Re: Sangh Parivar Pageant: Sid Harth
chhotemianinshallah
Woman moves SC for probe into 'custodial death'
TNN 10 September 2009, 02:50am IST
AHMEDABAD: The city police are in a spot after a writ petition
accusing them of custodial death was filed in Supreme Court. The
petitioner has sought thorough probe into the case and constitution of
a judicial commission to investigate all such custodial deaths,
including fake encounters.
The petitioner, Mariam Kasim Jaffer Hussain, has claimed that the city
police carried out a raid on a Hotel Royal on April 13, 2006 and
detained 18 persons, including her husband Kasim who had a tiff with
police officer JM Bharwad.
After being taken to Shahibaug, Kasim was brutally beaten up and taken
away from the detention centre. "Other people who were with my husband
were conveyed that Kasim had escaped from police custody. On April 17,
his body was found in Shahibaug area. A note was issued that an
unknown person has been killed in an accident and persons who know him
should approach police for identification," Mariam said.
She claimed that when they found the body, a bullet wound was found in
Kasim's head. She has alleged that her husband was killed during
police custody.
Mariam said she along with an NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace filed
a writ petition in the SC and urged the court to join them as party in
an application pending by Javed Akhtar demanding probe in all Gujarat
encounter killings.
...and I am Sid Harth
chhotemianinshallah
Encounter of 2 Hindus reaches SC
TNN 10 September 2009, 02:49am IST
AHMEDABAD: The case of Gujarat police's 2003 encounter of two men,
both Hindus, has reached the Supreme Court.
Police claim that Ganesh Khunte and Mahendra Jadhav, who were killed
on June 23, 2003 near Panchkuva by the city police, were terrorists
and planning to assassinate the then BJP minister Ashok Bhatt and
Dariapur MLA Bharat Barot allegedly to avenge the 2002 riots. Five
persons were tried later under Pota for providing logistic support to
Khunte and Jadhav, but the special court acquitted them in 2006 of
terror charges and punished them for possessing arms only.
Interestingly, the Pota court held that Jadhav and Khunte were not
terrorists, but held that the encounter was a genuine one.
Six years after the incident, Jadhav's mother Sumitra and the rights
organisation Citizens for Justice and Peace have filed a writ petition
in the apex court under Article 32 of the Constitution in public
interest. In their petition, it is claimed that the Gujarat police's
cold blooded killings are dubbed as encounter with terrorists and a
judicial inquiry should be instituted into these cases.
During a media briefing on Wednesday, Sumitra disclosed that her son
had come to Gujarat to find a job. He became a victim of a racket run
from jails, as a woman named Fatima offered him a job in Ahmedabad and
later informed the Gujarat police that he along with Khunte be killed
and dubbed as terrorists.
The family members also revealed that Jadhav was convicted for killing
a relative earlier and spent eight years behind bars.
The former DGP, RB Sreekumar, said that the state government had
adopted encounter killing as political strategy to gain sympathy for
the chief minister.
chhotemianinshallah
'Magistrate overreached HC'
TNN 10 September 2009, 02:50am IST
AHMEDABAD: Proceedings in the high court lasted more than two hours
after the Gujarat government challenged the magistrate's report which
exposed its police officers in yet another encounter case.
The angry high court judge was of the opinion that the magistrate's
inquiry is "overreaching" the high court order. The state government
was banking on two senior counsels, including the advocate general, to
defend the policemen accused in the report for killing Ishrat and
raising questions on "propriety" of lower court judge's conduct. One
of the police officers involved in encounter - the then assistant
commissioner of police GL Singhal - wanted to become a party in the
proceedings, even as the high court kept pulling up the Centre's
counsels. All senior cops of the city crime branch were also present
during the hearing.
In the end, Ishrat's mother, Shamima Kausar's advocate had to defend
magistrate Tamang's report against comments that the judicial officer
had done his job in haste. After a heated discussion, the judge
refrained from making any observation against the magistrate.
chhotemianinshallah
Disgraced cop's plot gone phut
TNN 8 September 2009, 02:12am IST
l Three days before Jagannath rath yatra in 2004, there were rumours
the Ahmedabad crime branch will do something "spectacular". Early on
June 15, now jailed IPS officer DG Vanzara and his men said four LeT
operatives out to kill chief minister Narendra Modi had been shot dead
after a dramatic chase
l Police said they found automatic weapons, ammunition, satellite
phones & "coconuts dipped in chemical", meant to be used as improvised
explosive devices during Rath Yatra
l The story Vanzara gave out then was that the encounter took place
around 4.30 am near Kotarpur waterworks after the police chased the
terrorists who were in a blue Indica
l The crime branch team was in a Maruti Gypsy, headed by ACPs Narendra
Amin and
G L Singhal, chasing the Indica which allegedly rammed into a divider
l The cops said "terrorist" Akbarali Rana jumped out and fired at the
cops from an
AK-56. He was gunned down immediately and the others were shot dead
while still inside
l The car bore several bullet marks and its windscreen and windows
were smashed. Blood was splattered all over the seats, with one pistol
lying on the back seat while another was near the driver's seat
l The cops escaped unscathed with only some bullet marks on the Gypsy
to bear testimony of this encounter. Vanzara said the encounter was
based on intelligence inputs regarding the movement of a fidayeen
squad
l The police said Javed Shaikh, alias Pranesh Pillai, who was among
those killed, was from Pune and had done a recce of Modi's resi-dence
and office at least three times. The girl was not identified
immediately.
l The other two, whose bodies were not claimed, were identified by
Vanzara as Jishan Johar alias Jan-baaz alias Abdul Ghani from
Gujranwala district and Amjadali Ak-barali Rana alias Salim from
Haveli Diwan. Both, he had claimed, were Pakistanis.
bademiyansubhanallah
Centre endorsed Gujarat's stance on Ishrat, says BJP
Submitted by admin4 on 8 September 2009 - 8:55pm.
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday said the centre
had endorsed the Gujarat government's stance that Mumbai collegian
Ishrat Jahan and three others killed in a 2004 Ahmedabad shootout were
terrorists. It insisted that a magistrate's probe report that the
Gujarat police shot them in cold blood was not final.
"The central government one month back accepted that Ishrat was a
terrorist....(the) Government of India and ministry of home affairs
came out clearly to say that they (Ishrat and three friends) were part
of the conspiracy," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told
reporters here.
Insisting that the shootout was not fake, he said it was "correct" and
a "legally required encounter."
Earlier, the Gujarat government, citing a union home ministry
affidavit of last month, claimed that the four had links with Lashkar-
e-Taiba (LeT) and were tasked to organise terror attacks in India,
including in Gujarat and Maharashtra, besides targeting national and
state leaders.
On June 15, 2004, Ishrat from Mumbra in Thane district and her three
friends - Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali
alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani - were shot
dead by Ahmedabad Police's Crime Branch (Detection) on the outskirts
of the city.
However, Ahmedabad's metropolitan magistrate S.P. Tamang's inquiry
report released Monday asserted there was no shootout between the four
youngsters and the police. The report added that the four students
were kidnapped from Mumbai June 12, 2004, and killed in cold blood two
days later, victims of extra-judicial killing by law enforcers.
Refusing to comment on the magistrate's probe report, Prasad said the
report "was not final."
Hinting at a political conspiracy, Prasad said: "Some people have
problem with (Narendra) Modi's (Gujarat chief minister) name because
he has done development work. But the democratic results of Gujarat
are well known."
bademiyansubhanallah
To appease Hindu votes Maha Cong Govt withdraws CBI probe in Hari
Masjid firing
Submitted by admin4 on 10 September 2009 - 12:15pm.
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: While Assembly election is in sight and BJP-Shiv Sena in
tatters, the ‘secular’ Congress-NCP alliance government of Maharashtra
wants to appease the voters of the communal parties. The state
government’s withdrawal of the ongoing CBI probe in the Hari Masjid
police firing case is the latest evidence of the Hindu appeasement of
the ‘secular’ parties.
The firing took place during the 1992-1993 communal riots in Mumbai.
Police sub-inspector Nikhil Kapse was indicted by the Srikrishna
Commission for unjustified firing at devotees inside the Hari Masjid
in Wadala. Six people were killed in the firing.
After years of refusing to take action against Inspector Kapse, the
Congress-NCP government finally gave in to the public pressure and
snubs from the Mumbai High Court, and agreed to hand over the Hari
Masjid case to the CBI in 2008.
While the probe was going on in full swing the state government two
weeks ago approached the Supreme Court to get a stay against the CBI
investigation. The apex court has granted the stay.
Media reports say that the government has submitted before the Supreme
Court that the “state has already initiated all essential action
against Nikhil Kapse and there is no need for an independent enquiry”
as he has already been given a clean chit.
Human rights activists and surviving victim of the Hari Masjid firing
today addressed media in Mumbai and demanded the state government to
reverse its move otherwise they will be forced to launch public
agitation on the issue.
Talking to TwoCircles.net Muhammad Aslam Ghazi, Member, Maharashtra
unit of Association for Protection of Civil Rights, said the state
government seemed to consolidate Hindu votes by this action.
“The state government seems to be confused. For years it did not take
action on the case. When pressure was mounted from public as well as
court it ordered CBI probe. Now reversing its own decision it
approached the Supreme Court for seeking stay on the CBI probe. The
move seems to consolidate the non-Muslim votes,” Ghazi said.
In the press confernce Ghazi demanded the state government to allow
CBI to continue its probe.
He said he and other human rights activists will launch mass awareness
campaign to highlight the double standard of the state government. As
last resort they are also planning to approach the apex court.
[Photo: images.google.co.in]
bademiyansubhanallah
Sign online petition to demand judicial probe of Batla House encounter
Submitted by admin4 on 10 September 2009 - 12:54pm. Indian Muslim
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: After the Ishrat Jahan encounter has been proved fake,
human and civil rights activists are again trying to build up pressure
on the Delhi and Central governments to order a judicial probe into
the Batla House encounter in which two ‘suspected terrorists’ were
gunned down last year by the Special Cell (notorious for encounters)
of the Delhi Police.
Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association, which has been in the
forefront of the movement for judicial probe into the Batla House
encounter, has called upon people to sign an online petition in order
to pressurize the government to reverse its stand and order a judicial
probe in this encounter also. When the communal BJP-ruled Gujarat can
allow a judicial probe into Ishrat encounter, why the ‘secular’
Congress-ruled Delhi and Central governments can’t into Batla House
encounter, the rights activists ask. The online petition can be signed
on
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/jtsa2009/petition.html
A magisterial probe two days back concluded that June 2004 Ishrat
Jahan encounter was fake as besides Mumbai college girl Ishrat three
others were shot dead in cold blood by the Ahmedabad police. It was a
fake encounter staged by the top police officials for promotions, said
the probe. The police had described the four as members of Pakistan-
based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba out on the mission to
kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Ishrat encounter report has given a boost to the human and civil
rights groups who have since Day One been demanding judicial probe
into the September 19, 2008 Batla House encounter that took place in
Delhi’s Muslim ghetto Jamia Nagar. Sajid and Atif, Azamgarh boys in
early twenties killed in the shootout, were described by the police as
masterminds of the Delhi serial blasts as well as other blasts in the
country. But locals, parents and human and civil rights activists
exposed loopholes in the police version about the whole Batla
encounter, and so demanded judicial probe which so far has been turned
down by the government.
A magisterial enquiry into this encounter has been blocked by the
Delhi government through the refusal of the Lt. Governor of Delhi to
allow for the same.
Meanwhile, a probe report by the National Human Rights Commission has
given a clean chit to the Delhi police for the Batla House encounter.
Parents of the slain Azamgarh boys and human and civil rights
activists have rejected the NHRC report as the commission prepared the
report without bothering to visit the spot and taking views of the
neighbours, rights groups and the parents.
Sid Harth
Cong blasts 'man-eating' Modi govt
TNN 9 September 2009, 02:50am IST
NEW DELHI: The judicial inquiry into Ishrat Jehan encounter has
triggered a war of words between BJP and Congress, reminiscent of the
name calling that preceded assembly polls and which culminated in the
"maut ka saudagar" controversy.
Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari on Tuesday called the Narendra Modi
regime a "man-eating government", setting the tone for another
skirmish.
Tiwari called for a probe into all encounters in the state since 2001,
saying the government during this period had worked outside the ambit
of law.
Similar words came from Veerappa Moily who said if Modi was in another
country, he would have been in "some other place". The indirect
reference to jail came as he said that investigations would bring out
more skeletons from his cupboard.
Asked about Modi's role in the case, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu shot
back, "Why should Modi take a call? Do you think anything that happens
in a state, the CM is responsible? If anything happens in Delhi, is
the PM responsible."
Sid Harth
Even Centre called Ishrat a terrorist
TNN 9 September 2009, 07:32am IST
AHMEDABAD: An innocuous affidavit filed by the Union home ministry
last month in defense of a plea to institute a CBI inquiry into the
Ishrat Jahan encounter case, has now put the UPA government on the
mat.
Shaken by a magistrate's probe that held police officers guilty of
killing Ishrat and four others in cold blood and the fake encounter to
curry favour with Narendra Modi, the state government on Tuesday took
refuge in this 14-page defence.
Filed by an under secretary of the MHA on August 6 before the Gujarat
High Court, the affidavit confirms that Ishrat, Pranesh Pillai alias
Javed Shaikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar as terrorists linked
with Lashkar-e-Taiba. The affidavit was filed on a plea by Ishrat’s
mother for a CBI probe.
Copies of the document were distributed to the media on Tuesday even
as Gujarat government spokesperson and state minister Jay Narayan Vyas
quoted from it extensively to say the government would appeal against
the magistrate’s damning inquiry report on the encounter that took
place on June 15, 2004 under supervision of now-jailed IPS officer D G
Vanzara.
While magistrate S P Tamang’s inquiry report submitted to the chief
judicial magistrate on Monday named several top IPS officers,
including retired director-general of police and then Ahmedabad police
commissioner K R Kaushik, Vanzara and 19 others, as part of a
conspiracy to fake the encounter of innocent persons, the MHA
affidavit supports the Gujarat police story that this was a genuine
encounter in which terrorists were killed.
Filed by R V S Mani, under secretary, internal security-VI in MHA, the
affidavit states, ‘‘It came to the notice of the security agencies of
the Union government that Javed was in regular touch with LeT
operatives particularly Muzammil to carry out terrorist actions in
Gujarat’’. A major part of the affidavit dwells in the story of how
Pranesh Pillai converted to Javed Shaikh, kept two passports and was a
‘‘rowdy character with several criminal cases against him’’.
The affidavit, instead of providing solid evidence against the
‘terrorists’, gets into a detailed inquiry of the relationship between
Javed and Ishrat and how their parents, Gopinatha Pillai, and Shamima
Kausar, had not clearly stated ‘‘what were their activities’’, in
their respective petitions before the Supreme Court and Gujarat HC.
The affidavit mentions the two ‘Pakistanis’, Amjad Ali Rana and
Zeeshan Johar, on how they had infiltrated into India and were in
touch with Javed to carry out terror activities in Gujarat.
Sources told TOI that the MHA has taken serious note of this
embarrassing legal blooper and may take action. It was also learnt
that the man behind its content is IPS officer Rajinder Kumar, who was
posted in Gujarat as the state IB chief between 2002 and 2005 and is
now an Intelligence Bureau joint director in New Delhi. Most of the
intelligence inputs on Gujarat encounters were provided by his
office.
Leader of Opposition in Gujarat assembly Shaktisinh Gohil told
mediapersons, ‘‘The affidavit is based on intelligence reports of 2004
by IB officials under the NDA regime. Let investigations begin and the
role of these officers be examined.’’
Sid Harth
Fake Encounters of the brutal kind
September 09, 2009 Wednesday, 04:47 PM
Rupali Karekar discusses extra-judicial killings by security officials
in India.
ISHRAT Jahan, a teenage college student from Mumbra, India, died of a
bullet whose trajectory was impossible to fathom.
According to the post-mortem report, the bullet that killed Ishrat in
2004 entered below the mastoid on the left side of her neck and went
upward through the temporal lobe.
This trajectory is inexplicable considering that at the time of her
death, she was supposedly sitting in a car with closed doors with
three other "terrorists".
All four were killed in an exchange of gunfire with senior police
officers from the Indian state of Gujarat.
An investigating team probing the killings reported later that all
four victims were barefoot at the time of their deaths and no one had
any trace of gunpowder or ammunition on them.
All four also had their true identity cards in their pockets. In fact,
Ishrat was wearing her college I-card around her neck all the while
during the encounter with the police.
The police claimed that the four were linked with Pakistan's terror
group Lashkar-e-Taiba, and insisted that they were planning terror
strikes in Gujarat, including the assassination of state chief
minister Narendra Modi.
Four "terrorists" were accused of planning the assassination of
Gujarat's state chief minister Narendra Modi, pictured above. A report
later found all four innocent of the charges.
On Monday, S P Tamang, a local magistrate probing the killing,
released a report which held that the entire episode was in fact a
"fake encounter" involving senior police officers of Gujarat.
It was carried out to secure promotions and appreciation of chief
minister Modi. Justice Tamang also absolved Ishrat Jahan of charges of
being an LeT operative and has pinned the blame on the police
officers, one of whom has since been jailed for his role in another
fake encounter case.
A defiant Modi-government, which is under the scanner for its role in
the 2002 communal riots in the state, has rejected Justice Tamang's
report, and plans to challenge the report's findings.
Whatever the final outcome, the murky world of "fake encounters" has
once again come into focus.
So what exactly is a fake encounter?
The term refers to extra-judicial killings of individuals by security
officials. Previously, such encounters reportedly used to target
criminals if there was a possibility that they escape the rule of
law.
Now such killings are not just restricted to anti-social elements and,
more often than not, are immediately linked to terrorism.
While the practice is not the norm, fake encounter killings occur
frequently in India.
According to a report released last month by Human Rights Watch,
Indian police are usually the only eyewitnesses to these alleged
encounters, which are typically carried out by junior and low-ranking
officers.
"Considering the long history and scale of this practice, it is likely
that state officials and senior police are not only aware of these
killings, but allow, unofficially sanction or even order these
killings," the report says.
The 118-page report, "Broken System: Dysfunction, Abuse and Impunity
in the Indian Police," also says that criminal prosecution has the
potential to check police abuse, but victims often do not file cases
because they fear police retaliation.
Another major obstacle is section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code,
which provides immunity from prosecution to all public officials
unless the government approves the prosecution.
While not excusing the abuses, the HRW cites abysmal conditions for
police officers as contributing factors of such and other violations
by the police.
Police officials are required to be on-call 24 hours a day, every day,
remain separated from families for days and have to live in tents or
filthy barracks at police stations. They often lack necessary
equipment, including vehicles, mobile phones, investigative tools and
even paper on which to record complaints and make notes. To add to
their woes, the pay is low.
With this backdrop, it is not surprising that some police officers
told HRW that they use "short-cuts" to cope with overwhelming
workloads and insufficient resources.
"No one is born corrupt. It's a tailor-made system: if you're not
corrupt, you won't survive," one officer told HRW.
The current scenario is sad, but much can be done to improve the
situation.
The HRW report recommended that the police machinery be taught some
basic rules which they need to follow.
For instance reading suspects their rights upon arrest or detention,
excluding from court any evidence that police obtain by using torture,
bolstering independent investigations into complaints of police abuse
through national human rights commissions and improving training and
equipment for the cadre.
But, age-old laws make it easy for state and local politicians to
rampantly interfere in police operations, however routine.
The HRW report says, such interference may include directing police to
drop investigations against certain people with political connections,
or ordering them to harass political or personal opponents with false
charges.
In 2006, India's highest court mandated reform of police laws. But the
central government and most state governments are yet to implement the
court's order.
Malpractices by law enforcement agencies have been recorded
worldwide.
Corruption is rife among Mexico's local police forces and officers who
have not only protected drug cartels, but also murdered their rivals.
Ten police officers were arrested earlier this year for the torture
and murder of 12 federal agents who were investigating a drugs
cartel.
In Britain, Jean Charles De Menezes, 27, was shot dead by police at a
London tube station in 2005, when he was mistaken for a suicide
bomber. No police officer has ever been charged in connection with the
fatal shooting.
Last month, Ali Dizaei, a Metropolitan police commander, was accused
of threatening a businessman by purporting to arrest and detain him
and then falsely claiming unprovoked assault after a row in a
restaurant.
Such incidents may not be the norm but they do occur in countries
around the world.
Stringent rules and their strict implementation can curb such corrupt
behaviour but it may not be eliminated all together. The onus will
finally rest on the individual to apply proper standards to his
profession.
When and if such a day comes, innocents like Ishrat Jahan or Jean
Charles De Menezes will not have died in vain.
Sid Harth
‘Ishrat loved this country’
Susamma Kurian, Hindustan Times
Thane, September 08, 2009
First Published: 23:53 IST(8/9/2009)
Last Updated: 00:09 IST(9/9/2009)
A day after Ahmedabad Metropolitan Magistrate SP Tamang stated in his
probe report that the encounter in which Mumbai college student Ishrat
Jahan and three others were killed in 2004 was fake, her family
members demanded the most stringent of punishments for those
responsible for her death.
Ishrat Jahan, Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali
alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani were killed
in an encounter by the Ahmedabad police, led by the then Deputy
Commissioner of Police DG Vanzara, on June 15, 2004. The police had
justified the killing, saying the four were Lashkar-e-Tayyeba
operatives.
“We have been saying since day one that Ishrat was killed in a fake
encounter. She loved this country as much as you and I do. No force
can make my sister come back but we are happy that we have got
justice... We don’t know why Ishrat was killed. But we want those
guilty to be punished severely so that nobody else’s sister is killed.
So many innocent people have been killed in fake encounters in
Gujarat,” said Ishrat’s younger sister Musarrat Jahan (22), a
receptionist at an office in Mumbra, 25 km east of Mumbai.
Said their mother Shamima Kausar (45), “Nothing can compensate all
that we have lost in these five years because of my daughter being
called a terrorist. My children’s careers and education were affected
due to the blot on our family.”
Though the family has not pointed fingers at anyone, Rauf Lala of My
Mumbra made some startling revelations.
“Our lawyers came to know that Ishrat was picked up from Mumbra with
the help of an encounter specialist in Maharashtra. The magistrate’s
report states that the police had killed Ishrat and the others to
appease the head of the state. But it is to be seen whether the police
team had done the encounter on the orders of the head of the state. We
think it was not only the police officers but the entire system which
was involved in this,” said Lala.
Sid Harth
Post-Ishrat report, top cop Amin back in news for all wrong reasons
Syed Khalique Ahmed
Posted: Thursday , Sep 10, 2009 at 0103 hrs
Ahmedabad:
Following the S P Tamang’s report on Ishrat Jahan encounter, the
spotlight has shifted again to Narendra Kumar Amin, the suspended
Deputy Superintendent of Police, currently imprisoned in the Sabarmati
Central Jail.
Amin is in the jail along with controversial police officers D G
Vanzara and Raj Kumar Pandian in connection with fake encounter of
Sohrabuddin Sheikh and murder of his wife Kausar Bi.
Along with Vanzara, Amin is also involved in the killing of Ishrat
Jahan and three others.
Amin has often landed in controversies. In October 2004, when he went
to Hyderabad to arrest Maulana Nasiruddin, the man accused of hatching
a conspiracy for murder of former Minister of State Home Haren Pandya,
his family members and supporters had protested. But Amin refused to
stop and had fired shots from his service revolver killing one Mujahid
Saleen on the spot. The incident had created tension in old Hyderabad
city.
Two years ago, Amin was arrested in connection with the disposal of
the body of Kausar Bi
In December 2008, Amin created a sensation by submitting an affidavit
to Principal Additional Sessions Judge P B Desai through his advocate
V D Gajjar, saying a conspiracy was being hatched to eliminate him
because he was privy to vital information in the fake encounter case.
Amin had claimed to be possessing CDs containing vital information
about the fake encounter case that could create problems for several
ruling party politicians, including a minister in the Narendra Modi
government.
He had also accused Inspector General of Prisons Keshav Kumar of
torturing him in jail.
Amin’s name surfaced again last month when a magisterial court in
Umargaon in Valsad district issued an arrest warrant against him on
the charges of custodial murder of former Colonel Save. Save was
leading an agitation against setting up of a private port by a
multinational company.
The agitation led by Kinara Bachao Sangharsh Samiti headed by Save had
turned violent on April 7, 2000. The police had arrested two persons,
including Save in this connection.
Save, who had valiantly fought in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, was
allegedly tortured at the Umargaon police station by Amin and others.
Save, whose condition had worsened, was rushed to the Hinduja Hospital
in Mumbai where he succumbed to his injuries after 12 days.
Though an inquiry was initiated into the incident with IPS official
Rahul Sharma probing it, Sharma was relieved of it after a few days.
The probe was handed over to DIG (Crime) Anil Pratham who did not find
any evidence of custodial torture. He closed the case by filing a
summary in the court in February 2006.
But the court rejected Pratham’s probe and ordered a fresh inquiry in
which Amin was found guilty and a case under Section 302 and114 of
Indian Penal Code was registered against him in August this year with
the Umargaon police station.
Sid Harth
UPA plays politics with its affidavit: Home backs it, Law pulls up
author
Amitabh Sinha , Maneesh Chhibber
Posted: Thursday , Sep 10, 2009 at 0503 hrs
New Delhi:
A day after the Gujarat government waved a Central affidavit backing
its claim that Ishrat Jahan and her associates were linked to the
Lashkar-e-Toiba and were planning a terror strike, the Union Home
Ministry stood by the contents of its affidavit but the Law Ministry
sent out a completely conflicting signal by initiating action against
the law officer who had filed that affidavit.
The Law Ministry today decided to take action against Assistant
Solicitor General P S Champaneri for failing to bring to the notice of
the ministry the contents of the affidavit filed by the Home Ministry
in the Gujarat High Court, sources said.
In the affidavit filed last month, the Home Ministry told the High
Court that it had indeed passed on information to the state police on
the suspected terror links of Ishrat Jahan and her three companions
who were gunned down in June 2004.
Home Secretary G K Pillai said the affidavit was based on facts in
possession of the Intelligence Bureau and the government was ready to
substantiate the information provided to the court in the affidavit,
if asked. He made the distinction between information on terror links
of the victims provided to the state government and how the Gujarat
police acted on that information.
“The affidavit only states the facts that were discovered about the
victims through investigations. The facts are clear that the victims
had suspicious links with terrorist organisations. Based on the
information that the Intelligence Bureau had about these people, the
Gujarat Police had been alerted about their movements,” Pillai said.
“What the Gujarat Police did after receiving that information from the
Home Ministry is not something that the Home Ministry can be held
accountable for. As far as the government and the laws of justice in
the country are concerned, even a terrorist has the right to get
arrested and be put on trial,” he said.
With the Modi government pointing to the Central affidavit, the Law
Ministry decided to penalise Champaneri for failing to apprise it of
the contents of the affidavit and getting it vetted. Until evening, no
formal orders against the ASG had been issued. Champaneri, on his
part, said he had only filed the affidavit which was prepared and
handed over to him by a Home Ministry official.
Sid Harth
Awarding encounters
The Indian Express
Posted: Thursday , Sep 10, 2009 at 0449 hrs
On June 15th 2004, the Gujarat police announced that four operatives
of the dreaded Lashkar-e-Toiba had been killed in an encounter in
Ahmedabad. Photos of their bodies, lined up in front of the blue
Indica car in which they were allegedly travelling, did the rounds.
But, such being — sadly — the reputation the Gujarat police force has
earned for itself, allegations of a fake encounter were bound to
arise.
In that narrative, Ishrat Jahan, a student of a well-known Mumbai
college, was picked up in her home town and killed, along with three
of her friends, in police custody — all for the awards that terrorist
kills bring law enforcement officials. Ishrat’s mother filed a
petition in the Gujarat High Court seeking a CBI probe into the
killings, a petition that is still being heard. In court, the Centre
filed an affidavit stating that the four dead were indeed LeT suspects
— though the Centre was silent on the manner of their killing. Now
comes the latest twist: a Gujarat magistrate tasked with investigating
custodial deaths has held that encounter was faked. Ishrat was killed
in cold blood. The Gujarat government has been swift to oppose the
magisterial report.
This is a mistake, for there are two distinct questions here: First,
were Ishrat and the three others terrorists? And second, was the
encounter staged? These are very different questions. The Centre’s
claim that they were LeT suspects, even if true, doesn’t justify
murder-for-honours by the state police. That is not the rule of law;
it is the mockery of it. The BJP has been quick to add that Modi
cannot be held responsible for everything that happens in the state.
But the Gujarat government’s decision to instinctively back its men
sends the reverse signal: that innocent or guilty, the Gujarat
government is in this together. As the high court decides on its next
move, Narendra Modi must know that India’s eyes, not to mention those
of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team, are on him.
CORRRPTION IS ROOT CAUSE
By: BAKA | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 18:10:43 PM
Root cause is CORRUPTION. Hindu/Muslim/terrorist are cover up name of
POLICE/politician corruption. Name a single political leader(Including
NM) or Police or Bureaucrat w/o CORRUPTION...........to add agony
modern media = TRP CORRUPTION.
well the views here are odd from some folks
By: SAFFRON SECULARIST | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 17:18:25 PM
this is a reasoned article and what we really need to know are the
sequence of events. i do recall that the central investigation people
had also given a ishrat some cause for concern. now - the simple logic
is how were they involved in a gun fight? if there is a cover up then
let the long arm of the law take over.... i am surprised that hindu
names her are demanded hanging of mr modi.... surely the premise that
we are all innocent until proven guilty applies to all ciizens of
bharat including ishrat as well. i feel the religious NGOs are behind
the stirring that goes in the media. what india needs is progress and
basic human dignity for her people.... then why after so many years of
congress have the people of india remained poor? modi is doing his
best for his people of gujarat.... can someone also tell me was godhra
a fake encounter by the islamic facist jihadis? muslims in india see
themselves as guests and this same applies all over the world. when
will islamists grow up?
Ishran and 3 friends (2 of them were Paki all accepts that)
By: Ashish Patel | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 17:16:45 PM
Article is half or may I say qtr of the truth. There may have been
staged encounters, it fails to highlight that 2 of the 3 friend of
Ishran were Pakis and most importantly regardless the party ruling in
centre or state they have all endorsed the fact that 4 of them were
LeT members.Now don't say that there were no evidence of their
terrorist activity. We all know what LeT's publicly acknowledged
objectives are and begin member of such organisation makes India your
enemy and vice - versa. Killing such enemy proactively doesn't amount
to crime only the self-defence, as Bush use to say it.
RE: this comes from Centr,Non BJP party
By: srini | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 17:13:36 PM
You miss a point here. Even if the center says that they are LeT
suspects, the police still cannot do a fake encounter and kill them.
And if you support fake encounters for all terror suspects, then we
need to have a different discussion altogether. Fake encounters for
promotions is a serious issue that needs to condemned!
Mumbai Avoided
By: JC Mula | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 18:02:15 PM
The point is stopping Islamic Terrorism. The police did it effectively
otherwise there would have been another case like Mumbai. Only because
of Shri Narendra Modi's policy of not having any truck with
Terrorists, unlike congressis funded by rome and dawood, another
Mumbai did not happen in Gujrat
Receiption ofL E T Terrorists.
By: Dr R C Dikshit | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 17:33:09 PM
Does it mean we have to receive terrorist at various states after
receving information from I B with Kumkum and tilak and offer
briyani!!! Why shed lives of Jawans in Kashmir. They too are LET
terrorist.
Why she was with others?
By: SC | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 16:59:52 PM
Dont blame the Government of Gujarat, Police officers, Narendra Modi
of BJP. Ishrat was a student in a Mumbai school. What did she travel
with other innocent friends being alleged as terrorists?
I have a question too!
By: JC Mulla | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 17:59:47 PM
What was she a true follower of Islam doing inside a car with three
guys? I heard the guys who died had a hindu lineage. Their parents or
grandparents or grandgrand parents were Hindus who were converted
under sword either in 1947 or when Aurangzeb etc were active.
awarding terrosists
By: indukumar | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 16:54:04 PM
your article has enlightened me that a proclaimed LET martyrs, which
was declared four days after the killings, and was subsequently
published in leading newspaper currently as become a national hero,
whereas those awarded in daylight encounter in manipur are wishfully
forgotten in the name of secular humanism. i would like to remind you
number of encounter in manipur is highest in asia according to human
rights commission
All they want is money.
By: M. J. Shaikh | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 16:18:35 PM
The problem is not communal or politics. Nor are such encountors done
to protect the nation and it's citizens, nor is this due to Muslim
bias. All this is just for money and money. They demand money, they
seek money and they kill for money. A jobless uneducated son of any
ordinary havaldar drives a Honda City Car. Ofcourse his father has
cannot provide him all this with the salary he gets from the
government, he has to kill somebody to keep his son happy....it is a
bit difficult with the Hindus, Muslims one can always call them
terrorist and kill them if they don't pay up.
Awarding Encounters
By: Nandani | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 15:43:51 PM
The whole problem will be solved if Narender Modi will be hanged in
public or somebody should cut his throat in cold bloded. This HARAMI
has no right to stay in this World.
Modi is a Killer
By: Hemant trivedi | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 15:00:16 PM
Narendra modi is a killer.Responsible for thousands of death.Because
of him there must be hundreds of people who must have become terrorist
and also when they indulge in bomb blast mostly hindus die, indirectly
or directly modi is also responsible for all the deaths of hindus in
gujarat.He should be hanged in public and thats the only thing a
vicous snake like modi deserves.
Talibanis are Here We need Encounters
By: JC Mulla | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 17:15:48 PM
Partition was the joint effort of Muslim League of Jinnah, Congress of
MK Gandhi ML Nehru "GANERU CLAN", third grade British Christians. Why
India's territory was lost is because we forgot to let common sense
rule supreme
Truth Never Fades
By: Satya Prakash | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 13:44:08 PM
Fight till death in Shri Narendra Modi's struggle against Islamic
Terrorists, poverty and protection of Bharatwasis whose existence is
challenged by followers of religion who believe in right of non
Existence of persons who do not fall in their religion. We stand for
protection of our right to have full independency of thought and
actions which are directed towards building a peaceful, harmonious and
strong Bharat and no slavery to faith based craps. We do not want
elements whose foundations and basic purpose of life is faith based
crap exorting them to kill everyone who is not from religion of Osama
Bin Laden or General Dyer or not born with the surname Gandhi. Long
Live Sri Narendra Modi.
CommentsPost comment30 Comments |Awarding encounters
By: Sanjay | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 13:09:05 PM
Well writen article may not suit for fascist, but indeed true Indian
police perticularly gujrat police instead of protecting the citizens
are became murderers, just for some medals and promotion five
innocense lives are lost, these communal fascist will come to know
about the pain and deliema about the family of killed when somebody
from their family will die in cold blooded encounter
this comes from Centr,Non BJP party
By: suchithra | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 15:01:05 PM
You need to get updated with the news.Just see what Home ministry says
about encounter today.Home Ministry affidavit submitted in the Gujarat
High Court that Ishrat's friends were members of the Lashkar-e-
Toiba.Remember this comes from Centr,Non BJP party
Blame the messenger
By: Ram | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 12:21:17 PM
Number one strategy to win arguments, 'Blame the messenger'. People
are killed in cold blood in 'Encounters'. The press reports the same.
So who is at fault? No, of course not the killers. It is the press who
is at fault for trying to 'malign' the political party. Guys who blame
Indian Express and NDTV, when will you grow up?
why no comments on KAsmir,Manipur
By: Indian | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 15:03:44 PM
When will you
Rule of Law must prevail
By: Kishan | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 12:21:01 PM
O.K. No compromise on that.But as everyone knows does it actually
prevail? Those who have money bend the rules and the law to their
advantage.Is it any surprise that the public welcomes the elimination
of well known criminals because it knows that they have the means to
slip out of the grip of so-called rule of law.The police and the
courts are deliberately kept overworked so that the ruling class can
get away with murder.Only in exceptional cases like Jessica Lall's the
media is able to create pressure to bring the powerful to justice.But
the media has its own biases.
one sided report.
By: M.S | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 12:18:29 PM
I think my mail on the Pilot Editorial was spoken too soon. You next
editorial, is once again so contrived to conceal the center's role of
inaction in this Ishrat Jahan case. At least a line or two on the
centers lethargy would have lent more credibility to your editorial. I
remember when the govt. failed to lodge the protest against CBI in
2004 in the Bofors case for removing the red corner notice NDTV and
the editor-in-chief of IE were pouncing on the BJP ministers for the
inaction. why did EIC of IE not notice the tardiness of the UPA govt?
Oh Narendra bhai, my heart goes out to you
By: Sandeep | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 11:41:02 AM
The High Court stay on the Tamang report is a tight slap on the faces
of the so called secular brigade led by NDTV
Congress a laughing stock on Ishrat case
By: Chandrakant Marathe | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 11:04:54 AM
It is amusing to watch reporting on Ishrat case in Indian Express and
their partners NDTV. The news reporting is so carefully done that
public openion is created in favour of the ruling party at center and
by hook or crook BJP is maligned. See how the important question of
Congress government not filing the details for 3 years of Ishrat and
her friend Javed being linked to JeM which was verified by two home
secreteries at center. This action of congress was part of their
minorities appeasement plan to win elections. Yesterday although there
was a discussion on this twist but no BJP representative was called
since it would have been advantage BJP. Some irrelevant illogical
speaking activist was given time to keep denying everything which goes
against Ishrat case. We are sick of our insane media which is
protecting one party and bletantly creating ill feelings against the
strongest opposition. God save our country from such media
terror !!!!!
Convoluted arguments
By: Anand Prakash | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 13:25:20 PM
When the faked encounters took place the government in Gujarat was
that of the BJP. Rather than castigating the BJP government of
Narendra Modi, you somehow find reasons to pull up the UPA government
for not following up on the Ishrat case. Had the UPA government pushed
the BJP into a corner on this case, you and the other BJP arse kissers
would xream that the UPA is scoring political points and appeasing the
minorities. When the UPA does not earnestly follow up the case you
again claim that this is a case of minority appeasement and you let
off the maut ka saudagar, Narendra Modi. And, then you finally blame
the media...The BJP and its cohorts were always known for such
convoluted logic. Grow up, the electorate are not fools. The RSS
headquarters has been selling a book for years which says Jinnah is
not the one responsible for the partition. When Jaswant Singh sings
the same tune, the BJP and its parent organization develop spasms of
indignity and sack Jaswant Singh. When will this party gets its logic
and reasoning in place?
Compare with Rajiv's comments post Sikh roits.Shameless
By: suchithra | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 15:14:48 PM
Since Guj roit happened during Atalji's rule,he wanted to take
responsibility
so-called seculars are attacking Modi every day.
By: suchithra | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 15:12:57 PM
What happened in Guj was sad
Dont talk of logic
By: suchithra | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 15:10:54 PM
Its just not JInnaj,Nehru too was equally responsbilble for
partition.Better dont talk of logic
Rule of law must prevail and is non-negotiable
By: Anil Kohli | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 10:14:00 AM
No arguments, rule of law being supreme and its application without
exception all across the country at all times.However what is galling
is the singular vilification campaign mounted against an individual
for past 7 years by the English Print and Visual media. This mass
hysteria of our media, has even the most sober and liberal Indians,
who do not come on any public platform to express their views, since
they do not count for much the media has already pronounced it
Judgment on the CM of Gujarat. The is question why has not one media
personality of group or house been able to depose and bring charges
against this individual.What you set out to achieve, has actually
translated into dividing and polarising the society further,on a very
strident note and aggressive manner.Why has the Media not been as
vocal or persevering incase of other states and other political
parties and in particular the 1984 Sikh Genocide in Delhi.Indians need
reassurance, the media is neutral. Credibilty???
Home misnistry(centre,non BJP remember)has submitted in the Gujarat
High Court that Ishrat's friends were members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba
By: suchithra | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 15:06:22 PM
Anand,Get updated with the news before commenting.Home misnistry
(centre,non BJP remember)has submitted in the Gujarat High Court that
Ishrat's friends were members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba.Now talk crap
what ever.
Do not let anger blind you
By: Anil Kohli | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 17:19:12 PM
Please read what is written and then comment. Extra judicial killings
cannot be accepted. Will not be accepted by the people of this
country. At the same time nor will the people accept one sided
reportage by the press. A.P. Manipur,Maharashtra would also required
to be dealt in the same fashion and the Chief Ministers of those
states should also be held accountable just has the media want
Narendra Modi to answer for the deeds of the Policemen in Gujarat.
EVIL DIVERSIONALY ARGUMENT
By: G YAGNESWARAN | Thursday , 10 Sep '09 7:12:18 AM
It is piece of wishful imagination of Indian Express editorial staff
to come out with an editorial that the encounter was murdser for
awards operation. How much money has been paid to IE? On an earlier
occasion you came with concocted stories on a Hindu Monk for alleged
terrorist attacks and when the investigating agency absolved her you
showed no sesne of remorseness. Shame on you Mr Shekar Gupta
Sid Harth
Gujarat HC transfers Gopinath's petition to judge hearing Ishrat case
PTI 10 September 2009, 06:38pm IST
AHMEDABAD: The petition of Gopinath Pillai, father of one of the four
persons killed in 2004 police encounter, was transferred to the judge
hearing the Ishrat Jahan case, by the Gujarat High Court on Thursday.
Justice H N Devani, looking into the plea of Javed Gulam Mohammad
Shiekh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai demanding CBI inquiry into killing
of his son, said that since similar matter is being heard by Justice
Kalpesh Jhaveri, the petition should be transferred to that court.
Justice Jhaveri is hearing a petition by mother of Ishrat Jahan, a 19-
year-old college student, who was killed along with Pranesh and two
others. The court has also constituted a three-member committee to
investigate the matter.
Four persons, including Pranesh and Jahan were killed in an alleged
fake encounter on the outskirts of the city on June 15, 2004. The two
others were Amjad Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar
Abdul Gani.
Police had claimed that the four were Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives
on a mission to assassinate Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
Gopinath, in his petition, had demanded that the investigation into
the death of his son be transferred to CBI as the officers of present
agency probing the case were themselves involved in the alleged fake
encounter.
Sid Harth
Cops may face Vanzara fate
TNN 9 September 2009, 06:21am IST
AHMEDABAD: After the scathing inquiry report of the metropolitan
magistrate, the next logical move for the state government would be to
register an FIR against the police officers charged with plotting the
fake encounter which killed 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan, Javed Shaikh,
Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar on June 15, 2004.
The case obviously becomes one of custodial death and should ideally
follow the same inquiry pattern as Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter of
2005 in which 14 policemen, including IPS officers DG Vanzara,
Rajkumar Pandian and Dinesh MN from Rajasthan, are in jail.
In that case, the FIR registered by crime branch in 2004 would be
amended to make the official complainant — police inspector JG Parmar —
and 20 other officers, including then Ahmedabad city police
commissioner KR Kaushik, Vanzara and additional DGP PP Pandey, accused
in the new case.
Barring Pota, which was applied on Ishrat and rest, the police
officers would have to be booked for murder, kidnapping, illegal
confinement, conspiracy under IPC and use of unlicensed weapons (an
unlicensed AK-56 was used to kill them) under the Arms Act.
Sid Harth
“Now my children can move ahead”
Staff Reporter
We have spent five years crying, says Ishrat’s mother
Ishrat Jehan who was killed in an encounter
Mumbai: Ishrat Jehan, who was killed in a “fake encounter” of 2004 in
Gujarat, had four sisters and two brothers. “The careers of my
children are finished. They all wanted to study. They have no one to
support their education. Today, my children can move ahead,” said
Shamima, mother of Ishrat Jehan, in a tearful address to the media.
Ms. Shamima remembered all that the family lost in its fight for
justice.
Highlighting the support from non-Muslims, Abdul Rauf Lala, a social
activist closely associated with the case, said there could not be a
bigger victory for secularism. “This case should not be seen from a
religious perspective but from a human perspective. It was a mother’s
fight for justice.”
At a time when none wanted to be associated with them, some leaders,
namely Jitendra Avhad of the Nationalist Congress Party, and advocates
Vrinda Grover, Mukul Sinha and Shilpa Shah took up their cause. The
family hailed them and the media as well for keeping up the pressure.
For five years, the family endured disgrace, despair and legal
demands. “We have spent five years crying. Only I know the agony we
have been through,” said Ms. Shamima.
“These five years were the worst period of our lives. It was difficult
for us to prove. We were disheartened,” said Ishrat’s younger sister
Musarrat.
The probe report of the magisterial inquiry had brought much relief.
Too overwhelmed for words, Ms. Musarrat read from a piece of paper:
“We had full faith we would win this fight. This was a conspiracy. We
have been saying from day one that our sister was innocent. She loved
this country as much as you do. No power can give her back to us. But
we are happy that we got justice. Those who doubted us, saw us with
suspicion, have lowered their heads.”
Not ruling out the connivance of Maharashtra police force in the “fake
encounter,” Mr. Lala said they had received some reports on the
involvement of an “encounter specialist.” Ishrat went out of the house
on June 11, 2004, and that was the last anyone saw of her. On June 16,
the family learnt of her death.
“When we went to collect her body, [the then Gujarat police DCP] D.G.
Vanzara and [ACP Narendra] Amin behaved deplorably and forced Ishrat’s
mother to confess falsely. We were detained for eight hours,” said Mr.
Lala. Tellingly, the court summons for August 21 arrived by post this
Monday, he said.
Mr. Lala said the post-mortem report indicated the day of Ishrat’s
death as June 14, while the police had stated the encounter date as
June 16.
Now all that the family wishes for is severe punishment for those who
carried out the heinous act. “They should be hanged so that no one’s
sister dies in such a brutal manner,” said Ms. Musarrat. Asked if they
wanted action against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, she said
they were not specifically asking for Mr. Modi to be indicted, but for
those behind the killing.
Ishrat was just 19 when she was “kidnapped,” shot “in cold blood” and
termed a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative. She was a second year B.Sc.
student aspiring to become a teacher. She was also teaching at a well-
known coaching centre. A day before she was “kidnapped” she had
applied for an educational scholarship.
“She was very intelligent and a good teacher. All of us had our dreams
back then, but we don’t anymore. Now hope has been lit, but time
cannot come back. The time to study and build a career has gone,” rued
Ms. Musarrat, who works as a receptionist.
Sheikh Anwar, Ishrat’s younger brother who is a computer engineer,
said, “When we heard the news of her death, we did not believe it. My
sister was very naïve. She was very nice. I was too small, but I knew
my sister could never have done this. She was scared of even a
cockroach,” he recalled.
The government has rejected the report of the sub-divisional
magistrate.
Sid Harth
Opinion - Letters to the Editor
Ishrat Jahan issue
The reported fake encounter in which Ishrat Jahan and three more
persons were killed by the Gujarat police is a clear case of brutal
murder by the so-called protectors of law. It is a blot on the police
force which has been constantly accused of indulging in fake
encounters to serve its ends.
One wonders why so many top officials teamed up to do something so
horrendous. Was there a political angle to the killings? The
perpetrators of the heinous crime should be brought to justice
immediately.
Rahul Chandra Sheel,
Ahmedabad
The veracity of the police account of Ishrat Jahan’s killing raised
many doubts even in June 2004. It has taken more than five years for
the truth to emerge.
It is heart-rending to know that a group of police officials committed
such a heinous crime for personal gains. Not only was an innocent girl
picked up and ruthlessly killed her image too was tarnished.
K. Malikul Azeez,
Chennai
The fault lies with the system. Policemen seeking political favours
has become the order of the day. It is time civil society brought
pressure on the Gujarat government to take strict action against the
culprits.
Vaibhav C. Ghalme,
New Delhi
The metropolitan magistrate’s ruling that the killing of Ishrat Jahan
and three others was a fake encounter has dealt a serious blow to
democracy and secularism.
N.C. Sreedharan,
Kannur
One can imagine the state of fear in which the minorities live in
Gujarat. It would not be right to blame the police alone for the cold-
blooded murder of Ishrat and three others. They are said to have
indulged in the act allegedly to please the Chief Minister. If that is
true, I am sure many officers would act similarly. After all, everyone
would like to be promoted.
Abdul Subhan,
Bidar
The killing of Ishrat and three others in a stage-managed encounter
and accusing them of being terrorists are pointers to the state of
affairs in Gujarat.
The perpetrators of the shameful deed should be severely punished. The
heinous act has not only caused the death of innocent persons but also
put their families to severe hardship.
Mohammed Sadullah Khan,
Riyadh
More shocking than the fake encounter is the report that it was
perpetrated by police for personal gains. One can imagine the law and
order situation of a State in which the police, by killing innocent
people belonging to a community, expect to be promoted.
It has become common for the police to execute a suspect, and claim
that he died in a shootout that followed his bid to kill them. This
happens so often that all of us are familiar with the term
‘encounter.’ Punishing the men in uniform is not enough; the
politicians who have created such an environment also need to be
punished.
Irshad Ahmed,
Bangalore
Sid Harth
Opinion - Letters to the Editor
Intolerance indeed
This refers to the editorial “The state of intolerance” (Sept. 8).
That the Gujarat government is contemplating the idea of issuing a
second ban notification on Jaswant Singh’s book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah
after the High Court struck down the earlier notification is
unfortunate.
The freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution allows everyone
to express his or her views in any form. No one wanting to read Mr.
Singh’s book can be denied the right to do so.
S. Lakshmi Narayanan,
Cuddalore
The Gujarat government’s ban on Jaswant Singh’s book on Jinnah
certainly smacked of intolerance. The act appeared to be an attempt at
one-upmanship on the part of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
K.D. Viswanaathan,
Coimbatore
The Modi government has claimed that it banned the book because it
contained some objectionable remarks about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
This has disturbing implications for the citizens’ right to freedom of
expression. But this has, unfortunately, been the trend in the country
in recent times. Any deviation from the norm in representation or
analysis of facts is treated as blasphemy. Authors, playwrights,
actors, artists, poets and musicians are regularly targeted by self-
appointed guardians of culture. One victim of such targeting is M.F.
Husain. You may or may not agree with Jaswant Singh, but in a
democracy all citizens have the right to express their opinions
without fear.
A.K. Shahinsha,
Dharapuram
Sid Harth
Come clean on encounters, Supreme Court tells Gujarat
J. Venkatesan
‘Why not agree to SIT probe in Sohrabuddin case?’
New Delhi: With the Gujarat government admitting that Sohrabuddin
Sheikh was killed in a fake encounter, the Supreme Court on Wednesday
asked the State to come clean on such incidents by ordering an
investigation to go to the root of the matter.
A Bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam is hearing a
petition filed by Rubabuddin for a CBI probe into the encounter death
of his brother in the early hours of November 26, 2005 and the
subsequent killing of Sohrabuddin’s wife Kausar Bi. The present plea
is to refer the incident to the court-appointed Special Investigation
Team headed by R.K. Raghavan, who is probing the 2002 Gujarat riot
cases.
When senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Gujarat, strongly
opposed this plea, saying a charge sheet was already filed in the
case, Justice Alam said: “When you [the State] admit that it is a fake
encounter, the great concern of the State must also be to go to the
bottom of the matter. Why not put such encounter deaths beyond debate?
The State should come forward to go beyond all possible debate or
controversy. This is no less disturbing. Why don’t you agree to a SIT
probe?”
Mr. Rohatgi said conducting further or fresh investigation would
prejudice the prosecution case and delay the trial.
It would also mean lack of confidence in the trial court, the High
Court and the whole judicial system in the State, which would have
wide ramifications.
Justice Alam said: “The question of referring the matter to the SIT
has arisen as there have been allegations that the investigations by
the Gujarat police are just an eyewash and an attempt to cover up the
conspiracy in the case. The whole integrity of the investigation has
been questioned. Till now, you have not explained how Kausar Bi was
killed. Her manner of death is unknown.”
Sid Harth
Ahead of assembly polls, VHP distances itself from BJP
Ians September 9th, 2009 MUMBAI - Ahead of assembly elections in
Maharashtra, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Wednesday said it is
distancing itself from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for having
“failed to serve the cause of Hindus and Hindutva”.
VHP international president Ashok Singhal said that the BJP had
suffered reverses in the May 2009 Lok Sabha elections because it did
not do justice to the cause of Hindutva.
“If they continue in the same vein, they will face the same
consequences (in assembly polls),” Singhal told reporters.
He said that VHP has an 11-point charter, which includes construction
of Ram temple in Ayodhya, saving the Ganga river and protection of
cows. But none of the BJP candidates ever mentions these issues in
their election campaign.
“Now, we are seeing their plight,” he said.
When asked whether the BJP needed a change in leadership, Singhal
pointed out that it was an internal issue of the party and he was
neither associated with it nor was he speaking on its behalf.
“However, as far as the elections are concerned, the Hindus would
support those parties which will serve our 11-point charter. We are
not a political party, but we need a party which can save Hindus from
Islamic jihad,” he remarked.
Slamming BJP leader L.K. Advani, the VHP leader said that he undertook
the ‘rath-yatra’ in 1990 only to serve his personal political ends.
Singhal declined to comment as to why the BJP adopted double standards
in dealing with the issue of Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah,
expelling former union minister Jaswant Singh from the party while
Advani continued to be its leader.
Sid Harth
NEW DELHI: Has India’s BJP lost the plot?
Posted by barunroy on September 9, 2009
FROM BBC NEWS SERVICE
NEWS SHARED BY ABDUL KALAM EZANI
In the past week India’s main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) has been wracked by infighting and a crisis of
leadership. Analyst Mahesh Rangarajan explains why this may be the
worst crisis facing the party.
Even seasoned observers of the Indian political scene have been caught
unawares by the speed with which the crisis in India’s main opposition
party is unravelling.
Ever since its second successive defeat in the general elections of
May 2009, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has embarked on a phase of
transition, most notably by introducing younger leaders into key posts
in parliament. But much of this work has come undone.
The party has expelled from its ranks one of its founder members,
Jaswant Singh, who had held the key portfolios of finance, foreign
affairs and defence. His book on Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali
Jinnah has also been banned by the state government in the party
stronghold of Gujarat.
Even as the party wrestles with issues of identity and ideology, it
seems in more disarray than ever in its nearly three decades of
existence.
Mass support
Founded in the summer of 1980 in the western city of Mumbai (then
Bombay), it was led by Atal Behari Vajpayee who espoused a centrist
strategy to act as a foil to the ruling Congress.
Once this strategy failed, it gave way six years later to a mood of
militant Hindutva, or Hindu-ness.
This was embodied best by his close associate LK Advani’s campaign to
build a temple at a disputed site in Ayodhya, which generated mass
support.
But the destruction of the disputed mosque at the site in 1992 led to
nationwide rioting and the party veered once again to the middle
ground.
This paved the way for Vajpayee-led governments.
The party itself has walked a fine line between posing as an alternate
pole of power and being a militant party defined by an ideological
core that stresses the Hindu-ness of India.
The latter has always been problematic in a country with a sizeable
population of other faiths including Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
It eventually contributed to deep divisions between the party and its
regional allies, especially after the massacres of Muslims in Gujarat
in February 2002.
The general elections earlier this year saw the party lose for a
second time in a row.
Faced with a Congress-led alliance that emphasised welfare for the
poor and safety for religious minorities, the BJP came across as out
of touch with the times.
But what undercut the BJP was the eclipse of Atal Behari Vajpayee.
His successor, LK Advani, was unable to counter Congress charges of
having been party to a prisoners-for-hostages deal in December 1999 to
secure the release of passengers on a hijacked Air India flight that
was taken to Taliban-controlled Kandahar.
Meanwhile, in his own party, the octogenarian leader never recovered
from his praise for Mr Jinnah on a visit to that country in 2005.
Soft on terror, he was also seen as warming up to a historic figure
his own followers blame for the partition of 1947.
In a sense, the party and the wider cultural movement it is part of
are in a crisis of their own making.
In a country where seven of 10 people are below the age of 40, it is
the future and not the past that is a pressing concern.
Out of touch
Already in 2004, it lost as many as 17 of the 20 parliamentary seats
in the big metropolitan centres, a sure sign that it has lost its
sense of the popular pulse.
Further, a clutch of hitherto lower-caste groups has come to power in
much of northern India, undercutting the religious appeal of the BJP.
Where the party has retained power in west and central India, it has
done so with a mix of welfare and populist measures aimed at farmers,
women and the poor.
At the pan-Indian level, its “India Shining” campaign message of five
years ago failed to entice voters.
In a country where one in two children is malnourished it reinforced
its older image as a party of traders, priestly and the merchant
classes.
Mr Advani’s party is also out of touch with the wider shifts in the
mood in the region at large.
Religious symbols and icons continue to matter in politics but they
have a jaded air about them.
Religious polarisation last worked wonders for the party as long ago
as the Gujarat state elections of 2002.
Last winter even the terror strike on Mumbai known in popular parlance
as 26/11 did not polarise voters.
The leading religious trusts of Muslims in Mumbai refused to accept
the bodies of terrorists for burial on grounds that they had violated
the tenets of Islam.
If religion has less appeal in the political arena, so does the BJP’s
claim of being “a party with a difference”.
It has no leader who can challenge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s
economic credentials.
On another front, it seriously underestimated the resilience of the
Nehru family, who with Rahul Gandhi as future leader make the middle-
aged opposition leaders look out of synch.
Dilemma
There is still room for the party to regroup; given the immensity of
the challenges the Congress-led alliance faces in governing India.
A drought due to the failure of the monsoon affects about half the
country. Prices of key food items are rising. The rapprochement with
Pakistan attempted by Prime Minister Singh has not won full
endorsement even in his own party ranks.
The BJP’s dilemma is that if it takes up the baton on Hindutva, it
will alienate not only potential regional allies but a vast middle
ground that has had enough of strife.
But the rank and file of the party and its affiliates is most at ease
with such emotive issues. Caught in this struggle between head and
heart, its leadership has been wavering ever since 2004.
Unlike Mr Vajpayee who was a master of saying little and being many
things to many men, his successors are caught in webs of their own
making.
The BJP is facing more than a crisis of leadership. It is facing a
crisis of direction.
chhotemianinshallah
NEW DELHI: RSS keeps thinking cap warm for Jaswant’s son – Manvendra’s
silence earns him seat at meeting, Arun (Lewis Carroll) Shourie also
on list
Posted by barunroy on September 10, 2009
FROM THE TELEGRAPH
BY RADHIKA RAMASESHAN
Manvendra Singh
New Delhi, Sept. 9: Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra
Singh is on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s A-list of invitees for a
“thinkers meet” that began today in Utan, a north Mumbai suburb.
Arun Shourie, too, is on the list, though the former Union minister
had last month dubbed the BJP a Humpty Dumpty party and its chief
Rajnath Singh Alice in Blunderland, taunting the brass with words
borrowed from Lewis Carroll.
While the RSS has steadfastly backed Shourie, even after his stinger
missiles at L.K. Advani and Rajnath, the inclusion of former Rajasthan
MP Manvendra for the two-day session has drawn a mixed response from
the “parivar”.
“I am perfectly at home in the sylvan surroundings and look forward to
interacting with the RSS and BJP leaders in the meeting that’s about
to start,” Manvendra told The Telegraph.
BJP sources said Manvendra, a member of the party’s youth brigade, has
been attending this gathering for the past few years, including the
last held in 2004.
“I have not said or done anything against my party,” Manvendra said,
refusing to be drawn into the debate generated by his father’s book on
Pakistan’s founder Jinnah that led to Jaswant’s expulsion last month.
“This has not gone unnoticed by us and the Sangh,” a BJP source said.
“Manvendra could have easily spoken up for Jaswant Singhji but he lay
low. It boosted his ranking in the party.”
Parivar sources said the BJP-RSS hoped to blunt the criticism after
Jaswant’s sack and the ban on his book in Gujarat by “being nice” to
Manvendra.
After the Sangh’s endorsement, Manvendra, the sources said, is certain
to remain a member of the BJP’s national executive and mentor its
young MPs.
Other BJP leaders who figure on the “guest” list of 30 include
Rajnath, Sushma Swaraj, Murli Manohar Joshi and Bal Apte.
While Rajnath’s inclusion as party chief was self-explanatory, the
sources said, Apte unofficially functions as the RSS’s point man in
the party.
Joshi, regarded as a “loner” without a following, made it as an old
Sangh favourite. Sushma is seen as an Advani loyalist.
The list was personally drawn up by Sangh chief Mohanrao Bhagwat.
The objective, the sources said, was essentially to “broadbase” the
BJP representation and ensure every shade of opinion was articulated
at the meeting that is expected to focus on ideology, RSS-BJP equation
and the state of the party itself.
If Joshi is thought to represent the “conservatives” who believe that
ideology and governance cannot and should not be de-coupled, Sushma is
supposed to be closer to the Advani line of “de-ideologising
governance”.
Apart from members of the “parivar”, the invitees include sympathisers
and resource persons associated with it, the sources said.
Although the discussions would not be gridlocked by an agenda, the
sources conceded that the thrust would be on the BJP.
They expected a “positive” look ahead, grounded on two decisions the
RSS has more or less finalised: separation of the BJP’s parliamentary
and political wings and a state leader as the next party president.
The Sangh, it seems, has conveyed to Delhi leaders that if the BJP is
to retain its cadres, drawn principally from the RSS, they should give
Rajnath’s successor a “free hand” in organisational affairs and in
running the parliamentary party.
chhotemianinshallah
SUARA KEADILAN'S BREAKING NEWSSeptember 5, 2009
Saffron Fascism: The rise and fall of the BJP UMNO WILL DISAPPEAR FOR
MISUSING THE MALAY ISLAM FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH
Filed under: Uncategorized — taxi2driver @ 5:14 pm
The deep crisis into which the Bharatiya Janata Party has plunged
itself in recent days should dispel fond notions about it which were
entertained in India as well as outside. People shut their eyes to its
dependence on the fascist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Hindu Liberation Army wants to rule the entire planet. Mr. Bharat
Verma is a strong proponent of the destruction of Pakistan and
conquest of Afghanistan
Why was the BJP set up at all when there already existed the Hindu
Mahasabha of the pre-partition days? The Mahasabha was founded in
1915, the RSS in 1925. But while the Mahasabha was avowedly a
political party, the RSS professed to be a ‘cultural’ one. Its culture
became apparent to Rajeshwar Dayal, chief secretary of the UP
government at the time of partition and later India’s high
commissioner to Pakistan.
As he mentioned in his memoirs, A Life of Our Times, he came across
damning evidence of the then RSS chief M.S. Golwalkar’s — L.K. Advani
& Co hails him as a ‘guru’ — plans to stage a pogrom of Muslims, with
maps and all. The chief minister, Gobind Ballabh Pant, refused to
order his arrest. He was arrested only after Gandhi’s assassination.
The sessions court acquitted the Hindu Mahasabha leader, V.D.
Savarkar, of the charge of conspiring that murder because the
approver, whose evidence was accepted, was not corroborated. Years
later, Savarkar’s aides deposed before a supreme court judge, Justice
Jeevan Lal Kapur, formerly of the Lahore bar, who held Savarkar guilty
of that conspiracy. L.K. Advani had Savarkar’s portrait hung in
Parliament House not far from Gandhi’s portrait.
Indian Hnduvata- Hindu extremism in India and beyond
Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, a member of Nehru’s cabinet, exerted every
nerve on behalf of his erstwhile mentor, Savarkar. He resigned after
the Nehru-Liaquat agreement on the minorities in April 1950. But he
could not return to the Mahasabha because he was party to a
constituent assembly resolution which urged a ban on communal parties.
He pleaded with the Mahasabha to open its doors to all; nominally, at
least. It refused. He then turned to the RSS.
A pact between Golwalkar and Mookerjee led to the foundation of the
Bharatiya Jan Sangh on Oct 21, 1951. He needed cadres for his
political platform. The RSS had the men, indoctrinated, disciplined
and amenable to its control. The RSS also felt the ‘need of a
political organisation which could reflect the ideology and ideas of
the RSS in the public sphere,’ wrote Mookerjee’s colleague Balraj
Madhok.
Golwalker is the founder of the RSS facists: Critics that accused
Golwalkar of fascism have often pointed to his extreme right-wing and
Anti-Muslim bigotry. In his 1939 book, “We, Our Nationhood Defined”,
Golwalkar expressed praise of Hitler, saying: To keep up the purity of
the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the
country of the semitic Races — the Jews. Race pride at its highest has
been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible
it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to
be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in
Hindusthan to learn and profit by.”
The RSS riveted its control over the Jan Sangh. Two presidents were
ousted, Madhok being one of them. After the emergency, the Jan Sangh,
with other major opposition parties, merged itself with the Janata
Party founded by Jayaprakash Narayan on March 1, 1977. But the issue
of dual membership could not be evaded. It led to the Jan Sangh’s
leaving the Janata Party and setting up the Bharatiya Janata Party —
as the real Janata Party. It had the honourable option of reviving the
Jan Sangh. It preferred subterfuge.
On Nov 6, 1977, when he was minister for external affairs in the
Janata government, Atal Behari Vajpayee said, ‘When we joined the
Janata Party, we had given up our old beliefs and faiths and there was
no question of going back.’ As Milton wrote, ‘Ease would recant Vows
made in pain, as violent and void.’ In 1985 he asked ‘When did we get
away from the Jan Sangh.’
Since it sailed under false colours the BJP had to initially adopt
slogans it did not believe in, such as ‘Gandhian socialism.’ Vajpayee
was its first president. The BJP won a mere two seats in the 1984
general elections. It bagged 85 in 1989. How? On Jan 31, 1986 the
locks on the gates of the premises of the Babri Masjid were opened. On
May 9, 1986 L.K. Advani became president of the BJP and made a Ram
temple on the site of the mosque an election issue. ‘I am sure it will
translate into votes,’ Advani predicted on June 11, 1989.
The next year he went on a rath yatra from the Somnath temple in the
former state of Junagadh to the Babri Masjid. The campaign culminated
in the mosque’s demolition on Dec 6, 1992 for which Advani still faces
criminal proceedings. A magistrate and a sessions judge found him
guilty prima facie. The trial is yet to begin. The BJP reaped an
electoral harvest securing 180 seats in 1998 and 182 in 1999 and
formed a ramshackle coalition government. In 2004, the gains fell to
138 and in 2009 to 117.
Wanted dead or alive Lal Krishna Advani
The temple issue cannot be revived; the soufflé rises only once
Hindutva has lost its charm. L.K. Advani promised to step down as
leader of the opposition but reneged on his word. In 2005 the RSS had
ejected him from the office of the president of the BJP after his trip
to Pakistan. His remarks on Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah offended
the RSS and almost all in the BJP. Now he stands stripped of moral
authority.
The RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat has been trying to devise as dignified a
succession as the circumstances permit. The term of the BJP president,
Rajnath Singh, expires this year. Three posts are up for grabs — the
BJP’s president and the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha (the
crucial lower house) and the Rajya Sabha.
Very many in India and a significant few in Pakistan, including a
couple of able diplomats who ought to have known better, hoped that
the BJP would emerge as a strong rightwing party which would provide a
stable government at home and follow a liberal foreign policy; witness
Vajpayee’s visit to the Minar-i-Pakistan. They overlooked two factors.
Both were well described by authorities of distinction.
Terrorist Wanted dead or alive: Bal Thakery
The French scholar Christophe Jaffrelot pointed out in his excellent
book The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India, that ‘a division of
labour then (in 1989) took place between Advani and Vajpayee who
presented a more moderate face of Hindu nationalism.’ Vajpayee joined
the RSS in 1939. As late as on Aug 11, 2000 he took the RSS pledge.
‘The Sangh is my soul,’ he once asserted. The RSS could force him to
decline a portfolio to someone it did not like.
The second factor was described by Walter K. Andersen and Sridhar
Damle in their work The Brotherhood in Saffron: ‘The BJP for its part
will try to develop into a national political force, but it is
questionable whether it can do so with a cadre drawn largely from the
RSS.
‘On the other hand, it is questionable if the BJP could survive
politically without the RSS cadre, and the cadre will not stay unless
the leadership of the party stays firmly in the hands of the
brotherhood.’ Kuldip Nayyar. The writer is an author and a lawyer.
chhotemianinshallah
Sangh Samachar
BJP chief admits to RSS running the BJP
Posted in Bharatiya Janata Party, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh by ravi
on July 31, 2007
Why is this newsworthy? Because the Sangh is admitting the truth!
Here’s an excerpt from the Outlook interview.
Question: On January 29 this year, you had removed Modi from the BJP’s
highest decision-making body—the parliamentary board. At the same time
Arun Jaitley was removed as chief spokesperson of the BJP. Did you act
under RSS pressure or advice?
Rajnath: The media made too much of it. These were routine changes.
Okay, the RSS was consulted. In Modi’s case it was 70 per cent RSS and
30 per cent my decision. In Jaitley’s case the responsibility was
50:50.
As pointed out by the Times of India,
The statement undercuts the denials by both BJP and RSS about the
latter’s involvement in the party’s decision making. While organically
linked, BJP has preferred to keep up the pretence of autonomy vis-a-
vis Sangh, while Sangh itself professes disinterest in the affairs of
the party.
Here’ s the rest of the TOI report (all emphases mine):
The Sangh leadership was, naturally, not amused by the statement which
can be a weapon in critics’ hands. Approached by TOI, RSS leader Ram
Madhav said, “He has to clarify what he means by 70% and 30%.
Decisions are taken by the party. You can consult anyone including the
RSS, that’s a normal practice, but on what basis do you say that the
decisions were taken by the Sangh… of course there is a possibility
that he (Singh) may have been misquoted.”
The controversial statement comes in the aftermath of the perception
about RSS getting increasingly involved in the routine affairs of BJP
under the current leadership. Singh took over the party’s reins from L
K Advani who was asked to step down by Sangh leadership because of his
controversial remarks on Jinnah.
Advani had made his displeasure known by complaining about Sangh’s bid
to micro-manage party affairs. While his protest did not evoke much
support, the perception about Sangh’s interference has led to
heartburn.
While no one has gone public, it is only because of the reverence for
senior Sangh leaders. Murmurs against RSS functionaries who have been
imposing their choices have been on the rise. Their role has been
called into question also with regard to the recent UP polls. Party
circles lament that while they have got the flak, Sangh functionaries
who interfered at every stage have gone unscathed.
If the RSS is not happy about an open acknowledgment of its
relationship with the BJP, Rajnath’s statement has got to be
retracted, right? This is exactly what the BJP has done. Here is its
letter to Outlook, reproduced in full:
Dear Shri Mehta,
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its National President are deeply
distressed over the cavalier manner in which your magazine Outlook
(dated 06 August 2007) has published the interview of Shri Rajnath
Singh ji. The interview contains certain statements which he never
made, his observations have been deliberately distorted and quoted out
of context and there is a palpable attempt to maliciously convey a
negative image.
It is evident that there appears to be a motive behind this distortion
and the fact that the interview of Shri Rajnath Singh ji was given in
Hindi and has been published in English; has been conveniently
manipulated and distorted to suit this purpose. In particular, I would
like to emphasize that Shri Rajnath Singh ji never made the
uncharitable comments or statistical reference in the decision making
process against his party colleagues and the two senior leaders of the
party Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shri L K Advani. Many of the
observations about the RSS were either not made by Shri Rajnath Singh
ji or have been quoted out of context.
The party would like to place on record its contradiction and
condemnation of the objectionable manner in which your publication has
gone ahead and distorted the interview.
Yours truly
(Ravi Shankar Prasad)
Spokesperson
I can only hope Outlook recorded the interview, and can call the BJP’s
bluff! If your appetite hasn’t been whetted yet, here’s another juicy
excerpt from the Outlook interview (all emphases mine).
Question: Your critics say that some RSS leaders have begun to have
second thoughts about your leadership and that you will be nothing
without the RSS…
Rajnath: The media is really trying to create a story. The RSS is
united and does not have factions. I am loyal to the RSS and it backs
me completely. I have worked for the Sangh from my early youth. I have
propagated their ideology from the beginning. Yes, you are right I
would be nothing without the RSS.
bademiyansubhanallah
CPM: RSS ‘sharpening communal passions’According to the CPM, such
communal passions are aimed at causing polarization, with the aim of
reaping benefits in the forthcoming assembly election in Maharashtra
Ruhi Tewari
New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM has accused
the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of “sharpening communal passions in
the country.” In an editorial in the forthcoming issue of its party
mouthpiece—People’s Democracy, the CPM says the RSS appears to have
assumed the reins of direct control of the BJP after the latter’s
continued internal dissesions.
“This, we had apprehended, would bring the aggressive hardcore
Hindutva agenda to the fore which cannot but sharpen communal passions
disturbing peace and harmony,” the editorial states, claiming these
apprehensions have come true with the simmering communal tensions in
the districts of Sangli and Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.
According to the CPM, such communal passions are aimed at causing
polarization, with the aim of reaping benefits in the forthcoming
assembly election in Maharashtra.
“A week after communal riots broke out in western Maharashtra’s Sangli
and Kolhapur districts, the saffron combine derived much wanted
political mileage out of it ahead of the assembly polls,” the
editorial adds.
The piece further questions the ruling Congress-NCP combine in the
state for its inability to prevent these tensions from escalating.
bademiyansubhanallah
Embarrassed Centre sacks law officer for Ishrat affidavit
Submitted by admin4 on 10 September 2009 - 9:38pm.
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: Embarrassed with the revelation that its own affidavit had
endorsed the Narendra Modi government’s position in the June 2004
Ishrat Jahan encounter – which has now been proved fake by a
magisterial probe – the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre
yesterday sacked its Ahmedabad-based law officer who was responsible
for the affidavit.
The Union Law Ministry has removed the law officer, whose name the
ministry has not disclosed, from the panel of law officers appointed
to represent the Centre in the Gujarat High Court. Media reports say
some more heads could roll since the Centre was not kept informed with
the developments related to the encounter case.
Mumbai college girl Ishrat Jahan and three others were killed in an
encounter in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004. After killing the four the
Gujarat police had claimed that they were Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives
on a mission to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi. When the parent of
Ishrat approached the Gujarat High Court for a CBI probe the Centre
had opposed it in an affidavit and said that the four the suspected
terrorists.
Now that the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Magistrate SP Tamang has concluded
in his report that the four were innocents and they were killed in
cold blood by the top police officials of Gujarat just to please Modi
and ensure promotions, the central government’s affidavit has come to
haunt it.
bademiyansubhanallah
:. Modi's vampires again
Ishrat 'encounter' probe report pinpoints the rot in system and
society
The term 'fake encounter' has been so over-used and misused that by
now it has come to partially hide the heinousness of the crime
involved in this act of brutal murder. The frequency and scale of
'fake encounters' has nearly dulled common sensitivity to the extent
that the perpetrators of the inhuman act and their protectors have no
compunction in offering justification for taking human lives with
utter disregard to law, justice and decency. The shocking revelations
contained in the latest judicial inquiry report about ghastly murder
of Ishrat Jahan and three others by the notorious gang of killers in
Gujarat police uniform comes on the heels of a similar case involving
the very same gang-of-four in the murder of another innocent Indian
citizen. The judicial report leaves nothing to guess about why these
habitual killers had let themselves loose and who were they looking up
to for 'reward'. Skeletons tumbling out of his cupboard have by now
made Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government a byword for practising
naked communal hatred, patronising licensed killing of innocent
citizens and vulture-like gratification in doing the 'deed'. The
judicial probe has boldly held that Ishrat, 19 year college girl, and
her friends had been targeted for brutal killing 'because they were
Muslims'. The motive, according to the judicial magistrate's findings,
was to gratify the chief minister (Modi), obviously because of his
known anti-Muslim bias and to secure 'award' for eliminating
'terrorists'. The report totally dismissed the theory that Ishrat and
her three companions travelling in a car from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on
that fateful day in 2004 were armed and that they had fired upon being
challenged by the Gujarat police who were lying in wait. The judge
cited solid evidence to reject the contention that the victims had
planned to kill Modi.
What is more disturbing is that these four police officers had felt
encouraged to commit one murder after the other by being rewarded for
it instead of being put in the dock. Far from questioning their
conduct, they had become the face of the Modi regime. With the chief
minister himself resorting to unabashed Muslim baiting,
notwithstanding universal condemnation of his role in the post Godhra
anti-Muslim pogrom in Ahmedabad , his administration had let loose
these killers to 'practice' what he preached. Thus a pattern was
adopted to produce 'terrorists' and eliminate them in 'encounter'. For
sure, Gujarat is not the only state where this has been happening.
Underworld-related encounters in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra
are a case in the point. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have their own
versions of this saga. In Jammu and Kashmir it is such a familiar
routine of anti-insurgency operations that one does not talk about it
anymore. Even so, Gujarat retains the dubious distinction of giving a
free licence to its killers and rewarding them audaciously. That is as
good as cocking a snook at everything that a civilised society is
supposed to stand for-morality, constitution, law, justice and
fairness. It is like rubbing salt into the wound to see Gujarat
information minister Jaynarain Vyas and his BJP patrons in Delhi
coming forward to decry the findings of a judicial magistrate
belonging to the Modi government itself and going on to defend the
killers who are already behind bars for their involvement in a similar
earlier case. The familiar pattern is to somehow cook evidence to
create 'terrorists' out of innocent Muslims, stage fake encounter,
weave a sensational story and be done with it.
Unfortunately, as it turns out in the particular case of Ishrat, even
the Congress government at the centre allowed itself to become Modi's
accomplice, though only partially. The central government had in its
affidavit endorsed the Gujarat police version that the 19 year college
girl was a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant. That support was enough for the
Modi regime to justify criminal murder in fake encounter. Mercifully,
the judicial magistrate has trashed both the state and central
governments' contention and held that none of the four including
Ishrat was a terrorist and that they did not carry any firearms as
claimed by the Gujarat police nor was there any evidence of cross
firing. The report has left nothing to doubt what the encounter
actually was---a criminal act of murder of innocent citizens because
they happened to be Muslims and had the misfortune of straying into
Modi's Gujarat. The big question now is to see how the system goes
about delivering justice. Modi government and the BJP have given
enough indication of their intention to derail any such action. They
have succeeded so far. Only the time can tell whether with Ishrat's
innocent blood on their hands these habitual killers get what they
deserve or manage to go scot free as in the past. The outcome will
determine whether we are a civilised society or not. That is the stake
involved in this case.
[editorial-Kashmir Times-Sep 10, 2009]
Posted on 10 Sep 2009 by Webmaster
chhotemianinshallah
Killings are 'state policy' for some in the govt
11 Sep 2009, 0046 hrs IST,
Between September 2002 and April 24, 2007 when DIG Gujarat Rajnish Rai
arrested the cops designated by Gujarat’s top political brass “to kill
some Teesta Setalvad Secretary, Citizens for Justice and Peace people
to prove that Gujarat police is strong”, 21 persons were unlawfully
shot dead by a gang in which DIG Border Range, Vanzara played a
proactive part.
Two months later, DSP Gujarat NK Amin met the same fate and since
then, this scourge of extra judicial killings to “protect the lives of
CM Narendra Modi and BJP chief LK Advani” miraculously stopped.
Killings by policemen in cold blood are sadly not the sole preserve of
the Gujarat police. Unaccountable actions by law enforcement agencies
fed by our intelligence, happen all across India. They are not simply
guilty of taking innocent lives but enjoy protection from
prosecution.
What is unique to Gujarat is an unabashed celebration of this unlawful
state of affairs. Gujarat minister Jaynayaran Vyas’ aggressive
response to a judicial magistrate’s report that exposed the lies in
the killings of Ishrat Jahan and three others proves the point.
The state government was unable to make the requisite distance between
the state executive and its police, owning completely the actions of
its men. In early 2007, when IG Geeta Johri and her team investigated
Sohrabuddin’s and Kauserbi’s killings, a trail that led to the
farmhouse of Girish Patel, Gujarat’s home minister responsible for
internal security (sic), Amit Shah tampered with the probe that has
since ground to a standstill.
There is a reason for the state government’s brazen ownership of these
actions. As far back as June 28, 2002, within months of the genocidal
pogrom, the state’s chief secretary, Subha Rao instructed then ADGP RB
Sreekumar that “we (Gujarat police) should eliminate persons who try
and disturb social peace and that such a policy is a decision of the
CM”.
When the officer did not oblige, he was transferred. Within weeks the
first killing was reported. Sections of the Gujarat government are not
simply culpable but have adopted “encounter” killings as state policy.
The policy woven at the top was executed by a small coterie who then
curried favours, collected wealth and enjoyed promotions.
The basic issue is about the highest in the land being accountable to
Indian law and being punished if they cynically wield their power.
chhotemianinshallah
RSS invites Shourie, Jaswant's son to its 'intellectual conclave'
Poornima Joshi
New Delhi, September 10, 2009
After the BJP's chintan baithak at Shimla last month, it's the RSS's
turn to hold an exclusive meeting.
The 'intellectuals' meet' of the Sangh began in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The two-day meeting is an annual affair, organised by the former RSS
spokesperson Ram Madhav.
The list of invitees is long and exhaustive, including some
interesting choices such as the BJP's resident rebel Arun Shourie and
Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh. The names of the usual suspects
such as Swapan Dasgupta, Chandan Mitra, Tarun Vijay, Sheshadri Chari
et al is there in the list, of course.
Among the BJP's top leaders, L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh and Sushma
Swaraj were invited.
Shourie continues to be a favourite of the RSS despite his outbursts
against the BJP top brass. Shourie, though, has reportedly decided
against attending the meeting.
Rajnath, too, has decided not to go. The recent turbulence has perhaps
made top BJP leaders wary of intellectual churnings of the kind that
happened in Shimla.
But Manvendra has made a point to attend the meeting. The former MP is
apparently steering clear of the virtual war between his father and
the BJP. "I am with the BJP. I am here to attend a meeting. I have no
information about who else has been invited," Manvendra said.
Courtesy: Mail Today
chhotemianinshallah
RSS chief meets Bal Thackeray, discusses Assembly polls
PTI
Mumbai, September 10, 2009
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat met Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray at the
latter's Matoshree residence in suburban Bandra on Thursday and
discussed matters related to state Assembly polls among other issues.
In a brief meeting with Thackeray, Bhagwat inquired about his health,
Sena sources said.
The duo also discussed issues related to the state Assembly polls,
scheduled on October 13, they said.
Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, Sena leader Subhash Desai
and BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde were present.
Bhagwat was in Mumbai to attend a two-day meet of senior RSS and BJP
leaders.
chhotemianinshallah
Advani fights back RSS with 'supremo' plan
Poornima Joshi
New Delhi, September 6, 2009
L.K. Advani is not to be brow-beaten into retirement. The old warhorse
is believed to have figured an ingenious method to survive the
generational change that the RSS is bent on effecting in the
beleaguered BJP. The contours of a brilliant survival strategy that
establishes Advani in a slot equivalent to Sonia Gandhi's position in
the Congress parliamentary party are now visible.
He is believed to be more focused on becoming the supreme leader of
the BJP parliamentary party rather than fading into the sunset as
chairman of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a post so far
occupied by senior BJP leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee.
So, while Advani has reportedly conceded to the RSS that he would
relinquish the post of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha in favour
of Sushma Swaraj, the wheels have also been set in motion to amend the
BJP parliamentary party constitution.
In the Congress parliamentary party, the chairperson (at present,
Sonia Gandhi) is supreme while there are leaders in both the Houses of
Parliament. However, the BJP constitution provides for only two
positions - the leader of the legislature party (a member of the Lower
House) and the deputy leader (from the Upper House).
Advani, the senior-most BJP member in the Lok Sabha, is the leader of
the legislature party. Since the BJP is also the largest Opposition
party, Advani became the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
"If Swaraj has to replace Advani as the Leader of Opposition," a BJP
source said, "he has to step down from the post of the leader of the
BJP legislature party because, according to the BJP constitution, the
legislature party leader is also the leader of the Lower House. Swaraj
should be the BJP's leader in the Lower House in order to become the
Leader of Opposition."
Advani is believed to have anointed Swaraj as his successor, and the
belief was that he would resign as leader of the legislature party and
let Swaraj take over. But this is where the script takes a twist.
Sources said intense lobbying has begun in the parliamentary party to
amend its constitution to create the post of chairman of the
parliamentary party for Advani as well as having a leader each in the
Upper and Lower Houses.
In the Congress, Pranab Mukherjee leads the Congress parliamentary
party in the Lower House, while Manmohan Singh is the leader of the
Upper House. Sonia Gandhi is chairperson of the Congress parliamentary
party and the supreme leader. This allows her a seat next to the Prime
Minister and Pranab Mukherjee in the front row of the Lok Sabha.
If the new plan is approved, Advani will be chairman of the BJP
legislature party, with Swaraj as leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha
and Arun Jaitley as leader of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha.
A BJP source said: "This move is aimed at re-establishing Advani's
supremacy in the legislature party, and also to ensure parity in the
second- rung BJP leadership which will be disturbed if Swaraj takes as
over as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as well as being the
leader of the BJP legislature party. With Advani as chairman, both
Swaraj and Jaitley are kept reasonably at par." Interestingly, the BJP
parliamentary party constitution provides for such a move. The Advani
camp does not even have to seek approval of the BJP's national council
or its national executive. The amendment can be approved by the
parliamentary party itself.
However, there are two problems for Advani - the RSS and BJP president
Rajnath Singh.
The RSS will certainly not approve of this move. Its Sarsanghchalak
Mohan Bhagwat has already indicated in no uncertain terms that Advani
must retain moral authority by not holding on to any post.
Also, Rajnath Singh still has a hold over the procedural aspect of
this plan. According to the BJP constitution, for election to the
parliamentary party, a general body meeting has to be convened by
giving a 15-day notice.
More importantly, the election is to be conducted by a person
authorised by the BJP president.
"Advani is not to be outdone by the RSS so easily," a BJP source said.
"Even in the face of a public takeover by the Sangh, he has collected
his band of followers and will launch a counter-offensive."
Courtesy: Mail Today
chhotemianinshallah
Marketing the RSS
Priya Sahgal
September 5, 2009
Their ideology and policies have not changed but it seems that the RSS
is realising that in order to spread its message it needs to change
its image in keeping with the times. The new chief Mohan Bhagwat may
be as rigid as his predecessor Sudarshan but he appears more benign
and grandfatherly, giving TV interviews with rolled up sleeves,
offering 'suggestions' to the BJP with a smile . This makes a change
from the surly Sudarshan lashing out at Vajpayee-Advani duo. Bhagwat
is also more accessible to the media and has increased the number of
spokesmen to six. Also, the medium of communication is being upgraded,
with door-to-door knocks by old men in khaki shorts having been
replaced by e-shakhas and prachars by appointment (that is a corporate
style of functioning but as a RSS worker said, it works better in the
condiminiums of Gurgaon ! ) Apart from a website, the RSS is there on
various social networking sites. There are also rumours that the
khaki shorts may go in for a make-over. Clearly its catwalk time at
Keshav Kunj.
More than One CM in Delhi
There seems to be more than one CM office in New Delhi. Call the
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his office answers the phone with a
'CM's Office' greeting. While, the CM stands for Commerce Minister,
why is Sharma forgetting his other portfolio that of Industry? Or
would that spoil his favourite daydream of being a CM one day. Never
mind, if he cannot be chief minister of Himachal. He gets to be CM of
a little corner plot in Udyog Bhavan.
Birds of a feather don't flock together
There is a turf war going on in the Congress between two middle-aged,
middle-rung ministers who all have the same USP - articulate, adept at
crafting speeches and very media savvy. And of course they both have
the same target -- courting favour at 12 Tughlaq Lane. Since both have
the same USP they were both key players in the Congress war room
strategising for the Lok Sabha win. Of course that they took pot shots
at each other ensured that this was a war room in more ways than one.
Soon after both have got plum portfolios in the ministry but the
potshots at each other have not stopped.
chhotemianinshallah
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Saffron brotherhood in disarray
Z.A. KhanTHE saffron's road to the top was mapped mainly by those who
believe in Hindu revivalism as they apprehended that Hinduism was
endangered. This conclusion has been drawn basing on the perception
that "the political assertiveness of minority groups like the Sikhs
and Muslims, efforts to convert the Hindus to other faith, suspicion
that the political authorities are 'pandering' to minority groups and
the belief that foreign political and religious ideologies undermine
Hindu community bonds."
Rashtriya Swayamsebak Sangh (RSS), which is considered as the steel
frame behind the recent fillip that Hindutva got in India, is feeling
restive at the sight of the insularity that Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) -- an amalgam of the pro Hindutva political forces -- has
plunged itself into. The current murky situation, which stems from the
severe blow that it received in the last national election, has
shattered the confidence of the leadership, and a feeling of being
rudderless is prevailing among the rank and file of the party.
We have observed in India a spate in the growth of religious
revivalism in the last few decades, which is also noticeable in the
other countries of the South Asian subcontinent. This religious
revivalism is not only spreading its wings in the political domain,
the countdown of the spread of its influence began in other sectors of
national life as well since the '80s of the last century --
reflections of which can also be felt in the social and cultural
fields. Religion is being used as a bargaining chip to make political
gains.
Some of the revivalist groups speak of defending the traditional
religious orthodoxy while some others are favouring an integration of
fundamental religious tenets with more adoptable and time and space
friendly revisions. Thankfully, so far, no report of discord between
the revivalists traditional orthodoxy and the revisionists' passionate
liberalism has come about to cause major concern. To many, both the
groups have much more to do to gain political mileage.
The recent national election in India gave the verdict against the BJP-
RSS nexus. One might be inclined to blame the BJP's hyped emphasis on
promoting Hindutva for this appalling performance in the election. The
massive mandate in favour of the Congress stemmed from BJP's clinging
to traditionalist politicians, who refused to budge from playing
Hindutva card, which they played deftly in 1999, by whipping up
religious feeling of the majority Hindus through RathYarta from
Shomnath Temple to Ayodha. This culminated in the demolition of the
Babri Mosque, which they think was built on a site where there was a
Ram Temple.
Although the RathYarta gave them the dividend of ruling the largest
democratic country in the world, it alienated the second largest
religious community who felt unsafe at the government's patronisation
of Hindutva. Muslims were constrained to face a massacre in Gujrat --
the home of a few stalwarts of BJP including L.K. Advani -- during BJP
rule. Religious intolerance in Mahatma Gandhi's -- the prophet of non-
violence -- country of took heavy toll and tore apart the fabric of
communal harmony, which was not much savoured by many across the
communities.
This made the opposition Congress draw up the strategy of territorial
nationalism as a compromise, and it was able to woo the regions that
did not have a predominance of Hindus, or places where minorities
lived hand-in-glove with the majority community that believe in
liberal religious bias. Insofar as political outlook is concerned, the
non-BJP parties, unitedly or singly, ruled the roost despite intense
efforts of BJP to win the majority community faction of the region.
The other reason for the failure attributed to the BJP is the upsurge
of militancy among the Hindu following the much-publicised conversion
of low caste Hindus to Islam or Christianity in the poorer regions of
India. Deep regional, linguistic and social division among Hindus, as
well as inability to enliven their religious institutions because of
local opposition, has acted as an impediment in catching up with
majority voters. The regions largely populated by the low caste Hindu
found the BJP-RSS combine intensely "aggressive and tended to reflect
Kshatriya (warrior) world view."
The Congress, which had carefully crafted its political agenda, made
sure that it did not hurt the renegades of Tilak (regarded as BJP's
spearhead) who thought that Gandhi's ahimsa (non-violence) "nearly
uprooted the very principal of Hinduism and Aryan philosophy, which is
against the Hindu ethics, and proposed that the sacred canon made self-
protection (probably of religious faith) a higher duty than ahimsa.
BJP's past guru Kurtkoti Shankaracharya was of the view that ahimsa,
as employed by Gandhi, undermined Hindu self-respect and encouraged
the Muslims to dominate the Hindus. The national election of 2009 has
revealed to BJP how serious is its lack of understanding of modern
India, which is a partner in the globalisation program that gives
primacy to economic development and partnership among the global
family -- where faith alone should not be the guiding agenda for
political culture.
The recent infighting within the BJP leadership exposes its weakness
in handling the views that contradict its traditional orthodox
outlook. "The Hindu Mahashava, formed as a forum for protecting the
variety of Hindu interests (e.g. cow protection, Hindi, Devangri
script, caste reforms etc), which renamed itself as BJP and
amalgamated itself with Bishwa Hindu Parishad and its youth outfit RSS
could not divorce itself from the orthodox tradition.
Although it rose like a rocket in the late '80s and in the early '90s,
it fell like a hot brick in recent years. As a consequence of the
remarks of India's former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh about Mr.
M.A. Jinnah of Pakistan, BJP got embroiled in a bitter debate, which
led to the expulsion of one of the prominent members of the BJP
hierarchy. It has created shock waves in both the hierarchy and the
lower echelon, and brought to fore its embedded weakness.
Mr. Rajnath, Mr. Advani, Mr. Naidu, Mr. Narendra Modi and the likes of
them are known to be hardliners who favour pursuance of Hindutva
despite the negative verdict that it received in the last election,
but are on the wane at the national level. Volleys of flak from all
round have targeted them, and it is just a matter of time before they
are dispatched to oblivion.
The upcoming leadership of BJP does not promise much to lead the party
to its past glory. The sliding BJP is now sniffing to find new
leadership to match its arch-rival, the Congress. The disarrayed BJP
hopes that further shocks may not come to crumble its Hindutva edifice
built over the years, much to the dislike of secular segments of
India. If leaders like Varun Gandhi are entrusted to lead the party,
it may peg the last nail on its coffin before long.
Only now have people realised that BJP's image as the party of "holier
than thou" people is a facade and a mere build up. The expulsion of
Singh and banning of his book in Narendra Modi's Gujrat state are but
indicators of BJP's scepticism about its future. Its outlook about the
freedom of expression proved negative because of the expulsion, which
is destined to be despised in fiercely democratic India.
Z.A. Khan is a former Director General of Bangladesh Institute of
International and Strategic Studies.
Sid Harth
Sangh keeps thorns away
- Duo left out to ensure ‘neutral’ talks
RADHIKA RAMASESHAN
New Delhi, Sept. 10: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh left two of its
point men on the BJP out of its “thinkers meet” for fear that their
presence would hit the credibility of its efforts to “clean up” the
party.
Senior swayamsevak Madan Das Devi and Sangh No. 3 Suresh Soni are
perceived to have often pursued their own agendas instead of the Sangh
mandate and, in the process, got sucked into the BJP’s “coterie”
politics.
The two-day sitting in Utan, a Mumbai suburb, that ended today was
meant to discuss the state of the BJP and draw the outlines of a
revival plan through “free-wheeling” discussions, sources said.
Sangh chief Mohanrao Bhagwat was apparently keen that his message of
“will advise the BJP only if it is solicited” should not get diluted
through the presence of “politicking” representatives. “He wanted the
discussions to be neutral,” a source said.
Devi was the Sangh’s conduit to the BJP when the NDA was in power.
K.S. Sudarshan, then Sangh chief, was said to be unhappy with the
numerous truces Devi struck with the Vajpayee government just when
Sudarshan and hard-line parivar lobbies hoped to take a tough stand on
issues such as Ayodhya and PSU divestment.
“There was a feeling that Devi had departed from the directives from
Keshav Kunj (the Sangh headquarters),” a source said.
Soni is seen as having played BJP factions against each other. Uma
Bharti has accused him of scuttling her plans to return to the BJP.
Soni is said to have catalysed Rajnath Singh’s appointment as party
president but “abandoned” him mid-stream and cosied up to his rivals.
Devi’s well-wishers, however, argued he was one of the few within the
Sangh who understood a coalition government’s compulsions.
Devi, a “lateral entrant” from student wing ABVP, was also accused of
being “alien” to the Sangh’s “culture of iron discipline”.
“He pushed appointments in government and patronised friends and
acquaintances,” a source said. Devi was not available for comment.
Devi had been crucial in making L.K. Advani the Deputy Prime Minister
and has been, willy-nilly, dubbed a “friend of Advani”.
He never regained the clout he had during the six years of NDA rule.
He is now a “pracharak pramukh” and out of Bhagwat’s “panchayat”.
However, in the past month or so, when Bhagwat involved himself with
the BJP, Devi had resurfaced, hoping to leverage his links with the
leaders to regain importance.
“It seems the sarsanghachalak (Bhagwat) has nipped his ambitions,” a
source said.
Soni, a joint secretary, continues as the Sangh’s interface with the
BJP but Bhagwat had asked him to stay out of the party’s Shimla
“chintan baithak” to retain the Sangh’s “non-political” veneer. His
colleague Dattatraya Hosable got invited to the Sangh “thinkers”
conclave.
Sid Harth
Sid Harth
Ishrat case: Intelligence not enough proof for killing people, says PC
PTI 11 September 2009, 10:13am IST
WASHINGTON: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday attacked the
BJP government in Gujarat on the affidavit in the controversial Ishrat
Jahan encounter case, saying Central intelligence inputs cannot be
used as conclusive proof for killing people.
"If a state government acts as though intelligence inputs are evidence
or conclusive proof, I am sorry for that state government... Certainly
no one suggested that based on an intelligence input you should kill
someone," he told a press conference here joining issues with the
Gujarat government over the central government affidavit in the state
High Court relating to the encounter killing of Ishrat and three of
her companions in June 2004.
"I think too much is being attributed to that affidavit if it is meant
to defend the government of Gujarat against the excesses that may have
been committed by its police. I am sorry for the government of Gujarat
and the manner in which it runs its police administration," he said.
"What did the affidavit say?," he asked and added: "To the best of my
knowledge the affidavit says that intelligence inputs were shared with
the Gujarat government."
On Monday, a report of the investigation conducted by magistrate S P
Tamang said Ishrat and three others were gunned down in fake encounter
by police officers for selfish motives.
However, Gujarat government rejected the report saying the Union
Government's affidavit clearly stated that Ishrat and the other three
were LeT operatives and were planning terror strikes in Gujarat.
That affidavit must be read in the context, Chidambaram said when
asked about the controversy on the affidavit filed by the Center in
the Gujarat High Court in the Ishrat Jahan and the other three
encounter case.
"You cannot read into it what it does not say. I think it is self-
evident that intelligence inputs are not evidence, much less
conclusive proof. They are just inputs. They are shared with
governments on a regular basis. That is not evidence. That is not
conclusive proof," he argued.
The four persons, claimed to have been killed by the police in an
encounter on the outskirts of the city on June 15, 2004 were Ishrat,
Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias
Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani. Gujarat Police had
also claimed that the four persons were on a mission to kill Chief
Minister Narendra Modi.
...and I am Sid Harth
Sid Harth
Their Kasab, Our Kasabs
By Dr. Shah Alam Khan
10 September, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Ajmal Kasab, the Butcher of Mumbai, is a house hold name in India and
Pakistan. It can be safely argued that after Mohammed Ali Jinnah,
Ajmal Kasab may be the only name in the subcontinent which raises
equally avid feelings and blistering debates across the Radcliffe
line. He was trained to kill and he did his job with frightening
exactness and in cold blood. He killed and broadened the horizon of
savagery for future generations. He killed because he was primed to
kill. Whatever the reasons for his killing hundreds of innocent
Mumbaikars, to me he was a product of a system which is now
established in Pakistan. The system of failure. However maligning it
may sound to my friends across the border, the failure of Pakistan as
a state is too evident to be ignored. The failure of democratic
issues, freedom of speech, cogent leadership and failure of coherent
thinking in the Pakistani administrative set up is barefaced. The
social fabric of Pakistan as a nation has been split open by forces
born out of its misadventures of the past. These forces now threaten
to annihilate the country.
Well we can add more adjectives to the failure of Pakistan. But just
before we do that lets focus on “our” Kasabas. The Indian Kasabs. The
men who were born in an authentic democratic set up, nursed and
nurtured by the so called righteous political class of our country.
Men brought up in “shining India”. Men who are innately Indian but
behave like the Kasabs of Pakistan. Can we ignore them? Surely not.
The recent report of the magisterial enquiry into the encounter of
Ishrat Jahan is a grim reminder of our Kasabs. The metropolitan court
has alarmingly called the killing of this 19 year old girl as a fake
encounter. It is important to remember that her death at the hands of
our Kasabs is a matter of great concern in a civilized society. She is
not the only one. Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Kausar bi, Ranbir Singh, Rabina
Devi, Ch. Sanjit are just few of the names which epitomize the
presence of werewolves in the Indian administrative machinery.
According to one report, there are allegedly 28 fake encounters in
Gujarat alone. The Indian Kasabs are surely working overtime!
We justify (and rightly so) the likes of Ajmal Kasab through the
failed state theory. But can we apply the same to his Indian
counterparts? I wish I couldn’t. To me India hasn’t failed as a
democracy as long as it comes to organizing elections and electing
peoples’ representatives. Roots of democracy as a process of elections
are deeply ingrained in our psyche and any attempt at uprooting this
thought process is met with stiff resistance. Then what went wrong?
Why did we breed Kasabs in the land of Gandhi and Buddha? The answer
to this question is complex and painful.
Unfortunately our democracy starts and ends with elections. The
broader meaning of democratic rights and duties is lost in the mayhem
of electing men and women who conveniently forget the virtues of a
democratic setup. Democracy as classlessness, as egalitarianism, as
social equality never existed in our country. We were too much in awe
of organizing an election in a country of one billion plus people to
really focus on the key issues which threaten India’s democracy.
The collusion of political class with corrupt administrative machinery
is one of the most dangerous and disastrous outcomes of our democratic
set up. It was this colluding apparatus which tasted blood in Gujarat.
The communal political class, represented best by Narendra Modi, has
given free hand to our Kasabs, namely policepersons D.G Vanzara and
R.K Pandayan to carry out their agenda of liquidating targets which
could be conveniently wrapped under the covers of “fight against
terrorism”, an abridged version of the American rhetoric of “war
against terror”. But there is a difference. The Americans kill others
in the name of war against terror; our Kasabs kill our own men and
women in their fight against terrorism.
The outcome of fake encounters by Indian Kasabs is even more
disastrous. It gives birth to more Pakistani Kasabs. It opens new
avenues for Islamic fundamentalists to recruit young blood in this
game of death. In short, our Kasabs and their Kasabs form part of a
cycle of hate, a man eating machinery, which is oiled by the likes of
Narendra Modi on our side and Hafeez Saeed on their side. There would
be many who would argue that democratically elected Modi is different
from a branded terrorist like Hafeez. To me it is a difference without
meaning because the outcome of their actions is the same. The means
may be different but both represent the end point of a product which
is disastrous to the civilized society. They are the mandarins in this
festivity of death and destruction.
It’s time that we, the democratically inclined masses of this great
land manifest our might in bringing sanity in this chaos. The Kasabs
are working hard on both sides of the border. Unfortunately we cannot
do much about their Kasabs but we can surely rein ours. The leash of
peoples’ power is too strong to ignore. Democracy is a process of
constant evaluation and implementation of the principles of equality
and justice. The checks and means are built in. We suffer because we
fail to use these means. We are pained because we let the leash go
into unworthy hands. We bleed because the custodians of our democracy
give us wounds which take centuries to heal.
The man eaters of India have to be exterminated before they become too
colossal to conquer. We do not want more Ishrats. We cannot afford
Sanjits. The blood of innocent children of this great land is too
precious to go waste. Their Kasabs held the nation to ransom for three
days; our Kasabs can do that for a thousand years. Their Kasabs were
armed with AK-47s; our Kasabs are armed with service revolvers and
carbines bought through your and my money. Their Kasabs meant to
create havoc and terrorism in Mumbai. Our Kasabs have a broader
agenda. The country is on their target and innocent Indians their
victims.
I feel threatened. I am a Muslim, I have friends across the border,
and I am a common Indian. I would surely make good recipe for lunch!
Not long ago, we were told that we had made a tryst with destiny.
Today the very dream is at stake. Terrorists from across the border
had made life difficult; terrorists from within have snuffed the light
out. We have to wake up now or their and our Kasabs will bleed the
country white.
Dr. Shah Alam Khan
Associate Professor
Department of Orthopaedics
All India Institute of Medical Sciences
New Delhi, India
Their Kasab, Our Kasabs By Dr. Shah Alam Khan
Sid Harth
Families of other victims speak up, demand judicial inquiry
Express News Service
Posted: Sep 10, 2009 at 0606 hrs IST
Ahmedabad Amid the din created by Judicial Magistrate S P Tamang’s
report holding 21 police personnel responsible for the extra-judicial
killing of Ishrat Jahan and three others, relatives of two others —
Mahendra Jadav and Jaffer Qasim — came here from Mumbai on Wednesday
and demanded a judicial inquiry into their killing by the Gujarat
Police.
Sumitra Jadhav, Mahendra’s mother and Mariam, widow of Jaffer, both
residents of Mumbai, have already moved the Supreme Court through
Mumbai-based NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), with the same
request.
The two have also asked the apex court for direct action, including
initiation of criminal proceedings against officers of the state for
unconstitutional act and ask the state to pay compensation for what
they say were extra judicial killings.
They also demanded that the Gujarat Police personnel, some of whom are
involved in illegal action, should not be involved in any inquiry
ordered by the apex court.
Speaking to mediapersons in the presence of Teesta Setalvad of CJP and
former Director General of Police R B Sreekumar, they said Mahendra
and Jaffer were brutally murdered by the state police just to promote
the image of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and get some personal
benefits for themselves. The duo added they will not accept a probe by
the state police, as they themselves were the killers and a probe by
them would not be fair.
Denying that Mahendra had any links with terrorists or underworld,
Sumitra said her son had come to Gujarat in search of a job offered to
him through one Fatima in Mumbai.
She said her son was held by the crime
branch sleuths at Ahmedabad railway station, was kept in custody for
three days and then shot dead on June 22, 2004, near Panchkuwa in the
Kalupur area.
The police had claimed that Mahendra was on a mission to kill Modi,
the then Law Minister Ashok Bhatt and Dariapur MLA Bharat Barot. She
claimed that even the postmortem report had not confirmed death in
police encounter.
Mariam said her husband Jaffer was among 18 people on a religious
visit to Hussain Tekra in Mehsana district. Jaffer and others had
stayed in Hotel Royal in Sarkhej on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on
April 13, 2006. She said a police team comprising 17 persons descended
on the hotel and took away Jaffer forcibly after a scuffle. “We were
not informed about Jaffer’s whereabouts for three days,” she said.
Mariam added she was initially told that Jaffer had escaped from
police custody. But on April 17, she was told that he had died in a
road accident and the body was kept in the Civil Hospital.
She further said there was no accidental injury anywhere on Jaffer’s
body, except a bullet wound on the head and blood flowing from one
side of the mouth, along with beating marks on the chest and
shoulders.
However, crime branch official Ashish Bhatia wrote on December 14,
2006, to her that her husband was killed in a road accident and it was
not a murder case.
Quoting information culled through an RTI application in April 2007,
she said that Bhatia had written to the Mumbai police seeking to know
if some Irani gang was operating in Mumbai ostensibly to cover up
their misdeeds. Jaffer belongs to a small group of Irani Mulsims
living in Mumbai.
Regarding the post-mortem report, she said she was given the report
seven months after the incident and it did not mention the cause of
death.
Sreekumar who was present along with the kin of the victims said the
state government spokesperson Jay Narayan Vyas’s remarks about the
judicial magistrate S P Tamang’s report “amounted to contempt of
court”. Sreekumar said that “encounters were done by the state as a
matter of policy.”
Sid Harth
Parliament rocked by Guj fake encounter killings
Agencies
Posted online: Monday, May 07, 2007 at 1734 hours IST
New Delhi, May 7: The fake encounter killings in Gujarat on Monday
rocked both Houses of Parliament with a belligerent Congress,
supported by RJD and Left allies, disrupting proceedings demanding
Chief Minister Narendra Modi's resignation.
Trying to put the BJP on the backfoot, Congress and Left parties'
members in Lok Sabha with the backing of RJD, attacked the Modi
government for its alleged involvement in the killing of Sohrabuddin
in a fake encounter in November, 2005, and his wife, Kauser Bi a few
days later.
In Rajya Sabha, the House was adjourned for the day soon after lunch
break with the Congress and its supporting parties insisting on a
discussion on the Gujarat killings.
The House had been adjourned twice earlier following vehement protests
by Left parties on a letter of US lawmakers to Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on India's ties with Iran and how it could impact on the India-
US civil nuclear deal.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee made repeated attempts to restore order but
these proved futile during the morning session.
In the din, the BJP demanded an apology from Shipping Minister T R
Baalu accusing the minister of "misleading" the House over the
Sethusamudram project. The minister had said the matter was sub judice
but the BJP had taken a different view.
When the House re-assembled at 1400 hrs, SP, Left and some Congress
members shouted slogans against the Modi government and sought
discussion on the matter. Following persistent demands, Deputy Speaker
Charanjit Singh Atwal allowed SP member Ramji Lal Suman to speak.
But as soon as Suman demanded dismisswal of the Modi government, BJP
and BJD members strongly protested. BJP members also raked up the
Nandigram issue.
Sid Harth
‘Fake’ encounter: FIR against cops
Express News Service
Posted: Aug 11, 2009 at 0232 hrs IST
Lucknow The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Lucknow has ordered an FIR
against unidentified policemen involved in death of Shakeel alias
Abrar, who was gunned down in an encounter in January in Lucknow.
Shakeel’s wife Shama Parveen had filed an application before the
court, stating that her husband was murdered by cops after he failed
to fulfil their demands for money.
On August 6, the court directed the Hazratganj police to lodge the
case.
Besides Shakeel, his brother Ghulam Ghaus Khan and Shamshad, a
resident of Allahabad, were also gunned down in the encounter, which
took place in Shaheed Path, Sarojini Nagar, on January 4.
“We moved court after no police officer gave us a hearing,” said Shama
Parveen’s lawyer Sayed Waqar Hussain. They filed the application in
the court on April 13, requesting a case against the policemen.
According to Waqar, they informed the court that on January 3, Shakeel
came to Lucknow in connection with a case. He took part in the court
proceedings and signed on the court record and left around 2 pm.
While on his way to Barabanki, he was kidnapped from near Clark Awadh
Hotel in Wazirganj. The police, Waqar said, switched off his mobile.
When Shakeel did not return the next morning, his family contacted the
policemen attached with the Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow,
who said that no person was brought in for questioning.
Two officers posted there knew Shakeel and often called him to demand
money, said Parveen. She also mentioned in the application that then
in-charge of the Talkatora police station in Lucknow had also demanded
money from Shakeel.
The application stated that Parveen’s brother-in-law was also killed
to make the situation appear like an encounter. The bodies, she
alleged, were not handed over to the family.
On their part, the Lucknow police claimed that the three persons
killed in encounter were members of Hawa Singh gang and were wanted in
several criminal cases. According to the police, on January 4, they
spotted a Maruti van with a blank registration number plate in
Hussainganj. Though Station House Officer signalled the car to stop,
it sped away.
The officers chased the car for about 15 kms before teams from
Hussainganj, Ashiana, Banthra, Manak Nagar and Sarojini Nagar police
stations managed to encircle it. Struck between the police teams, the
criminals moved towards an under-construction road at Shaheed Path.
When the car reached a dead end, the miscreants tried to flee.
The police then tried to stop them and engaged in an exchange of fire,
in which three persons died. Three countrymade pistols and several
cartridges were recovered from their possession.
Sid Harth
Fake encounter accused Vanzara attempts to ‘learn’ human rights
Parimal Dabhi
Posted: Jan 17, 2009 at 0130 hrs IST
Ahmedabad In what can be called an irony of sorts, D G Vanzara,
suspended IPS officer and an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake
encounter case, is spending his time in the Sabarmati Central Jail
studying human rights.
Vanzara is lodged in the jail along with some other senior police
officers for allegedly killing Sohrabuddin and then murdering his wife
Kausar Bi to conceal evidence of the fake encounter.
According to sources in the jail, Vanzara has applied for two
certificate courses — Certificate in Human Rights (CHR) and
Certificate in Computer (CIC) — through Indira Gandhi National Open
University (IGNOU) centre in the prison premises. He even took the
examination for CHR in December last year.
The correspondence course is of six-month duration and results are due
in three months. The course consists of topics like Human Rights,
Society and Development, Human Rights & India, and Human Rights in
Everyday Life.
Vanzara’s appearance in the examination of human rights has surprised
noted lawyer and human rights activist Girish Patel. “This is the
irony of our society. Human rights for whom? Those who have violated
rights like never before are studying it and those whose human rights
are violated are not able to study,” Patel said.
“I think his decision to study could have proved to be a challenge for
his tutors, and he could have learnt the lessons on his own of not
getting detected after violating human rights,” he added.
During his tenure at the Ahmedabad City Detection of Crime Branch as
Deputy Commissioner of Police and at the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad
as Deputy Inspector General of Police, Vanzara had many alleged
encounters to his credit. In the Sohrabuddin case, even the Gujarat
government has admitted before the Supreme Court that the encounter
was staged.
Apart from Vanzara, suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police Dr
Narendra Amin has also applied for CIC examination and has demanded a
laptop for the same.
Generally, these examinations are available only for convicts,
although with special permission, even the undertrials can appear in
the examinations conducted by two open universities— IGNOU and Dr
Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University.
“After certain controversies arose after Dr Amin applied for the
examination, the jail authorities have decided not to grant permission
to any undertrial to appear for the examination,” said a senior jail
official.
“Vanzara had appeared for the examination in December, as he had
already filled the form; but now, he won’t be allowed to appear for it
in future,” he added.
Suspended cop seeks bail
N V CHAUHAN, suspended sub-inspector and an accused in the Sohrabuddin
Sheikh fake encounter case and murder of his wife Kausar Bi, on
Friday, moved an application seeking interim bail on medical grounds.
Chauhan, who is lodged at the Sabarmati Central Jail, has applied for
bail from the Additional Principal Sessions Judge, P B Desai. Chauhan,
who appeared as party-in-person before the court, stated that he
underwent lythotripsy operation for kidney stone at the Civil Hospital
on January 12 and requires clean atmosphere for recuperation. He said
that the cell in which he is lodged has an open toilet, which could be
infectious. He contended that the Total Dissolve Solids level in the
drinking water is also over 1,500, so, he should be granted interim
bail. The court has posted the mater for further hearing on January
21.
Sid Harth
Probe Modi's role in fake encounter case, says HRW
Agencies
Posted: Dec 08, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
Constitutional breakdown in Gujarat, say...Refrain from criticism in
public: Advani...PRP gets recognition as state party in A...Congress
leader Rajkumar Patel expelled ...
New York, December 8: A US-based human rights watchdog has asked the
Indian government to investigate the role of Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi in fake encounters in the context of his reported
statement "endorsing the extra-judicial execution of a terrorism
suspect" by police.
"Modi's remarks send a green light to the police that executing
terrorism suspects is fine with his administration," said Brad Adams,
Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
"The government in Delhi should immediately investigate this seeming
incitement to violence."
The Gujarat Chief Minister was referring to the killing of Sohrabuddin
Sheikh in 2005 by police, which at the time claimed that he was a
terrorist and killed in an encounter.
But since then it has become clear that there was no evidence to pin
him as a terrorist and that he was killed in a fake encounter.
Recalling the incident, the Human Rights Watch said that his wife is
still missing.
Rejecting Modi's explanation that he was responding to the allegation
by Congress President Sonia Gandhi branding his government as
"merchant of death," Adam said Modi cannot hide behind accusation of
provocation to justify remarks "endorsing a murder".
"He used similar excuses after the police participated in a killing
spree of Muslims in 2002, but his pretexts were as hollow then as they
are today," he added.
"Modi's defenders say that his speech is being misrepresented, and
that politicians make exaggerated remarks during election campaigns,"
said Adams. "But endorsing a police killing sends the wrong message at
all times, and especially during an election."
Human Rights Watch noted that in response to Modi's comments, India's
Election Commission has served notice to Modi saying that the speech
"amounts to indulging in activity which may aggravate existing
differences, creating mutual hatred and causing tension between
different communities."
It said that it had found that the attacks on Muslims in 2002 were
planned and organized with extensive police participation and in close
cooperation with supporters of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
and the state government.
Modi had justified those attacks at the time, saying, "Every action
has an equal and opposite reaction," referring to the Godhra incident
which had sparked the riots, the watchdog recalled.
Sid Harth
Sohrabuddin fake encounter case: Further investigation ordered
Express News Service
Posted: Sep 06, 2008 at 0438 hrs IST
Ahmedabad, September 5 ‘It is a very significant order. It has given
us hope that truth will ultimately prevail’
A city district and sessions court ordered further investigation into
the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case on Friday. The court passed
the ruling after accepting an application filed by Sohrabuddin’s
brother Rubabuddin under section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
In his application, Rubabuddin stated that the chargesheet filed in
the fake encounter case of his brother did not mention some important
aspects.
Rubabuddin also raised questions about the ownership, custody and
possession of the motorcycle in which Sohrabuddin was travelling when
he was gunned down by the Gujarat police Anti-Terrorism Squad officers
in Ahmedabad.
In his ruling, Additional Principal Sessions Judge P B Desai ordered
the state CID (Crime), the investigating agency in the case, to
further look into the case and submit a report before the court within
90 days.
Amrish Patel, Rubabuddin’s advocate said, “It is a very significant
order. It has given us hope that truth will ultimately prevail”.
Sohrabuddin was killed in a fake encounter on the outskirts of
Ahmedabad on November 26, 2005.
Sid Harth
Fake encounter: Vanjhara, Pandian seek bail
Press Trust of India
Posted: Oct 20, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
Ahmedabad, October 19 Two IPS officers, including D G Vanjhara,
accused in the Sohrabauddin Sheikh fake encounter case, have filed
bail applications in a local court, their advocate said on Friday.
The hearing on the applications of the suspended IPS officers, Vanjha
and Rajkumar Pandian, will be taken up bythe court on Monday, advocate
Ajay Chowksi said. The two moved the court for bail after the third
IPS officer accused in the case, Dinesh M N, was released on bail
recently.
Vanjhara was the head of Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) when the
fake encounter took place and is also charged with having masterminded
the killing of Sheikh's wife, Kausar Bi.
Pandian, who was Vanjhara's deputy, had brought the Sheikh couple and
another person to Ahmedabad from Hyderabad. He was allegedly present
at site when the encounter was staged. Both the officials have spent
about six months behind the bars after their arrest by the state CID
(crime), which is investigating the matter.
Apart from the two IPS officers, two other accused Ajay Parmar and
Santram Sharma, members of the ATS, and two policemen from Rajasthan,
Himanshu Singh and Shyam Singh, part of the controversial joint
operation team, have also applied for bail.
The local court had earlier granted bail to suspended deputy
superintendent of police N K Amin, one of the accused charged with
having helped Vanjhara in the killing of Kausar Bi and subsequent
disposal of her body.
Sid Harth
Fake encounter case: SC issues notice to Narender Modi
Agencies
Posted: Sep 03, 2008 at 1715 hrs IST
New Delhi, September 3: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices
to Gujarat Government and Chief Minister Narender Modi on a petition
seeking CBI inquiry into an alleged fake encounter in which a youth
was killed in 2004.
The petition filed by Kerala-based M R Gopinath Pillai alleged that
his son Pranesh Kumar Pillai alias Javed Shaikh was gunned down by the
Gujarat police for having links with terrorist groups but even four
years after the incident there was no evidence to the effect.
A Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam also
sought response from state Home Minister Amit Shah relating to the
June 15, 2004 police encounter in which Javed along with three persons
including a woman were killed in Ahmedabad.
The court also issued a notice to the state government on another
petition filed by poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar seeking a probe by a
special investigation team into the alleged fake encounters in Gujarat
claiming that innocent people, particularly from Muslim community,
were being targeted as terrorists.
The petition citing news reports and a sting operation done by a news
magazine into the killing of criminal Sameer Khan in October 2002,
alleged it was a fake encounter and there was an attempt by the
Gujarat government to hush up the incident.
Khan, who was in police custody, was killed on the intervening night
of October 21-22, 2002 when he allegedly snatched the revolver of a
policeman who had accompanied him with a team to a spot where he had
murdered a constable.
An FIR was registered alleging that Khan was involved in a conspiracy
hatched by Pakistan's ISI and Jaish-e-Mohammed to assassinate Modi and
other leaders.
chhotemianinshallah
Bhagwat,Modi,Keshubhai:Glimpses of RSS meet at Adalaj(VIDEO)
Adalaj/Ahmedabad, 7 September, 2009
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Ex-Chief Minister Keshubhai
Patel, Gujarat BJP President Purushottam Rupala, Gujarat University
Vice Chancellor are some of the prominent people visible in this video
above, singing ‘Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhoomi’ the song of RSS. The
occasion was Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh’s Sarsanghchalak(Chief)
Mohan Bhagwat’s address organized at Adalaj based Dada Bhagwan
Trimandir near Ahmedabad on Sunday. This function was attended by over
five thousand Swayamsevaks. Shri Mohan Bhagwat’s speech was impressive
and patriotic. This is Shri Mohan Bhagwatji’s first visit to Gujarat
after becoming Sarsanghchalak. The video above has some glimpses of
the event.
bademiyansubhanallah
A disturbing trend of fakes
The New Indian Express
First Published : 11 Sep 2009 11:56:00 PM IST
Last Updated : 11 Sep 2009 12:53:49 AM IST
When Ishrat Jahan was killed in a hail of police bullets in Ahmedabad
on June 15, 2004, along with three others, few suspected they were
anything but terrorists planning to murder Gujarat chief minister
Narendra Modi. Ahmedabad Metropolitan Magistrate S P Tamang believes
otherwise. In his report of September 8 he says clearly that the
killing was ‘staged’ by the police with an eye on ‘promotions’. The
report names then police commissioner K R Kaushik and D G Vanzara, the
DIG who is already in prison over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter in
which three people were killed. It is chilling to note that the Ishrat
encounter has been described as motivated by a desire to ‘flatter’ the
CM.
Extra-judicial killings are not new in India. But the proliferation of
Dirty Harry(s) in every part of the country is reason for everyone to
be worried. ‘Encounter’ and custodial deaths seem to be increasing,
the latest being in Chennai, where A Lakshmanan died in a lock-up
after alleged third-degree interrogation.
Few people have heard of Sanjit (killed in Manipur last July), Abdul
Rehman (2007), Sohrabuddin Sheikh (2007), Manorama Devi (2004), Sadiq
Jamal (2003) and Sameer Khan Pathan (2002). Their deaths were a clear
violation of human rights. In light of this, the dangers of the anti-
terror bill passed by the Modi government, which makes confession made
before a police officer admissible in a court, become dismayingly
obvious. The statement by Justice (Retd) C Upendra Singh last Saturday
that extra-judicial killings are a reality add weight to the
concerns.
The Union ministry of home affairs’ affidavit supporting Gujarat’s
claim that Ishrat and the others were terrorists seems to be, at best,
a result of complete lack of co-ordination among the agencies
concerned with national security; at worst, a case of back-scratching.
Such incidents should also draw our attention to the dire need for
reforms in the police. Perhaps it is a truism but it is one that has
to be repeated; the police have to be protected from political
interference.
A more serious problem is that every encounter death raises a storm of
protest, but soon enough it is business as usual. The juggernaut rolls
on unchecked. It is each individual’s duty to ensure that the dead do
not become mere statistics. Our indifference is helping to create a
Frankenstein that could eventually swallow us as well. Too many
Ishrats have died. It is time to cry ‘no more’.
bademiyansubhanallah
Hindutva And The Upcoming Indian Elections
By Bhupinder 1,968 views Published: March 29,
2009
(11 votes, average: 2.73 out of 5)
Twenty five years ago, for the first time since Indian independence, a
political party came to power at the center by whipping up a mass
communal hysteria. That party was the Congress and its leader was
Rajiv Gandhi, who commented that the “earth shakes when a big tree
falls”, as if the anti- Sikh pogrom was the most natural phenomenon.
He was soon to backtrack from such a frontal communal posture towards
balanced communalism. He let open the locks of the Babri Masjid and
simultaneously supported the Muslim Law Bill. In both cases, he
provided a shot in the arm to the regressive sections among the Hindus
and the Muslims.
The BJP- a relatively minor political entity in the 1984 elections,
had been long gestating in various garbs for over six decades. It was
quick to learn the technique from the Congress’s 1984 performance and
catapulted itself to seize power at the center by whipping up a frenzy
of mass hysteria leading to the destruction of the Babri Masjid in
1992. Rajiv Gandhi was no longer on the scene by then, and it was left
to PV Narasimha Rao to be remembered for the infamy of 6th December
1992. Nowadays, it is also often overlooked that the destruction of
the Babri Masjid provided a larger fillip to Muslim fundamentalism in
South Asia- in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The 1984 anti- Sikh pogrom was also the last time that the Congress
party was able to use its total monopoly of the mass media. From the
days of Sanjay Gandhi when he used the Doordarshan to show the popular
flick ‘Bobby’ on the same day as JP was to address a meeting at the
Ram Lila grounds in Delhi, the new Congress under Rajiv switched to
showing Ramayana and Mahabharta during prime time television. The
Congress’s flirtation with the age of the color TV was to take a
beating with the emergence of the audio and video cassettes that the
Hindutva movement initiated and en- cashed.
Fascist movements in Germany and Italy too had proved themselves to be
very effective and early adapters of the then modern means of mass
communication- the loudspeaker and the radio. Recent advances in
technology have made it possible, however, to take on and dent- to
whatever limited extent- the monopoly of the few on media. This is
borne out in the case of Varun Gandhi’s recent speeches that have put
him in the dock now.
The contrast between 2004 and 2009 is exacerbated by the accidental
infamy that Varun Gandhi has gained in the last few days. It points to
the fact that it has been left to a hitherto a very minor leader of
the party to articulate what the Sadhvi Ritambaras during 1989- 1992
and then Narendra Modi and the late Pramod Mahajan took up later. The
central BJP leadership is no longer using the appeal of hard Hindutva
during the national elections.
New media- including the emergence of a new generation of journalists-
and the sheer proliferation of new technologies including easy access
to video filming (as in case of Varun Gandhi’s speeches) and the
competition among the television channels makes it more difficult for
anyone party or agenda to monopolize. Of course, it was just five
years ago that the same media shrilly cried that India was shining.
How the media operates and how technology can be harnessed and used as
a democratic tool has a reciprocal relation to the kind of government
that is in power. A by and large secular government at the center in
the last five years is in sharp contrast to the previous six long
years of Hindutva.
The credit for this sharp contrast between the run up to the 2004 and
2009 elections goes by and large to the political acumen of Mrs Sonia
Gandhi. It needs to be remembered that she took up the reins of the
Congress in 1998 when BJP sought to form the government at the center
in a 13 party coalition. She was then able to stem the large scale
desertion by rank and file from the Congress to the BJP. In 2004, she
led the Congress from the front taking up the Hindutva bandwagon
almost single handed-ly so much so that in Gujarat it was seen as a
contest between Narendra Modi and Mrs Gandhi. In Gujarat, as in much
of India, there is little to distinguish between state level leaders
of the two parties. A former RSS pracharak Shankarsinh Vaghela could
hardly be an ideological antidote to Narendra Modi.
What the UPA has done in the last five years on the question of
communalism is not so much to take on Hindutva head on, as to deflect
it from the center of political discourse. The end result is very
evident- in the absence of communalism- and in some cases like in
Karnataka, boomeraging with many of its support base especially among
the urban middle classes- it has been practically left without a
Unique Selling Proposition. The economic agenda is practically common
between the Congress and the BJP (and even the CPM practically
endorses it in West Bengal).
Gone are the days when the BJP leaders masqueraded as gods and when
Vajpayee anointed Advani as Ram and the late Pramod Mahajan as
Lakshman, Advani likened himself to Arjuna and the increasingly
sidelined Uma Bharti compared herself to Eklavya !
The other achievement that Mrs Gandhi needs to be credited is that for
the first time in the history of independent India, a non- Brahmin
prime minister has completed a full term of five years.
Again, it was Narasimha Rao who re- established the dominance of
Brahmins in an increasingly Mandalized polity.
Writing in 2003, veteran journalist Saeed Naqvi asserted :
When Rajiv Gandhi came to power in 1984, in a House of 544 there were
198 upper caste members of Lok Sabha. Of these, 79 were Brahmins. By
1990, mandalisation had so stirred up society that in the 1991
elections,upper castes, particularly Brahmins, fell like nine pins.
P.V.Narasimha Rao took swift rearguard action to keep the Brahmin from
political oblivion. …
Rao played no mean role in virtually handing the baton to Atal Bihari
Vajpayee. And when Vajpayee completes his five year term, he will have
sustained a tradition set by Nehru. Every Brahmin prime minister has
either completed his full term or exceeded it. Of the 56 years since
Independence, the Brahmin has been at the helm in New Delhi for over
50 years.
As a corollory to what Naqvi states above, one needs to point out that
in the past, prime ministers who have lasted the full term have only
been Brahmins. The Congress itself has given the country a sequence of
Brahmin prime minsters- Jawaharlal Nehru, Shastri, Indira Gandhi,
Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao. The BJP gave the country another
Brahmin prime minister- Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The non- Brahmin prime
ministers- Charan Singh, VP Singh, Chandrasekar, IK Gujral and Deve
Gowda have come from the non- Congress and non- BJP outfits. None of
them managed to complete their term. Incidentally, between 1984 and
2004, the number of Brahmins in the Lok sabha has declined from 20% to
9%.
Dr Manmohan Singh is the first non- Brahmin prime minister to complete
a full five year term. That he should come from the Congress party is
another unique aspect. Ashish Nandy has pointed out somewhere that for
the non- Brahmin Mohandas Gandhi, a bania by caste, he needed to take
a larger than life persona- that of a Mahatma- to emerge as the leader
of the freedom movement. This underscores how difficult and crucial it
is to overcome one of the strongest structural fault- lines of Indian
society- that of caste. By insisting on Dr Singh’s candidature and
providing full support to him in the last five years, Mrs Gandhi has
also succeeded in winning back the confidence of the Sikhs and other
minorities.
By scoring this double whammy, Mrs Gandhi has proved her early
detractors wrong and skeptics like Uma Bharati correct. Two years ago,
Ms Bharati had warned the BJP that it will be swamped by Mrs Gandhi.
Her leading role is also announced in the Samajwadi Party leader Amar
Singh’s candid admission that no secular government is possible at the
center without Mrs Sonia Gandhi. What a far cry from the days when she
was seen as another ‘gungi gudiya’ and much worse! That kind of
language and personal attacks on Mrs Gandhi are now conspicuously and
thankfully absent.
In this process, Mrs Gandhi carried forward not so much the legacy of
Jawaharlal Nehru as that of Mahatma Gandhi. This started with her
decision not to accept the prime ministership that she so richly
deserved as the leader of the leading party.
In a speech two years ago, Mrs Gandhi remarked on a seminar on “Peace,
Non-violence and Empowerment, Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st
Century”:
Ms. Gandhi said the real issue was not the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi
but “our preparedness for him and whether we are ready to embrace him
once again. It is not a question of going back to Mahatma Gandhi as
much as it is of going forward with him. This is not as simple as it
sounds. While he fascinates and enchants, we have to admit that it is
difficult to emulate him. It is easy to make him an icon. But
infinitely more exacting to make him our beacon. He did not provide us
with final answers, he wanted us to find our own and make our own
experiments with truth,” she said.
Historically, among the educated Indian elite, the dislike towards
Gandhi is not new. From Sripad Dange’s denouement in his defence
speech in 1920 later published as Lenin vs. Gandhi (in which Lenin
emerged victorious, in case you were wondering), to Golwalkar’s A
Bunch of Thoughts, Gandhi was not the image in whom some among the
Indian upper and middle classes saw themselves. The loin cloth was not
exactly their idea of making a fashion statement, whatever those
peasants might have thought.
The Hindutva’s dislike for Gandhi had bordered on fanaticism, no
surprise, therefore, that he was assassinated by a former Hindu
Mahasabha member. Later, in an irony of sorts, the political inheritor
of Hindutva, the BJP, flirted with Gandhian Socialism when both Gandhi
and Socialism were still in vogue in the late seventies. However, it
was the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci who best interpreted the
political genius of Gandhi’s un- theorized strategy. The Hindutva
movement has effectively used the same tactics- that Gramsci called
‘war of position’ and the ‘war of movement’ to advance its political
agenda. Mrs Gandhi, in her own manner, has returned to that strategy.
She has extended the possibilties of Gandhism today in context of
rabid communal discourse of the sangh parivar.
Given her achievements in the past five years in turning the tide as
far as Hindutva as an election platform is concerened, her words need
to be taken seriously, and with the respect that she, and her
achievements in countering Hindutva, richly deserve.
Photo: Indian Flag Colors
32 Comments on "Hindutva And The Upcoming Indian Elections"
In Praise of Sonia Gandhi « a reader’s words on Sun, 29th Mar 2009
4:54 pm
[...] posted at Indian Muslims Possibly related posts: (automatically
generated)“We locked away Gandhi on Feb [...]
bhavananda on Sun, 29th Mar 2009 5:04 pm
“Nowadays, it is also often overlooked that the destruction of the
Babri Masjid provided a larger fillip to Muslim fundamentalism in
South Asia- in Bangladesh and Pakistan.”
For some myopic columnists, history began in 1992. Without trying to
count the destruction of temples in India prior to 1992, let me just
point out to a glaring fact: Hindus were being driven out of Kashmir
valley from 1989 and by end 1992 (when history began) there were
hardly any Hindus left in the valley. Is there an irony that the year
1989 also coincides with the withdrawal of Soviets from Afghan leading
to the unemployment of a large number of “holy warriors”? Of course,
these aspects are not to be remembered, nor reminded.
But, I will submit that the post is correct on the contribution of
Congress party to growing communalism in India as well as the
observation that without Hindutva/minority appeasement, the difference
between Congress and BJP is not much (policy-wise, at least to common
voters)
vtpcnk on Sun, 29th Mar 2009 7:42 pm
i have a question for muslims. sometime back on this blog i read about
lalu prasad yadhav was a hero since he protected muslims from hindu
fanatics etc. likewise with mulayam, sonia etc. do muslims think that
these politicians really care about the welfare of muslims? most of
these politicians are known crooks with multiple corruption charges
hanging against them. when they do not care about the people of their
own religion who they ruthlessly exploit, why would they go out on a
limb to do anything for the muslims? let us suppose that these
politicians support muslims in whatever way because of votebank
concerns. likewise if the hindus manage to form a counter votebank
(which would naturally be much larger) where do you think the loyalty
of these politicians would turn?
Hindutva And The Upcoming Indian Elections | Indian Muslims on Sun,
29th Mar 2009 10:57 pm
[...] Continued here: Hindutva And The Upcoming Indian Elections |
Indian Muslims [...]
M Naqqaad on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 6:03 am
vtpcnk & bhavananda,
Both of you intend to limit the thoughts of Muslims whereas it is
about being Indian. I too think that Bhupinder is there for Sonia and
not for Indian. You must certainly be for the BJP because instead of
the topic you tried to do a ‘Red Herring’.
The moot question to $vtpcnk$ is that why he is boiling for Laloo
being a protector of the weak, Muslim or Yadav. A positive thinker
must ask as to why we need a Muslim leader or a Brahmin for that
matter once we have a secular polity. Though the praise for Sonia by
Bhupinder sounds political, there is lot of information for all of us
to know how things work in the castesist Hinduism which Muslims of
India cannot wish away. Take the example of Maneka Gandhi, she pointed
out a Police Inspector to be behind the Pilibhit disturbance with the
same assertion her son has done in his infamous speeches. She talks
about the policeman being under their eyes as if they target a lowly
policeman. What is this mentality? It is simple, ‘you need to live by
our law’ which they practice with statute being used to say they are
not communal. The early people like you rise off your slumber better
for India because the havenots are more than you would have likes to
desimate. Being a Fauji I know how the agencies ask you which mosque
you visit. This unchecked ‘intelligence’ has failed India and we
cannot expect the terrorist to adhere to our failures while
undertaking any task. No mosque going Muslim would do harm to the
motherland if he is not profiled in the manner people are being done.
The Maneka and Parvez Mian story is about making a standard fascist
society which we need to guard against. She should be taken to task
for policing a govt servant while not a govt agent.
Milind Kher on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 9:39 am
It is demeaning to think of the vote of a community as a votebank.
All talks of a Muslim votebank are actually the result of a subliminal
propoganda by BJP to project Muslims as a commodity which can be
bought.
Parties like the BJP are a source of shame for our nation and the
support they get an indication of how low our polity and society has
sunk.
Bhupinder on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 10:01 am
@bhavnanda: I mentioned that only in context of economic policies the
Congress, the BJP and even the CPM for that matter do not have any
major differences, even though the Congress has had a much longer (and
better) understanding of economics going back to the critique of
economic colonialism in late 19th century.
As far as the Congress and BJP are concerned, they do have fundamental
differences when it comes to things outside economic policies.
@vtpcnk: I don’t see how your comment is related to this post.
NiceAnand on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 11:13 am
@Milind,
You yourself had been proposing for Muslims to vote together so their
vote doesn’t get divided. How can you blame others for “thinking”
Muslims as vote bank?
bhavananda on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 12:53 pm
@Bhupinder:
” … even though the Congress has had a much longer (and better)
understanding of economics going back …”
Of course! Why not? Isn’t the “better” economics policies responsible
for miraculous economic development of India till early 90s? And then,
lo and behold! India suddenly became bankrupt? Am I missing something
here?
“As far as the Congress and BJP are concerned, they do have
fundamental differences when it comes to things outside economic
policies.”
Yeah? Like what? Secularism? Like congress killed Sikhs and BJP killed
muslims? Or, congress appeases Muslim votebank and BJP appeases Hindu
votebank?
That said, I agree that there are some differences between the two.
I’m not sure that I’d say they are fundamental, especially for the
common voters.
Bhupinder on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 3:20 pm
@bhavnanda:
> Am I missing something here?
I think you are missing a lot. One has to look at a very large time
frame to make generalizations. The fundamental premise of public-
private sector cooperation is, I believe, a far better approach.
Recent events in the US and global economy substantiate that
direction. In that sense, the path chartered by Jawaharlal Nehru is
fundamentally correct and far better than the neo- liberal assault
since 1991 that the current INC and BJP leaderships are unable to get
past.
> Like what? Secularism?
Yes. Secularism. The Congress has traditionally been wedded to a
secular India. At times, it has indulged in ‘balanced communalism’ as
I mentioned in passing in the blog. The BJP is wedded to the RSS
concept of Hindutva which excludes Muslims and Christians as Indians.
Yes, the Congress is responsible for the anti- Sikh pogrom but it is
also capable of having Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of the
country. This would not be possible without its roots in secularism
derived from Mahatma Gandhi and consolidated by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Merely comparing the Delhi of 1984 with Gujarat 2002 is not enough,
one needs to look at a far bigger time frame.
bhavananda on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 5:22 pm
@Bhupinder: No matter when you want to start looking, be it 1885 when
Hume founded the party, or yesterday, it is a *fact* of history that
India went bankrupt under the watch of Congress party. Although I
agree with you on public-private sector cooperation, we surely vary on
the extent. That said, I won’t go into a raw debate of socialism-vs-
capitalism, because it is endless and also history tells us who “won”
it so far. Plus, you tactfully avoided to respond the previous charge
that India *did* go bankrupt because of failed policies (no matter
when history started for you).
As to the other point, I deliberately dropped the “secular” word,
because I know that is exactly how far the secular lobby can go.
Frankly, this debate is also meaningless because this has been done a
zillion times i.e. secular vs pseudo-secular, vote-banks, etc. Or,
more like “balanced communalism” vs “imbalanced communalism” whatever
you say. I believe we can be happy with our own POVs.
That said let me drop some notes on your last comment, that I’m sure
an intelligent an incisive blogger will understand. For example:
“Yes, the Congress is responsible for the anti- Sikh pogrom but it is
also capable of having Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of the
country.”
By the same logic BJP installed a Muslim president, a Hindu prime
minister, a Christian defence minister and a Sikh deputy speaker
(Rajya Sabha). I cannot recall the last time such a multi-religious
group of people was in charge of a country. May be you can enlighten
me on that?
“Merely comparing the Delhi of 1984 with Gujarat 2002 is not enough,
one needs to look at a far bigger time frame”
Yeah you are right on that. Because there is indeed no comparison. For
example, in the riots “790 Muslims and 254 Hindus” died, including
some shot dead by the armed police (source Wiki). And … let’s see …
the number of non-Sikhs killed in ‘84 was … hmm … umm …. zero! Zilch,
right? Of course, 3000 Sikhs died (source wiki again). Please do the
math! And do not forget to use “official figures”. And, if you are
really inclined to use “unofficial figures” please extrapolate the
numbers for *both* riots.
As for looking at a bigger time frame (your last few words) I’m ready
to count the riots happening under congress’ watch. From Gujarat
(Hitendra Desai, ‘69), Meerut, Bhagalpur, and so on. Oops, my bad! I
forgot about a bigger time frame, start from the partition? How about
Noakhali in Bangladesh? Let me know if you are interested in a
detailed list.
vtpcnk on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 6:34 pm
>All talks of a Muslim votebank are >actually the result of a subliminal >propoganda by BJP to project Muslims >as a commodity which can be bought.
and i guess manmohan singh was totally sincere where he said “the
minorities have the first claim for the resources of the nation”!
the congress party is the numero uno culprit – and criminally so – in
making the muslim community as a votebank, putting a noose around its
neck and effectively keeping the muslim and hindu communities at
loggerheads.
for the congress party everything including national interest is
secondary to grasping/wielding political power.
let the muslims try to vote for other parties. then we will see the
true face of the so called secularists and their “affection” for the
muslims.
the muslims today are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
on one hand the secularists have manipulated them into a votebank
(there has been some manipulating by the muslims leaders as well to
sustain their own interests). this has effectively fueled the rise of
hindutva which mistakenly targets the muslims more than the real
culprits – the secularists. if the muslims were to abandon the
secularists for whatever reason, then the secularists lose the
incentive to protect them from the hindutvawaadis.
wherein lies the solution for this?
vtpcnk on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 6:44 pm
>The BJP is wedded to the RSS concept >of Hindutva which excludes Muslims >and Christians as Indians.
this is blatantly false. from what i understand even the vhp merely is
against those of the minorities who are anti-hindu. it merely wants
muslims and christians to acknowledge the hindu culture of the land
and not be against it (as evagalical chritianity or extremist islam
is). beyond that it is perfectly willing to let muslims and christians
practice their faiths and be equal/loyal citizens of the country.
i am neither a rss or vhp supporter. but i can clearly see a
deliberate trend of maligning the hindutva groups to rouse paranoia
amongst the minorities and keep the conflict raging. this i believe to
be against national and soceital interest and only serves the
interests of certain political parties.
vtpcnk on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 6:53 pm
>This would not be possible without >its roots in secularism derived from >Mahatma Gandhi and consolidated by >Jawaharlal Nehru.
this has nothing to do with secularism. rather it is the ethos of the
land. as long as a person is capable and honest most indians do not
have a problem in being led by the person – whether it be mm singh or
abdul kalam. that’s also the reason that the british ruled india with
sparse opposition for a long period of time and even today have their
defenders amongst the indian populace.
>Recent events in the US and global >economy substantiate that direction. >In that sense, the path chartered by >Jawaharlal Nehru is fundamentally >correct
you cannot use the screwups of the last 10 years in the west to
justify the economic blunders of india for the first 40 years of its
existence. i would rather india be as wealthy as the usa and face
recession today, than be the land where people go without even two
square meals a day.
satwagunam on Tue, 31st Mar 2009 3:09 am
Too much a praise of sonia. She has desisted from not showing rahul as
the next due to non-acceptance by the alliance and also his in
capability to be a mass leader like his father.
His father got the head start with the assisination of indira gandhi
which he could not sustain the next term.
Already the sycophants like amar singh, pranab are asking rahul to
take the reins.
Author has mentioned that jawaharlal nehru as a brahmin and going by
that it is once again a brahmin who is holding the power with a front
end mask called manmohan singh.
abhilash shastry on Tue, 31st Mar 2009 3:32 pm
“The Congress itself has given the country a sequence of Brahmin prime
minsters- Jawaharlal Nehru, Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and
PV Narasimha Rao.”
I wonder why people cannot get even basic facts straight before waxing
eloquent. FYI. Shastry was a Kayastha. Nehru was an atheist. Rajeev
Gandhi was born of a Parsee father and was never given janoi.
sanjay on Tue, 31st Mar 2009 9:36 pm
I was out for the past week for some work and visited three states-
Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh—all BJP Strongholds.
I found that the ground situation is totally different and the real
culprit is the electronic media. Either electronic media is out of
tune or has its own agenda.
Hindutva is losing ground and is no more a vote-getter. BJP is strong
in the above three states not because Hindutva is ruling the hearts
and minds of the people but because the only opposition party Congress
is in tatters. It has virtually no state leaders and Sonia/ Rahul
appear to be standing on the Moon. Barack Obama appears to be more
closer than Sonia/ Rahul.
Congress has some organisation and leaders is Rajasthan. In Gujarat
there is none and in MP there are half-a-dozen regional satraps.
Hindutva alone cannot bring BJP into power this time or any time in
near future.
In my opinion, Hindutva is overhyped. It doesnt have much market
value.
vtpcnk on Wed, 1st Apr 2009 6:02 am
>You must certainly be for the BJP >because instead of the topic you >tried to do a ‘Red Herring’.
the congress has traditionally tried to portray itself as the
protector of the minorities.
but how true is this?
with hindutva already well risen with claims of minority manipulation
etc what sense does it make for manmohan singh to say that the
minorities have the first claim to the resources of the nation?
would it not infuriate the average hindu (leave alone the
hindutvavaadi) – a lot of whom are already struggling in our
developing country?
but mms and the congress have a motive in saying what they did.
first it infuriates the hindutva groups who then target the muslims as
the manipulators of indian polity.
in the ensuing conflict, the muslims necessarily have to seek the
protection of the other large rival political party – the congress –
which naturally then binds the community to it.
but who benefits from all this? and who loses?
in truth how much benefits do the muslims really get from the
congress? what is the percentage of doctors or engineers or lawyers in
the society who are muslims (will the dominant hindu castes like bc/
obc etc really allow the muslims to have first claim to the nation’s
resources)? apart from meaningless sops like haj subsidy , personal
civil code and other “given in’s” to the mullahs, what have muslims
really got?
bhavananda on Wed, 1st Apr 2009 6:13 am
@Sanjay:
“Hindutva alone cannot bring BJP into power this time or any time in
near future.”
You are right on that.
Where you are ABSOLUTELY wrong is that nobody in BJP said that
Hindutva **ALONE** can win elections. So, Hindutva is there to stay!
Bhupinder on Wed, 1st Apr 2009 10:21 am
@bhavnanda/vtpcnk/satwagunam: I may point to Ram Rahman’s article on
the difference between the Congress, BJP and others on the issue of
communalism. It would save me responding to your comments on the
subject.
@abhilash: I stand corrected on Lal Bahadur Shastry.
@Sanjay: One factor I have not dealt with is the masses’ reaction to
the neo- liberal economic policies of both the Congress/UPA/ BJP/NDA.
Every party or coalition at the center has been defeated at the
general elections since 1991.
vtpcnk on Wed, 1st Apr 2009 11:29 am
muslims should open direct channels of communication with the hindutva
groups. too many middlemen (secularists, politicians etc – especially
those who portray themselves as protectors of the muslims and speak
for them) are hijacking the agenda for their own hidden motives and
deliberately confusing the situation. the secularists colour the
perception on both sides – building paranoia and making the situation
pretty much irreconcilable. if muslims and hindutvavaadis have issues
– they should talk directly. where is the need for middlemen?
Sudie on Thu, 2nd Apr 2009 7:23 am
The onus lies on right wing groups like BJP to put across a
progressive view of their nationalist agenda without preaching hate.
Minorities, especially muslims will tend to be insecure, whenever
Hindutva votaries want some sort of “revenge” for the perceived
insults of over the 800 years of “muslim rule”.
We need nationalists who look forward to an aggressive stand at
dealing with the nation’s problems while carrying everyone together.
Congress with its electoral mathematics does not have an inclusive
agenda as it assumes that there is no Hindu votebank to be wooed. It
only wants caste dynamics on its side so proposed sops like
reservations and the notion of “first right to nation’s resources”.
Sudie on Thu, 2nd Apr 2009 1:35 pm
In fact Iam looking for a time when someone from an ordinary but
educated Indian middle class family, perhaps an SC/ST or a Muslim be a
part of an Indian nationalist party and give a speech like this –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6NS9unm-OQ&feature=related
This will be a party where ones lastname need not be a Gandhi or a
Scindia but maybe an Advani, a Vajpayee, a Mahajan, a Sidhu or a
Hussain or Abdullah or Kalam.
Basil Mohsin on Thu, 2nd Apr 2009 10:24 pm
About the issue of Brahmin prime ministers due to caste system of
India, I am afraid India’s history doesn’t confirm to writers views.
The ruling caste in India has been the Kshatriyas, the fighter caste
and not the Brahmins. Brahmins have merely functioned as the advisors
to the rulers and not the rulers themselves. So if we go by Indian
caste system, then the post-Independence trend has simply nothing to
do with the caste structure of India and in reality is even against
it.
On Sonia Gandhi’s refusal to become the Prime Minister – Her refusal
was not due to her magnanimity but due to a compulsion, due to a law.
We must all remember that as soon as the election results came in
2004, Mrs. Gandhi was all elated to become the Prime Minister and in
fact did not give any hint that she was not going to be the Prime
Minister in the following day or so. But after a secret meeting with
the President Abdul Kalam Azad, she suddenly announced of her
sacrifice and newspapers started becoming emotional ’bout her ‘amazing
grace’.
Actually, it was a law which stopped her from becoming the Prime
Minister and not her magnanimity. According to Indian Constitution, it
behaves exactly the same to a foreign born Indian resident as the
country of that person’s origin treats Indian citizien. And as it is
not possible for an Indian citizen to become the prime minister of
Italy so automatically it is impossible for an Italian born Indian
citizen to become the prime ministr of India.
vtpcnk on Fri, 3rd Apr 2009 5:01 am
>The onus lies on right wing groups >like BJP to put across a progressive >view of their nationalist agenda >without preaching hate.
i agree. and muslims must also be more open to the rappochment/
reconciliation with hindutva groups and also be wary of secularists
queering the pitch to serve their own agendas.
satwagunam on Sat, 4th Apr 2009 12:48 am
@basil mohsin.
You have pointed out correctly. It is one of the reason that the
congress ensured that the abdul kalam did not get re-elected for
second term as the went by book and constitutional experts advice,
which obviously sonia gandhi did not like.
Adal on Sat, 4th Apr 2009 3:53 am
From the very first General Elections in 1951-52 till 1977, Grand Old
Party -CONGRESS- was ruling the centre and many states.Indira Gandhi’s
paranoia led her to declare “internal emergency” and atrocities
connected there with.Lok Nayak JP Narayan mustered the public for a
second revolution.the great Indra was defeated by a political clown!
Morarjee was the PM and the Govt. was Janata Party Govt.It was busy
haunting Indra!
Morarjee wanted the Jan Sanghis to give up sangh parivar
memebership.the result the first ever Non-Congress Govt. was toppled
after 2 years 4 months and4days!
consequent to that Indra came back sweeping the polls and ruled till
1984.BJP got just TWO MP seats!Rahul succeeded her mother and ruled
till 1989.During the election, Rahul was assasinated!VP Singh formed
the National Front Govt.To checkmate singh’s Mandal Report, Advani
went on Rath Yatra and sowed the seeds of communal hatred. The second
non-Congress Govt. fell after 11 months and 8 days!In the 1991
election PV Narasimha Rao became the lastCongress
PM.On 6th December,1992,the heritage Babri Masjid was demolished under
Advani’s orders, as per his daughter-in-law’s written statement
published in The Hindu! thanks to the goodwill earned by Ataljee the
BJP led NDA could rule for six years. Advani’s failure to contain
Gujarat riots led to the defeat of NDA in 2004.Advani will be like the
parrot which patiently waited for the silk cotton fruit to burst and
eat the seeds. When it did get burst the sedds were swept away by the
wind!
vtpcnk on Sat, 4th Apr 2009 4:59 am
>The ruling caste in India has been >the Kshatriyas, the fighter caste and >not the Brahmins.
the so called power of brahmins has been overhyped – primarily by
colonial/church interests in their effort to divide and subvert hindu
society. they simply quote out of context verses from texts like
manismiriti to support their arguments – but seldom mention that the
same manusmriti confers honours on the brahmin only if he embraces a
life of poverty to preserve the dharma.
>Brahmins have merely functioned as >the advisors to the rulers and not >the rulers themselves.
but this is atbest only a miniscule segment of the brahmin community.
the great majority have often been poor or atbest middle class.
serving as priests, clerks, teachers etc.
but a lot of them fought colonial rule – and so earned the ire of the
british which blackened the community’s name – especially so in
tamilnadu where the so called “dravidian” movement was covertly
sponsored and directed by the church.
satwagunam on Sat, 4th Apr 2009 9:23 pm
@vtpcnk
It is true. Brahmins never were powerfull nor rich. As per the
tradition of the brahmins as per vedas, he is supposed to live by
unjavrithi “bavati biksaham dehi”.
British could easily use all type of activities to get hold of the
smaller kingdom in India. But they identified very clearly that the
brahmins are the intellectual of the country. brought in the concept
of Dravidian / Aryans. They were accorded highest repsect with highest
punishment. Vedas says that if a similar type of crime is done by four
varnas the punishment is as under :
Shudras – 1 X
vAishyas – 2 X
KSHYATRIAS – 4 X
Brahmins – 16 X
Made brahmins the villain for the caste discrimination. Today brahmins
are spent force but the caste discrimination is in tact with the
khsyatrias and vaishyas.
anserindicus on Thu, 9th Apr 2009 3:49 am
Nice article. Need to read again before making a serious comment. As
per my knowledge Rajeev Gandhi was a Parsi, not a Brahmin.
satwagunam on Sat, 11th Apr 2009 11:17 pm
What u said is true. Further the gandhi surname was a fraud by indira
gandhi on the people of india. It was used to sell gandhi’s name for
power. It was GANDHY and NOT GANDHI.
Now it is a christian family which shows themself as hindus for the
power nothing else. Thankfully nehru dynasty has lost the charm over
the people thanks to ineffeciency corruption and media.
M Naqqaad on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 5:22 pm
satwagunam & vtpcnk,
Your zeal to prove yourself scientific has exposed your mentality.
After so much of hype about humanitarian rights and democracy, you
have fallen in the trap of the church which guarantees you that you
would enter the Heavens because Jesus has sacrificed hiself for all
human sins. Now, this is really laughable and I think people who are
influenced by even quacks as baba will enact a law which will make
people serve for crimes of their parents or offsprings. Going by the
trends in our country this law will also be utlised to torment the
weaker sections only. Hopefully this should remain a ‘pipe wild
dream’.
bademiyansubhanallah
Islamic Perspectives of Inter-Community Relations
By Yoginder Sikand 562 views Published: June 27,
2009
Maulana Yahya Nomani
(Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)
The issue of what Islam has to say about inter-community relations is
one about which much misunderstanding exists. Anti-Muslim
propagandists claim that Islam preaches hatred for non-Muslims, and
that the Quran is a menace to world peace. They go so far as to argue
that world peace is simply impossible as long as the Quran exists. In
order to back their propaganda, they have deliberately twisted and
misinterpreted certain verses of the Quran. Many people with little
knowledge have fallen prey to this poisonous propaganda, which has
been aggressively spread on an enormous scale through the media.
At the same time, we must also admit that some Muslims themselves
entertain misunderstandings and extremist views about the issue of
relations between Muslims and others that are based on a completely
wrong interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah, the practice of the
Prophet. This calls for a detailed study, so that misunderstandings,
wrong interpretations and extremist views about Islamic teachings
regarding relations between Muslims and others can be countered.
It is true that Islam stresses that Muslims, here understood in the
sense of true submitters to God, are distinct from others in terms of
their religious views and ethical virtues. It cautions them from
imitating others, especially their religious symbols and rituals,
which Islam does not accept. It is also true that Islam strictly
forbids befriending enemies of the faith and those who conspire
against Muslims. At the same time, however, Islam exhorts Muslims to
relate to other non-Muslims with softness, good manners, gentleness
and love.
Respect for the Human Race
Islam teaches that all human beings, irrespective of community or
race, are children of the same set of primal parents, and, so, are
bound together by their common humanity. As the Quran states:
“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a
female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each
other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honoured
of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of
you.” (Quran 49:13).
This basic Islamic teaching about the whole of humankind being
children of the same parents stresses the need for consciousness of
our common humanity and of us being brothers unto each other. This is
why, according to a hadith report, the Prophet would, after finishing
his prayers, supplicate with God, saying, ‘O Allah! Sustainer of
myself and of everything! I bear witness that all human beings are
brothers of each other.’
According to the Quran, human beings are creatures worthy of respect:
“We have honoured the sons of Adam […]and conferred on them special
favours, above a great part of Our Creation.” (Quran 17:70)
This clearly indicates that Islam regards human beings as deserving
respect, love and concern on the basis of their humanity. A hadith
report well illustrates this teaching. Once, the Prophet was present
along with some of his disciples when a funeral procession passed by.
The Prophet stood up. Seeing the Prophet stand out of respect for the
dead man, some of his companions informed him that the man had been a
Jew. But, the Prophet responded, ‘Was he not a human being?’ After the
Prophet, some of his companions, too, followed this example of his, as
is related in the books of Hadith compiled by Bukhari and Muslim.
In another hadith report, the Prophet exhorted his followers to relate
with kindness to all creatures thus:
‘God is merciful to those who are merciful. Deal with mercy towards
creatures on earth and He in the heavens will be merciful towards
you.’ (Sunan Tirmidhi, 1924; Sunan Abu Daud, 4941).
This hadith report very clearly expresses a basic Quranic teaching.
The Quran states that the true path to salvation is through showing
mercy and love to others:
“And what will explain to thee, the path that is steep? (It is:)
freeing the bondman; Or the giving of food in a day of privation to
the orphan with claims of relationship, or to the indigent (down) in
the dust. Then will he be of those who believe, and enjoin patience,
(constancy, and self-restraint), and enjoin deeds of kindness and
compassion. Such are the Companions of the Right Hand.” (Quran 90:
12-18)
This is the path of salvation—not simply to be kind-hearted, but also
to participate in the mission to promote, in practical terms, kind-
heartedness and compassion for others. Such are the steps on the path
to salvation. Islam does not restrict good behaviour simply to other
human beings. Rather, it insists that Muslims should behave in this
way with all living creatures. Thus, according to a hadith recorded in
the Sahih of al-Bukhari, the Prophet said, ‘There is merit (sawab) in
behaving well towards all living creatures.’
The Bond of Nation/Community (Qaum)
Islam recognizes a certain sort of brotherhood and feeling of oneness
among members of the same community/nation as an established fact.
This is expressed in the Quran in the form of various prophets, such
as Hud, Saleh, Shoeb and so on, addressing the non-Muslim members of
their communities as brothers, and, in this way, accepting a
relationship of nation- or community-based brotherhood between Muslims
and non-Muslims belonging to the same nation or community. When these
prophets of God preached His message to their own people (who were not
Muslims, or ‘submitters’ to God), they addressed them as ‘ya qaum’ or
‘O my people’, appealing to their hearts and reminding them of the
common bond of community that they shared with them. This clearly
indicates the sort of concern and love that Muslims should adopt when
addressing their non-Muslim compatriots and in seeking to cement bonds
with them.
The importance of how concern and love should infuse relations between
people belonging to a common race or nationality, despite their
religious differences, is evident from the fact that the Prophet
Muhammad cared for the (the then non-Muslim) Egyptians just because
the mother of the Prophet Ismail (Ishmael), son of the Prophet Ibrahim
(Abraham), was from Egypt. The Prophet instructed the Arabs to
remember this ancient racial tie, saying that they would soon conquer
Egypt and that he wanted them to deal with the Egyptians kindly
because they had the right to protection (haq-e zimma) and because
their racial ties with the Arabs demanded this.
Kind Behaviour Towards Non-Muslims: Some Examples
Various Islamic teachings and Sunnah or practice of the Prophet
indicate the kindness and concern that non-Muslims deserve from
Muslims. The Quran mentions that needy non-Muslims are deserving of
the financial assistance of Muslims, and that, therefore, they should
be helped. In the Surah Al-Baqara of the Quran, God says that guiding
others to the faith is not the work of human beings, and that God
guides whom He wills. The Quran adds that we must not refuse to help a
needy person simply because he or she refuses to accept Islam. It says
that we shall be rewarded for whatever we spend in God’s way:
“It is not required of thee (O Messenger) to set them on the right
path but Allah guides to the right path whom He pleaseth. Whatever of
good ye give benefits your own souls and ye shall only do so seeking
the “Face” of Allah. Whatever good ye give, shall be rendered back to
you and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly.” (Quran 2:272)
This verse indicates that while providing financial help to others it
is not necessary to distinguish between those who accept Islam and
those who do not. In other words, all needy people are deserving of
such help.
Elaborating on this verse, the noted scholar Imam Ibn Jareer Tabari
wrote in his Tafsir-e Tabari that the verse commands Muslims not to
deprive non-Muslims of charity. He was of the view that this was how
numerous companions of the Prophet and those who came after them in
the next generation understood this verse.
This was also the practice of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs. Thus, as
mentioned in the Kitab al-Kharraj by Abu Yusuf, the Caliph Umar sent a
letter to his governor, instructing him to provide for his poor and
needy non-Muslim subjects from the wealth of the Muslims.
Reconciliation and Kind-Heartedness
Islam stresses kindness towards relatives, especially close relations,
so much so that it says that God declares war against he who does not
fulfill his responsibilities towards his relatives (Masnad Ahmad 1684;
Sahih al-Bukhari 5987-5989). It also declares that those who sunder
their relations with their relatives will have no place in heaven
(Sahih Muslim, 2556).
Kindness towards and reconciliation with relatives applies to all
relatives, Muslim as well as non-Muslim. It is their right. Islam
seeks to cement relations, not to destroy them. Thus, non-Muslim
relatives have all the rights over a Muslim, so much so that the Quran
lays down that if a Muslim’s parents are not Muslim themselves, and
even if they seek to pressurize their Muslim son or daughter to
abandon Islam, they must be treated well under all conditions,
although one should not yield to their pressure. As the Quran puts
it:
“And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail
upon travail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his
weaning: (hear the command) “Show gratitude to Me and to thy parents:
to Me is (thy final) Goal. “But if they strive to make the join in
worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge obey them not;
Yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration)
and follow the way of those who turn to Me (in love): in the End the
return of you all is to Me, and I will tell you the truth (and
meaning) of all that ye did.”(Quran 31:14-15).
The mother of Abu Hurairah, a companion of the Prophet, used to say
bad things about the Prophet, but Abu Hurairah tolerated this. When he
complained about her behavior to the Prophet, the latter prayed for
her, rather than expressing hatred for her. Because of this, she was
guided (Sahih al-Muslim, 2491).
The mother of Hazrat Asma bint Abu Bakr was a polytheist. In the wake
of the Treaty of Hudaibiyah between the Muslims, led by the Prophet,
and the Meccan pagans, relatives from both sides were able to meet
each other. At this time, Hazrat Asma’s mother came to Medina to meet
her, bringing along with her some gifts. Hazrat Asma thought of
reciprocating this gesture by giving her mother some presents when she
was returning. However, she hesitated for a bit, not sure if Islam
allowed for Muslims to present gifts to their non-Muslim relatives.
Accordingly, she approached the Prophet and asked him if she should
seek to strengthen her ties (silah rahmi) with her mother. In reply,
the Prophet said she must, and instructed her to give her gifts.
(Sahih al-Bukhari 2602; Fath al-Bari).
Some commentators have claimed that Hazrat Asma’s mother had come to
Medina because she was in need of help. But, the fact is that she was
a well-off woman, and Hafiz Ibn Hajar and other scholars have written
that she herself had brought gifts for her daughter. Thus, it could be
that she wanted to restore her bonds with her daughter that had been
earlier sundered. In other words, Hazrat Asma’s giving of gifts to her
mother appears not to have been an expression of help to a needy
mother, but rather, a way of expressing and fulfilling her duty of
familial love.
Other Social Relations Between Muslims and Others
While Muslims have been forbidden to engage in such relations with non-
Muslims that might undermine or destroy their religious
distinctiveness, Islam stresses that Muslims must relate with concern,
and a high standard of morality with non-Muslims in order to create a
better society. Treating neighbours kindly is such an important
Islamic teaching that in the corpus of Hadith, narrations relating to
the Prophet, it has been said that not abiding by this teaching can
sometimes even lead to the danger of one’s own faith being taken away.
The Prophet thrice proclaimed that he who is a source of discomfort to
his neighbour is not a true believer (momin) (Sahih al-Bukhari,
6016).
One’s neighbour, who deserves exemplary treatment, can be a Muslim or
a non-Muslim, and the above-mentioned principle applies in both cases.
This is well-illustrated in the following story. One day, a goat was
slaughtered in the home of Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Umar. When he returned
home, the first thing he did was to ask if some of the meat had been
sent to the house of his Jewish neighbour. ‘I have heard the Prophet
stressing the importance of kindness towards neighbours’, he said (Abu
Daud, 5152).
One aspect of the life of the Prophet, which serves as a model for
Muslims to emulate, is that even if an enemy is in great trouble one
should supplicate for him with God. On the one hand, the Prophet would
beseech God to punish bloody oppressors, but, on the other hand, we
see the Prophet helping the Qureish of Mecca, who stiffly opposed him,
when they were faced with a severe famine. In that critical situation,
Abu Sufiyan, the Qureish leader who had stridently opposed the
Prophet, came to him. Invoking their relationship, he said that the
Quraish, the tribe that the Prophet himself belonged to, were dying,
and requested him to beseech God. The Prophet prayed to God, and
because of his prayer the situation was cured (Sahih Bukhari, 4824).
It is said that if a Jew present in the Prophet’s congregation would
sneeze, the Prophet would do the same dua, ‘May God give you guidance
and improve your condition’, for him as he would for a Muslim (Sunan
Abu Daud 5040). Because they were so fond of this dua, some Jews would
pretend to sneeze, but the Prophet still do this dua for them. In the
Masannaf Ibn Abi Shiba, the Masannaf Abdur Razzak and the Sahih of al-
Bukhari, there are numerous narrations about the Prophet making dua
for non-Muslims. This clearly shows that Islam exhorts its followers
to deal kindly with people of other faiths.
Commensality or eating together has great importance in building
relationships. The Prophet used to invite non-Muslims for meals.
Expressing concern for the oppressed and distressed, irrespective of
religion, is something basic for good social ties, and the Prophet
Muhammad also abided by this. He would visit the homes of non-Muslims
when they were sick, to enquire about their health (Sahih al-Bukhari
5657). The Prophet also gave gifts to non-Muslims, and courteously
accepted the gifts that they presented him with, as has been recorded
in the books of Hadith. It is said that a non-Muslim ruler sent the
Prophet a beautiful silken cloak, which the Prophet accepted (Sahih al-
Bukhari 2616). He gave it to Ja‘afar bin Abi Talib, saying that he
should send it to his ‘brother’, Najashi, the Christian ruler of
Abyssinia, who had helped the Muslims (Masnad Ahmad 13214). The Caliph
Umar sent a valuable cloth as a gift to a ‘polytheist brother’ of his,
and the Prophet knew about this (Muslim 2068). The ruler of Aila sent
the Prophet cloth and a mount, which were put to use (Sahih Bukhari
3161). At the time, when the Prophet was departing from this world, he
instructed Muslims, especially their leaders, that delegations of
guests (who were generally non-Muslims) that would come to them should
be given presents while departing, as he himself had done (Sahih al-
Bukhari 3053, Sahih al-Muslim 1637).
From these references to the shariah and the Sunnah, the practice of
the Prophet Muhammad, it is clear that Islam stands for
humanitarianism, love, concern, compassion, large-heartedness and good
behaviour with people of other faiths, in general. That is to say, if
a person who follows another faith is not an oppressor or an enemy of
Islam or a conspirator or is not waging war against Muslims, Islam
considers him or her worthy of help and solidarity and stresses
respect for his or her humanity.
*(This is a translation of excerpts from Yahya Nomani’s Urdu book, al-
Jihad [Lucknow: Al-Mahad al-Ali Lil Darasat al-Islamiya, 2009. Yahya
Nomani works with the Lucknow-based Urdu Islamic monthly, al-Furqan)
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2 Comments on "Islamic Perspectives of Inter-Community Relations"
Sayed Wasim on Sun, 28th Jun 2009 2:39 am
As Salamu Aliekum….
Thanks Brother Yoginder Sikand for translating such a wonderful
article…
Wassalam….
Adal on Mon, 29th Jun 2009 5:35 pm
Moulana Nomani has made it quite clear that Islam stands for
peace,love, concern and compassion for humanity as well as for other
creatures on earth.
The deviant behaviour of a few should not lead one to deem the entire
community guilty.
Te flock of sheep is not deemed black even if the black sheep
outnumber the others.Why, then, the foolish acts of some make the
entire community to be suspected or suppressed?
Confidence invariably begets other’s confidence, so also the
cooepration.
bademiyansubhanallah
The Threat Of Political Islam
By Sadia Dehlvi 2,136 views Published: March 29,
2009
(24 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
The trail of terror continues with cricketers as the latest target.
The Mumbai and Lahore attacks, public executions and the murder of
over a thousand civilians in the Swat valley by Taliban style
terrorists are horrifying examples of atrocities committed by militant
groups thriving on political Islam. Global Muslim communities require
urgent measures in condemning the agenda of political Islam that
distorts religious scriptures to legitimise violence. This ideology of
Islamism is threatening to replace a moderate and spiritual Islam,
leading to the destruction of society, particularly oppressing women
and minorities.
Muslims have a moral responsibility to engage in the social, political
and economic development of the societies they live in. Global Muslim
societies would do well in following the exceptional efforts of the
Indian clerics in denouncing terrorism and de linking it with Islam.
Sincere moral outrage needs to be expressed at Taliban atrocities in
Afghanistan and Pakistan, political kidnappings and assassinations,
militancy in Kashmir, Shia Sunni killings in Iraq and Pakistan, fatwas
that condone suicide bombings in the Israel Palestine conflict and
other such atrocities that effect innocent lives. Muslims require the
consensus of the international in combating extremism but our
credibility is lost when we demonstrate selective outrage as in the
aftermath of the Danish cartoons.
Political Islam draws its lifeblood from the ideology of fighting the
oppressor, but has clearly become the oppressor. Even though some
Islamist groups have renounced violence and accepted the principles of
democracy, marginally improved their stand on women and minority
rights, they remain socially conservative. In Jordan, the Islamist
party does not support the rights of women to file for divorce. In
Kuwait the Islamists fought against the right of women to vote. In
Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood will not allow a woman or a person from
a minority community to become head of state. Unfortunately, militant
Islamist groups thrive in the political vacuum created by oppressive
regimes in most Islamic countries.
Muslims must stop blaming the problem of extremism on catastrophic
foreign policies for two wrongs simply do not make a right. Islamism
is primarily a Muslim problem, threatening both Muslim and non- Muslim
societies. We need to acknowledge there is a problem of theology when
extremists talk of going straight to heaven after taking innocent
lives.
The roots of all modern militant Islamic movements can be traced to
one man called Abdul Wahab from Nejd in the Arabian Peninsula. He set
out to ‘purify’ Islam, believing that Muslims had drifted away from
true religion. Wahab’s followers destroyed many sacred sites he
considered idols. Attacking the arts for being frivolous and
dangerous, Wahab sanctioned the rape; murder and plunder of those who
refused to follow his injunctions. He was considered a heretic by
most, for Makkah and Madinah were then centres of contemplative Islam,
inhabited by Sufis from all over the world.
In 1774-5 Wahab negotiated a deal with the then nomadic tribe of Saud,
forebears of the current royal family in exchange for support in their
quest for political domination. Most Saudi’s reject the name Wahabbi;
they either call themselves Muwahuddin- Unitarians- or Salafi,
refering to salaf, the venerated companions of the Prophet. In this
blinkered view, no other version of religious truth can exist. This
new face of Islam has nothing to do with Sufis, music, poetry,
miracles or the countless devotional customs of Muslim cultures across
the world.
Under the patronage of the Saudi Arabia, Wahabism went from strength
to strength. Abul Ala Mawdudi, a journalist who translated the Quran
outside the paradigms of classical propagated the Wahabi ideology. He
founded the political party Jamaat e Islami in Pakistan, making jihad
central to Islamic discourse. Addressing non-Muslims as infidels, he
grouped Muslims into ‘partial’ and ‘true’ Muslims. Mawdudi’s ideas of
Islam as a revolutionary doctrine to take over governments and
overturn the whole universal order deeply influenced Syed Qutub of the
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. These groups have been motivated by
political upheavals and the rejection of traditional scholars. Syed
Qutub’s brother happened to be among the teachers of Osama bin Laden.
The extremism now found in Makkah and Madinah, the heartland of Islam,
is the Wahabi ideology that the Saudis have spent millions in
promoting through their outreach programs. There is no tolerance for
Shias, Sunni Sufis or other Muslim traditions, leave alone non -
Muslims. Unfortunately, there is no collective Muslim protest against
the Saudi regime for bulldozing graveyards, destroying cultural and
religious heritage in the holy cities, imposing a certain sexual
segregation of the sexes inside the Prophets mosque at Madinah,
radical sermons, or the distribution of radical literature outside
Saudi mosques, many of them issuing calls for death to whoever they
view as infidels or innovators of Islam. The problem of Muslim
extremism began in the Muslim world and the responsibility of
resolving it lies with us.
The inability to present a picture of Islam as a peaceful religion is
a collective failure of global Muslim communities. We could begin with
increasing the decibel in condemning violence, sectarianism, standing
up for the rights of women, stop demonising the other as kufaar
(infidels) and show increased support for democratic movements in
Muslim countries. It is time for the devout, silent peace-loving
Muslim majority to speak for Islam. Let us become louder than the
radical voices that claim to represent us.
Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi based writer and author of the forthcoming
book, “Sufism: The Heart of Islam” published by HarperCollins India.
bademiyansubhanallah
Sufism: The Heart of Islam (New Book by Sadia Dehlvi)
By Raza Rumi 878 views Published: June 27, 2009
(8 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
Getting a visa to India is a nightmare for ordinary mortals. My
application was not very politely returned last month with technical
objections. It was only when a letter from Harper Collins arrived that
the High Commission rather efficaciously allowed me to enter enemy
territory, that too with special instructions that cantonments were
out of bounds. I guess the South Asian officialdoms have yet to
discover that Google Earth has permanently altered the shape of
boundaries and secrecy.
Sufism:The Heart of Islam
by Sadia Dehlvi
Price: Rs. 695.00 (Hardback)
pp 400
Harper Collins India Original
I had to plan this rushed sojourn to attend the launch ceremony of
Sadia Dehlvi’s book that has now hit the Indian bookshops with a bang
and will soon be found in Pakistan. Sufism – the Heart of Islam is the
culmination of Sadia’s journey of self discovery, and to use Bulleh
Shah’s metaphor, entree into the inner temples of the heart. This was
no ordinary launch, as I have been a literary companion in this path
that Sadia has taken – right from the conception of the book, its
shifting hues and drafts, the magnificent illustrations and poetry
translations, and of course its final shape.
I had almost given up the idea of being present at the launch in the
face of visa hurdles. I think the gods intervened, or as I told Sadia
our beloved saints – Khwaja Gharib Nawaz of Ajmer and Nizamuddin
Auliya of Dilli – allowed it to happen. The launch brought together a
host of other friends who have been involved in giving various stirs
to this book-brew.
The launch took place at Hotel Le Meridian and was a major Delhi
hungama, as the hall was packed with more guests than it could
accommodate. The nonagenarian Khushwant Singh made it despite his
formal goodbyes to social occasions, and so did many others who have
been friends with Sadia.
The inimitable thumree singer Vidya Rao launched the ceremony with an
ensemble of what is these days known as Sufi music. She presented a
Na’at in poorabi ang that was a delightful piece, establishing
intimacy with the last Prophet (pbuh) urging him for blessings. The
folk idiom made it even more striking than the usual renditions of
this genre one is used to in Pakistan. A Hindu woman offering
salutations to Hazrat Mohammad (pbuh) was a rare sight by itself. My
favourite hierarchy of Sufi love, sung so beautifully by Vidya, was:
Khwaja milay tau Ali milay
Ali milay tau Nabi milay
Nabi milay tau Khuda mila
Khushwant Singh had to leave early, so he made a speech that was full
of his classic witticisms. Declaring that he was free of God in his
mental landscape, he had started to believe in miracles and the
biggest miracle was Sadia writing her book! Mushir ul Hasan, the
keynote speaker praised the book and its central message that Sufism
was embedded in Islamic thought. He was a little critical of the
Naqshbandi school of Sufism that was orthodox in his opinion, and had
a sectarian bias in its worldview.
Karthika V. K., Chief Editor, Harper Collins India was most pleased
with the book and she was also quick to note Sadia’s devotion to this
project and spoke of how absorbed in the book writing and production
she had been for the last one year.
Sadia was beaming with things coming together. Even on this occasion
she could not stop herself from cracking jokes about the writing
process, and she also spoke of how scared she was of her mother’s
wrath if anything went wrong. The author’s mother, Zeenat Dehlvi, has
been the proverbial lighthouse in introducing her to the Sufi tariqa
or the path. Using several translations of mystic verses Sadia
projected a lively, intimate and personal understanding of Sufi
principles and vision. Oroon Das, an eminently talented theatre actor
ended the evening with renditions of a wide range of Sufi verse from
the book – from Hafez and Rumi to Bulleh Shah, as well as more
contemporary Sufi poets.
Sadia Dehlvi for some time was known in Delhi as a page three persona
– attending parties and events, and pictured as a secular, brainy
Muslim diva holding forth on various issues – until her journalistic
career took a turn over the last few years as the ‘principal’
spokesperson for Indian Muslims. Her writings and television
appearances have harped on some bold themes such as the need for
Muslims to look into their own backyard, use a bit of rationality and
above all reject the orthodox Wahabi streams that seem to have
engulfed the Muslim imagination in the era of militant Islamism.
In this process of getting to know herself and her cultural heritage,
her focus shifted to an exploration of Sufism and its various
historical movements. In the subcontinent, the Muslim identity cannot
be separated from Sufi moorings, given the monumental role that the
travelling saints, dervishes and fakirs played in converting the
native inhabitants of India. The Muslim ruling classes were interested
in India’s wealth and the capture of its political power since the
eleventh century. Therefore, the rulers, most of whom were men of
Central Asian or Persian descent were unlikely candidates to be
spreaders of Islam’s egalitarian message.
Thus the great mingling of mystical Islam and India’s local, folk
traditions found a synthesis in the South Asian brand of Sufism. But
this was an endeavour that remained within the intellectual and
spiritual depth of core Islamic beliefs. The current erroneous
observations of Sufism as a separate belief-system from ‘Islam’,
therefore, is an uninformed view and betrays the lack of understanding
of this drummed-up danger religion.
For instance the book mentions the Prophet Muhammad declaring in a
Hadith Qudsi: ‘Heaven and earth cannot contain Me but the heart of my
faithful servant contains Me.’ The mystic poet Fariduddin Attar
illustrates the state of the lovers in this couplet translated by
Annmarie Schimmel:
When you seek God, seek him in your hear
He is not in Jerusalem, nor in Mecca nor in Hajj
Sufism takes the reader in an engaging way, through the layers of
Islamic beliefs, and explains how a three-fold structure comprising
“sharia, the outer law; tareeqa the inward path; and haeeqa, the
arrival at the reality of Allah” are the different facets of a
universal worldview of the religion. The various stages of the Sufi
path such as hal (intoxicated state) and maqaam (station) are also
elaborated well for lay readers.
The most illuminating part of the book is the evolution of Sufi
schools of thought and their key beliefs and approaches. While
browsing through the text one marvels at centuries of synthesis in the
Indian subcontinent, which explains why the dergahs remain such a
focus of public attention and imagination.
What I especially like about this volume is its immediate connection
with readers. For example Sadia writes in a chapter entitled Tariqa –
the Way of the Sufi:
“Growing up in an Irish convent boarding school, I regularly went to
church, sang Christmas carols, baked Easter eggs and imbibed Christian
values. During annual holidays a maulana, a religious teacher, came
home to teach the Quran to all the children. He instilled the fear of
God into us, with the result that fear remained the only emotion that
the heart felt for the Creator. Somehow, this overwhelming fear kept
me connected to Allah, despite often wanting to break away completely.
Traversing the Sufi path changed my attitude, for it teaches that
prayer rituals are worth little if not accompanied by love and
sincerity.”
Whilst exploring the core of Sufi thought, the book traces the
extraordinary lives of the early Sufis including the companions of the
Prophet (pbuh), their sayings, and their emphasis on the purification
of the heart. For modern readers, the larger narrative covers the
period of early Islam to its current nemesis in the shape of militant
ideologies. The book’s key argument is also contemporary: how Islamism
is the undoing of a faith founded on the principles of love, peace and
tolerance. The engaging style in which the book insightfully examines
the complex relationship of Sufism with both Muslim and non-Muslim
societies, should be instructive for readers outside South Asia as
well.
Sadia’s book is a timely addition to the debates on Islam, Sufism and
its accessibility and reader-friendliness. This is bound to attract a
large number of readers.
Extract from the book
The most common response on hearing the title of my book has been:
‘But what has Sufism got to do with Islam?’ I realize that Islam is
perceived as a faith with harsh laws, whereas Sufism represents
wonderful poetry, dance, art and an appealing form of universal love.
It is difficult for some Muslims and most non- Muslims to accept that
Sufism is the spiritual current that flows through Islam. Sufi Masters
are called ahl e dil, ‘people of the heart’.
They teach that religion has no meaning unless warmed by emotions of
love, and interpret Sufism as being the heart of Islam. However, I do
understand that Sufism has come to mean something quite different in
the language of the New Age. Disillusioned with religion and the
problems associated with it in secular democratic societies, people
tend to mix and match elements from various religious traditions that
personally appeal to them…The Quran informs us that Islam is not
something that began with the Prophet Muhammad some 1400 years ago,
but with the creation of the universe in which Adam was the first
Prophet. Sufism is the timeless art of awakening the higher
consciousness through submission to the Divine Will. The Sufi doctrine
goes far beyond history and is rooted in the primordial covenant all
unborn souls made with their Creator. Many friends view my visits to
dargahs, Sufi tombs, as senseless medieval superstition.
Some orthodox Muslims even insist that Sufism is an innovation in
Islam-a sinful practice that our ancestors picked up from Hindu idol-
worshipping traditions. They reason that since most of our ancestors
were Hindus, some of us are still using pagan methods like singing, to
please the gods… I would also like to share the miracle of my son’s
birth. The best of infertility specialists had categorically told me
that due to various complications it appeared virtually impossible for
me to have a child. I was 32 years old, with the biological clock
ticking away. I wanted a child desperately, but the doctors were not
hopeful. My mother reprimanded me for giving up hope and despairing of
God’s grace.
She advised me to go to the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti,
popularly called Gharib Nawaz, Patron of the Poor. I travelled to
Ajmer and pleaded for his blessings, vowing to come back for
thanksgiving if my prayer was granted. In Delhi, I regularly visited
the dargah of Hazrat Shah Farhad and lit candles for the granting of a
child… My prayers were answered and a few months later there was an
embryo kicking away in my womb, causing boundless joy. My son Arman
Ali was born in Karachi through a Caesarean section, and while being
wheeled away after the operation I faintly heard the doctor comment on
the miracle birth. According to the Islamic calendar, Arman was born
on the sixth of Rajab, a date that marks the annual Urs, death
anniversary, of Khwaja Gharib Nawaz.
The sixteen-year-old lad is a musically talented child, and this is a
gift that I believe is from the Sufi Master… While researching the
biographies and discourses of the Sufi Masters, I slowly began to
understand traumatic experiences as both nourishing and necessary for
those who truly seek to purify and liberate the mind, body and soul… I
discovered that spiritual endeavours leading to states of ecstasy were
usually rooted in grief. God, by His own admission to Moses, revealed
that He lived in broken hearts. All Sufis believe that both affliction
and bounties are the blessings of God.
Something stirred my soul and I began to see myself as blessed rather
than cursed by God. It changed my relationship with Him from one of
animosity to one of friendship and love. I made a conscious, sustained
effort to apply some basic principles of Sufism to my shattered life.
I vowed to develop rida, resignation to the will of Allah; tawakkul,
trust in Him; sabr, patience; and mohabba, love. I found that it soon
provided me with the strength of a lioness and the flight of a falcon.
I no more fear life or death, for I see life as an endurance of God’s
will, and death as something that unifies us with the Creator.
(Extract from Sufism: The Heart of Islam – by Sadia Dehlvi. Published
HarperCollins India.)
bademiyansubhanallah
Ghalib: Ode to Benaras
By Raza Rumi 940 views Published: October 21,
2008
(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)
The cancer of communalism and bigotry in South Asia continues to haunt
us. These days, the Muslims are once again a subject of intense,
though not always fair, scrutiny in India: their loyalties are being
questioned and many are potential terrorists if not already abettors
of violence. The post 9/11 world has contributed to the demonising of
the Muslim identity and history to surreal heights.
The recent bomb blasts in Delhi have placed the communal discourse on
the front pages. The invaders and violent Muslims have done it again.
A friend called me from Delhi and narrated the profiling that takes
place at marketplaces and how the gulf between different communities
is widening.
There was a time, not in the ancient past, when in Delhi the greatest
of Urdu poets Mirza Ghalib (1796-1869) lived in an age when Hindus and
Muslims shared common saints, dargahs and even popular gods and
goddesses. Written accounts of this age – the mid to late 19th century
– relate how intimate co-exitence of “Mussalmans” and “Hindoos” had
led to a relative amalgamation of customs among the common people. And
poets like Ghalib could see the commonalities of spiritual streams:
In the Kaaba I will play the shankh (conch shell)
In the temple I have draped the ahraam (Muslim robe)
The verse above delineates the Sufi concept of fana (or dissolution of
the self in divine reality) and the unity articulated by the ancient
Indian texts such as the Vedanta. Sufis were to elaborate this as the
wahdat-al-wajood (Unity of Being) philosophy.
Ghalib’s vision of a secular man and society were therefore largely
shaped by the crystallisation of a centuries’ long evolution of co-
existence, of a culture that was inclusive and beyond the rigidities
imposed by clergies. When still in his teens, Ghalib moved to Delhi
from Agra. A proud descendant of Turkish ancestors, Ghalib was a
phenomenal mind and a poet gifted with boundless imagination. Through
his life he suffered financial insecurities that made him look for
patronage first at the Mughal Court and later from the British
Government. However, his poetic imagination blossomed and his mastery
over the craft and soul of Urdu ghazal is universally acknowledged.
Persian is no longer an accessible language for most readers in India
and Pakistan. Ghalib was proud of his Persian verse. This is why the
discovery of a lesser known Persian mathnavi (a long rhymed poem),
Chiragh-e-Dair (the temple lamp), has left me amazed at the range of
his vision and the integrity of his intellect. Ghalib’s modern Indian
biographer, Pavan Varma, has produced a competent English translation
of this Persian mathnavi in Ghalib: the Man and the Times .
Translations never do justice to the originals, but the grandeur of
Ghalib’s thought process has not been lost in this translation.
May Heaven keep the grandeur of Benaras
Arbour of this meadow of joy;
For oft returning souls – their journey’s end.
In this weary Temple land of the world,
Safe from the whirlwind of Time,
Benaras is forever Spring.
This poem was written when Ghalib broke his journey to Calcutta at
Benaras. Benaras, or Varanasi, is a revered site in Hinduism, believed
to be where time originated. Varanasi is also sacred in the Buddhist
scriptures, as well as in the great Hindu epic of Mahabharata . Dotted
with ancient temples and ghats , the embankments along the river
Ganges have attracted millions of pilgrims for centuries. Ghalib’s
journey to Calcutta was made with the intent to petition the British
authorities for the resumption of his royal pension, which had ended
with the Mughal rule in India. Ghalib resided in Benaras for a month
or so and imbibed the temporal and spiritual beauties of this ancient
city.
The masnavi in a symbolic way cites Kashi as Kaabaa-e-Hindustan,
something that clerics in India and Pakistan would not tolerate in the
21st century.
The Kaaba of Hind;
This conch blowers dell;
Its icons and idols are made of the Light,
That once flashed on Mount Sinai.
These radiant idolations naids,
Set the pious Brahmins afire, when their faces glow
Like moving lamps…on the Ganges banks.
It is incredible that a Muslim poet who prided himself on his Turkic
ancestry and invoked the “warrior” past in his day-to-day conversation
(through his letters) could compare the divine light at Mount Sinai to
the lamps at Benaras. This is a poem of extraordinary beauty, of
cultural grace that romanticises Ganga (Ganges River), Kashi (another
name for Benaras) and their magnificence through a unique set of
images:
Morning and Moonrise,
My lady Kashi,
Picks up the Ganga mirror
To see her gracious beauty,
Glimmer and shine.
Later in the mathnavi, the poet questions a “pristine seer” who knows
the “secrets” of whirling time: “Sir, you will perceive/ That goodness
and faith, fidelity and love/Have all departed from the sorry land…/
Brother fights brother./Unity and federation are undermined./ Despite
these ominous signs/ Why has doomsday not come?”
The seer rather poignantly points towards Kashi and smiling gently
tells the restive poet that the “Architect,” is fond of Kashi’s
edifice that is the source of all colour in life; and He would not
like it to “perish and fall.” And the pride of Benaras soars to an
eminence, “untouched by the wings of thought.” This was not the first
or the last poem to be inspired by the ambiance of Benaras but for a
Muslim poet to compose it was phenomenal. I wonder if today such
lyricism and cultural inclusiveness is even remotely achievable by any
poet of the subcontinent.
Admittedly Ghalib’s unconventional views were not fully shared by many
Muslims. However, if there was lack of tolerance, it would have been
impossible for Ghalib to loudly proclaim his views and retain the
immense following in Delhi and outside.
Pavan Varma, the translator and biographer, further tells us: “In a
time of fundamental discordance with his views, it may not have been
possible for a Hindu, Munshi Hargopal Tufta to become Ghalib’s
foremost Shagird [pupil] and closest friend. Not would it have been
possible for Ghalib to declare another Hindu – Shivji Ram Brahman – to
be like a son to him; or for the Mughal emperor of his age, Bahadur
Shah Zafar, to appoint a Hindu convert to Christianity – Dr. Chaman
Lal as his personal physician.”
Such times can only be imagined like the long-lost tales from a Never-
never-land. This is an age of terror, profiling and fracturing of what
was created by a millennium of cultural accords and understanding.
And there is no Ghalib to inspire and reclaim the music of human
coexistence.
Raza Rumi is a regular writer and blogs at RazaRumi.com. This article
was first published at The Friday Times.
Photo: Banaras Ghats
bademiyansubhanallah
Beyond Borders – With Shubha Mudgal And Tina Sani
By Raza Rumi 450 views Published: September 3,
2008
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Days after the recent skirmishes at the Line of Control, when the
composite dialogue between India and Pakistan was threatened, an
alternative reconciliation was underway in Lahore. Music became the
metaphor of shared ground between the two countries, challenging
divides between them that can become violent.
Lahore hosted the legendary vocalist Shubha Mudgal for a few days. The
crusade launched by Beyond Borders Television, a production house and
sister company of The Friday Times and Good Times, is a unique
development in Pakistan’s media world. It is Beyond Borders’ mission
statement to produce programming for regional channels that promotes
understanding between peoples. Undaunted by visa restrictions and
overcoming official barriers, Beyond Borders organised Mudgal’s visit
to Lahore to record a tripartite discussion between Mudgal, Tina Sani
and Jugnu Moshin, the compere.
The night before the recording, there was a get-together at the home
of Jugnu Mohsin and Najam Sethi. It was a typical July evening, marked
by the promising stillness of the monsoon. The fragrance of tuberoses,
motia and lillies had made the atmosphere surreal and when the power
breakdown happened, and candles were lit, it was like a slice out of
some previous age. This was also the day of my homecoming: I had
returned to Lahore after a year. I recalled a fleeting meeting with
Mudgal in Delhi that had left an indelible impression of her
unassuming and cheerful personality. The possibility of meeting Mudgal
again on the day the exile returned to his country was the best of
surprises. In the bargain, spending time with Tina Sani was a great
bonus.
Khalid Ahmed, executive director of Beyond Borders and a man who has
won his spurs both as a theatre artist, director and screen actor, was
in Lahore from Karachi to oversee the recording. When I entered Jugnu
Mohsin’s living room, he was sitting there with his full head of
silver hair all askance as in the famous Einstein look. There was also
a sprinkling of Lahore’s literati and intelligentsia, the
proliferation of which has lagged behind annual population growth
rates. One of the tragedies of Lahore since the time of General Zia ul
Haq has been the inwardness of the public intellect and its retreat
into private spaces, that is until the 2007 lawyers’ movement that has
hopefully changed the contours of public life for time to come. The
varied guest list was eclectic: Pakistan’s premier historian, Ayesha
Jalal; the incisive writer Ahmed Rashid; and the famous British
journalist Christina Lamb were present. Lamb, with her long
association with Pakistan was as dismayed as the rest of us with the
rise and rise of extremism in the once peaceful land of the Indus, at
how those taking the name of Allah had decided to appoint themselves
His representatives and had reached the precincts of Peshawar. These
are bizarre times, full of cacophonous constructions of discourses,
jihads and nationalisms.
Ghazala Rahman and Nuscie and Jeelo Jamil joined the gathering later,
to be followed by the dynamic Principal of the National College of
Arts, Naazish Ataullah. Also present were the exuberant young Mira
Sethi and her friend Hira Nabi; and thus the reception of Shubha
Mudgal was not restricted to the fast-fossilizing intelligentsia of
the older generations.
The overdose of camera flashes amid the dim lighting indicated that
Mudgal had arrived. Flanked by Tina Sani and accompanied by a music
devotee from Karachi, Dr Ghazala Aziz, Shubhaji made a graceful
entrance. Dressed in an understated sari, she sported a mangal sutara
as her only piece of jewelry, a stark contrast to the ostentatious
display popular on this side of the border. Smiling effusively and
doing her namastes and handshakes with a personal touch, here was a
legend of our times, a voice that is already in conversation with
immortality.
Shubha Mudgal is a diva of Hindustani classical music and its myriad
genres such as Khayal, Thumri, and Dadra among others. Of late she has
also espoused modernity and dabbled in popular Indian pop music; this
has not pleased all the puritans of music but has provided the youth
of the Subcontinent with access to her majestic voice.
Shubha Mudgal was born in 1959 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Her
parents, professors of English literature, were ensconced deeply in
the classical Hindustani music tradition as well as in Kathak. Mudgal
was made to learn Kathak initially, though later she devoted herself
to learning classical music. It was her first guru, Pandit Ram Ashreya
Jha in Allahabad, who chiseled her talent and instilled rigour and
patience into Mudgal. Later she also learnt with the maestros Pandit
Vinaya Chandra Maudgalya and Pandit Vasant Thakar in Delhi, Pandit
Jitendra Abhisheki, Naina Devi, and Pundit Kumar Gandharva. Thus she
has had the best musical training and developed her unique style
perfecting various musical forms. Mudgal recounted these stages of her
training when she addressed her Lahori admirers, who listened to her
with respect and a fondness that is usually expressed for long lost
friends.
In Lahore, Mudgal appeared comfortably at home. Perhaps this is
because of the Delhi mood that Lahore shares, for reasons of history
and a shared culture that refuses to dissipate despite the partition
of 1947. The home-cooked dinner, sensitive to Mudgal’s vegetarianism,
was a chance for a breather before this little gathering picked up.
Tina Sani is the other star who attracted the attention of the guests
at the mehfil. Tina’s is also an unassuming persona, charming in
manner; her large, intelligent eyes support her conversation.
Within minutes, the dining room was converted into a small arena of
interaction, of spontaneous musical renditions and of fascinating
discussions. Some were seated on sofa chairs while others sat on the
floor continuing the exchange on India, Pakistan, music and all that
is common to the two countries. Indeed, Pakistanis and Indians can be
most gracious as hosts and guests, and the camaraderie expressed could
not be ignored by the visitors from the West, Christina Lamb and her
colleague Justin.
Mugdal was requested by Khalid Ahmed to sing; and this began an
endless series of lilting melodies, a collage of the best of her
thumris and geets including the famous line, “laga chunri mein daagh,”
from the film with the same title. She sang from her soul and left
everyone spellbound. Tina Sani sang her hallmark Faiz’s poem “Bahaar
ayee (spring arrives), but her most captivating rendition was a
wistful ghazal by Bahadur Shah Zafar where he laments the beloved
streets and forgotten faces of pre-1857 Delhi. Sani was superb as she
sang this, and the reaction she elicited had everything to do with the
precariousness of genteel life in today’s Pakistan.
And then she sang “Bahaar aye” which lifted everyone’s spirits. Hope,
as they say, sprang eternal. Conversation then veered towards the
modernist interpretation of Faiz’s poetry by Tina Sani as she brought
a new sensibility to her renditions with the outstanding compositions
of Arshad Mahmood. Sani recalled how she had never known Faiz as a
person but her interaction with him had started through his poetry and
her own readings of the great poet.
I asked Shubha Mudgal to sing a few lines from the Sufi ghazals that
she had rendered at the famous Jashn-i-Khusrau concerts in Delhi. The
fulsome nature of Mudgal’s voice is well suited to the soulfulness of
Sufi poetry. We were told how Mudgal had been taught by her Guruji to
consider music and devotion inseparable realities. Small wonder that
she turned to mystical compositions across religious divides.
Shubha Mudgal has over time proven her versatility and eagerness to
experiment. This is why Sufi chants have relevance for her. In fact
the roots of Hindustani classical music are located in the shrines of
India, especially in the bold new phase initiated by Amir Khausrau and
his patronage of Qawwali. The melodies and innovations of Amir Khusrau
were to shape the future of classical music, especially the ascendancy
of the Khayal style in the Mughal era.
Mudgal had sung Ghoom tana with Salman Ahmed of Junoon; the central
motif of the spinning wheel represents divine motion. Her solo album
The Awakening also contains a few Sufi melodies, testifying to
Mudgal’s belief that there is an intrinsic link between all forms of
music. Ali Moray Angana and Kar Sajda are therefore melodies that are
not only relevant to Muslims and their belief systems but central to
the ethos of Hindustani classical music as well.
This was a splendid evening that became more memorable when Jugnu
Mohsin spoke of her own adulation for Farida Khanum and all the
stories of her personal musical evolution. Naazish Ataullah also
shared her childhood memories of the centrality of music in her daily
life, narrating tales of eccentric Ustads; of migrant relatives from
India who came with nothing except their highly developed musical
tastes and talents; and of how an age intertwined with music and
musical training crumbled after 1947.
But music, the great uniter, is eternal. It has acquired newer
dimensions and forms; though this centuries old classical music
requires patronage as well as a renewed interest from all walks of
life. This is why Beyond Borders has undertaken the momentous task of
bridging divides, reclaiming shared heritages, and contributing to the
transformation of the Subcontinent into a region where musical notes
may eventually subdue martial tunes.
Photo: Shubha Mudgal
Originally posted at RazaRumi.com.
bademiyansubhanallah
Review: Jodha Akbar
By Raza Rumi 2,156 views Published: March 31,
2008
(9 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
The challenge of translating a historical era into a cinematic
endeavour is daunting, especially when it concerns historically
contested subjects such as the fabled love between 16th century Mughal
Emperor Akbar and Jodha Bai, the legendary princess from Rajputana who
later ruled India as Empress and symbolised the Hindu-Muslim accord of
the times. However, it is not historical accuracy, or lack thereof,
which defines the rather exasperating cinematic narrative of an
otherwise glorious period of the subcontinent’s history. It is the
facile treatment of history, its interpretative variants and its
actors that makes the Bollywood film Jodhaa-Akbar a disappointment.
Akbar’s reign symbolised the zenith of the Mughal Empire and also some
of its unique attributes. Whether it was the secular, tolerant
governance based on the Sulah-i-Kul (peace with all) policy, opening
up the frontiers of theological discussion, effective administrative
systems or promotion of Indo-Mughal art forms, Akbar was a pioneer in
most respects.
Jodhaa-Akbar attempts to capture the essence of that particular
moment: the Indianisaton of the Mughal court and most importantly, the
royal household. Whether it is to do with the grafting of a temple
within the Agra fort or the introduction of vegetarian meals, these
were significant markers for centuries to come, enabling a tiny Muslim
minority to rule the non-Muslim majority. But the film fails to handle
this momentous phase of history appropriately and instead churns out a
masala mix that, despite the massive budget, results in mediocre film-
making.
This is not to say that the film is without merit. It is visually
stunning in places and A R Rehman’s music is outstanding. The two
stars – Ashwariya Rai and Hrithik Roshan – provide glamour and unreal
beauty. The settings are competently improvised and yes, the feel of
the whole cinematic experience does convey the clichéd Mughal aura of
splendour, excess and a hybrid aesthetic. Rai and Roshan exude that
enigmatic chemistry which makes them an attractive pair on screen.
But it is the treatment of the subject, characters and nuances that
disappoints, especially when one remembers director/producer Ashutosh
Gowariker’s earthy and under-your-skin rendition in Swades . In the
pursuit of commercial success, Ashutosh relies on soft plagiarism. The
battle scenes remind one of the Hollywood blockbuster Troy; the
inanimate army contingents resemble those in Gladiator; and the sword
fighting sequences re-enact the visual tricks of Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon . But these are all still pardonable.
The most unforgivable moment in the film is the near destruction of an
otherwise lilting melody, Khawaja Meray Khawaja , meant to be an
incantation for the great Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti buried in
Ajmer. The filming of this song is almost farcical. The Qawwals aiming
at Semaend up mimicking the whirling dervishes of Konya. To add insult
to injury, they also wear Rumi caps and sport fake beards. At the end,
our secular Emperor joins in the whirling of the dervishes.
Understandably, this was a purely commercial gimmick. However, the
mystic haal (trance) of the South Asian variety is distinctive for its
myriad forms and general lack of structure. Even if this sequence had
to be used, there could have been better ways of employing the global
‘hit’ whirling stunt.
Another minor anecdote overlooked by Gowariker and his co-writer
Haidar Ali is that Akbar sought blessings from Khawaja Moinuddin
Chishti by walking barefoot to his shrine rather than tying his
nuptial knot at the shrine. Talking of facts, it is also unclear who
Jodha Bai was. Yes there are Jodha’s quarters in each of the Mughal
palaces, but the Rajput princess whom Akbar married, according to some
versions, was Harka Bai, daughter of the ruler of Amber, Raja Bharmal.
To be fair, there are several disclaimers in the titles so one can
overlook this license with history taken by the director.
What is sad is that the script props cardboard characters and insists
that they are larger than life. Not much is known of the relationship
between Akbar’s powerful foster mother Dai Anga and Jodha Bai. But the
characterisation in the film turns into a mocking recreation of Kyunki
Saas bhi Kabhi Bahu thi ethos with domestic struggles taking place on
who controls the kitchen and what food is to be cooked for the
Emperor. The handling of this conflict in the film reeks of those
infamous STAR Plus serials hugely popular in India. If at all, this
conflict was about power as the Rajput Empress (like the later Queen
Nur Jehan) inducted her kith and kin in senior positions within the
Empire. That Dai Anga was a female power centre at the Mughal court is
glossed over. And, what can one say about the poor Nau Ratans — the
famous nine advisers of Akbar – they appear such caricatures and
lifeless beings on screen. Admittedly, the film was not about Akbar’s
court; however, this does not mean that the larger setting of this
love story should have been treated with such an amateur brush.
One fails to understand why the honour-obsessed Rajputs in India are
protesting. If anyone needs to protest it should be the Muslims of the
subcontinent. Except for Akbar and his Persian mother, Hameeda Banu
Begum, the film unwittingly promotes the Muslim stereotyping agenda.
From Bairam Khan to Akbar’s brother-in-law, almost every Muslim is
barbaric, intolerant and, more often than not, scheming. The Mughal
characters were complex people, neither barbaric Mongols nor Kabir
chanting Bhagats. Ancient and medieval Indian history is replete with
tales of violent Hindu rulers, so what differentiates them from the
Mughals? From a subaltern point of view the local populace underwent a
discontinued experience of exploitation. Akbar’s humanism and
tolerance was unprecedented in that age. The film harps on these
themes for a particular message but ends up validating all that the
Hindutva brigade loves to say, and is never afraid to say, about
Muslims and Muslim rulers in particular.
The performances are perfunctory except for the leading protagonists.
Both Roshan and Rai come across as fairly fluid actors and for once do
not massacre common Urdu words such as Khoob and Khush . The
cinematography is first rate and the costumes (including the jewelry)
are aesthetically noteworthy. Alas the script and its structure, is
what undermines the entire effort. Bollywood may have surpassed world
cinema in technique and viewership but it lacks that elusive attribute
known as “quality-screenplay” not to mention its total disregard for
time in true South Asian fashion. For instance, Jodhaa-Akbar at times
appears to be a real time drama. The total length of the film is three
and a half hours. Was there an editor on the team?
Having said that, it is a fairly watchable film as it tries to re-
invoke the medieval process of Hindu-Muslim co-existence; and brings a
lost era back to life. Jodhaa-Akbar also, rather boldly, depicts the
unusual cinematic tale of a Hindu woman falling for a Muslim man,
albeit grounded in political opportunism. Rajput “honour protests”
against the film in India need to be understood in this light. For
once Bollywood has undone the cliché of Muslim woman and Hindu man.
Those interested in the Mughals should see this film preferably on a
big screen. Jodhaa-Akbar could have been a great film. Its main theme
held that intrinsic potential but it was splintered by an overdose of
pop history, a flaky script and the relentless commercialism that
defines our age.
(Initially posted on www.razarumi.com)
bademiyansubhanallah
Journeying Into Mysticism
By Raza Rumi 1,541 views Published: September 19,
2007
(No Ratings Yet)
Guest Post by Raza Rumi
I turn my face towards the monsoon breeze and lament that I’m in Delhi
for work. How will I manage the sightseeing agenda? The faint scent of
champa flowers seems hauntingly familiar and I’m reminded of Lahore.
Despite my efforts, visa hassles and my non-Indo-Pak-peace-brigade
status have prevented this journey from materialising for years.
Driving through Delhi at night, I almost start the litany of
superficial judgments but stop for fear of falling into the abyss of
clichés. Nevertheless, I cannot help but notice the images of exotic
India – or the official Incredible India. Yes, incredible is the word.
The Maurya Sheraton hotel is a haven of comfort totally removed from
the real Delhi world. This is what I resent about luxury hotels in
developing countries: the sense of disconnectedness, the ultimate
denial of what lies beneath. Maurya is packed with party-hoppers –
there is a huge weekend bash at the hotel. The Delhi party-goers are
far more free-spirited than the Pakistani lot. They appear at ease
with what they wear and do, and conduct themselves in a remarkably
unselfconscious manner. The hotel driver, Uttam Ram, warned me that
the ‘real’ India is different, that this crowd is too Westernised and
the influence of Bollywood is to be blamed. . . but how can I agree? I
live on Bollywood myself. The journey has been too long and that first
night in Delhi, I crash on the huge four-poster bed. I am not a party
boy after all!
Sunday morning passes in work – yes, I work on Sundays and have often
thought of killing myself for accepting such terms in my mortal life.
After an afternoon nap, I wake up to a sense of regret for having
wasted a day in “Dilli.��? I get in touch with Sadia Dehalvi, hoping
for her company during my visit to Nizamuddin Auliya’s tomb. She is
already planning to go there and we plan to meet a little before
sunset.
I reach Mathura Road in an hour and soon find myself wading through
its distinctly medieval ambience: labyrinthine alleys, crowds of
beggars and street-vendors, a ‘bazaar’ mood. To my delight, I spot a
sign pointing towards Ghalib’s mazaar . This is a traditionally Muslim
area: there are several signs offering Umra packages and most signs
are in Urdu. The stereotype of suffering Indian Muslims gains currency
here. I try not to notice all that and walk around until I find
Ghalib’s mazaar . Having being fixated on Ghalib and his poetry for
the better part of my life, I am a little disappointed by the matter-
of-factness of the place. Even though the tomb has recently been
renovated after a court order, it is quite low-key. Nevertheless, the
area retains a unique atmosphere and the building itself is somewhat
alluring. Near it is the Ghalib Academy, but I rush to Nizamuddin’s
dargah and follow the scent of desi roses until I find my way to the
tomb.
As I wait for Sadia, I muse about her varied talents, from photography
to acting, music to publishing. Khushwant Singh devoted a book to her,
announcing that she has earned much notoriety for him, but it might be
the other way round since Sadia also appears in Singh’s infamous Men
and women in my life . We share the gateway to Islam, since our
respective families were converted by Hazrat Shamsuddin of Multan
while our ancestors travelled to perform pagan rites. Sadia is a scion
of the Dehalvi khandaan , publishers of Shama , an Urdu language
monthly that achieved great popularity even in Pakistan. Shama was
closed some time ago and the majestic Dehalvi house was sold to a
popular party representing the interests of scheduled castes in the
United Provinces, but the Dehalvis retain their verve and sense of
humour. The miniscule Muslim intelligentsia has integrated well in a
rapidly changing India.
Sadia and I meet outside Nizamuddin’s tomb, where a qawali is being
performed in the courtyard and hundreds of people of all faiths are
present. While I imbibe this dramatic setting, Sadia introduces me to
the local sajjada nasheen – Sadia and her family are life long
devotees and know everyone there. I’m ushered into the tomb and follow
the motions: there is extended duaa and I am presented with a chaddar
(in fact the chaddar is tied around my head, to the envy of many other
visitors). Here, one can sense a truly profound mood – perhaps because
the interior is so quiet, despite the human traffic.
I am curious to find out about Amir Khusrau’s tomb, Nizamuddin’s most
prominent devotee who lies buried in the same compound. What a place
this must have been, given the deep effect it had on language,
multicultural and interfaith communication and the evolution of north
Indian musicology. I’m suddenly overwhelmed by this place’s history
and all that I have read on this particular era.
Princess Jehan Ara, Shah Jehan’s daughter and Dara Shikoh’s
confidante, is also buried in the same compound. Her tomb is a small,
elegant chamber made of polished white marble with delicately carved
latticework. The epitaph is exciting indeed: Let naught but green
grass cover my grave / For mortals poor it’s a grave-cover brave .
Jehan Ara was a poet herself and has several diwans to her credit.
Like Dara Shikoh, Jehan Ara’s character encompassed a deep strain of
mysticism, a passionate and abiding love for the Chishti saints of
India, especially Khwaja Moinuddin of Ajmer, whose tomb she expanded
and biography she authored. Like Shah Jehan, she created many gardens
and buildings – Delhi’s Chandni chowk was her brainchild. Jehan Ara
and Dara were both losers in the grand battle between orthodoxy and
syncretic Indo-Muslim culture. The struggle is not over, I remind
myself. Lahore again intrudes on my thoughts: these royal children
were inspired by Lahore’s Sufi saint Mian Mir . . . dear old locality
of Mian Mir and the canal with those stunning jacaranda trees.
Recently, the French archaeologist/novelist Lyane Guillaume re-
launched princess Jehan Ara in India and the West through the novel
Jahanara . There has been some controversy about the historical
narration since the novel is nuanced with incestuous references to the
affinity between Jehan Ara and Shah Jehan on the one hand and the
latter’s love for a female domestic attendant on the other. Guillaume
might have been carried away a little whilst applying the Electra
complex and modern theories regarding human sexuality to the Mughal
royals; but then, the Mughals were no regular types either!
Sadia interrupts my musings and her 12-year old son Arman – who is a
veritable musical genius – asks me several questions about his
brothers in Karachi who are my dear friends. Sadia cracks a joke about
Mohammad Shah Rangeela, who got a place for his tomb in the Nizamuddin
sanctuary mainly because he was emperor until Nadir Shah looted Delhi.
His tomb is desolate and not a single candle burns there. We then move
to Pir Hasnain, who offers us masala chips and a much needed cup of
tea. Being Pakistani, I am the recipient of some attention from the
visitors at his gaddi . I get a sense of what is likely to come – my
exotic Pakistani identity, questions on Musharraf, jihad, burqas and
the Bollywood stereotype regarding Muslims. I pander to this discourse
as far as possible until I can take it no more, reminding myself that
Pakistani textbook representations of the wily, untrustworthy Hindu
are mirror images of this syndrome.
Qawali resumes after Maghrib prayers and the place echoes with lyrics
reminding me of dil-e-deewana-i-Khusrau . Eminent filmmaker Muzaffar
Ali has turned Jashn-i-Khusrau into an international Sufi music event,
and a few days later, Sadia makes me buy all the Jashn CDs, though I
need little enough encouragement. I’ve immersed myself in the
adulation of Khusrau since I became familiar with Urdu and Persian
poetry; his contribution to the evolution of Urdu and modern
Hindustani is still under-acknowledged. He was truly avant-garde,
using modern idiom and imagery in medieval India. Later at home, Arman
sings for us: Jiss sawan mein piya ghar naheen / Aag lagay uss sawan
ko . A star in the making, he will graduate in music at the age of
fourteen. I tell Sadia to do an anti- nazar totem to ward off the evil
eye and we share a laugh, but not at the ludicrousness of the idea
because she will do it!
In a while, we all are devouring Al-Kausar (a posh dhaaba ) karoli
kebabs under a pipal (poplar) tree. Pipal trees are readily turned
into pooja sites but this one has been spared – perhaps too much meat
is consumed around here – another problem for the RSS but then, India
belongs to all Indians.
A few days later, I tell my workmate of the 22 khawajas buried under
Delhi’s soil and the very central role this place has performed in the
growth of Sufism in South Asia. My colleague is a little nonplussed as
I hold forth, declaring that Delhi is a grand Muslim resource centre.
By now, I have made an early morning dash to the Lodhi gardens and
walked around the Humayun’s enchanting tomb. My fascination with the
saints has not ended and on Thursday I find myself at the dargah of
Khawaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki. Aibak was a mureed (disciple) of the
saint Khawaja, after whom he named the Qutub Minar. Quite
appropriately, the dargah is next to Qutub Minar in the
quintessentially medieval Mehrouli area. Bahadur Shah Zafar also built
a new residential palace here.
Khawaja Kaki is the Qutub-ul-Aqtaab or Qutub of all Qutubs. He
mentored both Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar of Pakpattan and Nizamuddin
Auliya and therefore, has a central status in the Chishtiya line of
sufism . His dargah is patently more sombre than Nizamuddin’s, with
heavy air frozen in time. The rare treat is the unchanged
architectural character – the alleys, tombs and arches are all
reminiscent of the Sultanate or early Mughal style. The mazaar
compound has four banyan trees at each corner of the square and the
mazaar is protected by just a canopy standing on marble pillars. The
pre- Maghrib dua was read in Persian, not Arabic – “He is the leader
of the saints and servant of the poor.��? Simply astounding! In
Pakistan, Khuda Hafiz has been thrown out by PTV and Ziaist mores. It
has been almost twenty years since the heyday of the ‘piety’ driven
cultural purge in the dear homeland.
We sit for some time in a medieval hujra to eat the langar daal and
rotees . According to popular lore, Khwaja’s miracle was the creation
of kakis or small baked pieces of bread that he could cobble from
nothingness. My companions, the Dehalvis, are frequent visitors and
have renovated a hujra that was occupied by a devotee of the Khawaja.
We say the farewell salaam and the shrine manager enters like a king –
repeating the age-old practice of local royalty bowing before the
Sufis with people’s power. We walk towards the Qutub Minar and I find
the place, the mood and ambience quite delightful. Noting the locale,
several Delhi designers and artists have bought property in the area
and a popular, chic Italian restaurant is also located here.
The next destination is old Delhi. Eating at Kareem’s opposite the
Jamia Masjid is essential to a visit here. There is an old Lahore feel
to the place except that the Urdu is being spoken in several dialects.
I pick up some accents but the others remain elusive. Sarmad the naked
faqir is buried close by, killed on Aurangzeb’s orders for declaring
his Hallajesque identification with divine reality. Other than his
refusal to wear clothes, he was brazenly anti-orthodoxy and made no
bones about his love for the Hindu (male) beloved who made him a
deewana in the first place. Above all, he was revered by the eccentric
Dara Shikoh. How can we blame the righteous Aurangzeb for the judicial
murder? There was apparently a trial of sorts, but dissent has always
been an endangered species in our part of the world.
I think of Dara Shikoh again but refrain from crafting postulates.
Aurangzeb was the victor and sadly, that’s that. Years ago, an
internationally acclaimed bureaucrat turned ‘intellectual,’ compared
the Bhutto-Zia conflict with the Dara-Aurangzeb struggle in a paper
that apparently got him a favourable posting. In 2005, Mulayam Singh
Yadav wants to appease his UP voters by siding with the misogynist
fatwas of the local maulvis. Pandering to extremism for self interest
has been perfected to an art form in India and Pakistan. But the
bhakats , the kabeers and the Sufis are still around, and I am
relieved to remember this. There is still light at the end of the
tunnel. It was on this thought that I left Old Delhi.
An earlier version of this article appeared in the Friday Times,
Pakistan.
bademiyansubhanallah
My Travels to Delhi
By Raza Rumi 1,620 views Published: March 24,
2008
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
When travels come, they come in battalions. Such has been the
trajectory of my recent sojourns to Delhi. Travel to India can be, at
best, random and left to a game of chance, given how the officialdom
on both sides of the border ensures that people don’t cross real and
imagined boundaries. Coincidence, or as my less rational side would
say, the calling of the Delhi and Ajmer Saints, enabled me to land in
Delhi twice in less than three months.
My most recent visit is in some measure courtesy of TFT. My obituary
on Urdu’s towering writer Qurratulain Hyder in TFT last August was
read by the immensely talented Rakshanda Jalil, media coordinator at
Jamia Millia Islamia. A few months later she sent me an invitation to
talk and present a paper at a seminar on the legacy of Qurratulain
Hyder. There was no way that I could have refused this invite. Ms
Hyder is my all time favourite writer; Delhi, an incomparable city to
visit; and above all the opportunity to explore Jamia, a historical
seat of learning associated with luminaries such as Maulana Azad and
Dr Zakir Hussain could not be missed.
Delhi is not an ordinary South Asian metropolis. Its present day chaos
cannot belittle its grand past, which created a civilisation and
shaped the contours of Indo-Muslim identity, nourished the Urdu
language, produced the finest verse in Hindustani and Urdu and
fashioned a fabulous architectural legacy. This is why Delhi
fascinates me endlessly. Each time I visit, I find a mohallah of the
old dilli that concerns an important event or personality. Even
better, another hitherto unknown monument is introduced to me; it is
like a newly discovered continuation of an enjoyable book. One has
only to casually drive around the city to find that it is dotted with
monuments. I cannot complain that they are neglected in India;
considering that Pakistan’s mighty administrators erect Shaminaas on
Mughal monuments for personal parties, how can one grumble about the
infidel neighbours!
But Delhi is not a city of the dead and tombstones only. It is a mega-
city alive with countless sub-cultures, languages and religions
converging and conflicting at once. The partition has made Delhi into
a hub for Punjabi immigrants as well, bringing a new dimension to the
culture – not to mention hippie haunts such as Pahar Ganj or the hip
Hauz Khas that boast art, fashion and contemporary sensibilities.
However, all of this does not do much for me. I’d rather be elsewhere
for contemporary sounds and flavours.
My Delhi is the Delhi of the Khawajas, the Mughals and the present day
secular Indians – Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – who respect the separate
identity of Pakistan and are willing to befriend a Pakistani bloke
without reminding him ad nauseam that his country is an artificial
construct – a blot on the soul of mother India. For me, Delhi is the
fascinating mix of places I love to visit and a handful of people who
are warm and intelligent, profound, often unassuming and otherwise
extraordinary in so many ways.
The Nizamuddin neighbourhood, close to the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin
Auliya and a medieval settlement, is my microcosm of Delhi. Despite
the exponential increase in the population, this area retains an
ambiance that narrates the changing seasons of history. There are
numerous monuments scattered around the area and it’s a splendid
feeling to buy a phone card while standing next to Humayun’s tomb or
pick up flowers in front of a medieval noble’s tomb. Not to mention
that each time you cross the road, you’re crossing a few 700-year-old
structures. The drama, poetry and poignancy of the setting cannot be
missed.
As you walk under the shade of old trees from the Nizamuddin East
towards the shrine in the western side of the settlement, the antidote
to affluent gated communities merges into the palpable reality of
Muslim ghettoisation. The old bastee of Nizamuddin houses a community
that has withdrawn into itself and is reeling under a psychological
siege, closing its ranks to the outside world – including modernity
and education. Nevertheless, I love the bastee as it reminds me of old
Lahore. But here the moods of old Lahore have Ghalib’s tomb, footsteps
of Amir Khusrau and the spellbinding aura of Nizamuddin Auliya’s
shrine.
After a quick halt at Ghalib’s lonesome tomb, I always stop at the
Ghalib Academy – a low-key little organisation – next door to check if
there are any new titles or scheduled gatherings. It is a separate
matter that the wine loving Ghalib’s mazar now faces the Indian
Tableeghi Jamaat’s main office in Delhi, where many brethren drunk on
piety loiter about. This time I found Annemarie Schimmel’s A dance of
sparks: Imagery of fire in Ghalib’s poetry at the Ghalib Academy for
Rs 150. Books are published and read in India and affordable prices
are a major incentive for the huge middle class readership. And there
are bookstores that can keep one entertained for days – old and new,
light and heavy, from the banal to the highbrow.
One can walk into the medieval lanes of the bastee where all sorts of
new-age healers have advertised their little spiritual shops. Not an
unfamiliar sight, except that the setting is marvelous. Customarily,
you need to pay respects to Amir Khusrau, inventor of the idiom that
North India and Pakistan speak, before reaching Nizamuddin’s shrine.
There are quite a few intermediaries out to make a quick buck and you
can be stopped a few times to be initiated into a list of rituals that
have to be performed – for money, of course. Luckily, I don’t go there
alone and am hence typically saved of the hassle, but I have been
through it a few times.
In the evenings, qawwals from far and wide perform on a regular basis.
The courtyard turns into a captivating place with hundreds of people
of all religions, castes and ethnicities participating and swooning in
the mehfil. Unpretentious, earthy and undeniably real.
Nizamuddin’s compound houses the grave of Jahan Ara, the spirited
daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan and sister of the eclectic prince Dara
Shikoh. A devotee of the Sufis, Jahan Ara was a poet, a builder, a
city planner and a woman of letters. Jahan Ara created the famous
Chandni chowk, laying out the buildings, canals and a garden around
it. Delhi was ruled and bejeweled by such fabulous characters. As for
the present, let me cite an anecdote. My dear friend, Vidya Rao, a
thumri singer par excellence, found her cat at Nizamuddin. She adopted
the lost cat, named her “Sufi” for the dargah at which she was found
and took her to her house, next to the shrine of H Bakhtiyaruddin
Kaki.
The little compound at the shrine encapsulates eight centuries of
history, empire, movements, musical innovations and poetic
sensibilities that thrive even today. I have also recently discovered
the Sufi Inayat Khan Centre, a hub for the international Sufi network,
next to Nizamuddin dergah. This is a serene place with impressive
facilities. As opposed to the common moorings of Nizamuddin, Inayat
Khan Centre is more exclusive with many European and North American
visitors staying or meditating in their little chambers. Music also
holds a central position within the activities of Sufi Inayat Khan
Centre.
Of course, this is merely a fraction of Delhi’s immense character. But
this is how I like to spend my time there. Not unlike most cultural
capitals, Delhi is abuzz with “events.” The exclusive India
International Centre has become the fulcrum of literary and artistic
events. It has a brilliant library and various places to meet, eat and
chat. The little intellectual island within an endless city endears to
residents and visitors alike.
A lot happens elsewhere too, in somewhat less lofty precincts. This
December, I marched with a rally from Chandni Chowk to Ghalib’s Haveli
in the famous Mohalla Balimaran. This procession was led by none other
than the inimitable poet Gulzar who had flown from Bombay to attend
the birthday celebrations of Mirza Ghalib. Such was the charisma of
Gulzar that Delhi’s Chief Minister was just another guest at the
event. Several Urdu wallahs , an endangered species in India, were
also there in achkans, carrying their lost glory and forsaken dreams.
Ghalib’s brilliant biographer Pavan Verma introduced me to Gulzar –
and what an exciting moment that was. The Haveli was adorned for the
occasion and the hip-hop reporters from the TV channels kept asking
why Galib-ji was so great. In the post-ceremony mayhem, yours truly
was also asked to speak. It was my first TV appearance – on Ghalib’s
humanism, relevance and universal appeal. Not bad, I thought then. God
knows how it appeared as I never got to see it.
Before Ghalib, Delhi was synonymous with Mir Taqi Mir and his timeless
verse. The oft quoted couplets where Mir complains of Delhi’s
destruction cited the city as Aalam mein Intikhaab, the chosen city of
the world, ruined by the vagaries of time. I am glad that Mir Saheb is
no more as he would have disapproved of what old Delhi has become – an
inferno of a time-trapped Muslim underclass, where Urdu is evidently
on the defensive.
Old Delhi, with the Jama Masjid as its landmark, intensely engages the
visitor. The names of the streets haven’t changed and classic Delhi
cuisine – nihari, kebabs and mutton mixes – is outstanding. The
rickshaw pullers, vendors, beggars and the poor largely represent the
local Muslim population. And now the Jamia Masjid might have a mall in
the vicinity that land developers are keen to build and mosque
administrators eager to support. At the end of the day, globalisation
is all about getting rich, even if it means only a handful enjoys the
fruits of “development.”
Sarmad the naked fakir was also a resident of Old Delhi and is buried
there. Beheaded by Aurangzeb for being blasphemous, naked and defiant,
Sarmad’s tomb is befittingly red and flaming. One has to visit the
place to feel what mood it holds: it borders on the surreal. It was
unlike anything that I had ever experienced.
As I mentioned earlier, during my last visit I was a guest at Jamia
Millia Islamia for the seminar on Urdu writer Qurratulain Hyder’s
legacy. Jamia retains its secular credentials but has expanded over
time into a wide-ranging centre of graduate and post-graduate studies.
India’s eminent historian Mushirul Hasan is Jamia’s current vice-
chancellor and has consolidated Jamia into a formidable institution.
Mushir is a prolific writer and quite an inspiring figure.
My paper at Jamia dealt with the enigma of Hyder’s dual belonging and
her popularity among Pakistani readers. She lived in India, but was
immensely popular as she presented an alternative view of history and
selfhood. Hyder remained a unique bond between India and Pakistan
until she died. She was a regular visitor in Pakistan, her second home
in actual terms. Her family, friends and admirers never distanced her
from Pakistan. Like her characters, she travelled, migrated and re-
migrated and became a chronicler of our times, not as a historian but
as a fiction writer. I concluded my talk at Jamia with these words:
“Hyder was truly a dual citizen in an age where acrimonies of
Partition and officialdom have made it impossible to hold concurrent
citizenships. But Qurratulain Hyder even defied that; and proved that,
like her vision, her belonging could be concurrent and beyond the
accepted definitions.”
Indeed that was possible only with the stature and immense talent of
Ms Hyder. Lesser mortals will remain hostage to visas and textbook
identities. My Delhi travels are enriching as they lead to a near-
dissolution of the textbook enmities that we had grown up with as the
grandchildren of Partition. It is this reclaiming of my pre-Pakistan,
Muslim and syncretic history that makes Delhi an enchanting place for
me. Each time I am there, I connect with the larger subcontinental
canvas that exists beyond the accepted and myopic definitions of
identity. This is why I am never bored in Delhi; as many Delhi wallahs
can never bore of the charms of Pakistan.
(This post was first published at www.razarumi.com)
bademiyansubhanallah
Authors
Regular Contributors:
Ayub Khan: A freelance journalist and a keen observer of political and
social trends in India and abroad. His articles have appeared in The
Muslim Observer, IslamOnline, Meantime, The News and other newspapers
& journals.
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Kaleem Kawaja: He lives in Washington DC where he is an engineering
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research work on Tablighi Jamaat. Sikand holds a Master’s Degree in
sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and a PhD in
history from the University of London.
Yousuf Saeed: An independent filmmaker and researcher based in Delhi.
He co-directed the science series Turning Point for Doordarshan, and
moved on to make documentaries on a variety of subjects. Some of his
prominent films include Inside Ladakh, Basant, A Life in Science:
Yashpal, and the Train to Heaven which have been shown at numerous
film festivals, academic venues and on TV channels. Besides films and
television, Yousuf also worked for Encyclopedia Britannica (India) as
the Arts Editor. He has been a Sarai Fellow (2004), and an Asia Fellow
(2005). His most recent work is a feature length film Khayal Darpan
about the state of classical music in Pakistan.
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rich city near Lucknow. He is a serial entrepreneur and is currently
based in Dubai.
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Asad Mustafa Rizvi: He is an IIT graduate.
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technology professional. He blogs at Take A Walk.
Bushra: She is from Delhi and has graduated last year from Hansraj
College. She blogs at هو ٿي كل كتب.
Noemaun: Noemaun graduated last year from IIT Madras and is now a
graduate student at RPI. He blogs at Most things in life are free.
Sadia Raval: Sadia lives in Mumbai but thinks all over. Some of her
thoughts can be found at her personal blog Ambiguity Defined and some
of her captures can be seen at her Flick Gallery.
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Dubai. He blogs at Subcoded.
Suhail Kazi: An engineer, Suhail is a Bombayite who works in Texas and
blogs at Imaginathon.
Syed Ali Mujtaba: He is a working Journalist currently based in
Chennai, India. He has earned his PhD, from School of International
studies Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and has authored two
books, “The Demand for Partition of India and British Policy 1940-45,
Mittal publication 2002 and “Soundings on South Asia, New Dawn
publication, 2005. Mujtaba has been doing TV anchoring for http://www.mizzima.tv/
and blogs at Mujtaba Musings.
If you are an Indian Muslim and interested in writing for this blog,
please drop me a mail at editor [at] indianmuslims.in
bademiyansubhanallah
Indian Muslims: Moderation And Extremism
By Asghar Ali Engineer 1,519 views Published: March 16,
2009
(10 votes, average: 2.70 out of 5)
As long as my memory goes I remember Muslims in general and Indian
Muslims in particular, have been criticized for being extremists in
religious matters and though, the criticism went, there are a few
moderate Muslims, they do not take any stand or refuse to stand up and
be counted and always, extremists carry the day. This has been an
unending criticism of Muslims.
It is not that in the past there were no extremists among Hindus. But
they were not so visible and the intellectuals as well as the media
thought that they were liberal and that there may be, of course a few
exceptions. Also, Hindu liberals, unlike the Muslim ones, were not
afraid of taking a stand. These attitudes were, least to say,
historical, apolitical and static. Liberalism and extremism are not,
and cannot be, eternal categories, as often assumed.
Human attitudes cannot remain permanently frozen in one or the other
category. One has to take a dynamic view of the society, as in any
society new realities keep emerging. An extremist today could become a
liberal tomorrow and a liberal today may turn into an extremist in the
coming days. It also depends on political conditions. A politically
dominant community is more likely to be liberal than a politically
suppressed and marginalized community.
It would be wrong to assume that historically Indian Muslims have
been, or at least the dominant trend among them has been, conservatism
or extremism. Indians are inheritors of a very rich syncretic culture,
which would not have been possible without liberal trend among
Muslims. In fact in any religious community there are multiple trends
coexisting in any historical epoch. It depends on our politics as to
which trend we choose to highlight.
Sufis have contributed richly to our sycretic culture and to Indian
Islam. In fact sufi Islam has been a dominant trend in India,
Throughout the medieval ages several regions like Kashmir, Sindh,
Kutch, present regions of Karnataka, Punjab and parts of present day
U.P. and Rajasthan, were highly influenced by sufi culture which was
moderate open and liberal. Even places like Ayodhya and Varanasi had
pockets of sufi culture. Dara Shikoh translated Upanishads into
Persian sitting in Varanasi.
But communal propaganda deliberately ignored this dominant trend and
chose to highlight the role of certain kings like Mahmood Ghazni,
Aurangzeb and others so as to derive political advantage. The
partition of India, which itself was the project of a section of elite
Muslims to retain their political domination, worsened the matter and
Muslims, in majority political parlance came to be associated with
fanaticism and extremism. And the few liberal Muslims they spotted
were also condemned as cowards, unable to take a firm stand.
As stated above extremism is a product not of religion but of
political conditions, Hindu extremism emerged as a strong trend since
mid-eighties of the last century when, due to the emergence of lower
caste Hindus, domination of Brahmanical strata came under severe
threat. Today Hindu extremism of RSS, Bajrang Dal, VHP and BJP itself
is a well-known phenomenon.
I need not dwell upon the spread of this extremism. Minorities are its
target and hundreds of citizens have become the target of its wrath.
Narendra Modis, Bal Thackerays, Singhals and Togadias are dominating
political discourse among Hindutva leaders. Even hundreds of
journalists and intellectuals show contempt for democratic discussions
and basic freedoms. It is not that only minorities suffer from this
intolerant attitude. Hindu secular and liberal elements are too their
target. Mr. Singhal of the VHP threatened Navin Patnaik when he broke
alliance with BJP.
A journalist who claims to be quite fair and objective and keeps on
criticizing Muslim fanaticism and often enters into discussion with me
wrote to me the other day and mark his words: “who is this rascal
Babar to invade India….” This journalist publishes a column regularly
in one of the weeklies and keeps attacking Islam. Thus it will be seen
that fanaticism or extremism is not a religious but political and
social phenomenon and is found in all religious communities of the
world; be they Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians or Muslims.
Indian Muslims do have their quota of extremists and fanatics. But
today in the given conditions, extremists and fanatics are
increasingly being pushed aside, especially in the post-Babri
demolition period. A section of Muslim political and religious
leadership showed extremist attitude during the Shah Bano and Babri
Masjid-Ramjanambhoomi controversy. They adopted a confrontationist
political attitude during those days harming the cause of Muslims.
However, demolition of Babri Masjid and the communal carnage of
Muslims that followed in Mumbai, Surat and several other cities,
marginalized them. They learnt a lesson at a heavy cost and began to
adopt moderation in their attitude. The Hindu militancy totally
subdued them. Muslim masses began to shun extremist leaders and a
section of religious leaders too got the message.
Darul Uloom, Deoband, an important Islamic institution, has always
played important role in Indian Islam in late nineteenth century
onwards and came out sharply against partition of the country and has
adopted even more moderate position of late. It is reflected in a
series of sensible fatwas it has issued recently.
When a controversy arose about cow slaughter, especially on Baqar Eid
day when Muslims sacrifice animals, Deoband issued a fatwa that it is
not obligatory on Muslims to sacrifice cow and Muslims should avoid
sacrificing cow on the day of Baqar Eid. It was a very constructive
attitude and with view few exceptions, Muslims generally followed it.
Similarly, recently when Mr. Singhal of VHP demanded that Darul Ulum
declare India to be Darul Aman, Maulana Mahmood Madani readily
declared India Darul Aman silencing Mr. Singhal. It is a different
issue that Mr.Singhal may now raise some other demand. Time alone will
show as what to the next demand he is going to come up with.
Also, Darul Ulum Deoband has strongly and unequivocally condemned
‘jihadism’ of Muslim extremists and militants and Maulana Madani has
denounced it as fasad, not jihad. Fasad which is also used in Hindi/
Urdu, means corruption, disorder and bloodshed. Thus it was an apt
description of ‘jihadism’ of these politically motivated actors. The
Jami’at-ul-Ulama-i-Hind held huge rallies against so called jihad and
denounced it in no uncertain terms. It was once again a very
constructive role played by Jami’at as they had played during
partition movement.
These rallies against ‘jihadism’ have sent a very clear message to
Muslim masses in India not to support directly or indirectly such
killings by invoking religious doctrine much misunderstood and
corrupted in political sphere. These rallies are still continuing,
though they are not always covered by the mainstream media.
Recently Darul Uloom has issued yet another fatwa after the general
elections were announced which is quite helpful for secular democratic
values in India. The fatwa says that Indian Muslims should vote but
not on the basis of religion. The fatwa further says, “The vote should
not be kept back. One should vote for the party and the leader that is
better and works in favour of Muslims and the country. India is a
secular democratic country. Hence it is out of place to look at its
politics in Islamic perspective and test the parties and political
leaders on Islamic principles”, the fatwa says. This is yet again a
constructive approach to promote secularism and secular values in the
country. Today our voting takes place blatantly on the basis of caste
and religion. One hopes Muslims will follow this sensible advice.
It should also not be construed to mean that there are no other trends
among Indian Muslims. There are extremists and militants, for sure.
However, this moderate trend is emerging as a very important trend and
is represented by one of the most prestigious Islamic seminaries in
India. It is also to be noted that even this seminary continues to be
quite rigid on certain other questions like women’s rights etc. But it
is a different question.
This fatwa, along with others referred to above, sends an important
message to Indian Muslims: it is secular democracy which ensures peace
security and progress and that religious extremism and extremist
politics based on that is totally destructive of all human values. Let
us remember it is secular democracy, which has cemented our unity
across religions, languages and cultures. Extremism has always tried
to weaken it be it Muslim extremism or Hindu extremism.
Again I would like to emphasize that we should not take a static view
of society, as society is ever changing and frozen attitudes on our
part will not help us understand the complex and dynamic reality
objectively. A social scientist should ever be conscious of these
changes taking place around us. That will help break our prejudices
and help understand each other better.
___________________________________
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
Mumbai.
E-mail: cs...@mtnl.net.in
bademiyansubhanallah
A Crisis Of Faith: 20 Years Of Rushdie Fatwa
By CM Naim 479 views Published: March 9,
2009
(5 votes, average: 3.40 out of 5)
In his Mathnawi the great Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi tells a story
about Moses and a shepherd. Moses happens upon the shepherd and hears
him address God: “If you were here, God, I would serve you. I’d comb
your hair and wash your clothes. I’d kill the lice on your body. I’d
milk my goats and offer you a bowl of fresh milk.” Moses, highly
offended, accuses the shepherd of blasphemy and threatens him into
silence. But then Moses himself is reprimanded by God for coming
between Him and the shepherd, for causing a break instead of a union.
Unfortunately God doesn’t speak to mankind anymore, otherwise I
imagine he would give the same reprimand to those who demand Rushdie’s
head. For The Satanic Verses may rightfully be seen as a “religious”
book, written not out of contempt for the tradition but out of anguish
over it. More than anything, it’s a book about a crisis of faith, a
human condition that is usually not allowed for by those who would
live by the certainty of a distant hell and heaven. Rumi’s shepherd
believed in God and related to Him in the vocabulary of a shepherd;
Rushdie does not believe in God yet feels compelled to try and make,
in what may be called a Rushdie-an manner, a statement of faith. For
Rushdie the opposite of faith is not disbelief. That is “Too final,
certain, closed. Itself a kind of belief.” For him, the opposite of
faith is “Doubt. The human condition…”
Here, I must point out that the first and, in the opinion of some of
the most profound minds in Islam, the greatest such crisis of faith
was faced by Satan when he refused to obey God’s command (as stated in
the Qur’an) to bow before Adam, and thus insisted on retaining the
absolute integrity of his devotion to the One. Satan was punished by
God, but has been celebrated by Sufis such as al-Hallaj (tenth
century) and poets such as Iqbal (twentieth century). Iqbal called
Satan “Lord of the People who Cherish Separation,” and saw in his
rebellion a creative tension.
Rushdie describes his book as an attempt to “give a secular, humanist
vision of the birth of a great world religion.” I have no reason not
to believe him. In fact, I submit that in Rushdie’s own terms,
“Mahound the Prophet” and “Submission the Idea” are not only
triumphant but also worthy of our respect. Repeatedly, various
characters in the book are asked: What kind of idea are you? When you
are weak will you compromise; when you are strong will you be
generous? Abu Simbel, the Grandee of Jahilia and an enemy of Mahound,
answers the first question: “I bend. I sway. I calculate the odds,
trim my sails, manipulate, survive.” Rushdie’s Mahound is also human,
he too has his moment of compromise, the moment of the Satanic Verses,
but then he transcends it and embraces the inevitable.
What is the moment of the Satanic Verses? Al-Lat, Manat and al-Uzza
were three goddesses in pre-Islamic Arabia. Their names occur in the
Qur’an, in chapter 53, verses 19-23, but a story of how those verses
were first revealed and later partly abrogated because they allegedly
contained words favourable to the goddesses, was told by at least one
of the earliest commentators with reference to verse 52 in chapter 22.
The exegist suggests a desire on the part of the Prophet to make Islam
easier for the Meccans, but since Qur’an is the Word of God, he
assigns the effective role to Satan, who, he says, placed the
compromising words on the Prophet’s tongue without his noticing it.
However, a later revelation informed the Prophet of what had happened;
it also abrogated the Satanic words.Most of the later commentators
reject this version, though some of them explain the event by arguing
that Satan only caused the unbelievers to hear those words, that those
words never actually crossed the Prophet’s lips. Contemporary Muslim
scholarship is unanimous in rejecting the entire story; many Western
scholars accept it but do not question the Prophet’s sincerity.
Does Rushdie charge his Mahound with insincerity, does he accuse him
of fraud? This is how Rushdie’s Gibreel explains revelations: “…in
these moments it begins to seem that the archangel is actually inside
the Prophet, I am the dragging in the gut, I am the angel being
extruded from the sleeper’s navel, I emerge, Gibreel Farishta, while
my other self, Mahound, lies , entranced, I am bound to him, navel to
navel, by a shining cord of light, not possible to say which of us is
dreaming the other. We flow in both directions along the umbilical
cord.”
These words contain the empathy of a secular mind, not charges of
deception. To hear those charges, listen to William Muir Esqr. of
Bengal Civil Service in his The Life of Mahomet in 4 volumes,
published in 1858. After recording the incident of the Prophet’s first
revelation, Muir comments: “Thus was Mahomet, by whatever deceptiut
process, led to the high blasphemy of forging the name of God, a crime
repeatedly stigmatized in the Coran itself as the greatest that
mankind can commit” (vol. 2, p. 75).
I bring up William Muir for two reasons. One has to do with Satan.
While discussing the possible explanations of the Prophet’s belief in
his own inspiration, Muir writes, “It is incumbent upon us to consider
this question from a Christian point of view, and to ask whether the
supernatural influence, which appears to have acted upon the soul of
the Arabian Prophet, may not have proceeded from the Evil One and his
emissaries. It is not for us to dogmatize on so recondite and
mysterious a subject; but the views which Christian verity compels us
to entertain regarding the Angel of darkness and his followers, would
not be satisfied without some allusion to the fearful power exrcised
by them, as one at least of the possible causes of the fall of Mahomet
— the once sincere enquirer — into the meshes of deception.”
The Christian polemicist would have Satan as the active cause of all
the revelations; the Muslim exegist assigns only the abrogated words
to Satan’s powers, the rest to Allah through Gibreel; but Rushdie’s
secular purpose is different. Again listen to his Gibreel, who
“hovering-watching from his highest camera angle, knows one small
detail, just one tiny thing that’s a bit of a problem here, namely
that it was me both times, baba, me first and second also me. From my
mouth, both the statement and the repudiation, verses and converses,
universes and reverses, the whole thing, and we all know how my mouth
got worked.”
The second reason I bring up William Muir is that when Sayyid Ahmad
Khan, who single-handedly changed the destiny of Muslim South Asia in
the nineteenth century, read Muir’s book, he did not burn it. Instead,
in 1869, he sailed off to England, spent many months in the British
Museum libraries, wrote a well-documented rejoinder in Urdu, had it
translated into English and then published it from London with his own
money. And if anyone thinks Sayyid Ahmad Khan feared his English
masters they don’t know what they are talking about.
I don’t deny that there are words, actions and images in the book that
would deeply hurt the sentiments of any good Muslim or even of many
good Christians and Jews. Even a dubious Muslim like myself felt
offended several times. If I imagine that God would scold those who
want Rushdie dead, I have no doubt that God would slap Rushdie’s wrist
hard and more than a few times for not being more sensitive to the
sentiments of exactly those whom he wished to champion. But I cannot
question Rushdie’s motives. Anyway, there is a greater issue.
In the early history of Islam, a group of Muslims began to denounce
the first three Caliphs as usurpers, and accused Ayesha of conspiracy
and worse; some of them even suggested that there had been deletions
in the Qur’an. Other Muslims persecuted them. The two groups still
hold to their separate views, but after much killing and conflict have
learned to live with each other. Similarly, while the vast majority of
Muslims insisted on the transcendence of God, a small group found
greater joy in God’s immanence; they sought to unite with Him; one of
them even boldly shouted “I am the Truth.” Many of them were severely
punished; the one who made the bold claim was crucified. But over the
centuries the two groups learned to accept each other. Now, in these
troubled times of ours, a man for whom the God of his tradition is
dead but its historical prophet very much alive, has tried to imagine
a life of the soul incorporating the latter but independent of the
first. What should be done to him? What will be done to him? How will
History judge us in its course?
The Prophet of Islam was very clear in his mind as to which of his
acts and words were “prophetic,” and which “human.” Once, he gave
someone advice concerning horticulture which turned out to be wrong;
he accepted his mistake, and told the man that he was not infallible
in mundane matters. Ordinary Muslims, however, see him as almost
divine, not just free of any sin but devoid of any human weakness at
all. The common Muslim in South Asia does not get his idea of the
Prophet from learned texts; he gets it from themaulood sermons and
popular texts that celebrate the Prophet’s birth. He learns about the
orphan boy who grew up to receiut prophethood, who suffered greatly at
the hands of his enemies but never took revenge, who bore ridicule and
public humiliation without raising a hand to defend himself. The
ordinary Muslim vows in his heart to defend that gentle soul with all
the force at his command. That’s why it is so easy to arouse him in
the Prophet’s name.
I learned about the Prophet from my grandmother, who also had me read
to her some of her favourite books. She told me that when the Prophet
returned to Mecca in triumph he forgave all his former enemies. Now,
as an adult, I read the earliest available biography of the Prophet,
written of course by a Muslim. It confirms what my grandmother had
told me, but it also adds that a few people were in fact ordered by
the Prophet to be killed, including two or three poets, one of whom
was a woman. Does this take anything away from his larger act of
magnanimity? It does not. In fact it underscores his generosity by
bringing it within human dimensions. Now forgiveness becomes something
possible for ordinary mortals like us.
C.M. Naim is Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago. This
presentation was given at a forum at University of Chicago twenty
years back on 10th March 1989 after a fatwa was issued against Salman
Rushdie. Outlook Magazine also republished this article recently at
their website.
Photo: Salman Rushdie
bademiyansubhanallah
Muslims Are In India’s Mainstream
By Kaleem Kawaja 1,336 views Published: March 5,
2009
(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
The Muslim identity of India is a thoroughly Indian identity, very
different from the Islamic identity of other Muslim countries. This
unique Indo-Islamic identity has evolved over centuries of
intermingling of traditions, culture, religion and social contacts.
The influence that practices of other religions had on the Islamic
tradition, and vice-versa also led to the evolution of unique socio-
religious traditions of the Muslims in India.
Indian Muslims draw their traditions from Arabs, Iranians, Turks,
Afghans, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Abyssinians, and most of all from the
traditions of the various regions of India. Indeed the Muslims of
India, who are descendents of the original inhabitants of India for
millennia, are as diverse as India itself.
By the 14th century when Turk kings ruled in the north, India had
become a major center of Islamic learning. What Leonardo da Vinci
represents to European renaissance, Amir Khusrou represents to Indian
renaissance. In that period the major trend amongst the Muslims in
India was to learn the philosophy, culture and tradition of India and
to introduce the philosophy and culture of the Muslim world into
India. Thus Khusrou was the pioneer in creating a new Indo-Islamic
culture and tradition, and also a new language called Hindvi, the
ancestor of today’s Hindi and Urdu.
Another major development in the Indo-Islamic ethos was in the area of
architecture and technology. Ain-e-Akbari, the 16th century
masterpiece gives ample evidence of Muslims’ having produced a variety
of mechanical devices e.g. wagon mills, multi-barreled guns, screw
cannons, and a variety of ingenuous machinery. Countless magnificent
monuments and buildings all across India speak eloquently of the
Muslims’ contribution to India’s distinct architecture. Muslims made
major initiatives in the production of quality products like
cosmetics, textiles, zari-work, metallurgy, glass and ceramics. Tipu
Sultan is known to have developed rockets for use in his army against
the expanding British campaign in India.
The development of irrigation, hydraulics and the construction of
canals flourished as never before during the long Mogul reign. The
harnessing of the principles of hydraulics and the use of devices such
as deep wells, Persian wheel and artificial lakes, resulted in the
development of the unique Mogul gardens. Large scale development of
orchards and agricultural production was another enterprise of the
Muslims.
Socially and culturally the greatest Muslim impact of the medieval era
on India was through the Sufi movement which led to the growth of the
Bhakti movement. The downfall of the Mogul empire after the first war
of independence in 1857, saw Muslims of India go through a very
traumatic period in which Muslims were subjected to much oppression by
the new British rulers.
In the early decades of the 20th century growth of revolutionary and
nationalistic literature occurred in the Muslim community. Slogans
like “Inquilab Zindabad”, and songs like “Saaray jahan say acchha
Hindostan hamaara”, and Allama Iqbal’s enthusiastic advocacy of the
Indian nationalism are nuggets of India’s long freedom struggle whose
origin lies in the Muslim community.
The partition of India in 1947 was a traumatic event for the Muslims
of India, a majority of whom had taken active part in India’s freedom
struggle under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, and did not want the
partition. After 1947 with guidance from Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
Indian Muslims again started dedicating themselves to the building of
the new nation, and to become active in various fields. After decades
of struggling with this situation, Muslims are now well adjusted to
the changed milieu of India.
Another important contribution of Muslims to the growth of the Indian
culture is music and movies. Some of India’s top musicians of the 20th
century, continuing on after 1947 are Muslims who contributed much to
the substantial growth of genuine Hindustani vocal music, e.g. Khayal,
Taraana, Dhrupad, Thumri, Qawwali, Ghazal, and musical instruments
like Sitar, Sarod and Shehnai.
As the movie industry developed in India, Muslims took a leading role
as actors/actresses, directors, producers, music-directors etc,
putting Bollywood on the world stage of cinema.
In the last few decades India’s Muslims are again trying to re-invent
the Aligarh Movement of the late 1800s and dedicate themselves to
acquiring education. Although much remains to be done in this area, as
the 21st century dawned, one could see the Muslim community in various
parts of India, north, south, east, west, make a sincere effort to
start educational institutions.
The recent emergence of APJ Abul Kalam, India’s top missile scientist;
Azam Premji, a pioneer in the rapidly growing Information Technology
industry; the internationally renowned painter MF Hussain; Sania Mirza
the world class tennis player; many high achiever Muslims in
Bollywood, as the as top leaders in their fields in India, is a
testimony that Muslims in India are bouncing back to find their niche
in the mainstream of the world class powerhouse, that India is fast
becoming.
The writer is the past President of the Association of Indian Muslims
of America, Washington DC.
Photo: Muslim Prayer Caps
bademiyansubhanallah
India Is Darul Aman, Mr. Singhal
By Asghar Ali Engineer 1,356 views Published: March 3,
2009
(9 votes, average: 2.67 out of 5)
The ulama in medieval ages had broadly divided the world into two
categories: Darul Islam and Darul Harb i.e. abode of Islam and abode
of war. In those days there was no democracy and there were monarchs
and autocrats everywhere. There was no concept of citizenship but the
ruled were treated as subjects. Where monarchs or sultans were ruling
those regions were called Darul Islam and where non-Muslim monarchs
ruled and persecuted Muslims, those regions were called Darul Harb
i.e. abode of war.
Let us remember this division in Darul Islam and Darul harb was done
by the ulama, not by the Qur’an or by the Prophet. The Qur’an divided
people into three categories i.e. Muslims, ahl-al-kitab (those who had
revealed scripture with them) and kafirs and mushriks (polytheists)
who possessed no scripture for their guidance nor they believed in any
formal religion. Qur’an or the Prophet (did not divide the world as
such into Darul Islam or Darul Harb.
Mr. Singhal, the International President of VHP has demanded from
Indian Muslims that they declare India as Darul Aman i.e. abode of
peace which is neither Darul Islam nor Darul Harb. One can only regret
at the lack of knowledge on the part of Shri Singhal or he has been
misinformed by some of his informants. The Ulama in India has never
considered India as Darul Harb except for a short period during the
British rule. Even then the ulama and Muslim leaders were divided.
Shah Abdul Aziz, son of illustrious Alim Shah Waliyullah and himself a
great Alim, had declared India Darul Aman during British period and
issued a fatwa that Muslims could serve in the British army. Also, Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan and his followers never considered India as Darul
Harb. As there is no church in Islam different ulama can have
different opinions on any issue.
In fact India was never declared Darul Harb and Deoband ulama declared
it Darul Harb only during Khilafat agitation when many of them
migrated to Afghanistan and set up there a provisional government
under the leadership of Raja Mahindra Pratap. Mahindra Pratap was
president and Maulana Ubaidullah Singhi was prime minister of this
transitional government. It was then that India was declared as Darul
Harb and it was made obligatory for Muslims to migrate to Darul Islam
i.e. Afghanistan as a Muslim king was ruling there and wage jihad
against the British Government.
However, it was politically immature decision and it proved to be
great disaster as the King of Afghanistan drove away these Indian
Muslims under pressure from the British Government and thousands
perished while trying to flee to Central Asian region. Except for this
brief period India was never declared as Darul Harb.
Also, it is necessary to understand that these categories were evolved
by the ulama during medieval period and does not apply in modern
democracies. Even USA under the Bush government was not declared by
ulama as Darul Harb through it had invaded two Muslim countries and
was aiding and abetting Israel vis-a –vis Israel as United States also
treats Muslims as citizens and fully guarantees their political and
religious rights.
These medieval categories evolved by the ulama of that time no more
apply to the modern democratic world. Let alone India, no other
country today qualify for Darul Harb. Even Israel may not qualify as
Darul Harb for many as the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel have
also been given rights as citizens of Israel. Mr. Singhal should check
his facts before writing such letters.
He has also demanded that Hindus be declared as not being kafirs. If
Mr. Singhal carefully studies Muslim literature in India he would get
to know that many sufi saints like Dara Shikoh, Mazhar Jani Janan and
others considered Hindus as ahl-al-kitab i.e. people of the book like
Jews and Christians. Mazhar Jani Janan has made many interesting
observations in this respect in one of his letters to his disciple who
had asked Jani Janan whether Hindus could be declared as kafirs.
Mazhar Jani Janan said in his letter that Hindus cannot be treated as
kafirs as kafirs are those who hide the truth and Hindus possess
scriptures like Vedas with revealed Truth from Allah. Also, he
observed Hindus believe in tawhid i.e. one God as Ishwar in Hindu
tradition is Nirgun and Nirankar i.e. without attributes and without
any shape which is the highest concept of tawhid.
Not only this he also said that in Qur’an Allah has said that he has
sent His prophets to all the nations and so how can he forget India.
He must have sent prophets to India also and may be Ram and Krishna,
highly revered religious personalities might have been prophets of
Allah. Other sufi saints also have opined that Allah must have sent
his prophets to Hindustan as Muslims believe Allah has sent in all one
lakh and twenty four thousand prophets and Qur’an has not given all
the names any way.
Buddha was also accepted prophet of God by many Muslim scholars and a
book on him Buzasaf (translated into Arabic and Persian) was quite a
popular reading in Muslim houses until my childhood. Iqbal also
describes Ram as Imam-e-Hind i.e. Imam of India, highest tribute any
Muslim could pay to Ram. And any way even if some people consider
Hindu as kafirs Qur’an permits Muslims to peacefully coexist with
kafirs (see chapter 109).
It permits war against only those kafirs who fight and persecute
Muslims, not all kafirs. It is great misunderstanding created by
either some extremists among Muslims or among non-Muslims that Muslims
cannot coexist peacefully with kafirs. In fact ulama have divided
kafirs into two categories harbi and ghayr -harbi kafirs i.e. war
monger and non war monger kafirs. As for non-war mongering kafirs it
is duty of Muslims to coexist with them.
It was heartening that Jami’at al-Ulama-i-Hind immediately replied to
Shri Singhal’s letter and declared that India has always been Darul
Aman except for a short period of British rule. They also issued
clarification about kafirs. It is also must be noted that The Deobandi
Ulama never supported Jinnah’s two nation theory and strongly refuted
it and supported the concept of united nationalism. Not only this
Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani, the then President of Jami’at wrote a
book Muttahida Qaumiyyat Aur Islam.i.e. United nationalism and Islam.
All Muslims in India since partition have stood by the concept of
united and secular nationalism. Even partition was supported by a
small minority of Muslims, not more than 5 per cent.
It is unfortunately the Sangh Parivar which still talks of Hindu
Rashtra and wants Indian Constitution to be amended and its secular
character removed in favour of Hindu Rashtra. In fact all secular
citizens of India – Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and
Sikhs should write to Mr. Singhal demanding that he refute the concept
of Hindu Rashtra and come clean on this.
They can also demand from Mr. Singhal that he guarantee all Muslims
and Christians safe and secure life as it is members of his parivar
who kill members of minority communities. Two thousand Muslims in
Gujarat and more than 40 Christians in Orissa were brutally done to
death. And this is just two riots. Hundreds of such riots have taken
place in post-independence India and Muslims hardly feel secure and
now Christians have also joined their ranks.
Also, in secular democracy like India every one has right to live
unconditionally. Perhaps Shri Singhal has never believed in secular
democratic culture and hence he wants to lay down conditions for
minorities to live in India. Entire Sangh Parivar has been doing this
and is becoming of late shriller in this respect. No one can stipulate
conditions for anyone to live in secular democratic India except that
everyone will abide by the law of the land and if they violate the law
they will be punished in keeping with the law of the land. Even a
lawbreaker cannot be deprived of his citizenship, only can be
punished.
India has always been plural and diverse and pluralism and diversity
has been great strength of India. Indian people have been most
tolerant except handful of extremists in modern times. It is the
British rulers who divided us and created, for the first time, a
political category called communalism. We had never known this
phenomenon before. Now a section of Indian politicians is exploiting
this category for their own political survival.
Let me once again reiterate for Shri Singhal that Muslims and other
minorities have always considered India as Darul Aman and all of them
have strong sense of loyalty to this great country which is their only
homeland. They would never dither from this position. And this author
strongly believes that all human beings, whatever their religious
beliefs or cultural values, should coexist in peace and harmony. Our
politics should never be based on religion, caste or language. It
should be based only on our common problems. Unfortunately our
politicians are using all these categories (religion, caste and
language) for their petty political interests and destroying our
unity. People of India should categorically reject such politics.
—————————————————–
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
Mumbai.
E-mail: cs...@mtnl.net.in
Photo: Sikkim, India
bademiyansubhanallah
One arrested for provoking Sangli riots
Ani September 12th, 2009 SANGLI - The Maharashtra police arrested
Imran Hassan Nadaf, a resident of Miraj, on charges of conspiracy and
inciting riots in Sangli District on Saturday early hours.
The Satara, and Sangli district of the state have been witnessing
communal riots since September 2 over a hoarding on an arch of a
Ganesh pendal portraying the 16th century historical encounter in
which Maratha warrior Shivaji slayed Mughal general Afzal Khan.
Sangli Superintendent of police, Krishna Prakash said that Nadaf was
arrested on the charges of inciting violence and attempting to
desecrate a religious idol.
From the last 10 days the district administration of Sangli, and
Satara Districts have clamped the curfew in the violent hit areas.
Meanwhile, a relaxation of over eight hours in the curfew would be
effected in the day hours in Ichalkaranji town of Kolhapur district on
Saturday.
According to Superintendent Police of Kolhapur Yashsvi Yadav, the
curfew would be relaxed from 09.30 am to 6.00 pm.
Yadav added that if any unlawful incident occurs then curfew would be
reimposed.
There was, however, no major incident reported in the city on Friday,
Yadav said. (ANI)
...and I am Sid harth
bademiyansubhanallah
Something Rotten in the State of Gujarat
September 12, 2009 By Badri Raina
Badri Raina's ZSpace Page
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I have supped full with horrors;
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts,
Cannot once start me.
(Macbeth Modi)
I
Indeed, great is the temptation to write this account wholly in
Shakesperian quotation.
Four new skeletons now rattle for justice in the Modi cupboard. And
well might he be saying to himself:
the time has been,
That, when the brains were out, the man would die,
And there an end; but now they rise again,
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns;
A judicial magistrate in Ahmedabad, one good man Tamang, has held that
the killing of the nineteen year old college girl, Ishrat Jahan, and
four others in June, 2004 was , after all, yet another "fake
encounter" executed by high-ranked police Modi loyalists to curry
favour with him and obtain preferment.
This on the heels of the earlier murder of one Sohrabuddin and his
wife, Kausar Bi, acknowledged in court by the Modi government to have
been "fake encounters." And by the very same police personnel as well,
two of whom are now in the slammer for that killing. At least for now.
Speculation is rife as to how many official murders may have been
effected by the Gujarat state since 2002, when the Gujarat massacre
took place.
Speculation that has obliged the Supreme court of India only yesterday
to persuade the Gujarat prosecution, one, to transfer the Sohrabuddin
case also to the Special Investigation Team that is enquiring into
some of the more gruesome killings of 2002, and to come clean on all
cases of fake exterminations that still lie stashed away in the
Gujarat govenment cupboard.
Persuations stubbornly resisted by the Gujarat prosecution. Imagine a
Macbeth, a Caligula, a Nero, a Hitler, or a Stalin agreeing happily to
self-incrimination.
You must be joking.
And, pray, were such disclosures to be made, what would happen to the
"vibrant Gujarat" project for which Mr.Modi has just been earmarked by
the FDI magazine of the Financial Times group in London to be bestowed
"The Asian Personality of the year 2009" award?
Clearly, the British of today have little use for their own greatest
of thinkers. Long years ago, even at the point of the birth of
Capitalism, Shakespeare had seen that one of its most inhuman
consequences would be to "disjoin remorse from power" (JC). And that
"conscience made cowards" of the Faustian man who was now set to
conquer the world.
Not the British but an exiled German jew saw the profound pointers in
Shakespeare's enactments, causing him to cite a whole long passage
from Timon of Athens to explicate what Capitalism was slated to do to
the human essence. (See Early Writings Marx, Introduced by Lucio
Colletti, Penguin Books, 1975, p.376).
Thus, the FDI establishment argues that Capitalist "efficiency" must
entirely be divorced from considerations of "remorse," or else how
does one effect the killings of "power"?
And we have no doubt that these must be people who are conscientious
church-goers.
II
In the meanwhile, the Gujarat government is busy on electronic
channels making the point that even the Central government in Delhi
has acknowledged on affidavit, dated 6th August, '09, that the four
victims of the "fake encounter" had links with a terrorist group.
That the Judicial magistrate has repudiated that contention is seen to
be of secondary importance. Indeed, great is the animus of the Gujarat
government against good man, Justice Tamang, for having delivered his
verdict on the killings with unnecessary dispatch, even as not a day
passes when the delays of the law do not come for reprimand.
It is also conveniently forgotten that the investigation of the latest
fake killings are infact as old as five years, and all that Justice
Tamang has done is to do his duty by the people of India with
commendable commitment.
Which is the last thing that the Modi regime desires.
The Central government, thankfully, is underscoring the point that,
regardless of what may or may not have been the antecedents of Ishrat
Jahan and the other victims, extra-judicial killings on behalf of the
state as by law established contravene the very raison d' etre of
constitutional governance.
Were the Gujarat government's propensity to kill off people without
trial or due process to be held valid, then the lone captured
terrorist caught red-handed in the carnage of Mumbai, 26th November,
should have been hung, drawn and quartered on the very day he was
captured.
Thankfully, to the great glory of the Republic of India, as by law
established, Ajmal Kasab is now being tried in Mumbai with all due
right and opportunity to defend himself.
Which raises another question: should a lawfully constituted Republic
enact draconian laws calculated to defeat lawfully the very purposes
of a lawfully constituted democracy, such as the right to life
(article 21 of the Constitution of India), and the right to innocence
till proven guilty? What we have in mind here is the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act (AFSPA), operative in places like Kashmir and the
North East, that entitles the least man in uniform wielding an
official gun to shoot to kill without fear of being held to account?
Monstrous contradiction there, and the sooner corrected the better for
the Republic.
For when a state behaves like a rogue, it accords every credibility to
those who seek to oppose it in like manner.
III
Whenever Narendra Modi has been asked any questions about the massacre
of 2002, or the state of Gujarat's Muslim citizens, a glaze overtakes
the cocky sheen in his eyes, and not a word escapes his lips.
A state of impregnable and implacable hate that freezes the more you
seek to melt it down, recalling to us Lear's magnificently moving
speculation with regard to his own daughter who has thrown him out of
home and hearth:
Let us anatomize Reagan to see
What it is in nature
That makes these hard hearts.
How dearly we would like to know the answer to that one.
Is it to be thought that a day might come when Narendra Modi, as in
the movies, or like history's emperor Ashok, finally overwhelmed by
self-loathing, and unable any longer to wash the "damned spot" may
truly donn some real saffron, abdicate his thrown, and go off into a
gurukul to expiate his doings?
Or will he reason with Macbeth "I am in blood/Stepped in so far that,
should I wade no more,/Returning were as tedious as go o'er" ?
Who knows but Narendra Modi, who, after all, is an honourable man; or
thinks he is.
Perhaps only so long as he is able to brew and press into service the
power of collective hate.
Perhaps the decisive loathing will come from the very people that he
has thus far plied and profited by.
...and I am sid Harth
bademiyansubhanallah
Saturday 12 September, 2009
14:04 | 12/Sep/2009 | 3 Comment(s)
When Obama dined with Gandhi!
Earlier this week, when a schoolgirl asked him if he “could have
dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?”, President Obama
replied: “ Well, you know, dead or alive, that’s a pretty big list.
You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of
mine”. And smiling his most innocuous smile, Obama added: “Now it
would probably be a really small meal because he didn’t eat a lot!”
Here’s how Gandhi’s visit to the White House and the subsequent dinner
went!
Gandhi arrived at the White House Visitor Center at the Southeast
Corner of 15th and E Streets in his traditional attire, stick and all.
Before he could reach the Visitor Center, two policemen stopped him.
Policeman 1: “Where do you think you are going, old man, half naked
fakir?”
Gandhi: “To the White House, of course! By the way, Mr. Churchill will
be proud of you”
Policeman 1: “Pray tell me, who do you want to meet?”
Gandhi: “I don’t want to meet anyone, but Mr. Obama says he would like
me to join him for a meal”.
Policeman 1 (laughing): “That’s what everyone says. Now, get moving
away from here”.
Gandhi: “Mr. Officer, please understand. I have an appointment, and I
am not one who doesn’t keep appointments. They tried to prevent me at
Pietermaritzburg; they succeeded, but rest assured, I resisted, as I
would do now also”.
Policeman 2: “Hey, I guess I know you! You look familiar! Aren’t you
that actor Kingsley, Ben or something like that?”
Gandhi (smiling): “You are nearer to truth, friend! Sir Ben acted what
I lived!”
The two policemen let him through the to the Visitor Center, after
body frisking him, and then his few clothes, watch, sandals, and most
of all, the stick!
At the Visitor Center, again, the stick posed a problem. Later, the
lady at the Reception asked, “Aren’t you a little under-dressed to
meet the President of the United States?”
Gandhi chuckled: “I went to meet the King at Buckingham Palace wearing
the same thing. And as I told the enquiring journalists, in any case,
the King was wearing enough for us both. So, don’t you worry, Mr.
Obama will understand!”
Gandhi trudged towards the White House, all alone, remembering the
lonely long walk up the steps of the Viceroy House in Delhi to meet
Lord Irwin. Thankfully, he thought, Obama was not there to negotiate
the life of a nation…
Gandhi walked in to be received by the White House Chief of Staff who
apologized for any inconvenience. Gandhi was quick to tell him that
there was none; rather he faced more problems while visiting India,
and Gandhinagar in particular!
In came President Obama, minus the Hail to the Chief, and stretched
his hands towards Gandhi who suddenly realized he had to keep his
stick somewhere. Obama played the chivalrous host, and stationed the
stick against the portrait of President Washington! Soon, everyone
moved out, leaving the President alone with the Father of a billion
plus people, and the two got chatting…
Barack Obama: “Mr. Gandhi, I am really happy that you accepted my
invitation. You have been a hero to me, and to another of my hero Mr.
King, and it is a dream come true.”
Gandhi: “You are very kind, Mr. Obama. It is but rarely that I get
invitations like this these days, even from my own country’s leaders –
but let me tell you, I am very grateful to them for that!”
Obama: “Where are you staying in the capital, Mr. Gandhi?”
Gandhi: “Oh, that’s a long story! I thought there are many Patels and
then there are many motels, and I would stay in one of those. But
then, wherever I asked, I was told, Gandhi is not welcome, because Mr.
Modi wouldn’t approve of that. But, thankfully, they said, my friend
Sardar is welcome; he will be very pleased to hear of that”.
Obama: “You mean Mr. Narendra Modi, that Chief Minister who was denied
visa by our Administration?”
Gandhi: “Yes. But Mr. Obama, you should let Mr. Modi visit your
country. May be that will help him realize that there is a world
outside of Gujarat which is very different form what he is making out
of his own state. Ad my good friend Sardar Patel will also be happy if
you do that. Tell me, Mr. President, how have you been?”
Obama: “Your presence makes me feel fine, Mr. Gandhi; I always derive
inspiration from Mr. King and you. But it is tough to be the President
of the US of A. It was alright for Kennedy to say that while the going
gets tough, only the tough get going. But Jack didn’t have to confront
the global meltdown or the likes of Putin and Chavez, not to forget
Osama”.
Gandhi: “Yes, Mr. Obama. I fully empathize with you, having had to
deal with many like them and situations like that in my own lifetime!”
Obama: “But I am most worried about this economic crisis, and am
constantly wondering why I shouldn’t have another dinner date, this
time with Franklin Roosevelt to learn from him how he dealt with the
Great Depression”.
Gandhi: “Don’t get depressed because of this depression; but you must
advise the Federal Reserve and Mr. Bernanke to try out something
simple than complicating the situation further. I always believed in
doing things simple, like simple economics and trusteeship. Where
there is trust, there won’t be any meltdown or subprime crisis”.
“Obama: “Ha, Mr. Gandhi, that is where the problem lies – this trust
business. My experience tells me where there is money, there is
business, and where there is both money and business, there is no
trust! I am trying to look into this trust deficit, because it is very
difficult, you know! I don’t, for example, trust the Republicans, or
the Russians, or the Cubans, not to forget the French, the Germans and
the Japanese. I can’t trust Osama either! I want to trust Mr. Zardari,
but the problem is, in his own country, no one trusts him! The only
ones who I really trust are Gordon Brown and Manmohan!”
Gandhi: “Yes, yes, you must trust both Mr. Brown and Dr. Singh. After
all, Dr. Singh is a great fan of America ever since he worked with the
World Bank. He loves America and Americans and everything American. He
even dreams the Great American Dream! You shouldn’t feel bad that he
said all Indians love your predecessor Mr. Bush. I am sure he would
say the same thing about you as well”.
In the meanwhile, the meal is served…
Obama: “We have kept a very frugal meal for you, Mr. Gandhi. I hope it
is fine with you”.
Gandhi: “This perfectly suits my taste and my stomach. I hope it
wasn’t a problem to arrange those different fresh fruits and the nuts
and the honey and the goat milk”.
Obama: “No, not all, Mr. Gandhi, but at the end of it, the butler said
he fully agreed with Mrs. Sarojini Naidu that it costs a lot to keep
you poor!”
Gandhi (chuckling): “Oh, Mrs. Naidu, she is a very nice lady and a
good friend! By the way, how is Mrs. Obama and the children?”
Obama: “They are very good and would have loved to be here this
evening. But unfortunately they are away on vacation; so I am alone
here”.
Gandhi: “But don’t get tempted; go by the life of Mr. Bush Sr. and Mr.
Bush Jr. in these matters. Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Clinton are also good
men, but you know, they found Monroes and cigars too tempting”.
Obama: “I understand Mr. Gandhi. Should I also experiment like you did
in your own life?”
Gandhi: “I don’t think Kasturba or for that matter my friends Jawahar
and Rajaji would approve of that; so, stick to Mrs. Obama and be
happy.
Obama: “Mr. Gandhi, what would you like to drink?”
Gandhi: “That is another thing. Consumption is not good. You see, I
only have goat milk.”
Obama: “I hear so. I do ask for a beer or two when White policemen are
invited for lunch after threatening African-American Harvard
professors, as happened recently. Otherwise, I am always sober, and I
have to be, or else, one never knows when Hillary will pull the rug
from under my feet! Now, tell me, Mr. Gandhi, where is India heading
to?”
Gandhi: “I wish I knew! I didn’t know even in 1947 till Jawahar and
Sardar told me that they had agreed with Mr. Jinnah to partition my
country”.
Obama: “This is what Mr. Jaswant Singh also said recently. Mr. Advani
also felt that Mr. Jinnah is a great secularist. I guess there are
lots of Jinnah-fans in the main Opposition Party in your country!”
Gandhi: “Like Mr. Jinnah, of course, Mr. Advani and Mr. Jaswant Singh
are also very honourable men; they do have some memory problems, as
would happen with every one of us as we grow old. Wisdom always dawns
on us, in some cases, may be a little late!”
Obama: “How often do you visit India, Mr. Gandhi?”
Gandhi: “Oh, I generally prefer to stay away, even though they call me
the Father of the Nation! I am very much in demand during election
times and communal riots. My name is invoked on 30th January every
year – Hey Ram! Mr. Godse gave me relief and redemption, or else I
would have had to live through much more pain”.
Obama: “They still love you, Mr. Gandhi. When I was in India as a
child, I remember there were many roads named after you”.
Gandhi: “Yes, yes, they drive over me in every city! In fact, I gather
that most people remember me only as `MG’ and some others as Ben
Kingsley! They are most happy on 1st October when liquour sale is the
highest in the country. So, they celebrate my birthday the next day in
high spirits!”
Obama: “But they have such lovely statues of yours all over the
country”.
Gandhi: “Yes, I have them seen them all, with stick and without it!
But I love the one in front of our Parliament, the one with the head
bent and eyes closed! That’s the real me of today!”
Obama: “But who is this Mayawati? She is probably trying to overtake
you, I gather?”
Gandhi: “I wish her all the very best and pray that the Supreme Court
doesn’t stall her from installing her own statues! Ms. Mayawati is a
nice lady. She likes her statues the most, and then those of Mr.
Kanshi Ram’s and elephants’. I am glad that soon, the crows and
sparrows will find a better resting place. After all, the vanity bag
in a lady’s hand makes a better and more stylish niche than a walking
stick in the hands of an old man!”
Obama: “But I must share with you, Mr. Gandhi, I simply loved
Munnabhai”!
Gandhi: “Ha, Mr. Dutt is a very nice man to know, though at times he
keeps bad company and AK-47s. All I would say to him is, `Lagey raho,
Munnabhai’!
Obama: “But Mr. Gandhi, I am a little perplexed. We have the Kennedys
here and then in your country you have the Gandhis. I know you are the
Father of the Nation, but where are all these Gandhis coming from! How
many of your children are in politics?”
Gandhi: “No, no, Mr. Obama. The Gandhis of today are not mine! But
Mrs. Sonia, though an Italian Gandhi, is a well meaning lady who, like
me, listen’s to the inner voice. Her son Rahul too is a sweet boy. I
hear that soon we will have a Colombian Gandhi. That’s the way it is!
We Gandhis are global citizens, you see!
Obama: “That’s why they should have given you the Nobel Prize!”
Gandhi: “Oh, that’s very good of you to say that, but Mr. Churchill
and the Queen thought otherwise, you know”!
Obama: “When will you visit your home state next?”
Gandhi: “Thank you Mr. Obama. I always stay away from encounters, you
see. The only time it happened was at Birla House when the kind Mr.
Godse came my way. Talking of visits, when are you visiting India?”
Obama: “Manmohan has been asking me very frequently, and he assures me
that all Indians, including Mr. Karat, love me, as much as they loved
Mr. Bush, if not more”.
Gandhi: “Please let more Indians come to your country and permit more
outsourcing; that way, your job will be done and you will get more
people who love you”.
Obama: “Oh, I will have to think about that Mr. Gandhi, especially in
these troubled sub-prime times! Already there is some talk that
McDonald’s is being replaced by McCurry, not the Irish one, you know!
Some say that soon we will have to replace the Green Card with the
tricolor”.
Gandhi: “That’s how we can show how much we love you, Mr. Obama”.
Obama: “What do you think of America as a peace-loving nation?”
Gandhi: That’s a very good idea!”
Obama: “Mr. Gandhi, you are very humourous! Tell me, what would be
your advice to me in my capacity as the President of the United
States?”
Gandhi: “Be good, which you are, and in times of crisis, think of Mr.
Jefferson, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. King. Be the change that you want to
be, and believe in what you promised during the elections, that “we
can do it”. Don’t experiment with truth, and don’t talk about
practicing what you are preaching and vice versa. And drink lots of
goat milk and stay away from the swines: after all, if America has to
progress, the flu shouldn’t come in your way!”
Obama: “Thank you very much, Mr. Gandhi. I will tell Michelle and the
kids of your visit”.
Gandhi (getting up and taking possession of his beloved stick): “Thank
you, Mr. Obama; you have been very kind and very hospitable”.
Obama: “One last thing, Mr. Gandhi. If you could have dinner with
anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?”
Gandhi: “A Gandhian”!
bademiyansubhanallah
India: Probe of Muslim woman's death sparks rowStory Highlights
Probe of death of Muslim woman, three others five years ago sparks
political row
Probe says gun battle in which she was alleged to have been killed was
staged
Ishrat Jehan and others died in 2004 in what the police in Gujarat
called a shootout
Probe of the deaths found the four were killed while in police custody
updated 10:23 p.m. EDT, Fri September 11, 2009Next Article in World »
From Harmeet Shah Singh
CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The shooting death of a Muslim woman and
three others five years ago has sparked a political row in India after
a probe said the gun battle in which she was alleged to have been
killed was staged.
Relatives collect the body of Ishrat Jehan from Civil Hospital in
Ahmedabad on June 18, 2004.
Ishrat Jehan, 19, and the others died in what the police in Gujarat
-- a state ruled by Hindu nationalists -- called a shootout on June
15, 2004.
But a state metropolitan magistrate's probe of the deaths, results of
which were revealed Monday, found the four were killed while in police
custody after being picked up in Mumbai and brought to Gujarat.
The state government -- led by a powerful but controversial Hindu
nationalist leader, Narendra Modi -- has rejected the report, citing a
federal affidavit in defense of the 2004 "encounter," as gunfights
between police and suspects are commonly called in India.
The state government had accused the four of links with Lashkar-e-
Tayyiba, the same Pakistan-based militant group India blames for last
year's terrorist strikes in Mumbai, and the affidavit says that
information had come from the federal government, which shared the
intelligence with Gujarat authorities.
The federal government has lashed back, saying the affidavit cannot be
used as a defense for the deaths.
The four were suspects, but "terrorists cannot be killed in cold
blood," Gopal K. Pillai of the Ministry of Home Affairs told The Press
Trust of India, the nation's largest news agency.
Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who was visiting Washington on
Friday, slammed Modi's government for putting up the federal
deposition as a defense.
"If a state government acts as though intelligence inputs are evidence
or conclusive proof, I am sorry for that government," he remarked.
His government has never suggested that intelligence inputs sanction
killings, he said.
"I think too much is being attributed to that affidavit as if it is
meant to defend the government of Gujarat against the excesses that
may have been committed by its police. I am sorry for the government
of Gujarat and the manner in which it runs its police administration,"
he told reporters.
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was unseated from national
power in 2004, quickly responded.
"Can Mr. Chidambaram then tell us how a state government is then
supposed to act on intelligence reports of his government? The police
in Gujarat retaliated when it was fired upon. The state police had
acted swiftly on information from the central government," said
Sidharth Nath Singh, a spokesman for the BJP.
Singh alleged that "there are accusations of worse fake encounters" in
states governed by Chidambaram's Congress Party.
Modi has been accused of turning a blind eye to the killings of
hundreds of Muslims in the wake of the burning of a train carrying
Hindu pilgrims in 2002 in Gujarat. The Congress Party, meanwhile, is
blamed for the lynching and burning alive of some 3,000 Sikhs by mobs
in and around New Delhi in 1984 after the assassination of Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
Political observers and human rights group say ruling politicians
often discourage police in India from acting.
Successive governments in India for decades have failed to deliver on
promises to hold the police accountable for abuses and to build
professional, rights-respecting police forces, the Human Rights Watch
said in its report in August.
It alleged that police in India summarily execute prisoners, torture
and threaten suspects and arrest people without reason.
"Political masters hold the strings and no government in India -- in
any of its states -- can ever honestly claim that its hands are not
soaked in the blood of innocents," said journalist K.G. Suresh, a long-
time observer of conservative politics in the country.
bademiyansubhanallah
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/06/pakistan.mumbai.suspects/index.html#cnnSTCText
Pakistan launches global manhunt for Mumbai suspects
Story Highlights
Pakistan asked Interpol to issue a global alert for 13 wanted men
Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba blamed for 2008 siege
Islamabad under pressure from neighboring India to crack down on the
group
updated 9:53 p.m. EDT, Thu August 6, 2009
Read VIDEO
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan has launched a global manhunt
for 13 fugitives wanted in connection with last year's terror attacks
on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.
Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel burns during last November's attack by
gunmen.
Pakistan asked the international police agency Interpol to issue a
global alert for the wanted men, Interpol announced Thursday.
The alert did not identify the 13 suspects, but it said that "the
fugitives' names and other nominal data" will be sent to police in
Interpol's 186 member countries.
Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba has been blamed for
the November 2008 siege.
In June, an Indian court issued arrest warrants for 22 Pakistanis
wanted in connection with the Mumbai attacks, including Lashkar-e-
Tayyiba founder Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.
The warrants stemmed from the trial of Ajmal Kasab, who Indian
authorities say was the lone surviving gunman among the 10 men who
launched the attack.
Pakistan is under intense pressure from neighboring India to crack
down on the group.
In all, there are 35 suspects wanted in the case, including additional
members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Indian authorities say.
Pakistan has arrested at least five of those wanted by India --
including the alleged mastermind, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi -- according to
Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.
Their trial is expected to begin next week, the newspaper reported.
Gunmen killed more than 160 people, including many foreigners, as they
laid siege to buildings such as the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and
Oberoi-Trident hotels, Mumbai's historic Victoria Terminus train
station and the Jewish cultural center, Chabad House
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/06/mumbai.twin.attacks.sentence/index.html#cnnSTCText
Indian court orders death for 2003 Mumbai bombersStory Highlights
Chief public prosecutor described bombers' death sentence as
"exemplary"
54 killed in 2003 blasts at Mumbai's Gateway of India and Zaveri
Bazaar gold market
Bombers identified as Mohammad Hanif, his wife Fahmida, and Ashrat
Ansari
Defendants linked to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a Pakistan-based militant
group
updated 4:29 a.m. EDT, Thu August 6, 2009
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An anti-terror court in India Thursday
sentenced a couple and their accomplice to death for the 2003 attacks
in Mumbai that prosecutors said were carried out at the behest of
Pakistan-based militants.
Chief public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam described the sentencing of
Mohammad Hanif Sayyed, his wife, Fahmeeda Sayyed, and Ashrat Ansari as
"exemplary".
In the 2003 bombings at Mumbai's landmark Gateway of India and the
glittering gold market Zaveri Bazaar, 54 people were killed.
Prosecutors insisted that the assaults were planned by the Lashkar-e-
Tayyiba, a Pakistan-based militant group, also blamed for last year's
siege in Mumbai which left 164 people dead.
Nikam said he told the court that the three convicts had "demonic"
designs to terrorize Mumbai. He said more 103 witnesses testified at
trial.
Defense attorney Abdul Wahab indicated he would appeal the sentencing
in a higher court.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/27/mumbai.blasts.verdict/index.html#cnnSTCText
Husband, wife convicted in Mumbai blastsStory Highlights
2003 blasts occurred at Mumbai's Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar
gold market
Prosecutor described verdict as a "big blow" to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba
militant group
Group also blamed for last year's terror strikes at Mumbai hotels
updated 6:51 a.m. EDT, Mon July 27, 2009
By Harmeet Shah Singh
CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian court on Monday convicted a couple
and another man for explosions that left 54 people dead in Mumbai in
2003.
Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam described the verdict as a "big blow"
to the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a Pakistan-based militant group blamed for
the attack.
The court reserved sentencing until at least August 4. On that day,
the prosecution will recommend what Nikam called the toughest
punishment for the convicts, which is expected to be execution.
Monday's conviction came under what is now a repealed Prevention of
Terror Act, which was in force in India when the bombings occurred at
Mumbai's Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar gold market.
The court examined 103 witnesses, Nikam earlier told CNN.
India blames the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba for last year's terror strikes in
Mumbai, in which more than 160 people were killed
bademiyansubhanallah
Hinduist Fascism belies Jaswant’s charm offensive
Posted on August 27, 2009 by Moin Ansari
Hindutva’s production of culture and nation is often marked by
savagery. On 23 August 2008, Lakshmanananda Saraswati, Orissa’s Hindu
nationalist icon, was murdered with four disciples in Jalespeta in
Kandhamal district. State authorities alleged the attackers to be
Maoists (and a group has subsequently claimed the murder). But the
Sangh Parviar held the Christian community responsible, even though
there is no evidence or history to suggest the armed mobilisation of
Christian groups in Orissa.
After the murder, the All India Christian Council stated: “The
Christian community in India abhors violence, condemns all acts of
terrorism, and opposes groups of people taking the law into their own
hands”. Gouri Prasad Rath, General Secretary, VHPOrissa, stated:
“Christians have killed Swamiji. We will give a befitting reply. We
would be forced to opt for violent protests if action is not taken
against the killers”.
Following which, violence engulfed the district. Churches and
Christian houses razed to the ground, frightened Christians hiding in
the jungles or in relief camps. Officials record the death toll at 13,
local leaders at 20, while the Asian Centre for Human Rights noted 50.
The Sangh’s history in postcolonial Orissa is long and violent.
Virulent Hindutva campaigns against minority groups reverberated in
Rourkela in 1964, Cuttack in 1968 and 1992, Bhadrak in 1986 and 1991,
Soro in 1991. The Kandhamal riots were not unforeseen.
Since 2000, the Sangh has been strengthened by the Bharatiya Janata
Party’s coalition government with the Biju Janata Dal. In October
2002, a Shiv Sena unit in Balasore district declared the formation of
the first Hindu ‘suicide squad’. In March 2006, Rath stated that the
“VHP believes that the security measures initiated by the Government
[for protection of Hindus] are not adequate and hence Hindu society
has taken the responsibility for it.”
The VHP has 1,25,000 primary workers in Orissa. The RSS operates 6,000
shakhas with a 1,50,000 plus cadre. The Bajrang Dal has 50,000
activists working in 200 akharas. BJP workers number above 4,50,000.
BJP Mohila Morcha, Durga Vahini (7,000 outfits in 117 sites), and
Rashtriya Sevika Samiti (80 centres) are three major Sangh women’s
organisations. BJP Yuva Morcha, Youth Wing, Adivasi Morcha and Mohila
Morcha have a prominent base. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh manages 171
trade unions with a cadre of 1,82,000. The 30,000-strong Bharatiya
Kisan Sangh functions in 100 blocks. The Sangh also operates various
trusts and branches of national and international institutions to aid
fundraising, including Friends of Tribal Society, Samarpan Charitable
Trust, Sookruti, Yasodha Sadan, and Odisha International Centre.
Sectarian development and education are carried out by Ekal
Vidyalayas, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashrams/Parishads (VKAs), Vivekananda
Kendras, Shiksha Vikas Samitis and Sewa Bharatis — cementing the
brickwork for hate and civil polarisation.
This massive mobilisation has erupted in ugly incidents against both
Christians and Muslims. In 1998, 5,000 Sangh activists allegedly
attacked the Christian dominated Ramgiri-Udaygiri villages in Gajapati
district, setting fire to 92 homes, a church, police station, and
several government vehicles. Earlier, Sangh activists allegedly
entered the local jail forcibly and burned two Christian prisoners to
death. In 1999, Graham Staines, 58, an Australian missionary and his
10- and six-year-old sons were torched in Manoharpur village in
Keonjhar. A Catholic nun, Jacqueline Mary was gangraped by men in
Mayurbhanj and Arul Das, a Catholic priest, was murdered in Jamabani,
Mayurbhanj, followed by the destruction of churches in Kandhamal. In
2002, the VHP converted 5,000 people to Hinduism. In 2003, the VKA
organised a 15,000- member rally in Bhubaneswar, propagating that
Adivasi (and Dalit) converts to Christianity be denied affirmative
action. In 2004, seven women and a male pastor were forcibly tonsured
in Kilipal, Jagatsinghpur district, and a social and economic boycott
was imposed against them. A Catholic church was vandalised and the
community targeted in Raikia.
Change the cast, the story is still the same. 1998: A truck
transporting cattle owned by a Muslim was looted and burned, the
driver’s aide beaten to death in Keonjhar district. 1999: Shiekh
Rehman, a Muslim clothes merchant, was mutilated and burned to death
in a public execution at the weekly market in Mayurbhanj. 2001: In
Pitaipura village, Jagatsinghpur, Hindu communalists attempted to
orchestrate a land-grab connected to a Muslim graveyard. On November
20, 2001, around 3,000 Hindu activists from nearby villages rioted.
Muslim houses were torched, Muslim women were ill-treated, their
property, including goats and other animals, stolen. 2005: In
Kendrapara, a contractor was shot on Govari Embankment Road,
supposedly by members of a Muslim gang. Sangh groups claimed the
shooting was part of a gang war associated with Islamic extremism and
called for a 12hour bandh. Hindu organisations are alleged to have
looted and set Muslim shops on fire.
It is Saraswati who pioneered the Hinduisation of Kandhamal since
1969. Activists targeted Adivasis, Dalits, Christians and Muslims
through socio-economic boycotts and forced conversions (named
‘re’conversion, presupposing Adivasis and Dalits as ‘originally’
Hindus).
Kandhamal first witnessed Hindutva violence in 1986. The VKAs,
instated in 1987, worked to Hinduise Kondh and Kui Adivasis and
polarise relations between them and Pana Dalit Christians. Kandhamal
remains socio-economically vulnerable, a large percentage of its
population living in poverty. Approximately 90 percent of Dalits are
landless. A majority of Christians are landless or marginal
landholders. Hindutva ideologues say Dalits have acquired economic
benefits, augmented by Christianisation. This is not borne out in
reality.
In October 2005, converting 200 Bonda Adivasi Christians to Hinduism
in Malkangiri, Saraswati said: “How will we… make India a completely
Hindu country? The feeling of Hindutva should come within the hearts
and minds of all the people.” In April 2006, celebrating RSS architect
Golwalkar’s centenary, Saraswati presided over seven yagnas attended
by 30,000 Adivasis. In September 2007, supporting the VHP’s statewide
road-rail blockade against the supposed destruction of the mythic ‘Ram
Setu’, Saraswati conducted a Ram Dhanu Rath Yatra to mobilise
Adivasis.
In 2008, Hindutva discourse named Christians as ‘conversion
terrorists’. But the number of such conversions is highly inflated.
They claim there are rampant and forced conversions in Phulbani-
Kandhamal. But the Christian population in Kandhamal is 1,17,950 while
Hindus number 5,27,757. Orissa Christians numbered 8,97,861 in the
2001 census — only 2.4 percent of the state’s population. Yet,
Christian conversions are storied as debilitating to the majority
status of Hindus while Muslims are seen as ‘infiltrating’ from
Bangladesh, dislocating the ‘Oriya (and Indian) nation’.
The right to religious conversion is constitutionally authorised.
Historically, conversions from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam have
been a way to escape caste oppression and social stigma for Adivasis
and Dalits. In February 2006, the VHP called for a law banning (non-
Hindu) religious conversions. In June 2008, it urged that religious
conversion be decreed a ‘heinous crime’ across India.
‘Reconversion’ strategies of the Sangh appear to be shifting in
Orissa. The Sangh reportedly proposed to ‘reconvert’ 10,000 Christians
in 2007. But fewer public conversion ceremonies were held in 2007 than
in 2004- 2006. Converting politicised Adivasi and Dalit Christians to
Hinduism is proving difficult. The Sangh has instead increased its
emphasis on the Hinduisation of Adivasis through their participation
in Hindu rituals, which, in effect, ‘convert’ Adivasis by assuming
that they are Hindu.
The draconian Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA), 1967, must be
repealed. There are enough provisions under the Indian Penal Code to
prevent and prohibit conversions under duress. But consenting converts
to Christianity are repeatedly charged under OFRA, while Hindutva
perpetrators of forcible conversions are not. The Sangh contends that
‘reconversion’ to Hinduism through its ‘Ghar Vapasi’ (homecoming)
campaign is not conversion but return to Hinduism, the ‘original’
faith. This allows them to dispense with the procedures under OFRA.
The Orissa Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1960 should also be
repealed. It is utilised to target livelihood practices of
economically disenfranchised groups, Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, who
engage in cattle trade and cow slaughter.
In fact, a CBI investigation into the activities of the VHP, RSS and
Bajrang Dal is crucial as per the provisions of the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Groups such as the VHP and VKA are
registered as cultural and charitable organisations but their work is
political in nature. They should be audited and recognised as
political organisations, and their charitable status and privileges
reviewed.
The state and central government’s refusal to restrain Hindu militias
evidences their linkage with Hindutva (BJP), soft Hindutva (Congress),
and the capitulation of civil society to Hindu majoritarianism. How
would the nation have reacted if groups with affiliation other than
than militant Hinduism executed riot after riot: Calcutta 1946, Kota
1953, Rourkela 1964, Ranchi 1967, Ahmedabad 1969, Bhiwandi 1970,
Aligarh 1978, Jamshedpur 1979, Moradabad 1980, Meerut 1982, Hyderabad
1983, Assam 1983, Delhi 1984, Bhagalpur 1989, Bhadrak 1991, Ayodhya
1992, Mumbai 1992, Gujarat 2002, Marad 2003, Jammu 2008?
The BJD-BJP government has repeatedly failed to honour the
constitutional mandate separating religion from state. In 2005-06,
Advocate Mihir Desai and I convened the Indian People’s Tribunal on
Communalism in Orissa, led by Retired Kerala Chief Justice KK Usha.
The Tribunal’s findings detailed the formidable mobilisation by
majoritarian communalist organisations, including in Kandhamal, and
the Sangh’s visible presence in 25 of 30 districts. The report did not
invoke any response from the state or central government.
In January 2000, The Asian Age reported: “‘One village, one shakha’ is
the new slogan of the RSS as it aims to saffronise the entire Gujarat
state by 2005.” Then ensued the genocide of March 2002. In 2003,
Subash Chouhan, then Bajrang Dal state convener, stated: “Orissa is
the second Hindu Rajya (to Gujarat).”
We all know what has happened in Kandhamal December 2007, and again
now. The communal situation in Orissa is dire. State and civil society
resistance to Hindutva’s ritual and catalytic abuse cannot wait.
Author: Angana Chatterji (Professor, Department of Social and Cultural
Anthropology, California Institute of Integral Studies)
This article previously appeared at: http://www.countercurrents.org/chatterji060908.htm
bademiyansubhanallah
October 14, 2008
Why we created Pakistan? One Nation Theory vs Two Nation Theory:
Filed under: British Raj, History of Pakistan, Independence movement,
Two Nation Theory — Moin Ansari @ 11:20 pm
WHY WE CREATED PAKISTAN?
The Indus Valley Civilization now known as Paksitan
Pakistan existed 5000 years ago as the IVC
The Pakistan Ideology
by
Moin-Ansari
Original March 16th, 1996 and Updated February 7th, 2009
March 16th, 1996 | Moin Ansari |
Lest we forget the ideology of the Hinduvata Mahasab, let us quote it
right here. Lest some dismiss it as a relic of the past, let us remind
them that the BJP was in power in in Delhi and holds a major vote in
the Lok and Rajha Saba. For those who may say that this quote is a
historical anomoly belonging to the hsitory books, let us remind them
that Mr. Narendar Modi, Mr. Adhvani and Mr. Bal Thackery have cloned
themselves by the millions and this very same thinking was used to
burn, rape and massacre more than 2000 Muslims in Gujarat just a few
months ago.
“I declare that the future of the Hindu race, of Hindustan and of the
Punjab, rests on these four pillars: (1) Hindu Sangathan, (2) Hindu
Raj, (3) Shuddhi of Moslems, and (4) Conquest and Shuddhi of
Afghanistan and the Frontiers. So long as the Hindu nation does not
accomplish these four things, the safely of our children and great-
grandchildren will be ever in danger, and the safety of the Hindu race
will be impossible. The Hindu race has but one history, and its
institutions are homogeneous. But the Musalmans and Christians are far
removed from the confines of Hindustan, for their religions are alien
and they love Persian, Arab and European institutions. Thus, just as
one removes foreign matter from the eye, Shuddhi must be made of these
two religions. Afghanistan and the hilly regions of the frontier were
formerly part of India, but are at present under the domination of
Islam. . . .Just as there is Hindu religion in Nepal, so there must be
Hindu institutions in Afghanistan and the frontier territory;
otherwise it is useless to win Swaraj. For mountain tribes are always
warlike and hungry. If they become our enemies, the age of Nadirshah
and Zamanshah will begin anew. At present English officers are
protecting the frontiers; but it cannot always be. . . .If Hindus want
to protect themselves, they must conquer Afghanistan and the frontiers
and convert all the mountain tribes.” Pratap of Lahore, Lala Hardayal
in 1925. Quoted by Dr. Ambedkar in his book “Pakistan”
When there are problems in Pakistan many look at the government and
think of the present administration in power as the state. While the
head of every government boldly declares “Le etat c’est moi” (I am the
state), all of us who are disenfranchised, suppressed, and repressed
need to take a cold hard look at the government. We should understand
the difference between he government and the state. The government
could be evil but the state of Pakistan does not belong to the
government, the state of Pakistan belongs to the people of Pakistan,
it belongs to us. 5561st re-birthday! Congratualations to Indus
Pakistanis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-cUMESPnwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN2hdqsOImc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-twbVndkIo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAOtmWNc_V4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrpmY8-UEKc
Neither the strife in FATA, nor the assassination of Benazir Bhutto,
nor the externally sponsored hooliganism and killings in Swat that
have become the hallmark of today’s news, nor the band of marauders
and mercenaries that infiltrate our borders to create malaise and
mayhem in our land, can detract us from remembering the anniversary of
the day that we decided to create a land for the Muslims of the
subcontinent—a land we later named Pakistan. Pakistan: Another Indian
prophecy of doom. Here we go again. The first one came in 1947.
THE PAKISTANI RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF THREATS: Mountbatten, Nehru,
Indira, Kruschev, Johnson, Carter, Kissinger (Nixon), Gobachov,
Clinton, Armitage (Bush), Karzia (Bush and Vajpayee/Sing) have all
threatened Pakistan: The Pakistanis are used to it…so what else is
new?!! Pakistan’s Nuclear Program should be seen in the backdrop of
these threats.The capacity of Pakistan to sustain some fifteen major
disarticulations in polity, power, and structure and still preserve a
national identity is a phenomenon one is tempted to explain by
recourse to the supernatural.
Pakistan which has been pummelled by external events (three wars with
India, secession of Bangladesh, 3.5 million Afghan refugees) and
disrupted by internal fissures (4 periods of martial law totalling 27
years and ethnic violence in Sindh) to a degree which no other state
established since 1945 has suffered. In this respect it stands as an
exemplar of a nation whose adversities “common sense” might suggest
make its viability impossible.
Yet its continued existence defies the reality induced by such
speculation. The enormity and persistence of these difficulties and
the resilience of the nation in absorbing and somehow surviving them
must be regarded with awe if not admiration.” RALPH BRAIBANTI
This salute is dedicated to the 1200 men and women who died defending
our borders as well as the thousands who were innocent victims of
aggression on our shores. In-spite of the murders, and in-spite of the
bombs, life in Pakistan goes on, and the Crescent and the Star
flutters high on our sky scrapers and pulsates proud in our hearts.
Let this anniversary of our Lahore resolution be a lesson to our
enemies, that we remember our dedication to our cause, and promise to
keep the dream of our fathers of our nation, Jinnah, Liaqat-Ali Khan
and Iqbal alive.
Trail of freedom from the bowels of hell in Bharat to freedom in
Pakistan
We remember the 1 million lives lost in creating a country, and also
rededicate ourselves to the fact that “Pakistan manzil nahin, Nishan e
Manzil hai”. Thatmanzil was defined by Iqbal, Liaqat, Jinnah and many
others who carry the banner in the land of the Crescent and Star.
Despite some impediments we have not lost track of the “manzil“.
Pakistan as it existed 5000 years ago
‘India is no more a country than the Equator’.Winston Churchill
The British Indian Empire included Iraq, Aden, Somalia, Burma, and
more than 500 states of the Subcontinent
The British Empire spanning continents
The Muslim majority areas of the Subcontinent should have been part of
Pakistan. Many Muslims wanted to stay and fight in the “Darul Harb”
’till it was changed to “Darul islam“. (notice islam with lower case
“i” which depicts islam=peace). The Quaid’s vision was to separate
based on demographics.
Patel and others cheated us out of a real separation.
The more then 500 independent princely states of the Subcontinent
The State of Hyderabad wanted to stay independent after 1948 but was
run over by Patel
The Princely state of Bombay Presidency
The Princely state of Baroda
Before separation
After separation
After the Muslims won the right for separate electorates, Jinnah
supported the Dalits to get the same right. This was wholeheartedly
opposed by Mr. Mohandas Gandhi. In the Round Table Conferences in
1930-32, the concept of separate electorates for the Untouchables and
Dalits was raised by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, as a way to ensure sufficient
representation for the minority Dalits, in government.
… Gandhi was a so-called “high caste”. High castes represent at small
minority in India, some 10-15 percent of the population, yet dominate
Indian society in much the same way whites ruled South Africa during
the official period of Apartheid. Dalits often use the phrase
Apartheid in India when speaking about their problems.
.. Gandhi’s main critic and political opponent, Dr. Ambedkar, for whom
our journal is named and the first Dalit in history to receive an
education ..
The All India Muslim League session of 1936
1938 RESOLUTION ASKED FOR SEPARATION:Even earlier in 1938 Sir Abdullah
Haroon moved a resolution for establishing independent Muslim states
in the north-west and eastern zones. The word states continued to be
used in subsequent sessions of the All India Muslim League till about
1943. Originally the two zones were meant to be autonomous and
sovereign and it was only when the British and the Hindus insisted
that Punjab and Bengal were to be partitioned that Pakistan began to
be talked about as one state.
THE PAKISTAN RESOLUTION OF 1940: The Lahore Resolution (later known as
the Pakistan Resolution) The Lahore resolution moved by Fazlul Haq at
the 27th Session of the All India Muslim League, at Lahore on March
23, 1940 stated:
“that geographically contagious units are demarcated into regions
which should be so constituted, with such territorial adjustments as
may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are in a
majority, as in the north-west and eastern zones of India, should be
grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent
units shall be autonomous and sovereign.”
What is the Two Nation Theory exactly? The moniker “‘two’ ‘nation’
‘theory’” is a misnomer. The theory of nationalities states that
“India does not have a homogeneous population”. There are many
racial, ethnic and linguistic groups in India. India is not a national
state, India is not a country, but a sub-continent composed of
“nationalities”. The two nation theory clearly states that that there
are several nationalities in the subcontinent, and the Hindus and the
Muslims are the largest of the two nations. Hindus and Muslims are
different therefore Muslim majority areas must exist separately.
Chaudry Rehmat Ali’s “Pakistan proposal asked for SEVERAL MUSLIM
STATES in the subcontinent.”
In this document a map of India has also been published showing India
split into different states, named as Pakistan, Guruistan, Usmanistan,
Bangsamispan, Hindoostan comprising Rajistan, Kathiwar, Maharashtra,
Rajistan and Dravidia. This pamphlet was reproduced in 1934 (Ref: The
Great Divide by H. V. Hodson page 81). Karakal Pakistan’ existed as
autonomous region of USSR.
He claimed that the destiny of whole Millat in the continent of
“Dinia” (changed name of India) and its dependencies lies in the
integration of Muslims into 10 countries: Pakistan, Bangistan,
Usmanistan, Siddiqistan, Faruqistan, Haideristan, Muistan, Maplistan,
Saristan, Nasarastan and than to be coordinated into Pak. Common
Wealth of Nations.
•Hanoodia:243 principalities or Rajwaras
•Hindoostan: Rajistan, Kathiwar, Mahrashtra, Rajistan and Dravidia
•Saristan
•Nasarastan
•Haideristan
•Siddiqistan
•“Pakistan” (P=Punjab, A=Afghania, K=Kashmir, I=Islam,
TAN=Baluchistan) in the Northwest including Kashmir, Delhi and Agra: “
•Bangistan” in Bengal:
•“Osmanistan” in Hyderabad; “Siddiquistan” in Bundelhand and Malwa; “
•Faruqistan” in Bihar and Orissa: “
•Haideristan” in UP: “
•Muinistan” in Rajasthan: “
•Maplistan” in Kerala:
•“Safiistan” in “Western Ceylon” and “Nasaristan” in “Eastern Ceylon”,
etc.
The map was published by Rahmat Ali in 1934 and came to be widely
circulated in his pamphlet called “Now or Never” among the Muslims of
the Subcontinent.
Rahmat Ali was disgusted at the bias of the British and referred the
“British-Banya alliance” presumably in He even declined to refer to
an “India” as having ever existed at all and instead called the
subcontinent “Dinia”, and the oceans and the seas around India as the
“Pakian Sea”, the “Osmanian Sea” etc. He urged the Dalits, Sikhs,
Buddhists to rise up against the Hindus. In in “Sikhistan” he asked
them to be independent. He urged all of the supressed peoples to rise
up against supression.
This is what we asked for.
We were cheated out of this.
ANALYSIS OF THE TWO NATION THEORY:
The two nation theory enunciates that the subcontinent is made of
several nationalities, the Hindus and the Muslims being the largest of
the two. India is as big as Western Europe and contains many many
racial, religious, linguistic, and ethnic groups. The Hindus and the
Muslims are two separate nations, in terms of diet, attitude, social
behavior, economic tendencies, social interaction, behaviors, and
attitude.
According to many Pakistanis “The two nation theory did not solve all
the problems of the subcontinent. However it did save 200 million
Muslims (those emancipated in Pakistan and Bangladesh) from social
economic and political servitude. The servitude is proven by the
decadent condition of Indian Muslims in a “secular” Indian state.
Perhaps it sacrifices 150 million Indian Muslims. But the alternative
was 450 million Muslims in servitude.” “Secularism” in “India” means
“Hinduism Light.“
Nationhood is defined as the tendency of a nation to exist. No two
nations have the same reason to exist. USA and Canada exist
separately, though you may think that both nations have English
speaking population, with similar accents, similar religions, similar
culture, similar economic structures, and similar racial and ethnic
backgrounds. Do you hear America question the validity of Canada to
exist. I believe that the USA has the power to take over Canada, if it
really wanted to. BUT the USA recognizes the right of the Canadians to
exist separately.
THE TWO NATION THEORY & THREE STATES: The Two Nation theory cannot be
debunked because there are more then one Muslim country in the
subcontinent. The Hindu nation lives in more than one country (India,
Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore, Bangladesh). The Chinese nation lives in several
states (Taiwan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia). Similarly the
Muslim nation (transcending all racial, ethnic, caste and linguistic
boundaries) can live in several states. There are several Arab Muslim
countries too. The country of Pakistan as a unified Muslim country in
the subcontinent was actually asked for the Bengali nationalists.
Jinnah acquiesced.
The “Nationalistic” Indian attitude towards the TNT: Many modern
Indians have a what Pakistanis consider a “strange” attitude. Pakistan
should not exist, because it would be better for Indian Muslims,
better for Indian Hindus, better for Pakistanis. Pakistanis ask “How
do they know it would be better for us?” And who are they to judge our
feelings, and tell us what is better for our nation?” If a nation is
defined “as a tendency of a people to seek a country”then the Muslims
of the Subcontinent are a nation. They point out to one insignificant
point or the other in Pakistan to devalue the “raisan d’etre” of
Pakistani nationhood. This attitude spell perpetual warfare.
PAKISTANI NATIONHOOD: Pakistanis justify the existence of the country
by explaining that “India was never ONE NATION. India is as big as
Western Europe and has more nationalities than Europe. The
subcontinent has always been a conglomeration of states and
nationalities. If one looks at the “Indian” map during the Mughal era,
or during Vikramadatya’s era, one will see dozens, sometimes hundreds
of STATES. Pakistanis believe that “Akhand Bharat” was a figment of
the imagination of Gandhi and the Jan Sangh. Just because the British
called it India, does not mean that it was one nation ever or will be
one nation ever.”
Plutarch expressed this sentiment well some centuries ago: “A
conqueror is always a lover of peace. He would like to make his entry
into your cities unopposed.” Does India talk peace in the Plutarchian
sense?
SUMMARY AND ABSTRACT ON SOUTH ASIAN SCHISMS
This article presents the arguments of political stratification and
nation forming that were in the air in the Forties. The arguments
against the Subcontinental nationhood are discussed at length. The
arguments for a Pakistani nation are analyzed in depth. Arguments from
both sides are presented and refuted.
The history of the creation of India and Pakistan is not always in
teleological progression. We have lost a lot of history by tracing our
history by traveling through chronological diaries and self
aggrandizing biographies. Neither Pakistani nor Indian history books
have done an adequate job of tracing our roots. Neither explain
“partition” properly.
The Pakistani text books ignore Hindu contributions to our common
struggle against colonialism, and seem ashamed of the common lineage
with Hindus—(Indus Valley, Buddhism), Pakistani historical narratives
underplay the role of the nationalist Indian Muslim leadership,
Jauhar, Azad and Suhrawardi, and over emphasize the importance of the
RSS and Jan Sangh. Pakistani textbooks ignore the Sufi contributions
to our struggle of independence and restrict discussion of Sufiism to
Shah Waliullah and a few others.
The Indian textbooks fail to see the Pakistan movement as a provincial
and minority rebellion against the Nehruite Marxist-Leninist
Federalism that was the hall mark of the INC. The Indian textbooks
fail to mention the three wings of Congress, the Nehruite secular wing
led by Nehru, the fundamentalist and communal wing led by Rai, the
religious wing led by Gandhi, and the extreme nationalist wing led by
Patel. The Bharat text books fail to recognize that fact that Gandhi
was and was seen as a religious leader by the minorities and by a
large section of the Hindu populace. The Indian text books over
glorify many Hindu periods, fail to mention the Hindu Buddhist wars,
diminish Brahamanism and Brahamanic cruelties towards non-Brahmans,
relegate the Mughal era to the greatness of Akbar, ignore the Hindu
communal organizations, demonize Muslim leaders who differed with
Gandhi, brand secular and moderate Muslim leadership of the Muslim
League as communal leaders, overlook the frailties of the INC
leadership that led to the Hindu-Muslim schism, and fail to recognize
the radical non-secular part of the Congress that scared the
minorities.
The Indian textbooks neglect to mention the accomplishments of the
Muslim League Muslim leadership that tried to safeguard the interests
of the Indian Muslim minorities by fighting for separate electorates
for the Muslims, and tried to guarantee the rights of the minorities
through the Cabinet Mission Plan and by demanding one third of the
representation in parliament. This ingenious plan would have
guaranteed a fair and equitable settlement. However vested interests
in the INC would not allow this.
The article has some in-bred biases towards the Pakistani point of
view. No apologies are given for this slant. The purpose of the
article is not convince people, simply to present facts and analysis.
THE FORTIES: THE THEORIES IN AIR
Freedom is in the air. The Union Jack is to come down. How do wedeal
with independence? Are we mature enough to behave as civilized
nations? The years preceding our independence was an intense time. The
Freedom Movement created many leaders and many movements. Neither the
Muslims nor the Hindus nor the Sikhs were monolithic groups. Each
political group had many leaders. Many times the leadership seemed to
head in different directions. The Harrow-Eaton Oxbridge led INC under
the leadership of Motilal Nehru was a very different Congress. The INC
led by his son Jawaharlal Nehru was a very different INC.
The INC had several factions that split and made up. Similarly the
Muslim Movement had factions and grouping in it. Disgruntled elements
in each of the major parties went and formed their own political
parties and contested the elections. Each group had sub-groupings and
subdivisions. There were more than 550 states in the Subcontinent. The
Forties gave us the opportunity to forge a country in the Subcontinent
or create many nations. As a people we failed to remain at peace. As
countries we failed to keep the peace. As nations we failed to usher
in an era of prosperity into the Subcontinent. Today let history teach
us some lessons.
Most readers are familiar withGandhi’s great hunger strike against the
so called Poona Pact in 1933. The matter which Gandhi was protesting,
nearly unto death at that, was the inclusion in the draft Indian
Constitution, proposed by the British, that reserved the right of
Dalits to elect their own leaders. Dr. Ambedkar, with his degree in
law from Cambridge, had been chosen by the British to write the new
constitution for India. Having spent his life overcoming caste-based
discrimination, Dr. Ambedkar had come to the conclusion that the only
way Dalits could improve their lives is if they had the exclusive
right to vote for their leaders, that a portion or reserved section of
all elected positions were only for Dalits and only Dalitscould vote
for these reserved positions.
Separate electorate was vehemently opposed by Mahatma Gandhi on the
grounds that the move would disintegrate Hindu society. If the Dalits
had gotten a separate electorate, this would have ensured certain
constituencies which would have been reserved for them. Only the
Dalits would have been able to vote for the candidates contesting
those seats. This would have given them real leaders and real
participation in the elections.
Gandhi was determined to prevent this and went on hunger strike to
change this article in the draft constitution. After many communal
riots, where tens of thousands of Dalitswere slaughtered, and with a
leap in such violence predicted if Gandhi died, Dr. Ambedkaragreed,
withGandhi on his death bed, to give up the Dalits right to
exclusively elect their own leaders and Gandhi ended his hunger
strike.
Later, on his own death bed, Dr. Ambedkar would say this was the
biggest mistake in his life, that if he had to do it all over again,
he would refuse to give up Dalitonly representation, even if it meant
Gandhi’s death.
ONT VS. TNT:
The Two Nation Theory is in direct contradiction of the One Nation
Theory. There were proponents of the One Nation Theory in the Indian
National Congress and many Muslims believed in the One Nation Theory.
Similarly there were many Congressional Leaders that believed in the
Two Nation Theory. There were many variations of the TNT and there
were many variations of the ONT . On the one hand the TNT espoused
many countries in the Subcontinent, on the other is espoused two
countries.
Rama Rajha vs Darul Islam:
The ONT had many variations too. There were fundamentalist minority of
Muslims who also supported the ONT and had declared India as “Darul
Harb” (Area of war) with a view to convert it to “Darul Islam” (Area
of peace). The religious right espoused a religious Brahman
theocracy based on the dharma. “Ram Rajha” were proposed with forced
eviction and/or conversion of all Non-Hindus by some of the
fundamentalist parties on the right.
United States of India vs. Mahabharta vs India and Pakistan
There were the secular versions of the ONT and there were many that
propagated a United States of India. The secular and moderate wings of
the Congress and the Muslims won the day, and the fundamentalist on
both sides lost the elections.
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: India had 400 million people. The
Muslims were a minority, and because of colonialism had lost the
political power in the Subcontinent. The British had taken actions to
snatch the control from the Muslims at all echelons of power. The
Muslims were demoralized, penury-stricken and were unable to compete
with the the more affluent and more educated Hindus. Separate
electorates allowed them to elect their own representatives, but the
fear of “majoratarianism” scared the minority. Indian “democracy”
still does not have any safeguards to prevent “majoratarianism” from
dictating to the minority. Requests for one third seats in parliament
were not acceptable to the Indian National Congress, and though on
many occasions agreements were reached, pressures within the Congress
did not allow the agreements to materialize.
The Cabinet Mission Planwas the closest the INC came to an agreement
with the Muslim League. It was under these circumstances that they
marched for freedom. The following narrative helps us remember the
historical chronology and the ideological battles that were waged then
and are being waged now over the internet.
The supporters of the TNT won the elections and won the arguments,
and the believers of the ONT lost the elections. The INC and the Jamat
e Islami were rejected by the Muslims. The TNT became fact and the ONT
remains a fascination by many. These pages will distinguish the
origins of the ONT and the TNT.
POST INDEPENDENCE PRESSURES VALIDATE THE TNT: Post-independence
chronologies have shown us that religious pressures in both India and
Pakistan have forced the moderate parties to take religious decisions.
Today in India moderate Pakistani parties like the Muslims League
characterized as communal. Today in Pakistan and moderate parties like
the Congress are characterized as religious parties.
THE 360 VIEW: STATES FORMED ON THE BASIS OF RELIGION
Pakistan of course is not the only sate formed on the basis of
religion.
Throughout history there have been states formed on the basis of
religion. The Holy Roman Empire, The Turkish Ottoman Empire, Lebanon,
Israel, the Federated/ Confederated Republic of Cypriot Turks, and
more recently Bosnia have all been formed on the basis of religion.
Many of these states survived for centuries and indeed thrived. The
basis of many “states” in the Indian Republic is indeed based on
religion (though this is usually disguised). Haryana is one prime
example of a state that was separated from the Punjab on the basis of
religion. Sindh, was divided on the basis of religion with the
cognizance and approval of the Indian National Congress.
BANGLADESH AS THIRD COUNTRY IN THE TWO NATIONS The creation of
Bangladesh is the fulfilled prophecy of the Lahore Resolution. The
TNT is not affected by the creation of Bangladesh. Pakistanis claim
that “The Two Nation theory cannot be debunked because there are more
then one Muslim country in the subcontinent.” The Hindu nation lives
in more than one country (India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Burma, Sri
Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Bangladesh).
The Chinese nation lives in several states (Taiwan, China, Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia). Similarly the Muslim nation (transcending all
racial, ethnic, caste and linguistic boundaries) can live in several
states. There are several Arab Muslim countries too.
The country of Pakistan as a unified Muslim country in the
subcontinent was actually asked for the Bengali nationalists. Jinnah
acquiesced Bangladesh faces the same religious pressures as Pakistan
with regard to religion. The separation from Pakistan was cognizance
of a geo-political reality and the development of minority and
regional rights, the same rights that Jinnah tired to guarantee in his
famous Fourteen Points. The TNT and Jinnah sought a weak center and
strong provincial rights. Neither India which bases it provinces and
states on linguistics AND RELIGION, nor Pakistan, nor Bangladesh nor
Sri Lanka have been able to resolve the question of religious and
ethnic minorities. The creation of Banglasdesh, the de facto division
of Sri Lanka and the “special status” accorded to Kashmiris within
India are indeed recognition of the TNT in its various forms. Jamaat
wants BD to be declared an Islamic state :
01 May 1997, Thursday, 23, Zilhaj 141720 DHAKA, April 30:
Bangladesh’s Jamaat-i-Islam party on Wednesday renewed its demand for
the country to be declared an Islamic state.20 “The constitution must
recognize the sovereignty of God through declaring the country an
Islamic Republic,” Jamaat’s secretary general Matiur Rahman Nizami
told reporters .20 Nizami said the 10-month-old government of Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed had failed to play a “positive role” in
political and socio-economic areas and said law and order had severely
deteriorated over the past few months.20 “We think everybody is
worried at the present situation of the country,”he said and announced
a two-month campaign beginning on Thursday to drum up support for
Jamaat’s demands for an Islamic state. Jamaat backed Awami League
during its campaign against the BNP government of former prime
minister Khaleda Zia, who resigned in May last year.97AFP20
GANDHI ON CREATION OF PAKISTAN
In an interesting book called “Birds of a feather flock together” by
Anwar Shaikh the author says the following:
“The fact that the Indians did not have to fight the British for
freedom, absolves them of the usually leveled charge of divide and
rule. The British ruled several communities and they were politically
and morally obliged to give a fair healing to all of them. It was the
attitudes of mutual hatred, which contributed to the communal
divisions, but came to be ascribed to the British. This is the truth
that Gandhi described when he said:
….but if both of us – Hindus and Muslims – cannot agree on anything
else the Viceroy is left with no choice .
It was not the British, who divided India: it is the Congress and the
League that had agreed to partition as the solution and Mountbatten
was not to blame”.Gandhi assured .
THE ONT PROPONENTS: THE NATIONALISTIC INDIAN ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE TNT:
Many modern Indians have a what Pakistanis consider a “strange”
attitude. Pakistan should not exist, because it would be better for
Indian Muslims, better for Indian Hindus, better for Pakistanis.
Pakistanis retort 93How do they know it would be better for us? And
who are they to judge our feelings, and tell us what is better for our
nation? If a nation is defined as a tendency of a people to seek a
country then the Muslims of the Subcontinent are a nation. Pakistanis
justify the existence of the country by explaining that 93India was
never ONE NATION. India is as big as Western Europe and has more
nationalities than Europe. The subcontinent has always been a
conglomeration of states and nationalities. If one looks at the
‘Indian’ map during the Mughal era, or during Vikramadatya’s era, one
will see dozens, sometimes hundreds of STATES. Pakistanis believe that
“Akhand Bharat” was a figment of the imagination of Gandhi and the Jan
Sangh. Just because the British called it India, does not mean that it
was one nation ever or will be one nation ever.
“THE PAKISTAN IDEOLOGY” EXPLAINS “WHY PAKISTAN?: For those who TRULY
want to understand Pakistanis, let us go over the excerpts from:
Ideology of Pakistan by Prof. Saeeduddin Ahmad Dar
The Muslims of South Asia are a nation in the modern sense of the
word; The basis of their nationhood is neither territorial, nor
racial, nor linguistic nor ethnic; They are a nation because they
profess the same faith Islam; They are entitled to self-determination.
The areas where they (Muslims) are in dominant majority should be
constituted into sovereign states/state; Wherein they should be
enabled to order their lives in individual and collective spheres in
accord with the teachings and requirements of Islam asset out in Holy
Quran and Sunna; and The state should endeavour to strengthen the
bonds of unity among Muslim countries. The Ideology of Pakistan stems
from the instinct of the Muslim Community of South Asia to maintain
its individuality by resisting all attempts to absorb it by the Hindu
society. They believe that Islam is incompatible with Hinduism.
Historical experience has shown that Islam and Hinduism have two
different social orders and given birth to two distinct cultures and
that there is no meeting point between the two.
TNT: WHY PAKISTAN
Let us give you a skeleton argument of WHY Pakistan was needed. The
creation of Pakistan can be explained in the following sentences:
•a) The Lahore Resolution proposed 2 Muslim states in the subcontinent
and India in the middle in accordance with the Two Nation Theory.
Pakistanis believe that TNT is alive, EVEN After 1971 or else BD would
have folded into India. Many nations live in more than ONE country.
The Arabs (Libya and Egypt etc.) live in more than one country. The
Hindu nation lives in more than one country (Nepal, Bhutan) etc., etc.
Etc. The creation of Bangladesh does not negate the Nationalities
Theory of the Subcontinent.
•b) In 1947 Hindus in India controlled almost all parts of life in the
Subcontinent. To emancipate the Muslims a SEPARATE quarantine (Green
house where the economically depressed Muslims could be nurtured) area
had to be created to allow MORE opportunity to the Muslims.
•c)The Muslim League wanted a Muslim majority land because they feared
that the Hindus would totally subjugate their Islamic entity. Most
Pakistanis feel that this has actually happened to the 100 million
Muslims who were left in India today.
•d) The Muslim League did not want/plan a population transfer. However
this did happen. Both sides blame each other. The population transfer
took place.
•e) If the population transfer had not taken place (and Pakistan still
had a 30% Hindu population), would Muslims have achieved something in
Pakistan? Would Muslims have gotten a free ride in business with
Hindus dominating the businesses in Pakistan? The answer to these
questions are not simple. If the Hindu majority towns in Pakistani
Sind are any indication, there would have been no problem.
•f) In 1945 the Congress accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan. So did the
Muslim League. Then the Congress led by Jawaharlal Nehru made a volte
face and rejected it. So then did the Muslim League. It was clear that
Nehru did not want to risk the chance of the leadership of India going
out of his hands. Nehru was as much responsible for Pakistan as
Jinnah. If Pakistan had been created a multi-cultural multi-communal
entity, with the entire Punjab and the entire Bengal (as envisaged by
Quaid-e-Azam) then we would have a very very different Subcontinent.
We got what Quad-e-Azam called a 93moth-eaten-Pakistan94 (it was this
moth-eaten Pakistan or nothing). It was very difficult for this moth
eaten Pakistan to survive (without any infra-structure, industries
etc.). If a multi-cultural, multi-communal Pakistan had been allowed
to evolve perhaps we would NOT have had three wars!
THE ORIGINS OF THE TWO NATION THEORY AND THE TRANSITION TO THE
NATIONALITIES FACT
What started as the Nationalities theory was labeled “The two nation
theory” and ended up as the SEVERAL NATIONALITIES FACT. The TNT has
been around for centuries. Quaid-e-Azam,Mohammad Ali Jinnah on one
occasion said that the struggle for Pakistan started when the first
Muslim set foot on the shores of Sindh. This is what Al Beruni in his
treatise Kitab-Ul-Hind about the differences he observed between the
two communities: “The Hindus entirely differ from the Muslims in every
respect. One might think that they had intentionally changed them into
the opposite, for our customs do not resemble theirs”.
Al Beruni enumerates the following reasons for the complete and entire
isolation of the Muslims as a community from the Hindus: “All their
(Hindu) fanaticism is directed against those who do not belong to
them. They (Hindus) call them (Muslims and others) impure, and forbid
having any connection with them, be it inter-marriage, or by any other
kind of relationship, or by sitting, eating, and drinking with them,
because thereby they think why would be polluted”. In early eleventh
century Al-Biruni observed:
“In all matters and usages they (Hindus) differ from us (Muslims).
He wrote:
“They are totally differ from us in religion, as we believe in
nothing in which they believe and vice versa.”
According to Beruni:
“the Hindus considered the Muslim “Malachha” i.e. impure and for
bid having any connection with them, be it intermarriage or any bond
of relations hip, or by sitting, eating and drinking with them,
because thereby, they think they be polluted.
Expressing his views on Hindu-Muslim relations in the twentieth
century Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah observed:
“The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious
philosophies, social customs and literature. They neither
intermarry, nor interdine together, and indeed they belong to two
different civilizations which are based on conflicting ideas
and conceptions. Their aspects on life and of life are different.”
TNT: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HINDUS AND MUSLIMS
Here is a Pakistani patriot arguing about the differences between the
two nations:
“Dress codes between Hindus and Non-Hindus are apparent in any
gathering, specially among women. Standards of modesty for women are
very very different. We speak Urdu, you cleansed Urdu of all Persian
and Arabic words and speak Hindi. Your literature consists of Tagore
and others, ours of the later stages of Iqbal. Our heroes are your
enemies (Auranzeb and Mahmud of Gazni). Our scoundrels are your heroes
(Shivajee). Our architecture is Moghal in nature- symmetrical with
domes and minars. Yours is stupa shaped and temple-like. Our temples
are decorated with writings, yours are pictographic representations
abhorrent to Muslims. Our civilization is traced from the deserts of
Arabia, the sands of Persia and the fertile valley of the Indus.
Yours is traced from the depths of Somnath, and the war plains of the
Ganges. Our names are different than yours. Our value systems are
based on Judeo-Christian monothieism and the ten commandments. Yours
are based on a conglomerations of books that originated in Hindu
mythology. Your laws are based on the Hindu Rashtra (or secularism),
ours on the ten commandments . We eat meat and relish beef. For you
Sex is religious and requires display and celebration, for us sex is
private and a duty for procreation. You are vegetarian and abhor
beef . On religious holidays we pray and scrifice animals, you
celebrate fire. We pray five times a day and want the aazaan to
monitor our day, you go to temples every week. We pray towards Mecca,
you go to pilgrimage to the Ganges. We bury our dead, you cremate
them. We are all equal, you have a caste system. We share our foods,
you cannot share between castes. We revere the widows, you used to
burn them.We are required to slap back, you believe in ahmisa. We
believe in heaven and hell, you believe in re-incarnation.”
“Remember that ….we shall fight ,and we shall fight for 1,000 years as
we have fought for 1,000 years in the past….we can continue ! ” (ZAB
at the United Nations )
HINDU ORIGINS OF THE TNT: The ” Two Nation Theory” had been in the
Hindu pot since the 8th century and was formally enunciated by many in
the Hindu Mahasab. Here is Mr. Sarvakar.
“Several infantile politicians commit the serious mistake in supposing
that India is already welded into a harmonious nation, or that it
could be welded thus for the mere wish to do so. These our well-
meaning but unthinking friends take their dreams for realities. That
is why they are impatient of communal tangles and attribute them to
communal organizations. But the solid fact is that the so-called
communal questions are but a legacy handed down to us by centuries of
a cultural, religious and national antagonism between the Hindus and
the Muslims. When the time is ripe you can solve them; but you cannot
suppress them by merely refusing recognition of them. It is safer to
diagnose and treat deep-seated disease than to ignore it. Let us
bravely face unpleasant facts as they are. India cannot be assumed
today to be a unitarian and homogeneous nation, but on the contrary
these are two nations in the main, the Hindus and the Muslims in
India.” Speaking at the Hindu Maha Sabha Session held at Ahmedabad in
1937, Mr. Savarkar. Quoted by Dr. Ambedkar in his book “Pakistan”
“I declare that the future of the Hindu race, of Hindustan and of the
Punjab, rests on these four pillars: (1) Hindu Sangathan, (2) Hindu
Raj, (3) Shuddhi of Moslems, and (4) Conquest and Shuddhi of
Afghanistan and the Frontiers. So long as the Hindu nation does not
accomplish these four things, the safely of our children and great-
grandchildren will be ever in danger, and the safety of the Hindu race
will be impossible. The Hindu race has but one history, and its
institutions are homogeneous. But the Musalmans and Christians are far
removed from the confines of Hindustan, for their religions are alien
and they love Persian, Arab and European institutions. Thus, just as
one removes foreign matter from the eye, Shuddhi must be made of these
two religions. Afghanistan and the hilly regions of the frontier were
formerly part of India, but are at present under the domination of
Islam. . . .Just as there is Hindu religion in Nepal, so there must be
Hindu institutions in Afghanistan and the frontier territory;
otherwise it is useless to win Swaraj. For mountain tribes are always
warlike and hungry. If they become our enemies, the age of Nadirshah
and Zamanshah will begin anew. At present English officers are
protecting the frontiers; but it cannot always be. . . .If Hindus want
to protect themselves, they must conquer Afghanistan and the frontiers
and convert all the mountain tribes.” Pratap of Lahore, Lala Hardayal
in 1925. Quoted by Dr. Ambedkar in his book “Pakistan”
Critics that accused Golwalkar of fascism have often pointed to his
extreme right-wing and Anti-Muslim bigotry. In his 1939 book, “We, Our
Nationhood Defined”, Golwalkar expressed praise of Hitler, saying:
“To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked
the world by her purging the country of the semitic Races — the Jews.
Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also
shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having
differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united
whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.”
“The Christians committed all sorts of atrocities on the Jews by
giving them the label “Killers of Christ”. Hitler is not an exception
but a culmination of the 2000-year long oppression of the Jews by the
Christians.”MS Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Jagarana Prakashana,
Bangalore, 1966, p.210
As listed above it is Ironic that the TNT originated as a result of
the parochial writings of major Hindu leaders like Mr. Savarkar, Haldi
Ram, Golwaker, Lal Lajpat Rai who were proclaiming that Hindus and
Muslims were separate nations and the Muslims should be expunged from
the land of the Hindus. When the Muslims saw that the Hindus were
targeting them, the Muslims decided to act.
Contrary to the common belief that Jinnah originated the two-nation
theory, actually it was Savarkar who propounded the theory years
before the Muslim League embraced the idea. Savarkar had commanded all
the Muslims to leave ‘Bharat’ to pave the way for the establishment of
Hindu Rashtra. When Jinnah introduced his two-nation theory, Savarkar
announced, “I have no quarrel with Mr. Jinnah’s two-nation theory… It
is a historical fact that Hindus and Muslims are two nations.”
“His (Savarkar’s) doctrine was Hindutva, the doctrine of Hindu racial
supremacy, and his dream was of rebuilding a great Hindu empire from
the sources of the Indus to those of the Brahmaputra. He hated
Muslims. There was no place for them in the Hindu society he
envisioned.” (Freedom at Midnight, by Dominique Lapierre and Larry
Collins).
So the hate campaign against Muslims was well in place even before the
partition of erstwhile British India. This and many other significant
factors forced Jinnah to demand a separate nation for Muslims as he
believed that Muslims would not be safe in India — a prophetic
declaration indeed! There is no denying the fact that Jinnah was
secular to the marrow and would never have wished to cut ties with
India, but circumstances compelled him to do so. However, he had not
harbored grudges against India or its leaders. He had kept his house
on Malabar Hill, thinking he could weekend there, while running his
country from Karachi on weekdays, but destiny had something else in
store for the estranged neighbors of the Asia Partition.
When Nathuram Godse pumped three bullets into Gandhi, a section of the
Hindu community compared him with Judas. The writing was on the wall.
The divide was evident. In some areas people mourned the death of
Gandhi, and in other areas they distributed sweets, held celebrations,
and demanded the release of Godse. Gandhi’s crime was that he had
demanded security for Muslims. Syed Alvi Teheran Times August 17th,
2008
The seeds of partition were actually sown by the stalwarts of Hindu
Mahasabha, primarily the quartet of Savarkar, Gawarikar, Apte, and
Nathuram Godse. Independent India’s history is testimony to the fact
that in a conflict between the forces of secular nationalism and
religious communalism, the latter has always ruled the roost. Secular
forces have more often than not ended up playing into the hands of
communal forces. Such has been the history of independent India, and
it is again on display in Jammu.
The actual chronology was not so simple. Most Leaguers realized the
fact that initial the Congress had been a moderate and liberal party,
but could the fate of the Muslims be trusted on the Nehru dynasty.
Could other religious movements not overtake the INC secular ideology.
Would majoritarianism not destroy the Muslim ethnicity? The result of
their action was Pakistan. The historical basis of the TNT can be
traced back to Shivajee. The TNT was proposed by Lala Rai. The TNT was
formally articulated from the Muslim side by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, then
announced by the president of the Muslim Leagues Mohammad Iqbal in
1930. It was preached by Quaid-e-Azam and adopted by the entire
Muslim League. The TNT demanded the end of the artificial state called
“India” that had been forced upon the people of the subcontinent by
the British.
BRITISH ORIGINS OF THE TNT: The division of Sub-Continent into
different Federating Units has an old history. It was a British MP,
John Bright, who immediately after mutiny in 1857 suggested that the
Empire be broken up into several smaller states (Ref: Liberty or Death
by Patiriek French P. 88) with complete autonomy, ultimately becoming
independent states.
MUSLIM ORIGINS OF THE TNT: Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan and other reacted.
John Bright again in 1877 clearly said ‘that after British withdrawal
India will have five or six great independent sovereign states like
those of Europe (Ref: Rahmat Ali by K. K. Aziz P.51 1987 Ed.).
The TNT wanted the subcontinent to be returned to its pre-British
status that existed through the centuries, the status that had
allowed many states to exist in the subcontinent. India had more than
five hundred independent states even during the British colonial era.
The Lahore Resolution demanded the partition of the subcontinent (and
the creation of TWO Muslim states in the subcontinent) on the basis of
the TNT in 1940. The TNT was proven in 1947 when India was
“partitioned” and “India” returned to its natural and normal state,
which consisted on many nation states. In 1947 the TNT became the The
Nationalities Law.
BECAUSE OF THE FAULTY BOUNDARY COMMISSION MUSLIM LANDS WERE TRUNCATED
AND MUSLIMS WERE ETHNICALLY CLEANSED OUT OF THEIR HOMES.
“The greatest migration in history was the exchange of 11.5 million
people between India and Pakistan in 1947 accompanied by the massacre
of another half a million. The migration of 3.5 million Afghan
refugees into Pakistan from 1979 to 1987 was almost as disruptive. The
separation of Bangladesh was, until the dismemberment of the Soviet
empire in 1991, the only successful secession of the post World War II
era. Three wars with India over what is essentially a boundary dispute
bloodied with ethnic cleansing in Kashmir, and now continued
turbulence and terrorism based in part on drug distribution and in
part on the presumption of the development of nuclear weapons
capacity. Ralph Braiabnti
PAKISTANI STABILITY:
“The critical role of Pakistan as a factor in international stability
and global politics can only be appreciated when it is placed in the
context of a global resurgence of Islamic identity. The pre-eminent
characteristic of Pakistan is its Muslim episteme. When established in
1947 in the name of Islam it was the most populous Muslim nation in
the world. While the secession of Bangladesh in 1971 reduced it to
second place after Indonesia, it remains one of the most conspicuously
fervent of the fifty-four member states of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference (OIC) that declare themselves constitutively
Islamic. The invocation of Islam as its raison d’etre places Pakistan
as one of the few nations, along with the United States, Israel and
Saudi Arabia founded explicitly on religious doctrine rather than by
historical accident or colonial invention. A realistic assessment of
its role in the world requires a survey of its ideological universe –
Ummah – the global commonwealth of Muslims.Ralph Braibanti.
THREATS TO “INDIA”
“Yet it is the India of Gandhi which remains in the American
imagination and distorts at every angle our impressions of India and
hence our view of Pakistan. Modern India unambiguously regards itself
as the dominant power in the region. It has waged war with China,
three wars with Pakistan, occupied the disputed territory of Jammu and
Kashmir, annexed the Portuguese enclave of Goa, seized the princely
Muslim state of Junagadh, annexed the Himalayan state of Sikkim,
exerts political control over Nepal and Bhutan, intervened militarily
in Pakistan’s civil war which established Bangladesh, intervenes in
the Tamil-Sinhalese violence in Sri Lanka, continues to conflict with
Pakistan over the boundary of the Siachen glacier and is adamant in
its refusal to implement a series of United Nations resolutions
starting in 1948 calling for a plebiscite in Kashmir. In view of these
well-defined instances of hegemonic impulse there can be little wonder
about Pakistan’s concern that its security technology should match
India’s. In his autobiography, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, analyzed the
strategy of the United States to bring India and Pakistan together as
a buffer against China. He deftly characterized the Pakistani view of
India, “The idea of becoming subservient to India is abhorrent and
that of cooperation with India, with the object of promoting tension
with China, equally repugnant.”
THREATS TO PAKISTAN ARE ALWAYS EXAGGERATED:
“The capacity of Pakistan to sustain some fifteen major
disarticulations in polity, power, and structure and still preserve a
national identity is a phenomenon one is tempted to explain by
recourse to the supernatural Pakistan which has been pummelled by
external events (three wars with India, secession of Bangladesh, 3.5
million Afghan refugees) and disrupted by internal fissures (4 periods
of martial law totalling 27 years and ethnic violence in Sindh) to a
degree which no other state established since 1945 has suffered. In
this respect it stands as an exemplar of a nation whose adversities
“common sense” might suggest make its viability impossible. Yet its
continued existence defies the reality induced by such speculation.
The enormity and persistence of these difficulties and the resilience
of the nation in absorbing and somehow surviving them must be regarded
with awe if not admiration.”
PAKISTAN MANZIL NAHIN NISHAN E MANZIL HAI: Alama Iqbal showed us the
“manzil”. We don’t want a caliphate nor a religious theocracy; Not a
means to wage war or expansion; Not through conquest or capturing
capitals; not to threaten anyone, but just so that we can all live
together in peace.
“Unlike any other Muslim nation, Pakistan has a complicated web of
relationships with the entire world of Islam (Ummah). It is a mistaken
notion to think of Pakistan exclusively in the context of South Asia
or the South Asian subcontinent. Having fragmented from that
subcontinent with no exclusionary topographical boundaries separating
it from the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan and the disputed
area of Kashmir, that assumption is easy to make. But it is erroneous.
The topographical barriers separating Pakistan from its western and
northern neighbours – Afghanistan, Iran and China – are much more
formidable, but the cultural affinities are greater still. Afghan-
Pushtu culture oversteps the Durand Line. Baluch-Brahui tribal culture
is found in the Baluchistan of Pakistan and in the Baluchistan of
Iran.
These links with its western neighbours existed long before pre-
partition India. Indeed all the boundaries in the area, such as the
Durand Line, the Radcliffe Boundary and the McMahon Line were drawn to
satisfy colonial interests; not to delineate ethnic/linguistic/
cultural identities. The relationship with Afghanistan, always fraught
with difficulties, has been woven into a denser web in consequence of
Pakistan’s pivotal role in the Soviet-Afghan War. The links with
Turkey and Central Asia have historical roots. The Muslims of the
subcontinent absorbed, as Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi has so poignantly
written, “layers of immigrants from Arabia, Iran, Central Asia and the
Afghan mountains; the greatest impact was made by the Central Asians,
because they seem to have been the most numerous and also because the
ruling dynasties were overwhelmingly Turkish.” Qureshi states that the
painting of such artists as Chugtai and poets such as Hali, Iqbal and
Ghalib all have an Iranian flavour. He quotes the “great thinker” Shah
Waliu’llah who suggests that the Muslims of India were travellers in a
strange land dreaming of the roses, nightingales, cypress forests and
running springs of Iran and Central Asia. This romanticized view of
the wellsprings of Pakistani culture was reinforced by the separation
of Bangladesh in 1971 and the emergence of strengthened bonds with the
Islamic states to the West.
“Tu shaaheen hai, basaira kar pharaon kee chatanon pur”
..”Jhapatna palatna, palat kar jhapatna;
Lahu garm rakhne ka hai ik bahana”…..Alama Iqbal
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcmQHaoLrW0&feature=related)
Pakistan has a great future.
DIL ZINDA-O-BEDAAR AGAR HO TO BA-TADREEJ
BANDE KO ATA KARTA HAI CHASHME-NIGRAA(N) AUR
ALFAZ-O-MAANI MEIN TAFAWAT NAHI LEKIN
MULLAH KI AZAA(N) AUR, MUJAHID KI AZAA(N) AUR
PARWAAZ HAI DONO KI ISI EK FIZAA MEIN
KARGAZ KA JAHA(N) AUR HAI, SHAHEEN KA JAHA AUR
1. If your heart is alive and alert then gradually Allah gives his
banda different way to look at things.
2. Both Mulla and Mujahid say Allah-O-Akbar, Although words and
meaning are same, but there is a difference in purpose
3. Although both Vulture and Falcon fly in the same sky, both have
different way of living, vulture flies low and lives on dead bodies,
where as falcon flies high and lives on preys.
“The economic and political facet of this cultural affinity takes form
in the Economic Cooperation Organization established in 1993 by ten
contiguous states – Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and the six
Central Asian Islamic Republics. It supersedes the entity known as
Regional Cooperation Development (RCD) formed in 1964 by Turkey, Iran
and Pakistan which was never very effective. This new organization
(ECO) holds greater promise than the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation of 1983 (SAARC). The latter has been crippled by
the relatively overwhelming size of India and fear that India’s
conduct defines a hegemonic propensity of ultimate danger to Pakistan.
The relative success of the Economic Cooperation Organization and the
failure of SAARC are institutional reflections of the tighter linkage
of Pakistan with Central Asia than with the subcontinent. The
connections with the Arabian Peninsula are also significant. Changing
the name of the industrial city of Lyallpur to Faisalabad after Saudi
Arabia’s late monarch, Saudi Arabia’s financing the International
Islamic University in Islamabad and the King Faisal Mosque, one of the
largest in the world, are but a few symbols of the Arabian
connections.
The training of large numbers of Mujahideen (freedom fighters for
religion) in Pakistan to fight in the Afghan-Soviet war, and the
participation in that war of Saudi Arabian fighters has had a curious
aftermath. Many of these warriors, left without a cause, are now in
Bosnia along with Iranian mercenaries. Some are said to be in an
underground resistance movement against the Saudi regime. If this is
so, it thrusts Pakistan ever more deeply into the maelstrom of
international Muslim political activities.” Ralph Baiganti
Step one: Current day Pakistan
Step two: Take control of Pashtun areas
Step 3: Confederation of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This is Central Asia
Step 4: Work with the Muslim world
Step 5: Grow the Muslim world
STRATEGIC POSITION OF PAKISTAN:
“The critical geopolitical position of Pakistan recalls the views of
Sir Halford J. Mackinder, Professor Karl Hausholer and Admiral Alfred
Thomas Mahan. It was Mackinder. writing in 1904 who first used the
expression “geographical pivots of history. He advanced the idea of
the “heartland” i.e. that whoever controls a central strategic or
pivotal area, controls the surrounding, area, the range of control
expanding in concentric circles. These ideas profoundly influenced
Karl Haushofer, an army major general then professor of geography at
Munich University. Haushofer was introduced to Adolf Hitler by Rudolf
Hess. Haushofer’s theories influenced Hitler but eventually Hitler
ignored his advice and sent him to a concentration camp. Haushofer’s
son, Albrecht, an art historian who had also written on geopolitics,
was imprisoned participation in a conspiracy to overthrow Hitler and
was executed by a firing squad. Shortly thereafter, his father
committed suicide. Admiral Mahan advanced the same notion in terms of
seapower – whoever controls the sea has influence if not control over
adjacent landmasses.
The precipitous decline in the respectability of geopolitics during
and after the Second World War was due in part to the repugnance
toward anything associated with Nazi doctrine or behaviour.
Haushofer’s early influence on Hitler was widely regarded as the
ideological paradigm for Hitler’s grand design of conquest. The fact
that Haushofer was banished for advising against the German invasion
of the Soviet Union did not lift the stigma. Later, nuclear warfare
with the possibility of long-range destruction seemed to minimize the
need for actual control of areas of land or sea. The geopolitical
explanation of global strategy can be carried too far. The Mackinder-
Haushofer paradigm was extremist in the sense that it did not take
other factors such as climate and human behaviour into account.
Ellsworth Huntington, a pioneer in analyzing geographical influences
on human development, labels the Mackinder-Haushofer theories
“fallacious”.
The blemish of their association with Nazi policy is evident in
Huntington’s criticism. Writing during the height of Hitler’s power,
he groups the Mackinder-Haushofer paradigm with the racist theories of
Houston S. Chamberlain and Count Joseph A. deGobineau. In recent years
there has been a marginal renewal of interest in the influence of
geography on politics. The awareness of the criticality of
“chokepoints” or “flashpoints” has contributed to this new interest.
It is neither prudent nor accurate to label this development as
geopolitics. The simple term “political geography” as developed by
Isaiah Bowman as early as 1921 is a more useful and accurate
designation. In the past decade a growing number of analysts of
international politics such as Paul Kennedy, Ewan Anderson, William
Pfaff, Saul Cohen, Jack Child have turned to classical geography for
some explanation of contemporary issues. The rising incidence of low
intensity non-nuclear conflicts in which control of pivotal areas of
land and sea is critical also contributes to a reassessment of
geography. Pakistan fits perfectly into a politico geographic
paradigm. The geographic arc embracing Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan to
the west and Kashmir to the east may well be the next source serious
of conflict in the world. It may originate in the west, in the east or
in both places at once.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union created a geopolitical vacuum
in Central Asia. The invasion and occupation of Afghanistan has
created new allies. The rise of China creates new realities in West
Asia. The resurgence of Islam in the six Central Asian republics and
in Xinjiang has provoked competing ambitions of Iran, Iraq, Turkey,
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for influence in the area.
All the superpowers are staking out their territory in the rich lands
of Central Asia. The continued instability of Afghanistan and
increase the danger. Pakistani- Chinese nexus and the growing
Pakistani-Russian entente places Pakistan in a pivotal position. All
of India’s neighbors share a distrust of India. Pakistan is at the
epicentre not only by virtue of geography, but also because of its
history, religion, culture and ethnicity. Whatever fire may emerge
from this tinderbox, Pakistan will be a pivot. Pakistan can turn the
spigot off or on. Bharat if it ever wants to be a local or regional
player must recognize Pakistan, in letter and spirit and embrace it as
a friend. Without India’s acceptance of Pakistan, its regional
ambitions will never come to fruition.
In 2009, the Dalit, Muslim and Communist again tried to form alliance
against the Indian National Congress. The alliance did not win. The
450 million, Dalits, Untouchables and Scheduled castes are Bharat have
been left out. This is the unfinished business of 1947. The liberated
Dalits will one day once again write the history of South Asia.
Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammed Ali Jinnah said that:
” the differences in India, between the two major nations, the Hindus
and the Muslims are a thousand times greater when compared with the
continent of Europe.
India is not a national state, India is not a country, but a sub-
continent composed of nationalities, the two nations being Hindus and
Muslims whose culture and civilization, language and literature, art
and architecture, name and nomenclature, sense of value and
proportion, laws and jurisprudence, social and moral codes, customs
and calendar, history and traditions, aptitudes and ambitions, outlook
on life and of life are fundamentally different nay in many respects
antagonistic. Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
•Why Pakistan: Why Indians never get it and never will
•History of Pakistan: Why they hide it in India?
•Pakistan: Why was it created?
•Democracy is not the Answer
Comments (11)
1.[...] Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was not secular Filed under:
History of Pakistan, Independence movement — Moin Ansari @ 10:45 pm
There is a new discussion going on in Pakistan. Actually, it is an old
discussion which has been resurrected the progeny of Sr. Chutto Ram’s
Zamindara Pary (renamed the Unionist Party). Backed by the cultural
onslaught from Delhi, the Old Unionists have come out of the woodwork
to challenge the Pakistan Ideology as enshriened in the immutable
Lahore Declaration, the holy “Qarardad e Maqasid”, and the glorious
Pakistani Constitution. These 5th Column gasbags are supported by the
likes of Aakar Patel who routinely pulls out arcane arguments, and
inane points to undermine the Pakistan ideology and destroy the its
leadership. The “discussion” is the same as it always was “Why we
created Pakistan? One Nation Theory vs Two Nation Theory: [...]
Pingback by Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was not secular «
Pakistan Historian — May 24, 2009 @ 10:46 pm
2.[...] Pakistan’s founder Quaid e Azam Mohmmad Ali Jinnah was not
secular Posted on May 25, 2009 by Moin Ansari There is a new
discussion going on in Pakistan. Actually, it is an old discussion
which has been resurrected the progeny of Sr. Chutto Ram’s Zamindara
Pary (renamed the Unionist Party). Backed by the cultural onslaught
from Delhi, the Old Unionists have come out of the woodwork to
challenge the Pakistan Ideology as enshriened in the immutable Lahore
Declaration, the holy “Qarardad e Maqasid”, and the glorious Pakistani
Constitution. These 5th Column gasbags are supported by the likes of
Aakar Patel who routinely pulls out arcane arguments, and inane points
to undermine the Pakistan ideology and destroy the its leadership. The
“discussion” is the same as it always was “Why we created Pakistan?
One Nation Theory vs Two Nation Theory: [...]
Pingback by Pakistan’s founder Quaid e Azam Mohmmad Ali Jinnah was not
secular « Pakistan Ledger| Intellibriefs | Defense Analysis| پا کستان
لیجر| پاکستاني کھاتا | -ميرا پيغام پيارے ھموطنوں کے نام.صرف � — May
24, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
3.[...] Pakistan’s founder Jinnah was not secular There is a new
discussion going on in Pakistan. Actually, it is an old discussion
which has been resurrected the progeny of Sr. Chutto Ram’s Zamindara
Pary (renamed the Unionist Party). Backed by the cultural onslaught
from Delhi, the Old Unionists have come out of the woodwork to
challenge the Pakistan Ideology as enshriened in the immutable Lahore
Declaration, the holy “Qarardad e Maqasid”, and the glorious Pakistani
Constitution. These 5th Column gasbags are supported by the likes of
Aakar Patel who routinely pulls out arcane arguments, and inane points
to undermine the Pakistan ideology and destroy the its leadership. The
“discussion” is the same as it always was “Why we created Pakistan?
One Nation Theory vs Two Nation Theory: [...]
Pingback by Pakistan’s founder Jinnah was not secular « The Dawn — May
24, 2009 @ 10:55 pm
4.[...] Father of the Nation Quaid e Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah was not
secular Filed under: History of Pakistan, Independence movement — Moin
Ansari @ 8:24 pm Tags: Jinnah was not secular, Mohmmad Ali Jinnah,
Pakistan, Quaid e Azam There is a new discussion going on in Pakistan.
Actually, it is an old discussion which has been resurrected the
progeny of Sr. Chutto Ram’s Zamindara Pary (renamed the Unionist
Party). Backed by the cultural onslaught from Delhi, the Old Unionists
have come out of the woodwork to challenge the Pakistan Ideology as
enshriened in the immutable Lahore Declaration, the holy “Qarardad e
Maqasid”, and the glorious Pakistani Constitution. These 5th Column
gasbags are supported by the likes of Aakar Patel who routinely pulls
out arcane arguments, and inane points to undermine the Pakistan
ideology and destroy the its leadership. The “discussion” is the same
as it always was “Why we created Pakistan? One Nation Theory vs Two
Nation Theory: [...]
Pingback by Father of the Nation Quaid e Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah was
not secular « Pakistan Historian — June 3, 2009 @ 5:18 pm
5.[...] Jinnah was not secular Filed under: History of Pakistan — Moin
Ansari @ 3:51 pm Tags: Mohammad Ali Jinnah There is a new discussion
going on in Pakistan. Actually, it is an old discussion which has been
resurrected by the physical and spritual progeny of Sr. Chutto Ram’s
Zamindara Party (renamed the Unionist Party). Backed by the cultural
onslaught from Delhi, the Old Unionists have come out of the woodwork
to challenge the Pakistan Ideology as enshrined in the immutable
Lahore Declaration, the holy “Qarardad e Maqasid”, and the glorious
Pakistani Constitution. These 5th Column gasbags are supported by the
likes of Aakar Patel who routinely pulls out arcane arguments, and
inane points to undermine the Pakistan ideology and destroy the its
leadership. The “discussion” is the same as it always was “Why we
created Pakistan? One Nation Theory vs Two Nation Theory: [...]
Pingback by Jinnah was not secular « Pakistan Historian — July 27,
2009 @ 3:53 pm
6.[...] Secular vs Non-Sucular: Jinnah’s Pakistan Filed under: History
of Pakistan — Moin Ansari @ 3:57 pm Tags: Mohammad Ali Jinnah,
Pakistan There is a new discussion going on in Pakistan. Actually, it
is an old discussion which has been resurrected by the physical and
spritual progeny of Sr. Chutto Ram’s Zamindara Party (renamed the
Unionist Party). Backed by the cultural onslaught from Delhi, the Old
Unionists have come out of the woodwork to challenge the Pakistan
Ideology as enshrined in the immutable Lahore Declaration, the holy
“Qarardad e Maqasid”, and the glorious Pakistani Constitution. These
5th Column gasbags are supported by the likes of Aakar Patel who
routinely pulls out arcane arguments, and inane points to undermine
the Pakistan ideology and destroy the its leadership. The “discussion”
is the same as it always was “Why we created Pakistan? One Nation
Theory vs Two Nation Theory: [...]
Pingback by Secular vs Non-Sucular: Jinnah’s Pakistan « Pakistan
Historian — July 27, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
7.[...] There is a new discussion going on in Pakistan. Actually, it
is an old discussion which has been resurrected by the physical and
spritual progeny of Sr. Chutto Ram’s Zamindara Party (renamed the
Unionist Party). Backed by the cultural onslaught from Delhi, the Old
Unionists have come out of the woodwork to challenge the Pakistan
Ideology as enshrined in the immutable Lahore Declaration, the holy
“Qarardad e Maqasid”, and the glorious Pakistani Constitution. These
5th Column gasbags are supported by the likes of Aakar Patel who
routinely pulls out arcane arguments, and inane points to undermine
the Pakistan ideology and destroy the its leadership. The “discussion”
is the same as it always was “Why we created Pakistan? One Nation
Theory vs Two Nation Theory: [...]
Pingback by The hoax of a secular Jinnah « — July 28, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
8.w Hat IS THIS? I am an Indian and i see what the Pakistani
government has done to Pakistani civilians, i have Pakistani friends
here in america who talk about how the government brainwashes you
people. and what is this crap about Pakistan existing 5000 years ago?
Indus valley was in India before the British separated India.And you
talk about Muslim life in India as hell? what is this today Indian
Muslims are more prosperous than Muslims anywhere else in the world
except for turkey, the real place of Islam. our president of India is
Muslim, Many of the greatest Indian musicians and actors are Muslims,
women in India do not have to wear veils whenever they go out, they do
not feel scared of radical Muslims flogging them.
[...] ghandi ji, he is the reason that Pakistan was made you stupid
terrorist sitting gin a comfortable house in Islamabad, i would love
to put the military might of america up your [...]. Also just because
there are many religions in the [...] subcontinent, doesn’t mean that
they are all have to be different states. Why doesn’t China give up
its Xinjiang province, why doesn’t america split up into different
states, why doesn’t japan split in half. And the 2009 election helped
India you bastard, you as a Pakistani would not know about India, but
the congress party has bought India into a golden time Indian gdp is
at 8% at highest and what about you dictatorship Pakistani a sorry
1%.
And please do not talk about dalits please my dads family was dalit,
and he was an electrical engineer working at intel in america, and my
grandfather was dean of Delhi itt. Modern India is a great country,
India has done in ~50 years what took the developed countries of the
west centuries and that is why it will take some time for Indian poor
to be healthy, this economic growth was so fast.however, pakistan went
the opposite way, [...], and don’t say Russia has a friendship with
Pakistan, it is strictly buisness,
Comment by Abhinav Mishra — August 7, 2009 @ 12:04 am
9.Whosoever has written or contributed to this article says Pakistan
existed 5000 yrs ago as Indus Valley Civilization. The point here is
about existence of Pakistan or Muslim population in the territory not
any civilization in that territory. IVC was much before even Islam was
born and Hinduism was the religion of IVC. SO your very same arguement
proves that IVC was a part of India. It is Muslims who came from West
Asia, Persia, Turkey, Mongolia etc and looted peacefull Hindu India,
destroyed hindu temples, took away Indian Wealth. Mughals were the
first Muslims who integrated into India apart from ruling it and they
were greatly accepted by Hindu society as rulers like Akbar, Jehangir
belived in equality of all citizens irrespective of religion and
removed practices like Jazia. During the 1857 first battle of
independence, all warriors of this battle had voluntarily united under
the leadership of last mughal emporer Bahadur Shah of Delhi.
The point here is that any muslim or any foreigner who has tried to
integrate with hindu and indian culture has alwayz been welcomed by
moderate and peaceloving indian society and have been even allowed to
rule or run the indian establishment. Be is Mughals or Sonia Gandhi.
Go back further in history and read about Tipu Sultan, he fought
britishers along with Hindus and mentioned clearly that he is loyal to
a unified India under the then Mughal Emperor of Delhi. It was
opportunistic Muslim rulers of that time like Nizam of Hyderabad who
tacidly supported Britishers to defeat Tipu Sultan. All of us agree he
was a brave and great hero of our Indian History. Pakistan has even
named several of their current and previous navy ships.
So if History is to be accounted, Hinduism is older then Islam so
logically Hindus lived much before muslims came so all the Pakistani
territory belongs to Hindus…..so lets not get into that debate….
Co-exist peacefully and work on development of our respective people.
We both countries feel proud that we have huge military might and
nuclear weapons that too in just 5 decades of existence. Please Sirs &
Madams of governments and armies….how much have we worked for the
economic development of our people ….who are we protecting with
military if these people continue to suffer throughout their lives and
die in poverty ….Think and act …
Comment by Anonymous — August 7, 2009 @ 7:57 am
10.Islam started with Adam. It did not start with Prophet Muhammad.
Please read your history. IVC was not Hindu in any sense of the word.
The IVC did not worship the Hindu pantheon of Gods, they were not
vegetarian, their language was not Sanskrit, they buried their dead,
the write right to left, they ate beef, their language was
pictographic, and they did not know of the horse (no Arjun and no
charriots). No Hindu god was worshipped, neither Agni, nor, Mithra nor
Ganesh, nor the 33 million others.
So IVC was not Hindu. It traded with Moses who was a Muslim.
Hindus never lived on the Indus, they live on the Ganges
Comment by Moin Ansari — August 13, 2009 @ 7:37 pm
11.The IVC was not Hindu. Gandhi wanted to wage war on Pakistan. He
has no cliam to fame except Manu.
…it is South Asia Subcontinent…get it!
Hinduism is NOT older than Islam. There were no Hindus in the IVC.
Islam started with Adam. It did not start with Prophet Muhammad.
Please read your history. IVC was not Hindu in any sense of the word.
The IVC did not worship the Hindu pantheon of Gods, they were not
vegetarian, their language was not Sanskrit, they buried their dead,
the write right to left, they ate beef, their language was
pictographic, and they did not know of the horse (no Arjun and no
charriots). No Hindu god was worshipped, neither Agni, nor, Mithra nor
Ganesh, nor the 33 million others.
So IVC was not Hindu. It traded with Moses who was a Muslim.
Hindus never lived on the Indus, they live on the Ganges
Comment by Moin Ansari — August 13, 2009 @ 7:42 pm
bademiyansubhanallah
“Pakistan” existed 5000 years ago. IVC thrives as Pakistan today. The
Geographic Two Nation Theory
Posted on November 27, 2007 by Moin Ansari
The Indus valley Civilization existed in what is today Pakistan.
Pakistan is the natural inheritor of the Indus Valley Civilization,
just like modern day China is the natural inheritor of the Chinese
civilization (not called China then), and modern day Egypt in the
natural inheritor of the Egyptian civilization (not called Egypt
then). “Indus-valley-istan” existed 5000 years ago. Pakistan existed
5000 years ago, even though it was not called Pakistan. This is the
geographic two nation theory.
Long before the Crescent and Star flew atop Islamabad, long before
Mohammed Bin Qasim invaded Sind, and long before the Mughals spread
prosperity in all the nooks and corners of the subcontinent, long
before the Sikh dynasty briefly controlled Kashmir, and long before
the Chundra Gupta Vikramadatya ruled India, the people of Punjab,
Sindh, Sarhad, andKashmir were tied together as the people of
Pakistan.
IVCexisted only in the Western part of the subcontinent, almost
exclusively on the banks of the Indus (current day Pakistan).
Therefore current day Pakistanis are inheritors of the IVC. There was
a civilization in present day Pakistan. “India” did not exist 5000
years ago. The Sumerians called it Meluhha and Mekan. We don’t know
what they called it. No one can be sure. “Pakistan” existed 5000 years
ago in the IVC, even though the IVCprobably did not call it Pakistan.
One cannot accept the Lebanese, and the Syrian, and Cypriotic claim to
the Egyptian civilization, and one cannot accept the Japanese claim to
the original Chinese civilization. Similarly once cannot accept the
“Delhi’s” claim to the IVC. The “Bharati” claim to the IVC is by
association. The Egyptian claim to the “Egyptian” civilization is by
geography.
There is a section of the Revanchist iBharati population that wants to
describe the IVC as a Hindu civilization and then try to extend the
boundaries of present day Bharat by claiming that the land from the
Oxus to the mythical marker East of Bali called Raj Kilhani all
belongs to Bharat. Of course a lot the revisionist history is “hocus
pocus mambo jumbo” made inside temples.
The left-leaning Indian news magazine Frontline carried Farmer’s and
Witzel’s article in a cover story titled “Horseplay in Harappa – In
the ‘Piltdown Horse’ hoax, Hindutva propagandists make a little
Sanskrit go a long way”. The article debunked sensational claims in
1999 that the Indus script had been “deciphered” by N S Rajaram and
Natwar Jha.
The motive of this fraud was to prove that the Indus civilization was
an early Hindu civilization. As proof, Rajaram and Jha produced an
Indus Valley “horse” seal as evidence that the Indus people used
horses, an animal commonly mentioned in the Vedas, the ancient Indian
texts dating to the 2ndmillennium BC – over 2,000 years later than the
earliest dated Indus Valley seals. But no images of horses were found
in the Indus Valley excavations, until Rajaram and Jha produced their
horse seal.
Farmer and Witzel proved that the horse seal was a fraudulent
computerized distortion of a broken “unicorn bull” seal. The fake
horse seal was derided as the “Piltdown Horse”, an imaginary creation
to fill the gap between the Harappan and Vedic cultures, just as the
famous “Piltdown Man” did in 1912. That year, skeletal remains of the
“missing link” between ape and man were “discovered” in Piltdown, a
village in England. They were later found to be fake. Indus Valley
code is cracked – maybe By Raja
The beliefs of the IVC are totally irrelevant to the inheritors of the
IVC. There is no conclusive proof of the beliefs of the IVC. Bainerjee
andSir Edmund Hill, the two founding archeologists on the IVCclearly
state in their writings, that the IVC people did not have any
organized religion. No “Temples” have been discovered either in
Moenjadaro or in Harappa or in Taxila. The ancient IVCculture, whether
they worshipped anything or nothing is besides the point. The current
day Egyptians are the inheritors of the ancient Egyptian civilization.
The current day Egyptians are also Muslim. Are they going to be denied
the right to claim the Egyptian civilization, just because they are
Muslim? If one denies the Pakistanis the inheritance to the IVC, then
you should go and challenge the Egyptians also. The ancient Egyptians
ALSO participated in rituals that were Un-Islamic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krJ4J5RWPCE&NR=1
THE GEOGRAPHIC TWO NATION THEORY:
“Pakistan” existed 5000 years ago: What was it called 5000 years ago?
These maps clearly show the existance of Pakistan 5000 years ago as
the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC).
The IVCtraded with areas contiguous to it and to places as far as
Hawaii.
This map shows more than 570 states in the Subcontinent. At this
particular stage of the British Raj over the hundreds of states, most
of Pakistan is not part of the Raj.
These maps tell us about the Pakistan the people of the Subcontinent
struggled for, and asked for. It shows the Muslim majority areas of
the Subcontinent.
This is the Indus Valley Civilization (Pakistan) which we have right
now. Compared to the map of the IVC 5000 years ago, it is very
similar. The Indus Valley Civilization is a living and thriving
civilization andit exists today as Pakistan, just like Pakistan
existed as the IVC thousands of years ago.
The first Pakistani implements have been discovered in Soan River
valley dating back 150,000 years. Mehergarh in Baluchistan is the
oldest arable landdating back 7000 years ago. This frame by frame
evolution of Pakistan begining 4000BC. From the Indus Valley the
Pakistani civilization helped evolve the Gangetic civilizaiton in
India which came hundreds of years later. During the British reign the
Subcontinent was broken up into more than 570 states. When the British
left the states on the Indus banded together to form Paksitan, and
those on the Gangetic vally got together to from “Bharat” (official
name in the constitution).
PAKISTAN AS INHERITOR OF THE IVC
Let us see what the encyclopedias says about the Indus Valley and
Pakistan:
Present-day Pakistan shares the 5,000-year historyof the India-
Pakistan Subntinent. At present day Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, the
Indus Valley Civilization, with large cities and elaborateirrigation
systems, flourished c. 4,000-2,500 BC. Beginning with the Persians in
the 6th century BC, andcontinuing with Alexander the Great and with
the Sassanians, successive nations to the west ruled or influenced
Pakistan, eventually separating the area from the Indian cultural
sphere.The World Almanac® and Book of Facts 1994
History. The area that is now Pakistan was the site of the INDUS
VALLEY CIVILIZATION, the earliest known culture on the Indian
subcontinent. Press. Copyright © 1991 by Columbia University Press.
Pakistan (pàk´î-stàn´, pä´kî-stän´) Abbr. Pak.
A country of southern Asia. Occupying landcrisscrossed by ancient
invasion paths, Pakistan was the home of the prehistoric Indus Valley
civilization, which flourished until overrun by Aryans c. 1500 B.C.
After being conquered by numerous rulers and powers, it passed to the
British as part of India andbecame a separate Moslem state in 1947.
The country originally included what is now Bangladesh, which declared
its independence in 1971. Islamabad is the capital and Karachi the
largest city. Population, 83,782,000. – Pak´istan´i (-stàn´ê, -stä´nê)
adjective & noun
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Indus valley civilization, c.2500-c.1500 B.C., ancient civilization
that flourished along the Indus R. in present-day Pakistan. Its chief
cities were Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, where archaeologists have
unearthed impressive public and private buildings that are evidence of
a complex society based on a highly organized agriculture supplemented
by active commerce. The arts flourished, and examples in copper,
bronze, andpottery have been uncovered. Also found were examples of a
pictograph script that long baffled archaeologists but was finally
deciphered in 1969. The fate of the Indus valley civilization remains
a mystery, but it is believed that it fell victim to invading Aryans.
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
An urban civilization with a so-far-undeciphered writing system
stretched across the Indus Valley and along the Arabian Sea c3000-1500
BC. Major sites are Harappa and Mohenjo-Daroin Pakistan, well-planned
geometric cities with underground sewers andvast granaries. The entire
region (600,000 sq. mi.) may have been ruled as a single state. Bronze
was used, and arts and crafts were highly developed. Religious life
apparently took the form of fertility cults.
Indus civilization was probably in decline when it was destroyed by
Aryan invaders from the northwest, speaking an Indo-European language
from which all the languages of Pakistan, north India andBangladesh
descend. Led by a warrior aristocracy whose legendary deeds are
recorded in the Rig Veda, the Aryans spread east and south, bringing
their pantheon of sky gods, elaborate priestly (Brahmin) ritual,
andthe beginnings of the caste system; local customs and beliefs were
assimilated by the conquerors.
The World Almanac® and Book of Facts 1994
Indus (în´des),chief river of Pakistan, c.1,900 mi (3,060 km) long,
site of the prehistoric INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION. It rises in the
TIBET region of China, flows west across Jammu andKASHMIR, India, then
southwest through Pakistan, where it receives the “five waters” of the
PUNJAB (the Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers), to an
infertile clay delta on the Arabian Sea SE of Karachi. The unnavigable
Indus is harnessed for irrigation and hydroelectricity by the Jinnah,
Sukker, and Kotri dams. A treaty (1960) between India and Pakistan
regulates withdrawals of water from the river and its tributaries.
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia Anthropologists have observed that
the present population of …Punjab is said to be ethnically the same as
the population of Harappa and Rupar 4000 years ago. Linguistically the
present day population of Gujrat and Punjab belongs to the Indo-Aryan
language speaking group. The only inference that can be drawn from the
anthropological and linguistic evidences adduced above is that the
Harappan population in the Indus Valley and Gujrat in 2000 BC was
composed of two or more groups, the more dominentamong them having
very close ethnic affinities with the present day Indo-Aryan speaking
population of India.
I call this the GEOGPRAHIC TWO NATION THEORY…and when I originally
proposed it andposted it on the SCI it was met with a lot of
hostility….Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan has now written a book on this subject
Aitzaz Ahsan’s Indus run.
Some more water has gone down the Indus since Aitzaz Ahsan published
his book. As the Indus does not flow – at least not so far – in the
Washington area, it is only natural that the book which was placed in
a bottle and consigned to the waters by the author somewhere near
Wazirabadhas only found its way to these shores in the last few days.
The Indus reminds me of many good things. There used to be a watering
hole at the hotel on The Mall in Lahore, which bears the name of the
river, from whose cool recesses one summer afternoon, I had been
summoned by the incomparable Prof G.M. Asar who by the time I arrived
was in a most delightfully loquacious frame of mind, declaiming poetry
in his rich and measured voice. His diction was so perfect that you
could just learn English by listening to him, or Urdu for that matter.
But that is not the Indus Aitzaz Ahsan frequents – and who can blame
him considering what has become of it. Or has written about. His book
is about the river andthe region that now makes up Pakistan, what he
calls the Gurdaspur-Kathiawar salient. His thesis, spun out over 350
pages, is simple but is it also true? One has to think because it is
so perfectly formed, with no rough edges.
Truth, on the other hand, is often less meticulously packaged and is
far more awkward to handle. Being the consummate lawyer the author is,
the case is brilliantly argued.
Whether that makes him right as well is an open question. The basic
idea of the book is that India and Indus have always been two distinct
entities or regions in terms of civilisation and culture, their
differences being “primordial and many”. Religion has not been the
dividing line, only one of the factors. And since there was and is an
Indus, there is also an “Indus person” who, poor creature, is the mess
he is today because he has been “deprived of his heroes, nay, of
himself and he has not gained much in the bargain.” So what is he
then? The answer, if it please their lordships, is that “……he remains
a family man, an enlightened non-fundamentalist Muslim, and a brave
soldier (I knew there were khakis lurking somewhere in there)…. he is
an ostentatious consumerist, a bad administrator and devoid of civic
sense and responsibility.” That does it for me. Consumerist is best
rendered by the national. Punjabi philosophy: Khao, piyo te jan banao.
Or eat, drink and develop your biceps. Or one better:
Khao, piyo te paghrai na dyo. Eat, drink and don’t get caught.
The author tells us that apart from poets, mystics and warriors, it is
the River Indus and its tributaries that have shaped the Indus person.
Since no one is perfect, this being has developed certain defects,
though none that cannot be cured. The book has been an attempt to
highlight his strengths and develop his original potential. Once that
happens, there is no reason why the Indus person and the India person
cannot live in peace, amity and eternal goodwill. I will drink any
amount of spiked Indus water to that.
The Indus person, Aitzaz Ahsan asserts, is a good soldier but a lousy
administrator, an observation, let’s hope Mr Shahbaz Sharif remains
unaware of, otherwise I can hear his
big bulldoze brigade beating bongo drums and moving towards Bank
Square, Lahore, where the author keeps an office.
The Indus person, we are told, is a good soldier because he has “lived
in the path of marauders who have come to burn his crops and
villages.” Ahsan maintains that the “untiring Aryans”, the “savage
Huns”, Alexander himself, the “unrelenting invaders” from Ghazni and
Afghanistan, not to forget “the scourge of the earth” Taimuror the
“ferocious” Nadir Shah, were given a tasteof their own medicine, or
their own steel, by the Indus people. This is somewhat amazing because
the received wisdom on the valour of this region, especially Punjab,
is that in the event of an invasion, the inhabitants were lined up ten
deep on their side waving garlands, pointing towards Delhi and
shouting as they bowed from the waist: “Light of the Universe, Most
Exalted Majesty, the good stuff lies in that direction.”
Aitzazalso comes up with the theory that the people of the Indus
believe that it is righteousness and not technical superiority which
wins battles. Interesting. Andwhere is righteousness to be found?
“Righteousness is with the faithful, even though they may lack
discipline,
technology andscientifically more effective strategies” which is why
despitea hundred years of the British, the Indus person “has not
acquired a scientific attitude towards life.”
Does he have a role model? Yes. It is the “man on horseback,
brandishing a sword and charging the enemy, single-handedly killing a
hundred armed opponents.” Splendid, isn’t it! The mercenary and
professional armies raised from this area by the British andthose
before them, are a matter of pride for the author. “The Indus person,
when drilled, trained and subjected to discipline, can make the best
military officer anywhere in the world … He has learnt the advantage,
in peace and war, of obedience to superior officers. These were the
men that Indus produced to help Britain rule over a global empire.”
Umph!!!
Rule Britannia, we are on your side.
But if the Indus men are such good soldiers, why are they such lousy
administrators? Aitzaz Ahsan’sanswer: “Having been subjected to abject
anarchy for centuries, the Indus person sees no need to abide by the
rules himself.” Ha! but we had just been old that the Indus person is
the best soldier in the world. How come he is such a disaster as an
administrator? Or does the Indus person come in two varieties? The
good soldier and the lousy administrator. Ahsan’s argument is that as
long as the Indus person is in uniform, he is just fine, but once he
is out of it, he instantly forgets what he has learnt. You only have
to take one look at Gen Hamid Gul and Gen. Aslam Beg and exclaim that
truer words were never spoken. Yes, that is also why soldiers have
made such bad civilian administrators, adds the author. Andsince they
are bad administrators, the “Indus elite” cannot abide by or have any
respect for civic norms. One will need a cup of strong black coffee to
digest this one.
Be that as it may, the fact is that it takes some doing to write a
heavy book like The Indus Saga andthe making of Pakistan. Aitzaz is a
man of many gifts. His retentive memory, for example, is so phenomenal
that had Zulfikar Ali Bhutto known that it was better than his, he
would have sent him, instead of Iftikhar Tari, to DalaiCamp. He can
recite from Faiz, Faraz and Jalib for hours without faltering. Even Ms
BenazirBhutto, who is quite without emotion in most matters, would
sometimes not fail to be moved by Aitzaz Ahsan’s stirring recitation
of verse she only half understood, being strictly “English medium”
where it was perfectly in order to say. “Azan baj raha hai.”
Please also see:
There was no “partition”
http://moinansari.wordpress.com/for-britain-india-included-somalia-iraq-burma-etc/
Why we Created Pakistan?
http://moinansari.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/why-we-created-pakistan-the-pakistan-ideology/
Also see The Indus Valley Civilzationarticles on this site. By Ishtiaq
Ahmed 2/2/2008
The official position on the origin of Pakistanis something like this:
Muslims are expected to lead their lives in accordance
withcomprehensive Islamic injunctions. For doing that, an Islamic
polity is imperative. Hence Indian Muslims were boundto demanda
separate state for themselves whenever an opportunity arose. The end
of British colonialism provided such an opportunity and the Muslims
whole-heartedlyresponded to the call for a separateMuslim stateon the
Indian subcontinent. Some versions of such theorising locatethe
origins of Pakistan in the arrival of the Arabs in the subcontinent in
711. Islam andHinduism, it is argued, represent two diametrically
opposite worldviews. Therefore partition was inevitable.
Another set of theories can be called ‘cultural-geographical
theories’. We are told that six thousandyears a distinct civilisation
evolved around the Indus River andits various tributaries (roughly
corresponding to the present territories of Pakistan) andremained
separatefor most of those six thousand years from the one centred on
the Indo-Gangetic plains of Northern India. The sharp contrast between
them being that the Indus Valley Civilisation evolved a liberal and
egalitarian ethos deriving from the influence of various unorthodox
creeds and movements which during the Muslim period were blended into
the mystical forms of Sufi Islam, while the rest of India was
organized into an hierarchical andrigid social system which foundits
ultimateperfection in the Hindu caste system. Hence, when the British
withdrew from SouthAsia the Muslims of the Indus Valley Civilisation
chose to separatefrom the rest of India. Such a theory it may be noted
has no room for East Pakistanbeing part of Pakistan. (Editors
note: ..but part of Bangistan as proposed by Chaudhry RehmatAli in his
brochure “Now or Never”. There was Pakistan, Bangastina, Usmanistan
and other Muslim areas in “Dinya”)
Another cluster of theories deriving from Marxism, look upon the
movement for Pakistan as a democratic mass movement of the oppressed
Muslim community against the dominant Hindu majority. Here, emphasis
is given to the head start that Hindus and Sikhs enjoyed in taking to
modern education in the schools established by the British. The
Muslims lagged behind and consequently the non-Muslims captured the
main sectors of the emerging capitalist economy. In particular the
overwhelmingly Muslim agrarian classes including various categories of
peasants were deeply indebted to the Hindu and Sikh money-lenders. An
ideology of popular, egalitarian Islam attracted Muslims from all
segments of society and therefore the establishment of Pakistan was
the culmination of a protracted struggle to liberate Muslims from the
yoke of Hindu-Sikh domination.
The most famous of these Marxist theories is the one put forth by the
late Hamza Alavi. He asserted that the most ardent supporters of the
idea of Pakistan were not the ulema but the Muslim salariat. The
salariatcomprised the sizable body of modern-educated Muslims who
perceived that the creation of Pakistanwould drastically improve their
chances of finding employment withthe state than if they were not to
remain a part of a united India dominated by the more economically
andeducationally advanced Hindu majority. Thus, it is argued, Pakistan
was not established out of confessional zeal but secular concerns of
the salariat.
Alavi, however, never at any stage studied the actual dynamics of the
Pakistan movement after the Lahore resolution of 1940. Therefore he
was completely oblivious of the fact that the Muslim League made its
breakthrough in the Punjab and NWFP only when it won over the Barelvi
ulema and pirs. There is solid evidence to prove that Jinnah assured
the ulemathat the Shariah will apply to Muslims in Pakistan.
Theories based on high politics deriving from the role of individuals
in the making of history, identify the role of Mohamed Ali Jinnah as
pivotal anddecisive to the creation of Pakistan. Without his towering
leadership, it is asserted, the movement of Pakistan would not have
succeeded. No only his lieutenants andfollowers are portrayed as
political pygmies but even his adversaries with the exception of
Gandhi, perhaps, are considered light-weights. Some theories suggest
that Jinnah never actually wanted the division of India and sought at
most a fair share of power for Muslims in a united India and it was
the Congress leaders who spurned his overtures for an accommodation
within a loose federation and instead precipitated the partition
because they wanted to rule India through a powerful centre. Ayesha
Jalal is the main proponent of this variant of the role of individuals
in history.
Other theories identify the fear of the Muslim upper classes of
domination by Hindus. It is asserted that upper class Muslim leaders
were not willing to accept a junior role for themselves in united
India. Muslims had ruled India for more than 600 years andthey could
not understand why under a democratic system they should be deprived
of power and influence. The veteran Khalid bin Sayeed champions such a
theory.
Some theories identify a British handin the creation of Pakistan. It
has been suggested that the British were keen to use Pakistan as a
base for their geopolitical and geo-economic designs in South Asia. In
this regard, in a meeting held on May 12 1947 in London the chiefs of
staff of various branches of the British armed forces and in the
presence of Field Marshal Montgomery and Lord Ismay, it was observed:
‘From the strategic point of view there were overwhelming arguments in
favour of Western Pakistan remaining within the Commonwealth, namely,
that we should obtain important strategic facilities, the port of
Karachi, air bases and the support of the Moslem manpower in the
future… A refusal of an application to this end would amount to
ejecting loyal people from the British Commonwealth, and would
probably lose us all chances of ever getting strategic facilities
anywhere in India…. From a military point of view, such a result would
be catastrophic’ (Mansergh, N and Moon, P (eds), The Transfer of Power
1942-47, vol. 10. pp. 791-2).
Whatever the explanation for the origins of Pakistan, it is imperative
that it becomes a state in which the rule of law and social justice
prevail. For the Pakistani nation, the challenge is to look forward
and not backwards.
The writer is a professor of political science anda visiting senior
research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS),
National University of Singapore. Email: isa...@nus.edu.sg
ORIGINS OF THE TNT IN THE SUBCONTINENT
Contrary to the common belief that Jinnah originated the two-nation
theory, actually it was Savarkar who propounded the theory years
before the Muslim League embraced the idea. Savarkar had commanded all
the Muslims to leave ‘Bharat’ to pave the way for the establishment of
Hindu Rashtra. When Jinnah introduced his two-nation theory,
Savarkarannounced, “I have no quarrel with Mr. Jinnah’s two-nation
theory… It is a historical fact that Hindus and Muslims are two
nations.”
“His (Savarkar’s) doctrine was Hindutva, the doctrine of Hindu racial
supremacy, and his dream was of rebuilding a great Hindu empire from
the sources of the Indus to those of the Brahmaputra. He hated
Muslims. There was no place for them in the Hindu society he
envisioned.” (Freedom at Midnight, by Dominique Lapierre and Larry
Collins).
So the hate campaign against Muslims was well in place even before the
partition of erstwhile British India. This and many other significant
factors forced Jinnah to demand a separate nation for Muslims as he
believed that Muslims would not be safe in India — a prophetic
declaration indeed! There is no denying the fact that Jinnah was
secular to the marrow and would never have wished to cut ties with
India, but circumstances compelled him to do so. However, he had not
harbored grudges against India or its leaders. He had kept his house
on Malabar Hill, thinking he could weekend there, while running his
country from Karachi on weekdays, but destiny had something else in
store for the estranged neighbors of the Asia Partition.
When Nathuram Godsepumped three bullets into Gandhi, a section of the
Hindu community compared him withJudas. The writing was on the wall.
The dividewas evident. In some areas people mourned the death of
Gandhi, and in other areas they distributed sweets, held celebrations,
and demanded the release of Godse. Gandhi’s crime was that he had
demanded security for Muslims.
The seeds of partition were actually sown by the stalwarts of Hindu
Mahasabha, primarily the quartet of Savarkar, Gawarikar, Apte, and
Nathuram Godse. Independent India’s history is testimony to the fact
that in a conflict between the forces of secular nationalism and
religious communalism, the latter has always ruled the roost. Secular
forces have more often than not ended up playing into the hands of
communal forces. Such has been the history of independent India, and
it is again on display in Jammu. Syed Alvi Teheran Times
bademiyansubhanallah
Now, RSS convenes meeting of pro-Hindutva BJP leaders
Posted by balaji 2 days ago (http://www.tribuneindia.com) The RSS has
sent out a very strong and cryptic signal to LK Advani and his quartet
coterie in the BJP by keeping them out of the two-day brainstorming
session with chosen “intellectuals” many of them from Advani camp
which began in Mumbai today.
bademiyansubhanallah
Dismiss Narendra Modi Govt for fake encounter killings: PFI
Submitted by admin4 on 12 September 2009 - 2:51pm. Indian Muslim
By TwoCircles.net News Desk,
New Delhi: The Popular Front of India has demanded the Central
Government to dismiss the Narendra Modi-led BJP government of Gujarat
for fake encounter killings, and order a thorough and time-bound probe
into the role of the state government machinery in all the encounter
killings in the state.
The judicial probe by Ahmedabad metropolitan magisterate revealed this
week that the killing of the 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan and three others
by the Gujarat police was a cold blooded murder. The Chief Minister
Narendra Modi should admit the responsibility and quit office if he
has respect for human and democratic values, said PFI, South India’s
largest Muslim organization.
As the magisterial probe found senior police officials guilty for the
encounter killings, the PFI has demanded that all the officers
responsible for the killings should be punished.
The Gujarat police had claimed that Ishrat Jahan and her three friends
were members of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and were on a
mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi when they were
gunned down on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004. The probe
exposed that fake encounters appeared to be elaborately planned,
indicating a communal conspiracy to secure ideological support for the
Modi government by calling Muslims as terrorists.
“Though the investigating agencies reported that Narendra Modi’s
Government had supported the culprits of massacres in 2002 communal
riots in Gujarat, he is still continuing as a Chief Minister. Now as
it is proved that the encounter killings of Sohrabuddin, Ishrat Jehan
and three others are fake, the continuation of Narendra Modi as CM is
a mockery of democracy and mark of discredit to the secular design of
our country,” said K. M. Shareef, General secretary, Popular Front of
India.
bademiyansubhanallah
Sacred journey, sinful passengers: Hajj scams in India
Submitted by admin on 11 September 2009 - 8:22am. ArticlesIndian
Muslim
By Omar Khalidi,
The onset of Ramazan is visible in all Muslim localities: large
attendance at mosques, restaurants open at early mornings and then
again at dusk. The aroma of the food, the taste of savories, the sound
of the melodious azans and colorful clothes are inescapable to all
five senses. The sacred month will be followed by a break of eight
weeks followed by Hajj in Mecca.
As usual the upcoming Haj season will allow bigoted politicians and
ignorant media to repeat the charges of Muslim appeasement. The Haj in
India has been hijacked by those who want to perpetuate state monopoly
over air travel and related politics from Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan
Singh. The central government is involved in two Haj matters: Haj
travel subsidy and Haj Goodwill Delegation. What exactly is Haj
Subsidy? When and why was it initiated? Who is the net beneficiary?
Individual haji or the airline carrier? Is it appropriate for a
secular state to fund religious travel? Where is the impediment for
its termination?
The then Prime Minister Vajpayee with Hajj delegation of 2002
[MilliGazette photo]
First, as everyone knows or ought to know, Hajj—the fifth pillar of
Islam is obligatory on male and female Muslims only and only if they
are financially capable and physically fit for traveling to Mecca.
Individual Muslim alone can determine and decide if they can afford
the pilgrimage cost. Islamically, there is no such thing as a
“subsidized” Hajj. If performed as such, it is null and void. It is
surprising that none of the ulama said anything on this issue, which
they ought to have.
India is among the top ten countries sending most Hajis. Until early
1960s when Bombay was connected to Jeddah by air, most pilgrims went
by boats runs by the Mogul Line Ltd., a British-controlled company. In
1975, the Shipping Corporation of India, a government undertaking took
over the Mogul Line. The oil crisis of the early 1970s made the cost
of sea fare higher than airfare, so the ships were abandoned. Instead,
the GOI gave Air India monopoly over Hajj travel in 1975. The then
prevailing oil crisis further escalated the cost of airfare forcing
the government to introduce “Hajj subsidy,” to Air India, not to
individual pious pilgrim.
Who exactly pays Hajj subsidy to Air India? The Ministry of External
Affairs or the Ministry of Civil Aviation? What is the exact amount?
Does it change annually? These are matters of detail, but irrelevant
to the principle that state should not subsidize religious pilgrimage
of any kind to any place irrespective of religion. In this particular
case, the canard that state is paying Muslims to perform Hajj has done
immense damage to an already demonized community. A senior Muslim
leader like Syed Shahabuddin and the young Lok Sabha member from
Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi have both expressed the will of the
community to terminate the subsidy.
The impediment to Hajj subsidy abolition lies squarely in Air India, a
state corporation. The official carrier is afraid of competition. Just
as we have rightly abolished privy purses of all maharajas, why has
the Air India maharaja made an exception? The Government of India
through the Central Hajj Committee should invite biddings from various
Indian airlines for Hajj group travel and designate the lowest bidder
as the official carrier of the Hajj passengers. Deregulating Hajj
travel will end Air India monopoly and terminate the canard that the
state is subsidizing Hajj.
Hajj delegation of 2003 [PIB photo]
The second matter in which the GOI is involved in Muslim pilgrimage is
the Hajj Goodwill Delegation. It originated in the aftermath of 1965
war with Pakistan. During the Hajj Pakistani diplomats and officials
used the occasion of the international Muslim gathering to present
their perspective on the unending conflict in Kashmir. The Ministry of
External Affairs decided to counter Pakistani version of the conflict
by sending a Hajj Goodwill Delegation to Mecca, obviously at state
expense. Since its inception in 1966, it is led by a union minister
who meets with Saudi counterparts and others. The delegation in early
years consisted of five members. Now its numbers have shot to 70,
including spouses of the delegates. Who are the members of the
Delegation? How does one get selected? On the basis of some
qualifications? What do these delegates do while in the Islamic Holy
Land?
Months before the onset of Ramazan, the corridors of power, chambers
of ministers, and houses of MPs in New Delhi are filled with aspirants
to Hajj Delegation. The aspirants are mostly self-seeking politicians,
unemployed, rather unemployable maulanas and maulavis seeking a free
ride at tax payers’ expense. In the current year 2009, the union
government has budgeted as much as Rs. 6 crores for this Delegation
cost of travel, accommodation, and incidental expenses. There are only
informal qualifications for membership in the Delegation: a wink from
a minister, a nod from a powerful politician, the goodwill of a high
official. The Official Hajj Delegation strains the resources of the
Indian Consulate General in Jeddah, whose primary duty during the Hajj
is to look after the well being of pilgrims. Instead, they are
compelled to tend to the whims of rich and powerful politicians
masquerading as Muslim leaders. . It does not behoove a secular state
to use a religious occasion to parade official Muslims—who in any case
are busy partying in Jeddah while their begums are on a shopping spree
in the malls of Arabia.
It is time to abolish the Hajj Goodwill Delegation. There must be more
imaginative ways of accomplishing the original purpose-- countering
Pakistani versions of the Kashmir conflict. The Goodwill Delegations
are earning the ill-will of Indian Muslims.
--
Omar Khalidi is the author of Muslims in Indian Economy, 2006, and
Khaki and Ethnic Violence, 2003. Email okha...@mit.edu
.The article is based on half
Submitted by V. M. Khaleelur Rahman (not verified) on 12 September
2009 - 9:14am.
The article is based on half truths.
The so called Haj subsidy is to be thoroughly brobed. One feels that
we can charter planes for Haj pilgrimage at much reduced rates.
What is wrong in the government sending a delegation to Saudi Arabia
for strengthening Indo-Arabia relations?
There is much ado about the subsidy as well as Haj delegation.
.Subsidised Haj
Submitted by M Naqqaad (not verified) on 11 September 2009 - 7:36pm.
Dear Mr Omar (Umar) Khalidi,
Ulema did make noise and as you missed or wanted to score a bronie
point. As I used 'noise' for the voice of ulema. It is a thumb rule
for the secularists and the so called intellectuals from Muslims.
As the snap suggests your intellectual bankrupsy where the caption of
the politicisation of Hajj foto, I assume that your intention must
have been publication of Hindi here. People send their children to
English schools changing their thought process permanently while
toeing sarkari line promoting its self styled 'national language'
while playing politics with Urdu. One need to preach and practice the
same.
And please remember that I am not a bearded maolvi or somebody you
caricature as representatives of Muslims but arent you, the
intellectuals more responsible than the ulema who find it difficult to
live a simple life.
Despite the many grudges shown in my above para, I am all for calling
the Govt of India bluff of Haj subsidies and the delegation. For me,
the delegates do more sin when they perform Haj instead of serving the
Hajis'.
chhotemianinshallah
The World According to the Neo-Con Sympathisers
Submitted by admin4 on 11 September 2009 - 12:27pm.
By Yamin Zakaria,
Almost everyday I get email responses to my essays, usually containing
lots of two word expletives, e.g. “sand nigger”, “rag head”, “towel
head”, “eat shit”, “sheep lover”, “camel lover”; almost all the emails
originate from within the US, yes the land of the ‘tolerant’ free
speech lovers. Apart from intellectual bankruptcy, the replies also
indicate a deep-seated hatred, shaped by a fanatical mindset. Since
stereotyping is wrong, I did ask myself the question, are those
Americans, exceptional or typical.
Perhaps this is the result of ‘educating’ Americans at one level by
people like Thomas Friedman, Charles Krauthammer and Daniel Pipes. At
a more basic level, it is the result of getting informed by Hollywood
movies, Jerry Springer, Fox TV and the likes. Fox TV is where you get
to see analytical ‘debates’ between an extreme neo-con and a moderate
neo-con! I came to this conclusion after encountering claims like,
Afghans are Arabs, Muslims are a race, Muslims are idol or moon
worshippers, and Muslims are engaging in forced conversion in the
Darfur region, being all Muslims, maybe they are forcing each other to
convert from Islam to Islam! O’Reilly and his ilk will never fail to
impress you.
Anyway, I began to think about those two word responses, and thought
of the possibility of my being both, wrong and a “sand nigger”. There
after, I renounced all my previous writings, written whilst I was
clearly misguided and brainwashed by the Arabs and Muslim terrorists.
What the neo-cons are saying makes perfect sense, indeed Bush is
guided by the Divine. Listed below is my new view of history and the
world. Without further ado, let us proceed with the issues, fasten
your seat belts, sit tight and I will show you the world according to
the neo-cons, Zionists, right-wing Republicans, fundamentalist
Christians and the KKK.
Muslims are Violent and Terrorists
Throughout history, the Muslims have been the most violent people in
the world. They built cruel empires that committed numerous genocides
by virtually annihilating races like the Aztecs, Incas, and the
Aboriginal populations. Imams (Muslim preachers) deliberately sent
blankets infected with chicken pox, against which the natives had no
defence. This was their practice when the missionaries failed to
convert them into Islam. The natives were uprooted and placed in
concentration camps, herded like animals; millions perished.
In Africa, the Muslim fanatics gave the Quran to the natives while
they stole their lands and committed grand theft, by mining and
shipping abundant resources like Gold, Titanium and Diamond back to
Mecca. The Africans were also forced into slavery, millions
transported back to Arabia, some were made to work in the plantations
and this is how the Arab-Muslims became wealthy, and not through the
rich oil reserves as they claim.
During the medieval period, the Muslim fanatics launched a major
crusade to liberate the holy lands in Europe. Salahuddin took 6,000
Christian prisoners at Acre, including men, women and children, they
were slaughtered, each one beheaded. The blood ran knee-high in
European cities, however, when Richard I conquered some of the
territories back, the Muslim prisoners were released unharmed, given a
safe passage out and they could not look at Richard, due to the shame
that they felt for the difference in conduct. The extremist Muslims
also launched the vicious inquisition in Spain, killing millions of
Christians and Jews, forcing them to convert or executing them en
masse. Eventually many of these Christians and Jews sought refuge in
tolerant Europe, running away from the evil Muslim fundamentalists,
where they were free to practise their faith and prosper.
In the twentieth century, the war-mongering Muslims caused the largest
wars in history that culminated in the nuking of cities like Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, and they were on the verge of nuking Korea and China. Of
course, they argued such killings saved many lives, especially the
Muslim ones! Through these wars, the first time in human history,
civilians were deliberately targeted as policy to break the will of
their enemies, in air raids using incendiary bombs. Cities like
Dresden, Cologne and Tokyo suffered so greatly under Muslim barbarity
that the bombings caused human fat to flow knee high in some places,
adults and children were boiled alive.
It was that the Muslims invented terrorism en masse; - state
terrorism! Chemical weapons another fantastic invention that was used
in Vietnam, little girls were burnt alive, and the flesh slowly melted
from their delicate bodies and even jumping into the water did not
help. Since, the Muslims were scientifically advanced; this culminated
in perhaps the sickest of all their inventions, the Neutron Bomb. The
Muslims rejoiced at their ingenuity, now they could exterminate all
life in cities and preserve that which Muslim Capitalists desired
most, the wealth, the buildings, and the real estate. Therefore, when
Peace was eventually won by exterminating their enemies into dust,
they would be wealthier.
As a result, Islamic history is full of monsters like Adolf Hitler who
as an Arab-Muslim from Turkey! Pol Pot a Malay-Muslim, Stalin an Uzbek-
Muslim, Mussolini who was of Libyan extraction, Gengiz Khan secretly
converted to Islam and then went on to turn rivers red with human
blood, as per the ‘instruction’ in the Quran.
Muslims are Anti-Semitic
Muslims annihilated the Jews in history by establishing the
inquisition, countless pogroms and retribution for the Jews Killing
the prophet Jesus. Many Jews escaped to tolerant Europe fleeing the
nasty Ottoman Sultans and the fanatical Khalifs, who used to wear a
large turban, peaked with a feather and a ruby (stolen of course).
The Caliphate then attempted to annihilate the Jews; they called it
the final solution, so they built gas chambers, killing millions of
them. Eventually, the Jews were saved by the tolerant and peaceful
European powers; they waged many wars of liberation, sacrificing
millions of Christians, for such altruistic reasons.
The Muslims were influenced by the Darwinian theory of evolution,
which placed the Arabs at the top, while the white Anglo-Saxons were
placed near the bottom, the Jews occupying the lowest position; hence,
their life was not worth the same as the Muslims. The theory
encouraged Muslims to engage in racial purity, like eugenics, and
removing the undesirable elements by force.
Usurping Israel
The Muslims recaptured Israel in 1948 after 2000-year exile and called
it Palestine. They argued that they are God’s chosen people as He
personally promised the land to them in their holy book. The Jews
could not dispute the Arab claim as the Arabs were there 2,000 years
ago, even though it was for a very short period with lots of other
empires in between. Then, the Arabs accused the Jews of being
religious fanatics for referring to their holy book (Old Testament).
Many of the Jews were expelled, the UN resolutions were ignored which
demanded justice for the Jews, to have their lands back, and this was
the example of the Muslim’s injustice and hatred for law, unless it
benefited them of course.
Today the Arabs are terrorising the Jews to the point of extinction,
as they continue to launch helicopter gunship attacks, shooting
schoolchildren in the back whilst old people are bulldozed alive in
their houses. Recently a 13 year old girl was executed by a Muslim
Soldier who walked up to her limp body and proceeded to empty a whole
pistol magazine into her, then changed a fresh magazine and continued
firing into the blood thirsty 13 year old school girl. Even an
execution of a 13-year-old boy with his father trying to protect him
was broadcast live on TV to the world. As usual, the Arabs are very
good with their media spin, so they attributed the killing to the Jews
and later said, due to a technical fault, they could not see the child
and the father.
Belligerent Iraq launches unprovoked aggression against the US
The US was attacked for invading Mexico and ousting the oppressive
monarch by the grand alliance of the Muslim armies coming from across
the Atlantic Ocean in 1991. Many parts of Mexico coincidentally
happened to be rich in oil reserves. Then the defeated US troops &
civilians retreated from Mexico inside the US, while they were moving
along the Texas Road, they were annihilated by the Allied Muslim Air
Force; the Muslim pilots even fought each other to drop bombs and
obliterate man and machine, while shouting with joy “Allah Akbar”.
There was no mercy and it came to be known as the “highway of death”.
Muslim fanatics claimed to have liberated Mexico and then reinstalled
the monarch in the name of ‘democracy’.
A real tragedy, the poor innocent Americans never did any harm to the
Muslims; America’s dispute with Mexico was an internal matter for
them. The Muslims then applied cruel sanctions for a decade causing
the deaths of 500,000 American babies, which was “a price worth
paying” according to the Arab League spokesperson, Amir Mousa. The
Muslims deliberately destroyed the civilian installations to inflict
maximum human misery. Then, they poisoned the water system and the
lands with depleted Uranium, resulting in a huge increase in the
abnormal births. Americans resisted colonisation, so some Muslim-Arabs
attacked the US on 9/11 seeking vengeance and compliance to the UN
resolutions.
After the sanctions failed to topple the democratically elected regime
in the US, the Arabs launched a second war this time with the pretext
of disarming the US of its WMD’s. This was done by the Muslims-Arabs
using their own WMDs. Just prior to the war, a geological survey
showed that the US has the second largest oil reserves in the world.
Muslims argued they are not interested in oil, even though they were
the world’s largest consumers of the product. The Muslims insisted
that they were trying to liberate the Americans, and it was not a war,
an altruistic mission. However, after the invasion, oil revenue worth
billions of US dollars went ‘missing’; it was blamed on the local
American thieves.
It was in response to this belligerent aggression the US launched the
recent war against Iraq. The US acted in self-defence and to save the
Iraqis from the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein, trained by the Taliban
in Afghanistan. The US claimed they had no knowledge of this man.
According to Fox News, Saddam Hussein was the father of Osama Bin
Laden, also known amongst the Arab tribes as Osama Bin Saddam. He was
toppled and captured, the entire incident was celebrated by the US
Marines on behalf of the Iraqis, as the Iraqis were not used to
leaving their houses.
Despite the liberation of Iraq, the Arab-Muslims are ungrateful, as
they continue to attack American targets, so Bush and his allies had
to sneak in and out of Iraq like oil-pirates. After the war was
launched, the Iraqis caught a virus, which caused them to become very
violent, they kidnapped and beheaded people and bombed Mosques,
markets and Churches. Some say it was because they were seeking
martyrdom and the 72 virgins in paradise, rumour has it many Iraqis
resorted to this after being molested by the sexually frustrated US
soldiers in Abu-Ghraib, where both men and women participated in
strange acts, which the local Iraqis could not reconcile with their
culture and values.
To cause maximum offence, the Muslims in some parts of Iraq, which is
under their control-desecrated Churches, flushed the Bible down the
toilet, and incarcerated American prisoners without due process of
law, chained, gagged, and shackled.
The Arabs are now once again trying to justify another war against the
US ally, Great Britain. They argued that Britain had no right possess
Nuclear weapons, and the potential threat was demonstrated by a power-
point presentation at the UN by the Muslim-Arab ambassador, called
Colin Powell, whose reputation is now equal in stature to the
legendary “cry wolf” boy.
Britain argued that it had no weapons; it was too far for its missiles
to reach any Muslim country, but the Muslims argued the principle of
pre-emption as a legitimate defensive military option. The theory is
to punish a nation for contemplating building weapons, or if the
nation is likely to build such weapons in the future, or any evidence
to indicate if the leader of a nation is even thinking about it.
Hence, it used covert tactic to decimate their population, especially
the women, so that there would be less children and thus less
terrorists in the future.
‘Saving’ Muslims in Bosnia
The benevolent Americans tried to save the Muslims in Bosnia. First
thing was they armed the Serbs heavily with heavy weapons while they
put an embargo on arms sales, which meant the Muslims had only light
weapons. Eventually, the Serbs surrounded the Muslims, took the UN
soldiers hostage, and massacred 8000 Muslims, while the UN was busy
trying to figure out their procedures for launching air strikes to
protect the Muslims.
For some strange reason the UN could not be mobilised as quickly as it
did over Iraq. Never mind, eventually the American forces launched
some nominal bombing strikes, and claimed to have saved the remaining
Muslims, that is, after 200,000 were slaughtered and an estimated
30,000 women were systematically tortured in Serb rape camps. So a big
thank you to the saviours, who fed us to be slaughtered, but would not
allow us to defend ourselves.
The Hitler connection
Although Hitler was a Muslim, he kept his identity secret as the head
of the German nation. But his affiliation to Islam and Muslims was
obvious, as many joined his SS, filled the ranks in his armed forces.
It was Islam that inspired Hitler to persecute the unbelieving Jews,
Slavs and Gypsies; there are plenty of references to it in his book,
Mein Kampf, which many Zionists and Fox News ‘experts’ claims is an
exegesis of the Quran. Although many argued that, only some Arabs-
Muslims sought help for seeking independence from the colonial rule of
Britain and France, who had broken their earlier promise with the
Muslims-Arabs in the previous world war, and formed the secret treaty
of Sykes-Picot. Muslims have perfected the use of propaganda; they
constantly cry “terrorism” when the cities of Bagram, Medina and
Lebanon were bombed by the Americans, in retaliation for killing and
invading their lands.
Conclusion
This is useful for everyone to get a glimpse of the “other side.”
Imagine if you will, the burden of such infamy resting on your
sympathisers, is it any wonder that they need to lash out and do what
psychologists call “project” their own guilt, inadequacies and horrors
on to the Muslim’s?
The media has always played a role in justifying genocide, Hitler’s
propaganda film made the case against the Jews, the early American
settlers made the case against Native Americans, for the slave trade,
and the subsequent massacres, recently they did it for Iraq. The US is
now on the move towards engineering another holocaust, justified and
supported by those who “project” their own guilt onto others, claiming
Muslim’s have blood on their hands, ignoring the fact that they are
neck deep in the blood they have shed.
Yamin Zakaria (ya...@radicalviews.org)
chhotemianinshallah
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Muslim United Front stages protest against fake encounter in Gujarat
Activists of Musilm United Front took out a rally in Patna on
September 11, 2009 in protest against the fake encounter in Gujarat.
They also burnt effigy of Guajarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Recenlty, a judicial inquiry report on the killings of four Muslim
youths in Ahmedabad in June 2004 has revealed they were abducted and
killed in a fake encounter by the Gujarat Police. It was falsely
claimed by the police that all four, including Ishrat Jehan - a girl
student from Mumbai - belonged to a terrorist organisation and had
plotted to murder Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui
Posted by Bahti Ganga at Saturday, September 12, 2009
chhotemianinshallah
Insiders’ foiled Vajpayee’s plans to build Ram temple: Katiyar
Ians
September 12th, 2009 ETAH - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinay
Katiyar Saturday said former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was
prevented from going ahead with the construction of the Ram temple at
Ayodhya by some “insiders”.
“I am fully aware that Vajpayee was all set to remove various hurdles
and pave way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya; but
some people who were bent upon not letting him get the credit for the
gigantic task, did not let him have his way,” Katiyar told
mediapersons here, in a brief halt after addressing a convention of
the BJP state women’s wing in Aligarh.
Katiyar, who had been at the forefront of the Ayodhya temple movement
as founder president of Bajrang Dal, said: “Vajpayee had worked out a
smooth solution for the construction of the much debated temple and
but for the hurdles created by certain leaders, he would have ensured
its completion during his stint as prime minister.”
He however refused to divulge the names of the leaders whom he accused
to putting the stumbling blocks in Vajpayee’s path. “I will name those
leaders at an appropriate time,” he said.
Asked when that appropriate time would be, Katiyar said: “Well not
very far from now.”
chhotemianinshallah
Mainstream Weekly
Home page > 2009 > 9) September 2009 > Disturbing Developments
Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 39, September 12, 2009
Disturbing Developments
Editorial
Saturday 12 September 2009, by SC
The massive crowds that accompanied the body of former Andhra Pradesh
CM Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash on
September 2, when it was brought to Hyderabad and later when it was
taken to his village for the last rites have only provided fresh
testimony to his unique popularity throughout the State. The number of
people who died out of shock or committed suicide on learning about
their leader’s untimely demise was also something unprecedented
because even when the State’s most popular screen hero-turned-
political figure, N.T. Rama Rao, passed away such sentiments were not
on public display in this manner.
However, this display of emotions has to be seen in combination with
the rising clamour to make YSR’s son, Jaganmohan Reddy, the new CM.
This was another reflection of the culture of sycophancy in the
Congress. Sections of the media have been prompt to point out that
this culture of sycophancy emanated from the system of patronage
assiduously developed by YSR and the ’Jagan bhajan’ sprang from the
anticipation that under YSR’s son the benefits of this patronage would
continue to reach the beneficiaries.
That the Congress High Command was able to dismiss the ‘Jagan-as-CM’
demand, assert its authority and unambiguously throw its weight behind
K. Rosaiah as the new CM, at least for the present, has helped to
bring out the contrast with the BJP wherein the central leadership had
to eat the humble pie after declaring its intention to remove
Vasundhara Raje, the erstwhile Rajasthan CM, from the head of the
legislature party in the State.
Nonetheless, the whole episode—the clamour for Jagan in the hot seat
even before the end of the official mourning period—presents a
disturbing trend in the ruling party at the Centre.
Meanwhile the latest developments in Gujarat are doubtless more
disturbing. Five years after the Gujarat Police’s claim of having
foiled a conspiracy to assassinate CM Narendra Modi, the Metropolitan
Magistrate of Ahmedabad, S.P. Tamang, has in his report observed that
the so-called encounter was actually fake and culminated in the cold-
blooded murder by the police of Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year-old student of
Khalsa College, Mumbai, and three others. All four of them were then
branded as Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives allegedly engaged in trying to
kill Modi. Significantly, they were done to death on June 15, 2004, a
day before they were officially declared to have perished in the
‘encounter’, and the accused were 21 policemen including the then
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner K.R. Kaushik, Crime Branch chief P.P.
Pandey and DIG D.G. Vanzara of the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter
fame. The allegation is extremely serious and if proved in a court of
law, it should lead to exemplary punishment for the accused.
This is fresh evidence of the Gujarat Police having run amok with full
approval of those heading the State Government. The charge that the
accused police officers staged the fake encounter to win promotions
and gain the CM’s appreciation warrants a detailed investigation. The
Gujarat Government’s rejection of Tamang’s judicial inquiry report is
a matter of grave concern as it demonstrates the Modi administration’s
persistently defiant attitude.
Against the backdrop of these disturbing events all forces of goodwill
and communal harmony must unite and give a fitting rebuff to such
behaviour on the part of the State authorities.
September 10 S.C.
chhotemianinshallah
BJP slams Chidambaram on Ishrat encounter
STAFF WRITER 16:15 HRS IST
Bangalore, Sept 12 (PTI) The BJP today dubbed as uncharitable the
remarks of Home Minister P Chidambaram in Washington on the
controversial Ishrat Jehan fake encounter, and said such statement was
not expected of him and that too on a foreign soil.
Chidambaram had said the Gujarat Government could not justify the
killings using Central intelligence inputs as conclusive proof.
It (such statement) was not expected from a Home Minister of a federal
government and "that too on a foreign soil", BJP leader M Venkaiah
Naidu told reporters here.
When the High Court was seized of the matter and an inquiry was in
progress, how could the Home Minister come to a conclusion, he asked.
"It (Chidambaram's statement) will also dilute our fight against
terrorism," he said.
chhotemianinshallah
20 assembly by-polls Thursday, Modi faces acid test
September 9th, 2009 - 10:39 pm ICT by IANS -
New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) Bye-elections from 20 assembly constituencies
in six states and Delhi will be held Thursday with a focus on Gujarat
where the outcome would be seen as a popularity test for Chief
Minister Narendra Modi.
Seven of the constituencies are in Gujarat, seven in Bihar, two in
Madhya Pradesh and one each in Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Delhi.
In Gujarat, bye-elections will be held in Chotila, Jasdan, Dhoraji,
Kodinar, Dahegam, Sami and Data constituencies of Saurashtra and north
Gujarat regions due to various reasons, including some legislators
getting elected to the Lok Sabha in April-May polls.
Modi had claimed that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would fetch 24
of the 26 Lok Sabha seats from the state in the April-May elections,
but ended up winning only 15 seats - only one more than what the party
had in the 2004 elections.
Modi received another setback when his party lost a crucial municipal
corporation election in its stronghold of Junagadh city last month.
In Bihar, bye-elections will be held for the assembly seats of
Bochaha, Warisnagar and Chenari (all Scheduled Castes), and Aurai,
Kalyanpur, Ramgarh, and Chainpur.
Buoyed with its success in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has
decided to contest the Bihar by-polls on its own, having cold-
shouldered overtures of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad
and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan.
The BJP and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) have an alliance that is
ruling the state.
In Madhya Pradesh, bye-elections would be held for Gohad and
Tendukheda constituencies. In Andhra Pradesh, Tekkali constituency
will go to the poll.
In Sikkim, Namchi Singithong and in Uttarakhand Vikasnagar will go for
bye-elections.
In Delhi, the by-poll will be held for the Dwarka seat after sitting
legislator Mahabal Mishra (Congress) became an MP.
chhotemianinshallah
Jaswant Singh’s book on Jinnah already tops chart
August 20th, 2009 - 9:18 am ICT by IANS -
New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) The controversial book “Jinnah: India-
Partition Independence” by Jaswant Singh predictably tops the non-
fiction section of the bestseller list here in the first week of its
release while Ali Sethi’s “The Wish Maker: A Novel” continued at the
No.1 position in the fiction category for the third week in a row.
The top 10 in each section are:
Non-fiction
1. “Jinnah: India-Partition Independence”
Author: Jaswant Singh
Publisher: Rupa
Price: Rs.695.00
2. “The Idea of Justice”
Author: Amartya Sen
Publisher: Penguin Allen Lane
Price: Rs.699.00
3. “Making Sense of Pakistan”
Author: Farzana Shaikh
Publisher: Foundation Books
Price: Rs.695.00
4. “80 Questions To Understand India: History, Mythology and Religion”
Author: Murad Ali Baig
Publisher: Tara Press
Price: Rs.395.00
5. “The Secret”
Author: Rhonda Byrne
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Price: $12.50 (Rs.610)
6. “Curfewed Night”
Author: Basharat Peer
Publisher: Random House
Price: Rs.395.00
7. “Listening To Grass Hoppers: Field Notes on Democracy”
Author: Arundhati Roy
Publisher: Penguin Books
Price: Rs.499.00
8. “The Caged Phoenix: Can India Fly?”
Author: Dipankar Gupta
Publisher: Penguin Viking
Price: Rs.550.00
9. “Imagining India: Ideas for The New Century”
Author: Nandan Nilekani
Publisher: Penguin Allen Lane
Price: Rs.699.00
10. “A Better India A Better World”
Author: N.R. Narayana Murthy
Publisher: Penguin Allen Lane
Price: Rs.499.00
Fiction
1. “The Wish Maker: A Novel”
Author: Ali Sethi
Publisher: Penguin Books
Price: Rs.499.00
2. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Author: Stieg Larsson
Publisher: Quercsu
Price: Rs.299.00
3. “Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game”
Author: Tilly Bagshawe
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: Rs.250.00
4. “Secrets and Lies”
Author: Jaishree Misra
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: Rs.275.00
5. “The White Tiger”
Author: Aravind Adiga
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: Rs.395.00
6. “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders”
Author: Daniyal Mueenuddin
Publisher: Random House
Price: Rs.395.00
7. “The Thing Around Your Neck”
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publisher: Fourth Estate - London
Price: Rs.299.00
8. “How to Paint A Dead Man”
Author: Sarah Hall
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Price: Rs.425.00
9. “Swimsuit”
Author: James Patterson
Publisher: Century
Price: 5.99 pounds (Rs.475)
10. “Empire of The Moghul: Raiders from the North”
Author: Alex Rutherford
Publisher: Headline Review
Price: Rs.495.00
(Source: Bahri Sons, New Delhi, www.booksatbahri.com. All the books
listed above are available online).
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chhotemianinshallah
Friday, September 11, 2009
DIVINE CONNECT: Belief in God hardwired in our brain?
Islamic World News
11 Sep 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
DIVINE CONNECT: Belief in God hardwired in our brain? \
Hindu students take to madrassa education by Faizan Ahmad
Ishrat Jahan killing inhuman: Moily
DUBAI: 'Halal' cosmetics for Muslim women
'Nato killed him, has double standards'
Heidi Vogt and Kay Johnson
Afghans slam Nato for scribe's death in raid
Mush's 2nd political innings after Nov?
Women on fake TV show rescued after 2 months
No 'oriental' tag for Asians, says NY State
Fatwa against 'political' iftar by Cithara Paul
No flogging for trouser-wearing woman in Sudan by Mohamed Osman
Boris Johnson converts to Islam
Kasab turns abusive if Basmati not on plate by TN Raghunatha
An Afghan village ignores Taliban threat by Bilal Sarwary
Malaysian Muslims to be charged with sedition by Sean Yoong
Zia, son to face trial in orphanage fund embezzlement case by Anisur
Rahman
Ahmadinejad to appoint female vice president
Undeterred, Iran prez bats for 2nd woman minister
URUMQI ON EDGE: Rumour-mongers face China wrath
Rushdie spotted with married model
Thai Jihad: Islamic Assassins Target Buddhist Civilians in Thailand by
sheikyermami
US killed Zia with Pak internal power help: Ex-spymaster
S African Indian Muslim women come out in support of 'Hijab'
Afghan women now face new dangers
Saudi Arabia: Save the child bride by Khalaf Al-Harbi
Osama introduced Nawaz Sharif to Saudi royals: ex-ISI officer
Texas: Mosque opens doors and minds to the real Islam by Karina
Kling,
Communal' Modi spent more on Muslim welfare by Akhilesh Suman,
At least 123 militants killed in Pak tribal belt clashes
90 arrested in Birmingham (England) anti-Islam rally
DUBAI — Quran Award Gains Global Importance
Green God and green Islam! By mostafa ghanbari
Top 'terror suspect' freed in UK: Report
Underground Cinema in Iran by Sayeh Hassan
Eid shopping picks up in Peshawar by Ali Hazrat Bacha
Compiled by Aman Quadri
URL: http://www.newageislam.net/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1736
DIVINE CONNECT
Belief in God hardwired in our brain?
'During Evolution, People with Religious Tendencies Worked Together
Which Helped Them Survive'
We are born believers. Human beings are programmed by evolution to
believe in God because it gives them a better chance of survival,
researchers have claimed.
The idea has emerged from studies of the way children's brains
develop and of the workings of the brain during religious experiences,
Times Online reported on Monday.
Researchers suggest that during evolution groups of humans with
religious tendencies began to benefit from their beliefs, perhaps
because they tended to work together better and so stood a greater
chance of survival. The findings challenge campaigners against
organised religion, such as Richard Dawkins, author of 'The God
Delusion'. He has long argued that religious beliefs result from poor
education and childhood "indoctrination".
Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology at Bristol
University, believes the picture is more complex. "Our research shows
children have a natural, intuitive way of reasoning that leads them to
all kinds of supernatural beliefs about how the world works," Times
quoted Hood as saying.
"As they grow up they overlay these beliefs with more rational
approaches but the tendency to illogical supernatural beliefs remains
as religion." Hood, will present his findings at the British Science
Association's meeting this week, sees organised religion as just part
of a spectrum of supernatural beliefs.
In one study he found even ardent atheists balked at the idea of
accepting an organ transplant from a murderer, because of a
superstitious belief that an individual's personality could be stored
in their organs. "This shows how superstition is hardwired into our
brains," he said.
Hindu students take to madrassa education
Faizan Ahmad, TNN 11 September 2009
PATNA: Are madrassas meant only for Muslim students? Far from it, if
results of Bihar State Madrassa Examination Board are anything to go
by.
Pooja Kumari, Preetam Kumari, Priyanka Kumari and Surya Narayan Sah
all students of Madrassa Islamia, Sandalpur in Araria district are
among 100 Hindu girls and boys who have passed different grade exams
conducted by BSMEB this year.
The results of the madrassa board for Maulvi, Fauqania and Wastania
grade exams, declared on Monday, showed that about a hundred non-
Muslim students have passed these exams.
Board authorities, who could provide list of non-Muslim candidates of
only Fauqania exam, said 37 of them have passed. They include Sanjay
Kumar of Madrassa Islamia, Khardaur, Sanam Kumari and Sandhya Kumari
of Madrassa Rahmania, Joktia (both in West Champaran), Rupa Bharti of
Madrassa Munamia, Balia (Begusarai) and Anita Kumari of Madrassa
Faiyazul Uloom (Chhapra).
"All non-Muslim examinees were regular students of madrassas,'' board
chairman Maulana Ejaz Ahmad told TOI on Wednesday. He said he spoke to
parents of many such students who said education at madrassas was
better and their wards were more disciplined. In fact, the second
generation of a former legislator is getting madrassa education, he
added.
This year Muslim girls both outnumbered and outshone boys in madrassa
exam in Fauqania (equivalent to matric) and Wastania (equivalent to
middle). "That more girls are joining madrassa and persuing education
is an encouraging trend,'' Ahmad said. He said enrolment of Muslim
girls in all districts, including Muslim-dominated Kishangunj district
which has the lowest literacy among women, has increased.
Ishrat Jahan killing inhuman: Moily
IANS, New Delhi, September 08, 2009
The killing of Mumbai student Ishrat Jahan by Gujarat Police four
years ago was "inhuman" and all those responsible for her death should
be punished, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said in New Delhi on
Tuesday, a day after a metropolitan magistrate's report proved that it
was a "fake encounter".
"This is inhuman, if a proper investigation is done then many more
skeletons will come out," Moily told IANS.
He said it was surprising that such things were happening in India and
demanded that all the officers responsible should be punished.
"All those who are responsible for such inhuman killings should be
hauled (up)," he said.
The Gujarat police had claimed that Ishrat Jahan was a member of the
terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and that she and her three friends
were on a mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi when
they were gunned down on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in June 2004.
However, according to the 240 page report by metropolitan magistrate
SP Tamang, the four -- Ishrat Jahan, Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh
Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar
Abdul Gani -- were not linked with any terror group and were killed in
a "fake encounter".
'Halal' cosmetics for Muslim women
AFP 11 September 2009
DUBAI: For Muslim women who feel they are violating Islam's teachings
by using skin creams with alcohol and pig residues, Layla Mandi has
the answer: religiously-correct "halal" cosmetics.
The Canadian makeup artist who converted to Islam is marketing
cosmetics called OnePure, which she says have the luxury feel of
international brands minus the elements banned under Islamic law.
"There are pork derivatives and alcohol in most cosmetics products, so
Muslims should really use something else," Mandi said.
From Islamic banking to alcohol-free hotels, products tagged as halal
have become popular among devout Muslims — who pray five times a day
and perform other rituals. Under the concept of halal — which means
"lawful" in Arabic — pork and its by-products, alcohol and animals not
slaughtered according to Koranic procedures are all forbidden.
"Muslims don't want to go around and pray five times a day having pork
residues on their body," said Mandi, in her early thirties and swathed
in a slim black abaya, or cloak, with wisps of blond hair sticking
from under her head scarf.
According to Mandi, fatty acids and gelatin used in moisturisers,
shampoos, face masks and lipsticks as well as other items are often
extracted from pigs. Determined to create a halal product, Mandi
brought together a dermatologist and a chemist and told them the deal:
cosmetics and skin-care products free of pork and alcohol.
'Nato killed him, has double standards'
Heidi Vogt and Kay Johnson , Hindustan Times
Kabul, September 11, 2009
A group of Afghan journalists blamed international forces on Thursday
for the death of a kidnapped colleague during the British commando
rescue of a New York Times reporter and accused the troops of having a
"double standard" for Western and Afghan lives.
The newly formed Media Club of Afghanistan — set up by Afghan
reporters who work with international news outlets — also condemned
the Taliban for abducting both journalists last week in northern
Afghanistan as they investigated reports of civilian deaths in a
German-ordered airstrike. In addition, both of the main contenders in
Afghanistan's disputed presidential election called for investigations
into Munadi's death.
More than 50 Afghan reporters, wearing cameras and carrying notebooks,
laid flowers Thursday at the Kabul cemetery grave of Munadi, 34, who
died in gunfire as British commandos launched the rescue operation in
northern Kunduz province. Farrell survived and was taken away in a
helicopter. One British commando was also killed in the raid.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/News/world/Nato-killed-him-has-double-standards/Article1-452496.aspx
Afghans slam Nato for scribe's death in raid
11 September 2009
KABUL: A group of Afghan journalists blamed the international
coalition on Thursday for the death of a kidnapped colleague during
the British commando rescue of a New York Times reporter and accused
the troops of having a "double standard" for western and Afghan lives.
The accusation came as British PM Gordon Brown's office said troops
had carried out the raid on Wednesday in an attempt to recover both
British-Irish reporter Stephen Farrell and his Afghan translator
Sultan Munadi and that the mission was authorized as the "best chance
of protecting life."
The newly formed Media Club of Afghanistan — set up by Afghan
reporters who work with international news outlets — also condemned
the Taliban for abducting both journalists last week in northern
Afghanistan as they investigated reports of civilian deaths in a
German-ordered airstrike.
The journalists also said it was "inhumane" for the British forces to
rescue Farrell, who has dual British-Irish nationality, and also
retrieve the body of the British commando killed in the raid, while
leaving behind Munadi's body.
Mush's 2nd political innings after Nov?
Islamabad: Amid the demand for the trial of Pervez Musharraf for
treason by the opposition PML-N, the former president is going to
participate in Pakistan's politics after November 30 when a twoyear
constitutional bar on him holding public office ends, one of his close
aides has said.
"Musharraf would unite various factions of the PMLQ and
participate in politics from that platform," Chaudhry Shahbaz, a PMLQ
leader and a former federal minister, told reporters here on Sunday.
Shahbaz met Musharraf in Saudi Arabia last week for consultations.
He said the two-year constitutional restriction that prevents
Musharraf from participating in politics will end on November 30,
after which "he would announce his future strategy".
Women on fake TV show rescued after 2 months
AP 11 September 2009
ISTANBUL: Turkish
Military police on Thursday stormed an Istanbul villa to rescue nine
women held captive after being tricked into believing they were
reality show contestants.
The women were rescued on Monday in the villa in Riva, a summer resort
on the outskirts of Istanbul, a spokesman for the military police in
the region who carried out the raid said. He spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to give details of the raid to
the media. He said the women were held captive for around two months
but refused to provide further details.
The women were made to believe they were being filmed for a Big
Brother-type television show, the private Dogan news agency and other
news reports said, without citing sources. Instead, their naked images
were sold on the internet, the reports said.
The women had responded to an ad searching for contestants for a
reality show
that would be aired on a major Turkish television station, Dogan said.
The nine, including a teenager, were selected among several applicants
following an interview, it said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/middle-east/Women-on-fake-TV-show-rescued-after-2-months/articleshow/4996670.cms
No 'oriental' tag for Asians, says NY state
PTI 11 September 2009, 12:34am IST
NEW YORK: New York governor David Paterson signed into law a bill that
bans use of "oriental" in documents used by state agencies, public
authorities and municipalities when referring to persons of Asian or
Pacific islander heritage.
Assemblywoman Grace Meng said the word "oriental" is derogatory and
offensive. No state agency, public authority or municipality shall use
"oriental" to identify or denote persons of Asian or Pacific islander
heritage, she said in a statement. The word has been used with
negative connotations.
Fatwa against 'political' iftar
Cithara Paul
New Delhi, Sept. 7: The country's highest Islamic seminary has issued
a fatwa against iftars hosted by political parties, saying they go
against Islamic tradition.
The iftar has no place for lies, hypocrisy and politics, says the
fatwa by the Darul Uloom of Deoband, discouraging Muslims from
attending these iftars.
Political parties of all hues in India hold iftars — the evening meal
when Muslims break their Ramazan fast — to attract the community's
votes and network with its leaders. Even US President Barack Obama
hosted an iftar last week.
At an iftar held by the Trinamul Congress minority cell in Calcutta
yesterday, Mamata Banerjee had announced a sop, saying railway
recruitment exams could now be taken in Urdu. Trinamul plans two more
iftars on September 9 and 16, which Mamata is to attend.
"If the… purpose behind such gatherings is political, then religion
doesn't come into the picture,'' Mufti Zahoor Nadvi of the Darul Uloom
said.
Another argument against "political" iftars relates to the source of
their funding. "It would be against Islam if the source of money is
the liquor business or interest from loans,'' said Mubarak Hussein of
the Jamiat Ulema, Delhi.
The fatwa, however, doesn't extend to politicians being invited to
private iftars.
Leading Urdu dailies such as Inquilab, Siasat, Khabrein and Qurbani
too have decided to boycott political iftars.
"Politicians think hosting iftars will garner them the community's
support… in elections. So they wear the skullcap… but as soon as the
show is over, they dump the community," Inquilab editor Shahid Latif
said. "Muslims are fed up. They feel humiliated whenever such iftar
showoffs take place."
Full Report at: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090908/jsp/nation/story_11464975.jsp
No flogging for trouser-wearing woman in Sudan
By MOHAMED OSMAN and SARAH EL DEEB (AP)
KHARTOUM, Sudan — A woman journalist was convicted Monday of public
indecency for wearing trousers, but was spared a sentence of flogging.
A defiant Lubna Hussein said she would not pay a $200 fine and would
take a month in prison instead to protest Sudan's draconian morality
laws.
The 43-year old journalist has set out to challenge the police and
courts since her arrest in July by insisting the case go to trial,
aiming to embarrass the Khartoum government with the publicity. Her
prosecution — and the prospect that she could get the full sentence of
40 lashes — drew an international outcry.
The judge's decision to impose a fine equivalent to $200 appeared to
be an attempt to curb the criticism.
"I will not pay a penny," Hussein, who during the court session wore
the same trousers that sparked her arrest, told The Associated Press
after the ruling.
During the session, police rounded up about 40 women protesting
outside the courthouse in support of Hussein, some of them wearing
trousers as well in a sign of solidarity.
Full Report at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAZW89qny-VUhcZoGjzigD5oegKwD9AIJOVO1
Boris Johnson converts to Islam
Here's what the future Mayor Johnson wrote in The Spectator shortly
after the bomblings of 7 July 2005:
The Islamicists last week horribly and irrefutably asserted the
supreme importance of [their] faith, overriding all worldly
considerations, and it will take a huge effort of courage and skill to
win round the many thousands of British Muslims who are in a similar
state of alienation, and to make them see that their faith must be
compatible with British values and with loyalty to Britain. That means
disposing of the first taboo, and accepting that the problem is Islam.
Islam is the problem.
To any non-Muslim reader of the Koran, Islamophobia - fear of Islam -
seems a natural reaction, and, indeed, exactly what that text is
intended to provoke. Judged purely on its scripture - to say nothing
of what is preached in the mosques - it is the most viciously
sectarian of all religions in its heartlessness towards
unbelievers....
It is time that we started to insist that the Muslim Council of Great
Britain, and all the preachers in all the mosques, extremist or
moderate, began to acculturate themselves more closely to what we
think of as British values.
Emotions ran high after that cruel atrocity in Central London, so
perhaps allowances should be made. Also, if you read the whole
article, you'll see that Boris's argument is more nuanced than this
extract might make it appear. Even so, his claim that Islam is
intrinsically an obstacle to Muslim loyalty to Britain seemed pretty
unequivocal. Compare it with what he said during a Politics Show
debate last April as Mayoral election polling day approached:
The problem is people who wrench out of context quotes from the holy
book of Islam, the Koran, and use it to inspire evil in men's hearts.
That is a fact that few serious people would deny and we need to
tackle the extremists.
So three years after 7/7 Boris no longer seemed prepared to say that
"Islam is the problem" only that a minority of Muslims who
deliberately misinterpret its scripture are. And now this, uttered at
the East London Mosque last Friday:
I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about
Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day
with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at the local mosque. I
would be very surprised if you didn't find that you share more in
common than you thought.
This has excited much comment, most penetratingly at Harry's Place
where (via Conservative Home) some rather unBritish connections of the
mosque's imam are documented at length. My interest here, though, is
in Boris's intriguing journey from an anti-Islam, pro-"Britishness"
position where he called for Muslims to align their faith with
"British values" to one where he urges everyone who's not a Muslim to
sample an Islamic lifestyle.
Perhaps the answer lies in something else he said in Whitechapel last
week:
Whether it's in theatre, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims
are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are,
and want to be, a part of the mainstream community...Muslims are at
the heart of every aspect of society. Their contribution is something
that all Londoners benefit from. Muslim police officers, doctors,
scientists and teachers are an essential part of the fabric of London.
Islamic finance is contributing to the economy by changing the way
Londoners invest, save, borrow and spend. There are valuable lessons
that people of all backgrounds can learn from Islam such as the
importance of community spirit, family ties, compassion and helping
those less fortunate, all of which lie at the heart of the teachings
of Ramadan.
It really does appear that "Islam is the problem" no more - quite a
conversion. Is it because Boris believes that his call for British
Muslims to embrace "British values" has been heeded in the four years
since he made it, or are other considerations involved?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/2009/sep/08/boris-johnson-islam-east-london-mosque
Kasab turns abusive if Basmati not on plate
TN Raghunatha | Mumbai
Initially, he wanted the 11,280-page chargesheet in the 26/11 attacks
case be translated into Urdu. Then he said he wanted an Urdu
newspaper, perfume and toothpaste. He also wanted the Special Court,
probing the Mumbai attacks case, to allow him to take a walk in the
verandah of the barrack where he is lodged at the high-security Arthur
Road prison here. He then asked the prison authorities that he be
served 'mutton biryani'.
Now, Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Kasab is rooting for Basmati
rice as part of his menu at the Arthur Road prison.
Known for throwing a fit at the slightest pretext inside the prison,
India's most pampered undertrial, Kasab has been on "Basmati rice"
trip in the recent past. Last week, he yelled at the prison guards
that he could not make do with the "ordinary rice" served along with
his meal and that he preferred "Basmati rice" as part of his menu.
Informed prison sources said that no amount of convincing by the
prison guards that they could not serve him anything more than the
regular "dal-roti-(ordinary)-rice" — as prescribed under the jail menu
— would help matters, an angered Kasab gave his peace of mind to them,
saying that as he had been used to eating spicy food, he could not eat
the bland food being served at the prison and the least he wanted was
"Basmati rice".
Full Report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/201187/Kasab-turns-abusive-if-Basmati-not-on-plate.html
An Afghan village ignores Taliban threat
Bilal Sarwary
VICTORY FOR THE BALLOT: Afghan men walk down a flooded street in
Nangarhar province on August 31.
Just before the elections, people in the Eastern Province of Nangarhar
in Afghanistan complained of a spurt in violence and government
apathy, fearing that it may affect voter turnout.
But increased violence and constant threats from the Taliban did not
deter residents of this remote village from participating in the
presidential and provincial elections held on August 20.
Braving bad weather and rocket attacks, voters from Kodi Khel left
their homes in mountainous valleys early in the morning for polling
stations.
The Taliban tried its best to deter them. Several people were killed
in the run-up to the elections.
Schools, government offices and homes of officials were targeted in an
attempt to create a wave of fear among the electorate.
On the night just before the polling day, the Taliban distributed
pamphlets in the area asking people not to venture out.
"This is not a real Afghan election, this is just a game by the
invaders," a village elder read out from one such pamphlet. By
invaders the Taliban meant the Western forces operating on Afghan
soil.
Full Report at: http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/08/stories/2009090854900900.htm
Malaysian Muslims to be charged with sedition
Sean Yoong | Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia's attorney general pledged Monday to file sedition charges
against Muslims who marched with, and stomped on, a bloody cow head to
protest the planned construction of a Hindu temple.
The August 28 protest is said to have insulted Hindus and stoked
tensions among Malaysia's three main ethnic groups, the Malay Muslim
majority and Chinese and Indian minorities. Several dozen protesters
paraded through the streets with the severed cow head in Shah Alam,
the capital of central Selangor state, to denounce the state
Government's plan to build a temple in their largely Muslim
neighborhood. Hindus consider cows sacred. State authorities in
Selangor later said they have found a new site in Shah Alam to build
the temple.
The conflict highlighted frustrations among religious minorities about
strict guidelines that restrict the number of non-Muslim places of
worship, partly based on whether enough non-Muslims live in an area to
justify having a church or temple. years in prison, while illegal
assembly carries a maximum one-year sentence.
Full Report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/200980/Malaysian-Muslims-to-be-charged-with-sedition.html
Zia, son to face trial in orphanage fund embezzlement case
Anisur Rahman | Dhaka
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her elder son will
face trial for allegedly embezzling over Rs 1.41 crore meant for an
orphanage "which existed only in papers", a court here ruled Monday.
The court of Dhaka metropolitan special judge ANM Bashirullah accepted
charges pressed by the Anti-Corruption Commission against the main
Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader as she appeared on the
dock under tight security.
The judge set October 25 for indictment hearing against Zia and five
other defendants including her elder son Tarique Rahman for embezzling
over Taka 2.10 crore for an orphanage trust "which exists only in
papers".
Witnesses said dozens of pro-BNP lawyers including ex-speaker
Jamiruddin Sircar and party's secretary general Khondokar Delwar
Hossain stood for Zia claiming her innocence as she appeared at the
court escorted by police.
The judge also issued arrest warrants against defendants Mominur
Rahman, nephew of Khaleda, and former principal secretary Kamal Uddin
Siddiqui as they did not appear in court despite being summoned
earlier.
Full Report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/200967/Zia-son-to-face-trial-in-orphanage-fund-embezzlement-case.html
Ahmadinejad to appoint female vice president
Sep 7, 2009
Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that he
would appoint a female vice president to give greater representation
to women in his administration.
Ahmadinejad earlier appointed three female cabinet ministers, but
parliament rejected two of them and endorsed only Marzieh Vahid-
Dastjerdi as health minister. She became the first female minister in
the 30-year history of the Islamic republic.
After the parliament's rejections of his two other nominees,
Ahmadinejad appointed another woman to head the education ministry.
According to state television, Ahmadinejad introduced parliament
deputy Fatemeh Alia as a replacement for the rejected Susan Keshavarz.
Keshavarz has since been appointed by the president as an adviser
on education and training.
Ahmadinejad did not disclose the name of his new choice for vice
president or in which field she would be engaged.
Undeterred, Iran prez bats for 2nd woman minister
Tehran: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday nominated
another woman for the post of education minister after his first
choice, also a female, failed to win the support of parliament, a
report said.
Ahmadinejad also proposed a new energy minister after his first
pick likewise failed to muster enough support from MPs, the Mehr news
agency said.
"This afternoon the president presented Fatemeh Alia and Ali
Zabihi in an official letter to the parliament as his nominees for the
education and energy ministries", respectively, Hamid Reza Hajibabai,
a member of the parliament presiding board, was quoted by as saying by
Mehr.
Alia is serving her second term as Member of Parliament and is
regarded as close to Ahmadinejad, while Zabihi is head of Iran's
Social Security Organisation that deals mainly with pensions.
Hajibabai added that a vote of confidence on the latest two
candidates would be held in parliament on September 15. Ahmadinejad's
chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie confirmed the nominations.
Full Report at:
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=CAP&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&GZ=T
URUMQI ON EDGE
Rumour-mongers face China wrath
Urumqi: China's troubled far western city of Urumqi has spelt out
potential punishments for spreading rumours, after days of sometimes
deadly unrest and panic about reported syringe attacks that fanned
ethnic tensions.
Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, has been struggling to
return to order after days of panic and protests over claims that
Muslim Uyghur's used syringes to attack residents, especially members
of China's Han majority.
Urumqi authorities said in a notice that anyone found guilty of
injecting others with dangerous substances could face a long jail
sentence or even the death penalty.
The full notice from the law-and-order authorities, reported in a
later Xinhua report, also warned residents they face possible jail
terms for rumour-mongering.
"Those who deliberately concoct and spread false information about
innocent members of the public being stabbed with needles, could be
tried and sentenced to up to five years in jail," said the notice.
Rushdie spotted with married model
London: Author Salman Rushdie is rarely seen out without a striking
woman towering over him but the controversial writer finally stepped
out with a woman his own stature, albeit a married one.
The 'Booker of Bookers Award' winning author made an appearance at
the Venice Film Festival with Canadian-born former model Carolann
Javicoli, reported Daily Mail online.
The pair did not leave each others side during the party at the
exclusive Hotel De Bains but the author's spokesperson denied a
romance saying that Javicoli was the wife of Rushdie's close friend.
The 61-year-old the author of 'Satanic Verses', who was earlier
married to supermodel Padma Laxmi, more than two decades his junior,
was praised by Javicoli as a "wonderful man with a wicked sense of
humour".
"Salman does tend to attract a lot of beautiful women around him.
That's just the sort of man he is. But he sees the beauty inside and
out," Javicoli said. PTI
Thai Jihad: Islamic Assassins Target Buddhist Civilians in Thailand
by sheikyermami
September 6, 2009
Classic Mohammedan warfare in the "Deep South:" the Buddhists are
being terrorized, killed at random, driven out of their homes. This
article shows a similar modus operandi wherever the soldiers of Allah
have been allowed to settle and gained critical mass:
The rate of beheaded Buddhists is proportionate to the concentration
of Muslims within a Buddhist population.
The Qur'an:
Qur'an (2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive
them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of
Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]…and fight them
until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah." There is a
good case to be made that the textual context of this particular
passage is defensive war, even if the historical context was not.
However, there are also two worrisome pieces to these verse. The
first is that the killing of others is authorized in the event of
"persecution" (a qualification that is ambiguous at best). The second
is that fighting may persist until "religion is for Allah." The
example set by Muhammad is not reassuring.
AINA
The Islamic insurgency in Southern Thailand is ongoing and political
and military leaders in Thailand appear to be at a loss because of
many internal political and economic convulsions. Yet it is clear that
radical Islamists desire an independent state and this state is meant
to be Muslim to the core, and all Buddhists are deemed to be
expendable.
In Kashmir the Hindu minority was forced to flee because innocent
civilians were targeted by Islamic jihadists and Serbian Orthodox
Christians in Kosovo have witnessed the endless destruction of their
Christian churches and culture.
A similar pattern can be seen because Buddhists face daily fears and
gradual Islamization in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.
While recently three Christian pastors in Northern Nigeria were
beheaded by Sunni Islamists because they refused to renounce
Christianity.
2009.09.06 (Yala, Thailand) – A 61-man is mowed down along with his
son and daughter in an automatic weapons attack by Islamic
separatists.
2009.09.06 (Grozny, Chechnya) – Islamic militants shoot a young
traffic policeman to death.
2009.09.05 (Kunar, Afghanistan) – Two women are killed by a Taliban
mortar attack on their neighborhood.
2009.09.05 (Swat, Pakistan) – Holy Warriors gun down two brothers
outside their home.
2009.09.05 (Mogadishu, Somalia) – Children are among the dead when al-
Shabaab Islamists stage an attack in a residential area.
2009.09.05 (Yala, Thailand) – A Buddhist rubber tapper is gunned down
by Muslim radicals.
Sadly, more harrowing stories can be stated about the burning alive of
Christians in Pakistan by Sunni Islamists and the continuing
persecution of all minorities. Therefore, Ahmadiyya Muslims face the
sword of Sunni Islam because of conservative hatred in Pakistan and
Baha'is in Iran face severe restrictions and bouts of false propaganda
by central forces in Iran. At the same time Christians face either
dhimmitude or pogroms in Iraq alongside other minorities like the
Shabaks, Yazidis, and Mandaeans because radical Islamists threaten all
minorities.
In Southern Thailand the current Islamic insurgency is following a
similar pattern and this pattern is based on the beheading of
Buddhists, killing innocent civilians, killing teachers, and spreading
darkness throughout Southern Thailand.
Of course Islamists and others want to silence the mass media and many
writers fear the shackles of editors or they are turning a blind eye
because of political correctness.
Therefore, we have ridiculous media attention about discrimination
against Muslims with regards to being checked at airports or being
denied dress freedom in France. However, does this really compare with
beheading Buddhists in Southern Thailand or burning Christians alive
in Pakistan? Also, remember that this is done in the name of Islam
because these Islamists want an Islamic monoculture where they kill or
persecute non-Muslims first and then kill fellow Muslims, like killing
Ahmadiyya Muslims, because they are not deemed to be Muslim enough.
Turning back to Thailand it is clear that Muslims in the south feel
alienated from the central state and the economic infrastructure is
weak. However, many Buddhists in Thailand also face economic hardship
and grinding poverty in parts of this nation yet they do not go around
beheading Muslim religious leaders.
If Thailand doesn't do more to respond to daily intimidation and the
ethnic cleansing of Buddhists in Southern Thailand then clearly the
situation is going to get even worse. It is also important to point
out that radical Sunni Islamists in Indonesia and the Philippines,
alongside global jihadists, could join the fray if this crisis
continues to follow the same path.
This hatred is inspired by Mohammed because he stated in the Hadiths
to not only kill infidels (non-Muslims) but that Muslims will be
rewarded for killing infidels.
Therefore Islamists follows the sayings of Mohammed and in Hadith 9:4
Mohammed stated "Wherever you find infidels kill them; for whoever
kills them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection." Mohammed
also stated in Hadith 9:50, 57 that "No umma (a member of the Muslim
community) should be killed for killing a kafir (an infidel) … Whoever
changes his Islamic religion, kill him."
Therefore, Islamic jihadists in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Indonesia,
Iraq, Pakistan, Thailand, or wherever, are directly following the
teachings of Mohammed. Given this, Islamic radicalism in Thailand and
other parts of the world is a serious issue because minorities are
being killed by Islamic jihadists because of the fascist nature of
this ideology.
Zachary Abuza, author of Militant Islam in Southeast Asia (Crucible of
Terror), and a host of other written material, highlighted the role of
the madrasas (Islamic schools).
He stated "In their pursuit of the creation of Islamic states, many
Southeast Asian jihadis established Islamic schools to indoctrinate,
propagate, and recruit. The leaders of many militant groups in
Southeast Asia, including the Laskar Jihad, Kampulan Mujahidin
Malaysia, and Jemaah Islamiya, returned from Afghanistan and
established a network of madrasas as the base of their operations and
recruitment."
Clearly it is obvious that many radical Islamists are being churned
out in radical madrasas and national governments must either regulate
these schools or provide an alternative system. If not, they will
become a continuing breeding ground for killers of non-Muslims and
Muslims alike, after all, the Taliban and Islamic indoctrination came
through these radical Islamic schools and they had no qualms in
killing Shia Muslims and other so-called Islamic heretics.
Therefore, whoever controls the mosque or madrasas is in a powerful
position. It must be mentioned that not all madrasas are involved in
hate inspired indoctrination, however, many are out of control and you
have a state within a state and of course Pakistan is paying for this
now because they allowed this dangerous situation to happen in the
first place.
In modern day Thailand you have the false reality of stability in many
parts of this nation and tourists from all over the world visit for
various factors. However, in Southern Thailand you have a dangerous
Islamic insurgency which beheads Buddhists, kills teachers, kills
Muslims who are deemed to be loyal to Thailand, and other innocents.
Zachary Abuza also commented that "While the government has recently
pledged more development funds for the restive south, the insurgency
has never been about development. Sadly, as long as the conflict
remains confined to the southernmost provinces, it will remain a low
priority for the government, consumed with elite political
machinations in Bangkok. And while Southern Thailand remains the
single most lethal conflict in Southeast Asia, it remains a low
priority for America and its allies in the region."
Sadly it does appear that Zachary Abuza is correct because this issue
is neglected and since 2008 it is clear that this insurgency is
growing once more because more attacks and killings have been
reported.
Therefore, the war within Islam is continuing because Islamic radicals
are killing Muslims and Islamic leaders who are deemed to be infidels
because they do not support the ongoing slaughter of innocents. At the
same time Buddhists are living in fear and many have been killed in
extremely cruel ways and of course many have fled this carnage.
Sunai Phasuk, a political analyst at Human Rights Watch, commented
that "Buddhist monks have been hacked to death, clubbed to death,
bombed and burned to death." Therefore, it is clear that this Sunni
Islamic insurgency is following a familiar path and this applies to
the destruction of all non-Muslim elements within society or the
complete dhimmitude of all non-Muslims by the rule of fear.
The ongoing Islamic jihad in Southern Thailand could draw in other
regional and global jihadists, and this could have dire consequences
because you have Christian-Muslim tensions in parts of Indonesia and
the Philippines. Also, if the Thai army is forced to retreat or adopt
a containment policy then clearly Islamic jihadists will gain because
they will have free areas in order to spread their dangerous ideology
and cause further mayhem throughout the region.
At the same time the current Sunni Islamic insurgency hopes to cleanse
the region of all Buddhists and to destroy Buddhist temples and
architecture in yet another re-run of Afghanistan. Therefore, it is
clear that the minority Buddhist community in Southern Thailand needs
greater protection from radical Islamists.
If political leaders in Thailand betray the Buddhist minority then the
consequences will be severe. Also, this part of Thailand could become
yet another museum where Buddhism is eradicated by Islam?
By Lee Jay Walker
US killed Zia with Pak internal power help: Ex-spymaster
6 September 2009
ISLAMABAD: US and "internal powers" were behind the 1988 plane crash
that killed General Zia-ul-Haq, who ruled Pakistan from 1978 till his
death, a former Pakistani spymaster has claimed.
Imtiaz Ahmed, a former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, said the US
collaborated with "internal powers" in Pakistan to assassinate Zia.
Ahmed, who also served in the ISI, has shaken up political parties
with revelations of huge payments allegedly made by the Inter-Services
Intelligence to strengthen the opposition to former premier Benazir
Bhutto in 1990.
"Former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg also says that Zia's plane
crash was not an accident, but sabotage," he told a TV news channel.
Zia came to power after overthrowing the then Prime Minister Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto in 1977, the third ruler to impose martial law.
He initially ruled as the Chief Martial Law Administrator, but later
installed himself as the President of Pakistan in September 1978.
Zia's death in a military plane crash in August 1988 remains shrouded
in mystery, which has given rise to several conspiracy theories.
Full Report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/pakistan/US-killed-Zia-with-Pak-internal-power-help-Ex-spymaster/articleshow/4978577.cms
S African Indian Muslim women come out in support of 'Hijab'
7 September 2009
JOHANNESBURG: Hundreds of Indian Muslim women here have come out in
support of Muslim women's right to wear 'Hijab,' a traditional
headgear, worldwide.
Over 500 women visitors pledged their support for an international
campaign asserting Islamic tradition of wearing Hijab during a live
broadcast by the Johannesburg-based radio service Channel Islam
International (CII) in the mainly Indian area of Lenasia over the
weekend.
Muslims across the world are protesting against a ban on 'Hijab' in
France. The CII gave a free scarf to every woman who voiced her
support to the campaign.
"Although we are fortunate to have strong constitutional support for
the rights of Muslim women in South Africa to wear the Hijab, it is
surprising that countries with supposedly far longer democracies are
now denying this right to the extent that innocent Muslim women are
now coming under attack," CII Director Ashraf Seedat told PTI.
CII has launched a vigorous campaign to promote the headscarf, besides
countering negative propaganda against Hijab.
Seedat said the spirit of 'World Hijab Day' was to counter the
"Western propaganda" to link Hijab with backwardness, terrorism and
the repression of women.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4980295.cms
Afghan women now face new dangers
7 September 2009
One reason for the widespread public support for the 2001 invasion of
Afghanistan was genuine revulsion at the treatment of Afghan women
under the Taliban. Shocking videos of women being flogged or executed
by firing squads in football stadiums for "adultery" had been smuggled
out by campaigners in the late 1990s. Many people assumed that with
the disappearance of Mullah Omar and his extremist followers, women
would no longer be regarded as lower in status than farm animals, fit
only for household drudgery or reproduction.
Girls would be able to go to school, and their mothers or sisters
allowed working, or even just enjoying ordinary pleasures such as
travelling in a taxi, singing, laughing in public, or venturing out of
the home without a male relative or a heavy blue cloak covering every
inch. Western leaders were eager too to play up the "liberation of the
women" as one of the noble aims of the military engagement in
Afghanistan.
Pervez Kambaksh has now benefited from a behind-closed-doors act of
clemency from the Afghan president. But the fact that the student must
flee in fear of his life because he circulated an article questioning
attitudes to women in Islam suggests that the supposed introduction of
democracy and eight years of war have delivered scant progress.
True, Afghan women can now work and become MPs, but acid is still
thrown in the faces of little girls trying to go to school, violence
against women is rampant and the Karzai government recently enacted a
law which in effect allows men to demand sex or starve their wives. As
Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch put it, Karzai made "an unthinkable
deal" because he needed to buy the support of fundamentalists in the
20 August elections.
Full Report at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/katherine-butler-afghan-women-now-face-new-dangers-1782907.html
Saudi Arabia: Save the child bride,
Khalaf Al-Harbi | Okaz, klf...@gmail.com
By what reason or logic do we allow a young elementary schoolgirl to
marry a man in his 80s? How could this happen without anyone raising a
finger? Is it appropriate to publish this news item on the front page
while the entire society considers it a personal affair?
Paradoxically, the groom insisted that he was not yet 80! Maybe he is
three or four days less than 18. He boasted to the bride's aunt that
his marriage to her niece was not against Islam since it was based on
mutual acceptance.
He said he proposed to her elder sister who turned down the offer
because she was busy studying. He said the father then offered him her
younger sister and allowed him to see her under Shariah law.
What is this? An older sister refuses to marry an old man and so the
father willingly presents her younger sister. When the old groom was
allowed to look at his would-be child bride, did he not notice any
disapproval or sign of rejection on her face?
How do you expect a child to react? Who will tell us the difference
between paternity and selling vegetables on the streets?
Before reading about this sad story, I was willing to believe that
some foreign human rights organizations were targeting us. But after
coming across this story, I thanked God that I was not a member of a
human rights organization because I would definitely have targeted
us.
I would have thrown away the Declaration of Human Rights in the
wastepaper basket, torn off my clothes and gone into the street like
Tarzan — it seems the world has turned into a jungle in which a father
is willing to offer his child to a man in his 80s. It is totally
disheartening that society is looking at this tragedy as a personal
affair and questioning how they can object when the father has given
his consent?
This marriage is a gross violation of international human rights
agreements pertaining to children of which the Kingdom is a signatory.
Moreover, the special committee formed by the Ministry of Health to
study the phenomenon of marriages involving underage girls has
resolved that such marriages cause deep health, psychological and
social harms.
Islam, being a religion of humanity and providence, will not accept
these harms. So how can we accept a father and an old groom stabbing
our religion and society claiming, "she is his daughter and he is free
to do whatever he wants with her?" Source:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=126141&d=7&m=9&y=2009
Osama introduced Nawaz Sharif to Saudi royals: ex-ISI officer
6 September 2009
LAHORE: Osama bin Laden introduced Nawaz Sharif to the Saudi royal
family in the late 1980s and during a meeting the former Premier had
asked the
Al Qaida chief to provide employment to Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia,
former ISI officer Khalid Khwaja claimed on Sunday.
Khwaja, who was close to Sharif in the late 1980s and early1990s, made
the claim in an interview.
"During his first visit to Saudi Arabia as Chief Minister of Punjab in
the late 1980s, no one from the royal family had given Sharif
importance," he said.
"Thereafter, on Sharif's request, Osama bin Laden introduced him to
the royal family and that helped him in getting closer to the Saudis,"
said Khwaja, who was a squadron leader in the Pakistan Air Force
before joining the ISI in 1985.
"A close aide of Sharif family and I arranged at least five meetings
between Sharif and bin Laden in Saudi Arabia.
"During a meeting with bin Laden as Prime Minister in the 1990s Sharif
asked him to provide employment to Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia and
undertake development projects in Pakistan," said Khwaja, who was
dismissed from service by late military ruler Gen Zia-ul-Haq in 1988
for reportedly writing a letter in which he disagreed with Zia on
certain policies.
Full Report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4978856.cms
Texas: Mosque opens doors and minds to the real Islam
By: Karina Kling, Sept 6, 2009
Talking religion can be a tricky and often controversial topic, but
one group of Muslims wants to talk about it, and as such, alleviate
false perceptions and advance understanding about the Islamic faith.
You may have passed by the Nueces Mosque on the UT campus, seen people
entering for prayer or wondered why women wear those veils.
"its prime time we came out and let people know what the Muslim
community is about," Sobia Lodhi, the non-Muslim outreach director,
said.
For the first time in 30 years, members of the Mosque opened their
doors in hopes of educating others.
"We want them to be educated, and once they are educated, I don't
think anyone will be ignorant," Lodhi said.
During the holy month of Ramadan, and just days away from Sept. 11,
Lodhi said she put this project together so people could come and
learn what Islam says about terrorism and clear up misconceptions
about the term 'jihad'.
"The term 'jihad' means struggle. It in no way means killing people or
committing suicide," she said. Lodhi said part of that struggle is
demonstrated through a month of fasting.
"It balances your life out, we're quitting something and it cleanses
your body. It purifies it," she said.
Members of the Mosque said all are welcome in their worship, a lesson
learned by non-Muslims who came out to clear up some of their own
questions.
"I just want to become more open-minded and learn more about my
brothers and sisters in the community," Emily Macrander, a UT student,
said.
Holy day is on Fridays and all are invited to come and pray at the
Mosque.
Source: http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=251658
'Communal' Modi spent more on Muslim welfare
By Akhilesh Suman, Sept 7, 2009
Gujarat has given more money to Muslims under Prime Minister's 15-
Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities in comparison to States
like Uttar Pradesh which houses India's largest Muslim population and
where minority appeasement has remained the main electoral planks for
main political stakeholders.
Data collected by the National Minority Finance development
Corporation (NMDFC) shows startling discrepancy among the States in
providing incentives to Muslims. While Kerala tops the list, Bihar and
West Bengal too are not far behind. But both Mulayam Singh Yadav and
Mayawati who compete for Muslim votes and claim to be the champions of
their cause have not made any mark on this plank.
Under one of the main heads of the PM's programme, the NMDFC was
supposed to provide financial assistance to people belonging to
minority communities, especially Muslims.
While the administrative control of the NMDFC lies with the Ministry
of Minority Affairs at the Centre, money is disbursed at the State
level through agencies nominated by the respective State Governments.
These Agencies provide micro-credit through NGOs and also extend
educational loans for pursuing technical and professional courses.
Sources in the Government told The Pioneer that the PMO has been
keeping a close watch on the programme unveiled by Prime Minister
Manmohan who had created a major controversy by announcing that
minorities enjoyed the 'first right on resources'.
Full Report at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/200856/%E2%80%98Communal%E2%80%99-Modi-spent-more-on-Muslim-welfare.html
At least 123 militants killed in Pak tribal belt clashes
September 06, 2009
At least 123 militants have been killed and over 50 injured in fresh
anti-terror operations launched by Pakistani security forces to flush
out Taliban fighters from their hideouts in lawless tribal belt
bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistani security forces killed three militants in a gun battle in
the restive Malakand division in the country's northwest while nine
militants and a 10-year-old boy trained by the Taliban voluntarily
surrendered, officials said on Sunday.
Acting on a tip-off regarding the presence of militants near Alpurai
in Swat valley, troops conducted a cordon and search operation in the
area. During a subsequent exchange of fire, the security forces killed
three militants and apprehended two more.
A 10-year-old boy, who was trained by the militants, voluntarily
surrendered to security forces at Nagwa, the military said in a
statement. Nine militants surrendered to security forces at Bilogram,
Odigram, Hazara, Guljaba and Peochar.
90 arrested in Birmingham (England) anti-Islam rally
06 Sep 2009
Police have arrested 90 people after racially-charged anti-Islam
demonstration in the city of Birmingham, central England, turned
violent.
The unrest broke out when supporters of an English nationalist group,
the English Defence League, encountered anti-fascist activists during
a rally on Saturday opposing expansion of Islamic ideas in Britain,
West Midlands police said Sunday.
About 200 people were involved in the clashes with both sides throwing
projectiles and running from riot police, prompting authorities to
arrest 90 people, all under 40 years of age, on suspicion of criminal
damage and violent disorder.
It was not immediately clear how many of the 200 belonged to each
side, as the youths had their faces covered in most of the television
footage of the incident in the city's downtown area.
Clashes also erupted last month at a similar demonstration in
Birmingham, a diverse city of about 1 million where nearly a third of
the population is non-white.
The English Defence League, which denies racism charge, blames counter-
demonstrators for inciting violence at its rallies. It has planned
protest marches in other cities, including one next month in
Manchester.
Source:http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=105488§ionid=351020601
DUBAI — Quran Award Gains Global Importance
By Ahmed Shaaban, 7 September 2009
DUBAI — The Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA) has become
one of the most important Quran Awards across the world, according to
Major General Khamis Mattar
Al Mazina, Deputy Commander-in-chief of
the Dubai Police.
"The Dubai Police is one of the
main departments sponsoring the
activities of the
DIHQA from its early sessions," Al Mazina said.
"The award pays attention to all memorisers of the Holy Quran all
over the world. It also honours an
Islamic personality every year, let
alone other Quran institutions," he added.
The global popularity of the Holy Quran Award, said Al Mazina, was
basically due to the sincere and close care and attention given to the
Award by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-
President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2009/September/theuae_September148.xml§ion=theuae&col=
Green God and green Islam!
by mostafa ghanbari, 06-Sep-2009
My dear compatriots, do not get me wrong, I am not against the new
movement which claims of being fully green and honest. On the
contrary, I believe in them and their abilities in creating a new era
of new challenges over the lost democracy and skewed justice in our
country; but my point is the transparency of their attitudes. Are
their thoughts and philosophies transparent enough to convince the
common sense and assure the appropriate future outcomes of their
efforts? What are their true definitions for the GREEN GOD AND GREEN
ISLAM? Have our hindering problems during the past three decades, been
just the colour of God and Islam??
Let me be honest with you my dear and highly civilized compatriots,
that I have not been able to get the main message within the new
philosophy of the GREEN GOD AND GREEN ISLAM! As the designers, the
architects of this new thought and philosophy, (who are significant
and outstanding figures and well- known for all of us) have not been
duly clear and understandable in with their definitions of their main
aims. Is religion separate from politics or not??? Are they going to
sleep in different rooms or not? These are the most definitive
questions which must be necessarily answered and made understandable
to non-specialists, before going any further with the whole idea; but
it is obvious that the architects of this new movement are not so
willing to use a simple language in their explanations about their
main aims.
Full Report at: http://www.iranian.com/main/node/79680
Top 'terror suspect' freed in UK: Report
7 September 2009
LONDON: The British government has released a man it considers a top
dangerous terrorist suspect from virtual house arrest, possibly to
avoid disclosing secret evidence against him, a report said on Monday.
The unnamed man has been closely monitored and his movements severely
restricted since 2006 because of his alleged links with Islamic
terrorists, although he has never been charged, the Times said.
His control order, which confines him to his home for 16 hours a day,
was revoked last week and his electronic monitoring tag removed,
despite government claims that he remains a threat, the newspaper
said.
The man, who has dual Libyan and British nationality, and is known
only as AF, was one of three suspects who won a landmark legal ruling
in July that their control order was illegal.
The law lords ruled that the suspects had been denied a fair hearing
prior to detention because they had not been given details of the
cases against them.
The ruling opened the way for up to 20 men held under control orders
to challenge their detention and to seek to know the cases against
them.
Full Report at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/uk/Top-terror-suspect-freed-in-UK-Report/articleshow/4980412.cms
----
Underground Cinema in Iran
by Sayeh Hassan, 06-Sep-2009
Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with the renowned film
maker Mr. Moslem Mansouri, and speak to him about "underground cinema"
in Iran. Mr. Mansouri is one of the founders of underground cinema in
Iran which started taking shape in 1996.
Underground cinema was created in response to the severe censorship
imposed on Iranian artists by the Islamic Regime in Iran. The Ministry
of Culture and Islamic Guidance is in charge of regulating and in
reality censoring art in Iran. Film makers must first submit the
transcript of their proposed film to the Ministry of Culture and
Islamic Guidance for approval. If approval is granted they may start
making the film, however once the film is completed it must once again
be sub mitted to the Ministry to be approved for screening.
According to Mr. Mansouri, there are currently two categories of film
makers in Iran.
1. A group of film makers who agree with the Islamic Regime's politics
and policies ad who make their films in support and furtherance of
these policies. In return the Islamic Regime is very supportive of
these film makers. With the support of the Regime the films of these
film makers are screened internationally which leads to great success
for these film makers.
2. A group of film makers who refuse to work within the frame work of
the Islmaic Regime. Even though these film makers may not actively be
against the Regime, they refuse to further the Islamic Regime's agenda
by producing films within their policies and rules. It is extremely
difficult for these film makers to make films or be recognized
internationally, since they are not given any government support. Some
of these film makers are Mr. Bahram Behzayi and Mr. Yaser Taghvayi. It
might take these film makers 10-15 years to make one film, whereas
film makers who work within the frame work of the Islamic Regime can
make films much more frequently.
Mr. Mansouri went on to tell me about how along with a number of
friends including Ms. Lila Ghobadi he decided to start an underground
cinema in 1996. He made six films from 1996 to 1998 which became the
basis for underground cinema in Iran. These films included "Trial" and
"Epitaph" which is about prostitution in Iran.
Full Interview at: http://iranian.com/main/blog/sayeh-hassan/underground-cinema-iran
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Eid shopping picks up in Peshawar
By Ali Hazrat Bacha, 07 Sep, 2009
PESHAWAR, Sept 6: The shopping activities in different bazaars of
Peshawar are gaining momentum as Eidul Fitr draws near.
In the past, Saddar Bazaar was considered a hub of shopping where
customers of all ages converged from cross the district. People from
all the districts of the Frontier province used to come to Saddar for
buying various items.
But the situation changed during the last few years when militancy
spilled over into the settled districts of the province. The spate of
terrorist activities and security measures taken by authorities in
Peshawar including road blockades and body search of people forced the
consumers to avoid visiting bazaars of the provincial metropolis.
However, a marked improvement in the security situation in the
province again provided an opportunity to people to visit famous
markets and bazaars of Peshawar for Eid shopping.
Now again the rush of people can be seen in different bazaars
especially in the evening and on Sunday. A large number of people are
seen buying different items for Eid.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/eid-shopping-picks-up-in-peshawar-799
URL: http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1736
chhotemianinshallah
`Useen hands trying to spoil BJP's name'
TNN 11 September 2009, 10:12pm IST
MANGALORE: BJP state president D V Sadananda Gowda banked on a
conspiracy theory on Friday to explain the reasons behind the attack
on a church in
Bangalore, saying that `unseen hands were trying to sully the name of
BJP government.
Speaking to reporters here, Gowda pointed out that recently Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh had said that there were increasing communal
attacks in the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. "We suspect,
mentioning state's name is Congress political agenda and somebody is
laying the foundation for it. I will not comment on it now, but we
will take a look into this aspect'', he added.
Gowda said the state has taken all care to protect the places of
worship. "The assurance of chief minister B S Yedyurappa of stringent
action and Bangalore city police commissioner Shankar Bidari's shoot
at sight orders are proof enough that the government was serious. "If
it were done by BJP would we have taken such measures'', he
questioned.
chhotemianinshallah
Ishrat papers gathered dust for 5 years
TNN 12 September 2009, 03:38am IST
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat High Court in its order staying action on the
inquiry report of metropolitan magistrate on the Ishrat Jahan
encounter has taken note of the fact that the papers of the probe were
with the chief metropolitan magistrates court since 2004.
Ishrat's mother Shamima Kausar filed a petition seeking CBI inquiry
before the high court on August 11, 2004 after nothing proceeded in
the case.
The HC on Wednesday ordered an investigation into how a parallel
inquiry came to be set up when it had already ordered a probe into the
encounter case last month.Justice KS Jhaveri, who appeared annoyed at
the magistrate for coming out with the inquiry report, wrote in his
order, "It is hoped that the registrar general shall make a detailed
inquiry into the matter which led to holding a parallel probe and
filing of the report by the magistrate, which apparently is beyond the
provisions of law."Magistrate SP Tamang has written in his report that
he has carried out this exercise on the basis of an order from the
chief metropolitan magistrate which was issued to him on August 12,
2009.
About Tamang's inquiry, Justice Jhaveri has observed, "The magistrate,
knowing fully well that this is not a case of custodial death,
proceeded with the inquiry in a truncated fashion and completed the
same in a very intriguing manner...The bare perusal of report shows
that the magistrate has dealt with the matter as if it was a full-
fledged trial based only on the materials before him.
"The high court has also criticized the metropolitan magistrate for
coming to a definite conclusion that it was a fake encounter, and
indicting police officials.
The judge has also noticed that magistrate Tamang had not examined the
provisions of the Bombay Police Act. This practically renders the
directions issued by the high court redundant.
It amounts to overreaching the process issued by the high court, the
judge observed based on the fact that the magistrate initiated his
inquiry the same day the HC formed an investigating team to probe the
truth about the encounter.In this order, Justice Jhaveri has also said
that magistrate Tamang completed writing of the report practically in
two days.
chhotemianinshallah
Buses, shops attacked during Belgaum bandh
TNN 12 September 2009, 12:30am IST
BELGAUM: The bandh called on Friday by the Sri Rama Sene and other pro-
Hindu organizations in Belgaum, turned violent — four shops were
burnt, two persons injured in stone-throwing, and at least 15 NWKRTC
buses damaged. The bandh, called to protest the violence in
Maharashtra during the Ganesh festival, met with a good response in
the city. Schools, colleges, business establishments and theatres were
shut, while buses and autos stayed off the roads.
Early in the morning, miscreants set four shops on fire on Fort Road —
a cushion shop belonging to Ashfaq Badgaonkar, an electric shop of
Irshad Peerwale, Narayan Pujari's tea canteen and Zarin Ahmad Shaikh's
puncture shop.
Trouble began with stones being thrown on buses and autos on Thursday
night. There was panic among the people, and 15 buses were damaged.
"Three buses were badly damaged," said N Sangappa, divisional
controller, NWKRTC. "The corporation has lost Rs 12 lakh of business
in the bandh."
A student, Supreet Shankarappa Maninagar, 21, on his way to VTU to
attend counselling in an auto, was seriously injured by a stone thrown
by two miscreants on a two-wheeler. He had come from Munchkandi
village in Bagalkot district, and has been admitted to KLE Prabhakar
Kore Hospital. Truck driver Ninganagouda Shankargouda Goudar, 24, of
Savadatti taluk, was also injured in the stone pelting, and admitted
to hospital.
chhotemianinshallah
Jailed for 21 yrs, man talks Gandhi
Soumittra S Bose, TNN 13 September 2009, 03:02am IST
NAGPUR: "Follow Gandhi and his doctrine of peace!" This is what Abbas
Ali Shahadi, who spent 21 years in prison, said as he stepped out of
Nagpur Central Jail on Saturday. Shahadi was convicted for shooting at
a group of Italians at the Sahar International Airport in Mumbai in
1988. It was obvious that the days he had spent in jail had softened
the Palestine Liberation Organisation member.
"I am a free man," said the 40-year-old, who earned a nine-year
reprieve for good conduct. While walking past the cubicles of jail
officials, he exchanged pleasantries with them. Some inmates hugged
the man who had become family to them. Shahadi seemed pleasantly
surprised when a senior jail official greeted him with a bouquet just
before he stepped out to freedom.
Waiting outside the gate was Duncan Grant, the Briton who had been
released from the same jail last year after being acquitted in the
sensational Anchorage paedophile case. The Palestinian was delighted
that his release had come in the holy month of Ramzan.
"Several years of war have led us nowhere," he said. "There is no
point in fighting as you end up here (pointing to the jail). Everybody
should become like Mahatma Gandhi," said Shahadi, who sought books on
Gandhi in jail but couldn't read much due to language problems.
It was the efforts of Shahadi, Grant and Allan Waters, the other
accused in the paedophile case, that helped the Central Jail get an
ISO certification in March, 2007.
That the two had grown close in jail was evident as Grant picked up
Shahadi's belongings, loaded it into an autorickshaw before heading
towards Nagpur railway station escorted by two cops. Shahadi will be
in Mumbai from where he expects to fly back home. "My sister was
supposed to come, but could not make it due to visa problems," Shahadi
told TOI. "My parents are very old, but they are eagerly waiting for
me."
"My sister has found a bride for me. I expect to be married soon," he
signed off.
chhotemianinshallah
'Some of my secular friends disgust me'
Mohammed Wajihuddin,
TNN 13 September 2009, 03:13am IST
Hindutva hardliners have attacked Shubhradeep Chakravorty for his
documentary Encountered on Saffron Agenda, a sharp rebuttal of the
Gujarat government's claims that four people accused of `terrorist'
motives were killed in police encounters. They were Sameer Khan Pathan
(2002), Sadik Jamal (2003), young Ishrat Jahan-Javed Sheikh (2004) and
Sohrabuddin Sheikh (2005). When magistrate S P Tamang recently
pronounced that the encounters of Mumbra girl Ishrat and her friend
Javed were `fake', the Delhi-based former journalist and now
independent documentary film-maker, felt vindicated. Excerpts from an
interview:
Q. Were you scared to screen your film in Mumbai?
A. When I reached the Press Club, I saw police posted there. From my
past experiences, I guessed that perhaps it was the saffron brigade
who had informed the cops about the screening. They did it in Bhopal
too. There, the VHP mistook the local organiser for me and thrashed
him. I quietly slipped away as the poor organiser bore the brunt. I
thought there would be trouble in Mumbai too. But it went off
peacefully. I later found out that the police were there for VHP
leader Ashok Singhal who was holding a press conference at the Marathi
Patrakar Sangh next door at about the same time.
Q: What were your first thoughts when you heard of magistrate Tamang's
report on the way Ishrat Jahan and Javed Sheikh had died?
A: I felt that my story had been given a stamp of approval by at least
a section of the judiciary. I was not surprised when the Narendra Modi
government rejected the report and appealed against it. But I was
disgusted at the rejoicing among some of my secular activist friends.
Q. Why were you disgusted?
A. Because these are the same people who would not entertain me after
the VHP members attacked screenings of my film in Bhopal (February 8,
2008) and Jaipur (March 14, 2008). Since then, there has not been a
single public screening of my film across the country. A few people
saw it at the Prithvi Theatre a couple of months ago, but they saw it
behind closed doors, and I was not invited as they feared my presence
would create trouble. Buckling to fascist pressure is no solution. We
have to stand up to the communalists' agenda which is to subvert the
constitution and hold the country to ransom.
Q. Rights activists question encounters. But the police say they are
necessary to deal with armed killers and terrorists.
A. The urgency of the police to kill the alleged terrorists raises
questions. Did the cops try to catch Ishrat Jahan and her friends who
were on a supposed suicide mission? Why do all the encounters in
Gujarat since 2002 have an identical tagline? All the victims were out
to `kill' chief minister Narendra Modi. Javed was an electrician who
had worked in Dubai before he set up a business in Pune. Sadiq Jamal
was a domestic help and had worked in Dubai. Sohrabuddin was a petty
criminal. Sameer Khan Pathan was accused of killing a cop and was
absconding. They all were bumped off in cold blood. Perhaps the cops
didn't want to kill Ishrat Jahan initially but she could have spilled
the beans later. Nobody supports terrorists, but selective targeting
and demonising of a community will create more terrorists.
Q. Your first documentary Godhra Tak: The Terror Trail was labelled a
pro-Muslim account of the burning of a Sabarmati Express coach.
A. When I held a screening in Ahmedabad in October 2003, a mob
attacked me. I tried to explain to them that they should first see it,
but they would not listen. The police rescued me. I am branded a
Marxist and anti-Hindu. My being a Hindu Brahmin is the fascists'
biggest problem. They cannot reconcile to my being a Hindu Brahmin and
yet make films which don't side with Hindus. For that matter, I am not
siding with anyone. I am just against injustice. My documentaries
don't have masala, they are very boring. When I showed the encounter
documentary to senior cops in Jaipur, they were aghast at the VHP's
hungama over it. "Bus isi pe hungama hai,'' they said. I don't
exaggerate the facts.
Q. Why did you quit journalism?
A. Journalism doesn't allow you time to reflect. It took me eight
months to complete my documentary. No editor would have allowed me to
sit on a story so long.
Sid Harth
[September 12, 2009]
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, Indrajit Hazra column: Swayamseva: An
extreme sport
Sep 13, 2009 (Hindustan Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
via COMTEX) -- Fifty-three-year-old Anil Madhav Dave looks at least 10
years younger in his long, pinkish kurta as he smiles his quiet smile
while showing me his coffee-table book, Narmada Samagra, A Travelogue:
Rafting Through a Civilisation. "In 1921, an Englishman had attempted
to travel down the Narmada, right from its source at Amar Kantak to
the Gulf of Khambat," he says, opening his book to the page that has a
photograph of him and three others on a motorised raft with the Indian
flag fluttering in the middle. "He couldn't travel beyond 700
kilometres of the 1,312-km stretch. In 2007, we became the first to
complete the whole stretch." Dave's kept a memento of that journey on
his office shelf: the propellor of the raft mounted on a plaque. In
2005, Dave had already travelled the same stretch, flying a Cessna 173
plane along the Narmada.
Yes, apart from being an environmentalist concerned about the state of
the Narmada and creating awareness campaigns (he avoids commenting
directly on the Gujarat government's enthusiasm about the Narmada Dam,
but simply says "Nadi ka soshan mat karo, doshan karo [Don't suck the
river dry, 'milk' it]"), he's a registered pilot, having logged some
200 hours of flying time. He also airs his fondness for cars, pointing
out that he especially loves long journeys in his Scorpio.
So how would he like to be described? "As a swayamsevak. It's the best
description," says the former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak
and a recent BJP-nominated entrant into the Rajya Sabha. Dave is one
of the new, young faces of the RSS. He insists that he is not an
anomaly and that the RSS has to "run parallel to the times".
Growing up in the early 60s in Junagadh, Dave joined the RSS when he
was eight. His father and grandfather were swayamsevaks, so, in a way,
it was a familial rite of passage. He remembers his days at the shakha
being a lot of fun. "There was no television then. So the shakha, with
its time for games, was entertainment. I loved it," he says. While he
may have had an RSS background, Dave insists that a large proportion
of those going to shakhas, at least in Madhya Pradesh today, come from
outside the 'traditional RSS fold' and from various sections of
society.
Does Dave sense a dichotomy between his identity as a swayamsevak and
his very 'modernist' interests outside the RSS? "Modernity," he says
donning his blissful smile, "is a relative term. For some, being
modern is simply about speaking in English. But in, say, France, this
notion doesn't hold. One must build oneself to be joined with the
times one lives is. If you aren't clued into, say, the use of
computers today, then you're not being relevant to the times." He goes
on to say, and I detect a tiny sneer here, how "Nehru used to say that
he was Hindu by accident". But, Dave reminds me, "He also wanted his
ashes to be spread over the Himalayas." For him, Nehru and many other
Indians were simply denying their "Bharatiya cultural roots".
Apart from the flat-screen television hanging from the wall in his
office, I notice a CD marked 'Europe trip' next to his desk, not too
far from his Lenovo laptop. "I would look up at the sky from our
khatiya in Junagadh and see those fighter planes fly by. I decided
then that I would want to become a pilot." Before I can ask him what
happened to that plan, Dave tells me once again how it's not only
possible, but also imperative that in one's need to be 'modern', one
has to be rooted to tradition. And that's something that he
acknowledges India's youth now revelling in -- irrespective of their
ideological moorings. "I do think that today's young Indians are much
more proud of being an Indian than a generation before. I would say
that what Swami Vivekananda had exhorted, for India's young to awake,
is happening now." The RSS is just another organisation these days
that facilitates this sense.
I ask him how the shakhas are faring in these challenging times for
the BJP. Pat comes the reply. "For god's sake, don't try to understand
the RSS through the BJP," says the Madhya Pradesh BJP No. 2 sitting
next to the impressive BJP party office in downtown Bhopal. "The
number of shakhas has actually grown and there are new recruits in
Bhopal city's 20-odd shakhas." Dave promises to hook me up with
someone in a nearby shakha so that I can witness this active cultural
engagement myself. He tells me that playing team-building games like
kabaddi and khokho is still the prime focus of a shakha. "There's
30-40 minutes of playing games in the morning or the evening, and
10-15 minutes of cultural activities that include singing
nationalistic songs and discussing the heroes of our country and
present issues," Dave explains before showing me another book he's
written for young adults about preparing for fatherhood and family.
"One should be physically, mentally and spiritually prepared for this
task." I ask him whether he's married. He isn't, but he is in touch
with his boyhood shakha friends who are now in different walks of
life. "There are many people outside the RSS who haven't married too,
you know," he says with his smile intact.
Over the next two days, I try and follow up on the contacts Dave has
given me. The Madhya Pradesh RSS cadre are supposed to be more dynamic
and relevant, if you will, than those in Nagpur. But none of Dave's
modern 'shakha-haris' are keen to open up their doors to an outsider
from a Delhi English-language daily just yet.
Which is a pity. Because Anil Dave was on the road to convincing me,
an outsider, that the RSS is actually a modern, cultural organisation
that breaks class barriers to infuse a sense of pride in these very
Indian times.
To see more of the Hindustan Times or to subscribe to the newspaper,
go to http://www.hindustantimes.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Hindustan
Times, New Delhi Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information
Services. For reprints, email tmsre...@permissionsgroup.com, call
800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to
The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview,
IL 60025, USA.
Sid Harth
[August 03, 2009]
Trousers, wives top RSS debate
NAGPUR, Aug 04, 2009 (Hindustan Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information
Services via COMTEX) -- The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the
Bharatiya Janata Party's ideological parent body, is changing with the
times, said its 58-year-old president Mohan Bhagwat on Monday.
Formed in 1925, the RSS is not averse to a relaxation in its
conventional dress code and may allow its pracharaks (propagators) to
marry. But conditions apply.
Interacting with local media for the first time since he took over
from the reins of the saffron organisation in March this year, Bhagwat
admitted a sizeable section of Sangh workers was in favour of
discarding khaki shorts in the favour of trousers and allowing
marriage.
Still there was no consensus. "As a section feels the wearing half-
pants is a matter of convenience and marriage demands responsibilities
to run a family, both the proposals have been kept pending," he added.
According to Bhagwat, the proposals for wearing trousers came up for
discussion four times. Still, as the Sangh always takes decision
unanimously, a decision could not be arrived at. For now, khaki will
continue to be the RSS's uniform.
Matrimony for pracharaks was also hotly debated, Bhagwat said, but not
a single full-time pracharak ever said he wanted to end his celibacy
and continue to work in the same capacity.
Many pracharaks had entered grihasth ashram (family life) after
completing their tenures. "If any pracharak wants to marry, he is
always welcome to do so. However, he will not work as a pracharak. We
always encourage grihasth ashram. We want more family men than
pracharaks," he added.
The RSS has authorised senior members, including Madan Das Devi,
Manmohan Vaidya, Srikant Joshi and Ram Madhav to interact with media,
he said.
Still, despite the RSS turning media-friendly, he refused to comment
on the ongoing bickering in the BJP. "You better ask such questions to
leaders of that party." The Sangh supreme came out strongly against
reservations for minorities. "The concept of reservation should purely
be on the basis of social and economic status. What the government is
doing is vote-bank politics," he said.
Sid Harth
[July 30, 2009]
Kalyan Singh seeks tabling of Liberhan report at the earliest
New Delhi, Jul 02, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- Former
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kalyan Singh, who was the Chief
Minister of Uttar Pradesh, northern state of India when Babri Masjid
was demolished, Thursday asked the government to table at the earliest
the Liberhan Commission report in Parliament along with the Action
Taken Report.
?The government should table the report at the earliest along with
ATR. The Commission has submitted the report after a delay (over 16
years) and the government should not delay it any further,? Singh told
reporters outside Parliament House.
Singh, whose BJP government was dismissed after the demolition, said, ?
We are ready for a debate.? He wondered why the government was still
non-committal on the issue of tabling the report in this session of
Parliament.
Singh, who is an independent member of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of
Indian Parliament), said that he was the last witness before the
Commission and had appeared before it two years ago.
?Earlier, the Commission was calling me an accused. I told them that I
will go there only as a witness and not an accused,? he said.
The former CM said, ?We will reply to each every point raised in the
report?.
Sid Harth
[July 29, 2009]
Vaghela demands narco test on Modi
Rajkot, Jul 26, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- Former
Union Textile minister Shankersinh Vaghela on Sunday demanded that
Narco Analysis test be conducted on Chief Minister of India?s western
state of Gujarat Narendra Modi in connection with 2002 post-Godhra
riots.
'To find out the truth, Narco Analysis test should be conducted on
Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers and state government
officials for failure to control 2002 riots,' Vaghela told reporters
here.
'The BJP government in the state was adapting double-face policy by
saying different things to Special Investigation Team (SIT) and
Nanavati Commission probing post-Godhra riots,' he said.
Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed on orders of Supreme Court
of India to conduct investigation in some of the post-Godhra riots
cases while Nanavati Commission was set up by Modi-led BJP government,
Vaghela said, adding that Modi is ready to co-operate with Nanavati
commission but has objection on probe by the SIT.
Besides, the SIT should make case on the basis of the entries in
diaries of two Indian Police Services (IPS) officials S Sreekumar and
Rahul Sharma who have disclosed truth in them, Vaghela said.
Vaghela, who lost recent Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament)
elections to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)?s Prabhatsinh Chauhan from
Panchmahal constituency, has also challenged the poll results in
Gujarat High Court.
Vaghela also slammed Modi government on failure of implementing
prohibition law in the state. 'If the prohibition law is existing in
Gujarat then state government should ensure its strict implementation.
It exists on papers only as of now,' he said.
The state government should either implement the prohibition law
strictly or if they want to relax the law then they should seek
people's mandate during election, he said.
Reacting on the state government' s demand of death penalty to
bootleggers in the wake of Ahmedabad hooch tragedy that claimed more
than 130 lives, Vaghela said, ' It is the responsibility of the Home
department and if state government's demand of death penalty is
approved then state home minister, who is responsible for the tragedy,
should be punished first.'
Sid Harth
[July 19, 2009]
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, Pankaj vohra column: When the BJP Sangh
the blues
Jul 20, 2009 (Hindustan Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
via COMTEX) -- A change in the top BJP leadership is imminent. It is
also more or less certain that the BJP will have to reiterate its
total commitment to the ideology of Hindutva if it wants to retain the
support of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). A decision on the
leadership change is expected to be finalised by the RSS shortly.
Indications are that the saffron party is all set to return to the
beliefs of the late Jana Sangh ideologue, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
A recent meeting of RSS leaders in Meerut, attended by key pracharaks,
laid down the blueprint for the BJP's future. There was unanimity on
the party's commitment to its core issues. Most participants favoured
a change in leadership in order to restore the party's credibility.
Top RSS leaders feel that some BJP leaders had misled them and the
time had come to reiterate that a commitment to its ideology is the
cornerstone of the party.
Last month, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, while talking to Sangh volunteers
in Bihar, outlined his priorities. For him, ideological sanctity was
more important than attaining power. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
has also been stressing that the BJP should have a leadership
acceptable to all the constituents of the Sangh parivar. Within the
RSS too, a review of assignments has begun. Madan Das Devi who played
a major role in getting L.K. Advani's name cleared as prime
ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections has been
marginalised.
Sources close to Rajnath Singh have also indicated that a consultation
process has begun within the BJP in order to respond to the concerns
of the RSS. Though there is resistance in some quarters, it is evident
that not many BJP leaders will oppose the Sangh's diktats. The recent
squabbles in the party following an open revolt by senior
functionaries like Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, all
considered a part of Advani's coterie at one time, has made things
easy for the RSS.
The RSS is disillusioned with several facets of the BJP's leadership,
the main one being that some BJP leaders had presented an erroneous
picture of its electoral prospects to the Sangh. The Sangh was also
unhappy that these functionaries had cut the BJP loose from its
ideological moorings and tried to make the party a wannabe Congress.
What was even more unpalatable was that till date Advani has not
withdrawn his remarks on Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
The RSS was first told that the BJP was going to form the government
and may get between 150 and 200 seats. Once the BJP failed to even
touch 120, the RSS was assured that those responsible for the defeat,
including the prime ministerial candidate, would step aside to pave
the way for a new leadership. But Advani's continuance as the leader
of opposition provoked the Sangh into acting.
The RSS is upset that Rajnath Singh has constantly tried to mislead
its top leadership. Therefore, even though Rajnath's term as the party
president is till January next year, he may be asked to make way for a
new incumbent earlier. With the BJP scattered, the VHP shattered and
the RSS confused, the Sangh feels that the Congress can sit back and
watch the parivar self-destruct. Between us.
To see more of the Hindustan Times or to subscribe to the newspaper,
go to http://www.hindustantimes.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Hindustan
Times, New Delhi Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information
Services. For reprints, email tmsre...@permissionsgroup.com, call
800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to
The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview,
IL 60025, USA.
...and I am Sid Harth
Sid Harth
[July 12, 2009]
Demand to remove Goddess Lakshmi?s image from burger packets
New Delhi, Jul 09, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) --
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday sought Indian government's
intervention in preventing an American fast food chain from allegedly
using the image of goddess Lakshmi on its burger packets.
'We have seen some reports of an American fast food chain using the
image of goddess Lakshmi on the burger packets. Government should take
up the issue urgently with the authorities concerned to stop such
practices,' BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said here.
There are reports of the image of goddess Lakshmi on the American King
burger packets abroad.
'The use of the goddess' image on the burger packets has hurt the
sentiments of millions of Hindus across the globe and there were
protests also against the practice in the US,' Rudy said.
He said the government should take appropriate action in this regard.
Sid Harth
[July 03, 2009]
Maharashtra to probe Hindu-Muslim weddings
PUNE, Jul 04, 2009 (Arab News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
via COMTEX) -- Bickering within the Democratic Front government in
Maharashtra has begun anew over a new issue. Minister of State for
Rural Home Affairs Nitin Raut triggered the issue by calling for the
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate into the
allegations leveled by two Bharatiya Janata Party legislators that
Muslim boys were wooing Hindu girls into marrying them. Raut, a member
of the Congress party, called for the probe on the concluding day of
the legislative assembly. The CID, for the time, will probe into love
affairs cases, away from their main job of investigating criminal
cases.
The two BJP legislators Eknath Khadse and Devendra Fadnavis made these
allegations in the assembly and termed it as a part of a "larger
conspiracy to increase the strength of Muslim population in India."
Khadse had even gone further to allege that the Muslim boys after
enticing Hindu girls had sent them to the Gulf countries.
Raut in his reply to the BJP legislators' allegations admitted that it
was indeed a fact that Muslim boys were marrying Hindu girls and such
incidents were taking place in the state and promised that he would
initiate an inquiry.
However, the CID chief and Additional Director General of Police Shiv
Pratap Singh Yadav said he had not received any instruction from the
government to start the probe till date. He said that the foremost
thing for the CID in this case would be to check whether such an
investigation is in consonance with the CID manual.
Raut's call for inquiry has not been appreciated by his Cabinet
colleagues Nawab Malik, the senior NCP labor minister, and Naseem
Khan, the state minister for home (Urban), from the Congress party.
Malik said the BJP has a political agenda in raising such issues and
this demand too is part of the party's communal agenda. Khan argued
that there was no provision in law where a member of a particular
community could be stopped from marrying a girl or boy of another
community.
Confirming that the probe would be held, Raut said that the probe
would not be confined to limited or specific cases but will be
conducted statewide.
Concurring with the views of the CID chief S.P.S. Yadav, Home Ministry
officials ask as to how the probe could be conducted in cases of
marriages between Muslim boys and Hindu girls as finding such cases or
summoning them for probe would be a lengthy process and may even lead
to communal disharmony.
To see more of the Arab News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.arabnews.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
reprints, email tmsre...@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions
Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
...and I am Sid Harth
Sid Harth
[May 16, 2009]
Indian Americans hope for a stable govt
Washington, May 15, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) --
Anxiously waiting for the results of the Lok Sabha elections, Indian
Americans, despite sharp differences over which party would be best
suitable to lead the country, are hoping against hope that the results
throw up a stable government.
While it would be mid-night in the United States, when election
results would start coming in, a large number of Indian Americans
across the US are expected to be awake watching the election results.
"It does not matter, who wins or loses the election. It is a time to
celebrate the India democracy," said Rohit Kumar, who lives in
Bethesda, Maryland near Washington. A software professional, he would
be watching election results at his home along with his friends.
However there are many who want their party or leaders of choice to
come to power. If BJP is the preferred choice for right-wing and pro-
Hindutva supporters and for the members of the Overseas Friends of the
BJP, it is Congress and Manmohan Singh for the Indian National
Overseas Congress.
Both the groups have made arrangements with champagne for impromptu
celebrations Saturday wee hours when they expect the broad trends
would be available.
Several of the Indian American community centers - for instance in
places like Houston, Tampa, Silicon Valley, New York and Jersey City -
have made special arrangements wherein people can collectively watch
the election results live on a giant television screen.
(Re-opens FGN71) Several Indian restaurants across the United States
have also announced that they would be open beyond midnight so as that
interested people can watch the live election results; while grabbing
pakodas, samosas or a mug of beer.
These are mostly in areas where Indian Americans are in sizeable
numbers like Jackson Heights in New York, Jersey City and Oak Tree
Road, Edison in New Jersey, Little India in California and also in
places like Chicago, Miami, Tampa, and places like Minneapolis.
Such is the interest in Indian elections that quite a number of them
have taken paid subscription for Indian news channels so that they can
watch the unfolding of political developments back home live. The fact
that the election results starts coming in late Friday night (10-30 pm
local time), which is the beginning of the weekend, has added to the
interest and helped in making it an occasion of community gathering.
Given that Friday night is considered a party night in the United
States as the next two days Saturdays and Sundays are holidays,
reports are coming from across the country that a large number of
regular community events and get together have been organized in
various cities of the US to jointly watch the election results.
Sid Harth
[May 04, 2009]
Law can't stop pesky messages
NEW DELHI, May 05, 2009 (Hindustan Times - McClatchy-Tribune
Information Services via COMTEX) -- You might well be fed up of
receiving phone calls, auto-playback recorded voice messages and SMSes
exhorting you to vote for certain candidates but you'll just have to
lump it as the law does not have an answer to your problem.
Those who've been using these methods to reach out to voters include
the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L.K. Advani and Congress
candidate from New Delhi Ajay Maken.
The Election Commission on Monday expressed its inability to act
against candidates invading the voter's privacy, saying there was no
provision in the law to deal with such promotional messages.
Sources in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said these
messages didn't prima facie fall in the ambit of 'Unsolicited
Commercial Com-munications' which telemarketers are banned from
sending to subscribers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.
Many people had complained to the EC about post-midnight phone calls
and SMSes from candidates. "When I received an SMS at 2 am I assumed
there was an emergency. I was really angry when I found that it was
message soliciting votes for the BJP candidate. I report to work at
8.30 am. This is ridiculous," said Mayur Vihar resident Vijesh Kapoor.
Election Commission legal adviser S.K. Mendiratta told HT, "The
present law defining restrictions on campaigns does not cover SMSes
and phone calls." Deputy Election Com-missioner R. Balakrishnan said,
"These are new areas of technology and a new challenge. We will think
about it when the law in this regard is revised." To see more of the
Hindustan Times or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hindustantimes.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, Hindustan Times, New Delhi Distributed by
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsre...@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550,
send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc.,
1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
...and I am Sid Harth
Sid Harth
[April 18, 2009]
ARTICLE: India shining
Apr 16, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- THE attack by
activists of Hindu extremist group Shri Ram Sene on Pakistani
journalists at a seminar organized by the India International Centre
in New Delhi on Wednesday, presented a sad spectacle. That it happened
during a discussion to examine whether it is media jingoism that is
fanning India-Pakistan problems is even more disturbing. The incident
cannot go unnoticed by merely describing it as part of the election
rhetoric by the BJP or other extremist organizations trying to
consolidate their vote bank by demonstrating anti-Pakistan sentiments
for political gains.
The incident has exposed the true Indian face, already scarred by the
growing communalism. The Indian leadership, which wants the country to
be seen as a shining example of a secular state, needs to get its own
house in order before accusing Islamabad of harbouring extremism.
Regrettably, the Indian media has kept mum instead of condemning the
elements involved in this shameful incident.
Sid Harth
[April 10, 2009]
We'll give dasha and disha to next govt: Fourth Front [Hindustan
Times, New Delhi]
(Hindustan Times (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Apr. 10--SAFAI
(ETAWAH) -- The new trinity rising on India's political horizon put up
its first show of strength in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan addressed
thousands-strong rally in Saifai village, the Samajwadi Party chief's
homeground.
The key to the next government at the Centre, the trio declared, was
with them.
"We are united once again and no power on this earth can now separate
the three of us... We are going to form the next government at the
Centre," said Prasad, the chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
"Three brothers have come together, not only to win Lok Sabha
elections, but also to fight communalism...We will show our strength
in the cow belt." Mulayam added: "In fact, let me tell you without the
support of three of us, no government at the Centre could be formed."
Paswan joined in, saying: "We will have the arithmetic...UP, Bihar and
Jharkhand account for 134 Lok Sabha seats...We will decide the dasha
(shape) and disha (direction) of the new government." Significantly,
unlike its first press conference a week ago in Lucknow, the three did
not hail the UPA as the next government or Manmohan Singh as the next
Prime Minister, which some warm-up speakers said could even be
Mulayam.
But missing from all this action were Samajwadi general secretaries
Amar Singh and Sanjay Dutt.
A miffed Amar Singh had threatened to quit the party just two days ago
over disagreements with leader Azam Khan, but made a U-turn, it is
believed, after Mulayam intervened. But the two, reports said, were
present at the next rally in Bareilly.
Saifai was the first stop for the trio in the state on Thursday. Three
more rallies were scheduled for Bareilly, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.
At the Saifai rally, Prasad asked the people to "free" Mulayam from
Uttar Pradesh politics -- apparently hinting that he could play a role
at the Centre. "Please free Mulayam Singh Yadav from here. Once we are
united now, we would ensure that your candidates win and the coalition
wins," he said.
Paswan joined in saying he and Prasad "were standing like rocks" to
support Mulayam. "No one can separate us." Striking an emotional chord
with the audience, he said: "People here have taken to the streets for
Mulayam Singh Yadav and no power on earth can stop his chariot."
Turning fiery, Prasad said: "We will not let communal forces to come
to power. BJP is again promising Ram temple. PMs will come and...go,
but we will not let communal forces divide the country. The wheel of
law will crush Thakerays and Varun Gandhis..."
Sid Harth
[April 01, 2009]
BJP has black money, should talk about it first: Congress
New Delhi, Apr 01, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- Taking
a swipe at BJP for its demand to bring back money stashed by Indians
in Swiss banks, Congress today said the saffron party should first
take care of the "black money" they posses.
"Advani had said the black money stashed in Swiss banks should be
brought back. They should first take care of the black money they
have. Black money was being distributed by Jaswant Singhji," senior
Congress leader Kapil Sibal told reporters here.
Singh was accused of distributing cash in violation of the model code
of conduct during an election meeting at Gagaria village in
Rajasthan's Barmer district from where his son Manvendra Singh is
contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
chhotemianinshallah
Advani, Modi deemed election risks
By Ajay Jha, Chief Correspondent
Published: September 12, 2009, 22:40
New Delhi: In what may appear like a tactical retreat, some top
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders may be used sporadically for
campaigns in the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra.
The BJP's star usual campaigners during the parliamentary elections,
veteran leader Lal Krishna Advani and Gujarat chief minister Narendra
Modi, are expected to play a very minimal role when the campaigning
kicks off.
While the BJP-led opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had
projected Advani as its prime ministerial candidate, Modi had been
touted as a possible candidate for the country's top post.
Various BJP leaders and internal surveys had suggested that while
Advani's uncharitable comments against incumbent Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh did not go down well with voters, propping Modi as a
possible prime minister did the party more harm than good.
Elections for the 288-seat Maharashtra assembly along with those in
Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh are slated to take place on October 13.
According to BJP insiders, the Maharashtra unit of the BJP is of the
view that the party can do without services of Advani and Modi, who
together project the radical pro-Hindu face of the BJP.
Their presence may deter voters, who are unhappy with the state's
ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance, from voting for
the BJP.
The BJP is going to polls in the state as junior partner to the Shiv
Sena, which is more seen as a pro-Maharashtra party in the state.
The BJP believes it stands a good chance of coming to power in
Maharashtra in an alliance with the Shiv Sena as the ground situation
has changed since the Lok Sabha elections in which Congress-NCP won 25
out of 48 Lok Sabha seats compared to 20 by the Shiv Sena-BJP
alliance.
chhotemianinshallah
Nikamma number one
Khushwant Singh
September 13, 2009
First Published: 00:13 IST(13/9/2009)
Last Updated: 00:17 IST(13/9/2009)
Like millions, I watched Mohan Bhagwat’s press conference on TV. He is
the head of the RSS; the BJP is the progeny of the RSS. The BJP
leaders had a bitter fallout and are looking for guidance from one who
now represents their founding father.
Bhagwat did not commit himself to anything specific. Like any father
would, he told his squabbling children to settle their differences
between themselves, without involving him. However, he did express the
opinion that it was time the BJP retired its old leaders and infused
younger blood in the party. He did not name anyone, but it was obvious
who he meant. That his voice counts a lot was proved by the fact that
the next day most of the top leaders of the party, including L.K.
Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu
went to call on him to get his aasheervad — blessings.
It can be assumed that the one man almost certainly to be asked to
step down will be L.K. Advani. He should have left the political scene
in a blaze of glory, but now not many tears will be shed for him. And
for good reasons. Did he ever regret the role he played in the
demolition of the Babri Masjid? If he did, as he claims, why did he
not tender an apology? Did he regret the anti-Muslim pogrom in
Gujarat? If so, why did he protect Narendra Modi from being sacked as
Prime Minister Vajpayee evidently wanted to do? Is it possible that as
home minister he did not know of Jaswant Singh’s mission to Kandahar
to swap three jehadi militants for 150-odd Indians held hostage in
hostile territory? There cannot be an iota of truth in his statement
that he knew nothing about Jaswant’s mission till it was over.
An important omission in the analysis of the rapid decline of the BJP
is the role of the RSS. The BJP took its ideology from the RSS.
Islamophobia was its motivating factor as it was of militant right-
wing organisations like the Shiv Sena and Ram Sena. An increasing
number of people no longer subscribe to this ideology. Membership of
these parties has dwindled.
Mohan Bhagwat’s assertion that the RSS includes members of the
minority communities, including Muslims, has to be taken with a large
dose of salt. While he decides on replacements for Advani and Rajnath
Singh, he should also take a closer look at the factors which have
contributed to peoples’ disenchantment with what all these parties
stand for and the readiness with which they resort to violence to
achieve their ends.
I have no regret over Advani’s discomfiture and imminent fadeout from
national politics. He has done grievous harm to our efforts to create
a truly secular India. He described Manmohan Singh as nikamma —
useless. It so happens, Manmohan is still much in use, while Advani’s
own erstwhile colleagues have pronounced him as of no use any longer.
It is as comic a tragedy as any we have witnessed in recent times.
Readers, Please help
For quite some time I have been puzzled by so many of our national
holidays having numerals attached to them, e.g., why is it Basant
Panchmi ? What is it the fifth (panchmi) of? What is Janam Ashtami,
the eighth day of? Or Ram Naumi, the ninth day of? I have asked many
scholars and professors but got no answers. I wrote to the publishers
of Jiwan Diary which has all religious festivals in Gurmukhi, Hindi,
Urdu and English to tell me where they get dates from — and what
gundmool of which it records the beginning and the end means. No
answer. Can anyone enlighten me? I am losing sleep over it.
Indian Hell
A man dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a different
hell for each country. He goes to the German hell and asks, “What do
they do there?” He is told, “First they put you in an electric chair
for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour.
Then the German devil comes in and beats you for the rest of the day.”
The man doesn’t like it, so he moves on and checks out the American
hell, the Russian hell and hells of other countries. He finds that
they’re all more or less the same as the German hell.
Then he comes to the Indian hell and finds that there is a long queue
of people waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, “What do they do here?”
He is told, “First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then
they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Indian devil
comes in and beats you for the rest of the day.” “But that is exactly
the same as all the other hells; so why are so many people waiting to
get in here?” wonders the man.
He is told, “Because the maintenance here is so bad that the electric
chair does not work, someone has stolen all the nails from the bed and
the Indian devil is a former government servant, so he just comes in,
signs the attendance register and then goes to the canteen.”
(Contributed by Sonali Rawat, New Delhi)
The views expressed by the author are personal.