Tag: censorship

In Turkey, Pop Singer arrested for Offending Clerics

By Arzu Geybullayeva Police in Turkey have arrested pop singer Gülşen (full name Gülşen Colakoglu), 46, pending trial, over a comment she made about religious schools, months ago during one of her concert. Last April, Gülşen, joked about one of her colleagues’ Imam Hatip past during a concert in Istanbul. Imam Hatip high schools are Islamic religious education institutions originally… Read More In Turkey, Pop Singer arrested for Offending Clerics

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The Real Cancel Culture: Anti-Palestinianism and the Crisis of American Free Speech

By Nasim Ahmed | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The firing of Palestinian American woman, Natalie Abulhawa, has sparked a debate over free-speech, “cancel-culture” and the ever-growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism. The 25-year-old athletic trainer was fired by a private girls school in Bryn Mawr over years-old social media posts criticising Israel. In March the… Read More The Real Cancel Culture: Anti-Palestinianism and the Crisis of American Free Speech

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Dead Lines

How journalism in Kashmir has been driven to the edge TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY SHAHID TANTRAY AT 1.45 PM, on 15 January, an armoured cavalcade rolled onto the premises of the Kashmir Press Club—Kashmir’s largest body representing journalists—in Polo View, abutting Srinagar’s Lal Chowk. There had been heightened police presence at the club since the day… Read More Dead Lines

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The Disappeared: How the fatwa changed a writer’s life

NB: The Iranian government has distanced itself from the attack, but a Iranian government-supported newspaper has hailed the attacker as a hero. Religious ‘hurt sentiment’ has become a precursor to contract killing. Religious leaders who call for murder are themselves satanic; does the Divine Creator requires his or her dignity to be defended by mere… Read More The Disappeared: How the fatwa changed a writer’s life

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Four Indian intellectuals who were murdered for their ideas (2013-2017)

Narendra Dabholkar (1945-2013) ‘Remember Gandhi. Remember what we did to him’: last threat to Narendra Dabholkar PUNE: Well-known rationalist and anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar was on Tuesday shot dead by two unidentified assailants while on a morning walk near Omkareshwar temple here. The 67-year-old activist was shot from close range and died on the spot. Police said the… Read More Four Indian intellectuals who were murdered for their ideas (2013-2017)

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Bloodied pen

Mukul Kesavan on Salman Rushdie and the violence on free thought NB: In case we forget what’s happened in India between 2013 and 2017: Four Indian intellectuals who were murdered for their ideas (2013-2017) In the decades since Khomeini’s fatwa overset Salman Rushdie’s life, his critics have sometimes suggested that he isn’t really a free speech icon because… Read More Bloodied pen

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Devi Sridhar: A scientist in the public eye has taken her own life. This has to be a wake-up call

Lisa-Maria Kellermayr, an Austrian GP, was a doctor who dedicated her life to her patients and was vocal about the risks of Covid-19 on Twitter and in the media. She had endured months of death threats from Covid conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers. Colleagues expressed frustration with the lack of support she received for dealing with… Read More Devi Sridhar: A scientist in the public eye has taken her own life. This has to be a wake-up call

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WeChat silences He Weifang, defender of rule of law in China.

Beijing (AsiaNews) – The popular Chinese messaging site WeChat continues to silence He Weifang, a Peking University academic known for his campaigns in favour of the establishment of the rule of law and freedom of expression in China. In a handwritten letter that has been circulating on the web since 3 February, the academic denounced… Read More WeChat silences He Weifang, defender of rule of law in China.

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