டார்பர் என்ற கருப்பினத்தவர் வாழும் பகுதியில் அரபு முஸ்லீம்கள் ஆக்கிரமித்து கருப்பினத்தவரை துரத்தி வருகின்றனர்.
அங்குள்ள பெண்களில் மூன்றில் ஒருவர் இப்படிப்பட்ட அரபு முஸ்லீம்களால் கற்பழிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளார் என்று ஆய்வுகள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.
One third of Darfuri women surveyed were likely raped - doctors group
Monday, June 01, 2009
Peter James Spielmann
Associated Press
NEW YORK: A survey of dozens of women who fled Sudan's Darfur conflict found that a third of them reported or showed signs of rape, and revealed a widespread fear of ongoing sexual violence in their refugee camp in Chad, a human rights group reported Sunday. About half the rapes reported by the women were perpetrated in Darfur by Janjaweed militiamen allied to the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, and half were assaults by Chadian villagers near the UN refugee camp, usually when the women left the camp to search for firewood or shepherd livestock, the US-based Physicians for Human Rights reported.
Physicians for Human Rights called for the prosecution of rape as a war crime and urged the International Criminal Court to issue warrants against Sudanese suspects. They also sought better protection for refugees in the Chad camps by Chadian police and international peacekeepers, including firewood-gathering patrols.
The issue is a highly contentious one for the Sudanese government, which denies systematic rape or violence against women ever took place.
PHR said three doctors and a human rights researcher interviewed 88 women in November at the refugee camp in Farchana, Chad, where more than 20,000 Darfuris are watched over by some 2,000 Chadian soldiers, about 55 kilometers from Sudan's border.
Among the 88 women, 29 of them suffered "confirmed or highly probable rape," PHR found, with three women having been assaulted twice, for a total of 32 attacks.
Of the 32 attacks tallied by PHR, 17 happened in Darfur and 15 in Chad. Five women also reported witnessing gang rape by militiamen in Darfur.
PHR's researchers considered a rape "highly probable" if the woman passed out during the attack and showed physical evidence of assault, or if she credibly told of being raped and then later recanted to hide her shame.
The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when mostly ethnic African rebels in the western Sudanese province took up arms against the northern government in Khartoum, complaining of discrimination and neglect. The conflict has since claimed up to 300,000 lives and displaced 2.7 million people. About 250,000 of those displaced have fled across the border into Chad, where they live in refugee camps.
The sampling method used by PHR to interview refugee women - finding interviewees through camp leaders and by word-of-mouth - does not allow for drawing general conclusions about the prevalence of rape in Darfur or among the whole female population of the Farchana camp, the group said.
Recording rape cases or interviewing victims of sexual violence, particularly in Darfur's Muslim culture, is a difficult task. Women are often reluctant to speak about it, fearing social stigma or further trauma. It is also particularly difficult inside Darfur, where displaced women live mostly in government-controlled areas and fear reprisals.
UN officials said documenting the violence has become even more difficult after the Sudanese government's decision to expel 13 foreign aid groups, working mostly in Darfur.
The expulsions were in response to the March arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir. He accused the aid groups of spying for the court, and despite the international uproar has refused to let them back in.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Bashir, a government security official and a militia leader on charges of leading a campaign of atrocities - including rape - against three of Darfur's major ethnic African tribes. But Sudan refuses to deal with the court and dismisses the allegations.
The PHR survey supported widespread claims of rape often told by Darfuri refugees, and recounted by human rights and relief officials.
Between October 2004 and February 2005, Doctors Without Borders, or Medicines Sans Frontiers, reported treating 500 rape victims in southern and western Darfur.
The rapes reported in Darfur fell into a common pattern, with a village overwhelmed by turbaned gunmen wearing green or khaki uniforms, often arriving on horse- or camel-back.
Airstrikes by the Sudanese military usually followed.
"Darfuri [ethnic African] women were sometimes called 'slaves' by their assailants and Darfuri males were targeted to be killed. Assailants typically burned their villages and confiscated their livestock," the PHR report says.
In one incident cited by PHR, a rape victim from the Masalit tribe, recounted how at the age of 13, four Arab gunmen on horseback attacked her family's farm in a Darfur village, shot and killed her father, and raped her.
"When they shot my father, they saw I was a little girl.
I did not have any energy or force against them," said the girl, now 19. "They used me. I started bleeding. It was so painful. ... I was sick for seven days. I could not stand up." After fleeing Darfur for Chad, the refugees are not being massacred by Arab militias or bombed by Sudanese planes, but they still face the constant threat of rape, chronic hunger and deprivation.
In 2007, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' office released a report documenting 52 cases of rape in all 12 UN refugee camps in Chad, but noted that number was almost certainly very low due to the reluctance of victims to describe their ordeal.
Of the 15 confirmed or probable rapes in Chad reported by PHR, all but one were attributed to local villagers, with only one report of a Chadian soldier assaulting a Darfuri woman.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
மெக்காவின் 15 வயது சிறுவன் கூட்டுக்கற்பழிப்பு
மெக்காவின் 15 வயது சிறுவனை கடத்தி கூட்டாக கற்பழித்துள்ளார்கள்.
Police hunting rape suspects
Suleiman Al-Diyabi | Arab News
TAIF: Police have launched a hunt for seven men who allegedly kidnapped and raped a 15-year-old boy on his way to school in Taif on Saturday.
The teenager was walking in the Al-Shuhada district of the city when two cars blocked his way. One of the drivers forced the boy inside his car by posing as a police officer wanting to check his identity. The men then took the youngster into the desert outside Taif.
The teenager tried to fight off his attackers, but was beaten by one of the men, said a police source. The men later dropped him off in Al-Wesam district.
The boy was unable to give plate numbers of the cars, but said one of the men made a telephone call, which police were able to trace. The victim also told police that one of the men lived in his neighborhood.
Police hunting rape suspects
Suleiman Al-Diyabi | Arab News
TAIF: Police have launched a hunt for seven men who allegedly kidnapped and raped a 15-year-old boy on his way to school in Taif on Saturday.
The teenager was walking in the Al-Shuhada district of the city when two cars blocked his way. One of the drivers forced the boy inside his car by posing as a police officer wanting to check his identity. The men then took the youngster into the desert outside Taif.
The teenager tried to fight off his attackers, but was beaten by one of the men, said a police source. The men later dropped him off in Al-Wesam district.
The boy was unable to give plate numbers of the cars, but said one of the men made a telephone call, which police were able to trace. The victim also told police that one of the men lived in his neighborhood.
மும்பையில் 26/11 தாக்குதல் நடத்திய மூலாதாரி ஹபீஸ் சையத் பாகிஸ்தானில் விடுதலை!
ஜமாத் உத் தாவாவின் தலைவன் ஹபீஸ் சைய்த் விடுதலை செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளான்.
Pak court frees alleged 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed
Posted: Tuesday , Jun 02, 2009 at 1537 hrs IST
The alleged mastermind of Mumbai terror attack Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has been freed by a court in Pakistan.
A Pakistani court on Tuesday freed outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and his close aide Col (retired) Nazir Ahmed nearly six months after they were detained following the Mumbai terror attacks. A three-member bench of the Lahore High Court freed Saeed and Ahmed after hearing arguments by the JuD chief's counsel A K Dogar, who claimed the detention of the two men violated Pakistan's constitution and laws. The three-judge bench, hearing the case, said it will give a detailed order later.
Dogar, who addressed the bench for about 45 minutes, said the UN Security Council had only sought a freeze on the JuD's assets and a travel ban on its leaders and the world body had not demanded the arrest of JuD leaders. He claimed it was not binding under Pakistani laws to implement UN Security Council resolutions.
Saeed was put under house arrest on December 11 last year after the UN Security Council banned the Jamaat, declaring it a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed by India for November 26 Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 160 people. Saeed was not present in the court on Tuesday.
The Deputy Attorney General of the federal government and the Advocate General of Punjab province rebutted Dogar's arguments. The Advocate General said it was binding on Pakistan to implement Security Council resolutions as the country was a signatory to the UN Charter.
After hearing both sides, the bench issued a brief order for the release of Saeed and Ahmed. A detailed order is expected to be issued by the High Court later. JuD activists who gathered at the court began shouting slogans in support of Saeed on hearing the bench’s verdict. A JuD spokesman hailed the court’s verdict and said the organisation will continue its relief activities. The court's order was a "certificate" that the JuD was not involved in terrorism and the government had been unable to prove Saeed's involvement in such activities, the spokesman said.
Pak court frees alleged 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed
Posted: Tuesday , Jun 02, 2009 at 1537 hrs IST
The alleged mastermind of Mumbai terror attack Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has been freed by a court in Pakistan.
A Pakistani court on Tuesday freed outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and his close aide Col (retired) Nazir Ahmed nearly six months after they were detained following the Mumbai terror attacks. A three-member bench of the Lahore High Court freed Saeed and Ahmed after hearing arguments by the JuD chief's counsel A K Dogar, who claimed the detention of the two men violated Pakistan's constitution and laws. The three-judge bench, hearing the case, said it will give a detailed order later.
Dogar, who addressed the bench for about 45 minutes, said the UN Security Council had only sought a freeze on the JuD's assets and a travel ban on its leaders and the world body had not demanded the arrest of JuD leaders. He claimed it was not binding under Pakistani laws to implement UN Security Council resolutions.
Saeed was put under house arrest on December 11 last year after the UN Security Council banned the Jamaat, declaring it a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed by India for November 26 Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 160 people. Saeed was not present in the court on Tuesday.
The Deputy Attorney General of the federal government and the Advocate General of Punjab province rebutted Dogar's arguments. The Advocate General said it was binding on Pakistan to implement Security Council resolutions as the country was a signatory to the UN Charter.
After hearing both sides, the bench issued a brief order for the release of Saeed and Ahmed. A detailed order is expected to be issued by the High Court later. JuD activists who gathered at the court began shouting slogans in support of Saeed on hearing the bench’s verdict. A JuD spokesman hailed the court’s verdict and said the organisation will continue its relief activities. The court's order was a "certificate" that the JuD was not involved in terrorism and the government had been unable to prove Saeed's involvement in such activities, the spokesman said.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
அல்லாவை அவமானத்திலிருந்து காக்க துருக்கிய எழுத்தாளர் மீது வழக்கு
அல்லாவை அவமானத்திலிருந்து காக்க துருக்கிய எழுத்தாளர் மீது வழக்கு போடப்பட்டுள்ளது. அல்லாவின் மகள்கள் என்ற புத்தகத்தை இந்த எழுத்தாளர் எழுதியுள்ளார்.
Turkish author on trial for insulting Islam
By IBRAHIM USTA – 4 hours ago
ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish author on trial over accusations that his latest book insulted Islam denied the charges Tuesday and insisted he was respectful of religion.
Nedim Gursel faces up to a year in prison if found guilty on charges of humiliating religious values and inciting religious hatred in his novel "The Daughters of Allah."
Gursel, who was born in Turkey but has French citizenship and is based in France, is the latest intellectual to be prosecuted in Turkey under laws that restrict free speech.
A case against him began last year after a citizen complained that the novel — set in the 6th century and describing the advent of Islam — was blasphemous. Gursel has repeatedly said his book, published in Turkey last year, is fictitious and that he did not intend to offend.
Gursel is accused of mocking religious figures in his novel.
Prosecutors investigating the case initially ruled there were no grounds to put Gursel on trial, but that decision was overturned by a court, forcing authorities to press charges.
"I am respectful of faiths," Gursel said following a court hearing Tuesday, where his trial was adjourned until June 25. "For an author to be prosecuted for a novel does not suit the Turkish Republic."
At a hearing earlier this month, prosecutors said there was no evidence the book incited hatred, raising hopes that Gursel will be acquitted. It is not unusual in the Turkish justice system for prosecutors to press for a defendant's acquittal.
In 2006, charges against Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk for insulting Turkey were dropped on a technicality. Turkey has since amended some laws in an attempt to promote free speech, and insists that few intellectuals have ended up in prison.
But human rights groups and the European Union, which Turkey hopes to join, say the laws are used to harass dissident intellectuals and insist they be scrapped.
The book is scheduled to be published in France later this year.
(This version CORRECTS author faces maximum one year in prison)
Turkish author on trial for insulting Islam
By IBRAHIM USTA – 4 hours ago
ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish author on trial over accusations that his latest book insulted Islam denied the charges Tuesday and insisted he was respectful of religion.
Nedim Gursel faces up to a year in prison if found guilty on charges of humiliating religious values and inciting religious hatred in his novel "The Daughters of Allah."
Gursel, who was born in Turkey but has French citizenship and is based in France, is the latest intellectual to be prosecuted in Turkey under laws that restrict free speech.
A case against him began last year after a citizen complained that the novel — set in the 6th century and describing the advent of Islam — was blasphemous. Gursel has repeatedly said his book, published in Turkey last year, is fictitious and that he did not intend to offend.
Gursel is accused of mocking religious figures in his novel.
Prosecutors investigating the case initially ruled there were no grounds to put Gursel on trial, but that decision was overturned by a court, forcing authorities to press charges.
"I am respectful of faiths," Gursel said following a court hearing Tuesday, where his trial was adjourned until June 25. "For an author to be prosecuted for a novel does not suit the Turkish Republic."
At a hearing earlier this month, prosecutors said there was no evidence the book incited hatred, raising hopes that Gursel will be acquitted. It is not unusual in the Turkish justice system for prosecutors to press for a defendant's acquittal.
In 2006, charges against Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk for insulting Turkey were dropped on a technicality. Turkey has since amended some laws in an attempt to promote free speech, and insists that few intellectuals have ended up in prison.
But human rights groups and the European Union, which Turkey hopes to join, say the laws are used to harass dissident intellectuals and insist they be scrapped.
The book is scheduled to be published in France later this year.
(This version CORRECTS author faces maximum one year in prison)
சவுதி டிவி நடிகை கற்பழிப்பு: குற்றம் தெரியவந்ததும் நடிகை தப்பியோட்டம்
சவுதி டிவி நடிகை, ரமதானுக்காக எடுக்கப்பட்டு வந்த ஒரு தொலைக்காட்சி சீரியலில் நடிக்க வந்தவர், அங்கேயே கற்பழிக்கப்பட்டிருக்க்கிறார். அங்கேயே கதறியிருக்கிறார். ஆனால், யார் மீதும் குற்றம் சாட்டவில்லை. ஏனெனில், சவுதி அரேபியாவில் கற்பழிக்கப்பட்ட பெண்ணையே சவுக்கால் அடிக்கிறார்கள்.
TV serial Actress raped at farm; Lawyer helps ‘out’ actress
Actress raped at farm: In a strange incident which took place two weeks ago an unidentified actress while working on a TV serial which will be telecast during the holy month of Ramadan was raped by an unidentified person while she was fast asleep inside a room on a farm, reports Al-Dar daily quoting a reliable source.
According to the same source the actress screamed for help past midnight but refused to file a complaint for fear of her name being scandalized.
The source added the rapist is either one of the cast members or a person from a nearby farm who may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
TV serial Actress raped at farm; Lawyer helps ‘out’ actress
Actress raped at farm: In a strange incident which took place two weeks ago an unidentified actress while working on a TV serial which will be telecast during the holy month of Ramadan was raped by an unidentified person while she was fast asleep inside a room on a farm, reports Al-Dar daily quoting a reliable source.
According to the same source the actress screamed for help past midnight but refused to file a complaint for fear of her name being scandalized.
The source added the rapist is either one of the cast members or a person from a nearby farm who may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாதிகளால் பிலிப்பைன் கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் வீடுகளிலிருந்து துரத்தப்பட்டனர்
பிலிப்பைன்ஸிலும் காஷ்மீர் போலவே அங்கு வெகுகாலம் வாழ்ந்துவரும் கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் தங்களது வீடுகளிலிருந்து வாழ்விடங்களிலிருந்தும் இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகளால் துரத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன.
Muslim rebels bomb bridge, attack village in southern Philippines
Asia-Pacific News
May 26, 2009, 9:24 GMT
Manila - Muslim separatist rebels bombed a bridge and attacked a village in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes, an army spokesman said.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels set off an improvised explosive device before dawn at Lintokan Bridge in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.
Ponce said the rebels then swooped down on the nearby village of Reina Regente, looting homes, local stores and farms before torching at least eight houses.
More than 250 residents were forced to flee their homes as fighting erupted between MILF guerrillas and responding soldiers.
'The flow of relief goods has been hampered because of the MILF's terrorist acts,' Ponce said, noting that heavy vehicles have not been allowed to pass across Lintokan Bridge following the bombing.
More than 27,000 residents have remained in evacuation centres in Maguindanao province after fleeing their homes amid fierce fighting between the MILF and the military last year, he said.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the rebels had started the hostilities, saying, 'We have forces in the area and they will fire back when attacked.'
The MILF is the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the southern region of Mindanao.
Peace talks between the MILF and the Philippines government have been suspended since August 2008 after the rebels launched a series of deadly attacks in Mindanao, triggering fierce clashes with the military.
Nearly 300 people, many of whom were civilians, were killed and more than 500,000 residents fled their homes due to the rebel attacks and the subsequent fighting.
Read more: "Muslim rebels bomb bridge, attack village in southern Philippines - Monsters and Critics" - http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1479479.php/Muslim_rebels_bomb_bridge_attack_village_in_southern_Philippines_#ixzz0GdVm0pHA&A
Muslim rebels bomb bridge, attack village in southern Philippines
Asia-Pacific News
May 26, 2009, 9:24 GMT
Manila - Muslim separatist rebels bombed a bridge and attacked a village in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes, an army spokesman said.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels set off an improvised explosive device before dawn at Lintokan Bridge in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.
Ponce said the rebels then swooped down on the nearby village of Reina Regente, looting homes, local stores and farms before torching at least eight houses.
More than 250 residents were forced to flee their homes as fighting erupted between MILF guerrillas and responding soldiers.
'The flow of relief goods has been hampered because of the MILF's terrorist acts,' Ponce said, noting that heavy vehicles have not been allowed to pass across Lintokan Bridge following the bombing.
More than 27,000 residents have remained in evacuation centres in Maguindanao province after fleeing their homes amid fierce fighting between the MILF and the military last year, he said.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the rebels had started the hostilities, saying, 'We have forces in the area and they will fire back when attacked.'
The MILF is the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the southern region of Mindanao.
Peace talks between the MILF and the Philippines government have been suspended since August 2008 after the rebels launched a series of deadly attacks in Mindanao, triggering fierce clashes with the military.
Nearly 300 people, many of whom were civilians, were killed and more than 500,000 residents fled their homes due to the rebel attacks and the subsequent fighting.
Read more: "Muslim rebels bomb bridge, attack village in southern Philippines - Monsters and Critics" - http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1479479.php/Muslim_rebels_bomb_bridge_attack_village_in_southern_Philippines_#ixzz0GdVm0pHA&A
ஆண் சொன்னால் சரி, பெண் சொன்னால் தவறு இஸ்லாமிய நீதி
ஒரு ஆண் சொன்னான் என்பதற்காக பெண்ணுக்கு 39 தடியடி கொடுத்து அவர் உயிருக்கு போராடிக்கொண்டுள்ளார்
இதுதான் இஸ்லாமிய நீதி. நடப்பது பங்களாதேஷ்
Bangladeshi single mother caned over paternity row
11 hours ago
DHAKA (AFP) — A 22-year-old unmarried Bangladeshi woman who was caned 39 times for alleging a neighbour was the father of her son is fighting for her life in hospital, police said.
The case has shocked the impoverished Muslim-majority nation, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordering the woman to be shifted from her village home to the capital for proper medical treatment.
Local police chief Moshiur Rahman told AFP that the woman, from Comilla, 70 kilometres (43 miles) east of the capital Dhaka, had angered Islamic clerics when she told friends that a neighbour had fathered her six-year-old son.
They called her and the alleged father to appear before a makeshift Islamic court, but the man denied the paternity claim, Rahman said.
"He held a Koran in one hand and swore to the village clerics that he was not the father of the boy. The village court found him not guilty," he said.
"They also issued a fatwa that the woman should be caned 39 times for lying."
The woman, seriously injured after the caning, was admitted to a local hospital but was later shifted to the country's largest hospital in Dhaka on the orders of the Prime Minister, Rahman said.
Two of the clerics have been arrested for repression of women, he said, and DNA testing had been arranged to determine the father of the child.
இதுதான் இஸ்லாமிய நீதி. நடப்பது பங்களாதேஷ்
Bangladeshi single mother caned over paternity row
11 hours ago
DHAKA (AFP) — A 22-year-old unmarried Bangladeshi woman who was caned 39 times for alleging a neighbour was the father of her son is fighting for her life in hospital, police said.
The case has shocked the impoverished Muslim-majority nation, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordering the woman to be shifted from her village home to the capital for proper medical treatment.
Local police chief Moshiur Rahman told AFP that the woman, from Comilla, 70 kilometres (43 miles) east of the capital Dhaka, had angered Islamic clerics when she told friends that a neighbour had fathered her six-year-old son.
They called her and the alleged father to appear before a makeshift Islamic court, but the man denied the paternity claim, Rahman said.
"He held a Koran in one hand and swore to the village clerics that he was not the father of the boy. The village court found him not guilty," he said.
"They also issued a fatwa that the woman should be caned 39 times for lying."
The woman, seriously injured after the caning, was admitted to a local hospital but was later shifted to the country's largest hospital in Dhaka on the orders of the Prime Minister, Rahman said.
Two of the clerics have been arrested for repression of women, he said, and DNA testing had been arranged to determine the father of the child.
பள்ளிச்சிறுமிகளை நாங்கள் கொல்ல ஆரம்பித்தால் நீங்கள் ஆச்சரியப்படக்கூடாது
பள்ளிச்சிறுமிகளை நாங்கள் கொல்ல ஆரம்பித்தால் நீங்கள் ஆச்சரியப்படக்கூடாது என்று தாலிபான் எச்சரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளனர்.
இஸ்லாமை காப்பாற்றுவதற்காக இவ்வாறு பள்ளிச்சிறுமிகளை கொல்வதை பார்த்து யாரும் ஆச்சரியப்படவேண்டாம்.
THE TALIBAN ADVANCES
'If We Now Kill Schoolgirls, You Shouldn't Be Surprised'
By Matthias Gebauer and Shoib Najafizada in Kunduz, Afghanistan
Responding to threats from the Taliban, at least 10 girls' schools have shut down near Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. Visiting the schools is a dangerous proposition -- a trip leading directly into the heart of Islamist territory.
When the deputy director of Aqtash High School talks of the government, he isn't referring to Hamid Karzai's central government in Kabul. Nor does he refer to the provincial administration in Kunduz. "The Taliban are our government," Bashir says. "They have taken over our region, their commanders give the orders here."
PHOTO GALLERY: POWERLESS AGAINST THE TALIBAN
Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (6 Photos)
Bashir is standing in a dusty classroom on the ground floor of his modern school, roughly half an hour from Kunduz by car. As recently as just one month ago, he says, some 400 girls were still coming to the school in three daily shifts to learn reading, writing and arithmetic. Figures and formula are still scrawled across the blackboard.
But now, the girls' classrooms have been left to deteriorate. The desks and chairs are still laid out in neat rows, but a film of dust has collected, and Bashir stands helplessly in the middle of the room. "Parents in Aqtash are afraid to send their girls to school anymore, after the death threats," he explains. The school director speaks quietly and carefully. He too is afraid, and several of his teachers double as informants for the Taliban. The bearded fighters, he says, would certainly not like it if they knew a reporter was at the school in Aqtash. "You should leave quickly if you want to get out of Aqtash alive," he whispers.
'Apprehended and Killed'
Bashir's warning is hardly an exaggeration. Not 30 minutes after our arrival in Aqtash, located 15 kilometers northeast of Kunduz just off the main north-south arterial, a group of a dozen Taliban fighters, armed with AK-47s, gathers in front of the blue arch at the entrance to the school. "What do you want here?" one of the fighters calls. "This is our region, the Islamic Emirate of North Afghanistan."
REPRINTS
Find out how you can reprint this SPIEGEL ONLINE article in your publication. The trip to the Aqtash school is a trip into the heart of the empire of the Taliban, which controls large areas around Kunduz. Minutes pass before the fighters clear out of the way, allowing us to leave.
The trip out of Aqtash is hardly any less dangerous and provides a look at the situation not 15 kilometers from the German military camp in Kunduz. There are Taliban checkpoints all over the roads, and they are well armed. The Taliban commander in the region is a man named Khalid Salim. He is young and has a reputation for brutality. Salim is on the most wanted list for the region surrounding Kunduz. "Those who work for the government or for the Western soldiers," says one of his men at a checkpoint, "are immediately apprehended and killed."
The fate of the school in Aqtash, which received a new roof just one year ago, paid for out of German development funds, is hardly unique. At least 10 girls' sections of schools located near Kunduz have been closed down in the last three weeks after receiving threats from the Taliban. Parents simply stopped sending their children to school because of the danger. And the closures haven't just been in the region of Char Dara southwest of Kunduz, a well known Taliban hotspot. Schools in three other districts have likewise ceased operation.
No German Soldiers
It didn't take long for news of the school closures to reach the highest echelons of government in both Kabul and Berlin. Stories about schools buckling to the Taliban are exactly what they hoped to avoid. On the one hand, it shows that the Taliban is increasingly gaining the upper hand right outside the front gates of the German military camp in Kunduz. Neither the German army, the Bundeswehr, nor the local police force are effective against the Islamist extremists. At the most, they can temporarily dislodge the Taliban, but they then move on to terrorize other areas where there are no German soldiers.
RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS
Photo Gallery: Powerless against the Taliban
Closures After Taliban Threats: German Army Can't Protect Afghan Girls' Schools (05/18/2009)Most of all, though, the closures threaten one of the few successes that the Germans have had in Afghanistan. It is an achievement that has been repeatedly trumpeted by those in favor of continued engagement; hardly a German politician has refrained from mentioning how encouraging it is to visit a girls' school in Afghanistan. Now, though, the schools -- just like in the south where recent acid attacks against school girls have hit the headlines -- have become a potent propaganda tool for the Taliban. Western troops, so goes the message, can't do anything to stop the Islamist fighters.
The tactics used by the Taliban are shockingly simple. Dozens of so-called "night letters," which are affixed to the doors of schools in the dead of night, are piled on Muqim Halimi's huge desk. Halimi is the commissioner of education for the Kunduz province and a crowd of men are waiting outside his office, most of them hoping to be able to bribe their way into good grades for their children. But when Halimi hears that a German reporter wants to talk about the closure of the girls' schools, he clears the room so he can talk undisturbed.
After confirming the closures, he reads aloud from the Taliban night letters, as simply formulated as they are explicit. "As of today," he reads from a message from Aqtash, "girls are no longer allowed to attend school." The letter is marked with a logo of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan -- in English, yet another indication of just how well organized the Taliban are in the German area of operation.
'If We Now Kill Schoolgirls...'
Another threat letter depicts a schoolgirl at the gallows. "We have warned you," reads the message. "If we now kill schoolgirls, you shouldn't be surprised."
Halimi is open in his description of the precarious situation the schools find themselves in. "There is no police there and even the army is afraid to go there," he says. "What should I do, as a civilian, against the Taliban?"
Alarmed about the reports, Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar has rebuked the Kunduz police chief over the phone. The school closures, he says, are a "disgrace for Afghanistan," he says, demanding that something be done. But police chief Abdul Racak also doesn't know what to do. Last week he tried to send a police patrol to Aqtash, but they came under fire almost as soon as they turned off the main road. Two police officers were killed in the attack.
The reaction from the German camp in Kunduz is also a mixture of dismay and helplessness. The security situation is so poor at the moment that neither the military nor their civilian assistants can visit Aqtash themselves. Realistically, though, there isn't much they can do to combat the threats of the Taliban. There are some 650 schools in the region surrounding Kunduz and the German theater of operation is almost the size of the German state of Hesse or the US state of Massachusetts. With a German contingent of just 667 soldiers, security simply cannot be guaranteed.
NEWSLETTER
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Reports about the closures of the girls' schools aren't the only indications that the Kunduz region is at risk. The German military has noted that the Taliban threats began at the exact same time as attacks against German soldiers began to increase in both number and sophistication. Since the end of April, 19 patrols have come under attack, with one soldier losing his life in an April 29 attack. So far in May there have been four well organized assaults with soldiers wary that the next one could come at any time. Nobody believes that the correlation between the school threats and the attacks is a coincidence.
The reaction to the threats has become almost routine in recent months. The Afghans, so goes the formula, have to use their army to establish security in threatened areas like Aqtash. The Germans have held talks with their Afghan partners in the hopes that they will launch an offensive in Aqtash. German troops will support the operation, but Afghan troops should be the ones at the front.
But it would surprise no one were further girls' schools to shut their doors by the time such an operation is launched.
Still, the news isn't all bad. At the girls' school in Qosh Tappeh, likewise near Kunduz, the school director, a veteran of the mujahedeen, took things into his own hands. When the Taliban showed up to his school for the second time to present their threats, he found a uniquely Afghan solution to the problem. He told his visitors that, when it comes to fighting to the death, he is much more experienced than they. Should they like to find out for sure, he offered, he would be happy to accommodate them.
His threat seemed to have worked. The girls in Qosh Tappeh continue to attend school.
இஸ்லாமை காப்பாற்றுவதற்காக இவ்வாறு பள்ளிச்சிறுமிகளை கொல்வதை பார்த்து யாரும் ஆச்சரியப்படவேண்டாம்.
THE TALIBAN ADVANCES
'If We Now Kill Schoolgirls, You Shouldn't Be Surprised'
By Matthias Gebauer and Shoib Najafizada in Kunduz, Afghanistan
Responding to threats from the Taliban, at least 10 girls' schools have shut down near Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. Visiting the schools is a dangerous proposition -- a trip leading directly into the heart of Islamist territory.
When the deputy director of Aqtash High School talks of the government, he isn't referring to Hamid Karzai's central government in Kabul. Nor does he refer to the provincial administration in Kunduz. "The Taliban are our government," Bashir says. "They have taken over our region, their commanders give the orders here."
PHOTO GALLERY: POWERLESS AGAINST THE TALIBAN
Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (6 Photos)
Bashir is standing in a dusty classroom on the ground floor of his modern school, roughly half an hour from Kunduz by car. As recently as just one month ago, he says, some 400 girls were still coming to the school in three daily shifts to learn reading, writing and arithmetic. Figures and formula are still scrawled across the blackboard.
But now, the girls' classrooms have been left to deteriorate. The desks and chairs are still laid out in neat rows, but a film of dust has collected, and Bashir stands helplessly in the middle of the room. "Parents in Aqtash are afraid to send their girls to school anymore, after the death threats," he explains. The school director speaks quietly and carefully. He too is afraid, and several of his teachers double as informants for the Taliban. The bearded fighters, he says, would certainly not like it if they knew a reporter was at the school in Aqtash. "You should leave quickly if you want to get out of Aqtash alive," he whispers.
'Apprehended and Killed'
Bashir's warning is hardly an exaggeration. Not 30 minutes after our arrival in Aqtash, located 15 kilometers northeast of Kunduz just off the main north-south arterial, a group of a dozen Taliban fighters, armed with AK-47s, gathers in front of the blue arch at the entrance to the school. "What do you want here?" one of the fighters calls. "This is our region, the Islamic Emirate of North Afghanistan."
REPRINTS
Find out how you can reprint this SPIEGEL ONLINE article in your publication. The trip to the Aqtash school is a trip into the heart of the empire of the Taliban, which controls large areas around Kunduz. Minutes pass before the fighters clear out of the way, allowing us to leave.
The trip out of Aqtash is hardly any less dangerous and provides a look at the situation not 15 kilometers from the German military camp in Kunduz. There are Taliban checkpoints all over the roads, and they are well armed. The Taliban commander in the region is a man named Khalid Salim. He is young and has a reputation for brutality. Salim is on the most wanted list for the region surrounding Kunduz. "Those who work for the government or for the Western soldiers," says one of his men at a checkpoint, "are immediately apprehended and killed."
The fate of the school in Aqtash, which received a new roof just one year ago, paid for out of German development funds, is hardly unique. At least 10 girls' sections of schools located near Kunduz have been closed down in the last three weeks after receiving threats from the Taliban. Parents simply stopped sending their children to school because of the danger. And the closures haven't just been in the region of Char Dara southwest of Kunduz, a well known Taliban hotspot. Schools in three other districts have likewise ceased operation.
No German Soldiers
It didn't take long for news of the school closures to reach the highest echelons of government in both Kabul and Berlin. Stories about schools buckling to the Taliban are exactly what they hoped to avoid. On the one hand, it shows that the Taliban is increasingly gaining the upper hand right outside the front gates of the German military camp in Kunduz. Neither the German army, the Bundeswehr, nor the local police force are effective against the Islamist extremists. At the most, they can temporarily dislodge the Taliban, but they then move on to terrorize other areas where there are no German soldiers.
RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS
Photo Gallery: Powerless against the Taliban
Closures After Taliban Threats: German Army Can't Protect Afghan Girls' Schools (05/18/2009)Most of all, though, the closures threaten one of the few successes that the Germans have had in Afghanistan. It is an achievement that has been repeatedly trumpeted by those in favor of continued engagement; hardly a German politician has refrained from mentioning how encouraging it is to visit a girls' school in Afghanistan. Now, though, the schools -- just like in the south where recent acid attacks against school girls have hit the headlines -- have become a potent propaganda tool for the Taliban. Western troops, so goes the message, can't do anything to stop the Islamist fighters.
The tactics used by the Taliban are shockingly simple. Dozens of so-called "night letters," which are affixed to the doors of schools in the dead of night, are piled on Muqim Halimi's huge desk. Halimi is the commissioner of education for the Kunduz province and a crowd of men are waiting outside his office, most of them hoping to be able to bribe their way into good grades for their children. But when Halimi hears that a German reporter wants to talk about the closure of the girls' schools, he clears the room so he can talk undisturbed.
After confirming the closures, he reads aloud from the Taliban night letters, as simply formulated as they are explicit. "As of today," he reads from a message from Aqtash, "girls are no longer allowed to attend school." The letter is marked with a logo of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan -- in English, yet another indication of just how well organized the Taliban are in the German area of operation.
'If We Now Kill Schoolgirls...'
Another threat letter depicts a schoolgirl at the gallows. "We have warned you," reads the message. "If we now kill schoolgirls, you shouldn't be surprised."
Halimi is open in his description of the precarious situation the schools find themselves in. "There is no police there and even the army is afraid to go there," he says. "What should I do, as a civilian, against the Taliban?"
Alarmed about the reports, Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar has rebuked the Kunduz police chief over the phone. The school closures, he says, are a "disgrace for Afghanistan," he says, demanding that something be done. But police chief Abdul Racak also doesn't know what to do. Last week he tried to send a police patrol to Aqtash, but they came under fire almost as soon as they turned off the main road. Two police officers were killed in the attack.
The reaction from the German camp in Kunduz is also a mixture of dismay and helplessness. The security situation is so poor at the moment that neither the military nor their civilian assistants can visit Aqtash themselves. Realistically, though, there isn't much they can do to combat the threats of the Taliban. There are some 650 schools in the region surrounding Kunduz and the German theater of operation is almost the size of the German state of Hesse or the US state of Massachusetts. With a German contingent of just 667 soldiers, security simply cannot be guaranteed.
NEWSLETTER
Sign up for Spiegel Online's daily newsletter and get the best of Der Spiegel's and Spiegel Online's international coverage in your In- Box everyday.
Reports about the closures of the girls' schools aren't the only indications that the Kunduz region is at risk. The German military has noted that the Taliban threats began at the exact same time as attacks against German soldiers began to increase in both number and sophistication. Since the end of April, 19 patrols have come under attack, with one soldier losing his life in an April 29 attack. So far in May there have been four well organized assaults with soldiers wary that the next one could come at any time. Nobody believes that the correlation between the school threats and the attacks is a coincidence.
The reaction to the threats has become almost routine in recent months. The Afghans, so goes the formula, have to use their army to establish security in threatened areas like Aqtash. The Germans have held talks with their Afghan partners in the hopes that they will launch an offensive in Aqtash. German troops will support the operation, but Afghan troops should be the ones at the front.
But it would surprise no one were further girls' schools to shut their doors by the time such an operation is launched.
Still, the news isn't all bad. At the girls' school in Qosh Tappeh, likewise near Kunduz, the school director, a veteran of the mujahedeen, took things into his own hands. When the Taliban showed up to his school for the second time to present their threats, he found a uniquely Afghan solution to the problem. He told his visitors that, when it comes to fighting to the death, he is much more experienced than they. Should they like to find out for sure, he offered, he would be happy to accommodate them.
His threat seemed to have worked. The girls in Qosh Tappeh continue to attend school.
Monday, May 25, 2009
பங்களாதேஷ் இந்துக்கோவிலை தாக்கிய முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாதிகள்
Terrorists Attack ISKCON Temple in Chittagong, Bangladesh
By ISKCON News Weekly Staff on 23 May 2009
On May 18, ISKCON News Weekly received a distraught message from an obviously emotional monk at ISKCON’s Nandankanan Sri Sri Gour Nitai Ashram in Chittagong, the main seaport of Bangladesh.
On May 14 at 3pm, the devotee said, he and his peers were busy preparing for a weekend festival when fifty to sixty terrorists burst into the temple, brandishing knives and iron bars. They first destroyed the kitchens, devotee accommodation, and Gaura Nitai deities. Then, as the devotees ran into the temple courtyard in a panic, the attackers poured boiling water on them from the balcony, badly burning many.
The terrorists also stole ten to twelve thousand taka (Bangladesh’s monetary unit) from the temple donation box, as well as a further ten thousand from individual residents. Devotees phoned the nearby police station again and again, but to no avail.
“Their negligence of duty came at a terrible cost,” Chinmoydham Dasa said in his message to ISKCON News. “Many devotees were injured and had to be brought to the hospital’s emergency room.”
By the time the police finally arrived, the terrorists had caused 80,000 taka worth of damage. Neither did they seem remotely intimidated by the presence of law enforcement. And it was soon clear why. When the terrorists threatened the devotees, “You must all leave now and hand the temple over to us!” the police remained silent, not voicing any defense.
“For this crime of the police, thousands of devotees took to the streets to protest,” Chinmoydham said. He explains that after this, the police eventually took out a case against the attackers.
Chinmoydham’s report was in broken English, and it is unsure what group the terrorists belonged to, or what exactly happened when the police arrived, although it appears that the temple remains unsafe for the devotees. More detailed news on the attack and current situation will be reported as it comes in.
By ISKCON News Weekly Staff on 23 May 2009
On May 18, ISKCON News Weekly received a distraught message from an obviously emotional monk at ISKCON’s Nandankanan Sri Sri Gour Nitai Ashram in Chittagong, the main seaport of Bangladesh.
On May 14 at 3pm, the devotee said, he and his peers were busy preparing for a weekend festival when fifty to sixty terrorists burst into the temple, brandishing knives and iron bars. They first destroyed the kitchens, devotee accommodation, and Gaura Nitai deities. Then, as the devotees ran into the temple courtyard in a panic, the attackers poured boiling water on them from the balcony, badly burning many.
The terrorists also stole ten to twelve thousand taka (Bangladesh’s monetary unit) from the temple donation box, as well as a further ten thousand from individual residents. Devotees phoned the nearby police station again and again, but to no avail.
“Their negligence of duty came at a terrible cost,” Chinmoydham Dasa said in his message to ISKCON News. “Many devotees were injured and had to be brought to the hospital’s emergency room.”
By the time the police finally arrived, the terrorists had caused 80,000 taka worth of damage. Neither did they seem remotely intimidated by the presence of law enforcement. And it was soon clear why. When the terrorists threatened the devotees, “You must all leave now and hand the temple over to us!” the police remained silent, not voicing any defense.
“For this crime of the police, thousands of devotees took to the streets to protest,” Chinmoydham said. He explains that after this, the police eventually took out a case against the attackers.
Chinmoydham’s report was in broken English, and it is unsure what group the terrorists belonged to, or what exactly happened when the police arrived, although it appears that the temple remains unsafe for the devotees. More detailed news on the attack and current situation will be reported as it comes in.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
மசூதிகளில் நடக்கும் பாலியல் பலாத்காரங்களை மூடி மறைப்பதாக குற்றச்சாட்டு
மசூதிகளில் நடக்கும் பாலியல் பலாத்காரங்களை மூடி மறைப்பதாக குற்றச்சாட்டு
Claim: CPS ignored child abuse at U.S. mosque
Counter-terror researcher says detective feared Islamic lobby groups
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: May 13, 2009
11:20 pm Eastern
By Ryan Mauro
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Nashville
A counter-terrorism expert researching extremism at U.S. mosques claims authorities in Nashville, Tenn., ignored his report of child abuse by teachers at a local mosque due to fear of retribution from Muslim organizations such at the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Dave Gaubatz, a former Air Force special agent, told WND he informed the local prosecutor, the FBI and Sgt. Brooks Harris of the Metropolitan Police Department in Nashville of a 7-year-old girl who says teachers at the Al-Farooq mosque "hit the children" during Shariah, or Islamic law, lessons.
Harris insists he was not initially given enough information to pursue the case and denies he said anything about fearing legal action from the Council on American-Islamic Relations – CAIR – or any other Islamic groups.
Gaubatz stands by his claims and insists he gave Harris all of the necessary information to pursue the allegation in March. Gaubatz posted audio of the child on his blog in which she allegedly mentions her "husband" and says her legs hurt from the beatings. Gaubatz said other mosque attendees confirmed that some worshippers practiced polygamy.
The mosque reportedly is frequented by many Somalis, and Islamic websites say services are offered in Somali.
(Story continues below)
As WND reported, Gaubatz set out last month on a "counter-terrorism tour" across America in which he planned to visit a mosque in each state in 50 days to assess their threat to the nation's security.
Gaubatz said his female researcher, who had been going to the Nashville mosque several times a day for classes and lectures, informed him of the child's abuse claim March 9. The child said the Islamic teachers were hitting the students.
Hear recording of child's claim of abuse, courtesy of Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs blog:
Harris agreed to forward the abuse report to the Department of Children's Services, according to Gaubatz. But Gaubatz told WND that when he inquired last Wednesday at DCS, he was told the agency had no record of anyone from the Nashville Police Department filing such a report.
The Department of Children's Services did not respond to WND's request for comment.
Harris confirmed to WND that he did not pass Gaubatz' information to DCS. But said he did forward it to the police department's Youth Services commander, who gave it to the DCS. He also said that he requested more data from Gaubatz, which was not provided until after Gaubatz went public with his information, through his blog.
Gaubatz said that on April 11 the female researcher filed a report with the Department of Children's Services. The colleague received a reply from DCS saying the report "will not result in an assessment or investigation" because it "does not provide information necessary to locate the family."
Harris contended that it was only last week, more than a month after Gaubatz' first communication, that he received "descriptive information that should help the appropriate investigator(s) from DCS identify and interview the alleged victim."
Gaubatz claims, however, that "from day one" he provided Harris with the location of the mosque, the name of the child, phone numbers and details of the family. He provided WND with the same information, as well as a sworn affidavit and his correspondence with Harris.
"I was concerned for the children, because I understand Shariah law and know many Somalis follow Shariah very closely, and 'child marriages' are common in Somalia and Saudi Arabia," Gaubatz said.
Gaubatz also said that in February he witnessed an incident at the Al-Farooq mosque in which abuse may have occurred, although he did not see any violence. He heard a male teacher screaming in Arabic, followed by the yell of a female child. When he turned, he saw the teacher standing over the crying child, who he estimated was between 8 and 10 years old. The teacher was carrying a stick about one foot long, he says.
While he did not see any physical contact, "from the reactions of the other children, I believe this happened," he said.
Gaubatz also reported that radical Islamic literature and audio tapes were present in the mosque library.
"I saw children being taught in the library of Al-Farooq," he said, noting they were "surrounded by material teaching violence" from well-known Islamic preachers such as Ali Al Timimi and Sayid Abul Maududi.
Maududi is the founder of the radical Pakistani party Jamaat-e-Islami. Al Timimi, according to federal prosecutors, was the spiritual leader of the Virginia Jihad Network, who encouraged members to wage jihad in the U.S. and India.
Gaubatz said his researcher was shown by member of the mosque where to get similar materials.
"My female researcher was escorted by an Al-Farooq worshipper to a Somali store 'hidden' in a section of Nashville that could only be located if taken there. The worshipper informed my researcher the 'store' had moved because of 'government problems,'" Gaubatz wrote on his blog.
Gaubatz said "bootleg" copies of Islamic lectures and films were provided at the store. The researcher also said the store was involved in financial transactions, such as sending money from the U.S. to Somalia and other locations.
Harris said he asked Gaubatz for further proof that extremism was being preached at the mosque, insisting the radical Islamic literature in the library was not illegal or enough to warrant an investigation.
The officer said his staff listened to the recording of the child's purported reference to a husband "hundreds of times."
"The word that sounds like husband doesn't make sense in that context, if you read a transcript," he said. "The word she uses is aunt in her native tongue."
Harris accused Gaubatz of making "inflammatory accusations against both Al Farooq and Islamic Center of Nashville."
"I wish you were here to see how little he has provided … pages copied from the Quran, photo of an audio tape, names of extremist authors, and three or four short audio/video clips totaling perhaps three minutes taken somewhere," he told WND. "He has refused to place me in contact with his 'counter-terrorism team' that was here after he left so that I might interview them in an effort to corroborate what he has said."
Gaubatz clarified he never expected Harris or the FBI to conduct an investigation into the mosque having Islamic jihadist material. His primary concern was the abuse claim.
"It is the responsibility of law enforcement and child protective services to investigate child abuse," Gaubatz said. "I gave them everything I had from minute one."
Referring to the raid on the compound of Warren Jeff's polygamous sect in Texas last year, he said, "If law enforcement can raid a non-Muslim compound and remove 500 women and children from this compound based on an anonymous call, should authorities not immediately act if a former federal agent with a Top Secret clearance provided a sworn affidavit and audio of a child?
"Does this child, the parents and the imam of the mosque not deserve at least an interview?" Gaubatz asked. "The idea that Harris and CPS did not have enough info to locate the child is ridiculous."
Gaubatz also provided WND with excerpts, scanned images and titles of literature available at the mosque he described as radical Islamic.
He reported that one 15-page pamphlet, titled "Warning Against Prohibitions," stated that if you find anyone engaging in homosexual acts "kill the one who does it and the one to whom it is done."
A Maududi book available at the mosque, "Call to Jihad," states: "That Jihad is obligatory on all the Muslims does not necessarily mean that all of us should take arms and proceed to the battlefront. Jihad is a very wide term and its connotation is not confined to just the clash of arms only. In fact it denotes the entire war effort which is made to uphold our cause and win victory over the enemy. Out of the many and varied fronts of war, battlefield is just one of them. Warfare requires total effort and all sections of people-nay, each and every citizen in the rear-must contribute his share, however humble, to strengthen the capability of those fighting on the front line."
Harris said that based on the evidence provided and Gaubatz' "refusal to respond to several key follow-up questions" he saw no reason for an investigation by the Nashville Police Specialized Investigations Division.
He also contended Gaubatz was apparently "backing away from his single most critical assertion," that the mosque was teaching children to kill non-believers.
"I am not backing off of anything I have ever said," Gaubatz replied. "I saw the children in this room with complete unrestricted access to the materials that advocate killing people, implementing an Islamic Ummah (community) under Sharia law in the U.S."
Harris emphasized to WND that his department has had "excellent relations with both mosques [Gaubatz] has targeted."
He noted Wednesday that Al-Farooq had invited him and law enforcement investigators from several agencies to meet with the mosque's board members in the library that afternoon.
Claim: CPS ignored child abuse at U.S. mosque
Counter-terror researcher says detective feared Islamic lobby groups
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: May 13, 2009
11:20 pm Eastern
By Ryan Mauro
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Nashville
A counter-terrorism expert researching extremism at U.S. mosques claims authorities in Nashville, Tenn., ignored his report of child abuse by teachers at a local mosque due to fear of retribution from Muslim organizations such at the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Dave Gaubatz, a former Air Force special agent, told WND he informed the local prosecutor, the FBI and Sgt. Brooks Harris of the Metropolitan Police Department in Nashville of a 7-year-old girl who says teachers at the Al-Farooq mosque "hit the children" during Shariah, or Islamic law, lessons.
Harris insists he was not initially given enough information to pursue the case and denies he said anything about fearing legal action from the Council on American-Islamic Relations – CAIR – or any other Islamic groups.
Gaubatz stands by his claims and insists he gave Harris all of the necessary information to pursue the allegation in March. Gaubatz posted audio of the child on his blog in which she allegedly mentions her "husband" and says her legs hurt from the beatings. Gaubatz said other mosque attendees confirmed that some worshippers practiced polygamy.
The mosque reportedly is frequented by many Somalis, and Islamic websites say services are offered in Somali.
(Story continues below)
As WND reported, Gaubatz set out last month on a "counter-terrorism tour" across America in which he planned to visit a mosque in each state in 50 days to assess their threat to the nation's security.
Gaubatz said his female researcher, who had been going to the Nashville mosque several times a day for classes and lectures, informed him of the child's abuse claim March 9. The child said the Islamic teachers were hitting the students.
Hear recording of child's claim of abuse, courtesy of Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs blog:
Harris agreed to forward the abuse report to the Department of Children's Services, according to Gaubatz. But Gaubatz told WND that when he inquired last Wednesday at DCS, he was told the agency had no record of anyone from the Nashville Police Department filing such a report.
The Department of Children's Services did not respond to WND's request for comment.
Harris confirmed to WND that he did not pass Gaubatz' information to DCS. But said he did forward it to the police department's Youth Services commander, who gave it to the DCS. He also said that he requested more data from Gaubatz, which was not provided until after Gaubatz went public with his information, through his blog.
Gaubatz said that on April 11 the female researcher filed a report with the Department of Children's Services. The colleague received a reply from DCS saying the report "will not result in an assessment or investigation" because it "does not provide information necessary to locate the family."
Harris contended that it was only last week, more than a month after Gaubatz' first communication, that he received "descriptive information that should help the appropriate investigator(s) from DCS identify and interview the alleged victim."
Gaubatz claims, however, that "from day one" he provided Harris with the location of the mosque, the name of the child, phone numbers and details of the family. He provided WND with the same information, as well as a sworn affidavit and his correspondence with Harris.
"I was concerned for the children, because I understand Shariah law and know many Somalis follow Shariah very closely, and 'child marriages' are common in Somalia and Saudi Arabia," Gaubatz said.
Gaubatz also said that in February he witnessed an incident at the Al-Farooq mosque in which abuse may have occurred, although he did not see any violence. He heard a male teacher screaming in Arabic, followed by the yell of a female child. When he turned, he saw the teacher standing over the crying child, who he estimated was between 8 and 10 years old. The teacher was carrying a stick about one foot long, he says.
While he did not see any physical contact, "from the reactions of the other children, I believe this happened," he said.
Gaubatz also reported that radical Islamic literature and audio tapes were present in the mosque library.
"I saw children being taught in the library of Al-Farooq," he said, noting they were "surrounded by material teaching violence" from well-known Islamic preachers such as Ali Al Timimi and Sayid Abul Maududi.
Maududi is the founder of the radical Pakistani party Jamaat-e-Islami. Al Timimi, according to federal prosecutors, was the spiritual leader of the Virginia Jihad Network, who encouraged members to wage jihad in the U.S. and India.
Gaubatz said his researcher was shown by member of the mosque where to get similar materials.
"My female researcher was escorted by an Al-Farooq worshipper to a Somali store 'hidden' in a section of Nashville that could only be located if taken there. The worshipper informed my researcher the 'store' had moved because of 'government problems,'" Gaubatz wrote on his blog.
Gaubatz said "bootleg" copies of Islamic lectures and films were provided at the store. The researcher also said the store was involved in financial transactions, such as sending money from the U.S. to Somalia and other locations.
Harris said he asked Gaubatz for further proof that extremism was being preached at the mosque, insisting the radical Islamic literature in the library was not illegal or enough to warrant an investigation.
The officer said his staff listened to the recording of the child's purported reference to a husband "hundreds of times."
"The word that sounds like husband doesn't make sense in that context, if you read a transcript," he said. "The word she uses is aunt in her native tongue."
Harris accused Gaubatz of making "inflammatory accusations against both Al Farooq and Islamic Center of Nashville."
"I wish you were here to see how little he has provided … pages copied from the Quran, photo of an audio tape, names of extremist authors, and three or four short audio/video clips totaling perhaps three minutes taken somewhere," he told WND. "He has refused to place me in contact with his 'counter-terrorism team' that was here after he left so that I might interview them in an effort to corroborate what he has said."
Gaubatz clarified he never expected Harris or the FBI to conduct an investigation into the mosque having Islamic jihadist material. His primary concern was the abuse claim.
"It is the responsibility of law enforcement and child protective services to investigate child abuse," Gaubatz said. "I gave them everything I had from minute one."
Referring to the raid on the compound of Warren Jeff's polygamous sect in Texas last year, he said, "If law enforcement can raid a non-Muslim compound and remove 500 women and children from this compound based on an anonymous call, should authorities not immediately act if a former federal agent with a Top Secret clearance provided a sworn affidavit and audio of a child?
"Does this child, the parents and the imam of the mosque not deserve at least an interview?" Gaubatz asked. "The idea that Harris and CPS did not have enough info to locate the child is ridiculous."
Gaubatz also provided WND with excerpts, scanned images and titles of literature available at the mosque he described as radical Islamic.
He reported that one 15-page pamphlet, titled "Warning Against Prohibitions," stated that if you find anyone engaging in homosexual acts "kill the one who does it and the one to whom it is done."
A Maududi book available at the mosque, "Call to Jihad," states: "That Jihad is obligatory on all the Muslims does not necessarily mean that all of us should take arms and proceed to the battlefront. Jihad is a very wide term and its connotation is not confined to just the clash of arms only. In fact it denotes the entire war effort which is made to uphold our cause and win victory over the enemy. Out of the many and varied fronts of war, battlefield is just one of them. Warfare requires total effort and all sections of people-nay, each and every citizen in the rear-must contribute his share, however humble, to strengthen the capability of those fighting on the front line."
Harris said that based on the evidence provided and Gaubatz' "refusal to respond to several key follow-up questions" he saw no reason for an investigation by the Nashville Police Specialized Investigations Division.
He also contended Gaubatz was apparently "backing away from his single most critical assertion," that the mosque was teaching children to kill non-believers.
"I am not backing off of anything I have ever said," Gaubatz replied. "I saw the children in this room with complete unrestricted access to the materials that advocate killing people, implementing an Islamic Ummah (community) under Sharia law in the U.S."
Harris emphasized to WND that his department has had "excellent relations with both mosques [Gaubatz] has targeted."
He noted Wednesday that Al-Farooq had invited him and law enforcement investigators from several agencies to meet with the mosque's board members in the library that afternoon.
பாகிஸ்தான்: கௌவரத்துக்காக 13 வயது முஸ்லீம் சிறுமி 10 முஸ்லீம்களால் கற்பழிப்பு
பாகிஸ்தான்: கௌவரத்துக்காக 13 வயது முஸ்லீம் சிறுமி 10 முஸ்லீம்களால் கற்பழிப்பு
Teenage rape victim records statement
Saturday, May 16, 2009
By Shamim Bano
Karachi
Thirteen-year-old rape victim Nasima Lubano recorded her statement in the court of District and Session Judge (South) Faheem Ahmed Siddiqi on Friday
Two types of statements were recorded during proceedings: the examination in chief which was conducted by Deputy District Public Prosecutor (DDPP) Abdul Maroof, and a cross-examination conducted by Defence Counsel (DC) SM Iqbal Shah.
Revealing her plight, Lubano, a resident of district Ubaro, said that two men, Abdul Sattar and Mohammed Anwer Hussain, raped her on January 27, 2007. She said that later, on she was taken to a courtyard where nine other people abused her and physically humiliated her. Hearing her cries, two men, Jamaluddin and Mohammed Sardar, barged into the courtyard, allowing her the opportunity to escape, albeit naked, and reach home, where she narrated the entire gruesome tale to her parents. Lubano’s medical examination and treatment was conducted the same day, while the very next day, she recorded her statement under section 164 of the criminal procedure, and her thumb impressions were taken.
After the DDPP had completed questioning, the court asked the DC to initiate cross-examination, however DC Shah said that he was not prepared for cross-examination and needed time. The court censured the DC, stating that he should have come prepared, but adjourned the hearing till May 20. It is worth remembering that the DC was only recently appointed to the case. He is the third lawyer to take up the case. Nasima Lubano was allegedly gang-raped by 11 men, of which three, Abdul Sattar, Morozado and Munawar Hasan, are still at large. Another accused, Long Khan, expired during the jail trial. The other seven accused include: Shahzado, Abdul Jabbar, Anwar Hussain, Khadim Hussain, Ali Hasan, Shah BAig and Bashir Ahmed.
Hamza Lubano had lodged a report at the police station Ubaro under section 354-A, 387-a, 337-F(10 147, 148, 149 of the Pakistan Penal code, FIR 07/2007, stating that a dispute took place between Abdul Sattar and him on a children-related matter, upon which Sattar threatened to violate his honour so that “he could no longer live in society”.
Labano’s relative reportedly kidnapped the daughter of Anwar Khan some time back; and in order to avenge her honour, Anwar Khan and his ten accomplices abducted Nasima, and took her to Sattar’s residence, where ten persons allegedly raped her. The sexual assault by ten persons has also been proved by the medical report.
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Teenage rape victim records statement
Saturday, May 16, 2009
By Shamim Bano
Karachi
Thirteen-year-old rape victim Nasima Lubano recorded her statement in the court of District and Session Judge (South) Faheem Ahmed Siddiqi on Friday
Two types of statements were recorded during proceedings: the examination in chief which was conducted by Deputy District Public Prosecutor (DDPP) Abdul Maroof, and a cross-examination conducted by Defence Counsel (DC) SM Iqbal Shah.
Revealing her plight, Lubano, a resident of district Ubaro, said that two men, Abdul Sattar and Mohammed Anwer Hussain, raped her on January 27, 2007. She said that later, on she was taken to a courtyard where nine other people abused her and physically humiliated her. Hearing her cries, two men, Jamaluddin and Mohammed Sardar, barged into the courtyard, allowing her the opportunity to escape, albeit naked, and reach home, where she narrated the entire gruesome tale to her parents. Lubano’s medical examination and treatment was conducted the same day, while the very next day, she recorded her statement under section 164 of the criminal procedure, and her thumb impressions were taken.
After the DDPP had completed questioning, the court asked the DC to initiate cross-examination, however DC Shah said that he was not prepared for cross-examination and needed time. The court censured the DC, stating that he should have come prepared, but adjourned the hearing till May 20. It is worth remembering that the DC was only recently appointed to the case. He is the third lawyer to take up the case. Nasima Lubano was allegedly gang-raped by 11 men, of which three, Abdul Sattar, Morozado and Munawar Hasan, are still at large. Another accused, Long Khan, expired during the jail trial. The other seven accused include: Shahzado, Abdul Jabbar, Anwar Hussain, Khadim Hussain, Ali Hasan, Shah BAig and Bashir Ahmed.
Hamza Lubano had lodged a report at the police station Ubaro under section 354-A, 387-a, 337-F(10 147, 148, 149 of the Pakistan Penal code, FIR 07/2007, stating that a dispute took place between Abdul Sattar and him on a children-related matter, upon which Sattar threatened to violate his honour so that “he could no longer live in society”.
Labano’s relative reportedly kidnapped the daughter of Anwar Khan some time back; and in order to avenge her honour, Anwar Khan and his ten accomplices abducted Nasima, and took her to Sattar’s residence, where ten persons allegedly raped her. The sexual assault by ten persons has also been proved by the medical report.
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Back | Send this story to Friend | Print Version
பிலிப்பைன்ஸ்: முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாதிகளால் கிறிஸ்துவ விவசாயி தலை துண்டித்து கொலை
பிலிப்பைன்ஸ்: முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாதிகளால் கிறிஸ்துவ விவசாயி தலை துண்டித்து கொலை
Kidnapped farmer beheaded by Filipino al-Qaeda militants after family fail to pay ransom
By Lizzie Smith
Last updated at 3:52 PM on 18th May 2009
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Militant group: Handcuffed members of the al Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf following a previous killing
A Filipino farmer kidnapped by Muslim militants has been beheaded after his family failed to pay a ransom for his release.
Police in the Phillipines have recovered the severed head of farm owner Doroteo Gonzales, 61, who had been snatched by gunmen on April 25.
He was taken from his house in the southern Zamboanga city to the nearby Basilan Island, where al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels are holding at least another five people following a surge of ransom kidnappings.
At least three gunmen believed to be involved in Gonzales' abduction have been arrested, regional military spokesman Captain Neil Estrella said.
Police found Gonzales' severed head in Basilan's Akbar town yesterday, said Chief Inspector Rolando Democrito.
The victim's family had failed to pay a ransom of 25 million pesos ($525,000) for his release, he added.
Regional police head Bensali Jabarani said: 'The Abu Sayyaf has been by far the most violent armed group. They resort to killing their hostages if the situation starts to drag.'
He said authorities had put up a reward of 500,000 pesos for information on the hostages.
Gonzales was the latest victim of the brutal Abu Sayyaf group, which is notorious for beheadings and bomb attacks - despite efforts by U.S.-backed Filipino troops to wipe them out.
This year, from hide-outs in the jungle, the militants embarked on a kidnapping spree to raise money.
They have taken hostage three Zamboanga teachers, a lending firm collector and a Sri Lankan peace activist on Basilan.
Different groups of gunmen stalk potential victims in urban areas, carry out the abduction, then hand over the victims to the mountain-based Abu Sayyaf militants, who keep the hostages and negotiate for a ransom, Estrella said, citing statements from captured kidnappers.
'It's emerging now that this is some sort of a criminal conspiracy,' Estrella said. 'Our campaign has focused on cutting these tentacles of the Abu Sayyaf.'
On nearby Jolo Island, Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross in January.
Two have been released but ailing Italian hostage Eugenio Vagni, 62, remains in captivity.
The government has ordered troops to rescue Vagni, leading to sporadic clashes with the militants.
The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 400 fighters, is believed to have received funds from al-Qaida and is on the U.S. list of terrorist organisations.
Kidnapped farmer beheaded by Filipino al-Qaeda militants after family fail to pay ransom
By Lizzie Smith
Last updated at 3:52 PM on 18th May 2009
Comments (0) Add to My Stories
Militant group: Handcuffed members of the al Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf following a previous killing
A Filipino farmer kidnapped by Muslim militants has been beheaded after his family failed to pay a ransom for his release.
Police in the Phillipines have recovered the severed head of farm owner Doroteo Gonzales, 61, who had been snatched by gunmen on April 25.
He was taken from his house in the southern Zamboanga city to the nearby Basilan Island, where al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels are holding at least another five people following a surge of ransom kidnappings.
At least three gunmen believed to be involved in Gonzales' abduction have been arrested, regional military spokesman Captain Neil Estrella said.
Police found Gonzales' severed head in Basilan's Akbar town yesterday, said Chief Inspector Rolando Democrito.
The victim's family had failed to pay a ransom of 25 million pesos ($525,000) for his release, he added.
Regional police head Bensali Jabarani said: 'The Abu Sayyaf has been by far the most violent armed group. They resort to killing their hostages if the situation starts to drag.'
He said authorities had put up a reward of 500,000 pesos for information on the hostages.
Gonzales was the latest victim of the brutal Abu Sayyaf group, which is notorious for beheadings and bomb attacks - despite efforts by U.S.-backed Filipino troops to wipe them out.
This year, from hide-outs in the jungle, the militants embarked on a kidnapping spree to raise money.
They have taken hostage three Zamboanga teachers, a lending firm collector and a Sri Lankan peace activist on Basilan.
Different groups of gunmen stalk potential victims in urban areas, carry out the abduction, then hand over the victims to the mountain-based Abu Sayyaf militants, who keep the hostages and negotiate for a ransom, Estrella said, citing statements from captured kidnappers.
'It's emerging now that this is some sort of a criminal conspiracy,' Estrella said. 'Our campaign has focused on cutting these tentacles of the Abu Sayyaf.'
On nearby Jolo Island, Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross in January.
Two have been released but ailing Italian hostage Eugenio Vagni, 62, remains in captivity.
The government has ordered troops to rescue Vagni, leading to sporadic clashes with the militants.
The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 400 fighters, is believed to have received funds from al-Qaida and is on the U.S. list of terrorist organisations.
13 வயது சிறுவனை பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்த புளோரிடா முஸ்லீம் இமாம்
13 வயது சிறுவனை பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்த புளோரிடா முஸ்லீம் இமாம் கைது
Imam charged with sexual battery on teen boy at Tampa mosque
By Eeyore | May 18, 2009
Just in case anyone thinks this rape case is an isolated exception and not actual Islamic policy by Imams to create terrorists you may want to read this Phyllis Chesler piece on the making of a terrorist. Also, previous articles on Vlad where an Iraqi woman was captured who recruited women, sent them to rape camps where they then became suicide bombers in Iraq.
Oh yeah and how rape of males is used to create terrorists:
By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 18, 2009
Updated: 01:09 pm
Yasser Mohamed Shahade
TAMPA - A 35-year-old imam sexually battered a 13-year-old boy at a Tampa mosque Sunday morning, police say.
The victim was staying overnight at the mosque at 1307 W. North B St. waiting for early morning prayer, an arrest report states.
Yasser Mohamed Shahade, a prayer leader who had been in the country for about two months and had been staying at the mosque, sexually battered the victim about 6 a.m., police say. Police were called about noon Sunday, and they responded to Tampa General Hospital, where the call came from, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said. Police aren’t releasing the name or details about the person who made the call, and details about the boy’s condition aren’t immediately available.
After responding to the hospital, Davis said, police went to the mosque. Shahade was arrested about 5:30 p.m. Shahade remains in Orient Road Jail. His bail has not been set.
A jail sergeant said Shahade declined to comment today.
The 2,400-square-foot mosque, Masjid Omar Al Mukhtar, opened within the past year. It has a worship area upstairs that can hold 50 women and an open room below where the mosque’s 130 male members worship.
Details were unavailable about who else had stayed overnight at the mosque, Davis said.
Former mosque board member Yusuf Strohmier said he was surprised after being told by a reporter of the arrest.
“If he did it — which is a key there, because you have to have witnesses — that’s just sick,” he said. “That is a sick thing to do.”
Gary Dicus, who owns a building next to the mosque, also was shocked by the charge against Shahade.
“It’s disturbing as the dickens,” he said.
Alaa Attia, a trustee of the mosque, said that if the accusation is true, it would go against the teachings of Islam.
Ramzy Kilic, executive director of the Tampa Council on American Islamic Relations, agreed. If true, he said, “The full justice of the law should be brought to this person.”
Stay with TBO.com for updates.
Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk and researcher Stephanie Pincus contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.
Imam charged with sexual battery on teen boy at Tampa mosque
By Eeyore | May 18, 2009
Just in case anyone thinks this rape case is an isolated exception and not actual Islamic policy by Imams to create terrorists you may want to read this Phyllis Chesler piece on the making of a terrorist. Also, previous articles on Vlad where an Iraqi woman was captured who recruited women, sent them to rape camps where they then became suicide bombers in Iraq.
Oh yeah and how rape of males is used to create terrorists:
By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 18, 2009
Updated: 01:09 pm
Yasser Mohamed Shahade
TAMPA - A 35-year-old imam sexually battered a 13-year-old boy at a Tampa mosque Sunday morning, police say.
The victim was staying overnight at the mosque at 1307 W. North B St. waiting for early morning prayer, an arrest report states.
Yasser Mohamed Shahade, a prayer leader who had been in the country for about two months and had been staying at the mosque, sexually battered the victim about 6 a.m., police say. Police were called about noon Sunday, and they responded to Tampa General Hospital, where the call came from, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said. Police aren’t releasing the name or details about the person who made the call, and details about the boy’s condition aren’t immediately available.
After responding to the hospital, Davis said, police went to the mosque. Shahade was arrested about 5:30 p.m. Shahade remains in Orient Road Jail. His bail has not been set.
A jail sergeant said Shahade declined to comment today.
The 2,400-square-foot mosque, Masjid Omar Al Mukhtar, opened within the past year. It has a worship area upstairs that can hold 50 women and an open room below where the mosque’s 130 male members worship.
Details were unavailable about who else had stayed overnight at the mosque, Davis said.
Former mosque board member Yusuf Strohmier said he was surprised after being told by a reporter of the arrest.
“If he did it — which is a key there, because you have to have witnesses — that’s just sick,” he said. “That is a sick thing to do.”
Gary Dicus, who owns a building next to the mosque, also was shocked by the charge against Shahade.
“It’s disturbing as the dickens,” he said.
Alaa Attia, a trustee of the mosque, said that if the accusation is true, it would go against the teachings of Islam.
Ramzy Kilic, executive director of the Tampa Council on American Islamic Relations, agreed. If true, he said, “The full justice of the law should be brought to this person.”
Stay with TBO.com for updates.
Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk and researcher Stephanie Pincus contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.
தாய்லாந்து: இரண்டு பௌத்தபெண்களை முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாதிகள் சுட்டு எரித்தனர்
தாய்லாந்து: இரண்டு பௌத்தபெண்களை முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாதிகள் சுட்டு எரித்தனர்
2 women shot dead, burned in South
By: AFP
Published: 20/05/2009 at 03:08 PM Two elderly women were shot dead and their bodies set on fire on Wednesday in the latest atrocity in the troubled far south, police said. They blamed the murders on separatists.
They said a 62-year-old woman and her 78-year-old mother-in-law returning home by motorbike from a market in Pattani province were killed in a drive-by shooting.
Police in the district of Panare said they found the bodies badly burned in the middle of the road at the scene of the killing.
One soldier was also slightly wounded when a small bomb exploded several metres from the bodies as he went with police to investigate.
More than 3,600 people have been killed and thousands more wounded in five years of separatist violence across the three Muslim-majority provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
Attacks have become increasingly brutal as the insurgency drags on, with corpses sometimes mutilated or burnt and left in public areas.
Buddhist-majority Thailand annexed the ethnic Malay and mainly Muslim area in 1902, sparking decades of tension.
2 women shot dead, burned in South
By: AFP
Published: 20/05/2009 at 03:08 PM Two elderly women were shot dead and their bodies set on fire on Wednesday in the latest atrocity in the troubled far south, police said. They blamed the murders on separatists.
They said a 62-year-old woman and her 78-year-old mother-in-law returning home by motorbike from a market in Pattani province were killed in a drive-by shooting.
Police in the district of Panare said they found the bodies badly burned in the middle of the road at the scene of the killing.
One soldier was also slightly wounded when a small bomb exploded several metres from the bodies as he went with police to investigate.
More than 3,600 people have been killed and thousands more wounded in five years of separatist violence across the three Muslim-majority provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
Attacks have become increasingly brutal as the insurgency drags on, with corpses sometimes mutilated or burnt and left in public areas.
Buddhist-majority Thailand annexed the ethnic Malay and mainly Muslim area in 1902, sparking decades of tension.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
தாலிபான் முஸ்லீம்களின் பாராட்டத்தகுந்த பெருந்தன்மை
போலந்து நாட்டு எஞ்சினியரை தலைவேறு உடல் வேறாக வெட்டி எடுத்தனர் தாலிபான்கள்.
ஆனால், இந்த முஸ்லீம்கள் பெருந்தன்மையுடன் அந்த தலையை அந்த போலந்து நாட்டு எஞ்சினியரின் குடும்பத்துக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்துள்ளனர்
Body of Pole killed by Taliban returned to family
WARSAW: The body of a Polish engineer killed by the Taliban in Pakistan back in February, was returned to his family on Wednesday. The wife and son of Piotr Stanczak received the coffin at the Warsaw airport. He was kidnapped in Pakistan and beheaded after the government ignored a deadline for releasing Taliban prisoners. “Both Pakistani authorities as well as Poland’s foreign ministry will continue to do their utmost to find and punish the perpetrators,” Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer said at a short ceremony at the airport. Poland will release a report next week on the action it took to try to resolve the case. reuters
ஆனால், இந்த முஸ்லீம்கள் பெருந்தன்மையுடன் அந்த தலையை அந்த போலந்து நாட்டு எஞ்சினியரின் குடும்பத்துக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்துள்ளனர்
Body of Pole killed by Taliban returned to family
WARSAW: The body of a Polish engineer killed by the Taliban in Pakistan back in February, was returned to his family on Wednesday. The wife and son of Piotr Stanczak received the coffin at the Warsaw airport. He was kidnapped in Pakistan and beheaded after the government ignored a deadline for releasing Taliban prisoners. “Both Pakistani authorities as well as Poland’s foreign ministry will continue to do their utmost to find and punish the perpetrators,” Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer said at a short ceremony at the airport. Poland will release a report next week on the action it took to try to resolve the case. reuters
ஒருவழியாக 8 வயது சிறுமி விவாகரத்து செய்ய இஸ்லாமிய சவுதி அரசு அனுமதி
ஒருவழியாக 8 வயது சிறுமி விவாகரத்து செய்ய இஸ்லாமிய சவுதி அரசு அனுமதி வழங்கியுள்ளது.
8-year-old Saudi girl granted a divorce
By Staff Reports
Published: April 30, 2009
An 8-year-old Saudi Arabian girl was granted a divorce by a Saudi court after the case increased international and local criticism of child marriage in the oil-rich kingdom.
The marriage of the girl to a man in his 50s was dissolved yesterday by a court in the central province of Unaizah, the state-owned al-Watan newspaper said, citing a court official.
The child's former husband arranged the marriage last year with the girl's father by agreeing to forgive him an $8,000 debt, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television reported.
The United Nations Children's Fund had condemned the court for its initial refusal to grant the girl a divorce, saying on April 13 that the ruling was a violation of the child's rights. The Saudi Shoura Council, an advisory body that makes recommendations to the king, is considering the drafting of a law that would make 18 the minimum age for marriage in the kingdom, according to al-Riyadh newspaper.
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holy cities of Mecca and Medina, is a Sunni Muslim-majority country, where citizens are required to pray five times daily at mosques between 4 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. The country is governed by Islamic religious law, which bans women from driving and traveling without the company of a male relative.
-- Bloomberg News
8-year-old Saudi girl granted a divorce
By Staff Reports
Published: April 30, 2009
An 8-year-old Saudi Arabian girl was granted a divorce by a Saudi court after the case increased international and local criticism of child marriage in the oil-rich kingdom.
The marriage of the girl to a man in his 50s was dissolved yesterday by a court in the central province of Unaizah, the state-owned al-Watan newspaper said, citing a court official.
The child's former husband arranged the marriage last year with the girl's father by agreeing to forgive him an $8,000 debt, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television reported.
The United Nations Children's Fund had condemned the court for its initial refusal to grant the girl a divorce, saying on April 13 that the ruling was a violation of the child's rights. The Saudi Shoura Council, an advisory body that makes recommendations to the king, is considering the drafting of a law that would make 18 the minimum age for marriage in the kingdom, according to al-Riyadh newspaper.
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holy cities of Mecca and Medina, is a Sunni Muslim-majority country, where citizens are required to pray five times daily at mosques between 4 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. The country is governed by Islamic religious law, which bans women from driving and traveling without the company of a male relative.
-- Bloomberg News
தாலிபான் முஸ்லீம்களிடமிருந்து சீக்கியர்கள் தப்பி ஓட்டம்
தாலிபான் முஸ்லீம்களிடமிருந்து சீக்கியர்கள் தப்பி ஓட்டம்
Sikhs begin leaving Pakistan’s Orakzai Agency, India concerned (Lead)
May 1st, 2009 - 8:20 am EST By Sindh Today | Category: India, UnCat
Islamabad/New Delhi, May 1 (IANS) Targeted by the Taliban, 35 Sikh families that have been living for decades in Pakistan’s Orakzai Agency have begun migrating from the area after being levied a jaziya or protection tax, an issue New Delhi has now taken up with Islamabad.
India said it had taken up with Pakistan the treatment of minorities in the country.
“The government of India has taken up the question of treatment of minorities in Pakistan with the government of Pakistan,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said in New Delhi.
Quoting sources, Pakistani channel Geo TV said Taliban militants had taken over the shops and homes of the 35 Sikh families and arrested community leaders Klank Singh and Sewa Singh in the Ferozkhel area of Lower Orakzai Agency.
Following this, a local jirga ruled that the Sikh community should annually pay Rs.15 million ($187,000) as protection money. Earlier reports had said the Taliban had demanded Rs.50 million but that this had been reduced.
When the Sikh community expressed their inability to pay, the Taliban then auctioned their houses and other belongings, forcing them to migrate from the area.
There are reports the militants had demolished the houses 11 houses of the Sikh community after they failed to pay the jaziya tax.
The Orakzai Agency is situated in the virtually ungovernable Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where the writ of the Taliban and Al Qaeda largely runs.
The militants in the area are led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, the deputy of Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, one of the principal suspects in the Dec 27, 2007 assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in a gun and bomb attack in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
[LM1]
Sikhs begin leaving Pakistan’s Orakzai Agency, India concerned (Lead)
May 1st, 2009 - 8:20 am EST By Sindh Today | Category: India, UnCat
Islamabad/New Delhi, May 1 (IANS) Targeted by the Taliban, 35 Sikh families that have been living for decades in Pakistan’s Orakzai Agency have begun migrating from the area after being levied a jaziya or protection tax, an issue New Delhi has now taken up with Islamabad.
India said it had taken up with Pakistan the treatment of minorities in the country.
“The government of India has taken up the question of treatment of minorities in Pakistan with the government of Pakistan,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said in New Delhi.
Quoting sources, Pakistani channel Geo TV said Taliban militants had taken over the shops and homes of the 35 Sikh families and arrested community leaders Klank Singh and Sewa Singh in the Ferozkhel area of Lower Orakzai Agency.
Following this, a local jirga ruled that the Sikh community should annually pay Rs.15 million ($187,000) as protection money. Earlier reports had said the Taliban had demanded Rs.50 million but that this had been reduced.
When the Sikh community expressed their inability to pay, the Taliban then auctioned their houses and other belongings, forcing them to migrate from the area.
There are reports the militants had demolished the houses 11 houses of the Sikh community after they failed to pay the jaziya tax.
The Orakzai Agency is situated in the virtually ungovernable Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where the writ of the Taliban and Al Qaeda largely runs.
The militants in the area are led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, the deputy of Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, one of the principal suspects in the Dec 27, 2007 assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in a gun and bomb attack in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
[LM1]
இந்தியாவில் பத்துவயது சிறுவனை கற்பழித்த இமாம் கைது
கிரிஸ்துவ பாதிரிகளுக்கு கொஞ்சமும் இளைத்தவர்களல்ல இந்த இஸ்லாமிய இமாம்கள்.
இந்த அபிரஹாமிய பாதிரி, இமாம்களிடம் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருக்கவேண்டும்.
தமிழர்களே ஜாக்கிரதை
10-yr-old alleges sodomy, Delhi cleric arrested
IANS
Published on Fri, May 01, 2009 at 21:02 in India section
SHOCKING: A cleric from a Delhi madrassa was arrested on charges of sodomising a 10-year-old boy.
New Delhi: A 21-year-old cleric of a madrassa was arrested on Friday for allegedly sodomising a 10-year-old boy in the national capital, police said.
Mohammad Shehzad, who had joined the madrassa of Kali Masjid in Hazrat Nizamuddin a fortnight ago, was arrested for sodomising one of the students on Tuesday night.
Shehzad has been sent to the jail, police said.
The police said the boy could only muster the courage to tell his mother about the incident Thursday.
The boy's mother along with few other locals then went to the madrassa and thrashed the cleric.
The boy's father died some time back and since then he has been living with his mother.
இந்த அபிரஹாமிய பாதிரி, இமாம்களிடம் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருக்கவேண்டும்.
தமிழர்களே ஜாக்கிரதை
10-yr-old alleges sodomy, Delhi cleric arrested
IANS
Published on Fri, May 01, 2009 at 21:02 in India section
SHOCKING: A cleric from a Delhi madrassa was arrested on charges of sodomising a 10-year-old boy.
New Delhi: A 21-year-old cleric of a madrassa was arrested on Friday for allegedly sodomising a 10-year-old boy in the national capital, police said.
Mohammad Shehzad, who had joined the madrassa of Kali Masjid in Hazrat Nizamuddin a fortnight ago, was arrested for sodomising one of the students on Tuesday night.
Shehzad has been sent to the jail, police said.
The police said the boy could only muster the courage to tell his mother about the incident Thursday.
The boy's mother along with few other locals then went to the madrassa and thrashed the cleric.
The boy's father died some time back and since then he has been living with his mother.
இஸ்லாமிய குவாய்த்தில் திருட்டு கொள்ளை கற்பழிப்பு சகஜம்
இதுதான் இஸ்லாமிய குவாய்த்தின் நிலை.
Maid accuses of ‘rape’; Woman held for shoplifting
Kuwait : An Asian maid, whose identity has not been disclosed, Thursday filed a complaint with the Jabriya Police Station accusing her sponsor of forcing her to have sex with him three times, reports Al-Shahid daily.
According to security sources when the woman arrived at the police station panic was written all over her face.
She told police when she complained about the issue to the man’s wife and daughter, both of them threatened to kill her. She also said the sponsor had warned her with serious consequences if she disclosed the incident to anyone.
Canadian attempts suicide: A Canadian man, whose identity has not been disclosed, reportedly attempted to commit suicide inside his apartment in Farwaniya by cutting the veins of both his upper and lower limbs, reports Al-Shahid daily.
According to security sources the victim’s brother saw the man in a pool of blood and called the Operations Department of the Ministry of Interior.
The department dispatched medical help and the man was rushed to the Farwaniya Hospital for treatment.
According to the victim’s brother, the man is suffering from financial problems. A case of attempted suicide has been registered against him.
Woman held for shoplifting: A Kuwaiti woman whose identity has not been disclosed, has been put behind bars in Fahaheel for stealing cosmetics worth KD 28, reports Al-Shahid daily.
According to security sources the woman was caught by a security guard of a commercial center.
The source added the woman was subjected to a search because when she was leaving the store, the detector at the gate started buzzing.
During a search of the handbag, the guard found the stolen items. She was handed over to the police by the management of the store.
Maid accuses of ‘rape’; Woman held for shoplifting
Kuwait : An Asian maid, whose identity has not been disclosed, Thursday filed a complaint with the Jabriya Police Station accusing her sponsor of forcing her to have sex with him three times, reports Al-Shahid daily.
According to security sources when the woman arrived at the police station panic was written all over her face.
She told police when she complained about the issue to the man’s wife and daughter, both of them threatened to kill her. She also said the sponsor had warned her with serious consequences if she disclosed the incident to anyone.
Canadian attempts suicide: A Canadian man, whose identity has not been disclosed, reportedly attempted to commit suicide inside his apartment in Farwaniya by cutting the veins of both his upper and lower limbs, reports Al-Shahid daily.
According to security sources the victim’s brother saw the man in a pool of blood and called the Operations Department of the Ministry of Interior.
The department dispatched medical help and the man was rushed to the Farwaniya Hospital for treatment.
According to the victim’s brother, the man is suffering from financial problems. A case of attempted suicide has been registered against him.
Woman held for shoplifting: A Kuwaiti woman whose identity has not been disclosed, has been put behind bars in Fahaheel for stealing cosmetics worth KD 28, reports Al-Shahid daily.
According to security sources the woman was caught by a security guard of a commercial center.
The source added the woman was subjected to a search because when she was leaving the store, the detector at the gate started buzzing.
During a search of the handbag, the guard found the stolen items. She was handed over to the police by the management of the store.
ஜிஸியா கொடுக்காததற்காக சீக்கியர்களின் வீடுகள் முஸ்லீம்களால் இடிப்பு
ஜிஸியா என்னும் கப்பப்பணம் கொடுக்காததற்காக சீக்கியர்களின் வீடுகள் தாலிபான் முஸ்லீம்களால் இடிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.
தாலிபான் ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் பாகிஸ்தான் இந்தியா என்று அனைத்தையும் ஆள விரும்புகிற்து.
தமிழ்நாட்டிலும் தாலிபான் ஆதரவாளர்களை இணையத்தில் பார்க்கலாம்.
Demolition of homes of Sikhs: India takes up matter with Pak
New Delhi, PTI:
According to reports, Taliban militants have demolished 11 homes of members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan's troubled Aurakzai tribal region after they failed to pay 'jiziya' or a tax levied on non-Muslims.
Amid reports of demolition of homes of Sikhs in parts of Pakistan, India on Friday said it had taken up the matter of treatment of minorities in that country with the government in Islamabad.
"On seeing reports about Sikh families in Pakistan being driven out of their homes and being subject to 'jiziya' and other such impositions, the Government of India has taken up with Pakistan the question of treatment of minorities with the government of Pakistan," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said here.
According to reports, Taliban militants have demolished 11 homes of members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan's troubled Aurakzai tribal region after they failed to pay 'jiziya' or a tax levied on non-Muslims.
The militants acted after a deadline set by them for payment of 'jiziya' by the Sikhs expired on April 29, the reports said.
The Sikh had discussed the possibility of leaving the area at a meeting of the community but were unable to reach a decision.
Though the Sikhs have been living in Aurakzai Agency for centuries, the Taliban asked them earlier this month to pay Rs 50 million a year as jiziya.
The militants claimed this was being done as Shariah or Islamic law had been enforced in the area and all non-Muslims have to pay "protection money".
தாலிபான் ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் பாகிஸ்தான் இந்தியா என்று அனைத்தையும் ஆள விரும்புகிற்து.
தமிழ்நாட்டிலும் தாலிபான் ஆதரவாளர்களை இணையத்தில் பார்க்கலாம்.
Demolition of homes of Sikhs: India takes up matter with Pak
New Delhi, PTI:
According to reports, Taliban militants have demolished 11 homes of members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan's troubled Aurakzai tribal region after they failed to pay 'jiziya' or a tax levied on non-Muslims.
Amid reports of demolition of homes of Sikhs in parts of Pakistan, India on Friday said it had taken up the matter of treatment of minorities in that country with the government in Islamabad.
"On seeing reports about Sikh families in Pakistan being driven out of their homes and being subject to 'jiziya' and other such impositions, the Government of India has taken up with Pakistan the question of treatment of minorities with the government of Pakistan," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said here.
According to reports, Taliban militants have demolished 11 homes of members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan's troubled Aurakzai tribal region after they failed to pay 'jiziya' or a tax levied on non-Muslims.
The militants acted after a deadline set by them for payment of 'jiziya' by the Sikhs expired on April 29, the reports said.
The Sikh had discussed the possibility of leaving the area at a meeting of the community but were unable to reach a decision.
Though the Sikhs have been living in Aurakzai Agency for centuries, the Taliban asked them earlier this month to pay Rs 50 million a year as jiziya.
The militants claimed this was being done as Shariah or Islamic law had been enforced in the area and all non-Muslims have to pay "protection money".
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Dozens of Hindu Girls Kidnapped, Forcibly Converted...
Minority legislator speaks up on kidnappings, conversions
Friday, April 10, 2009
By Imtiaz Ali
Karachi
Increasing incidents of kidnapping of Hindu community members and “conversion” have caused concern in Sindh. Approximately 30 to 35 minority members had been kidnapped; one of them was killed. Seven are still believed to be in the custody of abductors. Around 18 Hindu girls had been converted to Islam; one of them was reportedly killed this year.
Some say that these incidents should not be seen in isolation and should be viewed as part of the general law and order problem. Similarly, girls have increasingly shown a tendency to marry with their consent.
Others say there is a plot against the minority members who are being targeted for various reasons. Of particular concern is the alleged blasphemy case in Umerkot, which had remained closed for a few days recently following violent protests. Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza was of the view that there was a conspiracy to grab the property and business of the Hindu community.
These issues were also highlighted during the last days of parliamentary year of the Sindh Assembly by the Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentarian (PPP-P) minority legislator, Pitanbar Sewani.
Sewani was born in Bagarji, Sukkur, in 1953 and has been associated with the PPP since 1974. Starting from his political career as a member of district council Shikarpur in 1979, he had been elected as a member of the provincial legislature twice. He is among three senior legislators of the minority community. Two others were late P.K Shahani and Rana Chander Singh. One striking aspect of his personality is that he prefers a simple lifestyle. He spoke to The News about these issues.
KIDNAPPINGS: Three Hindus were kidnapped in Salih Pat. The kidnappers demanded Rs1.5 million as ransom. When the relatives sold their property to pay the ransom money, the abductors increased the original amount to Rs2.5 million. As the poor relatives were not in a position to pay the ransom, the abductors killed Mahender Kumar on the Hindus’ religious festival (Holi) recently “as if to present a ‘gift’ to us,” Sewani said. Two were still in their custody.
On the same day on which Kumar was killed, the criminals kidnapped three more Hindus in Ghotki. “The home minister personally visited the area and we hope that they would be recovered,” Sewani said.
The robbers gunned down Dr Darshan Lal in Larkana and snatched Rs2.4 million from him. The police made some arrests in the case but showed only Rs16,000 as recovery from the accused.
In this year, around 30 to 35 Hindus had been kidnapped, out of them seven were still in the custody of criminals. Among them is PPP-P district Jacobabad minority wing President Darshan Lal. Apart from kidnappings, robberies had also been increased, targeting the Hindus. The robbers stormed a temple in Jacobabad and snatched 450 “tolas” gold from 250 women. The police made some arrests but had shown recovery of only 10 to 15 Tolas gold.
Criminals stormed another temple in Daharki and robbed people. In the third incident, robbers stormed a temple in Ghotki and robbed people. However, the then district police officer (DPO) Irfan Baloch made arrests and recovered each and everything, which was appreciable. This is first time that the religious places had been robbed.
The minority community’s houses have also been looted. The robbers entered Natho Mal’s house in Sakrand city and took away Rs1.4 million. The police made arrests but had shown recovery of Rs500,000 to Rs600,000 only. In Shikarpur, a Panchayat leader’s (Mukhi) house was looted.
RELIGIOUS CONVERSION: Around 18 Hindu girls had been kidnapped and “converted” this year. Some of the events might be the result of love affairS. “We do not have objections over their becoming Muslims but we have objections over the method through which they had been ‘converted’,” Sewani said.
“First they kidnap the girl, marry her and subsequently she is presented before the court. We demand that first, the girl should be kept at a ‘neutral place’ then it should be decided as to whether she had been converted. How we would be convinced that she had not been converted under duress as there are incidents that girls were kidnapped for ulterior motives. One Hindu girl who was reportedly converted and married in Sukkur, was thrown from the third floor of the building on Eid-ul-Azha day and died. Her husband was arrested but later released on bail,” he said.
PLOT: The Hindu community in Pakistan was first targeted in 1972-73 when their women were insulted in Kandhkot under a conspiracy. It inspired Amar Jalil to write a short story on it. Subsequently, a pattern was set that whenever the PPP comes in power, the minority members are targeted as it is the only party, which strives to improve the condition of minorities and empower them, Sewani said. Certain elements want the government in Sindh to fail, and they target Hindus who are loyal to the party, he maintained.
When the PPP came in power in 1988, around 19 Hindus were killed in Karachi and their property was looted. When the PPP assumed power in 2008, Jagdesh, a factory worker was killed over alleged blasphemy. Hindus were targeted on their religious festival (Holi) in Umerkot and the home minister on the Sindh Assembly floor said there was conspiracy against the minority.
Friday, April 10, 2009
By Imtiaz Ali
Karachi
Increasing incidents of kidnapping of Hindu community members and “conversion” have caused concern in Sindh. Approximately 30 to 35 minority members had been kidnapped; one of them was killed. Seven are still believed to be in the custody of abductors. Around 18 Hindu girls had been converted to Islam; one of them was reportedly killed this year.
Some say that these incidents should not be seen in isolation and should be viewed as part of the general law and order problem. Similarly, girls have increasingly shown a tendency to marry with their consent.
Others say there is a plot against the minority members who are being targeted for various reasons. Of particular concern is the alleged blasphemy case in Umerkot, which had remained closed for a few days recently following violent protests. Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza was of the view that there was a conspiracy to grab the property and business of the Hindu community.
These issues were also highlighted during the last days of parliamentary year of the Sindh Assembly by the Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentarian (PPP-P) minority legislator, Pitanbar Sewani.
Sewani was born in Bagarji, Sukkur, in 1953 and has been associated with the PPP since 1974. Starting from his political career as a member of district council Shikarpur in 1979, he had been elected as a member of the provincial legislature twice. He is among three senior legislators of the minority community. Two others were late P.K Shahani and Rana Chander Singh. One striking aspect of his personality is that he prefers a simple lifestyle. He spoke to The News about these issues.
KIDNAPPINGS: Three Hindus were kidnapped in Salih Pat. The kidnappers demanded Rs1.5 million as ransom. When the relatives sold their property to pay the ransom money, the abductors increased the original amount to Rs2.5 million. As the poor relatives were not in a position to pay the ransom, the abductors killed Mahender Kumar on the Hindus’ religious festival (Holi) recently “as if to present a ‘gift’ to us,” Sewani said. Two were still in their custody.
On the same day on which Kumar was killed, the criminals kidnapped three more Hindus in Ghotki. “The home minister personally visited the area and we hope that they would be recovered,” Sewani said.
The robbers gunned down Dr Darshan Lal in Larkana and snatched Rs2.4 million from him. The police made some arrests in the case but showed only Rs16,000 as recovery from the accused.
In this year, around 30 to 35 Hindus had been kidnapped, out of them seven were still in the custody of criminals. Among them is PPP-P district Jacobabad minority wing President Darshan Lal. Apart from kidnappings, robberies had also been increased, targeting the Hindus. The robbers stormed a temple in Jacobabad and snatched 450 “tolas” gold from 250 women. The police made some arrests but had shown recovery of only 10 to 15 Tolas gold.
Criminals stormed another temple in Daharki and robbed people. In the third incident, robbers stormed a temple in Ghotki and robbed people. However, the then district police officer (DPO) Irfan Baloch made arrests and recovered each and everything, which was appreciable. This is first time that the religious places had been robbed.
The minority community’s houses have also been looted. The robbers entered Natho Mal’s house in Sakrand city and took away Rs1.4 million. The police made arrests but had shown recovery of Rs500,000 to Rs600,000 only. In Shikarpur, a Panchayat leader’s (Mukhi) house was looted.
RELIGIOUS CONVERSION: Around 18 Hindu girls had been kidnapped and “converted” this year. Some of the events might be the result of love affairS. “We do not have objections over their becoming Muslims but we have objections over the method through which they had been ‘converted’,” Sewani said.
“First they kidnap the girl, marry her and subsequently she is presented before the court. We demand that first, the girl should be kept at a ‘neutral place’ then it should be decided as to whether she had been converted. How we would be convinced that she had not been converted under duress as there are incidents that girls were kidnapped for ulterior motives. One Hindu girl who was reportedly converted and married in Sukkur, was thrown from the third floor of the building on Eid-ul-Azha day and died. Her husband was arrested but later released on bail,” he said.
PLOT: The Hindu community in Pakistan was first targeted in 1972-73 when their women were insulted in Kandhkot under a conspiracy. It inspired Amar Jalil to write a short story on it. Subsequently, a pattern was set that whenever the PPP comes in power, the minority members are targeted as it is the only party, which strives to improve the condition of minorities and empower them, Sewani said. Certain elements want the government in Sindh to fail, and they target Hindus who are loyal to the party, he maintained.
When the PPP came in power in 1988, around 19 Hindus were killed in Karachi and their property was looted. When the PPP assumed power in 2008, Jagdesh, a factory worker was killed over alleged blasphemy. Hindus were targeted on their religious festival (Holi) in Umerkot and the home minister on the Sindh Assembly floor said there was conspiracy against the minority.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாதிகளால் உடைக்கப்பட்ட இந்து கோவில்கள் புணருத்தாரனம்
-நன்றி தினத்தந்தி
பாகிஸ்தானில் சேதம் அடைந்த 16 இந்து கோவில்களில் பழுது பார்க்கும் பணி
இஸ்லாமாபாத், ஏப்,6-
பாகிஸ்தானில் பல்வேறு நகரங்களிலுமாக பல இந்துக்கோவில்கள் உள்ளன. லாகூரில் உள்ள கிருஷ்ணன் கோவில் மட்டும் தான் வழிபாடுகள் நடக்கும் கோவிலாக இருக்கிறது. இங்கு ஒவ்வொரு தீபாவளியின் போதும் 300-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட இந்துக்கள் கூடி வழிபாடு நடத்துவது வழக்கம். இதுதவிர வால்மீகி கோவிலும் பாகிஸ்தானில் தான் உள்ளது.
கடந்த 1992-ம் ஆண்டு இந்தியாவில் பாபர் மசூதி இடிக்கப்பட்டபோது, பாகிஸ்தானில் உள்ள பல இந்துக்கோவில்களும் சேதப்படுத்தப்பட்டன. அதன்பிறகு அந்த கோவில்களை பழுதுபார்ப்பதற்காக இப்போது தான் முதல் முறையாக எவை எவை சேதம் அடைந்தன என்பது பற்றி தொல்பொருள் இலாகா கணக்கு எடுத்து வருகிறது. கிட்டத்தட்ட 16 கோவில்கள் சேதம் அடைந்ததாக கணக்கு எடுக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளன. இந்த கோவில்கள் பழுது பார்க்கப்பட இருக்கின்றன
மொத்தம் ஒரு கோடி ரூபாய் செலவில் பழுதுபார்க்கும் பணிகளை முடித்துவிடலாம். அடுத்த பட்ஜெட்டில் அரசாங்கம் இதற்காக நிதி ஒதுக்கும் என்று எதிர்பார்ப்பதாக தொல்பொருள் இலாகா இயக்குநர் சபாஸ் கான் தெரிவித்தார்.
பாகிஸ்தானில் சேதம் அடைந்த 16 இந்து கோவில்களில் பழுது பார்க்கும் பணி
இஸ்லாமாபாத், ஏப்,6-
பாகிஸ்தானில் பல்வேறு நகரங்களிலுமாக பல இந்துக்கோவில்கள் உள்ளன. லாகூரில் உள்ள கிருஷ்ணன் கோவில் மட்டும் தான் வழிபாடுகள் நடக்கும் கோவிலாக இருக்கிறது. இங்கு ஒவ்வொரு தீபாவளியின் போதும் 300-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட இந்துக்கள் கூடி வழிபாடு நடத்துவது வழக்கம். இதுதவிர வால்மீகி கோவிலும் பாகிஸ்தானில் தான் உள்ளது.
கடந்த 1992-ம் ஆண்டு இந்தியாவில் பாபர் மசூதி இடிக்கப்பட்டபோது, பாகிஸ்தானில் உள்ள பல இந்துக்கோவில்களும் சேதப்படுத்தப்பட்டன. அதன்பிறகு அந்த கோவில்களை பழுதுபார்ப்பதற்காக இப்போது தான் முதல் முறையாக எவை எவை சேதம் அடைந்தன என்பது பற்றி தொல்பொருள் இலாகா கணக்கு எடுத்து வருகிறது. கிட்டத்தட்ட 16 கோவில்கள் சேதம் அடைந்ததாக கணக்கு எடுக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளன. இந்த கோவில்கள் பழுது பார்க்கப்பட இருக்கின்றன
மொத்தம் ஒரு கோடி ரூபாய் செலவில் பழுதுபார்க்கும் பணிகளை முடித்துவிடலாம். அடுத்த பட்ஜெட்டில் அரசாங்கம் இதற்காக நிதி ஒதுக்கும் என்று எதிர்பார்ப்பதாக தொல்பொருள் இலாகா இயக்குநர் சபாஸ் கான் தெரிவித்தார்.
Friday, February 20, 2009
இங்கிலாந்து டெர்பி நகரத்தில் இந்துகோவில் நிர்மாணம்
இங்கிலாந்து டெர்பி நகரத்தில் இந்துகோவில் நிர்மாணத்திற்கு என்று ஊர்வலமாக விக்கிரகங்கள் எடுத்துச்செல்லப்பட்டன.
அனைவரும்கலந்துகொண்டு சிறப்பித்தனர்.
வாழ்க வளமுடன்
Parade to install Hindu statues
Hundreds of people have paraded through the streets of Derby as part of a religious ceremony to install statues at a Hindu temple.
Fourteen marble icons were unveiled at the Geeta Bhawan temple in Pear Tree on Sunday.
Prem Shukla, an executive member at the temple, said he was proud that the building is being used by Hindus from different backgrounds.
He said: "I will be dancing barefoot come rain, snow or whatever."
He added: " It will will be something different like you've never seen in your life.
"The ladies and gentlemen will be dancing away"
அனைவரும்கலந்துகொண்டு சிறப்பித்தனர்.
வாழ்க வளமுடன்
Parade to install Hindu statues
Hundreds of people have paraded through the streets of Derby as part of a religious ceremony to install statues at a Hindu temple.
Fourteen marble icons were unveiled at the Geeta Bhawan temple in Pear Tree on Sunday.
Prem Shukla, an executive member at the temple, said he was proud that the building is being used by Hindus from different backgrounds.
He said: "I will be dancing barefoot come rain, snow or whatever."
He added: " It will will be something different like you've never seen in your life.
"The ladies and gentlemen will be dancing away"
பாகிஸ்தானில் இந்துக்கோவில் முஸ்லீம் ரவுடிகளால் ஆக்கிரமிப்பு
Hindu temple allegedly occupied by land-grabbers
Staff Report
KARACHI: The caretaker of the seven centuries old Shiva Temple in Gujarat Colony, near Islamia College on Jail Chorangi Road, Jamshed town, has alleged that influential builders have occupied the temple’s land.
Ashok Kumar, the young caretaker of the Shiva Temple, said that, in the past, the temple was spread over two acres of land, which was now occupied by influential builders, leaving just a small piece of land for the temple.
Elderly Baalchand Kangrani, a pundit of the temple said that he shifted to the temple with his family in 1999. “The temple was in a deplorable condition as an angry mob had attacked it in reaction to the demolishing of the Babri Masjid in India by Hindu extremists in 1992,” said Kangrani, adding that the local Hindus donated for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the temple.
The temple’s records reveals that it was built in the late 1930s and the foundation stone on the main gate states that in 1943, a famous jeweler of the city, Seth Shivjibhai Thakursibhai and his son Soni Hirjibhai Shivjibhai JP sponsored a compound wall and the tiles of the temple.
The temple has a vast courtyard which the Hindus use for worship and religious programmes. According to Kumar, the temple committee has approached different ministers for help in reclaiming the temple’s land but even the Hindu ministers refused to help. The caretaker claimed that the builders have occupied the temple’s land with the support of Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla’s father and former politician Bhagwandas Chawla.
“In the past, we requested Bhagwandas to help the temple committee so that the temple’s land could be saved. We even gave him the necessary details and documents, however, since then we have not seen him and later heard that an influential builder paid him a heavy sum of money for permission to use the land,” said Kumar.
When this scribe contacted the excise minister to get his version of the story, he rejected the allegation. “It is a false and baseless allegation and if the caretaker can prove the allegations I will personally help obtain the land,” said Chawla.
Staff Report
KARACHI: The caretaker of the seven centuries old Shiva Temple in Gujarat Colony, near Islamia College on Jail Chorangi Road, Jamshed town, has alleged that influential builders have occupied the temple’s land.
Ashok Kumar, the young caretaker of the Shiva Temple, said that, in the past, the temple was spread over two acres of land, which was now occupied by influential builders, leaving just a small piece of land for the temple.
Elderly Baalchand Kangrani, a pundit of the temple said that he shifted to the temple with his family in 1999. “The temple was in a deplorable condition as an angry mob had attacked it in reaction to the demolishing of the Babri Masjid in India by Hindu extremists in 1992,” said Kangrani, adding that the local Hindus donated for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the temple.
The temple’s records reveals that it was built in the late 1930s and the foundation stone on the main gate states that in 1943, a famous jeweler of the city, Seth Shivjibhai Thakursibhai and his son Soni Hirjibhai Shivjibhai JP sponsored a compound wall and the tiles of the temple.
The temple has a vast courtyard which the Hindus use for worship and religious programmes. According to Kumar, the temple committee has approached different ministers for help in reclaiming the temple’s land but even the Hindu ministers refused to help. The caretaker claimed that the builders have occupied the temple’s land with the support of Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla’s father and former politician Bhagwandas Chawla.
“In the past, we requested Bhagwandas to help the temple committee so that the temple’s land could be saved. We even gave him the necessary details and documents, however, since then we have not seen him and later heard that an influential builder paid him a heavy sum of money for permission to use the land,” said Kumar.
When this scribe contacted the excise minister to get his version of the story, he rejected the allegation. “It is a false and baseless allegation and if the caretaker can prove the allegations I will personally help obtain the land,” said Chawla.
சிறுமியை கற்பழித்த இமாமுக்கு சிறை
போஸ்னியாவில் ஒரு சிறுமியை தொடர்ந்து கற்பழித்த இரு இஸ்லாமிய இமாமுக்கு ஒன்றரை வருடம் சிறைத்தண்டனை வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
Bosnian court sends imam to jail for pedophilia
Associated Press
2009-02-13 09:44 PM Fonts Size:
A court in central Bosnia has sent a Muslim cleric to jail for 1 1/2 years for sexually abusing a teenage girl.
Reading the verdict Friday, Travnik municipal court judge Suada Kahric said imam Resad Omerhodzic was found guilty of abusing the girl in 2004 during religion class in the village of Gluha Bukovica, 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Sarajevo.
The imam's lawyer says his client is innocent and will appeal.
The case divided the village which _ apart from the girl's numerous family members _ largely supports the imam. Some villagers claim the girl's family wanted revenge because the imam refused to name their cousin to the village Muslim community council.
It was the first pedophilia trial involving a religious figure in Bosnia.
Bosnian court sends imam to jail for pedophilia
Associated Press
2009-02-13 09:44 PM Fonts Size:
A court in central Bosnia has sent a Muslim cleric to jail for 1 1/2 years for sexually abusing a teenage girl.
Reading the verdict Friday, Travnik municipal court judge Suada Kahric said imam Resad Omerhodzic was found guilty of abusing the girl in 2004 during religion class in the village of Gluha Bukovica, 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Sarajevo.
The imam's lawyer says his client is innocent and will appeal.
The case divided the village which _ apart from the girl's numerous family members _ largely supports the imam. Some villagers claim the girl's family wanted revenge because the imam refused to name their cousin to the village Muslim community council.
It was the first pedophilia trial involving a religious figure in Bosnia.
இளைஞர்களிடம் கிறிஸ்துவ போதனை செய்த பாஸ்டர் மீது 26 பாலுறவு பலாத்கார வழக்குகள்
நான்கு சிறுவர்களிடம் பாலுறவு பலாத்காரம் செய்த கிறிஸ்துவ பாஸ்டர் மீது வழக்கு தொடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
கிறிஸ்துவர்களிடம் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருங்கள். குழந்தைகளிடம் அவர்கள் நெருங்க அனுமதிக்காதீர்கள்.
விஷத்தின் மீது இனிப்பு தடவி பேசுவதை கண்டுகொள்ளுங்கள்.
ஜாக்கிரதை
Youth Pastor Indicted On 26 Counts Of Sexual Battery
originally posted on: 2/18/2009 1:45:32 PM
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Richland County Assistant Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page says the new case involves unlawful contact with four victims.
.
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A former youth pastor of Grace Brethren Church on Marion Ave. in Mansfield has been indicted on 26 counts of sexual battery by the Richland County Grand Jury.
John Picard, 41, was indicted last year on 16 counts of sexual battery of two teenage parishioners.
Richland County Assistant Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page says the new case involves unlawful contact with four victims.
Couch-Page says the incidents range from as far back as Dec. 31, 1993 to March 31, 2008.
She says this has been an on-going investigation for a number of years and more information continues to come in which led to the new charges.
Picard posted bond in his previous case and was arrested last week on the new charges.
If convicted on all counts he could face up 210 years in prison.
The grand jury also indicted Jasen Hicks, 37, of Mansfield on 10 counts of rape, 10 counts of sexual battery and 10 counts of gross sexual imposition.
Couch-Page says five of the rape counts relate to alleged acts involving a female under the age of 13. The other rape counts happened after the victim turned 13.
கிறிஸ்துவர்களிடம் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருங்கள். குழந்தைகளிடம் அவர்கள் நெருங்க அனுமதிக்காதீர்கள்.
விஷத்தின் மீது இனிப்பு தடவி பேசுவதை கண்டுகொள்ளுங்கள்.
ஜாக்கிரதை
Youth Pastor Indicted On 26 Counts Of Sexual Battery
originally posted on: 2/18/2009 1:45:32 PM
del.icio.us Digg reddit
Richland County Assistant Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page says the new case involves unlawful contact with four victims.
.
.
A former youth pastor of Grace Brethren Church on Marion Ave. in Mansfield has been indicted on 26 counts of sexual battery by the Richland County Grand Jury.
John Picard, 41, was indicted last year on 16 counts of sexual battery of two teenage parishioners.
Richland County Assistant Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page says the new case involves unlawful contact with four victims.
Couch-Page says the incidents range from as far back as Dec. 31, 1993 to March 31, 2008.
She says this has been an on-going investigation for a number of years and more information continues to come in which led to the new charges.
Picard posted bond in his previous case and was arrested last week on the new charges.
If convicted on all counts he could face up 210 years in prison.
The grand jury also indicted Jasen Hicks, 37, of Mansfield on 10 counts of rape, 10 counts of sexual battery and 10 counts of gross sexual imposition.
Couch-Page says five of the rape counts relate to alleged acts involving a female under the age of 13. The other rape counts happened after the victim turned 13.
11 வயது பெண்ணை கற்பழிக்க முயன்ற கிறிஸ்துவ பாஸ்டருக்கு 2 ஆண்டு சிறை
11 வயது பெண்ணை கற்பழிக்க முயன்ற கிறிஸ்துவ பாஸ்டருக்கு 2 ஆண்டு சிறை வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
கிறிஸ்துவ பாதிரிகளிடமும் பாஸ்டர்களிடமும் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருங்கள். குழந்தைகளிடம் அவர்கள் நெருங்க விடாதீர்கள்.
Pastor gets 2 years in jail in abuse case
The Salt Lake Tribune
Posted: 02/19/2009 12:15:02 AM MST
St. George » A pastor who taught at a Christian school in southern Utah has been sentenced to two years in jail for two counts of attempted sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl.
Gabriel Carlin, 35, operated the East Harbor Christian Academy.
Carlin was charged in 2006 with four counts of aggravated child sex abuse. In a plea deal the charges were dropped to two counts of attempted sexual abuse of a child.
The girl attended the school and Carlin also knew her and her family through the Living Faith Community Church. She is now 14.
Fifth District Judge Eric Ludlow on Tuesday sentenced Carlin to two consecutive years in the Purgatory Correctional Facility and ordered three years of probation.
The Associated Press
கிறிஸ்துவ பாதிரிகளிடமும் பாஸ்டர்களிடமும் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருங்கள். குழந்தைகளிடம் அவர்கள் நெருங்க விடாதீர்கள்.
Pastor gets 2 years in jail in abuse case
The Salt Lake Tribune
Posted: 02/19/2009 12:15:02 AM MST
St. George » A pastor who taught at a Christian school in southern Utah has been sentenced to two years in jail for two counts of attempted sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl.
Gabriel Carlin, 35, operated the East Harbor Christian Academy.
Carlin was charged in 2006 with four counts of aggravated child sex abuse. In a plea deal the charges were dropped to two counts of attempted sexual abuse of a child.
The girl attended the school and Carlin also knew her and her family through the Living Faith Community Church. She is now 14.
Fifth District Judge Eric Ludlow on Tuesday sentenced Carlin to two consecutive years in the Purgatory Correctional Facility and ordered three years of probation.
The Associated Press
ஆறு பெண்களை கற்பழித்த கிறிஸ்துவ பாஸ்டர் மீது வழக்கு
டேல் கிரிப்பின் என்ற கிறிஸ்துவ பாஸ்டர் மீது கற்பழிப்பு வழக்கு தொடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
ஒவ்வொரு குற்றத்துக்கும் 10 வருடங்கள் தண்டனை உண்டு.
கிறிஸ்துவர்களிடம் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருங்கள். குழந்தைகளை நெருங்க விடாதீர்கள்.
Pastor Giffin faces 6 rape chargesE-mail iPod Print ShareThisPublished: Friday, February 20, 2009
By Peter H. Milliken
The former Cornersburg clergyman used his authority to take advantage of the woman, a prosecutor alleges.
YOUNGSTOWN — Dale Giffin, who resigned as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Cornersburg last fall, has been indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury on six counts of rape.
The indictment, returned Thursday, alleges Giffin, 59, of Topaz Circle, Canfield, raped a parishioner while she was a young adult between 1993 and 1996. The reported offenses occurred in various places, including Giffin’s office, the Canfield Road church basement and sacristy, and in Giffin’s car and residence.
Giffin could not be reached to comment late Thursday.
Each rape count is a first-degree felony, carrying three to 10 years in prison upon conviction. That means Giffin could serve anywhere between three and 60 years in prison if he’s convicted of all counts, depending on whether the sentences are minimum or maximum, or in between, or concurrent or consecutive.
Dawn Cantalamessa, assistant county prosecutor, said the pastor sexually abused the parishioner beginning when she was 15. “He had groomed her from the time she was a minor,” the prosecutor said.
Because the statute of limitations then in effect has expired, however, the charges in the indictment pertain only to crimes allegedly committed during the accuser’s young adulthood, the prosecutor explained.
The accuser, now residing outside Ohio, turned 18 in 1989, and she came forward with the charges in August 2008, the prosecutor noted.
“He was seen as her authority figure. She was from a broken home. She considered him like her dad,” Cantalamessa said. “He used his status and his position with the church to take advantage of this young girl.”
Giffin gave her a summer job at the church, helped her get into college, and got her a job when she graduated, Cantalamessa said.
The case was investigated for four months by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department, said Lenny Sliwinski, commander of the department’s headquarters division.
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, leader of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, said in a statement: “I’m aware that Dale Giffin has been indicted by the grand jury on six rape charges. In November of 2008, Mr. Giffin resigned his call as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church ,and he also resigned as a pastor in the ELCA.
“Prior to that, I had been in conversation with Mr. Giffin concerning allegations of sexual misconduct against him that were brought to my attention by several women. He did not admit any misconduct to me but he nevertheless resigned.
“The Northeast Ohio Synod does not tolerate sexual abuse or sexual misconduct of any kind. During and since that time, I have been in conversations with leaders of Zion Lutheran Church about this situation. The Northeast Ohio Synod has continued to provide care and support to the congregation. I pray that those who have been affected by this situation will be comforted by God’s grace and healing presence.
“During this time, I ask for prayers for Zion Lutheran Church, the women and their families and for Dale Giffin and his family.”
Bishop Eaton said he resigned Nov. 16 from the church and also resigned from the clergy roster of the ELCA, though he was not asked by her to do so.
“This is very difficult for the congregation,” Bishop Eaton said. “This pastor was there for nearly 30 years ... that makes this all the more devastating because he held a position of trust.”
She noted that Giffin was involved in significant building projects and ministries of the church.
Ron Novak of Canfield and his wife have attended Zion for nearly 15 years. “I had hoped that something would be done because of these allegations of misconduct and the fact that he was in charge of the day care and with scholarships. I don’t want this to happen someplace else,” Ron Novak said. “I’m relieved this wasn’t swept under the rug.”
Novak said some members of the congregation have questioned what was going on. “When we would question him [Giffin] about our concerns, we were told if we weren’t happy there to go somewhere else.” Novak said he does think some members left. Bishop Eaton said she had visited Zion Lutheran last week to check on how the church and its staff were doing. She previously had met with the congregation, staff and church council. “We are working on trying to find an interim pastor,” she said.
Bishop Eaton noted that even under good circumstances when a longtime pastor leaves, the congregation must adjust. “This congregation has experienced trauma and hurt. They need time to heal,” she said. “We want to find the best person” she said about assigning an interim pastor.
The synod staff said Zion Lutheran reported a baptized membership of 2,327. The pictorial directory for 2008 has some 200 photos and 593 names of members.
Bishop Eaton, who was elected in 2006, said that Linda Hilliard, pastor of spiritual growth and pastoral care, and Frank Gross, pastor of preaching and teaching at Zion, are fulfilling pastoral duties at the church in the interim.
ஒவ்வொரு குற்றத்துக்கும் 10 வருடங்கள் தண்டனை உண்டு.
கிறிஸ்துவர்களிடம் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருங்கள். குழந்தைகளை நெருங்க விடாதீர்கள்.
Pastor Giffin faces 6 rape chargesE-mail iPod Print ShareThisPublished: Friday, February 20, 2009
By Peter H. Milliken
The former Cornersburg clergyman used his authority to take advantage of the woman, a prosecutor alleges.
YOUNGSTOWN — Dale Giffin, who resigned as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Cornersburg last fall, has been indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury on six counts of rape.
The indictment, returned Thursday, alleges Giffin, 59, of Topaz Circle, Canfield, raped a parishioner while she was a young adult between 1993 and 1996. The reported offenses occurred in various places, including Giffin’s office, the Canfield Road church basement and sacristy, and in Giffin’s car and residence.
Giffin could not be reached to comment late Thursday.
Each rape count is a first-degree felony, carrying three to 10 years in prison upon conviction. That means Giffin could serve anywhere between three and 60 years in prison if he’s convicted of all counts, depending on whether the sentences are minimum or maximum, or in between, or concurrent or consecutive.
Dawn Cantalamessa, assistant county prosecutor, said the pastor sexually abused the parishioner beginning when she was 15. “He had groomed her from the time she was a minor,” the prosecutor said.
Because the statute of limitations then in effect has expired, however, the charges in the indictment pertain only to crimes allegedly committed during the accuser’s young adulthood, the prosecutor explained.
The accuser, now residing outside Ohio, turned 18 in 1989, and she came forward with the charges in August 2008, the prosecutor noted.
“He was seen as her authority figure. She was from a broken home. She considered him like her dad,” Cantalamessa said. “He used his status and his position with the church to take advantage of this young girl.”
Giffin gave her a summer job at the church, helped her get into college, and got her a job when she graduated, Cantalamessa said.
The case was investigated for four months by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department, said Lenny Sliwinski, commander of the department’s headquarters division.
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, leader of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, said in a statement: “I’m aware that Dale Giffin has been indicted by the grand jury on six rape charges. In November of 2008, Mr. Giffin resigned his call as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church ,and he also resigned as a pastor in the ELCA.
“Prior to that, I had been in conversation with Mr. Giffin concerning allegations of sexual misconduct against him that were brought to my attention by several women. He did not admit any misconduct to me but he nevertheless resigned.
“The Northeast Ohio Synod does not tolerate sexual abuse or sexual misconduct of any kind. During and since that time, I have been in conversations with leaders of Zion Lutheran Church about this situation. The Northeast Ohio Synod has continued to provide care and support to the congregation. I pray that those who have been affected by this situation will be comforted by God’s grace and healing presence.
“During this time, I ask for prayers for Zion Lutheran Church, the women and their families and for Dale Giffin and his family.”
Bishop Eaton said he resigned Nov. 16 from the church and also resigned from the clergy roster of the ELCA, though he was not asked by her to do so.
“This is very difficult for the congregation,” Bishop Eaton said. “This pastor was there for nearly 30 years ... that makes this all the more devastating because he held a position of trust.”
She noted that Giffin was involved in significant building projects and ministries of the church.
Ron Novak of Canfield and his wife have attended Zion for nearly 15 years. “I had hoped that something would be done because of these allegations of misconduct and the fact that he was in charge of the day care and with scholarships. I don’t want this to happen someplace else,” Ron Novak said. “I’m relieved this wasn’t swept under the rug.”
Novak said some members of the congregation have questioned what was going on. “When we would question him [Giffin] about our concerns, we were told if we weren’t happy there to go somewhere else.” Novak said he does think some members left. Bishop Eaton said she had visited Zion Lutheran last week to check on how the church and its staff were doing. She previously had met with the congregation, staff and church council. “We are working on trying to find an interim pastor,” she said.
Bishop Eaton noted that even under good circumstances when a longtime pastor leaves, the congregation must adjust. “This congregation has experienced trauma and hurt. They need time to heal,” she said. “We want to find the best person” she said about assigning an interim pastor.
The synod staff said Zion Lutheran reported a baptized membership of 2,327. The pictorial directory for 2008 has some 200 photos and 593 names of members.
Bishop Eaton, who was elected in 2006, said that Linda Hilliard, pastor of spiritual growth and pastoral care, and Frank Gross, pastor of preaching and teaching at Zion, are fulfilling pastoral duties at the church in the interim.
பரிதாபத்துக்குரிய கிறிஸ்துவ கன்யாஸ்திரிகள்
ஒரு கேரள கிறிஸ்துவ கன்யாஸ்திரி, கன்யாஸ்திரி மடங்களில் பாலுறவு பலாத்காரங்கள் நடப்பதையும் ஊழலையும் பற்றி புத்தகம் எழுதியுள்ளார்.
தமிழர்கள் கிறிஸ்துவர்களிடம் ஜாக்கிரதையாகவும் விலகியும் இருக்கும் படி கேட்டுக்கொள்கிறேன்.
ஏமாற வேண்டாம். குழந்தைகளை காப்பாற்றிக்கொள்ளுங்கள்.
Regional
Kerala nun alleges sexual harassment in convents
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): As a tell-all autobiography of a former nun revealing alleged sexual abuse threatened to embarass the Catholic church in Kerala, the woman herself said on Friday society has "every right" to know what is happening to Sisters.
In her memoirs in Malayalam titled "Amen" (so be it, said by Christians at the end of every prayer), 'Sister' Jesme alleged that harassment, sexual repression, exploitation of nuns by priests and clandestine same sex relations take place behind the closed doors of convents.
The Catholic Church is silent on the book and is yet to make its official response to the tell-all reminiscences of the 52-year-old Jesme holding they would react only after studying the book. But the book released two days ago is being lapped up and selling like hotcakes.
Narrating how deeply disappointed and disillusioned she is after choosing the religious vocation on her own volition at a very young age, Jesme exposes the power struggles in the 'dark confines' of convents she had lived for about 30 years and in corridors of church administration.
An English professor and later the Principal of a church-run college in Thrissur, Jesme quit the convent last year after what she said years of 'sufferings and struggles.' "I wanted an outlet for my experiences of my trauma...Society has every right to know what is happening to Sisters," Jesme said dismissing suggestions she has sensationalised issues to get cheap publicity.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
தமிழர்கள் கிறிஸ்துவர்களிடம் ஜாக்கிரதையாகவும் விலகியும் இருக்கும் படி கேட்டுக்கொள்கிறேன்.
ஏமாற வேண்டாம். குழந்தைகளை காப்பாற்றிக்கொள்ளுங்கள்.
Regional
Kerala nun alleges sexual harassment in convents
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): As a tell-all autobiography of a former nun revealing alleged sexual abuse threatened to embarass the Catholic church in Kerala, the woman herself said on Friday society has "every right" to know what is happening to Sisters.
In her memoirs in Malayalam titled "Amen" (so be it, said by Christians at the end of every prayer), 'Sister' Jesme alleged that harassment, sexual repression, exploitation of nuns by priests and clandestine same sex relations take place behind the closed doors of convents.
The Catholic Church is silent on the book and is yet to make its official response to the tell-all reminiscences of the 52-year-old Jesme holding they would react only after studying the book. But the book released two days ago is being lapped up and selling like hotcakes.
Narrating how deeply disappointed and disillusioned she is after choosing the religious vocation on her own volition at a very young age, Jesme exposes the power struggles in the 'dark confines' of convents she had lived for about 30 years and in corridors of church administration.
An English professor and later the Principal of a church-run college in Thrissur, Jesme quit the convent last year after what she said years of 'sufferings and struggles.' "I wanted an outlet for my experiences of my trauma...Society has every right to know what is happening to Sisters," Jesme said dismissing suggestions she has sensationalised issues to get cheap publicity.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, February 05, 2009
இலங்கை சுதந்திர நாளுக்கு அமெரிக்க ஜனாதிபதி பராக் ஒபாமா வாழ்த்துச்செய்தி
என்னத்தைச் சொல்ல?
The full text of President Obama’s letter follows:
Dear Mr. President:
As the people of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan origin around the world celebrate National Day on February 4, I send my warmest greetings and wishes to you on behalf of the people of the United States.
The United States values its enduring friendship with the people of Sri Lanka. I hope that the coming year will see advancement of our shared beliefs in democracy, liberty, pluralism, and respect for human rights. Our governments together can work to foster peace, prosperity, and stability throughout Sri Lanka.
As the people of Sri Lanka celebrate National Day, they should know that they have a friend and partner in the United States.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
The full text of President Obama’s letter follows:
Dear Mr. President:
As the people of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan origin around the world celebrate National Day on February 4, I send my warmest greetings and wishes to you on behalf of the people of the United States.
The United States values its enduring friendship with the people of Sri Lanka. I hope that the coming year will see advancement of our shared beliefs in democracy, liberty, pluralism, and respect for human rights. Our governments together can work to foster peace, prosperity, and stability throughout Sri Lanka.
As the people of Sri Lanka celebrate National Day, they should know that they have a friend and partner in the United States.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
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