Rupa Subramanya
@rupasubramanya • 216,651 subscribers
Staff writer @TheFP Email: [email protected]. Views are mine.
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This is the afternoon call to prayer that you can hear from a mosque in the distance, while standing at Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, the third holiest in Islam, and deeply significant to Christians because of its important role in the life of Jesus and the Bible. Not my first time in Israel but every time I'm struck by many things including how much religious freedom there is in Israel, far more than in some countries in the West that lecture or sanction the country. Some countries like Switzerland, for example, constitutionally bans the construction of new minarets. I've seen countless mosques, churches, women wearing hijabs, and the ordinary, public practice of Islam throughout Israel. The Jews, the Christians and the Muslims go about their daily lives. No one bats an eye.
Rupa Subramanya86,683 просмотров • 2 дней назад
It's no accident that all these men come from one region in India, not known for its scientists and engineers, but for drugs and criminality. Canadians who trace their ancestry back to this area are well represented in Canada's Parliament. The politicians represent key swing constituencies where the ethnic vote from this one region is crucial. These guys protesting know powerful people with strong ethnic ties to their community have their backs, and that's why they're sticking around with a staggering sense of entitlement and protesting despite being out of status.
Rupa Subramanya1,337,501 просмотров • 8 месяцев назад
While several Muslim majority countries have chosen to restrict or regulate amplified calls to prayer, a mosque in Regina, Saskatchewan yesterday conducted its first live outdoor Adhan over loudspeakers. As this video makes clear, the broadcast carries far and wide. There's been unprecedented growth in Saskatchewan's Muslim population.
Rupa Subramanya132,269 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
I spent part of my childhood in the Middle East before immigrating to Canada in my late teens. None of my Muslim girlfriends liked wearing the hijab or niqab. Whenever they could, they took it off because they found it oppressive. If their parents found out, there would be consequences. I often helped my friends carve out a few hours of freedom at real personal risk. Some came from extremely powerful families. Had I been caught, they could have had me jailed and deported. Anyone who has actually lived in an Islamic society understands how pervasive and institutionalized the oppression is, especially for women and girls. While conditions have improved in a handful of places, the absence of genuine theological reform in Islam means many of these changes are superficial, largely designed to make life more comfortable for expatriates rather than to liberate local women. So imagine my horror when Canada began celebrating World Hijab Day which is a celebration of paternalism and the normalization of female subordination. Many naive Canadians particularly white folks are deeply naïve about Islam. A kind of white saviour multiculturalism prevails, "isn’t diversity wonderful, therefore everything associated with it must be good". Children are assumed to lack full agency. If a child says she wants to wear the hijab or niqab, an enlightened parent should say no, and revisit the question when she is an adult. The rationale behind the hijab is explicit: it exists to shield women from the male gaze. When young girls are made to wear it, they are being sexualized at an age when they should not be thinking about sexuality at all. This video is of Liberal MP Salma Zahid commemorating World Hijab Day in the House of Commons. She has blocked me for my views on the hijab.
Rupa Subramanya703,749 просмотров • 7 месяцев назад
Trump: "I even see foreign countries that we're doing very well with taking ads..."don't go with tariffs." Last night I saw an ad from Canada. If I was Canada I'd take that same ad also." That's Trump on October 21 when he didn't seem too bothered about the ads. Something happened between Oct 21-23 that led him to terminate trade talks with Canada.
Rupa Subramanya757,894 просмотров • 9 месяцев назад
Last night, a little after midnight, I had to call 911 to report an intruder on my floor who got violent, threatened to "beat the shit out of me," lunged at me twice, and came within inches of forcing his way into my condo which is in the Byward Market. It took three police officers to restrain him. He called both me and the cops racists. He's black. He's been arrested but am sure he'll be back on the street again. These frequent inane posts by Ottawa's mayor Mark Sutcliffe (copying the equally useless city councillor of my area, Stéphanie Plante 🇨🇦🇨🇭 ) mask how dangerous the city has become, especially the downtown core. What exactly will it take for the city to take taxpayers and residents seriously? Does someone have to get seriously hurt first? P.S: I'm doing fine.
Rupa Subramanya474,251 просмотров • 1 год назад
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That moment when realization dawns that India is not the bit player it was a couple of decades ago but is now a major actor on the global stage and won't be pushed around by a medium power like Canada. Trudeau has jeopardized our whole Indo-Pacific strategy and likely the Americans have told him to dial it down. Embarrassing.
Rupa Subramanya1,023,449 просмотров • 2 лет назад
An international student on a work permit which is going to expire soon blames Canada for the fact that she's going to have to leave despite the fact that no such guarantee is made to students or temporary workers. I should know because I came to Canada as an international student nearly 30 years ago. She and her friends are now exploring ways of how they can stay on in Canada, including applying for refugee status which will be tied up for years while their case is decided. Our immigration minister Marc Miller ᐅᑭᒫᐃᐧᐅᓃᐸᐄᐧᐤᐃᔨᐣ Mikotsikaa naively believes those whose permits are expiring are going to leave Canada voluntarily which is a joke. He should watch this video. The sense of entitlement of some of these people is astonishing. She doesn't have a legal right to stay on in Canada beyond the date her current permit expires and if she refuses to leave, she should be deported. These people are playing on white guilt, the easiest thing to exploit in Canada where people are generally naive and think everyone is well intentioned.
Rupa Subramanya619,268 просмотров • 1 год назад
At the pro Palestine/pro Hamas rally which is currently underway in Ottawa. Maybe about 200 people here. Some holding the Palestinian flag, some holding the communist party of Canada flag, chanting “Free Free Palestine”, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and Allahu Akbar”.
Rupa Subramanya922,253 просмотров • 2 лет назад
Chrystia Freeland whose grandfather was a Nazi collaborator is asked pointedly by a reporter how many veterans who fought with the Nazis are in Canada and how her government would respond to it. You'd think this is a fairly easy question to answer yet she's visibly uncomfortable and doesn't answer his question.
Rupa Subramanya879,112 просмотров • 2 лет назад
This is India's Tucker Carlson, back when Carlson was still in Trump’s corner: a hugely influential voice on the Indian right, closely aligned with the Modi ecosystem, with millions tuning in daily. The content itself isn’t the point because much of it is nonsense and predictable bluster. What’s striking is the shift in tone. The Indian right has long been reliably pro-American and strongly pro-Israel. Yet here he is, openly bashing Trump and, without naming Israel directly, he's defending Iran, a country which has civilizational ties to India. Something is shifting for sure.
Rupa Subramanya107,151 просмотров • 3 месяцев назад
During the English debate, leaders were asked do you support tit for tat tariffs even if they're harmful to Canadian consumers. Only Mark Carney said, no. Carney also said, "we've already moved off from dollar for dollar tariffs." How did everyone miss this including Pierre Poilievre at the debate?
Rupa Subramanya359,213 просмотров • 1 год назад
On January 13, Trump addressed the Detroit Economic Club inviting foreign automakers to invest in the U.S. including China and Japan. "If they want to come in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbors, that’s great, I love that. Let China come in, let Japan come in." So why is it acceptable for the U.S. to welcome Chinese investment in its auto sector, but not for Canada to do the same?
Rupa Subramanya138,814 просмотров • 6 месяцев назад
From Mark Carney 's first press conference, it's notable he doesn't talk about the environment where he's been a zealot. And some of his main points indicate a right of centre agenda on some key issues, such as strengthening border security, the criminal code, capping immigration, and attracting the best talent. I said two months ago that he was going to come for conservative voters, and if he shelves his extreme environmentalism, then he'll succeed.
Rupa Subramanya279,597 просмотров • 1 год назад