Muslims welcome holy month of Ramadan with a mix of joy and deep concern

Muslims welcome holy month of Ramadan with a mix of joy and deep concern
Muslim worshippers take part in the evening ‘Tarawih’ prayers during of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at Al-Aqsa compound, in Jerusalem Old City March 10, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 10 March 2024
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Muslims welcome holy month of Ramadan with a mix of joy and deep concern

Muslims welcome holy month of Ramadan with a mix of joy and deep concern
  • Ramadan is month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, intense prayer, charity and feasts that begins for many Sunday night
  • This year, war and starvation in the Gaza Strip casts an especially dark shadow on the festivities of the holy month

Muslims around the world are welcoming the arrival of Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, intense prayer, charity and feasts that begins for many Sunday night.
But as they savor the traditions of their own diverse communities — from holiday treats to evening diversions — the tribulations faced by fellow Muslims are never far from anyone’s mind. This year, war and starvation in the Gaza Strip casts an especially dark shadow on the festivities.
Many are also struggling to buy food as inflation remains high in many countries and has worsened in some.
Still, even Muslims who are struggling economically or otherwise look forward to what are widely seen as the true blessings of the holy month — prayer and reflection, nurtured by the daylong fast, and time spent with loved ones.
IN PAKISTAN, A CITY THAT DOESN’T SLEEP
No one does Ramadan better than the people of Karachi, at least according to Maulana Tanveer Ul Haq Thanvi, an Islamic scholar in the city in southern Pakistan.
The congregation at his family-run mosque swells from 10,000 to 15,000 during the holy month, and volunteers are working to make sure there is enough space, food and water for the sunset prayers.
From dawn to dusk, observant Muslims the world over will refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse. Even the tiniest sip of water would invalidate the fast, which is intended to help focus the mind on prayer and charity.
“In Ramadan, our prayers are heard and the religious observance is day and night,” Thanvi said. “People want to help others who are needier than them, even those who don’t have much to give.” His sermons will focus on “how people should behave with each other, including when Ramadan is over.”
At sundown, many will break the fast with a date or two, as the Prophet Muhammad was said to have done, before attending evening prayers. Then they will gather for “iftar,” a typically lavish feast shared with friends and family, and a festive atmosphere will prevail late into the night.
“Locals don’t go to sleep. You’ll see kids playing cricket in the street after iftar,” Thanvi said.
IN INDONESIA, HIGH PRICES THREATEN HOLIDAY FEASTS
Muslims liven up their iftar spreads with their own local delicacies. In Egypt, the shelves are lined with qamar el-din, a sticky apricot treat. In Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, sidewalk vendors make qatayef — tiny pancakes stuffed with cream and nuts and drizzled with syrup.
In Indonesia, with the world’s largest Muslim population, Ramadan rituals vary by region, reflecting the country’s rich and varied culture. Many celebrate with rendang — meat braised in coconut milk and local spices.
This year, it will be harder to come by, as the country grapples with soaring food prices because of worldwide inflation and a poor local rice harvest.
Sari Yanti, a mother of three, stood in a long line at one of several distribution points in the capital, Jakarta, to purchase state-subsidized rice and other staples, saying it had never been this bad. “Prices are going up nowadays — anything to do with cooking is rising,” she said.
Mosques and charities across the Muslim world organize free iftars for the poorest, and sometimes it’s the only meat they will eat all year.
IN EGYPT, MANY STRUGGLE DESPITE FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE
In Cairo, the streets are decked with colorful Ramadan lanterns, bakeries are hawking holiday sweets and television networks are promoting prime-time soap operas, hoping to capitalize on nightly food comas.
“Ramadan is a month of prayer, but also of desserts,” one man quipped as he waited in line outside a bakery displaying trays of holiday sweets, including baclava, qatayef and kunafa — a syrupy delight made with shredded pastry and topped with crumbled pistachios.
But here too, beneath the normal holiday veneer, many are struggling. The government floated its currency last week as part of an emergency bailout from the International Monetary Fund, causing prices to skyrocket.
One out of every three people in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, was already living in poverty, and in recent years even the middle class have struggled to make ends meet.
“The situation has been very difficult,” said Abdel-Kareem Salah, a civil servant and father of four, as he shopped for groceries ahead of Ramadan in the working class neighborhood around the famed Sayeda Zaynab mosque, where the alleys are strung with lights and lanterns.
“We just purchase the necessities,” he said. “For us, and many like us, meat has become a luxury.”
IN THE UNITED STATES, ‘A SENSE OF GUILT’ OVER GAZA
Sonia Uddin, a second-generation Pakistani-American living in Orange County, California, said that her family sometimes enjoys hamburgers for iftar and coffee and donuts for suhoor, the pre-dawn meal right before the daily fast begins.
She strives to maintain the traditions of her immigrant parents, but said that her 14-year-old son “is really more Western than Eastern,” and insists on American-style food as they observe the holy month half a world away from the cradle of their faith.
She looks forward to attending nightly prayers, drinking tea with friends and catching up with people she hasn’t seen for the past year.
But for her and many other Muslim Americans, those joyful moments will be shadowed by concern for Gaza, where a five-month Israeli offensive has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, driven most of the population from their homes and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine.
Israel launched the campaign in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took around 250 hostage. The United States, Israel’s top ally, has provided crucial military and diplomatic support while pushing for more aid for civilians.
“Ramadan has typically been a time when I’ve turned away from the outside world and focused on my connection with God,” Uddin said. “But this year, turning off is not an option for me. I need to continue my activism so those who have no voice can be heard.”
Zulfat Suara, a Nigerian American and the first Muslim to serve on the metro council in Nashville, Tennessee, said that Gaza is “at the very top” of her list of prayers.
“That is the whole point of Ramadan — just that weight. That is the whole reason we fast,” Suara said.
She plans to attend the Music City Iftar, an annual community event for Muslims and non-Muslims. She said that interfaith dialogue has broken down barriers and likely helped her get elected.
“Muslims are not strangers anymore. Our customs, our traditions, become part of our society,” she said.
Nashville native Ahmad Ayoub, a 20-year-old Palestinian American, said he is looking forward to Fridays at the city’s Islamic Center and iftars with his family, but the guilt is already creeping in.
“I’ll come home to break my fast and hunger with a full meal, while our aunts, uncles and cousins in Palestine are just forced to continue to starve,” he said. “There will definitely be a sense of guilt in knowing that I have this full meal in front of me.”


Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Sheikh Hasina’s family

Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Sheikh Hasina’s family
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Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Sheikh Hasina’s family

Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Sheikh Hasina’s family
  • Sheikh Hasina fled to India after being toppled by a revolution in August
  • Key allegations are connected to the funding of the $12.65 billion Rooppur nuclear plant
DHAKA: Bangladesh has launched a probe into the alleged $5 billion embezzlement connected to a Russian-backed nuclear power plant by ousted leader Sheikh Hasina and her family, the anti-corruption commission said Monday.
Along with Hasina, the now-former prime minister who fled to India after being toppled by a revolution in August, those subject to the inquiry include her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and niece, Tulip Siddiq, a British lawmaker and government minister.
The allegations were raised by a writ seeking an investigation filed in the high court by Hasina’s political opponent, Bobby Hajjaj, chairman of the Nationalist Democratic Movement party.
“We seek justice through our court,” Hajjaj said on Monday.
Key allegations are connected to the funding of the $12.65 billion Rooppur nuclear plant, the South Asian country’s first, which is bankrolled by Moscow with a 90 percent loan.
A statement Monday from the commission said it had launched an inquiry into allegations that Hasina and family members had “embezzled $5 billion” from the Rooppur plant via “various offshore bank accounts in Malaysia.”
It said its investigations were examining “questionable procurement practices related to the overpriced construction” of the plant.
“The claims of kickbacks, mismanagement, money laundering, and potential abuse of power raise significant concerns about the integrity of the project and the use of public funds,” the commission said.
Graft allegations also include theft from a government building scheme for the homeless.
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter on August 5 into exile in India, infuriating many Bangladeshis determined that she face trial for alleged “mass murder.”
It was not possible to contact Hasina for comment.
Siddiq has “denied any involvement in the claims” accusing her of involvement in embezzlement, according to a statement from the British prime minister’s office.
Joy, who is understood to be based in the United States, was also unavailable for comment.

US president Joe Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates

US president Joe Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
Updated 7 min 24 sec ago
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US president Joe Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates

US president Joe Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
  • Biden had faced growing calls to commute the sentences of those on death row
  • There had been no federal inmates put to death in the United States since 2003

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 federal inmates, taking action ahead of the return of Donald Trump who oversaw a sweeping number of lethal injections during his first term.
With less than a month left in office, Biden had faced growing calls from death penalty opponents to commute the sentences of those on death row to life in prison without parole, which the 37 will now serve.
The move leaves only a handful of high-profile killers who acted out of hate or terrorism facing the federal death penalty – for which there has been a moratorium under Biden.
“These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” Biden said in a statement.
“I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole,” he said.
The three inmates who will remain on federal death row include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who helped carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and Dylann Roof, an avowed white supremacist who in 2015 shot and killed nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.
Robert Bowers, who killed 11 Jewish worshippers during a 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, will also remain on death row.
Those commuted included nine people convicted of murdering fellow prisoners, four for murders committed during bank robberies and one who killed a prison guard.
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said.
“But guided by my conscience and my experience...I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” he added.
Biden campaigned for the White House as an opponent of the death penalty, and the Justice Department issued a moratorium on its use at the federal level after he became president.
During his reelection campaign, Trump spoke frequently of expanding the use of capital punishment to include migrants who kill American citizens and drug and human traffickers.
There had been no federal inmates put to death in the United States since 2003 until Trump resumed federal executions in July 2020.
He oversaw 13 by lethal injection during his final six months in power, more than any US leader in 120 years.
The last federal execution – which was carried out by lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana – took place on January 16, 2021, four days before Trump left office.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while six others – Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee – have moratoriums in place.
In 2024, there have been 25 executions in the United States, all at the state level.


Indian police kill three Sikh separatist militants

Indian police kill three Sikh separatist militants
Updated 23 December 2024
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Indian police kill three Sikh separatist militants

Indian police kill three Sikh separatist militants
  • The campaign for Khalistan stirred a diplomatic firestorm last year after Indian intelligence operatives were linked to the killing of a Sikh leader in Canada
  • The three men belonged to the Khalistan Zindabad Force militant group, police have recovered two assault rifles, two pistols and ammunition , official says

Lucknow: Indian police said on Monday they had killed three Sikh militants fighting for a separate homeland known as “Khalistan,” the struggle for which sparked deadly violence in the 1980s and 1990s.

The campaign for Khalistan was at the heart of a diplomatic firestorm last year after Indian intelligence operatives were linked to the killing of a vocal Sikh leader in Canada and an attempted assassination in the United States — claims New Delhi rejected.

In the latest incident, the Khalistani rebels were killed after a gunbattle in Pilibhit district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

The men were wanted for their alleged involvement in a grenade attack on a police outpost in Punjab state this month.

Pilibhit police superintendent Avinash Pandey said officers had surrounded the men after a tip-off, with the suspects launching “heavy fire.”

“In the retaliatory action, all three were critically injured and later died in hospital,” he said.

Police recovered two assault rifles, two pistols and a large cache of ammunition.

The three men belonged to Khalistan Zindabad Force, a militant group, Punjab police chief Gaurav Yadav said in a statement.

The Khalistan campaign dates back to India’s 1947 independence and has been blamed for the assassination of a prime minister and the bombing of a passenger jet.

It has been a bitter issue between India and several Western nations with large Sikh populations.

New Delhi demands stricter action against the Khalistan movement, which is banned in India, with key leaders accused of “terrorism.”


Australia approves extradition of former US Marine over alleged training of Chinese military pilots

Australia approves extradition of former US Marine over alleged training of Chinese military pilots
Updated 23 December 2024
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Australia approves extradition of former US Marine over alleged training of Chinese military pilots

Australia approves extradition of former US Marine over alleged training of Chinese military pilots
  • Australia’s Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved the extradition on Monday
  • Daniel Duggan has been in a maximum-security prison since he was arrested in 2022

NEWCASTLE, Australia: Former US Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan will be extradited from Australia to the United States over allegations that he illegally trained Chinese aviators.
Australia’s Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved the extradition on Monday, ending the Boston-born 55-year-old’s nearly two-year attempt to avoid being returned to the US
Duggan, who served in the Marines for 12 years before immigrating to Australia and giving up his US citizenship, has been in a maximum-security prison since he was arrested in 2022 at his family home in the state of New South Wales. He is the father of six children.
Dreyfus confirmed in a statement on Monday he had approved the extradition but did not say when Duggan would be transferred to the US
“Duggan was given the opportunity to provide representations as to why he should not be surrendered to the United States. In arriving at my decision, I took into consideration all material in front of me,” Dreyfus said in the statement.
In May, a Sydney judge ruled Duggan could be extradited to the US, leaving an appeal to the attorney general as Duggan’s last hope of remaining in Australia.
In a 2016 indictment from the US District Court in Washington, D.C., unsealed in late 2022, prosecutors said Duggan conspired with others to provide training to Chinese military pilots in 2010 and 2012, and possibly at other times, without applying for an appropriate license.
Prosecutors say he received payments totaling around 88,000 Australian dollars ($61,000) and international travel from another conspirator for what was sometimes described as “personal development training.”
If convicted, Duggan faces up to 60 years in prison. He denies the allegations.
“We feel abandoned by the Australian government and deeply disappointed that they have completely failed in their duty to protect an Australian family,” his wife, Saffrine Duggan, said in a statement on Monday. “We are now considering our options.”


South Korean opposition threatens to impeach Han over martial law counsel

South Korean opposition threatens to impeach Han over martial law counsel
Updated 23 December 2024
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South Korean opposition threatens to impeach Han over martial law counsel

South Korean opposition threatens to impeach Han over martial law counsel
  • Prime Minister Han Duck-soo took over from the suspended Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached on Dec. 14
  • Yoon accused of hampering the Constitutional Court trial by repeatedly refusing to accept court documents

SEOUL: South Korea’s main opposition party threatened on Monday to impeach acting president Han Duck-soo if he failed to proclaim a law to launch a special counsel investigation into President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed bid to impose martial law.
Prime Minister Han has taken over from the suspended Yoon, who was impeached on Dec. 14 and faces a Constitutional Court review on whether to oust him.
With a majority in parliament, the opposition Democratic Party passed a bill this month to appoint a special counsel to pursue charges of insurrection, among others, against the conservative Yoon and to investigate his wife over a luxury bag scandal and other allegations.
The party, which has accused Han of aiding Yoon’s martial law attempt and reported him to police, said it would “immediately initiate impeachment proceedings” against the acting president if the legislation was not promulgated by Tuesday.
“The delays show that the prime minister has no intention of complying with the constitution, and it is tantamount to admitting that he is acting as a proxy for the insurgent,” Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae told a party meeting, referring to Yoon.
Han is a technocrat who has held leadership roles in South Korean politics for 30 years under conservative and liberal presidents. Yoon appointed him prime minister in 2022.
Han’s office could not immediately be reached for comment. He has previously said he had tried to block Yoon’s martial law declaration, but apologized for failing to do so.
Park also accused Yoon of hampering the Constitutional Court trial by repeatedly refusing to accept court documents.
“Any delay in the investigation and impeachment trials is an extension of the insurrection and an act of plotting a second one,” Park said.
A joint investigative team including police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials has made a second attempt to call Yoon in for questioning on Dec. 25, though it was unclear whether he would appear.
Woo Jong-soo, investigation chief of the national police agency, told parliament on Monday that police had tried to raid Yoon’s office twice but the presidential security service denied them entry. Woo said his team sent a request to preserve evidence, including a secure phone server.