Muslim minorities
All topics-
Hate propaganda in India
Modi opponents labelled 'anti-national'
Aggressive propaganda is increasingly distorting public debate in India. Government agencies tolerate and sometimes even promote Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu chauvinism. Those daring to criticise the government face intimidation, harassment and suppression. By Arfa Khanum Sherwani
-
Ukraine conflict
Chechen and Tatar Muslims take up arms against Russia
Chechen warlord and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov has boasted of his soldiers' part in Russia's war in Ukraine. But many Chechen and Tatar Muslims are defending Ukraine and settling scores with the rulers of their homelands. By Monir Ghaedi
-
Muslims in India
Malala backs Muslim students in India fighting hijab ban
A ban on hijabs at several schools in India has prompted the human rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai to demand an end to “the marginalisation of Muslim women”.
-
India state elections
India's BJP revives Hindu-Muslim dispute
Hindu monk and chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, up for re-election in key state polls next month, has turned his attention to a revered religious site in Mathura, situated next to a mosque, suggesting he will champion the Hindu cause in a long-running dispute with Muslims over who owns the site
-
Modi's India
Authoritation pseudo-democracy in the making?
India is generally considered to be the world’s largest democracy. As civic freedoms are being eroded, international experts now consider it seriously under threat. By Mira Mandal
-
Bulgaria's Muslim minority
Bulgarian Pomaks keep traditional wedding rite alive
A wedding extravaganza of bright colours, flowers, feasting and dancing, yet the bride, Nefie Eminkova, who comes from Bulgaria's Pomak – Muslim – minority, can see none of it. Her eyes must remain tightly closed until the imam gives his blessing.
-
The Afghanistan-Pakistan-China axis
India's Taliban problem
The Taliban’s victory over the United States in Afghanistan will not only greatly embolden their fellow jihadists, but also shake up the region’s geopolitics. An Afghanistan-Pakistan-China axis involving policy co-ordination would represent a major risk for India, writes Shashi Tharoor
-
India's role in the Kashmir killings
Provoking and punishing Muslims, manipulating minorities
Since India stripped Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status in 2019, much new legislation has been passed that critics and Kashmiris alike fear could alter the region's demographics. Now, an online portal aimed at handling property complaints submitted by migrant Hindus has triggered a spate of killings, further heightening the tension. Aljaz Hussain reports
-
Faith and religious tolerance in India
Where tolerance and segregation go hand in hand
A recent nationwide, multi-faith public-opinion survey has found that Indians value both religious tolerance and co-existence, on the one hand, and religious exclusivity and segregation, on the other. But this apparent contradiction, although astonishing to many, is in fact not entirely surprising. By Shashi Tharoor
-
Shia minority in a Sunni state
Afghanistan's repressed Hazaras face a hostile Taliban
Following the Taliban's power grab, members of the Hazara minority fear they will be targeted. Those who can, escape. Others have joined the armed opposition. But for many, there is no way out. Report by Naomi Conrad, Birgitta Schuelke-Gill and Samad Sharif
-
Moosa Raza's "In Search of Oneness"
What do the Bhagavad Gita and the Koran have in common?
Despite over a thousand years of co-existence, India's Hindus and Muslims often know little about each other's religious traditions. In an effort to promote understanding and reconciliation among the two communities, Moosa Raza, an Indian scholar of Islam, compares the sub-continent’s two most important sacred scriptures. By Marian Brehmer
-
Execution for a Facebook post?
Why blasphemy is a capital offence in some Muslim countries
The Prophet Muhammad never executed anyone for apostasy, nor encouraged his followers to do so. Nor is criminalising sacrilege based on Islam’s main sacred text, the Koran. In this essay, Ahmet Kuru exposes the political motivations for criminalising blasphemy and apostasy