ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN

Kandhla/Budhana/Kairana:Uttar Pradesh saw over 200 small and

big communal riots since Samajwadi Party came to power in
February last year. The UP government itself conceded on the floor
of the state assembly that 27 serious riots have taken place since
it came to power. The riot party is well-known. Their weapons too
are well-known: lies and rumour-mongering, now made much
more easy with electronic gadgets. With the huge network of its
parent organisation and innumerable allied outfits, it has
learnt how to win elections: create a riot, polarise voters and
win elections. They have been doing this since its former
supremo LK Advani discovered the Ram Mandir issue and
periodically played Holi with Muslim blood, during his rath
yatras, which started in September 1990, after the demolition
of the Babri masjid in 1992 and moved on to the Gujarat
pogrom of 2002 which enjoyed his support crucial for Modi
to retain his post.
The plan for UP was clear when the notorious Amit Shah,
out on bail now, was shamelessly appointed as the party in-
charge in Indias most populous state. It was understood that
the veteran of Gujarat pogrom and fake encounters would
unleash the weapons he knows best. Preparations had been
afoot to foment big communal flareups in various parts of
Uttar Pradesh ahead of the general elections early next year.
In western UP, which has a strong Muslim presence, work
was on in earnest. The area has always been an eyesore for
the Hindutvadis. They had tried and failed to cleanse this area
even in 1947. Posters of Modi appeared in villages, slogans
of Modi zindabad, Modi lao, desh bachao were frequent-
ly raised. Meetings of BJP supporters were being held for
weeks. A spark was needed for a big explosion. A collision of
motocycles in Kawal village on 27 August led to a heated
argument. Later, one party came back with its supporters
and killed the other motor-cyclist (who happened to be a
Muslim). Now relatives and supporters of the slain youth
killed two youth of the other party who happened to be
Hindus (Sachin and Gaurav). It was a clear case of murder
and people responsible from both sides should have been
arrested and legal formalities started against them. The
administration failed to take this logical and necessary step.
Instead, it clamped prohibitory orders (Section 144) on the district
but did nothing else. During these prohibitory orders, mammoth
meetings continued including the three mahapanchayats of Jats
whose passions were aroused by concocting a story that the
Muslim youth slain was in fact teasing a Hindu girl who was relat-
ed to the slain Hindu boys. The girl herself, who lives in a hostel in
Lucknow, later denied the story and said she never knew of any
such person. But the passions were aroused in the name of Jat
honour and hundreds of thousands from across three districts were
mobilised through the mahapanchayats while the administration sat
idle. All kinds of inflammatory speeches were delivered by BJP
MLAs and leaders and latest gadgets apps were used to spread
rumours. The last of the three mahapanchayats was held at
Nagla Mandaur on 7 September. Some Jats on their way to that
mammoth gathering taunted some Muslims, a clash occurred at
Ganga canal and a few from both sides were killed (four Muslims
and three Hindus, according to Prof Vipin Tripathy of IIT Delhi who
visited the place soon after the incident). A Muslim woman was
wounded and another Muslim was killed on that day by the Jats.
Weapons were brought in from neighbouring areas and distributed
among Jats.
The violence started in earnest the same night. Muslim hous-
es were attacked in a number of villages like Phugana, Kutba,
Laakh, Lasaadh and Batawdi. Many kept the attackers at bay dur-
ing the night using bricks and barricading themselves. They kept
phoning the police but no one came. Uprooted people told us that
the police instead abused them on the phone and told them to
defend themselves on their own as this was going to be the norm
from then on. Many houses were burnt that night but some with
heavy iron gates withstood the attack and people took refuge there.
Attackers were both locals as well as outsiders who killed males,
raped women and girls, stripped them naked and made them
dance. Many girls were kidnapped and at least two dozen remain
untraceable according to the refugees. The initial list of the Muslims
killed was 48 which later rose to 64 but survivors in the relief
camps we visited told us that over two hundred had been killed.
Bodies of most of them were burnt in the fires of their own homes
torched by the rioters who brought petrol and kerosene cans with
them. In one case in Lisaadh village, a saw-mill owner and his fam-
ily were cut to pieces using his own saws, then the rioters burnt his
timber and threw the body pieces of the family into the fire. In other
cases also, most of those killed were burnt alive or their bodies
were thrown into their burning houses in order to erase all evi-
dence. Elderly people and females left behind were later burnt alive
in their homes as in Lasadh. Bhangis, Jheemars and Chamars were
pressed into service. They were told to loot, kill and burn the
Muslim houses and burn the corpses. There was a systematic plan
to erase all evidence. People started fleeing the same night. Others
fled next morning (8 September) when the rioters had gone off to
sleep after the nights hard work. The uprooted people came to
Muslim-dominated villages, running, walking, on bicycles, motor-
cycles and tractors. Some took refuge with their relatives in other
villages. Many villagers ran away out of fear though their vil-
lages had not seen any violence. Some in the relief camps
told us that they have received messages from their villages
to return on the condition that they would not wear round
caps, would not sport beards, would not loudspeakers for
azan, would not hold any religious meeting and that no
Tablighi jamaat would ever visit their village. Obviously they
refused these conditions. Mosques and madrasas in many
abandoned villages have been harmed and burnt, idols and
saffron flags have been planted in some.
Our assessment is that around one lakh people fled their
homes on 7-8 September. Around 65,000 came to over two
dozen camps while others went to live with their relatives. We
visited about a dozen camps of these people and found that
local mosques, madrasas and people had risen to the occa-
sion. There was no dearth of food although the local admin-
istration started supplying some camps items like atta, rice,
dal etc. But they have other needs too. Everyone fled in a
hurry with only the clothes on their bodies and with no
money in their pockets. In the short term, they need clothes,
durries, blankets, bedsheets, tents, baby food, dry milk, etc.
But on the long-run they need much more. Those whose
homes have been burnt and where people have been killed,
no one is prepared to return. This was the unanimous reply
we got from everyone whose village had seen violence. They
are adamant not to return to their villages. They want to be
rehabilitated in Muslim-dominated villages. They will need a
lot of help in terms of land and building material to build their
lives again outside their native villages which were their home
for centuries. Out of the one lakh uprooted, I think at least one
third are of this kind who have seen murder and rape and
whose houses have been burnt to ashes. It was also clear
from my interaction with hundreds of these people in around a
dozen camps that it was not a Hindu-Muslim clash but one-sided
violence perpetrated by pro-BJP Jats who were supported in some
cases by the local police like the Phugana S.O. (Omvir Singh
Sirohi). Many Jats and other Hindu sub-communities refused to
join this insanity. No Hindu was touched in Muslim-dominated vil-
lages. One notable observation was that mosques and madrasas
have proved to be real citadels of the community. Their imams and
administrators were taking care of thousands of refugees in each
camp we visited. People of Muslim-dominated villages were whole-
heartedly helping and sheltering these unfortune refugees in their
own homes. We saw at times as many as 50 uprooted persons
sheltered in a single house and there were many houses like this
everywhere we went.
The writer visited Kandhla, Jola, Jogia Kheda on 14 September and
Budhana, Kenwal, Taoli, Basi Kalan, Shahpur, Kairana etc on
20 September.
24 pages ` 15 ISSN 0972-3366 Fortnightly Vol. 14 No. 19 Issue Serial # 329 facebook.com/milligazette www.milligazette.com 1-15 October 2013
Riots 1,5,6,9
Muslim appeasement 8
Hindutva in action 10
J&K 10 | Analysis 11 | Special Reports 3,13 | Issues 2,11,13
Speaking Out 11 | Newsmakers 12 | International 16-20
Community News 14-15 | Books 21 | Islamic Perspectives 20
Our Publications 19 | Classifieds 22 | Letters 23
Inside
MG
Mini Gujarat in and around Muzaffarnagar
THE
MILLI
GAZETTE
INDIAN MUSLIMS LEADING ENGLISH NEWSPAPER SINCE 2000
BASHIRUDDIN BABUKHAN...12, 21 BARKATULLAH BHOPALI...12
Ill keep this...
Perpetrators will
not be spared.
M
G
/
Y
u
s
u
f
Made homeless by blind hate
Every victim has a story to tell
PHOTO: MD ALAMULLAH
PHOTO: NADIM AHMAD
2 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 ISSUES / OPINION
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Were violent
& barbaric
Are we non-violent? No. Our ostensible non-violence is a hogwash.
Its indeed ironic that this country which gave apostles of peace like
Gautam Buddha, Mahavir and Gandhi also witnessed blood-cur-
dling acts of violence. The three Cs: Caste, Class & Creed have
always flared up our emotions and weve acted so violently that an
indifferent observer will forever wonder, whether weve ever been
peace-loving? The so-called pacifist Hindus massacred followers of
Jainism and Buddhism nearly a millennium ago when they (follow-
ers of Hinduism) felt that these two religions might engulf Hinduism.
The Adi Shankara would invite the Jain and Buddhist scholars for
religious discourses with a clear condition that whoever would lose,
would have to immolate himself. The astoundingly brilliant and
shrewd Shankara wouldnt let anyone else win and hed eventually
defeat all. The poor Jain and Buddhist scholars would then jump
into fire and kill themselves. Wasnt it an act of barbarism?
The violent physical and mental torture made the oppressed class-
es of India embrace other religions. We condemn Hitlers Nazis for
their morbid decision to expunge the existence of the Jews during
the Second World War, but we conveniently forget what happened
during partition. Wasnt that deaths dance macabre when infants
were getting tossed into fire and women were being ravaged on the
roads by Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs? No one lagged behind and
in that free for all worth-condemning episode in the shared history
of the sub-continent. Everyone behaved like a person possessed.
Whether it was the Gujarat pogrom in 2002 or the recent riots in UP,
weve always evinced our violent side without any attempt to hide
it. Its indeed a misnomer that were non-violent. Were not. Were
extremely barbaric, violent and blood-thirsty and this is the reality,
we cannot turn a Nelsons eye to.
Modi: A Political Sorcerer
People (read unctuous and grovelling Hindus) of India seem to be
blinded and bedazzled by Modis so-called charisma. Modi is a reli-
giously polarised leader and if such a monomaniac person
becomes the PM of India, the overall state of affairs will only wors-
en. Its really dangerous as well as inimical to Indias ostensibly
secular image that this exceedingly fanatic man is being projected
as the future PM of India. Modi is targeting the youngsters in the
age group of 18-24, who are going to be the first-time voters. How
can this Facebook and smart phone generation decide and under-
stand the deeper implications and ramifications, if Modi is anoint-
ed as the next PM? A leader ought to have an all-encompassing
vision sans any vile, viciousness and vendetta. Can Modi ever
exonerate himself of his dubious role in Gujarat pogrom that hap-
pened in 2002? Those, who are eulogising Modi, arent aware of
the ground realities. They are under the spell of a political sorcerer,
Narendra Modi. They must exercise their grey cells before making
this man the next PM of the biggest democracy. Remember, all that
glitters is not gold.
Doubting Ram and Ramayana
This refers to Hindu saint offer to give Rs. 5 lakh to anyone who
spits on Jethmalanis face, no media outrage (MG, 16-31
December). Just because Ram Jethmalani called Ram a bad hus-
band, theres so much furore in the Hindu community and even
diaspora in all parts of the world.
Before a Hindu condemns Ram Jethmalani for hurting his/her
religious beliefs, it must be prudent to know that Ram of Hindus is
a mythical figure. A few years back, the Supreme Court categorical-
ly stated that Ram didnt exist in flesh and blood. He does exist in
collective faith and conscience of Hindus. So the very question of
Ram being a good or bad husband holds no water. Even if we
accept Rams existence according to Valmikis Ramayana, written
roughly 5000 years ago (Mahabharat happened approximately
3,500 years back), the Adi Kavis (Hindus sobriquet for Valmiki as
the earliest (adi) poet) Ramayana has stylistical and linguistic dis-
crepancies that indicate that Ramayana is an interpolated work.
The Sanskrit of Ramayana is called classic Sanskrit. Its
worthwhile to state that Sanskrit has been categorised into four
phases: Pre-Vedic, Vedic, Ancient and Medieval. Theres no mod-
ern Sanskrit because the very term is a misnomer. Nothing epochal
was written in Sanskrit after 1649. In Ramayana, one can see the
clearly demarcated Sanskrit belonging to all four phases! Hows it
possible? Was Valmiki aware of the subsequent forms of Sanskrit
to come?
Theres always a perceptible clarity and uniformity in a great
writer or poets work. Valmikis Ramayana is devoid of that linguis-
tic uniformity and it was pointed out by Acharya Kshitimohan Sen
at Shantiniketan, the great linguist Dr Suniti Kumar Chatterjee and
R C Zehmer, the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics
at Oxford.
Theres no getting away from the fact that Ramayana itself is
an interpolated work and a fictitious one. And when a book is fic-
tional, its characters have to be fictional and mythical. Well, if we
believe that Ram did exist then also, many a question can be raised
about his persona being considered as a role model (Maryada
Purushottam, Persian equivalent of Mard-e-Kamil). If he was
divine, why did he banish his wife to forest when a mere washer-
man doubted that Sita may not have been pure as she was Ravans
captive at Ashok Vatika in Lanka? Why did he kill Bali (Sugreeves
brother) surreptitiously? Why was Shambook killed by Ram, just
because he got to hear Vedic hymns uttered by the Brahmins?
Didnt Ram kill Shambook because he was an untouchable, who
have always been on the fringe of Hindu society? Why did Ram kill
Indraneel (Meghnaad), the son of Ravan, on the sly, especially
when he was praying and invoking god? In all religions and accord-
ing to the rules of warfare in ancient times, a praying opponent
couldnt be killed. If Ram was a god, therefore omniscient, why did
he have to take Vibhishans help to know how could Ravan be
killed? Why did Ram chase the golden deer in the forest despite
knowing that it was Maareech, the demon and maternal uncle of
Ravan? Why did Ram have to resort to the help of monkeys to
reach Lanka? Being divine, he could reach there at will? Why did
he send Hanuman (the monkey god) to fetch sanjeevani booti to
save his brother Laxmans life?
B R Ambedkar asked many disturbing questions in his book
The Riddles of Hinduism (now proscribed by the Hindu India). No
scholar of Hinduism has any explanation to them, not even plausi-
ble explanations. Myths were woven around some fabricated fig-
ures who never existed.
Read Ramayana and Mahabharat as a dispassionate reader
not belonging to Hinduism, youll find them to be hilarious and very
hard to believe. Agreed, (sacred) books of all faiths are often dubi-
ous in their contents, but Ramayana and Mahabharat are absolute-
ly juvenile. Just because a very big section believes in these fables
doesnt mean that their authenticity cannot be questioned.
Nothing in this world is sacrosanct and irreproachable. Its
sheer fallacy of majority and when this fallacy is combined with
the fallacy of duration, all old and ancient things appear to have a
divine halo. But one must remember the Sanskrit adage that
Puranmityev Na Sadhu Sarvam (All old things are not necessari-
ly true). In fine, Ram never existed and even if he did, he was as
flawed as you and I.
DR. SUMIT PAUL
sumitmaclean@hotmail.com
DR. QUTUBUDDIN
The 2014 general elections are inching closer. The election fever
is slowly gripping the country. While political parties are on the
lookout for support from every corner to achieve their goals, the
time is also opportune for small time leaders in the Muslim com-
munity to jump on the bandwagon and make most of it, disregard-
ing the honour and dignity of the community.
The Congress party, which was on the defensive in the face
of oppositions political onslaught against it over corruption
charges, is putting a brave face, emboldened by what appears to
be popular new laws. BJP, however, is maintaining its offensive
posture against Congress and is using every possible way it can
to stage a comeback after being out of power for about a decade
now. It is once again trying to polarise voters on communal lines
as is reflected from its recent attempts to revive Ayodhya and the
latest communal violence in Muzaffarnagar. Part of this strategy of
communal polarisation was to declare Narendra Modi as the
prime ministerial candidate of the party despite his role as the
architect of the anti-Muslim 2002 Gujarat pogrom. The party did
this turning a blind eye to growing opposition to the move even
inside BJP. Interestingly, at the same time, the BJP is leaving no
stone unturned to woo Muslims, as it realises the significance of
the Muslim voter in the elections. The party does this while accus-
ing the Congress of appeasing the Muslim community.
While Modis brigade in the cyber world has been busy bash-
ing Muslims along with Congress leadership, some vested inter-
ests in the Muslim community, such as political opportunists and
irresponsible members of the clergy, are batting and clamouring
for Modi and his party in Muslim pockets and beyond. They are fol-
lowing the dictates of their political masters to arrange the largest
possible Muslim turnout in Modis rallies and birthday celebra-
tions.
BJP has never declared that it has any intention to give up its
anti-Muslim bias, such as calling for a Uniform Civil Code, and
negative attitude towards the community on every issue. Its lead-
ers have not hesitated in branding Muslim youth as terrorists
and Islamic madrasas as terror-training centres. However, some
people associated with madrasas are now sought after to be
paraded in BJP rallies.
It has not been long since BJPs prime ministerial candidate,
Modi, had chided the Congress of donning the burqa of secular-
ism, comparing the dead in Gujarat 2002 pogrom as puppy
coming under the wheel and rejecting a skullcap from a Muslim
in full public glare.
The politics of skullcap doesnt end here. M.P. chief minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJPs somewhat moderate face, also
courted controversy for wearing the skullcap when he went to
greet Muslims on the occasion of Eid. The gesture apparently did-
nt go down well with many in his own party.
While Modi had turned down to wear the skullcap, Chouhan
donned it but on occasions he puts on a saffron-coloured cap, not
the usual white one Muslims normally wear (see photo in The
Hindu, 7 August, 2013 -- http://www.thehindu.com/todays-
paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/mp-withdraws-order-on-gita-in-
urdu-textbooks/article4997691.ece). The writing on the wall was
clear. One BJP leader rejected a Muslim symbol summarily and
openly while another accepted it, but implicitly chose one in BJPs
own preferred colour.
The politics of organizing Iftar parties, wearing skullcaps and
getting Rakhis tied on their wrists by Muslim women are nothing
but well-calculated political moves driven by political ambitions of
certain leaders and their self-serving supporters in the Muslim
community.
Religious symbols, such as skullcap, beard and burqa, are
proving to be two-edged swords for the Indian Muslim. These are
being used to profile and target the members of the community
when it comes to massacring them during communal riots. At
election time these very symbols are used to fool the communi-
ty. The only difference is that during the communal riots it is the
anti-Muslim forces that easily spot these symbols to target
Muslims while during the election season some members of com-
munity themselves trade them for personal gains. This has been
seen in Muzaffarnagar to kill Muslims while at the very same time
BJPs Muslim faces are using them to project Modi as the com-
munitys well-wisher and creating the impression that BJP is gain-
ing support among Muslims.
It is hard to accept how Modi is going to help Muslims when
he is yet to utter even the word sorry for the Gujarat pogroms
and for his umpteen metaphoric statements. One wonders what
evidence the so-called Muslim leaders and clerics have to back
their claim that Modi is a friend of the community. They arent only
deceiving their own community, possibly they are also taking the
BJP for a ride in order to serve their petty interests. They may be
sitting now in the front rows of BJP rallies, but once the elections
are over they may not find a space even in the back rows of BJP
conclaves.
Politics of Religious Symbols
It is hard to accept how Modi is going to help Muslims when he is yet to utter even the word sorry for
the Gujarat pogroms and for his umpteen metaphoric statements. One wonders what evidence the so-
called Muslim leaders and clerics have to back their claim that Modi is a friend of the community. They
arent only deceiving their own community, possibly they are also taking the BJP for a ride in order to
serve their petty interests. They may be sitting now in the front rows of BJP rallies, but once the
elections are over they may not find a space even in the back rows of BJP conclaves.
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 3
Respond now if you care about your
community
White Paper on Terrorism
The issue of fake terrorism charges and the unjust arrests and defamation of our community,
especially since 2001, is the biggest challenge facing the community ever since. A grand con-
spiracy hatched by the powers that be, IB, Police and media, has sullied and defamed our com-
munity. This campaign has affected our lives, peace of mind and has thwarted our efforts to
progress and educate our children to join the national mainstream.
Our efforts so far to present our case, to bring out our innocence and force the national and
state governments to listen to our grievances have mostly failed. All we have received are a few
words of solace which have no real meaning and have not changed the situation on the ground.
Our children by their thousands are still languishing in jails on the basis of fake confessions
obtained through torture and blackmail.
As a long-term solution and a serious response to this problem thrust upon us, AIMMM
decided last year to bring out a white paper on the Muslim-related terrorism in the country.
The work is going on with all seriousness and many researchers, scholars and journalists are
busy preparing writeups on various aspects of this issue, covering the history, genesis, com-
munalism, vested interests in various related fields, analysis of various laws like TADA, POTA
and UAPA, fake encounters, narco tests, torture, acquittals, IB & Police role, media attitude,
case studies, statewise surveys, SIMI, Indian Mujahidin, Hindutva terror, individual tragedies
of victims, Azamgarh, Bhatkal, Malegaon, Darbhanga modules, some basic documents, etc.,
etc.
The target is to bring out this white paper during the next seven months and to release it in
a big convention at Delhi as a combined effort of major Muslim and civil rights organisations,
and thereafter present this huge document of over 600 large format pages to politicians, media,
human rights organisations, especially outside the country, in order to enlighten public opinion
at home and abroad as well as to build pressure on our blind and deaf government.
The estimated cost of this white paper is Rs 35 lakh divided as follows: Rs 15 lakh cost of
preparation and payments to contributors plus six months salaries to researchers and experts;
Rs 15 lakh for designing and printing the document in a world-class format; while the grand con-
vention at Delhi will cost at least 5 lakh. Effort will be made to release the White Paper in some
state and world capitals also.
You can help this effort in four ways,
1. To buy copies of the White Paper on Terrorism in advance to help defray part of the huge
cost of research, printing, publication and distribution of at least one thousand complimentary
copies. The estimated price of the white paper is Rs 2000 per copy in India. You may place an
advance order by paying Rs 1000 only per copy in India including postal charges). Payments
for the copies may be made to The Milli Gazette, D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar, New
Delhi 110025. Email: edit@milligazette.com. Individuals and organisations ordering a minimum
of 100 copies in advance will be included as Sponsors of the White Paper.
2. Contribute to the cost of the grand convention to be held at Delhi towards the end of 2013.
This should be payable to the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, D-250, Abul Fazal Enclave,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025. Tel.: 011-26946780 Fax: 011-26947346. Email:
mushawarat@mushawarat.com.
3. Donate your time: If you are a scholar, researcher, journalist: join our team for a few
months working in our Delhi office or from your own home to complete this project - write
to the Editor, MG now at edit@milligazette.com.
4. Contact us if you have vital information/documents about this issue.
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Imphal, 11 September 2013: The Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is 55 years
old today and the people affected by this black
Act have come all along protesting for over
half a century against the Act but the largest
democracy in the world, India is unperturbed
and callous.
United Naga Council (UNC), Sharmila
Kanba Lup (Save Sharmila Movement) and
Just-Peace Foundation (JPF) today strongly
advocated for the repeal of AFSPA.
As an organisation, we also demand for
repeal of AFSPA at the earliest, said UNC pres-
ident L Adani while talking to NNN.
According to the UNC chief, the indifferent
attitude of the government towards peoples
cries against AFSPA in the past 55 years is the
reflection of the lack of acceptance of the
North East people in particular as citizens
under the Constitution of India .
Noted human rights defender Babloo
Loitongbam talking to NNN has this to say,
Well, enough have been said on the issue of
AFSPA nationally and internationally.
The government of India should act if it
claims to be a democratic country.
Meanwhile, Sharmila Kanba Lup, a movement
supporting hunger striker Irom Sharmila has
termed today, the September 11 as Black Day
.
On September 11, 1958, the AFSPA came
into existence.
Women folks under the banner of Sharmila
Kanba Lup carried out sit-in-protest today to
mark the day near Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of
Medical Sciences (JNIMS), Porompat in
Imphal.
Also marking the occasion, Just Peace
Foundation, Imphal questions the rationality of
continuing imposition of AFSPA by the govern-
ment for over half a century.
In many parts of the North East India, the
Act has been in operation for all these 55 years
generating and invigorating this feeling of alien-
ation, said the Just Peace Foundation in a
communique made available to the media
houses today.
It then pointed out several instances where
numerous governments constituted review
committees on AFSPA going against the con-
tinuing of the Act.
The JPF cited the reports of the 2005
Committee to Review the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act, the Supreme Cour t
appointed Santosh Hegde Commission and
many others. (e-pao.net)
AFSPA completes 55 years
of rights abuse
Son of auto-rickshaw driver
first Muslim from Malegaon
in Maharashtra police
Malegaon: Muslims from the city of power-
looms, Malegaon, have impressive represen-
tations in every walk of life. But, they had
never been represented in Maharashtra police.
With the induction of Mohsin Gaffar Shaikh in
Maharashtra Police along with another person
from the city, they now have not one but two
persons from the city to serve in the state
police force.
Mohsin Gaffar Shaikh, son of an auto-rick-
shaw driver, belongs to a family which is
financially very weak. After completing early
education from Jamhoor High School & Jr
College and graduation in economics from a
local college, he appeared for the Maharashtra
Police exams, and cleared the exam in third
attempt.
After being inducted in the Maharashtra police, he has been sent to Jalna for training. A total of 1050
youths including 35 Muslims are getting training in Jalna after their induction into the state police force.
After completion of his training, Mohsin wants to be part of M-Branch of the state intelligence
wing. The M-Branch is part of the state intelligence which reportedly keeps a watch on Muslims. A
transfer to this wing is considered as punishment.
I want to be part of this wing so that I can properly report about the Muslim community. Most of
the problems we are facing today are because of inaccurate reporting. I want to be there so that I can
correct this, he said. Moshin, however, does not want to stop here. He wants to appear for Maharashtra
Pubic Services Commission (MPSC) exams so that he can work in higher posts. (ummid.com)
Plan to develop Bareillys Jamiatur Raza
into an Arabic Persian University
Plans are afoot to develop Bareillys Jamiatur Raza seminary located in CB Ganj into an Arabic-Persian
University and if all goes well, this Madrasa will become a University by 2014. Efforts in this direction
are already under way under the patronage of Maulana Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari Mian. A 100-page pro-
posal has been prepared by the authorities of Imam Ahmad Raza Trusts secretary Maulana Asjud Raza
Khan and member Maulana Shahabuddin. It will soon be sent to chief minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav. On
the other side, Madrasa administration is making all preparations to bring this Madrasa upto University
standard at the earliest. Maulana Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari set up Madrasa Jamiatur Raza in 2000 in the
citys CB Ganj area with the ultimate objective of imparting all types of education.
The Madrasa was opened in 2003 with 250 students and today there are about one thousand stu-
dents from all over the country. Education upto the level of Tahtania, Fauqania and Aalia as approved by
Madrasa Education Board is imparted in this Madrasa and at the same time CBSE standards English
course is also taught. In additin to this, courses approved or recognised by NIOS (National Institute of
Open Schooling) are also taught. Master and PhD level courses in association with a foreign university
are also taught here.
Built on 150-bigha land, this Madrasa has two buildings of 65000 and 49000 sq ft and for univer-
sity purpose, another building of 30,000 sq ft is under construction. There is a proposal to increase the
area of the Madrasa to 250 bighas. There is also a computer lab in which professional education is
imparted. According to the Trusts member Maulana Shahabuddin, the plan of developing the Madrasa
upto the level of Arabic-Persian university level has been brought to the attention of the state government
and because of its favourable reaction, it is hoped that the proposed Arabic-Persian University will soon
become a reality.
Along with Islamic education, students will get the opportunity of taking up professional courses. For
this purpose, this Madrasa will be affiliated to a modern university like Aligarh Muslim University, Delhis
Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Hamdard or Osmania University of Hyderabad. At the same time it will also
be associated with Cairos Al Azhar University, Saudi Arabias Madinah University and Irans Qum
University so that graduates could get the opportunity of doing professional courses and also doing PhD
in Islamic topics. (N. A. Ansari)
India keen to strengthen relationship with
Iraq in the field of energy
New Delhi: During the recent visit to India of Iraqs prime minister Noori Kamil Al Maliki and his meeting
with President Pranab Mukherji, the President said that India wants to broad base the relationship
between the two countries in the field of energy from mere buyer and seller relationship, it could be
extended to equity partnership in the production of oil, joint efforts in the field of exploration of oil and
development of oil fields, petrochemicals and fertilizers. Noori Al Maliki told President Mukherji that
whereas India needs energy, Iraq needs investments from Indian industrialists and businessmen so that
avenues of employment could be created in his country.
While praising Indias successful experiment in democracy he said that this experiment was very
much appreciated all over the world and Iraq can learn a lot from the Indian experiment. President
Mukherji said that with Iraqs desire to promote democracy in their country, relations between the two
countries are entering a new phase. He said that Iraq has become the second biggest supplier of crude
to India and joint efforts for exploration and development of oilfields, setting up of petrochemicals and
fertilizer complexes etc will be mutually beneficial partnerships. He (the President) further said that the
agreements that will now he signed between the two countries will further promote the relationship
between the two countries. He said that in the past also India has been a partner in Iraqs progress and
in Iraqs new reconstruction and development plans also India will cooperate and render assistance like
before and for this Indian industrialists and businessmen are desirous of cooperating with Iraq. During,
the Iraqi prime ministers visit to India a business meeting with him was arranged jointly by the
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
and Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Assocham). Addressing the Chief Executive
Officers of members of these groups the Iraqi prime minister said that though at present his country is
passing through a great financial crisis, the process of reconstruction and development has started. He
invited Indian businessmen and industrialists to make investments in his country in the fields of agricul-
ture in particular and also in the fields of transport, low cost housing projects, health, telecommunica-
tions and education. He further said that there are 5 oil refineries in Iraq in which Indian companies can
invest their capital and contribute their technical know-how.
During the 4-day visit of the Iraqi prime minister from 22 to 25 August two important agreements were
signed between the two countries. The first important agreement was between Indian ministry of petroleum
and natural gas and Iraqs ministry of petroleum. The second agreement was signed between the ministries
of water resources of the two countries for development and management of water resources. (N. A. Ansari)
President of Jamiat-e-Ulema Maharashtra
Mustaqeem Azmi felicitated Mohsin in Mumbai
4 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Mumbai: Over 21 per cent of undertrials in the
country in 2012 were Muslims. However, mem-
bers of the community comprised only 17.75 per
cent of the convicts, reveals analysis of prison
data released by National Crime Records Bureau
(NCRB).
This suggests a large number of arrested
Muslims are released by the courts. The inverse
is true of all other communities.
Hindus comprised 69.92 per cent of under-
trials and 71.35 per cent of convicts. Sikhs con-
stituted 3.97 per cent of undertrials and 4.94 per
cent of convicts. The figures were 3.5 per cent
and 3.99 per cent for Christians.
Sociologists said the numbers suggested
bias in the police machinery against Muslims.
In 23 states, there were more Muslim under-
trials than convicts. Only in Karnataka, Manipur,
Nagaland, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, the per-
centage of Muslim convicts was higher than the
percentage of undertrials from the community.
There can be only two reasons for this.
Either Muslims hire better lawyers who secure
their release or the cases against them are weak
and do not stand court scrutiny, said Vijay
Raghavan, associate professor and chairperson
of Centre for Criminology and Justice, Tata
Institute of Social Sciences.
The disparity, however, is not a recent phe-
nomenon. In 2002, Muslims made up 24.72 per
cent of undertrials and only 16.65 per cent of
convicts. The pattern remained the same in the
past decade.
The revelation that the number of Muslim
undertrials is higher than the number of Muslim
convicts shows members of the community are
more vulnerable to false arrest. This strengthens
the belief that communal prejudices, to some
extent, exist in the police force. This needs to be
carefully examined and effectively remedied,
said criminal lawyer Majeed Memon.
The percentage of Muslim prisoners in the
country, however, is gradually coming down. In
2002, Muslims made up 22.69 per cent of
prisoners.
This number has now dipped to 19.94 per
cent but is still high considering that Muslims
make up only 13.43 per cent of the Indian popu-
lation.
Inmate number up 3.27 per cent
The inmate population in the country has grown
by 3.27 per cent, from 372,926 in 2011 to
385,135 in 2012.
A National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
report released recently shows the number of
prisoners aged above 50 has grown from 47,458
to 52,864, a massive jump of 11.39 per cent.
The number of undertrials over 50 has grown
by 17 per cent, from 25,949 to 30,591.
On the other hand, the number of inmates in
the 18-30 age bracket has dipped by 0.88 per
cent. There were 164,147 young inmates in 2011
and 162,694 in 2012. The number of convicts
over 50 increased by 5.01 per cent, from 20,979
in 2011 to 22,032 in 2012.
The number of undertrials over 50 went up
17 per cent, from 25,949 to 30,591.
Sociologists attributed the growth in the
number of inmates over 50 to the increase in the
number of economic crimes in the country.
There has been a spurt in reporting of eco-
nomic crimes. These crimes require a degree of
sophistication and experience. The increase in
the number of inmates over 50 could be related
to the rising number of economic crimes, said
Vijay Raghavan, associate professor and chair-
person of Centre for Criminology and Justice,
Tata Institute of Social Sciences. (Zeeshan Shaikh,
Indian Express, 23 Sept 2013)
Muslims comprise 21% of undertrials but only 17.75% of convicts
Hidden hunger
Every second Indian woman
and child are malnourished
Despite several programmes to tackle
malnutrition, India is home to 40 per cent of
the worlds malnourished population.
According to the report, Children in India
2012 of the Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implementation, 48 per cent of
Indian children under the age of five are
stunted. This indicates that half of the
countrys children are chronically
malnourished. The number of wasted
acutely malnourished and stunted children
has been put at 19 per cent, which would
mean that one out of every five children
under five is not receiving adequate nutrition.
The worst-affected states with underweight
children under five years of age are: Madhya
Pradesh (60 per cent), Jharkhand (56.5 per
cent) and Bihar (55.9 per cent). Similarly, the
prevalence of anaemia among children (6-59
months) is more than 70 per cent in Bihar,
MP, UP, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka and Jharkhand.
Malnutrition is the primary cause of child
mortality. The rate of under-five mortality
decreased from about 150 per 1000 live
births in 1990 to 74 per 1000 live births in
2005-06. At the present rate of decline, India
will hardly be able to achieve the Millennium
Development Goal - 4 (MDGs) target by
2015.
The term malnutrition is often loosely
used by laymen without paying much
attention to its actual meaning. Even among
biologists and nutritionists there is no
consensus on the basic question of how
malnutrition should be defined and by which
yardstick it should be measured. There is no
universally-accepted terminology to
distinguish between various nutritional
deficiencies. However, the term
malnutrition is used in relation to under-
nutrition (protein-energy malnutrition-PEM),
over-nutrition (consumption of excessive
calories) and also micronutrient deficiency
(hidden hunger).
The most important and lethal form of
malnutrition is PEM which is referred to
when world hunger is discussed. The
micronutrient malnutrition does not
necessarily create a feeling of hunger. Hence
it is referred to as hidden or silent hunger, but
it undermines the childs growth and
development, intelligence, and education. It
predominantly affects adult women and men.
The consequences of malnutrition
transcends generations. The risk of
malnutrition is higher among children whose
mothers suffer from chronic malnutrition.
The mothers present nutritional status in
turn depends on her childhood nutritional
status. Thus a vicious circle (mother-child-
mother) of malnutrition seems to have set in
for generations.
The fact-sheet of womens
malnutrition reveals that India has the
highest number of malnourished women
among developing countries. Every
second Indian woman is repor ted to be
anaemic and more than one-third suffer
from chronic energy deficiency (CED). The
adverse effects of maternal malnutrition
extend beyond maternal mor tality to intra-
uterine growth retardation, child
malnutrition and an increasing prevalence
of chronic diseases.
At critical periods of development of the
womb, maternal malnutrition can trigger an
adaptive redistribution of the foetal resources
in such a way that such adaptations and
metabolism expose individuals to cardiac-
vascular and endocrinal diseases. The foetus
of the malnourished mother protects its brain
by directing the blood-flow from the other
organs. The changes in the flow patterns
also weaken blood vessels and makes the
individuals more prone to strokes and heart-
attacks. This vulnerability is not restricted to
one person; it may be passed on for
generations. Moreover, if the foetus receives
limited nutrients in the womb, its cells may
use nutrients sparingly, and the trait gets
ingrained in the growing organism.
Malnutrition in the womb leads the
foetus to conserve fat and calories. This may
place the child at a high risk of obesity during
adolescence. Similarly, malnourished foetus
produces fewer insulin producing cells and
heightens the chances of Type-11 diabetes.
Therefore, diseases blamed on lifestyle can
often start before birth. (Excerpted from a
study by Jaydev Jana)
New Delhi: The coordination committee meeting of the RSS-BJP combine
that was recently held to chalk out the plan and strategy for the forthcoming
assembly elections this year and general elections next year also discussed,
among other things, ways to combat what it called minority aggression in
Indian politics. It was stated by some members that a tendency is now grow-
ing among the minorities (meaning Muslims) to be more assertive to the
extent of dictating terms to political parties vis--vis their community and
agree for nothing less than fulfilment of all their demands, or at least a max-
imum of their demands. They felt that the old trend of minorities (Muslims)
of bargaining with political parties has given way to now dictating terms to
political parties. It was felt that previously they sought to put moral pressure
on parties for promoting their sectional and communal interests. Now they
are moving ahead and insisting on fulfilling their demands and going to the
extent of dictating terms to secular political parties. They felt that the politics
of appeasement is now giving place to a state where they now want to exer-
cise their veto power. It is reported that almost all participants, which
included top RSS and BJP leaders, agreed to these assessments. It was at
the same time felt as a matter of expediency that in order to gain the sup-
port of different sections of the electorate, particularly Muslims and also
some other secularists, controversial issues like Art 370 (which gives spe-
cial status to J&K), Common Civil Code and building of Ram temple at the
site of demolished Babri Masjid need to be kept on the back burner, though
these will always remain on their agenda in future. (N. A. Ansari)
Brand ambassadors for minorities
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs is trying to rope in actor
Shah Rukh Khan and Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader Dalai Lama as
brand ambassadors to promote the efforts being made by the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) for the five notified minority groups in the country.
As per a proposal drafted by the Ministry, Shah Rukh Khan has been identi-
fied to represent the Muslim community though he is yet to be contacted for
his consent. If he says no, the others being considered are fellow actor Irfan
Khan and tennis player Sania Mirza. Of the five prominent figures identified by
the Ministry from five religions to serve as brand ambassadors, only one -
former sprinter Milkha Singh - has agreed to the brief as of now. Officials
maintained that Olympic bronze medallist boxer Mary Kom has also indicated
her willingness to serve as brand ambassador for the Ministry as a represen-
tative of the Christian community. The Dalai Lama - who has been residing in
India for over five decades - has been selected to represent the Buddhists
while actor Boman Irani the numerically declining Parsi community. In fact, to
address the issue of the dwindling number of Parsis in the country, the
Ministry is set to launch Jiyo Parsi on Monday to contain their population
decline. This is the first time the Ministry is scouting for brand ambassadors.
Several icons in their respective fields - cricketer Rahul Dravid and actors
Aamir Khan, Vidya Balan and Chiranjeevi - have been brand ambassadors for
various Central ministries as part of the Governments efforts to draw atten-
tion to its slew of development programmes and right-based legislations. The
Minority Affairs Ministry is also planning a logo to draw some of the spotlight
to itself as much of its work goes unnoticed owing to working through other
ministries via the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) that pro-
vides for special allocations to minority concentration districts.
Helpline for minorities
New Delhi: Union minister for minorities affairs K. Rahman Khan launched a
free helpline named Khidmat for familiarising the minorities with different
schemes started by the government for their welfare and benefits. He said,
while talking to media persons that the purpose of this Helpline
(1800.11.2001) is to apprise minorities of a number of schemes started by
the government and detailed information about these schemes. He said that
this step is taken because even though these schemes were introduced by
the central government long back, but the people for the benefit of whom
these were started were still unaware of these schemes because of which
they are unable to derive any benefit from them. He said that with this
Helpline information about these schemes will be provided to people. At the
same time information about scholarships, students development pro-
grammes etc will be provided to students or other concerned persons.
He said that the central government has already undertaken many pro-
grammes for social, educational and economic progress of people belong-
ing to minority communities, particularly Muslims, and this Helpline is also a
part of the governments many programmes and schemes. He said that peo-
ple can now find out from Khidmat by phone details of different schemes of
the central government for minorities and can make suggestions also for
improvement of this service. It was pointed out that for the time being
Khidmats services have been started in Urdu, Hindi and English and infor-
mation can be obtained on working days between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. After
reviewing its popularity and usefulness it could be extended upto all the 7
days of the week and for 24 hours (7X24). It was also pointed out that super-
visory committees at block and district levels all over the country will be
appointed for the benefit of minority community students in which local peo-
ple will also be included so that the ground situation could be made known
to the ministry. It was further pointed out that for this purpose supervisory
committees would be set up in the capitals of all states. (N. A. Ansari)
Yasin Bhatkal: real or fake?
MS Khan, the defence
counsel for Yasin
Bhatkal, claimed that
the man arrested as
joint founder of IM, i.e.
Muhammad Ahmad
Siddibappa alias Yasin
Bhatkal is not the real
Yasin Bhatkal. As soon
as the NIA produced the
arrested persons in the court, MS Khan claimed that he knew Yasin and also
the arrested person. According to Khan, the arrested persons identity is
Muhammad Ahmad. However, the NIA objected to Khans claim and pleaded
that the agency had arrested the real Yasin. The court rejected Khans claim.
(A. G. Khan)
Beware Muslim Girls:
Facebook deception: 10 booked, 3 arrested
Indore: An MBB/S degree is no guarantee against gullibility. A conman, pre-
tending to be a practising physiotherapist, ensnared a doctor through face-
book. The friendship turned into a physical relationship (of course, with the
promise of marriage). And when the marriage party arrived at the doctor
brides home they were stunned to find not only the former wife but also two
children. Inamulah (38), who is not a qualified physiotherapist, convinced,
the doctor working in a nursing home that he holds a professional degree
and also that he is a bachelor. At the appointed hour of marriage Irfana, his
wife, with her son and daughter arrived. The cheated medico registered a
case of cheating and fraud (Sect 420), rape (376), 323, 506 and 34. As a
result, the police arrested the groom along with his two uncle Khairullah (45)
and brother Ayub (40). Those absconding include uncle Nasirullah, aunties
Najjo and Fehmida, brother Amjad, Irfana (sister-in-law) and Majid and a
friend Guddu. The broadminded medico ignored Deoband Fatwa about face
book and the Quranic injunction against pre-marital sex at her own peril
now regrets her modernity (A. G. Khan)
RSS-BJP combine discusses ways to
combat minority agression in politics
Which is real Yasin Bhatkal?
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 5 www.milligazette.com
ANDALIB AKHTER / ASHOK B SHARMA
New Delhi: Even as Muslims have suffered heavily in recent com-
munal clashes across the country, there is no good news for the
so-called saviours of the majority community. A large number of
innocent Hindus too have suffered immensely in the deadly riots.
According to official data, Muslims suffered heavily in the com-
munal clashes across the country this year and previous year. But
at the same time the figures also show huge loss of lives of
Hindus.
According to the data prepared by the Union Home Ministry,
477 minor and two major communal clashes took place in differ-
ent parts of the country from January till September 15 in which
107 people died - 66 were Muslims and 41 Hindus.
A total of 794 Hindus were reported to be injured as against
703 Muslims.
In the previous year, there were 635 minor and five major
communal clashes in which 93 people lost their lives - 48
Muslims and 44 Hindus. About 1010 Hindus were reported to be
injured as against 787 Muslims.
UP cuts a sorry figure
The worst scenario has emerged from Uttar Pradesh, where twice
as many Muslims lost their lives than others, this year.
According to a Union home ministry document, UP recorded
62 deaths (42 Muslims and 20 Hindus) in 92 minor and one major
communal clash this year, the highest in the country.
Indias most populous and politically crucial state had record-
ed the highest number of deaths (39) in communal unrest in 2012
as well. UP saw 93 riots in the first nine months of 2013 along
with 108 incidents of tension. A total of 219 Muslims and 134
Hindus were injured.
The statistics come at a time when western UPs
Muzaffarnagar district is limping back to normalcy after bloody
riots in which at least 48 people were killed and more than 50,000
displaced from their homes.
The frequency of flare-ups in UP, which has 80 Lok Sabha
seats, has triggered talk of a conspiracy to polarise voters on
communal lines in the run-up to the general elections due in 2014.
The home ministrys statistics indicate the administrative
machinery often does not respond effectively when minorities are
targeted.
Overall, till September 15 this year, the country saw 479 riots.
Altogether 1,697 people including 794 Hindus, 703 Muslims and
200 police officials were injured.
The home ministry compiles the data on the basis of reports
from the state governments.
In Maharashtra, 10 people were killed and 271 injured in 56
incidents of communal violence. Seven of the 10 killed were from
the minority community. Of the injured, 101 were Hindus, 106
Muslims and 64 police officials, according to the Home Ministry
figures.
Bihar saw 40 communal disturbances, 25 incidents of ten-
sion-like situation and recorded nine deaths - five Hindus and four
Muslims.
Among the injured, 123 were Hindus, 66 Muslims and 19
police officials.
Gujarat saw 54 cases of communal violence, 21 of tension
and recorded six deaths - three Hindus and three Muslims.
The injured included 85 Hindus, 57 Muslims and five police
personnel.
In 2012, the country had seen 640 incidents of communal
violence and 93 deaths - 48 Muslims, 44 Hindus and one police
official. A total of 2,067 people were injured. The injured included
1,010 Hindus, 787 Muslims, 222 police officials and 48 others.
UP had seen 117 incidents of communal violence at death of
20 Hindus and 19 Muslims. Among the injured, 266 were Hindus,
197 Muslims and 25 police officials.
Maharashtra recorded 94 riots, 208 incidents of tension and
15 deaths - nine Muslims and six Hindus - in 2012. Among the
injured, 110 were Muslims, 97 Hindus, 44 police officials and 29
others.
Madhya Pradesh recorded 89 incidents of communal distur-
bance, 92 of tension and deaths of five Muslims and four Hindus
in 2012. Among the injured 146 were Hindus, 80 Muslims and 15
police officials.
In West Bengal, eight Muslims and one Hindu were killed,
while 38 Muslims and 19 Hindus suffered injuries in 23 cases of
communal disturbance and 21 of tension in 2012.
There were 20 riots and 30 incidents of tension in Bihar last
year, leading to the death of three Hindus. A total of 87 Hindus and
52 Muslims were injured.
Gujarat had seen 57 incidents of communal disturbance, 20
of tension and recorded the death of four Hindus and one Muslim
in 2012. The injured included 91 Muslims, 82 Hindus and 28
police officials.
Muslims organisations doubt the accuracy of the official sta-
tistics, saying they did not reflect a true picture of what happens
on the ground. It is much worse for Muslims says head of big
Muslim organisation citing a large number of Muslims camps after
Muzaffarnagar riots. (theindianawaaz.com)
Hindus too not less affected in riots
Muslims organisations doubt the accuracy of the official statistics, saying they did not reflect
a true picture of what happens on the ground. It is much worse for Muslims says head of
big Muslim organisation citing a large number of Muslims camps after Muzaffarnagar riots.
Govt releases data of riot
victims identifying religion
New Delhi, Sep 24, 2013 (PTI): Perhaps for the first time, the
Home Ministry has identified the religion of victims of commu-
nal violence, saying 107 people lost their lives in riots this year,
of whom 66 were Muslims and 41 were Hindus.
A document released by the Home Ministry said there were
479 riots in the country, including Muzaffarnagar in the northern
Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, till September 15 in which 107
people lost their lives.
Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of casualties --
62 -- among all states, of whom 42 were Muslims and 20 were
Hindus. There were 93 riots in Uttar Pradesh in the first nine
months of 2013 in addition to 108 incidents of tension in the
state.
Altogether 1,697 people were injured in communal distur-
bances in the country this year, of whom 794 were Hindus and
703 were Muslims. Among the injured this year, there were 200
policemen. A total of 219 Muslims and 134 Hindus were injured
in riots in Uttar Pradesh in 2013.
The eastern Indian state of Bihar, which saw 40 communal
disturbances and 25 incidents of tension-like situation in 2013,
recorded nine deaths in riots, of whom five were Hindus and four
Muslims. Among the injured in Bihar, 123 were Hindus and 66
were Muslims, while 19 were from the police department.
In Gujarat, there were 54 cases of communal violence and
21 of tension in 2013 in which six people lost their lives of whom
three each were Hindus and Muslims. Of the injured in Gujarat,
85 were Hindus, 57 Muslims and five were police personnel.
There were 56 communal disturbances and 100 incidents of
tension in the western Indian state of Maharashtra this year, in
which three Hindus and seven Muslims were killed. Of the
injured, 101 were Hindus, 106 Muslims and 64 policemen.
RAVI NAIR
The lava of sullen anger on an international issue is once again cours-
ing the veins of the Indian Muslim. The last time it burnt so fiercely
was in the hoary past. In the aftermath of the 1967 Arab-Israeli con-
flict, the capture of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque by Israel.
Much of the anger then was dissipated due to the clear position that
India took in support of the Arab world.
Much water has flown down the rivers Jordan, Nile and Tigris
since then. The Indian Muslims thirst quenched primarily by the
Ganges felt a silent anger over Iraq. Confused over Afghanistan and
uncomfortable with the bonhomie with Israel post-Narasimha Rao
consolidated under Vajpayee and being built on by the Manmohan
Singh dispensation s/he is in a quandary over his domestic choices
limiting his international outlook.
India has the second largest Muslim population in the world. 180
million Indian Muslims are 10% of the world Muslim and around 14%
of Indias population This huge segment of Indias population along
with a large number of its democratic citizens are perturbed at the
silence of the Government of India as well as the international com-
munity at the trampling of democracy by the jackboots of the
Egyptian army in that country. Clearly, there is little institutional mem-
ory of the powerful pan-Islamic call of the Khilafat movement of the
early 1920s.
In response to a query on recent developments in Egypt, the offi-
cial Indian Spokesperson blandly stated: We have been following the
recent developments in Egypt with concern, particularly the tragic
loss of large number of lives in Cairo and other cities. We urge all
sides to abjure violence, exercise maximum restraint and engage in
an earnest dialogue that will promote national reconciliation and per-
mit an early transition towards a stable and peaceful democratic set-
up.
The election of President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood
government to the average Muslim in India was a recognition of the
power of political Islam and its manifestation through the ballot box.
Clearly, both in Egypt and elsewhere there were many who refused
to accept this reality and did everything to subvert it. It is easy to
demonise Islam when there is Al-Qaida variety manifestation. The
West is uncomfortable with Turkey or Tunisia today which while
being firmly rooted in its Islamic ethos and culture is forward looking
and is offering a political alternative to the Muslim Ummah which has
long been suppressed by dictators and monarchs created and sus-
tained by Western powers.
Western hypocrisy about democracy and the ballot box in its
client states is nothing new. France exercising its neo-colonial mind-
set encouraged the pre-emption of the election of the Islamic
Salvation Front (FIS) in 1991 in Algeria. FIS had won the first round
of elections in 1991, had the second round cancelled by an authori-
tarian state supported by France overtly and the rest of Europe
covertly.
The European Union as a whole has not fared much better. The
games that are being played in Iran or Tunisia indicate they are
uncomfortable with a democratically-elected government which rep-
resents political Islam. The denial of Turkeys membership to the
European Union is another case in point. Dealing with authoritarian
rulers in one-party states, military dictatorships and absolute monar-
chies is much more comfortable for those who speak using demo-
cratic verbiage to mask other intentions.
India which has historical, civilizational and modern-day political
and fraternal links with Egypt also got an acute attack of laryngitis
when it came to speaking about the throttling of democracy in Egypt.
Even more galling as President Mursi had visited India only last
March.
Fortunately, across India an aware Indian middle-class in the
Muslim community is no longer willing to buy the Saudi dynastys
and its co-opted Ulamas propaganda on Egypt. For the first time
across the Urdu language media, principally catering to the Muslim
community in South Asia, there has been consternation at the Saudi
and other Gulf Arab sheikhdoms support to the Egyptian army and
their political minions who have usurped power from a democratical-
ly-elected government.
Events in Egypt also exposed the fault-lines on important issues
that the contemporary Indian Muslim leadership has been concealing
for a long time. Most of the representative organisations of Muslims
in India like the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Jamaat-e
Islami, Majlis Ulema-e Hind, Welfare Party of India, the Delhi Shia
Jama Masjid, the Shah Waliullah Institute, the Wahdat-e Islami,
Muslim Political Council of India, Indian Union Muslim League, the
Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) of India and the Jamia Nagar
Coordination Committee called for the expulsion of the Egyptian
Ambassador in New Delhi and the recall of the Indian ambassador in
Cairo as a minimum at a recent protest in Delhi.
Indian Muslim media, both print and digital, in English and Urdu,
discussing the issue has castigated the silence of many Muslim
groups and individuals, especially Ulama on the role of the Saudi
dynasty in toppling the democratically-elected government in Egypt.
Many Muslims on social media have criticized such people and
groups going so far as stating that these individuals were more fear-
ful of Abdullah than Allah.
The silence of the Ulama was treated as acquiescence and
symptomatic of the moral decay that has been plaguing this section
of Muslim intelligentsia. One report on the issue quoted a couplet by
the great poet Dr. Muhammad Iqbal expressing scorn for such reli-
gious scholars and intellectuals. The couplet is:
Zinda quwwat thi jahaan mein yehi tauheed kabhi
Aaj kya hai, faqat ek masla-e-ilm-e-kalaam
Qaum kya cheez hai, qaumon ki imaamat kya hai
Iss ko kya samjhain ye becharay dou rakat kay Imaam
(Tauhid has been a living force in the days bygone;
What is it these days? Merely a topic of theology.
What a community and what the leadership of a community entails;
These pitiable prayer-leaders would not even understand.)
The sense of outrage over the role played by the Saudi dynasty
and other Gulf Arab sheikhdoms was unprecedented. During a
demonstration in front of the Egyptian Embassy recently in Delhi
against the coup and massacre of pro-democracy Egyptians by the
junta led by General Sisi, organised by major Muslim organisations,
Saudi Arabias ruler King Abdullahs photograph was displayed as
Wanted along with Egyptian military dictator General Sisi, Jordans
King Abdullah and United Arab Emiratess President Khalifa bin
Zayed Aal Nahyan. Such demonstrations have been occurring in var-
ious parts of the country till date.
Never in history, has any major Indian Muslim organisation
shown such contempt for any Saudi ruler. Addressing the demon-
stration, speaker after speaker, condemned the role of Saudi Arabia
in toppling the elected government in Egypt. Giving an Indian per-
spective to the turmoil, many speakers recalled the role of Saudi
Arabias government and Ulama in fomenting sectarian hatred
among Shia and Sunnis, Salafis and others amongst Sunnis.
Muslims and Democrats in India are aware that the government
of India is one of the biggest donors to the UN Democracy Fund
(UNDEF) at the United Nations in New York. It also prides itself as the
worlds largest democracy. It is also a governing council member of
the Council for a Community of Democracies. Yet, it is unwilling to
call a spade a spade when it comes to the jackboots in Cairo. It has
earlier been quite vociferous when tanks rolled out in Pakistan or Fiji.
Clearly, this will jog the memory of the democratic Indian and
Muslim in particular when India goes to election next year.
Significantly, Indias current Foreign Minister Mr. Salman Khursheed,
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mr. E. Ahmad, and spokesperson
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Akbaruddin are all Muslims, yet
the Manmohan Singh government has failed to take notice of strong
Muslim sentiments on the overthrow of Mursi and the subsequent
killing and repression let loose against the anti-coup protestors in
Egypt.
The silence over the Egyptian turmoil has severely dented Indias
democratic credentials and not just across the Islamic world. (kash-
mirtimes.com)
The author is a Delhi-based analyst
INDIA, THE INDIAN MUSLIM AND THE EGYPTIAN COUP
Significantly, Indias current Foreign Minister Mr. Salman Khursheed, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Mr. E. Ahmad, and spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Akbaruddin are all Muslims, yet
the Manmohan Singh government has failed to take notice of strong Muslim sentiments on the overthrow
of Mursi and the subsequent killing and repression let loose against the anti-coup protestors in Egypt.
RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
Communal violence has been
the bane of Indian society,
more so since the last three
decades. One can see its
coming up prominently from
1892 to begin with and then it
went through different phas-
es.
Communal violence became strong after
1937, peaked in 1946 and then the post-Partition
holocaust shattered the lives of lakhs of people.
After a gap of a decade, it started coming up again
from 1961 Jabalpur violence, later anti-Sikh vio-
lence of 1984 was not just violence, it was geno-
cide. At different levels after this, we see the big
surge, Meerut, Maliana, Bhagalpur, Mumbai,
Gujarat (post-Godhra) being the worst.
Pre-Partition, it was both communal parties
Muslim League-Hindu Mahasaba and the com-
munal patriarch RSS, which were major players in
this dastardly game. This phenomenon led to polar-
ization along religious lines. This polarization was
the hallmark of this violence which kept going and
rising. The stereotypes about other community
kept worsening; still the inter-community rupture
was not total.
The intensity about adverse sentiments about
the other went going up gradually, remaining at
sub-critical level till probably 1992, after which the
ghettoisation of minorities started becoming a
prominent urban phenomenon, and the miscon-
ceptions about minorities became a major part of
social common sense.
The other observation was that the communal
violence, which is the superficial manifestation of
politics in the name of religion, is predominantly an
urban phenomenon. Many a social scientist made
it the fulcrum of his understanding and blamed
urbanization as the bane of our society, which was
responsible for this type of violence.
As the matters stand after the recent
Muzaffarnagar violence, it is clear that communal
violence being a major phenomenon in urban areas
was just a phase of this process. Having polarised
the urban populations, the agenda of communal
outfits has now shifted to the rural areas. Its impli-
cations surely are going to be more disastrous for
our nation as a whole and it is time that the dangers
are assessed of the trajectory of this process.
There are many factors about Muzaffarnagar
violence, which should make us sit up and take
notice. So far the communal violence in different
parts of the country benefitted the RSS-BJP in a
major way and the litmus test of this was the
increased social presence of RSS affiliates in those
areas affected by violence and an increase in polit-
ical strength of BJP in the electoral arena.
Gujarat is a classic case where after the post-
Godhra violence, BJP has dug its heels in the state,
and RSS affiliates are ruling the streets.
As the political players calculate on the political
chess-board, this time there were two players who
thought they will benefit. On one side were the
usual beneficiaries, the BJP associates, which in
the aftermath of 84 Kosi Parikrama, activated its
workers in this game of polarisation. The other
player the Samajvadi party which probably calcu-
lated on similar lines: if Hindu polarisation benefits
BJP, Muslim polarisation should benefit Samajvadi
party. This allowed the violence to happen and con-
tinue for long. It is also true that since Samajvadi
party came to power a year and a half ago, com-
munal violence has gone up in Uttar Pradesh.
In the case of Muzaffarnagar violence as three
boys got killed on the pretext of teasing of a girl or
a skirmish on the road (there are two versions of
the beginning of the episode). There was enough
time to see the dangers of such an inter-religious
violence and control the same. But that was not to
be. The officers in violation of the rules and even
after the imposition of 144 in the area let three
Mahapanchayats of over a lakh people take place.
The caste-communal outfits are patriarchal to the
core and slogan-theme Bahu Beti Bachao (save
daughters and daughters-in-laws) was enough for
the rural Jats to turn up in large numbers with
weapons. Communal propaganda was taken to a
higher pitch. And so the communal violence
entered villages. And here the BJP communalises
the social space. Though it did not have much base
amongst Jats, this occasion was cleverly manipu-
lated to introduce divisive politics. Two factors were
made use of. One the image of Modi as the saviour
of Hindus. Now Jat goes from the caste identity to
Hindu identity. In communal politics, religious iden-
tity is foremost. Muslim crowds also confront, play
some role in violence but as is usual, partisan
police machinery does not do its job in an objective
manner and the result is a lopsided violence more
against minorities, displacement and increase in
the sense of insecurity amongst minorities follows.
The Samajvadi partys gamble will pay or not,
time alone will tell. During the reign of Samajvadi
party the monster of communal violence has been
allowed to come out as is obvious from the obser-
vations that during Akhilesh Government every
month nearly two serious incidents of violence
have taken place. How come during the previous
regime of BSP, the monster of communal violence
had been restrained? Same officers, same people.
Surely it is up to the ruling Government to let the
violence take place or not. Communal forces, BJP
and company, always keep instigating it and look-
ing for opportunity to unleash violence.
In UP, the additional factor of course has been
the presence of Amit Shah, who is out on bail and
has the experience of Gujarat carnage. His role will
have to be watched, but as such the RSS-combine
is in place and can take such assignment on the
drop of a hat.
While at one level, the instigation used was to
propagate that our daughters and daughters-in-
laws are not safe, on the other hand a BJP MLA
uploaded a video clip showing some people
dressed like Muslims killing two young men brutal-
ly. This was a video shot a few years back in
Pakistan when two young persons were lynched by
a mob on suspicion that they were dacoits. This
clip went viral on the social media, which is reach-
ing villages in good measure, and created a hostile
atmosphere.
Earlier Jats and Muslim had affable relations,
but from some years a few tensions cropped up
and the recent violence drove a deep wedge
amongst the two communities, thus violence could
spread to villages.
The tragic factor is the propagation of Modi, as
a strong leader who can save us (Hindus). The
major back up of communal forces is to promote
an autocrat, on the backdrop of the massive prop-
aganda that the majority community is not safe due
to a miniscule minority. So Modi is supposed to fill
the gap of a powerful leader who can protect the
majority community. All this is far from true but
popular perceptions have gone on and on and the
contestation of these misconceptions has neither
been effective nor far in reach.
Lesser said about the role of police and admin-
istration the better. The administration has enough
powers to ensure that such violence does not take
place and if at all it takes place, it can control it in a
day or two. Many of those in top echelons of
administration-police have a biased mindset, and
this, if supplemented by a government calculating
that violence will benefit its electoral prospects, the
tragedy takes no time to flare up.
UPA had promised to bring a Communal
Violence Prevention bill. The subcommittee of
NAC did a lot of homework and submitted a
draft of the bill. Surely, there may not be a con-
sensus on the draft, but probably by putting it to
the grill of different mechanisms, the grain of the
draft can be saved from the chaff to ensure that
the officers and those in seats of power who do
not do their job as per the norms of Constitution
and law are punished. The provision for punish-
ment to the officers guilty of dereliction of duty,
acts of commission and omission are a must.
The political leadership has to be taken to task
for its inaction at the crucial time. The commu-
nal forces have to be combated at ideological,
social and political level if we wish to ensure
communal peace and amity in the country. (plu-
ralindia.com)
Polarization with a difference: Muzaffarnagar
6 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
The tragic factor is the
propagation of Modi, as a
strong leader who can save us
(Hindus). The major back up of
communal forces is to promote
an autocrat, on the backdrop of
the massive propaganda that the
majority community is not safe
due to a miniscule minority. So
Modi is supposed to fill the gap
of a powerful leader who can
protect the majority community.
FIRDAUS AHMED
Gujarat DIG Vanzaras resignation letter from
Sabarmati jail has been ineffective in the sense
of its rejection by the Gujarat government. It has
also not led to the internal scrutiny that is other-
wise long overdue. On this count, it is worth a
revisit. At the first level, it is relatively straight
forward, dealing with the rough and ready meth-
ods that security forces adopt when given a free
hand. The second, more intricate level, is far
more consequential in the light of developments
in national politics since Vanzara dashed off his
letter.
A comforting belief of being on the right
side and on the side of the right is a useful moti-
vational factor in fighting men. The belief is built
up through internal communication strategies.
The larger social discourse in which political ide-
ologies play out provides context. It makes
killing, an otherwise taboo act, not only doable,
but a desirable thing. This is what resets the
norm away from taking innocent life. If innocence
is withdrawn, it is easier to take life. Militaries
realising this have perception management
strategies, earlier called propaganda, directed
also at their own sides. While information war
campaigns such as anti-Japanese posters in
World War II are par for the course in war, in
internal conflict the situation is hazier. There is
the law and the environment has all shades of
grey. Therefore, even if the official discourse is
sanitised and politically correct, the dominant
discourse need not be so.
By no means does this imply that the major-
ity of the members of security forces subscribe
to the subcultures that are beyond the pale. All
these need to dominate is for the majority to be
inert, possibly owing to being immersed in the
urgent and the immediate, the routine and the
mundane. This enables the minority subculture
take over the space and set the terms of the dis-
course. The prevalence of fratricide, mutilation,
drugs, indiscipline and excessive use of force
during the Vietnam War is an illustration of what
deviant subcultures can do to professional mili-
taries.
The Vanzara letter indicates how the Gujarat
police, that comprises officers who have done
themselves and their uniforms credit, also had in
its midst those responding to a different drum.
The story in Kashmir has been different only in
scale. Here the militarys counter-insurgency
campaign has largely been exceptional in its
restraint. But the disclaimer cannot obscure the
fact that there have been episodes that cloud its
record. These owe to a momentary ascendance
of subcultures usually when subscribed to by
commanders that have not been politically inno-
cent. These have had a touch of cultural nation-
alism, prevalent in politics and public discourse
over the past quarter century.
Given that the Pakistani proxy war peaked in
the period, the military has had to rely on motiva-
tional themes that included variants of the clash
of civilisation thesis in which Pakistan and its
proxies in Kashmir were taken as the anti-thesis.
Those seen as contaminated were to be eliminat-
ed, even where the association was difficult, and
under the circumstance of innocence, impossible
to establish. The benefit if any was in punishing
them, thereby deterring others. The contest was
then one of terrorising people by both sides, as is
usually the case in counter-insurgency, and
increasingly in anti-terror campaigns, universally.
The side that puts most pressure on people and
for longer perversely, wins.
Whereas in Kashmir, national security pro-
vided the fig leaf, in Gujarat, Vanzara informs it
was to embellish credentials of the chief minis-
ter as a strong man. Narendra Modi has gone
on to use this cultivated image in his campaign
inaugural speech suggesting to a Haryanvi audi-
ence comprising ex-servicemen including a for-
mer army chief, that the nation needs strong
leadership, beset as it is with over-bearing
neighbours.
Referring to the armys secularism, Modi
suggested that it was the model for the rest of
the country. This reference by Modi is not to
mainstream military culture as much as to the
subculture tinged with cultural nationalism. The
professionalism of the military may lead it to
stay out of politics, even as cultural nationalists
in their midst are emboldened to bid for dominat-
ing the discourse. This has been on for some
time. A perspicacious co-editor of a magazine
specialising on Indian security, Force, has
revealed the extent of right wing wares in the
chatter on military internet groups. These are
dominated by ex-servicemen exercising their
new found freedom of political expression in
favour of the opposition party, with the majority
of service members listening in, though not par-
ticipating for reasons of cyber security. That they
get conditioned suitably thereby is the anticipat-
ed fallout.
Modi in his speech suggested that the
Sachar Committees inquiry into the numbers of
Muslims in the army was uncalled for. This is to
take the armys secularism that it wears on its
sleeve, without critical appraisal.
An army interested in secularism in its lib-
eral reading would have proved introspective
and transparent. This was not the case
despite the evidence that screams in the face
that inequity in representation of Muslims
detracts from its touted secular credentials.
Take for instance a revealing statistic. Of
some 2850 cadets since Independence who
entered the por tals of a leading military school
that prepares cadets for entry to the NDA, only
28 were Muslims. Granted that by no means
is there a necessity to go public with the prob-
lem and its solution, if the measures are being
put in place to redress the imbalance. That
this is happening is not at all self-evident. The
iner tia is itself suggestive of the magnitude of
the problem in par ticular in enabling the space
for dominance of dubious subcultures.
The innate conservatism of the military
combined with appeasement by charismatic
leaders can lead the military to remain neutral in
the political turbulence undoubtedly ahead. This
turn to the ex-servicemen lobby by Modi for a
springboard into the military is therefore neither
untimely nor apolitical. It is instead a page out of
Hitlers book.
The Vanzara episode is reminiscent of
Hitlers discarding of the Brown Shirts in the
famous "night of long knives". Then he went
about neutering the renowned German general
staff before setting about his real agenda. On
this score, it may yet turn out that the BJP-led
NDA governments sacking of the naval chief
was a mere trailer.
Vanzaras lament is that he was used and
thrown. The militarys turn will be once the shift
from Gandhinagar takes place. For this reason
the military needs being circumspect in associ-
ating with its former members who have shared
the dais at Rewari with Mr. Modi.
Relevance of the Vanzara letter and lurking fascism
The Vanzara episode is reminiscent of Hitlers discarding of the Brown
Shirts in the famous "night of long knives". Then he went about neutering
the renowned German general staff before setting about his real agenda.
On this score, it may yet turn out that the BJP-led NDA governments
sacking of the naval chief was a mere trailer.
Vanzaras lament is that he was used and thrown. The militarys turn will
be once the shift from Gandhinagar takes place. For this reason the
military needs being circumspect in associating with its former members
who have shared the dais at Rewari with Mr. Modi.
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 7 www.milligazette.com
MANZAR MEHDI FAIZABADI
Faizabad: The Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi dispute has by
now become so old and complicated that it is not easy to settle it
even through courts. VHP through its Ram Janmabhoomi move-
ment has almost convinced the common people that Ram
Janmabhoomi is the same place where Babri Masjid stood, with-
out thinking that those who do not know the names of their ances-
tors born only two or three generations ago started believing that
Ram Chandreji who was born (according to their faith) lakhs of
years ago was born at that very place where Mir Baqi built Babri
Masjid five centuries ago. As long as the Babri Masjid stood in
Ayodhya, Muslim relationship with it was just name-sake. A
majority of Muslims of Faizabad did not even know that there is a
Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on which Hindus too lay claim as the
birth-place of Lord Rama. When the Babri Masjid was demolished
by the RSS outfits on 6 December 1992 and a makeshift Ram
mandir was built on its debris, Muslims became very sensitive
and conscious about Babri Masjid and began to express their
anger and sorrow over its demolition. Peace-loving Hindus also
did not approve of the the demolition of Babri Masjid.
Courts know the importance of documentary proofs and dep-
ositions by witnesses but when the question of faith of Hindus and
Muslims came in the way, they found themselves helpless in
deciding the Ayodhya dispute. Two years ago when the High Court
had pronounced its verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, instead of
deciding the ownership right, it unsuccessfully tried to please both
Hindus and Muslims by dividing the disputed land which clearly
proved its helplessness.
In view of courts helplessness and limitations, a view is gain-
ing ground that this dispute should be settled out of court. The
first attempt in this direction was made by Calcuttas late Prince
Anjum Qadr. After him, Sayyad Asghar Abbas Rizvi took the initia-
tive which enjoyed the support of the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee
government but till something concrete could come out, his gov-
ernment was voted out and replaced by the Manmohan Singh
government during which period talks came to an end. Now
Allahabad High Courts retired judge Palok Basu is trying to
resolve this dispute. Meetings between the representatives of
Hindus and Muslims have been regularly held in Ayodhyaa for the
past three years and results also appear to be optimistic.
Along with common people, among Hindus and Muslims,
Ayodhyas sadhus and sants too appear to be seriously thinking
that instead of leaving the dispute to be decided by future genera-
tions, the matter should be settled now itself through mutual
understanding. Ayodhyas sants and mahants take part in Palok
Basus meetings with people like Mahant Jan Meje Sharan of Janki
Ghat Bada Asthan, Ram Lakhan etc and try to hammer out a
mutually agreed peaceful solution.
This effort for an understanding on Ayodhya has succeeded
to such an extent that now Hindus too have come to understand
that wounds of Babri Masjid demolition can be healed only when
a Masjid is also built along with the Ram mandir and then only can
the Ram mandir be built. A signature campaign on this proposal
has also begun.
It is a matter of shame as well as distress for VHP, which
earned much wealth and fame in the name of Ram mandir, that in
spite of there being BJP governments in UP as well as at the
Centre it could not succeed in building the Ram mandir and that
Justice Palok Basu appears to be succeeding in getting this dis-
pute resolved. When VHP failed in its efforts to get these meetings
suspended or wound up altogether, it started misleading Hindus
by spreading the rumour that Palok Basu was going to build an
Islamic centre in Ayodhya with the help of Muslims. For propagat-
ing this falsehood everywhere the drama of Chaurasi Kosi
Parikrama was started.
On one side, VHP has been opposing Palok Basus efforts in
solving the dispute through mutual talks and understanding, on the
other side it is making an appeal to Mulayam Singh to come forward
to get the Ayodhya dispute solved through mutual talks. VHP is now
getting the feeling that it has lost the confidence of the people by talk-
ing about Ram mandir only before or at the time of elections and
hence is keen that Ram mandir should be built any how so that its
stand and honour could be preserved. With this new thinking of VHP,
the task of Palok Basus mission has now become easier.
Out of court Settlement of Ayodhya dispute
Hyderabad: Seven years after the foundation-stone was set, the
Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad was inaugurated on 20 September
by AP Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union minister for
human resource development Dr M. M. Pallam Raju.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the Ismaili spiritual
leader Aga Khan said that the Maheshwaram campus, which was
the first centre of excellence started by the Aga Khan Foundation
in India, would be part of 18 academies to be set up across 14
countries in the world. The Hyderabad Academy is the second to
be inaugurated; the next will be in Mombasa, Kenya.
Construction is now underway in Mozambique, Dares
Saalam, Bishkek and Dhaka. The other planned sites range from
Afghanistan and Tajikistan to Uganda, from Tanzania to the
Democratic Republic of Congo, from Madagascar to Mali, from
Syria to Pakistan and Portugal.
When the programme is complete, our students will have the
opportunity to speak and learn in Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Dari,
Kyrgyz, Bengali, Swahili, Russian, French, English and
Portuguese, said Aga Khan.
The standard curriculum throughout
the network will be International
Baccalaureate and five optional themes,
including comparative government and
free market economies, will be added.
We believe this developing academics
network, as a single coherent institution,
though geographically dispersed, will be
highly coordinated. Our academics network
will foster a lively sense of world awareness
among all its students, he said.
CM Kiran Kumar Reddy said that the
academy was another feather in the cap
of the state and praised the atmosphere
that it would provide for an overall devel-
opment. Appreciating the academys
equal focus on extra-curricular activities,
the CM stressed that it was very important to inculcate sportsman
spirit among children so that they would learn to take both victo-
ry and failure in their stride.
Aga Khan excellence centre in India
Mumbai: For issuing a slanderous circular against Girls Islamic
Organisation- GIO, its patron Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Maharashtra
filed a defamation suit on 24 September in Bombay High Court
seeking Rs.10 crore damages against the Mumbai Police.
Engineer Taufique Aslam Khan, President of JIH Maharashtra
said, We waited for the inquiry report as promised by Mr. Naval
Bajaj, Additional Commissioner, even sent a letter enquiring about
the inquiry but we got no reply. We are left with no option but to
file a defamation suit against the Mumbai Police. They did not even
bother to reply to our letter enquiring about the inquiry, he added.
It is not only the circular but its content is unconstitutional,
Taufique Aslam Khan said. If preaching of a religion, which is guar-
anteed under our constitution, creates suspicion then every devout
Hindu, Muslim, Christian will be a suspect. It is dangerous for a plu-
ral society like us, he said.
Instead of protecting the citizens of India, Mumbai Police, is
guilty of issuing defamatory circulars and statements which violate
Article 14 of our constitution which guarantees equality before the
law. Aslam Ghazi, Secretary of JIH Maharashtra and a petitioner in
this case, said, GIO have been explicitly and in effect, branded as
terrorist by the Mumbai Police without any basis for such a serious
charge. Such arbitrary actions are in clear violation of Article 14 of
the Constitution.
Different agencies pass the buck when found
guilty. In this case, Mr. Bajaj said that they just
passed on the information they got from another
agency without any verification.
Aslam Ghazi referred to the statement of
Intelligence Bureau in Ishrat Jahan encounter case,
where IB said that when it receives information, it
passes it on to the concerned law enforcement
agency and it is the duty of such agency to verify the
same before acting on it.
Ghazi said, Mr.Bajaj accepted that they find
nothing incriminatory against the GIO. It is, there-
fore, necessary for the Mumbai Police to compen-
sate for the damage done.
Citing a secret circular issued by Mumbai
Police, Samna, a Marathi newspaper had published
a report on 30 March 2013 that Girls Islamic
Organisation is making Muslim Women Terrorists.
This was later followed up by other newspapers,
after which Mr. Naval Bajaj, Additional
Commissioner Special Branch, the signatory of the circular, apolo-
gised for the leak of internal circular. He assured an enquiry and
punishment to the guilty.
Government of India, and the state government of Maharashtra,
Union and State Ministry of Home Affairs, Director General
Intelligence Bureau, DGP of Maharashtra were also made respon-
dent of the petition.
Ten crore defamation suit filed against Mumbai Police
From Left: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, spiritual leader
Aga Khan and Union minister fro HRD M.M. Pallam Raju converse at the inauguration
ceremony of the Aga Khan Academy
A. G. KHAN
Riding high on popularity wave Modi seems to have mesmerised
gullible Muslims who are running to swell BJP cadres. According
to Indresh Kumar, Muslims, after their disillusion with the
Congress which kept them under its thumb for 60 years on false
promises, have decided to join the BJP en masse as they see an
assured future in Modi rule. Indresh Kumar claims that Muslim
women had tied Rakhi to Modis photograph.
Mehbub bhai Bava, State BJP minority cell President,
claimed that 40,000 Muslims have expressed willingness to join
the party on Modis birthday. BJP intends to enroll one lakh mem-
bers to each of SC / ST / youth / cyber cells. He pointed out that
only Gujarat has 10.6 percent Muslims (against 9 percent popu-
lation) in the police department which is higher than such repre-
sentation in Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and Maharashtra who
have large share of Muslim population. It seems Bava has for-
gotten the humiliation that he personally suffered on different
occasions in public functions of the party. He, along with pup-
pies wants to remain an under-dog.
This mania for Muslims is induced by the feeling that 25%
Muslims are likely to tilt in BJPs favour as they did in local bod-
ies elections in Gujarat. The much trumpeted claim that Muslims
voted for BJP candidates in Muslim dominated
areas tactfully ignores the fact that in many con-
stituencies they were not allowed to vote by intimi-
dating them. In many they were told that their votes
had already been cast - a typical tactic of booth
capturing.
Through aspiring for 25% floating votes of
Muslims BJPs record of Muslim appeasement is
shockingly poor in Gujarat. The party wants Muslim
votes without giving them any thing in return. Here
are a few interesting statistics to rebut its claim.
In central assisted Indira Awas Yojna in which
the state government has nothing for Muslims
against 3.57% for dalits and 37.54% for others (trib-
als getting 56.68%) out of 37.73 crores allotment
during 2012-13 Muslims are assured of 1.66% dal-
its 4.45% and tribals 54% while other castes get
39%. One does not have to go beyond Juhupura to
appreciate BJPs love for Muslims where they are
denied all kinds of civic amenities. Yet, there are
wise men like Bava who would like to dance to BJP tunes little
realisting that BJP will embrace them which ultimately would be
fatal! They are oblivious of the fact:
Muzaffar Nagar to jhanki hai / Modi ka aana baki hai
Modi confident of Muslim support
AFROZ ALAM SAHIL
Whats the most important need of Muslims right
now? The mosque built on a disputed land for
barely 200 Muslims? The promises made in
Parliament or the rightful share in the resources
and policies of the country?
In order to help you move to the right conclusion,
we will try to expose here some uncanny statisti-
cal facts. Undoubtedly the data will blow the cap
off the head of Nitish, the soft Mulayam will look
stiff, Azam Khan will appear artful, and the govern-
ments and politicians advocating for Muslims
rights will sound dissolute.
BeyondHeadlines sought facts through RTI on the welfare scheme
for minority communities from central government. The emerging
picture is that policies and schemes for the welfare of minority
communities, especially Muslims, are born on paper and die on
paper. You may also say that these scheme are strangled to death
by politicians and bureaucrats.
Budget Sanctioned: 100 Crore; Released: One Lakh; Spent: Nil
Maulana Azad Education Foundation is one of many government
schemes and institutions for the promotion of educational, social
and economic status of the minorities. Newspapers do not get
tired of speaking at length of this institution. But the reality is dif-
ferent.
In 2012-13, the government passed 100 crore for this institu-
tion, but released just one lakh which was spent nowhere. Had the
amount been spent, the needs of some Muslims would have been
met, which neither government nor politicians would cherish.
Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women: An
Illusion
The government launched a scheme to inculcate leadership qual-
ities among minority women. Under this scheme, in the year of
2012-13, government allocated 15 crore out of which 12.80
crore was made available but only 10.45 crore was used. In
2011-12, budget for this scheme was set at 15 crore, but only 4
lakh was issued. Likewise, in 2010-11, 15 crore was announced,
but only 5 crore was released. Astonishingly, in 2009-10, the full
budget of 8 crore was released but nothing was spent. Had it been
spent, some Muslim women could have been prepared to take
over the responsibilities of the community. But the governments
and politicians did not, perhaps, hope so. They are busy in arrang-
ing iftar parties or preoccupied by the issues of a mosque.
Not a Single Penny Spent
The same happened to the grant-in-aid to state channelising agen-
cies (SCA) engaged in implementation in NMDFC Programme. A
grant of 2 crore was sanctioned in 2012-13, but only 66 lakh was
released. Hopefully, it would have benefited some needy persons
if spent; instead it has been lying idle in respective departments
and not a single penny moved from there. It is silly to raise ques-
tions about the credibility of officers. If no money is spent, no
work is done.
Funds Lie Unclaimed in State Treasury
To ensure the strengthening of the state wakf boards, Government
passed a budget of 5 crore in 2012-13, but only 10 lakh was
released. But not a single paisa was spent even out of this fund?
In 2010-11, a sum of 7 crore was sanctioned, but only 10
lakh was made available but that too lay unclaimed in state treas-
ury and as in 2012-13, the funds were not spent.
Religious Notions Flame Sectarian Sentiments
The Government also set a budget to support students clearing
Prelims conducted by UPSC, SSC, State Public Services
Commission etc. for the year 2012-13 and sanctioned 4 crore for
this purpose. Unfortunately only 2 lakh was released out of this
budget but the department failed to spend even this meagre
amount. Had 4 crores been spent, probably a few minority stu-
dents would have cleared civil service examinations. But the politi-
cians speaking up for Muslim causes did not favour this. That is
why, their boring speeches and flashing slogans in the cause of
Muslim welfare go unheeded, and Muslims are left with hollow
assurances and sunken hopes. Do not question Azam Khan,
Shafikurrahman Burq or Asaduddin Owaisi about this. Else their
eyes would spark in rage or the pitch of their voices would rise as
you see them in Parliament making pompous speeces. They could
raise issues like of Vande Matram to be sung or not, but they
attach no value to funds to be released or not. Their rhetoric only
inflames sectarian sentiment.
Budget is no budget
For Skill Development Initiatives, the budget was set at 20 crore
for the year of 2012-13, but a mere 5 lakh was released, out of
which no paisa was spent.
The scheme for containing population decline of tiny minori-
ties met with same fate. In 2012-13, the Central government
sanctioned 2 crore for this scheme, but the released amount was
just 1 lakh, and the expenditure was nil. Similarly, in 2010-11 this
scheme faced the same fate.
Scheme Vanished
In the name of Promotional Activities for Linguistic Minorities, a
budget of one crore was approved in 2010-11, but merely 5 lakh
was released and like other schemes, this scheme too saw not a
single rupee spent. Afterwards, no budget was sanctioned for this
scheme, or better to say, the scheme simply disappeared.
In 2012-13, a budget allocation of 2 crore was made for
Interest Subsidy on Educational Loans for Overseas Studies, but
the amount released was just 2 lakh. Similarly, the 2010-11, mir-
rored same fate. In both of the years, the outlay was zero. For the
rest of years, this scheme vanished from the budget.
Computerization of Records of State Wakf Boards
In 2012-13, for computerization of records of State Wakf Boards
a budget of 5 crore was allocated but the amount released was
only 1.65 crore but all our states failed to spend even this sum of
money. Thus, only 89 lakh out of 1.65 crore was spent. The 2011-
12 was no different. The current budget year, too, approved 5
crore for this scheme but released only 2 crore, out of which
merely 62 lakh could be spent by the states. The 2010-11 will take
your breath away. That budget year had fixed 15 crore for this
scheme, but only 6 crore was made available and merely 3.63
crore out of 6 crore was used by all states.
Do Not Raise Questions
In 2012-13, the grant allocated for Merit-cum-Means Scholarship
for professional and technical courses of undergraduate and
post-graduate students was 220 crore, out of which only 184.07
crore was released and 181.21 crore was spent. This can be
appreciated. But for 2008-09, the budget for this scholarship was
124.90 crore but the released amount was only 64.94 crore.
Many students had applied for this scholarship but most applica-
tions were rejected because of paucity of funds.
The question arises here: if the full budget is not released, and
whatever was released is not spent, how can applications be
rejected? Now if we pose this question to politicians, they would
be lost for an answer.
Silence is Golden!
The scheme, Multi Sectoral Development Programme for
Minorities in selected Minority-Concentrated Districts, set budget
of 539.80 crore in 2008-09, but the amount released was only
279.89 crore. And in 2012-13, the budget for this scheme was
999 crore, but only 649 crore was released.
Who Will Clap for Politicians?
In 2008-09, 99.90 crore was assigned for Post-Matric
Scholarships, but only 69.93 crore was released. In 2012-13, 500
crore was proposed for this scheme, but only 340.75 crore was
made available out of which 326.55 crore was spent. Had the
allotted budget been released, students from economically-
deprived families could have entered colleges. But if children of
deprived minority communities were enlightened by education,
who would clap for pompous speech of politicians?
No Amount Spent on These Schemes
The status of the scheme for promotion of education in 100
minority-concentrated towns/cities out of 251 such towns/cities
identified as backward was too bad. For this scheme, the
Central government sanctioned a budget of 50 crore, but merely 4
lakh was granted and out of this 4 lakh nil was
spent.
The same was the fate of Village Development
Programme for Villages not covered by
MCB/MCDs. The Central government allocated 50
crore for this scheme, but released only 4 lakh out
which not a single penny was spent.
In 2012-13, for support to district-level insti-
tutions in MCDs, the Central government approved
25 crore, but the released amount was only 4 lakh,
out of which nil was spent. In other words, no indi-
vidual benefited from this scheme.
The Central government launched scheme of
distributing free bicycles among girl students of
class IX, and in 2012-13, proposed a grant of 5
crore for this scheme. Out of this amount, only 4 lakh was
released and nil was spent.
Every promotional and welfare scheme adopted to uplift the
educational, social and economic status of minority communities
has died on paper. And our pro-Muslim leaders bore no face of
remorse.
First, the budget was like cumin seed to camels mouth. Even
those meagre bugets were never released in full.
The most embarrassing fact of this tory is that the fund allo-
cated for advertising these schemes, and bill-boards and banners
put up by politicians overspent the sanctioned amount. No news-
papers or TV channels will inform you about this because the
whole media moves on the wheels of the advertising budget.
When newspapers and TV channels were paid their share, why
should they bother if the sanctioned amount reached the rightful
needy or not? No reporter, perhaps, has the courage to fire these
questions at the the government because his editor and publisher
woudnt appreciate it.
Full Focus on Publicity
Let me tell you that the government proposed a budget of 5 crore
for Research/Studies, Monitoring & Evaluation of Development
Schemes for Minorities including Publicity in 2008-09, and
released 8.95 crore. Interestingly, a big part of this amount, 7.97
crore to be exact, was spent. In 2009-10, this budget went up to
13 crore. Surprisingly, the entire budget was released, out of
which 11.97 crore was spent. In 2010-11, the budget was
increased to 22 crore, and this full amount was released! Out of
the 22 crore, 19.63 crore was spent. The same budget was raised
to 36 crore in 2011-12, and the full amount was released!
In 2012-13, the budget again rose -- to 40 crore this time and
the amount released was 33.30 crore, out of which 33.29 crore
has been spent.
If you have been following media in any form, print or visual
recently, you must have confronted a mosque issue whose wall
was demolished by a bureaucrat. For some time it appeared the
top issue for the UP Government. It is a moot point: why for the
media the wall of a mosque and an IAS officer being transferred
was more important than millions of funds wasted/unspent in the
name of Muslims.
The UP Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav, callously, said he trans-
ferred the IAS officer to maintain communal harmony, and he would
do the same if communal harmony is ever disturbed. Will he enlight-
en us about what action he took against officers who stripped
Muslims of their legitimate rights? Azam Khan who claims himself
messiah of Muslim community will be speechless if he is asked this
question. He could jail a person on account of a comment posted on
his facebook account he dares take no action against those taking
away the rights of Muslims. (beyondheadlines.in)
Note: The data is of the whole nation. The use of the name of
Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan is just to show the politicians atti-
tude to Muslim community. Other politicians are equally respon-
sible for Muslim backwardness. (Originally written in Hindi by BH
Editor (Investigation) Afroz Sahil, translated by Fazal Karim.)
Muslim Appeasement A Myth Exposed
The emerging picture is that policies and schemes for the
welfare of minority communities, especially Muslims, are
born on paper and die on paper. You may also say that these
schemes are strangled to death by politicians and
bureaucrats.
The only budget fully released, utilised and raised annually
is the one for publicity of these schemes...
8 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Ashoka Chakra awardee led
fake encounter in Manipur,
says SC panel
A judicial commission appointed by the Supreme Court has held
that an encounter in Manipur carried out by an Army Major who
was awarded the nations highest peacetime gallantry medal in
2009 was staged and that two cousins had been knowingly tar-
geted by security forces.
The encounter in which cousins Gobind and Nobo Meitei
were killed, took place in Imphals Langol area on 4 April, 2009
and involved a joint team of the local police and 39 Assam Rifles
(AR) personnel. Four months later, Major D Sreeram Kumar, who
was leading the AR unit, was awarded the Ashoka Chakra for
being responsible for a palpable decrease in insurgency activi-
ties and bringing succour to the people and ensuring their safe-
ty.
The officer is one of only two serving Ashoka Chakra winners
of the Army and is now posted at a training institution. The
Ashoka Chakra is the nations highest peacetime gallantry medal
and is equivalent to the Param Vir Chakra that is awarded in war
time.
While the Army has not commented on the issue as the mat-
ter is sub-judice, sources said the action for which the Major was
awarded the Ashoka Chakra has not been called into question.
While the report has indicted him for the April 2009 encounter, the
award was given for eliminating four hardcore terrorists in an
encounter in East Imphal on 23 October 23, 2008, they said.
However, the April 2009 incident is one of six mentioned as
sample cases of not genuine encounters by the judicial panel
led by former judge Santosh Hegde.
It would appear that the security forces believed a priori that
the suspects involved in the encounters had to be eliminated and
the forces acted accordingly, the panel, which has former elec-
tion commission chief J M Lyngdoh and retired IPS officer Ajai
Kumar Singh as members, said in its report.
The panel was formed in January to examine six of the over
1,500 alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur after the
Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association and Human
Rights Alert moved the apex court.
Going into details of the encounter in which the Meitei
cousins were killed, the panel met all personnel and officers
linked to the incident, including police officers, doctors and mem-
bers of the AR unit. It says that based on medical evidence as well
as the oral evidence given by witnesses that had several discrep-
ancies, there is enough reason to conclude that it was not an
encounter but an operation by the security forces wherein death
of the victims was caused knowingly.
The security forces say the two cousins were spotted during
a combing mission and when they were challenged, they had
opened heavy fire on the police and an Assam Rifles convoy
escorting them. In retaliation, security forces fired 89 rounds,
resulting in the death of the duo.
However, the panel report says that despite the claim of
heavy firing from the cousins, neither was any security forces
personnel hit nor their vehicles damaged. It also cites the med-
ical report which said Gobind had 16 gunshot injuries, all from
close range, and Nobo had five bullet injuries, all entering from
the back.(Excerpted from a report in the Indian Express, 15 Sept 2013)
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 9 www.milligazette.com
Muzzafarnagar: a replay of Gujarat 2002
MUSTAFA KHAN
Hindus and Muslims have lived cheek by jowl down the centuries
in the Subcontinent. There had been no pre-planned and organ-
ised riots or pogroms until the conscious politicising communal-
ism in the form of Hindutva came on the scene. Those who avoid
the Muslim rule in India and look at the rest of the ages as contin-
uous and harmonious Hindustan including the British rule, harbor
the same illusion as the characters in Aanand Math to whom the
Muslim rulers were cruel and impure and the British enlightened
and good. Because of this skewed vision, they take upon them-
selves the imaginary task of purifying the land of the impurity that
came with the Muslims. In modern nomenclature, it is called eth-
nic cleansing. Jats hunting and killing Muslims in rural areas in the
environs of Muzaffanager did just that since August 27, 2013.
This schizophrenic setting of the mind has been going on for
sometimes in Gujarat and now in UP and Bihar in the recrudes-
cence of communal violence. They killed a reporter and lynched
photo-journalist Israr who had made recording of the Jat maha-
panchayat. It reflects Gujarat where Haren Pandya had made an
audio recording of Chief Minister Narendra Modi at his residence
on 27 February, 2002 instructing his police to not stop Hindu
mobs taking revenge against Muslims in the next three days.
Despite the ruling party not unsympathetic to secularism in UP,
the riots in Muzaffarnagar continued. What is worse they spread to vil-
lages. The local administration failed to respond. The dj vue
pogroms were in the offing thanks to Narendra Modi assuming
charge of the Hindu party BJP campaign for election in 2014 and his
lieutenant Amit Shah as in-charge of UP. Many people felt premonition
which came true later that Shahs praying at Ayodhyas temporary
temple reconstructed on demolished Babri mosque at the onset of the
election campaigning was an ominous signal.
Although the BJP could not reap electoral gains on the pro-
posed construction of the temple after the demolition of the
mosque, it stands to gain from the fall out of the latest communal
clashes.
The riot was only waiting to happen in the aftermath of the
mammoth meetings allowed by the administration despite impo-
sition of prohibitory orders on 27 August.
Amit Shah and Modi know from their experience in their own
state of Gujarat that people of UP are susceptible to communal
appeal in the name of temple and religion. Or else what was there
when a Valmiki parked his dirt cart before the shop of a Muslim
who objected and in the resultant clash a Hindu was killed and
then two Muslims lost their lives and the violence erupted like a
wildfire.
Hindutva groups are in the wont of using lower castes like the
Valmikis to ignite riots in which they reap rich harvest at the polls.
The turn of events followed the pattern of the pogroms in 2002
Gujarat. Modi and Shahs strategy resulted in what Manzoor said
in his remark: Ultimately, the responsibility [of ruling in UP] is
ours. Obviously our image has taken a serious drubbing.
As in Gujarat 2002 so in UP on 9 September, 2013 five more
bodies of Muslims were recovered from a farm, then ten more on
10 September. These were hapless members of the minority flee-
ing from their villages in search of shelter from the roaming mem-
bers of the pro-BJP Jat Hindu community out to kill them.
Where did the fracas and brawl on hygienic source of context
turn to full blown pogroms? Why did the Jats take over from the
Valmiki dirt cart driver? That critical fault lies in the words of the
American writer Alex D Pate in Losing Absalom :Critical weakness
[is] that other men could identify with swift precision. It could be a
core of coldness in warm peaceful exterior, a fear, a streak of terror
carefully woven into the fabric of bravado, or, worst of all, a dark cyn-
icism carefully tucked away in a hopeful body. That dark cynicism
and streak of terror is easily discernible in the face of the most men-
tioned of all actors in the gruesome murder and mayhem: Hukum
Singh. That face resembles the cold stare of Narendra Modi when the
wide-spread eyes of the Chief Minister in the sockets stare into the
face of others and the gnashing teeth when he was dehydrated and
called for water in the interview with Kiran Thapar.
Soon after the above murders, Jats went into a huddle. It was
a massive meeting in which more than a lakh people from adjoin-
ing states and Delhi travelled to Muzaffarnager. Hukum Singh
addressed the irate mobs. The words used by the BJP leader are
cats paw of taunt of the hateful ideology. He spoke tongue-in-
cheek: Instead of penalising me for my so-called provocative
speech, the district administration should first explain how a gath-
ering of over 1.5 lakh people was allowed at Nagla Mandaur, 20
km from Muzaffarnagar, despite the prohibitory orders in force in
the entire district? Why did the district administration allow thou-
sands of vehicles and tractor trolleys from Haryana, Delhi and
neighbouring districts of UP to enter Muzaffarnagar and reach the
venue of the mahapanchayat?
There is no dearth of such gatherings of mammoth crowds
and they were the order of the day in 2002 in Naroda Patia,
Sardarpura, Gulbarg Society and a host of other places in Gujarat.
The mahapanchayat was apparently to show respect for
daughters and daughters-in-law in the Jat community -- Bahu
Beti Sammaan Bachao Mahapanchayat but it veered to a new line
of saving daughters and daughters-in-law from being lured by
Muslims into love and marriage. Although a dalit woman had
affair with a Muslim, the Jats reacted in unison to support the dalit
against the Muslims. This indicates how the BJP must have been
hard at work in working up the Jats and the dalits against the
Muslims. As the author RK Ohri observed, the Jats usually do not
empathize with the Scheduled Castes but their unanimous con-
demnation of the inter-caste affair is the tip of the ice-berg show-
ing how deep is the social unrest that Muslims and the rest have
developed in their relationship thanks to BJP insinuation. Hukum
Singh with his platitudes uttered in the aftermath of the mahapan-
shcyat could not hide the facts that the crowds wanted him to talk
of Narendra Modi alone. This would extend into of course how
Modi taught a lesson to the Muslims in his state. This is proof of
where the wind blows from in Muzaffarnagar. But in the process
of politicising the issue, the result is a never before religions
divided between the Hindus and Muslims. This is sure proof of
the machination of the BJP. It especially emanates from the design
of Amit Shah and Modi working from behind the curtain.
Hukum Singhs insidiously remarking that the crowds wanted
him to speak of Modi at the Mahapanchayat is fraught with danger.
This is grafting of the policy that Modi and Shah had played in
Gujarat. The Shahar Mufti of Muzaffarnagar Zulfqar Ali pointed his
finger at this when he said: It was a well-planned riot, facilitated by
the district administration and engineered with the aim of ensuring
polarisation among the voters on communal lines.
There is also a disturbing pattern of what happened on
27 August was kept on animation and sustained by the oxygen
that keeps the BJP alive: communalism. The party through its lead-
ers circulated a video showing the incident of 27 August in such a
way as to inflame the passions of Hindus against Muslims. This is
what Noam Chomsky called inducement to violence where he
blames the drone bombing in the Middle East and Pakistan that pro-
duces violence as in the Boston bombing. The fake video made by
BJP MLA Sangeet Som of Meerut fits in that pattern. The footage
was made long ago in Pakistan. He evaded arrest for long and was
finally nabbed on 21 September. His wish was to invite Modi to
Muzaffarnagar and sit with him on the dais. What Hukum Singh said
implies that he wants to repeat for electoral gain the Gujarat model.
Muzaffarnagar confirms that BJP is outsourcing 2002 into U.P. Amit
Shah has opened his purse to bear the legal cost for whatever hap-
pens when BJP workers take on the UP SP government.
The result is already there for anyone to see as toddlers with
their deadly injuries are lying in hospitals and their parents hacked
to death by the Hindutva mobs make headlines in the media. This
is fuelling minority communitys feeling of insecurity and fear as it
did in Gujarat 2002. Once again their fate is in the lurch. The chil-
dren were innocent as were their parents as they were fleeing the
marauding mobs of Jats. If even the children have to bear the
brunt of the mobs what is left for the minority in India?
Muslims in Muzaffarnagar had been nurtured on the Ganga-
Jamuni culture as is the case with their Hindu compatriots.
A part of the calculated idea in the escalating violence against
Muslims is to target the composite culture in favour of a monolith-
ic culture of Hindutva or Hindu fundamentalism. It is here that the
hate ideology of the RSS comes with full force to foment trouble
in order to achieve a certain end. It could not brook LK Advanis
discovering Mohammad Ali Jinnah as a secular person. Bal
Thackeray was upset when Modi started his sadbhavna (harmo-
ny) rallies. He mistakenly thought that Modi was going soft on
Muslims. VHP also was disturbed when unauthorised temples
were being demolished in Gujarat. Similarly, Modi changed his
decision on appealing for harsher sentence against Maya Kodnani,
an accused in the Naroda Patia pogrom because Shiv Sena was
adamantly opposed that a Hindu should be punished for the mas-
sacre of Muslims. Will the RSS then allow anyone to come in the
way of its avowed commitment to destroy the syncretic culture
that prevailed in western UP?
Snatching children from fleeing mothers and fathers and
killing or mauling them so barbarously is motivated by the hate
ideology. No amount of rope-walking by the SP or Congress on
this will do. When Narendra Dabholkar was killed, Sanathan
Sanstha celebrated it because he died quickly instead of a long
prolonged illness and bedridden life. To the RSS, a good Muslim
is a dead Muslim. We are back to square one on Muzaffanagar
pogroms.
Mahatma Gandhi would have gone to fast unto death to stop
the pogrom in Muzaffarnagar. But even conjecturing Modi to go on
another even token or farcical Sadbhavna on the killings in
Muzaffernagar would amount to heresy. India First is his ideology
of secularism where Muslims dont figure.
SHAMSUL ISLAM
The cleansing of Muslims in Western Uttar
Pradesh is an old project of Hindutva camp, espe-
cially RSS and its affiliates. They have been work-
ing on it for a long time. They tried to do it on the
eve of Independence and almost succeeded in
executing it recently. There is a shocking similari-
ty, though. On the eve of Independence, it was the
Congress ministry of Govind Ballabh Pant which
shielded the criminals and now it is Samajvaadi
Party which facilitated the gruesome project.
I am pasting below a passage from the auto-
biography of the first Home Secretary of UP,
Rajeshwar Dayal, a senior bureaucrat, clearly
showing the sinister designs of the RSS regarding
Western UP (major state in Indian Union) on the
eve of Independence.
RSS plan to cleanse Muslims from this area is
old one and according to Dayal, RSS chief
Golwalkar was directly involved in it. According to
Dayal,I must record an episode of a very grave
nature when the procrastination and indecision of
the UP Cabinet led to dire consequences. When
communal tension was still at fever pitch, the
Deputy Inspector General of Police of the Western
Range, a very seasoned and capable officer, B. B.
L. Jaitley, arrived at my house in great secrecy. He
was accompanied by two of his officers who
brought with them two large steel trunks securely
locked. When the trunks were opened, they
revealed incontrovertible evidence of a dastardly
conspiracy to create a communal holocaust
throughout the Western districts of the province.
The trunks were crammed with blueprints of great
accuracy and professionalism of every town and
village in that vast area, prominently marking out
the Muslim localities and habitations. There were
also detailed instructions regarding access to the
various locations, and other matters which amply
revealed the sinister purport. Greatly alarmed by
those revelations, I immediately took the police
party to the Premiers [chief ministers] house.
There, in a closed room, Jaitley gave a full report
of his discovery, backed by all the evidence con-
tained in the steel trunks. Timely raids conducted
on the premises of the RSS (Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh) had brought the massive
conspiracy to light. The whole plot had been con-
certed under the direction and supervision of the
Supremo of the organization himself. Both Jaitley
and I pressed for the immediate arrest of the prime
accused, Shri Golwalkar, who was still in the area.
Pantji [G. B. Pant] could not but accept the evi-
dence of his eyes and ears and expressed deep
concern. But instead of agreeing to the immediate
arrest of the ringleader as we had hoped, and as
Kidwai would have done, he asked for the matter
to be placed for consideration by the Cabinet at its
next meeting. It was no doubt a matter of political
delicacy as the roots of the RSS had gone deep
into the body politic. There were also other politi-
cal compulsions, as RSS sympathizers, both
covert and overt, were to be found in the
Congress Party itself and even in the Cabinet. It
was no secret that the presiding officer of the
Upper House, Atma Govind Kher, was himself an
adherent and his sons were openly members of
the RSS. At the Cabinet meeting there was the
usual procrastination and much irrelevant talk. The
fact that the police had unearthed a conspiracy
which would have set the whole province in
flames and that the officers concerned deserved
warm commendation hardly seemed to figure in
the discussion. What ultimately emerged was that
a letter should be issued to Shri Golwalkar pointing
out the contents and nature of the evidence which
had been gathered and demanding an explanation
thereof. At my insistence, such a letter if it were to
be sent, should be issued by the Premier himself
to carry greater weight. Panditji asked me to pre-
pare a draft, which I did in imitation of his own
characteristic style. The letter was to be delivered
forthwith and two police officers were assigned
for the purpose. Golwalkar, however, had been
tipped off and he was nowhere to be found in the
area. He was tracked down southwards but he
managed to elude the couriers in pursuit. This
infructuous chase continued from place to place
and weeks passed. Came January 30, 1948 when
the Mahatma, that supreme apostle of peace, fell
to a bullet fired by an RSS fanatic. The tragic
episode left me sick at heart. (Rajeshwar Dayal,
A Life Of Our Times, pp. 93-94].
First Home Secretary of Uttar Pradesh after
Independence, Rajeshwar Dayals shocking nar-
ration of RSS chief, MS Golwalkars evil design to
cleanse western parts of Uttar Pradesh of all
Muslims on the eve of Independence was further
corroborated by another senior RSS pracharak
(preacher or whole-timer), Krishna Gopal Rastogi
in his autobiography, Aap Beeti. While describing
an incident in which he personally led a mob of
armed Hindus against Muslims in Kaliar town, sit-
uated between Roorkee and Haridwar, went on to
state without any remorse how he did not spare
even a young Muslim girl. According to Rastogis
heart-chilling version:
It was an old locality inhabited by the
Muslims. They, armed with daggers, spears, guns
were fully prepared to meet any situation. When I
learnt of their intentions to attack some Hindu
areas, I organized 250 people including some
known gangsters and raided Kaliar. Then a
strange thing happened. While we had been killing
men in one of the houses, we spotted a very
beautiful young girl. The assailants led by me
were instantly enamoured. They even started
fighting among themselves to take possession of
the girl. I faced an extremely awkward situation
and did not know what to do. I tried my best to get
the assailants to focus on real issues. I abused
and threatened them but they would not listen to
me. And suddenly the solution came. The girl was
after all causing this trouble and had to be elimi-
nated. I took my gun and shot her. She died. My
associates were shocked and returned to the
work. Though it was against our principle to
assault a woman, but it was done in an emer-
gency and I still regret it. (Cited in Khushwant
Singhs Weekly Column, Hindustan Times,
12 May, 2001].
This autobiography was released with a
laudatory preface by K. S. Sudarshan, the then
head of the RSS. Incidentally, Rastogi was
appointed in two committees of the Human
Resource Development Ministry of the
Government of India headed by Murli Manohar
Joshi during NDA rule despite protests from more
than 50 MPs.
Hindutva Project in Western Uttar Pradesh
It was an old locality inhabited by the Muslims. They, armed with
daggers, spears, guns were fully prepared to meet any situation...
I organized 250 people including some known gangsters and raided
Kaliar...While we had been killing men in one of the houses, we spotted
a very beautiful young girl. The assailants led by me were instantly
enamoured... I took my gun and shot her. She died...
AFSANA RASHID, SRINAGAR
Killing of five youth by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), in
two separate incidents, in south Kashmirs Shopian district trig-
gered clashes, protests and demonstrations, across the Valley.
Curfew was imposed in several areas of south Kashmir, for
days together. Separatists, off and on, called for valley-wide shut-
downs. The incidents were widely condemned.
Four youth were killed and one critically injured in firing by
CRPF in Gagran-Shopian, hours before internationally acclaimed
music conductor, Zubin Mehtas Ehsaas-e-Kashmir (The feeling
about Kashmir) concert was organized by the German Embassy,
here, September 7. CRPF claims that the youth were militants
whereas locals allege they were civilians.
Immediately after the incident, people took to the streets and
raised slogans, triggering clashes. Police used tear gas shells and
resorted to aerial firing to disperse the protesters.
Separatists called for a shutdown across the Valley,
September 8. Authorities imposed curfew in twin-district of
Shopian and Kulgam, September 8. People defied the curfew at
several places to protests against the killings. Hurriyat (G) led by
Syed Ali Geelani, called for Shopian chalo on September 10.
Authorities foiled the march by imposing curfew in and around
these areas. My son was innocent and had no militant links, said
Gul Muhammad Bhat, father of Tauseef Ahmad, 17, one of the
youth killed in the incident. Media-reports say he was on his way
to drop his friend at the examination centre at Shopian Degree
College, when CRPF shot multiple bullets at him. Ahmad later suc-
cumbed to his injuries.
Others who were killed include Mohammad Yousuf, 25, Tariq
Ahmad, 24. Identity of the fourth youth hasnt been ascertained.
Police, September 9, said three of the four persons killed, were
civilians and the fourth person was Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant.
Certain media-reports quoting eye-witnesses said that the
fourth person was a Bihari labourer. Even former Congress minis-
ter, Ghulam Hassan Khan, September 12, said that he was a Bihari
labourer and had nothing to do with militancy. Police, September
15, decided to write to their counterparts in Bihar for identification
of the fourth person. Senior Congress leader and Minister for
Medical Education, Taj Mohi-u-Din told local news gathering
agency, CNS September 15 that the fourth person was LeT mili-
tant and police has ample proof to prove it. A day later, the min-
ister said whatever he said was off the record. Now it has
appeared in media, I want an official statement to be issued by the
government in this regard.
Police, September 20, said that theyve established the iden-
tity of unidentified person killed in Gagran-firing. Weve solid evi-
dence that he is Abdullah Haroon and his photograph has been
identified by jailed LeT commander, Fahdullah, said Abdul Ghani
Mir, IGP Kashmir, addressing media here.
Taking suo moto notice of the matter, State Human Rights
Commission, September 9, sought a report from the DGP and
Deputy Commissioner Shopian, by October 25. Hurriyat (M) led
by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, September 9, filed a petition in the
Commission, seeking an impartial probe into the incident, while
demanding immediate arrest and stern punishment to the guilty,
and monetary compensation for victim-families.
Demanding an impartial probe, Mirwaiz, September 7,
appealed to the international community and human rights organ-
izations to exert pressure on New Delhi to put an immediate halt
to such human-right abuses and take measures for resolving the
Kashmir issue in accordance with aspirations of its people.
Geelani, September 7, termed the killings as worst demon-
stration of state terrorism. JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin
Malik, September 7, said New Delhi and its forces have once
again proved that theyve no respect for the lines of innocent
Kashmiris. High Court Bar Association, September 9, observed a
strike and took out a protest-rally.
State Congress chief Prof Saif-u-Din Soz, September 8,
termed it as a deplorable and highly painful act and asked state
government to share verified facts with people. Demanding a
time-bound judicial inquiry, CPI-M state secretary, M Y Tarigami,
addressing media here, September 10, sought an open apology
from the government.
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq
Abdullah, said there was no need to order an inquiry into the
killing. How many inquiries should we order? Let one inquiry
(Kishtwar) be completed first, he replied, while interacting with
media, after offering fateh prayers at the cemetery of his late
father, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, September 8.
Another youth, Mohammad Rafiq Rather, 28, a school bus
driver was allegedly shot dead by CRPF at Gagran-Shopian,
September 11, while he was on his way to attend his six-month
old sick daughter. CRPF denied the firing, while police registered a
case 137/2013 under section 302 RPC and is investigating the
matter. Triggering protests, authorities re-imposed curfew in
Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama towns, September 12. It was lift-
ed from Kulgam and Pulwama, September 16 and from Shopian,
September 22. A shutdown was observed across the Valley,
September 12, 14, 15 and 21 after Hurriyat (G) called for it.
A magisterial probe was ordered by the state government into
the killings, September 12. The state cabinet, September 12,
directed Director General of Police to replace CRPF at Gagran
camp with a contingent of Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police. The
decision hit a roadblock after CRPF, September 13, demanded
alternate accommodation before moving out. Some media
reports, September 14, stated that the administration has decided
to relocate CRPF in District Police Lines, Shopian. Special Director
General CRPF, D K Pathak visited the camp, September 16, and
held a meeting with police and CRPF officials regarding shifting of
the camp. Police arrested Malik, September 13, and foiled JKLFs
attempt to stage a sit-in at Lal Chowk against Shopian killings by
imposing restrictions. Malik went into hiding, September 12, to
evade the arrest.
Mirwaiz asked people to unfurl black flags atop their houses
and mosques on September 13, hold demonstrations and wear
black bands to protest the Shopian killings. The right to life is
being violated in Kashmir and is under great threat, said Mirwaiz,
while addressing media, September 12. He climbed on the bound-
ary wall of the compound of his residence to address media, after
police prevented him from addressing media. Later, the amalgam
uploaded his speech on YouTube.
Mirwaiz, September 13, addressed Friday congregation
prayers, by phone, as authorities didnt allow him to offer prayers
at the historic Jamia Masjid here. Terming the situation in Kashmir
worrisome he said mainstream political leaders were pursuing
New Delhis genocide agenda to suppress people through military
might. Mirwaiz, September 17, warned that the conglomerate
would ask people to march towards Gagran-Shopian, if the gov-
ernment failed to lift the curfew within 24-hours. He was later
detained at party- headquarters, after he tried to proceed towards
Shopian. PDP led by its president Mehbooba Mufti staged a
protest demonstration against Shopian killings here, September
13. Mufti warned New Delhi and the state government of a dis-
aster if they dont change their policies and attitude towards
Kashmir. She had, September 11, asked the government to regis-
ter FIR against CRPF and demanded shifting of the Gagran-camp.
Awami Itehad Party president and independent legislator from
Langate Er Rashid along with his party-activists took out a protest
rally, September 12, against the killing. The legislator, September
13, described replacement of CRPF from Gagran-camp as first
step towards victory of public-uprising in Shopian.
Commission to probe Kishtwar clases
The one-man Commission of Inquiry appointed by the state gov-
ernment to probe August 9 Kishtwar-Jammu communal clashes
that left three people dead and several injured, initiated the
process of investigation, September 15. The government
announced judicial probe into the incident, August 12, but the for-
mal order was issued, August 23. The Commission led by Justice
(retired) R C Gandhi is expected to submit its report within a
month. Special Investigation Team probing the clashes produced
three charge-sheets against around 40 youth, September 10.
Media-reports say 39 youth from the majority community have
been charge-sheeted in two FIRs and charge-sheet has been pro-
duced in only one of the cases from the minority community.
Police has reportedly registered around 11 FIRs in the incident.
Former Minister of State for Home, Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo, also the
MLA from Kishtwar, resigned as minister after the clashes broke
out.
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THE MILLI GAZETTE
First English Newspaper of Indian Muslims. Telling the Muslim side of the story fortnight after fortnight since January 2000
Army killings spark protests across Kashmir Valley
10 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
RATHIN DAS
Though many states in the country have had
long or short stints under the Bharatiya Janata
Party, whose parent organisation had originally
mooted the idea of a Hindu Rashtra, it is
Gujarat which has actually shown the nation
some glimpses of events that could take place
were such a state to be born.
It is not just about the occasional skirmish-
es around places of worship which lead to com-
munal clashes, a phenomenon witnessed all
over the country. These situations can be taken
as necessary evils of a multi-cultural, multi-reli-
gious society.
But glimpses of Hindu Rashtra seen in
Gujarat during the last 15 years or so have been
different in nature, and not just the untoward
incidents which instantaneously spark off com-
munal strife.
The Hindu Rashtra idea, which has taken
roots in Gujarat in the last few years, goes
beyond planned or unplanned incidents which
cause tension between communities. In Gujarat,
the manifestation of the Hindu Rashtra concept
can be seen in almost every sphere of life.
The trend actually started long before the
BJP was elected to power for the first time in
1995. The highly indoctrinated saffron foot sol-
diers had infiltrated many sections of public life
in Gujarat even earlier. The party being in power
for so long has only tightened their stranglehold
on all spheres of public life.
While the secondary classes social science
textbooks describe minorities as foreigners in
India, the saffron activists told animist tribals
that their Vanardev is actually Hanuman and
liberal flow of money from cities ensured that
simple vermillion smeared stones with monkey
motifs were transformed into impressive
Hanuman temples in the Dangs. In villages, saf-
fron activists kept watch on youngsters love
affairs and physically prevented Hindu girls
eloping with Muslim boys. On the eve of Eid
every year, Hindu activists intercept legally
transported cattle and goats on the pretext that
they are being taken to slaughter houses.
Human lives have actually been lost during
such interventions meant to rescue bovines
from slaughter. In several such cases, rescued
cattle taken to some shelter have died en
masse for want of water and fodder.
But the same saffron activists with so much
love for bovines turned a blind eye towards
deaths of as many as 40 cows which grazed
outside a pharmaceutical factory that used the
open plot as a dumping yard for its toxic efflu-
ent.
Quizzed on such double standards on
bovine deaths, the refrain was industrial growth
would suffer if pollution control measures are
followed very strictly.
This statement from a right wing activist
explains why and how the Hindu Rashtra con-
cept has taken deep roots only in Gujarat while
the BJP had come to power off and on in many
states of India.
What makes the Hindutva ascent unique in
Gujarat is the three-way nexus between the
rulers, the mercantile community and the vari-
ous religious sects which are privy to many
secrets and handle large quantum of corporate
money.
Thus, the religious sects which opened their
doors and coffers to host the 2001 earthquake
survivors for months at a stretch did not show
any such gesture for the thousands of minorities
driven out of their homes burnt by mobs out to
avenge the killing of 58 passengers in the
Sabarmati Express fire at Godhra on 27
February 2002.
These are just some of the instances over
and above the much publicised events like saf-
fron activists attacks on fashions shows, burn-
ing churches in the tribal areas, vandalising art
galleries for depicting some deities in bad taste
or the unofficial ban on some films for their
content or protagonists misdeed.
Attacks on films and art shows are general-
ly well-known as they attract the attention of the
electronic media, but some subtle manoeuvres
of the saffron brigade go unnoticed though they
are capable of doing serious damage to the
social fabric of the country. The subtle moves
include not allowing people from certain com-
munities to rent or buy a flat in the upmarket
colonies, thus accelerating the process of ghet-
toisation of society, which started way back in
1969 after the riots in Ahmedabad city.
Much before the BJP came to power in
Gujarat, the Circuit Houses and guest houses of
major corporations went fully vegetarian, sim-
ply because of the influence of a religious sect
popular in the state.
Thus, it is not easy to pinpoint the start of
the Hindu-isation process in Gujarat though it
is in the forefront of the saffron brigades wish
list of a march towards a Hindu Rashtra.
No wonder, VHP leader Pravin Togadia
recently declared that Gujarat would be a fully
Hindu state by 2015. He did not explain how.
Probably he has pinned his hopes on the out-
come of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. (The
Statesman)
The writer is The Statesmans Ahmedabad-based
Special Representative.
HINDUTVA, GUJARAT STYLE
What makes the
Hindutva ascent unique
in Gujarat is the three-
way nexus between the
rulers, the mercantile
community and the vari-
ous religious sects which
are privy to many secrets
and handle large quan-
tum of corporate money.
If parliamentary elections were not around
the corner, most probably Muzaffarnagar
would not have witnessed communal distur-
bances that it did recently. This naturally
raises the question as to who and what
should be held responsible for this havoc. If
these were politically planned, why should
secularism of the entire region, state and the
country be held responsible? Yes, once again questions are
being raised on the credibility of Indian secularism. Should this
approach be accepted? No, it would have been appropriate to
question the nations secularism if Muzaffarnagar riots were
genuinely planned and conducted by communal fanatics to
serve their extremist designs.
Indians have come a long way off from where their secular,
communal and religious motives were in 1992. To a degree,
when widespread riots took place in most parts of the country
over the Ayodhya-issue, common Indians had their priorities
jumbled up. What was then projected as religious by commu-
nal fanatics keen to transform secular India into a Hindu state,
by carving out a Hindu vote-bank, demolishing Babri Masjid and
targeting Muslims in riots was to a degree accepted by some
Indians as a part of their religious drive.
Two decades have considerably changed this approach.
Thanks to communication revolution, it is easier for common
Indians to see through communal agenda being planned by so-
called leaders to serve their political interests. It is now an
accepted fact that even the so-called religious fervour attached
with Ayodhya-issue was politically motivated. If, from the begin-
ning, politics was not the key agenda of saffron-brigade and its
political wing, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), they would not
have agreed to put their Hindutva-agenda on the backburner to
please their secular allies and assume power at the Centre.
It is because people are now familiar with Ayodhya having
been played up time and again for political reasons, BJP has
failed to win Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for a consider-
able stretch of time. The peoples message is clear, they dont
want to tarnish their secular and religious credentials by falling
into the communal trap being laid by communal politicians and
other extremists.
Indians asserted their secular identity when, following the
Gujarat-carnage (2002), they voted against the then BJP-led
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2004. They used their
electoral prowess to assert that they do not want Gujarat-car-
nage to be repeated in other parts of the country. Thus, rather
than have NDA return to power at the Centre, they voted against
it, giving a chance to Congress to form a coalition government.
Against this backdrop, what can be said about the commu-
nal disturbances in Muzaffarnagar? Should these be viewed as
an instance of Gujarat-carnage at a smaller scale? Gujarat-car-
nage may not have occurred if the then Chief Minister Narendra
Modi did not entertain visions of entering politics at the nation-
al stage. He probably expected the communal fire to spread at
a larger level and help BJP return to power without the support
of its NDA allies. The nature of Modis political cards helped him
succeed only in Gujarat assembly elections. The politico-com-
munal reach of Gujarat-carnage remained confined to Gujarat.
Similarly, thanks to Indian secularism, recent communal
disturbances have remained confined to Muzaffarnagar. At the
same time, one is prompted to deliberate on the pathetic level
to which standards of Indian politics have declined to. Keeping
in mind Gujarat-carnage and Muzaffarnagar riots, the question
arises, how much importance do Muslims really enjoy in Indian
democracy? Is their importance confined to their being a vote-
bank and to counting of their dead bodies after riots?
Whoever is responsible for having ignited the communal fire
in Muzaffarnagar, sufferings faced by Muslims there cannot be
swept under the carpet. Of course, politicians have not back-
tracked in trying to show their concern for these victims. But the
question remains: why was this communal flare-up encour-
aged? Was it primarily directed to promote the political agenda
of certain communal fanatics? Yes, at present questions are
being raised at the failure of Samajwadi Party (SP) to have con-
trolled the situation in Muzaffarnagar. The frenzy with which
demand has been voiced for dismissal of SP government from
UP cannot be missed.
And this raises the question: were the riots planned to dark-
en the image of SP among voters in UP? It is possible. What
hurts is that minimal importance was given to loss of human
life, social turmoil and economic loss that riots could lead to?
Now, do these carry minimal or practically no importance for
communal politicians planning them, with their eyes set only on
political gains for themselves?
Be it the case of Ayodhya, Gujarat-carnage or that of
Muzaffarnagar, communal politics has been at play. The politi-
cians involved can be blamed for having indulged in communal-
ism. Their secular credentials have certainly been tainted. But it
would be erroneous to assume that secularism of the entire
country and all Indians has given in to their communal ploys. It
has not. Their secularism remains intact. If it had been tainted
by communal designs, Gujarat-carnage would not have
remained confined to Gujarat and riots in Muzaffarnagar to
Muzaffarnagar!
Speaki ng Out
From Ayodhya to
Muzaffarnagar
NI LOFAR SUHRAWARDY
AFSANA RASHID
Religious intervention programmes an effective
tool in dealing with pre-birth gender selection -
Afsana Rashid Srinagar: [1, 587 words]
Unanimously raising their voice and con-
cerns about pre-birth gender selection, religious
scholars, here warn about its dire conse-
quences. Quoting religious scriptures, they
emphasize the need to put an end to such a practice as it can lead
to grave social imbalances in the society.
Sex-ratio in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has been disturbed,
indicates the Census 2011, says the valleys renowned religious
scholar, Kaleemullah Khan. This indicates that human intervention
in the Divine Law, can create imbalance in society. It tends to change
the equilibrium of human kind that has adverse effects and mankind
will be the ultimate loser.
The scholar cautions against any violation in the Divine law.
Because it could create havoc and the same is going to have an
adverse impact on humanity, in general. It is a crime against
humanity and it is like waging war against God.
Describing child-sex ratio (0-6 years), as per 2011 Census
report, in Jammu and Kashmir alarming and surprising Khan terms
it sad state of affairs and outcome of misuse of technology.
He says on the basis of technology and scientific findings,
humans try to determine the sex of the foetus. Due to intervention
of ultrasound and microscopic examination, sex of a foetus can be
determined and people try to terminate it, if it is female.
Jammu and Kashmir witnesses serious phenomenon of decline
in child-sex ratio (0-6 years). Only 862 female children are born per
1000 male births, reports 2011 Census. This is much lower than
914 at the national level for the same period. In 2001 Census, child-
sex ratio in the state was 941 compared to 927 at the national level.
Speaking almost on similar lines, Prof. Hamid Naseem
Rafiabadi, who teaches Islamic Studies at the University of Kashmir,
finds pre-birth gender selection not only worrisome, but horrible and
horrendous situation, as well.
Condemning the act, the academia says pre-birth gender selec-
tion is a heinous crime as per Islamic religion, and those involved in
the act will get severe punishment in the Hereafter.
Khan too thinks that when people are selective in terminating
foetus, it should be considered as a deliberate act of murder. He
states punishment for terminating a foetus in the womb of mother is
death. The Quran in chapter 2 verse 178 talks about law of retribu-
tion, that is, a person who kills another is also to be killed. This
almost amounts to that.
Referring to pre-Islamic Arabia, Khan says people used to bury
their daughters, alive, after birth. The Quran took serious note of it
and emphasizes in verses 8 and 9 in chapter 81 that on the Day of
Judgment the girl will be asked for what sin she was killed and shell
speak that society forced or buried her alive.
Prof. Rafiabadi also observes that the situation is worse than
what was prevalent in Arabia in the past. He strongly maintains that
the action cant be justified in any way. The issue has alarming con-
sequences. This is the greatest sin, a serious crime and cant be par-
doned or forgiven.
Sharing his concern, Khan says despite the Quran being cate-
goric about such acts, it happens in our society. Significance of
female child can be understood from the fact that Prophet
Mohammad (SAW) has, time and again, said that a person who
takes care of his daughters, well, will attain the highest reward, says
Khan, adding Prophet Mohammad (SAW) was the father of four
daughters and his two sons had passed away in infancy. This is
also significant. It cant be accidental or a coincidence. But it is a
Divine design. His progeny continued and is flourishing through his
beloved daughter, Fatimah.
Khan further says the Quran explicitly mentions dont kill your
progeny for fear of poverty. Chapter 17 verse 31 of the Quran says:
dont kill your children for fear of poverty; we provide for them and
for you. Pre-birth gender selection can be attributed to it.
The religious scholar further explains though responsibility of
terminating a foetus lies on the shoulders of both parents, but in a
male-dominated society, where males have a decisive role, their
responsibility is more. He however, adds if pre-birth gender selection
takes place with mutual consent of parents, both are to be punished,
according to the law.
Quoting chapter three (Al-i-Imran), verse 195 of the holy Quran,
Khan says, Allah created men and women and they belong to each
other. They are equal. It also talks about equality of sexes that cant
discriminated on basis of caste, creed, colour and sex. (3:195). He
further explains that Creator created both men and women. Equality
has been maintained as per the Divine Law. But human interference
tries to disturb it. Nowhere in history, there have been men or
women, only. Divine force is at work. Allah isnt just a Creator but
Nourisher and Cherisher as well, says the Quran (1:2).
Being a religion-oriented society, Khan says religious leaders
should be involved in making people understand the basic doctrines
of the Quran, which would help in curbing this menace. Men, who
can foresee, have a responsibility to make masses understand the
issue. Similarly, men of vision, who understand that this menace is
going to alter everything, even bonds of love will be no more and
there will be no relationship like brothers and sisters, which have an
indispensable role in society.
Prof. Rafiabadi maintains that it is the responsibility of ulemas
and religious scholars to make people aware of the issue and its con-
sequences. Pre-birth gender selection is the worst crime against
women. Unfortunately, they dont talk about it.
He warns that social problem and stigma further worsens the
problem. Society, in general, has to pay the price, he adds, while
arguing that the mindset of people ought to be changed. He suggests
to conduct religious intervention programmes in educational institu-
tions, encourage mass-literacy programmes and of the value of the
girl child, to put an end to such a practice. Such programmes need
support of the medical fraternity, media and community, in particu-
lar. All of us have a role to play.
The professor further observes that the population of girls is
decreasing. Just verbal admonishing arent going to help. Tangible
steps ought to be taken.
Khan suggests that the spread of education can curb pre-birth
gender selection. As per the Islamic perspective, girls can play a role
as nurses, doctors, teachers, journalists, interior decorators and can
even run domestic industries like shawl-weaving, embroidery work
and likewise.
He emphasizes with advancement of technology, only males will
be born that would consequently lead to an imbalance in society. He
adds social activists and men of vision will have to highlight the
impact of such criminal acts on future. This is the responsibility of
all, but the problem with our society is that we hardly bother.
The scholar observes women are considered a burden and a lia-
bility. Our society is mostly based on social customs (inherited or
acquired), as a consequences of cultural invasion. Generally, people
think wealth is spent on women without getting anything in return.
Sons are considered to be assets for the family, who earn and make
life easier for parents. But this notion is to be broken somewhere.
Both are equally assets for families.
He stresses pre-birth gender selection has to be stopped.
When Noor (light) comes, all zulmaat (darkness) has to vanish.
Khan runs a religious programme, Adult Quranic Education
Programme since 1978 and classes for females were started since
February 20, 2005.
Both Khan and Prof. Rafiabadi hold that marriages performed in
pompous style are responsible for pre-birth gender selection. They
believe marriages have become complicated, extravagant and mate-
rialistic and getting a daughter married has become burdensome for
parents.
They argue marriages ought to be performed in a simple man-
ner, as per Islamic religion, wherein there is no scope for dowry. But
on the contrary, they say, people are more concerned about dowry
that has no relevance in the religion.
Khan says there is no scope for ring ceremony and Baaraat
(people accompanying bridegroom at the time of marriage) in Islam
and men, from the day of marriage, have a responsibility not only to
feed his wife but to take care of her genuine needs and to educate
her. This is a role that men havent taken on.
He points, families living below poverty line (BPL) are affected
the most. They feel they are on the receiving end. Unhealthy com-
petition in society and effect of wealth is telling upon the future of
downtrodden and makes the problem more serious and more com-
plicated for them.
Prof. Rafiabadi, on the other hand, suggests, instead of spend-
ing lavishly on marriages, let people be educated. As per our reli-
gion, there is no responsibility on the shoulders of women. If she
earns anything, it belongs to her. Even the walima (marriage-feast)
has to be done by husband. The brides side nowhere in religion has
to provide a feast for Baraat. But what we do is quite contrary to it.
Marriages have become commercial. Dower (Mehr) is to be given to
women as per our religion, instead dowry is demanded.
Meanwhile, 128-page book, Dukhtar Kushee (Pre-birth gender
selection) published in Urdu in July 2011 by Sheikh Wali
Mohammad, associated with Jammu Kashmir Yateem Foundation, a
local non-government organization, discusses the issue, its causes
and consequences and the measures that could be taken to curb the
menace, in the light of Islamic teachings.
This article is part of Media fellowship programme offered by Mumbai-
based non-government organization, Population First. Feedback is wel-
come at afsana7861@yahoo.co.in
ANALYSIS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 11 www.milligazette.com
Religious intervention programmes an effective tool
in dealing with pre-birth gender selection
...when people are selective in terminating foetus, it should be considered as a
deliberate act of murder. He states punishment for terminating a foetus in the
womb of mother is death. The Quran in chapter 2 verse 178 talks about law of
retribution, that is, a person who kills another is also to be killed. This almost
amounts to that.
BASHIRUDDIN BABU KHAN, former minister of Andhra
Pradesh and an important Muslim leader of Telugu
Desam Party died at his residence in Hydearbad on 15
September after a long illness. He worked and fought for
the rights of Muslims, particularly of Andhra Pradesh.
When Telugu Desam Party joined hands with NDA which
consisted of BJP as the main party, he left TDP in protest.
He was 73 and leaves behind one son and two daughters.
IBN HASAN Tanha, senior poet of Poohani (Pilibheet)
died on 3 September at the age of 75 years after a pro-
longed illness. He was well versed in almost all genres of
poetry like nazm, ghazal, rubayee etc. Two anthologies of
his poetic works have been published. He leaves behind
four sons and one daughter. He was laid to rest same day
late at night in his ancestral graveyard.
SHAH AMIRULLAH NIZAMI, senior editor, co-founder of
the weekly Nasheman along with (late) Usman Asad and
assistant editor of this weekly magazine died on 4
September at the age of 83 years. Along with (late)
Usman Asad he had started Nasheman on 26 January
1962 and after the death of his colleague (Usman Asad)
he single handedly and successfully published this week-
ly magazine which played a special role in the popularity
of Bangalore. A journalist of jovial nature and spotless
character, he was very popular among other journalists.
Whereas his writings on the one hand served as guiding
principles for Muslims, on the other hand he wrote
against unnecessary customs and traditions. His role in
the promotion of Urdu is unforgettable and his views and
writings centred around the Islamic world. He used to
expose the conspiracies and secret agenda of communal
forces. In the world of journalism he was nicknamed
ghost editor. He shunned publicity and did not like self
praise. Before starting Nasheman weekly he had worked
in the English daily Deccan Herald and Urdu dailies Azad
and Kaaravan. A native of Chan Patan, he leaves behind
six sons and one daughter and was laid to rest in Chan
Patans Chhota Qabristan on 5 September.
MUMTAZ AHMAD
KHAN, Founder of Al
Ameen Movement
was honoured with
Baba-e Taleem
Award (Father of
Education) on 6
September which is observed as
Founders Day at a function held at
Al Ameen Tower Campus, Bangalore.
It may be stated that because of the
relentless and selfless services of 78-
year old Mumtaz Ahmad Khan, who is
known as Sir Sayyad of South for pro-
motion of education among Muslims
particularly of South India, there are
more than 150 educational institu-
tions including medical, engineering,
pharmacy, management, law, poly-
technic and other colleges all over the
country in which more than 60 thou-
sand students receive education in
different fields. His period of educa-
tional and other services extends to
47 years.
TARIQ GANDHI, a member of Sir
Sayyad Rashtriya Manch was elected
President of the Manch at a function
held at Aligarh on 16 September. Tariq
Gandhi while speaking on this occa-
sion said that Sir Sayyad Rashtriya
Manch has been created only for ren-
dering social service, adding that
helping backward and poor sections
of society, promoting social justice
and spreading education among such
people is the most important work
which this Manch is doing.
MEN & WOMEN IN NEWS
OBITUARIES
12 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 NEWSMAKERS www.milligazette.com
Ms SAARIA NABI of Deoband who was brought
up in religious environment and received reli-
gious education is equally well versed in mod-
ern and technical education also. She secured
99.4 percent marks in Petroleum and Natural
Gas Management (MBA) examination and
topped in the Integral University of Petroleum,
Dehradun for which she was awarded a Gold
Medal which was given to her by the President
of India Pranab Mukherji at a function held in the
Universitys Convention Hall on 5 September
which is observed as Teachers Day.
Dr MAJID DEOBANDI, well-
known poet was honoured
with the Award 2013 in
recognition of his services to
literature and poetry at a func-
tion held in India Islamic
Cultural Centre on 7 September. The Award was
sponsored by Face Group.
Dr TAQI AABDI who lives in
Canada was honoured with
Prof Ejaz Husain Award 2012
at a function held in Hotel
Vilas, Civil Lines, Allahabad on
2 September in recognition of
his valuable services to litera-
ture. Author of about 37 books on literature, crit-
icism and research he has written at least 3
books on poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz. In this function
also he spoke extensively on the personality and
poetry of Faiz and described him as the greatest
poet of the 21st century.
Mrs NAYYAR SABZWARI, former Principal of
GDAV Girls College, Anoop Shahar was hon-
oured with Presidential Award in recognition of
her fine administrative capabilities during her
term as Principal of this College. According to
Colleges manager Naresh Aggarwal, during her
term as Principal from 2000 to 2013 the College
made all round progress and the College was
honoured with Asia-Pacific Leadership
Achievement Award 2009. In addition to this,
because of cent per cent result of High School
Intermediate consecutively for 5 years the
College was given A Certificate by Education
Departments Director & Secretary. She is also
a promoter of womens education.
Urdu weekly Nai Dunia, on the occasion of 40
years of its publication this year instituted an
award for good, investigative and creditable per-
formance in Urdu journalism for which the Awrd
is proposed to be given to the following persons
and newspapers: Journalist AHMAD SAYEED
MALIHABADI has been selected for being hon-
oured with Lifetime Achievement Award for pro-
motion of Urdu journalism. Daily Inqilab has
been selected for Waqar-e Sahafat Award for
best editoral services. Siyasat daily of
Hyderabad has been selected for Azmat-e
Sahafat Award as the best Urdu daily. Rashtriya
Sahara has been selected for Aadaab-e Sahafat
Award for best repor ting. Urdu Times of
Mumbai has been selected for Tazein-e Sahafat
Award for best get-up and cartoons. SANJIV
SARAF of Rekhta Dot. Com has been selected
for Farogh-e Urdu Award for promotion of Urdu
language. (Late) ASGHAR ALI ENGINEER has
been selected for posthumous Qaumi Ekta
Award for promoting national, unity. VINOD
MEHTA has been selected for Qaumi Yekjehti
(harmony and integration) Award for important
role in promoting national unit and integration.
The jury which decided these awards consisted
of Kuldeep Nayyar (journalist), Syed Shahid
Mehdi, former VC of Jamia Millia Islamia, Prof
Akhtarul Wasey and journalists M. Afzal and
Masoom Muradabadi.
Dr SHABANA NAZEER, Principal of RSKV No 2 of
Jama Masjid was one of the 60 teachers of Delhi
who were honoured with State Awards by chief
minister Shiela Dikshit on Teachers Day. The
Award included certificate, shawl and a cheque of
Rs 25000. This is the seventh award given to her
relating to teaching, school discipline and manage-
ment, good results etc. A sincere and hard worker,
she is also a member of Delhi Urdu Academys
Governing Council and daughter of poet (late)
Rifat Sarosh and is herself also a poetess.
FIROZ BAKHT AHMAD,
Chairman of Friends for
Education, an NGO for promot-
ing education and an Urdu,
Hindi and English journalist
who has been promoting Urdu
language, culture and civiliza-
tion, personalities and organisations in different
languages was honoured with a special Award
by NCPUL Director Dr Khwaja Muhammad
Ikramuddin at the Bangalore Urdu Kitab Mela on
17 September.
NEYAZ CHOLA, a science teacher at a school in
Calicut and Director of Handicrafts has been
honoured by Kerala government with Best
Teacher Award. In addition to his normal teach-
ing job he has also produced more than 30
pieces of beautiful handicrafts items.
AHMAD RAEES SIDDIQI, editor of Nadia Times
was honoured with Shamsheer-e Sahafat
Award in recognition of his journalistic and
social services at the 131st mushaira held at
Mathura on 17 September which was till dates
biggest and most successful mushaira. He was
given a shawl and a scroll of honour.
AWARDS
BASHIRUDDIN
BABUKHAN
Hyderabad: Bashiruddin
Babukhan, milli and
political leader, died at
his residence here on 15
September at the age of
72, after a prolonged ill-
ness. He was born in
1941 in a well-known
family of Hyderabad. He
was a former minister of
Andhra Pradesh and a
well known minority
activist. He is survived
by a son and two daugh-
ters. Thousands of
mourners took part in
his namaz-e janaza
which was offered at Royal Mosque, Nampally.
His contributions for the rights of minorities have been wide-
ly recognized both nationally and internationally. Mr. Babukhan
was elected as MLA twice, in 1985 and 1994 and he was a cab-
inet minister twice. He held the portfolios of higher education,
major industries, tourism and minorities welfare during 1989, &
1994-1998. He resigned as Minister when Telugu Desam Party
supported BJP Government at Centre in 1998. Mr. Bashiruddin
Babukhans father, Mr. Khan Bahadur Abdul Karim Babukhan, had
constructed and donated the present Congress Headquarters of
A. P., "Gandhi Bhavan", to the Congress Party, some 50 years
ago. Babukhan himself was a known builder. He constructed 20
multi-storied residential and commercial complexes during the
last 30 years, including the tall Babukhan Estate (17 Floors). He
was active in many Muslim organisations including the Muslim
Majlis-e Mushawarat of which he was a central committee mem-
ber and had served as a vice president. His sad demise is major
loss to the community. His services for the community will be
remembered for long. (Read MG interview with Babukhan here:
http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01062001/inter.htm ; see
also page 21 in this issue for a review of his book, Living under
the Rainbow - My Enchanted Life)
MAULANA
BARKATULLAH
BHOPALI
Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali
belonged to the generation of free-
dom fighters of Bhopal who played an
important role in early twentieth cen-
tury in kindling the fire of freedom
among the people of the
Subcontinent. He was among the pio-
neers of the Indian freedom move-
ment and a link in the golden chain of
revolutionary ulama like Shah
Waliullah, Shah Abdul Aziz, Shaikhul
Hind Maulana Mahmood Hasan,
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and
Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani. Born
in a lower middle class family of
Bhopal on 7 July, 1859, he had a rev-
olutionary bent of mind from the very
beginning. After receiving traditional
religious education, one day he sud-
denly disappeared from Bhopal in 1883 and took admission in a
Christian missionary school in Jabalpur and shortly thereafter he
went to Bombay and after acquiring higher English education for
four years he went to England where he met revolutionary leaders
like Gopal Krishn Gokhle and others and was very much influenced
by their views. From England he went to New York, then to Japan,
France, Germany, Turkey etc. While in Japan, he took up the job of
Professor of Urdu in Tokyo University. On the instructions of
Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmood Hasan, he went to Afghanistan
and after much struggle he secretly set up Indias first government-
in-exile there to topple the British rule in India, with Raja Mahinder
Pratap as the first President and himself as the prime minister of
this government-in-exile. Their other colleagues were Maulana
Obaidullah Sindhi and Lala Hardayal. The activities of the exiled
government in Afghanistan were mostly secret because it did not
enjoy the support of the Afghan ruler Ameer Habibullah because
of the British influence there.
During the first World War, Tsarist government in Russia was
overthrown and Bolshevic leaders set up the communist govern-
ment there. This encouraged the leaders of Indian freedom move-
ment. In Afghanistan also Ameer Habibullah was replaced by King
Amanullah who supported the Indian government-in-exile.
In order to garner support against the British government in
India, Barkatullah travelled extensively to countries like Japan,
China, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Germany, Britain etc which had a
telling effect on his health. His colleagues advised him to go back
to India but he preferred to continue his struggle against the
British rule in India. He went to San Fransisco to attend the annu-
al conference of Ghadar Party (which was
probably set up in India earlier, before the gov-
ernment-in-exile in Afghanistan was set up).
There he breathed his last on 27 September
1927.
While in India before going abroad, his
meeting with Syed Jamaluddin Afghani, the
Islamic worlds leading revolutionary person-
ality of the time, his study of Shah Waliullah
Dehlvis masterpiece Hujjatullah Al-Balaghah
proved to be the turning point in his life which
was already of a revolutionary nature. While in
India, his efforts were to bring together Hindu
and Muslim revolutionaries and freedom fight-
ers, with the result that Muslim revolutionaries
who were associated with Darul Uloom
Deoband and Hindu nationalists of
Maharashtra and Bengal etc, who were work-
ing separately from each other, joined hands
and began to work together under the government-in-exile in
Afghanistan. However, in the long run the government-in-exile
failed to survive because of some known and unknown reasons.
For some time, Maulana Mahmood Hasan was the leader of
the freedom movement and for some five years after his death,
Maulana Barkatullah lead the revolutionaries and freedom fight-
ers. Though Maulana Barkatullah was a religious-minded person,
he was equally a man of modern and broader outlook and tried to
remove conservative thinking among Muslims. Though he saw
the end of Turkish Khilafat, he did not lose heart and as an intel-
ligent and farsighted person, he saw much ahead of his time and
expounded the concept of a secular system of government at a
time when it was quite a new idea for the people of the
Subcontinent. However, when India became independent after
many years, new leaders of the country adopted the principles of
democracy and secularism which was first propounded by
Barkatullah, as the bedrock of the future policy of the country. A
university named after him was established in his home-town in
1970. (ARIF AZIZ translated from Urdu)
Muslim leaders meet PM over Muzaffarnagar and riots bill
SPECIAL REPORT The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 13 www.milligazette.com
MG/Yusuf
New Delhi:A delegation consisting leaders of all leading Indian
Muslim organisations met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on
16 September at his residence. The delegation expressed to him
its deep concern over the continuing communal violence across
the country and deteriorating communal tensions as a result of a
certain party decision to polarise the society using emotive
issues and false propaganda and rumours. The delegation
expressed its pain at the ongoing violence in and around
Muzaffarnagar in which around one lakh Muslims have been
forced to flee their homes and villages taking shelter in over two
dozen camps as well as taking refuge in the houses of their rela-
tives in other villages. The delegation demanded proper relief to all
the uprooted people including the ones who have taken shelter in
their relatives homes, proper documentation and videography of
each case as well registering FIRs in all cases so that the culprits
may be punished and the victims get justice and fair compensa-
tion.
The delegation, led by Mushawart President, raised the issue
of the Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill which remains in cold
storage since 2005. The delegation urged the Prime Minister to
see to it that this Bill is passed in the next session or issued as an
ordinance.
The Prime Minister listened to the delegation attentively and
assured the Muslim leaders that it will do whatever is possible. He
said he will try to arrive at a consensus in the forthcoming
National Integration Council meeting on 23 September. The gener-
al impression of the Muslim leaders who met the prime minister
was that though he appeared understanding and gave assurances,
he failed to convey his outrage at what he had seen in
Muzaffarnagar earlier in the day and his conviction to push
through the Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill which remains in
cold storage since 2005.No headway was made at the NIC meet-
ing.
The delegation consisted of Maulana Syed Jalauddin
Umari President, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maulana Nusrat Ali
General Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Janab Mohammad
Ahmad Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maulana Mahmood
Madni General Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind, Maulana Niyaz
Farooqui Member, Working Committee, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind,
Janab Shakeel Ahmad Sayed, member, Working Committee,
Jamiat Ulama-e Hind, Janab Kamal Faruqi, member, Working
Committee, All India Muslim Personal law Board, Dr Zafarul-
Islam Khan President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, .
Janab Navaid Hamid General Secretary, Movement for the
Empowerment of Indian Muslims, Janab Abdul Khaliq, Member
Working Committee, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat,
Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi, Chairman, Shah Waliullah
Institute, Dr Zafar
Mahmood President,
Zakat Foundation of
India, Dr Taslim
Rahmani President,
Muslim Political
Council, Maulana
Abdul Wahab Khilji,
member, All India
Muslim Personal Law
Board and Maulana
Asghar Ali Imam Mahdi
Salafi, General
Secretary, Markzai
Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees.
The delegation pre-
sented to the Prime
Minister the following
memorandum:
Dr. Manmohan Singhji
Honble Prime Minister of India
New Delhi
Respected Sir,
We, the undersigned, representing major Indian Muslim organisations,
wish to draw your kind attention to the wave of communal violence sweep-
ing across a number of states, especially in north India. The most serious
in these recent flare-ups is the violence in and around Muzaffarnagar dis-
trict of Uttar Pradesh. Many of us have extensively toured the camps of the
uprooted and feel that a mini-Gujarat has been inflicted upon
Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining areas. A very short summary of our
observations is appended to this letter.
Though the violence has abated now but stray incidents are still tak-
ing place every day. An estimated one lakh people (all Muslims) have been
uprooted. Some 65,000 are living in around two dozen camps run in
madrasahs, Eidgahs etc or are sheltered in hundreds of houses in other
villages. Others have gone to live with their relatives. Even now no proper
relief measures have been taken and no serious documentation is being
made and no FIRs are filed. It is our request to you to kindly ensure:
a. Proper relief of ration and other necessary needs of life to those living
in camps as well as with relatives.
b. Urgent documentation and preparation of lists with all details of names,
losses and people responsible for the carnage as per the victims.
c. Filing of FIRs at the earliest so that the legal process could start to pun-
ish the guilty.
d. Compensation of all losses suffered by the victims in terms of life, loss
of cattle, houses looted and burnt and crops destroyed/looted etc.
e. Construction/repair of burnt/demolished/damaged houses, mosques,
madrasahs etc.
f. Construction of houses at other locations for those who do not wish to
return to their villages (we found that no one is willing at least now to
return to his/her village).
We take this opportunity to impress upon you to ensure that the
Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill is urgently passed or, if need be,
brought in as an ordinance, in order to rein in and send a strong message
to the forces trying to polarise and destabilise the country for political
gains.
We are hopeful that through these measures a strong message will be
sent to all that your government is really committed to the welfare and
safety of all Indians, especially the weak and defenceless.
We remain yours sincerely,
1. Maulana Syed Jalauddin Umari, President, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
2. Maulana Nusrat Ali, General Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
3. Janab Mohammad Ahmad, Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
4. Maulana Mahmood Madni, General Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind
5. Maulana Niyaz Farooqui, Member, Working Committee, Jamiat Ulama-e
Hind
6. Janab Shakeel Ahmad Sayed, Member, Working Committee, Jamiat
Ulama-e Hind
7. Janab Kamal Faruqi, Member, Working Committee, All India Muslim
Personal law Board
8. Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
9. Janab Navaid Hamid, General Secretary, Movement for the
Empowerment of Indian Muslims
10. Janab Abdul Khaliq, Member Working Committee, All India Muslim
Majlis-e Mushawarat
11. Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi, Chairman, Shah Waliullah Institute
12. Maulana Muhsin Taqawi, President, National Council of Shia Ulama
13. Dr Zafar Mahmood, President, Zakat Foundation of India
14. Dr Taslim Rahmani, President, Muslim Political Council
15. Maulana Abdul Wahab Khilji, Member, All India Muslim Personal Law
Board
16. Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mahdi Salafi, General Secretary, Markzai
Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees
18. Maulana Asrarul Haq Qasmi, M.P., President All India Milli-wa-Taleemi
Foundation [was not present in Delhi but had consented to the above
text].
Seminar on Teaching at Aligarh
Aligarh: A seminar was held here on
Teachers and Teachers Responsibilities
by Shams Muslim Educational Welfare
Society of India in which many teachers of
government schools and colleges were
also honoured.
Speaking on this occasion, Inder Preet
Singh, Additional District Judge said that
the profession of a teacher is not simply a
service but very pious and important duty,
it is the teacher who creates great men out
of ordinary children.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Shakeel Samdani of AMU said that the teachers should focus
more on their duties than on their rights and privileges. They should do their duty of teaching stu-
dents as a mission and their mission should be to cultivate the feelings of large-heartedness, tol-
erance and justice in their students. He said that generally only two types of persons are behind
the success of man, his parents or his teachers. Deliberating upon the decline of Urdu language
in North India, he said that due to this decline the pronunciation of the entire country has gone
wrong and now the non-Urdu knowing people are unable to pronounce certain words correctly and
they are unable to differentiate between Sh and S, Z and J and Q and K. He requested the
teachers to try their best to save Urdu language and make special efforts for preserving this lan-
guage. He asked audience to purchase at least one daily newspaper, one weekly magazine and
one monthly magazine so that the publication of Urdu newspapers and magazines increases.
The only purpose for which the Muslim
community has been raised is Dawah or
saving the fellow brethren from falling into
the fire of the Hell. But, to our sorrow and
grief, members of the community do not
pay as much heed to this divinely-
ordained duty as is required. Bukhari,
Muslim and other books of Hadith litera-
ture have created separate chapters on
Namaz, Fasting, Trading, etc. but they
missed creating a separate chapter on
the Importance of Dawah, which is the primary duty of every individual Muslim. These views were
expressed by Maulana Mohammad Farooq Khan, celebrated translator of the Quran into Hindi, while
speaking on the occasion of the inaugural ceremony of Islami Academy in the national capital on
1 September. Addressing the audience, Dr. Hasan Raza, Director of the Academy, said the aim of the insti-
tution is to inculcate the spirit of Islamic Dawah into the hearts and minds of students. He urged the stu-
dents not to allow any laxity in their commitment as the challenges they have to meet later are huge and
they are the only ray of hope for the community. The Academy is an adapted version of Darsgah-e-Islami,
Rampur which was started by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in the 1950s. Later, Dr Abdul Haq Ansari re-estab-
lished it as Islamic Research & Guidance Centre at Aligarh. It was later shifted to New Delhi as Islami
Academy before once again it was taken to Aligarh. Now, finally it has been started afresh in New Delhi.
It aims at producing resource persons to carry on Islamic legacy in the new age. The Academy has
accepted 16 students of different backgrounds for the current session starting from 1 September.
Trivandrum: Daliyamma, 70-year-old widow
of Neyyatinkara in Trivandrum district, got
relief when Chief Minister Oomen Chandi
assured a delegation comprising Welfare
Par ty Kerala state secretaries Shreeja
Neyyatinkara and Sasi Pandalam that his
government would protect the remaining
land of Daliyamma and would construct a
house for her. Daliyamma possessed 25
cents of land at the bank of Neyyar river. The
river bank, rich with costly sand, has been
completely ruined by the onslaught of sand mafia
and Daliyamma lost all her land minus five cents
and her home almost collapsed.
Daliyamma had been fighting alone against
the land mafia from 1983. Unlike others, she did
not succumb to the diktats of the sand mafia.
Heavy rains on 4 August this year took away
almost her land alongwith home. Due to the
mishap and nowhere to stay, Daliyamma became
mentally disturbed. Welfare Party workers took
up her case and rehabilitated her at a Working
Womens Hostel. The party held a dharna in front
of the secretariat with Daliyamma. It got wide
media coverage both in print and electronic. WPI
state leaders submitted a memorandum to the
chief minister detailing the pitiable situation of
Daliyamma. Chief Minister assured the WPI dele-
gation consisting Daliyamma that the government
would protect her remaining five cent land and
would construct a house for her.
Islami Academy WPI secures relief for poor Daliyamma
AIMMM President making the introductory remarks during the meeting with the PM
Oh! You all are
break-away
stars, you cant
outshine me!
Hell-bent on inciting riot
Indore: Alert police and equally prompt district administration
foiled an attempt of a religious organisation to create a riot-like sit-
uation. Having learnt its lesson from recent Chandannagar riot
police / administration took immediate steps to nip the mischief in
the bud before it could trigger violence.
Residents of Panchsheel Nagar became furious when the limb
of an animal was spotted near a temple at midnight. Police con-
trolled the mob by resorting to lathi charge. The volunteers
gheraoed the police station where they had heated arguments with
the collector and DIG. Police registered a case of atrocity on ani-
mal. It also alerted the Chandannagar police station to ensure
peace.
However, the entire episode turned into a fiasco when the next
morning a lady sweeper disclosed the facts of the alleged cruel-
ty. Gangabai, when she noticed a crowd near the police station
over previous nights cruelty, disclosed that an animal had given
birth to an extremely weak offspring which could not stand on its
feet. She had even tried to give water to the dying animal. Stray
dogs had begun attacking it. This is how the tension was diffused
and the volunteers of Dharna raksha samiti preparing for agitation
dispersed.
Congress had alleged that Chandannagar and Panchsheel
incident provide clues about conspiracy to create tension and reap
political gains in the forthcoming election. BJP should allow the
police to work without interference.
Tension after Dalit youths conversion to Islam
Baghpat: A Dalit youth of Banoli village embraced Islam in Panipat
but after that when he went back to his village and started preach-
ing Islam among his family members and asked them to embrace
Islam, there was a great uproar and tension in the village. A pan-
chayat was held in which a decision was taken against him that he
should leave the village immediately for good and never return.
According to available news the Dalit youth Sonu had left his
village for Panipat about six years ago in search of employment
where he started a hair dressers shop. Shortly thereafter he
secretly embraced Islam without telling his family members about
it and adopted Muhammad Saleem as his new name and in that
connection when he came to Delhi, he was sent by Tablighi
Markaz at Nizamuddin for 40 days to Punjab for Tabligh. Recently
when he came back home and asked his family members to
embrace Islam, there was a great uproar not only in his family but
in the whole village. His family members tried their best to per-
suade him to revert to the Hindu fold but he flatly refused, saying
that he did not want to spoil his life in the hereafter. The village
people also asked him to reconvert to Hinduism but he did not
relent. A punchait was held where his parents also came and his
mother Sumitra embraced him and weepingly beseeched him to
re-adopt Hinduism but he insisted that he has embraced Islam
after giving much thought to it and that by embracing Islam he has
not committed any crime. The panchait finally decreed his social
boycott and ordered that he should never enter this village. His
father lodged a complaint in the police station against two persons
for misleading him to embrace Islam under the spell of black
magic. When the Thana Incharge Satish Chand questioned him, he
said that no body pressurised or tempted him and that he has
embraced Islam of his own free will and under no circumstances
he would re-adopt Hinduism.
Police foils attempt to foment trouble
Indore: District police, within a week, foiled another attempt to
foment trouble in Indore after the Chandannagar curfew.
It is reported that skeletal remains of an animal were found
dumped in an area which attracted a large number of people. Alert
police prevented the incident from snowballing into major problem
by promptly clearing the area of the dumped carcass. S P (Indore
west) Anil Singh Kushwaha said, the police acted on time and
averted the situation turning serious.
The police is trying to locate the source of a sensitive picture
of Saturday mornings incident in Chandan Nagar area. Circulated
through Whats App Messenger service. It has registered a case
under section 153 against an unidentified person (as well as under
66 A IT Act). The service provider has also been given a written
plea to cooperate with the police. Out of five persons booked
under NSA for 20 Aug riots, one, Ishaq (60) has been arrested
while four are absconding.
Meanwhile, police arrested four persons for planning to place
a bet on the odds of breaking out of communal violence in the
state during assembly polls. The Malharganj police arrested four
history sheeters for minting money (through betting) by engineer-
ing riots. They have a past record and have been booked under
NSA (National Security Act)
Inauguration of Integral Institute of Medical Sciences
Lucknow: Integral Institute of Medical Sciences within the campus
of Integral University at Lucknow was inaugurated on 7 September
by Universitys Chancellor Dr (Maulana) Sayeedur Rahman Azmi
who, while speaking on this occasion called upon the students not
only to become good doctors but also good human beings and
benefit humanity with their specialised education and knowledge.
He also prayed for their success. Universitys Vice Chancellor Prof
Syed Wasim Akhtar said while speaking on the occasion that the
dream of Integral family has become a reality today and promised
that in this Institute high quality medical education and facilities
will be provided. He further said that a super speciality hospital will
soon be set up under this Institute. Dr P. K. Abdul Azis, Vice
Chancellor of Meghalay University who was earlier Vice
Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University also, who was the special
guest on this occasion said that now Integral University is at par
with other famous universities of the country in every respect.
Other dignitaries including Ashok Vajpayee, former minister,
F. U. Ahmad, Director of Integral Medical College also addressed
the audience.
Delhi Waqf Boards new CEO
New Delhi: Delhi Waqf Boards Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Shamim Akhtar Tamanna, who was appointed CEO of Delhi Waqf
Board only a couple of months or so ago has been removed on the
orders of LG and in his place Muhammad Ali Ashraf, who had ear-
lier also served as Delhi Waqf Boards CEO, has been re-appoint-
ed Waqf Boards new CEO. It may be stated that this is for the
fourth time that WBs CEO has been changed within almost a year.
A year before, Ali Ashraf was Delhi Waqf Boards CEO. He was
replaced by Azimul Haq. He too was removed after a few months
and in his place Ehsan Abid was appointed CEO. Ehsan Abid too
was removed shortly thereafter and replaced by Shamim Akhtar
Tamanna. He had hardly worked for a few months when again he
too was removed in the first week of August and Ali Ashraf was
re-appointed CEO. Frequent change of CEO is badly affecting Waqf
Boards working. It is difficult to say what expediency there is in
this musical chair-like game of CEOs removal and appointment so
frequently but one thing is certain that this is adversely affecting
Delhi Waqf Boards working.
Gujarati mothers struggle for justice
Ahmedabad: Aggrieved by a recent order of Gujarat High Court
Zaibunnisa and her husband are preparing to move the Supreme
court over the custody of their son Muzaffar lost during 2002 riots.
Two-year old Muzaffar was lost during the attack on the
Gulbarg Society which claimed 70 lives including Ehsan Jafris.
The police then believed the child to be dead and had closed the
file. However, rays of hope shone during the investigations by the
SIT in which it was found that a nine year child was living as Vivek
with Vikrambhai Patni. The child was subjected to DNA test which
confirmed that he is Zaibunnisas son.
Zaibunnisa had lodged a petition with a court demanding a
search warrant for her missing son which had been rejected by a
court in 2008. When a petition was lodged with High Court Justice
DM Waghela passed an interim order directing the Patni family to
allow Vivek (Muzaffar) to visit Zaibunnisa once every week. This
continued till 14/08/2013 when Justice R R Tripathi finally decid-
ed the case and rejected the Shaikh familys claim without assign-
ing any reason for rejection.
Shocked by the court order the family is preparing for a peti-
tion in the apex court. Meanwhile a six-month stay has been grant-
ed allowing the child to visit the family every Sunday
Encyclopaedia of Hinduism launched in USA
Washington: International edition of Encyclopaedia of Hinduism,
a voluminous work running into 11 volumes was launched in
USAs University of South Carolina in Columbia on Monday
26 August. Conceived, compiled and produced by India Heritage
Research Foundation headed by Swamy Chidanand Saraswati and
based in Rishikesh, it was published by Mandala Publishing and
includes spiritual and cultural heritage covering Indian ancient his-
tory, civilization, languages, philosophy, arts, architecture, music,
dances, medical knowledge, science, religions, position and role
of Hindu women, social institutions and practices and so on over
Indias thousands of years. The Encyclopaedia includes about
7000 articles, researched papers and other entries on the above
topics by about one thousand renowned religious and other schol-
ars, scientists, philosophers, from Indian states including West
Bengal, Tamil Nadu etc who wrote first in their own languages
which were subsequently translated into English, typed and then
included in it. The Encyclopaedia, in addition to Hinduism mostly,
includes researched articles and views on Sikhism, Jainism and
Buddhism also. Each volume consists, on an average, of 600 to
700 pages. The International edition was launched in the presence
of hundreds of scholars and dignitaries including IHRF Chairman
Swamy Chidanand Saraswati, Indian ambassador to USA
Ms Nirupma Rao and Anna Hazare who was at that time on a tour
of the USA. The Indian edition of this Encyclopaedia was launched
in India by Dalai Lama in Rishikesh in April 2010. The
Encyclopaedia launched in University of South Carolina on
26 August is the product of 25 years of hard work by the experts
and intellectuals which was first star ted in 1987. The
Encyclopaedia, obviously is in English and initially 3000 copies
have been published. There are also about one thousand coloured
photos and illustrations in it.
Karnataka a model sate for the progress of minorities
Gulbarga: Karnatakas minister for minorities welfare, Public enter-
prises, Waqf and Haj affairs, Al Haj Qamrul Islam said while inau-
gurating Divisional Minorities Awakening Conference at a function
held at Mughal Garden Function Hall in Gulbarga on 7 September
that Karnataka has now become a model state for economic, edu-
cational and social progress of minorities in the whole country.
More than 2000 delegates from Gulbarga, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur,
Kapil and Bellary districts participated in this Conference which
was jointly sponsored by National Minorities Development and
Financial Corporation and Karnataka Minorities Commission. The
minister further said that the Congress government of the state
lead by chief minister Sidramaiyiah has introduced many schemes
for the all-round progress and development of minorities which are
models for the entire country and with the implementation of these
schemes and plans, self confidence in the states minorities will
increase.
The minister said that way back in 1978 the then chief minis-
ter (late) Dev Raj Urs had for the first time taken many concrete
steps for the progress and development of minorities, backward
classes and scheduled castes and tribes people and because of
these steps Karnataka enjoyed the fame of a model state for the
development and progress of these classes of people. He said that
the present chief minister (Sidramiyah) is further extending Dev
Raj Urss minority, SC ST-friendly policy, adding that in the com-
ing 5 years Karnataka will become a minority welfare state.
Earlier, Karnataka Minorities Development Corporations Mg
Director Muhammad Saleem described in detail KMDCs loan
schemes and other schemes for the assistance and benefits of
minorities. After M. Saleem, Y. P. Singh, Joint Director of Govt of
Indias minorities affairs department and the Mg Director of
National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation also
described in detail the schemes and plans initiated by the central
government and NMDC for economic and educational progress of
minorities. He further said that central government is considering
a mechanism through which complete guidance and maximum
benefits from such welfare schemes could be made available to
the minorities. He said that in order to apprise the minorities of all
schemes for their welfare and development, coordinators will be
appointed at district levels.
Corpses exchanged: mismanagement in Guj hospital
Ahmedabad: Namo is never tired of boasting about good gover-
nance in his state. A recent incident in a corporation hospital
demonstrates how negligent they can be, when they handed over
the dead body of a Hindu woman to a Muslim family. But for the
timely recognition, of the lapse a Muslim corpse might have been
consigned to flames and vice-versa. Two cases of burn were admit-
ted at V. S. Hospital and both succumbed to their injuries. The bod-
ies after post-mortem, were kept in the mortuary. When
Najmabanus family brought the body and began preparation for
ghusl they noticed a few discrepancies and promptly reported the
matter to local corporators. They informed the hospital authorities
about the negligence and rushed the body of Tina Ben (Bahen) back
to hospital where her relatives had arrived to claim the corpse.
Thus, at the eleventh hour, a funeral tragedy of mistaken identity
was averted thanks to the alertness of Najma banus relatives.
New Delhi: Jamiatul Ulama-e Hind (JUH) which along with other
Muslim organisations has been working to provide relief to more
than 50 thousand communal riots-hit people of Muzaffarnagar
and its neighbouring areas said that a case will soon be filed in
court to provide justice to the riot-hit and oppressed people and
also to get the guilty, cruel and negligent administration and
police officials punished. This announcement was made on
behalf of JUH by its general secretary Maulana Mahmood Madni
in Delhi on 15 September. He said that he had visited the riot-
affected people and places more than once and for what he has
himself seen and the type of complaints that have been made to
him about secretly burying the dead bodies of Muslims killed
without any religious or legal processes, legal action to fight for
justice has become essential. He said that 3 days ago 5 dead
bodies were buried without religious ceremonies like customary
bath and funeral prayers whose objective was nothing else but to
conceal the criminal acts and number of deaths of Muslims. He
said that according to statements of eye witnesses, they were
shown the dead bodies of only three persons whereas according
to people living in Loni refugee camp, 29 children of these peo-
ple ranging from 3 to 18 years of age are still missing about
whom there is no information at all. Similarly, according to peo-
ple living in Garhi Daulat refugee camp JUH volunteers were told
that only two deaths have officially been announced whereas
about 20 people have been killed there. About the deaths of
remaining people government is deliberately hiding the truth.
Regarding Bhagalpurs communal riots of 1989 Maulana
Madni said that the communalists with the connivance of the
administration had buried hundreds of dead bodies of Muslim and
in order to cover up their crimes had grown vegetables at that
place. Hence we have to be very careful now. He said that when
chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had visited the affected places, the
area was turned into a cantt but in villages where Muslims were
being killed and rendered homeless, not even two policemen
were seen. He said that suspension of police officers is no pun-
ishment. Instead of suspension cases should be filed for trial of
these officers in whose presence and because of whose negli-
gence holi was played with the blood of Muslims. Regarding pay-
ment of compensations to the families of affected people he said
that payment of compensation is only half justice and for full jus-
tice the guilty officers and persons must be punished. He said
that when he visited refugee camps on 9 September he of course
saw relief materials like flour, dal, rice etc supplied by the govern-
ment for the first time and also for the last time because those
relief materials would have sufficed only for two days or at the
most for three days in view of the large number of people in the
camps. After that, no relief supplies were made available by the
government. Maulana Hakimuddin Qasmi, JUH secretary sec-
onded what Maulana Mahmood Madni had said and added that
only today (15 Sept) three sick persons died in Loni camp
because of non-availability of proper treatment and medical facil-
ities. (N. A. Ansari)
Jamiatul Ulama to file case to bring justice to the
oppressed as well as to the guilty Civil and police officers
14 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 COMMUNITY NEWS www.milligazette.com
Urdu University gets free of cost land
Bhopal: In a bonanza for wooing minorities the regional campus
of Maulana Azad National Urdu University got the approval of the
state cabinet which granted land on a Re one per annum lease.
The state minister for education, Lakshmi Kant Sharma, clar-
ified that following the precedents of free land grant to Hindi and
Boddh Universities the cabinet decided to grant land to Urdu
University too on similar conditions.
Earlier, Patrika had raised the issue of following double stan-
dards in its report dated 17 September arguing that if free land
grants were given to Hindi and Boddh universities why was the
state discriminating in granting 6.4 acre land to Urdu campus by
demanding Rs 14 crores. The cabinet also relaxed rules (overrid-
ing norms) to Digambar Jain Sarvodaya Vidya Gyanpeeth Society
to build the College in a period of six years and half overlooking
the fact that the committee failed to build college by June 2009.
The committee managed by top bureaucrats and ministers had
proposed to build a medical college and a hospital on 25 acres of
land.
JUH (Guj) complains against police atrocity
Vadodara: A delegation of Gujarat Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind lodged a
complaint against police atrocity in Vadodara following a minor
incident. In a petition to the state governor sent through the col-
lector the delegation urged the administration to take disciplinary
action against the erring cops. There was a minor incident at
Madanjhanpa Road on 20 August. However, a mob of 100-150
persons began pelting stones on Muslims forcing them to resort
to defence. However, the police arrested 13 Muslim youths and
detained only 6 from the majority community. The instigator, a for-
mer corporator, was deliberately spared because of his political
patronage. In the absence of male members a police raid was
conducted during night and male cops misbehaved with women.
Not only did they abuse the women they also kicked them in the
abdomen. Sadiq Patel vice chairman Guj JUH, Maulana Abdul
Quddus and other office bearers later visited the place and
obtained first hand information. They lodged their complaint with
the Vadodara collector. (A. G. Khan)
Condolence meeting on the death of Dr Syed Abdul Bari
New Delhi: All India Milli Council and Institute of Objective Studies
(IOS) jointly held a condolence meeting chaired by Dr Manzoor
Alam on the demise of Prof Syed Abdul Bari (Shabnam Subhani)
in the Committee Room of IOS on 3 September in which first of
all A. U. Asif, associate editor of the weekly Chauthi Duniya, while
giving his own impressions said that as an objective journalist he
(Dr Abdul Bari) wrote hundreds of articles and columns in differ-
ent newspapers and magazines of the country on different sub-
jects covering literary and critical views and national and interna-
tional scenario and also attended many literary conferences in
and outside the country. He was also the chief editor of Milli
Ittehad. Milli Councils monthly magazine for life. Jadeed Khabar
dailys editor Masoom Muradabadi said that he considered him
his teacher, he was indeed a man of high character and action.
Deceaseds elder son Syed Shakeb Arsalan said that his father
was a man of volunteer spirit who remained at home only for a
few days in a month and mostly he used to travel all over for some
programme or the other.
Dr Abdul Baris elder son-in-law Khaliq Ahmad said that his
father-in-law devoted his whole life for milli and religious causes.
His elder daughter Mrs Fatema Tanveer said that her father paid
more attention to the difficulties and worries of others rather than
his own, loved poor and ordinary people and impressed upon
them the need to acquire education and make progress in life.
Welfare Party of India general secretary Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas
while describing his 30 years association with him said that he
along with Dr Manzoor Alam and others was among the founders
of All India Milli Council, adding that he was simultaneously a
poet, journalist, critic and author in the field of Islamic literature.
Prof Shafiq Ahmad Khan of Jamia Millia Islamia said that he was
never interested in self aggrandisment and promoted and pro-
duced literature to serve as a means for social reforms. Many oth-
ers who spoke on this occasion and paid tributes to his different
attributes were Maulana Abdul Wahab Khilji, assistant general
secretary of All India Milli Council, Ejaz Ahmad Aslam, Editor-in-
Chief of Jamaat Islamis Radiance magazine, Prof Zafar Habib,
member of IOS etc.
Free coaching for UPSC entrance test in Jamia Millia Islamia
New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia has issued a notification for the All
India Common Entrance Test for civil services (preliminary-cum-
Mains) examination 2014 under its Centre for Coaching & Career
Planning by UPSC. In this entrance test only minority community,
ST, SC students are eligible to appear and after qualifying in this
test they are provided free educational, including library, and res-
idential facilities. According to the notification the last date for
submission of admission forms is 27 September. Written exami-
nations will be held on 6 October and interviews will be held from
28 to 31 October. Director of the Centre for Coaching and Career
Planning, Prof Anisur Rahman said that these examinations will be
held at the All India level and for preparing for civil services there
are 100 seats for which, as stated above, students belonging to
minority communities, ST and SC are eligible to fill and submit
forms. Of the 100 students who will be selected, monthly schol-
arships of Rs 2000 will be given to 20 percent students only on
merit basis. University Grants Commission (UGC) arranges
coaching centres for UPSC exams all over the country for minor-
ity, SC, ST students which are at Maulana Azad National Urdu
University at Hyderabad, Jamia Millia Islamia at New Delhi, AMU
at Aligarh, Jamia Hamdard University at New Delhi and Ambedkar
University at Lucknow. In Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi such
preparations and coachings have been arranged for the past three
years. In 2012, 14 students had qualified for Mains examination
and in 2013 for Prelim test (PT) 54 students have qualified. In
view of this success former VC of Jamia Najeeb Jung had
launched a special course for BA so that more students could
succeed in competitive examinations. Prof Anisur Rahman said
that last year 2700 application forms were received for common
entrance test for civil services and much more applications are
expected this year. According to the notification issued by the
Coaching Centre, coaching will be provided in general knowledge,
CSAT, history Paper (optional), Public administration, Geography,
social sciences and Urdu.
Corruption in Maharashtra Waqf Board
Mumbai: Maharashtras chief minister Prithvi Raj Chauhan, in
response to a call attention notice on the alleged complaints of
corruption in the Maharashtra Waqf Board by opposition and rul-
ing party members said on 2 August in the on-going monsoon
session of the state assembly that the investigation report of the
retired judge A.T.G. Sheikh Committee will be made public in a
month. He said that this report of the ATG Sheikh Committee was
in fact submitted to the government in 2011 itself but because of
fire in the state secretariat it could not be presented in the House
at that time but now not only the report but ATR (Action Taken
Report) will also be presented in the assembly in a month (It may
be stated that the chief minister had made this statement more
than a month ago and hence by now the report would have been
ready and submitted).
Minister for minorities affairs, Arif Naseem Khan said in the
assembly that the government has now adopted a tough attitude
for the protection of Waqf properties and not even a small piece
would be allowed to be occupied illegally and in order to ensure
that Waqf Boards activities are strictly in accordance with Waqf
Act, government has recommended to the Department of law and
justice that Waqfs Chief Executive Officer (CEO) should be of
magistrate-level rank and hence some high ranking judicial officer
will be appointed as CEO.
In reply to a question about Waqf Boards former CEO Mirza
Pathan (who was arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau for
adopting corrupt practices) Naseem Khan said that his appoint-
ment as well as extension of his services was made by the gov-
ernments GA Department on the recommendations of the
Department of Rural Development. He further said that after
Pathans arrest, ACB is questioning him about his corrupt prac-
tices and another officer is appointed to investigate whether the
orders issued by him were in accordance with law or not. An
MLA, Nawab Malik said that according to reliable sources two
officers of Waqf Board issued notices on behalf of Waqf Board
regarding different Waqf properties but after that, disposed of the
matter themselves. He asked who had given such powers to
those officers. Naseem Khan said that those officers were
appointed by Waqf Board but now his ministry would direct Waqf
Board to investigate the activities of these two officers and sack
them if found guilty of indulging in illegal sale or misappropriation
of Waqf properties.
6th Pay Commission notification for Bihar Madrasa teachers
Patna: Bihar government has issued new notification on sixth Pay
Commission for Madrasa teachers on 2 September and with this,
the problem of equal pay for Madrasa and Sanskrit (Pathshala)
teachers, which was pending for years, has now been settled. In
its meeting held last week the state cabinet had sanctioned
Rs 10,26,20,000 for the teachers and employees of 1119 affiliat-
ed madrasas and 9 Madrasa Al Banat under revised pay and also
205 madrasas out of 2460 Madrasas which had fulfilled all con-
ditions to deserve financial assistance. For implementation of
hunar programme also the government had sanctioned Rs 15
crores. According to Brajesh Mehrotra, secretary of state cabinet
secretariat, the cabinet sanctioned a total of 23 proposals. He said
that in addition to 1128 (1119+9 Madrasa Al Banat) affiliated
madrasas, revised pay or grant for teachers and employees of
531 Sanskrit Schools of different levels has also been approved
which will be payable with retrospective effect i.e. from 1 January
2006. The monthly salary of Principal which was previously in
Rs 2000-3500 scale has now been revised in the pay scale of
Rs 9300 to 34,800 and grade pay will be Rs 4600. In the same
way people working on other posts will be given salaries in accor-
dance with revised pay scale for which Rs 120 crores have been
provided.
However, Hafiz fraternity is not happy with the revised pay
scales. They think that they are being cheated because in spite of
revision of pay scales their salaries are lower than those of a peon
whereas the job or post of a Hafiz is very respectable and labori-
ous also because they have to undergo much exertion in making
students memorise the Quran. That is why in Madrasa Shamsul
Hoda in Patna to which all madrasas are affiliated, the post of
Hafiz is made equal to Fazils status. They have therefore demand-
ed that the government should reconsider its decision.
Nokia launches mobile phone that includes Urdu font
New Delhi: Nokia India, Indian branch of Finnish Company Nokia
for the first time launched its mobile phone in India with Urdu font.
In this double-sim Nokia Mobile Model 114 nine languages includ-
ing Urdu, Hindi and English among others can be selected and its
price is Rs. 2579. Device has 2G internet, 0.3MP camera, FM
Radio. The Urdu font mobile was inaugurated by Union Minister
for communications and information technology Kapil Sibal on
12 September. Speaking on this occasion, praising Nokia India for
this phone, he said that such mobile phones have come in India
for the first time. He said that about six months ago he had asked
Nokia people to transfer mobile technology into Urdu language
also which is spoken by about 15 crore people of India which they
have not so far done. Nokia India Mg Director P. Balaji admitted
that there was a big void as well as a lapse in not including Urdu
font in mobiles but assured him that this lapse would soon be
filled. Accordingly, on this occasion he said that this void has now
been filled and a mobile phone with Urdu font has now been pre-
pared which will be available in the country but in the first instance
his company would pay special attention to the markets in
Maharashtra, J&K, Andhra Pradesh, UP and Karnataka.
68 accused demand another judge
Ahmedabad: 68 accused in the Naroda gam massacre submitted
applications demanding change of judge. Dr Jyotsanaben Yagnik,
the judge of the designated court, had sentenced 33 persons in
the Naroda Patia case. Since many of the accused in both the
cases are common they fear that a similar harsh sentence awaits
them. Hence they demanded change of judge.
Cow carcass set the town ablaze
Harda / Khikiya (MP): Within a month MP faces another cow car-
cass riot. While Indore situation was handled swiftly and effec-
tively, Khirkiya, a town in Harda district, could not manage it
because of inadequate manpower. Cops were deployed in the
CMs tour.
Slaughtered remains near a pond triggered riots. When pro-
hibitory orders could not ease the situation curfew had to be
imposed. Four persons have been arrested so far.
Mobs pelted stones on the police party and set ablaze a
motorcycle. A few cops were injured. Rampaging crowd dam-
aged several vehicles (including police and fire brigade). The
worst sufferer is the village Kheda, one km away, where more
than 10 houses of minority community were set ablaze. Villagers
fled from their houses fearing a backlash. Arson continued for five
hours.
Mumbai: Maharashtras minister for minorities welfare, Arif
Naseem Khan said here that the state government's department
of minorities welfare will provide Rs 2 lakh every year to
madrasas in the state for providing basic facilities like drinking
water, construction of loos, minor repair works and white wash
etc. Simultaneously, salaries of teachers providing modern edu-
cation to students will also be paid by the government. In addi-
tion to these, madrasa students will also be given scholarships
ranging from Rs 4000 to 5000 every year. The minister said that
for this scheme to be implemented this year an amount of Rs 10
crores will be spent and in the first instance 200 madrasas will
benefit. He said that this decision was taken in the cabinet meet-
ing chaired by chief minister Prithvi Raj Chauhan. He said that in
addition to Rs 2 lakhs, 50 thousand rupees will also be given to
these madrasas for setting up libraries and rupees 5000 annual-
ly to purchase books and magazines etc.
He said that in religious madrasas teachers for teaching
modern subjects will also be appointed and their salaries will be
paid by the government. He further said that in madrasas where
at least 20 to 40 students are enrolled, one teacher to teach
modern subjects will be appointed and in madrasas where there
are 41 to 80 students, two teachers and for more than 80 stu-
dents three such teachers will be appointed who will teach Hindi,
Marathi and English to students. He said that salaries to such
teachers will be paid in accordance with their educational quali-
fication and capabilities. Monthly salaries of D. Ed and BSc, B.
Ed teachers have been fixed at Rs. 6000 and and Rs 8000
respectively. Regarding scholarships he said that students of
religious madrasas who are receiving modern education in 9th
and 10th class in schools will be given scholarships of Rs 4000
per annum whereas such students of 11th, 12th classes or ITI
will be given Rs 5000 per annum per student. He further said
that the governments financial assistance like scholarships,
salaries of English etc teachers is dependent on the policy of
religious Madrasas. He said if these madrasas want financial
assistance for their students, they can apply for this to the local
collectorate office.
Whereas the authorities of religious madrasas have warmly
welcomed this step of the state government, BJP, Hindu
Janjagran Samiti and other saffron groups have criticised this
policy of the government and described it as governments
assistance to dens of terrorism (Madrasas). BJP, Shiv Sena,
MNS (Raj Thackerays) etc have described it as unconstitution-
al and in order to garner votes of Muslims in elections. Their
argument is that according to the countrys Constitution, giving
of special concessions or privileges to a particular religious sec-
tion is not allowed and hence this decision of the state govern-
ment is unconstitutional.
It may be stated in response to the criticism of these com-
munal elements that these one-eyed and half dumb people, who
see only with one eye and cry when something for the benefit
and welfare of Muslims is done by the government but are blind
and dumb when benefits by way of concessions, privileges like
reservations etc are provided to Hindus, Sikhs etc under
Presidential Order of 1950 which is not only religiously biased
but grossly unconstitutional also if they are speaking about the
unconstitutionality of benefits being given to Madrasa students
and teachers who are mostly Muslims. (N. A. Ansari)
Rs 10 crores approved for madrasas in Maharashtra
COMMUNITY NEWS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 15 www.milligazette.com
WILLIAM A. COOK
Jerusalem - Israel wants peace. Period. The Jewish people have
never held a desire to rule over others and this remains true today.
Not only are we ohev shalom [lovers of peace], but we are also
rodef shalom [active pursuers of peace]. So says Israel
Kasnett, Magazine editor of the Jerusalem Post, in an opinion
piece just published in Al Jazeera. The man is delusional. Lest this
illusion of a peace loving Israel pass unnoticed, let me set the
record straight. The information below provides evidence that
thoroughly discredits the assertion that The Jewish people have
never held a desire to rule over others and this remains true
today. The following is an article I wrote based on classified Top
Secret files obtained from The Rhodes House Archives of Oxford
University and later expanded into a long Introduction for the book
The Plight of the Palestinians: a Long History of Destruction pub-
lished by Palgrave Macmillan Company in 2010.
A Tale of Lies, Deceit and Terrorism: the Birth of Israel
[The Untold Story of the Zionist Intent to Turn Palestine into a
Jewish State. Based on the (classified documents of Sir Richard C.
Catling), seized by the British Mandate Police from the Jewish
Agency and its affiliated organizations, materials that confirm that
the Zionist- controlled Jewish community intended to remove the
Arab inhabitants of Palestine from their land and make the whole of
Palestine a Jewish State.]
On May 14, 1948 President Harry S. Truman received a letter
from the Jewish Agency for Palestine announcing the impending
proclamation of the independent republic of Israel (Harry S. Truman
Library, document filed August 22, 1949).i That date marks not
only the beginning of the State of Israel but, sub missa voce, the
assumption by the State of Israel of the calculated, systematic and
determined ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population of the
land of Palestine that had been the business of The Consultancy
and its agents before May 14, as identified by Dr. Ilan Pappe in his
monumental The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Ilan Pappe 5).ii
The letter notes that the republic has been established within
frontiers approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations
in its Resolution of November 29, 1947, and that a provisional gov-
ernment has been charged to assume the rights and duties of gov-
ernment for preserving law and order within the boundaries of
Israel, for defending the state against external aggression, and for
discharging the obligations of Israel to the other nations of the world
in accordance with international law. The letter was signed by
Eliahu Epstein, Agent, Provisional Government of Israel.
The letter is notable not for what it announces, but for what it
does not reveal. Truth requires revelation of all the facts, not con-
cealment by omission of that which would prejudice an under-
standing. During the six months between the adoption of UN
Resolution 181 and the date of this letter, and in subsequent
months, the prospective state of Israel launched a massive military
incursion into territory designated by that same Resolution for the
Palestinian people, creating in its wake three quarters of a million
Palestinian refugees, the destruction of hundreds of entire villages
not only depopulated but obliterated and houses blown up or
bulldozed (Walid Khalidi, All That Remains, xv).iii Khalidis massive
study focuses on 418 villages, once the homes of Palestinians, 292
completely destroyed, 90 others largely destroyed, the remainder
re-inhabited by Jews called Israeli settlers.
In blunt terms, the Jewish Agency for Palestine lied to the
American President that it had established a provisional govern-
ment that has been charged to assume the rights and duties for
preserving law and order within the boundaries of Israel and for
discharging the obligations of Israel to the other nations of the world
in accordance with international law.
The Agencys deception made no reference either to the
President or the international community that it had created the
Catastrophe, or as the Palestinians termed it, the Nakba, the days
of infamy that created what has become the largest Diaspora of
refugees in the world and a time of remembrance for those killed in
a series of massacres, estimated at 24 by Benny Morris, Israels
preeminent Historian of that period. Indeed, the Agency had acted
against international law in invading Palestinian land as designated
by the very Resolution that had given them the right to a state of
Israel even as it lied without remorse to the international communi-
ty that it would live in accordance with their laws.
This letter will serve as a microcosm of political deceit charac-
teristic of the Zionist led forces that controlled the nascent state of
Israel. Added to this sin of omission is the British promise to the
Arabs in the Balfour Declaration that they would maintain a strict
ratio of Jews entering Palestine to the indigenous population, the
second of the Balfour Declaration promises rarely referenced as the
companion piece to the establishment of a home for the Jews in
Palestine. Michael Prior marks the moral significance of this omis-
sion when he notes, Only the final draft (of the Balfour Declaration)
contained provision for protection of Palestinians rights and politi-
cal status.iv
Control and manipulation of the events coming out of Palestine
has been and continues to be the modus operandi of the Zionist
leaders of the state of Israel. The above letter to President Truman
offers insight into this manipulation. Moreover, Truman was acting
on behalf of the American people in recognizing the State of Israel
on the 15th of May 1948. What the American people knew was the
suffering of the Jews under Hitler and the apparent logic of the
United Nations partition plan to provide a state for the two peoples
residing in Palestine. What they did not know was the Zionist entity
had different goals and the will to deceive the citizens of America to
achieve them. But the American people were not alone in being
deceived. More importantly for purposes of this paper is the decep-
tion kept from the British people about these disappeared years,
as Robert Fisk terms them. Whats missing is the perspective of the
Palestinians and the British Mandate government.
The value of Sir Richards files should not be underestimated.
Indeed, their existence makes evident the deception that has
cloaked the historical records that cover the truth of what happened
then and gives new insight into what is happening now. Two docu-
ments dominate the file with 62 appendices of evidence totaling
close to 500 pages of materials. The first is a dispatch sent to the
Secretary of State, dated 16th of October, 1941, by the High
Commissioner of Palestine, Harold MacMichael, labeled Most
Secret; the second, a Top Secret Memorandum on the
Participation of the Jewish National Institutions in Palestine in Acts
of Lawlessness and Violence, prepared by the Criminal
Investigation Department headquarters, The Palestine Police,
Jerusalem, dated July 31st, 1947. v[Sir Richard C. Catling, #145,
Mss. Med. S20]
Together these documents provide a British Mandate govern-
ment perspective on the forces that controlled the evolving Jewish
presence in Palestine: on the intent of those forces to take full con-
trol of the land of Palestine after the Mandate period, the ruthless-
ness of their operations against the British Palestine Government
and the Palestinian people including their removal, transfer, expul-
sion and death, and their awareness of the awesome power the
Zionists brought, both politically and militarily, to the achievement of
that goal. In short, the accumulated evidence of an ethnic cleans-
ing of Palestine by Dr. Ilan Pappe based on the Israeli archives finds
corroboration here as recorded and documented by seized materi-
als from the Jewish Agency, Haganah, Irgun and related sources.
What should be obvious now, after the carefully researched
and scholarly work of Dr. Pappe and the equally well-researched
work of Dr. Morris, both based on recently released evidence from
the Israeli archives and those of the Israel Defense Forces Archives,
complemented now with the materials preserved by Sir Richard C.
Catling, is the truth about the creation of the state of Israel: accept-
ance of UN Resolution 181 by the Jewish Agency Provisional
Government as the designated Jewish state was not done with
intent to abide by the goal of the UN General Assembly, to provide
a state for two peoples in the land of Palestine, but rather to use it
as a means of subterfuge to gain eventual control of all the land and
cleanse that land of its indigenous people to whatever extent possi-
ble. Put bluntly, what was true then is true today; the current gov-
ernment in Israel continues the practices of past Israeli govern-
ments, cleanse the land of its rightful inhabitants to make that land
part of the Jewish state. This is what many scholars and authori-
ties on this conflict call, slow motion genocide. (Cook, May 11,
2010).
I trust the paragraphs above will dispel the illusions of Mr.
Kasnett; if not he can buy a copy of The Plight of the Palestinians
and read about the continuing genocide taking place in Palestine in
this 21st century. Since the United States Knesset and its god-
father AIPAC seem determined to thwart the desires of 70% of the
American people to take our soldiers to war against Syria on behalf
of Israel, we might question the accuracy of Israel Kasnetts claims
that Israel has sought peace in the mid-East.
Let me close this response to Kasnetts opinion piece in Al
Jazeera with a quote from Oedipus Rex, Scene I: How dreadful
knowledge of the truth can be. I mention this quote because it
gives focus to another illusion he makes about the peaceful PM,
Ehud Olmert, the man that brought us the Christmas bombing of
Gaza.
In 2008, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered the far-
thest-reaching proposal to date in exchange for peace, but the
Palestinians did not respond. How meaningless and empty this
statement when the truth is so heinous.
The nations of the world are faced with a pulverizing public rela-
tions blitz by the Israeli government to justify its disproportionate
destruction of the Palestinian people and their property. Silencing
truth, the reality that exists behind a cloak of lies, destroys justice
just as it destroys the people of Gaza. I look back at Hamas victo-
ry at the election booth, at their offer for peace following that elec-
tion, both the Hamas offer to consider the Saudi Princes 2002
peace plan and Mahmoud Abbas offer for an International Peace
Conference in Oslo, and realize that Israel and the United States
ignored their offers, intentionally ignored their offers just as
President Bush, earlier this fall, ignored, by refusing to reply, to a
Hamas offer for an on-going ceasefire so that peace could be
achieved. A different agenda is at work here, an agenda that seeks
the total elimination of the Palestinian people as a people, subject to
the authority and control of the Israeli government. As Mohammed
Barakeh, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset remarked about
Israel s strategy in 2004, Israel sought to and almost succeeded
in convincing the world that its violent onslaught against the
Palestinian society was in reaction to Palestinian terror. This simpli-
fied and erroneous claim ignores the simple fact that Israels violent
and racist occupation of the Palestinian homeland is the root cause
of all violence. Once again, the government of Israel has deter-
mined that it can, by stealth of propaganda, control how the world
views its occupation and military conquest of the Palestinian peo-
ple. Lets hope reality overcomes deception.(Countercurrents. org)
William A. Cook is a Professor of English at the University of La
Verne in southern California. He writes frequently for Internet publi-
cations, His books include Tracking Deception: Bush Mid-East pol-
icy, The Rape of Palestine, The Chronicles of Nefaria, a novella.
Notes
i. Epstein, Eliahu. (1948). Agent, Provisional Government of Israel. Letter
to President Harry S. Truman. May 14, 1948. Filed August 22, 1949.
Truman Library.
ii. Pappe, Ilan. (2006). The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Oneworld:
Oxford.
iii. Khalidi, Walid. (1992). All That Remains. Institute for Palestinian
Studies: Washington, D. C. xv.
iv. Prior, Michael. (1999) Zionism and the State of Israel: A Moral Inquiry.
London: Routledge.
v. MacMichael, Harold. (1947). Memorandum on the Participation of the
Jewish National Institutions in Palestine in Acts of Lawlessness and
Violence The Palestine Police, Jerusalem, 7-31-1947 in Catling file.
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16 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Israel Wants Peace. Period. (Just Joking!)
...the current government in Israel continues the practices of past Israeli governments,
cleanse the land of its rightful inhabitants to make that land part of the Jewish state. This
is what many scholars and authorities on this conflict call, slow motion genocide.
Middle East Peace Talks:
Non-Objectives Attained
The moment Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to send
emissaries to Washington to discuss the resumption of 20-year-
old peace talks, the objective of the talks was achieved. To any-
one not in a coma, it is clear that these talks will not lead to
peace, and in fact might not even lead to peace talks, merely to
talks about resuming talks.
Of course, both parties have particular motives for partici-
pating, which have been discussed at length by many pundits on
the subject. In the case of John Kerry and the Obama adminis-
tration, it is to do the impossible - to bring the parties together to
the table. It is a sign of the bankruptcy of the effort that after
twenty years this is considered a major achievement.
For Mahmoud Abbas, it is the chance to appear to be at once
Salaheddine, the defender of Jerusalem for Palestinians and the
Arab world, and the good and reasonable Palestinian to the
West. He recognizes the skepticism of both of his audiences, but
what choice does he have? His other choice is to be sidelined
and irrelevant and to potentially lose his most positive role as dis-
tributor of largesse from the U.S. and Europe if his funds are cut
off as a result of his failure to follow the US order to participate
in the talks.
For Netanyahu, the talks are an opportunity to appear less
intransigent while remaining just as intransigent as ever. This
means making some potential gains in public opinion in the West
and at home just by showing up, while not losing his hardcore
constituency at home. In fact, he can show the most skeptical
fascists in his administration that he already wiped away all the
(admittedly few) agreements concluded by previous Israeli
administrations in the last twenty years, thereby returning the
talks to square one. This was achieved by Kerry agreeing that
everything is on the table while promising Abbas that the talks
would begin where they last left off, the equivalent of putting a
square peg in a round hole when both are made of porcelain.
However, the real purpose of the talks is inherent in their
hopelessness: to once again stage the ritual passion play, with
Abbas representing Palestinians in the role of Satan, and to make
sure he knows his lines. The U.S. receives praise for offering the
play; Israel gets praised as the hero; and the audience unites
around their contempt for the Palestinian villains. This is what is
known as the peace process, and it must be repeated periodical-
ly in order to assure the tradition.
None of this is new. It has been part of Middle East history
since long before the 1993 start of the peace process. In fact,
the U.S. can draw on its history of broken treaties with Indian
nations in North America, all of whom were blamed for their own
demise. Abbas is the equivalent of Indian trustees selected by
U.S. authorities to distribute beans and rotten meat on which the
remainder of the tribe survives. Dont blame him; he doesnt
want to deprive them of their only sustenance.
The talks have therefore already achieved their objective: to
assure that Palestinians will once again be blamed for their fail-
ure and that they will be responsible for the next horror that Israel
visits upon them. The rest is opera.
Paul Larudee is a writer and human rights advocate,
and one of the co-founders of the movement to break the
siege of Gaza by sea.
Adapted from On Those Middle East Peace Talks by Paul
Larudee, published on line : http://www.counterpunch.org/
2013/08/06/on-those-middle-east-peace-talks /
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INTERNATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 17 www.milligazette.com
KHALID AMAYREH
Occupied Jerusalem: A few days ago, I asked a Palestinian lawyer
from my hometown, Dura, if it was possible for me to file a suit case
against The State of Israel in a Palestinian court.
On 25 February, 1953, Israeli troops murdered virtually my
entire family, including my three paternal uncles as well as three
other relatives. In addition to the cold-blooded murder, the Israeli
army then seized our entire property upon which our life depended
to a large extent, including 250-300 sheep, condemning my family
to live in a state of abject property for more than thirty years. No
apology or mea Culpa or acknowledgment of guilt or responsibility
has ever been made by the State of Israel.
The Lawyer, Muhammed Rabai' stared at me, saying: Mr.
Amayreh, it seems your knowledge in matters of law is modest. The
Oslo Accords gave Israel all the assets and gave us all the liabilities.
He went on: You have to make a clear distinction between law and
justice. Even if Israeli soldiers or terrorists or settlers murdered your
entire family, you still wouldn't have the right to sue Israel in a
Palestinian court. As a defensive reflex, I asked the esteemed
lawyer why was it that any Israeli Jew or non-Israeli Jew could sue
any Palestinian or Arab entity in an Israeli court without any problem.
Where is the principle of parity and equality?, I protested.
Eventually, Rabai', gave me a lecture on the legalistic dimen-
sions of the Oslo Accords. Then he said, with frustration detected in
the tone of his speech: The strong is shameless.
This story is one of thousands of other similar or graver stories
encapsulating the utter injustice and inequity inflicted on the
Palestinian people and their just national cause as a result of the
scandalous accords known as the Oslo Agreement.
I remember that a few days after the conclusion of the infamous
agreement, I wrote an Arabic article, describing the agreement as a
body with numerous deformities and defects, however you look at
it, you will be offended and affronted.
I also remember I asked the late Faisal Husseini how the PLO
was gullible enough to accept such a scandalously oblique deal?
Husseini knew the agreement was thoroughly deformed from
its head to its tail. He probably knew more than I did about the scan-
dalous aspects of the Accords which the Palestinian leadership and
also Israel wanted to keep secret. But his mouth was muzzled for
political reasons and he couldn't say all he knew about the agree-
ment and the circumstances leading up to its acceptance by the PLO
leadership. Eventually, Husseini said this: True, the baby is deformed
but it is our child. I also asked a number of PLO leaders who
were visiting al-Khalil a few months after the Oslo accords were
reached why the PLO leadership recognized Israel without receiving
a reciprocal Israeli recognition or without even having Israel saying
where its borders lie. To my chagrin, I only received the following
laconic answer to all my questions: Yes I agree with you that
was a mistake that we unfortunately made.
Twenty long years have now passed since the conclusion of the
hapless agreement. And there is an absolute consensus among
Palestinians, regardless of their political orientation, that the agree-
ment was a disaster for the Palestinian people and their national
cause. The PLO and its mostly mendacious media outlets and other
mouth-pieces sought to give the impression that the agreement
would lead to the establishment of a viable and territorially contigu-
ous state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem as its
capital. The mantra was invoked by the late Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat rather ad nauseam that many Palestinians began to ridicule
Arafat for his rhetorical overindulgence and for his utter unrealism.
Arafat didn't always make a meticulous distinction between reality
and fantasy. On several occasions, he declared Palestinian towns he
visited in the 1990s liberated, liberated, liberated even though
Israeli occupation soldiers were manning roadblocks and check-
points a few blocks away from where Arafat was speaking.
Vague agreement: There is no doubt that the Oslo Accords were a
vague agreement par excellence. The PLO viewed the accords as an
initial stage toward ending the Israeli occupation and achieving inde-
pendence and statehood. The Israelis, for their part, viewed the
agreement as an arrangement that would allow Israel to maintain
control of the West Bank without paying a costly political and eco-
nomic price. But in this case, it is only the strong party that enforces
its interpretation of the vague agreement. Needless to say, this is
exactly what Israel did and has been doing.
Indeed, Israel has maintained effective control over every nook
and cranny in the West Bank. It retained a carte blanche to arrest any
Palestinian, from an ordinary individual to the highest ranking elect-
ed political official. This happened while much of the world kept
thinking that the Palestinians were finally free of Israeli occupation
and domination. The current Palestinian leadership, though less cap-
tivated by the empty rhetoric that generally characterized Arafat's
discourse, is yet to free itself completely from the historical
Palestinian leader's legacy and style of thinking.
For example, the Palestinian Authority (PA) sees nothing
embarrassing or objectionable in referring to itself as the state of
Palestine when the PA entity is lacking almost everything that would
make a state look like a state, including recognized borders, freedom
from foreign occupation, sovereignty, and free, unfettered economy.
As to the PA itself, it is no more than a pathetic police state with-
out a state, an entity that keeps itself afloat thanks to handouts and
politically-motivated aid from the United States, Israel's guardian
ally, and the European Union.
In fact, the crippling financial crisis that initially made the PLO
accept the scandalous Oslo Accords in 1993 is now forcing the
present Palestinian leadership to sit down in futile talks with Israel
despite the aggressive continuation of Jewish settlement activities all
over the West Bank, especially in East Jerusalem.
A few months ago, Ahmed Qurei', who negotiated the Oslo
Agreement on behalf of the PLO, was quoted as saying that 20
years of peace negotiations with Israel yielded a very fat Zero.
In light, one is prompted to ask if the PLO-PA leadership has
learned any lessons from the Oslo fiasco and whether it would
repeat the 20-year experiment!
The Oslo Accords: a gigantic disaster for the Palestinians
Israel has maintained effective control over every nook and cranny in the West Bank. It retained a
carte blanche to arrest any Palestinian, from an ordinary individual to the highest ranking elected politi-
cal official. This happened while much of the world kept thinking that the Palestinians were finally free of
Israeli occupation and domination...
A Guide To 30 Years Of U.S. Military
Strikes Against Other Nations
A look at major U.S. military strikes as ordered by the last five
U.S. presidents and the degree of international support behind
the actions.
RONALD REAGAN: -Beirut (1982-83): U.S. troops deployed to
Lebanon as part of a three-nation peacekeeping force. Reagan
ordered limited airstrikes, with France, to retaliate for 1983 bomb-
ing on military barracks that killed 299 U.S. and French troops.
-Grenada (1983): Invasion by an estimated 7,000 U.S. troops and
300 Organization of American States troops after a government
coup; was condemned by Britain and the U.N. but supported by six
Caribbean island nations that said it was justified under the OAS
charter.
-Libya (1986): Airstrikes to punish leader Moammar Gadhafi's
regime for a Berlin disco explosion that wounded U.S. 79
Americans and killed two. The U.K. supported the strikes but the
U.N. General Assembly condemned them.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH: -Panama (1989): Invasion by more than
26,000 troops after dictator Manuel Noriega declared war on the
U.S. for sanctions on its drug-trafficking government. A U.S.
Marine was killed after Noriega declared war but before the invasion
began.
-Iraq (1991): Invasion of Iraq with troops from 33 other counties to
enforce U.N. Security Council resolution that ordered Saddam
Hussein to withdraw forces from Kuwait.
-Somalia (1992): Deployed troops for peacekeeping and humani-
tarian aid mission under U.N. Security Council resolution.
BILL CLINTON: -Iraq (1993): Launched cruise missiles into
Baghdad, hitting Iraqi intelligence headquarters, in retaliation for
assassination plot against President George H.W. Bush.
-Somalia (1993): Increased troop deployment for security and sta-
bility mission with 35 other nations under U.N. Security Council
resolution.
-Haiti (1994) Deployed troops for peacekeeping and nation-build-
ing mission as authorized by U.N. Security Council resolution.
-Bosnia (1994-96): Launched airstrikes with NATO allies over 18
months, culminating with bombings, artillery attacks and cruise
missile strikes against Bosnia Serbs, by request of U.N. Secretary
General Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali and to enforce no-fly zones as
authorized by at least three U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Deployed troops in year-long NATO peacekeeping mission.
-Iraq (1996): Launched cruise missiles at targets in southern Iraq
in retaliation against attacks on U.S. jets enforcing no-fly zones to
protect Iraqi minorities as authorized by U.N. Security Council res-
olution.
-Sudan, Afghanistan (1998): Launched cruise missiles at terrorist
training camps in Sudan and Afghanistan in retaliation against U.S.
Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than
220 people, including 12 Americans.
-Iraq (1998): Launched cruise missiles and airstrikes on a number
of Baghdad targets to punish Saddam Hussein for not complying
with U.N. chemical weapons inspections as required under U.N.
Security Council resolutions.
-Kosovo: (1999): Launched airstrikes and cruise missiles over
more than three months at Yugoslavian military targets, power sta-
tions, bridges and other facilities as part of NATO mission.
GEORGE W. BUSH: -Afghanistan (2001): Invaded as part of NATO
mission after attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. There are currently about
100,000 troops from 48 countries in Afghanistan with the U.S.-led
International Security Assistance Force, 60,000 of them American.
By the end of this year, the NATO force will be halved, and all for-
eign combat troops are to leave by the end of next year.
-Iraq (2003): Invaded with coalition of the willing of 48 nations to
overthrow Saddam Hussein. As many as 160,000 U.S. troops
were in Iraq at the peak of the war and all forces withdrew in
December 2011 as required under a security agreement between
Iraq and the U.S.
BARACK OBAMA: -Libya (2011): Launched cruise missiles and
commanded initial international military operation to enforce U.N.
Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire in the Libyan
civil war and established a no-fly zone.
-Osama bin Laden (2011): While not an attack on a foreign nation,
the raid that killed the al-Qaida leader is considered one of the
Obama administration's top military and intelligence successes and
was carried out without permission from Pakistan, where bin Laden
was hiding.
ALSO NOTE Hundreds of deadly drone strikes have been carried
out on al-Qaida targets during the Obama and the George W. Bush
presidencies. The vast majority of them have been in Pakistan,
Afghanistan and Yemen. It's disputed whether the governments of
all of those nations have given the U.S. permission for the strikes.
KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI
Whenever a future historian settles down
to the task of writing our eras history, he
should have no problem in pointing out,
with precision, when and where 21st cen-
tury neo-imperialism met its Waterloo.
Without any hesitation hed say, it was in
Syria.
Obama had done a lot of muscle-flex-
ing, in the grand tradition of American bul-
lying tactics, to try instill terror in the heart
of Bashar Al Assad. Hed started moving
Americas assets of war closer to the Syrian waters to leave no
doubt in anybodys mind that his cruise missiles would swoop
down on Syrian targets and rain destruction as soon as he gave
them a signal. The ploy was intended to serve as a double-edged
weapon by telling an American populace fed up with war that their
commander-in-chief was serious about the use of force to take US
into another military adventure.
However, the American people showed no sign of falling for
Obamas legerdemain; their appetite for military adventure in far-off
lands seems to have taken a severe beating from the ill-fated mis-
adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Notwithstanding the likes of a congenital war-monger, like
Senator McCain, baying for Syrian blood to satisfy their unquench-
able thirst for the blood of enemies of US, Congress-surprisingly
woven into the equation by a diffident Obama-wasnt showing
much enthusiasm to get on Obamas band wagon. In fact, many a
pundit and pollster were predicting a humiliating defeat for Obama
in Congressional voting. The writing on the wall was getting murki-
er by the day for a desperate leader saddled with an agenda of war
that few fancied for a country mired in mounting economic prob-
lems.
Erstwhile and dependable European allies, too, pulled the rug
from under a jingoistic Obama. The British parliament humbled PM
David Cameron by voting down his plan to join forces with US
against Syria. Germany said no, outright. Even France-led by a feck-
less leader, Francois Hollande, who seems to have no self-respect
or regard for French independence in international affairs that
became a hallmark under General DeGaulle---started vacillating on
the threat of force.
Except for Turkey-which has surprisingly latched on to
Obamas war agenda-there was hardly a mentionable NATO ally
eager to climb of Obamas band wagon, which soon got mired in
the bog stirred by American allies.
But the death-knell for Obamas war hysteria was sounded by
President Putin of Russia.
In sharp contrast to Obamas roller-coaster ride of policy on
Syria, Putin has remained firmly anchored in his opposition to the
use of force, or the threat of it. This is nothing less than a role-rever-
sal from the Cold War era when it was Russia, or the defunct USSR,
that was generally perceived as the trouble-maker and US as con-
ciliator and peace-maker. US has only itself to blame for this change
of perception in how the outside world sees it as a bully ready to
pounce on weaker targets. Its Russia under Putin which has, now,
earned a much healthier image in the eyes of the world.
The process of Putin stealing all the thunder from Obamas war
drums began with his candid and forthright op-ed piece in the New
York Times, in which the Russian leader addressed the American
readers directly and reminded them of the enormous cost the world
had been made to pay by Americas unwarranted resort to force to
settle issues during the Cold War. Putin cautioned US against reviv-
ing the discredited tradition of unbridled use of force, and its fallout
on todays fragile world.
Putin rubbed salt into Obama when he concluded his article by
taking up issue with Obamas arrogant assertion-in his radio
address to the American people from the Oval office-that Americans
were an exceptional people and a nation apart from the rest of
human stream. Putins was a sober reminder to Obama and the
Americans that all of mankind was creation of one God and all men
were equal.
What Putin did was a remarkable feat of diplomatic finesse and
savvy that made Obama look like a piddling politician. Putin has also
consistently and forcefully pursued a diplomatic offensive to rally
support of the global community against the use of force simply out
of a super powers blood lust. Putin didnt need much to convince
a war-weary world public opinion that there could be no rush to
punish Syria just because Obama and some other hawks-such as
Israels Benjamin Netanyahu-had decided that Bashar Al Assad
was guilty of using chemical weapons against his people and must
be taken to task for this presumed crime.
Putin and the world, outside the limited circle of Americas war-
mongering allies preferred to give peace a wider elbow room and
wait for the UN chemical inspectors and experts to come up with
their fact-finding report in regard to the ghastly incident of August
21, in Ghouta, where chemicals had allegedly been used to murder
innocent people.
But Putins masterly stroke was in convincing Bashar Al Assad
to agree to give up all of his stockpile of chemical weapons, which
has been the alibi for Obama beating his war drums. Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would be a deserving candidate for
a Nobel Peace Prize for his splendid work in successfully prevailing
upon Assad that the best way out of the trap laid for him by his ene-
mies was to tell the world he was ready to off-load his cache of
chemical weapons.
Obama may not have been viscerally ready for the surprise
sprung on him by the Russians and Assad. Minus the alibi, the
whole faade of an American blitz against Syria would come crash-
ing down. It would be impossible to convince an already skeptical
world that Bashar Al Assad was an evil man when he was ready to
give up all his chemical assets. War-mongers thrive on their
weapons; only peace-makers give them up.
Bashar Al Assad, aided by Putin, were, in fact, doing a service
to Obama, too, by making it easy for him to climb down from the
perch of war where hed hopelessly painted himself. And it seems
that Obama did find face-saving for himself in the deadlock when
US and Russia agreed to a deal, announced on September 14, call-
ing for Syria to account fully for the removal and destruction of its
whole chemical arsenal by mid-2014.
The Russo-American deal has obviously given a boost of con-
fidence to Bashar Al Assad while trimming the sails of Obama and
others who thought they could get to their goal of unseating him and
toppling his regime in the guise of punishing them for a crime on
which the jury is still out.
In an interview given to the American ultra-right wings mouth-
piece, The Fox News, on September 18, Assad sounded robustly
confident about his strategy to disarm, chemically, in order to keep
the dogs of war away from his shores. He invited the Americans to
feel free to take his stockpile of chemical weapons out of Syria, and
do it at their own expense. He estimated that it would take almost a
year to finish the job. The US sources have estimated that the oper-
ation would cost about a billion dollar.
Obviously, Obamas bravado and war hysteria has not only cost
him a great deal in terms of prestige but is also going to punch a
hole in the American coffers. Assad, on his part, has got an excel-
lent deal for free. The crisis has added more substance, depth and
confidence to Syrias prized relations with Russia-its mainstay in
global interaction.
The same day as Assad told Fox News, bluntly and candidly, to
help themselves to his impugned chemical weapons,
HasanRouhani, the Iranian President and Assads robust ally, dealt
his own blow to Obamas jingoistic instincts in an interview given to
NBCs Ann Curry. Rouhani minced no words in telling her and the
world-Obama, in particular-that never will Iran opt for nuclear
weapons. This bold and forthright declaration should set to rest the
Americans and their trigger-happy allies doubts about the trans-
parency of Irans nuclear programme which, Rouhani reiterated,
had nothing but peace written all over it.
Rubbing in further embarrassment into Obamas brief on the
Syrian governments alleged culpability for the use of chemical
weapons, the UN inspectors tasked to probe into it have also come
out with their report.
The UN report vouches that Sarin gas has been used in the
August 21 incident at Ghouta which led to hundreds of deaths and
played into the hands of Syrias detractors to plan its decimation.
However, the report is silent on the culprit behind the tragedy. It
doesnt point a finger in any direction. But that didnt prevent US
from asserting, imperiously, that the report does attest their accu-
sation of the Syrian government behind the tragic incident.
Obamas appetite for military action against the Assad regime
has apparently still not lost its vigour despite obvious humiliation
and debacle of his gambit. War-mongering is still dictating his
moves at the UN Security Council where its five permanent mem-
bers have been given the responsibility to flesh out the bare bones
of the Russo-American deal of September 14 on Syrias chemical
assets.
The Obama administration-aided by supine Britain and France-
is trying to insert the option of use of force and make it binding
under Chapter VII of the Charter, in the event of any hiccups or
detours in the deal it has jointly worked out with Russia. It thinks that
by dangling the Sword of Damocles over Bashar Al Assad it would
weaken him and give greater heft and clout to his opposition.
Russia and China, understandably, are opposed to such arm-twist-
ing which may doom the prospects of peace. Obama should know
that any shadow of force would be a deal-breaker and take the sit-
uation back to square one. But isnt that what he and his domestic
and overseas fellow hawks want, in the first place?
Obama and the neo cons and neo-imperialists who have taken
hold of him-just as they had of his predecessor-give no sign of
drawing the logical conclusion they should from the humiliating
episode to unleash terror on Syria.
Team Obama, still tapping into their belligerent agenda, seems
viscerally disinclined to accept the emerging reality that the unipo-
lar phase of our inter-state relations-spawned by the demise of
USSR and the end of the Cold War-is coming to an end, if not
already dead. Putin, with his pro-active policy to assert the lost
influence of Russia in world affairs, is now ready to challenge
American hegemony and diktat on the global stage.
Of course this emerging new phase is, and will be, fraught with
imponderables of all shades and persuasions. But at the very least
it should relieve the world of a super powers infatuation with the
use of force, or its threat, merely to satisfy its blood lust, or that of
its satraps and so-called allies. A recalibration of centres of pow-
ers should, at a minimum, inject greater sobriety and civilization into
the sensitive balance of inter-state relations hitherto hostage-since
the end of the Cold War-to the whims and antics of a trigger-happy
super power.
As far as the ongoing Syrian crisis is concerned that too may
be up against as many imponderables. However, what can be pre-
dicted with certainty is that without a berserk super power running
amok over the Syrian theatre to serve its own interests, and those
of its cohorts, peace would stand a better chance of success.
Assad government has already been sending positive signals about
its participation in the proposed Geneva conference with the Syrian
opposition to seek a negotiated deal out of the impasse. This is
despite the fact that US and its regional allies-Israel and Saudi
Arabia prominent among them-have embarked on a massive injec-
tion of arms for the opposition forces fighting the Assad regime.
In short, Syria is still a work in progress the end of which would
be hazardous to predict by even the most well-informed of pundits.
But the spectre of use of force seems to have receded and road
signs suggest that those still itching to give the Assad regime a
bloody nose have been checked in their tracks. The Syrian puzzle
still defies an early solution.
Neo-Imperialism meets its Waterloo in Syria
18 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Syria is still a work in progress the end of which would be hazardous to predict by even
the most well-informed of pundits. But the spectre of use of force seems to have
receded and road signs suggest that those still itching to give the Assad regime a bloody
nose have been checked in their tracks. The Syrian puzzle still defies an early solution.
U. S. shares raw
intelligence data
with Israel
KEN DILANIAN
Washington: The National Security Agency rou-
tinely shares raw intelligence data with Israel that
probably includes sensitive information about
Americans, according to the latest top- secret
document leaked by former intelligence contractor
Edward Snowden.
The 2009 document, a memorandum of
understanding between the NSA and its Israeli
counterpart, says the U. S. government regularly
hands over intercepted communications that have
not first been reviewed by U. S. analysts and there-
fore may contain phone calls and emails of
American citizens. The agreement allows for the
possibility that intercepts given to Israel might
include the communications of U. S. government
officials, in which case Israel is supposed to
destroy them immediately. Other data on U. S. cit-
izens who arent in the government, however, can
be kept by Israel for up to a year, according to the
document, first published Wednesday by Britains
Guardian newspaper.
NSA officials declined to answer questions
but issued a statement saying, "Whenever we
share intelligence information, we comply with all
applicable rules, including the rules to protect U. S.
person information."
Its no secret that the U. S. and Israel cooper-
ate closely against intelligence targets of mutual
interest, such as Syria and Iran. But providing
Israel unfiltered electronic intelligence feeds raises
questions about why American officials would
trust Israel to respect the privacy of U. S. citizens.
The practice also raises the specter of Israel
using U. S. intelligence to carry out operations of
which the U. S. disapproves. The Obama adminis-
tration has condemned, for example, the assassi-
nations of several Iranian nuclear scientists that
many analysts believe Israel had a hand in.
"One of the biggest concerns in all intelli-
gence-sharing relationships is that the partner
would use the data to take action that would result
in killing somebody or doing something outside
the scope of what our government might consider
appropriate," said a former senior NSA official,
who, like others interviewed, asked not to be
named in discussing classified information. "The
worry is they might go off and bomb somebody
and assassinate somebody."
A second former senior U. S. intelligence offi-
cial said the sort of intercepts shared with Israel
would focus on communications in the Middle
East and would not include many Americans. But
almost any eavesdropping anywhere in the world
tends to capture at least some American commu-
nication, the former official said. The former offi-
cials requested anonymity because of the sensitiv-
ity of discussing intelligence.
The implications are unsettling, said Jameel
Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil
Liberties Union. "You can imagine a scenario in
which somebody tries to get on a plane and is told
by some foreign airline, We have you on a list," or
you try to get a visa and youre told, Unfortunately
we cant give you one," he said.
The agreement requires Israel to consult an
NSA liaison officer when it comes across data on
Americans, and to adhere to U. S. rules for han-
dling U. S. citizen information that are designed to
protect privacy, a process known as "minimiza-
tion." That would include, for example, blacking
out the names of any Americans in intelligence
reports derived from the intercepts. But its unclear
how that requirement is monitored or enforced
because the agreement expressly states that it is
not legally binding.
The sharing of raw intercepts with Israel is
particularly notable because U. S. officials say
Israel aggressively seeks to spy on the U. S. gov-
ernment, unlike Britain, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand, allies who are part of a long-standing
agreement to share signals intelligence with the
U.S..
Jonathan Pollard, a former U. S. naval intelli-
gence analyst, is serving a life sentence in prison
after being caught spying for Israel in the 1980s.
Secret U. S. intelligence budget documents
revealed last month by Snowden list Israel as one
of the most aggressive countries seeking to spy
on the U. S., alongside China, Russia, Iran and
Cuba.
The Guardian quoted from other NSA docu-
ments it did not publish in which U. S. officials
expressed concern about the intelligence-sharing
arrangement, citing their worry about trusting
Israel. "One of NSAs biggest threats is actually
from friendly intelligence services, like Israel," an
unnamed NSA official is quoted as writing in one
document. "There are parameters on what NSA
shares with them, but the exchange is so robust,
we sometimes share more than we intended."
The reason that risks are taken with Israel, the
second former official said, is because Israel and
the U. S. have many mutual foreign policy inter-
ests, and Israel in some cases has greater expert-
ise in Middle Eastern languages and cultures.
"Managing the intel-sharing relationship is
always kind of a quid pro quo," the official said.
"One country may have access to certain commu-
nications that we cant otherwise get, so there are
decisions made at fairly high levels whether or not
its worth it to share." (LA Times, Sep 11, 2013)
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20 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES www.milligazette.com
STELLA WHITE
An English-born, Roman Catholic writer from London. Married to
a Muslim husband for the past 10 years, she has written for The
Observer, The Express and many other national titles.
Many women, Muslim or otherwise, wear the veil not by com-
pulsion but by choice. So why should anybody have the right to
tell them not to?
Opponents of the veil claim that they are defending freedom,
protecting Muslim women from oppression and society from
security threats. In courts, from now on, a womans verbal testi-
mony is insufficient; her face must now be inspected for suspi-
cious movements or symbolic wrinklings. This campaign erodes
the very freedom it claims to preserve.
A free society is dependent upon personal privacy. Nobody
needs to know what I do, where I go or with whom. In particular,
nobody needs to know what I look like. My appearance is my own
business, not yours. If I choose to walk around in a hoodie, in a
polka-dot bikini, in men's clothes, in Islamic robes, in a Batman
costume, it is up to me - and nobody else. I will not allow anyone
to define my identity or to label me. I become the person I want to
be every day. So although I am a Catholic from generations, more
English than bloody-mindedness itself, I often choose to wear
Islamic dress.
Not all women are pressurised into wearing the veil: within
many families, some wear it and others choose not to. Muslim
women are also protected by our laws. At any time, they may
throw off the veil or call the police if they are intimidated. Outreach
groups make women of all cultures aware of their life choices.
What baffles Europeans is that many women, like me, actually
choose to wear it. Not because we are frightened or backward,
but because we relish the privacy, the peace, the protection.
Nobody forces me: my husband - an Algerian now anglicised
- cringes when I wear it. But its not up to him.
Islamic dress, like feminist dress, resists body fascism.
Youve got to look good, the culture industry tells us, or you will
never find work, never socialise and never be loved. This domi-
nant view drives schoolgirls to anorexia. It leads women to have
nose jobs, spend hundreds on make-up, shiver in miniskirts and
damage their feet with high heels. Great for business, but not for
the individual, who feels like they are converted into an object,
dependent for their happiness upon what others think.
Given the kaleidoscope of British fashion, why is Muslim
dress singled out for attack? It is an especially soft target for the
tabloid press and their anti-Muslim bedfellows, the English
Defence League. Veil-wearing women have been insulted and spat
at, in scenes reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Politicians resisting
this mob are therefore displaying exceptional moral courage.
The suicide bomber argument is illogical: a bomb could be
hidden by a baggy suit or a rucksack perhaps, but how could it
possibly fit under a little flap of material covering our faces? CCTV
cameras in Britain, as well as our excellent intelligence services,
can track genuine suspects without needing to have the whole
populations faces constantly turned to a screen. In what sort of
society, anyway, must we be constantly exposed and inspected?
Unlike Europe, much of which has embraced both ID cards and
the veil-ban, in Britain freedom means something very specific:
doing whatever you like as long as it does not harm others.
Certainly, allowing veils causes far less distress than their
forced removal. Freedom cannot exist if it is freedom except this
and except that - in the end it disappears. The freedom to wear
what I want is a freedom that I take very seriously: my body, my
face, my veil! (theday.co.uk)
Youve got to look good, the culture industry tells us, or you will never find work, never socialise and never be loved. This dominant view drives schoolgirls
to anorexia. It leads women to have nose jobs, spend hundreds on make-up, shiver in miniskirts and damage their feet with high heels. Great for business,
but not for the individual, who feels like they are converted into an object, dependent for their happiness upon what others think.
Marrying first cousins
has horrific genetic
consequences
In the UK more than 50 per cent of British Pakistanis
marry their first cousins - in Bradford that figure is 75
per cent - and across the country the practice is on the
rise and also common among East African, Middle-
Eastern and Bangladeshi communities.
TAZEEN AHMAD
My mum has always had a special place in her family
because she was the first girl to live beyond childhood. Five of
her sisters died as babies or toddlers. It was not until many
years later that anyone worked out why so many children died
and three boys were born deaf.
Today there is no doubt among us that this tragedy
occurred because my grandparents were first cousins.
My family is not unique. Back when my grandparents
were having children, the medical facts were not established.
But today in Britain alone there are more than 70 scientific
studies on the subject.
We know the children of first cousins are ten times more
likely to be born with recessive genetic disorders which can
include infant mortality, deafness and blindness.
We know British Pakistanis constitute 1.5 per cent of the
population, yet a third of all children born in this country with
rare recessive genetic diseases come from this community.
Despite overwhelming evidence, in the time I spent film-
ing Dispatches: When Cousins Marry, I felt as if I was
breaking a taboo rather than addressing a reality. Pakistanis
have been marrying cousins for generations. In South Asia the
custom keeps family networks close and ensures assets
remain in the family. In Britain, the aim can be to strengthen
bonds with the subcontinent as cousins from abroad marry
British partners.
Some told us they face extreme pressure to marry in this
way. One young woman, Zara, said when she was 16 she
was emotionally blackmailed by her husbands family in
Pakistan who threatened suicide over loss of honour should
she refuse to marry her cousin. She relented and lives in a
deeply unhappy marriage. But others told me of the great ben-
efits of first cousin marriage - love, support and understand-
ing. To them, questioning it is an attack on the community or,
worse, Islam.
At a Pakistani centre in Sheffield, one man said: The com-
munity feels targeted, whether that be forced marriages or
first-cousin marriages. The community is battening down its
hatches, not wanting to engage.
As a British Pakistani, I am aware of the religious, cultur-
al and racial sensitivities around this issue and understand
why people would be on the defensive when questioned about
it. At times I was torn between explaining the health risks
while privately understanding the community's sense of being
demonized.
It is not about religion or cultural identity. It is about avoid-
able suffering such as that experienced by Saeeda and Jalil
Akhtar, whom I met in Bradford. They are first cousins and
have six children, three with the genetic disease mucolipido-
sis type IV. This stops the body getting rid of waste properly
and affects brain functions controlling vision and movement.
Mohsin, their second eldest, is 17 and blind. He wanders
aimless and helpless, often crying in frustration. His sisters
Hina, 13, and Zainab, 11, have the same condition. They live
in almost complete darkness. Saeeda is worn down from
years of round-the-clock care. She spoon- feeds them, dress-
es them and fears for them. Neither she nor her husband can
quite accept that their familial link is the cause of this pain.
This is a major public health issue that has huge implica-
tions for other services. The cost to the NHS is many millions
of pounds.
On average, a childrens hospital will see 20 to 30 reces-
sive gene disorders a decade, but one hospital in Bradford
has seen 165, while British Pakistani children are three times
more likely to have learning difficulties, with care costing
about 75,000 a year per child.
However, during this investigation we found no efforts to
introduce any national awareness-raising campaign. Why?
We approached 16 MPs with a significant number of British
Pakistani constituents for interview - every one declined. A
lone voice was Ann Cryer, former Labour MP for Keighley,
near Bradford, who said fear of being accused of racism or
demonisation' prevented politicians speaking up.
The conclusion some will draw is that cousin marriages
should be banned. I disagree. (Then you are part of the prob-
lem). But people must be able to make informed choices
about the risks involved and options available, be they genet-
ic screening, counselling or carrier-testing.
If this were any other health issue, politicians would have
been out in force. But they are silent and as a result children
continue to be born with terrible, preventable disabilities that
are devastating their lives and those of their loved ones. (UK
DAILY MAIL H/T Scottish)
Why I believe in the right to wear the veil
BOOKS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 21 www.milligazette.com
Bashiruddin Babukhan wrote his autobiography
and released it last December in Hyderabad. The
following review was published last February
while the author was still alive:
SYED SHOAIB
Book: Living under the Rainbow - My Enchanted Life
Author: Bashiruddin Babukhan
Pages: 288
Year: 2012
In the age of pulp fiction and self-help books, this life story comes
as a refreshing whiff of fresh air. Just breeze through it to feel the
cool of a life lived colourfully and in turn, help yourself take out the
stress from the steamy touch of daily living. One of Hyderabads
well-known personalities Bashiruddin
Babukhans book Living under the
Rainbow - My Enchanted Life, is the
autobiography of a man well-rooted in
human values, despite the high life led
through a myriad of rich experiences in
different parts of the world and in the
company of high-society people like
politicians and film stars. Known for his
intellectual honesty, Babukhan has
opened the window for us to get a
glimpse into his life lived and recorded
with a clarity that can even be convert-
ed into celluloid. For an industrialist-
cum-politician, who resigned from the
then Chandrababu Naidu ministry as
the only minorities representative putting the secular credential of
the Telugu Desam party under cloud, charitable work comes easy.
In the rich (literally
and figuratively) life nar-
rated, of par ticular inter-
est to me was the sec-
ond chapter on
Bangalore and Beyond.
The keen observation of
the Jesuits who run the
St Josephs European
High School - Despite
being deeply devout
Christians, where the
laity routinely wore the
cilice, never once did
they even suggest that I
and other non-Catholic
students conver t - calls
for kudos. It still holds
good today, like the
over t comparisons
between Hyderabad and
Bangalore over weather
and schooling.
The author is a Muslim who, through his varied achievements,
has made a difference to the negative world view of his counter-
parts. In the chapter on Empowerment through Education and
Philanthropy, he notes: I often wonder why even educated
Muslims adhere to Shariat only in matters concerning marriage,
divorce and inheritance? This observation comes from a man
who is constantly thinking of ways to uplift the majority poor and
uneducated section of the followers of Islam.
The last lesson on Chinese Checkers and Western Check-
ups, teaches one how even the rich can handle physical illness
with grace and grandeur. In places like Beijing and Chicago, the
legend managed to study up the commercial and media aspects
of the place along with time-consuming inhalations and other
medical procedures. It is with academic precision that he absorbs
cultures of different countries. This is incredible for a man who is
on the wrong side of 70 and going strong.
As a doyen of the regal clan, the glossy pages of the book,
well-produced colour and black and white pictures, cover page
with pleasant rainbow colours, simple language and precise
life record smacks of polish and erudition. Like the final chap-
ter proclaims, Babukhan has left behind a legacy through this
record of his life journey. This book stands as tall as the big
commercial complexes built by him in the City. Way to go Sir!
(postnoon.com)
We supply any
book published
from Delhi.*
*Contact details on page 19
A life more spectacular than the rainbow
In the chapter on Empowerment through Education and Philanthropy, he
notes: I often wonder why even educated Muslims adhere to Shariat only in
matters concerning marriage, divorce and inheritance?
COMING SOON:
The Urdu translation
of
Godses Children
by Subhash Gatade
Watch this space!
Struggle between
liberals and extremists
in Muslim societies
Book: Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here. Untold Stories From the
Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism
Author: Karima Bennoune
Publishers: W.W. Norton & Company
Year: 2013
Pages: 416
Price: $27.95
LORRAINE ALI
When a relentless pounding shook her familys
apartment door in Algiers, Karima Bennoune
recalls grabbing a paring knife from the kitchen
and hiding. My father looked at me and rolled
his eyes, she writes in the introduction to Your
Fatwa Does Not Apply Here. But I could not
come up with anything else to do. So there I
stood.
Her reaction was not all that absurd. She
was, after all, the daughter of a marked man. Her
secular Muslim father was a professor during
the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in 1990s
Algeria, and his teachings of Darwinism at the
university as well as his criticism of growing reli-
gious militias made him a prime target.
Though the visit turned out to be nothing more
than a warning, it ignited something in Karima.
Twenty years later shes still fighting back against
those who oppress and terrorise in the name of
religion, except these days shes not hiding.
The struggle waged in Muslim majority societies against
extremism is one of the most important - and overlooked - human
rights struggles in the world, writes Bennoune, who is now a pro-
fessor herself at the UC Davis School of Law and has spent the
last two decades advocating for human rights. Her latest attempt,
Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here, aims to give voice to those
who are most at risk from Islamic fundamentalism: Muslims.
From 2010 to 2012, Bennoune travelled the globe, conducting
286 interviews with people of Muslim heritage. She spoke with
housewives, Muslim Brotherhood members, former hostages,
actors, feminists and schoolchildren from 26 countries, gathering
stories about their often risky pursuit of education, creative free-
dom and choice in the face of extremism.
They were people who prayed in the middle of the interview
and others who drank wine when I met them on the prophet
Muhammads birthday, she writes, and Bennoune spoke to them
in places such as Kabul, Lahore, Minneapolis, Cairo and the Gaza
Strip.
Bennoune weaves their stories with her own extensive
research and connects the countless narratives with plenty of her
own opinions (theres a chapter titled Why I Hate Al Qaeda). But
its the people who make this book a fascinating and often heart-
breaking read.
In his tight turban and long white beard, Syed Ahmad Hosaini
does not look anything like what some might think a womens
rights advocate should look like, she writes of a mulla and former
mujahid who, after working with refugee families in Iran, now trav-
els Afghanistan teaching the basics of womens rights. As I sit
with the mulla, [the wind] nearly carries away the headscarf I have
to wear here time and again, leaving chunks of my curls blowing
in the breeze. Syed Hosaini looks as though he could care less.
When introducing a Pakistani whos come up against more
than just adversity, she wastes no time getting at
how much hes risking just to be heard: Six
months after I met Ahmed, his fellow journalist
Saleen Shahzad was horribly beaten to death and
dumped in a canal. And there are those activists
whose families now speak for them, like law stu-
dent Amel Zenoune-Zouani, a young Algerian
woman whose throat was cut for defying mili-
tants by attending college.
Bennounes writing is crisp and conversa-
tional, and she possesses a deft sense of how to
clearly deconstruct the most ingrained American
arguments about violence in the name of Islam.
In the West, it is sometimes assumed that
Muslims generally condone terrorism, writes
Bennoune. The Right often presumes this
because it views Muslim culture as inherently
violent. The Left at times imagines this because
it interprets fundamentalist terrorism as simply a
reaction of legitimate grievances. In fact, many
people of Muslim heritage - though not yet enough - are ardent
opponents of fundamentalist violence, and for very good reason.
Statistically, they are much more likely to be victims....
But as an American writer of Muslim descent, she walks a
shaky tightrope here: Criticize anything Islam and become a poster
gal for right-wing Islamophobes. Defend it and become an apolo-
gist for radicals. Stay in between and chances are youll still be
co-opted - willing or not - by at least one of these duelling forces.
Still, the risk is worth it. Cable news pundits and agenda-driv-
en activists may dictate the ways in which we discuss and think
about issues surrounding religious fundamentalism here in the
U. S., but its the experiences of the people on the ground - argues
Bennoune - that we should be listening to. And now, thanks to the
girl with the paring knife, we are. (Los Angeles Times)
Bashiruddin Babukhans book being released in Hyderabad
by Union Minister Jaipal Reddy lon 23 December last year
Babukhan sitting by a grave
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Azan: Islamic Call to Prayer
Mr. Mithun Dey, in his write-up captioned Azan - My Spiritual Friend
(MG 16-31 August, 2013) has reasonably proved the superiority of Azan,
an Islamic call to prayer over other methods used by other religions to call
people to prayer in their religious places. When he listens to the sound of
Azan from a mosque, he is enthralled with its spiritual message and rel-
ishes spiritual solace in his heart even at jeopardy. Again he says that he
hears the voice of Azan in dream and it awakens him from asleep. After
all, what peace and pleasure, he relishes from the voice of Azan can not
be expressed in worldly word. In fact Azan is unique in its meaning and
significance. Calling people to prayer by Azan and responding to it is
invariably regarded as a great virtuous act in Islam. Azan briefly express-
es the basic concept of Islam in some clear meaningful words and there-
by reminding a man his duty towards Almighty Allah Who has created and
nourished him on earth. Unlike Azan in Islam, the ringing of bells or blow-
ing horns to call people of other religions to prayer linguistically bears no
meaning. One who has knowledge on Arabic must admit that every word
of Azan linguistically means superb and meaningful call inviting people,
whether they are believers or unbelievers to the divine guidance for their
redemption in the next world. In the long run I would like to conclude the
write-up with the following Quranic verses. No bearer of burdens can
bear the burdens of another. Man can have nothing except what he strives
for (53:38-39, 6:164) Mohammad Abdus Samad
P. B. College, Gauripur, Dhubri (Assam)
Why greatest democracy is silent?
Egypts head of the army, General Al-Sisi, who was appointed by elected
president Dr. Muhammad Morsi, has ousted and arrested dejure president
Dr. Morsi and has become defacto military dictator of Egypt, pushing the
Arab worlds largest country into a civil war. The corrupt and tyrant dicta-
tor Mubarak and his men are relesed. Birds of the same feather have flock
together. Millions of Muslim Brotherhood followers and other Dr. Morsis
supporters have been staging country wide democratic demonstrations
against the military coup. The death toll in armys brutal crack down is in
thousands. Condemning the massacre in Egypt, the prime minister of
Turkey Erdogan said people were calling on their rulers to desist from the
coup and give them back their president. But instead of listening to their
people, the coup- stagers in Egypt have responded by sending their gangs
with guns and bullets. Dr. Muhammad Morsi had recently visited India for
strengthening relations and mutual co-operation. He praised India for its
democracy and development. Why the greatest democracy of the world
India is silent on the brutal murder of democracy in Arab worlds largest
country - Egypt? G. Hasnain Kaif, Bhandara, Maharashtra
Comparative Study of other religions in Madrasa
True speaking, our madrasas are still adhere to the centuries old Religious
teaching methodology with little scope of changing the old pattern and
system or training to would be the moulvees equipped fully with Religious
education. While mushroom growing of Religious activities through
expansion of madrasa at every nook and corner or each State where
exists sizeable Muslim populations welcoming gesture declines standard
of providing proper Religious education in these madrasa can not be
denied for which various reasons could be cited and discussed separate-
ly as the same is not the subject matter here. I remember tne incident took
place at Sabooo Siddique Hall, Bombay (now Mumbai ) long back which
was presided by the than Rtd. Justice Tare of M.P.High Court. As per gen-
eral practice Qari was requested to switchover the programme with
TILAWAT-E-QURAN PAK who did the same melodiously. When he was
about to leave the chair after finishing his job, Justice Tare asked him to
get the verses translate in Urdu but he expressed his inability. I agree that
in all cases it does not happened but the fact is that it takes place most-
ly. It is felt that comparative study of religions like Christianity and
Hinduism feasibly found place in madrasa to provide at least fundamen-
tal briefing to would be moulvees to enable them to face the out side chal-
lenges in practical life. In and about majority of FARIGH-UT-TAHSEL of our
madrasas have no or little knowledge of Christianity and Hinduism (Bible,
vedas ) which are decorated with the message of arrival of LAST
PROPHET (PBUH). Admittedly, comparative study and arrangement for
the same is not a jok as it required huge fund and a classified library
which is beyond the approach of every madrasa but the same time one
can not ruled out the very fact that in every state throughout the Country
exist two or three madarasas which beside sound financial infrastructure
and aids from some rich Islamic nations could easily switchover the plan-
ning for comparative studies in question. Institutions like Darululoom
Deoband, Nadvadululema, Jamaiatul Falah, AKal Kuwa and other
madrasas or great repute functioning in each state provide facilities of
comparative studies to the aspirants to inject in and infuse them with all
strength and potentiality to counter the fake allegations and denial despite
covered and predicted by Bible and vedas.
Faheemuddin (Advocate), Nagpur
Tunda, Bhatkal, Akhtar of IM
Recently Indian police was successful in arresting 3 Indian Mujahideen
operatives (Abdul Karim Tunda, Yaseen Bhatkal, Akhtar) from the India-
Nepal border. All three have confessed to being operatives of the terrorist
Indian Mujahideen group and have confessed to planting bombs in sever-
al locations in India in the last few years. Tthey have provided detaiedl
accounts of the operation of IM. For several years now people were say-
ing that IM is a fictitous name as no organization by that name exists. Now
police has provided all the evidence thst is needed. All of these IM oper-
ators were funded by Pakistan based terrorist group LeT.
Since the Batla House encounter people were saying that the
encounter was false. But now Shahzad has been convicted in a New Delhi
court in this case. Now defenders of Shahzad are silent. We must realize
that defending Pakistan sponsored terrorist groups is very harmful to the
human rights and the best interests of Muslims in India. Pakistani terror-
ist groups are hell bent on creating problems in India. They will never stop
because that is the reason for their existence. We Indian Muslims are
jeopardizing the welfare of our people by defending these criminals. If we
keep on doing that we will loose the support of many secular Hindus and
we will become a laughing stock. The Muslims of India do not want to
defend any instances of terrorism. Remember how Muslims of Mumbai
reacted to the Pakistan organized terrist attack (26/11). Those of us who
live outside India can say whatever we want, but it has a direct reaction
on our people in India. Think of their welfare, not just become emotional.
Kaleem Kawaja
kaleemkawaja@gmail.com
GIO case against Mumbai Police
Jamaate Islami has taken a very correct, though long delayed action
against rogue elements in Police and Media, who have played havoc with
the lives and reputation of 200 million Indian Muslims, and had long had
a field day without any accountability for their acts of commission and
omission. Jamat action is very proper and legal and would get the judici-
ary on their side, as and when their stand is vindicated. Jamate Islami has
shown a right direction to all other Muslim and Human Rights organiza-
tions to approach courts to get their grievances addressed, as both exec-
utive and legislation are patently against them and their rightful causes.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com
Why no protest in Lucknow?
Everybody is stunned to see the absence of any significant public protest
on the streets of Lucknow against the mayhem and bloodshed that con-
tinues in MuzaffarNAGAR since 27 August 2013. As per the reports, most
of the violence which sparked spate of violence took place so very near
to the police stations. Enough of administrative complicity. News-reports
are increasingly making it clear as to how do these communal riots and
polarizations are going to extend electoral benefit to the ruling dispensa-
tion at Lucknow. The AMU Teachers Association is yet to open its mouth;
it is so very swift in opening its mouth against its VC, but that is an aspect
I should better maintain my silence. I cant afford more of hazards. The
stories coming from the survivors of the victims are too horrendous.
Professional politicians, and petty [aspirant] politicians desperately seek-
ing votes are the only ones paying some lip service, and in exchange
making disproportionately high degree of self-projection. It is disgusting
and painful. Mohammad Sajjad, AMU
(on worldofaligs)
Humans or toilet worms?
What can be said about the dirtiest torcherers of Dr. Irfan Khan except that
all, from top to bottom, who employed pigs in human forms must await
the Almightys never ending severest chastisement. May Gods curse be
upon all the liars and oppressors in every form. 1st Aayat of 6th Surah
allows condeming oppressors is loudly
S. Akhtar, Khanpur Deh - 392150
Facts about Shah Banu case
It is very unfortunate that the constant and consistant propaganda of the
BJP and anti-Muslim lobby has succeeded in misguiding a number of
political leaders, journalists and intellectual and that is why they blame the
Congress for unleashing the process of communalism culminating in the
highly deplorable demolition of the Babri-Masjid. They contend that the
late Prime Minister Rajic Gandhi had capitulated before the Muslim funda-
mentalists for undoing the judgement of the Supreme Court in Shah Banu
case through legislation and that it was the first Act of the tragic drama
leading to the demolition of the mosque, but they do not say a word about
the yatras taken out by the Hindu Chauvanists and the highly inflamatory
anti-Muslim speeches made during the early eightees unfortunately
unchecked by the State Government which aroused religious passions of
the majority community and the formation of the militant Bajarang Dal and
the highly provocative activities of VHP. Had the Shah Banu case been
decided and Muslim law of divorce had not be questioned, there would
have been no Muslim reaction. Muslims of all shades of opinion not only
fundamentalists grew apprehensive about their personal law when there
law of divorce was questioned. As early as in 1931 the Karachi Congress
through its resolution on fundamental riots had assured Muslims that they
would have the freedom to follow their personal law and this had been
reiterated during the Prime Ministership of Pt. Nehru and Smt. Indira
Gandhi. After the judgement in Shah Banu case, Muslims strongly felt that
a legislation based on the rights bestowed on Muslim divorcee women by
the Shariat should be passed the Parliament to allay their fears. Insistance
on this that Muslims should have the freedom to follow their religious laws
in matters of divorce, marriage and inheritance is neither communalism
nor fanaticism. It is completely forgotten by the critics of Rajiv Gandhi or
the Congress over the Muslim Women Divorce Act that the Act has not in
any way incroached upon Hindu or any other communities interest or had
been at its cost. It was entirely a Muslim issue. The intiative that the
Central Govt. should get a legislation based on the provisions of the
Shariat passed by the Parliament was taken up by Congress Muslim M.
Ps in July, 1985 when under they had urged the Prime Minister to pass
such a legislation and earlier the Prime Minister had sought the opinion of
all Congress Muslim M. Ps about the Supreme Court judgement on Shah
Banu Case, Muslim personal law through Mr. Fotedar his - political secre-
tary and the consensus was that a legislation containing the riots given by
the Shariat to Muslim Divorce Women be passed by the Parliament. Can
the Congress Muslim M. Ps be called fundamentalists. Muslims of all
shades of opinion were behind this demand. Adherence to once religion
or the demand that what has been gurantee to them by the law or by the
commitmant of the Congress can by no logic be called fanaticism. The
Supreme Court had struck the Bank nationalisation and the abolition of
privipurses of the princes Acts, but critics of Muslim Divorcee Women Act
of 1986 do not say word about the Acts of Parliament passed on these
two matters after the Supreme Court judgement.
Dr. Muhammad Hashim Kidwai, ex-MP, New Delhi
Terrorism in the name of Islam
Im terribly pained by the shocking massacres in Peshawar and Nairobi,
perpetrated by Muslim fanatics, who dont even have a scintilla of knowl-
edge of Islams humane spirit. Such nincompoops besmear the image of
Islam and prompt the detractors of this exalted faith to hurl abuses at it.
Islam and for that matter, no religion advocates killing anyone. It defies all
logic and flays the words and diktats of god. Violence has never served
any purpose and done no good. Why cant we all live peacefully, shunning
even a streak of violence from our hearts and minds? We all need to be
further evolved to be completely emancipated of violence and bloodshed.
Sumit Paul, Pune
sumitmaclean@hotmail.com
I am simple person with an engineering background and have designed a
website maqsoodview. com keeping in mind Muslim students who wish
to have professional education but because of inadequate number of col-
leges in their states they are facing lots of difficulties. Our website
includes all Muslim colleges of India. Colleges are listed state wise for
easiness. We have designed the website on the philosophy that A pic-
ture worth thousand words]. Large full size photographs of colleges and
their facilities are given. Maqsood Ahmed
maqsood@maqsoodview.com
Muzaffarnagar riots
The trust reposed by the Muslims in Samajwadi government has tattered
once again. Dozens of innocent lives are lost and thousands had to flee
their homes when Muslims were targeted in and around Muzaffarnagar.
As the irony would have it, the Muslims across the State of Uttar Pradesh
are being virtually left to fend for themselves between the parties who
propagate hatred against them and those who promise to protect them.
The cancer of communalism is spreading in rural areas as it is found as
an easy route to garner votes by dividing the society instead of treading
the difficult path of development. The hand-in-glove liaison between the
Samajwadi Party and the Saffran Brigade is quite palpable. We are pass-
ing through a difficult phase, where the very tenets of secularism which
form the backbone to our constitution are at stake. The UPA government
has failed in its promise to bring-in an effective bill to prevent communal
violence. It may blame the principle opposition party BJP for halting the
passage of the Communal violence Bill, but it did never show seriousness
to mull-over the promised bill as it has shown eagerness to push through
the Food Bill by discussing with all political parties.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa, A. P
Muzaffarnagar riots
Apropos of the news that BJP MLA Suresh Rana has been arrested in
connection with the Muzaffarnagar violence, it is a welcome step. Rana is
said to have played a crucial role in inciting innocent minds to violence.
Hopefully, other accused too, including those against whom a NBW has
been issued, will be soon within the reach of the law. As a matter of fact,
these leaders are responsible for poisoning the members of Jat and
Muslim communities who would otherwise believe in peaceful coexis-
tence. We also expect that the arrest will not be just an eye-wash and to
satisfy the public anger. A tough stand against the communal elements,
especially the politicians, will send them a clear message that the culture
of exception will no more be practiced. A.Hameed Yousuf
ahameed12@gmail.com
Is boycott of elections the only option before Indian Muslims?
No need to go into the details, but the reality is now well established that
Indian Muslims stand as the most hapless and helpless community in the
country. For the last sixty years it has been ruthlessly squeezed between
naked fascism and fictitious secularism. They have sacrificed their every-
thing just on the false slogans of security which too has been a mirage for
them, so much so that the voting percentage of different parties is calcu-
lated according to how many Muslims have been massacred, how many
Muslim girls have been raped, how many have been displaced, and how
much sense of terror is created in their minds.
We have tried every experiment but what emerges in the end is the
fact that the condition of the community is going from bad to worse and
no glimpse of hope seems to be in sight. Our intellectuals come forward
with long thesis on the communitys predicament and prepare a charter
of demands, without realizing that they have no leverage to get it imple-
mented. Many may disagree with my observation that there is not the
slightest difference between Hindutwa forces and these hypocritical sec-
ular parties. They are complementary to each other as all are the benefi-
ciaries from the Muslim blood. All whom Muslims have been voting for in
the name defeating B. J. P. are the same. The realities are known to all
and, therefore, need no detailed analysis. We are today standing at the
most precarious cross roads of history, with every passing day threaten-
ing to offer a further frightening scenario. In my view, the only option
before the Muslim community is to boycott the election without caring
who wins and who loses. When all are same, the victory or defeat of any
party means nothing to them, but their decision to boycott the elections
is the only way to declare their frustration to the nation.
Dr. Mustafa Kamal Sherwani, Lucknow, U. P.
Lack of quality education
Our community is getting education, not quality of education which is
really a matter of concern. Firstly Our seminaries are needed to be over-
hauled. Our youths should not be devoid of Science and Technology. Our
community is stagnant, not dynamic ,leading a sedimentary life. We can
never compete with rest world so long as we are not of acceptable nature.
Contractors of Islam are more responsible for worst days of our commu-
nity. They are not only playing with calibre of our youth ,but they have
made our youth impotent also. They want to establish Muslim State here,
they want to implement Shariah in India. Is it possible to be realised in so
diversed State?, when they can not implement same in their own home.
When a person is impotent in home ,Can he be potent in Brothel
?Conservatism and perfectionism are two different ideologies, which
could not be understood by our so called spritual scholars. Revivalism is
totally different from Reformism. Reformism is misguiding ideology. Our
Community needs Revival, not Reform. Our youths are being remotely
controlled by untrained, unskilled, unadepted so called spritual leaders.
They are pundits and experts neither in spritual affairs nor in worldly
affairs. A spritual life can never be perfect without worldly life which is not
being comprehended by them. You can never alienate worldly life from
spritual life, if you have to be perfect person. They are focusing only upon
spritual life, eliminating worldly life. Faiz Imam, Adv. Patna high court
faizimam01@gmail.com
When Rome Was Burning, Nero Was Fiddling
It is rather ridiculous the ISRO scientists have sent a satellite worth of 450
crores to Mars .was it so essential to invest such a heavy amount in these
days inflation and falling the value of Indian currency .. India being a poor
country should not take up heavy investment project .The rich countries
like USA, Russia, China etc are capable to undertake such adventures .
We need not take interest .The results are farfetched .The prime minister
of India should have permitted such luxurious experiment .The scientists
of ISRO may be able enough to conduct such expensive experiments .but
the nation cannot tolerate and feed crores of rupees in view the poor and
down nation. Dr AH Maqdoomi, Hyderabad
drmaqdoomi@yahoo.com
Sympathy for sex workers
In a recent judgement, the Honble supreme court has expressed its deep
sympathy for sex workers and has observed that they are forced to enter
into flesh trade by horrible poverty. It has directed state & central govern-
ment to frame schemes for their vocational training to lead a dignified life.
One wished that similar sympathy and deep concern is expressed by the
Honble court for the unemployed of the country and direct the central and
state government to give unemployment allowance to the unemployed.
Dr. Hashim Kidwai, ex-MP, Delhi
Secularism - A Unifying Force
Secularism and democracy are foundations of our constitution.
Secularism in the Indian context means the state should remain impartial
and neutral regarding all religions and communities. According to the
Indias constitution all are equal irrespective of caste and creed. Ours is
a rnulti religious, multi cultural, multi lingual country. The architects of
Indias constitution were men of wisdom who believed in Unity in
Diversity. Moreover Hindu brothers are not homogeneous. There are
diverse creeds, cultures and traditions in Hindu society. Some Hindus are
vegetarian while some eat meat. Some Hindus practice different customs
and personal laws. Even gods and goddesses of different regions are not
common. Secularism is necessary to accommodate peacefuly such
diversities in Hindu society. Hence secularism is essential for harmony
and peaceful co existence. Infact secularism is Indias destiny which
stood the test of time. Secularism guarantees unity and integrity of our
country and of our plural society.
G. Hasnain Kaif, Bhandara, Maharashtra
REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2013 23 www.milligazette.com
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24 The Milli Gazette,1-15 October 2013
Printed, published and owned by Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan and printed at Vibha Publication Pvt Ltd., D-160B, Sector-7, Noida, U.P. and published at D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave-I, New Delhi 110025.
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With best compliments from
Kaleem Kawaja , Washington DC
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Areas of Cooperation between Muslims & Believers in Eastern Religions
Relationship between Muslims and others
Similarities between Islam and Sikhism
Buddhism and Islam
Jainism & Islam: A Comparative Study
Scope of Cooperation Between Islam and Other Religions
Areas Of Cooperation Between Muslims & Believers of Eastern Religions
Mutual Respect Among Religions Not Mere Tolerance Necessary For Everlasting Peace
And Harmony
Countering Negative Impact of Globalisation, Need of an All-religion Alliance against
Evils and Injustices
Soul of Islam
Time opportune for Civilizational Dialogue
A perspective on Muslim - Buddhist Dialogue
Interfaith in Islam
The Importance of Dialogue Between Islam & Hindu Religion
Interactions Between Muslims And Others In India: A Historical Perspective
Religion, Terrorism, Tolerance And World Peace
The Sanatan Dharma (Eternal principle) beliefs in Nepa
Contributions of Islamic and Buddhist Philosophy towards World Scientific Temperament
Contribution of Islam to Peace
Relationship between Hinduism and Islam: Some Remarkable Theological and Historical
Truth
The Importance of Faith in Interfaith Dialogues
Commonality of beliefs and shared ideas between Islam and sikh religions
The Tolerance of Islam in the Context of World Religions
The oneness of God, the oneness of faith
Muslim-Buddhist Relations And Their Coexistence
Basics of Dialogue Between Islam and oriental religions
Views for international dialogue between islam and oriental religions
Islam & Oriental religions
Towards Peaceful Co-Existence
Islam aur mashriqi mazahib kay darmiyaan muzakaraat ki bunyaad Swami Laxmi
Shankaracharya [urdu]
Relationship between Muslims and other religion - An India Case
Shared values between Islam and Eastern Religions
Islam and Dialogue: Some Rules to Remember
Dialogue in Todays World: Some Personal Reflections
Islamic Perimeters Of Inter Religious Dialogue
CHARITY ALLIANCE
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response to our
Muzaffarnagar Relief
Appeal.
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all aplenty in both
worlds.
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