Latest news with #Faruqi
The Age
03-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Greens defector had confrontation with party after losing bid for leadership position
Senator Dorinda Cox had a heated discussion with her Greens colleagues after she won just three votes in her failed bid to become the party's deputy leader last month, creating a rift that ultimately contributed to her surprise defection to Labor on Monday. In the leadership contest in Melbourne on May 15, Cox ran against NSW senator Mehreen Faruqi to become second in charge to Larissa Waters, who replaced Adam Bandt as leader after he lost his seat at the federal election. Cox won just three of 12 votes. Faruqi was endorsed before the vote by the Blak Greens, an Indigenous advocacy group within the party that also wanted Cox, an Indigenous woman, to be stripped of her responsibilities for Indigenous policy. Cox was seen as a more moderate voice in the party than Faruqi, who is on the left flank of the minor party. After losing to Faruqi, Cox ran for the deputy whip position but lost to Queensland senator Penny Allman-Payne, who had already secured a role as the chair of the party room. Her frustration led to heated scenes in the party's leadership vote meeting at the Melbourne Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices, according to three Greens sources who described the meeting on the condition of anonymity. One source said Cox confronted Waters and told the new leader that she needed to 'grow a spine'. Another MP said the scenes were 'ugly' and unjustified, especially given Cox had not made clear to colleagues until late in the piece that she would run, meaning she had little chance of winning. This masthead contacted Cox and Waters' office about the interaction.
Sky News AU
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Greens leadership battle shows significant ‘divide' within party
Sky News host Caleb Bond reflects on the 'divide' within the Greens, following the party's leadership vote to elect Larissa Waters. 'While we know the Liberal Party is trying to decide what it wants to be after such a massive walloping, we saw today just how divided the Greens are too,' Mr Bond said. 'They had to make a decision today … whether they wanted to go even further down the rabbit hole of socialism and division and anti-Israel hate or whether they keep, for want of a better word, a more moderate face. 'Now, in the end, they went with that more moderate face in Larissa Waters … but there was a serious push to make Faruqi leader. 'They are a party divided over whether they should lean further into the Faruqi style of politics or return to their bread-and-butter roots.'
Sky News AU
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Greens consider historic three-way leadership team of Faruqi, Hanson-Young and Waters after Bandt election defeat
The Greens will on Thursday agree on a new leader, with top contenders Mehreen Faruqi, Sarah Hanson-Young and Larissa Waters being tipped for a three-way leadership team. The minor party's 11 senators and sole remaining House of Representatives MP, Elizabeth Watson-Brown, will decide the party's future when they meet to appoint their next leader about midday on Thursday. The Greens have previously decided on their leaders through a partyroom consensus rather than a ballot. The party's leaders have always run unopposed; however, members have vied for the role of deputy leader before. has reported that Faruqi, Hanson-Young and Waters are being considered for a shared leadership trio. All three contenders hold senior roles within the party and represent its progressive policy agenda. Ms Hanson-Young, a prominent South Australian Senator, has been a loud voice on climate and refugee issues. Ms Faruqi, the party's deputy leader and the first Muslim woman in Australian parliament, has pushed issues on education and the war in Gaza. She raised eyebrows in the 47th Parliament of Australia when she wore a keffiyeh to the Senate and shouted "free Palestine" in the chamber. Ms Waters, a former co-deputy leader from Queensland, has represented the party on women's issues, mining and resources. Thursday's leadership contest was triggered by the loss of Adam Bandt, who led the party for five years before losing his Melbourne seat, and subsequently his spot in Parliament, in the recent Federal Election. The former Greens leader suffered a shock defeat to Labor's Sarah Witty after preferences tipped her over the edge. In 2010, he was the first Greens MP to win a lower house seat at a Federal Election. Greens Senator David Shoebridge said it was "time for a woman" to lead the Greens, with just four men in the party's 12 elected representatives. 'We haven't seen final nominations… I'm not going to give you a running commentary on who I would be supporting as leader,' Mr Shoebridge told Sky News. 'My hope is that we, and I see this happening, we will come together as collegiately as we can and first of all try and make a consensus decision. 'Whoever is chosen to do that is going to have a job to bring the party together and put forward a positive platform for the next three years.' Mr Shoebridge conceded that the party would review its election campaign failures. "When you take on the property industry, and you take on the war industry, and you take on the fossil fuel industry, and you take on the billionaires, and you take them all on at once, it's a bloody hard job," he said. Whoever successfully clinches the party's top spot will have the responsibility of negotiating legislation with Labor for at least the next three years, with the Greens holding the balance of power in the Senate. This means reforms only need the support of Greens and Labor senators, as Coalition senators hold a minority position in the upper house.
India Today
14-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Would send suicide bombers to Kolkata: Bangladeshi cleric spews anti-Hindu hate
In a recurring marker of post-Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh's radical turn, Islamist cleric Maulana Abdul Quddus Faruqi was seen openly calling for suicide attacks in Kolkata. He said who needed fighter jets when suicide bombers would do a better job. The Bangladeshi cleric said the Taliban used suicide bombing as a successful tactic against superpowers like the US and the Soviet the Bangladeshi army tells me to go capture Kolkata, I'll make a plan. Forget about using 70 fighter jets, I wouldn't even use seven planes to take over Kolkata. Why would I need 70 planes? I would send suicide bombers to Kolkata if the Bangladesh Army granted him permission to do so," the Islamist cleric Faruqi was heard saying in the video published on March a short clip from the 11-minute video has gone viral on social media with several Bangladesh-based Hindu rights bodies sharing it. The full video on Hasan Media's YouTube channel now has over 1.3 lakh video has outperformed the channel's average, gaining over 130 times more views, nearly 90 times more likes, and almost 600 times more comments. Over the past 66 days since it was uploaded, the video has averaged 1,981 views, 42 likes, and 27 comments per day, according to Lenostube, a YouTube analysis and promotion ISLAMIST WANTS TO CARRY OUT SUICIDE BOMBING IN KOLKATAadvertisement"If the Bangladeshi army permits, here's what I will do. What will I use? Suicide bombers. I'll send suicide bombers to Kolkata," Faruqi said, invoking what he said was a Quranic Aayat. He added it meant, "Die first, then kill".Then, the Islamist was heard saying, "There's another verse I learnt: 'Die first, then kill the Kafirs'", which he said was "a successful tactic used by the Taliban to defeat superpowers like America and Russia."While explaining the Taliban tactics, Faruqi added, "The Taliban fighters used bikes with bombs strapped to their bodies, riding straight towards army camps [in Afghanistan]. They were shot with bullets, but one bullet doesn't kill you right away. They crashed their bikes into the camp's wall, causing a massive explosion that killed 300 American soldiers and destroyed the camp. Who died first? The Muslim biker. And who did he kill? The Kafirs."The Islamist, who goes by the name of 'Allama Abdul Quddus Faruqi' on Facebook, has uploaded several videos where he is seen making anti-Hindu and anti-India ISLAMIST FARUQI'S SERMON FULL OF HINDU-HATEIn the 11-minute video on the Bangladesh-based Hasan Media YouTube channel, Faruqi also made several inflammatory statements regarding Hindus, in an attempt to provoke the know their favourite foods are dirty things like urine, dung, and turtles. I know how little they understand, I know how weak they are physically. I know how much faith they have in their religion. I know all this. If you don't know these things, you can't be a Muslim commander. Is that clear?" Faruqi said."I know how scared these Hindus get when they see blood. These idol-worshippers are terrified of blood," Faruqi Hasan Media YouTube channel, where this sermon by Faruqi was uploaded, has over 12.4K subscribers and 148 videos."Hasan Media Channel presents Waz Mahfil, Islamic songs (Ghazals), and many other Islamic videos," says the description of the YouTube channel has also given a platform to Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist who was released by the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus just days after the exit of Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024, had called on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to "free Bengal from [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi's rule and declare its independence."These statements by Islamists like Rahmani and Faruqi reveal the alarming rise of extremist rhetoric in post-Hasina Bangladesh, where radical voices find safe spaces both in real life and on social media platforms, without fear of consequences. And the secular path that Hasina had charted for Bangladesh now seems to be getting gradually statements are not just a concern because of their content and rhetoric, but also because they promote hatred towards India and Hindus, influencing the minds of those who listen to such views. Unlike offline sermons, the geographical reach of such toxic content is huge.
The Age
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘It's uncomfortable': Greens in uncharted territory as leadership contenders jostle
Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi are firming as frontrunners for the Greens leadership, as the party debates whether to shift in a more moderate direction or maintain Adam Bandt's confrontational approach for the next term of parliament. Greens insiders said the party was bracing for its first genuinely competitive leadership ballot after the shock loss of Bandt's seat of Melbourne left the party unprepared for a leadership transition. None of the Greens MPs have declared their candidacy for the vacant leadership position, but allies of Faruqi and Hanson-Young are canvassing colleagues to gauge levels of support. Queensland Senator Larissa Waters is also being urged by many grassroots members to run for the leadership, but it is unclear if she is willing to contest a ballot because of family commitments. The party's defence spokesman David Shoebridge is being widely discussed as a possible deputy, but this would be unlikely if Faruqi is elected leader at the leadership ballot set for next Thursday. Loading Tasmanian Senator Nick McKim ruled himself out of contention on Friday, saying he had 'decided not to take the job on' and did not want to let the party down. 'There's obviously chats and discussions underway and there's people who are considering throwing their hat in the ring,' he told the ABC. 'We've just got to come through it in a calm way and come out as a united team.' Faruqi showed she has support in the party room when she was elected Bandt's deputy in 2022, in a contrast to Hanson-Young who has run multiple times for the deputy position but never received the support of her colleagues.
