Howard asks Muslims to integrate
The Australian prime minister, John Howard, called on the country’s Muslims to fully integrate into society Friday, in comments an Islamic leader said could spark a repeat of last year’s race riots in Sydney. Howard denied he was singling out Australia’s 300,000-strong Muslim community for criticism by saying Muslim migrants had to learn to speak English and adopt ‘fair and equal’ treatment of women. ‘There’s a small section of the Islamic population which is unwilling to integrate,’ Howard said. ‘I have said, generally, all migrants –they have to integrate, and that means speaking English as quickly as possible, it means embracing Australian values and it also means making sure that no matter what the culture of the country from which they come might have been, Australia requires women to be treated fairly and equally and in the same fashion as men.
— AFP

Source: New Age, Dhaka daily, 2nd Sept. 2006

Howard’s Muslim comments spark race riot fear
Reuters . Sydney

The Australian prime minister, John Howard, has called on migrants, particularly Muslims, to integrate into Australian society by quickly learning English–sparking warnings his comments may lead to race riots.
The head of the government’s Muslim advisory committee, Ameer Ali, said on Friday that Howard’s comments could fuel race riots like those at Sydney’s Cronulla beach last December.
‘We have already witnessed one incident in Sydney recently in Cronulla, I don’t want these scenes to be repeated because when you antagonise the younger generation … they are bound to react,’ Ali told local Sydney radio.
In December 2005, Howard said some Muslims were ‘raving on about jihad.’ Days later violence rocked Cronulla, when white Australian youths clashed with Lebanese-Australians.

Source: New Age, Dhaka daily, 3rd Sept. 2006

Whoa! I heard people say that Australians are racist and all, with news filtering in from the ‘land down under’. But this piece takes the cake. The Australian PM himself implies PUBLICLY, with no hint of apology on the horizon (it’s the 6th today), that Muslims treat their women as second class citizens. Well, it’s true, there are certain problems in that sector, but a leader of a nation who has sparked riots already should pick his/her words more carefully…and why the F*** do Muslims immigrate to lands where they are expected to forget their religion and way of life? Why do Muslims then bitch that they cannot follow their religion there? Geez, either you DON’T go there, or you DON’T bitch after getting there and be one with the ‘system’. Oh well…the Earth isn’t perfectly round…so I guess it’s ok for everything to be f***ed up for only some and not all. Don’t lose any sleep over this one folks.