Religion

– 15 March 2018] Photo: Some of the shops that were set on fire at Katugastota near Sri Lanka’s Kandy city on March 7, 2018. Credit: Meera Srinivasan | The Hindu

Sri Lankan Academics Abroad Condemn Violence Against Muslim Community

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (IDN) – A group of Sri Lankan academics teaching in educational institutions abroad – and numbering about 50 – has written to condemn ongoing violence against Sri Lanka’s Muslim community, especially the “brutal attacks” perpetrated early March.

In a letter published by 'Groundviews', they say: “We are outraged that the government has failed to act speedily and decisively to stop the violence and bring those responsible to justice. The government must act firmly to prevent more destruction and bloodshed.”

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 15 March 2018

Photo: In the worst outbreak of violence against Muslims in recent years, mobs were on the rampage earller in March attacking people and property in the central hill capital Kandy. Picture shows the Kandyan terrain as viewed in 2013. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Sri Lanka’s Extremists Find a New Enemy

Viewpoint by Dr Farah Mihlar*

LONDON (IDN) – After fiercely quelling a three-decade armed conflict fought mainly on ethnic grounds, majoritarian politics in Sri Lanka has found a new enemy – the country’s nine percent Muslim community.

In the worst outbreak of violence against Muslims in recent years , Sinhalese-Buddhist mobs were on the rampage earller in March attacking people and property in the central hill capital Kandy. One Muslim was killed in the violence and dozens of Muslim owned shops and properties set ablaze. The government imposed a curfew and sent in troops, but the situation remains volatile and tensed as police are at best ineffective and at worst complicit.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 March 2018

Photo: Umbrellas on the Piazza of the Prophet´s Holy Mosque in Medina. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

What the Prophet Implied and What Sustains Fundamentalists

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – What do we in the West know about Islam? Perhaps more than we did before 9/11 but not much.

When Tony Blair was prime minister of the United Kingdom he was photographed walking along holding the Koran. President George W. Bush said repeatedly that Islam was a religion of peace.

Even though at that time one of the most influential American political writers, Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard University, had written that it wasn’t fundamentalism that was the problem, it was Islam itself.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 06 March 2018

Photo: Panel Debate about Veiling/Unveiling at UN Office in Geneva

Experts Stress Acceptance of Headscarf in Abrahamic Faiths

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – The headscarf that sparks heated debates in Europe is a source of commonality between the three main Abrahamic religions Islam, Christianity and Judaism, according to experts who participated in a debate at the United Nations office in Geneva.

The event on February 23 focused on: Veiling/Unveiling: The Headscarf in Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue (Geneva Centre) and the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the UN in Geneva organized the discussion in the run-up to the 37th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council scheduled for February 26 to March 23, 2018.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 23 February 2018

Photo: Regional meeting of religious leaders, Treviso, Italy. Credit: UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.

Religious Leaders Plan Action Against Inciting Atrocity Crimes

By Jaya Ramachandran

VIENNA (IDN) – The United Nations has taken an important step towards preventing incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes. More than 150 religious leaders from around the world, member states and UN officials, gathered in Vienna to discuss the implementation of the Plan of Action launched by Secretary-General António Guterres in July 2017 at a meeting of the world body's Headquarters in New York.

Guterres said: "All religions teach respect for life and recognize human beings as fundamentally equal. These principles summon us to show respect for all human beings, even those with whom we might profoundly disagree or whose cultures might seem alien."