The Pakistan Army on Sunday launched a fresh drive against pro-Taliban militants in the northwestern Swat region amidst indications that the security forces would adopt a tougher approach against the ultras in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Imams in Uttar Pradesh have been asked to give special discourses after Friday prayers to apprise Muslims that Quran does not approve of any kind of terror activity, a step aimed at checking their exploitation by militant outfits, in the name of Islam. Ulemas (Muslim scholars) under the banner of 'Movement Against Terrorism', which was formed after a meeting of Muslim clerics and scholars in February, have sent letters to imams throughout the state.
Television is a tool of enjoyment and most widely used for 'prohibited' things and impossible to use 'without a sin,' says a fatwa by Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, a view brushed aside by three influential Muslim organisations.
A prominent Muslim cleric on Wednesday asked the government to order a high-level inquiry into the activities of the saffron outfits, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, accusing them 'of playing a role in the recent terror attacks' in the country.Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in New Delhi, raised the demand during a meeting he had with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday morning.
He said that Taslima should tender a written apology for all her 'anti-Islamic publications as per the traditions of the Holy Prophet'. He also sought an assurance from the writer that in the future, she will desist from writing 'blasphemous' material.
Tension continues to simmer in Pakistan's Swat valley with fresh troop build-up while the extremists loyal to pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah have released 48 captured soldiers.
A fragile truce in the Swat valley of northwest Pakistan collapsed on Wednesday as troops targeted militant hideouts with artillery and helicopter gunships, killing at least 20 insurgents. The attacks on armed followers of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah in and around Matta were launched after the militants carried out overnight attacks on police posts near Kabal and Saidu Sharif, officials said.
Police and paramilitary troops set up security posts and bunkers protected by sandbags in Kabal, a small town near Maulana Fazlullah's stronghold at Imamdheri.
A pro-Taliban cleric's militant followers on Saturday clashed with security forces at several places in Swat valley of northwest Pakistan leaving up to 15 people dead, a day after troops backed by helicopter gunships attacked a seminary run by him. The skirmishes erupted after security forces attacked Maulana Fazlullah's sprawling madrassa at Imamdheri, three kilometres from Mingora, the headquarters of Swat district in North West Frontier Province.
The Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, an 89-year old largest such Islamic body in the country that issued a 'fatwa' signed by 6,000 Muslim clerics in Hyderabad ten days ago against terrorism, on Monday moved the Supreme Court for release of a large number of Muslim youths held in connections with blasts in Malegaon in 2001, 2006 and 2008.
Sukanya Verma looks back at the trend's most memorable incarnations in recent times.
The iftar will be attended by Shia cleric and religious leader Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, Christian priest Anand John, Sikh leader Gurcharan Jeet Singh and Sandip Pandey, Magsaysay award winner and convenor of National Alliance for People's Movement
A 32-year-old man from Haryana's Mewat district has been arrested by Delhi Police for suspected links with Al Qaeda.
Clerics at Uloom's Darul ifta, the body which issues fatwas, says contraceptives are permissible so that 'the children are properly nourished.'
The army said the militants were apprehended during a search and cordon operation at Kuza Bandai in Swat, where troops have been conducting a major operation since mid-November 2007 to quell the activities of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah and his followers.
The ripples of Lal Masjid crackdown were felt mostly in tribal areas of NWFP like Malakand Agency and Bajour.
The Bush administration said the Pakistani authorities themselves have to deal with the situation arising out of the standoff between the military and the radicals led by Lal Masjid clerics.
Pakistani security forces have retaken a strategic mountain from pro-Taliban militants in the restive Swat valley in north-west Pakistan and shut down an illegal radio station used by their radical head as a propaganda machine.
Estimates of the remaining militants varied from 2,000 to 5,000 some of whom were believed to be members of the banned Jaish-e-Muhammad.
The government showed little inclination to attempts by Lal Masjid clerics to work out a negotiated settlement for a conditional surrender through Islamic scholars.
The troops are moving closer to Shangla and consolidating their positions and eliminating the militants before making a push towards Alpuri.
Pakistani soldiers backed by helicopter gunships fought pitched battles on Friday with pro-Taliban militants in the north-western Swat Valley, where at least 80 militants including a top rebel commander have been killed since Thursday night.
Pakistani army troops backed by helicopter gunships on Thursday kept up their offensive against armed followers of a pro-Taliban cleric in Swat valley, killing at least 20 militants across the restive region.
With each form costing Rs 250, the bank has raked in around Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million).
As troops fanned out in Pakistan's north-western province to counter activities of a pro-Taliban cleric, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said the main threat to the country's national security is "internal" with a handful of extremists out to disrupt law and order.
The move came hours after four security personnel were injured in a bomb attack on a military caravan in the Malakand area late on Tuesday. Seven persons were arrested in connection with the attack.
Voters have a fundamental right to know the academic qualification of a candidate and any false declaration on this count can warrant rejection of nomination papers, the Supreme Court has held.
An Islamic cleric calling himself 'Osama bin London' groomed and corrupted young Muslims, including the London bombers, at terror training camps across Britain, a court in London was told.
Abu Hamza, 50, from west London, is wanted by the US authorities on 11 charges, including sending money to Al Qaeda. He has 14 days to decide whether he will launch a final appeal to the House of Lords against the judges' decision.
Amid reports that the Pakistan government was under pressure to allow Pervez Musharraf to leave the country, the former military ruler on Sunday said he will not flee and defend himself in all cases.
The militants have also decided to establish a seminary similar to Jamia Hafsa, the girls madrassa attached to Lal Masjid which was razed to the ground by the government after its capture early this month.
'Shaheen Bagh is no longer a mere ghetto of lower middle class Muslims.' 'Now, it is a metaphor for resistance, secularism and struggle,' notes Md. Zeeshan Ahmad.
Meanwhile, authorities imposed prohibition on the surrounding areas of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa late last night, restricting the movement of common people.
Khalil, who figured in India's list of most wanted terrorists, was a close aide of Ghazi and used by the government negotiators to hold talks with Ghazi on Monday night.
A large number of militants led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah have fled the Swat valley and adjoining Shangla district in the North West Frontier Province. After more than two weeks of fierce clashes with the security forces, key militant leaders had also gone into hiding, the army said.
Officials said security forces used light weapons to demolish the boundary walls of the complex and clear other hurdles to observe the movement of militants. "Calculated shots were fired at the obstacles," an official source said.
A series of massive explosions and gunfire rocked the area around the besieged mosque complex creating panic among people in the Pakistani capital.
Ten people, including six security personnel, were killed and five others injured on Wednesday in two separate attacks on army and police vehicles in Pakistan, which officials suspect could be a fallout of the crackdown on Lal Masjid clerics.
'Islam has nothing to do with terrorism or terror acts.'
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