South Asia

  In this picture taken on May 22, 2015, Rohingya men eat food at a confinement area for migrants at Bayeun, Aceh province, Indonesia. (© AFP) The United Nations (UN)’s refugee agency has slammed Myanmar for imposing restrictions on the “basic freedoms” of its persecuted Rohingya community, urging Naypyidaw to grant citizenship to the country’s Muslim minority. Addressing a Friday summit in Bangkok, Thailand, on ways to tackle the migrant crisis in Southeast Asia, Volker Türk, a senior official with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the issue could not be resolved unless the “root causes” are addressed. “This requires full assumption of responsibility by Myanmar towards all people on its territory. Granting of citizenship is the ultimate goal,” sai...

NOVANEWS The IT chief at Bangladesh Coca-Cola is one of two men who has been arrested as an Zio-Wahhabi (ISIS) terrorist suspect.  An IT manager at a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Co was one of two men arrested in Bangladesh on suspicion of planning to fight for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), police and company sources said on Monday. The pair were detained during a raid in the capital Dhaka on Sunday night, said Sheikh Nazmul Alam, a senior official of the police detective branch. One man, Aminul Islam, was the information technology head of the multinational company, and worked as a regional coordinator for ISIS, while the other, Sakib Bin Kamal, was a teacher at a school in Dhaka, he added. A police official and a company source told Reuters that Islam worked at Internation...

NOVANEWS His enemies like to refer to him as the Buddhist Bin Laden, but he has a lot more in common with the famous fictional spy – James Bond. “James Bond is a nationalist,”  says Ashin Wirathu, the cherub-faced monk  in a recent interview, and  he is defending Myanmar against the people he views as the country’s main enemy: its Muslims. Buddhist Bin Laden Wirathu, 46, might bear as much responsibility as any individual for the growing exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar aboard overcrowded fishing boats bound for Thailand and Malaysia and anywhere that will take them. In speeches and Facebook posts, he has warned of an impending “jihad” against the huge Buddhist majority, and of  Buddhist systematically raping Muslims women while calling for boycotts of Muslim-owned businesses....

NOVANEWS Warnings, and images of children in emotional Saudi Zio-Wahhabi of Uzbekistan has released a video in which Saudi jihadists behead one prisoner and are threatening to kill all of the captives, if the Afghan government does not release their fellow jihadists. The video shows some of the captives delivering their messages, a jihadist delivering his warnings, and images of children in emotional settings. At 6:03, a captive is beheaded. CLICK SCREEN BELOW TWICE TO SEE VIDEO

NOVANEWS By: Sammi Ibrahem,Sr Rohingya migrants have their breakfast at a temporary shelter in Bayeun, Aceh province, Indonesia on Sunday. ─ AP Malaysian authorities said Sunday that they have discovered a series of graves in more than a dozen abandoned camps used by human traffickers on the border with Thailand, where Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar have been held. Malaysian Home Minister Zahid Hamidi told reporters Sunday that police were trying to identify and verify “the mass graves that were found." "These graves are believed to be a part of human trafficking activities involving migrants,” he said, adding that police have found 17 abandoned camps that they believe were used by traffickers. Read more: Malaysia, Indonesia offer shelter to 7,000 migrants There was...

NOVANEWS Stateless refugees from Burma are risking death, rape, and drowning by the thousands on a risky escape to Malaysia. by: Daniel P. Sullivan (Photo: AFP/Getty Images) This article is a joint publication of Foreign Policy In Focus and TheNation.com. The names of the refugees below have been changed to protect their identities. Imagine the choice between throwing your fate into the hands of notoriously abusive human traffickers or staying in a place facing the highest risk of genocide in the world. This is the choice faced by hundreds of thousands of people from the Rohingya minority in western Burma today. The reality of their trials was brought to life for me recently in a crowded home of refugees in Malaysia, where an estimated 100,000 Rohingya have now fled....

NOVANEWS But power (or politics) has changed her ZAFAR SOBHAN In the face of scathing criticism from international human rights groups, supporters of the sainted Aung San Suu Kyi are left with only one way to spin her inaction and silence on the persecution of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar: as cold political calculation on her part. With national elections coming up later this year, it is arguably expedient to pander to those segments of Myanmar’s largely Buddhist population who would deny political rights to the 750,000 Muslim Rohingyas who inhabit the Rakhine state on the border with Bangladesh. Their numbers are small, and their citizenship status is contested. In crude electoral terms, there is nothing to be gained from espousing their cause and, possibly, much to lose. Yet ...

NOVANEWS By three Muslims because of his anti-Islam writings Blogger Washiqur Rahman Babu, 26, was hacked to death with meat cleavers by three attackers in Bangladesh’s capital because of his anti-Islamic writings. Babu was declared dead as he was taken to a government hospital shortly after being attacked in Dhaka. The killing took place a month after a prominent Bangladeshi-American blogger known for speaking out against extremism was hacked to death in Dhaka. Two of the attackers were caught near the scene, police said. Two suspects, both students at Islamic schools, were captured and three meat cleavers were recovered, Sarker said. The third suspect fled, he said. One of the suspects told reporters they attacked Babu because he had disrespected Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. “I stabbed...

NOVANEWS American blogger Dr. Avijit Roy was hacked to death with machetes and meat cleavers by a Muslim militant group while walking down the street in Bangladesh. The horrific attack occurred while the Atlanta, Georgia man, known for his anti-Muslim extremist writings, was attending a book fair with his wife Rafida Ahmed. UK Daily Mail  Dr. Avijit Roy was reportedly a prominent American blogger who routinely spoke out against Islamic extremism. Rafida Ahmed was also seriously injured in the meat cleaver and machete attack and was taken to a Bangladesh hospital with critical injuries. Roy, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was of a Hindu descent. Hindus are a religious minority in Bangladesh and have reportedly faced cultural obstacles and persecution in the country throughout history. Poli...

NOVANEWS By Kuganandhan Paramanandan The January elections being fought between Sri Lankan presidential hopefuls, incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa and opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, would also determine India's relevance in regional diplomacy. Reuters Rajapaksa, two-time president since 2005 who crushed the Liberation of Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE), called for elections two years ahead of schedule, to be held on 8 January, hoping to turn the military victory into a license for lifetime rule. The Opposition However, Rajapaksa not only expected to remain unopposed, but never expected the opponent to be Maithripala Sirisena, health minister in his cabinet. Sirisena was able to rally an invigorated opposition. The Bandaranaike family's Chandrika Kumaratunga extended support...