I n d i a n M u s l i m s L e a d i n g E n g l i s h N e w s p a p e r , p u b l i s h e d s i n c e J a n u a r y 2 0 0 0

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Fortnightly
272 Vol. 12 No. 10

MILLI GAZETTE
16-31 May 2011 32 pages

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Inside
Saffron terror 4,11,13 Jamiat Ulama 4,7 bin Laden 6,13,23,24,26 Riots 4,5,6 Satya Sai Baba 2 Purulia 5 BJP 7,12,13 Bengal Muslims 14 Majlis-e Mushawarat 12 Terror 1,5,9,11 Gujarat 8,10 J&K 15,17 Analysis 9,14 Special Reports 3 Issues 2,12-13 Books 27 National 3-22 International 23-26 Speaking Out 14 Newsmakers 18 19-22 Community News Islamic Perspectives 28 Classifieds 29 Letters 30-31

A.R. HANJURA... p. 8

PROF. AHSAN JAN QAISAR... p. 16

NIA should investigate UP blasts of 2007

HAIDER ABBAS
Lucknow: It has taken almost two and a half years for the courts to set aside the charges against Sajjadur-Rehman Vani, accused in the Lucknow court blast case of Nov 23, 2007. The ordeal for Sajjadur-Rehman Vani son of Ghulam Qadir Vani, then 23 years, a resident of Kandwar, Kuchal in tehsil Chatru, district Kishwar (J&K), began on Dec 22, 2007, when he along with Muhammed Akhtar son of SabirVani (then 32 years) alias Tariq Kashmiri, a resident of Bankot, Banihal, Ramban in J&K were taken into custody in J&K, and soon their names figured in a confessional statement of Khalid Mujahid and Tariq Qasmi, accused in the serial blasts of Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi on 23 Nov. 2007. Fifteen people had died in three blasts, nine in Varanasi and five in Faizabad and no casualty had taken place in Lucknow. Khalid is a resident of Madiyahun in district Jaunpur, UP. He was arrested from Barabanki and Tariq, a resident of Rani ki Sarai, Azamgarh was arrested from Sarai Meer in Azamgarh by UP Special Task Force on 22 Dec 2007.
Ghulam Qadir Vani Khalid Muhajid Sajjad-ur-Rehman Vani Tariq Qasmi Muhammed Shoiab

How could the duo from J&K land up in UP and that too be involved in a high profile terrorism case is a story of a long intrigue with the traditional role of police, of manufacturing required evidence. The Investigation Officer (IO) Chiranjeev Nath Sinha had taken out a non-bailable warrant against the duo from J&K on 26 Dec 2007 and the next day he reached J&K to find that the duo were already under arrest and were stationed at the Joint Interrogation Centre, J&K. On the same day, the duo were released from police custody for want of sufficient evidence by a court in J&K as police, under section 169 of Criminal Procedural Code(CrPC), had filed its report, but Sinha was there to arrest them and bring them to UP, informed Muhammed Shoaib, the counsel for the which a total of 450 colleges of the country got their names registered. In this competition, Mumbais Rizvi Colege situated in Bandra, by securing a total of 18 lakh votes left all other colleges of the country behind and won the Most Favourite or Popular College in India Award and, alongwith it, a cash prize of Rs. 5 lacs. The principal of this college, MZ Farooqi, on coming to know about this, said that this shows that our college is very popular among other students of the country also. He said that his students did not tell him about their taking part in this competition and when the students told him about the good news, only then he came to know that his students had taken part in this competition. He said that the prize money will be used for development activities of the college. (NA Ansari)

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accused. Muhammed Shoaib became famous as he had pleaded the case of Aftab Alam Anasri, who was accused by the police in the same serial blasts, and who was released within 22 days, because of a case of mistaken identity. Thus the Kashmiri duo were brought to Lucknow and were slapped with cases under sections 115, 120-B, 121, 121-A, 124-A, 307 of Indian Penal Code, together with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act under sections 16, 18, 20, 23 and Explosive Substance Act under sections 3, 4 and 5. Thereafter, the duo were branded as operatives of Harkat-ul-Jihad-alIslami (HuJi). Muhammed Tariq Qasmi was simultaneously accused in a blast at Gorakhpur in May 2007. They were produced by Sinha on Dec 29, 2007 before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) in J&K, and were given a three-day remand. On 31 Dec 2007, they were brought to Lucknow. The next day, on Jan 1, 2008, they were produced before CJM Lucknow and were given a 14-day judicial remand, during which they were brutally tortured during interrogation, said Shoaib. A confessional statement, was recorded and Sajjadur-Rehman confessed to his role in the blasts. A full chargesheet was later filed against him on 29 March 2008 and CJM committed his case to Sessions Judge. The case was further transferred to the Second Additional Session Judge where the accused were produced handcuffed. I had pleaded against this exercise citing a Supreme Court order not to handcuff an accused under trial. My move was opposed by a fanatic Hindu lawyers organisation Balaji Brigade and I suffered a murderous assault on 12 August 2008. The courts too rejected my plea saying that the issue concerns national security. The next day I was assaulted again. Thus the case was transferred to District Jail, Lucknow said Shoaib. I later submitted an application under section 227 of CrPC in which I pleaded that except for the confessional statement there was no proof against Sajjadur-Rehman. This discharge application was given in 2009 and it has taken two long years for the Additional Session Judge Shashank Shekhar to order the release of one of the accused in the Lucknow blasts. As a matter of fact, Sajjadur-Rehman is still an accused in Faizabad blasts. Under Section 25 of IPC, a confessional statement is not sustainable at all, said Shoaib. What is the status of his other cases? Well, 30 witnesses have been produced by the prosecution until now, four remain to be heard. There has been no witness of the incident. None of the witnesses have as yet said that they have seen Sajjadur-Rehman. Shoaib, then elaborate-

ly mentioned all the intrigues involved. The Kashmiri duo were caught on 22 Dec 2007 on some flimsy ground and were released too. The UP duo were caught on the same day in UP. The coincidence is baffling, if it was not a grandiose plan of our police force, which is more than willing to brand Indian Muslims with the label of terrorist and that too with an international dimension, he said. Peoples Union for Civil Liberties has described the discharge of Sajjad-ur-Rehman as a slap on the UP government face and has demanded that a criminal case be registered against the UPSTF. PUCL secretary Rajiv Yadav has demanded that RD Nimesh Commission, which was formed to investigate the triple blasts 2007 should file its report at the earliest as three years have already gone by whereas it was given a time limit of only six months. PUCL reiterated its stand that the triple blasts of 2007 are the handiwork of Hindu organisations, particularly when the role of Hindu organisations in various blasts in the country has now come to light. The blasts in Faizabad had happened under the eyes of BJP members like Mahesh Prasad Dubey and Vishwanath Singh. Both of them had left the scene before the blasts. What is intriguing is that on 25 Dec 2007, UP ADG Brij Lal had said that the technique and material used in Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad blasts and that of UP blasts has been the same. Then why was not the investigation done keeping in mind the role of Hindu terrorist organisations. The state government and also the whole police apparatus becomes benevolent, when it comes to Hindu terrorists, said Rajiv Yadav. Meanwhile, Ghulam Qadir Vani, father of Sajjadur-Rehman, visited Lucknow Jail to meet his son. He is a poor daily labourer. His whole family is wrecked beyond imagination. My son was a student of Darul-ul-Uloom Deoband and was present in his class on Nov 23, 2007 when the blasts occurred. He is falsely framed. I am broken as the last four years have been a nightmare of the worst kind. Right now, I have lost all hope, he said. Today, more than three years later, RD Nimesh Commission, is still far from submitting its report, while the duo languish in jails, with no immediate respite in sight. Except for law, there is no hope. Justice is getting done albeit very slowly. National Investigation Agency (NIA) should investigate the blasts of UP 2007, said Shoaib, while on his way to the room of RD Nimesh, as witnesses are getting their evidence recorded.

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2 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

ISSUES / OPINION

India would have been a better place without Satya Sai Baba
SANAL EDAMARUKU
rationalistinternational@gmail.com When Satya Sai Baba died this morning (24 April 2011) at the age of 85 years, he proved once again that miracles and predictions fail. He had predicted at a public gathering at his head quarters in Puttaparthy, in 2000, and repeatedly many times, that he would die at the age of 96 only. And till the last moment, many of his devotees clung to his word and waited for a miracle. May it be an eye opener for the millions of gullible people whom he misguided and deluded. De mortuis nihil nisi bene, they say, say nothing but good of the dead. But I think Satya Sai Babas case qualifies for an exception. Too great is the damage that he did to India. His devastating influence on reason and scientific temper caused huge setback to the country. At a time, when scientific progress led to great social and economic leaps and scientific awakening started spreading all over India, Satya Sai Baba launched a counter revolution of superstition, supported by irresponsible politicians and other public figures who should have known better. In my judgment, this is his greatest crime. I have succeeded again and again to expose him publicly as a fraud, so did some other rationalists. But due to his political protectors he was never held responsible for his crimes against public reason. Nor was he ever booked for any other crime he was accused of. Numerous cases of alleged sexual abuse and murder are yet to be investigated, not to mention the financial secrets of his empire. Satya Sai Baba insisted in all seriousness that he was god, the creator of the universe, and proved his divinity with a couple

Satya Sai Baba caused great damage to India. His irresponsible political patrons corrupted the political culture of India. Encouraged by the clout of Satya sai Baba, a new clan of miracle mongers imitated him. India would have been a better place without Satya Sai Baba.
of small miracles. As son of a village tantric he was familiar with the hand sleights and tricks of the trade. However, he did not only fascinate poor and uneducated villagers with his fraudulent performances. Over the years, he managed to attract a galaxy of Indias rich and powerful, among them ministers, prime ministers, presidents, chief justices, top industrialists and superstars. Satya Sai Baba had a special modus operandi that was the key for his astonishing success and the root of his enormous clout. Many of his high society devotees came to serve their own vested interests. Some came to rub shoulders with the prominent. Many joined the club because it was working as a powerful syndicate spreading its tentacles all over the political system. It was a way to the top jobs and a way to get things done. Others were seeking financial support or wanted to get rid of ill-gotten black money: The empire, it is alleged, was based on money laundering, using foreign devotees and branches. In fact, the huge foreign donations to Sai Baba stood in contrast to the comparatively modest number of active foreign devotees and sometimes quite weak foreign branches, some of them residing in private homes. That is no great surprise, when one considers that Sai Baba did not speak any other language than Telugu and travelled only once in his whole life abroad to visit his friend Idi Amin in Uganda. On his 80th birthday, Sai Babas supporters announced that he would turn from a miracle man to a philanthropist. That was, after I had demonstrated his miracles so often in TV shows that many kids in the streets could imitate them. That he since spent a part of the great fortunes, swindled out of the gullible, for social development around his ancestral village, is highlighted now to present him as a saint. But as useful and welcome hospitals, schools and drinking water projects for the poor always may be: this kind of alibi-philanthropy is well known even from mafia-bosses. It cannot be weighed against his crimes and the damage he has done to the Indian society. In December 2005, I wrote a letter to then President Dr. Abdul Kalam, one of Sai Babas ardent supporters, which was never answered. I demanded criminal investigations against Sai Baba. If his social development projects are meant to be indulgence to nullify his crimes, this procedure is unprecedented and unacceptable, I wrote. It is a shame for India that well-founded accusations and numerous reputed witnesses against Sai Baba are ignored without any investigation. Do saffron clothes make an offender untouchable for the law? Do we have to tolerate that political protectionism raises its head so boldly, mocking Indias democracy? Satya Sai Baba caused great damage to India. His irresponsible political patrons corrupted the political culture of India. Encouraged by the clout of Satya Sai Baba, a new clan of miracle mongers imitated him. India would have been a better place without Satya Sai Baba.
The author is President of the Indian Rationalist Association & Rationalist International

II
RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com Notwithstanding that his followers were undeterred and the number of his followers cutting across different spheres of life kept swelling. He had proclaimed that he is the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi. As an aside, the transformation of Shirdi Sai to the present level of opulent divinity is a phenomenon in itself as Shirdi Sai had lived a Spartan life under the tree with no material wealth to his credit and currently his idol sits on a Golden throne. This self proclaimed reincarnation of Shirdi Sai not only must be sitting over one of the wealthiest empires but also went on to proclaim to be God himself and also prophesied that he would leave this physical body at the age of 96 years. Unfortunately the physical body could not be saved beyond the age of 85 years. Bhagwan who has saved so many lives through divine powers was to be put on ventilators for survival for quite some time and then too he could not be made to live his prophesy. The remarkable thing about Bhagwan Sai is that he survived many controversies associated with his life. He was charged with Paedophilia, sexual abuse by various sources but such mundane things could not shake the firm faith of the ever expanding tribe of followers at home and abroad. Tom Brookes book (Avatar of the Night: Hidden Side of Sai Baba) described his own experience. Similarly sexual abuse of young male devotees on the pretext of yogic technique of Kundalini raising also came to light. There was also a case of murder in his living quarters to which Bhagwan himself was a witness, but it was not investigated beyond a point as worldly laws probably dont reach the realm of the spiritual world. The ties of Bhagwan with the ones at the topmost echelons every time ensured that the matter is not pursued, be it the expose of his tricks or the cases of murder in his living quarters, all were ignored and soon banished from public memory. To be fair to him, Bhagwan Sai is not the first one to proclaim himself as God. There have been the likes of Rajneesh, who for example began his Godly career from Acharya Rajneesh, got promoted to Bhagwan Rajneesh and then attained the status of Osho. After the death of Bhagwan all those who matter in the corridors of power are making a beeline to pay homage to his mortal remains. One does not know whether these visits by the state functionaries are official or personal, one does not know whether such distinctions matter in our country, where the Constitution does permit us to practice and preach our faith at the personal level but not at the political level. State visits on such occasions in an official capacity should be a strict no no. Our Constitution does direct us to promote rational thought; but that too is ignored as all the rationalists like Abraham Kovoor or Premanand were totally bypassed by the mainstream power centres and the issues raised by them remained unanswered and unattended to. There are a couple of films questioning Bhagwans claims and also accusing him of sexual abuse, Guru Busters and Secret Swami are a couple of such films. Some one interestingly remarked that there are two types of politicians who visit the Bhagwan. First are those who are corrupt and want to hide their sin, and second are those who are sincere and work with the first lot. That apart, the impact of such Babas, has been a major accompaniment of politics in the name of religion. This is an era, where the waves of faith are trying to drown the boat of reason, with due support from the incompetent boatman, in the form of the state with all the power at its disposal. The tempest of faith is becoming so overwhelmingly powerful that even raising questions against these God men is becoming difficult, else how does one explain that a person calls himself God, does tricks which any magician can replicate with ease and is able to amass huge wealth, part of which is showcased as charity work. One also knows that trying to expose the prevalent blind faith is swimming against the tide. One also concedes that these are also the times when the existential anxiety of a section of population forces them to resort to some support system. In the decades of 1970s it was LSD, now it is the ever proliferating posse of God men. Sais prediction about his future reincarnations will be a matter of great interest and curiosity, how the God will resurface and how his followers will recognize and worship his new reincarnation will unfold over a period of time. Meanwhile one hopes that some semblance of reason prevails while dealing with the innumerable Godmen, flourishing all around like mushrooms. (Issues in Secular Politics)

he death of Satya Sai Baba, April 24th 2011, has created a big turmoil, not only amongst his followers but also amongst those who had more mundane things to look after, like law and order, visit of VVIPs to Puttaparthi etc. Bhajans (devotional songs) to mourn his death are being held all over in the country and abroad. A large number of those belonging to the list of Who is who of the political, business world, and all those who matter in the country are already there, to mourn the death of the God. In addition who will inherit his vast empire, created single-handedly out of no where, the way he used to create Vibhuti, gold chains etc. from thin air is another issue haunting those concerned. Undoubtedly Bhagwan (God) Sai must have been the God man with a very large following and probably largest wealth amongst the leading Godmen. The latter can not be confirmed, as a large part of the wealth controlled by those presented as divine beings, is not known for various reasons. Not only that one does not know if any body can dare to think that Lok Pal type auditing of the wealth of these renunciators of Worldly goods should also be thought of. Such Godmen do demonstrate that you get more when you know how to renounce the World, and of course part of the earnings are used for social service, which is made prominent and very visible part of the activities of these men of God. Bhagwans life is mired in multiple controversies and there are many a dilemmas in understanding him. He was an expert in the tricks of Vibhuti production from thin air and also production of gold chains. Earlier he was also producing HMT watches, but that stopped soon enough as the watches carry the date of manufacture on them. Many a rationalists confronted him and replicated his tricks and even took out yatras to demonstrate that there is nothing divine about such tricks. They are but clever manoeuvres of hand and even a magician of the repute of P.C. Sarkar also challenged the divine nature of these acts. Interestingly he was challenged to produce things like pumpkin, which he refused to do for obvious reasons.
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The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 3

NATIONAL

BSP, JDU & CPIM have same policy for Muslims

HAIDER ABBAS
Lucknow: Chief ministers of various states clamour for packages from the Centre, and always point a finger of accusation towards it for looking the other way, particularly if the state government is a non-Congress one. But this golden rule is not applied when it comes to Muslims. In fact, this time the tide has turned as the respective governments of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal have found it convenient to look the other way despite the grant from the Centre for minorities? This startling fact has come to light as in the wake of the Justice Rajender Sachar report (2006), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sought a report of human development index, of 90 minority concentrated districts from the whole of India, and in which 21 districts are from UP, 7 from Bihar and 12 from West Bengal. A full-fledged survey report was filed from each and every district mentioned, and which was allocated funds from the Centre to help alleviate the social/educational/health and other problems of Muslims living in these districts. The districts were divided into A and B category, which signified minority concentration districts which have both socio-economic and basic amenities indicators below the national average and minority concentration districts having either socio-economic or basic amenities below the national average. The development programme included building houses under Indira Awaas scheme, hand pumps, primary and subprimary health centres, clean water supply, electricity, roads, and availability of post-offices etc. As a part of this overhaul, PM had announced Rs. 2026.41 crores to the various state governments. The project being called Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP), to be channelled in all the concerned states like Haryana (2), Uttar Pradesh (21), West Bengal (12), Assam (13), Manipur (6), Bihar (7), Meghalaya (1), Jharkhand (4), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (1), Orissa (1), Maharashtra (4), Karnataka (2), Kerala (1), Uttrakhand (2), Mizoram (4), Jammu & Kashmir (1), Delhi (1), Madhya Pradesh (1), Sikkim (1), Arunachal Pradesh (7). But the grand plan has, however, gone awry. The funds were just sat upon and were not utilised! UP CM Mayawati, West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and a new found friend of Muslims-the second-time Bihar CM Nitish Kumar could not find time for their utilisation. So, even when the Congress had woken up, after six decades, to help improve the lot of Muslims and get them out of their abysmal existence, the respective CMs have done precious little in this direction. The report from the state where Muslims have the largest presence, UP, is desperate short of any accomplishment, particularly, when CM Mayawati has attained a Czarina status, by erecting her own statues, at the cost of the state exchequer. As much as 438 crores 72 lakhs were allocated for UP alone and 90 crores were not spent at all. According to the data available from the Central Government, the worst to have been hit is the Bareli district where 13 crores just lied unused. Bhagpat had 11 crores, Bijnaur had 4 crores, Ghaziabad had 11 crores and Muradabad had 2 crores-all remain unused. The irony is that there is no such district in UP (out of 21) which does not need any work done and where there is a paucity of funds! The Bihar experience too has been condemnable as 195 crores are lying unused! In district Katiyar 44 crores have gone unutilised. Darbangha had 22 crores, Kishanganj had 36 crores, Sitamarhi had 37 crores, Purnia had 40 crores, Western Champaran had 14 crores-all unutilised funds. But, Bihar CM Nitish is riding high as never seen before. Ably helped by BJP and one who sometime displays an independent mind too, but his performance in relation to Muslims-is nevertheless depressing. The next worst example comes from West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya where only 13 percent of the funds could be used. This comes in the wake of all the purported slogans of equality by the Communists. What good have the concerned CMs done? Is there a deliberate ploy to let Muslims remain in permanent misery, and also in its wake, an attempt to give a political message that the Muslim vote is not altogether required? Yes, Muslims can vote but devoid of any expectation of development. The hard policies of the Congress have been inherited, even by its political adversaries, said Muhammed Azam Khan, the Samajwadi Party general secretary in UP. Meanwhile, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Salman Khursheed has informed that he would, from now on, directly engage with the state officials throguh video-conferencing for the enforcement of the central government plan. Such announcements can at best be called childish-steps, as the real issue is the will for such programmes to be executed and implemented. The issue should have by now been taken up by PM himself, and then, followed by media reports, to unmask the deliberate obstinacy of various CMs, branded as friendly to Muslims. Whats friendly when the performance is a blue-print of the kind of working of BJP, added Khan. BJP perhaps, is the only one sitting pretty at the helm, which even as an Opposition Party has prevailed, as the concerned state governments, have proven nothing short of being its foot soldiers, or else the hoax of BJP would never have been so better exposed. BJP claims Muslims appeasement by Congress. If there was any appeasement then why would Muslims slide backon every index! Appeasement (for Muslims) in fact was never there. Discrimination (against Muslims) of course had always been there, and that too, with parties having opposite political manifestoes but definitely sometime with the same political objectives, grimaced Khan.

Shah Waliullahs contributions applauded

GHITREEF SHAHBAZ
New Delhi: It was Shah Waliullah who the first presented the vision of an anti-British movement said K Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha in the 3-day international seminar on The contribution of Shah Waliullah in the promotion of Arabic, Persian and Urdu languages and literature, organized by Shah Waliullah Institute in collaboration with ICCR, NCPUL and Urdu Academy Delhi, at Azad Bhawan here on 28 April 2011. K Rahman Khan was addressing the opening session of the seminar which was inaugurated by Dr. Abdul Khaliq Rashid, Cultural Counsellor of Afghanistan and chaired by Dr. Said Farid Baig Said, ambassador of Tajikistan. He added that Shah Waliullah wrote 52 books on various topics, the Quranic sciences, Hadith, Fiqh and Mysticism. Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit said that Shah Waliullahs ideas are not propagated as widely as they should have been, and if Shah Waliullah Institute is facing some financial paucity, the Delhi government is here and ready to provide the needed support, adding that there is no better way to remember Shah Waliullah than propagating his books and views among the people. Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi, chairman of the Institute, said that Shah Waliullah was a great writer and scholar of Arabic, Persian and of Urdu as well. All kudos to the Shah family for popularizing the Persian and Urdu translations of Quran in the Indian Subcontinent. In particular, Shahs Persian translation of Quran is quite popular not only in India but also in Iran and Afghanistan. He said that he has collected many booklets of Shahs mysticism and will get them published. Imam Shah Waliullah was a great intellectual and thinker of Islamic history, who tried to make intuition, reason and intellect to conform to each other. If you talk about reason in Shah Waliullahs context without citing intuition, you simply end up with undoing the relevance of the Shah, said Prof. Muzaffar Alam, a historian from Chicago, while delivering his presidential speech in the conference. In Islam, there is no difference between Arab and non Arab, because with such difference the diversity of Islam will be finished. He added that the Islamic movement, that Shah Waliullah launched and motivated, is now reaching its destination. Prof. Altaf Ahmad Azmi, formerly of the Jamia Hamdard, while presenting his paper on an important book of Shah Waliullah, Fuzyud Harmain, said that there are so many misgivings about Sufism. Shah Waliullah mentioned four phases of it, the fourth one is most controversial. Shah Waliullah was very much against the Sufis of his time and their behaviour. He said that if by Sufism, religious devotion is meant, there is no objection, but if it means philosophy, then it is wrong. He was a great scholar of the whole Muslim world. Dr. Ausaf Ahmad, an expert on Islamic economy, presenting his paper on Shah Waliullahs economic thoughts said that the age in which Shah Waliullah lived was the age of economic downfall of Muslims and this was the real cause of Muslims decline. Shah Waliullah propounded that division of labour is essential for economic stability. Former state minister of Bihar, Shamael Nabi, said that it is Muslims who gave this country the values of tolerance, secularism and understanding and thereby dignity and significance. Among the speakers who presented their papers in the conference were Prof. Sharif Hussain Qasmi, Karim Najafi, cultural Consellor of Iran in India, Maulana Asghar Imam Mahdi, secretary general of Jamiat Ahle Hadith, Mohammad Adib (MP), Maulana Junaid Banarasi, Prof. Badruddin AlHafiz, Dr. Atiqurrahman formerly of Khuda Bakhsh Liblrary Patna, Naiyyera Abyat (Iran), Hakim Zillurrahman, Prof.Abdul Wadood, Rafiq Ahmad Salafi, Faizi Uzair Hashmi, former deputy commissioner New Delhi, Azimulhaq, former Wakf commissioner, Prof. Azizuddin , dean faculty of humanities and languages at JMI. Speakers at the conference were of the unanimous opinion that Shah Waliullah was a humanist and preacher of national integrity and understanding between Shias and Sunnis. On this occasion late Maulana Akhlaq Hussain Qasmi and late Maulana Faqihuddin were posthumously honoured with Shah Waliullah Awards, which were received by their heirs.

Do you believe in instilling good old-fashioned values, discipline and boundaries in your children? Can you give two British teenagers the chance to have some muchneeded structure in their lives? If so, the British Broadcasting Corporation is looking for you to take part in its long-running series on parenting. In each one-hour programme, two British teenagers are sent to live with a family abroad, to experience life in their country under their rules. In the last series, the BBC sent mismanaged teenagers from the UK to live with families all over the world, from Jamaica to India, Alabama to South Africa. In this series, BBC wants to send two British teenagers to India to sample a disciplined, yet loving upbringing. It is looking to represent an inspirational Indian family (with their own teenagers) who are proud of their strong parenting and family values and who would be willing to accommodate two British teenagers for one week and instil in them the values and morality they demand of their own children. The British teens will be expected to attend school, complete homework, help with household chores - whatever is normal for the host family; they will not be guests in the house but new members of the family. If you are proud of your strong parenting and values and interested in this project, drop a line for more information to kerryplant@twentytwenty.tv or call Kerry on +442074247741.

BBC looking for traditional Indian family

Quote, Unquote
It would be a tragedy if Mr Modi gets the benefit of doubt. His is a test case for the entire nation, particularly the minorities. Neither the court nor the Centre can afford to play with the basic premise of India's Constitution: democratic, secular polity.

KULDIP NAYAR
...I can say without the shadow of a doubt that when history will be written, the period over which she presided, both over the Congress and India, will be seen as an era of darkness, of immense corruption and of a democracy verging towards autocracy, if not disguised dictatorship, in the hands of a single person, a non Indian and a Christian like me. Truth will also come out about her being the main recipient for kickbacks from Bofors to 2G, which she uses to buy votes, as the Wikileaks have just shown.

JOHN MACLITHON AKA SIR MARK TULLY

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4 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

NATIONAL

Agnivesh assures Jamiat of retracting his statement

Ahmedabad: By presenting a totally different picture of Gujarat. false praise was elicited from me. When I am apprised of the true picture of Gujarat after visiting Gujarat, I will retract my statement. For this very reason I have arrived in Ahmedabad and have apprised myself of the real conditions prevailing here. I assure you now that after getting all his programmes cancelled I shall bring Anna Hazare to Gujarat within 15 days and will make him hear the facts from the people themselves. Admitting my lapse I shall make Modi, retract his claims before the media, Swami Agnivesh, the renowned social activist gave such assurances in the general session of Jamiat Ulma Gujarat organised at Sardar Baag of Ahmedabad. He further said that Indian Muslims are not tenants in the country but are partners and should fight, not merely for religious and community concerns but also for eradicating poverty, providing education and health to the deprived groups. The same way in which they had fought shoulder to shoulder in the freedom struggle. He accused Modi of Hitlers tactics for the purpose of propaganda. He has given a contract for such purpose to an extremely renowned publicity group of America and is thus squandering Gujarats money. It sends 7 million emails every day for such false propaganda. The curtain on the facts have risen and I shall tell Anna Hazare about these facts and bring him to Gujarat within a fortnight. The general session was attended by among others eminent dignitaries such as Justice Rajinder Sachar, Maulana Mahmood Madni, Mahesh Bhatt, Dr. J.K. Jain, Advocates Majid Memon, Mukul Sinha, Indukumar Jaani, etc. Justice Sachar expressed anguish over the fact that Muslim students in Gujarat were deprived of scholarships. Expressing his surprise (and shock) not a single speaker had said a word about the girl childs welfare, he wondered how would you (Muslims) prosper without welfare of the girls. He said that Iqra in the Quran was not merely for the sake of males. He further reminded that the caliph of Islam used to visit a lady for seeking knowledge about hadith. He expressed satisfaction over the fact that in the recent census nine states in the country show higher percentage of literacy among the Muslims. He also complimented on the fact that the male female ratio among Muslims stands at 1000:927. The conference was addressed by several prominent speakers. Mahesh Bhatt, Bollywood director recited an Urdu couplet: Zindagi mein kuchh hadse aise ho jate hain faraz Aadmi bach to jaata hai magar zinda nehin rahata He reminded us the soul of Gujarat i.e. after the 2002 carnage. Though claims of development are often parroted but one must understand that happiness is not guaranteed by mere development. He asked Anna Hazare which Gujarat he was referring to where development was visible? He said that both were partners in the two battles. He asked Anna to join their battle and promised that they would reciprocate in joining Annas. Majid Memon, advocate of Mumbai High Court admitted that though the fear in contrast to 2002 had decreased but had not totally vanished. He reminded that there has been a long trial of injustice heaped over the Muslims. Rajya Sabha MP and chief of Jamiat-e Ulma Hind Maulana Mahmood Madni urged the community to bury all the issues and adopt a single point programme for the next twenty years - education for empowerment. Among other speakers were Dr. J.K. Jain, Indu Kumar Jaani prominent social activist of Gujarat, Dr. Mukul Sinha etc. (AG Khan)

Blasphemous sketches condemned

New Delhi: Sacrilegious speeches or writings in offending manner about God, His messengers and sacred things and beliefs are not a new phenomenon; rather it has always been there in human history. Only its forms and modes have changed. The evil forces today, with media power at their disposal, are committing this heinous crime times and again in different types and ways. These days it is done generally by making cartoons or sketches of Gods messengers and more especially of the Last Prophet (pbuh). Diamond Comics, in its monthly Hindi series, Comic Worlds 78th issue, recently published two sketches of the Prophet of Islam with misleading material under the heading Who is Mohammad, which states: The Prophet Mohammad was the founder of the religion of Islam and he is worshipped all over the world as an apostle of God. This item may be ignored as an outcome of utter ignorance of Diamond Comics people, but why this sketch, when it is commonly known that in the case of the Prophet, Muslims are very sensitive and do not accept his sketches to be made or published. After the publication of this issue of Diamond Comics, Muslims were enraged and community leaders and clerics came out opposing this move loudly. Among them are Maulanas Arshad Madni, chief of JUH(A), Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi, rector of Darul Uloom Deoband, Sufyan Qasmi, vice principal of Darul Uloom Wakf, Jaladuddin Umri, JIH chief, Nizamuddin General Secretary of AIMPLB, Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, General Secretary of IFA, Asghar Ali Imam Mahdi, General Secretary of Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees and many others. They all condemned the Comic World and its editor, printer, and publisher Gulshan Roy and demanded quick action against the publisher and confiscation of all copies of Comic World. Students of Darul Uloom Deoband held a Save the Sanctity of Prophethood conference and sent a complaint letter to the Prime Minister, some people even wrote letters to the Home Minister and Delhi chief minister. Three persons, Shakil Saifi, Azim Gilani and Amanatullah, registered their complaint in Jamia Nagar police station against the Comic World. Taslim Rahmani, president Muslim Political Council of India said that the law should act against the editor of Comic World. Manzoor Alam Secretary General of Milli Council cautioned the community not to take the law in its hands and move the court against this heinous crime. In Amroah also many organizations issued statements condemning the act. Diamond Comics, on its part apologized to Muslims, for hurting their religious feelings. According to a report published in Rashtria Sahara Urdu daily on 6 May 2011, Diamond said that it was a mistake. It said that considering feelings of Muslims, it at once had sacked the writer of that material. It also promised that it will not repeat this mistake in future. Besides, it asked the bookstores to remove that issue from their stocks. The flip side of this story is that the Urdu daily Hamara Samaj, also reproduced the above sketch in its issue of 25 April, then it came with a lame excuse next day, but there was no reaction from the community against this paper at all. The question is: Why this double standard? (Ghitreef Shahbaz)

It took 3-4 yrs to convince my party on RSS terror: Digvijay

New Delhi Senior Congress party leader Digvijay Singh has said it took him three-four years to convince his party about terror activities allegedly done at the behest of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). He also attacked the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh government for not handing over the probe into the murder of RSS activist Sunil Joshi, accused in the Samjhauta Express blast case, to National Investigating Agency (NIA). It took me three to four years to convince my government (that RSS is involved in terror activities), he told PTI. He was replying to questions on recent reports on Sanghi terror when he had claimed to have sufficient evidence about it while he was the Madhya Pradesh chief minister between 1993-2003. The key to whole RSS terror is murder of Sunil Joshi. If the NIA does not investigate the case, the truth would never come to light, he said. Joshi, who was shot dead at Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) in December 2007, was a key suspect in blast in Samjhauta Express the rail link between India and Pakistan that killed more than 65 people. Singh, Congress partys general secretary and incharge of Uttar Pradesh, raised doubts over the authenticity of 2008 Batla House encounter by Delhi Police Special Cell in which two Indian Mujahideen suspects Atif Ameen and Mohd Sajid were killed. I have seen the photographs... Can we shoot five bullets on somebodys head in an encounter. This is not an encounter... I went to the Prime Minister and an enquiry by National Human Rights Commission was ordered. NHRC should have called the aggrieved party which it did not, which is my complaint, he said. Referring to his visit to Azamgarh, the town in Uttar Pradesh from where some of the alleged terrorists involved in the Batla encounter hail, the Congress leader said When I went to Azamgarh I was opposed both by RSS and Ulemna Council. It worries me that there are educated Muslim boys (suspected to be involved in terrorists acts)... If these sorts of allegations are put, it will be dangerous... I told them (victims families) that what I can give you is a fair and speedy trial. Then I requested the government to club all the cases together, he said. The NIA is probing three blast cases -- Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif and Malegaon -- suspected to be carried out by right-wing activists.

Dalit kids: even their books are untouchable

Kendrapada (Orissa): Dalit children at a school in Jagatsinghpur district do not know where they went wrong with their studies because teachers refuse to check their notebooks. Ame achuta (We are considered untouchables). Teachers refuse to touch our books and our homework is never corrected, said Bijaya Mallick, a student of Class IV at the school at Keutapala in Balikuda block. If we even touch our teachers by mistake, they scold us for polluting them, he added. The 40-odd Dalit students in the school were allegedly singled out and made to clean classrooms and toilets. I clean toilets at school, said Samir Mallick, a Class V student. He looked puzzled when asked why he agreed to do so. The teachers tell me to do it, the 11-year-old boy said. We are not even allowed to take water from the drinking pot at school, he added. Several students and their parents complained that they were victims of caste discrimination by the school staff since long. The final straw, however, was when teachers refused to serve mid-day meals to the children. This prompted incensed parents not to send their wards to school for the past one week. The cook and some teachers, who were entrusted to provide mid-day meals, abused some Dalit children and refused to give them food. Our children were also compelled to sit at a distance from upper caste children during meal time, said Babaji Mallick, the father of a Dalit student. We have therefore decided not to send our children to that school, he added. (Times of India, 25 April, 2011)

NAC approves draft on communal violence

New Delhi: The National Advisory Council (NAC) on 28 April finalised a draft bill to curb the menace of communal violence in the country. The Bill includes within its purview attacks against Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes and religious minorities. The linguistic minorities too were included in the Bill in the backdrop of the attacks on Hindi-speaking people in Mumbai by Shiv Senas goons. The draft Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill seeks to hold public officials accountable for failure of law and order in their respective areas. A meeting of the NAC, presided by the chairperson Sonia Gandhi, has decided to put the draft bill in public domain to invite comments which will be considered at the NACs next meeting on 25 May. Mass violence which is widespread or systematic in nature has been defined specifically in the draft bill as organised communal and targeted violence. The Bill seeks to strengthen the rights of the victims through a series of new provisions beginning from the simple right to information at all stages. It also includes the right to get copies of all their statements, to be heard in a court of law, to adduce evidence, to protection, to appeal, and to file a complaint with the National Authority/State Authority if and when they are aggrieved by failure of the system to protect and secure for them justice and reparations. The Bill casts legal duties on the State to provide rescue, relief, rehabilitation, compensation and restitution, to ensure that victims are restored to a situation better than which prevailed before they were affected by targeted violence. The NAC observed that a major obstacle in prosecuting public servants is the provision for getting sanction under Sections 196 and 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The Bill provides that if such sanction is not granted by the state within a period of 30 days from the date of application to the state government, sanction to prosecute will be deemed to be granted, said an NAC member.

Award instituted in the name of Nirmala Deshpande in Pakistan

Islamabad: An important NGO of Pakistan, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research (PILER), has instituted an award in the name of late Gandhian activist, Mrs. Nirmala Deshpande to honour persons and institutions of South Asia who are working for peace. General Council of PILER decided to institute this award named Nirmala Deshpande South Asian Peace and Justice Award, which consists of a cash prize of Rs. one million, in her honour as a mark of abiding respect for Didi Nirmala Deshpande and a permanent tribute too for her service to humanity, said PILER in a statement. PILERs Executive Director Karamat Ali said that an independent jury, selected from eight member countries of SAARC will choose the winner/s. He said that this award will be given every year on 17 October, Nirmala Deshpandes birthday.

Profiling of Christians continues despite revocation order by MP Govt

Not even a week has passed since the Madhya Pradesh Government had ordered revocation of the controversial circular order to the police seeking details of the Christians in the state, the profiling still continues unabated. On March 22, police had issued a circular to all police stations that ordered profiling of the Christians. Soon after strong protests from the Christian community the Madhya Pradesh government revoked the order. Inspite of revocation of the order two policemen on 20 April reached a social centre run by the community in Raisin district to enquire on the basis of the circular issued to the police. Father Thomas in an interview said that the representative of the centre requested them to to take information from the main centre. IP Kulshreshth, police superintendent of Raisin in an interview said that after getting directive on withdrawing the circular from the DGP SK Rout he had informed all the police stations under his charge about it. He also said that if any police officer went to collect information on the basis of that circular he would look into the matter. Later on, it was found that the policemen had visited the centre after getting direction by the superintendent of police, Raisin. Leo Cornelio, Bhopals Archbishop said that it is a conspiracy against the community and similar kind of profiling was also ordered by Gujarat government during 1999-2000.

MG NEWS DESK

MG NEWS DESK

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

NATIONAL

Communal riot in Meerut

NA ANSARI
New Delhi: They went to a small mosque called Chhoti Masjid in Qazipur village at the outskirts of Meerut city and asked for water. An attendant in the mosque or some small children who were being taught Quran by the Masjid Imam, Iqrar Ahmad, offered them tap water but these people insisted on cold water. They were told that they didnt have any cold water, only tap water. At this they entered the mosque and verbally misbehaved with the Imam and when he protested against their abuse without any provocation, they physically assaulted and thrashed him. When some small children tried to come to the help of Molvi Saheb, these people did not spare the innocent children and even assaulted them too. This, in brief, is the origin of the communal riots that erupted in Meerut on Sunday 24 April evening and with the passage of every hour spread to more and more localities and areas and took a violent, communal turn, which continued till 2 or 3 Oclock midnight (25 April early morning) after which, according to police, it was brought under control, but not before at least 30 persons, including 10 police personnel, were injured, at least 3 UP roadways buses, many other motor cycles, cars, at least a dozen houses and many shops and other properties, two police stations etc. were set on fire by the angry mob. Till Monday 25 April night no death however was reported. According to reports, seventeen persons were initially arrested. When the news of Imam Iqrar Ahmad being thrashed spread in the village, some local Muslims lodged a complaint against the unsocial elements who had thrashed him and demanded their arrest, the S.H.O. ignored it and said that action will be taken after an hour or so. Meanwhile, seeing the indifferent attitude of the police, a large number of people of Qazipur assembled, and indulged in subversive activities and set some vehicles on fire. The riot spread to other localities in Meerut city also and people of both communities came face to face and indulged in stone pelting. When the police arrived, the crowd started raining stones at them with the result that many of them were injured and being outnumbered, they had to flee, only to return in greater strength. Seeing the wide area where the riots, violence and arson had spread, PAC and Rapid Action Force personnel had to be deployed by the authorities and top police officials of Meerut set up camps there. It was reported that in the very beginning complaints were made to the local S.H.O. but since no action appeared to have been taken, Imam Iqrar Ahmad and others personally went to the police station and lodged a complaint but, according to news reports, police authorities sat on it and did not move. It was only after the riots spread to more areas and also became more violent and when acid bombs and petrol bombs were hurled at certain places, police went into action. In Zakir Nagar Colony of Meerut a house, with a 2-year old girl and her mother inside was set on fire by miscreants. Both were admitted to a hospital and said to be recovering from burn injuries. All the injured were

admitted to different hospitals. Iqrar Ahmad said that if immediate action had been taken on his complaint, no riots would have taken place, not to speak of it spreading to other places. Some miscreants made most of the opportunity, to flare communal tension. On Monday 25 April, markets in the affected areas remained closed and as a precautionary measure schools were also asked to close by the authorities. IG of Meerut, Rajni Kant Misra told reporters on 25 April that a case against five persons who had attacked the Imam had been registered. They were identified as Sandeep, Chhotoo, Kapil etc. They all were absconding but were caught later and jailed. In Lucknow Special DG Brij Lal said on 25 April that 9 companies of PAC and 4 companies of RAF were deployed in the affected areas and constant vigil was being maintained. Meerut police is also trying to find out if the riot was pre-planned because there was no reason for the Imam being abused and thrashed whose students had offered water but the insistence of the miscreants on being served cold water and then abusing and beating the Imam was simply an excuse to provoke Muslims for some retaliatory action. Moreover, the riot originated in the village but the speed with which it spread to large parts of Meerut in a couple of hours raises doubts that there might have been planning behind it. According to subsequent news, UP Chief Minster Mayawati has ordered suspension of Meerut DIG/SSP, J.N. Singh for dereliction of duty, reaching late at the troubled spot and transfer of Subhash Chand Sharma, D.M. Though no official estimates of losses on account of arson etc. have been forthcoming, unofficially it is estimated that movable and immovable properties worth more than Rs. 100 crore were destroyed in these riots.

The SIT with the help of experts of central FSL and AIIMS reconstructed the Isharat Jahan fake encounter that took place in 2004 near Kotarpur in Ahmadabad. The actual encounter team was also made to accompany this re-construction team. The prime accused G.L. Singhal, Tarun Barat and other officers provided information about what actually transpired on the entire scene of action from Sarkhej, Naral to Kotarpur. The chairman of the SIT along with three members were present. Refuting the false claim that Isharat Jahan of Mumbai, Javed Pillai and two Pakistanis had plotted to kill the Gujarat chief Minister Narendra Modi, Pillai family demanded a probe into the fake encounter. The Gujarat High Court constituted a team comprising Karnail Singh, I.P.S., as the chairman and two others to investigate the matter. The team collected evidence from various officers and employees. It collected substantial evidence after conducting a search at Meghani Nagar office of the state FSL. Doubts had been raised at the time of the fake encounter over the reliability of the report of the state FSL. Keeping the state FSL out of the investigation the central FSL and AIIMS team conducted the operation. Chairman Karnail Singh, Satish Sharma, Mohan Jha,

Experts reconstructed Ishrat encounter

Dy S.P. V.R. Tolia alongwith 15 experts from FSL and AIIMS had a meeting at the circuit House at 10 A.M. to apprise the team of the details and to acquaint them with the course of action to be undertaken i.e. to pin point the precise objective of the proposed re-construction. The team then reached the office of the crime branch where it checked a police van which was said to be attacked by the alleged terrorists. Later on the entire team went to the SIT office where they inspected the Indica car which was allegedly used by Ishrat and her colleagues. They were brought to Kotarpur water works via Narol, the place where the encounter had taken place. The team which had conducted the encounter in 2004 was summoned to report there. The team included G.L. Ginghal, Tarun Barat, J.G. Parmar, K.M. Waghela, I.K. Chouhan etc. They apprised the investigators about the various facts i.e., the circumstances in which the encounter was conducted; the manner of firing shots; and the role each individual played during the incident. The experts measured the distance of various positions checking the distance between the police vehicles and Ishrats Indica. Photography and videography was also carried out. From here the team reached the office of SIT situated at Dafnala. This reconstruction was conducted to report the findings to the High Court on 21st May.

Plot to unsettle Left Govt in W. Bengal?

Purulia arms drop: more than meets the eye

AG KHAN

Modis massive cover-up job

MUSTAFA KHAN
On May 5, 2011 the Supreme Court refused to consider the affidavit that senior Gujarat police officer Sanjiv Bhatt had submitted to it. SIT submitted its report on April 25 and denied that Bhatt attended the meeting at the house of Modi on the eve of the Gujarat pogroms in 2002. Bhatt alleged that the CM had told the police to let the Hindus vent out their anger at the Muslims as he wanted to teach the Muslims a lesson in a bid to stop the balancing act of the previous governments in communal riots and let the Hindus have the upper hand and to tilt the balance in their favour for good. The other serious observation of the SIT is that Bhatt has some motive to level grave charges nine years later and it calls for a probe. Next, it claimed that he tutored his driver to give false information. The earlier report of SIT submitted in November 2010 had found insufficient evidence against Modi and amicus curiae Raju Ramchandran objected to no prosecutable evidence against Modi. SC asked SIT to probe further. However, SC hints at the fact that SIT has not come up with any change in its second report submitted to it. It has given eight weeks time to Ramchandran to study all the evidence and suggest if any offence can be made out against anyone. The next hearing is on July 28. Thus the slow movement of the judicial process makes one wonder whether the adage justice delayed is justice denied is still true. This has been going on in Gujarat for more than ten years now. It is proudly passed off as Moditva, unrepentant hijacking of the State to commit atrocities and still go scot free. The best example is Babu Bhai Bajrangi. The crimes he committed speak loudly for the heaven to hear and yet we on the earth have not heard it so far! The courts also seem to be taken in by Moditva. Madhu Srivastava and his people made Zahira Shaikh turn hostile. She went to jail but they are still free. Of the accused and convicted for life in prison now another witness has turned hostile. The case must reopen again and this would continue ad absurdum. The obvious reason is that the endeared Chote Sardar of Gujarat is also capable of becoming the Prime Minister some day! Therefore, the judicial process must continue as it is going until more hurdles come in the way and the courts prolong to kingdom come! The crimes Modi has committed are like a hippopotamus clearly seen trampling the grass on the lawn and yet the investigators are holding the magnifying glass close to their eyes and prying into the roots of the grass as if watching the movement of an ant. The fun is that Modi knows that we know it that Modi did it! The impotency of everyone in the face of all this is a tribute to those who had gathered at Jantar Mantar for a revolution to usher in. Exceptions are there to prove the rule. Modi brought in a reign of terror, in the words of Zakia Jafri. He conspired, he executed the conspiracy and is busy in what Shanti Bhushan calls a massive cover-up job. The courts like the Chief Minister are vying with each other to go to infinity in time. Will nine years that Sanjiv Bhatt took slide into nine decades before justice is delivered by courts?

The dust from the Purulia arms drop case remained settled for more than a decade. But recent sensational revelations have blown out the dumped case like a thick smoke in our political circles. It defines moral decadence of our polity. No one in his wildest dream could have ever thought that our political leaders can fall to such levels as to import arms illegally to unseat a state government. This is the truth if we believe what Kim Davy has said in an exclusive interview to Times Now TV on 28 April. Kim Davy, the prime accused in 1995 Purulia arms drop case, said that the entire operation was masterminded by people within the Narasimha Rao government in order to destabilise the then Jyoti Basu leftist regime in West Bengal. He claimed that RAW was at that point of time, at the behest of the Indian government, overseeing the controversial arms drop. Davy alleged that not only RAW knew about the arms drop months in advance but it also approved of it months in advance. The big question is: can we think about the Indian intelligence services to have acted in such a manner? If we go by the past record, it is equally painful to say that anything is possible. All that talk on war-against-terror and defending our borders and air space looks like drum beat only for sensational publicity. Former RAW officer B Raman said in an interview that an aircraft that breached and violated the norms of our airspace across the country from Karachi and halted for a while in Varansi for refuelling and then dropped arms and ammunition in Purulia, then moved out of India to Thailand despite prior information of its purpose and flight direction, was certainly a shameful act in the history of Indian intelligence. There are too many questions that need to be answered: 1. Why the RAW, which was tipped off by the British Intelligence Agency (M15) about the arms air drop, failed to pass on the information to the Intelligence Bureau in a usual manner? 2. Why the slowest possible means of communication (registered mail) was used to send such an important information to Kolkata? 3 Why the IAF did not make an attempt to stop the carrier despite intelligence input from Britain on three occasions? 4. Why did Kim Davy wait for 16 years to come with detail of this conspiracy theory? 5. Was Bleach pardoned after eight years under international pressure? 6 Why the Bajpayee government released Bleach in February 2004 without conducting a proper inquiry, hold trial and take the case to its logical conclusion inspite of the fact that Bleach was charged with treason and conspiracy against the Indian State? 7. Why the Indian Air Force radar was switched off that night when arms cache was dropped. Dharini Mishra, spokesperson of CBI, refuted the charge made by Kim Davy and others by saying: During the investigation by CBI in the Purulia arms dropping case, no evidence whatsoever came to light that any government agency helped Neils Holck alias Kim Davy in his crime by way of commission or omission...No evidence of any Indian politician helping him in his escape came to light. A CBI team is likely to leave for Denmark soon to streamline the process of extradition of Purulia arms drop case prime accused Kim Davy to India for further investigation. Communist leaders like Prakash Karat and A B Bardhan in a letter to the prime minister demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge to unravel the truth behind this conspiracy. They said, It concerns a conspiracy to incite violence against the then elected government of West Bengal. It has also international ramifications along with the role of an organisation like the Ananda Marg once banned by the Government of India. The big question is: can we ever know the truth behind the controversy? (For more on Purulia arms drop case see MG (16-31 December 2010) or visit http://www.milligazette.com/news/248-fighting-war-against-terror-purulia-style-indiaMOHAMMAD NAUSHAD KHAN bjp-nationhood)

6 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

NATIONAL

Rajasthan minorities are 2nd class citizens

MOHAMMAD NAUSHAD KHAN
The Joint Action Committee under the aegis of Rajasthan Muslim Forum organised a meet to asses the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The committee has expressed concern over the governments inaction and its lackadaisical approach in dealing with the perpetrators of violence at Sawai Madhopor and elsewhere in the state. Despite assurance from the state government after every incident it was observed that violence against minorities continues unabated and Christians and Muslims here are treated as second class citizens. In this regard, Rajasthan Muslim Forum in co-ordination with various social and human rights organisations have written a letter to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi hoping that she would address the issue by directing the chief minister of Rajasthan to protect the lives and properties of the minorities and at the same time to take stern action against criminals, communal forces and errant officials. The minorities of this state are jittery and in a predicament over their continued support to the Congress in the state for they had expected a lot from the party that claims to be committed to secularism and social justice. Copy of the letter has also been sent to the prime minister and home minister. Highlighting some of the recent violence and the action taken the letter says, Media and civil organizations have been voicing their protest against the government by organising rallies and dharnas against communal violence (burning and looting of Christian/Muslim houses, shops, standing crops, religious places and killings). The incidents at Balesar (Jodhpur), Sarada (Udaipur), and Manoharthana, Semli Haat, Maheshpura (Jhalawar), and the recent burning alive of a Muslim police officer on duty at Soorwal village (Sawaimadhopur) are fairly well known. They have been widely reported in national and local dailies and TV channels. Most of these violent incidents occurred in the very presence of insensitive and colluding district officials. As a result, criminals are emboldened and Muslims feel threatened. Political will of the state to curb violence is conspicuously absent due to petty political expediency. This is, regrettably, corroding peoples confidence in the secular credentials of the Congress in Rajasthan. A Chronology of violence in the recent past are: 1. In April 2010, Congress village Sarpanch of Balesar village, Jodhpur District, led a drive for widening of market road in a selective manner, targeting only Muslim houses and their Idgah. Hindu houses/shops, belonging to his community (Malis gardners) were kept out of the demolition drive. Local Muslims protested against this discrimination. Till today the Eidgah remains un-repaired. What is sad is that the Sarpanch, belonging to the community of the CM Gehlot, led his community to attack Muslims despite warning from the Superintendent of Police. 2. In May 2010, two criminalsa Muslim and one from Meena tribehad conflict of interest in liquor and extortion business. The Muslim criminal killed the Meena youth. The culprit was arrested with the help of the local people. Hindutva activists instigated and organized local tribals to attack law abiding innocent Muslim villagers. In the very presence of district SP and Collector, about 80 houses and several shops, workshops, standing crops and live stocks of Muslims were looted, damaged and destroyed. Even the cow of a Muslim was killed to provoke further communal violence on a larger scale. Culprits are still roaming free and threatening the local Muslims. 3. In September 2010, Hindu activists mainly from the Meena tribe attacked Muslims and destroyed their properties. The violence came to a halt only when the police opened fire. Three people from the Meena tribe were killed in the police firing. Angered by the deaths of rioters in police firing, the Hindu fringe elements attacked innocent Muslim villagers of Semli Haat, Maheshpura and other villages. Almost 50 houses, standing crops, grain stores, farm equipment and cattle were looted, damaged and burnt. Muslims fled. A police station was burnt. Some journalists were also attacked. For almost a month neither the District Magistrate nor the SP visited the affected villages. 4. The incident of Soorwal village, Sawaimadhopur district where a police circle Inspector Phool Mohammad was burnt alive while on duty is shameful and describes the gory tale of the state and its law and order situation which seems to be at the mercy of hooligans and criminals. The family of late Phool Muhammad and human rights organizations are demanding an inquiry and suspension of police officers and the DM for dereliction of duty. Late Phool Muhammads family has so far not been visited by Home Minister or the CM for condolence. Surprisingly, brave SPs of Jodhpur and Jhalawar who firmly contained violence were punished by transferring them. The SPs and Collectors of Udaipur and Sawaimadhopur were either transferred or made APOs, rather than being punished for their gross dereliction of duty. Qari Mueenuddeen, Convener of Rajasthan Muslim Forum has demanded: 1. A CBI inquiry into the incident of Soorwal in which three deaths occurred (two murders and one suicide) in a sequence, be initiated and political and criminal dimensions of the incident must be investigated at the earliest. We request you to advise the PM to hasten the process of CBI inquiry so that the guilty are punished. 2. Responsible district administrative officers-particularly the SP, DM and their junior staff like the Dy. S.P. Mahcndra Singh and Addl. SP along with SDM should be suspended and criminal procedures against them must be initiated for dereliction of duty which led to the death of martyr Phool Mohammad. 3. All criminals should be apprehended irrespective of their caste and creed. They are protected by some officers and politicians. The nexus must be exposed. 4. The victims of Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jhalawar Districts still await justice and due compensation for damage to their houses and properties. Rajasthan Government should be instructed to speed up investigation process. The other signatories of the letter are: Rajasthan Muslim Forum, Sadbhav Manch Rajasthan, Peoples Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jamaaat-E-Islami Hind, All India Milli Council, IRADA Society, Sheikh Jamialul Abbas Rajasthan, Sarvdeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Association For Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), Bhaichra Foundation, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Wahdat-e-Islami Rajasthan, National Muslim Womens Welfare Society, Popular Front of India, Masihi Shakti Samiti, Dalit Adhikar Kendra, Dalit Muslim Ekta Manch, Maulana Azad Welfare and Relief Foundation, Tahaffuz-EAuqaf Committee, Human Development Society, Mansoori Panchayat Rajasthan, Muslim Mahasabha, Millat-EIslamia Khidmatgar Society, Indian Union Muslim League, Shia Conference, Jamiatul Quraish Jaipur, All India Imam Council, Sheikh Banjara Samaj, Students Islamic Organisation of India, Muslim Youth Forum and Lok Sampatti Sanrakshan Samiti.

Indian Muslims reaction on Osamas killing

What does the demise of Osama bin Laden mean to Indian Muslims? How do Islamic scholars and community leaders see the worlds so-called biggest terrorists killing by US forces in a sanctuary at Abbotabad some fifty miles from Islamabad Pakistan. Indeed there is a range of reactions and different statements on the matter. For example AIMMM, an umbrella body of Indian Muslim organizations issued the following statement Osama bin Laden, the founder and ideologue of the Al-Qaida, the well organized terrorist movement, was killed on Sunday, 1 May 2011 by the US forces in his well-protected sanctuary in Abbotabad, Pakistan, thus closing a historic chapter with US avenging the killing of thousands of persons in 9/11. The AIMMM said that with his death, there is no justification for the US and allied forces to operate in Afghanistan and add to the misery and the destitution of the Afghan people. The AIMMM deliberately refrained from passing a judgment on the life and work of Osama Bin Laden, called upon the US to re-write its foreign policy and to stop its blind support to Israel. Yet one emotion seemed to override all these reactions: Islam can never condone the perversities of Osama, and certainly not Indian Muslims who have carried the terrorist tag because of this one man. Jamia Millia Islamia Vice-Chancellor Najeeb Jung said there was no reaction to Osamas death on his campus or in the nearby Muslim neighbourhood of Jamia Nagar. This is a reflection of the Indian Muslims disinterest in Osama. Mr. Jung also rejected the notion that Muslims elsewhere could feel sympathy for Osama, except perhaps in pockets of Pakistan. The VC said Osama was killed at a time when even the al-Qaeda had begun to speak in disparate voices. Sections of the al-Qaeda would be happy to have a new leadership. Maulana Syed Athar Dehlavi, Chairman of Anjuman Minhaje Rasool, said Osama had defied and defiled Islam with his statements even before the horrific 9/11 attacks and this was why the Minhaje Rasool issued a fatwa against him as early as 1998. We were not only the first Muslim organisation to issue a fatwa, we also appealed to Ulema the world over to issue fatwas against him. The Maulana, however, added that Muslims will always hold the United States as guilty as Osama for creating him. Manzoor Alam, chairman of the Institute of Objective Studies, pointed out that far from being a thinker, Osama did not even have a degree in Islamic theology. He was never treated as knowledgeable on the Quran and Sunna, and across the Muslim world religious leaders held him in scorn. Fatwas were issued against him by such authorities as Ibn Baaz, the late great Mufti of Saudi Arabia, and Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the popular Egyptian theologian. Dr. Alam was emphatic that Indian Muslims would remain unaffected by any post-Osama radicalism: Our youth have stayed clear of al-Qaeda and have shown time and again that they believe in the Indian Constitution. Scholar Mushirul Hasan said Osama had no relevance in todays world: In the light of the democracy movement in the Islamic world, it is very clear that the only option for Muslims lies in the democratic process and not in terrorism. He argued that historically whenever Muslims had been allowed to exercise their option, they had chosen democracy. However, once the options were foreclosed by colonialism and western power, it appeared as if Muslims had become susceptible to the terrorist rhetoric: Now that the global landscape has changed, these ideas deserve to be consigned to the dustbin of history. Columnist Aijaz Ilmi said Osama wanted to give divine sanction to his message of terror which was nowhere in the book of God. As for Indian Muslims, more than anyone else they were bound to be thankful for Osamas death: Muslims have been demonised because of Osama and 9/11. Some young writers are upset that Muslim reaction was sought whenever the subject of Pakistan or terrorism came up: Whether it is an IndiaPakistan cricket match or a terror attack or now Osama, Muslims are tested. Why should our reaction be any different from that of Hindus? This only reinforces the perception that Indian Muslims are not part of the mainstream. Hussain Abdullah, says in his survey report that contrary to Al-Qaidas big claim that it operates for the sake of Islam and to protect Muslims from the evil forces, most of its terror victims have been the Muslims, the world over. Shahi Imam, Ahmad Bhkhari, in the wake of American claim to have killed Osama, refused to budge to Americas dubbing any body a terrorist, for that one needs to prove it in a court of law, which America so far hasnt done. In the past the Taliban and Osama bin Laden were friends of US, why are they being dubbed as terrorist today, he asked. He also questioned the US credibility that, when it was aware of Osamas presence at Abbotabad why did it not capture him alive and bring him to book in a court of law. A section of the Muslim clergy in Islamic countries criticized the reported burial of Osama bin Laden at sea, this was criticized by some non-Muslims also. However big a criminal one might be, his religious traditions should be respected while burying him, said. Digvijai Singh, a Congress leader. However, some Indian ulama harshly criticized Pakistan for its allegedly providing a haven to terrorists, among them are Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, Maulana Kalbe Jawad and Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahli and Maulana Tauqir Raza, a Barelvi scholar, they also asked the Indian government to mount, pressure on Pakistan now to hand over terrorists like Daud Ibrahim and others to India. As far as the ordinary Muslims are concerned their reaction was a mixed one. While some feel relief others dont believe in the story at all.

Maharashtra tops in riots cases during 1998-2008

According to a report released by the government on Socio-Economic and Educational Status of Muslims in Maharashtra, the state has witnessed 1,192 communal riots during 1998-2008, which is the highest in the country as compared to other states. During the same period the number of communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh was 1,112 followed by Madhya Pradesh (860), Gujarat (823), Karnataka (654), Bihar (524), Orissa (357), West Bengal (205), Delhi (85) and Himachal Pradesh (11). The report also highlights that between 1908 and 2009 Mumbai recorded the maximum number of communal riots among all other cities and towns in the state. A Shaban, professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, believes that the reason behind this increased number of communal clashes is that the people of Maharashtra are highly polarised along caste and religious lines. Communal flare-ups in some major states: 1998-2008 State Incidents Deaths Maharashtra 1,192 172 Uttar Pradesh 1,112 384 Madhya Pradesh 860 162 Gujarat 823 1,114 Karnataka 654 75 Bihar 524 231 Orissa 357 67 West Bengal 205 46 Delhi 85 11 Himachal Pradesh 11 2

MOHAMMAD NAUSHAD KHAN

MG NEWS DESK

With best compliments from

Kaleem Kawaja Washington DC

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

NATIONAL

Jamiat Ulama starts its satyagrah

Act and it shouldnt be left merely on the discretion of the bureaucrats. The Wakf Act should be suitably amended to get the wakf properties vacated on the pattern of the Public Property Act. The function of the Muslims awkaf be remodelled on the pattern of the gurudwara prabandhak committees. Government and non-government encroachment on waqf properties be removed Effective steps be taken for conservation of awqaf. Proper utilization of the income received be ensured. Mosques under the custody of the government should be restored to Muslims and they be allowed to perform their fivetime prayers freely. 2. Reservation for Muslims Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind expresses its concern on the nominal presence of Muslims in educational institutions and legislative institutions like Parliament, state assemblies and village panchayats, due to a persistent discrimination against them. In the last general election, their representation drastically dropped as compared to earlier periods. As per government figures, Muslims constitute more than 13% of the Indian population but their representation in various spheres is less than 2%. It has resulted into their extreme poverty and socio-economic and educational backwardness. The discrimination against Muslims in the official, semi-official and representative institutions has been going on for the last 62 years. Their recruitment in the army, intelligence and other important institutions is almost totally banned. It is believed that discrimination is made against them in the UPSC and other administrative exams too. Justice Sachar Committee report has proved that the economic, educational, political and social condition of Muslims in India is worse than that of Dalits. This house therefore demands that: Muslims should be given representation in all spheres in accordance with their proportion of population. To ensure this, the constitutional and the legal hurdles, if any, should immediately be removed. Muslims should be declared the most backward community. Separate quota should be earmarked for the Muslim OBC sections which are recognised by and listed in the Mandal Commission. Article 341 of the constitution must be amended and secularized to end discrimination on the basis of religion. All Dalits must be treated at par irrespective of religion. 3. Communal Violence bill Jamiat Ulama-i Hind expresses its deep concern that despite the recurring communal violence in the country, no law for the prevention of riots has been introduced so far. The United Progressive Alliance had promised to bring an effective and comprehensive legislation to deal with the communal riots but despite having completed a major part of its second term, it has done nothing hopeful in this direction. In order to avert the communal riots, a law must be introduced to hold higher officials and district administration responsible for the outbreak of violence. This law must also have provisions to provide uniform compensation to the victims irrespective of their caste, creed or community. Protection of life and property of citizens is the prime responsibility of the government, and therefore, we demand from the government to come out with an effective law to combat existing situation so that the life and property of the innocent citizens should be well protected and justice is ensured for the victims. stiff opposition from within. Now what is significant for all parties is to analyse the way people across India stepped out of their houses to join Anna Hazares anti corruption call. This surely marks the beginning of peoples pent up desire for development and good governance. These people may not be fooled or used by any political party or any organisation either on religious issue or any kind of divisive politics. They all know that their success and huge support is just because of their neutrality and commitment to a just and popular cause. However, there are people working round the clock to turn the tide on to their side. People like Awadhesh Dixit and Rupesh Pandey, who are close aides of Govindacharya and follow Hindutva ideology, have been included in the committee. Despite knowing their ideological leanings, Kejariwal is openly promoting them. This is sending a wrong signal and many people have started asking whether Govincharya is running the show from behind the scene. This was communicated to Hazare and his team. They have now decided to follow their own programme and shun Kejariwal. In this way the elements of Sangh have taken a back seat, an organising committee member said, according to Mail Today (28 April, 2011).

Lucknow:Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, pressing for its demands for reservation for Muslims, new law for prevention of communal riots and just and equitable compensation to the victims and protection of waqf property, on 28 April launched its nationwide satyagrah under the banner Mulko Millat Bachao Tahreek (Save the Country and Nation Movement) from Lucknow where its first batch of 313 volunteers led by JUH president Maulana Qari Usman offered to court arrest in the Police Lines in the presence of thousands of Jamiat supporters. The police took them to the magistrate where they submitted their memorandum. Those arrested were later released on personal bond. Among arrested included JuH General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani, Maulana Hakeemuddin Qasmi, Maulana Hayatullah Qasmi (president JuH Uttar Pradesh), Maulana Usama, Mufti Salman Mansoori, Maulana Abdul Moied Qasmi, Mufti Affan etc. Before the arrest, an agitation was launched at Jiyotiba Phule Park. Addressing the gathering, Maulana Mahmood Madani said that the UPA government and its prime minister have failed in their oft-repeated commitment to the minorities and weaker sections, especially Muslims, to remove inequalities and imbalances. The first substantial step taken by the Prime Minister in this direction was the appointment of Justice Sachar Committee. It reflected some seriousness in UPAs avowed commitment. The committee established the plight of Muslims through official data about the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community in the country. Thereafter, Justice Ranganath Mishra Commision recommended grant of reservation to minorities and amendment to the Art. 341 to remove religious bias besides a host of developmental measures. But nothing substantive has come out in terms of action despite the fact that UPAs 2nd term

is half way through. Explaining his recent struggle, Maulana Madani said, in May last year we started this movement but after meeting Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi relying on their promises to fulfill our demands, we gave six months deadline. Our delegation also called on Sonia Gandhi on 9 January, 2011 to remind her of her promises, but till now no action has been taken by the government in this direction. JuH issued its charter of demands as follows: 1. Conservation of Waqf properties It is a matter of concern and apprehension that despite implementation of Awqaf Act 1995, illegal tampering with and unlawful encroachment on the waqf properties is still going on. Neglecting the intentions and the will of the donor, the income of the waqf properties is being exploited for personal benefits. We feel that the Awkaf Act of 1995 has also lost its utility owing to bureaucratic apathy and prejudices. Consequently, encroachment on the wakf properties is still going on unchecked. The Sachar Committee had also taken serious notice of this aspect and recently constituted a parliamentary Wakf committee. Created for the sole purpose of the safety and protection of wakf properties, it has expressed its concern on the sorry state of affairs. In view of this, Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind demands: That the Wakf Act 1995 be honestly and strongly implemented after making suitable amendments, and the wakf properties, which are valued in billions, be properly managed as per the will of the donors. All the wakf properties be exempted from the Rent Control

BJP wants Ram Rajya in U.P.

JP after having seen their corruption rallies failing to attract the masses is back to basics again in Uttar Pradesh. With assembly elections due next year BJP wants to saffronise Uttar Pradesh by reviving Ram Mandir issue in a bid to regain its political base which is shrinking by the day. The renewed pledge to build Ram temple by the BJP sounds hollow and politically motivated. Although the dialects of their resolves may vary from person to person but the commitment always remains hawkish. BJP president Gadkari at a Mahasangaram rally in Faizabad on 27 April reaffirmed BJPs commitment to build Ram Mandir at any cost. He claimed his presence at the spot was the proudest at the spot moments of his life. It is believed that party president at the eleventh hour deviated from the original script which dealt with corruption to the issue of Ram Mandir only to present his thoughts on the subject as the new party president. In the past he had been trying to downplay his and his party leaders views on the issue by saying that Ram is not a political issue or political agenda for the BJP. Vinay Katiyar who was also present at the Mahasangram rally had said, Babar got the

mosque constructed by using brute force. We will build the Ram temple at the spot by resorting to the same method. Surprisingly, during 2009 Lok Sabha election campaign Narendra Modi did not mention Ram during his 45 minute speech in Ayodhya. For the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections it seems all political parties have hurriedly geared themselves into poll mode. All parties are formulating the following their strategy and for that their political pundits have begun to streamline their further line of action keeping in mind the importance of the election following results and its numerical strength in Indian polity. BJP wants to regain lost ground. Congress hopes to consolidate the figures of the last elections while the Bhahujan Samaj Party will definitely try to retain its political bastion. Samajwadi Party is desperate to keep its head held high not only in Uttar Pradesh politics but also at the Centre. The importance of smaller parties will fairly depend on the success and failure of social engineering of the BSP. Parties like RLD, Peace Party and the recently launched Welfare Party can turn out to be decisive if there is probability of a coalition government. For BJP, Gadkari may experiment to win the

upper caste votes and for that the party banks on Kalraj Mishra who has been named election incharge and probables among others for the highest post in the state. BJP on the whole may look forward to create a fine balance between Hindutva and development. Gadkaris poll mantra in UP is likely to revolve around survey, rallies and political arithmetic of alliance. Example of Jharkhand is also before us where he defied party lines. Return of hardcore propagator of Hindutva is aimed to raise the pitch and intensity of the political battle. Uma Bharatis return will decide the nomenclature of the BJPs political script in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. ver the years BJP has failed to pin point chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh or the prime ministerial candidate. In one way or the other it does harm BJP as voters want to know whom they are voting for. Selection of candidate for the highest post is also equally important. BJP by taking so many probable names is baffling voters. The pleaseall policy of the BJP ends up in displeasing even their supporters. Because of infighting and groupism the party remains apprehensive to name a single chief ministerial candidate or a prime ministerial candidate. There is absolute dearth of political figures like Atal Behari Bajpayee who could be named without fear of

MOHAMMAD NAUSHAD KHAN

8 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

NATIONAL

Modi government deprives Muslim students of education: SIO

ABDUL HAFIZ LAKHANI
A convention of prominent activists in the field of education lambasted the state government for failing to implement the Central Governmentsponsored Minority Schemes thus depriving 50,000 beneficiaries since 2007-08 the year of inception of the schemes. The meeting was jointly convened by the Students Islamic Organisation of India, Gujarat Zone & Federation of Muslim Educational Institutions of India, Gujarat Chapter and was attended by prominent activists including Kalim Ansari President SIO Gujarat, Muhammad Shafi Madni President Jamaat-e-Islami Gujarat, Gyasuddin Sheikh Member of Legislative Assembly Gujarat State, Kasam Vora CEO, Gujarat Sarvajanik Education Society, Gulab Khan Rauma Social Acivist, Patan, Fazal Sheikh Nodal Officer, Indian Technical Institutes Gondal Region, Juned Sheikh, social activist, SP Amjad Khan, Municipal Councillor Ahmedabad, Dr. Iftikhar Malik, social activist from Modasa, Abdul Kadir Memon, President of Jamat-e-Islami Sabarkantha, and members of SIO of India among others. The participants were also critical of the Central Government for not pushing the State Government to discharge its duty. The participants felt that the Central Government was well aware of the ill intentions of the State Government and should have tried to implement the scheme through a nodal agency directly reporting to the Centre. If the Central Government would have shown resolve they could have channelised their 75% share and thus prevented at least Rs.10 Crores from getting lapsed every year. The activists also expressed their displeasure towards lack of clarity in the procedures for the easier implementation of scholarship schemes. The participants also agreed to urge State as well as Central government for increasing the number of beneficiaries of the entire Minority Community including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and ones defined by the Central Government in all schemes viz. Merit Cum Means Scholarship, Post-Matric scholarships and pre-Matric scholarships. They also demanded single window arrangement for all correspondences required for the Scholarships. The participants vowed to launch an awareness campaign among the masses and also mobilise resources to influence the government machinery and the political parties for a sincere implementation of the schemes intended for the Minorities. It was also decided during the meeting to publish a Scholarship Guide and to set up help centres in all the districts of the State for the benefit of the student community, The 20102011 final examinations are almost over and the admission process for the new academic year is in full swing. But the ambitious Muslim students who want to pursue higher studies are down in the dumps. In view of the five-million population of Muslims in Gujarat, some 60,000 students are eligible for these scholarships but the land of the Mahatma is the only state which has steadfastly refused to implement the scheme, thus depriving thousands of school-children of financial aid. According to Gyasuddin Shaikh, a local Congress legislator, the Narendra Modi government does not want to chip in with its share of just 25 per cent of the total amount of the scholarships that come to merely Rs. 12.5 million annually. No wonder, even as Modi continued to make desperate attempts to woo Muslim leaders in Gujarat ahead of next years assembly elections, the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) hurriedly called a meeting of Muslim leaders to discuss the injustice being done to minority students. Shaikh, who participated in the debate, also expressed the lack of clarity in and information on procedures governing implementation of various scholarship schemes, adding that it was time the quota for Muslim, Christian, Parsi and Sikh beneficiaries was increased substantially. Muslim leaders have now decided to publish a scholarship guide and set up help centres in all the districts in Gujarat for the benefit of the student fraternity. But the Central government should also be equally blamed for not compelling the Modi regime to discharge its duty. As Madni said, New Delhi was well aware of the illintentions of the state administration which had failed to channelise the Centres 75 per cent share, adding that scholarships worth Rs100 million lapsed every year. However, with assembly polls nearing, reliable government officials say Modi, who has been meeting more and more Muslim leaders of late, is contemplating reconsidering his earlier decision not to provide the pre-matriculation scholarships to minority students. According to them, Modi had taken a particular view three years ago at the National Development Council meeting in Delhi in December 2007, where he declared that giving scholarships to minority students was discriminatory against other backward sections of society. A BJP leader said Modi wanted to change his anti-minority image but a shrewd strategist that he was, he wanted some assurance from minority leaders of support for him and would announce his decision at an opportune time. Currently only those minority students get scholarship whose families earn less than Rs11,000 a year, a criterion which will make no student eligible.

Hunjura: Both govt & society have failed victims

Kashmir Valleys eminent social activist A.R Hunjura, founder-president of the Islamic Relief & Research Trust (IRRT), speaks here to Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander on social activism, voluntary sector, women, challenges, issues and working in a conflict zone: Given your profession as an advocate, how did you step in the field of Social Activism? The instinct of social service is present in every human being, but the need is to explore and utilize it for the common good. I got my first experience of social service during school days when we had to collect donations and bricks for expanding the school building. While in college, I was associated with the National Cadet Corps which infused in me the spirit of social service and our worthy teachers always insisted that we mustnt give up this enthusiasm once we leave the college. After college I joined the Kashmir University as a student of Law and came in contact with late Tak Zainegari in 1980s. He was then running the J&K Yateem Trust and he became the moving spirit and inspiration for me to join social activism whole-heartedly. His death in 1989 made me to shoulder more responsibilities of the Yateem Trust and I began to devote half of my time to social service and half to practicing Law. I can say that after three decades of association with social work, nothing on earth tastes better than working for the welfare of common people. The more you work the less you feel you have done and the motivation of doing more and more crops up with every passing day. You have worked in times of peace as well as turmoil which started after the eruption of the armed insurgency in the Valley. Do you find any marked difference between the two periods? There is a marked distinction between these periods. Before the inception of militancy in the valley we had to toil hard to search an orphan or widow, but the position changed drastically during 1990s as the orphans and widows cropped up in epidemic proportions and they themselves reached out to the orphanages or schemes of relief but due to the limited resources and ignorance among the public regarding these welfare schemes and programmes not much was delivered to mitigate their sufferings. Necessity is the mother of invention and when baffled with such kinds of challenges genuine institutions came up. To a certain extent these were able to cater to the needs of the downtrodden. The mushroom growth of orphanages has been a consequence of the conflict, but most of these only cater to the needs of male orphans, what about the girl orphans, widows and half widows? I agree that not much has been done regarding the welfare of victims of the conflict especially girls and women who have been the worst hit by the conflict, though there are certain schemes about widow welfare but due to the lack of awareness among the masses Hanjura nothing substantial has been done in this direction. The government, civil society and activists all are responsible for this apathy. Day in and day out we hear about different schemes being announced for the welfare of the victims of the conflict by the government. Are they effective in dealing with these challenges? The system of government isnt effective when it comes to these programmes, e.g., we have old age pension scheme for senior citizens, but masses dont know about the same, still if somebody applies for the same, the red tapism makes him give up in despondency as he has to run from pillar to post to get his application sanctioned and when it is sanctioned once in a blue moon it takes months to get the funds released. By then the hope for relief and welfare dies down. The government must try to make the system of deliverance effective, only then any real change can take place at grassroot level. Most of the time the government is involved with law and order situation which makes these schemes die unsung in oblivion. The money in most cases remains unutilized or lapses back when the period of scheme expires or is siphoned off to some other clandestine programme. The orphanages which are functioning in the valley mostly cater the needs of the orphan till a certain age, after that he is supposed to fend for himself which most of them find difficult to deal with, what is your opinion? Though some orphanages are there which look after them till they stand on their own feet, but yes most of them cater to their needs only upto matriculation, which I think is a grave injustice to them. If someone among them wants to go in technical field or enter some profession the orphanage must facilitate it and look after his welfare till he is able to earn. Why do we see the social service inclined only to orphans whereas in any conflict a number of other issues crop up? In my opinion it is not proper to have more and more orphanages, as we have other serious problems like half widows, widows, drug addiction, old age marriages and environmental problems to deal with. In Kashmir unless you are working for orphans most people will not give you donation as they think that social work covers only orphanages, hence the whole voluntary sector revolves around it. The case of half widows is altogether miserable, they are not entitled to remarriage as the fate of their disappeared husbands isnt clear and they are not entitled to the law of succession and their children are denied the share in their fathers inheritance. Grave injustice is done to them even by courts which take years to pronounce whether their disappeared husbands are dead or alive. Hence we should have some community-led initiatives to deal with these problems. Community-Led Initiatives, please elaborate? Islam has a practical code of conduct to deal with all problems that crop up from time to time. We have a system of Zakat. If it is properly collected, channelized and utilized, we would have no developmental problems and being self sufficient we would be least dependent on government donation too. The institution of Baitul Mal must be strengthened at mohalla and village level, as well as the institution of Auqaf and Wakf. The institution of Imam must once again be made vibrant who would educate people about the indispensability of reviving and strengthening these indigenous institutions which can then prove a boon for the whole afflicted community. You talk about the growing social evils like drug addiction and the old age marriages, has something been done in this context? In case of drug menace, the youth are involved in most cases and it is the duty of the parents, teachers and community to keep a strict eye on the youth, the family members must be attentive towards the activities of their wards and children must be held accountable for their deeds before parents who must guide and inspire them. The lack of moral education and ethics of which religion is the fountainhead is also responsible for the spread of this menace. As far as the late marriages are concerned, the evil of dowry, extravagance and vain pomp and show are responsible for the same. Again Islam prohibits us and there must be a drive for public awareness to mould public opinion, but institutions cant do much in these two cases as the people, family, religious preachers, civil society and teachers must involve themselves to nip these evils in the bud. In every violent conflict a new generation of maimed and physically challenged people grows. Are there any initiatives for their relief? We dont have only this problem. We now have issues like unwanted old-age parents and newly born girl babies, but we are lacking funds to rehabilitate them. Though it is boasted that there are more than 3,500 NGOs working in Kashmir, but once a crisis comes up, most of them vanish in thin air. Most of these are only paper NGOs with no factual presence on ground. They only work by exploiting the orphans and widows and for many of them the conflict is a source of minting money. The government hasnt a transparent system of checks and balances to chaff out the fake NGOs, but it rests with the public and they have the responsibility to check out who is who? So do you think that social activists are sufficiently trained to deal with the situation in the valley? No, they are not sufficiently trained to deal with the overall situation prevalent in the valley, but they must now train themselves so that they become more effective in dealing with the prevalent hostile circumstances. Those working in any conflict zone must be acquainted with the topography, background, cultural ethos, prevalent laws and the system which operate in the region in which they are working. They must be available to the people at all times and must gain the confidence of the people through their people friendly approach, which can only be possible if they are dedicated, selfless and honest to their cause and move freely and frequently in every nook and corner of the afflicted zone.
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander is a writer-activist based in Srinagar

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

NATIONAL

Justice still eludes Christian victims, and many are to blame for it
JOHN DAYAL
johndayal@vsnl.com There has been just one conviction for murder in 20 cases of the brutal killings of Christians of Kandhamal, Orissa, at the hands of Hindutva fanatics, and mobs led by them, during August-October 2008. More than two years and nine months later the course of justice in the two special Fast Track Courts continues to be a travesty with aberrations at all stages, from the presentation of the production case and examination of witnesses, to the coercive presence of RSS goons in the court premises, often in the court room, and the role of both judges and defence lawyers. Lawyers for the victims have no role in court other than occasionally feebly protesting to the judges, in vain, those relatives and other eye witnesses who deposed they saw the men and women being killed are being threatened blatantly. The response of the judges has been, we have sent the orders to the police. The police have no response at all. The single biggest beneficiary of the miscarriage of justice has been Mr. Manoj Pradhan, the local Member of the State Legislature and a leader of the BJP which was then a coalition partner in the government of Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik. Pradhan is accused in over half a dozen cases, and is currently free on bail. Investigation no doubt has been tardy and superficial - one junior gazetted officer and two inspectors head the small team trying to probe the vast number of cases with primitive forensic equipment and almost no training in probing cases of mass violence. No attempt was made to use video and mobile phone camera images that are widely available both with the victims and with the accused. In some cases, the two Fast Track Court judges have indeed passed strictures against the police investigation, and in most cases, they have found the testimony of witnesses - victims and their relatives - either not trustworthy or insufficient to prove the offence against the accused, a review of the judgments shows. There has been no attempt by the Directorate of Prosecutions or by the police to upgrade cases where victims died of their injuries not on the spot, but in hospital, refugee camps or other places. Under Indian legal practice, cases of attempted murder or murderous assault would automatically be upgraded to murder if the victim died of his injuries. This has prevented a large number of cases from being recorded as murder. It may be recalled that the violence which began 24th August 2008 took a heavy toll. Over 14 of the 30 districts in the state were impacted. 6,000 houses were burnt in 400 villages, including 296 churches and smaller places of Christian worship. Over 56,000 became internally displaced, about 30,000 living from three months to a year in government refugee camps. Over 20,000 men, women and children spent days hiding in forests. Over 10,000 are yet to return home. About 1,000 have been warned or threatened by their neighbours they can return home if they become Hindus. Some are living in what can be called Christian ghettos, one of which is on land provide by the district authorities who find themselves impotent in rehabilitating the Christians in their villages. The rest have left Kandhamal in fear, or in search of jobs, as they do not have any livelihood now in Kandhamal where they also face an economic blockade. Cutting through the fog created around the legal data, the following is the current situation of the criminal investigation of cases of arson and murder, abduction and violence. Complaints were made at the local police posts, at the regional police stations, and often directly to the offices of the Superintendent of Police in the district capital of Phulbani by registered post. In some cases, complaints were sent to the Director General of Police in Bhubaneswar when the Police stations returned complaints sent by registered post. 3,232 criminal complaints were filed when the dust settled on the Second Phase violence that began on 24 August 2008 and after peaking by about 30 August, continued sporadically through most of September and October that year. 1541 complaints are acknowledged by the Kandhamal district police, but they did not file them as the First
Information Reports required under Indian Criminal law. 828 complaints were actually converted to First Information Reports (FIRs) which mark the beginning of further investigation and the case being brought before a court for trial after a charge-sheet is filed. 327 Cases have actually seen a completion of the investigation process with the cases committed to the two Fast Track Courts headed by two ad hoc Additional District Judges for day to day hearings. 169 cases have seen the acquittal of all accused, 86 cases have ended up in convictions - not for the heinous crimes mentioned in the FIRs as the main ones, but for comparatively minor offenses meriting only prison terms of two or three years. 90 cases still are in the process of being tried. 1597 suspects have been acquitted. This does not include the thousands who could not be arrested in the cases, and therefore could not be brought to trial. The Orissa state government acknowledges and admits to 52 deaths in Kandhamal in the violence of 2007 and 2008. Of them 38 are of Christians, four of Hindus including those of VHP vice president Lakshmananda Saraswati and three inmates of his ashram attacked by Maoists on 23 August 2008, four were killed in police firing in Kotagarh of Tumlibanda Police station and G Udayagiri police station, three were policemen killed by mobs, and three are said to be other deaths in other Maoist attacks. Data collected by Church activists lists 91 murder cases. Of them, murders with death on the spot number 38, another 41 died of injuries sustained in the violence, but at places other than the place of violence and at various times after the attacks, and 12 died in police action. These figures do not include suicides and deaths that could be medically labelled as due to post trauma syndrome among the young and aged who saw the violence at close quarters and then spent much time in refugee camps or slums. Larger issues of criminal law and justice have been recorded - till mid 2010 - by Supreme Court of India Advocate Vrinda Grover in her research book The Law must change its course, published by MARG, a Delhi-based NGO. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik has admitted in a written answer in the state legislative assembly that of the arrested persons, over 600 were members of the RSS, the VHP, the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, and the Bajrang Dal, the militant wings of the BJP which was a coalition partner of the Orissa government at the time of the pogrom. The Investigating Officer has failed to get the statements of the eye witnesses, especially the injured witnesses recorded u/s 164 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The PP has failed to properly cross-examine the eye witnesses who were turning hostile in the court. The PP also failed to get exhibited the confronted portions of the statements of the hostile eye witnesses recorded prior in time u/s 161 CrPC. The Trial Judge has failed in his duty u/s 280 CrPC to record remarks regarding the demeanour of each of those eye witnesses who were resiling from their previous statements recorded u/s 161 CrPC and who became hostile to the prosecution. The Trial Judge has also failed to play his role to discover the truth and to put any court question to the hostile eye witnesses in order to discover the truth. Finally, the Trial Judge has failed to appreciate the evidence in terms of the guidelines laid down by the Honble Court in several judgements. The Trial Judge has sufficient material available before him to hold that the persons facing trial were part of an unlawful assembly, the object of which was to cause inter alia homicidal death of the victims. There was also sufficient material to show participation of the accused persons in such an unlawful assembly. There was also sufficient material available to the Trial Judge to discover that the accused persons had acted in furtherance of a common object. The Trial Judge had sufficient available material before him to examine that the accused persons had been properly identified in the court and that specific roles had been ascribed to the accused persons and the post mortem report was corroborating the role ascribed to such accused persons in their assault with the weapons described by the by the witnesses.

Masks snatched:
New Delhi: New facts are emerging day-after-day during the investigations about demolitions of places of worship of minority communities while targeting the people of these communities. Among those arrested so far are Swami Aseemanand, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Col. Shrisant Prasad Purohit. However, a leading news channel (http://www.zeenews.com/news693371.html) has claimed that they are not the real faces of Hindutva terrorism - they are merely pawns in the hands of the key players. In its disclosure the channel, Zee News, has claimed Alok Kumar had assigned various bomb operations to Swami Aseemanand, Sadhvi Pragya Singh as well as elimination of Sangh pracharakk Sunil Joshi. According to this source Alok Kumar met Swami Aseemanand first in 2005 in the Daangs region of Gujarat where he planned the conspiracy. From the very beginning he had become the commander of the extremist groups supervising operations in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, MP, Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and UP. He had also undertaken recruitment of volunteers in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi and had also imparted training to them. In addition, he is believed to have attended the training camp held at Panchmarhi in Madhya Pradesh organised by Col. Purohit. Later on, the group received foreign support through Nepali associates, whereas funds at the national level were raised by Swami Aseemanand.

Hindutva extremists exposed

Pragya reports to court in an ambulance

Devas: Pragya Singh Thakur, accused in Sunil Joshi murder case, was brought to Devas from Mumbai for hearing in the court. She claimed to be unable to walk because of ill health. Hence the third additional district and sessions judge, Onkarnath Gupta, went to the ambulance she was brought in alongwith pleaders. Pragyas brother-inlaw (her sisters husband) accused the Maharashtra ATS of torturing her. The Sadhvi told the court that the Maharashtra police was not giving her proper medical treatment. The next hearing would be on 13 May. Prior to this her pleaders had argued that she was not fit enough to come to the court. She appealed to the court to provide her proper treatment and promised to report to the court when she would be fit enough. She said allopathy did not suit her. The court thereafter ordered proper treatment at the Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Hospital or any other good hospital. It also ordered that she should not be compelled to travel as long as she is not fit to travel. Her pleader requested the court to provide her with a lady attendant. The court allowed her to have either Kalpana or Upama as full time attendant. Her brother-in-law Bhagwan Jha who arrived with her at Devas alleged that the Maharashtra police and ATS were responsible for her condition. During interrogation the ATS asksed her to sit on the chair but when she tried to do so the chair was pulled away. This has been repeated quite often which resulted in dislocation of her spine. He further added that the Byculla jailor also kept them in the dark about the travel details. First, it was proposed that they would be taken by plane which was later changed to an AC train. She was finally sent in a sleeper coach in the Awantika Express. When she alighted at 8.10 A.M. from the train at Devas; she was groaning because of pain. MG NEWS DESK

But what if the victim as intended was a Muslim?

CP fake encounter case: justice delayed but not denied

MOHAMMAD NAUSHAD KHAN
New Delhi: The Apex Court on 2 May confirmed life sentence to 10 Delhi policemen; including assistant commissioner of police S S Rathi for killing innocent Haryana-based businessmen Pradeep Goel and Jagjit Singh and injuring Tarunpreet Singh in a fake encounter on 31 March 1997 believing them to be gagsters from Uttar Pradesh. Supreme Court upheld the life term while rejecting the plea of the team leader SS Rathi that he was not directly involved in the shootout as he was sitting in his jeep and had asked the other policemen to intercept the vehicle which was presumed to be driven by gagster Mohammad Yasin. The court said that there was no truth in his plea. Their conviction was upheld by the Delhi High court on 18

THE INCIDENT TIMELINE

31 March, 1997: Haryana-based businessmen Pradeep Goyal and Jagjit Singh are shot dead by a Delhi Police team led by the then ACP S S Rathi in a fake encounter at Connaught Place in New Delhi. Another person Tarunpreet Singh who was along with them survived the attack. 1 April, 1997: In a press conference, Delhi Police claimed to have killed two Uttar Pradesh-based gangsters; investigation was handed over to CBI. 13 June, 1997: Chargesheet was filed by the CBI against the policemen involved in the Connaught Place shootout. 8 September, 1998: A Delhi court framed charges under sections 302,307,120B IPC against 10 policemen including the suspended ACP S S Rathi. 11 November, 1998: Trial began in the court. 16 October, 2007: Court convicts suspended ACP SS Rathi and nine other policemen in the case. Sept 18, 2009: The Delhi High Court upheld the conviction and life sentence of 10 policemen including ACP Rathi. 23 January, 2008: Delhi High Court refused bail to the 10 policemen. 2 May, 2011: The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal field by police officials and upheld life sentence of 10 Delhi policemen.

September 2009 and against this order they had appealed before the Supreme Court. The apex court in its ruling noted that those responsible for protecting lives of the citizens cannot be pardoned. Justice Bedi, while writing the judgment for the Bench, agreed with the HC that it appeared to be a mindless shooting by policemen unconcerned about its fallout. Reacting on the Supreme Court upholding life term, Neema Goel, wife of Pradeep Goel in an interview said

justice has been delayed but the fact remains that it was not denied and it will certainly help my husband to rest in peace. It took nearly 10 years to find the accused guilty. I feel relieved as tremendous burden from my shoulder has been now lifted. She added, It is the system that has to be blamed. Apart from it a lot of other factors also caused delay like transfer of judges. The Central Bureau of Investigation, the investigating officer and the public prosecutor helped us a lot. On the basis of the support I received from my in-laws, my family I was able to fight for all these years. Besides SS Rathi, the other nine convicts are inspector Anil Kumar, sub-inspector Ashok Rana, head constables Shiv Kumar, Tejpal Singh, Mahavir Singh, Sumer Singh, Subhash Chand, Sunil Kumar and Kothari Ram.

10 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

NATIONAL

Gujarat police officers have no faith in SIT

ABDUL HAFIZ LAKHANI, Ahmedabad
said that, after receiving the call, he had gone to Bhatt's house on Drive-in road where he was told that the IPS officer had already left for the meeting. Brahmbhatt further said that the orders to go to Bhatt's residence were verbal orders and were not to be recorded in the station diary. Government officials, however, said that Brahmbhatt was making these claims because he had been dismissed from service for indulging in union activities against service rules. Brahmbhatt was dismissed from Gujarat police on May 4, 2011. Affidavit at a glance What is there in Sanjiv Bhatt's affidavit which gives sleepless night to Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. Here are some points What Modi said at a crucial meeting Feb 27, 2002 after the train burning incident: "The chief minister Shri. Narendra Modi said that the bandh call had already been given and the party (BJP) had decided to support the same, as incidents like the burning of Kar-Sevaks at Godhra could not be tolerated. He further impressed upon the gathering that for too long the Gujarat Police had been following the principle of balancing the actions against Hindus and Muslims while dealing with the communal riots in Gujarat. This time the situation warranted that the Muslims be taught a lesson to ensure that such incidents do not recur ever again. The Chief Minister Shri. Narendra Modi expressed the view that the emotions were running very high amongst the Hindus and it was imperative that they be allowed to vent their anger." Bhatt's observations on the Special Investigation Team (SIT): "..I believe it is my painful duty to bring to the notice of this Hon'ble Court that the SIT does not appear to be living up to the enormous trust reposed in it by the Supreme Court of India, to conduct an impartial and thorough probe into the allegations of a larger conspiracy and administrative complicity behind the Gujarat riots of 2002 and hence the present affidavit." "The leakage of details regarding my earlier deposition and interaction with SIT have eventually found their way to the media and have further jeopardized my safety and the safety and security of my family members. "SIT has chosen to intimidate certain witnesses and coerce them in to refraining from stating the true facts and thereby has created an impression that the SIT is becoming a party to the ongoing cover-up operation in Gujarat." "I have stated before the SIT that many serious incidents of communal violence, including the carnage at Gulberg Society, could have been easily prevented by firm and determined action on part of the Police. "Even today, the situation in Gujarat is such, that witnesses would be afraid of vindictive reprisals and persecution at the hand of the State machinery. Evidently, witnesses serving under the control of State government would be highly reluctant to come forward and take a stand that could imperil their own safety or the safety and security of their families. I therefore request that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to ensure that the SIT follows up on all the leads provided by me in such manner that even reluctant witnesses feel safe and confident to state the truth." In 2002, Bhatt was based in Gandhinagar as deputy commissioner of intelligence in the State Intelligence Bureau. He is now posted as principal of the State Reserve Police Centre in Junagadh. Bhatt said that there was continuous leakage of testimonies and information from SIT to the Gujarat government, which he had mentioned to the investigation group. "It may kindly be noted that my fears regarding the confidentiality of my deposition before SIT were eventually confirmed as the contents of my signed deposition as well as the details of my interaction with Shri A.K. Malhotra and Shri Paramveer SinghMembers SIT, were somehow available to the highest echelons of the Government of Gujarat. As a result and consequence of the said breach of confidentiality, I was visited and continue to be visited with unpleasant consequences," the affidavit said. The 1988 batch IPS officer said the SIT was not interested in following up on his information on the Feb 27, 2002 meeting, citing technical rules. "I have time and again tried to bring these facts to the notice of the Special Investigation Team but they seem to be disinclined to follow-up these important leads in the course of the enquiry/investigation being carried out by them," said Bhatt. He further said that there was "unconcealed hostility" from SIT members, when he tried to bring up the "issue of a larger conspiracy or official orchestration behind the Gujarat Riots of 2002, as also the ongoing attempts at cover-up". "This was even more obvious when I gave names of witnesses who could corroborate the fact of my having attended the said meeting with the Chief Minister on 27.2.2002," he said.
G L Singhal, ACP N K Amin (he is in jail in Sohrabuddin case), PI crime branch Tarun Barot, and inspectors K M Vaghela, J G Parmar, SP Agrawal, D S Goswami and RI Patel. Satish Verma was given charge of the SIT by Gujarat High Court after the transfer of Karnail Singh. Gujarat High Court has taken a serious view of the role of Gujarat government and has observed that it was trying to hamper and hinder investigations. It has also issued contempt notice to Additional Chief Secretary Home for delay in responding to the HC directive to transfer three police officers who were interfering in the working of the SIT. These officers were P P Pande, G L Singhal and Tarun Barot.Close on the heels of Sanjiv Sharma's affidavit against CM Naerendra Modi of Gujarat in the Apex court, the cracks in Gujarat IPS officers are on surface as 14 Gujarat police personnel have pleaded before Gujarat High Court that they do not have faith in investigations into the case by the Special Investigation Team headed by Satish Verma an IPS of Gujarat cadre. They want a probe either by CBI or police officer who does not belong to Gujarat police. Many people blame the Narendra Modi government for this killing and strongly

Close on the heels of Sanjiv Sharma's affidavit against CM Narendra Modi of Gujarat in the Apex court, the cracks in Gujarat IPS officers have now surfaced, as 14 Gujarat police personnel have pleaded before Gujarat High Court that they do not have faith in investigations into the case by the Special Investigation Team headed by Satish Verma an IPS of Gujarat cadre. They want the probe either, by the CBI or police officer who does not belong to Gujarat police. Many people blame the Narendra Modi government for this killing and strongly believe that Modi played a pivotal role in it. The Gujarat police have always been suspected of connivance with political entities that have religious and anti-Semitic characteristics. These suspicions were further strengthened when the accused, a 19 year old student Ishrat Jahan, (and the other three suspects) who were killed in a fake encounter, were said to have been kidnapped by the police according to the judicial probe by Judge SP Tamag. The police in Mumbai have also admitted that the deceased had no connection to any terrorist group and were not involved in terrorist activities. According to media sources, the encounters were carried out by the police because of the lure of rewards from the Chief Minister Narendra Modi. This dramatic development took place after Gujarat High Court handed over the investigations to Satish Verma. Verma a member of the SIT was given this charge because earlier SIT Chief Karnail Singh had been relieved of the job, because of his transfer to north east. Though, this is a temporary arrangement until the successor of Karnail Singh is appointed, the 14 cops allegedly involved in the case have asked the High Court to restrain him from taking any action till the new chief of SIT is appointed. Gujarat High Court had taken very serious view of the way the SIT investigations were being conducted and the role of Gujarat government in hampering the investigations. During the hearing last week the court had given full powers to Satish Verma while assigning the administrative role to the other SIT member Mohan Jha. The 14 police personnel fear that Satish Verma would arrest them. Of these 14 officers, there are two officers who were transferred under Gujarat High Court orders. The Court had asked the government to transfer three officers, but the government had delayed it. On this issue, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) is facing contempt notice from the Court. G L Singhal and Tarun Barot have moved the High Court along with 12 others. The third officer who has been transferred under HC orders is ADGP P P Pande. Police had claimed that they were operatives of Laskar-eTaiba on a mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Investigations were handed over to Special Investigation Team (SIT). However, The High Court appointed another SIT and these observations were made during the hearing of a case on the basis of the proceedings of the second SIT.High Court refused to entertain the urgent petition and now it will be taken up in regular course. Ishrat Jahan, Javed alias Pranesh Pillai, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were gunned down in 2004 by the personnel of the Detection of Crime Branch near Kotarpur Waterworks in Ahmedabad.

Sanjiv Bhatt gets support from police

Gujarat CM Modi faces another challenge as Naresh Brahmbhatt, the head constable who was dismissed from service last week for praising IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, has said that he can prove that Bhatt had gone to attend the meeting held at the chief minister's residence on February 27, 2002. The head constable was dismissed after he praised the IPS officer for submitting an affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming that he was present at the February 27, 2002 meeting at the chief minister's house. Brahmbhatt told that he was posted as head constable at Memnagar Chowky in Ghatlodia on February 27, 2002. "I got a call at 9.30pm from Gandhinagar telling me that the DGP's office wanted to know whether or not Bhatt had left for the meeting. Bhatt was not reachable on his phone while the DGP's office was trying to contact him for the meeting," Brahmbhatt said. "I immediately went to Bhatt's house," he said. Brahmbhatt

Ishrat case hots up in Gujarat

Special Investigation Team appointed by Gujarat High Court to probe sensational Ishrat Jahan Encounter case has issued summons to 12 police officers. These officers are associated with the Ishrat encounter of 2004. The summons has sent shockwaves down police personnel and officers up to the level of Additional DGP. 13 police officers had moved the High Court earlier this week for a stay on any action by SIT chief Satish Verma, claiming that he would take vindictive action. However, the HC did not grant a stay. The officers who have been issued summons are the then police commissioner K R Kaushik, Joint Police Commissioner P P Pande, JPC D G Vanzara (he is in jail in Sohrabuddin case), DCP

believe that Modi played a pivotal role in it. The Gujarat police have always been suspected of connivance with political entities that have religious and anti-Semitic features. These suspicions were further strengthened when the accused, a 19 year old student Ishrat Jahan, (and the other three suspects) who was killed in a fake encounter, was said to be kidnapped by the police according to the judicial probe by Judge SP Tamag. The police in Mumbai have also admitted that the deceased had no connection with any terrorist group and were not involved in terrorist activities. According to media sources, the encounters were carried out by the police because of the lure of rewards from the Chief Minister Narendra Modi. This dramatic development took place after Gujarat High Court handed over the investigations to Satish Verma. Verma a member of the SIT was given this charge, as earlier SIT Chief Karnail Singh had been relieved of the job on his transfer to north east. Though, this is a temporary arrangement until a successor to Karnail Singh is appointed, the 14 cops allegedly involved in the case have asked the High Court to restrain him from taking any action till the new chief of SIT is appointed. Gujarat High Court had taken a very serious view of the way the SIT investigations were being conducted and the role of Gujarat government in hampering the investigations. During the hearing last week the court had given full powers to Satish Verma while assigning the administration role to other SIT member Mohan Jha. The 14 police personnel fear that Satish Verma would arrest them. Of these 14 officers, there are two officers who were transferred under Gujarat High Court orders. The Court had asked government to transfer three officers, but government had delayed it. On this issue, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) is facing contempt notice from the Court. G L Singhal and Tarun Barot have moved the High Court along with 12 others. The third officer who has transferred under HC orders is ADGP P P Pande. Ishrat Jahan, Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were gunned down by Crime branch in June 2004 on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Police had claimed that they were operatives of Laskar-e-Taiba and were on a mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Investigations were handed over to Special Investigation Team (SIT). However, The High Court appointed another SIT and these observations were made during the hearing of a case on the basis of proceedings of the second SIT.High Court refused to entertain the urgent petition and now it will be taken up in regular course. Ishrat Jahan, Javed alias Pranesh Pillai, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were gunned down in 2004 by personnel of the Detection of Crime Branch near Kotarpur Waterworks in Ahmedabad. Ishrat's mother Shamima Kaushar, and Javed's father, Gopinathan Pillai, had filed a petition seeking a CBI probe in the case. However, after passing through many legal twists and turns, the case was finally handed over to a three-member SIT constituted by the Gujarat High Court. Later, IPS officer Satish Verma, disagreed with the other two members of the Ishrat SIT - Karnal Singh and Mohan Jha - and expressed doubts about the genuineness of the encounter and urged the court to allow him to register a fresh FIR in the case. On April 21, the Gujarat high court gave a free hand to Verma and also gave him the freedom to arrest the accused if there was sufficient evidence against them. This order caused panic among the accused police officers in the case. Magistrate Tamang had held more than 20 police officers responsible in the case, including then DCP of DCB, DG Vanzara; then ACP of DCB, NK Amin; the head of the DCB PP Pandey; then Ahmedabad police commissioner KR Kaushik; then ACP GL Singhal, apart from other police inspectors and constables. Of these, Vanzara and Amin are already in jail in connection with the Sohrabuddin encounter case.

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 11

HUMAN RIGHTS/TERRORISM

Bring charges for newly discovered massacre of Sikhs: HRW

New York: The Indian government should ensure that those responsible for the newly discovered massacres of Sikhs in 1984 are brought to justice, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said here on 25 April. In January 2011, the burned and abandoned village of Hondh-Chillar, where 32 Sikhs were killed on November 2, 1984, was discovered in Haryana state. In March, the site of another forgotten killing of 17 people in nearby Pataudi, was discovered. Widespread anti-Sikh attacks in Haryana were part of broader revenge attacks for the assassination of the then-prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, following the bloody attack ordered by her on Sikh separatists and shrines at Amritsar. The discovery of more Sikh massacre victims after nearly three decades shows the reluctance of successive Indian governments, despite numerous commissions of inquiry, to get to the truth and prosecute those responsible for the anti-Sikh violence, said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at HRW. An estimated 3,000 Sikhs were killed in 1984, in mob attacks with the complicity of senior members of the then-ruling Congress party. Although there is evidence that at least some of the attacks were orchestrated by senior political figures, none have yet been convicted for the 1984 killings. In 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged some of the failures. I have no hesitation in apologizing not only to the Sikh community but to the whole nation, because what took place in 1984 is a negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution, he said in Parliament adding, The past is behind us. We cannot change it, but we can write the future. We must have the will power to write a better future for all of us. The Haryana state government established a judicial commission to look into the Hondh-Chillar killings. But successive government-appointed commissions have failed to ensure the proper prosecution of those responsible for instigating the riots. Announcing yet another judicial commission will be a step forward only if the Indian government finally uses the information provided and brings those responsible for mass atrocities to justice, Ganguly said. Sikhs have been waiting a long time for mass murderers to be held accountable, and these new cases would be a good place to start. Communal Violence Bill To address widespread impunity for attacks on minorities, human rights organizations in India have been working with the government to draft and enact the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation) Bill. The bill provides for immediate intervention to prevent and control communal violence, speedy investigation and prosecution in such cases, and proper compensation and rehabilitation of victims. HRW urged the government to strengthen the bill by suspending the requirement for prior government permission to arrest and prosecute public servants; allowing prosecutions on the basis of command responsibility; and explicitly punishing culpable inaction by state authorities who fail to act to prevent communal violence. The bill should specifically incorporate provisions to broaden the basis for prosecuting sexual violence against women during communal mob attacks. Since existing Indian law on rape focuses on questions of consent, it does not adequately address the coercive circumstances prevalent during communal violence, and offences such as sexual mutilation are not adequately covered by the Indian Penal Code. The bill, while ensuring fair trial rights, should also include provisions for helping survivors of sexual offences, including requiring adequate support services, physical safety and privacy protections. The Haryana massacre is a reminder that India needs a law that will provide maximum protection against orchestrated attacks on minorities, Ganguly said adding, The government should listen to all suggestions that could strengthen the communal violence bill so that these outrages never happen again.

Gujarat records 7282 cases of human rights violation Gandhinagar: In its latest report which the state Human Rights
Commission presented to the state assembly, acknowledged that there had been 7292 cases during the last four years. Atrocities on women and children reached the staggering figure of 2101 which includes 1940 Muslim women and 112 Muslim children. Chairman of the commission and former chief justice of the state High Court D.S. Sinha lamented that in the absence of an integrated panel, drastic actions could not be undertaken for reforming the conditions of the victims. There are vacancies in the commission which must be immediately filled and the commission must be made financially autonomous. Rajesh, secretary to the commission, stated that the commission was constituted in 2006. There were 610 cases during 2006-07 out of which 565 had been settled while 45 are still pending. Out of 1420 cases registered during 2007-08, 1172 were disposed off (248 pending). The period 2008-09 witnessed 2260 cases out of which 1812 were disposed off (448 are pending). The period 2009-10 received 2992 cases out of which 2122 have been disposed off. Thus, out of 7282 cases during the past four years 5671 have been disposed off (78% disposal). In a shocking revelation the commission divulged the fact that cases of human right violations by the police machinery have substantially increased which have risen from 163 to 910. It had admitted inability in taking legal action cases pertaining to the police. In 2009-10 there are 411 cases against the police machinery. In information furnished in the assembly it was disclosed that there were 12446 prisoners in the state out of which 647 were women prisoners. The intake is 74.9% more than what the prisons can actually accommodate. About the minorities it has been acknowledged that 1940 Muslim women and 112 children were the victims of such violation. (AG Khan)

Gujarat human rights violations report submitted

Ahmedabad: Prashant, an NGO based here, has submitted a report to the international coordination committee on National Human Rights institutions. This was released by Justice A.P. Ravani (former chief justice of Rajasthan high court). In this report, Gujarat shown as a hub of human rights violations under the rule of Narendra Modi. Former chief justice of Rajasthan High Court A P Ravani said cases of "preventive detention" made a worrying trend in Gujarat since the 2002 communal violence. "Preventive detention of an individual is done on the basis of suspicion of crime and if this number has risen then its an issue of concern," Ravani said referring to official figures presented in the state assembly. Ravani raised this concern while releasing a report 'Compliance with the Paris Principles by the National Human Rights Commission of India'. The report was prepared by the All-India Network of NGOs and Individuals working with National and State Human Rights Institutions (AiNNI) and submitted to the International Coordination Committee. AiNNI also questioned the selection of former Supreme Court chief justice K G Balakrishnan as the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). "It is not enough merely to automatically install a retired chief justice of the Supreme Court as the chairperson of the commission. The process of appointment must be totally transparent and not restricted to only retired judges or chief justices of the Supreme Court or to former bureaucrats," the report said. Justice Ravani was critical of the role of the state commission. He pointed out that there was not a single order against the Modi government during the 2002 riots as if there was not a single case of violation or irregularity of human rights done during this period. That is his (the then SHRC chairperson D S Sinha) credential!" He also pointed out that for five years, the state government has not filled the vacancies in the state commission. Added Fr Cedric Prakash of Prashant, a human rights organisation, "SHRC is not addressing the human right violations in the state. Why did it not intervene when thousands of farmers came from Mahuva? Why did it not take suo moto notice of their grievances?" Be it the forest land of the Adivasis or the Dalits' rights or the recent incident of a forest officer committing suicide (referring to a GEER Foundation official), why did the SHRC not intervene, Fr Cedric asked. (AH Lakhani)

Dalit students committing suicide in last 4 years in premier institutions

14. JK Ramesh, second year, BSc, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, 1st July, 10 15. Madhuri Sale, final year B.Tech, IIT Kanpur, 17th November, 10 Here is a list of Dalit students who committed suicide during the 16. G. Varalakshmi, B.Tech first year, Vignan Engineering College, last four years in some premier institutions. This is by no Hyderabad, 30 Jan, 2011 means an exhaustive list as it only covers cases which could 17. Manish Kumar, IIIrd Year B.Tech, IIT Roorkee, 13 Feb, 11 18. Linesh Mohan Gawle, be documented and PhD, National Institute of Caste Discrimination in IIT Delhi where parents and relatives raised their voices The dismal representation of SC/ST students in IITs demands some Immunology, New Delhi, 16 serious questioning from all who believe in equal opportunities and April, 11

ANOOP KUMAR

and accused the institutions of caste discrimination against their children that led to their suicides:

1. M. Shrikant, final year, B.Tech, IIT Bombay, 1st Jan 07 2. Ajay S. Chandra, integrated PhD, Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bangalore - 26 Aug, 07 3. Jaspreet Singh, final year MBBS, Government Medical College, Chandigarh, 27 Jan 08. 4. Senthil Kumar, PHD, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad 23 Feb 08 5. Prashant Kureel, first year, B.Tech, IIT Kanpur, 19 April, 08 6. G. Suman, final year, M.Tech, IIT Kanpur, 2nd Jan, 09 7. Ankita Veghda, first year, BSc Nursing, Singhi Institute of Nursing, Ahmedabad, 20 April, 09 8. D Syam Kumar, first year B.Tech, Sarojini Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vijayawada, 13 Aug, 09 9. S. Amravathi, national level young woman boxer, Centre of Excellence, Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh,Hyderabad, 4th Nov, 09 10. Bandi Anusha, B.Com final year, Villa Mary College, Hyderabad, 5th Nov, 09 11. Pushpanjali Poorty, first year, MBA, Visvesvaraiah Technological University, Bangalore, 30th Jan, 10 12. Sushil Kumar Chaudhary, final year MBBS, Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (formerly KGMC), Lucknow, 31 Jan, 10. 13. Balmukund Bharti, final year MBBS, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, 3rd March, 10

social justice. There are various instances that indicate towards the prevalence of caste-based harassment of Dalit students. Recently IIT Delhi was in news due to the termination of 12 Dalit students together with allegations of prevalence of caste-based discrimination. In the wake of this incident, an attempt was made to map the experiences of Dalit students within IIT Delhi structure. On May 2008, 12 Dalit students (11SC & 1ST) were terminated by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, citing their 'low academic performance'. Eleven of these students were from the first two years of their undergraduate courses. After receiving the termination letter, some of these students filed a petition in the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes (NCSC), alleging caste-based harassment in IIT Delhi and demanded annulment of their terminations. According to the students, many IIT Delhi faculty members harbour deep prejudices against students admitted through reservations and they receive very poor grading despite performing well in the exams. The NCSC immediately summoned the Director of IIT Delhi, and asked him to investigate these allegations and also to review the terminations. Later, in July first week, the IIT administration submitted a onepage report to the NCSC stating that, it has decided to revoke the expulsion of 2 Dalit students by giving some relaxations in their grade requirements. It also informed the NCSC, about the IIT review committee, constituted in response to the summon issued by the NCSC, to inquire about the prevalence of caste based discrimination. The report further stated that 'no case of caste discrimination was brought out by the students in their meeting with the Review Committee'. The last paragraph of the report reiterated that, "IIT Delhi is very sensitive to the special needs of SC/ST students and faculty members spare no efforts in helping them, and indeed all weak students, to come up to our higher academic standards". To read this report, please visit: http://thedeathofmeritinindia.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/caste-discrimination-in-iit-delhi-areport/ or mail Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre at pmarc2008@gmail.com

http://thedeathofmeritinindia.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/%e2%80%98the-death-ofmerit%e2%80%99-a-documentary/) For more information, contact Arun Khote ofDalits Media Watch at arun.khote@gmail.com

A large number of Dalit and Adivasi students committing suicide clearly indicates the widespread prevalence of caste discrimination in the Indian education system, which perceives them as 'non-meritorious', not fit to belong there. When a student from the lowest strata of society fights against all odds to prove his/her merit and reach the best educational institutions in India, are those institutions proving themselves meritorious enough to recognize their worth and to accommodate them, let alone nurture their aspirations? Our communities cannot afford to lose our bright, young hopes like Linesh and Balmukund, in the hands of an insensitive and casteist educational system. A documentary The Death of Merit documents the horors of caste-discrimination that is prevalent in AIIMS, New Delhi that resulted in the suicide of a very bright Dalit student Balmukund Bharti who came from a very humble background. (Watch the documentary at

NHRC slams NGOs report as misleading

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission has expressed concern over a report released by about 200 non-governmental organisations questioning the effective functioning of the NHRC as a human rights watchdog. Displeased by the report, the NHRC issued a press note on 26 April which says that the report is misleading and facts are distorted. The NGOs under the banner of All India Network of NGOs and individuals working for human rights institutions at various levels raised a question mark on the effectiveness of NHRC at a time when the National Human Rights Commission is to seek re-accreditation before the International Co-ordination Committee of National Human Rights Institutions in Geneva in a month from now. The report was released by former Chief Justice of India JS Verma in the national capital and by Justice H Suresh in Mumbai. (Mohammad Naushad Khan)

NIA produces Aseemanand, associate in CBI court

Jaipur: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) produced Swami Aseemanand, a key figure in the Hindutva terror network, and his alleged accomplice Bharat Riteshwar in a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here on 30 April in connection with the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case. The court extended the judicial custody of the two accused till May 14. Two other accused in the case - Harshad Solanki and Mukesh Wasani - against whom the charge-sheets were filed in the CBI court on 28 April, were also produced before CBI Special Judge C.N. Mathur, who has been designated to hear the NIA cases in Rajasthan. The NIA took over the probe into the dargah blast earlier this month.

12 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

ISSUES

Issueless BJP falls back on Mandir issue

MOHAMMAD SHAHID
Lucknow: Even as Mahant Gyan Das and Hashim Ansari, the two parties in the Babri Masjid title suit are looking for an out-of-court settlement to the dispute and the Allahabad High Court extending the status quo at the disputed site, the BJP is trying to revive the issue to foment communal tension in the state. Having no development agenda with which to go to the masses in the coming elections to the U.P. Assembly and desperate to refurbish its sagging image, the saffron party has once again fallen on the old Mandir-Masjid issue. If the proceedings at the partys Mahasangram rally at Faizabad recently are any indication, it would try to play this communal card to polarize voters in the coming Assembly elections. The Mahasangram rally, part of a series of rallies organised by the UP unit of the BJP to highlight the corruption and failure of law and order under Maya rule, turned out to be more a meeting on the temple issue than what it was meant for. The speakers at the rally, including the BJP president Nitin Gadkari, renewed the partys old pledge to build a grand temple at the site at all costs. The UP unit president Surya Pratap Shahi went a step further when he described how he used to feel upset at the sight of the symbol of slavery before 1992. A similar feeling Mr. Shahi said overtakes me now when I think of Mathura and Kashi. Vinay Katiyar threatened: Babar built the Masjid by using force and we will construct the mandir at the same site using the same method. These speeches full of hatred and threats at the rally, besides the partys bid to rope in the services of rebels like Uma Bharati and Kalyan Singh show dearth of constructive issues with the party. In fact, the partys entire ideology is based on a single word: Hindutva, by which it wants to make India a Hindu Rashtra where all those who do not profess Hinduism will be second class citizens. Naturally, the party finds democracy and secularism alien to it and this mirrored in the speeches of its leaders at the rally. The saffron outfit has no economic or development agenda and has always thrived on a communal agenda and Muslim bashing. The party blamed Muslims for all terror acts in the country and used to scream day and night that all terrorists were Muslims to prove that the community is anti-national but it exposed after leaders and members of the Sangh Parivar, of which it is an integral part, were found involved in blasts at most of the places in the country. The nation saw with shock and disbelief the conspiracies of these self-styled patriots behind these disruptive activities for which they had been blaming Muslims. Now afraid of raising this issue, the BJP is trying to get mileage in the coming UP assembly elections by raising the issue of corruption against the Central and the state governments. But it is like the kettle calling the pot black. Government ministers and functionaries, no doubt, are involved in corruption and big scams like 2G, Commonwealth Games and others have come to light recently. But scams are not new to our country. In the past people saw the Coffin scam, Tehalka scam and more recently Karnataka land and mining scams, all during the rule of BJP. In fact, corruption has become a way of life in our country and no party can claim to be above board. That is why even after disrupting Parliament and organizing mahasangram rallies, the BJP did not get the same public response that Anna Hazare mustered within a few days. And the BJP knows it only too well that it cannot save its dwindling fortunes by raising such issues. In this situation, the saffron outfit is left with no option but to go back to its basic agenda: communalism. And what could be better than the Ram issue. But it is doubtful if even this issue, which the party ignored in 2009 elections when even a hardliner like Narendra Modi did not mention it in his 20-minute speech in Faizabad, will be able to save the sinking BJP ship. A number of seers in Ayodhya who are involved in the temple movement have questioned BJPs locus standi in the issue post-High Court verdict accusing the party of politicizing the issue. Besides, the younger generation of voters is not so enthusiastic about the mandir-masjid strife as it prefers development and peaceful environment to pursue their careers and lives.

The birth of the Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat

S.M. PASHA
Many are not aware as to when, why and how the Muslim Majlise Mushawarat was formed. This brief write-up is for their information. Series of communal riots in the country in which members of the Muslim minority community were very badly affected; the sufferings and the sense of helplessness and frustration made some leading Muslims wake up and plan an effective way to help the ummah in a concrete way. The initiative was taken by Dr. Syed Mahmud, a veteran Congressman from Bihar and Member of the Rajya Sabha and Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi of Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow. A conference was arranged at Lucknow on 8-9 August 1964. Over two hundred Maulana Asad Madani Dr. Syed Mahmud Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi Mohammed Ismail Muslim dignitaries from different walks of life and belonging to different schools of thought and As with the last such Muslim convention, political opinion met forgetting their personal and ideological difwhich was held in Delhi just three years ago, ferences. Among the eminent leaders were Qaid-e Millat Mohammed Ismail, the Muslim League leader, Maulana Abul this meeting is consequent upon outbreaks Lais, the chief of the Jamaat-e Islami, Maulana Asad Madani and of murderous violence against Muslims. In Mufti Atiqur Rahman Usmani. The most important resolution 1961, it was the small outbreaks in passed by the Conference was to form an umbrella organization Jabalpore, Madhya Pradesh which occaunder the name of Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat with a mandate to tour the whole of India, particularly the areas where major com- sioned the Muslim Convention: this year the munal riots had taken place. The Mushawarat leaders were massacres in Rourkela and Jamshedpur and asked to meet in deputation the Prime Minister Lal Bhadur Shastri riots in Calcutta induced the communitys and the Union Home Minister Gulzarilal Nanda. Dr. Syed Mahmood was elected President and the M.P. from Tamil Nadu leaders to foregather again to express their N.M.Anwar was elected General Secretary. confusion, helplessness and despair. Whilst the so-called National Press did not give adequate publicity to the event, foreign press reported it extensively. Here Bihar to go on a rampage against Moslems with bows and is a brief extract from the Washington Post: Rival leaders of moderate and militant factions among arrows. Now the tribesmen were puzzled to see the same officials Indias 47 million Moslems formed an unprecedented Islamic unithelping to rehabilitate Moslem survivors of the March riots under ed front to combat growing Hindu revivalist activity. The decision by 100 key dignitaries to establish an inde- orders from New Delhi. But the Conference resolution spoke only of the need for pendent Moslem identity in national affairs marked a historic departure from the long-standing Moslem reliance on the govern- strong measures to check further disturbances. It avoided any public reference to controversial specific moves in a gesture to ing Congress party during the life time of Prime Minister Nehru. Envisaged initially as a limited gesture of solidarity after an moderate leaders who argued that this would needlessly inflame estimated 3000 Moslems were killed in religious riots earlier this Hindu public opinion. The London Times wrote: Leaders of Indian Muslims have year the long projected conference, over the week end, became an occasion for an agitated debate over Moslem political strategy met in Lucknow to discuss the plight of the community, manifold injustice and prejudices from which they suffer , as one of them in post-Nehru India. Bearded divines identified with the Orthodox Jamiat-e- put it and to seek ways by which Muslims can find a fuller and Islami movement and fist-shaking angry youngmen from Islamic more contented part in Indian life. As with the last such Muslim convention, which was held in educational institutions appeared to hold the initiative over moderate pro-Congress elements throughout the 2-day proceedings. Delhi just three years ago, this meeting is consequent upon outLucknow was chosen to play host to the meeting as the cap- breaks of murderous violence against Muslims. In 1961, it was ital of the former Moslem princely State of Oudh and one of the the small outbreaks in Jabalpore, Madhya Pradesh which occasioned the Muslim Convention: this year the massacres in major contemporary centres of Islamic learning in India. It is a city studded with endless red sandstone mosques and Rourkela and Jamshedpur and riots in Calcutta induced the communitys leaders to foregather again to express their confusion, elaborately carved reservoirs built centuries ago by Nawabs. The conference session at a local theological college helplessness and despair. The situation of Muslims in India has seriously worsened in offered a colourful array of clothing styles reflecting the wide range of sects attending the gathering from all parts of India. the past three years and those in Lucknow felt their helplessness There were eleven distinct varieties of headgear in evidence from increase when they considered what little impression the comthe chaste white-skull cap and goatskin fez of the rural delegates plaints they registered three years ago have had. The chief cause to open-knit lattice-work laid loosely on the head in the Arabian of this deteriorating position of the Muslims is no doubt the strong style and the peaked blue crown of South India resembling a swell of nationalism in India in recent years, which in North India has had undercurrents of Hindu nationalism but as deep a factor bishops hat. Closed sessions devoted to future tactics were carefully is the nature of Muslim community itself and this is well projected screened to keep out govt. intelligence agents and eavesdroppers allegedly sent by Hindu organisations. But newsmen were permitted to attend the stormy session in which Moslem leaders from the riot- affected areas recounted cases of alleged complicity by police and local officials in atrocities against Moslems. Hafiz Mohammed Umar, owner of a string of tailor shops in the steel city of Jamshedpur said that local Hindu officials had incited Christian tribesmen in the neighbouring hill regions of in the Lucknow meeting where the elderly predominate and devout take the leading role. The Muslims number just over 50 millions, a little over 10 per cent of the population, but sizable as it is, this is not a true community but the rump of one. The great majority of the Muslim middle class became Pakistani citizens at Partition and those who stayed in India are predominantly rural people many of these the poorest artisans or shopkeepers. Of those middle class Muslims who stayed many are now in the senior ranks of Administration and the professions. But these, in the name of secularism, have all too often stood apart from their community; one of the speakers in Lucknow spoke bitterly of the selfishness and opportunism of those well-established Muslims who deny that injustice or discrimination is being felt by the commuMaulana Abul Lais nity as a whole. The Indian Muslims, like American Negroes, have their uncle Toms. The attacks on Muslims in Bihar and Orissa this year overshadowed the discussion in Lucknow and it was remarked that the Government had not made any exemplary punishment for the killers. The Muslims had repeatedly been reminded, one speaker said, that their fate in India was dependent not on their behaviour but on that of their people of a foreign country, in other words, that they would be made to pay in like coin for the suffering of Hindus in East Pakistan. He might also have noticed the open threat made by Jana Sangh speakers to reconsider the place of the Muslim in Indian life if Kashmiris insist upon self-determination. Underlying all such fears is the feeling among the Muslims that more and more their place in India is at the back of the queue and that their turn at the front never comes. The backwardness of the community in education accounts undoubtedly for much of the Muslim under-representation in Government services. Another factor has been pointed out by Mr. B.Tyabji, ViceChancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. The strong caste consciousness of Indian society, he says, finds expression in commerce and industry too and as the number of Muslim firms and enterprises have been few in proportion to their population, Muslims have suffered proportionately more from this attitude of: jobs for kith and kin first. It is distressing to find the conviction among well-placed Indian Muslims that British firms here are among the worst in their reluctance to give employment to Muslims. Inquiry suggests that this impression may have its origin in a minute circulated not long ago after the Partition by late Mr. Patel, the Minister for Home Affairs, advising British firms to send Muslim applicants to their Pakistan branches. With force and some evidence some Muslims here maintain that the policy is still applied by British houses. For the outsider the most disturbing change has been that in the public attitude to Muslims and to secularism, the Government, under Mr. Shastris leadership, as under Mr. Nehrus stands adamantly for Secularism and the equal rights of all citizens, But there has been a change in the public philosophy on this score, subtle but unmistakable and it will need strong leadership and bold talking if this sneaking attitude that a Muslim is not fully an Indian it has McCarthyite expressions is to be stamped out. In the beginning, the Mushawart was well received. New hope dawned. But the popularity soon waned and the expectation that it might be a forerunner of a powerful Muslim party based on definite principles and programmes for Muslims faded out and the organization remained for a long time a mere letterhead outfit. Alhamdulillah it is now alive and kicking. May it, by the Infinite Grace of the Great Shaper of Destinies, grow from strength to strength in the service of the Ummah.

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 13

ISSUES

Madhya Pradesh: shadows of Hindu Rashtra

RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com Madhya Pradesh is being ruled by the BJP Government for the last several years. This is one state where BJP and its erstwhile avatar, Bhartiya Jansangh had a good deal of following in the past also. During the last few years one has seen, with the BJP Government in the saddle, the state is imposing norms which are intimidating to minorities, the BJP associates have become more assertive and the state is openly promoting Hindu culture, and it is also the place where the terror component of RSS affiliates has been having its dens at various places in the state. Recently (March 2011) the police stations got a circular from the head office which required them to collect information about Christian minorities. This information pertained to various facets of social life of the community. The order candidly sought information about Christians of all denominations such as number of priests, bishops, schools, institutions, political patronage, Christians with criminal antecedents, economic sources, among many other things. When one priest refused to divulge the information, meant to profile the community, he was taken to the police station. When the community leaders took up the matter with the top police officers, they expressed their ignorance, and it seemed like the case of No One Killed Jessica Lall, as if no one had issued the circular, or the one who issued this illegal circular was being shielded. With this the subtle ways of operating of the RSS controlled state mechanism became clear. With BJP government in the seat of power the RSS associates have become much more bold and dominant and there are activities, which begin as religious ones and end up being generating hate of minorities the way the events are tilted and given shape by those controlling these organizations. This is one state where the RSS has been very active in the Adivasi areas. Like in the case of Gujarat, on the pretext that Christian missionaries are converting, many acts of violence have been taking place in these areas. One recalls the rape of nuns in Jhabua, followed by the comment by B.L. Sharma Prem from RSS stable, who proudly boasted that a rape of nuns is the act of nationalism. In the same areas the followers of Asaram Bapu have been very active, spreading venom against the minorities. Pursuing this line of action, they had earlier also organized meetings in Adivasi areas, now this agenda culminated in the organization of Narmada Samajik Kumbh (Feb 2011), on the lines

M.P. has been the place where the Hindutva terror groups got good shelter, a safe heaven. People like Sunil Joshi, Pragya Singh Thakur, Kalsangra, Devendra Sharma, Sandeep Dange and others could operate freely and comfortably due to their saffron association in a BJP ruled state. State has been totally insensitive to the feelings of minorities and all its schemes have been named in Hindu terminology, Girls welfare scheme: Ladli Laxmi, Child Nutrition program: Anna Prashan, Water Harvesting: Jalabhishek are just few of the names of state government schemes currently in operation in the state. Similarly the schools have been made to observe Surya Namaskar, (Sun Worship), a sort of exercise-worship routine from Hindu mythology. The state officials openly participate in Arms Worship (Shastra Puja) a ritual on Dussehra festival. In this worship the guns and weapons from the police department are freely used.
of Shabri Kumbh in the Dangs of Gujarat. These Kumbhs have been creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity amongst Christians in particular and in these events they undertake the Ghar Vapasi (Returning Home), which in actually means the conversion of Adivasis, to Hinduism by direct or indirect pressure. Now these efforts are being totally backed up by facilities from the state Government. There is a plethora of anti Minority literature which is distributed en masse. Such intervention in Adivasi areas is dampening the educational and health welfare work of Missionaries in the Adivasi areas. With this Government in power, the Muslim minorities were clearly told that MP is not going to implement Sachar Committee report. Rather than seeing it as necessary affirmative action for the poor Muslims, it is being projected in the divisive communal language. Going against the spirit of Indian Constitution, the MP Chief Minister has given a call to the Government servants to join RSS, while being on active service. One recalls in Gujarat, a similar call was given by Narendra Modi. At that time Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime minister, he felt so embarrassed by this move that he insisted that the state Government withdraw the circular permitting state employees to join the RSS. As such it is RSS trained and coordinated Swayamsevaks, who not only work in BJP, in the important positions of power but they also manipulate politics in more ways than one. To argue that RSS is not a political organization is factually wrong as RSS has a political agenda of Hindu Rashtra, which it operates through its multiple progenies. So while the Government servants are barred to join politics, MP government is openly flouting this norm. In Gujarat one witnessed the advent of Hindu Rashtra through massive anti-Muslim violence backed up by cultural manipulation. In MP the cultural instance is more dominant and visible. Hindu terminologies are being picked up for every occasion and implemented. For School teachers the term coined was Rishi, as in ancient India, Rishis were committed to imparting knowledge. Interestingly, Rishi is a masculine term, so the large number of women teachers are out of its ambit. And more interestingly these Rishis were lathi charged when they came together to demand implementation of better pay scales! M.P. has also been the place where the Hindutva terror groups got good shelter, a safe haven. People like Sunil Joshi, Pragya Singh Thakur, Kalsangra, Devendra Sharma, Sandeep Dange and others could operate freely and comfortably due to their saffron association in a BJP ruled state. State has been totally insensitive to the feelings of minorities and all its schemes have been named in Hindu terminology, Girls welfare scheme: Ladli Laxmi, Child Nutrition program: Anna Prashan, Water Harvesting: Jalabhishek are just few of the names of state government schemes currently in operation in the state. Similarly the schools have been made to observe Surya Namaskar, (Sun Worship), a sort of exercise-worship routine from Hindu mythology. The state officials openly participate in Arms Worship (Shastra Puja) a ritual on Dussehra festival. In this worship the guns and weapons from the police department are freely used. This taking out arms from armed police must be regarded as serious violation of law. Yoga was initially introduced as a compulsory discipline. Now it is optional, but then with the majority of Hindus opting for it, the minority children do feel left out. State has showered the gift of land to various trusts formed by RSS associates. Recently one donation of large plot of land to Kushabhau Thackeray (the founder of RSS-BJP activities in the state) trust has been quashed by the Court, but such instances abound. Madhya Pradesh Government is combining subtle and overt intimidation along with cultural manipulation to Hindutvize the state. The minorities are feeling marginalized and insecure due to the atmosphere created by the state machinery and RSS affiliates. After Gujarat, many a states are vying for emulating its model; Madhya Pradesh already seems to be way ahead! (Issues
in Secular Politics)

Punish not only Osamas but also Bushes!

JAVED JAMIL
Osama Bin Laden, if at all he was alive, is dead now. He had ceased to be the mastermind behind al-Qaeda long ago. He will continue to be an inspirer for a long time to come. American leaders will try to present it as triumph because they first succeeded in putting all the blame on Osama for 9/11, which was never proved though, then in using this event to wage a war on terror destroying at least two countries and killing at least 1 million innocents and then after a long gap of 10 years finally claiming his death. The independent analysts will argue that America took too long to kill the man, and if at all this was what America intended, why it chose to kill huge numbers of civilians, at least 400 times the number killed on 9/11, instead of going after him. If America has the right to kill civilians in exchange for the death of its civilians, Osama and the supporters of his legacy too could claim that they targeted Twin Towers to take revenge for Americas continued policy of repression of the Muslim world. Even if it is accepted that Osama was truly the mastermind behind 9/11, and deserved to be condemned and punished for his misdeeds, he was certainly not as brutal as was Bush who invaded at least two countries and caused the death of at least 1 million innocents. Who will bring him to justice? And of course, his admirers would claim that Ben Laden successfully challenged the two Superpowers and there was no other way they could be challenged except the one he did. All in all, the world neither needs Bushes nor Osamas. All of them deserve to be challenged, condemned and punished. But the world will also have to develop a mechanism which does not simply punish Osamas but also punishes Bushes. If such a mechanism is not found, Osamas and Bushes will continue to be reborn. Mankind will continue to lose its innocents. Bringing justice to one devil will have no meaning if the bigger devils are allowed to keep their show running.
Dr Javed Jamil is a writer-thinker and has authored over a dozen books including The Essence of the Divine Verses, Islam means Peace, The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism, The Killer Sex, In Search of a Comprehensive Solution for AIDS and Rediscovering the Universe. He may be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com

Milli Information Network

Time to network the community
The Muslim communitys many ills and problems stem from the fact that there is a marked lack of informationsharing and dissemination. The leadership is limited to some big cities while the majority lives in thousands of towns and lakhs of villages across the country. ... This makes it difficult to manage the two-way circulation of information, from the leadership to the masses and from the masses to the leadership. To tackle this problem, a network of information centres should be established all over the country. There should be one at least in each district headquarter, and more in larger towns and cities. These information centres will function from the offices of community organisations or in libraries and reading rooms... Acting upon the above editorial published in MG 16-31 Dec. 2007 we registered a website www.millinetwork.com. We are in the process of developing a large network of milli NGOs. Kindly get yourself listed on the network. Each listed organisation will have its own webpage on the network. Fill in the below form and send it to us by email or post. Name of Organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pin Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phone (std code) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Name of Main Trustee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geographical Reach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brief note of Nature of Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ Category of Work: [Please encircle] Charity / Child Guidance Clinic / Children / Communal Harmony / Community Development / Disabilities / Slum Children / Human Rights / Family Welfare / Literacy / Education (scholarships/coaching) / Media / Medical / Orphan children / Religious / Social care / Social Justice / Social Welfare / Vocational Training / Volunteer Mgmt / Widows / Women / Others [Masjids and Madarasahs will also be listed on the network] Any literature (brouchure, leaflets, audited accounts etc) may also be submitted. Cut or photocopy

14 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

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

The Muslim-Vote In West Bengal Polls

t is indeed ironical that respected politicians suddenly become aware of the importance held by Muslim votes only when elections are in the air. Should it thus be assumed that hype raised about Muslim votes while campaigning is confined only to their electoral importance? This question is being deliberately raised as West Bengal Assembly polls have witnessed a new importance, greater than before, to the states Muslim votes. Why? Or why not, as Muslims constitute over 28 percent of the states population. The political scenario would have been different if only a few strong parties were in the fray. The aim of several rival parties, including the Trinamool Congress and the Congress is to oust the left bloc, which has headed the state government since 1977. This is not the first time that Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Bannerjee is testing her political destiny in the state. But this certainly is the first time that a tremendous hype has been created about the possibility of her heading the next government in West Bengal. Incidentally, an impression has also been created of there being a high probability of the Muslim vote being inclined towards her. Irrespective of whether Mamata succeeds or not, it would be erroneous to hold only the Muslim votebank as having played a crucial role in this direction. Rather, the degree to which Muslim vote splits may play a more decisive role than

expected. This point is being made primarily on the basis of the number of Muslim candidates in the fray and their political affiliations. Despite Muslims constituting over 27 percent of the states population, less than 20 percent of the candidates participating in the elections to 294 seats are Muslims. If one were to go only by statistics, the hype raised about the Muslim vote demands that the concerned parties should have fielded Muslim candidates to at least 27 percent of the assembly seats, which would be more than 75. This has not been the practice. While CPI-M fielded more than 40 Muslim candidates, Trinamool Congress less than 40 and the Congress 23. More than 60 Muslims have tried their luck as independent candidates. Added together, the candidates fielded by small parties total 116. Despite these parties having barely any roots here, six Muslims filed their nominations as Bharatiya Janata Party candidates and 10 from Bahujan Samaj Party. Only around 16 percent of all the candidates are Muslims. Certainly, had Muslims not opted for contesting elections as independents and had smaller parties not fielded more than 100 candidates, the statistical representation of Muslim candidates in the fray would have fallen by more than 50 percent. Muslims fielded by CPI-M, Trinamool Congress and the Congress constitute less than seven percent of the total contestants. These statistics certainly pose a major question mark on the rhetoric indulged in by several party leaders about their concern for the Bengali Muslim. At the same time, the probability of Muslims having been deliberately fielded as independent candidates or from small parties cannot be ignored. If politicking of this nature has been deliberately indulged in, the intention is obvious. It has less to do with concerns about Muslims. The aim of this

politicking has been to cut into votebanks of rival candidates by creating a split in the Muslim votebank. Once the results are out, an analysis of votes secured by Muslim candidates and their position as winners or losers would reveal the degree to which this politicking led to a split in votes, because of the religious identity of the candidates. There is yet another angle to West Bengal assembly polls that cannot be ignored. The state has not witnessed any communal riot targeting Muslims since the left bloc has been at the helm. Also, it cannot be forgotten that some Muslims targeted in the 2002 Gujarat carnage moved to West Bengal. Quite a significant number of Muslims living here for decades have claimed that they feel secure here. These points have been made to highlight the fact that statistics indicating inappropriate representation of Muslims in the assembly and at other levels cannot always be viewed as correct indicators of their attitude towards political parties in the electoral fray. In this context, it may be pointed out that the Speaker of the outgoing assembly is a Muslim from CPI-M, Hashim Abdul Halim. He has held this office for nineteen years, since May 6, 1982. Only 15 percent members of preceding assembly were Muslims. More than 50 percent of these belong to CPI-M and less than 30 percent to both Trinamool Congress and Congress. Given that Muslim voters have already been labelled in certain quarters as floating voters, their representation and political affiliations in the new assembly is to be closely watched and studied. Should it be regarded as an indicator of religious politicking indulged in, along negative lines, to cut into votebanks of probable winners or should it be viewed as an indicator of the electoral card shrewdly exercised by Muslim voters?

Ayodhya dispute: ideas for an amicable settlement

YUGAL KISHOR SHASTRI
The sanctity of Ayodhya is significant because the city has so far never witnessed any communal violence. The city is not only considered sacred for the Hindus but also for Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists as all share some historical facts to support this perception. In Ayodhya, there are more than a dozen mazaars of historical importance and people of all religions visit these places to pay respect and seek blessing. Khurd Makkha (Little Mecca) of Muslims is located here. For Sikhs, Guru Teg Bahadur performed penance here and the place is now known as Brakund Sikh Gurudwara. Jains first Tirtankar Rishab Dev was born here. As per Bodh Granth, Buddha lived and preached at Saket Nagari for four years. Hindus and Muslims in Ayodhya lived in harmony and peace for decades but over the years the historical place has been used to cultivate hatred and animosity between people and followers of different faiths. The place has now become for some very fertile for spreading religious intolerance. When VHP began its Ram Mandir movement in the year 1984, it was thought at that point of time that the long cherished tradition of tolerance may get shattered. But with the relentless efforts of various social organisations peace still prevails in this city. From the year 1985 communal or religious violence across India in one way or the other got sparked due to hatred rooted within communities because of the turmoil in Ayodhya. Placement of an idol inside Babri Masjid in the year 1949 and the demolition of the structure on 6 December 1992 was based on the ideology of hatred and inhumanity. After the demolition of Babri Masjid, violence spread everywhere. Karsevaks burnt 165 houses of Muslims. A number of Muslims were burnt alive. Even in those turbulent times Ayodhya was peaceful and people lived as usual. RSS still peruses its divisive agenda from this place and from Karsevakpuram they preach and spread their ideology. Here, throughout the year, people from far off places are invited to train them on how to propagate hatred. Without exposing the nefarious design of RSS, it would be futile to think of peace and prosperity in our country. By using the temple movement the Sangh has been trying to destroy the constitutional institutions, peace and tranquillity. The temple movement by VHP is purely based on propaganda. The truth is that Babri Masjid does exist there and only a Masjid is needed to be built at the disputed structure. Over the years there have been many formulas or action plans put forward in order to evolve a consensus between the two communities. So far all efforts to reach a consensus had the reference point as Ram Mandir and even secularists tried to suppress Muslims. If parties, association or institution involved had the Masjid as a focal point then things could have been different and I could have walked an extra mile in this direction. Before 1857, there had been an agreement where the outer portion from the Mosque door was earmarked for Ram Lalla and after giving the mosque to Muslims a boundary wall was to be built in between. During those days Ram Lalla sthal was known

Multi-faith complex suggested at Ayodhya

New Delhi: A seminar on 'Living in harmony: towards a resolution of the Ayodhya issue', organised by Indian Harmony Foundation was held in Delhi on 23 April in which speakers expressed diverse views on the Babri Masjid issue and the High Court's verdict on it. Lord Meghnad Desai, a member of UKs House of Lords, speaking on this occasion said that no community or religion should claim exclusive right or ownership of the disputed land in Ayodhya. He said that time has now come not to dwell in the past or who should possess the land or where the original birthplace of Lord Ram is. All of us should now look towards the future. He suggested that a multi-faith complex should be built at the site in which the variety of faiths in India should be displayed which may be a tribute to India's multi-faith democracy. Editor of daily The Hindu, N. Ram, said that whereas Allahabad High Court's verdict of 30 September 2010 was considered to have a calm and peaceful effect, there were strong views that the verdict did not give much thought to legal and logical aspects of the case. He said that though the intention of the Court to create a peaceful condition by the verdict was laudable, the way in which the honourable judges arrived at the solution of the nagging problem was not satisfactory and ignored some important aspects such as the political nature of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. A. G. Noorani, noted lawyer and political analyst, described this issue as political rather than legal. He said that the objective of Ramjanmabhoomi movement was to re-model the state on the RSS and its outfits ideology. He said that till date not a single judge had done justice to the case and suggested that Allahabad High Court's verdict should be analysed by a group of lawyers and historians and their views should be made known to the people before the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict. Among others, Wajahat Habibullah, chairman of National Commission for Minorities and former chairman of NCM, Tarlochan Singh also spoke on this topic. (NA Ansari) as Vedi and not as Ramjanambhoomi. However, it can be said that most of the efforts made to arrive at a consensus were formulated in such a way that aimed to suppress the Muslims. Some of them are as follows: 1. 1985-1986: Adnan Khashogi and Chandra Swami tried to solve the age-old problem at the local level and it was decided to change the place of the Mosque but this failed. 2. 1986: Gaurav Samiti formulated two points: One was to solve the problem locally and the other was the development of Ayodhya. The solution was to build a boundary wall for the mosque and Ram Mandir to be constructed at Ram Chabutara. 3. 1984-1994: Hamari Awaz Movement made efforts to reach a consensus by involving the people of Ayodhya. 4. 30 December, 1989: Jain Muni Acharaya Sushil Muni and Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Abdullah Bukhari formed a 21member committee and it was decided that after inspection if it was found that the Mosque was built after destroying a temple then Muslims should give up their claims and vise-versa.

5. 6. 7.

8.

9.

10.

On 24 January 1990, 11 member delegation from the Hindu community visited the place and declared that the mosque was built after demolishing a mandir. 20 October, 1990: At the initiative of Shri Chimanyanand and Maulana Abdul Karim Parekh, members of Muslim Personal Law Board and Hindu Mahants sat together but in vain. 1 December, 1990: Babri Action Committee and VHP in their open talks decided to present their views. Papers and documents could not be exchanged and talks failed. 12 January, 1991: Shia Conference took the initiative and a formula was prepared under the guidance of Anjum Qadar. They asked the government to enquire directly or through Judiciary to find out whether the mosque was built after demolishing a mandir. Central government was asked to pass a law to ensure the status quo of religious places as per 1945. 1993-94: Former Prime Minister Narashimha Rao proposed to build the mosque and mandir after establishing a Muslim trust. Ramalay trust came into being. Muslim trust could not come up, thus this initiative failed. 8 March, 2002: Kanchi Kamkot Sankarcharya wrote a letter to the Muslim Personal Law Board seeking permission to construct a Ram mandir. Board asked him to give the site plan of the Mandir, which he failed to provide. 2003: Ayodhya Ki Awaaz organisation on the initiative by Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey and Yugal Kishore Sharan Shashtri gave a call "Ayodhya ka faissala Ayodhya ke hath" and "Ram Rahim kahaan rahenge, Ayodhyawasi jahaan kahenge."

Solution of the disputed site: 1. All parties must accept court's verdict. 2. And if the parties involved wish to arrive at a consensus out of court, there should be flexibility. Rigid behaviour from any side will not help. Common points of agreement 1. Muslims consider the place to be sacred. 2. In Hindu Sanatan Dharma, mandir and idol are not that important as compared to Bhoomi which is also sacred for the Hindus. It means that the place is sacred for both Hindus and Muslims. Amicable solution-1 1. Let us accept the disputed site as National Holy place or Rashtriya Pavitra Sthal and there must not be any construction on it. 2. In the east of the Pavitra Sthal, land should be left for construction of Mandir while on the west side of the Sthal for the mosque. 3. Hindus should be allowed to visit the pavitra sthal. Amicable solution-2 Hindus and Muslims should accept the status as before 22/23 December 1949 when Ram Chabutara was within the boundary of the Babri mosque and in the westside Babri mosque stood. Yugal Kishor Sharan Shastri is mahant of Saryu Kunj mandir in Ayodhya and editor of the Hindi journal Ayodhya Ki Awaj. He may be contacted via ayodhyakiawaj@yahoo.com / mobile: +91-945173026

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 15

JAMMU & KASHMIR

DATELINE SRINAGAR: AFSANA RASHID

Hurriyat leader Abbas Ansaris expulsion

Hurriyat Conference (M), led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has adopted a wait and watch policy vis--vis the expulsion of Itihaad-ulMuslimeen (IuM) from its fold. The conglomerate has asked IuM to clarify its position vis-vis the meeting of its patron, Maulana Abbas Ansari, with the interlocutors appointed by Centre. The issue came up for discussion during the executive committee meeting of the amalgam on 23 April. "Weve already sent a letter to IuM on the issue. They are yet to come up with reply. No decision regarding termination of IuM from Hurriyat would be taken in haste," a spokesman said. IuM was suspended from Hurriyat (M) after its patron met the interlocutors at his residence on April 20. Next day Ansari retorted back saying that he is now free after his expulsion from amalgam. Mirwaiz, however, warned "no individual or group of amalgam would be allowed to work against the interests of the people." In its executive council meeting on 28 April, Hurriyat (M) had decided to go for further deliberations over the issue before taking a final decision. "Kashmir issue can be solved only when India, Pakistan and the genuine leadership of Kashmir gets engaged in a meaningful dialogue. Interlocutors can just make recommendations," said Hurriyat spokesman. He accused the interlocutors of dividing people on sectarian lines. Terming the suspension of IuM from Hurriyat (M) as unconstitutional, Masroor Abbas Ansari, president of party, said on 27 April that during his talks with interlocutors its party patron had reiterated the Hurriyats stand that dialogue at prime ministerial level alone can solve Kashmir issue. despite being under physical and moral pressure. Theyve given another chance to the democratic process and institutions that have been discredited after every election in the past," she said adding, "It is unfortunate that people who empower institutions by casting votes are rendered powerless after elections." The PDP president alleged that the state government has failed to deliver justice to people. She claimed corruption is ruling roost in every sphere of life here. "State ranks at number two in corruption in the country, but I feel we are moving ahead. Over last couple of years all institutions here have weakened. The state is facing both crime and corruption and is heading towards being a centre for crime." About the issue of Dogra certificate, Mehbooba said, "the order came up during the former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds tenure as well. But we arent for division of state." Pertinently, government on April 28 rescinded Dogra certificate order following Union Ministry of Home Affairs order. The government orders bearing numbers Rev (LB) 69 of 2011 dated 25.3.2011 and Rev (LB) 82 of 2011 dated 7. 4. 2011 stand superseded, read a press statement issued by the government. Pertinently, JAH and SuH are at loggerheads ever since a statement by police claimed that Shah was killed by Abdul Gani Dar alias Abdullah Ghazali, president of SuH, in connivance with Javed Ahmad Munshi and Nisar Ahmad Khan.

Soldier kills, injures colleagues

A junior officer and three security forces personnel were shot dead and another wounded by their colleague in south Kashmirs Bijbehara-Anantnag on April 28. Havildar Abhay Kumar (Belt No14608530Y) opened indiscriminate fire upon his colleagues for unexplained reasons inside a camp at Panjpora village in Bijbehara resulting in the death of four armymen including a JCO. It is an unfortunate incident, said Lt Col JS Brar, Srinagar-based defence spokesperson. He added that one jawan sustained gunshot wounds and was rushed to hospital. "Havildar Kumar was overpowered by jawans and is presently in military custody. A high level court of inquiry has been instituted to ascertain facts. Reports said that during the intervening night of April 27-28, Havildar Kumar in a fit of rage took out his assault rifle and fired many rounds on his colleagues. Some reports said the Havildar had borrowed money from his colleagues and as he failed to repay, his colleagues brought it to the notice of their officer and this made him furious. Other reports suggest that he was under tremendous stress. This incident is an aberration, being first in the last two years. The army over the past few years has institutionalized stress management measures. In the instant case, it will be ensured that truth comes to light and suitable measures instituted to prevent any re-occurrence of such incidents, an officer said. At least four people were injured when CRPF and police used batons and fired teargas canisters to quell protests that broke out against killing of a youth, Muhammad Ashraf Lone, 30, resident of Chatipora-Rafiabad by unidentified gunmen in Kreeri-Baramulla, on 25 April. Lone, a teacher at a local madrasa had reportedly gone missing for few days. A SRTC driver, Ghulam Jeelani Bhat, injured in stone-pelting on 25 April in Baramulla, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital here on April 28. A police spokesman said, some miscreants pelted stones on a bus which was on way from Rafiabad to Baramulla carrying polling staff. Trying to save himself and the vehicle, the driver lost control and rammed into a nearby shop. A cloth vendor, Shams-ud-Din Mir, resident of ChankhanSopore, was shot dead by militants in Sopore on 1 May. Police on 22 April fished out a body of unidentified female from river Jehlum at Banayari-Bandipora. Police and 2 RR arrested Showkat Ahmad Ganai alias Mudasir, a militant of Hizbul Mujahideen, at Parimpora here on 25 April. The militant had come from Pakistan with a special mission to develop a network, here, said police sources. All Parties Committee formed by Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith (JAH) to probe the killing of its president, Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah, held a closed door meeting here on 25 April. Members have reportedly vowed to expose the killers of Shah. Ram Vilas Paswan, President of the Lok Jan Shakti Party on 27 April appealed to the Home Minister, P. Chidambaram to order a thorough probe into the killing of JAH president and demanded stern action against killers. He said, while visiting the Valley that he would facilitate establishment of an Islamic university as desired by Shah. He also met Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G) and discussed Kashmir situation with him.

Militants waiting to sneak: Police

Inspector General, Border Security Force, Baljit Singh has said that militants are desperate to sneak in from the across border but forces are ready to foil attempts of infiltration. "Desperation has crept among ranks of militants and they want to create disturbance in the Valley by sneaking in. We are ready to give them a befitting reply," said Singh while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a parade at Subsidiary Training Centre, Humhama on April 26. The IGP said that with the onset of the summer and melting of snow in higher reaches, militants have started their attempts to infiltrate. "We along with the army are working on the borders to maintain vigil and check infiltration bids." On the same day, Inspector General of Police Kashmir SM Sahai said police will not deter to offer sacrifices for the nation and will continue to work to eliminate militancy from the Valley. "The state is facing militancy for the last 20 years. Though it has been contained to a large extent, yet our fight will go on till it is completely routed out," said the IGP while speaking to media after wreath-laying ceremony of two policemen killed by militants near Pohru Chowk-Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar on 25 April.

JKLFs Yasin Malik arrested, released

Tension gripped the entire locality in and around Maisuma on 28 April as JKLF chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik, was arrested while leading a protest demonstration against the detention of a local youth. Scores of youth took to streets to protest the arrest of a JKLF member, Ashiq Hussain Dar. They alleged Dar has been booked under false charges. As the JKLF chairman joined protesters, a posse of police and security forces present on the spot asked Malik to leave. He declined and this led to an altercation between the security forces and JKLF activists. Malik along with his two associates was arrested and lodged in a nearby police station. Within no time, youth took to streets and started pelting stones on police and security forces. As protesters offered stiff resistance, security forces lobbed teargas canisters that triggered pitched battles. Immediately, shopkeepers downed their shutters and business came to a standstill. A police spokesman said that Malik along with some of his associates was arrested after they disrupted traffic. "A complaint was lodged by Ishfaq Hussain Shah, a driver at police station Maisuma that he was attacked by some unidentified person. The complainant alleged that he was beaten and some cash snatched from him. The spokesman added that police started investigation and complainant identified Dar as assailant. Police arrested Dar. Malik along with his associates went inside the police station Maisuma and intimidated and attacked policemen besides ransacking some items of office claimed the police. Later, JKLF chairman and his associates were released on April 30.

Man killed over appointment of imam

One person succumbed to his injuries and four others, including two policemen, sustained injuries during inter-group clashes that broke out here at Kanihama-Nowgam on city-outskirts. Sixteen suspects were arrested by police. Mohammad Ismail Bhat, 55, along with four people including two policemen were injured during clashes between Jamiat-e-Ahl-e Hadees (JAH) and Saut-ulHaq (SuH) activists here on 29 April. Both these groups clashed outside a mosque. Bhat later breathed his last at a hospital next day. Reports say that trouble started when a group of people objected to a sermon delivered by an Imam in a mosque being managed by JAH. The Imam owing allegiance to SuH was asked to leave the mosque. This didnt go well with his supporters. An altercation followed between the two sides and within no time the entire matter turned violent. Eye-witnesses say both sides attacked each other with sticks and sharp-edged weapons. During the altercation, Bhat received serious injuries. Besides Bhat, Nowsheed Ahmad Dar and Shabir Ahmad Bhat and two policemen, including an assistant sub inspector and a constable, were injured. Bhats death led to further trouble in area. Police intervened and both groups pelted stones on police and the situation remained tense for some time. Supporters of JAH alleged that SuH was involved in the killing of Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah whereas SuH supporters retorted back that Jamiat supporters are substantiating police claims. A group of youth later carried Bhats body to the press enclave in Srinagar and raised slogans against the killers. They alleged that police personnel were present on the site when the incident took place and no action, whatsoever, was taken by them. Police spokesman said that at least 16 people responsible for fueling the situation and creating law and order problems were arrested.

Omar enjoying defections: PDP

Accusing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of enjoying defection during the recent legislative council elections, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mahbooba Mufti said that the democratic process in state is confined only to votes. "Immediately, after the recent elections of the legislative council at Jammu, the chief minister was seen enjoying ice cream at a dhaba over defection," said Mehbooba Mufti while addressing media here on April 25, adding "can you imagine chief minister enjoying defection of a party?" Expressing satisfaction over the statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about huge voter turnout in Panchayat elections in the state, Mehbooba said she has a mixed feeling over it. "I was happy over the statement, but at the same time despite faith shown by people in democracy and democratic institutions, weve failed them. People have voted in panchayat elections

Kashmiri Pandit Asha Ji who won panchayat election from Wussan, dist. Baramullah being garlanded by her Muslim supporters on 10 May

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16 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

NEWSMAKERS
MEN & WOMEN IN NEWS
Shazad Muhammad Khan, popularly known as SM KHAN, a 1982 IIS batch officer, has been appointed as the new Director General of Door Darshan, the state-rune broadcasting services. He earlier served as the press secretary of President APJ Abdul Kalam and the spokesperson of CBI. Before his current posting, he was a director in Press & Information Bureau for the last two years and has also worked as the director of the Films Division of Government of India. NEMATULLAH ATAULLAH has been elected Vice President of All India Milli Council, Mumbai. Announcement to this effect was made by Muhammad Luqman Nadwi, general secretary of All India Milli Council, Mumbai. Prof. AKHTARUL WASEY, Vice Chairman of Delhi Urdu Academy and Director of Jamia Millia Islamias Dr. Zakir Husain Institute of Islamic Studies has been appointed a member of the Planning Commissions Committee which is entrusted with the task of ensuring 100 percent implementation of central governments policy of providing basic education and literacy among minorities and backward classes under Right to Education Act. Akhtarul Waseys appointment is for ensuring education to Muslim children and promotion of Urdu during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) MUHAMMAD YUSUF Zari Wale of Bareily has been unanimously elected general secretary of UP Branch of Tahaffuz Madaris Council at the Councils meeting held on 27 April. Dr. ZAHIR KAZI, President of Anjuman-e Islam, Mumbai has been re-elected chairman of this famous Milli institution by members of the General Council for a period of three years. Under his able stewardship the Anjuman has made great progress and in future also among his ambitious plans are construction of a modern medical college and a teachers training centre on a 1.5 acres land. Dr. MAHMOOD HUSAIN MUSHAHID RIZVI, a young natia poet and author of Malegaon has been conferred PhD Degree for his research treatise on Critical study of Mustafa Raza Noori Barelvis Natia poetry by Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad. Dr. Rizvi completed his research work under the supervision of (Mrs.) Dr. Sharfun Nahar, President of Dr. Rafiq Zakarya College for Women, Aurangabad. He was formally conferred the degree on 18 April after an open viva on 12 April. He is an author of seven books. Dr. PARVEZ MIAN and ABDUL QAIYYUM alongwith 8 others have been appointed Aldermen in Municipal Corporation of Delhi by Delhi government in the 10-member Alderman Committee. The job of aldermen is to put forth the problems of people in the Corporation for their solution. It may be stated that during the past two terms of Congress government in Delhi state, no aldermen were appointment but now that there is a plan to divide MCD into 5 zones, these appointments have been made. Haji NASEEMUDDIN has been appointed adviser in Delhi State Minorities Commission with the efforts of Hasan Ahmad, MLA from Mustafabad assembly constituency. Mrs. YASMEEN ABRAR who had temporarily taken over as Chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW) only last month (April) after the completion of the tenure of former chairperson Mrs. Girija Vyas, has vacated her post and reverted as a member of NCW after the appointment and installation of Mrs. Chandresh Kumari as new chairperson of NCW. As a member of NCW from 2005, her (Mrs. Abrars) term is coming to an end in June this year, unless otherwise extended by government. Mrs. Chandresh Kumari, like her predecessor Girija Vyas also belongs to Rajasthan and comes from Jodhpurs royal family. NAYYARUZ ZAMAN, Jamaat-e Islami Hind activist of Bihar has been appointed Ameer of Bihar Unit of JIH by Ameer of JIH, Maulana Jalaluddin Umri in place of Qamruz Zaman. It may be stated that Nayyaruz Zaman is the person under whose leadership his team of volunteers had rendered Yeomans service to thousand of flood-hit people for their relief, food, medicines and rehabilitation etc. in Bihar in 2008 when River Kosi, because of breach of bund, had flooded a very large part of Bihar and had rendered thousands of persons homeless and completely helpless.

OBITUARIES
Prof. AMIR HASAN AABDI, a great scholar and researcher of Persian language and literature and chairman of Ghalib Institute died on 4 May at AIIMS after a prolonged illness. Born in Ghazipur (UP) 90 years ago, he was counted among top class scholars of Persian and Urdu in the entire sub-continent. Many of his books in Persian are held in high esteem in Iran. In addition to his own literary activities, he took great interest in the activities of Ghalib Institute with which he was associated for about 40 years. A number of condolence meetings were held at many places in Delhi like Urdu Ghar, Delhi University, Urdu Academy etc. and other place where rich tributes were paid to him. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters and was laid to rest at Jamia Millias graveyard on 5 May. Maulana MUKHTAR AHMAD QASMI Bangalori, founder and Rector of Madrasa Sirajul Uloom of Bangalore City died in Deoband. He was a sincere and farsighted leader who worked for bringing about reforms in Muslim society. MUKHTAR AHMAD, a famous social personality of Muzaffarpur died of heart attack on 26 April at the age of 50. He had gone to South Africa from where he had come back in the first week of the last month (April). He was a man of very helping nature and that is why he was very much respected and loved by one and all. He is survived by his mother, wife, two sons and two daughters. He was laid to rest in Rampur on 27 April. Syed MUHAMMAD FAROOQ, a sincere champion and promoter of Urdu in Karnataka who had been working for decades for the promotion and survival of Urdu died at the age of 60 years. He had set up Urdu Press and Gulzar-e Adab for the promotion of Urdu and bravely fought legal battles against Karnataka governments policy of eliminating Urdu in Karnataka High Court and Supreme Court and came out successfully in both courts. He started a chain of Urdu medium nursery, primary, high and secondary schools and also started stitching, embroidery and other professional courses for Muslim girls and was also working on a scheme of providing employment opportunities to youths who had passed with Urdu education. His untimely death is a great loss for well-wishers of Urdu. RAFAT KHAN, a prominent social worker of Aligarh who actively worked for the welfare of people and for promoting education under the banner of Sir Sayyad Vichar Manch and Dayaar-e Adab India for promoting literary activities and for removing illiteracy and ignorance from society, died in Aligarh. A number of condolence meetings were held in Aligarh when rich tributes were paid to him. Molvi MUJIBUR RAHMAN, a veteran preacher of Jamia Rahmani, Munger died on 27 April at the age of 80 years. A native of Sonihar village of Khagaria district of Bihar, he was associated with Jamia Rahmani for about 50 years till his death. Jamia Rahmanis Sajjada Nashin, Maulana Mauhammad Wali Rahmani while paying tributes to him said that he sincerely worked for the promotion and propagation of Jamia Khkanqah Rahmanis mission and its religious activities. Maulana QARI MUHAMMAD TAIYYAB Bukhari, a famous scholar of North India died in Delhi on 2 May and was buried same day at the graveyard in Ghonda area of Delhi. This information was given by his nephew, Athar Ludhianvi, President of Majlis Ahrar, Delhi and former organising secretary of Delhi State Haj Committee. Qari Taiyyab also built Aulia Majid in Ghonda and spent his whole life in the service of religion and in teaching and service of the people. He is survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters. Maulana Syed BAQAR HUSAIN, a great religious scholar and rector of Muradabads Madrasa Imdadiya as well as of Darul Uloom Al Islamia, Basti (UP) died on 24 April after a prolonged illness. He was associated with Madrasa Imdadiya for about 45 years. He was also the founder and rector of Darul Uloom Islamia at Basti which he had founded in 1980. Jamiatul Ulama and many Muslim organisations condoled his death and paid rich tributes to him. He was 75 years old. research papers pertaining to multifarious aspects of Medieval Indian History in national and international journals. He also wrote a book on building technology in medieval India and edited two volumes on Art and Culture of medieval India with Prof. S. P. Verma. Prof. Qaisar was known for his unique style of teaching and interacting with his students and colleagues which was marked by a personal approach and a genuine concern. He also had the unique distinction of being the guardian of many of his young students and scholars struggling in the early stages of their career. He is survived by his wife Zarina Qaisar and two sons. (based on a writeup by Dr. Gulfishan Khan, AMU - gulfishankhan@gmail.com)

Owaisi among top five parliamentarians

Prime Point Foundation India has selected Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi, MP as one of five top parliamentarians (out of 545 MPs) according to his performance report on Lok Sabha website on the activities of members of the 15th Lok Sabha which was constituted in May 2009. Until 25 March, 2011, it held seven sessions with 158 meetings. The parameters were participation in debates, presentation of private bills, questions and attendance. MPLAD was not included in this survey. Owaisi is on number three in this list, while the first is Anand Rao Adsul of Maharashtra (Shiv Sena), the second is Hansraj Gangaram, also of Maharashtra (BJP), the fourth is SS Ramasubbu of Tamil Nadu (Congress) and the fifth is Pradeep Kumar Majhee of Orissa (Congress). These parliamentarians will be felicitated in a function to be held at Chennai on 7 May. Barrister Owaisi is the only minority member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh. The current parliament does not have minority representation from the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Owaisis brother Akbaruddin, MLA, was seriously injured in an attack by a disgruntled MIM local leader on 30 April. He is now out of danger. (Zafarul-Islam Khan). nals. He is counted as an international expert on nematodes and has won a number of Indian and foreign awards and Fellowships for his studies and discoveries in these fields. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot announced a cash award of Rs. 5 lakh to NESAR KHAN, driver of a petrol tanker at IOCs petrol pump at Jodhpur for averting a major and serious fire accident by driving the burning tanker, at great personal risk to his own life, to a distant, uninhabited place, thereby saving precious lives of many people and properties. It is reported that on 28 April as the oil tanker was being emptied at the underground petrol storage tank of the petrol pump the tanker caught fire by a stray spark. With great courage, presence of mind and great risk to his own life, Nisar disconnected the pipe from the underground tank and drove the burning tanker to about 3 kilometres away and left it at an isolated and uninhabited place. Had the oil tanker blown up at the petrol depot, it would have caused a huge fire leading to great loss of human lives and properties. For this brave act the chief minister announced an award of Rs. 5 lakh and a commendation certificate to him. Police Commissioner Bhupendra Kumar as well as many other organisations also announced awards to Nisar Khan for his exemplary courage and consideration for the safety of lives of other people at the risk of his own life. Nisar said that he will spend the award amount for good education of his four children. Fifteen-year-old (Ms.) NIKHAT ZAREEN of Nizamabad (Andhra Pradesh) had developed an interest in boxing, a male preserve and a taboo for Muslim women when she was only 12, probably because her two cousins were international level boxers. Inspite of much opposition not only from family but from the society also (except her boxer cousins) she joined boxing training camp at Hyderabad and after only three years training she won a Gold Medal at the AIBA Womens Youth and Junior World Championship held at Antalya, Turkey on 30 April by beating the local favourite Ulku Demir 27-16.

AWARDS
Hakeem SHOLAPURI, a prominent poet of Maharashtra has been honoured with an Award by Maharashtra State Urdu Academy for his book Sooraj ki Dastaan. The Award was given to him by Prakash Matyal, a top ranking police officer of Mumbai police at a function sponsored by United Peace Front, Jogeshwari (East) on 12 April. Dr. SHAH MUHAMMAD ABBAS WASEEM, Senior Resident Doctor of the Department of Physiology of AMUs JN Medical College won the First Prize in Poster Presentation competition sponsored by C.S.M. Medical Universitys Deptt. Of Physiology on Metabolic Syndrome held at UP-Uttarkhand APPICON 2011 CME at Lucknow. Dr. Abbas Waseem had presented his poster on the topic of Oxidative Stress in mild and moderate COPDS. In addition to him, many other persons including Physiology Departments Head, Prof. D.K. Agarwal, Prof. Mubarak Husain, Dr. Sangeeta Singhal, Dr. Gul R. Nabi Khan, Sr. Resident Dr. M. Shadab and Jr. Resident Dr. Salman also had taken part in this competition. Prof. WASEEM AHMAD of AMUs Department of Zoology has been selected for being honoured with Science Worlds prestigious award, Prof. E.K. Janki Ammal Award on Animal Taxonomy for his valuable services in the field of taxonomy the science that deals with or studies the identification and growth etc. of underground/subsoil living organisms, and biodiversity for the year 2009 which is very useful for applied sciences like, medicines, agriculture, pisciculture (fish breeding) etc. This Award, instituted by Union ministry of environment and forests in the memory of Prof. E.K. Janki Ammal for his valuable pioneering work in these fields and consisting of Rs. One lakh alongwith a medal, scroll of honour etc. will be given to Prof. Waseem Ahmad at a function to be held in Delhi on 5 June, Environment Day. Dr. Waseem has carried out research work on about 300 underground living organisms called nematodes and has written about 170 research articles which have been published in national and international jour-

PROF. AHSAN JAN QAISAR

Professor Ahsan Jan Qaisar, who died at Aligarh on 15 April 2011, was a renowned historian and teacher at AMU. Son of Maulawi Motiur Rahman, he was born in 1929 in district Chapra in Bihar where he received his primary and secondary education. He obtained BA and MA in history from AMU and joined as a research assistant and became Professor of Economic History in 1987 and retired in 1992. During his academic career he visited Londons School of Oriental and African Studies as research fellow and later University of Winsconsin as Fullbright fellow. His painstaking research carried out in the three continents of Asia, Europe and America in the leading libraries such as the British Library London were published in his acclaimed book, The Indian Response to the European Technology and Culture, 1498-1707 (OUP Delhi, 1982). Now a magnum opus, the book sought to argue that medieval India saw a continuous but selective absorption of technology such as the shipbuilding, armaments, metallurgy, cloth printing and architecture. Besides he contributed

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 17

SPECIAL REPORTS

Darul Ehsan, Home for Special Children Held

Srinagar: The aftermath of the armed insurgency is marked with numerous challenges, the major being the growing number of orphans. Many orphanages have sprung up in the name of catering to the needs of orphans of Kashmir with only a few genuine names to count, which too cater to the needs of only two thousand orphans whereas their number has touched two lakh as was revealed, said eminent social activist and president of the Islamic Relief & Research Trust (IRRT), H.R. Hanjura at the annual day of Darul Ehsan Home for Special Children on 1 May. Darul Ehsan is catering to the needs of a few special children whose parents have become victim of the ravaging conflict. Hanjura spoke of numerous challenges facing the society especially the special children who are being neglected, and scores of other problems. He deliberated on the obstacles faced by activists like him, and the need of multi-dimensional work in the voluntary sector which is being neglected by the people of Kashmir. He lamented the fact that only a few people are giving Zakat to the needy ones, while the majority is negligent towards this fundamental of Islam. It is due to this negligence that the grave neglect towards these special children can be witnessed in Kashmir. He threw light on the projects that IRRT runs for the welfare of these hapless sections of the society. A Seminar on the topic Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and orphans was held on this occasion

in which Muhammad Aslam Andrabi, chairman Shah e Hamadan Research Foundation (SRF), which collaborates with IRRT in running Darul Ehsan at Kralpora, threw light on the life of Prophet (pbuh) and his conduct towards the welfare of orphans. He said that Masjids have become a hotbed of spreading sectarian strife in Kashmir and it is for this reason that IRRT & SRF are reaching out to the younger generation through colleges and universities by organizing a series of seminars, symposia, debates and conferences about the challenges faced by the society and how Islam can provide a solution for the same. Maulana Yahya Andrabi emphasized that till an individual changes, no change can be

expected from the society. Prof Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi, Director of the Shah-e Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies, Kashmir University, lambasted the ulama for having failed to sensitize the Muslim masses about the importance of paying Zakat as well as rehabilitation of orphans and catering to their special needs. Prof Rafiabadi added that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was not sent as an orator but as a teacher and Muslims are failing to implement what they preach. There is a wide gap between our preaching and practice. Until this dichotomy is solved, nothing substantial and constructive can be expected from our society. (Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikander)

Campus Front gets new team Armys crimes in Kashmir

Hyderabad: The first National General Council of Campus Front of India was held here on 1 May. National President Adv. Mohamed Yusuff presided over the meeting and and told delegates that the organisation has received huge response from students in various places. Adv. K.P. Mohamed Sheriff, Secretary General of NCHRO (National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation) inaugurated the programme. He siad, Students are the backbone of any social movements to lead social changes, they should not go to the deeper sense of materialistic attitudes .It may destroy the social equity. Then National General Secretary Anisujjaman presented the annual report. Various interactions were held in response to the annual report and passed by the council. The election was held in the afternoon session and the following were elected as the new National Office Bearers and National Committee members of Campus Front of India: National President: Md Anisujjaman (JNU) National Vice-President: Asif Mirza (Rajasthan) National General Secretary: C.A. Raoof (Kerala) National Secretary: Mehfoos (Karnataka) National Treasurer: Abdur Rahman (Karnataka) National Committee Members: 1. Emdadul Haque (AMU) 2. Obaidur Rahamn, (JNU)

3. Rabiul Islam (West Bengal) 4. V.M. Fahad (Kerarla) 5. S.M. Shaafi (Tamil Nadu) 6. Adv. Mohamed Yusuff (Tamil Nadu) CFI Resolutions included: CFI strongly demands to wipe out corruption throughout the country; CFI demands effective implementation of the RTI; CFI demands the Central Government to present a white paper regarding the implementation of RTE; CFI condemns unprecedented police firings and atrocities against common people in Jaitapur; 5. CFI reiterates its opposition to all India entrance examinations; CFI appeals to the VC, AMU to reopen the campus as soon as possible; CFI denounces corruption in the judiciary. For more information, contact campusfrontofindia@gmail.com or visit www.campusfrontofindia.org

Surrendered militants camp in South Kashmir; in the middle is govt hitman Photo: Conveyor magazine Jehangir Khan This photograph of a so-called Ikhwani camp in an army area in South Kashmir was taken by Javed Dar in 2008. Standing in the middle is a well-known government gunman, Jehangir Khan. Thousands of such surrendered militants were/are being used by our army in Kashmir to kill, rape, loot and terrorise hapless Kashmiris. This saga of state terror started soon after the advent of the militancy in late 1980s. Whenever a militant wanted to surrender or a suspected militant wanted to return from the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, he was forced to become a hitman for the army which used him ruthlessly to commit acts of murder the officers themselves were unable or reluctant to commit. In the process, these criminals, who gave themselves the fanciful title of Ikhwanis, were free to kill, rape, loot, occupy properties and terrorise people across the Valley. According to an estimate, there are/were around 28,000 such criminals used by the army to do its dirty operations. These criminals get paid monthly salaries yet are not absorbed in the army. After committing crimes, they find sanctuary in the nearest army camp or position. Among the most famous Ikhwanis were Mohammad Yusuf alias Kuka Parray who was terror personified in north Kashmir for a decade and had formed the Ikhwan-ul Muslimoon terror group consisting of similar surrendered militants. He later became a political leader, became an MLA in 2002, and was killed by militants in September 2003; his colleague Javid Hussain Shah became a member of the legislative council and was killed in August 2003; Setha Gujru (Mohammad Ameen Wani, killed by militants circa 2001), operated in Anantnag and had 90 cases of murder registered against him - he had boasted to Srinagar weekly Chattan that he had killed 300 persons; K.K. of Anantnag; Liaqat, Ikhwan commander in south Kashmir, etc. They had struck a deal with the Army in 1993 to work for it secretly but were exposed very soon and ever since live in army areas and security zones. One such outfit of surrendered militants was called Muslim Mujahidin which later disbanded itself being unable to carry out the dirty tasks assigned to it and it repented publicly. One such criminal facing a murder trial is Ghulam Mohammad Mir alias Muma Kanna who received Padma Shri, one of Indias highest civilian awards this year, for which he was recommended by no less than Farooq Abdullah, a current Union Minister and a former chief minister of J&K. Despite an outcry, the award was not cancelled. Another such surrendered militant is Afzal Guru falsely implicated in the Parliament attack case while he was in fact despatched to Delhi by his handlers in J&K. Like Salwa Judum, J&Ks Village Defence Committees and Ranvir Sena, Kashmirs surrendered militants are a blot on Indias forehead. Time has come for India to dissociate itself fully from such criminals and sincerely apologise to the people of Kashmir for their crimes and compensate the victims. (Zafarul-Islam Khan)

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18 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

COMMUNITY NEWS
Global University to come up in Rampur
Rampur: Chairman of Spice Global Foundation, Dr. B.K. Modi proposed setting up of the Global University in Rampur which would be run on the pattern of Malayasias Limkokwing University. Nawab Kazim Ali Khan alias Naved Mian, MLA who is also the Project Director of Global University and who had paid a 3-day visit to Malayasia alongwith some top officials of Spice Global Foundation (SGF) had detailed talks with the Founder of Limkokwing University, Dr. Limcok Wing and his top colleagues. On his return Nawab Kazim Ali said that after studying various aspects of Limkokwing University, his team finalised the terms and conditions of affiliation of Global University to that University. It may be stated that Malayasias Limkokwing University has its branches and recognised educational institutions in 160 countries of the world and more than 30,000 students are directly associated with it in Malaysia. Jindal Prize for development and science New Delhi: Sita Ram Jindal, founder of Jindal Foundation has launched Jindal Prize for encouraging people to work for the betterment and welfare of poor, backward and deprived people of the country and for rendering invaluable services in some other fields, e.g., village development and removal of poverty, public health, education, science and technology, environment, promotion of peace etc. Prize for doing good work and valuable services in each field is a whopping Rs one crore, biggest Indian award or prize. Speaking on the occasion of launching this prize at India International Centre he said that today the population of India has crossed one billion but the population of the poor in this country is about 40 crores which indicates how much more we have to do for poor people. He said that no doubt many people are silently working for improving the lot of poor and afflicted people but if their services are appreciated and rewarded, they get further motivation to work. This prize is therefore launched with this idea. He said that many committees are constituted to suggest or recommend names of individuals or institutions for awards in these fields but final decision will be taken by a jury headed by former Chief Justice of India Justice J.S. Varma. Kandhamal returns to normalcy Over the years Kandhamal has witnessed violence and ethnocommunal riots but slowly things are changing and people are getting the impression that peace will return and they would be able to live life in an atmosphere of communal amity and dignity. People who were the perpetrators of communal violence have been dealt with and a sence of communal harmony and economic prosperity prevails. Burnt houses have been rebuilt and people are being rehabilitated in one way or the other. Employment generation schemes are providing better opportunities. Development works are providing an alternative in many ways and changing the lives of the youth affected by the violence or in any other way. Recently, Kandhamal was awarded for generation of innovation and employment and for promoting communal amity. Krishan Kumar, district collector said, "It was nice that Kandhamal got some positive recognition after drawing flak from every quarter because of the riots." The efforts of the local administration werelauded for implementing "Work for Peace" initiative under MGNREGS and Forest Rights Act, which has benefited 53000 tribal families. Kandhamal has now become a pioneering district in providing forest rights to the people. Another programme called Antaranga helped 7,500 youths from every panchayat in the district. Gita lessons in MP schools Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh state appears to be leading other states in implementing RSS-BJP agenda of making India a Hindu Rashtra and its saffronisation. After BJP came to power in this state in 2003 first, all education was saffronized. In 2007, surya namaskar (saluting the sun) and pranayam (yoga exercise) were made compulsory in government schools. After that (in 2009) the government made it compulsory for students to recite bhojan mantra before mid-day meals in schools. And now comes teaching of Gita lessons in schools. According to available information, Shivraj Singh Chauhan government of the state has decided to introduce teaching of Gita in schools all over the state from the academic year 2011-12 He has directed officials of the concerned ministry / department to include teaching of this holy book in school curriculums and furnish to him relevant details in this respect at the earliest and start working right now for this. He has also directed them to chalk out an action plan for holding a chhatra panchayat by the end of May. Sectarian fight leads to the death in mosque Moradabad: Fight between Deobandis and Barelvis is nothing new. One such fight in a mosque in Dalpatpur in Moradabad district resulted in the death of a youngman and serious injuries to seven persons. According to police, tension and disagreement between the people of these two sects over Imam of this mosque had been going on for about four months though people of both sects were offering namaz in this mosque. On Friday 15 April this took a serious turn when after night (Isha) prayer both groups came face to face. Physical fight between the followers of the two sects took a serious turn when lathis and stones were used. Twenty-four year old Kamil received severe lathi blows on his hand and face. He began to bleed profusely. He was rushed to the nearest hospital but succumbed to his injuries before reaching the hospital. At least seven persons from both sides were also seriously injured. Though the situation has been brought under control, tension is still there. Police in large number has been

Seminar on challenges to women and Islam

Srinagar: A one-day seminar on "Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Women" was organised by the Islamic Relief & Research Trust (IRRT) at Government High School, Singhpora Pattan, on 4 May. "Kashmiri women are confronting a number of challenges," said social activist A. R. Hanjura, while speaking at the seminar. He deliberated about a number of challenges facing women of Kashmir, including foeticide of girl child as is evident from the recent census of 2011, which has testified a vast decline in the sex ratio. A. R. Hanjura spoke about the numerous issues that need to be tackled on war footing, like catering to the needs of teeming numbers of orphans and widows in the Kashmiri society. He threw light on the work of IRRT, which he heads, lamenting the fact that due to financial constraints IRRT cant cater to the needs of all. Hanjura added that a number of crimes are committed against women in Kashmir which have further marginalized and degraded them. Hanjura lauded the fact that the legislature of Kashmir passed the Women Shariat Bill in 2007 according to which women are entitled to get their share in the property of their fathers, husbands and brothers. Though Islam had granted women these rights 1500 years ago, the patriarchal customs of Kashmir negated them, hence women were deprived of their rights sanctioned by Shariat. Zonal Educational Officer, Ghulam Mohiduddin Bhat, also spoke on the occasion. He lamented the fact that Muslims were not following Islam, hence women are exploited and backward even in a Muslim society like Kashmir. posted there. Release Chishty: Mahesh Bhatt and Kuldip Nayar Film director Mahesh Bhatt and veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar have demanded of the Punjab governor Shivraj Patil to release a Pakistani professor of virology who has been awarded life imprisonment by an Ajmer court in Rajasthan in January 2011. Talking to media persons Bhatt and Nayar divulged that they had called on Punjab governor for he enjoys powers under Article 161 of the constitution to suspend or remit any sentence. Chishty who came to India had gone to Ajmer to look after his ailing mother and was arrested following a dispute with some of his neighbours. He was arrested under Sections 302, 307/37, 302/34 and 324/34 of the IPC and subsequently released on bail. However, both Bhatt and Nayar emphasised that Chishty was wrongly implicated. Chishty is now 80 years old and has suffered two strokes since the trial began. Mahesh Bhatt in an interview said, "It is time we stopped de-humanising each other. India and Pakistan have been exchanging prisoners. Gopal Dass, who had been languishing in Pakistani jails for 27 years, was released recently on humanitarian grounds. We can reciprocate through Dr. Chishtys release." JMI profs discover new formulae re. simple pendulum New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia professors MI Qureshi and M Rafat of the Department of Applied Sciences and Humanities of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology have discovered a set of new formulae associated with the simple pendulum. The new formulae have been published in the European Journal of Physics (vol.31, 2010). The motion of a simple pendulum of arbitrary amplitude has until now been derived through an approximate formula, because its path was considered to be linear, and not circular. The two professors provide the exact equation of the motion, treating the path as circular. The Jamia faculty showed that by using generalised hypergeometric functions, it is possible to solve the problem exactly. Not only that, they provide a new and exact expression for the time a pendulum takes to swing from a vertical position to an arbitrary angular position. The time taken by such a pendulum is also exactly expressible in terms of hypergeometric functions. Their pathbreaking work has been uploaded on the website of European Journal of Physics at http://iopscience.iop.org/0143-0807/31/6/014Jamia_Millia_Alumni_directory Lecture on Islam and the West Srinagar: On 30 April, Islamic scholar Prof. Ishtiyaque Danish of the Jamia Hamdard delivered a lecture on Islam and the West in Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic studies, Kashmir University in Srinagar. In order to make understandable the present West, he divided it into Christian West as an ideology, ignorant West and Greek-Roman ideology of West. When Muslims were in their glorious period and had enlightened their part of world, West was still ignorant living in dark ages. When Indian scholars went to West they were interested in law but when they came to Muslim world they were interested in science, medicine etc. He highlighted their aptitude of research on rational grounds. He said that according to the enlightened West, knowledge is universal and cannot be imprisoned in a particular area. So, they invited the best minds of the world to the West and paid huge salaries and facilitated their research in the new society. He threw light on the Dr. Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi, Director of the Department of Islamic Studies at Kashmir University, emphasised the rights which Islam granted to women but culture, customs and patriarchy snatched the same from our women. He lambasted that un-Islamic practices have creeped into the Muslim society and the fate of Muslim women is similar to that of other women in India. Dowry, Barat and female foeticide among Kashmiri Muslims are responsible for the degraded status of women. He added that Islam doesnt need any reform movement like Feminism. Rather, Muslims have only to return to Islam and implement it in its real spirit which will make the period of womens zenith return once again, as destined by pristine Islam. Maulana Manzoor spoke on the position of women in Islam. He attacked the dichotomy between what Islam is and what is witnessed in the Muslim society. Aalima Haleema, of Al-Haya Education Foundation, spoke about the pathetic condition of Muslim women despite Islam being the forerunner in granting women their rights. Men are negligent towards the rights of women which has resulted in the marginalization and exploitation of women, as they are unaware of their rights which Islam bestowed upon them long ago. A Naat [poems in praise of the Prophet] Competition too was organised on this occasion and three students who bagged the first, second and third positions were awarded cash prizes of Rs 800, Rs 700 and Rs 500, while other participants were awarded books on this occasion. The programme was part of a series of programmes on the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) at many places in the Valley, by IRRT. (Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar) animal side of Europe. In response to a question related with the conversion of western people to Islam, he said that the weak section of humanity is always in favour of change. Muslim advisory Committee in Delhi Minorities Commission New Delhi: Chairman of Delhi State Minorities Commission, Safdar Husain Khan has constituted an advisory committee for Muslim affairs. Members of this committee are: Dr. Aslam Parvez, Khwaja Khalilullah, Sikandar Hayat, Wasi Ahmad Nomani, M. Shahnawaz, Haji Nasimuddin, Badruzzoha Siddiqi, Farooq Engineer, Maulana Neyaz Ahmad Farooqi, Dr. Akhlaq Ahmad, Mirza Javed Ali, Haji Hifzur Rahman, Prof. Zahoor Muhammad Khan, Dr. Mrs. Shaheen and Abdul Wadood Sajid. The chairman said that a meeting of this committee will be convened soon so that a strategy regarding solution of important problems of Muslims could be prepared. Welfare Party is backed by civil society

Bangalore: The Welfare Party of India, formed on April 18 at Delhi, is backed by reputed social and civil society movements and will strive for thriving on an alternative politics and shall attempt to emerge on the horizon of Indian politics as the voice of voiceless, the hope for justice and as a harbinger of a new India, said Lalita Naik B T, vice-president of the party. She was addressing presspersons here on 6 May. Welfare Party will not be just another party engaged in power politics. This will be rather a movement for reforming the Indian politics and will try to realise a welfare state based on moral values and governed by the principles of Justice, Freedom, Equality and Fraternity. The party is not for short term political gains. It has embarked on a long term mission to evolve an alternative political culture in the country. To achieve this objective, the party will launch massive public campaigns and will awaken the socio-political public consciousness. It will try to inculcate in common man the self esteem, the self confidence and the ambition and courage to fight the oppression and exploitation. It will try to promote able and virtuous leadership among masses and shall try to advance alternative politics in the country through this social struggle. The criminalisation of Politics, the Communalisation of Politics, the Commercialisation of Politics and the Sectarianisation of Politics are the biggest evils of our prevailing political culture. These evils have created such a rot in Indian body-politic that the people are disgusted with the whole class of politicians. This is a very dangerous situation and if unchecked, poses a serious threat to democracy itself. It is high time a new freedom fight is launched and a mighty social and public resistance is launched against these evils, she said.

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 19

COMMUNITY NEWS
German grant for Delhi monument
New Delhi: Many Muslim leaders and intellectuals like K. Rahman Khan, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, favour the abolition of Haj subsidy and the Indian government also has decided to abolish it in phases, but some other leaders like Hasan Ahmad, Delhi MLA and Vice Chairman of Haj Committee of India, say that this subsidy should not be abolished because it is a democratic right of Muslims as we are citizens of this country and pay all taxes. Therefore, it is also our right to demand concessions from government. Moreover, Ahmad said, Supreme Court also has put its seal of approval on this right of ours. He added that he cant understand why some people are opposing the Haj subsidy. He said that by 30 April, which was the last date for submission of Haj application forms, 270,000 applications were received but the Indian quota of Hajis for Haj 2011 fixed by the government is 104,000. excluding Hajis who want to go through private operators This mans that more than double of this number want to go for Haj and hence it is essential that the quota of semination of information and knowledge about Sikkim, placement and research work on this state. Director of this Centre, Prof. Sanjoy Hazarika broadened the scope of work by saying that the programme will also include, among other things, research on climate changes, environment, social stress and way of life etc. Pre-Matric scholarships for minorities more than doubled New Delhi: Pre-Matric scholarships scheme of ministry of minorities affairs started for boy and girl students belonging to minority communities reached double its target in the year 2010-11, claimed a statement by the Ministry of Minority Affairs on 19 April. According to this scheme, which was started in 2008-09, the target number was fixed at 20 lakh i.e., by the end of financial year 201011 it was estimated that such scholarships will be given to 20 lakh students (boy and girl) but it was found that as many as 44.21 lakh students were given these scholarships which is indeed a great achievement. But at the same time the question arises, as to from where the additional amount was obtained for giving the scholarships to double the targeted number because whenever a scheme or plan is made for implementation, a budget of a certain fixed amount is also allocated in advance. So, if for 20 lakh students, an amount of, say, Rs. 20 crores was allocated i.e., Rs. 100 for each student and if it was found that instead of 20 lakh students, 44.21 lakh students were given the scholarships at the same rate of Rs. 100 each, from where did the additional amount of about Rs. 24 crores came? because if the budgeted amount is not or cannot be spent for some reason, the unspent amount is returned to the government but if the budgeted amount falls short, further work is held up and is undertaken in the next financial year with a fresh budget. Anyway, the target for the year 2011-12 is fixed at 27 lakh students who will be given pre-Matric scholarships. Ministry of minorities affairs said at a press conference that among the 44.21 lakh students who were given pre-Matric scholarships in the year 201011, 4815 were girl students. It was further stated that till 31 March 2011 i.e., during 08-09, 09-10 and 10-11 total number of the scholarships given was 66.63 lakh i.e., 66.63 lakh students were the beneficiaries of these scholarships. Malegaon accused on hunger strike against non-trial Mumbai: Farogh Iqbal Maqdoomi, one of the nine accused in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blast case ended his hunger strike on 29 April after the jail authorities showed him a letter from the state home department which said that his demands were under the governments consideration. He, however, said that if his demands are not met, he will go back on hunger strike. He had been on a hunger strike since 5 April demanding speedy trial of his case. He says that he is innocent hence either he should be released or his trial should begin at the earliest on a fast-track basis so that he could defend himself. Dr. Makhdoomi is one of the accused in the 2006 Malegaon blast case. Dr Farogh has been lodged in Mumbais Arthur Road jail. The accusations against the Muslim youth arrested for their alleged role in Malegaon blast have fallen flat as a result of Aseemanands confessions and the CBI has said that there is no case against these detainees. His lawyer, advocate Jaleel Ahmad said around 15 April that when he was brought to MCOCA court he was so frail and weak that he could not even walk properly. He was supported by two of his co-accused. 2006 Malegaon Blast: Court directs CBI to file report Mumbai: The Special MCOCA Court here on 7 May declined to entertain the National Investigating Agencys (NIA) plea for further investigations into the 2006 Malegaon blast, and instead, directed the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) to continue investigations and file its report by May 13. The National Investigating Agency (NIA) had taken over the investigations of the 2006 Malegaon blast case following the decision by the Union home ministry to get all the Hindutva terror-related cases investigated by a single agency. Consequently, NIA produced the accused in the Special MCOCA Court same day and sought the courts permission for further investigations. The court, however, directed NIA to appoint a court as per law before seeking such a permission as according to section 11 of the NIA Act 2008, the agency should appoint or request the government to appoint a

Support for Haj subsidy and demand for increased quota

New Delhi: German government has given a grant of Rs. 96 lakh for restoration and renewal of Chaunsath Khamba [sixty four pillars], a 400-year-old Moghul period monument in Delhis Hazrat Nizamuddin area. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this purpose was signed on behalf of the German government by German ambassador in India, Thomas Matussek and Ratish Nanda, Project Director of Agha Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) in Delhi on 13 April. At the time of signing the MoU the German ambassador said that the German government is making this humble contribution to the wonderful work being done by Agha Khan Foundation to preserve the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of this holy place. Ratish Nanda, Project Director of AKTC said that work on Chaunsath Khamba, was necessary because it is greatly damaged because of excessive seepage of water and neglect, is part of the big conservation work covering Humayun Tomb, Sundar Nagar Nursery, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti Urban Renewal Initiative and is a public-private partnership between AKTC, ASI, CPWD and Delhi Municipal Corporation. He said that this Zone contains the maximum concentration of medieval Islamic buildings. Chaunsath Khamba is the tomb of Emperor Akbars foster brother Mirza Aziz Kokaltash and was built in 1623-24. Delhi contemplates new policy on unauthorised shrines After the Supreme Courts directive to all states seeking status report on unauthorised shrines, the Delhi government on 4 April discussed the matter, to prepare a guideline on removal, relocation and regularisation of the unauthorised shrines. In Delhi there are 238 such religious structures on public land. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in an interview said that the issue has been discussed in the Cabinet on the Supreme Courts directive and has sought suggestions from all concerned departments in order to make a comprehensive policy on this matter. The Supreme Court had issued orders to all states to file the status report on its earlier direction that no unauthorised construction is allowed in the name of religious structures at public places. One more mosque rehabilitated in Punjab Patiala: A mosque in Peepal Mangoli village of Patiala (Punjab) which was occupied by refugees after Partition was vacated by Sikh inhabitants as a result of the continuous efforts of Maulana Muhammad Kaleem Siddiqi, an Islamic preacher and President of Jamiat Shah Waliullah and his colleagues and handed over by the people of Sikh community to them for offering of namaz. The handing over of the mosque presented a great scene of communal harmony when Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims had assembled at one place with a feeling of friendship and brotherhood. The first namaz was led by Maulana Muhammad Javed Nadwi, a representative of Maulana Muhammad Kaleem Siddiqi who was assigned the task of setting up maktabs and madrasas and other religious activities in these areas. After namaz Maulana Javed Nadwi prayed for communal peace and harmony. It is interesting to note that there are only a few Muslim households in this village and about 2000 inhabitants are non-Muslims with a large majority being Sikhs. Maulana Javed Nadwi, on the instructions of Maulana Kaleem Siddiqi has been doing religious jobs in these areas since long and is also running a religious institution, Jamia Darus Salam in Ambala. With joint efforts of these people more than a dozen mosques which were closed and neglected or occupied have now been rehabilitated where namaz is being offered regularly. He says that differences and disputes are our own creations and if we live with a feeling of peace, brotherhood, tolerance and magnanimity, there will be no ill feeling and bad blood among people. Research programme in Sikkim Studies launched in JMI New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamias Centre for North East Studies launched a research programme in Sikkim Studies on 25 April which is the first programme of this kind in India with the objective of familiarising students and others with the history, culture, geography, political system and governance as well as Sikkims contribution to India. The programme was launched by Sikkims chief minister, Pawan Chamling who also announced an annual grant of Rs. 25 lakh for three years for running the programme from Jamia. It may be stated that this Centre of Jamia, which is the only one of its kind in India, is already conducting research programmes about other smaller states in this region such as Maghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Tripura etc. Chief minister Pawan Chamling, while launching this research programme on Sikkim regretted that despite his states (Sikkim) rich contribution and sacrifices (like policies of nonindustrialisation, non-grazing, deforestation) in order to protect Himalayan ecology, there is no recognition of his governments efforts and contribution to India by the people and government of India. The programme on Sikkim launched on 25 April at Jamias Centre for N-E Studies will include research, documentation, dis-

Haj pilgrims must be increased otherwise thousands of prospective Hajis will be deprived of performing Haj. He said that Haj Committee of India chairperson Mrs. Mohsina Qidwai is trying to get the quota increased. Hasan Ahmad said that an increase in the Haj quota is necessary because conditions here in India are different from other countries. He said that after the draw of lots, Hajis who are selected will have to submit their passports to the Haj Committee by 15 June, otherwise their seats will be cancelled. In reply to questions about Haj arrangements in Saudi Arabia, he said that so far 33,000 units have been rented in Makka for residential purposes in different categories and the process of renting more units is in progress. He said that Haj flights from different Indian airports for Jeddah and Madina will start from the last week of September. He said that training also will be provided to Hajis but this year the producer and director of Visual Concepts Co, Chaudhary Shoaib of Mumbai, has prepared a documentary based on Haj travels and all information and activities of Haj and places of Ziarat etc. which will be very useful for prospective Hajis. He said that a DVD of this documentary will be given to the intending Hajis which will be very useful for them. (NA Ansari) special court within seven days of taking over a case. The court simultaneously directed the CBI, which had earlier taken the permission from the same court for re-investigations of the 2006 Malegaon blast case, to file its report by May 13. The CBI had started the re-investigation of the case with a totally new team, which hinted at the lapses committed in the earlier investigations. However, it stopped its investigations and could not submit the report in the court after the NIA took over the investigations. Demand for Ashram shalas in Muslim areas too Mumbai: Husain Dalwai, Congress member of the Legislative Council of Maharashtra demanded in the House that government-run Asharam shalas should be opened in Muslim populated localities also, so that Muslim children also could benefit from these shalas and get the facilities of free meals and accommodation. He said that the Maharashtra government has allocated crores of rupees for these shalas but its benefits are derived by only one particular section of society because in these shalas the medium of education is Marathi only. Hence he demanded that Urdu also should be included in the syllabus of these shalas so that Muslim children also could seek admission in these shalas and acquire education. Husain Dalwai said that though these shalas are basically meant for Dalit and Aadivaasi children who are mostly poor and backward, Muslims too are poor and backward as is obvious from Sachar Committees report. Such shalas should be opened for Muslim children where, alongwith normal education, religious education may also be imparted to them. Speaking about Equal Opportunities Commission and other organisations he demanded that Muslims should also be appointed in the interview Boards for interviewing candidates for jobs in all government departments so that Muslim candidates, who face discrimination because of communal bias, in jobs in government offices should not face any difficulty. Asad Pathan selected for cricket training Anand: With three Gujaratis already dazzling the cricket world by their brilliant performances Gujarat has now one more name to boast about. Asad Pathan from Anand, has reported at Bangalore for cricket training having been selected by the Royal Challengers, Bangalore. Asad expressed his confidence that he wouldscore a brilliant knock while batting during the IPL matches to become as illustrious as Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel. His father, Rabiullah Khan, serving as CTI in the railways at Vododara represented the Western Railways. Young Asad used to accompany his father while he played. His father recognised the potential of his talented son and gave him thorough coaching in the game. Asad represented Limpopo club, South Africa. After receiving a job offer from the Western Railway he returned to India and played for it. Asad Pathan is a fine batsman and is also a medium pace bowler. He can bowl with both hands fast as well as spin. Playing for the Western Railway he scored 202 runs off 201 balls. In another match he scored 286 runs off 115 balls. In the past two years he scored 40 centuries. His mother Samina Ben is a social worker and had been a member of Anand Municipality. Case registered against Togadia for inflammatory speech Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala police has registered a case against VHP leader Praveen Togadia under various sections of IPC for his inflammatory speech at Hindu Coordination Committees conference at Kanhangad on 30 April, thereby promoting communal hatred, enmity and religious disharmony. In his speech he had stated, among other things, that construction of a masjid will not be allowed at the disputed land and that Islamic forces were becoming stronger in the country. It is reported that some Hindus who were returning after Togadias speech were attacked while passing through a Muslim populated area. An incident of stone-pelting was also reported in this area in which an activist of Hindu Coordination Committee reportedly suffered injuries. The state police, believing that Togadias inflammatory speech was responsible for raising communal passions in the communally sensitive area, registered a case against him. He was, however, not arrested.

20 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

COMMUNITY NEWS
Sadis special place among Indian people
New Delhi: A function on the occasion of Shiekh Sadis birth anniversary was held at Irans embassy on 24 April in which Indian intellectuals, researchers and scholars of Persian participated in large numbers. Irans Cultural Counsellor, Dr. Karim Najafi said while speaking and welcoming the audience on this occasion that in India Sheikh Sadi enjoys a special position and even today people in India narrate Sheikh Sadis stories and fables, as mentioned in his books Gulistan and Bostaan (which contain words of wisdom and moral lessons) to their children and students for their moral training. Iranian ambassador, Mehdi Nabizadah expressed his views on Sheikh Sadis scholarly works and his stature. In this function messages of Sonia Gandhi and HRD minister Kapil Sibal were read out. On this occasion Sadi Awards comprising of cash prize of Rs 40,000 and a commendation certificate each were given to six intellectuals and teachers namely: Prof. Idris Ahmad (of Zakir Husain College), Prof. Sharifunnisa Begum Ansari (Padmshri, of Usmania University, Hyderabad), Prof. Chandrashekhar (of Delhi University), Prof. Abdus Subhan (of Kolkata University), Prof. Bilqees Fatema Husaini (Delhi University) and Dr. Hasan Abbas (Banaras Hindu University). The Awards were given to the awardees by Iranian ambassador Nabi Zadah, ambassadors of Tajikistan and Afghnistan and Dr. Mufti Mukarram Ahmad, Imam of Shahi Fatehpuri Masjid. Understanding Quran in the light of science an achievement Lucknow: A function in honour of Dr. Iqtedaar Farooqi, a distinguished botanist-scientist, who was honoured with an Award by Sultan Qaboos of Oman, was held in Lucknows Jai Shankar Prasad Hall on 14 April. Speaking on this occasion Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi Manager of Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow and President of All India Muslim Personal Law Board who chaired this function said that he (Dr. Iqtadaar) in fact deserved the Award given to him by Sultan Qaboos much before because his explanation and understanding of the Quran with the help of science is really remarkable and a big achievement. He further said that Maulana Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi also had admitted that with his explanation of the Quran in the light of science, many complexities in the Quranic verses which he had found difficult to understand were made easy for him and Dr. Farooqi himself had confirmed this. On this occasion a book titled Muslim Societies: Rise and Fall was also released by Maulana Rabey Nadwi. Before Maulana Rabeys speech Abid Suhail, noted fiction writer and journalist, while congratulating Dr. Farooqi for the Award quoted from Albert Einstein that religion and science are inseparable. Another speaker, journalist Qutubullah said that Dr. Farooqi has deeply studied the Quran and Hadis in the light of natural sciences and his explanation of the Quran from botanical, biological, physical and other scientific angles will certainly provoke a series of debates. Many other speakers also expressed their views on these and other topics in this function which was organised by Media Foundation and Society for Promotion of Health and Education. At the end of the function a shield was presented to Dr. Iqtedaar Farooqi by Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi. Kasiwal scholarships for promising students of JMI New Delhi: Jamia Millia Universitys Vice Chancellor Najeeb Jung announced here that the Mukul Kasiwal Scholarship has been started for promising students of Jamia Millia Islamia University and with this, two girl students of this University have been given Rs. 25,000 each. Under this scholarship, President of Mukul Kasiwal Corporation, Mukul Kasiwal has granted Rs. 5 lakh as financial help. Vice Chancellor Najeeb Jung presented the scholarships for the academic session 2010-11 to promising students Uzma Yusuf of first semester of Master of International Business and Naheed Tabassum, a student of M. Sc (Biotechnology). Under this scholarship, both girl students will get Rs. 25,000 every year. For this scholarship Mukul Kasiwal has made Universitys VC as the Trustee. HC queries Centre on plea to set up human rights courts In response to a PIL filed by Asian Centre for Human Rights seeking an order to establish human rights courts in the capital, the Delhi High Court on 20 April asked the Centre and the Delhi government to reply within four weeks. The PIL was filed by the Asian Centre for Human Rights as per Human Rights Act of 1993 and Chapter VI of the Act that authorises the state government to establish courts in all districts in order to tackle human rights violation cases. The order was issued to the government by a division bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice President of Maharashtra state Samajwadi Party and MLA, Abu Asim Azmi, while strongly castigating the states Congress-NCP coalition government said that in this state there is nothing that is called justice and atrocities are being heaped on Muslims and hence Samajwadi Party playing the role of opposition Party strongly protests against this good-for-nothing government. Addressing a press conference at governments rest house in Nanded on 27 April he said that his tour of Nanded is to strengthen this Party, to include new members and to activate old members. He said that in this state a small amount of Rs 275 crore only has been allocated in the state budget for 26% minorities which is a great injustice to minorities, particularly Muslims whereas on the contrary, thousands of rupees have been sanctioned for the progress and welfare of notified castes and tribes people. He said that the self-styled secular government is adopting a policy of religious discrimination. In the name of promotion of tourism the state government has sanctioned several crores of rupees for temples but no financial assistance is being, and has Sanjiv Khanna. In its annual report, National Human Rights Commission in 2001-02 had recommended that the human rights courts may be presided by a district session judge and the court should be empowered to punish the guilty and at the same time to award compensation in order to rehabilitate the victims. After drawing inferences from the NHRC report, the petitioner pointed out that most of the human rights violation cases have been found to be true by the NHRC and that is why it becomes essential to establish special courts in order to prosecute the offenders. The non-establishment of human rights courts and non-appointment of special public prosecutors has been hampering trial of offences arising out of violation of human rights and realization of human rights in the country. the petitioner argued. Divorced Muslim woman harassed by hooligans Surat: A divorced Muslim woman is being constantly harassed by a few hooligans who want to forcefully occupy the land she lives in. Living adjacent to a water head tank in Surat (Dumas locality) Shakila Pathan who hails from Rajasthan has been systematically deprived of basic civic amenities such as gutter, street light and water by these miscreants who are determined to drive her away from the locality, to capture her plot of land. Shakila Pathans tragic tale is poignant as well as a strong proof of patience and perseverance amidst odds. Driven away from Rajasthan she had been living in the locality with members of her family - her parents and two brothers. While her two brothers Mohsin and Feroze died in two separate incidents; her mother too died recently due to illness. She has been living now with her aged father. The semi-final match between India and Pakistan brought her untold misery. Being accused of being a Pakistani, the hooligans gathered around her house to intimidate her by abusing and making absence gestures. She escaped from there and found refuge in a hotel near the railway station. For the last fortnight she has been spending her days chasing one officer or the other with her petition demanding justice and peace of mind but in vain. She submitted her appeal to the district collector Surat, chairman minority tribunal, Gandhi Nagar, Police commissioner, Surat, yet no action has been taken so far against the hooligans who are becoming more emboldened by the apathy of the administration.

Movement against Maha. govts anti-Muslim activities

been, given to any dargah or religious places of Muslims like Makhdoom Mahaemis dargah or Aurangzeb Alamgirs dargah at Khuldabad and other such places for the development and promotion of tourism at these places. He said that in religious educational institutions like madrasas patriotism and brotherhood are taught and the ulama of these madrasas in the past have sacrificed their lives for the countrys freedom but in spite of this, the state governments financial assistance to these madrasas has been stopped which istantamount to bias and unfair attitude towards Muslims. This shows the state governments policy of double standard. He said that he is very much against any board of state or central government because by bringing madrasas under these boards, s conspiracy is being hatched to change their syllabus and to eliminate Islam and the roots of this conspiracy are spread to America and Israel. About Jaitapur nuclear power project he said that he is not against it but he wants that the project be set up by taking the local people into confidence. He said that persons arrested for Mumbai bomb blasts, Malegaon graveyard bomb blasts and Aurangabad confiscation of arms etc. are being tried under MCOCA and RSS leader Aseemanand himself confessed in an affidavit filed in Court that he and many other leaders of RSS are complicit in Mumbai and Malegaon etc. bomb blast cases and asked why then innocent Muslims arrested in these cases are not being freed? He said that Samajwadi Party will start a movement all over the state for the release of innocent Muslims falsely accused and arrested in these cases. He also strongly demanded that amounts allocated for the welfare and progress of Muslims should be increased. (NA Ansari) Global Supply Chain to 20 selected participants and delegates as study material in an international conference in April 2011 in which delegates from different countries including Thailand, Netherland, Singapore, China, Kenya, Johannesburg, Nigeria and Malaysia had participated, and appreciated it very much. Dr. Salma Ahmad said in the foreword of this book that for management course, case analysing is essential. She also said that she was motivated to write this book because of the common feeling of fear among students when they have to analyse cases and hence this book will be very useful for those students who find great difficulty in case analysing. On the other hand, the fact that the Editorial Board of the famous Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabads House Journal has published her 17 articles, this too encouraged her to write this book. Mazhar Imams interest in literature developed early New Delhi: Mazhar Imam, prominent Urdu poet and author and winner of Sahitya Academy Award, Ghalib Award etc. said while speaking at Sahitya Academy, New Delhi in Kavi Sandhi function that he developed interest in literature from the very beginning of his life. He read the works of many good poets and writers, many good books but judging the vast ocean of literature he felt that all his studies are like a drop in the ocean. He said that Calcutta is an important milestone of his literary life where some of his dreams took practical shape in real life, where his aspirations which were confined to his heart, found an opening. He also spoke about his literary life spent in Darbhanga, Patna and Kashmir. It may be stated in this connection that under Kavi Sandhi programme, Sahitya Academy invites prominent poets of Indian languages to express their views and experiences of their literary journey and familiarise the audience, which mainly consist of men of letters of different Indian languages, with their literary works. Mazhar Imam is counted among those Urdu poets who gave a new direction to Urdu poetry. His five anthologies of poems including Zakhm-e Tamanna, Paalki Kahkashaan ki, Pichhlay Mausam ka Phool etc. have been published. In addition to these, many of his works in prose also have come out. In addition to the awards mentioned above, he is also the winner of Delhi Urdu Academys and other awards. He further said in his address that he had always been interested in modernism and new ideas. He said that he started composing independent verses at a time when no other progressive and no poet of Bihar except Makhdoom Mohiuddin had composed independent verses or poetry. He also recited some of his poems to the audience. In the beginning of the programme, Sahitya Academys OSD (Programme) J. Punnodurai while welcoming the guests introduced Mazhar Imam as a distinguished poet of this age. This Kavi Sandhi function was held at Sahitya Academys premises on 29 April. Restore Hindu shrines in Valley: APMCC All Party Migrant Co-ordination Committee (APMCC) organised a programme in the national capital on 17 April to raise the issue of the appalling state of the Hindu shrines in the Valley. The organisation had recently alleged that nearly 500 temples in the valley have been encroached, and demanded a probe by a Central level agency in this matter. Mr Vinod chairman of APMCC said that the organisation has ample proof of encroachment in the Valley. He also said that if the government is seriously considering the return of the Kashmiri Pandits then they need to be assured of the steps taken in this direction and that would go a long way in building confidence among the people of the Valley. BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said that we need to be vigilant to any such act which is detrimental in the restoration of our shrines in Valley. Vinod Pandit said that the demands of the Kashmiri pandits have been pending for long and require immediate attention in order to preserve 5,000 year old cultural heritage of the Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.

Release of book on materials management Aligarh: A book titled How to Write and Analyse Cases by Dr. Salma Ahmad, Associate Professor in AMUs Department of Business Administration was released in Delhi on 28 April by Suresh Kumar Sharma, President of the Indian Institute of Materials Management (IIMM) in the presence of bureaucrats and technocrats like IIMMs Delhi Branch President, S. Prasad, Adviser Nand Kumar, National Aluminum Cos (NALCO) Chief Manager (Materials), executives and students of PG Diploma in Logistics Management and PG Diploma in Materials Management and others. Her book under review was also jointly presented by Kuala L a m p u r s Malayasian Institute of Purchase and Materials HE ILLI AZETTE M a n a g e m e n t and Indian D-84, Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar, Institute of New Delhi-110025 India Tel.: (+91-11) 2694 7483 Materials Email: mg@milligazette.com Management on the topic of

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The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 21

COMMUNITY NEWS
Discussion on AMUs current situation
Aligarh: In the aftermath of an armed clash between two factions of students, the Aligarh Muslim University was closed sine die on 30 April. In order to assess this state of affairs and to reform it, JIHs AMU unit held a discussion here on 1 May, in which teachers of various departments of the university participated. Prof. Mohammad Idris, head of the dept of chemical engineering, giving vent to his angst on AMU being closed all of a sudden, said that the teaching activities in his department were in full swing, and all students were busy in their examination preparations when the university was closed. Besides, several companies were visiting AMU for recruitment for the first time, and thereby good job opportunities for the students were expected, but with the closing of the university all these things have gone awry. Because of some bad elements and their bad activities, the whole university has to suffer, he said. He appealed that sane people of the university should come forward and do their best to restore its prestige and to sustain its good name. Dr. Azhar Jamil, incharge of the civil section of University Polytechnic, said that he had been associated with the AMU in different capacities, for nearly four decades. Disturbances are not new here, but university properties had not been damaged earlier, nepotism had also been there but money was not involved at all, but during the past two decades, the university is witnessing a grave moral degradation, when individual interests are being preferred at the cost of collective and community interests. He demanded that everyone, setting aside individual interests, should work for the welfare of the community and the university. Ashhad Jamal, teacher of Senior Secondary School of AMU, said that at this very institution, whose founders sincerity and dedication are beyond doubt, sincerity is very rare now and instead, double speaking, nepotism and serving vested interests are ruling the roost. He said that university teachers, students and other associates have to rise to their responsibilities and make utmost efforts to restore Islamic and higher moral values at AMU. At the end of the discussion, Dr Safdar Sultan Islahi, president of JIH AMU unit, said that the disturbances at AMU are not a clash of regionalism, rather these are wars of vested interests. Some so-called elements having failed to secure their vested interests make trouble in the university on various excuses and confuse the situation at the campus. He appealed to the teacher and student fraternity to think and work in the interest of the university and to restore, at the earliest, the educational activities at AMU. Rahmani prepares Muslim youth for railway services exams Munger: Rahmani Foundation of Munger, after training and preparing Muslim youth for difficult, all India competitive examinations for IIT and civil services etc. to enable them become technocrats, chartered accountants, scientists etc. is now preparing these youths for railway services. For this, entrance examinations will be held at many places in Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and West Bengal on 8 May 2011. Chairman of Rahmani Foundation and the moving spirit behind these training programmes, Maulana Muhammad Wali Rahmani said that Muslim students should actively take part in this and other such tests for different all India posts. He said that Muslims are very backward in higher education and economic fields and solution for this is that they should be imparted training so that they succeed in competitive examinations and demonstrate their capabilities by achieving success in the fields of higher education and be able to secure good jobs. He said that Rahmani Foundation has undertaken serious study of educational condition of Muslims and only after that has initiated these steps. It is hoped that these steps will bear fruit and Muslims will take advantage of these facilities. He said that Muslim students who have passed intermediate or have passed higher examinations and still have one year in the age limit as prescribed for government jobs should appear for entrance test for railway jobs. He said that first there will be a written test, then viva and those who are selected will be imparted training for railway examination. He said that training to Muslim students for railway competitive examinations will be imparted free at Rahmani Foundations Headquarters at Nawab Kothi, Munger and other expenses also will be born by the Foundation. Details in this respect will be published in Urdu newspapers. He said that today Muslim students do not succeed in competitive examinations and do not get jobs because they are not provided training in a proper and organised manner. If they are given proper training, results will certainly be good. That is why Rahmanai Foundation has decided to provide training to Muslim students to sit for competitive examinations for railways and other all India services. HC refuses bail to Asgar, convicted for Pandyas murder Gujarat High Court has rejected the bail application of Asgar Ali convicted in Haren Pandyas murder case when it became known that earlier he had managed to get bail for 45 days on false ground. Asgar Ali had recently moved a temporary bail application before a division bench of the Gujarat high court saying that he has to arrange medical expenses for his ailing mother in Andhra Pradesh. The bench comprised of Justices RR Tripathi and Justice PP Bhatt. At the time of hearing the public prosecutor JM Panchal opposed application and produced a copy of the letter from the intelligence chief of Andhra Pradesh. As per the letter on 2 April, Akbar Ali is elder brother of Asgar who is a government employee in Nalgonda district. The letter also mentioned that Asgar has been involved in anti-social activities from the age of 16 and has never supported his family. Four hours increase in Irans Sehr Urdu TV service Tehran: Urdu service of Irans Sehr World Urdu TV Network will be completing ten years on 22 May this year. On the occasion of this anniversary, a big function was held in Tehran in which Urdu TV Services Director, Daud Iskandari said that from 22 May, Sehr World Networks Urdu Service will be broadcast in the morning also for four hours, i.e. from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (Indian time) in addition to the usual 4 hours service in the evening from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Indian time). In the morning telecast, he said, in addition to news bulletin, there will also be drama, serials, feature film, sports etc. He said that the new service of 4 hours in the morning has been started because of the demand of viewers of Urdu TV all over the world. He said that very soon Sehr World Networks Urdu Service will be made 24 hours service for which necessary planning and preparations are being made. In this function performers of good programme and workers were honoured with awards. Sehr World Network telecasts programmes in six languages of the world, including Urdu. One dead in clash on the appointment of Masjid imam Srinagar: A fight between two groups of Muslims in a village of J&Ks Budgam district over the appointment of the imam of the village mosque resulted in the death of one person and injuries to four persons including two police personnel. Ismail Bhat, who was seriously inured in this fight was taken to Sher-e Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences where he succumbed to his injuries. Sixteen persons have been arrested in this connection for fighting and spreading tension. The situation is stated to be under control now. Student at the age of 90 Thiruvananthapuram: Ninety years old Fathima Beevi of Kerala appeared for class IV equivalent examination conducted by the State Literacy Mission in Alappuzha on 28 April. The states literacy mission called Athulyam which means unequal was launched by a voluntary organisation in December 2010 all over the state to make the illiterates literate. The Athulyam course is equivalent to class IV of states educational system and in which basics of Malayalam and English reading and writing, elementary social science and mathematics are taught. According to Abdus Samad, district coordinator of literacy mission, classes for Athulyam courses are held for an hour daily in at least one panchayat each of all the 140 assembly constituencies in Kerala and illiterate students and people between 15 and 50 years are enrolled but because of Fathima Beevis keenness to learn, she was included in the class despite her old age. Because of her failing eyesight she uses a powerful reading glass. She became a widow when she was barely 22. At that time she was the mother of a son and two daughters and for their upbringing she started a small tea shop. All of them, together with their progenies are well settled now. At this advanced age her grasping power was found to be very good. The examinations were held on 28 April and the results will be declared soon. Her instructor says that she did well in the examination and should get through. Her passion for learning will, however, not end after passing this examination. She says that, God willing, she will learn the basics of computer operation. JMI to start 10 new professional courses New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia has announced starting of 10 new professional courses for residents of neighbouring places from the next academic session 2011-12. These courses are: stitching, cutting, motor driving, wireman, beautician, dress designing, textile designing and printing, repair of electric equipments, mobile repairing, soft toys making and computer skill development. For running of these courses pamphlets have been distributed in the neighbouring areas for the information of people. These courses will be run by Jamias Department of Adult & Continuing Education and Extension. Last date for submission of applications for these courses is 10 May and interested persons can submit applications personally in the Department between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Further information can be obtained on phone No. 011-26843940. Counselling for filling up these forms is being provided by Jamias NSS. Guidance and counselling camps have been set up in Jamias Engineering Faculty for the convenience of interested boy and girl candidates. These camps will continue till 6 May. In addition to this, Jamias Department of Mathematics has started a new course i.e. M.Sc Tech (Industry Mathematics with Computer Application) from this year which is based on 6 semesters. Communal riot in Gujarat Ahmedabad: Simmering discontent and ill feeling between people of the two communities erupted in the from of communal riot in Madhopur area of this city on the night of 1 May when incidents of heavy stone pelting took place in which at least 12 persons were injured. The rioters set fire to three shops and about half a dozen vehicles. In order to control the rioters police resorted to firing more than two dozen tear gas shells. The atmosphere was tense on Saturday, 30 April, itself. The cause of riot is alleged to be mutual rivalry between two local groups. According to DCP, S.M. Katara the rioting took place in Eidgah muhalla. He further said that more than 15 persons of both communities have been taken into custody. Mazahirul Ulooms case returns to Supreme Court Saharanpur: The controversy of wakf or registration of Mazahirul Uloom Saharanpur, which has been a constant source of vexation for the community for the last 25 years, has once more been referred to the Supreme Court by the Mediation Centre of Allahabad H.C. It may be noted that this controversy cropped up in 1985, heading to a rift in the seminary into two separate parts, namely, Mazahirul Uloom Wakf and Jamia Mazahirul Uloom. Since then more than one law suits are in the courts for the property and the legal status of wakf and registration. The case first was filed in the Allahabad High Court, which referred it to the Supreme Court, where Justice Markandya Katju told both the parties that it would be better if they resolved the issue between themselves amicably, and he sent the file to the Mediation Centre of Allahabad High Court. After many hearings and meeting the stubbornness of both the parties, this centre again referred the case to the S.C. What will be the final judgement of S.C remains to be seen, but well wishers of the seminary wish the case be resolved by the community bodies, say, AIMPLB, JUH, and Darul Uloom Deoband etc. Fiftieth anniversary of daily Urdu Times

Mumbai: On 24 April, Urdu Times daily of Mumbai celebrated its 50th anniversary at Taj Lands Hotel, which was welcomed by Saeed Ahmad, owner and editor of the daily. Apart from political leaders of Maharashtra, including CM Pirthvi Raj Chauhan and Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Union Minister for agriculture, Sharad Pavar, Union Minister Sobodh Kant Sahai, deputy chairman of Rajjay Sabha, K Rahman Khan, NCP general secretary Tariq Anwer,and other dignitaries from various walks of life, participated in this function. Pavar said that Urdu Times served the community, the state, and the country. He added that to his surprise, this paper not only is covering the community news, but local, regional, national and international news also. K Rahman Khan said that being himself the publisher of a newspaper, Salar from Benglore, he knows the difficulties involved. Mahmood Madni, Secretary General of JUH also spoke at the function which included a Mushaira. On the occasion Urdu Times honoured 13 social workers and activists in different walks of life with awards of different titles and categories. Room of a Dalit officer purified with cow urine Thiruvananthapuram: A.K. Ramkrishn, Director General of Department of Registration in Thiruvananthapuram, who belongs to a Dalit community, had retired on 31 March 2011. His successor, on knowing that his predecessor belonged to a Dalit community, ordered that the entire room, its furniture and even the official car used by the retired officer should be purified by spraying go-mootra i.e., cow urine before occupying his room and seat. And his orders were carried out. When the retired officer Ramkrishn came to know about this, he filed an appeal with the Human Rights Commission and while demanding an enquiry on this matter, he said in his complaint that the shuddikaran of his office, seat, furniture and car from inside as well as outside is a violation of human rights and all this has been done because he belongs to a Dalit community which is violation of his human and civil rights. The Commission on the basis of his complaint has registered a case and in a notice to the state secretary has asked for his explanation and reply by 7 May. Ramkishan says that he is not taking up this case as a personal insult but from the social point of view this is an insult to all the deprived and discriminated sections of people, adding that if a person holding such a high government post can face such an insult, what will be the condition of ordinary and common people?

22 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

COMMUNITY NEWS
Computer labs in Arabic madrasas
Amroha: On 1 May, U.P. state minister for Haj and Minority Welfare, Anis Ahmad Khan inaugurated computer labs in several madarasas of the city, including Madrasa Babul Ilm, Javed AlMuntazar, Alia Jaafria, Seydul Madaris and Madarsa Arabia Chilla Amroha. The function was attended by prominent personalities and many teachers of Arabic madrasas of the city. S N Rawat, District Minority Officer informed that UP government has increased the amount of minority welfare fund in JP Nagar district, from Rs 11 lakh to Rs 61 lakhs. Families from minority groups, with an annual income less than Rs 25000 will be benefited from this scheme, in particular for girls marriage. Scholarships distributed among Urdu girl students Amroha: A function of distribution of scholarship cheques, sanctioned by Urdu Academy UP, among Urdu girl students, was held at Hashmi College Amroha. The cheques were distributed by Hakim Sirajuddin Hashmi who thanked and praised Tarannum Aqil, chairperson of UP Urdu Academy, for her active role in increasing the grant of the Academy and thus securing the rights of Urdu litterateurs and artists. Nawaz Deobandi honoured Saharanpur: Languages, be they regional or international, illuminate lights of love and not of bias, and it is natural that they always embrace each other, said Nawaz Deobandi at the function held in Saharanpur to honour him after his collection of poems Khabar Mahkes Gujarati translation was released in New Delhi. The function was held by Diya Diamond Jewellers (Mumbai) and Gitanjli group at Royal Residency Hotel here on 4 May. Centre for Islamic Finance confers with GoI secretary

Muslims angry over French ban on burqa

Washington: Muslims all over the world are angry over Frances decision to impose a ban on burqa. Muslim leaders have said that the ban has unnecessarily become an issue. Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) chief apprised that very few women in western France wear the burqa. OIC general secretary Iklemedin Ehsanoglu told journalists in the American Islamic World Forum that the number of women wearing the burqa in Europe and other western countries is quite small and he found no reason why a ban was imposed. He said that a minor matter was being blown up to became a major issue which did not deserve much importance. It may be recalled that France is the first country to introduce such a ban on wearing burqa or niqab at public places. America, however, has taken a different stand on the issue. Declaring that personal beliefs and expression of ones faith should be granted permission so as to assert ones religious identity. Mark Tonner, spokesperson for American State Department, said that America supported religious freedoms but he declined to comment on the French ban on burqa. Declaring France a prominent ally, he expressed the desire that people logue. She further deliberated on the intra- and inter-faith initiatives she is engaged in. The lecture was followed by a question and answer session. Prof Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi, director of the Institute, emphasised the need for holding more lectures. Lucknow University denies exam forms to Muslim girls Lucknow: Dream of attaining higher education crashed for scores of Muslim girls after Lucknow University (LU) refused to provide them examination forms. Shocked and disturbed over the incident, the girls who are all students of B.Ed., staged a protest outside their college Karamat Husain PG Girls College in Nishatganj on 25 April. These students took admission in the 2009-10 session which was declared as Zero-Session by LU because the admission process got too much delayed. When the students came to know that examination forms are being given to the B.Ed. students of 2010-2011, they went to ask the college authorities to give them their forms too. Manager of the College, Shoaib Ahmad, admitted that girls approached the college authorities asking for their forms and also about the status of their examinations. After they were not allowed by the LU for giving exams last year, we moved the High Court and in the judgement, court directed LU to conduct examinations of all the students who were denied by them as their admissions were done in Zero Session in 2009, he said adding that the college has sent notice for obeying the orders of the High Court by conducting the exams of these students but till now there is no reply from the university. The university has not sent any forms for students enrolled in 2009-10 session because of which the college is unable to provide forms to those students. If the university does not follow the orders of the court then we will file contempt case against the university, he added. Spokesperson of Lucknow University, SK Diwedi said that they are aware about the issue and they have referred the matter to the government, so we are waiting for the government orders. (Mohd. Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net) AIMPLB opposes Right to Education Act Hyderabad: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has threatened to launch an agitation against attempts to interfere with the Islamic law, Shariah, and exhorted Muslims across the country to join the stir. AIMPLB President Maulana Syed Mohammad Rabey Hasani Nadvi urged Muslims to join the board in its efforts to prevent changes in the Muslim personal laws, and also to oppose the Wakf Amendment Bill - 2010 alongwith the Right to Education Act 2009, which he said were defective and went against the interests of the community. AIMPLB is opposed to some provisions in RTE Act, which have a bearing on education in Madrasas. Addressing a public meeting here on 24 April, he urged the Muslim community to resist any move in the form of bills and amendments which amounted to changing the Shariah. The Board has appealed to the Chief Justice of India to form a larger bench to reconsider the Shah Bano case, and also to review the Delhi High Court judgment legalizing homosexuality. MIM donates Rs 55L to fight Babri case in SC Hyderabad: Describing the Allahabad High Courts judgment on the title dispute of Babri Masjid as more dangerous than its demolition by a zealot mob in 1992, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has given a call to the Muslim community to donate generously to meet the high costs of challenging the verdict in the Supreme Court. Responding to the boards appeal, Hyderabad MP and president of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Asaduddin announced a donation of Rs 55.5 lakh on behalf of his party and the legislators. Owaisi, who was the president of reception committee for the two-day meeting of the boards 51member executive committee that ended on24 April, said: The judgment could be used to decide the fate of other mosques and shrines of the Muslims in the country. Therefore, if the Muslims wish to live with dignity in the country and also protect their places of religious importance, they should come forward to participate would seek full explanation behind the French ban from the French government. There should be respect for religious freedoms and right to freedom of expression. Darul Uloom Deoband described the ban as undemocratic and a violation of secularism as well as violation of human rights. It urged the Indian government to raise the matter with the French government. In a press release, it said that burqa is an integral part of our religion and imposing a ban on it was a denial of religious freedoms. Maulana Abdul Qasim Banarasi, the officiating vice-chancellor and deputy vice-chancellor Abdul Malik Madrasi issued a signed statement. Senior member of the Jamiat Ulama-e Hind Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani declared that such a ban is an infringement of basic human rights. Very few members of the minority community wear it hence there was no need for such legislation. Every individual should be allowed religious freedom to practice their religious convictions. A cleric based in New Delhi, Maulana Asghar Abbas, said that people have full freedom for following the tenets of their faith in a democratic and secular country. (AG Khan) in the legal battle that will begin in the Supreme Court soon. The board chairman Maulana Syed Mohammad Rabey Hasani Nadwi said that the appeal was aimed at all the Muslims in the country. Donate whatever your pocket permits. This is a critical time in the life of the Muslims in the country, he said. AIMPLB leaders spoke to a select group of Muslims at a private hotel in the city and urged them to raise necessary funds. Board secretary Abdur Raheem Quraishi said that the total estimated cost to fight the Babri Masjid case in the Supreme Court would be Rs 12 crore. In all, about 10 cases would be filed on behalf of various Muslim individuals and institutions. Eminent legal experts would be hired to fight the cases. Seminar on Human & Minority Rights

New Delhi: A delegation of the Indian Centre for Islamic Finance (ICIF) called on Mr Shashi Kant Sharma, Secretary (Financial Servies) in the Union Ministry of Finance under whom the banking sector of the country operates. The delegation consisted of Mr Muddassir Siddiqi, who is qualified both as a Shariah scholar and as a US-trained attorney, and Mr Khurshid Najmi, former joint legal advisor, RBI, along with Mr H Abdur Raqeeb, ICIF general secretary. Mr Siddiqi explained to Mr Sharma and Mr Alok Nigam IAS, Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services, how Islamic finance has emerged as a viable source of finance in a number of industrialized countries such as the United kingdom, Japan, Singapore, France and Hongkong and even in China which recently allowed Islamic financial institutions to operate by incorporating changes in its banking and tax laws. Siddiqi cited the example of UK where the largest number of legislative changes in the banking and tax system was carried out without using terms like Shariah or Islamic, thereby throwing it open to all regardless of faith. He also said that a large number of consumers of Islamic financial products (particularly Sukuk) have come from the industrialised world. Reffering to the report of the Working Group of RBI on the feasibility of Islamic banking instruments in India, he placed before the Secretary (Finance) that the report is fair and accurate when it describes the objectives, goals and traditional Islamic contracts written by early Muslim jurists more than 1000 years ago. But he commented that the report has left out some most relevant aspects of the analysis, e.g., contracts which are used in modern Islamic financial institutions. Both Mr Sharma and Mr Alok Nigam sought some clarifications on Islamic Finance. Mr Abdur Raqeeb suggested that Finance Ministry and RBI should appoint a committee to look into all relevant aspects in order to base conclusions on a full and complete analysis. He assured to give names of experts who are both familiar with the modern tools of Islamic finance as well as the criteria adopted by many countries. Islam and the West: A new beginning in bridge building Srinagar: An extension lecture on Islam and the West: A New Beginning in Bridge Building was organised by Shah-e Hamdan Institute of Islamic Studies, Kashmir University, on 5 May. The speaker was the renowned, socially engaged scholar and academic Dr Idrisa Pandit, professor at the University of Waterloo. She shared her personal experiences of living as a Muslim in West and the misperceptions about Islam prevalent among nonMuslims. She talked about hate being perpetuated against Muslims in the West by ill-conceived and ill-founded myths about Islam and Muslims, which is also making Muslims become more identity-conscious and stuck to their apparent identities of Muslim culture. Pandit spoke about many Christian and Jewish groups which stood by Muslims against the rising Islamophobia. She acknowledged that Muslims too are responsible for this image of Islam as they are not ready to tolerate the differences even among themselves. She emphasised the need for intra-faith dia-

Aligarh: AMUs Faculty of Theology conducted an international seminar on Human Rights with Special Reference to Minorities Rights in collaboration with the the Delhi-based Islamic Fiqh Academy during 23-24 April. Speakers included Nepals Keshab Prasad Chaulagain, general secretary of the Interreligious Council Nepal. He spoke on the inter-religious harmony and the situation of Muslims in Nepal. He focused on interfaith solidarity for peace and reconciliation and conveyed to the Indian government not to take Indian and Neplease Muslims as against India since they are good citizens. Emphasizing on minority rights, he added that the minority rights are also an issue of the broader human rights and should be given due importance. He shared with the participants the position of the Muslims of Nepal and efforts to uplift the Nepalese Muslim community. Dr. Abdul Khaliq, Prof. Ali M. Naqvi and Prof. Yaseen Mazhar Siddiqi expressed their views regarding the Muslim minority rights. The convener of the seminar was Dr. Mufti Zahid Ali Khan, Nazim of Sunni Theology at AMU. He highlighted the importance of the workshop and said that this kind of seminars are of great help and will act as a cornerstone in building a better understanding between Hindus and Muslims. AMU closed sine die Aligarh: On the basis of a report received from the Aligarh District Administration and in view of the unfortunate incident which occurred a day ealier, Aligarh Muslim University, including its Senior Secondary Schools, was closed sine-die with immediate effect on 30 April. AMU Registrar, Prof. V. K. Abdul Jaleel, while issuing the notice said that all the students have been ordered to vacate their hostels within 48 hours. According to a notification of Assistant Controller (Examinations), all examinations falling on and after April 30 have been postponed. Further dates will be announced later. AMU Vice Chancellor, Prof. P. K. Abdul Azis assured the students that the University will be reopened within a short time and all examinations will be rescheduled. He said that it will be ensured that no academic loss of the students takes place. Prof. Azis said that the University has received several reports of misbehavior and group clashes in various halls of residence and outside. The decision of closure was taken to save the lives of the students and maintain peace and harmony among the University community.

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 23

INTERNATIONAL
A message to the U.S. Congress

Take your money and get lost

KHALID AMAYREH
ccupied Jerusalem: After four grim years of mutual recriminations, cold war and deep mistrust, the two main Palestinian political camps, the nationalist Fatah and Islamic Hamas, reached an auspicious agreement to end their differences. The four-year rift exhausted the Palestinian people, seriously weakened the traditionallystrong fabric of the Palestinian society, and nearly caused an irreversible implosion within the Palestinian community at home and in the Diaspora. And, above all, it made the prospects of peace in the region as remote as ever if only because a divided nation cant get its acts together, especially when an increasingly fascist Israel, which always searches for pretexts and red herrings in order to evade and circumvent peace, sought to utilize the inter-Palestinian situation to evade real peace and keep up building peace-killing illegal settlements for fanatical Jewish immigrants. Needless to say, many if not most of these so-called settlers, are taught a morbid, venomous ideology which inculcates in them a certain belief that the whole universe was created solely for them and that non-Jews were created by the Almighty only for one purpose: to serve Jews. Interestingly, both Israel and its allies, including Israels obedient dog, the US

Congress, have rather vehemently and opportunistically, even obscenely, manipulated the Palestinian rift to throw the propaganda ball into the Palestinian and Arab courts. Hence, one would be affronted hearing ostensibly respectable US senators and Congressmen remark gloatingly: Let the Palestinians first make peace amongst themselves; peace with Israel will only come when the Palestinians learn to live in peace with themselves. Similarly, opportunistic Israel raved and ranted on every conceivable occasion, claiming that the Palestinian division, not Israels lebensraum policy in the West Bank, especially in East Jerusalem, was impeding peace since the Palestinians didnt have a unified leadership. Now, after painstakingly achieving the longawaited reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, Israel is fretting, like a woman who has just received a bad divorce deal in court, threatening the Palestinians with doom and reprisals, as if the Palestinians were supposed to perpetuate their internal difference for ever and ever for the sake of despicable Zionist occupying thugs, many of whom originated in Eastern Europe and Russia and who brought with them a genocidal ideology along with every form of racism, fascism and jingoism to the Holy Land. And, unsurprisingly, U.S. Congress didnt lag behind. Indeed, no sooner than Hamas and Fatah representatives had announced their rapprochement in Cairo on Thursday, 28 April, than several Congressional figures warned that the

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an

US policy

US would stop financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. Well, if American aid to the Palestinians is meant to help them help themselves (the US, the Palestinians ultimate tormentor and Israels guardian-ally, enabler, guarantor, and sustainer of Israeli insolence and territorial aggrandizement), then this aid is welcome and appreciated and all of us Palestinians will have a standing ovation in Americas honour and sould solemnly say: thank you, America for your most altruistic help! However, if this aid is meant as bribe money to encourage or entice Palestinians or certain Palestinian elements to sell off their peoples inalienable national rights, then, we are sorry, we cant accept your money. More to the point: if the U.S. Congress insists that the aid to the PA or to a prospective Palestinian national unity entity hedges on the resumption of inter-Palestinian strife, which I am sure would instill in Israel and her allies a lot of mirth, glee and gloat, then we have no alternative but to look our American interlocutors in the eye and say: Sorry friends, take your money and get lost. There is no doubt that Israel has been taken by surprise by the reconciliation pact in Cairo, an auspicious feat that complements the great historical changes now taking place in the Arab region. Avigdor Lieberman, who combines Stalins ruthlessness and Hitlers nefariousness, along with characteristic Zionist depravity, was quoted as saying that Israel was preparing an arsenal of reprisals against the Palestinians. The more public relations savvy Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyah reiterated old stands that Israel wouldnt resume peace talks with a Hamas-Fatah government due to the participation of Hamas, as if the good tidings of peace were hovering over the Middle East prior to the reconciliation agreement. Netanyahu, a real thug, with a neck tie and an amazing ability to fornicate with language to change and distort the truth, once again invoked the terror issue, ignoring the clarion and cardinal fact that Nazi-like Israel is the ultimate expression and embodiment of terror in our time. Netanyahu invoked the fact that Hamas didnt recognize Israel. Well, does Israel recognize Palestine? Does amorphous Israel have fixed borders? Hamas will never ever recognize such a state, which was born in terror and genocide and mendacity. Likewise, U.S. Congress along with happy-

go-lucky Hillary Clinton is re-invoking the socalled Quartet conditions for talking to Hamas. These anachronistic Nay-set includes, abandoning armed resistance, recognizing Israel, and accepting previous agreements between the PA and Israel. Well, these impossible blackmailing conditions are illogical and preposterous to say the least. First, Hamas has been serious and sincere about observing the tahdia or clam in the Gaza Strip, often in the face of Israels murderous provocations. However, in return, Hamas has received no appreciation and praise from Washington while it has faced hard opposition from some Palestinian factions. Hamas only received malice and vilification from the U.S., which only underscores Americas pornographic subservience to Israel and her wantonly hegemonistic Jewish lobby. As to negotiations with Israel, it is well known that Hamas, which is not part of the PLO, never took part in these futile negotiations. Hence, the resumption of whatever negotiations wouldnt hedge on Hamas approval. Finally, asking Hamas to accept previous agreements between Israel and the PLO is really ridiculous since nearly all these agreements, including the scandalous Oslo Accords, are essentially vague, so much so that even Israel and the PLO themselves dont agree on a common understanding of these agreements. An advice to the PA Finally, an advice to the PLO and its leadership. Dont be obsequious or complacent vis--vis Israel or any of its obedient dogs. These people have no iota of morality or honesty, let alone justice in their moral set of ideals. They are willing to blackmail us to the last drop of our blood. They would embark on the unthinkable to keep us in a state of enslavement to Zionism. Hence, you should be able to seriously threaten the Zionist regime to dismantle the whole autonomous regime once and for all; in addition, of course, to terminating irreversibly any vestige of security coordination with Israel, a revolting and repulsive factor in interPalestinian discordance. Dont display weakness or cowardice or indecisiveness. Our destiny as a people is not to be perennially enslaved by those racist thugs from Eastern Europe who want to build their glory at our expense. K. Amayreh is an American-educated journalist living in occupied Jerusalem. He may be contacted at amayreh@p-ol.com

Chomsky on Osama bin Ladens Death

NOAM CHOMSKY

e might ask ourselves how we would be reacting if Iraqi commandos landed at George W. Bushs compound, assassinated him, and dumped his body in the Atlantic. ts increasingly clear that the operation was a planned assassination, multiply violating elementary norms of international law. There appears to have been no attempt to apprehend the unarmed victim, as presumably could have been done by 80 commandos facing virtually no opposition - except, they claim, from his wife, who lunged towards them. In societies that profess some respect for law, suspects are apprehended and brought to fair trial. I stress suspects. In April 2002, the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, informed the press that after the most intensive investigation in history, the FBI could say no more than that it believed that the plot was hatched in Afghanistan, though implemented in the UAE and Germany. What they only believed in April 2002, they obviously didnt know eight months earlier, when Washington dismissed tentative offers by the Taliban (how serious, we do not know, because they were instantly dismissed) to extradite bin Laden if they were presented with evidence - which, as we soon learned, Washington didnt have.

Thus Obama was simply lying when he said, in his White House statement, that we quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda. Nothing serious has been provided since. There is much talk of bin Ladens confession,

Pakistani anger that the US invaded their territory to carry out a political assassination. AntiAmerican fervor is already very high in Pakistan, and these events are likely to exacerbate it. The decision to dump the body at sea is already, predictably, provoking both anger and skepti-

There is also much media discussion of Washingtons anger that Pakistan didnt turn over bin Laden, though surely elements of the military and security forces were aware of his presence in Abbottabad. Less is said about Pakistani anger that the US invaded their territory to carry out a political assassination. AntiAmerican fervor is already very high in Pakistan, and these events are likely to exacerbate it. The decision to dump the body at sea is already, predictably, provoking both anger and skepticism in much of the Muslim world.
but that is rather like my confession that I won the Boston Marathon. He boasted of what he regarded as a great achievement. There is also much media discussion of Washingtons anger that Pakistan didnt turn over bin Laden, though surely elements of the military and security forces were aware of his presence in Abbottabad. Less is said about cism in much of the Muslim world. We might ask ourselves how we would be reacting if Iraqi commandos landed at George W. Bushs compound, assassinated him, and dumped his body in the Atlantic. Uncontroversially, his crimes vastly exceed bin Ladens, and he is not a suspect but uncontroversially the decider who gave the orders to

commit the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole (quoting the Nuremberg Tribunal) for which Nazi criminals were hanged: the hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, destruction of much of the country, the bitter sectarian conflict that has now spread to the rest of the region. Theres more to say about [Cuban airline bomber Orlando] Bosch, who just died peacefully in Florida, including reference to the Bush doctrine that societies that harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves and should be treated accordingly. No one seemed to notice that Bush was calling for invasion and destruction of the US and murder of its criminal president. Same with the name, Operation Geronimo. The imperial mentality is so profound, throughout western society, that no one can perceive that they are glorifying bin Laden by identifying him with courageous resistance against genocidal invaders. Its like naming our murder weapons after victims of our crimes: Apache, Tomahawk ... Its as if the Luftwaffe were to call its fighter planes Jew and Gypsy. There is much more to say, but even the most obvious and elementary facts should provide us with a good deal to think about. (readersupportednews.org)

24 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

INTERNATIONAL

The New Colonialism

PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

Osama and the US

Reflections by COMRADE FIDEL CASTRO
Those persons who deal with these issues know that on September 11 of 2001 our people expressed its solidarity to the US people and offered the modest cooperation that in the area of health we could have offered to the victims of the brutal attack against the Twin Towers in New York. We also immediately opened our country's airports to the American airplanes that were unable to land anywhere, given the chaos that came about soon after the strike. The traditional stand adopted by the Cuban Revolution, which was always opposed to any action that could jeopardize the life of civilians, is well known. Although we resolutely supported the armed struggle against Batista's tyranny, we were, on principle, opposed to any terrorist action that could cause the death of innocent people. Such behaviour, which has been maintained for more than half a century, gives us the right to express our views about such a sensitive matter. On that day, at a public gathering that took place at Ciudad Deportiva, I expressed my conviction that international terrorism could never be eradicated through violence and war. By the way, Bin Laden was, for many years, a friend of the US, a country that gave him military training; he was also an adversary of the USSR and Socialism. But, whatever the actions attributed to him, the assassination of an unarmed human being while surrounded by his own relatives is something abhorrent. Apparently this is what the government of the most powerful nation that has ever existed did. In the carefully drafted speech announcing Bin Laden's death Obama asserts as follows: "And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts." That paragraph expressed a dramatic truth, but can not prevent honest persons from remembering the unjust wars unleashed by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, the hundreds of thousands of children who were forced to grow up without their mothers and fathers and the parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace. Millions of citizens were taken from their villages in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba and many other countries of the world. Still engraved in the minds of hundreds of millions of persons are also the horrible images of human beings who, in Guantnamo, a Cuban occupied territory, walk down in silence, being submitted for months, and even for years, to unbearable and excruciating tortures. Those are persons who were kidnapped and transferred to secret prisons with the hypocritical connivance of supposedly civilized societies. Obama has no way to conceal that Osama was executed in front of his children and wives, who are now under the custody of the authorities of Pakistan, a Muslim country of almost 200 million inhabitants, whose laws have been violated, its national dignity offended and its religious traditions desecrated. How could he now prevent the women and children of the person who was executed out of the law and without any trial from explaining what happened? How could he prevent those images from being broadcast to the world? On January 28 of 2002 the CBS journalist Dan Rather reported through that TV network that on September 10 of 2001, one day before the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Osama Bin Laden underwent a hemodialysis at a military hospital in Pakistan. He was physically unfit to hide and take shelter inside deep caves. Having assassinated him and plunging his corpse into the bottom of the sea are an expression of fear and insecurity which turn him into a far more dangerous person. The US public opinion itself, after the initial euphoria, will end up by criticizing the methods that, far from protecting its citizen, will multiply the feelings of hatred and revenge against them. Fidel Castro Ruz May 4, 2011

hat we are observing in Libya is the rebirth of colonialism. Only, this time, it is not individual European governments competing for empires and resources. The new colonialism operates under the cover of "the world community," which means NATO and those countries that cooperate with it. NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was once a defense alliance against a possible Soviet invasion of Western Europe. Today, NATO provides European troops in behalf of American hegemony. Washington pursues world hegemony under the guises of selective "humanitarian intervention" and "bringing freedom and democracy to oppressed peoples." On an opportunistic basis, Washington targets countries for intervention that are not its "international partners." Caught off guard, perhaps, by popular revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, there are Blair with Gaddafi: gone are those days... some indications that Washington responded opportunistically and encouraged the uprising in Libya. Khalifa that "in 2009 approximately 900 military and Hifter, a suspected Libyan CIA asset for the civilian students from 44 African countries last 20 years, has gone back to Libya to head received education and training in the United States or their own countries. Many officers the rebel army. Gaddafi got himself targeted by standing and enlisted IMET graduates go on to fill key up to Western imperialism. He refused to be positions in their militaries and governments." AFRICOM lists as a key strategic objecpart of the US Africa Command. Gaddafi saw Washington's scheme for what it is: a colonial- tive the defeat of the "Al-Qaeda network." The US Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism ist's plan to divide and conquer. The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) Partnership (TSCTP) trains and equips "partwas created by order of President George W. ner nation forces" to preclude terrorists from Bush in 2007. AFRICOM describes its objec- establishing sanctuaries and aims to "ultimately defeat violent extremist organizations tive: Our approach is based upon supporting in the region." Apparently, after ten years of "the war on U. S. national security interests in Africa as articulated by the President and Secretaries terror," an omnipotent al-Qaeda now ranges of State and Defense in the National Security across Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Strategy and the National Military Strategy. Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal The United States and African nations have and Tunisia in Africa, across the Middle East, strong mutual interests in promoting security Afghanistan, Pakistan, the UK and is such a and stability on the continent of Africa, its threat within the United States itself as to island states, and maritime zones. Advancing require a $56 billion "Homeland Security" these interests requires a unified approach annual budget. The al-Qaeda threat, a hoax as likely as that integrates efforts with those of other U. S. government departments and agencies, as not, has become Washington's best excuse well as our African and other international for intervening in the domestic affairs of other countries and for subverting American civil libpartners. Forty-nine countries participate in the US erties. Sixty-six years after the end of World War Africa Command, but not Libya, Sudan,

Eritrea, Zimbabwe, and Ivory Coast. There is Western military intervention in these nonmember countries except for Zimbabwe. One traditional means by which the US influences and controls a country is by training its military and government officers. The program is called International Military and Education Training (IMET). AFRICOM reports

II and 20 years after the Collapse of the Soviet Union, the US still has a European Command, one of nine military commands and six regional commands. No other country feels a need for a world military presence. Why does Washington think that it is a good allocation of scarce resources to devote $1.1 trillion annually to military and security "needs"? Is this a sign of Washington's paranoia? Is it a sign that only Washington has enemies? Or is it an indication that Washington assigns the highest value to empire and squanders taxpayers' monies and the country's credit-worthiness on military footprints, while millions of Americans lose their homes and their jobs? Washington's expensive failures in Iraq and Afghanistan have not tempered the empire ambition. Washington can continue to rely on the print and TV media to cover up its failures and to hide its agendas, but expensive failures will remain expensive failures. Sooner or later Washington will have to acknowledge that the pursuit of empire has bankrupted the country. It is paradoxical that Washington and its European "partners" are seeking to extend control over foreign lands abroad while immigration transforms their cultures and ethnic compositions at home. As Hispanics, Asians, Africans, and Muslims of various ethnicities become a larger and larger percentage of the populations of the "First World," support for the white man's empire fades away. Peoples desiring education and in need of food, shelter, and medical care will be hostile to maintaining military outposts in the countries of their origins. Who exactly is occupying whom? Parts of the US are reverting to Mexico. For example, demographer Steve Murdock, a former director of the US Census Bureau, reports that two-thirds of Texas children are Hispanics and concludes: "It's basically over for Anglos." Ironic, isn't it, while Washington and its NATO puppets are busy occupying the world, they are being occupied by the world. (foreignpolicyjournal.com)
Dr. Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury, associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, and held academic appointments at a number of American universities. His latest book, How The Economy Was Lost, was published by Counterpunch/AK press last year.

more democratic system, however, could threaten relations with neighboring Israel. According to the poll results, only 36 percent of Egyptians are in favor of maintaining the treaty, compared with 54 percent who would like to see it scrapped. Despite Cairo: More than half of all Egyptians would like to see the the decades of peace and limited trade between the two 1979 peace treaty with Israel annulled, according to countries, most Egyptian view the Israelis poorly, largely results of a poll conducted by the U. S.-based Pew because of perceptions that they mistreat the Research Center released on 23 April. The poll highlights Palestinians. Opinions varied according to income, with the deep unpopularity of the three-decade-old treaty, 60 percent of lower income Egyptians supporting the which is central to U. S. policy in the region and was treaty's cancellation while only 45 percent of the wealthier scrupulously adhered to by former President Hosni classes thinking it should be done away with. Only 40 perMubarak, until his Feb. 11 ouster. The poll also revealed cent of Egyptians with a college education felt the treaty that most Egyptians are optimistic about where the coun- should be scrapped, as well. try is headed following the 18- day popular uprising that The poll, based on interviews with 1,000 Egyptians brought down the president, and they look forward to around the country, was conducted between March 24 greater democracy in their country. and April 7 as part of the Spring 2011 Pew Global Attitudes The fall of Egypt's autocratic leader and the rise of a survey held in 22 countries. The country's youth-led prodemocracy movement, which rocked Egypt and reworked the political environment, had a dramatic effect Weve got mail..... on people's attitudes. The polls show a major rise in optimism and changing of national priorities. The United States continued to garner low approval ratings, with only 20 percent of Egyptians seeing The flow of news never ceases, so between our fortnightly print it in a positive light, up from 17 perissues we send out email newsletter - MG e-Alerts. Get our cent in 2010. Only 15 percent of those interviewed thought Egypt eNewsletter FREE! write to us at sales@milligazette.com should have closer relations with the Become a fan of MG on Facebook visit: facebook.com/milligazette U. S. - as opposed to 43 percent who though the two countries could Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/milligazette use some distance. (chron.com)

Over half of Egypt wants end to Israel peace

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The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 25

INTERNATIONAL

Hamas-Fateh reconciliation: a great day for Palestine

KHALID AMAYREH
Occupied Jerusalem: Much to the chagrin of the hateful Zionist entity, Hamas and Fatah seem to have reached a final agreement, putting an end to four years of a crippling national rift which exhausted the Palestinian people as never before and gave Israel a valuable opportunity to try liquidate the Palestinian cause. News of the agreement has already generated instantaneous reactions of excitement and joy, even euphoria in the occupied territories. Motorists honked their car horns, youngsters took to the streets shouting "Fatah and Hamas: one people not two." Some women ululated with joy as Fatah and Hamas leaders appeared on TV screens in Cairo, announcing the conclusion of the long-awaited agreement. Some restaurants and eateries offered free coffee, tea and juices as celebrations went on until around midnight. On the Israeli sides, Israeli leaders were visibly angry and disappointed, with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyah threatening the Palestinian leadership with what looked like a virtual ultimatum: "The PA would have to choose between peace with Hamas and peace with Israel. It can't choose both." One Fatah official retorted: "We also say Israel would have to choose between peace with the Palestinian people and peace with racist settlers, it can't choose both." Well, Netanyahu's threats should be rejected outright and treated with the utter contempt they deserve. After all, this is an internal Palestinian matter and Israel has absolutely no right to intervene in our internal affairs. Netanyahu may argue that Hamas doesn't recognize Israel. Well, Netanyah should be reminded that he presides over a government the bulk of which doesn't recognize Palestine. In the final analysis, why should Hamas, or for that matter Fatah, recognize Israel when Israel refuses to recognize the very existence of the Palestinian people. So, if the next Palestinian government of national unity shouldn't include groups that don't recognize Israel, by the same token, Palestinians have the right to demand that any Israeli government must exclude groups and parties that don't recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Needless to say, the current Israeli government includes explicitly fascist parties that don't even recognize the very existence of the Palestinian people. The conclusion of the reconciliation agreement in Cairo has really dealt a sharp blow to nefarious Zionist designs. Israel first lost a great strategic asset in the dramatic downfall of the Mubarak dynasty and now we have these good tidings from Cairo. More good news is coming up, inshallah (God willing). Netanyahu and other Zionist supremacists may rant and rave for as long as they may. This shouldn't shake even one hair on our bodies. None the less, we must not be too preoccupied with selfcongratulating ourselves on this auspicious occasion. Yes there is no doubt that the present that both Hamas and Fatah have handed over to the Palestinian people is great. However, we must work overtime to rectify and correct all that went wrong during these gloomy four years. Prisoners or detainees must be set free, media incitement must end immediately, closed institutions must be reopened; and human rights and civil liberties must be reinstituted. Also grievances must be settled and hard feelings soothed and reconciled. In short, we must get the slate clean as soon as possible and allow for the total obliteration of all the scars of division. In this agreement, there seems to be only winners. Every one is winning as a result of this breakthrough except Israel and the enemies of our people. Hamas has won by having all its conditions and objections met. We must not forget that Hamas was supposed to be destroyed according to the American-Zionist designs; so the fact that Hamas has remained a hard, independent variable is indeed a great achievement. This proves that not everything Palestinian must be subject to the Zionist will. Fatah has also won by showing Israel that Fatah won't be coopted and manipulated against Palestinian national interest. Fatah won by demonstrating that it will remain a national and patriotic movement despite American and Israeli designs. And the Palestinian people has won by overcoming one of the most formidable internal crises ever to mar the Palestinian struggle for freedom from the claws of diabolic Zionism. We must also thank our big sister, Egypt, without which the conclusion of this agreement wouldn't have been possible. The revolutionary leadership in Cairo must be applauded for its tireless efforts and dedication to bring about this paramount national reconciliation among the brothers in Palestine. This should be a good omen for the future. Finally, we Palestinians should instill in ourselves a feeling of optimism. The restoration of Palestinian national unity, along with the strategic changes in the Arab region, is huge assets and opportunities that should be utilized for the ultimate liberation of Palestine.

Jewish racism

Gentile sperm leads to barbaric offspring

A senior Jewish cleric says that Jewish Law prohibits sterile couples from conceiving using non-Jew's sperm, as it causes adverse traits. On subject of single mothers he says, 'Child cannot be 100% normal' Rabbi Dov Lior, a senior authority on Jewish law in the Religious Zionism movement, asserted recently that a Jewish woman should never get pregnant using sperm donated by a non-Jewish man - even if it is the last option available. According to Lior, a baby born through such an insemination will have the "negative genetic traits that characterize non-Jews." Instead, he advised sterile couples to adopt. Sensitive Issue Being a religious single mother / Gilit Chomsky After years of loneliness and failed dates, as yearning for child becomes intolerable, increasing number of national-religious women decide to take their fate in their hands, start family as single mothers while maintaining religious way of life. New phenomenon already dividing sector, irking rabbis Full story Lior addressed the issue during a women's health conference held recently at the Puah Institute, a fertility clinic. His conservative stance negated a ruling widely accepted by rabbis, which states that sperm donated by a non-Jew is preferable to that of an anonymous Jew, who might pose a genealogical risk. "Sefer HaChinuch (a book of Jewish law) states that the character traits of the father pass on to the son," he said in the lecture. "If the father in not Jewish, what character traits could he have? Traits of cruelty, of barbarism! These are not traits that characterize the people of Israel." Lior added identified Jews as merciful, shy and charitable qualities that he claimed could be inherited. "A person born to Jewish parents, even if they weren't raised on the Torah - there are things that are passed on (to him) in the blood, it's genetic," he explained. "If the father is a gentile, then the child is deprived of these things. "I even read in books that sometimes the crime, the difficult traits, the bitterness - a child that comes from these traits, it's no surprise that he won't have the qualities that characterize the people of Israel," he added. 'Kids born to single moms become criminals' Lior condemned artificial insemination and sperm donation in general, saying that they lead to waste of sperm, unclear genealogy and other Jewish law offenses. He warned against undergoing intrauterine insemination at hospitals, where the workers may mix sperm samples for one reason or another - a major halachic violation. On the subject of women who freeze their eggs to use at a later date, the rabbi asserted that instead they should concentrate their efforts on getting married younger. "Our public has been influenced by a part of the Western culture in which every woman, instead of becoming a mother, needs to get a Masters Degree," he lamented. "The role of women child rearing - is not less important than an academic degree." Lior noted that there is nothing wrong with attaining a profession, but it should not be a priority. Moreover, the rabbi spoke against single women getting pregnant. "We can understand the desire of every woman to have a child, but according to our Torah it is impossible to address the demand of a certain woman when it can cause someone else suffering," he said. "If a child is born without a father, he cannot be 100% normal." He stated that rabbinical literature defines these kids as "criminals and subjects of other negative phenomena."
Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340, L-4006385,00.html

Justice Ranjidar Sachar, former chief justice of Delhi High Court, head of the Prime Minister's high level committee on Indian Muslims and a former president of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) India issued the following statement on 2 May on the barbaric NATO-American strikes on Libya beyond the UN mandate: It would seem that international law is nonexistent. That alone can explain the barbaric bombing of civilian targets in Libya. I hold no brief for what many correctly describe Gaddafi as a tyrannical ruler. I have full sympathy for the opposition and admiration for their struggle to get rid of Gaddafi. But I protest strongly at the unilateral action of Nato air strike UNO has not sanctioned it. Who are these self appointed guardians of world security. Who gives them the right to bomb civilian targets and residential quarters. The latest hit has resulted in a residential complex of Gaddafi's youngest son Saif al Arab who even by Western reports was not involved in polities and was known for his partying and praying. I am of the firm opinion that India should raise this matter at UNO, if it wishes to prevent the objectionable role of Europeans nations to act as purported guardians of the non European States - a clear case of racial arrogance and amounting to genocide. The fact that Gaddafis has engaged in brutal murders can not justify a sectional group of nations to arrogate to itself the role of World policeman and inflect counter genocide an non European population.

Justice Sachar on Libya

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26 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

INTERNATIONAL

The Jury will still be out on Osama

KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI
As far as thrill and excitement goes, catering to the American taste, the Obama-sanctioned killing of Osama bin Laden had all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blood-soaked suspense thriller. The US helicopters sneaked into the Pakistan territory low and undetected in pitch dark. They had apparently been successful in jamming the Pakistani radars to avoid detection. It was past mid-night, Pakistan Standard Time, between May 1 and May 2 when they landed outside a high-walled mansion in the salubrious hill-city of Abbotabad, which has also the distinction of being home to the august Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul. It was in that walled house that the worlds most wanted fugitive, Osama bin Laden, was gunned down in cold blood. He was apparently unarmed when shot. The clinical success of the cloak-and-dagger operation apparently gladdened President Obama inestimably. The White House later quickly released a photograph of Obama apparently huddled in the WH situation room with his top advisers and minions watching something intently. It was subsequently explained that what they were watching was the military operation being carried out at Obamas specific command. It was a satiated and contented Obama that broke the news to the American people in a telecast from the White House quite late in the evening on May 1 after keeping them waiting on tenterhooks for a very important national security-related announcement by the president. That the American people-at least a rowdy segment of them-went absolutely wild with elation and un-subdued euphoria was quite in keeping with the nature of chauvinistic machoism that has become the face of US since the cataclysmic nine-eleven. Taking pride in bloodletting has been a historical trait of the Americans but this penchant for unbridled elation at the death of an enemy seems to have become deeply ingrained in the American psyche and persona in the aftermath of 9/11. Obama has apparently managed to pull off a very successful operation that fully catered to the insatiable blood-lust of the American people. Before this, he has had some very rough time at the hands of the neo cons and the Tea Party nitwits baying for his blood, so much so that barely days before he stunned them all with his triumph over Osama, he had to produce his birth certificate, in public, to silence their lunatic cacophony that he wasnt an American by birth. Obamas public approval ratings, teetering at an unimpressive 46 percent before May 1, have jumped overnight to 57 percent. Americans, with their blood-lust satisfied, are now prepared to say that Obama is doing a good job and deserves to be president. Taking advantage of this new sunshine of popular sanction, Obama dashed to New York, on May 5, to mark his solidarity with the victims of 9/11, and especially with the firemen who paid a heavy price of duty in combating that inferno. Obama has, no doubt, every reason to feel elated and fulfilled in having wiped out the number one enemy of US and the Americans. A warmonger like his predecessor, George W. Bush, must have yearned for such a glory but that was not to be; it was Obama fated to have that coveted honour. However, the killing of Osama bin Laden, in that mysterious operation at the dead of night in the garrison city of Abbotabad, Pakistan, still opens far too many new questions than it answers. For one, why was an unarmed man who put up no resistance, according to the US official version of the incident, and made no attempt to shoot was gunned down with such alacrity? This is a question agitating every informed mind that believes in the universally accepted axiom that even the most heinous of criminals deserves to be given a trial if he offers no resistance to an attempt, any attempt, to bring the person to justice. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rober Runcie, has raised this question, too, and would like to have an answer from Obama and company. But answer there is none to this basic and essential question. Whats obvious is that Obama has gone with those whose blood lust for Muslim blood, in particular, remains insatiable as ever. What has been meted out to Osama is typical wild-west, frontier justice, in which there has never been any concept of taking prisoners. Hangem by the tallest tree is standard wild-west justice which gives no quarters to traditional, prosecutorial, justice dispensed to a wanted man. When it comes to revenge and retribution, 21st century US is no different from the 17th century America where the pilgrims from Europe-ostensibly fleeing relination as there could be and smacks of an attempt to cover up something much more unsavoury. It also serves plenty of fodder to those-in Pakistan and many other parts of the world-who doubt and question the whole veracity of the episode of Osamas killing. General Mirza Aslam Baig, a former Chief of the Pakistan Army is one of such people; he believes Osama was killed in the Tora Bora bombing in 2001, when George W. Bush let loose the full blast of his own frontier justice against the Afghans and their Al Qaeda allies. Its obvious that Obama and his minions are refusing to come clean and have somethingperhaps a lot-to hide and cover up. Which would, then, play into the hands of those not that they are untrustworthy and unreliable. Its an echo of the accusation routinely slapped on Pakistan that some, if not all, of the elements and personnel in its vaulted intelligence outfitthe controversial and much-hyped-about spy agency, the ISI, were partisans of Osama and were playing a double-game with Washington. The Pakistani establishment has a lot of explaining to do in the wake of this episode, the debris of which has already fallen heavily on it, and possibly much more is still to come. It isnt only the people of Pakistan, but also the international community, are entitled to ask the obvious question: how could it be that the most wanted fugitive from justice in the world was nestling right under the wings of the most prestigious military academy of Pakistan but remained undetected or unbeknown to anyone in the vaunted establishment of Pakistan? The people of Pakistan feel bruised from both sides: their own government as well as the US establishment. As far as their political leadership is concerned, the people of Pakistan have but scant faith in its integrity and backbone. They know, for a gospel truth, that men like President Zardari and PM Gilani, are feckless satraps who have sold their soul to US and have been serving its imperialist interests at the expense of Pakistan and its people. The man-on-thePakistani-street takes it for granted that these leaders are gods retributions for the nations collective sins. But the Pakistan army has always had a special place-one of admiration and respect-in the hearts of the Pakistanis. The army, with its immaculate discipline and dexterity has been a subject of awe for most Pakistanis, who subscribed to it as a matter of faith that the army was a guardian of their national interest beyond any iota of doubt. That abiding faith in the armys professional calibre has been badly bruised, if not shattered, by this American Rambo-like adventure that has obviously splattered so much egg on the shining face of the Pakistani military brass. How is it, the man on the street is asking in obvious anguish, that the American helicopters penetrated so deep inside the Pakistani territory-Abbotabad is a good 125 miles from the border with Afghanistan from where the US assault came-but remained undetected? Does it not cast a long shadow of doubt on its competence and capability? Where has all that money been going, which the Pakistanis have been throwing into the militarys lap, at the expense of the countrys neglected socio-economic sector, in the belief that a well-resourced army was essential to keep the country safe and secured? While the armys being caught with its pants down in the episode is, no doubt, grating the Pakistani peoples soul, equally infuriating is the rising crescendo of all sorts of accusations and innuendoes from Washington, especially from the law-makers in Congress brazenly threatening Pakistan with dire consequences. The Pakistanis are a proud people and usually treat all those threatening them with contempt. However, in this sordid development they find themselves caught at a very awkward tangent: they dont know whos more deserving of their contempt: the gung-ho and trigger-happy Americans or their servile and shameless clients within the Pakistani civil and military establishment? It goes without saying that the proud Pakistanis would like to put paid to this unnerving and unsavoury episode at the earliest. But before that happens they would like their leaders, especially those in military regalia, to answer the questions weighing so heavily on their conscience. What they would like to see utmost-and at the earliest-is the partisans of both Osama and Obama sorted out and brought o justice, not the Americans-like justice but justice of the civilized people. For the Americans and Obama, in particular, once the euphoria of Osamas killing peters out there would be hard questions, too, to answer. Obama may soon discover that dumping Osama in the sea was a far easier proposition than burying his ghost. The most notorious and nettlesome fugitive from American justice may continue to haunt the US establishment and people from his watery grave.

Obama has apparently managed to pull off a very successful operation that fully catered to the insatiable blood-lust of the American people. Before this, he has had some very rough time at the hands of the neo cons and the Tea Party nitwits baying for his blood, so much so that barely days before he stunned them all with his triumph over Osama, he had to produce his birth certificate, in public, to silence their lunatic cacophony that he wasnt an American by birth.
gious persecution-dispensed similar wild justice to the native Red Indians and, later, to the black slaves from Africa. Then, the obscene haste of disposing of the body of the gunned down person, whoever it was, Osama or his double, as some believe, or anybody else, for that matter, raises not only eye-brows but plethora of questions. Why was the Osama corpse dumped in the sea when he was killed far from the ocean, on land? The Obama co. has made a very unconvincing effort to tell the world, the Islamic part of it in particular, that Osama was given a proper Muslim burial and according to their claim, in keeping with the Islamic requirement to bury the dead with dispatch; within 24 hours, the Obama spokesman said. Is there a 24-hour limit in the Islamic Sharia? Not really, according to the Quran and Sunnah. The explanation for dumping the body in the sea is, according to the White House, that no Muslim country was prepared to give him a patch of earth to bury. Really! Was each one of the 58 sovereign states in the Islamic bloc consulted within a matter of hours by the Obama wizards and got an answer in the negative? The most apocryphal of the post-Osama killing edicts gushing from the Obama White House is the one that wants the world to believe that the decision to not publish the photographs of Osamas corpse and burial at sea emanates from fear that it may incite more violence. Thats as effete and unconvincing an explaready to reconcile to the claim that Osama is finally dead and buried-oh, no, not buried but dumped in the ocean-and that he has already become part of history, as so many mealymouthed and over-zealous, western gurus would want the world to believe. But irrespective of how much fiction has gone into this brazenly-Hollywood-like adventure, which is being talked about by the Obama supporters and partisans as his ticket to a second term in office, the episode has locked Pakistan into a very unseemly and unsavoury crisis. Whichever way one may interpret this gungho drama-an achievement of unprecedented political and strategic savvy by Obama, or a heroic feat by the US naval seals whose professionalism is being eulogized by Obama top down-it has triggered an avalanche of shame and embarrassment for Pakistan. The way Team Obama has pulled this rabbit out of its hat and stunned the world with something few could have dared to dream about, is a resounding vote of no-confidence in Pakistan, supposedly the closest ally of US in the ongoing war on terror. Pakistan was neither informed nor kept in the loop on this Rambo-like episode. Washingtons official explanation for keeping its front-line ally in the dark is that it was done out of fear that alerting Pakistan in advance might trigger Osamas fleeing from the scene. In other words, Obama wants the Pakistanis to accept

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 27

BOOKS

A Sociological study of Kashmir

Book: Sociological Papers on Kashmir Author: Dr Bashir Ahmad Dabla Publisher: Jay Kay Books, Srinagar, Kashmir Year of Publication: 2010 Pages: 460 (2 volumes) Price: Rs 1990

MUSHTAQ UL HAQ AHMAD SIKANDER

The Kashmir issue was born in the aftermath of the Partition of the subcontinent. Kashmir, since then has remained the bone of contention between India and Pakistan; Kashmiri society as baffled by many new, unique and complex problems on social, political, economic, demographic and cultural level, whether contesting claims gave birth to these problems, or these problems would have come to the fore anyway is yet to be studied? Whether these problems wouldnt have arisen if the majority population of the Valley wasnt Muslim, hasnt been answered, in any academic study, and the present volumes under review does not offer answers to these brutally honest questions, though a lot of issues related to the conflict, its ramifications and its consequences on the common people have been taken into account. The author of these volumes, Dr Bashir Ahmad Dabla is a serious researcher, prolific writer and profound academic, above all a veteran sociologist who studies, analyzes the changing, emerging and new Social issues and discourses in the Kashmiri Society. The first volume of the book is divided into five broad chapters, each covering various research, conference papers and articles written by the author from time to time, particularly during the last twenty two years of the armed struggle, and its impact on the people of the Valley especially women and children. The first chapter deals with the Kashmiri Muslims, and the sub chapters, deal with a range of Issues and seriously seeks to answer many political questions as to what were the reasons for the failure of Islamic Ideology and leaders to sway the masses and lead them in contrast to the secular-socialist ones, the Indian highhandedness in not tolerating the smooth functioning of democracy in Kashmir, the failure to incorporate plurality as well as diversity of prevailing social and cultural units which must have equal participants in the process of political participation and socio-economic development, which is witnessed in the resentment of all these parts of J&K against each other, and accusing the government of appeasing one part at the cost of the other. The second chapter deals with the Kashmiri Identity, which has neither assimilated nor integrated yet with the core body of India, and still proudly maintains its distinct ethnicity and identity which as the author claims is under attack from various quarters. As the name of these volumes suggests, these papers and articles deal solely with Kashmir valley, but some part of Kashmir is under the suzerainty of Pakistan too, and Dabla proposes that Kashmiris living on both sides of the line of actual control must be allowed to meet, interact and live together,. The artificial wall of Jang Bandi line must be demolished as early as possible. (p. 77). Chapter three studies the conflict and its impact, and deliberates how each death in the conflict contributes towards making 34 members of the victims family add to the statistics of the newly created suffering group, plus the manipulation of schemes about

welfare of orphans and widows and how the money is embezzled by the workers and political activists of the ruling elite, and how the statistics or sociological study of raped women is yet to be undertaken. Chapter Four deals with the Social Demography and Dabla is concerned about the declining Muslim population in Kashmir and this chapter brings forth the horrors of demographic change of Muslims in J&K and unveils the sinister designs of those who are perpetuating it. Dabla also quotes former Chief Minister of J&K, Dr Farooq Abdullah who is on record, saying that Census data has been manipulated against Muslims by the concerned agencies (see Kashmir Times, Jammu, 1 November, 1998). (p.139). The last chapter of the first volume deals with women, impact of migration on them, problems of working women, Gender issues in the valley, changes among women, social problems of women in Kashmir, Mehr, Dowry practices in Kashmir and scores of other issues related to women are discussed threadbare in this chapter. Volume two consists of four chapters. First chapter deals with stratification of Kashmiri society, Family and marriage and deliberates issues related to these; the vale of Kashmir despite being Muslim majority, practices strictly the casteism and the whole Valley is stratified into various castes, who rarely intermarry, and Dabla looks into the genesis of the casteism in Kashmir, the rituals and dress patterns, and the jobs that different castes undertake though due to globalization, spread of education and modernization the grip of casteism is becoming weak, but still there are no signs of its early death. The Second chapter deals with Tourism as Kashmir is called the Heaven on Earth and millions visit the valley each year to enjoy its pristine beauty and be close to nature, though this inflow had been nearly stopped because of the armed insurgency. Dabla deliberates the Impact of Tourism on natives especially those who have direct dealing with them and whose economy is dependent on tourists. The study titled Tourism and Sex Practices in Kashmir is a powerful one, and offers the reader an insight into how poverty, unemployment and compulsive exploitation of women push them in the Flesh trade. Dabla offers us a detailed analysis of this trade and how deep it has struck roots in Kashmir by discussing the various sex scandals which rocked the valley from time to time and in the process the women always got exploited and demeaned. Dabla also discusses the impact of migration on Sex practices. The third chapter deals with Child Labour, which is an emerging social problem in Kashmir as numerous bread earners of the families have been killed leaving behind them large families to fend for themselves, hence little children are compelled to drive the cart of the family, taking its complex responsibilities on their tender shoulders and while doing so they are exploited by one and all, especially the girl child labourers who are discriminated against and not paid equal wage and not according to their work, and in this manner their childhood is brutally snatched from them by cruel hands. The last chapter deals with the Social Problems and discuses the emerging crime situation in Kashmir, emergence of late marriages in Kashmir, alarming rate of suicides in Kashmir valley, the apathy and official discrimination towards orphans, divorce rates

in Kashmir and Social problems related with children in Kashmir. The book is a laudable and a refreshing read of high academic standard and empirical order and must be high on the reading list of anyone who wishes to know what went wrong with the Kashmiri society as well as to understand the change and chalk out a future course to cope with the challenges. Dabla needs to be highly appreciated for bringing out this much needed book which deals with a multitude of Issues, Problems and concerns. Some grave mistakes on pp. 89, 102 and others sour the taste of reading as well as the professional editing by a linguist editor is missing. Moreover, the book is too expensive for a lay man to enrich his personal study. The reviewer is a writer-activist based in Srinagar, J&K

Book: Ikhwanul Muslimoon (Urdu) Author: Ubaidullah Fahad Falahi Publisher: Al-Qalam Publications, Truck Yard, Baramulla, Kashmir193101 - distributed by Urdu Book Review, 1739/3 (Basement), New Kohinoor Hotel, Pataudi House, Darya Ganj, New Delhi 110002 Pages: 312. Price: Rs 210. Year: 2011 The twentieth century was marked by the emergence of many Muslim revival movements. One of these was the Muslim Brotherhood founded in 1928 by a young teacher and reformer, Hasan Al-Banna. Though widely maligned since its inception, in the East and West alike, this movement has been a nursery of heroes, which produced a galaxy of capable, pious, bold and daring intellectuals and personalities of a high moral and spiritual standard, like Sayyid Qutb, Hasan Al-Hudaibi, Said Ramadan, Muhammad AlGhazali, Bahi Al-Khouli, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. Ubaidullah Fahad, a regular writer on modern Islamic revival movements, has authored this book Ikhwanul Muslimun to introduce it in a comprehensive way. The book, comprising of 7 chapters, studies in the first chapter the lives, characteristics and achievements of all Murshids (heads) of the Ikhwan, right from Hasan Al-Banna, the founder, to its eighth and current Murshid Dr. Muhammad Al-Badie. The second chapter deals with combination of spirituality and politics, the third deals with Ikhwans complete abstinence from violence. The fourth chapter deals with the biographies of some of Ikhwans leaders. The fifth mentions some writers and intellectuals of the movement. The sixth chapter is about the everlasting impression of its training system. The seventh and the last chapter is about demonstration of brotherliness and sincerity among its rank and file. The Ikhwan had been a victim of constant and unparalleled state terrorism. It was banned in Egypt right from the time of King Farooqs government to Hosni Mubaraks regime and has faced killings, unlawfull detention and torture. Its only crime is that it stands for the establishment of a true Islamic rule and also to serve selflessly, the people of the country, which resulted in its tremendous popularity. This book is a short story of Ikhwans unflinching faith, patience and complete trust in Allah, narrated with enthusiasm and emotion.

Muslim Brotherhood

MG DESK

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28 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES

What about a world without Islam - i

ASGHAR ALI ENGINEER
Recently a book has been published by an American writer, Graham. E. Fuller. It is titled A World Without Islam. Graham Fuller is a scholar and has worked with CIA for long. It is an interesting book and quite scholarly too. It is worth reading. The point the author makes is that even if there were no Islam, the world would not have been without violence and war. He has given account of various wars fought much before Islam appeared on the scene. However, I am not dealing with the contents of Fuller's book here. The idea of the book itself is quite interesting and I want to deal with it in a different way. The Western powers through its media are maintaining that Islam believes in violence and jihad is a religious obligation and hence violence in the modern world is due only to Islam and if Islam were to be tamed or if it had not come into existence there would not have been violence in the world. Ridiculous though it is, many western scholars seriously believe in this. For them the book is really quite revealing. However, I propose to deal with this idea in a different way. What our world would have lost if Islam had not come into existence. Would our world have been better or worse without Islam? What would our world have been like without Islam? I would like to make it clear that this can apply to other religions also like Hinduism or Buddhism or Christianity and so on. Every religion has contributed a lot to enrich our world in the sphere of ethics, morality, creative arts and spirituality. Islam has also created very richly in these spheres though in a different way. Islam's greatest contribution, in terms of ethics and morality, has been the concept of justice and equality. Both are quite central to Islam. Qur'an equated justice with piety and an act of worship. One cannot be pious without being just and one has to practice justice even if it goes against ones own interest or ones own near and dear ones. Also, equality and human dignity was not emphasized as much as in Islamic morality through its pronouncement that all believers are each others brothers and that all human beings have equal dignity and Islam put this in practice. Its prayers system was also devised in a way as to emphasize equality and equal dignity. All believers have to stand in one line before their creators to pray. No distinction could be made between rich and poor. Also, the words Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest) symbolize this. Only God is the greatest and all other human beings are equally humble in His eyes. No one, no ruler also can ever claim any privilege over other human beings (though in practice when feudal rulers came into existence who began to impose their regal authority over other human beings which destroyed this concept of equality before God). The early Caliphs maintained this equality and equal accountability including before their slaves. Islam was not merely a spiritual religion which it undoubtedly was. It was much more than that. It set out to establish a just order in the world. Though certain distortions occurred due to development of monarchy and feudal order Islam as an ethical system asserted itself through other channels, especially that of Sufism. Islam originally was revealed in tribal Arabia which had neither any religion nor any written code of morality and since Mecca, where the Prophet (PBUH) lived, was a centre of trade, had no code of mercantile morality. Lying, cheating and fraudu-

But for Qur'an medieval ages would have remained ages of darkness and it was because of Muslims that Greek knowledge survived. The Abbasids realized the importance of knowledge and paid for Greek books in gold and precious jewels. Camel loads of gold were exchanged with camel loads of books from Greek authorities. The Abbasids in Baghdad and Fatimids in Cairo enriched world of knowledge beyond ordinary persons' imagination. And who produced Ibn Khaldun? He was a great philosopher of history and great sociologist. In a way he was a counterpart of Marx in the east that too in the medieval ages. In no way Ibn Khaldun's contribution to history of philosophy and sociology can be underrated. His Muqaddimah is considered a masterpiece of introduction to history. Muslims also contributed to what is called 'ilm al-kalam i.e. rational theology.
lent deals were common. Qur'an gave them a whole code of mercantile morality. It denounced speculation, hoarding, all forms of unfair and unjust trade practices. It also stressed accurate just weighing and not giving less and taking more. The Arabs were just not interested in acquiring knowledge, let alone in science and technology. The Qur'an stressed on 'ilm (knowledge) and that too knowledge of the whole universe. The Prophet of Islam said, "The first thing which God created was knowledge or reason" Such was the importance of knowledge in Islam. It invited Muslims to reflect on everything in the universe, how it was created and what the causes were behind natural phenomena. Until then everything was thought to be a miracle. Qur'an stressed that there are fixed causes behind phenomena and causes and effects do not change. This encouraged scientific approach as against superstitious approach then prevalent in the world. No wonder then the Muslims produced great thinkers, philosophers, scientists and mathematicians like Avicenna, Averros, Jabir bin Hayyan, alKindi, al-Farabi, Ibn Maskawaih, Ibn Haitham, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Khaldun and so on. It was these great stalwarts who developed various sciences and made great discoveries in the otherwise dark ages in Europe. It was through them that Europe learned science and philosophy and but for these great thinkers, scientists and philosophers that Greek knowledge survived and European universities taught them. It was Avicenna who discovered the concept of flow of blood, it is he who wrote extensively on philosophy. It was the school of Mu'tazila which popularized rationalism and rational way of thinking. But for Mu'tazilite thinkers theology would have remained prisoner of superstitions. Again it was Ikhwanus Safa who produced encyclopedia of philosophy and composed epistles on mathematics, music and astronomy. And it was Qur'an which developed inductive logic as against Aristotle's deductive logic and science developed with inductive logic. But for Qur'an medieval ages would have remained ages of darkness and it was because of Muslims that Greek knowledge survived. The Abbasids realized the importance of knowledge and paid for Greek books in gold and precious jewels. Camel loads of gold were exchanged with camel loads of books from Greek authorities. The Abbasids in Baghdad and Fatimids in Cairo enriched world of knowledge beyond ordinary persons' imagination. And who produced Ibn Khaldun? He was a great philosopher of history and great sociologist. In a way he was a counterpart of Marx in the east that too in the medieval ages. In no way Ibn Khaldun's contribution to history of philosophy and sociology can be underrated. His Muqaddimah is considered a masterpiece of introduction to history. Muslims also contributed to what is called 'ilm al-kalam i.e. rational theology. The world would have been much poorer but for these thinkers who blended Islamic teachings with the best knowledge then available in the world and enriched the world through their contribution. They neither practiced violence nor ever talked of violence. Why then the west only attributes violence to Islam? Is it not politically motivated? It is deliberately done to denounce Islam and glorify the West as the only civilized region of the world. This began from the colonial era itself. It was done to hide their own greed, lust for power and wealth and violence they used to achieve all that. But for Islam, would the world have seen Sufis like Rumi and Ibn Arabi? Maulana Rum (popularly known as Rumi) was a philosopher of love and peace. When he died his coffin was accompanied by Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians. They were wailing and beating their breasts in sorrow and reciting from their respective holy books and saying today our prophet has died. He was so universally popular among all communities. He was a perfect model of a Muslim. He was one who said my only identity is love. And the world would have been poorer without sufi's like Ibn Arabi who said my Din and Sharia is love and he contributed richly through his scholarly works. These Sufis believed in conquering inner world rather than outer one and hence shunned violence in all forms and instead subdued their selfish desires and controlled their lust. They remained in the world and yet were not of the world. They did not renounce the world as Islam does not permit it but were never absorbed in it. They were not conquered by the world but they conquered others' hearts and souls. They did not live in a borrowed world but created a world of their own which was more spiritual than material. Among these Sufis was Junaid who is said to have become restless when he saw in his room an ant crawling and became restless lest someone crush it under feet until he picked it up gently and put it in a vessel containing wheat flour.

To be continued in the next issue

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30 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS
MG An excellent magazine, particularly for Muslim community. G.A. Rahim, I.P.S. I.G. (Rtd), Hyderabad, AP II Alhamdulillah, The Milli Gazette has completed 11 years of its publication. Thank you and your team members for the opportunity that you have provided to us to know about the Ummah. It would have been very good for North-East region Muslims if you could publish more news and articles related to various issues of N-E Muslims. Elias Uddin, East Garo Hills, Meghalaya So much charity, aukaf, but still we are backward I belong to Amroha and I saw lots of dacoits, beggers, dinosaur, dracula and witch in Amroha in Muslims. During service I saw the same in Dehradun, Meerut, Ghaziabad and now in Aligarh. Don't mind, India is a good country with secularism and democracy. There is good relationship and brotherhood in all communities in India. We should work hard for national integration. Educational backwardness, environment, speedy growth of population and AIDS/TB are important problems. There is progress prosperity and development in our country. Mera Bharat mahan. Our Zakat, Fitra, Charh Qurbani and Aukaf have thousand, crores of income but Muslim community is backward why? Anwar Masood Siddiqui, Aligarh, U.P. Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption While in no way denying that the prevalent all-pervasive corruption in the country has shaken the foundations of our secular democracy, equally it is unfortunate that Hazare's crusade against corruption has been targeting and slamming only politicians and has been responsible for creating a climate of disdain not only against parliamentary system but against democracy. Hazare has miserably failed to focus on other sections of Indian society like bureaucrats, top business magnets, corrupt judges, journalists and barons of newspapers and thoroughly corrupt and incompetent police officials who have amassed wealth. His praise for Narender Modi who was responsible for the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, who has been a faithful ally of BJP and an active association of Baba Ramdev and RSS cadres with his movement raises doubts about the secular and non-partism character of Hazare's campaign. He conveniently forgets that communalism posseses greatest danger to the existence of Indian democracy. He ignores the fact that India has a robust constitution and that there is no dearth of upright politicians in the country. Hazare has never raised his voice against chauvinistic communal Hindu organisations. His recent statement that NDA as graduated in corruption and while UPA has done Ph.D in corruption shows his softness and closeness to Hindu communal elements. Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai Mayur Vihar Phase-I, New Delhi -91 Gujarat pogroms Gujarati Muslims were killed in broad daylight at: 1. Gulbarg Society, Ahmedabad, where 69 Muslims were massacred including an ex-MP Ehsan Jafri. The trial in connection with the death of 69 Muslims in the Gulbarga society massacre is in its final stage as the court completed recording of evidence last year. 2. Best Bakery, Vadodara, where 14 Muslims belonging to Shaikh family, who had taken refuge there, were killed on March 1, 2002 during the post-Godhra riots. In February, 2006, the sessions court sentenced nine accused to life imprisonment. All the convicts have filed appeals in Bombay High Court, which are yet to come up for hearing. Farooq A. Gaffar Bawani Rajkot (Gujarat) Israel is the bigger enemy There is currently a bloc of nations whose utmost desire is the destruction of the United States. That bloc grows larger every decade. While there may be a few nations that feel that way (China comes to mind), I think the only significant "bloc of nations" opposing the US do so only because of the US's continued support for Israel. There is certainly a bloc of nations whose utmost deisre is the destruction of Israel, and I think if the United States were to halt aid to Israel and begin to publically support the Palestinians, the US would very quickly turn from an enemy to a friend in their eyes (it's even widely speculated that Iran is interested in restoring ties with the United States but cannot reasonably do so until the US stops supporting Israel so forcefully and publically). Sheikh Gulzaar, Editor, Asia-Middle East Affairs writerasia@in.com Osama, at what cost? After 1.3 trillion dollars expenditures, killing of thousands of people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and near a decade search US finally got its target in Abbotabad Pakistan. After killing of Bin Laden popularity of US president increased dramatically in United States. US president personally monitored Abbotabad operation with his senior advisers including secretary of state Hillary Clinton.. After successful operation Obama said that now after death of Bin Laden world is more safe place than before. Despite claim of US president ground realties are very different. US authorities made same claims after death of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and death of Baitullah Mehsood in Pakistan but condition are still going bad to worst in these countries and instead of peace and economic stability deaths, destructions and worst economic conditions have become routine in these countries. Now true reality is that Abbotabad operation and killing of Bin Laden can boost falling graph of US President Obama after worst economic conditions, unemployment in USA and huge war expenditures in US occupied countries but cant change ground realties in present world specially in US occupied countries. US illegal operations on Pakistani soil and announcement of sea burial of Bin Laden add further fuel on anger of the Muslim world. Al Azhar Egypt openly criticized US decision as inhuman. Sentiments are already high in Muslim world after killing of Gaddafi son in Libya by NATO bombing. Several western embassies and UNO office already attacked. After death of Bin Laden war of words are going on between US and Pakistani authorities. Recently US accused Pakistani ISI of secret contacts with Haqqani network. Now most of Pakistani rightly believe that death of Bin Laden near capital Islamabad is big conspiracy against their country some sources are trying hard to wide their war agenda from Afghanistan to Pakistan and recent Abbotabad operation can provide them wrong justification to pursue their war agenda against Pakistan. Khwaja Umer Farooq, Jeddah 21472, KSA ofarooq@dinersclubsaudi.com

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II The more America piles up lies after lies in the media, itself confused as how to respond to the challenges from different sections of world's populations, the crime of 9/11 gets more and more fuzzy, raising doubts, if it was not an inside job, most audaciously imposed on Osama, Al Qaida and the rest of Muslim world. Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com Gujarat violence a matter of national shame Anna Hazare's praise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is condemnable. While addressing a meeting in Bhun (Gujarat) L.K. Advani had also praised Modi for doing a great job. What is Modi's great job? A 9-member high level tribunal of retired Supreme Court Judges, Senior Journalists, and human rights activist held Modi and his government. responsible for Gujarat carnage and genocide and had demanded arrest and prosecution of criminals. The tribunal accused Gujarat Police of not preventing ghastly crimes. It also charged Modi with influencing criminal investigation. Tribunal's 600 pages report titled "Crimes against Humanity" in two volumes, was released by Justice P.B. Sawant at the Press Club of India, New Delhi. It was submitted to President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. In his address to the nation Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had called Gujarat violence a blot on the fair name of India and a matter of national shame. Cases of fake encounters of Sohrabuddin, his wife and his Hindu friend Prajapati etc. are still going on in courts. G. Hasnain Kaif, (Bhandara) Welfare Party The floating of a new political party, styling itself the Welfare Party of India (WPI), by Indias apex Islamist outfit Jamaat-e-Islami Hind recently has, predictably, set off a vigorous debate in Indian Muslim circles. The men behind the party insist that it is not a Jamaat front, though critics argue otherwise, pointing out that the top-brass of the party are mostly senior Jamaat activists and that everyone knows that the party has been set up under the orders, and with the blessings, of the Jamaat top-brass. The party, for its part, explains its agenda in predictable terms: of promoting genuine democracy, secularism, human rights, social justice and so on. The subtext that underlies its justification for its formation is that the Indian Muslims have been denied justice by existing political parties, and so a new party is necessary to secure justice for them, in addition to other marginalised sections of society. Pareethu Bava Khan pmpbkhan@yahoo.com Jamias minority status A PIL challenging minority status of Jamia Millia Islamia was filed in Delhi High Court by Vijay Kumar Sharma, President of NGO, Yuva Bharti Samiti, alleging that JMI is not a minority institution as incorporated under Jamia Millia Islamia Act of 1988. Before arriving at this thought, we need to peep into JMI past. JMI was founded by the Muslims during Khilafat movement in 1920 on the call of Gandhiji, for the religious and secular education of Indians especially Muslims as has been mentioned in its aims and objectives. Jamia was a minority institution when it was declared a "Deemed University" status by UGC in 1962. It retained its minority status till the conferment of Central University status in 1988 by the Central Government. The central Act of 1988 deliberately diluted minority status of Jamia Millia Islamia. Another allegation is that National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions has no jurisdiction or authority to declare Jamia Millia Islamia a minority institution. His allegation is toothless because one of the functions of NCMEI is: To decide all questions relating to the status of any institution as a minority institution and declare its status as such. We should also understand the difference between the foundation of an Institution by community and conferment of status. JMI was founded by the Muslims and it was conferred Central University status in 1988 by the central government. To presume that Jamias secular credentials would be affected is baseless. Jamia was, is and shall remain a secular institution even after declaration of its minority status. Khalil-ur Rahman Khan, New Delhi-25 khalilkhan143@gmail.com Are we democratic country? While releasing Dr. Binayak Sen from the charges of sedition and granting him bail, SC, said, We are a democratic country. As per ToI 17 April, corrupt politicians, complicit babus and biased enforcement of law have shaken the citizens faith in institutions. Governance deficit has dented Indias International image. In the chance of constitution Muslims are not given reservation and in the name of talent Muslims are denied their due shares. Merely having Jihadi literature (police named justice seeking literature as Jihadi literature) a secure of Muslims are sent behind bar where as SC observed that merely having Gandhi biography one cannot be Ghandhiwadi. Similarly having naxal literature does not make a person naxal. Yes we are democratic country where idol placed in Mosque in dark night and Masjid razed to ground in broad day-light. But judiciary and constitution let allow our democracy to flourish. S. Haque, Patna Purulia arms drop case The TV news channel Times Now deserves praise for unearthing the motive behind the mysterious Purulia arms-drop episode in 1995. The disclosure that the arms drop was clandestinely allowed by the British intelligence service MI5 and Indias counterpart RAW is shocking. It was a serious assault on India's sovereignty and a diabolical plot against an elected government in West Bengal. Though the claim made by the key accused Kim Davy and Peter Bleach that the entire operation had the blessings of P.V.Narasimha Raos government appear incredulous, how can one understand when the aircraft which carried the cache of arms could escape the radar grab and then it had a refuelling at the airport Varanasi before the arms were dropped? What was more disturbing was that the huge cache of ammunition might well have fallen into the hands of Maoists. Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa, AP sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in US and Gujarat May 4 newspapers report BJP president Nitin Gadkari as saying, "We must learn a lesson from the U.S. It did not forget the horrific crime [of 9/11] and took revenge even after ten years." Gadkari should know that the horrific crimes committed in Gujarat in 2002 have not been forgotten either. Punishment, not revenge, is the aim of those who remember. Mukul Dube, Delhi-91 uthappam@gmail.com

Deaf and Dumb State Right-To-Information Act is a successful tool to reveal information on action taken by companies and departments of the governments in the Centre and in the states on correspondence made by members of public in a time-bound period of 30 days. But ever-increasing workload on officers handling RTI petitions and on Central Information Commission can and should be considerably reduced in benefit of public by making it mandatory for all departments and companies of the governments to compulsorily reply to letters received by them within 30 days thereby negating any need to even use RTI Act so commonly. System should be for automatic follow-up by those departments where some department forwards communication/s received from commoners in a time-bound period just on lines of RTI petitions. System will thus fix responsibility and distribute departmental work to all those working in government offices rather than accumulating heavy work-load only in RTI sections of public-authorities. All government offices should then have a statistical data on communications received and subsequent action taken/or forwarded to other departments. National Informatics Centre should include provision of automatic generation of acknowledgement-number on letters mailed through websites of all departments and companies of the governments towards a paperless e-governance with liability on government-departments to act on communications received on websites in a time-bound period. Madhu Agarwal, Delhi-6 subhashmadhu@sify.com 26/11 attack on Mumbai not serious enough: US Media-reports about US saying that 26/11 attack on Mumbai was not as serious as 9/11 attack on US World Trade Towers establishes US to be a selfish nation which cannot be trusted for its lip-talks to fight against global terrorism. It may be recalled that US also did not provide any assistance to India during IC-814 hijack at Kandhar (Afghanistan). India should be proud of our brave forces for selfdefence when Indian Army Chief assured that Indian Army can also do what US did to finish Osama to practically fight terrorism. Pakistans boasting that it would not allow similar operations by any country including US, were soon deflated by US making a drone attack in Waziristan. SMSs going around on mobile phones like Kasab safe in India but Osama unsafe in Pakistan are reflective of general mindset of Indian people against not-very-strong attitude of Indian government against Pak-sponsored militancy in India. Indian government should take some firm decision including immediate punishment to those confirmed death-sentence by Supreme Court for attack on Indian sovereignty. Subhash Chandra Agarwal, Delhi-6 subhashmadhu@sify.com Acquittal of Muslims from terror charges-unnoticed A large number Muslim organisations have mushroomed in Muslim localities. They play vote catching role during elections and these organisations beat drum after any government announcement. When any Muslim is caught on terror charges media give full coverage to such news but not when the same person gets acquittal from court. Media doesnt give importance to Muslims acquittal. On 6th May Haroon and Rashid released from jail because police story of bomb blast in train didnt stand in law of court. The national media didnt mention this news. It becomes the duty of Muslims organisations expose police atrocities. Muslim organisations should publish leaflets, pamphlets and booklets about the Muslim kept in jail in the name of terrorism and their acquittal. Let us not go unnoticed our sacrifices. S. Haque, Patna Anna Hazares defamation It would not have been difficult for the office of the charity commissioner to verify if the complaint against Anna Hazares Hind Swaraj Trust had substance and veracity. The fact that someone in that august body chose to send to a person like Anna Hazare a showcause notice cannot be without receiving consideration from some person, persons or entity that are out to malign Anna Hazare. The person or persons or an entity that can influence the office of the charity commissioner has to be powerful. It is extremely important to go to the bottom of the matter to find out who was behind this misadventure on part of the charity commissioners office. An apology from the office of the Charity Commissioner amounts to letting the actual perpetrators of the offence and their masters go scot free. The Commissioner should have on its own ordered an inquiry into the matter and taken severe disciplinary or legal action against the persons responsible. Anna Hazare has done the right thing by asking his lawyers to proceed against the wrong doers, whose names and the names of their handlers come to light. Dr Mookhi Amir Ali, Santacruz West, Mumbai 400054 drmookhi@hotmail.com Lets give a push to the Jan Lokpal Bill Some weeks ago former telecom minister A Raja was arrested for taking an alleged kickback of 200 crore rupees and awarding the 2G licence to Swan Telecom. Then Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi has been arrested for indulging in financial irregularities in the recent Commonwealth Games (CWG). Eradicating corruption in the country will not be as easy as Anna Hazare perhaps assumes. We dont know how effective this Bill would be to fight against the epidemic of corruption, but its clear that many high-rung politicians in the past resisted the bill for which it has been stuck in the backburner for more than four decades. Still some politicians appear to be resisting the bill now and it has been a cause of worry for the citizens who have stood up to fight corruptions on all fronts. The governments proposed draft suggests the Lokpal as an advisory body with no unobstructed powers at its domination. At large however the bill seems to be just eyewash. It seeks to completely insulate the politicians from any kind of punitive action against them if they indulged in corruption. Such a bill, when it turns into a law, will be toothless one in its fight against corruption. Mr. Hazare has turned an icon among ordinary Indians these days, not just because of his reputation as a campaigner for basic rights for the aam admi, but because ordinary citizens feel tired or troubled with increasing trend of corruption across the country and Anna provided them a platform to vent their protest against the menace. Whatever the final outcome, lets hope that the Jan Lokpal Bill will be able to weed out governmental corruption, at least to some extent. Aziz A. Mubaraki, Kolkata azizmubarki@gmail.com

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The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011 31

REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS
Peoples faith in CBI restored The arrest of Suresh Kalmadi and the filing of charge sheet against M.K.Kanimozhi have reinforced the faith of people in the CBI. But everyone knows that the looted money has not gone in thin air. What the CBI should concurrently do is to find out whose coffers were finally filled with the money which rightfully belonged to the nation. What we are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg and one hopes to see the bigger players behind the scene. Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa, AP sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in Road safety You may make a cozy paradise for you and your family at home; however, you can't escape the menace of road traffic. A decade ago, we used to be worried only about one aspect of traffic hazards- accidents, however; now this subject of road traffic is something far beyond road accidents. There are no signs of control over deaths due to accidents. In addition, many new and equally hazardous problems have come up in recent times like pollution, alarming traffic congestion, arrogance on roads, and the like. All these are going from bad to worse at a break-neck speed. On an average every minute one serious accident is occurring and every five minutes a person is dying owing to road accidents in India. It is an alarming, nerve-racking and mind-boggling scenario. Road accidents are amongst the most important hazards being faced by modern society. India, presumably, is the worse hit. Last but not the least, we, the conscious citizens, often makes a lot of hue and cry about chaotic traffic conditions, but they are very people who violate the traffic rules. These facts are sufficient to prove that the situation is alarming on the roads. If we do not tackle it on a war footing right now, considering it a man-made disaster, it will be too late to mend fences. Mohd Ziyaullah Khan, Nagpur 440013 writeziya@gmail.com Nuclear Disarmament and Peace Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace [CNDP] has welcomed the decision of the Central government to for an independent and autonomous Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India. As the CNDP expects the proposed regulatory authority should not be filled with sarkari scientists. It should have independent experts from nuclear science. This authority should be open to the opinions of economists, environmentalists, social scientists and other experts from all over the country so that all impacts of a nuclear power plant in a particular location can have an unbiased and impartial evaluation. The government of India has rushed into the ambitious Nuclear energy programme without taking the intelligentsia of the nation along. The CNDP demands that all the upcoming nuclear power plants must be held up till their safety is reviewed by this new Authority. One would like to go further and demand that this authority along with the scientific community of the country make sure that all the aspects of the alternate means of energy production are more thoroughly gone into than ever before. There are opinions that India can manage with solar and wind energy. It is doubtful if enough debate has preceded the decision of the government to go nuclear on such a massive scale. No sincere effort has been made in building a national consensus on a matter of such a grave importance. The entire exercise of nuclear deal with the US and subsequent nuclear liability bill has an element of authoritarianism. People should not be made to feel being done in without their knowledge. Dr Mookhi Amir Ali, Santacruz West, Mumbai 400054 drmookhi@hotmail.com Prime minister must be under Lokpal Bill It refers to on-going discussion if Prime Minister should be covered by Lokpal Bill or not. In present black-mail era of alliance politics, even notorious ones like Madhu Koda can become Prime Minister. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that Prime Minister must be brought under purview of Lokpal Bill, a view also favoured by present Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However there should be simultaneous working on three other bills also to reduce work-load on institution of Lokpal Bill, namely bills on Electoral Reforms, Judicial Accountability and Grievance Redress. Most of scams relating to political rulers are due to bad electoral laws. Suggestions of Joint Drafting Committee member of Lokpal Bill, Prashant Bhushan on Judicial Accountability Bill can effectively check misconduct and malpractices in higher judiciary. A bill for time-bound Grievance-Redress on lines of RTI Act can do the rest thereby institution of Lokpal being mainly concentrated on major scams and scandals. Drafting Committee can recommend such a basket of measures to be implemented in a time-bound period say by December 2011. Subhash Chandra Agarwal, Delhi-6 subhashmadhu@sify.com Environment The candid confession coming from Jairam Ramesh is like a shrill cry from a distressed man. He says he has cleared projects violating green norms under pressure and has regretted having taken these decisions. There is always pressure to clear. Sometimes it is natural pressure for development and sometimes otherwise. There are some occasions when I have not compromised. On some occasions I had to compromise, he states. The latest such occasion when he had to compromise is the clearance of 400 megawatt Maheshwari dam project in Narmada River in MP which he had to clear under pressure from the PMO in spite of its tardy relief and rehabilitation work. He said he had no option but to agree to lift the ban on the construction of last five spillway gates. He was bombarded with calls from the PMO, the Union Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and the MP Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chouhan.Nothing seems to be working for our Jairam Ramesh. He wanted that the second airport site is shifted to an alternate site because, he explained, Navi Mumbai/Panvel site had better alternative from all points of view. After the intense lobbying from Maharashtra leaders, the prime minister looked into it personally. The airport stays there! Jairam ordered the demolition of the infamous Adarsh building within three months. The building is standing merrily. Soon we may see prime minister evaluating the situation personally and in all probability the building will be regularized. Medha Patkar of Narmada Bachao has put it well: We have to say that he [Ramesh] is violating statutory conditions under dictation from aboveit is an open comment on the crony nature of the current governance of India. Jairam Ramesh has seen that the government is highly influenced by the vested interests and their lobbying. Corporate and local politicians with vested interest do not lose heart if some Jairam Ramesh refuses to do their bidding. Jairam Ramesh has two choices. Buckle or quit. He is not com-

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fortable buckling and being a rubber stamp. Dr Mookhi Amir Ali, Santacruz west, Mumbai 400054 drmookhi@hotmail.com Prince of Arcot That the Prince of Arcot bragged about the links between his ancestors and the British Government which enslaved Indians at a function organized in the city by the British Council makes painful reading. It is not right to consider friends of our enemies as enemies? S M Pasha, Chennai- 600003 syedmuhammadpasha@yahoo.com Jaitapur project The haste with which the UPA government is pushing the Jaitapur nuclear project is deplorable. The Chernobyl nuclear accident which occurred 25 years ago due to a human error and the recent Fukushima disaster that was triggered by natures calamity are fresh in the minds of the people. Luring people with generous compensation package and calling the ongoing protests at Jaitapur as politically motivated are not fair. Far from allaying fears, such measures will create more doubts about the motives of the government. India is a developing country and its immense energy needs are irrefutable. But the bogey being raised to tell nuclear power as the sole source of clean energy is misleading. With geographic location near the equator and seasonal monsoon winds blowing almost six months in a year, India has abundant resources of Solar and Wind energies. Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa (A.P) sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in Press Freedom Day World Press Freedom Day is celebrated every year on 3rd May worldwide. It is taken as an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty. With growing time, the press has emerged to be an important domain of our society and has been termed with a new name called Media. And besides, with a new name, has a come a new power with it, with this being called as the fourth pillar of democracy. With corporate houses and politicians owning the media house, the role of media (both press and the electronic media) has shifted from value based journalism to meaningless and absurd usage. However, on this day, shall the media houses be the press besides discussing the freedom aspect and what the day demands should also take their introspection, whether or not they play their role for which the media or press was known for? If they do this activity then the real purpose of the day can be sufficed. Mohd Ziyaullah Khan, Nagpur- 440013 writeziya@gmail.com Indo-Pak relation The war of words between some quarters in India and Pakistan has spoiled the bonhomie which had started sprouting on the sidelines of the Mohali test. For the people on both sides of the border, it is immaterial whether India could strike at the terrorist groups on the Pakistan soil, and whether Pakistan can retaliate to the Indian action. Since these two nations are destined to live side by side, peace and trust should be the cornerstones in the relations but not an atmosphere of hatred and mutual threat. Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa. (A.P) sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in Let history judge Osama The news about the death of Osama is much less important than the popular uprisings happening in the Arab world. His death is not terribly relevant considering the huge revolution that probably his ideology kindled in the Arab world. If the Arab masses think that a big terrorist contributed massively to Arab democracy, then he has achieved something, the wrong way or right way, is for historians to judge. There have been big changes throughout the world since 9/11. Bin Laden always wanted to get rid of Mubarak and Ben Ali and Gaddafi and so on claiming that they were all infidels working for America and man on the streets in Arabia may say a thank you to Bin Laden. We have to remember that these regimes have always been telling the Americans to keep on supporting the autocrats because if you don't, they were telling that Al Qaeda will take over' - and in fact Al Qaeda did not take over. What helped them to change Regimes is going to be an interesting part of futures history Celebrations in the United States over Bin Laden's death are meaningless compared to the celebrations of the Arab masses on the successful peoples revolutions partly fuelled by what the West called the lunatic fringe (AlQaeda.) of Muslims. How many Italian historians described Shahid Omar Mukhtar as a crude terrorist? It depends who the author of history to judge a leader, a revolutionary, a visionary. If the US had killed Bin Laden a year or two after 9/11 the celebrations that are going on in the United States might have been more understandable considering their stand on who did 9/11. Kodimirpal (via email) II Americans certainly have all the reasons to celebrate the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and USA rightly commends and appreciate the role of its commandos and intelligence agency in successfully & surgically carrying out this operation and the peace loving people of entire world are also right in joining and sharing the satisfaction of USA over the silencing of Laden who has been rightly called by Pakistani President Zardari (in an Article in prominent US media on Tues day) the greatest evil of the new millennium. But Governments of USA and Pakistan are wrong in giving an impression that complete justice has been done to the States of USA and Pakistan (in whose titles criminal cases are booked and tried in the courts of USA and Pakistan) and the victims of 9/11 and to the Allies of USA in global war against terrorism .No doubt a very important & major element of justice has been done by killing Laden (the mastermind of 9/11) but complete & effective justice will be done only when Supreme Court of Pakistan will be moved to prosecute the protectors of Laden. Therefore USA, Pakistan and the rest of the world should not remain content with only martial remedy in this matter but should also invoke civil remedies through Supreme Court of Pakistan in order to secure complete and effective justice to not only victims of 9/11 but also in the interest of democracy and global war against terrorism. Hem Raj Jain, Mankato, MN - 56001, USA jainhemraj1945@gmail.com III Corporate media love to manipulate and create News stories and hype, distort and falsify to attract large audiences, thus they manage

news as per their whims and fancies. Moreover, the bigger the news or event the worse comes the reporting, and no matter how often they're fooled, the viewers or the madding crowds rely on proved unreliable sources like US cable and broadcast TV, as well as corporate broadsheets and popular magazines publishing rubbish not fit to print. After Obama's May day announcement, round the clock coverage featuring the death of a dead man with no one allowed on to refute it. While separating fact from fiction, the significant facts from David Ray Griffin's important book titled, "Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?", provides objective and testimonial evidence of Osamas death in December 2001, likely from kidney failure, not a Special Forces hit squad getting their man then or now. Similarly, there is couple of such evidences such as, Forensic evidence that post-9/11 videos and audios were fake, Bin Laden's role as a CIA asset, as well as called "Enemy Number One," using him advantageously both ways. Also, reports of his 2001 hospitalizations in Pakistan and Dubai where (in July) the emirate's CIA station chief visited him in his hospital room. Why not if he was a valued asset, his likely status until his natural, not violent, death? Nonetheless, Western politicians and media, notably America's, never miss a chance to report fiction, not fact, especially on headline news like bin Laden's death, a decade after it happened. Mohd Ziyaullah Khan, Nagpur 440013 writeziya@gmail.com IV The American Special Forces in helicopters swooped down on a compound in Abbottabad and killed Osama bin Laden who was holed up there. Naturally Pakistani establishment is hauled over the coals. First, how come they did not know of the Al-Quaeda chief's presence at a place swarming with military personnel? Two, the daring raid carried out by US navy commandos almost for 40 minutes, went unnoticed by Pakistani defences; has raised a number of disturbing questions in the minds of Pakistani citizens. Explanations have been offered, but they sound pathetic. It seems some in Pakistani tent were hunting with the hounds and running with the hare while fighting the war against terror with the USA.This is not to say that the US is a holy cow. Global terrorism raised its ugly head because of America's misguided policies in Muslim lands. Barak Obama says that US is not against Islam, but much of what it is doing militarily is in Muslim countries. However, India has not lost patience with its volatile neighbour. But its India centric army must realise that India cannot go on like that for ever. It should positively respond to Indian goodwill by punishing those who were behind Mumbai attacks. Pakistan is not our only neighbour. There are others and we need to cultivate productive relations with them. In a recent issue of the Indian Express Mihir Sharma pleading good relations with Pakistan wrote No country has ever risen to a stable greatness without making peace, one way or another, with its smaller neighbours". Yunus Chitwala, Dhoraji, Gujarat adilchital@yahoo.in V US operation Geronimo On the basis of assurance given by our military experts we presume that they are capable of pulling off most wanted living in Pakistan. But some months back ex -army General Deepak Kapoor had said that our forces cannot deal with the Army of china. To compensate the acceptance of the general the present military experts have claimed the capability of adventure. The Pakistanis are so dare that they can come in a motor boat and attack the famous Taj hotel of Mumbai and shootout our Task Force Officers. This was the proper time to retaliate and kill chief of Let and Dawood Ibrahim. It would be a befitting lesson to Pakistan. We preferred to restrain and mourn before the world. The second opportunity was on the next day of the US operation. We could kill the dreaded terrorist living in Pakistan. And the border would have been secured for ever. Even the US would appreciate our talent and it would be a deterrent to China which is constantly vexing us on our borders. The tall claim made by the services chiefs are not believed by any wise Indian. The best suggestion that we should reduce half of our army and the budget incurred on the salaries of our military colonels and generals be stopped and purchase of arms worth of billions of Dollars should also be stopped forthwith. We should ask the US president to protect our borders by his strong army. It will deal china also amicably. We can make use half of the budget for the welfare of our farmers who are desperate and committing suicides Dr AH Maqdoomi, Gulbarga drmaqdoomi@yahoo.com Paanipuri case and male chauvinism In the case of that infamous paanipuri case, the BJP leader Raj Purohits comments were outright male chauvinist. He actually called her names and maligned her quite liberally. The girl, Ankita Ranes indignation is justified and has rightly slapped a defamation case against the BJP de Ankitas compensation. The MNS, another political party has been quick in taking a mileage out of the situation in standing by Ankita. One hopes it is the case of Ankita using the political party and not the other way round. Mookhi Amir Ali, Santacruz west, Mumbai 400054 drmookhi@hotmail.com Book on Shivaji and Mahatma In Feb. 2004 the book on Shivaji Hindu King in Islamic India by James Laine was banned due to severe opposition by the fascist party the Shiv Sena. The Maharashtra government laid down in front of the fascist tendency bow her head in front of Shiv Sena and banned the book through a notification in 2004. Though there is a long list of the books those have been banned in India, wherein new addition included Great Soul Mahatma Gandhi & His Struggle with India, by Joseph Lelyved. On 9 July, the Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice D.K. Jain and Justice H.L. Dattu widened the horizons of free speech by lifting the ban on James W. Laine's book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India, published by Oxford University Press in 2003. Books published on religion and spiritual personality with an intention to humiliate the particular religion and religious personality should be banned. It is the shameful act of the Gujarat Government to put a ban on book; it is certainly not a democratic act of the Gujarat Government. Gujarat Government always remains forward to commit unconstitutional and undemocratic acts. It is a request not to ban the book Great Soul Mahatma Gandhi & His Struggle with India, by Joseph Lelyved and allow the book to sell in open market. Zuber Ahmed Khan, Navi Mumbai contact.z@rediffmail.com

32 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 May 2011

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