Terrorism 2,39,12,17

Hindutva/BJP 4,9,13

Muslim policy 5,7

Media 6

Gujarat 10,11

Kerala round-up 8

J&K 5,14

Human rights 11,28

Analysis 9,18

Special Reports 13, 17-18

Issues/Opinion 2,15

Books 28

Cartoons 1, 17

Islamic Perspectives 29

International 23-27

National 3-22

Speaking Out 18

Newsmakers 16

Community News 19-22

Rejoinders/opinion 15

Classifieds 30

Letters 31

Rs 10 1-15 October 2009

Fortnightly32 pages

233 Vol. 10 No. 19 ISSN 0972-3366

Inside

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Were the anti-Muslim riots in 2002 in Gujarat partof State-part of an orchestrated violence asnumerous quarters from across India and theworld think they were? The Nanavati-Mehta

Judicial Commission has, at last, taken a formal decisionthat rubbishes persistent claims by human rights watchersto that effect. The commission's order issued on Sept 18and made public on Sept 19 characterized testimonies notjust of activists but of top police officers as well as "vagueallegations" and "unwarranted assumptions." It categorical-ly refused to summon Narendra Modi to question him on hisactions and inactions, which his own Party supremo ABVajpayee described it as a "blot" on India's face.

Around the same time that the former Supreme Courtjudge stuck to his position to not touch an alleged crimi-nal responsible for massacre of hundreds of Muslims, thehonourable Home Minister of the country, PChidambaram, was singing an entirely different tune.Commenting on the restriction imposed by Pakistan gov-ernment on the movement of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed forthe second time in this year, Chidambaram said: "Mydemand is that now that he (Saeed) has been arrested heshould be interrogated on the 26/11 incidents. His role inthe 26/11 attacks must be investigated."

Chidambaram is just back from a junket to US wherehe urged anyone who cared to meet him to intervene inthe issue and press Pakistan to deal sternly with the Chiefof Jamaatud Dawa. Any person with a trace left of a senseof balance would observe the striking double standards.What is sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gandertoo. It is simply not fair to divorce prosecution of a schol-arly Islamic ideologue for alleged crimes from interrogationof a street-smart chief scientist of the laboratory of [a bar-baric brand of] Hindutva that called for the pogrom.

The judicial panel that so nonchalantly indulged inwhitewashing comprises of retired justices GT Nanavatiand Akshay Mehta currently. Funnily enough, it was toshed authentic judicial light and bring the truth behind theactual masterminds that the Commission is supposed toexist. Both Nanavati and Mehta have no reason to short-en their sinecure assignments, secured to reward loyaltyto appropriate regimes during employment. Another dig-nitary - Justice KG Shah - was to originally head thepanel. But, the farce of a known BJP loyalist heading theCommission was too obvious to continue. He was notoutright dumped, but allowed to work under Nanavati.This he did for six years before dying in 2008 after serv-ing the cause of 'justice' in India till the age of 73.

Nanavati had headed a Commission to probe the1984 anti-Sikh riots. Predictably, he could not even movehis little finger against powerful cronies of Indira/Rajiv

Gandhi, who 'bravely' taught a lesson to a whole commu-nity. From all indications, the wizened 74-year-oldappears set to serve the cause of justice till in his late 80s.Given the 'dynamic' pace of his work, he may surpass therecord of Justice Liberhan, who took 17 years to compilea monumental record of the demolition of the BabriMasjid.

The 'honourable' judges also rejected the plea tosummon two of Modi's lieutenants, Ashok Bhatt andGordhan Zadaphia. The same rationale to shield Modiwas employed to let them off the hook. Ashok Bhatt hadbeen a prominent don of Khadia area in Ahmedabad inhis heydays. After providing "protection" to the wealthiestof traders in Gujarat concentrated in the busy locality, hebecame a typical Indian trade union boss, much soughtafter by tycoons to buy industrial peace. Becoming Modi'shealth minister in 2002, he became law minister and isnow the 'honourable' Speaker of the august Assembly oflawmakers of the state. Zadaphia was the home ministerwho oversaw the pre-preparations and the conduct of theriots. Impatient to consolidate his power through morehawkish postures, he soon fell out with his boss.However, Zadaphia has been lucky to escape the fate ofHaren Pandya - another Home Minister who fell out withModi due to overambitions and got bumped off undermysterious circumstances.

As a saving grace, the Commission decided to gettough with three small-time staff of those days, who ranerrands for the CM. The personal assistants SanjayBhavsar, Tanmay Mehta and Om Prakash Singh havebeen directed to file affidavits. They have been asked torecall their mobile-phone communications at the height ofthe riots between February 28 and 3 March 2002.

The Commission came to this decision on an applica-tion moved on 31 August 2007 after a full two years of care-ful analysis. Jan Sangharsh Manch, a civil rights organiza-tion fighting for 'justice' of a different kind incomprehensibleto the honourable judges, had asked it to summon them forquestioning. The learned judges could not agree with anyof the eight contentions submitted by its counsel MukulSinha. The JSM counsel had wanted to question - apartfrom Modi, Bhatt and Zadaphia - the three personal assis-tants as well as RJ Savani, DCP, Ahmedabad Zone 5 dur-ing the days of the disgraceful governance.

"The commission does not think it proper to summonthe chief minister or any other minister of the governmentand question them about the incidents merely on thebasis of vague allegations or wrong and unwarrantedassumptions," the panel observed in the order. At thesame time, Tanmay Mehta and Sanjay Bhavsar havebeen asked to state if they had talked to Jaydeep Patel, anotorious VHP leader of Naroda in Ahmedabad.

HHaaffiizz GGoooossee,, GGaannddeerr MMooddii,, DDiiffffeerreenntt SSaauuccee!!

»

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MG

MG/Yusuf

Coming very soon

Book smashes “Islamic terrorism” myth in India

A book by a very senior retired policeofficer, who knows the system insideout, says it all in black and white: whostarted terrorism in India, who createdand sustains the terrorism libelagainst the Indian Muslims, howinvestigations are manipulated by IBand security agencies which not onlyplay blind to the Hindutva terror buteven encourage it, how innocents arepicked up with no proof and how evi-

dence is cooked up to implicate them in crimes they nevercommitted, only to keep the myth of “Islamic terroism” alive,how the Hindutvites with the help of their supporters in thesystem used the 26-11 Mumbai terrorist attack to kill ATSchief Hemant Karkare in a side operation? This and manyother questions nagging the country in general and theMuslim community in particular will be answered by this firstof its kind book on the phenomenon of “Islamic terrorism”,rather terrorism agaisnt the Muslim community in India.

Reserve your copy now by remitting Rs 300 (US$ 20abroad) per copy including registered mailing charges. Youmay also pay by visiting www.pharosmedia.com orwww.milligazette.com

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Leader of Free Gaza BoatMovement to visit India

Malegaon: The Palestinian lady who is spearhead-ing the international movement to break the crueland illegal Israeli blockade of Palestine’s GazaStrip is visiting India partly sponsored by MG. Shewill be in Delhi during 28-30 September. HuwaidaArraf will be reaching Mumbai on September 25and will come to Delhi on 28. A Palestinian-American, Huwaida Araf received her Bachelorsdegrees from the University of Michigan, and herJuris Doctor from the American UniversityWashington College of Law, where she focused oninternational human rights and humanitarian law. In2001 Huwaida co-founded the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which hastwice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. During 2007-2008, Huwaida taughthuman rights law at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. She was one of the initiatorsand organizers of a delegation of American lawyers to Gaza in February 2009, andco-authored the report on their findings, "Onslaught: Israel's Attack on Gaza and theRule of Law." She made history when in July 2009 she set for Gaza on a ship as partof what she termed as 'Free Gaza Boat Movement'. The passengers included Nobellaureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Theship also carried three tons of medical aid, children's toys, and rehabilitation andreconstruction kits for twenty family homes.

"The objective of Huwaida's visit to India is to get the country involve farmore deeply than hitherto, into the International Palestine Solidarity Movement",said Firoz Mithiborewala who is coordinating the tour.

Some dissatis-fied people inthe countryare helping theterrorists

Continued on page 18

ISSUES / OPINION2 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

FIRDAUS AHMED

firdyahmed@yahoo.com

Ishrat Jahan died in an 'encounter', her life claimed byencounter specialist DG Vanzara, a DIG of the Gujarat Policenow in jail for the killing in yet another 'encounter' ofSohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausarbi. In the Sohrabuddin

case, a superintendent of police of the intelligence bureau and anofficer of the Rajasthan cadre were also involved. The Ishrat Jahancase recently hit the headlines because of the courageous reportof Metropolitan Magistrate, SP Tamang. Of consequence is thesupposed motive of the police officers involved, that of seeking pro-motions based on their performance against 'terrorists'. This appar-ently understandable motive anchored in human greed serves onlyto paper over a grimmer reality.

Those killed were billed as members of the terror outfitLashkar e Tayyaba out to assassinate the chief minister ofGujarat. This is a plausible construct in light of the strained com-munal relations in Gujarat post the carnage of 2002 and sus-tained propaganda on the suspect nationalist credentials of theminority. The terror connection serves to justify 'encounters' in thepublic mind, creating heroes of 'specialists'. However, this servesto eclipse a divergent construct. Such encounters, and mediahype surrounding them, have instead served to create and proj-ect an image of a minority with external linkages. When seen inthe light of the various bombings of questionable origin across thecountry culminating in 2008, the political project appears to havebeen for creating and sustaining an image of a 'fifth column' inIndia's midst. The hope for fallout was likely as not to influenceperceptions and craft an electoral majority nationally out ofdenominational majority. It's a political project that has deeperroots not only in compromised state structures, which by nowdescribes the state of the Gujarat police accurately, but also informations that claim a cultural rather than political agenda.

While the RK Raghavan-led Supreme Court appointedSpecial Investigation Team would likely throw up more light onthis angle as it culminates by end this year, the NationalInvestigation Agency, set up with considerable fanfare in wake of26/11, should be put to work on this case. What requires probingis the manner the intelligence bureau advisory on terror has beentaken by the Gujarat police as rationale for the killings of IshratJahan and three others. Filed by an under secretary of theMinistry of Home Affairs on August 6 before the Gujarat HighCourt, the affidavit confirms that Ishrat Jahan, Pranesh Pillai aliasJaved Shaikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar as terroristslinked with Lashkar-e-Taiba. The affidavit was filed on a plea byIshrat's mother for a CBI probe. The Times of India reports thatan IPS officer, Rajinder Kumar, of the Gujarat cadre, once thestate IB chief between 2002 and 2005 and now an IntelligenceBureau joint director, was responsible for most of the intelligenceinputs on Gujarat encounters. Thus emerges a questionable con-nection stretching from Maharashtra, from where the abductionsfor the fake encounters took place, through Gujarat where thesewere executed to New Delhi where the rationale was apparentlymanufactured. This is a fit case for the NIA to earn its credentials,set a precedent and lay out its own standards for itself.

The NIA was created in December last through the NIA Act.It was meant to enable the Center to act in cases of nationalimport through the inclusion of a schedule of central acts cover-ing offences against the state, terrorism, atomic energy, anti-hijacking, weapons of mass destruction etc. Since 'terrorism', ofwhich the 'encounters' and bombings are part, acquired a nationwide footprint, it requires a central agency to probe. With revela-tions of Hindu terror groups, such as an army intelligence officerled Abhinav Bharat involved in terror, and linkages in right wingsubverted police and intelligence apparatus in concerned states,there is a case for central intervention for investigation and out-ing of the truth. Some states having rightly raised objectionsbased on constitutional issues as center-state relations and the

lack of consultations prior to the NIA Act being rushed throughhas led to the Home Minister promising a revisit to the Act.However, objections could have suspect motives such as restrict-ing scope for additional scrutiny of the center so as to constrictthe possibility of unpalatable revelations. This increases theimmediacy with which New Delhi must take the checks and bal-ances introduced to their logical conclusion.

Another long pending measure is warranted to be pro-gressed using this juncture as opportunity, that of policereforms. It appears from the pattern discerned here that

sections of the police stand compromised through infiltration ofmajoritarian sympathisers. Their placement in key positionsand unprofessional actions now constitute a threat to the sec-ular character of the state. Core values being threatened there-by, they are an existential security threat. Underway is virtual-ly an ongoing coup in slow motion from within, one that can bespeeded up in case the political constellation at Delhi is rightonce again in future. Police reforms, mandated by theSupreme Court in response to the PIL of former DGP, ShriPrakash Singh, require progressing and monitoring by theMHA. A professionalisaton of the police could set back thisagenda, to the extent it exists, besides being a project worthpursuing on its own merits.

India is a veritable conglomeration of minorities along dif-fering axes as ethnicity, persuasion etc. The difficulty of creat-ing a majority based on shared primordial affinities has not dis-suaded its activists. Their project requires creation of an 'Other'to succeed. They have managed partially to control the dis-course through 'black propaganda', by succeeding in attribu-tion of all terrorist incidents as minority perpetrated. This haspolitical utility for such forces in marginalising the minority evenwhile elevating their political agenda as the only way a cultur-ally-defined nation can safeguard and cope with the externally-inspired internally-abetted aggression. Therefore, the IshratJahan case has wider ramifications. Clearly, attribution of com-paratively innocent self-interest of the involved police officersin these killings would be to obfuscate the political connectionand context of these crimes. �

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SOROOR AHMEDThose who spend lavishly and squander wealthhave been equated with the brother of Satan byQuran some 14 centuries ago. This was not anisolated statement or executive order issued atthe time of crisis, such as food famine etc, but apart of the basic teachings of Islam. The Hadith(Tradition) of Prophet Mohammad (Peace BeUpon Him), which says spend less water even ifyou are performing wazzu (ablution) with waterfrom sea, explains the fundamental philosophy ofthis ideology.

Today the Indian leadership has woken up torealize the importance of austerity when thecountry came under the tight grip of drought andsubsequent food shortage. First in the month ofAugust came an appeal by the Rashtriya JanataDal president, Lalu Yadav. He asked the affluentlot to skip at least one meal a day as the countryhas the stock of just 13 months of foodgrains.

A fortnight later came Union finance minister'srequest to cut costs. External affairs minister, S MKrishna and minister of state in his ministry,Shashi Tharoor, left their temporary stay in thefive-star hotels. Pranab even appreciated thesimplicity of Mamata Banerjee.

As if that was not enough Sonia Gandhi flewto Mumbai and Mysore by economy class andRahul Gandhi went to (and returned from)Ludhiana by Shatabdi Express. He opted formuch cheaper, chair car, while travelling. Otherministers in the cabinet too followed their leadersas the government has asked them to cut at least10 per cent travel and administrative expenditurein view of the drought.

Whether such exercises really help cut waste-ful expenditures or whether they cause muchhardship to the common passengers--in thename of security to the VVIPs of course--is notthe debate here. We have seen umpteenthexamples of netas pedalling down on a bicyclefor a day in the name of saving petrol and on the

very next day flying on a chartered helicopter orplane to their destination not far away from theircity.

But all these cosmetic steps raise a very seri-ous question: Can austerity and capitalism--thesystem, where everything is decided by market--go together? We adopted this economic policy in1991 and have been championing it since then.When it is market force, which decides the fate ofa human being, the society, the country and theworld where s/he is living how can we cut thecost?

In a capitalist country what is wrong for a min-ister to live and dine in five-star hotels for monthstogether. After all it is good advertisement for thehotel industry in this age of recession, when thereis less flow of international tourists to India. Whythen the ministers were compelled to leave andput up at less expensive places before they arepermanently accommodated?

If all the politicians, who form a sizeable num-ber who travel in the executive class everyday,opt for economy class the airline industry wouldface serious loss. What will happen to the privatefirms running charter planes and helicopters ifthey are not hired by politicians? Liquor baron-turn-MP, Vijay Mallaya or the then Punjab chiefminister, Captain Amrinder Singh, (obviously notnow) treat their helicopters like taxis. It is otherthing that a helicopter ride costs as high as Rsone lakh per hour or even more. What will hap-pen to these poor tour and travel operators if aus-tere measures are implemented strictly?

It can be argued that Vijay Mallaya (not ofCongress Party) and Captain Amrinder Singh arerich people and can afford using private flight likecars. But then Krishna and Tharoor too said thatthey are paying from their own pockets to live infive-star hotels; still they were asked to reduceexpenditure in this year of food scarcity.

Since austerity is against the basic essenceof the policy of liberalization, privatization and

globalization should it be followed in India in thisage of anti-Mahatma Gandhism. After all theFather of the Nation always advocated and prac-tised "Simplify your Needs" policy. He said so in adifferent social and economic milieu. He wantedto make a different India, not the capitalist one.

A person's way of life depends on the philos-ophy of life s/he adopts or propagates. Mamata isknown for her frugal living but it has something todo with the general atmosphere of West Bengal,where unlike many other states, even the chiefminister, be it Jyoti Basu or BuddhadevBhattacharya, leads a relatively simple life.Similarly, defence minister, A K Anthony's wifemay be found travelling in bus in Kerala, but thattoo has something to do with the overall politicalculture in that state. The relatively less flamboy-ant life-style of the Left leaders--they can be fault-ed on other counts-- can not be seen in isolationas it has something to do with their philososphywhich is totally opposed to capitalism, thatencourages wasteful expenditures throughattractive advertisements and other means.

Curiously, this appeal to skip a food a day orspend less on one's own life came duringRamazan, the month of training for Muslims. Yet,we as a community, failed to tell the world thatthis is the basic principle of our ideology.Tragically, Ramazan has now come to be associ-ated with more spending on lavish food and par-ties. So the first thing the Bihar chief ministerNitish Kumar did to cut cost in his home state isto skip this year's Iftar party. The fault is not inhim, but in the Muslims, who failed to disseminatethe basic message of Ramazan. The well offamong the community throw sumptuous Iftar par-ties for those whose tummies are already filled--no not for under-nourished ones.

What an irony it is: the Indian governmenthaving the capitalist economy policy is advocat-ing austerity today. In contrast the very founda-tion of Islam is based on simplicity but sadly its

followers are now counted among the mostwasteful spenders in the world. Regretfully,Ramazan and Haj have become the biggest vic-tims of the capitalist design. The television chan-nels beaming Islamic thoughts, discussions anddebates day in and day out are no exceptions.See their 'Islamic' advertisements. Netizens, allover the world, are these days flooded with offerof Iftar at Rs 695 per plate--yes Rs 695--in certainKarachi restaurant.

When the first masjid of Islam was just athatched roof structure, mosques these days arebeautified like five-star hotels. Emperors of thepast got built masjids like Taj Mahal. They havetheir own design. Keep the simple Muslim soulsconfined to these palatial masjid so that they canoffer namaz and do not pose any serious chal-lenge to the concept of monarchy.

Two recent--one can call it Islamic--examplesare enough to explain the digression in our prac-tice. A reputed young Islamic scholar often seenin a television channel went to a certain Gulfcountry. Before starting his television programmehe spent a few minutes applauding the grandeurof the structure of a particular mosque and theexpnsive chandeliers worth millions. No word onthe need of simplicity of the structure.

Another one is related to a retired Professorwho after returning from a trip to the Unites Statesorganized a meeting where he lectured on thepost-9/11 situation in that country. He explainedto the audience as to how the Muslims areallowed to offer namaz even at the John FKennedy international airport. He then turned hisattention to the month of Ramazan. In a greatdetail he discussed about delicious food and colddrinks people bring to mosques as they breakfast there. The left-overs are then kept in refriger-ators for Sehri. The following day again peoplebring huge amount of food for Iftar. Without atinge of regret he proclaimed that the previousday Iftar kept in fridge is simply thrown in thedustbin as there are enough of fresh things to eatand drink. Are we rozadars or Satan's brothers--the Satan of capitalism. �

Austere Measures Without The Ouster of Capitalism?

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 3

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New Delhi: Jamia Teachers' SolidarityAssociation (JTSA) organised a TorchLight Procession in Jamia Nagar in theevening of 18 Sept, on the eve of 1stanniversary of Batla House Encounter.JTSA is demanding judicial probe intoBatla House Encounter, speedy justice forthe accused and arrested youths and anend to communal stereotyping and minor-ity witch hunting inthe name of Waragainst Terror.

The march start-ed from KhallillullahMasjid at 6:45 on 18September. Peopleof all walks of lifetook part sportingblack bands toprotest 'encounter killings' and toobserve 19th September as Black Day.

Faculty members of Nelson MandelaCentre for Conflict Analysis and PeaceBuilding, Jamia Millia Islamia are active-ly involved in this movement. Jamia

Faculty’s Jamia Teachers' SolidarityAssociation has also organised anonline petition for judicial probe intoBatla House encounter. Readers areencouraged to visith t t p : / / w w w . P e t i t i o n O n l i n e .com/jtsa2009/petition.html and sign thepetition.

In a communication the JamiaTeachers' SolidarityAssociation said that“after the revelationthat Ishrat Jehanwas killed in coldblood, it is timeagain for us to re-assert that a fair andindependent probemust be held in the

Batla House 'encounter'. Note that amagisterial enquiry was blocked by thegovernment through the refusal of the Lt.Governor of Delhi to allow for the same.”For more information contact ManishaSethi at manisha.sethy@gmail.com

BBaattllaa HHoouussee rreemmeemmbbeerreedd

New Delhi: RJD candidate Asif MohammadKhan won Okhla assembly bye election by amargin of 5007 votes, defeating his nearestrivals BrahamSingh of BSP andFarhad Suri of theCongress Party.Asif polled a totalof 23,394 votes.The election washeld on 15September (duringRamadan) and thecounting tookplace on the 17th.Congress candi-date Farhad Suriwith 17,604 voteswas relegated tothe third place.There were asmany as 11 candi-dates from thisMuslim-dominatedassembly con-stituency whichwas earlier held byCongress's ParvezHashmi. BJP can-didate MohammadIrfan who polledonly 2519 voteslost his security deposit and in addition to himsix other candidates too lost their deposits. Inthis election 3 candidates polled less than 100votes. This seat had fallen vacant after theexisting MLA Parvez Hashmi of the Congresswas elected to the Rajya Sabha. Asif Mohammad Khan described his victory asthe victory of Okhla's poor, oppressed and inno-cent people. After his victory, he went to PanjPiran graveyard in Nizamuddin and prayed onthe graves of Atif and Sajid who were killed inBatla House encounter (see photograph).

Another bye-election on the same daywas held for Dwarka assembly constituencyin which BJP candidate Pardhuman Rajputwon, defeating his nearest rival TilotmaChaudhary of the Congress by a margin of

11,362 votes. Thus, Delhi's ruling PartyCongress lost at both seats mainly becauseof internal dissensions. (NA Ansari)

Asif Khan's victory widely welcomed New Delhi: The victory of RJD candidate AsifMohammad Khan in Okhla assembly con-stituency bye-election was widely welcomed bythe people of Jamia Nagar and Muslim organi-sations. Maulana Mufti Mohammad MukarramAhmad said that his victory is in fact the victoryof Atif and Sajid who were unjustly killed bypolice and the defeat of Batla House encounterby police. All India Milli Council's general secre-tary, Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam describedhis victory as that of democracy and an expres-sion of people's anger over the insensitivity ofCongress governments at the centre and inDelhi state over the killing of two innocentMuslim youths. �

Malegaon: In an interesting development, JamiatAhle Hadees in Malegaon this year took it uponitself to collect the Zakatul Fitr - the Eid charityand then distributed them to the poor and needy.Earlier, food grains normally wheat was individu-ally delivered at the doorsteps of the poor to paythe Zakatul Fitr - the mandatory charity given atthe eve of Eid - the Muslim festival marking end ofRamadan - the holy month of fasting.

However, deviating from the traditions,Jamiat Ahle Hadees Malegaon this year pre-pared hundreds of packets containing each offood grains, flour, rice and edible oil, and distrib-uted them to the needy after the crescentappeared over the horizon.

"In Malegaon, Muslims are normally payingZakatul Fitr in the form of wheat after the newmoon is sighted. But looking at the overallmotive behind the Eid charity, the traditionalpractice does not seem to be serving the actualpurpose", said Jamiat Ahle Hadees Maharashtrapresident Dr. Saeed Ahmed Faizee.

Zakatul Fitr is mandatory on every Muslim tomend, as the Prophet (pbUH) said, the mistakesthat intentionally or unintentionally committedwhile fasting in Ramadan. It is paid at the eve ofEid al Fitr, the day of celebrations that marks theend of month long fasting. As the traditions go,they are donated to the poor and needy so thatthey also enjoy the festive season along with fel-low Muslim brothers. "The traditions from theholy sources about the Zakatul Fitr describe thatno Muslim should remain hungry on Eid al Fitr.If we donate the poor with just wheat, that toohours before dawn, it would be neither feasiblenor sufficient to prepare a suitable Eid meal forthem", said Dr. Faizee adding that "Hence thisyear, deviating from the traditional practice, wecollected the charity amounts, purchased foodgrains, flour, rice and edible oil, and distributedthem to the poor and needy."

The concept in fact finds its roots at someplaces in Mumbai, Bhiwandi and few other partsin the country where people were doing thissince years. However, it was the first time thatsomeone adopted the concept in Malegaon."On a recent visit to Bhiwandi, we came to knowof the idea. Back in the city, we discussed it withthe Jamiat authorities who immediately decidedto replicate it in Malegaon", said Hafiz Ashfaquewho was part of the delegation of that the tex-tile town near Mumbai.

Meanwhile, dozens of youths accepting thecall given by Jamiat Ahle Hadees Malegaon vol-

unteered to manage the entireaffair instead of thronging the markets andshopping malls for last minute Eid purchases.Led by Hafiz Ashfaque and Hafiz Faisal, thesevolunteers devoted themselves for the noblecause the entire Chand Raat - the night thatprecedes the Eid Day. On the expected lines,the idea received applause also from the luckypoor and needy who got the 'unique food packs'at their doorsteps few hours before the Eidprayers. "A good and touching initiative", one ofthem could just say. (ummid.com)

Dismissal of student for sporting beard stayed New Delhi: The Supreme Court on 11 Sept permit-ted a Muslim student, who was sacked by aChristian school in Madhya Pradesh for sporting abeard, to continue his studies in the same institu-tion. A Bench consisting of Justices B.N. Agrawaland G.S. Singhvi stayed the dismissal orderpassed by the Nirmala Convent Higher SecondarySchool, a government-recognised minority institu-tion, on an appeal by the student, MohammadSalim. Earlier, on March 30, a Bench headed byJustice Markandey Katju rejected the student'spetition orally observing that secularism could notbe overstretched and that "Talibanisation" of thecountry could not be permitted. Salim soughtreview of the plea stating the observations on"Talibanisation" caused incalculable damage to thecountry's image and the judiciary, besides, hurtingMuslim sentiments. Salim said the order "needs tobe reviewed afresh as the core issue of a Muslim'sright to sport a beard as guaranteed by Article 25of the Constitution [right to practise and professone's religion] was violated by the school."

On July 6, Justices R.V. Raveendran andKatju withdrew the March 30 order and directedthat the matter be placed before Chief JusticeK.G. Balakrishnan for posting it before anotherBench. Accordingly, the appeal was heard byJustices Agrawal and Singhvi. Justice Singhviasked senior counsel B.A. Khan, appearing forthe petitioner, whether the student was dis-missed solely for sporting a beard. When coun-sel said "yes," Justice Singhvi said: "In that case,tomorrow they may say that no Sikh student canbe admitted. Nowadays it has become fashion-able for boys to sport earrings. Will it not beallowed? It is ridiculous." Justice Agrawal said,"They may refuse admission on the colour of theskin also." Counsel said the boy had already lostone year. Salim had contested that he was dis-criminated against for his religious beliefs.

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Asif Mohammad Khan victorious in Okhla election

NATIONAL4 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

Frenchman stokes Hindutva hateA fundraiser in New Jersey on 16 Aug. raised $50,000 for a "HinduHolocaust" museum to be built in Pune. The museum is the brainchildof a Frenchman, Francois Gautier, and is under the auspices of theViraat Hindu Sabha (VHS). They claim that over the past thousandyears, millions of Hindus were killed, with the intention to wipe Hindusoff the map. The numbers are vague, as one might expect, but the cul-prit is precisely defined: Islam. The VHS uses the phrase "Islamicgenocide of Hindus" to make its case. To me this is remarkable stuff.It reduces the complexity of the Subcontinent's rich history into a sim-ple morality play that has only two characters: the Hindu and theMuslim. The latter is the invader who has come and killed the former.Nothing else matters. The idea of the Hindu Holocaust casts the Hinduas history's victim, who should now become history's aggressor toavenge the past. But the Hindu was not always the victim. If you readthe historical records carefully, you will find that many Hindus partici-pated in the slaughter of other Hindus, and that the Hindu-Buddhistbattles of the ancient world were perhaps more bloody than anythingthat comes afterward. Or indeed, that the systematic violence againstDalits and other subordinate castes should hold our attention far morethan it does.

Between Hindus and Muslims there has not been an endlessrivalry for social power. When Islam enters the Subcontinent, it doesnot come in the saddlebags of the Ghaznis or the Ghouris, butamongst the rumble of goods brought by traders. Early conversionsare not by the sword but by the merchants. There was killing, but thatwas as much for reasons of warfare and plunder as for reasons ofGod and tradition. An interested reader might want to look at the dis-tinguished historian Romila Thapar's superb book Somnatha: TheMany Voices of a History (Penguin, 2005). There, Professor Thaparshows us that Mahmud Ghazni's destruction of the Shiva temple in1026 was driven not so much by a fanatical religious belief butbecause his father, Subuktigin, needed money to sustain his falteringkingdom in Central Asia.

When one looks at the sources contemporaneous with theGhaznavid attacks, one finds that they mention these but only as aseries among many. There was nothing about them that merits theterm "Holocaust," even as they were certainly destructive of the tem-ples and of the people who worshipped there. What Thapar points tois that this was not all done by the Central Asia marauders. ManyHindu rulers led attacks on Hindu and Jain temples at this same time,and for similar reasons, as can be seen in the destruction of the Jaintemples of Karnataka (which were converted into shrines of Shiva).Indeed, there is little evidence of animus between Hindus andMuslims in the few hundred years after the entry of Ghazni. In the 13thcentury, a local raja, Sri Chada, granted a merchant from Hormuz theright to build a mosque on temple land. He also provided the mosquewith a disbursement for teachers and preachers, for the daily readingof the Quran and for the celebration of festivals. The Veraval-Somanatha inscription of 1264 shows us that even orthodox Shaivitepriests cooperated in the building of the mosques. In the centuries thatfollowed, common people of Gujarat followed the kind of tradition thatruns from the padas of Narasimha Mehta to the padmavat of MalikMohammed Jayasi, the ethos of mutual cultural development that wasthe hallmark of India for hundreds of years. Things developed to sucha pass in Gujarat that in 1911, more than 200,000 people returnedthemselves as "Hindu-Musalman." In Kathaiwar and Kutch, weddingservices were, until very recently, solemnized by both a SaraswatBrahmin and a Qazi. Such is the history that is thrown to the wolvesby the creation of a "Hindu Holocaust" museum.

Gautier came to India from France about 30 years ago, and set-tled in Pondicherry. He has written a few tracts and writes occasional-ly for the newspapers. His work reads like another European apologistfor extreme Hindutva, Koenraad Elst. Both went to strict Catholicschools and now hold a deep animus against Christian missionaries,but seem to take their venom out mainly against Islam. Gautier andElst want to make plain the "Muslim genocide against Hindus." Butneither is a serious student of history, with little idea of how to read his-torical texts. They draw more from a misplaced passion than from areal, sober scientific exploration of the facts. That they are taken seri-ously is a sign of the degradation of reason in the world of Hindutva.

Vijay PrashadProfessor of South Asian History Trinity College Hartford, Conn.

Hindu students break madrassa stereotypesWith the word “madrassa” emerge in the mind images of students cladin sectarian attires, complete with a quintessential skull cap on thehead, reciting verses from the Holy Quran. Going by the results ofBihar State Madrassa Examination Board the traditional roll model isa part of the truth and not the whole truth.

Among the names emerging from the list of students who havepassed various grade exams conducted by BSMEB this year areSurya Narayan Sah, Priyanka Kumari, Pooja Kumari and PreetamKumari. These students are among 100 Hindu students, both girls andboys, of Madrassa Islamia, Sandalpur in Araria district. A total of hun-dred non-Muslim students came out in flying colours in the Maulvi,Fauqania and Wastania grade exams results of which were declaredon Monday. A list of non-Muslim candidates of Fauqania exam couldbe procured from the madrassa board. A total of 37 students in the listhave passed the exam successfully. Names of Rupa Bharti ofMadrassa Munamia, Sanjay Kumar of Madrassa Islamia, Khardaur,Sanam Kumari and Sandhya Kumari of Madrassa Rahmania, Joktia(both in West Champaran), Balia (Begusarai) and Anita Kumari ofMadrassa Faiyazul Uloom (Chhapra) are included in the list.

What makes non Muslim or Hindu parents enroll their wards in aninstitution which bears a religious tag of other sect and is being asso-ciated with terrorism? According to the board officials, the quality ofeducation and the strict discipline observed in the madrassas is themain draw for parents of the Hindu students. The religious tag and thestigma of terrorism is no deterrent for them as they know it is all prop-aganda. �

New Delhi: A meeting in conection with Quds Day was held inJamia Millia Islamia's Centre for West Asian Studies on 17 Sept.in which ambassadors of various countries, intellectuals, ulama,scholars and journalists in large number participated. Prof AnwarAlam, director of the Centre speaking on this occasion said thatthis meeting is held to express our solidarity with the people ofPalestine and to review their struggle from different angles.Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nabi Zadeh said thatthe government and people of Iran fully support the struggle ofthe Palestinian people. Others who participated in this meetingand expressed their views were ambassadors of Jordan, repre-sentatives of Arab League, Egyptian embassy, former ambassa-dor Ishrat Aziz, Prof Rama Krishnan and others.

Meanwhile, Quds Day was observed in different large andsmall cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad,Bangalore and Kashmir Valley on 18 Sept. and special prayerswere held for the liberation of the oppressed people of Palestine.Protest demonstrations were also held in these and other citieswherein it was stated that durable peace in the Middle East can-not be established unless an independent state of Palestine is setup there. Special prayers were also held in Delhi's Jama Masjid,Fatehpuri and other masjids, Nizamuddin Aulia's Dargah, Imamsof both the “Shahi” masjids, Syed Ahmad Bokhari and MuftiMaulana Mukarram Ahmad asked people in their Friday sermonsto observe this day with special importance and respect. In spe-cial prayers while expressing sympathy with the people ofPalestine, Israeli government was strongly criticised for its atroc-ities and bombings on the innocent and helpless people ofPalestine. Demand was also made to United Nations to pass aresolution in Security Council compelling Israel to vacate occu-pied areas in Gaza Strip, West Bank and other areas illegallyoccupied by Israel and this country should be tried as war crimi-nal for unleashing war of attrition against Palestine and its inno-cent and helpless people a number of times. MaulanaAmiduzzaman Kairanwi, working president of the Old BoysAssociation of Darul Uloom Deoband, demanded trial of Israel asa war criminal for unleashing war against Palestine.

A demonstration sponsored by the National Council of ShiaUlama was held at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on 18 Sept to commem-orate the International Quds Day for the liberation of the FirstQibla Baitul Maqdis and in support of the innocent people ofPalestine. Addressing the vast gathering of demonstrators, pres-ident of the National Council of Shia Ulama, Maulana SyedMohsin Taqvi said that unity amongst us is very essential in orderto protect the honour and sanctity of Baitul Maqdis and to get ridof the cruelties and exploitation of the oppressors. He said thatawakening of Muslims and their unity is what the big powers areafraid of.

General secretary of the National Council of Shia UlamaMaulana Sheikh Mohammad Askari while addressing the demon-strators said that the Quds Day is in fact a symbol of oppositionagainst oppression and hence keeping silence over oppressionis not only cruelty in itself but also a support for oppression.Another speaker, Maulana Syed Naeem Abbas, while condemn-ing the oppression of innocent and unarmed Palestinian people,

made an appeal to prime minister Manmohan Singh to put pres-sure on Israel and United Nations to stop oppression and bar-barism on the helpless people of Palestine. Many others like DrTasleem Rahmani, Maulana Mirza Imran Ali, Maulana Jalal HaiderNaqvi, joint secretary of Majlis Ulama-e Hind, Syed Qamar AbbasSaraswi and a large number of people also addressed the demon-strators. Thereafter, while raising slogans they march ahead fromJantar Mantar towards Parliament Street where they werestopped and arrested by the Parliament Street Police Station butsoon thereafter they were released. Subsequently a delegation ofNational Council of Shia Ulama submitted a seven-point memo-randum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding use of hisinfluence for immediate vacation of Palestinian areas particularlyGaza Strip by Israel, stoppage of Israeli oppression on the inno-cent and unarmed people of Palestine. The prime minister wasasked to use Indian government's influence to solve the problemof Palestine.

In Lucknow, Ali Congress organised a meeting here on 18Sept. on the occasion of Quds Day in which Muslims were askedto get united to liberate the First Qibla from the occupation ofZionist forces and be on the watch against the unholy allianceand intentions of imperialist, Zionist and fascist forces. Al HajMirza Irshad Husain said while addressing the meeting that weshould also be watchful to see if our governments and inimicalforces are not occupying our mosques anywhere in the countryand agents of imperialist and Zionist forces are not working inour midst against our interests and whether we are sponsoringpeople like Shaddad, Pharoah, Nimrod and Yezid. Speakers saidthat leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatullah Khomeinihad willed to go on observing Jumatul Vida as Quds Day for aslong as it is not completely liberated from the occupation ofZionists and the oppressed people of Palestine do not get theirindependence. He further said that Ayatullah Khameini's will anddirectives teach us that voices of protests should be raised notonly against Zionist and imperialist forces but also against allthose forces which are exploiting oppressed people. We shouldoppose all governments which not only deprive us of our rightsbut are also heaping cruelties on us, occupying our places ofworship, conspiring to gobble up our valuable lands and helpingand sponsoring our enemies. He said that Baitul Maqdis is faraway from us but in our own city there are many mosques whichhave been confiscated under Section 145. Government is occu-pying the lands of Imambaras and Karbalas. We should raise ourvoice of protests against these also. On the occasion of QudsDay, together with the restoration of First Qibla and independ-ence of Palestine, we should also pray for the destruction andfailure of people who want to harm Muslim Millat and destroyGod's properties and legacies of our ancestors. In the meeting,concern was expressed over the increasing suspicious activitiesof agents and personnel of Israeli embassy in UP and Muslimswere asked to beware against every danger and conspiracy. Inthis meeting molvis were specially requested to avoid their mutu-al recriminations and confrontations, greed for wealth and flatteryof people in power and apprise the people of Muslim Millat of theirIslamic responsibilities and duties. (NA Ansari)

Discussion on Quds in Jamia Millia

New Delhi: A group of Palestinian refugees staged a sit-inprotest on 22 September in front of the United NationsCommission on Human Rights (UNHCR) office here. Therefugees, driven away from Iraq, accused the UNHRC of ignor-ing them and appealed that they should be soon rehabilitatedand settled in European countries.

"The UNHCR neglect us. They don't care about us. Aboutme, I have been waiting here for one year and one month with-out any progress. I don't have a blue card yet allowing me to geta meagre stipend. There are people who are still waiting forembassy interviews. There's no news,” complained MohammedMousa, a Palestinian refugee living in India. Currently there areabout a hundred such refugees who had fled from Iraq after theatrocities against Palestinians in particular and Sunnis in gener-al. They started fleeing to India and other destinations during thelast four years. Some have been offered US visa but they haverefused to go there, fearing discrimination against them. Mostprefer European countries.

“This office is to help refugees. What about me? I have nosleep. May be very soon I will go crazy because I don't get sleepanymore. I feel my head will burst. My son's future has finished,this is his fourth year and he will leave the college. I'm 52 yearsold. What is this family? No nationality, no job, no money, nofuture, no home!” cried Jamal Ibrahim Ahmed, another refugee.

Sabreen Hassan Mahmood, most of whose family membershave been living in Sweden for the past some months, lives byherself in New Delhi. "I was in Iraq. I came here a year ago. Aftersome months all my family members were sent to Sweden whileI'm left to live here alone for the past seven months. No relative,salary is very bad here. Promises are made again and again butof no avail," said Sabreen Hassan Mahmood, a Palestinianrefugee living in India.

The Palestinian refugees are in India are not allowed toengage in economic activities, including taking up a job or start-ing a business.

Most of them get a monthly stipend from the UNHCR, whichthey say, is not sufficient to make ends meet. About 50 refugeesare still waiting for an interview at the Swedish and Canadianembassies, which are willing to accept them. However, this

process would take another a year. Palestinians say there is along wait ahead before they can be settled.

Muslim board to create awareness about divorceLucknow: All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) hasdecided to create awareness among Muslims against growingtrend of divorces in the community."A growing trend of 'talaqs' has been witnessed among membersof the community. Hence seminars and discourses will be held atvarious places including mosques to make people aware of theills of divorce," a senior AIMPLB member and Naib Imam ofIdgah, Khalid Rasheed Firangimahli, said here on 13 Sept.Through the discourses, people will be made aware under whatcircumstances talaq (divorce) can be held valid as per theQuran, he said adding that people's misconceptions with regardto this practice will also be removed."Talaq cannot be justified... neither from the Islamic point of viewnor from the social point of view and all out efforts will be madeto check this growing practice among the community members,"Firangimahali said adding that talaq is forbidden in Islam exceptunder plausible and pressing circumstances.Informing that there has been a marked growth in matters relat-ed to talaq which come before Darul Qazas (Islamic courts), hesaid it is a matter of concern for all. Besides creating awareness,the Darul Qazas will make efforts to dissuade couples seekingdivorce before starting the proceedings, Firangimahal said."Acting as councillor, the Darul Qaza will organise more than onemeeting between couples to try to work out an understanding,"he said."It will have to be ensured as to why the couple was seeking adivorce and whether it was the only and last option left for them."It would have to be seen whether the couple can work out theirdifferences and if they can save the marriage," he said. On thereasons behind the growing trend, Firangimahali said during thepast few years, people have been found to be opting for divorceas an easy remedy without working out their differences becauseof the rise in the level of stress in everyday life but the effort ofthe board would be to see that snapping of ties should be the lastresort. �

Palestinian refugees protest against UNHCR

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 5

NATIONAL

MOHAMMAD NAUSHAD KHAN

For the protection of the deprived, the United ProgressiveAlliance government is likely to table a draft Bill in thecoming winter session of Parliament, inorder to pave wayfor setting up an Equal Opportunity Commission.The draft

Bill was prepared and distributed by the Ministry of MinorityAffairs among various ministries and concerned departments.Questions were raised by ministries like Home, HRD and Lawover some points in the proposed Bill and on the basis of thatrefused to accept and urged the ministry of minority affairs to lookagain and redraft to make it acceptable to all.G K Pillay, HomeSecretary was of the view that the very definition of deprivedgroup was not clearly drafted and hence it was most likely to bemisused in the near future. He also said "equal opportunitieshave to be given to individuals and cannot be given to groupsbecause within the groups there would be persons who are moreadvantaged".The Minority Ministry after considering suggestionsmade by different ministries redrafted the Bill and has sent to thelaw Ministry for final inspection.Minority Minister Salman Khurshidsaid "his ministry has incorporated substantially the suggestions

made by the law ministry and had accordingly re- drafted theCabinet note. According to minority minister once the EqualOpportunity Commission is set up people approaching theCommission will not have to bring data to redress their griev-ances. All they need is just to trigger off an inquiry.

The EOC is in different name in various countries but thebasic purpose remains the same ie to safeguard the marginalisedsections of the society irrespective of their caste and religion. Itcan be said to the extended version or the amalgamation of thesecountries. In America it is known as the Civil Rights Act (1964), inUK it is the Equality Act(2006), in Canada it is the EmploymentEquity Act(1995), in Australia it is the Human Rights and EqualOpportunities Act (1986) and in New Zealand, it is EmploymentRelations Act (2000). But the big question is: will our governmentbe able to implement the EOC in the line of these countries or itwill be just like other Commission and Committee.

VHP plans rath yatra in NovemberUpset over the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) failure in meetingthe aspirations of its supporters, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) has planned a rath yatra in the guise of the baraat (mar-

riage procession) of Lord Rama in November. It will travel fromAyodhya in Uttar Pradesh to Janakpur in Nepal along with therath of Lord Rama. The VHP spokesperson Sharad Sharma saidover 250 saints will take part in the marriage party. "Our leaderAshok Singal will also participate in the rath yatra. Those who areold and have difficulty in walking will follow the yatra in cars," headded. Mr Sharma said the purpose of yatra is to communicatewith people. The VHP leaders and supporters will accompany arath carrying the idols of Lord Rama and his brothers Bharat andLuxman. It will start on 14 November and reach Doodhamati vil-lage on 21. Its procession will pass through Azamgarh in UttarPradesh and Buxar in Bihar and enter Nepal via Raxaul. The saints in Ayodya used to take Rama's baraat from Ayodya toDoodhmati village in Janakpur district of Nepal on foot every yearin November. There the saints took part in the marriage ceremo-ny of Rama and Sita. The procession was discontinued followingthe demolition of Babri Masjid and communal violence in 1992. Itis believed that the marriage party of Lord Rama had gone fromAyodhya to Doodhmati in Nepal's Janakpur in mythical Satyugera. Earlier in the second week of September, VHP leader AshokSingal had alleged that LK Advani took out a rath yatra in 1990 touse the Ayodhya Ram temple issue for his personal political end. (Fahmi Rahmani)

Srinagar: Kashmir Valley has now become a centre forsale and purchase of liquor. In the month of Augustalone, liquor worth Rs one crore approximately was sold.This is confirmed by government also. According to unof-

ficial sources, from 13 to 16 August liquor worth Rs 1½ croreswas sold legally as well as illegally which was used at touristresorts like Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg and other places dur-ing the holidays. However, police or excise department did nottake any action against any body for selling it illegally. Accordingto some sources, large scale sale of liquor in the Valley hasbecome an important source of income for the government andtherefore effort is being made to encourage the sellers of liquorand bootleggers.According to reports, because of holidays on 14 and 15 Augustand earlier strike on Friday 13 August, people visited tourist cen-

tres in large numbers and heavy sale of liquor took place even atmuch higher cost. According to another reports, people belongingto police department alone consumed liquor worth Rs 37 lakh on15 August. It is also reported that local and foreign tourists whilevisiting tourist resorts on normal days purchase about 15000litres of liquor daily and during the three days of holidays this fig-ure had reached around 50, 000 litres. In view of all this one caneasily conclude that habit of consuming liquor is fast increasing inthe Valley and at tourist and health resorts large amount of liquoris consumed. Though liquor was being openly sold and con-sumed, neither any body made any complaint about this toauthorities nor police at its own initiative took any action againstthis as a result of which these people i e sellers as well as con-sumers are getting encouraged.It may be noted that during 2006-07, 2.85 lakh bottles of liquor

were sold in the Valley whereas by the end of November 2008,this figure had reached 4 lakh bottles. It is estimated that at thisgrowing rate, by 2010 annual sale of liquor in the state will beabout a million bottles. In this way there will be a 25% increase inthe sale of liquor in two years only. According to official sources,at present there are 226 shops in the state selling liquor, of which218 are in Jammu region and only 8 in the Valley. At presentliquor is openly available in 45 bars and hotels of the state ofwhom only 2 are in the Valley. The government gets an income ofRs 245 crores annually. Many people are concerned overincreasing habit of consumption of liquor and while issuing licens-es for sale of liquor many rules and restrictions are being violat-ed. Many shops have been set up only a few metres away fromschools and places of worship and in spite of people's protests,no action is being taken to remove them. �

KKaasshhmmiirr VVaalllleeyy aawwaasshh iinn lliiqquuoorr

Israel has warned that “Islamist” militants arepreparing attacks in India similar to those inMumbai last year. Major hotels and a Jewishcentre were among the targets in Mumbai,

the warning said.Israel's counterterrorism unit said on 17

September that the group whcih launched theMumbai attacks was planning to target Westernor Israeli tourists across India. Israeli televisionreported that a travel advisory warns Israelisagainst travelling to India.

"The terrorist group that carried out the seri-ous Mumbai attack in India is planning to carryout a number of attacks across India, particu-larly against concentrations of Western orIsraeli tourists," AFP quoted the counterterror-ism unit as saying. The Israeli statement saidthe planned attacks could target other Lubavitchcentres in India. The warning was based on "aconcrete, very serious threat", it said.

Reuters added from Occupied Jerusalemthat Israel received a "pinpoint" intelligence tip-off that Pakistani militants may carry out aseries of attacks there in the coming weeks.Citing a leaked copy of the travel advisory,Israel’s Channel Two said the alleged militantshad al-Qaeda links and planned to target bothWestern and Jewish tourists in attacks similar to

last year's attacks in Mumbai.PTI added in a report datelined Occupied

Jerusalem, that the areas of attack includeJammu and Kashmir and added that the Israelitravel advisory to its nationals has rated thethreat as "imminent and concrete". The adiviso-ry has recommended the Israelis currently inIndia to avoid crowded areas, especially touristareas, which have no apparent armed security.

China's Muslim Uyghurs

Forbidden to FastChinese authorities in Xinjiang Province haveissued a notice that any Uyghur cadres or work-ers found not eating lunch during Ramadancould lose their jobs.

It is part of the campaign of local authoritiesin Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uyghur ethnicgroup, to force the Uyghur people to give uptheir religious rituals during the fasting month ofRamadan.

Ramadan is a holy month in the Islamic cal-endar, which began this year on Aug. 22. Itrequires not eating during the daytime.

"Free lunches, tea, and coffee-that authori-ties are calling 'Care from the government' or

'Living allowance'-are being offered in govern-ment departments and companies. But it isactually a ploy used to find out who is fasting,"said Dilxat Raxit, World Uyghur Congressspokesman, speaking to The Epoch Times.

According to Dilxat, Uyghur CommunistParty cadres throughout Xinjiang had beenforced to sign "letters of responsibility" promis-ing to avoid fasting and other religious activities.They are also responsible for enforcing the pol-icy in their assigned areas, and face punish-ment if anyone in these areas fasts.

For the first time, Dilxat said, the crackdownhas extended to retired Communist Party mem-bers. Current cadres are required to visit themto prevent them from participating in the fast. Ifanyone violates the ban, local leaders will beheld responsible and severely punished, hesaid.

Muslim restaurant owners are forced to signa document to remain open and continue sellingalcohol during Ramadan or have their licensesrevoked, he said.

Uyghurs arrested during the July riots inUrumqi are also prohibited from fasting; thosewho insist on fasting will be force fed food andwater while enduring insults for their misbehav-ior, he said in the interview.

Monks in mosques are forced to preach toothers that fasting is a "feudal activity" andharmful to health, said Dilxat. Otherwise, theirreligious certification will be cancelled.

When asked about Chinese CommunistParty (CCP) leader Hu Jintao's recent visit toXinjiang, Dilxat said: "Xinjiang's situation hasnot yet returned to normal. Rather than askingthe local Han people to respect the religion andculture of Uyghur people, Hu encouraged theuse of military troops to suppress and furtherrestrict our religious freedom. The communistregime often talks about 'maintaining stability,'but what they do is always different from whatthey say. They are actually the ones who aredestroying stability."

An Epoch Times reporter contacted theCCP's State Ethnic Affairs Commission to seewhether the restrictions claimed by Dilxat wereofficial, or what the official stance on Ramadanwas. The media contact wouldn't speak on thesubject, instead giving two numbers in Xinjiangthat he said the reporter would be able to call tofind out more. Both numbers were continuallybusy, and when the reporter called the StateEthnic Affairs Commission back, the man hungup. (theepochtimes.com)

IInnddiiaann sseeccuurriittyy -- IIssrraaeell kknnoowwss bbeetttteerr

Equality panel’s challenges

NATIONAL6 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

With best compliments from

Kaleem Kawaja Washington DC

SOROOR AHMED

soroorahmed@yahoo.com

Sycophancy has its limit. And when one crosses it s/heloses all self-respect. But the journalists and opinion-makers in Bihar, especially Muslims, are caring littleabout it and are indulging in bootlicking of a unique sort.

Not to speak of Urdu media, which even fears to publish thecomment of the opposition leaders, Muslims working in Englishand Hindi Press are going to any extent to come up with fantas-tic stories about the so-called performance of the Nitish Kumargovernment.

Read these opening lines of the story filed by Faizan Ahmad,the Times of India's special correspondent in Patna: "Sometimesincentives make a world of difference. Even when it comes toeducation. Take for instance the state government's cash incen-tive to Muslim students: money sure has helped mint merit. Thescheme has resulted in a record jump in the number of Muslimstudents securing first division in the Matriculation exams."

Then in the very second paragraph of the same story pub-lished on August 13, 2009 he quoted Shahid Ali Khan, minister ofminority welfare in the Nitish Kumar government: "The increase isover 100 per cent and the credit goes to the state government'spolicy of giving cash incentive to each Muslim student passing outwith a first division." The news story goes on to state that, "TheNitish Kumar government in 2007 announced a reward of Rs10,000 to each Muslim student securing first division at theMatriculation exam. That year a total of 2,627 Muslim studentshad passed out with first division. In 2008, this number swelled to5,800 and in 2009 the number shot up to 11,500."

Wait a moment and read what Khan told the same newspa-per in the same news-story: "Students of 2008 batch will be hand-ed over the reward money very soon and applications are beingcollected from the 2009 first divisioners."

May one ask Faizan Ahmad and Shahid Ali Khan as to howis it that the Muslim students performed so well and the numberof first divisioners got doubled when according to them they have

not received the reward money of 2008, not to speak of 2009? The big question is if Muslim students did not get a single

penny, how is it that the number of first divisioners got doubled?Both the minister and the journalist tried to cheat the readers byhiding a very important fact. The number of not only the Muslimfirst divisioners has increased, but the performance in generalhas improved because unlike in the past, the Bihar StateExamination Board has now introduced the CBSE pattern ofquestions. Earlier the pattern of question was subjective, there-fore the percentage of those passing the examination and secur-ing first division was much less.

It needs to be mentioned that 19.60 percent of the Muslimstudents who passed in 2009 secured first division. The generalpercentage is 19.53 per cent. It also needs to be made clear thatwhen the scheme was announced by the chief minister onNovember 11, 2007 it was none else but the alliance partner theBJP, which publicly issued a statement opposing it. Even thefinance department reportedly objected to it. And then too theargument was that the percentage of Muslims securing first divi-sion is slightly better in Bihar than the general, therefore, whyshould they be given incentive or reward. How was the percent-age of Muslim first divisioners better than the general in 2007when the examination was held in March of the same year andthe chief minister’s announcement came in November?

But the minister shamelessly went on to state in the Times ofIndia story: "This sense of competition has yielded goodresults." He further said that the scheme will motivate

Muslim children to join schools. The minister and the journalisttried to take the readers and Muslim community for granted. Thefact is that the state government did not even publish the form forapplying for the reward money. Not to speak about this so-called“reward” for the first divisioners, the state government has notpublished a single form for the four central government scholar-ships for minority students though the Centre created a separatefund for it. Not a single form of Post-Matric, Pre-Matric, Merit-cum-Means and Professional Courses scholarship was published

in the last two years. The Centre announced these scholarshipsafter the recommendation of the Sachar Committee report.

It is the organizations like Al-Khair Charitable Trust, StudentsIslamic Organization and Bihar Rabita Committee which jointlyformed the Alpsankhiyak Chatwirti Morcha (Minority ScholarshipFront), collected donations from people and published and distrib-uted thousands of forms to students. In 2008, the central fund meantfor the scholarships was allowed to lapse on March 31, 2008. Thisprompted the Morcha to stage a sit-in near Patna's busy Income Taxroundabout on April 23, 2008. It was only after this protest that theforms of the students submitted in the state minority welfare depart-ment were sent to the Centre. And even when the cheques camefrom the Centre to the state government it took months to be distrib-uted among the beneficiary students.

This year too all the forms were published by the Morcha.The state government failed to renew the scholarships of the stu-dents of Professional Courses who got money last year. They aresupposed to get scholarships till their course is completed. Asthere was no announcement, no advertisement and no noticefrom the state government about these scholarships--though theCentre has earmarked a separate fund for publishing forms, giv-ing newspaper ads and other related works--according to sourcesout of the total quota for Bihar in Pre-Matric scholarship only one-fifth could apply this year. The last date of submission of formswas August 15 and they would now be sent to the Centre for therelease of amount. Sources said that though Bihar's quota was1,60,000, the number of applications received is somethingbetween 30,000 and 32,000.

This is just the tip of an iceberg about scholarships. The realstory is known to both the minister and journalist. But they aretrue clever by half and are befooling none, but themselves.Shahid Ali Khan, being a minister, is paid for being loyal to hischief minister, Nitish Kumar. But can a journalist like FaizanAhmad go to such an extent. He is paid to publish the real story,not to butter up the powers that be. But in the name of journalismthis is happening now in Bihar. �

SSyycchhoopphhaannccyy iiss ppaassttiimmee ooff BBiihhaarr MMuusslliimm jjoouurrnnooss

Mumbai: A delegation of Indian Centre for Islamic Finance (ICIF),

consisting of General Secretary, H Abdur Raqeeb and two of its

trustees Dr. Rahmatullah and Mr. KM Abdul Salam, former

Manager of RBI met Dr. K C Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor

Reserve Bank of India at his office at RBI in Mumbai on 14 Sept.They discussed the introduction of interest-free banking in

India in the light of the recommendations of Dr Raghuram RajanCommittee on Financial Sector Reform which said that it wouldbe possible through appropriate measures to create a frameworkfor such products without any adverse systemic impact.

Mr. Anand Sinha working group constituted by RBI to exam-ine the Islamic instruments had compared the conventional andIslamic Banking in a commendable way but concluded that it isnot feasible in the current regulatory framework.

The delegation impressed upon the Deputy Governor that theRBI should have taken the views of financial services industry aswell as the Islamic financial experts and recommended for regu-latory amendment for according a level playing field for those whowant to engage in Islamic banking activities as done in UK andSingapore. They submitted the documents of Islamic finance reg-ulations in non-OIC jurisdiction which gives details of how regula-tory amendments were carried out in UK, Singapore, Japan,France and Hong Kong to prepare the way for a level playingground for Islamic banking to function.

FSA (Financial Services Authority) of UK and MAS (MonetaryAuthority of Singapore) have brought out detailed documents onIslamic finance institutions which can provide a roadmap forIndian regulators to follow.

The delegation also submitted a copy of the document of HMTreasury - The development of Islamic finance in the UK: TheGovernment Perspective of December 2008 and IMF WorkingPaper “Introducing Islamic banks into Conventional BankingSystems” by Juan Sole.

Emergence of Islamic financial institution in Kerala also cameinto discussion. The Deputy Governor said that RBI is not againstInterest-free banking but needs a regulatory amendment of thegovernment through Parliament to include the same. The delega-tion emphasized that Interest-free banking is imperative for theinclusive growth of the minorities and marginalized sections of thesociety and it will open the gate for the flow of investment from liq-uidity-rich Gulf region to our country as they are considering Indiato be a safe region to invest after 9/11.

The ICIF leaders are planning to meeting the Union FinanceMinister Mr Pranab Mukherji as a follow up on their discussionswith the RBI Deputy Governor and to press for regulatory amend-ments in Parliament or issuance of an executive order of GOI inthis respect. (Mohammed Sadath)

Syed Zahid Ahmad adds from Mumbai:

I attended FICCI's seminar at Hotel Grand Hyatt, Mumbai on 9

September where I posed a question to Dr. K. C. Chakrabarty,

Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, in which I said, I am a

Muslim and my faith does not allow me to indulge in any interest-

based financial transaction. There is a large financial exclusion of

Indian Muslims due to non-availability of interest free banking in

India. Have you taken note of the fact that Muslims do not repre-

sent even one percent of the employees in RBI? For financial

inclusion of Indian Muslims, the Raghuram Rajan Committee has

already made recommendations to create financial infrastructure

for interest free banking. Have you studied that report? What RBI

is going to do with that recommendation? Have you ever evaluat-

ed the potentials of Islamic Banking for Inclusive growth of India? Dr. Chakrabarty’s reply was as follows: We have not

designed the financial regulations of the country. Though we havenot studied these issues so far, but it does not mean that if some-thing has not been studied so far, it will not be studied in future.We would like to take these issues into consideration.

Azamgarh dharna on Batla House anniversaryAzamgarh: Supporters of Ulema Council and other organisationsstaged dharna and submitted memorandum to the district officialson the first anniversary of the Batla House encounter at variousplace in Azamgarh district on 19 September.

"Our main demand is for a high-level probe into the BatlaHouse encounter," Kalim Jamai, state president of the youth wingof Ulema Council (UC), told TOI over phone. He said the UC hadannounced a protest programme at a large scale, but in view ofthe festivals, the programme was cut short and only memoran-dum was submitted to the officials at different places.

While UC chief Maulana Amir Rashadi Madni went toSanjarpur, the Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey andactivists of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties staged a dharna nearthe collectorate. In view of the UC programme, elaborate securi-ty arrangements were made in the district.

Sohrabuddin encounter: AP police under SC scannerAhmedabad: Supreme Court which is hearing the controversialSohrabuddin fake encounter case is now probing into the role ofAndhra Pradesh police in the episode. Gujarat government hastold the Court that the encounter of Sohrabuddin by Gujaratpolice was fake, but it is yet not able to explain many importantissues like how Sohrabuddin's wife Kausar Bi and witnessTulsiram Prajapati were killed. The new issue has come up beforethe Court as amicus curiae in the case Solicitor General GopalSubramaniam raised the question of the role of the Andhra police

in helping Gujarat police unofficially. He claimed that AP policehad given logistical support to Gujarat police. With this argumenthe pressed for the transfer of the investigations to outside agencylike CBI. "What was the motive of the Andhra Pradesh Police tojoin the conspiracy? What could have actuated their action whenit was not officially done?" the Bench comprising justices TarunChatterjee and Aftab asked. Two vehicles carrying AP Police per-sonnel had escorted the three victims from the state to Gujarat tofacilitate the killings. Sohrabuddin, along with Kauser Bi and theirfriend Prajapati, were picked up in a joint operation by Gujaratand AP Police from a bus on its way from Hyderabad to Sangli inMaharashtra on November 22, 2005. Gujarat police has claimedthat they had come to Gujarat to kill Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi. Besides the AP Police, the role of RajasthanPolice also figured during the investigations conducted so far intothe killings. The amicus curiae also accused the state police ofleaving several loose ends in the investigations, as the state hadbeen consistently making efforts to shield the accused. "In a casewhere investigations have never been fair and where the statehas not been fair in the advancement of the course of justice, wemust have thorough investigations into the incidents, as policeofficers are involved in the murder," the amicus curiae urged theBench. He further pointed out that no efforts had been made tilldate to establish how Kausar Bi and Prajapati had been killed.The amicus curiae pointed out that Inspector Solanki of theGujarat CID, who had conducted preliminary investigations intothe fake encounters, had recorded a number of crucial state-ments linking top police officers of the state to the killings, but thereport has neither been submitted in the apex court nor hadformed part of the charge sheet filed in the trial court.

RAW trained Pak Taliban militants?A report submitted to senior officials in Pakistan by a joint inves-tigation team has allegedly claimed that the 23 arrested com-manders of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have confessed involve-ment of secret departments of India, including RAW, andAfghanistan in supporting militants in Pakistan. According toreports, the militant commanders, including Sim Khan, MahmoodKhan and Maulvi Umer, who were arrested during operation Rah-e-Rast, have confessed that they were provided financial aid,weapons and special training by secret agencies from India andAfghanistan to fight against the Pakistan Army. The report statedthat secret agencies from India were in contact with militants inJalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar Sharif and the militants went totheir collaborators via secret ways where they were invited tofeasts and they were provided weapons and money earned bythe narcotics trade, the Dawn reported on 19 September. Thereport also revealed that some militants received special wartraining from Afghanistan. (news.rediff.com)

Meeting with RBI official over Interest-free Banking

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 7

NATIONAL

HAIDER ABBAS

Lucknow: There is no sign of any respite for the residents ofAzamgarh, Uttar Pradesh (UP) as the whole region is under asiege, since the Batla House encounter of Sept. 19, 2008. " No,it had started much earlier, when Tariq Qasmi and Khalid Mujahidwere accused of the blasts in courts in Lucknow, Varanasi andFaizabad, all in UP, and were arrested on Dec 22, 2007," saidRajiv Yadav, a resident of Azamgarh and an active member ofPeoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) while talking on phone.His fact-finding report was released on August 28, 2009 bySandeep Pandey along with SR Darapuri, Vandana Mishra andAridamanjit Singh, all noted human rights activists. The report inHindi is named "Batla House ke baad Azamgarh". It was compiledwith the joint efforts of Mashiuddin Sanjari, Shahnawaz Alam,Tariq Shafeeq and Rajiv Yadav. Three of them belong toAzamgarh while Shahnawaz Alam is from Balia (UP).

The report was an outcome of their continuous tryst with peo-ple who had been hounded by the police and administrativeapparatus in the wake of wild accusations of being involved invarious blasts all over the country.

The report begins by stating that the media hype after theblasts in Delhi on Sept 13, 2008, and the people named in it fromAzamgarh, made the whole district tense. Reports from media aswell as from the Special Task Force (STF) officials, who descend-ed on the district in vehicles without number plates, named a fewpersons who were later forgotten after the fake encounter of BatlaHouse in which Sajid and Atif Amin were killed alongwith policeofficer Mohan Chandra Sharma while another police officer wasinjured.

The 22-year-old Atif Amin was a research scholar in theHuman Resource Department of Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi. Hewas staying in Delhi for the last couple of years. He was laternamed by the police to have been involved in Sankat Mochan,Gorakhpur, Ayodhya and various other blasts in courts in UP,Ahmedabad, Delhi and Jaipur and was dubbed as a kingpin of the"Ghaznawi Brigade" of an equally unknown "Indian Mujahideen"which was held responsible for all the recent blasts.

People in Sanjarpur came to know from media that Sajid andAtif were murdered and Saif had been caught. Atif hailed fromSanjarpur village in Azamgarh, and his father had built a house inthe nearby town of Saraimir, where his whole family had shifted.People in his village remember Atif as a nice athlete and that hevisited his village quite often. Sajid, on his part, had left Azamgarhfor the first time only three months before the fateful "encounter"during which he had appeared in an entrance exam in Jamia MiliaIslamia, Delhi after which he came back to his village. He is theson of Dr Ansarul Hassan. One month later he had again left forDelhi where he enrolled in a computers course and joinedEnglish-speaking classes. It took him just one month more inDelhi to be killed in a fake encounter on which objections havebeen raised by many human rights organisations. Now the cleanchit given to the Delhi Police by the National Human RightsCommission for its role in the fake encounter has made NHRC tolose its own credibility.

Another student arrested in the wake of the Batla Houseencounter is Zeeshan, son of Professor Ehsan, who had stayedin the fateful flat and left in the morning to appear in an exam. Onhis return, he came to know that Sajid and Atif had been killed bypolice, so he called up his father. Professor Ehsan told his son toimmediately surrender to the authorities. First he went to Aaj Tak

news channel office in Delhi from where the Police later arrestedhim. On Sept 21, 2008 Saqib Nisar, Ziaur Rehman and Shakeelwere also arrested.

After the Batla House encounter, dozens of youths fromAzamgarh were arrested by police and named in various blastsacross the country. Police raided their houses as a routine. Thefirst raid took place in Sanjarpur on Sept 22 , 2008 at about 6:30pm when houses of Arif, Khalid, Salman, Sajid Bada, DrShahnawaz (they all are the brothers of Saif who was caughtafter the Batla House encounter) were searched. The behaviourof police was criminal as well as communal. STF officials came intheir civvies riding vehicles without number plates, and misbe-haved with women and tore copies of the Quran during the raids.They shouted at people that 'because of this book your childrenare becoming terrorists'. The STF would always arrive in theircivvies along with arms in large numbers and ropes and this wasreported to Police Station House Officer (SHO) KamleshwarSingh who said that whatever was happening was right. Thesame was reported to District Magistrate, Superintendent ofPolice, Director Inspector Police but none of them gave anyassurance, neither did they take any action. Instead, they sup-ported the STF.

Police forces from other states also competed for their shareafter the Batla House encounter, and therefore more suspectswere named. Mumbai police named a few on Sept 24, 2008, inthe 2006 train blasts of Mumbai, and arrested Arif Badr, SadiqSheikh, Zakir Sheikh and Afzal Usmani, the last being a residentof Mau, UP. Arif was shown to have been involved in the blasts ofDelhi and Ahmedabad too. Zakir Sheikh was accused of being aparticipant of blasts in various courts in UP and at Sankat Mochantemple of Varanasi.

What makes it important to note is that even after beingchargesheeted, in some cases and jailed, the arrested faced newaccusations after Batla House encounter. This comes to around50 cases per accused. All of the accused are around 22-23 year-old and were either engaged in higher education or in some tech-nical work for their livelihood.

One who is "missing" is Abu Rashid who is a resident ofSanjarpur and was working as an apprentice in an opticians shopin Mumbai. Police had visited his place in Mumbai but at the timeAbu Rashid was visiting paternal village Sanjarpur; therefore, thepolice interrogated his brother Abu Talib, and his uncle who wereliving in Mumbai. Police forced them to call Abu Rashid to returnto Mumbai "without informing UP police". On Sept 23, 2008, AbuRashid informed media including Aaj Tak news channel that hisrelatives were being coerced by Mumbai police, therefore, hewould be leaving for Mumbai. His relatives say that Abu Rashidwas to travel to Varanasi from where he was to take a train forMumbai, but since then Abu Rashid has gone missing.

When Abu Rashid did not reach Mumbai, his brother AbuTalib was brought to Azamgarh by Mumbai police. Now Abu Talibhas abandoned his business in Mumbai and is too scared to goback there. Residents of the village and their relatives allege thattheir houses have all been surrounded by security personnel andthat one day they would unearth Abu Rashid and kill him in anencounter. If Abu Rashid was to abscond, why did he speak to themedia before planning to return to Mumbai.

The report says that today there are more than a dozen suchAbu Rashids in Azamgarh who have been zeroed in by the policeand that some of them belong to peoples' movement and humanrights groups. Some of them have been already caught by police

and are under "illegal detention" at present and they would beproduced at a place and time convenient to the police. The fearand terror has made many to keep mum and they dare not speakabout their missing kins.

Here is a list of people from Azamgarh who have been arrest-ed, gone missing or have been "encountered" by the police:

Killed by the Police - two: 1. Atif Amin son of Muhammed Amin, village Sanjarpur. Killed in Delhi.

Accused in 52 cases of Ahmedabad, Varansai Sankat Mochan andUP courts blasts.

2. Sajid son of Dr. Ansarul Hassan, village Sanjarpur. Accused in 52cases of Ahmedabad, Varanasi Sankat Mochan temple and UPcourts blasts.

Arrested - 17: 1. Hakeem Tariq Qasmi son of Riyaz Ahmed, village Sammopur, accused

in UP courts blasts. 2. Abul Bashar son of Abu Bakar, village Binapara, accused in

Ahmedabad 19 blasts, one in Gandhi Nagar, involved in 15 bombsrecovered in Surat.

3. Sarwar son of M. Haneef, village Chandpatti, accused in eight casesof blasts in Jaipur.

4. Saifur-Rehman son of Abdul Rehman, Azamgarh city, accused inAhmedabad and Jaipur blasts.

5. Muhammed Saif son of Shadab Ahmed, village Sanjarpur, accused in52 cases in blasts in Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and a suspect inKarnataka blasts.

6. Arif son of Mirza Naseem Beg, village Sanjarpur, accused in 36 casesof blasts in Lucknow and Ahmedabad.

7. Saqib Nisar son of Nisar Ahmed (his whole family is staying in Delhi).Accused in cases of blasts in Delhi and Ahmedabad.

8. Hakim son of Abdul Kareem, resident of Rehmat Nagar. Accused innine cases of blasts in Delhi.

9. Zeeshan son of Ehsan. Accused in 35 cases of blasts in Delhi andAhmedabad.

10. Sadiq Husain son of M. Amin Ansari, resident of Purabagh inMubarakpur. Accused of carrying arms from Mumbai to Azamgarh.

11. Khalilur-Rehman son of Mutiullah, resident of Nayapura inMubarakpur. Accused of carrying arms from Mumbai to Azamgarh.

12. Masoom Raza son of Riyazul Hasan, resident of Ranipura inMubarakpur. Accused of carrying arms from Mumbai to Azamgarh.

13. Nazre Alam son of Zafar Alam, resident of Mapura Rani. Accused ofcarrying arms from Mumbai to Azamgarh.

14. Arif Badar son of Badrud-Din, village Israuli, Azamgarh. Accused incases of Delhi and Mumbai train blasts.

15. Sadiq Sheikh son of Israr Ahmed. Accused in Mumbai train blasts.Ahmedabad, UP Sankat Mochan and attack on the AmericanCentre, Kolkata, West Bengal.

16. Zakir Sheikh, village Kaunragahni, Saraimir. Accused in Ahmedabadand Mumbai serial blasts.

17. Afzal Usman, village Dhalahi, Firozpur. Accused in Mumbai serialblasts and Ahmedabad.

Missing - 11: 1. Dr. Shahnawaz son of Shadab Ahmed, village Sanjarpur Accused in

Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai serial blasts. 2. Sajid Bada son of Quraish Ahmed, village Sanjarpur. Accused in 52

cases in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. 3. Khalid son of Sagheer Ahmed, village Sanjarpur. Accused in 52 cases

in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. 4. Salman son of Shakeel Ahmed, village Sanjarpur. Accused in 52 cases

in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. 5. Abu Rashid son of Akhlaq Ahmed, village Sanjarpur. Accused in

Mumbai serial blasts. 6. Muhammed Ariz son of Zafar Alam. Resident of Azamgarh city.

Accused of firing at police after the Batla House encounter.Absconding.

7. Mirza Shadab Beg son of Mirza Ehtesham Beg, Resident ofAzamgarh city. Accused in 52 cases of blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabadand Jaipur.

8. Shahzad son of Sheeraz. Accused of firing at police after the BatlaHouse encounter. Absconding.

9. Asadullah son of Dr. Javed, resident of Muhalla Ghulami Ka Pura.Accused in Delhi blasts.

10. Habeeb Falahi son of Abul Jaish, resident of Grambari Khaas.Accused in Ahmedabad blasts.

11. Wasif Meyar, village Phariha. Accused in Ahmedabad blasts.

TTrriiaall ooff AAzzaammggaarrhh ccoonnttiinnuueess

New Delhi: Union Minister of State forMinority Affairs, Salman Khurshid saidwhile speaking at a seminar on “Minoritiesand National Stream” at Delhi's StStephen's College that minorities shouldbe included in OBC category (27% reser-vation) and given the benefits of reserva-tion, as is being done in states likeKarnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu wherethis facility at 6 percent, in proportion totheir population, is being given to them for

the past 10-15 years. He said that in Andhra Pradesh under thissystem 4 percent reservation was intended to be given to minori-ties but the matter is pending in the court there. He said that theseare his personal views but this problem, i.e., reservation forminorities is under consideration of the government. He addedthat Supreme Court has laid down the limit of reservation upto 50percent, so from this point of view, minorities can be included inOBC category and given reservation. Earlier the minister had saidin his first statement after taking over the ministry that no reser-vation is possible for the Muslims.

PM's high-priority minority distscheme runs aground in states

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have accordedhigh priority to the multi-sectoral development programmes beingimplemented in the 90-minority concentrated districts of the coun-try, but latest statistics reveal that the scheme has not taken off in

16 of the 20 states marked for the programme.Minority Ministry statistics show that states like Jammu and

Kashmir, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Sikkimhave not even submitted the development plans for their districts,while Bihar and Manipur were late in utilising the funds sanc-tioned by the Centre and Orissa is yet to seek the funds from thegovernment.

According to the Ministry, the scheme is progressing satisfac-torily only in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Haryana.The Centre plans to spend about Rs 2,500 crore for the scheme,under which states recommend specific development projects forthe districts identified. The Centre approves the plans after whichthe funds are released. Bihar, which has seven minority concen-trated districts, tops the list of states which are slow in implement-ing the scheme. The ministry has found out that the state simplysat on the funds allocated to it in February this year and releasedit to the district authorities only in August. Same is the case withManipur, which has six such districts.

The programme is yet to take off in Jharkhand, Uttarakhandand Karnataka which received funds in the last three months,while Maharashtra is yet to seek release of the funds although itsdevelopment proposals for three districts were cleared in July.

Interestingly, Orissa has not even bothered to seek release ofthe funds from the Centre although the development plan for itslone minority-concentrated district of Gajapati was cleared inFebruary, a status report prepared by the ministry on implemen-tation of the scheme showed.

Even in UP, the scheme has got going only in 12 of the 21minority-concentrated districts. The state has the largest number

of such districts and has so far been sanctioned Rs 180.57 croreout of the overall allocation of Rs 1015.70 crore.

Bengal, Assam and Haryana have fared better. While Bengalhas sent proposals for 10 of its 12 identified districts and beganimplementing the scheme in six of them, work has taken off in 11of the 13 minority- concentrated districts in Assam. (indianex-press.com - Manoj C G)

Interest-free micro credit best way to help the poorHyderabad: Vijay Mahajan, Chairman of Basix, a micro financingcompany, says that interest-free micro credit or equity financing isthe best and most appropriate way of improving the lot of poorpeople and enabling them to stand on their own feet. He said thathis company will soon start a pilot project based on interest-freeor equity finance. He said this while speaking at a 5-day orienta-tion and training camp on interest-free micro financing organisedby Human Welfare Foundation at Hyderabad.He said that one may call it Islamic finance or Shariah complaintfinance, it is equity finance in which both the investor and theentrepreneur share both the profit or loss, good luck or bad luck.This company (Basix) was launched in 1996 and has so far dis-bursed loans worth Rs 2000 crores to about 12 lakh poor peopleor households in many states of the country. The rate of interestat which loans are given is, however, on the higher side i.e. at24%. Considering that there are tremendous possibilities in theequity or interest-free financing, the company plans to launchsoon its new scheme either in Hyderabad or Chennai. He saysthat Islamic finance is more equitable for the poor.

“Muslims should be given reservation by including them in OBC category”

NATIONAL8 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

Showing its positive attitude towards minority development,the Kerala government, on 12 September, appointed SLalithambika as fast track officer to accelerate the landacquisition procedures for proposed off-campus centre for

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in Malappuram. A report of high-level committee had suggested the State government to completeland acquisition procedures under a fast track method.

The high-level committee members Dr KP Gopinathan, deputydirector of Collegiate Education in the Higher EducationDepartment, Dr K Vijayakumar, special officer of land acquisition,Ali Askar, assistant officer, and PK Gopalan, Deputy Collector, hadvisited the place recently. Their report is supposed to have prompt-ed the government to appoint S Lalithambika as the fast track offi-cer of land acquisition for the off-campus centre of the AMU and theRailway Coach Factory in Palakkad. The office for the land acqui-sition has begun functioning in the Institute of Land and DisasterManagement Complex in Thrivandram.

Earlier on 7 September, a public convention was held at thePerinthalmanna Town Hall regarding the land acquisition, begin-ning of admissions in a temporary set up and other matters relatedto the AMU campus. People representing different political, socialand cultural groups attended the gathering along with the generalpublic. The convention had expressed its concern over the delay inland acquisition and the coldness in the appointment of officers.

The Central government had allocated Rs 25 crore for theAMU campus in Malappuram, a Muslim dominated and education-ally backward district in northern Kerala. After bitter controversy, theLeft Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala has selected397 acres of land at Perinthalmanna for the campus. The primarysurvey of 392 acres, which is spread over three panchyats, hasbeen completed. The 158 acre plain land on the mountain will beused for the construction of the buildings and the rest land will beused for other purposes. Water for the campus will be taken from ariver nearby. The Water Authority and the Revenue Ministry havechalked out a plan and draft for the same.

MECA demands special quota for backward womenThe Muslim Employees Cultural Association (MECA) urged theState government to make a provision for special quota for thebackward classes in the proposed 50 per cent quota for women inthe upcoming elections to the local bodies. The State Assemblyhas unanimously passed two bills seeking to reserve 50 per cent ofseats in local self-government institutions for women.

The Bills amend the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act and the KeralaMunicipality Act more or less on parallel lines to reserve not only 50per cent of the wards in the local bodies, but also 50 per cent of thepositions in the committees (standing bodies) in each panchayat,municipality and corporation in the State. The Bills are in the wakeof the Union government's decision to reserve a half of the localbodies' positions to women. Kerala became the first State to legis-late the provision.

Speaking after the passage of the Bills, Minister for Local Self-Government Paloli Mohammed Kutty said the whole State wantedthe women to step on to a wider platform, on equal terms with themen, to perform their role in society. This was the second phase ofthe women's empowerment campaign of the State after theKudumbasree movement, which had brought women from all poorfamilies in the State under the umbrella of vibrant self-help groups,he said.

N.A. Ali, general secretary of the MECA, said that the majorityof Union government-funded projects were now being implement-ed through local self-government institutions with a view to benefit-ing the minorities and backward classes. He noted that Muslimsand Ezhavas were the two major backward communities in Kerala.

MECA, a common platform for the Muslim governmentemployees of Kerala, has been fighting for the rights of the commu-nity in various fields including education, government service andreservation.

Acquire land for development projects: AhamedThe Union Minister of State for Railways EAhamed said that the Railways would beable to commence development projectsonly if the Kerala Government acquires andhands over land. He was talking toreporters before flagging off the tri-weeklyday express in Trivandrum on 10September that would run between

Kochuveli and Mangalore.Mr. Ahamed expressed the hope that the State Government

would provide land in three months for the proposed coach factoryin Palakkad. People should cooperate with the State Governmentin acquiring land for projects, he said. "The factory is the need ofthe hour as we are facing shortage of coaches," he added. "Thesetting up of the factory will be of immense help to the Railways asthere are only two such units in the country," he said. A sum of Rs.113 crore had been allocated for the State. This is in addition to theRs. 90 crore provided earlier and the funds provided for develop-ment of Kochuveli, Nemom and Trivandrum stations. "The tri-week-ly will be made a daily once infrastructure is in place," he said.

Later on 12 September, the Kannur municipal authorities sub-mitted proposals for railway development in the town to the

Minister. Municipal council members, led by its chairman, B.P.Farooque, who submitted the proposals, said implementation ofthese was important for the overall development of the town. Thecouncil members met Ahamed at his house in Kannur. The propos-als submitted to the Minister included a flyover in the town, widen-ing of Railway Station Road here and construction of an under-bridge at Thayatheru. The Minister told the delegates that the pro-posals would be studied and considered positively.

Thousands attend mass prayer at Swalat NagarMore than 500, 000 Sunni believers gathered at Swalat Nagar inMalappuram to take the pledge against terrorism and pray forpeace on the Laylat Al Qadr, the holiest night in the month ofRamadan, overnight on 16 September. The prayer meeting, organ-ised by the Ma'dinu Ssaquafathil Islamiyya as part of its Swalatanniversary, is billed as one of the largest Muslim gatheringsacross the globe. The organisers said going by the count of foodpackets distributed, the total number of devotees attended theprayer meet could touch 600,000. The holy night of boundlessblessings is believed to fall on the eve of 27th day of Ramadan andis considered greater than a thousand nights in sanctity andrewards from Allah.

Inaugurating the prayer gathering, All India Jamiyyathul Ulamageneral secretary A.P. Aboobacker Musliar termed people's indiffer-ence to righteousness and lack of faith in God as the reasons of allproblems. He said that the light of virtue would be visible to thehumanity only when people purge their minds of bad thoughts. Byasking people to fast in Ramadan, Islam attempts to achieve thisgoal, he added. Kanthapuram called upon the people to embracetolerance as a basic tenet for virtuous life. Quoting the Quran, hesaid that if anyone took the life of another without justice, it wasequivalent to taking the lives of the entire humanity. "This is thebest message of tolerance," he said.

Sayed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari, chairman of the Ma'dinuSsaquafathil Islamiyya, delivered the keynote address. He calledupon the people to return to the fundamentals of respecting the eld-ers. "Without respecting and loving your parents, teachers and eld-ers, you can never aspire to win in this life and the next," he said.He said Ramadan was giving the message to eradicate evil quali-ties like enmity, envy, and greed. "Love should replace those qual-ities," he said. Bukhari called upon the people to show mercy to fel-low beings adding 'Only then God will show His mercy on you.'

A.K. Abdul Hameed, programme convener and former chair-man of the State Haj Committee, Sayed Ali Bafaqui Thangal,Sayed Abdurahman Al Bukhari, president of the Samastha KeralaJamiyyathul Ulama, Sayed Umerul Farooq Al Bukhari, SayedHusain Shihab Atakoya Thangal and Sayed Yousuful Bukhariattended the programme.

Khaleel Bukhari also led the mass pledge against terrorismand the participants expressed their solidarity with fellow citizens,society and nation. They pledged that they would restrain from allactivities that jeopardise the unity and social harmony of thecountry. The believers took the oath to respect other religions andnot to associate with any activities that pose a threat to the unityand integrity of the country. They stayed awake throughout thenight chanting prayers for peace and forgiveness and took theoath to 'eradicate the menace of terrorism and work for worldpeace' in the wee hours just before the morning prayers. Thefocus of the congregation last year was also world peace and reli-gious extremism as Khaleel Bukhari made a fervent appeal forshowing "mercy to your fellow beings; then, God will be mercifulto you" and "an extremism of love and not hatred and terror iswhat we needed."

Prominent personalities including Inspector-General of Police(north zone) B.S. Mohammed Yasin, District Superintendent ofPolice M. Patmanabhan, M. Ummer, MLA, and Malappurammunicipal chairman Kiliyamannil Yakoob along with thousands ofpeople from the various corners of the State attended the grandiftar meet at Ma'din grounds. The organisers claimed it to be thelargest mass Iftar in the country.

Food was served for the participants who arrived from remoteareas at Ma'din Edu-Park. Apart from the main venue, people wereaccommodated in other 10 grounds, spread across 10 kilometerson either sides of the highway. Special facilities were provided forwomen. The mass prayers were telecast live by television channelswhile special video-screenings were held at centres in Chennai,Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi in India and major cities in the MiddleEast. Several people abroad joined the congregation utilising the

online video streaming, live telecast and screening facilities. A spe-cial committee of 5555 members with 2222 specially-trained volun-teers made the preparations perfect.

Controversy over American iftar party The iftar party organised by the US Embassy in Kerala brought outsevere criticism from various corners including Muslim outfits andpolitical groups. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) stronglyvoiced against the iftar party. The party was conducted for repre-sentatives of various Muslim organisations. The Minister-Counsellor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy in New Delhi LarrySchwartz organised the iftar party on behalf of the US Embassy inNew Delhi and the US Consulate in Chennai at the Hotel AshokaInn in Thrisur on 9 September. CPI (M) Thrisur district secretaryBaby John termed the iftar party as 'a sign of the US plan to enterall walks of life in the country.' He questioned Kerala NadvathulMujahideen (KNM) leaders for attending the programme.

The Popular Front of India (PFI) had called for all Muslimorganisations to be careful of the tricks of the US. Earlier the UShad arranged free trips to their country for selected leaders fromthe community. Now they are trying to penetrate into the communi-ty through iftar parties. However, it is noteworthy that the majororganisations kept away from the iftar, the PFI said in a statement.The Forum for Faith and Fraternity representatives attended themeet but also wrote a letter to Mr Schwartz about the organisation'sdisagreement with the American policies.

At the function, Mr Schwartz said the US was not the enemy ofMuslims, and that the iftar was organised to strengthen the friend-ship between the US and Muslims. The videos of the famous Cairospeech and the Ramadan speech of the US President BarakObama were shown. Larry Schwartz also held a special talk withthe guests. The guests opined that the US should admit the Iraqinvasion was wrong. They also criticised the US policies inPalestine and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Ittihadu Shubbanil Mujahideen (ISM), youth wingof the KNM, organized a friendly meet of the leaders of youthorganisations in Kozhokode. The meet expressed concern over theincreasing influence of quotation groups in the State. The get-together called for a common united move without considering reli-gion, caste and political orientation against criminalisation whichdestroys the stability and harmony of the society. KNM generalsecretary CP Umer Sullami inaugurated the programme. The meetwas organised as part of the state conference of the ISM to be heldin Thrissur on 2 and 3, January 2010. 'Youth for Virtue andReformation' is the slogan of the conference.

Fake encounter: Jamaat for state government interventionKerala unit of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind asked the State governmentto interfere in the issue of fake encounter of Javad. It added thatthe Kerala government is morally responsible to ask for explana-tion from the Gujarat government in the matter. Pranesh Kumaralias Javed was a Keralite and hailed from Alappuzha district insouthern Kerala. The report of Magistrate Tamang has provedthat Prenesh Kumar alias Javed was killed by the Gujarat policein a fake encounter. The report made public recently inAhmedabad has underlined the hollowness of anti-terror fights.The incidents of killing innocent Muslim youth to gain medalshave increased in our country. Government agencies themselvesgive leadership for terror activities. Detailed investigation shouldbe conducted on all the terrorist attacks in the country in the lastten years, Jamaat State Secretariat demanded. Javed wasamong the four that included Mumbai college girl Ishrat Jahanwho were killed in a fake encounter by the Gujarat police inAhmedabad in June 2004.

IUML offices attacked in KasaragodTension broke out at Thrikkarippur in Kasaragod district as localoffices of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) were attacked bysuspected Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers in the earlyhours of 23 September. A journalist working for IUML newspaperChandrika also attacked during the incident. The IUML branchcommittee office at Vellap area was set ablaze by miscreants whilecrude bombs were hurled at a building in memory of IUML leaderC H Mohammed Koya in the town, which recently had witnessedclashes involving the rival CPI-M and the IUML.

The incidents followed the attack on a CPI-M local commit-tee office, allegedly by IUML workers on September 21, policesaid. The IUML observed a day long hartal in Kasaragod townto protest against the attacks. Top police officials have campedin the town. The police said the situation in the area was nowunder control.

The IUML has condemned the attacks and warned that therewill be strong retaliation if the Left Democratic Front governmentfails to put down violence. The State working committee expressedthe party's resentment at these incidents at a meeting at theLeague House in Kozhikode on 24 September. Deploring theattack, allegedly by policemen, on Rehman Thayalangadi, journal-ist working for the Chandrika, and the attacks on party offices atThrikkarippur, a resolution adopted by the committee said 'theseincidents are an insult to the dignity of the people of Kerala.' TheState government had failed to provide protection to the people, theIUML alleged. �

AMU campus: Kerala appoints fast track officerKerala Round-up: Fahmi Rahmani

Aboobacker Musliar, All India Jamiyyathul Ulama general sec-retary inaugurating the mass prayer in Malappuram

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 9

ANALYSIS

Ram Puniyaniram.puniyani@gmail.com

In the aftermath of Gujarat carnagethe then Prime Minister, AtalBihari Vajpayee subtly reprimand-ed Modi Government that RajDharma should have been followed.The implication was that stateshould have actively intervened toprotect the innocents who werekilled during the violence. What

will one say if the same state selectively picks up inno-cent citizens, kills them and presents false stories to saveits skin? While taking the oath, while joining the stateone is supposed to treat all citizens as equal irrespectiveof their religion, caste and gender. What do we say aboutthe state, which goes on to kill its innocent citizens whohappen to belong to minority community?

As the Citizen’s Tribunal pointed out in the after-math of Godhra train burning Gujarat State machinerywas told to sit back when the rioters were unleashed tokill and maim, to loot and to rape during the carnage.Now we know that in the same state, police officers havebecome emboldened enough to pick up minority ele-ments, kill them in cold blood and proclaim that it is anencounter! The repeated cry of terrorists planning to killModi has been a favorite ploy of the police officers forkilling innocents to please the CM, to seek promotions.It also helps to create a larger than life picture of Modi.

When Ishrat Jahan was killed in June 2005, alongwith three others, the police officers boasted of theirsuccess that they have ably averted the attack on Modiby killing four terrorists of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. Forensicand post mortem reports confirm that they were killedin cold blood on 14th June, shot at close range in a policecustody and then, taken in a car, then put in a row on the

road on the outskirts of Ahmadabad. To show that it wasencounter, arms-ammunition was kept on their body. Atthis point of time National Human Rights Commissionasked for magisterial inquiry. Later state Governmentalso confirmed of magisterial inquiry going on. At thesame time the police investigation was also started.

Justice Tamang has come outwith his report that it was not anencounter and that the four killed incold blood by police were not havingany terrorist links. In response theGujarat government is leaving nostone unturned to say that JusticeTamang had no business to releasehis report, the Gujarat high courthas brought a stay on the report. Butalready the contents of the reportare known through the mediareports and Gujarat Government isfinding no place to hide its face, alsoSupreme Court has seen nothingwrong in what Justice Tamang did.The total lack of remorse on the partof Gujarat Government is not sur-prising at all!

The officer, D. G.Vanjara, whokilled these four, was also the onewho had brutally killedSoharabbudin and his wifeKauserbi, and is now behind thebars. There is a section of Gujaratpeople, who are very appreciative ofwhat Vnajara has done, and the sit-uation which Modi Government hasbrought in. Now the GujaratGovernment asks that when thepolice inquiry was going on, what isthe legality of magisterial inquiry?On the contrary as per the law afterthe death of a person in police custody, or due to policeaction of this type, inquest, magisterial inquiry andpolice inquiry all these have to be done.

It is not that it is the first time that encounter, fakeencounter killings, are taking place. The difference hereis the total identification and defense of such acts by thepolitical leadership of state. The difference is that a sec-tion of people are being made to believe such dastardlyacts are needed to make the society safe. The effort of

Gujarat Government is just to show a brave face in thelight of exposure of its brutality in killing the innocents.Incidentally Ishrat was wearing her college, KhalsaCollege Mumbai, Identity Card around her neck whenshe was killed in cold blood. Legal nuances and nittygritty apart where are we heading in Twenty-first

Century? Just slightly an year ago in the

face of police arrest of many Muslimyouth in the aftermath of bombblasts citizens tribunals were held inHyderabad and then in Jaipur. Legalluminaries and social activistsformed the jury of these tribunals.Both tribunals pointed out that theattitude of police is very biased andmany a Muslim youth are beingarrested without any proof whatso-ever. Will such actions by state, willsuch a defense of killing of inno-cents, not intensify the sense ofinjustice amongst a section of Indiancitizens?

Where are we heading to? Onone hand there are inquiry commis-sion reports showing as to how com-munal organizations orchestratecrimes and the section of police andpart of state administration col-ludes. On the other plane there isthe phenomenon of terrorism, whichhas many factors contributing to itbut it is only Muslims who areblamed for that. We are also witness-ing a serious and by now inbuilt dis-crimination leading to exclusion ofminorities from the social facilities.In such an atmosphere what willhappen to the psyche of the youth

and others from minority community? The social dis-parities we are creating due to such policies are there forall of us to see. The tragedy is that a section of peoplehave started asserting the correctness of these happen-ings. The situation which is being created due to all thisis further used to blame minorities for it. The Modi-Vanjara duo, which is becoming a law unto them, is thesymptom of deeper malaise of Gujarat. (Issues in SecularPolitics)

IIsshhrraatt JJaahhaann:: MMuurrddeerr iinn CCoolldd BBlloooodd

India will be a Hindu state in 30 yearsNew Delhi: RSS chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat said at a press con-ference in Delhi on 28 August that in the next 25/30 years Sanghwill achieve its target i e India will become a Hindu Rashtra. Inreply to questions about the on-going crisis and confusion in BJP,he avoided a clear-cut answer and said that it is BJP's internalproblem; let them solve it. Sangh is not concerned with it. Mediapersons had been expecting that Bhagwat will express his viewsabout this but his reply disappointed them. He however said thathe is confident that its leaders will themselves solve the difficultproblem.

He said that the thinking of Indian Muslims towards Sangh ischanging fast and people of Muslim society are associating them-selves with Sangh in large number which is a matter of greatpleasure for us. On persistent questions by media persons aboutSangh views on BJP, he said that Sangh neither gives advice toany body nor interferes in political affairs of any party. On theissue of Jinnah he said that people cannot forget his direct actionand he too remembers it. As regards other issues concerning him(Jinnah) he said that these are topics of research with which hehas nothing to do. About the present situation of BJP, he said thatminor differences should do not be taken to mean that BJP'sdecline is imminent. He said that if BJP needs help, Sangh is pre-pared to help them. When asked about who will play the role ofAtal and Advani now, he said that the party will decide this. Hehowever hinted that after 70, leaders should retire.

Commenting on Bhagwat's target of India becoming a HinduRashtra in 30 years or so, incharge of Rabta Madaris IslamiaDarul Uloom Deoband, Maulana Shaukat Ali Qasmi said atBangalore on 30 August that India is secular country where rootsof secularism are very deep and strong, Mohan Bhagwat cannever succeed in his target of India becoming a Hindu Rashtra in30 or so years. He said that before this, the organisation AbhinavBharat had laid the target of 25 years and for which it adopted thepath of violence. He said that even if they take recourse to maxi-mum violence, they will never succeed in converting this greatcountry to Hindu Rashtra.

Giving respectable position to Bhagwa brigade is deplorable

New Delhi: Convener of National Democratic Forum, Akbar Fahmisaid while talking to media persons that after inclusion of KalyanSingh in Samajwadi Party people as well as media raised a greathue and cry but after making Sudhir Kulkarni a member of RailwayAdvisory Board by UPA government, the silence of media as wellas people is perplexing and at the same time significant also. Hesaid that giving an honourable position to Sudhir Kulkarni in thisgovernment not only reflects government's character but alsomakes its intentions suspicious. He said that Sudhir Kulkarni is thesame man who had played an important role in the demolition ofBabri Masjid. He further said that giving respect to BhawaBrigade's think tank people in the above-mentioned government isa matter of great pity. � Cut or photocopy

Milli Information NetworkTime to network the community

The Muslim community’s many ills and problems stem from the fact that there is a marked lack of information-sharing and dissemination. The leadership is limited to some big cities while the majority lives in thousands oftowns and lakhs of villages across the country. ... This makes it difficult to manage the two-way circulation of infor-mation, from the leadership to the masses and from the masses to the leadership. To tackle this problem, a networkof information centres should be established all over the country. There should be one at least in each district head-quarter, and more in larger towns and cities. These information centres will function from the offices of commu-nity organisations or in libraries and reading rooms...

Acting upon the above editorial published in MG 16-31 Dec. 2007 we registered a website www.millinetwork.com.We are in the process are developing a large network of milli NGOs. Kindly get yourself listed on the network.Each listed organisation will have their own webpage on the network. Fill in the below form and send it to us byemail or post.

Name of Organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pin Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Phone (std code) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Name of Main Trustee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Geographical Reach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brief note of Nature of Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Category of Work: [Please encircle] Charity / Child Guidance Clinic / Children / Communal Harmony / Community Development / Disabilities / Slum Children / Human Rights / Family Welfare / Literacy / Education(scholarships/coaching) / Media / Medical / Orphan children / Religious / Social care / Social Justice / SocialWelfare / Vocational Training / Volunteer Mgmt / Widows / Women / Others

[Masjids and Madarasahs will also be listed on the network]

Any literature (brouchure, leaflets, audited accounts etc) may also be submitted.

The Milli Gazette, D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave - I, New Delhi 110025 Tel.: 2694 7483 mg@milligazette.com

JJuussttiiccee TTaammaanngg hhaass ccoommeeoouutt wwiitthh hhiiss rreeppoorrtt tthhaatt iittwwaass nnoott aann eennccoouunntteerr aannddtthhaatt tthhee ffoouurr kkiilllleedd iinn ccoollddbblloooodd bbyy ppoolliiccee wweerree nnoott

hhaavviinngg aannyy tteerrrroorriisstt lliinnkkss.. IInnrreessppoonnssee tthhee GGuujjaarraatt ggoovveerrnn--

mmeenntt iiss lleeaavviinngg nnoo ssttoonneeuunnttuurrnneedd ttoo ssaayy tthhaatt JJuussttiicceeTTaammaanngg hhaadd nnoo bbuussiinneessss ttoo

rreelleeaassee hhiiss rreeppoorrtt,, tthheeGGuujjaarraatt hhiigghh ccoouurrtt hhaass

bbrroouugghhtt aa ssttaayy oonn tthhee rreeppoorrtt..BBuutt aallrreeaaddyy tthhee ccoonntteennttss ooff

tthhee rreeppoorrtt aarree kknnoowwnntthhrroouugghh tthhee mmeeddiiaa rreeppoorrttssaanndd GGuujjaarraatt GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt iissffiinnddiinngg nnoo ppllaaccee ttoo hhiiddee iittssffaaccee,, aallssoo SSuupprreemmee CCoouurrtthhaass sseeeenn nnootthhiinngg wwrroonngg iinnwwhhaatt JJuussttiiccee TTaammaanngg ddiidd..

TThhee ttoottaall llaacckk ooff rreemmoorrssee oonntthhee ppaarrtt ooff GGuujjaarraatt

GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt iiss nnoott ssuurrpprriiss--iinngg aatt aallll!!

GUJARAT10 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

The magisterial report, observing the encounter of IshratJahan and three others to be fake, has not only given asigh of relief to the families of the deceased, but also aray of hope for justice to another such family in

Bhavnagar which had lost one of its members in January 2003when the Ahmedabad police shot dead Sadiq Jamal Mehtar(20), an autorickshaw driver, in Naroda claiming he was aLashkar-e-Toiba operative on a mission to kill Chief MinisterNarendra Modi, VHP chief Pravin Togadia and BJP leader L KAdvani.

The Ahmedabad Crime Branch eliminated him on 13 January2003 near the city's Galaxy Cinema. He, too, was alleged to bepart of a LeT conspiracy to kill Modi.

Mumbai-based scribe Ketan Tirodkar later said that he hadintroduced Sadik to former Mumbai encounter specialist DayaNayak to help him get out of some petty gambling cases inBhavnagar. In an affidavit filed before a lawyer of Human RightsLaw Network, Tirodkar alleged that Nayak had detained Sadikand created a criminal profile for him. He said Nayak had then sethim up as a militant to be killed in an encounter on the request ofa "big politician" from Gujarat. Sadik's brother Shabir Jamal fileda writ petition before the Gujarat High Court on 10 May 2007,seeking to reopen the encounter case.

Aari upper ni chhaap dhowai jase. Ame koi internationalgunno nathi kariyo. Amne insaaf males (The blot on our family willalso be erased. We have not done any crime. We will get jus-tice),” said Shabbir, younger brother of Sadiq.

D G Vanzara, who is now in jail in connection with theSohrabuddin Sheikh and Ishrat encounter cases, was the thenDeputy Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad

After the “encounter,” Vanzara had announced that he was aLeT man. Incidentally, the team of top police officials was thesame in all the three “encounter” cases. After the Supreme Courtordered an inquiry into the Sohrabuddin case, Shabbir moved theHigh Court on 13 May 2007, seeking registration of criminalcases against Vanzara, the then Joint Commissioner of Police PP Pandey, and others involved in the case. The petition is pend-ing.

Sadiq’s 65-year-old father, Jamal, said that the taint has beenunbearable for the family, but they are hopeful of getting justiceone day. “Look at the Sohrabuddin case and where the Ishratcase is heading. We trust the judiciary,” he said.

Gujarat High Court transferred the petition of Gopinath Pillai,father of one of the persons killed along with Ishrat Jahan, toJustice Kalpesh Jhaveri who is hearing the case of encounter ofIshrat Jahan.

Justice H N Devnani was hearing the petition of father ofGopinath Pillai who has moved Gujarat High Court seeking CBIinvestigations into the killing of his son by Gujarat police. Thecase has been transferred to Justice Jhaveri since the issueinvolved in both cases is same and both were killed in the sameincident.

The case has hit headlines in media after five years as thereport of Metropolitan Magistrate S P Tamang says that Ishratand others were killed and later the murders were shown asencounters.

Encounter case team gets six more officers The three-member team appointed by Gujarat High Court toenquire into the encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others hasbeen added six members. The probe into the encounter of June2004 has been started after five years as Ishrat Jahan's mothermoved the Gujarat High Court for CBI inquiry into the incident.

Those who have been appointed are ACP V R Toliya, S P PK Jadeja, Inspectors M A Singha and P M Parmarand subInspectors A M Syyed and R D Raval. Initially the committee hadDGP Pramod Kumar, DIG JK Bhatt and Mohan Jha.

Last month, the case had hit headlines in the media in thecountry with Judicial Magistrate Tamang preparing a report ofinvestigations into the encounter in which he said that it was acold blooded murder turned into encounter.

New twist in Sohrabuddin encounter Supreme Court which is hearing the controversial Sohrabuddinfake encounter case is now probing into the role of AndhraPradesh police in the episode. Gujarat government has told theCourt that the encounter of Sohrabuddin by Gujarat police wasfake, but it is yet not able to explain many important issues likehow Sohrabuddin’s wife Kausar Bi and witness Tulsiram Prajapatiwere killed. The new issue has come up before the Court as ami-cus curiae in the case Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniamraised the question of the role of the Andhra police in helpingGujarat police unofficially. He said that AP police had given logis-tical support to Gujarat police. With this argument, he pressed forthe transfer of the investigations to outside agency like CBI.“What was the motive of the Andhra Pradesh Police to join theconspiracy? What could have actuated their action when it wasnot officially done?” the Bench comprising justices Chatterjee andAftab asked.

Two vehicles carrying AP Police personnel had escorted thethree victims from the state to Gujarat to facilitate the killings.Sohrabuddin, along with Kauser Bi and their friend Prajapati,were picked up in a joint operation by Gujarat and AP Police from

a bus on its way from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra on 22November 2005. Gujarat police has claimed that they had cometo Gujarat to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Besides the AP Police, the role of Rajasthan Police also fig-ured during the investigations conducted so far into the killings.The amicus curiae also accused the state police of leaving sev-eral loose ends in the investigations, as the state had been con-sistently making efforts to shield the accused.

“In a case where investigations have never been fair andwhere the state has not been fair in the advancement of thecourse of justice, we must have thorough investigations into theincidents, as police officers are involved in the murder,” the ami-cus curiae urged the Bench. He further pointed out that no effortshad been made till date to establish how Kausar Bi and Prajapatihad been killed. The amicus curiae pointed out that InspectorSolanki of the Gujarat CID, who had conducted preliminary inves-tigations into the fake encounters, had recorded a number of cru-cial statements linking top police officers of the state to thekillings, but the report has neither been submitted in the apexcourt nor had formed part of the charge sheet filed in the trialcourt.

No house for Muslims in West Ahmedabad If you are a Muslim, you cannot get a house in west Ahmedabad.because your Hindu neighbours will be in trouble. Tag of Muslimsis not in the line of Builders of Gujarat as Institute of Housing andEstate Developers’ (GIHED) exhibition, showed this serious trendat the Gujarat University Convention Centre recently.

Even as around 1.5 lakh home-seekers thronged thebuilders’ stalls during exhibition, Muslims looking to purchasehouses in the western part of the city were turned away. Theywere told matter-of-factly, “There is no provision for Muslims inour schemes.”

It didn’t matter that the Muslim buyers had money to invest. Itcertainly didn’t count that they were educated and urbane. ManyMuslims came and went house-hunting at the GIHED exhibition.Almost every stall said “no” to them. Some didn’t even give themthe scheme brochures.

Almost every stall that Muslims visited in the exhibition said

there was no space available for Muslims. Even after Muslimsoffered to pay more than the market price, they were turned away.

In fact, at the stall of Shree Balaji Constructions, some peo-ple were told that they were welcome to invest in their scheme butthey cannot reside there. Now, what sort of a criterion is that?

Gafoorjiwala, a resident of Paldi, is a director of a sportsadventure company. In his quest for a house in Satellite or Bopal,Gafoorjiwala went to the exhibition but was turned away by thebuilders. He said, “I asked them on what grounds was I beingturned away. I have the money to invest, I have a clean record, Iam no trouble-maker, I am as patriotic as anyone. So why am Inot being sold a house in Ahmedabad West? The builders said Iam a Muslim, and their other customers will have a problem if Ilive near them. It’s absurd and insulting.”

While it is no secret that builders shy away from selling hous-es to Muslims in ‘non-Muslim’ areas, the fact that Muslims areprevented from buying houses in an open forum like a GIHED isshocking

Saffron rule in Gujarat cricket tooSaffron supporters in Gujarat are now in control of Gujarat CricketAssociation. Chief Minister Narendra Modi bowled his detractorsand critics with a new inning in his life. He became President ofthe Gujarat Cricket Association at the annual general meeting ofthe GCA held here beginning his journey into cricket politics, afield which has all the intrigues and bitchy betrayals of power pol-itics.

His election has come as a surprise to all since no one hadidea of this development at the AGM meeting. Till now, it was hisclose confident Minister of State for Home Amit Shah who wasleading the coup in the cash rich Gujarat Cricket Association.

Shah has been suitably rewarded for the coup for his masterModi with the post of Vice President of the GCA. Though the postof VP is quite inconsequential, the equation between Modi andShah in the ruling BJP in Gujarat indicates that Shah will callshots for his master Modi. With this win in GCA, Modi has joinedthe club of politicians including former BCCI chief Sharad Pawarand his own party leader Arun Jaitely, who is currently headingDelhi and District Cricket Association. �

GUJARAT ROUND-UP: ABDUL HAFIZ LAKHANI

Focus now on Sadik Jamal’s encounter

RANJIT DEVRAJ

New Delhi: When police in western Gujarat state claimed tohave shot dead four members of the militant Lashkar-e-Toiba(LeT) group, including a 19-year-old girl student, on Jun. 15,2004, in an 'encounter,' few believed them. For one thing, theword 'encounter' has become popularly accepted as euphe-mism for stage-managed, extrajudicial killings by police inIndia. And for another, the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), provincial government in Gujarat led by Chief MinisterNarendra Modi, was yet to live down the opprobrium of theFebruary-May 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in which at least 1,000people died and thousands were left homeless.

Human rights activists said there was something too patabout the way the bodies of the victims, the weapons theywere supposed to have been carrying and the car they wereriding in were arranged at the scene of the shootout on the out-skirts of the industrial hub of Ahmedabad, the largest city inGujarat. Curiously, no policeman was injured in the allegedencounter.

On 4 Sept., allegations by human rights activists weregiven credence when Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate S.P.Tamang pronounced the encounter a fake and said that the fourvictims - Ishrat Jehan, a 19-year-old girl student, Javed GhulamSheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias RajkumarAkbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani - were not linked tothe LeT. Tamang stated in his report that police had, in fact,shot the four in "cold blood using their service revolvers".

"Even if the occupants of the car were members of the LeT,the police should have followed due process rather than resort towhat can only be described as cold-blooded murder,'' said ColinGonsalves, a leading Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist.

Gonsalves told IPS that the police officers involved shouldbe proceeded against as laid down by several rulings. TheJustice Jeevan Reddy committee, which dealt with encounterkillings, had recommended in 2005 that whenever a policemankills somebody, a criminal prosecution must be launched and itshould be left to a court to decide if a plea of self-defence holds.

Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),a statutory body, ruled in 2003 that although police had theright to self-defence and may resort to reasonable force whilearresting suspects in serious crimes, "deaths caused in anencounter, if not justified, would amount to an offence of cul-pable homicide''.

The NHRC was also clear that a "magisterial enquiry mustinvariably be held in all cases of death which occur in thecourse of police action and the next of kin of the deceased beinvariably associated in such inquiry".

But far from moving against the 21 policemen involved inwhat has come to be known as the 'Ishrat Jehan case,' theModi government petitioned the Gujarat High Court to haveTamang's report scrapped as "illegal and doubtful".

Unfortunately for the state government, it is alreadyembroiled in another encounter case before the SupremeCourt, where it was compelled to admit that the death ofSohrabuddin Sheikh on 13 Jan. 2003 was the result of a fakeencounter carried out by the state police. Sheikh was shotdead by police outside Ahmedabad. They later murdered hiswife, Kausar Bi, on Nov. 27, 2005. Worse, a conscientious for-mer director-general of police in Gujarat, R. B. Sreekumar, hasgone public over how so-called encounters were a "matter ofpolicy" in the state.

Sreekumar, now associated with the Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation Citizens for Justice and Peace'scampaign to secure justice for the victims of the Gujaratpogrom, released in November last year a book detailing collu-sion between the police and the state government in the 2002violence.

The Diary of a Helpless Man describes the Modi govern-ment - in power since October 2001 and now running its thirdterm - as ''cruelly communal" and run by bureaucrats who are"sophisticated sycophants" and by police who are "the mostcorrupt in India,'' with some of its inspectors collecting asmuch as 3.7 million Indian rupees (75,000 U.S. dollars) a monthin bribes.

But credit for legally nailing the fake encounters on theModi government must go to Ahmedabad-based lawyer andhuman rights activists Mukul Sinha, who has been handlingseveral cases on behalf of the survivors of victims, includingShamima Kausar, mother of Ishrat Jehan. "Things are finallybeginning to come together after all these years. The end isnow in sight to the many cases and investigations filed againstthe Modi government that are related to the 2002 violence andthe series of encounter killings targeting a particular commu-nity [Muslims]," Sinha told IPS over telephone fromAhmedabad. "A real breakthrough came in the case ofSohrabuddin Sheikh,'' said Sinha, a member of the JanSangarsh Manch (JSM) or People's Revolutionary Forum.

Sinha said the common thread running through the caseshe has been fighting is the Gujarat police alleging that the peo-ple they executed were members of the LeT and were plottingto kill Modi and other top leaders of the BJP or its affiliates. "It helped that the name of Vanzara figured as the police'encounter specialist' in all of the cases," Sinha said. "Modi,"said Sinha, "has stayed in power all these years by successful-ly polarising the Hindu and Muslim communities in Gujarat andconstantly whipping up public fear that Gujarat was undersiege by the LeT." The JSM is currently the only voluntary agency left inAhmedabad vocally opposing the Modi regime's policies. "Wehave managed to survive by constantly keeping the peopleinformed about the truth and through our links to the powerfulGujarat Union of Trade Unions,'' Sinha explained.(ipsnews.net)

Gujarat State on Trial for extrajudicial killings

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 11

CCoonnddiittiioonnss FFoorr RReeccoonncciilliiaattiioonn wwiitthh JJuussttiiccee DDoo NNoott OObbttaaiinn iinn GGuujjaarraattAligarh: “The State, Including Judiciary & the Civil Society Failedthe Victims,” said the well-known social and rights activist HarshMander here during a book release.

Prof. Irfan Habib paying tribute to Harsh Madner in glowingterms that it was reassuring to know that the country which wit-nessed massacres like Gujarat has given birth to not onlyGandhi, but a person like him, of whom we were all proud,summed up the sentiments of all teachers, students and socialworkers who had assembled under the chairmanship of industri-alist-philanthropist Zafar Alam on 16 September in the ArtsFaculty Lounge of the AMU for the release of his book, Fear andForgiveness: The Aftermath of Massacre (Penguin, 2009). Prof.Habib characterized the Gujarat carnage, which constitutes thebackground of the book, as not only an onslaught againstMuslims but against the entire nation.

The programme started with recitation from Hindu, MuslimChristian ,Buddhist, Sikh an Jain scriptures on the theme of sanc-tity of human life.The book was formally released by Dr.ZakiaSiddiqi. It was followed by reading of passages from the book byDr. Sami Rafiq and Haris.

Welcoming Harsh Mander, Prof. Iqbal A. Ansari, PresidentCitizens For Peace and Human Rights, which organized the pro-gramme in collaboration with the Dept. of Political Science of theA.M.U, observed that Harsh Mander combined rare intellectualand moral integrity with compassion, which has made him under-take dedicated work for all marginalized, poor and oppressedpeople. Muslims in his view are not only target of violence of hategroups but also suffer daily discrimination and are being treatedas second class citizens.

Introducing the book, Prof. Ansari said that the book affirmsthat there cannot be any durable peace without punishing theunrepentant guilty and fully rehabilitating the victims. Howevergoing beyond legal retributive justice it explores chances ofrestorative justice, by a process of healing and reconciliationwhich required: (i) acknowledgment; (ii) remorse; (iii) reparation;and (iv) justice.

The writer feels that none of them obtained in Gujarat.Instead of even slightest signs of acknowledgment of guilt, Modiand his gang celebrated the event as Gujarat's Gaurav (Pride) -in the process Modi becoming a folk hero.

Prof. Ansari referred to passages in the book, which honest-ly brought out how the State's institutions, the rights groups andsecular intellectual class failed the victim group. However thebook also points out that for the first time the efforts of civil soci-ety groups supported by the NHRC resulted in the reopening ofcases and retrials leading to convictions under the direction of theSupreme Court.

Inaugurating the session, the Aligarh industrialist and philan-thropist, Mr. Pramoad Kumar, pointed out the general state oflawlessness of the police and the law-enforcement systemwherein false encounter killings and torture were common - which

made situation like Gujarat passively acceptable by the people.In his detailed analysis of the book, Prof. Masoodul Hasan,

one of the most distinguished scholars of the AMU, observed thatthe book written in a superb literary style combining the clinicaland the artistic technique and tools was the outcome of sincereheart searching of one who had a heart of gold. He expressedappreciation of the coinage of the term Nyayagrah for people'scollective struggle for legal justice. Prof. Hasan also made copi-ous references to Prof. Ansari's work as an activist and scholar,including his work in the area of communal violence.

While complimenting Harsh Mander for his commendablework both as an activist and writer Prof. Hamida Ahmad regrettedlack of any progress in the accountability of law-enforcement sys-tem since early 1960s. She recalled how Subhadra Joshi's visitafter Hashimpura (Meerut) - Maliana massacre by the PAC in 1987had inspired hope in her as a student, which was never fulfilled.

Dealing with reconciliation - the theme of the book - sheappreciated that Harsh Mander distinguished between subjuga-tive reconciliation of the oppressed to her inferior status and rec-onciliation with dignity among equals.

She made the perceptive observation that there was noquestion of acknowledgment of guilt by those who planned thecarnage pursuing their agenda of hate and revenge. Recallingthe oft-made observation including that by Harsh Mander that noriot could continue beyond a few hours, if the law was enforcedimpartially, she wanted to remove the distinctions caused bylabels between 'riot' and 'terror'. Both were the same. She hopedthat Indians would remind themselves that they treated Ashokathe Great and Akbar the Great not Alexander the Great, andwould remove the blot of Modi becoming the Great.

Prof. Khwaja Shamim Ahmad acknowledged the heart mov-ing narrative of the book, which touched him. He recalled theAligarh riot of 1978 in which the PAC had done targeted killingsof Muslims. Were the rifles scientifically trained to recognise andkill only Muslims? He put the question to Prime Minister MorarjiDesai, when he observed that when riots broke out, police wouldresort to firing.

The retired district judge Dharam Sing Ram commendedHarsh Mander's work, to which, he felt, we should extend supportso that gross injustice to Muslims and other weaker sectionscould be removed, without which India's claim as a law-governeddemocracy would remain hollow.

Dr. Mufti Zahid recalled Harsh Mander's initial sacrifice byresigning from the administrative service and undertaking themission of rousing people's conscience. His sincere dedication tothe cause made us regain hope. He felt that the facts of the inci-dent of Ishrat Jahan's false encounter killing coming to light wasa hopeful sign of accountability.

Dr. Asim Siddiqi paid tributes to Harsh Mander, whosecolumns in newspapers he looked forward to reading with inter-est every week; and was moved by his recent account of the

Nellie massacre of 1983, in the Hindu. It appeared to him that hewrote from the heart.

Dr. Shakeel Samdani recalled how as a mere AdditionalCollector he got anti-Sikh riot in Indore controlled, by calling thearmy without seeking permission from any political authority.Paying tributes to him, he observed that we should all seek inspi-ration from Harsh Mander's work. Prof. Shamim Ahmad forceful-ly brought out pervasive injustice to Muslims, who were in aunique situation of victimhood. He gave a call for trial of Modiunder some competent international authority.

In his concluding remarks Prof. Ansari pointed out that issuesof justice, peace and reconciliation in Gujarat could not be dealtwith in isolation. Gujarat 2002 is the outcome of the failure of thejudiciary since December 1949 till 1994 in Ayodhya. Why didAyodhya happen? It needs to be publicly debated, like the currentdebate over why Partition happened, fixing responsibility for notonly 6 December 1992,but all events since 22-23 December1949 He further observed that to be able to cope with the post-Ayodhya situation of which Gujarat is an episode required para-digm shift from pre-1947 secular communal polarized public dis-course to a more comprehensive model of peace & reconciliationfor the entire subcontinent making us rethink our concepts ofnation, community, citizen and State in human rights perspective.

In his response Harsh Mander gave reasons for writing thebook based on his experience in Gujarat since 2002 till date -especially the narratives of sufferings of the innocent victims,which needed to be recorded - as he discovered in Nellie(Assam) when he visited the victims of Feb. 1983 carnage, whonarrated the 25 year old events as if they had happened in therecent past. Since his idea of India was based on equality ofrights of all citizens, especially equal justice for all, he initiatedNyayagraha movement to struggle for securing legal justice whileadhering to truth.

Apart from the narrative of the pregnant Kausar, whoseabdomen was ripped open and foetus smashed, he recalled theeffacement of Wali Dakni's shrine and overnight building of a roadover it. However, it should be comforting to know that every nightafter the traffic comes to a halt Hindu devotees offer floral tributeto the Saint. Referring to the findings of Ashish Nandy heexpressed satisfaction over the fact that during 1947 holocaust26 per cent of people on both sides of the Indo-Pak border savedlife of the other community as compared to one per cent saversof Jews in the Holocaust in Nazi's Germany.

In his presidential remarks, Mr. Zafar Alam expressed hissense of pride and achievement after meeting Harsh Mander forthe first time. He congratulated him as well as other human rightsactivists who were serving as catalytic agents for an ongoingchange, and expressed his conviction that parliamentary democ-racy in India would be able to bring about structural reform in themodel of governance so that recurrence of massacres andpogroms could soon become a thing of the past. �

High Court’s support of clean chit to DelhiPolice challenged in Supreme Court

New Delhi: Delhi High Court's acceptance of National Human Rights Commission's investiga-

tion report giving clean chit to Delhi Police's Special Cell in Batla House encounter case has

been challenged by ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy), an NGO in a petition filed

in Supreme Court on 18 Sept. The NGO has stated in its petition that the High Court has erred

in accepting NHRC's investigation report because this Commission did not thoroughly investi-

gate the encounter which resulted in the death of Inspector MC Sharma and two alleged young

terrorists, that the Commission did not personally visit and inspect the place of encounter and

its strategic surroundings nor did it meet and interview any eye witness, local people etc which

are essential for any kind of enquiry. The petition also said that the Commission relied totally

on the version of Delhi Police and did not base its report on its own independent investigation.

Hence in order to remove all doubts and suspicions, an independent judicial enquiry is essen-

tial, the petition said. It is however not known if the apex Court has admitted this petition for

hearing.

Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Maulana Ahmad Bokhari, supporting the demand for judicial

enquiry asked if government and Delhi Police think that Batla House encounter is true, why it

does not order an independent judicial enquiry? Referring to the result of the recent Okhla

assembly bye-election he said that by defeating the Congress candidate people of Okhla have

expressed their no-confidence in Congress governments, both at the Centre and Delhi state,

because of attempts to hide the truth behind Batla House encounter. (NA Ansari)

Accused in CRPF camp attack acquitted by High CourtNew Delhi: Delhi High Court acquitted on Monday 14 Sept Maqsood Ahmad who was accused

of his complicity in attack on CRPF camp at Jharoda Kalan, New Delhi in 2001 in which one

CRPF man was killed and who was sentenced to death by a lower trial court in 2004. He was

also wanted by police along with his accomplice, Mohammad Saeed in Ayodhya Fidayeen

attack in 2005. The High Court acquitted him because the police had failed to produce any

concrete proof of his involvement in the attack, except that he had refused to join the identifi-

cation parade and that he was a Pakistani and had entered India without valid documents. The

High Court bench consisting of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Indermeet Kaur said

that both these reasons for arrest have no relationship with attack on CRPF camp and killing

of the CRPF man, a constable.

The High Court bench came down heavily on the police and said that it failed to draw his

sketch and that it also failed to take the assailant (Maqsood)'s footprints. The bench further

observed that the lone witness was the constable L.H. Fernandes (who was subsequently

killed) who could not see the assailant properly and hence his (assailant)'s sketch could not be

drawn. In view of all this, the High Court bench acquitted him of the attack (on CRPF camp)

and killing of the constable. �

New Delhi: A dismissed Iranian embassy offi-cial has approached the Delhi High Court seek-ing a direction to the Centre to grant him sanc-tion to move a civil court for executing a decreedirecting his previous employer to pay him acompensation of Rs 789,600. A district court, ina decree order last November, had asked theIranian embassy to pay Rs 789,600 with ninepercent annual interest (till the payment ismade) for removing him from his service sevenyears ago.

The High Court sought its response on apetition filed by Syed Ashraf Hasnain Rizvi(ashrafrizvi0025@yahoo.com), who worked inScience and Education Section of the embassy,as secretary from 1 Oct.1989 to 15 May 2002when his services wereterminated by an oralcommunication “with-out any reason” accord-ing to Rizvi who in hispetition has soughtdirection to the MEA togrant him sanction forexecution of the decreepassed in 14 Nov. 2007by the additional districtjudge DC Anand. Healso pleaded for settingaside an order issuedby MEA on 4 April deny-ing him the sanction.

"Rejection by theMEA of his request forgrant of sanction to exe-cute a decree obtained in a suit, consent forwhich was earlier granted by the same ministry,

is arbitrary, illogical and capricious," the peti-tion filed through his counsel Saif Mahmoodand Sumant De alleged.

The Counter Affidavit was filed by theDeputy Chief of Protocol (F), Ministry ofExternal Affairs on 5 August 2008 while therejoinder was filed by Rizvi on 17 November2008. Since my illegal termination I am jobless,living on the mercy of others, Rizvi told MG.

Earlier there were two more cases againstforeign missions which were disposed off atthe stage of permission to file the suit. One ofMr. Ali Akbar Kashani sought permission fromthe MEA for filing a suit against UAE Embassyin 1971, while the second one was by

Harbhajan Singh Dhallawho sought permissionto file a suit against theAlgerian Embassy during1983-86. In both thecases the MEA hasrefused to give its con-sent for filing the suitsagainst the respectiveembassies. The refusalwas challenged by boththe petitioners in theCourt Law. The MEA/UoIlost both the cases.

Rizvi said, whilespeaking to MG, that it isnot a matter of a fewlakhs rupees as orderedby the court, it is the mat-ter of the life and honourof Indian citizens in their

own country. Are foreign missions not boundto obey/follow Indian laws, Rizvi asked.

Former employee wins case butembassy not keen to honour Indian law

"Rejection by the MEAof his request for grantof sanction to execute a

decree obtained in asuit, consent for whichwas earlier granted bythe same ministry, isarbitrary, illogical andcapricious," the peti-tion filed through his

counsel Saif Mahmoodand Sumant De alleged.

HUMAN RIGHTS

ISSUES 12 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

SYED SHAHABUDDIN

Maharashtra ranks 4th among the statesof the Union from the point of view ofMuslim population. It comes immediate-ly after UP, West Bengal and Bihar. Witha population of 10.3 million Muslims, ithas 7.43% of the National Muslim popu-lation and about 10.6% of the total StatePopulation of 96.9 million (2001).2. Muslims are not spread uniformly

throughout Maharashtra. In 14 districts.their Proportion is more than the state average, but in remaining

districts their proportion goes down to even less than 5%.3. Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has 288 members. The

average population per constituency is 3.35 lakhs. The duenumber of Muslim MLA's in the state should be about 31.Muslim population exceeds 3.35 lakhs in 10 districts and canalone generate 16 seats proportionately. But the averagenumber between 1952 & 1999 was only about 9.5.In 2004the number of Muslim MLA's rose to 11. However, addition-al 8 Muslims from various parties were runners-up, and 23more Muslim contestants were placed as second runner-up,excluding the Muslim winners or first runners-up. Thus, atotal of 11+8+23 i.e., 42 constituencies had voted significant-ly for Muslim candidates which shows that in ideal conditions,the Muslim community can reach the due level of represen-tation.

4. Maharashtra is divided in 7 administrative Divisions. Each issubdivided in districts whose total number is 35. It is possi-ble that within a division, some districts may have highMuslim population to generate at least one or more seats.But the other districts in the same Division put together mayexceed the magic figure of 3.35 lakhs of Muslim population &generate a seat. A Secular party may field one additionalMuslim candidate in a suitable constituency in one of the oth-ers districts.

5. The same is true of constituencies within a district. With alarge Muslim population, some constituencies may be Muslimwinnable with about 25% plus Muslim population. Other con-stituencies which are contiguous may generate one addition-al Muslim winnable seat, if their total Muslim populationexceeds 3, 35,000.

STATE POLITICS6. Maharashtra has a tradition of anti-Brahmin movements dat-

ing back to two centuries. In modern times it crystallised inthe form of Republican Party which claims to represent theDalit masses. Unfortunately, this party has over the yearsbroken into several fragments and depending upon the casteof its leaders, each faction nurses a particular social con-stituency & uses it to make a deal with a major party.

7. Socially in Maharashtra the Marathas constitute the biggestsocial group or community whose undisputed leader isSharad Pawar of the NCP.Brahmins and other high castesgenerally support the BJP and Shiv Shena, apart from urbanmiddle classes.

8. The Muslims are often fragmented on baradari & sectarianbasis and even by geographical origin. Since MetropolitanMumbai has attracted people from all over the county insearch of livelihood and, new-comers generally find shelterin the localities inhabitated by those who came earlier orbelong to the same caste or sect. Muslim Parties, during theLok Sabha Election 2009, tried to form a united Muslim frontbut it failed to take roots

9. With their pattern of dispersal, Muslims cannot win manyAssembly seats under the present electoral system in theirown, as there are no Muslim majority seats & very few withabove 25 %Muslims. But they may win seats with a suitablesocial partner on give-and-take basis. The best choice couldbe the Dalits, if and only if Republican Party reinvents itselfas a viable force. It has recently made a beginning by form-

ing a Republican-Left Democratic Front(RLDI), under theleadership of the Republican leader Ramdas Athawale withthe objective of providing a third alternative to the people ofMaharashtra going beyond the INC-NCP alliance and theBJP-Shiv Sena alliance. The Front presently includes, apartfrom the RPI, the Peasant and Workers Party, the CPM, CPI,SP, JD(S) and LJP, not to mention some minor local parties.Prakash Ambedkar a prominent dalit leader has not joinedthe Front. One major national party, the BSP, with about 5 %of the voters remains out of this combination and has theambition of contesting as many seats as possible, winning atleast 25 seats and playing the king-maker, if no alliance orparty emerges with a majority. Both the RLDF & the BSP arelikely to cut into secular votes & weaken INC - NCP againstSS-BJP.

10. So far, the Muslim votes have been shared by the INC-NCP,SP and BSP. By contesting against each other, they divideMuslim votes in almost every constituency. If Muslims sup-port one major well-selected contestant unitedly and mas-sively in 30 odd Muslim constituencies of higher Muslim con-centration and if the candidate belongs to the biggest Muslim

subgroup in the constituency, it is possible for theMuslims to attain higher representation in theAssembly, than in 2004. Secondly, Muslims shouldaim at such seats, in which no other social group orcommunity has a higher proportion.11. All secular parties are however anxious to useevery election to expand their influence and theyinsist on contesting seats even with a low concentra-tion of their social group. But except high concentra-tion areas, experience shows that with social affinityalone, no secular party except NCP can win manyseats. 12. On the basis of the election results of 1999 and2004 the estimated Muslim population in various con-stituencies, a district wise chart (See table) has beentabulated to locate winnable Muslim constituencies,division-wise and district wise. But, the weakness liesin that no accurate count of Muslim voters or propor-tion of Muslim electorate is available. Only a localMuslim organization is in a position to count & deter-mine the proportion of Muslim voters, This must bedone, particularly where it is likely to exceed 20%.

NEED FOR MAHARASHTRA MUSLIM FORUM13. What is needed is to form a Maharashtra MuslimForum with participation of the MMM, the JIH,theJUH, the Ahl-e -Sunnat and the Ulema Council tonegotiate with the leading political players in the fieldto persuade them to field Muslim candidates whocommand credibility in the eyes of the community andare also acceptable to the non-Muslim electorate.14. General Guidelines (1) All eligible Muslim should be dully registered asvoters, particularly those who have just crossed 18.(2) All Muslim voters should cast their vote.(3) The number of Muslim voters in every constituen-cy should be counted, polling station-wise; only theconstituency which has more than 20 % Muslim vot-ers may be claimed as a Muslim winnable seat.(4) Muslim opinion-makers in every constituencyshould form a small Committee to select the best can-didate from the Muslim point of view. This should beconveyed to apex Muslim Forum in the state for nego-tiation with major parties in the contest. (5) The Committee should also prepare theelectoral history of the constituency to find out, howmuch times it has been won by a Muslim candidateand how many times a Muslim candidate has lost bya small margin.(6) As finally decided, all Muslim voters shouldvote for the common candidate.

15. The Forum should target all Muslim Winnable Seats whichshould be identified by the following criteria:-

(1) Muslim voters constitute at least 20 %of the electrorate.(2) Muslim voters are more than those of any other identifiable

social group.(3) Muslim community is not divided by baradaris & sects.(4) Muslim community is on good terms with other social groups,

particularly, the Dalits.(5) Muslim community has one or more suitable potential candi-

dates, active in public life and acceptable to all Muslims andsome other social groups.

(6) Muslim community has formed a local consultative committeeto choose a Muslim candidate and project him. The localcommittee should advise the apex Muslim Forum to place hisname before the major contestants & negotiate their support.

(7) The agreed candidate is in a position to raise some resourcesfrom his friends, sympathisers & well-wishers, apart from theparty which nominates him as its candidate.

(8) The candidate is in a position to set up his polling machinery to con-duct an effective campaign and establish contact with all the voters. �

A Note on Maharashtra & Guidelines for Muslim Voters

Maharashtra Assembly Election, 2009

“Mr.Prime Minister,You are presiding over the destiny of a nation ,which claims to bethe largest democracy in the world without rule of law and a sec-ular state without secular justice.”

The latest example of the lawlessness of the Indian State isthe recent report on fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan andthree others by police officers in Gujarat in which most damningaspect is the collusive role of the Union Home Ministry .No lessharrowing is to recall the media – official collusive reporting of theevent by likes of Praveen Swami of the Hindu and most electron-ic news channels as a definite case of L-e-T /J-e-M backed actsof terrorism aimed at enabling one mass murderer wear the haloof martyrdom .

What does the Unioin Minister for Law and Justice,Mr.Veerappa Moily mean by stating that revelations in IshratJahan encounter case were “very serious matter for the countryand in any other foreign country Narendra Modi would havebeen in some other place” ? as reported by the Indian Express of9Sep 09.It is an obvious admission of absence of rule of law in

India ,which largely obtains in Western democracies, irrespectiveof their lawlessness while dealing with others .

Why do Advanis ,Uma Bharatis,Kalyan Singhs ,BalThackerays,Singhals,and Modis enjoy not only impunity butrespectability because even Human Rights activsts swear byIndian Secularism which means equal respect for all religions,not effective equal enjoyment of human rights including equalprotection of the law by all ,especially vulnerable minorities andweaker sections.

Have the human rights groups ,like the PUCL,taken anynotice of the Special Report on India by the UN SpecialRapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief released in Feb 09in which it has warned about repetition of Ayodhya /Mumbai 1992and Gujarat 2002 if the guilty continue to enjoy impunity ?

It is time that victims asked senior human rights and peaceactivists, who unambiguously gave their verdict ofgenocide/pogrom about Gujarat 2002, why did they not show anyperseverance in demanding dismissal of the Modi government bythe UPA government soon after its coming into power in 2004,followed by appointment of a special Tribunal for trial of mem-

bers of the government and officials responsible for mass hatecrimes on the additional ground of the Supreme Court’s stric-tures about systematic subversion of justice in Gujarat and onthe ground of its non –compliance of norms and directions onrelief operatios by the NHRC.The fig leaf of Modi having won pop-ular mandate was too thin to provide any real protection in theCourt against exercise of article 356 by the Union Government ifit had the will to punish the guilty and rehabilitate the victims.Whenever article 356 has been or will be appropriately used,itwill be exercised against popularly elected government in theevent of serious breakdown of constitutional functioning of thesystem in the state as was the justification for its recourse in1992. ,which got upheld by the Supreme Court.

We know why the Government led by Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi,who had stalled the functioning of the Parliamentfor a number of days in 2002 over their demand for dismissal ofthe Modi Government ,lacked the will to try and punish Modi andcompany.They must have got terrified by the ghost in the mirror,very palpable in 1984 but also by very many others like Nellie1983 ,Hashimpura-Maliana 1987,Bhagalpur 1989 etc etcBut why do we not muster courage and perseverance?

(Prof.) Iqbal A. Ansari, Aligarh

Division District Due Constituencies

Muslim Population (Lacs) Name Muslim Population Seats No. Name % of Muslim

1. Amravati 12.4 Amravati (3.5 L) 1 38. Amravati

Akola (3.0L) 1 31. Akola East 24%

Buldhana (2.8L) 1 22. Buldhana 24%

Yavatmal Washim (1.1L) 1 78. Yavatmal

81. Pusad

79. Digras 32%

35. Karanja 22%

2. Konkan 34.5 Mumbai City (7.4L) 1 2 177, Bandra West

180, Wadala 22 %

184, Byculla 25 %

186, Mumbaidevi 25 %

Mumbai Suburban (14.9L) 4 160, Kandivali East 20 %

101, Charcop

165, Mankhurd Shivajinagar

175. Kalina 20 %

Thane (8.8L) 2 3 2 or 3 136, Bhiwandi west 30 %

137, Bhiwandi East 30 %

138, Kalyan

145, Meera Bhayander 31 %

149, Mumbra Kalana 30 %

Ratnagiri (1.8l)

Raigarh (1.7L)

Sindhdurg 2 193. Shivardhan

3. Aurangabad 11.3 Aurangabad (5.7 L) 1 or 2 107. Aurangabad Central 25%

108. Aurangabad West 25%

104. Sillod 20%

109. Aurangabad East 25%

Parbhani (2.4 L) 1 96. Prabhani

Jalna (2.1 L) 1 98. Pathri or 99 Partur

Hingoli (NA) 1 93. Kalamnuri 25%

4. Nanded 10.8 Latur (2.9L) 1 239. Ausa 25%

Nanded (3.9 L) 1 86. Nanded North 30%

97. Nanded South 30%

Osmanabad (1.5 L) 1 242. Osmanabad 25%

Beed (.5 L) 230. Beed 25%

5. Nagpur (2) Nagpur (3 L) 1 55. Nagpur Central, or 30%

5 other Dists. (less than 1 L ea 1 58. Kampti 30%

Best Muslim Constituency in the rest of Division

6. Nashik 13.9 Dhule 1 7. Dhule City 35%

Jalgaon (4.6 L) 1 13.Jalgaon City 20%

Nashik (5.3L) 1 or 2 114. Malegaon Central 25%

Ahmednagar (2.6L) 1

Nandurbar 1

Best Muslim Constituency in the Dist.

7. Pune 16 Pune (4.5L) 1 214 Pune Cantt. or 20%

215 Kasbapet 20%

Solapur (3.8L) 1 248. Solapur North or

249. Solapur South

Kolhapur (2.4L) 1 273. Kagal

Sangli (1.3L) Satara (4.5L) 1 281. Miraj

Total 31 35

Chart of Winnable Muslim Constituencies

Average Population—3,50,000

Ishrat Jahan murder: an open letter to the PM

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 13

SPECIAL REPORTS

FIROZ BAKHT AHMED

firozbakhtahmed07@gmail.com

The ghost of Partition is haunting us even today. Though Iam a staunch supporter of Maulana Azad and not Jinnah,I feel that Jaswant Singh, the erstwhile Bhartiya JanataParty leader has a point not necessarily about Jinnah

being a ‘great man’ but to peel off the years and years of falsifi-cation of the truth behind Partition throughhis path-breaking research, Jinnah - India,Partition, Independence. Singh rightlydescribes the Partition of India as the“defining event of the 20th century” for thisentire Subcontinent.

Jaswant has done nothing historicallywrong other than raising curtains fromsome otherwise embarrassing but truefacts leading to the vivisection of the coun-try besides the “epic journey of Jinnahfrom being the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, the liberal constitutionalistand Indian nationalist to the Quaid-e-Azamof Pakistan”. Jaswant Singh strongly con-tested the popular Indian view that Jinnahwas the villain of the 1947 Partition or theman principally responsible for it withproven facts. So, why all this hue and cry?

Calling a spade a spade, Singh raises several pertinent andthoughtful questions on Partition. “...How can you divide a geo-graphic (also geo-political) unity?” Azad asked a question of thesame sort, “How can you divide water into two?” True, a nationlike India was not to be slashed into two through a surgical oper-ation.

The BJP leaders’ affinity to Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed AliJinnah is not a newfound love. In the past too party heavyweightslike — Advani and Vajpayee — while on their Pakistan tours —have expressed similar sentiments.

We also pity the way the BJP has demonized a man ofJaswant’s stature in the same manner as Jinnah is demonized inIndia. Jaswant is victimized today ironically by both — theCongress and the BJP which have reasons common for doing so.The way his book was banned in Gujarat and the way he hasbeen thrown out of the BJP, is tragic. Advani too went gaga overJinnah but he was not meted the same fate as Jaswant. In factthe very ban will give the book a cutting edge. It’s human nature.

Partition is a very complex and complicated jinx to under-stand. However, it couldn’t be understood unless we go into thedetails with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, quite a few of which wereconfided into me by his nephew (and my father), Ghulam Yasin’sson, Nooruddin Ahmed at the time when 30 unpublished pages ofMaulana Azad’s India Wins Freedom were published in 1988, asper his wishes, 30 years after his death. Nooruddin was broughtup by Maulana like his own son as Azad had no issue.

While on the other hand, similar allegations had been record-ed by Maulana Azad in his last 30 pages of India Wins Freedomthat were to be published 30 years after his death (February 22,1958) in 1988 by Orient and Longman. The real pages seem to

have been removed by either in Nehru or the Janata Party’sregime as claimed by Laila Kabir, daughter of Humayun Kabir,and by Nooruddin.

When the author visited Nooruddin at his house at hisKolkata (32 Bright Street), he was told by him of certain glaringrealities about Partition that hadn’t seen the light of the day thatgot published in major newspapers and magazines of that time,like The Times of India, Deccan Chronicle, The Illustrated Weekly,

The Telegraph, Sunday (Weekly). A lot ofAzad’s unpublished works had beenthieved or destroyed by some distant rel-atives of my father living as a recluse inCalcutta during the controversy of IndiaWins Freedom. It was a time when dirtylinen was washed by some relatives ofAzad to grab the royalty rights of IndiaWins Freedom.

Maulana Azad was quite aggrievedabout Partition on Nehru-Edwina front. Hehad accused Nehru of being lured intoPartition by Lady Edwina Mountbatten.Maulana had clearly stated that therewere times when Pandit Nehru,Mountbatten and Lady Mountbatten wereseen sitting together while at others onlyNehru and Edwina were seen together.

Azad had also written a book Jashn-e-Azadi ya Taqseem-e-Hind that never got published and contained some glaring truthson Partition as per a page 1 report in The Times of India (10October 1992) by Sakina Yusuf Khan. My father told me that thebook was basically a retort against Nehru, Patel and Gandhiregarding their roles in Partition.

Since Maulana had a tremendous regard for these peopleand he didn’t want to hurt them during their lifetime, he had madea will that these last 30 pages of that book be published 30 yearsafter his death — a time when all these people too would be nomore.

Azad thinks that Patel was the one mainly responsible forPartition. Page 201 of the 1988 edition of India Wins Freedomstates, “I was surprised that Patel was now an even greater sup-porter of the two nation theory than Jinnah. Jinnah may haveraised the flag of Partition but now the real flag bearer was Patel.”That proves Jaswant’s point.

The diary of Maniben, Patel’s daughter, who used to accom-pany him to almost every place, from June 8, 1936 till Sardar’sdeath on December 15, 1950 serves to highlight the deep regardPatel held Gandhi in and also his serious differences with Nehruon a host of issues, including Hyderabad, Kashmir, foreign policy,especially with regard to Tibet, Hindu-Muslim problems, particu-larly the problem of refugees who were being driven out from EastPakistan, the Nehru-Liaquat Pact notwithstanding, and on corrup-tion, socialism, centralized planning, Nehru’s autocratic style offunctioning, etc.

Mani’ben’s diary reveals differences between Sardar Pateland Maulana Azad, particularly with regard to Maulana’s “secret”dealings with the Cabinet Mission and later in respect of theHindu-Muslim problem.

Jaswant isn’t wrong when he states that Jinnah was a nation-alist leader. The fact is that prior to the misunderstanding and badblood created first in 1929 on the issue of “Separate Electorate”and then in 1946, regarding the Cabinet Mission Plan, Jinnah washead high above shoulders of all the nationalists. “He fought theBritish for an independent India but also fought resolutely andrelentlessly for the interests of Muslims of India... the acme of hisnationalistic achievement was the 1916 Lucknow Pact of Hindu-Muslim unity,” Jaswant has rightly written.

The seeds of discord for the Partition were sown in the mis-management of the Cabinet Mission Plan as per the facts record-ed in eminent scholar and editor-in-chief of Salar Urdu daily,Bangalore, B Sheikh Ali’s book Maulana Azad: Vision and Action.He states that according to the federal system, both Hindus andMuslims were to be given their due and both were satisfied aboutthat.

During 1946, even Maulana Azad was in favour of theCabinet Mission Plan as the populace was sensibly categorizedinto three areas, namely, A, B and C. ‘A’ represented the areaswith Hindu majority while ‘B’ stood for Muslim dominated areasand ‘C’ stood for areas with Muslim majority in the North East.This was a plan that had eased communal conflagration andaimed at cementing communal concord.

It was all harmonious till a time when Maulana Azad sensedthat Sardar Patel had instigated Nehru to not only make changesinto the Cabinet Mission Plan but his intention to completelyshelve it. Azad ran to Gandhi at 10 AM on March 31, 1947 toreport to him that the danger of Partition was lurking and that hemust interfere. He was told by the Father of the Nation that nochanges would be effected into the Cabinet Mission Plan and ifthat happened it would be on his dead body. A panicky Maulanagot pacified.

Nevertheless, by 4 PM the same day, no one knew what hadtranspired between Nehru and Sardar Patel that they had finallydecided for Partition. Azad was a man of unsurpassable intuitionand got the feeler that Partition was on cards.

Jolted and jarred, Azad again ran to Gandhi realizing thatPartition had become inescapable. Gandhi who had said thatPartition would take place on his dead body, was now a totallychanged man and he too sided with Nehru and Patel on the issueof Partition.

According to B Sheikh Ali, Azad said at that, “What shockedme to the smithereens was the fact that Gandhi too started quot-ing the same ideology for effecting Partition that was Patel’s.” Infact, it was this moment that took all life out of Azad who haddoted on Gandhi particularly and on Nehru for warding off vivisec-tion.

After that, Maulan Azad became a living dead body. ArunaAsif Ali, pioneer of Independence, once told me in her daily Patriotoffice at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg how inconsolably MaulanaSaab wept on the midnight of August 15 at a truncated freedom.

It’s time that the reality of Partition dawns upon people andthe blot from the Muslim community held responsible for thePartition is washed.

The author is a Delhi-based commentator on social, educational and religious issues

PPaarrttiittiioonn--JJiinnnnaahh ddeebbaattee:: ddoonn’’tt ddeemmoonniizzee JJaasswwaanntt SSiinngghh

MOHAMMAD NAUSHAD KHAN

For the time being there has been an uneasycalm in the BJP camp.The dust seems to havesettled for now but not for too long. After initialhiccup and confrontation L.K Advani has finallybowed reluctantly to the will of the RSS afterhaving seen voices of protest from all sides. Anorchestrated forceful farewell to the tallestleader of the BJP. RSS has scripted the finalpolitical yatra of Advani.Advani can feel like the patron of the BJP, butwithout any command and say within the BJP.He will be honoured but will not be heard. Thevociferous tirade against Advani will compel himto be in political hibernation.The recent develop-ment in BJP and its leaders making a beeline toMohan Bhagwat proves beyond doubt that BJPworks on the manifesto of the RSS.The interference of Mohan Bhagwat hasbrought some respite for the BJP but during theprocess RSS could not protect itself from thecommunicable disease of infighting andgroupism of the BJP. Behind the scene the BJPis divided in pro and anti RSS group while RSSpracharaks on the lines of promoting groupismin the BJP camp. RSS is now polarising the BJPcamp in its favour to ensure its firm grip inorderto promote its core ideology without anyresistence. Mohan Bhagwat is making all effortsto place Sangh leaders or its hard core support-ers in the BJP for the organisational restructurelikely to take place in the near future. RajnathSingh and his anti lobby like Arun Jaitely,Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth

Kumar were invited to meet separately. RajnathSingh’s all out effort to woo Sangh for a secondterm went in vain. RSS Chief also met separate-ly with Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and somestate leaders of the BJP. If Mohan Bhagwat’spurpose of meeting these leaders was to unitethem then he could have called them collective-ly and advised them to forget their past bicker-ing and work together. Ironically the RSS has authorised L.K Advani toensure smooth organisational restructuring andnurture young leaders like their guardian but atthe same time did not find even useful to invitehim and his men to the two day introspection ofthe RSS during 9-10 September in Mumbai. Onthe contrary leaders like Arun Shourie and sonof Jaswant Singh were invited ignoring recentoutburst of Jaswant Singh and Arun Shouri.Dual standard of BJP was exposed from the factthat Jaswant Singh was expelled without evenissuing any show cause notice. The BJP lead-ers dared to take such a quick action againstJaswat for he was not as close to RSS as wasArun Shouri.Rajnath Singh issued show causenotice to Shouri unlike Jaswant because hecould dared to to go against as Shouri praisedand even invited RSS to take over the affairs ofthe BJP.Rajnath became so helpless that he didnot speak even a single line against Shouri. Aclear cut message to all cadre that you will be letoff even if you abuse leaders of the BJP no mat-ter how tall he is in the party, but will not bespared for raising head against Sangh.The others who were invited include RajnathSingh, Bal Apte, Murli Manohar Joshi and some

intellectuals from other background. Howeverleaders close to Advani like Jaitely, Swaraj,Venkaiah and Anath Kumar were not allowed toattened the meet. Even in the RSS camp therehas been division of opinions as some of themare in close proximity with the BJP and its lead-ers often accused of working on their own agen-da ie hobnobbing with the BJP leaders. Twoimportant Swayamsevaks like Madan Das Deviand Suresh Soni were asked by the RSS chiefto keep away from the introspection meet ofRSS. Devi is believed to have a soft corner forAdvani. His presence could have politicised themeet. Now with the prevailing groupism inSangh high rank whom will they call upon toresolve their own differences.Now it has become a contentious issue for boththe RSS and BJP to find successor of RajnathSingh. Given the differences and the self cen-tered leaders of the BJP it is almost difficult tohave a concensus over the next party presidentor in the restructuring of the organisation.TheRSS is in search of a leader who can be a yesman of the Sangh along with the one havinggood rapport with the BJP leaders. In otherwords a non controversial figure to stop infight-ing and groupism. During the process someprobable names like Jaitely, Sushma, Aapte,Joshi, Shouri and some state leaders likeParikker, Raman and Shivraj Singh are tossedup to feel the mood and pulse within and outsideBJP. To find out leader who can keep the flockunder one roof at the present moment is really ahard nut to crack for both the BJP and RSS. Thebiggest concern for them is whether the newly

nominated president or generational change willbe able to pacify rivalry within BJP or will it fur-ther aggravate it from bad to worse.

The tallest leader of the BJP L K Advani despitehis contribution is now marginalised and isolat-ed like never before. The recent verbal attack onhim by so many leaders of the BJP on Kandaharin particular and leadership in general haspushed him into corner. Once a mass leader isnow a lonely figure in his own party. He is verymuch dejected and perturbed by the tirade ofpartymen once considered close friends andadmirers. Friends of Advani have now turnedfoes. Even state leader like Parikar has donethe damage on Advani by sayig and comparinghim to be like a rancid pickle.This is the way theleaders of the BJP treat their veteranleaders.The party as a whole has now becomeindisciplined and affected by hierarchy disorder.If political immunity becomes weak in a leaderthen he is attacked from one and all sometimewith a purpose and sometime without any rea-son. With the prevailing situation and the voicesof protest one after another Advani has put offhis talent hunt yatra for now and it is believedthat he may tour after the assembly polls on 13October.This yatra was aimed to revive theparty at all levels, in order to boost the morale ofthe cadre. How can L K Advani revive the partywhen he is attacked by all leaders of the BJP, nomatter how big or small. Is it possible for Advanito motivate leaders when he himself has beenshown the door and has been asked to moveout gracefully. �

RRSSSS aanndd BBJJPP ssccrriipptt ffaarrwweellll ooff AAddaavvnnii

Jammu and Kashmir High Court on September 11 grantedbail to four police officials arrested for destroying evidencein Shopian rape and murder case.The single bench comprising Justice Sunil Hali granted the

bail to former superintendent of police, Shopian, Javed IqbalMattoo, his deputy, Rohit Baskotra, the then station house offi-cer, Shafiq Ahmed, and the then sub-inspector, Gazi AbdulKarim. They were directed to furnish a bail bond of Rs 50,000each.

The police officials were arrested on July 15 on orders givenby a division bench of the High Court for allegedly destroying evi-dence in case of alleged rape and murder of Neelofar (22) andher sister-in-law Aasiya (17), whose bodies were found on May30 from a stream in Shopian.

Two police officials, the then SP and the then deputy SP, hadapproached the Apex Court for bail. However, the Court hadrejected their application and asked them to approach local courteven as the state government had filed an affidavit justifying thearrest. Later, on August 6, the Sessions Court Shopian, hadrejected bail to all four police officials.

Granting the bail, the High Court observed that SpecialInvestigation Team [SIT] of police, which was probing rape andmurder of Neelofar and Aasiya had failed to produce any evi-dence against the arrested police officials.

"The SIT isn't expanding scope of probe and has restrictedinvestigation to the arrest of policemen," observed Justice Haliwhile directing police officials not to proceed to Shopian or leavethe state without SIT's permission.

"If the SIT finds any evidence against policemen, it canapproach district and sessions court Shopian and initiate actionagainst them," he said.

The court observed that SIT had remained silent about fail-ure of doctors to conduct a full post-mortem. "If the FSL reportwas prepared on June 1, why wasn't it obtained for five days?Nothing has been done (by SIT) with regard to fudging of slides."

The court had reserved its judgment after defence counselfor police officers, Aseem Mehrotra, concluded his counter- argu-ments by claiming that police officials were being made scape-goats by government.

Advocate General Mohammad Ishaq Qadri and KashmirHigh Court Bar Association President Mian Abdul Qayoom, dur-ing their arguments, had opposed bail plea of the officers.

The state government has already handed over the case toCentral Bureau of Investigation [CBI] and waited for the agencyto take up investigation. A high level team of CBI has reportedlyarrived in Kashmir on September 17 to take over the investiga-tion. The 12-member team is likely to visit Shopian and interactwith senior officials and witnesses to gather material for a thor-ough probe. Mehrotra had created sensation in the court earlierby alleging that the injury form filled by doctors during first post-mortem examination on bodies of the victims were removed fromcase file.

Justice Hali had made some scathing observations duringearlier hearings about the investigations of the SIT saying itseemed that it was restricted to determining the role of thearrested police officers in the case.

"The directions of the Division Bench on narco analysis ofthe witnesses (who deposed under section 164-A) and expand-ing the scope of investigation have not been followed," observedJustice Hali.

"The SIT has not gone into failure of doctors to conduct fullpost-mortem. There is nothing on record to suggest that anythinghas been done with regard to fudging of slides (containing vagi-nal smears)," he added.

Mehrotra argued Dr Nighat Shaheen, the gynecologist whowas part of the second post mortem team, should be interrogat-ed. Appealing the people to observe Kashmir bandh onSeptember 12, Mohammed Shafi Khan, president of Majlis-e-Mushawarat said, "I appeal all Kashmiri brethren to observe acomplete shutdown on September 12. The protest is not againstthe High Court judgment but against government, SpecialInvestigation Team and Jammu and Kashmir Police."

However, Hurriyat conference [G] chairman Syed Ali ShahGeelani had appealed Majlis-e-Mashawarat to confine the striketo Shopian only, according to the spokesman, Ayaz Akbar.

The shopkeepers in Shopian town downed their shutters andtransport went off the roads. People carried out protest demon-strations and demanded action against culprits.

A protest demonstration was held by activists of Jammu

Kashmir Liberation Front here on September 14 against 'delay'in arresting those involved in rape and murder of two women inShopian.

JKLF leaders, including Noor Mohammad Kalwal, ShakilAhmad Bakshi and Sheikh Abdul Rashid took out a processionhere while raising slogans and holding placards.

They alleged that despite assurances, the government is nottaking adequate measures to nab those allegedly involved inShopian rape and murder case.

Spokesman of JKLF said that several activists were held bypolice when it tried to disperse "peaceful demonstrators."

Meanwhile, police on September 8 recovered the body of amember of Majlis-e-Mushawarat, a group that has been spear-heading an agitation for justice in Shopian rape and murdercase.

The body of Mohammed Hussain Zargar [42], a propertydealer, was discovered in an orchard three days after he had dis-appeared. The incident triggered protests in the area. Zargarwas one of the activists of Shopian Majlis-e-Mashawarat.

"Zargar was a pro-active member of the group," saysMohammed Shafi Khan, president of the Committee. He saidthat Zargar had gone missing on September 5 and it was sus-pected that he had been picked up by Special Operations Groupof Kashmir Police.

"But police have denied it? Today, when we were returningfrom Srinagar for a court hearing in the rape and murder we weretold that Zargar's body was found in an orchard," says the pres-ident.

He added Zargar was found lying in a pool of blood. "Wecan't say what kind of injuries he had because police quickly tookthe body to a hospital. He had no injury on his face but hisclothes were blood soaked."

"Zargar had announced that he would sell his property tosupport the family till those responsible for rape and murderwere exposed and brought to book," says Khan.

Death in custodyExpressing concern over the death of Sheikh Jamal-ud-dinAfghani in custody at Jodhpur jail, Mohammad Ahsan Untoo,Chairman-International Forum for Justice/Human Right Forum,Jammu and Kashmir said that Pakistanis lodged in various jailsare serving imprisonment despite Public Safety Act (PSA) beingquashed against them.

Addressing media persons on September 8, Untoo said thatJamal was 'tortured to death' at Jodhpur jail while he was lodged."It was on August 20 this year that this militant commander orig-inal resident of Mandukhail-Afghanistan presently residing atKarachi-Pakistan succumbed to torture inflicted on him," headds. The chairman said that Sarfaraz Khan, resident ofMuzaffarabad in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) who waslodged at Kote Balwal jail has been shifted to Tihar jail in Delhi.

In the same way other detainees such as Raja Farooq Khan,resident of Koili-Pakistan, Khan Nasarullah, resident of Punjab-Pakistan and Sajid Ali Bukhari, resident of Koili-Pakistan are alsolanguishing in various jails of India despite them passing throughfailing health, he said.

Giving details about foreigners lodged in various jails ofIndia, Untoo said that 18 persons are behind bars in Jodhpur jail,25 persons in Tihar jail whereas this number stands at 2, 1, 3, 4,3 and 3 for Sangrur, Varanasi, Banaras, Allahabad, Agra andMumbai jails respectively.

"Government of India has time and again never implement-ed recommendations and directions of Supreme Court and theother courts. This shows that courts are working under politicalpressure and they are not able to work in a free environment. Wedemand that international human rights groups like AmnestyInternational, Human Rights Watch and International Red CrossCommittee should investigate the death of Afghani so that truthcomes out," says the chairman.

He added that these international human rights groupsshould pressurize Government of India so that 'torture' isstopped on people serving imprisonment in various jails.

"I myself was imprisoned for five and half years at Tihar jailand I can easily narrate the ordeal detainees have to go through.Our demand is simple and that is the foreigners should bereleased and they should be deported to their respective coun-tries," says Untoo.

The chairman said that Supreme Court has recently issueddirections those foreigners especially Pakistanis languishing in

various jails and those who have completed their term should besent to their native countries. He however, expressed his dismayover the breach being resorted to by New Delhi.

Workshop of RTIAsking the members of legislative assembly more so belongingto Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to act as watchdogs in dis-bursal of funds meant for developmental activities, PDP patronand former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Syed on September9 said that Right to Information (RTI) Act is a powerful tool pro-vided it is used in right earnest.

Speaking at a one day workshop organized by youth wing ofPDP on RTI Act, PDP patron said that officers have a moralauthority and they should not be swayed by favours to politiciansor 'influential' people. He added that government should provideinformation to people on varying issues in same manner as itdoes in assembly. "I am glad that during the budget session oflegislature we got information on important issues like occupa-tion of land by security forces. The government is bound to pro-vide information on floor of the house and same parametersneed to be followed vis-à-vis dissemination of information underRTI Act," says Mufti. The PDP patron said that governmentinstead of setting its own agenda is following the agenda set outby PDP. "PDP's agenda on issues like demilitarization, waterresources and revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) is being followed by government," he adds.

Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat, convener-RTI Movement says thathis members intend to seize vehicles being used by under-sec-retaries and deputy-secretaries of various departments in theCivil Secretariat. "We filed an RTI application with Director, StateMotor Garages asking him to provide information about vehiclesbeing used by under-secretaries and deputy-secretaries. In theanswer it has been stated that no such vehicle is being used,which we known is a blatant lie. Now we have decided to confis-cate vehicles being used by these officers," says Dr. Muzaffar.

The RTI activist expressed his dismay over hike in registra-tion fee from rupees five to rupees fifty and said that 90 percentgovernment departments are yet to designate Public InformationOfficers (PIO's) as per provisions of amended Jammu andKashmir RTI Act, 2008. "We moved an RTI with Divisional ForestOfficer (DFO) Budgam asking him to provide list of personsbooked for timber smuggling over the past one decade. FIR'shave been lodged against 18 such persons and arrests of someare likely to be effected in near future," said the convener.

J&K woos investersStage is all set for prospective investors of the country to cometo Kashmir valley with Confederation of Indian Industry [CII]more than hopeful to invest in development sectors.

A CII team headed by its chairman, Harpal Singh during itsvisit to the valley in first week of September met politicians,bureaucrats and businessmen to seek their assistance whilemotivating entrepreneurs to come and invest in Kashmir valley.

"We are hopeful that CII would be able to contribute to devel-opment of state. We have got positive response from bureau-crats and local businessmen, though the latter have expressedworries as well," says Harpal Singh. Dwelling upon purpose ofvisit the chairman said that confederation aims to clear the airregarding investment in Kashmir. "We have brought some busi-ness leaders of northern region to this place and would bringsome others in future," he said adding "CII along with state gov-ernment has framed joint task force to look for overall develop-ment of state." Singh said that Confederation has begun to inter-act with the government. "We look forward for long term relation-ship." He said that issues like connectivity with the region hold-ing key for development of state were discussed in regionalcouncil meeting of confederation held here on September 6afternoon.

The chairman said that investments in region would be car-ried out in sectors like health, education, tourism, power, renew-able energy, handicrafts and skill development. "Youth need tobe trained so that they are employed by the industry. This haslead to focus on skill development," he said.

CII is taking up six Industrial Training Institutes in the valleyand 14 schools in Baramulla district to impart information tech-nology to learners. "In many areas like health, education andpower, public-private partnership is possible. Besides, CII canraise a platform for issues important to large number of membersof the society," says Singh. �

JAMMU & KASHMIR14 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

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The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 15

REJOINDERS / OPINION

Read more letters on page 31 and on MG website. Readers who do not want their email IDs printed should indicate so in every letter

Ahmadabad Central Jail is now moving to police raaj. After beatingblast case accused last July, now the prisoners are not allowedeven to offer Eid prayers with other prisoners. All 64 accused ofblast case who are here from nine different states, confined inAhmedabad Central Jail, are now on the target of Ahmedabadpolice. Visiting hours with their family members are cut and nowthey will meet their families only two days a week, i.e., Thursdayand Friday. Kindly forward this to the the Human RightsCommission and also do something in July 09 attack matter.

Khalid Shaikh, Advocate, Ahmedabad II

The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every encountercase (ironically which was never done in the Batla Houseencounter) has finally termed it Ishrat Jahan's killing as a fakeencounter on 7 Sept.in a metropolitan court. It is not a matter ofsurprise for us as to know that how Ishrat Jahan was killed wasnothing but in cold blood. Perhaps one will also agree that suchthings are happening and happened in Gujarat under Modi. Thefamous case of Shohrabuddin also falls into this category.Unfortunately, in India, things had been happening in this fashion,some handful of police officers perpetrate such crime in broad daylight just appease some filthy minded and communal politicians likeModi etc. Its ironic though, that despite all hue and cry made onpeople like Modi, hardly anything is done against him. Even therecent mayhem in the BJP disclosed, how much deep is the handof Modi dipped in the blood of innocent people butchered in the2002 Gujrat riots. If we remember the recent interview of Mr. ArunShourie, it would reveal, how disturbed was Mr. Vajpayee, and hereally wanted to do something, but thanks to the pressure within orwhatever, nothing came out of this. Its high time, that the Indianjudiciary should act against the culprits as no one is above the lawdespite how powerful he or she stands anywhere.

Md Ziyaullah Khan, Mehrauli, New Delhi 47writeziya@gmail.com

Has not Hijrat become compulsory?The latest anti-Muslim impressive intolerance at Kalalti villageseems to warn us Muslims that the sooner we throw away all mate-rial wealth and move to live and die together the better because thehonour especially of our woman folk is more valuable than anythingelse in this transient life. However, prior to it, Muslims living in verysmall number everywhere should perform namaz in buildings untilthe unavoidable migration (Hijrat) is possible.

S. Akhtar, Khanpur Deh, Gujarat

Diminished US President Lectures to the World at UNAnother fine piece of rousing oratory and US President had donehis bit for the day. He rushed out of the UN premises as if his tailwas on fire. In fact, his oratorical high notes were drowned bybehind the scene guffaws he earned for trying to tame Israel andfalling on his face. Weeks his special envoy has spent in Israel,feeding media with daily photo ops shaking hands with Israel'sindomitable hard-line Prime Minister but there was no news if theMount Sinai moved even a measly centimeter. And still BarackObama soldiered on. Though Obama has much tougher chal-lenges testing his mettle, Israel stands out as the barometer to the

world of US President's limits of credibility. If he cannot tackleAmerica's most lauded 'ally', to fall in line with his worldview, thestark gossamer fragility of his presidency could only generate deri-sion among his detractors and pity in his admirers.Time is flying and given the past record of Israeli-Palestinian nego-tiations, delays and procrastination favour only one side that hasdragged on the peace process of any kind for the last forty years.The drama starts with the every new US President taking office andends with the end of his presidency, with Israel using the interreg-num to dug in more and more in ways that would leave hardly anything left to negotiate. Obama has come with a bold new commit-ment to change the US and the world with it. But half a way in hisfirst 4-year presidency, he has barely touch the contours of war inAfghanistan, a monumental economic recession, his pet project ofuniversal health care, and the way his cards are played out, heseems to be playing more of a bluff game than a winning hand.Israel has cleverly positioned Iran as the most pressing issue forthe world to come to terms with while it merrily whips up its assem-bly line in West Bank creating facts on the ground. The UN spon-sored Goldstone report on war crimes in Gaza is snowed under byJewish dominated world press's cabalist propaganda of bias, eventhough the South African judge, Richard Goldstone is himself aJew and a self- confessed Israel supporter. The dire train of eventthat may land Israel in International Court of Justice at The Hagueis so alarming to Israel that it has mounted a concerted attempt todiscredit the Human Rights report. The worst part is that even the Muslim governments around theworld are so insensitive to the plight of their brethrens in Gaza;there is no world-wide move to get Israel into the docks for its mosthorrendous crimes on Palestinian civilians including children,women and old people. President Obama is seized of the fact that war on Al Qaeda couldnot get any support from even the well meaning masses in theMuslim world, unless US makes Israel-Palestine settlements itsnumber one priority. Israel will use every trick in the trade to turnworld focus away from its rape of Palestinian entity, in any shape ittries to survive. It is up to Barack Obama not to be taken in byIsraeli ruses to postpone the inevitable as far into the future as pos-sible. It is for the US, to realize how its acts of commission andomission are encouraging Israel to lead a life of an outlaw nationthat thrives in defying international laws and committing genocidalattacks on hapless Muslims of Palestine.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbaighulammuhammed3@gmail.com

IIThis refers to the U.N. report that Israel had deliberately targetedcivilians in Gaza earlier this year, by using disproportionate forcekilling over 1400 Palestinians. It was a shame on the so-called civ-ilized nations who watched in shrilled silence for three weeks, theinhuman assault carried out by one of the powerful armies of theworld in the name of "Dahiya doctrine".That a lethal chemical likewhite Phosphorous was used even on the U.N. compound shelter-ing hundreds of civilians, speak about the ruthless character of theIsraeli army. The U.S. had no qualms in conducting trial in a kan-garoo court and executing Saddam Hussein for using chemicalweapons.Why the same yardstick is not applied for Ehud Olmertand Ehud Barak who were responsible for targeting the Gaza civil-ians? Is it not a sheer hypocrisy by the sole super power?

Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa (A.P) sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in

9/11 still haunts Muslim worldThe tragedy of 9/11 was too serious, too terrible to give up hope soquickly that common sense will prevail, that horrible scenes wouldbe replaced by positive ones, that dialogue would replace hostility,and that Obama will meet even if the minimum expectations of hisfans in the Muslim world, before the number continues to double.9/11 should not be a political episode to underscore the reason ofwhy the fight in various Muslim countries should continue; norshould it be an opportunity to rejoice at the death of the Muslims.We should collectively abhor the rationalization of violence on thebasis of vengeance, and consider what it might take to relievethose afflicted with a sense of hostility: Could it perhaps be that ourcommon aspirations for peace and freedom are somehow out ofreach? Could it be possible that we just might be culpable for thedenial of those simple aspirations of peace and freedom. We mustembrace again the anguish of what happened on 9/11, ever awarethat the body count grows even today. And although the wreckageof that horrible day was cleared away years ago, the lessons of thatday are still buried beneath our anger, frustration, and prejudice. Tounearth these lessons, we must widen our horizons, from New Yorkto Baghdad, from Kabul to Gaza, cities which are in some wayworlds apart, but in other ways much closer than we may innocent-ly suspect.

Md. Ziyaullah Khan, New Delhi writeziya@gmail.com

One day NHRC would express apologyNational Human Rights Commission was asked to enquire into thepolice claims about the encounter in L-18 Batla House. Policeclaimed that during the Batla House encounter two “terrorists” werekilled and police inspector Sharma died. The Government hasboasted that its RTI rule is a big achievement of UPA. We sawmany officers were fined under this rule but when some Muslimsdemanded post mortem report of two Muslim youth (students)killed in a fake encounter as well as the inspector’s post mortemreport, the government refused to release the reports. In generalcase a certain rule would be effective but when Muslim right comesthe same rule fails. Police claimed that Atif and Sajid accounts inAzamgarh had made transactions of 30 lakhs within three months.But the concerned bank manager said that Atif and Sajid did nothave more than 3 thousand rupees. This was the sort of encounterwhere Atif and Sajid had 8 to 10 bullet wounds on the top of theirheads. Even then NHRC gave a report that it was a genuineencounter. Furthermore, many more loopholes are obvious in thepolice claim. In its report, the NHRC simply copied the policeclaims.

Let us see how Supreme Court judge Mr Katju expressed apol-ogy for his “Taliban” remarks and his decision in MohammadSalim’s expulsion from a Christian missionary school due to sport-ing beard. Justice Katju observed in this decision that beard andpurdah are means to Talibanisation and the schools have their ownlaw which should be obeyed.

Later on, Justice Katju apologised and withdrew his decisionand the case was transferred to CJI. CJI bench gave decision infavour of Salim and allowed him to study in the same NirmalaConvent, Vidisha. Similarly great Hindu Shankaracharya also apol-ogised to Muslims for his book The History of Islamic Terrorism.This book is widely circulated by Hindutvawadi forces. But SwamiLaxmi Shankarcharya now knows the facts of Islam and Sirat. Hewrote a book Islam-Terror or Ideal (Madhur Sandesh Sangam, E-20, Abul Fazl Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi- 110025 priced atRs 40, pp. 110). Swami Laxmi Shankaracharya wrote in this bookthat "due to lack of knowledge and facts earlier I wrote about Islam.So I seek apology from Muslims and the Prophet for what I wroteabout the history of Islamic Terrorism which is now null and void".A Supreme Court judge and a Shankracharya seek apology. Weexpect that one day NHRC too would correct its fault and seekapology.

S. Haque, Patna

Say no to genetic foodOver 25,000 people like me wrote to Nestle telling the company to goGE-free in India. Hundreds of phone-calls have been flooding theirvoicemail. And hundreds of people have returned their Nestle prod-ucts to the company. Nestle's response to all this? They will sellgenetically-contaminated food in this country if consumers prefer toeat such food. I say it's time to tell Nestle what consumers really pre-fer. After all, if Indian companies like Ruchi Soya, MTR and Britanniacan commit to selling GE-free food in India, why can't Nestle? Pleasedo what I have done. Just click here to give Nestle a taste of 'con-sumer preference'. And thanks for your support!shirinabbas@gmail.com visit: http://greenpeace.insafefood/poll/?tyf=1 In a span of more than 30 days, 257 deaths wereconfirmed due to swine flue. Death toll per day works out to 8.5 per-sons. But during the same 30 days period, India lost 1,72,800 under-5 children due to malnutrition. Because of rural economic stress, onan average one farmer commits suicide every 31 minutes. So in 30days, about 1400 farm lives were lost. During the same period of onemonth, about 43,000 Indians died due to TB. Farm crisis kills 5.5times the deaths due to swine flu. TB kills 167 times and malnutritionswallows 670 times that of swine flu death toll. Every life is precious.But why this special hue and cry over swine flu crisis? Becauseunlike malnutrition, farm crisis and TB, swine flu does not differenti-ate club class and economic class. Swine flu is very egalitarian in itsattack. It hits our classes also. There lies the secret of our state'salacrity and media's super hype.The plague crisis a decade ago cre-ated a similar hue and cry from our classes. All lives are not precious.But some lives are very very precious.

Sankara Narayanan psn.1946@gmail.com

Fake encounter, cruel smilesIshrat Jahan (19), a secondyear student of Mumbai’sKhalsa College, and threeothers were shot dead in afake encounter on the out-skirts of Ahmadabad byGujarat Police on thegrounds of being terrorists.It was a gruesome scenewhere police constables andothers are seen laughing atdead bodies. No civilisedsociety would laugh at deadbodies. This is the highestpoint of sadism and crueltyto be cheerful at suchevents. The policeConstable’s face expres-sions and body languageare tell the tale of what isrunning inside him. We,members of Civil Societyexpect some respect to thedeceased from others andparticularly from statemachinery. This was seen inthe photograph published inThe Indian Express,Ahmadabad edition (9September 2009).

Farooq Abdul Gafar Bawani

Bhidbhanjan Street No. 1,

Rajkot - 360 001, Gujarat

News from Modi jail

JSaIsb

NEWSMAKERS 16 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

MEN & WOMEN IN NEWS OBITUARIESDR SAYED MAHMOOD NAQVI, a prominent scientist ofIndia died in Hyderabad. A native of Amroha, he had beenliving with his son in Hyderabad. He was honoured withmany awards for his valuable contribution to science suchas the prestigious Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award,Lifetime Achievement Award given by Union ministry ofMYF Geology etc. He was 71 and is survived by three sons.JAMUNA DAS AKHTAR, noted Urdu journalist and writerdied in Delhi on 1 Sept. at the age of 93 years. He startedhis journalistic life in Lahore before partition of the countryafter which he came to India and continued his journalisticand literary activities in Delhi. He was a great champion ofHindu-Muslim unity and Indo-Pak good relationship. Healso worked for bringing about social reforms. He wrotenovels opposing slave trade and trafficking of women andchildren and strongly condemning those who patronisedthis great evil. He was honoured with a number of journal-istic and literary awards by Delhi government, UrduAcademy, ATU (Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu) Birmingham etc.He wrote more than two dozen novels in Urdu (most ofwhich have been published in Hindi also) and about half adozen novels and books in English.MAULANA MOHAMMAD YASEEN, Sheikhul Hadith ofMadras Muftahul Uloom, Jalalabad died on 16 Sept at theage of 95 years. He was confined to bed for the past about5 years. He was well versed in Hadith and taught HadithBokhari Sharif for about 25 years. He leaves behind hiswife, four sons and two daughters.HAKEEM ANJUM, a famous Unani physician and expert infeeling pulse died on 21 September, Eid Day at the ratheryoung age of 45 years only which left his family in mourn-ing on the happy occasion of Eid. He was such an expertphysician at such young age that even the much senior andexperienced hakeems rarely disagreed with his diagnosisof diseases and prescriptions. He was also expert in identi-fying different herbs that are used for treatment of diseases.MAHMOOD HASHIM, noted author and critic died in NewDelhi's AIIMS on 22 September after a prolonged illness atthe age of 74 years, according to his family members. Hewas a dynamic and brilliant author and his writings fully rep-resent his sharp intelligence, vast studies, maturity ofthoughts and farsightedness. He is survived by wife, foursons and one daughter.TAMIZUDDIN 'TAMEEZ', a senior poet who truly represent-ed Delhi's Culture and Civilization died in Delhi on 16th July.He had lost his eye sight about 20 years ago but his blind-ness did not in any way affect his poetry and other activities.Born on 16th July 1929 in Koocha Chelan locality of Delhi,coincidentally he died also on 16th July, 80 years later.MAHMOOD AHMAD SIDDIQI, a prominent personality ofDelhi and president of Saajhedari Welfare EducationFoundation died on 11 Sept. at the rather young age of 45years. He had been actively working as president of theFoundation in the field of education and environment. Hehad in fact gone to Dehradoon for business purposeswhere he died. He is survived by his wife, one son and twodaughters. �

Prof AKHTARUL WASEY, educationist and well versed in IslamicStudies has been appointed a member of Planning Commission'sAdvisory Group for primary and secondary education. Prof AkhtarulWasey who is presently the director of Dr Zakir Husain Institute ofIslamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, is the lone Muslim memberof the 32 member group for school education headed by NarendraJadav in the Planning Commission.Prof FARASAT ALI SIDDIQI of AMU's Department of Geographyhas been appointed Head of this Department and has taken overthe charge from the outgoing head, Prof Abdul Munir. Many of hisresearch articles have been published in national and internationaljournals and he has represented AMU in more than 35 national andinternational conferences. He is also a member of at least fourNational Geographical Societies of India.Prof A.M. QIDWAI of Delhi University's Department of Chemistryhas been appointed Vice Chancellor of Jivaji University, Gwalior(MP) in place of Prof Shashi Prabha, the outgoing VC. An M Sc andPh D from AMU, he has also done post doctoral research fromLeeds University (UK). Prof Qidwai is one of the 5 members of theInternational Advisory Board of Green Chemistry from Asia and isthe coordinator of International Chapter of Green Chemistry in India.In 2000 he was honoured with World Green Award and a GoldMedal by Delhi Green Award Committee.It may be noted that he isthe third Muslim to be appointed Vice Chancellor within a month,after Prof Furqan Qamar (VC, Jaipur University) and Prof ImranSaleem (VC of Singhania University). Yet another VC appointed thismonth (Sept.) is Najeeb Jung of Jamia Millia Islamia.MOHAMMAD ALI ZAIDI, a social worker who at the risk of his ownlife had saved many Sikh families and their members in Tirlok Puri'sBlock No. 32 of Delhi during anti-Sikh riots of 1984 was honouredwith Memorial Certificate at a function held at Press Club'sConvention Hall, Rafi Marg organised by All India Sikh StudentsFederation. It may be noted that for the 'crime' of protecting Sikhbrethren and taking them at safe places in those days, his ownhouse was set on fire by anti-social elements and 3 plots owned byhim were also forcibly occupied by those elements.Dr S.M. HUSAIN, President of Maharashtra State Tibbi Congresshas been appointed by Indian government as adviser to governmenton Unani system of medicine and treatment and export of Unanimedicines. Dr Husain is an author of dozens of books on Unani Tibband also the Chief Editor of Unani Medical Journal and Al Tibb.Prof MOHAMMAD MAHMOOD ASHHAR of AMU's CivilEngineering Department has been appointed new ProgrammeCoordinator of National Service Scheme (NSS) by Vice ChancellorProf P.K. Abdul Azis with immediate effect till further orders.HAJI MOHAMMAD ISLAM QURESHI has been appointedChairman of UP branch of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ofSharad Pawar. His appointment as chairman was widely welcomed.MAHMOOD AHMAD of CNEB has been elected president ofJournalists Association for People (JAP) in the Association's annualmeeting held on 17 Sept. at New Delhi.Dr S.U. KHAN, a prominent hakeem of Muzaffar Nagar has beenre-appointed secretary of Nawab Azmat Ali Khan Waqf Board afterbeing ordered by Allahabad High Court. It may be mentioned in thisconnection that a dispute between him and Imran Siddiqi for secre-taryship of this Waqf had been going on for two years when the dis-pute was taken to Court whose verdict went in favour of Dr S.U.Khan. After Court's order, Muzaffar Nagar's DM, Ameet Abhyaat

asked Waqf Board members to conduct an election. In this electionWaqf Board's 7 members elected him secretary of this Waqf Board.Prof ASIF ALI KHAN has been appointed new Dean of AMU'sFaculty of Life Sciences till November 2010. He has taken over thecharge from outgoing Dean, Prof Absar Mustafa Khan. Anotherappointment is that of Prof. S. Mehdi Abbas Rizvi who has beenappointed new Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineeringfor a period of theree years. His appointment is in place of ProfMohammad Hamiduddin. Yet another appointment is that of ProfMohammad Ali who has been made this University's new Head ofthe Department of Applied Chemistry.

Javed Abidi is one of thefive short-listed for theGuardian Achievements inInternational DevelopmentAward 2009 for his work forthe cause of DisabledWelfare. He is the onlyIndian and the only onefrom the Subcontinent tohave made the top 5. Heheads NCPEDP(www.ncpedp.org /www.dnis.org). MG readersare requested to visithttp://internationalachieve-mentsaward.guardianpro-fessional.co.uk/judgesnomi-nation/Index and vote forhim.

KHURSHEED AHMAD, senior Congress leader has been appoint-ed a member of Election Committee by Sonia Gandhi. Earlier,Khursheed Ahmad was an MLA and MP from Haryana and also aminister in the state.Prof S. MUFEED AHMAD of Business School and Founder Directorof Convocation Complex of Kashmir has been selected byInternational Publishing House, New Delhi for being honoured with'Best Academic Achievements Award' in recognition of his excep-tional calibre and outstanding research contributions in his chosenarea of Human Resources Development in the country. He has alsobeen honoured with 'Excellence in Teaching Award' and ShikshaRattan Award. KAVIKO ABDUL RAHMAN, famous Tamil poet and Islamic scholar,has been elected as the new chairman of the Tamil Nadu State WakfBoard. Known as one of the top ten Tamil poets of the era, 'Kaviko'has bagged several state and national awards including the SahityaAcademy Award for his famous work 'Aalaapanai', thus making himthe first Tamil Muslim to get the prestigious honour. Kaviko hailsfrom Madurai, the literary hub of Tamil Nadu since ancient times. Hewas a professor and the head of the department of Tamil in theIslamiya College, Vaniambadi. His father Mahdi also was a famousscholar and poet, who has translated many famous Islamic works to

Tamil. Kaviko has been elected for a term of five years.MEERAN SAHAB MATTE of Deshnur village inBelguam Dist completed this year's month long fastingat the age of 103 years according to the Islamic calen-der and 100th year of Christian calender. (Dr. SabirMomin) �

SHAMSUR RAHMAN FAROOQI, famous Urdu critic, novelist, poetand Padma Shri has been selected by America's Urdu MarkazInternational Award Committee for being honoured with 'AsarLucknavi's Urdu International Award 2009' in recognition of his life-time literary services. The Award, consisting of a beautiful shawl,Memento and a cheque for USD 5000, will be given to him at a func-tion to be held at Los Angeles on 8 November. This information wasgiven by Mrs Nayyar Jahan, secretary general of Urdu MarkazInternational Award Committee, California.MOHAMMAD AYAZ AHMAD, a research scholar in ExperimentalHigh Energy Physics Lab of AMU's Department of Physics has beenhonoured with Best Scientific Secretary Award at the InternationalSchool of Sub-Nuclear Physics Conference held in Italy.Mohammad Ayaz is also a member of Indian Physical Society.Dr SHAKIL ROMSHO of Kashmir University's Department ofGeology and Geo-Physics has been selected by Japanese govern-ment for being honoured with Sixth International Kasmiguara Awardin recognition of his services for keeping lakes in Kashmir Valley pol-lution-free through his researches in geo-informatic techniques. TheAward, consisting of 2, 50, 000 Japanese Yen, will be presented tohim on the occasion of 13th World Lakes Conference organised by

International Lakes Environment Foundation in the first week ofNov. '09 in Japan. PROFESSOR HAMID ALI of the Department of Petroleum Studies,AMU Aligarh has been conferred upon the Best Educationist Awardby the Solidarity Council, New Delhi. Prof. Hamid Ali received theaward in a Seminar Education and Industrial Development held atConstitution, Speaker Hall, New Delhi.Principal DR Z J KHAN is awarded with Gold Medal for bestResearch Paper by IOE (India) in Electrical Engg. Division at 23rdIndian National Congress held at NIT, Warangal.DR. SHAHAB FAZAL, Reader, Department of Geography, AligarhMuslim University has been awarded with prestigious CanadianGovernment's Shastri Faculty Research Fellowship. Dr. Fazalwould be visiting Montreal University, Canada to work on a researchproject entitled "Livelihood transformation in the Montreal peri urbaninterface". Dr. Fazal has availed prestigious doctoral and post doc-toral fellowships such as CSIR Fellowship, British GovernmentCommonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship, Department of Scienceand Technology's Young Scientist Project etc. Dr. Fazal has alsobeen a member on Indo-German Joint Research Team working forDST-DAAD Research Project. Presently he is working on a majorresearch project sponsored by ICSSR.Union Minister of State for Railways E. Ahamed urged the students

of Malappuram to come up with more number ofranks in competitive examinations. In a talentmeet organised by the District Panchayat on 23June, Mr. Ahamed distributed the DistrictPanchayat awards to the toppers of medical andengineering entrance examinations of this yearfrom the district. Six students in the engineeringentrance and 14 students in the medicalentrance who secured ranks in the first 100were honoured. Besides, the first, second andthird rank winners of Calicut University in vari-ous examinations were also given awards.University of Hyderabad Vice-ChancellorSEYED E. HASNAIN has honoured with theprestigious Robert Koch Fellowship for this year.He received this fellowship for his contributionsto the study of infectious diseases. Professor

Hasnain is the first Indian to get this coveted German fellowship.The honour conferred upon him at a function organized by theRobert-Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin, Germany. The Institute is oneof the central institutions for health protection in Germany.

Delhi based inde-pendent documentaryfilmmaker MERAJURRAHMAN BARUAHwon the 55th NationalAward for his docu-mentary film 'ShiftingProphecy." The filmwas awarded RajatKamal for the 55thNational Award in theBest Film on SocialIssue category.Mr. Baruah is anaccomplished docu-mentary filmmakerwith several docu-

mentaries and awards to his credit. He won the Best Director Awardat Hyderabad International Film Festival in 2008 for the same film."Sifting Prophecy" is about the struggles of Muslim women in TamilNadu. The film is woven around Sharifa Khanam who is trying tobuild a mosque for Muslim women.

OMAR ABDULLAH, J&K chief min-ister, is among this year’s awardeesof “Videocon India Youth IconAwards” whose aim is to to identify,honor and celebrate young exem-plary Individuals for extraordinarycontribution towards society beinghosted by izcraft International andSamay news network. Otherawardees include FARHANAKHTAR (cinema), SHAFIQURAISHY (Artist) and

SHEHNAAZ (Social Activist, Pukar). �

AWARDS

IBRAHIM HAFIZ SYED AHMED, a 12thstandard student of Al Joudha SecondarySchool, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, hails fromHyderabad has won the first place in the13th Session of Dubai International HolyQuran Award. Mr Ibrahim who clinchedthe top price by contesting 76 participantsfrom different parts of the world, is the firstIndian who wins the coveted price of250000 UAE Dirhams. He received theaward from Sheikh Hamdan BinMohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum , thecrown Prince of Dubai. He studied Quranat Hifzul Quran College, MarkazuSaqafathi Sunniya, Kozhikode, Kerala.

SPECIAL REPORTS

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 17

Hyderabad: Mohammad Aiyub, a resident of this city's Mumtaz

colony went to Hyderabad Press Club to sell his children. His 5-

year daughter was holding a placard on which was written 'Aulad

barai farokht: Panch bachchian, do ladke' (children for sale, 5

daughters and 2 sons). On that occasion he told media persons

that he was employed as security incharge at

Vapade. In 2007 officers falsely accused him of

theft in order to hide their own act of theft and

got him sacked from service. From that time

onwards he is jobless. He said that 'my children

are hungry. I

could not

arrange even

their clothes for

Eid. We bring

iftari from

mosque to

break fasts and

I am indebted to

the tune of Rs 3

lakhs'. He fur-

ther said that he

works on daily

wages of Rs 150 and is unable to

meet the expenses. Sometimes

he gets the daily job and some-

times not. He said that he approached different ministers and

went to offices of political parties also (for job) but could not get

any help. He said 'I cannot see my children die of hunger and

hence have brought them to sell'. �

Yusuf/MG

Sale of children by father

An evening with a “terror mastermind”

Today I received a wonderful gift. It wasfrom a boy called Imran, one of the 40innocent Muslim boys (all between 17and 25 years of age) who were arrest-

ed in relation to the bomb blasts in the twincities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Theywere released after a long campaign led byCivil Liberties Monitoring Committee andHyderabad Forum for Justice against the ille-gality of their detention and torture. Out ofthese, Imran was named a 'mastermind' andkept away from other boys in a top securitybarrack with Naxalite leaders. He was the lastto be released, after 16 months detention,longest period among the detained Muslimyouth.

I saw him for the first time when CivilLiberties Monitoring Committee began videodocumentating of the detainees' testimonies.First we recorded Rayees' testimony who was anamed witness in the killing of Mojahid, the sonof Moulana Islahi, during their protest againstarrest of Moulana Naseeruddin. He was torturedand also made to confess to his “crime.” Imranlooked hardly out of teenage, dressed in mod-ern clothes, with a latest edition of Nokia cell-phone, extremely articulate in English.

Once he started, there was no stopping him,we hardly needed to prod him to speak. He was21 or 22 when he got arrested, a student ofengineering, working in ICICI as a part-timeemployee, a dutiful but happy go-lucky youngman, with more Hindu friends than Muslim.Having been a resident of Bowinpally all his life,with a father working in NGRI, having studied inKendriya Vidyalaya, he said, he never 'felt hewas a Muslim' nor did his neighbourhood,friends, school made him feel so. More thanangry, he still retains the surprise that, of all thepeople, he was arrested for being a “Muslim”,that too being "a terrorist". The charge looked sooutrageous to him that he never believed,despite terrible torture, that anything can comeout of it. He was arrested for a 'high tech crime'

- of assisting the terrorists to launder money -because of which he was named a mastermind."Do police know what bank employees do?Don't they know what engineering studentsread? My textbooks were shown as evidence ofmy knowledge of 'high-tech' crime, is there any-thing more ridiculous than this?"

During the torture in a private farm house,he heard screams of other detainees but did notget to meet them. And, alongside the rest of thedetainees, he also had to “confess” to his“crime”. "I challenge all the officers. If anyone istortured like that for two days, he will confess toany crime," he siad. Police threats to his family'swelfare also made him to 'admit' to his 'crimes'.What made him survive the prison and the tor-ture was the experience of staying with theNaxalite leaders, whom he affectionately callsGaneshanna, Shankaranna etc., from whom hederived a lot of inspiration. He told us, 'they eatonly one meal a day, though they are given foodtwice. They are in the prison not for personalgain, but for other people. If people who do such

good things get arrested, its ok for me to getarrested too".

After Imran came out on bail, police harass-ment still continues, he and his family aremarked as Muslim, people in the local mosquehave stopped speaking to him; his sister's mar-riage prospects are in jeopardy. But he is deter-mined to write for civil services and join the sys-tem. "If one stays out of the system, there is

nothing one can do. One should enter the sys-tem and change it from within". The boy exudedsuch faith in India, India's secularism, Indiancourts, contrary to my own much depleted one.One could not miss the youthful naivete, or theliberal innocence when he speaks (me, aMuslim?) but to speak it after the brutal torturefor being one! One really did not have thecourage to puncture that professed faith orinnnocence or hope. Last heard, he was work-ing with LokSatta and was giving passionateelection speeches.

We met him today again at an Iftar partyorganized by Lateef Khan and Rafat Seema.Juanid had also come. So we exchanged pleas-antries as usual. Towards the end, suddenlyImran says he wants to give something; comesout with a neatly packaged gifts, distributesthem to three of us and says, "When I was in jail,it was statements of you people that gave mehope. While the entire media was calling me allkinds of things, it was people like you who saidI may be innocent. The work that you do istremendous. I also want to do such work, notonly for Muslims, but for people of all communi-ties." The packaged thing was deeplyembarassing but what he said was worth atreasure! A.SUNEETHA

Anveshi Research Centre for Women'sStudies, Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Eid namaz was offered by lakhs of Muslims at Ujale Shah, Akber Bagh Eidgah here. Thesermon (khutba) was delivered by Moulana Naseeruddin who was recently released by Supreme

Court on bail after long incarnation without trial in Modi’s Sabarmati Jail at Ahamadabad.

AWMELA holds awareness program for Swine FluAzamgarh: Association for Welfare, Medical, Educational and Legal Assistance organized a pro-gram on 13 September 2009 in the Hall of Shibli National Inter College, Azamgarh, to createawareness for Swine Flu. Dr. K.M. Agarwal, CMO Azamgarh, Dr. Furqan (President, IMA), Dr. DPRai (Secretary IMA), Dr. Ghayasuddin, (District Hospital) enlightened the gathering about SwineFlu. Dr. Agarwal informed that there is no patient of Swine Flu in Azamgarh but advised precau-tion in gathering especially educational institutions. In case of child suffering from this kind of Flu,he should be quarantined, advised the CMO. Abu Mohammad, Principal SNIC condemned themedia hype in exaggerating the menace of Swine Flu and warned against evil design of devel-oped nations. Maulana Umair-us-Siddiq Nadwi, Senior Rafiq Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy,Azamgarh appreciated the formation of AWMELA and its initiative. He told about the outbreak ofSwine Flu in epidemic form in 1918 when a lot of people died. However, he emphasized on goodsanitation and hygiene and strongly condemned the loitering of Swines on roads and publicplaces that is a carrier of a number of diseases. Dr. Javed Akhtar presented details about SwineFlu, its definition, treatment, and prevention etc. through a power point presentation. Use ofgloves, masks and mock examination of patients were demonstrated.

SALMAN SULTAN

TThhiiss iiss nnoott aa

wwoollff;; iitt iiss aa

llaammbb

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 200918

ANALYSIS

How critical should one be of Iftar parties hosted partic-ularly by Indian politicians to apparently attractMuslims to their respective political parties?

Undeniably, each individual- whether politically associatedwith any group or not- has the right to her/his own views onthe issue. Those viewing these critically as a cosmetic show,only to assert their support for Muslims, certainly have apoint. Expressing support for Muslims, through these Iftars,without assuring them security - social, economic as well aspolitical- certainly demands explanation about how genuinetheir claims really are. At the same time, one is forced to delib-erate on whether there should be a call for boycott and alsocancellation of Iftars deliberately hosted for political gainsand some media coverage. Frankly speaking, not really.

It must be accepted that these Iftars play some role inmaking rest of the country aware of the importance IndianMuslims are assumed to have politically in the country.Objectively speaking, though Muslims form the largestminority in the country, less than 20 percent of the entirepopulation, it must be noted that considerable sections ofmajority community are not yet totally aware about their reli-gious beliefs and practices. The role played by severalextremist elements and groups in projecting only a negativeimage about Muslims, linking them with terrorism, cannot

also be ignored. Against this backdrop, Iftar parties at leasthelp others in learning a little about religious principles fol-lowed by Muslims and positive approach held towards themby politicians in the fray. Irrespective of whatsoever is thepolitical motive of the parties/leaders hosting these Iftars,their being held certainly plays a major part in highlightingpositively an important part of Muslims' religious practices.

The situation would have been different if the percentageof Muslims' population was closer to 50 or even more than 25percent of the country's total population. The prospects ofnon-Muslims' approach towards Muslims being dependenton negative reports presented to them by anti-Muslimextremist elements would then have been negligible. Withtheir being naturally aware about religious beliefs and prac-tices followed by a large number of Muslims (because oftheir numerical percentage), their views would have beenbased on their own interaction with them. The reality is thatone out of two or four Indians is not a Muslim, but only oneor two of 10 Indians is a Muslim. Numerical statistics aresuch that except for in Muslim majority areas, non-Muslimsin other parts of the country may tend to have a wrong, sub-jective and even negative views about Muslims with whomthey have probably never even interacted and/or have learntabout only through secondary sources.

Besides, with due respect to criticism voiced about theseIftars being a farce as they are simply a political exer-cise to win over Muslim votes, one may look at the

same point from another angle. Accepting that it is time thesame leaders took constructive steps towards developmentof this community, it would be erroneous to assume thatMuslims who choose to attend these parties have closed theireyes towards the same point. Rather, these Iftars also give an

occasion to both invited ones and those who stay away fromthe same gatherings to voice their stand on issues concern-ing them regarding development of the community.

The multi-religious nature of Indian secularism mustalso be given due importance. Indians of all religions arefairly at home in adding quite a few celebrations to theirrespective beliefs and practices. The Iftar parties fall in thesame bracket, that of displaying the spirit of Indian secular-ism, particularly when non-Muslim politicians host them.Irrespective of what their main political objective be, per-haps, one should give some importance to their using theoccasion to let the rest of the country and world know aboutthe importance they are giving to Indian Muslims and theirIftars. Every time the Indian politicians make the extra effortto display their "secular" spirit, it must be also be viewed asa blow for those still keen on fuelling communal fire andpainting a negative image about Indian Muslims. Definitely,this does not imply that the community members should besatisfied only with such parties. They are not. The blow suf-fered by Congress in the recent by-polls for Okhla assemblyseat is just a minor indicator of this hard fact. The Congressmay have tried its best to evade Batla House "encounter"and other problems faced by voters here, but the peoplehave not. Thus, while the respected leaders are welcome todisplay their "secular" spirit by holding Iftar parties, theymust remember that however well attended these gather-ings may be, they certainly do not suggest that they havewon over the Muslim-vote. The leaders need to implementproposals -outlined on paper- and display their success incontributing constructively towards development of IndianMuslims. Today's Indian Muslim voter is far too shrewd to betaken for a ride by only political gimmicks, including Iftarparties. �

Speaking Out

PPoolliittiiccaall IIffttaarrss:: jjuusstt aa ffaarrccee??

NILOFAR SUHRAWARDY

The honourable judges directed Om Prakash to inform it through anaffidavit whether or not a mobile phone, number 9825000836, wasregistered in his name or whether it belonged to him otherwise. Heis to confirm whether or not he had talked with any or both of the hon-ourable ministers (NOT the honourable CM!) over the phone. TheCommission wants to know the nature of conversations if he doesnot choose to deny them outright. Nanavati and Mehta obviously findit difficult to sweep under the carpet the data of mobile calls collect-ed by IPS officer Rahul Sharma about conversations between keycharacters during the pogrom.Jaydeep Patel had proudly taken credit for teaching some essentiallessons to hundreds of "Muslim upstarts" in the state during and afterriots. He was nabbed along with Madam Maya Kodnani, a sittingminister in Modi's cabinet, only after the Supreme Court-appointedSpecial Investigation Team could not delay it any further. It is anoth-er matter that it is business as usual for both the dignitaries current-ly, who are happily out on bail. That should not surprise anyone con-versant with trends in India ever since the country became 'free'.Ruling as well as opposition groups, whether at the state or at theCentral level, have been artfully collaborating with one another todestroy any semblance of human rights that existed for minoritycommunities under colonial rule.The nexus between "communal fundamentalist" state governmentson the one hand and New Delhi and its supposedly independentarms on the other hand is particularly striking. Occasional "remedies"to undo injustice come about only after so much of delay as to makethem a cruel joke. That too is limited to cases where internationalhuman rights groups exert tremendous pressure. Not just in Gujarat,the conspiracy to rob life and liberty of individuals is nationwide. Theprosecution invariably can go on extending custody of uncomfortablesuspects till they go insane. Courts have no qualms to readily denybail to hapless victims who lack enough resources to feed parasites.In order to prove their loyalty to authorities, they have robbed hun-dreds of families of their breadwinners.A person needs to be as wealthy as Rubabuddin Sheikh - brother ofSohrabuddin Sheikh who was eliminated in cold blood by top IPSofficers of Gujarat - to interest the Apex Court in gross inhumanities.Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were kidnapped in broad daylight froman APSRTC bus in connivance with top cops in Maharashtra tostage a bizarre 'encounter' in Gujarat. Often, the occasional churning of the 'conscience' of high-profilejudges fails to have any impact either on victims/their kin or the mur-derers. For example, the murderer IPS officers who fraudulentlycooked up a conspiracy by Sohrabuddin to kill Narendra Modi areenjoying five-star comforts in jail. It should not be surprising to seethem one day as honourable ministers like Bhatt and Kodnani!Investigations by Anti-Terrorist Squad into the "conspiracies to killModi" are still going on and the Muslim youths picked up for allegedrole are rotting without trial.

It is interesting to observe the trashing by Nanavati-Mehta duo ofthe widespread demands to question Modi in the light of New

Delhi's persistent demand for prosecuting Hafiz Saeed, who it claimsis the alleged mastermind behind November 2008 terror attack inMumbai. It is not entirely impossible that the JuD chief played adirect role in the carnage, as India claims he had. Nor is it right to ruleout offhand that he has distanced himself completely from the activ-ities of LeT, as he claims. While LeT continues its struggle to "liber-ate" Kashmir from "occupation forces", JuD has been an NGO sinceit was formed, from all available evidence. JuD is known for deepdedication to charitable activities, efficiency and dynamic manage-ment. Like any respectable Church group, the constructive work itdoes is beyond governments' capabilities. Perhaps, Hafiz was indeed involved in the Mumbai attacks, in whichten gunmen went on a 60-hour rampage that killed 166 people.Perhaps, what the Lahore High Court found to be mere "hearsay &

conjectures" on examining the dossiers prepared by the Indianauthorities was only a part of the unveiled facts. It must be recalledthat Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Maharashtra's CMDeshmukh had been quietly removed from public view after theattacks, apparently to keep disturbing facts about highly placedIndian dignitaries in the dark.Be that as it may, the "crime" was more than a full 6-1/2 after closeto 2000 innocents were slaughtered and tens of thousands driven offfrom habitats in 2002. The whole world is aware of the person whoseactions and inactions fueled the pogrom. He allegedly instructed theadministration not to restrain rampaging Hindutva goons from takingrevenge. He justified the violence as "action-reaction phenomenon"for the burning of two rail coaches full of passengers and said themobs must be allowed to "vent their anger." Yet, the Nanavati-MehtaCommission supposed to facilitate dispensing justice "does not thinkit proper" to inconvenience the gentleman by questioning him, letalone arresting him!The only work that India's security agencies have managed in thelast ten months, apart from staging fake encounters and stepping upsecurity to VIPs, has only been to produce bulky dossiers. PChidambaram, who became the boss of New Delhi's internal securi-ty machinery after the sacking of Shivraj Patil, did not bat an eyelidto claim: "Evidence is in Pakistani soil. When Pakistan says give usevidence, evidence is not on Indian soil, all the evidence againstHafiz Saeed is on Pakistani soil… Therefore, one must investigate inPakistan and find the evidence in Pakistan(!)" It is not that Chidambaram is so naïve as to be blind to the problemsof the fledgling civilian government in Pakistan to bow to the diktatsof the big brother even if wants to. Unfortunately, the governmentalstructure in that country is different from India's. For one thing, courtselsewhere are not as pliable as Indian courts. It is possible in Indiato keep anyone, particularly a Muslim, in jail without trial with courts'nod by following "proper" procedure. Arbitrarily picked up suspects ofterror dramas can be convicted and sentenced to death based sole-ly on "confessions" extracted in custody. The interior minister ofPakistan Rehman Malik has repeatedly told the Indian high commis-sioner that their judiciary wants authentic documents "particularlythat information which we need from India."When the JuD chief was put under house arrest for the first time, thecourts directed his release because the charges were "sketchy".Currently, Saeed has been booked in two cases under Anti-TerrorismAct in Faisalabad for making "provocative speeches, urging peopleto wage a jihad against infidels." No self-respecting judge anywherein the world will consider sympathizing per se with a struggle againstsuppression of popular aspirations in an "occupied territory" as ter-rorism. In any civilized country, prosecution can be based only onspecific offences and no one can be punished simply for beliefs.Chidambaram, however, crossed all limits of diplomatic decencywhen he termed the Lahore High Court's verdict setting Hafiz Saeedfree on grounds of insufficient grounds as "charade." It is anyone'sguess whether the independent judiciary will sanction indefinitedetention of the Professor, as long as Indian rulers attempt doctoringtheir dossiers, blacking out disturbing facts about Indian citizens,without whose knowledge such an attack could not have takenplace. It is uncomfortable for both the ruling elite and the ones inopposition to admit that the countless terror bomb blasts, includingthe Mumbai attacks, cannot be blamed on JuD or Syeed alone. Warmongering with a neighbour, already badly bruised in a differentconflict, happens to be a compulsion to the ruling elite of India. Itneeds to cover up not just glaring intelligence and security lapses incase of the Mumbai attack. All round tyranny and corruption have ledto breakdown of constitutional institutions and failures of all govern-ing structures. No wonder, numerous foreign affairs bureaucrats,high profile politicians and the Media were pressed to mount a stri-dent rhetoric, short of declaration of war. Scaring the neighbour andthe international community about a flare up between nuclear armedadversaries, the rulers calculate, can secure some sort of "triumph"over the imaginary enemy. Showcasing the imaginary 'triumph',

achieved at mind-boggling costs to the public, has repeatedly beensuccessful in drumming up patriotic frenzy to let them continue reign-ing over the masses.The Indian political class has managed to erect an invisibleapartheid system, right since the British Empire vacated all itscolonies, transferring power to home-grown leaderships. Theapartheid affected the minority community of 27 million Christiansonly to a limited extent, mainly because of their highly developedinstitutions in economic and social spheres. The 160-plus millionMuslims who are comparatively poor and backward due to themigration of a big chunk of the well-off sections to Pakistan and else-where, on the other hand, are the worst victims.Perpetration of the apartheid system is the main objective for pro-voking conflicts deliberately and repeatedly. It is also behind the sim-mering dispute over Kashmir. Stationing of seven lakh troops in thedisputed territory, resulting in routine human rights abuses, can onlyfuel retaliatory terror. After every incident of terrorism and riots, it isnormal to pick up a number of Muslim youth on mere "suspicion" andlet them rot without trial in jail indefinitely with courts' consent. Also,any disapproval from this section for suicidal war advocacy is equat-ed to treason. In the cruelest manifestation of the apartheid system,Muslims are expected to declare their unconditional allegiance to thepowers-that-be after every riot and every outbreak of conflict, or facesocial ostracism.It is ironic to find that the Muslim leadership in India has routinelyherded the masses steeped in ignorance and backwardness to backthe Congress party. This translates into covertly supporting theapartheid policy, because it was Congress that had sown and hasbeen nourishing the invisible apartheid. It will be no exaggeration tostate that the likes of BJP and Shiv Sena have only taken advantageof this policy to a limited extent. In most cases, including in the eye-wash probe into the Gujarat pogrom, they have been partnered bythe Congress top brass and the constitutional authorities that havebeen thoroughly corrupted.Take the unceremonious burial given to Sri Krishna report into theMumbai riots; take the 'effective' follow-up actions on Liberhan's 17-year eyewash of probing Babri demolition; take the Apex Court's wis-dom behind jailing an unfortunate riot victim on contempt charges forflip-flopping in her deposition before it, frightened to the spine bypowers that the court is powerless to touch; take the indifference tothe plight of the POTA-accused in the Godhra train burning incidentin 2002 who had to rot in jail for seven years without bail after POTAitself had been repealed but their release was stayed while the courttook its own sweet time to dispose off a challenge to the repeal itself;take the hundreds of thousands of breadwinners behind bars in sev-eral states ruled by "secular" parties; take the case of NHRC's cleanchit for the fake encounter at Batla House where the murderer copwas given top State honours... These are just a few of the nightmar-ish fruits of blindly allying with hypocritical groups that promote theapartheid. Unless the minorities assert themselves and bravely raisetheir voice against the bogey of war advocacy, it will be impossible toescape the vicious circle.It is time that Indian rulers are forced to dismantle the invisibleapartheid and end State-orchestrated terrorism within the countryrather than spoiling for deadly conflagrations, which only adds to theagony of the people. As popular outrage gets out of control, there isevery risk of their being overthrown through terror attacks. This canbe averted only by instilling a sense of justness in State machineryand not by terrorizing people who demand that. Crying hoarsedemanding prosecution of foreign citizens running NGOs to servethe people there cannot be the substitute for credible prosecution ofhighly placed goons responsible for mass murders. India must giveutmost priority to purge the machinery if the goal of human rights pro-tection and justice dispensation is to be achieved. The entire struc-ture needs to be cleansed of parasites that use their top positions ofoffice to sabotage justice from within, if India is not to implode.The author is an independent analyst of South Asian issues, based

in Ahmedabad, India.

Continued from page 1

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 19

COMMUNITY NEWSSupreme Court upholds

right to grow beardVidisha/New Delhi: Supreme Court, in response to the petitionfiled by Mohammad Saleem, a 10th class student of NirmalaConvent Missionary School of Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha dis-trict who was removed from the school for his insistence tokeep beard in defiance of the School's dress code, upheld hiscase and directed the said School to re-admit him in the school.Supreme Court's 2-member bench consisting of Justice B.N.Agarwal and Justice Sanghvi in its interim order describedConvent School's action as 'funny' and ordered that till its finalverdict, neither his (Saleem's) education should be stopped norhe should be asked to shave off his beard. The Court also saidthat on the basis of beard, which is a religious symbol, no stu-dent should be prevented from pursuing his education.School's Principal Mrs Rosy said that in deference to SupremeCourt's verdict, School management, in spite of his beard, hasallowed him to continue his studies. Welcoming SupremeCourt's verdict, Maulana Wali Rahmani of Khanqah Rahmani,Munger said that though the Court's order is interim, it hasupheld the Constitutional provisions about religious freedom.

Objection to AMU being described as a community refuge Aligarh: A former member of Aligarh Muslim University,Surendra Kumar Azad has strongly objected to AMU beingdescribed by some people as a refuge of a particular commu-nity. While condemning this statement, he said that lateMohammad Ali Jinnah alone was not responsible for partition ofthe country, adding that the opponents should study the histo-ry of partition of the country. He said that Aligarh MuslimUniversity has neither ever been the fiefdom of a particularcommunity nor it is so today and even today the example ofHindu Muslim unity that is found here is difficult to find any-where else in the country. He asked those people what theywould say about the conditions in BHU where a particular com-munity is occupying and controlling every thing and how manyteachers, non-teaching staff, employees and students of minor-ity community are there? Taunting the people of such mentali-ty he said that crying about the vote bank politics does notbehove those people who want to collect votes after incitingreligious feelings of people on the pretext of building templeafter demolishing the mosque. He further said that a number ofschemes are being implemented by central government for theprogress and welfare of minorities, Dallits, poor and backwardclass people without any kind of discrimination. He also madeit clear that mischievous, terrorist and hate mongering ele-ments who are trying to harm the people and country and sowthe seeds of discord have never been given any place in AMU,adding that AMU is a living example of communal harmony inthe country and the world.

Urdu, Hindi, English dictionary New Delhi: Delhi University's Directorate of Hindi Languagehas prepared for the first time an Urdu, Hindi and English dic-tionary which was released on Hindi Day on 14 Sept. alongwith 4 other books by the University's Dean of Colleges.Running into 1389 pages, this Dictionary is in two volumes, firstvolume consisting of 717 pages. According to Dr Asha Gupta,Director, it took 7 years of hard work for compilation and com-pletion of this Dictionary by M.S. Usmani, Sudhendra Kumarand Meena Usmani. One of these three i e Sudhendra Kumaris no more now. Delhi University's Head of Hindi Department,Prof Sudesh Pichori has thanked the Hindi Directorate for thestupendous task of preparing this unique Dictionary.

CDs of Johnny Foster sent to many VIP and VVIPsAligarh: Muslim and non-Muslim student of AMU in celebrationof the holy month of Ramzan took part in the preparation of aCD of Johnny Foster's small poem on Ramzan and its mes-sage of spirituality and harmony. Johnny Foster said that inaddition to important personalities in AMU and Aligarh city,copies of this CD have also been sent to important personali-ties like the President of India, Prime Minister, Vice President,Mrs Sonia Gandhi, UP chief minister Mayawati, Oscar Awardwinner AR Rahman, Atal Bihari Vajpaee, Mulayam SinghYadav, Prof Gopi Chand Narang, Khushwant Singh etc as gifts.The poem is in Urdu whose English translation is like this:Ramzan has come with the blessings of Allah/Ramzan hascome and there are prayers and worships everywhere/Peopleof all faiths are participating in iftars/Once again Ramzan hascome to distribute and spread love.

Rs 10 lakh for Imam Ahmad Raza LibraryBareily: Virendar Gangwar, MLA from Bareily Cantt area hasdonated Rs 10 lakhs for building of Aala Hazrat Imam AhmadRaza Library which will be built in Maulana Azad Inter Collegecampus here. Permission for building of this Library has alsobeen accorded by Nagar Nigam and city administration. TheLibrary will be built and its foundation will be laid after Eid.While donating the amount, MLA Virendar Gangwar said thatthe whole world knows Imam Ahmad Raza who wrote 740 reli-gious books and has done great work for the nation, millat andreligion.

Hindu students in Bihar MadrasasPatna: Results of Bihar State Madrasa Examination Board(BSMEB) for Molvi, Fauqania and Wastania grade examina-tions were declared on 7 Sept. from which it was known thatmore than hundred Hindu boy and girl students passed theseexaminations. In Fauqania examination alone, as many as 37non-Muslim (Hindu) students passed in madrasas at differentplaces in the state like Madrasa Islamia at Sandalpur in Arariadistrict, Madrasa Rahmania at Jaktia in West Champaran,Madrasa Faiyyazul Uloom in Chhapra etc. Board chairman,Maulana Ejaz Ahmad says that he talked to parents of many ofthese students who said that education at madrasas was bet-ter than other schools and their wards were more disciplined.He also said that the fact that more girls are joining madrasasand pursuing education is an encouraging trend, and thatMuslim girls outnumbered and also surpassed boys inFauqania (equivalent to matric) and Wastania (equivalent tomiddle school).

Vice Chancellor launches the official AMU websiteProfessor P. K. Abdul Azis, Vice Chancellor, has launched theofficial website of Aligarh Muslim University (www.amu.ac.in).The new website provides all relevant information regardingthe functioning of Aligarh Muslim University, Vice Chancellor'sOffice, Registrar's Office, Controller's Office, faculties anddepartments of studies that are linked with the new website.Information related to admission and details of various coursesare also available on the concerned link. While inauguratingthe new website Professor P. K. Abdul Azis expressed the hopethat people from all over the world can now get informationabout the ongoing academic activities and other research work.This is necessary for collaborations with other Universities aswell. Prof. M. T. Ahmad, Director of the Computer Center andMr. Mallik Hashmi, Computer Programmer explained thesalient features of the new website. Mr. Afzal Ahmad, SystemManager proposed vote of thanks while Mr. Saleem Ali,Assistant Computer Programmer conducted the programme.

Land offered to AMU for Bihar CampusFollowing a shocking defeat in the just concluded Assembly by-elections, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has decided tohand over 100 acres of land at Kishanganj free of cost foropening an off-campus centre of Aligarh Muslim University(AMU) in the State. In a letter to AMU vice-chancellor PK AbdulAzis, the chief minister invited the university authorities to setup the campus in the Muslim-dominated area. "You will be gladto know that the government of Bihar has decided to give 100acres of land, free of cost to AMU for opening its centre inKisanganj district," the letter said. The AMU administration hasdecided to establish five off-campus centres in different parts ofthe country. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee alsoannounced fund allocation for this purpose in his Budgetspeech in July. Apart from Bihar, AMU will open branches inMurshidabad (West Bengal) Malappuram (Kerala), Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh) and Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh). Therivals accused political interests in shifting the place of campusfrom Katihar district to Kishanganj district. Nationalist CongressParty (NCP) accused chief minister Nitish Kumar of 'doing dirtypolitics' by opening the centre in Kishanganj district. NCP gen-eral secretary Tariq Anwar said the AMU administration had lastyear decided to open its centre in Katihar district, but chief min-ister played dirty politics by shifting it to Kisanganj district. Theproject's initial site was Katihar for which Tariq Anwar had lob-bied hard. Those opposing the State government's move arequestioning its authority to make such change. Justifying hisdecision to give land at Kishanganj Mr Nitish, in the letter toAMU VC, said, "Kishanganj is a Muslim-dominated district with

poor literacy figures. The AMU centre would be very helpful inimparting quality education to the students of minority commu-nity and will improve the educational atmosphere in the State."After all, Katihar is better connected and has a much betterinfrastructure than Kishanganj. This too is a Muslim-concen-trated district. Besides, Kishanganj is also close toMurshidabad, which too has been selected for the AMU centre.Meanwhile, the activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishadon 20 September burnt the effigy of Nitish Kumar in protestagainst the granting of land to the AMU in the district. On theother hand, the AMU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. P. K. Abdul Aziswhile thanking the Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar in tak-ing the decision to give 100 acres of land free of cost to AligarhMuslim University for opening its centre in Bihar, has request-ed him to urgently provide an additional 150-200 acres of landcontiguous to the currently identified site for establishing theAMU centre in Bihar. He said this will allow the university toprepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and FeasibilityReport (FR) as required by the Government of India.

Islam not synonymous with terrorism: ShabanaJohannesburg: Participating in a discussion on Islam, well-known Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi said, "(Islam) is liber-al in some countries, moderate in others, intolerant in someand extremist in the others. But it is not homogeneous. To saythat Islam is synonymous with terrorism is unjust, unfair andcannot be accepted because it is a blatant untruth." To say thatIslam is synonymous with terrorism is "unjust and unfair", Azmitold an audience here as she launched a retrospective of herfilms. "I think that the 9/11 crisis also became an opportunity; itwas the first time that Muslims got together to make the worldrealise that Islam is not homogeneous, that it resides in 53countries of the world, and becomes the culture of the countryin which it resides," Ms Azmi said.Questioned on the situationwith Muslims in India, Ms Azmi said that Muslims in India had"ample room to aspire", but that did not mean that discrimina-tion does not exist there. "Discrimination exists against minori-ties, it exists against women; it exists against Dalits. But theimportant thing is that there is a very robust civil society, and atthe level of politics, that fights back and says this is not how wedo it; so we have to draw comfort and strength from that."

Nobody can be legally compelled to sing patriotic songNew Delhi: Member of Law Commission of India, Prof TahirMahmood said, while clarifying legal position of patriotic songs,that the country's law and Constitution do not recognise anysong other than 'Jan, Gan, Man….' as national song. Moreover,it is also not legally compulsory to sing this song, he said. Hesaid that long ago in response to a petition filed by Christiancommunity, Supreme Court had made it clear while pronounc-ing its verdict that under the Parliamentary Act 1977 regardingnational symbols, respect for the national song Jan, Gan,Man…. is compulsory and standing in token of respect while itis being sung is enough and its singing is also not compulsory.He said that according to this judgment of Supreme Court, ifsome one objects to the national song on religious or any otherground, he cannot be compelled to sing it, adding that wheneven for a patriotic and wholly national song Supreme Court'sjudgement does not make it compulsory to sing, there is noquestion of making compulsory singing of any other patriotic orother song. Commenting on the agitation and protests againstthe fatwa regarding Vande Mataram, Tahir Mahmood said thatin such sensitive matters, instead of religious fatwas, if guid-ance is sought from laws of the country, the aims and inten-sions of communalist forces can be defeated. Hence it wouldbe better if before issuing any religious fatwa, knowledge aboutnational laws may be obtained.

ISHRAT JAHAN’S SISTER OFFERING SWEETS TO HER MOTHER AFTER THE RELEASE OF MAGISTRATE REPORT

COMMUNITY NEWS20 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

JIH to contest in Maharashtra electionsMumbai: Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maharashtra branch after study-ing social, political and economic conditions in the country andstate in detail, has decided to contest 38 seats and put up Muslimcandidates in these assembly constituencies in the forthcomingassembly elections in Maharashtra. This was stated by Jamaat(Maharashtra)'s secretary and spokesman, Aslam Ghazi. He alsosaid that JIH will support only those secular parties/candidateswhich accept its following demands and who will be secular inoutlook and of good character. Three important demands of JIHare: security of important interests of Muslims and Islam, to pre-vent people and parties of communal, fascist mentality from com-ing to power, and to ensure the rights of backward classes peo-ple and women to them. Other demands are: controlling theprices especially of essential commodities, government shouldbe serious about solving the problems of farmers and putting aban on mahajani (money lenders) loans, implementation ofNarendra Jadhav, Sri Krishna Commission and GundewarCommission’s reports, preventation of cruelties to minorities anddalits, ensuring regular supply of electricity and reduction of itscharges, ending privatization, rejection of MERC recommenda-tions, immediate trial of people arrested on the charge of terror-ism and they should be given full opportunity of proving theirinnocence, misuse of MCOCA should be stopped, terroristsattack of 26/11 in Mumbai and murder of Hemant Karkare andothers should be got investigated by a sitting judge of SupremeCourt etc, enactment of law against foeticide, providing legal sta-tus to minorities commissions and Waqf Boards and occupiedproperties of Waqf should be returned, Bihar government's law ofWaqf should be implemented in Maharashtra, at least 38Muslims should be given tickets from areas where population ofMuslims is 20% or more.

Only 14 Muslims in Cong-NCP first list for Maharashtra Mumbai: Contrary to their popular claim of Muslim uplift andseemingly working on a policy to deny fair Muslim representationsin the parliament and legislative assemblies, the Congress-NCPalliance in Maharashtra gave party tickets to only 14 Muslim can-didates when they unleashed the first list of the candidates on 23September. Out of these 14, 12 Muslims are in the first list of 159Congress candidates whereas NCP has given the party tickets totwo Muslims in its list of 80 candidates. The Congress party hasan alliance with Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) for the ensuing assembly elections in Maharashtra.

For the total 288 assembly seats that will go to polls onOctober 13 this year, Congress will be contesting on 174 seatswhereas NCP would be fielding 114 candidates on its party tick-ets.

Muslims in Maharashtra are already disgruntled against theruling Congress-NCP alliance due to its lackluster attitudetowards the community in the past ten years. The mishandling ofthe 2008 Malegaon blast case that made the headlines fewmonths before the polls had only intensified their anger.

However, at the time when the community was expectingfrom the ruling alliance to compensate for the poor representationgiven to the Muslims in 2009 Parliamentary elections, the allianceditched the community once again when it included only 14Muslims in its first list.

On the basis of the Muslim population in Maharashtra, com-munity leaders were demanding alliance tickets for 35 Muslimcandidates. Congress High command too had promised duringthe Lok Sabha elections that it would field enough number ofMuslim candidates in the assembly elections.

"During the 2009 parliamentary elections in a meeting atIslam Gymkhana in Mumbai the Congress had promised a fareMuslim representation in the assembly elections", said FareedKhan of Qaumi Majlis-e- Shura. The Congress-led UPA hadreceived overwhelming support from the Muslim community dur-ing the 2009 parliamentary elections. However, in Maharashtra ithad fielded just two Muslim candidates - both of them lost theelections. As of now there is no Muslim MP from Maharashtra.

"Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his visit to Mumbaiduring the parliamentary elections had admitted that appropriatenumber of Muslim candidates was not given tickets. He had prom-ised to compensate it in assembly elections", said Fareed Khan.

"However, the ongoing development reveals that the allianceis not serious about its promise and it is again taking the commu-nity for granted", he added. As a reminder to the alliance leader-ship, Fareed Khan had even written a letter to Chief Minister

Ashok Chavan and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar demanding 35Muslim candidates in the ensuing assembly elections inMaharashtra. The 12 Muslim candidates who find the place in thefirst list of the Congress candidates include Baba Siddiquee, Dr.Sayyad Ahmed, Amin Patel and Mohd Aslam from Mumbai, JavedDalvi from Bhiwandi, Shaikh Rasheed from Malegaon, SaleemPatel from Jalgaon, Anees Ahmed from Nagpur, Razia Baigumfrom Balapur, Anwar Bapu Deshmukh from Pator and AbdusSattar from Sillod. Babajani Durrani is one of the two candidatesthat the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has included in its firstlist of 80 candidates. (ummid.com)

Darul Uloom's fatwa against Vande Mataram invites threats and action

Saharanpur: Threats to Darul Uloom, Deoband and action againstit is being demanded by some radical Hindu organisations for itsfatwa against Vande Mataram. Rashtravadi Maha Sabha, anorganisation which was hitherto unheard of has jumped in the fieldin opposition to this fatwa and in spreading communal hatred. Afew days ago it had burnt an effigy of Darul Uloom Deoband inprotest and anger against its fatwa in opposition to singing ofVande Mataram by Muslims. Now on 5 Sept. it issued an ultima-tum to Darul Uloom to withdraw its fatwa within 15 days otherwisea movement against it will be started and its effigies will again beburnt at different places in the country.Darul Uloom's rector Maulana Marghoobur Rahman and almostall other Ulama and religious leaders have strongly condemnedthe campaign and threat of communalists led by RashtravadiMaha Sabha. They have also expressed their surprise and disap-pointment over government's inaction in controlling the activitiesof this communal organisation and its supporters and giving it afree hand. Darul Uloom's Maulana Abdul Kaliq Madrasi said thatif government authorities don't rein in this organisation's activitiesand its hate mongering campaign, it will become a great dangerto communal harmony and peace. He said that communal organ-isation appear to have made Rashtravadi Maha Sabha a pawn intheir plan of bringing bad name to Darul Uloom Deoband andspreading the virus of communalism and demanded strong actionagainst its activities.

Religious Madrasas Board to set up UniversitySaharanpur: President of All India Deeni Madaris Board, MaulanaYa'qoob Buland Shahri announced at a press conference thatDeeni Madaris Board will set up a University somewhere in west-ern UP which will be named Faqihul Islam University anddemanded the state government to allot land for this University.He said that a conference to review and discuss the problems ofMuslims was held in Delhi's India Islamic Cultural Centre on 7 Julyin which this Board had made clear its stand that in view of all-round backwardness of Muslims, which was also pointed out byall commissions appointed by government like Gopal SinghCommission, Sachar Commission and Ranganath MishraCommission, education must be promoted among Muslims andfor this, Deeni Madaris Board had made a plan to set up aUniversity and for this, government should provide land.Taking up other topics, he demanded that in view of RanganathMishra Commission's recommendations, reservation to Muslimsin different departments should be provided. Regarding AligarhMuslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi he said that gov-ernment knows very well that these institutions were set up byMuslims but now their minority character is in danger. Hedemanded that government should enact a law in Parliament anddeclare both these as minority institutions in the same way as theformer NDA government had made Jamia Hamdard in New Delhia minority institution.

He said that many Muslim majority areas and districts whereMuslims have a decisive role were deliberately and under anorganised plan declared reserved constituencies in order to weak-en their (Muslim) voting power. In view of this he demanded thatsuch reserved constituencies in Muslim majority areas and dis-tricts should be abolished so that there should be more represen-tation of Muslims in state assemblies, Parliament and other elec-tive and legislative bodies.

He said that people of Meena community who had embracedIslam and have come to be known as Mayo in Haryana andPunjab etc have not been entered in notified lists for the purposeof reservation but Hindus of Meena communi-ty have been entered in the notified list for the

purpose of reservation. He demanded that Muslim Meenas orMayos should also be included in notified list and given reserva-tion benefits. Another demand he made was that the process ofspecial recruitment of Muslims in local police and para militaryforces started by late Indira Gandhi may be restarted. He alsodemanded that large number of Muslims who were arrested underPOTA may be released because the committee appointed bycourt to find out whether their arrest under POTA was necessaryor not, had found that it was not at all justified, but even then theyare in jails. He therefore demanded their release.

Compensation to Bhagalpur riot victimsBhagalpur: The process of payment of compensations toBhagalpur riot victims at the rate of Rs 3.5 lakh per head/familyon the pattern of compensations to victims anti-Sikh riots of 1984has begun. This was stated by Bhagalpur's Additional Collector,Mr Mushtaq. He said that the district authorities had sent a list of861 persons who were killed or are still missing. At that time thecentral and Bihar governments had given Rs 1.10 lakh per fami-ly of the dead. The present Bihar government had demanded thecentral government to give compensation to these families at thesame rate which were given to family members of the dead per-sons in anti-Sikh riots. Accepting the demand of Bihar govern-ment, the Centre has provided a total of Rs 2, 57, 42, 000.Accordingly, the compensation now will be Rs 3.5 lakh per fami-ly of the persons killed. President of Bihar United Front, AmmanKhan who had also been trying to make increased payment tothe family members of the persons killed, said that this has beenmade possible by the efforts of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar andShahnawaz Husain, MP from Bhagalpur for which he and theaffected family members are very grateful. He also said thatsome people, acting as dalals, are visiting the houses of peoplewho will be getting increased amount and on the pretext ofobtaining affidavits from them in token of having received theamount are demanding money. He demanded that governmentshould find out such people and take strong action against them.

Newspapers more reliable than channelsNew Delhi: A survey of different sources of media conducted byMedia News and Media System showed that almost 80 percentpeople believe that while presenting political news on TV chan-nels, electronic media is partial because political news are pre-sented in accordance with channel's relationship with the party orparties. Those interviewed said that news channels and newspa-pers of our country are guided to some extent by same particularpolitical ideology or thinking. About 35 percent of the people saidthat in matters of presentation of political news, newspapers aremore reliable than news channels. Thirteen percent people havebelief neither in newspapers nor in news channels while 66 per-cent believe that at the time of elections there is not much differ-ence in news, reports and advertisements. In the views of 77 per-cent people, election is a political drama for news channels andthey are more concerned with earning profits.

Conditions normal in SangliKolhapur: Curfew has been completely lifted from 6 in the morn-ing in Maharashtra's Miraj Sangli areas famous for powerlooms.It may be recalled that on 7 Sept. communal tension and riot haderupted when some posters showing Chhatrapati Shivaji killingMoghul general Afzal Khan outside Ganesh Mandal were tornduring Ganpati pooja function in Miraj. Therefore, tension andriots had erupted in Sangli and Miraj also and in order to avoidfurther riots, complete curfew was proclaimed in the whole ofKolhapur. As situations began to improve, curfew also was beingremoved gradually except night curfew. From 17 Sept. night cur-few also was completely removed.

Quran exhibition at Salar Jung Museum Hyderabad: As part of the ongoing Muslim holy month Ramadan,the Salar Jung museum in Hyderabad organised an exhibition ofrare Quran manuscripts at the Mir Abbas Yar Jung Hall. It isbelieved that Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad morethan fourteen hundred years back in this month. Besides havingthe manuscripts ranging from the 14 and 16 centuries, the exhi-bition titled as 'Exegesis of the holy Quran' is having on displaysome rare Quran documentation dating back to the 9th century,spread across around 1500 calligraphic panels. (ummid.com)

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COMMUNITY NEWSBuild trust relationship with minorities: PMNew Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the heads ofstate police forces to build a relationship of trust with minorities."Special efforts must be made to establish a relationship of trustand confidence between our police forces and the minority com-munities. You must not fail in this aspect," Singh said addressingthe All India Conference of DGPs and IGPs here on 15September. The statement came a week after a magisterialprobe noted that the Gujarat Police had killed four youths, includ-ing teenager Ishrat Jahan, in a fake encounter in 2004.Dr Singh reminded the police officers to protect the weak anddefenceless. "Indeed, it is your solemn duty. Those who seek topromote communal violence and discord have to be dealt withfirmly," he said. The common man should go about his daily lifewith a sense of security and should have faith in policemen andpolice stations. "I believe this to be the real test of our efforts, atest that we cannot afford to fail," he added.

The Prime Minister desired that 'new-age policemen' dealwith terror issues. "A police station has to be the fulcrum aroundwhich this should take place. We need higher numbers of police-men to improve the present low police-population ratio," he said.Emphasising the importance of technology, Dr Singh mentionedthe need of more professionals, better-motivated and well trainedpolice forces.

Too many cancer patients in Mewat districtMewat: It is appears that the dreaded disease cancer has got afoothold in Mewat region because of which hundreds of peoplehave so far died here. In addition to those already dead, thou-sands of other people are suffering form this disease but eventhen the department of health is paying no attention to this dis-ease as well as the affected region. The inhabitants of this regionsay that they made a number of complaints to high officials ofHealth Department but they did not bother to either visit this placeor take necessary steps for the treatment of people. Being disap-pointed at their indifferent attitude, the people have now decidedto approach central and state governments for help saying that ifthe government does not pay any attention to this they will starta movement against this because before the recent Lok Sabhaelections, state government had promised that a cancer researchcentre and a medical college will be opened in Mewat but todayneither the state government remembers its promise nor is it pay-ing any attention to the campaign being carried on by the peopleagainst government's careless attitude. It may be stated that hun-dreds of people, including some prominent and well-known peo-ple have died of this dangerous disease and it has now reacheddangerous proportions and if necessary steps are not taken onemergency basis, thousands more may die soon.

A rare manuscript of Qur'an in Azamgarh's villageLucknow: A rare copy of hand written Qur'an has been foundwhich is safely preserved in Madrasa Darul Uloom Husainabad inAzamgarh's Anjan Shaheed village. Of the 30 paras (chapters) ofthe Qur'an, 26 are gold-plated. Historians describe this rareQur'an of Moghul period and written by Emperor Aurangzeb him-self. It is estimated to be about 300 years old and gold polish onits verses maintains its shine and brilliance even today. It is wellknown that Aurangzeb did not use official treasury for his person-al use and used to write Qur'an or knit mats and caps and withtheir sale proceeds, used to meet his personal expenses. It isalso interesting to know how this rare Qur'an reached thismadrasa. It is said that in 1957 a 60-year old man gave thisQur'an to the trustee of this madrasa, Maulana Abdul HaeeChishti. This man was in the habbit commuting theft in youngerdays. One day he stole some ornaments and clothes etc from abig wooden box. This Qur'an also was there which he did not seeat that time. When he brought the booty at home and examinedthem he found that this Qur'an was also there. When he failed todecide what to do with this Qur'an, he gave it to the trustee whokept it in Madrasa Darul Uloom Husainabad and ever since it islying there.

Demand for Urdu PradeshMuradabad: Milli Council's general secretary and president of AllIndia Muslim Federation, Haji Naseem Ahmad, advocate saidhere that his Federation will campaign for a separate state byincluding Western Uttar Pradesh and to be named Urdu Pradeshfor the promotion of Urdu. He said that the present state of UP istoo big to be governed efficiently from Lucknow and when a sep-arate state of Urdu Pradesh will materialise by including WesternUP, the problem of High Court bench will be solved automatical-ly. He further said that the Federation has been demanding fromthe very beginning that a separate state of Urdu Pradesh isessential for the promotion of Urdu and progress of Western UttarPradesh. Therefore a campaign for this on a mass scale will belaunched.

Ahmad to represent India at Saudi university's inauguration New Delhi: Union minister of state for railways, E. Ahmed hasbeen deputed by prime minister Manmohan Singh to representIndia at the inauguration of Saudi Arabia's 'Shah AbdullahScience & Technology University'. This University, situated at aplace 80 kilometres away from Jeddah and spread over an areaof about 6000 acres, will be inaugurated on 23 Sept. and will be

of revolutionary importance in Saudi Arabia's history because itwill be a co-education University.

Kerala will host global Islamic finance conference in Oct.Jeddah: An international conference on Islamic finance and inter-est-free banking will be held in Farook College in Calicut on Oct.3-4 with the support of the Jeddah-based Islamic DevelopmentBank (IDBA) and Kerala State Industrial DevelopmentCorporation (KSIDC). The conference, organized by the post-graduate department of Rouzathul Uloom Arabic College(RUAC), will be historic as it comes at a time when financialexperts and investors are seeking effective solutions to the glob-al crisis, said Hussein Madavoor, principal of RUAC.About 200delegates from India and abroad will take part in the two-day con-ference. "We have invited IDB President Ahmed Muhammad Ali,"Madavoor told a press conference at Al-Noor Medical Center inSharafiya. Apart from finance ministers, bankers and economists,commerce department students and teachers will also be invitedto the conference.

Most people in India and elsewhere in the world are stillunaware of the features and benefits of Islamic banking andfinance, said Madavoor, a member of Kerala State Wakf Board,while highlighting the significance of the conference.

"An American team of experts, which recently visited Riyadhto study prospects of Islamic finance, reached the conclusion thatit is the right alternative to contain global financial crisis," saidMadavoor, a graduate of Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah.

The Reguram Committee, appointed by Indian PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh, recommended the introduction ofinterest-free finance and advised the government to take meas-ures for the delivery of the service on a large-scale, includingthrough the banking system. Madavoor said the conferencewould urge the Indian government to license institutions to pro-vide Islamic banking and finance services and open degreecourses in the subject. Such courses will create more job oppor-tunities for Indians in the Gulf countries, he added. (P.K. AbdulGhafour, Arab News)

Essay Writing CompetitionAligarh: AMU is organising an essay writing competition on "SirSyed's Vision & Mission: Relevance in the New Millennium" withthe following Rules and Regulations:� The participant must be a bonafide student of a University or a

College.� The essay should be submitted on A4 size paper in double space

typed on one side and should contain around 3000 (three thousand)words duly forwarded by Head of the Institution. A soft copy is alsorequired.

� The essay must be original, not already published in any book,magazine and newspaper.

� Bonafide certificate from the College/University, two passport sizecoloured photographs, correspondence and permanent addressincluding contact number and E-mail ID of the participant must beprovided on a separate sheet attached along with the essay.

� There are three cash prizes viz., First Prize of Rs. 25,000.00,Second Rs. 15,000.00 & Third Rs. 10,000.00. Besides State leveltoppers of aforesaid competition will also be given a sum of Rs.5,000.00 as consolation prize.

� The first, second and third prize winners will be given both ways AC-II class railway fare and State level toppers will be given secondclass sleeper fare.

� All prize winners shall be provided boarding and lodging in theUniversity along with one relative (Father, mother, brother or sister).

� The essay must be sent to the Public Relations Officer, AMU;Aligarh latest by 1st October 2009.

� Information about the life and achievements of Sir Syed AhmedKhan, founder of the Aligarh Muslim University is available on theUniversity website www.amu.ac.in.

The prizes shall be presented on the occasion of Sir SyedDay celebration on October 17, 2008. For further enquiry,participants may contact AMU PRO Dr. Rahat Abrar atrahatabrar@gmail.com

National Meet On The Status Of MuslimsNew Delhi: Anhad is organizing a National Meet during 3-5October at Delhi on the Status ofMuslims to document the continu-ing ways of discrimination, exclu-sion, persecution of Muslims inIndia today, to document overt aswell as low intensity violence andthe insecurity that they live with,and to prepare a charter ofdemands for the present govern-ment. We also plan to develop astrategy paper for voluntaryorganizations who are working forthe minority rights. During thethree day meet senior activists,academicians, grass root workersand victims would present and lis-ten to testimonies and reports,and reflect on these conditions.Panel of distinguished jury mem-bers will come up with recommen-dations on the last day. For moreinformation, write to:

anhad.delhi@gmail.com / arunanhad@gmail.com

367 Urdu and English newspapers being published in J & KSrinagar: In Jammu & Kashmir 367 Urdu and English newspa-pers were being published in the year 2008-09 to whom anamount of Rs 8.12 crores was given for advertisements. This wasstated in the state assembly by Ali Mohammad Sagar, minister forlaw and Parliamentary affairs in reply to a question byMohammad Yusuf Jang of National Conference. He said that 240newspapers in Urdu and 127 newspapers in English are pub-lished in the state. He further said that from Srinagar 142 news-papers in Urdu and 39 in English are published and from Jammu98 are published in Urdu and 88 in English and that during theyear 2008-09, Rs 4.60 crores were given to English newspapersadvertisements and Rs 3.52 crores were given to Urdu newspa-pers for this purpose.

Churches constitutes forum in KarnatakaBangalore: To obviate the growing Sangh Parivar attacks againstChristians in the state the Churches across Karnataka havecome together to form the Karnataka United Christian Forum forHuman Rights with the objective of protecting human rights, pro-moting unity among churches, and promoting peace in the com-munity. "We felt the need to come together as we needed to knowourselves. A code of conduct is being put in place for all church-es. In this way, we are trying to help ourselves and preventattacks and accusations against churches," Archbishop ofBangalore Bernard Moras told presspersons here on September 10. All the churches that enter into a memorandum of associationhave to adhere the code of conduct, he pointed out. "So far,nobody has openly said that they would not join the forum. Weare trying to educate all of them. Though resistance may comefrom individuals, churches have not resisted the move," he said.

Muslim Groups Meet 3rd Front In MaharashtraMumbai: Disgruntled by the Cong-NCP’s mishandling of the stateof Maharahstra, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Maharashtra, started con-sultation with the Secular and Muslim NGOs’ and the leaders ofthe 3rd Front. Jamaat has decided to pull out a party-wise support,i.e., to the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra assembly Election.Engineer Nazar Mohammed Madu, President of JIH Maharashtrasaid, “The Cong-NCP Govt. failed to stop the communal violencein the state, the latest is the Miraj riots. This Govt. failed to imple-ment Sri Krishna Commission Report and played a hypocratic rolein Hari Masjid Firing and Sadhvi Pragya, Malegaon Blast Case.”He is also disappointed after seeing the list of the candidatesdeclared by the Cong and the NCP. “They have allotted only 16seats as against our demand of 38 seats and even drop the sittingMLAs like Bashir Patel and Yusuf Abrahani.” Going against thespirit of secularism and democracy, the election in India is basical-ly based on caste, region and religion. All parties select their can-didates according to the population of the constituencies. Nazarshunned this notion and said, “It’s like reservation in politics. Whenseats are reserved for SCs/STs etc then why not for Muslims? Weare not demanding the reservations of seats but we demand thepolitical empowerment of the underprivileged community and liketo have a representation according to ratio in the population.Proper representation is the pre-requisite of real democracy,” hesaid. Even Rangnath Mishra Commisssion has supported the eco-nomical and educational reservation. The Third Front inMahrashtra is weak, it would play a spoilers role and ultimatelybenefit the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, opponents of this approachsaid. To this, Nazar replied saying that “Cong-NCP do not havethe monopoly of secularim and they must accommodate leadersof all the castes and communities.” As far as spoilers are con-cerned, he replied, “Frustrated workers of Cong-NCP who did notget the ticket will be the biggest spoilers. What plans these partieshave to control them?” Jamaat-e-Islami Maharashtra decided tosupport strong secular candidates who are in agreement with thePeoples’ Manifesto released by the Jamaat. Besides legalisingwaqf board, reservation, preventing communal violence, Jamaathas also demanded special action to regin in the inflations, imple-mentation of Sri Krishna Commisssion and Gundewar commissionreports and special care for the farmers in Maharashtra.

JIH MAHARSHTRA LEADERS MEETING THIRD FRONT LEADERS IN MUMBAI

COMMUNITY NEWS22 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

Rs 30 lakh reward for memorising Qur'an Dubai: Ibrahim Hafiz Saeed Ahmad of India who took part in the13th Dubai International Qur'an Kareem Award's annual compe-tition won an award worth Indian Rupees 30 lakh for memorisa-tion of Qur'an. There were 77 competitors from Asian and Africancountries. The concluding function was held at Dubai Chamberof Commerce. Chairman of the Award's Managing Committee,Ibrahim Boo Maliha said while addressing the audience on thisoccasion that the Award Committee promotes the campaign formemorisation of Qur'an in the country and in foreign countries.

Communal violence at Jumatul Wida namazBareily: It appears that communal elements were waiting forsome opportunity to spoil peaceful atmosphere and indulge incommunal violence on some pretext. They succeeded in this onthe occasion of Jumatul Vida in Gosai Gotia of Bareily District.In this village there is a 20-year old mosque which is known asKali Masjid which is situated in a Hindu area. Muslim populationis at some distance from this place but they come to thismosque for offering namaz. Since this mosque is not in goodcondition, Muslims wanted to make some repairs and renova-tions but Hindu population did not allow them to do so. On theJumatul Vida day when Muslims in somewhat larger numbercame to this mosque for offering namaz, the local populationdid not allow them to perform ablution on the road. When theywanted to offer namaz outside the mosque at open and vacantplace because of shortage of space inside the mosque, they didnot allow this also and prevented them from doing this by force.Perforce, Muslims offered namaz inside the mosque but sinceall of them could not offer namaz in one group, they wanted toperform namaz in another shift after completion by the firstgroup but those who were bent upon making mischief did notallow this also and were ready to fight if Muslims tried anothershift of namaz. Feeling quite helpless, they informed police.When police force arrived, the Imam led another shift of namazin the presence of police but as they were offering namaz, thecommunal and mischievous elements reached the top of themosque and started pelting stones from there on the namazisin the presence of police itself as a result of which at least threenamazis received serious injuries on their heads, includingKhalid, a photographer of Hindi daily Dainik Jagran who felldown in an injured condition. Thereafter there was stampede onall sides. Police, in order to stop stone pelting by the unruly ele-ments, started chasing and beating them. At this, others whowere watching the 'drama' started raising slogans and they alsoindulged in violence. Since the existing police proved insuffi-cient, another reinforcement was sent by high police officialswho also arrived at the scene along with D M and other officials.Two companies of PAC arrived there to control the situation.The entire area turned into a police cantt. Situation was broughtunder control with great difficulty but possibility of recrudes-cence of violence is not ruled out after PAC is withdrawn.

Inauguration of Kashmiri language dictionarySrinagar: A Kashmiri language dictionary compiled by KashmirUniversity's Department of Linguistics was inaugurated byUniversity's Vice Chancellor, Prof Reyaz Punjabi at a functionheld on 2 Sept. Speaking on this occasion, Prof Punjabi said thatneed for a Kashmiri language dictionary was badly being felt sothat students receiving education in Kashmiri could benefit fromit. This dictionary is named 'Kashmiri Zabaan' and theDepartment of Linguistics has published it in 3 languages i eEnglish, Kashmiri and Hindi. For English, Roman script has beenused, for Kashmiri, Persian and Arabic script and for Hindi,Devnagari script has been used. The dictionary includes morethan 12000 words. This dictionary is being very much appreciat-ed by academic and literary circles because it will be very help-

ful for those learning Kashmiri language and also for the stepstaken/being taken by the government to promote and populariseKashmiri language.

Namaz and iftar in templeLucknow: One of the many examples of mutual love and religiouscooperation can be seen in Chandoli district’s Naubatpur villagewhere at Sankatmochan Temple Muslims offer namaz in theTemple's compound and break fasts with the eatables cooked byHindus. This has been going on every year during the holy monthof Ramzan for several years. 65-year old Alakh Narayen of thisvillage says that he feels proud to see that this temple of our vil-lage presents a true picture and spirit of secular values and reli-gious tolerance where Muslims offer namaz and Hindus prepareitems for iftari and dinner and all eat together. Another resident ofthe village Inderjeet Pande says that he feels a strange kind ofinner pleasure in serving Muslim brethren during the month ofRamzan. No one in the village knows since when and how thistradition started in this 150-year old Sankatmochan Temple.There are about 3000 inhabitants in this village of whom about800 are Muslims.

Jinnah' advice to KashmirisSrinagar: Way back in 1944 a delegation of some Kashmiriyouths had met late Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Nishat area ofSrinagar. One of the members of this delegation was MohammadYusuf Khan who is now 85. According to him, at that timeMohammad Ali Jinnah had told the delegation members that 'Youshould not raise the slogan of Pakistan because your (Kashmir's)accession to Pakistan is not good. The political struggle that we(Muslim League) are doing is the politics of British India andhence you should not get involved in it. You have a state; yourRaja is a Hindu. Because of our struggle and campaign we arein a great dilemma. Therefore you also should not be a victim ofanother dilemma. Your slogan is all right and therefore youshould be firm on your slogan of Azad Kashmir.'According to Yusuf Khan, before partition of India Jinnah had noplan to include Kashmir as a part of Pakistan. At the time whenthe delegation had met Jinnah, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah hadbeen leading a campaign against Dogra Maharaja but, accordingto Yusuf Khan his (Sheikh Abdullah's) inclination was towardsJawaharlal Nehru. In the second decade of 20th century elec-tions had taken place in 16 or 17 Indian provinces underGovernment of India Act in which Congress had secured a major-ity. The state government discriminated against Muslimsbecause of which they (Muslims) felt that their social and eco-nomic rights are not safe under Congress. Thus the politics of theValley was divided between pro-India and pro-Pakistan camps.Yusuf Khan was an active member of pro-Pakistan MuslimConference. When Jinnah had come to Kashmir in 1944, Khanhad received a head injury in a clash with the supporters ofSheikh Abdullah. He had met Jinnah along with the delegationwith his injury. Khan had met Jinnah for second time at Mumbai'sMalabar Hills. Khan said that by that time his friend K.H. Khurshidhad become Jinnah's secretary. Subsequently, he had becomeprime minister of Azad Kashmir also.Khan in no case is prepared to believe that Pakistan was thedemand of Jinnah. He is sure that demand for Pakistan wasthrust on Jinnah by Congress. He also agrees with the views ofJaswant Singh and Advani that Jinnah was purely a secular,political leader.

Government plans three universities for minoritiesNew Delhi: After allocating Rs. 25 crore (Rs.250 million) for twomore campuses of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), the gov-ernment is planning to set up three more universities for the

country's minorities, according to officials. "Three universities pri-marily for the students of minority communities will be set up witha view to providing them better higher education," a senior offi-cial of the minority affairs ministry said, requesting anonymitysince he is not authorised to speak to the media.These universities will be set up in Mysore (Karnataka),Kishanganj (Bihar) and Ajmer (Rajasthan). According to the offi-cial, "Fifty percent of the seats in these universities will bereserved for minority students to make them more competitive inthe job market." To be set up on land owned by Waqf boards,these universities will provide education in all modern subjectsalong with theological teaching. However, officials said thebiggest problem in establishing such universities will be to over-come es for providing 50 percent reservation for students fromminority communities. "Our effort is to find a solution according toconstitutional provisions so that the proposal doesn't get stuck inlegalities as it happened in n legalities asthe case of AMU."In a 1968 lawsuit, the Supreme Court of India scrapped theminority status of the AMU. Then prime minister Indira Gandhirestored the AMU's minority status through legislation in 1981.But in 2006, a division bench of the Allahabad High Court struckdown the provision of the AMU Amendment Act, 1981. It rejectedthe central government's plea for restoring the minority status ofthe AMU and scrapped 50 percent reservation for Muslim stu-dents. This was challenged by the centre in the apex court, whichis yet to take a decision on the matter. Minority affairs ministryofficials said the government was trying to work out a new modelto overcome such legal hurdles. According to this model, the"land for these universities will be given by the Waqf board andthe government will set up a university on it. Since these univer-sities will be for the minorities, reservation for 50 percent minori-ty students will be justified". The draft has been prepared and willbe sent to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).(Khalid Akhter, IANS)

AMU Students' Grievance Committee

Aligarh: The Students' Grievance Committee set up as a stop-

gap alternative to Students' Union in the Aligarh Muslim

University, has set in motion a slew of measures in the University.

The newly established students' body has started addressing the

genuine problems and difficulties faced by the students both in

the academic departments and residential halls.

The AMU Vice Chancellor, Prof. P. K. Abdu Azis has initiated

a novel procedure to provide a 'voice' to the students through the

instrument of face-to-face interaction. All the top University func-

tionaries including the Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Controller of

Examinations, Proctor, DSW and Finance Officer interacted with

the students holding top ranks in each class and course of the

University. The students air their grievances and the administra-

tion takes on the spot decision to redress the problems. The

system has set in place a new and powerful mechanism that pro-

vides the students of the University an access to address the

issues of main concern to the student community.

In a two-day interactive meeting presided over by the Vice

Chancellor, Prof. P. K. Abdul Azis held on 9-10 September (see

photograph below) in which more than 300 students representing

325 courses spoke on various issues both student-centred and

department-specific. Without mincing words they openly criti-

cized the existing flaws and deficiencies and demanded immedi-

ate action to improve the quality of teaching-learning process in

the University. The meeting bears testimony to the emerging

trend that girls have replaced boys in securing top scores in the

University examinations. The girls have outnumbered the boys

and they were seen to be more vociferous in pinpointing the gaps

and shortcomings.

AMU STUDENTS' GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE IN PROGRESS

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 23

INTERNATIONAL

Hundreds of Chinese working in Saudi Arabia embrace IslamRiyadh: About 660 Chinese working on Al Haramain's mega train project in Saudi Arabia haveembraced Islam. In addition to Chinese, about 50 men and 15 women from other countriesworking on the same project have also embraced Islam. They were brought into the fold ofIslam by Macca Al Mukarrama region's under secretary Dr Abdul Aziz Al Khaziri by makingthem recite Kalima Taiyyaba. Commenting on large scale conversion of non-Muslims he saidthat this is a direct reply to those who were strongly opposing the employment of non-Muslimsi e Chinese and others on this project in the holy cities and were demanding the cancellationof their contracts. He said that this is a matter of pleasure that by the grace of God more than10 percent of the 5000 Chinese who are working on this project have converted to Islam,adding that this is the beginning and many more may follow.

Dutch MP: Fine women for wearing headscarf A controversial Dutch lawmaker has urged the country's parliament to pass a law to finewomen who wear Islamic head coverings. Geert Wilders said women observing the Islamicdress code or Hjiab should be fined 1,000 euros (1,461 dollars) per year. The leader of the lib-eral-right Freedom Party PVV made his remarks during a parliamentary debate about the gov-ernment's budget plans on 16 Sept.

JEREMY SCAHILL

New video evidence has surfacedshowing that US military forces inAfghanistan have been instructed bythe military's top chaplain in the

country to "hunt people for Jesus" as theyspread Christianity to the overwhelminglyMuslim population. Soldiers also have import-ed bibles translated into Pashto and Dari, thetwo dominant languages of Afghanistan.What's more, the center of this evangelicaloperation is at the huge US base at Bagram,one of the main sites used by the US militaryto torture and indefinitely detain prisoners.

In a video obtained by Al Jazeera andbroadcast Monday, Lieutenant-Colonel GaryHensley, the chief of the US military chaplainsin Afghanistan, is seen telling soldiers that asfollowers of Jesus Christ, they all have aresponsibility "to be witnesses for him."

"The special forces guys - they hunt menbasically. We do the same things as Christians,we hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt themdown," he says.

"Get the hound of heaven after them, so weget them into the kingdom. That's what we do,that's our business." The translated Biblesappear to be the New Testament. According toAl Jazeera, US soldiers "had them speciallyprinted and shipped to Afghanistan."

On the tape, one soldier describes how hischurch in the US helped raise money for thebibles. Al Jazeera reports that "What these sol-diers have been doing may well be in direct vio-lation of the US Constitution, their professionalcodes and the regulations in place for all forcesin Afghanistan." The US military officially forbids"proselytising of any religion, faith or practice."But, as Al Jazeera reports:

[T]he chaplains appear to have found a wayaround the regulation known as General OrderNumber One."Do we know what it means toproselytise?" Captain Emmit Furner, a militarychaplain, says to the gathering. "It

is General Order Number One," an uniden-tified soldier replies. But Watt says "you can'tproselytise but you can give gifts."

Trying to convert Muslims to any other faithis a crime in Afghanistan.

The fact that the video footage is beingbroadcast on Al Jazeera guarantees that it willbe seen throughout the Muslim world.

It is likely to add more credence to the per-ception that the US is engaging in a war onIslam with neo- crusader forces invadingMuslim lands.

Former Afghan prime minister Ahmed ShahAhmedzai told Al Jazeera there must be a "seri-ous investigation," saying, "This is very damag-ing for diplomatic relations between the twocounties."

Sayed Aalam Uddin Asser, of the IslamicFront for Peace and Understanding in Kabul,told the network: "It's a national security issue ...our constitution says nothing can take place inAfghanistan against Islam.

If people come and propaganda other reli-gions which have no followers in Afghanistan[then] it creates problems for the people, for

peace, for stability."A US military spokesperson, Major Jennifer

Willis, denied that the US military has allowedits soldiers to attempt to convert Afghans andsaid comments from sermons filmed at Bagramwere taken out of context.

She said the bibles were never distributed."That specific case involved a soldier whobrought in a donation of translated bibles thatwere sent to his personal address by his homechurch.

He showed them to the group and thechaplain explained that he cannot distributethem," she said. "The translated bibles werenever distributed as far as we know, becausethe soldier understood that if he distributedthem he would be in violation of general order1, and he would be subject to punishment."

The video footage was shot about a yearago by documentary filmmaker Brian Hughes,who is also a former US soldier.

"[US soldiers] weren't talking about learninghow to speak Dari or Pashto, by reading theBible and using that as the tool for languagelessons," Hughes told Al Jazeera.

"The only reason they would have thesedocuments there was to distribute them to theAfghan people.

And I knew it was wrong, and I knew thatfilming it ... documenting it would be important."The broadcast of this video comes just daysafter a new poll of White Americans found that,in the US, church going Christians are morelikely to support the use of torture than othersegments of the population.

The Pew Research Center poll found:"White evangelical Protestants were the reli-gious group most likely to say torture is often orsometimes justified - more than six in 10 sup-ported it. People unaffiliated with any religiousorganization were least likely to back it.

Only four in 10 of them did."This is certainly not the first scandal where

US military forces or officials have been caughton tape promoting an evangelical Christianagenda. Perhaps the most high-profile caseinvolved Lieut. Gen. William Boykin, who was aDeputy Undersecretary of Defense forIntelligence under Bush. Boykin was part ofDonald Rumsfeld's inner circle at the Pentagonwhere he was placed in charge of hunting"high- value targets." Boykin was one of the keyU. S. officials in establishing what critics allegedwas death-squad- type activity in Iraq.

In October 2003, Boykin was revealed tohave gone on several anti-Muslim rants, in pub-lic speeches, many of which he delivered in mil-itary uniform. Since January 2002, Boykin hadspoken at twenty-three religious-orientedevents, wearing his uniform at all but two.Among Boykin's statements, he said he knewthe U. S. would prevail over a Muslim adversaryin Somalia because "I knew that my God wasbigger than his. I knew that my God was a realGod and his was an idol." Boykin also chargedthat Islamic radicals want to destroy America"because we're a Christian nation" that "willnever abandon Israel." Our "spiritual enemy,"Boykin declared, "will only be defeated if wecome against them in the name of Jesus." �

Iran is the sheep surrounded by hungrywolves, including the vulture like Zionist-hyena. A cursory examination of the regionshows, the US bases surround Iran from alldirections. In addition, Israel armed with

nuclear weapons is constantly urging the west-ern powers to launch a pre-emptive strike usingthe same old pretext of holocaust-weapon;somehow Israel are the victims or potential vic-tims of Iranian aggression. The lying treacherousZionists always masquerading themselves asvictims, but they are the ones kill withoutremorse and in far greater number, the stench ofblood still emanates from the women and chil-dren of Gaza testifying to this fact!

The Zionist dominated western media isfilled with suggestions that Iran is on the march,it is ready to conquer the Middle East, Europeand the rest of the world. A check on realityshows the US military bases in distant lands isconstrued as self-defence (not empire building),and Iran protecting its borders and resources isa threat! Iran has always been confined to itsborders unlike the US and Israel. The claimabout Iranian threat is ominous of a self-fulfillingprophecy; you claim a threat exists, so you agi-tate the enemy into action by applying sanctionsand constantly demonising it.

It is the traits of cowards to pick a fight withweaker nations, and the vultures to feed on thedead corpses. Thus, note the contrast inresponse with a resolute North Korea armed withNuclear weapons. This proves that Iran needs topossess nuclear weapons to protect its sover-eignty and of course, the lucrative oil fromthieves and pirates.

The recent decision by Obama to shelveBush’s plan to build the Missile Defence Systemin Eastern Europe to contain the Iranian missilethreat has once gain raised this issue of the so-called Iranian threat. This Missile defence Systemwas originally conceived by Ronald Reagan, dur-ing the cold war era to confront the Soviet Union.The plan waned as the cold war era ended, but itwas subsequently revived by George Bush as adefence against the Iranian missile threat.

Obama says the intelligence reports showthat Iran does not really have intercontinentalballistic missiles; even if it did, does it really pose

a threat to the mighty US and Europe? Obama’smove may not be as benign as it looks. Thismove appeased Russia and ultimately, the aim isto get Russia on board to confront Iran, or at thevery least persuade Russia not giving weaponsor others forms of assistance to Iran. In responseto shelving this plan, the US hopes that Russiawill reciprocate by halting the planned delivery ofsophisticated anti-aircraft systems to Iran thatwould enable Tehran to shoot down any US orIsraeli planes seeking to attack its nuclear facili-ties.

Sanctions has not worked against Iran, andhistory shows it is unlikely to work, as everynation is resilient to foreign pressure, especiallywhen that pressure has no justification. The USmade it no secret that they had role in agitatingthe demonstrators to destabilise the country,weaken its resolve. That too has failed. Obamahas stated he wishes to engage Iran rather thanconfront it militarily, which is frustrating theZionists. This might be one of the reasonsbehind the recent Israeli decision to build moresettlement. The Times reported on a quid proquo deal where Israel would give concession onits illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian ter-ritories in return with a green light from the west-ern powers for an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclearfacilities. “Israel has chosen to place Iranianthreat over its settlements,” a senior EU diplomattold The Times on July 16.

Obama should be truthful with the Islamicworld is he really wants to uphold the bold decla-rations made at the Cairo speech. For example,he stated recently that he wishes with convictionto see a nuclear free world, but it seems that heis only seeking a nuclear free Iran, as he is silentabout Israel’s nuclear weapons.

Similarly, Obama stated earlier that the USwould extend a hand if Iran would be willing tounclench their fist. The Iranian response is sim-ple, if you are truthful Obama, then you shouldrecognise that it is your fists that extends acrossthe Atlantic Ocean to our borders. If you removeyour bases, sanctions, and keep the ugly hyenaon your leash, you will find that Iran has the mag-ical carpet rolled out for you to fly into Tehran.

Yamin Zakaria, London, UKyamin@radicalviews.org

Containing the Iranian ‘Threat’

Anewspaper article suggests that Algerian childrenare kidnapped, trafficked to Morocco where they aresold to Israelis or American Jews for the sake oforgan harvest. An international Jewish conspiracy tokidnap children and harvest their organs is gathering

momentum as another shocking story divulges Israeli plot to har-vest organs from Algerian children.

The story, published in the Arabic-language Algerian daily al-Khabar, charges that Interpol, the international police organiza-tion, has revealed the existence of 'a Jewish gang' that was'involved in the abduction of children from Algeria and traffickingof their organs.'

According to the story, bands of Moroccans and Algerianshad been roaming the streets of Algerian cities in an attempt tohunt for young children. They then trafficked the kids across theborder into neighboring Morocco.

The children were then sold to Israelis and American Jews inOujda, the capital of eastern Morocco, for the purpose of organharvesting in Israel and the United States.

The story is based on statements made by Mustafa Khayatti,head of the Algerian National Committee for the Development of

Health Research. Khayatti maintains that the abduction ofchildren in Algeria is linked to arrests made in New York and NewJersey at the end of July, in which several Jewish men werearrested in connection with an investigation into illegal organ traf-

ficking and political corruption. The story comes in line with the article published last month

in Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest circulation daily, suggesting thatthe Israeli army kidnapped and killed young Palestinians to har-vest their organs. It shed light on the case of Bilal AhmedGhanem, a 19-year-old Palestinian man, who was shot dead in1992 by Israeli forces in the West Bank village of Imatin.

Bostrom, who witnessed the man's killing, said Ghanem'sbody was abducted following the shooting and was returned atmidnight -- during an imposed curfew -- several days later by theIsraeli military with a cut from the stomach to the neck that hadbeen stitched up.

Bostrom argued that an autopsy would be required if thecause of death was not apparent, while in this case it was clearthat Bilal was shot dead. After that incident, at least 20Palestinian families told Bostrom that they suspected the Israelimilitary had taken the organs of their sons after they had beenkilled by Israeli forces and their bodies had been taken away.(presstv.ir)

Algerian kids falling prey to Jewish ‘organ harvest’

Military officials at Bagram are caught on tape urgingUS soldiers to evangelize in the Muslim country

INTERNATIONAL24 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

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MUTADHAR AL-ZAIDI

Mutadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi who threw hisshoe at George Bush gave this speech on hisrecent release. In the name of God, the mostgracious and most merciful.Here I am, free.But my country is still a prisoner of war.

Firstly, I give my thanks and my regardsto everyone who stood beside me, whether

inside my country, in the Islamic world, in the free world. Therehas been a lot of talk about the action and about the person whotook it, and about the hero and the heroic act, and the symbol andthe symbolic act.

But, simply, I answer: What compelled me to confront is theinjustice that befell my people, and how the occupation wanted tohumiliate my homeland by putting it under its boot.

And how it wanted to crush the skulls of (the homeland's)sons under its boots, whether sheikhs, women, children or men.And during the past few years, more than a million martyrs fell bythe bullets of the occupation and the country is now filled withmore than 5 million orphans, a million widows and hundreds ofthousands of maimed. And many millions of homeless because ofdisplacement inside and outside the country.

We used to be a nation in which the Arabwould share with the Turkman and the Kurdand the Assyrian and the Sabean and theYazid his daily bread. And the Shiite wouldpray with the Sunni in one line. And theMuslim would celebrate with the Christian thebirthday of Christ, may peace be upon him.And despite the fact that we shared hungerunder sanctions for more than 10 years, formore than a decade.

Our patience and our solidarity did notmake us forget the oppression. Until we wereinvaded by the illusion of liberation that somehad. (The occupation) divided one brotherfrom another, one neighbor from another, andthe son from his uncle. It turned our homesinto never-ending funeral tents. And ourgraveyards spread into parks and roadsides. Itis a plague. It is the occupation that is killing us, that is violatingthe houses of worship and the sanctity of our homes and that isthrowing thousands daily into makeshift prisons.

I am not a hero, and I admit that. But I have a point of viewand I have a stance. It humiliated me to see my country humiliat-ed. And to see my Baghdad burned. And my people being killed.Thousands of tragic pictures remained in my head, and thisweighs on me every day and pushes me toward the righteouspath, the path of confrontation, the path of rejecting injustice,deceit and duplicity. It deprived me of a good night's sleep.

Dozens, no, hundreds, of images of massacres that wouldturn the hair of a newborn white used to bring tears to my eyesand wound me. The scandal of Abu Ghraib. The massacre ofFallujah, Najaf, Haditha, Sadr City, Basra, Diyala, Mosul, Tal Afar,and every inch of our wounded land. In the past years, I traveledthrough my burning land and saw with my own eyes the pain ofthe victims, and hear with my own ears the screams of thebereaved and the orphans. And a feeling of shame haunted melike an ugly name because I was powerless.

And as soon as I finished my professional duties in reportingthe daily tragedies of the Iraqis, and while I washed away theremains of the debris of the ruined Iraqi houses, or the traces ofthe blood of victims that stained my clothes, I would clench myteeth and make a pledge to our victims, a pledge of vengeance.

The opportunity came, and I took it. I took it out of loyalty to every drop of innocent blood that has

been shed through the occupation or because of it, every screamof a bereaved mother, every moan of an orphan, the sorrow of arape victim, the teardrop of an orphan.

I say to those who reproach me: Do you know how many bro-ken homes that shoe that I threw had entered because of theoccupation? How many times it had trodden over the blood ofinnocent victims? And how many times it had entered homes inwhich free Iraqi women and their sanctity had been violated?Maybe that

shoe was the appropriate response when all values were vio-lated.

When I threw the shoe in the face of the criminal, Bush, Iwanted to express my rejection of his lies, his occupation of mycountry, my rejection of his killing my people. My rejection of hisplundering the wealth of my country, and destroying its infrastruc-ture. And casting out its sons into a diaspora.

After six years of humiliation, of indignity, of killing and viola-tions of sanctity, and desecration of houses of worship, the killercomes, boasting, bragging about victory and democracy. Hecame to say goodbye to his victims and wanted flowers inresponse.

Put simply, that was my flower to the occupier, and to all whoare in league with him, whether by spreading lies or taking action,before the occupation or after.

I wanted to defend the honor of my profession and sup-pressed patriotism on the day the country was violated and itshigh honor lost. Some say: Why didn't he ask Bush an embar-rassing question at the press conference, to shame him? Andnow I will answer you, journalists. How can I ask Bush when wewere ordered to ask no questions before the press conferencebegan, but only to cover the event. It was prohibited for any per-

son to question Bush. And in regard to professionalism: The pro-

fessionalism mourned by some under the aus-pices of the occupation should not have avoice louder than the voice of patriotism. Andif patriotism were to speak out, then profes-sionalism should be allied with it.

I take this opportunity: If I have wrongedjournalism without intention, because of theprofessional embarrassment I caused theestablishment, I wish to apologize to you forany embarrassment I may have caused thoseestablishments. All that I meant to do wasexpress with a living conscience the feelingsof a citizen who sees his homeland desecrat-ed every day.

History mentions many stories where pro-fessionalism was also compromised at thehands of American policymakers, whether in

the assassination attempt against Fidel Castro by booby-trappinga TV camera that CIA agents posing as journalists from CubanTV were carrying, or what they did in the Iraqi war by deceivingthe general public about what was happening. And there aremany other examples that I won't get into here.

But what I would like to call your attention to is that these sus-picious agencies -- the American intelligence and its other agen-cies and those that follow them -- will not spare any effort to trackme down (because I am) a rebel opposed to their occupation.They will try to kill me or neutralize me, and I call the attention ofthose who are close to me to the traps that these agencies will setup to capture or kill me in various ways, physically, socially or pro-fessionally.

And at the time that the Iraqi prime minister came out onsatellite channels to say that he didn't sleep until he had checkedin on my safety, and that I had found a bed and a blanket, evenas he spoke I was being tortured with the most horrific methods:electric shocks, getting hit with cables, getting hit with metal rods,and all this in the backyard of the place where the press confer-ence was held. And the conference was still going on and I couldhear the voices of the people in it. And maybe they, too, couldhear my screams and moans.

In the morning, I was left in the cold of winter, tied up afterthey soaked me in water at dawn. And I apologize for Mr. Malikifor keeping the truth from the people. I will speak later, givingnames of the people who were involved in torturing me, and someof them were high-ranking officials in the government and in thearmy.

I didn't do this so my name would enter history or for materi-al gains. All I wanted was to defend my country, and that is a legit-imate cause confirmed by international laws and divine rights. Iwanted to defend a country, an ancient civilization that has beendesecrated, and I am sure that history -- especially in America --will state how the American occupation was able to subjugate Iraqand Iraqis, until its submission.

They will boast about the deceit and the means they used in

order to gain their objective. It is not strange, not much differentfrom what happened to the Native Americans at the hands ofcolonialists. Here I say to them (the occupiers) and to all who fol-low their steps, and all those who support them and spoke up fortheir cause: Never.

Because we are a people who would rather die than facehumiliation.

And, lastly, I say that I am independent. I am not a memberof any politicalparty, something that was said during torture -- onetime that I'm far-right, another that I'm a leftist. I am independentof any political party, and my future efforts will be in civil serviceto my people and to any who need it, without waging any politicalwars, as some said that I would. My efforts will be toward provid-ing care for widows and orphans, and all those whose lives weredamaged by the occupation. I pray for mercy upon the souls ofthe martyrs who fell in wounded Iraq, and for shame upon thosewho occupied Iraq and everyone who assisted them in theirabominable acts. And I pray for peace upon those who are in theirgraves, and those who are oppressed with the chains of impris-onment. And peace be upon you who are patient and looking toGod for release.

And to my beloved country I say: If the night of injustice isprolonged, it will not stop the rising of a sun and it will be the sunof freedom.

One last word. I say to the government: It is a trust that I carryfrom my fellow detainees. They said, 'Muntadhar, if you get out,tell of our plight to the omnipotent powers' -- I know that only Godis omnipotent and I pray to Him -- 'remind them that there aredozens, hundreds, of victims rotting in prisons because of aninformant's word.'

They have been there for years, they have not been chargedor tried. They've only been snatched up from the streets and putinto these prisons. And now, in front of you, and in the presenceof God, I hope they can hear me or see me. I have now madegood on my promise of reminding the government and the offi-cials and the politicians to look into what's happening inside theprisons. The injustice that's caused by the delay in the judicialsystem. Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.(Translation by Sahar Issa).

MMyy FFlloowweerr ttoo BBuusshh,, tthhee OOccccuuppiieerr——TThhee SSttoorryy ooff MMyy SShhooee

Opposite brain drain

World's talented workersopt to leave USA

More skilled immigrants are giving up their American dreams topursue careers back home, raising concerns that the U. S. maylose its competitive edge in science, technology and other fields.ECONOMY: Driving emigration "What was a trickle has becomea flood," says Duke University's Vivek Wadhwa, who studiesreverse immigration. Wadhwa projects that in the next five years,100,000 immigrants will go back to India and 100,000 to China,countries that have had rapid economic growth. "For the first timein American history, we are experiencing the brain drain that othercountries experienced," he says. Suren Dutia, CEO of TiE Global,a worldwide network of professionals who promote entrepreneur-ship, says the U. S. economy will suffer without these skilledworkers. "If the country is going to maintain the kind of economicwell-being that we've enjoyed for many years, that requires hav-ing these incredibly gifted individuals who have been educatedand trained by us," he says. Wadhwa surveyed 1,203 Indian andChinese immigrants who had worked or been educated herebefore returning to their homelands and found the exodus hasless to do with the faltering U. S. economy than with other factors:Career opportunities. At NIIT, an information technology compa-ny based in New Delhi, about 10% of managers in India arereturnees, mostly from the U. S., says CEO Vijay Thadani. Mostgo into mid- to senior management and make "excellent employ-ees," he says. "They're Indian, so they understand India, and theyhave lived outside the country." China's government enticessome skilled workers to return with incentives such as financialassistance and housing, says Wang Baodong, spokesman for theChinese Embassy in Washington. "China needs a lot of well-trained personnel" in fields such as finance and information tech-nology, he says. �

History mentions manystories where professional-ism was also compromisedat the hands of Americanpolicymakers, whether inthe assassination attempt

against Fidel Castro bybooby-trapping a TV cam-era that CIA agents posingas journalists from CubanTV were carrying, or whatthey did in the Iraqi war bydeceiving the general pub-

lic about what was hap-pening. And there are

many other examples that Iwon't get into here.

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 25

INTERNATIONAL

CHARITY ALLIANCE, with the active support of MG and like-minded people, is helping the victims of starvation in

Murshidabad since April 2005. More tasks are being undertaken in some of the most deserving areas and most backward

sections of our community. This charitable trust is channelising this long-felt effort. Almost every paisa is reaching the

deserving people as MG is providing office and administrative facilities free of cost as well as free advertising space, and

the trustees are barred by the trust deed from receiving any remuneration for their work and time.

Indian nationals anywhere in the world can contribute by cheque, draft, money order, postal order payable to

“Charity Alliance” and send it to:

CHARITY ALLIANCED-84 Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110 025 India Tel.: (+91-11) 2694 7483, 2695 2825

We prefer cheques to bank drafts. Cheques/Drafts should be crossed / marked account payee.

Individuals are welcome to pay cash in our office or send M.O.If you want to contribute through credit card or internet-banking visit www.charityalliance.in for secure online payment.

The full list of donors may be seen on Charilty Alliance website (www.charityalliance.in).

For annual report for the year 2006-2007, please see page 1 of the 1-15 Dec 07 issue.

Zakat, Sadaqat and bank interest accepted

CHARITY ALLIANCERegistered trust

Donations to Charity Alliance are eligible for tax liability deduction in India under Section 80G

“Invest”and save

tax!

JEFF GATES

On September 24th, U. S. President Barack Obamawill preside over a U. N. Security Council session onnuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. In March2010, Moscow will host a Global Nuclear Summit that

the U. S. has agreed to attend. The next six months could prove hopeful or harmful-depend-

ing on the impact on Israel's nuclear arsenal. With U. S. backing,Tel Aviv has thus far avoided compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty- joining North Korea, India and Pakistan.

President John F. Kennedy tried to stop Israel from starting anuclear arms race in the Middle East. In a

June 1963 letter to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, heinsisted on proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Israel was notdeveloping nuclear weapons at its Dimona reactor facility.Though his letter was cabled to the U. S. embassy, Ben-Gurionresigned (citing undisclosed personal reasons) before the mes-sage could be physically delivered.

With Israel's nuclear ambitions under attack by its key ally,that strategically well-timed resignation duped an inexperiencedyoung president and denied him a diplomatic victory that mightwell have precluded the wars now being waged in the MiddleEast. With Ben-Gurion's resignation, JFK was left without anIsraeli government with which he could negotiate. By the time anew government was formed, the Kennedy threat had been elim-inated and Tel Aviv could start haggling from scratch with succes-sor Lyndon Johnson who was far more sympathetic to the goalsof the Zionist state.

That strategy resurfaced in the recent resignation of PrimeMinister Ehud Olmert just as the Road Map gained traction andthe threat of peace loomed on the horizon. Olmert's successor,Benjamin Netanyahu, then used the terms of theRoad Map as a bargaining chip to start haggling-with an inexperienced young president-over sanc-tions against Iran.

Democrat Lyndon Johnson proved himself areliably pliant pro-Israeli president as did his suc-cessor, Republican Richard Nixon. Described byPrime Minister Golda Meir as "the best friendIsrael ever had," Nixon agreed in 1969 to endorse"constructive ambiguity" as a means for Tel Avivto obscure its nuclear arsenal. MeanwhileColonial Zionists brandished the threat of thatarsenal to seize land they sought for

Greater Israel: Israeli incursions provoked thereactions one would expect, enabling Tel Aviv toportray itself as a hapless victim in need of U. S.support in a hostile and anti-Semitic neighbor-hood. Four years after Kennedy wrote to Ben-Gurion, Israel mounted a massive six-day assault on neighboringnations, occupying lands that remain at the heart of the hostilitiesagainst which Tel Aviv insists it needs nuclear weapons to defenditself.

With the war in Iraq poised to expand to Iran, the next sixmonths offer a rare opportunity to revisit not only Israel's nucleararsenal but also-in light of the consistency of its behavior over sixdecades- the legitimacy of the Zionist enterprise.

Managing the Threat to Zionism: JFK, RFK and Fulbright In1962, Senator William Fulbright of Arkansas, chairman of theForeign Relations Committee, convened hearings to ensure that

the American Zionist Council-funded by the Jewish Agency-regis-ter as the agent of a foreign government. JFK was then presidentand brother Robert his attorney general. Edward ("Ted") Kennedywas elected to the Senate that year to fill his brother Jack's seat.In October 1963, the Department of Justice-led by RobertKennedy-demanded that the Council register as a foreign agent.

Following the Kennedy assassination in November 1963,Nicholas Katzenbach succeeded RFK as Attorney General forLyndon Johnson. To avoid registration, the Zionist Council mor-phed into the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).That umbrella organization-still disguised as a domestic lobby-continues to coordinate the efforts of dozens of organizations thatsustain a U. S. policy environment favorable to a foreign nation.

The Kennedy brothers shared a little-known insight into theconfidence with which Israel wields political influence acrossparty lines. In the closing weeks of his 1960 presidential cam-paign, candidate Kennedy traveled to New York to seek financialsupport from Jewish business leaders. On his return toWashington, he called his old friend Charlie Bartlett who hadintroduced Jack to Jackie.

According to Bartlett, Kennedy was livid after those he met inManhattan assured him that the funds he sought were availablebut only if he turned over to them the formulation of U. S. policyin the Middle East. With brother "Bobby" his chief campaignstrategist, that experience doubtless came to mind when, in1963, JFK confirmed that Israel-while portraying itself a U. S. ally-repeatedly lied to him about its development of nuclear weapons.

Israel vs. the Kennedys: At the height an unpopular war inVietnam, Robert Kennedy emerged to challenge the policies ofthe Texan who replaced his brother as president in 1963. No one

knows for sure that, as president, RFK wouldhave followed JFK's stance on the Zioniststate's nuclear arsenal. Nor do we know forcertain that he would have renewed his insis-tence that the Israel lobby register as theagent of a foreign government.

When a second Kennedy threat was elim-inated with an assassination in June 1968, TelAviv welcomed to the White House RichardNixon who supported Israel's strategicallyessential "ambiguous" policy on nuclear arms.Nixon Attorney General John Mitchell was apartner in the same New York law firm(Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander) thatNixon joined in 1963 after his failed bids aspresident, losing to JFK in 1960, and as gov-ernor of California two years later. In honor ofNixon's arrival, the dominantly Jewish firm wasrenamed Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie &

Alexander.In 1973, five years after RFK's death, Senator Fulbright could

announce with confidence that "Israel controls the U. S. Senate."By 1974, he was replaced in the Senate. Journalist HelenThomas was then covering Nixon, one of ten presidents in herlengthy career as White House correspondent. In Obama's firstpress conference, she sought to clarify the ambiguity about justwho posed a nuclear threat in the region. Her question for this lat-est Commander in Chief: which nation in the Middle East hasnuclear weapons?

In response, Chicagoan Barack Obama did the "Tel Aviv Two-Step." Rather than answer the question, he spoke about the need

for nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. Not since then hasThomas been allowed to ask another question. Instead she wassubjected to a withering barrage of personal attacks by pro-Zionist broadcasters who sought to make it appear that she-notthe answer to her question-is the problem.

At every opportunity, Tel Aviv insists that Tehran's nuclearenergy program poses an "existential threat." That claim is cor-rect though not for the reason that the Israel lobby would haveAmericans believe. If Israel cannot persuade the U. S. to join (orcondone) an attack on Iran, some faint semblance of stability mayyet be attained in the Middle East. With stability will come anopportunity to confirm the common source of the fixed intelli-gence that induced the U. S. to invade Iraq in response to themass murder of 911.

Only one nation had the means, motive, opportunity and,importantly, the stable nation state intelligence to mount such adeception inside the U. S. As that fact becomes apparent, aninformed American public will insist that its leadership revisit thelegitimacy of the Zionist enterprise along with the costs that this"special relationship" has imposed on the U. S. in blood, treasureand hard-earned credibility.

Israel is the Real Threat to Israel: The existential threat to Israelis real but its source is not Iran. The real threat is the facts thatTel Aviv may again obscure if it succeeds in provoking yet anoth-er crisis in the region. Those facts confirm the illegitimacy of theZionist enterprise as a nation state.

The threat to Barack Obama could become existential shouldhe act consistent with his oath of office. As yet he has shown noinclination to address the perils that this entangled alliance withJewish extremists imposes on U. S. national security and on theprospects for peace.

As the source of the duplicity that induced the U. S. to warbecomes known, Americans will insist on accountability. Zionistfanatics may choose another course. A modern-day Masada is anuclear possibility. With their vast arsenal (estimates range from 200to 400 warheads), these religious extremists could preempt account-ability by creating chaos worldwide while affixing blame on "Islamo"fascists in an attempt to keep their victim status plausibly intact.

To eliminate the existential threat posed by nuclear-armedreligious extremists requires that the U. S.- as Israel's key ally-isolate the Zionist enterprise, withdraw its recognition as a legiti-mate state and reclassify its advocates as foreign agents. Thatlong overdue change in the legal status of the Israel lobby-firstsought in 1962-will enable U. S. law enforcement to pursue itsoperatives for giving aid and comfort to an enemy within.

The focal point for peace in the Middle East should not bethose nations that do not have nuclear weapons but the onenation that does. Absent external pressure, Israeli behavior willnot change. Those who seek peace in the region must boycottIsraeli exports, divest from Israeli firms and insist on sanctionsagainst Israel akin to those it seeks against others. Anything lesswill ensure that Zionist extremists continue to endanger us all.

See also:"How Israel Controls the US"http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=124829&d=24&m=7&y=2009"Appeasing Israel - At What Cost?" http://intifada-palestine.com/2009/08/25/appeasing-israel-at-what-cost/"McCain Family Secret: The Cover-up"http://criminalstate.com/press/Chapter4.pdf "Facts vs. Beliefs:Today's Ancient Warfare"

How Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal Endangers Us All

With the war in Iraqpoised to expand to

Iran, the next sixmonths offer a rare

opportunity torevisit not onlyIsrael's nuclear

arsenal but also-inlight of the consis-tency of its behav-

ior over sixdecades- the legiti-macy of the Zionist

enterprise.

INTERNATIONAL26 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

Pakistan: A Country for Sale?KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI

Pakistan is a unique country in more sens-es than one. One of these extraordinaryrealities that set it apart from almost allthose countries that gained their independ-ence from the British Raj after WWII is thatit has been ruled for the better part of its 62sovereign years by Bonapartes: militarydictators who dressed themselves up as‘liberators’ of its people from tyranny andoppression.

In reality, however, these masquerading liberators opened upthe country, and its resources, to their foreign masters and men-tors, while shackling the people of Pakistan into bondage of akind that wasn’t easily visible to the lay-man. Pakistan went through myriad vari-eties and experiences of servitude at thehands of its military adventurers and sol-diers-of-fortune who didn’t mind pawningthe country to interested parties in returnfor guarantees of their continuation at thehelm.

For instance, the first military dictator,General Ayub Khan, allowed theAmericans to set up a spy base and airforce facility, against the then rival super-power, the Soviet Union, at Bada Beir, out-side Peshawar. U.S., then locked in theCold War against the Soviets had beenseeking that facility for years but had beenthwarted by the civilian rulers that preced-ed Ayub. The military adventurer hadseized power from the civilians on the pleathat they had failed to deliver to the expec-tations of the nation. However, he didn’tlose a moment before living up to theexpectations of his overseas patrons andawarded them the prize they were so desperate to have.

In the summer of 1960 the Soviets brought down anAmerican U-2 spy aircraft in their territory and put its capturedpilot, Gary Power, on public display to the whole world. Power’sspy craft had taken off from the Peshawar base. That putPakistan promptly in the eye of an international storm; the coun-try was caught in the middle of a serious row between the twocontending super powers. Within days of the much publicizedincident, Nikita Khruschev, then the strongman of SU, collaredthe Pakistani Ambassador at a largely attended reception at theKremlin and told him, in so many words and a threatening tonethat he had drawn a red circle around Peshawar and warned thecowering ambassador that if another spy aircraft was broughtdown over the Soviet territory, Peshawar would cease to exist onthe world map. Ayub Khan’s much-trumpeted ‘security’ for hiscountry-which his minions boasted his alliance with U.S. hadensured-lay in tatters at the feet of Khruschev.

Ayub’s anointed successor, another Bonaparte, GeneralYahya Khan, presided over the dismemberment of Pakistan whenits eastern wing was forced to cede from the union. But equallytragic was the fact that while East Pakistan was clearly driftingapart from Pakistan, Yahya and his cohorts continually tried todupe the Pakistani people that China and U.S. wouldn’t allowPakistan to be dismembered. Unsuspecting Pakistanis were stillbeing fed the fantasy that the American 7th fleet was speeding onits way to East Pakistan to rescue it even when Yahya’s chosenmilitary commander in Dhaka was signing the instrument of sur-render to the victorious Indian forces.

General Ziaul Haq, the third adventurer in the ignoble seriesof military dictators of Pakistan, had not only political ambitionslike his two predecessors but also messianic pretensions. He wasclose to the Wahabi school of thought in contemporary Islam andsought to change Pakistan in his image of obscurantism.

Zia’s God-send chance to cast Pakistan according to his tem-plate came with the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Heseized that opportunity to get into the good books of the Pakistanarmy’s traditional mentor, U.S. But Zia availed himself of thatchance-of-a-lifetime to steer Pakistan toward his goal of an ortho-dox Islamic society steeped in his archaic ‘vision’ of Islam.

Pakistan was well and truly launched into the orbit of a cler-gy-dominated, obscurantist, Islamic polity on Zia’s watch. But amore damaging thing done by Zia was to open Pakistan to thebarrage of Afghan refugees, who flooded into the country by themillions. With them came a culture of drugs and terrorism, whichflowed like a river in full fury as millions of Afghan refugees madetheir way into every part of Pakistan, from the Khyber Pass toKarachi.

Pakistan is still reaping the deadly harvest of the seeds, ofreligious fanaticism and use of terror to make political statements,sown in its fertile soil under the impact of Afghanistan’s culturalinvasion. It has become a violent society where tolerance of anykind is conspicuous by its absence, more so in its political culturenurtured in the shadow of the Afghan Jihad sponsored andpatronized by U.S. to settle its own score with the Russians.

The fourth, and to date last, military dictator, General PervezMusharraf, added more shameless fringes to Pakistan’s humiliat-ing status of a client state, to American interests and agendas, by

avidly and enthusiastically signing on to George W. Bush’s whim-sical ‘war against terror.’

Musharraf’s basic motive in becoming a frontline soldier inAmerica’s much-touted global war against terror was the same asZiaul Haq. Both wanted American umbrella over their head tostrengthen their autocratic rule. But while Zia’s obsession with anobscurantist Islam veered Pakistan toward orthodoxy, Musharrafsought to hawk himself, and Pakistan under him, as an ‘enlight-ened’ and ‘moderate’ state qualified to receive Washington’s sealof approval. But Washington’s cachet of ‘moderation’ wasbestowed only on Musharraf himself, while Pakistan was brand-ed as the most notorious and dangerous country in the world,despite its avowed position of a principal ally in the war againstterror.

Musharraf couldn’t care less how his people were treated by

Washington. He had George W. Bush’s patronage and unstintedsupport and was guaranteed to stay in power under Americantutelage. Musharraf returned the favour by turning Pakistan into arentier state par excellence. Pentagon was given a free hand byMusharraf to extend its jurisdiction over Pakistani military basesinside Pakistan. Such was the American control over Pakistanthat Pakistanis were forbidden from entering those bases givenover to Pentagon to wage war against Afghanistan, with no ques-tions asked.

Not only that Musharraf behaved like a landlord owning everyinch of Pakistan, and doing with it whatever pleased him and hismasters, he also pawned every Pakistani under his jurisdiction toAmerican interests. Hundreds of them were literally sold toWashington as terrorists, or their sympathizers, a fact proudlyowned by Musharraf in his own ‘autobiography,’ which was actu-ally ghost-written for him.

On top of it, hundreds of Pakistanis-men and women-’disap-peared’ in Musharraf’s frenzy to serve his masters and carry outtheir wishes without demur. A majority of these missing personsremains untraced, despite valiant efforts by Pakistan’s re-invigor-ated higher judiciary to force the government to reveal theirwhereabouts.

One of these ‘disappeared’ Pakistanis is Dr. Afia Siddiqi, a

scientist trained at M.I.T., one of the most prestigious Americanuniversities, at Boston. Dr. Afia resurfaced in New York, last year,after years of her disappearance. Apparently, she was kidnappedby Musharraf’s touts working in Pakistan’s notorious intelligenceagencies and handed over to the Americans who kept herdetained in Afghanistan and tortured her. She has since beenaccused of attempting to murder American intelligence operativesand is being tried in a court in New York. Her case has become acause celebre for those in Pakistan and abroad calling forMusharraf to be tried for his gross violations of human rights inPakistan as well as for trashing the Pakistani constitution, notonce but a number of times.

However, these legitimate demands of well-meaningPakistanis to bring a military adventurer to book-now that, at longlast, at least the highest judiciary in the country has become inde-

pendent of the political masters-are beingthwarted by those who have succeededMusharraf at the pinnacle of power inPakistan.

These so-called ‘democrats’ of Pakistanare reluctant to put Musharraf in the dock fora variety of reasons: one, they owe their priv-ileged status to Musharraf’s largesse; and,two, they are pursing the very same policiesof serving foreign masters and mentors with azest that could easily pale Musharraf..

The Zardari regime in Pakistan is servingAmerican imperialist interests in the region,especially in Afghanistan, with far more ener-gy and devotion than Musharraf, with noquestion asked. It’s obviously so beholden toWashington that it doesn’t, now, mumble evena word of protest over routine violations andbombing of its tribal region by unmannedDrones. Hundreds of people-men, womenand children have been killed, to date, inthese missile attacks, which Washington jus-tifies, and continues to carry on, in the name

of going after terrorists and their alleged hideouts.The incumbent civilian setup in Pakistan tightly regimented

under Zardari, is refusing to try Musharraf also for the reason thathis ouster from the office of president of Pakistan, in August2008, was the result of a deal sponsored and guaranteed byPakistan’s ‘friends’ and stake-holders from abroad. The powersbeing hinted at are U.S. and Saudi Arabia which, according toZardari’s own version, promised Musharraf a ‘safe passage’ outof Pakistan in return for his abdication of power.

Whatever the veracity or validity of a ‘deal’ dictated byPakistan’s well-wishers, or king-makers, to allow Musharraf to goscot-free in spite of breaking Pakistan’s laws at will, the new real-ity in Pakistan is also one where the Zardari regime is itself enter-ing deals a plenty to put Pakistan virtually on sale to the world.The military adventurers, from Ayub to Musharraf, may havebeen guilty of pawning Pakistan’s security and strategic intereststo overseas stake-holders for personal power and pelf. However,the current, civilian, dispensation seems to be selling Pakistan’seconomic and societal interests to the highest bidders.

The incumbent rulers in Pakistan have already ‘leased’ themanagement of the strategically sensitive Gawadar Port, on theArabia Sea coast within hailing distance of Iran, to Singaporeentrepreneurs for 42 years. The port in Gawadar was built by theChinese in a gesture of friendship with Pakistan. However thepresent dispensation in Islamabad is so shameless that it didn’tmind, at all, turning its back on its benefactors, because the dealoffered by the Singaporeans was too lucrative, to the powerbarons in Pakistan, to refuse.

But the latest scandal taking Pakistan by storm may pale allprevious deals by a hefty margin. The present rulers, whose cor-ruption preceded them in power, are ready to ‘lease,’ virtually inperpetuity, hundreds of thousands of acres of land, in Punjab andBaluchistan provinces to entrepreneurs and governments ofSaudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait et al. to grow their food on it andexploit it entirely according to their whims and fancies.

The practice of ‘leasing’ Pakistani lands to rich and powerfulpotentates from the Arab part of the Gulf countries started withZulfiqar Ali Bhutto; he gave away huge tracts of land to his afflu-ent Arab friends, from U.A.E., and a number of other places, toserve their hunting pleasure for birds and other game. These richArabs have built air strips for their aircraft and palatial palaces fortheir comfort in their ‘exclusive land zones’ which are out-of-bounds to the Pakistanis. But now those claiming to be succes-sors to Bhutto are ready to go a step further and sell the Pakistanisoil to their Arab friends, not for pleasure of hunting but for seri-ous economic exploitation.

It’s the bane of the Pakistanis that they have had to put upwith military adventurers and pawn brokers in the past who bar-gained with national interests to dig their heels into power. Buttheir misery now seems worse-compounded at the hands ofthose feigning as denizens of democracy but behaving as worsetouts and brokers of foreign interests and ready to sell Pakistan’snational assets to the highest bidders. The Pakistanis, caught in a deadly squeeze between imperialis-tic forces and their own corrupt rulers, are entitled to beseechheavens to let them know to what sins they owe their dealers-and-wheelers foisted on them as ‘leaders’ and ‘saviours.’ �

Musharraf’s basic motive in becom-ing a frontline soldier in America's

much-touted global war against ter-ror was the same as Ziaul Haq.Both wanted American umbrella

over their head to strengthen theirautocratic rule. But while Zia'sobsession with an obscurantistIslam veered Pakistan toward

orthodoxy, Musharraf sought tohawk himself, and Pakistan underhim, as an ‘enlightened’ and ‘mod-

erate’ state qualified to receiveWashington’s seal of approval. ButWashington’s cachet of ‘modera-

tion’ was bestowed only onMusharraf himself, while Pakistan

was branded as the most notoriousand dangerous country in the

world, despite its avowed positionof a principal ally in the war

against terror.

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 27

INTERNATIONAL

RAMZY BAROUD

The anniversary of the infamoustragedy of 9/11, 2001, and the subse-quent ramifications indeed induce,throughout the world, a plethora of

feelings of sorrow.The 9/11 event should have never taken

place. Regardless of the situation, targetingcivilians is unconditionally reviled. No matterwhere we stand on war, and how do we wishto rationalize and define extremism, and eventerror, we must pause to remember those whodied on that day, and the many, many morewho died in the months and years that fol-lowed.

Sadly, we must even pause today forthose who will die tomorrow, to avenge the vic-tims of the twin towers. 9/11 was a tragedythat should have been studied within theparameters of US foreign policies vis-à-visMuslim countries, in the Middle East region inparticular. If we wish not to venture that far,then an honest look at the period that followedthe first Gulf War of 1990-91, and the tragicsanctions that took the lives of hundreds ofthousands of Iraqis, is certainly warranted.

Anger, when becomes protracted and mul-tifaceted, is at risk of inspiring extremism andrationalizing terror. But there are other facetsto be examined when political violence is to bescrutinized. 9/11 cannot be divorced from sur-rounding events, preceding tragedies or sub-sequent ones. By not doing so, one under-mines the seriousness of the tragedy.

And while one simply cannot pardon blindhate or terror, how can one honestly arguethat the millions who perished in Iraq, prior orfollowing 9/11 ought not to be remembered onthat day as well.

Does their fate have any correlation to thetragedy? And what about the many thousandswho died in Afghanistan, including the latest90 people who were burned alive when theNATO forces bombed two fuel tankers in thenorthern part of the country a few days ago?Do they not deserve commemoration as well?Are not their destinies somehow intimatelyintertwined? This cannot be denied.

Yet, such a view is overshadowed byanother, which in some way reflects man’smost basic primal instincts and the lust forsheer revenge. Examining the Bush legacy —which, if anything, gave life and credence tothe idea that violence is a justified politicalmeans to achieve set goals and even econom-ic interests — one comes face to face withthe ultimate antitheses of such a notion.

But with the help and expertise of mediaczars, especially the likes of Fox News, suchprimeval ways of thinking were embraced withease. “Shock and Awe” was much moresophisticated than 9/11; it was accompaniedby a voice over, and eloquent commentatorswho kindly explained exactly what we saw onthe screen, but the idea was still the same.Innocents died so horribly that political scoreswould be settled and gains could be exacted.But Barack Obama is not George W. Bush, weare told. The new president has promised tofix what his predecessor had destroyed, and

Muslims — and in fact the world — are stillwaiting to see.

When the US president spoke in Cairo, onJune 4, he said: “So let there be no doubt:Islam is a part of America. And I believe thatAmerica holds within her the truth that regard-less of race, religion, or station in life, all of usshare common aspirations — to live in peaceand security; to get an education and to workwith dignity; to love our families, our communi-ties, and our God. These things we share. Thisis the hope ?of all humanity.”

Obama spoke and Muslims listened. Theyclapped and cheered when he greeted theCairo crowd with “Assalamu alaikum”. Assadly as it were, they were desperate for vali-dation, for hope, that perhaps in the recogni-tion of these common aspirations of which hespoke of, that perhaps there would be somesoftening of the US iron fist that is slowlystrangling Muslims in so many parts of ourstricken world.

And although Obama went to greatlengths to express a common humanity, hisforces continue to ravage Muslims withoutpause: news from Afghanistan is ever grim.Iraq’s calamities are also compared. His state-ments on Palestine are lukewarm and faithful-ly precluded with a solemn pledge ofAmerica’s undying allegiance to the JewishState.

Keeping these things in mind, it is at timesdifficult to have full trust in the sincerity of thepresident’s proclamations. Muslims, like therest of humanity, remember 9/11 with asomber pause. They remember the day’s vic-

tims, all of them and they won-der if the death count willcease any time soon.

The tragedy of 9/11 andthe previous and subsequent tragedies are tooserious, too terrible to give up hope so quicklythat common sense will prevail, that horriblescenes would be replaced by positive ones,that dialogue would replace hostility, and thatObama will meet even if the minimum expec-tations of his fans in the Muslim world.

9/11 should not be a political episode tounderscore the reason of why the fight in var-ious Muslim countries should continue; norshould it be an opportunity to rejoice at thedeath of ?the “infidels”.

We should collectively abhor the rationali-zation of violence on the basis of vengeance,and consider what it might take to relievethose afflicted with a sense of hostility: Couldit perhaps be that our common aspirations forpeace and freedom are somehow out ofreach? Could it be possible that we just mightbe culpable for the denial of those simple aspi-rations of peace and freedom?

We must embrace again the anguish ofwhat happened on 9/11, ever aware that thebody count grows even today. And althoughthe wreckage of that horrible day was clearedaway years ago, the lessons of that day arestill buried beneath our anger, frustration, andprejudice.

To unearth these lessons, we must widenour horizons, from New York to Baghdad, fromKabul to Gaza, cities, which are in some wayworlds apart, but in other ways much closerthan we may innocently suspect.

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author &

editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been pub-

lished in many newspapers & journals.

Perpetual Grief over September 11th

Dear President Obama: Your administration should be praised for atleast reframing the rhetoric and ideological vision of America's intentionsin the Middle East, away from the archaic and reactionary "us versusthem" posturing to a more inclusive, conciliatory partnership fostered bymutual interests. After many years of deterioration of US-Muslim rela-tions due to mistrust, misunderstandings and a lack of information andknowledge on both sides, I should say that, your Cairo speech set a newcourse. I would like to restrict my comments in four areas:

1. An analysis of your Cairo speech on 4th of June, 20092. An analysis of a small remark made by you3. Why Muslim World still hates the U. S?4. A Call to Return to the Message of Jesus Christ1. An Analysis of Your Cairo Speech on 4th of June, 2009You have, indeed, extended a hand of friendship to the Muslim world

in your Cairo speech. You criticized the Palestinians far more than theIsraelis in your speech despite the heavy power imbalance between thetwo and Palestinians being victims of brutal suppression. While talking ofviolence by Palestinians, I wish you would have also commented onmuch worse violence inflicted on the Palestinians by Israelis, as is obvi-ous by the death toll in many of the Israeli military operations. The toll ofviolence in Gaza in 2009 January was approximately 1300 Palestiniankilled, mostly civilians, to about 6 Israeli soldiers. How can one disregardit?

Democracy was one among your speech's major themes. Whileyour speech opened hearts and minds in the Muslim world, people in theMiddle East would expect concrete, policy-based follow up to yourwords. You don't mention whether the track record of the United Statesto align with oligarchies rather than governments promoting democracyas per the ordinary people's aspirations, would be corrected.

I am quoting a passage from the remarks made by you to theNAACP centennial convention Hilton New York on July 17, 2009 where-in you said, "Make no mistake: The pain of discrimination is still felt inAmerica. By African American women paid less for doing the same workas colleagues of a different color and a different gender. By Latinosmade to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americansviewed with suspicion simply because they kneel down to pray to theirGod." This sentence is remarkable with an obvious misunderstandingand belief that Islam believes in a separate God other than that ofJudaism and Christianity. The Qur’an says, 'Say: "We believe in God,and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham,Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in [the Books] given toMoses, Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinc-tion between one and another among them, and to God do we bow ourwill"' (2:136). Thus we say that Jesus was a Muslim, that is one who sub-mitted to Jehovah, to God Almighty or as the present day Muslims knowHim, as Allah. God chose Arabic language, not for its inherent value asa language, but simply for its expediency that is because the messagewas addressed primarily to the Arabic-speaking people.

The message is very clear: Islam believes in a universal conceptionof God; the belief in the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus Christ. Iwould urge you, President Obama, to correct your mistake.

The blind support for Israeli colonization, for several decades, is thegross mistake of US Middle East policy. It is a clear fact that Israel hasoccupied Palestine, expelled most of its population, has changed thedemography of Jerusalem and refuses to honour a solemn treaty (Oslo)that allows Palestinians to regain sovereignty in only 23 percent of theiroriginal homeland. The Muslim animosity to the US is closely linked tothe American blind support to the Zionists.

For all the talk in Washington about peace in the Middle East, it isvery clear that US policymakers are not much concerned about peace.History attests that US leaders don't mind peace so long as it is within asystem that doesn't threaten US control of oil. For the sake of 5 millionIsraelites, should America antagonize 1.5 billion Muslims? In Palestine,if the U. S were serious about promoting peace, it would have long agojoined the international consensus for a political settlement built on aviable State for the Palestinians and security for Israel. Instead, it haslong blocked such a consensus. The simple fact is that there are well-organized and well-funded groups in the U. S lobbying very effectivelyfor Israel and even people like you, dear Obama, is incapable of break-ing their power. The inevitable conclusion to draw from this is that U. Scannot be a positive force in the Middle East without a fundamental shiftin goals: The U. S must replace its quest for control with a commitmentto peace and justice, under international law. For this, you should becourageous to crush the war-mongering forces of your country with thefirm support of the justice loving people.

The following are some broad features of the US policy vis-à-vis theMuslim World: U. N resolutions against Israel are ignored if not vetoedby your country in the first place while similar UN resolutions are used towage war against Iraq and subject it to genocidal blockade; US role inthe genocidal blockade of Iraq and sanctions against Iran, Sudan andLibya; Constant media onslaught against Islam and Muslims, making anescalated Islamophobia around the world with the official patronage of U.S. administration, without trying to understand their points of view or try-ing to alleviate their hurt feelings; Double standard in supporting a mili-tary regime in Algeria when 'democracy' led to the election of an Islamicparty; supporting dictatorships against popular and freely-elected gov-ernment and a Call to Return to the Message of Jesus Christ.

Dear Obama, You have to become a paragon of peace, harmonyand friendliness, if your claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ is true.Jesus set very high standards for his followers on love and forgiveness;including non-retaliation against evil and love of enemies (Matthew 5:38-39). He stood against the powers of oppression and evil. Jesus showsus what it means to 'live' with the power of love, truth and justice, peaceand suffering. Following Jesus also means practicing forgiveness as anessential step to restoring and repairing relationships that have beenshattered through violence and oppression.

A truly religious person will negate all that is unjust and will carry on'jihad' against unjust social structures. He should encourage all believersand people of good-will to engage in a dynamic dialogue of action andinteraction, awareness building, breaking stereotypes, ending overgen-eralization and the dehumanization of others who are different from us,regardless of faith, religion, or political beliefs. We must stand unitedagainst those who believe in clashes of civilizations and religions.

Dear President, unlike your predecessor's approach (which wasarrogant), yours is mild. You seem to be willing to listen to others. I seesome fine qualities in you, President Obama. In line to the expectation ofthe justice-loving people of the world, there should a major change inyour foreign policy. The gross injustices committed against the people ofPalestine should be corrected by your administration. A fresh-faced USpresident speaking the language of human rights may be refreshingindeed after eight years of neo-Fascist discourse, but the wind of changewon't be blowing until we see the tanks and warplanes of Americaretreating back to the shores of your country.

V. A. Mohamad Ashrof Joint Secretary, Forum for Faith and Fraternity, Kochi, Kerala.

vamashrof@gmail.com

AAnn OOppeenn LLeetttteerr ttoo PPrreessiiddeenntt OObbaammaa Our struggle is againstthose who invaded our

homelandKhaled Mishaal, the supreme leader of the HamasMovement, has said that Palestinians do not resistthe Zionists because they are Jews but because they"invaded our land and dispossessed us". Mishaalwas speaking in an interview with the NewStatesman magazine conducted by Ken Livingstonthe former mayor of London. The Hamas leader said,"We do not accept that because the Jews were oncepersecuted in Europe they have the right to take ourland and throw us out. The injustices suffered by theJews in Europe were horrible and criminal, but werenot perpetrated by the Palestinians or the Arabs orthe Muslims. So, why should we be punished for thesins of others or be made to pay for their crimes?"Asked about the ideology and goals of Hamas,Mishaal said, "Our people have been the victims of acolonial project called Zionist entity. For years, wehave suffered various forms of repression. Half of ourpeople have been dispossessed and are denied theright to return to their homes, and half live under anoccupation regime that violates their basic humanrights. Hamas struggles for an end to occupation andfor the restoration of our people's rights, includingtheir right to return home." (qassam.ps)

US staged 9/11 attacks: Charlie SheenLondon: Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen has request-ed US President Barack Obama to hold a new inves-tigation into the 9/11 attacks as he believes them tobe staged by the Bush government. The Wall Streetstar made the outrageous claims through a short film20 Minutes With The President which was madepublic ahead of the eighth anniversary of the attacksthat killed 3,000 people, reported Telegraph online.

The actor followed it up with a video, addressedto Obama, which he posted on You tube. Sheen, 44,the highestpaid actor on US TV, argues that "the offi-cial 9/11 story is a fraud" and says the commissionset up to investigate was a whitewash. He claims theattacks served "as the pretext for the systematic dis-mantling of our Constitution."

The actor says the administration of the formerpresident, Mr George Bush, was behind the attacks,which they were then able to use to justify an inva-sion of Iraq, even hinting that Osama Bin Laden wasworking with the CIA up until 9/11.

He urged other Americans who were sceptical ofthe probe, to demand the truth. "We cannot allowgovernments to continue to advance their politicalagendas by exploiting forged pretexts and the factthat big budget-hit pieces against 9/11 truth are stillbeing rolled out proves that the establishment isupset that the population is waking up to the falseterror," he said. (http://www.dc-epaper.com)

9

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Book: Pseudo-Messianic Movements InContemporary South Asia. Author: Yoginder SikandPublisher: Global Media Publications,New DelhiPrice: Rs 399Pages: 137 pagesYear of Publication: 2008

MUSHTAQ UL HAQ AHMAD SIKANDAR

islamicmushtaq@yahoo. co. in

The emergence of a supernatural being who wouldrestore the supermacy, hegemony and influence worldover of a certain community or chosen ones during theEnd Times is a hope of a majority of religions. This

messianic character whether the Awaited Imam Mahdi forMuslims, Kalki Avtar for Hindus, Messiah for Christians or Anti-Christ for Jews is a common similiarity among all these faiths.From time to time scores of people have declared and present-ed themselves as the Awaited Ones. The case with Islam hasbeen the same and a majority of these claims were made dur-ing the colonial period when Muslim nations were reeling underthe hegemony and power of non-Muslim ruling elites. Thoughthese claims had to face a stiff resistence and were sparselysuccessful in accomplishment of their respective goals but stillthey were able to drive a good chunk of Muslims to their ranksresulting in the formation of new sects, thus making the divid-ing wedge draw deep.

The present book under review is a study of three of thesepseudo-messanic movements which emerged in the twentiethcentury in Muslim South Asia. The book is divided in three chap-ters each focusing on these respective movements.

The first chapter deals with the Deendar Anjuman whosefounder Siddiq Husain claimed to be the Kalki Avatar awaited byHindus so as to win them over to Islam but in doing so the move-ment lost its track, hence unable to forment a revolutionarychange. It was also difficult for the Hindus to believe SiddiqHusain as the promised one because according to the Anjumansources itself, "In early 1926, 33 Indian gurus had put forward theclaim of being the Jagat Guru or 'Teacher Of the Whole World” (p.27). So it was a Hobson's choice for the common folks.

The second chapter deals with the Atba-i Malak BohraJamaat which is a sect among Shia Muslims of India. As little hasbeen written about the beliefs of this sect of Shia, this chapter isa pioneering effort in this field. It deals with the origin of this sect,its division in Badri and Vakili sub-sects and its emphasis on eso-teric phase of Islam nullifying the exoteric one.

The third chapter deals with the messanic movement ofRiyaz Ahmad Goharshahi, i. e The Mehdi FoundationInternational (MFI). Though Goharshahi Movement later split intotwo factions, Pakistan-based Anjuman-e Sarfaroshan-e Islam(ASI) and London-based MFI but the latter is more outspokenthough ASI claims that MFI head Yonous al-Gohar concocted andinterpolated the teachings of its founder. This chapter deals withthe emergence, evolution, split and present stance of this move-ment, which as MFI claims is the saviour of the whole humanityas the image of this cult's founder appeared in large number ofplaces, including the moon, the sun and numerous stars as wellas churches, mosques, imam-bargahs and temples in addition to

the Hajr-i-Aswad, according to their claims. The last topic dis-cusses MFI's stance and America's War On Terror which theauthor has vividly depicted as pro-Imperialistic and anti-Muslimwhich MFI's statements try to camouflage by claiming that thisWar On Terror is a Divine punishment for Muslims because oftheir outright rejection of Riyaz Goharshahi as the Messiah whomeven Prophet Muhammad (SAW), according to MFI claims, pre-dicted and revered with high respect.

What were the causes which led these people claimMessanic interpretations leading to the creation of different cults?Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi answers these quries surprising-ly: "When I read the histories of Batinite movement, of Ikhwan alSafa, of Bahaism in Iran and Qadianism in India, it seems to methat when the founders of these movements read the history ofIslam and the life of the Prophet it struck them that a man, all byhimself stood up with a mission in Arabia without any money toback him or any army to support him, he summoned peopletowards a creed, towards a religion and not after very long therecame into existence a new ummah, a new state, and a new cul-ture. They also noticed that single-handedly, the Prophetchanged the direction of human history and forced events to flowinto a different channel. The ambitious natures of these men thenwhispered to themselves: "Why not try?" These people knew thatthey had intelligence, remarkable mental capabilities and organ-ising ability. They thought, therefore, that history might repeatitself in their case too, following the natural pattern of cause andeffect. These people had expected the same kind of miraculoussuccess to crown their efforts as had crowned the efforts of theunlettered Prophet of Arabia in the sixth century for, they thought,

human nature remained always the same and if it had respondedto Muhammad in the past, there was no reason why it should notrespond to them now. ”

These persons did have a glimpse of the greatness ofMuhammad (pbuh) who carried his movement to a successfulend, but could not see the Divine support which was his realstrength, nor the Divine will of which he was an instrument. Theresult was that for a very short period of time, the efforts of theseambitious people did bear some fruit. There gathered behindthem a following, sometimes of several hundred thousand peo-ple. Some of them (e.g., Batinites) even succeeded in establish-ing a state of their own (the Fatimide State) which for sometimecovered a fairly wide area from Sudan to Morocco. But all thisremained only as long as they were able to maintain their organ-isational efficiency, their wizardry and their secret administrativenetwork. But when these things were gone, all their power andglory also became a poignant memory of the past. With the lossof worldly power, the religious movement shrank and obscuredand lost significance for human life. Against this, is the true Islampreached by the Last Messenger of Allah (pbuh). It constitutestoday, as it constituted yesterday, a great spritual force in theworld, the guiding star and inspiration of a great ummah. It stillpossesses a distinctive culture which sprang from the spirit of itsteachings. It is still the religion of a number of states and peoples.The Sun of Muhammad's Prophethood is still shining brilliantly inthe sky. Never in history has it suffered an eclipse and it neverwill" (Qadianism: A Critical Study).

The author deserves our appreciation as he had delved on aunique topic which a majority of our researchers and scholars stillcontinue to ignore. �

PPsseeuuddoo--MMeessssiiaanniicc MMoovveemmeennttss IInn CCoonntteemmppoorraarryy SSoouutthh AAssiiaa

Book: Sir Syed's vision of India and itspeopleAuthor: Professor Shan MuhammadPublisher: Zenith Books International,DelhiPrice: Rs 550Pages: 186

Some are born great, some achieve greatness in life. Sir Syedwith his conscientious effort and support from his loyal friendsachieved greatness which was beyond imagination of the com-mon man. A multi faceted personality and a farsighted man. It isgenerally said that beauty lies in eyes of the beholder.The geo-graphical description of India, its cities and landscapes was out-lined by him in its true colour, with the sense of belonging. Whathe found that the cities and its culture were second to none ascompared to the developed world.The author professor ShanMuhammad is Director of Sir Syed Academy in AMU, who is anerudite scholar and at the same time an authority on Sir Syedhas made an attempt to highlight the inner feelings and care ofSir Syed towards India and its people. Sir Syed was a man of dis-tinct identities. During his lifespan he had written and spoken andhad also worked on various issues and topics like education,social reform, Hindu Muslim unity, agriculture, economy, landreforms, village and panchayat and on number of issues that wasimportant at that time for the growth of wholesome personality ofindividual, growth and development of various class groups andreligion and overall an amicable ambience for society. Sir Syedwill be credited in eyes of generations to come for his role in

opening the mental horizon of the Muslims and the road aheadfor higher education or western education for Muslims in particu-lar and the rest in general.The timming of the book becomeseven more important as the Alumni across the globe will be cele-berating the greatness of Sir Syed on 17th October. May be thiscould have been the last word from Sir Syed before going into adeep sleep ie "Even if I am dead, O the responsible of the com-munity please don't let the Aligarh Movement die"

Mohammad Naushad Khan

Book on India’s Islamic periodDelhi Sultanate - Urbanization and Social ChangeAuthor: Iqtidar Husain SiddiquiPublisher: Kanicka, Viva Books, Delhi (publicity@vivagroupin-dia.net)ISBN: 9788130910147 Pages: 352 pp HBYear: 2009 Price: Rs. 795.00Breaking the conventional belief that urbanization was shapedsolely by economic factors, Delhi Sultanate seeks to highlightsocial and cultural processes that accompanied economicchanges, thereby transforming little-known trading towns intofull-fledged centres of learning and culture. I.H. Siddiqui drawson a rich corpus of Persian sources to establish links betweeneconomic change and changes in language, literature, teaching,book trade and even pyrotechnics. Delving into unconventionalmarkers of change like food makes the work interesting andinformative. The case study of the city of Kalpi is valuable, for itoutlines the political, social and cultural ramifications brought byits transformation into an urban city. �

The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009 29

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SHAHID ATHAR, MD

This article is not about the glory of Islamic Medicine ofpast 1000 years which produced great physicians like al-Razi and Ibn-Sina. This article is also not about virtues ofhoney, the center point of discussion in most of the arti-

cles written these days on Islamic Medicine. This also is not anarticle saying that since science has now confirmed certainQur’anic statements, therefore Qur’an must be a divine book. Tothe contrary, we begin with the belief that all Qur’anic statementsare true, science has confirmed some of them in the past, and willconfirm the rest in the future. If science has not confirmed it yet,it needs to examine its data more deeply, or may be it shouldrepeat the experiment, rather than question the authenticity ofQur’an. The Qur’an is not a book of medicine or of health sci-ences, but in it there are hints which lead to guidelines in healthand diseases. Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H.) has set as anexample to the mankind so his traditions in matters of health andpersonal hygienic are also a guide for his followers.

We start our discussion with the following verse:"Everything good that happens to you (O Man) is from God,

everything bad that happens to you is from your own actions".(Al_Qur’an_004:079)

Therefore, the pathology (disease) is defined by the famouspathologist William Boyd as physiology (natural state) gonewrong. It is our tampering with natural process that leads tounnatural outcomes.

Human body can be compared to some degree with amachine created by man. The fascinating tape recorder hasmany mechanical and electronic parts but life does not come to ittill electrical current is passed through. Similarly, in the compo-nents of human body there are the anatomic parts and fluids butalso the spirit (the soul). As the care of a machine requires keep-ing it clean, giving it some rest, and passing electricity of propervoltage, and using it carefully and wisely, so are the requirementfor the body and of the body as whole.

Before we come to the physical care of human body, let ustalk about the spiritual care.

The spiritual care involves the acts of worship. The problemis that Eemaan cannot be translated into belief, nor Salaat intoprayer, Nor Wadu into washing hand, face and feet nor; Sawminto fasting nor Zakaat into charity nor Hajj into pilgrimage toMecca. They are entitles in themselves.

A. Eemaan: The belief in God is the first and foremost impor-tant need for spiritual stability. Belief in God includes belief in hisattributes, his angels, his books, the Day of Judgment, the heav-en and hell and belief that - all good and bad is within his reach.Imam Rumi has called faith being superior to prayers. In illness,according to Imam Ghazali, the awareness of God increases andman becomes closer to God by realizing his own weakness.Without true belief, neither our prayer, nor charity, nor fasting norpilgrimage will be accepted. The essence of belief is to rid our-selves of all false Gods around us, or within us, and to worship noone except God alone.

B.Salat: There are three health aspects of Salaat

I. Wadu: Washing all the exposed areas of the body, hand,feet, face, mouth, nostrils etc. 5 times a day is a healthy preven-tive procedure. Hand washing is being emphasized more andmore in hospitals now in order to prevent spread of germs.However non-Muslims did not know that hand- washing is soimportant - it has been ordered in Qur’an (Al_Qur’an_005:007)1400 years ago. And for complete cleanliness bathing is advised(Al_Qur’an_004:043)

2. Recitation of Qur’an: Has a healing effect on body, mindand heart. These healing effects are due to the effect of sound(Echo) and the meaning. The letter Alif resounds unto the Echoesto heart and the letter YA resounds unto Echoes to the pinealgland in the brain.

"O Mankind: There has come to you a direction front yourLord and a healing for the (disease) in your hearts - and for thosewho believe a guidance and mercy!!" (Al_Qur’an_010:057)

"We sent down in the Qur’an that which is healing and amercy to those who believe: to the unjust it causes nothing butloss after loss". The movements in Salaat are mild, uniform, andinvolve all muscles and joints. The caloric output is desired tokeep the energy balance." (Al_Qur’an_017:082)

C: Zakaat (Charity): The word itself means purification andgrowth. Here it is meant to imply the purification of legitimatelyearned wealth. Many of our crimes are committed with money orfor love of money, and in the love of money one becomes violentin behavior.

And he is violent in his love of wealth: (Al_Qur’an_100:008)In Islam the ownership of wealth belongs to God. We are the

disposer of that trust. Therefore, this concept establishes peaceat heart and our behavior in the loss of money or unusual gain, ineither way, we thank God.

D. Sawm: The Islamic fasting: Islamic fasting is prescribed asway training of our mind, and body in self-restraints.

"O you who believe fasting are prescribed to you, as it wasprescribed to those before you, so that you can learn self-restraint." (Al_Qur’an_002:183)

Therefore, during the period of fast one may not only get ridof nibbling food, coffee, and smoking but also of anger and exces-sive sexual passion.

In fact, the fast not only gives rest to stomach but also stabi-lizes the secretion of harmones which control our behavior.

E. Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca): The morale is Prophetlbrahim's submission and absolute surrender to God's will, theopportunity for repentance, and the social and political gatheringof the Ummah depicting brotherhood, and equality. However thiscan be used for programming and testing us for physicalendurance, a requirement for all able men and women. The longwalks, the heat, the sun, the thirst, the physical exercise, etc. isto remind us of the Day of Judgment. We should perform Hajjwhen young and physically well rather than wait for the old age.We should keep ourselves in good shape before and years after

the Hajj.After describing pillars of faith as a basis for the spiritual

health, let us talk about the maintenance of the physical structurein which the spirit resides.

(A) Nutrition: Allah loves his creations so much that he is con-cerned even with what we eat and put in our body. Our muscles,bones, lungs, liver, brain and secretions are made from the rawproduct we feed it. If we provide the factory with junk raw prod-ucts, the factory will not produce tough bones, strong muscles,good pump (heart) and clean pipes (vessels).

"O you mankind: Eat of what is lawful and good on earth.(Al_Qur’an_002: 168)

"Eat of the things which god has provided for you lawful andgood, but fear God in whom you believe". Forbidden to us aredead meat, blood and flesh of swine (5:4) and intoxicants(Al_Qur’an_005:091-093 and 002:219).

Science so far has not confirmed any beneficial effects to theprohibitions.

The blood and meat of the dead could be full of germs andother harmful elements like antibodies. The pork meat is high incholesterol, salt and may have worms, and alcohol and otherintoxicants cloud our mentation, our inhibition and interfere withour normal capacity of judging good and bad. Therefore, a personunder the influence of alcohol may want to take off his dress,engage in unlawful sexual acts, become violent and abusive with-out even knowing what he is doing. On medical damages due toalcohol, whole books have been written.

The second component in nutrition (after Permission of thelawful and probation of the unlawful) is the moderation in the law-ful.

Obesity is a major American tragedy, a form of malnutrition,affecting million of people, of all age. 99% of obesity is due toovereating. Allah advises as to be moderate in quantity.

"But waste not by excess for God loves not the wasters."(Al_Qur’an_007:031)

"Eat of the good things we have provided for your suste-nance, but commit no excess therein, lest my wrath should justlydescend on you, and those whom descends my wrath do perishindeed." (Al_Qur’an_020:081)

According to one Hadeeth of Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H.)we are advised to leave one third of our stomach empty after fin-ishing the meal. I understood this Hadeeth only when I broke myblender/mixer in the kitchen after stuffing it to the top and thenturning the machine on. After all, what is stomach, if not a blender,grinder, mixer and food processor, all in one!!

Certain types of food i.e. fruits are especially emphasized inQur’an (36:57, 43:73, 16:67, 50:68)

"And the fruits of date palm and grapes you get wholesomedrink and nutrition: Behold in this is a sign for those who arewise." (Al_Qur’an_016:067). Fruits are low in calorie, high in vita-mins and minerals, and fiber and sugar is fructose and notsucrose. In a recent study by Dr. Anderson fructose has beenshown to cause no rise in blood sugar and even lowers the highblood sugar of diabetics. Honey is fructose.

HHeeaalltthh GGuuiiddeelliinneess FFrroomm QQuurr’’aann && SSuunnnnaahh -- ii

To be continued in the next issue

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IIIMay Allah lengthen the life of the Milli Gazette for presenting (MG,Sept. 16) the full three-page survey of the misdeeds of Modi whocan never be called a maanav as he is the biggest enemy ofmaanav.

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Charity AllianceI am indeed grateful to you for allowing me to be part of this goodwork you have begun and continue relentlessly. Those who con-tribute monetarily are not the real doers. It is you and your team thatmust get the greater ajr from Allah SWT. May Allah Keep Us onSiratal Mustaqeem.

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Partition: Eight Muslim Parties Were Against PartitionTo blame only Muslims for India's partition is baseless and unjust. Infact Hindus and Muslims and British imperialists all were responsi-ble for partition. In true context of history Hindu-Mahasabha,Congress and Muslim league all were responsible for partition.Muslims were against the two nation theory and partition of India till1932. Even upto the time when the matter of partition was beingsupported in many quarters as the only solution, large sections ofMuslim opinion were opposed to the partition. In frontier province,Khudai Khidmatgar Party of Sarhadi Gandhi Abdul Ghaffar Khan inPunjab Unionist Party of Khizar Hayat Khan, in Kashmir SheikhAbdulla's National Conference Party, in Sindh CM Syeds's Party,and National Muslim Party like Jamiatul Ulama, Jamaat-e Islami,Majlis Ahrar, Khaksar Movement etc were strong opponents of par-tition. When the time for the British to depart came near, the strongprotagonists of partition were Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and DrRajendra Prasad. Mahatma Gandhi also surrendered before them.On June 14, 1947, All India Congress Committee had passed thehistoric resolution for partition of India. Maulana Azad stronglyopposed it.Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's book India Wins Freedom, third editionof 1964, has the following on pages 15 and 16 "One incident hap-pened which left a bad impression about the attitude of theProvincial Congress Committees. In Bombay province Mr. Narimanwas the acknowledged leader of the Congress. When the questionof forming the Provincial Govt. in 1937 arose there was generalexpectation that Mr. Nariman would be asked to lead it new of hisstatus and record. This was not however done. Sardar Patel did notlike Nariman and the result was that B.G. Kher became the firstChief Minister of Bombay. Since Nariman was a Parsi and Kher aHindu, this led to vide speculation that Nariman had been by-passedon communal grounds." Maulana Azad further writes that Narimanapproached Congress President Jawaharlal Nehru who rejectedNariman's appeal. He then approached Gandhiji who also failed to

do justice to him. Poor Nariman was heart-broken and his public lifecame to an end. G. Hasnain Kaif, Bhandara (M.S.) 441904

Shoot-at-sight orderA caste panchayat in Uttar Pradesh Muzaffer Nagar district hasallegedly asked its members to shoot a Dalit widow and her lover ifthey were seen in the vicinity of their Village. It is a wonder how suchan order of sever punishment the caste Panchayat can pass. Thehigh court judges are acquitting the persons who had killed 40 inno-cent girls after raping them due to want of proof. All the charges lev-eled against the poor servant and he was senesced for life. If theTaliban want to enforce the same severe punishment they arebranded as barbaric. Widows are also human being they too havethe sexual desire. Why they should be deprived of love and mar-riage. Why the bigamy should be banned. These are all man madelaws which are against nature. The pancahyat at the most can com-pel the lover to get marry and maintain her as second wife. In thesame UP thousands of men are there who are having keeps andsecond wives. I suggest that the honorably so called members beousted from the village and Bahenji who is also a Dalit should cometo the rescue of the couple before some mad and hysteric youth shotthem dead.

Dr. Abdul Hameed Maqdoomi, Gulbargadrmaqdoomi@yahoo.com

Chidambram’s advice to DelhitesMr P Chidambarm, I will not be surprised if spectacles of ministers and of judges fail to locate bare sufferings of "roadside existence" ofdelhites; and the mere joy of little innocent kids seeking alms atevery other corner of traffic points. Whereas it requires courage andconvictions a lot, I wonder if the minister finds commonwealth gamesthe occasion to push for India to reclaim a look of year 1835. Toknow the state of our country in 1835 I am reproducing LordMacaulay's address to the British Parliament on 2/2/1835. He said,"I have travelled through the length and breadth of India and notseen one person who is a beggar who is a thief. Such wealth I haveseen in this country, such high moral values, such people of high cal-iber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country unlesswe break the backbone of this nation, which is her cultural and spir-itual heritage, and therefore I suggest we replace her old andancient educational system, her culture for if the Indians think that allthat is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, theywill loose their self esteem, their native culture and they will becomewhat we want them, a truly dominated nation".

Sandeep Jalan, Mumbailegallyspeaking.jalan@gmail.com

Sheer hyprocrisy by the U.S.This refers to the U.N. report that Israel had deliberately targetedcivilians in Gaza earlier this year, by using disproportionate forcekilling over 1400 Palestinians. It was a shame on the so-called civi-lized nations who watched in shrilled silence for three weeks, thegory assault carried out by one of the powerful armies of the worldin the name of "Dahiya doctrine". That a lethal chemical like whitePhosphorous was used even on the U.N. compound sheltering hun-dreds of civilians, speak about the ruthless character of the Israeliarmy. The U.S. had no qualms in conducting trial in a kangaroo courtand executing Saddam Hussein for using chemical weapons. Whythe same yardstick is not applied for Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barakwho were responsible for targeting the Gaza civilians? Is it not asheer hypocrisy by the sole super power?

Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Secretary, Madrasatul Haram -- TheMuslim Educational & Welfare Society, Kadapa (A.P)

A solo talk of Ramzan"As I am saying good night at the end of the monthAnd you are in festive moodMiles away, my heart is so empty and so lonely inside.As I wipe away with new crescent of Eid,Just meet at my doors of RayyanWaiting for you, I will be…When calendar tends to keep us apart,I can see the stars and your good deeds of my monthOh! How beautifully arrangedMeet you at my Rayyan"with regards and prayer

Yasir PVyasirpv@diplomats.com

Twit but don’t mockOf late the austerity drive by the Congress was the talk of the townposed by in a form of a Twitter comment about it which landed theMinister of State for Foreign Affairs Shashi Tharoor introuble.Tharoor, who twitters on just about everything, made a flip-pant remark on the social networking site about flying cattle class.But has the austerity drive got the Congress going round in circles?Well, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna could certainly say so. Ifhe'd taken his usual government jet he could have got to Belarus infour hours, but it'll take 18 hours as the austerity bug makes minis-ters take a commercial flight. Krishna has at least got permissionfrom the Prime Minister no less to stretch his legs in executive class.And leaving budget restrain behind, Tharoor has flown to Liberia.But nobody knows whether he is, indeed, flying cattle class sincegiven how earnestly the Congress is pursuing its austerity mantra,his staff seems to have clammed up.

Md Ziaullah Khan, New Delhi writeziya@gmail.com

An honest admirationA visitor from Delhi recently admitted to being 'shocked'. He hadtaken an auto from Andheri to Sion and the fare was Rs 86. Beforehe had taken a Rs 100 out of his pocket, the auto driver had the Rs14 change ready and ready to hand over. This, by his own honestadmission, was unheard of anywhere else in the country. Apparentlyin Delhi, it is taken for granted that the "driver is never going to returnany change" (his words, not mine). Mr auto driver - I don't care ifyour name is Salvi or Khan or Mishra or Singh - you have done usproud. Bharatram Gaba, Bombay

bratgaba@yahoo.com

Rahuls Trip to UP Laudable Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the general secretary of Indian National Congressand MP of Ammethi can tour any time and any where .The brave sonof a brave father and a brave grand son of a grand mother. Theynever care for their safety and security of their life .They know pret-ty well that their life is in the hands of God .With this lofty characterswe anticipate that he will become prime Minister of India

His coherence with Dalit by staying in a family is an additionalwing in his crown .Tomorrow he can marry a dalit, Christian, Sikh.Muslim or a Buddhist girl who is beautiful and educated .We knowhis father had married Christian Girl and his grand mother had mar-ried a Parse youth, his sister has married a Christian boy. He hastold many times that Indian flag is his religion. It means the interestof the Indian nation is his primary option. The Brahmin lobby in theCongress may think it is a snub to them .They always try to imposeBrammenical views on him prefer and safeguard the interest of theircommunity on the interest of the nation. The objection raised byMayawathi is fake and purely political. Her formula of SocialEngineering has failed flat .The caste Hindus who are her advisersare responsible for her downfall. She utilized the funds for erectingthe statues instead of using for the wellbeing of the downtrodden.The best way for her to marry a caste Hindu youth and declaresome attractive incentives for inter caste marriages .In this way shecould raise the dignity of Dalits in the whole country .Her thesis ofsocial engineering would good result in the country

Dr Maqdoomi, Gulbargadrmaqdoomi@yahoo.com

In Bihar’s SushashanBihar is a politically sensitive state but for the state’s developmentpeople commit blunders. Earlier when NDA was in power in theCentre, Bihar was under RJD rule; on the other hand, when UPAcame to power at the Centre, Bihar elected NDA to rule the state.Nitish Kumar calls rule as “susheshan” with justice. In Bihar 18 per-cent Muslim population lives on the margins. Muslims are deniedrepresentation in any job. On 5th Sept. Teachers Day was celebrat-ed. HRD Minister Hari Narayan Singh felicitated eight Govt teachersat a grand function held at Sri Krishna Memorial Hall. OUt of theseeight teachers, none was Muslim. 18 percent of Bihar population isMuslims but their representation is nil in Nitish-led sushashan withjustice? Similarly, 1.5 lakh teachers were appointed. Oppositionsays that only four to five thousand Muslims got jobs among these1.5 lakhs. 15 thousands constables and 2000 doctors were appoint-ed, many more jobs were created but merely 2 to 2.5% Muslims gotrepresentation. Mazharul Haque Urdu Persian University is function-ing in a Government flat. Urdu is treated as an obsolete language.Minority school teachers and Madrasa teachers are reeling underdebt because salaries are overdue by 8 to 12 months.

S. Haque, Patna

Landmines In Bosnia-Hercegovina are still a problemLandmines continue to be a problem for the people of the FormerYugoslavia even more than 14 years after the end of the 1992-1995genocide in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Injuries, trauma and death areusually felt most by children who are often unaware of the minesexistence in fields, forested areas and even near roads. Unexplodedordinance is always a problem in every war zone however Bosnia-Hercegovina predessor Yugoslavia was one of the top producers oflandmines, a list of nations that also includes the United States,South Korea and China. Many of the landmines in Bosnia-Hercegovina are clearly marked by Danger Warning signs howeverthe signs get stolen, disguarded and destroyed leaving no clues asto the hidden death that awaits the visitor, hikers, skiers or peoplewalking. Floods sometimes move landmines and even criminalstake apart and steal the explosives components and use them inother sinister ways. In the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina entire commu-nities were involved in using landmines and now after the years ofwar and destruction those activities continue to take their toll onsociety from accidents, misuse and injuries.

Kevin Beck, Las Vegas, Nevada, USAkevinbeck1@hotmail.com

What is JihadDear Mufti Dr Mohammad Mushtaq Tijarwi,Assalaamu Alaikum warahmatullah wabaarakaatuhI saw your article in the Milli Gazette of 1-15 June under the cap-tion “Jihad is unlawful in plural societies.” It is good presentationand a perfect misleading of thoughts. I wonder how a Mufti ofDeoband and a PhD of Jamia Millia nurture such thoughts? It isonly vested interests the writer serves. Dr Mohammad Iqbal haslong back said, "Khud Badalte Nahin, Qur'an ko Badal Dete Hain".You have mentioned the Holy Qur'an 36 times in various forms.The sense which you have taken is Qital but not “utmost effort”.World leaders such as Bush and LK Advani are against Islamwhich prefers Jihad. You are also favouring them in one sense.Jihad in India by Indian Muslims is an Ijtehadi problem. As aMuslim you know that Jihad is the most superior Ibadat in Islam,superior to the namaz. Why is it superior? It is superior because itleads to Shahadat. What is the importance of Shahadat, you knowpretty well. A Muslim who does not have the desire of Shahadat isa hypocrite. Even the Prophet (pbuh) saidso. It is his desire tocome out from Heaven and die on the death as a martyred andenter Paradise; he repeated the same desire thrice. So Jihad andShahadat was affectionate to him. What is the purpose of Jihad and Qital? You know, it is not forpower, wealth or women but only to exalt the name of Allah and toenforce the Laws of Allah and to bring the humanity under theLaws of Allah and to shun the reign of men. Muslims should strivefor the Nizam-e-Haq. Living in a pluralistic society for a long periodwas uncalled for by the Prophet of Allah. He said, if any azab fallsupon such a society, the Prophet will not have any obligation

towards it. The Hadith goes to quote Rasoolullah: "I want to alien-ate myself from those Muslims who reside along with non-Muslims." They must maintain a distance from those who lead theirlife in plural and aristocratic society and seek protection from Batil-Nizam of taghout. They are always worried about their well-being.They do not want to take any kind of risk in their life. Almighty inHis Holy book, Surah Baqar, Ayat 216, has clearly mentioned tem-perament of such people. If we think ourselves weak in practicingIslamic Laws and accept our inability to follow the laws in spirit,Allah may forgive us. But He will not forgive those who object tothe Laws. This is punishable. Prophet (pbuh) had adopted differentstrategies in waging Jihad. In his period, Jihad was waged 56times, and the Prophet had led 23 battles personally. In the 23years, 56 battles were fought. It means one Jihad every 6 months.Dr Mushtaq, you might have read a Hadith in Mishkaat. TheProphet has predicted that one Jamaat of Muslims will do Jihadwith kafirs till the last day of this world. Therefore, it will not be pos-sible for Muslims of the world to completely forget the obligation ofJihad and die the death of patients. The Maoists are waging waragainst the present government. They want that their system of lifebe imposed on the public. They are distributing land among poorfarmers. They are also sacrificing their precious lives without antic-ipating the heavenly boons. Muslims, if they die in Jihad, 74 heav-enly damsels come to welcome a Shaheed. If someone does notbelieve in all such promises and become satisfied with some world-ly pleasures, it is alright for him, but he should not reject the textof Ahadiths and their implications.

Dr. Abdul Hameed Maqdoomi, Gulbargadrmaqdoomi@yahoo.com

32 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 October 2009

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