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Despite the fact elections were taking place in India’s Islamic neighbour Maldives as well as in Turkey with turmoil in both Sudan and Libya, moderator Khadijah Kanji made no attempt to make even a cursory mention of the troubles affecting the Muslim world, focusing exclusively on the theme of ‘Islamophobia’ in India.

I asked Ms. Kanji via email if the Noor Centre had ever hosted a country-specific event to discuss issues that were creating a collapse in societies far more in trouble than India.

Has the Noor Cultural Centre hosted a discussion on Pakistan’s genocide in Balochistan? What about Turkey’s genocide of Armenians or their occupation of Kurdistan? Or Iran’s treatment of women and the plight of Hindus?

In her response the Noor Centre spokesperson said, “Our approach is always to cover issues that are marginalized in our public discourse here.” She pointed me towards the Noor Centre website, but there too I found no mention of any of the subjects I had raised, other than a lecture on ISIS and another about screening a documentary “Among the Believers” about a radical mosque in Pakistan.

In its over ten-year existence, Noor Centre does not appear to have hosted a single discussion on Iran’s oppression of its women, the Taliban’s ruthlessness towards its own citizens, the Kurdish struggle against ISIS and certainly not a word on Islamic Brunei where gays will now be stoned to death.

Only India, the world’s largest democracy, with 29 languages, six religions and a 5,000-year-old continuous civilization where, even today, people flee to seek refuge, became the focus of derision and contempt.