Punjab: armed Muslims rape a Christian, a "common practice"

by Jibran Khan - Asianews.it


A 32 year old woman and mother of five children was abducted and raped in turn by three men. Threats to the husband to force him to withdraw his complaint. Police officers covering the crime, drawing up a report full of holes. Priest in Lahore: Christian violence against women is widespread and scandalous.

Lahore (AsiaNews) – The rape of Christian women in Punjab has become a "common practice" an "outrageous" phenomenon compounded by the fact that "the police protect the guilty" and not the victims. This is the bitter synopsis of Fr Jill John, of the Diocese of Lahore on the last recorded case of sexual violence against a Christian mother. The family calls for justice, but is struggling against a society in which the defenders of the law support the rapists. Even human rights groups like Masihi Life for All Foundation have intervened on the matter, asking government authorities to target the perpetrators of crimes and punish the corrupt and conniving police officers.

The incident dates back to Sept. 15, but the news filtered through only in recent days. Arifa Mushtaq (name changed for security reasons - ed) 32, mother of five was abducted and raped by three Muslims . Her husband Muashtaq Masih a worker at the Kasur sanitation department, in a devastated condition said, "Arifa use to work in a garment factory, on the y evening of 15 September she was coming home from work, she got off the bus, two local Muslims grabbed her from the back. Another armed accomplice came and put a gun on her head".

The woman began to scream, then asked the trio to leave her free to think their children who were waiting at home. Instead, the men took Arifa by force to a house and, one by one, they raped her. The family is in shock and even their attempt to report the rape has added insult to injury: the Muslims have threatened her husband, warning him to withdraw the lawsuit. Otherwise, his children will have to go through what his wife has gone through. The police has also protected the perpetrators, putting pressure on Muashtaq Masih.

Fr. Jill John confirms that "the police helps the guilty, with omissions and gaps in the compilation of complaints to favor their freedom." The family of the raped woman, added the priest, are now living in fear while criminals are free to roam the streets of the town. "How much longer - he asks – will we see the children of God suffer? And when will Mushtaq Masih's family get justice? ". He appealed to the police chief of Punjab and the Minister of Justice to target the corrupt police officers and protect the family.

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Pakatan to work out ‘hudud’ consensus next week

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is resolved to end the ongoing squabble over PAS’s hudud laws initiative during its leadership council meeting on Wednesday.

PR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim agreed today that the pact’s three parties require a consensus over the sensitive issue, which has seen DAP and PAS at loggerheads on numerous occasions prior to the formalisation of the present coalition.

He told reporters at PKR’s open house here that the meeting was originally scheduled to discuss Budget 2012 to be tabled next month but the PR leadership had agreed to add the discussion on hudud to its agenda.

“This scheduled meeting is to discuss the budget, and also the issue made bigger by the media than it actually is,” he said, referring to the controversial war over Islamic law which prescribes stoning, whipping and amputation as punishment for criminal offences.

Anwar (picture), however, stressed that the issue was not a new one, saying that PAS had always been clear on its stand.

“The view of PAS is also not new... (But) there must be consensus in PR... This is what we will talk about,” he said.

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh, who has been openly critical of the plan to implement hudud laws, yesterday urged the PR leadership to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the matter.

“An emergency meeting must be held immediately to publicly clarify Pakatan’s stand on the issue and the controversy must end, once and for all,” he was quoted as saying on Bernama Online yesterday.

PAS has refused to back down from its plan, with its spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat reported to have said DAP may leave the coalition if it refused to support the measure.

Hudud is a prickly subject in multicultural Malaysia where race and religion are closely-linked.

The issue is raised cyclically as political fodder as its divisive nature often causes conflicts to occur within otherwise-friendly circles, making it ideal to pit parties with opposing ideologies against one another.

Anwar backs hudud in Kelantan, saying it does not infringe upon non-Muslims’ rights, further escalating the dispute.

The PR leader also moved yesterday to rebuke Nasional (BN) for purportedly exploiting hudud, or Islamic penal laws, to gain political support as national polls nears.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday pledged that his administration would block any attempt to implement the Islamic penal law, in a bid to curtail further debate on the fractious subject.

Najib’s deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, however, expressed support for hudud earlier this week, upsetting Umno’s Chinese partner, MCA.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has threatened pull his party out of the ruling coalition if senior ally, Umno, goes ahead with enforcing hudud. Gerakan has expressed the same threat.

“We have to acknowledge the fact that as a Muslim, we must support (hudud laws) one hundred per cent. That’s why I said I endorse that,” Anwar said.

“But when you ask what about federal level? There must be consensus.”

Najib goes pedalling for ‘votes’

The prime minister joins 20,000 cyclists for a charity ride but clearly he is wooing the Chinese community.

GEORGE TOWN: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak today took part in a charity bicycle ride despite undergoing a knee injury a month ago.

Accompanied by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Koh Tsu Koon, he and some 20,000 other cyclists pedalled for some 7km before returning to Straits Quay while the participants continued with their 17km-journey.

It may be a charity event but political observers did not miss the underlying message: it was all part of Najib’s charm campaign to woo back the Chinese community.

Earlier, Najib, the Barisan Nasional chairman, hailed the ethnic Malaysian Chinese community for its commitment to education.

He commended the Chinese for their determination and dedication to always improve the education standards and opportunities for their children, and efforts to raising funds for Chinese schools.

He was addressing a large crowd when launching the 1Malaysia Charity Ride For Education at Tanjung Tokong’s Penang Straits Quay here today.

Clearly, Najib is wooing the all-important Chinese votes for the next general election.

Some 70 to 80 percent of the ethnic Chinese, especially in Penang, are believed to be favouring Pakatan Rakyat over BN in the next general election.

Best start in life

Some 65 percent of registered voters in Penang are Chinese.

Local Chinese laymen claimed that the majority of the Chinese have more or less made up their minds on whom to vote for in the next polls.

But political analysts predicted that a swing of 20 percent of the Chinese votes to the BN could immeasurably help the coalition win many urban seats, especially in Penang.

His presence no doubt had helped the cycling event organiser – the state’s leading Chinese daily, Kwong Wah Yit Poh – to raise RM15 million for Chinese schools, to be shared equally among 15 schools, including five private institutions.

Najib later distributed the cheques to representatives from each school.

Also present were Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen, Kwong Wah Yit Poh chairman Ong Gim Huat, and state executive councillors.

Pointing out that the Chinese community was known for industriousness, hard work and thriftiness, he said it was time to add selflessness and dedication to learning.

“From pre-schools to schools, through to colleges and universities, we share your ambition that young Malaysians of all backgrounds should get the best start in life by studying and working hard,” he told the largely Chinese audience.

‘Fair to all Malaysians’

Najib reminded the Chinese community he was the only education minister who was bold enough to amend Section 21(2) of the Education Act to remove the power of the education minister to convert national-type schools to national schools.

“I did it when those before me did not,” he said, firing a broadside at Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was among Najib’s predecessor as education minister.

Najib assured that in future, schools would be judged on how well they educate their pupils, and not the structures that govern the schools.

He also said governing all Malaysians was never an easy task.

“It means listening to all Malaysians. It means making the right decisions for the future of the country.”
“I am always been fair to all Malaysians,” he added.

Chinese schools nationwide have some 56,000 Bumiputeras out of 612,000 students.

Najib said more Malays were now speaking Mandarin, including his son, which formed part of the transforming Malaysia to give the country a competitive edge as China consolidates its economic power.

He said the relationship with China would continue to change for the better, adding that all Malaysians should be proud of developing and strengthening ties with the giant neighbour.

Stressing that part of Malaysia’s future prosperity will be built upon ties with China, he said the country needed more Malaysians, from all backgrounds and heritage, to win businesses from China.

“Therefore, we need more Mandarin speakers to help us explore new frontiers in our dealings with China as a global economic superpower,” he said.

He said he shared the views of the ethnic Chinese community to have maximum opportunities to get access to university education.

“I believed that every Malaysian with talents and skills should be able to gain university education,” he said.

When ‘Hang Tuah’ became ‘Hang Jebat’

The Prime Minister’s campaign continued. He silenced the Rulers over the issue of the 1987 ISA detentions; staged a hostile debate on the monarchy in the 1990 Umno general assembly after the loss of Kelantan to PAS; removed the Rulers’ immunity to prosecution following the constitutional crisis of 1992-93; stripped away their flights, outriders, and special hospital wards; and in 1994, with little opposition, finally removed the need to obtain the Rulers’ assent for State laws.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

The young should emulate Hang Tuah - Melaka CM
(Bernama) -- Youths should emulate the legendary Malay warrior Hang Tuah, who had a superior character and was loyal to king and country, Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said last night.
He said that Hang Tuah was indomitable in defending the Melaka Sultanate from external attacks.
"His leadership qualities were pronounced because his knowledge covered religion and the art of silat," Mohd Ali said when opening the Hang Tuah Festival at the Malay Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum at Bandar Hilir here last night.
Also present were Information, Communications and Culture Deputy Minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D'Cruz and Melaka State Assembly Speaker Datuk Othman Muhamad.
Mohd Ali said Hang Tuah used his mastery of several languages to help boost relations between Melaka and other states and territories.

************************************** 

Mahathir vs the Malay Rulers
By HUZIR SULAIMAN, The Star
In the concluding instalment of the three-part series, Ruling the Rulers, our columnist looks at the outcome of Dr Mahathir’s 1983 standoff with the Sultans.
BY October 1983, Malaysians were becoming aware that a constitutional crisis was in full swing. The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 1983 had been passed by both houses of Parliament, but the King, under pressure from his fellow rulers, was refusing to give his Royal Assent to it.
The bill would remove the need for the King to assent to legislation, and would similarly do away with the need for Sultans to assent to State laws. It would also take away the King's power to declare an Emergency and give it to the Prime Minister.
The Rulers publicly rejected these amendments after a meeting in Selangor on Nov 20, 1983. When the public became aware that a storm was brewing, Dr Mahathir’s administration initiated a propaganda war to put pressure on the Rulers.
There took place a “series of illegal public rallies held by Umno in Alor Star, Bagan Datoh, Seremban, Batu Pahat, Malacca, for the Prime Minister with reports of officially inflated crowd figures?.” as Lim Kit Siang would later describe them in the Dewan Rakyat.
These rallies, staged in order to generate sympathy for the Government’s cause, were illegal in the sense that police permits were neither sought nor granted.
Whether or not the crowd figures were inflated by the Umno-aligned media – it is true that they generally reported these events in positive terms – it is clear that the 1983 rallies were exciting evenings, with republican sentiments on everyone’s minds, if not exactly on their lips. One of the most arresting images in Rais Yatim’s Faces in the Corridor of Power is a photograph of two youths at one such rally. They are wearing T-shirts bearing Dr Mahathir’s picture and the words “DAULAT RAKYAT”.
Although the Prime Minister denied wanting to abolish the monarchy, at these rallies “the historical moment of unfolding Malay nationalism was relived as a continuing battle of Malay popular sovereignty against royal hegemony,” as Khoo Boo Teik writes in Paradoxes of Mahathirism.
At a rally in Alor Star on Nov 26, Dr Mahathir declared that “It was the rakyat who had protested against the Malayan Union after the Second World War; it was the rakyat who wanted a democratic system that would enable them to choose their own leaders. It was always the people who had fought for their destiny.”
At the largest rally, in Batu Pahat, Dr Mahathir told the crowds, in a thinly veiled dig at hereditary rulers, “We weren’t born Ministers ? We’re up here because we were chosen by all of you.”
The propaganda war continued, with tales of royal extravagance and impropriety emerging. The Government leaked the fact that they were compiling dossiers on the Sultans. RTM announced they were preparing a year-long TV series on the Rulers and the Constitution.
Yet pro-royal rallies took place too – especially in Kelantan and Terengganu, where Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was rumoured to be responsible for them – and they drew large crowds, although they went unreported by the media.
Upping the ante, the Umno Youth executive council called for the Government to gazette the Constitution (Amendment) Bill without waiting for the King's assent, effectively daring the Rulers to challenge it in court. Dr Mahathir did not immediately adopt this strategy, but held this “nuclear option” in reserve while behind-the-scenes negotiations continued with the Rulers.
Public opinion was divided over the issue. Rural Malays tended to support the Rulers; urban Malays, while not uncritical of Mahathir’s strategies and motives, were more ready to accept egalitarian ideas.
As for the Chinese community, R.S. Milne and Diane K. Mauzy note in Malaysian Politics Under Mahathir that “One might have expected that, since the rulers and the Agung were symbols of ‘Malayness’ the Chinese would feel little loyalty to them. Paradoxically, they were quite pro-royalty, because they did not really trust Malay politicians. Indeed, they viewed the Agung and the rulers as protectors of their vital interests.”
There seemed to be no way out of the impasse except by compromise – which is what happened. The Rulers agreed to the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 1983 on the condition that many of its provisions were modified or repealed immediately with the introduction of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 1984.
The new bill, passed in January 1984, meant that the King could now only delay a piece of non-money legislation for a month. It then had to be sent back to Parliament with his objections. If the King still opposed it in the form in which Parliament then passed it, he could only delay it for another month before it was gazetted as law.
The King could therefore only delay legislation for up to two months before it became the law of the land.
But this principle was no longer extended to the State level: Sultans still needed to assent to State bills before they became law, which was an important symbolic victory. Most importantly for those who feared Dr Mahathir’s supposed plan to concentrate power in his own hands, the bill removed the proposed ability of the Prime Minister to declare an Emergency by himself, and restored it to the King.
Nonetheless, Dr Mahathir saw himself as having won, declaring at a victory rally in Malacca that the feudal system had ended. He had brought his theatrical, confrontational, unapologetically antagonistic style to a high-stakes arena and had, by some accounts at least, triumphed over the Malay Rulers.
He quickly moved to consolidate his gains. Stories had been circulating that the head of the army, Jen Tan Sri Mohd Zain Hashim, was opposed to Mahathir’s approach and believed the armed force’s loyalty lay with the Rulers. Mohd Zain took early retirement. This was followed by a reorganisation of the army and some 500 other early retirements and dismissals.
When the independent-minded Sultan of Johor took over as Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 1984, some feared (and some hoped) that royal activism would reassert itself.
As Roger Kershaw writes in Monarchy In South-East Asia: Faces of Tradition in Transition, “From the beginning, the Agong had made no secret of his contempt for Mahathir on the grounds of his mixed blood, calling him, to his face, ‘Mamak’ (a derogatory nickname for those of Indian Muslim ancestry). [?] But Dr Mahathir had proved more than a match for this difficult sovereign. Having got the measure of the King’s essential vanity and exhibitionism, he prudently pandered to it, even to the extent of placing a more convenient Royal Malaysian Airforce helicopter at his permanent disposal?.”
Through this and other measures, Dr Mahathir maintained good relations with the new King, enlisting him in his 1987 move against the judiciary, the effects of which are still felt today.
The Prime Minister’s campaign continued. He silenced the Rulers over the issue of the 1987 ISA detentions; staged a hostile debate on the monarchy in the 1990 Umno general assembly after the loss of Kelantan to PAS; removed the Rulers’ immunity to prosecution following the constitutional crisis of 1992-93; stripped away their flights, outriders, and special hospital wards; and in 1994, with little opposition, finally removed the need to obtain the Rulers’ assent for State laws.
Looking back, we can see how the bars of the yellow silk cage began to go up in 1983, closing in year after year.
Should we find it surprising, then, that after 25 years the tigers within should want to break free? Can we not understand that the Rulers might want to regain what has been lost?
And here is the hardest question of all: without giving up our democratic ideals, in a cynical and disloyal age, can we find a way to let our Rulers rule?
Huzir Sulaiman writes for theatre, film, television, and newspapers.



 

Religion vs Politics

By John Doe

Greetings. Firstly, I believe I owe some of you all an explanation for yesterday's "Top 10 Reasons why Hudud is good", it was an experiment done on MT readers as a means of a gauge on the MT populace. In line with the recently opened anonymity and the allowance of comments from unregistered commentators, I wondered what MT readers really felt in their hearts.

 

From a bird's eye view, it approximated what  was initially anticipated. I was however slightly disappointed that few had things of real substance to say, and of course, you had the occasional "Jar-Jar Binks" archetype who hopped around screaming for attention. What was worrying however, was the curiosity that why so few people openly condemned what  I stated. 

The list which I presented yesterday consisted of nothing more than the most often misquoted and abused texts of the Holy Quran. And surprisingly, they were not misquoted by non-Muslims, but by Muslims themselves. I even made a glaring mistake in naming the Sabbath as a Friday instead of a Saturday, and save one, no one else picked it up. I did deliberately pick on the Quran, as someone rightly pointed out, for this short "test" because of its relevance to Malaysia. Do feel free to watch footage on YouTube for the following.

I'll give you the brief run-down. Any NGO can confirm the following list.

Item 1 was the supposed justification of wife-beating. 

Item 2 was the supposed justification of amputations.

Item 3 was the supposed justification of multiple wives.

Item 4 was the supposed justification of marriage to under-aged girls

Item 5 was the supposed justification of Slavery from Prisoners of War.

Item 6 was the supposed justification of anti-semitism.

Item 7 was the supposed justification of marrying your daughter in-law.

Item 8 was the supposed justification of inequality of Gender

Item 9 was the supposed justification of inequality of the distribution of wealth

and item 10 is the most often used supposed justification of the annihilation of non-Muslims by Suicide Bombers.

None picked up on this. In fact, I was complaining to my friends, while watching some of the updates. I asked "Where are the fireworks? Where are the screams of my gross (and deliberate) misinterpretation?" I was actually pretty glad when someone actually challenged me to the justification of child-brides, and I was really hesitant to give my reply, pensive if I might give the game away. Be assured that my best intentions are for Malaysia. My only wish being that Malaysian would start to think for themselves. I received an email this morning asking if "I had sold my soul to the Devil" for writing such a piece. Rest assured that I have not. 

It makes me sad however, that Malaysians have been brought up to simply absorb, and absorb, and absorb whatever is taught to them, and regurgitate it during exams. There is never any desire to think out-of-the-box. Teachers tell you time and again to toe-the-line instead. This hinders personal thought, cripples creativity and retards growth. This method of learning merely makes one a foot soldier, suitable only for deployment as a faceless statistic. If you want to be a leader, then you need to stop being a foot soldier. On the flip-side however, UMNO loves to have such demure citizens. Ever looking up to them, ever willing to provide corruption money to them, and in a cruder way, ever-willing to "kiss and suck up" to anyone with a Title, be it earned or bought.

The whole point of the exercise yesterday was to show how easy it is to manipulate ANY Religion, by throwing in a few verses of scripture, and then use whatever "revelation" or "enlightenment" , thus allowing for pretty much ANY INTERPRETATION for WHATEVER intentions imaginable. Of course I am acutely aware of Catholic Priests and Imams who rape, Temple Priests who rob, and Monks who give themselves $5million loans. Point is they succeed not because their Religion is bad. These villains succeed because their "flock" is gullible. Please stop being gullible. I cannot say this enough times. Religions are so easy to manipulate given the correct opportunity, and "Holy-sounding words"  Please educate and equip yourself for your own good. I mean this in the most sincere way. Read, digest and learn your Holy Book often, and in a Language which you understand, so that you are not easily misled. In fact, I personally gain nothing if you succeed in this. My only reward being the slight satisfaction that I could help contribute towards a better Malaysia. A Malaysia which is free of tyranny. A truly free Malaysia.

It is now time the Rakyat took back this freedom. A freedom lost for exactly 500 years since 1511, when the Portuguese colonized Malaya. From a Merdeka which UMNO now claims never happened, and the Malaysia which helped them acquire the Colony States of Sabah and Sarawak. I look forward to this New Merdeka. 

True to my word, I, John Doe will never let Malaysians down.

What has happened to the rule of law?

— P. Ramakrishnan - The Malaysian Insider

SEPT 24 — We must not forget the larger issues involved in the case simply because the government had decided to get out of a messy situation for its own good.

The Barisan Nasional government created this untenable position that cannot be sustained by logic and facts. As a cover-up for its high-handedness, it is posturing itself as a generous institution that is capable of being considerate. The fact is it is trying to extricate itself from this unjustified and cruel action against these helpless people who only meant well.

It is unthinkable that people will be deluded by this gesture of the police. Malaysians are no more gullible or naïve to be easily fooled by such tokenism. The reprehensible conduct of the police cannot be condoned.

These 30 PSM members are innocent and not guilty of any offence by any stretch of the imagination under any Malaysian law. That was the reason why the police tried desperately to incriminate them by all sorts of ridiculous accusations:

• They were accused of carrying weapons in their buses on June 25, 2011.

• They were accused of possessing subversive material.

• They were accused of attempting to wage war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

• They were accused of being a national threat.

The police invoked Section 122 of the Penal Code, Section 48 and Section 43 of the Societies Act, Section 29 (1) of the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance to build up a case that these are indeed dangerous criminals.

The police threw everything available at them in an attempt to crush them and frighten other Malaysians in an attempt to prevent them from joining the Bersih 2.0 Walk for Democracy.

They were incarcerated unjustly under intolerable conditions. On July 4 — after nine days of imprisonment — 24 of them were charged in court while the rest of the six were charged in court on August 3 after having been held for 28 days in solitary confinement.

The court imposed bail of RM8,000 each, which meant they had to scramble desperately to raise RM240,000 to seek their freedom — almost a quarter of a million ringgit! How could these poor people raise such a huge sum to post bail?

All this, however, failed to break the spirit of these 30 stalwarts; it failed to discourage outraged Malaysians from marching for democracy on July 9, 2011. If anything it only spurred Malaysians to discard their fear and stand up for their rights.

But the worrying thing about the whole episode involving these 30 Malaysians is the conduct of the police force. We are perturbed that the police can detain anyone under baseless charges with impunity. It looks that they can accuse anyone for whatever reason without a shred of evidence to back up their claim and detain them.

How could they accuse them of waging a war against the Agong, which is a serious criminal offence — Section 122 allows for 20 years or even life imprisonment — without an iota of incriminating evidence. This is clearly an abuse of their authority.

How could they accuse them of carrying weapons in their bus when no weapon was found in the bus?

How could they accuse them of possessing subversive material when this was not established?

How could they accuse them of being a national threat without proving the existence of such a threat?

Who cooked up these stories? Surely someone must be answerable. Who will be held accountable for this sordid affair? Shouldn’t the Inspector-General of Police who is the head of the police force be held accountable for this? Shouldn’t the Minister of Home Affairs be taken to task for this break-down in the rule of law?

Why didn’t the judge who is responsible for granting the remand order demand proof before granting such an order? Aren’t the fundamental rights and freedoms of a person his concern? Isn’t he the person who ensures that justice must be upheld and every person under the law is entitled to the protection of the law? Why did he fail miserably in his duty to uphold the constitution?

The rule of law should not become a myth in our country. The police must not be a law unto themselves. The rule of law must prevail at all times.

To prevent similar incidences from occurring in future we need to go deep into this episode and ferret out those who were callous in accusing innocent Malaysians without just cause. We need a Royal Commission of Inquiry to examine how and why the detention of the 30 PSM members took place.

We need to know what gives the police the authority to behave in the manner they have without being accountable for their action. We need to establish the fact that there is such a thing as Rule of Law in this country. — aliran.com

* P. Ramakrishnan is president of Aliran

South Indian Temple E-Auctions Human Hair For RM90 Million

By P. Vijian

CHENNAI, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Hair-raising sale. The world-famous Tirumala Tirupati Venkateswara Temple in south India has auctioned human hair donated by devotees for a whopping RM90 million.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the temple's custodian, sold 466 tonnes of hair in its maiden e-auction last Thursday, where 49 bidders, including foreign buyers, joined in the bid, reported the Hindu newspaper.

Tipped to be one of the richest temples in the world, and perched on a hilly top in Andra Pradesh, the temple draws tens of millions of devotees and tourists annually.

Thousands of devotees tonsure their head as penance to Lord Venkateswara -- the presiding deity in the ancient temple.

According to local media, about 500 barbers deftly worked round-the-clock to tonsure devotees, including women and children, who travel to the hills on holy pilgrimage.

Daily, nearly one tonne of human hair is collected from 14 centres in the temple's sprawling complex and later sold to human hair traders. However, this was the first time it was sold on-line.

The flowing long, black and strong Indian hair is in great demand in the global fashion industry, in the production of wigs and artificial eyelashes.

India supplies nearly 30 per cent of world's human hair demand, second only to Brazil which dominates the industry with over 50 per cent.

China, the United States and United Kingdom are three major buyers of human hair.

Several injured in fracas at Mat Sabu ceramah

(Malaysiakini) Two PAS supporters were injured at a ceramah in Seremban last night after a protest held by members of Malay rights group Perkasa across the venue of the event turned rowdy.

It was a Hari Raya-cum ceramah session and was supposed to start at 9pm, but as early as 8.30pm, more than 100 Perkasa members were already at the side of the main road about 60 metres from the stage holding a noisy gathering. 

It was still calm when Mohamad Sabu - popularly known as 'Mat Sabu' (right, at podium) - started to deliver his ceramah around 10.15 pm.

The Perkasa members carried banners with slogans like “Mat Sabu Pembohong (Liar)”, “Mat Sabu Perosak Bangsa (Corrupter of the race)” and “Mat Sabu Hina Pejuang (Insults freedom fighters)”.

But when the Perkasa members attempted to move closer to the ceramah stage and were stopped by PAS supporters, then control - as well as stones and mineral water bottles - went up in the air.

Two PAS supporters were said to have been injured - one alleged he was punched by Perkasa members and another was spotted with an injury to his head from one of the stones thrown during the fracas.

A Unit Amal member alleged it was his men who were injured during the incident.

PAS Seremban deputy chief Ghazali Mat Som - one of the event organisers - expressed his regret over the incident.

“One man was injured at his nose. Another man injured on his head. Two men were punched at the cheek and another man was hit by stone at his back.

“One of the Perkasa man wanted to submit a memorandum, but we did not agree and asked them to disperse.

“Then we informed the police. When the police asked them to disperse, they resist and then showed their uncouth (biadap) behavior. Only when the police sent for more people did they disperse.

“I urged the police to take a fair action and in future to take earlier action against this kind of situation.

“My men have already gone to the Rahang police station to lodge a report”, said Ghazali.

Perkasa man 'scalded'?

Meanwhile Negeri Sembilan Perkasa secretary Alias Mohamad, who was present during the protest, told Malaysiakini when contacted this morning said that the group's demonstration was not against PAS, but an expression of protest against Mat Sabu.

“He hurt the feeling of many army personnel.

“There many former army officers last night and they were disappointed with Mohamad Sabu's stubbornness and unwillingness to apologise for his statements.

“He martabatkan (dignified) the communists and the communist symbol,” said Alias.

When asked to comment on the injuries of the PAS activists, Alias said: “We just wanted to submit the protest memorandum and we were stopped by the PAS supporters. This resulted in a situation of panic. It should not have happened.

“But I heard that one of my men (also) was hit with hot water from an unknown individual,” Alias asserted.

About 800 people attended the ceramah that proceeded following the incident.

Terrorism at a Thai brothel

In Asia's bloodiest Islamist insurgency, jihadis target a lesser known breed of sex tourist

Reuters

Thai go-go dancers wait for customers at Bangkok's normally packed Soi Cowboy red-light area just before curfew

BANGKOK, Thailand -- There are no battlefield guarantees in Asia's bloodiest Islamic insurgency, a jihad in Thailand's tropical south that has ended nearly 5,000 lives.

But there are a few rules of thumb. In their self-proclaimed "holy war" to carve out the world's newest Muslim state on the Thai-Malaysia border, jihadis consider soldiers, cops, Buddhist monks, government teachers and their Muslim collaborators as fair game. Backpackers partying just a short distance up the coast are left alone.

But less mercy is offered to a different sort of tourist: Malaysian men, many fellow Muslims, border-hopping into insurgents' turf for paid sex. Now, after a bloody Sunday night bombing spree in their favored brothel town, Malaysia's government is warning its men to stay away.

Shortly after sunset on Sept. 18, in the gritty Thai border town of Su-Ngai Golok, a series of explosions erupted on a busy lane lined with hotels, food stalls and karaoke joints.

Televised mobile-phone footage shows pyres raging in front of a bar fitted with Christmas lights, Thai code signaling the availability of cheap beer and hands-on female hostesses. A half-naked man, his clothes singed and shredded, is seen sprawled nearby in the street.

Five were killed in the bombings, four of them Malaysian. Roughly 110 were wounded, some severely. If Islamic insurgents aimed only for men on the prowl, they failed: A 3-year-old Malaysian boy was among the dead.

The attack is surprising, even for insurgents known for beheading Buddhist monks and torching village headmen in the street. Though Malaysian tourists have been targeted before, such strikes are rare and have never caused so many foreign deaths in one night.

Worse yet, the attacks signal jihadis' heightened brazenness and stomp out any flickering promise of peace talks.

Just months ago, Thailand's military acknowledged secret meetings with separatists, whose ultimate goal is restoring a Connecticut-sized sultanate called "Patani." At the turn of the 20th century, Thailand (than called Siam) seized the tiny kingdom and claimed dominion over its Muslim, ethnically Malay inhabitants.

More than 100 years later, armed resistance to Thai rule has hit its stride. Since a 2004 declaration of renewed jihad, more than 4,700 have died and insurgents have evolved into Taliban-worthy bombers. In 2007, a particularly bloody year, jihadis in Thailand managed 91 bomb deaths -- 13 more than that year's bombing death toll against U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan.

As a younger wave of Islamic militants grows more agile and lethal, they appear more distant from an old-guard of separatists willing to negotiate with the Thai military.

Quasi-secret peace talks, which seemed to offer a twinkle of hope just months ago, have collapsed. "It's closed. It's finished," said Kasturi Mahkota, a senior member of the separatist group Patani United Liberation Organization.

"Now, at this point, there is no cease-fire agreement," Kasturi said over the phone from Scandinavia, his home-in-exile. "We're not going to surrender. We're not going to give goodwill to them."

But perhaps the separatists willing to negotiate have nothing to surrender in the first place.

Kasturi and other old-guard leaders have proclaimed an alliance with the insurgency's backbone militia, BRN-C, and claimed joint responsibility for roughly 80 percent of attacks. In reality, he and his ilk are "pretenders to the cause" according to insurgency expert Zach Abuza in an Institute for National Security Studies report released this week.

They consist of "a few exiles in Malaysia and Europe who command no forces and do not have the loyalty of men on the ground," according to the report.

The real killers abhor the thought of negotiation. They're also more radical than ever, said Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, who has documented the insurgency for more than a decade.

"It's a liberation war," he said. "They do not believe in coexistence with the Thai population. They aim to win the war by wiping Thailand clean of non-Malay Muslims."

Muslims from Malaysia, who share customs and language with Malay-speaking natives in the insurgents' territory, are seldom attacked in Thailand -- unless they're loitering around spots deemed decadent by jihadi hardliners.

"They feel an ideological justification to target vice: brothels, karaoke joints, nightclubs," Sunai said. "They want to send a message that, as a Muslim, you shouldn't get involved in dirty activities."

Thai authorities, however, seem to hate acknowledging insurgents' ideological motives. Police are apt to cast them as rudderless bandits and smugglers. Within hours of the Su-Ngai Golok attacks, a senior officer announced, with little proof, that the bombings were retaliation for cops seizing 100,000 meth pills earlier that week.

Dismissing the rebels as mere criminals diminishes an unpleasant thought for Buddhist Thai authorities: that an estimated 8,000 armed separatists believe Allah condones their killing. Calling them drug runners also strikes at the jihadis' proclaimed piety; a Muslim can only boast of so much righteousness if his living comes from smuggling bundles of meth.

But just as the Taliban is believed to fund attacks with Afghani heroin, proclaiming its jihadi credentials all the while, many experts believe Thailand's insurgency is similarly tied to the drug trade.

"Some are funded by underground business like contract killings, drug smuggling and human trafficking," Sunai said. "That doesn't mean they don't also have political motives. They can be paid to attack by drug lords who are unhappy with law enforcement ... killing two birds with one stone."

With peace talks appearing futile, and jihadis growing more bold, hopes of settling Thailand's insurgency appear bleak. In the estimation of Abuza, the terror expert, the rebels aren't winning "but they are also not losing, which, in an insurgency, is often enough."

Many of the remaining ethnic Thais, roughly 15 percent of the population, have stockpiled guns and assembled all-Buddhist militias. The rest have simply fled the region.

A turn in the road appeared several months ago when Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, then on the campaign trail, traveled to the region in a red hijab and promised a semi-autonomous zone to give local Muslims greater political power.

But after her July election victory, the new premier's cabinet dismissed her pledges as mere ideas. Prominent academics and non-separatist Muslim groups have pressured her to honor her campaign commitment. "I think it's finished," Kasturi said. "That was just for the election. Now they don't dare talk about it."

Given doubts that aging rebels in exile can reign in young militants, it's unclear whether any action by the Thai state would soothe the insurgency. The new breed does not appear willing to sit down for tea with the Thai military or even issue public declarations. They prefer to speak through violence and the occasional handwritten threat scattered around their victims' corpses.

"There will be no negotiation with our enemy. We will not accept any compromise. We will not debate in the parliament," says one written screed acquired by Human Rights Watch.

"We will purge all Siamese infidels out of our territory to purify our religion and culture ... we will establish our country as a Muslim country to be recognized internationally."

Ravi Shankar still making magic sitar music at 91

LOS ANGELES, Sept 24 — Baby boomers may remember classical sitar player Ravi Shankar from his legendary appearances at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock, or his influence on popular music culture at the time.

But what the 91-year-old musical icon remembers most about Monterey was hearing live rock ‘n’ roll for the first time. It was loud, he recalls, and he walked out on Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar.

File photo of Shankar in performance in Kolkata on February 7, 2009. — Reuters pic

The three-time Grammy winner appears for one night, September 29, in Los Angeles at the Disney Concert Hall, and ahead of the show he spoke to Reuters about his music, his memories of the ‘60s and his friendship with late Beatle George Harrison.

Q: You collaborated with many high-profile Western artists in the past. In what direction are you taking your music now?

A: “Mostly I’m playing concerts. I just finished five concerts in Europe, in London, Birmingham and the Edinburgh Festival, then I went to Oslo, Norway. I finished those and now I’m looking forward to playing San Francisco and Escondido.”

Q: What’s on the programme for the Disney Hall show?

A: “I always decide what I will play at the last moment, but I can tell you the format. I always start with very traditional classical music. The first I think will be very traditional almost dating back to 16th century. The second is a more later development known as contemporary-classical music. Another raga, an Indian raga. It’s more popular, not in the pop sense, but it’s a more popular second song. Of course the form we play is known as raga. Popular music with a lot of rhythmic variations.”

Q: Can I take you back to the Monterey Pop Festival? It was a landmark concert and introduced you to your largest American audience. What are your memories of that show?

A: “I’ll tell you very frankly, I went to see the whole night show with people like Jimi Hendrix and The Who, Simon and Garfunkel, Otis Redding, the Mamas and the Papas, all these people were performing. This was my first orientation to listening in person to live performances of rock ‘n’ roll. It was very loud for me. I’m not used to such loud music.

“But when The Who started breaking their instruments after the songs, and they are kicking them and breaking all the instruments — and Jimi Hendrix, after a wonderful performance, which I was so impressed with, then he took off his guitar and then he put benzene on the guitar and burned it. That I could not take. I just walked out and said, ‘I won’t be here’.”

Q: But two years later at Woodstock, you did it all again.

A: “It was a horrible experience because it was raining. We went by helicopter, which landed behind the stage. There were a half a million people, it was raining, drizzling, there was mud everywhere and everybody was, most of them, high on drugs, y’know. And this was very difficult for my instrument, and I was not happy because of the whole environment.”

Q: Still, you gained fame in the West from those events

A: “There was one issue that always bothered me. They mixed my music with drugs and all that type of free love and everything. That’s what I objected to. I wanted to bring them consciousness of our music to relate to like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart — you don’t go to hear a concert being on grass or misbehaving like that.”

Q: Did you ever express that to an audience?

A: “I said, ‘I don’t want to be treated — or my music — to be treated like that.’ So I, many a times, would walk out of my concerts until they stopped smoking and behaved properly. I didn’t want to reach them on drugs, but I did want to play them our music, our Indian classical music which connected more with — not religion but a more spiritual energy.”

Q: Your introduction to the rock world came through George Harrison. What brought the two of you together for the 1971 benefit concert for Bangladesh?

A: “I was in Los Angeles at that time and I was thinking of giving a concert or two, raising as much as I could, and help them. George came to my house and said, ‘Let’s do it in a bigger way and raise as much as we can.’ He phoned Bob Dylan and all his friends, and the show happened. One show sold out immediately, so they had another show in the afternoon. The crisis became known around the world within 24 hours.”

Q: Harrison studied sitar under you before composing “Norwegian Wood” and “Within You Without You,” both of which used the instrument. Was George a good student?

A: “He was a wonderful student, he was like my family, my friend and we had a wonderful time. He flew into Mumbai in 1974 and 1975 where I had a festival for 45 minutes with my musicians, and after intermission he had his group and he helped promote the concert all over the United States. He was a wonderful friend.” — Reuters

Drop Interlok, re-write history books

A Gerakan leader says the Interlok novel and slanted history textbooks have no room in the prime minister's reform and transformation agenda.

GEORGE TOWN: The government should immediately remove the controversial Interlok novel from school syllabus in line with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s reform and transformation agenda.

In making this call, Gerakan local leader Baljit Singh said the government should also review and revamp contents of school history text books to reflect the real history of Malaysia.

He also said the Education Ministry should allow school students an option to learn Mathematics and Science subjects in either English, Bahasa Malaysia or in their respective mother tongues.

He stressed that it would be embarrassingly hypocritical if on one hand Najib announced the abolishment of certain draconian laws while on the other, his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin were to retain Interlok in schools. Muhyiddin is also the education minister.

Acknowledge contributions of all races

Baljit, who heads the Penang Gerakan’s legal and human rights bureau, said the government had to be consistent, uniformed, sincere and honest in carrying out real reforms and transformations.

He pointed out that the novel was against the spirit and concept of Najib’s 1Malaysia aspiration.

“Interlok is perceived as containing disparaging remarks about non-Malays. It should not be taught in schools. All Malaysians should be made to feel at home in Malaysia,” he told FMT.

Baljit was also disenchanted that the new secondary school history books contained overwhelming propagation of one particular ethnic group and religion.

He could not understand the reasons behind the Education Ministry’s over-emphasis on the Islamic religion, Arabic civilisation and Malay contributions to the nation, while conveniently ignoring contributions from other sources.

He pointed out that Najib had claimed that the Internal Security Act would be repealed because the federal government had listened to the people’s call for greater democracy.

He said under a greater democracy concept, all contributions by other ethnic groups, religions, civilizations and languages should not be overlooked and concealed from history books.

“Our history books today definitely contradict the 1Malaysia concept, propagating a particular ethnic politics and religious views.

“History books shall contain only truthful historical facts, not distorted facts and lies. School textbooks should never be politicised or racially bias,” he said.

Similarly, he said in a greater democracy, the government must uphold the rights to freedom of education by allowing school children to choose the language of instruction for Mathematics and Science.

Isu keluar pembangkang, Karpal Singh tegur Nik Aziz

"Saya berpendapat isu berhubung negara Islam telah pun diketepikan dengan resolusi yang diterima pakai pada muktamar PAS yang diadakan tahun ini," katanya dalam satu kenyataan.

KUALA LUMPUR:  Pengerusi DAP Kebangsaan Karpal Singh berkata beliau terkejut dengan kenyataan Mursyidul Am PAS, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat yang menyatakan DAP boleh memilih untuk keluar daripada pakatan pembangkang sekiranya membantah rancangan PAS menubuhkan sebuah negara Islam.

“Ia adalah sukar untuk memahami kenapa Nik Aziz memberi ruang kepada Barisan Nasional (BN) menjelang pilihan raya umum tidak lama lagi.

“Saya berpendapat isu berhubung negara Islam telah pun diketepikan dengan resolusi yang diterima pakai pada muktamar PAS yang diadakan tahun ini,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan.

Karpal menyebut resolusi PAS bahawa parti itu tidak akan meneruskan matlamatnya untuk mewujudkan sebuah negara Islam di Malaysia sebaliknya berusaha ke arah penubuhan negara kebajikan.

“Adalah sukar untuk memahami kenapa Nik Aziz dalam tempoh yang singkat telah lupa berhubung resolusi itu,” katanya.

Pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat tidak bersetuju hasrat kerajaan PAS Kelantan untuk melaksanakan hukum Hudud dan hasrat parti itu menubuhkan negara Islam.

Top 10 Reasons why Hudud is good

By John Doe

So much talk about the Hudud. Why question Allah? Any good Muslim would know, and should know what the Quran says. Here is my top ten list. And who says that the Hudud does not affect non-Muslims? Tell those who say that to shut up and cower in shame for their ignorance !!

You want progress? Then follow the words of Allah to the "T". Otherwise, leave Islam. There is NO VERSE in the Quran which prescribes stoning in Islam for Apostasy. Again, have ANYONE show you a single verse in the Quran which prescribes "Death by Stoning" from the Quran. GIVE ME ONE VERSE !!!

In no particular order, I'll list the top 10 reasons why Hudud should be implemented in Malaysia. The following 10 are from the Quran. I will leave out COMPLETELY any reference to the Hadiths for now, for there will be far toi many arguments about which Hadith is true, untrue, real, false, fake and so on. 

 

Call the following list, The Quranic Ten Commandments if you wish.

1. The Obedient Wive's Club is almost correct. They forgot to tell you that in Surah 4:34 and I quote:
"Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great."

In other words, wives must comply with every single demand by their husbands. Be it a blow-job on demand, or any other requests made whether it is "better than a prostitute or not". Similarly, if a husband demands that a wife have plastic surgery to look more like Megan Fox, she also cannot refuse, or else, she should be punished by beating, and perhaps repeated beatings if necessary. This is obedience. Failure to do so is disobedience, and deserves a beating. For this is precisely written by Allah, and must be followed.

2. Who dares to say that Allah is a sexist? Allah is NOT prejudiced against gender at all !! Read Surah 5:38, and I quote:

"As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward of their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from Allah. Allah is Mighty, Wise."

If Allah was a sexist, he would have only said cut the hands off a particular gender. Allah did not. Therefore, Allah is NOT a sexist. If you persist to go against the will of Allah, then apply Surah 5:33, and I quote:

 

"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;"

Now you cannot say that you do not know. It is however unclear if the person who wages war against Allah has the option to choose between leaving the country vs execution or crucifixion, but regardless, Allah is great.

3. This has to do with orphans. And perhaps more to do with widows, as written in Surah 4:3 and I quote:

 

"If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice."

I am strongly suggesting that this verse has everything to do with the fact that the second wife either MUST be an orphan or a widow. (The waiting period for a widow is 3 months.) If it is indeed so, then why not? Personally, it means 3 less mother-in-laws to deal with. And that is not necessarily a bad thing.

4. Islam allows you to marry underaged girls. Be they your first, second, third or fourth wife. Only the uneducated have not read Surah 65:4, and I quote:

"Such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear Allah, He will make their path easy."

The Arabic version is here:
واللائي يئسن من المحيض من نسائكم ان ارتبتم فعدتهن ثلاثة اشهر واللائي لم يحضن واولات الاحمال اجلهن ان يضعن حملهن ومن يتق الله يجعل له من امره يسرا

and the phonetic way to pronounce it is as follows:

 

"Waalla-ee ya-isna mina almaheedi min nisa-ikum ini irtabtum faAAiddatuhunna thalathatu ashhurin waalla-ee lam yahidna waolatu al-ahmali ajaluhunna an yadaAAna hamlahunna waman yattaqi Allaha yajAAal lahu min amrihi yusran"

“Wallaee Lam yahidhna” which means “those who have not menstruated yet” This group of females are pre-pubescent girls who have not yet menstruated. Anyone who opposes this is violation of Allah's will, and is subject to number 2 stated above.

5. Should a declaration of war occur, like how Anwar Ibrahim declared War in Nov of 2009, then he can take any of the women or children as his future wives. It comes from Surah 33:50, and I quote:

"O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee; and daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts, and daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts, who migrated (from Makka) with thee; and any believing woman who dedicates her soul to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to wed her;- this only for thee, and not for the Believers (at large); We know what We have appointed for them as to their wives and the captives whom their right hands possess;- in order that there should be no difficulty for thee. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Ibrahim Ali has declared Jihad recently. He is not living up to his promise. He should be punished severely. SImilarly, why hasn't Hishamuddin nor Najib bathed any Keris in Chinese blood yet? Are they really that incompetent? They too should be punished severely !!

6. Those who do not observe the mandatory rest day called the Sabbath shall experience reverse-evolution, and become themselves monkeys, or as KJ puts it, Beruk. It is in Surah 33:4, and I quote:

"And you know well the story of those among you who broke Sabbath. We said to them: "Be apes—despised and hated by all. Thus We made their end a warning to the people of their time and succeeding generation, and an admonition for God-fearing people."

The Sabbath by the way, is NOT on Sunday, but actually on a Friday. (Get your facts straight. And the correct way to pronounce it is similar to pronouncing the word Sabah (one of two Colony-States in East Malaysia)

7. The Quran previously did not allow for the adoption of children, as prescribed in Surah 33:4, and I quote:

"God did not make your adopted son as your own sons. To declare them so is your empty claim. God's word is righteous and constitutes true guidance."

however, three verses later, it allows adoption, as plainly states in Surah 33:37, and I quote:

"After a term of married life with her husband, We permitted you to marry her so that it may hence be legitimate and morally blameless for a believer to marry the wife of his adopted son provided that wife has already been divorced. That is God's commandment which must be fulfilled."

and not only does it allow for adoption, one can now marry his adopted son's ex-wife. I do not make these things up. It is decreed by Allah, and cannot be thus, challenged.

8. Malaysian Courts are unIslamic. They do not follow what is clearly stated in the Quran. Just to prove it, I will make a longer quote this time. Read every bit of Surah 2:82, and I quote:

"O you who believe! when you deal with each other in contracting a debt for a fixed time, then write it down; and let a scribe write it down between you with fairness; and the scribe should not refuse to write as Allah has taught him, so he should write; and let him who owes the debt dictate, and he should be careful of (his duty to) Allah, his Lord, and not diminish anything from it; but if he who owes the debt is unsound in understanding, or weak, or (if) he is not able to dictate himself, let his guardian dictate with fairness; and call in to witness from among your men two witnesses; but if there are not two men, then one man and two women from among those whom you choose to be witnesses, so that if one of the two errs, the second of the two may remind the other; and the witnesses should not refuse when they are summoned; and be not averse to writing it (whether it is) small or large, with the time of its falling due; this is more equitable in the sight of Allah and assures greater accuracy in testimony, and the nearest (way) that you may not entertain doubts (afterwards), except when it is ready merchandise which you give and take among yourselves from hand to hand, then there is no blame on you in not writing it down; and have witnesses when you barter with one another, and let no harm be done to the scribe or to the witness; and if you do (it) then surely it will be a transgression in you, and be careful of (your duty) to Allah, Allah teaches you, and Allah knows all things."

You must have the equivalent of 2 women for every male witness in the event of disparity. Similarly, the Quran speaks nothing of CCTV recordings, and as such, it cannot be allowed in court. However, since Allah is great, you can show the CCTV recordings to the appropriate number of men, which is a minimum of 4, or 8 female witnesses; and then, they in turn, can be eye witnesses to the alleged Crime, and thus testify in Court. CCTV's is Allah's great way of allowing humans to travel back in time.

9. Make no bones about it, female children should not complain about how inheritance is divided. If you do complain, you have obviously not read Surah 9:29, and I quote:

"Allah enjoins you concerning your children: The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females; then if they are more than two females, they shall have two-thirds of what the deceased has left, and if there is one, she shall have the half; and as for his parents, each of them shall have the sixth of what he has left if he has a child, but if he has no child and (only) his two parents inherit him, then his mother shall have the third; but if he has brothers, then his mother shall have the sixth after (the payment of) a bequest he may have bequeathed or a debt; your parents and your children, you know not which of them is the nearer to you in usefulness; this is an ordinance from Allah: Surely Allah is Knowing, Wise."

 

Lawyers, do take note fo this when writing wills in future.

10. Those lazy or incompetent Muslims have obviously not read Surah 9:29, and I quote:

"Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection."

nor have you read Surah 9:5, and I quote:

 

"When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. God is forgiving and merciful."

And just so that people cannot say that I am taking things out of context, I shall reproduce Surah 9:1-8, so that all may be enlightened.

9:1 A declaration of immunity from God and His apostle to the idolaters with whom you have made agreements:

9:2 For four months you shall go unmolested in the land. But know that you shall not escape God’s judgement, and that God will humble the unbelievers.

9:3 A proclamation to the people from God and His apostle on the day of the greater pilgrimage:

God and His apostle are under no obligation to the idolaters. If you repent, it shall be well with you; but if you give no heed, know that you shall not be immune from God’s judgement. 

Proclaim a woeful punishment to the unbelievers, 

9:4 except to those idolaters who have honoured their treaties with you in every detail and aided none against you. With these keep faith, until their treaties have run their term. God loves the righteous.

9:5 When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. God is forgiving and merciful.

9:6 If an idolater seeks asylum with you, give him protection so that he may hear the Word of God, and then convey him to safety. For the idolaters are ignorant men.

9:7 God and His apostle repose no trust in idolaters, save those with whom you have made treaties at the Sacred Mosque. So long as they keep faith with you, keep faith with them. God loves the righteous.

9:8 How can you trust them? If they prevail against you they will respect neither agreements nor ties of kindred. They flatter you with their tongues, but their hearts reject you. Most of them are evil doers.

This needs to be preached in every Mosque, and every Muslim household shall take note. If you are unhappy with it, then perhaps you can consider leaving Islam, and I quote Surah al-Baqarah, 2:256, Allah explicitly states: "Let there be no compulsion in religion."

Additionally, in Surah Yunus, 10:99, and I quote:

"Had your Lord willed, everyone on earth would have believed. Do you then force people to become believers?"

The above verse also contradicts the Rukunegara, because "the unbelievers" also includes Atheists and Agnostics. 

Hence, "Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan" is flawed, and is justified by Surah Yunus 10:99.

Coming back to the Apostacy issue, let me remind everyone here that it is NEVER prescribed in the Quran where Apostates are to be stoned. Anyone who practises stoning-to-death is NOT FOLLOWING THE QURAN. And I will end with the last verse of  Surah An-Nisa', 4:137, and I quote:

"those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe again, then disbelieve, and then increase in their disbelief - Allah will never forgive them nor guide them to the path."

Read again... "believe, disbelieve, believe, disbelieve, and increase in their disbelief" refers to the wishy-washy. And that only says that Allah will NOT forgive them nor guide them to the path. It says NOTHING about fines, re-education classes nor stoning them to death !! JAKIM, JAIS do take note. It says that "Allah will NOT guide them to the path". In other words, Allah will LEAVE THEM ALONE !!!

So, in conclusion, Hudud vs non-Hudud has nothing to do with who wins the next elections. If you want to be a Muslim, then one must abide by the Hudud, and the Syariah. If not, then leave Islam. One cannot be wishy-washy about this. After all, there is no such thing as a semi-virgin.

If you have not read the Quran, then perhaps it is time to read it. If Allah did not intend for humans to read and understand it, then he would have written it in an Extra-Terrestrial Language. He did not. It was meant for humans to read it.

I rest my case.

PostScript:

The MACC is in direct violation of Surah 2:82, and I quote:

 

"let no harm be done to the scribe or to the witness; and if you do (it) then surely it will be a transgression in you, and be careful of (your duty) to Allah, Allah teaches you, and Allah knows all things."

 

So far, 2 witnesses have died under your care. Syariah Courts, do take note of this.

Using hudud card to rally support

The Star 
COMMENT By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

Realising that Barisan Nasional is making strides with Malay support, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is now openly embracing hudud law in support of PAS' ambition. His move may cost him the votes of non-Malays and moderate Muslims.

AGAINST great risk of losing the support from non-Malay voters, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has come out to endorse hudud law in Kelantan, backing PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat's plan to implement the law and set up an Islamic state in the state.

The Opposition Leader's backing, although he said was in his personal capacity, is hugely different from his earlier commitment to religious pluralism and a multi-ethnic, secular society governed by secular, man-made laws.

The sudden change in attitude is a recognition on the part of PKR and PAS that they are rapidly losing Malay support with their concession to and dalliance with non-Malays, especially the Chinese voters.

This recognition had slowly dawned on them but was accelerated by the “Mat Sabu” incident in which PAS deputy president Mohamed Sabu has come under persistent fire for saying that the 26 policemen and their families who died defending the Bukit Kepong police station in 1950 against a band of communists led by Mat Indera, were not the real heroes.

The real heroes are Mat Indera and his communist band, Mat Sabu had claimed.

The incident has riled up many Malays and over 1,000 police reports were made.

Mat Sabu might have been charged for criminal defamation, but the case has strongly moved the Malay emotion and has become a rallying point against PAS.

No senior PAS leader has come to the defence of Mat Sabu who was left to manage the crisis on his own.

Umno has used the Mat Sabu case as a national rallying point whipping up strong reaction against him and PAS, accusing them as unpatriotic and showing little respect for the nation's founding fathers, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Datuk Onn Jaafar.

Constant reminders in the mainstream media that PAS had abandoned Islam and that it better drop the word “Islam” from its name has begun to rattle the party as well.

It is true that the party had abandoned its Islamic state policy for a welfare state at its last muktamar in July.

It also went on to elect Mat Sabu, a non-ulama who doesn't wear a turban and Arabic clothes, to its second highest elected office.

DAP especially was overjoyed with the way things had turned out at the PAS muktamar. But now that Anwar has sided with Nik Aziz on hudud, it has been left holding a time bomb in its lap.

DAP chairman Karpal Singh has always pointed out that hudud law was unconstitutional and the Federal Constitution would have to be amended to implement it.

That's why although the hudud law was passed in Kelantan and later in Terengganu, they were never implemented without the Federal Government's active support.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said on Thursday that the Federal Government would not implement hudud law as Malaysian society was not ready for it and investors would get worried.

It appears that Anwar, after years of preaching pluralism and Islamic moderation has come out in support of hudud law in Kelantan saying it was clear and would administer justice for their intended purposes.

It is a blow to all Anwarites. Both PAS and PKR are now seeking to win over the Malays with this sudden and fundamental change in policy towards hudud.

After four years, they now realise that only DAP would stand to benefit from their dalliance with the non-Malays.

But it is too late in the day to reverse track and try to appease the fundamentalist Malays with the promise of an Islamic state.

By coming out in support of hudud they are also alienating many Malays who oppose the law and had supported PKR's multi-racialism.

That section of support for PKR is also now in danger with Anwar's readiness to embrace hudud law in Kelantan.

The nation was founded on one set of secular laws and only one.

To introduce another set, no matter if it does not involve non-Muslims, is a radical move without precedent and will significantly impact on every facet of our life.

DAP, which has championed secular law, must come out in the open now and state whether it too supports hudud on the grounds that it does not involved non-Muslims.

What about the moderate Muslims who oppose hudud but support DAP?

The issue is fundamental and sits at the core of the relationship among Pakatan Rakyat parties.

Can they run and carry a theological party like PAS whose only ambition is to create an Islamic state?

Nik Aziz has made himself very clear on the matter. He is all for hudud law in Kelantan and when Pakatan Rakyat captures the country, for all of Malaysia.

That has been the pillar of PAS' struggle since the party's inception in 1951.

Politicians are ruled by political expediency and Anwar is no different. Realising that he is losing crucial Malay support, Anwar is forced to come out to endorse hudud law and support Nik Aziz's plan in Kelantan, leaving DAP out in the cold.

Palestine Submitted Application To Become UN Member State

By Nani Rahayu Yusof

NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application for Palestine to become a United Nations member state yesterday.

Abbas handed over the application to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the UN Headquarters in New York before addressing the General Assembly. Palestine currently has observer status at the UN.

Under the provisions of the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is tasked with verifying any letter requesting UN membership, after which he sends it to the Security Council and the General Assembly.

The application is considered by the council, which decides whether or not to recommend admission to the 193-member assembly, which has to adopt a resolution for the admission of any new member state.

Abbas told the assembly that Palestine is applying for full membership of the UN on the basis of the June 4 1967 borders.

"Palestine is being reborn. This is my message," he said, adding that he hoped it did not have to wait long for the application to be approved.

"I call upon Mr Secretary-General to expedite transmittal of our request to the Security Council, and I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favour of our full membership. I also appeal to the states that have not yet done so to recognize the State of Palestine.", he told the General Assembly as many delegates gave him a standing ovation.

Some delegates again gave the Palestinian Authority leader a standing ovation, with a few even whistling in support, when Abbas showed a copy of the application submitted to Ban.

Body snatching: There's a thing called compassion

There is doing a job, and there is doing a job properly. There is no need to barge into a funeral at midnight with the grieving mother there.'

Tussle over body takes another strange twist

Lim Chong Leong: The issue is not whether Lawrence Selvanathan converted or not, but the heartless manner in which the so-called authorities came at midnight to serve a Syariah Court order on the grieving family and in front of his mother.

There is doing a job, and there is doing a job properly. There is no need to barge into a funeral at midnight with the grieving mother there. There a thing called compassion.

It is like the Gestapo grabbing the Polish rabbis in the 1930s. The SS of the Nazi fascist regime were also doing their job when they transported several million Jews and gassed them. Doing one's job is not a reason to be a bigot.

Had it been the other way round, would you say they were only doing their job?

Ggg: The police came at midnight to serve a Syariah Court order on the family? So now Syariah Court jurisdiction extends to non-Muslims?

These are unnecessary squabbles. How many more will it take to put this matter to rest? Shouldn't the person who cared for the person when he was alive have more right than anyone else?

Anonymous_417c: It's the majority versus minority The minority community has made a mistake by taking the law into their hands. The implication is that there will be even greater action by the majority in future cases.

Chikadee: I am a Muslim and I don't understand the police and JHEAINS' (Negeri Sembilan Islamic Affairs Department) actions. Our registration and document processes leaves much to be desired.

It is between the deceased and God. The rites is not going to benefit anybody. What good does it do to hurt the family in this time of sorrow. Does it make any difference? This is stupid and very insensitive of the police and JHEAINS.

Tolonglah: Does it mean that all assets and properties of late Lawrence will be confiscated by JHEAINS?

Clean and Clear: I do not think that Islam teaches this. It is the 'Islamic' bodies in Malaysia that teach this.

I don't think they are really interested in the dead body but the properties and money left behind. To ensure they snatch the body is to ensure they take possession of all the properties and money the deceased has so that these go to the 'Islamic' bodies.

This sort of Islam and behaviour of these bodies are bringing a bad name to Islam. They are driving away non-Muslims, instead of converting them.

The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) is another issue: What kind of human beings serve a Syariah Court order on non-Muslims, and in the middle of the night?

I hope the true Muslims would speak up against this.

Fairness for all: If I recall correctly, the government came up with a ruling that anyone who wants to convert, a letter must be sent to their family members to inform them.

What happened to that ruling? Is it in force? Are the Islamic authorities allowed to just convert anyone they like when the repercussions towards the family is huge?

Are the Islamic authorities after non-Muslims' property? They found this loophole to get it from them, but deprive their wife and children of a decent life?

1Malaysia-sia: When you call the police for an emergency, you'd be lucky if one or two finally show up. But 30 came for this?

Anonymous_5fb: Lawrence's family is now facing legal action initiated by JHEAINS. How can this be? They are non-Muslims - how can the Syariah Court have jurisdiction over non-Muslims?

Yeow: Here are a couple of questions: How come Lawrence, who was all along in another religion, converted three days before his death with no family or friends to witness?

How come Lawrence did not tell his family of his conversion so that he could be given a Muslim burial?

If he was a genuine convert he would have insisted his desire for which rituals he would have wanted for his funeral.

Susah Kes: Where is PM Najib Razak when the country needs him? Oh yeah, I forgot - he's busy playing pranks with radio DJs.

Ferd Tan: Go ahead and charge the family and put them in jail at Umno peril in the coming general election. This may bring back the call of 'makkal sakti' by Indian Malaysians.

For the police to come to Lawrence's family at midnight to serve a Syariah Court order is harassment. We would have thought only evil comes like a thief in the night, certainly not our police.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: If JHEAINS wants to make an issue out of it, then the family should challenge the constitutionality of the alleged powers that the religious authorities claim to have.

The circumstances surrounding the deceased's alleged conversion are highly suspicious and it is very unlikely that a devout Catholic would just wake up one morning and decide to become a Muslim unless he had some divine revelation which he forgot to tell his family about.

It is only in this country that Islam is all about fighting over a dead body rather than dealing with the huge social and moral problems facing Muslims.

Mohd Azmin Ishak: The Islamic Department is just doing part of their job. The deceased had converted to Islam. So, he was a Muslim.
Let us see whether that Pusat Dakwah Islamiyah can really show proof that Lawrence had converted to Islam. Then, let's see who is right.

Gandhi: There are so many ways in the world where people can show so much enthusiasm and create this world a peaceful place.

The deceased's family is mourning and in this early period of grieving, why does JHEAINS have to make the situation more troublesome?

Tussle over body takes another strange twist

(Malaysiakini) It appears the troubles have just piled up for the family of purported Muslim convert Lawrence Selvananthan, as his friends allegedly took matters into their own hands to cremate his body yesterday afternoon.

It is understood that Lawrence's friends, transporting his body to a church in Seremban for funeral rites, decided on their own to cremate his remains and bury the ashes in Segamat.

The situation has left the Lawrence's family in a fix, as they are now facing legal action initiated by the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Affairs Department (JHEAINS), said Port Dickson state assemblyperson Ravi Munusamy, who is acting as mediator in discussions between the family and religious officials.

Ravi (left) said police officers turned up at the family's home in Lukut around midnight to serve a syariah court order on the family, informing them that action would be taken against them.

"Because of that, the mother suffered some heart problems. She is still a bit sick now, and has not risen from bed yet.

"I advised them (police) not to come at midnight. If they want to discuss anything, they should come in the day," Ravi said when contacted by Malaysiakini.

Lawrence's body was at the centre of a claim by religious officials, who stopped his family from proceeding with his funeral service and burial yesterday on grounds that he had converted to Islam three days earlier.

The situation initially sparked a tense stand-off between family members and at least 30 police officers and JHEAINS officials, though they eventually entered into discussions with Ravi and a local priest representing the family.
'No proof he converted'

Ravi said the family are very unhappy over the incident and the ensuing situation they are now faced with, saying that they have not come across sufficient evidence to back the claim by the religious authorities.

"From what we understand, it takes three weeks to complete a conversion process, as a person needs to go through a course first.

"Here they are saying that he converted just three days ago.

"Secondly, he was never circumcised, and also he never informed his family.

“If he really converted, why is it that it was not shown on his death certificate?

"If he did convert, they should have keyed it in (the national registration database) on the day that he converted. After three days there was still nothing, so he was still not endorsed as a Muslim," Ravi said.

He noted that the family was now discussing their options with their lawyer on how to proceed with the court action by JHEAINS.

Attempts to contact the JHEAINS director have so far been futile. His office said he was in a meeting.

Devout Catholic and willing convert

Lawrence, 33-year-old father of one, was found unconscious in a parked lorry outside his store in KM9.6 Jalan Seremban, and declared dead on arrival at the Port Dickson Hospital sometime on Wednesday night.

Star today reported Pusat Dakwah Islamiyah officer Muhammad Zuwairi Baharudin as saying Lawrence had gone to the centre, with a friend named Shahul Hameed, to convert to Islam.

The officer is quoted as saying he had asked Lawrence, whose Muslim name he said was Zairy Abdullah, several times if he was certain about converting to Islam and that the latter had replied in the affirmative.

Zuwairi said he had recordings and photographs of the session.

The report also said Father Clement Lim of the Immaculate Conception Church had expressed shock at the news of Lawrence's conversion, saying the deceased was a "devout Catholic and an active member of the parish".