Imam killed outside New Jersey mosque, shooter remains at large, authorities say
Newark (US), Jan 4: A New Jersey imam was gunned down outside his mosque before dawn on Wednesday, leaving authorities hunting for a shooter and saying they have found no evidence yet that an anti-Muslim bias played a part in the shooting.
Imam Hassan Sharif was in his car when he was shot more than once at about 6 am near the Masjid-Muhammad Mosque in Newark, the state's largest city, Essex County Prosecutor Ted Stephens said at a news conference. He was taken to a nearby hospital but died in the afternoon.
"I know that in light of global events and with a rise in bias directed at many communities we are experiencing across our state -- particularly the Muslim community -- there are many in New Jersey right now who are feeling a heightened sense of fear or anxiety at the news of this slaying," Attorney General Matt Platkin said.
Despite that, Platkin said law enforcement has stepped up outreach to houses of worship, particularly Jewish and Muslim ones, explicitly acknowledging the tensions unfolding in many parts of the world amid the fighting in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Sharif had been a resident imam at the local mosque for five years, Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé said. He remembered the imam as a leader in the interfaith community who worked to keep the city safe.
"We share your pain and we promise to utilise the full resources of those here and those who are continuing to partner with us to make sure that this heinous crime is solved," he said.
The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, called Sharif a "beacon of leadership and excellence" and said while the shooter's motives are unknown, the group is advising all mosques to "remain cautious" while keeping their doors open.
About 320,000 of the state's roughly nine million (90 lakh) residents are Muslims, Platkin said. After Wednesday's shooting, officials reached out to Muslim communities in the city and across the state.
"We are asking everybody in our community and our partners to let us know if there is anything that they want to be done and anything that is making them feel unsafe so we can respond," Fragé said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
