Irish singer, who raised voice against child abuse in Church, embraces Islam

coastaldigest.com web desk
October 26, 2018

Newsroom, Oct 26: Popular Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, who is best known for her 1990 hit version of the song Nothing Compares 2 U, has announced her conversion to Islam and said she has changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.

The 51-year-old has been posting selfies of herself wearing hijabs on Twitter in recent days, as well as a video in which she gave the Azan, or call to prayer.

She tweeted on October 19: "This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim. This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian's journey. All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant."

She again tweeted that she is "very, very happy," and apologized for mispronouncing some Arabic words during her recitation of the Azan.

She replaced her Twitter profile picture with a photo that reads "Wear a hijab just do it" alongside the Nike logo.

Controversy has followed her career. The singer ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II during a Saturday Night Live appearance in 1992 as a protest against the Catholic Church. Later she said in an interview with TIME that she was prompted to do so by the Catholic Church's record of child abuse.

In the late 1990s, she was ordained a priest by the Irish Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church, which is an independent Catholic group not in communion with the mainstream Catholic Church. The Catholic Church dismissed the ordination of the singer at the time as "bizarre and absurd."

In 2011, she again criticized the Catholic Church over the child sex abuse scandal, in an article for the Sunday Independent.

She dubbed the Vatican "a nest of devils," calling for the creation of an "alternative church'," and lamenting that "Christ is being murdered by liars" in the Vatican.

Pope Francis spoke during his visit to Ireland earlier this year of his shame over the "appalling crimes" of historic child abuse in the Catholic Church and said outrage was justified.

In 2015, the mother of four posted on her Facebook page that she had overdosed in the wake of a custody battle involving her youngest son and his father, Irish musician Donal Lunny. Police later said they had located O'Connor and she was "safe and sound."

The following year, O'Connor was reported missing in Chicago when she did not return from a bike ride, but police found her a day later.

Originally from Ireland, the singer has been a firm supporter of a united Ireland, under which the United Kingdom would relinquish control of Northern Ireland.

Although her embrace of Islam attracted criticism and anti-Islamic remarks, it was broadly welcomed by fellow Muslims online.

"Salaam (a greeting that means "peace") and keep up the good work," said Immy Khan. "You have 1.7 billion brothers and sisters now."

On October 25 Davitt tweeted: "Thank you so much to all my Muslim brothers and sisters who have been so kind as to welcome me to Ummah (the Muslim community) today on this page. You can't begin to imagine how much your tenderness means to me."

Comments

ABDUL AZIZ
 - 
Saturday, 27 Oct 2018

ALHAMDULILLAH,    welcome to a peacefull religion Islam,  Allah Amighty guides whoever he wishes .

zahoor ahmed
 - 
Saturday, 27 Oct 2018

All praises be to Allah, Who guides you to Islam.

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News Network
July 30,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 30: Karnataka reported 83 deaths and 6,128 new cases in the state on Thursday. With this, the total number of cases in the state stood at 1,18,632, the state health ministry said.

Currently, there are 69,700 active cases, while a total of 2,230 people have lost their lives due to the pandemic till now.

There are 15,83,792 confirmed cases across the country. Of them, 5,28,242 cases remain active. While 10,20,582 have recovered, 34,968 patients have lost their lives due to the pandemic.

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News Network
July 15,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 15: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has announced temporary halt of production at its plant in Bidadi, which is on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

“Halting production will be from July 14 (second shift) to July 22 (first shift) and this is in accordance with the directives issued by the Government of Karnataka as well as to support the Govt. in their constant efforts to flatten the curve of the rising Covid-19 positive cases in Karnataka,” a statement from the company said.

Bengaluru Urban and Rural, and other districts are, are under lockdown from 8 pm on July 14 to 5 am on July 22.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, TKM has adopted a very proactive and multi-faceted approach to safeguard the physical as well as the mental well-being of all its stakeholders including customers, its employees, dealer and supplier partners,” the company said.

“The office staff at TKM’s corporate and regional offices, continue to work from home to help mitigate risks. In addition to the safety protocols that are being followed, TKM has provided safety kits containing essential items like sanitisers, 3 ply masks and handwashes to 5000 employees, their family members and their neighbourhoods.

“TKM understands the urgency of the situation. During these difficult times, TKM is taking obligatory actions to contain further spread and will continue to respond in accordance with guidance issued by the Government and its internal standards,” it added.

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News Network
January 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 9: Some BJP workers created a ruckus on Wednesday at a college here while seeking support for the amended Citizenship Act by raising slogans like 'Go back to Pakistan' outside the campus on Wednesday, as girl students opposed a pro-CAA banner on the wall of their institution.

A video of the incident went viral on social media.

A group of BJP workers, supporters of local party leader M M Govindaraj, had put up a poster "India Supports CAA" on the wall of Jyothi Nivas College near Koramangala.

This was opposed by girl students, who said they would not allow any such poster to be put up on the college property.

The BJP workers then tried to shout down the students.

"You are not concerned about citizenship, you are concerned about yourself. You should be concerned about India first. You are not an Indian then," a BJP worker is heard screaming at the girls in the video.

They also questioned the students if they had valid reasons to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act and sought to know whether they wanted an argument or a debate.

The BJP workers purportedly told the girls that they were only the students of the college and not the owner.

"What's your problem madam with the CAA? Are you the owner of the college?" they asked.

Amid the heated argument, the BJP workers resorted to sloganeering like 'We want CAA' and "Go back to Pakistan', as seen in another video shot by the students.

BTM Layout Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy visited the college on Thursday after learning about the incident and spoke to its management.

Later, he told reporters that the campus should not be allowed for any political activities.

"Any signature campaign whether in favor or against it (CAA) should be done outside the campus," Reddy said.

He cautioned the pro-CAA protesters he will not let any violent incidents like the one at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi happen at the city college.

Reddy's daughter Sowmya Reddy, who is the Jayanagar MLA, tweeted, "A few videos & photos of outside #JyotiNivascollege are being circulated on social media."

"MLA Ramalinga Reddy & I have spoken to cops and the Prinicipal about this incident. Spoke to DCP South East Bengaluru and she said that Koramangala cops went there immediately & they are picketing even now," she added.

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