http://www.bahairights.org Just another WordPress weblog Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:57:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Disturbing news was just received from Kerman, Iran. A summary of the report: Mihran Shakir and his family are Baha'is and live in Kerman. For some time, Mrs. Shakir had been receiving threatening phone calls (presumably for being members of the Baha'i community). When the family attended the commemorative meeting ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/07/19/a-bahai-home-arsoned-in-kerman-iran/ Dr. Basma G. Moussa, a leading Egyptian Baha'i blogger, and Assistant Professor at the prestigious Cairo University, wrote an article for the left-leaning El Badeel Newspaper on the discrimination adherents of the faith are met with in Egypt. Entitled "The Department of Civil Status Leads the Discrimination Against Baha'is", ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/07/15/department-of-civil-status-leads-discrimination-against-bahais/ Islamists in Egypt have long posed a hurdle to efforts aimed at granting Baha'i citizens equal rights. Now a more chilling development has ensued, with the news that the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) has begun distributing a book titled "The Baha'i Faith and the Stance of Islam" to all ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/07/10/publication-in-egypt-incites-hatred-against-bahais/ Baha'is in Egypt and Iran are being denied their right to education. Why? Simply because of their faith. On the Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights, we have written about the discrimination that Egyptian Baha'is have been receiving, which right now is comparable to what Iran has been putting its Baha'i ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/07/06/schools-out-for-the-bahais/ According to "The Egyptian Today," a prominent newspaper in Egypt, schools in Cairo refused enrollment of Baha'i students after having received instructions not to accept applicants who are neither Muslim nor Christian. Parents have filed a complaint with the Ministry of Education, but have yet to receive a response from ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/07/01/bahai-children-in-egypt-not-being-admitted-to-schools-because-of-their-faith/ On 31 January 2008, the security authorities in Hamadan, Iran, went to the homes of Kamran Aqdasi and his mother and searched both residences for Baha'i materials. They confiscated all Baha'i-related documents and books. Mr. Aqdasi was arrested and imprisoned for eight days, but then released and allowed to return ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/06/29/kamram-aqdasi-imprisoned-for-being-a-bahai/ In 1925, Egypt became the first Muslim-majority country to recognize the Baha'i faith as an independent religion. However, almost 80 years later, Baha'is in Egypt continue to face heinous discrimination, due to their failure to obtain identity cards. Identity cards are the key towards gaining access to education, health care, ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/06/19/patience-stretched/ In the wake of the illegal arrests of 6 Baha'i leaders, Grand Ayatollah Hoseynali Montazeri, a founding father of the Islamic Republic of Iran, proclaimed that while the Baha'i faith is not recognized in the constitution, adherents to the faith have the right of full citizenship. The news was met with ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/06/18/grand-ayatollah-hoseynali-montazeri-on-bahais/ Imagine an Iran where Baha'is are free to practise their faith. Imagine an Iran where Baha'is proudly proclaim their identity, without fear of retribution. Imagine an Iran where the National Spiritual Assembly is an active entity in leading the country towards progress. Imagine an Iran where the government actively seeks ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/06/15/irans-new-voice/ On the 27th of June, 1980, Bahar Tahzib's father was executed in Iran for no other than being a Baha'i. This wasn't an isolated incident, but a part of a wide and systemic crackdown on the country's peaceful Baha'i community in the wake of the Islamic Revolution. Tahzib's family finds ... http://www.bahairights.org/2008/06/14/niece-of-arrested-bahai-leader-speaks-out/