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Saudi to destroy extremist ideology and return to moderate Islam

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We will destroy them today and immediately, says Crown Prince

In a major development in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pledged to destroy “extremist ideologies” and return to a moderate Islam that is open to all religions. He was speaking at a conference attended by foreign investors in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Salman was appointed as Crown Prince in June 2015. He has presented his Vision 2030, a plan to reduce dependence on oil, diversify economy, develop public service sectors, increase non-oil industry trade between countries and rise in military spending.

He played instrumental role in inviting US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia in May this year: his maiden foreign visit after occupying White House. More than 50 heads of Muslim states were brought in Riyadh on the occasion.

While addressing Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference Salman said, “We are returning to what we were before — a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world.” The conference was attended by an audience of thousands of global investors and dignitaries.

The FII is an international event at which Saudi Arabia seeks investment into the kingdom from around the world.

The Crown Prince also announced Saudi Arabia will “eradicate promoters of extremist thoughts” saying the country was not like this in the past. “Seventy percent of the Saudi population is under the age of 30. In all honesty, we will not spend 30 years of our lives dealing with extremist ideologies. We will destroy them today and immediately,” bin Salman said.

He continued, “Saudi was not like this before ’79. Saudi Arabia and the entire region went through a revival after ’79. … All we’re doing is going back to what we were: a moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world and to all traditions and people. We want to live a normal life.”

“We are returning to what we were before – a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world,” the 32-year-old heir to the throne said.

1979 was a historical year in the region. Pro-US King Reza Shah Pehlavi was overthrown in Iran by Islamic revolutionists while fundamentalist Sunnis had seized Grand mosque in Mecca and country’s Shia minority had staged deadly revolt in Al-Hasa province.

Reacting to the situation, Saudi monarchy built ties with Wahabi religious establishment for restoring many hard-line stances. They even closed down the movie theatres in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is home to the extremist Wahabism, propounded by Mohammed bin Abd al-Wahab, rejecting all other Islamic schools of thoughts, including Sunnis who offer prayers at the grave of Prophet Mohammed and visit the graves of other Islamic personalities or the Sufis and also the Shias, who reject first three Caliph and believe Ali and his family heirs as successors of the Prophet.

Crown Prince Salman’s remarks came a month after Saudi Arabia made a “landmark decision” to allow women to legally drive vehicles from June 2018. The move was criticised by conservative voices in the country but welcomed by right activists. The Kingdom is the only country on earth where women are not allowed to drive.

The present government in Saudi Arabia had recently allowed the first music concerts in decades, cracked down on religious incitement and granted womena growing list of rights, including driving vehicles.

In September, twenty prominent religious figures, intellectuals and activists, considered to be the dissidents were arrested in the kingdom. Amnesty International’s Samah Hadid was quoted saying, “In recent years, we cannot recall a week in which so many prominent Saudi Arabian figures have been targeted in such a short space of time.”

The organization said the rights situation in the country had “deteriorated markedly” since Prince Mohammed bin Salman took over as Crown Prince and heir to the throne on June 21.

The US based Human Rights Watch also suggested that the arrests could be connected to Crown Prince’s efforts to consolidate power.

Among those detained last month included prominent Islamic preachers Salman al Awdah and Awad al-Qarni, who opposed the presence of US troops in the kingdom in 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait. Both are accused of having links with Muslim Brotherhood, which has been blacklisted as terror group.

Most of the present day terror groups including Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Daesh (IS), Al-Shabab (in African continent), Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Haqqani network are considered to be the influenced by Wahabi extremist ideology. A senior cabinet minister had acknowledged movement of thousands of Saudi youth to Iraq after 2003 war.

Saeed Naqvi, a veteran journalist in one of his recent articles published by APN Live, had revealed Saudi connection to the extremist elements in Rakhine province of Myanmar. He said that in 2012, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi ambassador to US had invited a Rohingya named Hafiz Taha to his office in Riyadh and assigned to develop “Islamic sleeper cells” in Rakhine.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Amid India-Canada diplomatic tensions, Justin Trudeau shares video of his Diwali celebrations

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

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Amid the ongoing diplomatic tensions between Canada and India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday shared a video of his Diwali celebration on social media platform X.

Sharing a 44-second video of his Diwali celebrations on social media, the Canadian Prime Minister wrote, “Happy Diwali! So many special moments shared celebrating with the community this week.”

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Saturday, while addressing the media over Canada’s serious allegation against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Nijjar, said it was unfortunate that the prevailing atmosphere in Canada has reached high levels of intolerance and extremism.

In the video, Prime Minister Trudeau showed off some colorful religious threads on his wrists, explaining that he received them during visits to three Hindu temples in Canada recently. He called them symbols of “good luck” and “protection,” adding with a smile, “I’m not taking them off until they fall off”.

Trudeau was also seen interacting warmly with the community, celebrating the festival, and enjoying delicious Indian sweets like jalebis, which he jokingly said he would “save for the team.”

On November 1, Trudeau posted on X, “Happy Diwali! Today, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain families will celebrate the triumph of light over darkness with festivities, candles, diyas, and fireworks. Wishing you all joy and prosperity during this special time.”

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Jaiswal said India condemns the recent allegations made by the Canadian government against Shah that he was purportedly involved in the killing of Nijjar and called it “absurd and baseless”.

Jaiswal also said that India had summoned the Canadian High Commissioner on Friday to protest in the strongest terms for the references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the Committee by Canada’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison.

On Tuesday, Morrison claimed that Shah orchestrated a campaign of violence, intimidation, and intelligence-gathering aimed at Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. He informed members of Canada’s national security committee in Parliament that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which was the first to report the allegations. However, Morrison did not provide details on how Canada became aware of Shah’s alleged involvement.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

The Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

In a significant development, India and China have completed the disengagement exercise in the Depsang and Demchok friction points at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The troops of both the countries are now verifying the vacation of positions and removal of infrastructure.

Reportedly, the Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks. The two sides will exchange sweets for Diwali tomorrow.

Earlier, Foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced that New Delhi and Beijing reached an agreement to disengage in the remaining friction points at LAC in eastern Ladakh. After the agreement, the two countries began troops disengagement at the two friction points at Demchok and Depsang plains on October 23.

India-China relations worsened because of the Chinese troops’ aggression along the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in April 2020. It further deteriorated on June 15, 2020, after 20 Indian soldiers died in the line of duty thwarting the Chinese offensive in the Galwan Valley. New Delhi had said India’s bilateral relations with China will normalise only after the situation at the LAC returns to what it was before May 2020.

Reports said that the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have pulled back their forward-deployed troops and equipment from the two flashpoints, and have also dismantled temporary structures that had been built during the four-year-long standoff.

The Indian soldiers will resume their patrolling in areas that had been cut off because of the PLA’s presence. Nonetheless, the disengagement in Depsang and Demchok will not lead to the creation of buffer zones.

Both the countries had disengaged from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15) areas and created buffer zones. Speaking to a newspaper publication, Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), a former director general of military operations said that the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok will facilitate patrolling by both sides in a coordinated manner, and in the agreed upon frequency and strength of the patrolling parties.

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Iran says 2 soldiers killed in Israeli air strikes

Emphasising Iran’s right to self-defense under the UN Charter, the Iranian Foreign Ministry highlighted its obligation to counter foreign aggression.

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The Iranian Army said on Saturday that two of its soldiers were killed in Israeli air strikes that targeted military bases.

Iran stated that its air defenses effectively countered the attack, resulting in the unfortunate deaths of two soldiers and some areas suffering limited damage.

The Israeli military conducted strikes on Iranian military sites after 2 am on Saturday, responding to what they cited as ongoing attacks by Iran and its allies in the region.

Following the strikes, the Israeli military announced they had successfully completed the mission and achieved their objectives.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the precise targeting of military sites in Iran to neutralize immediate threats to Israel.

“I can now confirm that we have concluded the Israeli response to Iran’s attacks against Israel. We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran — thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel,” the Israel Defence Force posted on X.

Iran’s air defense headquarters acknowledged the hits on bases in Ilam, Khuzestan, and Tehran but asserted that these attacks were effectively repelled, with investigations ongoing to assess damages. Moreover, Iran indicated its readiness to retaliate against any Israeli aggression, stating that Israel would face proportional consequences for its actions.

Iran expressed its intentions to respond to the Israeli attacks on its military bases, condemning the actions as a violation of international law and the UN Charter’s principles on the use of force.

Emphasising Iran’s right to self-defense under the UN Charter, the Iranian Foreign Ministry highlighted its obligation to counter foreign aggression.

Pakistan strongly condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran, attributing the escalation to Israel and urging the UN Security Council to intervene for peace and security.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasised that Iran should refrain from retaliating against Israel, advocating for restraint on all sides to prevent further escalation.

“I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. I’m equally clear that we must avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to restrain. Iran should not respond,” the PM said at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The United States advised Iran to halt its attacks on Israel to cease the ongoing violence and break the cycle of conflict, underlining the importance of de-escalation.

“We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett told reporters.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the Israeli operation throughout its development and execution by his National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan.

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