and pursue these claims. So the reality is, at present, unless the law changes, so that by act of parliament the Catholic church is deemed to be a legal entity, the entire Catholic church, claimants, the High Court has said, they've got nowhere to go.
Damien Carrick: Now I understand though that the Catholic church did actually sit down and negotiate with people like you, in a way that some other churches or indeed the government don't.
Angela Sydrinis: Well the Catholic church were one of the first to set up a protocol to try and settle these claims.
Damien Carrick: Financially.
Angela Sydrinis: Financially. George Pell did that in Victoria. He would say, and they would say they did it because they wanted to do the right thing. People who've been involved in the process, including me, would say they did it to control the process and to minimise the backlash, the publicity; that it was damage control, it was protecting the Catholic church brand.
But when you try and step out of their process, which has a maximum payment of $55,000 by the way, when you try and step out of their process, they use every legal defence available to them, including the Statute of Limitations, which is a law which says these claims are out of time but, more importantly, this legal defence that there is no entity that can be sued. You can get an extension of time, you can overcome the Statute of Limitations, you cannot overcome this defence that there is no legal entity that can be sued, because the High Court has said you can't overcome it.
You know, it's hypocrisy. It's hypocrisy. And the Uniting church (in Victoria) is another organisation which has organised its affairs in the same way, and they too will take the defence if you choose to step out of their protocol. And what these protocols do, I mean on one level they would say, Well, the law doesn't let you get anything; we're being really magnanimous, OK? And maybe that's true on one level, but it reinforces for my clients that here they are again, going cap-in-hand, begging for something, because they know that unless it's given voluntarily by these organisations, they've got no way they can force them to do the right thing. And that's what our courts should be about; they should be about delivering justice.
Damien Carrick: Not charity.
Angela Sydrinis: Not charity, absolutely, absolutely. Because what happens at the moment is, it's charity, whereas what these people need is acknowledgement, justice, healing.
Damien Carrick: Sandra, what's your story?
Sandra: I'm actually from New South Wales, and I was in and out of the system since I was about seven years old, until I was just over 16. Just the whole idea was then, it was just take the kid away and stick it in an institution. That's got to be the reason that they're just bad. The kids weren't bad, we were just not listened to. So we're still suffering from this. I have issues with my daughters; they don't want to talk about my past, they don't want to talk about my time in an institution or anything like that, and in fact one daughter doesn't speak to me at all. It's a sad thing, but it's because I had nothing to gauge to raise my children. I did not have anything to measure raising children by. Most of my life I spent in institutions, in dysfunctional families.
Damien Carrick: Sandra, and before her, lawyer Angela Sydrinis.
And if you'd like to contact CLAN, Care Leavers Australia Network, or Redress WA, we'll put their details on our web site.
That's the Law Report for this week. Thanks to Law Report producer, Anita Barraud, and technical producer, Angie Grant.
இதனை பற்றிய கண்ணீர் கலந்துரையாடல் இங்கே.
The forgotten Australians
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About half a million Australians spent part or all of their childhood away from their families -- either in government-approved facilities or in foster care.
They want an apology from the federal government similar to that given to the Stolen Generations.
And, like the Stolen Generations, their entitlement to monetary compensation or redress varies dramatically from state to state. They say that's grossly unfair
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This transcript was typed from a recording of the program. The ABC cannot guarantee its complete accuracy because of the possibility of mishearing and occasional difficulty in identifying speakers.
Damien Carrick: It's just over a year since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made his historic apology to the Stolen Generation.
It was seen as a wonderful and long overdue step towards reconciliation, although debate continues about whether or not there should be some kind of compensation.
But there is one group of Australians still waiting for their apology from the PM, the non-Indigenous Australians who were separated from their families as children, the so-called Forgotten Australians.
And a warning: this week's program contains some very disturbing material.
Angela Sydrinis: If you speak to some of them, they are just so bloody angry that they haven't had their apology. I think most of them are happy that the Stolen Generation were given an apology, and indeed I think most of Australia was—it was a very healing moment. But even those who are happy about it, feel very much 'What about us? Our stories were no different.'
Damien Carrick: Like the Stolen Generation, their entitlement to financial redress varies dramatically from state to state. WA has the most generous scheme. But in other parts of Australia, including Victoria, there is no redress.
Leonie Sheedy from CLAN, tell me, we're standing outside the electoral office of the state's treasurer here in Victoria. Who's here and why are they here?
Leonie Sheedy: Today we're joined by people who have been raised in car as state wards or Home Children, and we're called Care Leavers. We're here today to send a message to the treasurer that Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland have given redress to their care survivors, and we want the Victorian government to address this social justice issue.
Damien Carrick: How many Australians grew up away from their families, say in state care or church-run orphanages, or homes?
Leonie Sheedy: There was a Senate Inquiry Report that was released in 2004 and the Senate Inquiry stated that there were over 500,000 Australians who were raised in the 500-plus orphanages, children's homes and foster care.
Damien Carrick: It's a huge number.
Leonie Sheedy: It's a huge number. It's the population of Tasmania.
Damien Carrick: Leonie Sheedy, from CLAN, the Care Leavers Australia Network.
While all the state premiers have apologised, the federal government has not, despite this being a key recommendation of a 2004 Senate Inquiry, the Forgotten Australians Report.
Angela Sydrinis is a lawyer with Ryan Carlisle Thomas. She acts for many of the so-called Forgotten Australians.
Angela Sydrinis: The Forgotten Australians, they were, in my view, often removed for no good reason. I mean you meet men who were locked up in a youth training facility for two or three years because they stole a bike, and because their parents were too poor or too inarticulate or too absent, they just appeared before a magistrate and they were locked up. And when I'm talking about a youth training facility, many of these people, they became criminals, if they weren't before, in the youth training facility either because of the abuse they experienced or just because of the situation they were in, many of them actually ended up in Pentridge. They have all said to me, 'Pentridge was a doddle compared to the youth training facility'. So when you look back on that, they richly deserve an apology, they need an apology in much the same way the Indigenous people needed an apology, and I think all of these children, the Stolen Generation, the child migrants, and the Forgotten Australians, they need redress, they need healing.
Damien Carrick: Before we get on to the question of redress, is there an argument that well, with Indigenous Australians, it was a policy based on race, whereas what happened to the so-called Forgotten Australians was more generic and it wasn't targeted at people because of the kind of person they are.
Angela Sydrinis: Well it was targeted to them, because of the kind of person they were. It may not have been about race, but it was about poverty, and it was about the underclass, and it was about disadvantage. Rich kids didn't get banged up, they weren't removed. Even if they were suffering terrible abuse at home. So whether it was race, or whether it was class, as far as I'm concerned they were both policies of discrimination.
Damien Carrick: Leonie, I'm wondering if you could introduce me to some of the people who might be able to be comfortable talking about their experiences?
Leonie Sheedy: I'll introduce you to my brother, because I think he deserves to get some acknowledgement, you know.
Damien Carrick: Anthony, can I ask, what was your experience? What happened to you?
Anthony: Well I went in when I was two, and I didn't get out till I was nearly 20, but I went in to ten homes. Apart from that, I had a very hard life. I didn't know how to spell, I didn't even know how to read or write when I left the homes, because we were made to work, like in the vegetable garden, setting table up, I used to do all that, then iron, and working along, doing laundry and that. And it was a terrible life. And when my sister found me after 41 years, and then I started to learn from her, I used to just kick around in the streets and lived off the streets. But she knew I didn't drink much after she met me, and she was very surprised. And I got on very well with my sister since.
Damien Carrick: So it was very important for you to reconnect with her after 40 years.
Anthony: Yes, but I had a very lonely life; in my whole life I never got married, I didn't know how to make love or anything like that.
Damien Carrick: And can I ask, did you experience any abuse personally in the institutions?
Anthony: Yes, I got sexually abused, not once, four or five times. Then I was put in solitary confinement for a week, and I got sexually assaulted by the staff and four of his pet boys, but I got them, I bashed one of them up and then I was sent back into solitary confinement. I was there for three weeks, then I got handcuffed and I went to this last Bendigo home, I was only 14 at the time, I was handcuffed all the way from Norwell Park to Bendigo.
Damien Carrick: So there were problems with both the carers and some of the other kids around there?
Anthony: Oh yes. That's why I never got married or anything like that. And my sister asked me, 'How come you didn't get married?' I said, 'I never found Miss Right yet, or Mrs Left', I said. And then she asked me 'Did you used to drink?' I said, 'Yes, I used to try and forget the homes', but I said, 'It could never go away from me.' So I just gave up the grog altogether, so I don't drink any more. I haven't drank for nearly 17 years.
Damien Carrick: Anthony, thank you.
Anthony: Oh, that's all right, Damien.
Mike Rann: To all those who experienced abuse in state care, we are sorry.
Damien Carrick: Stories like Anthony's have moved all the state premiers to publicly apologise to the Forgotten Australians. The most recent was South Australian premier, Mike Rann, in June last year.
Mike Rann: We need to show these courageous people that the government and the parliament, on behalf of all South Australians, acknowledge what they have been through and say, sorry.
Damien Carrick: Despite calls for a redress or compensation scheme, South Australia has yet to implement one. And in New South Wales and Victoria, it's not even being considered.
Some years back Queensland and Tasmania offered compensation. And WA is currently actively advertising its scheme.
Public announcement: If you've suffered abuse as a child in state-approved care, you could receive a one-off payment through Redress WA. Don't let your suffering be forgotten. Applications close April 30.
Angela Sydrinis: Tasmania set up the first Redress Fund for Forgotten Australians and they also subsequently set up the first and only compensation fund for Stolen Generation. Queensland followed, and most recently, in 2007, the Western Australian government set up a Redress Fund. Now both the Queensland and the Western Australian Redress funds apply to Indigenous kids, child migrants, forgotten Australians, they don't discriminate, provided you were in an institution, or in Western Australian foster care, then you're entitled to claim compensation.
Damien Carrick: So before we talk about what kinds of money you can get from these schemes where they exist; you live in Victoria, you live in New South Wales, you live in the Territories, you live in South Australia, you have the same experience as say somebody in WA...
Angela Sydrinis: But you, those people, have to go through the court system to get compensation, and for a number of rather complicated reasons, the legal barriers that these people face through the court system are significant, which is why in fact all of the Senate inquiries recommended redress funds, because they recognised that our legal system as it stands, will not deliver justice to these people. Now in South Australia they've had the Mulligan Inquiry into sexual abuse, and they've now got a task force which is looking at redress funds, so I think South Australia will almost certainly do the right thing as well.
Damien Carrick: Well when it comes to the statutory compensation schemes which exist in various parts of the country, how do those systems work, and how much money can you get, say if you're living in Tasmania, Queensland or WA?
Angela Sydrinis: Queensland and Western Australia have a two-tiered system. If you can show that you were a victim of neglect or abuse, you're entitled to what they call a first-level payment, Queensland up to $7,000, Western Australia up to $10,000. Beyond that, Queensland pay a maximum of up to $40,000, Western Australia up to $80,000, Tasmania up to $60,000, but to get those higher level payments, you need to show that you have suffered injury as a result of neglect or abuse.
Damien Carrick: And what kinds of injury are we talking about, and how do you establish that, to get that $40,000 or $80,000?
Angela Sydrinis: Well it's largely psychological injury. You need to provide medical evidence that you've suffered a psychiatric injury, and beyond that, for example, badly-deformed feet, because they were given shoes that were just way too small over a decade. Back injuries from the slave labour that they were required to perform, and of course we see, all too often, very bad in the men, colo-rectal injuries from being sodomised repeatedly over a number of years, and in some of the women, infertility. We've got two clients, twin sisters, who were diagnosed as having gonorrhea at the age of four months. It's in their records. They were never treated for it. Now the first question is, how did they get the gonorrhea? And the next question is, well, you knew it was there, you've recorded it; what did you do for them?
So other situations, children who were given massive doses of lithium, really heavy, heavy psychotropic drugs for years, for conditions they never had. It was a way of 'managing' them. Now those people will never recover from that.
Damien Carrick: Now those amounts of money, especially at the first level, they're not huge, but do they make a real difference to the people?
Angela Sydrinis: Well look, I think in terms of the first-level payments, you know, you get a lot of people who say, 'Yes, look, it was shit, but I probably would have been on the streets if they hadn't taken me in. OK, I'm glad someone's recognised that it was not easy for me, I'm happy with this', because they're not alleging that they really suffered. I mean you often hear it's not about the money. It is actually about someone saying 'Look, we know we hurt you, and we're really sorry, and this is a token of our feelings that we did the wrong thing by you.'
And also the other thing you've got to bear in mind is that many of these people have lived in poverty all their lives, like severe poverty. So $7,000 or $10,000, that's a new car, a new second-hand car, or the new fridge, or they can pay off their credit card. So for some people, that's good and that's enough, and they draw a line in the sand and they can move on.
Now of course those people who've suffered much more severe abuse and ongoing serious consequences, for them I think no amount of money is enough. I think the $40,000 offered by the Queensland scheme is pretty crap, you know I think the $80,000 offered by the Western Australian scheme, you're starting to think, well, OK, that's a decent amount of money. But international schemes, for example, the Irish Redress Scheme, that had no monetary maximum, no limit, and the average payments there were A$150,000. And of course, if you successfully litigate these claims and that's a big if, you might be looking at $200,000 for pain and suffering, and claims for economic loss, which might be vastly more than that. So the case of Bruce Trevorrow for example, he was awarded...
Damien Carrick: He was a member of the South Australian Stolen Generation and a few years ago he won a groundbreaking case.
Angela Sydrinis: Absolutely. He successfully sued.
Damien Carrick: But he was one in a million.
Angela Sydrinis: He was one in a million, and the difference in Trevorrow's case was that his records documented, like in big lights, that the wrong thing had been done by him, and what you see with most of the records is they don't have any bearing on reality or what was going on. It's a litany of blaming the victim and justifying actions.
Damien Carrick: But people were acting according to the law when they took these children into care.
Angela Sydrinis: Sure. But in Trevorrow's case, there were admissions in his records that they were acting against the law, that they had no power to remove him. And he was awarded $525,000 by way of damages, so that was a very big judgment when you compare it to the $40,000 you might get in Queensland.
Damien Carrick: Yes, but of course litigation is a horrible roulette for those involved, and...
Angela Sydrinis: And look, I've looked at hundreds of records in these cases, hundreds and hundreds (Bruce Trevorrow's records were one in a thousand), where they damned themselves by their own actions.
Damien Carrick: Now presumably there are other real problems in terms of litigation. A lot of Forgotten Australians, they were in state care because they came from dysfunctional or abusive families, and they may have gone on to lead dysfunctional lives, and it would be hard to isolate the damage they've sustained and connect it to the time in care.
Angela Sydrinis: Well that's the other issue, and lawyers call it causation. And I call it trying to unscramble the eggs, and it's absolutely so, we cannot pretend that many of these kids weren't already damaged when they were put in care. But they were put in care to do better, not to do worse. And what in fact you see is their experiences in care gave them no hope of recovery. But that's the other thing that a lawyer does, we try and unscramble those eggs, we try and apportion and say, well, OK, this is probably what would have happened had you not been put in care, but these experiences made you so much worse.
Damien Carrick: Victorian lawyer Angela Sydrinis. And in the absence of a WA-style redress system, her only option is to commence proceedings in the courts. It's only at that point that the Victorian government sit down, negotiate and sometimes talk money.
Joan Wallace, who now lives in Queensland, recently received $10,000 from the WA redress system.
Joan Wallace: Like all the other dozens of children in institutions, we weren't fed properly, we weren't dressed properly, we worked, we did all the work. You were told you were nobody; your self-esteem was zero. It was very, very lonely. I used to carve my name on a tree, my initials and the year like prisoners do, 1942, 1943, etc. You learned to just accept whatever was done to you, and you couldn't fight back, you couldn't speak up, although I was always in trouble for speaking up; it was miserable, really, really miserable. Not so much physical abuse, but it was just mental abuse really. So finally I broke free and I got away, I went to Sydney, then Auckland, as far away as I could go from Western Australia.
Damien Carrick: And now you live in Queensland.
Joan Wallace: Yes.
Damien Carrick: But you've just recently applied for compensation under the WA Redress system; tell me, what money have you received?
Joan Wallace: Oh, they gave me $10,000 because of my age, because they don't want us to miss out. I'm 80, and I can't believe that they have been so kind, so respectful. It took seven months from when I applied, and reliving it wasn't— it was very difficult. But it was like a load off my shoulders.
Damien Carrick: As part of the process, you had to write down and tell the scheme...
Joan Wallace: You had to explain why and how you were there, and I did that. And it's a relief to unload it. Because the feeling of being abandoned and lost all your life, now my story's recorded, the money isn't foremost in my mind at all, the $10,000 is like a down payment, and perhaps after April, the cut-off point, perhaps they'll give me more. But it doesn't matter to me. But what amazes me that someone cares after a lifetime; it makes me smile.
And you know, a lot of people feel it's hush-money. That's not so. The people responsible are dead, the government responsible are dead; these people want you to apply for the money because if you don't, it goes back to the government. And a lot of people won't apply. Like my sister. And I feel sorry, because they want to ease our pain, and they've treated me with respect and kindness and caring and understanding. I can't speak too highly of Western Australia and Redress; I'm amazed. I'm amazed that a government department would be like this, and I'm very, very grateful, and I'm happy.
Damien Carrick: Good day, can I ask what's your name?
Jenny Tiffin: My name is Jenny Tiffin.
Damien Carrick: Jenny, you're dressed rather unusually; can you describe yourself for me?
Jenny Tiffin: As you see from the photograph on my sign, I was attending my first holy communion at a Catholic-run orphanage in Ballarat. I was aged seven and a half, and I was approached by Gerald Ridgedale, who was a priest at the time officiating at the ceremony, and he approached me afterwards and said to me, 'You'll have to pay for this', and I certainly did that night. He sexually abused me. And several other times during my stay there at Nazareth House. I was sexually abused by him. And I just feel that putting the veil on as I was then, dressed, that it would make a statement.
Damien Carrick: So you're wearing a veil, and you're also wearing a large sign with a photo of you, I guess at your first communion.
Jenny Tiffin: It was a terrifying time in my life. I was only in the orphanage for a year and a half, or two years.
Damien Carrick: You went back to your family?
Jenny Tiffin: Yes, back to my family. I wasn't able to talk about what happened in there, I was made to be put under—swept underneath the rug, so to speak, and wasn't able to deal with it until probably by 2002 when everything came out about Gerald Ridsdale abusing me; he was in the court case and sentenced to 16 years jail. But things started to slot into place about what actually happened, and now I was able to deal with it eventually, through many counselling sessions and time to deal with post-traumatic stress, depression, all those symptoms.
Damien Carrick: Now Angela Sydrinis, as you've pointed out, a lot of these kids were taken, according to the law, by the state, under the authority of the state, but they were handed to church-run institutions. Well what's the liability of the churches, as opposed to the state and territory governments?
Angela Sydrinis: Well really, they're even more difficult claims than the claims we pursue against the state governments. Many churches, including the Catholic church and the Uniting church, have organised their affairs so that the only legal entity that exists in these religious associations, is a property trust. And that property trust is incorporated for the sole purpose of owning and disposing of property and managing the financial affairs of the church. There was recently a High Court decision where a claimant brought a claim for damages for...
Damien Carrick: A Mr Ellis.
Angela Sydrinis: - Mr Ellis, yes, for sexual abuse when he was a child at the hands of a Catholic priest. He wasn't a ward of the state, but the law applies in the same way to my clients, and the Catholic church in effect, made admissions that they had an arguable case to answer, in terms of the legal liability, but the defence that they ran was that they couldn't be sued, because the only legal entity that existed was the property trust. Everyone agreed the property trust had nothing to do with the supervision of priests; the court found that the property trust couldn't be held liable for the negligent acts of the priest, and as there was no other legal entity, Mr Ellis's claim failed.
Now it amazes me that you get a religious institution which holds itself out as being a moral and righteous organisation. They have in effect hidden behind a corporate veil; they've organised their legal affairs more cleverly than James Hardie ever did. You know, James Hardie tried to dispose of their liabilities by moving offshore. Well the Catholic church is alive and well in Australia and hiding behind this corporate veil when claimants try and pursue these claims. So the reality is, at present, unless the law changes, so that by act of parliament the Catholic church is deemed to be a legal entity, the entire Catholic church, claimants, the High Court has said, they've got nowhere to go.
Damien Carrick: Now I understand though that the Catholic church did actually sit down and negotiate with people like you, in a way that some other churches or indeed the government don't.
Angela Sydrinis: Well the Catholic church were one of the first to set up a protocol to try and settle these claims.
Damien Carrick: Financially.
Angela Sydrinis: Financially. George Pell did that in Victoria. He would say, and they would say they did it because they wanted to do the right thing. People who've been involved in the process, including me, would say they did it to control the process and to minimise the backlash, the publicity; that it was damage control, it was protecting the Catholic church brand.
But when you try and step out of their process, which has a maximum payment of $55,000 by the way, when you try and step out of their process, they use every legal defence available to them, including the Statute of Limitations, which is a law which says these claims are out of time but, more importantly, this legal defence that there is no entity that can be sued. You can get an extension of time, you can overcome the Statute of Limitations, you cannot overcome this defence that there is no legal entity that can be sued, because the High Court has said you can't overcome it.
You know, it's hypocrisy. It's hypocrisy. And the Uniting church (in Victoria) is another organisation which has organised its affairs in the same way, and they too will take the defence if you choose to step out of their protocol. And what these protocols do, I mean on one level they would say, Well, the law doesn't let you get anything; we're being really magnanimous, OK? And maybe that's true on one level, but it reinforces for my clients that here they are again, going cap-in-hand, begging for something, because they know that unless it's given voluntarily by these organisations, they've got no way they can force them to do the right thing. And that's what our courts should be about; they should be about delivering justice.
Damien Carrick: Not charity.
Angela Sydrinis: Not charity, absolutely, absolutely. Because what happens at the moment is, it's charity, whereas what these people need is acknowledgement, justice, healing.
Damien Carrick: Sandra, what's your story?
Sandra: I'm actually from New South Wales, and I was in and out of the system since I was about seven years old, until I was just over 16. Just the whole idea was then, it was just take the kid away and stick it in an institution. That's got to be the reason that they're just bad. The kids weren't bad, we were just not listened to. So we're still suffering from this. I have issues with my daughters; they don't want to talk about my past, they don't want to talk about my time in an institution or anything like that, and in fact one daughter doesn't speak to me at all. It's a sad thing, but it's because I had nothing to gauge to raise my children. I did not have anything to measure raising children by. Most of my life I spent in institutions, in dysfunctional families.
Damien Carrick: Sandra, and before her, lawyer Angela Sydrinis.
And if you'd like to contact CLAN, Care Leavers Australia Network, or Redress WA, we'll put their details on our web site.
That's the Law Report for this week. Thanks to Law Report producer, Anita Barraud, and technical producer, Angie Grant.
யேமனில் சுன்னி அமைதி மார்க்கத்தினருக்கும் ஷியா அமைதிமார்க்கத்தினருக்கும் சண்டையில் நூற்றுக்கணக்கானவர்கள் பலி
யேமனில் சுன்னி அமைதி மார்க்கத்தினருக்கும் ஷியா அமைதிமார்க்கத்தினருக்கும் சண்டையில் நூற்றுக்கணக்கான அமைதி மார்க்கத்தினர் கொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.
55000 அமைதிமார்க்கத்தினர் அகதிகளாக அலைகிறார்கள்.
Yemen army, rebels 'bogged down in war without end'
By Acil Tabbara (AFP) – Oct 11, 2009
DUBAI — The war between Yemen's army and Muslim Shiite rebels, which entered its third month on Sunday, is driven by tribal, religious and political motives and is intensifying with no end in sight, analysts said.
Fierce fighting erupted on August 11 between government forces and Zaidi rebels in Yemen's mountainous north, so far costing hundreds of lives and causing an estimated 55,000 people to flee their homes.
The war began as a mere "quasi-police operation" to arrest former MP Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi, but it has become "increasingly complex and multi-layered," the think-tank International Crisis Group said in a statement.
"As mutual grievances accumulated and casualties mounted," the conflict brought in "ever-growing numbers of actors... covering a widening area and involving foreign actors under the backdrop of a regional cold war."
The conflict has taken on the characteristics of a communal, tribal or political conflict against a backdrop of historical claims and a regional confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, said the recent ICG report.
Analysts said the latest outbreak was sparked by a deliberate government strategy of pitching Sunni Salafist Muslims against the Shiite Zaidis in a heavily-armed country with a tribal structure.
The Zaidis, otherwise known as Huthis, are a minority in Yemen as a whole but form a majority in the rugged northwest, where the fighting is focussed on Saada province and neighbouring Amran.
"The more repression by the government forces intensifies, the more the Zaidi rebellion" gains popularity and spreads, according to a Western expert on Yemen who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Another analyst, Lebanese academic Sami Dorlian, a Yemen specialist, said he believed "the economic marginalisation of the Saada region and the (Huthis') wish to preserve the Zaidi identity" helped cause the war.
The latest battles follow "errors committed by the government, whose official policy is to seek a balance" between Salafists and Zaidis, Yemeni academic Mohammed Dhahiri said.
The inhospitable region where they are being fought was the cradle and stronghold of a thousand-year-old clerical regime that survived until recent decades.
"It's an isolated, disadvantaged region that has missed out in development policies," said another Western analyst who also declined to be named.
The rebels deny the government's accusations they want to restore the imamate, founded in 889 in Saada province but overthrown by the 1962 revolution.
Sanaa also accuses the rebels, whose rhetoric reflects Iran's and does not hide its admiration for Lebanon's Hezbollah, of being supported by parties in Iran.
The rebels, who also reject that charge, put the blame for the war on the government, which they say is sidelining Zaidis to the benefit of Salafists.
In Dorlian's view, the rebels are friendly with Iran but have no formal links.
"It's mainly a local conflict in which repression has encouraged a stalemate in the conflict," said the Western analyst, adding "the main fuel of the conflict is violence."
"The savage repression and intensity of the rebellion is spreading and all the tribes around Saada rallied around Huthi," said the other Western academic who fears the conflict could expand beyond the region.
The clashes that began between the army and an isolated rebel group "has been transformed into a veritable civil war fuelled by a tribal system based on feudalism," says another analyst who warns "the solution cannot be military."
The government's task is being made even more difficult by other troubles elsewhere in its territory.
In the south, it faces mounting demands for restoration of the region's independence, abandoned when Yemen was unified in 1990.
The impoverished country, dependent on declining oil revenues, is also becoming a haven for Al-Qaeda activists. A suicide attack in August on Saudi Arabia's anti-terror chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was carried out by a bomber who crossed from Yemen.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
55000 அமைதிமார்க்கத்தினர் அகதிகளாக அலைகிறார்கள்.
Yemen army, rebels 'bogged down in war without end'
By Acil Tabbara (AFP) – Oct 11, 2009
DUBAI — The war between Yemen's army and Muslim Shiite rebels, which entered its third month on Sunday, is driven by tribal, religious and political motives and is intensifying with no end in sight, analysts said.
Fierce fighting erupted on August 11 between government forces and Zaidi rebels in Yemen's mountainous north, so far costing hundreds of lives and causing an estimated 55,000 people to flee their homes.
The war began as a mere "quasi-police operation" to arrest former MP Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi, but it has become "increasingly complex and multi-layered," the think-tank International Crisis Group said in a statement.
"As mutual grievances accumulated and casualties mounted," the conflict brought in "ever-growing numbers of actors... covering a widening area and involving foreign actors under the backdrop of a regional cold war."
The conflict has taken on the characteristics of a communal, tribal or political conflict against a backdrop of historical claims and a regional confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, said the recent ICG report.
Analysts said the latest outbreak was sparked by a deliberate government strategy of pitching Sunni Salafist Muslims against the Shiite Zaidis in a heavily-armed country with a tribal structure.
The Zaidis, otherwise known as Huthis, are a minority in Yemen as a whole but form a majority in the rugged northwest, where the fighting is focussed on Saada province and neighbouring Amran.
"The more repression by the government forces intensifies, the more the Zaidi rebellion" gains popularity and spreads, according to a Western expert on Yemen who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Another analyst, Lebanese academic Sami Dorlian, a Yemen specialist, said he believed "the economic marginalisation of the Saada region and the (Huthis') wish to preserve the Zaidi identity" helped cause the war.
The latest battles follow "errors committed by the government, whose official policy is to seek a balance" between Salafists and Zaidis, Yemeni academic Mohammed Dhahiri said.
The inhospitable region where they are being fought was the cradle and stronghold of a thousand-year-old clerical regime that survived until recent decades.
"It's an isolated, disadvantaged region that has missed out in development policies," said another Western analyst who also declined to be named.
The rebels deny the government's accusations they want to restore the imamate, founded in 889 in Saada province but overthrown by the 1962 revolution.
Sanaa also accuses the rebels, whose rhetoric reflects Iran's and does not hide its admiration for Lebanon's Hezbollah, of being supported by parties in Iran.
The rebels, who also reject that charge, put the blame for the war on the government, which they say is sidelining Zaidis to the benefit of Salafists.
In Dorlian's view, the rebels are friendly with Iran but have no formal links.
"It's mainly a local conflict in which repression has encouraged a stalemate in the conflict," said the Western analyst, adding "the main fuel of the conflict is violence."
"The savage repression and intensity of the rebellion is spreading and all the tribes around Saada rallied around Huthi," said the other Western academic who fears the conflict could expand beyond the region.
The clashes that began between the army and an isolated rebel group "has been transformed into a veritable civil war fuelled by a tribal system based on feudalism," says another analyst who warns "the solution cannot be military."
The government's task is being made even more difficult by other troubles elsewhere in its territory.
In the south, it faces mounting demands for restoration of the region's independence, abandoned when Yemen was unified in 1990.
The impoverished country, dependent on declining oil revenues, is also becoming a haven for Al-Qaeda activists. A suicide attack in August on Saudi Arabia's anti-terror chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was carried out by a bomber who crossed from Yemen.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
அமைதி மார்க்கத்தின் அடுத்த அட்டாக் - 95 முஸ்லீம்கள் இண்ஸ்டண்ட் சுவனம்
அமைதி மார்க்கத்தினர் பாகிஸ்தான் பெஷாவரில் இன்ஸ்டண்ட் தாவா செய்ததில் 95 முஸ்லீம்கள் பெண்கள் குழந்தைகள் இன்ஸ்டண்ட் சுவனத்தை அடைந்தனர்.
Fire fighters extinguish burning shops at a market following a deadly car bomb blast in Peshawar on October 28, 2009. — AFP Metropolitan
Peshawar blasts’ mastermind arrested Peshawar blasts’ mastermind arrested PESHAWAR: A car bomb tore through a packed market in Peshawar on Wednesday, killing 95 people and trapping casualties under pulverised shops, in one of Pakistan's deadliest attacks.
The explosion detonated in a crowded street in the Meena Bazaar of Peshawar, one of the most congested parts of the volatile northwest city, sparking a huge blaze and ending in carnage routine shopping trips for scores of people.
The attack underscored the scale of the militant threat in Pakistan just hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad for three days of talks with political and military leaders.
‘There was a huge blast. There was smoke and dust everywhere. I saw people dying and screaming on the road,’ witness Mohammad Siddique told AFP.
Angry flames leapt out of burning wreckage and smoke billowed in the air as a building collapsed into dust and rubble. Police evacuated panicked residents from the smouldering wreckage and firemen hosed down the flames.
‘It was a car bomb. Some people are still trapped in a building. We are trying to rescue them,’ bomb disposal official Shafqat Malik told reporters.
‘We have received 86 dead bodies, 213 people were injured, we are facing a shortage of blood,’ Doctor Hamid Afridi, head of the Peshawar's main Lady Reading Hospital told AFP as staff declared an emergency.
A hospital official outside the casualty wing made a public announcement, appealing on people to donate blood as doctors spoke of harrowing scenes.
‘There are body parts. There are people. There are burnt people. There are dead bodies. There are wounded, I'm not in a position to count. But my estimate is that the death toll may rise to 70,’ said Doctor Muslim Khan.
Rescue workers and government officials had warned that casualties were trapped under collapsed shops at the bomb site, where a large blaze, a toppled building and the narrow streets hampered the relief effort.
‘I am counting the dead bodies, 86 are confirmed dead, the injured are more than 200, there are children and women among the dead,’ Mohammad Gul, a police official at the hospital, told AFP.
The area was one of the most congested parts of Peshawar and full of women's clothing shops and general market stalls popular in the city of 2.5 million.
‘A building structure has collapsed... People are trapped in the fire and buildings. This is the most congested area of the city,’ Sahibzada Mohammad Anees, a senior local administrative official, told a private TV channel.
Peshawar, a teeming metropolis, is a gateway to Pakistan's northwest tribal belt, where the military is pressing a major offensive against Pakistani Taliban militants blamed for some of the worst of the recent carnage.
Tensions have soared across Pakistan following a spike in violence blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists in which more than 240 people have died this month
Car bomb blast kills 95 in Peshawar
Wednesday, 28 Oct, 2009
Fire fighters extinguish burning shops at a market following a deadly car bomb blast in Peshawar on October 28, 2009. — AFP Metropolitan
Peshawar blasts’ mastermind arrested Peshawar blasts’ mastermind arrested PESHAWAR: A car bomb tore through a packed market in Peshawar on Wednesday, killing 95 people and trapping casualties under pulverised shops, in one of Pakistan's deadliest attacks.
The explosion detonated in a crowded street in the Meena Bazaar of Peshawar, one of the most congested parts of the volatile northwest city, sparking a huge blaze and ending in carnage routine shopping trips for scores of people.
The attack underscored the scale of the militant threat in Pakistan just hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad for three days of talks with political and military leaders.
‘There was a huge blast. There was smoke and dust everywhere. I saw people dying and screaming on the road,’ witness Mohammad Siddique told AFP.
Angry flames leapt out of burning wreckage and smoke billowed in the air as a building collapsed into dust and rubble. Police evacuated panicked residents from the smouldering wreckage and firemen hosed down the flames.
‘It was a car bomb. Some people are still trapped in a building. We are trying to rescue them,’ bomb disposal official Shafqat Malik told reporters.
‘We have received 86 dead bodies, 213 people were injured, we are facing a shortage of blood,’ Doctor Hamid Afridi, head of the Peshawar's main Lady Reading Hospital told AFP as staff declared an emergency.
A hospital official outside the casualty wing made a public announcement, appealing on people to donate blood as doctors spoke of harrowing scenes.
‘There are body parts. There are people. There are burnt people. There are dead bodies. There are wounded, I'm not in a position to count. But my estimate is that the death toll may rise to 70,’ said Doctor Muslim Khan.
Rescue workers and government officials had warned that casualties were trapped under collapsed shops at the bomb site, where a large blaze, a toppled building and the narrow streets hampered the relief effort.
‘I am counting the dead bodies, 86 are confirmed dead, the injured are more than 200, there are children and women among the dead,’ Mohammad Gul, a police official at the hospital, told AFP.
The area was one of the most congested parts of Peshawar and full of women's clothing shops and general market stalls popular in the city of 2.5 million.
‘A building structure has collapsed... People are trapped in the fire and buildings. This is the most congested area of the city,’ Sahibzada Mohammad Anees, a senior local administrative official, told a private TV channel.
Peshawar, a teeming metropolis, is a gateway to Pakistan's northwest tribal belt, where the military is pressing a major offensive against Pakistani Taliban militants blamed for some of the worst of the recent carnage.
Tensions have soared across Pakistan following a spike in violence blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists in which more than 240 people have died this month
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
வெளிநாடுகளில் பயங்கரவாதம் செய்ய திட்டமிட்ட இரண்டு அமெரிக்க பயங்கரவாதிகள் கைது
ஓகே இவர்களும் முஸ்லீம்கள்தான்.
சிகாகோவில் இருக்கின்ற இரண்டு அமெரிக்க முஸ்லீம்கள் முகம்மதை கேலிசித்திரமாக வரைந்தவர்கள் பதிப்பித்தவர்களுக்கு எதிராக பயங்கரவாதம் செய்ய திட்டமிட்டிருந்தார்கள்.
இவர்களை கைது செய்தது அமெரிக்க அரசு
ஒருவர் கிறிஸ்துவராக இருந்து பின்னால் முஸ்லீமாக மதம் மாறியவர். இவரது பெயர் டேவிட் கோல்மன் ஹாட்லி. இவர் தன்னை தாவூது ஜிலானி என்று மாற்றிகொண்டுள்ளார்.
மற்றொருவர் இந்துவாக இருந்து முஸ்லீமாக மாறியவர்களின் வழித்தோன்றல். தவஹார் ஹூசேன் ரானா.
அமைதிமார்க்கத்துக்குள் யார் வந்தாலும் அமைதியை ஒழிப்பதை முதல் நோக்கமாக வைத்துக்கொள்வார்கள் என்பது தெரிந்ததே.
US charges two over 'terror plot'
Two men in the US city of Chicago have been charged with planning attacks on foreign targets, the US justice department has said.
David Coleman Headley, 49, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, were both arrested earlier this month.
Among their alleged targets was a Danish newspaper that printed a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005, sparking angry protests from Muslims.
Prosecutors say Mr Headley travelled to Denmark twice to plan an attack.
The justice department said it had uncovered "a serious plot against overseas targets".
Mr Headley, who changed his name from Daood Gilani in 2006, was arrested on 3 October as he was about to travel to Pakistan.
He has been charged with "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts involving murder and maiming" outside the US and also with conspiracy to provide material support for the attack.
Prosecutors allege he visited the Copenhagen and Arhus offices of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which printed the cartoons, for surveillance purposes.
The charge sheet alleges he also travelled to Pakistan to meet members of the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Mr Rana, who officials say is a native of Pakistan and citizen of Canada, was arrested at his home on 18 October. He is alleged to have helped Mr Headley plan and finance the attacks.
The men both live in the Chicago area.
சிகாகோவில் இருக்கின்ற இரண்டு அமெரிக்க முஸ்லீம்கள் முகம்மதை கேலிசித்திரமாக வரைந்தவர்கள் பதிப்பித்தவர்களுக்கு எதிராக பயங்கரவாதம் செய்ய திட்டமிட்டிருந்தார்கள்.
இவர்களை கைது செய்தது அமெரிக்க அரசு
ஒருவர் கிறிஸ்துவராக இருந்து பின்னால் முஸ்லீமாக மதம் மாறியவர். இவரது பெயர் டேவிட் கோல்மன் ஹாட்லி. இவர் தன்னை தாவூது ஜிலானி என்று மாற்றிகொண்டுள்ளார்.
மற்றொருவர் இந்துவாக இருந்து முஸ்லீமாக மாறியவர்களின் வழித்தோன்றல். தவஹார் ஹூசேன் ரானா.
அமைதிமார்க்கத்துக்குள் யார் வந்தாலும் அமைதியை ஒழிப்பதை முதல் நோக்கமாக வைத்துக்கொள்வார்கள் என்பது தெரிந்ததே.
US charges two over 'terror plot'
Two men in the US city of Chicago have been charged with planning attacks on foreign targets, the US justice department has said.
David Coleman Headley, 49, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, were both arrested earlier this month.
Among their alleged targets was a Danish newspaper that printed a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005, sparking angry protests from Muslims.
Prosecutors say Mr Headley travelled to Denmark twice to plan an attack.
The justice department said it had uncovered "a serious plot against overseas targets".
Mr Headley, who changed his name from Daood Gilani in 2006, was arrested on 3 October as he was about to travel to Pakistan.
He has been charged with "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts involving murder and maiming" outside the US and also with conspiracy to provide material support for the attack.
Prosecutors allege he visited the Copenhagen and Arhus offices of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which printed the cartoons, for surveillance purposes.
The charge sheet alleges he also travelled to Pakistan to meet members of the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Mr Rana, who officials say is a native of Pakistan and citizen of Canada, was arrested at his home on 18 October. He is alleged to have helped Mr Headley plan and finance the attacks.
The men both live in the Chicago area.
தென் கரோலினாவில் புதிய இந்து கோவில் துவக்கம்
தென் கரோலினாவில் புதிய இந்து கோவில் துவக்கம்
வாழ்க வளமுடன்
Hindu community inaugurates temple
Published Tuesday, October 27, 2009 9:06 AM
By Jim Tatum
Berkeley Independent
Jim TatumThe inauguration of the Hindu Temple of Charleston included singing and celebration. Jim TatumVaibhav Mohanty displays his musical talents. Indian Americans living in the Lowcountry now have a place to gather, worship, and pass on cultural heritage, thanks to the efforts of a dedicated group of people.
Some 325 people came together last week to celebrate two important events: the
Inauguration of the Hindu Temple of Charleston, and Deepavali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.
The temple, located on College Park Road in Ladson next to the Harvest Center Church, is the first Hindu Temple in the Lowcountry and one of five in the state. It will serve as a place of worship, education, and cultural promotion for some 400 families in this area, said executive committee member Peyush Dwivedi.
Worshippers of all ages and backgrounds gathered about 3:30 p.m. for the ceremonies, which included a cultural presentation done by some of the children, prayers, a celebratory dinner, and fireworks.
“This is a very important holiday for us,” Dwivedi said.
“We have finally secured a place where we can carry out our religious and cultural functions,” noted Dr. Shikhar Mehrotrah, a member of the executive committee. He also noted that the temple could only thrive if everyone becomes involved.
“This is your temple now,” Mehrotrah said. “To make it successful, we need you. Our mission is to promote our Hindu values and culture. The onus is now on the Hindu community to get things moving forward.”
A number of guests delivered welcoming remarks, including Goose Creek Mayor Michael Heitzler, Dr. David Cohen, Dean of the College of Charleston’s School of Languages, Culture, and World Affairs, and Father Rufus Small of Harvest Center Church.
Deepawali Pooja performed the Goddess of Wealth and all devotees participated in the prayer, which lasted two hours. Sikh prayer was also performed to bless the devotees.
The temple will serve a number of purposes and goals, with the first and foremost to pass on the 5,000 year old culture to the next generations, Dwivedi said.
The Hindu Temple or Mandir is a place of worship where God can be approached and divine knowledge be achieved, Dwivedi explained.
“All aspects of Temple are about enlightenment and liberation and is achieved by its basic principle of alignment, design, decorations and rituals performed,” he said. “As an example, the alignment of Temple is on east west direction conforming to recommendations in Vedas and Shastras (ancient Indian religious books).”
The temple also has a “wall of Gods and Saints which represent beliefs of all communities of India,” he added.
“This Temple brings Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists together to one place of worship, fulfilling our goal of uniting the community in Charleston,” he said. “This temple serves a large diverse section of the Indian community in greater Charleston speaking 13 different languages.”
To that end, the temple will offer a number of free educational opportunities -- such as regional language education and Yoga -- for the children of its members, he said.
Those who attended were clearly very excited and gratified with the establishment of the temple.
"I am very happy that we could establish the first Indian temple here in the Lowcountry area,” noted Leena Karambelkar, who lives in Goose Creek. “Diversity is the soul of India. We have people who speak different languages, have different traditions and have different beliefs.
“The Charleston area has a very interesting blend of various communities. We all learn from each other. There are many people who are interested in knowing more about the Indian traditions and culture. This Temple will provide various opportunities to learn and get involved in the Indian community.”
Karambelkar’s daughter, Nerita, who emceed the children’s cultural presentation, also expressed her appreciation and excitement.
“"Kids can learn more about their heritage, traditions and cultural background here at the Temple,” Nerita said. “I am really looking forward to attending all the events."
வாழ்க வளமுடன்
Hindu community inaugurates temple
Published Tuesday, October 27, 2009 9:06 AM
By Jim Tatum
Berkeley Independent
Jim TatumThe inauguration of the Hindu Temple of Charleston included singing and celebration. Jim TatumVaibhav Mohanty displays his musical talents. Indian Americans living in the Lowcountry now have a place to gather, worship, and pass on cultural heritage, thanks to the efforts of a dedicated group of people.
Some 325 people came together last week to celebrate two important events: the
Inauguration of the Hindu Temple of Charleston, and Deepavali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.
The temple, located on College Park Road in Ladson next to the Harvest Center Church, is the first Hindu Temple in the Lowcountry and one of five in the state. It will serve as a place of worship, education, and cultural promotion for some 400 families in this area, said executive committee member Peyush Dwivedi.
Worshippers of all ages and backgrounds gathered about 3:30 p.m. for the ceremonies, which included a cultural presentation done by some of the children, prayers, a celebratory dinner, and fireworks.
“This is a very important holiday for us,” Dwivedi said.
“We have finally secured a place where we can carry out our religious and cultural functions,” noted Dr. Shikhar Mehrotrah, a member of the executive committee. He also noted that the temple could only thrive if everyone becomes involved.
“This is your temple now,” Mehrotrah said. “To make it successful, we need you. Our mission is to promote our Hindu values and culture. The onus is now on the Hindu community to get things moving forward.”
A number of guests delivered welcoming remarks, including Goose Creek Mayor Michael Heitzler, Dr. David Cohen, Dean of the College of Charleston’s School of Languages, Culture, and World Affairs, and Father Rufus Small of Harvest Center Church.
Deepawali Pooja performed the Goddess of Wealth and all devotees participated in the prayer, which lasted two hours. Sikh prayer was also performed to bless the devotees.
The temple will serve a number of purposes and goals, with the first and foremost to pass on the 5,000 year old culture to the next generations, Dwivedi said.
The Hindu Temple or Mandir is a place of worship where God can be approached and divine knowledge be achieved, Dwivedi explained.
“All aspects of Temple are about enlightenment and liberation and is achieved by its basic principle of alignment, design, decorations and rituals performed,” he said. “As an example, the alignment of Temple is on east west direction conforming to recommendations in Vedas and Shastras (ancient Indian religious books).”
The temple also has a “wall of Gods and Saints which represent beliefs of all communities of India,” he added.
“This Temple brings Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists together to one place of worship, fulfilling our goal of uniting the community in Charleston,” he said. “This temple serves a large diverse section of the Indian community in greater Charleston speaking 13 different languages.”
To that end, the temple will offer a number of free educational opportunities -- such as regional language education and Yoga -- for the children of its members, he said.
Those who attended were clearly very excited and gratified with the establishment of the temple.
"I am very happy that we could establish the first Indian temple here in the Lowcountry area,” noted Leena Karambelkar, who lives in Goose Creek. “Diversity is the soul of India. We have people who speak different languages, have different traditions and have different beliefs.
“The Charleston area has a very interesting blend of various communities. We all learn from each other. There are many people who are interested in knowing more about the Indian traditions and culture. This Temple will provide various opportunities to learn and get involved in the Indian community.”
Karambelkar’s daughter, Nerita, who emceed the children’s cultural presentation, also expressed her appreciation and excitement.
“"Kids can learn more about their heritage, traditions and cultural background here at the Temple,” Nerita said. “I am really looking forward to attending all the events."
6000 கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் இந்துக்களாக மதம் மாறினார்கள்
மஹாராஷ்டிரா தானேயில், ஆறாயிரம் கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் மீண்டும் இந்துக்களாக மதம் மாறினார்கள்.
6,000 to be reconverted to Hinduism from Christianity
PTI
Sunday, October 25th, 2009 AT 11:10 PM
Tags: Hinduism, Christianity, Conversion
Close...
THANE: A group of 6,000 persons from various remote parts of Thane district will be brought back to Hindu religion from their present Christianity at a function to be held in Thane tomorrow.
Spokesman of Swami Narendra Maharaj group today told reporters that with this, the goal of bringing back one lakh people to their original Hinduism from Christian community will be completed.
He said that various organisations have helped to identify these hapless people, who were forced to convert into Christianity by several appeasements. "So far, we have already completed conversion of 94,000 Christians into Hindus and one lakh number will be achieved in a two-year period, at the grand function tomorrow.
These people were originally in the Hindu community, but preferred to convert into Christianity as they found the grass green on the other side. Now, they are being brought back to Hinduism on their own without any force or any assurance," he said.
The function will be held with all Hindu rites. He added that for this special process, more than half a dozen pandits have been called and arrived from Ayodya. They are senior Gurus who are Shankaracharyas specially coming down for the purpose.
The 94,000 persons, brought back to Hinduisam, include those in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnatka, and Andhra Pradesh. Of the 94,000, around 40,000 are from Maharashtra, he added.
6,000 to be reconverted to Hinduism from Christianity
PTI
Sunday, October 25th, 2009 AT 11:10 PM
Tags: Hinduism, Christianity, Conversion
Close...
THANE: A group of 6,000 persons from various remote parts of Thane district will be brought back to Hindu religion from their present Christianity at a function to be held in Thane tomorrow.
Spokesman of Swami Narendra Maharaj group today told reporters that with this, the goal of bringing back one lakh people to their original Hinduism from Christian community will be completed.
He said that various organisations have helped to identify these hapless people, who were forced to convert into Christianity by several appeasements. "So far, we have already completed conversion of 94,000 Christians into Hindus and one lakh number will be achieved in a two-year period, at the grand function tomorrow.
These people were originally in the Hindu community, but preferred to convert into Christianity as they found the grass green on the other side. Now, they are being brought back to Hinduism on their own without any force or any assurance," he said.
The function will be held with all Hindu rites. He added that for this special process, more than half a dozen pandits have been called and arrived from Ayodya. They are senior Gurus who are Shankaracharyas specially coming down for the purpose.
The 94,000 persons, brought back to Hinduisam, include those in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnatka, and Andhra Pradesh. Of the 94,000, around 40,000 are from Maharashtra, he added.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
பாகிஸ்தானுக்கும் தாலிபானுக்கும் சண்டை - அல்லாகு அக்பர்
மேலும் 27 தாலிபான்கள் கொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளனர்
Death toll in NW Pakistan drone strike reaches 27
www.chinaview.cn 2009-10-24 16:44:11 Print
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in suspected United States drone attack at a compound in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal agency has reached 27, local TV channel reported Saturday.
A U.S. drone aircraft Saturday fired missiles at a suspected hideout of the Taliban-linked militants in northwest Pakistan's tribal area, leaving 27 persons dead and several others injured, the private channel ARY News reported.
The compound was located near the house of Taliban deputy chief Moulvi Faqeer Muhammad.
Official sources said several foreigners were among those killed. They said that the drone fired two missiles at a bunker at Damadola area.
Nephew and son-in-law of Maulvi Faqir Muhammad were also killed in the attack, officials said. Maulvi Faqir had left the place 10 minutes before the strike, they said.
They said that the militants were holding a meeting in the bunker when the missiles hit the hideout. According to officials some important militants personalities were in the bunker and the killed persons' identity could be proved later.
Damadola and its adjoining areas are considered as the stronghold of Taliban. The area is located near Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province.
The U.S. has intensified drone attacks on Pakistani tribal regions despite Pakistan's protest in recent months. Pakistani officials said that the drone strikes have killed more than 400 people in about 50 attacks since Aug. 2008.
Death toll in NW Pakistan drone strike reaches 27
www.chinaview.cn 2009-10-24 16:44:11 Print
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in suspected United States drone attack at a compound in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal agency has reached 27, local TV channel reported Saturday.
A U.S. drone aircraft Saturday fired missiles at a suspected hideout of the Taliban-linked militants in northwest Pakistan's tribal area, leaving 27 persons dead and several others injured, the private channel ARY News reported.
The compound was located near the house of Taliban deputy chief Moulvi Faqeer Muhammad.
Official sources said several foreigners were among those killed. They said that the drone fired two missiles at a bunker at Damadola area.
Nephew and son-in-law of Maulvi Faqir Muhammad were also killed in the attack, officials said. Maulvi Faqir had left the place 10 minutes before the strike, they said.
They said that the militants were holding a meeting in the bunker when the missiles hit the hideout. According to officials some important militants personalities were in the bunker and the killed persons' identity could be proved later.
Damadola and its adjoining areas are considered as the stronghold of Taliban. The area is located near Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province.
The U.S. has intensified drone attacks on Pakistani tribal regions despite Pakistan's protest in recent months. Pakistani officials said that the drone strikes have killed more than 400 people in about 50 attacks since Aug. 2008.
ஒரே நாளில் 136 முஸ்லீம்கள் படுகொலை
கொலை செய்தது மற்ற முஸ்லீம்கள் (அல்லது உண்மையான முஸ்லீம்கள்)
ஆகையால் இந்திய முஸ்லீம் தலைவர்கள் கண்டுகொள்ளமாட்டார்கள்.
Baghdad car bombs near government offices kill 136
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA (AP) – 1 hour ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two suicide car bombs exploded in downtown Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 136 people and delivering a powerful blow to the heart of the fragile city's government in the worst attack of the year, officials said.
While violence has dropped dramatically in the country since the height of the sectarian tensions, such bombings like Sunday's demonstrate the precarious nature of the security gains and the insurgency's abilities to still pull off devastating attacks in the center of what is supposed to be one of Baghdad's most secure areas.
Black smoke could be seen billowing from the frantic scene, as emergency service vehicles sped to the area. Even civilian cars were being commandeered to transport the wounded to hospitals.
"The walls collapsed and we had to run out," said Yasmeen Afdhal, 24, an employee of the Baghdad provincial administration, which was targeted by one of the car bombs. "There are many wounded, and I saw them being taken away. They were pulling victims out of the rubble, and rushing them to ambulances."
The car bombs, which targeted the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad provincial administration, come as Iraq is preparing for elections scheduled this January, and many Iraqi officials have warned that violence by insurgents intent destabilizing the country could rise.
There have been no claims of responsibility so far, but massive car bombs have been the hallmark of the Sunni insurgents seeking to overthrow the country's Shiite-dominated government.
At least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, which runs the city, were killed in the bombing, said council member Mohammed al-Rubaiey.
The area where the blasts occurred is just a few hundred yards from the Green Zone that houses the U.S. Embassy as well as the prime minister's offices. The street where the blasts occurred had just been reopened to vehicle traffic a few months ago, in what was supposed to be a sign that safety was returning to the once devastated city.
The devastating attacks occurred just hours before Iraq's top leadership was scheduled to meet with heads of political parties on Sunday and reach a compromise on the disputed election law ahead of a crucial parliamentary vote in January.
The explosive-laden vehicles were sitting in parking garages next to the two government building, police said.
"They are targeting the government and the political process in the country," Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, spokesman for the city's operations command center, told The Associated Press. He said the blasts were the work of suicide bombers who drove the vehicles into the parking lots, before blowing them up.
The blasts, which surpassed coordinated attacks against two government ministries in August that killed more than 100 people, appeared to be a blow to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who has staked his reputation and re-election hopes on returning security to the country.
Al-Maliki toured the blast sites later in the day.
Sunday's explosions also injured nearly 600 people who were taken to six area hospitals. Medical officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, gave the death toll.
Video images captured on a cell phone showed the second blast going off in a massive ball of flames, followed by a burst of machine gun fire.
"This is a political struggle, the price of which we are paying," said provincial council member al-Rubaiey. "Every politician is responsible and even the government is responsible, as well as security leaders."
Three American security contractors, working for the U.S. embassy in Baghdad were injured in the blasts, but no American embassy personnel were killed, said Philip Frayne, an embassy spokesman. Frayne could not immediately provide details about who the contractors were escorting to the site, which company they worked for or, or the nature of their injuries.
The explosions were just a few hundred yards from Iraq's Foreign Ministry which is still rebuilding after massive bombings there in August. The bombings were a devastating blow for a country that has seen a dramatic drop in violence since the height of the sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007.
Associated Press Writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
ஆகையால் இந்திய முஸ்லீம் தலைவர்கள் கண்டுகொள்ளமாட்டார்கள்.
Baghdad car bombs near government offices kill 136
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA (AP) – 1 hour ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two suicide car bombs exploded in downtown Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 136 people and delivering a powerful blow to the heart of the fragile city's government in the worst attack of the year, officials said.
While violence has dropped dramatically in the country since the height of the sectarian tensions, such bombings like Sunday's demonstrate the precarious nature of the security gains and the insurgency's abilities to still pull off devastating attacks in the center of what is supposed to be one of Baghdad's most secure areas.
Black smoke could be seen billowing from the frantic scene, as emergency service vehicles sped to the area. Even civilian cars were being commandeered to transport the wounded to hospitals.
"The walls collapsed and we had to run out," said Yasmeen Afdhal, 24, an employee of the Baghdad provincial administration, which was targeted by one of the car bombs. "There are many wounded, and I saw them being taken away. They were pulling victims out of the rubble, and rushing them to ambulances."
The car bombs, which targeted the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad provincial administration, come as Iraq is preparing for elections scheduled this January, and many Iraqi officials have warned that violence by insurgents intent destabilizing the country could rise.
There have been no claims of responsibility so far, but massive car bombs have been the hallmark of the Sunni insurgents seeking to overthrow the country's Shiite-dominated government.
At least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, which runs the city, were killed in the bombing, said council member Mohammed al-Rubaiey.
The area where the blasts occurred is just a few hundred yards from the Green Zone that houses the U.S. Embassy as well as the prime minister's offices. The street where the blasts occurred had just been reopened to vehicle traffic a few months ago, in what was supposed to be a sign that safety was returning to the once devastated city.
The devastating attacks occurred just hours before Iraq's top leadership was scheduled to meet with heads of political parties on Sunday and reach a compromise on the disputed election law ahead of a crucial parliamentary vote in January.
The explosive-laden vehicles were sitting in parking garages next to the two government building, police said.
"They are targeting the government and the political process in the country," Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, spokesman for the city's operations command center, told The Associated Press. He said the blasts were the work of suicide bombers who drove the vehicles into the parking lots, before blowing them up.
The blasts, which surpassed coordinated attacks against two government ministries in August that killed more than 100 people, appeared to be a blow to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who has staked his reputation and re-election hopes on returning security to the country.
Al-Maliki toured the blast sites later in the day.
Sunday's explosions also injured nearly 600 people who were taken to six area hospitals. Medical officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, gave the death toll.
Video images captured on a cell phone showed the second blast going off in a massive ball of flames, followed by a burst of machine gun fire.
"This is a political struggle, the price of which we are paying," said provincial council member al-Rubaiey. "Every politician is responsible and even the government is responsible, as well as security leaders."
Three American security contractors, working for the U.S. embassy in Baghdad were injured in the blasts, but no American embassy personnel were killed, said Philip Frayne, an embassy spokesman. Frayne could not immediately provide details about who the contractors were escorting to the site, which company they worked for or, or the nature of their injuries.
The explosions were just a few hundred yards from Iraq's Foreign Ministry which is still rebuilding after massive bombings there in August. The bombings were a devastating blow for a country that has seen a dramatic drop in violence since the height of the sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007.
Associated Press Writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
பர்தா போட்ட பெண்ணை கல்லூரியிலிருந்து நீக்கிய பிரின்ஸிபால் வாழ்க
லண்டனில் ஒரு கல்லூரியில் முழுவதும் பர்தா அணிந்து முகத்தை முழுவதுமாக மறைத்துக்கொண்டு கல்லூரியில் இருந்த ஒரு பெண்ணை கல்லூரியை விட்டு நீக்கியுள்ளார் கல்லூரி பிரின்ஸிபால்.
இது ஆபத்தானது. முகத்தை காட்டிக்கொண்டுதான் கல்லூரியில் இருக்கவேண்டும். அவர்கள் எப்போதும் புகைப்படம் உள்ள ஐடி கார்டை வைத்திருக்கவேண்டும். இல்லையெனில் கல்லூரி பாதுகாப்பாக இருக்காது என்று இந்த லூசு பெண்ணை துரத்திவிட்டார்.
வாழ்க இந்த பிரின்ஸிபால்.
Muslim student, 18, banned from college because she refuses to remove her burkhaBy Liz Hull
Last updated at 12:47 AM on 24th October 2009
Comments (490) Add to My Stories
'It is my choice to wear the veil': Shawana Bilqes refused to remove her cover-all Islamic robes at college
A Muslim student has been banned from enrolling at a college because she refused to remove her burkha.
Shawana Bilqes, 18, wanted to wear the garment - which covers her body and face, leaving only her eyes visible - during lessons.
But staff at Burnley College refused to enrol her, claiming the burkha was a barrier to 'safety and communication'.
In a strongly worded statement, the college said 'unimpeded' face to face contact between teachers and students was vital.
Miss Bilqes, who wanted to study an access course for a diploma, has now been forced to abandon her plans and is looking elsewhere to complete her studies.
Yesterday she said: 'It is my choice to wear the veil.
'I live around the corner from the college in an area where there are so many practising Muslims.
'I tried to compromise but they wouldn't. The college sent me a letter to say I could continue with my course if I stopped wearing the veil.
'We are in the 21st century and we get people from all walks of life. I'm in the police cadets as well and yet it's not a problem wearing the veil there.'
John Smith, principal of the college, in Burnley, defended the actions of his staff.
He said that a student's face must be fully visible to maintain high standards of teaching between staff and pupils, adding that it was crucial to wear photo ID around the campus for security reasons.
'We do require all students of Burnley College to have their faces visible when at the college,' he said.
'We are determined to maintain the highest standards of teaching and learning. To do this effectively requires unimpeded communication from the teacher to all students, from the students to the teacher and between student and student.
'It is not possible to maintain this essential full communication if the face of any student is not fully visible.
'We are also determined to provide a safe environment for all our students. Central to this is that all members of the college community should be identifiable at all times.
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'To this end we require students and staff to wear a security card which displays their photograph.
'Where individuals decline to comply, then I am afraid we cannot accommodate them.'
Controversy over the burkha was highlighted by Justice Secretary Jack Straw in 2006, when he suggested that Muslim women should abandon wearing it because it was a 'visible statement of separation and difference'.
Mr Straw, then the Leader of the House of Commons, faced criticism from Muslim groups after disclosing that he asked women to remove their veils at meetings in his constituency office in Blackburn.
In March 2005, Shabina Begum, 16, controversially won the right to wear head-to-toe Islamic dress in the classroom
She argued that Denbigh High School in Luton breached her human rights by sending her home when she arrived wearing a burkha.
After a case costing taxpayers £70,000, three Appeal Court judges ruled the teenager's school had acted unlawfully.
Earlier this year French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke out, claiming the burkha reduced women to servitude and undermined their dignity.
'It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic,' he said. Islamic headscarves have been banned in French state schools since 2004.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1222511/Muslim-student-18-banned-college-refuses-remove-burka.html#ixzz0Usf0OUOB
Friday, October 23, 2009
1 லட்சம் முஸ்லீம்கள் ஹஜ் பயணம் போக இந்துக்களின் வரிப்பணம் 747 கோடி
இந்தியாவில் 15 கோடிப்பேர் இருக்கும் முஸ்லீம்களில் ஆளுக்கு 12000 ரூபாய் கொடுக்க தயாராக இருக்கும் பணக்கார முஸ்லீம்கள் 1 லட்சம் பேர் ஹஜ் யாத்திரை போக இந்தியா ஒவ்வொரு வருடமும் 724 கோடி ரூபாய் செலவழிக்கிறது.
இந்த 724 கோடியில் ஒவ்வொரு வருடமும் 120 கல்லூரிகளை புதியதாக கட்டலாம். ஒவ்வொரு வருடமும்!
கடந்த 60 வருடங்களாக இந்திய அரசு இப்படியே முஸ்லீம்கள் ஹஜ் யாத்திரை செல்ல செலவழித்து வருகிறது.
இன்றைய பணத்தில் இதுவரை கொடுத்த மொத்த தொகை 60*724 = 43440 கோடி ரூபாய்கள்.
இந்துக்களிடம் பிச்சையெடுத்து ஹஜ் யாத்திரை செல்லும் பணக்கார முஸ்லீம்கள் வாழ்க.
இது மூலமாக சவுதி அரேபியா பெற்ற வருமானம் 20000 கோடிக்கும் மேல்!
அது இந்துக்கள் சவுதி அரேபியாவுக்கு செலுத்தும் கப்பம் (ஜிஸியா) என்று எடுத்துக்கொள்ளலாம்.
Haj subsidy has Air India fuming
Shauvik Ghosh
Posted online: Sep 13, 2008 at 2305 hrs
New Delhi, Sep 12The Cabinet’s decision to increase the number of pilgrims availing the Haj subsidy and flying by the national carrier this year has had Air India fuming. For a carrier already reeling under Rs 2,000-crore loss and burdened with severe employee-related issues, a welfare measure like this puts undue duress on it.
Interestingly, Air India does not even get to set the amount of fare payable to the carrier transporting the pilgrims. This is set by the Saudi Arabia Airlines that also carries out the Haj duty.
“The sheer volumes of people and logistics and resources that go in the Haj duties is huge,” an official attached with the national carrier said.
“Aircraft engaged in Haj duty have to first pick up pilgrims from the smaller towns which have been approved as part of the hub and spoke arrangement, and then after they drop the pilgrims to the final destination, they come back empty,” he added. Similarly, in order to pick up the pilgrims, the aircraft have to go to Jeddah empty, which results in an increase in expenditure. Any commercial airliner does not view huge aircraft flying empty favourably as it implies a loss in revenue.
Last year, Air India had pitched for allowing private airlines to operate Haj flights, saying this could lead to a cut in fares and reduce the subsidy burden.
Under a bilateral agreement between India and Saudi Arabia, any Indian going for the Haj has to fly by Air India or Saudi Arabian Airlines, giving the two carriers a monopoly in carrying the pilgrims.
In a reply to a query under the Right to Information Act, Air India had said: "There is no benefit to the government of India (in giving) AI and Indian monopoly in operating Haj flights. Allowing private airlines to operate on Haj flights may result in reduction in fares and reduction in burden of subsidy to the government."
The reply, by Air India's then public information officer and general manager (finance) A J D'Souza to Mumbai-based activist Attar Azeemi’s query dated June 22, 2007, stated "Air India does not have the capacity to operate Haj flights. Therefore, aircraft are leased by AI for carriage of Haj pilgrims," D'Souza said.
Over and above this, according to Air India officials, one major reason for last year’s severe delays and cancellations in air travel faced by the national carrier was the diversion of aircraft towards Haj operations. Since 1993 (except 1997), due to the heavy volume of passengers going on the Haj, Air India started wet-leasing aircraft from other carriers. The Haj season comes during the peak season for air travel and aircraft for lease come at a premium. Wet-leasing involves the hiring of an aircraft along with its pilot and crew. Last year, Air India wet-leased three aircraft from low-cost carrier Spicejet to aid in Haj operations.
The standing committee on external affairs and the transport and tourism parliamentary standing committee had also recommended that the government progressively reduce and eventually eliminate the Haj subsidy altogether. The expenditure reforms commission in its tenth report has recommended that till the time the modalities of phasing out of the subsidy is decided, it should be frozen and the number of pilgrims availing it should also be frozen.
The Cabinet on Thursday kept the amount paid by the pilgrims for the round trip to Jeddah and Medina at Rs 12,000, as it has remained since 1994. In 1991, the amount paid by the pilgrims was Rs 10,000 as against Rs 14,056 per passenger paid to Air India by the government. This amount was then gradually raised to Rs 12,000 by 1994 against Rs 17,000 paid to the carrier. Last year, while 1,10,000 pilgrims availed the subsidy paying only Rs 12,000 each, the amount paid by the government to the carrier was Rs 47,454 per passenger.
According to sources, the total cost for Haj operations last year (for 1,10,000 pilgrims) was Rs 727 crore of which the subsidy requirement was Rs 595 crore.
This year, in order for the pilgrimage of 1,23,211 pilgrims, the total cost estimated by the government is Rs 847 crore, of which the subsidy requirement will be approximately Rs 700 crore.
Air India has been operating the Haj charter flights since 1954. Before that, pilgrims used to travel by ship with the ministry of shipping paying the subsidy.
The number of Haj pilgrims has risen significantly since 31,000 in 1995. In 2000, Air India carried 71,924 pilgrims to Jeddah and on Thursday the Cabinet approved an increase in the total Haj pilgrims that can avail the subsidy to 1,23,211 from 1,10,000 a year earlier.
According to sources, there are four main elements in calculating the cost of operating the Haj subsidy.
These include ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance), other operational costs like airport charges and catering among other services, unrecovered hidden cost like salaries of people working the whole year for smooth Haj operations and the service tax on Haj operations levied by the service tax department for which exemption has been denied by the finance ministry.
இந்த 724 கோடியில் ஒவ்வொரு வருடமும் 120 கல்லூரிகளை புதியதாக கட்டலாம். ஒவ்வொரு வருடமும்!
கடந்த 60 வருடங்களாக இந்திய அரசு இப்படியே முஸ்லீம்கள் ஹஜ் யாத்திரை செல்ல செலவழித்து வருகிறது.
இன்றைய பணத்தில் இதுவரை கொடுத்த மொத்த தொகை 60*724 = 43440 கோடி ரூபாய்கள்.
இந்துக்களிடம் பிச்சையெடுத்து ஹஜ் யாத்திரை செல்லும் பணக்கார முஸ்லீம்கள் வாழ்க.
இது மூலமாக சவுதி அரேபியா பெற்ற வருமானம் 20000 கோடிக்கும் மேல்!
அது இந்துக்கள் சவுதி அரேபியாவுக்கு செலுத்தும் கப்பம் (ஜிஸியா) என்று எடுத்துக்கொள்ளலாம்.
Haj subsidy has Air India fuming
Shauvik Ghosh
Posted online: Sep 13, 2008 at 2305 hrs
New Delhi, Sep 12The Cabinet’s decision to increase the number of pilgrims availing the Haj subsidy and flying by the national carrier this year has had Air India fuming. For a carrier already reeling under Rs 2,000-crore loss and burdened with severe employee-related issues, a welfare measure like this puts undue duress on it.
Interestingly, Air India does not even get to set the amount of fare payable to the carrier transporting the pilgrims. This is set by the Saudi Arabia Airlines that also carries out the Haj duty.
“The sheer volumes of people and logistics and resources that go in the Haj duties is huge,” an official attached with the national carrier said.
“Aircraft engaged in Haj duty have to first pick up pilgrims from the smaller towns which have been approved as part of the hub and spoke arrangement, and then after they drop the pilgrims to the final destination, they come back empty,” he added. Similarly, in order to pick up the pilgrims, the aircraft have to go to Jeddah empty, which results in an increase in expenditure. Any commercial airliner does not view huge aircraft flying empty favourably as it implies a loss in revenue.
Last year, Air India had pitched for allowing private airlines to operate Haj flights, saying this could lead to a cut in fares and reduce the subsidy burden.
Under a bilateral agreement between India and Saudi Arabia, any Indian going for the Haj has to fly by Air India or Saudi Arabian Airlines, giving the two carriers a monopoly in carrying the pilgrims.
In a reply to a query under the Right to Information Act, Air India had said: "There is no benefit to the government of India (in giving) AI and Indian monopoly in operating Haj flights. Allowing private airlines to operate on Haj flights may result in reduction in fares and reduction in burden of subsidy to the government."
The reply, by Air India's then public information officer and general manager (finance) A J D'Souza to Mumbai-based activist Attar Azeemi’s query dated June 22, 2007, stated "Air India does not have the capacity to operate Haj flights. Therefore, aircraft are leased by AI for carriage of Haj pilgrims," D'Souza said.
Over and above this, according to Air India officials, one major reason for last year’s severe delays and cancellations in air travel faced by the national carrier was the diversion of aircraft towards Haj operations. Since 1993 (except 1997), due to the heavy volume of passengers going on the Haj, Air India started wet-leasing aircraft from other carriers. The Haj season comes during the peak season for air travel and aircraft for lease come at a premium. Wet-leasing involves the hiring of an aircraft along with its pilot and crew. Last year, Air India wet-leased three aircraft from low-cost carrier Spicejet to aid in Haj operations.
The standing committee on external affairs and the transport and tourism parliamentary standing committee had also recommended that the government progressively reduce and eventually eliminate the Haj subsidy altogether. The expenditure reforms commission in its tenth report has recommended that till the time the modalities of phasing out of the subsidy is decided, it should be frozen and the number of pilgrims availing it should also be frozen.
The Cabinet on Thursday kept the amount paid by the pilgrims for the round trip to Jeddah and Medina at Rs 12,000, as it has remained since 1994. In 1991, the amount paid by the pilgrims was Rs 10,000 as against Rs 14,056 per passenger paid to Air India by the government. This amount was then gradually raised to Rs 12,000 by 1994 against Rs 17,000 paid to the carrier. Last year, while 1,10,000 pilgrims availed the subsidy paying only Rs 12,000 each, the amount paid by the government to the carrier was Rs 47,454 per passenger.
According to sources, the total cost for Haj operations last year (for 1,10,000 pilgrims) was Rs 727 crore of which the subsidy requirement was Rs 595 crore.
This year, in order for the pilgrimage of 1,23,211 pilgrims, the total cost estimated by the government is Rs 847 crore, of which the subsidy requirement will be approximately Rs 700 crore.
Air India has been operating the Haj charter flights since 1954. Before that, pilgrims used to travel by ship with the ministry of shipping paying the subsidy.
The number of Haj pilgrims has risen significantly since 31,000 in 1995. In 2000, Air India carried 71,924 pilgrims to Jeddah and on Thursday the Cabinet approved an increase in the total Haj pilgrims that can avail the subsidy to 1,23,211 from 1,10,000 a year earlier.
According to sources, there are four main elements in calculating the cost of operating the Haj subsidy.
These include ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance), other operational costs like airport charges and catering among other services, unrecovered hidden cost like salaries of people working the whole year for smooth Haj operations and the service tax on Haj operations levied by the service tax department for which exemption has been denied by the finance ministry.
பெண்கள் பேண்ட் (கால்சராய்) போட்டால் ஷரியா தண்டனை என்ன? சவுக்கடி!
இரண்டு சூடான் நாட்டு முஸ்லீம் பெண்கள் கால்சராய் போட்டிருந்தார்கள் என்பதற்காக அவர்கள் கைது செய்யப்பட்டு 20 சவுக்கடி கொடுக்கப்படுகிறார்கள்.
இவர்தான் முதலில் சவுக்கடி கொடுக்கப்பட்ட லுப்னா ஹூசேன்.
"
வாழ்க இஸ்லாமிய சமத்துவம்! (அப்டீன்னா என்னாங்கண்ணா?)
Women punished for wearing trousers
October 23 2009 at 01:07AM
Khartoum - Two Sudanese women were on Thursday sentenced to 20 lashes and fined for committing an act of indecency by wearing trousers, weeks after a similar case sparked worldwide controversy.
The two women were arrested at the same party as Lubna Hussein, a former journalist who was also charged with wearing trousers and publicised her case as part of a campaign against Sudan's public order laws, Hussein told Reuters.
Judge Hassan Mohamed Ali sentenced each woman to 20 lashes and a fine of 250 Sudanese pounds in Khartoum East court on Thursday afternoon.
The women's supporters told journalists the punishment, often carried out immediately after a conviction, was postponed after the women launched an appeal.
Continues Below ↓
Hussein, who was at the court on Thursday said the latest sentencing showed her campaign still had a long way to go.
"The campaign has succeeded in showing the world that there are unfair laws against women in Sudan. But we will keep on fighting," she said.
The two women, one aged 25, the other 27, both of them Muslim, would not give their names to journalists.
Lawyers and supporters at the trial also said they would not release the names as the women came from conservative families.
Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan, where there is a cultural gap between the mostly Muslim north and the south, dominated by Christians and followers of traditional beliefs.
Many women activists complain Sudan's public order regulations are vague and give individual police officers undue latitude to determine what is decent clothing for women.
Hussein was arrested by Sudan's public order police at a Khartoum party in July with 12 other women, 10 of whom pleaded guilty to similar charges and were flogged, she has said.
Hussein was jailed in September after refusing to pay a fine for the same offence but released after a day in prison after the country's journalists' union came up with the payment. - Reuters
இவர்தான் முதலில் சவுக்கடி கொடுக்கப்பட்ட லுப்னா ஹூசேன்.
"
வாழ்க இஸ்லாமிய சமத்துவம்! (அப்டீன்னா என்னாங்கண்ணா?)
Women punished for wearing trousers
October 23 2009 at 01:07AM
Khartoum - Two Sudanese women were on Thursday sentenced to 20 lashes and fined for committing an act of indecency by wearing trousers, weeks after a similar case sparked worldwide controversy.
The two women were arrested at the same party as Lubna Hussein, a former journalist who was also charged with wearing trousers and publicised her case as part of a campaign against Sudan's public order laws, Hussein told Reuters.
Judge Hassan Mohamed Ali sentenced each woman to 20 lashes and a fine of 250 Sudanese pounds in Khartoum East court on Thursday afternoon.
The women's supporters told journalists the punishment, often carried out immediately after a conviction, was postponed after the women launched an appeal.
Continues Below ↓
Hussein, who was at the court on Thursday said the latest sentencing showed her campaign still had a long way to go.
"The campaign has succeeded in showing the world that there are unfair laws against women in Sudan. But we will keep on fighting," she said.
The two women, one aged 25, the other 27, both of them Muslim, would not give their names to journalists.
Lawyers and supporters at the trial also said they would not release the names as the women came from conservative families.
Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan, where there is a cultural gap between the mostly Muslim north and the south, dominated by Christians and followers of traditional beliefs.
Many women activists complain Sudan's public order regulations are vague and give individual police officers undue latitude to determine what is decent clothing for women.
Hussein was arrested by Sudan's public order police at a Khartoum party in July with 12 other women, 10 of whom pleaded guilty to similar charges and were flogged, she has said.
Hussein was jailed in September after refusing to pay a fine for the same offence but released after a day in prison after the country's journalists' union came up with the payment. - Reuters
13 வயது குழந்தையை கூட்டுக்கற்பழிப்பு செய்தவர்களுக்கு ஷரியா தண்ட்னை என்ன?
5000 ரூபாய் பைன்.
ஓகே பை பை
Another rapist let off the hook
Village arbitrators in Kalapara fine him Tk 5,000, whip 50 times
Our Correspondent, Patuakhali
Village arbitration on Monday let off an alleged rapist of a thirteen-year girl with a mere fine in Kalapara, one month into the orchestrated release of a band of alleged rapists in a similar fashion.
The victim's family alleges a local public representative arranged the arbitration apparently to ensure escape of the rapist.
In another incident, a 12-year girl was gang-raped in Galachipa in the district on Tuesday night.
Earlier on Sunday night, shopkeeper Hanif Mollah, 30, of Dholir Bazar, Kalapara allegedly raped the thirteen-year-old girl when she came to buy goods from him.
Hearing her cries, locals held the culprit and handed him over to village defence police member Kawsar at around 8:45pm.
The next evening local Union Parishad member Anwar Hossain arranged the arbitration in presence of over 200 people where Hanif was handed down a fine of Tk 5,000 in addition to a whipping 50 times.
Family sources say Anwar forced the victim's father not to go for legal action and also pocketed the Tk 5,000 fine money.
Contacted, Anwar said the girl was not raped but there were some "symptoms" to that end. One the fine money, he said he kept it to manage different sections including the police.
Ishaq Ali, officer-in-charge of Kalapara police, said he had sent an officer to the spot and would comment only after his return.
Superintendent of Police Shaibal Kanti Chowdhury told The Daily Star, "We will take necessary action after running a proper investigation into this matter."
This is the second such arbitration in Kalapara within a month in which local arbitrators gave verdict in a punishable offence in a manner which itself is a cognizable offence.
Earlier on September 27, 16 alleged rapists were summoned to a local high school and handed down a fine of Tk 10,000 each after they allegedly picked up a girl and gang-raped her.
In Galachipa, a 12-year girl was gang-raped Tuesday night when the victim was going to her uncle's house.
The victim's uncle said three youths -- Liton, Manik and Yusuf -- picked up her from Godown Road, took her to a nearby rice mill and raped her.
Locals hearing her cry for help rushed to the spot and caught Liton, but the other two alleged rapists managed to escape.
The victim was admitted to Galachipa Upazila Health Complex but was shifted to Patuakhali General Hospital later as her condition deteriorated.
Police arrested Liton, 27, in this connection.
ஓகே பை பை
Another rapist let off the hook
Village arbitrators in Kalapara fine him Tk 5,000, whip 50 times
Our Correspondent, Patuakhali
Village arbitration on Monday let off an alleged rapist of a thirteen-year girl with a mere fine in Kalapara, one month into the orchestrated release of a band of alleged rapists in a similar fashion.
The victim's family alleges a local public representative arranged the arbitration apparently to ensure escape of the rapist.
In another incident, a 12-year girl was gang-raped in Galachipa in the district on Tuesday night.
Earlier on Sunday night, shopkeeper Hanif Mollah, 30, of Dholir Bazar, Kalapara allegedly raped the thirteen-year-old girl when she came to buy goods from him.
Hearing her cries, locals held the culprit and handed him over to village defence police member Kawsar at around 8:45pm.
The next evening local Union Parishad member Anwar Hossain arranged the arbitration in presence of over 200 people where Hanif was handed down a fine of Tk 5,000 in addition to a whipping 50 times.
Family sources say Anwar forced the victim's father not to go for legal action and also pocketed the Tk 5,000 fine money.
Contacted, Anwar said the girl was not raped but there were some "symptoms" to that end. One the fine money, he said he kept it to manage different sections including the police.
Ishaq Ali, officer-in-charge of Kalapara police, said he had sent an officer to the spot and would comment only after his return.
Superintendent of Police Shaibal Kanti Chowdhury told The Daily Star, "We will take necessary action after running a proper investigation into this matter."
This is the second such arbitration in Kalapara within a month in which local arbitrators gave verdict in a punishable offence in a manner which itself is a cognizable offence.
Earlier on September 27, 16 alleged rapists were summoned to a local high school and handed down a fine of Tk 10,000 each after they allegedly picked up a girl and gang-raped her.
In Galachipa, a 12-year girl was gang-raped Tuesday night when the victim was going to her uncle's house.
The victim's uncle said three youths -- Liton, Manik and Yusuf -- picked up her from Godown Road, took her to a nearby rice mill and raped her.
Locals hearing her cry for help rushed to the spot and caught Liton, but the other two alleged rapists managed to escape.
The victim was admitted to Galachipa Upazila Health Complex but was shifted to Patuakhali General Hospital later as her condition deteriorated.
Police arrested Liton, 27, in this connection.
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