24 pages ` 15 ISSN 0972-3366 FORTNIGHTLY

Vol. 16 No.3

Issue Serial # 361

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www.milligazette.com 1-15 February 2015

THE

MILLI
GAZETTE
INDIAN MUSLIMS LEADING ENGLISH NEWSPAPER SINCE 2000

HUMANITY...3

BRAVERY...13

Freedom of Expression? Or, Corporate Greed?

DR. JAVED JAMIL
When Charlie Hebdo was targeted earlier this month, the immediate
reaction in the Muslim world was one of outrage and shock, the
whole community uniting in condemnation of the act. But as soon
as it repeated the offence next week, with French leaders openly
supporting Free Speech, a large number of Muslims and nonMuslim writers started losing sympathy for Charlie.
French leaders have ignored the fact that Free Speech has
itself become violent, causing severe emotional violence to the
people who are even more committed to their faith than the owners
and editors of Charlie Hebdo are to Free Speech. Emotional
violence is only a step away from physical violence.
The shootings have renewed the call by forces of globalisation
for defence of freedom and for an all-out war against what they
call radical Islam. Radicalisation, by the way, is not limited to
religion or any one religion, it also affects atheistic and other
ideologies. The most notable radicalisation has been spawned by
the ideology of New World Order created and sustained by the West
with the force of arms.
Westernism is primarily based on negation of religion as a
public institution, but has received an open and tacit support of
several religions: evangelical Christianity, Zionism and, to a lesser
extent, the forces of Hindutva. The radical West has caused much
bigger violence than radical Islam, and it can be easily argued that
radical Islam, if there exists any such thing, is the direct result of
radical Westernism, which has not only tried to propagate its
ideology as the supreme power, but has also used every kind of
violence and exploitation to impose it on the whole mankind.
But powerful as they are, they have used the international
media only to highlight violence and other problems, which are
linked or can be made to appear linked to religion in general, and
Islam in particular. They forget to tell the world that the
overwhelming majority of acts of violence in the recent years,
recent decades as well as recent centuries has been caused by the
forces that claim to be the champions of New World Order, and for
which the negation of religion has been the basic ideology.
It is because religion is the biggest obstacle in their designs of
commercialising human weaknesses to the hilt, and without
commercialising everything they cannot attain their desired goal of
subjugation of mankind. Freedom is nothing but a tool in that
process. It is not that Freedom is absolute even in West, but it
stops exactly where it threatens the survival of New World Order.
I am reproducing below what I wrote about Freedom of
Expression more than 15 years back in my book, The Devil of
Economic Fundamentalism, which still holds as true as it was then.
The corporatisation of media involves the elimination of smaller
publications dedicated to the public good. With smaller players out
of the field, the big media become free to push the capitalist agenda.
Simultaneously, the content is trivialised with soap TV, fashi, soft
porn. Advertisers of high value refuse to place advertisements in
spaces and TV time where serious issues like poverty or hunger are
discussed. Global business interests are thus served at the cost of
local and national interest with the help of local capitalist.
The real goals of multinational capital are much bigger. At the
political front, it is to sustain a relentless pressure on governments
to follow the desired policies and to defeat a democratic
government not following the dictates of the economic
fundamentalists through vituperative and slanderous campaigns
MG/Yusuf

against it, and to assist a new, free marketeering political group

aligned to multinational business interests in ascending the throne
by mobilising support for it.
Big media, owned by big houses, with large holdings by people
in the West is least concerned with the welfare of the people, their
education and morals. Whatever information the media
disseminates is almost always invested with some commercial
motive or context. The overall strategy is to mercantalise human
lives as conscientious men and women are garbage for the market.
For economic fundamentalists human beings are no humans. They
are either commodities, machines or animals. It is the base instincts
of humans that fetch the media enormous wealth. No wonder
people today know more about film actors and actresses, models,
fashion designers, musicians and dancers, than scientists, poets,
thinkers and reformers.
The topics of discussions on TV are often related to changing
social values, that is, our own values giving way to Western cultural
values. There are discussions, for example, on should there be any
code about womens dress, is there anything bad in posing nude
before camera or giving bold scenes in the films and serials?
What is wrong with premarital or extramarital liaisons? Is
pornography bad? Should there be any legal measures against
smoking and drinking? Should unwed mothers be ostracised by
society? Should young girls opt for modelling as career? Is
marriage necessary for society? Is homosexuality undesirable? And
so on. The presentation of such discussions is usually slick. The
moderators engage the participants chosen carefully with the
objective of conveying a specific message to the listeners or
watchers in a manner that the ultimate message would be in
accordance with the specified objective.
The substitution of such programmes appears in magazines in
the form of surveys based on a questionnaire that is circulated
among a few thousand persons in a way as would give the desired
result, confirming preference for Western cultural ways. Recently,
for example, some well-known magazines in India carried out
surveys for determining the sexual attitude of Indians. The objective
of major international networks like BBC, CNN, ABC and For News
includes presenting the people of West as developed and civilised
and other as backward, belligerent and uncivilised, making every
possible effort to malign religion (especially, a particular religion that
is considered the biggest challenge to their dominance), beating
anti-West nations with the stick of human rights, blindly
supporting individualism, regarding all social aberrations as natural,
impressing upon East that, whatever vices West is blamed for are
also existing in their societies and advising them that, if they want
to gallop on the road to progress, they have no option but to seek
scientific, technical and economic assistance from Western powers
and to follow their cultural norms. BBC has always spouted venom
on communism, Islam and Indian culture.
The impact of economic fundamentalism on the press has
spawned what is aptly termed gutter journalism. The market of
newspapers and magazines expands in the wake of sensational
stories. Scandals are reported with great fanfare; in fact, non-issues
are many a time converted with the magic of ink into mind-blowing
scandals. Sex scandals have become a routine in West. Till recently
such gossips were confined to a few tabloids and the leading dailies
did not attach any significance to these stories. But now even the
biggest dailies garnish their front pages with reports, often with
exciting photographs, on the private lives of public figures. The

Inside MG

affairs of the members of Royal family are the topics of discussion

in bars, restaurants and clubs of England.
The impact of sensationalism in journalism on business is
manifold. It multiplies the sales of newspapers and magazines;
diverts the attention of the masses from their real problems that are
mostly the outcome of glaring economic imbalances accentuated
by economic fundamentalism; fans materialistic desires, the key to
consumerism; and changes social and cultural ethos in society.
Sometimes it goes to the extent of blackmailing public figures. The
increased sales, naturally, brings in more advertisements.
To justify and perpetuate its style of functioning, the media has
discovered the Freedom of Expression that has lately assumed
notorious proportions. The new maxim has spawned great symbols
of freedom of expression for them: to traduce anybody. To malign
religions and religious figures. To describe and exaggerate the most
private areas of the life of any celebrity. To portray or publish anyone
in the nude. To film the lewdest forms of sexual relations. And to
engage in misinformation for the furtherance of the desired
objectives. Liberty has turned into libertinage and license to express
has resulted in licentiousness.
The author is Delhi-based thinker and writer with over a dozen
books including his latest Quranic Paradigm of Sciences & Society (First
Vol: Health). He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com

Modi-Shah-Doval team
escalates campaign
We predicted when Mr Doval took over as NSA that the anti-terror
campaign targeting Muslim youth through false and fabricated
cases will get going in their right earnest. The ideal Modi-ShahDoval team did not belie us. After all, Modi-Shah team, which is
responsible for 21 "encounter" killings in Gujarat with the help of
the state IB chief Rajendar Singh, has now a cleverer team-mate.
"Terror" cases are being fabricated and ordinary crimes turned into
terror cases all over the country from West Bengal to UP to MP to
southern states. Unproven charges are slapped against Muslim
youth that they were working for ISIS or were on their way to join
it while their families cry from the roof-tops that the boys were
seeking employment in the Middle East like the 6.5 million Indians
already working there. All this goes on while berserk Saffron elements are running wild across the country organising ghar wapsi,
making incendiary and criminal speeches and claims which would
put anyone of them behind bars in any other country. The callous
abandon of this team was seen last month when a very senior
scholar in his 70s was illegally taken to the Lodhi Road office of
the notorious Special Cell and interrogated there about the funds
that run his madrasa and why he receives phone calls from foreign
countries. It was the pressure of the local people of Zakir Nagar
and adjoining areas who came out in their hundreds, gheraoed the
local police station and did not disperse until the Maulana was
released. This episode tells us that there is no Lakshman rekha for
this team. It also tells us that the unity of the people is a great
power which should be used effectively and timely to thwart such
illegal attempts to implicate even senior scholars in terror cases.
We are confident that had people failed to come out of their cosy
homes, the Maulana would have been parcelled away to
Sabarmati or Arthor Road jail on cooked up charges.

ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN

Freedom of Expression
Terrorism

3,4,7,9,15

Hindutva

J&K 10 Analysis 11 Special Reports 3,13 Issues 2,11,13

Speaking Out 11 Books 21 Newsmakers 12 Health 8
Leadership 9 International 16-20 Community News 14-15
Islamic Perspectives 20 Our Publications 19 Letters 23

Whats in Gods names? 22

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

ISSUES / OPINION

www.milligazette.com

Bugle of religious conversion

DR M. EJAZ ALI
Whether true or false, the news
about 250 Muslims changing
their religion in Agra is circulating in the media. Members of
the Sangh Parivar call it ghar
wapasi whereas Muslims call it
forced conversion. This became
hot news in media at a time when photos of
Nobel Prize for Peace being given to Kailash
Satyarthi and Malala Yusufzai in Norway as well
as discussions on this were held on TV. If both
these news are analysed seriously and read
between the lines, only one conclusion can be
drawn: an anti-Islam campaign is in progress.
This idea came to my mind because along with
this news, another news is being circulated in
media by anti-Muslim countries, that the eight
most dangerous countries of the world are all
Muslim and in the list of these countries, Iraq
occupies the top position while the last, i.e., the
8th, is occupied by Pakistan. Though there are
58 Muslim countries in the world, beside these
eight countries, the remaining are in some way
or the other under the influence of anti-Muslim
powers. God has given all these Muslim countries almost everything except perfect and sound
mind so as to be able to protect all these eight
countries from the anti-Islam campaign.
Here in India too the number of Muslims is

Now the second condition of Art 341 is being enforced by starting

forced conversions. A small sample of this was seen in Agra in
the form of religious conversion of Muslims. Even otherwise, this
work of conversion is going on secretly and steadily.
not small but Muslim leaders of this country
have been engaged for 67 long years in directionless politics, without strategy and wisdom,
that the same Sangh Parivar is occupying the
country whose very birth and foundation is
based on the fundamental principle of HindiHindu-Hindustan (Hindu Rashtra). Muslim leaders may very well claim to be of Arabian, Persian
or Yemeni origin but people of the Sangh Parivar
know that 95 percent of Indian Muslims are of
shudra origin or race whose forefathers at some
time in the past changed their religion and
entered the fold of Islam. The RSS outfits campaign is all about how to bring them back into the
Hindu fold, to which end they have been trying
from the very beginning and in which they have
also succeeded to some extent. In this campaign
they have not spared even the Constitution. One
should consider that in such an exhaustive
Constitution, the fundamental principle of which
is secularism, Art. 341 is the one which is being
targeted by the Sangh Parivar activists and in
which they got two more conditions added subsequently through the central government. The

YOUR FREEDOM
ENDS WHERE MY
NOSE BEGINS
DR. DARAKHSHAN ANJUM
The problems of action and its reaction, attack and counterattack,
attack and self defence or attack in frustration arise when an egotistic person or community ridicules the religion, feelings, values,
norms and culture of another. Every person has the right to
express his or her thoughts and beliefs so long as he / she
remains within certain limits. None is entitled to disseminate falsehood or to circulate reports which may outrage public decency, or
to indulge in slander, innuendo or to cast aspersions on others. No
one shall hold in contempt or ridicule the religious sentiments of
others or incite public hostility against them. Respect for the reli-

I am not Charlie, I am
not the gunner either
MUJAHID I MUGHAL
At the outset, let me proclaim that I am not Charlie Hebdo. I am
not Charlie as I dont support mischief. I dont endorse the
immeasurable hurt the insane Charlie has caused to 1.5 billion
humans across the globe. I dont support the freedom of speech
which snatches away the freedom of respect and dignity. I am not
Charlie as I am not uneducated. I am not Charlie, as I know
Muhammad was the Prophet of Peace (PBUH). History has told
me that Muhammad (PBUH) prayed for even those who cursed
him, abused him and physically hurt him. His staunchest enemies
like Abu Sufian revealed to the world that he was trustworthy and
honest. I am not Charlie, as I am not blind. As I see many of the
greatest human beings who visited the earth revered Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) with salutations.
Michael Hart believes Muhammad (PBUH) is the only man in
the history who was supremely successful in both secular and
INDIAN MUSLIMS LEADING ENGLISH NEWSPAPER

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first condition is that this law on reservation is

religion-based and is applicable only to Hindus.
The other condition is that in order to have or to
benefit from the right of reservation, nonMuslims will first have to embrace Hinduism.
Attention needs to be drawn that in this law
on reservation, which was enacted in 1936,
there was no religious restriction of any kind and
a large population of Muslims too were entitled
to benefit from it; but in independent India, in the
first place and in order to push Muslims even
below or behind dalits, the Presidential Order of
10 August 1950 was enforced under Art 341
(Sachar Committee Report is a sort of report
card of that Presidential Order). Again, nine
years later, on 23 July 1959, the second condition of embracing Hindusism was introduced
under Article 341. Fifty or 60 years after the
enforcement of the Indian Constitution when
Sachar Report was presented and was a testimony to the success of the Sangh Parivars antiMuslim campaign, i.e. to ensure all-round backwardness of Muslims. Now the second condition of Art 341 is being enforced by starting

forced conversions. A small

sample of this was seen in Agra
in the form of religious conversion of Muslims. Even otherwise, this work of conversion is
going on secretly and steadily. Because of short
sightedness or ignorance of our leaders regarding the first condition, a report like Sachar was
brought out, and if the same short sightedness
or ignorance of our leaders continues, again, say
after 50 years or so, one can very well guess
what kind of a report the central government will
bring forth.
Religious existence of Muslim Society
In view of the future danger or possibility of
this result, a historical demand of removing
restriction, by amending Art 341, was started
by Muslim Morcha in 1994 from Bihar. Now
this problem has come up at the national level.
Kundu Committee in its recent report has supported the amendment of Art 341 to remove
religious restrictions on the right to reservation. My earnest appeal to Muslim leaders is
that in a democratic country like India when
we have a secular Constitution, they must do
one thing in the interest of the religious survival of future Muslim generations: get the religious restriction removed from Art 341. In this
alone lies our survival in this land. As regards
the remaining problems of Muslims: they have
been tackling somehow and will continue
tackling them. (Translated from Urdu by MG
staff)
Dr. Ejaz Ali, former MP, is the founder and
patron of All India United Muslim Morcha

gious feelings of others should be obligatory. Prophet Muhammad

(PBUH) has set an example by his behaviour for all generations to
come. His values and teachings are not for certain period only, or
for one particular society. How can anybody ridicule him whose
excellent character, great behaviour, generosity, truthfulness,
patience and kindness are praised by scholars all over the world?
If anybody ridicules him just to hurt the sentiments of his followers, they should remember that the person or religion they are ridiculing has not ridiculed their feelings, their sentiments and their
religion. Islam is the religion of peace as the Quran says: And
dont insult those they invoke other than Allah lest they insult Allah
in enmity without knowledge (6: 108).
Speech is a basic means of communication for exchanging
ideas. but is not for disgracing others or, to ridicule them. Freedom
of speech does not mean to hurt others with ones venomous
tongue. Such portrayal provokes terrorist attacks and develops
gap between religions. The concept of freedom of expressions
needs to be better defined. There should be reasonable restrictions on it. It should be borne in mind while expressing anything
outrageous that it might hurt the sensibilities of others.

On the other hand, terrorist attacks are also not justified.

Attackers should seek the teachings of Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH). When in Taif people harassed, ridiculed and physically
hurt him, he did not react. Instead, he patiently prayed for them
and wished them well as well as their coming generations. Human
values do not permit us to ridicule or disgrace anyone. Islam
teaches patience, modesty, kindness and restraint. Regarding
diversity of religion the Quran says: To you be your way, And to
me mine (109:6).
Islam gives the criteria for a believer for judging all of his / her
behaviour and conduct. It determines his / her relationship with
other individuals and with society as a whole. Pride and arrogance
in any aspect of conduct are not accepted. No individual is superior to another, except in his degree of faith and good deeds.
Terrorist attacks are not and never justified as Islam is the religion
of peace and tolerance. The types of writing and other of portrayal in the name of freedom of expression that offend, insult, harass,
disgrace and hurt the sentiments of others are not and will never
be acceptable.

religious dramas. I am not Charlie as I am not ignorant of the

Peace Treaty of Hudaibiya. An unparalleled treaty so far, aimed at
upholding the ideals of peace and tolerance. I know of the Prophet
(PBUH) who preferred not to kiss his own children in front of an
orphan. A Prophet (PBUH) who preferred word over sword. A man
who preferred peace over violence and easier over difficult.
I am not insane Charlie as I know that Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) was the only man in the history of mankind who brought
a social, economic and moral revolution within a span of only
twenty three years. I know that his was the most peaceful revolution aimed at establishment of a peaceful and just society. The
most successful revolution so far. I am not Charlie as I am not a
bigot. I cant validate drawing a lie. I cant preach a lie. I am not
Charlie as I consider slander a sin. A heinous crime.
I am not Charlie as I am not an Islamophobe, Francophobe, or
a Hinduophobe. Despite the mischievous acts of Charlie I still
dont believe all French are Ill-behaved. I, henceforth, wont
approve of making a cartoon wherein the French parliament is
shown as a brothel. I am not Charlie as I can make a distinction
between freedom of speech and freedom to slander. So, I am not
a Charlie at all.
Let me also say that I am not those misguided gunners, too.I

can't approve of the Paris killings at all. Not in the least bit. I condemn them. I dont support the men who retaliated for a prophet
(PBUH) who never favoured retaliation. A prophet (PBUH) who
didnt kill people who used to say he was insane. He didnt kill Abu
Sufian. Neither did he kill the woman who used to throw garbage
on him. Nor did he curse the people of Taif who cursed and stoned
him. Nor did he curse anyone else. I am not that ignorant gunner
as I know Muhammad (PBUH) forgave a woman who chewed on
his slain uncles heart. I am not one of the gunners as I am not
ignorant and misguided. I know of my Prophet (pbuh) who, on the
day of his greatest conquest over his evil enemies said, Today is
the day of mercy. I am not the ignorant gunner who Killed the
wrong man, and not the wrong idea. As I know killing wrong men
never kills wrong ideas. Killing is never a solution. Not at all. Not
in the least bit. But killing the wrong ideas indeed is a solution.
Killing the idea meant, showing, preaching and practising the
ideals that the Prophet of Peace taught and practised. The ideals
of reason and logic. The ideals of love and harmony. The ideals
of, To me my religion, and to you yours and no compulsions in
religion. Unlike France which imposes its majoritarian whims on
the minorities.

DISTRIBUTORS: (Alphabetical - statewise and then citywise)

The wirter is Post Doctoral fellow,

Dept of Islamic Studies, Aligarh Muslim University

The writer is a research scholar

in the Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University

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The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

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AMU Thai alumni facilitate

their Aligarh housekeeper

Mukhtar Ahmad, 3rd from left

PHOTOS: RUSSDY KHANTANIT

KHALID MUSANNA

Respond if you care about your community

White Paper on Terrorism

The issue of fake terrorism charges and the unjust arrests and defamation of our community, especially since 2001, is
the biggest challenge facing the community ever since. A grand conspiracy hatched by the powers that be, IB, Police
and media, has sullied and defamed our community. This campaign has affected our lives, peace of mind and has
thwarted our efforts to progress and educate our children to join the national mainstream.
Our efforts so far to present our case, to bring out our innocence and force the national and state governments to
listen to our grievances have mostly failed. All we have received are a few words of solace which have no real meaning
and have not changed the situation on the ground. Our children by their thousands are still languishing in jails on the
basis of fake confessions obtained through torture and blackmail.
As a long-term solution and a serious response to this problem thrust upon us, AIMMM decided last year to bring
out a white paper on the Muslim-related terrorism in the country. The work is going on with all seriousness and many
researchers, scholars and journalists are busy preparing writeups on various aspects of this issue, covering the history, genesis, communalism, vested interests in various related fields, analysis of various laws like TADA, POTA and UAPA,
fake encounters, narco tests, torture, acquittals, IB & Police role, media attitude, case studies, statewise surveys, SIMI,
Indian Mujahidin, Hindutva terror, individual tragedies of victims, Azamgarh, Bhatkal, Malegaon, Darbhanga modules,
some basic documents, etc., etc.
The target is to bring out this white paper during the next few months and to release it in a big convention at Delhi
as a combined effort of major Muslim and civil rights organisations, and thereafter present this huge document of over
600 large format pages to politicians, media, human rights organisations, especially outside the country, in order to
enlighten public opinion at home and abroad as well as to build pressure on our blind and deaf government.
The estimated cost of this white paper is Rs 35 lakh divided as follows: Rs 15 lakh cost of preparation and payments to contributors plus six months salaries to researchers and experts; Rs 15 lakh for designing and printing the
document in a world-class format; while the grand convention at Delhi will cost at least 5 lakh. Effort will be made to
release the White Paper in some state and world capitals also.
You can help this effort in four ways,
1. To buy copies of the White Paper on Terrorism in advance to help defray part of the huge cost of research, printing,
publication and distribution of at least one thousand complimentary copies. The estimated price of the white paper is
Rs 2000 per copy in India. You may place an advance order by paying Rs 1000 only per copy in India including postal
charges). Payments for the copies may be made to The Milli Gazette, D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar, New
Delhi 110025. Email: edit@milligazette.com. Individuals and organisations ordering a minimum of 100 copies in
advance will be included as Sponsors of the White Paper.
2. Contribute to the cost of the grand convention to be held in Delhi. This should be payable to the All India Muslim Majlise Mushawarat, D-250, Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025. Tel.: 011-26946780 Fax: 011-26947346.
Email: mushawarat@mushawarat.com.
3. Donate your time: If you are a scholar, researcher, journalist: join our team for a few months working in our Delhi
office or from your own home to complete this project - write to the Editor, MG now at edit@milligazette.com.
4. Contact us if you have vital information/documents about this issue.

For Mukhtar Ahmad, life revolved around serving students from Thailand for the
last 48 years. He witnessed changing faces year after year, welcomed new Thai
students and bid adieu to those who completed their studies, but continued to
serve them with goodwill and compassion.
Mukhtar, who hails from Atraulia in Uttar Pradesh, came into contact of a few
Thai students in the summer of 1967, when he was a rickshaw-puller in the vicinity of Aligarh Muslims University (AMU). In that hour of toil with sweat dripping
from his forehead, some Thai students asked him if he could take care of their
rented house. Since then, Mukhtar became a housekeeper, guide and helper for
them, in every possible way he could.
His good deeds and his bonding with Thai students were rewarded when he
was invited to Bangkok to attend AMU alumni meet of Thai students on
17 January this year. AMUs Thai alumni consist of professors, businessmen and
government servants.
For a man who is not even literate, who finds it difficult to take care of
the needs of his eight children, it was impossible to even think of travelling
to a foreign country.
He developed a strong bond with the students. I am grateful to them.
requires
They have really showered me with love and affection, Mukhtar said in a
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
brimming voice as he spoke of his relationship with the students of
Thailand over phone. I have never thought of this day, not in my dreams
JUNIOR JOURNALISTS
that I will ever visit Thailand and more so, I will get to meet people who I
write with details in the first instance
served and they will serve me with all affection, Mukhtar said delightfully.
to the Editor at edit@milligazette.com
Russdy Khantanit, an AMU alumnus, who works as Foreign Affairs
Officer at the Parliament of Thailand and whose portrait of Mukhtar Ahmad
or to The Milli Gazette, D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave Part 1,
was auctioned said, He was of great help at AMU. During our stay he was
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi - 110025
an indispensible part of our life.
Basic
requirements:
good command over English, interest in and
Sitting at the fence one cannot understand the flowing emotions of
knowledge
of
Muslim
community issues, working knowledge of
some students who have come across the frail-looking Mukhtar during
Mukhtar Ahmad
Urdu and Hindi
their student life. But, former students like Khantanit give a lot of credit to
the old man for what they are today.
people from Hinduism to Hindutva, the rancorous,
Khantanits framed portrait of Mukhtar fetched Rs. 12000, which was later
intellectually and morally impoverished version of Hinduism
presented to him as a gesture towards his services to the Thai student commuthat the RSS propagates
nity.
Whats the view of the Modi government on all of this?
Prof. Jaran Maluleem, President of Thai AMU alumni, who worked as an adviIn the firestorm that has erupted around the conversion
sor to the Prime Minister of Thailand and presently heads the Faculty of Political
issue, one mans refusal to comment has come to seem as
Science and heads Indian Studies Programme at Pridi Banomyong International In the realm of law, the RSS wants the passage of a stringent meaningful as any argument: Prime Minister Modi, who in
College, Thammasat University, played a vital role in inviting Mukhtar to Thailand. nationwide bill that would ban religious conversions. In the recent months has taken his message of development and
It was his efforts that made the visit possible for Mukhtar who is fighting with his public sphere, it has arrogated the right to pronounce not an economically resurgent India to many parts of the world,
frail limbs to keep the pot burning at home.
just on the future of minorities in India but that of Indias has remained shamefully silent. (As usual, his friends in the
Prof. Maluleem says, The purpose to call Mukhtar to Thailand was an emo- Hindu majority as well. In the war of the religions, it seeks to media have found inventive ways of coming to his defense.)
tional decision. He served most of us, Thai students, during our years in AMU. spread the news that there is now a Hindu fundamentalism
CHANDRAHAS CHOUDHURY (livemint.com)
He is a poor fellow and works hard to earn bread for his children. We thought by eager to goad and trump well-established Christian and
this felicitation we can give back something to him as well as we all wanted to Islamic fundamentals in
see him again. Mukhtar has been a part of our growing and developing years India and around the
from a student to a professor today. The association is planning to film a docu- world. And among its
own vast cadre, it has
mentary by next year on Mukhtar.
Two of three students whom Mukhtar met for the first time while pulling rick- generated the sense that
shaw was Mr. Prapat Potasuton and Prof. Imron Maluleem, the former became it, much more than the
minister and later served as senator in the parliament of Thailand. Prof. Maluleem government of the day or
the diverse institutions of
ended with a Quranic verse: All human beings are equal before God.
civil
society
and
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Khalid Musanna is freelance writer and blogs at khalidmusanna.wordpress.com

Mushawarat protests against the

maltreatment of senior cleric
New Delhi, 22 January, 2015: The All India
Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, umbrella body of
Indian Muslim organizations, strongly condemned
and protested against the illegal detention of the
senior scholar Maulana Yasin Akhtar Misbahi by
the Special Cell on Wednesday, 21 January.
Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, President of AIMMM
and Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi, General
Secretary of AIMMM, visited Maulana Misbahi
this morning at his residence and conveyed to him the whole communitys
support to him and its displeasure at the maltreatment meted out to him at
the hands of the Special Cell the previous day.
Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan has further written to the Home Minister, Lt.
Governor Delhi and Police Commissioner Delhi protesting against the illegal
action of the Special Cell and demanding a high-level enquiry into the whole
episode and punishment of the guilty officers.

then,
is
a
new
disequilibrium in which
no
other
religious
organization would have
the right to convert
people. No wonder it
salivates at the prospect
of a future India in which,
by
generating
a
consensus against the
missionary activity of
other religions, it can
engineer a society thats
100% Hindu.
And we shouldnt
lose sight of the even
more slippery and
sinister part of the RSSs
sinister agenda: the
simultaneous conversion
of a few hundred million

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The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

NATIONAL

Security agencies pick up, release renowned scholar

whisked away in such an illegal
way.
Another political leader,
Amanatullah Khan of the Aam
Aadmi Party, who gheraoed the
police station along with his followers, while coming down heavily against the police highhandedness, said, why the police failed
to follow the laid down procedure
before picking up the Maulana.
How can they dare commit such
an undemocratic move? This is a
very serious matter which shows
police are deliberately marginalising the Muslim community.
The arrest of the scholar drew
sharp criticism from various
People protest against Maulana Misbahis arrest; inset: Maulana Misbahi after release
Muslim organisations. While registering their protest and conNew Delhi: An octogenarian well-known scholar was picked up
by Delhi Police Special Cell on 21 January afternoon. Soon after demning the move, many Muslim organisations issued press
the news of his arrest spread in the Jamia Nagar area of South statements against what they termed the hegemony and prejuDelhi, hundreds of protesting people took to the streets and gath- dices of IB to deliberately marginalise and demonise the Indian
ered around outside the Jamia Nagar Police station. Shouting anti- Muslim community. (Bilal Bhat)
police slogans, the protesters were demanding immediate release
Tribals convert to Christianity
of the scholar. Local political leaders had led the protestors who
The
administration
of Odishas Sundergarh district has started an
demanded his release and an apology. As a result of this strong
protest, Maulana was released the same evening. He later told MG inquiry after at least 85 tribals allegedly converted to Christianity.
that he was subjected to about 45 minutes of intense questioning We have started an inquiry after getting information about the
during which he was asked about the source of funds for his alleged conversion. Action will be taken after we get a report,
Sundargarh collector Bhupinder Singh Poonia said. The adminismadrasa and why he received so many foreign phone calls.
Renowned scholar and author of dozens of books, Maulana tration started the inquiry after some tribal villagers of Balisuda,
Yasin Akhtar Misbahi who runs Darul Kalam madrasa at Zakir about 450 km west of Bhubaneswar, backed by a local Vishwa
Nagar, was picked up by IB from the Jamia Nagar police station at Hindu Parishad functionary lodged a complaint on 26 December
around 3.30 pm. Police had summoned him on the plea that they against this conversion. The complainants claimed that tribals
want him for an enquiry but when he reached the police station he were converted on 25 December by three pastors from Rourkela
was handed over to the Special Cell team which whisked him by deceit and this has created tension in the village, said RC
away to its Lodhi Road office. A number of his students had Naik, VHPs local secretary. Odisha is one of the few states in the
accompanied him to the police station but they were not allowed country with an anti-conversion law. Those converting of their free
to go with him to the Special Cell office. They said that the will have to go through a process of informing an additional disMaulana was pushed into a car by IB and driven away while they trict magistrate beforehand.
were rudely prevented from accompanying him. When they tried
Ghar wapsi of a different kind
to resist they were manhandled. Later, Salim, one of the protestors
who had witnessed the episode at the police station, said, how RSS affiliates are engaged in bringing home (ghar wapsi) peocould they have taken him that way; he is ill and unable to walk on ple belonging to religions other than Hinduism, there are certain
Hindu intellectuals who are making efforts for a different type of
his own.
When MG tried to ascertain the facts from the police regard- ghar wapsi. These people are trying to convert dalits and maha
ing the incident, the SHO said he has no information why he was dalits to upper castes like Mishras, Pandeys, Tomars and
taken and who took him. Officers present in the police station Rathors. This ghar wapsi is taking place under the supervision of
national spokesperson of BJP and the former president of Gotra
refused to comment on the issue.
However, sources told MG that Maulana was picked up in Commission, Vijay Sonkar Shastri. Mr. Shastri claimed that he is
helping these dalits restore their earlier dignity who during
connection with a book that he had written years ago.
MG met Maulana soon after his release. He said, I was taken Muslim rule left their castes. Mr. Shastri said that he had given
by IB and questioned continuously by four IB officials for 45 min- his lectures in more than 500 seminars to create awareness
utes. They asked many questions. However, they stressed more among the target people. He added that he talked with the RSS
on two things: One was about madrasa Darul Qalam, its students, and other Hindu organisations in this regard. Famous historian and
objectives and the other question they kept on asking was my grand-child of Dr. BR Ambedkar, Prakash Ambedkar, rejects this
connections with people outside the country. They kept on asking theory saying that BJP is in power and it is trying to consolidate
me why I was getting calls from outside? I politely told them that Hindus by pitting them against Muslims.
Leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Praveen Togadia, demandI am a scholar and I have written many books. I have an international audience, so people keep calling me and my conversations ed on 20 December to bring in anti-conversion bill. He said that
once there were only Hindus in the world but now the Hindu popare purely scholarly.
The sitting Congress MLA from the area, Asif Mohammad ulation is only 100 crore. He emphasised to spread awareness
Khan while speaking to the media during the protest said, among Hindus in this regard and called for steps to be taken to
Considering his scholarly reputation and age, its really a blemish stop conversion, or the Hindu pollution would come down to only
on the face of the Indian democracy when such a senior citizen is 46 percent of the population.

Musings

Where to draw a line?

Granted, what happened at Charlie Hebdo in Paris was universally

worth-condemning but when the euphoria of anger dies down and
sanity prevails, its time to introspect without taking any side or
being prejudiced. Wholl decide how much freedom is to be given
to speech and expression that it doesnt become objectionable and
hurtful? If one of the main aspects of creativity is being thoughtprovocative, how can one be discerning enough to draw a line as
not to be outright spiteful to a person, group of a persons or an ideology, be it religious, political or social? If to provoke is the sole
objective, a piece of art or creativity loses its cardinal purpose and
becomes a tool of polemics. It deviates from its path and degenerates into prejudicial hatred for a specific group or community.
Creativity has its own set of responsibilities. It must follow a code
of ethics and include universal sensibilities as to what to express
and what not to. We all must know that precise psychological
moment when to say nothing and express anything that may open
a Pandoras box. Remember the dictum of Latin poet Ovid, The
best art is to conceal the art. Had the slain cartoonists at Charlie
Hebdo understood the subtleties of art (cartoons, in this context)
and nuances of creativity, theyd have refrained from in-your-face
candor in their not-so-creative cartoons and would still have been
living. This unfortunate incident is a lesson to all those who stretch
freedom of expression a tad too far.

Condemn suicide-bombing
Boko Haram recruiting prepubescent (as young as 10/11-yr-old)
girls/boys as suicide bombers is something that deserves universal
condemnation. The very concept of suicide bombing is outright

un-Islamic because suicide itself goes against the fundamental

tenets of Quran and Hadith. The Islamic jihadists may adduce the
earlier example of LTTEs suicide bombers as a just precedent to
their heinous deeds, but a wrong cannot be erased by another
wrong. However great a cause may seem, a motivated self-inflicting act (a predictive phrase coined by Samuel Huttington in his
seminal essay, A clash of civilisations, page 14, 1963) is always
condemnable because it leads to further bloodshed as in the case
of a suicide bombing. This kind of indoctrinated motivation is akin
to opium-induced altered state of mind, whichs often effected by
the religious chloroforming. And in the case of innocent children
being used as cannon-fodders and suicide-bombers, the less said
the better. What do they know of religion and a cause thats brainwashed into their impressionable psyche? Its time, Islamic scholars, regardless of the sects they belong to, came together and condemned the idea of jihadists suicide bombing.

Dogs and Indians not allowed

Thanks to social media, the shocking incident of a poor child getting bowed out of MaCdonalds outlet in Poona has received nationwide publicity and of course condemnation from all quarters. But
this has been happening and most of the well-heeled, anglophile
Indians who patronise such expensive joints, dont even care.
Theyre not just insensitive. Theyre spineless, to boot. Poor people
with shabby appearance are routinely driven out of swish hotels
and restaurants. And for that, you cannot always blame the whiteskinned westerners. They left long ago. The brown-skinned, affluent Indians are much more pejorative and outright condescending.
Readers may be aware that as late as in 1986, an English restaurant (it was later purchased by an anglicised Bengali tea-planter
Jayant Mullick) at Kurseong, Darjeeling had the board with a cate-

VHP ghar wapsi fails in Gaya

Vishwa Hindu Parishad organised a puja programme on
29 December in Gaya district of Bihar for home coming of 40
Christian families who had left Hinduism a week earlier. However,
VHP leaders claimed that out of 40, 34 people were purified during the puja.
VHP had organised a grand programme for home coming in
Atiya, village of the Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, but
none of the expected converts turned up. Defending the stand of
VHP, one of its leaders said that the programme was organised for
those who wanted to return to the Hindu religion. The people who
participated in the puja expressed their ignorance of ghar vapsi.
Interestingly, volunteers of VHP and Bajrang Dal had been trying for many days to bring back those who had converted to
Christianity. There are 77 families of Maha Dalit category, out of
which 35 families had converted to Christianity in 2008. Christian
priest, Raj Kishore, said that all the people accepted Christianity of
their own free will. The Chief Minister of Bihar, Jitan Ram Manjhi
said that everybody has religious freedom, but the issue will be
investigated.
On the other hand, rumour of conversion created a tense
atmosphere in Magadh Medical College of Gaya on 29 December.
Rumour had spread out that an intern doctor, Munir Alam from
Purnia district, had allegedly forced 17-year-old Hindu boy,
Sarthak, who lives in the nearby village of Sohan Bega, to convert
to Islam. As this rumour spread, some of his fellow interns started to beat him up. When this information reached the local administration, SDO and DSP reached the place and reviewed the situation there. Junior doctors claimed that Munir Alam propagates an
specific ideology, so he should not be allowed to stay at the hostel. But Munir Alam denied this allegation. Sarthak too rejected this
rumour saying that he had not converted to Islam and Munir Alam
has not forced him in this regard. The boy added that this whole
matter was based on a misunderstanding by his father. He further
said that he was surfing Internet to know about a particular religion, but his father mistook that he converted to another religion.
SDO city and DSP investigated the issue and said that the matter
became complicated only because of misunderstanding of the situation. They rejected the rumour of conversion and instructed
Munir Alam and the boy to focus on their studies.

Goa Christians welcome to Hinduism: RSS

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs western zone chief, Sharad
Kunte, has said that if the Goan Christians, who were earlier
Hindus, are desirous of returning to their ancestral religion, the
RSS will not only take them back but will also facilitate their initiation into the faith. Kunte was replying to a query by media-persons on the issue of conversion on the sidelines of a training
camp for RSS youth volunteers on 27 December, 2014.
Kunte added that thousands of Hindus were forcibly converted to Christianity during the Portuguese rule in Goa, and if anyone
was willing to come back to their ancestral religion, they would be
warmly accepted.
Earlier, 30 people belonging to eight families of Dalit Christians
in Alappuzha were converted to Hinduism under the auspices of
the VHP. At around the same time, 70 Hindus were allegedly converted to Christianity in Uttar Pradeshs Bahraich district, leading
to tension in the area.
On the other hand, villages of Nayagaon Guladiya in
Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh decided to read Bibles at
their homes instead of organising weekly meetings. Former headman of the village, Matadeen Verma, at whose house Bible-reading sessions were held, said, People are saying if we continue
with the weekly meetings at my house, members of Bajrang Dal
and VHP would oppose it creating law and order problems.

gorical warning Dogs and Indians are not allowed emblazoned on
it. That it took 21 years to remove the board by an Indian owner
under duress, bespeaks our disparaging mentality. Despite getting
independence in 1947, we allowed such a derogatory warning to
be there for all to see is a sad reflection of our pathetic mental
enslavement. Were too servile and shamelessly indifferent to the
plight of the oppressed.

Quarrelling over zero

Theres an unnecessary debate over zero by some Hindu activists,
with their half-baked knowledge of history and ancient India, claiming the Hindus to be the first to conceptualise zero. This is historically incorrect. The first man, who introduced zero was AbuAbdullah Muhammad Khwarazmi, an Iranian, who lived about 876
AD and in his book called Mafatih al-Ulum or the Keys to the sciences states that if the power of the tens is not represented, a small
circle is used to keep the rows. This small circle was called sifra
(empty). Early English lexicographers like Samuel Johnson, Daniel
Scott, Rick Fry changed this Arabic-origin word to cipher to mean
zero. Here I must mention that the Sanskrit word Shoonya for
zero also has a semantic equivalent in Shun (early Pahalavi, precursor to modern Persian). Shun means nothing/empty in
Pahalavi.
Sifra is derived from Zifr and is one of the signs used in Avesta
(Zoroastrianism) for a stop in the parration and its in the shape of
a ring and something like a full stop. The word zephyro meaning
zero that has been transmitted to Europe with whats known as
Arabic figures is derived from this word and therefore we neednt
try to find some out of the way explanations for its derivation.

SUMIT PAUL
sumitmaclean@hotmail.com

NATIONAL

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

Nai Manzil scheme for the progress of madrasa students

New Delhi: Union ministry for minorities affairs
will soon launch a new scheme, Nai Manzil, for
the progress of madrasa students to enable
them appear for Central Board examinations by
providing them modern education. Though in
some Islamic madrasas, under madrasa modernisation scheme, modern subjects like
English, science etc in addition to religious education are also taught and government provides
financial assistance to such madrasas, central
government through the ministry of minorities
affairs plans to improve their lot by promoting
modern education and skill development among
madrasa students. It is understood that religious
leaders and academicians have welcomed this
scheme. According to government estimates
there are about 3 lakh small and big madrasas in
the country, with an average of about hundred
students passing out from each madrasa every
year. On this basis government's calculation is
that every year about 3 crore students pass out
from all these madrasas (though this figure of
the government about the number of madrasas
in the country as well as of the madrasa passouts every year appears to be on the higher
side and is open to question.)
Any how, governments plan in the first phase
is to educationally empower about 5000 students
for the present and then to expand it further after
the annual budget for the financial year 2015-16.
Maulana Azad Education Foundation, in addition to
its existing responsibilities, will bear the expenses
of this proposed project also. According to an official of the concerned ministry (minorities affairs), a
bridge course of one year will be introduced to help
the students tide over the academic and skill development gaps. This will be an intensive one year
course to prepare these madrasa students to be
able to write the annual Board examinations which
are recognised by universities in the country. He
said that whereas in traditional madrasas students
have religious education and knowledge, they lack
knowledge about modern subjects like science,
English, mathematics etc and hence in one years
intensive course they will be able to appear for
Board examinations. (It may be stated in this connection that Aligarh Muslim University, at the initiative of the present Vice Chancelor Lt Gen (Retd)
Zamiruddin Shah is already running a bridge
course for preparing madrasa students for school
and college education). The officer further said that
for the students who are not interested in academic education and training basic vocational training
for skill development jobs like driving, security
guards, nursing assistants, tailoring, carpentary etc
will be provided.
He said that though some states (West)
Bengal, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujrat have their own
State Madrasa Boards the students passing out
from these madrasas find themselves misfits in
schools and colleges where modern subjects are
taught. He said that the ministry is in touch with
Jamia Millia Islamia (Delhi), AMU and IGNOU to
absorb madrasa students under the minority quota.
AMUs Prof. Shakeel Samdani and Vice President
of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Maulana
Kalbe Sadiq and many others have welcomed such
a scheme of the ministry. Prof. Samdani confirmed,
as stated above, that AMU introduced Bridge
Coursse for madrasa students last year for teaching modern subjects to them and bringing them at

par with school, college and university students.

SC censures UP govt on Muzaffarnagar riots
The Supreme Court expressed its dissatisfaction
over the action-taken report of UP government
over gang-rape cases in Muzaffarnagar and
neighbouring villages during riots in 2013. The
apex court issued contempt of court notice
against the state government and directed the
SIT officials to appear before it on a plea by the
victims.
UP government had said in its report that it
had given compensation to the victims but the
fact is that victims were compensated only after
they filed a plea in the Supreme Court. One victim was provided security just two months ago.
Even the action against Investigating Officer was
taken only after Supreme Court took notice of it.
Earlier Additional Advocate General of UP
government, Gaurav Bhatia, said before the
court that rupees five lakh was given to each
victim of rape and 25 thousand to those who lost
their immovable property. He said 22 out of 25
accused have been arrested and three are to be
declared absconding. Investigating Officer of SIT,
Mala Yadav, has been removed from the post
and an enquiry has been ordered.
MoMA to provide jobs training to minority
professionals
New Delhi: Union ministry of minorities affairs
claims to have identified about 70 thousand jobs
for minority community youths for whom it
wants to rope in experts and professionals for
imparting training for those jobs which require
skilled workforce. According to the ministry
prominent personalities like Kamal Hasan, film
actor, Dr Naresh Trehan, heart specialist, Mrs
Shahnaz Husain, beautician, Ms Vandana Luthra
of VLCC, also a beautician etc have agreed to
train these youths in their respective fields. While
Hasan and Dr Trehan have confirmed to render
their servies for this purpose the ministry is in
close touch with the remaining two to start similar skill-based traing programme all over the
country. The minister Mrs Najma Heptullah says
that due to low standard of education many
youths from the minority communities become
jobless after passing out from schools. Since
most of them are from poor families and not well
educated, they are not qualified or trained for
many jobs in cities. They need training and skill
in the right direction. She says that under ministrys new scheme seekho aur kamao (learn
and earn) we have signed agreements with professionals who have identified these deficiencies
of minority youths and will train them accordingly.
According to the plan Kamal Hasan has agreed
to train the youths for technical jobs in cinema and
mass communication / media. Dr Trehan, who
runs Medanta Medicity, a superspeciality hospital
in Gurgaon will provide training for healthcare and
hospital jobs. Shahnaz Husain of Sahnaz Herbal
fame and Vandana Luthra who runs VLCC can
impart training in beauty culture and hair care. Mrs
Heptullah says that it is hoped that at least 50 to 70
percent of the youth who undergo skill-based training will be absorbed by their trainers and the rest
can find jobs of their own on the basis of their train-

ing and skill. Under this scheme the ministry will

provide funds for the training programme of such
youths. Those interested in training in these fields
will not have to pay any fees. All such expenses will
be borne by the government / minisry and some
may be given stipends also, depending on the job
requirement. The training institutions can absorb
the trainees as per their requirements. She says
that the objective of these training programmes, as
stated above, is to provide employment to them so
that they do not remain jobless or to resort to unfair
acts like criminal activities for earning a living.
Officials in the ministry are also in touch
with international construction companies which
are in need of trained and skilled workers like
masons, painters, electricians, skilled persons in
air conditioning system and so on and so forth.
Officials said that if they can absorb at least 50
percent of such trainees and offer attractive
salaries commensurate with their skill and if we
are confident that they (trainees) will not be
exploited or blackmailed, we can enter into
agreements with such companies within or outside the country.
Historians criticise Modis remark
The discussion on Prime Minister Narendra
Modis remark on 3 January that an ancient
plastic surgeon must have attached the head of
an elephant on the body of Ganehsa has hardly
been over, Indian Science Conference surprised
us by two of the papers presented during a session named Ancient Sciences through
Sanskrit.
A paper presented on ancient Indian aviation
technology at the 102nd Indian Science
Congress at the University of Mumbai on
3 January claimed that an ancient Indian rishi
(sage) had given detailed guidelines for making
aircraft. The paper, co-authored by Captain
Anand Bodas, retired head of a pilot training centre and Ameya Jadhav, a teacher claimed that
Maharishi Bharadwaj has narrated guidelines to
making aeroplanes. There are 97 reference
books for aviation. In Brihatvimanshastra, he has
given 500 guidelines.
The Maharishi, they said, defined an aeroplane as a vehicle which travels through air
from one country to other, from one continent to

Communal criminals strike in Hyderabad

Hyderabad:
Syed
Noor Uddin, 65
years, was brutally
killed
by
one
Rajeswar Rao who
attacked him with a
sword
on
18 January. Syed
Noor Uddin was
returning after offering Magrib prayers at
Syed Noor Uddin; his body after the attack
Masjid-e Pasha Ali at
Azampura in Hyderabad. For the last eight days Rajeswar Rao and his group were intentionally
singing and playing bhajans making loud noises. Syed Noor Uddin asked Rajeswar to lower the
noise as it was disturbing during the prayers and annoying the residents of Azampura. Rajeswar
along with some of his friends attacked Syed Noor Uddin and killed him. The attack was so brutal
that Syeds left hand fell on the road and his entire neck was cut off. As soon as the incident was
reported, Mr Amjed Ullah Khan, former corproator, reached the spot and met DCP (East Zone) and


other police officers and demanded stern action against the culprits.

A pleasant whiff of breeze from Lucknow

SHAKIL SHAMSI
I was born and brought up in the lanes of Lucknow which are
named after Shias and Sunnis and remain divided for the past 110
years. People of these places know very well at what point the
houses of Sunnis begin and from where habitations of Shias start.
A Shia knows that while passing form Pata Nala and Ghulam
Husain Bridge he should be very cautious; every Sunni of Old
Lucknow knows that while passing through Kashmiri Mohalla or
Bazaz bylanes he should choose his way equally cautiously. But
people of both sects fearlessly pass through localities and areas
inhabited by non-Muslims.
There was a time when the atmosphere from Muharram till
Rabiul Awwal was so tense that Muslims used to clash with each
other at the drop of a hate. The circumstances were such that
mischievous elements and rioters used to flee while unsuspecting
innocent people were liable to be arrested. I remember very well
that a very simple and gentle person was arrested by the police
and locked up in jail. When he was released, people asked him
why he was arrested. He said that the atmosphere was tense.
When he had picked up a piece of clay and was going for istinja
in a lane, police arrested him thinking that he was going to pelt
stones on the procession.

other, from one planet to other. Captain Bodas

said, Bharadwajs book even mentioned a diet
for pilots, milk of buffalo, cow and sheep.
Other papers spoke about how ancient
Indian texts were the first to talk about the ratio
of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, a
constant known as pi, the Pythagoras theorem,
classification of plants, veterinary science and
metallurgy.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 102nd
Indian Science Congress, Minister for Science and
Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan had said, Our scientists discovered the pythogras theorem, but we
gave its credit to the Greeks. We all know that we
knew beej ganit much before the Arabs did. But
we gracefully allowed it to be called algebra.
Even as these remarks invited ridicule,
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor defended it. In a
series of tweets, referring to articles written by
him in The Hindu in 2003, Mr. Tharoor said,
Modernists sneering at @drharshvardhan
should know he was right. In one of these articles, citing Dick Teresis book Lost Discoveries,
Mr. Tharoor had written that the Rig Veda mentioned gravitation 24 centuries before the apple
fell on Newtons head and the Vedic civilization
subscribed to the idea of a spherical earth at a
time when everyone else, even the Greeks,
assumed the earth was flat. He further said, To
mock the credulous exaggeration of the Hindutva
brigade, you dont need to debunk the genuine
accomplishments of ancient Indian science.
Prime Minister Modi had cited plastic surgery and genetic science to explain the creation of Lord Ganesh and Karna. Reacting to this
remark of the Prime Minister, the 75th Indian
History Congress, held at Jawaharlal Nehru
University, adopted a resolution on 6 January
expressing concern over the attempts by the
Right-wing to re-write history. The resolution
urged members of the political establishment to
refrain from making statements contrary to wellestablished historical facts. The resolution, In
Defence of Scientific Method in History, took
note of the fact that unfortunately even the
Prime Minister has suggested that in the hoary
past Indians had learnt and then forgotten plastic surgery of a kind going far beyond what is


now possible.

At one time the atmosphere in Lucknow was such that even

the minds of children became polluted. In this connection an interesting incident is worth mentioning. In 1980, one day I was passing through a lane of my mohalla. I saw some children who were
on the roof of a house while some had assembled down below.
Children on the ground took out a procession raising slogans.
Children on the roof started throwing paper balls on them as if
they were stones. I continued watching this game of children in
bewilderment. When this game somewhat subsided, I asked them
what was going on? One child said smilingly we are playing the
game of riots. Children taking out the procession were Shias and
those pelting paper stones from the roof-top were Sunnis! The
scenes of Muharram were being enacted. Subsequently the scene
of Bara Wafat will be enacted. For this, Sunni boys on the roof-top
will come down and take out a procession while children playing
the role of Shias will climb up the roof and throw stones on the
Sunnis below!
I would like to make it clear here that I have mentioned this
incident not jokingly or for your entertainment but this is a perfectly true incident. There are many people who will certify it and
Masha Allah those very children also are here. By now they will be
in their forties. Among these children were both Shias and Sunnis
of our mohalla who, through this game, used to make fun of the

elders of their city. But after Babri Masjids demolition a revolutionary change started taking place in Lucknows atmosphere. It
added a new chapter on Sunday, 4 January. My joy knew no
bounds on that day when a close relative of mine sent me a video
clip of 2.5 minutes in which a a procession of Sunnis was passing from Husainabad Ghanta Ghar and Shia youths standing on
both sides of the road were greeting and welcoming this procession. It may be stated here that in the 110-year old history of ShiaSunni dispute, not to talk of greeting and welcoming, it was considered a blessing if people kept sitting quiet in their homes at
such a time.
Hence, thank God that the land of Lucknow came to witness
such a day when sensible Muslims presented a gift on the birthday of their Prophet (pbuh) which must have been appreciated by
Allah, His Prophet and his Companions. Today, at a time when
deep conspiracies are being hatched on the world scene to divide
Muslims, when such beasts have intruded in our ranks who take
pride in owning up the responsibility of massacring young and
innocent children, when terrorists and kidnappers of Muslim girls
are active and lastly, but certainly not the least, when many
Muslim countries have degenerated into vast killing fields... in
such an atmosphere this whiff of fresh and soothing breeze of
Muslim unity in a city like Lucknow refreshes our minds and souls
and generates hope for the future. (Inquilab Urdu daily, Delhi, 6
January, 2015 - translated by MG staff. The writer is editor of the
Delhi edition of Inquilab)

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

Resurgence of Godse Worship

RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
Times are a changing; and
changing fast. During last many
decades most Hindu nationalists
have kept the appreciation of
their hero, Nathuram Godse
under wraps. The programs
appreciating his politics did use to make small
news here and there some time; but as such it was
a muted act not much publicized and generally kept
as a low key affair. During last few years Pradeep
Dalvis play in Marathi, Mee Nathuram Boltoy (I,
Nathuram speaking), attacking Gandhi and upholding Godse, drew packed houses in various places
in Maharashtra. Many people had also protested
against staging of this play off and on.
With the new dispensation coming to power
(Modi Sarkar, May, 2014) many a communal
assertions, acts and intimidations are up in the air.
It seems these acts are being silently appreciated
by those in power. This inference is logical as none
in the positions of power have either reprimanded
or opposed these Godse acolytes. The main reason is that due to the compulsions of power they
do not openly support the Godse appreciation
clubs. They also do not condemn these voices as
they too belong to the Godse ideology of Hindu
nationalism. This Hindu nationalism in popular parlance is projected as Nationalism, keeping the
Hindu prefix in the silent mode.
The latest in the series of acts-statements by
this Godse appreciation clubs is the bhumi pujan
(earth prayer-a ritual before beginning of new construction) by Hindu Mahasabha for Godse temple
in Meerut (Dec 25 2014). The activists of Akhil
Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha are all set to build the
countrys first temple for murderer of Mahatma
Gandhi in Meerut. There are several demands from
the Hindu Mahasabha offices to install his statues.
The Hindu Mahasabha has requested land from the
Centre to erect a statue of Godse in the national
capital. The paperback issue of Godses book is
already running into second reprint.
The BJP MP Sakhshi Maharaj recently called
Godse as Nationalist; of course he retracted it
soon; apparently to ensure that the ruling party,
BJP, is not embarrassed on the issue. At the same
time, BJPs parent organization RSS has come out

with two books meant for internal circulation.

These books claim to ensure that RSS viewpoint is
reached to its Pracharaks, swayamsevaks. These
books are RSS-Ek Parichay (RSS-an introduction)
and RSS-Ek Saral Parichay (RSS-a simple introduction), the second of which is written by veteran
RSS member MG Vaidya. Mr. Vaidya claims that a
narrative of accusation was built around RSS so
the book to dispel that. Essentially these books aim
to dissociate RSS from Godse. While the Prime
Minister Mr. Modi is maintaining maun (silence) on
the subject the opposition leaders are strongly criticizing Hindu Mahasabhas and others views on
the murder of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram
Godse.
What is the relationship between Godse and
RSS? Was he part of RSS and later left it or was he
part of it and also joined Hindu Mahasabha in mid
1930s? As for as official line is concerned RSS has
tried to keep its slate clean by stating that it had
nothing to do with Godse and he was not a member of RSS when he killed Mahatma Gandhi. Just to
recall, in early 1998 Professor Rajendra Singh, the
then RSS chief, had stated Godse was motivated
by akhand Bharat. His intention was good but he
used the wrong method. (April 27 1998, Outlook)
How do we understand the whole issue? The
major backdrop to understand the issue is to see
the politics of Hindu nationalism as expressed
through Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. These organizations remained aloof from freedom struggle.
Hindu Mahasabha (HM), was more interested in
the immediate participation in politics, as the flag
bearers of Hindu communal politics, and the RSS
wanted to concentrate on making a network of
cadres before forming organizations and infiltrating into different arena of education, culture, electoral politics and state apparatus. There was a lot of
overlap in the agenda of these organizations as
they were both working for the common goal of
Hindu Nation. Nathuram Godse, uniquely symbolized the fusion of both these two trends.
RSS could get away with dissociating with
Godse or rather underplaying Godses association
with RSS as there was no official record of members of RSS, and so they could disown Godse at
legal level. In 1930 Godse joined RSS and very
soon rose to be the bauddhik pracharak(intellectual propagator). Like both HM & RSS he was ardent
Hindu Nationalist.

Hindu Rashtra: Out

of sync with reality
MAULANA MOHAMMAD ASRARUL HAQUE QASMI
About seven months have passed since Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) took over at the Centre. With bated breath most people waited for achche din and good governance under the leadership of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Unfortunately, neither the achche
din have come nor has there been any example of good governance visible. On the contrary, statements by leaders of the ruling
party and its affiliated organisations have created one or the other
controversy, raising in the mind of sensibly informed citizens
doubts about the governments intentions.
Yogi Adityanaths statements challenge the social diversity,
while by terming Nathu Ram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi,
as nationalist, Sakshi Maharaj has hurt peoples sentiments. He
has even indulged in abusing the non-Hindus. Ashok Singhal of
Vishwa Hindu Parishad has stated that the country is now under
Hindu rule.
A new movement has been started to convert hapless
Muslims and Christians by inducement or threat. Called as ghar
wapsi or homecoming, this programme, according to the
Hindutva organisations, would be carried on with such intensity
that by December 31, 2021, i.e., in a short duration of only 7 years,
Islam and Christianity would be wiped out from India. That is, more
than 20 crore Muslims and Christians would be converted to
Hindus, whereas the fact is that so far no Muslim nor Christian is
reported to have willingly converted to Hinduism. This raises the
question as to how such a large population would be converted to
Hinduism.
It is apparent that this would be done with force. Any sensible
person can make it out if such a mission of Hindutva organisations
would take the country to the path of development, a slogan under
which elections were fought. Rather, this agenda will push the
country to such destruction and disruption which would not be
reversed in centuries.
Najma Heptulla, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs, also
played her part in this long run-up to the statements which may
have a negative impact on the countrys communal harmony and
its plural values. Heptulla flatly refused to acknowledge that
Muslims were a minority in India. Similarly, another influential Union
leader, Sushma Swarajs, demand to make the Gita - the religious
scripture of Hindus - the national book, caused worry to the minorities. She not only raised this demand but also said that by gifting a

As a strong Hindutvawadi he was extremely

critical of Gandhis ahimsa (non-violence) and the
anti British movements led by him. Godse had very
poor opinion of Gandhis role in freedom movement. RSS-Hindu Mahasbha kept criticizing Gandhi
for his involving all religious communities in the
freedom movement. Gandhi kept religion as personal matter and projected overarching Indian identity for all. This was what annoyed the HM-RSS
combine, as they wanted only Hindus to be recognized as Indians. Godses assessment of nationalism of Gandhi is expressed in a way which identifies nationalism with Hindu kings. He used very
peculiar parameters to assess Gandhi, His
(Gandhis, added) followers cannot see what is
clear even to the blind viz. that Gandhi was a mere
pigmy before Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Govind
(ibid Pg. 40, Why I assassinated Gandhi?) and
finally about the winning of swaraj and freedom I
maintain the Mahatmas contribution was negligible. (Ibid. pg. 87)
He held Mahatma responsible for appeasing
Muslims, and thereby the formation of Pakistan.
About his association with RSS and Hindu
Mahasabha, he writes, Having worked for the
uplift of the Hindus I felt it necessary to take part
in political activities of the country for the protection of just rights of Hindus. I therefore left the
Sangh and joined Hindu Mahasabha (Godse,
Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi 1993,
Pg. 102).
Hindu Mahasabha at that time the only political party of Hindutva, and he became general secretary of its Pune Branch. In due course he started a newspaper, as founder editor, called Agrani or
Hindu Rashtra. As such Gandhi murder was not on
the charges propagated by them (Partition and
insistence on paying Pakistans dues (55 crore)
from the treasury), but due to the basic deep differences with the politics of Gandhi and that of the followers of the Hindu Rashtra. These two reasons
are proffered merely as a pretext for the same.
What does Godse mean when he says that he
left RSS? Is it true? This truth behind Nathurams
leaving RSS, is clarified by his brother Gopal
Godse. In an interview given to The Times of India
(25 Jan 98); Gopal Godse, who was also an
accomplice in the murder when tells us the reality
behind Nathurams statement that he left RSS.
Gopal Godse says The appeasement policy fol-

copy of the Gita to the US President, Barack Obama, PM Modi had

actually executed the plan. What was remaining was just a formality. Apparently, there is no indication from the statements of
Hindutva organisations and BJP MPs and cabinet ministers that the
present government has any plans for development of the country.
On the contrary, there is no dearth of issues which can push the
country to great destruction.
The stalemate in Parliament during the recently concluded session was yet to get over on the issue of religious conversion, when
chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the mentor of
BJP, Mohan Bhagwat, came up with demand for Hindu Rashtra and
an anti-conversion law. He said that India was a Hindu Rashtra and
Hindus had been forced to convert to other religions in the past.
Therefore, they would bring all these people back to Hinduism
because they did not convert of their own free will, but were forced
to do so. He said that youngsters would be converted before their
youth gets passed.
He also called Pakistan the land of India. He said that Indian
society had awakened. We do not change anyones religion. We
only bring back those who have gone away. Those who had converted were our own people, they were induced. We are bringing
back the wealth which was looted. If that is problematic, then they
should enact laws, Bgawat said.
Bhagwats statement has come at a time when the ruling party
says that it does not uphold forced conversion. It only wants to
bring a law about conversion. What Bhagwats statement means to
BJP can be gauged also by the statement of the partys senior
leader and Union minister Venkaiah Naidu. Very categorically Naidu
said in Parliament that he was proud to be a member of the RSS
and that on the issue of religious conversion there was no difference between the RSS and the BJP.
Recently, about 300 people of 60 Muslim families in Agra were
shown to have been converted to Hinduism with monetary and
other inducements. It is another matter, though, that these Muslims
belonging to poor and uneducated families soon felt that they were
deceived and, therefore, they announced that they were Muslims
would remain so. After Agra, the Hindutva organisations
announced that on Christmas Day, they would convert 5,000
Christian and Muslim families to Hinduism. When protests were
raised against this dangerous programme which could disturb the
communal atmosphere of the country, the Central government had
to unwillingly intervene and, the programme was thus called off.
But now, after the announcement of Mohan Bhagwat that such programmes will continue, Hindutva organisations will again be
encouraged, which clearly means that there is a possibility of
chaos and anarchy in the country.
Meanwhile, we have come to learn that Prime Minister Modi is
heart-broken over such statements. He expressed displeasure dur-

lowed by him (Gandhi, added) and imposed on all

Congress governments encouraged the Muslim
separatist tendencies that eventually created
PakistanTechnically and theoretically he
(Nathuram) was a member (of RSS), but he
stopped workings for it later. His statement in the
court that he had left the RSS was to protect the
RSS workers who would be imprisoned following
the murder. On the understanding that they (RSS
workers) would benefit from his dissociating himself from the RSS, he gladly did it.
So this is the logic of Godse saying that he
left RSS. The dual membership (RSS+Hindu
Mahasabha) was not a problem. Thus the murder of Gandhi was steeped in both the streams
of Hindutva politics, RSS and HM. His editing
the paper called, Hindu Rashtra was quite symbolic. This murder had a broad sanction of the
followers of HM and RSS, as they celebrated
Mahatmas murder by distributing sweets, All
their (RSS) leaders speeches were full of communal poison. As a final result, the poisonous
atmosphere was created in which such a ghastly tragedy (Gandhis murder) became possible.
RSS men expressed their joy and distributed
sweets after Gandhis death. (excerpt from
Sardar Patels letters to M S Golwalkar and S P
Mookerjee.). Godse was no freak. The way
Hindu communalists were spewing poison
against Gandhi, it was the logical outcome of
their politics. And Godse had the benefit of the
teachings of both RSS as well as HM. They used
the word wadh for this murder. This word wadh
stands for killing a demon who is harming the
society. In a way Gandhi murder was the first
major offensive of the Hindutva politics on Indian
Nationalism; in a way it was to herald the onset
of bigger strides which Hindutva politics has
assumed during last few decades, and this is
what we are witnessing today.
So though officially RSS family kept dissociating from Gandhis murder by Godse, in private many a members not only uphold the dastardly act, but also have even succeeded in
undermining the importance of Mahatma and
they do sympathize with Godse. This complex
trick kept going on so far. Now with Modi Sarkar
there is no need to hide the true ideology and
thinking of this combine and so the open efforts


to glorify Godse!

ing his meeting with RSS leaders in which he even threatened to

give up the PMs post. It should be noted that the PM so far has not
issued any statement in condemnation of the RSS, implying that he
is still with them. In such case, the news of the PMs resignation
could be a mere hoax akin to match fixing. Modi, who as Chief
Minister of Gujarat was condemned from all corners of the world
over Gujarat pogrom, had no qualms. Why should he then be heartbroken for these statements of Hindutva outfits which, in fact, are
the voice of his own conscience? Had he taken some action
against even the most insignificant member involved in such divisive statements giving the message that no other agenda except
the agenda of development was his mission, one could then believe
in his threat to leave prime ministership.
It is beyond comprehension why the BJP, along with other
Hindutva organisations, is so strongly in favour of making an anticonversion law while they want to bring Muslims and Christians
into Hindu religion. It is clear that this can only be done through
conversion which, paradoxically, they want to ban through law.
Hindu organisations perhaps think that the practice through which
they are converting Muslims and Christians to Hindus is not conversion, rather a homecoming or ghar wapsi. And if any Hindu
changes his religion by converting to Islam, Christianity or
Buddhism, then that is religious conversion, which should be
banned. This dual character is beyond understanding. A question
arises as to when there is a strong government with the support of
Hindutva organisations at the Centre, then why do they fear religious conversion? Why there is so much hurry and impatience to
implement a communal agenda?
The fact is that the BJP does not have any clear plan of action
to convince people to work on the development plank by showing
which it came to power. Therefore, new and contentious issues are
raised day after day so that the demand for achche din does not
gain traction.
India is a secular country which according to the Constitution,
cannot be made Hindu Rashtra. Youth of the nation is not concerned whether or not the Gita is made the national book or
whether or not an anti-conversion law is passed. They are interested only in the development of the country. These archaic issues are
beyond the area of their interest.
Modis prime responsibility is to fulfill the promises which he
made during elections. On the contrary, if he tries to impose
Hindutva policies, it will not only cause damage to the country, but
to him also. Religion is an individual choice. Who does or does not
want to follow a religion is not for governments to decide. The governments single-point agenda should be development of the country, and not else.
(The writer is a Member of Parliament.
Translated from Urdu for MG by Manzar Imam)

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

Agencies look for ISIS presence on Indian soil

chatting services to preserve data pertaining to Areeb. The investigative agency has also sent letters rogatory to Luxembourg, the
headquarters of Skype, for information on video chats Areeb had
with his family in Thane while he was abroad.
NIA has also detained a lecturer, Sufian Sheik, from Anjumane-Islams Kaleskar Technical College situated at Panvel district for
allegedly brainwashing the youth to fight for the ISIS, a source
said. The investigative agency has also summoned two other people in connection with this case, including Atif Inamdar who has
been handling the website Islambychoice.com. Another person
called by the NIA was Adil Dolare who runs Islamic Guidance
Centre in Kalyan. Dolare is accused of financing the youth to fly to
Syria and Iraq.
Areeb Majeed told investigators that his resolve to stay with IS
weakened when he was left unattended for three days after a bullet
injury. He told NIA that he returned home disillusioned after jihadists
made him clean toilets and do other menial jobs. Areeb admitted that
he and his three friends from Kalyan underwent training to handle AK47 assault rifles and rocket launchers, sources said.
Areeb and his colleagues had been detained by the Iraqi army
for two days while crossing over to Syria. After checking their
passports, Iraqi officials dropped them at a safe place and directed them how to proceed, sources revealed. Investigators suspect
that Areeb may be lying about not being able to participate in the
war as he was injured during training.
In the meantime, Areeb moved a local court on 14 January
accusing a jail officer of asking him to identify specific people
from a bunch of photographs. The jail officer, under law, cannot
speak to an accused regarding a case, said his lawyer Abdul
Wahab Khan. He said the jail officer gave Majeed 50 passport-size
photographs and asked him if he knew any of them. The special
judge for NIA cases ,YD Shinde, asked the jail authorities to file a
reply to the allegation by 28 January. The court also extended
Majeeds judicial custody till then.
Earlier, a special court served a show-cause notice on the jail
authorities in another case. Areebs lawyer had filed a petition on
17 December last year in the court against the solitary confinement
of his client. Taking note of this petition, the court had ordered to
change his cell, but the jail authorities did not comply with the order
citing security as an excuse. Advocate Khan blamed that Areeb is not
being provided even with the facilities mentioned in the jail manual.
NIA, on the other hand, was preparing to engage the services of clinical psychiatrists to get into the mind of Areeb Majeed.
While few Muslims nurture sympathy and some youth are even
believed to have disappeared from Western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
Kerala to allegedly join the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria,
there has been widespread condemnation of the militant outfit.
Another kind of ghar wapsi
Scholars of all schools of thought
issued statements saying that IS
represents a murderous cult.
Opinion pieces in Urdu press
described ISIS as a barbarous outfit
created by the US and Israel to
O those left behind the Caravan of the Hijaz, O those wayward of a noble destabilise the Middle East.
President of All India Muslim
cause, O those lamenters without a pause, I wish you knew who you are and
what you were supposed to be; why were you born in this world - a tempo- Majlis-e Mushawarat, Dr. Zafrulrary phenomenon, a temporal wonder. I wish you knew what you have lost Islam Khan said, Even the symof your existential legacy and dont feel sorry for that loss. From an Ummah pathy, whatever exists in the comyou agreed to disperse into nations and from nations into crowds celebrat- munity for the ISIS, could only be
ing this thinning out with gusto and gaiety. You dont even know the men because of the anger against the

The story of Areeb Majeed, an alleged ISIS recruit from Kalyan

near Mumbai, and the recent report of IS presence in the neighbouring Afghanistan, have prodded Indian security agencies to
probe if this militant outfit also exists on Indian soil. A report on
13 January said that ISIS is recruiting and operating in some
provinces of Afghanistan. A man identified as Mulla Abdul Rauf
has been claiming to represent ISIS in the southern Helmand
province, setting up a network of followers who are inviting people to join them, according to the British daily, the Guardian. On
the other hand, police claimed that seven people belonging to
Indian Mujahideen who were allegedly involved in serial bomb
blasts in Delhi in 2008, have joined ISIS.
The story of Areeb Majeed dominated news channels and
print media for long after he returned from Egypt on 28 November
last year. Four engineering students from Kalyan, including Areeb,
had gone to Iraq on 23 May last year to allegedly join ISIS after
getting attracted to its ideology through social networking sites.
According to sources, Areeb and his friends came in contact with
ISIS through Internet chatting. They first came in contact with Abu
Ali, and having been influenced by his ideology, these youngsters
went to Iraq. However, Areeb claimed that he was not involved in
any terrorist activities. The US has already provided preliminary
evidence of the IP address used by Areeb before allegedly joining
the outfit. Areeb had sent emails to a person in Madhya Pradesh
who is believed to have financed his travel, sources claimed.
Areebs passport shows Iraq as the port of entry and Syria as the
port of exit.
Areeb Majeed and the three other youth had joined ISIS while
they were in Iraq to visit religious shrines there. While Areeb has
returned to India, Aman Naeem Tandel, Fahad Tanvir Sheik and
Saim Farooq Tanki are still believed to be in Iraq. The NIA, during
the course of investigation, found that Majeed had received some
financial help from Kuwait and the agency is looking for the person who transferred the money to the Kalyan youth.
Areeb was booked under Sections 16, 18 and 20 of the
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Section 125 of the
Indian Penal Code. While the three sections of the UAPA relate to
commission or conspiring to commit a terrorist act and for being
a member of a terrorist organization, Section 125 of IPC relates to
waging war against a friendly country. According to sources,
Areeb has told his interrogators the name of a local contact who
radicalised him and his three friends, and helped them fly to Iraq.
The NIA said that it arrested a boy from Kalyan who was also
preparing to go to Iraq with Areeb and his friends but later
changed his mind. A probe into the activities of Areeb Majeed led
NIA to approach a US firm that provides free calling and video

Ji, Im a bhangi!
But youre an Insan, too!

striking wonders you were blessed with until 50 and 100 years ago whom
you ignored and refused to listen to. You were blessed with many men who
are born one in centuries, but you sold them out to moments, and today you are targets of all-round
mischief and wickedness; the men born for your deliverance were minstrels of your freedom but
you put them in prisons, they did not seek material reward, while you refused to give an ear to them.

A list of such men will brighten centuries more than your hearts and minds. I will talk about
only one such man that rarely anyone of you might have heard about. He was Amir-e Shariat
Maulana Ataullah Shah Bukhari.
Some people still remember him in Pakistan. India forgets its benefactors far more easily than
others. A few old men might remember him. His last speech to an Indian crowd of 500,000 people was given in the night of 26 April 1946 in the sprawling grassfield between Jama Masjid and
Lal Qila, when Jawaharlal Nehru and British Cabinet Mission men Pethick-Lawrence and Stafford
Cripps came to the stage just to listen to Shahjis matchless Quran recitation. After the creation
of Pakistan, Shahji did not even get a ration card, nor had any house allotted to him. He lived a
life of penury in a small rented house until 21 August 1961 when he passed away in Multan. Such
were the selfless people you dismissed with disdain. And now you have millionaires lording over
you as your leaders.
There is a lesson for you and for those who are authoring stories of ghar-wapsi. Look, this is
the way to ghar-wapsi:
Maulana Sayyid Nurul Hasan Bukhari writes and the scribe of these lines (Amin Gilani) also
heard it directly from Shah Saheb.
The occasion was a public meeting at Darul Uloom Khayrul Madaris, Jalandhar. At lunchtime
when everybody sat on the meal-spread, a young sweeper by the name of Prithi was also standing by. Sayyid Ataullah Shah Bukhari asked him to join at the meal. Humbly, he said, Ji Im a bhangi, meaning lowliest of the castes in Hindu social order. Shahji said sympathetically, but youre
an Insan, too - a human-being, and feel hunger as well, dont you? Saying that, Shahji stood up
from his seat, washed young mans hands and made him sit by his side. Prithi was trembling with
fear and shame. It had never occurred to his wildest dreams that he could ever sit beside a Sayyid
who would feed him like his own child. The poor sweeper kept repeating Ji, Im a bhangi - Sir,
Im a sweeper. Not listening to him, Shahji broke the bread, dipped it in gravy and put the morsel
in Prithis mouth. As the young sweeper felt a bit comfortable, Shahji took a potato from the broth
and put that in Prithis mouth. After the boy cut part of it by his teeth, Shahji ate the remaining half
of the potato. After Prithi drank water, Shahji drank the remaining water from the same bowl. Prithi
disappeared soon after taking his meal with Shahji. He was crying. He was no longer a man of this
world. Hours later, at the time of Asr prayer, he returned with his young wife who had an infant in
her lap. Shahji, for Allahs sake, make us Musalman, he urged Maulana Ataullah Shah Bukhari.
The couple embraced Islam just because Prithi had tasted human dignity for the first time in his
life, and also for the first time in the memory of his caste. (Muhammad Ismail Shujaabadi, Sayyid
Ataullah Shah Bukhari - Sawaneh o Afkar, Idarah Talifat i Khatm i Nubuwwat, Lahore, p. 269 -translated from Urdu)

policies of the United States in the Middle East. Otherwise, now

there is almost a consensus among Indian Muslims that ISIS is a
barbaric and murderous organisation which has nothing to do with
Islam. We, the Mushawarat, which represents almost all leading
Muslim organisations in the country, have issued stern statements
against it both in press and in public. Muslim clerics belonging to
organizations like Jamiat Ulama Hind, Darul Uloom Deoband,
Nadwatul Ulema, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, All India Mashaikh Board,
Ahle Hadith and sufi scholars also condemned the IS activities. A
scanning of all major Urdu newspapers like Inqilab, Rashtriya
Sahara, Hindustan Express, Roznama Khabrein, Dawat etc. shows
a consensus that ISIS is a threat to Islam and the Muslim World.
Areeb Majeed is under judicial custody and nobody knows if
three of his friends are still alive or not. But the question is: will this
incident again demonise the Muslim population across the country and will provide ample opportunity to security agencies to randomly pick up Muslim youth? (Jawed Akhter)

New media is a weapon

of freedom of speech
New Delhi: A symposium on Need for Alternative Media and
Web Journalism was held on 15 January at the premises of
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in Abul Fazal Enclave here. This symposium was organised by IndiaTomorrow.net an online portal run by
the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, to mark the completion of one year of
the portal. The portal was launched in December, 2013.
At the beginning, a power-point presentation by the editor of
the portal, Mumtaz Alam Falahi, offered glimpses from some
important stories covered by the portal during the last one year.
The editor informed the seminar how the portal provoked mainstream media to cover certain stories like the massacre of around
70 people in Assam last December which was neglected by the
media while all focused on the BJP win in Jharkhand and J&K
elections.
Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, editor of the Milli Gazette, said that
New media like facebook, twitter, youtube etc. provide a big platform for people with small resources. He further said that alternative media in US and European countries are very powerful and
influence the policies of the respective governments. He further
said that Islamonline portal was started in Egypt but later due to
conflicts with the promoters, it was closed down. Dr. Islam
expressed confidence and satisfaction on the freedom of speech
guaranteed in India. He said though there had been few incidents
of arrests for expressing views on certain issues, people in India
have enough freedom of speech and expression and that can be
used for a healthy discourse.
The symposium came to an end with the concluding remarks
of Maulana Jalaluddin Umri, ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. He
said Muslims should take lead in the field of journalism and mass
communications. He added that the Muslim journalists should
raise their voice against oppression. Their voice should not be
limited to Muslim community but they should also expose
unequivocally brutalities done to all human beings irrespective of
religion and region. He advised journalists to establish credibility
since this would attract peoples positive response in the long
MG NEWS DESK
run.

Help ood affected

people of Kashmir

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

Zafar Sareshwala, then and now

M GHAZALI KHAN
London: It was the fourth anniversary of Babri
Mosque demolition. The Indian Muslim
Federation (IMF) had organised a remembrance
meeting in London. The organisers were contacted by Maulana Isa Mansuri, a London-based
Muslim scholar, with a request to invite a gentleman, Zafar Sareshwala who was introduced by
the Maulana as a young Indian Muslim businessman from Bombay with keen interest in
Muslim affairs.
No one among the organisers had known or
heard of this gentleman before. Yet complying
with Maulanas request Sareshwala was contacted on phone. Instead of appreciating and
encouraging the organisers and thanking them
for the invitation, he responded, Ham to Babri
Masjid ko bhool chuke. Aap log bhee bhooljaiN.
Ham ne iss silslay meiN Maulana Ali MiaN se bhi
baat kee hai aur woh bhee ham se muttafiq
haiN (We have forgotten the Babri Mosque. You
too should forget it. We have discussed the
issue with Maulana Ali Mian and he agrees with
us on this).
However, Mr Sareshwala did attend and
addressed the meeting but, judging the mood of
the audience, he did not ask them to forget the
Babri Mosque.
Although an old Tableeghi activist and pretty
religious in his personal life, Sareshwala does
not hesitate in using any opportunity to his gain.
After the death of Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi
on 31 December 1999 he organised a condolence meeting in Dewsbury, a town in West
Yorkshire with a large number of Muslims and a
Tableeghi Centre. He invited leading scholars
from India and Pakistan including MaulanaTaqi
Usmani to attend this meeting. A friend, a successful businessman who attended this conference, later said that the main purpose of the
conference looked like a personal PR exercise.
Only few months later, this condolence
meeting was followed by a massive publicity of
Zafar Sareshwalas Parsoli Corporation along
with publication of fatwas and testimonials of
leading ulama on this investment venture which
within years fell into disrepute and earned notoriety. None of his former business colleagues
and investors have a good word for him and
much has been reported about Parsoli in the
Indian press in the past and is available on the
Net.
In 2001, Hindutvaites burnt a copy of the
Holy Quran in Delhi. Muslims in India protested
against the incident. Some newspapers in India
reported that Indian Muslims in UK had contacted some clerics in Delhi and had asked them to
organise these protests. An Urdu tabloid published from Delhi reported that UK-based businessman Zafar Sareshwala was the person who
had made this request. Few days later I happened to meet him at a function of the Muslim
Council of Britain (MCB) at the Islamic Cultural
Centre in central London where Sareshwala
confirmed to me that he had in fact contacted
the clerics in Delhi. I have to admit I was
impressed. He looked sincere and genuine.
Following the incident, IMF appealed to the
Muslims in UK, through a small advertisement in
the local edition of the Urdu daily Jung, to mark
the next Friday as Youm-e-Dua (Day of special
prayers) and pray for the welfare of Indian
Muslims. The advertisement in question was
paid for (about 150.00) by Mr Sareshwala.
Everyone in the world with some sense of
humanity in him was shaken by the merciless
killings of Muslims during Gujarat massacre of
2002 and UK was no exception. In north
London, an area with a sizeable population of
Gujarati Muslims, the North London Muslim
Community Centre (NLMCC) organised an
emergency meeting of Indian Muslim activists
from all over the country. The delegates decided
to form an umbrella body of Indian Muslim

Health

organisations in the UK and named it as Council

of Indian Muslims (UK).
The (now erstwhile) CIM, in association
with various Muslim and non-Muslim organisations and activists launched a campaign against
the atrocities in Gujarat. This was followed by a
second meeting of Muslim representatives at the
NLMCCs office. It was attended by Zafar
Sareshwala.
In his speech, Mr Sareshwala, whose business and extended family in Ahmadabad had
been badly hit by the riots, gave a moving
account of the events. Describing the brutal
murder of late Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, whom
he referred as My relative, Sareshwala told the
audience, Jafri Saheb made several calls to various Congress politicians asking for help. But all
of them expressed helplessness. He then contacted Narendra Modi only to be responded to
with filthiest abuses. In order to save the lives of
those who had taken shelter in his house, Jafri
Saheb came out of his house and told the mob
gathered outside that they could take his life but
spare those taking refuge in his house. But they
spared none. They paraded Jafri Saheb naked
on the street and forced him to shout Ram, Ram.
When he refused, his fingers were chopped. He
continued refusing to comply with their demand
and they continued torturing and dismembering
his body and was at last burnt while still alive.
Mr Sareshwala attended some more meetings organised by other groups at the time but
he did not enrol himself as a member of any
organisation participating in the anti-Modi campaign. He is not someone who believes in maintaining low profile and working without personal
publicity. He is articulate and possesses impressive PR skills. With his name constantly appearing in the press, the pressure and harassment of
his extended family in Ahmadabad would have
been facing in those days was understandable.
One has to give Sareshwala the credit of
showing some courtesy and - prior to Narendra
Modis London visit in August 2003 - phoning
CIMs chairman Munaf Zeena and explaining to
him his predicament and informing him that he
was going to see Modi.
Notwithstanding the fact that he was not a
member of the organization, Zeena sympathised
with him and assured him that he understood his
situation. Zeena told him that he had no objection if such a meeting could help in easing the
difficulties his extended family must be facing
back home. According to Zeena, he emphasised
that Zafar should meet Modi only in his personal capacity as an individual without claiming to
represent anyone else.
But an ambitious and shrewd businessman
whose personal publicity and interests came
first, Sareshwala had different plans. He had
already invited his younger brother, Talha
Sareshwala, from India to accompany him in the
meeting and issued a press statement which
was widely covered in the Indian media.
Muslim leaders welcome Narendra Modi in

London, screamed the headline of Hindustan

Times.
The reaction of those who had a direct experience of and had suffered from Modis naked
fascism was terse and obvious. Just
because your daughters, sisters and wives were
not raped during the genocide in Gujarat, you
went and met the butcher of Gujarat Narendra
Modi who everyone knows was directly responsible for the mass killings and rapes of Muslim
girls. Your children did not see anyone in your
family being burnt alive, so you went ahead and
met Modi Your act of trying to give legitimacy
to his black deeds might work for your business
in Gujarat but for the victims of Gujarat this was
a treacherous act - a betrayal. But thanks to God
that the Muslims of Gujarat and UK have seen
your true face and now they know what you
stand for..., wrote late Ahsan Jafris son Zuber
Jafri to Sareshwala.
Sareshwala claimed that his London meeting with Modi was candid and frank in which
Modi expressed remorse over the 2002 Gujarat
massacre. As a result of his London meeting
with Modi, he told the Turkish daily Zaman, The
perceptions which I had against Modi have
changed as I had an illusion due to miscommunication.
However, according to Maulana Isa
Mansuri, once Sareshwalas confidant and spiritual guru who had accompanied Sareshwala in
said meeting, this was a disappointing experience. Contrary to Sareshwalas claims, Maulana
Isa vehemently denies that Modi had expressed
any remorse.
Since his first meeting with Modi, relationship-the basis of which were not principles of
honour but mutual interests- between the two
continued to grow stronger and stronger. And it
was upon Modis advice that Sareshwala moved
his family from UK back to India. Kya wahaan
Angrezon ki ghulami karte rahoge? (Will you
continue serving the British as a slave?) Modi
asked Sareshwala as told by the latter to The
Times of India.
The relationship has paid Sareshwala well.
According to Times of India, Their
[Sareshwalas] industrial valve manufacturing
factory was also burnt down, and the wealthy
Sareshwalas, once among the largest zakat [sic!
Does Islam not enjoin upon the believers not to
show off and give zakat by the right hand in such
a way that ones left hand does not know?]
donors in the community, found themselves in
dire straits. In an interview, Zafar told IBN that
financially he was totally broke and on the
verge to collect Zakat But in Modis service
not only has he become richer than ever before
but has emerged as one of the richest businessmen of Gujarat. In addition, he has been
bestowed upon with the prestigious designation
as the Chancellor of Maulana Azad National
Urdu University, something he was not expecting and was taken aback when contacted by the
press.
What is his qualification for the job, apart
from being Modis blue-eyed boy? Urdu is
my mother tongueNot only do I speak Urdu,
but I also write in Urdu. I am equally comfortable in Urdu and EnglishMy khaandan
(family) has served the cause of Urdu in
Gujarat for a long, long time. In 1972, when
Urdu was facing an existential crisis in
Gujarat, my late father and my paternal uncle
established a board in Ahmedabad to promote
Urdu. Since that time, the board organized a
grand international mushaira focusing on
national integrationWe grew up in their
presence. Urdu runs in our blood. We would
read Shama magazine and the womenfolk in
our house grew up reading Rizwan and
Bano magazines, Sareshwala told the Arab
News.
Looking at these impressive qualifications
of Sareshwala, one is at a loss for words for

The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

Exercise science is a fine and intellectually fascinating thing.

But sometimes you just want someone to lay out guidelines
for how to put the newest fitness research into practice.
An article in the May-June issue of the American College
of Sports Medicines Health & Fitness Journal does just that.
In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a
wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort,
which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the
weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort all of it based on science.

Theres very good evidence that high-intensity interval

training provides many of the fitness benefits of prolonged
endurance training but in much less time, says Chris Jordan,
the director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance
Institute in Orlando, Fla., and co-author of the new article.
Work by scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton,
Ontario, and other institutions shows, for instance, that even a
few minutes of training at an intensity approaching your maximum capacity produces molecular changes within muscles
comparable to those of several hours of running or bike riding.
Interval training, though, requires intervals; the extremely
intense activity must be intermingled with brief periods of

those unsung heroes who have suffered and

sacrificed selflessly for the cause of Urdu and
the educational betterment of the community
and hundreds of well-qualified Urdu graduates
facing the indignity of having to live in poverty
and joblessness.
Modi himself is also a big fan of Urdu,
Sareshwala revealed in the aforementioned
interview.
Ever since giving himself in the service of
Modi, Sareshwala has been constantly discovering Modis rare qualities and hitherto unknown
love for Muslims.
I am assuring you that in this regime, you
are never going to face any discrimination.
Modi-led government is committed to provide
you equal opportunities, he told Muslim youth
in Jaipur.
On Modis proclamations and commitment
to do justice with Indian Muslims, Sareshwala
earlier claimed, What Modi is thinking about
Muslims is nothing new. We knew about it earlier and now the entire world knows it.
In an article published on IBNs website, he
writes, The truth is Modi has excellent personal relations with a large number of Muslims. He
has built a very strong team of Muslims who
work closely with him. They are well educated,
command the respect of the community. They
are not seen as bikau [sell-off] types, they are
not the kind who curry personal favours and
become courtiers. By contrast, the Congress
Party is today devoid of credible Muslim leaders,
not just in Gujarat but also in the rest of India.
Really, Mr Sareshwala? What is a bikau
(sell-out) if not surrendering ones dignity, closing ones eyes to unfairness and not having the
courage to speak out against grave injustices?
When did you protest to Modi and what has he
done about the Hindutva gangs who have been
polarising the atmosphere all these years? Your
beloved leader has not only been maintaining
meaningful silence, he has honoured and given
positions to even riot-accused of Muzaffarnagar.
There is a long list of your beloved leaders
silence on the saffronisation of history, his letting loose the reins of his partys foul-mouthing,
venom-spitting and riot-organising politicians.
Instead of taking any action against the lawbreakers and riot-organisers, to rub salt on
Muslim wounds, he has appointed a
Muzaffarnagar riot-accused as a member in
AMUs court. As opposed to Indias long-standing support to Palestine, Modi and his partys
love for the Zionist entity is based on antiMuslim hatred. These developments are no surprise though. The kind of politics Modi is doing
was feared long before his election victory.
From Maulana Ghulam Mohammad
Vestanvi, Shahid Siddiqui, Adam Patel to Salman
Khan, behind every Indian Muslims attempted
meeting with Modi appears to have the support
or backing of Zafar Sareshwala. Perhaps he has
now been assigned as Modis PR man in the
Muslim world. The interviews to the Turkish
daily Zaman and Saudi daily Arab News are, perhaps, the first step in this direction. An honourable title of Chancellorship of a University will
add weight to his name.
What matters in this world are economic
interests. Rules and laws are made to serve
these interests. Murderers, looters, rapists and
arsonists are being issued clean chits one after
the other but those who dared challenge these
injustices, like Teesta Seetalvad, Javed Anand,
late Ahsan Jafris son, Tanveer Jafri, are implicated in court cases while killer cops and politicians are being let off the hook one after the
other.
As for Sareshwala, the only thing that can
be said: Lage raho Sareshwala Bhai, your next
appointment could be as Vice President of India.
But remember Allah, the All-knowing, from
whom nothing remains hidden. He is watching
all of us. Sooner or later injustice comes to an
end. What awaits in the Hereafter is all that matters.
The author is a London-based journalist
of Indian origin.

recovery. In the program outlined by Mr. Jordan and his colleagues, this recovery is provided in part by a 10-second rest
between exercises. But even more, he says, its accomplished
by alternating an exercise that emphasizes the large muscles
in the upper body with those in the lower body. During the
intermezzo, the unexercised muscles have a moment to,
metaphorically, catch their breath, which makes the order of
the exercises important.
The exercises should be performed in rapid succession,
allowing 30 seconds for each, while, throughout, the intensity
hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10, Mr. Jordan
says. Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The
upside is, after seven minutes, youre done. (NYT)
For a greater challenge, see The Advanced 7-Minute Workout and download free 7-Minute Workout App for your phone, tablet or other device.

NATIONAL

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

Two Kashmiri convicts cry for speedy trial

BILAL BHAT
New Delhi: Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees speedy
trial as an important safeguard to prevent undue and oppressive
incarceration prior to trial. The families of the two Kashmiri
accused, Farhat Sheikh and Sheikh Imran, say that the Kolkata
court is deliberately protracting their case for being Kashmiri
Muslims.
The duo were arrested in Srinagar on 19 December, 2003 and
taken to Kolkata where a case was lodged against them under Arms
Act and waging war against India for an alleged crime which had
taken place in Kolkata while the duo were physically present in
Srinagar. They were aged 17 and 22 years respectively at the time.
They were taken to Kolkata and subsequently lodged in Kolkata
Central Jail and have languished in different jails ever since.
They were acquitted in the waging war against India case
(Section 235 CrPC) in July 2013. Their families are hopeful that
they will be acquitted in the other case also.
Stressing that their wards are innocent and their counsel has
enough proof to prove their innocence, the families say, they had
applied for speedy trial but to no avail. The case is still hinging on
the pivots of prejudices and lack of concern. Eyewitness accounts
of the prosecution are replete with ambiguity. Our counsel proved
this in the local court which acquitted them in other frivolous fabricated charges, they said.
Adding The evidence which the prosecution provided before
the court doesnt hold any strong evidences which prove the
involvement of our wards with the truck laden with ammunition
which was found at Dhobiatala parking lot in September 2003. Our
wards were arrested on 19 December, 2003, while the case had
taken place in September of that year. Nothing was found in their
possession, the families said.

Farhat Sheikh

Sheikh Imran

The order of the 4th Court Alipore dated 12 July 2013 (a copy
of which is with MG ) reads as follows, In view of the materials on
record and observations made above, I hold that the prosecution
has not been able to prove the charges U/S
121/121A/122/471/120B I.P.C. against all six accused persons.
The order further said that all the six accused persons, viz,
Siriush G. Momin, Sayed Abid Imam @ Gulu, Maidul Hossain,
Sukur Ali, Farhat Mehmood @Irfan and Sk. Imran, are held guilty of
committing offence US25 (1-aaa)/26 Arms Act /120B I.P.C.
Accordingly, all of them are convicted U/S 235 (2) Cr.P.C. All the six
accused persons are held not guilty of committing offence U/S
121/121A/122/471/120B I.P.C. Accordingly, they are liable to be
acquitted from the said charges U/S 235 Cr.P.C. [waging war
against India].
Advocate Ajay Dutta, the counsel for the Kashmiris, told The
Milli Gazette over telephone from Kolkata that both the Kashmiris
were booked for waging war against nation, and under Arms Act.
Waging war against the nation was not proved as there were no
evidences. But they have awarded life imprisonment to them under
Arms Act, Dutta said adding that he is not satisfied with the ver-

Amit Shah: the dada of Sarkhej and the travesty of justice

MUSTAFA KHAN
The case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh is essentially political because he was
used by the Gujarat police in a racket to collect huge funds by means of
extortion. Amit Shah was the king pin in this as the CBI has termed him
to be. Sheikhs murder was used for political ends in which Narendra
Modi as chief minister succeeded by stigmatising Muslims for electoral
gains as criminals and terrorists.
It is ironical that the family of Sohrabuddin for generations supported
BJP-Jan Sangh and actively canvassed for the Hindutva party. Even in
2014 election they campaigned for Narendra Modis BJP.
The Gujarat model was in the news for some years. As election
2014 drew close, it became the ruling passion. With astronomical
amounts of money distributed to voters and pumped into the election
campaign, there was an attempt to focus on development and underplaying issues like Ram temple, scrapping of Article 360 that gives J&K a special status, common civil code, etc. In a way, this was the difference
between the politics of religion in the early 1990s in Uttar Pradesh and
what played out on the ground in 2013-14. During the Ayodhya movement, it was clear that the BJP was making an open and determined bid
to stir the communal pot.
Now the communalisation was more insidious. There was no blatant
religious issue like the Ram mandir to incite trouble. Instead, a more silent
divide was being created on the ground through a sustained whisper
campaign that branded Muslims as untrustworthy and anti-national (Sab
ISI agent hai).[1]
The election discourse changed greatly as the Hindutva party tried to
hide the naked truth of the principles of the foundation of modern India
paralleling the showcasing of the Gujarat model as a ploy to get power.
The play of communalism was more subtle and well-prepared in
advance, using sophistry a la RSS. Down the years the RSS had blamed
the Muslims. They should be blamed for all evils, and those who are fair
to them should also be blamed was the whispering refrain.
Amit Shah had taken charge of UP election and the first step he made
was to pray at the Ayodhya makeshift Ram temple erected over the site
of Babri Masjid. Anyone with some perception of the move would know
that BJP would use communalism surreptitiously. This is what it did.
When asked why he took advantage of the religious polarisation after the
riots, Shah said: Dange humne nahee karvarye. Dange ek chhoti si ghatna se shru huye. Agar sarkar prompt action leti, toh dange nahi hote. Yeh
dange sarkar ki vote bank ki politics ki wajah se hue. (We didnt start the
riots. Riots started with a small incident. If the government had not played
vote-bank politics and taken prompt action instead, there would have
been no riots).
The judgment of Justice Madan Gosavi acquitting Amit Shah on 30
December, 2014 has placed him among judges who have built the monument of finished and unfinished cases of genocide and fake encounters
that were the hallmark of the first pracharak of RSS to become the chief
minister of a state and then the prime minister of India. Hence close attention has to be paid to details of gory tales of pogroms and extrajudicial
killings under his rule.
Sohrabuddins murder in fake encounter was used by the Congress

Leadership

as well as BJP. It gave Sonia Gandhi the stick to beat BJP with. Modi had
used this tactic in changing the fire accident at the Godhra railway station
as the handiwork of ISI. Likewise, the fake encounter was also explained
away in terms of terrorism. The truth is far from this.
Earlier administration and executing agencies were under political
pressure but today I am constrained to believe that the judiciary is also
under political pressure, Sohrabuddins brother, Rubabuddin remarked in
the aftermath of the acquittal of Shah. He also remarked that he wanted
SC to investigate into the death of Justice BH Loya who had presided over
the case until his death. The words and grammar of the complaint of the
Patel brothers, Dashratbhai and Ramanlalbhai, and the police version are
identical though the other two complaints by Patel brothers are different.
Even if we take a dispassionate view of Justice Madan Gosavis observatioin, why did the court not go through the other complaints of the brothers to find out the discrepancies. How could their statement be taken as
hearsay? How could numbers of call be dismissed as unsubstantial in the
absence of the content? Modi rule was notorious in destroying vital evidences so his honour should have this general knowledge of dispensing
of justice in Gujarat.
Terrorist activities have increased and are rampant all over the world
and if a home minister speaks to police officers of ground level, then it is
not unnatural, observed his lordship. But pat comes the doubt why
should the home minister break the established rule of using the chain of
command in communication? Sanjiv Bhatt had a ground officer at the
house of Ehsan Jafri and came to know the gory and brutal death of the
former member of Parliament. Why did not the courts in India take his
wife Zakia Jafris statement into consideration or Bhatts allegation made
in his statement to the SC? It was only on the phone call record of Maya
Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi that the duo was sentenced to long terms in
jail. So what is new in Shah that he should be acquitted of all the crimes
associated with fake encounters?
Sanjiv Bhatt, the Deputy Intelligence Officer of SBI, says he had
excellent rapport with Modi and knew Amit Shah. No investigation agency
has joined the dots to know the activities of Modi and Shah to have insight
on their relationship. Saying that Shah came in contact with Modi, his senior in RSS in early eighties, is not enough. Shah is from Sarkhej and he
was known as the local dada of Sarkhej. He is one who can take law in
his hand. He is associated with law of the jungle. Rajdeep Sardesai had a
bitter experience in 2002 when Shahs supporters pushed and kicked him
in his presence. Later, Shah told him You too should be careful.[2]
During the assembly election of 2002 Modi had warned media persons
of the fate of Daniel Pearl if they wanted to cover the pogrom.
Sarkhej itself had acquired notoriety. Cadres of RSS and Bajrang Dal
were trained there to destroy the Babri Masjid. Modi had arranged the
launch of the rath yatra of LK Advani from Somnath which resulted in horrendous murder and mayhem of Muslims and destruction of their houses and businesses. What did Shah do has not been probed. The 2014
election was preceded by a pogrom in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. That
was the product of Shah exhorting the Jats to take revenge upon the
Muslims of western UP. The FIR in the matter says that a fracas was the
result of a traffic dispute. But in the age of breaking news not enough
attention was focused on it and it was made out to be a Muslim youth

dict, though he has appealed in the higher court but the court is yet
to call us for hearing. The advocate said, they have already suffered
10 years of imprisonment, the court should have taken this into
consideration and speed up the trail.
Though the father of Sheikh Farhat had appealed before court
for speedy trial under Article 21 back in 2005, yet it took years to
give the final verdict on 15 July, 2013. The evidence is fabricated,
theres maximum possibility for the acquittal but we couldnt find
the best lawyer as they refuse our case, saying they are traitors,
said Farhats father.
Ironically, the police had alleged that the ammunition found in a
ceiling above the drivers cabin of a truck parked in the port area of
Kolkata, was smuggled from China through Chittagong in
Bangladesh, Meghalaya and Assam, and was meant for militants in
Kashmir, The accused denied these charges.
Surprisingly, this was first case of this kind of smuggling arms
into Kashmir from the far-away West Bengal while the IB and the
army had all along maintained that the smuggling of arms into
Kashmir takes place through the India-Pakistan border.
Police also said that the truck belonged to Assam but was being
operated with a fake Meghalaya number plate. Both the Kashmiris were
working in Kolkata with Kashmir Arts Company and had come home in
Kashmir when they were arrested in December 2003.
All six were charged under the arms act while they were acquitted of
waging war against India but they were awarded life sentences for smuggling 25,485 rounds of AK-47 ammunition into Kolkata which was found
in an abandoned truck at Dhobiatala parking lot in September 2003. They
have also been fined Rs two lakh each. Among the six convicted were
Syed Abid Imam who was arrested in Malda in December 2003. The
other convicts are Sirush Momin (arrested in Meghalaya), Moidul Hussain
and Sukoor Ali (both arrested in Assam). Farhat Mohammad and Sheikh
Imran are presently held in Baramulla Jail in Kashmir to which they were
transferred at their request in the wake of their conviction in one case.

teasing a Jat girl and it resulted in the death of three.
On the day Modi won the parliamentary election, the six Muslims
accused in Akshardham temple attack were acquitted because there was
no evidence of any crime that they had committed and yet they languished in jail for twelve years! The police of Gujarat had arrested them
so casually that they offered the innocent Muslims a choice in which of
the three cases they would prefer to be arrested: Godhra train burning,
Haren Pandya murder, or Akshardahm temple attack! For this the blame
goes to Shah and Modi equally.
Haren Pandya case is even more dramatic. He was involved in a
movement to raze a mosque when Keshubhai Patel was chief minister.
The police repaired the mosque and brought the two communities together amicably. When Modi took over the reins of the state he divided the
society vertically. His police blamed the Muslims for the killing of Pandya.
The police invented mastermind was a petty criminal of Hyderabad. They
said that Asghar Ali had killed Pandya. First, they had asked Sohrabuddin
to kill him. But he refused. Then Sohrabuddin and the police, brought
Asghar Ali from Hyderabad to do the job. He refused. Then they used
Sohrabuddins friend Tulsiram Prajapati for the crime. The public truly
believed what the police dished out to them as breaking news. At that time
Sanjiv Bhatt was the superintendent of police of Sabarmati jail.
One day Asghar Ali met Bhatt and requested him to draft a letter to
the court that he was innocent and the case should be reinvestigated.
Details of the context corroborate proof. He did not know English and
wanted Bhatts help in drafting the letter. It was in this situation that he narrated the facts and added that he had returned to Hyderabad and then
came to know that Tulsiram had carried out the murder.
Bhatt was startled by what Asghar had told him in jail. So he rang
up Amit Shah and told him what he had heard. Shah was very much disturbed by the disclosure. He told Bhatt not to tell anyone. But Bhatt wrote
a letter to Shah and formally informed him of the serious matter. In his letter Bhatt wrote about the involvement of Sohrabuddin and some police
officers in the murder of Sohrabuddin and his wife. Then happened what
turned out to be the most convincing proof of the motive of the murder.
CBI arrested Abhay Chaudasma and Amit Shah in 2010. It was this that
prompted Modi and Shah to put pressure on Bhatt to withdraw his
report[2] .
Thereupon Shah tried to force Bhatt to destroy all the evidence
including the letter. Bhatt refused and was transferred out of prison to
another post. Later, he found out: the Machiavellian design that Modi and
his police prepared was that Asghar and many other Muslims were terrorists and they wanted to kill Modi for the holocaust of 2002. RB
Sreekumar was at odds with his assistant, Bhatt, and remarked in this
case that Pandya was not in the hit list of the terrorists.
But, how could Sreekumar forget that the RK marble merchants of
Rajasthan wanted to liquidate Sohrabuddin and that it may be that it was
a pretext to wipe the trail that led to the murder in which Sohrabuddin was
used. But Sreekumar found it puzzling that the hawkers in the locale of
murder of Pandya were removed a day before the murder. After the murder they reappeared on the road. The case has never been reopened and
reinvestigated. Who is behind this, if not Modi and Shah?
[1] Rajdeep Sardesai. 2014: The Election that Changed India. Penguin 2014
p 161
[2] http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-haren-pandya-murder-amit-shahasked-me-to-destroy-evidence-alleges-sanjiv-bhatt-1592688

What comes out if someone squeezes you?

ALRED FERNANDES
If I were to squeeze an orange as hard as I
could, what would come out? I asked him.
He looked at me like I was a little crazy and
said, Juice, of course.
Do you think apple juice could come out of it?
No! he laughed.
What about grapefruit juice?
No!
What would come out of it?

Orange juice, of course.

Why? Why when you squeeze an orange does
orange juice come out?
He may have been getting a little exasperated
with me at this point. Well, its an orange and
thats whats inside.
Lets assume that this orange isnt an
orange, but its you. And someone squeezes
you, puts pressure on you, says something

you dont like, offends you.

And out of you comes anger, hatred, bitterness, fear. Why? The answer, as our young
friend has told us, is because thats whats
inside.
Its one of the great lessons of life. What
comes out when life squeezes you? When
someone hurts or offends you? If anger, pain
and fear come out of you, its because thats
whats inside. It doesnt matter who does the

squeezing: your mother, your brother, your

children, your boss, the government.
If someone says something about you that
you dont like, what comes out of you is whats
inside. And whats inside is up to you, its your
choice.
When someone puts the pressure on you
and out of you comes anything other than love,
its because thats what youve allowed to be
inside. Once you take away all those negative
things you dont want in your life and replace
them with love, youll find yourself living a
highly functioning life.

10

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

man Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, January 15, said that the

conglomerate is committed to resist any move aimed
to violate, dilute or undermine the legal rights of permanent residents of the state.
A two-member committee formed by the amalgam has started consultations with various separatist
groups, legal experts and civil society members to devise a strategy against the move. Another senior separatist Shabir Ahmad
Shah, January 9, termed the move as a game-plan of Hindutva
forces and accused New Delhi of planning to erode Muslim majority status of the state.
Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Syeda Aasiya Andrabi, January 9,
termed the move as unrealistic and dictatorial decision.
United Jihad Council chief Syed Salah-ud-Din, in an emailed
statement to local news agency, KNS, January 16, alleged that the
move is aimed to change the demography of the state, but the people of Jammu and Kashmir will not allow them to succeed.
Clashes erupted in the citys Maisuma area, January 16, as
police used force to quell a protest march led by JKLF chairman
Mohammad Yasin Malik against the proposed settlement of the
refugees. Malik was later detained by the police.
Awami Ittehad Party led by Er Sheikh Abdul Rashid organized
a seminar Conspiracy to change demographic and constitutional
identity of Jammu and Kashmir on January 19 that discussed the
issue threadbare. Earlier Er Rashid, after leading a protest rally
against the plan, January 9, opposed any proposed attempts of the
Centre to provide residency and voting rights to West Pakistan
refugees. He reiterated that such refugees should be sent back
and the Muslims who were forcibly sent to Pakistan in 1947
allowed to return.
Warning about dire consequences if such anti-Kashmir moves
are carried ahead, Er Rashid, in a statement issued to press
January 8, said, Not only is Union Home Ministry aiming to provide jobs to these 11 lakh refugees but it is also aiming to bring
them at par with Kashmiri Pandits. The Central government in a
shameful manner and brazen violation of all norms has given ultimatum of one year to the state government to grant eight seats in
the Assembly, voting rights, permanent citizenship rights to these
refugees in the Assembly under the recommendations of a
Parliamentary panel.
Terming it no less than a catastrophe for the people of
Kashmir he further stated, Sangh Parivar through its nefarious
designs wants to achieve in one year what was not achieved in the
past 64 years. Er Rashid asked if India could send back refugees
to Bangladesh and Burma, Pakistan has sent 4 million Afghan
refugees back, why cant these West Pakistan refugees be sent
back to their country of origin.
In another seminar organized by Anjuman-e-Share-Shian,
January 10, the chief of the Anjuman-e-Share-Shian Aga Syed
Hassan said, India cannot deny the veracity of the Kashmir dispute that can only be resolved through the implementations of
United Nation Resolutions. Jamiat Ahlihadees Jammu Kashmir,
January 10, termed the move a conspiracy hatched at the behest
of RSS and its allies to destroy the already fragile peace in the
state. Zahid Ali, spokesperson Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir,
January 10, threatened that any attempt to change Muslim majority status of the state would be resisted tooth and nail.
Terming the recommendations as anti-state and aimed at
changing the demography of state, National Conferences General
Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, January 10, said that the same is
a wicked conspiracy to change the demography of state and to
alter the special status enjoyed by the state. Peoples Democratic
Party termed it as a legacy of the partition and a very complicated and complex issue. The partys chief spokesperson Naeem
Akther, January 11, said no decision on such a sensitive matter
should be taken arbitrarily as it could have repercussions.

Stalemate leads to Governor raj

AFSANA RASHID
Amid the political stalemate in Jammu and Kashmir, Governors
rule has been imposed in the state following stepping down of the
caretaker Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. None of the political parties came up with the required numbers to form the government in
the 87-member State Legislative Assembly. The results of the
recently concluded Assembly elections threw up a hung verdict
with PDP bagging 28 seats followed by BJP with 25, National
Conference 15, Congress 12 and Others, including independents,
winning seven seats, respectively.
With the Governors rule in place, the Assembly has been
placed under suspended animation. Governors rule was imposed
in the state, January 8, a day after Omar stepped down as the caretaker Chief Minister. It is the sixth time since 1977 that Governors
rule has been imposed in the state. Governors rule was first
imposed in the state in 1977 when Congress withdrew support to
the then Sheikh Mohammad Abdullahs government.
A day after election results were declared on December 23,
Omar resigned, but was asked by the Governor to continue as the
caretaker Chief Minister. On January 7 Omar asked the Governor to
relieve him. Even the Assembly completed its term on January 19.
Members of the newly elected 12th Legislative Assembly arent yet
entitled to perks and Constituency Development Fund as they are
yet to take oath. Omars decision to step down as caretaker Chief
Minister didnt go down well with PDP. The party, January 9,
accused Omar of following in his fathers foot steps who also
refused to continue as caretaker Chief Minister in 2002.
In another significant political development, National
Conference, January 13, a day after Omar chaired National
Conferences core group meeting, moved the Governors office at
Jammu to formally reiterate its support to PDP on formation of
government in the state. The party however, added that it wont
enter into an alliance with BJP. PDPs senior leader and MLA-elect
from Amira Kadal constituency in Srinagar district Syed
Mohammad Altaf Bukhari had on December 25 asked for a written
affirmation from National Conference after Omars offer of support
to the party. Soon after chairing the partys Core Group meeting,
January 12, Omar in a tweet sought answers from PDP and BJP
on why the Jammu and Kashmir government formation should
wait for the New Delhi elections to end.
Terming the National Conferences offer as a desperate
attempt by the party to negate election results and convert its
defeat into victory PDP chief spokesperson Naeem Akther,
January 14, turned down the offer of support from their arch-rival
and stressed that the party would form a government but it will not
be decided by the National Conference with whom their party
should aligns with.
To this National Conferences General Secretary Ali
Mohammad Sagar, January 15, stated that their party offered outside support to PDP for government formation in the larger interest
of the state. Sagar however, alleged that PDP stands exposed as
they have geared up for tying up with their masters who founded
and funded the party.
Senior PDP leader and Member Parliament Muzaffar Hussain
Beig, January 17, said though he wasnt negotiating government
formation with BJP but the fact is that only PDP and BJP can form
a stable government in the state.
Congress too reiterated its unconditional support to PDP for
government formation, January 17, but maintained that so far no
one from PDP has contacted it for alliance. Awami Ittehad Party

president and MLA-elect Langate constituency in border district

Kupwara Er Sheikh Abdul Rashid, January 17, said that PDP patron
should come out of the self-imposed fear of BJP and work
towards forming a non-BJP government in the state.
Media reports suggest that BJP, January 7, conveyed to PDP
that any progress on formal talks can be made if they agree to the
demand for rotational chief minister. The reports further say that
BJP central leadership is reportedly engaged in secret dialogue
with PDP and National Conference over government formation in
the state, January 18. The partys state president Jugal Kishore
Sharma addressing media in Rajouri-Jammu, January 22, said that
the state would soon get a strong and stable government as channels for discussion are open. Sharma however, refused to name
the party with which BJP was in consultation over the formation of
the government.
State Congress chief Prof Saif-ud-din Soz. January 9, blamed
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for Governors rule in the
state. He stated that Mufti confined the discussion on government
formation to BJP only. Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Gani
Lone, January 9, said if parties fail to find a common ground on
alliance, they should be accorded appropriate time to go for reelections. He added the present deadlock is not due to difference
of ideologies but over the power-sharing agreements.
The Third Front leaders, January 9, asserted that Governors
rule would prove disastrous for the state as people voted for a
democratic government. State Secretary CPI (M) and MLA-elect
Kulgam M Y Tarigami termed Governors rule as highly unfortunate whereas Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) president and
MLA-elect Khansahib constituency in Budgam district Hakeem
Mohammad Yaseen stated that Governors rule is the failure of
PDP, as the party had emerged as a single largest. Er Rashid stated that PDP patron wanted to have the cake and eat it too.
Separatists here have termed the imposition of Governors rule
in the state as non-issue. Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah
Geelani, January 9, said whether it is Governors rule or so-called
democratic rule, India will be at the helm of affairs in the state.
Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said imposition of
Governors rule hardly matters to Kashmiris.
Meanwhile, PDP patron is reported to have urged the Governor
to explore if the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls to four seats in the
state can be deferred for some time, January 18. The polls in the
state are scheduled to be held on February 7.

Permanent settlement of
West Pak refugees opposed
The proposed plan of permanent settlement of West Pakistan
refugees in Jammu and Kashmir by the Central government has
evoked strong resentment among various socio-political circles
here. Apart from protests and sit-in carried out by several organizations, seminars too have been organized against the move.
The recommendations of Joint Parliamentary Committee about
permanent settlement of West Pakistan refugees in the state has
snowballed into a major controversy with both separatists and
mainstream politicians threatening to fight tooth and nail against
the decision. Hurriyat (G) led by Syed Ali Geelani, January 16,
warned that the move that would set the state on fire would be
resisted tooth and nail. Geelani had earlier (January 9) threatened
state-wide agitation if the state government accepted the recommendations. Maintaining that it is not a communal issue or an
issue that is so-called Jammu versus Kashmir, Hurriyat (M) chair-

The CSF Report on Indian Christian Persecution

Justice (Retd) Michael Saldanha on 22 January
released the CSF Report on Indian Christian
Persecution 2014. The report details persecuation faced by Indian Christians during the past
year. The report, a joint effort of Christians
organisations and activists across the country,
has come out with some startling facts:
* 5 Christians reportedly martyred for the
faith. Over 300 clergy & community leaders
attacked
* Over 2000 women and children victims.
Chhattisgarh most dangerous Indian state to
be a Christian
* At least 5 Christians were killed, including a
11 year-old child, for being Christian in the
last year.

by the former judge of the Bombay and

Karnataka High Courts, Justice Michael
Saldanha and the copy presented to Cardinal
Oswald Gracias, one of the 8 cardinals worldwide in Pope Francis inner circle, who is also
president of the Federation of Asian Bishops
Conferences and circulated to the media. A soft
copy of the report with photographs and Retd.
Justice Saldanhas contacts can be available on
request. The report highlighted:
* Minimum: An Incident per Day
* Chhattisgarh Tops as Rogue State
* Maharashtra with Maximum Potential
* MP, UP, Karnataka, Odisha & Kerala Follow
* Others - AP, TN, Delhi, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana,
Jharkhand, Uttrakhand, etc.

The annual report has been published by the

Indian Christian Persecution Report 2014 published by The Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), a
national activist community NGO that records
attacks in the country. The report was released

The report also registers the growth of the

forces inimical to minorities and says that the
Sangh had 2000 new shakas in 2013. 5000 new
shakas in 2014. A staggering 2.73 lakh minorities were being reconverted in the Braj area of

UP alone.
The report also records statements &
Actions from Ministers, e.g:
* Uniform Civil Code - Union Law Minister
* Christmas as Governance Day - Union HRD
Minister
* Bhagwad Gita as National Book - Union
External Affairs Minister
* Ramzaadon (children of Ram) &
Haraamzaadon (Illegitimate) - Union Food
Minister
The report says that most persecution goes
unreported for various reasons. Often the police
refuse to record it as such, as it would show
them in bad light. For the media, its not news
and there are instances of the local media being
biased or taking sides. Often, persecution goes
unrecorded because the victims are too afraid to
complain or a compromise is forced upon them
by politicians. Persecution is also blamed on
causes, other than religious - mental illness,

drunkenness, economic, enmity, etc. The

CSF has categorized the incidents as under:
A. Killed/Murdered/Death
B. Beaten/Assaulted/Manhandled
C. Women Beaten/Molested/Raped
D. Church Broken/Ransacked/Demolished/ Shut
Down
E. House Broken/Car/Bike/Belongings destroyed
F. Worship Meeting Disrupted/Stopped
G. Pastors/Christians Arrested/Jailed
H. Threat/Abuse
I. Foreign Missionaries
J. Others - Ghar Whapsi, etc.
The report says that there is also imminent danger of saffronization of various sectors, like
police, education, bureaucracy, judiciary, armed
forces, etc. as has been observed from those
joining the BJP in the run-up to and after the
polls. The statements of prominent many from
these spheres point to their communal mindset,
at least at the lower levels.
For information or copy of report,
please contact: csfpost@gmail.com

You know we dont have the resources to advertise & promote ourselves, so until you tell your friends about us, we
wont be able to reach to them.

Please spread the word using any medium. Turn to page 20.
THE MILLI GAZETTE

First English Newspaper of Indian Muslims. Telling the Muslim side of the story fortnight after fortnight since January 2000

ANALYSIS
Speaking Out

www.milligazette.com

N I L O FA R S U H R AWA R D Y

Democratic Suspense:
J&K and Delhi!
The fractured mandate in the recently held
elections to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) assembly has led to the imposition of Governors rule
in this state for the sixth time. Democracy has
eluded citizens of J&K despite their turning out
in large numbers to cast their votes, the results
of which were announced on December 23. With the term of the
preceding J&K government, led by Omar Abdullah, coming to
an end on January 19, Governors rule was required as parties
failed to form an alliance to form the next state government. It
has been preceded by more than a week following caretaker
Chief Minister Abdullahs desire to be relieved from his duties
with immediate effect on January 7. President Pranab
Mukherjee accepted Centres recommendation to impose
Governors rule in J&K on January 9.
Though there have been reports of negotiations between
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), neither seems too eager to rush into an alliance. With
J&K coming under direct rule of Centre, these parties are partly relieved at gaining more time to reach at some mutually
acceptable agreement. Besides, now BJPs primary political
agenda is to secure a victory in Delhi assembly elections,
which are scheduled to be held on February 7 and the results
of which will be declared on February 10. Elections to Delhi

assembly are being held for the second time in less than two
years due to the 2013 polls having given a fractured mandate.
Despite BJP emerging as the leading party in 2013 Delhi
elections, it fell short of a majority. With external support of
Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) succeeded in forming the
Delhi government. However, AAP did not stay in power for more
than 49 days. As a result, Delhi has been under Presidents rule
since February 17, 2014. It may be recalled that even Delhi voters turned out in significant numbers to cast their votes in the
previous assembly elections. Yet, democracy has eluded these
voters for almost a year with Delhi being without an elected
government and remaining under the direct rule of the Centre
during this period.
ndeniably, in Delhi, BJP hopes to politically cash on the
entry of Kiran Bedi into its ranks. Bedi has been presented as BJPs chief ministerial candidate. However, this
decision has not been welcomed by all BJP members. Intraparty crisis may prove electorally damaging for BJP. There is
thus no guarantee that February 7 elections will help any of the
three key parties in the race -- BJP, AAP and the Congress -secure a majority and thus form a government on its own
strength. And this raises the question: will democracy elude
Delhi voters again? One is tempted to reflect on fractured mandate leaving J&K voters without a democratic government.
Political gamble in J&K is far more complicated and risky for
parties there than it appears to be in Delhi.
There is little doubt that religious polarization helped BJP
gain all its 25 seats from Jammu while PDP won most of its 28
seats from the Valley. Though the National Conference (15
seats) is open to an alliance with PDP, the latter views it as a

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

11

crucial risk to its own political future in J&K. The same factor
has guarded PDP against rushing into an alliance with BJP.
With Congress winning only 12 seats, an alliance with it does
not secure PDP the needed numbers in the 87-member J&K
assembly.
In Delhi, following last assembly elections, BJP was hopeful of a split in its rival parties leading to an increase in its
strength to be able to form the government. With the BJP and
its ally (Akali Dal) having won 32 seats in the 70-member Delhi
assembly, they needed only four more members to be able to
form the state government. BJP remained the leading party
(31) but failed to form Delhi government.
The situation is more taxing and demanding in J&K with
both PDP and BJP being short of more than 15 members to
cross the 44-member mark in the state assembly. Considering
that failure of BJP to secure additional support of four legislators kept Delhi without an elected government for around a
year, democracy may elude citizens of J&K for a longer period
as leading parties there are short of a greater number to be
able to form the next government.
Democratic suspense in Delhi may not end on February 10,
if none of the parties in the race wins a majority. There is
expected to be a tight contest between BJP and AAP, with the
former falling short marginally of reaching a majority. In such
a situation, Congress is expected to support the latter. What an
irony -- just as Delhites voted enthusiastically in 2013,
Kashmiris turned out in large numbers to cast their votes last
year. Yet, till date, both Delhi and J&K remain deprived of democratically elected governments. Political tension of this nature
certainly amounts to be a testing time for Indian democracy at


cross roads in Delhi and J&K!

Saiyid Hamid: Dedication, Discipline, Grace

JAVED JAMIL
A former administrator and
present Chancellor of Jamia
Hamdard, Saiyid Hamid is best
known as former ViceChancellor of Aligarh Muslim
University. AMU wields such a
huge influence in Muslim India
that whoever holds its reins as Vice-Chancellor
instantly becomes a respected figure. An AMU VC also a soft target for attack as different interest
groups are always ready to pounce on him if they
find him deviating from the path they have chosen for him.
Saiyid Hamid was no exception. He got both
bouquets and brickbats for his endeavours to
reform the campus. It goes to his credit, however, that with the passage of time bouquets have
outnumbered brickbats. In fact, he became
increasingly more popular and respectable after
he left AMU, as people had begun to realise the
importance of his reforms. His personal integrity,
devotion to his purpose of life, dedication to the
uplift of Muslim community, conscious distancing from the political arena and its ambiguities,
his wholehearted support and guidance to educational and socially beneficial activities and his
sophisticated ways in dealing with the people, all
have made him a fatherly figure for Indian
Muslims. His lifelong discipline and dedication is
evident form his own words, For the last 65
years, I have been following the same routine
from morning till night that comprises rising early
in the morning, going for a decent walk, joining
the office at about 10 and working in the office till
5 and returning back. When I met him a couple
of years ago, the nonagenarian Hamid Sahib
looked as handsome, as alert and as meticulous
as ever, with a smile that had the innocence of a
child.
When he started talking, his voice demonstrated the same remarkable discipline that had
marked his whole life. He spoke in a measured
tone with mathematical precision in the rise and
fall of his pitch as well as in its, pauses and
stops. The words poured from his lips like the
drops of sweet smelling rain. And of course, the
literary flourish that has been the hallmark of his
speeches and writings was there in full display.
When this writer asked him which of three
of his major positions-an administrator, V-C of
Aligarh Muslim University and chancellor of
Hamdard he valued most, he said that his two
five year terms at AMU were the most valuable
part of his life. He said:
The first half of my second coming was tempestuous. It put my endurance and resilience to
test and gave moments brimful with danger and
nerve-wrecking experiences. I know that those
disturbances could have been avoided. But, I
dont regret the disturbances because disturbances are bound to occur whenever there are
attempts to reform a system in a big way. There
are always interest groups that would do everything in their power to derail the reforms.

Saiyid Hamid was no exception. He got both

bouquets and brickbats for his endeavours to
reform the campus. It goes to his credit,
however, that with the passage of time bouquets
have outnumbered brickbats. In fact, he became
increasingly more popular and respectable after
he left AMU, as people had begun to realise the
importance of his reforms. His personal integrity,
devotion to his purpose of life, dedication to the
uplift of Muslim community, conscious
distancing from the political arena and its
ambiguities, his wholehearted support and
guidance to educational and socially beneficial
activities and his sophisticated ways in dealing
with the people, all have made him a fatherly
figure for Indian Muslims.
From the two spans of 5 years each, the first
one (1937-42) ushered in my career and I benefited thoroughly from the faculties and academic
wherewithal provided by the university. The second 5 year term was important because it gave
me an opportunity to pay back to my alma mater
what it had given to me in the form of selection
for an administrative career of 35 years, the
experience of which greatly helped me in serving
the university. The tenure of Prof. Aleem before
me was full of chaos. The university had become
a hotbed for undesirable elements. Prof Khusrau
had a charm about himself and he was a great
economist and an equally great conservationist.
The charmer that he was, he was popular among
students. But, unfortunately, his popularity
became his weakness, as he did not try to challenge the unruly elements. In short, the period
before my arrival was marked by a sort of laissez faire.
Nawab Yawar Jung was in fact attacked by
riotous students. When Prof Khusrau relinquished office, a temporary arrangement was
made for 6 months. This interregnum proved disastrous and there was pandemonium on the
campus. When I took the assignment, in my very
first address to students I told them that thence
forward the university will be managed according
to laws and regulations by the duly constituted
authority and the student leadership must restrict
itself to matters such as academic excellence,
exams and admissions at the scheduled times
and maintenance of discipline. This was not relished by students. The hostels were occupied by
unauthorised elements. And they now knew they
would have to vacate them. There were disturbances in first two years. The university had to
be closed twice. Instead of succumbing to pressures, I remained firm and tried to reach the parents whose support ultimately helped me a lot in
restoring order. I could put into practice the hard
reforms that were essential if the university was
to return back to its lost glory.
While political leaders had supported students leaders against me, I have the satisfaction
that ulama and the parents wholeheartedly supported me. And I will also remain grateful to

Madam Indira Gandhi whose appreciation of my

efforts was a big boost to me in carrying out the
reforms. I ultimately succeeded in getting rid of
the criminal elements and putting back the focus
on academics and merit. Another step that I took
was to serve notice to those teachers that had
joined services abroad and were on extended
leave.
I gave notice to them to return within a specified time and terminated those who did not comply. I also saw that several heads of departments
had become virtual tyrants. I took the issue to EC
and suggested tenure of not more than 5 years
for heads. This proved to be an unpopular step
but those who recognised its importance hailed
it as a step as important as Zamindari Abolition
Act.
By the time Saiyid Hamid left the AMU, he had
already earned the respect of the community. His
firmness in dealing with difficult situations and his
personal integrity had endeared him to those who
had the ability to recognise the jewels. Hakeem
Abdul Hameed had the farsightedness to understand without any delay that Saiyid Hamid was too
important a man to retire or hold some position
that might look big but would not have any long
term benefits. He brought him to Hamdard which
needed a person at the helm of affairs who could
successfully guide it to its destination. And for
Saiyid Hamid himself, nothing could be better than
to help the cause of education.
Soon the combination of the great Hakim
and the great Visionary saw the emergence of a
new Muslim institution that was on way to
become a university. It has already become a
deemed university. Saiyid Hamids admiration for
Hakim Sahib is therefore natural. He said: There
are at least two events that separate Hakim sahib
from the crowd. When every educated Muslim
was looking to find a way to Pakistan in the
immediate aftermath of Partition, and even his
brother had left India, Hakim Abdul Hameed was
searching for a piece of land in Delhi for establishing an institution. He had the love for his
homeland and the farsightedness to see that his
community would require special efforts for education.

Saiyid Hamid paid rich tributes to Hakim

Sahib, He may not have been a big scholar, but
he had a remarkable vision. He developed a big
pharmaceuticals company from a very small
shop where a few compounders worked. Now
Hamdard is the biggest name in Unani medicine.
He did not stop at that. While Sir Syed and others begged to establish institutions, Hakim Sahib
established the university on his own.
While remaining Chancellor of Jamia
Hamdard, Saiyid Hamid made significant contributions to education and social reform in Muslim
community. One of his most remarkable achievements was the establishment of Hamdard Study
Circle that conducted special coaching classes
for civil services. These coaching classes have
led to significant increase in the number of
Muslims selected for IAS, IFS, IPS and allied
services. He also led several caravans including
Taleemi, Insaaf, Islah-e Maashanah caravans that
effectively carried the messages of education,
justice and social reforms to the masses across
the country.
Saiyid Hamid was a guiding force behind a
number of institutions that were established in
last two decades. He was also a source of
encouragement for all those who had been serving the community at different levels. When
asked about the persons whose work had
impressed him most, he said: There are quite a
few names. The most noteworthy has been in
my view Dr Mumtaz Khan, founder of Al-Ameen
movement. His achievement is admirable not
only because his movement led to the establishment of more than one hundred institutions,
including engineering and medical colleges, but
also because he has been able to produce second and third generations of dedicated workers.
Then Mr Ghayasuddin Babu has also done some
remarkable work in the rural areas of Andhra
Pradesh. Other important achievers include Mr
Inammadar of Pune, Mr Israel of Gurgaon, Dr
Ahmad Abdul Hai of Patna and Azam Complex
builders. He said that there were many other
significant movements that could be counted and
it is amazing to see that medical doctors have
been doing some excellent work in different
fields.
Saiyid Hamid himself remains the most
revered figure for all of them. Few people know
that Saiyid Hamid was also a keen sportsman of
his time, hockey being his favourite game. In
addition, he has also excelled in Urdu poetry. His
following shair sums up the pain he has in his
heart, body and soul - the pain of the failures of
his community and the pain of the problems of
the world.
Eik do zakhm nahi(n) jism hai saara chhalni
(There are not just one or two wounds; the whole
body has become a sieve)
Dard baichara pareshaa(n) hai kaha(n) se utthe
(The poor pain is anxious not knowing where to
arise from.)
The author is Delhi-based thinker and writer with
over a dozen books including his latest Quranic
Paradigm of Sciences & Society (First Vol: Health). He
can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com

12

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

NEWSMAKERS

www.milligazette.com

OBITUARIES

MEN&WOMEN IN NEWS
MUZAMMIL ALI LASKAR, senior advocate of
Silchar Bar Association, was awarded by
International Human Rights Association
Assam State Committee on 10 December,
2014 at Silchar Rajeev Bhawan. The
Association observed the International Human
Rights Day and organized a seminar about
human rights and police. Sudangshu Das,
DSP of Cachar, Arun Dutta Mazumder,
President, AICC Cachar District Committee,
Sadhan Purkayastha, Secretary, CRPC Assam and others spoke
about this issue in the seminar. Muzammil Ali Laskar is not only a senior lawyer but also a well-known social worker and a successful
writer. He wrote more than 16 books in Bengali and English which
include Satpurush (novel), Bilkiser Mar Sukhdukh (stories), Bikkipta
Chinta (essays), Nobijer Deshe (Hajj travelogue), Emerging middle
class in Borak valley, Myth and Reality of the Foreigner problems in
Assam. He received literacery pension in 2011 by Assam
Government for his literature works. He was also rewarded the
Bangladesh Maitree Award of Bangladesh Government in 2012 for his
assistance to the Bangladesh Freedom War in 1971. Muzammil Ali
Laskar is now 75 years old but he is actively involved in his work. He
goes to court daily and he is also writing regularly on various issues.
Many organizations honoured him earlier. He is the owner of the
Bengli Weekly, Porokh. (Mehraj Choudhury, Silchar)
AZIMBHAI PREMJI, head of Wipro group is the biggest philanthropist
or the most charitable person of India for the second year in succession, followed by other philanthropists Anil Agarwal of Vedanta
Resources, Shiv Nadar of Hindustan Computers Ltd, Ratan Tata of
Tata group and Anil Ambani of Reliance Industries, according to the

AWARDS
Dr. NAWAZ DEOBANDI,
well-known Urdu poet and
Chairman of UP Urdu
Academy has been honoured with Maati Ratn
Award
by
Shaheed
Ashfaqullah Khan Memorial
Institution, Faizabad in
recognition of his valuable
services to Urdu literature. Describing this
Award as a special award he said that though he
has been honoured with many awards, this
award named after Ashfaqullah Khan who laid
down his life for freedom of the country is a matter of great pride for him. In addition to him, this
Award was also given to Sarvesh Asthana, Hindi
poet known for humour and satire and (Ms)
Aparna Yadav for her services to people
ASGHAR WAZAHAT, noted dramatist and fic-

annual Hurun India Philanthropy List 2014. Azim Premjis total donation in this year was Rs 12,316 crores to his Azim Premji Foundation.
The total donation of Anil Agarwal, the second in this list, was far
below that of Azim Premji i.e. Rs. 1,796 crores. The total donation of
Anil Ambani, considered to be the richest person in India, was a mere
Rs 603 crores. Most of the philanthropists donated their wealth in the
field of or for the promotion of education, followed by social and rural
development, health care and medical fields.
ABDUL QAIYYOOM KHAN, an IPS Officer has been appointed Director
General of Anti-Corruption Bureau of Telangana by Telangana government. Earlier he was Police Commissioner of Hyderabad and had also
served an Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport
Corporation.
ZULFIQAR SETH, 27-year old research scholar of AMU who is
presently a Visiting Research Fellow in Rothberg International School
of Israels Hebrew University has been elected an office bearer of the
Students Union which represents about 2000 foreign students from
as many as 80 countries of the world. He is the first Indian to be elected to this Students Union. Zulfiqar, who hails from Gujrats
Sabarkantha district says that in spite of strained and cold relations
between Israel and most of the Muslim countries, he did not find any
kind of discrimination and untouchability among his university fellows and that his being a Muslim was never an issue in the Students
Union election.
MUHAMMAD NAUSHAD, who is presently working as consultant to
many Unani and Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing companies has
been appointed honorary Consultant / Advisor by All India Unani Tibbi
Congress. According to Dr D. R. Singh, Organisaing Secretary of AIUT
Congres, he (Muhammad Naushad) has been appointed Consultant to


popularise this Congress and to make it more effective.

tion writer has been selected for being honoured with Safdar Hashmi Award by Ramnika
Foundation along with 5 other awards to 5
other different persons named after 5 other
important personalities such as Savitri Bai
Phule Award to Dalit poetess Anita Bharti.
Each award consists of Rs. 21,000 and will
be given to the awardees at a function to be
held in February 15 in Delhi.
Ms AMARA SAGHEER SHEIKH, a student of
SNDT University, Mumbai who topped and
secured first position in MA Clinical Psychology
was honoured with a Gold Medal at the annual
Convocation of this University held on 9
January.
Mrs FAAIZA NESAR, a teacher of Business
Studies in Anglo Arabic S. Sec. School was conferred PhD Degree by Chaudhary Charan Singh
University, for her research work on An
Evaluation of Securities in Indian working
Market which she completed under the supervision of Prof M. C. Jain. She is mother of two

MAULANA MUNIR SALFI, noted religious scholar of Bihar

and former Vice Principal of Patnas Muslim High School
died in Patna on 4 January after a prolonged illness. After
retirement from government service he was appointed
Manager of Sitamadhis Jamia Islamia and had been
devoting himself for religious and milli work.
MAULANA MUHAMMAD QASIM, noted religious leader
and scholar of Mewat, rector of Madrasa Darul Uloom
Anwaarul Quran Firozpur Jharka, known as Sher-e
Punjab died on 12 January at the age of 74 years. Being
an important religious personality the news of his death
spread fast in the whole of Mewat and neighbouring areas
of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. He rendered
valuable services in the field of promoting religious education in the backward region of Mewat and opened many
madrasas in Mewat and Rajasthan. Becaue of his roaring
speaking power he was known as Sher-e Punjab. He
leaves behind his widow, six sons and two daughters.
SYED MUHAMMAD MEHDI, noted dramatist, journalist
and contemporary of progressive men of letters like Ali
Sardar Jafary, Kaifi Azmi and others died recently at his
residence in Aligarh. Born in Barabanki district of about
93 years ago and educated at Lucknow, Kanpur and
Bhopal he started his career with journalism in Mumbai
and Hyderabad. He wrote and staged many popular dramas like Ghalb Kaun, Kafan, Ghalib ke udengay purzay,
Jaan-e Ghazal, Amir Khusro etc. His extremely popular
drama Ghalib Kaun was staged a number of times in
Ghalib Institute. Many of his dramas were broadcast and


telecast on radio and TV.

children.
Sixteen-year old RESHAM FATEMA of Lucknow
who was subjected to acid attack by her uncle,
22 years senior to her, on her refusal to marry
him is one of the 24 brave and courageous boys
and girls who were honoured with National
Bravery Award by prime minister Narendra Modi
at New Delhi on 24 January. Showing exemplary courage she somehow extricated herself from
the firm grip of her uncle in the car, pushed him
and jumped out of the car and went to the police
station in an autorickshaw to file a complaint
from where she was taken to a hospital for treatment. The scars on her face are still visible. She
aspires to be an IAS officer to bring a change in
society. Aaqil Muhammad of Kerala is also
among these 24 brave children who were honoured with National Bravery Awards. Among the
24 brave hearts, 8 are girls.
GULZAR AZMI, head of Jamiatul Ulama-e Hind,
Mumbai branchs Legal Aid Committee who in
spite of his very old age has been playing a stel-

lar role in fighting legal cases of innocent

Muslim youths falsely implicated by biased
security agencies in terrorist and other criminal
activities and got released dozens of them by
courts in different parts of the country was honoured with Sipah Salaar-e Mullat Award by
Bazm-e Shama Adab, a literary and journalistic organisation of Mumbai. The Award was
given to him by Jamiatul Ulama chief Maulana
Arshad Madni at a function held in Mumbai on
16 January.
Asstt Prof (Dr) SAIF KHAN in AMUs Dr Z. A.
Dental Colleges Periodontics and Community
Dentistry Department has been honoured with
Best Research Presentation Award which was
presented to him on the occasion of 39th
National Conference of Indian Society of
Periodontology held at Jaipur on 12 Janaury.
MASTER SHAMIM KARATPURI, noted poet of
Deoband along with Mahtab Azad, author has
been honoured with Guru Tegh Bahadur Award


on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

MAULANA HABIBUR RAHMAN SAANI

HAFIZ NOMANI
Among the mujahid scholars who laid down their everything for
the independence of the country, a shining name was that of
Raeesul Ahrar Maulana Habibur Rahman Ludhianvi, the same
Raeesul Ahrar who in every possible way opposed the formation
of Pakistan and after his failure, becaue of Congress Hindu leaders lust for power, became a broken person from inside. On top
of his defeated and broken existence, came a notice from Punjab
government stating that among the conditions of partition is that
in no district or tahsil of East Punjab there will be any Muslim and
after leaving their homes they will have to go to West Pakistan and
hence he (Maulana Habibur Rahman) too should leave Ludhiana
and go to any city of Pakistan wherever he wishes. This proved to
be the proverbial last straw on the camels back.
Punjabi blood circulated in Maulana Ludhianvis veins and his
dress too remained Punjabi till the end. His voice too was very
loud and awe-inspiring like lightning. Seeing this notice, he lost
his temper and set out straight for Delhi where he came to the
house of Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who warmly
received him with the same traditional respect which was his style
since long and asked him what made him take the trouble of coming to him. Maulana Habibur Rahman handed over the notice to
him and said that he would not be able to answer this question.
Instead, he asked Nehru to address a letter to Governor General
Lord Mountbatten and give it to him to the effect that the latter may
arrange visa for him and his family members to go to London so
that he may go round England to apologise to the British people,
telling them that he had not undersood the Hindus properly and
had erred in fighting against the British. Hence they may please
pardon him.
Pandit Nehrus complexion was very fair and Maulana too
was very fair. Because of the exchange of these words both
became red with rage. Nehru telephoned Punjabs chief minister
Sardar Pratap Singh Kairon telling him that Maulana and his family will live in the same house and mohalla of Ludhiana where they
had been living and even if the mohalla had to be turned into a
cantonement, let it be a cantonemnt but he will not go to Pakistan.
The result was that there was only one Muslim family left in whole
of Punjab which did not go to Pakistan and today this family lives
in the same house where it lived earlier.

Maulana Habibur
Rahman Ludhianvi

Maulana Habibur Rahman

Ludhianvi Saani

Maulana Habibur Rahman Ludhianvis son, Maulana Habibur

Rahman Saani has done a lot of work in Punjab. He got hundreds
of mosques, which were occupied by refugees from Pakistan,
vacated withouit any fight and without any police force. In addition
to this, Muslims who had gone underground or were hidden in villages of Punjab were gradually called back with his efforts and
now there are thousands of houses of Muslims in Maler Kotla and
elsewhere. In addition to them, many Muslim carpenters, butchers and others engaged in different professions in other cities
came out openly and now there is no bias or enmity against them.
In a statement from Lakhimpur, Maulana Habibur Rahman
Saani has stated that the leadership of Indian Mulsims is in the
hands of inexperienced and incompetent persons. They should
find new leadership and come to the forefront. He expressed his
views on UP government and also on the problem of Taj Mahal
raised by Azam Khan. We are not concerned here with what he
said. But we are of course concerned and want that now Muslims
of UP should approach Maulana Habibur Rahman Saani and
request him to bring Majlis-e Ahrar from Punjab and set up its
branches in every state. As far as the problem of Muslim leadership in India is concerned, it is in the hands either of political parties or consists of people of such low character that it is saleable
at the rate of bidis. The sons and grandsons of Shaikhul Islam
Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani were competent to take up the
leadership of Muslims of India but (late) Maulana Asad Madani
spoilt the whole thing to such an extent that people have no faith
in the whole Madani family and whatever little remained was
destroyed by the differences between uncle and nephew because

of which even despite their many good and constructive deeds,

nobody trusts their leadership.
If someone like Maulana Habibur Rahman Saani comes to the
forefront, he will at least be in a position to lead Muslims to the
right path and will be able to tell them that calling Hindus dogs
is no bravery but is tantamount to digging ones own grave. This
type of game is being played by Amit Shah who bought some
cheap and selfish Muslims to contest elections and got their votes
divided. Every Muslim should sit for one hour peacefully in the
mosque and introspect as to why Muslims of UP could not win a
single parliamentary seat. If many purchased Muslims in
Moradabad, Rampur, Meerut, Saharanpur and many other constituencies would not have sold their faith and conscience and
were like Akhtarul Iman who returned his ticket to avoid division
of Muslim votes in Bihars Kishan Ganj, many UP Muslims would
have reached Parliament. Muslims should become true to their
faith. If like a Hindu, he too considers wealth as god and considers Amit Shahs bags of money as God-given gift, he will continue becoming mean and wretched. Amit Shah had been repeatedly asking voters to press the kamal (lotus) button so hard that the
effect could be heard in Italy. We ask Muslims: for making
Muslims successful they should press the button so hard that late
Ishrat Jahan should come out of her grave and point an accusing
finger at those who murdered her and also at those who got her
murdred.
Hafeez Nomani is a veteran Urdu journalist based in Lucknow.
This piece has been translated from Urdu by MG staff.

Gujarati literature is rich. It includes Hindu,

Parsi, Kathiawadi and tribal cultures. Many
Muslim writers, poets and journalists write in
Gujarati. But no body except NAZNEEN O.
SAHERWALA from Surat has written short
stories about Islamic culture in Gujarati. She
throws light on happiness, pain, needs and
problems of Muslims in her short stories of
not only Gujarati Muslims but Muslims of different countries. She
explains Islam through short stories which are really interesting
stories. Nazneen O. Sahrewala is a social worker. Her experience


helps her to write the reality in Gujarati.

SPECIAL REPORT

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

13

Saiyid Hamid remembered

New Delhi: At a condolence meeting jointly organised by All India
Educational Movement (AIEM) and Muslim Education Trust
(MET), here on 16 January, rich tributes were paid to Saiyid
Hamid, the founder-President of AIEM and former Chairman of
MET for over a decade. This was one of dozens of such condolence meetings held across India to pay tributes to Saiyid Hamid,
Dr Syed Farooq, patron of AIEM and Chairman of Himalaya
Drugs Company, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Editor of the Milli Gazette
and President of AIMMM, Parwaz Rahmani, Editor of Urdu biweekly "Dawat", Masoom Moradabdi, Editor of daily Jadeed
Khabar, Syyed Mansoor Agha, Senior Urdu journalist and Vice
President of AIEM, Abdul Rashid, former Deputy Secretary to
Govt. of India and General Secretary AIEM, Mozaffar Ali, Secretary
of MET, Rafiq Ahmad, Secretary of Human Welfare Foundation
(HWF) and Maualana Ataur-Rahman Qasmi, Director of Shah
Waliullah Institute spoke on the occasion.
Presiding over the meeting, Dr Syed Farooq said that the best
tribute to the departed soul will be to continue his mission which
is far from complete. He was a visionary and a dedicated person,
said Dr Farooq. Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan said, after his retirement
from civil services, Saiyid Hamid devoted himself fully for the
cause of the community. This is rare as there are hundreds of
high-ranking Muslim civil servants who are living their own lives
after retirement and show no interest in helping their community.
Saiyid Hamid was a person of conviction. He greatly valued the
capabilities of others.
Parwaz Rahmani said, some of Saiyid Hamid's actions as the
VC of AMU invited criticism but nobody can deny that whatever he
said or did was done with sincerity and in good faith. He had a versatile and attractive personality. Maualana Ataur-Rahman Qasmi
said Saiyid Hamid was a man of great stature. He always extended a helping hand but never compromised with his principles to

oblige anybody.
M a s o o m
Moradabadi said, the
character of leadership Saiyid Hamid
provided is in contrast
to others. He did not
rely upon complaining. Instead, he struggled using selfstrength and managed
to carve a way-out
and helped the community. He advised
the community to
realise their inherent
capabilities, mobilise
their
available
resources and stand
(L to R) Abdul Rashid (speaking), Syyed Mansoor Agha,
on their own two feet. Dr Syed Farooq, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Masoom Muradabadi
Syyed Mansoor Agha
said, Hamid Saheb was an education activist and a great admir- Chairman of HWF and served in that capacity until his last breath.
er of Sir Syed's vision of education. He believed in an inclusive The HWF is running several charitable institutions including Alapproach and stressed upon educating the community. He drew Shifa Hospital and a chain of Scholar Schools including one at
our attention towards the importance of health and hygiene and AbulFazl Enclave in Delhi.
Concluding the meeting, Mozaffar Ali said, a the first chairman
the dire need of social reforms. He was a big votary for promotion
of communal harmony. He was a person of knowledge and action of MET, Saiyid Hamid shaped the mission which is successfully
and a rare humanist of our times. Underlining Saiyid Hamid's deep helping thousands of students to receive higher education in spite
interest in people's welfare activities, Rafiq Ahmad said, even dur- of financial constraints. The meeting ended after passing a condoing his serious illness, he took keen interest in the affairs of HWF lence resolution which said Saiyid Hamid was "a visionary who
and always obliged us with guidance and granted us audience guided Indian Muslims like a beacon for decades to improve their


whenever we approached him. Saiyid Hamid was the founder- lot, is no more among us."

Hindus in Islamic school and Muslims in

RSS school break stereotypes

Yusuf/MG

Rampur: At least 11
Hindu children have
enrolled
in
a
madrassa, the traditional
Islamic
school in Rampur
while as many as
140 Muslim boys
have joined an RSSrun school, breaking stereotypes.
According to
the principal of
M a d r a s s a
Jameeatul Ansar
parents' love for the
Urdu language and
literature has motivated them to put
their children in the
madrassa.
The Hindu students and their parents "love Urdu" and poets like Mirza Ghalib, Firaq Gorakhpuri,
Jigar Moradabadi and others have a following, cutting across distinctions of community religion."
Also, the families are keen that the children learn the traditional etiquette, said Khalid Ansari, principal of the madrassa.
Madrasses have for long been associated with traditional Islamic religious teachings, but now
most of them have joined the mainstream education system and are teaching mainstream subjects.
Ansari says 11 Hindu boys have been enrolled in the madrassa, who besides learning other subjects,
study Urdu language with keen interest. The students from both the communities also offer morning
prayers together.
Meanwhile, about 140 children have been enrolled in a school run by the right-wing organization
RSS, known for its Hindutva ideology. "As many as 140 Muslim boys have been enrolled in various
classes of Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College," college principal Jitendra Singh said.
"The day starts for the students with surya namaskar and singing of Vande Mataram besides
vedic hymns," he said. Singh later said all the students take their lunch together.
Speaking about the Muslim students, Singh said that a pass-out of the institute, Danish Mustafa,
has succeeded in getting an engineering job in Saudi Arabia, and claimed hundreds of Muslims students have availed very good jobs in various parts of the country. (Source: New Indian Express)

Please stop
this.
Its only
Gods home.

Release of an encyclopaedia of Urdu media

Hyderabad: Syed Fazil
Husain Parvez's book, "Urdu
media-kal aaj kal" was
released here on 18 January
by Dr Ausaf Saeed, the Indian
consul general at Chicago. Dr
Saeed stressed that we must
teach Urdu to our children so
that the language stays alive
and we must popularise the
language through social
media networks. He said
Google and Microsoft will be
useful in this if we use their
facilities. Since people in this
new age want information at
the click of a button, we too
should make this possible for
our language. He said 85 million people today speak and read Urdu. Dr Saeed added that Urdu press
has played an important role in the country's freedom struggle. Urdu newspapers published in India
may be more than all Urdu newspapers published elsewhere in the world. Urdu is popular even in
China, Japan and US, he said adding that an Urdu library is being established in Chicago and a seminar on Urdu media will also be held there soon. He advised that Deccani poets and litterateurs
should be made popular worldwide. Prof. Fatima Parveen said that media should be used to motivate the young generation to devote itself to seek knowledge and progress in this world. Media can
introduce the past to the new generation and make it aware of the new possibilities in future.

The author, who is editor of the popular Urdu weekly Gawah published from Hyderabad, said
while speaking on this occasion that it is the duty of media to disseminate good and stop evil and
to support the victims of injustice. He added that Urdu media is the voice of Muslims.

President felicitates brave children

President
Pranab
Mukherjee met the children selected for the
National Bravery Awards
2014 at Rashtrapati
Bhavan on 22 January.
The National Awards
for Bravery were started
by the Indian Council for
Child Welfare (ICCW) to
give due recognition to
children who distinguish
themselves by performing outstanding deeds
and meritorious service
and to inspire other children to emulate their
example.
The awardees are
invited to Delhi where the
Prime Minister presents
the awards on the eve of
Republic Day. The children then take part in the Republic Day Parade.
This year's awardee includes Resham Fatma, the 17-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh. Less than
a year ago, she met the most horrific incident of her life. She not only survived the acid attack but
shown courage and brought the culprit to book. A year later she has been selected for this coveted
award for bravely fighting off her attacker.
On 1 February last year, Lucknow resident Fatma was on her way to her tuition class when her
uncle (mother's cousin) picked her up at knife-point. He drove her to a highway and threatened her
to marry him. When she refused, he poured sulphuric acid over her head. Despite suffering serious
burns, Resham took an auto rickshaw and reached the nearby police station. Fatma says she wants
to become an IAS officer.

14

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

94% pickpockets in metro were women

New Delhi: A vast majority of the pickpockets i.e. 94 percent,
arrested in the Delhi metro last year (2014) were women, according to police. Figures compiled by CISF for 11 months i.e. from
January to November 2014 show that a total of 293 women pickpockets were arrested as compared to 22 men only in Delhi metro
rail. CISF has been made nodal force for the safety of Delhi metro
network, platforms and railway compartments. Women pickpockets adopt a clever strategy of taking with them small children and
even toddlers so that no one from suspicion. According to a police
official, in most cases it was found that women arrested for picking the pockets appeared to be the least suspects. The same trend
i.e. large majority of pick pockets being women was seen in 2013
also. In this year (2013) of the total 466 pick pockets arrested in
all metro rails and stations in Delhi, as many as 421 were women
while the remaining i.e. 45 were men. CISF personnel also recovered more than Rs. 29 lakh in cash, cheques, bank drafts of value
of more than Rs 9 crores, foreign currency worth about Rs.
86,700, gold ornaments and other valuables worth more than Rs.
16 lakh from the transit system.
False cases of harassment against men a matter of concern
Chennai: Madras High Court, on the basis of statistics, has
expressed concern over the increasing incidents of false cases
against men on rape charges, dowry deaths, harassment of
women, domestic violence on women etc. Justice S. Nagamuthu,
quoting National Crime Records Bureau data said here on
25 December that as regards crimes against women, statistics
show that in cases of rape, dowry deaths, harassment of married
women and outraging the modesty of women percentage of false
cases was 7.4, 6.6, 9.6 and 5.8 respectively about 15 years ago.
He said that in the year 2000 on an average only 7.55 percent of
all cases registered in the country were false. According to the latest report on such crimes in India in the year 2012 he said that
false cases in these respects were a staggering 48 percent.
Understanding the feelings of people who are victims of such false
cases or complaints Justice Nagamuthu said that those implicated in such false cases suffer from humiliation, loss of money, loss
of mental peace and sometimes loss of employment. He further
said that most of the people accused of such false cases belong
to poor and lower strata of society with whom very few people
sympathise.
NCPUL to set up new Urdu, Arabic and Persian centres
New Delhi: A meeting of NCPUL, a central government organisation, was held in Farogh-e Urdu Bhavan to review the working and
performance of Urdu, Arabic and Persian centres set up in different parts of the country and to open new centres of these languages in the country. It may be stated that this Council is running
more than 1300 Urdu, Arabic and Persian teaching centres in the
country and try to associate these languages with employment.
About 80,000 students are doing one year Diploma course in Urdu
language, one year Arabic certificate course, 2-year Diploma
courses in Arabic and Persian. Care will be taken to set up new
centres of these languages in places where there are no such centres. Councils Vice Chairman, Padam Shri Muzaffar Husain who
chaired this meeting said while speaking in this meeting that the
role of Persian and Arabic has been important in the promotion of
Urdu as the script of all these three languages is almost the same
and hence the Council is playing an important role in promoting
Arabic and Persian also along with Urdu.
Councils Director Prof. Khwaja Muhammad Ikramuddin said
that NCPUL has non-Urdu areas also in mind for setting up new
Urdu centres, adding that the Council is reaping good benefits
from the centres already being run and today Diploma holders
from these centres are getting good jobs in the Gulf, African and
other Arab countries. He said that the Council has recently
launched a software to keep a watch on all its centres through
which supervision and coordination of centres can be done easily
now.
Tayyab Trust hands over 165 houses to riot-affected people
Shamli: Tayyab Trust, an institution which has been trying and
working since the beginning for providing relief and rehabilitation
to riot-affected people of Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring areas in
communal riots, handed over the keys of 165 new houses built in
Dabedhi village of Shamli district on 4 January 15 who heaved a
sigh of relief from severe cold. This trust, in addition to many other
relief organisations had provided food packages, warm clothings,
beds, water-proof tents, cots, utencils and other necessary items
in large numbers. In addition to these, it had also set up more than
50 medical camps to help the deprived people. Chairman of
Taiyyab Trust, Hafiz Muhammad Aasim Qasmi said that his Trust
has a target of building 3000 houses for these people and as more
money is available the remaining target will also be completed
soon. Muhammad Yusuf, an important member of Al Falah Trust
said that though about 1.5 years have elapsed since the riots had
broken out, many people are still leading their life in the open in
spite of relief and rehabilitation works by many other milli organisations.
Hindu-Muslim marriage invalid
A marriage between a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy in Gwalior was
declared invalid after Bajrang Dal called it a case of Love Jihad.
The marriage lasted only for few days as local administration
declared the marriage invalid. Eleven days after her parents said
she was missing and filed a police complaint, the 19-year old girl
appeared in Kotwali police station on 29 December with a
notarised document saying that she had married one Tauhid Khan
and converted to Islam.

www.milligazette.com

COMMUNITY NEWS

High-level committee to review promotion of Urdu

Aligarh: National Commission for Minorities Educational
Institutions (NCMEI) at HRD ministrys behest has constituted a
high level Committee to review the present position of Urdu and
employment opportunities for Urdu knowing people and submit
its report for the promotion of Urdu language and Urdu knowing
people. Secretary of NCMEI Ms Rita Chatterjee in her letter to
Dr Jaseem Muhammad, Director of Jamia Urdu, Aligarh has stated that this Commission has constituted a high level committee
headed by AMUs Pro Vice Chancellor Brig (Retd) S. Ahmad Ali
to submit its report for the promotion of Urdu and also employment opportunities for Urdu knowing people. She said in her letter that other members of this committee are well-known film
producer-director Mahesh Bhat, Integral University (Lucknow)s
Vice Chancellor Prof Syed Wastem Akhtar, AMU Court member
Prof Razaullah Khan, AMU Hindi Departments Associate
Professor and former member of Rajsathan Urdu Academy, Dr
Shambhu Nath Tiwari, National Co-ordinator of Central Institute of
While submitting a proof of her being a major, the second
year B.Com student told the police she was in love with Tauhid and
married him of her own free will. She further said that she had not
been kidnapped as was being alleged.
When police asked them to appear before the police, her
parents alerted Bajrang Dal volunteers whose help they had
sought in tracing their daughter. Kotwali police station in-charge,
Satish Chaturvedi, said that the affidavit was dated 27 December
and did not count as conversion as the correct procedure had
not been followed. The girl was then produced before sub-divisional magistrate and the administration decided to send her to
Nari Niketan because she refused to return to her parents. The
Bajrang Dal activists gheraoed the police station and picked up a
fight with the station in-charge.
Awards given away on the 51st death anniversary of Alvi
Aligarh: Fifty-first death anniversary of Syed Zahiruddin Alvi,
founder of Jamia Urdu Aligarh was observed with great reverence
in Jamia Urdu campus on 12 January when arrangements were
made for recitations of the Quran after morning prayers. Later,
Prof. Humayun Murdad, Syed Zahirudins son Syed Moinuddin
and others laid wreathes on his grave and thereafter, people distributed fruits among patients in JN Medical College hospital. At a
function held on the same day to recall Syed Zahiruddins services and to pay tributes to him, Jamia Urdus Registrar Mrs Saba
Khan said that Syed Zahiruddin Alvi enjoyed the status of Sir
Sayed Saani [Second Sir Syed] who set up Jamia Urdu for the
children who were unable to acquire education in schools and colleges so that large number of such people could be imparted education. She said that he devoted his whole life for educating the
deprived people and for promotion of Urdu. Prof. Humayun Murad
said that the services rendered by the institution founded by Syed
Zahiruddin (Jamia Urdu) in the promotion of Urdu language and literature are examples in themselves which cannot be forgotten. He
said that the biggest tribute to this son of the nation will be that the
central government should make the certificates / degrees of
Jamia Urdu, Aligarh equivalent to High School, Intermediate, BA
and BEd certificates. Jamia Urdus OSD Farhat Ali Khan said that
keeping in mind the requirements of modern times, Jamia Urdu
has started a two-year PG diploma in mass communications from
the current year so that passouts of this institution could get
employment in the field of journalism. He said that in order to
improve Jamia Urdus standards, Jamia Urdu Advisory Council
and Board of Governors have been constituted in which Indias
distinguished intellectuals have been included. Jamias Director
Jasim Muhammad said that Syed Zahiruddin was the person who
first of all had dreamt of the concept of distance education in India
and materialised his dream in the form of Jamia Urdu. He added
that Jamia Urdu is Indias oldest institution of distance education
which is actively engaged in the promotion of Urdu language for
the past 73 years.
MG Comment: It is a great disservice to Syed Zahiruddin Alvis
memory that Jamia Urdu remains illegally occupied by goons
and thugs who are running it as a private company. It is time UP
and Union governments took note of the state of affairs at the
Jamia Urdu which is being run by an OSD who has appointed
his wife as registrar while the institution does not have a vice
chancellor or a proper running governing body since long
(Zafarul-Islam Khan).
Abdur Rahim Quraishi re-elected
Gulbarga: Maulana Muhammad Abdur Rahim Quraishi has been
elected lifetime President of All India Majlis Tameer-e Millat
(AIMTM) at the meeting of AIMTMs Majlis-e Shoora held at
Aurangabad on 12 January. Haji Qamrul Islam, Karnataks minister for municipal administration, Public enterprises, Waqf and
minorities welfare while congratulating members of Majlis-e
Shoora, particularly the members of Gulbarga District, said that
they have taken a very wise decision. He (Qamrul Islam) further
said that Abdur Rahim Quraishi is soon to be elected Astt General
Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. He also said
that today in the most critical times when communal forces are
trying to put into practice their unholy plan of making India a Hindu
Rashtra, Rahim Quraishi Sahebs election as Lifetime Presideint of
Majlis Tamir-e Millat is really the fulfilment of an important need.
His powerful writings and speeches against the dangerous intentions of fascist and dangerous communal forces are playing an
important role in creating an awakening among Muslims of the
country. He said that after Allahabad High Courts verdict in the

Indian Languages (HRD ministry) Dr Zubair Shadab Khan, journalist and columnist Firoz Bakht Ahmad, Jamia Urdu (Aligarh)s
OSD, Farhat Ali Khan and Director of Jamia Urdu (Aligarh)
Dr Jaseem Muhammad Khan. Dr (Ms) ShabistaaN Ghaffar will be
the coordinator of this Committee.
This Committee will study the role being played by Urdu
academies, its position in the states where Urdu has been
declared the second language and attitude of these states
towards employment of Urdu educated or Urdu knowing people and make suitable recommendations for their promotion.
He also said that the above mentioned Commission as well as
the present government are serious in giving Urdu its rightful
place in the country. The Indian government has authorised
this Committee to submit its report based on realistic data
about Urdu language and Urdu knowing or Urdu educated people and opportunities of employment for Urdu knowing people.
(N. A. Ansari)
Babri Masjid ownership case, the morale of ulama and other
Muslim leaders had gone down but by creating the circumstances
of approaching the Supreme Court against this verdict he has
regenerated their enthusiasm and resolve to continue their struggle, adding that he has played an important role in making the
Babri Masjid case strong and undisputable in Supreme Court.
Circulation of Urdu publications exceeds 3.45 crores
New Delhi: In spite of growing popularity of electronic media the
circulation of newspapers and magazines is continuously increasing in India and during the last year it had crossed 45 crores.
According to the 58th Annual Report of the Registrar of Indian
Newspapers for 2013-14 the number of of Hindi newspapers and
magazines in circulation in the country was about 22,64,75000.
These statistics are based on the figures of furnished to RNI by the
newspapers and magazines etc published in the country till March
2014 was 99,660 which shows an increase of 5.95 percent over
the last year. Of this the number of newspapers was 13761 and
that of magazines was 85,899. During the year 2013-14, 5642
newspapers and magazines were registered while 49 publications
were closed during this period. Publications of Hindi newspapers
etc, obviously, were highest i.e. 40149. Of these, 5870 are newspapes and 34289 are magazines. English newspapers and magazines totalling 13138 were at No 2 and Marathi with 7,155 stood
at No 3.
Circulation of total number of newspapers and magazines in
the country (all languages) stood at about 45,05,86000 of which
Hindi with total number of publications (newspapers and magazines) was 22,64,75,517. English with total number at
6,44,05,643 is at No 2 and Urdu with 3,45,85,404 (newspapers
and magazines) at No 3. Newspaper with largest circulation is
Bengali daily Anand Bazar Patrika whose total publication is
11,81,112. In Hindi, paper with largest publication is Punjab
Kesari with total circulation at 7,23,863. English daily Times of
India (Mumbai) with total circulation of 10,26,153 with different
editions has the largest circulation but with 29 editions its total circulation is 47,42,671. From this point of view, Hindi daily Dainik
Bhaskar is at No 2 which, with 35 editions has a total circulation
of 35,49,796. Among weeklies, The Sunday with total circulation
of 10,21,260 is at No 1.
Among states, UP with 15209 newspapers and magazines is
at the top followed by Maharashtra with a total of 13375 newspapers and mags. There are a total of 99,660 registered newspapers
and magazines in the country.
Hostel for civil service aspirants opened in Jamia Millia
New Delhi: A hostel for free accommodation of youths / students
aspiring to join Indian civil services was inaugurated within the
campus of Jamia MIllia Islamia University on 12 January by the
Chairman of University Grants Commission, Ved Prakash. The
hostel which can accommodate 154 aspirants was built at a cost
of Rs 7 crores. Free coaching is provided by Jamias Residential
Coaching Academy (RCA) to the prospective candidates who
aspire to join civil services. RCA, run by central government,
imparts free coaching and career planning to about 200 students
belonging to poor and deprived sections of society like those
belonging to SC, ST and minority communities while 50 seats are
reserved for girls. Students are selected for free coaching through
an all India written test and interview. Vice Chancellor of Jamia
MIllia University Talat Ahmad says that RCA will soon become an
important centre in the country to train students belonging to economically, educationally and socially weaker sections of society
such as minorities, SC, ST communities and women and girls.
Old mosque being rebuilt in Maujpur, Delhi
New Delhi: Foundation stone of a very old mosque in Maujpur in
Delhi which was in a bad shape because of ravages of time was
laid anew on 5 January by Haji Dilawar in the presence of
Chaudhari Mateen Ahmad, Chairman of Delih Waqf Board and former MLA, Mufti Muhammad Shah Nawaz, Imam of this old
mosque and others. Chaudhari Mateen Ahmad assured his full
cooperation in the building of this mosque. The area of this
mosque is 425 sq yards and the plan is to make it a grand threestoreyed mosque which is expected to cost about Rs 2 crores.
Haji Dilawar while speaking on this occasion said that now he is
at such a stage of life that he cannot say when he may have to bid
good bye to this world. So he wants that the remaining days
should be spent in prayers, service to the community and good
deeds.

COMMUNITY NEWS

www.milligazette.com

Rahmani 30 students excel

Patna: Results of Regional Mathematical Olympiads north Bihar,
Patna region were declared on 5 January 2014 in which a total of
700 students from Bihar region had appeared of whom 29 students were successful. Of these 29,7 were Muslim candidates
and 6 of these were from Rahmani 30. This is for the sixth time
that students of Rahmani 30 have achieved success in the difficult
examination of Mathematical Olympiad with the efforts of
Rahmani 30s founder Maulana Muhammad Wali Rahmani and
educational supervision of Abhyanandji. One of these successful
candidates, Muhammad Saqib Ansari has secured second position in order of merit. Candidates successful in regional
Mathematical Olympiad will have to appear in Indian National
Mathematical Olympiad competition to be held on 1 February
2015 in which all the 894 students will participate. Of the successful candidates in this, 30 will be selected from all over India
who will be imparted one-month training in Homi Bhabha Centre
Olympiad for Science Education, for International Mathematical
Olympiad. Of the successful candidates in these, six students /
candidates will be further selected who will represent India in the
26th International Mathematical Olympiad 2015 competition to be
held in Thailand.
Rs. 136.82 crores sanctioned for AMUs Kishan Ganj centre
Patna: According to the information obtained under RTI by a student of AMUs Kishan Ganj centre, Muhammad Mudassar Alam,
Indian government has agreed to give a grant of Rs. 136.82 crores
to AMU for this centre in Kishan Ganj. According to this information, the concerned officer of UGC in a letter to AMUs Registrar
sent in December 2014 said that the government has agreed to
give a grant of Rs 136.82 crores for the construction of University
building and for salaries of employees. It is also stated in the information under RTI that a memorandum of understanding has been
signed between AMU authorities and Kolkatas company HCL in
December 14 for construction of boundary walls. A request was
made by the University to the government asking for Rs 14.5 lakh
in the first instalment for this work (boundary wall). At present B.
Ed and MBA courses are being taught in Kishan Ganj centre.
Chairman of Maharashtras Minorities Commission removed
Mumbai: Maharasthra government has removed the Chairman of
the States Minorities Commission, Munaf Hakeem in the middle
of his term. Munaf Hakeem had recently decided to get a survey
conducted to find out the number of Muslims in the jails of
Maharashtra. Hakeem, who is associated with Sharad Pawars
party NCP, said that he did not receive any notice from the government for his removal in the middle of his term. It may be stated
that Munaf Hakeem was appointed Chairman of this Commission
by the previous government in August 2012 for 5 years and so far
he has completed almost only half of his term. He said that he neither received any show cause notice from the government nor
was he given any opportunity to clarify the purpose of his intended survey of the number of Muslims in Maharasthra jails. He said
that his successor, Aamir took over charge from him as Chairman
of states Minorities Commission on 15 January at 10 pm. He
asked what was the hurry in his taking over charge late at night.
However, sources in the administration defended the governments decision (to replace him by Aamir), saying that his
(Hakeems) appointment was a political appointment by the previous government and the new (BJP-Shiv Sena) government has
a right to appoint a new Chairman of states Minorities
Commission. The officer said on condition of anonymity that it is
a common tradition that whenever a new government takes over,
it appoints its own representatives on different posts. Hence in this
case also, the same tradition was followed. Munaf Hakeem said
that recently he had made an announcement for a survey to be
conducted by Tata Institute of Social Sciences to find out how
many Muslims are locked up in Maharashtra jails and on what
charges or crimes they were arrested. He had also informed the
government that getting such a survey conducted is within the
rights and powers of the Commission.

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

Urdu Book Fair held at Aurangabad

New Delhi: Seventeenth All India Urdu Book Fair jointly organised
by NCPUL, Delhi, Maharashtra State Urdu Academy, Mumbai and
Federation of All Minority Educational Organisation (FAME) was
held at Aurangabads Hali, Shibli Kitab Nagri from 27 December
14 to 4 January 15. NCPUL or Councils Director Prof. Khwaja
Muhammad Ikramuddin in a press meet with media persons here
on 12 January while shedding light on the aims and objectives of
Book Fairs organised by it in different cities of the country said
that the Councils aim is to ensure knowledge and information
about Urdu which is not only a language but has a whole culture
locked a civilization also in itself and also to bring forth Urdus linguistic and cultural aspects. The Fair was inaugurated by A. G.
Khan, former Director, BCUD Dr Baba Saheb Ambdekar
Marathwada University and Imteyaz Jalil, MLA. Among the galaxy
of personalitis present on this occasion were the Mayor and
Police Commissioner of Aurangabad, FAMEs Chairperson Ms
Fauzia Khan, Urdu Academys Chairman Khurshid Sidiqi, editors
Blankets distributed in Olpad
Olpad (Surat-Gujarat): For years more than 50 families lived in
huts and sheds on government land on Oplad Kadnj Road. They
voluntarily demolished their above-said dwellings. As a result,
they are now living in open land under the sun. A Muslim NRI, living in America, which is a social worker, Mr. Gulam Mohyuddin
Shaikh, happened to visit his native place. He heard of the miseries of these unhappy families. This kind-hearted Shaikh decided
to help these families and he distributed blankets and cash and
extended support to these people. Mr. Shaikh has visited these
families along with local social workers Shabbir Malek, Gulam
Shaikh, Zahir Shaikh, Gulam Mustafa Shaikh, Zakir Hussain Malek
and others and each homeless family was offered three woollen
blankets. In addition, the family of one Vallabh Bhai who died due
to severe cold was given ten thousand rupees cash help. (Y. R.
Pathan, Kathor)
Vocational training provides employment for drop-outs
Hindustan Zinc with its quality vocational programmes has shown
remarkable results in not only engaging with unemployed youth
but also giving them direction and focus in life. Raju Kumawat, a
10th pass son of a poor farmer, came to know about the professional training programme being conducted by Hindustan Zinc at
Debari in Udaipur. He approached the company and enrolled for
training programme in mining and drilling. After undergoing three
months training, Raju was employed through campus post-training placement programme, and now he is earning Rs. 12,000 a
month. Anees, one of the two sons of a small cashier at a cooperative shop, is another successful example of the said training
programme. He was never interested in studies and soon dropped
out from the school.
Anees situation was a matter of concern for his father. When
approached by Hindustan Zinc team, his father decided to register
Anees for the training programme. There, Anees benefited from
the training programme and now he is working as marketing executive at a salary of Rs. 10,000 per month in Udaipur . Similarly,
when Rahul, a drop-out, came to know about this programme he
was quick to register for the vocational training. After getting
knowledge about training modules, he chose welding. Rahul is
now employed and is earning Rs. 15,000 a month.
Apart from boys, girls also are benefitting from these training programmes. Kusum Rathore, a class 10th pass student,
found it difficult to convince her parents to undertake the vocational training until a team from Hindustan Zinc visited her parents and convinced them about the training programme. She
had keen interest in computers, thus she chose this area for
her training. Now she has become a big support to her family
with a monthly income of Rs. 5,000 while she is also able to
continue her studies.
There are 500 youth of rural Rajasthan who got trained in dif-

of important Urdu, Marathi and Hindi newspapers and so forth.

About 8 thousand boy and girl students from more than 44
schools took out a procession with banners and placards in Urdu,
state and national languages and after making rounds of different
places converged at the Fair Ground. Their extraordinary enthusiasm was indicative of the feeling of the people of Aurangabad
towards Urdu. It may be stated in this connection that this Book
Fair was the biggest among the Urdu Book Fairs organised by
NCPUL so far in which 105 publishers from big Urdu publication
houses of the country with 155 book stalls participated. In the
final session NCPUL Chairman Padma Shri Muzaffar Husain and
Prof. Akhtrul Wasey also participated. Prof. Wasey said in this
session that NCPUL is the biggest institution in the world working
for the promotion of Urdu language. In this Book Fair Urdu books
worth about Rs 1.30 crore were sold which is a new record seeing that in the Book Fair held at Malegaon books worth about Rs
87 lakh were sold. (N. A. Ansari)
ferent job-oriented vocational programmes run by Hindustan Zinc
in partnership with an NGO for school drop-outs. The training
material in various fields like mining, welding, drilling, electrician,
tailoring, embroidery, hospitality etc, were in such a simple language that it can be easily grasped by these students.
Equal emphasis is given on both class-room lectures and
practical exposure. Since the entire course is residential, it grooms
the students in various aspects to help them in securing sustainable livelihood in future.
Jamiatul Ulama helps Shiv Sena leaders widow
Mumbai: Jamiatul Ulama-e Hind (JUH) always tries to help people
in distress, either in individual or collective cases, on the basis of
humanism and human values. In a recent such case a Shiv Sena
leader Ramesh Jadhav was murdered in the Muslim populated
locality, Muhallah Pathanwadi in Mumbai suburb on 22 October
last year (2014). Though late, but as soon as Mumbai branch of
JUH came to know about it, motivated by the feeling of help and
service to people in distress, it gave an amount of Rs 10,000 in
cash to the widow of Ramesh Jadhav which she accepted with
thanks.
Muzaffanagar riots-accused raom free
The victims of Muzaffarnagar riots still wait for justice while many
of the accused are roaming around freely. During riots, dozens
were killed in the villages of Lasadh, Kutbi, Kutba, Phugana, Lakh
Bahaodi, Muhammadpur Raisingh, etc while tens of thousands
fled their villages to protect themselves.
A delegation from Muhammadpur Raisingh village met with
the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and DGP Mukul Goyal on 6
January and demanded the arrest of the accused. During riots,
many people who fled their village settled in Hussainpur Kalan.
Local administration pressurised them to return to their villages
but they refused. Two settlers of Hussainpur Kalan, Aas
Muhammad and Iliyas met with UP CM and DGP, and requested
them to arrest the culprits of Muzaffarnagar riots. Even police has
announced a bounty of Rs. 5,000 on some of the accused who
are yet to be arrested.
During the meeting, Aas Muhammad informed the DGP that
they are receiving threats from these accused, including Hirender
and Brij Veer. He said that when police went to arrest these
accused, they had already been tipped off and succeeded to
dodge the police.
According to sources, three people were killed after the riots
in Hussainpur Kalan, and 11 people from Lasadah village are still
missing. Villagers believe that they might have been killed by the
rioters. Aas Muhammad said the names of 50 accused were
handed over to SIT, but only 26 people were named as accused
and the rest were given a clean-chit. He added that if the victims
had not knocked the doors of courts, they would have not got any
justice.

Police plant evidence, arrest Muslim youth

The arrest of three men, Abdul Subur, Dr. Syed
Ismail Afaq and Saddam Hussain, on terror
charges from Bhatkal on 8 January has triggered
a major controversy as the neighbours of the
accused have claimed that they saw police
planting evidence in the house of a suspect. With
Muslim organisations calling for a shutdown, the
town remained tense on 17 January and a large
force was deployed to prevent outbreak of violence.
"Several people saw the police take a few
bags into the house of suspect Abdul Subur in
the morning of 8 January," said Mohiuddin Altaf,
general secretary of the Bhatkal-based federation of Muslim organizations, Majlis-e-Islah Wa
Tanzeem.
Akmal Rizvi, the suspects lawyer said,
"According to law, two people from the neighbourhood have to accompany the police during
a raid and be present during the panchnaama but
no local person was taken along."
At a press conference held by the families,
Suburs mother Khamarunnisha said, "Our
house (where the police claims explosives were
recovered) has been locked for the past two
months as we have been living at my sisters

15

Salman Mohiuddin
place." Said mother of another accused, Dr.
Syed Ismail Aafaq, "The police told the media
that my son made calls to Pakistan. What they
did not tell you is that he is married to a Pakistani
girl who lives with us in Bhatkal."
Mohammad Sultan Beary, lawyer of Dr.
Afaq, said that his client had been framed "in
retaliation" for several RTI applications he had
filed against the Bengaluru police. He sought the

intervention of Human Rights Commission to

ensure a fair trial for Dr. Afaq. "It is evident that
the police are trying to foist a false case on my
client. They have not followed the legal procedure in the arrest," Beary added.
The Banglore police on 16 January detained
another person in connection with its investigation. The detained man was identified as
Abdullah Shabandri, a resident of Bhatkal.
Sources said he was involved in the activities of
the four others who were arrested by the police.
Shabandri, a 30-year-old engineer, is employed
in an IT company. On January 8, police had raided houses in Bangalore and Bhatkal town and
arrested three persons. The fourth man, a 32year-old Riyaz Ahmed Sayeedi, was arrested at
Mangalore airport while he was waiting to fly to
Dubai where he was employed.
In another case, police detained Danish from
his home in BTM Layout in Bengaluru on 16
January to ascertain whether he had any role in
the purchase of explosives, though the police
failed to recover any bomb-making material from
his house. Danish, who hails from Bhatkal,
works in a private firm in the UAE and shuttles
between India and Gulf. An officer, who is a part

of the investigating team said, "We are questioning Danishs movements in India and West Asia
in the last 18 months. We hope to get more leads
from him. He may not have been directly
involved with the IM group, but may have played
a role."
Hyderabad police arrested a 32-year-old
US-educated engineer, Salman Mohiuddin, on
16 January from the Rajiv Gandhi International
Airport while he was heading to Dubai on a visitvisa. Salman went to the US in 2010 to pursue
his MS degree from Houston University and had
returned in October last year when his visa
expired. Police claimed Salman was heading to
Turkey on his way to Syria to join ISIS. On the
other hand, father of Salman, Ahmad Mohiuddin
claimed that the charges against his son are fabricated. He said that police is trying to implicate
his son using fabricated stories to spoil his
career.
Most of the time, charges are levelled by
police in great fanfare then quietly dropped after
making breaking news on channels and big
headlines in newspapers. Yet when such persons are found innocent by courts, the news is
ignored and they are looked down upon and at
times even disowned by their families and
friends.

JAWED AKHTER

16

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

INTERNATIONAL

Paris Attacks Show Hypocrisy of Wests Outrage

Anyone with eyes open will quickly notice other rather striking omissions. Thus, prominent among
those who face an enormous challenge from brutal violence are Palestinians, once again during
Israels vicious assault on Gaza in the summer of 2014, in which many journalists were murdered,
sometimes in well-marked press cars, along with thousands of others, while the Israeli-run outdoor
prison was again reduced to rubble on pretexts that collapse instantly on examination.
The comparison between these cases helps us understand
NOAM CHOMSKY
fter the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, which killed 12 people
including the editor and four other cartoonists, and the murder of
four Jews at a kosher supermarket shortly after, French Prime
Minister Manuel Valls declared a war against terrorism, against
jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at
breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity.
Millions of people demonstrated in condemnation of the
atrocities, amplified by a chorus of horror under the banner I am
Charlie. There were eloquent pronouncements of outrage,
captured well by the head of Israels Labor Party and the main
challenger for the upcoming elections, Isaac Herzog, who
declared that Terrorism is terrorism. Theres no two ways about
it, and that All the nations that seek peace and freedom [face] an
enormous challenge from brutal violence.
The crimes also elicited a flood of commentary, inquiring into
the roots of these shocking assaults in Islamic culture and
exploring ways to counter the murderous wave of Islamic
terrorism without sacrificing our values. The New York Times
described the assault as a clash of civilizations, but was
corrected by Times columnist Anand Giridharadas, who tweeted
that it was Not & never a war of civilizations or between them.
But a war FOR civilization against groups on the other side of that
line. #CharlieHebdo.
The scene in Paris was described vividly in the New York
Times by veteran Europe correspondent Steven Erlanger: a day
of sirens, helicopters in the air, frantic news bulletins; of police
cordons and anxious crowds; of young children led away from
schools to safety. It was a day, like the previous two, of blood and
horror in and around Paris.
Erlanger also quoted a surviving journalist who said that
Everything crashed. There was no way out. There was smoke
everywhere. It was terrible. People were screaming. It was like a
nightmare. Another reported a huge detonation, and everything
went completely dark. The scene, Erlanger reported, was an
increasingly familiar one of smashed glass, broken walls, twisted
timbers, scorched paint and emotional devastation.
These last quotes, however -- as independent journalist David
Peterson reminds us -- are not from January 2015. Rather, they
are from a report by Erlanger on April 24 1999, which received far
less attention. Erlanger was reporting on the NATO missile attack
on Serbian state television headquarters that knocked Radio
Television Serbia off the air, killing 16 journalists.
NATO and American officials defended the attack, Erlanger
reported, as an effort to undermine the regime of President
Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth
Bacon told a briefing in Washington that Serb TV is as much a
part of Milosevics murder machine as his military is, hence a
legitimate target of attack.
There were no demonstrations or cries of outrage, no chants
of We are RTV, no inquiries into the roots of the attack in
Christian culture and history. On the contrary, the attack on the
press was lauded. The highly regarded U.S. diplomat Richard
Holbrooke, then envoy to Yugoslavia, described the successful
attack on RTV as an enormously important and, I think, positive
development, a sentiment echoed by others.
Also ignored in the war against terrorism is the most
extreme terrorist campaign of modern times -- Barack Obamas
global assassination campaign targeting people suspected of
perhaps intending to harm us some day, and any unfortunates
who happen to be nearby. Other unfortunates are also not lacking,
such as the 50 civilians reportedly killed in a U.S.-led bombing
raid in Syria in December, which was barely reported.
One person was indeed punished in connection with the NATO
attack on RTV -- Dragoljub Milanovi?, the general manager of the
station, who was sentenced by the European Court of Human
Rights to 10 years in prison for failing to evacuate the building,
according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The
International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia considered the NATO
attack, concluding that it was not a crime, and although civilian
casualties were unfortunately high, they do not appear to be
clearly disproportionate.

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the condemnation of the New York Times by civil rights lawyer

Floyd Abrams, famous for his forceful defense of freedom of
expression. There are times for self-restraint, Abrams wrote,
but in the immediate wake of the most threatening assault on
journalism in living memory, [the Times editors] would have
served the cause of free expression best by engaging in it by
publishing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons ridiculing Mohammed that
elicited the assault.
Abrams is right in describing the Charlie Hebdo attack as the
most threatening assault on journalism in living memory. The
reason has to do with the concept living memory, a category
carefully constructed to include Their crimes against us while
scrupulously excluding Our crimes against them -- the latter not
crimes but noble defense of the highest values, sometimes
inadvertently flawed.
This is not the place to inquire into just what was being
defended when RTV was attacked, but such an inquiry is quite
informative (see my A New Generation Draws the Line).
There are many other illustrations of the interesting category
living memory. One is provided by the Marine assault against
Fallujah in November 2004, one of the worst crimes of the U.S.UK invasion of Iraq.
The assault opened with occupation of Fallujah General
Hospital, a major war crime quite apart from how it was carried
out. The crime was reported prominently on the front page of the
New York Times, accompanied with a photograph depicting how
Patients and hospital employees were rushed out of rooms by
armed soldiers and ordered to sit or lie on the floor while troops
tied their hands behind their backs. The occupation of the
hospital was considered meritorious and justified: it shut down
what officers said was a propaganda weapon for the militants:
Fallujah General Hospital, with its stream of reports of civilian
casualties.
Evidently, this is no assault on free expression, and does not
qualify for entry into living memory.
There are other questions. One would naturally ask how

Muslim extremism is
the legitimate child
of Arab dictatorships
Dont you ever believe those who would tell you that
violent Islamists attacks on western targets, in the
West itself and abroad, are attributed to their fanatic
ideology or because they detest western freedoms and
lifestyles, says K HALID A MAYREH
Occupied Palestine: Today, tyrannical Arab
regimes are effectively presenting two
stark choices to tens of millions of disillusioned Arab youths from Bahrain to
Casablanca: Either they come to terms
with the repressive but triumphant policestate fascism, or join the ranks of IS, alQaeda or similar violent groups. This is
precisely the dilemma behind the outbreak
of Islamist violence in the Middle East in recent years.
Arab masses had hoped that the so-called Arab Spring would
bring about the long-awaited democratic transformation which
most Arabs had been longing for ever since the end of the direct
colonialist era in the 1940s and 1950s.
However, the free slaughter of revolutionary forces, as in the
Rabaa Square in Cairo and in Syria, as well as the ostensible proclivity of most western countries to revert to the old days of
embracing criminal Arab tyrants, convinced Arab youths of the
utter futility of counting on western democracy for effecting
reforms in the Arab region.
Many people in the Arab world simply became convinced
that the West, to which most dictatorial Arab regimes are more or
less answerable, would never ever allow the wrong forces,
however popular they may be, to reach power in Arab capitals.
Indeed, the shocking absence of any morally meaningful
reactions to the genocidal mayhem at Rabaa more than two years
ago, seemed to vindicate this view.
Even today, after thousands have lost their lives, thousands
tortured and abused, tens of thousands detained on concocted
charges, and hundreds sentenced to death by farcical courts, the
west is yet to decide how to act in this regard.
Indeed, thanks to the bloody coup against the democratically elected President Muhammed Mursi, most Arab youths have
lost every specter of faith in democracy. In fact, belief in brute
force has already replaced faith in democracy among most Arabs.
This does explain the fact that many more Arab youths have come
to admire violent organizations such as IS and Qaeda.
One can also dare speculate that thousands of young people
would swell the ranks of these violent groups if the gates of
peaceful reforms remained hermetically shut off in their faces as

France upholds freedom of expression and the sacred principles

of fraternity, freedom, solidarity. For example, is it through the
Gayssot Law, repeatedly implemented, which effectively grants
the state the right to determine Historical Truth and punish
deviation from its edicts? By expelling miserable descendants of
Holocaust survivors (Roma) to bitter persecution in Eastern
Europe? By the deplorable treatment of North African immigrants
in the banlieues of Paris where the Charlie Hebdo terrorists
became jihadis? When the courageous journal Charlie Hebdo fired
the cartoonist Sin on grounds that a comment of his was
deemed to have anti-Semitic connotations? Many more questions
quickly arise.
Anyone with eyes open will quickly notice other rather striking
omissions. Thus, prominent among those who face an
enormous challenge from brutal violence are Palestinians, once
again during Israels vicious assault on Gaza in the summer of
2014, in which many journalists were murdered, sometimes in
well-marked press cars, along with thousands of others, while the
Israeli-run outdoor prison was again reduced to rubble on pretexts
that collapse instantly on examination.
Also ignored was the assassination of three more journalists
in Latin America in December, bringing the number for the year to
31. There have been more than a dozen journalists killed in
Honduras alone since the military coup of 2009 that was
effectively recognized by the U.S. (but few others), probably
according post-coup Honduras the per capita championship for
murder of journalists. But again, not an assault on freedom of
press within living memory.
It is not difficult to elaborate. These few examples illustrate a
very general principle that is observed with impressive dedication
and consistency: The more we can blame some crimes on
enemies, the greater the outrage; the greater our responsibility for
crimes -- and hence the more we can do to end them -- the less
the concern, tending to oblivion or even denial.
Contrary to the eloquent pronouncements, it is not the case
that Terrorism is terrorism. Theres no two ways about it. There
definitely are two ways about it: theirs versus ours. And not just
terrorism.
There are many other events that call for no inquiry into
western culture and history -- for example, the worst single
terrorist atrocity in Europe in recent years, in July 2011, when
Anders Breivik, a Christian ultra-Zionist extremist and
Islamophobe, slaughtered 77 people, mostly teenagers. (CNN)
is the case in Egypt, where article 74 of the Sissi constitution outlaws any political party based on Islam. In other words, one has
to adopt a secular or atheistic ideology in order to qualify for political participation.
This draconian law really raises a lot of eyebrows, especially
in light of the fact that 96% of Egypts 90 million population adhere
to Islam. In other words, 96% of the people of Egypt are effectively barred from taking part in political life because of their religion.
Unfortunately, western circles have paid little attention to this
issue.
As a long-time observer of radical Islamist groups I am thoroughly convinced that the exacerbation of dictatorship in most
Arab states is the most premier reason for the so-called Islamist
terror in the West.
That is why any genuine treatment of Islamist violence, especially in the West, must necessarily include a pro-active, preferably collective, European stance against Arab tyrants who deny
their masses basic human rights and civil liberties.
Dont you ever believe those who would tell you that violent
Islamists attacks on western targets, in the West itself and abroad,
are attributed to their fanatic ideology or because they detest
western freedoms and lifestyles.
I do sincerely believe that the West would cut the occurrences
of acts of terror by violent Islamists by 90% if it stopped its wanton support for criminal anti-Islamic regimes in the Arab world.
These criminal regimes simply push these misguided young men
to desperation and violence.
Israel is factor
Yes, Israel is a factor in generating anti-western sentiments in the
Arab-Islamic world. However, the deepening of official Arab tyranny, which failed and continue to fail Arab masses in every conceivable sphere, is by far the main factor behind the desperation
and frustration now overwhelming millions of Arab youths.
These youths are watching Israel murder Palestinian children
by the hundreds and escape with impunity. They also watch the
Nazi-like entity decapitate any remaining chances for establishing
a viable Palestinian state by expanding Jewish settlements in
every part and corner of the West Bank.
This occurs as Arab regimes continue to display utter impotence vis--vis Israeli insolence and arrogance of power, while
unrelentingly tormenting and decimating their own people for crying out for liberty.
Arab youths also watch the security apparatuses in their
respective countries brutally swoop on any expression of freedom
and democracy while western capitals keep repeating the same
stale platitudes, which we heard ad nauseam for many decades.
A last word, I sincerely believe the security measures being
taken by some western governments will eventually be proven
inadequate. In the final analysis, security in Paris and London and
elsewhere in the West is increasingly affected by the status of
human rights and civil liberties in certain Arab capitals.
Khalid Amayreh is a Palestinian journalist
living in occupied Palestine

INTERNATIONAL

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

17

Palestines accession to ICC worries Israel

law.

RANJAN SOLOMON
Israel did not seriously expect that Palestine would move at the
speed it did to obtain ICC membership status. It has caused grave
worries for Israeli politicians who fear they could be held anywhere
to be investigated.
None of them have forgotten how Pinochet was held in the UK
a decade or so ago for his crimes against the Chilean people during
his barbaric dictatorship. Nor have they erased from their minds how
the then Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni avoided the possibility of
prosecution in a British court for war crimes in 2011. She was
granted immunity by the UK because the Foreign Office declared that
she enjoys temporary diplomatic immunity. It was a mere touch and
go then because the director of public prosecutions was actively
entertaining a private application for a warrant to arrest the former
foreign minister during her visit to London. The decision to grant her
impunity infuriated Palestinian activists and human rights groups.
Livni's arrest was being sought. Earlier in 2009, an arrest warrant
had been issued for Livni on the grounds she had been a member
of the Israeli war cabinet that sanctioned the assault on Gaza in
which more than a thousand Palestinians were killed. At that juncture
she put off her visit.
The private prosecution application had been made on behalf of
an unnamed Palestinian police officer whose brother, also a police
officer, was killed during the first day of the attack on Gaza in 2008.
When the Livni episode gained notoriety in the international media,
the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights had said: "The government
has abused the law in order to ensure that Ms Livni escapes
accountability. Ms Livni is not a member of the Israeli government,
but the leader of the opposition. This action exhibits a serious and
worrying disregard for the rule of law, and appears to be in violation
of the UK's international obligations."
Even though the then Foreign Secretary, William Hague claimed
that "The UK will continue to honour our international obligations and
make sure that people who have committed some of the most awful
crimes - wherever in the world they took place - can be brought to
justice in our courts," they reneged on that promise and, instead,
offered impunity!
With Palestine's accession to the ICC, things have changed and
the mood in Israel is palpable. Israel is only too aware that they have
violated far too many laws and stand guilty of war crimes.
Statements from senior cabinet Ministers are desperately angry.
They won't allow their soldiers to be tried, they have sworn. They
know that the hype they create is not any substitute for the rule of

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has welcomes the

beginning of a first round assessment of the situation in Palestine by
the Prosecutor. Palestinians deem this an essential and constructive
step towards achieving justice and ensuring respect for international
law.
The State of Palestine acceded to the Rome Statute to guarantee
that serious crimes, notably war crimes and crimes against
humanity do not go unpunished. They argue that that the principle of
accountability is one of the cornerstones of justice, whose
achievement is indispensable to the cause of peace.
In the last few years alone, thousands, mostly civilians have
been killed. In the most recent aggression in Gaza, over 2000 were
killed and hundreds of thousands were severely displaced. The
international community has pledged generous reconstruction funds
but few have delivered. It has left Gaza's population vulnerable and
severely disadvantaged. In the current situation, ice-cold conditions
are causing deaths because of insufficient protection especially to
the elderly and children. Those who promised and failed to deliver
humanitarian assistance must also be seen complicit in the crime of
protecting the weak and oppressed.
The crimes against humanity in Palestinian territories go beyond
and even before the Gaza war. The Gaza war is the most obvious and
arrogant act of violence and the atrocities stemming there from are
there for everyone to see. Serious violations of international law
amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity also emanate
from constant settlement expansion all the way through the
occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. The
Palestinian hope is that in joining the ICC, they will finally be able to
book the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. It is the Palestinian
way to pay tribute to those who were killed and whose lives were
decimated. At the same time they view the ICC as a serious deterrent
to Israeli obduracy and, thus, are able to shield other Palestinians
from becoming victims in the future.
Xavier Abu Eid, a communications Advisor to the PLO's
Negotiations Affairs Department states: "The impunity enjoyed by
Israel, the Occupying power, has allowed it to persevere in its
systematic and blatant breach of international law as well as
violations of Palestinian
rights. Ending this
impunity is an important
contribution
to
upholding
universal
values,
ensuring

Halal Food Authority

The Symbol of Halal Authenticity

Free speech for Western apologists only

"Forty-eight hours after hosting a massive
march under the banner of free expression,
France opened a criminal investigation of a
controversial French comedian for a
Facebook post he wrote about the Charlie
Hebdo attack, and then this morning, arrested him for that post on charges of "defending terrorism." The comedian, Dieudonn,
previously sought elective office in France on
what he called an "anti-Zionist" platform, has
had his show banned by numerous government officials in cities throughout France,
and has been criminally prosecuted several
times before for expressing ideas banned in
that country.
Since that glorious "free speech" march,
France has reportedly opened 54 criminal
cases for "condoning terrorism." AP reported this morning that "France ordered prosecutors around the country to crack down on
hate speech, anti-Semitism and glorifying

accountability, and achieving peace. In this regard, States also have

a standing legal and moral obligation to respect and ensure respect
for international law, and need to act to ensure an end to Israeli
violations of international law, and an end to the Israeli occupation.
The Palestinian Authority has pledged its own total support to the
proceedings of the International Criminal Court to serve the cause of
justice and the law as well as the dignity of all members of the
human family.
At the level of civil society, the Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR), a US based organization dedicated to advancing and
protecting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social
change declared : "With the move to grant the ICC jurisdiction over
war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine, a
new door is open to hold Israeli officials accountable for the serious
violations committed against Palestinians. This is one avenue the
United States cannot block. U.S. and Israeli efforts to keep Palestine
from accepting both the protections and responsibilities of the ICC a court neither country will join - have failed. We hope this marks the
end of the era of Israeli impunity and U.S. complicity." There has
been a prolonged campaign involving human rights organizations in
Palestine who have worked non-violently and within the confines of
international law for justice.
Still, Israel and the USA responded predictably. Israel froze
$127.6 million in tax revenues it collects on behalf of the
Palestinians, and vowed more punitive actions. The US State
Department called the Palestinian move to join the ICC
"counterproductive." The hawks in Congress and the Senate want a
bill to stop US aid to the Palestinian Authority until the Palestinians
withdraw their ICC bid
Pax Christi USA has countered this move and is campaigning
for US support to such non-violent means of pursuing justice rather
than punish the Palestinians for moves to sign treaties and
conventions. Indeed, the entire community should salute the
Palestinians for their exceptional restraint despite grave provocations
and callous killing and destruction sprees by Israel.
This article first appeared in The Citizen, India's first
independent online daily.

terrorism."
As pernicious as this arrest and related
"crackdown" on some speech obviously is, it
provides a critical value: namely, it underscores the utter scam that was this week's
celebration of free speech in the west. The
day before the Charlie Hebdo attack, I coincidentally documented the multiple cases in
the west - including in the U.S. - where
Muslims have been prosecuted and even
imprisoned for their political speech.
Vanishingly few of this week's bold free
expression mavens have ever uttered a peep
of protest about any of those cases - either
before the Charlie Hebdo attack or since.
That's because "free speech," in the hands of
many westerners, actually means: it is vital
that the ideas I like be protected, and the
right to offend groups I dislike be cherished;
anything else is fair game." (Gleen Greenwald,

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CONSTRUCTION OF HOMES FOR

MUZAFFARNAGAR
RIOT VICTIMS BY CHARITY ALLIANCE

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Work in progress, picture dated 21st January 2015

We appeal to to you to come forward to make this project possible. We plan to build some 60 self-contained small houses but
CHARITY ALLIANCE, with the active support of MG and like-minded people, is helping the victims of starvation in Murshidabad since
our funds after buying the land scarcely suffice for 20 houses.
April 2005. More tasks are being undertaken in some of the most deserving areas and most backward sections of our community. This
Each house costs around 2 lakh rupees
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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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current President of All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat and Chairman, Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd.

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18

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

INTERNATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

Bring the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh home

According to Refugees International Organization,
Bangladesh is home to thousands of Urdu speaking
minorities who during the countrys civil war with
Pakistan took the side of Pakistan, losing their homes,
jobs and positions in society and were forced eventually
to take up residence in more than 100 overcrowded and
now dilapidated urban camp settlements. Many of the
Urdu speaking minority hoped to be permitted to move to
Pakistan, but only a small percentage were admitted;
some continue to cling to the hope that Pakistan will
relent and admit them to reunite with their families in
Pakistan.
For almost 43 years, the camp residents remain
stateless, non citizens of Bangladesh or Pakistan. They
were denied access to government services, including
education, formal employment, property ownership, and
drivers licenses.

ABDUS SATTAR GHAZALI

The government of Nawaz Sharif is again under pressure to
bring home the stranded Pakistanis living in miserable condition
in refugee camps in Bangladesh. The Supreme Court of Pakistan
on Tuesday asked the government to submit a reply by February
18 regarding the repatriation of 300,000 Pakistanis stranded in
some 70 camps in Bangladesh.
For 43 years, two or three generations of these unfortunate
individuals (often callously referred to as Biharis) have been living
a life of misery, malnutrition and in appalling unhygienic conditions. They are waiting for some caring and conscientious government to help them come over to Pakistan. In the past, just about
every head of government made a promise to bring them to
Pakistan but never came good on it.
In 2009 a petition was filed by Advocate Rashid-ul-Haq Qazi
as a representative of the Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation
Committee and the Organization for Repatriation of Stranded
Pakistanis in Bangladesh. The Supreme Court, after five years in
May 2014, admitted the petition for hearing, however, the attitude
of the government is to postpone the humanitarian issue, as the
Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Salman Aslam Butt, sought
more time from the court to file a reply claiming that he was
unaware of the court notice issued in this regard.
On Tuesday, Rashidul Haq Qazi, counsel for the SPGRC submitted that approximately 160,000 stranded Pakistanis were repatriated to Pakistan in term of Tripartite Dehli Agreement, signed
between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh but later on Pakistan has
not fulfilled 25 percent of the terms of agreement and repatriation
was stopped unilaterally in 1974 by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto regime.
He contended that last time on January 10, 1993 a group of
325 stranded Pakistanis were repatriated and rehabilitated in
province of the Punjab. He further informed the court that stranded Pakistanis in the Bangladesh had declined to accept the nationality of India and Bangladesh due to their patriotic approach to
Pakistan.
Who are stranded Pakistanis?
Stranded Pakistanis, also known as Biharis, stood for a united
Pakistan and refused to integrate into the new country. Hence,
Bengalis, the original residents of Bangladesh, were not ready to
forgive them because of their opposition to the creation of the
new state.
According to Refugees International Organization, Bangladesh
is home to thousands of Urdu speaking minorities who during the
countrys civil war with Pakistan took the side of Pakistan, losing
their homes, jobs and positions in society and were forced eventually to take up residence in more than 100 overcrowded and
now dilapidated urban camp settlements. Many of the Urdu speaking minority hoped to be permitted to move to Pakistan, but only

a small percentage were admitted; some continue to cling to the

hope that Pakistan will relent and admit them to reunite with their
families in Pakistan.
For almost 43 years, the camp residents remain stateless,
non citizens of Bangladesh or Pakistan. They were denied access
to government services, including education, formal employment,
property ownership, and drivers licenses.
In 2008, a Bangladesh Supreme Court decision recognized
their nationality rights. A large percentage of the adults were registered to vote in the 2009 election. Despite being registered as
voters and recognized as citizens, many Urdu speakers still were
unable to obtain government jobs, access credit, get passports or
obtain compensation for their property confiscated during the war.
Ironically neither the United Nations nor the International Red
Cross and Crescent Society recognize them as refugees. They
have been denied refugee status because they are not considered
displaced people. The Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has not addressed the
plight of the Biharis.
Subhuman living conditions
The camps where these stranded people are staying for almost
four decades are the classic examples of subhuman living that
has hardly any difference with animal life. Dingy and stinky
atmosphere, merger of both water and sewerage lines, lack of
latrines and clean water are constant threats to health.
Malnutrition of children in absence of proper food and medicine threatens their usual physical growth on one hand and
absence of education turns them into dark generation on the other.
Illiteracy rate is 94%.
Each family has been given one room -- 6 feet by 6 feet. But
who wants to know that these families have grown in size over the

years. Sometimes, 10 people live in one room, spanning three

generations.
Wars and conflicts have displaced millions of people around
the world, but those who flee such conflicts normally receive
international attention and extensive media coverage. Internecine
fighting among Afghan groups or conflicts in the Horn of Africa
have drawn world reaction with aid agencies and UNHCR scrambling to help them. In the case of the stranded Pakistanis, if anybody knows, nobody has bothered to help alleviate their sufferings.
In due course most of the people of Pakistan also forgot about
these stranded Pakistanis who were being projected as patriots
during the 1971 war and its immediate aftermath. These patriots
of 1971 are now considered as pariahs by Pakistan that has
stopped owning them as it fears that, on migration, they would
settle in Sindh province and join the ethnic political ranks of
Mohajirs (the Urdu speaking people who migrated from India to
Pakistan after independence in 1947.) The stranded Pakistanis or
Biharis are trapped between the conflicting histories and ideologies of the South Asian sub-continent.
The Stateless People in Bangladesh website has launched a
petition that calls on the Bangladesh Government to grant citizenship to all stateless persons and their families in the internment
camps who want to become citizens of Bangladesh.
The petition also urged the Government of Pakistan to resolve
this issue in accordance with national laws and the international
conventions. Pakistan must permit return of all Stateless People
(Stranded Pakistanis) and their families from the internment
camps in Bangladesh.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali, the author of Islamic Pakistan: Illusions &
Reality, is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali@gmail.com

How Western Policy Assists The Transformation Of Anti-Israelism Into Anti-Semitism

ALAN HART
Britains Home Secretary Theresa May has
declared that We must all redouble our efforts
to wipe out anti-Semitism here in the United
Kingdom. In her view and that of her government colleagues this means more must be done
to combat violent Islamic fundamentalism in all
of its manifestations. The problem with this way
of thinking and policy making, which all Western
governments have in common, is that it ignores
the fact that the prime cause of the transformation of anti-Israelism into anti-Semitism is
Israels defiance of international law and brutal
rejection of the Palestinian claim for justice .
A warning that anti-Israelism could and
most likely would be transformed into antiSemitism was sounded more than a quarter of a
century ago by Yehoshafat Harkabi, a former

Director of Israeli Military Intelligence. In his

book Israels Fateful, published in English by
Harper and Row in 1986, he wrote this:
Israel is the criterion according to which all
Jews will tend to be judged. Israel as a Jewish
state is an example of the Jewish character,
which finds free and concentrated expression
within it. Anti-Semitism has deep and historical
roots. Nevertheless, any flaw in Israeli conduct,
which initially is cited as anti-Israelism, is likely
to be transformed into empirical proof of the
validity of anti-Semitism. It would be a tragic
irony if the Jewish state, which was intended to
solve the problem of anti-Semitism, was to
become a factor in the rise of anti-Semitism.
Israelis must be aware that the price of their misconduct is paid not only by them but also Jews
throughout the world.
The Israeli misconduct of Harkabis warning can be seen today for what it is - on-going

Memorial brings recognition

to Irans Jewish martyrs

Tehran: It seems incongruous in Iran, where politicians chant

Death to Israel and the Israeli flag is often burned, but a new
memorial in Tehran is bringing recognition to the countrys
Jewish martyrs.
The memorial has been raised in the three-hectare (eightacre) Jewish cemetery in south Tehran - a striking reminder of a
minority faith whose more than 1,000-year heritage in Iran dwarfs
the comparably short 35 years of the Islamic republic.

colonization of the occupied West Bank which

includes the theft of more and more Palestinian
land and water and the demolition of more and
more Palestinian homes and olive trees; plus the
on-going process of making life hell for the
Palestinians of the besieged Gaza Strip.
It is this misconduct that has provoked
and propelled the rising, global tide of antiIsraelism which is now showing early signs of
being transformed into anti-Semitism.
The conclusion invited, in my view an
irrefutable conclusion, is that by their refusal to
call and hold Israel to account for its defiance of
international law. all the governments of the
Western world are assisting the transformation
of anti-Israelism into anti-Semitism.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has every reason
to be grateful for this assistance because he
knows better than anybody else that Zionism
needs anti-Semitism to justify Israels policies

For leaders of Irans small Jewish community, the memorial is

a welcome sign of openness from authorities despite continued
concerns over discrimination.
When someone looks at this monument, they will think about
the sacrifices that were made by these martyrs, said the head of
Tehrans Jewish community, Homayoun Sameyah Najaf Abadi.
The names of 10 people have been etched in stone in the
memorial, erected in December at the cemetery where thousands
of Jews are buried.
Five of them died fighting in the 1980-88 war against Iraq,
three were killed by Saddam Husseins bombing of Tehran during
the war and the other two died in the tumultuous early days of the
1979 revolution that ended the rule of the Iranian shah.
The conflict against Iraq is enshrined in the memory of
Iranians, with hundreds of murals in Tehran to the 230,000 martyrs, or shohada, who were killed in the conflict.
Construction of the Jewish monument and the restoration of
the 10 tombs of the dead was funded by a foundation that helps
families of soldiers killed or wounded in the Iran-Iraq war.
Iran had between 80,000 and 100,000 Jews before the revolution but most have since fled, mainly to the United States, Israel
and Europe.
There are now only about 8,500, mostly in Tehran but also in

and actions.
Note
Harkabis warning was, in fact, an echo of fears
expressed by very many Jews of the world
before the Nazi holocaust. Prior to it most Jews,
American and British Jews in particular, were
opposed to Zionisms colonial enterprise. They
knew it was morally wrong. They believed it
would lead to unending conflict. But most of all
they feared that if Zionism was allowed by the
major powers to have its way it would one day
provoke anti-Semitism.
It was the Nazi holocaust that caused most
Jews to throw away their moral compass.
Alan Hart is a former ITN and BBC Panorama
foreign correspondent. He is author of Zionism: The
Real Enemy of the Jews. He blogs at
http://www.alanhart.net and tweets via
http://twitter.com/alanauthor

Isfahan and Shiraz, major cities south of the capital.

With one designated member of parliament, Irans Jewish
community is one of three officially recognized religious minorities. Armenian Christians have two designated MPs, while
Assyrian-Chaldeans and Zoroastrians have one each.
Still, many Iranian Jews complain they are not treated equally
under the law, said Sameyah, a doctor at Tehrans Jewish
Hospital. Key positions in government are off-limits and there is
some legal discrimination.
If a Jewish woman married to a Muslim dies, for example, her
estate automatically goes to her husbands family instead of being
divided amongst her relatives. Sameyah said there have been
cases of those who murder Jews being sentenced to 10 to 18
years but then released after three, while most killers in Iran face
the death penalty.
He said he had attended court cases against the killers of two
members of the Jewish community in recent years and saw no
regret in the eyes of those who committed the crime.
They were aware that in the end they will be freed. I find this
dangerous for our community.
But remarkably the regular tirades of Iranian officials against
Israel -- the sworn enemy of the Islamic republic - do not seem to


bother the Jewish community.

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ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES

Stoop to Conquer: 10 ways of honouring servants

SADAF FAROOQI
Muslims in Eastern countries employ domestic
staff as a norm. For some, domestic helpers are
a priceless resource who significantly ease our
day-to-day chores. Conversely, for others, they
can be a source of distress and chagrin. Many
women complain to each other about the troubles they face from the incompetence, treachery,
and intentional misdemeanor of their servants.
However, we need to remind ourselves that it is
in managing our helpers according to Islamic
injunctions where the secret lies to get the best
out of them.
1.Think of their pay as Sadaqah
We need to change the way we view our servants wages. By considering it an expense,
we tend to extract full value of the money. For
instance, even if a maid is sick, her employer
might say, I pay her to work, so she must
work. But if we consider the salary a Sadaqah
that helps fill their bellies, we will Insha Allah be
more tolerant of their shortcomings as human
beings.
2. Counsel them when they need it
You might notice that your domestic helpers are
disturbed on some days. They are human beings
who have problems and worries just like us. Ask
them what is troubling them; then advise them to
have patience and hope in Allahs mercy. Keep
the counsel short, but show them that you care.
3. Forgive and forget their mistakes
Just like other human relationships, it is not

pleasant to have your past mistakes and wrongs

thrown in your face repeatedly. Forgive them for
the sake of Allah if they wrong you, and do not
be harsh when scolding them.
4. Do not accuse them of stealing, cheating or
lying on mere suspicion
Many employers are guilty of this unfair action as soon as something in the house is missing
due to their own absentmindedness, the domestic helper is squarely accused of theft or negligence. Allah tells us: O you who believe! Avoid
suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion
in some cases is a sin. (Quran, 49:12). Ask
them normally if they have seen the missing
object, but do not accuse them of theft or misplacement. In most cases, the object is eventually found after the maid has been fired, causing
guilt and embarrassment to the employer for life.
5. Informally teach them Islamic manners and
knowledge
One of the rights of our domestic helpers upon
us is that they be taught about Islam, or imparted its message if they are non-Muslims. Without
being overtly preachy, give them small doses
of the truth. The best way is to act upon Islam
yourself. This will eventually make them love and
respect you for the sake of Allah - which results
in a sincere relationship devoid of mistrust and
treachery.
6. Eat with them occasionally without separating utensils
Domestic helpers are not animals. Some people

Good Character
IMAM AL-BAYHAQI
Good Character includes suppressing ones
anger, and being gentle and humble. Allah Most
Exalted has told the Prophet: Surely, you are of
tremendous character (The Holy Quran: 68/4).
Allah also said, Those who suppress their
anger, and forgive other people - assuredly,
Allah loves those who do good. (Quran:
3/134)
Bukhari and Muslim relate that Abdullah Ibn
Amr (May Allah be pleased with him) said, The
Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him) was
never immoderate or obscene. He used to say,
Among those who are most beloved to me are
those who have the finest character.
They also narrate that Hazrat Aisha (May
Allah be pleased with her) said, Never was the
Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him) given
the choice between two things but he chose the
easier of them, as long as it entailed no sin. If it
did entail sin, he was of all people the most
remote from it. Never did he seek revenge for

something done against himself. But when the

sanctity of Allah was challenged, he would take
vengeance for His sake alone.
The meaning of good character is the
inclination of the soul towards gentle and
praiseworthy acts. This may take place in
ones personal actions for Allah Most High, or
in actions which involve other people. In the
former case, the slave of Allah has an open
and welcoming heart for His commandments
and prohibitions, and does what He has
imposed on him happily and effortlessly, and
abstains from the things which He has forbidden him with full contentment, and without
the least dissatisfaction.
A servant of Allah loves to perform optional
good acts, and abstains from many permitted
things for the sake of Allah Most Exalted whenever he decides that to abstain in that way would
be closer to perfect slavehood to Him. This he
does with a contented heart, and without feeling
any resentment or hardship.
When he deals with other people, he is tol-

Scolding them in public, pointing out their faults

before others, and allowing your children to
mock at them or hit them or treat them disrespectfully are totally unacceptable behaviour.
Treat them with honour and dignity.

treat them as if they are unhygienic beings coming from another planet. Allow them to use the
utensils from which you and your family eat. If
they have dirty habits, teach them hygiene. But
do not separate their utensils as if they are
untouchables. This will make them feel insulted.
They will never return an insult with loyalty or
obedience. Abu Bakr ibn Hafs said: Abdullah ibn
Umar would never eat food except in the company of an orphan.

10. You are not superior

It is We Who portion out between them their
livelihood in the life of this world: and We raise
some of them above others in ranks, so that
some may command work from others.
(Quran, 43:32). It is one of Allahs laws of the
universe that some people possess higher
worldly ranks than others, so that they employ
the services of the latter in return for wages. But
this doesnt mean a wealthy person is superior
to a poor person. This doesnt mean you are better than your servant. Islam has mandated lofty
treatment with slaves. But we dont show that
even to servants who are mere employees, and
not slaves.
Allahs Messenger (peace be upon him) said
to Abu Dharr regarding his treatment of his
slave: They are your brothers and servants
whom Allah has placed under your authority.
Anyone who has his brother under his authority
let him feed him the same food as he eats and
dress him in the same clothes as he wears. Do
not overwhelm them with work and if you give
them work to do then help them with it. (Al
Bukhari and Muslim)
Our servants are not our slaves. But is our
treatment as good as what the Prophet (peace
be upon him) commanded us with regard to
slaves during his time?


7. Give them gifts

Reward their work - whatever it is like - with
occasional bonuses in the form of clothing,
shoes or other items that you are yourself using.
Do not cast off broken, torn or damaged goods
to them unless they agree to take them. This is
part of the Islamic etiquette taught by Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him): None of you
truly believes until he loves for his brother what
he loves for himself. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
8. Ease work when they are sick
Allow your helpers to go home early by reducing
their chores when they are not feeling well. Help
them if they need money for medicines or medical treatment. Considerations such as this, without reminding them of these favours later, are a
good way to establish a relationship based on
mutual trust and care.
9. They are not robots
Domestic helpers are human beings with feelings and self-esteem. Any treatment that you
would dislike for yourself would hurt them too.
erant when claiming what is his right, and does
not ask for anything which is not; but he discharges all the duties which he has towards others.
When a servant of Allah falls ill or returns
from a voyage, and no one visits him, or when
he gives a greeting which is not returned, or
when he is a guest but is not honoured, or intercedes but is not responded to, or does a good
turn for which he is not thanked, or joins a group
of people who do not make room for him to sit,
or speaks and is not listened to, or asks permission of a friend to enter the latters house, and is
not granted it, or proposes to a woman and is
not allowed to marry her, or asks for more time
to repay a debt but is not given respite, or asks
for it to be reduced but is not obliged. In all similar cases, he does not go angry or seek to punish people or feel within himself that he has been
snubbed or ignored; neither does he try to retaliate with the same treatment when able to do so.
Instead he tells himself that he does not mind
any of these things, and responds to each one
of them with something which is better, and
closer to goodness and piety, and is more
praiseworthy and pleasing.
He remembers to carry out his duties to

others just as he remembers their duties

towards himself, so that when one of his Muslim
brethren falls ill he visits him, if he is asked to
intercede, he does so, if he is asked for a respite
in repaying a debt he agrees, and if someone
needs assistance he offers it, and if someone
asks for favourable terms in a sale, he consents,
all without looking to see how the other person
had dealt with him in the past, and to find out
how other people behave. Instead, he makes
what is better the g uide of his soul, and obeys
it completely.
Good character may be something which a
man is born with, or it may be acquired.
However, it may only be acquired from someone
who has it more firmly rooted in his nature than
his own. It is well known that a man of sensible
opinion can become even more sensible by
keeping the company of intelligent and sensible
people, and that a learned or a righteous man
can learn even more by sitting with people of
learning or righteousness; therefore it cannot be
denied that a man of beautiful character may
acquire an even more beautiful character by
being with people whose characters are superior to his own. And Allah alone gives success!
(Sent by Adam Mohamed Sait;
dammamarabia@gmail.com)

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BOOKS

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Life and Contribution of Shibli Nomani

Book: Muhammad Shibli Nomani- Life and Contribution
Author: Javed Ali Khan
Publisher: Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy, Azamgarh-270001
Year: 2014
Pages: 250
Price: Rs. 230
This book is one of the works published by Darul Musannefin
Shibli Academy, Azamgarh, on the occasion of the Shibli
Centenary Celebrations. It was released in the Shibli Centenary
International Seminar held during 29-30 Nov.-1 Dec. 2014.
The book is authored by Dr. Javed Ali Khan, who is an associate professor of History in Azamgarhs Shibli National P.G.
College. It contains a detailed account of life and works of Allama
Shibli Nomani, the renowned Islamic scholar, eminent thinker,
famous Sirah chronicler and historian who was for long an associate of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. The work is important as the first
detailed study on Allama Shibli in English.

Divided into eight chapters, the book discusses the life and times

of Allama Shibli, his contributions as a Sirah chronicler, historian, poet,

educationist,
reformer, promoter of Islamic
learning and oriental languages.
The work evaluates the role of
Allama Shibli in Indian politics
and the contribution of Darul
Musannefin Shibli Academy to
the Freedom Movement.
Besides, Shiblis academic
achievements in the MAO
College (Aligarh) and Nadwatul
Ulama (Lucknow) have also
been discussed. The author has
also included useful information
about the early history of the
Darul Musannefin Shibli
Academy which was a dream of

Shibli and could take shape only after his untimely death. Before his
death, he had laid down a plan for the academy and had also
endowed enough land for the purpose.
While highlighting the academic contributions of Allama
Shibli, the author has emphasised that he left behind a rich legacy for the coming generations, particularly in the field of biographical and historical writings.
A product of Madrasa education, with his thoughts tempered
by the environment of MAO College and his extensive travels in
the Middle and Near East, he pioneered reforms in traditional
Muslim education whose living example is Nadwatul Ulama of
Lucknow, Madrasatul Islah of Saraimir and Madrasa Aaliya of
Kolkata. Moreover, the princely states of Bhopal and Hyderabad
benefited much from his educational thoughts and schemes.
Allama Shiblis educational vision culminated in the foundation of Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy at Azamgarh in 1914.
This book is a tribute to the great scholar and calls upon readers
to understand his mission in life and efforts for Muslim awakening and the countrys freedom.

national movement emerged: Ihud

(Union), which was led by Judah
Magnes and Martin Buber. Both
supported the idea of a Union between
the Jewish and the Arab peoples for the
upbuilding of Palestine and for cooperation
between the Jewish world and the Arab world in
all branches of life. They called for a
Government in Palestine based upon equal
political rights for the two peoples.
Whereas Brit Shalom and Ihud expressed
Arab concerns about the increased immigration,
the socialist organization Hashomer Hatzair,
however, underlined the benefits for the Arab
population through increased mechanization of
agriculture. These political tranquilizers issued
by the leftist Zionists could not dispel the
concerns of the Arab population, because they
realized that colonization was to their
disadvantage. This suspicion was further fueled
by the Zionist slogans of the redemption of the
land and the conquest of labor.
Increasingly, the Arab population revolted
against Zionist encroachment. Even then, the
resistance was decried as terrorism by the
Zionists. The political development amounted to a
division of the country. Reasonable and dissident
calls for a bi-national solution lacked widespread
support and consequently fell into demise.
Along the liberal-humanist critique of
mainstream Zionism emerged a left-wing current
that elevated universal socialist principles above
nationalism. In chapter two, the author cites from a
text by Russian revolutionary Ilia Rubanovich, who
formulated three axioms that inform left-wing
opposition to Zionism till this day. First, that Zionism
would trample over the rights of indigenous Arabs,
secondly, that it would force the settlers into an
alliance with imperialist forces and thirdly, that it
would segregate Jews from the masses in their
own countries and thus prevent working-class
unity. According to Greenstein, these three topics
can be discerned throughout the history of the antiZionist Left narrative.
Chapter two focuses on the pre-1948
Palestinian Communist Party. This chapter shows
how national identities and loyalties mattered more
than an internationalist attitude. Yeshuvism and
Arabization were the new guiding principles in the
struggle for independence. An aggravating factor
was that the Communist Party was a member in
the Komintern (an international alliance of
communist parties), whose twists and turns they
had to follow. International solidarity was nipped in
the bud by nationalism.
Palestine saw a fierce clash of two national
movements. While Jews in Europe experienced

Discontents of Zionism
Book: Zionism and
its Discontents. A
Century of Radical
Dissent in
Israel/Palestine
Author: Ran
Greenstein
Publisher: Pluto
Press, London
Year and pages:
2014, 248 pp.

LUDWIG WATZAL
Nationalist narratives and political movements
have dominated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
for a long time. They all ended up in a dead end.
This insight has led Ran Greenstein, Associate
Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, South Africa, not to look at
history in retrospect, knowing the outcome, but
rather from a contemporaneous perspective of
the actors. None of the anti-Zionist actors,
discussed in the book, achieved their goals, but
they all made valuable contributions, which can
serve as a starting point for new actions.
Four Jewish political movements that have
challenged Zionism are examined. These include
the bi-nationalist movement of the British
Mandate period; the Palestinian Communist
Party of the same period; the Palestinian
National Movement in its various permutations,
beginning with the Mandate period and
continuing to the present; and the anti-Zionist
Matzpen group from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Why does Greenstein specifically focus on these
four movements? All of them stood up to Zionist
dominance and the colonial settlement project
before and after 1948.
According to the author, Zionist activists and
scholars may find it strange to see their political
movement and claims reflected from the
perspective of their critics and opponents. With
this approach, the author avoids writing history
from the perspective of the victors.
In his first chapter, Greenstein focuses on the
liberal-humanist critique expressed early on by
Asher Ginsburg, better known by his pen name
Ahad Haam, and Yitzhak Epstein, who both
entertained reservations about Jewish settlements
in Palestine. Especially Ahad Haam lambasted the
prejudice according to which the Arabs were
merely savages and the country was

uninhabited. Epsteins critique focused more on the

political implications of the settlements. His
concern was with land acquisition. Although the
early Zionist settlers bought the land legally from
large landlords, the former Arab tenants were
evicted, violating the custom that the tenants
remained on the land when it changed hands. Ahad
Haams message was: The bride is already
married to another man.
Neither Ahad Haam nor Yitshak Epstein
focused on political nationalism but rather on
local Arab nationalism and dispossession.
Another less well-known group of Mizrahi and
Sephardi activists advocated a more assimilative
approach towards the Arabs. Shimon Moyal and
Nissim Malul preferred a more inclusive Zionism
better attuned to local conditions in Palestine. They
asked for co-existence of two peoples in the land of
Palestine. According to Greenstein, it was a more
peaceful and realistic approach than the dominant
trend of exclusive Zionism. The key concept of Brit
Shalom was that of political parity. Jews and Arabs
should share state power equally, regardless of
their proportion in the population. But the ideas of
Simon, Scholem and others could not prevail
against the forces within the Zionist movement that
sided with the declining British imperial power.
Despite its progressive pretentions, Zionism
turned its back on the forces of tomorrow, the
oppressed people of the region, writes Greenstein.
In the mid 1930s, Brit Shalom was no longer
on the scene. Kedma Mizraha (Forward to the
East) filled the gap. This non-partisan
organization was not so outspoken on political
issues as Brit Shalom and was smoother to
handle by the different Zionist branches.
According to the author, Kedma Mizraha was
an apolitical version of the early Brit Shalom. Brit
Shalom pushed its own political agenda opposed
to the core ideas of political Zionism, which were:
Palestine as the site for the solution of the Jewish
problem, working for a Jewish majority in the
country, and calling for a Jewish state as the
ultimate goal of the movement. Kedima Mizraha
supported, however, the Zionist leadership,
especially that of the Jewish Agency, whose boss
was David Ben-Gurion.
In the early 1940s, the Zionist movement
revealed in the Biltmore program its real
purpose: the establishment of a Jewish state.
Before 1942 it was camouflaged by the
euphemism of a national home for the Jewish
people. Amidst these conditions, a new bi-

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a deadly assault on their livelihoods and their

abilities to survive, Arabs were seeking
independence after centuries of foreign rule, the
British were facing challenges to their empire,
and the struggle between liberal democracy,
fascism and Soviet-style communism was
waged in Europe with unknown intensity.
Chapter three deals with Palestinian
nationalism and its anti-colonial struggle.
Greenstein links it to three historical events,
namely the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the UN
partition resolution of November 29, 1947 and
the start of the Six-Day War of June 5, 1967.
According to the author, these events did not
create new realities from scratch but rather
reinforced pre-existing developments or opened up
new historical possibilities: In particular they
helped give rise to new patterns of settlement and
resistance, and thus reshaped relations between
the main protagonists of the evolving conflict.
Thus, its not surprising that the Palestinian
movement emerged as a nationalist project to
gain recognition and independence for a specific
group identified in ethnic and national terms.
After the communist parties Maki and Rakah
had become entangled in nationalism, it was about
time for a new movement that could present the
common struggle for a bi-national socialist state on
the international stage in a contemporary jargon. In
1962, the Israeli Socialist Organization (ISO) was
formed and became known under its monthly
publication Matzpen (Compass in Hebrew).
These were only a handful members who split from
the communist Maki and Rakah parties. After the
June war of 1967, Matzpen rose to relative
prominence. Their members criticized Zionist
ideology from a radical leftist viewpoint. The
founding members, Moshe Machover and Akiva
Orr, were former members of the Israeli
Communist Party. They called for mutual
recognition of the right to self-determination of two
peoples living in the country and the return of the
Palestinian refugees and for compensation for
those who did not want to return.
In contrast to all other parties, Matzpen called
Zionism itself into question, describing it as a form
of colonialism. It was a colonialism of a special
type, i.e., colonialism of the Zionist movement.
The difference between normal colonialism and
Zionist colonialism is that the latter seeks the
dispossession of the Palestinians in order to create
a Jewish state, whereas the former aimed at the
exploitation of native labour and resources.
Consequently, Machover and Orr called for a DeZionization of Israel, which would bring an end to
the discrimination and oppression of the Arab
citizens of the State of Israel. For them, the conflict
was national in nature and colonial in essence.
According to the author, Matzpen consolidated
its orientation between 1967 to 1979. The DeZionization of Israel had two components: First,
equal rights and redress for Palestinian-Arab
residents and refugees alike, and second, the
integration of the country in a socialist union in the
Middle East. After the June War of1967, a third
component was added, namely the struggle
against occupation and its consequences. An
overall solution was only possible if Israel would
withdraw from its Zionist path and integrate as a
non-Zionist state in the region.
The great value of this book lies in the
presentation of old political ideas that have not
lost their relevance. They still have to be
implemented in order to solve the conflict. As a
broad conclusion, the author recommends as a
political strategy to use the language of
democracy, equality and human rights rather
than of diplomacy and statehood, thus
overturning the Oslo approach.
Dr. Ludwig Watzal works as an editor and
journalist in Bonn, Germany. He runs the bilingual
blog Between the Lines.

22

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

FAMILY

www.milligazette.com

Word Jumble

Aaliyas kitchen

Chicken tikka handi

Born in Bangladesh (22 February 1898 18 August 1969) he was an Indian educationist, politician, writer,
philosopher and freedom fighter. He was educated at Presidency College, Calcutta.
He won a scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford where he completed his degree in 'Modern Greats', i.e.
Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics with a first class in 1931.
In 1932, he was invited by Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan to join as a lecturer at the newly established
Andhra University. He was the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Education Minister of India twice, under
the Prime Ministerships of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
He was also Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs Minister. From 1956-62, he was a member of the
Rajya Sabha and from 1962-69 he was a member of the Lok Sabha, representing Basirhat constituency
in West Bengal. His contributions to the cause of Indian unity are of an abiding nature.
A confidant of Maulana Azad and a freedom fighter of long standing. A brilliant product of Oxford, he
was one of the most persuasive exponents of Indian secularism. He wrote both in English and Bengali.

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken kg cubes
Yogurt 1 cup
Onion 2 chopped
Oil cup
Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp heaped
Allspice 1 tsp
Orange color pinch
Chili powder 1 tsp
Crushed red pepper 1 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Lemon juice cup
Fresh coriander 2 tbsp
Green chilies 2 chopped

Answer at the bottom of the page.

U A Y N U H M

A R K

Whats in Gods Names? Word Search

Allah has described Himself in the Quran through His Names and Attributes. Understanding these names
is an effective way of strengthening ones faith in God. Meanings associated with the names:
Al-Qabidh, Al-Basit, Al-Khafidh, Ar-Rafi', Al-Mu'izz and Al-Muzill are hidden in this puzzle. There are
11 words. See how many can you find.
www.pharosmedia.com / www.milligazette.com

(Answers are at the bottom of this page)

W W

AALIYA KHAN

Queries/Feedback: aaliyah.khan@gmail.com

Method:
Blend together the onions with cup water, mix it with ginger garlic
paste, allspice, salt, lemon juice, crushed red pepper and yogurt.
Mix it well, marinate the chicken with this for 30 minutes, heat oil in a
handi, add marinated chicken with masala, cover and cook on low flame,
when tender and oil comes on surface. Give dum of coal, serve garnished
with coriander and green chilies. Serve with naan.

TO BOOK A

MATRIMONIAL AD

CALL 0-9868656614

Jumbled clues: IANRRETSRE, NTSRRHATEEGI, EEDNTXER, ERENDXAP, AABRSE,

IAMIURHLTO, AWDODERRGN, TLERXEA, UPRGERDA, HNOORU, UHSIRDNOO

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ANSWER TO THE WORD JUMBLE: Prof. Humayun Kabir or Humayun Zahiruddin Amir-i Kabir
ANSWER TO THE ABOVE WORD SEACH:
Al-Qabidh: The Restrainer, The Straightener; Al-Basit: The Extender / Expander;
Al-Khafidh: The Abaser, The Humiliator, The Downgrader; Ar-Rafi': The Exalter, The Upgrader
Al-Mu'izz: The Giver of Honor; Al-Muzill: The Giver of Dishonor

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REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS
MG
Amazed I was. I saw Yakubmama rushing to my house on a
September day. I myself went to the front door to receive him.
Once comfortably seated, he hurried to tell me: "very sad news for
you and us our esteemed Milli Gazette is going to close down
from 1st October. If the readers fail to take out three0year
subscriptions at a time. Hearing this, I immediately showed my
willingness and promised to pay my subscription. I was given to
understand that Yakubmama from Kamrej, Jabir Choksi, an
engineer from Kholwad, and Mohamed Kura, a social worker from
Kholwad, had girded up their loins to take up the challenge and had
virtually started approaching educated Muslim readers for
becoming three-year subscribers to the Milli gazette. By the Grace
of Allah they were successful in convincing more and more
readers with their efforts and also with the efforts of other
interested persons all over India. I am happy to note that the Milli
Gazette has regained strength and continues publishing regularly. I
hope and pray the MG continues for ever. May Almighty Allah
bestow upon the management courage and vigour.
Y. R. Pathan (Kathor, Surat, Gujarat)
II
I am reading MG for the last two months. Very effective. I have a
suggestion: You have spared full page to "Letters". Please cut half
page and introduce a matrimonial section as our community is
heavily suffering in this regard.
MDA Khadir
III
We need you. You are the voice of the Muslim ummah. Your
magazine is the first English magazine published since many years
facing lots of financial and other problems.
Mujeeb Patel
mujeebpatel96@gmail.com
All Power - No Accountability
We are rightly proud of the fact that our country is the largest
parliamentary democracy of the world. It is our duty to strengthen
and preserve it which is possible only when all countrymen swar
by it and follow its norms. Accountability is its soul. How strange
and shocking is that in the temples of highest learning and
knowledge i.e. Indian Universities - temples of highest education,
there is no tinge of democracy. Its heads i. e. Vice- Chancellors of
Indian Universities are action like despotic monrarchs. There is no
provision in any of the Indian Universities Act for the removal or
impeachment of the Vice Chancellor if he or she misuses his or her
powers or contravenes provisions of the University Act and
statutes while the holder of the highest office of the country i. e. the
President of the Indian Union can be impeached if he or she
misuses his or her power, judges of the Supreme court and High
Courts can be impeached while Ministers of both the Central and
State Governments are accountable to legislatures for all their
actions and policies. One American Vice Chancellor had once
remarked that he prerequisite qualifications of Vice Chancellor
were that he should have Solomon's wisdom, lion's courage,
Machiavellian's cunningness and goat's stomach. U. G. C. whch is
the supervisory body of Universities and the H. R. D. Ministry
which controls all Universities act like helpless spectators. The
glaring example in that or MuslimUniversity whose 3 former
bureaucrat Vice Chancellor (during the 80's and the last five years
of the last century) carried on the administration of the university
despotically and took important decisions under emergency
powers. They contravened provisions of the University Act and
statutes by bypassing the University Court the supreme governing
body of the university by not getting its approval for university
budget and the annual report and sending these directly of the
Govt. of India suspending students union a statutory body for
several years and the predecessors of the present V.? C. had been
accused of grave financial irregularities and bungling by the A. G.
and has been facing a CBII probe but HRD Ministry did not direct
him to proceed on leave pending the completion of the enquiry
which judicial ethics demanded. In Delhi University semester
system had been introduce and the period of graduation has been
increased by one year by the Vice Chancellor without the approval
of the Academic Councillor and statutory procedure and
established democratic norms have been subverted. But the HRD
ministry is a silent spectator. The need of the hour is that the
existing University Acts of both Central and State Universities
should be amended and a new provision should be added for the
removal of the VC if he or she contravenes the provisions of the
University Act. It is hoped that Mr. Raju, the new HRD Minister, will
do it.
Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai, ex-M.P., Delhi - 110091

magazine Hebdo team always really had in its sights. Its murdered
editor, Stphane Charbonnier, regularly expressed his hatred for
Islam Such prejudice was in fact condemned even by the White
House in September 2012, when a spokesman for President
Obama questioned the judgment of Charlie Hebdo for publishing
"images that will be deeply offensive to many and have the
potential to be inflammatory". Richard Prasquier, head of France's
Jewish council, also said he disapproved of the caricatures
because they constituted a "form of irresponsible panache". We do
not deny the point that none of this in any way justifies violence, let
alone the horrific slaughter of last week. The vast majority of
French Algerians and, indeed, Muslims across the world, were
shocked and appalled by the murders, with a spokesman for the
French Council of the Muslim Faith speaking of a "barbaric act
against humanity, democracy and freedom of the press". But
freedom without restrictions and independence without
responsibilities will lead to anger, violence and public order issues
between communities.
PA Mohamed Ameen (via email)
Shazia Ilmi joining BJP Is No Surprise
Shazia is highly ambitious and selfish Lady .She is power hungry
ant wants to remain in Lime Light .Unfortunately even Kejriwal
,very positive and honest politician ,did not understand her .AAP
made a big mistake to project her as a Muslim Face although AAP
does not believe in caste and Religion .If one goes through her
background then it would be clear that she was an Agent of BJP in
AAP.. One of her Doctor brother was already member of BJP who
is also Delhi Spokes person of BJP and top of this Former Central
Minister Arif Mohd Khan is married to her sister .So it was a very
well planned strategy that she became active Member of the inner
core of the AAP. The position which she enjoyed in AAP shall be a
dream for her .Be sure the cheaters can not have any place in heart
of people and people could not be misguided for long .Now this the
beginning of the end of her political Carrier .This lady was
presenting herself as the ambassador of Honesty ,Secularism and
Democracy and now she is in the company of most communal
political party Now she says she will EXPOSE Kejriwal .Kejriwal is
the only politician whose party has 100% transparency and can
provide Justice and Security to every body and Corruption Free
Administration.
Prof. Shamim Ahmad, AMU
A note on the pecking order
Newspaper advertisements, posters and hoardings are examples
of essentially the same art form. The present Prime Rooster is
seen far more often in these works than his predecessors were.
His photo is always larger than the photos of Plain Roosters, even
when they are more directly involved in the matter at hand. He is
also more prominently placed -- at the centre or at upper left,
which positions may well have been dictated by the Ancient
Science of Vastu. Finally, while Plain Roosters are represented by
plain mug shots, the Prime Rooster is often in one or other dance
mudra, or abhinaya or whatever.
Mukul Dube, Mayur Vihar 1 Delhi 110091
uthappam@gmail.com
Is secularism going to be obliterated
There can't be two opinions that Narendra Modi led BJP Govt; at
New Delhi is fully prepared and set to thrust out its hindutva
agenda during five years tenure for which all hindutva families and
forces allowed to move free and fearlessly to achieve the target.
The law of the land is made to be gripped with lawlessness in full
swing. The sadhus, sants, grus at the lowest level to the position
of acharyas and shankeracharyas allied and fully backed by
hindutva perpetrators like RSS, VHP, Hindu Mahasabha, Shiv sena
nad number of fascit allied forces including saffron and nonsaffron brigadesa t every front appeared tousled the country's
constitution which is believed to have been shelved under the
undeclatory planning. It is undeniable that RSS with its political
wing BJP and various staunoh hinduntva champions never
accepted our secular constitution and democratic setup and
continued to demonstrate against the same the time it came
inforce. Now the hindutva family has got full opportunity to toe it
down in all the way taking into account the situation and hindutva
mind set up of the taking into account the situation and hindutva
mind set up of the major part of the population. RSS therefore in a
great hurry wishes to indirectly a Hindu nation under the
irrevocable support of US and Israel who are enemies of Islam
since the day of its birth.
Faheemuddin, Nagpur

Modi
The PM, when a CM, was denied a visa to enter the USA because
his actions in 2002 and later were held to go against one of the
provisions of their Immigration and Nationality Act. When he
became prime minister, he was welcomed as the leader of a
friendly State, his real or presumed crimes being pushed beneath
the carpet of diplomacy. What will the USA do if Modi, in an unlikely
fit of sanity, resigns his present position, or if -- another unlikely
possibility -- he is impeached and made to quit? Will the USA
welcome a former leader of a friendly State or will it once again
look at his record in relation to religious freedom?
Mukul Dube, Mayur Vihar 1 Delhi 110091
uthappam@gmail.com

How to overcome religious terrorism

Nowadays, we the Muslim Ummah is feeling highly resentment
and depressive feeling due to Hindutva aggression. They spit
venom for ours and our great religion, and terrorise us to leave the
country. Since the birth of Modi Govt. their morale is very high. The
question arises whether the constitution will prevail in this country
or Hindu Rasthra. Our Constutition guarantees us to live here as a
equal citizen and enjoy of our fundamental rights. Constitution also
guarantees us the freedom, to practice and propagate our religion.
It is the time to protect the constitution and the country. IN
prevailing circumstances, it is the need of hour, that a delegation of
Muslim representative should meet the President and present a
memorandum.
Shafiqur Rahman Khan, Aliganj, Lucknow - 226021

Insulting and ridiculing the Prophet

There is no doubt that Charlie Hebdo's notorious cartoons
ridiculing our beloved prophet Muhammad saddened and angered
Muslims. Once in 2011 the French magazine published a cover
with a bearded and turbaned cartoon figure of the prophet saying
"100 lashes if you're not dying of laughter" and their offices were
firebombed. Other images and articles were also vindictive and
insulting, including some about the other major monotheistic
religions, Christianity and Judaism, But it was Islam that the French

Beti Bachao
It appears that now-a-days the prime minister Mr. Narender Modi
taking interest in the Qur'an by himself or getting momentum form
different agencies to spread its messages by way of his own
created slogans amongst his countrymen. Likewise, on the
occasion of International Day of Girl Child on Oct. 11/2014 the P.
M. exhorted Indians to pledge to create an atmosphere for equality
for the girl child to end gander biased discrimination in the country.

The Milli Gazette, P.O. Box 9701, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

23

He further stated that on International Day of the Girl Cild we

celebrated the achievement of a daughter form the class room to
sports. Today let us pledge to create an atmosphere for the girl
child and there is no question based on gender. The P. M. also
called for eradication of the menace of female foeticide form the
country and invited suggestions from the citizence on Beti-Bachao
on Government Portail. One has every reason to believe that Mr.
Narnder Modi must have got briefed by some one that the said
message was given and spread 1436 years back by Islam which
happened to be dawn of new epoch for feminine. Let's see what
the Qur'an says about Betiyan Bachao 'And they attributed to Allah
daughters-exalted is He-and for them is what they desire (i. e.
sons) and when one of them is informed grief. He hides himself
form the people because of the ill of which he has been informed.
Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground'. (16, Surah
An-Nahl-57-60) The above Message though completely changed
prevailing condition in the than Arabian Society for the womanhood
but escalated woman under the highly respected creature but nonIslamic societies throughout the World continued beastliness to
which our country is one of them
Faheemuddin, Nagpur - 440013
Don't let Secular Votes scatter
Political scientist's fears are turning to reality. Merely they were the
first who claimed the explosion of AAP as a rob over congress vote
bank not on BJP. Emergence of a quite simple muffler man which
is being observed as a eater of secular ideologies votes now
seems to looking like a bigger seeker of this segment voter.
Thousands of Muslims who known for congress back apparently
have negated it and walking along with a merely 2 year old political
group In Delhi election secular ideologies have fractured in various
proportion BSP, CONGREES, AAP, CPIM and JDU are the key
Claimant of this section . The noora khusti of all these group
definitely would improve saffrionist position and can bestow him a
cake walk victory Mean while AIMIM chief Assaduddin owaisi
refusal to joining Delhi election is beyond the appreciation his
decision would certainly strengthened the AAP, congress and
would present few thorn over saffrionist will of holding the Delhi
chair .In Delhi election secular ideologies must come over the
same platform as similar to Bihar in order to waving away the right
wing group
Syed Kamran Ali Rampur, U.P
syedkamranali2@gmail.com
The Paris March of hypocrisy
If we world want peace then we need to understand each another
priority. For Muslims, the priority starts with religion,then love,
family , job and money. While this list maybe other way round for
other communities. The best example that can be stated is the
relationship btw Muslims and its religion is just like honey bee and
honey,Its world for Muslims and Muslims are less concerned about
the rest of things. Problem is many govt and organization like to
throw stone on beehives and run eg destroying a nation like Iraq
,Babri Masjid demolition,Gujarat incident, Ghar Wapsi and when
Muslims become aggressive like honey-bees who lose beehives,
than they are termed as 'terrorist" .So, some serious understanding
is required .
Muzammil
muzammil_asif@yahoo.com
The Other side of French ethnic minorities
While the world talks a lot about the terrorist attack on Charlie
Hebdo's notorious cartoons, we can not ignore the other side of
the sad story. Many in France are Muslims of north African origin
who complain that discrimination against them extends to every
field of life, from housing and employment to the right to religious
expression. This is particularly so as politicians of the left and right
regularly blame Islam for these social problems, which in fact have
nothing to do with Islam. Anti-religious hate speech has thus
become all too prevalent in modern France, as it is manipulated for
political purposes. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National
Front, is a convicted racist and antisemite, and his daughter,
Marine Le Pen, the party's current leader, regularly insults Muslims
and other minority groups Immigration policy plays a vital role in all
of this discourse. Manuel Valls, the reactionary Socialist prime
minister, infamously portrayed Roma gypsies as a group who
cannot integrate and who should be deported back to Romania and
Bulgaria, despite being EU citizens. Terrorism is not the answer to
solve these problems but Frnace's politicians should seriously
consider treating the minority citizens of France without
discrimination
PA Mohamed Ameen (via email)
A R Antulay
I feel sad for the demise of A R Antulay, former CM of Maharastra,
who died at the age of 85 as the Unsung hero who was a loyalist
to Indira Gandhi.. He has reached to the top post and did yeomen
service to the Nation ,but his fate was always bad and became the
fallen angel ,due to his outspokenness. May his soul rest in Peace.
Amin
Mohammad. Azam, Karimnager Telengana
deomohdazam70@gmail.com
Barack and god
A friend said that the security drill for the US president is practice
for the arrangements to be made when god almighty, the only more
elevated being, visits India. Another pointed out that while the US
president too is all-seeing and all-powerful, god almighty alone is
indestructible and in no need of protection. Moreover, she said,
god almighty has caused a damn sight more wars than Obama and
so is better qualified than him to get the Nobel Prize for peace.
Who, she asked, would want to harm such a peacenik?
Mukul Dube, Mayur Vihar 1 Delhi 110091
uthappam@gmail.com

Read more letters on MG website

Email: letters@milligazette.com

24

The Milli Gazette,1-15 February 2015

The Milli Gazette

D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar,

New Delhi 110025 India
Tel.: 011-26947483, 0-9818120669

RNI No. DELENG/2000/930

REGISTERED DL(S)-01/3215/2015-17
LICENCED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT U (SE)-57/2012-14
PUBLISHED ON 25 JAN 2015 POSTED ON 26,27 JAN 2015
ADV. FORTNIGHTLY AT NDPSO-110002

CHARITY ALLIANCE
Registered trust

Construction of Homes for

Muzaffarnagar riot victims
We are out of funds to complete the construction of homes.
Sanitation work for homes remains. All the tiles, fixtures,
waste pipes, manholes, sceptic tanks, drainage are yet to be
done. Please contribute generously to complete this project.
We have used riot-victims as manpower in this construction
and it has been a source of livelihood for the victims.

To help CHARITY

ALLIANCE see page 17 inside.

Donations, Zakat, Sadaqat, Charity and bank interest.

accepted by cheque / online Internet Banking transfers or credit card
payments / Money Order.

Quaide Milleth Award

For Probity in Public Life
Nominations are invited on or before 5th February
2015 for the national award to be presented in the
name of the great leader who lived as a role
model for probity in public life. Nominees can be
veterans in political life serving the nation with
faith in the Constitution and commitment to
social harmony. One or more awardees shall be
chosen from the nominations of living persons by
the Selection Panel of eminent personalities. For
further details and online nomination log on to
www.quaidemillethtrust.com.
M.G.Dawood Miakhan
General Secretary
Quaide Milleth Educational & Social Trust
2nd Floor, Flat-B-14, Mahadevan Apartments,
No.305, T.T.K.Road, Alwarpet,
Chennai 600018
Phone : 044-2498 6528 / 9444062869
Website: www.quaidemillethtrust.com

Construction Progress as on 21st January 2015

Visit: www.charityalliance.in or Call 0-9818120669

With best compliments from Kaleem Kawaja, Washington DC

Printed, published and owned by Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan and printed at Vibha Publication Pvt Ltd., D-160B, Sector-7, Noida, U.P. and published at D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave-I, New Delhi 110025.
Editor: Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan