Terrorism 1,4,5,15

Hindutva terror 5
Assam 4,5,6,10,13
Assam Muslims 7
Modi 3,4,5,11
Shivaji 2
Riots 3,9
Waqf 8
Human rights 2
J&K 10
Analysis 11
Special Reports 3,13
Issues 2,12-13
Books 21
National 3-10
International 16-18
Speaking Out 11
Newsmakers 12
Community News 14-15
Islamic Perspectives 20
Our Publications 19
Classifieds 22
Letters 23
Indian Muslims Leading English Newspaper, published since January 2000
www.milligazette.com
THE MILLI GAZETTE
www.milligazette.com
ISSN 0972-3366
Fort ni ght l y
Rs 10 Vol. 13 No. 16 Issue Serial # 302 16-31 August 2012 24 pages
Inside MG
AMARESH MISRA
Any journalist, writer or columnist of basic
integrity has to question, and express scepti-
cism about, the official version of events.
Without being judgmental, he or she also bears
the moral responsibility of pointing out contra-
dictions in media reporting about procedures.
An odd thing happened on 2nd August
2012. For a full day, Delhis electronic media did
not carry the breaking news of the involvement
of Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the 1st August
2012, low-intensity, Pune blasts.
Just the day before, on the evening of the
blasts, all channels, talked about the existence of
terror (read Muslim) modules in Pune and the
like. A 4th August 2012 Times of India news story
clearly states that apart from known terror outfits
like the IM, the central investigative agencies as
well as the Maharashtra Police do not rule out the
possibility of Maoists or right wing (read
Hindutva) groups executing the Pune blasts.
Speaking just an hour and a half after the
blasts, the Pune Police Commissioner clearly
stated on TV that no terror module was under
suspicion. He also went on to say that the
bombs looked like the work of some mischief
makers.
The medias flip-flop over the Pune blasts is
understandable. The blasts have come at a time
when a turf war between different security
forces of both Centre and states, is going on.
Several articles in nearly all Indian newspapers
have carried reports about the inter-force rivalry
aspect. This author has written about the turf
war phenomenon in two blogposts: Abu Jundal
prize catch or a victim of a turfwar and Indian
security agencies unleash home grown terror.
The worrying part is that national security is
getting affected by disputes between security
agencies. The Pune blasts can be seen as an
example. They occurred at a time when the tus-
sle for the post of Mumbais Police
Commissioner is getting hot. One of the con-
tenders for the job is Rakesh Maria, the current
Maharashtra ATS Chief.
Rakesh Maria has his admirers as well as
detractors. Admirers laud him for solving the
1993 and 2003 Mumbai Blasts. Detractors-in
Maharashtra Police and the IB-point out a
seamier side. Written by Rana Ayyub, a news
story in Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 49,
dated December 12, 2009 mentions that a
2005 IB report cast doubts on the veracity of the
intelligence Maria had provided about the terror-
ists (in the 2003 blasts)...
The Tehelka news story goes on to say that
the report (IB) suggested that Maria and his
team had concocted the names of terrorists who
didnt even exist
Following the IB report in 2005 itself,
Marias team was disbanded by then Police
Commissioner RS Sharma; then while a senior
official suggested that the IB report was true,
another senior official who refused to be named
said it was a major frame up to cut Maria down
to size.
The point here is that whether the IB report
was meant as a frame-up or was true-there
indeed was a report. Even Maria supporters
accept that there is a report! And the report
mentions that Maria concocted the names of
2003 Mumbai blast accused. Even if Maria is
given the benefit of doubt, in the interest of
national security, it is imperative that the IB
report is analyzed thoroughly.
It is common knowledge that the current
Maharashtra ATS chief was in the Police control
room when Karkare, Kaamte and Salaskar died
fighting terrorists on the night of 26/11. Vinita
Kaamte, the wife of one of the slain officers, had
a public spat with the current ATS chief. Vinita
suspected that he was the one who sent
Kaamte to his death and did not respond to the
calls of Karkare, Kaamte and Salaskar for back
up. Then the current Maharashtra ATS chief
refused to acknowledge that before dying,
Kaamte indeed came out of his vehicle and fired
bullets which hit Ajmal Kasab.
Pune blasts: The story behind the story
ASSAM ETHNIC CLEANSING...4,5,6,10,13
MG/Yusuf
Continued on page 11
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Make sure you have paid Fitrah (Zakat al-Fitr) for your
entire family before the Eid prayers.
ISSUES / OPINION
2 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
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Shivaji spoke better
Persian than Marathi!
Its intriguing to see the kind of hatred prevailing against Muslims
in Maharashtra. But the very language Marathi, the
Maharashtrians are so proud of, will be relegated to a dialect if
thousands of Persian words are taken out of it. According to the
linguists and historians Sir Jadunath Sarkar, Dr Suneeti Kumar
Chatterjee and the redoubtable Sir William Jones, Marathi bor-
rowed nearly 38,000 words and phrases from Persian and
Pehalavi (classical Persian). Aurangzebs army was in the
Deccan for almost 40 years and nearby Adilshahi, Nizamshahi
and Mughal dynasties heavily influenced Marathi. Words like
aajaar (aazaar=illness), tambih (warning), fakt (faqat=only,
merely), Fadnees (distortion of Persian fardnavees; fard
means list, fahrist, in Marathi and Bangla and is also used to
connote accounts in both the languages). During Peshwa period,
the Brahmins who maintained accounts were called Fadnees;
ashtapailu (hastpahloo in Parsian; hasht=eight,
pahloo=aspects, means all-rounder or a versatile person).
People in Maharashtra have seen Nim Araam (semi luxury) writ-
ten on the buses. Neem is a Persian prefix that denotes half,
semi or quasi (neembaaz aankhein=half open eyes of a
damsel).
Therere innumerable Persian words that have been adopted
by Marathi in its own way. Shivaji spoke chaste Persian and he
could just write his name in Modi script, the old Marathi script
thats written in one flow and without lifting the pen. He may have
hated Mughals but spoke their language so masterfully that when
he visited Agra in 1666 along with his nine-year-old son
Sambhaji, Aurangzeb admired his impeccable Persian. The way
Shivaji pronounced Beenazeer (matchless in Persian) and
Bismil (wounded in Persian), Aurangzeb had to say that he
never heard a non-Iranian enunciate these two words so beauti-
fully. Its worthwhile to state that z letter is pronounced as jh in
Marathi and hardly any Marathi speaking person can correctly
pronounce z. Shivaji used to correspond with his most trusted
general Tanaji Malusare in Persian. I dont understand why this
fact has always been suppressed by Maratha historians, espe-
cially by the Brahmin historians.
In India, the maximum Hindus knowing Persian were and are
still from Maharashtrian Brahmins and Kayastha (UP, Bihar) com-
munities. I wont count Sikhs and Sindhis as they came from
Pakistani part of Punjab and Sindh where the predominant lan-
guages were Urdu, Persian and Sindhi, all written from right to
left and even Punjabi of that time was based upon Shahmukhi
(Persian script similar to the one used for Urdu today).
Muhammad Rafi would read Guru Granth Sahib and recite
Ardaas (devotional songs) in Shahmukhi!
Theres a farmaan (official decree signed by Shivaji) that
stated that horses must be of Arab breed. It must be mentioned
that of all the Indian rulers, it was Shivaji who reposed utmost
faith in the Arabian stock of horses for battle purpose. He had a
horse, whose name was Raazif (old Persian for very brave and
nimble-footed). No Hindu historian, let alone Maratha historians
and scholars, ever mentioned this (trivial) fact. Its indeed a mat-
ter of great pity that a language and culture so saddled with
Central Asian ethos, became so morbidly against the Muslims.
DR SUMIT S PAUL
ABDUL HAFIZ GANDHI
Born in free India, hence entitled to equal rights
I was born in free India. I have no idea of who
were responsible for the partition of the country.
My ancestors with free will decided to be part of
this nation. And, therefore, I refuse to carry the
burden of partition.
I have two identities: Indian and a Muslim.
Indian Constitution guarantees my rights for
both of my identities. I enjoy all the fundamental
rights like any other Indian. But in addition to
these, I have extra rights as a religious minority.
The Constitution enshrines that I, as a member
of Muslim minority community, have the right to
preserve, protect and promote my identity, lan-
guage, script and culture by establishing and
administering educational institutions of my
choice.
I thank the wisdom of the framers of the
constitution to ensure all these rights. The
builders of modern India were perhaps worried
about the minorities being excluded from the
fruits of freedom. In a way, these rights were
conferred to strengthen the feeling of security in
the nascent nation marred by communal confla-
gration during and after partition. The intention
was to provide the minorities with full opportuni-
ties to participate in the governance and thus
contribute in the overall development of the
nation.
The picture which emerges after six
decades of freedom is contrary to the intentions
of the great visionaries of freedom movement.
Constitutional promises for the protection of the
interests of the minorities remain more or less
on paper. As per an estimate of the Union Home
Ministry, a total of 13,356 serious anti-Muslim
riots erupted between 1954 and 1992.
It seems that the only concern for the
Muslim minority (MM) is the security of person,
dignity and property. And thats what political
parties promise them in lieu of their votes as if
these parties will do some mercy by providing
security which is every Indian citizens birthright.
During the last 65 years, MM has seen lots
of ups and downs in its social, educational and
economic status. To diagnose the causes of this
decline, Sachar Committee was appointed in
2005. It submitted its report in November, 2006
recommending many measures to uplift the sta-
tus of MM. As per the findings of the committee,
over a period of time the percentage of MM has
seen a gradual decline in public sector jobs and
educational institutions. Their representation in
institutions of higher learning is almost negligi-
ble. The report says, MM were 1.3% in IIMs and
3.3% in IITs in years 2004-2006. Muslim share
in the students who complete graduation is only
3.4%. In civil services, it is 3% in IAS, 1.8% in
IFS, and 4% in IPS. Taken cumulatively, MM
share is 4.9% in PSUs, Education, Railways,
Judiciary, Health, Transport and Home Affairs.
Muslims percentage in bureaucracy is just 2.5%
whereas they constitute about 14% of Indias
population. Literacy level in the Muslims is just
59.1%, which is much below the national aver-
age of 65.1%. Not only this, unemployment rate
among Muslim graduates is highest among
other socio-religious groups. Sachar report cap-
tures clearly the deprivation when it observes
Muslim localities are not covered well with
pucca roads, bus-stops, medical and postal
facilities. People have started saying, if you
want to identify a Muslim locality, you can easily
do so by noticing the lack of basic civic ameni-
ties in the area. Why this total apathy towards
one community, when everybody is equal citi-
zen? We have been living ganga-jamuni
tehzeeb (composite culture) since centuries, but
the lack of concern for Muslims points to some-
thing fishy in the scheme of things of our policy-
makers and implementers.
One wonders why Muslims only become the
target of stringent laws. Our experiences with
TADA, POTA and UAPA have been of extreme
pain and anguish. The data of number of cases
registered under these stringent laws shows
majority of Muslims as accused, who after going
through trauma and sufferings were let off due
to lack of evidence. By 30 June, 1994, the
arrests under TADA had exceeded 76,000.
About 25 percent of these cases were dropped
by the police without even framing charges. Of
the 35 percent cases that were brought to trial,
95 percent resulted in acquittals. The conviction
rate for these laws was less than two percent.
TADA and POTA had to go because of evi-
dences surfacing with regard to targeting of
Muslims and slapping false terror cases on
them. The sad part is that, this politics of target-
ing minority youths still continues unabated.
Even after so many years of the lapse of
these laws, the situation more or less remains
the same. The story of injustice remains the
same, only characters are changing. A recent
study of the Socio-economic Profile and
Rehabilitation Needs of Muslim Community in
Prisons in Maharashtra, 2011, Dr. Vijay
Raghavan and Roshni Nair from the Centre for
Criminology and Justice School of Social Work,
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) point out
that 96 per cent of the prisoners interviewed are
not held under preventive detention charges.
This means that they are not potential threat to
law and order. The study also indicates that
although as per Sachar Committee report,
Maharashtra has 10.6 per cent Muslim popula-
tion but they comprise 32.4 per cent of the state
prison population. All this smells of the institu-
tional bias against the Muslim community. When
a Muslim youth is arrested, charges of carrying
out terrorist activities at various places are
slapped on him without going through a fair and
deeper investigation. For instance, in 1998 one
Mohammad Aamir Khan, aged 18 years, was
arrest in Delhi and was accused of 20 terror
cases. It took 14 years to pronounce him not
guilty, case after case. In January, 2011, he
walked out of jail only to find his mother para-
lyzed and friends shunning him because of his
terrorist tag. In another glaring instance, 70
Muslim youths were picked up and charged for
carrying out Mecca Masjid blasts in 2007 at
Hyderabad. After five long years, they were all
acquitted and now government is giving them
70 lakhs as compensation. Here a question aris-
es, can this compensation return the youthful
years that they wasted in the confines of the
jails. They had to undergo trauma of being ter-
rorists for no fault of theirs. This practice of
injustice and violation of human rights must end.
To make the situation worse, the unspoken
housing apartheid in urban India is out in the
open. If you are a Muslim, you can find heaven
for yourself but not a house on rent in the local-
ities dominated by non-Muslim communities.
This has forced Muslims to live in ghettos, fur-
ther getting alienated from the mainstream and
composite culture. If in a train or a bus or a gov-
ernment office, a man with a beard and skull cap
is seen, the reaction on the faces of the co-pas-
sengers or the public officers changes dramati-
cally. They look at him as if an alien has
descended on their private property. The beard-
ed mans only fault is that he belongs to the
minority community. The alienation of the
Muslim youths is not a good sign for a healthy
democracy. Today, educated Muslim youths are
living under fear psychosis. They are under the
spell of fear all the time that any day they can be
thrown behind bars under false charges only to
be released after years, with their aspirations
and dreams crashed.
Despite all the above-mentioned aberra-
tions, I still see the light at the end of the prover-
bial tunnel. There is still a ray of hope.
Everything has not come to an end. Things can
be improved. The only thing required is that the
system should run as per the spirit of the
Constitution. Biases and prejudices can only be
removed if the bureaucratic and political set-up
runs in accordance with the rule of law.
Principles of fairness and natural justice must
be adhered to in every situation. It is only then
that confidence and trust of the minority commu-
nity can be restored and strengthened.
Inclusiveness should be the mantra. We cannot
live in isolation or ghettos. Prosperous and
peaceful India can only emerge from the contri-
bution of all its citizens, whether majority or
minority. I will feel proud of my Indian identity
when my Muslim identity is kept intact and is
provided every possible opportunity to develop
socially, educationally, politically and financially.
The gulf between two of my identities is striking.
This has to be bridged.
The author is a Research Scholar at JNU and
a former president of AMU students union
Born in free India, hence entitled to equal rights
Media and
Muslims
Justice Markande Katju is cent per cent cor-
rect for saying that the media presents Indian
Muslims as terrorists and blasters of bombs
while the fact is that 99 percent of Hindus,
Muslims, Christians and followers of other reli-
gion are gentle and law-abiding people. He
rightly observes that the news about bomb
blasts as presented on TV channels and in
newspapers give this impression that all
Muslims are terrorists and bad people. He
rightly laments that a large section of print and
electronic media are engaged in disintegrating
the social fabric of Indian society.
Justice Katju has really done a national
service by advising the media to give up their
anti-Muslim bias and maintain principles of
honest and fair journalism by not indulging in
anti-Muslim baiting.
DR. M. HASHIM KIDWAI
ex-MP, New Delhi
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 3
NATIONAL
Bareilly: Communal riots erupted in this city on the night of
22 July after which indefinite curfew was clamped in the
entire city. According to available news, on 22 July at the
time of iftar and namaz, Kanwariyas in groups were singing
bhajans, loudly with music system. When they were asked
to lower the volume of the music system as it was disturb-
ing the namazis, their refusal to do so brought both com-
munities face to face, and stone pelting started from both
sides which soon took a dangerous turn and spread to
more and more areas. It is said that fire arms also were
used which hit a zardozi worker who died. As riots spread
to more areas, mobs resorted to setting fire to many gov-
ernment and private vehicles and immovable properties,
like shops and houses. In order to control violence police
resorted to lathi charge and fired tear gas shells and fired
in the air also. More than 30 persons, including S.P., Shiv
Sagar Singh and five police men were injured. In view of
riots spreading to more areas, authorities imposed a cur-
few in the entire city around midnight. All schools and col-
leges were closed till further orders. Police authorities, dis-
trict magistrate as well as important and popular persons
made appeal for peace and harmony. P.A.C. and R.A.F.
personnel were deployed in the city to control the riots.
In spite of all precautions clashes and disturbances
continued for four or five days intermittently. During this
period curfew was lifted in certain areas for limited period
where conditions appeared to be peaceful but in certain
areas curfew continued for three days because of which,
according to some reports most of the stock of vegetables
and fruits in mandis was badly affected. Religious places,
both of Hindus and Muslims were also attacked and dam-
aged which, according to reports, were got repaired by
police as soon as possible. According to some reports,
three persons died at different places in these riots.
Delhi Jama Masjids Imam Maulana Ahmad Bukhari
during his visit to Bareilly, put the responsibility of these
riots directly on district authorities and police. He said in
spite of Mulayam Singh Yadavs assurance to him during
their meeting a few days ago, riots again took place in this
city, in addition to riots at different places. All this shows
that government is not at all serious in putting a stop to
these riots. He said that kanwariyas playing music system
at high pitch at the time of iftar and namaz were responsi-
ble for this riot and if suitable steps would have been taken
by the authorities in time this riot could have been avoided.
He thereafter demanded immediate suspension of D.M.
and S.S.P.
Meanwhile, SPs senior leader and UPs minister for
building and construction Shiv Pal Yadav toured the riot-
affected areas and while accusing BJP of manipulating
riots in Bareilly under a conspiracy said while talking to
media persons at the Circuit House in this city that a
detailed report will be sent to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.
He said that not only in Bareilly but communal riots that
had taken place in different parts of the state were manip-
ulated by a communal party and every body suffers losses
in these communal riots. He visited the houses and family
members of Farhan, Imran and Prem Shankar, persons
who were killed in these riots, consoled them and gave
each of them cheque of Rs. 5 lakh as compensation.
RSS worker arrested for bomb blast
Kozhikode: An RSS worker, Joshi Ram has been arrested
in connection with a bomb blast that had taken place in
Koilindi in Keralas Kozikode district on 28 July. According
to police, Joshi who is a resident of Dharmawaram in
Kunwar district lives in a rented house and was making the
bomb in his house. His mother was seriously injured in the
blast and has been admitted in a hospital. He is accused of
making a bomb in his house. Because of bomb blast his
house was also damaged. According to police, particles of
explosive materials were found in the kitchen of his house.
Police is making further investigations in the matter.
NCPUL decides to translate
important Arabic books into Urdu
New Delhi: NCPULs Director, Dr. Khwaja Ikramuddin said
in a meeting held at NCPULs office on 17 July that this
Council, in addition to the promotion of Urdu had taken up
another responsibility of promoting Arabic also and had
decided that important books and works of the Arabic lan-
guage and literature would be translated into Urdu. He said
that there are as many as 247 centres for providing a one-
year Arabic certificate and diploma course all over the
country. He said that this was an attempt to learn and teach
Arabic through Urdu medium. In addition to this, he said
that for Urdu knowing people the Council was running two-
year diploma course in functional Arabic and for this there
were 225 centres all over the country. He said that NCPUL
has always been trying to include maximum of languages
for greater promotion of Urdu language.
He further said that NCPUL has constituted a panel
headed by Prof. Aslam Islahi to work for the promotion of
Arabic and will consider the possibility of translating books
on Arabic language and literature into Urdu.
Communal riots in Bareilly
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India needs to join the new spirit of the Arab lands and throw its
considerable weight once more behind the aspirations of the
Palestinians. That India subsidises the Occupation is morally
indefensible. It is imperative that more pressure be brought on
the government to reconsider its web of arms purchases and
intelligence agreements with Israel. The largest democracy in
the world is ill-advised to stand on the side of colonialism.
VIJAY PRASHAD & PRABIR PURKAYASTHA
The Hindu
White Paper on Terrorism:
calling out readers and
researchers
The most important and burning issue facing Indian Muslims at present is the
continuing arrests and widespread fake implication of our youth in trumped up
terror cases masterminded by saffron elements in the government, IB and
Police. Now almost all Muslim organisations are up in arms against this state
terror. People are organising dharnas, meetings, conference etc all over the
country.
As a long-term solution and serious response to this problem thrust upon
us, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM) has decided to bring out a
white paper on the Muslim-related terrorism in the country. This was dis-
cussed and passed during the Working Committee meeting on 7 July. But
since AIMMM does not have the required funds and staff, I have undertaken
the responsibility of preparing this white paper which will be comprehensive in
around 600+ large format pages covering the whole history and genesis, com-
munalism, vested interests in various fields, analysis of various laws like TADA,
POTA and UAPA, fake encounters, acquittals, IB & Police role, media attitude,
case studies, statewise studies, SIMI and so-called Indian Mujahidin,
Hindutva terror, individual tragedies of victims, Azamgarh, Bhatkal, Malegaon,
Darbhanga modules, some basic documents, etc.
The target is to bring it out during the next six months and release it in a
big convention at Delhi as a combined effort of all Muslim organisations, and
thereafter present the white paper to politicians, media, human rights orgs,
especially those abroad, in order to enlighten public opinion as well as to build
pressure on our blind and deaf government.
The estimated cost of this white paper is Rs 25 lakh divided as follows:
Rs 10 lakh cost of preparation and payments to contributors plus six months
salaries to three persons including an expert; Rs 10 lakh for designing and
printing the document in a world-class format; and Rs 5 lakh convention costs.
The first two concern the undersigned while the last (convention) concerns
AIMMM.
To finance this effort which will be a watershed in this struggle against state
terrorism in India, I need and solicit your full support. This may be either by
direct contribution for the effort or by buying copies in advance which could
later be sent to you or to others at your behalf. The estimated price of the white
paper is Rs 2000 at least. Our well-wishers can pay Rs 1000 only per copy as
advance purchase (plus any actual postal or courier charges which will be indi-
cated and payable later). Payments for the copies may be made to our pub-
lishing company (Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd, D-84 Abul Fazal
Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110 025 - Email:
books@pharosmedia.com). Individuals and organisations ordering a minimum
of 100 copies will be included as sponsors of the White Paper. Contribution
towards the organisation of the convention may be sent to the All India Muslim
Majlis-e Mushawarat, D-250 Abul Fazal Enclave, part 1, Jamia Nagar, New
Delhi 110 025.
Experts who can contribute to this white paper may kindly write to
me with some detail about their past experience and work.
ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN (Editor, The Milli Gazette -
edit@milligazette.com)
Modis suicide threat had
worked: Keshubhai
Ahmedabad: Spilling the
beans about Modis suicide
threat, Keshubhai Patel, the
former Gujarat C.M.,
divulged the fact that Modi
had not only threatened to
stage a hunger strike at
Advanis residence but had
also threatened to commit
suicide to stake his claim for
CMs post. He held Advani
responsible for promoting
Modis candidature.
84-year-old former C.M. Keshubhai promised better gover-
nance than the present one at Parivartan Sammelan on his
birthday. He declared his mission of liberating the Gujarat peo-
ple from the clutches of dhananands (plutocrats). He accused
the present government of goonda raaj in which power rests in
the hands of the goons. Everyone feels scared. He pointed out
that 73% of tribals and 43% children are under nourished.
Keshubhai enjoys the support of several stalwarts which
include Gordhan Zadaphia, former C.M. Suresh Mehta, former
union minister Kashiram Rana, BJP MLADr Kanu Kalsaria and
RSS pracharaks Bhaskar Damle and Praveen Maniar.
(AG Khan)
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4 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
JUH successful in the
acquittal of more than 100
innocent Muslim prisoners
Mumbai: Gulzar Ahmad Azmi, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind (Arshad
group)'s Maharashtra Branch Legal Assistance Committee's
head, said here that JUH has succeeded in securing the honor-
able acquittal of more than a hundred Muslims arrested on false
charges of terrorism, bomb blasts or riots etc. He said that when
relatives of Muslims youth arrested on charge of terrorism con-
tact us and provide proofs of their innocence or when we feel
that the arrested persons are innocent, JUH provides free legal
assistance. He said that so far, in favour of whichever person
JUH had pleaded, the official prosecutor could not succeed in
proving him guilty except in the case of one accused who was
in jail for a long time on charges of spying.
Giving the example of one such case, he said that in the
2006 bomb blasts case in Malegaon, nine innocent Muslims
were arrested and subjected to barbarous treatment in jails in
Mumbai. JUH succeeded in getting them released on bail. He
said that like Malegaon bomb blasts case, JUH played a key
role in getting the accused Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari hon-
ourably released by hiring the services of expert lawyers. In the
same way, in Aurangabad arms seizure case, Indian
Mujahideen case, 11/7 (11 July) bomb blasts in Mumbai local
trains and in other such cases, JUH provides free legal assis-
tance from local courts to Supreme Court by hiring services of
experienced lawyers. Even in jails JUH provides financial help
to such innocent persons through their relatives so that they
may be able to get necessary goods in jails also, he said.
In addition to providing all this, he said JUH also provides
educational scholarships to needy and intelligent students, in
case of natural calamities and disasters they help the suffering
people without any discrimination as far and as much as they
can according to their limited resources. Giving an example of
such a case, he said that in the recent incident of fire in Cheeta
camp in Mumbai, JUH helped the affected Muslims as well as
Hindu brethren. When Gulzar Azmi was asked how such funds
are arranged, he said that philanthropists and charitable per-
sons and institutions give zakat and sadaqat etc. in the month
of Ramadan and other occasions and these monies are used by
them all year round for such welfare and humanitarian purpos-
es.
YUNUS CHITALWALA
As Gujarat prepares for the run up to
the elections 2012, the political land-
scape is changing fast. Modi and his
cronies are planning a RS 500 crore grand
display of modinesque Gujarat which in part
will ape the American presidential elections
as campaigning picks steam. The bash will
portray Modi's success story, and the hired
advertisement agencies, both domestic and
foreign, will spin the yarn, showing him in a
benign light.
But a glitch might be devoloping as the
former chief minister Keshubhai Patel is
poised to pull strings out of Namo's beautiful
tapestry. Not only the grand old veteran of
the BJP has resigned but formed a new
party which has been named the Gujarat
Parivartan Party. So the going for Modi
might turn rather tough. In the changed sce-
nario it will be interesting to analyse the
electoral fortunes of major outfits.
Keshubhai Patel's party is a patchup of
diverse elements that include Sangh Parivar
activists, disgruntled workers of the BJP, and
those who want to stake their claim in the
power sharing in the unlikely event of Modi
eating a humble pie. The prospects for Modi
winning hands down is a foregone conclu-
sion. Even the political pundits predict a
clear win. But overcoaling the furnace may
not release as much steam, as Keshubhai
has entered the scene like a ghost who
wants his pound of flesh. The former chief
minister counts on his Patel community's
support which is strongly entrenched in
Suarshtra, Kutch and South Gujarat. The
Patels constitute 30 percent of the state's
population and, therefore, present a formi-
dable challange.
There are three factors that may influ-
ence the outcome of elections in
Keshubhai's favour. One, will it be possible
for him to take along Patels en masse?
Things as they stand today show a split as
some Patels are aligned with Modi. Inspite
of a split in Patel votes, Keshubhai might
manage to get good percentage and that
may cut into the seats won by Modi during
2007 in Saurashtra and south Gujarat and to
some extent in north Gujarat too. In
Saurashtra Modi had won 43 seats out of
58. In south Gujarat, there was a clear
sweep at the cost of the Congress and BJP
won 19 seats out of 29. The table might turn
on Modi this time around. Two, the accept-
ance of Narendra Modi as a future PM may
work in his favour. But the prevailing mood in
NDA does not inspire much confidence. In
that event, Keshubhai might get a breather.
Three, the Congress which has suffered a
good deal of trust deficit, has to work hard to
regain the lost ground. If it fails, then both
Modi and Keshubhai might benefit. The
youth in Gujarat are much smitten by the
image of Modi as a driver of development
and this includes some Muslims who are
likely to vote for Modi though their number
may be small.
The Congress has lost a lot of its tradi-
tional voters to the BJP in south and north
Gujarat including Muslims. It will have to
focus on these constituencies. For that it
should strengthen its cadres at grassroots
level, make sure no large scale dissidence
happens in the run upto the elections and
take up substantive issues concerning the
minorities.The Congress has certain limits. It
cannot go on harping on 2002 as it would
alienate its Hindu supporters and that had
helped Mody by default in the 2007 elec-
tions. It has rightly taken up the issue of
exaggerated claims of development and
corruption under Modi.
The entry of Samajwadi Party has
added a new dimension to the contest but it
is perceived as a tranansplant from UP,
wholly devoid of an understanding of the
local issues in Gujarat.The SP is slated to
cotest 50-plus seats and may split the
Muslim votes in cetain pockets. But its
impact is likely to be minimal. In any case,
Muslims constitute 9 percent of the popula-
tion and they are dispersed all over the
state. They can influence the outcome of 20
seats at the most.
So the contest in 2012 is going to be tri-
angular: between the Congress, BJP and
Gujarat Parivartan Party. If Keshubhai man-
ages to garner Patel votes in Saurashtra, he
may win 20 seats. The other 20 seats are
likely to go to Congress, and BJP may end
up with 18 seats. If Keshubhai scores 20%
votes, he may win 30-35 seats in Gujarat
assembly. Congress may get 30% votes,
winning 45-50 seats while BJP with 50%
votes may win 80-85 seats. The remaining
12 seats out of a total of 182 will go to inde-
pendents and smaller parties. So Modi
might take the support of indpendents to
reach the magic figure of 92 to claim major-
ity. On the contrary, Congress may join
Keshubhai to form a coalition government if
some independents support them. Thus the
dice is loaded either way. A marginal swing
either way in votes of say 2-4% might
shatter Modi's dreams or send Keshubhai
and company into a tail spin.
Political faultlines in Gujarat: Elections 2012
Mammoth protest
against Assam killings
New Delhi: Milli organisations came together here at the invitation
of Jamiat Ulama-e Hind (JUH-Mahmood group) to register their
protest at the killings and mass displacement suffered by
Muslims in Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) areas of Assam since
19 July.
Speakers held the Congress governments at the state and
Centre responsible for the state of affairs which led to such an
unprecedented displacement of close to half a million people,
mostly Muslims, as well as wanton killings of over 70 persons.
The protest was held here on the Parliament Street. Protesters
came from Delhi and adjoining districts.
Mahmood Madni, General Secretary of JUH, said that
Muslims in Bodo-dominated areas are suffering at the hands of
the Bodo supremacists for the last two decades and once again
the old game is being re-enacted now. He said we do not know
Assam CM Tarun Gogoi but we do know Manmohan Singh and
Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and hold them directly responsible for what
is happening in Assam. He said you accuse Modi for what hap-
pened in Gujarat, but who is ruling Assam? He asked the Indian
Prime Minister: you are concerned about the barbarism meted
out to Sikhs beyond seven seas but you are not moved by the
Muslim blood spilt on Burma and India streets. He warned the
government and BJP not to raise the Bangladeshi issue in order
to divert attention from what is happening right now. He demand-
ed quick repatriation of the displaced to their villages.
Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat President Dr Zafarul-Islam
Khan said that the basic reasons for the Bodo violence lie in the
abundant illegal arms in Bodo hands and the Bodo Accord which
is undemocratic and unconstitutional as it gives 27 percent of
Bodsos in Bodoland the right to overlord the 73 percent Muslims,
Advivasis and tribals and now Bodos are trying to do ethnic
cleansing in order to show that they are in majoiry in BTC areas.
Hafiz Bashir, Secretary of JUH Assam, said that 96 percent
persons accused of being Bangaleshis have been exonerated
by courts. Speakers included Muhammad Ahmad of Jamaat-e
Islami Hind, Mujtaba Farooq of Welfare Party of India, Film pro-
ducer Mahesh Bhat, Professor Akhtarul Wasey, Dr Qasim Rasool
Ilyas of Muslim Personal Law Board, and JUH President Qari
Usman Mansoorpuri.
Speakers warned the Congress to get ready for serious
repercussions in the 2014 general elections if it does not mend its
ways. A memorandum was presented to the Prime Minister,
President of India, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Union Home Minister,
Chairmen of National Human Rights Commission and National
Commission for Minorities and Chief Minister of Assam. It
demanded:
1. The state Government, Administration and Police should be
warned to restore normalcy within short specified period failing which
or in case of fresh recurrence of violence they should be made liable
and dismissed.
2. Adequate compensation to all affected, for lost lives, injuries and
damage to houses to enable the victims to rebuild their homes and
lives as per amount o f compensation decided by Delhi High Court
for the victims of Sikh riots. They should be paid RS 10 lakh for those
killed and 5 lakh for those injured.
3. Quick rehabilitation of all displaced people by arranging their
return to their original places. Any attempt to debar them from return-
ing to their homes and lands be dealt with iron hand. It is known fact
that victims of similar previous violence, e.g., in 1993, 1996 are still
languishing in refugee camps while their lands and homes have been
usurped by Bodo chauvinists.
4. Ensure safe return of victims to their homes and their rehabilita-
tion and provide adequate compensation. Ensure this at the earliest
in addition to provision of more police stations and forces in the BTC
areas.
5. Conduct a meticulous
mopping by the army and securi-
ty forces for immediate seizure of
illegal arms and ammunition kept
by surrendered Bodoland
Liberation Tigers (BLT), NDFB
and other militant groups with
them and also licensed arms with
civilians. Illegal arms in their
hands are a big problem in BTC
areas. These arms are being
used freely by outlaws to inflict
such savagery and pain on their
neighbours.
6. Dissolve the Bodoland
Territorial Council (BTC) as it
does not represent the majority
communities of the area.
Otherwise it should include non-
Bodo communities as well pro-
portionately.
7. "The BTC, headed by
Hagrama Mohilary, should be
immediately dissolved making
them responsible for instigating
violence.
8. Scrap the Bodoland
Autonomous Treaty as it was
against the interest of the non-
Bodos in trouble-torn Bodoland
Territorial Administered District
(BTAD).
9. Institute a high level
judicial enquiry to bring exact
cause of the violence leading to
displacement and murder of such
large number of people in BTC
areas, and punish the guilty.
10. Provide adequate secu-
rity to Muslims and other non-
Bodos who are still in BTAD
areas.
11. Set up relief camps with
adequate facilities like food, med-
icines and other essential items for victims in different areas of
Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Chirang under security and to keep proper
records of inmates.
12. Hateful propaganda against Muslims as Bangladeshi Muslims
should stop and all the real facts about it be kept before the people.
All stakeholders are encouraged to work together in creating a con-
genial atmosphere that would constitute the peace between the two
rival communities.
Another protest demo was held at the Jantar Mantar here by
AUDF on 9 August, while BJP and allied organisations too held a
counter-protest at Jantar Mantar on 8 August parroting their ille-
gal immigrants refrain and displaying photographs of mostly
Muslim victims as Bodo victims.
If Keshubhai scores 20% votes, he may win 30-35 seats in Gujarat assembly.
Congress may get 30% votes, winning 45-50 seats while BJP with 50% votes
may win 80-85 seats. The remaining 12 seats out of a total of 182 will go to inde-
pendents and smaller parties. So Modi might take the support of indpendents...
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 5
NATIONAL
FIRDAUS AHMED
The locus of controversy over Mr Modis remarks
has shifted from the contents of his interview to the
internal politics of a regional party of which the inter-
viewer was a member. In the melee, there is danger
of Mr Modis remarks passing uncontested into his-
tory. The risk of dwelling on them any further is in
giving them more column space, thereby adding to
his original intent in giving the interview of gaining
greater political acceptability for himself in his run up not so much for
provincial elections due soon, but for national hustings soon thereafter.
However, not to engage with them so would be to have readers give him
the benefit of the doubt.
While it is a truism that unless held guilty in a court of law, a person
is to be taken as innocent, the problem with allowing Mr Modi that status
is that the evidence that could have been used in a court of law has in the
years of his being at the helm been systematically removed or reworked.
As a result, even the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation
Team has been unable to gain access to prosecutable evidence. While
this should really have triggered a line of investigation into the cover up,
as prompted by some courageous police officers in Gujarat, the SIT has
taken Mr Modis administration at its word. That is to give him more than
his due.
Thankfully for history, the Amicus Curiae, also appointed by the SC,
has a different story to tell. His differing take lends balance to the suspen-
sion of disbelief by Mr Raghavan of SIT fame. Therefore, there is no rea-
son to take Mr Modi at his word in the interview. He cannot but be expect-
ed to defend his case in the manner he has. And yet, the content of the
interview is chilling. Take for instance Mr Modis exhortation: think about
how many Muslims were protected then! If they were to be killed system-
atically, who would have been spared today? In other words, Muslims,
spared of a worse fate, should really be grateful! After all, he insists he
stopped the rioting, stating that, I think I managed to stop the rioting. In
the same breath, he lets on: I will not admit that I couldnt. In other words,
he is a saviour since he tried to stop the riots but couldnt!
Two points bear mention. Firstly, the use of the term riots suggests
that the two communities were slugging it out. This is hardly likely in light
of his version of the first 72 hours: There hasnt been even one police
gunshot, no lathi charge But, here people were arrested in advance. It
bears investigation as to which people were arrested. It can be surmised
that these were of the minority. In effect, the minority was disarmed.
Therefore, the question of a riot, and its two-sided implication, does not
arise. Also, since he says there was not even one police gunshot, the
rioters who should have been stopped in their tracks were instead han-
dled with kid gloves. Had the besieged minority been rioting instead, as
national statistics consistently bear out, there would have been a deadly
toll.
Secondly, this means that space was created for majoritarian
supremacists to take centre stage. He claims in self-vindication he gave
shoot at sight order to stop the riots. The numbers are already in the
public domain as to who died in such firing. These
were certainly not the ones later caught boasting
in a Tehelka sting operation on their bravado.
Mr Modi brings the abject state of affairs else-
where to claim that his record is better on two
counts: one is on prosecution and sentencing in Gujarat cases as against
that meted out in the 1984 carnage against Sikhs; the second is on
encounters. There is a difference between what happened in Gujarat and
elsewhere. In the anti-Sikh carnage in Delhi, there is no allegation of state
complicity. As for encounters, in none of the other states were cover up
stories fomented with a dual purpose: to embellish the image of the polit-
ical head as a nationalist strongman, while at the same time tarnishing
that of the minority as a subverted fifth column susceptible to infiltration
by terrorists. In any case, instances elsewhere cannot legitimize what
happens in Gujarat.
To tide over the controversy, the interviewer in a damage limitation
exercise, has claimed: I asked him questions that no one has. This
obfuscates the fact that it was a tame interview amounting to image build-
ing for Mr Modi. Take for instance the poser: But they say you were in the
control room. It is well known that the ministerial henchmen of Mr Modi
were assigned such duty including one who has served time behind bars
subsequently in the false encounters case. Therefore, such questions fig-
uring in an interview damns its motives.
Finally, is the question of the military being called out timely. This
increases in significance in light of the current day Bodo-Muslim clashes
in Assam in which the Assam government has been critical of the new
procedures in place for getting the Army to react in internal crisis. The pro-
cedures date to the Vohra Committee report recommendations to the
GoM in 2001. The cases of over-resort to the military in the eighties and
nineties had resulted in a hardening of the militarys position against inter-
vening in such crisis. The military was hard-pressed by its internal secu-
rity commitments and over-extended by simultaneous calls on it when in
peace stations. The older rules that enabled the DC to call out the army
in aid to civil authority had consequently been reframed. The current pro-
cedures call for such demands for military aid to be routed from the state
to the Union home ministry and thereafter to the defence ministry. A deci-
sion is then taken. This can prove too late for victims as evident from the
recent case in Assam. More importantly, delay results in deepening of
divides with trans-generational effects. Clearly, there is a case to revisit
the procedures, particularly since the CRPF that was expanded with the
purpose of relieving the army from such duty is itself bogged down in
Central India.
In the Gujarat case, the army that was then deployed at the borders
in Op Parakram could not be made available in a real time frame. Clearly,
the onus of stamping out fires then devolved on Mr Modi. This gave Mr
Modi and his supporters the time they needed. Therefore, even if we are
to follow Mr Modis advice, The Supreme Court asked for an investigation
to be conducted. We should trust that; he still needs to answer for incom-
petence. Since his campaign rhetoric focuses on his competence, reveal-
ing Mr Modis record is in order, the latest attempt at embellishment
notwithstanding.
Mr Modi has expressed a preference thus, If Modi has sinned, then
Modi should be hanged. But this only reflects a medieval mindset that
conjured up the action-reaction thesis. Its implication for his fitness for
his current office is for the voters of his state to decide on, but it certainly
disqualifies him from aspiring to higher office.
Not so easy, Mr Modi
Relief work in Assam
New Delhi: A team of 11 doctors from Owaisi
Hospital in Hyderabad and relief workers under
Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and MP
Asaduddin Owaisi are in a relief camp in
Raniganj area of Dhubri district providing both
medical and other relief to the 5300 Muslims
who have taken shelter here from 30 villages in
Kokrajhar district. People in these camps are in
a very pitiable condition - suffering with malnutri-
tion, dehydration and other water diseases, said
MA Majid, a journalist visiting the camps. MP
from Hyderabad, Owaisi flew to Guwahati twice
within 10 days, with relief materials and medical
aids worth Rs 20 lakh and a team of doctors. He
himself distributed clothes and other materials
among the victims at the camp. Owaisi has also
announced to give Rs 1 crore to the riot victims.
Other Muslim organisations like Markazul
Maarif, Jamaate Islami Hind, Muslim Majlis-e
Mushawarat, Jamiat Ahle Hadees, both
Mahmood and Arshad factions of Jamiat Ulama-
e Hind and others are busy providing relief to the
hapless victims of this one-sided violence.
Coordination
Committee formed
Muslim organisations in Delhi, based on an ini-
tiative of Jamaat-e Islami Hind, discussed the
Assam issue during a meeting at JIH headquar-
ters on 9 August. The participants included rep-
resentatives of JIH, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind,
Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Jamiat Ahl-e
Hadees, Milli Council, Welfare Party and others.
They agreed to form a coordiation committee
headed by Mujtaba Farooq, President of
Welfare Party of India, to work at the Centre and
in Assam to solve the present issue in coordina-
tion with local Muslims and Bodo leadership.
Seven terrorists
acquitted by Delhi
high court
New Delhi: The Delhi high court upheld the
acquittal of seven persons accused of terror-
ism on the ground they were nabbed after a
"fake encounter" in 2005. The court said they
were falsely implicated. A bench of Justices
S Ravindra Bhat and S P Garg upheld the
acquittal, dismissing the police appeal
against the trial courts verdict. The court,
however, modified the trial courts order for
registration of an FIR against four policemen
for faking the encounter and giving false evi-
dence.
It is improbable that the investigating
team consisting of more than 15 police offi-
cers of different ranks from different police
stations would conspire against the accused
residing at different places to falsely implicate
them, the bench observed.
The petitioners cannot be punished
before they are found guilty...The commis-
sioner of police is directed to inquire into the
role and conduct of the petitioners in the
investigation of the case and take appropriate
action in accordance with statute/rules, it
said.
Police claimed they had nabbed four of
the seven accused after a shootout on the
intervening night between July 1 and 2, 2005,
near Delhi-Gurgaon border, and had seized a
huge cache of arms and ammunition from
them. The remaining three were arrested
later. Acting on a tip-off that the accused,
planning a strike in Delhi and its satellite
towns including Gurgaon, would be coming to
the capital, cops had been lying in wait for
them. As the accused, later identified as
Saqib Rehman, Nazir Ahmed Sofi, Gulam
Moinuddin Dar and Bashir Ahmed Shah,
allegedly did not stop their car, they were
chased by a team led by sub-inspector
Ravinder Tyagi, who fired from his service
revolver in response to firing by Saqib, police
said.
Police said they had recovered one AK-
47 rifle, two magazines, 130 live cartridges, 2
hand grenades and 3 UBGL grenades at the
instance of Saqib and this crucial evidence
was ignored by the trial court. The lower court
had acquitted all the accused saying the
alleged encounter did not take place at all
and a false encounter was projected.
Karnataka BJP govt pro-
tecting right-wing outfits
Mysore: Women activists and writers on
2 August protested the attack on girls at a
resort in Mangalore, and accused the BJP
government of promoting and protecting pro-
Hindu outfits.
The Sangh Parivar, including Hindu
Jagrana Vedike, Bajrang Dal, Sri Ram Sene,
were targeting people in the coastal districts
of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara
Kannada and trying to drive a wedge between
communities in the name of religion and cul-
ture, they alleged.
They added that such pro-Hindu organi-
zations were active in the state since the BJP
government was extending support to them.
Accusing RSS of controlling the government,
the activists questioned: What more can be
expected?...People voted BJP to power to
give them a chance. But now, the saffron
party is promoting rogues and challenging the
secularism of the State, they said.
Writer Cha Sarvamangala, women
activist Meera Naik, theatre personality
Sumathi and social activist Parusharam led
the protest at the deputy commissioners
office hosted by Federation of Progressive
Organizations.
NATIONAL
6 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
The raging violence in
Assams Bodo Territorial
Autonomous Districts has
shaken the conscience of
the nation. The Prime
Minister has rushed to the
area and called it a
kalank, a shame for the
nation. He also reprimanded the Chief Minister
from his own party for the violence. There was
some inexcusable delay in deploying the army
in the area, which resulted in the worsening of
the situation. In this case of violence, while on
one side there is great loss of life of people, still
the larger tragedy is that lakhs of people have
been displaced from their homes and hearth
just around the sowing season. The refugee
camps housing them are grossly inadequate
and do not have basic facilities. Still at another
level this violence has been presented to be one
between Bodos and illegal Bangladeshi infiltra-
tors, a majority of whom are claimed to be
Muslims.
While this is not the first time that such vio-
lence has hit Assam, impactwise, this violence
is one of the major tragedies of the area. The
strife between ethnic groups and the Muslim
minority, who is labelled Bangladeshi infiltra-
tors has been going on since the last so many
decades. The local issues have been given a
colour as if the problems are due to the illegal
migrations. It is propagated that a time bomb is
ticking. Such propaganda is accompanied by
the slogan Assam for Assamese which is very
similar to the one floated by the parochial Shiv
Sena in Maharashtra, which has been indulging
in violence using the slogan Maharashtra for
Marathis. The Assam conflict has its roots in the
problems of society which have been ignored by
the state and central governments.
The first major catastrophe in this direction
occurred when All Assam Students Union start-
ed the agitation on the issue of electoral rolls,
demanding to exclude the Bangladeshi infiltra-
tors from the lists. This was backed by the BJP
through and through. During this time, massive
violence was unleashed against the minorities,
the Nellie massacre when over three thousand
Muslims were done to death within a matter of a
few hours that took place at that time. In the
wake of these events, two things happened.
First, All Assam Students Union AASU, now
Assam Gana Parishad, came to power, and
secondly, an inquiry commission into the Nellie
massacre, Tribhuban Das Tiwary Commission,
was instituted. AGP, after coming to power
dropped all the criminal cases against the cul-
prits of Nellie massacre and the report of Tiwary
Commission was not made public.
A decade later, series of violence took
place, the victims of which are still leading a
pathetic life in refugee camps. During the early
part of the first decade of this century, the
demand of Bodos was met with the formation of
Bodo Territorial Autonomous Districts after con-
cluding a treaty with Bodos. The districts cov-
ered in this territory are Kokrajhar, Chirang,
Baksa and Udalgiri. As per agreement, the
Bodo militants were to surrender their arms
which they did not do, with the result that many
of them continued intimidating others. The per-
centage of Bodos in these districts varies from
22 to 29% according to different estimates.
Others are Santhals, Rajbangshis, Adibashis
and Muslims. Despite being in the minority, with
full powers in the region, the Bodos initiated
policies whereby non-Bodos have been neg-
lected in different aspects of life. The condition
of these groups is very bad and they are against
the formation of Bodo Territorial Council. In this
area, the present carnage was preceded by the
rumour that people from Bangladesh have
come with large number of armaments. This
triggered violence leading to the present
tragedy. The Chief Minister of Assam has
denied any such foreign hand. The real issue
has been the pressure on land and jobs due to
the natural increase in population over a period
of time. This pressure has been deflected by
saying that its all due to the Bangladeshi infiltra-
tors, a phrase very popular all over the country
and more so in Assam. True, the overall lop-
sided development has caused the pressures
on employment all over the country. In a place
like Mumbai, this was presented as being due to
immigration of non-Marathis into Maharashtra.
While in Assams parallel politics the added part
is that the problem is projected on to the for-
eigners. Is that true?
The Bengali speaking people in Assam are
a sizeable part of the population. Amongst these
also the majority are Muslims. Have they come
recently or have they come to infiltrate for a
political motive? Have they come during the last
few decades?
The myth of Bangladeshi immigrants has
been the major plank of communalists all the
time. It has become a sort of social common
sense all over the country. This pet theme of
Bangladeshi immigrant is quite a myth to a large
extent. While some immigration of Bengalis into
Assam began in the last quarter of the 19th cen-
tury, the seeds of this issue were sown by the
British in the first decade of the twentieth centu-
ry. That was the time when neighbouring Bengal
was over-populated and politically a very aware
state. Famines were one of the symptoms of
over-population of Bengal. Assam was grossly
under-populated not giving much revenue to the
British. The British resorted to Human planta-
tion programme, whereby people from Bengal
were encouraged to migrate to Assam with lots
of incentives. The British also wanted to pursue
their core policy of divide and rule. So they
allowed this migration with a line system
whereby the immigrants and natives were kept
in separate areas. This migration of Bengali-
speaking Muslims went on for quite some time
and by 1930s a good chunk of Assamese popu-
lation was constituted by these migrants, both
Hindu and Muslim. In post-independence India,
the Muslim population of Assam has shown
decadal growths which match with other states
of India (Source: Muslims in India by S.U.
Ahmed, based on an analysis of Census data).
One is very clear about the Census figures
of Assam and the number of Muslims during
that period. During the Pakistan army atrocities
in East Pakistan, many Bangladeshis did emi-
grate. After that also the economic migration
might be going on as is the case in most of the
regions. The question is how this immigration is
looked at. For example, the immigration to India
by huge number of people from Nepal is never
looked down upon or demonized. Even the
Hindus coming from Bangladesh were treated
as refugees while Muslims coming from
Bangladesh were seen as infiltrators posing a
threat to the security of India and what not. In
the whole of North Eastern states, trade is by
and large controlled by Marwaris from
Rajasthan. There are a good numbers of Biharis
also in Assam.
The BJP associates propaganda about the
infiltrators is based on political calculations, not
on truth or facts. As in other parts of the country,
they have used medieval history to demonize
minorities. Here they are using the Bangladeshi
factor. The worst part of the scenario is that
even the National Council of Churches in Indias
spokesperson has been so taken in by this
propaganda, as to say that the Bangladeshi
infiltrators are occupying 10000 square kilome-
ters of land in Assam! From the time of Indias
partition, Assam had a good deal of Muslim pop-
ulation. Later of course, some migration did take
place from Bangladesh for economic reasons, it
seems to be largly due to carving out of other
six Northeastern states from Assam, that the
majority of Muslims remained in Assam, so per-
centagewise it looks larger.
The propaganda by communal forces about
the so-called infiltration by Bangladeshis has
assumed huge proportions. It has become a
part of the mindset in India; it was also at the
backdrop of many agitations in Assam. Surely
the basic issue of lack of development in Assam
has been deflected by political groups including
communal groups as being the issue of dis-
placement of locals from their lands by infiltra-
tors.
The case of Assam has a mix of Mumbais
Shiv Sena politics, mixed with communal-for-
eigner tones. The issue has also been one
related to Adibashis, the ethnic component has
also been a part of the whole problem. Crucially,
right from Nellie to the present violence, in
which displacement is the most dominant factor,
the infiltrator propaganda has prepared the
ground for carnage.
What is required today is to disarm those
having arms of various types, to rehabilitate the
refugees and to ensure that they are able to go
back to their own areas to catch up with the
sowing season. If this is not met, surely a bigger
disaster of food deprivation is waiting for the
refugees. What is also needed is that the myth
of infiltrators is to be debunked for good by
scholars and activists who have observed the
pattern of population profile during the last one
century. The communal forces have misused
this very word of Bangladeshi infiltrator. And
lastly the wounded psyche of communities
needs to be healed by a process of dialogue
and justice. (Issues in Secular Politics)
Assam Violence: a wake up call
The myth of Bangladeshi immigrants has been the major
plank of communalists all the time. It has become a sort of
social common sense all over the country. This pet theme of
Bangladeshi immigrant is quite a myth to a large extent.
V.K. TRIPATHI
The ethnic violence between Bodos and Muslims in Bodo territo-
rial region of Assam is a national calamity. It has already taken a
toll of 65 innocent lives (besides the scores of people missing)
and rendered around four lakh homeless. The first priority of sane
polity and responsible government is to restore the trust between
the warring groups, Bodos and Muslims, without the slightest of
ill-will against any of the communities and to isolate miscreants
from the masses. Muslims are poorer, have lost more lives and
fled in larger numbers (up to 80%) but Bodos are no economic
elite. The creation of Bodo Territorial Council (covering four dis-
tricts - Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baxa and Udalguri) by the Centre in
2003, has given a section of them an upper hand but masses of
both the communities are in hardships.
I spent three days (August 3 to 5) in the area, visited relief
camps - two Bodo camps in Kokrajhar (with 560 and 1500 peo-
ple), one Muslim camp in Kashipara (960 people), one Muslim
camp in Dhubri (360 people) and three Muslim camps in
Bilasipara (2000, 2500 and 3500 people); visited a Muslim village
Bhadyagudi, a mixed Bodo-Muslim village Bhatipara and met a
cross-section of people. I also met Deputy Commissioner (DC) of
Kokrajhar Mr. Jayant Narlikar, DC of Dhubri Mr. Kumud Kalita
and Principal, Vice Principal and Librarian of Bhola Nath College,
Dhubri.
I saw no trace of Bagladeshi offensive in the conflict, so sys-
tematically and vigorously orchestrated by BJP and VHP, led by
L.K. Advani, Tarun Vijay and Praveen Togadia. They are playing
with the lives of people and poisoning the atmosphere for future.
Bangladeshi is more of an abuse to humiliate Muslims who are
native Indians. There may be a few percent Bangladeshis (a
Rajvanshi ex-serviceman in rural Kokrajhar put it at 10%), but
even these, in all likelihood are labourers and labourers are no
exploiters but an exploited lot. They need to be treated with dig-
nity. All countries have legal and illegal migrants. USA has a very
significant percentage of illegal Mexicans. But who engages them
and benefits from their hard work? - the business class, for cheap
labour. USA is immensely more powerful than us but it could not
force the Mexicans out. India has limited resources and cant
afford to sustain a workforce from neighbouring countries, hence
legal ways, commensurate with workers dignity, must be
employed to identify and deport them and to stop their migration
(if at all there is any loophole).
As far as the language of Muslims in the area is concerned,
there is a strong historical reason for it. Kokrajhar district borders
with West Bengal and Dhubri with Bangladesh. 100-150 years
ago British tea planters brought labourers from Bengal where
Muslims were a predominant landless workforce. Thus they
speak Bengali. One more observation: in 1971, India welcomed
lakhs of Hindu and Muslim refugees as a part of strategy to cre-
ate Bangladesh out of East Pakistan. Many of them overstayed.
The current conflict developed as a chain event. Miscreants
killed two Muslims on July 6. On July 19, a prominent Muslim suf-
fered bullet injuries and a mob killed four Bodos. Subsequently
sporadic killings of Muslims and display of fire power by Bodo
elements, created a frightening atmosphere, forcing people to
flee their homes. In Muslim-dominated areas Bodos were made
to flee. Once people fled, many of their homes were looted and
put on fire. Most camps, having over 2.5 lakh Muslim refugees,
are located in Dhubri district. This district with 80% Muslim pop-
ulation suffered no loss of life while Bodos from six villages had
to flee to Kokrajhar.
Bodo insurgents have carried a long drawn violent struggle
for separate Bodoland. In 2003 the Centre created BTAD
(Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts) giving substantial
authority to Bodos (about 35 seats in the 40 member BTC
Council). This created a wedge between them and other commu-
nities (Muslims, Santhals and Rajvanshis) who have a much larg-
er share in population. Some insurgent groups surrendered their
arms but others still have them. Disarming them is a major
responsibility of the state.
All relief camps are facing severe hardships. Muslim camps
look even more dejected and worried, besides being poorer. On
August 5 as I was sitting with people in a camp in Bilasipara when
Roza Iftar time arrived, I noted that they had only one bucket of
dates and biscuit packets for Iftar for 2000 people. On behalf of
Sadbhav Mission, I offered them 1000 rupees to purchase addi-
tional dates. Same was the scene in another camp. At night often
there is load-shedding for several hours and these camps plunge
into darkness besides exposing them to mosquito bite. People
cook their own food from the ration (rice, pulses and oil) provid-
ed by the government and vegetables provided by local support
or NGOs. In most places, people of all the communities are com-
ing forward to extend support. Despite heavy odds people are at
peace. I wish they had a creative engagement. They could be
given some training or exposure in relevant trades. Students can
be given tutorial sessions, game sessions or could go for jogging.
Mine was a short visit that began with my arrival in Guwahati
at 7 AM. From the airport I took a bus to the railway station. At
9:45 I took North East Express and got down at Kokrajhar at 1:20
PM. I walked through the city and then took a tempo to Kashipara
(8 kms away). I visited a Muslim camp and walked three kms to
visit two villages. At 8 PM I met the DC. By that time curfew had
started, hence I stayed in the circuit house in an awesome room
for Rs. 130. Next morning (August 4) at 7 AM, I walked to a Bodo
camp in Swrang M.E. High School. People were nice. Some got
annoyed when I mentioned Nellie massacre. From there, I took
tempo, minibus and bus to reach Dhubri by 12 noon. I walked to
a relief camp and talked to people for one hour. This interaction
was heartening. From there I went to Bholanath college. At 3:15
PM I met the DC and then left for Bilasipara. During 5 to 8:15 PM,
I visited three camps. Then took shelter in ABI hotel (for Rs. 250).
It gave me the feeling of hardships faced by camp people as
there was no light and mosquitoes were in abundance.
At 6 AM on August 5 I left for Kashipara and from there to
Kokrajhar. I visted the Commerce College Bodo camp. People
treated me with warmth and showed appreciation for peace
efforts. At 12 noon I took Kamrup Express to Guwahati. After
reaching there I called some friends and left for the airport en
route to Delhi.
Professor Tripathi teaches at IIT, Delhi
Bringing Bangladeshi angle to Assamese ethnic conflict is disservice to the Nation
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 7
NATIONAL
M. H. RAHMAN
Some forces, without any regard to communal harmony and social
peace, tried to justify the recent violence committed by Bodos
against the poor Bengali-speaking Muslims living in Kokrajhar dis-
trict of Assam, terming them as illegal migrants. The purpose of
this writeup is to show that the defaming of the Bengali-speaking
Muslims of Assam as illegal migrants from Bangladesh is unjusti-
fied and untenable.
Muslim settlement in the Brahmaputra Valley: The settlement of
Muslims in the valley can be traced to as far back as the eighth cen-
tury CE. Early Muslim settlers of Assam consisted of Turks who
came to China from Turkistan, and of Arab traders, sailors, saints
and travellers who visited Burma and the Gangetic valley of Bengal.
The Turks had come to Assam through China crossing over the
Himalayas and had settled in Darrang district of the state. (Brihattar
Sylheter Itihas (History of Greater Sylhet) Volume I, edited by Md.
Abdul Aziz et al, Brihattar Sylheter Itihas Pranayan Parishad,
Sylhet, 1997).
In the eighth century, many Arab traders and sailors had settled
in Arakan in Burma. They established matrimonial relationship with
local people and their descendants, in course of time, became
known as Rohingya Muslims. Some of these Muslims, later on,
migrated to Bengal and different parts of North-East India
(Farooque Ahmed, Tracing early Muslim settlement in Manipur,
Muslim and Arab Perspectives, New Delhi, Vol. 4: 1-6 (1997).
In 1345, Ibn Battuta (d. 1377) met Ghiyasuddin, who was also
known as Sheikh Jalaluddin of Tabriz, at Hajo, while on his way to
China. He incorporated an account of the then Kamrup in his
famous travelogue, Tuhfat al-Nuzzar fi gharaib al-Amsar wa ajaib
al-asfar. In this account, he recorded that while he was returning
from China, he saw people living in the Kamrup Mountains who
resembled Turks and were capable of hard work.
The people of Muslimghopa near Mangaldoi claim till this day
that they are descendants of the Turkish soldiers who entered
Assam and settled in Darrang (Keramat Ali, Oitihasik Prabazonar
Bamarlit Honkhalaghut Parinat Asomor Khilonziar Osthityar
Honkat Uttaranar Upay Bichari, Hidayat, Guwahati, January
2005).
In his work, Asomiya Bhasa Aru Sanskriti (p.115), B. K. Baruah
has observed that Muslim saints, preachers and others came to
Assam between eleventh and twelfth centuries CE.
It is obvious that much before the advent of Muhammad Ibn-
Bakhtiyar Khilji, Muslims had settled in Assam and the native peo-
ple had received the Islamic message of peace, equality, humanity,
brotherhood and friendship with open arms. Native tribes like Koch,
Mech and Tharus, embraced Islam towards the last part of the
twelfth century CE. In his work, Tabaqat-e Nasiri, Maulana
Minhajuddin recorded that the Koch and the Mech had developed
so much liking for Islam that one of their chiefs converted to Islam
in 1198 CE at the hands of Muhammad ibn Bakhtiyar Khilji
(Maulana Minhajuddin, Tabakat-i-Nasiri, Revertys Translation,
1970, New Delhi; E. Gait, AHistory of Assam, 1967). Islam gave the
converts a new identity and elevated them to a respected position,
which they did not enjoy earlier in their society.
During 1204-1679, Muslim rulers and governors of Bengal sent
as many as 19 military expeditions to Assam. During this period,
thousands of Muslim soldiers, paiks and military officers settled
down in different parts of Assam. Muslim saints and preachers also
came to the area and spread over different places for preaching the
message of Islam and delivering religious instruction to the new
converts and early Muslim settlers. Many Muslim traders also visit-
ed Assam and settled down in various towns.
Political boundary of Assam: Until 1874, Assam meant the terri-
tory comprising of the area of the current districts of Nowgong,
Kamrup, Sivasagar and Lakhimpur. William Robinson in his A
Descriptive Account of Assam (Reprint, New Delhi, 1975, p.3)
wrote that Ahom Kingdom comprised the area of the present day
Assam excluding Goalpara, Surma Valley and the hill districts. It
was centred in the Brahmaputra valley. The kingdom was about
500 miles in length with an average breadth of sixty miles.
In 1826, the British annexed Ahom kingdom to Bengal and cre-
ated an administrative division called Assam under a commission-
er and hill areas were added to it in phases. In 1874, Assam divi-
sion was separated from Bengal and upgraded to a province under
a Chief Commissioner. In this province, the British included not only
the districts of Assam Commissionership but also Goalpara district
of the erstwhile Cooch Behar Division as well as Cachar and Sylhet
districts of Dacca Division (H. K. Barpujari (ed.), The
Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. IV, Guwahati, 1992, pp. 28-
31; A. K. Neogy, The Partitions of Bengal, Calcutta, 1984, pp. 36-
49 cited in Imdad Hussain (ed.), The Guwahati Declaration and the
Road to Peace in Assam, 2005, p. 19).
In fact, Goalpara was a part of the Bengal district of Rangpur
at the time of taking over Bengal by the British. In 1818, three
thanas of Rangpur, viz, Dhubri, Karaibari and Goalpara were sep-
arated from the district of Rangpur and made into a new division
called North-East Rangpur under a Civil Commissioner to deal
with the problem of law and order in the Garo frontier.
Subsequently, it was managed by a Political Agent under the
administrative control of the Commissioner of Cooch Behar, and
was eventually transferred to Assam (J. B. Bhattacharjee, The
Garos and the English, New Delhi, 1977, pp. 44-76 cited in Ibid,
p. 20).
The province of Assam created in 1874 included areas which
were ethnically and linguistically disparate, hardly one-fourth of the
geographical area was Assamese-speaking and the Assamese
population was less than one-third of the total population of this
new province. Various tribal groups, Assamese and Bengalis, were
indigenous in their respective areas. In fact, till the end of the British
rule in 1948, Bengalis were outnumbered by the Assamese in the
province of Assam (Census of India, 1931, Part I, (Assam) cited
in Ibid, p. 20).
In 1905, Assam became a part of Eastern Bengal with the con-
stitution of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam and had
its secretariat at Dacca. In 1911, the partition of Bengal was
annulled. But Surma valley and Goalpara remained with Assam. In
July, 1947 Sylhet was transferred to East Pakistan.
Sylhet was transferred to East Pakistan because the
Assamese leadership wanted to get rid of this Bengali-dominated
region and desired to make Assam an Assamese-dominated state.
But the arrival of 20 lakh Bengali Hindus as refugees into Assam
during 1947-50 as a result of Partition became a hurdle in the real-
isation of this dream. Out of the 20 lakh of refugees, the Assam
government gave shelter to some three lakh only. But when
Bordoloi informed the Centre that Assam was not in a position to
settle more refugees, Nehru wrote to him in May 1949 saying that
Assam was getting a bad name for its narrow approach to the
refugee problem (Udayon Misra, The Transformation of Assamese
Identity: A Historical Survey, NEIHA, Shillong, 2001, p. 50). Around
this time communal riots were engineered and several lakh
Muslims were driven out of Assam.
As a result of the movement to make Assamese the official lan-
guage and medium of instruction of the state, Assam lost
Arunachal, Mizoram and Meghalaya regions. Now it is on the verge
of losing some more parts in the form of Bodoland and Karbiland
that have already been given the status of Autonomous District
Council wherein the right of the non-tribal to purchase land and set-
tle is restricted. In Upper Assam, there is anti-Bengali and anti-
Bihari sentiment. In such a situation, both Hindu and Muslim
Bengalis have no alternative but to settle predominately in the
region of erstwhile Bengal that is Cachar, Hailakandi, Karimganj,
Goalpara and Dhubri which were originally Bengali. Thus Assam is
now unofficially divided into four clear regions: Upper Assam,
Lower Assam (Goalpara and Dhubri), Barak Valley and hill regions
dominated by people settled there.
Migration to Assam: It is difficult to say with certainty when and
how Assam was populated due to lack of fool-proof historical evi-
dence. However, if the physical type, language and history of the
different races residing in Assam are studied, it appears that the
state was populated by different peoples coming from different
directions at different times. The forefathers of todays races of the
state had migrated from Myanmar (Burma), China, Japan, Thailand,
Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. The study of history from a long-term per-
spective shows that Assam is, in fact, a land of migrants. The Ahom
came to the state in the beginning of the second quarter of the 13th
century CE, long after the arrival of Muslims in Assam.
As per the period of their migration, Muslims can be divided
into three groups. The first stream of Muslims came to Assam dur-
ing 800-1200 CE, the second stream came during 1200-1826 and
the third stream of Muslims came to the state during 1826-1945.
Most of the descendants of the Muslims who came to Assam prior
to 1826 have already adopted Assamese as their mother tongue
and became part of the Assamese society. They cannot be called
immigrants. Here we shall concentrate our discussion on the
migration of the last group of Muslims.
With the advent of the British rule, many Hindu and Muslim
Bengalis came to Assam as servants of the British government. By
1826, the socio-economic situation of Assam deteriorated. Civil
wars, Burmese invasions and natural calamities, like earthquake,
kala-azar, malaria and dysentery, decimated the population. There
was no surplus in agricultural production. Local people did not like
to work hard and there was shortage of work force.
Taking this situation in view and to raise the revenue of the
government, the British administration decided to develop tea
industry and agriculture and to construct roads and railways for the
improvement of communication required for expansion of trade and
commerce. Since the workforce was in shortage in Assam, they
decided to bring labourers and farmers from other parts of British
India. The Assamese middle class supported this move.
Anandaram Dhekial Phukan, Gunabhiram Barua and Babu
Gunjanan Barua actively supported the government proposal and
gave representations to the government to this effect. By the end of
the 19th century, arrival of workforce from outside Assam began.
The imported workforce consisted of tea garden labourers, Nepalis
and Bengali farmers. Bengali farmers consisted of both Hindus and
Muslims (See Sajal Nags Roots of Ethnic Conflict, 1990, for
details).
In 1874, the Muslim population of Assam was 1,104,601 and its
percentage to the total population was 28.8 percent (M. Kar,
Muslims in Assam politics, 1997, p. 30). It increased to 3,441,554
in 1941 (Ibid, pp. 43f). The 1941 Muslim population of Assam was
composed of the indigenous Muslims of the Brahmaputra Valley
and erstwhile Bengal regions of Goalpara, Cachar as well as Sylhet
which were incorporated in Assam province and the Muslim farm-
ers who were brought to the province by the British government
and Assamese landlords from East Bengal.
It is to be noted here that the migration of Bengali Hindus and
Muslims to Assam during the British rule was totally legal. In 1931,
Indian National Congress passed a resolution in Karachi which
granted every citizen of India the right to move freely throughout
India and stay and settle in any part thereof. In 1935, Government
of India Act was passed. Section 298 of the Act stated: No subject
of His Majesty domiciled in India shall on grounds only of religion,
place of birth, descent, colour or any of them be ineligible for office
under the crown in India or be prohibited on any such grounds from
acquiring, holding or disposing of property or carrying on any occu-
pation, trade, business or profession in British India. It is now clear
that Muslims who came to Assam from Bengal prior to independ-
ence in 1947 and the indigenous Muslims of erstwhile parts of
Bengal, like Goalpara and Barak Valley which became parts of
India in 1947, cannot be labelled as illegal migrants, or foreign-
ers, East Pakistani or Bangladeshis. It is highly incorrect and
objectionable..
Mention may also be made here that a section of Assamese
leaders overlooking the Karachi Resolution of 1931 and the section
298 of the Government of India Act 1935 sowed the seeds of
parochialism, communalism and separatism in Assam on religious
and lingual lines. This led to the transfer of Sylhet to East Pakistan,
eviction of a large number of Muslims from Assam and eruption of
communal riots in different places of the state on the eve of inde-
pendence.
Expelling of Muslim from Assam as foreigners: Immediately
after independence, expulsion of Muslims from Assam as foreign-
ers and undesirable elements started and many were expelled
from the state while the door of migration and settlement of
Nepalese in all parts of India including Assam was kept open under
the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950.
During the communal riots of 1948-1950, countless Muslim
houses were burnt down, many Muslims were killed and five to six
lakh Muslims were compelled to leave Assam for East Pakistan
(Hem Barua, The Red River and the Blue Hills, p. 129 cited in
Hidayat, June 2000 pp. 17f).
During the period 1952-1971, over two lakh Muslims were
expelled from Assam as East Pakistanis and undesirable ele-
ments. After the creation of Bangladesh till 2002, at least one lakh
Muslims were detected and deported as Bangladeshis, while the
real foreigners were left untouched.
Thus, during the period 1952-2002, over 330,076 Muslims
were expelled from the state (The Milli Gazette, 16-31 January
2005, p. 10). In fact, the entire issue of foreigners is based on com-
munal lines.
Besides expelling, a large number of Muslims were murdered
as Bangladeshis during the last 60 years. In Nellie alone, over two
thousand Muslim men, women, children and infants were murdered
during one night in February 1983.
Bangladeshis: During the war of Bangladesh liberation in 1971,
a large number of East Pakistani refugees comprising of Hindus
and Muslims entered Assam though the number of Muslim
refugees was not very large. Though this population returned to
their places of origin after the creation of Bangladesh, yet it is
assumed that a chunk of this population stayed back in the state.
So far as the question of Muslim refugees is concerned, it appears
that almost all of them were sent back from the state.
Harassment of Assam Muslims: The total Muslim population of
Assam was 83 lakh in 2001. Half of this population is daily wage-
earners. They go to different places of the state to earn their liveli-
hood and stay there temporarily till employment is available. But it
has been observed that when the poor, indigenous Muslims of
Goalpara, Dhubri, Barpeta, Nalbari, Cachar, Karimganj etc. go to
Upper Assam in search of livelihood, they are harassed, ill-treated
and persecuted by communal forces branding them as immigrants
and Bangladeshis. Their fundamental right to earn their livelihood,
move to and settle in any part of India is, thus, being continuously
violated. This is one of the reasons of high concentration of Muslim
population in some districts of Assam. The purpose of harassing
these poor Muslims appears to be to compel them to leave Assam
under duress.
Conclusion: Muslims of Assam have no objection to detection and
deportation of foreigners. Rather, they demand that all foreigners
irrespective of their caste, colour and religion must be detected and
expelled from the country through due process of law. At the same
time, it must be ensured that genuine citizens are not harassed and
their legal and human rights are not violated in the process.
Muslims living permanently in Assam are as indigenous as the
Assamese Hindus living in the state. The efforts to divide them on
religious and cultural line will have to be checked effectively. The
secular, peace-loving social and human rights activists should seek
legal means for protection of legal and human rights of the poor
Bengali Muslims on one hand and on the other, Muslim scholars,
intellectuals and students should consider filing defamation cases
against those who cause injury to their reputation by levelling them
as illegal migrants and Bangladeshis.
Muslims in Assam
As per the period of their migration, Muslims can be divided into three groups. The first stream
of Muslims came to Assam during 800-1200 CE, the second stream came during 1200-1826 and
the third stream of Muslims came to the state during 1826-1945. Most of the descendants of the
Muslims who came to Assam prior to 1826 have already adopted Assamese as their mother
tongue and became part of the Assamese society. They cannot be called immigrants.
NATIONAL
8 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
AZIZ A MUBARAKI
A Karnataka government-appointed committee, which surveyed
Waqf board lands in the state recently, has stumbled upon a
multi-crore scandal and has submitted a 7,000-page report on the
scam to the chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda. It has shocked
all as the latest Waqf scam is touted to be larger than the 2G
spectrum scam that rocked the country last year. The committee
found that major irregularities had taken place between 2001 and
2012 in the transfer of Waqf land to private parties through muta-
tion where an estimated loss to the exchequer was likely to be
around Rs 2 lakh crores. Mutation is a legal process through
which government land is transferred or sold to individuals, insti-
tutions, persons or firms after proper verification of all documents
related to the land. Its clear that the legal process was flagrantly
violated in Karnataka while selling or transferring the Waqf lands
to private individuals. Of the Waqf boards 33,741 properties
spread across a whopping 54,000 acres of registered land,
around 27,000 acres have not been used for what they are meant
for, and were disposed off illegally.
Understanding Waqf
Under Muslim rule in India the concept of Waqf was more broad-
ly comprehended as aligned with the spirit of charitable contribu-
tions approved by the Quran. Waqf implies the endowment of
property, moveable or immovable, tangible or intangible to Allah
in perpetuity by a Muslim, under the premise that the transfer will
benefit the intended deprived or chosen section of society. As a
legal transaction, the Waqif (settler) appoints himself or some
trustworthy person(s) as Mutawalli (Manager) in an endowment
deed (Waqf-namah) to oversee the Waqf (charitable trust). As it
implies a surrender of property to Allah, a Waqf deed is
unchangeable and everlasting. In harmony with the true spirit of
Islam, rich Indian Muslims including rulers dedicated property
such as land and its revenue rights to Awqaf (plural of Waqf) cre-
ated with the aim of maintaining mosques, madrasas, dragahs,
khanqahs, maqbaras, ashoorkhanas, qabristans (graveyards),
takiyas, Idgahs, Imambaras, anjumans, tombs, orphanages
(yatimkhanas) etc. Besides, the charitable intent that clearly
underlined these donations, for instance, land could have been
Waqf(ed) for the creation of a graveyard where poor people could
bury their dead. These donations to Awqaf were also done with
the interest of promoting the tenets of Islam to benefit Muslims
and others.
Under Muslim rule, the presence of Islamic courts overseen
by Qazis ensured that the Mutawallis discharged their duties fair-
ly. Their mismanagement of the properties was considered
breach of the trust reposed in them for which they were duly pun-
ished.
Therefore, keeping all religious obligations in mind, the
Central Waqf Council, an Indian statutory body was established
in 1964 by the Government of India under Waqf Act, 1954 for the
purpose of advising it on matters pertaining to the working of the
State Waqf Boards and proper administration of the Wakfs in the
country.
Loot of waqfs
The scam involving the Waqf properties that has surfaced in
Karnataka is not an isolated case. Loot of the waqf estates has
been going on all across the country. The mismanagement of the
properties in India reflects the Muslim communitys failure to build
a clean and organized establishment that could look after the vast
estate efficiently. Most Muslims in India live in phenomenally bad
socio-economic condition. Poverty, lack of education and unem-
ployment are rampant in the community. If the Waqf properties
were managed or utilized the way they are supposed to be, many
of the communitys perennial problems could have been resolved
without any help from outside. Sadly, those who wield power and
have been installed as leaders in the community, have turned cor-
rupt. Most of them sitting on top of the existing institutions that
control the waqf estates have been found selling away the prop-
erties piece by piece, for personal gain. It frustrates us as we find
that more than 70% of Indias Waqf estates have already been
sold away in the past decades by our unscrupulous Muslim lead-
ers.
There is a complex set of reasons for this state of affairs in
institutions that claim to work for the benefit of the countrys
largest minority and the worlds second-largest Muslim popula-
tion. Even in the case of Waqf, political hangers-on and operators
from the minority community are sent off to man the boards.
The policies of successive governments have created a class
of Sarkari Musalmans adept at capturing institutions and bag-
ging positions through which they can patronize others down the
pecking order. Even common Muslims just see the Waqf placard
and believe the land belongs to them. They are encouraged to
believe that there is some higher religious purpose to Waqf, little
knowing the fact that it has become a synonym for daylight rob-
bery. The greatest hypocrisy perhaps is that the men who violate
the spirit of charity behind the concept of Waqf then pretend to be
committed and dutiful believers. This resource has been mort-
gaged, sold and encroached upon with the connivance of the
very institutions and individuals responsible for safeguarding it,
turning it all into a systemic rot. The Waqf boards in most states
of India are dens of corruption, in league with politicians, local
land sharks, and builders. They continue to get away with the
daylight robbery of their own community because, whenever
there is any demand for scrutiny, they mischievously take cover
behind the Islam in danger sentiment.
S
ome glaring examples of suspected land deals from across
the land:
Chennai: In 1997, the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board took the deci-
sion to outright sell 1,710 square feet of land in the commercial
Triplicane High Street in Madras for a paltry Rs 3 lakh. A sale like
this would have required the sanction of at least two-thirds of the
board members.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Waqf Board got a measly Rs 16
lakh [instead of the market value of Rs 21 crore] for 4,532square
metres in the upscale Altamount Road on which none other than
Mukesh Ambani has built his plush 27-storey home.
Bangalore: Developed on about five acres of land, the
Windsor Manor hotel here was till recently giving the board a rent
of Rs 12,000 a month for a property worth not less than Rs 500
crore.
Faridabad: The Waqf board has been leasing out about five
acres of land on 11-month leases for several years at a ridiculous-
ly low rent between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500 per month. A factory
was built at the place and land use altered.
Kolkata: Shaw Wallace was giving a miniscule amount as
rent for the palatial building at the BBD Bag business district in
Kolkata until the new Mutawalli of the Prince Ghulam Mohammed
Waqf Estate dragged the corporate house to the court.
Encroachment of waqf properties in West Bengal
So across the country, there are examples of a huge Waqf mess.
West Bengal which has highest numbers of Waqf properties in
the country is no different and has higher record of property
encroachments as well i. e., like 4,000 illegal occupants are in
possession of a property in Calcutta known as the Mysore Family
Fateha Fund Waqf Estate. There are over few hundred mosques
in Calcutta and other adjoining districts where Waqf lands have
been encroached upon unlawfully. Sixty-four other mosques in
the state have been illegally occupied by outsiders. West Bengal
which has approximately 184,000 Waqf properties, accounting for
31% of such properties in the country has suffered the most at the
hands of corrupt Mutawallis or managers of Waqf properties who,
with the help of officials belonging to the Ministry of Land and
Land Reforms (during the left regime), have got many of them
sold. The CPI (M) built party offices on several such wakf plots.
The Left Front government also transformed a 50,000 sq m prop-
erty in Tufanganj, Cooch Behar, worth Rs 20 crores into a state
bus depot and warehouse. In Midnapore (Kharagpur) a big
departmental store and other commercial complex have come up
on a land which was a Muslim Burial Ground (Qabristan) not very
long ago. Similarly hundreds of bighas of Waqf land were
acquired and transferred to private coal mining company in
Burdwan district for a pittance through shoddy deals. So many
prime Waqf plots and properties have changed character
because of legal loopholes, thereby denying Muslims a religious
endowment under Islamic law, where the income was meant for
the sole use in charitable purposes.
In Feb 1996, irregularities were first detected at a Waqf prop-
erty on Collin Street, Kolkata, which involved the prime accused
Mr. Hamidul Huda and his family. With so many unanswered
questions and mounting pressure, the then chief minister of
Bengal late Jyoti Basu appointed a one- man judicial commission
headed by Justice Gitesh Ranjan Bhattacharya in March 1997.
Testimonies from the representatives of several Muslim organiza-
tions and Imams were recorded. And after almost five years of
investigation, the inquiry report was submitted on 31 Dec 2001 to
the West Bengal government. On the basis of this report, Hamidul
Huda, a CPI-M leader and former member of the Waqf Board,
was arrested. But many still feel that prime accused Hamidul
Huda was just being made a scapegoat to shield some CPI-M
bigwigs. Many even feel that if the Left Front government desired
to clear its name it should have taken upon itself very seriously
and must have followed the recommendations made by Justice
GR Bhattacharya Commission report.
Recommendations of Justice GR Bhattacharya Commission
- Decentralize Waqf properties management and form district
Waqf boards in view of the mess over listed and unlisted proper-
ties throughout the state.
- Prevent concentration of power and plug the routes to escape
responsibilities by the Waqf Board members and Waqf
Commissioner.
- Fix collective and individual responsibility and bar anybody from
holding office for more than one term. A member or his close rel-
atives should not be involved in transfer and transaction of Waqf
property.
- Laws and rules regarding lease and tenancy should be
changed.
- Complete survey and enrolment of Waqf properties in the quick-
est possible time.
- Empower trustees of Waqf properties to move court against
unauthorized sale.
- No sale of Waqf properties to be registered without the boards
permission
Modus operandi of the scamsters
Outright sale: Builder or businessman identifies a Waqf property.
They approach members of the board. The land is sold for a pit-
tance. Board members get their cuts.
Discounted rent: It happens in states where outright sale is
not encouraged. Here builder/ businessman approaches board
members. The land is given on a ridiculously low lease. Land use
is changed to facilitate commercial exploitation. Members pocket
their cuts.
Although Waqf is a national reserve for use in building insti-
tutions and earn income for Muslims, it is so awfully managed
that it is the only system where practically no accountability is
demanded. Cases of unashamed corruption flourish. Land is sold
off to make way for private buildings, hotels, malls or factories for
a trifle or is given out for shockingly low rents to commercial inter-
ests. The boards have become an avenue for political patronage.
Favourite Muslims who cannot be accommodated in ministries
are sent off here. They mostly never do anything to help the com-
munity. In most cases, they are hand-in-glove with the land mafia
and encroachers. The mess in the boards also reflects the apa-
thy of state governments. Many have not constituted boards;
none have carried out a survey of Waqf properties as required by
the 1995 Act.
In West Bengal, at least, the newly elected government has
learnt from the Lefts mistakes. The new government has taken
some significant initiatives towards sorting out the legal problems
surrounding Waqf properties in the state so that their revenue can
be distributed for the socio-economic benefit of the Muslim com-
munity. Chief Minister Bannerji has announced a CBI probe into
the dealings of the previous Waqf board, and has launched a
number of pro-minorities proposals which include a scheme of
monthly honorarium for the Imams, which is duly linked with the
funds at the State Waqf Board. In addition, she has sought data
on the matter, as Waqf properties are worth more than Rs 70,000
crores in West Bengal, the highest in India. She is aware that
Muslims will not need any government help if Waqf revenues are
used fairly for their benefit, something which the Left Front
ignored. The WB government has already taken action to avoid
further dilemmas in managing the Waqf estates in the state.
Elections were held to the Waqf Board. Survey of Waqf property
is being undertaken. A Tribunal has been set up and more will be
constituted if the situation demands. Responsibilities for Board
members are now being fixed. To add transparency to the work-
ing of the Waqf, Tenure Restricting Bill should also be consid-
ered.
As a matter of fact, Waqf is one of those areas in which
accountability has not been demanded by anyone. The commu-
nity itself has not demanded accountability, possibly because
Muslims are ignorant about these issues. However, things tend to
change once awareness builds up as its happening in Kerala,
where Muslims are literate and demand accountability. The Waqf
board in Kerala is manned by professionals and headed by two
advocates, not by racketeers. Even the bureaucrats in the min-
istry of minority affairs in New Delhi cite the work done by Kerala
Waqf board as an example of good work and ask other states to
emulate it.
There is no doubt that widespread misappropriation of the
Waqf properties is taking place across India. Safeguarding the
estates was the duty of the successive federal and state govern-
ments. But none performed their duty. The community itself is
also responsible for the build-up of this Waqf mess. Muslims must
understand that Waqf is a national resource that should have
been tapped for use in the welfare of the Muslim Community.
The author is Member of the Advisory Committee of the Airports
Authority of India.
The loot of waqf properties in India
The scam involving the
Waqf properties that
has surfaced in
Karnataka is not an
isolated case. Loot of
the waqf estates has
been going on all
across the country.
The mismanagement
of the properties in
India reflects the
Muslim communitys
failure to build a clean
and organized establishment that could look after the
vast estate efficiently. Most Muslims in India live in phe-
nomenally bad socio-economic condition. Poverty, lack
of education and unemployment are rampant in the com-
munity. If the Waqf properties were managed or utilized
the way they are supposed to be, many of the communi-
tys perennial problems could have been resolved with-
out any help from outside. Sadly, those who wield power
and have been installed as leaders in the community,
have turned corrupt. Most of them sitting on top of the
existing institutions that control the waqf estates have
been found selling away the properties piece by piece,
for personal gain. It frustrates us as we find that more
than 70% of Indias Waqf estates have already been sold
away in the past decades by our unscrupulous Muslim
leaders.
Following is a list of communal clashes in
Uttar Pradesh, after SPs Akhlesh Singh
Yadav assumed office with Muslim votes,
upto end of July 2012:
April 17, 2012
In Firozabads Rasulpur area in Shital Khan
Marg, Mir Mohammd Yusuf was attacked by SP
supporters. He had voted for the BSP.
May 23
In Bhagpat, Dalits toiled a graveyard of Pir Jalal
Shah dargah. Crops were sown on graves.
May 23
In Katholi, Jansath village, clashes on using
loud speaker at Sant Ravi Dasmandir. Muslim
filed complaint in police station.
May 24
In Moradabads Tehsil Bilari, Meena Ther vil-
lage is a minority village. A mosque was being
build here. Bajrang Dal and Lok Jan Shakti party
members protested at the collectorate. They
said, Muslims were harassing Hindus in the vil-
lage and using loud speakers in the mosque.
May 26
Dozens of armed Balmikis attacked a clinic of
Dr. Mohammad Yusuf of Mohalla Multaniyan in
Deoband. Doctors son Mohammad Afzals
motor cycle had knocked and injured a member
of Balmilki. Both communities attacked each
other. Afzal was beaten and referred to hospital.
May 20
In Tilhari village of same district, two communi-
ties Dalits and Muslims had come face to face at
a wrestling match. Police booked 19, Balmikis
after which gave a strike call. And refused to
clean streets.
June 1
In Nizamabad, Azamgarhs Sarai, Dalit Muslim
clashes took place. Police tried to reconciliation.
But Dalits rejected. Four Muslim youth including
a journalist booked under various sections. In
Sarai village, Dailits had destroyed mango and
guava crop of Muslims, that led to clashes.
June 3
Muzaffarnagar Thana Mansoorpur, Jaroda
area. Case filed against 19 Dalits for breaking
wall of a graveyard. Dalits were using graveyard
for drying up of cow dung etc. They had even
erected a small temple. After receiving a com-
plaint, police removed temple and cowdung
huts. Led to clashes. Court has twice given ver-
dict in favour of Muslims. Dalits are backed by
BKU. Village has 18000population. Out of which
10,000 Muslims. It is 100 year old graveyard.
June 4
In Muzaffarnagars Afzalgarh village clashes
between two groups. Zakirullah, two women and
18 people injured. Javed s/o Babu had eloped
with a Hindu girl from village.
June 4
Saharanpur: Clashes between Sikhs and
Muslims on demolition of Askari mosque. BSP
leader Haji Moharram Ali booked under Goonda
Act.
June 5
Meerut, Hapur Road: 12 people including 3
policemen injured. Rohit (22) resident of
Qazipur, Lohia Nagar had gone to a shop to
recharge his mobile. Muslim Shopowner
charged wrong number. It led to clashes.
June 5
In Attrola Thana Kotwali village Dalia, a dead
pig was thrown in a graveyard. Police arrested
Naresh Chand and Mahaver, both Dalits.
June 6
In Muzaffarnagar district, Qazipur graveyard
issue led to clashes between Daitsand Muslims.
Muslim teli samaj graveyard and a cremation
grounds lie side by side. When a Dalit
Bhishwashwar from Chamaran village died, his
dead body was cremated in graveyard.
June 9
In village Boni of
Thana Lakmipuri
of Phoolpur,
Azamgarh, Dailt-
Muslim clash
reported. A minor
tiff on May 30, let
to clashes. Dalits
looted Adils
mobile phone
shop. Police reg-
istered cases
against people from both sides, but later arrest-
ed only Adil and his brother Asif, who were both
victims. It led again to a clash between the two
communities.
June 11
In Meeranpur, Kathoda tehsil of Kathuli district,
elopement of a boy and girl led tensions
between Dalits and Muslims. Rumours were
thick that a guest was kidnapped from a Dalit
house. And in the morning, suddenly some Dalit
houses were set on fire. Police later found the
guest at Bijnor.
June 12
Aligarh Sahni gate, Sarai Bhoki Masjids custo-
dian beaten by shopkeepers.New custodian
Aslam Pervez had started locking mosque dur-
ing non-praying hours. Shopkeepers, who used
to take water form the mosque well, resented
the new practice and thrashed him.
June 12
Sikanderabad, village Chandrawli. Clash of
moter cyles led to a riot. Chandmohan clinic ran-
sacked. His motercyle had hit Surender moter
cyle in a narrow lane.
June 12
Gorakhpur, Glaria police station town Bhthat,
Toulaganj: Muslims had constructed Masjid
Bilal. Dalits complained and stopped work, say-
ing the mosque was constructed on a disputed
land.
June 13
Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh leaders Subash
Chandra Sharma, Vishnau Hari submitted a
memorandum to build a wall around the
Pataleshwar Shiv Mandir in Bhmroah village.
Bhmraoh is 100 per cent minority village. So far
Muslims in the village were looking after the
ancient Shiv mandir, though a pujari resides
there. Shiv Mandir shares road with an old
tomb. Behind the mandir is a vacant land. The
tension erupted after Vishwa Hindi Mahasang
claimed ownership of land.
June 14
Kandeela, Shamli Madrassa Qasimul Uloom
was gheroed by over 30 youth. They thrashed
its incharge Ghulam Rabbani. Village has 70
Muslim households. A dozen students were
thrown out and madrassa was locked.
June 19
In Bareilly clashes between Yadav and Muslim
erupted, after a Yadav girl appearing for B. Ed
married Ikramudin. It is second marriage of girl.
Two years ago, she had converted and married
one Riyazudin, who died in an accident some
time ago. Then she remarried another Muslim
boy. Community was forcing her to re-convert to
Hinduism.
June 17
Pratapgarh: Major riot that drew media atten-
tion.
June 18
In Lahsad village of Shamli Hindu girl had
eloped with a Muslim boy. Khap Panchyat
ordered boycott of Muslims.
June 21
After Kosi Kalan riots in Mathura, Mohammad
Muslim and his daughter-in-law thrashed in their
own home by some unidentified men.
June 22
Meerut Muslims marched against depiction of
Holy Kaaba on
Facebook in wrong
way. Police arrest-
ed a shopkeeper
Keshav Kaushak
and his son.
June 23
Nihod, Thana wali
mosque police
encroached wakf
land and built 50
residential flats.
June 23
Muslims approached Agra DM over depicting
Tipu Sultan as bar tender by a hotel.
June 27
In Thana Qadir Chowk in Yehta Daman Nagar,
Badaun, Veerpal Balmiki and his associates
slaughtered a pig in the fields and near the
house of Arif. After Arif protested, both sides
clashed and threw stones. Addl SP Piyush
Shrivastav handled situation.
June 27
In village Tasuli in Kheta Sarai under Kahan
Thana a 20 year old Madrasa Ihsanul Uloom
was forced to close down. On June 25, husband
of villagePradhan led by hundreds raided
madrassa. He summoned Muslims and told
them to close madrassa and if they send chil-
dren to madrassa, they will be boycotted in vil-
lage
June 30
Pratapgarhs Aishthan village a local Muslim
leader Tanveer fired at while distributing relief.
July 8
Just near national capital, thana Sahibabad,
Farukhabad town in district Ghaziabad one per-
son died and six injured in communal clashes.
The clashes erupted after motor bikes hit each
other. Situation was under control till morning of
July8. But early morning, armed Tiyagi commu-
nity members attacked houses of Muslim
Qureshi mohalla. Riyazudin, Liaqat Ali seriously
injured.
July 13
Nazirpur graveyard issue in Thana Dihat
Kotwali, Saharanpur, continues to incite com-
munal clashes. Despite SDM allowing erecting
wall, stone throwing incidents. DuringMawayati
regime, khasra number 406 of graveyard in
1999 was handed over on lease by then
Pradhan Manki Devi to dalits Rajkumar and
Chaman. It was challenged in the court. The
case was being pursued by one Dr. Bilal. On
July 11, SDM ruled in favour of Muslims. As they
started constructing wall. Dalits stoned and
forced to stop work. Others say, in 1986 the land
was issued to Phalu a Dalit, who had undergone
vasectomy. But lease has expired in 1991.
July 13
Kotwali halqa Mohalla Matani Sheikh Usman,
Shajahanpur, the wall of Dada Mians tomb
destroyed. North of mazar is house of Lal
Bahadur. Mutawalli Dr. Mujeeb Khan says, Amit
and Sumit, sons of Lal Bahadur, have destroyed
the wall.
July 20
Bareily: Thana incharge S P Sharma saved sit-
uation after a new place of worship on railway
land was coming up.
Karatpur: Balmiki Samaj and Muslims clashed.
Balmikis called strike and did not clean city. In
Mohalla Budhupada Wasim, Munno, Shadab
were intercepted by some Balmiki youth, when
they were travelling in their area. Wasim got
injured. Police has arrested a boy Ranjit.
Meerut: Prekshatgarh area village Khajuri.
Khajuri pradans associates Jatin and Garu on
mothercyles came to mosque and fired through
pistols. Then they fired at madrassa also. A
tabligi jammat was there at mosque. Muslim vil-
lagers gheroed the attackers and handed them
over to police
July 21
Police in Pratapgarh registered cases against
Muslims for illegal cattle smuggling. Thana
Antun incharge Adal Singh Solanki raided
Jaitipur Kathar and thrashed Muslim inhabi-
tants. Police thrashed women. Locals say,
police personnel were in inebriated condition
and were abusing Muslim community. Adal
Singh even asked local MLA Naginder Singh to
remain quiet, when he had tried to intervene.
July 23
Rampur
July 24
Nawabganj: Two dozen Muslims had taken
refuge in a dargah. Miscreants had gheraoed
dargah and were stoning. A concerted plan to
evacuate Muslims to seize their properties and
field.
July 24
In Himatpur of Shahabad village, Kanwarias
and Muslims clashed at the use of loudspeak-
ers. Clash between Thakurs and Muslims. Past
few days, miscreants used to play deck at high
decibels at Iftar time.
July 24
Bareily: Imam of Redi Tola mosque, died after
rioters broke into the mosque.
July 24
Stoning and fire at Sayidana, Anola. Kanwarias
procession in Muslim majority area at the time of
Iftar and evening prayers. Riots broke out in
Shahidana, SahamatGanj and Gangapur. Fire
near Azad Inter College.
July 24
Khatoli: Tension between Muslims and Dalits
due to use of loud speaker at Iftar time
inDatanput village, Chadsiniya. Both communi-
ties attacked each other. News of a desecration
of a murti created tension in the area.
July 24
Bagpat: Thana Palini, Dolcha village a madrass
was razed to ground.
July 24
Faizabad, Mirzapur village, villagers put locks
on a mosque. Mosque inchargeEhtisham Khan
says the role of chowki incharge Saadat Ganj
and SO Thana Cant was highly partisan.
July 24
Nawgaon Sadat: In village Khedka, police had
stopped Muslims offering prayers, after a ten-
sion. When the community assembled and start-
ed offering namaz at an ancient village mosque,
the other community reported to police, which
disallowed praying at the mosque, saying no
prayers were being offered in the mosque for
years. So they cannot allow a new practice.
Thana Bichraun: In Monda Khadar village,
police stopped Muslims offering namaz. Muslim
community says, they had been offering prayers
at the place for over past 20 years.
July 27
Dhampur: Miscreants threw a desi bomb inside
Jama Masjid on the first Friday of Ramazan,
injuring several people. In the midst of Imams
sermon, a bomb was thrown on the roof and
another hit courtyard of mosque.
July 30
Dhampur: Pork thrown in a mosque in Jinwa
Sarai. Imam Hafiz Hashimudin and SP leader
Javed Ansari reported that miscreants have
thrown pork in Abu Hurara mosque.
Khurja: In a Digambar Jain temple at old Sarafa
bazar, animal flesh was found early morning,
when devotees started arriving for pooja.
Crowds gathered and started sloganeering.
Police reported that at least 50 kgs animal flesh
was found in the temple campus. SSP Gulab
Singh saved the situation and sent the flesh for
laboratory testing.
Compiled By ABDUL KHALIQ,
General Secretary, Lok Janshati Party
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 9
NATIONAL
Riot after riot in Uttar Pradesh
NATIONAL
10 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
AFSANA RASHID, SRINAGAR
Asserting that talks and violence cant go together, Hurriyat (M)
chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said talks on Kashmir
between India and Pakistan would continue to remain inconclu-
sive without the participation of people of Kashmir.
Killings of people and dialogue cant go together. It is a polit-
ical gimmick. Killing Kashmiris and simultaneously asking for
talks aimed at resolving the issue means India is playing dual pol-
itics, said Mirwaiz in a statement here, July 27.
He added there is no way out but to take extraordinary meas-
ures to improve the ground situation. Restoration of friendly rela-
tions between India and Pakistan completely hinged on resolution
of Kashmir issue. If New Delhi is serious to resolve the Kashmir
issue, it should shun the policy of double-standards.
Mirwaiz said amalgam had already put forward suggestions
like withdrawal of troops, revocation of AFSPA and free cross-
LoC movement. Emphasizing that the Army is calling the shots in
the state, Mirwaiz July 29 said visit of Defence Minister and Army
Chief clearly suggests that New Delhi wants to strengthen the
institution of the Army in Kashmir. Martial law is in place here and
the state government is helpless before the Army at every level.
It is high time India and Pakistan resolve the Kashmir issue for
the stability of south Asia.
Protest over murder of youth
Killing of a youth allegedly by the army in north Kashmirs Bandipora
district triggered massive protests in and around the area for five
consecutive days. Protests were carried out, markets shut and
vehicular traffic disrupted after the Army allegedly killed Hilal Ahmed
Dar, 25, of Lahipora-Aloosa in Bandipora at Halmathpora-Aloosa on
July 24 night. Residents allege that the youth was killed in custody.
The Army claimed to have killed a militant. As the news spread,
locals staged protests and raised slogans. Carrying Dars body,
people refused to bury him till chief minister Omar Abdullah inter-
vened. Police lodged an FIR number 143 of 2012 U/S 302.
An Army spokesman said based on information regarding
movement of two to three militants in Aloosa-Halmatpura, a sur-
veillance-cum-ambush was launched in Ashtung Nar on July
24/25 night. On being challenged, it was fired upon and a brief
fire-fight ensued. A body and AK-47 along with ammunition were
recovered. Locals say that Dar, who worked for a cement facto-
ry and was the sole bread earner for his family, was affiliated to
the Tableegi Jamaat. They alleged that the army picked him up
after he had offered evening prayers and tortured him to death.
In the wake of strong public protest, Defence Minister
AK Antony ordered an inquiry, July 26 followed by a probe by the
army, July 30. While police maintained that it may have been a
case of mistaken identity, government ordered a magisterial
probe. Condemning the incident Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali
Shah Geelani, while addressing Nazool-e-Quran conference
here said, It is a heinous and brutal crime. It is a part of the
states plan to muzzle voices of resistance.
Rejecting a magisterial probe ordered by the government,
High Court Bar Association called for an impartial probe. Taking
suo moto cognizance of killing, SHRC July 27 asked DGP and
Deputy Commissioner Bandipora to file reports on the matter by
next date due on August 22. Meanwhile, police July 29 said two
persons have been arrested in connection with Dars killing and
initial investigation says that an Army informer, Muhammad
Ramzan Bhat of Aloosa got Dar killed allegedly for monetary ben-
efits and recovered a weapon from another arrested person,
Nazir Ahmed. Prima facie evidence reveals that it was a planned
killing. In another incident, Aqib Yousuf Bhat, 18, was allegedly
killed by security forces in CRPF camp at Balpora-Shopian in
south Kashmir, July 30. Bhat, a driver, used to supply water to the
local CRPF camp. Locals and family claim he was beaten to
death in the camp. Police terms it an accident.
As the news spread, protestors took to the streets and pelted
stones on the police. Shopkeepers downed their shutters and
observed a complete strike. Mainstream political parties
demanded an impartial probe. Mirwaiz described it as horren-
dous example of state terrorism and Geelani alleged that no civil-
ian in the state was safe and that the armed forces were killing
them brazenly.
Civilians to depose in Army enquiry
Civilian witnesses and members of other security forces, who are
connected to Pathribal and Machil alleged fake encounters, will be
allowed to depose before the Armys enquiry into these cases.
We will strictly go as per rules. There will be no short-cuts, we will
be transparent and will ensure that every person who was
involved is asked to depose before the inquiry. Therefore, witness-
es will not only be from the Army, but they will be civilians and
other security forces, whosoever was involved, GOC-in-C
Northern Command Lt Gen K T Parnaik told media-persons at
Kargil War memorial in Drass, about 150 kms from Srinagar, July
26. He said Army has taken over both Pathribal and Machil cases
from the magistrate as per directions of the Supreme Court and
will proceed against people under provisions of the Army Act and
Army rules. Brig Ajay Saxena, Lt Col Brajendra Pratap Singh,
Major Sourabh Sharma, Major Amit Saxena and Subedar Idrees
Khan were charge-sheeted by the CBI in 2006 for killing five civil-
ians at Pathribal and later dubbing them as foreign militants.
As per CBI investigation, five civilians were killed and brand-
ed as militants, days after 35 Sikhs were massacred in
Chattisinghpora village. Three civilians were killed in an alleged
fake encounter at Machil in 2010 and later branded as foreign mil-
itants. About AFSPA, he said state government and army were
on the same page. It is an issue over which the army has always
given professional advice. He said 40-50 infiltration attempts had
taken place from across the LoC, that year so far. Calling for pre-
emptive measures, he said there is a possibility that militants
operating on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border will be diverted to
Kashmir once US troops withdrawal begins.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister A K Antony stressed on the need
for reduction in the visibility of armed forces in the state, saying there
can be no justification for human rights violations. Efforts should be
made to reduce visibility of armed forces as much as possible with-
out compromising efficacy, said Antony, while chairing Unified
Headquarters meeting here, July 28. Addressing the meeting, chief
minister Omar Abdullah asserted that operations against militants
should be carried out without any civilian casualty.
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THE MILLI GAZETTE
First English Newspaper of Indian Muslims. Telling the Muslim side of the story fortnight after fortnight since January 2000
No Kashmir solution without peoples participation: Omar
Jammu: Its a trauma that has lingered on for 65 years. Some
2,000-3,000 Hindu families had migrated to J&K from West
Pakistan when the sub-continent was partitioned in 1947. Many
of the elders have died, but their descendants, who have swelled
to 200,000, are yet to get citizenship rights because the states
constitution does not permit this.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured them some
four years ago that he would have their case examined. In spite
of this and despite petitions in the Supreme Court and the J&K
high court, there has been no movement forward.
Sixty-year-old Mela Ram Bhagat put it poignantly:
Manmohan Singh is also a refugee but he has become the prime
minister. We are still where we were.
The villian of the piece, as it were, is article 370 of the Indian
constitution by virtue of which Jammu and Kashmir has a special
status. Those originally from the state have citizenship rights and
are called state subjects. These state subjects can own property,
get government jobs, free higher education and the like.
This is not so for the refugees as their ancestors were not
original residents of the state. Thus, even though they have
access to government healthcare they dont have the rights of the
other citizens. Curiously enough, they can vote in the Lok Sabha
elections but not in the state assembly elections.
They are not even entitled to ration cards, as a result of which
they have to buy their provisions from the open market. This is
quite a tall order as most of the refugees are daily wagers and
barely manage to eke out a living. The others run small shops,
tea stalls and the like.
The original families had realised way back in 1947 what they
were in for and wanted to shift to neighbouring Punjab but were
dissuaded from doing so by then chief minister Sheikh
Mohammad Abdullah, who assured them of justice.
We do feel bad about this, but what can we do now? At the
time of partition even some of us wanted to shift to Punjab from
Digiana (on Jammus outskirts) but Sheikh sahib (Abdullah)
promised that we will get all rights. Now we are children of
nowhere and no one, Bhagat lamented.
Although we are human beings, yet we are living the life of
an animal. This is our fourth generation here. But still we are
aliens here, added Bhagat, who lives with his family in a mud
house in the Niki Tawi area on the western outskirts of Jammu.
The small house is on a rented piece of land as the refugees can-
not buy property in Jammu and Kashmir.
The worst part is that we are not even entitled to govern-
ment scholarships. School authorities ask for a state subject cer-
tificate if we want to pursue higher education. And we cannot pay
for private education. We are three sisters and a brother and our
father is a labourer. What do we do? Sunita Rani, 17, who just
finished her Class 10, asked while speaking to IANS, tears in her
eyes.
She wants to study further but the situation does not permit
her to do so as one needs a state subject certificate to go beyond
Class 10. I had a dream of becoming a teacher but now I have
to sit at home. I am searching for a job so that at least I can help
my father in running the home.
Subash Chander, 45, envies his classmates. I had to
become a labourer after doing my tenth class. But my class fel-
lows, who were state subjects, are in government jobs or are in
police.
In all this, the politicians are fishing in troubled waters, says
Labha Ram Gandhi, a leader of these refugees.
The Kashmir-centric political setup does not want to take a
decision in favour of us (refugees) living in Jammu as it would
amount to losing the Kashmiri votebank. This has become a polit-
ical issue, Gandhi said.
Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla of the Congress speaks for
the political spectrum: There is a technical problem in making
them state subjects as Article 370 does not permit this. But we
are thinking of viamedias to provide them basic facilities. (Binoo
Joshi, IANS)
Open Letter to Assam CM
July 25, 2012
Shri Tarun Gogoi, Honble Chief Minister of Assam
Dear Sir, We, citizens of India committed to its deep secular and
peace loving ethos appeal to you as head of the government in
Assam to take all steps to ensure that violence stops, security is
given to all displaced and dishoused by the violence so that they
may return to their homes forthwith; adequate reparation for the
lives lost and homes and other properties destroyed is paid and
more than anything else a Fair and Time Bound Judicial
Investigation by a Sitting HC Judge is conducted into the build up
and fallout of the violence.
What concerns us deeply is the divisive discourse that seeks
to create legitimacy for the violence by words and phrases like
infiltrators. Since the mid 1990s tensions have simmered
between the majority Bodo Councils and Muslim settlers despite
the fact that the latter status was recognised in the Assam
accord. Yet under the guise of discriminating between the two a
small skirmish blew into a full blown communal conflagration;
while the ethnicity of the 32 persons who lost their lives does not
matter, the fact that the five persons who lost their lives to police
bullets are from the minority has generated fear. There are
already 1,70,000 persons in relief camps and they must be
assisted with due security to return to their homes immediately.
Dialogue must begin between the majority Bodo villages and the
Muslim settlers for integrated rehabilitation.
Respecting your commitment to intra community peace we
appeal to you to respond to this anguished appeal.
Teesta Setalvad, Mumbai Javed Anand, Mumbai; Dr Asghar Ali
Engineer, Mumbai Ram Puniyani , Mumbai; Irfan Engineer,
Mumbai Hasan Kamal, Mumbai; Zafar Agha, Mumbai; MM Tirmizi,
Ahmedabad; Rupa @Tanaz Mody, Ahmedabad Sairabehn
Salimbhai Sandhi, Ahmedabad; Salimbhai Noormohammed
Sandhi, Ahmedabad Tanveer Jafri, Surat; Rajendra Prasad, SAH-
MAT, Delhi; Ram Rahman, Delhi; M K Raina, Delhi.
65 years on, refugees still stateless in J&K
J&K voices always suppressed: Saeed
Peoples Democratic Party patron and former chief minister Mufti
Mohammad Sayeed has said that Government of India (GOI)
never allowed strong representative voices in Jammu and
Kashmir. Situation in Kashmir cant change unless people are
given the right to exercise their democratic rights, said Mufti,
while addressing 13th foundation day of the party here, July 30.
Mufti said GoI doesnt want leaders akin to West Bengal and Uttar
Pradesh chief ministers, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav to
emerge in the state. Unfortunately, the establishment in Delhi has
never been comfortable with strong representative voices from the
state. It has historically promoted handpicked yes-men, said Mufti,
adding unless internal and external dimensions of the state are
addressed effectively, the sore will continue to fester.
Stressing that AFSPA should be revoked and cities and
towns demilitarized, party president, Mehbooba Mufti said the
government has failed to fulfill the commitment made by chief
minister on the floor of legislative assembly that all FIRs against
youth would be withdrawn. Instead, more youth have been
arrested and fabricated cases registered. Later, while talking to
the media on the sidelines of a function, she said killing of Hilal
Ahmad Dar of Bandipora allegedly by the Army has shown that
a nexus between Ikhwanis (state-sponsored gunmen) and
security forces has returned, which is unfortunate.
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 11
ANALYSIS
The political credentials of two leaders are facing a
strong socio-political test. One is Anna Hazare and the
other is Narendra Modi. Since last year, through hunger
strikes, demonstrations and other means of protest,
Hazare had succeeded in drawing attention to his own
team and issues they are most concerned about, that is
the need of a strong anti-corruption bill. Hazares latest
decision to disband his team that was involved actively
for the past 16 months in this movement and consider
floating a political party for 2014 parliamentary elections
in India has taken the nation by a shock. Hazares deci-
sion to take the political plunge has raised questions as
to whether his agitation was an anti-corruption drive or
was it simply a political drama deliberately enacted to tar-
nish the image of the Congress Party and improve
prospects of those supporting him.
Hazares anti-corruption drive began before assembly
polls in Uttar Pradesh. Team Anna failed to influence vot-
ers in this state. There is nothing surprising about this.
Corruption may be labeled as just one of the major prob-
lems faced by Indians. Attention is needed for more
issues, which include inflation, communalism and terror-
ism among others. Politically, socially, constitutionally
and even statistically, Hazare is not representative of any
segment or institution of the country to have the authori-
ty to raise voice on their behalf. Certainly, he is entitled to
raise his voice on issues concerning him and his sup-
porters. But they dont represent the entire populace.
Quite a substantial number of Hazares supporters
and associates fall in the bracket of those shying away
from making noise on certain social, including communal
and terroristic issues. They have apparently played a
greater role in promoting the same than talking of multi-
religious secularism. In this context, the socio-political
fire and media hype raised over Hazares anti-corruption
hunger strike had apparently a deliberate motive. That is
to divert people and medias attention from more sensi-
tive issues, including saffron brigade associates com-
munal as well as terroristic designs and activities.
Hazares decision to float a political party only suggests
that his 16-month drama was politically motivated with an
eye on helping the saffron brigade in 2014 polls.
The U-turn taken by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi in his political rhetoric suggests the same with one
difference. Modi is keen to be considered as a prime min-
isterial candidate. Modi has created waves in media and
political circles by stating that he is prepared to be hung
if he is held guilty for 2002 Gujarat-carnage. Clearly, it
has taken around a decade for Modi to accept that his
communal-card has helped him politically only in his own
state. His declaring himself as not responsible for
Gujarat-carnage is equivalent to his donning a secular
mask so that he is considered for the big office in Delhi.
Here lies a major communication lapse that Modi appar-
ently is not ready to give considerable importance. True,
his words have created significant waves in media world
and also politically. But these do not suggest that his
words have been accepted as the ultimate truth, that he
was not responsible for 2002-riots. Members of his own
party and alliance are not willing to be guided by what
Modi has declared. They still cannot forget the hard fact
that had 2002-carnage not tarnished BJP-led National
Democratic Alliance (NDA)s image, this coalition may not
have lost the subsequent parliamentary elections. The
Indian voter did not want the Gujarat-carnage to be
repeated elsewhere.
The defeat of NDA helped in the return of Congress to
the Centre. Against this backdrop, Modis own party and
alliance members are against projecting him as their
prime ministerial candidate. They are literally scared that
this may prove damaging for their prospects in Lok
Sabha elections. Not surprisingly, Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar has announced his opposition to support-
ing Modi as NDAs prime ministerial candidate. It may be
recalled that Nitish did not allow Modi to campaign for
NDA in Bihar for assembly elections. The message was
simple: Nitish did not want his political credentials to be
damaged by Modi stepping into Bihar and antagonizing
his secular and Muslim supporters. Nitishs opposition to
him as NDAs prime ministerial candidate is a mild sym-
bol of politico-media bubble floated by Modi beginning to
burst.
True, it has been fairly easy for Hazare and Modi to
earn media and political attention by creating news,
through hunger strikes, demonstrations or expressing
willingness to be hung. But their own moves have pre-
vented people from accepting credibility and legitimacy
of their news. Regarding Modi, when Muslims were
mercilessly being killed and burnt alive in Gujarat, he was
the chief minister. Why did he fail then to control those
riots? The degree to which his political image has been
tarnished by that dark chapter in Indias secular history
cannot be cleansed by noises he makes today about his
secular credentials. News manufactured by him
about his being not guilty is not being accepted as the
truth by his own political colleagues and rest of the coun-
try. The news-value of Hazares anti-corruption drive has
fallen flat by his new political agenda!
Speaki ng Out
Exposed:
Political Agenda
of Hazare & Modi
NI LOFAR SUHRAWARDY
The role of the current Maharashtra ATS chief during 26/11
and the 1993 Mumbai blasts, remains controversial. Close col-
leagues of Rakesh Maria point out that Maria was one of the offi-
cers involved in the indiscriminate picking up of Muslim men,
women and children after the 1993 blasts. Stories of horrible tor-
ture unleashed by the Mumbai Police abound. The editorial of
12th May 1993 of the newspaper Pioneer mentions that The
metropolis policemen and their counterparts in Raigad district
(where the smuggled consignments of explosive were landed)
appear to have cast aside all norms of civilized behaviour, democ-
racy and the rule of law. Worse, they seem to have given free rein
to their personal communal prejudices. A series of habeas corpus
petitions before the Bombay High Court reveal that the police
have been indiscriminately picking up ordinary citizen, invariably
Muslims, booking them under TADA (a law meant exclusively for
terrorists) and then detaining them for inordinately long periods.
Remember, the Pioneer was and still is a newspaper consid-
ered right wing and pro-BJP.
Justice Rajinder Sachar, then a functionary of the Peoples
Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said, TADA was being mis-
usedAfter Bombay (bomb blasts) many Muslims have been
arrested under TADA.
An Amnesty International delegation visited Mumbai to verify
stories of unbelievable torture concerning 1993 Mumbai bomb
blasts suspects. Here is what the Amnesty International report had
to say about Police excesses: particularly disturbing were the
allegations that the police use hostages to force the surrender of
suspects in the wake of bombing which took place on March 12,
1993. . . t he
police resort-
ed to taking
away...family
members of
s u s p e c t s
they could
not find.
T h e
Pioneer also
ment i oned
that most
reprehensi -
ble has been
its (Mumbai police) treatment of women. One petition filed by a
21-year-old student speaks of how she was assaulted, insulted,
and threatened with unspeakable atrocities in front of her father in
a bid to get him to reveal the whereabout of her brother. The
policemen wilfully ignored basic norms that prohibit women being
kept overnight in a lock-up or being interrogated except in the
presence of policewomen. The Bombay and Raigad police have
unleashed a virtual reign of terror in their respective areas. Their
vindictiveness against Muslims has unnecessarily given a com-
munal tinge to what was being seen as an impartial investigation
into a heinous crime.
In June 2012, Qateel Siddiqui, an alleged IM operative, was
murdered by two underworld Hindu figures inside the high secu-
rity anda cell of Pune Yerwada jail. IB sources say that Qateel
was killed because he was originally arrested by the Delhi Police.
The Maharashtra ATS got his custody on the ground that he was
involved in 2011 Zhaveri Bazaar blasts in Mumbai, and that he
had also planned the bombing of a temple. The Delhi Police
Special Cell and the Maharashtra ATS are at loggerheads over
several issues. In January 2012, the Maharashtra ATS arrested
Naqi Ahmed, a Delhi Police informer, who was in fact helping the
latter in catching terror suspects!
IB sources say that the Maharashtra ATS was unable to find
a single piece of evidence against Qateel. According to IB sources
had Qateel lived to tell the tale, the Maharashtra ATS chief would
have lost face before his arch-rivals in the Delhi Police. In future,
Delhi Police would have got the Home Ministrys backing in refus-
ing to hand over custody of terror suspects to the Maharashtra
ATS.
In 2006, Shahid Azmi, a Mumbai lawyer who was represent-
ing the 2006 Mumbai blasts Muslim undertrials, was murdered in
broad daylight inside his office. Maharashtra Police sources say
that all 2006 Mumbai train blast accused are innocent, and that
Azmi was killed because he knew the truth.
It is common knowledge in Maharashtra Police circles that the
2006 blasts were designed as a false flag attack, to cover up the
sentencing of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. As
the current Maharashtra ATS chief earned his spurs investigating
the 1993 blasts, acquittal of the accused by the special TADA
court would have meant a body blow to him. To be sure, several
key accused like Salim Khan Durrani were acquitted by the TADA
court of the charges of conspiracy and harbouring.
Allegedly, the 2006 Mumbai train blasts were set into motion
to create an atmosphere for the pronouncements of death sen-
tences to several 1993 blast accused. Both events happened one
after the other, with the former preceding the latter.
Intelligence sources allege that terror incidents happen to cre-
ate an anti-Muslim mood just before the pronouncement of contro-
versial judgments involving Muslims.
As late as July 2012, Faiz Usmani, a Muslim suspect, was
picked up by the Maharashtra ATS headed by Rakesh Maria, for
questioning in July 2011 Mumbal blasts. Faiz died in Police cus-
tody.
Back in 2008, it was the arrest of Afzal Usmani, a car thief,
that led to the naming of Atif Amin-the Azamgarh boy killed during
the Batla House encounter- in 26th July, 2008 Ahmedabad bomb-
ings. Faiz was Afzals brother.
Salim Khan Durrani, a member of a royal family of Tonk,
Rajasthan, and an accused in the 1993 blasts who was
later exonerated by the TADA court, recorded some
truly horrifying incidents, in a book titled Voices, which
he was never able to publish.
* Nafeesa (accused Majid Khans wife) spent two
months in jail in a single night suit, badly sinking and
soaked in menstrual blood.
* Saeeda (accused Zakir Husseins sister) was
viciously beaten up in front of her 41 days old infant
child who too was slapped. She was not allowed to
breastfeed the baby for hours together.
* Water was scarce even for drinking. Many
women inmates were forced to drink their urine.
* Inserting chilli powder into the private parts was a
regular part of the torture.
* Several individuals, including Raj Kumar Khurana, owner of
the Stomach restaurant in Bandra, committed suicide. The police
wanted some information out of Khurana and he was shown what
is being done to women and children. Fearing the worst Khurana
went home shot his wife, children and then himself.
O
nly a proper investigation into these allegations can bring out
the true picture. However bitter, Indians deserve to know the
truth. Nothing less than national security is at stake. Since
Mumbai-Pune zone has been under terror attacks for several
years now, controversial officers ought to be investigated thor-
oughly before being assigned top jobs.
Amaresh Misra blogs on blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
where this article appeared first
Quite a substantial number of Hazares sup-
porters and associates fall in the bracket of
those shying away from making noise on
certain social, including communal and ter-
roristic issues. They have apparently played
a greater role in promoting the same than
talking of multi-religious secularism. In this
context, the socio-political fire and media
hype raised over Hazares anti-corruption
hunger strike had apparently a deliberate
motive.
Continued from page 1
The full account in `Voices, runs into at least more than 50 incidents of terrible torture. This
issue is so big that the Indian State can be made accountable to the ghastly acts of its officers.
Sharad Pawar (then in Congress) was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1993. He is aware of
all incidents reported in `Voices. He is now part of the UPA.
Here people were not killed as such. They were forced to commit incest, human genitals were
targeted in the most morbid manner, women were raped as a matter of routine, Muslim babies
were molested, not by rioting mobs, but officers and constables of the Mumbai Police. Such is
the level of political shamelessness in India, that though some good people and officers are will-
ing to testify on the issues raised in Voices, no oneleast of all the political class including its
Muslim membersare ready to listen to them.
IB sources say that Qateel was killed because he was originally arrested by the
Delhi Police. The Maharashtra ATS got his custody on the ground that he was
involved in 2011 Zhaveri Bazaar blasts in Mumbai, and that he had also planned
the bombing of a temple. The Delhi Police Special Cell and the Maharashtra ATS
are at loggerheads over several issues. In January 2012, the Maharashtra ATS
arrested Naqi Ahmed, a Delhi Police informer, who was in fact helping the latter
in catching terror suspects! IB sources say that the Maharashtra ATS was unable
to find a single piece of evidence against Qateel.
ABDUR RASHID, noted Urdu journal-
ist of Mumbai died of heart attack in
Mumbais Kurla Nehru Nagar on 21
July at the age of 76 years. Born in
Bihar Sharif (Bihar) he joined
Communist Party of India as an active
member and was associated with
Progressive Movement after comple-
tion of his education. As journalist he
was associated with Mumbais Urdu
daily Khilafat as news editor, his own
daily Urdu Reporter, the first Urdu
daily published on offset machine and
Hindi news weekly Madhya Kaal
ASGHAR Ansari, a noted journalist of
Delhi died of kidney failure in
VIMHANS Hospital on 30 July at the
age of 55 years. As head of Urdu
News Network for the past ten years
with which as many as 57 newspapers
were deriving benefits, and as editor
of daily Urdu Net he had been serving
the cause of Urdu. He had founded
Urdu Editors Guild and as general
secretary of this Guild had been trying
to familiarise the concerned authorise
with the problems being faced by Urdu
newspapers. He was also a computer
engineer. He died after an operation of
kidney transplant. He leaves behind
his wife, two sons and three daugh-
ters. His body was taken to his native
place in Najibabad for burial.
Dr SHARIF AHMAD, senior Urdu crit-
ic, researcher and teacher at Delhi
and Kashmir Universities died in Delhi
at the age of 82 years after a pro-
longed illness. He also wrote his the-
sis on the works and life of Abdul
Halim Sharar for his PhD in 1979.
Born in Amroha (UP), his famous
anthology of literary and critical arti-
cles titled Tanqidi Mazameen aur
Mushahiday appeared in 1986.
Syed MAJIDUL HASAN Jaffery,
noted journalist died of heart attack in
Jeddah on 2 August. He had worked
with many newspapers and journals
like English dailies Business
Standard, The Telegraph (both of
Kolkata), Asian Age. He was 60 and
leaves behind his wife, one son and
three daughters. According to his fam-
ily members he was working in a
Publication House in Jeddah. His
body was brought to Hyderabad for
burial.
Prof SHAFIQUDDIN Mulla of AMUs
Department of Physics died during
treatment in Delhis Patel Chest
Institute on 25 July at the rather young
age of 46 years. He was the only pro-
fessor in Physics Dept who was con-
ferred DSc Degree. His more than a
hundred research articles were pub-
lished in national and international
magazines and was honoured with
many awards like Shiksha Ratn
Puraskar, Commonwealth Academic
Staff Fellowship, Young Scientist
Award etc. He is survived by his wife,
one son and one daughter.
NASEEM AHMAD Zaidi, who retired as secretary in
the union ministry of civil aviation on 31 July has been
appointed Election Commissioner by the President of
India Pranab Mukherji. A 1976 batch IAS officer of UP
cadre, his appointment is for five years and will be
effective from the date he takes over this post. Earlier
he held the posts among others, of Director General
Civil Aviation and Indias Permanent Representative to
International Civil Aviation Organisation.
ZAKI AHMAD, an IPS officer of 1992 batch who is
presently working in the National Crime Bureau, has
been appointed DIG of Meerut in place of DIG Hari
Ram Sharma who has been transferred to some other
place.
Prof SALAHUDDIN Ansari, a former MP has been
appointed Director of Indian Overseas Bank by Indian
government for three years. Earlier, he was appointed
by Indian government as Director of State Bank of
Indias Board.
Dr MOHSIN Wali, prominent heart specialist and sen-
ior physician and surgeon of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia
Hospital, New Delhi has been appointed Personal
Physician of President Pranab Mukherjee. Dr Mohsin
Wali is the first doctor of the country who has the hon-
our of being the Doctor of three Presidents of the coun-
try. Before this, he has served President (Dr) Shankar
Dayal Sharma and President R. Venkataraman as their
personal doctor.
Mrs JOOHI KHAN, social worker and Principal of
Tender Hearts School, Zakir Nagar, Jamia Nagar Okhla
has been appointed a Member of Delhi Womens
Commission by Delhi government. She has taken over
the charge of her new assignment.
Prof KABIRUDDIN, UGCBSR Faculty Fellow in AMUs
Department of Chemistry has been given a prestigious
research project of Rs. 25.50 lakh by Science &
Engineering Research Board, New Delhi. Prof
Kabiruddin has worked as UGC Fellow Emeritus in dif-
ferent countries like Czechoslovakia, England and USA
on post-doctoral posts. His approximately 325 research
articles have so far been published and has represent-
ed AMU and India in many international conferences.
Prof JAVED A. USMANI of AMUs JN Medical
Colleges Forensic Department has been appointed
new Director of Medical Attendance Scheme for two
years in place of Prof Haroon Subhan. Another new
appointment is that of Prof Zafar Ahsan who is now the
new President of Department of Mathematics for three
years in place of Prof Afzaal Baig.
Lord KHALID HAMEED, NRI from Lucknow and mem-
ber of the Upper House of Britains Parliament, House
of Lords, has been honoured with Freedom of the City
of London in recognition of his services in medical field
as a doctor and promotion of understanding and mutu-
al relationship between different religions. Lord
Hameed was also honoured by Indian government with
Padma Bhushan Award in 2009.
Keralas businessman based in Gulf, M.A. Yusuf Ali
has resigned as a Member of Air Indias Board of
Directors on two personal grounds. Firstly on conscien-
tious ground because, according to him, in spite of his
best efforts to do something good to the people of
Kerala living in the Gulf, he failed to improve their lot in
any way. He considers this as his failure (though this
has nothing to do with his membership of AIs Board of
Directors). Secondly he has a plan to introduce a
Kerala-based airline to be named Air Kerala which he
has already got registered. If his long cherished dream
of Air Kerala becomes a reality, there would a conflict of
interest i.e. Air India would become a competitor and
hence his being a Director of Air Indias Board would be
untenable and hence he resigned.
NEWSMAKERS
12 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
MEN & WOMEN IN NEWS
OBITUARIES
Uttarakhands 5th
Governor, 72-year
old Dr. Aziz Quraishi
is a man of simple
habits, humility and
follower of lofty
human, ethical and
moral values. Even
after holding the
gubernatorial post,
he has not given up
these values which,
sadly, are disap-
pearing with the
passage of time
from our society.
Right from the beginning after entering politics, Quraishi never
hankered after wealth and power. Instead, unlike politicians
these days in general, made public service, human relationship
and self-respect his assets without caring for praise and reward.
He joined Congress Party during his student days and made
Nehru-Gandhi principles his guiding principles. A PhD holder, he
obtained masters degree in Urdu literature and Arabic, together
with a degree in law. In politics, he took up the cause of the poor
and backward sections of society, adavasis and dalits. In view of
his selfless service to the backward and deprived sections, he
was chosen by Indira Gandhi for Rajya Sabha membership from
Madhya Pradesh.
When Congress Party was voted out in 1977, he had to face
the ire of the new government and went to jail many times. Later,
he played an important role in organising and strengthening
Congress Party in Madhya Pradesh. In his student life, Quraishi
remained associated with literary and academic activities. In
Ravindra College and other colleges he held posts of chairman
of departments and professor, principal of Aurobindo Arts
College, Member of AMU Court, Member of Jamia Millias
Executive Council, Vice Chairman of Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu
Board, NCPULs Vice Chairman and Chairman of Madhya
Pradeshs Urdu Academy. When the government thought of set-
ting up Maulana Azad National Urdu University, he was entrust-
ed with the task of preparing the blueprint of the University. (NA
Ansari)
SHAHABUDDIN
He started on the journey all alone. Alone he resolved to reach
his goal, but as he went along, people came -- man after man,
and his lonely march became a caravan. And it is a reality that is
shown by Shahabuddin Ghauri .Till yesterday he was being kept
at bay by his close friends and relatives, for he had been impli-
cated in a hawala case and was booked under TADA. Today
Shahabuddin Ghauri is a household name in his native town
Tanda in district Rampur, Uttar Pradesh.
Recently he has won the post of Chairman in Municipal
Board Tanda (Nagar Palika Parishid) in direct election. He got
6701 votes as an independent
candidate against his nearest
rival Haji Sarfaraz Ahmed
(Congress) who stuck at 4856.
Shahabuddin was never
interested in contesting elections.
But circumstances forced him to
be. I had no intention to fight
elections. After my release from
the Tihar jail in 1998, I had decid-
ed to stay back in my village and
serve the people. Here I noticed
the suffering of innocent villagers
at the hands of a gas agency of
the Indian Oil Corporation. And I
decided to launch a campaign
against corruption, he said.
While in the Tihar jail,
Shahabuddin Ghauri continued
his struggle against the violation
of human rights in a new order.
As an M. Phil student of
Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1989, Shahabuddin succeeded in
encouraging his inmate students to fill IGNOU admission forms
so that they could appear in examinations.
Bedi admired his unique achievements inside the jail and
awarded Shahabuddin the Original Mind Award 2004 on behalf
of the India Vision Foundation. Superintendent Tihar jail Tarsem
Kumar described Shahabuddin as a model prisoner who proved
himself as an asset to the jail in its programme of reformation of
prisoners through education.
With his rigorous campaign, he exposed a nexus of certain
local politicians and administration officials. Shahabuddin, with
the support of some good souls, got a social organisation regis-
tered Janhit Sewa Samiti. With moral support from Dr Kiran
Bedi, former IG Prison (Tihar), he founded Mercy Foundation
Trust, a charitable hospital last year. He said even after 63 years
of independence, Tanda Tehsil with a population of 4.5 lakh is
lagging in education and health care.
A survey by the Mercy Foundation shows that during the last
five years 498 women died in labour pain in the area and 700
infant babies died due to shortage of medical aid. Bedi is the
chief patron of Mercy Foundation Trust and Begum Yaman Khan,
a noted sufi and ghazal singer and daughter of late Ustad Vilayat
Khan a renowned sitarist, is its patron. For his dream project of
200-bed hospital for mother and child, Padam Bushan awardee
Dr L K Gandhi, Sheel Kumar Shukla, director of Institute of
Dental Science and Technology, Meerut, and Vijay Agre, manag-
ing director of Vijay Construction Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, came forward
to help.
In Tanda, Shahabuddin has created awareness against cor-
ruption. This has unnerved the mafia and certain political leaders.
However, he has not wavered from serving the people. National
Panthers Party chairman Prof Bhim Singh appreciates his work
very much. On his victory in the recent election Bedi sent him the
following message : Now serve the people as much as you can.
And take all along. Remain inclusive and honest. Take no favour
from any one. Live most honestly, within means. (R C Ganjoo -
powerpolitics.in)
SIRAJ TIRMIZI
A h m e d a b a d :
Glowing tributes
continue to pour in
from various parts of
the globe on the
demise of Siraj
Tirmizi, the founder
of Gujarat Today and
the propounder of
the Lok Hit move-
ment. He breathed
his last on 30 May
this year after a brief
illness.
He endeared
himself to people
because of his
involvement in social affairs and public welfare. Highly optimist,
Tirmizi struggled against odds. His zeal towards the education of
Muslims was unsatiable and his readiness to work for the caus-
es of the downtrodden, dalits or tribals was unabating. His contri-
bution towards communal harmony during the 2002 carnage was
immense. His steadfast zest for the truth kept Gujarat Today
unwavering during those crucial days.
A thorough gentleman he was mourned by all and sundry -
from the villages of Gujarat as well as from America and Canada.
Abdul Karim Gheewala, President of the Indian Muslim
Association U.K., felt that he had left behind a rich legacy. Prof.
Akhtarul Wasey of New Delhi found him a father-figure friend and
guide. Tributes were paid by Ghulam Rasool Mansoori,
Sirajuddin Qureshi, Qasim Abbas (Toronto-Canada), Maqbool
Qadri, Indian Muslim Association of Los Angeles and many dig-
nitaries all over the world felt that his dedication would continue
to inspire many. (AG Khan)
Aziz Quraishi
Shahabuddin (right) with Bhim Singh
New Delhi: All India Muslim Majlis-e
Mushawarat issued the following report on
4 August 2012:
A delegation of representatives of some
leading Indian Muslim organisations visited
Assam during 31 July - 3 August 2012 to study
and assess the situation in the Bodo Territorial
Council (BTC) and adjoining areas where over
three lakh persons have been displaced, over
50 killed and over a hundred are reported miss-
ing as a result of ethnic cleansing aimed at
uprooting Muslims from BTC areas.
The delegation, led by Dr. Zafarul-Islam
Khan, President of All India Muslim Majlis-e
Mushawarat (AIMMM), included Mr Mujtaba
Farooq, President of Welfare Party of India,
Mr Muhammad Shafi Madni and Maulana
Muhammad Rafiq Qasmi, both national secre-
taries of Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Mr Navaid
Hamid, General Secretary of Movemenf for
Empowerment of Muslim Indians, Dr Taslim
Rahmani, President of Muslim Political Council
and Hafiz Rashid Chowdhry, Vice President of
AIMMM.
The delegation interacted with many people
and groups in Guwahati, BTC areas and Dhubri,
visited a number of camps in Cherang and
Dhubri areas and met representatives of BTC
and Bodos as well as the Chief Minister
Mr Tarun Gagoi and Mr Abdul Muhib Mazumder,
chairman of Assam State Commission for
Minorities.
The delegation feels that there was a clear
failure on the part of BTC and state government
in anticipation and control of the situation now
staring us in the face in the shape of over three
lakh refugees in around 300 refugee camps in
BTC areas and Dhubri. Most of them are
Muslims. Sections of media and chauvinist cir-
cles, especially BJP and its ilk, are trying to turn
this carnage into an issue of illegal immigrants
which is not correct or fair. No one we met in
Assam from Government to Bodo to Muslim vic-
tims made or supported this claim.
Using some criminal incidents in which both
Muslims and Bodo were killed, Bodo armed
gangs systematically attacked Muslim villages,
indulged in at random killings and firings which
precipitated flight of Muslim villagers who are
not armed unlike other ethnic groups in the
area. State government is providing some ration
while a lot of other needs, especially hygiene,
are neglected. Inmates in camps told the dele-
gation that they are eager to return to their vil-
lages provided security is provided to them. A
former MLA of the affected area told the delega-
tion that it is a sin to be born Muslim in Assam.
The delegation saw that even the camps are
without security and found that one of the
camps it visited is not getting even ration aid.
The delegation was told that one person had
died in Tilwara camp due to hunger. The delega-
tion saw army presence only in Bodo areas of
Kokrajhar. Proper lists of the displaced are yet
to be prepared and FIRs have not been lodged
in most cases, where remains of burnt houses
were visible here and there during our visit to
the Kokrajhar area on 2 August but we also wit-
nessed normalcy and peace in the area with
Muslim men and women moving about in calm.
There were reports also that Bodos are bulldoz-
ing houses and ploughing farms of the dis-
placed in some areas.
The delegation made it a point to meet
Bodo and BTC leadership and was able to meet
in Kokrajhar town Bodo MP (Rajya Sabha)
Biswajit Daimary and Daneswar Goyori, mem-
ber of the legislative assembly of BTC. They put
the blame squarely at the door of armed gangs
which the BTC is not able to control because
home department and Police are controlled by
the state government and not by the BTC, they
said. They stressed the tradition of good rela-
tions between Muslims and Bodos and said that
the area depends on Muslim workers and
labour, hence its progress will suffer badly if
Muslims do not return quickly to their homes.
They agreed that displaced people should be
able to return quickly to their homes but
stressed that security must be provided to make
this possible, permanent police pickets should
be placed at sensitive areas and numbers of
police stations must be increased as the area is
undercovered by police.
The delegation met Chief Minister Mr Tarun
Gagoi who explained the practical problems in
providing security in a state suffering from vari-
ous armed movements and insurgencies, and
said that arms are flooding into Assam from
China and Nagaland. He assured the delegation
that he is keen to
secure an early repatri-
ation of the displaced
people to their homes
and said that he has
designated 15 August
at the deadline for
achieving this aim. He
said that security will
be provided, perma-
nent CRPF pickets will
be placed at sensitive
places within days as
troops are being recalled from the neighbouring
states of Manipur, Nagaland and Bihar for this
purpose. Mr Gogoi emphatically denied that
there are foreigners in Assam and stressed
that the present crisis is a local one triggerd by
local issues. He told the delegation that about a
hundred culprits have already been arrested.
The delegation also met Mr Abdul Muhib
Mazumder, head of the Assam minority panel,
who explained the Bodo accord and BTC and
informed the delegation that ten petitions
against the accord are pending in Guwahati
High Court. He said the problem is that 70 per-
cent of the BTC population is non-Bodo. He
promised to send a fact-finding team to the dis-
placed persons camps.
The delegation also carried to
Assam relief for the victims, which is
being distributed according to the
needs of the victims through local
organisations and volunteers. More
relief will be sent by these organisa-
tions in the coming days. Other Muslim
organisations too are engaged in relief
work.
Before returning to New Delhi, the
delegation held a press conference in
Guwahati which was well-attended by
print and electronic media.
The delegation feels that the cur-
rent violence is clearly a continuation of
Bodo chauvinist attempts to expel the
non-Bodo majority from the Bodoland.
This is made possible by vast amounts
of illegal arms in the hands of Bodo and
non-Bodo individuals and gangs while
Muslims in particular are not known to
keep illegal arms.
The delegation believes that the
following steps are necessary to tackle this
issue on an equitable permanent basis:
Adequate compensation to all affected, for
lost lives, injuries and damage to houses to
enable the victims to rebuild their homes and
lives;
Quick rehabilitation of all displaced people by
arranging their speedy return to their original
places. Any delay will only mean that the dis-
placed will never be able/allowed to return to
their homes and lands. It is a known fact that
victims of similar previous violence, e.g., in
1994, are still languishing in refugee camps
while their lands and homes were usurped
by Bodo chauvinists.
Victims in the camps are ready to return to
their homes and lands provided security is
ensured. BTC representatives too said that
they have no problem with the return of the
displaced people provided their security is
ensured. Since this is the responsibility of
the state government, it should ensure this at
the earliest in addition to provision of more
police stations and forces in the BTC areas.
Illegal arms in the hands of private individu-
als and gangs is a big problem in BTC areas.
Meticulous mopping by the army and securi-
ty forces of the homes and other installa-
tions, offices and facilities in the BTC areas
should be conducted at the earliest in order
to seize all illegal arms because these illegal
arms are being used freely by outlaws to
inflict such savagery and pain on their neigh-
bours.
Institution of a high level judicial enquiry to
find the causes of the violence leading to dis-
placement and murder of such large number
of people in BTC areas, and punishment of
the guilty.
SPECIAL REPORT
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 13
Mushawarat delegation visits Assam
MG/Yusuf
Baseeran, a woman from village Kawwarjhar whose husband
Amjad Ali was killed by the Bodo attackers
Displaced people in a camp in Bijni
Press conference at Guwahati
Interaction with displaced people in a camp
Press conference in Delhi after the visit
Meeting with Bodo leader Biswajit Biswajit Daimary,
MP (Rajya Sabha), at Kokrajhar
Displaced people in a camp in Dhubri
32.4% of
Maharashtra
prisoners
are
Muslims
COMMUNITY NEWS
14 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
Survey of Delhi madrasas
New Delhi: Delhi Minorities Commission, on behalf of Delhi gov-
ernment, will be conducting a large scale survey of madrasas in
Delhi to know their real condition so as to improve their conditions
and to promote modern education there alongwith religious edu-
cation. The job of conducting the survey has been given to the
NGO Pr. Research & Development Services. Chairman of Delhi
Minorities Commission Safdar Husain Khan said that they want-
ed to improve the condition of madrasas and the survey was
being conducted to get a correct idea about their position. He said
that the institution entrusted with the task of conducting the sur-
vey has been given two months to complete this survey and sub-
mit its report and it is hoped that with this survey, actual condition
of these madrasas will be known. He said that it was necessary
to improve the educational standard of madrasas and to provide
modern education to madrasa students. He said that they would
try to get the cooperation of those who run the madrasas because
many people and organisations, including the important organisa-
tion i.e. Jamiatul Ulama, were opposing the constitution of a
Madrasa Board since long. It is estimated that there are more
than 500 large and small madrasas in Delhi. Some people and
organisations representatives met him (Safdar Husain Khan) and
urged him that Madrasa Board should be constituted at the earli-
est but, he said, because of strong opposition by Jamiatul Ulama
and some other organisations, this Commission could not take a
final decision. He said that after having talks with all persons and
organisations concerned and after getting the survey report, when
thee true position will be known, some decision would be taken.
Sahulat Microfinance journal launched
New Delhi: Any idea has to be first presented theoretically and
once it is proved that the idea has merit and it addresses all relat-
ed issues effectively it can be presented for mass acceptance.
Here lies the importance of research. The new periodical
Sahulat-A Journal of Interest Free Microfinance will serve this
purpose for addressing all issues relating to Interest-free microfi-
nance, said Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari, President of
Jamaat-e Islami Hind, while releasing the first issue of the
Journal. He added that Islam provides a broad framework for
interest-free economy and a whole system of alternative econo-
my should be developed by experts. He expressed the hope that
the quality of expertise available to this new journal kindles the
hope that it is in the right hands and the needed research in the
field will be done properly. The new journal was launched here at
the Jamaat-e Islami Hind headquarters on 29 July. The pro-
gramme started with a brief introduction by Chief Editor of Sahulat
Journal Dr. Ausaf Ahmad. Later, some intellectuals offered their
views and suggestions for the journal. Dr. Javed Khan of the
Centre For West Asian Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, said that
Sahulat Journal is the only journal of its genre published in India.
This journal is enriched with articles of eminent scholars and
experts of Islamic finance. Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Editor of The
Milli Gazette, extended his words of praise for the whole team of
journal for such an excellent job. He emphasized the requirement
for popular literature along with research-based journals so that
masses too may understand these issues. Dr. Waquar Anwar,
member of the advisory board of the journal, expressed the need
of research in different aspects of Islamic economics because it
has got confused with Islamic banking whereas real economics
and finance do not end with banking. There are other worthy
issues for research including microfinance. Mr. Arshad Ajmal,
CEO of Sahulat Microfinance Society, said that interest-free
finance is based on the model of equity-based finance and a nec-
essary mechanism for handling and distribution of fund is to be
developed for this model where risk mitigation is an important fac-
tor while dealing with the model. He said Sahulat Business
Cooperation Group research project undertaken by Sahulat
Microfinance Society would be beneficial to test the participatory
interest-free microfinance at group level. Sahulat journal will be a
medium to share all these research and findings.
Closure of non-Marathi schools in Mumbai demanded
Mumbai: Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) took up the topic
of Notice of Promotion for discussion on 21 June. This topic as
well as the question of delay in the supply of reading materials
and other things to children in schools generated much heat and
uproar in the House. During the House proceedings Shiv Sena
leader in the House, Shailesh Phanse, through Notice of
Promotion, expressed his regret over the decreasing number of
Marathi medium students and demanded that such a regrettable
situation should be reversed. BJPs leader in the house, Dilip
Patel while speaking on this topic said that MMC provides educa-
tion to children in 8 to 9 languages including Tamil, Telugu,
Kannad, Gujarati, though the number of students of these lan-
guages in Mumbai schools is very small. Referring to a Gujarati
medium school he said in this entire school the total number of
students is only 21 whereas only 16 students normally attend
school. In such circumstances the entire expenditure of the
school, teachers salaries etc is borne by the Corporation. He sug-
gested that the Corporation should talk to responsible people of
such schools and tell them that schools with such small number
of students should be closed down. He suggested that the
Corporation should allow English, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu medi-
um schools to continue and close down the remaining schools.
Samajwadi Partys Ashraf Azmi while strongly criticising the BJP
members suggestion said that people belonging to different
states and speaking different languages live in Mumbai and from
this point of view Mumbai is mini India and every child has a right
to receive education in his / her language in Mumbai. He said that
the same BJP member can make a demand tomorrow that since
the number of Marathi and Urdu medium students is decreasing,
Marathi and Urdu medium schools should also be closed down.
Hence such demands are unreasonable.
Number of unemployed maximum in Gujarat
Ahmedabad: According to the latest report presented by Gujarats
labour minister, rate of employment in Gujarat as compared to all
other states of the country, is the lowest. This report is significant
and presented at a time when assembly elections in Gujarat are
about six months away. According to official figures, during the
past two years, the number of (additional) unemployed persons
has increased by about 97, 600 and every month about 4000 per-
sons are becoming unemployed. In the year 2007-08 the number
of total unemployed persons was 7,92,033 which increased to
8,24,769 in 2008-09. According to latest statistics (during the past
11 months) total number of the unemployed has become 8,89,128
or approximately 9 lakh. According to official figures, out of this
number (8,89,128) about 72000 only are uneducated. In other
words, the number of educated unemployed persons is more (as
compared to other states) in Gujarat. The figures given officially
have been taken from different offices where unemployed person
have got themselves registered. These figures also show that the
number of educated unemployed persons is increasing fast,
though the number of uneducated unemployed persons is rather
slow. Official figures also show that the number of graduate
unemployed is more than S.S.C. unemployed persons. The num-
ber of graduate unemployed registered in employment
exchanges in the state is 2, 42, 344 whereas the number of SSC
unemployed (persons) is 2,25,893. These official figures also
show that the number of successful SSC youth is 2,64,035
whereas that of graduate unemployed was 34, 061 (in...) which
increased to 97,472 in February 2010. The number of unem-
ployed engineering graduates and post graduates is less than
commerce and science graduates. In this connection a govern-
ment official said that the reason for the increasing unemployment
is that unemployed youth want jobs of their own choice and more-
over, many educated youth have not done professional courses.
Though there are such institutions in all big cities which provide
professional courses, the official further said that the statistics
given by employment exchanges are not quite reliable because
the statistics in these employment exchanges are deleted after
three years. According to the Planning Commissions report, 31.8
percent people of Gujarats population are leading life below the
poverty line and this percentage is more than in states like J&K
(13.2%), Kerala (19.7%), Punjab (20.95), Himachal Pradesh
(22.9%), Haryana (24.1%), Tamil Nadu (28.9%), Andhra Pradesh
(29.9%). Gujarat stands at No. 9 among the states of the country
from this point of view. An idea of the poverty line in Gujarat can
also be had from the statistics which show that people living in
rural areas spend Rs. 501.58 in a month (on an average) where-
as those living in urban areas spend Rs. 659.18
Minorities in Pakistan more safe
Islamabad: Pakistans prime minister, Raja Parvez Ashraf has
instructed the Board responsible for religious places of countrys
minorities to settle the problems of properties of Hindus at the
earliest. He took this decision after the countrys minister of state
for information Shamshad Ali Bukhari informed him that the Trust
Property Board for homeless people (ETBP) is dilly dallying in
handing over the properties of Hindus to them which are under its
control. The Trust Property Board had been creating great dissat-
isfaction among people belonging to minority communities. Prime
minister Ashraf had instructed ETBP to settle and finalise the dis-
pute or problems of properties of Hindus at the earliest so that the
feeling of dissatisfaction and deprivation among them could be
removed. It may be mentioned here that ETBP is responsible for
managing the affairs and administration of Hindus temples and
gurdwaras all over the country and it is frequently accused of
increasing mismanagement in all these religious places.
J&K Banks progress
Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir Bank, one of the fastest growing pri-
vate sector banks of the country which greatly contributes to the
social and economic development of the state of Jammu &
Kashmir has not only achieved but surpassed the business target
of Rs. 85.000 crores set by it for the financial year 2011-12. J&K
Banks Chairman and CEO, Mushtaq Ahmad said that in addition
to surpassing the targetted business, the Bank has also received
very strong ratings for its deposit programmes which indicates not
only the Banks safety standards but also depositors strong con-
fidence in this Bank which has set a business target of Rs. one
lakh crore and a net profit of Rs. 1000 crores for the current finan-
cial year i.e. 2012-13. The Bank has more than 600 branches,
spread all over the country, he said.
Girls set record in Kashmir Civil Service examination
Srinagar: Girls, in comparison to boys, have set a wonderful
record in Kashmir Administrative Services Civil services
examinations by securing the first 9 positions out of 10.
According to available details, examinations of Kashmir
Administrative Service were held in September 2011 in which
a total of 21, 414 aspirants had appeared. In preliminary stage
3555 candidates succeeded and on the whole 503 candidates
were successful in the interview. Finally, 142 candidates were
selected on the basis of merit and in this, 9 of the top 10 posi-
tions were held by girls.
Urdu Academy to start Urdu teaching certificate course
New Delhi: Delhi Urdu Academy in cooperation with Delhi
University is planning to start a one year certificate course for
the teaching and learning of reading and writing Urdu to non-
Urdu knowing people. For admission to this course a student /
person must have passed at least senior secondary or inter-
mediate. He also should not have learnt some Urdu previous-
ly. According to the Delhi Urdu Academy authorities, in addition
to Urdu Academys office, five other centres have also been
opened at Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin, Qidwai Nagar, Janakpuri,
Yamuna Vihar and Lakshmi Nagar for teaching Urdu.
According to the Academys Vice Chairman Prof. Akhtarul
Wasey, seats for this course are not limited; any number of
persons can seek admission to learn Urdu. If the number of
admission seekers is very large, number of classes and time
can be increased. The last date for receipt of applications for
this course is 24 August.
New Delhi: Linguistic Minorities Commission in its 48th Report
submitted to union minister for minorities affairs Salman Khurshid
in his office on 27 July has strongly recommended that education
to children belonging to minority communities should be imparted
in their mother tongue upto primary level, teaching of their moth-
er tongue should be made compulsory upto secondary level and
facilities of teaching the language of their choice or liking should
be provided to such students i.e. minority students. In addition to
these, under the Scheme of the Safeguards it has been recom-
mended that in places where the population of linguistic minori-
ties is 15 percent or more, facilities of providing teachers of
minorities language, syllabus books, translations and other things
also should be provided. Yet another recommendation is that if in
any district or place the population of people belonging to linguis-
tic minorities is 60 percent their language (or mother tongue)
should be made the additional official and administrative lan-
guage so that people speaking this language should get an
opportunity of doing official work (or perform official duties) in their
own language.
Linguistic Minorities Commissioner, Dr. Nand Lal Jotwani per-
sonally presented his report to minister Salman Khurshid in his
office in the presence of Vincent H. Paul (or Pala), minister of
state for minorities affairs, Dr. Surjit Mitra, secretary of this min-
istry and other senior officers of this ministry. Now this Report will
be submitted to the President of India who will direct that this
report be presented to both Houses of Parliament. This (48th)
Report covers the period of one year i.e. from July 2010 to June
2011 during which a critical review has been made of the govern-
ment schemes for the interests and welfare of linguistic minorities
and their implementation in all states and union territories. Also,
in this report Action Taken Report on this Commissions 47th
Report and its recommendations have been reviewed. It may be
stated in this connection that under Scheme of the Safeguards
linguistic minorities have been guaranteed equal opportunities in
all fields and enjoying equal share in the countrys march on the
road to progress. It may also be stated incidentally that the post
of Linguistic Minorities Commissioner is a statutory post to which
appointment is made under section 350-B of the Constitution and
he is authorised to look into and review all matters pertaining to
the interests and welfare of linguistic minorities.
In this report recommendations have been made that in addi-
tion to making the language or mother tongue of linguistic minori-
ties the additional official language at Tahsil and District level,
people belonging to linguistic minorities have been given the right
to make complaints or any request etc. to governments in their
mother tongue and are entitled to receive replies from govern-
ment employees in their mother tongue, making arrangements for
competitive examinations for State Service Commissions in their
own language and making proper safeguards of their interests.
With this Commissions recommendation of imparting educa-
tion to students in their mother tongue Urdu speaking students of
U.P. can get the benefit because in this and also in many other
states they have been deprived of the of receiving education in
their mother tongue Urdu which is in open violation of the
Constitution. And this violation is being made for the past about
60 years i.e. right from Independence but Urdu speaking people
made little or no protest against this violation and if at all Urdu
speaking people had protested against this, their protest was not
so strong as it should have been. In any case the latest Report
and recommendations of the Linguistic Minorities Commissioner,
if accepted and implemented by the government, can rejuvenate
the demand of lovers of Urdu and organisations taking up the
cause of Urdu. (NAAnsari)
Linguistic Minorities Commission recommends
education to minorities children in their mother tongue
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 15
COMMUNITY NEWS
Kashmiri youth uneasy because of
frequent reporting in courts
Srinagar: More than 20,000 boys in Kashmir who are facing trials
have to appear in courts frequently at very short notice or in some
cases even without any notice, according to lawyers fighting their
cases. The boys, almost all of whom are teen agers, were
charged for their alleged role in throwing stones at security forces
more than two years ago during anti-India demonstrations. Last
year the state government had announced amnesty for youths
charged with minor offences but officials subsequently said that
no one was spared prosecution. On one occasion about a dozen
boys in their teens had gone to court at the time of hearing of
their case one of whom said that police had told his parents that
if the boys are not present in the court on the date of hearing of
their case, they will be arrested. What is more troubling is that
notice of the hearing is not given sufficiently in advance and
sometimes it is just at the eleventh hour.
According to some child rights activists, the boys are hound-
ed by civil and police authorities and they are frequently required
to appear in the courts. According to one such activist, A. R.
Hanjoora, frequent appearances at courts have begun to affect
the mental health of many youngsters. This may ruin their life and
career, he said. It may be recollected that in the summer of 2010
there were strong demonstrations against India for many months
and stone pelting by the people, including teen agers, continued
intermittently for months during which about 125 persons were
killed in police firing and violence. Last year i.e. the year 2011
was relatively peaceful and, according to official information,
about a million tourists visited the state during the summer
months but rights activists say that authorities resorted to repres-
sive measures to ensure a peaceful summer. According to an
activist, even children are being handcuffed and presented in
courts as criminals. When some arrests are made, a wave of fear
prevails among the youngsters and many of them have fled to
other parts of the country. Though the state government had
promised amnesty to those who were charged for minor
offences, the government recently admitted that amnesty had not
been granted to anyone.
PFI starts scholarship loans scheme
New Delhi: Popular Front of India (PFI), after starting School
Chalo movement all over the country for two months, has now
started educational scholarship loans scheme for poor and mer-
itorious students who, after passing High School or matriculation
want to seek, or have taken, admission for higher education
(10+2) or degree / diploma course for 2012-13 academic year.
PFI invites applications from such students for such scholarships.
This is for the second year that PFI is inviting applications from
students for such scholarships on a national scale. It should be
made clear in this connection that this scholarship is not free, but
on interest-free loan basis i.e. a certain amount will be given to
applicants as loan so as to meet their expenses for higher edu-
cation (fees, books and other relevant expenses) which they will
have to return either two years after completion of their higher
education or, if they get a job, two years after getting the job,
whichever is earlier, in easy instalments. No interest will be
charged from them on such loans given by PFI. This (return of
loan amount to PFI) is essential because PFI wants that these
loan amounts should circulate within the community and the ben-
efit of scholarship loans could be availed of by maximum number
of poor and promising students of the community. Application
forms, completed in all respects and signed alongwith copies of
certificates etc. should be submitted to PFI office (scholarship
programme coordinator) on or before 20 August. Application
forms can be obtained from PFI office or can be downloaded from
www.popularfrontindia.org.
Science books badly needed in Urdu
New Delhi: A book titled Jahan-e Science written in Urdu by
Muhammad Naseem Akhtar was released by former Deputy
Chairman of Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan at a function spon-
sored by Anjuman Taamir-e Urdu, held at Ghalib Academy on
18 July, with special cooperation of Al Harmain Pharma (P) Ltd.
Author of the book, Muhammad Naseem Akhtar while speaking
on this occasion said that the objective of writing this book was
not personal publicity but, it has been written with the objective of
promoting science education among the students of Urdu medi-
um schools, religious madrasas, Muslim institutions and Urdu
speaking people in general and it is hoped that it will be useful in
providing scientific information to them and developing scientific
thinking in them. Union minister of minorities
affairs and law Salman Khurshid, while praising
Naseem Akhtar for writing this book said that this
book is really worth appreciation because in
todays world promoting scientific knowledge and
promoting Urdu is very essential. K. Rahman
Khan said that this book is yet another addition in
the list of books giving information and knowl-
edge about science in Urdu and it is a useful gift
to the Millat by Naseem Akhtar but at the same
time regretted that Muslims are not taking as
much interest in science as they should. He said
that though there are many Muslim scientists but
even then their number is very small. Speaking
about the distance between Ulama and science
he said that this is only a communication gap
which needs to be removed, adding that if sci-
ence books in Urdu are introduced in madrasas
the distance between Ulama and science will be
removed because transcription or teaching any
thing in its mother tongue will be more effective
and fruitful.
Jamia Hamdard to start MBBS course
New Delhi: Jamia Hamdard said it has been offi-
cially permitted by the Medical Council of India
(MCI) to introduce MBBS course. Jamia Vice
Chancellor Dr. Ghulam Nabi Qazi, while describ-
ing MCIs permission as historic, said that start-
ing an MBBS course in this university was the
cherished dream of the founders and well-wish-
ers of Jamia Hamdard which has materialised
now. He said that this University had been trying
for the past 20 years to obtain permission for a
medical college and its efforts succeeded when
MCI granted permission on 29 June. He said that
with the starting of MBBS course in this universi-
ty it has become Delhis first public-private uni-
versity which has the complete set-up of a med-
ical college. In reply to a question whether the
introduction of MBBS course will not adversely
affect BUMS (Bachelor of Unani Medicine and
Surgery) course, he ruled out any such fear and
said that Unani system and BUMS course, under
Hamdard Institute of Medical Science &
Research (HIMSR), will be fully promoted and
will not be affected in any way. He said that in
addition to MBBS, other courses and disciplines
will also be introduced in HIMSR. After getting MCIs permission,
Jamia Hamdard had started preparations for 2012-13 entrance
examination on a war footing and the examination was held on
15 July. Even at such a short notice more than 300 candidates
sat for the entrance test for 100 seats of MBBS. In accordance
with MCIs permission, 100 seats have been allowed to HIMSR in
MBBS of which 43 seats are for Muslim candidates. In the gen-
eral category, 42 seats are allowed and the remaining 15 are for
candidates from foreign countries on the basis of merit. Hamdard
University was originally set up basically for promotion of
Unanipathy. Along with MBBS, six new courses in the medical
field will also be started, i.e., B.Sc Medical Imaging Technology,
B.Sc Medical Record and Health Information Management, B.Sc
Optometry, B.Sc Cardiology Laboratory Techniques, B.Sc
Operation Theatre Techniques and B.Sc Dialysis Techniques.
Dr. G.N. Qazi said in Jamia Hamdards hospitals OPD a thou-
sand patients can be treated at a time and about 300 patients can
be admitted.
A.P. Welfare Party to be launched on 7 Nov.
Hyderabad: Preparations are underway to formally launch the
A.P. unit of Welfare Party of India here on 7 November. WPI state
president Sultan Mohiuddin Mallick said, We are formally
launching the party on November 7 at the Nizam College
grounds. The membership drive started two months ago and is
evoking good response. The party has already set up offices in
14 districts with many of them electing their own presidents. In
Hyderabad, work has almost been completed in 12 Assembly
segments. For now, the party does not have any plans to take
part in the 2014 general elections. But if the elections to local
bodies are held in September, the WPI will field its candidates.
Mallick, a veteran Telugu journalist and writer, said that the
main plank of WPI would be cleanse the country of corruption.
We as citizens of India are worried over the fast decline in moral
values and increase in corruption in every walk of life. These will
be our main concerns, he said. The WPI which has a Christian
and a tribal in its apex body plans to take along the backward
classes and Scheduled Castes. This will be a party for all margin-
alized sections of society, Mallick said. The State unit of the WPI
will comprise 150 persons who will form the General Council. The
party will also have an executive and working committee.
Follow Due Process in the Kazmi Case: Citizens committee
Syed Kazmi Solidarity Committee said here in a statement that it
notes withdismay the continuing incarceration of senior journalist
Syed Kazmi, over four months since he was arrested. The
Special Cell had sought, and had been granted, an extraordinary
20 days of police remand for questioning him initially but they
were forced to return him to judicial custody in absence of any
leads. The same farce is being played out once again. Unable to
file a chargesheet against Mr. Kazmi within the mandated 90
days, the investigating agency can be seen clutching at the
straws of UAPA seeking an extension of another 90 days. This
not only violates the fundamental rights of Mr. Kazmi to bail but
also distorts the very spirit of due process. While UAPA allows for
extension of custody, this cannot be a blanket extension, without
examining the progress in investigation and the imperative to
keep Mr. Kazmi in continued incarceration without charges. But
this is what has precisely happened. The Special Cell, which
explains away the delay in filing charges to the international
nature of the conspiracy, must answer why the letters rogatory -
to seek international judicial assistance -- are being sent only
now, when the time for filing charges has expired. Moreover, the
Iranian Foreign Minister on his visit to India to invite the Prime
Minister to the Non-Aligned Summit scheduled for this year, had
at a press conference extended a public assurance of full coop-
eration in the investigation of the bomb attack on the Israeli diplo-
matic vehicle. Circumstances, in other words, have been very
favourable for an investigation into this event. That the Special
Cell has made no progress at all is a reflection on its own efficien-
cy and credibility. To hold a man in custody on grounds that have
so far proved completely vacuous seems the worst form of injus-
tice. A flat 90 day extension for filing of charges is illegal and
unconstitutional. The Committee demands that due process of
law be followed in the case of Mr. Kazmi, said the committee
includes Sukumar Muralidharan, Seema Mustafa, Shabnam
Hashmi, Sanjay Kapoor, John Cherian, Colin Gonsalves, Ajit
Sahi, Mahtab Alam, Manisha Sethi, Mansi Sharma and others.
New Delhi: A case of innocent Muslims being falsely implicated
in terrorism and other criminal cases has again come to light in
Madhya Pradesh when six Muslims, accused of terrorism by the
Madhya Pradesh police were exonerated of all charges and
acquitted honourably by a Bhopal court. It may be stated that six
persons, Munir Deshmukh, Arshad Bilgrami, Khalid Naeem,
Abdur Razzaq, Muhammad Aleem and Sohrab Ahmad were
arrested by Madhya Pradesh ATS twelve years ago under sec-
tion 153 (A) on the charge of being members of banned organi-
sation SIMI and pasting posters on Masjid walls which are likely
to promote hatred between two communities.
It may be stated that two newspapers, one Urdu and the
other Hindi, of the same group had been carrying on a campaign
in favour of Muslims by contradicting false news being published
in some newspapers about their being members of SIMI and
indulging in terrorist and subversive activities and being arrest-
ed and tortured by police and ATS.
According to Parvez Alam, lawyer pleading the cases of
these Muslim youth there were many loopholes in the cases pre-
pared by police against these people. Firstly, their case was ille-
gal from the very beginning because in this case charge sheets
against them were filed five years after registration of cases
against them. Moreover, even the panchnama of pasting the
hate-spreading poster was not prepared by the police but in
spite of all these lapses and loopholes, verdict in their case was
pronounced after 12 years, which is highly objectionable and a
crude joke of Madhya Pradesh police and ATS with the law.
According to lawyer Parvez Alam, when some one is accused of
terrorism and case is filed in court, approval of states home min-
istrys senior officials is obtained which was not done in their
cases. Moreover, police could not prove in the court that the
poster submitted by police is the same which was pasted on
Masjid walls for promoting hatred between two communities. Yet
another negative point against the police was that all witnesses
produced by police and ATS in the court went back on their ear-
lier statements. The court therefore acquitted all the six accused
persons mentioned above. But the M.P. police implicated Arshad
Bilgrami in another case. It is also worth noting that with this
case of the pasting of so-called hate-promoting posters, case
against one and the same person has been filed by police in
many other states because of which the same case has to be
fought again and again (in other states). (NAAnsari)
Six Muslims arrested for terrorism acquitted by court in Bhopal
Come to the help of Alliance School Murshidabad
In early 2005, news came almost daily about starvation deaths in some parts of
West Bengal. The majority of these deaths were reported from around Jalangi, a
part of Domkal subdivision of Murshidabad district. The Milli Gazette (MG) sent a
reporter to check the matter on the ground. He confirmed the deaths, so the MG
editor too rushed to assess the situation himself. The situation was grim and there
were daily deaths in the area due to starvation caused by loss of acute poverty as
a result of loss of agricultural land due to river erosion, while the state government
and local administration looked the other way.
MG started an international campaign as well as approached the Supreme
Court, national and West Bengal human rights commissions as well as minority
panels at the Centre and the state. Little was achieved as the state was in denial
mode (years later the WB state human rights commission put the blame on the dis-
trict administration but did not punish it) Details of these efforts can be seen on
Charity Alliance website (www.charityalliance.in).
MG work did not stop with this campaign. It at once started weekly ration dis-
tribution among over 365 persons in the area after a field survey. To formalise this
work, a trust called Charity Alliance was registered at Delhi same year. The ration
distribution continued for years and was stopped only some months ago this year
when Charity Alliance representatives in the area managed to get BPL status and
Antodiya cards for these victims. Initially, many national and international organi-
sations came to help, but only Charity Alliance remained in the area.
Soon Charity Alliance started giving educational aid to school-going students
of the area. It also opened a vocational centre in 2008 to teach local people, espe-
cially women, useful skills like zardozi, embroidery and tailoring which are slowly
changing the face of the area and empowering people.
At the insistence of the local people, in May 2009, Alliance School was start-
ed in a rented building with eight teaching and two non-teaching staff and 175 stu-
dents from KG to standard III. The school is especially meant for the poor children
of the river erosion-affected people of the area. The school has now progressed to
class 6. Most of the expenses of this school are borne by Charity Alliance as par-
ents are not able to pay appropriate fee to meet the costs of schooling. At present,
this school has 16 teaching and four non-teaching staff and 360 students. One
class is added each year. The school now runs in bamboo huts built on schools
own land (1.5 bigha+2 decimal). More land is being bought with the help of well-
wishers so that the school may progress effortlessly to at least Class 12
(Intermediate or pre-University).
We are approaching you to help us construct proper pucca rooms for the
school as well as help in meeting the running cost of the school. The average cost
of building one 400 sq. ft. classroom (according to the new govt norms) is around
Indian Rs 400,000 (around US$ 8000). We will build slowly according to the avail-
able funds. The area has some of the most disadvantaged Muslims in India and
this is the reason why Charity Alliance has not forsaken them after the initial help
in the wake of the hunger deaths in 2005. For details of how to contribute please
see the page 17 & 24 of this issue.
Editor, The Milli Gazette
INTERNATIONAL
16 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
Demonizing Muslims: To What End?
GERALD CAPLAN
Why do certain media choose to offer platforms to those who
spread malicious lies and instill fear about Muslims? Do they
agree with those sentiments? Is it to influence their governments
policies on multiculturalism, immigration, or laws banning Muslim
institutions and practices? Is it in the name of free speech for
Muslim-bashers? To fill space? To improve ratings? Or merely for
the hell of it?
Take a look at the Canadian cases of Macleans magazine
and columnist Mark Steyn, and the Sun Media chain and both
Geert Wilders and Ann Coulter. All three warn of the imminent
Muslim threat to civilization and demonize an entire religion
and its
adherents by effectively lumping together all the worlds 1.5
billion Muslims as one homogeneous, monolithic, looming, exis-
tential menace. Never mind that Muslims live in every country on
earth and are divided by sect, nationality, class, language, reli-
gious practice, ideology and race.
For some years, Mr. Steyn had a column in Macleans, where
a regular theme was the way Muslims imperiled the world. The
magazine also published a long excerpt from his book America
Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, which a reviewer in
The Globe and Mail called quite possibly the most crass and vul-
gar book about the Wests relationship with the Islamic world I
have ever encountered.
When the Canadian Islamic Congress protested that the
book incited anti-Muslim feelings, a Macleans spokesperson
begged to differ. Mark Steyn is a thoughtful and experienced
journalist, and the piece was a commentary on important global
political issues. It was not in any sense Islamophobic. While Mr.
Steyns column has refreshingly disappeared from the magazine,
Macleans decided to give great exposure to his latest book, call-
ing him an acclaimed columnist.
Just because Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer,
claims that Mr. Steyn was among those who influenced his think-
ing, does not mean that Mr. Steyn influenced his thinking. But
why Macleans magazine saw fit to pay Mr. Steyn to spread his
dire warning about the menace of Islam is far from clear. There
must have been a reason, but what was it?
Similarly, it would be interesting to know why the Canadian
Christian College and the International Free Press Society
Canada (IFPSC) thought it was helpful to bring extreme right-
wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders to Canada to spread his
venom against Muslims. The CCC is headed by the radical social
conservative Charles McVety, whose website associates itself
with Billy Grahams Muslim-hating son Franklin and the late Jerry
Falwell, a prominent American evangelist who believed that
AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. The
IFPSC is an offshoot of a European group by the same name
which, in the name of free speech, freely spreads hatred against
Muslims.
The IFPSCs website prominently features Geert Wilders and
conservative Canadian agitator Ezra Levant. Both the National
Post and the Sun newspapers gave Mr. Wilders tons of space
when he was in Canada, including the Suns entire front page,
while Mr. Levant devoted a column to him as well as a cringe-
worthy 44-minute interview on his nightly Sun TV show.
Despite his inflammatory views, Mr. Wilders is wily and soft-
spoken, and Mr. Levant could hardly have treated him with more
respect and sympathy. And while Mr. Levant scrupulously avoids
endorsing Mr. Wilders Muslim-baiting in any explicit way, he
notes with exquisite ambiguity that while We might not agree
with everything Geert Wilders has to say, he raises issues that
guarantee extensive media coverage wont go away.
Noting the coverage of Mr. Wilders by the National Post and
the Sun, veteran Toronto Star columnist Haroon Siddiqui
observes: We can just imagine what the two would have done
had some crazy mullah from the Middle East been allowed into
Canada and said exactly the same things about Catholicism,
Judaism, Hinduism or any religion that Wilders said about Islam
and Muslims.
Mr. Levant was - by coincidence, perhaps? - also the main
host for Ann Coulter last year when she too was invited to
Canada by the free-speech-loving IFPSC, where she too freely
spread contempt for Muslims, as she so relishes doing. Ms.
Coulter believes that Muslims, whom she calls ragheads, are
absolutely insane savages with a predilection for violence.
When in 2009 a Muslim army psychiatrist named Nidal Hasan
ran amok and murdered 12 people at Fort Hood TX, Ms. Coulter
had no doubt that the attack was an act of Islamic terrorism.
Norways mass-murderer Anders Breivik is a different story,
however. Even though he calls himself a Christian and consid-
ered himself a warrior fighting for the preservation of European
Christendom, Ms. Coulter informs us that he does not mean
Christian as most Americans understand the term. He uses
the word as a handy moniker to mean European, non-Islamic.
To be fair, Canada is only a bit player among those nations
dedicated to inflaming hatred against Muslims. Interested read-
ers might want to know, as Mr. Breivik very much did, about the
self-styled American counterjihadists, a group of influential
crackpots advocating a crusade against a global Islamic move-
ment that, apparently, threatens the very foundations of whats
now called Judeo-Christian society since anti- Semitism, after
2,000-odd years, went out of fashion among mainstream
Christians.
Among the remarkable inventions of the counterjihadists is
the non-existent threat that Muslim Sharia law poses to North
America. It appears that American Muslims, less than 1 per cent
of the population, are conspiring to impose Sharia law across the
nation. The campaign to stop this menace from happening, even
though its already not happening, has achieved remarkable sup-
port from everyone from Republican presidential candidates to
local political hacks.
Such proposed legislation is the same in each instance. Its
the product of an orchestrated drive that began five years ago in
Brooklyn by an otherwise obscure Hasidic Jew, the zealous anti-
black racist and Muslim- hater David Yerushalmi.
Supported by conservative public-policy institutes and former
military and intelligence officials, Mr. Yerushalmi has successful-
ly elevated a harebrained paranoid fantasy into a lethal threat to
American freedom. Readers may want to check out the assess-
ment of Mr. Yerushalmi and his associates by the mainstream
American organization, the Anti-Defamation League.
The goal of the Muslim-haters is surely clear enough. By
lumping all Muslims together as terrorists, by equating a vio-
lence-prone Muslim lunatic fringe with all Muslims, by insulting
the hundreds of millions of moderate Muslims everywhere, they
create among non-Muslims an
irrational fear of and hostility to
all Muslims. What purpose can
this serve other than to provoke
a clash, possibly a violent one,
between Muslims and the rest?
Anders Breivik didnt come from
nowhere, nor will the next like
him.
But why do certain media
enable these haters to spread
their gospel, to fan the flames of
intolerance? What audience are
they after? What do they expect
their audiences to make of all
this sympathetic exposure to
rabid anti-Muslim feelings? Why
are they inciting ordinary people
to hate other ordinary people?
Why?
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The goal of the Muslim-haters is sure-
ly clear enough. By lumping all
Muslims together as terrorists, by
equating a violence-prone Muslim
lunatic fringe with all Muslims, by
insulting the hundreds of millions of
moderate Muslims everywhere, they
create among non-Muslims an irra-
tional fear of and hostility to all
Muslims. What purpose can this serve
other than to provoke a clash, possi-
bly a violent one, between Muslims
and the rest? Anders Breivik didnt
come from nowhere, nor will the next
like him.
But why do certain media enable
these haters to spread their gospel, to
fan the flames of intolerance? What
audience are they after? What do they
expect their audiences to make of all
this sympathetic exposure to rabid
anti-Muslim feelings?
Israel can claim the
title of the most
racist state in the
developed world
Many supporters of human rights, such a PAJU and other
groups, whether Jewish or not, have stressed the point that
the occupation of Palestine hurts not only the Palestinians
but also the Israelis and Jews who are blind to the situation
in Israel. An Israeli author, Sami Michael, who heads the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel, spoke out publicly on
this subject at Haifa University recently. His speech was
reported as follows by Israels Haaretz newspaper:
Israeli culture is no less toxic than fanatic Islam, and
the countrys discriminatory attitude toward Mizrahi Jews
(Jews coming from Arab countries) and towards Arabs them-
selves qualifies it for the title of the most racist state of the
developed countries, prominent Israeli author Sami Michael
said recently.
Michael, who heads the Association for Civil Rights in
Israel, made this statement at the opening of an internation-
al conference of the Association for Israel Studies at Haifa
University.
More than 60 years after the establishment of the Israeli
state, the rift between European and Mizrahi Jewry has not
mended. It is reflected in racism and social gaps, said the
author. To this day people from Arab states are underrepre-
sented in the states central institutions, especially academ-
ic and cultural ones.
He noted that the racism is encouraged by cabinet
members and members of the Knesset, and fuelled by
increasing religious extremism in the country. Michael also
criticized the social inequalities in Israel and what he char-
acterized as the failure of the left to adequately contend with
these issues.
Israel is in danger unless its leadership understands
that it isnt located in Europes tranquil north but in the
Middle Easts seething center, said Michael. We may lose
everything. Israel could be a transient construct, like the
First and Second Temples.
Michael said Israeli children are trained to hate the
other. From kindergarten to old age we feed our children
hatred, suspicion and disgust toward the stranger and the
other, and especially toward the Arabs, he said. He called
the occupation of Palestinian land disaster incarnate for
Israel.
Adapted from Author: Israel can claim the title of the
most racist state in the developed world, written by Revital
Hovel and published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on
line on June 26, 2012.
India objects to
cancellation of NAM
meeting on Palestine
New Delhi: Strongly objecting to cancellation of the NAM
panel meeting in Ramallah (by Israel, India on 6 August said
the move strengthened its resolve to assist Palestinian peo-
ple in their legitimate quest to dignity and right to statehood.
We have taken strong objection to the fact that we were
unable to express solidarity with the Palestinian people by
holding this meeting in Ramallah, External Affairs Ministry
spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters here. He was
replying to questions on the last minute cancellation of a
meeting of the NAM committee to support the Palestinian
bid for upgraded UN membership after Israel refused to
allow representatives of five countries to enter the occupied
West Bank.
This only strengthens our resolve to assist the
Palestinian people in their legitimate quest to dignity and
their inalienable right to statehood, Akbaruddin said. Indias
representative on the committee Sanjay Singh, Secretary
(East) in the External Affairs Ministry, was in Amman enroute
Ramallah when the cancellation of the meeting was
announced yesterday. The meeting of the 12 representa-
tives of Non- Aligned Movements Palestine committee with
Palestinian Authority leadership was scheduled for last
evening.
Ministers and representatives were to attend the two-
day meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and were to
sign a declaration in support of a fresh Palestinian bid seek-
ing upgrading of its status from observer to non-member
state. Ministers and representatives from Bangladesh,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Cuba and Malaysia were denied per-
mits to enter.
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 17
INTERNATIONAL
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sections of our community. This charitable trust is channelising this long-felt effort. Almost every paisa is reaching the
deserving people as MG is providing office and administrative facilities free of cost as well as free advertising space, and
the trustees are barred by the trust deed from receiving any remuneration for their work and time.
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See MG, 16-31 August 2011, Page 7 for detailed report on our work.
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Invest
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tax!
A global super-rich elite has exploited gaps in cross-border tax
rules to hide an extraordinary 13 trillion ($21tn) of wealth off-
shore - as much as the American and Japanese GDPs put
together - according to research commissioned by the cam-
paign group Tax Justice Network.
James Henry, former chief economist at consultancy
McKinsey and an expert on tax havens, has compiled the most
detailed estimates yet of the size of the offshore economy in a
new report, The Price of Offshore Revisited, released exclu-
sively to the Observer.
He shows that at least 13tn - perhaps up to 20tn - has
leaked out of scores of countries into secretive jurisdictions
such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands with the help of
private banks, which vie to attract the assets of so-called high
net-worth individuals. Their wealth is, as Henry puts it, "protect-
ed by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in
the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries
taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless
global economy".
According to Henry's research, the top 10 private banks,
which include UBS and Credit Suisse in Switzerland, as well as
the US investment bank Goldman Sachs, managed more than
4tn in 2010, a sharp rise from 1.5tn five years earlier.
The detailed analysis in the report, compiled using data
from a range of sources, including the Bank of International
Settlements and the International Monetary Fund, suggests that
for many developing countries the cumulative value of the cap-
ital that has flowed out of their economies since the 1970s
would be more than enough to pay off their debts to the rest of
the world.
Oil-rich states with an internationally mobile elite have been
especially prone to watching their wealth disappear into off-
shore bank accounts instead of being invested at home, the
research suggests. Once the returns on investing the hidden
assets is included, almost 500bn has left Russia since the
early 1990s when its economy was opened up. Saudi Arabia
has seen 197bn flood out since the mid-1970s, and Nigeria
196bn.
"The problem here is that the assets of these countries are
held by a small number of wealthy individuals while the debts
are shouldered by the ordinary people of these countries
through their governments," the report says.
The sheer size of the cash pile sitting out of reach of tax
authorities is so great that it suggests standard measures of
inequality radically underestimate the true gap between rich
and poor.
According to Henry's calculations, 6.3tn of assets is
owned by only 92,000 people, or 0.001% of the world's popula-
tion - a tiny class of the mega-rich who have more in common
with each other than those at the bottom of the income scale in
their own societies.
"These estimates reveal a staggering failure: inequality is
much, much worse than official statistics show, but politicians
are still relying on trickle-down to transfer wealth to poorer peo-
ple," said John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network. "People
on the street have no illusions about how unfair the situation
has become."
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Countries
around the world are under intense pressure to reduce their
deficits and governments cannot afford to let so much wealth
slip past into tax havens.
"Closing down the tax loopholes exploited by multinationals
and the super-rich to avoid paying their fair share will reduce
the deficit. This way the government can focus on stimulating
the economy, rather than squeezing the life out of it with cuts
and tax rises for the 99% of people who aren't rich enough to
avoid paying their taxes."
Assuming the 13tn mountain of assets earned an average
3% a year for its owners, and governments were able to tax that
income at 30%, it would generate a bumper 121bn in revenues
- more than rich countries spend on aid to the developing world
each year.
Groups such as UK Uncut have focused attention on the
paltry tax bills of some highly wealthy individuals, such as
Topshop owner Sir Philip Green, with campaigners at one
recent protest shouting: "Where did all the money go? He took
it off to Monaco!" Much of Green's retail empire is owned by his
wife, Tina, who lives in the low-tax principality.
A spokeswoman for UK Uncut said: "People like Philip
Green use public services - they need the streets to be cleaned,
people need public transport to get to their shops - but they
don't want to pay for it."
Leaders of G20 countries have repeatedly pledged to close
down tax havens since the financial crisis of
2008, when the secrecy shrouding parts of the banking sys-
tem was widely seen as exacerbating instability.
But many countries still refuse to make details of individu-
als' financial worth available to the tax authorities in their home
countries as a matter of course. Tax Justice Network would like
to see this kind of exchange of information become standard
practice, to prevent rich individuals playing off one jurisdiction
against another.
"The very existence of the global offshore industry, and the
tax-free status of the enormous sums invested by their wealthy
clients, is predicated on secrecy," said Henry. (Heather Stewart
- guardian.co.uk)
13tn hoard hidden from tax-
man by global elite
UN rights chief raises alarm at
Myanmar Muslim crackdown
Geneva: The UN human rights chief warned on 27 July that an
initial move by Myanmar security forces to quash violence in the
restive Rakhine state has turned into a crackdown against
Muslim minorities. "We have been receiving a stream of reports
from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary
responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and
involvement in clashes," UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement.
"Reports indicate that the initial swift response of the author-
ities to the communal violence may have turned into a crack-
down targeting Muslims, in particular members of the Rohingya
community." Clashes between Buddhist ethnic Rakhine and
Muslim Rohingya communities which erupted early June in the
western Myanmar state has left at least 78 people dead and
70,000 homeless, Pillay's office said, according to official figures.
Unofficial estimates of the death toll were higher, her office
added. Pillay urged the government to "prevent and punish vio-
lent acts" and said she was dismayed at the derogatory lan-
guage used against the Rohingya by state and some independ-
ent media, as well as by some users of social networking web-
sites. While welcoming Myanmar's invitation to UN investigator
Tomas Ojea Quintana to visit from July 30 to August 4, Pillay said
it was "no substitute for a fully-fledged independent investiga-
tion" into the Rakhine violence. She also pointed out that it was
"important that those affected from all communities in Rakhine
are able to speak freely" to Quintana. An estimated 800,000
Rohingya live in Myanmar, and the government considers them
to be foreigners while many citizens see them as illegal immi-
grants from neighbouring Bangladesh and view them with hostil-
ity.
US sees Israel
as counterintelligence threat
Washington: The homes of several CIA agents residing in Israel
have been broken into recently and according to the United
States government, it is likely that Israeli intelligence is linked to
the cases. In the most recent case, the CIA station chief sta-
tioned in Tel Aviv discovered that sensitive equipment he used to
communicate with CIA headquarters in Virginia was tampered
with it. He sent word to his superiors about the break-in.
The incident might have been dismissed as just another
cloak-and-dagger incident in the world of international espi-
onage, except that the same thing had happened to the previous
station chief in Israel. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that, even
in a country friendly to the United States, the CIAwas itself being
watched. Such meddling underscores what is widely known but
rarely discussed outside intelligence circles: Despite inarguable
ties between the US and its closest ally in the Middle East and
despite statements from US politicians trumpeting the friendship,
US national security officials consider Israel to be, at times, a
frustrating ally and a genuine counterintelligence threat.
In addition to what the former US officials described as intru-
sions in homes in the past decade, Israel has been implicated in
US criminal espionage cases and disciplinary proceedings
against CIA officers and blamed in the presumed death of an
important spy in Syria for the CIA during the administration of
President George W. Bush.
The CIA considers Israel its No. 1 counterintelligence threat
in the agency's Near East Division, the group that oversees spy-
ing across the Middle East, according to current and former offi-
cials.
Israel shuns U. N.
Human Rights Council
Jerusalem: Israel severed ties with the U. N. Human Rights
Council over its investigation of West Bank settlements.The
Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said it was no longer cooperating
with the Geneva-based agency and would block its fact-finding
team from the West Bank.It may be noted here that Israel is a
direct creation of the United Nation through a partition resolu-
tion.
The council voted 36-1, with 10 abstentions, on March 22
to investigate the effects of Jewish settlements on Palestinians.
The United States was the lone nay vote.
At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted
the council for its bias, noting that of its 91 decisions, 39 dealt
with Israel, three with Syria and one with Iran.
Israel saw the resolution as part of the Palestinian
Authority's campaign to advance its statehood claim through
international bodies, sidestepping stalled peace talks with the
Netanyahu government.
INTERNATIONAL
18 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI
It doesnt take a genius or a rocket scien-
tist to surmise what U.S. and its policies
would be like under a President Romney,
given his recent foray into the world of
global politics. But while the rest of the
world is simply left askance-with ample
display of this multi-millionaires appalling
ignorance of the nuances of international
diplomacy-the Muslim world has been
given a lot to mull over what U.S. would do to it if, God forbid, an
ignoramus like him lands in the White House, come next
November.
Desperate to make his mark on the international diplomacys
somewhat crowded stage, Mitt Romney, the man set to win the
Republican Partys nomination in a few weeks to run against
President Obama in Novembers presidential race, embarked on
an overseas journey to dazzle and impress the outside world
with his brilliant diplomatic skills. He and his minions aimed at
proving to the world that the man was up to anybodys expecta-
tions of a worthy rival to Obama and could give the seasoned cur-
rent occupant of the Oval Office a befitting match worth any
punters money.
But the principal objective of Romneys foray into world diplo-
macy was to ingratiate himself with the powerful and well-heeled-
in terms of their abundant purse-strings-Jewish lobbies in U.S.
whose near-choke-hold over American electoral politics-and by
implication on the entire gamut of U.S. foreign policy, in particu-
lar-is beyond dispute.
Looming large over his itinerary was a well-calibrated visit to
Israel-a veritable jewel in any American politicians crown, espe-
cially those seeking higher office. Also tucked in as a tactical
move to please his Jewish donors, in general, and his Zionist sup-
porters, in particular, was an appearance at Polands famous
Auschwitz concentration camp, where tens of thousands of Jews
were sent to the gas chamber by Hitlers Nazis during WWII.
Of course, Romney wasnt the first White House hopeful to
make a trek to Israel, the main bastion of Zionism in the world.
The man hes going to challenge at the polls to the White House,
Barack Obama, is the trail-blazer to pilgrimage to Israel. As a
contender to the highest office in U.S., Obama, too, had launched
himself on to the global stage by visiting Israel -- and Israel alone
-- completely shunning the Occupied West Bank as if that piece
of earth and its incarcerated Palestinians groaning under the
cruel heels of Israeli occupation for the past 45 years didnt exist
at all, or didnt matter as far as he was concerned.
Romney, no doubt, sought to do even better and go one-up
on Obama. So a visit to Poland was obviously worked into his itin-
erary to show that his heart was more profusely bleeding over
Jewish suffering than Obamas and he was a more redoubtable
friend of the Zionists than Obama could ever aspire to.
But Romney didnt wish to be seen as a partisan of Israel only
and decided to make an appearance in London before going on
to Israel. His handlers and advisers may have reasoned that
while Israel is, without doubt, the principal ally and votary of U.S.,
Britain used to have that position, in the past, until the swelling
tide of Jewish favours knocked Britain off that pedestal.
How nave and tentative Mitt Romney-otherwise pretending
to be tall enough to lead the free world-could be came into daz-
zling display in the course of his London sojourn.
Romneys handlers and media-savvy gurus had timed his
London visit to work like a charm offensive because it was well in
sync with the Olympics kicking off there; he made a grand
appearance in London on the eve of the Games inaugural. But
what his minions and media experts hadnt taken into their cal-
culations was their mans sub-standard intelligence and pathetic
sense of humour. So Romney ended up with a lot of egg on his
face when he cast doubt, publicly, on Londons readiness to
launch the games with finesse. His jibe being below the belt and
nasty, his hosts reacted with predictable ire because hed raised
their heckles. The notoriously reactive British press known the
world over for its incisive repartee summed up the vicious fallout
best, calling him a party pooper.
Romneys media pundits tried to explain away his boorish
behaviour as a diplomatic faux pas or an unfortunate gaffe, which
wasnt so outrageous given the fact that hes a novice on the
international stage.
However, Romney couldnt be given any benefit of doubt for
what he did in Israel: to heap tons of praise on his Israeli hosts,
and pour scorn on the Palestinians, the quarries of Israels brutal
and repressive occupation of their land.
It was a pathetic performance of kowtowing to Israeli whims
and fancies by a man aspiring to occupy the most powerful elec-
tive office in the world. Romney seemed as good, or bad, as pros-
trating himself before his Israeli mentors and patrons and literally
licking their feet in order to get their nod of approval for his can-
didacy.
Of course it has become an unwritten, but cardinal, maxim of
U.S. electoral politics that any aspirant to office-be that the White
House, state governorship, Senate or the House of
Representative-mustnt do anything that doesnt sit well with
Israel and its votary lobbies and pressure groups. By the same
token, every candidate, to any office, must only articulate those
thoughts and themes that are kosher with the Zionists, at both
home and in Israel.
But Romney seemed more eager than anybody else to earn
from the Israelis and the American-based Jewish lobbies what is
commonly known in the American parlance as brownie points.
His antics and shenanigans werent confined to photo-opportuni-
ties, such as praying at the Wailing Wall and wearing a Jewish
skull cap to go with it. It could be argued in his defence that he
wasnt breaking new ground in this field: the current occupant of
the Oval Office had performed the same ritual four years ago to
get a place in the good books of his Israeli mentors.
It was Romneys inflammatory rhetoric against the
Palestinians that incensed those who would somehow still expect
to find some semblance of even-handedness in the American
handling of the prickly Israeli-Palestinian equation. Indeed, one
will have to have an extra dose of optimism, if not naivete, to
expect even-handedness in American policy on the ME question,
given the weird nature of U.S. politics where right only belongs to
Israel. What the Israelis say or do is the Gospel truth to the
American politicians and leaders; whatever others say is periph-
eral and expendable.
But Romney went overboard and crossed all limits in being a
supplicant to the Israelis and a conniving hangman against the
Palestinians.
Romney shed tears over thousands of rockets raining down
on Israeli towns from Gaza but his eyes remained fully shut to the
unremitting suffering of the Gazans and other Palestinians under
Israels brutal occupation. He boasted of his readiness to move
the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem-which he
sanctified as the sole capital of Israel-but uttered not a word in
condemnation of Israels illegal settlements on Palestinian lands.
By the same token, Romney, a purblind votary of Israeli expan-
sionism, sanctioned Israels right to defend its territory-including
the illegal settlements-against anyone challenging its usurpation.
But there was more to come: insult over injury. Addressing a
crowd of his Israeli admirers with deep pockets at a fund-raiser for
him at Jerusalems King David Hotel, Romney waxed eloquent of
Israels impressive achievements, while comparing them to the
dismal performance of the Palestinians-non-achievers and lag-
gards, in his blinkered intelligence.
This was evidence as if Israels relentless persecution and
occupation didnt exist as far as Romneys convoluted thinking
went. No mention, at all, of Israels unremitting blockade of the
Palestinians; its suffocating choke-hold over the Territory and
Gaza that restricts not only the movement of people but also of
basic ingredients essential for any economic enterprise.
It was nothing else but racism, as brute and naked as one
could expect from a petty-minded political upstart anxious to
please his big Israeli and Jewish donors. He went overboard in
his incontinent urge to eulogise what he described as the cultur-
al superiority of the Jews over their rivals.
But Romney didnt only betray his racism and Arab-phobia
but his ignorance of ground realities came out loud and swinging
in his trite condemnation of the Palestinians. He said The GDP
per capita in Israel is about $21,000. Compare that with the GDP
just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which
is more like $10,000 per capitaCulture makes all the differ-
ence.
The figures and statistics quoted by Romney were all wrong:
Israels per capita income is $31,000, while that in the West Bank
and Gaza is less than $3,000. Which raises a very relevant and
pertinent question: was he putting his appalling ignorance and
poor information on public display, inadvertently, or was he delib-
erately spinning the actual figures to shield the inhumanity and
cruelty of the Israeli occupation that has driven the hapless
Palestinians into a dungeon of misery and suffering?
But his harping on the cultural differences undeniably gave
out his biases against the Palestinians and the Arabs aplenty. The
Palestinian Authority spokesperson, Saeb Erekat, rightly accused
him of being a racist and pointedly added: He (Romney) also
lacks knowledge about the Israelis themselves. Ive not heard any
Israeli official speak about cultural superiority.
However, in keeping with the current convoluted and weird
dynamics of U.S. politics-and its politicos brinkmanship on the
issue of Iran-Romney had his harshest words reserved for Iran
and its alleged priority to become a nuclear power.
What could only be music to the ears of his Israeli interlocu-
tors and audiences, Romney sanctified Benjamin Netanyahus
war-mongering against Iran and implied that he would throw his
weight behind any Israeli military blitz against the so-called
Iranian nuclear facilities and targets. Later, Romneys spin doc-
tors made a half-hearted attempt to water down the impact of
their mans bravado but the damage had been done.
That, perhaps, was the intention: serve a notice on Iran that
a Republican man in the White House would be as truculent and
hostile to them as the incumbent Democratic man; while reassur-
ing the Israeli hawks that no matter how ill-timed or inconvenient
a solo Israeli blitz against Iran may be deemed, or proved to,
Washington would just look the other way, if not actually throwing
its weight behind the Israeli aggression. The bottomline couldnt
be anything other than letting the Israeli expansionists, hawks
and war-mongers know, beyond any shade of doubt, that political
affiliations or stripes were meaningless as far as U.S. partisan-
ship of Israeli policies and interests was concerned.
Romneys jaunt across Europe and ME as a putative
American statesman and leader may have caused ripples-lots of
them, in fact-across the globe, especially in the Islamic world, and
it actually did. Anyone listening with his ears opened to Romneys
rhetoric and seeing his shenanigans and antics in disbelief must
have shuddered at the thought of a man as reckless and whimsi-
cal as him ascending to the apex of U.S. politics. To say the very
least, a dangerously Quixotic and inebriated man is strutting on to
the world stage with a mentality that goes back to the days of
European colonialism and imperialism.
At the same time, there should be sobering thoughts calling
the attention of those pundits who would want to analyse the
trends in U.S. domestic politics and on the basis of that venture
into projections of its policies, worldwide. Its pathetic, almost
mind-boggling, to note how eager and anxious most, if not all,
aspiring American politicians are to kowtow at the altar of Zionist
agenda of regional, if not global, domination. Its a revolting scene
to see elective hopefuls and incumbents of the worlds mightiest
military power making a pilgrimage to Israel an essential tool of
their campaign and seeking the blessings of its leaders, policy
makers and donors to get to their goal. William Shakespeare
wouldve befittingly observed: O, what a fall.
Americas Appalling Leadership Deficit
Romney didnt only betray his racism and Arab-phobia but his ignorance of ground reali-
ties came out loud and swinging in his trite condemnation of the Palestinians. He said
The GDP per capita in Israel is about $21,000. Compare that with the GDP just across the
areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per
capitaCulture makes all the difference.
Iran: Israel Only Culprit behind
Bus Explosion in Bulgaria
Tehran: Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad
Khazayee categorically denied the allegations raised by the
Zionist regime about Tehran's involvement in a terrorist attack in
Bulgaria, and said Israel is the only regime able to plot and carry
out such terrorist acts. "It's amazing that just a few minutes after
the terrorist attack, Israeli officials announced that Iran was
behind it," Khazayee said, addressing a UN Security Council
meeting. He said that Iran condemns any form of terrorist act,
emphasizing that such acts could only be carried out by Israel
itself.
"While condemning any terrorist attack in whatever form and
manifestation, with regard to the terrorist attack in Bulgaria, I
should make it clear that we have never (engaged) and will not
engage in such a despicable attempt," he added. "Such a terror-
ist operation could only be planned and carried out by the same
regime whose short history is full of state terrorism operations
and assassinations aimed at implicating others for narrow politi-
cal gains," he said.
The Iranian envoy said that he could provide many examples
showing that the regime "killed its own citizens and innocent
Jewish people during the last couple of decades". He said that
Iran was itself a victim of terrorism, citing the assassination of
Iranian nuclear scientists as an example.
A deadly attack against Israeli tourists took place in the Black
Sea city of Burgas, 400 kilometers (248 miles) East of the
Bulgarian capital Sofia, last week. Israeli officials accused Iran
and the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah of carrying
out the attack.
In relevant remarks, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman
Ramin Mehman-Parast, too, strongly rejected the allegations,
and said, "The Zionist regime as master of state and organized
terrorism has its hands in blood of innocent Lebanese,
Palestinian and other nationalities." The diplomat pointed out that
the Zionist regime that has a direct role in terror of Iran's nuclear
scientists engages in lodging baseless accusations against other
countries in order to distract the attention of the international
community from its terrorist activities being carried out throughout
the world.
ENGLISH
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The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 19
QUREISH RAGHIB
The 9th month in the Islamic lunar calendar, Ramadan, has the
most varied forms of worship and, therefore, is the most revered.
In Islamic perspective, the concept of worship, termed as
Ibadah, is multi-dimensional. Though it is generally referred to as
Salat (prayers), Ibadah has a much broader characterization.
The ultimate reason for the formation of transitional or the
celestial world is for Ibadah as Allah mentions in the holy Quran
that I created Jinns and Mankind only to worship Me. (51:56).
This significantly elaborates worship to be exceptionally phenom-
enal.
Fasting during the day as in Ramadan inculcates in one a
sense of humility and breaking it at sunset inspires one to share
with gratitude Allahs infinite munificence - be it a morsel of food or
an enlightening thought. Both humility and gratitude are the basic
essence of Ibadah.
Ibadah needs to be understood as an ongoing process in life
rather than traditional rituals and life-less religious practices. Every
religious tenet and code of human life in general is, individually
and collectively, an integral part of the process of Ibadah.
Worship is largely categorized in Islamic philosophy into two
significant features, namely, Ibadah Ilmiyah and Ibadah
Amaliyah.
One is indulged in Ibadah Ilmiyah when enlightening ones
self intellectually by procuring knowledge. Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) has, therefore, strongly emphasized that To seek knowl-
edge is obligatory upon every Muslim man and Muslim woman.
Learning of an alphabet by a toddler is equally enlightening as the
shout of Eureka! by a scientist on making a scientific break-
through. The sense of exhilaration experienced by both the toddler
and the scientist in that defining moment connects one, in one way
or another, with the Creator of that particular element of revelation
and learning.
Ibadah Amaliyah, on the other hand, is practicing ones reli-
gious and social obligations in a righteous way. This can be by
indulgence in different forms of meditation as well as by perform-
ing worldly duties that need to be self-beneficial as well as benev-
olent to society as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asserted that, to
love ones homeland is part of ones faith. He further emphasized
on endeavouring for the betterment of humanity by saying:
Mankind is a single family dependent on Allah and the most
beloved to Him is one who benefits Mankind most. Be it serving
the nation or uplifting fellow-beings, all are part of the formation of
Ibadah Amaliyah.
It is imperative to perceive that both the composites of Ibadah
Amaliyah and Ibadah Ilmiyah are inter-linked and both stress on
self-discipline and total commitment. The veritable essence of
Ibadah, therefore, is truly accomplished in word and spirit when
right knowledge is derived and when it enables the consciousness
to express itself appropriately in its physical format. Subsequently,
it is this inimitable fusion of both forms of Worship that helps one
embark onto self-realization.
Interestingly, Mankind is constantly indulged in Ibadah, in one
way or another, thus making it impossible to fully relieve ones self
from the infinite elements of Worship.
It is noteworthy to mention that Ibadahs influence on the
mind, body and soul is numinous. The habitual practice of differ-
ent features of Worship such as fasting, charity and prayers even-
tually affects an individuals intuition, self-esteem, and inner
strength. The efficacy of Worship sub-consciously develops ones
overall perception and personality.
Indeed, the true spirit of Ibadah in Islam can be summed in
the words of the renowned spiritual leader His Holiness
Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin that It is a tendency of
humankind that whenever he is regaled or saddened, man
endeavours to express joy and grief in one way or another. But,
the way he chooses must reflect his devotion to Allah and uplift
him to the zenith of humility.
A Mumbai-based freelance journalist,
the writer has keen interest in the study of spirituality and philosophy.
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Worship: A medium for self-realization
20 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
It is imperative to perceive that both the compos-
ites of Ibadah Amaliyah and Ibadah Ilmiyah are
inter-linked and both stress on self-discipline and
total commitment. The veritable essence of Ibadah,
therefore, is truly accomplished in word and spirit
when right knowledge is derived and when it
enables the consciousness to express itself appro-
priately in its physical format. Subsequently, it is
this inimitable fusion of both forms of Worship that
helps one embark onto self-realization.
Al Azhar scholar:
Hijab not an
Islamic Duty
Last month at Al Azhar University, Sheikh
Mustafa Mohamed Rashed defended a thesis
that sparked a heated debate among religious
scholars. The candidate concluded that Hijab, or
the veil, is not an Islamic duty.
The claim is not the first of its kind, but the
mere fact that it is adopted in Al Azhar University
- the Sunni Islams foremost seat of learning -
makes it controversial.
Sheikh Mustafa Mohamed Rashed argued
that Hijab is not an Islamic duty. He stated that
Hijab refers to the cover of the head, which is
not mentioned in the Holy Qur'an at all.
Nonetheless, a bunch of scholars insisted
vehemently that the veil is both an Islamic duty
and one of the most important pillars of Islam,
he added.
In doing so, the PhD candidate points out,
they deviated from the purposes of the Islamic
law and Sahih tafsir or the true interpretation.
They rejected reasoning and relied only on liter-
al text.
According to Mohamed Rashed, these
scholars de-contextualized the verses of the
Qur'an and interpreted them in their very own
liking, following some ancient scholars, as if
what they said is sacred and is not subject to
Ijtihad.
The researcher continued that the scholars,
who claim that Hijab is an important pillar of
Islam, departed from Al Minhaj Assahih, or the
true path, of interpretation and reasoning, which
interprets the verses according to their historical
context and the causes of revelation. These
scholars interpreted the verses in their general
sense, overlooking the causes of their revela-
tion, intentionally or due to their limited intellec-
tual capacity resulted in psychological scourge.
Worse still, they approached hundreds of impor-
tant issues in the same way.
The supporters of Hijab as an Islamic duty
base their arguments on inconsistent and wrong
evidence. They would ascribe various meanings
to the veil, from Hijab to Khimar to Jalabib, a fact
which shows that they digressed from the true
meaning they intended to address, the cover of
the head, he added. The researcher attempted
to deconstruct the three claims that are derived
from interpretations of the sacred texts.
Literally, Hijab means a veil, curtain,
partition or separation. 2 The verse in which
it is mentioned is specifically addressed to the
wives of the Prophet (pbuh); there is no dispute
among scholars about that at all. The verse
states as follow, And when you ask [his wives]
for something, ask them from behind a partition
(hijab). That is purer for your hearts and their
hearts. And it is not [conceivable or lawful] for
you to harm the Messenger of Allah or to marry
his wives after him, ever. Indeed, that would be
in the sight of Allah an enormity. (Qur'an 33: 53)
The term hijab then is meant to have a
partition between the wives of the Prophet and
his companions. It is not addressed to the
Muslim women, otherwise it would have been
stated, said Mohamed Rashed.
As for the term Khimar, it is found in a
verse of the Qur'an stating, And tell the believ-
ing women to reduce [some] of their vision and
guard their private parts and not expose their
adornment except that which [necessarily]
appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their
headcovers over their chests. (Quran 24: 31).
The researcher pointed out that the evi-
dence is invalid. The intent of the text is to refer
to the cover of the breast whose exposure is un-
Islamic, but not to what is perceived nowadays
as Hijab for the head.
In this regard, it is believed that when the
pre-Islamic Arabs went to battle, Arab women
seeing the men off to war would bare their
breasts to encourage them to fight; or they
would do so at the battle itself, as in the case of
the Meccan women led by Hind at the Battle of
Uhud.
As regards the verse in which Jalabib is
mentioned, the researcher considered it to be
misplaced evidence: O Prophet, tell your wives
and your daughters and the women of the
believers to bring down over themselves [part]
of their outer garments. That is more suitable
that they will be known and not be abused.
(Quran 33:59)
The supporters of Hijab as an Islamic duty
overlooked the historical background and the
cause of revelation, for the verse was meant to
distinguish between the pure and promiscuous
women and slaves. At that time, all women tend-
ed not to cover their faces. Hence, the verse
was revealed so as to protect the pure from
some men who would gaze at them while they
were excreting or urinating.
Mustafa Mohamed Rashed rejected the
Hadith reported by Abu Dawud in which Asma,
daughter of Abu Bakr, was ordered by the
Prophet to expose only her face and palms. He
says it should not be taken into any considera-
tion because it is Aahaad hadith, i.e., its narra-
tion does not fulfill one of the most important
required conditions, connectivity of narrators.
JAMAL SAIDI
MG comment: HIjab here means total cover-
ing of the female body popularly known in
the Subcontinent as Naqaab. The manda-
tory satr (parts of the body to be covered) for
Muslim women is whole body except face
and hands (Zafarul-Islam Khan)
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 21
BOOKS
Book: Education for Peace: Guideline for Frontline workers
Authors: Ranu Jain and Taha Abdul Rauf
Publisher: Institute for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution,
Mumbai (ipscri1@gmail.com)
Year: 2012
Pages: 133
Price: Rs 150
RAM PUNIYANI
The need for peace in society has been a major concern for
human societies most of the time. More so during the last few
decades. There are many causes of conflict and violence which
are deeper and are related to social, political and economic injus-
tices. In many a case of violence the prevalent perceptions,
myths, biases of the society play a major role in precipitation of
violence and in giving it a silent social sanction. This is what cre-
ates the base on which such violence is possible and acceptable.
Thats where the role of Peace education comes in. Peace edu-
cation should groom the generations in overcoming these per-
ceptions which are far from truth and yet are deeply ingrained in
the psyche of large sections of society.
Scholar-activist Noam Chomsky formulated the thesis of
Manufacturing consent, whereby the State using various mech-
anisms creates an approval of society for its acts of violence.
Similarly, one can say that the prevalence of social common
sense plays a major role in the area of ethnic and communal vio-
lence.
Social groups have been struggling against such percep-
tions. The challenge for them has been as to how to lay the foun-
dation of critical thinking about other communities, how to
retrieve the missing narratives which clear the fog of misconcep-
tions, how to create respect for diversity and pluralism to ensure
that proper understanding of the other becomes possible?
These are the steps which can act as cementing bond between
communities and will result in an atmosphere where the triggers
planted by the vested interests do not lead to tension or violence.
This book by Jain and Rauf is an important attempt to give us
the background and the prevalent models of peace studies, the
UN resolutions about it, the attempts by educationists and social
groups to develop their models to be effectively brought about in
the understanding which can lead to peace and amity in the soci-
ety.
The book gives a comprehensive account of the pedagogy of
peace and compares and contrasts various patterns of peace
studies.
The book squarely blames the pro-elite approach of the state
ignoring the needs of the people, to be at the centre of various
factors which result in the vulnerability of people seeking com-
munity support, resulting in community identity becoming more
important.
While the authors do address the problem in general, their
focus is more on the communal violence which has reared its ugly
head in the country during recent decades. They see the role of
education in drawing attention towards the conflicting forces and
the need to build knowledge of the structures and processes
enforcing conflict.
As per Jain and Rauf, education can bring about attitudinal
changes amongst individuals making them understand the nega-
tive implications of conflict and violence, as well as the benefits of
the democratic processes that build dialogue and negotiation.
While violence has a lot to do with the structural inequalities,
the book limits itself to give guidelines on recounting and
addressing differences at individual and community levels. The
core of education for peace is deconstructing the other and rec-
ognizing members of different communities, especially those who
are oppressed. It suggests ways to understand and resolve the
existing conflicts in a peaceful and mutually beneficial manner.
As such peace has been the major concern of human race,
trying to strive for it through religious values to begin with, and
later through legal endeavours. The culmination of these
processes is reflected in the mandate of United Nations, which
targets not only at prevention of conflict but to promote social
amity and progress.
The Culture of Peace is a respectable objective which aims
at promoting a mix of identities, attitudes, values, beliefs and
institutional patterns which allow people to live in mutually bene-
ficial manner with one another. Hereby comes the concept of pos-
itive and negative peace. While negative peace aims at the
absence of direct violence, positive peace aims at addressing
those societal issues which disturb peace or have the potential of
generating situations conducive to peace.
Away from lecture mode, the recommendation is on multifac-
eted participatory activities. Overall it is not an easy subject to
handle as it does require a holistic view of society and multilay-
ered nature of the issues involved. The compliment of peace edu-
cation is conflict resolution which requires the ability to build rela-
tions of amity, understanding and cooperation. In this part of the
social endeavour, mere demystification of misconceptions is not
adequate; as it needs to be further built up by an empathetic
understanding of the other.
Currently the peace education requires the challenging task
of critically analyzing the structures and process of violence from
micro to macro levels. In the Indian context, the National Council
for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has made com-
mendable effort in this direction by bringing out Education for
Peace (for students) and Ways to Peace (for teachers).
The NCERT approach focuses on values to be conveyed and
the mechanism most suitable for that are stories and activities
aimed at the outcome for culture of peace. The pedagogy of
peace aims to ensure that the content of books overcomes bias-
es and stereotypes in the books. The authors are appreciative of
the attempt of NCERT, but here the question remains, do state
educational boards follow the NCERT in a serious way. This prob-
lem has to be directed to the social workers and the political lead-
ership to ensure that the foundations of the students are based
on objective understanding of the other communities and histo-
ry in particular is presented above the biased presentation as it is
today.
The book operates at various levels, from giving the interven-
tions needed for school children to social workers, but the major
focus rightly remains on the frontline workers. The idea is to
demystify the images of the other community to ease the tensions
and thereby defuse the violence. It also outlines various models
for intervention for peace developed by social groups and elabo-
rates some ongoing methods as samples of possible activities,
which necessarily are diverse depending on situations and partic-
ipants to whom they are addressed. The book could have been
enriched by giving possible horizontal and vertical integrations of
different modules for different social groups.
Overall it is a valuable aid for all those engaged in the
process of peace and conflict resolution. It leaves the reader
much more equipped to undertake the exercises of peace build-
ing in the community.
Pathways to Justice and Peace
Sachar
Committee
Report
English Rs 1000
Hindi Rs 1000
Urdu Rs 1000
Ordering details on page 19
Book: The Color Revolutions
Author: Lincoln A. Mitchell
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia
Year: 2012.
This proved an interesting book to review for two main reasons.
First it discusses a region that I do not have a strong background
with, the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Georgia, and
Kyrgyzstan. Balancing that however is the second factor of look-
ing at the arguments presented in The Color Revolutions, and
seeing how they fit in with the more global context of U.S. foreign
policy.
Mitchells main thesis has two facets. The first is that in reali-
ty, the revolutions were never really revolutions, but progressions
in the development of governance in the countries involved. He
argues that the societies were generally open to begin with, were
not overly repressive - allowing a relatively free press and free
speech, as well as allowing the peaceful demonstrations to pro-
ceed without violent intervention. Along with this, the political sys-
tem was somewhat developed, but not overly strong enough to
resist the pressures of public protests for reform.
The second facet follows on the first: the non-revolutions
were mostly not effective in promoting democracy and creating
freer societies. Particularly in Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, the post-
revolution period showed a decline in freedoms as the new gov-
ernments consolidated their power in more repressive ways. In
the Ukraine, he argues that the republic achieved an equilibrium
as the opposing parties, representing separate regions of the
country, were essentially forced into a more balanced position, as
well as having to deal with a larger, more geopolitically important
environment.
As part of the second idea, Mitchell argues that the main
change was in governing elites, that regime change was more of
old elites putting a new face on the political landscape. The new
leaders had been part of the governing elites previously, and were
now put into power. As well, the old leaders who were removed
were not dictators nor authoritarian, but were moving forward from
the Soviet era.
For this narrowly focussed discussion on the internal politics
of the Colour Revolution countries, Mitchell succeeds in convinc-
ing the reader. Where he is not so convincing is on his examina-
tion of the larger geopolitical context, that of the U.S. relationship
with Russia, and with its ongoing interests in the Middle East.
Lincoln Mitchell is a political science research scholar at
Columbia University. His CV indicates that he was at one time
Chief of Party for the National Democratic Institute. The NDI is
the Democrats equivalent to the International Republican
Institute. The NDI is headed by Madeleine K. Albright, not known
for her democratic and peaceful tendencies. She is the one, if the
readers need reminding, who thought that the deaths of an esti-
mated five hundred thousand Iraqi children was worth the price for
U.S. success in Iraq.
Both the NDI and IRI are involved with democracy promotion
in countries where there are concerns about democratic develop-
ment. Unfortunately, that last statement, while believed by many,
is not true. Yes, it is true that those working in the institutes may
well believe that they are acting for democracy, but it is the what
they do part where the failures and contradictions occur. Further,
democracy is mostly conflated with capitalism and free markets,
and anyone who has followed U.S. foreign policy will know that
any democratic socialist government, or any government that
opposes U.S. intentions for its empire, will be in political and mili-
tary trouble. Conversely, those that support the U.S., no matter
how authoritarian (sometimes for the better as they will process
U.S. renditions) or militarily repressive, will only receive minimal
attention from those concerned with democracy. The oil must flow
and the corporations must gain wealth.
I sometimes wonder if authors read their words correctly and
reflect them back on their own situations. It is implicit throughout
the work that the U.S. is a free democratic state and that it is oper-
ating with the best intentions in its democracy promotion.
Frequently the words do not match the context, and also highlight
the double standards of U.S. foreign policy.
Kyrgyzstan is described as having a strong president willing
to commit election fraud and other illegalities, if not widespread
human rights abuses, leading to a decreased confidence in the
countrys democracy both domestically and overseas. And the
U.S.? Certainly Obama is not a strong president, but the institu-
tions that surround him are strong and essentially represent only
elitist interests. Election fraud? Always alleged in the U.S., from
the problems with electronic elections, to the gerrymandering of
electoral districts, and the ongoing disenfranchisement of various
citizens through a web of voting rules and regulations. Human
rights abuses? For certain, maybe not too much at home (the
largest prison system in the world, ongoing racial tensions, immi-
grant problems, a little bit of torture here and there), but certainly
historically and currently abroad. Yes there most certainly is a
decrease in confidence in the countrys democracy.
There are errors of omission as he broadens his scope on
democracy. He does not mention the Palestinian elections (2006)
that were fully democratic yet denied by the U.S. and its allies. He
does question whether the U.S. would accept foreign NGOs oper-
ating in U.S. elections cycles without stating that there are laws
against this, something he should well know.
JIM MILES
Colour revolution an American analysis
The book operates at various levels, from giving
the interventions needed for school children to
social workers, but the major focus rightly remains
on the frontline workers. The idea is to demystify
the images of the other community to ease the ten-
sions and thereby defuse the violence.
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The Gall of Narendra Modi
The out-Heroding Narendra Modi has the gall to scream that
hes ready to be hanged if found guilty in his recent interview to
a journalist, Shahid Siddiqi. When the entire machinery, judiciary
and the government are at his disposal, its but obvious that hes
exonerated before trial. The man who not only chose to turn
Nelsons eye to the state-sponsored pogrom in Gujarat, but also
instigated his cohorts to go berserk, has the audacity to declare
his innocence from the pulpit. This is a sheer travesty of law and
justice. And what did this seasoned journalist do? Not a single
probing question could corner Modi, the embodiment of cun-
ningness. I hasten to add that its a failure of investigative jour-
nalism.
Dr. Sumit S. Paul, Pune
Wonderful concern for women
Is it not an intentional blindness? Big columns are being devot-
ed showing all kinds of concern for women. But they could not
see the universal gathering of about 1500 intelligent women in
the second week of July 2012 in Tehran who established their
ability and awareness! On airwaves they say: Suna Kijiye -
Dekha Kijiye which only means: Bewaqoof bana Kijiye
S. Akhtar, Khanpur Deh - 392150
Assam ethnic cleansing
Thank you MG for posting the detailed findings on your website.
It gives the readers and all concerned people a clear picture of
the ground realities. The suggested steps are really the need of
the hour. However, in case of failure on part of the Assam govt.
(as it happened in 1994) what alternative do we have to help dis-
placed our brothers and sisters. I think AIMMM should also con-
stitute a Relief Committee working on providing all the needed
help and support to the suffering people languishing in camps
and elsewhere. I will inshallah contribute through the provided
link or directly through my home in Delhi. I will also circulate the
link and the message to Riyadh chapter of JMI Alumni.
Nisar Ahmad Khan (via MG website)
Advanis Enthusiasm And Excitement In Parliament
Sir, It was seen in the parliament that Mr. LK Advani was very
much in enthusiasm and excited on the issue of Assam riots in
which hundreds of Muslims were massacred mercilessly. And
thousands rendered homeless .They are compelled to take shel-
ter in the rescue homes. They are not being supplied food prop-
erly. It is said that they are infiltrators and intruders. Why they
came from Bangladesh? May I ask him as to why he migrated to
India from Pakistan? He not only came here but also participat-
ing in elections and aspire to become the prime minister of India.
But his misfortune or misdeed (demolition of Babri Mosque)
destroyed his dream and he was thrown out from the panel of
prime minister ship. Before 1947 Pakistan, India and
Bangladesh was a single country. Any person from India could
go and settle in Pakistan. And any one could come from
Bangladesh to India. Our prime Minister Mr. Man Mohan Singh
has shifted from Pakistan to India. Hindus in crores came to
India after formation of Bangladesh. Advani or the government of
India has not objected their entry into India in the same way
Muslims also came to Assam for settlement. Why they are treat-
ed as enemies? Assam where I stayed for three months can say
it is such a large state total population of Bangladesh can settle
there. It is the mean mentality of men who think that people com-
ing from other countries should not enter into their country. They
think as if they are occupying their houses. Of course the man
who has constructed a house for his family can obstruct to an
alien to trespass. The foreigners who are Hindus or Muslims be
treated gently But they are being killed and massacred. It is bar-
barism and immorality.
Maqdoomi, Hyderabad 09/08/2012
Campaign of hatred against minorities
In a multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society of
ours, who can live happily only where all members of the socie-
ty practice tolerance and when neither the executive nor judici-
ary interferes in religious matters and the govt. does not follow
any such policy which is detrimental to the religion and culture of
any particular community or minority. Unfortunately, these days
fire brand leaders of BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal the outfits of
Sangh Parivar the great champion of Hindutva are carrying on
ceaseless campaign of hatred against Muslims and Christians
throughout the country. Hate speeches of leaders of these com-
munal organisations also reflect their colossal ignorance of Islam
and its teachings. The best course is to put an end to this cam-
paign of hatred against minorities especially against Muslims
and follow the advice of the Father of the nation which is sure to
strengthen tolerance which is the most distinctive feature of our
national culture. Says he, it is only through a reverential
approach to faiths other than mine that I can realise the principle
of equality of all religions. It is both my duty and right to point out
defects in Hinduism in order to purify it and keep it pure but when
non-Hindu critics set about criticising Hinduism and cataloguing
its faults, they only blazen their own ignorance of Hinduism and
their in capacity to record it. Thus, my own experience of non-
Hindu critics of Hinduism brings home to me my limitations and
makes me wary of launching on, a criticism of Christianity and
their followers (collected works of Mahatma Gandhi volume - 6
page-332)
Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai, ex-M.P., Mayur Vihar, Delhi
Death of Fiza: suicide or murder
It refers to dead body found of Fiza (former Anuradha Bali) at her
Chandigarh residence. Bigger question is who is responsible for
death; some individual (including Fiza herself) or the system.
Misuse of religion just for sake of enjoying sex through second
marriage should be practically prohibited by amending relevant
laws including Muslim Law. Second marriage by any person
even after conversion to Islam should be made non-bailable
offence even though first wife might not have raised any objec-
tion. Even Hindu law should be amended so that having second
wife may attract criminal punishment including holding such mar-
riage illegal even though first wife might not have objected to
second marriage. Islamic scholars and institutions have also
condemned such tactics by making it clear that adoption of Islam
just for marriage-purpose is anti-Islam. Many Hindus adopt Islam
symbolically only for having a second marriage legally even
though in practical life they have faith and belief in Hinduism for
all practical purposes performing all Hindu rituals in day-to-day
life. There are celebrities like former Parliamentarian and film-
star Dharmender who adopted Islam just for one day to allow
husband to have second marriage, and then converted back to
adopt Arya Samaj on the very next day. Politically speaking, it
was not proper that crazy person like former Haryana Deputy
Chief Minister Chander Mohan (Chand) became important polit-
ical ruler only because of dynastic political system in India
because his father has been a political heavyweight. Episode
should be eye-opener for reforms in system whereby children of
political rulers may not get automatic entry to become political
rulers.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal, Chandni Chowk Delhi
subhashmadhu@sify.com
II
The religious fanatics who abhor Islam has murdered Fiza. Fiza
being a lady and converted to Islam will be doubly rewarded by
Allah. She will enjoy the life for crores of years in heaven with a
handsome. All the traitors including her hypocrite husband who
has deceived her will be sent in the deepest strata of hell for
everlasting period [insha Allah]. They will face the wrath of Allah
in the next life which is everlasting. The culprits dare deviled as
Fiza a lady converted to Islam and married a politician and influ-
ential person to get the safeguard from religious fanatics. But all
conspired against her. They killed her to discourage other Hindu
girls not to think of conversion to Islam. But they are unaware
that Islam flourishes in the adverse condition as it is said ISLAM
ZINDA HOTA HAI HAR KARBALA KE BAAD. All the women
associations will also held responsible for not favoring a poor
lady. She had the right to convert to Islam and marry any Muslim.
The culprits will face the fall out of their misdeed sooner or later
It is truly said KHUDA KE YAHAN DEIR HAI, ANDHEIR NAHI.
Dr Maqdoomi, Hyderabad
Prime Minister and British daily
The most dirty and unfortunate comments made by the British
newspaper, Independent Daily calling our P.M. honourable
Dr. Manmohan Singh as Sonias Poodle amount to a great
insult to M.M., India, Indian democracy and the people as well.
The government of India should lodge strong protest with the
British for passing such unparliamentary, unhealthy, unwarrant-
ed and ill-motivated remark against the Indian PM. The comment
appears to be a direct interference in Indian administration and
system which should be condemned strongly.
Faheemuddin, Nagpur
Flatterous fooling and looting
Formerly, a folklore monkey used to dupe only one simpleton.
But now we see lots of so-called intelligent people being fooled
by the flatterous agencies of the so-called superpowers trapping
also the ass-like masses who repeatedly forget that their new
rulers also do exactly what the former were doing. Down with
deceiving democracies.
S. Akhtar, Khanpur Deh - 392150
Moralless newspapers
I have, before me, a Gujarati daily (God knows how many simi-
lar are there in other languages). It makes a show of virtue by
publishing moral stories. But, therein, they give such minute
details of sex so fragrantly that it drives readers only on the path
of pigs! Their only aim is to earn money by exiting passion
S.A.U. Patel, Khanpur Deh - 392150
Team Anna should go the legal way
Kejriwal and company should do what the BJP is doing in case
of Chhagan Bhujpal and Tatkare. The party filed a complaint with
the Economic Offences Wing [EOW] against Bhujbal and Sunil
Tatkare who they say are economic offenders and corrupt. This
has followed their complaint with the police. They [BJP] have
also written to the CM and the Governor. The party does not
expect the police, the CM and the Governor to take any steps.
They contend that the police who works under Home Minister
belonging to the party of the two accused will take no action. The
Governor acts on the advice of the council of ministers and the
CM, the head of the council of ministers has been advised by the
high command to be pragmatic. Coalition dharma perhaps. Still
the BJP had to go through this exercise because, apparently,
courts will not entertain their plea unless these avenues are
exhausted first. Subsequent to the inaction by these agencies,
the BJP will move the appropriate courts. If we believe Kejriwal
and company, his team has a watertight case against as many
as 15 ministers. Why can they not follow the steps which the BJP
is following instead holding the tamashas on public places?
Dr Mookhi Amir Ali, Santacruz West, Mumbai
Difference between Mahatma Gandhi and Media Gandhi
Media has not only been showering praises on Anna Hazare for
his campaign against corruption but has gone to extent of pro-
jecting him as the second Gandhi. Conveniently forgetting that
his methods are quite at variance with Gandhian methods.
Mahatma Gandhi stood for Hindu Muslim unity and communal
amity and harmony. The unfortunate partition of the country was
responsible for horrible anti Muslim feelings throughout the
country and soon after partition Muslims in east Punjab and
Delhi were the victims of communal frenzy just as Hindu and
Sikhs were victim of the same in Pakistan. The Mahatma sacri-
ficed his life for the safety of Muslim but Anna Hazare has not
uttered a world against the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat.
Similarly he had not a word of grief for the cold blooded murder
of his devotee Shehla Masood. There is not a single Muslim in
his team. He had the full backing of RSS while the murderer of
Gandhi belonged to RSS. What else than a gigantic difference
between the Mahatma and the media projected Gandhi.
Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai, Ex-M.P., Mayur Vihar - Delhi 91
Non-Congress, Non-BJP PM?
Advani sees the possibility of a non-Congress, non-BJP prime
minister after 2014 elections. He has thrown in the towel. In his
opinion even if the NDA gets or cobbles together a simple major-
ity the strength of the BJP within the NDA will not be sufficient for
it to call the shots. The party will have to concede the PMship to
one of the allies if it wants NDA to remain viable and in power.
Perhaps he is hinting that the NDA should project a non-BJP
leader as the prime ministerial candidate, Say, Nitish Kumar or
Sharad Yadav [if Modi is allergic to Kumar].This would be prag-
matic thinking. The internal bickering in the BJP over the leader-
ship will end, the party can have its place on the treasury bench-
es. It makes sense for the party to give away what, Advani fears,
is going to be snatched away.
Dr Mookhi Amir Ali
Santacruz West, Mumbai 400054
Assam BTAD clash And Ploice Inactivity
The recent communal clashes in Bodoland Territorial Areas
District (BTAD) once again raise question on accountability of
Assam Police. A wide discussion on the local Assamese media
takes place regarding the issue. Similarly, various quarters
allege that the police showed inactivity and indifference during
the time of ethnic and communal clashes on account of political
influence upon them. As alleged some top police officers of the
state seek favour of a group of influential politicians of the state
on matters relating to their posting and transfer. Thus,these offi-
cer are busy with satisfying their masters, instead of providing
security of life and property to the common people. This destruc-
tive attitude of the police was witnessed at the time of eruption
of communal violence in BTAD that claimed lives of more than
fifty innocent people in three districts of the area, viz,
Kokaraajhar, Chirang and Baska. Talking to this writer Mahamud
Ali, a resident of Dawaighat,under Kokarajhar sub-division
alleged that the police did not came to rescue them when more
than two hundred armed miscreants attacked their village. We
contacted the police over phone for nearly three days. But police
replied that they had not sufficient work-force to rescue us. Ali
alleged. However, a group of police and CRPF personnel led by
a young sub-inspector rescued them on the night of 23 July
last.Describing the gruesome situation of the area Ali said, we
went to Baghmari area of Bilasipara sub-division of Dhubri dis-
trict on foot. We had to walk about 15 km to save our
lives.Miscreants fired us during the live-saving journey. Ali and
nearly fourteen hundred people of Dwaighat have been taking
shelter in a camp set up at Baghmari L.P. School. After normal-
cy comes to the violence-hit three districts, the state Home
Department, which is under chief minister Tarun Gogoi, trans-
ferred SPs of Kokarajhar and Chirang.However,the state Home
Department posted them as SPs of districts which cannot be
considered as punishment transfer. Local media report cited that
a large number of efficient SPs have been posted on some less
important post year after year for their uncompromising nature.
On the other hand some controversial as well as inefficient SPs
frequently get well placement by virtue of their unholy nexus with
politicians of the state ruling party leading the deterioration of the
law and order situation of the state.
Raktim Baruah, Guwahati - raktimbaruah20@gmail.com
II
[Muslim delegation to Assam] A very good initiative. The Muslims
of Assam need support from everybody. I dont know how the
Muslim leadership of Assam could not do much in this regard so
far. Hope that something fruitful comes out of this exercise.
Shahidur Rashid Talukdar, USA
contact@srtalukdar.com
III
The Congress government led by Tarun Gagoi is squarely
responsible for the ongoing turmoil in Assam. The spate of
tragedy could have been averted had the police taken a quick
action against the miscreant who ignited the trouble on 6th July.
The blatant statement made by a Bodo leader Kampa Borgoyri,
that the Muslims who have fled their homes shall not be allowed
to return is reprehensible. The administration should send a
strong message that pursuance for a separate land could not be
tolerated at the cost of an ethnic cleansing.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin,, Kadapa (A. P)
Let us realise
It is high time the wise voters realise that only Shankersinh
Waghela can nail Narendra and only Laluprasad Yadav can
arrest Lal Krishna Advani.
S. Akhtar, Khanpur Deh - 392150
No escape from truth
The verdict of Delhi High Court in favour of Ujjawal Sharma after
accepting the DNA report and declaring that the veteran con-
gress leader Mr. ND Tiwari is the father of Rahul Shekhar the
chapter is finally closed in favour of Rahul Shekhar. In fact there
was a time and opportunity Mr. ND Tiwari could have easily
saved himself from indescribable humiliation which has new
turned his political status imponderable and virtually eclipsed the
same at least for some time as instead of admitting the paterni-
ty of Rahul Shekhar he went on making nests on tottring branch-
es. Ujjawal Sharma done a good job by teaching a lesson to a
stalwart congressman for which she deserved all praise. During
the whole proceeding Mr. ND Tiwari tried to reach the matter in
cold storage by lingering on the matter on one side and to pres-
surise the judiciary through all available political and other
sources to get the judiciary budge in his favour but failed at each
front hopelessly. It is observed that despite all attempts to pullon
the matter on flimsy grounds, lame and lamb excuses he kept on
dictating the judiciary in his own way but failed altogether as on
its part judiciary went on tighting strong net around him. Since
the claim of Ujjawal Sharma and Rahul Shekhar is proved there
remains no excuse for Mr. Tiwari but to accept the reality. The
judgment also exposed the real life character of our politicians
and leaders at all level. May God save the country.
Faheemuddin, Nagpur
The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012 23
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PUBLISHED ON 11 AUGUST 2012 POSTED ON 11-13 AUGUST 2012
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24 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 August 2012
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