The "Senior Officials' Meeting" under the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework was held in Kabul early Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Representatives from over 47 countries attended the Meeting to evaluate the commitments made by the Afghan government at last year's Tokyo Conference.
Event:
The Standard Newspaper on Monday reported the Uhuru, Ruto government is facing an acid test. Nearly 100 days since they came into office, the honeymoon seems to be over for jubilee leaders as crises rise. Barely three months after President Uhuru was elected, his presidency is off to a rocky start. After celebrations witnessed during his April 9 inauguration following his victory in the March 4 presidential vote, Uhuru's regime has moved from one crisis to another. The paper added that Uhuru's Government will worry about how to raise more revenues to plug the budget deficit estimated to be Kshs.356 billion.
Comment:
It is now clear that the new devolved government structure in Kenya as contained in the constitution has not only failed to solve problems but was designed to create them as currently witnessed. As an example, the current government has planned a big budget of Kshs. 1.6 trillion with a deficit of Kshs. 356 billion. To compensate for this deficit, the government intends to pass a bill known as 'Value Added Tax Bill 2013' which will exploit the public through levying of taxes on basic commodities like milk and maize flour which are already highly priced. These strategies have made Uhuru and his government to be associated with demonstrations by the public and already teachers are in the streets demonstrating against refusal to pay them their allowances.
Failure by the Uhuru government on this issue is not surprising as preceding governments have also failed. The only difference between this government and those before it is the ability to increase hardships within a short period of three months. Problems facing the public in this government are the same starting from inflation, insecurity, hunger, poverty and many more.
As for the fundamental reasons that cause the failure by the government and those before it in solving problems, it is due to it adopting the evil Capitalist ideology and its crooked democratic politics. Kenya is among the countries known as the third world whose leaders are mere agents and servants of Western Capitalists. Therefore, even if there are changes but the ideology is still in power, this is nothing other than changing to the other side of a coin. Therefore, problems facing Kenyans in the ‘new' jubilee government is not just evidence of failure of government but failure of Capitalism and its politics. It is a failure of man-made constitutions which not only cause conflicts but create new problems. Even if Barack Obama tours Africa calling for this ideology, already its rotten stinking smell is being felt in the whole world.
We state that these problems were not and will not be witnessed in the best system of Khilafah "Caliphate" state. This state relies on the Islamic system which is the system of truth brought into the world to truly solve all problems for mankind.
Shabani Mwalimu
Media Representative Hizb ut Tahrir / East Africa
Hizb ut Tahrir/ Wilayah of Jordan organized a protest in front of the Pakistani Embassy in Amman, Jordan to denounce the crimes of the Pakistani tyrant General Kayani.
A delegation from the Hizb in Jordan handed the Pakistan Embassy an open letter issued by Hizb ut Tahrir/ Wilayah Pakistan addressing the tyrant Kayani entitled: "The year-long abduction of Naveed Butt will neither delay nor prevent your end at the hands of a Khaleefah Rashid", as Kayani's thugs have abducted the spokesman of the party in Pakistan, Naveed Butt, whilst he was returning from his children's school accompanied by his children, on 11th of May 2012, and his whereabouts are still unknown today, even after a full year on abduction.
The protest included a condemnation submission of the Pakistani regime led by Kayani before America. This submission allows Americans to kill the Muslims of Pakistan via drone attacks and through killers' networks, such as the criminal American Raymond Davis's network. The slogans in the protest condemned Kayani and his gang. The Hizb delegation headed by the Chairman of the Central Contact Committee handed over the open letter to Kayani to the Pakistani ambassador and the Ambassador promised to deliver the message. The protest was covered by the local and international media.
We ask Allah the Almighty for our protest and our words to have impact upon the hearts of the sincere officers of the Pakistani military, such that it inspires them with the bravery of Muhammad bin Qasim (rahimahu Allah) and enhance their loyalty to their Deen and their Ummah, inciting them to save the Ummah from these corrupt rulers, so they will gain the honor and the reward of the first Ansaar.
((وَاللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ))
"Allah is the Protector of those who have Taqwa." [Surah al-Jathiya 45:19]
The Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah of Jordan
On Sunday the 7th of July 2013, hundreds of women, including journalists, human rights activists, lawyers, representatives of organisations, and other female opinion-makers will gather at an important women's seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to bring to global media and international attention, the continuing desperate plight of the Rohingya women and children of Burma, and call for an urgent solution to end their suffering.
On Tuesday, July 2, 2013, the 8Subh Daily published an article from the Le Monde Diplomatique, titled "Afghanistan's New Fundamentalist Players" translated into Dari. The article points out the US-Taliban peace talks, but it has tried to draw concerns to the future of the new growing fundamental movements. Besides many fallacies,
News:
(CNN) -- Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who spilled U.S. surveillance secrets to the world, is a "free man" biding his time in a Moscow airport. Snowden is wanted by U.S. officials on espionage charges for disclosing classified details of U.S. surveillance programs.
Comment:
1. Spying activities for the U.S. National Security (NSA) adds more than 100 million documents each year and disposes 40 tons per day. It also employs more than 200,000 employees, which the United States of America allots 80% of the budget for various activities of intelligence where the estimated cost is at 27 billion dollars. This agency (Homeland Security) deserves to be named the most dangerous security apparatus and "most secret" in the United States. The agency's job requires eavesdropping on all conversations, intelligence, and communications between all countries and institutions. Therefore, what Edward Snowden exposed was nothing only a minor of what these agencies do as its spying activities.
2. It is well known that espionage of countries towards other countries takes place throughout the world and they take necessary measures to repel these practices; as it is considered the most important intelligence state apparatus. Another fact is that the intelligence services in the world especially the one in America have no standards or ethics. It reached the point of implementing the Patriot Act allowing National Security to spy on American citizens and non-American citizens bringing them to trial without disclosing any evidence based on suspicion of terrorism.
3. Even though, it is obvious that spying on people, countries, and government agencies are from the functions of intelligence agencies! It is from one of the largest security agency services in the United States. And whoever works in this agency, understands beforehand its tasks and the agency evaluates all its employees prior to their hiring. And then he is assigned with tasks. In addition, this agency is capable of silencing any of its employees if it senses any threat towards it. Why have America and its agency - the media - with the issue of Edward Snowden as if he is a whistleblower? It is easy to answer this question, and the extent of information obtained by the agency from phone calls and emails, it is not possible for any spying agency regardless of its size, capability, and its follow-up to review, or analyze this huge amount of data and then scrutinize it. This agency initiates a psychological war through Hollywood style drama making people conceive that this agency is aware of what is happening. And thus are reluctant to engage in any activity against the repressive regimes of the criminal world powers. It is worth noting before people were aware from the Wikileaks drama, they come out with another similar "film". It is also worth mentioning that India discovered a program to spy on its citizens' phone calls and emails and it announced this program to the media!
Abu Amr
I was listening to a debate on the radio discussing the topic of high quality childcare for children in society. The debate was centred around how childcare must become more affordable, perhaps subsidised like other European countries, and of better quality across the UK, to help women. Or more specifically, to help women go back to work. Whilst listening, lots of things were going through my mind. And I thought I would share a few of them:
1) The stay-at-home mother is rarely if ever, glorified or valued in society or in the media. She is not aided through Government support of any kind. And the fact that the Government and media dominant discussion is always about how to make childcare better and more easily accessible, takes the option of staying at home to bring up your children, away from the table before women have even had a chance to decide.
2) The idea was discussed that sending young children to nurseries/ day care centres is good for their stimulation, learning and overall outcomes. There is an assumption that if a professional can get a child to learn their abc's especially early, this is the marker of development of a child. I'm not saying reading is not important, but this cannot compensate for the fact that the child is still detached from their main carers, their parents, and the effect this has on the child's overall outcomes. Because in the real world, children do not just develop in the areas of reading and writing - Their emotional, social development as well as development of character and values, all form the ‘education' of a child. And to deny that is to deny children their real education. This is just not considered or discussed enough at all, in the public domain.
3) Another comment made was how women only really need to commit to being at home with children for a very ‘short time' of their lives, up to three years, and so should not take their foot out of their career door. Such a comment reflects a mindset that has not appreciated the role a mother can and should have in a child's life, at all. The fact that the mother forms the backbone of the child's moral and emotional support, and her dominant presence in the child's life can shape that child through to adulthood, is totally undermined. The eruption of after-school clubs across the country, reflect this mentality where after school children must be bussed on mass to another ‘school' where they are supposed to play and do activities for another few hours till their parents can pick them up (after work of course). I particularly remember a girl in my school who attended one such club, who actually told me that despite how fun the club was she was just jealous her mum was not at the school gate and everyone else's mums were.
A society which is driven by its economic output and GDP will naturally lean towards whatever will get its' maximum workforce back to work and therefore discussions in a Capitalist society will always be around getting women back into work. However such a lack of importance on motherhood has effectively wiped out the integral and important societal role that a mother plays. Being a mother is not just about changing nappies and biding time until you can get them into a school to be really ‘educated'; but is about nurturing and shaping the next generation in the palm of your hand through a deep, loving and secure relationship. Such a massive task requires focus, dedication, attention and time. Islam places the role of the mother with such value and weight, that women embrace it with honour and pursue it with dedication. The beautiful duaa of the Quran:
((وَقُل رَّبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرًا))
"My Lord! Bestow on them [parents] your mercy as they cherished me in childhood" [TMQ 17:24]
Illustrates how Muslim parents view their responsibility - They not only fulfil their obligation, but cherish it. Mothers of the great scholars in Islam are examples of such cherishing such as the mother of Imam Shafi'i who as a single mother shaped his education, even migrating to another place in order to do this - And look at who Imam Shafii'i became, SubhanAllah! But if the Capitalist societies continue to have their way, most women won't have the pleasure of experiencing the breadth and depth of the role of motherhood. Simply because it is being taken away by ‘high-quality childcare.'
Umm Abdullah Khan
Women's Media Representative Hizb ut Tahrir / Britain
