The tragedy in Birsa, a remote area of Madhya Pradesh, has once again highlighted the vulnerability of villages left without reliable healthcare facilities. Adivasi organisations are on strike because of government indifference. The Church stands by isolated populations.
Until now victims needed four adult Muslim men as witnesses to prove rape. Otherwise women were condemned for adultery.
A report published in New Delhi condemns the tragic situation of women in countries hit by the 2004 killer wave: domestic violence, unemployment, lack of government aid, induction to prostitution and forced to sell their organs are just some of the problems highlighted. An appeal for local authority intervention.
The archbishop of Colombo yesterday appealed to the faithful asking them to help more than 150,000 people displaced by the current crisis in the country’s north-eastern region. All donations will go to the ‘Refugee Fund – 2007’.
The National Sample Survey Organisation indicates that Christians have a higher rate of unemployment despite lower illiteracy. They are also under-represented among the self-employed and over-represented among wage labourers. States should guarantee more job reservations for needy Christians, says bishop of Hazaribag.
Following recent confrontations, Maoists join national government. Members from various religious denominations express renewed hope for peace but have doubts about Maoists’ real intentions.
The programme proposing sex education and a HIV/AIDS awareness schemes for the primary schools of Karnataka – India is number two in the world among the countries most effected by the virus – has been blocked by the government. The Archbishop of Bangalore Bernard Moras speaks with AsiaNews.
The director of the Jamia HafsaMadrassah, who along with students attacked and then forced the closure of a brothel in Islamabad, clarifies: it is not a request it is an ultimatum.
They were found guilty of the 2005 assassination of two judges. Among those put to death, leaders of renowned radical groups: Shaikh Abdur Rahman, of the JMB, and Bangla Bhai, del JMJB. Both groups fight for the introduction of Sharia in the country.
Three women captured by female students of a madrassah were freed today, one of them forced to “immoral behaviour”. There is increased concern that the entire country may become prey to a form of Taleban violence. The president of Pakistan Minorities Alliance tells AsiaNews: “It is wrong to leave justice in the hands of small groups and not in the hands of the law”.
Kasur District Court finds Abdul Hammed guilty of proclaiming himself a prophet of Islam. The accused built a replica of Islam’s first place of worship, Makkah’s Kaaba, black stone included, claiming it was the real thing.
In China a youth dies in an area believed to be free of infection among birds. In Indonesia the disease takes another two lives, in western Sumatra and Jakarta. Meanwhile other states, such as Afghanistan and Egypt, race to block the live bird trade.
Kabul decides to open Islamic schools under government control, where general culture studies, computers and foreign languages will figure on the curriculum beside religious studies. Education Minister: “The enemies of democracy in this country are actually using education as a weapon of terrorism”. Teacher formation programmes for men and women also planned.
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