Habib Siddiqui

  United Nations rights experts have slammed decisions in France   barring   women and girls who wear the Muslim headscarf from sports competitions as “discriminatory”, demanding they be reversed. France invoked its strict rules on secularism to ban its athletes from wearing religious symbols, including the  hijab , during the Paris 2024 Olympics. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Imane Khelif and Western delusions of white innocence list 2 of 4 Islamophobia on the rise as French presidential election nears list 3 of 4 Paris Olympics 2024 controversy puts focus on ‘sexist’ women’s sports kits list 4 of 4 The French government wants to ‘save’ Muslim women by controlling them end of list France’s football and basketball federations have also opted to exclude players wearing the headscarf from competitions, including at the amateur level. These decisions “are disproportionate and discriminatory, and infringe on their rights [of French athletes] to freely m...

  Israeli bulldozers damaged the office of UN aid agency UNRWA in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp on Thursday, the agency’s chief said, with Israel disputing his account in the latest exchange between both sides. Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN Palestinian refugee agency, said on social media platform X that the office was severely damaged and was no longer usable.  On Monday, Israel passed a law banning UNRWA from operating in the country, legislation that could impact its work in war-torn Gaza. The lawmakers who drafted the law cited what they described as the involvement of some UNRWA staffers in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and staffers having membership in Hamas and other armed groups. Lazzarini called the vote a “dangerous precedent” that opposes the UN charter and violates Israel’s obligation under international law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said UNRWA workers “involved in terrorist activities” must be held accountable.

  A UK court ruled that the British government did not sufficiently demonstrate that the student visa of a Jordanian-Canadian citizen should be revoked after she spoke of her “pride” and “joy” over what had happened in Israel in an interview on October 8, 2023, The Guardian   reports . Dana Abu Qamar, who is of Palestinian origin and is head of the Friends of Palestine society at the University of Manchester, has claimed she was misinterpreted and was not speaking in support of the Hamas terror group. The British government revoked the 20-year-old’s visa in December 2023, but did not show that her presence in the UK was “not conducive to public good,” the tribunal ruled. According to The Guardian, the tribunal said the decision on Abu Qamar’s visa was a “disproportionate interference with her protected right to free speech.” Additionally, the judgment said Abu Qamar was “not an extremist,” and that her use of the terms “actively resisting” and “broke free” would have been unde...

  The Bamar People’s Liberation Army (BPLA) is poised to move on to central Myanmar after fighting in Karen and northern Shan states alongside allied ethnic armies, its commander Maung Saungkha announced on the anniversary of Operation 1027. “The BLPA will soon be based in Anyar [central Myanmar] and launch operations there,” the poet-turned-revolutionary said on social media on Oct. 27. “I believe and expect people in Anyar will welcome us.” Established two months after the coup in 2021, the BPLA boasts around 1,200 troops. BPLA spokesman Ko Lin Lin told The Irrawaddy the group plans to launch military operations in Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay. As an army representing ethnic Bamar, the group aims to drive junta troops out of the region, where Bamar people make up the majority, he said. “We have prepared for more than three years to base ourselves in central Myanmar,” he added. The group will cooperate with local People’s Defense Force (PDF) groups loyal to the civilian National Un...

Ram Puniyani India’s anti colonial struggle was accompanied by various diverse social phenomena. One major of this was the ‘Hindu-Muslim’ Unity, and the emergence of the overall identity of Indians amongst people of all religions. The national, anti-colonial stream promoted this and the best embodiment of this was Mahatma Gandhi, who took three bullets on his bare chest for striving for this. He wrote, “The union that we want is not a patched up thing but a union of hearts based upon a definite recognition of the indubitable proposition that Swaraj (self rule) for India must be an impossible dream without an indissoluble union between the Hindus and Muslims of India. It must not be a mere truce. It cannot  be based  upon mutual fear. It must be a partnership between equals, each respecting the religion of the other.” In contrast to this the streams basing their nationalism under the mask of religion not only kept aloof from anti colonial struggle but also sowed the seeds a...

Thomas Drake German American Bund parade on East 86th St., New York City, October 30, 1937. / World-Telegram photo. Public Domain. Is it a time of historical reckoning for America, in this social media dominated age, riddled by lots of gaslighting hyperbole and rabbit-holed halls full of meme-filled mirrored walls? Is it just a caricatured stage play of days long political games with a crazy old man on one side telling people the country is like a garbage can occupied by enemies and overrun by immigrants and a place to dump on democracy — poisoning the blood and streams of America while appealing to the pro-bros disassociated from society? And on the other side is a cheerleading ms congeniality, projecting a why-can’t-we-all-just-get-along plan focused on the dominion of democracy, while joyfully rationalizing an America high on its own shining city beamed from a mythical hill on the other? It seems too many are living in a co-dependent alternative reality, addicted to an...

  (CNN) —  A New York woman has been indicted on hate crime charges after allegedly pepper-spraying a Muslim Uber driver while he was praying, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, was indicted on multiple hate crime charges on Monday after allegedly pepper-spraying a 45-year-old Uber driver while he began praying in Arabic,  according to a press release  from the prosecutor. Guilbeault lunged forward toward the driver’s seat and sprayed his face with pepper spray, inflicting pain and burning sensations, as the driver started praying, officials said, citing court documents and statements made in court. The attack occurred on July 31 on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, near Central Park — the intersection of East 65th Street and Lexington Avenue, the release says. The driver, identified by CNN affiliate  WABC  as Shohel Mahmud, subsequently called 911 and Guilbeault was a...

  Criminal networks operating from Myanmar have spiralled 'out of control' with 3.4 million people displaced by fighting, special envoy says The  United Nations ' special envoy to  Myanmar  has denounced what she called a "zero-sum mentality" among those involved in the long-simmering conflict there, saying that only a stop to the violence would open the door to reconciliation. Julie Bishop made the comments on Tuesday in her first address to a UN General Assembly committee since being named to the position in April. Myanmar's military, which seized power in  a 2021 coup , has faced intensified fighting for the past year from armed groups across the Southeast Asian nation, especially an alliance of ethnic rebel groups. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with  SCMP Knowledge , our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning t...