Headlines:

• UK Police across the Country Record Surge in Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes in 2013

• Egypt's Ruling Military Criminalizes its Opposition

• More to Pak-US Ties than Just Drones says Foreign Office

• Rahul Gandhi Focussed on Welfare of Homosexuals, Not Muslims: Azam Khan

Details:

UK Police across the Country Record Surge in Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes in 2013

Hate crimes against Muslims rocketed across the UK in 2013. From January to mid-November 2013, the UK's biggest police force, the Metropolitan Police, recorded 500 Islamophobic offences - up from 336 in 2012 and 318 in 2011. In May alone, Scotland Yard handled 104 anti-Muslim hate crimes, followed by another 108 in June. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) recorded nearly double the number of Islamophobic crimes this year - with 130 offences in 2013 compared with 75 in 2012. GMP's total for this year included a peak of 36 offences in May, the month Fusilier Rigby from Manchester was murdered. The number of Islamophobic offences recorded by Kent police more than trebled this year - from 17 in 2012 to 54 in 2013. Leicestershire Police recorded 31 anti-Muslim crimes from January to mid-November this year, compared with 26 anti-Muslim crimes in both 2012 and 2011. The force also recorded 27 anti-Muslim non-crime incidents so far in 2013, compared with 34 anti-Muslim incidents in 2012 and 21 incidents in 2011. Thames Valley Police recorded 39 anti-Muslim crimes to mid-November this year, compared with 20 in 2012 and 31 in 2011. The force also found 75 anti-Muslim crime or race-related incidents this year, compared with 46 in 2012 and 63 in 2011. West Mercia Police said 393 race or faith-related hates crimes were recorded in 2013 which included 25 that referred to the victim being Muslim. Cheshire Police said they had recorded seven anti-Muslim hates crimes in 2013 - between April and October - compared with two in 2012 and one in 2011. Cleveland Police said they were unable to provide figures for anti-Muslim hate crimes because the information "is not generally recorded", as the force records ethnicity not religion. Merseyside Police recorded 10 anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2013, compared with six in 2012 and eight in 2011. West Yorkshire Police have recorded 37 anti-Muslim crimes in 2013 to November, compared with 24 in 2012, and 17 in 2011. Humberside Police, which led the investigation into two ex-soldiers who firebombed a mosque four days after the murder of Fusilier Rigby, recorded 15 anti-Muslim hates this year compared with four in 2012 and two in 2011. Warwickshire Police recorded two anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2013, while City of London Police recorded three Islamaphobic offences. [Source: Daily Mirror].

Allah (swt) says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ بِطَانَةً مِّن دُونِكُمْ لاَ يَأْلُونَكُمْ خَبَالاً وَدُّواْ مَا عَنِتُّمْ قَدْ بَدَتِ الْبَغْضَاء مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَمَا تُخْفِي صُدُورُهُمْ أَكْبَرُ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ

"O you who have believed, do not take as intimates those other than yourselves, for they will not spare you [any] ruin. They wish you would have hardship. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater. We have certainly made clear to you the signs, if you will use reason." [TMQ Ali-Imran: 118]

Egypt's Ruling Military Criminalizes its Opposition

Three years have passed since the first sparks that led to the Arab Spring, a wave of revolt against authoritarian regimes that unleashed hopes for democracy in a region long without it. But events this week showed that Egypt has abandoned the path to democracy. This is a tragedy with serious implications for the United States. The most damaging setback came Wednesday, when Egypt's interim cabinet announced that it was declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. This move followed a bombing Tuesday in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura in which at least 15 people died and more than 100 were injured. Without any evidence, authorities blamed the blast on the Muslim Brotherhood, which had condemned the bombing. A jihadist group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for it. This is a huge step backward that will further alienate a broad social movement. The cabinet announcement said that authorities would punish anyone who joined or remained a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as those who participate in its activities or "promotes it by speech, writing or any other means and all who fund its activities." On Thursday, at least 16 members were arrested and the group's newspaper was blocked from publication. Separately, three leading secular activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak were sentenced this week to three years in prison for organizing an unauthorized march. Egypt has long been a close ally of the United States and a keystone of stability in the region. But the time has come for stronger U.S. protests and action. To remain timid in the face of repression will invite only more. [Source: Washington Post]

Egypt's rulers could not have criminalised the opposition without tacit support from the Obama administration. It is evident now that General Sisi and Obama are only interested in stamping out all forms of dissent through laws, which were unheard of during the Mubarak era. Will Egypt become another Syria, only time will tell.

More to Pak-US Ties than Just Drones says Foreign Office

Without specifically naming the United States, the Foreign Office on Thursday said that the issue of drones would not overshadow the country's foreign relations despite a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution which last week called for making drone attacks compliant with the international law. Our foreign policy is not just on drones or our relations with one country. It is a wide spectrum. We have our national interests and we are working on many tracks with the international community to expand our relations and to promote economic development in Pakistan. We do not see the foreign policy or what we seek to achieve from it through the narrow prism of any single issue," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said at the weekly media briefing. Her comments apparently contrasted the previous FO position that "drone strikes have a negative impact on the mutual desire of both countries (US and Pakistan) to forge a cordial and cooperative relationship". This position was last stated on Nov 1 and wasn't reflected in subsequent statements on drones though there has been a ritual condemnation of the attacks. The spokesperson's remarks, which followed the latest drone attack in Miramshah and the first since the UNGA passed a resolution on drones, represented a possible softening of the government's position on drone strikes. [Source: Dawn]

So there you have it, Pakistan officially supports the continuation of American drone strikes, while the rest of the world demands America to show restraint in accordance with international law. Any politician with a modicum of common sense could have easily used the prevalent international opposition to US drone strikes to demand Pakistan's refusal to co-operate with the US. But Pakistani government officials routinely show there true colours and do their utmost to please their American masters.

Rahul Gandhi Focussed on Welfare of Homosexuals, Not Muslims: Azam Khan

Attacking Rahul Gandhi, India's UP Minister Azam Khan has said that instead of effectively addressing the issue of Muslim backwardness, the Congress leader was focusing on the welfare of the homosexual community. Criticising the Congress vice-president, the SP leader yesterday told reporters that Gandhi did not offer any help to the riot victims staying in the Muzaffarnagar relief camps. He claimed that maximum number of communal riots had occurred during the Congress regime and "it was Muslims who suffered maximum devastation". On the Communal Violence Bill, Khan said, "Had Congress been sincere to combat communalism, the Bill could have been passed much earlier". He slammed the Congress-led UPA government on the issue of granting reservations to Jats, saying "Conditions of Muslims is more pathetic in comparison to even Dalits." Asserting that he was not against reservation for Jats, he said, "Muslims are members of the largest minority community who deserve and need reservations. Those facing worst economic adversities should be given preference." [Source: Zee News]

This is not the first time that Muslims in India have been let down by the Congress party, and yet still Muslim politicians are prepared to put their trust in the Indian legal system and the Congress Party to protect them. Have they not learnt from the massacre of Kashmiris, the destruction of Barbari Masjid, the persecution of Muslims in Gujrat and now the gang rape of Muslim women near Muzaffarnagar? Congress, BJP and other parties despise Muslims and Islam.

The only solution is for Muslims of India is to unite under a single political platform, eschew Indian democracy and work for the re-establishment of the Caliphate.