Joe Biden nominates Indian-American Rashad Hussain as first Muslim religious freedom ambassador
Washington: US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American attorney Rashad Hussain as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, the first Muslim to be nominated to the key position, according to the White House.
Hussain, 41, is currently Director for Partnerships and Global Engagement at the National Security Council.
Today's announcement underscores the President's commitment to build an Administration that looks like America and reflects people of all faiths. Hussain is the first Muslim to be nominated to serve as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, the White House said in a statement on Friday.
He previously served as Senior Counsel at the Department of Justice's National Security Division. During the Obama administration, he served as US Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), US Special Envoy for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications and Deputy Associate White House Counsel.
In his roles as envoy, Hussain worked with multilateral organisations such as the OIC and the UN, foreign governments and civil society organisations to expand partnerships in education, entrepreneurship, health, international security, science and technology and other areas.
He also spearheaded efforts on countering antisemitism and protecting religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries. Prior to joining the Obama administration, Hussain worked on the House Judiciary Committee, serving as a judicial law clerk.
Hussain received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal, and Master's degrees in Public Administration (Kennedy School of Government) and Arabic and Islamic Studies from Harvard University.
He has also taught as Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown Law Center and the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. He speaks Urdu, Arabic and Spanish.
President Biden also nominated Pakistani-American Khizr Khan as Commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
According to the White House, Deborah Lipstadt has been nominated as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism with the Rank of Ambassador and Sharon Kleinbaum as USCIRF Commissioner.
Lipstadt is a renowned scholar of the Holocaust and antisemitism, the White House said.
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2nd bomb threat in 36 hours triggers security sweep at Kanpur Railway Station; no explosives found
Kanpur (PTI): A bomb threat for the second time within 36 hours triggered a massive security operation at Kanpur Central Railway Station on Friday evening, though extensive searches later found no suspicious object, police said.
An emergency call was received at the 112 control room around 7 pm, warning that the railway station would be blown up, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Satyajeet Gupta.
The alert prompted an immediate high-security response, with senior police and administrative officials, heavy police force, the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), anti-sabotage check teams, and dog squads rushing to the station, he added.
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Police and security teams conducted intensive checks across all platforms, circulating areas, waiting halls, parcel offices, and parking zones to rule out any threat.
All suspicious items were examined, and passenger movement was closely monitored during the operation. No explosive material or objectionable object was found, the official said.
This was the second bomb scare at the station in less than 36 hours. A similar threat call had been made on Thursday at around 8.30 am, leading to a full-scale security check.
During the investigation into Friday's call, police traced the phone number to a man identified as Anil. During questioning, he told officers that his mobile phone had been missing since February 24, raising suspicion that the threat may have been issued using the lost device, Gupta told mediapersons.
Police are analysing call detail records and scanning CCTV camera footage to identify the actual caller, he said.
