Headline News 23/09/2016

Headlines:

• French Survey on Islam Reveal the Failure of Secularism
• Restaurant Owner Defends Muslims Get Out Sign by Saying There was not Enough Room to Add Extremists
• India and Pakistan’s Verbal Battle over the Kashmir Attack Goes to the U.N.

Details:

French Survey on Islam Reveal the Failure of Secularism

One in four French Muslims support an ultra-conservative form of Islam which forces women to wear full-face veils, a study has found. The survey of 1,029 people aims to inform the government's plans to overhaul French Muslim bodies in the wake of several jihadist attacks, most of them the work of French extremists. Researchers split the subjects into three groups, and found that the most 'problematic' group was 'mostly young, low-skilled people with low levels of participation in the labour market' who used Islam to revolt. Institut Montaigne's report grouped French Muslims into 'completely secular', devout but accepting restrictions on religion in the public domain, and a more reactionary group that uses Islam for the purposes of 'revolt'. Those in the secular category, which made up 46 percent of the total, did not reject Islam but demonstrated their religious feeling mainly by eating halal meat. The second group - 25 percent - was 'proudly Muslim' and wanted a greater role for religion in the workplace but opposed the burqa and polygamy. Most 'problematic', according to the report, was the third group which was composed of 'mostly young, low-skilled people with low levels of participation in the labour market' living on the outskirts of cities. 'Islam is for them a way of asserting themselves on the margins of French society,' the report found, noting that most people in that group approved of the burqa and of polygamy, which is permitted by Islam. Around half of under-25s fell into this category, compared to around 20 percent of over-40s, revealing a generational gap between moderates and younger hardliners, the report found. The Ifop survey carried out for a major study of French Muslims by Institut Montaigne, a liberal think-tank, showed that the vast majority of people who identify as Muslim accept curbs on religion in public. But 60 percent considered girls should nonetheless be allowed to wear the headscarf in school, 12 years after it and other religious symbols were banished from the classroom, the survey published in Le Journal du Dimanche weekly showed. And around one in four - 24 percent - supported the wearing of the burqa and niqab, the full-face veils that were banned in public places in 2010. The survey of 1,029 people aims to inform the government's plans to overhaul French Muslim bodies in the wake of several jihadist attacks, most of them the work of French extremists. [Source: Daily Mail]

The time has come to for the French to admit that secularism is unworkable. It has not only failed to integrate Muslims, but has also offended Christians and people from other religious denominations. Only Islam can guarantee the right for people to worship their deity without discrimination and vitriol.

Restaurant Owner Defends Muslims Get Out Sign by Saying There was not Enough Room to Add Extremists

A Minnesota business owner who wrote "Muslims get out" on the sign outside his restaurant has defended the move, claiming that people were taking the sign "in the wrong way". Protesters of different faiths gathered by the Treats Family Restaurant with banners that read: “Love trumps hate” and attempted to pull down the letters from the board, which also advertised food and ice cream. Owner Dan Ruedinger in Lonsdale, Minnesota, told Fox News: "I didn’t want to put 'terrorists' on the board. So we were going to put 'Muslim extremists', but we didn’t have room on the board." He told the Lonsdale News-Review that the incident of the Somali-American man who stabbed eight people in a shopping mall in St Cloud, Minnesota, this month had prompted him to put up the sign. "I’ve had enough and I’m standing up," he said. "With all the bombs and shootings we’ve had, we’re supposed to welcome refugees here who want to kill us? This has nothing to do with race, it has to do with a religion of hatred that preaches violence. "Some Muslims are good people and want a better life. They need to step up, take control and hold the others accountable." [Source: Independent]

Trump’s anti-Muslim demagoguery is encouraging ordinary Americans to practice hatred towards fellow US citizens who are Muslims. Almost half of US voters support Trump, and this means that a large proportion of the American population is Islamophobic. How can America claim to be an honest broker in Muslim issue?

India and Pakistan’s Verbal Battle Over the Kashmir Attack Goes to the U.N.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dedicated the bulk of his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday to addressing an increasingly hostile dispute with India over Kashmir, furthering the war of words between the two countries following a militant attack on one of the region’s Indian army bases. “Peace and normalization between Pakistan and India cannot be achieved without a resolution of the Kashmir dispute,” Sharif said, adding that peace talks are “no favor to Pakistan” and are “in the interest of both countries.” He also urged “an independent inquiry into the extrajudicial killings, and a U.N. fact-finding mission” to investigate what he called “brutalities” against the Kashmiri people by Indian armed forces in the region. India responded to Sharif’s statements by condemning Pakistan, yet again, as a “terrorist state,” with Indian U.N. representative Eenam Gambhir labeling it the “Ivy League of terrorism.” “The worst violation of human rights is terrorism,” Gambhir said. “When practiced as an instrument of state policy, it is a war crime.” Indian government officials also pointed out that Sharif did not mention Sunday’s attack near Uri, in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, which left 18 soldiers dead. Pakistan previously denounced what it says are “baseless and irresponsible” accusations of its involvement, and asked India for “actionable intelligence.” [Source: Time]

Once again, Pakistan and India are setting the scene for the resumption of Kashmir talks to be brokered by the US. America wants to settle the Kashmir dispute, so that India can concentrate on countering China.