After the series of protests all over the Muslim world, protests happened in Afghanistan as well, people stood up bravely and declared the action of the American film makers very hostile towards the Muslim world. Many U.S. embassies have been targeted and stormed, U.S. Flags were burnt and replace by Black flags with the Muslim words. According to a witness of the entire episode said that in the place of the U.S.  Flag, a black flag was lifted with the words “There is no God but God, and Mohammad is his messenger”. While U.S. flag was burnt and pieces were shown on camera, many believed that the filming agitated the riot up to this extend.

The movie is called “innocence of the Muslims” which has been blocked in all Muslim countries. “In Washington, the White House acknowledged that it had sought to discourage distribution of the video that sparked the protests but insisted that it had made no formal request to the video-sharing Web site YouTube, which is owned by Google. Tommy Vietor, the National Security Council spokesman, said the White House had asked YouTube “to review whether it violates their terms of use.’’ Google said this week that it had blocked access to the video in Egypt and Libya.”

“The people are going to raise their voice to show we are not silent. With the last breath in our body we will be against those who are insulting to our religion and prophet,” said Haji Samar Gul, an 80-year-old protester at the Kabul demonstration. “We shouted death to America, death to supporters of America, death to slaves of America.”

“The police did not open fire at all, we used other techniques to control the protest,” said the city police chief, Ayub Salangi, who was among those hit by the protesters.

“There were protests in four places around the city; more than 2,500 people participated. The police managed to control them, although they burned one vehicle.”

Some protestors from the village areas also joined the protest and expressed

“I joined with them because I thought it was my duty as a Muslim to condemn those who made this film,” said Waleed Khan, a 35-year-old from eastern Paktia, where insurgent violence is much higher than in the relatively secure capital.

“My relatives who are in Paktia were filled with anti-government and anti-American feeling when they heard about this film,” he added.

Police bullets also killed the protestors brutally, this presented a miserable image of the protests in Afghanistan that shaped up horribly.

“The Afghan police, who in the past have often responded to unruly crowds with gunfire, seem to have taken a much more restrained and professional approach today,” said Heather Barr, Afghanistan analyst at Human Rights Watch.

“Police reportedly did not open fire on protesters and used crowd control techniques instead. If this is true, it represents an important improvement in Afghan policing and the police leadership deserve appreciation for defusing what could have been an incident with a significant body count.”

 

About the author

Momo Khan

Life has given you wings to fly, why to crawl through your life !!
Freelance writer and an agony aunt to my friends.
Dreamer, Love my family and is a peaceful creature !!

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Mayoral candidates Boris Johnson and Ken Livingston participated in a hustings in front of the Muslim community on Friday ahead of next Thursday's election. Both candidates were asked to cover issues ranging from Islamophobia to social deprivation within the Muslim community.

Muslim Voices was present at the hustings which was attended by representatives from Muslim organisations and activists. The event was chaired by Channel 4 news reporter Fatima Manji who allowed plenty of opportunities for both candidates to pitch their policy to the voters.

Boris was asked by the Chair to clarify if he thought "Islam is the problem" as he wrote in the Spectator in 2005. Boris also wrote the he found Islam "politically troublesome" in the Telegraph the same year.

Boris stuttered and stumbled unable to find a way to explain how he was asking the Muslim community to vote for him to represent them whilst he thought that their belief in Islam was a problem and politically troublesome.

The Chair gave him a lifeline and acknowledged that the article was written in 2005 and if his views had changed since then but Boris seemed to completely dodge the question saying he thought there were certain misguided youth who are easily impressionable by radical imams around the world and to this end he maintained that this is still a problem. There were cries from the audience asking for an apology which Boris Johnson chose to ignore. At this point Boris said that if this is how this debate would go on then he had better leave now.

Ken in contrast showed he was more in touch with the Muslim community when he was asked about engagement Ken said "When speaking about engagement, you only need to look at the Final Sermon of the Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, where he says in the Quran it says that 'We have made you into nations and tribes so that you may get to know one another'." Ken then went on to say that this is what Muslims believe, that we should get to know one another, not create enmity, discord or terrorise one another, which falls in line with what he also believes.

At a time where the UK has fallen into a double dip recession both candidates pledged to increase jobs and reduce the cost of living in the capital. Ken championed the cause of lowering fares on public transport which will put more money in the pockets of Londoners while Boris pledged to lower council tax. When pressed on the numbers it transpired that lowering fares amounted to an estimate of £900 in savings over the year whilst lowering council tax amounted to an estimated saving of £30 - £100 per year.

The 'Prevent' strategy employed by the Home Office and the metropolitan police to counter terrorism was also discussed. Boris Johnson maintained that the stop and search tactic should remain but should should be intelligence led rather than on profiling. However Ken Livingstone went further by saying that the Prevent strategy should concentrate on terrorism rather then just on Muslims, and the biggest threat was from the far right.

There was one issue where both the candidates agreed at the hustings, they both said they would press the government to review the 2003 Terrorism Act so that British citizens would be tried before the British judicial systems rather then be extradited to the USA. In turn both Mayoral candidates supported the fact the case of Babar Ahmad should be heard in front of a British judge and jury.

It was clear that throughout the hustings, Boris was playing catch up to Ken, which is a reflection on how both have engaged with the Muslim community during their terms in office. Boris showed he had no understanding or connection with the Muslim community and under his own admission says he has not engaged with the Muslim community.

Ken on the other whilst in office commissioned reports looking at Muslims in London, set up initiatives which have helped recognise Islamophobia as a hate crime by the metropolitan police; and kept in touch with community issues regularly. London needs a mayor that understands its communities. In Ken we can have a Mayor who understands the Muslim community, the Jewish community, the Christian community and those of no faith. In Ken we can have a Mayor for all Londoners.

It is important you elect a Mayor on May 3rd who represents you, so make sure you get out and vote!

Vote Ken livingstone on Thursday May 3rd as your first choice for Mayor of London.

Further Reading:

Is voting permitted in Islam?

Answer by Mufti Ibn Adam Al kawthari (UK based scholar with ijaza and known for Ifta and one of the the Scholar of Contemporary Shariah Resource centre www.alqalam.org.uk

The current mayor of London doesn't care about ordinary Londoners. He's not interested in their lives or their livelihoods

An Article written in the Guardian by Mehdi Hassan.

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