Islam - Current Day > 15 Dead as al Shabaab Destroy Hotel in Mogadishu; Imran Khan walks back comments; Islamic Mass Hysteria again

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 At least 15 dead after Islamic militant gunmen storm Hayat hotel

and open fire in horror siege

Katie Davis

The Scottish Sun

10:03, 20 Aug 2022, Updated: 13:49, 20 Aug 2022

AT least 15 people have been killed after Islamic militants stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital.

The attackers blasted their way into the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu on Friday evening with two car bombs before opening fire in a horror siege.

At least 15 people have been killed in the siege. Credit: EPA

Gunmen stormed the Hayat Hotel in Somalia. Credit: Reuters

Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents have claimed responsibility.

It's feared the death toll could rise as several people were injured in the attack and had to be taken to hospital as others, including kids, were rescued.

The detonations sent huge plumes of smoke over the busy junction on Friday night, and the sound of gunfire still crackled across the capital early on Saturday.

Sounds of explosions punctuated the night as government forces tried to wrest control of the hotel back from the militants, witnesses said.

Large sections of the hotel were destroyed by the fighting, they said.

Authorities were still trying to get control back on Saturday morning as security forces tried to contain the gunmen, thought to have been holed up on the hotel's first floor.

One witness, Abdullahi Hussein, told AP: "We were having tea near the hotel lobby when we heard the first blast followed by gunfire.

"I immediately rushed toward hotel rooms on the ground floor, and I locked (it).

"The militants went straight upstairs and started shooting.

"I was inside the room until the security forces arrived and rescued me."

He said that on his way to safety he saw "several bodies lying on the ground outside hotel reception."

Friday's attack was the first major attack since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May.

The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist group statements.

Al Shabaab has been fighting to topple the Somali government for more than ten years. It wants to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

The Hayat Hotel is a popular venue with lawmakers and other government officials. There was no immediate information on whether any of them had been caught up in the siege.

Imran Khan Claims Remarks on Salman Rushdie Taken ‘Out of Context’

PTI chairman backtracks from earlier condemnation of New York attack on author

by Newsweek Pakistan 

August 20, 2022

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday backtracked from an earlier interview in which he had come out against the attack on author Salman Rushdie at an event in New York last week.

On Friday, British publication The Guardian published an interview with Khan in which he described the attack on the author of The Satanic Verses as “terrible” and “sad,” adding that while the anger over the book was understandable, there was no justification for violence. “Rushdie understood, because he came from a Muslim family. He knows the love, respect, reverence of a prophet that lives in our hearts. He knew that,” Khan told The Guardian. “So the anger I understood, but you can’t justify what happened,” he added.

As the interview started circulating on social media, supporters of the right-wing Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) accused the former prime minister of supporting a “blasphemer” while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman used it as “proof” of allegations that Khan was “an agent of foreigners” against Islam. PTI supporters, meanwhile, sought to defend Khan by highlighting earlier statements in which he had called Rushdie “unbalanced” for criticizing him over the boycott of an event in India that was to be attended by both.

Rejecting the criticism, Khan told 92News—in a video also shared by the PTI’s official Twitter account—that The Guardian had taken his statement out of context. “I had refused to attend an event in India over its invitation to Rushdie,” he recalled, noting that Rushdie had given a speech against him over his boycott. “During the interview, I had sought to explain the Islamic position on [legal action against] blasphemy, and had cited the Sialkot tragedy as an example,” he said. “It was in this context that I had talked about Salman Rushdie,” he added.

The lynching of a Sri Lankan national in Sialkot last year had drawn widespread condemnations, with the government vowing to ensure all culprits were brought to justice. Several Islamic leaders had, at the time, issued statements stressing that Islam does not permit incidents of mass violence and emphasized the need to ensure that the country’s blasphemy laws be exercised in all cases of alleged blasphemy to avoid such incidents in future.

“The horrific vigilante attack on factory in Sialkot and the burning alive of Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistan,” said then-prime minister Khan. “I am overseeing the investigations and let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law. Arrests are in progress,” he had emphasized.

One of the most obvious characteristics of devout Islamic countries where governmental control is weak is that of mass hysteria at the mere mention of someone criticizing the Quran. Some of the most horrific atrocities imaginable have been accomplished in this context.

Farkhunda, Martyr to Islamic Madness, the Rest of the Story

Tensions high in Hyderabad after alleged burning of Holy Quran

Since the mob refused to leave, the police resorted to baton charges and

tear gas shelling, forcing the crowd to flee. 

By News Desk, Global Village Space

22 August 2022

Tensions are high in Hyderabad following an incident of alleged desecration of the Holy Quran. Enraged crowds took to the streets to get hold of the accused.

According to the details, a Hindu sanitary worker was accused of allegedly burning some pages of the Holy Quran in a marketplace in Saddar, Hyderabad. A complaint was registered against the man under sections 295-B and 34 of PPC and the police arrested him.

However, the issue began when the news of the man allegedly burning the Holy Quran spread like wildfire. As per reports, around eight to ten men entered the shopping plaza looking for the man. An angry mob also gathered outside the plaza, demanding the police hand him over.

As a result of the enraged mob, all business and commercial centers were shut down immediately. Since the mob refused to leave, the police resorted to baton charges and tear gas shelling, forcing the crowd to flee.

The police registered a case against 150-200 rioters and arrested 48 from the mob that gathered outside the plaza amid accusations of blasphemy against the Hindu sanitary worker.

While the police are actively working to keep the law and order situation, the situation is still tense in Hyderabad. Reports emerge of members of the Hindu community getting attacked following the incident.

Important to note that this is rather alarming as accusations of blasphemy often lead to extreme and horrific measures. Last year, a mob in Sialkot lynched a Sri Lankan factory manager over accusations of blasphemy.

Sialkot incident

In December 2021, an angry mob accused a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Diyawadana, of blasphemy by allegedly tearing up posters containing holy verses. As a result, they beat him to death. Later they burned his body.

Videos of the incident went viral on social media and left the entire nation horrified and shocked. Authorities immediately came into action to arrest those responsible for the horrible incident in Sialkot.

This was not the first incident of mob violence against alleged suspects of blasphemy. Several incidents of a violent mob beating the suspects to death have been reported in various cities of Pakistan.

Read more: It is high time we fixed mob taking over Pakistan! – Maleeha Hashmey

Religion of Peace - Justice by Mob Rule and Mass Hysteria

Pakistani Court Sentences Professor to Death for Blasphemy

A police officer stands guard at the entrance of the Central Jail in Multan, during Hafeez' sentencing

© Reuters / Arshad Raza Zaidi

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced a university professor to death for insulting the Prophet Muhammed. The trial has already seen his defense lawyer shot dead, under the Muslim world’s harshest blasphemy regime.

Thirty-three-year-old Junaid Hafeez was arrested in 2013 and charged with making derogatory remarks about the Islamic Prophet Muhammed on social media. Under the country’s harsh blasphemy law, he was sentenced on Saturday to death by hanging.

"We have a spineless system.

No one can stand up to a blasphemy charge.”

His lawyers claim he was framed by Islamic extremists for his liberal views, and said they plan to appeal the verdict. “There can't be a fair trial in blasphemy cases in Pakistan,” defense lawyer Asad Jamal told Reuters. "We have a spineless system. No one can stand up to a blasphemy charge.”

Pakistan has the strictest blasphemy laws in any Muslim-majority country. Though nobody has been actually executed under these laws, more than 75 of those accused have been killed extra-judicially, according to the Centre for Social Justice.

Critics say blasphemy charges are used to settle personal scores, and allow the country’s Muslim majority to persecute religious minorities. While a 2014 poll showed that a majority of Pakistanis want blasphemy legislation repealed, religious hardliners often turn up in droves to punish offenders and their supporters extra-judicially.

Hafeez’s previous defense lawyer was gunned down in his office in 2014. Rashid Rehman was the first lawyer in a year to take up the case, for fear of mob violence, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan told AFP at the time.

More recently, the acquittal last year of a Christian woman facing execution for blasphemy triggered nationwide protests, with one hardline Islamist party calling for the death of the judges who freed her. Earlier this year, a blasphemy charge against a Hindu veterinarian in Pakistan’s Sindh province caused an anti-Hindu riot, with multiple Hindu businesses set on fire before police intervened (see photos above).

Top Pakistan Court Upholds Christian Woman's Blasphemy Acquittal

A Rare Win in the War on Christianity

Move could pave way for Asia Bibi to seek asylum in Canada

The Associated Press 

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman, sits next to the governor of Punjab province after visiting her in jail on Nov. 20, 2010. Her conviction for making derogatory remarks about Islam was overturned last October. (Asad Karim/Reuters)

Pakistan's top court on Tuesday upheld its acquittal of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, clearing the last legal hurdle and freeing Asia Bibi to leave the country in a move that dealt a blow to radical Islamists who had demanded her execution.

Following the landmark decision, Bibi will finally be able to join her daughters, who earlier fled to Canada where they have been given asylum.

Bibi's lawyer, Saiful Malook, said in an op-ed published by the Washington Post last month that his client's most likely destination would be Canada if she were allowed to leave Pakistan.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in November that talks were underway with Pakistani officials over the case, but he could not say more because of "a delicate domestic context."

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said in an emailed statement that "Canada is prepared to do everything we can to ensure the safety of Asia Bibi."

Malook, who returned to Islamabad after fleeing the country amid death threats, called the court decision a victory for Pakistan's Constitution and rule of law. The three-judge Supreme Court panel had "insisted on very strict proofs of blasphemy" and found none, he said.

Pakistan's Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, who led the panel of judges, dismissed the petition filed by radical religious leaders. The extremists had petitioned the court to overturn its acquittal and send her back to prison for execution. He (Khosa) said in court that Bibi's accusers were guilty of perjury and if the case had not been so sensitive, they should have been jailed for life.

"The image of Islam we are showing to the world gives me much grief and sorrow," Khosa said.

Bibi, who spent eight years on death row and has been under guard at a secret place since her acquittal last October, was overjoyed at the news she heard over the TV.

"'I am really gratefully to everybody. Now after nine years it is confirmed that I am free and I will be going to hug my daughters,'" a friend quoted Bibi as saying. The friend spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety.

Following her October acquittal, radical religious parties took to the streets to protest, calling for the killing of judges who acquitted Bibi and for the overthrow of Prime Minister Imran Khan's government. They also filed the last-minute appeal for a review of the Supreme Court acquittal.

The protests were spearheaded by the radical Tehreek-e-Labbaik party, whose single-point agenda is protection of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Maybe they should start trying to protect Islam from liars who abuse the law to settle personal grievances. As the judge said, that would show Islam in a much better light. The pattern of mass hysteria at the mere suggestion of blasphemy belongs in the 7th century, not the 21st.

Controversial blasphemy law

Bibi's case goes to the core of one of Pakistan's most controversial issues — the blasphemy law, often used to settle scores or intimidate followers of minority religions, including minority Shia Muslims. A charge of insulting Islam can bring the death penalty.

But the accusation on its own is sometimes enough to whip up vengeful mobs, even if the courts acquit defendants. A provincial governor who defended Bibi was shot and killed, as was a government minority minister who dared question the blasphemy law.

Bibi, who always insisted that she was innocent, has said she will leave the country as soon as her legal battles are over. Her lawyer, who fled the country after receiving death threats, returned to Pakistan for the final review.

Bibi's ordeal began on a hot day in 2009 when she brought water to fellow farmhands who refused to drink from the same container as a Christian woman. Two of her fellow farm workers argued with Bibi and later accused her of insulting Islam's Prophet.

Students from a Muslim seminary shout slogans as they demand punishment for Bibi during a rally in Karachi on Nov. 26, 2010. (Athar Hussain/Reuters)

Following protests after Bibi's acquittal, the authorities arrested radical clerics Khadim Hussain Rizvi and Mohammad Afzal Qadri, both leaders of the Tehreekk-e-Labbaik party, and several of their followers for destroying public property during rallies against Bibi and for inciting their followers to violence. The clerics and the others remain in custody.

The cleric petitioning the court for Bibi's return to death row, Qari Salam, is linked with Rizvi's Tehreek-e-Labbaik party.

The party said Monday it will not accept any decision in favour of Bibi's release and asked its followers to prepare for more mass protests.

Pakistani police stepped up security around the Supreme Court in Islamabad ahead of its decision Tuesday.

Mass hysteria is easy to invoke when the whole country is made up of radical Muslims. Imran Khan needs a lot of prayer if he is going to bring Pakistan into the 20th century. He needs a spectacular miracle to bring it into the 21st century.

‘Blasphemer!’ Pakistani Teen Cuts Off Own Hand After Mistakenly Admitting to Not Praying

© Athar Hussain / Reuters

A 15-year-old Pakistani boy has cut off his hand as a way of punishing himself for an accidental “blasphemy” he committed. The boy was praised by his parents and gained huge respect from his neighbors for the act, police told AFP.

It turns out that Mohammad Anwar raised his hand by mistake after he misheard a question from an imam, who asked the crowd at a village mosque to give a show of hands of those who had stopped praying.

The boy raised his hand and was immediately accused by the crowd of blasphemy.

After cutting off his hand he put it on a plate and brought it to the cleric, the police chief said.

The incident occurred at a village in Hujra Shah Muqeem district, 125 kilometers south of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.

There is no need for an investigation, the police chief said, as there have been no complaints.

Adopted in 1947 and tracing their roots back to the British rule, Pakistan’s blasphemy laws make it a crime to insult religious beliefs. The punishment may range from several years in jail to a death sentence. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have received wide criticism, as many believe they are often abused.

Saroop Ijaz, Pakistan researcher for Human Rights Watch, called the blasphemy law “an instrument of oppression,” as quoted by the Washington Post.

“It’s completely discriminatory and has resulted in a lot of mob violence. ... It is providing and enabling an environment for religious violence to take place,” he said.

The fanaticism that permeates countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan goes well past insanity as the above story documents. The martyrdom of Farkhunda takes the insanity to a terrifying level. The burning of the Christian colony in Lahore is an example of how these blasphemy laws are used for pure evil.

For instance: “Lahore, Muslims set Christian colony ablaze: new charges of blasphemy,”

And in Afghanistan: Northwoods Ministries: Farkhunda, the Martyr, the Rest of the Story

The Extreme Volatility of Muslims Poses Great Danger to West

Wikipedia

On 15 September 2012, a protest against an anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims was held in Sydney, New South Wales. While the protest started peacefully, violent confrontations between police and protesters began when protesters reached the United States Consulate General. In resulting clashes, six police officers and 19 protesters were injured. The violence was condemned by Australian political leaders, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Police arrested nine protesters in connection with the violence.

Innocence of Muslims was a 14 minute trailer for a film that was probably never made. It was produced by an Egyptian Coptic Christian living near L.A. The clip sparked riots all over the world that left more than 50 dead, and fatwas issued for the deaths of those who participated in the film. It was later revealed that the actors were dubbed with the anti-Islamic lines after the trailer was otherwise complete.

The point I'm trying to make is that the video had nothing to do with Australia, and, these were ordinary Muslims who were instantly raised to violence at the thought of someone saying something unbecoming of Mohammed. As I have been warning for some time, Muslims are very volatile and easily excited, and putting large numbers of them in western countries is a recipe for disaster. It's just a matter of time.

The protest started at about midday when approximately 100 people gathered at the Sydney Town Hall before marching along George Street to Martin Place where the US Consulate is located. Conflict between the protesters and the police started when the former tried to enter the US Consulate. The police used capsicum spray to push the protesters back from the consulate. According to one protester this aggravated the crowd, as many had brought their children.

The crowd then moved to Hyde Park, where around 300 people had gathered. Further clashes erupted as police used capsicum spray on protesters who at times threw bottles at police. Protesters chanted "Down, down USA" and carried Islamist flags and signs saying, "Behead all those who insult the prophet", "Our dead are in paradise, your dead are in hell", "Shariah will dominate the world", and "Obama Obama, we love Osama" and threw bottles and objects retrieved from construction sites at police officers. The police responded by spraying capsicum spray into the crowd. Six police officers were injured of which two were hospitalized.

As the crowd started to leave Hyde Park near St James, Public Order and Riot Squad officers equipped with batons and riot shields had already been stationed at the park exit. Protestors continued to throw stones, sticks and bottles at the police. Riot and mounted police pursued protesters down William Street towards Kings Cross. The already splintered crowd then broke up further, running through the back streets of Darlinghurst with police chasing after them.

Police blocked several CBD streets, including the intersection of Martin Place and Castlereagh Street, parts of George Street and Market Street while protestors attempted to move through the city.

Arrests and investigation

Nine men were arrested. Police continued to investigate the event using photographs published by news networks to identify people who attended the protest, stating that not all those caught on camera were guilty of offences, but might be able to help identify those who had acted violently. The Counter Terrorism Squad reported that they had identified a number of men known to have criminal convictions, although not necessarily linked to terrorist groups. Mohammed Issai Issaka was convicted for riot and assaulting police, and after losing an appeal, was jailed in April 2014. Others received suspended sentences for affray and resisting arrest, fines or good behaviour bonds for offenses ranging from assault, damaging property, to offensive language.

Media coverage

The Australian reported that several of the protestors were carrying the black flags of an organisation described as al-Qa'ida sympathisers (ISIS?). An unnamed Muslim leader was quoted in the paper as saying that the protest had been hijacked by a group known as "Sixth Pillar", the name being a reference to the "Five Pillars of Islam" with jihad being claimed by some to be the "sixth pillar of Islam". The group may be linked to the controversial Sydney Sheik Feiz Mohammed.

Reactions

Julia Gillard

The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, condemned the violence saying, "Violent protest is never acceptable - not today, not ever." The Premier of New South Wales, Barry O'Farrell, condemned the violence and promised to hold the perpetrators accountable, and that he was "delighted there has been such a strong statement by Islamic leaders and scholars". The Federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, also condemned the use of violence and called on the perpetrators to be prosecuted.

Leaders of 25 Muslim organisations met on the Monday night and said that the protests over the film were "unacceptable and un-Islamic", and that they did not support even peaceful protest. The Board of Imams Victoria met on 17 September to discuss strategies to prevent riots in Melbourne. The President of the Australian National Imams Council emphasised the importance of correct education of the younger generation. The plan of the Board of Imams Victoria was that the same message of peace should be preached across Australia on Friday 21 September with parents being urged to stay at home with their children after Friday prayers. Sheik Azeim urged all young Muslims in Australia to remember that they are Australians first, and that facilities such as schools, hospitals and the social security organisation Centrelink did not question whether they were Muslim.

Farkhunda

There are many stories one can relate about the volatility of Muslims because of a percieved insult to Mohammed, or the rumour of someone burning the Quran. Muslim mobs completely lose control and are capable of the most horrific behaviour. Read the story of Farkhunda, the completely innocent young woman who was beaten, stoned, dragged by a car and burnt to ashes because someone said she had burnt a Quran, which was not true. The mob went hysterical! It's that easy! 

Farkhunda's ashes

The world cannot run in absolute silence with regard to Mohammed or Islam. The truth must be told! The Quran says that Allah fights against Jesus Christ (Quran 9:30)! There is only one who fights against Jesus and that is Satan, and Mohammed is his messenger.