Islamophobia

BRUSSELS: Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Fehmida Mirza Asia and Europe must join hands to address the issue of Islamophobia, to promote an open, fair, equitable and transparent trading system. According to a statement released from Brussels,  Fehmida Mirza, who represented Pakistan at the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), focused on the importance of cooperation between Asian and European countries to confront mutual challenges and threats. The minister suggested that strong International cooperation…

Pakistan has reiterated its call for strengthening legal and judicial framework for addressing the rising phenomenon of Islamophobia and hate crimes against Muslims globally.

PARIS: France's highest administrative court has upheld a decision to deny a French passport to an Algerian Muslim who refused to shake hands with officials during her citizenship ceremony, according to a ruling seen by AFP Thursday. The woman argued that her "religious beliefs" prevented her from shaking hands with a senior official presiding over the citizenship ceremony in the southeastern Isere region in June 2016, as well as with a local politician. The government said her behaviour showed she was "not…

QUEBEC CITY: A Canadian man known for his far-right, nationalist sympathies pleaded guilty Wednesday to the killing last year of six worshipers at a Quebec mosque -- a surprising turn of events in a case that shocked the country. The rampage on January 29, 2017 was one of the worst attacks on an Islamic place of worship in the West, and also left more than 30 injured. Described in the immediate aftermath by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a "terrorist attack," the shooting spree was a brutal blow to Canada's…

A British man "obsessed" with Muslims deliberately drove into a group outside a mosque in an act of terrorism intended to kill as many as possible, a court heard Monday. Darren Osborne is accused of murdering 51-year-old Makram Ali and trying to kill others in the Finsbury Park area of north London on June 19 last year, after growing angry at recent terror attacks. Osborne, 48, from the Welsh capital Cardiff, denies the charges. Opening the case against him in his trial at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London,…

OTTAWA: A Toronto schoolgirl was assaulted Friday by a man who tried to cut off her hijab with scissors and then fled, police said. Khawlah Noman told reporters that she was walking to school with her younger brother when the man came at her with scissors. "He tried cutting (off) my hijab two times," she said. "I felt really scared and confused. I didn't feel comfortable that people are doing this." Police described the assailant as an Asian male wearing a black hoodie and glasses. He was said to be about 20, nearly…

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump's travel ban on people from six mostly Muslim countries will come into force late Thursday, as controversy swirls over who qualifies for an exemption based on family ties. Delayed by five months of legal challenges before the Supreme Court partially backed Trump, the ban comes into effect at 8 pm Thursday Eastern time (0000 GMT Friday), putting tight restrictions on the issuance of visas to travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Officials stressed that anyone…

LONDON: The attack at Finsbury Park Mosque was the depressingly logical outcome of demonisation by tabloid headline writers and rightwing demagogues who portray Muslims as the enemy within, British commentators and Islamic leaders worry. From opposition politicians to J.K. Rowling and cartoonists in the liberal press, condemnation is building against the swirling currents of hatred that led to a white driver slamming his van into worshippers outside the mosque in north London, shouting "I want to kill all Muslims".…

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May vowed Monday to fight extremism in all its forms after a white driver ploughed his van into a crowd of Muslims near a mosque. It was the fourth terror strike in a tumultuous four months in Britain. Ten people were injured in the attack which took place early Monday after evening prayers in Finsbury Park, north London. One elderly man, who had collapsed just before the incident, was pronounced dead at the scene, but it is not yet known whether his death was directly linked…

OTTAWA: Canada’s Parliament passed an anti-Islamophobia motion on Wednesday by having strong backing of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. Though the motion had support of Liberals and New Democrats, two political parties in Canada, however majority of Conservatives opposed it. The bill was tabled by a Muslim Member of Parliament (MP) Iqra Khalid, urging federal government to condemn Islamophobia and to develop a government approach to counter systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia.…