A humiliating experience opened my eyes to discrimination that has become common in post-9/11 America under the pretext of safety and security
Our Announcements
Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.
Posted by admin in Hindu India, MAKAAR HINDUS, State Sponsored Islamophobic Hate Speech, Uncategorized on June 30th, 2025
@ISPR_Official PAF have a Sacred Duty to Avenge the Gujarat Massacre, where an estimated 2- 3000 Gujarat Muslims were killed on Narendra Modi’s provocation.
Survivors look at the pictures of the Gujarat riots victims at a photo exhibition held to commemorate its 10th anniversary in Ahmedabad in February 2012. Photograph: Reuters
In 2002, anti-Muslim carnage engulfed the Indian state of Gujarat, killing at least 1,000 people. Most of the victims were Muslims. The Chief Minister of Gujarat was Narendra Modi, a lifelong member of the Hindu extremist RSS. He ordered police not to stop the massacres.
On February 27, 2002, Sabarmati Express, a train carrying Hindu kar sevaks (pilgrims) returning from the site of the demolished Babri Masjid, was attacked. 59 people lost their lives in a fire that broke out in one of the train cars just outside the station of Godhra.
The cause of the fire is still the subject of contention. In 2008, the Gujarat government-appointed Nanavati-Mehta Commission concluded that local Muslims had set the train on fire. The Justice Bannerjee Committee, established by the Indian government’s railway minister in 2005, reached the opposite conclusion, concluding that the fire was accidental.
The death of 59 Hindu passengers was instantly exploited by Hindu extremist groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Bajrang Dal to incite Hindu hysteria, incite the genocidal massacres, and claim they were in self-defence against Muslim terrorism. Hindu mobs, unrestrained by state police and encouraged by then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, launched a state-wide campaign of retaliation against Muslims.
Genocide is defined as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; or imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
Genocide Watch and many genocide scholars contend that the massacres in Gujarat between February and March 2002 meet the definition of genocide. The Gujarat massacres included four of the acts of genocide enumerated in the Genocide Convention.
A Hindu mob faces off with a Muslim mob during during Gujarat’s 2002 riots. Photograph: AFP
By the afternoon of February 27, retaliatory attacks had already begun. Donning the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) uniform of khaki shorts and a saffron headband, the mobs carried out attacks in a highly coordinated manner. Armed with a list of Muslim homes and businesses, they arrived in Muslim neighbourhoods by truckloads carrying swords, metal pipes, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders. The rampaging mob stormed into the housing complex of Ehsan Jafri, a former highly regarded Muslim member of the Indian parliament. The mob murdered Ehsan Jafri and 68 other Muslims who had sought refuge in his house.
Jafri had desperately tried to contact the police commissioner and the office of chief minister Modi but never got through.
Investigative journalist Ashish Khetan secretly taped conversations with the three Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists Mangilal Jain, Prahaladji Asori, and Madanlal Raval, who described the events surrounding Eshan Jafri’s murder. They confirmed to Khetan that Jafri had made desperate phone calls to police officers and political leaders.
According to the three men, the police not only gave them unfettered freedom but also encouraged the rioters to kill Muslims. They claimed that the rioters were given three to four hours to carry out the killings by the police inspector in charge of Meghaninagar police station, KG Erda. These secretly taped conversations, however, were ignored by the Supreme Court of India’s Special Investigation Team.
During the massacres, at least 250 women and girls were gang-raped before being burned to death. A mob of 5,000 people set fire to houses of Muslims in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Patia neighbourhood, resulting in the death of at least 65 people. Before being burned and hacked to death, women and girls were gang-raped in public. Their male family members were forced to watch the rapes and then were killed.
Hina Kausar from Naroda Patiya was pregnant when she was raped. Several eyewitnesses testified that she was raped and tortured and that her womb was slit open with a sword to extract the foetus, which was then hacked to pieces and burned alive alongside the mother.
Bilkis Yakoob Rasool was five months pregnant when she was gang-raped. Fourteen members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, were murdered in front of her eyes.
The Gujarat government has now granted early release to all eleven of her convicted rapists.
A mass grave in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in which sixty-one bodies — thirty-four of women and twenty-seven of children — are buried. Since February 27, 2002, more than 850 people have been killed in communal violence in the state of Gujarat, most of them Muslims. Unofficial estimates put the death toll as high as 2,000. The attacks against Muslims in Gujarat have been actively supported by state government officials and by the police. Police told Muslims, “We don’t have any orders to save you.” Photograph: Human Rights Watch
A mass grave was discovered in Ahmedabad in January 2004 by a group of medical professionals and forensic specialists. 46 of the 96 bodies were of females. Most of the bodies showed evidence of torture, mutilation, and burning. The female bodies had burns from cigarettes on their bottoms and breasts. Sharp objects had been inserted inside their damaged, cut-open genitalia.
The young women and girls who were raped and killed, as well as the male family members who were made to witness it, suffered irreparable mental harm. Parents were forced to watch their children being murdered.
A child injured in the 2002 riots sits inside an Ahmedabad mosque after his father took shelter there.
Photograph: Reuters
Children who survived, the vast majority of whom were orphaned, have been severely harmed and traumatised by the violence. They witnessed the rape, mutilation, murder, and burning of family members. Surviving family members had to fend for themselves in recovering and identifying their loved ones’ bodies, which added to their trauma.
Gujarat state police stood by and refused to assist Muslims fleeing from Hindu mobs. Muslim NGOs were left with the responsibility to provide relief and rehabilitation.
A policeman watches on as fire ravages shops at the entrance to a mosque in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, following an attack by Hindu activists in February 2002. Photograph: AFP
The Muslim community of Gujarat experienced the carefully planned destruction of their homes, businesses, and property.
Hundreds of Muslim girls and women were raped, mutilated, and burned to death in Gujarat. Many of the women interviewed in relief camps were victims of sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, and insertion of objects into their bodies.
International law in cases in the ICTR and other courts recognise that the use of sexualised violence in genocide is a method of preventing births by causing serious physical and mental harm to the women and by knowingly degrading and stigmatising them, rendering women either unable or ineligible to participate voluntarily in the reproductive life of the community.
Many attacks on Muslims took place within view of police posts and police stations. However, the first police and troops did not arrive where mobs struck before March 1, three days after the massacres began.
The mobs carried the voter lists and lists of all Muslim-owned businesses. According to an Outlook magazine report, attempts to pinpoint the exact location of Muslim businesses began months before the attacks. Politicians at the local and state levels were spotted directing the violent mobs, controlling the police, and organising the distribution of weapons.
Gujarat’s then-home minister, Haren Pandya, claimed Modi convened a meeting on February 27, 2002, in the aftermath of the Godhra train fire. According to Pandya, Modi instructed the police officers not to interfere with “the Hindu backlash”. Pandya was later assassinated and therefore unable to testify before commissions of inquiry.
Similar allegations were made in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court of India by ex-India Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt. According to Bhatt, during his meeting on February 27, 2002, Modi asked police officials to allow Hindus to “vent out their anger” against Muslims.
Posted by Azahir in Donald Trump Islamophobe, Hate, Hate Speech, ISLAM MESSAGE OF PEACE, Islam-A Deen or Road-map of Life in Modern World, ISLAM=PEACE & BROTHERHOOD AMONG MANKIND, ISLAMOPHOBES, Islamophobia in America, Our PathFinder & Polaris Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Racism, State Sponsored Islamophobic Hate Speech, Ummah, فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ on February 22nd, 2017
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. One day, Karima Bennoune found herself wondering whether she could protect her father with a paring knife. She tells the stories of individual Muslims struggling against fundamentalism and terrorism.
Karima Bennoune is a professor of international law at the University of California–Davis School of Law. She grew up in Algeria and the United States and now lives in northern California.
She has published widely in many leading academic journals, as well as in the Guardian, The New York Times, Comment is Free, the website of Al Jazeera English, The Nation. The topic of her most recent publication ‘Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here’ is a very personal one for her. Her father Mahfoud Bennoune was an outspoken professor at the University of Algiers, and faced death threats during the 1990s, but continued speaking out against fundamentalism and terrorism. In writing this book, Karima set out to meet people who are today doing what her father did back then, to try to garner for them greater international support than Algerian democrats received during the 1990s.
She has served as a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law and on the board of directors of Amnesty International USA. Currently, she sits on the Board of the Network of Women Living Under Muslim Laws. She has also been a consultant on human rights issues for the International Council on Human Rights Policy, the Soros Foundation, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Her human rights field missions have included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, Lebanon, Pakistan, South Korea, southern Thailand, and Tunisia.
She traveled to Algeria in February 2011 to serve as an observer at pro-democracy protests with the support of the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, writing a series of articles about these events for the Guardian. In October 2011, she volunteered as an election observer during the Tunisian constituent assembly elections with Gender Concerns International.
At TEDxExeter 2014 our speakers and performers connected us with other worlds. Our talks exposed corruption in big business, shared effective approaches to tackling social inequality and gave a voice to those whose human rights are under threat. We explored the impact of fast changing technologies on all our lives. We journeyed through fire and forest to frozen landscapes. We were challenged to consider worlds of extremes, cutting edge controversies and risky opportunities.
Video Production Chromatrope (http://chromatrope.co.uk/)
Production Manager Andy Robertson (http://www.youtube.com/familygamertv)
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbWmBUONtFY
Muslim Americans are widely seen as victims of discrimination, but also viewed by a slim majority as members of a religion that encourages violence, according to an Economist/YouGov poll released Friday. Americans who know a Muslim, meanwhile, are more likely to view adherents of the religion favorably.
Those results come in the midst of a spate of either suspected or confirmed anti-Muslim hate crimes. The shooting of three Muslims in Chapel Hill on Feb. 10 by a killer with murky motives crystallized the moment of fear.
A full 73 percent of Americans believe Muslims face a great deal or a fair amount of discrimination. That total outstrips both African-Americans, whom 63 percent of Americans see as victims of bias, and Mexican-Americans, who are viewed as targets of discrimination by 60 percent.
The general feeling that discrimination exists is further underlined by questions about the motives of alleged Chapel Hill shooter Craig Stephen Hicks. Police initially said the killings appeared to have stemmed from a parking dispute, but also added that they were looking into whether religion was a factor. Authorities have not charged Hicks with a hate crime. However, 45 percent of Americans said Hicks should be charged with a hate crime, compared with 18 percent who believe he should not.
Those supportive-sounding numbers are offset by Americans’ other views on Muslims. Many Americans seem to have adopted the views of Bill Maher and Mike Huckabee.
A majority — 52 percent — of Americans said Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence. Suspicion of Islam was much higher among Republicans (74 percent) than Democrats (41 percent).
“There’s just a lack of access to Muslims, and because of this lack of real-world contact, a number of conservative media sources have biased opinions,” said Robert McCaw, government affairs manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“Theologically Islam is no more violent or less violent than Christianity or any other monotheistic religion,” he said. “I think one stereotype is true: that Muslims are being highly discriminated against. So that’s an experience which people have experienced firsthand.”
Knowing a Muslim does seem to alter a person’s impression of members of the religion. A majority (53 percent) of Americans who personally know a Muslim disagree with the idea that the religion is more likely to encourage violence. Americans who know Muslims are also significantly more likely to view them as patriotic.
The Economist/YouGov online poll surveyed 1,000 respondents from Feb. 14 to 16 with a margin of error of 4.4 percent.
Courtesy: URL: Huffington Post
Posted by admin in Hate Speech on January 25th, 2017
© 2025, All Rights Reserved by Pakistan Think Tank.
A recent news report documented the removal of two Muslim women working for the federal government from an American Airline flight. On its surface, the airline staff appeared to be upholding safety regulations, but in reality, they were engaging in discriminatory practices. I know this to be true because I was one of the two women. We were removed from the plane for doing nothing more than requesting water and asking why we were still aboard an idling plane for more than five hours.
Although the incident was humiliating it was also eye-opening. Until it happened to me, neither my friend nor I had realised how common this trend had become. Passengers are removed from an aircraft for benign reasons such as asking for a beverage, a child harness, speaking a foreign language, changing or upgrading seats, taking pictures, making videos, or questioning a long delay. It isn’t just about what happened to me – increasingly Muslims are a part of a cycle of discrimination that targets them due to their appearance.
American Airlines states that they prohibit “discrimination of any kind” and ensure that their “policies require that we treat all our customers in a fair and courteous manner and discrimination due to race, ethnicity, religion, or skin colour is not tolerated”. However, this was not reflected in the treatment that I and other passengers received.
Shan Anand, a young, turbaned, Sikh man along with three of his Muslim friends were removed from an American Airlines flight travelling from Toronto to New York earlier this year. When I asked Shan why he thought he and his friends were removed from the flight he said: “We know why it happened, right? There were four of us, three are Muslim and I am Sikh.” When Shan and his friends asked American Airlines why they were removed, they were told: “There were inconsistencies of their behaviour travelling as a group.” But the explanation made no sense to Shan – he was travelling in a group of six with two Latinos, three South Asians and one Arab, yet only the South Asians and Arab were removed. Shan and his travel companions were told that “the crew felt unsafe”.
“Unsafe”: a trigger word commonly used as an excuse by airlines under the pretext of ensuring safety and security post-9/11. Nearly all Muslims have at some point been subject to secondary security screening selection, but being thrown off a plane was an entirely new level of humiliation for me.
Measuring discrimination
Khurram Ali, the former civil rights director for the Council on American-Islamic Relation’s (CAIR’s) New Jersey chapter, explains that the pilot of an aircraft is given a list of those passengers that are marked with the infamous SSSS on their boarding pass. The SSSS or *S* indicates someone needs to be scrutinised a bit further by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). And although it is unknown if airline attendants have access to the names labelled SSSS by TSA on domestic flights, they do have access to their respective airline computer reservation system, which details passenger name and detailed information.
Although there is no published criteria used to select passengers for “random selection” or “suspicion”, Ali says: “It is happening to more and more people who are considered visibly Muslim.” Ali documented 27 airline discrimination complaint cases with three of those being “pulled off” or airline removal cases for CAIR’s New Jersey chapter during his short tenure. But as he pointed out, those numbers come nowhere near the amount being documented by CAIR on a national level.
CAIR has been fairly thorough in its documentation of discrimination against American Muslims, however, it is still in the process of aggregating data regarding Muslim airline passengers being “pulled off” planes. Corey Saylor, CAIR’s director of the department to monitor and combat Islamophobia, acknowledged that they “are seeing more airline cases”. But in regards to statistics, Saylor stated: “We do not have stats as of yet. We are working on it.”
The only cases the public is aware of are those documented in the media. I counted nine airline passenger removal cases involving American Muslims published in the media over the past 13 months. But if that isn’t indicative enough, just look at trending hashtags on social media like #FlyingWhileMuslim to understand and confirm the reality of rising discrimination.
The official reasons for removal of these passengers are all in relation to safety and security concerns. But there is no mistaking this trend toward discrimination of Muslims.. Here are a few examples:
Many instances have gone undocumented due to fear of victims being further targeted, labelled troublemakers and being put on a “no-fly” list. The silent acceptance of these incidents has enabled airlines to dismiss the arbitrary treatment of select passengers as compliance with airline security regulations post-9/11. This policy is not effective and ultimately makes Americans feel marginalised in our own country.
Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, or Mark for those that have trouble pronouncing his name, recalls his experience with Southwest Airlines as “tearful and humiliating”. Makhzoomi came to America after his father was executed in Iraq by Saddam Hussain: “I experienced dictatorship in Iraq and now I am experiencing it in the freest country in the world.”
The discrimination Khairuldeen faced in Oakland, California, was anything but subtle. Khairuldeen detailed how he was removed from the aircraft, questioned by airline representatives and security, cornered against a wall, searched, sniffed by dogs in public and later interrogated privately by the FBI. Southwest Airlines representative and the authorities that removed him from the plane berated him for having spoken Arabic aboard the aircraft. Khairuldeen recalled the Southwest Airlines representative, stating: “Why would you speak that language knowing the environment in an airport?”
Khairuldeen said: “I was excited because we were talking about my upcoming graduation from UC Berkley, saying ‘inshallah’. You know, we use this word 30 to 40 times in any given conversation.” The rest of Khairuldeen’s conversation revolved around what they served for dinner at an event he attended which hosted the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon. “I was telling my uncle that they served us chicken, mash potatoes and spinach for dinner at the event,” said Makhzoomi. Yet the authorities that escorted him and claimed to understand Arabic, accused him of “discussing martyrdom” in his telephone conversation.
An atmosphere of fear
Cenk Uygur, political commentator and co-founder of the Young Turks, believes that this issue goes beyond discrimination towards Muslims in particular. Uygur was also kicked off of an American Airlines flight but he doesn’t believe it was because of religion. “Was it religious? In my case, I don’t think it was racially motivated.” Uygur believes that the root of the matter boils down to power and compared airline attendant behaviour toward Muslims since 9/11 to police officers abusing their authority and using excessive force on African Americans. “After 9/11 airlines/flight attendants have taken up the ‘I can do whatever I want attitude’ in the name of security,” Uygur says. “In my opinion, the core of the problem is flight attendants are given unlimited power and they tend to abuse it. They tend to use their power on those they perceive to be powerless. And unfortunately, in America, the darker the skin colour the more powerless you are. And many Muslims tend to fit in that category.”
He adds: “By the way, it’s much harder on women because they are more visibly Muslim and they often bear the brunt of the burden of Islamophobia or discrimination.
“Donald Trump has given people permission to be Islamophobic and told them that it’s okay to discriminate against Muslims. Trump basically says, ‘If I become president I will systematically discriminate against them [Muslims],’” Uygur says.
Likewise, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi attributed the recent rise in discrimination towards Muslims to Donald Trump, saying, “Trump is using ‘Islamophobia’ to rise to political power.”
Trump’s statements have fostered and further instigated an atmosphere of fear and prejudice towards the estimated 6-7 million Muslims in America.
I’m an American and being labelled a safety threat is unacceptable in a country founded on tolerance and freedom.
[sgmb id=”1″]