VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 174, March 13, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
EDITORIAL:
Volume 174, March 13, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
EDITORIAL:
Our primary focus on this issue is on the Congressional hearings on Islamic radicalism. If Islam is really a religion of peace, Muslims must learn to cope with difference of opinion by utilizing tools of peace. Expressing our viewpoint by peaceful demonstrations is one such tool.
The majority of both Muslims and Non-Muslims in America have one common enemy - the EXTREMISTS (of all faiths) who thrive in propagating hate, insecurity, fear and enjoy building their divisive tactic of "US versus THEM" approach. The element of the common humanity is deliberately pushed in the back burner.
It is time that all Americans including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Atheists and others team up together to work towards building PEACE, LOVE AND HARMONY.
The majority of both Muslims and Non-Muslims in America have one common enemy - the EXTREMISTS (of all faiths) who thrive in propagating hate, insecurity, fear and enjoy building their divisive tactic of "US versus THEM" approach. The element of the common humanity is deliberately pushed in the back burner.
It is time that all Americans including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Atheists and others team up together to work towards building PEACE, LOVE AND HARMONY.
To all Non-Muslim and Muslim brothers and sisters who participated in the recent rallies in New York, our hats off to you. KEEP UP THE SAME ZEAL AND SPIRIT. MAY ALLAH REWARD YOU.
PART I
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS: FAIR TO MUSLIMS ?
www.nytimes.com
By AKBAR AHMED
March 8, 2011
(condensed version)
By AKBAR AHMED
March 8, 2011
(condensed version)
MANY American Muslims are fearful and angry about the Congressional hearings on Islamic radicalism that will start Thursday, with some arguing that they are a mere provocation meant to incite bigotry.
But as a scholar, I view the hearings, to be led by Representative Peter T. King, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, as an opportunity to educate Americans about our community’s diversity and faith.
......Muslims should embrace the chance to explain their beliefs fully and clearly. We have nothing to hide. But members of Congress also need to act responsibly. They should avoid broad accusations, and be aware that the hearings will be closely followed worldwide. The actions of both groups will shape America’s relationship with Islam, and the relationship of American Muslims with their country.
To better understand the Muslim community and its attitudes toward American identity, I spent much of 2008 and 2009 traveling the United States. My research assistants and I visited 75 communities, from Dearborn, Michagan, to Arab, Ala., and 100 mosques around the country. We conducted hundreds of interviews, and compiled some 2,000 responses to a long questionnaire. We discovered that well before the debate last year over a proposed Islamic center in Lower Manhattan, American Muslims felt under siege. We heard heartbreaking stories: schoolchildren assaulted as “terrorists,” women wearing the hijab attacked, and mosques vandalized and firebombed.
Adding to their sense of being unfairly singled out were commentators in the news media talking as if it were open season on Muslims. Bill O’Reilly compared the Koran to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” and Tom Tancredo, a Republican who was then a congressman from Colorado, said the United States could respond to a future terrorist attack by bombing Mecca. But I also saw much to encourage me during my travels.
Muslims told me in the privacy of their homes that this country was “the best place in the world to be Muslim.”
A Nigerian in Houston said he placed Thomas Jefferson “at the top of my heart.” The bearded leader of a major Muslim organization called Jefferson, a defender of religious freedom, a role model.
In Paterson, N.J., an elderly woman from Cairo who got an education in America after her Egyptian husband deserted her told us, “America saved my life.” In the only mosque in the small city of Gadsden, Ala., we met a Muslim man who had lived in the area for decades and married a Christian woman. In a distinctively Southern accent, he summed up his identity as “Muslim by birth, Southern by the grace of God.”
The Muslim community in America is not a monolith. Very broadly, it comprises three groups: African-Americans (many of them converts), immigrants (largely from the Middle East and South Asia) and white converts.
And Muslims from every part of the world study and work in the United States. Yet the diversity of the Muslim community is frequently obscured by ignorance and mistrust. We were often asked by non-Muslims whether Muslims could be “good” Americans. The frequency with which this question was asked indicated the doubts that many harbored.
Too many Americans acknowledged that they knew virtually nothing about Islam and said they had never met a Muslim. Representative King, the New York Republican who has called the hearings, has raised the issue of Muslim cooperation with law enforcement agencies. On our journey, especially in mosques, we confronted an underlying unease and suspicion toward these agencies.
Frequently, even while we were being welcomed and honored, people would ask us with a nervous laugh whether we were working for the F.B.I. The community complained that crude attempts by the agencies to “study” them were both insulting and ineffective. They believed that thinly disguised informants who claimed to be converting to Islam were acting as provocateurs.
In a Texas mosque dominated by the Salafi school of thought — widely equated with religious fundamentalism — the congregants condemned terrorism. They complained that the agencies had used clumsy infiltrators instead of simply talking to congregants. “Homeland Security and F.B.I. put us under surveillance, asking people, ‘Where are the terrorists?’” one interviewee, a Salafi who professed nonviolence, told us. “We know exactly where they are!”
At times, we did see evidence of the kind of extremist beliefs the hearing is intended to scrutinize. In one of the first mosques we visited in the Midwest, after I gave a talk advocating interfaith dialogue, I was accosted by members of the congregation who vehemently disagreed and dismissed my fieldwork because I had “white kids” with me. Later we learned that these men had threatened and assaulted other congregants who did not agree with them.
In our review of cases involving radicalized American Muslims, we learned that many homegrown terrorists said their actions were grounded in American foreign policy, particularly when it resulted in the deaths of women and children, rather than in their interpretations of Koranic precepts. In public statements, they expressed anger about American military and intelligence intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.
For example, Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant who confessed to the attempted car bombing in Times Square last May, was motivated by a desire to avenge drone strikes in his native province. If a civil, respectful level of discussion and debate is not maintained in these hearings, and if a demonization of Muslims results, the news coverage in the Muslim world could feed into the high levels of anti-Americanism in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This would play against the interests of American diplomats and troops in Muslim nations who have advocated the winning of Muslim hearts and minds. To better inform the public debate, Representative King should invite religious and social leaders who have credibility in their communities. Equally important, he should include scholars who could present empirical findings and analysis with neutrality and integrity. Unfortunately, some of the names who have been associated with the hearings so far have neither research nor credibility to support them.
At the same time, Muslims must realize that to be truly accepted as “good” Americans, they need to more explicitly embrace American identity, culture and history — from political debates like Representative King’s hearing to the ideals of this country’s founders. America, in turn, must realize its best aspirations by better understanding Islam. No appreciation of the founders is complete without an acknowledgment of their truly pluralist vision.
But as a scholar, I view the hearings, to be led by Representative Peter T. King, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, as an opportunity to educate Americans about our community’s diversity and faith.
......Muslims should embrace the chance to explain their beliefs fully and clearly. We have nothing to hide. But members of Congress also need to act responsibly. They should avoid broad accusations, and be aware that the hearings will be closely followed worldwide. The actions of both groups will shape America’s relationship with Islam, and the relationship of American Muslims with their country.
To better understand the Muslim community and its attitudes toward American identity, I spent much of 2008 and 2009 traveling the United States. My research assistants and I visited 75 communities, from Dearborn, Michagan, to Arab, Ala., and 100 mosques around the country. We conducted hundreds of interviews, and compiled some 2,000 responses to a long questionnaire. We discovered that well before the debate last year over a proposed Islamic center in Lower Manhattan, American Muslims felt under siege. We heard heartbreaking stories: schoolchildren assaulted as “terrorists,” women wearing the hijab attacked, and mosques vandalized and firebombed.
Adding to their sense of being unfairly singled out were commentators in the news media talking as if it were open season on Muslims. Bill O’Reilly compared the Koran to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” and Tom Tancredo, a Republican who was then a congressman from Colorado, said the United States could respond to a future terrorist attack by bombing Mecca. But I also saw much to encourage me during my travels.
Muslims told me in the privacy of their homes that this country was “the best place in the world to be Muslim.”
A Nigerian in Houston said he placed Thomas Jefferson “at the top of my heart.” The bearded leader of a major Muslim organization called Jefferson, a defender of religious freedom, a role model.
In Paterson, N.J., an elderly woman from Cairo who got an education in America after her Egyptian husband deserted her told us, “America saved my life.” In the only mosque in the small city of Gadsden, Ala., we met a Muslim man who had lived in the area for decades and married a Christian woman. In a distinctively Southern accent, he summed up his identity as “Muslim by birth, Southern by the grace of God.”
The Muslim community in America is not a monolith. Very broadly, it comprises three groups: African-Americans (many of them converts), immigrants (largely from the Middle East and South Asia) and white converts.
And Muslims from every part of the world study and work in the United States. Yet the diversity of the Muslim community is frequently obscured by ignorance and mistrust. We were often asked by non-Muslims whether Muslims could be “good” Americans. The frequency with which this question was asked indicated the doubts that many harbored.
Too many Americans acknowledged that they knew virtually nothing about Islam and said they had never met a Muslim. Representative King, the New York Republican who has called the hearings, has raised the issue of Muslim cooperation with law enforcement agencies. On our journey, especially in mosques, we confronted an underlying unease and suspicion toward these agencies.
Frequently, even while we were being welcomed and honored, people would ask us with a nervous laugh whether we were working for the F.B.I. The community complained that crude attempts by the agencies to “study” them were both insulting and ineffective. They believed that thinly disguised informants who claimed to be converting to Islam were acting as provocateurs.
In a Texas mosque dominated by the Salafi school of thought — widely equated with religious fundamentalism — the congregants condemned terrorism. They complained that the agencies had used clumsy infiltrators instead of simply talking to congregants. “Homeland Security and F.B.I. put us under surveillance, asking people, ‘Where are the terrorists?’” one interviewee, a Salafi who professed nonviolence, told us. “We know exactly where they are!”
At times, we did see evidence of the kind of extremist beliefs the hearing is intended to scrutinize. In one of the first mosques we visited in the Midwest, after I gave a talk advocating interfaith dialogue, I was accosted by members of the congregation who vehemently disagreed and dismissed my fieldwork because I had “white kids” with me. Later we learned that these men had threatened and assaulted other congregants who did not agree with them.
In our review of cases involving radicalized American Muslims, we learned that many homegrown terrorists said their actions were grounded in American foreign policy, particularly when it resulted in the deaths of women and children, rather than in their interpretations of Koranic precepts. In public statements, they expressed anger about American military and intelligence intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.
For example, Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant who confessed to the attempted car bombing in Times Square last May, was motivated by a desire to avenge drone strikes in his native province. If a civil, respectful level of discussion and debate is not maintained in these hearings, and if a demonization of Muslims results, the news coverage in the Muslim world could feed into the high levels of anti-Americanism in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This would play against the interests of American diplomats and troops in Muslim nations who have advocated the winning of Muslim hearts and minds. To better inform the public debate, Representative King should invite religious and social leaders who have credibility in their communities. Equally important, he should include scholars who could present empirical findings and analysis with neutrality and integrity. Unfortunately, some of the names who have been associated with the hearings so far have neither research nor credibility to support them.
At the same time, Muslims must realize that to be truly accepted as “good” Americans, they need to more explicitly embrace American identity, culture and history — from political debates like Representative King’s hearing to the ideals of this country’s founders. America, in turn, must realize its best aspirations by better understanding Islam. No appreciation of the founders is complete without an acknowledgment of their truly pluralist vision.
A PICTURE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS
(All pictures below are from www.news.yahoo.photos.com)
(All pictures below are from www.news.yahoo.photos.com)
Zienib Noori, 20, of Albany, NY listens to a speaker at the "Today, I Am A Muslim, Too" rally in New York City March 6, 2011. The rally was heldin response to the upcoming Congressional hearings led by Peter King (R-LI) to protest the targeting of American Muslims and Arabs. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
A girl shows her palm to display the message, "Peace!" at the "Today, I Am A Muslim, Too" rally in New York City, March 6, 2011. Therally was held in response to the upcoming Congressional hearings led by Peter King (R-LI) to protest the targeting of American Muslims and Arabs. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
Protesters gather at the 'Today, I Am A Muslim, Too' rally to protest against a planned congressional hearing on the role of Muslims in homegrown terrorism, Sunday, March 6, 2011 in New York. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., says affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalizing some American Muslims and that he plans to hold hearings on the threat they pose to the U.S. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
Zarif Hasan, 15, (L) attends the "Today, I Am A Muslim, Too" rally in New York City March 6, 2011. The rally was held in response to the upcoming Congressional hearings led by Peter King (R-LI) to protest the targeting of American Muslims and Arabs. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
Mark Lukens, a pastor at Bethany Congregational Church, holds a sign at the "Today, I Am A Muslim, Too" rally in New York City March 6, 2011. The rally was held in response to the upcoming Congressional hearings led by Peter King (R-LI) to protest the targeting of American Muslims and Arabs. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
A protester holds up a sign at the 'Today, I Am A Muslim, Too' rally to protest against a planned congressional hearing on the role of Muslims in homegrown terrorism, Sunday, March 6, 2011 in New York. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., says affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalizing some American Muslims and that he plans to hold hearings on the threat they pose to the U.S. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
Muslim women look at a man in a T-shirt (R) showing his opposition to the proposal of building a mosque near the World Trade Center site, near the "Today,I Am A Muslim, Too" rally in New York City March 6, 2011. The rally was held in response to the upcoming Congressional hearings led by Peter King (R-LI) to protest the targeting of American Muslims and Arabs. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
People attend the "Today, I Am A Muslim, Too" rally in New York City March 6, 2011. The rally was held in response to the upcoming Congressional hearings led by Peter King (R-LI) to protest the targeting of American Muslims and Arabs. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the co-founder of a project to develop a Muslim center near ground zero, addresses the 'Today, I Am A Muslim, Too' rally to protest against a planned congressional hearing on the role of Muslims in homegrown terrorism, Sunday, March 6, 2011 in New York. Republican congressman Peter King, chairman of the House Home land Security Committee, says affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalizing some American Muslims and that he plans to hold hearings on the threat they pose to the U.S. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons speaks at the "Today, I Am A Muslim, Too" rally in New York City March 6, 2011. The rally was held in response to the upcoming Congressional hearings led by Peter King (R-LI) to protest the targeting of American Muslims and Arabs. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
Zuhdi Jasser, founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, testifies during a hearing on "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response" on Capitol Hill in Washington March 10, 2011. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
A key US congressional panel will hold a hearing March 10 into the radicalization of US Muslims, even as some lawmakers charge the goal is to tar an entirepopulation as possible extremists. The House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee hearing has drawn heavy fire since its chairman Republican Representative Peter King, pictured in 2010, announced general plans to hold the event. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Spencer Platt)
Protesters gather at the 'Today, I Am A Muslim, Too' rally to protest against a planned congressional hearing on the role of Muslims in homegrown terrorism,Sunday, March 6, 2011 in New York. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., says affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalizing some American Muslims and that he plans to hold hearings on the threat they pose to the U.S. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
A protester holds up a sign at the 'Today, I Am A Muslim, Too' rally to protest against a planned congressional hearing on the role of Muslims in homegrownterrorism, Sunday, March 6, 2011 in New York. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., says affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalizing some American Muslims and that he plans to hold hearings on the threat they pose to the U.S. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana, one of two Muslims in Congress, addresses the 'Today, I Am A Muslim, Too' rally to protest against a planned congressionalhearing on the role of Muslims in homegrown terrorism, Sunday, March 6, 2011 in New York. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., says affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalizing some American Muslims and that he plans to hold hearings on the threat they pose to the U.S. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
PART II
By Anika Rahman
Ms. Foundation for Women
March 9, 2011
www.rhrealitycheck.org
(condensed version)
International Women’s Day:
Miles to Walk, in the US and Across the Seas
Miles to Walk, in the US and Across the Seas
By Anika Rahman
Ms. Foundation for Women
March 9, 2011
www.rhrealitycheck.org
(condensed version)
2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day -- a day for the celebration of women worldwide. In 25 nations (including China, Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia), the day has become a national holiday, a time not only to cheer for women's advances, but also to reflect upon the many global inequalities women still face.
Did you know, for example, that over the last 20 years, deaths from pregnancy and childbirth in the United States have doubled? And need we remind you that this is taking place in a nation that spends more than any other country in the world on health care?
And how do we compare to the rest of the world? Global statistics tell a striking story of just how poorly the US performs when it comes to promoting women’s well-being.
Among 42 countries with “high human development” levels, the US currently ranks 37th -- in the bottom five of such countries -- in terms of gender equality according to the United Nations’ 2010 Human Development Report.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, which analyzes rates of economic opportunity and participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, puts the US in 19th place globally. That means women in America fare worse, by some measures, than our sisters in nations like Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Philippines, not to mention much of Western Europe and all of Scandinavia.
The bad news continues. The US currently ranks last among the 11 industrialized nations who are members of the Group of 10 in terms of both infant and maternal mortality rates.
Our current gender wage gap of 19 cents places the US 64th in the world.
And we rank 73rd in terms of women's political leadership, falling behind nations like Rwanda, Uganda and Pakistan, and tying with Bosnia.
Frankly, it doesn't matter what list you turn to, or how you spin the data: check any of the published rankings of global inequality from a gendered perspective and nowhere will you see the US ranked in the top ten of nations closing the gender gap. Nowhere.
On this 100th International Women's Day, we stand with all women and girls -- down the street and around the world -- to cheer our wins and inspire us all to further action. We have come a long way… but we've got miles to walk, here in America and across the seas.
Did you know, for example, that over the last 20 years, deaths from pregnancy and childbirth in the United States have doubled? And need we remind you that this is taking place in a nation that spends more than any other country in the world on health care?
And how do we compare to the rest of the world? Global statistics tell a striking story of just how poorly the US performs when it comes to promoting women’s well-being.
Among 42 countries with “high human development” levels, the US currently ranks 37th -- in the bottom five of such countries -- in terms of gender equality according to the United Nations’ 2010 Human Development Report.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, which analyzes rates of economic opportunity and participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, puts the US in 19th place globally. That means women in America fare worse, by some measures, than our sisters in nations like Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Philippines, not to mention much of Western Europe and all of Scandinavia.
The bad news continues. The US currently ranks last among the 11 industrialized nations who are members of the Group of 10 in terms of both infant and maternal mortality rates.
Our current gender wage gap of 19 cents places the US 64th in the world.
And we rank 73rd in terms of women's political leadership, falling behind nations like Rwanda, Uganda and Pakistan, and tying with Bosnia.
Frankly, it doesn't matter what list you turn to, or how you spin the data: check any of the published rankings of global inequality from a gendered perspective and nowhere will you see the US ranked in the top ten of nations closing the gender gap. Nowhere.
On this 100th International Women's Day, we stand with all women and girls -- down the street and around the world -- to cheer our wins and inspire us all to further action. We have come a long way… but we've got miles to walk, here in America and across the seas.
PART III:
(ED NOTE:
An important aspect in Islam is to fight for issues relating to social injustice. For those Muslims who have voluntarily freezed themselves solely in the ritualistic and spiritual aspects, we humbly appeal for them to socially defrost themselves and join the forces in the world that are actively working towards fighting injustice. We believe that Amnesty International is doing a great job to fight injustice and encourage others to support their cause)
SUPPORT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
"Sidelined in Egypt. Used as a bargaining chip in Afghanistan. Tortured in Zimbabwe. Have things really changed for women?
Become a member of Amnesty and demand fundamental human rights for women.
They stand bravely – before tanks and guns – to demand an end to political repression. They suffer harassment, abuse, rape and murder when they campaign for equal rights.
They do two thirds of the world’s work and produce 80 percent of the food in developing countries.
And still no seat at the table for women?
From Egypt to Afghanistan, whether their countries are engulfed in turmoil or in the process of forming new governments, women are in danger of being sidelined and silenced – again.
Respect and support women’s rights by becoming a member of Amnesty International.
Millions have taken to the streets throughout the Middle East and North Africa calling for change. Both women and men have suffered under repressive governments, but women face discriminatory laws and deeply entrenched gender inequality.
Take Egypt - not one woman was named to the national committee writing the new Egyptian constitution, despite the essential role women played in the protests that led to President Mubarak’s resignation.
Although the international community has agreed time and time again that women’s inequality is not acceptable, governments have a track record of abandoning women’s rights when it seems convenient to do so.
The same governments who claim to be supporters of women’s rights seemed all too willing to trade away women’s rights in negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, or forge alliances with militia in Iraq that attack and kill women’s rights activists. In Russia, the Philippines, Mexico and Nepal, women campaigning for change have recently been murdered for speaking out.
This is not acceptable.
Women’s inequality must end – it is a problem that we as human rights activists have the power to change. Amnesty is and always has been committed to defending women’s rights as human rights. Will you become a member today help us win this fight?
For there to be lasting and just peace, women must be at the table as full partners. Your support today will help Amnesty campaign to ensure that that happens".
Become a member of Amnesty and demand fundamental human rights for women.
They stand bravely – before tanks and guns – to demand an end to political repression. They suffer harassment, abuse, rape and murder when they campaign for equal rights.
They do two thirds of the world’s work and produce 80 percent of the food in developing countries.
And still no seat at the table for women?
From Egypt to Afghanistan, whether their countries are engulfed in turmoil or in the process of forming new governments, women are in danger of being sidelined and silenced – again.
Respect and support women’s rights by becoming a member of Amnesty International.
Millions have taken to the streets throughout the Middle East and North Africa calling for change. Both women and men have suffered under repressive governments, but women face discriminatory laws and deeply entrenched gender inequality.
Take Egypt - not one woman was named to the national committee writing the new Egyptian constitution, despite the essential role women played in the protests that led to President Mubarak’s resignation.
Although the international community has agreed time and time again that women’s inequality is not acceptable, governments have a track record of abandoning women’s rights when it seems convenient to do so.
The same governments who claim to be supporters of women’s rights seemed all too willing to trade away women’s rights in negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, or forge alliances with militia in Iraq that attack and kill women’s rights activists. In Russia, the Philippines, Mexico and Nepal, women campaigning for change have recently been murdered for speaking out.
This is not acceptable.
Women’s inequality must end – it is a problem that we as human rights activists have the power to change. Amnesty is and always has been committed to defending women’s rights as human rights. Will you become a member today help us win this fight?
For there to be lasting and just peace, women must be at the table as full partners. Your support today will help Amnesty campaign to ensure that that happens".
In Solidarity,
Rachel Ward
Deputy Executive Director, Advocacy, Policy and Research
Amnesty International USA
Deputy Executive Director, Advocacy, Policy and Research
Amnesty International USA
PART IV:
Buried Alive, She Makes Most of Her Rebirth
March 8, 2011
www.timesofindia.com
Sunita Aralikar
Sunita Aralikar was just 16 days old when she was buried alive by her illiterate father, a day after her mother passed away.
Today, Aralikar is an author and well-known social activist in Latur, Maharashtra, who fights evils such as female infanticide that nearly took her own life.
President of the Mahila (women) Congress in Latur, she said her grandfather pulled her out from the grave and brought her up with sound education.
“My mother died 15 days after I was born and on the next day, my father took me near a pond in Tupadi village in Latur and buried me alive as he did not want me,” Aralikar said.
“Latur then was very backward place and I was born into a poor dalit home,” she said, adding that she owes her life to her grandfather Kundalikrao Mane.
Aralikar, 53, who came to know the bitter truth of her life at the age of nine, has also written an autobiography ‘Hirkanicha Birhad’ (The House of Hirkani) in Marathi.
Aralikar fell in love with a social worker Dilip Aralikar and married him.
She and her husband were jailed in 1975 for their “anti-establishment” stance.
“Both my sons are less than three years old, so they too were in jail. I learned how to write a diary in prison after observing other female political prisoners. That’s when I realized the power of pen,” she said.
Today, Aralikar is an author and well-known social activist in Latur, Maharashtra, who fights evils such as female infanticide that nearly took her own life.
President of the Mahila (women) Congress in Latur, she said her grandfather pulled her out from the grave and brought her up with sound education.
“My mother died 15 days after I was born and on the next day, my father took me near a pond in Tupadi village in Latur and buried me alive as he did not want me,” Aralikar said.
“Latur then was very backward place and I was born into a poor dalit home,” she said, adding that she owes her life to her grandfather Kundalikrao Mane.
Aralikar, 53, who came to know the bitter truth of her life at the age of nine, has also written an autobiography ‘Hirkanicha Birhad’ (The House of Hirkani) in Marathi.
Aralikar fell in love with a social worker Dilip Aralikar and married him.
She and her husband were jailed in 1975 for their “anti-establishment” stance.
“Both my sons are less than three years old, so they too were in jail. I learned how to write a diary in prison after observing other female political prisoners. That’s when I realized the power of pen,” she said.
PART V
(ED NOTE: Below is a role model for interfaith co-operation)
Colombian Religions Unite to Support Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment
(www.lifesitenews.com)
(www.lifesitenews.com)
BY MATTHEW CULLINAN HOFFMAN
March 9, 2011
(condensed version)
March 9, 2011
(condensed version)
Bogota, Columbia
Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, Jews, and Muslims are uniting to support a proposed pro-life amendment to Colombia’s constitution, according to the secretary general of the country’s Catholic bishops’ conference.
Secretary General Juan Vicente Córdoba, told Colombia’s El Comercio newspaper that the religious groups would collect signatures supporting the initiative, which would then be presented to the government by the nation’s Conservative Party, which is a partner in the current government and is promoting the amendment.
“We want senators and representatives to bring the signatures of millions of Colombians who are in favor of the defense of life,” said Cordoba. This past November the Conservative Party promised to “introduce a constitutional reform bill to do away with abortion in Colombia.”
“It seems to us that the right to life should be preserved,” said Conservative Party President José Darío Salazar at the time. “Colombian society is a Catholic, Christian society and we are going to reform the constitution.” Although the Colombian constitution already says that the right to life is “inviolable,” the new legislation would add the phrase “from conception to natural death.”
Secretary General Juan Vicente Córdoba, told Colombia’s El Comercio newspaper that the religious groups would collect signatures supporting the initiative, which would then be presented to the government by the nation’s Conservative Party, which is a partner in the current government and is promoting the amendment.
“We want senators and representatives to bring the signatures of millions of Colombians who are in favor of the defense of life,” said Cordoba. This past November the Conservative Party promised to “introduce a constitutional reform bill to do away with abortion in Colombia.”
“It seems to us that the right to life should be preserved,” said Conservative Party President José Darío Salazar at the time. “Colombian society is a Catholic, Christian society and we are going to reform the constitution.” Although the Colombian constitution already says that the right to life is “inviolable,” the new legislation would add the phrase “from conception to natural death.”
PART VI
(ED NOTE:
We appeal to people of all faiths to join us to defend the family which continues to be under a VICIOUS ATTACK. Below is a continuation of the chronicles on destruction of family)
CHRONICLES ON DESTRUCTION OF FAMILY (Continued)
HOMOSEXODUS!
(www.wnd.com)
California wants lesbians as mandatory 'role' models
Family advocates call plan 'worst school sexual indoctrination ever'
February 11, 2011
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
(condensed version)
Lawmakers in the state of California are proposing a law that would require schools to portray lesbians, homosexuals, transsexuals and those who have chosen other alternative sexual lifestyles as positive role models to children in all public schools there.
"SB 48: The worst school sexual indoctrination ever" is how officials with SaveCalifornia.com describe the proposal, SB 48, sponsored by state Sen. Mark Leno.
Openly homosexual, Leno boasts on his website of founding a business with his "life partner, Douglas Jackson," who later died of AIDS complications.
That description as "worst" is considerable, considering the organization, SaveCalifornia.com, was a key player in the battle in the state in 2007 and 2008 over a variety of laws that now forbid any "adverse" portrayal of those alternative sexual choices in school, class, curriculum and by teachers.
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On its website, the organization explains the plan by "homosexual activist" Leno "would require all students in social studies class to admire 'lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender' role models.
"The Democrat state legislators pushing this radical bill want to recruit boys and girls to support the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda, personally and publicly," the organization's Action Alert explains.
"They want them to become 'LGBTIQ' activists [and] help trample religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, business-owner rights, private property rights, the Boy Scouts, and everything else you hold dear."
Equality California, an organization that advocates for homosexuality, said others sponsoring the plan include Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego; Assembly member Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco; Assembly member Toni Atkins, D-San Diego; Assembly member Rich Gordon, D-San Mateo; and Assembly member Ricardo Lara, D-East Los Angeles.
On his state website, Leno expressed his worry: "Most textbooks don't include any historical information about the LGBT movement, which has great significance to both California and U.S. history.
"Our collective silence on this issue perpetuates negative stereotypes of LGBT people and leads to increased bullying of young people. We can't simultaneously tell youth that it's OK to be yourself and live an honest, open life when we aren't even teaching students about historical LGBT figures or the LGBT equal rights movement," he said.
He said it is confirmed that where schools promote homosexual lifestyles, those who exhibit that lifestyle "are treated more fairly by their teachers and peers."
But SaveCalifornia.com, which teaches people to stand up for "what's right in God's sight" and encourages them to challenge "liberal forces" and "impact the next generation," is promoting a campaign to have state residents contact state officials with their own concerns
The message warns that if the plan becomes law, "children as young as kindergarten will be taught to admire homosexuality, same-sex 'marriages,' bisexuality, and transsexuality.'"
"Children will be enticed into political activism in support of everything pushed by 'lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning' political groups, as the bill requires 'particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society.'"
Further, it would require that "teachers will be made to positively portray homosexuality, same-sex 'marriages,' bisexuality, and transsexuality … because to be silent opens them up to the charge of 'reflecting adversely.'"
"This is radical, in-your-face sexual indoctrination that parents genuinely don't want and children certainly don't need," the statement says.
The California Legislative Counsel's commentary on the plan affirms it would "require instruction in social sciences to also include a study of the role and contributions of Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans … to the development of California and the United States."
It also would require "alternative and charter schools" to "take notice of the provisions of this bill."
The law itself requires that schools teach "particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society."
It also notes parents would not be able to exempt their children from the mandatory teaching.
Thomasson told WND that this is the next progression following a multitude of earlier laws adopted in California that serve the dual purpose of cracking down on traditional families and promoting the "alternatives."
"The California public schools are no longer safe places for boys and girls morally," he told WND. "This new bill, SB 48, reflects the desire of the Democrat state legislators to recruit boys and girls to support the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda both personally and publicly."
Under the law, he said, "textbooks, teachers and school boards will be forced to promote homosexuality, same-sex 'marriage,' bisexuality, transsexuality, sex change operations, cross dressing as positive role models."
"Pushing this slop bucket in the face of impressionable kids is disgusting to most people," he said.
It was just two years ago when the organization launched the Rescue Your Child effort to encourage parents to withdraw their children from public schools because of such indoctrination.
That followed work by the legislature and then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to establish Senate Bill 777 and Assembly Bill 394 as law. Those institutionalized the promotion of homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism and other alternative lifestyle choices by banning any "adverse" references in schools.
Homosexual former San Francisco leader Harvey Milk
At the time, officials said SB 777 "functionally requires public school instructional materials and school-sponsored activities to positively portray cross-dressing, sex-change operations, homosexual 'marriages,' and all aspects of homosexuality and bisexuality, including so-called 'gay history.'"
The second bill, AB 394, "requires public schools to distribute controversial material to teachers, students, and parents which promotes transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality, all under the guise of 'anti-harassment' training."
Those laws ban in any school texts, events, class or activities any discriminatory bias against those who have chosen alternative sexual lifestyles, according to Meredith Turney, legislative liaison for Capitol Resource Institute.
But there are no similar protections for students with traditional or conservative lifestyles and beliefs. Offenders will face the wrath of the state Department of Education, up to and including lawsuits.
California also has mandated that public schools honor Harvey Milk – a homosexual activist and reported sexual predator, as well as an advocate for Jim Jones, leader of the massacred hundreds in Jonestown, Guyana.
PART VII
DOES RELATIONSHIP BETRAYAL IN REAL LIFE OR HUMOR REFLECT AN ANTI-FAMILY VALUE ?
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