<p>After spokeswoman Nupur Sharma's inflammatory comments against Prophet Mohammed in a television debate on the Gyanvapi Mosque issue, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suspended her with immediate effect.</p>

<p>The 37-year-old's comments were called Islamophobic and condemned by Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait.</p>

<p>Calling for "respect for beliefs and religions", Riyadh described the spokesperson's comments as "insulting".</p>

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<p>Distancing itself from Sharma's controversial comments, BJP said "The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion."</p>

<p>Justifying her comments, Sharma said that it was never an intention to hurt anyone's religious feelings and withdrew her statement.</p>

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<p>Other than Sharma, BJP also expelled spokesman Naveen Jindal over comments he made about Islam on social media.</p>

<p><strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/gyanvapi-masjid-survey-over-what-we-know-so-far-479503">Also read |&nbsp;Gyanvapi Masjid survey over: What we know so far</a></strong></p>

<p>A similar clarification came from Jindal, who said "I only questioned them but that does not mean I am against any religion."</p>

<p>Calling Sharma's remarks highly derogatory, Pakistan said it condemns them in the "strongest possible terms."</p>

<p>While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar and the State of Kuwait summoned the Indian ambassador to there respective countries, Qatar said it welcomed the (BJP) party's decision to suspend the official but it is expecting an apology.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>Watch WION's live TV here:</strong></p>

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<p>&nbsp;</p>


After spokeswoman Nupur Sharma's inflammatory comments against Prophet Mohammed in a television debate on the Gyanvapi Mosque issue, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suspended her with immediate effect.

After spokeswoman Nupur Sharma's inflammatory comments against Prophet Mohammed in a television debate on the Gyanvapi Mosque issue, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suspended her with immediate effect. The 37-year-old's comments were called Islamophobic and condemned by Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait. Calling for "respect for beliefs and religions", Riyadh described the spokesperson's comments as "insulting". Distancing itself from Sharma's controversial comments, BJP said "The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion." Justifying her comments, Sharma said that it was never an intention to hurt anyone's religious feelings and withdrew her statement. pic.twitter.com/Cl0aAqkwgN — Nupur Sharma (@NupurSharmaBJP) June 5, 2022 × Other than Sharma, BJP also expelled spokesman Naveen Jindal over comments he made about Islam on social media. Also read | Gyanvapi Masjid survey over: What we know so far A similar clarification came from Jindal, who said "I only questioned them but that does not mean I am against any religion." Calling Sharma's remarks highly derogatory, Pakistan said it condemns them in the "strongest possible terms." While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar and the State of Kuwait summoned the Indian ambassador to there respective countries, Qatar said it welcomed the (BJP) party's decision to suspend the official but it is expecting an apology. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION's live TV here: ×

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party suspends spokeswoman Nupur Sharma over comments on Prophet Mohammed

<p>After the deadly stabbing in Nice, French President Emmanuel Macron had travelled to the city appearing before the press he had said: "France is under attack".</p>

<p>On that day Macron did not hesitate, just like the attack in Paris he called the stabbings in Nice an act of "Islamist terrorism". Macron said France will not give in to terror. &nbsp;The French president's reaction has been swift and decisive as dozens of raids have been conducted.</p>

<p>A mosque was shut down, a new law is being brought in to crack down on Islamist extremism. Today, France has taken another bold step, a Pakistani imam has been jailed and banned by France because he was using TikTok to propagate terror.</p>

<p>Luqman Haider, a Pakistani has been sentenced to 18 months in jail. He had arrived in France back in 2015. Occasionally he officiated as the imam at a mosque in Villiers-le-Bel in a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris.</p>

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<p>Luqman Haider is a terror apologist. He put out three videos on TikTok. In the first video, he talked about the Charlie Hebdo cartoons saying "Muslim worshippers are willing to sacrifice themselves for the prophet".</p>

<p>In the second video, he spoke of "attacking non-Muslims and disbelievers" and "sending them to hell."</p>

<p>The final video shared on September 25 was a tribute for the terrorist who wounded four in a knife attack outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo. The attack took place in September in which the terrorist was a Pakistani national.</p>

<p>The imam called him a "brave man". France now has zero-tolerance for such imams. A case was filed at a local court which found the imam guilty and sentenced him to 18 months in jail. Now, due to this conviction, he can no longer stay in France.</p>

<p>The imam will have to go back to Pakistan.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"From the moment you find him guilty on the 25th, given that he has no right to be in France with two obligations to leave the territory, it seems reasonable both for public opinion, I think, and for him to understand as well," Xavier Nogueras, lawyer for the imam, said.</p>

<p>The tough stand against foreign imams is not new while France has laws in place to punish such imams, the Macron government wants to implement its own rulebook. In February, before the recent terror attacks, the French president had announced new measures. Macron had taken some steps towards ending a programme that allowed foreign countries to send imams and teachers to France.</p>

<p>Macron had said his government wants to combat "foreign interference" in how Islam is practised and the way religious institutions are organised.</p>

<p>"Today, there are 300 imams who are sent to France every year. Those who arrived in 2020 will be the last cohort of such volume to come, and we will gradually stop allowing new ones and let the last cohort of imams stay until their tenures end, with a dialogue and improved conditions," Macron asserted, adding," ending what is called consular Islam is extremely important in order to be able to curb foreign influence and ensure that everyone fully abides by the laws of the republic with a common framework."</p>

<p>Macron wants to stop importing imams because he doesn't want foreign powers to dictate the rules of Islam in France exactly what Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan tried to do by whipping up passions against France through a campaign of hate against Macron.</p>

<p>Protests had broken out across the Islamic countries but Pakistan saw the most vicious kind of protest in Islamabad. Inside a madrasa, a teacher beheaded an effigy of Emmanuel Macron in front of children.</p>

<p>The imam who was reportedly punished in France used to teach children between 6 and 11 years of age. He shared similar beliefs as this teacher in Islamabad.&nbsp;<br />
This is what France is fighting - extremist teachers who are radicalising young and impressionable minds.</p>


After the deadly stabbing in Nice, French President Emmanuel Macron had travelled to the city appearing before the press he had said: "France is under attack". On that day Macron did not hesitate, just like the attack in Paris he called the stabbings in Nice an act of "Islamist terrorism".

After the deadly stabbing in Nice, French President Emmanuel Macron had travelled to the city appearing before the press he had said: "France is under attack". On that day Macron did not hesitate, just like the attack in Paris he called the stabbings in Nice an act of "Islamist terrorism". Macron said France will not give in to terror. The French president's reaction has been swift and decisive as dozens of raids have been conducted. A mosque was shut down, a new law is being brought in to crack down on Islamist extremism. Today, France has taken another bold step, a Pakistani imam has been jailed and banned by France because he was using TikTok to propagate terror. Luqman Haider, a Pakistani has been sentenced to 18 months in jail. He had arrived in France back in 2015. Occasionally he officiated as the imam at a mosque in Villiers-le-Bel in a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris. × Luqman Haider is a terror apologist. He put out three videos on TikTok. In the first video, he talked about the Charlie Hebdo cartoons saying "Muslim worshippers are willing to sacrifice themselves for the prophet". In the second video, he spoke of "attacking non-Muslims and disbelievers" and "sending them to hell." The final video shared on September 25 was a tribute for the terrorist who wounded four in a knife attack outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo. The attack took place in September in which the terrorist was a Pakistani national. The imam called him a "brave man". France now has zero-tolerance for such imams. A case was filed at a local court which found the imam guilty and sentenced him to 18 months in jail. Now, due to this conviction, he can no longer stay in France. The imam will have to go back to Pakistan. "From the moment you find him guilty on the 25th, given that he has no right to be in France with two obligations to leave the territory, it seems reasonable both for public opinion, I think, and for him to understand as well," Xavier Nogueras, lawyer for the imam, said. The tough stand against foreign imams is not new while France has laws in place to punish such imams, the Macron government wants to implement its own rulebook. In February, before the recent terror attacks, the French president had announced new measures. Macron had taken some steps towards ending a programme that allowed foreign countries to send imams and teachers to France. Macron had said his government wants to combat "foreign interference" in how Islam is practised and the way religious institutions are organised. "Today, there are 300 imams who are sent to France every year. Those who arrived in 2020 will be the last cohort of such volume to come, and we will gradually stop allowing new ones and let the last cohort of imams stay until their tenures end, with a dialogue and improved conditions," Macron asserted, adding," ending what is called consular Islam is extremely important in order to be able to curb foreign influence and ensure that everyone fully abides by the laws of the republic with a common framework." Macron wants to stop importing imams because he doesn't want foreign powers to dictate the rules of Islam in France exactly what Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan tried to do by whipping up passions against France through a campaign of hate against Macron. Protests had broken out across the Islamic countries but Pakistan saw the most vicious kind of protest in Islamabad. Inside a madrasa, a teacher beheaded an effigy of Emmanuel Macron in front of children. The imam who was reportedly punished in France used to teach children between 6 and 11 years of age. He shared similar beliefs as this teacher in Islamabad. This is what France is fighting - extremist teachers who are radicalising young and impressionable minds.

How Pakistani imam used TikTok in France to propagate terror

<p>&nbsp;Europe is a test case for a very special reason. The European continent has always considered itself the Avant Garde of secularism. In 2013, the European Union published guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief.</p>

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<p>In 2016, Jan Figel was appointed special envoy for this, for the promotion of freedom of religion outside the EU. In 2018 and 2019, Europe sanctioned countries for they way they treated Muslims, mostly for a good reason but also because Europe felt the moral authority and responsibility to tell the world how to treat minorities as recently as 2020, the European parliament wanted to discuss India's citizenship amendment act and the removal of special status of Kashmir. It had no business doing so but the EU, the self-appointed gatekeeper of secularism wanted to lecture India on the treatment of minorities.</p>

<p>In November 2020, Europe itself is rushing to legislate on religion and come December, France will table a bill that will help the state regulate Islam. It will help the state monitor the funding of French mosques.</p>

<p>It will create a certificate program for French imams and it will ban homeschooling for young children to prevent the creation of Islamic schools or Madrassas.</p>

<p>If a non-European, non-Western country had planned such a bill, Europe would have cried Islamophobia. It would have sat down to draw a list of sanctions against the country, slapped its leaders with a travel ban probably frozen their assets but now terror has struck home.</p>

<p>France is legislating to create its own brand of Islam and in doing so, France doesn't care if it's being called Islamophobe. Europe is finally learning to crack down on terror and unfortunately, it is learning the hard way.</p>

<p>Just like the United States did post the attacks of 9/11 before the two planes crashed into the twin towers, America took pride preaching secularism. In 1998, the Clinton administration created the office of international religious freedom (IRF) within the US state department.</p>

<p>Three years later, Washington found itself looking at every Muslim with suspicion, at least 1,200 people were detained by the end of November 2001. In her book "detained without a cause" Irum Sheikh writes that the US immigration officials began categorising Muslims "special interest" cases.</p>

<p>Europe's lectures on CAA and Kashmir were an overreach, India's tour of European MP's to seek validation on Kashmir even worse, if Europe must compare its own brand of secularism to India's - it should see which has worked. Going forward, Europe cannot confuse appeasement with secularism. It is time to work on the faultlines. Counter-terror with all sincerity without making any exceptions.</p>


Europe is a test case for a very special reason. The European continent has always considered itself the Avant Garde of secularism. In 2013, the European Union published guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief.

Europe is a test case for a very special reason. The European continent has always considered itself the Avant Garde of secularism. In 2013, the European Union published guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief. In 2016, Jan Figel was appointed special envoy for this, for the promotion of freedom of religion outside the EU. In 2018 and 2019, Europe sanctioned countries for they way they treated Muslims, mostly for a good reason but also because Europe felt the moral authority and responsibility to tell the world how to treat minorities as recently as 2020, the European parliament wanted to discuss India's citizenship amendment act and the removal of special status of Kashmir. It had no business doing so but the EU, the self-appointed gatekeeper of secularism wanted to lecture India on the treatment of minorities. In November 2020, Europe itself is rushing to legislate on religion and come December, France will table a bill that will help the state regulate Islam. It will help the state monitor the funding of French mosques. It will create a certificate program for French imams and it will ban homeschooling for young children to prevent the creation of Islamic schools or Madrassas. If a non-European, non-Western country had planned such a bill, Europe would have cried Islamophobia. It would have sat down to draw a list of sanctions against the country, slapped its leaders with a travel ban probably frozen their assets but now terror has struck home. France is legislating to create its own brand of Islam and in doing so, France doesn't care if it's being called Islamophobe. Europe is finally learning to crack down on terror and unfortunately, it is learning the hard way. Just like the United States did post the attacks of 9/11 before the two planes crashed into the twin towers, America took pride preaching secularism. In 1998, the Clinton administration created the office of international religious freedom (IRF) within the US state department. Three years later, Washington found itself looking at every Muslim with suspicion, at least 1,200 people were detained by the end of November 2001. In her book "detained without a cause" Irum Sheikh writes that the US immigration officials began categorising Muslims "special interest" cases. Europe's lectures on CAA and Kashmir were an overreach, India's tour of European MP's to seek validation on Kashmir even worse, if Europe must compare its own brand of secularism to India's - it should see which has worked. Going forward, Europe cannot confuse appeasement with secularism. It is time to work on the faultlines. Counter-terror with all sincerity without making any exceptions.

Europe cannot confuse appeasement with secularism

<p>A bomb threat targeting Muslim students forced an evacuation of nearly 4,000 students from the downtown campus of Concordia University in Montreal.</p>

<p>In an email to school administrators and also to local media, a group identifying itself as the &quot;underground&quot; chapter of C4, or the Council of Conservative Citizens of Canada, at the university directly warned &quot;Muslim students&quot; there it would detonate one homemade explosive a day through Friday to protest their activities.</p>

<p>&quot;Now that President (Donald) Trump is in office south of the border, things have changed. We will not tolerate your behaviour anymore,&quot; the group said in its emailed letter, referring to the US president.</p>

<p>&quot;Until Concordia University stops religious activities of all kinds on campus, we decide the following action to show how far we are ready to go to fight Muslims,&quot; the group vowed.</p>

<p>Montreal police said they were investigating the &quot;threatening email&quot;. They swept the campus for explosives but found none.</p>

<p>A similar threatening letter was also sent to nearby McGill University, which was put on heightened alert, but it did not specify a time or place of a possible attack.</p>

<p>Three Concordia University buildings were evacuated just before midday, and would remain closed until around 6:00 pm (local time), Concordia spokeswoman Christine Mota said. CBC reports that by 7:00 pm (local time) all buildings at Concordia University had&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-police-threat-concordia-1.4004671" target="_blank">reopened</a>, and students were back inside.</p>

<p>One of the sites was hosting an &quot;Islam awareness week&quot;. Quebec Universities Minister Helene David, speaking to reporters at the scene, called the threat against Muslim students &quot;deplorable&quot;.</p>

<p>&quot;We strongly denounce these attacks against a university which is a model of living together,&quot; she said. &quot;Quebec is an inclusive place,&quot; the minister added. &quot;We want to live together. We will not tolerate this kind of situation.&quot;</p>

<p>There has been an escalation of hate crimes in the country in recent months. In January, a white supremacist student, who &quot;liked&quot; Donald Trump on Facebook,&nbsp;shot dead six worshippers at a mosque in Quebec City.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-police-threat-concordia-1.4004671" target="_blank">CBC </a>reports that police constable Boisselle said investigators are now looking for the main computer which sent the threatening emails. &quot;We don&#39;t take anything for granted,&quot; they quote him as saying. The report also states they will increase patrols of private security officers, as well as police, since the threatening email mentioned a 48-hour window.</p>

<p>(With inputs from AFP)</p>


Citing Trump, an 'underground' group pledged to detonate homemade bombs to 'fight Muslims'. So far, authorities have found no explosives

A bomb threat targeting Muslim students forced an evacuation of nearly 4,000 students from the downtown campus of Concordia University in Montreal. In an email to school administrators and also to local media, a group identifying itself as the "underground" chapter of C4, or the Council of Conservative Citizens of Canada, at the university directly warned "Muslim students" there it would detonate one homemade explosive a day through Friday to protest their activities. "Now that President (Donald) Trump is in office south of the border, things have changed. We will not tolerate your behaviour anymore," the group said in its emailed letter, referring to the US president. "Until Concordia University stops religious activities of all kinds on campus, we decide the following action to show how far we are ready to go to fight Muslims," the group vowed. Montreal police said they were investigating the "threatening email". They swept the campus for explosives but found none. A similar threatening letter was also sent to nearby McGill University, which was put on heightened alert, but it did not specify a time or place of a possible attack. Three Concordia University buildings were evacuated just before midday, and would remain closed until around 6:00 pm (local time), Concordia spokeswoman Christine Mota said. CBC reports that by 7:00 pm (local time) all buildings at Concordia University had reopened, and students were back inside. One of the sites was hosting an "Islam awareness week". Quebec Universities Minister Helene David, speaking to reporters at the scene, called the threat against Muslim students "deplorable". "We strongly denounce these attacks against a university which is a model of living together," she said. "Quebec is an inclusive place," the minister added. "We want to live together. We will not tolerate this kind of situation." There has been an escalation of hate crimes in the country in recent months. In January, a white supremacist student, who "liked" Donald Trump on Facebook, shot dead six worshippers at a mosque in Quebec City. CBC reports that police constable Boisselle said investigators are now looking for the main computer which sent the threatening emails. "We don't take anything for granted," they quote him as saying. The report also states they will increase patrols of private security officers, as well as police, since the threatening email mentioned a 48-hour window. (With inputs from AFP)

Canadian university evacuated over anti-Muslim bomb threat

<p>Six people were killed and eight injured&nbsp;after gunmen opened fire in a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers in an attack which the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned as a &quot;terrorist attack&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Police spokeswoman Christine Coulombe told journalists that two suspects were arrested following the attack that police were treating as a &quot;terrorist act&quot;.</p>

<p>A witness told Reuters that up to three gunmen fired on about 40 people inside the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre.</p>

<p>&quot;Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,&rdquo; said the mosque&#39;s president, Mohamed Yangui.</p>

<p>Quebec police on the scene said there had been fatalities and that two people had been arrested.</p>

<p>&quot;There are many victims ... there are deaths,&quot; a Quebec police&lrm; spokesman told reporters.</p>

<p>A witness said a heavily armed police tactical squad was seen entering the mosque. Police spokesman Etienne Doyon declined to say whether there was still a gunman inside the mosque.</p>

<p>Police later tweeted: &quot;The situation is under control.&quot;</p>

<p>Yangui, who was not inside the mosque when the shooting occurred, said he got frantic calls from people at evening prayers. He did not know how many were injured, saying they had been taken to different hospitals across Quebec City.</p>

<p>Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter: &quot;Tonight, Canadians grieve for those killed in a cowardly attack on a mosque in Quebec City. My thoughts are with victims &amp; their families.&quot;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Tonight, Canadians grieve for those killed in a cowardly attack on a mosque in Quebec City. My thoughts are with victims &amp; their families.</p>
&mdash; Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/825910196077723648">January 30, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Trudeau condemned the shooting as a&nbsp;&quot;terrorist attack&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said in a statement that &quot;we condemn this terrorist attack on Muslims in a center of worship and refuge&quot;.</p>

<p>&quot;Muslim-Canadians are an important part of our national fabric, and these senseless acts have no place in our communities, city and country.&quot;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Please read my statement on tonight&rsquo;s terrorist attack in Quebec City: <a href="https://t.co/58NRcOAUmB">https://t.co/58NRcOAUmB</a></p>
&mdash; Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/825934457471434752">January 30, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Like France, Quebec has struggled at times to reconcile its secular identity with a rising Muslim population, many of them North African emigrants.</p>

<p>In June 2016, a pig&rsquo;s head was left on the doorstep of the cultural centre.</p>

<p>&quot;We are not safe here,&quot; said Mohammed Oudghiri, who normally attends prayers at the mosque but not on Sunday.</p>

<p>Oudghiri said he had lived in Quebec for 42 years but was now &quot;very worried&quot; and thinking of moving back to Morocco.</p>

<p>Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in a tweet that he was &quot;profoundly saddened by the loss of life and wounded.&quot;</p>

<p>Incidents of Islamophobia have increased in Quebec in recent years. The face-covering, or niqab, became a big issue in the 2015 Canadian federal election, especially in Quebec, where the vast majority of the population supported a ban on it at citizenship ceremonies.</p>

<p>In 2013, police investigated after a mosque in the Saguenay region of the province was splattered with what was believed to be pig blood.</p>

<p>In the neighboring province of Ontario, a mosque was set on fire in 2015, a day after an attack by gunmen and suicide bombers in Paris.</p>

<p>Zebida Bendjeddou, who left the mosque earlier on Sunday evening, said the centre had received threats.</p>

<p>&quot;In June, they&#39;d put a pig&#39;s head in front of the mosque. But we thought: &#39;Oh, they&#39;re isolated events.&#39; We didn&#39;t take it seriously. But tonight, those isolated events, they take on a different scope,&quot; she said.</p>

<p>Bendjeddou said she had not yet confirmed the names of those killed, but added: &quot;They&#39;re people we know, for sure. People we knew since they were little kids.&quot;</p>

<p>(Agencies)</p>


A witness said that up to three gunmen fired on about 40 people inside Quebec City's Islamic Cultural Center

Six people were killed and eight injured after gunmen opened fire in a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers in an attack which the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned as a "terrorist attack". Police spokeswoman Christine Coulombe told journalists that two suspects were arrested following the attack that police were treating as a "terrorist act". A witness told Reuters that up to three gunmen fired on about 40 people inside the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre. "Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,” said the mosque's president, Mohamed Yangui. Quebec police on the scene said there had been fatalities and that two people had been arrested. "There are many victims ... there are deaths," a Quebec police‎ spokesman told reporters. A witness said a heavily armed police tactical squad was seen entering the mosque. Police spokesman Etienne Doyon declined to say whether there was still a gunman inside the mosque. Police later tweeted: "The situation is under control." Yangui, who was not inside the mosque when the shooting occurred, said he got frantic calls from people at evening prayers. He did not know how many were injured, saying they had been taken to different hospitals across Quebec City. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter: "Tonight, Canadians grieve for those killed in a cowardly attack on a mosque in Quebec City. My thoughts are with victims & their families." Tonight, Canadians grieve for those killed in a cowardly attack on a mosque in Quebec City. My thoughts are with victims & their families. — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 30, 2017 × Trudeau condemned the shooting as a "terrorist attack". He said in a statement that "we condemn this terrorist attack on Muslims in a center of worship and refuge". "Muslim-Canadians are an important part of our national fabric, and these senseless acts have no place in our communities, city and country." Please read my statement on tonight’s terrorist attack in Quebec City: https://t.co/58NRcOAUmB — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 30, 2017 × Like France, Quebec has struggled at times to reconcile its secular identity with a rising Muslim population, many of them North African emigrants. In June 2016, a pig’s head was left on the doorstep of the cultural centre. "We are not safe here," said Mohammed Oudghiri, who normally attends prayers at the mosque but not on Sunday. Oudghiri said he had lived in Quebec for 42 years but was now "very worried" and thinking of moving back to Morocco. Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in a tweet that he was "profoundly saddened by the loss of life and wounded." Incidents of Islamophobia have increased in Quebec in recent years. The face-covering, or niqab, became a big issue in the 2015 Canadian federal election, especially in Quebec, where the vast majority of the population supported a ban on it at citizenship ceremonies. In 2013, police investigated after a mosque in the Saguenay region of the province was splattered with what was believed to be pig blood. In the neighboring province of Ontario, a mosque was set on fire in 2015, a day after an attack by gunmen and suicide bombers in Paris. Zebida Bendjeddou, who left the mosque earlier on Sunday evening, said the centre had received threats. "In June, they'd put a pig's head in front of the mosque. But we thought: 'Oh, they're isolated events.' We didn't take it seriously. But tonight, those isolated events, they take on a different scope," she said. Bendjeddou said she had not yet confirmed the names of those killed, but added: "They're people we know, for sure. People we knew since they were little kids." (Agencies)

Six dead, eight injured in Canadian mosque shooting: Police

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