Dedicated to the people of Iran fighting for democracy and freedom
Sussex University award for 43 years of human rights activism
23 July 2010 - Brighton
Full text of Peter Tatchell's acceptance speech, on receipt of his Honorary Doctorate of Letters, conferred by Sussex University and presented by the university's Chancellor, Sanjeev Bhaskar, in a ceremony at Brighton Dome on 23 July 2010.
Peter Tatchell said:
Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, members of faculty, family and friends, and fellow graduands, to whom I offer my congratulations. Congratulations on your hard work - and success.
My gratitude to Prof Morely for her most generous oration, and to the University of Sussex for conferring on me such a high award.
I was hesitant about accepting this honour. After all, my doctorate has not been earned by academic study, and my contribution to human rights is very modest. Many others are much more deserving than me.
Nevertheless, after so many years of demonisation by the tabloid press, right-wingers, homophobes and even by some people on the left and in the LGBT community, this recognition is much appreciated.
In accepting this award, I pay tribute to the heroic, inspirational activists I have worked alongside, including activists in Uganda, Somaliland, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Baluchistan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Western Sahara, Iraq, Palestine and West Papua.
The greatest honour I've had in my life is the privilege to know and support so many amazing, courageous human rights defenders around the world. I walk in their shadow, humbled by their bravery and sacrifice.
I dedicate my acceptance of this honorary doctorate to the people of Iran who are struggling against clerical dictatorship, for democracy and freedom.
In particular, Mansour Osanloo, the jailed Iranian trade union leader, and Sakineh Ashtiani, who has been sentenced to be stoned to death, along with more than 20 other Iranians.
I express my solidarity with Iran's persecuted Sunni Muslims and its oppressed national minorities: including the Arab, Kurdish and Baluch peoples.
I'm not special or unique. I do my bit for social justice, but so do many others. Together, through our collective efforts, we are slowly, but surely, helping make a better world - a world more just and free.
My key political inspirations are Mohandas Gandhi, Sylvia Pankhurst, Martin Luther King and, to some extent, Malcolm X and Rosa Luxemburg. I've adapted many of their ideas and methods to the contemporary struggle for human rights - and invented a few of my own.
I began campaigning in my home town of Melbourne, Australia, in 1967, aged 15.
My first human rights campaign was against the death penalty, followed by campaigns in support of Aboriginal rights and in opposition to conscription and the Australian and US war against the people of Vietnam.
In 1969, on realising that I was gay, the struggle for queer freedom became an increasing focus of my activism.
After moving to London in 1971, I became an activist in the Gay Liberation Front; organising sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve queers, and organising protests against police harassment and the medical classification of homosexuality as an illness.
I was roughed up and forcibly ejected when I challenged the world famous psychologist, Professor Hans Eysenck, during a lecture in 1972, where he advocated electric shock aversion therapy to supposedly 'cure' homosexuality.
The following year, in East Berlin, I was arrested and interrogated by the secret police - the Stasi - after staging the first gay rights protest in a communist country.
I have continued in the same vein for four decades, with many controversial protests: such as taking over the pulpit and condemning the Archbishop of Canterbury on Easer Sunday 1998, two attempted citizen's arrests of President Mugabe of Zimbabwe, confronting Mike Tyson over his homophobia, and outing 10 Church of England Bishops in 1994.
The bishops were outed, not because they were gay but because they were hypocrites. They colluded with the church's anti-gay stance in public but were gay in private. They were outed because of their homophobia and hypocrisy, not because of their homosexuality.
I was widely criticised at the time. Critics said I had no real evidence that the bishops were gay. Not true. I had the evidence. I was gratified some years later when a doctor approached me to confirm that he knew one of the bishops was definitely gay. He told me that the unnamed bishop was a patient and once came to his surgery with a rectal problem. The doctor asked the bishop to show him where the problem was. Dropping his trousers and pointing to his bottom the bishop said: "It's here, just by the entrance." To which the doctor replied: "Excuse me bishop, most us call it the exit."
Looking back on my 43 years of human rights campaigning, my advice, for what it's worth, is this:
Be sceptical, question authority, be a rebel. Do not conform and don't be ordinary.
Remember, all human progress is the result of far-sighted people challenging orthodoxy, tradition and rich, powerful, vested interests.
Be daring, show imagination, take risks.
Fight against the greatest human rights violation of all: free market capitalism, which has created a world divided into rich and poor, where hundreds of millions of people are malnourished, homeless, without clean drinking water and dying from hunger and preventable diseases.
Don't accept the world as it is. Dream about what the world could be - then help make it happen.
In whatever field of endeavour you work, be a change-maker for the upliftment of humanity.
To quote my fellow sodomite and socialist Oscar Wilde:
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
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Thursday, July 29, 2010
Review gay marriage ban, government urged
Call for public consultation, appeal to Equalities Minister
61% of the public support same-sex civil marriage
London - 28 July 2010
Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone MP, has been urged to initiate a government review and public consultation on the ban on gay civil marriage.
The call came from human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell during a meeting with Ms Featherstone and other lesbian and gay rights campaigners, which took place at the House of Commons on Tuesday 27 July 2010.
The meeting was convened by Ms Featherstone to take soundings from gay campaigners on allowing civil partnerships to have a religious content, which is currently prohibited, and on the option of extending civil marriages to same-sex couples.
"The coalition government should undertake a public consultation to determine whether the ban on gay marriage ought to be lifted. It should invite representations from individuals and organisations and, on the basis of the submissions received, decide if the ban should stay or go," said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
"Maintaining the ban without considering public opinion is unreasonable and unjustified," he said.
Ms Featherstone responded by saying that the government needed to take one step at a time, beginning with giving religious bodies the option to hold civil partnerships, if they wished, in accordance with Lord Alli's successful amendment to the Equality Bill earlier this year.
Mr Tatchell replied:
"Action on improving civil partnerships and reviewing the ban on gay marriage are not mutually exclusive. They could run together in tandem.
"This is an issue of equality. In a democratic society, we are all supposed to be equal under the law. The bans on same-sex civil marriage and on heterosexual civil partnerships are not equality. They are discrimination. It's anti-democratic.
"The government is out of step with popular opinion. Without any major campaign or wider debate, nearly two-thirds of the British public now say that the law on civil marriage should not discriminate.
"A Populus poll for the Times newspaper in June 2009 found that 61% of the public believe that: 'Gay couples should have an equal right to get married, not just to have civil partnerships.' Only 33% disagreed.
See The Times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6586450.ece
and Populus:
http://www.populuslimited.com/the-times-the-times-gay-britain-poll-100609.html
"Marriage is the gold standard. Civil partnerships are second best. They are not equality. A separate law is not an equal law.
"We would not accept the government telling Jewish people that they were prohibited from getting married, and offering them instead a separate Jews-only civil partnership system. We'd say it was anti-Semitic and not the kind of law we would expect to find in democratic Britain. Well, that's the way I feel about civil partnerships. They are institutional homophobia.
"Civil partnerships create a two-tier system of partnership recognition: one law for heterosexuals, civil marriage, and another law for same-sex couples, civil partnerships.
"This perpetuates and extends discrimination. The homophobia of the ban on same-sex civil marriage is now compounded by the heterophobia of the ban on opposite-sex civil partnerships.
"Just as a gay couple cannot have a civil marriage, a straight couple cannot have a civil partnership. Two wrongs don't make a right.
"The official policies of Liberal Democrat, Conservative, and Labour parties do not support same-sex civil marriage. They oppose it. They support discrimination.
"The Green Party is, so far, the only party officially committed to giving same-sex partners the right to civil marriage - and to giving heterosexual couples the right to civil partnerships," said Mr Tatchell.
61% of the public support same-sex civil marriage
London - 28 July 2010
Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone MP, has been urged to initiate a government review and public consultation on the ban on gay civil marriage.
The call came from human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell during a meeting with Ms Featherstone and other lesbian and gay rights campaigners, which took place at the House of Commons on Tuesday 27 July 2010.
The meeting was convened by Ms Featherstone to take soundings from gay campaigners on allowing civil partnerships to have a religious content, which is currently prohibited, and on the option of extending civil marriages to same-sex couples.
"The coalition government should undertake a public consultation to determine whether the ban on gay marriage ought to be lifted. It should invite representations from individuals and organisations and, on the basis of the submissions received, decide if the ban should stay or go," said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
"Maintaining the ban without considering public opinion is unreasonable and unjustified," he said.
Ms Featherstone responded by saying that the government needed to take one step at a time, beginning with giving religious bodies the option to hold civil partnerships, if they wished, in accordance with Lord Alli's successful amendment to the Equality Bill earlier this year.
Mr Tatchell replied:
"Action on improving civil partnerships and reviewing the ban on gay marriage are not mutually exclusive. They could run together in tandem.
"This is an issue of equality. In a democratic society, we are all supposed to be equal under the law. The bans on same-sex civil marriage and on heterosexual civil partnerships are not equality. They are discrimination. It's anti-democratic.
"The government is out of step with popular opinion. Without any major campaign or wider debate, nearly two-thirds of the British public now say that the law on civil marriage should not discriminate.
"A Populus poll for the Times newspaper in June 2009 found that 61% of the public believe that: 'Gay couples should have an equal right to get married, not just to have civil partnerships.' Only 33% disagreed.
See The Times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6586450.ece
and Populus:
http://www.populuslimited.com/the-times-the-times-gay-britain-poll-100609.html
"Marriage is the gold standard. Civil partnerships are second best. They are not equality. A separate law is not an equal law.
"We would not accept the government telling Jewish people that they were prohibited from getting married, and offering them instead a separate Jews-only civil partnership system. We'd say it was anti-Semitic and not the kind of law we would expect to find in democratic Britain. Well, that's the way I feel about civil partnerships. They are institutional homophobia.
"Civil partnerships create a two-tier system of partnership recognition: one law for heterosexuals, civil marriage, and another law for same-sex couples, civil partnerships.
"This perpetuates and extends discrimination. The homophobia of the ban on same-sex civil marriage is now compounded by the heterophobia of the ban on opposite-sex civil partnerships.
"Just as a gay couple cannot have a civil marriage, a straight couple cannot have a civil partnership. Two wrongs don't make a right.
"The official policies of Liberal Democrat, Conservative, and Labour parties do not support same-sex civil marriage. They oppose it. They support discrimination.
"The Green Party is, so far, the only party officially committed to giving same-sex partners the right to civil marriage - and to giving heterosexual couples the right to civil partnerships," said Mr Tatchell.
Stop the execution of Sakineh Ashtiani in Iran
Press conference of the International Committee Against Stoning
11am - Friday 30 July 2010,
Conway Hall,
Red Lion Square,
London
WC1R 4RL
New information on the threatened execution of 43 year old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, and others who have been also sentenced to death by stoning in Iran, will be revealed at a London press conference this Friday by Mina Ahadi, Coordinator of the International Committee Against Executions and the International Committee Against Stoning.
Other press conference speakers include Maryam Namazie, Iran Solidarity spokesperson, and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
The press conference will take place this Friday, 30 July, in the Brockway Room, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R 4RL, from 11am to 12 noon.
The meeting is open to the media and the public. All opponents of the death penalty and supporters of international human rights are welcome to attend.
"In response to the international outcry, some Iranian officials report that Sakineh's execution has been put on hold," said Peter Tatchell.
"Other reports suggest that the stoning sentence has been revoked and that she will be hanged instead.
"All these reports remain unconfirmed by the Iranian judiciary, which has the final say.
"Sakineh is still under threat of execution.
"The government of Iran has banned the country's media from reporting Sakineh's case, which suggests they know most Iranians do not support the barbarity of stoning.
"To deflect international condemnation, the Iranian authorities have falsely claimed that Sakineh was sentenced to death for committing murder, when court documents clearly show that she was condemned to be stoned for having sex outside of marriage.
"The Tehran regime has issued an arrest warrant for Sakineh's lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei. It has arrested his wife and brother-in-law, neither of whom have committed any crime. They are being detained in an apparent bid to force Mostafaei to hand himself over the police.
"The death sentence passed on Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani for committing adultery is disproportionate, excessive and a violation of human rights.
"Stoning a person to death is particularly barbaric. It has no legitimate place in any legal system in the twenty-first century; especially for a non-violent act of adultery between consenting adults.
"Even if the sentence has been changed from stoning to hanging, any execution is immoral.
"The real crimes are the cruel, barbaric and inhuman acts of stoning and other forms of execution. The death penalty should be abolished - in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, the US and worldwide." added Mr Tatchell.
Please sign the Avaaz petition to save Sakineh's life:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?cl=651962225&v=6766
For more information about the press conference and campaign, contact:
Maryam Namazie
iransolidaritynow@gmail.com
07719 166 731
International Committee Against Executions: http://notonemoreexecution.org
International Committee Against Stoning: http://stopstonningnow.com
Iran Solidarity: www.iransolidarity.org.uk
11am - Friday 30 July 2010,
Conway Hall,
Red Lion Square,
London
WC1R 4RL
New information on the threatened execution of 43 year old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, and others who have been also sentenced to death by stoning in Iran, will be revealed at a London press conference this Friday by Mina Ahadi, Coordinator of the International Committee Against Executions and the International Committee Against Stoning.
Other press conference speakers include Maryam Namazie, Iran Solidarity spokesperson, and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
The press conference will take place this Friday, 30 July, in the Brockway Room, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R 4RL, from 11am to 12 noon.
The meeting is open to the media and the public. All opponents of the death penalty and supporters of international human rights are welcome to attend.
"In response to the international outcry, some Iranian officials report that Sakineh's execution has been put on hold," said Peter Tatchell.
"Other reports suggest that the stoning sentence has been revoked and that she will be hanged instead.
"All these reports remain unconfirmed by the Iranian judiciary, which has the final say.
"Sakineh is still under threat of execution.
"The government of Iran has banned the country's media from reporting Sakineh's case, which suggests they know most Iranians do not support the barbarity of stoning.
"To deflect international condemnation, the Iranian authorities have falsely claimed that Sakineh was sentenced to death for committing murder, when court documents clearly show that she was condemned to be stoned for having sex outside of marriage.
"The Tehran regime has issued an arrest warrant for Sakineh's lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei. It has arrested his wife and brother-in-law, neither of whom have committed any crime. They are being detained in an apparent bid to force Mostafaei to hand himself over the police.
"The death sentence passed on Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani for committing adultery is disproportionate, excessive and a violation of human rights.
"Stoning a person to death is particularly barbaric. It has no legitimate place in any legal system in the twenty-first century; especially for a non-violent act of adultery between consenting adults.
"Even if the sentence has been changed from stoning to hanging, any execution is immoral.
"The real crimes are the cruel, barbaric and inhuman acts of stoning and other forms of execution. The death penalty should be abolished - in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, the US and worldwide." added Mr Tatchell.
Please sign the Avaaz petition to save Sakineh's life:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?cl=651962225&v=6766
For more information about the press conference and campaign, contact:
Maryam Namazie
iransolidaritynow@gmail.com
07719 166 731
International Committee Against Executions: http://notonemoreexecution.org
International Committee Against Stoning: http://stopstonningnow.com
Iran Solidarity: www.iransolidarity.org.uk
Swazi prince says journalists who ‘write bad things about the country will die’
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns death threats and outrageous claims made last week by a member of Swaziland’s royal family against local journalists over their critical coverage of the country's leadership.
During a July 21 public forum called the Smart Partnership National Dialogue in the central commercial city of Manzini, Prince Mahlaba, brother of Swaziland’s absolute ruler King Mswati III, was quoted by local media as saying: “I want to warn the media to bury things that have the potential of undermining the country rather than publish all and everything even when such reports are harmful to the country's international image. Journalists who continue to write bad things about the country will die.” The prince also accused the media of peddling lies, saying: “It’s a fact that journalists earn their living by writing lies and if they do not write the lies then their source of livelihood is threatened and this is fact and beyond debate.”
The senior prince was responding to a question at the forum from the queen about why the media was portraying the country negatively, local journalists told CPJ.
Mbogani Mbingo, managing editor of the independent Times of Swaziland, told CPJ the threats were “dangerous” and could not be taken lightly since the prince was a member of a highly influential royal advisory council, the Swazi National Council Standing Committee (SNC).” The SNC advises the king on public policy, including media matters.
“The government of Swaziland must immediately reject the death threats against journalists by a leading member of the ruling family,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “We call on the government to issue a clear and unequivocal statement condemning this murderous outburst and ensuring the international community that Swaziland is committed to the protection of all journalists.”
Comfort Mabuza, the National Director of the local chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa condemned the threats and feared they could incite the public against the journalists. “We are in big trouble because his view may be representing that of SNC, which advises the king,” Mabuza told CPJ. “The council is yet to call him to order and we are really concerned about their continued silence.”
In Swaziland, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, the government persists in intimidating journalists who write about the monarchy, leading to censorship and self-censorship, according to CPJ research.
During a July 21 public forum called the Smart Partnership National Dialogue in the central commercial city of Manzini, Prince Mahlaba, brother of Swaziland’s absolute ruler King Mswati III, was quoted by local media as saying: “I want to warn the media to bury things that have the potential of undermining the country rather than publish all and everything even when such reports are harmful to the country's international image. Journalists who continue to write bad things about the country will die.” The prince also accused the media of peddling lies, saying: “It’s a fact that journalists earn their living by writing lies and if they do not write the lies then their source of livelihood is threatened and this is fact and beyond debate.”
The senior prince was responding to a question at the forum from the queen about why the media was portraying the country negatively, local journalists told CPJ.
Mbogani Mbingo, managing editor of the independent Times of Swaziland, told CPJ the threats were “dangerous” and could not be taken lightly since the prince was a member of a highly influential royal advisory council, the Swazi National Council Standing Committee (SNC).” The SNC advises the king on public policy, including media matters.
“The government of Swaziland must immediately reject the death threats against journalists by a leading member of the ruling family,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “We call on the government to issue a clear and unequivocal statement condemning this murderous outburst and ensuring the international community that Swaziland is committed to the protection of all journalists.”
Comfort Mabuza, the National Director of the local chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa condemned the threats and feared they could incite the public against the journalists. “We are in big trouble because his view may be representing that of SNC, which advises the king,” Mabuza told CPJ. “The council is yet to call him to order and we are really concerned about their continued silence.”
In Swaziland, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, the government persists in intimidating journalists who write about the monarchy, leading to censorship and self-censorship, according to CPJ research.
Bulletin of Christian Persecution
July 1- July 26, 2010
July 1, 2010
Morocco
Moroccan authorities expelled eight more foreign Christians from the country last weekend, bringing the total of deported Christians since March to 128.
July 3, 2010
Indonesia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
A banner with a picture of a young, bespectacled Christian man is draped in front of a mosque, a fiery noose around his neck and the words, "This man deserves the death penalty!" More HERE. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Radical-Muslims-threaten-to-kill-Christian-man-in-Bekasi-18839.html
July 4, 2010
India
Two Muslims were arrested for cutting off the hand of a Christian college teacher because he had an exam question that allegedly insulted Muslims.
July 8, 2010
Pakistan
The local government has forbidden poor Christians from taking advantage of a soup kitchen because of their faith.
July 8, 2010
Pakistan (Hat tip to Atlas Shrugs)
Muslim mob murdered the wife and four children of a Christian last month, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges.
July 9, 2010
Pakistan
A Christian family had to flee their home to escape a mob of local Muslims.
July 10, 2010
Pakistan
Christian students in Pakistan are victims of violence and discrimination.
July 12, 2010
Kashmir
A Catholic missionary is forced to leave his two schools in Kashmir because they are "too good."
July 13, 2010
Iran
(Hat tip to JihadWatch)
An Iranian pastor faces execution after two judges agreed to make him "liable to capital punishment," as part of a crackdown on the growing Protestant church movement in the Islamic nation.
July 14, 2010
Egypt
What happens when Islamic totalitarianism meets Christian freedom.
Turkey (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Police have started an investigation after the façade of the 1,700-year-old Mor Jacob Syriac Orthodox Church in Nusaybin, was defaced with pro-Islamic slogans.
July 16, 2010
Pakistan
A large number of Christians has fled the outskirts of Faisalabad, fearing violence, after Muslims launched a protest action that started at a local mosque after Friday prayers.
Russia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
A minister died who was shot while leaving church in an attempt to intimidate Christian converts from Islam.
July 17, 2010
Nigeria
A Christian priest and three others were murdered and their church burned down.
Nigeria (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
At least eight people have been hacked to death in a predominantly Christian village in central Nigeria.
July 19, 2010
Pakistan
A Christian herbal medicine doctor has been deprived of his house and only daughter because he had refused to convert to Islam.
Pakistan
Gunmen have killed two Christian brothers who had been accused of blasphemy against Islam. More HERE. Update HERE.
July 21, 2010
Indonesia (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
A group of 500 Islamic extremists blocked Christians from a Protestant Church in a field where the Sunday service was taking place.
July 23, 2010
Indonesia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
A group called the Forum of the Muslim Brotherhood of Limusnunggal went to the police and had a Christian church pulled down.
July 26, 2010
Indonesia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Attacks on Christian churches are up in Indonesia.
July 1, 2010
Morocco
Moroccan authorities expelled eight more foreign Christians from the country last weekend, bringing the total of deported Christians since March to 128.
July 3, 2010
Indonesia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
A banner with a picture of a young, bespectacled Christian man is draped in front of a mosque, a fiery noose around his neck and the words, "This man deserves the death penalty!" More HERE. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Radical-Muslims-threaten-to-kill-Christian-man-in-Bekasi-18839.html
July 4, 2010
India
Two Muslims were arrested for cutting off the hand of a Christian college teacher because he had an exam question that allegedly insulted Muslims.
July 8, 2010
Pakistan
The local government has forbidden poor Christians from taking advantage of a soup kitchen because of their faith.
July 8, 2010
Pakistan (Hat tip to Atlas Shrugs)
Muslim mob murdered the wife and four children of a Christian last month, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges.
July 9, 2010
Pakistan
A Christian family had to flee their home to escape a mob of local Muslims.
July 10, 2010
Pakistan
Christian students in Pakistan are victims of violence and discrimination.
July 12, 2010
Kashmir
A Catholic missionary is forced to leave his two schools in Kashmir because they are "too good."
July 13, 2010
Iran
(Hat tip to JihadWatch)
An Iranian pastor faces execution after two judges agreed to make him "liable to capital punishment," as part of a crackdown on the growing Protestant church movement in the Islamic nation.
July 14, 2010
Egypt
What happens when Islamic totalitarianism meets Christian freedom.
Turkey (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Police have started an investigation after the façade of the 1,700-year-old Mor Jacob Syriac Orthodox Church in Nusaybin, was defaced with pro-Islamic slogans.
July 16, 2010
Pakistan
A large number of Christians has fled the outskirts of Faisalabad, fearing violence, after Muslims launched a protest action that started at a local mosque after Friday prayers.
Russia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
A minister died who was shot while leaving church in an attempt to intimidate Christian converts from Islam.
July 17, 2010
Nigeria
A Christian priest and three others were murdered and their church burned down.
Nigeria (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
At least eight people have been hacked to death in a predominantly Christian village in central Nigeria.
July 19, 2010
Pakistan
A Christian herbal medicine doctor has been deprived of his house and only daughter because he had refused to convert to Islam.
Pakistan
Gunmen have killed two Christian brothers who had been accused of blasphemy against Islam. More HERE. Update HERE.
July 21, 2010
Indonesia (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
A group of 500 Islamic extremists blocked Christians from a Protestant Church in a field where the Sunday service was taking place.
July 23, 2010
Indonesia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
A group called the Forum of the Muslim Brotherhood of Limusnunggal went to the police and had a Christian church pulled down.
July 26, 2010
Indonesia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Attacks on Christian churches are up in Indonesia.
Congolese journalist under arrest; stations forced off air
New York, July 28, 2010—Authorities arrested a journalist on Tuesday on criminal defamation charges in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hours earlier, in an unrelated incident, armed men briefly forced the city’s three main opposition broadcasters off the air, according to local journalists and news reports.
Pascal Mulunda, editor of weekly Le Monitor, has been held in Kinshasa's Penitentiary and Reeducation Center since police officers picked him on Tuesday with an arrest warrant, defense lawyer Joel Awnze Kaloume told CPJ. No date had been set for trial and the defense was requesting Mulunda’s release on bail, Kaloume said.
The arrest was based on a June 26 defamation complaint filed by Baudouin Iheta, an official with the Mining Ministry agency Saesscam, against Le Monitor and weekly Le Baromètre after the newspapers published a June 23 story implicating Iheta in overbilling in the agency’s purchase of four vehicles, he said. Le Baromètre Editor Jeff Saïle, who has gone into hiding, told CPJ he had received anonymous phone threats.
“Congolese officials must stop trying to hide behind antiquated criminal defamation laws,” said Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “We call on authorities to free Pascal Mulunda immediately, and decriminalize defamation so that the press can fulfill its role of holding public officials to account.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Canal Congo Télévision (CCTV), Canal Kin Télévision (CKTV) and Radio Liberté Kinshasa (RALIK)—stations owned by exiled opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba—were briefly forced off the air after five armed men in plainclothes stormed Télé Consult, a private Italian telecom company and government contractor, reported local press freedom group Journaliste En Danger (JED). The premises house the broadcast equipment of all television and radio stations in Kinshasa. The men held staffers and guards at gunpoint in Kinshasa’s residential neighborhood of Binza Pigeon and forced them to cut the stations’ signal, according to JED.
Speaking to CPJ today, Congolese Communications Minister Lambert Mendé Omalanga said police were responsible for the security of the site and that the government was investigating the incident. He told Agence France-Presse there had not been any government involvement.
The attack may have been linked to a news item on Monday evening that raised questions about the government’s management of the Congolese Office of Post and Telecommunications after workers went on strike this month over more than two years of unpaid salaries, said Stéphane Kitutu O'Léontwa, the general manager of CCTV and RALIK. Kitutu told CPJ the signal of the networks’ 11 TV and 24 radio stations was restored this afternoon.
Pascal Mulunda, editor of weekly Le Monitor, has been held in Kinshasa's Penitentiary and Reeducation Center since police officers picked him on Tuesday with an arrest warrant, defense lawyer Joel Awnze Kaloume told CPJ. No date had been set for trial and the defense was requesting Mulunda’s release on bail, Kaloume said.
The arrest was based on a June 26 defamation complaint filed by Baudouin Iheta, an official with the Mining Ministry agency Saesscam, against Le Monitor and weekly Le Baromètre after the newspapers published a June 23 story implicating Iheta in overbilling in the agency’s purchase of four vehicles, he said. Le Baromètre Editor Jeff Saïle, who has gone into hiding, told CPJ he had received anonymous phone threats.
“Congolese officials must stop trying to hide behind antiquated criminal defamation laws,” said Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “We call on authorities to free Pascal Mulunda immediately, and decriminalize defamation so that the press can fulfill its role of holding public officials to account.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Canal Congo Télévision (CCTV), Canal Kin Télévision (CKTV) and Radio Liberté Kinshasa (RALIK)—stations owned by exiled opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba—were briefly forced off the air after five armed men in plainclothes stormed Télé Consult, a private Italian telecom company and government contractor, reported local press freedom group Journaliste En Danger (JED). The premises house the broadcast equipment of all television and radio stations in Kinshasa. The men held staffers and guards at gunpoint in Kinshasa’s residential neighborhood of Binza Pigeon and forced them to cut the stations’ signal, according to JED.
Speaking to CPJ today, Congolese Communications Minister Lambert Mendé Omalanga said police were responsible for the security of the site and that the government was investigating the incident. He told Agence France-Presse there had not been any government involvement.
The attack may have been linked to a news item on Monday evening that raised questions about the government’s management of the Congolese Office of Post and Telecommunications after workers went on strike this month over more than two years of unpaid salaries, said Stéphane Kitutu O'Léontwa, the general manager of CCTV and RALIK. Kitutu told CPJ the signal of the networks’ 11 TV and 24 radio stations was restored this afternoon.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Rich minds, empty pockets: A tale of Malawi's veteran musicians
BY RICHARD CHIROMBO
Their music still holds the stage today, a sure sign of the nation’s
satisfaction with their unconventional minds and mastery in phrasing.
Some of them arrived onto the music scene at a time the national bar
line had regimented Western music into a stable series of some two,
three or five beats to measure, some of which were being fused into
Malawian music.
To a large extent, both colonialism and mono-partism never injured the
traditional local beat.
The beauty about Malawi’s veteran musicians like the late Allan
Namoko, Stonard Lungu, Michael Yekha, Daniel Kachamba, Robert
Fumulani, among others, is that they knew how to ignore the bar line.
The effect was breath-taking: Western music never impeded the flow of
local music but was merely a convenience, not a mathematical division
or equation for success.
Take, for instance, the late Kachamba or Fumulani. They might never
have graced the walls of music schools as a first call towards the
journey we call music, yet one notes the rich harmony in their music
and resourcefulness.
That is why we still dance to Khunju Reggae, Bambo a Tereza,
Mbambande, Mlendo ndimame Luo, Baba Mika, Chisoni, Ulendo Wanga,
Ndikakwatira kuMangoni, and yearn for more. It is the powerful
effects, suspended dissonant notes and orthodox arrangement that
strike the chord of sweet memories in us.
Theirs was probably the pioneering generation of local music, diving
in unnavigated waters and, yet, leaving prints on our
entertainment-tuned minds. A generation that could arrange a series of
suspensions in different voices, each of whose resolutions intensified
the emotional effect of the whole, while lending nobility, authority
and unmistakable force to the rhythm at a time of simple technologies.
Well before computers took over the natural sound of the banjo,
guitar, and visekese. Of course, some music experts have questioned
the music of the likes of Namoko, arguing that the legendary
musician’s instruments sound more Afro-jazz than Tchopish (as in
Tchopa) to be Malawian.
When the computers took over, rendering guitar wizardly a pastime, it
was as if most veteran musicians knew what was coming and never wanted
to see ‘real’ music die. Most died before getting a full dose of the
corruption that is called local music. Off they went, their music
uncorrupted.
However, the most remarkable thing about them is how they died in,
mostly, a state that never befitted their status in society. In life,
it was their talent that stood out, with the likes of Kachamba being
bestowed the coveted Doctorate of music accolade. In death, it is
their abject poverty that strikes us.
Should we say the voice of conscience is never loud in our nation? If
not, why does history keep on repeating itself? Music scholars agree
that in the keyboard, for instance, you have everything to do with the
perfection of harmony. Why is it that those who play the keyboard are
starved of real life harmony? Why don’t they live the life of a
keyboard?
When Namoko died in abject poverty, people thought it was the end of
neglect over music greats. But, until recently, his grave lay
unattended to. At least until Zodiac Broadcasting Station remembered
the ‘Lameck’ star.
Other concerned citizens, the likes of human rights activist Undule
Mwakasungula and lawyer Ralph Kasambala have also taken to the
sympathetic road, remembering national anthem composer Michael Sauka.
A well-paved path now marks the road once an abode of unkempt grass
and mice.
The truth is that it is all too late; the dead never take a walk up
their graves to appreciate how impressive the sorroundings are.
The world will judge us by the way we take care of our living greats
while, at the same time, appreciating how we honour the living-dead.
Because their music still lives, and they live in us (our hearts), the
Namokos, Kachambas, Yekhas are the living dead.
And, then, we have the living-living. Those who still live, and their
music lives in us, too.
These include the likes of Guides Chalamanda of the Line fame, Maurice
Maulidi of Ulendo Wanga, Batson Kapalamula, George Khombe, Herbert
Makuluni and Lommie Mafunga.
For his old age and music prowess, financial constraints stood in the
way between Chalamanda and the studio for his debut album. Thanks to
Edgar ndi Davis, the acoustic-guitar addict has shed off the tag that
for decades stood more galling than the sound of his single playing on
radio.
For Maulidi, society continues to treat him unfairly through
non-payment of loyalties. Having played with the Songani Strings Band
and dedicated more of his 67 years to music, the veteran musician
feels it is not worth it to be a musician in Malawi.
Like Chalamanda, he looks forward to the day when he will double as a
living-living and living-dead when the time comes. This comes through
album production.
“Money is the biggest problem,” Maulidi sums up what, to most
musicians, is an everyday reality.
Memories are often sweet. It’s the present that mostly pains.
“The way Malawians pretend everything is okay with old-time musicians,
yet poverty has become a way of life; it pains,” chips in Lommie
Mafunga, one of the surviving musicians.
Mafunga, of the Baba Mika fame, a song that once took Malawi
Broadcasting Corporation’s (MBC) airwaves by storm between the late
1980s and early 1990s, is no stranger to Malawi music.
He considers himself lucky to have brushed shoulders against the likes
of Allan Namoko. Brushing shoulders is one thing; it is beating the
greats at their own game every musician dreams of.
Mafunga and his Tinyade Sounds did just that on April 12, 1992 during
a festival of local acoustic bands. The pint-sized musician scooped
first position, beating the likes of Namoko. As a result, four of his
songs captivated a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) crew it took
them to London.
The songs are: Kumwalira Kwababa, Chiwerewere, Miseche, Munthu Sakondwera.
It did not end there for the Nchalo, Chikwawa-born musician who looks
younger than a product of June 27, 1968. On October 15, 1994, while
working for SUCOMA’s Nchalo factory, an entourage of music production
experts from London came looking for him and his Tinyade Sounds. They
wanted him to become part of a Malawi video film on travel, alongside
Namoko and Chivu River Jazz Band, Fumbi Jazz Band, Ndingo Brothers
Band.
The crew, led by George Clever, captured the Ndingo Brothers in
Ndirande Township, used children pushing bicycle rims as background
for Namoko’s music. So impressed were members of the crew they
promised to source band equipment for Mafunga in the United Kingdom.
“I thank the then District Commissioner for Chikwawa (Chikhwawa)
district, Mr. Dakamao and the then culture and sports organizer for
the district, Charles Chibwana. They did a commendable job in trying
to truck me down. This was a life-time chance and my music even played
on BBC radio,” said Mafunga.
For that, he received 85 British Pounds which translated into K4, 095,
according to Mafunga.
At this point, his smile disappears as fast as it came. He dives
straight into present realities.
“It will take time for Malawians to appreciate old-time musicians;
people who shaped the face of current music. We have lost respect for
our music veterans and now look up to Western musicians for
inspiration. Very bad,” said Mafunga.
He has caught the veteran musicians’ bag, too; the bag of poverty.
Like Chalamanda before 2009, and Maulidi now, Mafunga has no music
album to call his own. A patch of singles here and there is all he
calls a measure of greatness. What is more?
“I am not even married. A wife needs food to eat, clothes to wear, and
may even get bored with a routine meal of sun-dried fish. Children, on
the other hand, need uniforms to wear to school, school fees, and
clothes. I can’t afford all these because I need band equipment for
myself. Life is tough,” said Mafunga.
He added: “For the past three years, I have been surviving on Chimtuwi
for lunch.”
His hope in releasing an album seems to have been realized last year,
when he recorded Bwato Ndimoyo album. It has 10 songs including Munthu
Sakondwera, a rendition of Baba Mika, Zikomo Makolo, Safunsa,
Mebzyala, Tichezera, Mwana Wamasiye, Dziko, and Serena.
While the album- whose title truck warns Lower Shire people to move
upland from their flood-prone habitats- was released last year,
Mafunga has been failing to source K5, 000 for covers. He has failed
to utilize an opportunity O.G. Issa offered to sell his music. Most
musicians struggle to reach this.
K5, 000 stands between him and the future; the old song for veteran musicians.
“The fear of dying poor keeps me going,” he said.
To the other veteran musicians, it is the hope that ‘tomorrow will be
fine’ that pushes them forward.
Their music still holds the stage today, a sure sign of the nation’s
satisfaction with their unconventional minds and mastery in phrasing.
Some of them arrived onto the music scene at a time the national bar
line had regimented Western music into a stable series of some two,
three or five beats to measure, some of which were being fused into
Malawian music.
To a large extent, both colonialism and mono-partism never injured the
traditional local beat.
The beauty about Malawi’s veteran musicians like the late Allan
Namoko, Stonard Lungu, Michael Yekha, Daniel Kachamba, Robert
Fumulani, among others, is that they knew how to ignore the bar line.
The effect was breath-taking: Western music never impeded the flow of
local music but was merely a convenience, not a mathematical division
or equation for success.
Take, for instance, the late Kachamba or Fumulani. They might never
have graced the walls of music schools as a first call towards the
journey we call music, yet one notes the rich harmony in their music
and resourcefulness.
That is why we still dance to Khunju Reggae, Bambo a Tereza,
Mbambande, Mlendo ndimame Luo, Baba Mika, Chisoni, Ulendo Wanga,
Ndikakwatira kuMangoni, and yearn for more. It is the powerful
effects, suspended dissonant notes and orthodox arrangement that
strike the chord of sweet memories in us.
Theirs was probably the pioneering generation of local music, diving
in unnavigated waters and, yet, leaving prints on our
entertainment-tuned minds. A generation that could arrange a series of
suspensions in different voices, each of whose resolutions intensified
the emotional effect of the whole, while lending nobility, authority
and unmistakable force to the rhythm at a time of simple technologies.
Well before computers took over the natural sound of the banjo,
guitar, and visekese. Of course, some music experts have questioned
the music of the likes of Namoko, arguing that the legendary
musician’s instruments sound more Afro-jazz than Tchopish (as in
Tchopa) to be Malawian.
When the computers took over, rendering guitar wizardly a pastime, it
was as if most veteran musicians knew what was coming and never wanted
to see ‘real’ music die. Most died before getting a full dose of the
corruption that is called local music. Off they went, their music
uncorrupted.
However, the most remarkable thing about them is how they died in,
mostly, a state that never befitted their status in society. In life,
it was their talent that stood out, with the likes of Kachamba being
bestowed the coveted Doctorate of music accolade. In death, it is
their abject poverty that strikes us.
Should we say the voice of conscience is never loud in our nation? If
not, why does history keep on repeating itself? Music scholars agree
that in the keyboard, for instance, you have everything to do with the
perfection of harmony. Why is it that those who play the keyboard are
starved of real life harmony? Why don’t they live the life of a
keyboard?
When Namoko died in abject poverty, people thought it was the end of
neglect over music greats. But, until recently, his grave lay
unattended to. At least until Zodiac Broadcasting Station remembered
the ‘Lameck’ star.
Other concerned citizens, the likes of human rights activist Undule
Mwakasungula and lawyer Ralph Kasambala have also taken to the
sympathetic road, remembering national anthem composer Michael Sauka.
A well-paved path now marks the road once an abode of unkempt grass
and mice.
The truth is that it is all too late; the dead never take a walk up
their graves to appreciate how impressive the sorroundings are.
The world will judge us by the way we take care of our living greats
while, at the same time, appreciating how we honour the living-dead.
Because their music still lives, and they live in us (our hearts), the
Namokos, Kachambas, Yekhas are the living dead.
And, then, we have the living-living. Those who still live, and their
music lives in us, too.
These include the likes of Guides Chalamanda of the Line fame, Maurice
Maulidi of Ulendo Wanga, Batson Kapalamula, George Khombe, Herbert
Makuluni and Lommie Mafunga.
For his old age and music prowess, financial constraints stood in the
way between Chalamanda and the studio for his debut album. Thanks to
Edgar ndi Davis, the acoustic-guitar addict has shed off the tag that
for decades stood more galling than the sound of his single playing on
radio.
For Maulidi, society continues to treat him unfairly through
non-payment of loyalties. Having played with the Songani Strings Band
and dedicated more of his 67 years to music, the veteran musician
feels it is not worth it to be a musician in Malawi.
Like Chalamanda, he looks forward to the day when he will double as a
living-living and living-dead when the time comes. This comes through
album production.
“Money is the biggest problem,” Maulidi sums up what, to most
musicians, is an everyday reality.
Memories are often sweet. It’s the present that mostly pains.
“The way Malawians pretend everything is okay with old-time musicians,
yet poverty has become a way of life; it pains,” chips in Lommie
Mafunga, one of the surviving musicians.
Mafunga, of the Baba Mika fame, a song that once took Malawi
Broadcasting Corporation’s (MBC) airwaves by storm between the late
1980s and early 1990s, is no stranger to Malawi music.
He considers himself lucky to have brushed shoulders against the likes
of Allan Namoko. Brushing shoulders is one thing; it is beating the
greats at their own game every musician dreams of.
Mafunga and his Tinyade Sounds did just that on April 12, 1992 during
a festival of local acoustic bands. The pint-sized musician scooped
first position, beating the likes of Namoko. As a result, four of his
songs captivated a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) crew it took
them to London.
The songs are: Kumwalira Kwababa, Chiwerewere, Miseche, Munthu Sakondwera.
It did not end there for the Nchalo, Chikwawa-born musician who looks
younger than a product of June 27, 1968. On October 15, 1994, while
working for SUCOMA’s Nchalo factory, an entourage of music production
experts from London came looking for him and his Tinyade Sounds. They
wanted him to become part of a Malawi video film on travel, alongside
Namoko and Chivu River Jazz Band, Fumbi Jazz Band, Ndingo Brothers
Band.
The crew, led by George Clever, captured the Ndingo Brothers in
Ndirande Township, used children pushing bicycle rims as background
for Namoko’s music. So impressed were members of the crew they
promised to source band equipment for Mafunga in the United Kingdom.
“I thank the then District Commissioner for Chikwawa (Chikhwawa)
district, Mr. Dakamao and the then culture and sports organizer for
the district, Charles Chibwana. They did a commendable job in trying
to truck me down. This was a life-time chance and my music even played
on BBC radio,” said Mafunga.
For that, he received 85 British Pounds which translated into K4, 095,
according to Mafunga.
At this point, his smile disappears as fast as it came. He dives
straight into present realities.
“It will take time for Malawians to appreciate old-time musicians;
people who shaped the face of current music. We have lost respect for
our music veterans and now look up to Western musicians for
inspiration. Very bad,” said Mafunga.
He has caught the veteran musicians’ bag, too; the bag of poverty.
Like Chalamanda before 2009, and Maulidi now, Mafunga has no music
album to call his own. A patch of singles here and there is all he
calls a measure of greatness. What is more?
“I am not even married. A wife needs food to eat, clothes to wear, and
may even get bored with a routine meal of sun-dried fish. Children, on
the other hand, need uniforms to wear to school, school fees, and
clothes. I can’t afford all these because I need band equipment for
myself. Life is tough,” said Mafunga.
He added: “For the past three years, I have been surviving on Chimtuwi
for lunch.”
His hope in releasing an album seems to have been realized last year,
when he recorded Bwato Ndimoyo album. It has 10 songs including Munthu
Sakondwera, a rendition of Baba Mika, Zikomo Makolo, Safunsa,
Mebzyala, Tichezera, Mwana Wamasiye, Dziko, and Serena.
While the album- whose title truck warns Lower Shire people to move
upland from their flood-prone habitats- was released last year,
Mafunga has been failing to source K5, 000 for covers. He has failed
to utilize an opportunity O.G. Issa offered to sell his music. Most
musicians struggle to reach this.
K5, 000 stands between him and the future; the old song for veteran musicians.
“The fear of dying poor keeps me going,” he said.
To the other veteran musicians, it is the hope that ‘tomorrow will be
fine’ that pushes them forward.
Beating death to the speed
RICHARD CHIROMBO
Death, the robber of daily breath, has slower days, too; days so slow
a bicycle travels faster.
Clever minds merely attach carts to such bicycles during death’s
slower days, load the sick before conditions worsen, and rush to the
nearest health facility. Chances are that the sick will more likely be
embraced by hospital wards than the jaws of death- beating death to
the speed.
Sounds strange? This knowledge has been widespread in Malawi, spanning
from the days of the ox-cart, when pregnant women, the seriously ill,
among others, depended on community goodwill and human-animal
(donkeys/cattle) relationship to tame death.
At least until the beef cattle owner realized that, beaten more often
at the back, the beef animal develops thick skin and fetches little in
kilos at the market. You beat the cow and you squeeze some meet ‘into’
the animal, hitting oneself in the pocket.
Cattle are also scarce these days, apart from earning hefty head
prices- and so the bicycle took over. The Centre for Reproductive
Heath (CRH), a department at the College of Medicine (a constituent
college of the University of Malawi) in Blantyre was among the
institutions to buy into the idea.
A pilot project on bicycle ambulances was born in Makanjira and Nkumba
areas in Mangochi. This was time, in early 2000s, when well-founded
fears about high mortality and morbidity rates animated the nation.
There was a decree- silent decree confirmed by the Demographic Heath
Survey of 1998- that, out of 100, 000 births, some 894 Malawian
citizens had to die. Just like that.
“This is too high a rate”, complained the then CRH executive director
Dr. Agnes Chimbiri “It is too high a rate we cannot attain
sustainable, social-economic development. The woman, more than men,
contributes a lot to national development.”
While the Malawian father is still very much the patriarch, it is the
woman who controls the home, crop fields, and life.
Hers were sentiments made with logic and a modicum of documented
evidence Traditional Authority Makanjira had no more task than to
concur:
“We can only achieve real well-being by investing in the health-needs
of our women. It is good that Mangochi is among the districts
exploring the use of bicycle ambulances,” Makanjira said at the time.
Today, women continue to die. What does not continue, however, is Dr.
Chimbiri at CRH; She now is at the United Nations Development
Programme (Malawi office), taking the message home, perhaps, that for
development to live by its name, is must wear the ordinary woman’s
face.
This development begins at the maternity wing.
What has changed, also, is that new innovations on how to utilize
bicycle ambulances are emerging- this time around from strange
destinations, Take, for instance, The Netherlands. Anything Malawian
about the Netherlands?
“Very well so,” quips Roel Barkhof, chairperson for a Dutch foundation
called Transport4Transport. This is a foundation that promotes
innovative transport technologies in a bid to speed up the time it
takes one, in this case pregnant women, to reach health centres and
get their lives back.
“He who cares for you, and your health, is a friend in deed; it goes
beyond blood. It is something that has to do with the inner
connection. In that respect, there are so many things Malawian about
Holland, and many thing Holland about being Malawian. We are all
striving for good life. Well-being.”
Transport4Transport foundation is an arm of Wagenborg, a profit-making
organization registered in the Netherlands. The later uses part of its
financial resources and staff (who work for the foundation as
volunteers) to help improve healthcare delivery systems in such
countries as Malawi.
“Malawi is the only country we are working in. We want to help improve
people’s lives, and this includes those with physical challenges. So
far, we have funded the production of over 400 carts for bicycle
ambulances and spend 280 Euro (about K54, 320) on each,” said Be Vam
der Weide, foundation treasurer.
The two were in Malawi to gauge progress on activities they bankroll
and, among other charity organizations, visited Stephanos, Liebemzell
and Maikhanda- marking their third visit to Malawi since 2007, when
they set their heart on Malawi and never want to pluck it back.
Barkhof and Weide came so silently, physically. But their actions, as
good actions do, spoke louder than words and reached the ears of Reen
Kachere- Minister responsible for the Elderly and People with
Disabilities- at Capital Hill.
Kachere quickly asked for a meeting on Friday, July 9, 2010.
Among others, the minister said she wanted to exploit the possibility
of using Transport4Transport’s kind financial hand to produce carts
for physically challenged people wishing- not to reach the hospital
faster this time around, but- to venture into small scale businesses!
“Mobility has always been a challenge for most people with
disabilities, and this is because most of them lack amenities such as
wheelchairs. Those with wheelchairs also face more challenges in terms
of transport: they fail to carry bulky goods. We feel like these
people could help us in that regard,” said Kachere.
Kachere said, given such opportunities, the physically challenged can
operate door-to-door businesses- in the process uplifting their
social-economic status.
As it stands now, most of them sit in the country’s streets looking
for ‘today’, daily bread. Kachere says this is not the best way to
live one’s life.
“It is my hope that, once these carts become available to these
people, they will begin to live productive lives. Productive life is
characterized by progress; there is no progress in looking for arms.
It’s opportunities like business that offer the possibility of human
progress,” said Kachere.
She envisages a time when every wheelchair shall have a cart attached
to it; in the cart, goods and other materials that add value to life-
supporting the one in front of the cart.
This is hope. Yet, it all started with a dream, then vision, of one
Peter Meijer. In February 2009, he decided to come to Malawi with his
family and venture into bicycle-carts’ production.
He opened shop on the fringes of Chemussa and termed his business
‘Sakaramento’. The locals set up bicycle taxis and call them
‘Sacramento. It all means bicycle transport.
Meijer then came across Barkhof and Weide through the internet, and so
begun the process of hope for many.
Said Meijer: “We produce two kinds of carts: CareCar (bicycle
ambulance) and TengaCar (transport cart). The Care Car is a bicycle
adapted to transport patients and pregnant women to healthcare
facilities in rural settings. It has sun and rain protectors to
safeguard the life of the patient.”
It is the TengaCar that Kachere is interested in because, as a push
and bicycle cart, the physically challenged and elderly can carry
goods in high volumes. What with a recommended maximum load of 150
kilograms- the equivalent of three 50 kg bags of maize, rice, or
beans.
Sakaramenta is also doing a social service. It encourages its workers
to go for further education, both secondary and technical, offsetting
80 per cent of the costs. That is why the organization closes at 4
O’clock during weekdays to give people the chance to go to school.
Blessings Kachepa of Matimati Village, T/A Njema, Mulanje dropped out
of Muloza Community Secondary School’s Form 2 class due to lack of
funds. He now has the future back, having secured the opportunity to
attend Form 3 at Chirimba Night School.
“I have been given the world again; school means everything to me,” he said.
Sentiments shared by Hassan Isaac, 27. Though he has no Malawi School
Certificate of Education certificate, he now pursues a Refrigeration
and Air-conditioning course.
In November, he will be sitting for Malawi Trade Test examinations.
It is change happening. It has happened for the hands behind the
carts; will it not happen for those using the carts?
“It will (work.), surely,” Kachere can be hopefully stubborn.
Death, the robber of daily breath, has slower days, too; days so slow
a bicycle travels faster.
Clever minds merely attach carts to such bicycles during death’s
slower days, load the sick before conditions worsen, and rush to the
nearest health facility. Chances are that the sick will more likely be
embraced by hospital wards than the jaws of death- beating death to
the speed.
Sounds strange? This knowledge has been widespread in Malawi, spanning
from the days of the ox-cart, when pregnant women, the seriously ill,
among others, depended on community goodwill and human-animal
(donkeys/cattle) relationship to tame death.
At least until the beef cattle owner realized that, beaten more often
at the back, the beef animal develops thick skin and fetches little in
kilos at the market. You beat the cow and you squeeze some meet ‘into’
the animal, hitting oneself in the pocket.
Cattle are also scarce these days, apart from earning hefty head
prices- and so the bicycle took over. The Centre for Reproductive
Heath (CRH), a department at the College of Medicine (a constituent
college of the University of Malawi) in Blantyre was among the
institutions to buy into the idea.
A pilot project on bicycle ambulances was born in Makanjira and Nkumba
areas in Mangochi. This was time, in early 2000s, when well-founded
fears about high mortality and morbidity rates animated the nation.
There was a decree- silent decree confirmed by the Demographic Heath
Survey of 1998- that, out of 100, 000 births, some 894 Malawian
citizens had to die. Just like that.
“This is too high a rate”, complained the then CRH executive director
Dr. Agnes Chimbiri “It is too high a rate we cannot attain
sustainable, social-economic development. The woman, more than men,
contributes a lot to national development.”
While the Malawian father is still very much the patriarch, it is the
woman who controls the home, crop fields, and life.
Hers were sentiments made with logic and a modicum of documented
evidence Traditional Authority Makanjira had no more task than to
concur:
“We can only achieve real well-being by investing in the health-needs
of our women. It is good that Mangochi is among the districts
exploring the use of bicycle ambulances,” Makanjira said at the time.
Today, women continue to die. What does not continue, however, is Dr.
Chimbiri at CRH; She now is at the United Nations Development
Programme (Malawi office), taking the message home, perhaps, that for
development to live by its name, is must wear the ordinary woman’s
face.
This development begins at the maternity wing.
What has changed, also, is that new innovations on how to utilize
bicycle ambulances are emerging- this time around from strange
destinations, Take, for instance, The Netherlands. Anything Malawian
about the Netherlands?
“Very well so,” quips Roel Barkhof, chairperson for a Dutch foundation
called Transport4Transport. This is a foundation that promotes
innovative transport technologies in a bid to speed up the time it
takes one, in this case pregnant women, to reach health centres and
get their lives back.
“He who cares for you, and your health, is a friend in deed; it goes
beyond blood. It is something that has to do with the inner
connection. In that respect, there are so many things Malawian about
Holland, and many thing Holland about being Malawian. We are all
striving for good life. Well-being.”
Transport4Transport foundation is an arm of Wagenborg, a profit-making
organization registered in the Netherlands. The later uses part of its
financial resources and staff (who work for the foundation as
volunteers) to help improve healthcare delivery systems in such
countries as Malawi.
“Malawi is the only country we are working in. We want to help improve
people’s lives, and this includes those with physical challenges. So
far, we have funded the production of over 400 carts for bicycle
ambulances and spend 280 Euro (about K54, 320) on each,” said Be Vam
der Weide, foundation treasurer.
The two were in Malawi to gauge progress on activities they bankroll
and, among other charity organizations, visited Stephanos, Liebemzell
and Maikhanda- marking their third visit to Malawi since 2007, when
they set their heart on Malawi and never want to pluck it back.
Barkhof and Weide came so silently, physically. But their actions, as
good actions do, spoke louder than words and reached the ears of Reen
Kachere- Minister responsible for the Elderly and People with
Disabilities- at Capital Hill.
Kachere quickly asked for a meeting on Friday, July 9, 2010.
Among others, the minister said she wanted to exploit the possibility
of using Transport4Transport’s kind financial hand to produce carts
for physically challenged people wishing- not to reach the hospital
faster this time around, but- to venture into small scale businesses!
“Mobility has always been a challenge for most people with
disabilities, and this is because most of them lack amenities such as
wheelchairs. Those with wheelchairs also face more challenges in terms
of transport: they fail to carry bulky goods. We feel like these
people could help us in that regard,” said Kachere.
Kachere said, given such opportunities, the physically challenged can
operate door-to-door businesses- in the process uplifting their
social-economic status.
As it stands now, most of them sit in the country’s streets looking
for ‘today’, daily bread. Kachere says this is not the best way to
live one’s life.
“It is my hope that, once these carts become available to these
people, they will begin to live productive lives. Productive life is
characterized by progress; there is no progress in looking for arms.
It’s opportunities like business that offer the possibility of human
progress,” said Kachere.
She envisages a time when every wheelchair shall have a cart attached
to it; in the cart, goods and other materials that add value to life-
supporting the one in front of the cart.
This is hope. Yet, it all started with a dream, then vision, of one
Peter Meijer. In February 2009, he decided to come to Malawi with his
family and venture into bicycle-carts’ production.
He opened shop on the fringes of Chemussa and termed his business
‘Sakaramento’. The locals set up bicycle taxis and call them
‘Sacramento. It all means bicycle transport.
Meijer then came across Barkhof and Weide through the internet, and so
begun the process of hope for many.
Said Meijer: “We produce two kinds of carts: CareCar (bicycle
ambulance) and TengaCar (transport cart). The Care Car is a bicycle
adapted to transport patients and pregnant women to healthcare
facilities in rural settings. It has sun and rain protectors to
safeguard the life of the patient.”
It is the TengaCar that Kachere is interested in because, as a push
and bicycle cart, the physically challenged and elderly can carry
goods in high volumes. What with a recommended maximum load of 150
kilograms- the equivalent of three 50 kg bags of maize, rice, or
beans.
Sakaramenta is also doing a social service. It encourages its workers
to go for further education, both secondary and technical, offsetting
80 per cent of the costs. That is why the organization closes at 4
O’clock during weekdays to give people the chance to go to school.
Blessings Kachepa of Matimati Village, T/A Njema, Mulanje dropped out
of Muloza Community Secondary School’s Form 2 class due to lack of
funds. He now has the future back, having secured the opportunity to
attend Form 3 at Chirimba Night School.
“I have been given the world again; school means everything to me,” he said.
Sentiments shared by Hassan Isaac, 27. Though he has no Malawi School
Certificate of Education certificate, he now pursues a Refrigeration
and Air-conditioning course.
In November, he will be sitting for Malawi Trade Test examinations.
It is change happening. It has happened for the hands behind the
carts; will it not happen for those using the carts?
“It will (work.), surely,” Kachere can be hopefully stubborn.
Njinga zangolo zingachepetse umphawi
WOLEMBA RICHARD CHIROMBO
Nduna yoona zaanthu okalamba ndiolumala, aReen Kachere, adati njinga
zomwe amayendera anthu olumala zingakhale njira imodzi yochepetsera
umphawi ngati anthuwo angamakoke ngolo, m’mene zimakhalira
ndiambulansi zanjinga, ndikumanyamulira katundu wamalonda
osiyanasiyana.
AKachere adati kwanthawi yaitali anthu olumala akhala akungogwiritsa
ntchito njiza zawo poyendera, osadziwa kuti njingazo zingathandize
pochepetsa umphawi ndikupangitsa kuti ambiri mwaanthu olumala omwe
amapemphapempha thandizo m’miseu adzidziimira paokha.
Ndunayi idalankhula izi sabata latha mumzinda waBlantyre itakumana
ndiakuluakulu abungwe lam’dziko laNetherlands lotchedwa
Transport4Transport, lomwe limathandiza maiko osiyanasiyana ndingolo
zomwe zimagwiritsidwa ntchito ngati ambulansi zanjinga, chinthu chomwe
chathandiza kuchepetsa infa zaamayi apakati m’maiko okwera kumene.
“Unduna wanga wakambirana ndiakuluakuluwa zokuti apereke thandizo
lazachuma komanso ngolo zomwe anthu olumala angamagwiritse ntchito
ponyamulira katundu wamalonda ngati njira imodzi yothetsera umphawi,”
adatero aKachere.
Iwo adati anthu okalamba, omwe kawirikawiri amakumananso ndimavuto
akayendedwe chifukwa chofooka m’thupi, angapindulenso ndingolozi
popeza kuti angamanyamule katundu wambiri ndiolemera mosavuta.
“Bungwe limeneli lakhala likuthandiza mabungwe ena dziko laMalawi
kuyambira chaka cha2007, koma lakhala likulimbikira pantchito
yochepetsa infa zaamayi apakati pomapereka ndalama zopangira ambulansi
zanjinga. Panopo tangolipempha kuti liyambenso kuthandiza olumala
ndiokalamba pomapereka ngolo zanjinga,” idatero ndunayi.
Nawo aRoel Barkhof, womwe ndiwapampando wabungwe
laTransport4Transport- lomwe silopanga phindu koma limapeza ndalama
zake kuchokera kukampani ina yam’dziko laNetherlands yotchedwa
Wagenborg- adati ali okonzeka kuyamba kuthandiza dziko laMalawi
ndingolo kuti olumala ndiokalamba adzinyamulira katundu.
“Ife takhala tikubwera ndikuthandiza mabungwe oposa atatu kuno
kuMalawi kuyambira m’chaka cha2007, ndipo tili okonzeka kuyamba
kuthandiza mwanjira iliyonse kuti miyoyo yaAmalawi itukuke.
Timagwiritsa ntchito ndalama zokwana K53, 000 pangolo iliyonse, ndipo
tathandiza kale kupanga ngolo zanjinga zaambulansi zokwana 400,”
adatero aBarkhof.
Iwo adati bungwe lawo lili lokonzeka kuyamba ntchitoyi nthawi
iliyonse, ndipo lidzagwira ntchito yopanga ngolozi kudzera kukampani
yotchedwa ‘Sakaramenta’, yomwe ndiyakuMalawi kom’kuno ndipo ili
kwaChemussa m’boma laBlantyre.
Mkulu waSakaramenta, aPeter Meijer, adati ali okonzeka kuyamba
ntchitoyi popeza kuti akhala akugwira kale ntchitoyi ndibungwe
lakuNetherlands’li kwazaka zoposa zitatu tsopano.
“Ife tili okonzeka kuyamba ntchitoyi. Tikufuna kuthandiza boma
laMalawi potukula miyoyo yaanthu ovutika. Chosangalatsa n’chakuti
kampani yathu idayambanso kale kuthandiza Amalawi popeza timalipilira
ogwira ntchito athu sukulu, chinthu chomwe chidasangalatsa anthu
akuNetherlands’wa ndikuapangitsa kumathandiza mabungwe m’dziko muno,”
adatero aMeijer.
Nduna yoona zaanthu okalamba ndiolumala, aReen Kachere, adati njinga
zomwe amayendera anthu olumala zingakhale njira imodzi yochepetsera
umphawi ngati anthuwo angamakoke ngolo, m’mene zimakhalira
ndiambulansi zanjinga, ndikumanyamulira katundu wamalonda
osiyanasiyana.
AKachere adati kwanthawi yaitali anthu olumala akhala akungogwiritsa
ntchito njiza zawo poyendera, osadziwa kuti njingazo zingathandize
pochepetsa umphawi ndikupangitsa kuti ambiri mwaanthu olumala omwe
amapemphapempha thandizo m’miseu adzidziimira paokha.
Ndunayi idalankhula izi sabata latha mumzinda waBlantyre itakumana
ndiakuluakulu abungwe lam’dziko laNetherlands lotchedwa
Transport4Transport, lomwe limathandiza maiko osiyanasiyana ndingolo
zomwe zimagwiritsidwa ntchito ngati ambulansi zanjinga, chinthu chomwe
chathandiza kuchepetsa infa zaamayi apakati m’maiko okwera kumene.
“Unduna wanga wakambirana ndiakuluakuluwa zokuti apereke thandizo
lazachuma komanso ngolo zomwe anthu olumala angamagwiritse ntchito
ponyamulira katundu wamalonda ngati njira imodzi yothetsera umphawi,”
adatero aKachere.
Iwo adati anthu okalamba, omwe kawirikawiri amakumananso ndimavuto
akayendedwe chifukwa chofooka m’thupi, angapindulenso ndingolozi
popeza kuti angamanyamule katundu wambiri ndiolemera mosavuta.
“Bungwe limeneli lakhala likuthandiza mabungwe ena dziko laMalawi
kuyambira chaka cha2007, koma lakhala likulimbikira pantchito
yochepetsa infa zaamayi apakati pomapereka ndalama zopangira ambulansi
zanjinga. Panopo tangolipempha kuti liyambenso kuthandiza olumala
ndiokalamba pomapereka ngolo zanjinga,” idatero ndunayi.
Nawo aRoel Barkhof, womwe ndiwapampando wabungwe
laTransport4Transport- lomwe silopanga phindu koma limapeza ndalama
zake kuchokera kukampani ina yam’dziko laNetherlands yotchedwa
Wagenborg- adati ali okonzeka kuyamba kuthandiza dziko laMalawi
ndingolo kuti olumala ndiokalamba adzinyamulira katundu.
“Ife takhala tikubwera ndikuthandiza mabungwe oposa atatu kuno
kuMalawi kuyambira m’chaka cha2007, ndipo tili okonzeka kuyamba
kuthandiza mwanjira iliyonse kuti miyoyo yaAmalawi itukuke.
Timagwiritsa ntchito ndalama zokwana K53, 000 pangolo iliyonse, ndipo
tathandiza kale kupanga ngolo zanjinga zaambulansi zokwana 400,”
adatero aBarkhof.
Iwo adati bungwe lawo lili lokonzeka kuyamba ntchitoyi nthawi
iliyonse, ndipo lidzagwira ntchito yopanga ngolozi kudzera kukampani
yotchedwa ‘Sakaramenta’, yomwe ndiyakuMalawi kom’kuno ndipo ili
kwaChemussa m’boma laBlantyre.
Mkulu waSakaramenta, aPeter Meijer, adati ali okonzeka kuyamba
ntchitoyi popeza kuti akhala akugwira kale ntchitoyi ndibungwe
lakuNetherlands’li kwazaka zoposa zitatu tsopano.
“Ife tili okonzeka kuyamba ntchitoyi. Tikufuna kuthandiza boma
laMalawi potukula miyoyo yaanthu ovutika. Chosangalatsa n’chakuti
kampani yathu idayambanso kale kuthandiza Amalawi popeza timalipilira
ogwira ntchito athu sukulu, chinthu chomwe chidasangalatsa anthu
akuNetherlands’wa ndikuapangitsa kumathandiza mabungwe m’dziko muno,”
adatero aMeijer.
Ntasa Times' comments on lies that some chiefs are against Bingu's allocation of land for university construction
Posted with permission from Thom Chiumia:
Chambulamasokumutukowachambulamutukumasokowa says:
July 20, 2010 at 5:53 am
Dziko lino anthu okanika kwambiri ndi aphungu chifukwa ambiri ali ndi mantha kwambiri! Akuipopa kwambiri Ngwazi palibe amene amaiudza za nzero! Onse basi amafuna kuti akhulupirike koma chonsecho mukuononga dziko la Malawi! Kodi zokamanga ku farm ya munthu zadza ndi ndani! Bwanji osafuna malo ena opanda bvuto lilonse! Dziko lapita ku pompho ili!
Reply to this Comment
ntafu says:
July 20, 2010 at 6:25 am
Koma nkhani iyi ndiye mbolanso. Full of contradictions. if at all it is true all that has been written in this article, am not surprised because those chiefs are illiterate. so they don’t see the benefit of having a university in their locality. Koma abale kutsaphunzira ndi matendanso ena apadera.
Reply to this Comment
akumudzi says:
July 20, 2010 at 7:21 am
the title and the story does not tarry .Good title would have been that one you are thinking of university not apriority chiefs
Reply to this Comment
bikiloni difikoti says:
July 20, 2010 at 7:49 am
manje awa a president saziwa kuti wana wa univesite akakwiya amakhala violent. Sono nyumba yake iyo izakhala target. Iwo a president azakwanitsa kuthamanga ni kwendo yotchoka. Wasiyeni awo malo azawalira weka
Reply to this Comment
Navingod'o says:
July 20, 2010 at 8:33 am
Mafumu opusa inu kwabasi, you think its wealthy to cultivate that land than to construct a University??? Mlomwe ndi Mlomwe basi alibe ulemu/kuthokoza. M’malo moti muzinyadila kuti mukhala ndi University pafupi koma now u r complaining ndi nkhani zanu zopusazo.
Reply to this Comment
wakukaya says:
July 20, 2010 at 11:56 am
This is WALOMWE prezident sono muthana notha we see nothing here in the north so ur varsity kumakanganso .Today chilichonse ndi MTL M=Mulanje,T=Thyolo, Limited,any development start from there eve pa TV news is MTL sono vinu ivo
Reply to this Comment
kasaukani says:
July 20, 2010 at 11:58 am
bravo Bingu. These Thyolo people they don’t deserve that land for cultivation. Don’t give them room for we can loose the cheap labour in our fodya estates in the central region.
Reply to this Comment
Kazitape says:
July 20, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Why not upgrade the then Amalika Training Base to a University, Mr. President, instead of using part of your Ndata Farm???
Reply to this Comment
mpumulo ndatopa says:
July 20, 2010 at 12:13 pm
univesite osamanga ku blantyre bwanji? amalawi basi mukufuna muzizati univesite ndi yanu..mmene ankapangila ngwazi ndi KA?
Reply to this Comment
Masida says:
July 20, 2010 at 12:51 pm
I appreciet the idea of government constructing new universities. But I do not support the university being constructed in the vicinety of the president retirement resident. Lets watch out this, Why build a poly inside Sanjika or Chanco inside Zomba state house, for what. Yake kapena chani. Zibwana zachabechabe izi.
On the other hand, I also do not support what these chiefs are saying. There is a program called Kuzigulira malo, that targeted Mulanje and Thyolo for the good reasons the chief is saying, but thyolo was eventually removed as the people of Thyolo were selling the land government buys for them and going back to their old squashed up places.
Obviously government will not buy the chiefs talkes but also klet them find another location for the University, not Ndata.
Chambulamasokumutukowachambulamutukumasokowa says:
July 20, 2010 at 5:53 am
Dziko lino anthu okanika kwambiri ndi aphungu chifukwa ambiri ali ndi mantha kwambiri! Akuipopa kwambiri Ngwazi palibe amene amaiudza za nzero! Onse basi amafuna kuti akhulupirike koma chonsecho mukuononga dziko la Malawi! Kodi zokamanga ku farm ya munthu zadza ndi ndani! Bwanji osafuna malo ena opanda bvuto lilonse! Dziko lapita ku pompho ili!
Reply to this Comment
ntafu says:
July 20, 2010 at 6:25 am
Koma nkhani iyi ndiye mbolanso. Full of contradictions. if at all it is true all that has been written in this article, am not surprised because those chiefs are illiterate. so they don’t see the benefit of having a university in their locality. Koma abale kutsaphunzira ndi matendanso ena apadera.
Reply to this Comment
akumudzi says:
July 20, 2010 at 7:21 am
the title and the story does not tarry .Good title would have been that one you are thinking of university not apriority chiefs
Reply to this Comment
bikiloni difikoti says:
July 20, 2010 at 7:49 am
manje awa a president saziwa kuti wana wa univesite akakwiya amakhala violent. Sono nyumba yake iyo izakhala target. Iwo a president azakwanitsa kuthamanga ni kwendo yotchoka. Wasiyeni awo malo azawalira weka
Reply to this Comment
Navingod'o says:
July 20, 2010 at 8:33 am
Mafumu opusa inu kwabasi, you think its wealthy to cultivate that land than to construct a University??? Mlomwe ndi Mlomwe basi alibe ulemu/kuthokoza. M’malo moti muzinyadila kuti mukhala ndi University pafupi koma now u r complaining ndi nkhani zanu zopusazo.
Reply to this Comment
wakukaya says:
July 20, 2010 at 11:56 am
This is WALOMWE prezident sono muthana notha we see nothing here in the north so ur varsity kumakanganso .Today chilichonse ndi MTL M=Mulanje,T=Thyolo, Limited,any development start from there eve pa TV news is MTL sono vinu ivo
Reply to this Comment
kasaukani says:
July 20, 2010 at 11:58 am
bravo Bingu. These Thyolo people they don’t deserve that land for cultivation. Don’t give them room for we can loose the cheap labour in our fodya estates in the central region.
Reply to this Comment
Kazitape says:
July 20, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Why not upgrade the then Amalika Training Base to a University, Mr. President, instead of using part of your Ndata Farm???
Reply to this Comment
mpumulo ndatopa says:
July 20, 2010 at 12:13 pm
univesite osamanga ku blantyre bwanji? amalawi basi mukufuna muzizati univesite ndi yanu..mmene ankapangila ngwazi ndi KA?
Reply to this Comment
Masida says:
July 20, 2010 at 12:51 pm
I appreciet the idea of government constructing new universities. But I do not support the university being constructed in the vicinety of the president retirement resident. Lets watch out this, Why build a poly inside Sanjika or Chanco inside Zomba state house, for what. Yake kapena chani. Zibwana zachabechabe izi.
On the other hand, I also do not support what these chiefs are saying. There is a program called Kuzigulira malo, that targeted Mulanje and Thyolo for the good reasons the chief is saying, but thyolo was eventually removed as the people of Thyolo were selling the land government buys for them and going back to their old squashed up places.
Obviously government will not buy the chiefs talkes but also klet them find another location for the University, not Ndata.
Sharia Law for Non-Muslims
Chapter 5—The Kafir
Until now we have looked at the big picture of Sharia and then the position of women in Sharia. We now come to a new subject--the unbeliever or non-Muslim. The word "non-Muslim" is used in the translation of Sharia law, but the actual Arabic word used is "Kafir". But the word Kafir means far more than non-Muslim. The original meaning of the word was "concealer", one who conceals the truth of Islam.
The Koran says that the Kafir may be deceived, plotted against, hated, enslaved, mocked, tortured and worse. The word is usually translated as "unbeliever" but this translation is wrong. The word "unbeliever" is logically and emotionally neutral, whereas, Kafir is the most abusive, prejudiced and hateful word in any language.
There are many religious names for Kafirs: polytheists, idolaters, People of the Book (Christians and Jews), Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, and pagans. Kafir covers them all, because no matter what the religious name is, they can all be treated the same. What Mohammed said and did to polytheists can be done to any other category of Kafir.
Islam devotes a great amount of energy to the Kafir. The majority (64%) of the Koran is devoted to the Kafir, and nearly all of the Sira (81%) deals with Mohammed's struggle with them. The Hadith (Traditions) devotes 32% of the text to Kafirs1. Overall, the Trilogy devotes 60% of its content to the Kafir.
Hadith 37%
Sira 81%
Koran 64%
Total 60%
Amount of Text Devoted to the Kafir
The Sharia does not devote nearly that much to the Kafir since Sharia law is primarily for Muslims. Besides, the Kafir has few rights, so there is little to expound on.
Religious Islam is what Muslims do to go to Paradise and avoid Hell. What Mohammed did to Kafirs was not religious, but political. Political Islam is what is of concern to Kafirs, not the religion. Who cares how a Muslim worships, but every one of us is concerned as to what they do to us and say about us. Political Islam should be of concern to every Kafir.
Here are two Sharia references about Kafirs:
w59.2 [...] And this clari?es the Koranic verses and hadiths about hatred for the sake of Allah and love for the sake of Allah, Al Walaa wa al Baraa, being unyielding towards the Kafirs, hard against them, and detesting them, while accepting the destiny of Allah Most High insofar as it is the decree of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
Hatred for the sake of Allah and love for the sake of Allah is called Al Walaa wa al Baraa, a fundamental principle of Islamic ethics and Sharia. A Muslim is to hate what Allah hates and love what Allah loves. Allah hates the Kafir, therefore, a Muslim is to act accordingly.
40:35 They [Kafirs] who dispute the signs [Koran verses] of Allah without authority having reached them are greatly hated by Allah and the believers [Muslims]. So Allah seals up every arrogant, disdainful heart.
h8.24 It is not permissible to give zakat [charity] to a Kafir, or to someone whom one is obliged to support such as a wife or family member.
Here are a few of the Koran references: A Kafir can be mocked--
83:34 On that day the faithful will mock the Kafirs, while they sit on bridal couches and watch them. Should not the Kafirs be paid back for what they did?
A Kafir can be beheaded--
47:4 When you encounter the Kafirs on the battle?eld, cut off their heads until you have thoroughly defeated them and then take the prisoners and tie them up firmly.
A Kafir can be plotted against--
86:15 They plot and scheme against you [Mohammed], and I plot and scheme against them. Therefore, deal calmly with the Kafirs and leave them alone for a while.
A Kafir can be terrorized--
8:12 Then your Lord spoke to His angels and said, "I will be with you. Give strength to the believers. I will send terror into the Kafirs' hearts, cut off their heads and even the tips of their fingers!"
A Muslim is not the friend of a Kafir--
3:28 Believers should not take Kafirs as friends in preference to other believers. Those who do this will have none of Allah's protection and will only have themselves as guards. Allah warns you to fear Him for all will return to Him.
A Kafir is evil--
23:97 And say: Oh my Lord! I seek refuge with You from the suggestions of the evil ones [Kafirs]. And I seek refuge with you, my Lord, from their presence.
A Kafir is disgraced--
37:18 Tell them, "Yes! And you [Kafirs] will be disgraced."
A Kafir is cursed--
33:60 They [Kafirs] will be cursed, and wherever they are found, they will be seized and murdered. It was Allah's same practice with those who came before them, and you will ?nd no change in Allah's ways.
KAFIRS AND THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
Muslims tell Christians and Jews that they are special. They are "People of the Book" and are brothers in the Abrahamic faith. But in Islam you are a Christian, if and only if, you believe that Christ was a man who was a prophet of Allah; there is no Trinity; Jesus was not crucified nor resurrected and that He will return to establish Sharia law. To be a true Jew you must believe that Mohammed is the last in the line of Jewish prophets.
This verse is positive:
5:77 Say: Oh, People of the Book, do not step out of the bounds of truth in your religion, and do not follow the desires of those who have gone wrong and led many astray. They have themselves gone astray from the even way.
Islamic doctrine is dualistic, so there is an opposite view as well. Here is the last verse written about the People of the Book (A later verse abrogates or nullifies an earlier verse.). This is the final word. It calls for Muslims to make war on the People of the Book who do not believe in the religion of truth, Islam.
9:29 Make war on those who have received the Scriptures [Jews and Christians] but do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day. They do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. The Christians and Jews do not follow the religion of truth until they submit and pay the poll tax [jizya] and they are humiliated.
The sentence "They do not forbid..." means that they do not accept Sharia law; "until they submit" means to submit to Sharia law. Christians and Jews who do not accept Mohammed as the ?nal prophet are Kafirs.
Muslims pray five times a day and the opening prayer always includes:
Koran 1: 7 Not the path of those who anger You [the Jews] nor the path of those who go astray [the Christians].
LANGUAGE
Since the original Arabic word for unbelievers was Kafir and that is the actual word used in the Koran and Sharia law, that is the word used here for accuracy and precision.
It is very simple: if you don't believe Mohammed and his Koran, you are a Kafir.
Until now we have looked at the big picture of Sharia and then the position of women in Sharia. We now come to a new subject--the unbeliever or non-Muslim. The word "non-Muslim" is used in the translation of Sharia law, but the actual Arabic word used is "Kafir". But the word Kafir means far more than non-Muslim. The original meaning of the word was "concealer", one who conceals the truth of Islam.
The Koran says that the Kafir may be deceived, plotted against, hated, enslaved, mocked, tortured and worse. The word is usually translated as "unbeliever" but this translation is wrong. The word "unbeliever" is logically and emotionally neutral, whereas, Kafir is the most abusive, prejudiced and hateful word in any language.
There are many religious names for Kafirs: polytheists, idolaters, People of the Book (Christians and Jews), Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, and pagans. Kafir covers them all, because no matter what the religious name is, they can all be treated the same. What Mohammed said and did to polytheists can be done to any other category of Kafir.
Islam devotes a great amount of energy to the Kafir. The majority (64%) of the Koran is devoted to the Kafir, and nearly all of the Sira (81%) deals with Mohammed's struggle with them. The Hadith (Traditions) devotes 32% of the text to Kafirs1. Overall, the Trilogy devotes 60% of its content to the Kafir.
Hadith 37%
Sira 81%
Koran 64%
Total 60%
Amount of Text Devoted to the Kafir
The Sharia does not devote nearly that much to the Kafir since Sharia law is primarily for Muslims. Besides, the Kafir has few rights, so there is little to expound on.
Religious Islam is what Muslims do to go to Paradise and avoid Hell. What Mohammed did to Kafirs was not religious, but political. Political Islam is what is of concern to Kafirs, not the religion. Who cares how a Muslim worships, but every one of us is concerned as to what they do to us and say about us. Political Islam should be of concern to every Kafir.
Here are two Sharia references about Kafirs:
w59.2 [...] And this clari?es the Koranic verses and hadiths about hatred for the sake of Allah and love for the sake of Allah, Al Walaa wa al Baraa, being unyielding towards the Kafirs, hard against them, and detesting them, while accepting the destiny of Allah Most High insofar as it is the decree of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
Hatred for the sake of Allah and love for the sake of Allah is called Al Walaa wa al Baraa, a fundamental principle of Islamic ethics and Sharia. A Muslim is to hate what Allah hates and love what Allah loves. Allah hates the Kafir, therefore, a Muslim is to act accordingly.
40:35 They [Kafirs] who dispute the signs [Koran verses] of Allah without authority having reached them are greatly hated by Allah and the believers [Muslims]. So Allah seals up every arrogant, disdainful heart.
h8.24 It is not permissible to give zakat [charity] to a Kafir, or to someone whom one is obliged to support such as a wife or family member.
Here are a few of the Koran references: A Kafir can be mocked--
83:34 On that day the faithful will mock the Kafirs, while they sit on bridal couches and watch them. Should not the Kafirs be paid back for what they did?
A Kafir can be beheaded--
47:4 When you encounter the Kafirs on the battle?eld, cut off their heads until you have thoroughly defeated them and then take the prisoners and tie them up firmly.
A Kafir can be plotted against--
86:15 They plot and scheme against you [Mohammed], and I plot and scheme against them. Therefore, deal calmly with the Kafirs and leave them alone for a while.
A Kafir can be terrorized--
8:12 Then your Lord spoke to His angels and said, "I will be with you. Give strength to the believers. I will send terror into the Kafirs' hearts, cut off their heads and even the tips of their fingers!"
A Muslim is not the friend of a Kafir--
3:28 Believers should not take Kafirs as friends in preference to other believers. Those who do this will have none of Allah's protection and will only have themselves as guards. Allah warns you to fear Him for all will return to Him.
A Kafir is evil--
23:97 And say: Oh my Lord! I seek refuge with You from the suggestions of the evil ones [Kafirs]. And I seek refuge with you, my Lord, from their presence.
A Kafir is disgraced--
37:18 Tell them, "Yes! And you [Kafirs] will be disgraced."
A Kafir is cursed--
33:60 They [Kafirs] will be cursed, and wherever they are found, they will be seized and murdered. It was Allah's same practice with those who came before them, and you will ?nd no change in Allah's ways.
KAFIRS AND THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
Muslims tell Christians and Jews that they are special. They are "People of the Book" and are brothers in the Abrahamic faith. But in Islam you are a Christian, if and only if, you believe that Christ was a man who was a prophet of Allah; there is no Trinity; Jesus was not crucified nor resurrected and that He will return to establish Sharia law. To be a true Jew you must believe that Mohammed is the last in the line of Jewish prophets.
This verse is positive:
5:77 Say: Oh, People of the Book, do not step out of the bounds of truth in your religion, and do not follow the desires of those who have gone wrong and led many astray. They have themselves gone astray from the even way.
Islamic doctrine is dualistic, so there is an opposite view as well. Here is the last verse written about the People of the Book (A later verse abrogates or nullifies an earlier verse.). This is the final word. It calls for Muslims to make war on the People of the Book who do not believe in the religion of truth, Islam.
9:29 Make war on those who have received the Scriptures [Jews and Christians] but do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day. They do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. The Christians and Jews do not follow the religion of truth until they submit and pay the poll tax [jizya] and they are humiliated.
The sentence "They do not forbid..." means that they do not accept Sharia law; "until they submit" means to submit to Sharia law. Christians and Jews who do not accept Mohammed as the ?nal prophet are Kafirs.
Muslims pray five times a day and the opening prayer always includes:
Koran 1: 7 Not the path of those who anger You [the Jews] nor the path of those who go astray [the Christians].
LANGUAGE
Since the original Arabic word for unbelievers was Kafir and that is the actual word used in the Koran and Sharia law, that is the word used here for accuracy and precision.
It is very simple: if you don't believe Mohammed and his Koran, you are a Kafir.
Burundian online journalist faces life in prison on treason charge
New York, July 19, 2010—Burundian authorities’ arrest on Saturday of journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu on treason charges over commentary critical of the country’s security forces is alarming, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. He is being held in Mpimba prison in the capital, Bujumbura.
Kavumbagu, editor of the private online daily Net Press, could face life in prison if convicted over a July 12 story reporting on the deadly July 11 terrorist attacks in neighboring Uganda, defense lawyer Gabriel Sinarinzi told CPJ. The Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the blasts and threatened more attacks against Uganda and Burundi unless they withdrew peacekeeping forces deployed in Somalia, according to news reports. Net Press’ story questioned the ability of Burundian security forces to prevent a potential attack in the country, and accused the forces of looting and killing in Burundi, according to CPJ research.
It’s not clear why Kavumbagu was charged with treason, a war-time offense, and not under Burundi’s press law, according to Sinarinzi. The defense had requested the journalist’s release on bail pending trial, he added. Kavumbagu’s detention violates the Burundian criminal procedure code, which allows pre-trial detention of suspects under limited conditions that do not apply to the journalist’s case, Sinarinzi said.
“The treason charge against Jean Claude Kavumbagu is an extreme form of intimidation,” CPJ East Africa consultant Tom Rhodes said. “The authorities must follow the national press law and release Kavumbagu on bail.”
Police Officer David Nikiza arrested Kavumbagu at his office on Saturday and took him to the office of Magistrate Tabu Renovat, where he was interrogated for two hours, charged with treason, and transferred to Mpimba prison, the journalist’s brother, Jean-Marie Vianney Kavumbagu, told CPJ. The same day, 15 radio stations in Bujumbura broadcasted a simultaneous message calling for Kavumbagu’s release, he said.
Kavumbagu is already battling a government appeal of a March 2009 dismissal of criminal defamation charges over an article that claimed President Pierre Nkurunziza spent an exorbitant amount during his trip to the 2008 summer Olympics in China, according to Sinarinzi.
Tensions in Burundi were high last month during presidential elections in which all opposition candidates withdrew over fears the outcome would be rigged—the incumbent remained as the only choice on the ballot, The Associated Press reported. And authorities expelled Human Rights Watch researcher Neela Ghoshal from Burundi in May after the publication of a report documenting pre-election violence.
URL > http://cpj.org/2010/07/burundian-online-journalist-faces-life-in-jail-on.php
Kavumbagu, editor of the private online daily Net Press, could face life in prison if convicted over a July 12 story reporting on the deadly July 11 terrorist attacks in neighboring Uganda, defense lawyer Gabriel Sinarinzi told CPJ. The Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the blasts and threatened more attacks against Uganda and Burundi unless they withdrew peacekeeping forces deployed in Somalia, according to news reports. Net Press’ story questioned the ability of Burundian security forces to prevent a potential attack in the country, and accused the forces of looting and killing in Burundi, according to CPJ research.
It’s not clear why Kavumbagu was charged with treason, a war-time offense, and not under Burundi’s press law, according to Sinarinzi. The defense had requested the journalist’s release on bail pending trial, he added. Kavumbagu’s detention violates the Burundian criminal procedure code, which allows pre-trial detention of suspects under limited conditions that do not apply to the journalist’s case, Sinarinzi said.
“The treason charge against Jean Claude Kavumbagu is an extreme form of intimidation,” CPJ East Africa consultant Tom Rhodes said. “The authorities must follow the national press law and release Kavumbagu on bail.”
Police Officer David Nikiza arrested Kavumbagu at his office on Saturday and took him to the office of Magistrate Tabu Renovat, where he was interrogated for two hours, charged with treason, and transferred to Mpimba prison, the journalist’s brother, Jean-Marie Vianney Kavumbagu, told CPJ. The same day, 15 radio stations in Bujumbura broadcasted a simultaneous message calling for Kavumbagu’s release, he said.
Kavumbagu is already battling a government appeal of a March 2009 dismissal of criminal defamation charges over an article that claimed President Pierre Nkurunziza spent an exorbitant amount during his trip to the 2008 summer Olympics in China, according to Sinarinzi.
Tensions in Burundi were high last month during presidential elections in which all opposition candidates withdrew over fears the outcome would be rigged—the incumbent remained as the only choice on the ballot, The Associated Press reported. And authorities expelled Human Rights Watch researcher Neela Ghoshal from Burundi in May after the publication of a report documenting pre-election violence.
URL > http://cpj.org/2010/07/burundian-online-journalist-faces-life-in-jail-on.php
Monday, July 12, 2010
I am happy at last, says Steven Monjeza
Steven Monjeza, pardoned alongside Tiwonge Chimbalanga for staging Malawi's first ever gay engagement ceremony, says he is now happy that the media and Malawians have left him free.
Monjeza said it was good Malawians had head his plea to leave him alone, adding he was now happy with his wife.
"So far, people we meet are being supportive; it's as if nothing really happened. I thank Malawians for their support and ask them to continue praying for me," said Monjeza.
Monjeza said it was good Malawians had head his plea to leave him alone, adding he was now happy with his wife.
"So far, people we meet are being supportive; it's as if nothing really happened. I thank Malawians for their support and ask them to continue praying for me," said Monjeza.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Dutch citizens in bicycle ambulance project
Two Dutch citizens, Roel Barkhof and Be Vam der Weide, are in Malawi to appraise work on a bicycle ambulance project they have been bankrolling since 2007.
Barkhof and Weide, who run the Netherlands-based foundation, Transport4Transport.nl, said they started funding the project, which is run by Blantyre-based Dutch citizen Peter Meijer’s Sakaramenta workshop, after noting that pregnant women were dying from preventable causes.
These causes include late arrival to healthcare facilities and poor transport modes, include the traditional oxcart or community members carrying patients using the back, a situation that contributed greatly towards Malawi’s high mortality and morbidity rates.
Barkhof, who chairs Transport4Transport, and Weide, the organisation’s treasurer, have so attracted media attention in Malawi they are on high demand, especially at state-run media- Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (radio) and its television arm (FORMERLY Malawi Television).
The two formerly separate institutions have since merged under a new government arrangement envisaged to cut costs and improve efficiency.
“We have been working with various NGOs, including Liebemzell, Stephanos and Maikhanda. In fact, this is the third time to be in Malawi and we are happy to contribute towards sustainable social-economic development,” said Barkhof.
Barkhof, a former Netherlands’ radio presenter and newspaper editor, said they would love to compliments efforts of the Malawi government in improving healthcare service delivery, adding bicycle ambulances have proved to be part of the solution.
Under the arrangement, Meijer produces bicycle carts, specifically designed to get attached to any bicycle.
“We produce two kinds of carts: CareCar, or bicycle ambulance, and TengaCar. This means transport cart. Thse can be used for any transport tasks and may help small scale business people come around the problem of poverty and improve their lives,” said Meijer.
The CareCar is a bicycle ambulance adapted to transport patients and pregnant women to healthcare facilities, and is ideal for rural areas where transport remains a major challenge and contributing factor towards preventable deaths.
The TengaCar, on the other hand, is a push and bicycle cart designed to carry large volumes of goods.
“The good thing about these innovations is that people will reduce transport costs while, at the same time, preventing unnecessary deaths,” said Meijer.
Minister for the Elderly and People with Diasabilities, Reen Kachere, who accompanied the dutch today, said the innovation could also help people with disabilities and the elderly.
"These two groups become so vulnerable when sick, or pregnant (in terms of women); the bicycle ambulances can thus go a long way in preventing avoidable deaths. I have discussed with them the possibility of cartering for these groups as well," said Kachere.
She people using wheelchairs could also utilise the bicycles by carrying large volumes of goods, apart from using the same to run small and medium scale enterprises.
"This government really wants to help, and would love to work closely with these people," Kachere said.
Barkhof and Weide, who run the Netherlands-based foundation, Transport4Transport.nl, said they started funding the project, which is run by Blantyre-based Dutch citizen Peter Meijer’s Sakaramenta workshop, after noting that pregnant women were dying from preventable causes.
These causes include late arrival to healthcare facilities and poor transport modes, include the traditional oxcart or community members carrying patients using the back, a situation that contributed greatly towards Malawi’s high mortality and morbidity rates.
Barkhof, who chairs Transport4Transport, and Weide, the organisation’s treasurer, have so attracted media attention in Malawi they are on high demand, especially at state-run media- Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (radio) and its television arm (FORMERLY Malawi Television).
The two formerly separate institutions have since merged under a new government arrangement envisaged to cut costs and improve efficiency.
“We have been working with various NGOs, including Liebemzell, Stephanos and Maikhanda. In fact, this is the third time to be in Malawi and we are happy to contribute towards sustainable social-economic development,” said Barkhof.
Barkhof, a former Netherlands’ radio presenter and newspaper editor, said they would love to compliments efforts of the Malawi government in improving healthcare service delivery, adding bicycle ambulances have proved to be part of the solution.
Under the arrangement, Meijer produces bicycle carts, specifically designed to get attached to any bicycle.
“We produce two kinds of carts: CareCar, or bicycle ambulance, and TengaCar. This means transport cart. Thse can be used for any transport tasks and may help small scale business people come around the problem of poverty and improve their lives,” said Meijer.
The CareCar is a bicycle ambulance adapted to transport patients and pregnant women to healthcare facilities, and is ideal for rural areas where transport remains a major challenge and contributing factor towards preventable deaths.
The TengaCar, on the other hand, is a push and bicycle cart designed to carry large volumes of goods.
“The good thing about these innovations is that people will reduce transport costs while, at the same time, preventing unnecessary deaths,” said Meijer.
Minister for the Elderly and People with Diasabilities, Reen Kachere, who accompanied the dutch today, said the innovation could also help people with disabilities and the elderly.
"These two groups become so vulnerable when sick, or pregnant (in terms of women); the bicycle ambulances can thus go a long way in preventing avoidable deaths. I have discussed with them the possibility of cartering for these groups as well," said Kachere.
She people using wheelchairs could also utilise the bicycles by carrying large volumes of goods, apart from using the same to run small and medium scale enterprises.
"This government really wants to help, and would love to work closely with these people," Kachere said.
No comment
ISLAMIC SCHOLARS CLAIM: The perfect Islamic family law is sacred law since it is based upon the words of Allah in the glorious Koran and the Sunna of Mohammed. All other laws are man-made and must submit to the will of Allah; therefore, only Sharia law is suitable for Muslims. For Muslims to be ruled by Kafir laws is an abomination.
THE SHARIA:
m3.13 Guardians are of two types, those who may compel their female charges to marry someone, and those who may not.
m6.10 It is unlawful for a free man to marry more than four women.
m8.2 A guardian may not marry his prepubescent daughter to someone for less than the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides
ADULTERY
[Bukhari 3,38,508] Mohammed said, “Unais, confront this man’s wife and if she admits committing adultery have her stoned to death.”
[Bukhari 8,82,803] Ali had a woman stoned to death on a Friday and said, “I have punished her as Mohammed would have.”
ml0.4 The husband may forbid his wife to leave the home. But if one of her relatives dies, it is preferable to let her leave to visit them.
m5.0 conjugal rights, the wife’s marital obligations
m5.1 It is obligatory for a woman to let her husband have sex with her immediately when:
(a) he asks her
(b) at home
(c) and she can physically endure it
[Abu Dawud 11, 2138; 2139] Muawiyah said: Apostle of Allah, how should we approach our wives and how should we leave them? He replied: Approach your tilth (tilth is a plowed field, a term for the vagina) when or how you will, ...
The most important thing that a woman brings to the marriage is her vagina.
[Bukhari 7,62,81] Mohammed said, “The marriage vow most rightly expected to be obeyed is the husband’s right to enjoy the wife’s vagina.”
Allah curses the woman who resists sex.
[Bukhari 7,62,121] Mohammed: “If a woman refuses her husband’s request for sex, the angels will curse her through the night.”
From the Sira, we have some more about a husband’s rights:
Ishaq 957 Mohammed sent Muadh to Yemen to proselytize. While he was there he was asked what rights a husband has over the wife. He replied to the woman who asked, “If you went home and found your husband’s nose running with pus and blood and you sucked it until it was cleaned, you still would not have fulfilled your husband’s rights.”
CHILD BRIDES
Mohammed, age 51, proposed marriage to Aisha when she was six years old. Marriage to a child is Sunna.
[Bukhari 7,62,18] When Mohammed asked Abu Bakr for Aisha’s hand in marriage, Abu replied, “But I am your brother.” Mohammed said, “You are only my brother in Allah’s religion and His Book, so it is lawful for me to marry her.”
THE SHARIA:
m3.13 Guardians are of two types, those who may compel their female charges to marry someone, and those who may not.
m6.10 It is unlawful for a free man to marry more than four women.
m8.2 A guardian may not marry his prepubescent daughter to someone for less than the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides
ADULTERY
[Bukhari 3,38,508] Mohammed said, “Unais, confront this man’s wife and if she admits committing adultery have her stoned to death.”
[Bukhari 8,82,803] Ali had a woman stoned to death on a Friday and said, “I have punished her as Mohammed would have.”
ml0.4 The husband may forbid his wife to leave the home. But if one of her relatives dies, it is preferable to let her leave to visit them.
m5.0 conjugal rights, the wife’s marital obligations
m5.1 It is obligatory for a woman to let her husband have sex with her immediately when:
(a) he asks her
(b) at home
(c) and she can physically endure it
[Abu Dawud 11, 2138; 2139] Muawiyah said: Apostle of Allah, how should we approach our wives and how should we leave them? He replied: Approach your tilth (tilth is a plowed field, a term for the vagina) when or how you will, ...
The most important thing that a woman brings to the marriage is her vagina.
[Bukhari 7,62,81] Mohammed said, “The marriage vow most rightly expected to be obeyed is the husband’s right to enjoy the wife’s vagina.”
Allah curses the woman who resists sex.
[Bukhari 7,62,121] Mohammed: “If a woman refuses her husband’s request for sex, the angels will curse her through the night.”
From the Sira, we have some more about a husband’s rights:
Ishaq 957 Mohammed sent Muadh to Yemen to proselytize. While he was there he was asked what rights a husband has over the wife. He replied to the woman who asked, “If you went home and found your husband’s nose running with pus and blood and you sucked it until it was cleaned, you still would not have fulfilled your husband’s rights.”
CHILD BRIDES
Mohammed, age 51, proposed marriage to Aisha when she was six years old. Marriage to a child is Sunna.
[Bukhari 7,62,18] When Mohammed asked Abu Bakr for Aisha’s hand in marriage, Abu replied, “But I am your brother.” Mohammed said, “You are only my brother in Allah’s religion and His Book, so it is lawful for me to marry her.”
Monday, July 5, 2010
Three teachers caught having sex with students
Three teachers from a private secondary school in Ndirande were caught Friday having sex with their own students after a graduation ceremony.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Traffic police officers are not above the law
I am very angry right now; my heart has still not settled.
Some Blantyre Traffic Police officers wanted to hit me with their Toyota Hilux vehicle.
It was deliberate. The guys were coming from Blantyre Market and took the left lane that takes motorists to Blantyre Magistrates’ Court. Suddenly, they changed their mind and turned right, violating traffic laws of the land.
I am not ashamed to say these were three ignorant people, as seen through their lips heavily black with cigarette smoke.
Oh, yes.
And they thought they were above the law.
I stopped abruptly, surprised that we have some ignorant people in the Malawi Police Service. Or Else, people who deliberately violate the law because they are police officers.
So the guys tried to intimidate me, asking whether I didn’t see the vehicle.
I told them they are the ones who were in the wrong; taking the wrong turn.
I told them they could not intimidate me, upon which they threatened to bundle me into their car.
But here I am, and it is my turn. If those three misfits see this, they should know that they are fools.
I stand here, on the high mountain, undisturbed. I don’t fear them.
Being a traffic police officer should not mean hitting people on our roads deliberately. The guys with black lips due to heavy cigarette smoke are in the wrong professions.
No wonder, Police Chief Peter Mukhito often warned that the Service will fire police officers who abuse their office, and connive with criminals.
I support him.
Let him know, also, that there are police misfits like the three I met.
The three are foolish officers.
And I am angry.
Right now, I am going out to look for them.
Fools who wanted to hit me deliberately and flouted the country’s rules. Misfits in society.
Some Blantyre Traffic Police officers wanted to hit me with their Toyota Hilux vehicle.
It was deliberate. The guys were coming from Blantyre Market and took the left lane that takes motorists to Blantyre Magistrates’ Court. Suddenly, they changed their mind and turned right, violating traffic laws of the land.
I am not ashamed to say these were three ignorant people, as seen through their lips heavily black with cigarette smoke.
Oh, yes.
And they thought they were above the law.
I stopped abruptly, surprised that we have some ignorant people in the Malawi Police Service. Or Else, people who deliberately violate the law because they are police officers.
So the guys tried to intimidate me, asking whether I didn’t see the vehicle.
I told them they are the ones who were in the wrong; taking the wrong turn.
I told them they could not intimidate me, upon which they threatened to bundle me into their car.
But here I am, and it is my turn. If those three misfits see this, they should know that they are fools.
I stand here, on the high mountain, undisturbed. I don’t fear them.
Being a traffic police officer should not mean hitting people on our roads deliberately. The guys with black lips due to heavy cigarette smoke are in the wrong professions.
No wonder, Police Chief Peter Mukhito often warned that the Service will fire police officers who abuse their office, and connive with criminals.
I support him.
Let him know, also, that there are police misfits like the three I met.
The three are foolish officers.
And I am angry.
Right now, I am going out to look for them.
Fools who wanted to hit me deliberately and flouted the country’s rules. Misfits in society.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Lady with right-handed heart fine
Well, the Malawian womam with the heart to the left side is doing fine in South Africa, after undergoing an operation, according to Malawi Tevision.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Blantyre marketeers beat up woman for immodest dressing
Vendors from Blantyre market today beat up a 39 year old woman, Mary Kadzitche, for dressing above the knee.
Kadzitche had to be whisked by a minibus driver at exactly 12:19pm todat, a development thatangered women.
It is in the habit of Blantyre vendors to harrass women deemed immodestly dressed.
Kadzitche had to be whisked by a minibus driver at exactly 12:19pm todat, a development thatangered women.
It is in the habit of Blantyre vendors to harrass women deemed immodestly dressed.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Scandorous: Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital's Dental Department staff cash in on rural communities ignorance
Day light robbery is taking place at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Malawi's referral hospital in the Southern region, where staff members from the hospital's Dental department are charging patients referred from district hospitals a non-refundable K5,000 fee.
Ministry of Health procedures stipulate that patients referred from district hospitals should access free government medical services, but QECH Dental Department staff are taking advantage of high illiteracy rates to cash in on rural communities.
Four visits to the department last week, aimed at ascertaining patients complaints to Zachimalawi, revealed that, in deed, the complaints are true.
Zachimalawi went to Chilomoni Health Centre on the pretext of having cavities filled, and was subsequebtly referred (in writing) to the Dental Department at QECH. Chilomoni health centre officials emphasised that QECH would provide free treatment since Zachimalawi's was a referral case.
But Zachimalawi was amazed with the reception guy's demand, himself a professional dentist, that he pays K5,000 for 'being referred here because, as people, we also grow tired and need something for lunch".
Mary Dzimbiri and Margaret Chanza, two women who came from Thyolo District Hospital, were also told the same, failing which they were told they would not access medicine.
"We are in charge here," said the receptionist who, ironically, spends uch of his time at the reception when he was supposed to be helping people.
Three other dentists at the institution also refused to help Michael Galeta, a patient referred from Mulanje District Hospital for his refusal to cough K2,000 to be treated "immediately".
Galeta confirmed to Zachimalawi.
Zachimalawi spends an average 20 hours last week trying to find the truth, and its investigations and self-confessions from Dental department staff revealed that, at least, 11 relations to the Dental staff receive free medical services and drugs free of charge, yet rural,poor villagers from far away places are made to pay for free government services.
To add salt to an injury, two of the staff members told Zachimalawi that they dicided to make the decision after noting that government stocks were running fast, but acknowledged that it did not come as part a government directive.
"Actually, we use government stocks which are thoughly accounted for. When people pay, referred especially, it helps us in our planning and stock taking. Otherwise, we only issue one receipt for every six patients registered because we get something," said one of the staff members.
When Zachimalawi sought comments from QECH administrator, he offered to call at an oportune time. It never happened.
Malawi faces high levels of drug pilferage.
Zachimalawi has photocopied health passports of 20 patients who were charged K5,000 for free government services, and is ready to offer them as evidence.
Ministry of Health procedures stipulate that patients referred from district hospitals should access free government medical services, but QECH Dental Department staff are taking advantage of high illiteracy rates to cash in on rural communities.
Four visits to the department last week, aimed at ascertaining patients complaints to Zachimalawi, revealed that, in deed, the complaints are true.
Zachimalawi went to Chilomoni Health Centre on the pretext of having cavities filled, and was subsequebtly referred (in writing) to the Dental Department at QECH. Chilomoni health centre officials emphasised that QECH would provide free treatment since Zachimalawi's was a referral case.
But Zachimalawi was amazed with the reception guy's demand, himself a professional dentist, that he pays K5,000 for 'being referred here because, as people, we also grow tired and need something for lunch".
Mary Dzimbiri and Margaret Chanza, two women who came from Thyolo District Hospital, were also told the same, failing which they were told they would not access medicine.
"We are in charge here," said the receptionist who, ironically, spends uch of his time at the reception when he was supposed to be helping people.
Three other dentists at the institution also refused to help Michael Galeta, a patient referred from Mulanje District Hospital for his refusal to cough K2,000 to be treated "immediately".
Galeta confirmed to Zachimalawi.
Zachimalawi spends an average 20 hours last week trying to find the truth, and its investigations and self-confessions from Dental department staff revealed that, at least, 11 relations to the Dental staff receive free medical services and drugs free of charge, yet rural,poor villagers from far away places are made to pay for free government services.
To add salt to an injury, two of the staff members told Zachimalawi that they dicided to make the decision after noting that government stocks were running fast, but acknowledged that it did not come as part a government directive.
"Actually, we use government stocks which are thoughly accounted for. When people pay, referred especially, it helps us in our planning and stock taking. Otherwise, we only issue one receipt for every six patients registered because we get something," said one of the staff members.
When Zachimalawi sought comments from QECH administrator, he offered to call at an oportune time. It never happened.
Malawi faces high levels of drug pilferage.
Zachimalawi has photocopied health passports of 20 patients who were charged K5,000 for free government services, and is ready to offer them as evidence.
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