[Onthebarricades] Anti-racist protests, August-September 2008
global resistance roundup
onthebarricades at lists.resist.ca
Wed Sep 9 20:42:01 PDT 2009
Anti-fascism
* GERMANY: Cologne - Islamophobe event smashed by anti-fascists
* GERMANY: Altenburg - Nazi rally met with protests
Anti-racism and immigrant rights
* ITALY: Rome - Immigrants protest murder of six Africans, smash stores
* SPAIN: Immigrants battle police after suspicious death
* UK: Unrest over police repression at Notting Hill Carnival
* UGANDA: Relatives protest bogus terror detentions
* ARMENIA: Turkish PM visit sparks protests over genocide
* SUDAN: Clashes as soldiers invade refugee camp, up to 27 killed
* US: Los Angeles - immigrant rights activists stage fast
* US: Arizona - racist sheriff Arpaio faces protest at meeting
* US: Atlantic City - Black Panther protest at jazz festival
* EAST TIMOR: Internal refugees protest for right to return
* UK: Protest demands "hands off Kurdish refugees"
* US: Murder of Mexican prompts nationwide protests
* US: Los Angeles - Korean-Americans protest golf club racism
* UK: Protests against attacks on Roma in Italy
* UK: Gurkha justice protest
* UK/NIGERIA: Protests against BA continue
* UK: Cardiff borders office targeted
Religious minorities
* INDIA: Orissa and nationwide - wave of protests against anti-Christian
pogrom
In Mangalore, protesters battle police
Protests also reach the UN in New York
* US: Sikh protests over prisoner haircut
* INDIA: Muslims protest Mohammed cartoon, police harassment, idol in mosque
* KOREA: Buddhists protest against pro-Christian bias; monk self-harms
in protest
* ISRAEL: Modern Orthodox protest haredi "discrimination"
* US: Colorado, Greeley - Muslim workers fired for protesting discrimination
* US: Oregon, Portland - protest over anti-Muslim DVD
* INDIA: Haryana - Sikhs protest for local governing body
* INDIA: Kakkivadanpatti - week-long temple occupation over right to worship
* INDIA: Tamil Nadu, Cuddalore - Muslim protesters demand compensation
for accident
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=153730
Anti-mosque nationalists protested in Germany
A left-wing protester demonstrates against an anti-Islamization
congress, organized by “Pro Koeln.”
Protesters disrupted the opening of an "anti-Islamification" conference
Friday organized by a right-wing German nationalist group that opposes
the building of a large new mosque.
Some 100 protesters gathered outside city hall in Cologne's borough of
Rodenkirchen to prevent two leaders of the Pro-Cologne movement from
entering the building where they were to hold a news conference.
Police moved in to build a protective ring around the two men, amid
shouts of "Shame on you!" and "Get lost!" from the angry crowd. The
nationalists were turned away at the door by a city official on orders
from the mayor. The group then sought refuge on a boat floating on the
Rhine River, scrambling aboard with several journalists as protesters
pelted the side of it with stones and paintballs. Six people were
arrested after the scuffle that left several windows broken, but no one
was injured, police said.
About 500 largely peaceful protesters also built a human chain around a
nearby site where the city has approved the building of a large, domed
mosque _ complete with two 55-meter-tall minarets _ in the city's
heavily immigrant Ehrenfeld district. Construction is to begin by the
end of the year.
Pro-Cologne had billed its three-day conference as an attempt to build a
"European, patriotic, populist right-wing movement" and invited members
of nationalist parties from other European nations to attend. The
conference is to include a demonstration against the mosque on Saturday,
and police say they expect several hundred nationalist supporters to
attend, along with up to 10 times as many counter-demonstrators.
"We believe that such an event organized by populists and extremists in
Cologne as damaging to the good cooperation between the city and its
Muslim citizens," Gabriele Hermani, a spokeswoman for the Interior
Ministry, said at a regularly scheduled news conference in Berlin. Armin
Laschert, the minister for integration in the state of North
Rhine-Westphalia, where Cologne is located, noted that the hundreds of
counter-demonstrators reflected citizens' disapproval of Pro-Cologne.
"They are not a citizens' movement, it is a far-right group," Laschert
said. About 1 million people live in Cologne, more than 36 percent of
them Turks or of Turkish descent.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=27972
Clashes at start of Islamophobic congress
Right wing Islamophobic demonstrators clash with leftist anti-fascist
protesters over Muslim mosque in Cologne.
COLOGNE - Demonstrators and counter-protesters clashed Friday at the
start of an "anti-Islamification congress" in Cologne, where city
fathers have approved plans for one of Europe's biggest mosques.
The two-day event is organised by members of the far-right group
Pro-Koeln (For Cologne), who were countered by leftist activists.
Scuffles also broke out between the two groups, police said.
Counter-demonstrators carried signs with slogans, including "Stop the
Nazi Congress -- Stop Pro Koeln" and “Never again fascism!"
A few scuffled with the right-wing organisers. Six leftist protesters
and a right-winger were taken into police custody.
Mayor Fritz Schramma, whose city council gave the green light for the
construction of the huge mosques, slammed Pro Koeln as "arsonists and
racists" hiding under the cloak of a "citizens' movement" in a speech
earlier Saturday.
Cologne is in the west of Germany on the River Rhine.
Pro-Koeln hopes 1,500 people will attend the high point of the congress
-- a rally in the city centre to oppose the mosque. It is to start at
midday (1000 GMT) Saturday.
Those attending the congress -- including far-right leaders from
Belgium, Austria and Italy – say they want to protect Europe's "shared,
thousand-year history" and "Christian traditions".
A spokeswoman for the German interior ministry criticised the event
Friday, calling Pro Koeln an "extremist" group that aimed to undermine
good relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.
"A sweeping condemnation of an entire world religion to which nearly 16
million people belong in the EU alone is extremely out of place," added
the religion spokesman for the liberal Free Democrats' parliamentary
group, Hans-Michael Goldmann.
Counter-demonstrations were called by trade unions, some churches and
anti-racist movements and were expected to attract between 40,000 and
60,000 people.
Several hundred opponents of the congress formed a human chain around a
mosque in solidarity with the Muslim minority, which numbers more than
three million in Germany, or four percent of the population.
First Published 2008-09-20
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7627047.stm
Saturday, 20 September 2008 15:13 UK
Street clashes erupt in Germany
Left-wing protesters set fire to barricades in clashes with police
Thousands of left-wing demonstrators gathered to protest against an
extreme right-wing rally have clashed with police in the German city of
Cologne.
Police said about 3,000 protesters threw stones at officers, while some
tried to steal their weapons.
Violence erupted after the protesters tried to halt an
"anti-Islamification" rally, which police eventually banned.
The extreme-right Pro-Koeln group had sought to protest against plans to
build one of Europe's biggest mosques.
The police said the decision to ban the rally was a matter of public
safety.
'Immigrant invasion'
Some 3,000 police had been drafted in and part of the old city was
sealed off as authorities appealed for peaceful protests against a
two-day congress called by the Pro-Koeln (Pro-Cologne) group.
The mosque is not due to be completed until 2009
Pro-Koeln had hoped 1,500 people would attend the rally in the city
centre to oppose the mosque and what they say is an "immigrant invasion"
of Europe.
The municipal council has approved the building of the domed mosque,
which will have two 55m (177ft) minarets, in the city's heavily
immigrant Ehrenfeld district.
Far-right leaders from Belgium, Austria and Italy had come to the city
for the congress.
It was due to culminate in a rally against "Islamification" and in
support of Europe's "shared, 1,000-year history" and "Western values and
Christian traditions".
Earlier, the leftist demonstrators blocked two Pro-Koeln leaders from
entering the conference venue, pursuing them as they sought refuge on a
boat.
Police say they responded with batons after left-wing protesters set
fire to barricades.
In a speech earlier on Saturday, Cologne Mayor Fritz Schramma labelled
Pro-Koeln "arsonists and racists" hiding under the cloak of a "citizens'
movement".
Germany is home to three million Muslims, who make up 4% of the population.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/09/20/rss.htm#e4
Protesters block anti-mosque rally in Germany COLOGNE: Protesters
throwing stones and paintballs disrupted the opening of an
'anti-Islamification' conference Friday organized by a right-wing German
nationalist group that opposes the building a large new mosque. Some 100
protesters gathered outside city hall in Cologne's borough of
Rodenkirchen to prevent two leaders of the Pro-Cologne movement from
entering the building where they were to hold a news conference. (Posted
@ 04:07 PST)
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3658135,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-news-1092-rdf
19.09.2008 | 21:00 UTC
Cologne - protest against far-right
In the German city of Cologne counter-demonstrators have interrupted the
start of a far-right conference by forcing its organisers to stay put on
a cruise boat on the river Rhine for hours. Police arrested eight
demonstrators who threw stones and paint projectiles. They also barred
the far-right from a bus tour of Cologne's multi-ethnic neighbourhoods.
Government and church officials have condemned the so-called
"anti-Islamisation" weekend congress. The far-right group calling itself
"Pro-Köln" plans a rally on Saturday against the building of a large new
mosque. Police say they expect up to 40,000 counter-demonstrators. On
Friday the integration minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state Armin
Laschet joined hundreds of pro-mosque sympathisers outside an existing
Turkish mosque in Cologne's suburb of Ehrenfeld.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3660404,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
21.09.2008 | 12:00 UTC
500 detained in protests against German anti-Islam congress
German police say they arrested 500 people after violent protests by
leftists against a far-right rally in the western city of Cologne.
Police said most of the estimated 40,000 anti-right protesters had been
peaceful. The street battles came on the sidelines of a two-day congress
organised by right-wing extremists, on the purportedly growing dominance
of Europe's Muslim minority and the construction of one of Europe's
largest mosques in Cologne. Left-wing protests forced the cancellation
of a planned rally on Saturday by the right wing group calling itself
Pro-Koeln. Meanwhile, around 150 bars in Cologne stopped selling to
Pro-Koeln members. Some taxi and bus drivers also refused to take
delegates to the congress.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=153730
Anti-mosque nationalists protested in Germany
A left-wing protester demonstrates against an anti-Islamization
congress, organized by “Pro Koeln.”
Protesters disrupted the opening of an "anti-Islamification" conference
Friday organized by a right-wing German nationalist group that opposes
the building of a large new mosque.
Some 100 protesters gathered outside city hall in Cologne's borough of
Rodenkirchen to prevent two leaders of the Pro-Cologne movement from
entering the building where they were to hold a news conference.
Police moved in to build a protective ring around the two men, amid
shouts of "Shame on you!" and "Get lost!" from the angry crowd. The
nationalists were turned away at the door by a city official on orders
from the mayor. The group then sought refuge on a boat floating on the
Rhine River, scrambling aboard with several journalists as protesters
pelted the side of it with stones and paintballs. Six people were
arrested after the scuffle that left several windows broken, but no one
was injured, police said.
About 500 largely peaceful protesters also built a human chain around a
nearby site where the city has approved the building of a large, domed
mosque _ complete with two 55-meter-tall minarets _ in the city's
heavily immigrant Ehrenfeld district. Construction is to begin by the
end of the year.
Pro-Cologne had billed its three-day conference as an attempt to build a
"European, patriotic, populist right-wing movement" and invited members
of nationalist parties from other European nations to attend. The
conference is to include a demonstration against the mosque on Saturday,
and police say they expect several hundred nationalist supporters to
attend, along with up to 10 times as many counter-demonstrators.
"We believe that such an event organized by populists and extremists in
Cologne as damaging to the good cooperation between the city and its
Muslim citizens," Gabriele Hermani, a spokeswoman for the Interior
Ministry, said at a regularly scheduled news conference in Berlin. Armin
Laschert, the minister for integration in the state of North
Rhine-Westphalia, where Cologne is located, noted that the hundreds of
counter-demonstrators reflected citizens' disapproval of Pro-Cologne.
"They are not a citizens' movement, it is a far-right group," Laschert
said. About 1 million people live in Cologne, more than 36 percent of
them Turks or of Turkish descent.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/09/20/rss.htm#e4
Protesters block anti-mosque rally in Germany COLOGNE: Protesters
throwing stones and paintballs disrupted the opening of an
'anti-Islamification' conference Friday organized by a right-wing German
nationalist group that opposes the building a large new mosque. Some 100
protesters gathered outside city hall in Cologne's borough of
Rodenkirchen to prevent two leaders of the Pro-Cologne movement from
entering the building where they were to hold a news conference. (Posted
@ 04:07 PST)
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3658135,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-news-1092-rdf
19.09.2008 | 21:00 UTC
Cologne - protest against far-right
In the German city of Cologne counter-demonstrators have interrupted the
start of a far-right conference by forcing its organisers to stay put on
a cruise boat on the river Rhine for hours. Police arrested eight
demonstrators who threw stones and paint projectiles. They also barred
the far-right from a bus tour of Cologne's multi-ethnic neighbourhoods.
Government and church officials have condemned the so-called
"anti-Islamisation" weekend congress. The far-right group calling itself
"Pro-Köln" plans a rally on Saturday against the building of a large new
mosque. Police say they expect up to 40,000 counter-demonstrators. On
Friday the integration minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state Armin
Laschet joined hundreds of pro-mosque sympathisers outside an existing
Turkish mosque in Cologne's suburb of Ehrenfeld.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3660404,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
21.09.2008 | 12:00 UTC
500 detained in protests against German anti-Islam congress
German police say they arrested 500 people after violent protests by
leftists against a far-right rally in the western city of Cologne.
Police said most of the estimated 40,000 anti-right protesters had been
peaceful. The street battles came on the sidelines of a two-day congress
organised by right-wing extremists, on the purportedly growing dominance
of Europe's Muslim minority and the construction of one of Europe's
largest mosques in Cologne. Left-wing protests forced the cancellation
of a planned rally on Saturday by the right wing group calling itself
Pro-Koeln. Meanwhile, around 150 bars in Cologne stopped selling to
Pro-Koeln members. Some taxi and bus drivers also refused to take
delegates to the congress.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/231554,germans-protest-against-rally-by-far-right-party--summary.html
Germans protest against rally by far-right party - Summary
Posted : Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:26:01 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Europe (World)
Altenburg,Germany - Six police officers were slightly injured by
stone-throwing protesters opposed to a rally by the far- right National
Democratic Party (NPD) on Saturday. More than 2,000 demonstrators,
members of an alliance against right-wing extremism, took part in the
protest in Altenburg, a town in the east German state of Thuringia.
Police said they were able to prevent major clashes breaking out between
the demonstrators and around 1,200 participants in a "People's Festival"
organized by the anti-foreigner NPD.
There were minor scuffles as some left-wing demonstrators threw stones
and staged sit-down protests in an attempt to block the rally.
"The vast majority protested loudly, but in a peaceful manner against
the NPD gathering," a police spokesman said.
The protest was backed by local politicians from the mainstream
political parties as well as the Protestant church, trade unions and
cultural organizations.
The NDP, seen by many in Germany as a neo-Nazi organization, has
legislative seats in two of the 16 German states but no representation
at federal level.
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/immigrant+protest+turns+violent/2463267
Immigrant protest turns violent
Print this page
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2008
Source: PA News
Hundreds of African immigrants took their anger over the alleged mafia
killing of six Africans to the streets, hurling rocks and smashing
windows in a town north of Naples.
Protesters blocked traffic and taunted police who were deployed in vans
and riot gear to control them as they marched more than six miles along
a state highway.
One protester threw himself in front of a car before being pulled away
by a police officer.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Immigrant_protest_turns_violent_in_Italy/rssarticleshow/3505360.cms
Immigrant protest turns violent in Italy
20 Sep 2008, 0603 hrs IST, AP
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Text:
ROME: Hundreds of African immigrants took their anger over the alleged
mafia killing of six Africans to the streets here, hurling rocks and
smashing windows in a town north of Naples.
Several hundred people participated in the demonstration yesterday,
which continued till evening, police said.
Television footage broadcast on Italian SkyTV24 showed protesters
marching in the rain and blocking traffic. They taunted police who were
deployed in vans and riot gear to control them as they marched more than
10 kilometers along a state highway.
One protester threw himself in front of a car before being pulled away
by a police officer.
The ANSA news agency reported that some people in the crowd were armed
with broken bottles and shouted insults about Italians.
The demonstrators were protesting the shooting deaths of six immigrants
from Ghana, Togo and Liberia late Thursday in what authorities say may
have been a hit by the Camorra crime syndicate punishment for trying to
compete in the drug trade.
The victims were slain by automatic gunfire as they stood outside a
store that sold ethnic goods in Castel Volturno, a town of 22,000 people
about 30 kilometres north of Naples. A seventh immigrant was being
treated for injuries suffered in the shooting, ANSA reported.
The protesters denied the victims were involved in drug trafficking,
news reports said.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/immigrant-attacks-spark-riots-in-italy-937579.html
Immigrant attacks spark riots in Italy
By Peter Popham
Monday, 22 September 2008
Italy is confronting a rising tide of immigrant anger this week after
demonstrations erupted at opposite ends of the country against violent
attacks directed at African immigrants.
At Caserta, a decaying seaside resort north of Naples, which has become
both the stronghold of the most aggressive clan of the Camorra, the
Naples mafia, and home to thousands of illegal immigrants, African
demonstrators overturned cars and rubbish bins and tore down street
signs in a spontaneous protest against the gangland killing of six
Africans in and outside a boutique and tailoring workshop. Then on
Saturday in Milan, thousands of demonstrators marched through the city
to condemn the beating to death of a youth from Burkina Faso by the
owners of a local bar who caught him stealing biscuits.
Two completely different and unrelated attacks, but both taken by their
respective communities as proof of the miserable status of black people
in Italy and the failure of the majority even to get a toehold on a life
of decency and self-respect in a country which is only grudgingly coming
to terms with its new multi-ethnic fabric.
The attack on Ob Ob Exotic Fashions, where automatic gunfire killed six
people on Thursday night, was explained by police as punishment
inflicted on African drug dealers for refusing to pay the newly inflated
pizzo, or protection money, to the Camorra. But friends of the six black
victims angrily rejected the charge.
One of them told La Repubblica newspaper: "It's a big lie. They were
breaking their backs working in fields and building sites. Or they
worked in the tailoring shop from morning to night, without raising
their heads from the workbench."
A reporter for Il Mattino di Napoli, who specialises in Camorra crimes,
confirmed that the massacre was nothing to do with drug dealing. "It was
merely a way for them to impose their will on the territory," she said.
In Milan, a crowd estimated at 7,000 marched to protest the killing on
14 September of Abdul Salam Guibre, beaten to death by a Milanese father
and son for stealing two packets of biscuits from their bar. The
protesters smashed motorcycles and overturned rubbish bins along the
route, chanting, "Ignorant white bastards".
Unlike the protesters in Caserta, these were not illegal immigrants,
survivors of leaky boats from Libya, but first-generation Italians,
speaking fluent Italian but feeling utterly rejected by the only home
they know. Italy has never seen anything like it.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-italy_20int.ART.State.Edition1.26d6cc0.html
Deaths of 6 Africans in suspected mafia hit sparks rioting in Italy
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Associated Press
ROME – Hundreds of African immigrants threw rocks and smashed windows
Friday, taking out their anger over the alleged mafia killing of six
Africans in a town north of Naples.
The Associated Press
African immigrants on Friday protested alleged mafia slayings of six
Africans.
Several hundred people participated in the demonstration, which
continued into the evening, police said. One protester threw himself in
front of a car before being pulled away by a police officer.
The demonstrators were protesting the deaths of six immigrants from
Ghana, Togo and Liberia late Thursday in what authorities say may have
been a hit by the Camorra crime syndicate – punishment for trying to
compete in the drug trade.
The victims were killed by automatic gunfire as they stood outside a
store that sells ethnic goods in Castel Volturno, a town of 22,000
people about 20 miles north of Naples.
A seventh immigrant was being treated for injuries suffered in the
shooting, the ANSA news agency reported.
The protesters denied that the victims were involved in drug
trafficking, news reports said.
Television footage showed protesters marching in the rain and blocking
traffic.
They taunted police who were waiting in vans with riot gear to control
the crowd.
ANSA reported that some people in the crowd were armed with broken
bottles and shouted insults about Italians.
The Associated Press
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7626099.stm
19 September 2008 18:37 UK
Riot after Africans shot in Italy
Police are investigating whether the two shootings were linked
Immigrants in a southern Italian town have rioted after six Africans
were killed in a suspected mafia attack outside a shop.
People smashed windows and threw rocks in Castelvolturno, north-west of
the city of Naples.
The six men from Ghana, Liberia and Togo were shot dead late on Thursday.
Police say the attack may be linked to a row between the Casalesi clan
of the regional Camorra mafia and immigrants involved in drug-trafficking.
Two other men were injured in the shooting.
Television footage showed men wielding metal bars and forcing traffic to
stop on Friday.
In a separate incident in Castelvolturno, a man, believed to be an
Italian national, was gunned down near a local games hall.
Police are now investigating if the two shootings were linked.
They say the murders may be connected to drugs-trafficking in the town,
where African immigrants have recently begun dealing autonomously, the
Italian news agency Ansa says.
The Casalesi clan - one of the most feared groups in the Camorra - is
believed to control drug-trafficking and prostitution in the region.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LJ670266.htm
REFILE-Immigrants riot in Italy after six killed
19 Sep 2008 17:24:21 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Refiles to fix day in first paragraph)
NAPLES, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Immigrants rioted in a southern Italian town
on Friday after six Africans were shot dead at a tailor's shop, in what
police said they suspected was fallout from a drug-related turf war.
Dozens of rioters smashed windows, flipped cars and threw rocks at
police, calling for justice and accusing law enforcement of racism for
assuming the victims were drug traffickers.
Television footage showed young men wielding metal bars halting traffic
and making motorists leave their vehicles.
"We want justice. It's not true that our murdered friends sold drugs or
were mobsters," one protester told reporters.
Police say at least six hitmen sprayed 130 bullets at the men late on
Thursday in Castelvolturno, a town of 20,000 northwest of Naples,
apparently using a Kalashnikov automatic rifle as well as smaller weapons.
It was one of the bloodiest shootouts in recent memory blamed on the
Camorra, the Naples version of the mafia, and stunned a region long used
to violence from organised crime.
The six dead were from Ghana, Togo and Liberia, and between the ages of
25 and 31. A man from Ghana was wounded in the shooting, Italian media
reported.
"The arrogance of the Camorra has reached intolerable levels," said
Sandro De Franciscis, president of the Caserta province which includes
Castelvolturno.
Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, archbishop of Naples, called for an end to the
violence.
"Put down your guns. What you use to kill people today will kill you and
your families tomorrow," Sepe told reporters. "As long as these killers
are not defeated we will always have a cemetery filled up by hate and
with violence." (Writing by Phil Stewart; editing by Elizabeth Piper)
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/immigrant+protest+turns+violent/2463267
Immigrant protest turns violent
Print this page
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2008
Source: PA News
Hundreds of African immigrants took their anger over the alleged mafia
killing of six Africans to the streets, hurling rocks and smashing
windows in a town north of Naples.
Protesters blocked traffic and taunted police who were deployed in vans
and riot gear to control them as they marched more than six miles along
a state highway.
One protester threw himself in front of a car before being pulled away
by a police officer.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Immigrant_protest_turns_violent_in_Italy/rssarticleshow/3505360.cms
Immigrant protest turns violent in Italy
20 Sep 2008, 0603 hrs IST, AP
Print
Email
Discuss Share
Save
Comment
Text:
ROME: Hundreds of African immigrants took their anger over the alleged
mafia killing of six Africans to the streets here, hurling rocks and
smashing windows in a town north of Naples.
Several hundred people participated in the demonstration yesterday,
which continued till evening, police said.
Television footage broadcast on Italian SkyTV24 showed protesters
marching in the rain and blocking traffic. They taunted police who were
deployed in vans and riot gear to control them as they marched more than
10 kilometers along a state highway.
One protester threw himself in front of a car before being pulled away
by a police officer.
The ANSA news agency reported that some people in the crowd were armed
with broken bottles and shouted insults about Italians.
The demonstrators were protesting the shooting deaths of six immigrants
from Ghana, Togo and Liberia late Thursday in what authorities say may
have been a hit by the Camorra crime syndicate punishment for trying to
compete in the drug trade.
The victims were slain by automatic gunfire as they stood outside a
store that sold ethnic goods in Castel Volturno, a town of 22,000 people
about 30 kilometres north of Naples. A seventh immigrant was being
treated for injuries suffered in the shooting, ANSA reported.
The protesters denied the victims were involved in drug trafficking,
news reports said.
http://english.bna.bh/?ID=72509
AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS CLASH WITH SPANISH POLICE
date: 08 09, 2008
MADRID, SEPT 8 (BNA)-- AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS CLASHED WITH SPANISH POLICE IN
A SECOND NIGHT OF VIOLENCE TRIGGERED BY THE KILLING OF A SENEGALESE MAN
IN AN APPARENT DRUG DISPUTE, REPORTED AP TODAY.
FOUR DEMONSTRATORS WERE ARRESTED AND A CIVIL GUARD OFFICER WAS INJURED.
AFRICANS LIVING IN A SHANTYTOWN NEAR ROQUETAS DEL MAR, A SEASIDE TOWN IN
ALMERIA PROVINCE ON THE MEDITERRANEAN, THREW ROCKS AT AN AMBULANCE ON A
ROUTINE CALL SUNDAY NIGHT, THEN ATTACKED POLICE WHO CAME TO RESTORE
ORDER. THE VIOLENCE FIRST BROKE OUT IN THE EARLY HOURS OF SUNDAY AFTER
THE STABBING DEATH OF A 28-YEAR-OLD MAN FROM SENEGAL. ENRAGED AFRICANS
SET FIRE TO HOUSES AND CARS. THE STABBING APPEARED TO STEM FROM A
DISPUTE OVER DRUGS, AND POLICE HAVE IDENTIFIED A SMALL-TIME DEALER AS A
SUSPECT IN THE KILLING. NO ARRESTS HAVE BEEN MADE IN CONNECTION WITH THE
KILLING. HS. 08-SEP-2008 11:43
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2389978,00.html
Immigrants, cops clash in Spain
2008-09-08 11:40
Madrid - African immigrants clashed with Spanish police in a second
night of violence triggered by the killing of a Senegalese man in an
apparent drug dispute, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
Four demonstrators were arrested and a Civil Guard officer was injured,
it said.
Africans living in a shantytown near Roquetas del Mar, a seaside town in
Almeria province on the Mediterranean, threw rocks at an ambulance on a
routine call on Sunday night, then attacked police who came to restore
order, a ministry official in the provincial capital Almeria said.
The violence first broke out in the early hours of Sunday after the
stabbing death of a 28-year-old man from Senegal. Enraged Africans set
fire to houses and cars.
The stabbing appeared to stem from a dispute over drugs, and police have
identified a small-time dealer as a suspect in the killing, the ministry
official said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the killing, he added.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because department rules
bar his name from being published.
- AP
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=5749842
Spain: Street Violence After Immigrant's Death
Spanish police report second night of violence in southern town after
immigrant death
By DANIEL WOOLLS Associated Press Writer
MADRID, Spain September 8, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press
African immigrants clashed with Spanish police in a second night of
violence triggered by the killing of a Senegalese man in an apparent
drug dispute, the Interior Ministry said Monday.
Four demonstrators were arrested and a Civil Guard officer was injured,
it said.
Africans living in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Roquetas del
Mar, a seaside town in Almeria province on the Mediterranean, threw
rocks at an ambulance on a routine call Sunday night, then attacked
police who came to restore order, a ministry official in the provincial
capital Almeria said.
The violence first broke out in the early hours of Sunday after the
stabbing death of a 28-year-old man from Senegal. Enraged Africans set
fire to houses and cars. Four protesters were arrested and two police
were injured after this first outbreak of rioting, the official said.
The stabbing appeared to stem from a dispute over drugs, and police are
looking for a small-time dealer identified as a suspect in the killing,
the ministry official said. No arrests have been made in connection with
the killing, he added.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because department rules
bar his name from being published.
The newspaper El Pais reported Monday that the Senegalese man was trying
to break up a fight over drugs and was stabbed. But the ministry
official said he could not confirm this, saying the circumstances of the
killing remained under investigation.
http://www.euronews.net/2008/09/08/appeals-for-calm-after-riots-in-spanish-town/
Appeals for calm after riots in Spanish town
08/09/08 17:16 CET
The Spanish town of Roquetas de Mar remains tense after disturbances at
the weekend in which an African immigrant was fatally stabbed.
Hundreds of people took part in a protest against living conditions that
they say contributed to the violence. It erupted after a Senegalese man
was reportedly knifed after he tried to intervene in a dispute between
Senegalese and Roma families. Buildings were damaged and cars burnt in
the unrest. The mayor of the town in the south east of the country
appealed for calm. “I ask you to show the capacity of our community to
live together, as we have down and will do,” he said. Eight African
immigrants were arrested after the rioting that occurred on Saturday and
Sunday nights.
Around a third of the population in the town are migrants. The region’s
vast agricultural sector is heavily dependent on workers from abroad.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_World&set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20080908125157381C197616
Immigrants detained after riots in Spain
September 08 2008 at 02:22PM
Madrid - Spanish police have arrested a total of eight African
immigrants after weekend riots erupted in a southern town following the
fatal stabbing of a Senegalese man, officers said on Monday.
Four of the men, two from Senegal and two from Guinea Bissau, were
detained on Sunday evening after a renewed outbreak of violence in
Roquetas de Mar.
On Saturday a number of Sub-Saharan immigrants vandalised property,
burnt rubbish bins and threw stones and bottles at police after the
28-year-old Senegalese man was killed.
A witness said the man was knifed as he tried to intervene in a dispute
between Senegalese and Roma families in the area.
The dispute is believed to have been over an unpaid debt, a police
representative told radio station RNE.
Rioters set fire to two homes which they believed belonged to family
members of the culprit as well as burning a number of parked cars, the
police said.
About a third of the town's residents are immigrants, many of whom work
in the agricultural sector.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7603243.stm
Sunday, 7 September 2008 21:39 UK
African immigrants riot in Spain
African immigrants inspected the scene following the violence
African immigrants have rioted in Spain after a Senegalese man was
stabbed to death in the street of a southern town.
Police said the rampage began in the early hours of Sunday, and led to
houses and cars being set on fire.
After the 28-year-old man was killed in a fight in Roquetas de Mar, an
angry gathering "degenerated into violence and public disorder", a
statement said.
Police said they did not know what led to the attack, but they were
looking for a local man.
A witness said the man was killed as he tried to intervene in a dispute
between Senegalese and Roma (Gypsy) families in the area, Reuters reported.
Rioters set fire to two homes of relatives of the man suspected of the
killing, police said.
They also said rioters attacked firefighters with stones, and clashed
with police.
There are a high proportion of immigrants in Roquetas de Mar, in the
province of Almeria, many of whom work in the agricultural sector.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7581556.stm
Tuesday, 26 August 2008 11:40 UK
Arrests after carnival stand-offs
The incident in Ladbroke Grove was captured on video
Police were pelted with bottles during two stand-offs at the Notting
Hill Carnival.
About 180 youths were stopped and seven arrested at south London's Oval
cricket ground as officers stopped the group from going to the weekend
event.
Later officers were hit with bottles when they clashed with 40 people in
a separate incident in Ladbroke Grove.
A total of 330 people were held during carnival with weapons such as
knives, a Taser gun and CS spray being seized.
One eyewitnesses described the Ladbroke Grove clash as a "full-scale
battle".
One officer suffered facial injuries during the skirmish, police said.
History of disorder
In the first incident, on Monday afternoon, officers stopped a group of
about 180 people in Harleyford Road, outside the Oval.
Police said 151 were taken to a police station, of which seven were
formally arrested for public order offences or possession of pointed or
bladed items.
Bottles were thrown at police in Ladbroke Grove
Officers said they believed the group, which included many teenagers,
were on their way to the carnival to commit crime.
Some members of the group had a history of being involved in disorder at
the carnival, police said.
Later in the evening police were involved in sporadic clashes in
Ladbroke Grove, near the carnival route in west London, where
unprotected officers were hit by bottles and other objects.
Up to 40 people were involved in the clash, which continued for more
than two hours, and one officer suffered facial injuries after being hit
by a bottle.
Ch Insp Jo Edwards said: "For over two hours our officers were faced
with a hardcore, mainly of young men, who came to Carnival not to enjoy
the event but to fight, commit crime and cause trouble."
Pat Mason, from Kensington and Chelsea Council, was at Ladbroke Grove
and saw the events unfold.
I saw one police officer with blood on his face and I saw people who
were throwing missiles getting carried away because they were getting
batoned as well
Pat Mason, eyewitness
He said: "They were all picking up bottles, throwing bottles, throwing
bits of stones, throwing anything at the police they possibly could.
"I saw one police police officer with blood on his face and I saw people
who were throwing missiles getting carried away because they were
getting batoned as well.
"So we had a full-scale battle going on."
Ch Insp Edwards said the majority of the 330 reported crimes during the
two-day carnival, which attracted about 850,000 people, were as a result
of stop and search powers.
Last year 246 people were arrested over the same period.
Carnival organisers said the trouble which flared after the event was
"extremely disappointing".
But Michael Williams, from London Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, said: "More
than a million people had a great time at the Notting Hill Carnival and
enjoyed an amazing spectacle of colour, energy and music."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200808250002.html
Uganda: Families of Terror Suspects Protest
24 August 2008
Kampala — MUSLIM clerics and families of the arrested South African
terror suspects have claimed that they are being subjected to
Islamaphobia and terror profiling.
The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) in South Africa told local newspapers
that it believed Islamic cleric Mufti Hussain Bhayat and Haroon Saley
detained in Kampala on terrorism allegations are being subjected to
Islamaphobic profiling.
The MJC and the Media Review Network (MRN) want South Africa
Intelligence Minister, Ronnie Kasrils, to intervene in the case of the
men being handled by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force. The MRN, by
the weekend, was also preparing to send its chairperson, Iqbal Jassat,
to accompany Zahid Asmal of Channel Islam International to Uganda to
assess the case.
The MRN and MJC said they were outraged "that Muslims of undeniable
integrity and a track-record of poverty alleviation have been profiled
as 'terrorists'.
"This feeds into the orchestrated frenzy of Islamophobia that can only
be detrimental to the harmonious relationship currently enjoyed by our
people on the continent," the organisations commented.
The two were arrested at Entebbe International Airport on Monday with
two other Ugandans Muslims who had gone to the airport to receive them.
Security declined to reveal the identity of the locals.Radio Islam in
South Africa reports that Bhayat lives in Lenasia, and Saley is a
resident of Azaadville.
Army spokesperson Maj. Paddy Ankunda said the two were suspected of
being involved in terrorism activities and that they had not been tortured.
"We are stilling holding them. We have got useful leads and still
compiling more information."
Yousha Tayob, who spoke on behalf of the suspects' families said they
had received acknowledgement from Uganda that Bhayat and Saley are in
custody, but didn't know why. "We are trying to establish consular
access and that will tell us everything we need to know," Tayob said.
"We have been given no official reason," he said over the weekend.
http://expressyoureself.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/protests-greet-turkish-presidents-football-diplomacy/
Protests greet Turkish president’s ‘football diplomacy’
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Thousands of Armenians lined the streets of the
capital Yerevan Saturday, protesting the Turkish president who drove
past in the first ever visit by a Turkish leader. Many held placards
demanding justice for massacres that took place nearly 100 years ago.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul boards a plane at Ankara before departing
on an historic visit to Armenia.
Abdullah Gul arrived in Armenia to watch a Turkey vs. Armenia football
World Cup qualifier game with President Serge Sarkisian that many hope
will help the two countries overcome decades of antagonism rooted in
Ottoman-era massacres of Armenians.
Gul is the first Turkish leader to set foot in Armenia since the
ex-Soviet nation declared independence in 1991. The two neighbors have
no diplomatic ties and their border has been closed since 1993.
Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by genocide
scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey, however,
denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been
inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
Ties have also suffered from Turkey’s opposition to Armenia’s occupation
of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.
As Gul left the airport, the presidential motorcade drove along streets
lined with thousands of people holding up placards, mostly in English
and Armenian, that read: “We want justice,” “Turk admit your guilt,” and
“1915 never again.”
Others held up names of places in Turkey from which their ancestors were
forced to leave as the Ottoman Empire uprooted Armenian communities
between 1915 and 1922.
Little progress is expected on the genocide issue or on Nagorno-Karabakh
when Gul meets Sarkisian for talks just before the game — which Turkey
is favored to win.
Still, the visit is a sign of a diplomatic thaw.
“I hope that (the visit) will help lift the obstacles that stand in the
way of rapprochement between the two peoples and contribute to regional
friendship and peace,” Gul said before his departure.
Gul’s decision to accept Armenia’s invitation to the match is linked to
Turkey’s desire to carve out a regional peacemaker role amid tensions
sparked by Russia’s invasion of neighboring Georgia.
Turkey, a NATO member, has cause for alarm about how Russia’s
recognition of the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia might inspire its own separatist Kurds, or provoke Armenia to
boost support for separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In the wake of the Georgia conflict, Turkey proposed a regional grouping
for stability in the Caucasus that would include Russia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“About a month ago, we all saw how conflicts that have remained
unresolved threatened regional stability and peace in the Caucasus,” Gul
said in reference to the Georgia crisis.
Armenia is the last of Turkey’s neighbors with whom Ankara has failed to
mend ties since the end of the Cold War. Turkey has gradually improved
relations with old foes such as Greece, Bulgaria and Syria.
Improved ties with Armenia are likely to help lift strains on Turkey’s
relations with other countries that have or plan to formally recognize
the massacres as genocide.
In October, a measure that would have declared the Armenian deaths as
genocide in the U.S. Congress was stopped after President George W.
Bush’s administration warned relations with strategic ally Turkey would
be damaged.
On the plane, Gul paid tribute to the Armenian president.
“President Sarkisian was brave in taking the opportunity of inviting me
to this game,” he said.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during a war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, a Muslim ally of Ankara, in order to pressure
Yerevan into ending the conflict. he move has hurt the economy of tiny,
landlocked Armenia.
Armenia’s bitter ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey have resulted in the
tiny country being excluded from strategic energy pipelines that connect
Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia.
Armenians, supported by numerous scholars, claim an organized genocide
was carried out in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire and are
pushing for the killings to be recognized as among history’s worst
atrocities.
Turkey contends the 1.5 million death toll is wildly inflated. It also
says the Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest during the
chaos that surrounded the empire’s collapse.
Turkey has called for the establishment of a committee of scholars to
study the WWI events in a bid to improve ties, but Armenia has declined
to consider this until relations are forged.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Africa&set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20080826055212165C507138
Serious clashes break out in Kalma
August 26 2008 at 09:28AM
Khartoum - Serious clashes broke out on Monday when Sudanese security
forces thrust into one of the largest camps for displaced people in
Darfur, leaving up to 27 people feared dead, witnesses and rebels said.
Government security forces massed at dawn outside Kalma, a highly
charged camp home to up to 100 000 people made homeless by five years of
war in Sudan's western region of Darfur, witnesses and UN officials said.
Reports of casualties varied wildly and there was no immediate
confirmation of numbers from aid workers or the United Nations compiling
their own statistics.
One rebel commander in Darfur said 27 people had been killed. Aid
workers said people on the ground in Kalma camp, outside Darfur's
biggest town of Nyala, had reported more than 20 dead.
"On Tuesday morning, security forces surrounded Kalma camp and demanded
that every IDP (internally displaced person) leave," Ahmed Abdel Shafie,
a commander in the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, said from elsewhere in
Darfur.
"Later, they opened fire on the eastern side of the camp. There were
many casualties. Up to now, we have 27 confirmed dead and 75 wounded."
He accused the government of wanting to disband IDP camps near main
towns to isolate victims of the conflict since the prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court has sought an arrest warrant for President
Omar al-Beshir.
Adam Mohamed, a community leader in Kalma, said by telephone that eight
IDPs were killed and another 30 were wounded in clashes with police.
Another camp resident, Abdelrahman Omar, said police riding in about 20
cars surrounded homes and started searches, sparking clashes with IDPs.
Police in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, said a statement
would be released later.
One local government official denied any intention of ordering aid
workers or civilians out of the camp. - Sapa-AFP
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20081001-1101-ca-immigrantrightsfast.html
Immigrant rights advocates plan to fast over raids
ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:01 a.m. October 1, 2008
LOS ANGELES – Immigrant rights advocates say they will camp out in
downtown Los Angeles and fast to demand an end to raids they say are
tearing apart families.
Organizer Kai Newkirk said on Wednesday about 100 people are expected to
join the fast, which will start on Oct. 15 and last until immigrant
rights advocates garner a million signatures for a pledge to support
immigrant rights.
Newkirk says tents will be set up at La Placita Olvera in Los Angeles
for fasters, who will drink only water.
Several Los Angeles-based immigrant rights groups will help circulate
the pledge. Some fasters plan to join for several days, others for longer.
The medically supervised fast was planned by a group of immigrant rights
activists who say they are committed to non-violent protest.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/09/30/20080930protestor0930.html
Arpaio foe is arrested after protest
Man demonstrated as county killed Guadalupe police pact
419 comments by Yvonne Wingett and JJ Hensley - Sept. 30, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Randy Parraz, an organizer with a group that regularly protests the
policies of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, was arrested by
sheriff's deputies Monday after a Board of Supervisors meeting.
At the meeting, the board ratified its decision to end a contract for
police services between the town of Guadalupe and the Sheriff's Office.
Guadalupe officials tried to get a court order to block the
ratification. A federal court dismissed a request for an injunction,
saying the town would not be in immediate harm because it had until
March 16 to find new police services.
At the meeting, protesters with Maricopa Citizens for Safety and
Accountability shouted and held up anti-Arpaio signs. Parraz was told by
deputies to leave the building because of his conduct. He then stationed
himself outside the supervisors' auditorium in an area blocked off with
yellow tape.
Deputies asked Parraz to leave; he refused and deputies arrested him on
suspicion of trespassing on government property and disorderly conduct.
He was booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail.
ASAP NEWS
--------------------------------------------------
Displaced Timorese rally to return home
Voice of Culture - September 17, 2008
Matt Crook and Domingos Fernandes, Dili --
Disgruntled Timorese living in one of Dili's camps
for internally displaced persons (IDPs) were told
on Tuesday that the verification process that will
allow many of them to return home will begin on
Wednesday, although thousands more remain in IDP
camps around the district.
About 100 IDPs marched from the Obrigado Barracks
camp, which is located in a car park opposite the
United Nations compound, to the Ministry of Social
Solidarity to demand answers as to why they have
been unable to return to their homes since being
displaced in 2006 when clashes within Timorese
security forces incited violence among local street
gangs and youth groups.
The protesters congregated at the entrance to
Obrigado Barracks at about 1 pm, locking the gates
to the camp and leaving UN staff unable to remove
their vehicles from the compound.
In a bid to draw attention to their plight, the
protesters shook the gates and heckled passing
government vehicles, a foreign source working for a
local security firm said.
The source added that the protesters opened the
gates and calmed down after it was suggested that
they wait for journalists to arrive. UN Police
officers and local security officials maintained
the peace.
Ilidio Gayo, resident of Obrigado Barracks and head
of security at the camp, told reporters that the
families living there are ready to return home, but
the government has been unable to give a definite
answer as to when.
Some 322 families comprising 1,508 people are
registered on the Ministry of Social Solidarity
database as living at Obrigado Barracks.
"First we were told we could leave in June, then
they told us August and now we are told we cannot
leave," said Mr Gayo.
At about 2:30 PM Mr Gayo led a march to the
Ministry of Social Solidarity, located five
minutes' walk from Obrigado Barracks. There
protesters rallied outside the entrance and
demanded a meeting with an official of the
ministry.
The group were blocked from entering the building
by National Police of East Timor Officers while
armed Portuguese Republican National Guard troops
arrived at the scene and kept watch over the
proceedings. After a brief standoff, seven of the
protesters were allowed into the building and the
remainder were escorted outside the grounds.
The seven protesters were granted an audience with
Jacinto Rigoberto Gomes, secretary of state for
Social Assistance and Natural Disasters. The two
parties discussed the situation and Mr Gomes said
that verification of displaced people living at
Obrigado Barracks would begin the next day.
The Ministry of Social Solidarity has 15,000 people
registered in its database awaiting verification,
which is part of a five-part process leading up to
IDPs returning home.
During verification, representatives from the
Ministry of Social Solidarity travel to the homes
of IDPs, often accompanied by members of
international aid organizations, to assess
individual circumstances.
Nadia Hadi, humanitarian affairs officer for the UN
Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,
said that the verification process can take up to
three weeks and is dependant on factors such as
where IDPs lived and whether their homes are still
standing after the conflict.
A government schedule dictates when verification at
each IDP camp begins, although a source from the
Ministry of Social Solidarity said that the march
on Tuesday likely only brought forward the date for
Obrigado Barracks by a few days.
Estimates put up to 30,000 people still living in
Dili's 28 remaining IDP camps, the source added.
Some 22 IDP camps in Dili have been closed by the
government and those living there have returned
home or to host communities. IDPs typically receive
a recovery package of between US$500 and US$4,500
per family, added Miss Hadi.
All but one of Dili's "big four" IDP camps have
closed, with Metinaro the largest camp in Dili
still housing IDPs, she said, adding that displaced
persons living in the Don Bosco camp, previously
the largest in the district, returned to their
homes last week.
In 2006, up to 150,000 Timorese fled to rural areas
or else into one of dozens of IDP camps around East
Timor after violence erupted across the nation when
one-third of the country's defence forces were laid
off by the government.
The resulting tension accentuated the east-west
divide in the country and bloody clashes ripped
through the streets. IDP camps sprang up all over
Dili after the arrival of Malaysian and Australian
peacekeeping forces.
In March, IDPs began returning home when the
internal security situation showed signs of
improving after the death of rebel leader Alfredo
Reinado, while many of the former rebels angry with
the government began negotiating settlements.
Initially many IDPs were weary of leaving behind
government support and relative safety to return
home, particularly as many Timorese still felt
unsafe in their home communities.
---------------------------------------------------
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080903_Protest__arrests_disrupt_Atlantic_City_jazz_fest.html
Posted on Wed, Sep. 3, 2008
Protest, arrests disrupt Atlantic City jazz fest
By JASON NARK
Philadelphia Daily News
narkj at phillynews.com 856-779-3231
A community rally on the Atlantic City boardwalk Monday started off with
a little jazz music and ended with bullhorns, handcuffs and shouts of
"Black Power!"
Authorities arrested four people, including the leader of Philadelphia's
New Black Panther Party, a South Jersey school board member and an aide
to an Atlantic City councilman.
Atlantic City police say that about 11:20 a.m., about 15 protesters
marched up to Kennedy Plaza on the boardwalk, and three men walked onto
the stage, disrupting a scheduled musical event.
Maruse Heath, also known as King Samir Shabazz, of Philadelphia, began
to address the crowd through a megaphone.
"If you're not willing to stand up, black man and black woman, then get
the hell in the river and drown with the jellyfish," said Heath, 36, in
a video posted on a TV station's Web site.
When audience members complained, police said, the protesters were asked
to disperse. When they wouldn't, three men were arrested.
Gordon Sunkett, of Winslow Township, Camden County, said that when he
tried to intervene on behalf of Steve Young, an aide to an Atlantic City
councilman, he was arrested and charged with obstruction.
"They arrested Steve Young, and I asked him, 'What's your lawyer's name
and cell number?' " said Sunkett, vice president of the Winslow Township
School Board. "The officer said, 'You can get his number and go with
him.' The guy was nice. I didn't resist."
Authorities say Young did resist arrest, however.
Young and Sunkett are president and vice president, respectively, of the
South Jersey chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network.
Young said the rally had been planned to discuss corruption, poverty,
crime and other issues that plague Atlantic City.
"We were there to stand up for our civil rights," Young said.
Sunkett said he didn't know members of the New Black Panther Party, but
Young said that its members "speak the truth."
"You can't argue with anything they are saying," Young said.
Heath, Young and Jerry Jackson Jr., 52, of Philadelphia, were charged
with disrupting a public gathering, disorderly conduct and failure to
disperse.
Police also charged Heath with providing false information by claiming
his name was King Shabazz.
Jackson declined to comment last night. Heath could not be reached for
comment.
The remaining protesters complied with officers' requests and were not
charged, police said.
Sunkett said he hadn't contacted an attorney because he believes he did
nothing wrong.
"It's all just a big misunderstanding," he said. "I was just listening
to the tunes."
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/09/407969.html
Demonstration / Hands off Kurdish asylum seekers!
Dashty Jamal | 01.09.2008 15:11 | Repression | Social Struggles |
Workers' Movements
Thursday 11th September 2008 - 12:30pm - 14:30pm
Lobby of the Home Office
2 Marsham St
London
SW1P
Remember Hussein Ali and Muhammed Hussein
International Federation of Iraqi Refugees and Coalition to stop
Deportations to Iraq are holding a joint lobby to protest at the UK Home
Office's continuing policy of forcible deportation to Iraq.
Hussein Ali is a victim of the policy of forcible deportation to Iraq,
he committed suicide days after being forcibly returned to Kurdistan on
7 August.
Muhammad Hussein died of cancer following six years of struggle to gain
refugee status in the UK.
The families of Hussein Ali and Muhammed Hussein will be attending the
lobby
http://www.workers.org/2008/us/anti-ice_0904/
Fatal beating of Mexican sparks anti-ICE nationwide protests
By Cheryl LaBash
Published Aug 29, 2008 8:15 PM
On Aug. 22 demonstrations in many U.S. cities demanded an immediate
moratorium on raids, incarcerations, deportations and separation of
immigrant families. The urgent call responded to the racist killing of
25-year-old Luis Ramírez and plans by ICE/Homeland Security to dragnet
half a million people in the next six months.
Chicago group, Latinas, in
Pottsville, protesting racist
killing of Luis Ramírez.
WW photo: Heather Cottin
Ramírez was beaten to death by three white high school football players
in Shenandoah, Penn., near Hazelton, Penn., a town notorious for
enacting virulent anti-immigrant laws. At the Aug. 18 arraignment for
the accused killers, where the charges were reduced from first degree to
third degree murder, demonstrators gathered outside the Schuykill
County, Penn., courthouse to demand justice for the slain Mexican immigrant.
Teresa Gutierrez, a leader of the May 1 Coalition for Immigrant and
Worker Rights, who traveled from New York City, told WNEP-TV, “No one
has the right to be judge, jury and executioner on the streets of this
country, no matter the legal status of any Latino or other immigrant.”
Detroit.
WW photo: Alan Pollock
Emma Lozano, who traveled from Chicago with a delegation of young
pink-bereted Latinas, said: “That’s why we’re here. We’re here to say
the hate’s got to stop. We’re here to battle the hate, not to battle
individuals or a race or a color of people, just the hate.”
The nationwide protests were organized as a result of a call from
Latinas, a Chicago-based group of women including Emma Lozano, Flor
Crisostomo and Elvira Arellano, and Familia Latina Unida/SIN FRONTERAS.
Arellano is a Chicago airport worker who took sanctuary in a church
there for more than a year to draw attention to the cruel separation of
immigrant families. She was deported to Mexico after leaving sanctuary.
Crisostomos is now in sanctuary in the same Chicago church.
According to a statement issued from Mexico by Elvira Arellano on Aug.
25, the demands for the moratorium were raised in fourteen U.S. cities,
as well as Mexico City.
New York City
WW photo: John Catalinotto
In New York City, the May 1 Coalition for Immigrant and Worker Rights
held a picket/press conference at the ICE Processing Center in lower
Manhattan.
In Chicago, a new ¡Ya Basta! Coalition gathered with Congressman Luis
Gutierrez and over a dozen Latin@ elected officials and delegates to the
Democratic National Convention. One by one the delegates pledged to
bring the demand for a moratorium to all the delegations at the DNC.
From Mexico City, Mexico, in a moving moment, the mother of Luis
Ramírez called to address the crowd and the press in Chicago over a
speakerphone. “I just want justice for my son,” she said, surrounded by
supporters at the press conference supporting the demand for a moratorium.
In Detroit, more than 30 picketers appeared at the Detroit Homeland
Security ICE office. Latinos Unidos and Pro-Immigrant Awareness
spearheaded the Detroit action. It was supported by members of Centro
Obrero, Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Human Rights (Ann Arbor), the
Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellerman and non-immigrant organizations including the
Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice (MECAWI), BAMN
(By Any Means Necessary), the youth group Fight Imperialism, Stand
Together (FIST)—Cleveland chapter and the National Lawyers Guild.
In Los Angeles, more than forty people picketed the downtown Federal
Building
In Portland, Ore., Jobs with Justice coissued a press release endorsing
the Aug. 22 moratorium demands and urging supporters to contact
delegates. Gatherings also occurred in Philadelphia and Houston.
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f257db9f1f1f2f060abe286f613f8a27
Korean Americans Protest LPGA's English-Only Policy
Korea Times, Posted: Sep 04, 2008
LOS ANGELES—The Ladies Professional Golf Association's new English-only
policy drew the ire of Korean Americans and Asian American lawmakers,
reports Korea Times. Korean American Coalition's Los Angeles chapter
convened an emergency press conference Aug. 29 to condemn the LPGA
policy as a “racially biased policy.” Another influential Korean
American grassroots organization, National Korean American Service &
Education Consortium, issued a statement in which the LPGA's policy was
described not only as discriminatory against South Korean players, who
are significantly represented within the LPGA membership, but also as a
possible violation of civil rights laws. According to Korea Times,
members of the Asian American Caucus in California's state assembly also
objected. They sent a letter to the LPGA commissioner to protest the
policy. Grace Yoo, the executive director of KAC's L.A. chapter, told
Korea Times that her organization has been in contact with 20 Korean and
non-Korean grassroots organizations to mobilize resources in an attempt
to pressure LPGA to rescind the policy. The LPGA's policy stipulates
that international players must pass an oral English evaluation after
two years on tour or else face suspension.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/09/409070.html
Manchester protest against the persecution of Roma in Italy
libertarian communist | 19.09.2008 16:57 | Anti-racism | Migration |
Repression | Manchester
Anarchists and No Borders activists demonstrate at the Italian Consulate
in Manchester
Over 60 protesters picketed the Italian consulate in Manchester today,
in a demonstration against the worst persecution in Italy since the
fascist era. The protest, called by the Anarchist Federation and No
Borders, saw both sides of the Ducie Street entrance to the consulate at
111 Picadilly picketed, with the picket extending down the street and
onto Picadilly, where both sides of the pavement were lined with
demonstrators. 1000 leaflets detailing the persecution were distributed
to interested passersby.
Text of the leaflet at:
http://www.afed.org.uk/blog/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=1
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/409943.html
Protest against the persecution of Roma in Italy
one of no borders | 04.10.2008 23:50 | Anti-racism | Migration | London
Activists from No Borders, International Workers of the World, Crossoads
Women centre and others held a lively protest at the Italian Toursit
Board last Friday, 3rd October.
Chanting: Italy stop racist attacks; Italy: stop killing Roma people;
Italy: stop killing Black people.
Roma camps have gone on fire on at least 8 occasions.
The Italian right wing government are doing nothing to protect the Roma
people from racist attacks: instead, they have passed 'emergency'
decrees against the Roma; they have evicted camps and squatted buildings
leaving the people in the street; they are proceeding to identify and
fingerprint the Roma population including children; they have taken
hundreds of children from their families. Leading politicians such as
the Minister of Interior Maroni and Umberto Bossi, leader of the racist
Northern League, have openly incited the mobs to attack and advocated
the dismantling of camps and the expulsion of Roma - many of whom have
been living in Italy for centuries and are Italian citiziens. Others
have arrived from Eastern Europe in recent years, oftenf fleeing racist
persecution there.
Two young fiancees of Sinti ethnicity have recently died in an arson
attack in the province of Padova. The mayor of the town denies it was a
racist attack A 13 years old Rom boy from Romania died in a fire: he was
sleeping with his family in a derelict factory with no electricity and
no heating and one candle caused the fire.
Other ethnic minorities and all immigrtants are under attack as well.
There have been numerous racist attacks culminating in the murder of 19
years old Abba (Abdul Guibre) in Milano. He was beaten to death for
stealig some buiscuits.
6 immigrants of African origin died in a massacre in the Neaples
province and a seventh was critically injuried when unknown persons
fired 130 bullets at them. Protests and great anger for these murders
and today, 4th October, more than 15.000 persons amongst whom many
migrants have taken to the streets in protest.
http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/sep/sep17/news04.php
Gurkhas protest in London for justice
Retired Gurkha soldiers marched to London's High Court Tuesday to put
pressure on the authorities for the right to settle in Britain just
before the court started a judicial review into their legal challenge.
British actress Joanna Lumley, whose father served with the Gurkhas,
joined the protest, before a judge began hearing a legal action by over
2,000 British army Gurkhas.
"My own father served with the Gurkhas for 30 years... like so many
people in Britain, I am ashamed at how successive governments have
failed these magnificent and loyal soldiers," British media quoted her
saying.
She added, "The overwhelming wish of the British is to allow them to
live here with us if they so choose. I sincerely hope the court finds in
their favour."
A petition was filed at the court after a judge last month granted a
group of veterans permission for an urgent judicial review of the
lawfulness of Britain's settlement policy for Gurkhas, who have been
part of the British army for nearly 200 years.
A lawyer for the Gurkhas, Martin Howe, said they deserved better
treatment for their service to Britain with "heroism and unflinching
loyalty."
"At no point have the Gurkhas ever deserted Britain's call for help and
assistance, and during this country's darkest hours, the Gurkhas stood
shoulder to shoulder with us as our most faithful and loyal friends," he
said.
Around 200,000 Nepali Gurkhas fought for Britain in World Wars I and II,
and about 3,500 currently serve in the British army. More than 45,000
have been killed serving Britain. nepalnews.com Sep 17 08
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/09/408969.html
Respect Nigerians Coalition protest against BA
Peter Marshall | 18.09.2008 12:01 | Anti-racism | Migration | London
The Respect Nigerians Coalition demonstrated outside British Airway's HQ
building near Heathrow in support of Ayodeji Omatode and their 'Boycott
BA' campaign. Pictures (C) 2008, Peter Marshall, all rights reserved.
Ayodeji Omatode, an IT consultant living in Kent, boarded a British
Airways flight at Heathrow on March 27, 2008, going home to Lagos for
his brother's wedding. Along with other passengers he was appalled at
the maltreatment of a Nigerian man being forcibly deported on the flight
and he made his views clear.
BA employees called the police to deal with Mr Omatode, and more than 20
officers boarded the plane and dragged him off; he was handled roughly,
thrown against a wall and then into a police van, arrested and held for
eight hours. BA banned him from flying with them, didn't return his fare
and only gave him his luggage back a week later - damaged.
Over 130 Nigerians and some other nationals were ordered off Flight
BA075 to allow a single man to be deported against his will to Nigeria,
surely making it one of the most expensive operations of its kind.
According to a report in 'The Guardian', the Nigerian government has
received an apology about the incident from the British High Commisioner
to Nigeria, with a promise that the British government would ensure such
an event did not happen again.
Despite this, the CPS have decided to go ahead with the prosecution of
Mr Omotade on a charge of threatening behaviour towards a member of the
aircraft crew. The case was due to be heard at Uxbridge Magistrates
Court on 18 September, but has now been postponed.
The Respect Nigerians Coalition has demanded that they make a full
apology to the 134 Nigerian passengers who were offloaded, and give an
apology and appropriate compenstation to Mr Omatode. They also ask BA to
withdraw the statements made by their employees to the police about him,
and to remove the ban on him flying with BA. Finally they have asked for
an undertaking that BA will improve its attitude to customers and stop
practices that make it appear "arrogant, uncaring and discriminatory."
The Respect Nigerians Coalition have called on "all decent people
everywhere" to join them in a boycott of BA until the company meets
these demands. They got considerable publicity when the picketed the BA
AGM earlier this year and a small group of protesters came to the
Harmondsworth HQ of BA at lunchtime on Wednesday 17 Sept. They were not
allowed on to the BA site at Waterside but set up on the main road just
outside the offices.
It looks to me like time for BA to withdraw with as much grace as they
can manage, but so far they have failed to do so.
Our government has let the right-wing press dictate our immigration
policy. Most of the time it's sheet inhumanity and the misery, suffering
and illtreatment it causes are hidden, happening out of mind and sight
in places few of us go. When they see it happening, decent people are
rightly appalled. Those who act as good neighbours should and protest
should be applauded, not persecuted.
More pictures on My London Diary http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/09/sep.htm
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/09/408869.html
Protest outside UK Border Agency offices in Cardiff Today!
No Borders South Wales | 17.09.2008 02:21 | Anti-racism | Migration |
Social Struggles
There will be a protest against Babi’s incarceration outside of the
place where he was grabbed; the UK Border Agency offices at 31-33
Newport Road, Cardiff at 12noon, today Wednesday 17th September. All are
welcome.
This protest will only last one hour so people can come along in their
lunch-breaks. Please show your support with any banners or placards that
you are able to make.
Babi
Babakhan Badalov, (Babi) the openly gay, internationally renowned
radical artist and poet from Azerbaijan was arrested tuesday morning
while signing on at the UK Border Agency Offices in Cardiff.
Babi went for his weekly sign-in with friends from the Keep Babi Safe in
Cardiff Campaign. When he did not come back out of the building
campaigners became concerned and enquired after his well-being only to
be told he had been detained and would be removed from the country as
soon as possible.
At the time of writing he is at Rumney Police station, though he may be
moved to one of the UK’s detention prisons at any time. A friend has
been able to visit him in custody.
Babi was already in a very fragile mental state before his arrest, and
No Borders South Wales can report that he was a complete wreck when a
friend and member of the campaign was able to visit him in the police
cell. Friend and activist Hywel Bishop said:
“I’ve never seen anyone so scared. If Babi gets sent home he faces
persecution from the state for his art, beatings from the local
community, as well as the threat of honour killing from his family
because they can’t live with the fact that he’s gay.”
Typically Babi was also mindful of his art, and was concerned that his
detention would stand in the way of his upcoming exhibition in Cardiff’s
TactileBOSCH studio on 27th September and 14th October.
When he was informed that he was going to be detained and deported Babi
responded by saying:
“I feel sick”
To which the UK Border agent told him:
“well you make us sick, you’re going back where you belong”
Babi had the appeal to his asylum refusal rejected at the end of July
and has been in the process of filing a fresh claim with new evidence of
the danger he would face back in Azerbaijan. Alarming new witness
statements detailing Babi’s history of violent persecution have also
recently came to light, which would allow him to make a very strong
fresh claim for asylum.
Furthermore, his solicitor has only recently been able to find medical
experts to corroborate evidence of neurological and psychological
damage, effecting his increasingly deteriorating mental health. All of
which has delayed the lodging of his fresh claim.
No Borders South Wales
e-mail: noborderswales at riseup.net
Homepage: http://noborderswales.wordpress.com
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/228720,50000-christian-institutions-in-india-shut-down-to-protest-attacks.html
50,000 Christian institutions in India shut down to protest attacks
Posted : Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:53:17 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : India (World)
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New Delhi - Nearly 50,000 schools, colleges and educational institutions
run by Christian organizations and individuals across India shut down
Friday to protest continuing violence against Christians in the eastern
state of Orissa. "According to our estimate, 50,000 schools and colleges
and other educational institutions were closed today," said Sam Paul,
spokesman of the All India Christian Council.
The council - a nationwide alliance of Christian denominations, mission
agencies, institutions, federations and Christian leaders - supported
the strike called by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India.
At least 11 people have been killed in Hindu-Christian clashes that
erupted in Orissa after a Hindu leader was killed August 23.
Paul said there were more than 5 million students in the 50,000
institutions and the protest was not merely against attacks on the
Christian community but attacks on the secular fabric of India.
"Children studying in the institutions will understand that it is very
important to respect all religions and such criminal acts should not be
condoned," he said.
Meanwhile, protests were reported from various parts of India, including
New Delhi, where scores of Christians marched.
Violence flared in Orissa after Laxmananda Saraswati, a Hindu leader
from the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad group, was shot dead by
suspected Maoist rebels in the central district of Kandhamal.
Hindu activists attacked Christians and torched churches alleging that
Christians killed Saraswati because he was opposing religious conversion
in the state. Christian organizations denied the allegations.
More than 3,000 police and security forces have been deployed to counter
the violence, but attacks on churches continued and nearly 6,000 people
fled from the violence-hit areas to take shelter in government camps.
"There is almost an ethnic cleansing in the state," Babu Joseph,
spokesman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, told the IANS
news agency.
But state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik insisted that the clashes had
stopped and the situation had been brought under "complete control."
After a meeting with Christian groups Thursday night, Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh described the violence as a "national disgrace."
Communally sensitive Kandhamal - with a population of 600,000, including
150,000 Christians - has witnessed numerous clashes between Hindus and
Christians in the past.
In one of the worst attacks on Christians in Orissa, Australian
missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons were burned alive in
1999 by a fanatical Hindu mob that set their car on fire.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/india/2008/09/16/174891/Police-clash.htm
Updated Tuesday, September 16, 2008 10:26 am TWN, By Muneeza Naqvi, AP
Police clash with Christians in south India
NEW DELHI -- Police fired tear gas and swung batons in clashes with
hundreds of Christian protesters in southern India on Monday, a day
after at least six churches were attacked in the region.
It was not immediately known how many people were injured in the
clashes, said Satish Kumar, superintendent of police in Mangalore in the
southern state of Karnataka.
“Tear gas and batons were used, so I think there will be several
injuries in today’s clashes but immediately there are no details,” he said.
On Sunday at least six churches and prayer halls around Mangalore were
attacked. The violence followed weeks of Hindu-Christian clashes in the
eastern state of Orissa, but Kumar said there appeared to be no
connection between the violence in the two states.
“The miscreants stoned the buildings and broke the furniture before
running away,” he said, adding that a right-wing Hindu group, Bajrang
Dal, initially took responsibility for the attacks but later denied
involvement.
Police have arrested 30 people in connection with the attacks, Kumar said.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India condemned the violence.
“The heightened attacks on Christians, their dwellings and places of
worship in different parts of the country are a manifestation of the
growing intolerance of certain sections of society,” the group’s
president, Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, said in a statement.
In Orissa, thousands of security forces patrolled the Kandhamal district
on Monday after three men were killed by police during weekend riots,
District Commissioner Kishan Kumar said.
More than 20 Christian homes and a prayer hall were burned over the
weekend and five people were arrested, as the death toll from three
weeks of Hindu-Christian violence across the state rose to 20, Kumar said.
The situation remained tense, but no violence had been reported for 24
hours, he said.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=400461
Christians stage protest in Delhi over Orissa religious unrest
ANI Friday 29th August, 2008
New Delhi, Aug 29 : Christians staged a protest here today against the
violence in Orissa's Kandhamal District.
Chanting slogans like 'We Want Justice', and carrying placards and
banners to voice their angst at the religious violence and ongoing
tension in Kandhamal, the protesters accused religious fundamentalists
of infringing human rights.
"The behaviour of the fundamentalists and communal groups has rejected
our Constitution. They have no regard for human rights, for
constitutional rights, for freedom of conscience. Our people are feeling
very insecure there. They are running away and their houses are being
burnt by these people," said Vincent Concessao, the Archbishop of Delhi.
The protest came as around 30,000 Christian missionary-run schools and
colleges across the country have decided to remain closed today.
The call for a total shutdown came after Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh described the violence in Orissa as a "national shame".
A delegation of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) on
Thursday had called on the Prime Minster and appealed to him to conduct
an independent inquiry into the killing of VHP leader Laxamananda Saraswati.
In a backlash to the killing of the VHP leader and four others on
Saturday night, the violence has claimed ten lives in Orissa so far.
While the police are still carrying out investigations into the killing
of the VHP leader, people of the region are living in a state of panic.
A red alert has been sounded in the affected areas, and the authorities
have appealed to the people to help them to restore normalcy.
Shoot-at-sight orders were issued on Wednesday in eight blocks --
Phulbani, Baliguda, Tumudibandh, Raikia, Nuagaon, G Udaygiri, Tikabali
and Sankarakhol of Kandhamal District.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083054950500.htm
Kerala - Pathanamthitta
Protest against violence in Orissa
Staff Reporter
Malankara Catholic Church organises march in Thiruvalla town
Church concern: Metropolitan Archbishop of the Thiruvalla Archdiocese of
the Malankara Catholic Church Thomas Mar Coorilos inaugurating a protest
meet in Thiruvalla on Friday.
PATHANAMTHITTA: Metropolitan Archbishop of the Thiruvalla Archdiocese of
the Malankara Catholic Church Thomas Mar Coorilos has strongly condemned
the “organised attack on Christian churches and faithful in different
parts of Orissa.”
The Archbishop was inaugurating a protest meet organised by the
Malankara Catholic Church in Thiruvalla town on Friday afternoon.
Mar Coorilos termed the brutal violence on in Orissa as a “premeditated
heathen act in the name of religion.” He said the Orissa government
should take effective steps to curb the violence without any further delay.
Mon. Antony Kakkanatt, vicar-general; Mon. Antony Chethippuzha,
chancellor; Eji Parappattu, Kerala Catholic Youth Movement president;
Shibu Puthukkeril, Malankara Catholic Association president; and
Prasanth Kurien, Malankara Catholic Youth Movement president, also spoke.
Violence decried
In a statement issued here on Friday, National Council for Churches in
India (NCCI) treasurer Suresh Koshy and executive committee member
George Varghese called upon the Orissa government and the Union
government to take immediate steps to stop violence against Christians
in different parts of that State.
They said murder and violence would never help resolve problems. The
NCCI leaders alleged that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders were trying
to alienate the Christian community by levelling baseless allegations.
The Christian churches in India had been practicing religious work only
as per the provisions enshrined in the Constitution and the allegations
of forced conversion were baseless, they said.
Clergy meet
The meeting of clergy attached to the Niranom diocese of the Malankara
Orthodox Church, held in Thiruvalla on Friday, too condemned the
violence against churches in Orissa.
Youhanon Mar Chrysostomos, Metropolitan of the diocese, presided over
the meeting.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083054530400.htm
New Delhi
Protest against killing in Kandhamal district
Staff Reporter
Concern over violation of human rights in the name of religion
- Photo: R. V. Moorthy
United we stand: Christians protesting in New Delhi on Friday against
the recent attacks on their community by Hindutva activists in Kandhamal
and adjoining areas during a bandh in Orissa.
NEW DELHI: The Legal and Human Rights Department of the All-India
Congress Committee organised a protest march from Gandhi Smriti and
Darshan Samiti to the National Human Rights Commission headquarters here
on Friday to express concern at violation of human rights in the name of
religion.
Led by its secretary Ranji Thomas, the AICC delegation demanded that
NHRC Chairman Rajendra Baba take appropriate action against all
organisations indulging in unconstitutional and murderous activities
against the minorities in Orissa as well as Gujarat. They sought lodging
of a criminal case against leaders and office-bearers of organisations
instigation such violent acts. Meanwhile, a large number of Christian
organisations from all over Delhi and neighbourhood organised a dharna
at Orissa Bhavan here protesting against the killing of innocent people
in Kandhamal district of Orissa. “There are thousands of displaced
Christians whose homes were destroyed in the mob violence.
The violence in towns and cities seems to be over, but the villages face
the strong possibility of more attacks since security forces are spread
thin. We are requesting military intervention,” said All-India Christian
Council Orissa State president Rev. P.R. Parichha. All Christian schools
and educational institutions were closed in the Capital on Friday to
express solidarity with the victims of violence in Orissa.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083053960300.htm
Andhra Pradesh
Missionary schools observe protest
Srikakulam: Christian Missionary schools in the district had declared a
holiday on Friday in protest against the killing of a catholic father in
Nizamabad district and also for continued attacks on Christian community
in Khandamal district in Orissa State for no fault of theirs. In a
signed statement several Christian leaders representing All India
Christian Council (AICC) and the local churches condemned the attacks on
the silent and peaceful Christians. Staff Reporter
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083060680700.htm
Tamil Nadu
Christians hold demonstrations
Special Correspondent
Condemn violence against their community in Orissa
— Photo: M. Moorthy
SOLIDARITY: Nuns and college students form a human chain in front of the
St. Joseph’s College in Tiruchi on Friday, protesting against the attack
on Christian community in Orissa.
CHENNAI: The Christian community on Friday held a demonstration in the
city and throughout the State condemning violence against minorities in
Orissa.
A.M. Chinnappa, archbishop of Madras-Mylapore, who led the
demonstration, told reporters that minorities in the eastern State had
been the target of anti-social elements. Using the recent killing of
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda and five others as a
pretext, the elements had indulged in violence against the minorities.
Most Rev. Chinnappa, who deplored the killing of the VHP leader and his
colleagues, wanted the Union and Orissa governments to take action
against perpetrators of the violence. All Christian educational
institutions observed a holiday on Friday. A fast would be observed near
the State Guest House on September 7.
Attack condemned
AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Friday condemned the attacks
saying such dastardly act against a particular community was a disgrace
to the nation.
In a statement here, she said in a country like India such violence by
anti-social elements should be nipped in the bud. Calling upon the
Centre and Orissa government to take punitive action against those who
were responsible for creating communal disharmony, she said immediate
relief and compensation should be provided to the affected people.
“Also provide full protection to the life and property of the Christian
community,” she added.
The Union and State governments, police officials and prominent persons
belonging to different walks of society should come forward to ensure
that incidents that incite communalism and violence do not recur,
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S. Ramadoss said on Friday.
Referring to the killing of five members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) and attack on Christian institutions in Orissa, Dr. Ramadoss said
it was understandable that members of an organisation would feel
agitated when their leader was killed. But, attacking the minorities who
had nothing to do with the incident was unacceptable.
Criticising the Orissa government for having failed to act on a war
footing to curb violence, the PMK founder said there was no
justification for the government to continue.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083052150300.htm
Karnataka - Gulbarga
Christians protest
GULBARGA: Christians shut down educational institutions run by them in
Gulbarga district and staged protests condemning violence on the
Christians following the killing of a VHP activist and his three
followers. All 17 educational institutions run by the Christian
missionaries were shut down, and the teaching staff and the brothers and
nuns of various churches took out a procession in the city and staged a
day-long dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
— Special Correspondent
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/30/stories/2008083061870300.htm
Karnataka - Bangalore
We exercised our democratic right to protest: schools
Staff Reporter
Accusation that they violated norms dismissed
BANGALORE: Even as the State Government directed officials to initiate
disciplinary action and issue notices to Christian minority institutions
for “declaring unauthorised holiday” on Friday, schools and colleges
maintained that they were entitled to their “democratic right to protest”.
Nearly 300 people gathered at Mahatma Gandhi statue here to express
their solidarity with the Christian minorities who have been targeted in
Orissa following the killing of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader.
Principals and heads of various minority management schools and colleges
attended the rally and also defended their right to close their
institutions as a mark of protest. Dismissing the Bharatiya Janata Party
Government’s accusation that they had violated norms by declaring an
“unauthorised holiday”, Fr. Ambrose Pinto of St. Joseph’s College said:
“We will compensate by scheduling an extra day of college, but it is our
democratic right to protest by closing our institution.” Several other
institutions have informed students that compensatory classes will be
held next week.
There was no provision to seek permission for a protest from the
Department of Education as the State Government was contending.
Sources in the Department of Education said that all Deputy Directors of
Public Instruction (DDPIs) would seek explanation from the schools and
colleges concerned for “hindering the teaching-learning process” and not
delve into its political ramifications.
Fr. Gilbert Saldanha, principal, St. Joseph’s Indian High School, said
they would give a “valid reply” to the Government when asked. Ashok
Mathews Philip, director of South India Cell for Human Rights Education
and Monitoring (SICHREM), said that the Government was wrong in
questioning the closure. “Minority institutions have minority rights and
the Government may question if it is a prolonged closure. Colleges and
schools are always closed during bandhs. Why is it that they are making
such a serious issue of this?” he asked.
The Bangalore Citizen’s Forum, an umbrella organisation of various
non-governmental organisations, citizen’s rights groups and activists,
spearheaded the rally. Former chairman of the Karnataka Backward Classes
Commission, Ravivarma Kumar, social activist Ruth Manorama and
representatives of the Communist Party of India (Marxist),
Students Federation of India, All-India Democratic Women’s Association,
and NGOs including (SICHREM) and women’s organisations were present.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/india/2008/08/30/172528/Christian-schools.htm
Saturday, August 30, 2008 0:00 am TWN, By Ramola Talwar Badam, AP
Christian schools shut down to protest violence
MUMBAI, India -- Thousands of Christian-run schools and colleges across
India were closed Friday to protest recent Hindu mob attacks on churches
and homes in eastern India that have left at least 11 people dead.
Violence has rocked Orissa state since the killing of a Hindu leader
last week, which police blamed on Maoist rebels but Hindu activists
pinned on Christian militants.
In apparent retaliation, Hindu hard-liners set ablaze a Christian
orphanage Monday, killing a Christian woman and seriously injuring a
priest. The violence has spread to include mob attacks on churches,
shops and homes.
Orissa has a history of Hindu-Christian clashes generally fueled by
Hindu suspicions about missionary work among the rural poor.
Roughly 30,000 schools were closed Friday to condemn the violence, said
Joseph D’souza, president of the All Indian Christian Council. Churches
planned hold special services to pray for peace and solidarity, he said.
“The peaceful protest by closing schools and colleges is a signal to
those inciting religious hatred and disharmony,” said Babu Joseph,
spokesman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. “The government
must hold an independent inquiry into the Orissa killings.”
An additional 12,000 Roman Catholic educational institutions joined in
Friday’s shut down after a meeting in Mumbai.
Archbishop Oswald Gracias called for the government to better protect
minority groups.
“Innocents should not be targeted,” he said. “We have appealed for calm.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Catholic Bishops Conference of
India in a meeting late Thursday that the Orissa incidents were a
“national shame” and promised the government would make every effort to
restore normalcy, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
During his weekly Vatican address, Pope Benedict XVI said the attacks
had “profoundly saddened” him. He also described as “deplorable” the
killing of a Hindu leader, saying he was against “any attack on human
life.”
Christians make up 2.5 percent of India’s 1.1 billion people and
relations between them and the majority Hindus are mostly peaceful. But
the issue of conversions triggers fury among hard-line Hindu groups.
Hindu groups say Christian missionaries promise employment and money in
return for conversions, but Christian groups deny bribes or coercion.
Last year, four people were killed and nearly 20 churches destroyed in
similar clashes in Orissa.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mangalore-tense-as-cops-protestors-clash/73598-3.html?from=rssfeed
KARNATAKA CHURCH ATTACK
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Mangalore tense as cops, protestors clash
CNN-IBN
Published on Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 12:44, Updated on Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at
18:34 in India section
New Delhi: In Karnataka, Christian groups have called a bandh in
Mangalore and Udupi and gathered at prayers halls in the bustling
commercial centre to protest the attack on churches and prayer halls on
Sunday.
The police clashed with Christian protestors at a church in Ullal in the
outskirts of Mangalore. Police were forced to fire in the air,
lathicharge and arrest several people.
The police have surrounded the Cordel Church in Mangalore where people
have gathered to protest Sunday's attacks. The Bishop of Mangalore,
Aloysius Paul D'Souza has issued a statement saying that he felt police
should not be entering churches.
Father D'Souza has come forward and have asked Christians to call off
the protest. He says he doesn't want more trouble though he has demanded
the release of the arrested Christians.
"This morning I sent people to different places where protests were
happening and I have asked them to withdraw the protest. I have asked
for peace," he said.
"The people are shocked at the present happenings. The church was
attacked and the statue of Jesus was broken and also some of the holy
sacrament left out for worship was attacked, we have asked the people to
remain calm" says spokesperson, Mangalore diocese, Onil D'Souza.
He said that the Christians in Karnataka should not be targetted for
what happened in Kandhamal in Orissa.
Meanwhile, all roads including the Mangalore-Mumbai National Highway
have been blocked and the police have clamped prohibitory orders.
Schools and shops remained shut and vehicles kept off the roads.
"The city is tense. Groups of people are indulging in throwing stones at
each other at a few places. We are trying to control the situation and
at one or two places we lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowds,"
a senior police official was quoted by agencies as saying.
The bandh has been called after suspected Bajrang Dal activists attacked
several churches in three communally sensitive districts on Sunday.
Seven churches were vandalised in Mangalore, Uduppi and Chikmagalur.
Fifty people have been arrested in connection with attack on the
churches. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa will visit Udupi on Monday. He
has also ordered an enquiry into the attacks, but Home Minister V S
Acharya has given the Bajrang Dal a clean chit, saying it has no role in
the attacks.
The state police are looking into the recurring pattern of attacks on
churches by saffron groups. Hindutva groups say that these churches
indulge in forced conversions while the Christians insist the attacks
started after the BJP came to power three months ago.
Around 10 churches and Christian prayers halls were Sunday attacked in
the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada - of which Mangalore is the
headquarters - and Udupi by suspected Bajrang Dal activists, the police
said.
The attacks, damaging window panes and furniture, were to protest
alleged conversion activities, officials said.
Soon after the attacks Sunday, hundreds of Christians in Mangalore
demonstrated in front of the churches and prayer halls, demanding arrest
of the attackers.
On Sunday too police used batons and teargas shells to disperse
protesters and banned the assembly of five or more people in Mangalore
city for three days.
Around 10 people were injured in the clashes between Christian and Hindu
groups. A few policemen were also hurt in the stone throwing, police said.
There have been attacks on one or two Christian prayer halls in the rich
coffee plantation district of Chikmagalur and the central Karnataka
district of Davangere earlier this month, the attackers alleging that
the churches were enticing Hindus to convert to Christianity.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/30orissa.htm
Indo-American Christians protest against Orissa violence at UN
Suman Guha Mozumder in New York | August 30, 2008
The Federation of Indian American Christian Organisations of North
America on Friday staged a protest outside the United Nations
headquarters and urged Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to look into the
'naked violation' of human rights of Christians in Orissa.
Christian schools shut to protest Orissa violence
Holding placards with slogans that read 'Ban VHP,' 'Stop Burning
Christians alive in Orissa,' and 'Deploy Army to Orissa to Christians,'
the FIACONA activists staged a three-hour protest outside the UN.
"By conducting a prayer vigil and writing to Ban, we seek to highlight
the issue in the international arena. If India seeks to become a major
player in the global arena, since it is a signatory to the human rights
declaration, it should respect these sensibilities," Bernard Malik,
chief of FIACONA, told rediff.com.
Orissa violence: Centre favours CBI probe
"UN is not a foreign body and India is very much part of it. Whether Mr
Ban reads the letter or makes a statement on it not, it is not going to
resurrect the dead Christians. India needs to own up to its
responsibility in protecting its own citizens," he said.
"By giving the memorandum to Mr Ban, we would like to call the attention
of the world body to the plight of Christians in India. Because India is
constitutionally a secular state, we would like to see all communities,
irrespective of their religions, to live in peace and harmony. India
should uphold its constitutions and so this memorandum," the Reverend
Wilson, of Grace International Assembly, and also a coordinator for
Indian American Christians, told rediff.com.
Rights groups urge US, EU to end Orissa violence
"We are concerned about the atrocities committed on the minorities in
our mother land. We condemn every murder, including that of Swami
Saraswati, whose murder was perpetrated by Communist Maoists. The Vishwa
Hindu Parishad blamed the Christians for the killing, using it as a ruse
to attack and kill Christians, who also are peaceful citizens of India,"
the Reverend Wilson said.
In the memorandum to Ban, FIACONA urged him to look into the 'crumbling
of the very basis of the civilised society and the absolute degradation
of the morals and values of co-existence and cooperation. All the
Christians in India and the world look up to you for your valuable
support to end the macabre and horrendous carnage of the Christians in
Orissa'.
Kandhamal returns to normalcy after week-long violence
Abraham George, a senior UN Official and general secretary of the Indian
National Overseas Congress, said that the latest news reports suggest
that over 30 people have been killed, schools, orphanages and churches
vandalised, nuns raped and a woman set ablaze.
"What we are witnessing here is a complete failure of the government
machinery headed by the Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine,
in protecting the innocent citizens of the state, where extremists are
wreaking havoc by killing people and challenging the pluralistic
character of the nation," Abraham said.
Woman burnt, 12 churches razed during Orissa bandh
The INOC has also released a statement condemning the killings.
Malik blamed the Orissa government for its inaction in protecting
Swamiji even after he received death threats.
"Then, after the murder, the government should have been proactive in
preventing riots and protecting Christians. The VHP is also to be blamed
for the negative propaganda about the myth of conversion and Central
government for its failure to intervene in a timely manner," he said.
Christian families still still hiding in the jungles, says CRPF
Malik said there have been as many as 123 incidents in Orissa in the
last two weeks and 143 incidents of violence against Christians in
Karnataka.
"Being a forever peace-loving and religious tolerant community,
Christians are remaining mute spectators to these intensely inhuman and
barbaric acts," Malik said.
Orissa: VHP men damage churches, prayer hall
In response to another question, Malik said that it is matter of
changing the mindset of common masses that gets exploited by the ruling
party.
"Indians till today are not driven by principles but by political
affiliations. Therefore, the principle of plural India is not an
objective principle that has been consistently supported. Indians have a
short memory in learning lessons," he said.
Image: Members of the Federation of Indian American Christian
Organisations of North America stage a protest outside the United
Nations headquarters.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080901/over-5-000-christians-take-protest-against-orissa-violence-to-india-s-capital.htm
Over 5,000 Christians Take Protest Against Orissa Violence to India's
Capital
By Dibin Samuel
Christian Today Reporter
Mon, Sep. 01 2008 07:39 PM EDT
BHUBANESHWAR, India – Over 5,000 Christians from various denominations
in the India gathered Friday at the office of the Orissa state resident
commissioner to show solidarity with the victims of the country’s
worst-ever communal violence against Christians.
Related
• Hindu-Christian Clashes Kill 11 in Eastern India
• India's Christian Bodies Demand End to Orissa Violence
• Thousands of Christians Flee from Violence in India
• Freedom Fighters Call for Int'l Solidarity Amid Orissa Violence
The gathering at Orissa Bhawan in New Delhi was the result of an appeal
made by churches to protest the recent violence unleashed against the
minority Christian community following the murder of a prominent Hindu
leader and four others by suspected Maoist groups.
Protesters on Friday heard from church dignitaries and others, including
retired high court justice Kulse Patil; Shabnam Azami, director of the
progressive voluntary organization ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and
Democracy); Udit Raj, a dalit leader; Teesta Setalvad, an eminent social
activist; and Member of Parliament P.C. Thomas. Each speaker condemned
the violence and stressed the secular character of the country.
"Over 50,000 people have been displaced and over 2,000 homes destroyed,"
reported Archbishop Raphael Cheenath from the Bhubaneshwar Diocese of
the Catholic Church
He further added that "the police were mere bystanders as the rioters'
rampaged village after village." At the time of the rally Friday, the
known death toll had mounted to 30. Many more are feared dead, however,
according to unconfirmed reports.
Prominent social activist Teesta Setalvand also expressed her solidarity
with the Christian community, especially thanking them for their service
to the nation through the numerous schools, colleges and medical
institutions and the service to the poor and the oppressed in the most
backward regions of the country.
At the end of the two-hour rally, Christian leaders led by Archbishop
Raphael submitted a memorandum to Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare,
governor of Orissa.
According to sources, at least 3,000 people – mostly Christians – are
living in government-run relief camps and several thousands have fled to
forests since the recent violence rocked Orissa state.
Christian leaders said that at least 1,000 Christian homes had been set
on fire since last Monday and more than 5,000 people are homeless.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called on the state government, run by
a coalition including the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata
Party, to restore peace.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/01/stories/2008090157550700.htm
Other States - Rajasthan
Candlelight vigil in Jaipur to protest against Orissa violence
Special Correspondent
JAIPUR: Christian organizations and human rights groups in Rajasthan
organized a prayer meeting cum candlelight vigil at the Martyrs Memorial
in the Rajasthan capital on Sunday evening to protest the violent
attacks on Christians in Orissa and to pay homage to people who lost
their lives in the communal flare up.
In the programme, organized jointly by the Rajasthan Christian
Fellowship, Jaipur Catholic Association and the PUCL, Rajasthan,
hundreds of persons, including nuns, joined at dusk to light the candles
and sing songs of harmony and peace. The gathering also prayed for the
flood victims of Bihar and denounced all kinds of violence, be it from
any quarter.
Leading the prayers Father Edward Olivera, Vicar General of the Jaipur
Catholic Diocese, said the community was pained by the brutal attack on
its members and property by certain groups. The Christian community
stood for peace and service to the people, he said.
Bishop of Jaipur Diocese Oswald Lewis in a message said Orissa-like
incidents held the potential of creating unrest in various parts of the
country.
All democratic and secular persons would oppose any attempt to divide
the countrymen on religious lines, he said.
Kavita Srivastava, general secretary of PUCL, Rajasthan, P.L.Mimroth of
the Centre for Dalit Human Rights and John Mathew of Emmanuel Mission
were among those who addressed the gathering.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/02/stories/2008090252620300.htm
Other States - Puducherry
CPI(M) to stage protest demonstration
Staff Reporter
PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry unit of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
will hold a protest demonstration in Puducherry on Tuesday to condemn
the violence against Christians in Orissa.
Announcing the decision, secretary of Puducherry unit of CPI (M) V.
Perumal told reporters that the Orissa government had failed to ensure
protection to Christians and to their places of worship. The party
wanted the Centre to prevail upon the Orissa government to take
corrective measures to provide protection to Christians residing there,
he said.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/19/stories/2008091952590300.htm
Karnataka - Madikeri
Protests and counter-protests in Madikeri
Staff Correspondent
KFD activists: Yeddyurappa government must step down on moral grounds
Reaction: Activists belonging to the Karnataka Forum for Dignity staging
a protest against the recent attacks on churches and Christian prayer
halls, in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner at the Fort in
Madikeri on Thursday.
Madikeri: Activists of the Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD), on
Thursday, converged on the Fort to protest against the attacks on
churches and prayer halls by the Hindutva activists in Mangalore and
other parts of the State.
Waving placards and shouting slogans against Hindutva activists, who had
allegedly attacked churches and prayer halls, the KFD activists demanded
that Yeddyurappa government should take the responsibility for the
violent incidents in State and resign on moral grounds.
K.H. Abdul Majid, president of the Kodagu unit of the KFD, addressing
protesters, said the pre-election promise of the BJP leaders to make
Karnataka another Gujarat, was becoming a reality.
Karnataka has been known for communal amity, but since the time the BJP
government has taken over the reigns of the State, violence is
spreading. Members of the Sangh Parivar who did not believe in the
Constitution were responsible for the attacks, he alleged.
The KFD would continue to fight for justice for all communities, Mr.
Majid added. Activists of the ‘Kodagu Pragatipara Chintakara Vedike’
also participated in the protest.
Counter-protest
Even as the KFD members ended their protest after giving a memorandum to
Chikkathimmaiah, Headquarters Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner,
activists belonging to the Vishwa Hindu Parishat and other organisations
of the BJP assembled in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office (at
the Fort) and started shouting slogans to counter the allegations of the
KFD.
Somesh, a protester, told the police that people of Kodagu district had
abided by the law and had refrained from indulging in attacks on places
of worship. But, if any organisation tried to instigate violence, it
would not be tolerated. The State Government had made its stand known
against forcible religious conversions, he said.
They also shouted slogans against leaders of the Janata Dal (Secular)
and the Congress parties, who were criticising the BJP Government in the
State over the issue. Police directed activists of the KFD to disperse
thus averting an untoward incident.
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-23923.html
Protests against attacks on Christians in Orissa
Imphal/Bangalore, Sept 18 : Christians in Manipur took out a rally
against attacks on their community members in Orissa.
Church leaders termed the attack on fellow Christians as "unfortunate."
"The churches were burnt and Christian institutions were destroyed.
Christians fled in fear," said Rev. Dominic, archbishop of Manipur.
Meanwhile, Muslims took out a rally in Bangalore, condemning the
violence on Christians in Orissa.
"The atrocities over Christians by the activists of Bajrang Dal and
Sangh Parivar, should immediately be controlled and involved people
should be punished," said
Mufti Ehtamulhaq, president of Karnataka Imam Council.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had asked the government to deploy
four additional police battalions to protect Christians, but violence
has continued.
Last month, at least 16 people, mostly Christians were killed, churches
destroyed and 10,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes as
violence spread in Kandhamal district of Orissa.
--- ANI
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/15mang.htm
Protest rally turns violent in Mangalore
Vicky Nanjappa | September 15, 2008 22:42 IST
Communal violence continued to haunt Mangalore on Monday, with fresh
incidents of violence being reported from the coastal city.
On Sunday, right wing Hindu activists had allegedly desecrated churches
and places of worship, claiming that Christian missionaries were
indulging in conversions.
On Monday, members of the Christian community took out a rally to
protest the violence.
Don't convert forcibly: Karnataka CM
The protest rally began on a peaceful note, but turned violent at the
Holy Cross Church in Kulashekar, when a group of protestors began
pelting stones at passers-by. In a bid to control the mob, the police
resorted to lathi charge and also lobbed tear gas shells.
The incident turned uglier when a group of masked men desecrated a
statue of St Antony near Bejai in Mangalore. However, Udupi and
Chickmagalur, which had witnessed similar incidents of violence on
Sunday, remained calm on Monday.
Church attacks: Mangalore in turmoil
Two persons were reportedly stabbed, but neither has been identified.
While the first incident occurred in Kuloor, the second took place in
Kodailbail.
Meanwhile, several Christian leaders met Deputy Commissioner of Police
Hemalatha and submitted a memorandum, urging her to ensure protection of
the community. The DCP assured them that adequate steps would be taken
to ensure their security.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Mangalore_shut_police_protesters_clash/rssarticleshow/3485361.cms
Mangalore shut; police, protesters clash
15 Sep 2008, 1518 hrs IST, PTI
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Text:
MANGALORE: Police burst teargas shells and made a cane-charge to
disperse members of the Christian community, after their protest against
attacks
Protesters pelt policemen with stones in Mangalore. Cops fired tear gas
and swung batons in clashes with hundreds of Christian protesters in
southern India on Monday, a day after at least six churches were
attacked in the region. (AP Photo)
More Pictures
on prayer halls in the state allegedly turned violent. ( Watch )
The protesters pelted stones at the police near Kulasekhara church in
the heart of the city, said police adding that they burst teargas shells
and used lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.
Police could not provide details about the number of injured in the
incident.
Similar protests have also been reported from Shaktinagar, Vamanjur,
Tokkotu and Bantwal, police said.
Situation was tense in the city as several shops and business
establishments remained closed fearing violence.
However, the situation in the neighbouring Udupi district, which
witnessed attack on prayers halls on Sunday, remained peaceful, police
said.
No untoward incidents have been reported from Chikmagalur district, the
sources said.
Nine churches in Dakshina Kannada and three each in Udupi and
Chikmagalur districts were attacked on Sunday.
The district administration in Dakshina Kannada clamped prohibitory
orders for three days as a precautionary measure.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1190245
Mangalore shut as Christians protest
IANS
Monday, September 15, 2008 13:00 IST
BANGALORE: Schools and shops remained shut and vehicles kept off the
roads in the coastal Karnataka city of Mangalore on Monday, following
group clashes and demonstrations by Christian groups to protest attacks
on them Sunday by right wing Hindu groups.
"The city is tense. Groups of people are indulging in throwing stones at
each other at a few places," a senior police official said.
"We are trying to control the situation and at one or two places we
lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowds," he added.
Christians gathered at prayers halls in the bustling commercial centre,
about 350 km from state capital Bangalore, to protest attack on churches
and prayer halls.
The police official said stones were pelted at police personnel from
inside a prayer hall complex in the city.
Around 10 churches and Christian prayers halls were Sunday attacked in
the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada - of which Mangalore is the
headquarters - and Udupi by suspected Bajrang Dal activists, the police
said.
The attacks, damaging window panes and furniture, were to protest
alleged conversion activities, officials said.
Soon after the attacks on Sunday, hundreds of Christians in Mangalore
demonstrated in front of the churches and prayer halls, demanding arrest
of the attackers.
On Sunday too police used batons and teargas shells to disperse
protesters and banned the assembly of five or more people in Mangalore
city for three days.
Around 10 people were injured in the clashes between Christian and Hindu
groups. A few policemen were also hurt in the stone throwing, police said.
The Hindu groups maintained they did not attack churches but only prayer
halls run by some Christian groups whose main activity was, according to
them, to convert Hindus.
There have been attacks on one or two Christian prayer halls in the rich
coffee plantation district of Chikmagalur and the central Karnataka
district of Davangere earlier this month, the attackers alleging that
the churches were enticing Hindus to convert to Christianity.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/15ktaka1.htm
Attack on churches: Violent protests in Mangalore
September 15, 2008 15:05 IST
Police burst teargas shells and made a cane-charge to disperse the
members of the Christian community after their protest against attacks
on prayer halls in the state allegedly turned violent.
Miscreants attack 14 churches in Karnataka
Protesters pelted stones at the police near Kulasekhara church in
Mangalore, said police adding that they burst teargas shells and used
cane-charge to disperse the crowd.
Police could not provide details about the number of injured in the
incident.
Similar protests have also been reported from Shaktinagar, Vamanjur,
Tokkotu and Bantwal, police said. Situation was tense in the city as
several shops and business establishments remained closed fearing violence.
However, the situation in the neighbouring Udupi district, which
witnessed attack on prayers halls on Sunday, remained peaceful, police said.
No untoward incidents have been reported from Chikmagalur district, the
sources said.
Nine churches in Dakshina Kannada and three each in Udupi and
Chikmagalur districts were attacked on Sunday.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/14/stories/2008091453020300.htm
Karnataka
Protest on September 23
Staff Correspondent
DAVANGERE: The Karnataka Komu Sourdha Vedike and Pragathipara
Sangahatanegalu have decided to take out a rally here on September 23
protesting against the recent attacks on churches in Davangere.
Different issues
Speaking to presspersons here on Saturday, K.L. Ashok, secretary-general
of the vedike; Chandrashekara Thoranaghatta, president of the Karnataka
Janapara Vedike; H.K. Ramachandrappa, Communist leader; and Nagari
Babaiah said they had been agitating over three different issues such as
attacks on churches, seizure of churches by the Davangere City
Corporation and the failure of the district administration to prevent
such attacks.
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/indias-secular-political-outfit-support-peace-protest-christians
India's Secular Political outfit support peace protest of Christians
by Nksagar | October 2, 2008 at 11:31 pm
138 views | 0 Recommendations | add comment
by Nksagar
In Union Cabinet meeting PM Manmohan Singh expressed anguish over
continuing violence against Christians in Orissa, Federal Home Minister
Shivraj Patil shot off a strongly-worded letter to CM Naveen Patnaik
asking him to take effective measures and provide security for the
community.
The letter came hours after the Union Cabinet expressed grave concern
over the situation in the state with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
directing Patil to present an appraisal report on the situation at the
next cabinet meeting.
The Prime Minister is also understood to have expressed anguish over the
situation on which he had to face embarrassment during the recent
India-EU Summit in Marseilles.DD news
2008-10-03 06:33:42 - Glaxy of political bigwigs poured in to attend the
Christians of all denomination of Delhi and NCR protest at Janatr Mantar
along with eminent Hindu and Muslim scholars. Mr. Patnaik has claimed
the central force was being properly utilised in the riot-hit district
of Kandhmal.
A total of 46 companies of central forces were deployed in Kandhamal
alone as nine of the 12 police station areas in the tribal-dominated
witnessed violence since over a month.
In the meantime, over 370 persons have been arrested in connection with
the recent violence in Kandhamal district. The joint operation by CRPF
and Orissa Armed Police is continuing to apprehend people possessing
illegal arms.
2,Oct 2008,New Delhi. The stars of secular political parties came on one
platform at 7 Jantar Mantar a protest centre in New Delhi to show their
solidarity with Christians communities.Mrs Shiela Dixit,CM of Delhi
visited morning hours to the protesting communities and said billions of
people are with christian in this secular country,Mr Oscar Fernades,Mr
Lalu Parsad,the federal ministers,Mr Sita Ram yechury ,the communist
suave, said the matter will be taken up in the coming session of
Parliament,Mr JP Aggarwal,MP RS and President of DPCC ,all visited and
supported the cause.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said
they would take up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the
Cabinet meeting tomorrow and see to it that measures are taken to
contain violence,two leaders also hinted that the Centre may consider
even going beyond Article 355, a rarely used constitutional provision
that typically holds out the threat of dismissal of a state government
and imposition of President's rule if the warning of the Centre goes
unheeded.
"The Prime Minister has just returned. A cabinet meeting is scheduled
tomorrow. We will apprise him of your sentiments. We will also request
him to either visit the places of occurence himself or send a delegation
there," Prasad said.
Charging the BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits with fomenting communal
tension, he said "Bajrang Dal is sullying the name of 'Bajrangbali (Lord
Mahavir)'. These people have nothing to do either with Ram or Rahim.
They are hungry for power and doing these things keeping in mind the
upcoming Lok Sabha election." Assuring all support to Christian
community, Prasad lauded the role of Christian organisations in
spreading education.
Mr MS Bitta,Chairman Anti terrorist group,Mr Teesta Setalvad,Mr Khaliq
GS Lok Shakti,Mr Hannar Moola,Mr Tarun Tejpal,Mr Kuldeep Nayyar,Mr Jawed
Naqvi,Mr NKSagar,Mr Ashok Jetley also participated on the last day of
their peaceful protest.Thousand of christians thronged the Protest point
at 2 PM from Delhi and NCR to carry out peaceful march from Jantar
Mantar to Gandhi Samadhi,the protesters reached the Samadhi 6 PM and
Bishop,Archbishop of various cities and Swami Agnivesh spoke to inspire
the brotherhood,peace and tranquility and fight the communal violence
with spirit of non-violence.
Setalvad enumerated various incidents of anti-Christian violence in
India and urged the country's middle class to speak up. She said
middle-class people have benefited greatly from services offered by
Christians but remain silent when their benefactors are attacked.
Swami Agnivesh, a Hindu reformist leader who addressed a prayer meeting
near the Gandhi mausoleum, decried those who have killed Christians and
raped nuns as the "biggest enemies" of God. He blamed Gandhi's killers
as the ones behind the attacks on Christians in Orissa.
Several marchers said the rally is to impress upon authorities the need
to take firm action to end attacks on Christians.
Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi said he wants the federal
government to take control. "We want the government to establish peace
in Orissa," he said.
Sister Sheeba said she regretted the government had done little to
control the violence. "I hope the rally and the dharna (sit-in protest)
would at least open the eyes of the government," the Franciscan Clarist
nun said.
Bishop Joseph Mar Bernabas of the Mar Thoma Church asserted the
government cannot go on ignoring Christians even though they are a
minority. "We are part of the nation," he said. "We love our country."
The peaceful rally reaffirmed Christians as a peace-loving community,
said Father Jayan Thomas of the same Church, an offshoot of the Orthodox
Church.
Christians were on seven days sit on dharna from 26 Sept to 2Oct 2008,a
peaceful protest against the atricities committed on Dalit chirtians in
states of Orissa,Karnataka,Kerala.MP and other states.
Orissa has fourteen districts affected out of thirty with 300 villages
saw the violence in its worst and fifty thousand peoples were brought in
the refugee camps.In all more than 4600 houses burnt,fifty eight peoples
killed including two pastors and 10 religious person injured and total
of 18000 injured,2 women gangraped and 151 church destroyed and
theirteen schools,college destroyed.
Karantaka has four district under vandal and about ninteen churches were
damaged or saw its arson,20 nuns,women injured.Couples of churches
destroyed in the State Uttarkhand,New Delhi, four churches destroyed in
Mandhya Pradesh,Kerala,Tamil Naidu and nuns,pastors harrassed,beaten are
Chattisgarh, Uttarkhand Punjab, Bihar.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/02/stories/2008100251770300.htm
Andhra Pradesh - Guntur
Christians’ protest mass today
GUNTUR: Heads of all churches in Guntur have come under the United
Pastors’ Fellowship to protest the attacks on churches and Christians in
Orissa and Karnataka and propose to conduct a Mass from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. on Thursday. The prayer to be called ‘United Christian Fasting
Prayer Conclave’ would be organised at A.L.B.Ed. College Grounds at
Lodge Centre in the city at which "we will plead to the Lord to do
justice to His children and forgive all those who had perpetrated
violence," said Fellowship founder P.B. Ravi Prasad and secretary K.
Premaranjan.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/02/stories/2008090252620300.htm
Other States - Puducherry
CPI(M) to stage protest demonstration
Staff Reporter
PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry unit of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
will hold a protest demonstration in Puducherry on Tuesday to condemn
the violence against Christians in Orissa.
Announcing the decision, secretary of Puducherry unit of CPI (M) V.
Perumal told reporters that the Orissa government had failed to ensure
protection to Christians and to their places of worship. The party
wanted the Centre to prevail upon the Orissa government to take
corrective measures to provide protection to Christians residing there,
he said.
http://story.londonmercury.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/413528/cs/1/
Protesters demand immediate relief for Kandhamal victims
London Mercury
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
(ANI)
New Delhi, Oct 1 : Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt led a protest march
to the United Nations information centre in New Delhi on Wednesday
demanding immediate relief for the victims of ongoing violence in
Kandhamal District of Orissa.
Bhatt met the Director of the United Nations information centre Shalini
Dewan and conveyed his concern about the need to extend urgent help to
those suffering in Kandhamal.
Bhatt said Dewan had given him assurance that adequate steps would be
taken to provide relief to those suffering.
"We came here with folded hands and bended knees to the United Nation
because it is in the charter of the UN to provide urgent relief to those
who are internally displaced. This is the 60th year of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and I wanted to plead to Shalini Dewanji to
exhaust all possibilities to deliver urgent help to brothers and sisters
who have been crying for help for quite some time," said Bhatt.
The protest saw the participation of a number of victims of Kandhamal
violence seeking security. The victims claimed there was no end to
atrocities committed on them and the Government's apathetic attitude had
forced them to come here.
"Ever since August 23rd, when the riots started, our houses have been
burnt. A lot of people have been murdered too. As a result, we had to
hide ourselves and seek shelter in forests. Then we approached the
relief camps. But even there, we were not provided security. A lot of
people were poisoned. We do not have any secure place to stay. The
Government has done nothing for us. So we came here seeking security,"
said Sudesh Kumar, a victim.
The attacks on Christians continue unabated in Orissa despite the State
Government making desperate efforts to control the sectarian mayhem in
the tribal-dominated region since the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates on
August 23.
Though additional companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel
have been deployed, residents complain that as soon as there is any
laxity in the security arrangement, incidents of violence start taking
place.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has been requested
to visit the region to assess the situation where Christian missionaries
are accused of forcibly converting lower class Hindus to Christianity to
escape discrimination, which has been vehemently denied by the missionaries.
The team would examine the steps taken by the Orissa government to bring
the situation under control where the locals are still living in fear of
violent attacks.
Many Hindu nationalists say they are determined to fight Christian
missionaries accusing them of converting Hindus to Christianity.
Meanwhile, Christian missionaries say that lower-caste Hindus convert
willingly to escape discrimination of the caste-system.
Communal violence spread out of Kandhamal to Karnataka as well where at
least 20 churches have been burnt by Hindu mobs in the past 10 days.
The Central Government has asked the State Governments of Orissa and
Karnataka to do more to stop religious violence.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/28/stories/2008092852560400.htm
Karnataka - Bangalore
Kannada Christians protest
Bangalore: The Akhila Karnataka Catholic Christian Kannada Sangha has
urged Chief Minister B.S. Yedyurappa to set up a fact-finding committee
to get at the truth behind the attacks on churches and prayer halls in
Karnataka. Sangha general secretary Raphael Raj told presspersons here
on Saturday that the organisation would hold a protest in front of the
Mahatma Gandhi statue on Sunday at noon. — Special Correspondent
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/29/stories/2008092952010300.htm
Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore
Church members stage protest
Staff Reporter
. — Photo: M. Periasamy.
EXPRESSING RESENTMENT: Members of the Property Protection Committee of
the CSI Immanuel Church staging a protest on Sunday
Coimbatore: Members of the Property Protection Committee of the CSI
Immanuel Church in Uppilipalayam on Sunday staged a protest against the
reports on the alleged misappropriation of funds and misuse of church
properties.
They gathered in front of the church wearing black badges and waving
black flags.
Members also picketed the car of the bishop and his family members.
This led to tension and commotion for some time.
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-26583.html
Protest in Delhi over violence against Christians
New Delhi, Sep 26 : A collage of faces - young students, leaders of
religious minorities, Christian priests, nuns and others - gathered at
the Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital Friday to protest the
violence against the Christian community in Orissa and other parts of
the country.
Holding banners reading "Prosecute vandalists and communal elements" and
"Violence against Christians is violation of human rights", the
protesters raised their voices against the vandalisation of churches and
attacks on Christians in Orissa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Thursday demanded immediate
deployment of paramilitary forces in sensitive areas of Karnataka and
sought stringent action against Bajrang Dal activists involved in
attacks on churches in the state.
In its report to the Prime Minister's Office, the minorities panel
requested the central government to ensure that protection is
immediately given to vulnerable members of the Christian community.
Over two dozen churches have been attacked in Karnataka over the past
week. This follows similar clashes in Orissa in which at least 25 people
died after the killing of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader.
“Whatever is happening in Orissa or Karnataka is not right and we are
here to oppose that. Violence against innocent people because of their
faith is un-religious,” said Akhumla Kinimi, a student of the Jesus and
Mary college, who took part in the protest.
Standing with their colourful umbrellas in the scorching heat, many
other college students said that a spate of such incidents was an
indication of the rising intolerance in the society.
“So far,e five states have been engulfed in the violence against
Christians - Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and even
Delhi, since a church was attacked in Peeragadhi last week,” Dominic
Emanuel, a Christian priest, told IANS.
With support from religious leaders like Shankaracharya Omkarnandji
Maharaj of Prayag peeth, Maulana Nomai of Jamiate-Ulema-e-Hind and
Granthi Jagtap Singh Jagiana, the protesters stressed that such cases of
violence are an attempt to polarise the Indian society.
“Such incidents against religious minorities, be it Christians, Muslims
or Sikhs, are a threat to the secular fabric of India. A memorandum had
already been submitted to the prime minister to put an end to all this
violence and we will submit another one with this regard,” Emanuel added.
The sit-in protest will culminate at Rajghat Oct 2, Mahatma Gandhi's
birth anniversary which has been declared World Non-Violence day.
--- IANS
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/25/stories/2008092553791300.htm
National
Rally to be held in U.S. to protest violence against Christians
Special Correspondent
“U.S. must help hold the people responsible for the violence accountable”
________________________________________
Rally to be held outside White House during Manmohan’s visit
“Probe activities of agencies affiliated to radical Hindu groups in U.S.”
________________________________________
CHENNAI: A rally demanding an end to violence against Christians in
India will be held at Lafayette Square in front of the White House in
Washington on Thursday during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit there.
The rally is being organised by the Federation of Indian American
Christian Organisations of North America (FIACONA).
“We will be holding our Prayer Rally outside the White House to draw
attention to the unprecedented levels of religious violence against
Christians in India by extremist religious radicals,” FIACONA president
Rev. Bernard Malik, said in a statement.
Radical religious extremist outfits such as the VHP and the RSS, both
associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, have “unleashed a wave of
unprecedented level of violence and bloodshed against Christians in
Orissa and Karnataka for the past several weeks,” Rev. Malik added.
At least 49 Christian priests, nuns and members of local congregations
were killed and over 300 churches, besides a number of
convents/orphanages, were burnt or destroyed, he said.
“It is shameful to allow such things to take place while India is on its
way to becoming an economic power. This kind of behaviour needs to be
discouraged if India must become a member of the civilised global
society,” the statement said.
“U.S.-based organisations affiliated to these radical Indian religious
outfits support a number of things from restricting the Constitutional
rights of people to follow a religion of their own choice, to supporting
the creation of a Hindu religious state in India.”
FIACONA demanded that the U.S. and international governments strongly
condemn this religious violence directed against a particular group
solely because of their religious faith and to tell the Prime Minister
to do all that is necessary to provide adequate security to the people
of Orissa and Karnataka.
“We ask the U.S. to help hold the people responsible for this violence
accountable and bar them from entering the U.S. as per the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 passed by U.S. Congress,” it said. “We ask
the Justice Department to investigate the activities and fund raising
efforts by organisations affiliated to radical Hindu groups in the U.S.
and how these funds are used for supporting violence against Christian
religious groups.”
http://www.zeenews.com/States/2008-09-02/466222news.html
Meghalaya Catholics protest Orissa violence
Shillong, Sept 02: Christian organisations in Meghalaya on Tuesday
protested the violence perpetrated on the minorities in Orissa demanding
adequate security forces to bring back normalcy.
Related Stories
Stray violence in Kandhamal, day curfew suspended
Centre ready to take steps in riot-hit Orissa, SC told
Kandhamal riots: Justice SC Mohapatra to head judicial probe
Shivraj Patil to visit Orissa on Wednesday
Orissa violence: Cong moves President, seeking CBI inquiry
Orissa lifts restrictions on entry of outsiders to Kandhamal
Orissa violence: Archbishop moves SC seeking CBI probe
Orissa: Naveen regrets riots after Saraswati killing
Orissa: Restrictions on entry of outsiders to Kandhamal lifted
"Christians are peaceful, non-violent and patriotic. We condemn the
inhuman atrocities meted out to the minorities in Orissa by certain
elements," president of the Meghalaya Catholic Association S L
Marbaniang said.
He said it is unfortunate that in a secular and democratic country like
India such clashes have broken out, denying its citizens protection and
freedom.
The association also alleged that deployment of security forces were not
sufficient even as 16 people were killed and several houses, Churches,
schools and orphanages damaged.
The association has also sent a protest note to the Prime Minister,
seeking his intervention to restore normalcy.
They have also asked the Meghalaya Chief Minister to send peace team to
the state. The association will hold a peace rally here on September 7
where leaders of all Christian denominations and Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and
Buddhist organizations are likely to participate.
The Meghalaya People's Human Rights Council has also strongly condemned
the 'horrific attacks' and 'outrageous communal violence' and asked the
Centre to stop the massacres and protect the rights and lives of the
minorities in Orissa.
The Council has also clamoured for immediate relief and compensation to
the affected victims.
"The Orissa government must issue a white paper on the conversion issue
to dispel fears and suspicions that have been assiduously raised about
the Christian community," the council's secretary general D G Dympep said.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092453930300.htm
Karnataka - Hassan
Protest rally
HASSAN: Members of the H.K. Kumaraswamy Abhimani Sangha here on Tuesday
took out a rally protesting against the attacks on churches and other
minority institutions. The activists took out procession from the
Hemavathi Circle and also burnt the effigies of the Chief Minister and
Home Minister. — Staff Correspondent
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092453330300.htm
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Kerala - Kollam
Catholics organise protest meet
Staff Reporter
Forum calls upon the State governments to take action against miscreants
Airing grievance: Council for Catholic Women of India members take out a
march in Kollam on Tuesday in protest against the attack on Christian
places of worship.
KOLLAM: A march and public meeting in protest against the attack on
churches and Christians in various parts of the country was organised
under the banner of the Kollam diocese unit of the Council for Catholic
Women of India (CCWI).
The march began from the Saint Joseph’s Convent Girls High School
grounds, passed through the Taluk Office junction and culminated at the
Press Club Maidan at Chinnakada. The march was led by CCWI diocese
president Jane Ancil, Kerala Latin Catholic Association diocese
president William Ferns and secretary Jose Vimalraj.
Addressing the protest meeting, Kollam diocese Vicar General Paul
Mullassery said “we are deeply hurt.” The attacks churches were a cruel
insult to the cultural and democratic traditions of the country. Only
anti-socials can unleash such attacks, Dr. Mullassery said.
The vast majority desires peace and harmony. So the perpetrators of such
attacks would be grossly wrong if they are under the impression that
these attacks could boost their vote banks. Those ruling the States were
duty bound to instil a sense of security in the victims, he said.
The rulers should not only stop such acts but also ensure that they are
not repeated. The attacks have also marred the name of the country
before the world, Dr. Mullassery said. He said the protest was not
targeted at any particular religion or organisation. We also do not hate
the people who are behind such attacks. The Christian community will
only pray to God to forgive them. The protest march is aimed at making
such persons feel contrite about what they have done, he added.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/23/stories/2008092351940300.htm
Karnataka - Bijapur
CPI (M) to protest
Bijapur: Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretariat member
Bhuyareddi said the CPI(M) would observe a State-wide bandh on September
25 to protest against the attacks on Christian prayer halls in various
parts of the State.
Processions would be taken out by all district and taluk wings of the
party, Mr. Bhuyareddi said.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/23/stories/2008092355060400.htm
Karnataka - Bangalore
‘Protests crucial to protect communal harmony’
Special Correspondent
Teesta Setalvad
Bangalore: Teesta Setalvad, social activist, who visited St. James
Church at Mariyannapalya which was desecrated, saw disheartening scenes
of all symbols held sacred by the Christians lying in disarray. The
heartening thing, however, was that people were not cowering in fear,
but were angry and protesting against the outrageous act.
“This is an indication that if resistance is channelised in the right
direction, the designs of those who are out to create communal
disharmony will not go unchallenged,” says Ms. Setalvad. This is in
contrast to States like Gujarat where “resistance has been almost
non-existent” to communalisation of the entire social fabric. Ms.
Setalvad earlier visited Mangalore and Orissa.
“Protests are critical to countering this trend which is fast spreading
to new areas,” says Ms. Setalvad. She notes that Sangh Parivar’s
belligerent attacks on minorities are spreading to places in Karnataka
that were not very long ago regarded to have a strong secular fabric.
Stressing the need to “turn the tide now”, she adds that “perhaps only
the South can do it.”
An alarming trend throughout India, says Ms. Setalvad, is the manner in
which the police and other State machinery handle communal situations
and how the media laps up what the “authorities” have to say. In case of
attacks on Christian institutions in States like Orissa and Karnataka,
the media has bought the “diversionary discourse” of the Sangh Parivar
on conversions, she points out. While the incidents in Karnataka have at
least hit national headlines, those in Orissa where 55 people have died
so far has not got the media attention it deserves, feels Ms. Setalvad.
She is disturbed by the “complete shift” in media’s approach from that
of a watchdog to one that “unquestioningly accepts” what the
Intelligence Bureau or the police have to say. “But the same media will
be very suspicious of the police and the CBI in the Arushi case!” she
says. Why is the media not raising questions from the pro-Constitution,
pro-human rights perspectives? she asks.
The police, says Ms. Setalvad, have shown a clear bias in “completely
covering up” the terror created by extremist Hindu organisations. The
leads related to bomb blasts, which led straight to Sangh Parivar
organisations, were simply dropped by the police, she alleges.
“The bias starts with the language used,” says Ms. Setalvad. Attacks by
VHP or Bajrang Dal are described are simply by “mobs”, but there are
names galore when any Muslim is involved in an attack, she says.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/20/stories/2008092051720300.htm
Karnataka - Bijapur
Protests
Bijapur: Two protests were held in Bijapur on Friday. The Labour Wing of
the district Congress unit staged a protest to condemn attacks on
Christian prayer halls in the State and bomb blasts in Delhi. Congress
workers submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner C.M. Shirol.
Member of the Hindu Jana Jagruti Samiti staged a protest demanding ban
on the English movie “The Love Guru” in the State stating that it had
scenes portraying gurus (teachers) in a bad taste.
— Staff Correspondent
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-24658.html
Christians protest against church attack in Madhya Pradesh
Jabalpur, Sept 20 : Christians in Japabalpur took out a protest march
against the attack on a 150-year-old cathedral.
The incident in Madhya Pradesh comes on the heels of a series of attacks
against churches in Orissa and Karnataka.
Christian devotees formed human chain, offered prayers and marched
through the streets of the city and urged shopkeepers to down shutters.
They demanded immediate action against the culprits.
"We have asked the administration and Chief Minister to arrest the
people involved. A judicial inquiry should be conducted and security
should be provided to all our institutions," said Bishop Jerold Almed of
the Jabalpur cathedral.
Officials said efforts were on to nab the miscreants.
"Police have lodged the case against unidentified people and are trying
to arrest the people involved," said D. K. Nagendra, sub-divisional
magistrate of Sadar cantonment area of Jabalpur.
The cathedral was set to fire by a mob here on Thursday night.
The altar and statues inside the 150-year-old St. Peter and St. Paul
Cathedral in the cantonment area of Jabalpur were burnt in the fire. The
church was closed at the time.
As the news spread across the city, a large Christian crowd gathered
outside the church leading to a clash with the police.
On Sunday, suspected activists of Bajrang Dal attacked at least nine
churches in Karnataka, protesting alleged conversion of Hindus to
Christianity.
--- ANI
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/21/stories/2008092158330300.htm
Andhra Pradesh
Christians to protest today
Scores of Christians will attend prayers at various churches in the twin
cities by wearing black clothes to protest against a series of attacks
on Christians in Orissa and Karnataka recently. An SMS requesting the
same was sent to Christians in the twin cities.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/22/stories/2008092255050400.htm
Tamil Nadu - Chennai
Protest to condemn Orissa violence
Staff Reporter
CHENNAI: Chennai Churches Fraternity held a prayer meeting to protest
the violence in Orissa and expressed their solidarity with those
affected by violence in the State, here on Sunday. Reiterating their
faith in non-violence, the church leaders urged the Union government to
take necessary action to save innocent lives.
“The development in Orissa is a form of terrorism. The government should
take measures to curb this evil and provide relief and rehabilitation to
the victims of violence in Orissa,” said Arch Bishop of Madras, Mylapore
A.M. Chinnappa. The church leaders requested the Centre to ban communal
organisations that resort to violence against innocent people. They also
demanded the government to formulate a national policy on ways to curb
organised violence against minorities in the country.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/USA/US_Sikhs_protest_chopping_of_prisoners_hair/articleshow/3418925.cms
US Sikhs protest chopping of prisoner's hair
29 Aug 2008, 0101 hrs IST, PTI
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NEW YORK: A Sikh body here has strongly condemned the alleged forcible
cutting of hair of a Sikh prisoner in Florida state and has launched a
signature campaign to pressurise the authorities to respect the
community's religious sensibilities.
United Sikhs, a US-based advocacy group, has termed the incident, in
which the hair of prisoner Jagmohan Singh Ahuja was allegedly chopped
off by authorities in Duval County jail last month, as "gross violation"
of Sikh religion rights.
The group on Wednesday claimed that Ahuja had asked a public defender to
file a motion with the Duval county circuit court to stop officials from
proceeding.
In the motion, Ahuja asked the public defender to present evidence of
the significance of kesh (unshorn hair) for Sikhs.
However, the motion was denied by Judge Russell Healey, the outfit said.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/03/stories/2008090354890400.htm
Tamil Nadu - Vellore
Muslim youth in Vellore protest against publication of cartoon
Staff Reporter
It leads to violent incidents; stones hurled at six government buses
— Photo: Special Arrangement
Protestors who gathered in front of the office of a Tamil daily on the
Chennai-Bangalore Road in Vellore.
VELLORE: Tension prevailed in Vellore as scores of Muslim youth staged a
protest against to condemn the publication of a cartoon of Prophet
Mohammed in one of the Tamil dailies here on Tuesday. They pelted
government buses with stones.
The protestors, who had gathered in large numbers on the
Chennai-Bangalore Road, said publication of the cartoon had hurt the
sentiments of the Muslim community.
Initially, the protestors staged a “road roko.” The incident took an
ugly turn when the protestors pelted stones at the daily’s office. This
provoked the police to lathicharge the mob. As the protestors were on
the road for more than four hours, normal traffic on the
Chennai-Bangalore Road was affected.
25 arrested
Police said they had arrested 25 persons for causing damage to six
government buses.
In one of the incidents, three children travelling by different
government buses were reported to have sustained injuries. Police said
the injured were treated at the Government Hospital at Adugamparai. The
police had to resort to lathicharge more than five times to restore
normalcy.
The protestors also pulled down the barricades that were put up to
control the mob.
Vellore District Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav came to the spot and
tried to pacify the protestors. Vellore MLA C.Gnanasekaran was present.
Vellore Range Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG)
T.P.Sundaramoorthy and Superintendent of Police (SP) N.Arivulselvam were
present.
Employee arrested
Police said that they have arrested Dilip Kumar, one of the employees of
the newspaper, for hurting the religious sentiments of the community.
In Tiruvannamalai, Muslims belonging to various political parties and
religious associations gathered in front of Gandhi Statue to condemn the
Tamil newspaper.
People belonging to various ‘Jamats’ and those who affiliated to
TamilNadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam gathered in front of Gandhi Statue
and raised slogans against the newspaper.
Similarly, large number of Muslims staged a protest in Chengam.
http://www.twocircles.net/2008sep04/muslims_protest_against_derogatory_cartoon_tamil_daily.html
Muslims protest against derogatory cartoon in Tamil daily
Submitted by admin4 on 4 September 2008 - 10:57am.
• Indian Muslim
By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
Vellore (Tamilnadu): A tense situation has followed the publication of
cartoon of Prophet Muhammad in Dinamalar, a Tamil daily on September 1.
Various Muslim organizations of the state have condemned the cartoon.
S.A. Anwar, Secretary of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, told
TwoCircles.net that all the Muslim organizations have condemned the
provocative cartoons and some of them have even called for the statewide
strike today.
But the situation became ugly when thousands of Muslim youths were
gathered on the Chennai- Bangalore road in order to condemn and protest
against the publication of the cartoons. The traffic on the road was
virtually blocked because of the huge gathering for hours.
The crowd expressed their anger by pelting stones at the government
buses and at the office of the Tamil daily.
The police resorted to lathi charge after which around 25 people were
arrested.
There are reports that one of the employee of Dinamalar newspaper has
been arrested for hurting the religious senitment of the community.
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0809272298162642.htm
New Delhi, Sept 27, IRNA
India-Muslims-Protest Harassment
Thousands of Indian Muslim marched to Parliament to protest police
harassment, counter killings of Muslim youth and terrorizing the Muslim
community in the wake of Jamia Nagar encounter, at Jantar Mantar,
central area of India's national capital Delhi.
The peaceful march organized by leading Indian Muslim organizations came
at a time when Indian Muslims were feeling insecure due to the high
handed attitude of the police against Muslim youth in different parts of
the country.
Several Muslim leaders who spoke at Jantar Mantar and later in front of
the Parliament before an agitating crowd that looked deeply hurt by
recent police excesses asked the people to maintain calm and said that
it was just the beginning of the agitation.
Ahmad Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Delhi while speaking on the
occasion questioned the police version of the encounter at Batla House.
He said that at 11:15 in the morning he was informed by Atif and Sajid's
neighbors that the two youth were taken to the ground floor by the
police and killed there. He said later police made it a counter killing
and went up to paint the whole Muslim localities as den of terrorism.
Ahmad Bukhari said that Inspector Sharma's death as well as Atif and
Sajid's killing should be probed. He said that police version of
Sharma's death was highly suspicious as initially it said that he had
received three bullets in his abdomen, but after autopsy no bullet was
found in his body.
He said that the senseless terrorizing of Muslim community would not be
tolerated.
People seemed very angry with the Congress party and the UPA government
and more especially with Home Minister Shivraj Patil. The demonstrators
also chanted anti-Patil and anti-Congress slogans and asked parties like
Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janta Dal to leave Congress party led
alliance.
Later, they submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
A high level judicial time-bound inquiry should be conducted into the
whole incident to find out the truth and its findings must be made
public, read the memorandum.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/12/stories/2008091260660500.htm
Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad
Protests over idol in mosque
Staff Reporter
HYDERABAD: Tension prevailed at Darulshifa in the old city on Thursday
night when unidentified persons left a Ganesh idol at the entrance of
Jame mosque on Thursday triggering protests by namazis.
As the news spread, scores of namazis assembled at the mosque demanding
immediate arrest of the persons responsible for bringing the idol
inside, as the action hurt their religious sentiments. South Zone DCP
Atul Singh rushed there with additional forces and pacified the
agitators assuring to catch the culprits at the earliest.
According to Mr. Singh, around 8.15 p.m. some namazis saw a Ganesh idol
of about six inches near the entrance of the mosque where they keep
their caps, bags and other belongings before entering inside.
“The idol was covered with some caps. Alerted by them, we went there and
removed the idol,” he told reporters.
A case under Sections 448 (trespass) and 153-A (clause (b)-promoting
enmity on grounds of religion) of Indian Penal Code was filed by the
Mirchowk police following a complaint lodged by the mosque committee
office-bearer Jaffar Pasha.
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/buddhists+protest+at+christian+bias/2435357
Buddhists protest at Christian bias
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Last Modified: 27 Aug 2008
Source: PA News
Tens of thousands of South Korean Buddhists are taking to the streets of
Seoul in anger over what they allege is pro-Christian bias by the
administration of President Lee Myung-bak.
Discontent among Buddhists has been brewing for months over Mr Lee and
other public officials' alleged favouritism towards Christianity.
Buddhists have criticised Mr Lee, a Presbyterian, for filling most of
his Cabinet and top presidential posts with other Christians.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/korea/2008/08/31/172611/S.-Korean.htm
August 31, 2008 0:00 am TWN, AP
S. Korean Buddhist monk slashes himself in protest
SEOUL, South Korea -- A Buddhist monk slashed himself in South Korea’s
capital Saturday to protest alleged religious discrimination by the
country’s Christian president. The 60 year-old monk used a knife to slit
his stomach at Seoul’s Jogye Temple, headquarters of South Korea’s
largest Buddhist sect bearing the same name, said sect official Lee Mi-ran.
The monk, identified by his Buddhist name, the Venerable Sambo, was
taken to a hospital and his condition was not life-threatening, Lee
said. She said the monk left a note written in blood that read, “The
government of (President) Lee Myung-bak should stop oppressing Buddhism.”
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2008/08/28/2003421597
Buddhists protest Christian ‘bias’ in S Korea
AFP, SEOUL
Thursday, Aug 28, 2008, Page 5
South Korean Buddhist monks hold a prayer service at a park in Seoul
yesterday during a rally to protest South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak’s alleged Christian bias. The rally drew about 50,000
Buddhists demanding an apology from Lee.
PHOTO: AFP
Tens of thousands of South Korean Buddhists rallied yesterday in central
Seoul in protest at alleged Christian bias by the government of South
Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
A crowd estimated by police at 55,000, including thousands of gray-robed
monks, packed City Hall Plaza for the rare protest, which began with the
beating of a giant drum. Organizers said Buddhist temples across the
country rang bronze bells simultaneously.
“Buddhists united to stop religious bias,” read one banner.
A police search involving Jigwan, head monk of the country’s main Jogye
Buddhist order, was the trigger for the mass rally.
“This is only the beginning of our struggle,” said Jinhwa, a monk acting
as spokesman for the organizers.
“This is the first time all 27 [Buddhist] orders have held a rally,” he
said, reiterating demands for an apology from Lee, the resignation of
police chief Eo Cheong-soo and legislation formally banning religious
discrimination.
Buddhists have been uneasy over what they see as Christian bias since
Lee, a Presbyterian Church elder, came to power in February. They were
unhappy when he included members of his Church network in his first cabinet.
An online map published by two ministries, showing Seoul’s churches, but
not major Buddhist temples, also sparked anger.
Early last month seven activists wanted by police following protests
against US beef imports took refuge in Seoul’s Jogyesa temple.
Tensions grew last month when police stopped a car carrying Jigwan
outside the temple and searched the trunk.
Police chief Eo apologized and disciplined two senior officers. But
Buddhists accused police of treating the head monk like a criminal and
called for Eo’s resignation.
The government has tried to placate the Buddhists, with culture minister
Yu In-chon on Tuesday expressing regret for the dispute.
Yu said regulations would be introduced to ban religious discrimination
by government officials. Lee has urged his officials not to make
controversial remarks on matters of faith.
But Buddhists were unappeased. Spokesman Jinhwa said that if their
demands are not met, they would hold more protests across the country.
Official data shows South Korea has about 10 million Buddhists and 13.7
million Christians of a total population of about 49 million.
“This government is trying to evangelize the whole country and turn it
into a Protestant state,” said protester Suk Jin-heung, carrying a
banner demanding the resignation of the police chief.
He said many Protestant leaders were under the illusion that the country
became a Protestant state when Lee was elected.
“But Lee must know he is not president only for Protestants but for
Buddhists and Catholics too, and nonbelievers as well,” Suk said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1220353266256
Sep 3, 2008 1:53 | Updated Sep 4, 2008 3:12
Modern Orthodox protest J'lem haredi 'discrimination'
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A few dozen modern Orthodox residents of the capital's Katamonim
neighborhood protested on Tuesday, saying the only religious elementary
school in their neighborhood is predominantly haredi even though the
area's residents are a mix of modern Orthodox and secular.
Katamonim residents protest the absence of a state religious elementary
school in the Jerusalem neighborhood.
Photo: Courtesy
The dispute is the latest in a series triggered by the growing haredi
presence in non-haredi Jerusalem neighborhoods.
"In a neighborhood that is a mix of secular and modern Orthodox
residents, there is not one state religious school, and instead there is
a school that for all intents and purposes is haredi, for pupils who do
not even live in the neighborhood," said local resident Rachel Azaria,
who is running at the head of the joint secular-modern Orthodox
"Yerushalmim" list in the November 11 municipal election.
She said the gender-segregated elementary school Darchei Noam operated
as a haredi institution even though there were only 10 to 14 children
per class, forcing modern Orthodox families to send their offspring to
study in other neighborhoods.
"It doesn't make sense that there should be 13 kids in each class in the
school, when hundreds of kids in the neighborhood have to go out of the
neighborhood for school," said local resident Estherlee Kanon, who sends
her seven-year-old out of the neighborhood to attend second grade.
"The city keeps promising but nothing happens," Kanon said.
"We do not want to send our kids to a school with haredi teachers," said
Tamar Cohen, whose four children also attend schools elsewhere in the
city. She said she was angry with the city for failing to live up to its
commitment to establish a modern Orthodox school in the neighborhood.
The Jerusalem Municipality said Tuesday that the city
school system had accepted the requests of some Katamonim parents to
send their children to schools elsewhere, and that they would consider a
request to establish a state religious school in the area based on need.
"The city school system is willing to consider the establishment of an
additional state religious school in the neighborhood, after thorough
preparations are carried out to determine the needs of the population in
the south of the city," Jerusalem Municipality spokesman Gidi Schmerling
said in a statement.
Azaria, who is modern Orthodox and heads Mavoi Satum, a prominent
nonprofit organization for women denied a Jewish divorce, said the
National Religious Party, which was a partner in Mayor Uri Lupolianski's
predominantly-haredi city council coalition, had proven to be an "abject
failure" in meeting the needs of modern Orthodox residents.
"You can say what you want about the haredim, but they know how to take
care of their people," she said.
Nearly 40 percent of the more than 220,000 pupils in the city school
system attend haredi schools, compared to 27% who study in state secular
and religious schools, according to the Jerusalem Institute for Israel
Studies.
The remaining children study in Arab schools.
Among the nearly 150,000 pupils in the city's Jewish schools system, 58%
study in haredi schools and 42% in state religious or secular schools.
The dispute comes weeks after a Jerusalem municipality plan to construct
a haredi kindergarten in the predominantly secular Kiryat Hayovel
neighborhood angered residents concerned that their quality of life
would be harmed, and that their neighborhood would join others in the
city that have turned largely haredi.
The kindergarten project has been temporarily frozen pending final city
approval.
http://www.workers.org/2008/us/muslim_workers_1002/
Muslim workers fired for protesting discrimination
By Larry Hales
Denver
Published Sep 26, 2008 11:11 PM
In early September, at least 100 Muslim workers at the JBS Swift
meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colo., most of them from Somalia, were
fired for walking off their jobs to protest Swift’s refusal to
accommodate Muslim workers during the holy month of Ramadan.
The official number of fired workers, according to United Food and
Commercial Workers Local 7, is 130, while Swift says the number fired is
only 100.
The workers were asking to take their break at sunset so they could pray
and break their fast, but the company denied the request.
Similarly, workers at another Swift meatpacking plant in Grand Island,
Neb., were fired for the same reason. There, workers put the number
fired at 150, though plant management says it was only 86.
In Nebraska, the workers were originally allowed to take time at sunset
to pray and break their fast. Unfortunately, instead of exhibiting
solidarity in dealing with the company, hundreds of other workers walked
off the job there to protest Muslim workers being allowed the break
time, saying it amounted to “preferential” treatment.
When managers at the plant reversed their original decision, the Muslim
workers were fired after walking out a second time.
Last year Muslim workers walked off the job at the Nebraska plant
because of discrimination, though they eventually returned.
James Abbi, a Somali Muslim in Nebraska, said of the sunset breaks, “We
just asked for five minutes to pray. That don’t hurt nobody.”
It is not unusual for workers to get time off for special religious
needs, like Catholics on Ash Wednesday, for example.
In Greeley, UFCW Local 7 filed a grievance on behalf of the Muslim
workers for discrimination and wrongful termination.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations announced possible legal
action, but Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman, said, “Really, you don’t need
attorneys in these cases. You just need a spirit of good will and
cooperation.” Citing the stubbornness of the Swift plant in Greeley,
Hooper said, “Usually in these cases we’re able to come to an amicable
solution.”
The battle is ongoing. Though Swift counters that it offered a break
time at 8 p.m., that would have been too late for the evening prayer,
which is timed for sunset. It is the one prayer during the day that has
to be done at a specific time.
________________________________________
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and
distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without
royalty provided this notice is preserved.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/29902909.html
Crowd protests newspaper's decision on DVD
Story Published: Sep 29, 2008 at 1:27 PM PST
Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 2:02 AM PST
By Valerie Hurst and KATU Web Staff
Video
PORTLAND, Ore. – About 50 people gathered in front of the headquarters
of The Oregonian Monday to protest the newspaper's decision to include a
controversial DVD about radical Muslims in Sunday's editions as a paid
advertisement.
More than 70 newspapers across the country have distributed the DVDs
this month, including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Some
newspaper have refused. A New York nonprofit paid for the DVDs;
officials with the group say they wanted to warn Americans about radical
Islamists' threat to national security.
Those who turned out for Monday's protest said the DVD is just pure
Muslim-bashing and only incites fear and anxiety in people who watch it.
They said the paper should not have sent it out, and they asked for an
apology by newspaper officials.
"It is time to tell the media - The Oregonian specifically - to stop the
use of sophisticated propaganda tools, such as this DVD," said Hala
Gores, a Palestinian-American attorney.
State Sen. Avel Gordly, a Portland Democrat, told those in attendance to
send the DVD back to the newspaper.
Publisher Fred Stickel had no comment on the protest Monday, saying a
statement he made in an article published in the newspaper Sunday would
suffice.
In that article, he was quoted as saying: "I've always felt we have an
obligation to keep our advertising columns as open as possible.
Our acceptance of anything -- our acceptance or rejection -- does not
depend on whether or not we agree with the content. . . . There is a
principle of freedom of speech involved here. I could find no reason to
reject this."
http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/09/07/0809072143_sikhs_hold_protest_rally_haryana_town.html
Sikhs' hold protest rally in Haryana town Sunday, September 07, 2008
21:29 [IST]
CHANDIGARH: The ad hoc Haryana Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HGPC)
Sunday took out a protest rally in Haryana's Karnal town.
The rally, "Sarbat Khalsa", was held to press for HGPC's demand for
creation of a committee separate from the Amritsar-based Shiromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to manage the gurdwaras in the state.
"We do not want the unnecessary interference of (Punjab Chief Minister)
Parkash Singh Badal in the affairs of Sikhs based in Haryana. We want
the Haryana government to formulate some strategy to look after the
affairs of gurdwaras in the state in the next 30 days otherwise we will
take their management in our own hands," said Didar Singh Nalvi, general
secretary of HGPC.
"Our demands are based on rational thinking and there should be no
discrimination with Sikhs based in any part of the country," said Nalvi.
Hundreds of Sikhs, representing various political and religious
denominations from various states, participated in the rally.
Source : IANS
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/03/stories/2008100358990100.htm
Protesting villagers return home after week-long stay in a temple
S. Sundar
Kakkivadanpatti residents have been living at a temple in a neighbouring
village
________________________________________
They have been demanding right to worship in a temple
Officials promise to hold talks next week
________________________________________
SIVAKASI: After seven days of protest living at a temple in a
neighbouring village and two days of relay hunger strike, villagers of
Kakkivadanpatti near here returned home on Thursday.
The Sivakasi Revenue Divisional Officer, B. Ganesan, and the Sivakasi
Tahsildar, A. Ramasamy, held talks with representatives of the
protestors and promised to fulfil their charter of demands on merit.
Over 300 people belonging to six castes deserted their houses on
September 25 protesting against the alleged “denial of right to worship”
at Kaliamman temple and took refuge in another temple in Uppupatti.
The officials opened the temple that was locked following dispute
between the six-caste group with people of another caste.
Relay hunger strike
However, the protestors began a relay hunger strike on Tuesday seeking
patta for the temple that was located on a poromboke land.
Though the officials refused to give in on the patta issue, they asked
the protestors to return home so that talks could be held to resolve
other issues, Mr. Ramasamy said.
Remove the fence
The people, who started for home at around 11.30 a.m., have demanded the
removal of the fence around an ‘oorani’ at Kakkivadanpatti.
On their demand to take over administration of the Kaliamman temple, the
officials promised to hold talks with both the groups next week to find
out a solution. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, R. Rajagopal, was
present.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/19/stories/2008081951270300.htm
Tamil Nadu - Cuddalore
Demonstration seeks compensation
Special Correspondent
CUDDALORE: Members of the Muslim Makkal Kazhagam led by S.S.Jainuddin,
State president, staged a demonstration in front of the Collectorate on
Monday seeking compensation to the family that lost two sons who drowned
in the Uppanar at Thevanampattinam here.
Mr. Jainuddin said when Usman Ali (24) tried to rescue Jaffer Ali (21)
from a water filled pit both drowned on December 26, 2007. Because of
their death their elderly parents, a sister and the wife of Usman Ali
residing at Panruti were left in the lurch.
Taking up their cause, the Kazhagam had made a representation to the
district administration seeking due compensation to the family and
suitable job to Usman Ali’s wife. But even eight months after their
death no response was forthcoming.
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