Category Archives: Government Oppression

President Ram Nath Kovind spoke about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA in his address to both Houses of Parliament marking the beginning of the budget session on Friday.

In the times after Partition, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi had said that those Hindus and Sikhs who dont want to stay in Pakistan, can come to India. It is the duty of the government of India to give them a normal life. I am happy that both Houses of Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to fulfill the dreams of those who built our country, the President said.

The treasury benches in the Lok Sabha welcomed this statement with many parliamentarians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah (who piloted the bill in Parliament) thumping theirs desks in appreciation.

Watch l CAA fulfilled Gandhis dream: President Kovind; opposition creates ruckus

All of us know that minorities have been facing oppression in Pakistan over the years. The recent incident in Nankana Sahib is a proof. It is our duty to let the whole world know what is really happening in Pakistan. I condemn the oppression of minorities in Pakistan and urge the international community to take notice, the President further said, which was again given a thumbs up by the government. Some Opposition members, however, raised slogans during the address.

President Kovind further said, The government has made provisions to ensure that the culture of those living in the Northeast is not impacted due to CAA.

The CAA seeks to fast-track citizenship to persecuted minorities from three neighbouring countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It lists six religious minorities and leaves out Muslims which has given rise to protests all across the country.

The protesters have accused the government of dividing the country on religious line with the act. But the Centre has maintained that the CAA will have no impact on the Muslims living in India, and has refused to scrap the law.

The most vehement protests were launched in the Northeast where the native population feared a demographic change due to influx of migrants from Bangladesh. But the government included most of the northeastern states under Inner Line Permit (ILP) to assure the region that their cultural identity will be protected. The ILP is an official travel document issued by state government to allow inward travel of a citizen. It is applicable in protected states.

The first phase of the budget session will conclude on February 11, while the second part of the session will begin from March 2 and end on April 3.

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In President Ram Nath Kovinds address, spotlight on Citizenship Act and a jibe at Pakistan - Hindustan Times

These songs have become a battlecry for protesters to express their dissent against a government that's not listening to their voices.

When these high mountains of tyranny and oppression turn to fluff and evaporate, and we oppressed, beneath our feet, will have this earth shiver, shake and beat

Irrespective of the language in which these lines are sung - be it its Urdu original or in its Tamil, Malayalam or Kannada translated versions - its meaning is one that resonates with the spirit of rebellion. These lines are from Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faizs soul-stirring Urdu poem Hum Dekhenge translated in English by writer Maniza Naqvi.

While the poem itself was written in Pakistan in 1979 and published in 1981, its usage in 2020 in India comes as a testament to the people's persistent dissent against a government that's not listening to their voices.Across the country, anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters are using this poem set to tune, sometimes translating it into their own language, to express the spirit of their protest, repeating We shall see in defiance.

'Hum Dekhenge' was first sung by students in anti-CAA protests at IIT Kanpur earlier this month, and has turned into a battlecry since then. On January 9, at Town Hall in Bengaluru, singers MD Pallavi and Bindhu Malini performed the Kannada version of 'Hum Dekhenge'. A small crowd joined them. The song was translated by Kannada poet and writer Mamta Sagar, following the Bhojpuri version that was done a few days earlier.

'Hum Dekhenge' by Faiz is a powerful nazm (poetry style) in the Urdu language. The poems refrain We shall see is an expression of hope that the people will one day witness the end of oppression and cruelty, and was composed in protest against Muhammad Zia-ul-Haqs oppressive rule in Pakistan.

Theatre person A Mangai who worked on the Tamil version tells TNM that when she began working on the translation, the strangeness of the situation was more apparent.

It is strange that a protest song in Pakistan in Zias regime, when it was declared an Islamic State, feels relevant today. The way protest songs travel across the border is ironic, she explains. Pakistani Ghazal singer Iqbal Bano had sung this poem when there was a ban imposed on Faizs poems by General Zia-ul-Haq.

Tamil Nadu has a very unique history of nationalism, always at loggerheads with the Centre on Hindi imposition. When we started translating 'Hum Dekhenge', we could see a lot of echoes of this tradition (in poetry) in history, she continues, referring to VallalarsThiruvarutpa, a compilation of his teaching on universal love and peace, and Bharathis poems. There is that tradition that runs across borders and what we have done is to just invoke it and make it relevant, she adds.

Mangai worked with her daughter, academician and activist Ponni, on the translation of the song since the latter was acquainted with it from her college days. Ponni has been in Delhi from her college days and 'Hum Dekhenge' is part of all the protests there. She has sung it and was in tune with that song already. She is also friends with Urdu speaking scholars and she got in touch with her friend Dr Kyla Pasha, aPakistani Urdu poet who knew Faiz. Shes now teaching in the US and so we called her to understand the nuances of the song, she adds.

Singer-composer Bindhu Malini, who had performed the song in Kannada and Tamil along with MD Pallavi in Kannada and Anjana in Tamil respectively, says, I always felt that the translations are not meant to showcase talent or art. It is more of a contribution and a response, an artistic expression that is meant to be spread.

The video of the Tamil song was released in Chennai on January 24 during which singer Anjana performed it to an audience.

The Malayalam version of Hum Dekhenge was worked upon, keeping in mind the human chain demonstration planned in Kerala for Republic Day on January 26 by the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

The song translated by Santosh Perali was rendered by Revathy and Arun Kumar. A video showing powerful visuals from protests across the country was put together by Jerin James Joe and was widely shared by many.

Prahas, who was part of the team that worked on the translation, says, We took some liberties with respect to the translation and this song is now being used by the Malayalam diaspora across the world.The song was worked upon for about 10 days before it could be performed and released right in time for the demonstration."

In Telugu, theres another popular song thats doing the rounds. 'Bella Ciao', a popular Italian protest song in folk style, which later became the anthem against fascism, is the war cry used by people in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Written and performed by members of the Food Sovereignty Alliance, India, the tune of 'Bella Ciao was chosen for this song called 'Vekuvai Vastamu!' since the song is about a fascist regime. The words were written to call out the threat to the Constitution of India and to uphold it, says Madhoo, one of the members.

First released on December 23, 2019 the song was performed at Sangareddy district and also in Hyderabad at LaMakaan.

The song that was written in just half an hour calls for justice, fraternity, liberty, and equality.Our anger, our song, We shall sing till you get out it begins.

The basic concept is CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). The anger of the person becomes the tune and we shall keep singing until you get out is what the first line means. For Ciao ciao in Italian weve used po po' in Telugu meaning 'get out', explains Madhoo.

The team that also praises Tamil rapper Arivus latest song Sanda Seivom is now working on translating 'Hum Dekhenge' in Telugu.

Journalist Sugata Srinivasaraju, who worked on the Kannada version of the Bella Ciao song, says it was an impulsive response to the Telugu version.

It was impulsive. We heard the Telugu version of 'Bella Ciao' doing the rounds, and we thought it was infectious. The children enjoyed it, and the next day, we found that they were humming it at the breakfast table. So my wife Rosy D'Souza and I began writing the lyrics. The lyrics are independent of the original 'Bella Ciao', we only used the tune as a starting point for our context, he says.

(With inputs from Alithea, Charan and Cris)

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Dissenting with Faiz: How 'Hum Dekhenge' has been adapted in protests across India - The News Minute

PHNOM PENH

More than two years after the main opposition party was dissolved and independent media were shuttered, rights group Amnesty International said civil and political rights, and press freedom in Cambodia remain severely constrained.

In a report released January 30, Amnesty International said activists and critics of Cambodias long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen continued to face harassment and intimidation through misuse of the justice system.

The group, which works to promote human rights and democratic values, also pointed to the harassment of journalists, which they said has led to self-censorship in the media.

Severe restrictions on the right to freedom of expression perpetuated a culture of fear and self-censorship among Cambodias few remaining independent journalists and media outlets, the report said.

A 2017 government crackdown saw the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha, the closure of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the shuttering of independent newspaper The Cambodia Daily and radio broadcaster Radio Free Asia.

Kem Sokha is currently on trial for treason, a case condemned widely by human rights groups.

Hun Sen, whose party won all parliamentary seats in what observers have called a sham election in 2018, last November deployed the military and pressured countries in ASEAN to prevent the return of opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is in self-exile in France.

Dozens of grassroots opposition supporters have been arrested, the report noted, especially in the weeks leading up to the Sam Rainsys attempted return to Cambodia last November. At least 80 activists and opposition members were arrested, only to be released on bail later.

The harassment, intimidation and arbitrary arrest of supporters of the CNRP intensified throughout the year, culminating in a major crackdown related to the potential return to Cambodia of acting CNRP president Sam Rainsy on 9 November, it stated.

Government spokesperson Phay Siphan called the report baseless and said its authors were outside Cambodia and therefore unable to witness firsthand the improvement of human rights and peace in Cambodia.

The report is based on their ideas; it does not follow the professional reporting methods, Siphan said.

The report came just two weeks after a similar report from Human Rights Watch, which stated similar concerns. Reacting to that report a government spokesperson Chin Malin said the human rights group wanted to take revenge against Cambodia, though failing to elaborate on his accusation.

Am Sam Ath, monitoring manager at rights group Licadho, said that the report was projecting an accurate assessment of Cambodias human rights situation.

If we look at reality, what they have raised since 2017 until now, there is a lot of truth to that, he said.

The reports findings also showed that there was heightened surveillance of people and groups, considered to be pro-opposition, as was evident at the grassroots level.

Outspoken NGOs were subjected to unlawful surveillance, threats and intimidation by police and local authorities, the report said.

Routine NGO events, such as workshops, continued to be shut down despite the revocation of a ministerial regulation that required prior permission for such events.

The European Commission has been investigating Cambodias human right situation and can potentially suspend critical trade preferences next month if it finds no improvements in the countrys rights record.

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Amnesty International Highlights Ongoing Oppression Of Govt Critics - - VOA Khmer

By: Express News Service | Lucknow | Published: January 31, 2020 6:17:45 am Former Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi said, hey are taking away blankets from them, oppressing them by using police to harass them. (Source: PTI)

Former Governor of Uttar Pradesh Aziz Qureshi on Thursday visited Ghanta Ghar in Lucknow where women have been protesting against the new citizenship law and proposed NRC for the last two weeks, and extended his support to them.

Slamming the government for bringing in the contentious law, Qureshi told mediapersons, I am here to support the women, to stand by them, to fight the oppression faced by them. The government is cruel. They are taking away blankets from them, oppressing them by using police to harass them.

People in this government dont know the stature of women. Their leaders have used derogatory words for women. Time will give them a slap and leave them ashamed, Qureshi, who was also the Governor of Uttarakhand and Mizoram, added.

Asked about Union Home Minister Amit Shahs assurance that CAA will not affect Indian citizens, he said, All the Census programmes that have happened, have they ever asked where a persons father was born, or where their grandfather was born. If no, then why dont they remove it and do it the way it has been done till now for years.

They have drafted forms and have made columns. They have passed the Bill because they have an enmity with the Nehru-Gandhi family. They are gambling with this to fight off that danger (Gandhi family). It will not work, he added.

Calling the enactment of new citizenship law as the foundation for Hindu Rashtra, he said, At every step, they (BJP leaders) talk about Pakistan, surgical strike. At every step, they want to create an atmosphere against Muslims. They played the religion card, but it failed. The people of this country dont want religion, they want bread and employment, education, houses and health, he added.

Police notice to 100 women protesters, telling them to vacate

* Police on Thursday issued notices to 100 women protesters taking part in the sit-in at Ghanta Ghar since January 17, asking them to vacate the protest site. We have asked them to vacate the protest site keeping in mind Section 144 of the CrPC being in place in the state, said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikas Chandra Tripathi.

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This govt is cruel, takes away blankets, uses police to oppress women: Former Governor - The Indian Express

Summary:Will the Second Amendment protect us from the US military, as so many gun owners believe? Is that why the Founders put it in the Constitution? What does it do for us today?

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The right to bear arms has been justified for centuries by many reasons in Britain and America. Perhaps the reasoning that had the greatest influence on the Founders was described in a note by Professor Eugene Volokh (UCLA Law School).

William Blackstones Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in 1765, was widely read in the Colonies, and is generally seen as having exerted immense influence on the Framers vision of the rights of Englishmen. Blackstones description of the right comes in his discussions of the rights of the subject. He begins by talking about three absolute rights personal security, personal liberty, and private property and then goes on to discuss five auxiliary rights

The fifth and last auxiliary right of the subject, that I shall at present mention, is that of having arms for their defence, suitable to their condition and degree, and such as are allowed by law. Which is also declared by the same statute and is indeed a public allowance, under due restrictions, of the natural right of resistance and self-preservation, when the sanctions of society and laws are found insufficient to restrain the violence of oppression.

[T]o vindicate [the three primary rights], when actually violated or attacked, the subjects of England are entitled, in the first place, to the regular administration and free course of justice in the courts of law; next, to the right of petitioning the king and parliament for redress of grievances; and, lastly, to the right of having and using arms for self-preservation and defence.

Blackstone was a judge and professor. His dreamy views on the role of guns in the defense of liberty are interesting, but for more practical thinking we should turn to people with actual experience. Such as James Madison, father of the Constitution.

In 1774, Madison served on his local Committee of Safety, a pro-revolution group that oversaw the local militia. In 1775, he was commissioned as the colonel of the Orange County militia, serving as its second-in-command. In 1776, he was elected to the Fifth Virginia Convention which declared Virginias independence, wrote its Constitution and Declaration of Rights. He then served in Virginias House of Delegates until elected to its Council of State. Elected to Congress in 1779, he served there through the rest of the war. This is a man who saw the operation of a successful revolution, and understood that it requires not just participants willing to risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor but organization.

In The Federalist Papers #46, James Madison discusses the role of guns in a Republic. His explanation is quite different from anything the NRA says, and points to the great weakness of Americas citizens today.

The only refuge left for those who prophesy the downfall of the State governments is the visionary supposition that the federal government may previously accumulate a military force for the projects of ambition. The reasonings contained in these papers must have been employed to little purpose indeed, if it could be necessary now to disprove the reality of this danger.

That the people and the States should, for a sufficient period of time, elect an uninterrupted succession of men ready to betray both; that the traitors should, throughout this period, uniformly and systematically pursue some fixed plan for the extension of the military establishment; that the governments and the people of the States should silently and patiently behold the gathering storm, and continue to supply the materials, until it should be prepared to burst on their own heads, must appear to everyone more like the incoherent dreams of a delirious jealousy, or the misjudged exaggerations of a counterfeit zeal, than like the sober apprehensions of genuine patriotism.

Extravagant as the supposition is, let it however be made. Let a regular army, fully equal to the resources of the country, be formed; and let it be entirely at the devotion of the federal government; still it would not be going too far to say, that the State governments, with the people on their side, would be able to repel the danger.

The highest number to which, according to the best computation, a standing army can be carried in any country, does not exceed one-hundredth part of the whole number of souls; or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms. This proportion would not yield, in the United States, an army of more than 25 or 30 thousand men. To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties, and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence.

It may well be doubted, whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops. Those who are best acquainted with the last successful resistance of this country against the British arms, will be most inclined to deny the possibility of it. Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.

Madison describes the well-regulated militia mentioned in the Second Amendment.

People, ideas and hardware, in that order! The late John R. Boyd (Colonel, USAF) in A Discourse on Winning and Losing (unpublished), August 1987.

Madison understood that organization is the primary defense of a free people against oppression. Not tactics or guns but people are the key. The Federalist Papers were written for citizens who love liberty and were willing to stand together in its defense organizing when necessary into leaders and followers for collective action. This combination of spirit and good organization brought us victory in 1783. Spirit is one of the most-used words in The Federalist Papers (114 times).

Spirit and organization allowed scores of colonies to liberate themselves from European masters after WWII. Some of those insurgent groups had guns when they began, some did not. All had the desire for liberty and the willingness to pay for it. And they often paid for it with rivers of their own blood.

An armed citizenry makes a rebellion easier. But an unorganized but armed citizenry probably is easily defeated in a rebellion. In our world, getting guns is the easy part. Recruiting and organizing are the difficult parts of building an insurgency.

Unfortunately, we no longer live in Madisons America. All of his key assumptions for the Second Amendment have been broken.

I shoot 50 rounds a week (when my schedule allows), and so know many gun owners. Quite a few believe that their guns defend our liberty. Few are politically active (other than supporting the NRA). They are willing to kill for liberty, but not donate money or time for it. Is that sad or pitiful?

There is a deeper problem. We appear to have lost our capacity for collective action. Instead many Americans dream of individual saviors. This is a change from teamwork and powerful institutions that in the past populated not just our history books but also our legends. Such as Marvel Comics SHIELD,E. E. Smiths Triplanetary, Robert HeinleinsSpace Patrol,U.N.C.L.E. (as in The Man From), and Star Fleet (in the Star Trek stories), andSpectrum(in theCaptain ScarletTV series).

No longer. During the late 1960s and especially the 1970s we became alienated from our institutions. Organizations that should have led us into the future,like NASA, failed us. We learned that institutions which should protect us, such as the FBI and CIA, were often criminal oppressors. Institutions that we admired, like the military, often displayed gross incompetence.Now organizations most often appear in fiction as irrelevant, inept, or evil.

So our mythical heroes fight their enemies alone, with a partner, or as part of a small group (the ubiquitous Scooby Gangs, unrelated people who inexplicably bond into tight groups). This makes these stories useful entertainment to our rulers, for whom our collective action is their worst nightmare. (See more about this here.)

Many gun owners live this dream in their fantasies. Using their gun as a Lone Ranger, not as a private in the Minutemen. No matter how many guns one has, or how big the caliber, an individual alone is just a target before the power and organization of the governments law enforcement and military forces. Operating alone they are just miscreants to be picked off one by one.

Only together are we are strong and together we probably do not need guns to maintain our liberty.

What can we do to reform the Republic without guns?See suggestions at Reforming America: Steps to a New Politics.

Ideas!For some shopping ideas, see my recommended books and filmsat Amazon. Also, see a story about our future:Ultra Violence: Tales from Venus.

If you liked this post,like us on Facebookandfollow us on Twitter. See all postsabout gun violence and regulation, and especially these

See reviews of these books:Dont just mourn. Remember what we know about guns.

For something different, seeLiving with Guns: A Liberals Case for the Second Amendment

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Will the Second Amendment protect us from the US military? - Fabius Maximus website

By AFP

A leading Tanzanian politician who launched a crackdown on homosexuality has been banned from visiting the United States, the US State Department said.

In a statement dated Friday, the US said the sanctions on Paul Christian Makonda, the Regional Commissioner of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's economic capital, come amid Washington's growing concerns about basic freedoms in the East African nation.

"These actions against Paul Christian Makonda underscore our concern with human rights violations and abuses in Tanzania," the statement read.

Both Makonda and his wife, Mary Felix Massenge, are now barred from visiting the US.

"The Department of State is publicly designating Paul Christian Makonda... due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights, which include the flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons," the statement read.

"He has also been implicated in oppression of the political opposition, crackdowns on freedom of expression and association, and the targeting of marginalised individuals."

In October 2018, Makonda announced a project to hunt down homosexuals.

President John Magufuli later distanced himself from this initiative, explaining that it did not reflect the views of his government.

But it comes amid rising criticism of Magufuli by watchdogs for his human rights record.

"The United States remains deeply concerned over deteriorating respect for human rights and rule of law in Tanzania," the statement read.

"We call on the Tanzanian government to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression, association, and the right of peaceful assembly," it added.

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Tanzania's Paul Makonda barred from US for rights 'violations' - The Citizen Daily

Much has been said to vilify Sharjeels speech at AMU, yet none really have legitimate and valid points to do so: their claims of vilification are substantiated and relied upon on those parts of the speech that have come out as a brow-raiser for the Indian conscience.

For the BJP-RSS affliated people, the proposition of so-called territorial disintegration from Assam have attacked their belief on the immutable sovereign unity of India, which they so sacrosanctly push forward. For the left-liberals and Congress believers, they are mostly affected by the parts where he calls the constitution and Gandhi fascist.

Yet, when you hear them as to what exact arguments Sharjeel proposes when he says constitution as fascist they are mostly silent. This shows that without having heard the proper context of the speech, arguments and propositions that Sharjeel stated, they clearly vilify him as hurting their ideological sentiments.

To start with, Sharjeel Imam is a PhD scholar at JNU, whose research is on the late colonial Muslim politics in India. He has worked on cow slaughter and communal riots in India. He has had his articles published in The Wire, Firstpost, TRT, Heritage Times and many other platforms and journals. So people saying that his speech was stupid on what basis?? They dont say so, or they wish to conceal it.

Sharjeel, in his hour-long speech at AMU, talked about many things. His arguments were stated with historical facts and data, followed by the condemnation of the particular policy/party/system. What I found problematic was the tone of his speech, which was irresponsible, aggressive, and perhaps aggravated the situation.

His stated propositions and historical facts were lost in the ramble of his intense tone of speech. A non-Muslim hearing his speech for the first time would have had vehemently strong and provocative reactions, and some even called him a deluded man and so on. Amongst the Muslim community, Sharjeels speech has upturned the tables of thought and have divided their stand on him.

Apart from this speech at AMU, Sharjeel had spoken on many other public platforms as well. In Jamia, where he came up with the idea of a chakka jam, at Shaheen Bagh, where he spoke of the times we live in. I am trying to collate his line of thought, what he thinks and how it can be interpreted. I am relying on my memory as to what I remember.

1. He proposed the idea of chakka jam first in the speech he had delivered in Jamia. The advancing policy of the CAA and NRC perhaps augmented his fear of leaving Muslims in a hapless condition. He believed Muslims during these dire times, should stand up and fight the regime dauntingly without moving back an inch.

Marches, candlelight protests at such times would prove to be futile thus, there is a need to intensify the mode of protest. He believed that a chakka jam (road, way, path blockade) is perhaps a good mode of protest in the sense that it will have a disruptive effect on the normalcy of urban centers in Delhi (and even outside it).

Blocking off the road or path is not something new and has been performed before during the 1980s in Assam and Telangana particularly. George Fernandes organised various strikes of railway blockades from trade unionists. Gandhi also followed the same suit of satyagraha, and civil disobedience in during the pre-independence period.

2. He wanted to organise a chakka jam in other parts of the country, as the government takes attention of the intensity of the protest. In AMU, he was talking about how such protests can be organised in different parts of the country. He proposed that Kanhaiya and other prominent leaders who had good public reach could mobilise the protest and lead this forward.

3. He sincerely believed that these policies severely affected the Muslim community at large, and they must act upon it. An assertive identity protest is a way forward. This is not to be mistaken as communal one.

In the contemporary scenario, politics that legitimises ones identity is emerging. One is born with a certain identity, and dies with it. One cannot abnegate ones identity, as a flippant card trick. Identity of one gives the legitimacy and rationalises the violence of oppression.

Ambedkarite and Dalit politics in India is result of excoriating oppression by Brahmanical forces for ages. Hannah Arendt, a German-Jewish Philosopher during the Nazi era (which sponsored the persecution of Jewish people), had varied reactions from the radical self-denial to extreme self-affirmation of ones identity.

She says in her 1964 interview, As a child I did not know that I was Jewish The word Jew was never mentioned at home when I was a child. I first met up with it through anti-Semitic remarks from children on the street. After that I was, so to speak, enlightened.'

Sharjeel believed that the identity of a Muslim is rooted in ones theology. A Muslim is a theological being, and should assert their identity as such. The onslaught of the secular and liberal framework has demonized Muslims as conservative, dangerous and unruly.

4. The part where he says that the everyone should come at their own terms to protest with us has been misinterpreted. Sharjeels assertive Muslim politics is not exclusive to itself. He has supported the minorities in the campus before and have always assertively come out to protest with them.

However, ones politics of identity should not pitted against each other and not homogenous in one framework. A Muslim should speak for themselves, since they are experientially and historically equipped to do so. The voice of assertion should come from the marginalised.

When he says that everyone should come on their terms is misinterpreted. It does not mean forced conversion, or forcibly chanting slogans. To give a reference, the history and the discourse of the Dalit community have long been appropriated by savarna thinkers and historians, which did not allow an authentic Dalit voice to emerge.

When he says coming in terms, it means that the non-Muslims when talking for Muslims should empathise with the histories and experiences of the Muslims, then one can produce an authentic solidarity with them.

Sharjeel Imams language comes from the voice of the oppressed, and not the oppressor: an oppressed Muslim, like other voices silenced the by Islamophobic government of the Congress, the left and the BJP for the past 60 years (as Sharjeel says in his speech). The language may be angry and aggressive which have angered the non-Muslims, specially the Hindu left, liberals and sanghis equivocally in their own terms.

In a letter dated December 12, 1935, Jat-Pat Todak Mandal (Society for the Abolition of Caste System) , a reformist society invited Dr BR Ambedkar to deliver a speech on the caste system in India. He wrote a speech titled Annihilation Of Caste and sent it to the organisers in advance ,who found his language so objectionable towards the orthodox Hindu religion, so controversial endangering the Brahmanical community that they demanded the deletion of a large section, to which he said he would not change a comma of his text. The event was cancelled.

Will the left, liberal and the tolerant India let an assertive Muslim voice speak?

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Opinion: Sharjeel Imam Represents The Voice Of The Oppressed - Youth Ki Awaaz

Americas status as home to the largest, freest, most prosperous Jewish diaspora has not closed. But it may be closing.

Another Holocaust is not about to begin, not so long as the United States and Israelthe only two countries able and willing to do socontain the current Iranian regime. That regimes position, certainly regarding the nearly seven million Jews who live in Israel, is the Holocaust never happened, and we intend to finish it.

The position of its key surrogate, Hezbollah in Lebanon, as expressed by its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is if all Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.

The United States and Israel are home to roughly 12 million of the worlds 14 million Jews. Nevertheless, social-cultural conditions underlying the status of American Jewry have been unraveling, the percentage of people in countries of the democratic West who, while neither neo-Nazis or jihadis, are tired, even dismissive of Jews and their concerns, continues to grow.

A 2017 survey by the Anti-Defamation League showed 14 percent of Americans held anti-Jewish beliefs. A 2019 ADL poll in 14 European countries found 25 percent harbored strongly antisemitic attitudes.

Upheavals and revolutions are attempted by determined minorities; the question is whether they can draw fence-sitters to their sides.

The U.S. State Department has something it did not possess before 2004. That is a special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. The current envoy, Elan Carr, felt it necessary to say last summer that every American synagogue and Jewish community center should have armed guards.

If a fairly senior U.S. government official had made such a statement 10 years ago, he or she would have been deemed unstable.

Last Decembers murderous attack on a kosher market in Jersey City, N.J.the primary target may have been an adjacent Jewish schoolthe butcher knife attack on a rabbis Chanukah celebration in Monsey, New York, and Novembers nearly-fatal stabbing of a congregant walking to a synagogue in the same area stunned, but perhaps should not have surprised.

Antisemitism is a euphemism for hatred of Judaism, Jews, andsince 1948increasingly hatred of the Jewish state. Nineteenth century German bigots introduced it to make their ancient prejudice sound scientific. It worked.

Old wine, new bottles

Hatred of Jews, veiled as national or racial antisemitism, would become common even as medieval church-based demonization of Jews declined. Karl Marx channeled Martin Luther, the former basically substituting his parasitical capitalist Jew for the latters demonic, anti-Christian one. Adolf Hitler would discover the simultaneously inferior yet dangerously cunning Jew leading oxymoronic capitalist-Bolsheviks in a war to the death against his imagined Aryan race.

The visible excesses of Nazi Jew-hatred that victorious Allied troops found as they liberated concentration camps in 1945 made open antisemitism disreputable in the West. For a generation or two. But no matter how many times Jews and non-Jews insisted Never again! no matter how many memorials and museums they erected, such actions did not establish a permanent new norm.

Robert Wistrich, one of the leading historians of antisemitism, observed in 2015 that [W]e must recognize much more clearly than before than since 1975 (with the passage of the scandalous U.N. resolution condemning Zionism as racism) hatred of Israel has increasingly mutated into the chief vector for the new antisemitism.

Central to anti-Zionist antisemitism is the false Palestinian narrative of Zionist displacement and Israeli oppression. False in that, as Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt both noted, migrationmuch of it illegalby Arabs to Jewish-developed areas of Mandatory Palestine, outpaced British-limited legal Jewish immigration. Also false in that Palestinian Arabs under Israeli control, according to a 2005 report by the U.N., of all sources, enjoyed higher living standards than Arabs in many Middle Eastern countries.

Regardless, the Palestinian narrative hasthrough incessant reiteration and eventual widespread acceptanceproved a gateway drug. By fomenting anti-Zionism, it helped renormalize antisemitism.

Shortly before murdering 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in October, 2018 the accused posted that Jews were the spawn of Satan, the Trump administration part of the Z.O.G.Zionist Occupied Governmentand that the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which brought many Jews to the United States around the turn of the 20th century, now supported immigration to undermine his people, white nationalists.

Six months later, a similar white supremacist killed one and wounded others at a synagogue in Poway, California. The death toll might have been higher, but several members not only were armed but also trained, and the congregation itself had received security trainingwhat to do, who to heed, where to goin case of attack.

Contrary to the belief of many liberal American Jews, the threat did not originate with the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president. A few weeks after al-Qaedas Sept. 11, 2001 destruction of New Yorks World Trade Center and attack on the Pentagon, journalist Jonathan Rosen, writing in The New York Times Magazine, confessed:

I had somehow believed that the Jewish Question, which so obsessed both Jews and antisemites in the 19th and 20th centuries, had been solvedmost horribly by Hitlers final solution, most hopefully by Zionism. But more and more I feel Jews being turned into a question mark once again. How is it, the world still asksabout Israel, about Jews, about methat you are still here?

The next year, 2002, a mob at San Francisco State University surrounded pro-Israel students and shouted, Hitler didnt finish the job! Go back to Russia! and Get out or well kill you! Prof. Laurie Zoloth, director of Jewish studies at the school, recalled:

I turned to the police and to every administrator I could find and asked them to remove the counter-demonstrators. The police told me that they had been told not to arrest anyone, and that if they did, it would start a riot. I told them that it already was a riot. Eventually, police marched the pro-Israel students to the Hillel House and posted a guard.

In 2017, conditions at San Francisco State only having deteriorated during the intervening 15 years, Jewish students filed a federal civil rights suit against the university for enabling creation of a hostile learning environment. That is, an environment of aggressive anti-Zionist antisemitism.

Chronic and acute

The year before, in 2016, Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld, a specialist in the study of antisemitism at the University of Indiana, acknowledged that hed been wrong for many years to believe that after the Holocaust hatred of Jews would not reappear as a major trend throughout the West.

Examples, on-campus and off, since 9/11 are virtually endless. Just a few, from 2019 and early 2020:

Last August, Jewish and pro-Israel representatives criticized a proposed model ethnic studies curriculum for California high schools not only for its shocking omission of any mention of Jewish Americans or antisemitism or its blatant anti-Israel bias but also for its clear attempt to politically indoctrinate students to adopt the view that Israel and its Jewish supporters are part of interlocking systems of oppression and privilege that must be fought with direct action and resistance.

Halted by the legislature, the question remained: How did California teachers, administrators and educational consultants draft such a plan in the first place?

In September, Columbia Universitys Global Leaders Forum hosted Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mohamad is a self-proclaimed antisemite and Israel-hater. Hes also a Holocaust denier and believes the United States, not Muslims, staged the 9/11 attacks. Columbia hosted Mohamad, but we can be sure it will not feature any anti-black, anti-Hispanic, anti-women, or anti-LGBTQ global leaders. A certain people, a particular stripe, is being removed from the rainbow coalition.

In December, a Jersey City school board member called local Jews brutes attempting to intimidate blacks into selling their homes and expressed sympathy for the kosher market killers. Are we brave enough to stop the assault on black communities of America? she asked. The mayor and governor called for her resignation.

But a New Jersey congressional candidate urged empathy for the board member. The county Democratic Black Caucus said shed rightly drawn attention to important issues. At a subsequent board meeting, one of several supporters called her the Rosa Parks of this era. The antisemitic label is a bunch of crap, throw it away, and shes not resigning.

As for empathy, The Washington Post, in its print editions, did not cover the January 5 New York City march against Jew-hatred in which an estimated 25,000 people participated. Marchers included many from the Washington area. Marginalization proceeds by omission as well as commission.

A 2019 American Jewish Committee survey showed nearly one-third of U.S. Jews avoid wearing clothing or displaying items that would publicly identify them as Jews.

How did Jew-hatred re-emerge, vampire-like, in Western Europe and North America, moving from the fringes of the left and right toward the center?

The woke vampire

Generational turnover helped. This was the passing of World War II veterans who fought the Nazis. For them, domestic antisemites sounded like Nazis.

An ideological shift also contributed. The erosion of traditional understanding of right and wrong by post-modern relativism permitted a non-judgmentalism that blurred identification of and judgment against enemies of the West. It supported the noxious claim that one persons terrorist could become another persons freedom fighter. Especially if those being terrorized were Israelis, were Jews.

While Jew-hatred from the anti-democratic right in America is sometimes homicidal, it does not shape the culture. That happens through the influence of the illiberal left. The avatar of the movement was Columbia University Professor of Literature Edward Said.

A member of the Palestine Liberation Organizations national council, Said wrote the tremendously influential 1979 work, Orientalism. This paved the way for the terrorist-freedom fighter equation and helped found an entire discipline, post-colonial studies. Through it, Israel was delegitimized and the West tarred as racist and imperialist. Those who benefitted greatly in a liberal democratic, capitalist Westamong them the Jews as a groupincreasingly are tarred by woke progressives in the United States.

Propagated for nearly two generations now in academia and secondarily through communications media and recurrently even the entertainment industry, this ideology brings us the Jersey City school board member, her defenders and more articulate bigots like Linda Sarsour.

Sarsour has been one of the leaders of the Womens March movement. A Palestinian American, she believes nothing is creepier than Zionismthe Jewish peoples national liberation movementthat Israel is a country based on Judaisms white supremacist outlook, and that a feminist cannot be a Zionist.

Something of a hijab-wearing fashion plate and a progressive in good standing, Sarsour was one of Glamour magazines 2017 women of the year. She also has served as an official campaign surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) run for the Democratic Partys presidential nomination.

In addition to generational and ideological shifts has come a demographic-religious one. In 1960, Americas population was 180 million, a large majority of whom were Protestants and Catholics who went to church at least occasionally. Six millionthree percentwere Jews. Jews who did not need armed guards at synagogues and JCCs.

In 2020, there are close to 330 million people in America. And while Christians remain by far the largest religious group, their percentage of the whole declines. Meanwhile, according to presidential exit polling, the fastest growing denominational group, now nearly 20 percent, is the Nones, those who identify with no established church.

An estimated 5.5 millionabout 1.6 percentare Jews. They represent a declining percentage of the population in which blacks comprise more than 12 percent, Hispanics 17 percent.

Selling the ideas of Judeo-Christian ethics as the backbone of American civic culture, of a special relationship between a United States and Israel of shared, democratic values, and of Jews as members of an historically oppressed minority group rather than as a conspicuous part of the purported oppressive, capitalist, white patriarchy could become increasingly difficult. Especially when an ADL survey indicates 29 percent of African Americans hold antisemitic attitudes and another poll shows a majority of millennials dont know what Auschwitz means.

A news photograph from singer Aretha Franklins 2018 funeral showed four men sitting on the altar, facing the 4,000 mourner-celebrants. They were the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, and former President Bill Clinton.

Sharpton helped incite the deadly anti-Jewish 1991 Crown Heights riots and 1995 Freddys Fashion Mart killings, never apologized but went on to host an MSNBC program and advise President Barack Obama on civil rights. Farrakhan is perhaps the countrys highest profile Jew-hater and one who, like the Pittsburgh shooter, remains obsessed with satanic Jews. Tolerance of these men, confirmed by Clintons presence, also speaks to marginalization of Jews and their concerns.

Historian Wistrich observed that there is an illusory belief that more Holocaust education and memorialization can serve as an effective antidote to contemporary antisemitism. This notion is quite unfounded. On the contrary, today Holocaust inversion (the perverse transformation of Jews into Nazis and Muslims into victimized Jews) all-too-often becomes a weapon with which to pillory Israel and denigrate the Jewish people.

Instead, said Wistrich, Jews can and must first clarify for ourselves our vocation, raison detre, moral priorities and the deeper meaning of our near-miraculous return to the historic homeland. This is the other side of the coin in our essential and relentless fight against antisemitism. [L]et us be worthy of the scriptural promise that the Torah will come forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

A U.S. Jewish community that embraces its historic mission, that refuses to tolerate its adversaries or those who do, that makes growth in knowledge and numbers priorities and asserts both its American citizenship and Jewish peoplehood, will be a more desirable coalition partner and less likely to be marginalized.

Eric Rozenman is communications consultant for the Jewish Policy Center. This article draws on his book, Jews Make the Best Demons: Palestine and the Jewish Question (2018, New English Review Press). Any opinions expressed above are his own.

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Remarginalizing the Jews; Regression to the Mean | Eric Rozenman - The Times of Israel

PHILADELPHIA, Feb 02 (APP):Pakistans Ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan, has lauded the role played by Pakistani-American doctors in strengthening Islamabad-Washington ties as well for their contribution to charitable and capacity-building work in Pakistan and the U.S.

He was speaking at a largely-attended strategy meeting of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) in Philadelphia on Friday, according to a press release issued by the Pakistani embassy.

In his remarks, the Pakistani envoy also gave an overview of the recent developments in the US-Pakistan relations, including the recent summit-level meetings between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Donald Trump, saying that the ties were on a positive trajectory.

He also highlighted the significance of Kashmir Solidarity Day on February five and the positive developments viz-a-viz Pakistans economy and security situation.

Speaking on the improved security environment in Pakistan, Ambassador Khan apprised the audience regarding the recent travel advisory for Pakistan issued by the U.S. State Department that acknowledges the improved security situation in Pakistans major cities, particularly Islamabad. This, he noted, follows the similar revisions made by a number of other important capitals including UK, Canada, Portugal, Norway, France, among others. The Pakistan government was committed to building a favourable environment to promote tourism sector and to attract foreign investments, he added.

The Ambassador also drew the attention of the audience to the serious humanitarian crisis in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJK). Inside occupied Kashmir, people remained prisoner in their own homes, without access to internet or basic amenities for the last six months.

He praised the Pakistani community for raising their voices for the Kashmiris against the oppression and urged them to use their influence on the upcoming Kashmir Solidarity day in conveying their concerns to their legislators to take note of the gross human rights violations committed by the Indian security forces and urging India to lift the siege from IOJK.

The event was attended by a number of APPNA members from across the United States, senior officials from the city government and Congressmen from Philadelphia.

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Pakistani doctors praised for strengthening US-Pak ties and their charitable work - Associated Press of Pakistan

By Richard NormanSpecial to the AFRO

Black families across the country are an amazing resource for a greater understanding of resilience and perseverance in the face of centuries of racially motivated violence, structural inequality and marginalization. And still I rise, the words of our bright and ever shining star Dr. Maya Angelou extend directly to the black families everywhere, and hold so true for those Black Families who call Baltimore home. My experiences in Baltimore City over a 40-year career have made the reality of existing strengths of Baltimores Black Families undeniable. Acknowledgement and active support for the full manifestation of these strengths and the ultimate sustainable wellbeing of our Baltimore Black Families is a central reason for being the Legacy Alliance of Child Welfare Agencies.

Members of the Legacy Alliance are Michael Sinclair PhD, MSSW, Zack Dingle LCSW-C, Al Laws BS, Dermell Brunson PhD, Dianne Nelson MS, Delores Ford-Edwards LCSW-C, Patricia Cobb-Richardson MS and Richard L. Norman LCSW-C. The Legacy Alliance started as an alliance of community based Licensed Child Welfare (foster care) Agencies. It was founded to serve children and families who have been historically rejected, neglected and poorly served by the past and current discriminatory and paternalistic systems of care.

In 2005 the Legacy Alliance was formed. During this time they sought a special relationship with Morgan State University (MSU) School of Social Work. The Legacy Alliance was welcomed with open arms by Dean Anna McPhatter PhD and her faculty. It is important to note that in 2017 MSU was re-designated by the Maryland General Assembly as Marylands Preeminent Public Research University conferring a unique mission to serve the states urban population including instruction, research and service. Dr. McPhatter was assigned as staff liaison to the Legacy Alliance. Dr. Michael Sinclair, Chair of Urban Youth and Families Specialization at the MSU School of Social Work, trained and worked in intense urban communities.

Even after a decade of our influence the sad events surrounding the death of Mr. Freddie Gray in 2015 served to shatter any lingering illusions of a good enough system to service the Black Families in Baltimore and the Region. To be clear the intent was present, and the problem is not the system of funding in the large government agencies. These large systems must be seen for what they are; blunt instruments, that organize their approaches to service in a bureaucratic manner that perpetuate at best competition, siloed efforts and inefficiency. The Legacy Alliance members has experienced years of what appeared to be an attrition approach to the preservation and enhancement of African American led resources in Baltimore City and throughout the region. We concluded our sustainability as legitimate, fully qualified and proven service resource with unique affinity. The black and brown families and children especially in Baltimore required a collective action response. The Alliance envisioned a systematic response that would address bringing fundamental shifts in power relationships between those served and those serving. Innovative catalytic service relationships and solutions are possible, and required to meet the needs of both functioning and fragile families, children and their communities.

To catalytic we must first change the way we work together to achieve and model mutuality, concrete support and sustained growth by bringing positive change to all. The collective impact strategy of the Legacy Alliance prioritized developing the relationship with a key institution like MSU School of Social Work. Our vision called for partnering as a training ground for MSU MSW and BSW social work students. Many of these students are the products of urban socio-economically oppression in Baltimore City. The Alliance believes these students form a vanguard of a new breed of social work students who are committed to return to these neglected and oppressed communities as true change agents. We have found these students are no longer content with the status quo office-based treatment models. These Students, in concert with the Legacy Alliance, are intent on rigorous development as professionals, strength-based prevention and early intervention work in these communities.

The Alliance is committed to approaches that maximize community engagement and their expression of needs in order to direct and inform professional efforts in a collaborative process. The Alliance has transcended its original agency-based identity. It is now a growing collection of individuals with a unique mix of experience and skills who stand supported and connected to but not controlled by agencies or institutions. We feel the Urban orientation of the MSU School of Social Work together with the Alliances commitment to action can unleash the power of student citizens of Baltimore. It will facilitate a joining to secure the future of the Black communities of Urban Baltimore.

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The Future of Black Families in Baltimore: The Legacy Alliance - Afro American