Minority communities in Pakistan continue to suffer a harrowing fate. On Monday, minarets of a worship place belonging to the minority Ahmadi community were destroyed by unknown men.

Minority communities in Pakistan continue to suffer a harrowing fate. On Monday, minarets of a worship place belonging to the minority Ahmadi community were destroyed by unknown men. Apart from the demolition, "hateful" graffiti was drawn on the walls, a spokesperson of the community said. The incident took place in Karachi's Drigh Road area within the limits of Shah Faisal Colony. Around a dozen people entered the place of worship around 3:45 pm on Monday and destroyed the building using hammers, before fleeing the scene. “Initial reports suggest that around four people climbed up and damaged the minarets with hammers,” said senior police official Tariq Nawaz, adding that a FIr had been registered. Amir Mehmood, a spokesperson of the community, said the worship place, Baitul Mubarik, has existed since partition. Mehmood added it was the third attack on an Ahmadi worship place. “Two months back, two of our worship places in Saddar and Martin Quarters areas were also vandalised," said Mehmood. “The government has utterly failed to provide security to Ahmadi places of worship." Watch | Hindu temple in Pakistan's Sindh attacked with rocket launchers × The entire Ahmadi community is highly discriminated against in the South Asian country. In 1974, the Pakistani parliament declared the Ahmadi community as non-Muslim. Since then, radical political leaders and parties have routinely targeted the community to earn their stripes. “We have seen it in the past too that political parties use the religious card to woo voters by whipping up emotions,” added Mehmood. Also read | No construction of building on plot of century-old Hindu temple will be allowed: Karachi mayor UN condemns Pakistan Earlier this month, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in a letter to Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland expressed concern over the treatment of Ahmadis. “We would like to bring to the attention of your Excellency’s Government the information we have received concerning growing discrimination and rising incidents of hate speech and incitement to violence against the Ahmadi religious minority in Pakistan, including attacks against places of worship and other acts of intimidation," read the letter. The destruction of Ahmadi place of worship comes barely a week after reports emerged of the demolition of a century-old Hindu temple in Soldier Bazaar of Sindh province. The Hindu community had claimed that 150-year-old Mari Mata Temple in Soldier Bazaar was demolished after the property was sold to a builder allegedly by using ‘fake documents’. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Ahmadi place of worship vandalised in Karachi as minorities continue to suffer in Pakistan

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Over a hundred indigenous Malaysian tribespeople took part in a seaside ancestral worship ceremony Thursday, dancing by the Straits of Malacca just outside the capital Kuala Lumpur.

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An Indian court in northern Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi district pronounced its verdict on Monday admitting the plea of the five Hindu women seeking the right to worship inside the city's Gyanvapi mosque, located next to the famous Kashi Viswanath temple.

Delivering the verdict, a single bench of district Judge AK Vishvesh said that plea in the Gyanvapi-Shrinagar Gauri dispute case is maintainable.

The district order ruled that the suit filed by the Hindu Worshippers is not barred by The Places of Worship Act or the Waqf Act.

The Varanasi court will now further hear the suit of the Hindu worshippers.

“The court rejected the Muslim side's petition and said the suit is maintainable. The next hearing of the case is on Sep 22,” advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case, told reporters.

The plaintiffs, Hindu women worshippers, had sought a right to worship Goddess Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of the mosque complex located next to the Kashi temple.

The maintainability of that suit was challenged by the Anjuman Committee, which manages Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, arguing that their plea is barred by the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

The Hindu worshippers have claimed that the present mosque premises was once a Hindu temple and it was demolished by Mughal Ruler Aurangzeb upon which the present mosque structure was built.

The Anjuman Masjid committee, on the other hand, objected to their plea citing Order 7, Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) which questions the maintainability of the suit filed by the plaintiffs and the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

Order 7, Rule 1 of the CPC states that the court, even before hearing the case on merit, needs to first decide if there is a ‘cause of action’ and consider whether the reliefs sought in the plaint – meaning, the petition filed by the party who has approached the court – can be granted or not.

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An Indian court in northern Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi district pronounced its verdict on Monday admitting the plea of the five Hindu women seeking the right to worship inside the city's Gyanvapi mosque, located next to the famous Kashi Viswanath temple.

An Indian court in northern Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi district pronounced its verdict on Monday admitting the plea of the five Hindu women seeking the right to worship inside the city's Gyanvapi mosque, located next to the famous Kashi Viswanath temple. Delivering the verdict, a single bench of district Judge AK Vishvesh said that plea in the Gyanvapi-Shrinagar Gauri dispute case is maintainable. The district order ruled that the suit filed by the Hindu Worshippers is not barred by The Places of Worship Act or the Waqf Act. The Varanasi court will now further hear the suit of the Hindu worshippers. “The court rejected the Muslim side's petition and said the suit is maintainable. The next hearing of the case is on Sep 22,” advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case, told reporters. The plaintiffs, Hindu women worshippers, had sought a right to worship Goddess Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of the mosque complex located next to the Kashi temple. The maintainability of that suit was challenged by the Anjuman Committee, which manages Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, arguing that their plea is barred by the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The Hindu worshippers have claimed that the present mosque premises was once a Hindu temple and it was demolished by Mughal Ruler Aurangzeb upon which the present mosque structure was built. The Anjuman Masjid committee, on the other hand, objected to their plea citing Order 7, Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) which questions the maintainability of the suit filed by the plaintiffs and the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. Order 7, Rule 1 of the CPC states that the court, even before hearing the case on merit, needs to first decide if there is a ‘cause of action’ and consider whether the reliefs sought in the plaint – meaning, the petition filed by the party who has approached the court – can be granted or not. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Gyanvapi Mosque case verdict: Indian court admits Hindu petitioners' plea seeking right to worship

From atop of stage scaffolding on Sunday (August 23), Father Luis Carlos Ayala surveyed his congregation, gathered in about 80 cars below in a parking lot normally used for the local drive-in cinema.

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A bomb exploded in a mosque in eastern Afghanistan during Friday prayers (October 18) officials said, killing at least 62 people who had gathered for worship.

62 dead in Jalalabad mosque blast

For an hour each day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio.

At 1 a.m., his show, &quot;Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea,&quot; sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea, defying the isolated state&#39;s efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders.

&quot;Brothers and sisters in the North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of North Korea at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality,&quot; Kim said.

He was referring to the meeting of the North&#39;s ruling Workers&#39; Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman.

&quot;I am desperately praying that North Korea&#39;s Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people,&quot; Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company.

North Korea strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of North Koreans consume illicit media, including South Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China.

The impoverished North is still technically at war with rich, democratic South Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes.

Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of North Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government&#39;s Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country.

&nbsp;

&quot;LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET&quot;

Kim Myung-jun,&nbsp;professor at Sogang University&#39;s school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about&nbsp;entertainment, whereas radio carried news.

&quot;Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted,&quot; he said. &quot;AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of North Korea.&quot;

Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests.

&quot;I am not saying everything is bad in North Korea,&quot; said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years.

&quot;But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person&#39;s slaves, that is meaningless. That&#39;s what I am talking about on my show.&quot;

North Korea&#39;s constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed.

It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered North Korean sets.

One weekly guest, defector Ko Ji-eun, said she was a fan of Kim&#39;s show while hiding in China for several years.

After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the North last year and has since fled to the South.

&quot;North Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities,&quot; Ko said. &quot;Many people inside North Korea are listening to this radio a lot.&quot;

For an hour each day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio. At 1 a.m., his show, "Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea," sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea.

For an hour each day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio. At 1 a.m., his show, "Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea," sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea, defying the isolated state's efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders. "Brothers and sisters in the North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of North Korea at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality," Kim said. He was referring to the meeting of the North's ruling Workers' Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman. "I am desperately praying that North Korea's Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people," Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company. North Korea strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of North Koreans consume illicit media, including South Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China. The impoverished North is still technically at war with rich, democratic South Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes. Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of North Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government's Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country. "LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET" Kim Myung-jun, professor at Sogang University's school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about entertainment, whereas radio carried news. "Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted," he said. "AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of North Korea." Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests. "I am not saying everything is bad in North Korea," said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years. "But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person's slaves, that is meaningless. That's what I am talking about on my show." North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed. It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered North Korean sets. One weekly guest, defector Ko Ji-eun, said she was a fan of Kim's show while hiding in China for several years. After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the North last year and has since fled to the South. "North Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities," Ko said. "Many people inside North Korea are listening to this radio a lot."

Good morning, North Korea! Defector preaches dangers of cult worship

For an hour every day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio. 
At 1 am, his show, &quot;Hello from Seoul, the Republic of&nbsp;Korea&quot;, sends a mix of gospel music and news into&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea, defying the isolated state&#39;s efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders. 
&quot;Brothers and sisters in the&nbsp;North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality,&quot; Kim said. 
He was referring to the meeting of the&nbsp;North&#39;s ruling Workers&#39; Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman. 
&quot;I am desperately praying that&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&#39;s Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people,&quot; Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company. 
North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Koreans consume illicit media, including South&nbsp;Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China. 
The impoverished&nbsp;North&nbsp;is still technically at war with rich, democratic South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes. 
Robert King, U.S. special envoy for&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government&#39;s Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country. 
 
&quot;LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET&quot; 
Kim Myung-jun,&nbsp;professor at Sogang University&#39;s school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about entertainment, whereas radio carried news. 
&quot;Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted,&quot; he said. &quot;AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea.&quot; 
Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests. 
&quot;I am not saying everything is bad in&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea,&quot; said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years. 
&quot;But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person&#39;s slaves, that is meaningless. That&#39;s what I am talking about on my show.&quot; 
North&nbsp;Korea&#39;s constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed. 
It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean sets. 
&nbsp;Defector Ko Ji-eun, a weekly guest said she was a fan of Kim&#39;s show while hiding in China for several years. 
After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the&nbsp;North&nbsp;last year and has since fled to the South. 
&quot;North&nbsp;Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities,&quot; Ko said. &quot;Many people inside&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;are listening to this radio a lot.&quot;

A defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary send news and gospel music to North Korea.

For an hour every day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio. At 1 am, his show, "Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea", sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea, defying the isolated state's efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders. "Brothers and sisters in the North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of North Korea at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality," Kim said. He was referring to the meeting of the North's ruling Workers' Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman. "I am desperately praying that North Korea's Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people," Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company. North Korea strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of North Koreans consume illicit media, including South Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China. The impoverished North is still technically at war with rich, democratic South Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes. Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of North Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government's Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country. "LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET" Kim Myung-jun, professor at Sogang University's school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about entertainment, whereas radio carried news. "Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted," he said. "AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of North Korea." Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests. "I am not saying everything is bad in North Korea," said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years. "But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person's slaves, that is meaningless. That's what I am talking about on my show." North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed. It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered North Korean sets. Defector Ko Ji-eun, a weekly guest said she was a fan of Kim's show while hiding in China for several years. After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the North last year and has since fled to the South. "North Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities," Ko said. "Many people inside North Korea are listening to this radio a lot."

Good morning, North Korea! Defector preaches on radio about the dangers of a personality cult

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