Passion islam April 13 24page.indd

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2 I LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS Passion Islam I April 2013 t h e P a s s i o n By Bin Amin Bradford The Awakening Bradford shed an important light last month at an event focussing on habeas corpus, extradition, special rendition and Schedule 7 powers to search and stop. The event focused on the inhuman and unlawful imprisonment of Shaker Aamer, the only remaining British National who remains incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay. The meeting was chaired by Respect Councillor and social justice activist, Alyas Karmani, who has been leading topical human rights issues for decades and himself facing the spotlight of attention for activism to promote justice. Alyas was more than ably supported by Sheikh Suliman Gani and Maulana Fazal Dad, both well respected Muslim scholars. The bare facts about Shaker are that he has been cleared for release twice- by both the Bush and Obama administrations; he has never been charged or tried and languishes in Guantanamo 11 years on. He has four children, tragically the youngest of which he has never seen. Frankie Boyle, the well known British comedian, recently redirected his damages award of £50,000 to enable Shaker to sue the MI6 for defamation. While these issues of unfair imprisonment face a largely Muslim population at the moment, it is clear that absolutely anyone can be detained indefinitely without charge at any time, in effect state sponsored abduction! The debate focused on who’s next? There were some great quotes, the standout quote being Pastor Niemoller’s: ‘first they came for the communists, then the socialists, then the trade unionists, then the Jews, then the Christians and finally me.’ Despite Muslims being in the firing line, it could be you next, yes you! At what point do you begin to protest against this annihilation of basic human rights? At what point do you remonstrate against the dehumanisation of innocent human beings? At what point do we collectively say no to state terrorism? There is a complete lack of fair play here- democratic principles of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ have been completely eroded; the ‘war on terror’ smacks of double standards and mischief making; it’s one rule for one and a completely different rule for another, with those that are poor and powerless being obvious victims; there is an orchestrated wilful disregard for human civil liberties and a new paradigm of ‘you’re guilty without ever being able to prove your innocence.’ How can such dogma and open injustice be tolerated in the modern world? To remind you of conditions within Guantanamo – human beings were made to wear dog collars; subjected to inhumane, cruel and degrading behaviours; a place for secret torture in breach of UN conventions; an environment that reflects every bit the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps. There could not be a more stark reminder of modern double standards- Guantanamo is the very Janus of American democracy. Shaker is not alone and nor is he and others forgotten. Their struggle for freedom is supported by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. This is not a Muslim issue, but an issue for every single human being. Muslims will be tested on the day of reckoning for their willingness to speak out in favour of the truth and equally their vocal condemnation of oppressive regimes. It is for Muslims to help the oppressed and to challenge the oppressors. We are totally united in this campaign. This is a human issue. Marx said: ‘religion is the opiate of the masses.’; well media misrepresentation and distortion must therefore be the crack cocaine of the people. The modern addiction of the masses is mass media which many uncritically consume and hardly ever challenge. The truth gets buried and distorted in mounds and mounds of information and misinformation. It’s high time Obama closed down Guantanamohe promised to do so in2008. His inability to do so thus far epitomises his weakness and abject hypocrisy. Raw data- of the 1500 or so arrests (not to mention the families that are totally devastated by this), there have been less than 50 hard core convictions- that’s very marginally over 3%. This is a shambolic success rate which those in charge should feel ashamed by. Muslims are being racially profiled. They are being portrayed across instruments of mass media as the “Freddy” Kruegers of the modern world. Secret prisons/secret hearings, burials at sea, drone attacks killing many thousands-ofinnocents: are these the values of modern representative democracy? In order to do your bit, please sign the online petition now. We need to get to 100,000 signatures by 20th April 2013. For more information please go to: http:// saveshaker.org/ I leave you with two quotes to ponder: “Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” “Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” George Orwell,1984. Write to: Editor, Passion Islam, PO Box 159, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1AD or email: info@passionislam.com - www.passionislam.com This Magazine contains Ayaat of the Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (SAW), please ensure you handle it with respect & care - Sukran - Views expressed in the Passion column are of the contributers and not necessarily of Passion Islam.
Passion Islam I April 2013 NEWS I 3 UK troops to fight in Syria British forces are being pulled out of Afghanistan to join militants fighting inside Syria against President Bashar al-Assad, a new media report has revealed. British special forces are being “quietly” withdrawn from Afghanistan in order to be deployed to Syria, The Daily Star reported quoting from a Whitehall source. The Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) commanders are said to be drawing up secret plans to supply foreign-backed militants in the Arab country with weapons. British troops are planned to be working under the supervision of Britain’s secret intelligence agency MI6 and France’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), seeking to send a £20 million-arsenal of weapons stockpiled in Syria’s neighboring countries to militants fighting against the Syrian government. Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK could go it alone to arm foreign-sponsored militants in Syria if other European Union (EU) member states refuse to lift the arms embargo on the Arab country in May. The Syrian crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed. Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals. Channel 4 to broadcast Ramadan prayers One of Britain’s biggest television stations will mark Ramadan with daily broadcasts to mark the major event in the Islamic calendar. Channel 4 is in discussions about airing morning prayers every day, between July and August. British Muslims will also discuss the physical and spiritual effects of fasting, every evening just after the news. A Channel 4 spokeswoman said it was consulting Muslim clerics and other organisations about broadcasting prayers. She said details were still being worked out and it could be that the prayers were “marked”, rather than broadcast to viewers. The network called the programming “another first.”
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Passion islam April 13 24page.indd

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