Trump’s Backtrack on Muslim Ban; India’s Map Law; Pakistan Commission on Corruption

[Riaz Haq]

Donald Trump has said his Muslim ban "hasn't been called for yet" and it was "only a suggestion". Is the presumptive Republican nominee for president backing away from his call "for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States"? If so, why? Has the Republican party helped him understand how the GOP's dog-whistle campaigns work? Will Trump's racism and Islamophobia become less overt now in the general election campaign? Has London Mayoral Election affected GOP's campaign?

Why is the Indian government pushing a highly punitive legislation for those found guilty of "incorrect maps of India" not showing all of Kashmir as part of India? Will the law also apply to the Hindu Nationalists pushing maps of Akhand Bharat, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, which are patently incorrect? How will digital mapmakers try to not run afoul of this law if it passes the Indian parliament?

Why is the Chief Justice of Pakistan resisting "the constitution of a toothless commission" to probe offshore companies owned by Pakistani politicians and others including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's family? Why did Chief Justice Jamali say that such a commission "will serve no useful purpose , except giving a bad name to it"?

Viewpoint From Overseas host Misbah Azam discusses these questions with panelists Ali Hasan Cemendtaur and Riaz Haq (www.riazhaq.com).


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[Riaz Haq]

'He’s our hero': #Hindu nationalists rally for Donald #Trump in #India

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/13/donald-trump-india-h...

On a hot afternoon in Delhi, a group of men sat around a fire chanting Hindu mantras.

Idols of Shiva and Hanuman watched on as the group performed a havan puja, a ceremony of worship which they hoped would bring good fortune for the subject of their prayers.

Someone had printed out a picture of his face and thumbed vermillion on his forehead, in a sign of reverence.

Alongside the incense, offerings and Hindu gods, he looked somewhat out of place, but the photograph was instantly recognizable: it was Donald Trump.

Vishnu Gupta, leader of the Hindu Sena, the organisation that arranged the ceremony, said that the puja was one of many events the group was organising to gather support for Trump in India, and – he hoped – help the controversial Republican candidate win the presidency. 

A rally would soon follow, and demonstrations outside the US embassy in Delhi urging Indian-origin Americans to vote for Trump will be on the menu for coming months, Gupta said. “He’s our hero,” he said. “We are praying for Trump because he is the only one who can help mankind.”

Gupta’s motives for supporting Trump were simple: “He’s the only many who can put an end to Islamic terrorism.”

Trump’s hardline stance on Muslim immigration to the US and his rhetoric against Isis and other terror organisations seem to have caught the imagination of the young Hindu fringe leader, who has grown up in a political climate where communal strife between Hindus and the Muslim minority has led to violent clashes on both sides.

Shourya Sharma, a 27-year old software developer who is a supporter of the incumbent Hindu nationalist BJP party in India, agreed. “Politicians in India don’t want to go hard on Muslims because they need the Muslim vote,” he says, claiming that India’s neighbouring Pakistan had fueled terrorist activity by Indian Muslims.

“The Obama administration emboldened Pakistan to trespass into Indian territory. The threat of Isis is also looming over India. We need support from an ally like the USA,” Sharma said.

Trump has made contradictory claims on his stance on India. His promise to revise US immigration policy and take outsourced “American” jobs back from India have raised anxiety in the country, especially among the middle classes, who often aspire to study or work in the US or have relatives in the country.

At a rally earlier this week, Trump mocked an Indian call centre worker and mimicked his accent. On the other hand, earlier this year, in an interview with CNN, he said: “By the way, India is doing great. Nobody talks about it. I have big jobs going up in India.” 

[Riaz Haq]

#India map law issue heats up. #Pakistan asks #UN to stop it. #Kashmir #China http://on.wsj.com/1sqDe6L via @WSJ

Pakistan has asked the United Nations to stop the passage of an Indian law that requires map-makers to show the disputed territory of Kashmir within India’s borders.

Islamabad’s contention: the region falls within Pakistan’s boundaries.

Kashmir has been at the center of a long-standing dispute between India and Pakistan. Both countries control part of the Himalayan region, but claim it in its entirely. The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars over it.

India drafted legislation earlier this year, seeking to penalize those who depict its borders “incorrectly.” India’s official maps include territory governed by Pakistan and China but claimed by India.

The bill, expected to be put before Parliament later this year, proposes a fine of up to 1 billion rupees ($14 million) and prison time of up to seven years for any violation.

“The official map of India has been depicting the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir as part of India which is factually incorrect and legally untenable,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The statement added the government had written letters to the United Nations “to urge India to stop such acts which are in violation of international law.”

If passed, technology companies like Alphabet’s Google and Apple will need the permission of India’s government before “acquiring, disseminating and publishing or distributing any geospatial information of India.”

News channels, and even foreign governments, have been reprimanded by both nations for the depiction of their boundaries.

Pakistan came down heavily on Tajikistan last week after a map showing India’s rendering of the border was displayed at an event attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

India took Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera English off the air for five days last year for showing maps with “parts of Indian territory inside Pakistan.” The U.S. State Department altered the maps of both countries on its website after New Delhi said the depiction was inaccurate in 2012.

India’s Foreign Ministry said the bill would move ahead despite Pakistan’s objections. “The proposed bill is an internal legislative matter for India,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said at a press briefing. “Pakistan or any other party has no right to interfere in it.”

[Riaz Haq]

#Clinton is trying to woo #Muslim voters. They could make all the difference. #Trump

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/clinton-is-trying-to-woo-mu...


Two years ago, Muslims made up just under 1 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study. But the population is growing; Emerge USA, which collects data on Muslim voters and has a political action committee to support candidates, puts the number at closer to 2 percent of the population.

Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia “alone add up to almost 1 million Muslim voters,” said Khurrum Wahid, a Miami-based lawyer and the organization’s founder. “With a decent voter turnout in those states, Muslims will be the swing vote in both the presidential and many close House races.”

Most Muslim Americans now lean Democratic, according to the Pew study. In past decades, many were fiscally conservative, pro-family and eager to see their cities get tough on crime. Surveys conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Muslim Alliance in the aftermath of Bush’s 2000 election found that between 72 percent and 80 percent of Muslims polled said that they had voted for him. But after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Bush’s rhetoric on religion and decision to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, the majority began voting Democratic.

At the same time, Muslims are generally less politically active than the larger American population; only 62 percent of those who were U.S. citizens were certain that they were registered to vote, compared with 74 percent of adult U.S. citizens overall, according to Pew.

To reach those voters, the Clinton campaign has appointed two state-level Muslim outreach coordinators to work with Mitha, and the campaign also has dispatched Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to Congress, and Huma Abedin, Clinton’s close adviser and deputy campaign manager, to key swing states across the country.

Ellison estimates that he has met with at least 10 Muslim groups since the July convention. One recent Monday morning, he showed up in a tiny Orlando doctor’s office where the campaign was holding its kickoff phone bank for Muslim volunteers and rattled off reasons Muslims should vote for Clinton.