The UK has Got IT Bad

What is it with the UK? Kathy Shaidle points to a news item about Muslim men targeting white girls for sex........

who are as young as 12!

Why can't people honestly address the situation and condemn the perpetrators directly? Aren't muslims themselves talking about these kinds of people? It's the reputation of all Muslims that gets impacted, whether they are Sunni [Barelvi, Deobandi, Salafi, Wahabbi], Shia [seven, twelver, Ismaili], or Quadiani. I'd be interested to know if the UK even keeps crime stats breaking it down by community to that degree?

Having spoken to people in the UK, it seems they all know good, decent Muslim people who are their friends, and I've met some Muslims as well who seem decent enough. But do those people with close friendships with Muslims ever bother to even ask them what 'kind' of Muslim they are, and their thoughts on those Muslims bent on subjugating the world?

I can well imagine some Muslims say it is a part of their religion to harass these girls, such as those Muslims who believe in Jihad, Kafirs as sub-human, and oppression of non-Muslims. Them engaging in what is ACTUAL anti-social, sub-human behaviour is not a surprise.

But what about the rest of the Muslims out there? Why doesn't anyone ever hear of them condemning the perverts in their midst? Are they afraid of them or just too ignorant or oblivious to care? Do they in fact sympathize with those people? Or is it that the newspapers don't put those protests into print?

Not Too Often That An Ismaili (or is he?) Gets Charged With First Degree Murder in a Cop Killing

but then again cop killings are a rarity in and of themselves... at least I think Nadeem Jiwa is an Ismaili. Jiwa is a fairly common Ismaili Muslim name and the newspapers don't really get into that specific a description. Regardless, it's a heinous act and he should face a stiff sentence. I am sure his parents are ashamed of him and the disrepute they've brought to him and his community.

But my question is really this, if he is an Ismaili, why would he engage in stealing air-bags?

I thought the Ismailis had a pretty good system of integrating its young people into more productive concerns. Anyone know this fellow or his background? Please feel free to post a comment.

From Steve Janke, who seems to have done some research into this character and his shady past,

The brutal death of Constable Robert Plunkett while trying to arrest alleged car thieves has brought into focus the lucrative business of auto theft for parts. In this case, the alleged thieves were trying to steal airbags. Components such as these are sold for lucrative profits to unscrupulous auto shops to sell to unsuspecting customers.

Given, therefore, that the alleged thieves weren't working alone, but quite likely had a buyer lined up for the airbags, you can be certain police will be working hard to roll up the entire operation.

Update: Both suspects were known to the criminal justice system.
The death of Constable Robert Plunkett was as brutal as it was shocking:

Detective Constable Robert Plunkett, a 22-year veteran of the force who was known for his bravery and charity work, was part of a team of officers that had followed two suspected car thieves to a quiet suburban neighbourhood.

As Det. Const. Plunkett approached a suspect, the man put the car into reverse and hit the officer with an open door. Det. Const. Plunkett was then dragged backwards and suffered fatal injuries when he was pinned between the door and a maple tree.

The officer was dragged backwards over several shrubs and onto one of the neatly trimmed lawns on Ascot Crescent. When the open door of the car struck a maple tree, he was pinned against the trunk until the thief was able to break free.

The alleged thief was Nadeem Jiwa. His alleged accomplice was Baseer Mohammed Yousafzai, who was out on bail for undisclosed charges.

Nadeem Jiwa, 19, of Toronto, is charged with manslaughter and Baseer Mohammed Yousafzai, also of Toronto, is charged with violating bail conditions, possession of stolen property and tampering with stolen property.

Nadeem was allegedly in a gold Honda, removing the airbag, when Plunkett tried to make an arrest. Yousafzai was in a white Honda and was trying to flee the scene when he was arrested.

Nadeem Jiwa has been very active online in the buying and selling of radio-controlled car, cell phones, and real cars,. As serpentracer123, in 2003, identifying himself as a 15-year-old in Toronto, which would make him 19 today, trying to sell a radio-controlled car:

MICRO RS4 FOR SALE w/ pics posted. WILL TRADE FOR NITRO. L@@K CHEAP CHEAP.
THIS MICRO COMES WITH :

-speed 300 motor
-stock motor
-msonik ecos fet esc.

asking 180

Other posts on the thread warn potential customers away from Nadeem Jiwa:

FYI guys, many local people in Toronto (not spelled Tooronot ) have had problems with Nadeem Jiwa.

Deal with him carefully if at all.

I live in Ottawa but everyone from London to Ottawa and in-between has heard of this guy. He has basically been kicked off the TORC forum for ripping people off.

On yet another R/C forum, Nadeem Jiwa is tagged as someone to avoid:

This kid is a chump, but another kid to look out for is Nadeem Jiwa, he also lives in the Toronto Area, I believe its Mississauga. He has burned a few people up here, but I dont know if he comes to any american boards, just a heads up guys.

His wheeling and dealing included selling a scooter in order to buy a car:

Posted by: Blunt87

Hi everyone,
Selling this gas scooter purchased on april 9, 2003. This is a mosquito dx 26 cc scooter.

Bought new for over 800.00

Reason for selling: I am getting a car .. need money.

asking price: 500

email : serpentracer123@hotmail.com

Nadeem was in a rush, looking to get that $500 "soon".

That was in May of 2003.

By July, Nadeem Jiwa had a 1984 Camaro for sale or trade:

sup all ,
selling a 1984 chevy camaro, this car is mint condition uner the hood and interior here are the specs:

interior: interior is mint, except for 1 rip in the fabric.

exterior:the ext...

Now, instead of serpentracer123, he was using the email account teamfast0@lycos.com.

It ought to be noted that on this forum, Nadeem went by the handle Blunt87. "87" no doubt refered to the year of his birth (making him 19 today), but in his profile, he lists his date of birth as January 1, 1952. It might be a defaulting date (the "January 1" date suggests that).

After buying, selling, and trading cars and cell phones through 2003 and 2004, Nadeem Jiwa drops off. Does his horse-trading continue? Did his reputation improve?

The report from the police states that the second man arrested, Baseer Yousafzai, was driving a white Honda Civic. Presumably this was the getaway car to be used to drive Jiwa and Yousafzai away from the site where the gold Honda, the one from which the airbag was being removed, would have been abandoned had Plunkett not attempted to make an arrest.

The white Honda was in the possession of Jiwa and Yousafzai with the permission of the owner:

The white Honda Civic is registered to Vishal Bilimoria, of Ajax, who runs an auto body shop there. When contacted yesterday by the National Post, Mr. Bilimoria said Mr. Jiwa would occasionally borrow his car and that he had been in possession of it for the past week.

"He is a friend of mine and he wanted to borrow the car to go out one night and I told him, 'Go ahead.' He would borrow the car from time to time. I had no idea what he was doing."

Mr. Bilimoria said Mr. Jiwa had just finished high school. "From what I know of him, he's a really nice guy, a jolly guy ... I was shocked to hear about all of this.

"I don't even know why anybody would take air bags. They're not that expensive to come across."

Vishal Bilimoria lives in Ajax, and besides running an auto body shop, he is also the Sports & Recreation Coordinator for Mochi Gnati Mandal Ontario, an East Indian cultural association.

I'm surprised by Bilimoria's comments with regards to air bags. He operates an auto body shop, so he ought to know the price of airbags. Poking around the web, it seems that replacing an airbag can cost upwards to $3,000 on some car models. Per airbag. The price of the replacement has created a thriving market in grey market airbags:

Since January, 43 air bag thefts have been reported, with Hondas and Acuras the most popular targets, Chief La Barge said. Stolen air bags seem to be a lucrative industry -- each can be sold for between $1,500 and $2,000 to autobody shops or individuals, he said.

The auto shop mechanic then sells the bag as new to unsuspecting customers. In other variations of the scam, the bags are acquired for a lot less, then sold to the customer as "reconditioned" for less than the cost of a new airbag. The customer is enticed to make the purchase to save on the full price of a new air bag, while each of the people in the theft ring makes a decent profit.

At least the customer is getting an airbag. Less scrupulous operations will install an empty shell in the airbag compartment and charge for it. Since you don't know if an airbag is really in there until it deploys (or doesn't deploy), many people fall victim to the scam.

Given the tragic death of a police officer, there is no doubt that police in all the GTA forces, from Peel through York and into Durham region, will be following up all leads. If Nadeem Jiwa was indeed working as part of a theft ring feeding airbags to unscrupulous auto shops, you can be certain police will be working to pull down the entire operation, all along the chain.

Update: Whatever people though of Nadeem Jiwa as a source of R/C products, somewhere along the line Nadeem Jiwa's reputation went badly south with the criminal justice system:

Nadeem Jiwa, 19, who was under a recognizance order to live on Hawkeshead Crescent in the Warden and McNicoll avenues area, has been charged with manslaughter.

No mention is made of the circumstances that led to Jiwa's order.

So both suspects were under recognizance orders.

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Peer Syed Sahib and Ajmeri Baba - Scammers Based in England

Steve Janke writes about the scam being run by some muslims, targeting Sikh and Hindu people, who call themselves Peer Syed Sahib and Ajmeri Baba. Whatever you do, let the newspaper and television managers know that you won't support their newspaper or television station if they continue to allow scammers to advertise there.

I've written a piece about the strange advertising of mystic Peer Syed Sahib I spotted in a Toronto-area Indian-language newspaper. The ad, or what little I could understand, seemed to promise miraculous results after a mere phone call, and a wad of cash.

Plenty of people have complained about Peer Syed Sahib's tactics -- constant phone calls asking for more money (large sums) and for family information. Moreover, I'm not sure that this sort of advertising is allowed in Canada.

But in poking around, I've noticed that at least two of the largest mystics seem to share a lot in common. Too much in common, I think. And suddenly the darker rumours that surround what these people do seem more credible.....

The Syeds relocated from Scarborouh to Cheshire, England. The Syed operation has an address at Court Hill House, while Ajmeri Baba lists a post office box in Cheshire.

Still, lots of coincidences here. Same home town, immigrated at the same time, working out of the same city in England...

But the clincher was finding these "corporate" blogs. Created by "Ahmed", there are three blogs for Peer Syed Sahib and three for Ajmeri Baba:

* Peer Syed Sahib
* Peer Syed Sahib Miracles
* Peer Syed Sahib Greatness
* Ajmeri Baba
* Ajmeri Baba Miracles
* Ajmeri Baba Greatness

In each of the three Peer Syed Sahib blogs, the exact same stories are published. A different set of stories is published in each of the three Ajmeri Baba blogs. "Ahmed" himself doesn't provide any content to the blogs. The entries consist entirely of testimonials, repeated in triplicate.

Certainly looks like blogs being used as a means of corporate communication. Certainly "Ahmed" had to be provided the testimonial information. And even more telling is that all six blogs were created on Monday, July 9 -- only one week ago. Three days later, all six blogs were populated with same repeated stories, for a total of ten posts each.

Is it a stretch to think that the same corporate entity is running both operations? Right down to the blog advertising being launched on the same day by the same blogger working from the same desk to exactly the same schedule.

I bring this up because in my reading about Peer Syed Sahib, I noticed that where Peer Syed Sahib advertises, Ajmeri Baba advertises as well:

Peer syed sab, ajmeri baba ads are every where in literally all Indian publications of Canada, USA and the UK.

Z tv is no one channel that is broadcasting non stop these guys ads and innocent people 99.9% are Indian origin are being milked in large numbers.

From a consumer protection point of view, showing two ads for two different suppliers of the same service without mentioning that they are in fact the same commercial operation is certainly misleading.

But there is a darker undercurrent that keeps coming up when I read about these guys, and that seem all the more credible now that I strongly suspect that they are all the same single unified operation, and that is possible links to terrorists:

Beware of people. If you live in Australia, UK, Canada or USA or other places where Indian channels are available thru satellite televison, there are two three thugs with international terrorist ties who are fooling Indian people.

Two of them peer syed sahib and ajmeri baba are extremely dangerous •••••••• who are milking money from innocent housewives. They advertise heavily spending millions of dollars on Z tv, Sony tv and Tv asia etc. They never do surprisingly on Pak Tv or prime tv as it is known.

They claim to resolve all problems and ask for 250$ then 400$ then thousands more of dollars without doing anything. There is no way to get hold of them. They ask people specially women who r vulnerable to send them cash. Me and about dozen people did thorough investigation and we have found that they have links to muslim terrorist organizations and with this money coming from Hindu and Sikh families, who are innocently drawn to it, they are financing muslim terrorists in many countries.

This money ends up in hands of terrorists. Please do inform every single family you know not to ever call these crooks and call your television channel not to carry these ads. These people are extremely dangerous.

And this one:

people do not for gods sake call the swindlers peer syed sahib and ajmeri baba. It is a mafia related to terrorist groups and all your money goes to islamic fundalmentalists who are actually hurting the whole world.

it would make sense for the ISI, Pakistan's Secret Service and known to be a source of funding for Islamic fundamentalist terrorists in India and in Afghanistan, to run scams aimed at the Indian Sikh and Hindu expat communities in affluent Western countries, instead of focusing solely on tapping into the more carefully monitored Islamic expat communities. Present different faces to lull the targets into thinking that he or she is doing some comparison shopping for the right mystic to call, then no matter which mystic gets the call, the same people begin to aggressively milk the victim of large amounts of money, sending it all back to Pakistan and to bank accounts run by the ISI.

Funding terrorism through a mystic scam in England running ads in Canada and elsewhere? Don't laugh. Al-qaeda funding came primarily through fake Islamic charities running in Western countries before those charities were shutdown after 9/11. Hezbollah and Hamas still use bogus charities to raise funds under false pretenses.

Plus the complaints that Peer Syed Sahib's people constantly demand information about the families of the clients while demanding more money seems scarier too. Over-the-top telemarketing, or intelligence gathering?

Like I said, just a wild theory based on several anonymous message board posts, but for the fact that it certainly looks like one person or one group is behind at least two of the most aggressive mystics in this industry.

And if this theory is credible, and Peer Syed Sahib and Ajmeri Baba are different fronts for the same money-making scheme for terrorists, what does that say about the advertisement I found blowing around my yard that got me started on this in the first place? A Canadian conduit of funds that is ultimately helping the Taliban fight Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan?

Suddenly a silly ad seems a lot more sinister.

Update: One message I've found states that Ajmeri Baba married into Peer Syed Sahib's family. It is a family operation, though not revealed to be such:

Hi Yes these guys are frauds. They live in UK and I have there real names, addresses and home phone numbers. Pundits real name is Naseem and he is 41 years old. Peer Syed's real name is Naeem and he is 34 years old. Ajmeri Baba is someone that married into their family and moved to UK approx 13 years ago - his name is Imtiaz.They now have nephews, eg Imran that has the name Peer Kazim and he is only 24 years old but speaks with a deep voice.

Opinion seems split on whether the Sahib-Baba operation is purely for their own self-enrichment, or whether a large portion of the money is funnelled to the ISI.

Technorati Tags: Pakistan, ISI, Muslim, Crime, Terrorism, Terrorist, Canada, UK, England, India, Sikh, Sikhism

Koreans Should Be Vigilant and Strong In The Face of Evil

The ongoing hostage taking by the Taliban of Korean missionaries in Afghanistan is a call to arms for Korea. The Koreans need to understand that if they give in to these fascists today, then that will only embolden them to do more tomorrow. Once you give in to these murderers, you set yourself up to be a victim again and again.

It's good to see that at least the operation to free the hostages and kill the perpetrators of this heinous act has started. I pray that the hostages are rescued unharmed and that their countrymen and families remain vigilant and strong. As a Sikh, I would say that they should stay in Chardi Kala.

A military operation to rescue the remaining 21 Korean hostages held by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan began on Wednesday, hours after a Taliban deadline expired, a provincial official said.

"The operation has started," said Khowja Seddiqi, the district chief of Ghazni's Qarabagh district, where the Taliban kidnapped 23 Korean Christian volunteers nearly two weeks ago.

He did not give more details or say which forces were involved.

Any attempt to rescue the hostages is fraught with risk, as the kidnappers have split the 18 women and three men into small groups and are holding them in different locations across the mainly flat terrain.

The Taliban could not be immediately be contacted, but spokesmen for the radical Islamist movement have repeatedly said any use of force would jeopardize the lives of the hostages.

Earlier the army had dropped leaflets warning civilians of an assault.

"The national army has dropped leaflets from helicopters telling people in several districts to evacuate their houses because it wants to launch an operation," said Khowja Seddiqi, district chief of Qarabagh, in Ghazni province.

The Taliban have killed two male hostages after the Afghan government refused to bow to rebel demands to free jailed insurgents.

The defense ministry said earlier that the Afghan National Army had launched an operation in Ghazni, but insisted it was "routine" and was not linked with the kidnapping.

Earlier in the day, a Taliban spokesman said the group was expecting to hear from Afghan mediators over its demand for the government to release rebel prisoners, but insisted some of the hostages would be killed if that demand was not met by 3:30 a.m. EST.

The Afghan government has said that giving in to rebel demands would only encourage more kidnapping.

Technorati Tags: Islam, Asia, Crime, Terrorism, Terrorist, Taliban, Korea

These People Definately Deserve Jail Time

From The Hindu,

Six awarded RI for cheating 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims

New Delhi, Aug. 1 (PTI): Six persons were awarded rigorous imprisonment (RI) for varying terms by a city court for misappropriation of funds meant for the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims.

Special Judge Vinod Goel, yesterday sentenced Surinder Singh Zaidi, a Junior Management Officer in the State Bank of India to five years' RI and a fine of Rs 55,000, after holding him guilty for cheating, forgery, using forged document and under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court also sentenced Zaidi's four close associates, Ravinder Sharma and his three sons - Ashwani Sharma, Praveen Sharma and Prithvi Raj Sharma - to five years' RI and imposed a fine of Rs 22,000, Rs 9,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 8,000 on them respectively.

The court also sentenced Hemchand Sharma, an accountant, to three-and-half-years' RI and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000.

"The fact of this case lead me to remember the sad days of 1984 when our the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her bodyguards and thereafter riots took place across the country and thousands of innocent people were killed," the judge said in his 95-page judgement.

"In Delhi, the government had awarded a compensation of Rs 20,000 to the relatives of the victims. But, instead of showing sympathy to the widows of the riot victims of 1984, the convicts have added insult to their injuries and fuel to the fire," the judge said.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Sikhism, India, Punjab, Crime, Religion

Globe and Mail Comes Close to Saying the Indian Government is Implicated in Bombing the Air India (Kanishka) Flight

Robert Matas, Globe and Mail reporter, comes close but doesn't quite make the connection between India and the bombing of the Air India flight. If the audio evidence/ forced confession are to be believed then India orchestrated the bombing by having its own agent, "Lakhvir Singh", conscript people in BC into his plan to bomb an airliner.

Sikhs have maintained from the beginning that India had a hand in the bombing in order to discredit the Khalistan movement. Now with this latest news they appear to be vindicated. Whatever anyone else may say, the truth is that no one can now credibly claim that this is a fanciful or spurious argument, the conclusion being that India itself may have in fact been involved to its own discredit. Sikhs also said that 'encounters' were staged by police in Punjab to qualify for promotions based on how many Sikhs they could kill, which is supported by human rights organizations, and evidence in India. Mass cremations were held of people killed in extra-judicial custody. It's now come to light that some people that Indian police officers claimed to have killed, are in fact alive. If India engaged in extra-judicial killings, mass cremations, faked police-militant encounters to hide custodial murders, and murdered innocent people who were then identified as someone else as the information, in the articles previously linked to, show did occur, then how hard is it to believe that Indian government agents were behind the Air India bombing itself?

A mysterious witness at the Air India inquiry, who backed out after being billed as having "seismic" evidence, may have feared retribution from the Indian government, not from Sikh terrorists, Canadian Sikh activist Amanpreet Singh Bal says.

The witness refused to testify at a public hearing in June after inquiry chief John Major acknowledged the commission could not protect his identity. Efforts to protect the witness's name, however, were futile. A reputable magazine in India called Tehelka published his name on the weekend.

Tehelka reported that retired Punjab police officer Harmail Singh Chandi brought the entire record of the confession of prime suspect Talwinder Singh Parmar, including audiotapes and statements, to the inquiry in Ottawa.

Mr. Bal, a long-time member of the Ottawa-based World Sikh Organization, has been active in campaigns concerning "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions in Punjab during unrest in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He laughed when asked why Mr. Chandi would be reluctant to reveal his identity in a public hearing. The former police officer may have feared retribution from the Indian government if he testified in public, Mr. Bal said. Others have previously suggested that the witness had been intimated by Sikh terrorists.

"Let's hope that one day, we will get to the truth," Mr. Bal said. "No matter who did it, we want that person or organization or whoever the mastermind is, to be exposed."

India's high commission in Ottawa declined to be interviewed yesterday. "We have no comment on this," a spokesperson for the high commissioner's office said.

Two bombs exploded 54 minutes apart on opposite sides of the world on June 23, 1985. Police have said the explosions were the work of a Vancouver-based Sikh separatist group, headed by Mr. Parmar. The bomb blasts killed 331 people.

Tehelka reported that Mr. Chandi arrested Mr. Parmar in September, 1992, in India.

During interrogation over five days, Mr. Parmar told police that Lakhbir Singh Brar, who came to Canada as a refugee two months before the bombing, was the ringleader of the conspiracy and arranged for the tickets on two flights from Vancouver, Mr. Chandi told the magazine.

Mr. Parmar said he provided some dynamite for the scheme. Vancouver Island resident Inderjit Singh Reyat built the bombs and put them in the suitcases, Mr. Chandi said, adding that Mr. Parmar was killed while in custody on the order of senior police officers.

Previously, the RCMP has alleged that Mr. Parmar was the mastermind behind the conspiracy. Mr. Reyat, the only person ever convicted in the 22-year-old case, admitted he provided parts that were used for the bombs, but denied building the bombs or even that he knew the bombs were to explode on airplanes.

Mr. Major told Canadian Press he intends to look into the alleged confession when the hearings resume on Sept. 10.

The police have already reviewed a transcript of Mr. Parmar's confession and questioned Mr. Brar.

However, police were not aware that audiotapes of the confession existed. Indian authorities had told the RCMP that the tapes had been destroyed. Mr. Chandi told Tehelka that he violated orders of senior police officers and secretly kept them.

"We never had an actual copy of it," RCMP Sergeant Pierre Lemaitre, a spokesman for the RCMP Air India task force, said in an interview. "If the Indian authorities would now like to make it available, the task force would like to hear from them."

Mr. Brar came to Canada in April, 1985, as a refugee. He was identified as a national security risk by Canada's security service, and deported in the early 1990s.

He is reported to be living in Pakistan and is wanted by the Indian government for minor offences.

Technorati Tags: India, Punjab, Crime, Canada, Air India, Sikh

Dera Followers Once Again Committing Violent Acts Including Firing Guns At Sikhs

Despite the non-violent stand of the Sikh community in this incident, Dera followers insist on resorting to gun play. Why doesn't the police intervene to dis-arm the Dera followers or are they waiting for someone else to be killed?

At least eight people were injured on Tuesday after gunshots were fired in a clash between followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect and members of the Sikh community in a village close to this Haryana town.

Trouble at Mallawala village began when Dera followers started their prayers in the open despite a ruling by the district administration not to do so. Some Sikhs objected to Dera followers putting up loudspeakers and chanting their prayers.

Tension exacerbated, leading to both sides clashing and a Dera follower firing from his 12-bore gun. Eight people were injured and taken to a nearby hospital as police reinforcements were rushed to the area.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Sikhism, Dera, Crime, Criminal, India, Politics, Religion

British Honour Killing of Kurdish Muslim Woman by her Family

Via Relapsed Catholic, Bloodthirsty Liberal posts about the killing of Banaz Mahmod and how her family had her raped and beaten before murdering her. Anyone who thinks honour killings don't occur in Muslim families is sadly mistaken. This kind of thing is what 'feminists' should be working to stop, or at least have the penalties fit the crime.


Technorati Tags: Islam, Muslim, Crime, Religion

Honour Killing of Muslim Ismaili Woman Married to Sikh Man?

I wonder if this is an honour killing of Shemina Hirji. She was just married according to the article and had written about the role of Sikh teachers in the BC school system. Her husband, Paul Cheema, from his name sounds like a Sikh as well. I don't know either of them or the background, but if it is an honour killing I wouldn't be surprised. The surprise would be if it was committed by an Ismaili who aren't generally known for doing those sorts of things. It's a sad situation as it is and would be made only more so if it turns out to be an honour killing based on a Muslim woman marrying a Sikh man.

A newlywed school principal was slain and her husband hospitalized in an apparent home invasion Thursday.

Shemina Hirji was pronounced dead shortly after police arrived on scene in the afternoon.

Her body remained in the Burnaby condominium unit as investigators combed the area for clues late into the evening.

Ms. Hirji's husband, Paul Cheema - whom she married Saturday in a lavish ceremony - was taken to hospital. Police said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Police would not say how Ms. Hirji died, or the nature of Mr. Cheema's injuries.

Police said a man called from the condominium at 12:15 p.m., saying he and his wife had been attacked by three men.

He was able to describe two of the assailants to police. He said the first was a tall Caucasian man wearing a brown suit, and the second was a dark-skinned man wearing a ski mask. The third man was not identified.

RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr said the suspects fled.

"RCMP dog service and air service searched but we were unable to identify the suspects," Mr. Carr said.

Police were tight-lipped as they escorted neighbours out of the complex, surrounded the building with police tape, and searched the condominium.

Ms. Hirji, who is principal of A.H.P. Matthew elementary school in Surrey, B.C., was a member of Burnaby's Ismaili community.

Arris Meghji, the honorary secretary for the Ismaili Council of BC, said Ms. Hirji's death "is a big shock. We really were not prepared for this -- how can you be?"

Mr. Meghji added: "We pray for the family. This was such a tragedy and we are going to support the family as best we can."

Standing outside the Ismaili community's mosque in Burnaby, he described Ms. Hirji as "a great person, very gentle and very compassionate. So this was a true shock."

Ms. Hirji received her bachelor's degree in education from Simon Fraser University in 1991 and wrote her master's thesis on the role of Sikh teachers in the B.C. school system.

Professor June Beynon was Ms. Hirji's thesis supervisor.

"She was a close friend of mine," Ms. Beynon said. "She was fabulous. She loved kids."

Ms. Hirji contributed to several academic papers on the subject of language, culture and education, and also worked on Ministry of Education teachers' resources. She had been principal of the elementary school since 2005.

UPDATE
I found this from another source, The Province, it seems the husband was a Sikh,

The husband, Narinder (Paul) Cheema, told police that three men entered the home and attacked him and his wife, leaving her dead and him injured.

Neighbours said the couple married just last weekend.

"He described two of the suspects as a tall Caucasian in a brown suit and a dark-skinned man wearing a ski mask," said Carr. "He was unable to describe the third man."

Carr said any witnesses should come forward.

"We're out doing neighbourhood canvassing," said Carr, who would not confirm the name of the victim or her husband.

Hirji has published numerous academic studies of ethnics in education, including "Teachers of Punjabi Sikh Ancestry: Their Perception of Their Role in the British Columbia Education System," and "Teachers of Chinese Ancestry: The Interaction of Identities and Professional Roles."

Hirji completed her bachelor of education at Simon Fraser University in 1991.

In 1998 she wrote a thesis for a master's degree on "The Roles of Teachers of Punjabi Sikh Ancestry in the British Columbian Education System." In it, she wrote:

"This thesis is dedicated to my parents Amir and Roshan Hirji, who have supported and encouraged me in all that I do."

She also concludes: "It is critical to acknowledge teachers of Punjabi Sikh ancestry not just as 'professional ethnics,' but as educators with a range of skills and talent as varied as those of their mainstream colleagues."

Update 2
Angry has a nice post about the changing fortune of Paul Cheema. Shemina's brother-in-law and his wife should be commended for the way they've handled the adversity of what's happened so far. As a Sikh, I must say that the community should pray for the soul of this woman who was murdered so soon after what should have been a highlight of her life.


Technorati Tags: Sikh, Muslim, Islam, Sikhism, Canada, BC, Crime, Religion

CBC - News Division's Editorial Miasma Leads to Samosa "Documentary"

Any of you who have read, seen, heard or otherwise know of the "documentary" report broadcast by the CBC should read the following. What passes for journalistic standards as exemplified by that broadcast is an embarrassment - for Canadians. By CBC's own standards, the report was unbalanced, where were the range of opinions needed to put political involvement by religious, ethnic and visible minorities (in this case Sikhs) into context?

The CBC itself says the following regarding a single program or episode,

Single programs dealing with a major controversial issue should give adequate recognition to the range of opinion on the subject. Fairness must be the guiding principle in presentation, so that the audience is enabled to make a judgment on the matter in question based on the facts.

In exceptional circumstances, a program may be based on the personal view of an individual. When that occurs, the audience must be made aware of the personal character of the program. The personal view must be that of an individual with demonstrable expertise in the subject matter of the program.

The CBC also states the following regarding 'investigative journalism',

Programs may lead the audience to conclusions on the subject being examined. These must be logical conclusions derived from the facts and not from expressions of editorial opinion or unfair methods of presentation. It is essential, therefore, that to conform with the principles of accuracy, integrity, fairness and comprehensiveness, the programs must be based on the most scrupulous and painstaking research. They should take into account all the relevant evidence available and should include recognition of the range of opinion on the matter in question.

In investigative programming, in the interest of fairness, opportunity should be given for all parties directly concerned to state their case. In circumstances where research reveals the necessity to conduct interviews in which individuals are to be held accountable for their actions or those of their organizations in a matter of public interest, while the purpose of the interview should be disclosed in broad terms in advance, information can be divulged and questions can be asked in ways that ensure candid and unrehearsed answers are obtained for the public.

Having watched the broadcast I found the following which for the most part are one of the following: unproven allegations, innuendo, half-truths, and misrepresentations.

1. Claim that Khalistan movement killed 100's of Canadians - Where has this EVER been proven? Sikhs love Canada as their own. Just as anyone in Canada can support the Free Tibet movement, or any other movement, if Sikhs support an independent state called Khalistan it is in that context of Freedom of conscience, speech and other human rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. God Bless Canada and the freedom we have in Canada to speak our mind without fear of Death, torture, rape, etc...
2. Glorification of violence - Sikhs don't glorify violence, but highlight their military history, similar to how Canada and numerous other nations do in military/ war museums
3. Air India linked to Khalistan movement - Sikhs condemn and have consistently condemned anyone associated with bringing down the Air India flight, whatever their motivation - irrespective of whether the perpetrators were Indian agents, Canadian, Sikh, Khalistani or otherwise. FLQ committed violent acts in the name of Quebec, but NO one can condemn all supporters of Quebec separatism as FLQ members or as murderers - the same holds true for Khalistan supporters.
4. Use of the term "so-called" 5 Beloved Ones - using a disparaging tone or condescension in making an argument only shows the level of the animosity or lack of merit in the argument of the one doing so
5. Attempt to discredit the WSO - this organization has consistently come out on the side of non-violence and non-violent protest, to imply otherwise is unjust, unfair, and definately motivated by some other agenda
6. Ujjal Dosang called a "Sikh" - When has Ujjal Dosangh ever called himself a Sikh? How can anyone call him a Sikh or represent him to be a Sikh when he doesn't make that distinction himself? From what I understand, Ujjal, his father and grandfather were members or otherwise affiliated with the Communist Party and his native village Dosanjh Kalan is known as a commie haven.
From comments atPublic Eye in 2005,

Ujjal has moved steadily right from his early days in the Communist Party of Canada-Marxist Leninist before the NDP flirtation.

Surely the Liberal Party of Canada will only be a way station on the road to Stephen Harper's cabinet.

The only ism Ujjie believes in is opportun-ism!

7. Comparing legal political involvement to assassinations - does Terry Milewski have any evidence that anyone in Canada had anything to do with the murder of anyone in India? Does Terry Milewski think that Canadians shouldn't be involved in politics? What purpose and whose agenda does it serve to link the LEGAL political involvement of Sikhs with anything illegal?
8. In the report the point is put forward by Ujjal Dosangh and Terry Milewski that Sikhs did not want to support Bob Rae at the Liberal convention because of his comments about Air India - Does he have any independent proof that what Bob Rae said or did in his convention speech had anything to do with how Sikh delegates voted? Why not ask Gerrard Kennedy or Stephane Dion if Sikhs said anything regarding Air India to them as a condition of support? Probably because it's simply not true.
9. Attribution of Air India disaster to Khalistan movement allegedly by the families of the victims of the Air India tragedy - I didn't see any victim of Air India making that allegation. The fact is Sikhs as mentioned earlier, have condemned openly the bombing of Air India. The role of the Canadian government, Indian government and individual Canadians has not been resolved or proven in court. Neither you nor I know what happened and who was involved. If two Globe and Mail journalists can put out a book predicting the results of both the criminal trial and public inquiry years in advance, doesn't it make sense to explore the possibility and evidence pointing to a cover up?

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Canada, Politics, Religion, India, Punjab, Crime

Islamist Recruiter - 7/7 Bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan

David Frum pointed me to Prospect magazine which has a feature story using interviews with Khan's brother on how Khan became an Islamic recruiter and force for the evil design of Islamic supremacism. The article also touches on funding sources for mosques (Saudi, HUT, Muslim Brotherhood), and Wahabbism.

Here's an excerpt below (emphasis is mine in bold and large type). Pay attention to the part about how they find out about the interests of the target person and focus on those. From a previous post, I pointed to an article that mentions this is the tactic they use in trying to convert people from other religions ie: Sikhs and in particular they try and find Sikh girls going through a spot of trouble to convert. Unfortunately, many girls end up being used as prostitutes or trophies in Pakistan for money.

it takes about 30 years for a sizeable second generation to establish itself and then become frustrated with its status, both within its own community and the wider society. This frustration arises in part from a question of identity. Whose culture and values do you affiliate with? Those of your parents or of your friends? Those of your community or of your country?

Hassan Butt, a former recruiter for the British jihadi network (the term violent Islamic extremists in Britain use to describe themselves), who twice met Sidique Khan, says that the reason radical Islamic movements in Britain have been able to recruit thousands of young Muslims is that they have managed to exploit this identity problem.

Butt—who was interviewed in the August 2005 issue of Prospect, just after 7/7—left the jihadi network in February 2006. (His route out, documented in a recent interview on the US current affairs programme 60 Minutes, has been slow and painful, and earlier this year he was attacked near his home in Manchester for his betrayal.) After he left the network, Butt told me that as a recruiter, his most important job was to discover what his potential recruit identified with, and then to pick holes in it. For example, if the potential recruit felt Pakistani, then Butt would focus upon the difficulty of being both British and Pakistani. Butt and many other recruiters find this easy because they know what it is like. Having lived in Britain all his life within a strongly Pakistani household, Butt felt neither British nor Pakistani. "When I went to Pakistan," he said, "I was rejected. And when I came back to Britain, I never felt like I fitted in to the wider white British community. And you've got to remember that a lot of our parents didn't want us to fit into the British community."

Religion—in this case a purified and politicised version of Islam, far from the traditional "folk" religion of the first generation—was a natural way of transcending this cultural dislocation. "Here come the Islamists and they give you an identity… you don't need Pakistan or Britain. You can be anywhere in the world and this identity will stick with you and give you a sense of belonging....

According to Butt, the other big factor that has helped Islamist recruiters is the fact that in many communities, Islamists are winning what some have termed a "civil war" within Islam. For simplicity's sake, contemporary Islam can be divided into four schools: traditionalists, fundamentalists, modernists and Islamists. Unlike the split between Christian fundamentalists and other Christians, both Islamic traditionalists and fundamentalists lean towards scriptural literalism. The main difference between the groups is how they regard the 1,400 years of theological innovation since Muhammad's death.

While traditionalists will not hesitate to draw upon centuries of scholarly argument, evolution in Sharia law and changes in accepted Islamic practice, fundamentalist movements—of which the Saudi-backed Wahhabis are the most important—reject all theological innovation since the life of Muhammad and his closest companions. Muslims, they say, should pay attention only to the holy book and the collected sayings and doings of Muhammad. This is why, over the last 50 years, Wahhabi authorities in Saudi Arabia have demolished more than 300 historical structures in the holy cities of Medina and Mecca. They want to create a timeless Islam....

On the other side, British fundamentalists and Islamists are centrally funded. It is estimated that over the last two decades, Saudi Arabia has set aside $2-3bn a year to promote Wahhabism in other countries. It is not known how much of that money has come to Wahhabi groups in Britain, but one major recipient has been the Leeds Grand Mosque.

Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizb ut-Tahrir are also centrally funded. They gather money from members, pass it to a central administration which then hands it back out again. These groups' lack of local community focus means that they have to compete harder for "market share," which has made them hungrier and more efficient....

I translated my usual question of whether he thought what his brother had done was "good" or "bad"—he had said that it was a terrible thing several times—and instead asked him whether he thought 7/7 was halal (permitted) or haram (forbidden) in Islam. Only when a look of stunned surprise come over Gultasab's face did I realise that I must have been asking him an entirely different question. After a brief pause, he replied. "No comment."

Here, it seemed, was the perfect example of the division between two worldviews—secular ethics and an embattled Islamic faith. How long had Gultasab managed to function with these two conflicting positions fighting within him? Everyday morality told him that his brother had committed a cold-blooded act of terror, while his own Islamic theology told him that there was no clear answer and maybe his brother was a hero. How many thousands of young British Muslims are similarly conflicted?

This is a question that Peter Clarke, the head of Scotland Yard's counterterrorism unit, is still trying to answer. After three further suspects from the Beeston area were charged this April with being involved in helping to plot 7/7, Clarke held a press conference in which he accused some West Yorkshire Muslims of keeping information from the police. "I firmly believe that there are other people who have knowledge of what lay behind the attacks," said Clarke. "Knowledge that they have not shared with us. In fact, I don't only believe it. I know it for a fact."...

When I asked Gultasab why he didn't try to prevent his kid brother from going down the path of jihad, he gave a similar answer. No one had expected him to become a suicide bomber. Why would Sidique kill himself barely a year after his wife had given birth to a baby girl—on whom he apparently doted? This question was never really answered, but most people in Beeston were pleased that the kids were becoming more religious. "Better them being Wahhabi than on drugs," said Gultasab. "People appreciated the kids running a bookshop because they were peers to the younger generation—who were no longer listening to the elders." The elders thought that the kids would come back to their roots. As Gultasab told me, when marriages took place without family consent, people thought that eventually everything would just be reconciled, as things usually are between children and their parents. And why would Sidique, the moderniser of his community—and "the kindest member of our family"—end up committing such a barbaric act?"

Technorati Tags: England, Europe, Canada, Islam, Muslim, Terrorism, Crime, Punjab, Pakistan

Pakistan On The Brink

Pakistan is facing the most serious threat to its very existence yet. Whether or not the country can survive in its current form is in serious doubt. An Islamic state has already been declared in the North of the country in Waziristan and now there is an ongoing battle in Islamabad in the capital city for the heart of the country. Whether Pakistan's government forces can stand resolute and win is very much in question. The only way it can survive as a country is if the forces stay loyal to their country. If the forces are riven by dissent and support for the Islamists, Pakistan will be done for.

There are a number of articles which I've found on this, mostly linking from Belmont Club. Here's an excerpt...

Pakistan Uncut is following operations against the rebellious Red Mosque in Pakistan. He has background, links to news items, pictures, maps and video. From the sound of it the Berkeley student movement, even in its salad days, had nothing on this.

The shootout erupted after six months of tension over the activities of the hardline Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, which has kidnapped several Chinese and Pakistani civilians as part of a freelance anti-vice campaign.

Students carrying Kalashnikovs and wearing gas masks took up positions behind sandbags and dirt bunkers chanting “Jihad! Jihad! (Holy war)”, as police in riot vans fired volleys of tear gas....

...the affair is unlikely to end until the the opponent can send no more reinforcements. With Pakistan's Northwest Frontier crawling with Taliban and al-Qaeda and the fact that this confrontation was long in coming, I would be truly surprised if the Red Mosque weren't reinforced or if diversionary attacks were not launched against the Pakistani government. A massive source of enemy reinforcements is very near at hand, and I wonder, how "crack" the Pakistani forces really are. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Pakistan is being ripped apart at the seams. The idea that it can stay a theological state without giving in to the logical conclusion that it become a fully Islamic state run by a puritan form of Islam (Sunni Salafi/ Wahhabi) is naive. The government has mollycoddled the Islamists for too long to the detriment of secular forces and the idea of a pluralistic society. Pakistan is becoming even more of a basket case.

The so-called 'elites' of Pakistan were too clever by half in thinking that they could control the energies of Jihadists once they'd been inculcated with the teachings of the Koran, the hadith and sunna of Mohammed. It's a sad state of affairs for them and for those who sought shelter in Pakistan from being dominated in India, only to be treated as refugees and parasites 50 years later. Make no mistake, it is the Pathan and Punjabi Jihadis who are seizing power by force, all others are subject to their whims. The only way civil forces can win is to fight, the one thing they don't know how to do. The Pakistan government will fight through the military, but may be undermined by Islamists within its own ranks. The Jihadis have more human resources, but if they get in position to win, then they run the risk of a full on assault by the US and allied forces to prevent them from taking over. The next thing you know, you've got Afghanistan Redux.

Additional reporting and commentary from The Fourth Rail confirming the loss of parts of Pakistan to Islamists already, with the capital city and the state itself being challenged next,

While the Taliban has successfully chipped away at the government's writ in the hinterlands of the settled districts of the Northwest Frontier Province and the wild tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan, the clerics of the Red Mosque have directly changed the writ of the government in its seat of power. The Pakistani government has repeatedly backed down to the Taliban in the Northwest Frontier Province and against lesser infractions by the leaders and followers of the Red Mosque. With the current political crisis over the dismissal of Pakistan's Chief Justice, President Musharraf is politically weak while his military has repeatedly signaled it is unwilling to act against the Taliban.

A failure to act will embolden an already bold enemy and promote the spread of the Talibanization of Pakistan. A strike on the mosque will lead to political turmoil and the possibility of an open insurrection from the Islamist parties and the Taliban. The Northwest Frontier Province and swaths of Baluchistan are largely under Taliban and al Qaeda control, and the reaction of the Taliban in these regions to the events in Islamabad bears close watching.

From The Strategy Page via Belmont Club,

Pakistan is facing a civil war between the military (representing about ten percent of the population), the Islamic militants (about 30 percent) and the secular political parties (60 percent). The military groups are the most disciplined, and are well funded by a military business empire (an outgrowth of military foundations established to provide pensions and such for veterans). The Islamic militants are the most poor and ill educated, with most of their supporters in the tribal areas. The political parties are crippled by partisanship and corruption, but are currently more united and focused by a desire to avoid a religious dictatorship, or a military one. The Islamic militants are trying to use terror to take over. The political parties use large demonstrations and strikes. The military has police and troops. No one wants a civil war, but everyone wants to run the country.

Technorati Tags: Islam, Muslim, Pakistan, Punjab, Terrorism, Crime, Asia, USA

Bhopal II? Chemical Plant Finds Deliberately Hidden DEFECTIVE Parts From China

Would you want a Bhopal type of incident in your city? Tens of thousands died in that disaster in India. Don't think it can't happen in your western country, not with Chinese suppliers lying and defrauding their customers.

One blogger in particular has been consistently on top of all the fraudulent, counterfeit and dangers emanating from China, Steve Janke. Here's another excerpt from a posted article from Steve Janke, at Angry,

I have a report from Shell Chemical detailing a shocking problem discovered in Holland. Chinese-made piping for a major chemical plant was discovered to have been deliberately reworked to hide serious flaws that engineers believe could have resulted in disastrous consequences...

Shell, the Dutch petrochemical giant, is currently constructing a world-scale styrene monomer/propylene oxide plant at Moerdijk, The Netherlands, known as MSPO-2.

Don't worry if you didn't know that.

Like any major industrical chemical operation, huge pipes will move massive volumes of potentially lethal chemicals from point to point in the processing. These pipes can't fail, or else people die.

Technorati Tags: Health, China, Europe, Environment, Economy, Crime

Is This Woman A Sikh?

It should be a crime to marry someone and then abandon them after getting a dowry or immigration or whatever it is that drove you to marry someone you obviously didn't want to be with, and only used for your own ends. More than that, the person should face a sanction from the Panth for falsely marrying someone in a Gurdwara.

We often hear of abandoned brides in India, but it goes the other way too. In the case below, it was a woman marrying a man only to get a visa and permanent residency in Canada. Anyone, male or female, who marries someone to get a visa and legal immigration status and then abandons that person without showing cause, should be deported after facing jail time for immigration fraud. If she 'fell out of love' with 'Bob' before coming to Canada and didn't want to be with him, then she shouldn't have come to Canada at all considering she was granted status here as a result of the marriage only. The sad part is that 'Bob' will probably have a hard time sponsoring anyone else to come to Canada if he decides to go to India to re-marry.

On another note, what's with the nickname 'Bob', I can imagine 'Babu' or 'Billa' or 'Binder', but 'Bob', it sounds contrived if you ask me?

Man's sponsored wife runs away one week after arriving from India
She's been found but says she won't return to husband, who's financially responsible for her

Jennifer Saltman
The Province

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Burinder 'Bob' Manget, 31, sits in his mother's Coquitlam home Monday. Harpreet Manget, 21, disappeared one week following her arrival in Canada from India after waiting a year for her immigration papers after marrying Bob.

COQUITLAM - When Burinder Manget married his wife in India a year ago, he pictured an idyllic life in Canada.

He never thought that a week after her arrival, his wife would disappear.

"I was just shocked, confused," Manget said quietly. "I thought maybe she was playing a joke."

Now Manget is obligated to his absent wife for the next three years should she demand financial support or need income assistance from the government.

The 31-year-old married Harpreet Dhami on April 12, 2006, 10 days after their marriage was arranged by a relative.

Manget thought 21-year-old Harpreet was shy, nice and respectful, and the couple clicked during their initial conversations.

After the wedding, Manget stayed in India for three weeks before returning to Canada to start the process of sponsoring his bride to become a Canadian resident.

During their time apart, Manget called Harpreet regularly and sent money monthly.

"She was really happy and I was happy," Manget said.

"When she used to call, she goes, 'I'm dying to come there, whenever I get my visa I'm going to come running.'"

Harpreet's visa was approved in May and she arrived in Vancouver June 14.

Sitting on the couch in his mother's Coquitlam home, Manget describes the excitement of finally seeing his wife again after a year of separation.

The house was decorated and Manget's mother was planning a welcome party.

The couple spent a week attending gatherings and greeting family and friends dropping by to see the new bride.

Manget's twin brother Gurinder said everything seemed normal.

"That's why we're so shocked. Usually you'll show signs of being mad or sad or something," he said.

But a week after her arrival, on June 21, Harpreet disappeared.

Her passport, gold jewelry and a few hundred dollars were missing.

No one saw her leave.

Manget and his mother called Harpreet's mother in India and family in Toronto, but no one knew where she was.

Manget called Coquitlam RCMP, who investigated and released a missing-person notice to media the same day.

That night, Harpreet called and spoke to Manget's mother.

She allegedly told her that she was fine and was not coming home before hanging up.

On June 22, after seeing herself on the news, Harpreet called Delta police to let them know she was OK.

Const. Brenda Gresiuk, spokeswoman for the Coquitlam RCMP, said investigators spoke with Harpreet and were satisfied that there was no threat to her safety.

"We've concluded our investigation," Gresiuk said. "This is not a suspicious circumstance."

An uncle in Toronto, who refused to give his name, said he hasn't heard from Harpreet and has no idea where she is staying.

The uncle said he has spoken to Harpreet's mother, Balbir Kaur Dhami, and the whole family is worried.

He said as far as he knew there was no problem with the marriage, and nobody knows why she left.

"I don't know. I have no clue until I speak to her," he said. "Is there anything wrong? What is the problem? We also would like to find out."

Manget and his family, however, wonder if "it was maybe pre-planned," Manget said, questioning whether "she came here just to come here and use me."

"It's not just me that's used, it's our whole family, her family."

Said Manget's sister-in-law Ruby Toor, "it's not like we kicked her out -- she walked out on her own."

Toor said the family has contacted Citizenship and Immigration Canada and was told there is nothing they can do.

"Sponsorship is a legally binding commitment and it can't be cancelled, regardless of whether a relationship breaks down or not," said Shakila Bezeau of Citizenship and Immigration. "An individual who sponsors someone is pretty well obligated for three years' support for that person."

Manget said that since his wife left, he's heard many similar stories.

"It has to stop," he said.

A Province investigation in 2005 revealed there are thousands of abandoned brides in India.

Palwinder Gill of the Canadian Fraud Marriage Victims Society said there are just as many abandoned grooms.

"This is not a one-sided thing," Gill said. "It has always happened."

Gill said men feel ashamed when their wives leave them, and will not speak out. "They don't talk about it because they think shame," he said. "It's a cultural thing."

Gill said those who flout the law should be punished.

People proven to have married under false pretenses "should be charged as criminals because they enter Canada by fraud. Fraud is a crime."

As for the Canadian Fraud Marriage Victims Society, they should run a marriage bureau hooking up Canadian grooms who were abandoned in Canada by their wives, with women from India who were abandoned by their husbands. They'd have an instant connection and understanding of what each has been through.

Technorati Tags: Relgion, Canada, India, Punjab, Sikh, Khalsa, Crime

Honour Killing Barbarity Revealed

People in the UK have come across this much more than people in Canada. However, unless Canadians are vigilant this may become part of our landscape here as well due to the influx of immigrants from certain countries where this practice is prevalent.



'Honour' killings are sanctioned by Sharia law in Islam as being the crime for adultery, people who say it is a cultural hangover and not linked aren't necessarily being honest with themselves regarding the penalties under Sharia for adultery or apostasy (both of which are used to justify the 'honour' killing)...



From Family Security Matters via Western Resistance and part 3 of 3,

In other non-Arab Muslim societies such as Pakistan, the custom is common. If "honor-killing" is merely a reflection of local tribal customs, then it would be found to the same degree amongst Hindus and Sikhs in India, who share the same ancestors. Among these groups, the practice is rare, although in Maharashtra state women are killed and tortured for being suspected witches. Annually, there are thought to be 5,000 dowry-killings in India, where a bride's family defaults on payment and the wife is killed. Sati or sutti was a Hindu custom where a widow would immolate herself on her husband's funeral-pyre. This custom was banned by the British. Neither sutti, dowry killings nor witch-burning could be seen as "honor killings".



The Kurds of Turkey and Iraq who practice honor killings are not Arabs, nor are the predominantly Pashtun peoples of Afghanistan who engage in the practice. If honor-killing is a survival of an Arab, pre-Islamic custom, then it has been exported to Kurdish peoples and those in Afghanistan and the Indian sub-continent, a "fellow-traveler" during the early (pre-Ottoman) historical spread of Islam. Therefore, I do not buy into the argument that honor-killings have nothing to do with Islam. They are a living part of its history. Adultery, according to Sharia principles, is punishable by death, and most honor-killings involve suspected adultery. Apostasy is also, according to some Islamic schools of thought, punishable by death.

Here's a particularly vile case of 'honour' killing, but is representative of the mentality and brainwashing that takes place where women themselves, mothers and daughters are brought up to believe that this is the way things should be, along with the minor penalties if any when someone commits such a heinous crime...

Though not recent, the case of Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud, a mother of nine who killed her teenaged daughter Rofayda on January 27, 2002 shows a callousness that shocks. Rofayda had been raped by her two elder brothers in their shared bedroom in their Ramallah home. She became pregnant. On December 23, 2002, Rofayda gave birth to a baby boy at a women's shelter in Bethlehem. She returned to the family's three bedroom home in the suburb of Abu Qash. The family and village heads signed a promise that they would not harm the teenager. The two brothers were jailed.

Amira Qaoud did not keep her promise. She bought razor blades, and ordered her daughter to slash her own wrists. When Rofayda refused, her mother smothered her with a plastic bag, slashed the girl's wrists and hit her with a wooden stick. The killing took twenty minutes. Amira Qaoud said: "She killed me before I killed her. I had to protect my children. This is the only way I could protect my family's honor." Her nine year old daughter Fatima echoed her sentiments, saying: "My mother did this because she does not want us to be punished by people. I love my mother much more now than before."

In Palestinian territories, a murder is regarded as less serious if it is an honor killing, and thus honor killers receive from six to twelve months' jail. This stems from Jordanian legislation from 1960. Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code affirms that "he who discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing adultery with another, and he kills, wounds or injures one or both of them, is exempt from any penalty... he who discovers his wife, or one of his female ascendants or descendants or sisters with another in an unlawful bed and he kills, wounds or injures one or both of them, benefits from a reduction of penalty." In addition to this, Article 98 of the Penal Code allows a reduced sentence if a perpetrator kills in a "fit of fury".

Read it all.



Technorati Tags: Crime, Religion, Politics, Islam, Muslim, Sikh, India, Pakistan, England, Europe, Canada

Another Reason to Deny the Hype Around Global Warming Theory

SDA is great, there's usually something interesting and I found an article that encapsulates some of what I feel has taken place regarding the whole global warming/ climate change debate. Now I don't know about the whole mimicry of Christianity part, but I do feel that many people have over-invested their emotions and have tied up their sense of self and the world in the outcome of this debate. The constant harping about global warming, carbon emissions and Kyoto seems to be a huge proselytizing effort, complete with its champions, 'truths' and the all the rest of it.

From SDA, check out the comments where it was originally posted.

Amen

Michael Crighton, September 15, 2003;

I studied anthropology in college, and one of the things I learned was that certain human social structures always reappear. They can't be eliminated from society. One of those structures is religion. Today it is said we live in a secular society in which many people---the best people, the most enlightened people---do not believe in any religion. But I think that you cannot eliminate religion from the psyche of mankind. If you suppress it in one form, it merely re-emerges in another form. You can not believe in God, but you still have to believe in something that gives meaning to your life, and shapes your sense of the world. Such a belief is religious.

Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it's a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.

There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.

Eden, the fall of man, the loss of grace, the coming doomsday---these are deeply held mythic structures. They are profoundly conservative beliefs. They may even be hard-wired in the brain, for all I know. I certainly don't want to talk anybody out of them, as I don't want to talk anybody out of a belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God who rose from the dead. But the reason I don't want to talk anybody out of these beliefs is that I know that I can't talk anybody out of them. These are not facts that can be argued. These are issues of faith.

And so it is, sadly, with environmentalism. Increasingly it seems facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.

Technorati Tags: Climate, Religion, Politics, Christianity, Environment

Lying to Try and Prove a Theory - Climate Change Advocates

I've been a 'climate change denier' for some time now. I don't believe humans are responsible for 'dangerous' global warming or 'dangerous' climate change. One reason I don't buy the hype around climate change and 'global warming' is that the data is continually being misrepresented or manipulated.

Here's the latest example from NewsBusters via SDA and Cjunk,

Swedish Scientist Accuses UN's IPCC of Falsifying Data and Destroying Evidence
Posted by Noel Sheppard on June 24, 2007 - 19:45.

If you listen to the global warming alarmists working for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or folks like soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore, sea levels across the globe are rising at a rate that will eventually doom us all.

According to Swedish paleogeophysicist Nils-Axel Mörner, who’s been studying and writing about sea levels for four decades, the scientists working for the IPCC have falsified data and destroyed evidence to incorrectly prove their point.

Mörner was recently interviewed by Gregory Murphy of Executive Intelligence Review, and began by making it clear that the sea level claims made by the IPCC are a lot of nonsense (emphasis added throughout, h/t Eduardo Ferreyra):

[W]e can see that the sea level was indeed rising, from, let us say, 1850 to 1930-40. And that rise had a rate in the order of 1 millimeter per year. Not more. 1.1 is the exact figure. And we can check that, because Holland is a subsiding area; it has been subsiding for many millions of years; and Sweden, after the last Ice Age, was uplifted. So if you balance those, there is only one solution, and it will be this figure.

That ended in 1940, and there had been no rise until 1970; and then we can come into the debate here on what is going on, and we have to go to satellite altimetry, and I will return to that. But before doing that: There’s another way of checking it, because if the radius of the Earth increases, because sea level is rising, then immediately the Earth’s rate of rotation would slow down. That is a physical law, right? You have it in figure-skating: when they rotate very fast, the arms are close to the body; and then when they increase the radius, by putting out their arms, they stop by themselves. So you can look at the rotation and the same comes up: Yes, it might be 1.1 mm per year, but absolutely not more.

1.1 mm per year? That means that if this were to continue for 1000 years, sea levels would be 1.1 meters higher. Doesn’t sound very catastrophic, does it?

Mörner then addressed what in his view was a ridiculous error by the IPCC:

Another way of looking at what is going on is the tide gauge. Tide gauging is very complicated, because it gives different answers for wherever you are in the world. But we have to rely on geology when we interpret it. So, for example, those people in the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change], choose Hong Kong, which has six tide gauges, and they choose the record of one, which gives 2.3 mm per year rise of sea level. Every geologist knows that that is a subsiding area. It’s the compaction of sediment; it is the only record which you shouldn’t use. And if that figure is correct, then Holland would not be subsiding, it would be uplifting. And that is just ridiculous. Not even ignorance could be responsible for a thing like that.

But that was just the beginning of Mörner’s problems with the IPCC:

Now, back to satellite altimetry, which shows the water, not just the coasts, but in the whole of the ocean. And you measure it by satellite. From 1992 to 2002, [the graph of the sea level] was a straight line, variability along a straight line, but absolutely no trend whatsoever. We could see those spikes: a very rapid rise, but then in half a year, they fall back again. But absolutely no trend, and to have a sea-level rise, you need a trend.

Then, in 2003, the same data set, which in their [IPCC's] publications, in their website, was a straight line—suddenly it changed, and showed a very strong line of uplift, 2.3 mm per year, the same as from the tide gauge. And that didn't look so nice. It looked as though they had recorded something; but they hadn't recorded anything. It was the original one which they had suddenly twisted up, because they entered a “correction factor,” which they took from the tide gauge. So it was not a measured thing, but a figure introduced from outside. I accused them of this at the Academy of Sciences in Moscow —I said you have introduced factors from outside; it's not a measurement. It looks like it is measured from the satellite, but you don't say what really happened. And they answered, that we had to do it, because otherwise we would not have gotten any trend!

That is terrible! As a matter of fact, it is a falsification of the data set. Why? Because they know the answer. And there you come to the point: They “know” the answer; the rest of us, we are searching for the answer. Because we are field geologists; they are computer scientists. So all this talk that sea level is rising, this stems from the computer modeling, not from observations. The observations don't find it!

Pretty extraordinary, wouldn’t you agree? A "correction factor." Honestly, the way these folks manipulate data is nothing less than astounding.

Yet, Mörner wasn’t finished, as he later detailed an incident when IPCC scientists actually destroyed evidence which refuted their rising sea level claims:

This tree, which I showed in the documentary, is interesting. This is a prison island, and when people left the island, from the '50s, it was a marker for them, when they saw this tree alone out there, they said, “Ah, freedom!” They were allowed back. And there have been writings and talks about this. I knew that this tree was in that terrible position already in the 1950s. So the slightest rise, and it would have been gone. I used it in my writings and for television. You know what happened? There came an Australian sea-level team, which was for the IPCC and against me. Then the students pulled down the tree by hand! They destroyed the evidence. What kind of people are those? And we came to launch this film, “Doomsday Called Off,” right after, and the tree was still green. And I heard from the locals that they had seen the people who had pulled it down. So I put it up again, by hand, and made my TV program. I haven't told anybody else, but this was the story.

They call themselves scientists, and they're destroying evidence! A scientist should always be open for reinterpretation, but you can never destroy evidence. And they were being watched, thinking they were clever.

Think Katie, Charlie, or Brian will be interviewing Mörner any time soon?

No, I don’t either.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Climate, Religion, Politics, Crime, Asia, Europe, England

Salman Rushdie Affair - A Sane Muslim Responds

Sikhs in the UK would have heard in detail I'm sure about the Muslim reaction to the Rushdie Knighthood and the toadying by UK politicians of various hues afterwards to placate the Fundos (or Fundies - Fundamentalists) afterwards. I wrote about the 'demented' reactions of Islamonutters as well (though they may have a large following, they are still 'nutters').

What you may not have heard was a sane response from a Muslim (at least I think she's a Muslim). Well I found one via Kathy Shaidle and The Augean Stables. Please see the original post for all the links (meanwhile, I've just added The Augean Stables to my reading list...)

India Knight, the British daughter of a Muslim shows more courage than the English who taught her their Western values. Just the kind of voice we need to hear.

June 24, 2007
Rushdie, the man they love to hate
Surely there’s a difference between careful diplomacy and pandering to extremists
India Knight

What an extraordinary, if depressingly predictable, fuss about Salman Rushdie’s knighthood. Eighteen years after the fatwa was issued, Ijaz ul-Haq, tPakistani religious affairs minister, last week told his country’s parliament that “if someone exploded a bomb on Rushdie’s body, he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the ‘sir’ title”.

Union Jacks were burnt in Pakistan, with rioters shouting “Kill him!”. If I were Pakistani, I’d be more inclined to riot about the monstrous off-the-scale corruption that riddled my government, and the corrupted version of Islam that brainwashed disenfranchised young men in the madrasahs, but anyway. A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said that to honour “an apostate and one of the most hated figures in the Islamic world” indicated that Britain supported “the insult to Islamic values”.

One might respectfully suggest that if people who seek to impose their grotesque distortion of Islam on their unfortunate peoples will insist on making these inane pronouncements, they might at least do so with a degree of calm and a semblance of rationality, because otherwise it’s hard to take them seriously (assuming one were inclined to do so, which is quite an assumption).

It’s as though the Vatican took such exception to The Da Vinci Code that, instead of putting out composed-sounding statements and seeking (not entirely successfully) to reassure people that super-creepy Opus Dei is not in fact creepy at all, its spokesmen started foaming at the mouth like nutters and ordered crusades against Dan Brown for having the temerity to invent a story and write fiction.

Muslim world inflamed by Rushdie knighthood

A Pakistani minister said that Rushdie’s knighthood justified suicide bombings amid offers of rewards for his assassination
British minister: ‘We stand by Rushdie knighthood’

Actually it’s not like that, because Rushdie is a brilliant writer and Brown is a sort of rich monkey with a typewriter, but you get the gist. And no sooner is the knighthood announced in the Queen’s birthday honours than politicians such as Jack Straw are tripping over themselves “sympathising” with the “hurt feelings” of the “Muslim community” and volunteering his opinion of Rushdie’s oeuvre: “I’m afraid I found his books rather difficult and I’ve never managed to get to the end of any of them.” This just makes him sound thick, I’m afraid.

Midnight’s Children is hardly Finnegans Wake, and with the exception of The Satanic Verses none of Rushdie’s books is remotely “difficult”. So either Straw is remedially dim, poor thing, or he’s making the point that since Rushdie’s work is not his cup of tea, neither is Rushdie, and nor, by extension, is his knighthood – nothing to do with me, guv, so please keep voting for me, Muslim constituents.

Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said she was “sorry” for any offence caused. An unnamed Labour MP told a newspaper that “anybody with common sense would have blocked this”. Thank God for John Reid: the home secretary said that although the issue was “sensitive”, the protection of people’s rights to express their opinions in literature, argument and politics was of “overriding value to our society”.

What on earth is the point of pussyfooting around like pathetic craven saps (and I write as someone who is the daughter of a Muslim and also has some Iranian blood)? Surely there’s a difference between careful diplomacy and pandering to extremist Muslims who violently oppose everything people in this country stand for and believe in?

We live – thank God, Allah and everybody else – in a democracy. We have, and cherish, the right to free speech. It is a glorious thing. People are allowed – encouraged – to have an imagination and to write books, which some people may like and some people may not, but there you go: nobody forces anybody to read anything (though perhaps they should: I’d love to know how many fatwa supporters read the 560 pages of The Satanic Verses).

So what I don’t understand is why, when the knighthood was announced and gracefully acknowledged by Rushdie – “I am thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour” – it should have been met at home by carping and wriggly apology instead of celebration. Is it too much to ask for our politicians to stand up and paraphrase Voltaire’s “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”? Yes, apparently, because it seems that pandering to the tiny proportion of the Muslim vote that is both extremist and fundamentalist is worth more than art, beauty, reason or morality.

Part of the problem – and it’s an objectionable one – is that Rushdie is viewed in many quarters as being insufficiently grateful for the protection the (Conservative) government afforded him during the fatwa. Apparently, if millions of people are encouraged to kill you and the country you live in quite rightly thinks that’s a poor show, and helps you, you forfeit the right to express an opinion about anything, whether it’s the price of a pint of milk or the niqab.

In addition to this perceived lack of gratitude is the political perception of Rushdie. To the right, he’s a leftie, which is ironic because he was helped and protected by a Conservative government and a Labour premier, Tony Blair, whom many would consider a kind of low-level Tory.

To the left, he is problematic in the extreme, because the left courts the Muslim vote. “Courts” isn’t quite right – “toadies” is more like it. And in the process, moderate Muslims who practise their religion peacefully and with grace don’t seem to feature: they’re lumped with the extremists and given a hard time as a result, for the reasons outlined above.

There’s a third issue here. Art matters. Literature matters. They matter much more than the ravings of some overexcited, barely literate oik of a cleric with a gift for oratory, even if – especially if – said cleric ends up having global influence. When you cut to the chase, all that remains is this: Rushdie, who was 60 last week, is an exceptional writer who has written great books, for which he has been awarded prizes and awards both here and internationally. Unlike most exceptional writers, he walked around as a living target for 10 years under constant police protection.

People associated with his books were also targeted, injured – his Italian translator was beaten and stabbed; his Norwegian publisher shot and left to die – and even killed, in the case of his Japanese translator. All because he wrote a book, used his imagination, made up a story, got it published, and didn’t or wouldn’t foresee the calamitous consequences of his act of creativity – because those consequences were unimaginable to a civilised mind living in a democracy. His knighthood recognises all of this, as well as his talent. I couldn’t be more delighted for him.

Can we get it right this time. Time to get the joke.
Hitchens gets it, and look at how he stiffens British backbone with his remarks.

Technorati Tags: Islam, Muslim, England, Europe, Pakistan, India, Asia, Sikh, Religion, Politics, Crime