LEGALLY COERCED SPEECH ABOUT MUSLIMS IN AUSTRALIA

A Christian pastor ordered to apologise for vilifying Muslims says he is prepared to go to jail before saying sorry for his comments. Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) deputy president Michael Higgins ordered two pastors of the evangelical order, Catch the Fire Ministry, to apologise over statements made in a speech, comments on a website and in a newsletter.

In a landmark ruling by the tribunal, it found comments including that Muslims were training to take over Australia, encourage domestic violence and that Islam was an inherently violent religion, had vilified Muslims. The case was the first to be heard by the VCAT since the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act took effect in Victoria at the start of 2002.

Outside the tribunal, one of the pastors described himself as a martyr and said he would go to jail before apologising. "Right from the inception, we have said that this law (Racial and Religious Tolerance Act) is a foul law, this law is not a law which brings unity," Pastor Nalliah said. "It causes disunity and as far as we are concerned right from the beginning we have stated we will not apologise. We will go to prison for standing for the truth and not sacrifice our freedom and freedom to speak." He said the Evangelical group had nothing against Muslims and its comments were taken out of context.

Judge Higgins said an apology was "appropriate" as the intention of the Victorian legislation was to protect freedom of speech, but to place limits upon such freedom by prohibiting the vilification of persons or classes of persons. He said he took into account the pastors were of good character, but their passionate religious beliefs caused them to transgress the law.

Catch the Fire are appealing the VCAT decision at the Victorian Supreme Court.

Source



INDIA: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR MUSLIMS!

Boy, will that be unpopular with the higher castes! Congress is India's major Leftist party

The Andhra Pradesh government Friday declared Muslims a backward class and decided to implement five percent reservations in education and employment for them. A meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, accepted the report of the Backward Classes Commission recommending the reservations. Information and Public Relations Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir told reporters after the meeting that the cabinet decided to create a separate 'E' group among backward classes to provide reservations to Muslims. An ordinance providing the reservations for Muslims would be issued soon and it would come into effect from this academic year. With this, the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh has fulfilled one of its major electoral promises.

However, the move could attract opposition from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some Hindu groups that had earlier challenged a similar decision in the high court.

Some backward classes are also opposed to the move on the grounds that it would affect reservation benefits enjoyed by them as well as their claims to be added to the official list of backward classes for reservations. However, Shabbir clarified that reservations for Muslims would in no way impact those who already enjoyed reservations under 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D' groups of backward classes. The five percent reservations for Muslims would take the total quantum of reservations for backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to 51 percent, thus exceeding the 50 percent cap fixed by the Supreme Court. The state government is citing the example of states like Tamil Nadu, where the total quantum of reservations has reached 60 percent.

The Backward Classes Commission headed by judge D. Subrahmanyam Wednesday had submitted its report to the government. The report cleared legal and technical hitches for implementing the reservations for Muslims. The state government had in July last year issued an order declaring Muslims a backward community and providing five percent reservations for them in education and jobs. This sparked off a controversy with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Hindu rightwing groups challenging the move in the high court.

On Sep 21, 2004, a five-judge bench of the high court quashed the order on the grounds that the state government did not consult the Backward Classes Commission before taking the decision. The court directed the state government to reconstitute the commission in three months and seek its opinion for the inclusion of Muslims in the list of backward classes. According to the 1991 census, minorities made up 11 percent of Andhra Pradesh's population of 76 million, of which Muslims comprised 8.5 percent.

Source