Latest news with #non-Muslims
Malaysiakini
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Malaysiakini
Academic: Redirect anger over preacher pair, not at AGC
Academic Tajuddin Rasdi believes public anger from non-Muslims over Muslim preachers Zamri Vinoth and Firdaus Wong is misdirected, and should be 'recontextualised, not towards the Attorney-General's Chambers, but other parties instead'. 'I have heard these two personalities speak, and it is difficult to charge them with 3R (race, religion, and royalty) when what they say stems from simplistic and uncontextualized religious interpretations of the Quran and Hadith,' he told Malaysiakini. The professor of architecture explained that a key issue lies in how clerics are...
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Mumbai train blast verdict: Two lost decades, but a salve of vindication
MUMBAI: Of the 12 accused who were acquitted in the 7/11 serial bomb blasts of 2006 on Monday, Mohammad Sajid Magrub Ansari was the only one who could share the moment of relief and joy with his family. While the 11 other men have been in jail for 19 years Ansari was released on parole on July 1 and was slated to go back to the Nashik prison on August 10. After watching the proceedings of the Bombay High Court online from his home, Ansari decided to leave for Nashik prison on Monday itself. He said he was returning early to prison to complete discharge formalities because he could not wait to return to his family a free man. 'I have no words right now to describe how I feel. Everyone at home is overjoyed and we have been having sweets all morning. It hasn't fully sunk in, I am feeling so many emotions simultaneously,' Sajid told HT soon after the High Court's verdict. The 48-year-old was accused of making the explosive device that was detonated at Borivali station on July 11, 2006, a charge he has strenuously denied. Before his arrest in 2006, he ran a mobile repair shop at Jogeshwari, and says he knows nothing about the new smart phones that are now in use. He learnt how to use WhatsApp only after coming out on parole earlier this month. 'How can I go back to doing mobile repair work? I have been set back by almost 20 years. Despite my acquittal, I don't think anyone will give me a job,' he said. In prison, however, Sajid completed the first year of LLB and is now in his second year. He has been helping prison inmates with filing bail and parole applications as also those seeking information under the Right to Information Act. 'I strongly feel that laws that were made to punish the guilty should not be misused to punish the innocent. That's why I want to help people like me and provide legal aid to those who need it,' said Sajid. 'People from our community are often targeted but in prison I have seen even non-Muslims accused of crimes they did not commit. Some of them face serious charges under laws like POCSO. I really want to help such people,' said Sajid. He hopes to become a part of the Innocence Network, an advocacy group that works for justice for indigent inmates, started by Abdul Wahid Shaikh, his brother-in-law and former co-accused. The former school teacher was the only one of the 13 men accused in 2006 to have been acquitted by the trial court in 2015. Sajid says he has been fortunate to have family and friends who never doubted his innocence even after the trial court convicted him and sentenced him to life. Not all of his co-accused, he said, have had a similar support system. His two brothers Khalid and Javed looked after his family while he was incarcerated, including his daughter, born two months after his arrest. 'Growing up without her father she has become very sensitive. She told me she would often shed tears when she would see her cousins with both parents while she had only her mother to comfort her,' said Sajid. 'When I come back from Nashik, I want to spend time with my family including my extended family which always believed in my innocence. They have stood by me but in all these years I could not be a part of their happy or sad occasions. I want to make up for that. I will visit my relatives in in Bijnaur at the first opportunity I get.' 'When I needed my father the most, he wasn't there' Mubashshara Majid was a one-month-old baby when her father, Mohammad Majid Mohamad Shafi, accused No. 5 in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case, was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2006. Near Kolkata's Sealdah, she was raised by her mother, Farzana Yasmin. 'I grew up without my father, but my mother never hid anything about him from me. She always believed he was innocent and that he would come back home one day,' Mubashshara, now 19, told HT. In school, however, she could not avoid answering questions about her absent father, as her mother was the only parent who turned up at parent-teacher meetings. 'Whenever someone asked me where my father is, I'd say he does not live here. If they asked me where he lives, I'd say Mumbai,' said Mubashshara. On Monday, after hearing about her father's acquittal, Mubashshara said, 'I feel grateful and thankful to my lord. I really don't know what to say. My mother waited for justice her whole life. She would have been the happiest person today.' In 2013, Yasmin suffered a kidney failure, and her health started deteriorating. 'In 2015, when the (trial) court convicted my father, that broke her. In 2021, I lost her,' said Mubashshara, who now lives with her maternal grandparents. Her mother's passing was devastating for the teenager. 'I was shattered. And in those moments, when I needed my father the most, he wasn't there,' she said. Majid worked at a shoe shop started by his father in the Raja Bazar area of Kolkata. However, Mubashshara's early memories of him are those in the corridors of Mumbai's City Civil and Sessions Court. 'I would only get to see him coming in and out of one room and going to another,' she said. She got to know her father through letters they wrote to one another, sometimes eight pages long. While Mubashshara could talk to her father twice a month over a video call, the last time she met her father in person was in 2020 at the prison in Amravati, where they were allowed 'gala bhet' or physical contact between prison inmates and their family members. 'I have learnt from my father that you cannot change the things that are not in your control, but I prayed because I believe that dua (prayer) can change one's destiny,' Mubashshara said. 'My brothers were made scapegoats by those who could not find the culprits' In the 19 years that brothers Faizal and Muzammil Shaikh spent in prison, both their parents passed away, and their brother Rahil has been missing. Their only sister, Aaliya, a Math teacher in Dubai, has been waiting to see her brothers walk out of jail. 'Of course, I feel great relief today but I also feel sad that my parents suffered so much before they passed away,' she told HT. On July 11, 2006, Aaliya remembers Faizal calling her frantically, asking where their father was. 'We lived in Mira Road, and so many of our family members travelled on the local train every day. It was a lifeline for us to travel anywhere from Mira Road. Faizal called my phone and asked me where Abu was. He asked me to make sure he was not on the train. He was so worried. Would someone who carries out a bomb blast make such a frantic call?' In 2015, the special MCOCA court sentenced Faizal to death and Muzammil to life imprisonment. 'When my brothers were arrested, the media was lined up outside our house. I said that day that my brothers were innocent, and it has been proven now. My parents suffered so much pain and harassment. My father died in 2019, and my mother died in 2024. I was the only one there for them after their sons were arrested,' said Aaliya, a mother of four, who made annual trips to Mumbai to look after her parents. Her brothers, both unmarried at the time of their arrest, are now in their forties. She said Faizal ran his own business and Muzammil, a software engineer, had a job in Bengaluru before they were arrested. 'My brothers have been very strong and patient all these years. Even from prison, they have been giving us hope. And now, after 19 years, we're seeing this day,' said Aaliya. 'Questions should now be asked of those who made false cases against my brothers. They could not catch the real culprits, and they made my brothers scapegoats to hide their own incapability,' she added. 'His innocence was never in doubt, our whole town is happy today' By afternoon on Monday, Anees Ahmed was in Pune setting the paperwork in motion for the release of his cousin, Asif Basheer Khan, from the Yerawada Central Jail. He was not surprised when he heard that the process may take longer than he expected, but he is hopeful of taking Khan back home to Jalgaon on Tuesday evening. Khan, a civil engineer, worked with a construction company before he was arrested in 2006 in the 7/11 blasts case. His two daughters were toddlers at the time. One of them is now married. As a father, Asif may not have been able to watch his children grow up but he may be out of jail in time to meet his grandson, who was born only three days ago. 'His son has had a baby who is only a few days old. The family, our town, and our community are very happy today. People have been coming to his house to meet his family all day,' said Anees. In 2017, over 2,500 people in Jalgaon had signed affidavits vouching for Khan's innocence in the case, following a drive held outside local mosques. 'After conviction, his wife divorced him; she too had suffered' Much before he was named accused No. 11 in the case, Zameer Ahmed Shaikh was a footballer who played at the city's famed grounds like Cooperage and YMCA. 'He was a very good player. He even played for his college,' says Zameer's brother, Sharif-ur-Rehman L Shaikh. Sharif remembers his brother's arrest. 'The way the bomb blasts shook the entire city, my brother's arrest in this case shook us the same way again,' he said. 'Until Zameer was arrested, we had never even seen the gate of a police station in our lives.' He also remembers their mother insisting on coming to the trial court on every date of hearing just to be able to see her 'favourite son' for a few minutes. Her passing, in 2010, was a tragedy the family endured as they waited for justice. At the time of his arrest in 2006, Zameer had a four-year-old son. His daughter was born the same year. 'His wife stood by him all along. She always supported him and believed in his innocence. She thought they would start their life anew when the court acquits him. But in 2015, after the trial court convicted him, she couldn't do that anymore. She lost hope of his return. They then got divorced. She, too, had suffered, and she had to think of her life and that of her two children,' said Sharif. 'Growing up was not easy for his children. The family did look after them, but baap toh akhir baap hota hai na (a father is a father after all).' Sharif added, 'We were all very depressed after the conviction in 2015. But as they say, time is the greatest healer. Now once more, we are hopeful of Zameer's return.'
The Star
a day ago
- Politics
- The Star
Insufficient evidence to prosecute Zamri Vinoth, Firdaus Wong, says Azalina
KUALA LUMPUR: There is a lack of evidence to support allegations against Zamri Vinoth and Firdaus Wong under any legal provisions, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said. The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) stated that the police have initiated an investigation following complaints lodged against the individuals. "The investigation file has been referred to the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) for instructions and a decision. "Based on feedback from the AGC, I have been informed that there is, so far, insufficient evidence to prove the elements of an offence under any legal provision to prosecute both individuals in court," she said in a written reply to RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) on Tuesday (July 22). Rayer had earlier asked the minister why the individuals were not charged in court despite reports lodged against them. However, Azalina clarified that criminal cases are not subject to a statute of limitations. "Therefore, if there are new developments in the future, further investigation and review of this case can still be conducted," she added. The duo had earlier allegedly insulted the beliefs and religious practices of non-Muslims.
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Senate polls: PTI bags six, opposition wins five seats in KP
PESHAWAR: The ruling party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and joint opposition succeeded in getting elected all their candidates to the Senate of Pakistan without any upset on Monday. Although the distribution of tickets had created err in the ranks of the PTI in the province and candidates including Irfan Saleem, Khurram Zeeshan and Ayesha Bano had refused to accept the decision of the party leadership. However, at last the matter was settled down with the withdrawal of the candidates from the polls. The ruling party and joint opposition were agreed on a formula of the election of 6-5 formula and efforts were also made to elect their due share unopposed. However, the internal rift in PTI over the awarding of tickets and dispute over the oath taking of the members of the KP Assembly elected on women and non-Muslims reserved seats created hurdle in the election of the candidates unopposed. Senate elections on 11 seats of KP today All 145 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, the Electoral College for the Senate poll, cast their votes and after counting the Election Commission of Pakistan issued Form-58, the Certificate of Election to the elected candidates. The successful candidates including Robina Khalid (PPP) and Robina Naz (PTI) on seats reserved for women, Azam Khan Swati (PTI) and Dilawar Khan (JUI-F) on technocrat seats, while Muhammad Talha Mahmood (PPP), Niaz Ahmad (PML-N) Mirza Mohammad Afridi, Murad Saeed, Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Faisal Javed (PTI) and Atta-ul-Haq of JUI-F were elected on general seats. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
KP governor administers oath to Opposition MPAs
PESHAWAR: The Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi administered oath to the newly elected members of the provincial assembly on reserved seats for women and non-Muslim. The oath-taking ceremony was held here at Governor's House on Sunday. After the adjournment of the proceedings of the KP Assembly in the name of the lack of quorum in an especially summoned session of the house for the purpose, the Chief Justice, Peshawar High Court (PHC) on a request of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in line with Article 255 (2) of the Constitution of Pakistan had nominated the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to administered oath to newly elected members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on reserved seats for women and non-Muslims. PHC bars elected MPAs on reserved seats from taking oath A formal notification (No. 453-J) issued by the High Court Registrar directed that the oath-taking ceremony should take place at the earliest in accordance with the constitutional framework and prescribed legal procedures. The Governor has been tasked to ensure that the oath is administered in the prescribed manner and that official record is properly maintained. The court has also instructed the Secretary of the Provincial Assembly to facilitate the process by enabling the newly notified members to sign the Roll of Members as per Rule 6 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules, 1988. A formal notification in this regard also issued on Sunday, and its copies were forwarded to key stakeholders including the Speaker and Secretary of the Provincial Assembly, the Election Commission, and the Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A ceremony to administered oath to women and non-Muslims elected on reserved seats is schedule at Governor's House today (Monday) at 9:00 A.M. The Treasury benches in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly created the issue of quorum to avoid the administering of oath to women and non-Muslims elected to the house against reserved seats. A special session of the provincial legislature was convened on the request of the Chief Minister to administer oath to the women and minorities' representatives elected on reserved seats to formally enrolled them as members of the house. But it could not happen due to the strategy evolved by the treasury benches, which is divided into two groups over the issuance of tickets by the party leadership, particularly by the jailed PTI founder Imran Khan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly is going to elect 11 Senators and on the basis of its strength in the electoral college, it has fielded six candidates by issuing them party ticket. The candidates fielded by the ruling party include Murad Saeed, Noor-ul-Haq Qadri and Mirza Khan Afridi on general seats, Azam Swati on technocrat and Robina Naz on seats reserved for women. The Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur and joint opposition in the provincial legislature have already developed consensus on the distribution of seats by allowing the election of the five candidates of the later to the Senate. However, some PTI leaders Irfan Saleem, Khurram Zeeshan and Ayesha Bano, who had had filed nominations, but were denied tickets are not ready to accept the decision of the leadership and have come in the forefront of the leadership against the decision of the party. Though the session of the legislature was convened. However, the staying away from the house by the legislatures, particularly treasury benches braked it due to the lack of quorum in the house. As the house began proceedings with Speaker Babar Saleem Swati in the chair, a treasury benches member Sher Ali Afridi pinpointed the lack of quorum and the Speaker has to order the ringing of the bells to bring legislators to the house. But, in legislators did not turned up prompting the Speaker to adjourned the proceedings of the house till July 24,2025. Later, speaking informally in the house, the leader of opposition Dr Ibadullah said that how long will this continue? He said that a period of over on years has been passed, but the members are still awaiting their oath. He said that if the Speaker does not take the oath, then they will file a petition with the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court to administer the oath to them. Earlier, while speaking to the media, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati said tha the oath-taking will take place whenever the assembly session is held, quorum in the house merely after entering the house. When asked regarding the delay in the oath-taking, the Speaker with a meaningful smile said that it will happen eventually. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
