Articles – Page 33

Turkmenistan: State interference with Islamic religious life in the north east

By Igor Rotar - Forum 18 News Service, 8 March 2004

The Turkmen government has been replacing ethnic Uzbek imam-hatybs (mosque leaders) with ethnic Turkmens, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. The authorities are also forcing imam-hatybs to place the Turkmen flag above mosque entrances, to begin every sermon by praising “Turkmenbashi”, “Father of the Turkmens”, as President Saparmurat Niyazov insists on being called. Also, a copy of Niyazov’s book, the Ruhnama (Book of the Soul), must be placed at the entrance to every mosque and Muslims must touch it as if it were a sacred object. Similar instructions have reportedly been given to other Sunni Muslim mosques and Russian Orthodox Churches. These are the only two confessions allowed some limited freedom to operate in Turkmenistan.

Forum 18 News Service (F18News, Oslo, Norway) is a Christian initiative which is independent of any one church or religious group. Its independence is safeguarded by a board whose members are Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic Christians. F18News is objective, presenting news in a deliberately calm and balanced fashion, and presenting all sides of a situation. The overriding editorial objective of F18News is to as accurately as possible present the truth of a situation, both implicitly and explicitly.

Website: http://www.forum18.org/index.php

Total number of Lutherans worldwide climbs to nearly 66 million

By Lutheran World Information, 17 February 2004

Membership among Lutheran churches in the last two years increased by 570,000 putting the number of Lutherans worldwide up to nearly 66 million by the end of 2003. Lutheran Church membership in Europe is down by 640,000, but up by 1.1 million in Africa.

The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing 62.3 million of the almost 66 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF’s information service. Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units.

Tajikistan: Islamic party slams banned rival

By Salima Vahobzade - IWPR, 13 February 2004

The Islamic opposition party in Tajikistan has spoken out against the radical Hizb-ut-Tahrir group, in a bid to stake out a position as the only legitimate voice for Muslim political aspirations ahead of next year’s general election.

Salima Vahobzade is a reporter for the Vecherny Dushanbe newspaper.

This article was originally published by the IWPR (Institute for War Peace Reporting), London, in the Reporting Central Asia Service (RCA, No. 264, 11 February 2004). The Institute for War & Peace Reporting strengthens local journalism in areas of conflict. Religioscope has been allowed by the IWPR to repost its articles.
Website: http://www.iwpr.net/

Kazakhstan: mosques resist pressure to join state-recognised central organisation

By Igor Rotar - Forum 18 News Service, 13 February 2004

Ethnic Uzbek Imams leading mosques in southern Kazakhstan have resisted state pressure to come under the ‘Spiritual Administration of Muslims in Kazakhstan’, Forum 18 News Service has found. Pressure followed a 2002 attempt to change the law on religious associations, which the Constitutional Council ruled contradicted the constitution. Kazakh officials have frequently privately told Forum 18 that the region is the country’s “hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism“.

Website: http://www.forum18.org/index.php

Sri Lanka: Buddhists on warpath

By Indo-Asian News Service, 31 January 2004

Lord Buddha may have stood for peace and benevolence, but his disciples in Sri Lanka are an angry lot. Buddhist monks in the country allege that Christian groups are busy weaning away Buddhists from their ancient religion, reports OneWorld.

Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), formerly India Abroad News Service, was conceived in 1986 to enhance the flow of news and information between India and North America. IANS today is India’s first multinational and multilingual wire service.

Sikh religious bodies appeal to France on turbans

By Jaideep Sarin - Indo-Asian News Service, 30 January 2004

Sikh leaders and religious groups from Punjab have asked the French government to review a proposed law banning the wearing of turbans and other types of headgear in public institutions and workplaces.

Nepalese to spread Osho’s gospel in India

By Sudeshna Sarkar - Indo-Asian News Service, 9 January 2004

Fourteen years after godman Rajneesh aka Osho’s death, a Nepalese disciple who spread the movement in this Himalayan kingdom plans to focus on India, the goal being an Osho centre in each village.

Afghanistan: Shia make constitutional gains

By Hasina Sulaiman, Shahabuddin Tarakhel and Hafizullah Gardesh - IWPR, 8 January 2004

Shia Muslims, a significant minority in Afghanistan, made important gains in the new constitution passed Sunday at the end of the Loya Jirga. Unlike the previous constitution of 1964, when the king who then ruled Afghanistan had to be a follower of the Hanafi Sunni school of Islam, a Shia Muslim can now become leader of the country.

Hasina Sulaiman and Shahabuddin Tarakhel are independent journalists in Kabul participating in IWPR’s Loya Jirga reporting project. Hafizullah Gardesh is an IWPR editor/reporter in Kabul.

This article was first published on 6 January 2004 (ARR No. 100) by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), London. 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

IWPR supports recovery and development in crisis zones by providing professional training, financial assistance and an international platform to independent media, human rights activists and other local democratic voices. IWPR’s primary beneficiaries are local journalists who participate in its reporting, research and training programmes.

Kyrygyzstan: religious freedom survey

By Igor Rotar - Forum 18 News Service, 7 January 2004

In its survey analysis of religious freedom in Kyrgyzstan, Forum 18 News Service notes that both registered and unregistered religious communities appear to function freely, despite a 1996 presidential decree requiring religious communities to register. A dispute in 2003 about headscarves worn by Muslim schoolgirls seems to be over, however the closure of six mosques has not been overturned and the official who ordered the closure has not been punished. A Pentecostal Church which faced a massive tax bill and obstruction in registering affiliated congregations hopes that, due to international concern attributed to Forum 18’s reporting, a solution will be found. However, due to Muslim anger at conversions from Islam to Christianity, Forum 18 has been told by some that an official campaign against Christian proselytism may soon be launched.

Website: http://www.forum18.org/index.php

China: when will Beijing’s Orthodox have church?

By Felix Corley - Forum 18 News Service, 18 December 2003

After today’s funeral of Beijing’s last Orthodox priest, it is still unknown when the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church will have a church in the capital. Visiting Russian Orthodox priest Fr Dionisy Pozdnyayev told Forum 18 News Service that Orthodox believers “have no priest now, no church and nowhere to pray“, although he said the authorities were positive about the idea of Chinese Orthodox studying for the priesthood in Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church has being trying to help the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church, which the Cultural Revolution decimated, without success asking to send priests to surviving Chinese parishes. Several parishes still survive in Inner Mongolia and in Xinjiang Province in north west China.

Website: http://www.forum18.org/index.php

Turkmenistan: State interference with Islamic religious life in the north east

Total number of Lutherans worldwide climbs to nearly 66 million

Tajikistan: Islamic party slams banned rival

Kazakhstan: mosques resist pressure to join state-recognised central organisation

Sri Lanka: Buddhists on warpath

Sikh religious bodies appeal to France on turbans

Nepalese to spread Osho’s gospel in India

Afghanistan: Shia make constitutional gains

Kyrygyzstan: religious freedom survey

China: when will Beijing’s Orthodox have church?

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