Muslims continue protest against demolition of mosque in China

Agencies
August 11, 2018

Chinese state media has defended the planned demolition of a mosque in the country’s northwest, saying that no religion is bigger than the law even as thousands of ethnic Hui Muslims continued sit-in protests against the plan. Thousands of protesters thwarted attempts by officials in Wuzhong city on Thursday to demolish parts of the Weizhou Grand Mosque in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region for alleged violations during its recent renovation. The sit-in reportedly continued towards the weekend as the protesters stayed put in the mosque. They refused to leave and the appearance of large cooking stoves and large supplies of food and water last evening suggested many of them were in for the long haul, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

“The officials have not given us a clear answer. And we plan to carry on until the government makes it clear that it won’t make any changes to the mosque,” the Post quoted a protester as saying.

Chinese officials say the mosque authorities which carried out a renovation in 2015 made it look like a typical mosque from the Middle East and they want its “Arab style” domes to be replaced with Chinese style “pagodas”. This was deemed unacceptable by most members of the community.

“After taking down the domes, the mosque can no longer be an icon of Islam,” said a local man who declined to give his name. “Changing it to a traditional Chinese style is as incongruous as putting the mouth of a horse on the head of an ox,” he told the Post.

While there was no official reaction yet to the act of defiance by the Hui Muslim community, which unlike the Uygur Muslims from Xinjiang province, has a peaceful reputation, state media said no religion can be above the law.

“Chinese people enjoy religious freedom protected by the Constitution of China, the country under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). No religion shall have the privilege over laws and regulations of the country,” an op-ed in state-run Global Times said today.

“All religious activities should abide by the country’s laws and all religions shall be treated equally,” it said, adding that “to effectively solve the issue, local authorities need to stick to the law and take local people’s feelings and interests into consideration,” it said.

Blaming local officials for allowing the construction, the report said “they need to admit their mistakes and inform the area’s Muslims why it is necessary to take corrective actions in regard to the illegality of the ungranted (unapproved) expansion”.

“When an issue such as this does arise, it is important for Chinese citizens to uphold the authority of the government’s laws and to achieve unity in society. They should also be vigilant against the intervention of foreign forces,” it said.

According to an official white paper released in April, China has about 20 million Muslims with Uygurs and Hui Muslims making up about 10 million each.

China is currently carrying out a massive crackdown against the militant East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in the volatile Xinjiang province where the majority Uyghurs are restive over increasing settlements of Han Chinese. Compared to Uygurs who are of Turkic origin with ethnic ties to Turkey, Hui Muslims are ethnically Chinese in origin. Most of them speak Mandarin, and apart from the white caps and headscarves worn by the more traditional members of the ethnic group, they are indistinguishable from the majority Han Chinese.

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ABDUL AZIZ SHE…
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Sunday, 12 Aug 2018

ALLAHU AKBAR

 

HasbunAllahu wa nimal wakeel nimal maula nimal naseer

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News Network
June 23,2020

New Delhi, Jun 23: The meeting between Indian Army's 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh and his Chinese counterpart got over after around 11 hours, sources said.

"Today's meeting between the Corps Commander-level officers of India and China is over. The meeting which started at 11:30 am went on for around 11 hours. More details awaited," sources said.

The meeting started at around 11:30 am at Moldo on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Chushul to defuse the tensions in Eastern Ladakh sector due to Chinese military build-up, the sources said.

This is the second meeting between the two corps commanders. They had met on June 6 and had agreed to disengage at multiple locations. India had asked the Chinese side to go back to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC.

The Chinese side had not given any response to the Indian proposal and not even shown intent on the ground to withdraw troops from rear positions where they have amassed over 10,000 troops.

India is also likely to discuss the change in rules of engagement on the LAC where the forces have been empowered to use firearms in extraordinary circumstances, sources had said.

They said India will also ask China to honour the commitment given during June 6 talks to disengage in the Galwan valley completely and other places.

The build-up of Chinese air assets including strategic bombers by the PLA Air Force in fields near Indian territory close to Ladakh is also likely to figure in discussions.

India and China have been involved in talks to ease the ongoing border tensions since last month.

However, last week as many as 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the face-off in the Galwan Valley after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash.

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News Network
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday, staking claim to form the government in the national capital, sources said, while hinting that the AAP might not invite senior leaders and chief ministers of other parties for the oath-taking ceremony.

The sources said it was the formal process by the AAP chief, who was elected as the legislature party leader earlier in the day, to stake claim for forming the new government.

Kejriwal, who returned to power in Delhi with a stunning poll victory on Tuesday, will take oath as chief minister for the third consecutive time on February 16.

While the oath-taking ceremony will be open to the public, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was considering not inviting leaders and chief ministers of other parties as it did not wish to be seen as a "confrontationist" against the BJP-led Centre, the sources said.

They, however, added that the party was yet to take a decision on it.

The AAP has planned mobilisation of people for the mega event and all the newly-elected MLAs of the party have been asked to ensure huge participation from their constituencies.

"I request the people of Delhi to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the chief minister at the Ramlila Maidan in large numbers," senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia told reporters, adding that the ceremony will start at 10 am.

The AAP won 62 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged the remaining eight seats. The Congress drew a blank for the second consecutive time in the Delhi polls.

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Agencies
February 29,2020

Doha, Feb 29: The United States signed a landmark deal with the Taliban on Saturday, laying out a timetable for a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within 14 months as it seeks an exit from its longest-ever war.

President Donald Trump urged the Afghan people to embrace the chance for a new future, saying the deal held out the possibility of ending the 18-year conflict.

"If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home," he said on the eve of the event in Doha.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in the Qatari capital to witness the signing of the accord, while Defence Secretary Mark Esper was in Kabul for a separate joint declaration with the Afghan government.

The agreement is expected to lead to a dialogue between the Kabul government and the Taliban that, if successful, could ultimately see the Afghan war wind down.

But the position of the Afghan government, which has been excluded from direct US-Taliban talks, remains unclear and the country is gripped by a fresh political crisis amid contested election results.

The United States and its allies will withdraw all their forces from Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban abide by the Doha agreement, Washington and Kabul said in a joint statement.

After an initial reduction of troops to 8,600 within 135 days of Saturday's signing, the US and its partners "will complete the withdrawal of their remaining forces from Afghanistan within 14 months... and will withdraw all their forces from remaining bases", the declaration stated.

The Doha accord was drafted over a tempestuous year of dialogue marked by the abrupt cancellation of the effort by Trump in September.

The signing comes after a week-long, partial truce that has mostly held across Afghanistan, aimed at building confidence between the warring parties and showing the Taliban can control their forces.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg heralded the agreement as a "first step to lasting peace".

"The way to peace is long and hard. We have to be prepared for setbacks, spoilers, there is no easy way to peace but this is an important first step," the Norwegian former prime minister told reporters in Kabul.

Since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, America has spent more than $1 trillion in fighting and rebuilding in Afghanistan.

About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with unknown tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban fighters and Afghan civilians.

The insurgents said they had halted all hostilities Saturday in honour of the agreement.

"Since the deal is being signed today, and our people are happy and celebrating it, we have halted all our military operations across the country," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

Close to 30 nations were represented at Saturday's signing in the Qatari capital.

While Kabul will not be represented at the Doha ceremony, set for 1245 GMT, it will send a six-person taskforce to the Qatari capital to make initial contact with the Taliban political office, established in 2013.

Any insurgent pledge to guarantee Afghanistan is never again used by jihadist movements such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group to plot attacks abroad will be key to the deal's viability.

The Taliban's sheltering of Al-Qaeda was the main reason for the US invasion following the 9/11 attacks.

The group, which had risen to power in the 1990s in the chaos of civil war, suffered a swift defeat at the hands of the US and its allies. They retreated before re-emerging to lead a deadly insurgency against the new government in Kabul.

After the NATO combat mission ended in December 2014, the bulk of Western forces withdrew from the country, leaving it in an increasingly precarious position.

While Afghans are eager to see an end to the violence, experts say any prospective peace will depend on the outcome of talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government.

But with President Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah at loggerheads over contested election results, few expect the pair to present a united front, unlike the Taliban, who would then be in a position to take the upper hand in negotiations.

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