Violations, transgression against Muslims in Myanmar

November 15, 2012

The international media continue to broadcast the news of the killing and violence activities against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, which reap the lives of innocent people whose only guilt is their affiliation with the righteous religion of Islam.
What calls for much pain and grief is the fact that there are children and women among the victims, not to mention setting fire to houses and forcing hundreds of citizens to flee their homes.
There is no doubt that such atrocious acts, genocide, and displacement represent crimes, which are totally rejected by the human conscience and deplored by each and every human being, regardless of his/her religion, beliefs and race.
Such acts are totally condemned and are considered horrible violations of human rights, which calls the international community, including its governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations, to assume its responsibilities to put an end to this human catastrophe, take urgent and tangible procedures to stop the aggressive acts against the innocent individuals, ensure the safety of the individuals and their properties within the Muslim community in Myanmar, secure a safe return for the displaced people to their homes and compensate them as required by the principles of justice, and refer the criminals to justice.
Afterwards, the international community is required to adopt a policy of reconciliation and integration among the Muslim and Buddhist communities.
We, at the Arab Thought Forum, call for a true solution of the present situation and a study of the roots of the problem and the reasons behind discrimination against the Rohingya Muslim community, who are entitled to their vested rights of citizenship.
We also call upon human rights organizations, other competent organizations in the UN, as well as the regional organizations and the civil society to contribute to solving this issue as per their jurisdiction.
As we call the international community to assume its responsibilities in protecting the Muslims of Myanmar and putting an end to the violations against them in this time of hardship, we pay attribute to the stand of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Al Azhar in this regard, and we call upon all the other related organizations to follow their example and cooperate with them.
We, at the Arab Thought Forum, express our vigorous willingness to cooperate with everyone to get this objective achieved; and we are well-prepared to do everything within our capabilities to protect the humane and ethical principles that all human beings are committed to safeguarding everywhere.
The writer is chairman of the Arab Thought Forum.

A group photo of BZU Multan's Students with Rana Mashhud d,speaker Punjab assembly in lap top giving ceremony

Aung San Suu Kyi calls on Burma to send more troops to end violence

08 Nov 2012

Aung San Suu Kyi has called on Burmese government to send more troops to end the sectarian violence in the west of the country

Four months after tensions between the Muslim Rohingya minority and Buddhists in western Burma's Rakhine State erupted in clashes which have left over 100 people dead and more than 100,000 displaced, Ms Suu Kyi has bowed to the pressure on her to speak out on the violence.

In a joint statement issued with lawmakers from Burma's various ethnic groups, Ms Suu Kyi called on the government to send more troops to the region to ensure peace and stability. The statement also calls for the government to explain its policies towards the Rohingya, as well as for a review of Burma's restrictive citizenship laws, which render the vast majority of the estimated 800,000 Rohingya stateless.The Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of Burma's opposition has been the subject of rare criticism from human rights groups for her failure to take a stand on the sectarian violence which in the last month alone has left an estimated 30,000 Rohingya homeless. Last weekend, Mrs Suu Kyi again appeared to duck the issue when she said she would not use "moral leadership" to speak out on the plight of the Rohingya.

The reluctance of both Ms Suu Kyi and Burma's President Thein Sein to back the Rohingya has been ascribed to their fear of alienating voters ahead of the 2015 elections. Many Burmese regard the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, despite evidence suggesting they have been a presence in Rakhine State since the early Nineteenth Century.The statement, while not mentioning Bangladesh by name, appears to apportion some of the blame for the situation on Dhaka. "Both governments that share common boundaries should respect and take common responsibility for border security and immigration matters," it said. "It is imperative that both countries systematically prevent border crossings."

Dr,Raza Muhyoudin (M.S civil hospital Multan) visiting on the mother&child's week in Multan

Bal Thackeray off life support system, security beefed up in Mumbai

Nov 15, 2012

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, whose condition turned critical last night, is showing signs of improvement and has been taken off the life support system, party spokesman Sanjay Raut said on Thursday.

"Yesterday definitely there was some problem. Balasaheb is stable and responding to treatment and off life support system. Yesterday there was the need for him to be on life support system but today it is not," Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, said.

No medical bulletin on the ailing 86-year-old leader's condition has been issued as yet, but one of the doctors attending on him said Thackeray was still being administered oxygen.

"He is being given oxygen and his condition is still not good," the doctor, who did not want to be identified, told .

Meanwhile, security outside Thackeray's 'Matoshree' bungalow in suburban Bandra has been stepped up following yesterday's incidents in which Shiv Sainiks had damaged some media vehicles and equipment.

Large contingents of Mumbai police and Rapid Action Force have been stationed and the area has been heavily barricaded.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has been continuously monitoring law and order situation in the state in view of Thackeray's condition.

"Last night, Chavan held a high-level meeting with the chief secretary and top police officers. Since this morning, he is in constant touch with family members of the Sena chief," official sources said.

Large number of shops and business establishments in Sena strongholds like Dadar and Parel were closed as anxious party workers converged at 'Matoshree' to inquire about their leader's health.

Politicians, film personalities and captains of industry made a beeline for 'Matoshree' as a mark of solidarity with the Thackeray family.

Union minister Sharad Pawar, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, party's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, actors Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Ashok Pandit and industrialists Rahul Bajaj and Venugopal Dhoot visited 'Matoshree' to inquire about Thackeray's condition.

At least100 Rohingya Muslims killed in Myanmar

At least 100 Rohingya Muslims have been killed in a recent wave of sectarian violence in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, a Muslim party leader says.

 

Hla Thein, the vice chairman of the National Democratic Party for Development (NDPD), said on Friday that over 100 Muslims have lost their lives over the past week in clashes between extremist Buddhists and Rohingyas. 

 

The deadly violence peaked on Tuesday night, but people have been killed every day this week, said the leader of the Muslim political party that won four seats in Myanmar’s 2010 election.

 

Meanwhile, Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing said 112 people had been killed in six townships in clashes that began Sunday between members of the Buddhist Rakhine and the Muslim Rohingya communities. He said 72 people were reported injured, including 10 children.

 

The government announced earlier that almost 2,000 homes had been burned down in the conflict.

 

In June, ethnic violence in the state left at least 90 people dead and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. About 75,000 have been living in refugee camps ever since.

 

A resident of another township, Ramree, said there also was violence there Friday morning.

 

“There were some clashes between the two sides in Ramree this morning,” Kyaw Win, 30, said by phone.

 

“Residents are very fearful of imminent attacks by the Muslim community because security presence is very little. We don't feel safe. We want the Bengalis to be moved away from the Rakhine community,” Kyaw Win said. Rakhine prefer to use the term Bengali for Rohingya, whom they contend are not a distinct ethnic group.

 

Kyaw Win said that a few houses had been burned down but that no casualties were reported.

 

The mob violence has seen entire villages torched and has drawn calls worldwide for government intervention.

 

“As the international community is closely watching Myanmar's democratic transition, such unrest could tarnish the image of the country,” said a statement from the office of President Thein Sein published Friday in the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper.

 

Thein Sein took office as an elected president last year, and has instituted economic and political liberalization after almost half a century of repressive military rule.

 

“The army, police and authorities in cooperation with local people will try to restore peace and stability and will take legal action against any individual or organization that is trying to instigate the unrest,” the statement warned.

 

The long-brewing conflict is rooted in a dispute over the Muslim residents' origin. Although many Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are widely denigrated as intruders who came from neighboring Bangladesh to steal scarce land.

 

The U.N. estimates their population in Myanmar at 800,000. But the government does not count them as one of the country's 135 ethnic groups, and so — like neighboring Bangladesh — denies them citizenship. Human rights groups say racism also plays a role: Many Rohingya, who speak a Bengali dialect and resemble Muslim Bangladeshis, have darker skin and are heavily discriminated against.

 

A statement issued late Thursday by the office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the latest violence as “deeply troubling.” Ban called on Myanmar authorities “to take urgent and effective action to bring under control all cases of lawlessness.”

 

“The vigilante attacks, targeted threats and extremist rhetoric must be stopped,” Ban said. “If this is not done, the fabric of social order could be irreparably damaged and the reform and opening up process being currently pursued by the government is likely to be jeopardized.”

 

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was deeply concerned about the reports and urged restraint.

 

In a hospital in Sittwe, the state capital not yet hit by the latest round of violence, an Associated Press photographer talked to four wounded people brought in from the affected areas. Aung Moe Khaing, 25, was wounded in an arm and a leg, saying he was shot Tuesday when soldiers dispersed the crowd.

 

Phyu Thein Maung, 39, from Yathetaung township, said he was shot in the buttocks.

 

“Muslims provoked us from inside their village and challenged us from their community, guarded by soldiers,” he said. “People were very angry as they shot iron spikes at us with catapults and made abusive gestures. I was hit by a gunshot when soldiers dispersed the crowd.”

 

26 October 2012

There have been concerns in the past that soldiers were failing to protect the Rohingya community, but accounts this time from Rakhine villagers suggest that Myanmar's military may have been defending the Rohingya.

 

The crisis has proven a major challenge to Thein Sein's government and to opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticized by some outsiders as failing to speak out strongly against what they see as repression of the Rohingya.

 

The U.N. warned Thursday that the crisis had sent a new wave of refugees to seek shelter in camps already overcrowded with 75,000 people from the June violence.

 

Bangladesh has put its border guards on alert, fearing a new influx of Rohingya refugees.

 

On Thursday, Bangladesh border guards turned away 45 Rohingya trying to enter into Bangladesh by boats, said Lt. Col. Khalequzzaman, a border commander. Local police chief Selim Mohammad Jahangir said Friday that at least another 3,000 Rohingya Muslims had been spotted on about 40 boats on the Naaf River off Bangladesh's Tekhnaf coast.

 

He said the boats may try to enter Bangladesh, but “we have instructions not to let them come here.”

 

Bangladesh says it's too poor to accept more refugees and feed them. Bangladesh is hosting about 30,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmar to escape government atrocities in 1991.

US to help Lebanon bomb investigation

22/10/2012

The US says it will help with the investigation into a bomb that killed the head of Lebanon's internal intelligence, a US spokeswoman says.

She said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had agreed with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati that her country would provide assistance.

Mrs Clinton spoke to Mr Mikati by phone after the funeral of Wissam al-Hassan, the security official killed on Friday.

Clashes erupted after the funeral, as protesters called on Mr Mikati to quit.

Police fired warning shots and tear gas as some demonstrators tried to storm the government offices in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

There were reports of further violence in southern and western Beirut overnight.

Opposition figures have blamed neighbouring Syria for the attack, protesting against Syria and its Lebanese allies amid fears the Syrian conflict could spill over.

A majority within Lebanon's government support the Syrian regime.

Mr Hassan, 47, was close to the 14 March opposition and the Hariri family, part of the anti-Syrian opposition.

The Syrian government condemned the attack, which also killed one of Mr Hassan's bodyguards and a woman nearby.

Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those who support the Syrian government - including many Shias - and those mostly from the Sunni community who back the rebels.

'Sensitive time'

Continue reading the main story

Wissam al-Hassan

• Head of the intelligence branch of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces
• Sunni Muslim born in the northern city of Tripoli in 1965
• Responsible for the security of former PM Rafik Hariri
• Viewed as being close to the Hariris and the opposition 14 March coalition
• Responsible for the August arrest of pro-Syrian politician and ex-information minister Michel Samaha

• In pictures: Funeral and protests
• Profile: Wissam al-Hassan

On Sunday, Mrs Clinton stressed "the United States' firm commitment to Lebanon's stability, independence, sovereignty and security," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

"She noted the importance of political leaders working together at this sensitive time to ensure that calm prevails and that those responsible for the attack are brought to justice," the statement added.
Mr Hassan led an investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which implicated Damascus.
He also recently organised the arrest of a former minister accused of planning a Syrian-sponsored bombing campaign in Lebanon.
Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in 2005 after a 29-year-long presence, in the wake of Mr Hariri's killing.
But the BBC's Wyre Davies reports that there are concerns in Beirut that Damascus is able to reach into Lebanese society both directly and through its allies.
Mr Hassan was buried next to Mr Hariri on Sunday.
Many mourners waved the light blue flag of the Sunni-based opposition Future Party, while others carried Lebanon's national flag.
Mr Mikati says he offered to resign after the attack, but accepted a request from President Michel Suleiman to stay on in order to avoid a power vacuum.

Three Killed in Shooting at Spa in Wisconsin

October 21, 2012

BROOKFIELD, Wis..A gunman opened fire inside a day spa in this Milwaukee suburb on Sunday morning, killing three women, forcing others — some bloodied and still in bathrobes — to flee into nearby streets, and sending the authorities on a tense hunt that was slowed by fears of explosives and ended hours later with the discovery of the gunman’s body.

 In addition to the three people killed in the shooting at the Azana Salon and Spa, a long-established shop in a busy suburban commercial district near a mall, four women were injured in the shooting, the authorities said. None of the victims had been publicly named as of Sunday evening as the authorities sought to positively identify them and to notify family

The gunman, whom the police identified as Radcliffe F. Haughton, 45, a resident of Brown Deer, also died inside the spa, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the police said. The shootings appeared to stem from a domestic dispute, painfully documented in weeks of police reports and court orders, between Mr. Haughton and his estranged wife, who witnesses said was employed at the salon.

 “Today’s action was a senseless act on the part of one person,” Mayor Steven V. Ponto of Brookfield said somberly late Sunday. He quickly added, “Try as we might, these can’t be avoided.”

 Residents largely view the Milwaukee suburbs as safe and relatively removed from the worries of urban life. “This doesn’t happen in Brookfield,” said Christine Carpenter, 24, who works at a drugstore not far from the spa and on Sunday evening was still trying to grasp what had happened. “You think good neighborhood, good schools — this stuff doesn’t happen to us.”

 In fact, however, in recent years in the Milwaukee suburbs, there have been other such attacks, including a shooting less than three months ago in which a self-proclaimed white supremacist named Wade M. Page opened fire in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis. In 2005, here in Brookfield, less than a mile away from the day spa, a gunman killed seven people, including two teenage boys, at an evangelical church meeting, and later killed himself.

 The shooting, the authorities said, began shortly after 11 a.m. Central time, sending staff members and barefoot clients fleeing into parking lots and businesses. Witnesses described a panicked scene of bloodied women and confused passers-by who, at least initially, could not understand what had occurred, even as at least one person was seen crying, according to witnesses, and screaming out to passing cars.

 “Everybody was keeping calm, but we were all confused about what was going on,” said Joe Brent, 27, of Minneapolis who said he had been in a McDonald’s next door to the spa when he heard a gunshot. Almost immediately, said Mr. Brent, who was in town for a job interview, a police officer entered the restaurant and ordered everyone out.

 As he was leaving the McDonald’s, he said, he saw a woman in her 20s leaving the salon, holding a paper towel to her bleeding neck as a police officer escorted her to an ambulance.

 “It was pretty bad,” Mr. Brent said. “I was surprised that she was able to walk.”

He said he then saw officers carry two more women from the salon and put them on stretchers, he said.

Four women — between 22 and 40 years old — were treated for gunshot wounds at Froedtert Hospital, officials at the hospital said. Several had undergone surgery or were expected to soon, the officials said.

As the authorities carried victims away, Police Chief Daniel K. Tushaus said, they faced another problem: they were uncertain where the gunman was, and came upon something that initially appeared to be an improvised explosive device inside the spa — presumably left by the gunman.

 The possibility that the gunman might still be loose set off new chaos, leading the authorities at the hospital where victims were being treated to put the entire facility on lockdown, preventing routine visitors from even entering the building. For hours, highway exits near the spa were closed down, some stores in the nearby mall were shut, and police officers from around the region all but filled the area.

Multan: Add of CDGM

Lahore: A group photo of yrc and journalist Angrdemiler

Multan:Minister Haji Ahsan u Din Qureshi meet with people

Minster uqaf Haji Ehsan addresses to protesters set against anti-Islam film

DCO, DGK Iftikhar saho visited to flooded area paigan

CM Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif meet with MNA Saima Bharwana

Tensions high for day of anti-Islam film protests

21/09/2012

Security forces in several Muslim countries are gearing up for a day of fresh protests against an anti-Islam film made in the US.

In Pakistan, the government has declared a national holiday to enable people to demonstrate peacefully.

Washington has paid for adverts on Pakistani TV that show President Barack Obama condemning the film.

Widespread unrest over the film, Innocence of Muslims, has already claimed several lives around the world.

Although the US has borne the brunt of protests, anti-Western sentiment has been stoked further by caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in a satirical French magazine.

Pakistan has declared Friday a "day of love for the Prophet" and urged people to demonstrate peacefully.

All major political parties and religious organisations have announced protests, along with trade and transport groups, and large crowds are expected following Friday prayers.

Foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar told AP news agency that the national holiday was intended to motivate Pakistan's peaceful majority and not allow extremists to turn the protest into a show of anger against the US."We are very confident this will lessen the violence," she said, but added: "There will always be elements that will try to take advantage of these things."

Correspondents say stores, markets and petrol stations are expected to close and transport is likely to grind to a halt.

Embassies closed

On Thursday, police used tear gas and live rounds to control a mass protest against the film outside the US embassy in Islamabad.

Protesters burned an effigy of President Obama and threw missiles at the police. At least 50 people were reported to have been injured.

Dozens of protests against the film had already been held across Pakistan over the past week - killing at least two people - but Thursday was the first time violence erupted in the capital.

The US state department has issued a warning against any non-essential travel to Pakistan.

France has closed its embassies and other official offices in about 20 countries across the Muslim world on Friday after French magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, including two drawings showing him naked.

French Muslim leaders condemned the magazine and said an appeal for calm would be read in mosques across the country on Friday.In Tunisia - where France is the former colonial power - the government has banned Friday protests.

Calls to protest against the caricatures have turned up in Tunisian social media and Interior Minister Ali Larayedh said it was believed that some groups were planning violent protests after Friday prayers.

Rival protests

There are also fears of violence in the Libyan city of Benghazi after rival groups said they would take to the streets.

One group intends to denounce extremism and urge militias to disband, following an attack on the US consulate in the city on 11 September that killed the US ambassador and another official.

Throughout the week, Benghazi residents have left wreaths and placards condemning the attack outside the US mission.

Meanwhile, Ansar al-Sharia, the jihadist militia blamed by some local people for the attack, called for protests "in defence of the Prophet Mohammed". Both protests are scheduled for the same time.

In the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, protests are planned outside both the French and US embassies on Friday.

In Cairo, where the protests against the film began, Egyptian security forces are patrolling the streets around the US embassy.

Radical Islamists have clashed with security forces there in recent days, although President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has stayed away from the unrest, only condemning the film and calling for peaceful demonstrations.

The low-budget film that sparked the controversy was made in the US and is said to insult the Prophet Muhammad.

Its exact origins are unclear and the alleged producer for the trailer of the film, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is in hiding.

Anti-US sentiment grew after a trailer for the film dubbed into Arabic was released on YouTube earlier this month.

protests over anti-Islam film in Multan

CM Shahbaz Sharif has expressed deep sense of grief in Peshawar bomb blast

LAHORE, September 19

Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has

expressed deep sense of grief and sorrow over the loss of precious human lives

in bomb blast in Peshawar today. He prayed that may Allah Almighty

rest the departed

souls in eternal peace and grant strength and courage to the members of

bereaved families to bear the irreparable loss with equanimity.

Presedent PML(n) Muhammad Nawaz Sharif take a Meeting of general body in Lahore

Pakistani lawyers rallied against anti-Islam film at diplomatic enclave

19/09/2012

ISLAMABAD: Up to 500 Pakistani lawyers managed to break through a gate to Islamabad’s heavily-guarded diplomatic enclave on Wednesday in a fresh protest to denounce an American-made anti-Islam film.

Wearing headbands inscribed with “Lovers of Prophet, Death to the blasphemer, America’s friends are traitors”, the protesters chanted slogans including “We are ready to sacrifice our lives to safeguard honour of the prophet”.

More than 200 riot police armed with batons and shields stood guard as the lawyers broke through the first of two gates leading to the enclave, which contains most Western embassies in the Pakistani capital.

The lawyers halted at the second gate, where their leaders delivered fiery speeches against the US, urging the Pakistan government to expel the American Ambassador and break its “criminal silence” over the “Innocence of Muslims” film.

“The government should stop the policy of appeasing the US,” they said, castigating the country’s rulers for not officially registering their protest with the US.

A US flag was laid on the ground and the protesting lawyers walked over it one by one. Later they burnt the flag before the rally ended peacefully.

More than 30 people have been killed in a week of attacks and violent protests linked to the controversial film, deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan have all blocked access to YouTube, following the video-sharing website’s failure to take down the film.

Special Troops Disperse Protesters against USA in Cairo

Cairo, Sep 15 (Prensa Latina) The Devil 300 meters, the distance between the U.S. Embassy here and Tahrir Square, the scene of clashes between police and protesters, is calm today after police action.

  However, there are still traces of almost five days of fighting between protesters and riot police and soldiers: debris, rocks and large puddles of water used to contain the protesters, the smell of tear gas.

There is also a solid wall of concrete blocks erected by emergency authorities, blocking the street that leads to the entrance of the U.S. embassy and it appears that is there to stay.

One man was killed and up to 400 people were injured in the clashes, according to differing versions.

As a precautionary measure, Washington withdrew its diplomatic staff, including the ambassador, according to a version released by the daily Al Masry al Youm, which refrains from citing its source.

The crisis began to subside on Friday when The Ajuan Musulmin (Muslim Brotherhood) chose to announce that their protests against "Innocence of Muslims", a 

sacrilegious film to Islam, would be carried away from Tahrir Square.

The decision of the Brotherhood appears to be dictated by reasons of State since Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, left their ranks and in the current circumstances considered advisable to put some distance of facts that present themselves as an aggressive or hostile entity from the Government.

U.S. closes consulate in Indonesia over protests

Sep. 19, 2012 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Several hundred lawyers protesting an anti-Islam video forced their way into an area in Pakistan's capital that houses the U.S. Embassy and other foreign missions on Wednesday, and the United States temporarily closed its consulate in an Indonesian city because of similar demonstrations.

The lawyers who protested in Islamabad shouted anti-U.S. slogans and burned an American flag after they pushed through a gate, gaining access to the diplomatic enclave before police stopped them. They called for the U.S. ambassador to be expelled from the country, and then peacefully dispersed.

The demonstration followed three days of violent protests against the film in Pakistan in which two people were killed. At least 28 other people have died in violence linked to the film in seven countries, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans killed in a Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Much of the anger over the film, which denigrates Islam's Prophet Muhammad, has been directed at the U.S. government even though the film was privately produced in the United States and American officials have criticized it.

The U.S. Embassy in Indonesia sent a text message to U.S. citizens saying that the consulate in Medan, the country's third-largest city, has been closed temporarily because of demonstrations over the film, "Innocence of Muslims."

About 300 members of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a pan-Islamic movement, rallied peacefully on Wednesday in front of the consulate in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province. Later, about 50 Muslim students also protested there. Both groups called on Washington to punish the makers of the film.

It was the third consecutive day of protests in Medan. On Monday, protesters hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails outside the embassy in Jakarta, the capital.

In France, the government has barred a planned protest by people angry over the anti-Islam film, but defended a newspaper's right to publish caricatures of the prophet.

France's foreign minister said security is being stepped up at some French embassies amid tensions in France and elsewhere around the film. French authorities and Muslim leaders urged calm in the country, which has the largest Muslim population in western Europe.

Riot police took up positions outside the Paris offices of a satirical French weekly that published crude caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday that ridicule the film and the furor surrounding it. The provocative weekly, Charlie Hebdo, was firebombed last year after it released a special edition that portrayed the Prophet Muhammad as a "guest editor" and took aim at radical Islam.

The investigation into that attack is still under way.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault of France said organizers of a planned demonstration Saturday against the film won't receive police authorization. Ayrault told French radio RTL that "there's no reason for us to let a conflict that doesn't concern France come into our country. We are a republic that has no intention of being intimidated by anyone."

On Tuesday, Islamic militants sought to capitalize on anger over the film, saying a suicide bombing that killed 12 people in Afghanistan was revenge for the video and calling for attacks on U.S. diplomats and facilities in North Africa.

At least 87 Muslim settlers have killed in fighting between indigenous Bodo tribes in Assam India

23/08/2012

Police in India's north-eastern Assam state have arrested a local politician for his alleged involvement in the recent ethnic violence in the state.

Pradeep Brahma, a legislator in the state assembly, was arrested from his home on Thursday morning.

He is a leader of the regional Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), which is an ally of the state's ruling Congress party.

At least 87 people have died in fighting between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers in Assam.

More than 250,000 people who fled their homes are still staying in shelters.

There has been tension between indigenous groups and Muslim Bengali migrants in Assam for many years.

Police said Mr Brahma, who represents the Kokrajhar (West) constituency, has seven cases registered against him in different police stations in Assam.

He was arrested from his home near Kokrajhar town, they said.

Kokrajhar, Dhubri and Chirang were some of the districts worst affected by the clashes which began last month.

Reports said at least two people were killed in fresh violence on Wednesday in Dhubri district.

An indefinite curfew has been clamped in Kokrajhar district and army has marched through the streets of some of the troubled neighbourhoods.

Assam Violence because of Bangladeshi Infiltrators & Vote-Greedy Politicians: Dr Togadia

26/08/2012

Taking serious note of planned terror & Human Rights Violations against Original Tribes & other Hindus in Assam, VHP International Working President Dr Pravin Togadia blamed the Union Govt & bordering State Govts for infiltrations from Bangla Desh & Pakistan. Dr Togadia said, “For years Islamic invaders are attacking Bharat. Even after Bharat’s independence it continued & worse is that now the infiltrators have got Bharat’s citizen’s status while original citizens & tribes of Bharat are treated as the secondary citizens. This is because Hindus do not stand together as ONE while voting & Minorities become important vote banks for all politicians.”He warned the Govts, “Kashmir, Assam, Tripura, Bengal, Odisha & all other bordering states need to seal their borders preventing any infiltration as once. At this stage, almost ¾ Western Assam has been captured by Bangla Deshi Muslim infiltrators supported by HUJI, IM, ISI & such terror groups. They hoist Pakistani, Bangla Deshi flags in Assam for past 15 years as they did in Kashmir. They have been attacking local tribes – Karbi Anglong, Khasi, Dimasa, Kachari, Jaintia, Bodo, Chongloi & many such indigenous original tribes in Neelachal – Assam – who have been there for ages. Bangla Deshi infiltrators have captured their lands, houses attacking them, raping their women, killing almost half the tribal population there, posing dire threat to Bharat’s security.”

Today there is arson & hundreds of Tribals are murdered in Assam. Over 500 villages are burnt totally.  Tribes & other Hindus are fleeing to temporary shelters, being killed by terrorist infiltrators & by the Govt machinery. Govts are protecting Bangla Deshi Muslim infiltrators & pumping bullets into the original tribes who actually need protection. Almost 1 lakh people are now in shelters – homeless, lost their near & dear ones & everything that those poor Tribals had, because Govts bend before Bangla Deshi Muslims for votes. The PM of ‘India’ & his party’s head Madam called Assam CM to protect Muslims & not the Tribals, otherwise govt agencies would not have killed many Bodos, other Tribals & Hindus with Govt bullets! The PM & Madam never called U.P. CM to stop violence against Hindus in Koshi Mathura, Bareilly, and Pratapgadh etc. The duo never called Andhra CM asking him to protect Hindus in Charminar area while Muslims brutally killed them. This shows Govt’s bias against Hindus & special love for Muslims.”

VHP condemns this unconstitutional behavior of PM, CM & their party chief.
VHP  demands:

1. The PM & his party head must immediately apologize to the tribes & other Hindus in Assam for govt allowing Muslims to have a free hand for massacre of tribes & Hindus just like Kashmir.
2. All Bangla Deshi Muslims should be immediately deported from all over Bharat & should not be given any rights in Bharat ever again.
3. Those who are elected with such imported terrorist votes in any constituencies of Assam should be debarred from contesting elections.
4. All borders with Pakistan & Bangla Desh should be sealed to further protect Bharat.

VHP is watching the state sponsored terror & Human Rights Violations against Tribes & other Hindus in Assam. If the terror against them is not controlled in 24 hours then VHP will be forced to announce nation-wide democratic agitation to free Assam from Infiltrators’ terror.