Articles – Page 32

Turkmenistan: religious freedom survey

By Felix Corley - Forum 18 News Service, 7 April 2004

In its survey analysis of the religious freedom situation in Turkmenistan, Forum 18 News Service reports on the almost complete lack of freedom to practice any faith, apart from very limited freedom for Sunni Islam and Russian Orthodox Christianity with a small number of registered places of worship and constant interference and control by the state. This is despite recent legal changes that in theory allow minority communities to register…

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. – Forum 18 News Service (F18News, Oslo, Norway) is a Christian initiative which is independent of any one church or religious group. F18News is objective, presenting news in a deliberately calm and balanced fashion, and presenting all sides of a situation. Website: www.forum18.org/index.php

Germany: Muslim groups denounce terrorism

By Don Hill - RFE/RL, 7 April 2004

Two Muslim umbrella organizations in Germany have issued a statement condemning all forms of terrorism as un-Islamic. A spokesman for the groups told that they hope with one voice to make their distaste for terrorism abundantly and finally clear. But at least one expert critic said she remains unconvinced.

Iraq: controversial Shia ritual under fire

By Emad al-Sharei - IWPR, 5 April 2004

Some Shia clerics are now recommending believers to donate their blood instead of shedding it in a ritual to commemorate the Imam Hussein.

Emad al-Sharei is a trainee journalist with IWPR in Baghdad.

This article was published in the Iraqi Crisis Report, N° 55, 31 March 2004. Posted on Religioscope with permission. Articles published by the IWPR on Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Iraq as well as other topics can be accessed on its website: www.iwpr.net.

Sri Lanka: Buddhist monks brace for political role – but of a different kind

By M.R. Narayan Swamy - Indo-Asian News Service, 5 April 2004

When Sri Lanka’s new parliament convenes, it will have some unusual members: Buddhist monks in their familiar maroon robes and with tonsured heads bracing to play the role of politicians this country has not seen. Their mission, they insist, is to use political power to restore Sri Lanka to its pristine Buddhist glory.

Pakistan’s moves to secularise education evokes protests

By Indo-Asian News Service, 3 April 2004

Religious scholars in Pakistan are up in arms at the government’s moves to reduce references to jehad or holy war and exclude such Quranic verses as could fuel religious intolerance from educational curricula.

India: USA funds training of Islamic seminary teachers

By Krittivas Mukherjee - Indo-Asian News Service, 3 April 2004

The US is providing funds to a voluntary agency working to improve and modernise teaching in Islamic seminaries that mostly impart only religious lessons.

India: mysterious killing of sadhus in Uttar Pradesh

By Indo-Asian News Service, 3 April 2004

The mysterious killings of 18 sadhus over 12 months in an Uttar Pradesh district have baffled officials and spread panic among ascetics staying in temples.

Russia: alternative Orthodox denied church property

By Geraldine Fagan - Forum 18 News Service, 3 April 2004

Although True Orthodox communities can normally gather in private homes and do not require a worship building, Forum 18 News Service has found indications that local authorities sometimes bar attempts to acquire or maintain worship buildings by the True Orthodox, as well as other Orthodox groups opposed to the Moscow Patriarchate. In Moscow, this problem has existed since the early 1990s, when the City Council decided that pre-revolutionary Orthodox church buildings may be returned only to the Moscow Patriarchate.

Russia: alternative Orthodox denied legal status

By Geraldine Fagan - Forum 18 News Service, 3 April 2004

Although most True Orthodox communities do not register with the state, due to a lingering fear of persecution, rejection of the state and a lack of the organisational skills required to register, Forum 18 News Service has found indications that local authorities sometimes bar attempts to register by the True Orthodox, as well as other Orthodox who are opposed to the Moscow Patriarchate.

Sikkim: winds of change in Himalayas take toll on Buddhism

By Syed Zarir Hussain - Indo-Asian News Service, 8 March 2004

Buddhist scholars in Sikkim, a frontier state bordering China, are worried over their faith getting diluted as winds of change blow across the lofty Himalayan ranges.