Bahrain people condemns excessive police force

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Bahrain’s opposition on Wednesday condemned what it called the police’s use of “excessive” force during clashes with Shiite villagers commemorating the religious festival of Ashura (Imam Hussain martyrdom).

Clashes erupted overnight Tuesday as security forces pulled down Ashura banners erected in what police said were “undesignated areas” of Shiite villages outside Manama, witnesses said.

They said security forces of the kingdom, which has a Shia majority, fired buckshots to disperse protesting villagers, causing casualties.

Bahrain’s top Shia opposition formation, Al-Wefaq, condemned the “excessive use of force” to remove the banners and said the intervention amounted to “suppression of religious rituals”.

Police chief Tareq al-Hassan claimed that some banners carried political statements with no connection to Ashura, one of the holiest commemorations of the Shia faith.

Bahrain, a tiny but strategic US ally, has seen frequent unrest since a Shia-led uprising erupted four years ago demanding a constitutional monarchy.

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Deadly blast hits Imama Hussain mourners in Pakistan, kills 10 Shias

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A suicide bombing at a Shia Muslim mosque has killed at least 10 people in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan.

Six children were among the dead and more than 12 people were wounded in the attack in the town of Bhaag, said the provincial home minister, Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti,.

No claim of responsibility was made following the attack. Baluchistan, in eastern Pakistan, has been wracked by separatist violence and rising sectarianism for almost a decade.

Security has been beefed up across Pakistan before the two-day Shia festival of Ashura. Public gatherings and marches are planned in most Pakistani cities on Friday and Saturday to commemorate the death of Hussain, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad.

Mobile phone services will be suspended in cities in an attempt to foil remote-controlled bombings. Police have set up extra checkpoints and imposed restrictions on movement in some areas.

Fears of violence have been heightened this year after Taliban splinter groups pledged allegiance to the Syria- and Iraq-based Islamic State, which has repeatedly targeted Shias. Analysts say Pakistani groups hoping for patronage want to impress Islamic State

Shia Muslims make up about 20% of the Pakistani population. The rest are mostly Sunni Muslims.

In a separate development, the Pakistani military said on Thursday that it had carried out its first night-time drone strike, killing several militants.

“Our own drone Burraq fired missiles and hit sanctuaries of terrorists in South Waziristan near the Afghan border on Thursday,” said a security official.

Pakistan launched the Burraq in March, and the first strike by one of the drones was reported in early September.

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‘Arabia’s Rising: Under The Banner Of The First Imam’ Published

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PRESS RELEASE VERITAS CONSULTING –Insightful and bold, Arabia’s Rising is not only anchored in history, it is built on a critical analysis of those crises which have ailed the Middle East: sectarianism and radicalism.

Looking well beyond the accepted “Western” narrative Arabia’s Rising proposes a fresh optic on the war-torn region, lifting the lid on its complicated past and let’s admit redacted religious identity.

A political analyst and commentator for the Middle East with a special focus on radical movements, Catherine Shakdam’s connection to the Middle East is one of profound love and respect: for its people, its history and the future its nations want to build for their sons and daughters.

Most importantly Arabia’s Rising offers context: religious context, historical context, political context …

An eye-opener and somewhat of a revelation, Arabia’s Rising opens a conversation on the future of the Middle East by looking back, linking history and old fractures to today’s hopes and aspirations.

Weaved around Islam’s history, Arabia’s Rising is one of those read which will echo long after all pages are read. And maybe, just maybe somewhere along the way, readers will learn that the Islam they were sold and the history they were do not exactly reflect reality.

Arabia’s Rising can be bought on Amazon – here and here

“A superb synthesis that distills the essence of Islam in theory and practice. Arabia’s Rising by Catherine Shakdam provides a concise yet comprehensive understanding of the Islamic worldview. Written in small segmented truth-bytes, which can be assimilated by lay and academic audiences, the author weaves past, present, and future seamlessly in a captivating narrative of cosmic consequence,” writes Dr. John Andrew Morrow, Senior scholar of Islam.

“Just as the world has learned to hate and fear Islam, blaming its people and its faith for the evil of radicalism, Arabia’s Rising came to shatter the web of lies, shining some truth on the people of Islam, on Islam’s history and a people’s aspirations. A brilliant analysis, Catherine Shakdam dares go where many analysts have not – exposing what real powers and real dynamics are at play in the Mid-East,” writes Marwa Osman a PhD candidate, lecturer and political analyst.

 

For all press enquiries contact Veritas Consulting

Email: catherine.shakdam@veritas-consulting.one

marwa.osman@veritas-consulting.one

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Millions of Shia Muslims commemorates Tasu’a in Iran

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Millions of black clad mourners have taken to the streets across Iran to take part in the ceremonies. Large numbers of Iranians are attending the Shia mourning rituals in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala, which is home to Imam Hussein’s holy shrine.

Mourning processions are also underway in Pakistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan as well as Lebanon. Similar ceremonies will also be held in Europe, America and Africa later in the day.

During the ceremonies, poems are recited and sermons delivered in honor of one of the holiest figures of Shia Islam and his 72 companions, who were martyred in the Battle of Karbala, in southern Iraq, in 680 AD after fighting bravely in a battle for justice with the much larger army of the Umayyad caliph, Yazid I, which some historians have said was 100,000-strong.

During Muharram, Iranian people across the country traditionally cook and distribute Nazri (food offerings) among their neighbors, family and the poor. Free food is also offered to people who participate in the mourning ceremonies.

Imam Hussein and his companions were martyred on Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, which falls on October 24 this year.

Muharram ceremonies symbolize the eternal and unwavering stance of truth against falsehood and humanity’s struggle against tyranny, the cause for which Imam Hussein was martyred.

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Photos: Tasua Mourning Ceremony in Qom, Iran

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Photos: Tasua Mourning Ceremony in Mashhad, Iran

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