Headlines:
- UK Police Attempt to Ban Far-Right Britain First From All Mosques
- Turkey Purge Hits 50,000 and 21,000 Teachers Suspended as Military Launches First Airstrikes Against Kurdish Rebels
- Pakistan Puzzled Over Stepped Up US Criticism of Anti-Terror Efforts
UK Police Attempt to Ban Far-Right Britain First From All Mosques
Police are seeking to have the leaders of anti-Islam political party Britain First banned from visiting any mosque in England or Wales or even entering parts of the town of Luton for the next three years. The party is known for its “Christian patrols,” mosque invasions and anti-Islam protests in Luton. Bedfordshire Police have sought a High Court injunction against the group’s leader, Paul Golding, and his deputy, Jayda Fransen, following “harassment” of communities in Luton. In a statement, Chief Superintendent David Boyle told the Luton Herald & Post that the force is attempting to get the injunction “due to concerns that their presence in these areas could increase the possibility of disorder and antisocial behavior.” The application, to be heard next month, will ask that Golding and Fransen be banned for three years from “entering any mosque or Islamic cultural center or its private groups within England and Wales without any prior written invitation.” It also seeks to ban the pair from entering Luton’s Bury Park without police permission, and that they give at least two weeks’ written warning should they wish to enter Luton town center. They would not be allowed to enter Luton more than once every two months should any consent be given. Britain First says if the measures are granted, it could lead to other police forces seeking similar bans, effectively preventing them from campaigning in town centers across the country. “If we don’t win, we are finished,” Golding told IBT. “What we are dealing with here is a direct challenge to our right to exist as a political party. “If Luton police can achieve such an injunction against a legally registered political party, then what’s to stop every other town in the country applying similar injunctions? “We could end up being bled dry with endless court appearances and injunctions that simply make it impossible for Britain First to continue operating.” The move comes a year after Bedfordshire Police launched another High Court application against Golding and Fransen in an attempt to ban them from Luton prior to a Britain First march last June. That bid failed, but an interim injunction was handed down which banned the pair from publishing or distributing material which is “likely to stir up religious and/or racial hatred.”
Britain First is a marginal political party that has made Islamophobia its beckoning call. However, if it were not for the media coverage, Britain First would not enjoy any popularity. This then begs the question: Is the UK government intentionally using far right groups to cajole the Muslim community to change its behavior?
Turkey Purge Hits 50,000 and 21,000 Teachers Suspended as Military Launches First Airstrikes Against Kurdish Rebels
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has either suspended or detained nearly 50,000 people as part of a purge of the army, police, and the courts that expanded to universities and schools in the wake of a failed military coup attempt, according to the country’s intelligence service and religious authorities. “Around 50,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended or detained since the coup attempt, stirring tensions across the country of 80 million which borders Syria’s chaos and is a Western ally against Islamic State [ISIS/ISIL],” reports Reuters. The news agency did not breakdown the 50,000 figure. Last Friday’s revolt to overthrow Erdogan’s government was led by several factions of the Turkish army, which sees itself as the guardian of the country’s secular constitution. As of 4 p.m. Sunday, “all terrorist elements” behind the attempted coup “had been suppressed nationwide, announced Turkey’s military in a written statement released Tuesday morning, The Associated Press (AP) reports. [Source: Daily Mail]
How does the arrest of 50,000 people help Erdogan to stabilize his rule? Such actions will only entrench hatred within Turkey’s population and encourage opposition towards political Islam. The only sure way to return stability to Turkey is to shed the nation state model that imprisons the population through the re-establishment of the rightly guided Khilafah State. The Khilafah upon the method of the Prophethood will return dignity and honour to Turkey and end Western interference in Islamic lands.
Pakistan Puzzled Over Stepped Up US Criticism of Anti-Terror Efforts
Pakistani policy makers and legislators stand “puzzled” over the way the United States has lately conducted its relationship with Islamabad and “extremely opposing views” emanating from within the U.S. Congress about Pakistani counterterrorism and efforts to promote peace in Afghanistan. Pakistan and the United States have long had uneasy relations. Ties have been strained recently over allegations that Pakistan’s counterterrorism operations focus only on militants linked to the anti-state Pakistani Taliban, and spare sanctuaries linked to Afghan militants, including the Haqqani Network terrorist group. Recently, the U.S Congress stopped the Obama administration from subsidizing the sale of eight F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan, citing lack of cooperation in combating terrorist networks. Pakistani officials are particularly furious at a Congressional hearing last week in Washington under the title “Pakistan: Friend or foe”. Some lawmakers and witnesses during the proceedings of a sub-panel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee demand Washington cut off financial and military aid to Islamabad, accusing the Pakistan military of maintaining ties to Taliban and Haqqani militants fighting the U.S.-backed Afghan government. Senior Pakistani officials, however, have belittled the Congressional hearing and dismissed anti-Pakistan assertions as “baseless concerns” of a section of U.S lawmakers. From the Pakistan-U.S. common perspective, he added, the two countries are “long time partners and allies in their shared goal of defeating terrorism” and have been cooperating in the anti-terror fight. Owais Leghari, chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, asserts that Pakistan is being increasingly blamed and turned into a “punching bag” because of setbacks the U.S. policy in Afghanistan has suffered. “I think these Congressional hearings are just ways to keep Pakistan under pressure, which are not helping the U.S. image in Pakistan at the grass root level,” noted the ruling party lawmaker. “Pakistan needs to clear its soil of any terrorists that we have, and we have been able to do a much better job than all the global community put together in Afghanistan,” noted Leghari. He echoed views that members of a bipartisan Congressional delegation expressed after visiting Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier this month under the leadership of Republican Senator John McCain.The influential Congressmen held comprehensive talks with Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif before they were flown in a military helicopter to North Waziristan, a tribal territory on the Afghan border that until recently was condemned as the “epicenter” of international terrorism and a source of fueling the Taliban-led insurgency. “They have cleared out that part of Pakistan… they are looking at securing the Pakistan border in a more substantial way. So, I want to help Pakistan, and they are doing the right thing and there is a lot of improvement to be made. But I would acknowledge it a step in the right direction,” noted U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. Pakistan has lately taken new measures to strengthen security along its 2,600-kilometer border with Afghanistan, including construction of new check posts at eight established crossing routes, saying it would help counter terrorist movement on either side. The project, however has enraged Afghan authorities who dispute the border being an international frontier. [Source: Voice of America]
Pakistan’s politicians are well acquainted with Washington’s pressure tactics, but despite this, they willingly submit to American edicts. With this political suicide mentality, can Pakistanis ever expect liberation from America’s hegemony over Pakistani affairs?