The Global Community is shocked to watch on their news the horror scenes of the brutality of Islamic militants against Christians in the Gojra area. It is not the first time such heinous crimes have been committed; there is a long list of the systematic persecution of the Christian minority in Paki

The proposed introduction of the Land Acquisition (Amendment) and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bills by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the last day of the Budget Session despite of the objections by struggling peoples movements and one of the UPA key allies Trinamool Congress smacks of a co

The worst fears of some of us have now been confirmed. Pakistani society, politicians and media has always been talking about the involvement of Indian intelligence agency RAW in fomenting trouble inside Pakistan . First it was in Sindh, particularly in Karachi . Now people say there is no doubt abo

In his 4 June speech to the Muslim world from Cairo, US President Barack Obama started his discussion of religious freedom by pointing out that "Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance".
Citing its long history of protecting religious minorities as well as his own experience growing up in overwhel

Pandith’s appointment is an opportunity, not a panacea by Anja Manuel
In July 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named Farah Pandith the Special Representative to Muslim Communities. It is a historic step. Pandith's experience – and the new responsibility she is taking on with this role – si

Israel has repeatedly asked Arab countries to recognise it and engage in peaceful relations. Most of them rejected these appeals, with the exception of Egypt in 1977 and Jordan in 1994.
However, in 2002 the Arab League announced an unprecedented historical initiative for a comprehensive peace trea

At first glance, Turkish newspapers’ appear to depict women in one of two ways: either as fashion objects, exhibiting the latest bikinis and glam rags or, on the other hand, as victims of brutal crimes.
Upon closer inspection, however, and despite a lack of women in the news industry, coverage of g

In the recently concluded general elections for the 15th Parliament in India, there was a growing movement in the citizens to become proactive towards cleansing of politics in the country. The social activists not only launched campaigns to educate people about their right to vote in a democracy, t

On US Independence Day weekend, 45,000 Muslims gathered in the nation’s capital for the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a membership organization that contributes to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large. The theme of this year’s convention was

Violence in China’s northwest region of Xinjiang has attracted worldwide attention in the past few weeks. With 192 dead and over 1,721 injured, the scale of violence is among the most severe in decades. While the impact of some Uighurs’ demands for independence cannot be dismissed entirely, the bigg

Many see Saudi Arabia as a closed society, with little religious diversity. In recent years, however, King Abdullah's immense interfaith dialogue efforts have begun to change this view. His three interfaith initiatives last year – the Mecca Appeal for Interfaith Dialogue, the Madrid World Conference

There is a pervasive view in the media today that Islam does not support pluralism. Sadly, we often hear how difficult it is for non-Muslim minorities to live in peace and harmony in Muslim countries. Violent extremists who misuse Islamic theology to justify terrorist attacks have exacerbated prejud

Though this is her fifth visit to the Lucknow, state capital of Uttar Pradesh, Kristin Kjaeret, Director FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) Norway, an international human rights organisation campaigning for right to feed oneself, maintains that things have not changed even now.
In a ca

During the Assembly elections 2007, the people of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) India and especially the Dalits voted Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to absolute majority. They expected that this time with a stable government she will be able to take U.P. out of the quagmire of underdevelopment and back

Vocabulary
Bara-based: Bara is a commercial area of Peshawar, NWFP, PAKISTAN
Final Note: It is a verbal message of the militant as per of the version of the minorities’ elders but there are proves of written text also which the elders either have kept secret or are reluctant to show it publicly