Free Republic

Islamabad, 19 April (AKI) - Thousands of people rallied in several Pakistani cities on Thursday to protest against what they refer to as the 'terrorism' of citizens by members linked to a radical mosque in the capital Islamabad. Reports say that the protestors, which included women's groups and human rights organisations chanted anti-extremism slogans and called for government action against the administration of the Lal Masjid or Red Mosque who have called for a Taliban-style law to be enforced in Islamabad. Protestors in the capital reportedly marched to Pakistan's parliament building and presidential palace and similar protests also took place...

TORONTO (CP) — A Muslim journalist beaten with a cricket bat outside a Toronto-area home fears for his life after facing repeated death threats apparently because someone has deemed his writing to be anti-Islam. Jawaad Faizi, a columnist for the weekly Urdu-language Pakistan Post based in New York, suffered cuts and bruises in the attack, which has alarmed his wife and three children and drew the condemnation Thursday of free-press advocates. “I’m really very, very scared,” Faizi said in an interview on Thursday. “I’m scared especially for my kids.” The Pakistan Post, North America’s largest Urdu-language newspaper with an office...

There's only one thing to do with the spiked PBS documentary, "Islam vs. Islamist: Voices from the Muslim Center." Air it. If the Public Broadcasting Service won't reconsider, this window on the struggle for the soul of Islam in the West -- controversial and hard-hitting -- will be picked up by some other network. It's inevitable. We watched "Islam vs. Islamists," and several things stand out. The stories of embattled moderate Muslims in the contemporary United States, Canada, France and Denmark are gripping and too important to relegate to the dustbin. (snip) The stories speak for themselves when allowed to,...

Pakistani minister defies fatwa over hug By IANS Wednesday April 11, 11:24 AM Islamabad, April 11 (IANS) Pakistan Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar has defied the country's Islamic clergy which issued a decree against her for hugging a male coach after para-jumping, by saying she did it for a 'good cause'. Bakhtiar told a TV channel that she had 'jumped' to collect funds for the victims of the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, and would do it again for a good cause. 'We don't need to be intimidated by these people,' Bakhtiar said. The chief cleric of Islamabad's Lal Masjid last...