Fundamentalisms

Film in eight parts by Hasan Mahmud, Director of Sharia Law, Muslim Canadian Congress, Canada.

Pakistan: Shirkat Gah joins protests against killing of Ahmedis in Lahore and Karachi

Shirkat Gah staff and network members participated in protests against killing of 95 innocent Pakistani who lost their lives in attacks on two mosques of the Ahmedi community on Friday, May 28th. These demonstrations took place on Monday, 31 May, 2010 and included a candle light Vigil at the Liberty Roundabout in Lahore and a protest by WAF and JAC members at the Press Club Karachi.

Belgique: Le groupe Sharia4Belguim vient de diffuser une vidéo

Iran: Hijab Crackdown Intensifies as Election Anniversary Nears

It might be hard to imagine that a woman's attendance at a university would be contingent upon the way she dresses. But during Friday Prayers at Tehran University on May 21, Ayatollah Jannati, an influential member of Iran's Guardian Council, suggested just that, demanding that a strict version of the Hijab Islamic covering be a requirement for female students. "The university and students are both under your control and you can select the students based on this condition," he told officials. "If not, let the Disciplinary Committee enter the action. A student needs his [sic] grade, he has no choice, he will do as you order him."

Pakistan: Ahmadi minority fearful after militants kill at least 80 members

A brutal assault on Pakistan’s Ahmadi community on 28 May has left them feeling more vulnerable than ever before. Armed assailants laid siege to two mosques in Lahore, capital of Punjab Province, where Ahmadis were praying and killed at least 80 people. The attack has been described by community leaders, who put the death toll at 93 with 100 injured, as the worst ever faced in the group’s 121-year history. Dozens of victims still lie injured in Lahore hospitals, some in a critical state. “Some are very badly injured, but we will not give in and we have not lost strength,” Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a spokesperson for the Ahmadi community in Lahore, told IRIN.

Aceh: Tuniques données aux femmes à la tenue "indécente"

La police de la charia (loi islamique) commencera à distribuer cette semaine des tuniques longues aux femmes qui portent des pantalons moulants, jugés indécents, dans la province d'Aceh, bastion de l'islam en Indonésie. Quelque 20.000 tuniques longues, amples et couvrant les hanches ont été confiées à la police religieuse par les autorités d'Aceh ouest. "Les femmes coupables devront se changer immédiatement, en remplaçant leur pantalon serré par la tunique, si la police de la charia les arrête", a expliqué Ramli Mansur, le régent de cette province, à l'origine de cette réglementation locale. "Nous allons accroître le nombre de raids", a-t-il averti.

Aceh: Regulation banning women from wearing revealing clothing takes effect

Authorities in a devoutly Islamic district of Indonesia's Aceh province have distributed 20,000 long skirts and prohibited shops from selling tight dresses as a regulation banning Muslim women from wearing revealing clothing took effect Thursday. The long skirts are to be given to Muslim women caught violating the dress code during a two-month campaign to enforce the regulation, said Ramli Mansur, head of West Aceh district. Islamic police will determine whether a woman's clothing violates the dress code, he said.

United Kingdom: Gita Sahgal's appeal to Amnesty International

‘STOP COVERING UP OR WE START CLEANING UP’: 28th May 2010 is the 49th anniversary of Peter Benenson’s launch of Amnesty International. But as the organization begins planning celebrations, Gita Sahgal asks whether Amnesty International’s leaders have lost their grip on reality. Do sections of the human rights movement lend their credibility to protecting Islamists rather than protecting their rights?

Algérie: “Le voile en Algérie est un réflexe à la violence de l’espace public”

Dans cet entretien, la féministe algérienne revient sur des dossiers très sensibles de la place de la femme dans une société à culture musulmane qui, de surcroît, a vécu les pires formes de terrorisme islamiste. Wassyla Tamzali répond à “Liberté”

International: Conflict and Custom in the New World Order

"There is a struggle to be had. It is time to challenge the hegemony of the formal human rights movement and its uncritical embrace of identity politics". Gita Sahgal in conversation with Deniz Kandiyoti. Part two.