24 pages ` 15 ISSN 0972-3366 FORTNIGHTLY

Vol. 16 No.4

Issue Serial # 362

www.milligazette.com 16-28 February 2015

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THE

MILLI
GAZETTE
INDIAN MUSLIMS LEADING ENGLISH NEWSPAPER SINCE 2000

RECOGNITION...12

PRODIGY...12

Inspiring Saga of Bihar Malalas

JAWED AKHTER
New Delhi: The saga of two sisters in Bihar reminds us of the
courage of Malala Yousafzai who has been fighting for girls education. Mehar Jahan and her younger sister Gauhar Jahan from
Madhubani district of Bihar did not give up hope for higher education even after the brutal murder of their father and two brothers.
They still writhe with agony when they remember the day14
November 2010 when their father and brothers were mercilessly murdered because of a quarrel over a piece of land.
I was always fond of studying and stayed awake reading up
till 1.30 am. Sometime after 2 a.m., I heard a noise, she said.
That noise turned out to be the sound of gunshots. An hour later,
Gauhars father Mohammad Shafiqullah Ansari and two brothers
were found dead. Our father pleaded before the hooligans to
leave his family and take whatever they want, but they did not listen to him, said the two sisters. The third brother could not bear
the shock of death of his father and two brothers and consequently succumbed to his death. Their younger brother, luckily, was
saved as he was out of the village on that fateful night.
Mohammad Shafiqullah Ansari was a retired school teacher
who wanted his daughters to be well-educated, but this was
harshly opposed by his neighbours who wanted them to quit education and be married early. The sisters are survived by their
younger brother, an old mother and their widowed sisters-in-law.

Meher (Left) & Gauhar

The culprits were caught but are yet to be sentenced.
These sisters, though witnesses of the killing, kept tightlipped for months as shock engulfed them. When they were able
to get out of grief, they continued their studies. It was not possible for them to forget this incident but still they doggedly pursued
their goal. Initially, they were helped by a teacher and a friend of
their father, Mr. Jageshwar, who paid the expenses for their education. Gauhar appeared in the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT)
in 2012, and cracked it but her rank allowed her to enrol only in

Will AAP win be the beginning of hate politics end?

Amid the hissing of all the snakes and serpents of Hindutva, who came out thinking
that their time has finally come, the common man has spoken and spoken decisively
to reject the politics of hate, violence, goondaism, corruption and othering of large
sections of the countrys population. The common man has spoken against the
forced gharwapsi, fake Love Jihad, low-intensity communal warfare, Hindutva terror,
day-dreaming the advent of the Hindu Rashtra and unleashing a barrage of false
propaganda against minorities which led even the leader of the world superpower to take note and
has compelled foreign newspapers like New York Times to write a series of editorials expressing
alarm as these policies do not mean chaos and destruction of India alone but of the whole South
Asian regions and world peace.
AAPs decisive win in the national capitals elections in which the BJP/RSS had thrust all its
money, muscle and deceit power and had even borrowed big guns-on-hire, has shown that the
Gujarat Model, Modi Wave and the fake Development Agenda are now finally buried. Common man
has decisively voted for real democracy and secularism. The time for the elitist one-man, two-man
dictatorships is over. People want real progress, real peace and real hopes for a worth-living present
and a shining future which they rightly deserve but the Hindutva ilk was adamant to drag the country thousands of years back to a mythological Bharat which exists only in a few crooked brains which
find power and energy from a single source: hate. They had won the elections last May by default,
as a result of Congress failures but they thought that the people had finally come round to support
their hate agenda.
Now the field is wide open for AAP to march ahead, to shape the future of India. We hope AAP
leaders will continue their march and will not belie the high hopes and expectations of the common
man. With a Congress, which is half-dead and yet pursuing soft Hindutva, the road is clear for AAP
to advance and offer India a real corruption-free life, a true welfare state, exploiting all the possibilities for India to emerge as a world leader in economy as well as in morality, justice and fair play. Time
will tell if the AAP team remembers the lessons of the past or is hijacked by the black sheep in economy and politics which try to latch on to every winning bandwagon.

the dental course. But, without surrendering to despair, she again

appeared in 2013 and was ranked 194. Now she is studying at
Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi and trying to fulfill her
fathers dream. On the other hand, her sister, Mehar Jahan, is pursuing B.Tech in computer science from IETE, Delhi as she was
interested in engineering. But meeting their expenses is still a
challenge for them.
Inspired and motivated by their father, Mehar and Gauhar
used to teach children of the poor families when they lived in their
village. Mehar said, My father never differentiated between sons
and daughters. He is our role model. Gauhar added, After completing my education in medical science, I want to start a hospital in my village where I can serve people.
Expressing her anguish, Gauhar said why people are unable
to change their mentality towards girls? Why do they not allow
their girls to get education? Girls too can be a helping hand for
their parents like boys.
Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Ali Anwar, now mentor of these
girls, said, I came to know about these girls very late. But now I
will help them out as far as possible. He added that people from
our community should come forward to help such girls so that
they could stand on their feet and give back to the community
when they become successful professionals.
Undoubtedly, these sisters have travelled a long and painful
journey overcoming their grief and trial. Their story, like Malalas,


is a great source of inspiration.

Depositing of Rs. 15
lakh was just a
kahaawat: Amit Shah
BJP President Amit Shah explained away Modis
pre-general election statement promising to
deposit Rs.15 lakh in every familys account by
bringing black money back from abroad within
100 days of his rule, by saying that it was just a
kahaawat a proverb. But the people of the
country will be benefitted and it will be used for
economic development of the country when the
black money returns to India, he added, according to a report in Navbharat Times (5 February).
On the question of Rahul Gandhis remark
on Modis wearing a Rs.10 lakh suit, Amit Shah
defended Prime Minister Modi saying the cost of
suit was not the same as propagated by opponents, nor it was prepared abroad. He said, Our
duty is to work for the country, let them accuse
us. He said that he never asked about the cost
of the muffler of Arvind Kejriwal nor where he
bought it from.

There is a govt of Ram

bhakts in Delhi
There is a government of Ram bhakts at the

Centre and its only because the people chanted

Jai Shri Ram, said Union minister Nitin Gadkari.
Addressing a public meeting on 20 January this
year in Faizabad, close to where Ayodhya is
located, Gadkari said, There is government of
Ram bhakts in Delhi. It has come to power
because of those who chant the slogan of Jai
Shri Ram.
The senior BJP leader and Union minister for
road transport and highways said that the wishes of
Ram bhakts or followers of Ram will be fulfilled
soon, hinting at the construction of Ram temple in
Ayodhya. Interestingly, similar statements from
VHP and other seers associated with the BJP had
invited criticism from their rival camps. It was for
the first time that a senior Union minister made
such a statement even though it seems that his
party has, for now at least, distanced itself from the
Ram temple movement.
Gadkari blamed UP government for the lack
of development in Ayodhya and in the state as
well. Nobody took care of Ayodhya. Uttar
Pradesh lagged behind because of caste politics
here, he alleged. The Union minister was in
Faizabad to lay the foundation stone of several
road projects. At the event, he declared that
Ayodhya-Chitrakoot road would be upgraded as
a national highway for the comfort of pilgrims.

ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN

Inside MG

MG/Yusuf

MG News Desk

8,9

Muslim Population issue

Terrorism
Cri
me

Suicides

Electricity
Pollution

Corruption
Unemploy
ment
Ri
pr sing
ice
s

Poverty

Riots

2,4,5

4,5,7

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, 16-28 February 2015

ISSUES / OPINION

www.milligazette.com

Good versus Bad: Western Game of Terms

When someone speaks against Jews, it is

anti-Semitism worthy of strongest condemnation

When someone speaks against blacks, it is
racism, again worthy of strongest condemnation

When someone speaks against Holocaust, it
is not just anti-Semitism but he/she has to be
immediately booked; when a Muslim President
challenges the facts about Holocaust, he is
labelled as the biggest hater of all times

When someone speaks against alcohol and
sexual misdemeanour, including promiscuity,
prostitution and homosexuality, it is retrogression and attack on Freedom (even if these
freedoms kill tens of millions every year); such
enemies of freedom need to be socially boycotted and hunted like criminals

When some Muslims speak against Western
violence (and describe the facts about killing of
millions in Muslim lands by Western forces), it is

hate speech, religious propaganda and victimhood narrative

When someone kills people loyal to Assad or
Ghaddafi, he is a freedom fighter

When Western or Israeli armies kill millions
of innocent Muslims, it is collateral damage


When some Muslim kills a Westerner or
attacks a Western target, it is terrorism

When some Muslims fight against Russia,
they are Mujahedeen (people involved in good
jihad)

When some Muslims fight against West or
West-backed rulers, they are Jihadis (people
involved in bad jihad)

DR JAVED JAMIL
doctorforu123@yahoo.com
II
Freedom of speech and expression is a vaunted
Western value associated with their idea of

Why Maulana Misbahi

was arrested?
GHULAM RASOOL DEHLVI
Famous Islamic scholar Maulana Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi, known
for his moderate views and writings on Islam and jihad, was
picked up by intelligence agencies from Zakir Nagar, one of Delhis
densely-populated Muslim localities, in the third week of January.
This incident caused uproar in the Muslim community across the
country because he is viewed as an authoritative Sunni-Sufi
scholar. Maulana Misbahi is the chairman of a publishing house
and research centre, Darul Qalam, and founder of a local
madrasa, Al-Jamiatul Qadria in Jogabai Extention.
Maulana Misbahi is reported to have been picked up in connection with a book he wrote on the Quranic essence of jihad in
Urdu, Aayat-e-Jihad Ka Qurani Mafhoom (Verses of Jihad and

Q&A

Muslims & Hindutva

Following are AIMMM President DR ZAFARULISLAM KHANs written answers to the questions
of MICHAEL RADUNSKI of the German newspaper,
Frankfurter Allgemeine:
How would you describe the current state of Hindu-Muslimrelations in India?
Working relationship between ordinary Muslims and ordinary
Hindus is still good all over the country but the RSS and its
affiliated organisations (Bharartiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishwa
Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and many others) have succeeded in vitiating the atmosphere so much that there is a clear
polarisation of society on Hindu-Muslim lines in most parts of
the country. Polarisation takes place through disseminating
rumours, false claims of all kinds about Muslims (and
Christians), publication of unfounded historical claims, claims
that Muslims are a pampered minority in India, that they are
breeding fast and will soon push Hindus to a minority, attacking Hindu and Muslim couples, working for reconversion of
Muslims and Christians to Hinduism which is called ghar-wapsi
[home-coming], social and commercial boycott of Muslims in
Hindu majority areas like Gujarat These are some of their
strategies to sharpen polarisation which in turn benefits them
politically at the time of elections as Hindus vote them in the
belief that they are protecting Hindu interests.
Indian media is talking about a so called Love Jihad. What
is meant by that?
Love Jihad is a recent term coined by Hindutva or RSS family to describe marriages between Muslim men and Hindu
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democracy.
They are ready to kill in millions
(Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine) in their misguided
defence of these values. When Vietnam and
Kampuchea were napalm-bombed, or when Iraqi
cities were destroyed by American warplanes,
victims often said, displaying a dark sense of
humour that they were taught lesson in democracy.
A part of the non-West too has contracted
this infection.
In parts of the world freedom of expression
has come to mean the right to abuse, malign and
slander anyone, including the prophets of God,
and God Himself. Except, the Holocaust, of
course.
We know that the right to freedom of expression is recognised as a human right under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and recognised in international human

their Quranic Meaning). However, he was

also asked by the Special Cell a few questions relating to his telephonic talks with
people in Pakistan and other phone calls
from abroad. The maulana explained that as
an Islamic author of repute, he receives
phone calls from all parts of the world,
including Pakistan.
Maulana Misbahi said that he was pleasantly surprised to receive quite positive and
encouraging comments about the book from
non-Muslim intellectuals and even from
Hindutva ideologues. The editor of RSS
organ Panchjanya, Tarun Vijay, read his book
on Jihad and praised the contents while talking to Mr. Sajid Hashmi, assistant to
Maulana Misbahi, in 2013.
There are only a few erudite and wellversed Islamic scholars who can write in an

Cover of the book in question;

inset: Maulana Misbahi

M. BURHANUDDIN QASMI
Editor, Eastern Crescent, Mumbai
international language other than Urdu. As
a result, and quite regrettably, their rigorous research and untiring scholarly efforts
remain confined to an almost entirely
Muslim audience. Needless to say, they
sometimes may be misconstrued by
many if they turn out to be a target of
questioning or investigation. Given this,
it is the pressing need of the time that
Muslim scholars and madrasa graduates
well-versed in English, Hindi, French,
German, Spanish and other languages
devote themselves to the noble task of
rendering their invaluable works into other
languages, while producing similar literature themselves at the same time.
The author is a writer and columnist
who may be be contacted at
grdehlavi@gmail.com

women which is an urban phenomenon as men and women mix

in schools, colleges and workplaces and some relationships
end up into marriages which are frowned upon by both Hindus
and Muslims. Even Muslim women are marrying Hindu men
which is disliked by the Muslim community but it does not
make it a public issue. Hindutvites claim that Muslims are getting money from Gulf countries to ensnare Hindu women with a
view to increase Muslim population. No need to tell you that
this claim of Gulf or any other support is totally false and baseless. At the same time, Hindutva outfits encourage Hindu males
to lure/rape/marry Muslim women. A new campaign called
Beti bachao, bahu lao [save daughter and bring in a [Muslim]
daughter-in-law] has been launched very recently under which
Hindus are offered money to do this.
Is there anything like that going on? Do you have some numbers?
We dont have any numbers but it is not very common and
there is no real Love Jihad whatsoever.
Why are Hindus fighting a Love Jihad?
Those who are spreading this canard are doing it for a political
purpose [polarization which leads to electoral gains] and
through incessant propaganda they have convinced common
Hindus that there is some Muslim conspiracy behind it. Hindus
here have total control over both print and electronic media
while Muslims are almost totally disempowered as far as
media is concerned. Hence Muslim have no voice in media and
cannot defend themselves or effectively put across their points
of view when such issues are raised. Muslims are voiceless in
modern India.
What is the role of the new Modi government in that?
Modi government is the government of the RSS and its affiliates and it does not at all interfere in their activities howsoever illegal they may be. The Modi government has even used the

DISTRIBUTORS: (Alphabetical - statewise and then citywise)

rights law under the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 of
the ICCPR states, Everyone shall have the right
to hold opinions without interference and
everyone shall have the right to freedom of
expression...
Article 19 goes on to say that the exercise of
these rights carries special duties and responsibilities and may therefore be subject to certain restrictions when necessary for respect of
the rights or reputation of others or for the protection of national security or of public order, or
of public health or morals. People out to insult
the Prophet (pbuh) must realise that the freedom
of expression does not include slandering others. It is no less important to remember than the
other injunction that the Holocaust cannot be
caricatured.

ghar-wapsi (reconversion to Hinduism) programme and propaganda to make a clear suggestion inside and outside
Parliament that if you dont like such programmes, you should
support a national law banning conversions (while Indian
Constitution guarantees freedom of religion including freedom
of preaching it).
How has life for the Muslim minority in India changed since
the BJP victory?
There is no great physical change until now except that RSS
and its affiliated outfits feel emboldened and are engaged in
continuous low-key violence against Muslims and Christians
all over the country. Places of worship and graveyards are
being attacked/desecrated routinely, demands are made
that loudspeakers be taken off mosques, building new
mosques or repairing existing ones is being opposed, school
curricula are being revised to include Hindu myths and
delete positive references to Islam and Muslim history,
Hindutva leaders are saying openly that India will be converted into a hundred percent Hindu country by 2021, that
Muslims should be expelled etc, etc Yet the prime minister is keeping silent.
Is Indias secular democracy at risk?
India is still a secular democracy but this is at risk.
Secularism may be deleted from the Indian constitution
once BJP musters enough support in both the houses of
Parliament [Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha]. Political space is
being squeezed for Muslims in every state controlled by BJP.
Even meagre funds for development of Muslim-majority
pockets are mostly returned to the treasury unspent. Though
schemes started by the previous UPA government have not
been scrapped as yet, we fear that that may happen as the
BJP government feels confident enough to do so. In any
case, schemes may stay on paper but they will not be prop
erly implemented.

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NATIONAL

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

There is much scope

for working in Urdu
language: Sanjiv Saraf
MUMTAZ ALAM RIZVI

New Delhi: Sanjiv Saraf, founder of Rekhta website, in a rejoinder to those who
wail over Urdu language and describe it as a moribund language has proved by
his practical work that Urdu is a living language in which there is enough scope
to work and that the future of Urdu language is bright. He is of the view that Urdu
is a river which has no end. By founding the latest and novel website, Rekhta in
modern times he has brought Urdu language, literature and poetry etc on world
scenario and has proved that he is the captain of language . On this website there
are about ten thousand poems, ghazals and prose literature of about a thousand
poets and authors of the last three centuries. Rekhta has taken an effective step
in preserving Urdu literatures popular, rare and priceless books in digital format
to every possible extent. There is also an e book section in it where books and
magazines can be studied. The literary magazine Shab Khoon, published under
the editorship of Shamsur Rahman Farooqi, Nuqoosh (Pakistan) and almost all
publications of some important literary magazines are available on Rekhta website. It would not be wrong if, in view of the achievements of Sanjiv Saraf, he is
considered the Father of Urdu (Baba-e Urdu) of 21st century. Moreover, Rekhta
has completed its two years with great success. Hence on the occasion of second birthday of Rekhta, Inqilab bureau held a detailed conversation with Sanjiv
Saraf on Rekhtas two-year journey which is presented below:
In reply to a question as to how he got attracted towards Urdu, he said that Urdu
language has such a charm that it can attract any body to it. My respected father
had special interest in Urdu and because of this, poetic sittings were held at our
house and mushairas were also held. I had heard prominent ghazal singers like
Begum Akhtar, Mehdi Hasan, Iqbal Bano and others and was very much
impressed.
About education of Urdu he said that because of his early life in Odisha and
Bengal he could not acquire education in Urdu. He spent many years in foreign
countries for business purposes but when he came back to Delhi, Urdu poetry
again attracted him. He said that he knew Urdu very well but was not familiar with
Urdu script and hence first of all he learnt Urdu script and in this way came very
close to Urdu. He said that when he tried to search Urdu poetry on internet he
was very much disappointed because there was virtually nothing about Urdu
poetry on it (internet). Hence he decided to start an Urdu website of international standard and started Urdu website 2 years ago on 11 January 2013. He said
that within a short period of only two years his website became so popular that
about 8500 people in 160 countries see it daily and read and listen to ghazals etc
of their liking, adding that Urdu poetry in all three scripts i.e. in Urdu, Devnagri
and Roman are available on this website and hence its popularity is increasing by
the day. He said that letters from all over the world come to him and some letters
also make some good suggestions. He said that efforts will be made to act upon
their suggestions so that this website could be improved further.
In reply to a question about his experience after associating himself with
Urdu, he said that he felt very much honoured and people praised his initiative
more than his expectations and important personalities like Prof Shamsur
Rahman Farooqi, Prof Gopi Chand Narang, Pakistans famous fiction writer
Intezar Husain, Prof Shamim Hanafi, poet Waseem Bareilvi, Zafar Iqbal and others encouraged him greatly. He said that when he had gone to Pakistan, people
particularly poets and authors encouraged him much more than his expectations.
He said that Urdu is a river in which he has dipped his finger only and much more
is to be done. (Translated from Urdu)

Quran for All Marathi Android

Mobile Apps launched by JIH
Mumbai: Jamat-e Islami Hind (JIH), Maharashtra Branch, realising the importance of communication and information technology has launched three Android
Mobile Apps i.e. Quran for all, Islam for all and Muhammad for all. The objective of these Apps is to provide information about Islam and the Quran anywhere
and any time to people. These apps are published in multicolours with attractive
backgrounds and in English, Urdu, Hindi and Marathi languages, though for the
present this can be downloaded in Marathi only but soon these will be made
available in other languages also. All these apps are user friendly and their navigation is very easy.
A special feature of Quran for all is that below every verse its literal translation is given which enables the reader to understand the Quran word by word.
In addition to this it is also very easy to share it on social media. Islam for all is
a collection of many Islamic books which provide necessary knowledge and
information about Islam which is useful not only for Muslims but for others also.
Muslims can get information about Islam and Muslims at one click. In
Muhammad for all, along with brief information and introduction to Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh)s life, mention of Muhammad in other religious scriptures
and opinions and views of intellectuals of other religions have also been given.
All these three apps are equally useful for Muslims as well as non-Muslims. All
MG NEWS DESK
these apps can be downloaded on google play.

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
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Basic requirements for all the above: good command over English, interest in and knowledge of
Muslim community issues, working knowledge of Urdu and Hindi

Ghar wapsi still continues;

teachers group criticises surya
namaskar
Amid raging controversy over ghar wapsi, nine persons,
including three couples, were reconverted to the Hindu religion on 30 January after being Christians for over a decade.
This took place during a brief ceremony in Chennai, in which
Deivanayagi, her husband Shekhar, Annakili and her spouse
Rajendran and Lakshmi and her husband Jeyaraman were
reconverted. Besides, Jamuna, Nagamma and Mouli Velu
too were reconverted to the Hindu faith. All of them hail from
suburban Minjur and all are construction labourers. State
general secretary of Hindu Makkal Katchi, Rama Ravikumar,
led the ceremony and prayers. Deivanayagi and Shekhar
said they became Christians 17 years ago as the local
church allegedly promised them dwellings if they got converted. Lakshmi and Jayaraman said that they followed the
Christian faith for six years. We were given houses on rent
and we faced social problems in our community after we
converted, they said. Jamuna said that she became

Quote, Unquote
MODI
Modis real problem is not his silence on Hindutva excesses
growing in the country. It is that he seems bereft of any big
ideas. His statements are quite banal and the acronyms he is
fed - like 5 Ts (talent, tradition, tourism, trade, technology),
3Ds (democracy, demography and demand), HIT (highways,
informationways, and transmissionways), ABCD (avoid,
bypass, confuse, delay), ROAD (responsibility, ownership,
accountability, discipline) and so on - may amuse some
school kids but unless translated into policy, they amount to
little. He needs to transform India without tom-toming his
cleverness through minute-by-minute tweets. A quieter Prime
Minister, P V Narasimha Rao, did much more to change India
without a fan-club saying wah-wah all the time.
Bharat Bhushan
Business Standard. January 14, 2015

Christian as she was promised a bountiful life with no worries, if she chose that faith.
Coinciding with this ghar wapsi, Punjab Chief Minister
Prakash Singh Badal said the twin principles of socialism
and secularism were the underlying spirit of the Indian
Constitution. He said that any deviation from these two basic
tenets of Constitution would be against the interest of the
country. The CM said that India being a land of diversities
was endowed with people hailing from various religions,
castes, creeds and linguistic backgrounds.
In a separate incident, a teachers group in Rajsthan has
opposed the state governments move to introduce surya
namaskar (Sun worship) in government schools from the
upcoming academic session. The protests came after the
state education minister, Vasudev Devnani, said that surya
namaskar would be made compulsory in government
schools. Religion should not invade into the territory of education. Surya namaskar is purely a religious practice. The
government should draw a line between nationalism and
religion and keep both things apart to save society from further divide, said Prakash Mishra, spokesperson of
Rajasthan Shikshak Sangh.

EMPEROR AKBAR
Akbar faced the same difficulty as the one we are facing in
todays world: he ruled over a vast, extremely diverse
empire, inhabited by people of countless creeds, castes and
ethnic origins. As a matter of principle, but also for
pragmatic imperialist reasons, he wanted them to be united
- if not in brotherhood, then at least in mutual respect and
harmony. Quite early in his reign, he became convinced that
the essence of a kings duty is to guarantee universal
tolerance and equality for all his subjects, regardless of their
creed and ethnic origin (Sulh-i-kul, or peace for All, as his
teacher Mir Abdul Latif called it). That is why he attempted
to rule in strict neutrality; that is why he spent countless
hours convincing himself and others that even rigorously
orthodox Islam is perfectly compatible with universal
tolerance and pluralism. These are insights that remain as
relevant in our own 21st century as they were in his own
time.
Dirk Collier
Autobiography of Emperor Akbar

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

Communal forces target Muslims in Karnataka

BELGAUM LETTER

IQBAL AHMAD JAKATI

What is the objective behind the news of terror
activities? Where is the training camp in
Belgaum? Now, Tablighi Jamaat is being targeted! Karnataka is seen on the top of the list of
communal forces. Muslims are afraid of the terror-involvement news circulating through newspapers. We cannot make out what is happening!
The lives of Muslim youth have come under the
shadow of false allegations. Some Kannada
newspapers, like Kannad Prabha, have even
attacked Tablighi Jamaat saying that the religious
groups like Tablighi Jamaat, which wanders
around different places for propagation of Islam,
should be investigated. Now, we can foresee that
in the days to come, these religious groups too
are going to be targeted.
Sakaal, a Belgaum-based Marathi newspaper, claimed that organisations like Indian
Mujahideen, Lashkar-e Toiba, Harkatul Jihad are
active in the town and they are running training
camps in Belgaum and the adjoining areas. The
newspaper claimed that 25 Muslim youth are
sent to Pakistan every year and that the recent
arrest of Dr. Syed Ismail from Bhatkal has
revealed this.
Generally, Muslims in the villages of
Karnataka do not pay any attention to religious
differences. Most of them are farmers and they
are busy with earning their livelihood. But now
Muslims, because of the terror news in different
newspapers, live under fear if they or their children will be booked under terror acts.
For the last many years, it has been seen that
the news of the presence of Indian Mujahideen
or SIMI sleeper cells are circulated in media and
then a kind of terror atmosphere is created. The
question is: what is the benefit of this exercise?
People of Belgaum want to know those who run
these training camps and where are these camps
located? Who are those who went to Pakistan?
What are their names? People dont want to

compromise with the security of the country. but

why rumours and fabricated stories are being
created? The reality is something different
Training camps of Ram Sene are being operated in Gokak, Bailhongal, Bagalkot of Karnataka
under the supervision of Muthalik and the youth
here are given training to use rifles and lathis.
They are even provoked against Muslims. But
neither media nor government are interested in
these camps. Now, the communal forces are
planning to designate Tablighi Jamaat with the
label of terror outfit. These forces always take the
help of media first and then try to implicate innocent Muslims and their organisations. Now these
forces are not in the mood of even sparing
Tablighi Jamaat as they are trying to create
doubts of terror even against Muslim religious
organisations. It seems that our religious organisations are being targeted and the government
keeps mum on the issue. If the BJP government
can ban Ram Sene in the state of Goa, why the
Congress government is silent on this matter in
Karnataka?
Organisations like Ram Sene are continuously exhibiting arms and imparting arms training to
Hindu youth and radicalising them. Fear has
clouded the state of Karnataka. Communal
forces are spewing venom against a particular
community and police are picking up Muslim
youth in the name of terror activities. But
Muslims still feel that the law of the land will
bring justice. Police should deal with this matter
keeping in view the crimes, not the religion, of
the perpetrators. It is high time that people
should come forward against communal forces
and raise their voice to protect democracy and
national integrity of the country. A country cannot
progress while burning with communal violence,
that it can achieve growth and development only
with peace and religious harmony.

Ram Sene imparting arms training in Kalloli, Bagalkot district, Karnataka (2013)

The author is editor of the Belgaum-based

weekly Paigham-e Ittehad

Relief work for Bihars Azizpur riot victims not satisfactory

Muzaffarpur: A team of Social Democratic Party
of India (SDPI) which visited riot-affected areas
and people of Azizpur village in Bihar raised
questions on the investigative process of security agencies and relief and rehabilitation work and
came to the conclusion that the way relief work
by the government is going on is not at all satisfactory. The team members also met the riot victims and heard their grievances. Team members
said that the way the police is going from house
to house to investigate, will not make the task of
identifying the accused persons easy.
The team members demanded that police
should go from house to house along with elders and responsible people of the village and

make inquiries in their presence only then some

progress in the matter can be made because
when a sense of fear prevails and men folk
themselves are afraid and many of them have
left for other places, how can women narrate the
whole thing freely in the presence of police only.
Some of the team members including state president of th party Dr Yunus Ansari were Qari
Javed Akhtar Faizi, Khurshid Alam and others.
Jamaat-e Islami Hind Bihar members who
visited the affected areas separately for the second time and distributed blankets, mats, utencils, lanterns and other basic items. Though
many milli organisations have distributed relief
materials to the affected people, many essential

Musings

A lesson to bigots
from Islamic history
A female editor of the Bombay edition of the Urdu daily,
Awadhnama, is being hounded by some Muslims for reprinting a
cartoon from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Though a rather silly editorial decision on her part, calling her an
apostate (murtad) is a reflection of religious extremism.
Caricaturing Muhammad or any revered figure in Islam is forbidden but let me ask a pertinent question: Does anywhere in the
6666 verses of the Quran, one finds a categorical statement of
the depiction of Muhammad as a forbidden act? I dont want to
quote internet references as anyone can do that and tell you that
the dignified images of Muhammad were acceptable right from
the beginning of Islam but became blasphemous only in recent
times. The extremely hardcore interpretation of Islam as an imagiophobic faith surprisingly came from Judaism which also takes
a scannerto graven images. Despite Islam and Judaism being at
loggerheads with each other, therere striking interpolative similarities between the two faiths. The legendary orientalist Dr Edward
W Said (a Palestinian Christian) stated this fact when I met him in
NY just before his death. How many sub-continental Muslims can
read Quraan in original Arabic? Even the so-called Hafiz-e-Quran
(those who memorise the entire Quran) learn it by rote without
ever understanding the deeper connotations of many a verse. The
poor editor has asked for forgiveness and she must be forgiven.
The great medieval Arab theologian Al-Suyuti, who was also a
calligrapher, sketched Muhammad using the Arabic alphabet and
no one protested. So whys there so much hue and cry over a

things are still needed by them. Head of the team

said that the rioters looted household goods to
such an extent that nothing is left in the houses.
Whatever cash, ornaments and small things they
could take were taken away and whatever they
were unable to take were set on fire.
In addition to Jamat-e Islami team, members
of Manav Adhikar Suraksha Parishad also distributed cash amounting to Rs 2,40,000 and Rs
20,000 extra to each of the six girls whose marriages were fixed but jahez and other goods were
looted or burnt. In this team there were persons
like Dr. Zaheerul Haq, Shamshad Alam, Shashi
Ranjan Kumar and others. Another team of Qazi

mere depiction of Muhammad in a respectful manner anywhere in

the world?

Arabs gave idlis to the South India!

If I say that Idli (rice cake) was concocted and given by Arab settlers to the people of South, Ill be crucified in public, especially
by the South Indians. But the truth cannot be suppressed because
its overwhelming. The references to the modern recipe of idli
appear in the Indian works only after 1250 CE. The food historian
K T Acharya speculates that the modern idli recipe might have
originated in present-day Indonesia, which has a long tradition of
fermented food. According to him, the cooks employed by the
Hindu kings of the Indianised kingdom may have invented the
steamed idli there, and brought the recipe back to India during
800-1200 CE. But this is being questioned by modern food historians like Lizzie Collingham, Kristen Gremillion, Raymond Grew,
Makhdoom Al-Salaqi (Syria), Zahiruddin Afiyaab (Lebanon),
among others and references available at Al-Azhars University
Library (Cairo, Egypt) also suggest that Arab traders in the southern belt gave idli when they settled there after marrying girls from
that part. Now the question is, how that happened? Its a known
fact that Arab traders used to come to southern coast for trading
purpose and that predated even the advent of Islam. The first
mosque outside Arab peninsula was erected by the Arab settlers
who came here as traders. Even Christianity made its presence
felt in the South almost simultaneously with the crucifixion of
Jesus at Calvary. The first church outside western world was built
in the South in the 52 AD, though Thomas (one of the twelve
apostles of Jesus who is famous as Doubting Thomas) coming
to India to evangelize Hindus has been debunked unanimously.
The Arab settlers were very strict in their dietary preferences
because many of them came here when Muhammad was still
alive and they were neo-converts to Islam from Paganism. They

institution Sharaiyya Bihars Branch included

Mufti Shamimul Qadiri which distributed Rs
5000 to each affected house.
Many other teams from different milli organisations had visited the affected areas, distributed relief materials and impressed upon them
the need to have patience. Leader of some
teams assured the riot affected people that they
will send a detailed report of the losses to the
government and put pressure on the government
to provide more financial assistance so that
losses could be compensated for, to the maximum extent.

MG NEWS DESK

insisted upon halaal (kosher) food and the Indian food was quite
alien to their palate. To avoid all such confusion regarding whats
halaal or haraam (forbidden) in food, they began to make rice
balls as it was very easy to make and was the safest option available. After making the rice balls, theyd slightly flatten them and
eat with bland coconut paste (see, Encyclopaedia of food history edited by Collingham and Gordon Ramsay of Britain, Oxford
University Press and Seed to civilisation. The story of food by
Heiser Charles B, Harvard UP, 1990). Later it was improved upon
and the 8th century onward, Idli in its modern avatar came into
existence. Its worthwhile to mention that the Arab traders of
South, made it in the 7th century.

Kudos to Aatish Taseer

Novelist Aatish Taseers below-the-belt observation that India is
semi-literate and Chetan Bhagat is the best it can do, is a kind of
an eye-opener Indian readers of English cannot turn a Nelsons
eye to. With due respect to Chetan Bhagat, what he writes is
indeed trash, which cant even be qualified as a readable trash.
Its an uncomfortable fact that India is a semi-literate country
where only a few people know really good English. The rest cannot be counted. Bhagat caters to the rest through his humdrum
novels, written in very bad English. The IT folks and shallow
youngsters from the metros can relate to his predictable themes
because their scope of knowledge and the level of English are
awfully inadequate. Weaned on internet English, this Im good
crop of English-speaking Indians thinks that Chetan Bhagat is a
great novelist writing in Indian-English because theyve not read
the finest world literature and their exposure is not at all vast.
Bhagats books are like snacks of puerile ideas. They dont constitute a staple diet of depth and profundity. Hes for the
(mediocre) masses.

SUMIT PAUL

sumitmaclean@hotmail.com

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

Birbhum Muslims being sacrificed at the alter of Trinamool and BJP

ABDUL AZIZ
Kolkata: Birbhum district of West Bengal is located at about 200
kms from Kolkata. The population of Muslims here is about 20
percent. A few months ago mutual fights started within Trinamool
Congress (Trinamool) cadres in Makhra village under Paroi thana.
It started growing in intensity and gradually the party got divided
into two factions. With the coming in of BJP government at the
Centre, BJP allied itself with one faction. Both factions consisted
of Muslims but they grew so blood thirsty against each other that
in the fights that ensued, 13 Muslims were killed. The name of one
Trinamool MLA, Munirul Islam, began to appear in the headlines.
Their violent activities became more and more intense and their
violence and brutalities became common talk in the whole of West
Bengal. Excesses and cruelties of the Trinamool MP of the area
also increased. Munirul Islam started working under the patronage
of this MP who in turn started doing his best, under the patronage
of the chief minister, to keep Birbhum under the control of
Trinamool. Boys who were already violent and tasked to make
bombs began to oppose Trinamool.
BJP adopted violence in all possible ways. Slowly, villages
after villages came under the control of violent elements. As
Trinamool leaders began to suppress criminals and violent elements with the help of police, ground started slipping from under
their feet so much so that Trinamool leaders found it difficult to live
in their own villages and began to fear entering their own villages.
Some days ago Mithun of Satora village, whose real name is
Masoom, threw a bomb at the police and went underground. He
is still untraced. It is said that his family had been indulging in violence and goondaism for generations. Earlier this family was in the
Congress but later jointed CPIM. When Trinamool came to power
it latched on to Trinamool and now this boy has started working
for BJP. Police raided Mithuns house on 20 January to arrest him.
When he could not be caught, police began to search for his
mother Nargis. When she too could not be caught, police got hold
of his younger aunt Hayatunnisa. Police tortured her a lot so as to
find the whereabouts of Mithun but they did not succeed in this
way also. Media began to criticise the police because of which it
was compelled to free Hayatunnisa.
A joint fact-finding delegation of Womens Awareness
Movement of Kolkata, led by Mrs Qudsia Ahmad and of the
Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat under the leadership of its general
secretary Mr Abdul Aziz, reached the village on 11 February to
tour Birbhums affected areas. It found a police camp there while
police personnel were keeping vigil.
Mrs Hayatunnisa told the delegation members that police
caught hold of her by force, took her to a forest, tied her to a tree
and mercilessly beat her up to force her to disclose the whereabouts of her nephew Maithun. But since she knew nothing about
his whereabouts, she could not tell them anything. A few hours
later the police released her. When she was asked why she and
her family members were supporting BJP in spite of BJPs antiMuslim attitude and policy, she replied with a smile that if they and
the village people had not sought BJPs help, Trinamool Congress
with the help of police would have made their lives hell. Maithuns
mother Nargis said that Trinamool people exploited her son in any
way they wanted but in return they did not give him anything. They
had promised to give him 20,000 rupees but did not pay him even
a rupee till date. They did not provide him with a job, so for how
long he could have waited?, she asked.
The delegation members came to know that a few days back
Maithun had thrown a bomb on police at the instance of his new

The owner of a chemist shop said in reply to a question that when politics was not common and was
not a potent factor, people of the village used to solve their problems themselves but ever since politics has become widespread, politicians have become influential and politics of violence has destroyed
the village. This evil of violence is somewhat more widespread in villages inhabited by Muslims.
Muslim youth are available at a cheaper rate than others to undertake subversive activities, hence
they are easily exploitable.
political bosses, injuring many policemen as a result. Police is in
his pursuit to exact its revenge for the attack on the police.
Delegation members met many people in this village who all
were singing paeans of BJP and complaining of Trinamools
excesses and cruelties. They claimed that Trinamool is not providing any help now, hence they perforce seek the help of BJP. The
owner of a chemist shop said in reply to a question that when politics was not common and was not a potent factor, people of the
village used to solve their problems themselves but ever since politics has become widespread, politicians have become influential
and politics of violence has destroyed the village.
This evil of violence is somewhat more widespread in villages
inhabited by Muslims. Muslim youth are available at a cheaper
rate than others to undertake subversive activities, hence they are
easily exploitable.
The delegation members also toured Makhra village which
comes under the jurisdiction of Paroi thana. In this village, a number of Muslims were killed in violence. All the village folk, men,
women, children and the elderly, prefer to live under the patronage
of BJP. When they are told that BJP is an enemy of Muslims, they
clearly say that BJP may very well be the enemy of Muslims in
Gujarat and other places but here it is with us, i.e., it is helping
these people to defeat Trinamool. It came to our knowledge that
people of almost three blocks, where the population of Muslims is
about 80 percent, now support the BJP. In reply to a question by
delegating members, a youngster said that Muslim leaders of
Jamiat like Siddiqullah Chaudhary and people from his party, PDC,
had come here but Siddiqullah too has become an agent of
Trinamool because of which people of the village have started hating him. Now no one listens to Muslim leaders and no Muslim
group or Jamaat has any following here. The competition or fight
now is between Trinamool and BJP. Influence of Congress is virtually nil here. As regards CPM leaders and cadres, they are afraid
and terrified. Some have even fled from the village while some
people are not opening their shops out of fear.
Delegation members also met Trinamool leader Sheikh
Mustafa. When the delegation leader Abdul Aziz asked him, why
after all the villages are so much against Trinamool, he replied that
all have come under the leadership of anti-social elements. CPM
is the party of atheists and BJP is anti-Muslim and both are fighting jointly against Trinamool, he said adding that BJP is openly
against Trinamool and CPM is targeting it from behind the scene.
When he was told that all people of the village are not anti-social
elements, why then they were all against Trinamool, he said that
all have been purchased on the strength of money. In reply to
another question, he said that his leader Mamta Bannerji wants to
constitute a front of all parties to fight against the communalist
BJP and RSS. When he was asked if his party would like to form
a front of all parties and fight against BJP and RSS, he said that
he and his party will certainly be ready for this.
The delegation consisted of Mrs Uzma Alam, secretary of
Women Awareness Movement, Dr. Naeemuddin, Sadiq Ahmad
and Mr Abdul Aziz, general secretary of the West Bengal unit of the
All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat.
The delegation arrived at the following conclusions:

(1) Muslims have become sacrificial goats in the fight between

Trinamool and BJP. Whenever there has been a political change in
West Bengal, the Muslim community alone has been made the
sacrificial goat. History is again repeating itself.
(2) Because of Trinamoolss short-sightedness and injustice, BJP
is strengthening its position in the state. If Trinamool does not
change its strategy and manners, very soon the ground will slip
from under its feet.
(3) BJP is adopting the same strategy for capturing political power
in West Bengal which political parties had adopted earlier.
(4) Chivalry and sincerity have taken a plunge in Muslim leadership and it too appears to be seeking leadership with the support
of others.
(5) What is needed is that good social and political people and
leaders should come forward and boldly face violence, communalism and fascism. If they fail in this duty, West Bengal too will
start burning in the fire of communalism.
(6) Muslims need to fight against communalism and violence in
cooperation with people of all communities. If any Muslim party
fights elections on communal lines, Muslims will be harmed and
communalists will benefit. For communal harmony, Muslims will
have to be very active and vigilant. Only then the atmosphere of
West Bengal will be conducive for Muslims.
The author is a Kolkata-based veteran journalist and general secretary
of the West Bengal Unit of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat.
The report is based on a fact-finding mission co-led by the author to
Birbhumm in early February.

Bajrang Dal to build a nationwide Hindu Force

Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of VHP, is planning to build a Hindu

Force across the country which will start from April this year.
Bajrang Dal will establish Shakti Aaradhan Kendra (power worship
centre) in every district of the country where the volunteers will
learn how to use lathis and pistols. According to a report in Nav
Bharat Times (27 January. 2015), this was decided in a recent
meeting called by the leaders of Bajrang Dal. The final and detailed
discussions will be held on 16-17 March during a national meet
in Raipur. Bajrang Dal will choose around 200 square yard of land
in every district to start its arena for the training purpose.
According to a Bajrang Dal leader, the purpose behind the Hindu
force is to consolidate Hindu manpower. He said that a Hanuman
idol of 2-3 feet height will be erected in every centre for which the
order is being placed in Jaipur. He further added that the centre
will also attract parents as their children will be guided towards
the right path through the centre. These forces will also be used
at the time of threat, according to the report. On the other hand,
Gujarat School Board circular created ruckus on the occasion of
Basant Panchami. The Board had issued a circular to all schools
including Urdu medium ones to organise Saraswati Vandana on
this occasion across the state, prompting protests from the opposition. Congress leaders said that it is an attack on the rights of
minorities. The leaders blamed that the ruling party is trying to
push the agenda of Hindutva. (Navbharat Times, 27 Jan. 2015)

NIA censures Special Cell, gives clean chit to Liaqat Shah

BILAL BHAT
New Delhi: National Investigative Agency (NIA),
which was investigating Liaqat Shahs case, has
finally acquitted him of all terror charges. NIA
has accused Delhi Police Special Cell of fabricating a fictitious terror case to frame Liaqat Shah.
On 24 January, NIA gave a clean chit to Sayyed
Liaqat Shah alias Liaqat Bukhari who was arrested by Delhi Police on the charge of hatching a
conspiracy to execute terror attacks in Delhi in
March 2013. The NIA has also said that five officials including one of the rank of deputy commissioner of police were involved in fabrication
of charges against Liaqat Shah.
In March 2013, Delhi police had claimed to
have recovered some explosives from a
locked room in a guest house in Old Delhi,
which, it claimed, were for Shah to carry out terror attacks in Delhi. On 20th March, 2013,
Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested him claiming he was coming to Delhi through Nepal to
carry out terror attacks.
However, there was a huge public outcry all
over the country. Even the Jammu & Kashmir
Police protested his arrest, saying that Shah was
returning home as per the state governments
policy of allowing people, who had exfiltrated to
PoK in early 1990s, to return home. The then
chief minister Omar Abdullah also had raised the
issue with the Union Home Ministry. The case
was later on handed over to NIA.
The NIA investigation has also revealed that
the explosives were planted. On 24 January, NIA
filed a charge-sheet in RC 03/13/NIA/DLI
(Sayyed Liaqat Shah Case), before the NIA

Liaqat Shah after his arrest

Special Court, Patiala House, New Delhi. In a
press statement, the NIA said, The investigation
conducted by NIA has revealed that the charges
against the accused were not proved and that he
was coming into India to obtain the benefit of the
surrender policy of the Government of Jammu
and Kashmir.
The statement further said that NIA investigation has revealed that Sabir Khan Pathan s/o
Fida Mohammad c/o Barrack No. 2, Special Cell
Niwas, BG 21, Lodhi Colony, New Delhi and permanent resident of village Gelana, Tehsil Susner,
District Shahjahpur, Madhya Pradesh, was
responsible for the placement of weapons and
explosives in the guest house room. The said
Sabir Khan Pathan is an informer of the Special
Cell.
Further, NIA said in its chargesheet in the
case that Special Cell officers were negligent in
recovering CCTV footage in and around Jama
Masjid area and had submitted damaged data

that could not be retrieved in spite of advanced

forensic examination.
The NIA chargesheet added that between
20-21 March that year, the main accused (Sabir
Khan Pathan), who allegedly planted the arms
and ammunition at Haji Arafat Guest House in
Jama Masjid area, spoke to Special Cell officers
on 40 occasions. Though the chargesheet mentions Special Cell ACP, Inspectors, head constables and constables by their names as those
with whom Pathan was in touch, they have not
been named as accused in the case. This makes
it clear that Sabir Khan Pathan, a small-time,
expendable character, has been made a scapegoat to spare the Special Cell officers who must
have meticulously planned and executed the
operation including supply of the arms which
their informer planted in the guest-house room.
Besides Special Cell ACP Manishi Chandra,
the NIA has forwarded the names of three
inspectors and five head constables and constables to the Union home ministry, under which
the Delhi Police functions, for appropriate action
which could range from censure to dismissal.
According to the NIA, Pathan was a Special
Cell informer for the past 10 years and used to
stay at the Special Cell barracks in Lodhi Colony.
His cellphone locations on March 20, 2013, the
day he planted the explosives, show that he was
present at Lodhi Colony hours before and after
going to the guesthouse. Even when the guesthouse was being raided by Special Cell, with
Shah in custody, Pathan received a call from one
of the officers, the NIA chargesheet says.
Accordingly, NIA has filed a charge-sheet
against Sabir Khan Pathan under sections 25 (1-

A), 25 (1-B) of Arms Act, S.5 of the Explosive

Substances Act, and under Sections 465, 471,
174-A of IPC. Further investigation is being
conducted to unravel the conspiracy behind the
placement of weapons, said NIA in its statement. It further added that they include an officer of the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of
Police and a couple of inspectors who had
allegedly connived with Aslam Hakla, a Jammu
& Kashmir resident, who had gone to Nepal to
receive Liaqat Shah, a resident of Lolab in North
Kashmir. Sources said NIA has recommended
regular departmental action with major penalty
for the officials of the anti-terror cell of Delhi
Police. The court has fixed 6 April to consider
the NIA chargesheet.
After receiving a 20-page note from NIA, the
Union home ministry is mulling action against
Delhi police Special Cell officers who had
framed and fabricated terror charges against the
Kashmiri Man.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police seems to have
failed to learn its lessons from the episode. The
Times of India on 30 January quoted a defiant
Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi as saying,
the officers whose names were being tossed in
the media should be honoured for having kept
Delhi safe from terrorist strikes over the years.
Ironically, this is not the first case which has
led to a serious debate in media pertaining to the
relevance of the terror operations carried by
Delhi Police Special Cell. Fifteen similar cases
related to the Special Cell were reported earlier
in the book Framed, Damned, Acquitted:
Dossiers of a Very Special Cell by Jamia Millia
Professor Manisha Sethi.

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

What was Gandhis Evaluation of RSS?

RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
Under the Modi governmnet
attempts are being made to
present Gandhi in a light which
is favourable to the Sangh.
First, the Swachchta Abhiyan
(cleanliness drive) was inaugurated on Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October). Then it
was claimed that RSS had nothing to do with
Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse. Now,
efforts are on to extract a certificate from Gandhi
that he thought RSS was very good.
A multimedia programme is being shown in
Dandi Kutir, which was inaugurated by the prime
minister earlier this January. In this it is claimed
that Gandhi had come to RSS camp in Wardha
along with Ghanshyamdas Birla in 1930. Gandhi
was highly impressed by the functioning of RSS
and wanted to meet Dr. Hedgewar, its founder.
As per these claims the mahatma did meet the
RSS founder the next day.
Irrespective of these claims, the facts are
otherwise. On one side, what is known is that
RSS was very critical of Gandhis politics, his
broadening of the national movement to include
the average people of the country in the NonCooperation Movement. This movement was the
major event which awakened the people of India
and linked them with the anti-British movement.
This was the major landmark in the step towards
India as a nation in the making. This aspect of
Indian nationalism came under heavy criticism
from RSS leadership, whose founder rejected
Hindu-Muslim unity and the Non Cooperation
Movement. Hedgewar went on to write, As a

Indian forces
lack minority
representation
Despite special drives launched to recruit
youth from the minority communities in the
paramilitary forces, their representation remains
low as the efforts failed to yield the desired
results. There is still less only 9.9 per cent
minority representation in the paramilitary
forces. As a matter of fact, with the exception of
the Border Security Force and the Assam Rifles,
none of the military ad para-military forces have
substantial minority representation. There are
only 85,918 personnel from the minority com-

Amongst the recorded opinions about Gandhis evaluation of RSS, the

most authentic is the one of his secretary Pyarelal, who narrates an event in
the wake of 1946 riots. A member of Gandhis entourage had praised the efficiency, discipline, courage and capacity for hard work shown by RSS cadres
at Wagah, a major transit camp for Punjab refugees. Gandhi quipped back,
but dont forget, even so had Hitlers Nazis and Fascists under Mussolini.
result of Non Cooperation Movement of
Mahatma Gandhi, the enthusiasm in the country
was cooling down and the evils of social life,
which that movement generated, were menacingly raising their head. As per him, it is due to
this movement that Brahmin-non Brahmin conflict was nakedly on view (C.P.Bhishikar in
Keshav Sangh Nirmata, Pune 1979, p. 7). What
he is calling Brahmin-non Brahmin conflict was
actually the struggle of Dalits for their land rights
and social dignity, for change in the graded hierarchy of caste. Hedgewar, true to the RSS ideology of upholding the values of declining preindustrial social system, was against the movement. This non-Brahman movement was actually challenging the status quo of caste relationships in society.
Hedgewars successor Golwalkar went further to criticise the Indian national movement as
being just anti-British. Golwalkar writes, The
theories of territorial nationalism and common
danger, which formed the basis of our concept
of nation, had deprived us of the positive and
inspiring content of our real Hindu nationhoodAnti-Britishism was equated with patriotism and nationalism, this reactionary view had
disastrous effects upon the entire course of freedom movement, its leaders and its people
(Bunch of Thoughts, Bangalore 1996, p. 138).

This is so far as what Sangh thought of Gandhi

and his struggles for uniting India as a nation
state with the ideology of Indian nationalism.
Now, how did Gandhi look at RSS? As RSS
for long was working quietly, there are not too
many references about the role of RSS during
this period. Also, since it was not a part of the
national movement we cant comment on its role
in that movement. From whatever one can glean
from available sources one can say that
Gandhis thoughts were not favourable to RSS.
In Harijan, on August 9, 1942, Gandhi writes, I
had heard of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
and its activities; and also know that it was a
communal organisation. This was in response
to the slogans and some speeches against the
other community, about which a complaint
was made. In this Gandhi is referring to the drill
of RSS volunteers, who shouted that this nation
belonged to Hindus alone and once the British
left, they would subjugate the non-Hindus. In
response to the rowdyism indulged in by communal organisations, he writes: I hear many
things about RSS. I have heard it said the Sangh
is at the root of all this mischief(Gandhi, xcviii,
320-322).
Amongst the recorded opinions about
Gandhis evaluation of RSS, the most authentic
is the one of his secretary Pyarelal, who narrates

munities in the six central forces put together.

Minority communities include Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Budhists and Jains
who together constitute around 19 per cent of
the Indian population.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF),
Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal
(SSB), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
and Assam Rifles put together have a strength of
8.62 lakh, but only 9.9 per cent of that is from
the minorities. According to a home ministry
data, in the last ten years, on an average every
year only about nine per cent of the recruitments
from the minority communities have been made.
Even as the government wants to increase
the number of women in these forces, women
from minority communities are just at a dismal
with only 2,240. Even the ones who are there do
not make to the top positions. There are no

women officers from these communities at the

level of inspector general or above.
There are very few men who have made it to
the top brass across the forces. The governments explanation is that there is no reservation fixed on the basis of religion in the paramilitary forces. Officials say that even though there
are over 70,000 vacancies in these forces, little
has been done to fill them.
Even though in the last few years, the representation of minorities has marginally
increased, from 6.5 per cent in 2012 to 9.5
per cent in 2014, there is still scope to give
the numbers a push. The prime ministers 15point programme during the UPA government
for the welfare of minorities asked the states
to specially consider minorities while recruiting policemen. A recommendation was made
by the Sachar Committee in this regard as
well. It has been observed that the recruitment

Whose Conversion?
SUNIL KUMAR
From national Parliament to the streets of Agra, everyone is talking about conversions in the city of Taj. The opposition in Rajya
Sabha is adamant on a statement from the Prime Minister. The
ruling party is pushing for an anti-conversion bill. This has led to
a deadlock in Parliament. Major issues of this nation are not being
discussed and people are not able to know what the government
is doing. The Constitution gives everyone freedom to practise and
propagate their religion and also to convert to their faith. However,
when conversions are forced or carried through inducements,
they become illegal.
For a long time, Bengali Muslims had been living in Agra
and earning their livelihood by ragpicking. Out of these, 57
families were converted to Hinduism by Sangh organisation
like VHP, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Samiti through havan.
Hindu outfits are calling this as ghar wapsi, whereas others are
calling this forced conversion. For organisation like VHP people it is merely ghar wapsi, but others are saying that this is
illegal conversion through promises of ration card, Aadhaar
Card, and identity card.
Ramzan and Munira say theirs was a forced and induced conversion. They were promised Aadhaar Card and ration card and
identity card. People living at the margins of society are often targetted for conversion.
The larger question is whether by merely offering ghee in
havan and chandan tilak, one can convert to the caste-based
Hindu system. They were ragpickers then and even after conversion they are doing the same job. There is no real change (conversion) in the situation of these Muslims in Agra. When that ragpicker is ill, he buys a tablet or two worth Rs. 2 or 4 from the
nearest medical store, and tells himself that he is fine. The people
who got him converted do not care whether he has two square
meals a day. They do not care whether the swacchta mission has
led to any change in their life or not. Has their life changed for the
better or worse, whether by privatisation of waste management

their livelihood has suffered or not? A woman who does not have
money to buy a burqa, how can anyone make her a Hindu or a
Muslim?
The number of such ragpickers in Delhi is 3 lakh. From the
morning till late night, they are busy searching for rags, from one
lane to another, from one basti to another, traversing drains,
industrial areas and residential colonies. Children carrying largesized bags on their shoulders, women holding magnets, men
pulling rickshaws from one place to another, one house to another, searching for rags. As many as 95 percent of these people
from Assam and Bengal are illiterate. They want to study but they
do not have the opportunity.
Muhammad Ali (22) is from Barpeta district of Assam. He
came to Delhi with his father when he was 14 years old. He lives
near Delhis Tikri Border in a slum, occupying a 8X10 feet room
and pays Rs. 1300 every month as rent. For him the nearest
source of drinking water is a hand-pump. Though the government
publishes advertisements worth crores of rupees that such water
is not fit for drinking, it does not arrange alternative sources of
drinking water. Muhammad has not been to his village since he
came to Delhi eight years ago. His father has since returned,
being old and infirm. He misses his three sisters and mother,
whom he has not seen all these years. Whenever someone goes
to his village he sends them his photographs and similarly, when
someone comes from there, they send their photographs.
Muhammad wants to study. He wants to go to his village and
meet his sisters but he cannot as he is the only earning member
of his family. He is worried that in winters he will get fewer rags,
and running his household will be difficult.
In K Block of Jahangirpuri, lives Babloo, who has come from
Lalgarh in West Bengal. Babloo has a name common to Hindus
and Muslims. Sangh Parivar can ask him to convert as well.
Babloo came to Bhalsawa area of Delhi with his parents when he
was7-8 years old. His parents worked in a godown where they
were abused and humiliated everyday on small issues. One day
they left their work and came to Narela, where they often went
hungry. They started ragpicking. Babloo lives in a small jhopdi
with his wife and children. He has to pay Rs. 2000 per month as
rent. There are almost 300 families living in this basti. They are all

an event in the wake of 1946 riots. A member of

Gandhis entourage had praised the efficiency,
discipline, courage and capacity for hard work
shown by RSS cadres at Wagah, a major transit
camp for Punjab refugees. Gandhi quipped back,
but dont forget, even so had Hitlers Nazis and
Fascists under Mussolini. Gandhi characterised
RSS as a communal body with a totalitarian
outlook (Pyarelal, Mahatma Gandhi: The Last
Phase, Ahmadabad, p. 440).
After Independence, in the context of Delhi
violence (Rajmohan Gandhi, Mohandas, page
642), Gandhi confronted the RSS chief
Golwalkar, with reports of RSS hand in Delhi violence. Denying the allegations Golwalkar also
said that RSS did not stand for killing Muslims.
Gandhi asked him to say so publicly. Golwalkar
said Gandhi could quote him on this. Gandhi did
this in his prayer talk that evening, but he told
Golwalkar that the statement ought to come from
him. Later he told Nehru that he did not find
Golwalkar convincing.
Today, having occupied the seat of power at
Centre, RSS is desperate to link itself to the legacy of freedom movement, from which it had kept
aloof. It had criticised the freedom movement as
people from all communities were part of It. RSS
aims for a Hindu nation, the way Muslim
Leagues goal was Muslim nation. At present,
treading a careful path, it wants to appropriate
Gandhi for which a certificate is needed from
Gandhi himself. So his sentence is being manipulated to highlight hard disciplined work and to
hide the rider, so had been the Nazis of Hitler
and Fascists of Mussolini. The basic contradiction in the two types of nationalism should guide
us about Gandhis attitude towards RSS, despite
the tomtomed claims from the Sangh.


process has failed to reach people in remote
areas. The Sachar report on social, economic
and educational condition of the Muslim community had said percentage of minority in
police force was very low and there was
hardly any inspector from the minority communities posted in minority-dominated areas.
The home ministry in the past had written to
the heads of these forces to increase minority
representation. BSF has 27,916 personnel from
the minority communities amounting to 11.69
per cent out of 2.38 lakh. Of this, 730 are
women from the minority communities, the
highest in any paramilitary force. CRPF has
26,269 minority personnel, including 637
women, out of 2.84 lakh. While Assam Rifles
has the highest percentage of minorities at
16.16 per cent, the lowest is in ITBP with 6.18
per cent only.

JAWED AKHTER

Muslims from Lalgarh in West Bengal. They go to Rajpura Road,

Malkaganj, Timarpur and Mal Road to pick waste. In the same
basti, Rahman, Sonu and Suleman also met us who were 12-14
years of age. They want to study but they cannot as they leave
early to pick waste and come back around 3-4 PM. Then they eat
and sleep. They leave again in the late afternoon to pick waste.
Thousands of ragpicking families live in Tehkhand and
Tughlaqabad in South Delhi. In Tehkhand they reside in jhuggijhopdis on government land near the railway line. While some are
from Assam, most of them are from West Bengal. They have been
living there for the last 15 years. The villagers charge money from
them for residing on land that belongs to Government. In
Tughlaqabad fort, there are jhuggis inhabited by about 300 families in the jungles of the fort. These people pay rent to the villagers
of Tughlaqabad. They search for scraps and metal from the waste
dumps.
To get metal scraps they go to industrial areas and landfill
sites as early as 5 am. Sometimes they go near dumper trucks
to get scraps and metal, which is dangerous, as sometimes
they may hurt themselves, lose their limbs, or die in the bid.
The children mostly stay at home. Sometimes an NGO comes
to teach children. Sometimes someone gives them dalia or
khichdi, which the children relish. They want to study, but
there is no school.
It is the livelihood security, education, health and housing of
there people that is important, not conversion. Budget allocations
for education, health, and rural development are being reduced.
Corporates like Adani group are being given big loans of Rs 62,00
crore, and no one raises voice over it.
Does the Modi government, which came to power on the
agenda of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas want to divert attention
from anti-people laws to conversion and ghar wapsi? Is the work
of Opposition only to highlight non-issues in Parliament like that
of conversion or do they also have the responsibility of disclosing
to the people anti-labour laws, dilution of laws like Land
Acquisition Act and reduction in allocations crucial to public well
being?
The author is a writer and social activist based in Delhi. He may be
contacted at sunilkumar102@gmail.com

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

Hindutvadis keep the communal pot boiling

take every possible step to arrest the accused.

JAWED AKHTER
New Delhi: Sangh Parivar is keeping the communal pot boiling while
the Centre now ruled by their own party prefers to look the other way.
Following are only a few incidents which took place during the past few
weeks:
Azizpur: Communal tension gripped the village of Azizpur in
Muzaffarpur district of Bihar on 18 January after three people were
burnt alive and a mob torched over 36 houses. The violence started in
Azizpur village when the dead body of a boy was found in an abandoned piece of land. The boy was believed to be in relationship with a
Muslim girl. In retaliation of the death of 19-year-old Bhartendu Kumar,
a Hindu mob of some 5000 people went on the rampage and set a
Muslim locality on fire. Besides, more than a dozen motor bikes, two
four-wheelers and several cattle were also set on fire. The mob gathered near one Wasi Ahmeds house whose son, Vikki, said to be an
accused in the abduction and murder of the boy (Bharatendu), had
gone missing on 9 January and the same was reported to the Saraiya
police station where an FIR was lodged against Vikki.
Police personnel were forcefully stopped while heading towards
the site of the violence. Fire brigade was also prevented by the mob
causing more damage and burning of more houses. Additional Director
General of Police, Gupteshwar Pandey, said that police forces have
been sent from the neighbouring districts and they are camping at the
village.
In the same village an example of humanism was seen when Shail
Devi, a widow in her early 50s, risking her own life, gave shelter to her
Muslim neighbours when the mob attacked her village. I provided
shelter to my Muslim neighbours to save their lives because the mob
could have killed them, Shail said. A day after she saved lives of her
Muslim neighbours, some Hindu villagers warned her that she may be
targeted by some people of the mob for doing it, Shail said, adding I
was so frightened that, along with my two daughters and a son, I took
shelter in Mohammads house but after district administration persuaded, I returned to my home.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi ordered a probe by Principal
Secretary Home, Sudhir Kumar and ADG Gupteshwar Pandey in the
incident. He also announced Rs.5 lakh compensation for the kin of
each dead and Rs.50,000 to each injured. At least 14 people were
arrested in this connection.
Mangalore: On 17 January, communal clashes erupted near
Mangalore in Karnataka in which 30 people were injured and properties worth crores were damaged. It is believed that VHP leader Praveen
Togadia and Prabhakar Bhatt, an RSS leader, delivered inflammatory
speeches in the presence of 25,000 volunteers during a congregation.
The speech incited the volunteers to resort to violence after the end of
the programme. A mosque was also targeted and several shops were
destroyed.
Pachora: An incident of violence took place on 14 January when members of Hindu and Muslim communities clashed in Pachora town of
Jalgaon district leading to loss of property and destruction of shops.
Tension had been simmering after a fight between a Muslim boy and a
group of Hindu youth near the Athavade bazaar area where members
of both communities do their shopping. A Muslim boy was beaten up
in the evening and there had been tension in the area after which certain people were booked. Next morning, a Hindu boy was assaulted,
leading to more tension, Jalgaon SP, Jalindar Supekar, said. The minor
clash turned violent when some miscreants entered the Muslim part of
Pachora and damaged two mosques by throwing petrol bombs. Police
has arrested 40 miscreants and were looking for 1200 more.
Hansot: A curfew-like situation prevailed in Hansot town of South
Gujarat in Bharuch district, after communal riots claimed three lives and
left 10 people injured. On 14 January, a minor fight converted into a
communal clash in Ambheta when a Muslim child was beaten up brutally by an adult over a kite quarrel on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
The quarrel turned violent and a godown belonging to one Suleman
Syed was set ablaze by a mob. A field with ready crops was also set
on fire. Rioters looted and torched shops and homes of Muslims in
Ambheta village. Two men from the Hindu community were stabbed to
death. The injured were admitted in hospitals in Surat.
Bareilly: Violence erupted in parts of Bareilly on 15 January over the
delay in arrest of those who had thrown parts of a slaughtered animal
near a temple. Trouble started a day before when a carcass of an animal was found near a temple place in Fatehganj. While police had pacified angry people at that time, some BJP and VHP workers assembled
again in the area and pelted stones at the police. The mob clashed with
police in which 15 people were injured. Meanwhile, Rajesh Agrawal,
BJP MLA, expressed anger at the police. He blamed SP Dharam Veer
Yadav for his one-sided and biased action. He said there had been three
attempts to create communal tension in this area since SP Dharam
Veer Yadav was posted here. Police has arrested more than 20 people
and registered a complaint against 400 people in this regard.
The atmosphere got tense when a carcass of an animal was found in
a field in Pilaka village of Lakhimpur Kheri district. When this information was spread in the village, some people rushed to the place and
raised slogans against the Muslim community. Police reached the
place and controlled the situation, detaining two people in the process.
Police recovered an un-numbered bike and a knife. On the other hand,
VHP district office-bearer threatened to create tension if police failed to
arrest the culprits.
Chakeri: A similar incident on 15 January created tension when a
rumour was spread in the area of Chakeri in Kanpur that a cow was
slaughtered. A crowd gathered on Rama Devi Road and blocked the
movement of vehicles. Circle Officer Mohan Tripathi of the Cantonment
police station, said that some miscreants spread the rumour of cowslaughter, but no animal was found at the place. Someone tried to cre-

Gaya: In another incident, persons from Hindu and Muslim communities pitted against each other when a small fight over loud music during immersion of idols turned violent in Barsima Bazaar of Gaya. The
clash rendered more than a dozen injured. One person received bullet
injury. Police rushed to the place of incident.
Sasaram, Jahanabad and Chhapra: In separate incidents, communal
clashes took place in Sasaram, Jahanabad and Chhapra districts of
Bihar during the immersion of Saraswati idols on 23 January. Many
people got injured in the clashes but police soon managed to control
the situation.

Scene from Azizpur riot

ate communal tension, said the CO.
Hathras: A small incident of beating of a sweeper and his son on
12 January in Hathras led to communal clashes. A sweeper from
Balapatti was beaten up by a group of youngsters while he was sweeping around 9 am in Vidyapatinagar. His father was also beaten up by
the group when he came to save him. Reacting to this incident, a mob
surrounded a market near the locality at around 11 am and beat up
shop-owners and cart-pullers. The mob damaged goods and properties in the market. A mob from the Muslim community made a retaliatory-attack in Balapatti. Stones were thrown from both sides and firing
also took place. A man received a bullet-injury and was rushed to a
hospital. Police reached the place and forces were deployed to control
the violence. District Magistrate of Hathras, Shamim Ahmed, said that
a fight erupted over a cricket match which later turned into clashes.
Deoband: Sharing an objectionable post on Prophet Mohammad by
Chirag Mallik, a class IX student, on 12 January, stirred protests in
Deoband town of Uttar Pradesh. Hundreds of enraged people gathered
outside Deoband police station, demanding immediate arrest of the boy
who had uploaded the offensive post on Facebook. At first, police tried
to convince the crowd that the boy had acted out of ignorance, not malice. As the crowd refused to budge, senior officials directed the police
to arrest the boy.
Hardly the protest against the offensive post had died down that
another incident of protests erupted in Deoband on 13 January. Police
lathi-charged a crowd in Meena Bazar after BJP workers and a group
of Muslims confronted each other on the issue of shutting down the
market. During this chaotic situation, SDM Rajesh Kumar Singh
reached the market with PAC forces and ordered a lathi-charge on the
crowd. During the lathi-charge, the imam of Bhalan Shah mosque was
injured which infuriated the crowd and led to more protests. The protesters blocked the movement of vehicles near Talheri toll office. The
protesters demanded an apology from police and suspension of the
SDM.
Bahraich: An incident of hate-message post against Muslims took
place in Bahraich on 11 January. The Bahraich police registered an FIR
against one Rajesh Rastogi for sending objectionable message to
some clerics. Agitated by the message, hundreds of people gathered
outside the Nanpara police station and demanded strict action against
Rastogi.
Khurja: A malign effort was made to create tension in Lalpur Chatola
village of Khurja when a man,
identified as Ravinder, accused
the gram pradhan of pressurising him to accept Islam. On
11 January, along with his family members, he left the village
leaving his house locked. Taking
this matter seriously, SDM Indu
Prakash Singh and SO arrived in
the village and enquired about
the incident. People from both
Hindu and Muslim communities
termed this incident as a conspiracy and said there has
been a quarrel over a piece of
land between the pradhan and
Ravinder. Even the nephews of
Ravinder said that it had nothing
to do with conversion. Women
of the village said that some
people are trying to incite
Ravinder to create communal
tension.

Dhanbad: In Barmasia, Dhanbad, a group of people attacked a

Christian community for promoting its religion. The miscreants beat up
pastor Sabish Kumar and other people who were praying in a house.
According to sources, Mahaveer Pandit and Vikram Pandit along with
more than a dozen people attacked the pastors house where prayer
was going on. These people blamed that the pastor has been engaged
in conversion. A woman, Maya Devi, said that she went to the pastors
house willingly for the prayer.
Attack on Delhi churches: Five churches were attacked in Delhi alone
in recent weeks. The Christian community protested each time and
each time police assaulted and arrested the protestors. On Dec 1 last
year, the St. Sebastian Catholic Church in east Delhis Dilshad Garden
was gutted in an attack by unidentified assailants. A day after the incident, at least 1,000 people protested outside the Delhi Police headquarters demanding a probe. Protesters accused hardline Hindu nationalists
of carrying out the recent attacks on the churches. The second incident
took place on 7 December when stones were thrown at a Syro-Malabar
Catholic Church at Jasola in Okhla while evening mass was being celebrated. A fire broke out on 3 January in the Christmas crib at a church
in Delhis Rohini area which the church management said was an
arson attempt. The fire was noticed around 8 a.m. after morning
prayers inside the church in Rohini area of northwest Delhi. The fourth
attack occurred on January 14 when Marian Grotto at the Church of
Our Lady of Grace was vandalised by two unidentified men in west
Delhis Vikaspuri, weeks after the home ministry directed Delhi Police
to install CCTV cameras inside and around all religious places. Police
arrested three men, Harpreet Singh alias Kaka (28), Narender Singh
alias Raja (30) and Ravinder Singh (25) from their homes in Tilak Nagar
after a case of hurting religious sentiments and vandalism was registered against them. Police have been calling the attacks petty crimes.
The statue of Our Lady was toppled and the window pane broken.
Rather than preserving the evidence at the crime scene, police seemed
more keen to clean up everything, said the spokesperson for the
Archdiocese of Delhi, Father Savarimuthu Shankar. Police made the
outlandish claim that the trio had vandalized the church because of a
bet. Delhi Christian community, which protested next day in front of the
Delhi police HQ, described it as an attempt to hush up the case. A fifth
attack on a Delhi church took place on 2 February when St. Alphonsas
church in south Delhis Vasant Kunj area was broken in and ransacked.
Police claimed it was an incident of theft but church authorities denied
it because no theft had taken place. It was the fifth such attack in the
last two months.
These incidents of religious hatred have been taking place across
the country and efforts are being made to communalise society, yet no
word of condemnation has come out from the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi although his Parivar is stoking these fires.

Help ood affected

people of Kashmir

Dhule:
Tension
erupted
between Hindus and Muslims in
Dhule town of Maharashtra
when a carcass of pig was
found outside a mosque on
16 January. Police registered a
compliant against unknown
people under Section 295-A of
the IPC and have been looking
for the miscreants. Miscreants
pelted stones on a mosque
before this incident. Police
arrested three people in this
regard, but some were
absconding. SP Akhilesh Singh
said that the culprit has not been
identified but police is trying to

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

Making Sense of Sectarian Demography

MOHD. SHAHID
Rhetoric of population growth, unfortunately, has
long been an issue of politics than of demography. Today it is more so when in the 'interest of
the nation' clarion call is being made for 'ten children' or 'three sons' or the like. There is a need to
make sense of the facts and fiction in notions of
a "dying Hindu race" (illusion of destiny) and of
Muslims outnumbering Hindus (delusion of
grandeur).
India, with a population of 1210 million, by
no stretch of imagination and ideological position
can afford a pronatalist orientation. Irrespective
of justifications and regardless of the corner they
come from, any talk of increasing child births,
could only be disastrous for the country. Let's
first look at the facts and then understand how
fiction is crafted and made sellable by exploiting
religious identities.
It is to be noted that India is registering a
decline in population growth (Census, 2011).
During 2001-2011 it has registered the precipitous decline since Independence - a decrease of
3.90 percentage points from 21.54 (1991-2001)
to 17.64 (2001-2011). The decade 2001-2011
is also the first, with the exception of 1911-1921,
which has actually added less population compared to the previous decade (1991-2001). This
is the first decade in which the absolute increase
in population is less (181.45 million) compared
to the previous decade (182.23 million). Also
important is to note that the two most populous
states of India, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which
had registered positive growth of 0.3 and 5.1
percentage points in 1981-91 and 1991-2001,
have now shown a sharp decline with a negative
growth of -5.76 and -3.55 percentage points in
the decades 1991-2001 and 2001-2011 respectively (Census, 2011). This is quite encouraging.
Thus, the net addition in the population of India
over the decades has declined and population is
stabilising.
The biggest confusion and myth-mongering
is over the religion-wise growth rate.
Unfortunately, the religion-wise details are not
easily available to individual researchers. I have
used the decadal population growth data of
Census 1991 and Census 2001 extracted from
Jana
Sangh
Today
Sep.
2009
(http://janasangh.com). It provides the factually
correct but misinterpreted census data to prove
increasing and threatening population growth of
Muslims. In the decade 1981-91 the decadal
growth for all religions was 23.9, for Hindus it
was 22.7 and for Muslims it was 32.9. Likewise
in 1991-2001 the decadal growth for all religions
was 21.5 and for Hindus and Muslims it was
19.3 and 29.5 respectively. In order to understand the demographic trend, one has to see the
difference in the decadal growth rates. The percentage decadal growth rates have declined during 1991-2001 compared to 1981-1991 by 2.4

Health

The idea of Muslim fertility is much debated and hotly contested.

Broadly, it may be attributed to the sectarian groups with right-wing
inclinations, who use it to reap a desirable demographic-cum-political
harvest on the altar of religious divide. I take the prerogative of referring to this trend and practice as 'sectarian demography'. The most
commonly propagated notions are that Muslims have high fertility rate...
percentage points for all religious groups and by
3.4 percentage points for both Hindus and
Muslims. It means that there is not only overall
decline in population growth but also sharp
decline in the growth rates of both Hindus and
Muslims. If any population projection and population growth rate simulation exercises are to be
done, it has to be done in view of this negative
growth rate and I am sure then one would be
detached of the theories of illusion of destiny or
delusion of grandeur.
The sectarian forces have unfailingly politicised the agenda of population growth since the
very beginning of the family planning programme. In India, as also in other countries of
the world, the seemingly common strategy is to
use the religious identity as a singular marker of
the 'we' versus 'they' debate, and this has
stretched even to the realm of demography. Such
fictitious but highly perilous binary of 'us-them',
undoubtedly thrives on propagating the mythical
population growth of either group in contrast to
the other (case here in point being Hindus versus
Muslims). It rests on creating the illusion of destiny of one group pitched against the other. The
repeated declaration that the population of
Hindus in India is declining, while that of Muslims
is increasing and predicting that very soon the
Muslim minority shall become a majority.... so
that in the democratic game of numbers they
would rule over the then Hindu minority, is an
example of this trend. There are also other equally sectarian religious groups which propagate,
either as quid pro quo or with their own false
logic, the delusion of grandeur that the minority
religion with its high population growth rate
would become the majority, and thereby the
'ruler', once again. Tragically, these ill-founded
notions are so often repeated that they become
part of the popular commonsense normalising
the falsification of the 'reality' manufactured by
these sectarian forces. This distortion gets further strengthened in the absence of authentic
data across socio-religious communities.
The idea of Muslim fertility is much debated
and hotly contested. Broadly, it may be attributed
to the sectarian groups with right-wing inclinations, who use it to reap a desirable demographic-cum-political harvest on the altar of religious
divide. I take the prerogative of referring to this
trend and practice as 'sectarian demography'.
The most commonly propagated notions are that
Muslims have high fertility rate; they have high
fertility because they can have more wives, and

that their religion and religious leaders promote

more child births and no contraception. The popular slogan from them has consistently and chillingly remained similar since 1952, i.e., Ham do
hamare do, wo panch unke pachchees (we two,
our two; they are five and have twenty five). It is
through the medium of such commonly used
slogans that the sectarian forces argue for the
illusion of destiny of the Hindus, based on the
idea that they have adopted the family planning
norm of two children, but the Muslims, being
permitted by their religion to have four wives and
propositioned by their religious leaders, beget
twenty five children. Hence, the population of
Muslims shall shortly supersede the population
of Hindus! This was the line of argument which
U.N. Mukherji assumed in 1909 when he wrote
The Dying Hindu Race and the same line of argument is still parroted in contemporary times.
The latest religion-wise data on the incidence
of polygynous marriages in India is that of
Census 1971 and its monograph titled
Polygynous Marriage in India: a Survey which
was published in 1975. It provides that the incidence of polygyny is highest among the Adivasis
(15.25 percent) followed by Buddhists (7.9 percent), Jains (6.72 percent), Hindus (5.80 percent) and Muslims (5.70 percent). The studies in
Muslim majority countries have shown that constraints in reproductive choices are a function of
state policies rather than a reflection of religious
doctrine. In Iran, for example, after the Islamic
Revolution of 1979, the pronatalist orientation
was strengthened due to the war with Iraq. But
within two months of the end of war in 1989, Iran
issued a National Birth Control Policy which
aimed to reduce population, and increase contraceptive coverage, including tubal ligations.
Today, Iran has a total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.86.
In Tunisia, with the reforms introduced by
President Bourguiba (1957-1987), polygyny was
actually abolished citing the relevant interpretation of the Quranic sura (verse) itself, and the
accessibility of family planning was increased,
including the provision of female sterilization. As
a consequence, Tunisia today has TFR below
2.1. In several Muslim majority countries, including countries with effective Sharia laws (including Saudi Arabia), TFR has slided to 2.1.
The NFHS-3 provides that at an all India
level, the TFR is 2.7 children per woman. The
TFR for Muslims is 3.1, in comparison to 2.7 for
Hindus. As per the NFHS-3, the fertility rates are
higher for women in the disadvantaged groups

Causes and Treatments For Insomnia

We spend over a third of our time sleeping. But unfortunately

for many of us, sleep isn't a simple ON/OFF switch we can just
activate at a moment's notice. Do you struggle to sleep even
though you feel tired and sleepy? Do you wake up in the middle of the night anxiously watching the clock, calculating how
much time you've got left to sleep? If you've answered yes to
any of these questions, you're not alone. About 2 out of 5
people share your problem.
Insomnia is a common, devastating problem that can cost
us our energy, our good mood, our ability to function and ultimately our health. If the situation becomes chronic, it can lead to more
serious health problems and even a shortening of our life span,
according to experts.
Insomnia in itself is not the problem but is usually a symptom
of a variety of other potential problems. The trick is identifying the
underlying cause of our insomnia and finding the right treatment
for that problem. Sometimes insomnia hides more serious medical or psychological issues, and sometimes there is no easy cure
for it, and one must take special supplements or pills to sleep.
Sleep detectives like ourselves take note of factors such as
stress, anxiety and depression, which are responsible for about
half of all insomnia cases. In addition, they note the daytime
habits, the sleep routine and the actual physical health of the person to understand their impact on the quality of their sleep.
Psychological issues that can cause insomnia: Depression, anxiety, chronic stress, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder.
People who suffer from these mental stresses have a hard
time sleeping, not only because of their inner turmoil, but because
the body is physically preventing sleep because of these issues.
Unfortunately, the lack of sleep tends to make these problems
worse, and thus a magic cycle is born, where we are constantly
tired, cranky, anxious and depressed, and can't sleep to boot.

Medications that can cause insomnia: antidepressants; cold

and flu medications that contain alcohol; pain relievers that contain caffeine (Midol, Excedrin); diuretics, corticosteroids, thyroid
hormone, high blood pressure medications. Make sure to always
check with your doctor, and research the medication you're taking
to make sure that one of the side effects is not insomnia.
Medical problems that can cause insomnia: asthma, allergies,
Parkinson's disease, hyperthyroidism, acid reflux, kidney disease,
cancer, chronic pain.
Sleep disorders that can cause insomnia: Sleep apnea (trouble breathing during the night that results in the person not breathing, then waking up many times in the night without knowing
why), narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome.
Some of the things we do to cope with our lack of sleep may
actually do us harm, such as drinking a lot of coffee during the
day to wake up or alcohol (red wine for example) at night to fall
asleep. Often, changing the habits that are reinforcing sleeplessness is enough to overcome insomnia altogether. It may take a
few days for your body to get used to the change, but once you
do, you will sleep better. That is the easy solution half the time. If
a change of habits and relaxation really don't do the trick, there are
remedies on the market that can help.
Adopting new habits to help you sleep
- Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and cool. Noise, light,
and heat can interfere with sleep. Try using a sound machine or
earplugs to hide outside noise, an open window or fan to keep the
room cool, and blackout curtains or a sleep mask to block out
light.
- Stick to a regular sleep schedule. Support your biological
clock by going to bed and getting up at the same time every day,
including weekends, even if you're tired. This will help you get
back in a regular sleep rhythm.

(3.1 children per woman among Scheduled

Tribes, 2.9 among Scheduled Castes, and 2.8
among other backward classes), compared with
women who are not in any of these groups (2.4).
Thus, what is striking is that the Muslim fertility
matches with the fertility rate of other marginalised groups. It is also noteworthy that the fertility of Muslims fell more rapidly than the fertility
of Hindus in the seven year period between
NHFS-2 (1998-99) and NFHS-3 (2005-06).
In the backdrop of this shrouded debate on
population growth, conspicuously absent are the
real actors -- the women, who negotiate difficult
life circumstances and highly limited reproductive choices. It is they who have been instrumental in contributing to the sharp decline in the population growth. NHFS-3 provides that 'if all
women were to have only the number of children
they wanted; the total fertility rate would be 1.9
instead of 2.7'.
In this charade of 'sectarian demography',
the struggle of women to access and to utilize
family planning services remains an extremely
neglected subject. The champions of cultural
nationalism and the defenders of sectarian
groups of other religious affiliations remain blissfully oblivious of the sufferings and contributions
of women. It is worthwhile to mention here that
it is the women who contribute in such a significant manner to all demographic achievements. In
fact, female sterilizations constitute 76.90 percent of the modern contraceptive methods.
However, the other side of this data also reveals
that it is the women who are bearing almost the
entire burden of fertility control and that too
through sterilizations.
You do not require the knowledge of rocket
science to reflect and expose the myths, misconceptions and fears relating to sterilization, irrespective of socio-religious affiliations. The participants in this sectarian demography debate
remain aloof from the critical reality as far as the
condition of primary health centres and community health centres, where the majority of the
rural women go for sterilization. My experiences
of working with Hindu and Muslim women who
have undergone sterilizations have invariably
informed me that in between the women's desire
for sterilization and the actual experience of sterilization, there are unwanted pregnancies followed by child births or unsafe abortions. It is
under these pressing circumstances that women
negotiate to control their fertility. Can anyone
hear that? What we urgently require is a collective assertion that issues relating to fertility and
demography be sensitive to women, particularly
to the vulnerable ones from marginalised groups,
and the first step in this direction is to bring
demography out from the clutches of 'masculine
nationalist rhetoric' of any and every hue.
Dr Mohd. Shahid is Professor, Department of Social
Work, Maulana Azad National Urdu University,
Hyderabad. He may be contacted at
shahidamu@gmail.com.

- Avoid naps. Napping during the day can

make it more difficult to sleep at night. If you feel
like you have to take a nap, limit it to 30 minutes

before 3 p. m.
- Limit caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. Stop drinking caffeinated beverages at least eight hours before bed. Avoid drinking alcohol in the evening; while alcohol can make you feel sleepy, it interferes with the quality of your sleep. Quit smoking or avoid it at
night, as nicotine is a stimulant.
Preparing your brain for sleep
Your brain produces the hormone melatonin to help regulate your
sleep-wake cycle. As melatonin is controlled by light exposure,
not enough natural light during the day can make your brain feel
sleepy, while too much artificial light at night can suppress production of melatonin and make it harder to sleep. To boost melatonin production, use low-wattage bulbs, cover windows and
electrical displays in your bedroom, avoid bright light and turn off
television, smartphone, and computer screens at least one hour
before bed.
Use the bedroom only for sleeping. Don't work, watch TV, or
use your computer or smartphone. The goal is to associate the
bedroom with sleep, so that when you get in bed your brain and
body get a strong signal that it's time to nod off.
Get out of bed when you can't sleep. Don't try to force yourself to sleep. Tossing and turning only increases the anxiety. Get
up, leave the bedroom, and do something relaxing, such as reading or listening to soothing music. When you're sleepy, go back to
bed.
Breathing from your belly. Most of us don't breathe as deeply
as we should. When we breathe deeply and fully, involving not
only the chest, but also the belly, lower back, and ribcage, it can
help relaxation. Close your eyes and take deep, slow breaths,
making each breath even deeper than the last. Breathe in through
your nose and out through your mouth. (Received from Husnain
Nasir nasir.hse.engineer@gmail.com)

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

A New Approach to the Study of Religious Population of India

DR SHAH HAMIDEEN
If one unit increases to two units, it is regarded as one hundred
percent increase. On the other hand, if two units increase to three
units, it is taken as 50 percent increase. Although in both cases,
the resulting increase is the same. It is quite evident that the percentage rate of growth appears more in the case of small base
(small group)
Increase in total number of a particular small group is entirely different from percentage change in the strength of the relatively bigger group. The comparison between change in a group having a small base with a bigger group (big base) is not a rational
method. This kind of comparative study yields unrealistic conclusions. Some vested interests try to use such methods to propagate the idea of fast increase in the population of Muslims in
India. Notice the difference in the size of these respective groups.
As per 2001, Census, the Muslim population was 13.8 crore
whereas the Hindu population was 82.7 crore. Hindus are more
than seven times that of the other group.
It has been observed that a faulty approach has been used to
analyse the status of population of Muslims in India. The fault lies
in comparing a group with a small base with another group having a larger base. In such a situation the rate of change appears
very high in the case of the smaller-base group in comparison to
a bigger base. Statisticians always strongly advocate the fact that
such a mistake should not be made. The following description
examines this concept from a different perspective by using a new
approach. We know Muslims constitute a rather small group as
compared to the Hindu population. Therefore, the comparison of
rate of growth between the population growth of these two groups
should not be taken seriously. There is a need for a different
approach to study the difference in the change of various religious
communities. Our concern should be with the total number of
people in a particular group, and not with the rate of growth, which
has relevance only on paper. Our social, cultural and political life
is going to be influenced by the total number of people belonging
to a particular group. See just one instance. During1961-1971,
the rate of growth of Sikh population was 32.28 percent. This rate
of growth is much higher than the Hindu population rate of growth,
which was only 23.67 percent .However, the catch lies in
change in total population of these two communities. The total
number of majority group increased by 9.6 crores. On the other
hand the increase in terms of total number of Sikh community was higher than Hindus.
Another example: The increase in Hindu population was more
than seven crore in a decade. This result can be noticed in the
remaining decades as well. This is explained by the following
table. (2.68):
Increase in Population
Hindus
Muslims
During 1961 - 1971
8.67 crore
1.44crore
During 1971 - 1981
14 .63crore
1.88 crore
During 1981 - 1991
16.30 crore
2.68crore
. | During 1991---2001
18.30crore
3.14 crore
(Source: Census of India, derived from various Census reports )
The addition in the Hindu population in each decade shows an
upward movement, so is the case of total number of Muslims in
India. However, the excess of Hindu population over Muslim population has not only been maintained, rather the gap has widened
further with the passage of time. See the following schedule:

Leadership

The net difference in additional population of Hindus and

Muslims:
Decade The net increase total number The net increase in total
of Hindus
number of Muslims
1971 - 81 14 crores
1 crore
1981 - 91 16 crores
2 crores
1991 - 2001 18 crores
3 crores
Source : table derived from various Census reports: the addition
in the Hindu population in each decade ,shows an upward movement ,so is the case of total number of Muslims in India
.However, the excess of Hindu population over Muslim population has not only been maintained rather the gap has widened
further with the passage of time .See the following schedule.

these groups, say, Sikhs, Buddhists etc. It is not a special characteristic of any particular group. It is quite illogical to put the onus
of fast growth on any such group. (Source: Table based on
Census data)

Comparative study of population profile of minority groups

The argument that the small-base groups reveal high percentage
rate of growth of population applies in case of other smaller religious groups also. A comparative study of population growth rate
of smaller-base religious groups confirms the central idea of this
paper. The following gives increase in population trends for major
religions of India, please compare the following:
Decade
Hindus Sikhs
1961 - 71
23.67
32.28
1971 - 1981
24.07
26.15
1981 - 1991
22.70
25.46
1991 - 2001
19.93
16.98
(Source: Census of India, derived from various Census reports):

In the 40 years, the Hindu population shot up by the addition of 46

crore (more than double). On the other hand, Muslim population
in the same period increased only to 9 crores.
The above data has been taken from the official records and
publications. The analysis of this data proves the point that Hindus
will always remain the majority group in India. Even the census
report states that there is virtually no possibility of Muslims outnumbering Hindus in India. (Source: Table derived on Census
data)
Census experts have also taken into account the effect of
lower base of Muslim on Indias population. The Census report
states Despite the higher growth rate, because of their lower
base, Muslims will add considerably less population to their fold
than the Hindus. The fear that Muslims would out- number Hindus
in India as a whole is totally unwarranted. Source: Census
Report 1991, Page 26
Most of the Indian Muslims are converts. All of us belong to
the same race .Our genetic map is the same .Fertility of women
cannot change due to change in religion . (Source: Table derived
from the Census data)

The analysis based on the percent rate of growth of population

confirms our point of view. It is clear from the above table, that the
rate of growth of Sikh population has been much higher as compared to growth rate of Hindu population. (except for 1991 2001), however the total increase of Sikh population is very very
small in comparison to Hindu population. (Source: Table derived
on the basis of Census data)
Rate of growth in percentage
Period
Hindus
1961 - 71
23.67
1971 - 81
24.07
1981 - 91
22.70
1991 - 2001
19.93

Buddhist
32.28
24.80
36.13
22.83

Another small-base group, Jains, has also recorded higher population growth as compared to growth rate of Hindu population
(except for 1981-91) although the total increase in the Jain population in different decades has always been a few lakh only. Thus
it should be accepted that the small-base groups growth rate of
population is not to be compared with the bigger base.
Population growth between 1961- 2001
Hindu
125.79
Sikh
144.91
Buddhist
144.32
On the basis of the above data we may draw a wrong conclusion,
i.e., growing number of Sikhs and Buddhists, although the total
increase in population of these two religious groups is meagre in
comparison to total population of Hindus.
All the small-base religious groups indicate relatively higher
rate of growth of population. It is a common characteristic of all

13 SIGNS YOURE WASTING LIFE

When you were a kid, did you want to grow up to be an astronaut, a

singer or an engineer? If so, hows that working out for you?
Hopefully, its going great and you are living the life of your dreams.
But for the rest of you who are not, here are 13 signs that you might
be wasting your life but you dont want to admit it:
1. You Spend Too Much Time Doing Things You Shouldnt Be
Doing: Video games. Reality TV. Surfing the net. Stuffing your face
with too much food. Drinking too much. And the list goes on. Take a
serious look at your life. Where are you spending the majority of your
time? And does it serve you well? Is it leading to a better life? Is it
laying the foundation for a bright future? If not, then you need to
reevaluate your routine activities and make changes.
2. You Find Yourself Complaining A Lot: I know people who are
constantly overwhelmed with life, and they never cease to tell me.
Are you one of those people? Do you complain about your job, your
boss, your salary, your neighbours or your spouse? If you do, then
you are doing nothing but exuding negative energy. Negativity doesnt change things. It keeps you stuck. So change your thoughts and
talk about what you appreciate about your life, not what you dont
like.
3. You dont feed your mind: If youre not continually growing and
learning as a person, then you are stagnant - just like a still pond that
doesnt move and grows green gunk on it. Thats what your mind
does if you dont keep it active and learn new things. Positive challenges in your life will expand your mind, not send it backwards.
4. You have a lot of negative self-talk: Self-talk can make or break
your life. As Henry Ford said, Whether you think you can, or think
you cant either way, youre right. If you tell yourself that youre
not smart enough to get that promotion or start a business, then
youre right. If you tell yourself youre too exhausted to put effort into
changing your life, then youre right. Whatever you tell yourself
becomes your reality. So closely monitor what you say to yourself,
because you will find that your life matches your thoughts.
5. You feel uninspired: Do you have a passion for anything? I know

a lot of people
who think they
dont have a
passion. But thats never the case. There has to be something that
you enjoy doing. So you need to rediscover what excites you, and
then do more of it.
6. You dont plan for your future: While its always great to live in
the now and be in the moment, sometimes you need to look
ahead to see where you want to go. If you dont have a goal or a
plan, then you are like a boat that is wandering aimlessly in the ocean
hoping to end up somewhere good. But you cant do that. You have
to make a step-by-step guide to get where you want to go. Just like
a GPS gets you to a destination, you need your own inner GPS to
guide you.
7. You spend too much time with people who dont contribute to
your growth: Its easy to get stuck hanging out with people who are
not making you feel like a better person. But if you keep doing that,
then you will stay stagnant or get pulled down with them. I like to call
them Energy Vampires. They suck the life out of you and give you
nothing positive in return. Instead, go find growth-oriented people to
be around.
8. Youre addicted to your phone: Sure, cell phones are super cool
gadgets that can leave us entranced when we use them. While thats
fun, think about all the time you are wasting with your phone. Even
worse, think about all the relationships that might be affected. Maybe
youre testing or searching the internet while youre having dinner
with your spouse or kids. If you are, youre missing out on meaningful time you can spend with your loved ones - or time you could
devote to making a plan for your future.
9. You spend money on things that dont matter: There is a difference between a need and a want. Im sure we all learned that in
kindergarten. However, in todays society, we have blurred the lines
quite a bit (see #8 the cell phone). In fact, I know people who
cant pay their mortgage, but still have the fanciest gadgets on the
planet. If you stop to think about it, there is very little that we actually need. Food, water, shelter and love are some of those things. All

Now let us see the change in total population of the two major
groups during the period 1961 - 2001
Period
Total population Hindus Total population of Muslims
(in crore)
(in crores)
1961
36. .65 crore
4.69 crore
2001
82.75 crore
13.81crore
Addition of population during this period
46.10 crore
9.12 crore

The author is a retired professor of economics. He started his teaching

career at Jamia Millia in 1968, joined Delhi College in 1970 and taught
at Basra Universty during 1980-82. He is a former principal of Zakir
HJusain PG College, Delhi and has been a resource person of UNESCO.

Saffron outfits cry on Muslim census data

Even though the data on religion-based census is yet to be
released officially, right wing Hindu groups are already up in arms
over the TOI report of 22 January showing a 24 percent growth
in the Muslim population between 2001-2011. VHP said its stand
has been vindicated and it would make a fresh appeal to Hindus
to have more children. While Muslim scholars have countered
this fear-mongering by saying that the high growth rate of
Muslims is owing to their poor socio-economic status.
VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain, said, What we
have been saying since 1966, has been vindicated by this census. We will put pressure on the government to enforce uniform
civil code. We will push for making family planning mandatory for
all.
President of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat,
Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan said, It has been proven through various
studies that people of a certain strata of society, irrespective of
their faith, have similar social behaviour which is reflected in their
growth rate. Rich and educated Muslims too have few children
like the rich and educated people of other faiths. Blaming it on
politics of religion perpetrated by parties of all hues, Dr. Khan
said, It is sad that citizens of this country are not being viewed
as people and citizens but as Hindus and Muslims.


the rest are just bonuses. So look at what youre spending your
money on and see if you can make adjustments. Maybe you can use
the money you save to invest in your future.
10. You dont get enough sleep: Im not a medical doctor, but I have
read enough books to know how vitally important sleep is. I could
write 20 pages on it. But I obviously dont have enough room in this
short article. Sleep is crucial for good health. If youre too busy to
get enough sleep or if you simply have a bad habit of staying up until
the wee hours of the morning, you should re-evaluate your habits.
11. Youre not taking care of your body:Not only is sleep essential
to your health, so is food and exercise. I know Im not telling you
anything you dont already know. But eating a balanced, healthy diet
and moving your body around truly does have more positive effects
other than weight loss. It affects your mental attitude and overall
well-being. So take a look at your diet and level of activity. You might
find that making a few small changes will greatly improve your life.
12. You dont leave your comfort zone: I know how easy it is to live
in a comfort zone. In fact, when I go to a familiar restaurant, I always
order the same thing. Not because Im afraid to try something new,
but because I like the food I normally order. But thats not the kind of
comfort zone Im talking about. Im talking about taking a risk that
will improve your life. And keep in mind, there is a difference between
a risk and a calculated risk. Any risk has the possibility to be
deadly, but a calculated risk is one in which youve weighed all
options and thus come up with a good, sensible plan of action.
13. Youre living a life you dont like: The way I measure success
is by someones level of happiness. Are you happy? If not, then you
should change something! Even a feeling of contentment or satisfaction doesnt tell you that youre living life to the fullest. Life should be
exciting! So if youre not enjoying life, take a look at some of the
changes you can make to get you to a better place. If any of these
13 points sounded like you, dont despair. You can make changes.
But the first change you need to make is getting rid of the idea that
you cant do it. Many times, your biggest obstacle is your own
thought process. So start there. Change your thinking - then change
your life! (AwesomeQuotes4u)

10

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

launch a joint resistance against

settlement of these Refugees in the
state.
JKLF chairman Mohammad
Yasin Malik, February 1, said
Baigs remarks are meant to appease his RSS masters to get the
Union Ministry. Malik, January 30, led a protest rally in Ganderbal
district against the proposed plan and threatened to strongly resist
any attempt to change the demography of the state.
Senior separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah, February 1, said by
raking up the issue of settlement of these Refugees, PDP is trying
to strike a good deal with BJP. Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Syeda
Aasiya Andrabi, February 1, said Baigs statement has proved that
PDP is subordinate branch of RSS. United Jihad Council chief
Syed Salah-ud-Din, January 23, said that BJP led government has
nefarious plan to permanently settle and accord citizenship rights
to five lakh West Pakistan Refugees in the state in order to do away
with its Muslim identity.
Awami Ittehaad Party president Er Rashid said that PDPs
stand on West Pakistan Refugees has badly exposed them and well
before forming government with BJP they look all set to make
compromises on every issue including Article 370.
Terming Baigs remarks as his personal opinion, PDP, February
1, said that only State Legislature can take a decision on it. National
Conference General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, February 1,
said no non-state subject can become states permanent resident
and the party would oppose any such move tooth and nail.
Peoples Democratic Front chairman Hakim Mohammad Yasin,
January 31, said the state enjoys special status and settlement of
these Refugees in any part of the state will have seriousrepercussions.
Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) Refugees living in
Jammu since 1947, February 2, said they should be allowed to go
back to their homes if West Pakistan Refugees are settled in the
state. The PaK refugees, who claim to be about 12 lakh in number,
said they should be the priority for the Government of India and
maintained that despite having Permanent Resident Certificates
and full voting rights, theyve been living in pathetic conditions.
BJP, however, said settlement of West Pakistan Refugees will
be on the agenda of the new government (February 2). Even Union
Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh, January 23, said his party is
firm on its stand to rehabilitate these Refugees and the process of
granting citizenship rights to them was on.

Political stalemate continues in J&K

AFSANA RASHID
Political stalemate over government formation in Jammu and
Kashmir is expected to end soon as Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are all set to announce an
alliance. The parties have worked out a draft Common Minimum
Programme for a coalition government in the state, which is under
Governor's rule since January 8.
The draft touching the issues on which consensus was arrived
at by both the parties through informal negotiations, is reportedly
awaiting Prime Minister Narendra Modis go ahead. The same is
expected to pave way for a structured dialogue process between
the two.
BJP president Amit Shah, February 5, said his party and PDP
are in an advanced stage of finalizing, the Common Minimum
Programme and the issue of Chief Ministership would be discussed only after that. The party has reportedly conceded to
PDPs demand to have Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as the full term
Chief Minister.
The party, February 6, further asserted that formal discussion
to give a final push to the Common Minimum Programme will begin
from February 8. Even Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh,
January 28, stated that BJP was looking forward to formation of a
popular regime in the state.
Both BJP and PDP are inching closer to government formation
and they had already joined hands for four Rajya Sabha seats, the
polls of which were held on February 7. Both the parties fielded two
candidates each. Seven candidates, in total, contested the polls.
PDP won two seats whereas BJP and Congress bagged one seat,
each.
BJPs three-member delegation comprising its National
General Secretary Ram Madhav, state president Jugal Kishore and
its National Executive member Dr. Nirmal Singh met Governor N N
Vohra at Raj Bhavan in Jammu on January 28. During an hour-long
meeting, the BJP leaders apprised the Governor about the status of
ongoing BJP-PDP discussions with regard to government formation. PDPs Haseeb Drabu too called on the Governor, on the same
day, and apprised him about realizations which have emerged
from PDP-BJP parleys on government formation and the broad
contours of the matters being finalized in the coming days.
Even the Governor, in his Republic Day message, January 25,
hinted that a new government in the state would soon be in place.
The results of State Assembly elections threw up a hung Assembly
on December 23 with PDP emerging as the single largest party
with 28 seats closely followed by BJP with 25 seats, National
Conference 15, Congress 12 and Others seven seats, respectively.
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, addressing party delegates that met at Jammu, January 24, to elect the party president,
admitted that his party was moving ahead with the BJP to format
a government in the state. The two parties are involved in TrackII dialogue and once the ground is clear for formulating a Common
Minimum Programme and consensus evolved on core issues, well
move forward with structured dialogue.
PDP patron emphasized that the party wont sell the peoples
mandate for the sake of power. He further clarified that his partys
stand on Article 370, revocation of AFSPA, talks with Pakistan and
separatists, release of political prisoners, return of power projects
and rehabilitation of flood-affected would remain non-negotiable
during talks with BJP for an alliance.
Member Parliament Mehbooba Mufti was, on the occasion, reelected unopposed as president of the party. The 52-year-old
Mufti, a Law graduate from University of Kashmir, joined politics in
1996 when she was elected from Bijbehara Assembly seat on a
Congress ticket. PDP and BJP may have difference of ideology
but if there is a possibility to provide good government for the welfare of the state well not hesitate to join hands.

Senior party leader and Member Parliament, Muzaffar Baig, on

the occasion, said that the partys alliance with BJP is desirable
to remove trust deficit between people of Kashmir and Jammu and
facilitate their emotional accession. However, the alliance between
the two parties should be based on principles.
A day later (January 25), the Third Front leaders in Kashmir
asserted that the new honeymoon of communal forces and their
supporters would be short-lived as both the parties have proved to
be opportunistic. Terming PDP patrons remarks ironic and
ridiculously delusional National Conference spokesperson Junaid
Mattu, January 25, said, Mufti Sayeed in an apologetic attempt to
justify joining the same party against whom he had sought votes,
had tendered an ironic preemptive note of apology to the people of
state. Mattu further lashed out at PDP for what it called abandoning Self-Rule vision document for political expediency, January 23.
BJPs national executive member, Dr Nirmal Singh, January
24, said, We were and are still against the dynastic rule - BaapBeta and Baap-Beti in the state. This was obviously our slogan in
the election campaign. The party, he added, had to leave the antidynasty rule slogan for a moment and workout an alliance with
PDP to serve the interests of people and to honor the peoples
mandate. Dr. Singh further added that there will soon be a government in the state. A stable government is their priority and the
party had no other option than to forge ties with PDP.
National Panthers Party chief Prof Bhim Singh, January 31,
said in order to ensure an end to discrimination and facilitate equitable development of all the regions, the state should have separate
Chief Ministers for Kashmir and Jammu regions.

Citizenship rights to Pak refugees

With the proposed move of the Government of India on giving citizenship rights to West Pakistan Refugees in Jammu and Kashmir
triggering a massive controversy, PDPs senior leader and Member
Parliament Muzaffar Hussain Baigs remarks have evoked wide
resentment from various quarters of society.
Baig on January 31 said that the settlement of West Pakistan
Refugees is a humanitarian issue and a middle path must be found
to give these people a hope. Baigs assertion came a day after BJP
said that the issue of settlement of these Refugees must be treated on humanitarian grounds.
BJP, January 30, said the issue of settlement of West Pakistan
Refugees should be treated on humanitarian grounds and the illfated people must get citizenship and voting rights to live a normal
life.
Theyve been living under miserable conditions for the past
many decades and need to be rehabilitated. Weve Tibetians living
in Srinagar. Theyve been given voting rights by National
Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. So I think West
Pakistan Refugees must get their rights in the form of proper citizenship on humanitarian grounds. Once they will have citizenship,
they would automatically be entitled to vote, said BJPs national
executive member Dr Nirmal Singh, adding, the settlement of these
Refugees wont change the demography of the state.
Reacting to Baigs statement, Hurriyat (G) led by Syed Ali Shah
Geelani, February 1, said PDP has literally bowed down before the
BJP for greed of power. The spokesperson of the amalgam Ayaz
Akbar told local news agency, KNS, that PDP has entered into a
sell out and is speaking the BJPs language. The amalgam held
protests in various parts of the Valley against the proposed plan,
January 30.
A two-member Committee, formed by Hurriyat (M) led by
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (January 15) to garner support for joint
resistance against the settlement of these Refugees, met representatives of separatists, civil society members and legal experts. The
amalgam, January 27, stated that all agreed that there is a need to

Kejriwal is not just back. He is back roaring

louder than a lion. Narendra Modi is dumbstruck. Delhi has announced in no uncertain
terms that Vikas of Modi is nothing but the
development of the corporate, that too of a few
corporate friends. Delhi has instead endorsed
Kejriwals vikaas of aam aadmi. In the
process, Kejriwal has also proved that if Modi
had won the Lok Sabha elections, it could
become possible only because Anna-Kejriwal
team had decimated Congress and the people
opted for BJP only because there was no other
nationwide option for them.
The Delhi victory is sure to have country-

wide repercussions. Within 9 months, BJP is

being proved as unworthy of governing the
nation. A party, which is interested only in a
communal-cum-corporate agenda, which keeps
the majority away from the fruits of development, is bound to fail in a big democracy which
India is. BJP should learn the lesson that by just
trying to monopolise resources into few hands
through politics of greed and hatred, it can only
hope to be an occasional winner in elections;
and these victories will only be due to failure of
other parties.
Congress should also learn the lesson that
by merely opposing BJP on the ground of communalism, it cannot sustain forever its historical
role in India. If Congress has to resuscitate itself,

Ahmedabad: When Modi government took over in Delhi, Gujarat

Siyasat an Ahmedabad-based
Gujarati Muslims fortnightly predicted that most of the police
officers who were in jails in connection with 21 fake encounters
would be released on bail within
a year. So far 40 accused have
been granted bail in these cases
in the last nine months. On top of
this, Amit Shah, Modi Man Friday, got clean chit from encounter
cases. Now the last two accused IPS officers have been granted
bail in the Ishrat case. Despite low morale, families of victims vow
to continue their struggle for justice. A special CBI court granted
bail to the retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) D G
Vanzara and Suspended ADGP rank police officer P P Pandey in
the Ishrat Jahan encounter case on 5 February. Vanzara was in
prison since April 2007 when he was for the first time arrested in
Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Pandey was arrested in
July 2013 after he surrendered before the court. Court asked
Vanzara not to live in Gujarat and also not to leave the country


without court permission.

it will have to abandon extreme liberalism and hidden communalism, with

which a large number of its party leaders and advisors are afflicted with. It will
have to revive its contact with the masses which
it has totally lost in recent years due to the technocratic style of functioning of the UPA government and its top leadership.
Kejriwal should also learn not to repeat the
mistakes he has committed in the past. AAP will
have to give concrete shape to its ideological as
well as infrastructural framework. The best thing
about Kejriwal, which no other leader of the
country shares, is that he has succeeded in
earning the support of all the ethnic and caste
groups. He has captured the imagination of not
only the impoverished masses but also the educated middle and upper class. This gives him a
unique position, and if he chooses his issues
well, he can surely usher in a new mass revolu-

Kejriwal roars, Modi dumbstruck

DR. JAVED JAMIL

Acche Din for fake encounter accused,

40 granted bail during Modi govt

tion in the country. The only challenge for him

will be to keep away from the corporate agenda.
People as well as experts will debate the
results for a long time. But what is clear beyond
doubt is that Modi wave has ceased to remain a
wave. Within a short period, it has not only
become standstill but has started moving backwards. The 10-lakh suit of Modi has failed to
keep the public view glued to him. From chaiwala he has within no time become a duslaakh-ke-sootwala. He should have learned by
now that mere speeches and loud talk and
empty promises cannot give you votes in every
election.
Hopefully, Delhi election results will start a
new politics in India, which will be more peoplecentric and more secular than it has been in last
several decades. Hopefully, this will signal an
end to divisive politics in the country and the
nation will again stand united.

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

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

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

Delhi: A Major
Political Battle!
Within less than a year, politics in Delhi has witnessed several crucial developments, which
may be held responsible for assembly election
results. The previous Delhi assembly elections
were viewed as a key fight between three parties led by their respective leaders. These were
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi, Congress
by Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headed by Arvind
Kejriwal. It may be recalled that earlier Delhi assembly polls
were primarily contested between two key parties, the
Congress and the BJP. The sudden entry of AAP on the political
stage ahead of the last Delhi assembly polls changed the bilateral fight into a trilateral contest. The recent polls, however,
were once again primarily a bilateral battle. The key battle was
fought between the BJP and AAP, with Congress hardly figuring
in this contest. And this raises several questions regarding the
political strategy adopted by voters as well as parties in race.
Interestingly, till date, ever since Narendra Modi succeeded in parliamentary polls, BJP's political campaign in subsequent state assembly elections focussed largely on chanting
Modi's name and his development agenda. Delhi assembly
polls witnessed a shift in this strategy with the new entrant into
BJP, Kiran Kiran Bedi's name projected as the party's chief ministerial candidate. While AAP banked on rallying behind
Kejriwal, Congress adopted a rather subdued profile in promot-

ing Rahul Gandhi's name. Thus, unlike previous Delhi assembly

elections and parliamentary polls, when the political contest
was projected as between Modi, Rahul and Kejriwal, the recent
Delhi elections witnessed a major change. Though BJP continued campaigning in the name of Modi, some political and
media space was taken over by Bedi. Kejriwal surfaced more
prominently than he did earlier and Rahul along with his party
were practically absent. The recent fight for Delhi assembly
was thus between BJP and AAP, with Congress given little political importance.
Should this be viewed as a sign of Congress facing political
death? It is perhaps too early to assume that this party is likely to be confined to opposition in coming days. There is yet
another aspect to political strategy worked out in Delhi by voters and politicians. The Congress has apparently accepted that
it needs a little more time to revive its political strength and
regain the support it has lost. In these circumstances, the
Congress and its supporters counted on AAP winning Delhi
assembly and BJP being the loser. Besides, rather than BJP
emerging the winner, the Congress preferred AAP getting the
chance again to form the Delhi government, with its support.
For the Congress, BJP's defeat was politically necessary. It
implied that Modi-wave cannot be counted on during all elections. Secondly, BJP's political strategy, gambling on projecting
Bedi's name as Delhi's chief minister, can also fail to attract the
needed votes.
With Congress still a long way off from facing victory in
Delhi, it apparently favoured electoral success of AAP against
BJP. A political shock for Modi and BJP was apparently preferred by Congress than a similar shock for AAP.
Congress has several reasons not to face a major threat
from AAP. Unlike BJP, AAP's political presence is primarily con-

fined to Delhi. AAP has yet to register any meaningful presence

in other parts of the country. Thus AAP's victory in Delhi spells
little danger for Congress in other states. From this angle,
Congress and its supporters probably viewed AAP's probable
success in Delhi as a part of their anti-BJP campaign. The
same strategy guided a considerable number of diehard
Congress supporters to vote for AAP. They sensed that if they
voted for Congress, a party which had minimal chances of faring well in Delhi assembly polls, their votes might go waste.
They also feared that voting for Congress could create a dent in
electoral support for AAP and help BJP emerge as the winner.
Against this backdrop, it was not surprising to see an
aggressively frenzied campaign indulged in by Muslims in
Muslim-dominated areas. Clearly, Muslims preferred an AAP
government in Delhi against that of BJP. Their attitude may have
been different if in recent past several Muslim-populated areas
of Delhi had not witnessed communal tension targeting
Muslims. Communal venom spread by extremists linked with
BJP has apparently proved politically damaging for this party.
With Muslims forming less than 15 percent of Delhi's population, the BJP and its extremist associates did not assume that
their vote for AAP could prove politically costly for them. What
the BJP did not foresee was that the voting pattern could turn
against it if the average voter, particularly Muslims and old
Congress supporters, opted voting for AAP as their vote was
decided by their anti-BJP electoral strategy.
Thus, AAPs success should not be viewed as only the success of this party and its leader, Kejriwal. Rather, it is the antiBJP vote which helped AAP succeed. BJP's success would have
reflected the strength of the Modi-wave. Even a few seats and
votes secured by Congress only indicate that this party is not


yet totally finished.

Strategy for the Modi era

As long as the goose delivers the golden egg - electoral dividend - Modi can afford inaction. His overt project
currently is in the budget keeping his corporate backers and middle class supporters placated. The covert agenda
of saffronising India is unfolding without any hitch since the sections that could critique this are in any case
waiting with bated breath for the budget. Modi intends to usher in the long awaited second phase of economic
reforms, something Manmohan was restrained from by a Congress high command mindful of social costs. Modi
can afford to neglect this since he has the Hindutva potion to administer the masses.
FIRDAUS AHMED
The BJP government is set to release the census figures of 2011. The earlier government's
hand had been stayed when these became
available in the run-up to national elections.
Their fear back then was perhaps that the BJP
would take advantage by quoting and interpreting the figures selectively regarding increase
in Muslim numbers and accuse Congress of
appeasement. In the event, depriving the BJP
of a vote-catching issue did not help the
Congress much. The BJP is currently set to
take the advantage of these numbers in the
run-up to elections in Delhi and in the build-up
already underway in Bihar. The Muzaffarnagar
route to national elections of last year is being
re-enacted: in Trilokpuri earlier, and now in
Muzaffarpur. Census figures, deliberately leak,
are to drive up communal frenzy: Muslims are
coming; BJP to the rescue!
Apparently, Modi finds himself in a win-win
position. In case, he keeps his distance from
the communal mobilisation, a trick mastered
by his ace strategist, Amit Shah, he can profit
politically from the gains Hindutva makes electorally. Alongside, he gains in stature as the
only one who can rein in the communal forces,
since, by maintaining a distance, he appears as
a neutral umpire. This will increase his appeal
for the middle class, not so much impressed
by the Hindutva plank as much as by his development plank. Even the minorities - Muslims
and Christians - will look to him to restrain
those who act in his name. Therefore, if he
chooses not to act to rein in the Hindutva
brigade, as he has currently done, he gains
electorally, and if he does choose to act to rein
them in at an opportune moment, he gains
some brownie points with the middle class and
breaks the ice with distrustful minorities. This
strategy of acting in a Janus-like manner and
speaking with a forked tongue has been perfected by the Sangh over the decades, well
demonstrated in the Vajpayee-Advani duo, the
former representing the Singh's liberal face,
the latter its headline stance.
As long as the goose delivers the golden
egg - electoral dividend - Modi can afford inaction. His overt project currently is in the budget keeping his corporate backers and middle
class supporters placated. The covert agenda
of saffronising India is unfolding without any
hitch since the sections that could critique this
are in any case waiting with bated breath for
the budget. Modi intends to usher in the long
awaited second phase of economic reforms,
something Manmohan was restrained from by

a Congress high command mindful of social

costs. Modi can afford to neglect this since he
has the Hindutva potion to administer the
masses.
In any case any backlash to these
reforms will only mount when the underprevileged realise they are at the receiving end and
get their act together, perhaps a decade on.
Minorities, hoping to be in on the economic
action, will also wait to see if they are included.
He in any case has the machinery of the state
to suppress on any protest.
Therefore, Modi is in great need to act to
rein in the rabid Hindutva organisations. He can
continue as their champion and they his symbiotic support base. The political animal in
Modi knows, not to cut the branch he sits on.
He would not risk alienating the Sangh even if
he builds on the middle-class constituency by
coming up with smart cities, bullet trains and a
$500 billion bonhomie package with the US.
The middle class needs him more than he does
them. Modi's economic moves are set to take
India, buoyed by international economic upturn
brought about by the Obama-led US turn
around and precipate fall in oil prices, past
China's growth figures by next year. Therefore,
Modi does not need to fear the middle class or
its being embarrassed by his Hindutva-inspired
reset of India. Modi can rely on the Hindutva
brigade to deliver Bihar this year, and the twin
cards, Hindutva and the economy, to wrest UP
by 2017. Modi will then be set to capture Rajya
Sabha and, thereby, take out a long-term lease
on the political high ground.
Where does this leave India's largest
minority that census numbers record as being
14.2 per cent or 172 million strong? This
analysis of Mr. Modi's projected longevity
shows that the minority requires settling in for
the long haul under him. He can be expected to
keep the lid on things, even if he does not rein
in Hindutva zealots, since he needs stability for
the economy to deliver. In any case, it is
impossible to envisage an energetic counter by
the minority to the spread of Hindutva, since
the minority lacks the unity that can lend it a
strategic base.
What are the contours of a strategy for the
Modi era?
Muslims are not going to confront the
Sangh in government or outside, nor is the
option of migrating to save other place available to them. There is no national leadership,
leave alone a centralized one, for the Muslim
community. Its various communities must per
force rely on respective regional and neighbouring communities, including and principally

11

the majority community. The fact remains that

the strategy of the MIM, of confrontation and
stooping down to the level of Hindutva invective and provocation, is counter-productive.
A three-step strategic possibility consequently emerges. The first is at the local level.
Muslims need expanding and intermeshing
with their local neighbours across the country,
especially those deprived as themselves. A
common front for the have-not's will ensure
that any economic trickle down does not
bypass them. The government's health budget
cut suggests that communities would require
fending for themselves and not rely on the government.
Second is at the national level. The political
opposition is in hibernation. It is awaiting policy missteps by the government to bounce
back. Given India's economic prospects, this is
unlikely in the middle term. Once the Modi
charm wears off, Muslims can lend an electoral
shoulder to displace him. At the national level,
Muslim leaders must in the interim forge bonds
between themselves so as to ensure that the
relative physical isolation of Muslim communities is mitigated. Else, India can end up with
ghettos lke Juhapura nationwide. Another significant line of action is to ensure moderation
so that the government cannot cite adverse
security conditions in Muslim-inhabited areas
to justify exclusionary politics. Invertent
Muslim moves can trigger off Hindu contrymobilisation.
Third is the international level which is
marked by uncertainty with the demise of the
Saudi king. The thrust for foreign policy
activism on India's part to gain strategically,
particularly from any discomfiture of Pakistan,
would need watching.
More significantly, South Asian Muslims
now number half a billion, clearly more than
Indonesia and in the Arab world. The dividend
from this in the form of a shift in the centre of
gravity of the Muslim world away from the
unstable Middle East to South Asia is not in evidence as yet. Towards this end Muslim Indians
may need first to rebuild South Asian bonds by
thinking of South Asia as the single civilisational entity that it has been through millennia. This
will be to India's and the region's advantage,
besides keeping ill winds from Middle Eastern
wars away from India. It will counter India's
strategic tutoring by the US and Israel through
strategic partnerships with both states, overt
and covert respectively.
The author is a security analyst who blogs at
http://www.subcontinentalmusings.blogspot.in. This
article was written before the Delhi elections

Need for reform in

Hyderabad and beyond
In all earnestness and humility it would not be out of
place to mention that I am no scholar of Deen. I am
still a student learning from highly-placed scholars
of Deen and through my studies I remain a student.
Currently in Hyderabad, in particular, and other
places in general, it is observed that Muslim girls are
comparatively more qualified in fields of medicine,
engineering, computer sciences etc. as compared to
boys. Boys from NRI families spend more time in
late-night gossip, fun, driving 2-wheelers and 4wheelers, noisily and at high-speed (many are young
and without licence). If this generation neglects education what would be the fate of the coming generation?
In January 2014, The Times of India had reported that only 10 percent of students had access to
higher education in the country. Tribal and Dalits fare
the worst with 1.8 percent having any higher education. Similarly, only 2.1 per cent Muslims and nearly
2 percent of rural population is able to go in for further learning.
NRI families spend hard-earned money in restaurants, on luxuries, vehicles etc. On a wedding, lakhs
of rupees are spent on expensive wedding halls with
garish decoration, 15 or more different dishes are
served in dinner. These families invest in gold and
landed properties, which are not functional assets.
The option lies in entrepreneurship. The wealthy
spend corers of rupees for building homes. In all
these cases it is an issue of status, ego and exhibition of wealth.
Tragically, on the other side thousands of poor
girls are unmarried. A small portion of this wealth
would suffice to solemnise weddings in many poor
families. Some of it can be used to support education
of deserving students. Another significant area is
madrasas which are looked upon suspiciously for
their alleged misuse.
In a memorable article in The Times of India
(January 4, 2009), Swaminathan Aiyar wrote that
Ulugh Beg, ruler of Central Asia, built the madrasas
of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva as great centres of
learning religion, mathematics, medicine, astronomy
and other sciences. He was the greatest astronomer
of his time, famous for his star charts and astronomical calculations. He nurtured an entire cadre of scientists and astronomers at his observatory in
Samarkand, the world's finest city at that time.
Omar Khayyam, best known as a poet, wrote
the famous Rubayiat. But he was also a scientist and
philosopher of Samarkand. Central Asia was the
world centre of learning for centuries and Khiva was
the birth place of Mohammed al-Khwarizmi (780850), the father of algebra. The word algebra is
derived from al-jabr, one of al-Khwarizmis techniques to solve equations. He also pioneered the use
of decimal point. Ibn Sina, known in West as
Avicenna, was among the foremost medical authorities of his time, apart from being a philosopher and
historian. He studied and taught at the madrasas of
Bukhara and Khiva.
Let the new madrasas be religious seminaries
and universities as in ancient Samarkand and
Bukhara. Rather than stress only madrasa modernisation let us take a look at madrasas centuries back
to know their potential.
SULEMAN DAUD KHAN, Hyderabad

12

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

NEWSMAKERS

www.milligazette.com

OBITUARIES

MEN&WOMEN IN NEWS
Fourteen years old ABDUS SAMAD,
a 10th class student of Shamli district (UP)s Kandy Babar village has
prepared a model of metro train
which runs on a wooden track with
the help of a 12 volt battery. Being
the son of a poor man, he could use
only cheap materials for his metro
train like wooden track and thin wire
etc. He remained unknown even
after his wonderful feat but with the
help of a connoisseur of talents who saw his capabilities, he took
him (Abdus Samad) to UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav for a
demonstration of his product. He used a 40-metre wooden track
and a wire to propel the model train with DC current. The CM was
so impressed with his feat that he announced a prize of Rs 10
lakh on the spot to encourage him. He also announced the setting up of an ITI in his village, development of his village under
Lohia Gram Yojna, conversion of his kachcha house into pakka
house and posting of a policeman at his humble residence to protect him, his invention and his house and family members.
Dr. MAHMOODUR RAHMAN, retired IAS officer and former Vice Chancellor of AMU was
unanimously elected by all Directors as
Chairman of Mumbais Bombay Mercantile
Cooperative Bank Ltd (a scheduled bank).
Prof.
ANWAR
PASHA, a noted
Urdu critic, intellectual and author of many books,
associated with the academic committees of UGC and many Indian
Universities, has been appointed

AWARDS
Ms RUKHSANA ANJUM, a City Zone teacher of
Old Delhis MC Primary Model School, Gali
Qasim Jaan was honoured by Tech Mahindra
Foundation with an Award at a function held at
India Habitat Centre on 29/01/15. The Award,
consisting of a shield, certificate and a cash
prize of Rs 20,000 was given to her by NDMC
Education Director. She has earlier been honoured with Best Teacher Award five times.
SAFAAT ALI KHAN, selfless social worker of
Rampur who has been helping handicapped per-

Chaiman of JNU, Delhis Centre for Indian Languages by JNUs

Vice Chancellor.
JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA UNIVERSITY is one of the three central
universities of the country, out of a total of 40 central universities, which had been honoured for Visitors Award for discoveries, inventions and research. Jamia Millia Islamia University was
given this Award for researches and discoveries in the field of
Astro-Physics and Cosmology. Jamia Millias Group for Studies
in Astrophysics and Cosmology, functions under the Centre for
Theoretical Physics. The Award, consisting of a Commendation
Certificate and a cheque of Rs one lakh, was given to the selected universities at a function held in Rashtrapati Bhawan on 4
February.
DILIP KUMAR, veteran Bollywood film actor was honoured with
Lifetime Achievement Award on 1 February at the International
Film Festival at Jaipur. The Award was accepted on his behalf by
film actor Anupam Kher.
Eleven-year old WASIMA, a student of 6th
class and daughter of a labourer in Nooh
(Mewat) had been appointed Brand
Ambassador of Childrens Cleanliness
Mission, Haryana by union HRD minister
Mrs Smriti Irani, with the consent of
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar
at a function held in Panipat in connection
with national level Beti Bachaao, Beti
Padhaao programme on 22 January 15. In
reply to a question put to her by the HRD minister about what
she wants to be in future, she said that she wants to be a teacher
to teach students to build a better society through education.
Probably impressed by her ambition to help in building a better
society the minister decided to appoint her the Brand


Ambassador for spreading the message of cleanliness.

sons and ensuring their rights and concessions

to them for 22 years and who also set up
Viklaang Sena Samiti for this purpose was honoured with the state level Award by Anil Kumar
Sagar, secretary of Viklaang Jan Vikas Vibhaag,
government of UP at a function held at Indira
Pratishthan, Lucknow on 25 January.
SYED OWAIS MUKARRAM, proprietor of Crown
Overseas was honoured with First Prize for maximum export of top quality of glass products to
foreign countries. Second Prize was won by
Munna Lal Jain of Millennium Exports. The Prize
or Award is known as Janeshwar Mishra Award
and consists of a beautiful Trophy and a

Certificate. Both the traders belong to Firozabad,

in UP which is famous for manufacturing glass
products like toys etc for decoration and other
household purposes. The Awards were given to
these glass manufacturers and traders by UPs
industries minister, Bhagwat Saran Gangwar at a
function held at Lucknows Indira Gandhi
Auditorium on 25/01/15.
QARI ABDUL BARI of Saharanpur who participated in the Qiraat recitation competition held at
Iranian embassy in New Delhi secured first position. For this feat he was honoured with Shaane Hind Award by IICTC Computer Centre at a
function held at this Centre. He will now repre-

to be known as
"Deedat Plus". Soon
he emerged as a
famous
public
speaker on Islam
and comparative
religion. His activities received an
international audience when he
started Peace TV a few years back.
It is now broadcasting in a number of
languages besides English.
Naik says that his goal is to
"concentrate on the educated
Muslim youth who have become
apologetic about their own religion
and have started to feel the religion
is outdated". He says Islam is a religion of reason and logic, and that
the Quran contains 1000 verses
relating to science, which he says
explain the number of Western converts. Naik is the founder of the
Islamic International School in Mumbai and United Islamic
Aid, which provides scholarship to poor and destitute
Muslim youth.
Naik has held many debates and lectures around the
world. His style of memorising the Quran and Hadith literature in various languages, and his related missionary activity, has made him extremely popular in Muslim circles. His
debates are recorded and widely distributed in video and
DVD media and online. One of his most-cited debates was
with William Campbell in Chicago in April 2000, on the topic
of "The Quran and the Bible: In the Light of Science". Every
year since November 2007 Naik has led a 10-day Peace
Conference at Somaiya Ground, Sion, Mumbai. Lectures on
Islam have been presented by Naik and twenty other
Islamic speakers.
Naik argues that scientific theories were prophesised
by the Quran. For example, he says certain verses of the
Quran accurately describe embryological development.
A medical doctor by training and just 50, the man has
spawned a movement that has captured the imagination of
millions around the world.
The Islamic Research Foundation also manages world
class modern schools that combine the best of Islamic
teachings and scientific education, research centres, publication and distribution of books and free literature on Islam
to schools, colleges and other institutions and individuals in
India and around the world.

DR. ZAKIR NAIK

Famous preacher of Islam, Dr. Zakir
Naik won the King Faisal International
Prize for 2015 for "Service to Islam".
This was announced by Makkah
Governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal
(Director General) and Abdullah AlOthaimeen (Secretary-General of the
King Faisal Foundation) at a glittering
function in Riyadh on 3 February.

According to the citation readout

"Dr. Zakir Naik, a non-Arabic Islamic
scholar, has become a world
renowned authority on comparative
religion. He founded Peace TV, the
only channel in the world specialized
in comparative religion understanding
with a huge audience profile."
This KFIP annual award is conferred on "dedicated
men and women with exceptional achievements in five categories -Service to Islam, Islamic Studies, Arabic Literature
and Language, Science and Medicine - whose contributions
make a positive difference globally.
Conservatives may say he is too liberal and liberals
may say he is too conservative. What is certain is that
Dr. Zakir Abdul-Karim Naik lets everyone know exactly what
he thinks, and this modern proselytizer for Islam is spreading the message around the world. Earlier Dr Zakir Naik has
received many other prizes and awards in recognition of his
services.
In 2006, Dr. Naik launched Peace TV, a free-to-air, 24hour English-language channel dedicated to comparative
religion. The channel is now broadcasting in Urdu, Bangla
as well and is planning to start broadcasting in a number of
other languages.
Dr. Naik was inspired by the late Sheikh Ahmed Deedat
of South Africa. As a young Bombay medical student in
1987, he organised a lecture for Deedat, which was the
start of a long friendship - and mentorship as Deedat taught
by example.
Born in Mumbai, Zakair Naik did his MBBS from
Topiwala National Medical College and Nair Hospital of the
University of Mumbai He started the Islamic Research
Foundation in 1991 as a platform for Islamic dawah, comparative religious research and publications. Though not
formally trained, he was inspired by Deedat. Later he came

Dr. AUSAF AHMAD, noted economist and Chairman of Indian

Centre for Islamic Finance died at hs residence in Noida on 22
January at the age of 70 years. Born in Lucknow, he was educated
at Lucknow University, JNU and Northern Illinois (USA) where he
did Ph D. He was a teacher at Delhi Universitys Zakir Husain
College, Jamia Millia University. Islamic Development Bank, Saudi
Arabia and Professor at Delhis Academy of Third World Studies. He
was also associated with Institute of Objective Studies and is known
for promoting the concept of Islamic economics and finance. He
leaves behind his wife, one son and three daughters.
MAULANA MUSHTAQ AHMAD QASMI, religious scholar and rector
of Madrasa Darul Uloom Qasimia and Abdul Haq Anjum, noted fiction writer both died in accidents at separate places and on different dates. Whereas Maulana Mushtaq Ahmad of Mirzapur Kitab Tola
died when his Maruti car was hit by a train at an unmanned railway
crossing on 27 January, Abdul Haq Anjum of Amroha (55 years)
died in a road accident on 30 January.
MAULANA MUHAMMAD SALEEM HASHMI,
noted religious scholar, and rector of
Rajoopurs Madrasa Khairul Uloom died of
heart attack on 2 February at the age of 44
years. He leaves behind his wife, two sons
and one daughter. Condolence meetings were
held at many places, including Darul Uloom,
Deoband, Madni Technical Institute, Muslim
Fund Trust, Public Girls School, Deoband and
many other religious and modern schools.
Ms KHALIDAH BILGRAMI, Madhya Pradeshs first Urdu journalist
died in Bhopal on 31 January after a brief illness at the age of 71
years. States public relations minister Rajinder Charan Shukl while
paying tributes to her said that being the first Urdu journalist of the
state, contributions made by her to many Urdu newspapers pub

lished from Bhopal cannot be forgotten.

MG

sent India in the World Qiraat Competition to be

held in Iran.
Dr. SYED MUHAMAD SHOAIB, Assistant
Professor in Maulana Azad National Urdu
University Polytechnic, Hyderabad was honoured with Best Poster Presentation Award by
Indian Science Congress at a function held on
the occasion of 102nd conference of Indian
Science Congress at Mumbai. The topic of Dr
Shoaibs Poster Presentation was Studies on
refractive Index of Human Natural and Artificial
Tears. He was presented a cheque of Rs 5000


also.

DR. SAEED FARANI

Dr. Saeed Ahmed Farani, whose forefathers hailed from Azamgarh in UP but
settled down in Malegaon in the district
of Nasik in Maharashtra long ago, always
wanted to make his career in theatre or
performing arts. The world of arts and
culture attracted him more than the medical profession. He was also associated
with some theatre groups and participated in different plays. He also co-authored
a Gujarati play, Chitkaar, based on the
theme of psychiatric disorder which
became very popular at the time. But
somehow he chose medical profession
as a career and has been trying to give his best since then.
Dr. Saeed Farani was born on 6 November, 1958 in Malegaon He received his
early education at the Municipal Primary School. After completing his intermediate education at Elphinston College, Mumbai, he joined TNMC & Nair
Hospital to pursue MBBS. He completed his MS degree from the same college
in 1989 and worked as a medical practitioner in Mumbai for a year before
coming back to Malegaon. He started his own hospital in 1991, realising the
need of medical facilities the town required.
Dr. Farani gets disheartened when he remembers the day when bombs
exploded in Malegaon in September 2006. "I was having food at home when I
heard the blasts. Victims were being rushed to my hospital. I rushed there,
only to be shocked. It was difficult for me to decide on whom to operate first.
There were old men, children and police personnel among the victims,
Dr Saeed Farani recalls. But somehow he managed to treat them even with
very limited resources. For extending his help to the blast victims, Dr. Farani
was bestowed with Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice the same year.
Earlier, in 2002, when riots broke out in Malegaon, victims were rushed to
his hospital. At the time, his hospital was not well-equipped for orthopaedic
operations. He used ordinary saw for an amputation job as he did not have the
required cutting tool at that time for orthopaedic purpose. Yet he successfully
completed this operation. In recognition of his services, Maharashtra government awarded Dr. Farani with Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award. Besides, he was
also honoured with Khadim-e-Khalq Award in 2007, Nasik Gaurav Award in
2008, Rotary Club Award in 2011, Lions Club Award in 2012, Mumbai Ratan
Award in 2013 and Police Raising Day Award in 2014.
Malegaon journalist Aleem Faizi, editor of ummid.com, said, "Malegaon is
basically inhabited by poor, so Dr. Saeed Farani is very lenient about his fees.
He is one of the best surgeons in Malegaon." Faizi added that in 2006 and
2008 during the time of blasts when injured were taken to hospitals most of
the doctors hesitated to operate on the victims of the blasts, but Dr. Farani
treated them with utmost care and never thought of legal implications.
NEWS DESK (Jawed Akhter)

SPECIAL REPORT

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

13

Twelfth WAMY conference in Marrakesh

MG CORRESPONDENT
Marrakesh City (Morocco): World Assembly of Muslim Youth
(WAMY) held its 12th international conference here during 29-31
January. The huge event was attended by around 700 guests from
85 countries around the world, including officials from Morocco
and some other countries and a sizeable representation of
Muslim, especially youth and student, organisations from the four
continents.
The theme of the conference was Youth in a Changing World.
WAMY general secretary Dr. Saleh ibn Sulaiman Al-Wohaibi said while
inaugurating the conference on 29 January that this event is being
held amid tremendous changes taking place all over the world and
under an unprecedented communications onslaught through media
and social networking channels, which is influencing the thoughts and
behaviour of our youth. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the
new changes and to guide our youth who constitute 50 percent of the
Muslim Ummah today. Extremism and atheistic tendencies should be
tackled seriously, he said.
The Conference consisted of two public lectures and a number of sessions during which youth problems, experiences and
experiments form around the world were discussed. The general
council of WAMY also met during the Conference and elected the
new members of its board of trustees for the new 4-year term.
The two open lectures were delivered by two well-known
speakers and preachers of repute. The first was by Dr Muhammad
ibn Al-Hasan Al-Dadu of Mauritania who spoke about the concept
of change in Islam. He said that change is a divine law. Each
human being should strive to change him/herself to reach what is
better and more virtuous in terms of knowledge, behaviour and
faith, etc. A Muslim also has to strive to change his/her society for
the better. He said, positive change has some conditions: 1. It
should not oppose divine laws. 2. Change has to take place by
using easier and peaceful ways and not through coercion and violence. 3. The situation after change must be better than what was
earlier. But if change leads to the worse, it is not desirable. 4.
Change should not be costly. A long and costly change is against
divine laws. 5. Change should increase productivity and be suitable to the age in which it is taking place. 6. Change should unify
people instead of dividing them. 7. Change should be pleasing to
Allah as without divine facilitation no change succeeds.
The second open lecture was delivered by the famous Sudanese

scholar Dr. Isam AlBashir. He stressed that

three
things
are
required to guide
youth:
knowledge,
good upbringing and a
good understanding of
the current situation in
their societies and the
world. He said, we find
three kinds of attitudes
in our societies today:
one is dazzled by West
and blindly follows it,
the second is seclusionist which shuns the
Inaugural function of the WAMY conference
world and believes that
following early generations is enough to succeed in life. A third attitude is to balance
between the above two
attitudes and chose
what is useful and
good.
A special session
discussed the role of
change in the lives of
youth. Scholars said
that Ulama should be
careful and lenient
while dealing with The session on youth experiences (Zafarul-Islam Khan is seen on extreme right)
youth. Speakers from
various countries offered an overview of the situation in their paralysed this organisation and stopped its activities but also
countries, especially in relation to youth organisations there. Dr. harmed the Indian Muslim community in general.
Youth and women took part in the conference with enthusiZafarul-Islam Khan, from India, spoke on a number of youth
experiments around the world. He stressed that youth organisa- ams and had an active participation, especially in discussions,
tions should function under the observation and guidance of expe- comments and question and answer sessions.
The Conference was held in the historic and beautiful capital
rienced elders. He offered the example of Students Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) as an example of a youth organisation of Morocco which was earlier the seat of great Islamic States like
which went astray and started raising extremist slogans which Murabitun and Muwahhidun which had intervened in Andalus at
allowed the Indian government to ban it in 2001. This not only crucial times.

Narcissist, self-obsessed

Yusuf/MG

The yellow, almost-gold, stripes that

appear against the navy blue wool fitted
Indian jacket and pants he wore while
welcoming Obama on 25 January were
not simple stitching. They were Mr.
Modis name embroidered into the fabric.
The estimated cost of manufacturing that
piece of cloth is Rs 10 lakh.
Over and over again the lines repeated the words: Narendra Damodardas
Modi. His middle name is his fathers
first name: Damodardas Mulchand, a tea
seller.
Mr. Modi, who changed his outfit
three times on that day, started with a
cream coloured shirt paired with a saffron
shawl for the airport visit. He then changed into that pinstriped fitted Indian jacket with his name all
over it for a luncheon he hosted in Mr. Obamas honour at Hyderabad House.
Later that evening, Mr. Modi donned a dove-grey fitted Indian jacket for a state banquet at
Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidents palace.
Mr. Modi paired a black fitted jacket with an elaborate turban, a nod to his Gujarati heritage. The
red, green and orange hand-tied turban, speckled with white dots, is a a tie-dye technique called
Bandhani that is practiced mostly in the western Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Mr. Modi
was the chief minister of Gujarat for more than a decade.
But the Obama visits wardrobe will probably be best-remembered for those stripes on Mr.
Modis second outfit. They started a social media outrage especially on Twitter where some users
described Mr. Modi as a narcissist for choosing to wear his name all over his jacket. A probe is
required to establish the cost of Mr Modis extensive, bespoke wardrobe which his salary as chief
minister or PM cannot afford.

TO
WORK

JIH Workshop on Media & Public Relations

New Delhi: A two-day

national workshop on
Media and Public
Relations was held here
at the Jamaat-e Islami
Hind headquarters on
8-9 February. The event
was attended by media
secretaries and other
public relation officials
of the Jamaat. In his
inaugural
speech,
Ameer-e
Jamaat
Maulana
Syed
Jalaluddin
Umari
emphasised on preparation of media professionals from within the
Jamaat to counter negative reporting about Islam and Muslims.
Earlier schools, madrasas, colleges and universities would play key role in shaping peoples
minds and thoughts and public opinion. Now media has taken over that role. This is the importance
of media, he said.
Islam is negatively reported and presented in media globally. We do not have enough skilled
manpower to counter that negative campaign. There is a need to effectively and clearly present Islam
as a solution to social and other issues like atrocities on women and neglect of weaker sections,
said Maulana Umari.
Ameer-e Jamaat further said that We can complain that media is ignoring us but we should
also try to find out where we are lacking and why we are not influencing media. It is the duty of
Tehreek and its members to raise questions on issues and also offer solutions. We are in the primary
stage in the field of media,
Earlier in his opening remarks, Mohammad Salim Engineer, National Secretary, Public Relations,
said that The purpose of this workshop is to make ourselves aware of the tools that can help us
make effective use of media and public relations to further the purposes of Jamaat in the present situation. Media and public relations have become far more important today than ever before. We want
our media officials at state levels to become professionally equipped to spread the message of the
Jamaat.
The inaugural session was also addressed by senior journalists Iftikhar Gilani and AU Asif.
Highlighting the importance of communication, Iftikhar Gilani, National Bureau Chief of DNA daily
said: We (Muslim community) have ignored communication while it was our mission. One big reason of Muslims fall is leaving the communication field. We left sea route to Vasco da Gama in the
15th century and we have since been falling.
Prophets were sent to Palestine as it was the central point of sea route to spread the message,
said Gilani. He also said that community organisations should give more importance to local media.
Today media has become force multiplier. We have no control on them. We should give focus
on local media, then national and international media. We need to create profiles of local reporters at
district level, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Associate Editor of bilingual weekly Chauthi Duniya, AU Asif, said:
When Jamaat was founded there were only a few newspapers. Now platforms of media have
changed and we have to adopt them in the changing times to present our message effectively. We
should present our message professionally, in a simple way, effectively and not in heavy tone.
He gave a brief history of publications and newspapers run by Jamaat since its inception. He
also advised that Jamaat media outlets should share their contents with each other.
Senior journalists from mainstream media including TV news channels and newspapers took
part as as resource persons for the workshop.

14

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

Woman who saved 10 persons from

rioters honoured
Patna: Fierce communal riots had erupted in Bihars Azizpur village on 18 January in which at least 5 persons were killed and
many injured. Shail Devi, a 50 year-old widow of the same village,
seeing that about 10 members (all Muslims) were trapped in their
houses and facing danger to their lives from the rioters gave all of
them shelter in her house at the great risk to herself. She has two
daughters and one son but at that time she was alone in her
house. She herself was very scared that the rioters may harm her
and her daughters but on humanitarian grounds she gave them
shelter irrespective of the consequences. Congress party members wanted to honour her for this good work done by her. They
brought her and her daughters from Azizur to Patna and awarded
her for the good work she had done in protecting the lives of as
many a 10 persons. Earlier, the state government had also given
her a reward of rs 51,000. The state government may also give her
financial assistance for the education of her children. The state
government also promised to arrange a house for her under the
Indira Awas Yojna.

Imarat-e Sharia budget for new year

Phulwari Sharif: Aamrat-e Sharaiyya of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa
and (West) Bengal presented its budget for the year 2015-16 in
the budget session on 19 January in the presence of Ulama from
all the four states. It was decided in this session that an amount of
Rs 6 crores will be spent on education and health and Rs
5,00,25000 will be spent under other heads. Ameer-e Shariat,
Maulana Syed Nizamuddin while speaking in this session said that
today the country is passing thorugh critical times and in these
times Imarat-e Sharaiyya will spread Islams message of peace,
love and mutual brotherhood and for this, programmes will be
organised in every district. It was also decided that for promoting
education two new technical educational institutions will be
opened in Ranchi and Katihar. As regards health sector, new
instruments, equipments etc will be arranged in all hospitals being
run and managed by Imarat Sharaiyya and also all health centres
will be equipped with modern equipments. In addition to the
above, Rs 5,00,25000 will be spent from Baitul Maals funds
towards pensions to 1100 widows, provision of reading materials
like books etc and scholarships to boy and girl students, scholarships or honorariums to teachers teaching poor students in rural
areas, financial assistance to people who are victims of natural
disasters, financial assistance for the marriage of poor girls, medical help and treatment of poor and helpless people.
Kerala experts tour Madni Technical Institute
Deoband: A team of technical experts from Kerala, Gujarat,
Karnatak and Maharashtra visited Madni Technical Institute and
Motor Driving Centre, Deoband and met the Director of the Institute
and Chairman of Muslim Educational and Economic Council,
Maulana Haseeb Siddiqi who apprised them about the training
courses being conducted in both these institutions. He also
informed the team members about the way management of both
these institutions is being carried on. Appreciating the training and
management programmes the team members praised Maulana
Siddiqis efforts in associating trained youth with employment.
They also talked to the youth receiving training in these institutes.
During their meeting, Keralas technical expert and Managing
Director of Saad Manpower, Syed Hamid Hasan proposed the
establishment of a centre for the trainees of Madni Technical
Institute, particularly those of Motor Driving Centre so that in this
Centre training could be imparted through smart class also.
Director of Madni Technical Instite, Maulana Haseeb Siddiqi
approved of this proposal then and there and described this suggestion as an extremely useful step, adding that with this (setting
up of the centre for training in driving) there will be better opportunities of employment to the youth of this region and better
avenues of their excellent training will be created.
Every effort to be made to protect AMUs minority status
Aligarh: A seminar on AMU Act: Challenges and Solution sponsored by AMU Old Boys Association was held in AMU on 19
January in which the Universitys Pro Vice Chancellor Brig (Retd)
S. Ahmad Ali said that AMU administration is making every possible effort for the restoration of this Universitys minority character
and our effort is that problem is solved by the Supreme Court
(where this matter is pending) and thereafter Parliament also
should pass it by an Act. He further said that this Universitys
Courts session will be held on 21 February when election also will
be held for the Chancellor, Pro Chancellor, Honorary Treasurer and
six members of the Executive Council. He said that he has been a
student of Allahabad, Osmania and Madras universities but the
spirit and atmosphere that he saw here is not to be found in other
universities and from this point of view this is a unique University.
He said that both the Vice Chancellor Lt Gen (Retd) Zamiruddin
Shah and he himself are working with a spirit of service and for us
this institution has the same sanctity as religion. He said that
under the leadership of Gen. Shah this University has achieved
great progress and its ranking is continuously rising. He said that
former chief secretary of UP Javed Usmani who also worked
as Registrar of this University was of the view that running
AMU is even more difficult than running UP. Former Vice
Chancellor of AMU, Prof Shamim Ahmad said while presiding
over the inaugural session that it is the responsibility of AMU
fraternity to carry on the mission of Sir Sayyad with all its
might and devotion keeping in mind the critical situation of
present times and circumstances, pay more attention to promote education among Muslims beyond Aligarh also.
Earlier, general secretary of AMU Old Boys Association S. M.

www.milligazette.com

COMMUNITY NEWS

Madrasa course changed in MP to provide

education to Hindu students
New Delhi: There are many madrasas in Madhya Pradeshs
Mandasore district where Muslim boy and girl students take interest in education about Hinduism. In addition to Islamic education,
they are also provided educaton about Hinduisms Solah sanskaars, Gita saar, and gayetri mantra. Thirteen years old Zainab
can recite all sixteen sanskars in one breath. Seventeen years ago
five Muslim and two Hindu girls founded Nada Khwateen Mandal
Madrasa where education about Islam and Hindu religion or
Hinduism was imparted. Head of this Madrasa, Mrs Talat
Qureshi says that they are providing education to poor children
but when they found that many poor Hindus also wanted to send
their children to this Madrasa but were somewhat hesitant to
send them because of religious education. Hence in order to meet
their requirement, they introduced old course of madrasas which
was very cheap and where important personalities of yester
years like the social reformer Raja Ram Moohan Roy, Munshi
Prem Chand, Bharatendu Harish Chandra (a Hindi poet) also
received education. Now as many as 128 madrasas are being run
under the auspices of Nada Khwateen Mandal whose Head office
is Madrasa Firdaus. Some of the madrasas are named Gurukul
Viddyapeeth, Gyan Sagar, Sant Ravi Das, Angel, Jain Vardhman
etc. Of these, 14 madrasas receive governemnt assistance
(though not in time). Hindi and English languages are compulsory and for a third language, one either studies Urdu or Sanskrit.
She (Mrs Talast) says that there is no compulsion in religious
education. Children who offer Urdu as the third language are
taught Deeniyat and for those who offer Sanskrit are taught about
Hindu religion. Since all children read under one roof and the environment also is the same, they take interest in all religious books.
According to Dr Shahid Qureshi, Coordinator of District Madrasa
Centre, in Madhya Pradesh, book of religious education is comSajid while welcoming the guests said that in the present tumultuous days some people are casting a biased eye on AMU hence
the protection of minority character of this university should be our
prime duty". He said that the present Vice Chancellor had contacted former students of AMU all over the world for smart class
rooms and his efforts were now bearing fruit. MLA, Haji
Zamirullah suggested that a control room should be set up, which
should keep on eye on the activities of central and state governments and see what these governments are doing for solving the
problems of Muslims and removing their difficulties. Supreme
Court advocate Bahar Barqi in his keynote address said that Vice
Chancellor is, truly speaking, the successor of Sir Sayyad and
implementation of University Act is an integral part of his duties
and responsibilities. He also demanded that a meeting of
University Court should be convened and election of 25 representatives of Old Boys should also be held. Former President of AMU
Students Union Zafaruddin Khan Faizan said that Muslim
University is a minority institution right form its very inception and
hence all of us should work in unison along with lawyers and
advocates on the case regarding its minority character that is
pending in the Supreme Court. Mushtaq Ahmad, Supreme Court
advocate said that whatever decisions are taken regarding AMU, it
should enjoy the support of University management.
AMU alumnus to help set up business management school
Aligarh: Frank Islam, India-born industrialist in USA who was
recently honoured with Martin Luther King Jr Award for
Philanthropy in America and who is an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim
University said that he is indebted to AMU for what he is today and
hence wants to repay his debt to AMU by helping in setting up a
Business Management School in AMU which, according to some,
is expected to cost about Rs 12 crores. Islam, whose old name is
Fakhrul Islam but is known in the USA as Frank Islam, (probably
after getting married to an American girl) was born in a village in
Azamgarh distrit and educated at Azamgarhs Shibli National
College, Varanasis Uday Pratap College (BSc) and AMU (MSc)
went to USA for higher studies after which he set up his own IT
firm QSS in 1994 in a Washington DC (District of Columbia) suburb with only one employee and a capital of 500 Dollars only
which in about a decade developed into a 300 million Dollars company. But soon he sold this firm and set up FI Investment Group in
2007 which provided growth capital to emerging entrepreneurs.
In 2008 American general election he wholeheartedly supported Barak Husain Obama and after his becoming President
of USA, Islam became his close associate and one of the
advisers on his economic policy so much so that during
Obamas recent official visit to India he had also accompanied
him as a member of his delegation. He took this opportunity to
visit his family members, his elder sister and others and also
his alma mater, AMU, met VC Zamiruddin Shah and others and
expressed his desire to help in setting up Business
Management School in AMU campus. Though living permanently in USA, he is quite worried about educational backwardness of Muslims in India and their drop-out rate in schools and
wants to empower the next generation through education and
also wants to start a management school in AMU and inspire
others. He says we write our own destiny, adding that he covered a huge distance only because of education. We should
look into the high drop-out rates of Muslim students in schools
and do our best to stop it, he said.
In Delhi he met PM Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun
Jetley and made his own suggestions to them, to remove red
tapism, corruption, reducing paper work, increasing basic facilities etc which are essential for smart cities and make in India

pulsory in modern madrasas of the state and syllabus books also

are decided by the institution. Hence in view of the large number
of Hindu children, books Hindu Mazhab, Solah Sanskar and
Scientific basis of Faiths written by Nemi Chand Rathore are
being taught to them. In this way the students as well as teachers come to know about each others religions. From this point of
view a new initiative has been taken.
Dr Shahid Qureshi said that in this district (Mandsor) of about
13 lakh population about 250 madrasas are being run and about
15 thousand students of both religions (including about 12 thousand students of 128 madrasas of Nada Khwateen or Mahila
Mandal) are reading. An important thing worth noting is that of
these 15 thousand children about 55% are Hindu children. In
about 20 madrasas smart classes have been started and
English medium has been started from 1st to 4th classes. Nem
Chandra, who is a journalist by profession and who has written
this book (Solah Sanskar etc) says that he compiled this book on
Dr Qureshis request but was glad to find that along with Hindu
chidren, Muslim children and teachers also liked it. He says that
his books are being taught in madrasas for the past five years.
(Ms) Zainab Ghauri, a student of Firdaus Madrasa says that many
things are same in the books of both religions, only the names are
different. She remembers the books of Hindu religion by heart.
These students in their innocence ask questions which one may
find difficult to answer. For example, Zainab asks when we all eat
food together, how we became different. Sanjiv, father of Ayshi
Varshi, a students of 11th class of this madrasa says that in an
annual fee of rs 1500, nowhere such modern education is provided. He was also surprised as to how separate education about
both religions is imparted in the same school or madrasa. (N. A.
Ansari)
also. He is a philanthropist and also a trustee of Kennedy Centre,
Washington along with John F Kenedys daughter and American
industrialist Ramesh Baghwani and others. He is also keen to promote exchange programmes between AMU and American universities.
Anger over appointment of riot accused to AMU Court
New Delhi: The appointment of persons accused in cases of communal riots like Bharatendra Singh, Lok Sabha MP from Bijnor and
others of doubtful antecedents by the Union HRD ministry as
members of an august and prestigious educational institution like
Aligarh Muslim Universitys Court has greatly annoyed and
angered not only the teaching staff and students of AMU but also
other intellectuals and educationists. Kunwar Bharatendra Singh,
BJP-MP is one of the persons accused and also jailed for a few
days only for involvement in the large scale Muzaffarnagar communal riots of 2013. Other Lok Sabha (LS) MPs, Satish Gautam of
BJP from Aligarh who was involved in Babri Masjid demolition and
Rajveer Singh, also BJP-MP from Eta who is the son of Kalyan
Singh, former chief minister of UP who was instrumental in facilitating Babri Masjids demolition have been appointed by HRD minister or ministry as members of AMU Court. It may be stated in
this connection that AMU Court is the supreme governing body of
this University which has 185 members. As per rules, six Lok
Saha MPs and four Rajya Sabha MPs are appointed to this Court
by union HRD ministry. The remaining three LS-MPs are
Chaudhari Mahboob Ali Qaisar from Bihar, Muhammad Badruz
ZamaaN Khan from Murshidabad (W. B) and Bhola Singh from
Buland Shahar. When these names were declared by the HRD ministry, students and teachers of AMU were unhappy because of
inclusion of the above mentioned 3 MPs of the BJP. Muslim
University Teachers Association, former leaders (Presidents and
members) of AMU Students Unions and many members
expressed their anger and disappointment. They said that in addition to Bharatendra Singh and Rajveer Singh, the Aligarh MP,
Satish Gautam is the person who had tried recently to spoil the
atmosphere of AMU by insisting on celebrating the birth anniversary of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh in this University. This
demand was made simply to create unnecessary mischief
because these people had never made such a demand earlier. All
these MPs are of communal nature. Even the HRD minister had
also unnecessarily interfered in this matter which was purely a
regular annual celebration of AMU founder Sir Sayyads birth
anniversary. In addition to AMUs students and teaching staff,
many reputed educationists and intellectuals of the country including Dr Sandeep of IIT, Prof Ram Puniani, former Faculty member
of IIT Mumbai, Prof Vipin Kumar Tripathi, Delhi Universitys Prof
(Dr) Prem Singh, Dr Qudsia Anjum, Prof Rajendra Chaudhari and
others in a letter to President Pranab Mukherji while expressing
their resentment over the appointment of Bhartendra Singh as a
member of AMU Court have made an appeal to him to intervene
in this matter and call for an explanation from union HRD minister
over the appointment of this man as AMU Courts member. It is
stated in this joint representation that as Visitor of AMU you may
kindly intervene in this matter. It was also stated in this representation that Bharatendra is an accused in Muzaffarnagar riots case
and how can such a man be appointed as member of the court of
AMU which is a university of world fame. It was further stated that
AMU is not only an educational institution but also the protector
of our national heritage. Students of this university have brought
fame to this country abroad and raised Indias head high with
pride. Prime Minister Narendra Modis government by appointing
an accused person to the AMU Court has tried to hurt the feelings
of this Universitys students, teachers and employees.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Haryana Waqf Board loses income
because of Waqf Amendment Act
Panipat: Haryana Waqf Board is unable to generate any income for
the past about six months because of Waqf Amendment Act, 2013
which was passed when K. Rahman Khan was union minister for
minorities affairs. According to Maulana Jamshed Nadwi, Chairman
of Al Noor Education, this Act provides for open auction of Waqf
lands and properties for the purpose of giving these lands and properties on rent and moreover, a reserve price should be laid down
(below which the land etc should not be auctioned). He said that
Haryana Waqf Board has no vacant lands because most of its lands
have already been given on rent on which houses, shops etc are built
and whatever vacant lands it had are illegally occupied. He said that
even the lands which are given on rent, tenants of such lands are not
paying any rent and the illegal occupants are also not vacating lands
illegally occupied. Instead of vacating these lands the illegal occupants transfer these lands to other illegal occupants at a much higher price, with the result that the Waqf Board does not get any income.
He said that under such conditions, open auction is meaningless
because when the Board doesnt have any land how it can auction
them? Moreover, some lands are in urban areas and some in rural
areas. So how can a uniform price can be fixed in urban and rural
areas He said that for getting the illegally occupied lands vacated,
cases are pending in courts not only for years but for decades. He
aid that in cities like Gudgaon, costs of cultivable lands are Rs one
crore per bigha. Under the amended Waqf Act, it is provided that
Waqf lands are to be given on rent at the rate of 5% of market rate
i.e. 5% more than the prevailing market rate. He asked who will buy
Waqf lands at this rate, i.e. Rs 5 lakh per year. He said that all these
are useless provisions which have no relation with ground realities.
Hence laying down a reserve price and open auction, both these provisions are impossible. Waqf Boards senior Administrator Imteyaz
Khizr said that a meeting of all Waqf authorities of the country was
held with union minister for minorities affairs Najma Heptullah last
month (November 14) who had assured that a positive meeting on
this issue will be held to consider this problem.

www.milligazette.com

15

Hindutva, a movement based on negative

thinking to protect Brahaminism
New Delhi: Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) recently organised
a lecture on Hindutva: ideology and practice in the perspective of
Muslim Society. Speaking on this topic, Jamiatul Ulamas secretary and religious scholar Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani said
that Hinduism and Hindutva are two different things. Hinduism is
a religion based on positive philosophy or ideology whereas about
Hindutva Supreme Court in one of its verdicts said that Hindutva
is a way of life but did not elaborate whose way of life it is and
what should be the basis of its priorities, why is that in this country believers in God as well as those who do not believe in Him
are all welcome. In that case the question arises as to which system should be adopted. He said that the definition of Hindutva
given by RSS leader Veer Savarkar is based on the philosophy of
negative thinking and in his definition he (Savarkar) has kept
Muslims and Christians in mind and if both these are removed or
are not considered, his movement will come to an end. He further
said that truly speaking this concept (of Hindutva) was put forward to protect Brahminism. He asked why December 6 was chosen for the demolition of Babri Masjid? Himself answering this
question he said that the main reason for selection of this date
was that in Maharasthra Brahminism was facing a crisis and its
existence and hegemony appeared to be in danger because the
movement started by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and social reformer
Periyar had greatly influenced the (Hindu) society. A large number
of people i.e. Hindus under Dr Ambedkars leadership had
embraced Buddhism. Brahmins were very worried with Dr.
Ambedkars movement and considered this as very harmful,
rather a catastrophe for Hindu society. Dr. Ambedkar died on 6
December. The selection of this day (6 December) signified that
on this date Brahminism and Hindu society had got rid of

Ambedkars growing danger to Hindu society. This date was

selected for Babri Masjids demolition because this (Masjid) too
ws considered a symbol of slavery to Moghul kingdoms founder
and hence to Moghuls.
Explaining the concept of Islam he said that there is no concept of change of religion in Islam. Rather it has been commanded that you (followers of Islam) enter the fold of Islam completely. This is Islam. That is to say, judge and analyse the religion you
follow to find out what is wrong and try to remove that. This is
Islam. If you do not know kalma, understand it, adopt it and follow it. He said that in our country Ram, Krishn and Buddha were
there much before Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) but we adopted
him and are following him. Making his points clear he said that
now there is a Modi government but before that Manmohan Singh
was the PM and his government was there which we must
accept. Similarly Hazrat Muhammad is the last Prophet of God
and he is for all and before him there were many prophets of God
and hence we should accept them all. Only then we can be true
followers. He further said that on one hand it is said that all those
live in India are Hindus, but on the other hand, Hindu religious
leaders and intellectuals are not able to clearly identify who are
Hindus and whom they follow and who are not Hindus. In such a
state of uncertainty the claim that all are Hindus leaves in itself a
big void.
Dr Muhammad Manzoor Alam, Chairman of IOS said in his
presidential address that a meeting of IOS office bearers will be
held soon to further discuss this matter and for this purpose a
special workshop of half a day will be held so that more light
could be thrown (by other intellectuals) on this topic. (N. A.
Ansari)

help which came from the government, but this year she gave up on
the struggle.

the chilly-weather. The victims in Kandhla protested against the UP

government negligence towards the riot-affected people who are still
forced to live in camps.

Educational Privatisation a matter of concern: UN ambassador

New Delhi: United Nations special education ambassador Kishore
Singh, who was deputed by the UN to study the implementation of
Right to Education Act (RTE) in India said while speaking at a function jointly organised by UNESCO and Educational Rights Forum that
because of the general trend of privatization of education in India and
many other developing and developed countries of the world people
belonging to poor and backward sections of the country are being
deprived of education. He said that it is the responsibility of governments and states to provide education to all its people and this has
been clearly stated in many human rights agreements also to which
many countries of the world are signatories but in spite of this, privatization of education is increasing in almost all counties of the
world, including India which is a matter of concern. It may be stated
in this connection that recently he (Kishore Singh) had submitted his
report against privatization of education to the UN General Assembly
and in this report he also expressed his concern over this trend,
adding that because of this, right to education is becoming ineffective. He also said that his report against privatization of education
was fully supported by most of the member countries of General
Assembly. He said that it is very essential that every body should be
given equal opportunity of education and it isgovernment's duty and
responsibility to bear all expenses of education of its people. He said
that more and more schools, colleges and institutions of higher and
specialised education are being opened solely for earning profits and
education is becoming costly and beyond the reach of common and
poor people. He further said that way back in 1990s Supreme Court
also in one of its verdicts had stated that demanding capitation fees
is unconstitutional but in spite of this, capitation fees is being
demanded in medical, engineering and other professional colleges
and institutions. He said that because of privatization, standard of
education is also being affected because in private institutions teachers are appointed on lesser salaries but under pressure they (teachers) have to sign on much higher salaries.

Muzaffarnagar riots accused get clean chit

A Special Investigation Team has given a clean chit to six accused in
the murder of a Muslim youth, which led to the retaliatory killing of
two Hindu youth before snowballing into communal riots in
Muzaffarnagar and adjoining districts in September 2013. The riots
had claimed 63 lives, according to official figures, and forced around
one lakh people to flee from their villages. Some of them still live in
camps in nearby areas. SIT Inspector Sampurnanand Tiwari filed a
closure report in the case on 12 January in the court of Chief Judicial
Magistrate Narender Kumar giving clean chit to six accused-Prahlad
and Tehender, Prahlads son Devender, Tehenders son Jitender,
Vishen and Yogender-saying no evidence was found about their
involvement in the murder of Shahnawaz Qureshi at Kawal village on
27 August, 2013. According to SIT Additional SP Manoj Jha, only the
remaining two accused , Sachin and Gaurav, were found to be
involved in Shahnawazs murder. Sachin and Gaurav were lynched
by a mob in retaliation to Shahnawazs murder. Tiwari, the investigating officer (IO) in the case, said they took the help of call details of
the named accused and also recorded statements of several witnesses on the basis of which it was established that they were not
present at the spot where the incident had taken place. He said some
witnesses who had given affidavits stating that the six accused were
present at the spot, backtracked and changed their statements during questioning. The IO further said that one of the accused,
Yogender, could not be traced and it was later found no person with
such name existed at the address mentioned in the case, and no one
gave any statement against Devender and Jitender, two other
accused. During the investigation, the IO said that some locals gave
affidavits stating that one Nitin, and Gauravs father Ravinder were
also involved in the murder. But it was found that Nitin had died four
months before Shahnawazs murder while Ravinder reached the spot
after the incident, Tiwari said.

US court dismisses case against Modi

A US federal court dismissed a case against Narendra Modi which
alleged that he was culpable for the 2002 ant-Muslim pogroms in
Gujarat when he was chief minister of the state. On 14 January, federal judge Annalisa Torres dismissed the case brought by human
rights group American Justice Centre and several grouped plaintiffs.
They said that they and their family members had suffered harm during the brutal violence unleashed in the state. The case claimed punitive and compensatory damage for the plaintiffs, and called for labeling the incidents of violence in Gujarat as genocide. US State
Department spokesperson Marie Harf said that the dismissal of the
case was based on the Executive branchs brief that Prime Minister
Modi is entitled to immunity as the sitting head of a foreign government. US courts have consistently dismissed cases against sitting
heads of state and heads of government on the basis of their immunity, she said.

Muzaffarnagar riot-accused gets AMU panel seat

The nomination of Kunwar Bharatender Singh, an MP from Bijnor
and an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots of September 2013 as a
member of the Aligarh Muslim University Court, the highest governing body of the university, angered the AMU community. Resentment
among teachers and students was evident after the list of nominated AMU Court members was released on 14 January. Syed Masudul
Hasan, AMU Students Union vice-president, demanded the resignation of Union HRD minister Smriti Irani on the issue. He announced
that he would not allow the nominated court member Bharatender
Singh to enter the AMU campus. The BJP government has exposed
its communal designs by nominating an accused of Muzaffanagar
riots as AMU court member, he said. AMU Teachers Association
too has criticised the nomination of Singh. In this connection,
AMUTA secretary, Dr. Aftab Alam said, The decision of the Modi
government to nominate the controversial MP to AMU court is not
correct. The minority community is hurt by the nomination of
Kunwar Bharatender just within a year of the riots.

Winter kills children in Muzaffarnagar camp

Forgotten by most people, 25 people died of chill this winter in
Muzaffarnagar relief camps that continue to shelter thousands of riot
refugees. Last year, though, was different. In January 2014,
Mohammad Irfan would sit outside his tent in the relief camp at Loi
village and count the number of politicians visiting those left homeless after the riots broke out in Muzaffanagar in September 2013. In
the violence that followed, about one lakh fled their villages and 63
were killed according to official figure which did not take some
deaths and disappearances into account. General elections were
around the corner and riots were on everybodys mind, Irfan, 35,
said. However, Muzaffarnagar additional DM, Indramani Tripathi
claimed that not a single person has died in Muzaffarnagar in these
winters. If he knows about Simran who died in Loi on 5 November,
he is not mentioning it. Yakub, Simrans father, said, We tried to
keep her warm and fed her. She survived 2013 winter, thanks to the

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

Muslim trusts provide help to Muzaffanagar victims

Victims of Muzaffarnagar communal violence are still making efforts
to go around the district and state authorities for compensation but
no one is listening to them. Hundreds of victims of Shamli and
Muzaffarnagar are still waiting for compensation, but Muzaffarnagar
DM, Kaushal Raj Sharma believes that nobody was left for compensation. One and half years back Muslims of Phugana and many other
villages fled their village after the Muzaffarnagar riots in the night of
7 September. On the other hand, Al-Falah and Tayyab Trust handed
over the keys of newly-built houses to the victims of Muzaffarnagar
riots. The trusts provided housing to 165 affected families but still
thousands remain homeless who are still to be compensated. The
trusts have planned to provide 300 houses to the victims. The conditions of these victims living at temporary camps in Shamli district
get worse when there is rain and they have to stay outside even in

Court raps CBI on Sohrabuddin probe

A Mumbai special court rapped the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) for botching up its probe by not submitting key evidence about
Sohrabuddin Sheikh-Tulsi Prajapati killings of 2005-6 and the receipt
of an extortion sum Rs.70 lakh via an aide. The same court had
already given a clean chit to Amit Shah, now BJP president. As per
the CBI chargesheet, it was alleged that Shahs close and trusted
police officer Abhay Chudasama-accused number 15-had allegedly
threatened two Ahmedabad-based businessmen brothers Ramanbhai
and Dashrathbhai Patel (both prosecution witnesses) at his behest to
cough up Rs. 1.5 crore to escape detention under the Prevention of
Anti-Social Activities Act. The charges that the builders had paid
Rs.70 lakh as bribe to Shah via another aide, Ajay Patel, were rejected by the court in its December 2014 order. At the time of two alleged
fake encounters, Shah was the minister of state for home in the then
Gujarat government. Shahs lawyer has rejected all CBIs allegations
against him, saying they were politically motivated. Patel brothers
state that accused number 17, Ajay Patel, asked them to pay an
amount of Rs.1.5 crore out of which they paid only Rs.70 lakh so that
they shall not be implicated under the Prevention of Anti-Social
Activities Act. However, there is no evidence to show that the
accused-applicant (Shah) directly asked and received any amount
from them, said the court, adding, There is no evidence brought by
the CBI that the proposal of the detention of Patel brothers was prepared and was pending for the home ministers consideration. The
court also said that Ajays passport entries submitted to the court
allegedly showed that he was out of India on two of the dates when
he took the money. The court rejected the CBIs allegation that Shah
threatened the Patel brothers telephonically to give a statement
against Sohrabuddin, saying it did not furnish the actual conversation, phone-call record or Shahs voice sample to support it.
Muslims being picked up on cooked-up charges: Rihai Manch
Rehai Manch has raised several questions over the operations of
intelligence agencies citing the arrests of alleged Indian Mujahideen
operatives from Bhatkal as staged-drama. Rihai Manch President,
Advocate Mohammad Shoeb accused that the Indian security personnel and intelligence agencies are trying to create a terror-makebelieve to stage fake encounters in the name of fighting against terrorism. He said that the way explosives were recovered from an
alleged IM operative, Abdul Salam Subur in Bhatkal raises several
questions on the operation of the security agencies as the house had
remained closed for two months prior to the alleged recovery since
nobody was living there. And Subur had been living with one of his
relatives as his parents had gone to Kerala for treatment. Mr. Shoeb
blamed that Bangalore police went to Suburs house at around 11
AM on 8 January and planted there some materials and documents
which they had brought in a car and placed the same inside a room
by breaking the lock on the door. This whole episode was watched
by local people who were present during this incident. He said that
Bangalore police picked up Subur in the morning the same day when
he was going with his friend on a bike. Another boy, Saddam Husain,
was also detained while he was going to Shumuga to distribute invitation cards of his sisters marriage, while Riyaz Ahmad Sayeedi was
picked up from Mangalore international airport when he was about
to take a flight for Dubai. He said that by creating a scene of Islamic
terrorism, police is trying to arrest Muslims on cooked up charges.
He added that the acquittal of journalist Mutiur Rahman, who was
earlier arrested on fake terror charges, has proved how Bangalore
police has been implicating innocent Muslims. Advocate Randhir
Singh Soman said that Javed, Taj Mohammad and Maqsood from
Rampur were picked up on 13 August, 2002 as ISI agents, but
after spending 11 years in jail they were acquitted, yet they have not
been rehabilitated nor have they been compensated by the UP government. Now Police and intelligence agencies are conspiring to
arrest Muslims in the name of ISIS recruits, said Mr. Shoeb.

16

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

INTERNATIONAL

The Cowardly and Despicable American Presstitutes

A democracy without an honest media cannot exist. In America democracy is a facade behind
which operates every evil inclination of mankind. During the past 14 years the American people have
supported governments that have invaded, bombed, or droned seven countries, killing, maiming, and
displacing millions of people for no reason other than profit and hegemonic power. There is scant sign
that this has caused very many Americans sleepless nights or a bad conscience.
PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
There is a brouhaha underway about an American journalist who
told a story about being in a helicopter in a war zone. The
helicopter was hit and had to land. Which war zone and when I
don't know. The US has created so many war zones that it is
difficult to keep up with them all, and as you will see, I am not
interested in the story for its own sake.
It turns out that the journalist has remembered incorrectly. He
was in a helicopter in a war zone, but it wasn't hit and didn't have to
land. The journalist has been accused of lying in order to make
himself seem to be "a more seasoned war correspondent than he is."
The journalist's presstitute colleagues are all over him with
accusations. He has even had to apologize to the troops. Which
troops and why is unclear. The American requirement that
everyone apologize for every word reminds me of the old Soviet
practice, real or alleged by anti-communists, that required Soviet
citizens to self-criticize.
National Public Radio (2-5-15) thought this story of the
American journalist was so important that the program played a
recording of the journalist telling his story. It sounded like a good
story to me. The audience enjoyed it and was laughing. The
journalist telling the story did not claim any heroism on his part or
any failure on the part of the helicopter crew. It is normal for
helicopters to take hits in war zones.
Having established that the journalist had actually stated that
the helicopter was hit when in fact it wasn't, NPR brought on the
program a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, an
expert on "false memory." The psychologist explained various
reasons a person might have false memories, making the point
that it is far from uncommon and that the journalist is most likely
just another example. But the NPR presstitute still wanted to know
if the journalist had intentionally lied in order to make himself look
good. It was never explained why it made a journalist look good
to be in a helicopter forced to land. But few presstitutes get to this
depth of questioning.
Now to get to the real point. I was listening to this while
driving as it was less depressing to listen to NPR's propaganda
than to listen to the Christian-Zionist preachers. In the previous
hour NPR had presented listeners with three reports about civilian
deaths in the break-away provinces in eastern and southern
Ukraine. The first time I heard the report, the NPR presstitute
recounted how explosives had hit a hospital killing 5 people in the
break-away Donetsk Republic. The presstitute did not report that
this was done by Ukrainian forces, instead suggesting that it could
have been done by the "Russian-supported rebels." He didn't offer
any explanation why the rebels would attack their own hospital.
The impression left for that small percentage of informed
Americans capable of thought is that presstitutes are not allowed
to say that the Washington-backed Ukrainians attacked a hospital.
In all three reports, Secretary of State John Kerry was
broadcast saying that the US wanted a diplomatic, peaceful
solution, but that the Russians were blocking a peaceful solution
by sending tank columns and troops into Ukraine. On my return
trip, I heard over NPR Kerry twice more repeating the unsupported
claim that Russian tanks and troops are pouring into Ukraine.
Obviously, NPR was serving as a propaganda voice that Russia
was invading Ukraine.
Think about this for a minute. We have been hearing from high
US government officials, including the president himself, for
months and months about Russian tank columns and troops
entering Ukraine. The Russian government denies this steadfastly,
but, of course, we cannot trust the now-demonized Russians. We
are not allowed to believe them, because they are positioned as
the Enemy, and good patriotic Americans never believe the
Enemy.
But how can we help but believe the Russians? If all these
Russian tank columns and troops that have allegedly been pouring
into Ukraine were real, Washington's puppet government in Kiev
would have fallen sometime last year, and the conflict would be
over. Anyone with a brain knows this.
So, we arrive at my point. A journalist told a harmless story
and has been roasted alive and forced to apologize to the troops

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for lying. In the middle of this brouhaha, the US Secretary of State,

the President of the United States, innumerable senators,
executive branch officials, and presstitutes have repeatedly
reported month after month Russian tank columns and troops
entering Ukraine. Yet, despite all these Russian forces, the
civilians in the break-away provinces of eastern and southern
Ukraine are still being slaughtered by Washington's puppet state in
Kiev.
If Russian tanks and troops are this ineffective, why are NATO
commanders and neoconservative warmongers warning of the
dire danger that Russia poses to the Baltics, Poland, and Eastern
Europe?
It doesn't make any sense, does it? So the question is: Why
are the presstitutes all over some hapless journalist rather than
holding accountable the Great Liars, John Kerry and Barak
Obama?
The answer is: It is costless to the presstitutes to try to
destroy, for totally insignificant reasons-perhaps just for the
pleasure of it, like "American Sniper" killing people for fun-one of
their own, but they would be fired if they hold Kerry and Obama
accountable, and they know it. But they have to get someone, so
they eat their own.
A democracy without an honest media cannot exist. In
America democracy is a facade behind which operates every evil
inclination of mankind. During the past 14 years the American
people have supported governments that have invaded, bombed,
or droned seven countries, killing, maiming, and displacing
millions of people for no reason other than profit and hegemonic
power. There is scant sign that this has caused very many
Americans sleepless nights or a bad conscience.
When Washington is not bombing and killing, it is plotting to

Normal life does not

exist in Gaza. The world
needs to come and see
"The Gaza Strip has many things to offer such as agriculture,
if that could be developed. But the economic blockade by
Israel does not allow any progress in that direction. Why no
airport? Why no port for fishing? Gaza should be given its
economic tools and the borders with Israel and Egypt should
be opened." He reiterates the call they heard repeatedly
"Open the doors for Gaza".
Gaza enters 2015 on a note of continued aches and distress. The
harshness of the urgent winter, has posed an unexpected challenge in an already arduous situation for Gazans and relief workers alike. Facing not just cold and power cuts but also heavy rains
and floods, problems they had not planned for, large numbers of
people have entered a new period of uncertainty. The plans to
bring respite are all within the purview of UN agency plans for
relief and rehabilitation. But the funds are fast depleting and the
generous promises offered by aid-giving countries remain unfulfilled. Relief agencies are pressing panic buttons in the hope that
there will be an activation of what had been agreed upon during
the reconstruction conference in Cairo late 2014.
The Director of the Arab and International Authority for
Reconstruction in Gaza strip Mohamed Al-Aloul appealed to the
United Nations to help lift the Israeli blockade on Gaza Strip amid
the deteriorating weather conditions that has increased the suffering of some 120,000 Palestinian families whose houses were
destroyed in the Gaza war. Lifting the Israeli siege on Gaza, he
argued, would allow for the speedy entry of building materials
and other urgently required relief supplies.
This time around, PIEF POST begins with a description of
facts from the ground by Fr. Paul Lansu, a member of the PIEF
Core group who recently visited Gaza as part of a Pax Christi
team to assess the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. That is followed by a comprehensive and detailed report from a group of
eight international medical experts who traveled to Gaza several
times and have come up with a report that describes a traumatic
situation as well offering solutions for a way forward. There is
also a report of a visit by twenty diplomats from nine countries
who visited the Gaza Strip to meet with displaced Palestinians
and search for long-term solutions for the coastal enclave.
Finally, we share a report from United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for the Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
which has characterized the infrastructure in Gaza Strip as "catastrophic". The UNRWA report also notes that the agency is illequipped to protect the population in winter especially during
cold air depressions and in the shadow of the poor sanitation
systems and the almost continuous black outs.The humanitarian
crisis in Gaza calls for active monitoring, advocacy, lobbying,
humanitarian relief work, and our prayerful support.
Meanwhile, Israel persists with its military posturing.
Early Sunday, Israeli occupation jets fired mock raids over
Gaza City. Israeli F-16 warplanes flew in the atmosphere of
the sector and at low levels intensively launched fake raids.
The raid sounds spread fear and panic among the citizens,

overthrow reformist governments, such as the Honduran

government Obama overthrew, and the Venezuelan, Bolivian,
Ecuadoran, and Argentine governments that the Obama regime is
current trying to overthrow. And, also, of course the
democratically elected government in Ukraine that has been
supplanted by Washington's coup.
The new Greek government is in the crosshairs, and so is
Putin himself.
Washington and its fawning presstitutes branded the elected
Ukrainian government that was a victim of Washington's coup, "a
corrupt dictatorship." The replacement government consists of a
combination of Washington puppets and neo-nazis with their own
military forces sporting Nazi insignias. The American presstitutes
have been careful not to notice the Nazi insignias.
Ask yourself why a journalist's false memory episode of an
insignificant event is so important to the American presstitutes,
while John Kerry's and Barak Obama's extraordinary, blatant,
blockbuster, and dangerous lies are ignored.
In the event you have forgotten the efficiency of the Russian
military, remember the fate of the American and Israeli trained and
equipped Georgian Army that Washington sicced on South
Ossetia. The Georgian invasion of South Ossetia resulted in the
deaths of Russian peace-keeping soldiers and Russian citizens.
The Russian military intervened, and the American and Israeli
trained and equipped Georgian Army collapsed in five hours. All of
Georgia was back in Russian hands, but the Russians withdrew
and left the former province of Russia independent, despite the
lies from Washington that Putin intends to restore the Soviet
Empire.
The only correct conclusion that any American can make is
that every statement of the US government and its presstitute
media is a blatant lie designed to serve a secret agenda that the
American people would not support if they knew of its existence.
Whenever Washington and its whore media speak, they lie.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for
Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal.
Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and
Economic Dissolution of the West and How America Was Lost.

especially childre n. (Ranjan Solomon)

Fr. Paul Lansu, Senior Policy Advisor Pax Christi International,
recently visited Gaza as part of a delegation to better understanding the situation in Gaza from a first-hand view point. The visit of
the team was supported from the Pontifical Mission and Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) - a humanitarian aid organization. Fr. Lansu
reports how "Given the isolation of the people in Gaza and given
the huge destruction in the latest war, ordinary people are getting
depressed. Violence in the society is growing. Youth lack the necessary prospects. They demand not only physical assistance but
mainly justice and human dignity. Lack of human dignity is at
stake and is the essence of the problem." On the other hand, Fr
Lansu points to positive options: "The Gaza Strip has many things
to offer such as agriculture, if that could be developed. But the
economic blockade by Israel does not allow any progress in that
direction. Why no airport? Why no port for fishing? Gaza should
be given its economic tools and the borders with Israel and Egypt
should be opened." He reiterates the call they heard repeatedly
"Open the doors for Gaza".
No safe place in Gaza - Israel's callous failure to minimize
civilian toll
A delegation of international medical experts who visited the Gaza
during the crisis discovered the failure of the warning mechanisms, the absence of escape routes, the collapse of the mechanism for evacuating the wounded, and strikes against rescue
teams increased the number of civilian casualties. "No Safe
Place", is a report on the events of Operation Protective Edge,
written by eight renowned international medical experts.
Diplomats visit the Gaza Strip say "turn Gaza into a liveable
place"
Last week some twenty diplomats from nine countries visited the
Gaza Strip to better understand the very difficult situation facing
thousands of Palestinians this winter. They met with displaced
Palestinians and discussed the need for long-term solutions for
the coastal enclave.
Humanitarian Coordinator of the occupied Palestinian territory, Mr James W. Rawley who led the delegation stressed. "Seven
years of blockade and the ongoing conflict have exhausted people's coping mechanisms and increased aid dependency and food
insecurity." He added that the United Nations will continue to exert
all efforts towards a lifting of the closures and acceleration of
reconstruction and recovery efforts which can "turn Gaza into a
liveable place." The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
the Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has described
the infrastructure in Gaza Strip as "catastrophic", noting that it was
ill-equipped to protect the population in winter especially during
cold air depressions and in the shadow of the poor sanitation systems and the almost continuous black outs.
Mock air raids over Gaza leave Gaza terrorized
In the early hours of Sunday, Israeli occupation jets fired mock
raids over Gaza City. Israeli F-16 warplanes flew in the atmosphere of the sector and at low levels intensively launched fake
raids, and fired heat balloons in the air. The raid sounds spread the
terror among the citizens, especially children. (Compiled by
Ranjan Solomon, Communications Consultant, Palestine Israel
Ecumenical Forum)

INTERNATIONAL

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

17

At last, the Gulf States have discovered the reality of the Sissi regime
the Egyptian justice system has effectively become a rubber stamp
in the hands of the thug and his criminal junta. Indeed, what can one
say of a justice system that sentences thousands of people to death
for peacefully objecting to the coup while exonerating the former
He told them he was fighting a common enemy, namely the Muslim
tyrant of Egypt Husni Mubarak, who utterly
Brotherhood. He told them that Egypt wouldn't
ruined and impoverished the country for more
hesitate even for a moment to hasten to help
them should they come under a foreign attack. Among other things Al-Sisi wanted $10 billion each from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait to be deposited to than thirty years.
Sissi has also proven beyond doubt that
He told them he was for moderate Islam and the army's bank accounts. An embarrassing recording has been leaked to the media, revealing that Egyptian
his heart lies with Israel not Palestine. The fact
against fanatical extremists.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi despises the Gulf States. Arabi21 said that a satellite channel based in Turkey but
The usually trusting leaders of the Gulf backed by the Muslim Brotherhood broadcast the damning recording on Saturday. Al-Sisi's coup government that he is hermetically closing the Rafah bordercrossing between Gaza and the outside world
thought Sissi was telling the truth. They has been virtually bankrolled by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at a cost of billions of dollars.
shows that he is carrying out Israeli
mistook his unctuous words and hyper
According to Mukameleen, the channel in question, the recording dates back to when Al-Sisi was Egypt's
sycophancy for honesty. They gave him the defence minister. The voices of the current chief of the presidential staff Abbas Kamil, who was an army general instructions.
Sissi's Zionist credentials are further
benefit of the doubt, thanks to the highly at the time, and Mahmoud Hegazi, the current chief of staff of the Egyptian army, are also heard clearly.
bolstered by the recent decision by one of the
despotic style of the decision-making process
Al-Sisi told Kamil to ask for $10 billion each from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. They suggested that coup's courts which declared Hamas's military
in these monarchies and Sheikhdoms.
the money should be deposited in the army's bank accounts. He is also heard saying that some additional wing, the Izzidin al Qassam Brigades a terrorist
But Sissi was not telling the truth because donations for the Egyptian Central Bank were needed, and the income of the Gulf States is described as being
group. Is resisting Israeli Nazism a form of
all he was really seeking was their money.
"like rice".
terror? The fact that Sissi says "yes"
The leaders of Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Kamil called Kuwait a "half state" and launched a tirade of insults. Referring to Egyptian support for the Gulf
Emirates and Kuwait were duped to think that States during the Gulf War in 1990, Kamil said that the government of the day should have "bartered" its support underscores the fact that he is not an Egyptian,
Arab or Muslim patriot but rather a Zionist
by giving billions of dollars to this crook they with money. "The Gulf nations play with the money while our nation is hungry," he said.
agent, very much like Eli Cohen who reached
were actually investing in the security and
Although the recording has not been verified independently, the response to it across the region shows that
stability of their own regimes. Hence, they didn't many people regard it as scandalous. The Arabic equivalent of #SisidespisesGulf has trended worldwide and a the helm of power in Damascus, thanks to the
ask the questions that should have been asked. number of prominent figures in the Gulf have called on their governments to withdraw their ambassadors from treachery and perfidy of the anti-Islam Baath
Instead, they thought the man was a Cairo. The Egyptian Prime Minister, Ibrahim Mahlab, commented on the leaks, saying that the incident would not party, still reigning in the capital of the
paragon of honesty and piety, very much like affect the morale of the Egyptian people in any negative way. He also insulted the mass media sympathetic to Ummayids.
What else can be said of a leader who is
Omar Ibn al-Khattab or Ali ibn Abi-Taleb.
the Muslim Brotherhood. (middleeastmonitor.com) [Listen to the recording with English subtitles here: knowingly and deliberately causing so much
In fact, the only Gulf country that exercised youtube.com/watch?v=xqijGwausV0 ].
misery, pain and distress to the thoroughly
a modicum of caution in dealing with the thug
tormented Gazans who stand at the forefront of
is Qatar, which explains the unusually abusive
Sissi decapitated human rights and civil liberties in Egypt, he the enduring struggle against Israel's criminal designs and who have
language used by Sissi in reference to the Emir of Qatar.
But Sissi, who betrayed his own boss, democratically-elected ordered his Baltagiyya (street thugs) to shoot and kill peaceful paid a huge price for not succumbing to Israeli whims.
I hope and pray that the leaders of the Gulf States will learn their
protesters. He put tens of thousands in prisons, without charge and
President Muhammad Mursi, is not a man to be trusted.
He has proven himself to be more of a street thug than a trial. And he instructed a pornographically mendacious mercenary lesson before it is too late and not repeat their huge blunder with the
respectable statesman. Even today, he continues to adopt a modus media to malign the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the greatest and thug of Egypt. The late King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah (may
Allah forgive him), made a huge mistake. This mistake must never
operandi based on sheer mendacity as he leads his country to the noblest Islamic movements in modern times.
In fact, he went as far as demanding changing "religious texts," be repeated.
abyss.
Khalid Amayreh is a veteran journalist living in occupied Palestine
The recently disclosed secret recording of a secret meeting of an allusion to the Quran. No other Arab or Muslim leader has ever
Sissi and some of his military aides portrayed a man so eager to reached this level of depravity and blasphemy in insulting Muslim
blackmail Gulf States so that they would give him billions of dollars. sensibilities.
In Egypt, the thug
But one would probably seek some extenuating circumstances
tormented
if the Gulf's billions were to be invested in alleviating rampant poverty has
in Egypt. But we all know that the bulk of the Gulf money would go Egyptians as never
to the coffers of the deep state, the notorious kleptocracy that has before. Under his
been ruling Egypt ever since the overthrowing of King Farouk in tyrannical terrorist rule,
the Egyptian economy is
1952.
Now, with a new king in Saudi Arabia, a sophisticated and collapsing. The Egyptian
reportedly pious head of state that can't be duped by swindlers like currency, the Egyptian
Sissi, Sissi is likely to lose whatever trust he may still have with the pound, has lost the bulk
of its exchange value.
Saudis.
And thanks to Sissi,
But this is good news for Egypt, Arabs and Muslims.
Sissi must be exposed for what he is, a mass murderer, par
excellence, who came to power through lies, bloodshed and
deception. On his hands he carries the blood of thousands of
Egyptians whose only "crime" was protesting the murderous coup.

KHALID AMAYREH

in occupied Palestine

Leaked recording reveals that Al-Sisi despises Gulf States

Halal Food Authority

The Symbol of Halal Authenticity
REGULATORS FOR HALAL MEAT,
POULTRY & FOODSTUFF

Palestine to become ICC member from 1 April

Palestine will join the International Criminal
Court on April 1, announced UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon. The Palestinians will be
able to sue Israel for war crimes, a move the
Israeli administration has consistently
opposed for decades. The UN treaty website
says that due to the court's procedures "the
statute will enter into force for the State of
Palestine on April 1, 2015."
Along with the ICC application, the UN
chief approved other sets of documents,
enabling Palestine to join 16 international
agreements, conventions and treaties.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed
the ICC application documents on the last day

of 2014, following the UN Security Council's

resolution on December 30, which rejected
Palestine's official bid for statehood, a document vetoed by the US in support of Israel.
Israel's immediate reaction was negative."We will not let Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) soldiers and officers be dragged to the
International Criminal Court in The Hague,"
Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly
Cabinet meeting, AFP reported. The Israeli
administration immediately applied financial
pressure on the Palestinian Authority, freezing
the transfer of half a billion shekels (over $127
million) in monthly tax revenues it collected on
behalf of the Palestinians.

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Work in progress, picture dated 4th February 2015

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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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18

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

INTERNATIONAL

Egypt confirms death sentences for 183 people

ALAN HART
My headline is taken from paragraph three of the Preamble to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. QUOTE "It is essential, if
man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to
rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights
should be protected by the rule of law" UNQUOTE
The problem is that there is no universal enforcement of the
rule of law to ensure and protect human rights. Why not?
One part of the sad and brutal truth is that virtually all if not
all governments only pay selective lip-service to human rights;
and with their policies and actions some demonstrate contempt
for them.
The other part is that the only institution we have for enforcing the rule of law, the UN Security Council, is more often than
not paralysed and made impotent by one or more of the Council's
five permanent and controlling members using their veto to protect their self-interests.
I have a one-sentence take on the state of things here on
Planet Earth. Modern life is a de-humanizing process, reducing
us to units of consumption; and the name of the game for each
and every one of us is, ought to be, claiming back our humanity.
In my view evidence that such a process was underway
would be that each and every one of us who live in the Rich World
(the North in development jargon) was demanding that a priority
be given to ensuring that the poor majority of Planet Earth's
human inhabitants have what I call the seven most basic of all
human rights.
They are: Shelter / Adequate food and nutrition / Clean water
/ Sanitation (meaning safe and secure sewage disposal) /
Healthcare / Education and A work/job opportunity
There are, of course, many other rights (civil and political)
that humans should have including the right to free speech and
dissent, but there is a particular reason why I assert that the
seven I listed are the most basic and should have priority.
Way back in the early 1970's I devoted two years of my life
to producing the first ever and to date only documentary film on
the everyday reality of global poverty and its implications for all.
My production team and I researched in more than 130 countries
and filmed in 70. The end product was an epic, two-hour documentary with the title Five Minutes To Midnight, which had its
world premiere at the formal opening of the 7th Special Session
of the UN General Assembly, called to discuss the need for a New
World Economic Order.
The most shocking statistic the film gave to the world was
that every year an estimated 15 million children under five were
dying from malnutrition and related, easily preventable disasters
such as diahorrea, measles and whooping cough. In a word they
were dying from poverty - abject and absolute poverty.
To that was added the estimate that each year another 300
million were born irreversibly brain-damaged because of malnutrition in the wombs of their mothers.
For me the single most revealing statement in the documentary was that of an Indian mother who was living, as was her
whole community, on the margins of life. I asked her what was
the one thing she wanted most of all. She replied, "Education for
my children so they don't have to live like animals as we do."
On camera I asked the poorest of the poor in countries on
each and every continent of the world the same question. Almost
all of them echoed in their own way the answer of the Indian
mother I have just quoted.
In the nearly four decades that have passed since my presentation with Five Minutes To Midnight of the everyday reality of
global poverty, there has been some progress in addressing it,
but not nearly enough.
Under that heading - not nearly enough - India today is probably the outstanding example of how development and wealth
creation driven by unregulated capitalism, assisted by rampant
corruption, is not benefitting the majority. The figures speak for
themselves - 100 million Indians are affluent to some degree or
another and 800 million are poor and getting poorer. According to
the latest research 40 percent of India's children are malnourished, and half the entire population of India is without sanitation.
As things are I truly fear for India's future. Why?
Once upon a time the poor of India did not know they were
poor. Today they do know. To be more explicit, they know they are
poor not only in relation to those of us who are fortunate enough
to live in the still rich nations of the Western world, but also in
relation to their own elites. I think you don't need a crystal ball to
see the very real prospect of India one day being torn apart by an
explosion of the despair of poverty for the many in the midst of
plenty for the few.
Still on India I have to add that I think its caste system is
much more than morally repulsive in the extreme. It is the biggest
conglomeration of human rights abuses on Planet Earth. I remain
puzzled, as I have been for many years, why Indians don't cause
it to be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Today I believe that if there is to be the understanding needed to generate a truly effective effort to end global poverty and all
it implies for the absence of even the most basic human rights, a
new approach to getting the message across is required. What
could it be?
My suggestion is that all who seek to promote human rights
should take their cue from the Indian woman I quoted and give
priority to campaigning for THE RIGHT TO BE HUMAN.
This could be defined as the right of every man, woman and
child on Planet Earth to have the seven most basic of all human
rights, to enable them to live as humans and not as animals or
more like animals than humans.
Question: If debate and discussion and campaigning was

Essentially there are two ways to run this world of ours.

One is in accordance with international law. To me it's obvious that if international law is to be
enforced universally, the United Nations has got to be reformed. It needs to reflect the world as it is
today and not as it was in 1945. One suggestion I have is that provision should be made for an overwhelming vote in the General Assembly, perhaps as high as 80 per cent, to override vetoes in the
Security Council.
The other way to run the world is in accordance with jungle law. I really do fear that our leaders
and the powerful vested interests which call most of their shots are taking us back to the jungle. But I
also see a ray of hope. The one thing a majority of citizens in most countries seem to have in common
is something approaching contempt for our political systems - I mean the way our politicians conduct
the business of society management. In America, for example, the latest polls indicate that Congress
enjoys the confidence of only 10 per cent of the voters!
refocused in such a way would it really make a difference?
In answer I have some observations to make.
The first is that only governments can change the world for
the better but... They won't act unless and until they are pushed
to do so by informed public opinion, by manifestations of real
democracy in action. The problem here is that most citizens of
most if not all nations are too uninformed and misinformed about
critical issues to do pushing.
And that's why I assert that real democracy exists nowhere
in the world. Real democracy is about much more than voting
every few years to confirm a government in office or change it.
For real democracy to exist the citizens of nations, the voters,
have to be informed enough about critical issues to call and hold
their governments to account, not only at election time but any
time and all the time. Because they are not informed enough to
do that, I say that what we have throughout the Western world
and elsewhere is the framework of democracy but not the substance.
In passing I'll add that there's a strong case for saying that
America is the least democratic country in the Western world
because what passes for democracy there is for sale to the highest lobby bidders.
In this article I am assuming that ways could be found to
inform and educate the peoples of nations about critical issues,
to give them the ability to become engaged in the political
process, in order to give what passes for democracy some real
substance. In other words, I'm assuming that citizens could be
equipped to do the pushing required.
But even if they had the ability, would they have the will would they care enough to become engaged in the political
process and play their necessary part in causing their governments to change the world for the better by giving a priority to
ensuring that every man, woman and child on Planet Earth had
the basic necessities for life.
At issue here is what I regard as the biggest and most important question of all questions.
What, really, is the quality of human nature?
There are, broadly speaking, two views.
One, the pessimistic view, which is more or less an article of
faith for most politicians and mainstream media people and many
corporate executives, bankers especially, is that we human
beings are inherently and unchangeably short-sighted, selfish
and greedy, preferring to live for today at the expense of tomorrow, and are, on balance, more "bad" than "good". In other words,
we are really quite stupid.
The other, the optimistic view, is that we have at least the
potential to act in our own best, longer term interests, even if
doing so would require those of us who live in the rich nations
(and the pockets of plenty in the developing and poor nations) to
lower our expectations and actually be prepared to take less in
the way of material gratification.
If the pessimistic view is the correct one, it seems to me that
nothing matters because the end, catastrophe for all, was
inevitable from the beginning; in which case we would all be well
advised, as individuals, as communities and as nations, to go on
screwing each other for all we can get. Praising the lord and
passing the ammunition.
I believe the optimistic view of human nature is the correct
one and that we have been conditioned to be short-sighted, selfish and greedy, and to assume that the purpose of life is the
acquisition of material things, buying now and paying later. It follows, or so it seems to me, that we could be re- conditioned by
information, education in the widest sense of the term. As the
American John Dewey (my favourite philosopher) put it, we must
"unlearn" what we have been taught about the "unchangeability of
human nature."
I also believe there is a key to unlocking the concern and care
and political engagement of most citizens of nations.
Question: What is it that parents and grandparents care most
about?
Answer: The future of their children and grandchildren.
That being so the key to mobilizing them is making them
aware that IF they want their children and grandchildren to have
a future worth having, they can't leave the shaping of it to governments, and must become engaged in the political process, to
insist that priority be given to addressing the growing pile of problems which threaten the wellbeing and perhaps even the survival
of all life on Planet Earth.
My own message to that effect would include the need for
those of us who live in the still rich nations of the Western world
(and also those who live in the pockets of plenty in the developing world) to change the way we live and think.
Changing the way we live would require us to accept that we
can't go on expecting to have more and ever more in the way

material satisfaction and gratification.

Changing the way we think would require us to see ourselves
as citizens of ONE COMMON HUMANITY.
If we could see ourselves in that light, the prospects for creating a world in which every man, woman and child had the
seven most basic of all human rights would be much improved.
Some and perhaps many will say that I am a dreamer
because, for example, the concept of "American exceptionalism"
(frequently articulated by President Obama) will never allow
Americans to see themselves, first and foremost, as citizens of
one common humanity. I am inclined to a different view of
America's potential.
During 40 years of visiting the U.S. and travelling coast-tocoast I developed what might be called a love-hate relationship
with it which I explain this way.
On one level, and generally speaking, Americans are the
most uninformed (I really mean ignorant) and gullible people on
earth. (I once said on a public platform in the U.S., "The trouble
with you Americans is not only that you don't know where
Zimbabwe is, you don't know where Africa is!") That's the bad
news.
The good news is that deep down Americans are probably
the most idealistic people on earth. In my way of thinking one
implication is that if they were informed about the true state
affairs on Planet Earth, in particular the fact that about half its
population is without some or all of the most basic human rights
and living more like animals than humans, their idealism could be
liberated and mobilized. I am suggesting in other words that if
Americans were properly informed, they might want to become
engaged to cause their government to play its necessary part in
changing the world for the better.
I'll return now to my opening quote from the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. It bears repeating. "It is essential, if
man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to
rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights
should be protected by the rule of law."
Essentially there are two ways to run this world of ours.
One is in accordance with international law. To me it's obvious that if international law is to be enforced universally, the
United Nations has got to be reformed. It needs to reflect the
world as it is today and not as it was in 1945. One suggestion I
have is that provision should be made for an overwhelming vote
in the General Assembly, perhaps as high as 80 per cent, to override vetoes in the Security Council.
The other way to run the world is in accordance with jungle
law. I really do fear that our leaders and the powerful vested interests which call most of their shots are taking us back to the jungle. But I also see a ray of hope. The one thing a majority of citizens in most countries seem to have in common is something
approaching contempt for our political systems - I mean the way
our politicians conduct the business of society management. In
America, for example, the latest polls indicate that Congress
enjoys the confidence of only 10 per cent of the voters!
What that suggests to me is not only that we need new politics - a better way to manage our world and its resources; and
that the peoples of nations would welcome new politics. And
what I think should drive them was put into words by Martin
Luther King on the 4th of April 1967, a year to the day before he
was murdered.
By then he had emerged as America's most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War as well as being a staunch critic of U.S.
foreign policy in general. In what was labelled his "Beyond
Vietnam" speech, he called America "the great purveyor of violence in the world today." (If he was still alive I'm sure he would
say, "And it still is.")
Here is what he said about the need for change:
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the
world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines
and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered
more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
My own way of putting the same message is to say, as I have
previously indicated, that the precondition for changing the world
for the better is each and every one of us seeing ourselves as,
first and foremost, citizens of one common humanity. Then, I
believe, we would understand and endorse the need for every
man, woman and child on Planet Earth to have the seven most
basic human rights, in order to live as human beings and not like
animals or more like animals than humans.
Only then could the deniers of human rights - the giant
triplets of racism, materialism and militarism - be defeated.
Alan Hart is a senior British journalist and author.

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ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES

Shia-Sunni Unity: A Must For the Welfare of Ummah

MUHAMMAD ABDUS SAMAD MAZUMDAR
Shia-Sunni conflict, according to my knowledge,
is not religious but political. Enemies of Islam
always try to make it a religious conflict to sabotage the unity of the Muslim Ummah.
Islam is primarily based on three fundamental beliefs: 1) Tawhid, 2) Risalat, and 3) Akhirah.
Firstly, Tawhid means Unity of Godhead, that
Allah alone is the Creator, Nourisher and
Destroyer of the worlds. He is Omnipotent,
Omnipresent and Omniscient. He is not the
father of any son nor the son of any father.
Instead, He is the Creator of all. He has no partner and nor can anybody share His Lordship. He
is one and unique.
Secondly, Risalat means prophethood, that
is, Allah sent many prophets right from the first
man Adam (AS) to the last and final prophet,
Muhammad (pbuh), to the world to teach and
guide their respective people and thereby make
them qualified for redemption in the next world.
If any one denies the prophet of his/her age,
he/she is Kafir (rejector or unbeliever) according
to Islam, which teaches that all prophets came
to their respective people and regions to teach,
guide and disseminate the message of God, that
There is no God but Allah, which is called
Tawhid [belief in One God] in Islam.
A long prophetic list starts with Adam (AS)
and ends with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Hence, anyone who believes in a prophet after
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), or rejects a prophet
from the prophetic list, would not remain within
Islam.

Thirdly, Akhirah means the Hereafter or life

after death, which entails the belief that a person
would have to account for his/her actions in the
next world. If he/she leads a life in accordance
with the divine law brought by the prophet of
his/her age, he/she would enter Paradise; else
he/she would be chastised and punished in the
next world. It signifies that by acting upon this
divine law one prepares in this world for redemption in the next world.
These three fundamental beliefs are invariably held by both Shia and Sunnis who act
accordingly in this life. Hence, it is prohibited
(haram) to make a distinction between Shia and
Sunnis in terms of faith. There may, however, be
a political difference between the two. Hating or
fighting each other would only lead to mutual
destruction. Islam always stresses maintaining
unity among the Ummah. The holy Quran
announces: O believers! Hold fast altogether by
the Rope of Allah [divine law] and be not divided
among yourselves (3:103); As for those who
divide their religion and break into sects, you
must not be a part of them in the least (6:159).
The difference between Shia and Sunnis has
nothing to do with the fundamental belief in
Tawhid, Risalat and Akhirah. Islam teaches that
the Muslim Ummah should be led by an Imam or
khalifah (leader) in accordance with the divine
law for its peace, unity and prosperity. The
Ummah would select or elect a competent leader
from among itself and abide by the order and
advice of the leader as long as he followed
Islam.
The Shia hold the view in the context of the
leader that the person who would be selected or

elected for leading the Ummah must be from

among the descendants of Prophet Ibrahim
(pbuh). In support of their view, Shia state the
Quranic verse: Abraham was tried by his Lord
with certain commands which he fulfilled. Allah
said: I will make thee Imam (leader) to the people. He (Abraham) pleaded: And also (Imam)
from my offspring! He answered: But My promise is not within the reach of evil-doers(2:124).
Thus it appears that except the evil-doers, a
man who is competent and belongs to the offspring of Prophet Abraham should be the leader
for the guidance of the Ummah for their peace,
unity and welfare.
Prophet Abraham had two sons, Ismail and
Ishaq [Isaac]. The children of Ishaq included
Prophet Jesus and the lineage ended at him as
Jesus did not marry. Conversely, the children of
Ismail included Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). His
daughter Fatima married Ali and they had two
sons, Hasan and Husain. Shias say that the
Prophets family consists of Prophet
Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain; and
they are called Ahlul-bayt (People of the
Household). The children of Ahlul0bayt are the
offspring of Prophet Abraham. The leader should
be from among the descendants of Ahlul-bayt
for the guidance of the Ummah. Needless to say,
Shia believe that Imam Abu Hanifa was also one
of the greatest Imams (Imam-e-Azam) and was
a disciple of the Shia Imam, Jafar Sadiq of the
fifth generation of Aal-e Muhammad.
Sunnis differ on the issue of leadership.
They say that there is no emphasis in Islam on a
leaders race, lineage and colour. Any Muslim
who is most pious and competent should be the

The Prophet Never Tortured Prisoners of War

FAHEEM YOUNUS
Senator John McCain recently remarked in an
Op-Ed, I know from personal experience that
the abuse of prisoners sometimes produces
good intelligence but often produces bad intelligence because under torture a person will say
anything he thinks his captors want to hear true or false - if he believes it will relieve his suffering.
Yes, I admire the Senator for publicly rejecting the use of torture. But his statement also
leaves me perplexed. Why have politicians and
talking heads refrained from giving credit to one
specific person? Someone whose denunciation
of torture is unprecedented and predates the
Geneva Convention by centuries: Prophet
Muhammad.
Not only did Muhammad categorically reject
torture, but he espoused equal treatment - both
physically and emotionally - for prisoners of war
in an era plagued with enslavement, limb severance and mutilation of corpses.
Take the Battle of Badr for example. The

Prophet encountered an attack three times the

number of all his adult male followers. Early in
the battle, Muslims captured a water carrier
from the enemy side. They enquired from him
about the whereabouts of Abu Sufyan, a lead
enemy general. The water carrier confessed to
knowing the location of four other generals but
maintained that he did not know about Abu
Sufyans location. The Muslims started beating
him. In turn, the water carrier would fake cooperation to avoid beating. But as the beating
stopped, he would reiterate his ignorance about
Abu-Sufyans location, and a new round of
beating would commence. The Prophet, praying
nearby, concluded his prayers due to the commotion and said, You beat him when he is
telling you the truth, and you let him go when he
tells you a lie.
Muhammad went on to prohibit inflicting
even emotional pain on the prisoners by declaring, When prisoners of war are put under
guard, those closely related should be placed
together and by mandating the return of enemy
corpses instead of mutilation. Why would

Muhammad employ such a policy?

Policies have to be aligned with goals. If our
goal is to get into the minds of terrorists, we
must do that by going to school on each captive, says Colonel Stuart Herrington, a retired
army intelligence officer who advised teams at
Guantnamo Bay. He and his teams collected
mountains of excellent, verified information in
Vietnam, Panama and the first Gulf War, he said,
by learning the prisoners beliefs and fears, his
hatreds and his loyalties, his family details and
his core vulnerability.
Muhammads goal was not to get into the
minds of his prisoners; his goal was to get into
their hearts. And he achieved this goal by
preaching equal - not just fair - treatment
between the captor and the captive.
In his farewell address the Prophet reminded all who were present, O men, you still have
in your possession some prisoners of war. I
advise you, therefore, to feed them and to clothe
them in the same way and style as you feed and
clothe yourselves To give them pain or trouble can never be tolerated.

leader. They also believe that all men are equal

before God. No one can claim status on the
basis of caste, lineage and colour, but only on
the basis of piety. The Holy Quran announces,
O Mankind! We have created you from a single
male and a female [Adam and Eve] and made
you into nations and tribes. Verily, the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is he who is
most pious of you (49:13); Allah has promised to those among you who believe and work
righteous deeds that He will surely grant them
Khilafa in the land (24:55).
Moreover, Prophet Muhammad said on the
occasion of his last Hajj, O people! Your God is
One and your ancestor is one. No Arab has any
superiority over a non-Arab (ajami), nor does a
non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab. Nor
a white man has any superiority over a black
man or the black man any superiority over a
white man. You are all children of Adam and
Adam was created out of clay. A mans superiority will be judged on the basis of his piety.
(Baihaqi)
All said, there is a trivial difference between
Shia and Sunnis, which is indeed a political difference. It has nothing to do with their faith. Each
group is Islamically obligated to act for the protection and welfare of the other. The Holy Quran
announces, The believers are but a single
brotherhood, so make peace and reconciliation
between the two (contending) brothers (49:10).
All also said, The believers, men and women,
are protector of one another (9:71).
(The writer teaches commerce in the P.B
College, Gauripur, Dhubri, Assam).
Muslims were expected to free the prisoners, if they could not meet these standards.
Such equality, not war, allowed many prisoners to embrace Islam. As one of them related
in later days, They made us ride while they
themselves walked; they gave us wheaten bread
to eat when there was little of it, contenting
themselves with dates.
As an American Muslim, I feel waterboarded every time my politicians and pundits revere
The Hague and Geneva Conventions but fail to
acknowledge Muhammads pioneering contributions toward eliminating torture against prisoners of war.
And this is my call to the U. S. leaders: We
might be able to thwart the next terror plot by
getting into the minds of the extremists, but we
cannot win the moral debate on torture without
winning over the hearts of Muslims.
Recognizing Muhammads contributions,
instead of glossing them over, would be a good
first step in achieving that goal. Give credit
please. No cash needed.
The author is an adjunct faculty member for religion/history at the Community Colleges of Baltimore
County and a clinical associate professor at the
University of Maryland. (Excerpted from The
Huffington Post)

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Anti-Terror Probes: Muslims Face Systemic Bias

Book: Kafkaland: Prejudice, Law and Counterterrorism in India
Author: Manisha Sethi
Publisher: Three Essays Collective, New Delhi
Year: 2014
Pages: 215
Price: 350.

ABHAY KUMAR
Both as an academic and activist, Manisha Sethi has been one of
the relentless fighters against human rights violations. She
worked with courage and consistency to expose the infamous
Batla House encounter as fake. The book under review discussed
her shocking experiences and findings about the functioning of
anti-terror operations.
Her major argument is that a systemic bias pervades counter-terror operations in India. As she succinctly puts it, there is a
systemic and systematic bias against minorities when it comes to
terror investigations (p. 113). The police, in the name of fighting
terror, are subverting norms by resorting to torture and carrying
out warrantless arrests and illegal detention.
She demonstrates that a large section of the police is communalised and prejudiced, particularly against Muslims. As several fact-finding reports suggest, many Muslim detainees had to
suffer abuse, humiliation, beatings, burns and high voltage
shocks to private parts in torture chambers. Detainees are also
forced to undergo brain mapping, and polygraph tests. For
instance, narco tests were conducted on the detainees of the
2006 Mumbai blasts during which they were injected with banned
drugs used as anesthesia, which might have caused them heart
attack.
The state, instead of punishing the erring police officers,
offers them incentives and prizes for such acts. Take, for instance,
the case of meteoric ascendancy of a Delhi Police sub-inspector,
who was promoted to the rank of assistant commissioner of
police in a mere thirteen years. In the words of the author:
Counter-insurgency spawns its own political economy; the
promise of and prospect of promotions, cash awards, public adulation, glorification by a pliant media, all work to lubricate a
machinery which transforms innocents into terrorists (p. 106).
The police in peoples perceptions have become synonymous
with fear and death. But the militarised state protects the marauding cops and the pliant mainstream media manufacture consent
for this.
Collusion Among State Institutions and Media
When the state-under the influence of global Islamophobic discourse of War on Terror enacts draconian laws, curtailing citizens fundamental rights, encourages the police to become a law
into themselves. Inaugurating the Asia-Pacific Human Rights

Conference in 2002, the

then Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee blatantly justified human rights
violations: We have to
sometimes take tough
decisions, even infringing some of our freedoms and abridging
some of our human
rights temporarily, to
firmly counter terrorism: (p. 111).
If the prime-minister of the country spoke
in such a hawkish tone,
how could one expect
the police forces to
safeguard
citizens
rights? The Vajpayee
government enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA),
2002 that allowed the admission of confession made before a
police officer-otherwise inadmissible under the Indian Evidence
Act-as evidence to be used against the accused(p. 140). As it
was feared, POTA turned out to be a worse remedy than the malady which destroyed liberties, jettisoned criminal jurisprudence
and was used for malignant political motives.
Ironically, the opposition parties, which once opposed draconian laws like POTA, soon became the supporters of another
anti-terror law when they came to power. In 2004, when the centre-left UPA was voted to power, thanks to overwhelming support
by the most deprived sections, including Muslims, it repealed
POTA, but brought in a new anti-terror law, namely the Unlawful
Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Originally promulgated in 1967
and amended twice in 2004 and 2008, UAPA invests the Centre
with so much power that it can declare any organisation as
unlawful at will.
Given this, the accusation of Maulana Arshad Madani, the
national president of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, was not much off the
mark when he said that the secular UPA government, much
more than any previous government, inflicted unspeakable damage on the community by framing Muslim youths in terror cases.
The refusal of the UPA government to even allow a judicial enquiry
into the Batla House encounter, despite huge demand from people, and to cancel the hanging of Afzal Guru seem to corroborate
the charge of the maulana.
She also analyses the role of media, the watch dog of
democracy. Just as the global media were fed news by US military in 2002 Iraq war, the Indian media propagated what was dic-

Beyond Doubt: A Dossier

on Gandhis Assassination
Book: Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhis
Assassination
Compiled and introduced by Teesta Setalvad
Year: 2015
Pages: x + 278 pages p/b
Publisher: Tulika Books, New Delhi
ISBN: 978-93-82381-50-1
Rs 450
T
h
e
assassination
of Mahatma
Gandhi
on
30 Januar y
1948 was a
declaration of
war and a
statement of
intent. For the
forces which
conspired in
the killing, the
act was a
declaration of
war against
the secular,
democratic Indian state and all those who stood
to affirm those principles, as well as an
announcement of a lasting commitment to India
as a Hindu Rashtra. It was also an act to signal
the elimination of all that Indias national
movement against imperialism stood for.
Beyond Doubt is a dossier of historical and
critical documents that aims to contextualize the
politics, motivations and circumstances behind
the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Attempts
to legitimise the act of killing and to celebrate the
killers have re-doubled since May 2014,
following the coming to power of the new regime
in New Delhi. The time is right, therefore, to set
the record straight.
The visceral hatred directed against Gandhi

and the denigration of everything he stood for

need to be recounted if we are to understand the
political nature of that dastardly act. This book
attempts to weave together archival documents
from Government of India records relating to
developments after the assassination, with
translation of works in Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi
de-constructing the ideology responsible for the
political killing of the Father of the Nation. While
several of the documents have appeared before
in issues of Communalism Combat, this
compilation presents new material on the
subject. The first English translation of Jagan
Phadniss book, Mahatmyache Akher, forms part
of the dossier, as do Y.D. Phadkes analysis of
attempts to legitimise Gandhis killing and
Chunibhai Vaidyas analysis of Pradeep Dalvis
play on Godse. It also covers the recent
controversy over the destruction of files relating
to Gandhis assassination by Government of
India.
Teesta Setalvad is a senior journalist,
educationist and activist. She is co-editor of the
monthly Communalism Combat, along with
Javed Anand. Setalvad is involved with
broadening the boundaries of history and social
studies teaching through KHOJ, a programme for
secular education, and has worked extensively
on exclusion and communalisation in school
curricula and textbooks. She has analysed and
documented the communalisation of Indias law
and order machinery, and the building up of
communal conflict in Gujarat, since the early
1990s. Trained also in law, Setalvad was
convenor of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal Crimes Against Humanity, Gujarat 2002, headed
by Justices V.R. Krishna Iyer, P.B. Sawant and
Hosbet Suresh. She is secretary of Citizens for
Justice and Peace (CJP), a civil rights group set
up by her and other concerned citizens of
Mumbai in April 2002.

tated to them by government, intelligence agencies, police and

security personnel. Today, all big media houses, both regional and
national, have got security experts and crime reporters, whose
success lies in their ability to write investigative reports which
are rehashed versions of police and intelligence agencies handouts.
Another pillar of democracy, the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC), too, comes in for criticism. She finds the
NHRC perpetuating a statist ideology As a result, the NHRC
increasingly faces a crisis of legitimacy. It has been reduced to a
compensation-disbursing body. This is also evident from the
open advocacy of its chairperson and the first Dalit Chief Justice
of Supreme Court, K.G. Balakrishnan, of encounters, which he
said, were unavoidable sometimes. He added, as law and
order problems are increasing, criminals are taking law into their
hands, attacking even the police. Police have to take control of the
situation (p. 111).
Particularly noteworthy is the failure of judiciary. The author
briefly mentions the role of judges who ignore the marks of torture on detainees and do not overcome their prejudice while pronouncing judgments. Moreover, lawyers have, for several occasions, refused to take up the cases of terror accused, condemning them well before the beginning of trials.
Political Economy of Securitisation
Having discussed the systematic bias against Muslims in antiterror probes at the hands of the police, the state, its institutions
and the mainstream media, the author turns to the factors that
sustain this. On the political economy of securitisation, Sethi
argues that the period after terrorist attacks is occasion for arms
industries to sell their arms and make huge profits. She goes on
to point to Indias burgeoning budgetary expenditure on the purchase of weapons in the recent decades, a period marked by the
discourse of terrorism.
While India currently imports 14 per cent of global arms,
more than China and Pakistan, its expenditure on weapons is likely to grow at 8.3 per cent a year. Further, Indias current expenditure on defence is bigger than the grand total expenditure of social
welfare programmes including health, education, and rural development (p. 153). In the wake of growing defence budget, major
corporate industries are now making forays into arms business.
Apart from them, weapons industries from the West and Israel,
too, have found in India a huge market for their products. Given
that, the military-industrial complex has its vested interests in
maintaining the atmosphere of fear, threat, terror and insecurity.
This may be achieved by demonising some sections of society,
preferably the most vulnerable, as terrorists.
The reviewer is pursuing PhD at Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi. He may be contacted at
debatingissues@gmail.com

Book:

Spiritual Odyssey...
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By Asif Ahmed
ahmedashif8@rediffmail.com

Pages: 262
Price: 400 (Hardbound)
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The erudition and research work of the author are evident from the wide scope of the book.
It is obvious that the author has done a lot of research work in order to arrive at his conclusions. Readers would find a plethora of thought provoking materials compiled in this
book...........we congratulate the author for his laudable work. He has indeed found the truth
that he was looking for.
Dr Muhammad Rafat
(Professor of Physics, Department of Applied Sciences and Humanities,
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi)
This book (Spiritual odyssey of a recalcitrant Muslim) by Asif Ahmed is a captivating story of
a spiritual journey undertaken by a young and inquisitive intellectual. He moves from darkness to light and from hesitation and confusion to firm belief..........through his incisive
research and powerful argument the author is able to bring to his readers face to face the
reality and finally in the presence of God , the Almighty. It is earnestly hoped that the author's
whole journey-his observations and conclusions will stir a thought process in readers which
will finally lead them to the truth of Islam
Ejaz Ahmed Aslam
Sec Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Editor-in-Chief, Radiance Views weekly

Available at:

Adam Publishers & Distributors, 1542 Pataudi House, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002,
phone-011-23284740, 23282550. apd1542@gmail.com
Aks-o-Awaz, 2724/16 Market Metro Pol, Kucha Chalaan, Darya Ganj, New Delhi 110002
Mobile.09899597524

22

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

FAMILY

www.milligazette.com

Word Jumble

Aaliyas kitchen

Paani ka achaar

He belonged to Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency. By nature, he was a kind man, but a family feud had brought
him to jail. His overall nature was well cultured even after receiving death penalty which was switched to
deportation to Kalapani. In 1869, he reached the Andaman Islands. By this time, he had made up his mind
to kill a high ranking English Officer for revenge for giving him an unjust sentence. The little amount of
money that he would earn while serving in jail would always be given away to other poor prisoners as
charity. Moreover, every second or third month, he would provide some food for the orphaned prisoners
as well. The officers did not strictly monitor his activities because of his charitable nature. Sher Ali Khan
told the courts that he had waited for almost all day near the small ship which the Viceroy would board.
After killing the Viceroy, he was asked by the courts about who had hired him to do this job. He would
simply reply that, "I killed him by the Order of Allah!" On the 11th of March 1873, when he was brought to
the gallows, there was a look of satisfaction in his eyes. He kissed the rope from which he would be
hanged and exclaimed, "When I made this intention (of killing the viceroy), I had already envisioned myself
over here". He addressed the gathering who had come to watch the penalty being enforced, "Brothers, I
killed your enemy. You be witness that I am a Muslim." With this, he recited the Kalma Shahadah. Twice
he was able to complete it. The third time, he was not able due to suffocation. (islamicvoice.com)

Ingredients:
500gm vegetables (carrot, cauliflower, turnip, radish) cut into cubes
1-1.5 liter water, boiled
80gm peeled garlic, crushed
30-40 gram mustard seeds/rai, crushed
10-15 gram kutaa lal mircha
3 tsp salt
10 gram jaggery/gud, optional

Answer at the bottom of the page.

R S E H

L A

A H N 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:
As-Sami, Al-Basir, Al-Hakam, Al-Adl, Al-Latif, Al-Khabir, Al-Halim and Al-Azim 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)

Method:
Bring the water to a boil and add the cubed carrots, cook for 2 minutes
and add the radish, cook for a minute, bring the water to a boil again
and add the turnip, then add the cauliflower and turn off the heat. Stir
well, make sure the water covers all the vegetable. If using only carrots,
cook for four minutes and turn the stove off, if using just cauliflower,
cook for half a minute in boiling water and turn the stove off.
Once cool, separate the water and put in glass bottles, add the garlic,
gud, lal mircha, rai and salt to the water and mix well. Mix with the vegetables, made sure the vegetables are soaked in the boiled water and
keep in the sun for 2-3 days. Serve with mutter pulao or any other meal.
Enjoy!

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ANSWER TO THE WORD JUMBLE: Sher Ali Khan

ANSWER TO THE ABOVE WORD SEACH:
As-Sami: The All-Hearing; Al-Basir: The All-Seeing; Al-Hakam: The Judge, The Arbitrator;
Al-Adl: The Utterly Just; Al-Latif: The Gentle, The Subtly Kind; Al-Khabir: The All-Aware
Al-Halim: The Forbearing, The Indulgent; Al-Azim: The Magnificent

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REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS
MG
Awaiting every issue of MG, like a thirsty old weakling.
Sultan Patel Akhtar Patel, Amod, Distt Bharuch 392 150
SAPatel@SABIC.com,
II
Thanks for inspiration and example. You perform an excellent work
and offer interesting contents and information.
Thomas Gall
post@lunabaer.de
Antipathy towards democracy
Our country is the largest parliamentary democracy of the world and
we must be proud of this fact and our devotion and dedication should
be reflected in all walks of our life. But it is unfortunate that the Indian
cricket world has opted for the obsolete and rotten monarchy as is
evident from the names or nomenclature of five out of ten participating
teams in the recent IPL cricket tournament. These teams are Super
Kings Chennai, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, Royal Challenger of
Bangalore and Knight Riders of Kolkata. What else than clear antipathy towards democracy and strengthening the hands of forces
which are creating a climate of disdain against democracy. Curiously
the sixth tem has been named as the Daredevil Delhi as if Delhi is the
abode of devils. One wished that any of these teams where named
after any institution of democracy or after any important episode of
Indian freedom struggle.
Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai, ex-MP, Delhi - 110091
Obama on religious intolerance
A report of the Indian Express of 7 February 2015 conveniently
presents in one place what Barack Obama said about religious
intolerance and the responses to it of two of India's present cabinet
ministers. Obama said, first, that India would not succeed if it was
"splintered along the lines of religious faith" and then spoke of "acts of
intolerance that would have shocked Gandhiji". The reference to M. K.
Gandhi makes it clear that he was speaking of things that are
happening now, or at least of things that have happened after Gandhi's
death. Arun Jaitley sought to counter this by saying that "India has a
huge cultural history of tolerance", clearly forgetting the violence
directed, in the times of Kautilya and Patanjali, by Brahmanism at
Buddhists and Jains and that between Saivites and Vaisnavites until
relatively recently. As if this load of bull was not enough, Rajnath
Singh solemnly told listeners in Uttarakhand that "in Indian culture ...
there has never been discrimination on the basis of caste, community,
religion or sect". This man, nominally Home Minister, thus washes
away the work of, among others, Bhimrao Ambedkar and the Sachar
Committee, and he makes nonsense of the protective discrimination
in our Constitution. Obama speaks of the present but Jaitley and Singh
pull a mythical past out of their Hindutva box. This is like saying that
the present governmental neglect of health is justified by the grafting,
in pre-historic times, of the heads of elephants on the bodies of men.
Mukul Dube, Mayur Vihar 1 Delhi 110091
uthappam@gmail.com
II
News agencies labelled Obama visit as most successful visit of any
US president in Indian soil. Even before his landing they began to
applaud both Modi or Obama. But unfortunately these media outlets
failed to highlight his significant last remark before flying to the Saudi
kingdom in which he said that India would succeed only as 'long as it
is not splintered along the lines of religious faiths and is unified as one
nation.' This comment seems to more then a simple taunt over the
functioning of the central government.
Syed Kamran Ali
syedkamranali2@gmail.com
Foreign bank-accounts of Indians
Government should act swiftly before Union Budget presentation With
a prominent Indian newspaper now exploding first 100 names with
detailed information out of 1195 Indians having a total rupees 25420
crores in foreign banks, it is for Union government to immediately
make such a list held by it public with stringent steps announced in a
manner that this money may come back to India before presentation
of Union Budget. Any excuse of commitment to foreign countries lost
validity when Union government made three such names public. If
needed, date of budget-presentation may be deferred so that Union
budget may take into account provision of probable revenue-earning
through unaccounted money in foreign bank-accounts. Union
government should also announce immunity from criminal
punishment for those who may be willing to surrender their
unaccounted money in foreign bank-accounts to the government
announcing, strict punishment under Indian Penal Code in case
money in foreign bank- accounts may be found unaccounted.
Scheme will benefit genuine account-holders in foreign banks where
the newspaper has also revealed that several such persons are being
harassed by tax-authorities. However it should be ensured that all
money in foreign bank-accounts, accounted or unaccounted, may
return to India. Union government should incorporate a permanent
provision of 'Income from undeclared sources' in Income Tax returns
with tax-rate of highest 30-percent slab on such head, as a practical
step to effectively check menace of parallel economy of black money.
With India now having a highest tax-slab of 30-percent on income,
most people may find it advantageous to declare unaccounted
earnings in their Income-Tax returns. System will auto-detect role of
black money in property-deals when buyer purchasing property from
black money will be caught in case seller takes advantage of such a
provision of 'Income from undeclared sources' in Income Tax returns.
There was a time when India had a highest tax-rate slab of 98-percent
with people paying upto 50-percent for whitening their black money.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal, Chandni Chowk, Delhi 110006
subhashchandraagrawal@gmail.com
Arun Jaitely and Media
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mr. Arun Jaitely at the
time delivering a lecture during first justice J. S. Verma Memorial
Lecture at New Delhi disapproved the tendency among the media to
paraller trials particularly if it is an issue relating individual culpability,
the parallel trial concept prejudiced the entire environment. Surely and
certainly the honourable minister during his address to the august
gathering must be having in his mind the ill-motivated baseless

arrests and unlawful detention of innocent highly educated and well

settled Muslim youths with evil designs, imaginary, false, fabricated,
frivoulus, hypothetical and biased grounds wherein all type of
available medias miss no chance to brand them demonic and a curse
for the country without examining and investigating the matter rather
microscopically and impartially before starting unreasonable cries
and hues against the victims by manufacturing their own stories with
full biodata but the personalities like Mr. Arun Jaitley observed
complete silence probably justifying the parallel trial of media as the
matter happened to be anti-Muslim which is the ultimate object of his
party. As confirmed by him media in our country is loft unchecked
particularly in the case of Muslim, Islam and Muslim world whereas
the responsible honourable I & B Union Minister advised media for
introspection against the backdrop of case relating to the mysterious
death of Mrs. Sunanda Pushker for which her husband Mr. Shashi
Tharoor former union minister and congressman is under intense
media scrunity.
Faheemuddin, Nagpur - 13
Muslim World
Muslim world is glooming under the catastrophic designs of the
imperialistic regimes. Muslim masses have become the easy prey for
the hegemonic forces. Muslims are crying loud but of no avail. The
Muslims will continue to suffer and bleed till the time we identify the
black sheep and the hidden enemies within our ranks which behave
like hydra headed serpents. The situation has been rendered horrific
and threatening by a group of a deviant people within Ummah who use
the catchy pretexts and resort to interpretational distort of the Quran
and Hadith thus misleading the gullible Muslim masses. They use
beautiful Islamic slogans to appease the Muslim masses. The group
has been nurtured and trained specially by the agencies to meet their
nefarious designs. These perverted people shed the blood of innocent
masses illegitimately to please their bosses. Their soul aim is to
destabilize the whole Ummah and create confusion within Muslims
.This disorderly situation paves the way for the imperialists to exploit
the situation for their greedy intentions. Such a chaotic phenomenon
facilitates the oppressors in many ways. This has put the Ummah to
a receiving end resulting in their demoralization and fragmentation
thus putting their rich natural resources to jeopardy. With
advancement in science and technology these oppressors do
channelize these for their self interests. The situation really stands
alarming and needs the immediate attention from the Muslim thinkers,
preachers and intellectuals. If the situation continues so the once
glorified Muslim civilization will be left in dire shambles. As such the
prominent Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Malaysia
and Pakistan will have to play a pivotal role in reshaping the destiny of
the Muslim world .It becomes significantly obligatory on the rulers of
Saudi Arabia and Iran who represent the aspirations of the Muslims
globally and can be very effective in bringing the Ummah out from
present dilemma and morass.
Nasir Hussain Peerzadah, Srinagar 190006
pzdnasir07@gmail.com
Reasoned respectability
Lately it has come into fashion education without authority in teaching
methods and is proving to be a real failure. It was confirmed by the
same people who promoted it. Love, example and words are not
enough to educate, but it is necessary to exert the authority and
always explain the reasons that lead us to advise and order a certain
behaviour. Therefore, authority cannot be based on phrases such as:
"I am your Father, do as I command" or "when you are older you will
understand". This has to be based on the reasoning, demonstration,
and respect. Parents and teachers who have to order pupils need to
have authority and be respected. Due to it is very difficult educate
without respect, educators who do not have the authority will have to
learn. It is well known that fear have never formed the personality of
guys. The continuous use of punishment, anger and constant threat
produce rebelliousness of children, inhibition of initiatives and
weakens the personality. The mission of educators is to enrich and do
not destroy the personality of each child, fostering creativity, opening
the intelligence and helping them to be free. When we have to order
something, it is better to use short sentences than long harangues. It
is preferable to say: "that jersey", "the dishes", because the guy can
say: "what happens with the jersey? Oh, yes! I know hang it on the
hanger. Now I clear it". In this way we are giving him the opportunity
to exercise his own initiative and intelligence. Some parents complain
that their children do not listen them and the reason is that they speak
too much. A boy said: "When my mother is in the second sentence, I
have already forgotten the first". The child needs authority and
somehow he requested it but it is hard to admit it. A boy said: "my
parents do not want me and do not worry' me because they let me do
whatever I want." Some educators maintain constant concession
attitudes by own convenience or fear of losing the appreciation of the
guys. This will be very harmful to the students because they will grow
up without appropriate conduct patterns and habits to always do what
they have to do with own voluntary.
Arturo Ramo Garca, DO-Teruel, Spain
antonio@aplicaciones.info
Name of PM Modi stitched repeatedly in pin-stripe suite!
It refers to media-reports about Indian Prime Minister Narender Modi
wearing a special suite while signing Indo-US agreements during US
President's on-going visit to India, with the suite-fabric having pinstripe with his name 'Narendra Damodardas Modi' blended in the
fabric throughout. It is evident that such especially woven fabric with
name of the user blended in it can be only possible at a very high cost.
Usually such fabric is gifted by the admirers. Our Prime minister
known for his simplicity and austerity should make clear about the
fabric used in the suite mentioning clearly if it was a gifted one and
name of the person having made such a costly gift. If he has procured
it at his own, he should make it clear to avoid unnecessary
speculations.
Madhu Agrawal, Delhi 110006
madhuguinness@gmail.com
Modi Offers India to USA on a Platter
The great hoopla that Modi is making covering US President Obama
visit, is to fool the people of India, while INDIA is being offered to the

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

The Milli Gazette, 16-28 February 2015

www.milligazette.com

23

predator USA on a platter. This is second coming of the East India

Company, who had come as traders and ended up ruling India and
inflicting millions of death of India's civilians to consolidate their hold
on the acquired territory. The same class of traders are now in the
forefront of selling India cheap to a neo-colonial super-power that will
never relinquish INDIA from its predatory grip for centuries to come.
The merchants of Gujarat are known to even earlier century foreigners
to sell commodities at commissions. These commission agents are
once again getting their upper hand to offer our great country to exploit
its resources and use its cheaply acquired man-power as canonfodder for their wars that are certain to be unleashed in the region.
Modi the saviour of India is the biggest commission agent that has
mesmerized its people to rob them of their country, their identity, their
independence, their true standing in the comity of nations. Like Iran,
India too is a great civilisation and any Superpower worth its salt will
have to subdue each and every visage of earlier great civilizations with
the notion, that it may be exposed to an existential threat from any
such resurgent civilisation. That's their agenda of 'clash of civilisation'.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com
II
Shri Rajnath Singh calls Obama's reference to religious freedom
"unfortunate" and then goes on to "endorse" it? Was he standing on
his head and wiggling his toes? His statement on Ghar Vapasi
suggests that Obama's remarks hit home. Many of us have known for
long that the one thing that can curb the lunacy of the Hindu Right is
pressure from outside; and today, Modi's India is to the USA as a dog
is to its master.
Mukul Dube, Mayur Vihar 1 Delhi 110091
uthappam@gmail.com
Milli Unity
Ittihaad-e-Ummah can be achieved only when all of us speak and
write only truth and nothing but the whole truth and invite Allah's curse
upon all who speak and write half truth because the Qur'an says:
"Laanatullah Alal Kaazibeen."
S. Akhtar, Amod - 392110
Mad France, Germany, America & Cruel Israel To Note
How dare you let fools tarnish the figure of a praise-worthy
messenger of Almighty God who was and still is the light unto
Mankind. Why you begin to insult Islam and Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) by publishing the cartoons in an ugly manner. Muslims do not
worship Prophet Muhammad by making his idols or pictures unlike
Christians. Neither Jesus (pbuh) was crucified nor killed, instead he
was raised into heaven by God. A man like his shape was produced
before the rulers. When the duplicate Jesus was crucified on the
cross, due to heavy pain he was loudly crying and uttering "ElohiElohi-Lema sabakthani" (O God, O God, why you have forsaken me).
Real Jesus would not cry like that. Dear fools, why you are
jeopardizing Islam and hunting innocent Muslims? You always make
conflicts in Muslim countries and simultaneously loot those countries.
Muslims have not destroyed any of your countries, killed your
citizens, looted your wealth and have not tarnished Christianity or
burnt the Bible. In fact, they give much respect and dignity to Jesus
and accept his miracles.
Raj Mohan, Kochi
Modi
"Modi gave India self-pride: Uma Bharti" is the caption to a news
report. Has the woman never heard "Sarey jahan se achchha
Hindostan hamara", Iqbal's "tarana-e-Hindi" first published in 1904?
Like me, many Indians are in fact acutely embarrassed by the antics
of the man who has made our country the world's laughing stock.
Mukul Dube, Delhi 110091
uthappam@gmail.com
Why is the Muslim Community in Disgrace?
The community is in disgrace because its members, by and large,
have abandoned the Qur'aan. The Holy Book says, "And have trust in
Allah; He comprehensively manages all affairs [Verse 33:3]." If only
the Muslims would conduct their affairs in accordance with Qur'aanic
instructions, and place their unflinching trust in Allah, they would not
be in the sorry state they find themselves today.
Mohammad Shafi
mdshafiaga@gmail.com
Shri Zafar Sareshwala
Congrats to Mr. M Ghazali Khan for exposing Shree (not Janab)
Sareshwala vide issue of MG 1-15 Feb. 2015. This bearded man
should be felicitated by garlanding him with shoes filled with mud.
Farooq Abdul Gafar Bawani, Rajkot
bawanifarooq@Gmail.com
Attack on churches
Muslims should defend and support Christians as their churches face
violence from RSS. Obama's second shot at BJP govt. Yesterday one
more Christian church in Delhi was vandalized by RSS goons. Today
as Christians held a public protest rally the Delhi police pounced on
them and beat them up. Pastors and nuns were beaten up and
arrested. Muslims, the other minority in India, must not keep quiet.
They must join Christians in the hour of their need and become part
of the protest rallies to defend religious freedom. Together Muslims
and Christians supported by secular Hindus can become a very
formidable opposition to the Modi Govt whose ministers and MPs are
supporting the RSS attacks on Muslims and Christians. Please see
below the second statement from President Obama condemning
religious violence in India, just one week after the first statement in
New Delhi on Jan 27. Obama is under pressure from major American
Christian organizations and churches to speak out against
persecutions of Indian Christians at a time when the Modi govt is
begging Obama to increase industrial investment in India. Muslims
should also join Sikhs in their justified protests against the 1984
massacre of Sikhs and no action by the then govt. Together Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs can stop the RSS harassment of minorities. Muslims
must not harp on just their problems; they should make common
cause with other religious minorities.
Kaleem Kawaja
kaleemkawaja@gmail.com

Read more letters on MG website

Email: letters@milligazette.com

24

The Milli Gazette,16-28 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 11 FEB 2015 POSTED ON 11,12 FEB 2015
ADV. FORTNIGHTLY AT NDPSO-110002

facebook.com/Muslims.of.India.Page
Muslims will feel good to get a break from
the usual negative rhetorics. Fortunately we
have a sizeable non-Muslim fan following
as well. We posted an obituary "End of an
Era: who fought for Composite Indian
Culture Eminent journalist, playwright and
poet, Janab Syed Muhammad Mehdi
passed away in Aligarh." People across religion offered their respects. Such information and interactions will insha Allah undo
effects of hate mongering by right wingers
on both sides.
4. What is the idea behind this page?
We believe this page is inspired by
"Humans of New York" facebook page. We
follow HONY and have seen its so many
copies for a long time. But this idea of having a page to record and celebrate individuals in the Indian Muslim community came
out of the blue. And almost everyone we
talked to in the beginning welcomed the
idea.
5. Can I submit a story?
A new Facebook page titled Muslims of
India has been created to celebrate,
through pictures, the past & present of
Muslims of India people, monuments,
culture. We will not be posting things
related to politics on this Facebook page.
This FB page started by The Milli Gazette, is
managed by a diverse team of volunteers.
The FB page has not only got more than
8000 likes in less than 2 months, but also
got media coverage in Twocircles, Indian
Express, FirstPost.
Readers are invited to send us their submissions in a message directly on our
Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/Muslims.of.India.Page
At a time when Indian Muslims are often
dehumanized and rendered as a single,
threatening monolithic stereotype, we want
to celebrate and document the many different people who make up the community,
who cannot be bound by an simple description, and are just living their lives as best as
they can.
But other than just posting about people,
we would like to talk about history, monuments, culture, etc.
There are no rules yet, but we do not want
anything political or sectarian/communal.
We are trying to keep it simple. Website
http://www.muslimindia.net/
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why do Muslims of India need a separate Facebook page?
We started "Muslims of India" because we

felt the need of showcasing and celebrating, the ordinary and the not-so-ordinary,
"humans" who make up the diverse Indian
Muslim community. People who too have
the same dreams, aspirations and fears and
feel the same love for their country as others. This idea might have perhaps dawned
due to exponential increase in negative
propaganda against Muslims on social
media recently. It is we who felt there is
need for such a page and not "Muslims of
India". But the way people have welcomed
the initiative, it seems such a platform was
long over due.
2. Aren't you just portraying a glowing,
positive image of the community: only the
rosy side?
That's exactly the problem. "Thorns" are
being exaggerated in the media and hence
deeply affecting the general perceptions
about Muslims. The proportional roses,
which actually exist, are missing from the
narrative. There is a need to counter superficial negativity with real neutral and positive stories of common Muslims. Sachar
Committee, Kundu Committee, Misra
Commission all have documented that the
Indian Muslim community is miles away
from "glowing". We cant change the economic condition of Muslims or to get them
justice by maintaining a page on social
media. But we can indeed try to change
misperceptions about Muslims. Make them
look as normal, as everyone, which they
actually are.
3. How is this going to help the community?
Though the subjects of the FB page are
Muslims and their lives. The audience had
to be both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Our page is very informal you can submit

anything interesting about anything related
to Muslims of India living anywhere in the
world. You submit about your inspiring
friend, brother, uncle, neighbour, teacher,
boss, colleague, classmate, anyone, even
someone you see on the road or in a shop,
office, mall. Just it should be a story worth
telling. Brief profile of past and present personalities, public figures, teachers, authors,
performers, etc
all are welcome.
Remembering their birth and death anniversaries. Monuments (libaries, masjids, colleges), food, clothing, caligraphy, handicrafts, just anything associated with
Muslims.
We are also interested in the stories as may
narrated by people born before independence. Like your grandfather narrating what
used to happen in, say 1940, in Delhi or
AMU or Kolkata or Chennai. We think even
stories of 1960 will be interesting.
Along with the story we will need a nice picture. For individuals full body picture will be
preferred instead of passport size photo.
Background can be anything. Workplace
will be preferred.
You can email the details to:
sales@milligazette.com

Our previous posts include:

An Engineer at ISRO, educated at AMU.
The Rampur Raza Library.
Kashmiri Journalist Sumaiya Yousuf wins
Laadli Media Award.
Abdul Rehman Antulay (9 February 1929
2 December 2014) first Muslims CM
of Maharashtra.
Dr. Zakir Hussain (February 8, 1897 May

3, 1969) was the 3rd President of

India.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khans 125th Birth
Anniversary (6 February 1890 20
January 1988)
I was returning home, a pundit ji signalled
me for a hitchhike.
Nizam of Hyderabad gave 5000 kg of gold
in donation to India war effort in 1965,
the biggest ever.
AMUs Dr Mohd Ahmad secures 63 All
India Rank in AIPGMEE-2015 among 1
lakh candidates alhamdulillah!
Danish snaps a 15.25 Lakh deal
Mahatma Gandhi is seen leaving the shrine
of Hazrat Khawaja Syed Qutbuddin
Bakhtiyar Kaki in Mehrauli
Dr Shamsheer Vayalil behind NRIs being
allowed e-Voting Rights.
Yusuf Khwaja Hamied get the CHEMTECH
'Hall of Fame' Award.
Republic day at SDI Madarsa, Hubli,
Karnataka
President Pranab Mukherjee presented
Sena Gallantry Award to Shaheed
Feroz Khans widow Nasreen Begum
on 15 January 2015 on the 67th Army
Day
Dr Saiyad Nizamudddin Ahmad, currently
Professor at American University of
Cairo, hails from Faizabad, Uttar
Pradesh.
NRIs in Saudi Arabia mark Indias Republic
day by donating blood
Aqeel Ahmad had to work as an imam at a
mosque to earn enough to pay his fee,
has bagged four gold medals at
Lucknow University, masha Allah.
Brave girl Resham Fatma with President
Pranab Mukherjee
Qurratulain Hyder (20 January 1928 21
August 2007) Celebrated Urdu Writer,
also known as Ainee Aapa
Dr. Muhammad Matiullah, the benevolent
Doctor of Gaya, Bihar
Ms Naqvi is a media student. She wants to
see more smiles in news.
Raja from Jammu and Kashmir reading the
Quran.
Men like Saiyid Hamid do not die. They
pass away, leaving behind their lasting
legacy to resuscitate a dying society.
Naseema is a 30 year old half-widow.
Wasim, learning the art and business of
gems and precious stones from his
father, Ishteyaque Ahmed.
A Chennai based renowned philanthropist
Dr. B.S. Abdur Rahman is no more.
An evening at Jama Masjid.
End of an Era: who fought for Composite
Indian Culture. Eminent journalist, playwright and poet, Janab Syed
Muhammad Mehdi (1920-2015)
passed away in Aligarh.
15 years ago, on 31 December 1999, One
of the greatest Islamic scholars
Maulana Abul Hasan Nadwi (R.A.)
passed away
Our first post. The Lady of Steel
Zakiya Jafri Saheba with grandson
Zubin Hussain.

With best compliments and

regards from
With best compliments from
Kaleem Kawaja, Washington DC

Syed Moinul Hasan (Pune)

B.Tech, AMIE, DME, CSWIP (UK)
email: moinhadeed@yahoo.com

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