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Meet the first Muslim judge of California
[DAWN] There is silence in Superior Court Judge Halim Dhanidina's courtroom in Long Beach as he hands out judgement to a man found driving without a license.As the proceedings continue after lunch, the judge continues to speak to the man in monosyllabic but firm replies. It doesn't matter to the people inside the courtroom what faith the judge belongs to, but it is a different matter once he is outside it. Halim Dhanidina, 42, is the first ever Moslem judge in the state of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,. Though people outside seem surprised to read about him in the newspapers in Los Angeles, the judge seems to have accepted the praise, encouragement and brickbats that came with the confirmation of his appointment. Comments on the Internet ranged from calling him a 'Jihadist judge' -- as the Los Angeles Times quoted in its report -- to a 'Sharia judge'. Seated behind a big black desk in his office, with the wall behind him displaying drawings by his two children, Halim,in a crisp white shirt with a yellow tie and grey pants, says he didn't know he was the first one from his community to be a judge in LA County's Superior Court or in the entire state. "It was something I learned about only when I filed my application," he says. "For there to be only one Moslem judge in a state as big and diverse as California came as a surprise to me." "My peers didn't noticed it until it was mentioned in the news reports," Halim adds. "It was meaningful to the governor's office because they wanted to publicise it." His appointment, which came on a Friday in May 2012, elicited all kinds of response. In the ensuing days, he received emails, phone calls from Europe, Africa and Asia, congratulating him and wishing him the best. "I didn't know that apart from myself, my appointment would be momentous for so many people all over the world," Halim says. Posted by: Fred 2015-05-29 |
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