South Asia Citizens Web

The Delhi Police comes directly under the Union Home Ministry and the Christian groups in Delhi had organmised a Peace March yesterday upto the office of the Home Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh. Not only the Delhi police has been dishing out ridiculous and irresponsible statements justifying its inaction against the miscreants, it resorted to beating and thrashing peaceful protesters today in the national capital.

People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) joins all freedom loving people in denouncing the attempts to harass Ms. Shirin Dalvi, the reputed editor of the Urdu daily, Avadhanama, Mumbai in the name of hurting religious sentiments of Muslims. She had published a news story on the Charlie Hebdo massacre and republished a cover of the French magazine. Though she has apologized and stated that she did not have any intention to hurt religious sentiments of anybody she, however, has been charged with several different cases offences and even arrested. The newspaper she works for has had to close down and all its employees have been deprived of their jobs. All this is happening in the name of someone’s sentiments.

Officials in northwest Pakistan have revised school textbooks to make them more Islamic — no unveiled women, references to world historical figures replaced with prominent Muslims, and Koranic verses about jihad.

4 February 2015: We, the undersigned conveners on behalf of civil society organizations and individuals who have focused on human rights protection through the dark and dangerous days of the Rajapaksa regime, welcome the victory of Mr. Maithripala Sirisena in the 08th January 2015 Presidential Election and the formation of a new government. We look forward to a positive and constructive association with the new government to ensure an end to the culture of impunity which defined the Rakapaksa regime’s record on human rights

We, members of the Mumbai based human rights group Hum Azaadiyon Ke Haq Mein are disturbed at reports of the multiple cases lodged against Shirin Dalvi, the editor of Awadhnama, Mumbai, and her arrest by Thane district police on January 28, for publishing a news-item on the Charlie Hebdo issue and one of the covers of the magazine on January 17, 2015. We are also shocked at the reports of the continual harassment of Shirin Dalvi.