24 pages ` 15 ISSN 0972-3366 FORTNIGHTLY

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www.milligazette.com 16-31 December 2014

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MG COMPLETES 15 YEARS WITH THIS ISSUE

AR ANTULAY...12

India needs a new political thesis

The people Karkare caught as culprits-Saadhvi Pragya, Colonel Raj Kumar Purohit and Dayanand
Pandey-were all extreme Hindu nationalists; then it transpired that Purohit had gone to Israel for
training. Swiftly it became apparent that somehow, either the leadership, or some rogue elements in
Mossad, the Israeli secret service, were perhaps, involved in some aspects of terrorism in India.
AMARESH MISRA
Editor-in-Chief, Medhaj News
What can be the new political thesis that can make India emerge
as a super-power in the coming years? The basic problem here is
the absence of Think Tank politics. US, China, Russia and other
European nations, invest heavily on intellectuals who form think
tanks on various issues; in fact, think tanks come out with road
maps concerning foreign policies, ways of combat, defence and
re-strategizing in a global context.
In India, the Government-run councils of social science, cultural
affairs, and scientific research are basically academic in nature. They
do not even venture into political re-strategizing. Private think tanks
like Observer Foundation and Vivekanand Foundation are credited
more with internal political mapping than creating roadmaps for the
future. Take the example of Indo-Israeli relations. India recognized
Israel as a nation only in 1991; previously, Pandit Nehrus foreign
policy made it a point to support Palestine over Israel.
What did India gain by supporting Palestine? Victory in 1971
Bangladesh war for one; it was Indira Gandhis strong espousal of
an anti-Israeli stand that saw the unique phenomenon of Muslim
countries supporting India instead of Pakistan during a decisive
moment in the history of South Asia.
On the Kashmir issue in the United Nations as well, Muslim
countries of the Middle-East supported India.
Siding with Palestine was a major think tank product of postIndependence India; besides boosting Indias image as a nation that
supports the underdog in a world heavily dominated by socialist
thinking and politics, it helped nation-building within the country.
Pandit Nehru encouraged various think tank groups. However,
in a new world situation after 1991 where Soviet Union collapsed
and US became the only dominant power, Indias recognition of
Israel, a US ally, was seen as a smart move.
Indo-Israel relations grew from strength to strength in the
1990s. This was a period of rising communal tension, Babari
Masjid demolition, riots and the consequent 1993 Mumbai bomb
blasts. Israel was seen as a vital ally in helping India combat both
International and internal terrorism.
MPs, MLAs, heads of security forces regularly visited Israel - the thinking in the Indian establishment was that besides
teaching a technique or two in defence and spying, Israel would
help India against Pakistan politically as well.
One must remember that Israel was seen in the 1990s as an
invincible force. Despite being surrounded by hostile Arab-Muslim
countries, Israel had successfully resisted their advances; Israel
was the victor of 1967 and 1973 wars against Arab nations like
Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. Israel also, had been successful in
countering Palestinian resistance within its borders and the
territories it occupied in the 1967 war. But doubts regarding Israel
began emerging in India after the 2001 Parliament attack. Nothing
was said officially, but that was the first instance where Indian
security agencies smelled a rat.
The 2001 Parliament attack was the first big terrorist attack on
MG/Yusuf

Indian soil after 1993; soon 2002 Gujarat riots followed; then
suddenly, India witnessed encounters that later turned out to be
fake, of Muslim terrorists, trying to kill Indian politicians.
From 2006 onwards, bomb blasts became a regular
occurrence in India; 2008 saw blast after blast by Indian
Mujahideen, a new terrorist entity. Batla House encounter case
followed in September 2008. Communal tensions were stretched
to a breaking point. Then Hemant Karkare, the then Maharashtra
chief of the Anti-Terror Squad, and one of Indias best IPS officers
who had served the RAW as well, came up with stunning
revelations regarding the involvement of Hindu, rather than
Muslim, terrorist groups, in bomb blasts of Malegaon, Makkah
Masjid and Samjhauta Express.
The people Karkare caught as culprits-Saadhvi Pragya,
Colonel Raj Kumar Purohit and Dayanand Pandey-were all
extreme Hindu nationalists; then it transpired that Purohit had gone
to Israel for training.
Swiftly it became apparent that somehow, either the leadership,
or some rogue elements in Mossad, the Israeli secret service, were
perhaps, involved in some aspects of terrorism in India.
By 2008, Israel had lost to Hezbollah, a rag-tag militia in
Lebanon; in 2009 Israel failed to counter Palestinian resistance in
Gaza Strip and, finally, in July-August 2014, Israel lost to Hamas
and other Palestinian groups in the Gaza war.
So two processes ran parallel to each other: the blow to Israeli
invincibility; and the suspicion of an Israeli hand in Indias internal
affairs, a perception strengthened by the freak killing of Hemant
Karkare during the 26/11 attack, just when he was about to reveal
more about the extreme Hindu terror plot.
By 2014, India became wary of Israel. US too got bogged
down, as the rise of ISIS signalled the intention of US allies like
Saudi Arabia to break free from the American orbit.
At present, US stands helpless in the Middle-East; meanwhile
Russia, having established bases in Syria, has gained
tremendously; the emergence of Palestine as a nation is only a
matter of time-so is the rise of Kurdish aspirations that US, and by
extension Israel, are forced to support.
The complexity of the Middle-East situation, weakening of US
and Israel, Indian allies for the last 20 years, has forced India to
re-think its strategy. What to speak of China, US and Israel are not
in a position to help India even vis--vis Pakistan.
Indias old relations with Russia, which as Soviet Union stood
by India in the 1971 war and did not allow US to help Pakistan,
now need to be revived. India has to mend fences with China as
well. What should be Indias position if World War III breaks out
between the US and the Russian orbit?
In the event of a new World War, or even without open
hostilities, US cannot depend on Pakistan or its Middle-East allies;
the Indian North-West neighbourhood including Muslim Central
Asian republics are, and will be, in a state of ferocious turmoil.
Knee-jerk responses wont count without correct strategic
thinking, Indias military might cannot be put to good use.
Today, India needs a fresh, not just an idea of India, but of

Har shaakh pe ulloo baithay hain, anjaam-e gulistaan kya hoga

nal
atio
n
is
re
Gitascriptu

Ancient India
had nuclear
and genetic
technology

Taj
M
Tejo a h a l w a
ma
s
Man hlaya
dir

Tea
Sans ch
krit

All Indians are

Hindu

Inside MG

turmoil-ridden regions as well. An ideology that unites, say, the

Hindu Right with Muslim radicals is the need of the hour.
Patronizing both, Israel and the US are hell-bent on creating
conflict; but this kind of a struggle is not in Indias interest. USIsrael cannot protect India. On the contrary, they have become a
liability and are harming India more. The IMF-World Bank backed
neo-liberal stands discredited; and even Narendra Modi, who was
supposed to be pro-Israel, is proceeding judiciously, making it a
point to do business with Russia and China, while resisting US
pressures to barter Indian interests in WTO and other forums.
It is more viable for India to posit an ideology that sides with the
arch of anti- Imperialist, pro-Russia resistance-Iran-Syria-LebanonPalestine-while advocating a political line that revives Hindu-Muslim
unity not of the Congressi type, but harking back to 1857, the first war
of Indian Independence against Western Imperialism.
1857 is such a strong weapon in Indian hands that if used
properly, as an anti-West tool, it can create sympathy for India in
Asia and Africa including Pakistan andd Saudi Arabia. This would
be master re-strategizing, a deft diplomatic-political manoeuvre
that will throw everyone off-guard, and stop US-Israel from taking
India for granted. We can wrest back the handle we had in the pre1991 period, maybe solve the Kashmir issue, and start thinking of
a Greater India in the real sense. This would require, also, a new
model of economic development, free from the crony capitalist
dimensions of the neo-liberal model. Are wise forces of the Hindu
Nationalist camp listening?

Kalyan-4
Four Muslim boys from Kalyan, near Mumbai, are accused of having joined ISIS. One of them has now returned. Though media has
no independent access to him, a lot is being leaked by security
agencies in his name. The picture is not clear as the families of
these youth had been saying that they had gone to Iraq as contract
workers just as around 40,000 Indians are doing at present in Iraq
and some of them must be inside the areas now controlled by ISIS
like the nurses who were repatriated while some of them insisted
that they will go back to continue their employment contracts. If it
is proved that these boys had indeed joined ISIS voluntarily, they
must be punished according to our laws. But I have a fear, borne
out of watching and studying the phenomenon of Muslim terror
in India over the last two decades, that the intelligence and security agencies routinely cook up stories and implicate innocents in
fake terror cases. After the advent of Modi government, these
agencies are working hard to whip up the terror issue and I believe
that they are slowly moving to revive the Advani era frenzied campaign against the Muslim community in the name of fighting terror
when thousands of innocents were thrown behind bars on trumped
up charges and now we see these victims being acquitted one after
the other by courts after spending long years behind bars. I fear
that the ISIS issue will be used in this dubious campaign against
Muslim youth combined with cases like Burdwan blast which is
being dubbed as a great terrorist conspiracy but two Hindus
involved in Burdwan (Shobhan Mondal and Anirban Ghosh) are not
being probed. It is incumbent upon Muslim youth to beware of real
and fake advocates of ISIS in India.

ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN

PALESTINE QUIZ AND ESSAY

COMPETITION - details soon

Shibli Centenary

5,6,7,8
11,13

Fake conversion

Modi/BJP/RSS

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

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

Whats in Gods names? 22

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

ISSUES / OPINION

www.milligazette.com

Rather than asking Muslims to condemn terrorism, the Pope

should ask the whole world to condemn all forms of violence
DR. JAVED JAMIL
The BBC has reported: Pope Francis has
urged Muslim leaders around the world to condemn terrorism carried out in the name of
Islam. Speaking on board a flight back to
Rome, the Pope said that he understood the
harm caused by the stereotype that linked
Islam with terrorism. He said a global condemnation of the violence would help the majority of Muslims dispel this stereotype.
Pope Francis was returning from a three-day visit to Turkey. The
pontiff denounced people who say that all Muslims are terrorists. As we cannot say that all Christians are fundamentalists,
he said.
While I have no reasons to doubt the good intentions of the
Pope, I have many reasons to question his knowledge and his
selective appeal. It appears certain that the Pope, like most
other inhabitants of the current world, is exposed to continuous,
motivated propaganda carried out by the West through international media, and he has never stopped to have a closer look at
the propaganda. He seems to have accepted the perspective
through which one can see terrorism as the only vile category of violence and Muslim terrorism as the only condemnable
category of terrorism. Why can people like him not recognise
the fact that violence committed in any name is bad, and our
response to violence should be proportional to its magnitude
rather than its denomination.
The Western media (and also the Indian media under the
influence of both the West and Hindutva propagandists) focuses only on a certain category of violence, which of course suits
its designs and its ideological propensities. For them, only individual beheadings are a condemnable form of violence and not
mass murder through bombs; the former is the method of
them (Muslim terrorists) and the latter is the method of Us
(the West). It is another matter that the beheadings kill a single
person while the bombings have eliminated hundreds of thousands. Bombs also become condemnable when bombs of lesser intensity are used by non-Western, non-Israeli killers, but
large-scale, carpet bombing by American, Israeli and British
forces are immensely acceptable.
The Pope also ignores the fact that at the global level, violence as a whole is a predominantly Western monopoly and terrorism as a whole is also a largely non-Muslim phenomenon.
Al-Qaeda killed some 6,000 innocent people, but Americas
war against terror killed more than 2 million innocent
Muslims. The ISIS, also a creation of the West, which entered

Evolved or devolved?

Sushma Swaraj wants The Gita to be declared as the national scripture

(rashtriya granth). Im not at all surprised to read this bizarre piece of
news. Were living in dangerously religious times and are craving for a
religious identity. This is very bad. Hindus are screaming to assert their
Hindu identity. Muslims are trying to make their presence felt in a not-sodelightful manner. Christians are also trying tooth and nail to make their
presence felt from a religious perspective. Other religions and their followers are also trying to draw attention in a distasteful fashion. Its a rat-race
and a mad scramble. Wherere label-free, plain human beings among
us? Why dont we understand one simple and universal fact that all our
soi disant identities are accidental? The Hindus, whore suddenly proud
of being Hindus, could have been Muslims if born into Muslim households and vice versa. A Dalit could have been a Brahmin had his parents
been Brahmins and vice versa. We never chose the country we now feel
so proud of being its citizens. Its all uncertain and iffy. The problem with
the entire mankind is that its descended into extreme pettiness. Instead
of evolution, devolution has taken place. Were now devolved rather than
evolved. Its all the more ironic because in this age of internet and easy
access to all sorts of knowledge, weve become all the more regressive
and our backwardness manifests itself through imbecile proclamations
like, Im a Hindu/Im a Muslim or a Christian or Gita is a national book.
Rubbish! To quote Ghalib ruefully, Bas ke dushwaar hai har kaam ka
aasaan hona/Aadmi ko bhi mayassar nahin insaan hona (Its indeed an
uphill task to make things easy and hassle-free/Even a man cannot burgeon into a civilised human being). Alas, were cheap, moving labels
wearing our socio-religious and ethnic identities on our sleeves.
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CHIEF EDITOR: ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN

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Iraq after its war against Syrian government failed despite huge
support of Western weaponry, which was later used in Iraq.
Terrorism in India, mainly by non-Muslims has killed about
4,0000 in last two decades, and Tamil terrorism in Sri Lanka
killed more than a hundred thousand in the last three decades.
America, France, Britain and Russia have been responsible,
directly or indirectly, for the overwhelming majority of deaths in
wars and civil wars in the last century. And, of course, they are
also the countries with maximum deaths in murders, suicides
and induced abortions. More than 180 million people lost lives
in wars (largely Westens or West-imposed) in the last century
and more than 1 billion children have been murdered through
abortions in last 20 years. The number of deaths in murders
has also been more than 10 million.
However, it is not the magnitude of violence but the group
behind the violence that attracts international attention. Any violence that can be linked to the West and their ideologies makes
no news. But as soon as there is violence somewhere which
can be made to appear linked to forces or the ideologies
opposed to them, it is attacked with all their weapons.
The Pope should have better said that every act of violence
and innocent death, whoever the victim, whoever the aggressor,
whatever the place, whatever the time, whatever the method
and whatever the motive should be condemned by the whole
world. He should have recognised the fact that the genesis of
terrorism has several factors, and one major factor is the role of
West in Muslim countries, their support to brutal regimes in the
region, and the deaths caused by Western forces in the Islamic
world. He should state that almost all acts of violence are devilish, and while terrorist attacks are committed by lesser villains,
wars and aerial bombings are conducted by the bigger genocidal criminals. It would have certainly sounded better if he had
appealed to the West to stop intervening in Muslim countries.
The Pope should also pause to answer the question that if
the Middle Eastern acts of violence can be linked to Islam or
Muslims, why Western violence cannot be linked to Christianity
and Christians. My appeal to the Pope is the same as has been
to the pontiffs and protagonists of all religions of the world:
recognise the fact that the real threat to the world comes not
from any religion but the forces of irreligion led by the West.
And I will like to inform the Christian pontiff that we Muslims differentiate between the West and Christianity despite the fact that
Christianity is the dominant religion in the West.
The author is Delhi-based thinker and writer with over a dozen
books including his latest Quranic Paradigm of Sciences & Society
(First Vol: Health).
He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com

The death of Mushaira

Diverting Minds
In India, where Congress ruled for nearly six decades, thereby
monopolising Indian politics, BJP seemed to be the only hope to the
exploited masses. Undoubtedly, during these decades India could
not reach where it should have. India still has around 30 percent of
its population below poverty line. Whatever development has taken
place, it has been lopsided and vertical. The gap between haves and
have-nots is wide as ever. It is disheartening that India still has not
escaped the clutches of poverty, hunger, corruption, unemployment
and other evils.

On the political front too, there has been a mishandling of internal disputes because of which we have to use the military to control
the situation in Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. When the world
is talking about global peace India cannot maintain internal peace.
There has been ever-increasing incidence of communal violence,
casteist violence, gender violence and politically-motivated violence. When the world is using fifth-generation computers and
sophisticated technology India is still fighting over mosque and temple.
Although the mosque-temple issue and much of communal conflict is created by BJP for electoral gains, many voted for it in the
hope of some promised change. The first six months of any government are an index to its next five years. After completing six months
at the Centre, BJP could not perform as it was expected. It could not
fulfil even a fraction of its promises which were made during the
election campaigns. Be it inflation, bringing back black money within a hundred days, border security or any other issue, BJP could
make no change. Indeed, after its coming to power there has been
more turmoil within the country and on the borders. The principle of
minimum government and maximum governance too eventually
failed. The development agenda seems an illusion now.
After bailing to meet the expectations of the people of better
days ahead BJP has now started diverting minds of the people of
India. Having failed to deliver, the party is now concentrating on
non-issues like Love Jihad and celebration of birthday of Raja
Mahendra Pratap on the campus of Aligarh Muslim University.
An alumnus of AMU, Raja Mahendra Pratap brought glory to his
alma mater. The AMU plans to hold a seminar to mark his birth
anniversary. It has also placed his picture alongside the universitys
stalwarts pictures. For a while, BJP can concentrate on other, more
constructive programmes.

MUJAHID MUGHAL
Research Scholar, Department of Geography
AMU, Aligarh

There was a time when Lucknow, Rampur, Bhopal, Delhi, Hyderabad,

Patna, et. al. witnessed Mushairas and Kavi sammelan (gatherings
of Urdu and Hindi poetry recitation). Eminent poets like Firaq
Gorakhpuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Sahir, Qateel Shifai and Adam (from
Pakistan) would regale the connoisseurs of Urdu poetry with their
soulful ghazals, nazms, rubaiyaat and couplets. Hindi poets like
Harivansh Rai Bacchan, Agyey and Gopaldas Saxena Neeraj used
to mesmerise the lovers of Hindi poetry with their fascinating masterpieces. Now seldom such soul-gladdening gatherings take place.
Most of the people have no knowledge of either Hindi or Urdu. Their
vocabularys woefully limited. And the only name theyve heard in
Urdu poetry is that of Ghalib, though they cant even quote a single
couplet penned by that doyen of Urdu poetry. The great Firaq used
to single out people from the audience and ask whether they understood the purport of the ghazal he recited or they applauded perfunctorily! Yoon na taareef keejiye, kuchh samajhiye / Meri shayari nahin
ahmaqon ke liye (Dont appreciate just for the sake of it / My poetrys not for the fools, said Raghupati Sahay Firaq Gorakhpuri). At
the same time, the level of the poets in both the languages has drastically gone down. They know that anythings acceptable because the
crowds not so discerning.
I remember, I read a couple of ghazals in an Urdu-Hindi
Mushaira at Sagar, MP. There were tolerably good Urdu and Hindi
poets. Those who came to hear, also appeared to have a smattering
of both the tongues. But the poets came with possibly their worst
poems and ghazals. After the gathering, I overheard a learned gentleman ask his friend, Was it a Mushaira or a display of pavement poet-

DISTRIBUTORS: (Alphabetical - statewise and then citywise )

ry? His term, futpaathee shayari, struck me. All the poems and ghazals were indeed pedestrian, if futpaathee sounds too disconcerting
to the readers. This is more or less the same scenario in all the
Mushairas and Kavi Sammelans these days. You dont find truly
good poets in both the languages. Moreover, creativity, especially
poetry, needs patrons. Everything ultimately boils down to money.
Faqat daad se shikam naheen bharta/Jeene ke liye insaan ko imdaad
bhi chahiye (Mere appreciation cannot fill the stomach/To live, Man
needs other supports as well).
When kings and nawabs patronised Urdu poetry in their courts,
it flourished. Nawab Mustafa Khan Shefta (1806-1869, the sobriquet
Shefta means besotted, enamoured in Persian) of Rampur was
Ghalibs patron and he himself was a poet of high order. Lucknows
Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was a poet and connoisseur of Urdu/Persian
poetry and he patronised scores of Urdu poets in his court.
Nowadays, organisers of Mushairas and Kavi sammelans pay pittance to poets. Why should they come?
An organiser from Aurangabad promised to give me to and fro
bus-fare from Poona (!) to attend a Mushaira. His patronising, nay
audacious, invite written in flawed Urdus still with me. I preferred not
to go because the language and attitude of the organiser put me off.
A good poet is a sensitive person, said Dr Matthew Arnold
(1822-1888), the great poet-critic of Victorian England. When established poets, though very few, arent paid well by the organisers, they
dont come. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Mind you, this
adage has a widespread relevance encompassing all fields and
spheres, not just creativity.

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NATIONAL

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

www.milligazette.com

Love Jehad simply an

exaggeration by media

Respond if you care about your community

White Paper on Terrorism

New Delhi: This news is rather old but significant. When RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwat had publicly stated some time ago that India or Hindustan can very well
be called a Hindu rashtra and that all people living in Hindustan are Hindu, there
was a big controversy and many parties and people criticised his views, including those belonging to his own outfits. In order to know the views of people
belonging to different sections, regions etc of the country, the English daily
Hindustan Times, New Delhi had conducted a nation-wide opinion poll from
among its readers. Three questions were asked of people in this opinion poll. The
first question was: Do you disagree with the views of Mohan Bhagwat and reject
it altogether? Ninety-six percent readers (95.09%) expressed their views and
totally rejected his views. The second question was: Do you agree?; support his
views and want that India should be a Hindu Rashtra?; 4.23 percent people voted
in favour of this idea and one percent said they didnt have any opinion on this
question. Though by that time the opinion poll was not complete, the broad, general views of the people had become known but the esteemed national daily had
not reported the final verdict of the people which must have come subsequently.
Was it because the final verdict of the people being unpalatable to it, it did not
consider it proper to publish it? In any case, thinking of the general people had
become known by this opinion poll, that they wanted, and want, India to be a secular Rashtra and not a Hindu Rashtra.

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

FIR against BJP leader for hurting

religious feelings of Muslims

THE MILLI GAZETTE

New Delhi: Chairperson of National Commission for Women, Mrs Lalita

Kumarmangalam described the so-called love jehad as mere exaggeration by
media and rejected it altogether. She said that this is an unimportant issue which
media is presenting in a very exaggerated manner. In reply to a question about
love jehad she said that among the many problems being faced by women, this
is completely a non issue and if you (mediapersons) stop writing about it, people will themselves forget it. In reply to another question whether it is as a result
of clash of culture, she said that there is negative cultural reaction on a large
scale in the country but this is not the problem of any particular religion, caste or
race.

RSS chiefs views of India being a Hindu

Rashtra rejected by 96% people

New Delhi: An FIR was filed against BJP national convener of the sports cell,
Ashok Agarwal of Delhi on 21 November in Aligarh for trying to hurt religious
sentiments of Muslims by posting a photo of Kaaba (Saudi Arabia) on his
Facebook page wherein he added a Shiva lingam and an idol of Lord Shiva.
Secretary of Millat Bedari Mohim Committee (Millat awareness campaign committee), Jasim Muhammad of Aligarh lodged an FIR at the citys Civil Lines Police
Station demanding legal action against Agarwal for hurting the feelings of
Muslims. Agarwal however denied of ever posting any thing to this effect, a senior police official of Aligarh confirmed that an FIR has been registered in this case
under Section 66-A of the amended Information Technology Act, 2000 and an
enquiry is being made. Stating that there is no merit in this case, Agarwal insists
that the photo has not been posted on my account even for a second. A lawyer
Pavan Duggal however says that sending any information from a computer or
mobile phone which is grossly offensive is a legal offence and even if it is subsequently taken off, it doesnt reduce the nature of offence.

ISIS or supporters of state terrorism do

not represent Islam: Shaz
Aligarh: Noted Muslim thinker Dr. Rashid Shaz said here on
17 November that the Muslim Ummah today required leaderscholars who understand the modern age. Instead of being slavishly attached to their past history and traditions, they should
focus on the elixir of Muslim unity. He said the bridge course for
madrasa graduates at the AMU is trying to achieve this goal.
Dr Shaz is the director of this bridge course.
Dr Shaz said neither ISIS nor the US represent Islam. We do not support ISIS
nor are we with the proponents of state terrorism who shower bombs on
unarmed, innocent people, he said adding that we have somehow lost true
Islam. Therefore, we should try to get hold of a thread leading us to real Islam.
He said dissension in the Muslim Ummah had started with the assassination of
the third Caliph, Hadrat Uthman. dissension gained strength with the emergence
of competing caliphs. Later, disunity was further strengthened. Spilling the blood
of innocents is unlawful when committed by the self-appointed advocates of
Islam or by state terrorists using dissension as a pretext. Dialogue is the solution
for these problems which could be solved only by mutual discussion and understanding. Dr Shaz said, in the bridge course we are producing a new generation
which is neither Sunni nor Shia.
We are the Ummat-e Wasat (median group). Our maslak is moderation, free
from exaggerations, said Dr. Shaz who was speaking during a reception in honour of Ms Nihad Al-Jariri, a UAE journalist visiting AMU. Ms. Al-Jariri said extremist movements like ISIS do not represent Islam which prohibits murder of innocent men, women and children but these movements are committing this which
is against the teachings of Islam.

Another Delhi church attacked

requires
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
JUNIOR JOURNALISTS
write with details in the first instance
to the Editor at edit@milligazette.com
or to The Milli Gazette, D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave Part 1,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi - 110025

Basic requirements: good command over English,

interest in and knowledge of Muslim community
issues, working knowledge of Urdu and Hindi

Quote, Unquote

India in
regressive
mode

If progress means moving forward, then were not involved in

progress at all. We are in a regressive mode, where its open season for anyone who sees a mic to
say what they want. On what
basis does a minister state that
Brahmins are custodians of Indian
culture? Or another minister
decide that everyone either has to
be a son of Ram or leave the
MG NEWS DESK country? Not everything can be

New Delhi: Less than a week after an arson incident at a church in east Delhi,
another church in Jasola area of southeast Delhi was attacked by miscreants
throwing a stone while Mass was going on Saturday, 6 December evening shattering the glass window beside breaking the altar. The incident happened at 6pm
when evening mass was being held at Our Lady Fatima church in Jasola. Police
said they were taking the incident very seriously especially after concerns about
safety of churches across the city were raised by the community.
Joseph, a member of youth committee of the church, said, after the fire incident in Dilshad Garden church, we feel really threatened. A case of mischief
was registered against unknown persons, a police officer said.

excused under the blanket term of

election rhetoric. And prostitutes as a term for actresses and
dancers? Is this the language that
we want to hear? Demeaning to
women and to those people who
work wherever they do, either out
of choice or compulsion? Do we
need more backward elements to
capture our public space? Arent
the khap panchayats and the fatwas of Deoband bad enough?

RANJONA BANERJI
mid-day.com
3 Dec., 2014

Muslim community
is a resource

The countrys Muslim community

is not a resource to be squandered - for reasons that have

impact beyond Indias borders.
Though, in terms of coverage, a
fractional, violent minority garners
most American and European
headlines, Indias large and growing community of moderate
Muslims should stand as evidence
of Islams moderate, un-radicalized majority. And in a time where
South Asians of all creeds are
often stereotyped and discriminated against, and even killed,
because of the actions of that radical few, Indias Muslims are a
180 million-strong rebuttal.

JAKE FLANAGIN
The New York Times
16 Oct., 2014

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

72% of rapes in
Mumbai by boyfriends
As much as 71.9% of the accused facing
rape charges in Mumbai are alleged to
have lured their victims on the pretext of
marriage, according to a review of such
cases reported till October this year. Data
compiled by police shows that of the 542
rape cases filed so far in Mumbai this
year, 389 offences (71.9%) were committed by boyfriends of the victims
after they had promised marriage, Police
Commissioner Rakesh Maria said on
26 November. He added that while 6% of
the sexual assault cases involved
unknown persons, the accused in the
rest were either relatives or immediate
siblings of the victims. Maria said that
more victims approaching police was
one of the reasons why the registration of
rape cases had seen a jump in the
metropolis.

Superbugs Kill Indias

Babies and Pose an
Overseas Threat
A deadly epidemic that could have global
implications is quietly sweeping India,
and among its many victims are tens of
thousands of newborns dying because
once-miraculous cures no longer work.
These infants are born with bacterial
infections that are resistant to most
known antibiotics, and more than 58,000
died last year as a result, a recent study
found.

While that is still a fraction of the nearly 800,000 newborns who die annually in
India, Indian pediatricians say that the rising toll of resistant infections could soon
swamp efforts to improve Indias abysmal
infant death rate. Nearly a third of the
worlds newborn deaths occur in India.
Newborns are particularly vulnerable
because their immune systems are fragile,
leaving little time for doctors to find a drug
that works. Indias resistant infections have
already begun to migrate elsewhere.
Indias dreadful sanitation, uncontrolled use of antibiotics and overcrowding coupled with a complete lack of monitoring the problem has created a tsunami of antibiotic resistance that is reaching just about every country in the world,
said Dr. Timothy R. Walsh, a professor of
microbiology at Cardiff University.
Bacteria spread easily in India,
experts say, because half of Indians
defecate outdoors, and much of the
sewage generated by those who do use
toilets is untreated. As a result, Indians
have among the highest rates of bacterial infections in the world and collectively
take more antibiotics, which are sold
over the counter here, than any other
nationality.
In a continuing study in Delhi at several government-run hospitals that has
so far included more than 12,000 highrisk newborns, and was made available
to The New York Times, about 70 percent of the babies infections were found
to be immune to multiple powerful antibiotics, confirming the results of earlier
and smaller studies.
The effects of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria on treating disease in India
could be enormous. Tuberculosis is just
one example of the challenges doctors
face. India has the worlds largest number of cases, and recent studies using
the latest genetic tests have shown that
as many as 10 percent of untreated
patients in places as far apart as Mumbai
and Sikkim have resistant infections.
These patients are catching resistant
bugs at home, not hospitals, making the
epidemic very difficult to control,
A Unicef survey of 94 district hospitals and health centres in Rajasthan last
year found that 70 percent had possibly
contaminated water and 78 percent had
no soap available at hand-washing
sinks, while 67 percent of toilets were
unsanitary. The most frequent causes of
resistant newborn infections in India are
bacteria
like
Klebsiella
and
Acinetobacter, which are found in
untreated human waste. Such bacteria
rarely infect newborns in developed
nations. (Excerpted from the New York Times,


3 Dec., 2014)

www.milligazette.com

NATIONAL

Muslims 13.8% of population but 20% of jail inmates

New Delhi: According to a recent official survey
report which was made public this month
(November), maximum numbers of prisoners in
Indian jails at present are Muslims, Dalits and
Adivasis, the sections which at present are the
weakest and also are the greatest in number in
jails. It is stated in this report titled Prison
Statistics of India 2013: Census that the combined
population of these three sections is 39 percent of
the countrys population whereas their total number in jails is 53 percent of the jails total population.
In 2013 the total number of prisoners in all jails of
the country was 4.2 lakh, 20 percent of which were
Muslims. According to 2011 census population of
Muslims was slightly more than 13 percent.
Though all statistics of the census on religious
basis has not yet been presented, it wont be much
different. In this way the population of Dalits is
about 17 percent but their number in jails is about
22 percent. Adivasis total population in the country
is about 9 percent but their number in jails is about
11 percent of the total.
According to this report, the reason for the
large number of these sections of population in
jails is not because of their criminal tendency but
after being locked up in jails even because of minor
crimes like brawls, petty thefts, snatchings etc they
dont have enough money to pay for their release
on bail. Also because of their weak economic and
financial position they are unable to fight costly
cases which carry on for years. Some experts also
feel that because of rampant bias, particularly
against Muslims, they are very often arrested in
fake cases also. According to former Chief Justice
of Delhi High Court, Justice Rajinder Sachar, even
after being honourably released after long years of
trial and long drawn legal battle in serious cases,
they had to spend their valuable years behind bars
because of their poverty and costly legal system.
According to a group of lawyers and human rights
activists, our system is very much affected by
communal system. Representation of these groups
of people in police and the judicial system is
extremely limited. According to Abu Saleh Sharif
who was a member of Justice Sachar Committee,
among the prisoners whose cases are pending in
courts, almost 50 percent are Muslims and the

investigation processes are very slow and years

are spent in settling their cases.
Ramesh Nathan of National Dalit Movement
says that Dalits are implicated in false cases. As a
lawyer his experience is that if and when a Dalit
member files a case, a counter case is filed against
him. Statistics about prisoners are being prepared
by National Crime Records Bureau since 1995 but
during the past 15 or 20 years there is no change
in this situation. This clearly shows that our system
itself is defective which badly needs to be rectified.

Owners: Mr. Shatish &Mr. Atul Sabharwal

Address: 92, Jolly makers, Chembur Mumbai 400021
2) Arabian Exports Pvt.Ltd.
Owner: Mr.Sunil Kapoor
Address: Russian Mansions, Overseas, Mumbai 400001
3) M.K.R Frozen Food Exports Pvt. Ltd.
Owner: Mr. Madan Abott.
Address: MG Road, Janpath, New Delhi 110001
4) P.M.L Industries Pvt. Ltd.
Owner: Mr. A.S Bindra
Address: S.C.O 62-63, Sector -34-A, Chandigarh
160022
(muslimmirror.com)

Out of six largest meat

exporters, four are Hindus

Communal tension gripped Kalol town, situated

around twenty kilometres from Godhra, after two
Muslim youths were beaten up by a group of five
Hindu youths who objected to their participation in
a Hindu marriage late 30 November night.
The victims, Rafiq Jarodia and Shahid Morza,
along with complainant Wasim Sheikh, had gone to
attend the ceremony of a friend, Bhavdipsinh
Sisodia on invitation. One of the invitees, Sunny
Joshi saw them and objected to their participation
in a Hindu marriage and asked them to leave.
According to the FIR, not long after the marriage
procession arrived at the Kalol College compound,
the Muslim boys left the venue and were walking
towards the parking lot.
As they were preparing to leave, they were
chased and rounded up by five persons named in
the FIR - Sunny Joshi, Sandip Tadvi, Dipesh, Parth
Kanojia and Akshay Soni. Rafiq and Shahid were
allegedly beaten up with iron rod and bricks by the
accused who allegedly said they disliked Muslims
participating in a Hindu marriage, FIR filed at Kalol
police station stated. One of the two had to be
admitted to a private hospital. The injured was later
referred to the civil hospital in Vadodara.
Upon hearing of the incident, hundreds of
Muslims from around Kalol gathered near the bus
stand to mark their protest, upon which police
teams from Godhra were rushed to bring the situation under control. Two persons have been arrested in this connection and police are looking for
other accused in the FIR. They have been booked
under sections 143, 147, 149, 307, 504, and 507
(2) of IPC and section 135 of GP Act, police said.

New Delhi: Muslims are unnecessarily maligned

and targeted for excessive meat consumption
while the fact is that Christians and Jews are the
highest meat consumer communities. The worlds
largest beef meat exporter is Brazil followed by
India, Australia, USA and UK.
When we look at this issue through an Indian perspective, we are surprised to know that out of six
largest meat exporters of India four are Hindus. In
spite of this fact, Muslims are harassed and targeted and dubbed as beef-eaters. In several
cases they have been attacked by Hindutva
brigades and put behind bars by the police. Many
times communal riots take place due to this blame
game. The communal elements become more
active during Eidul Azha festival in order to communalise the atmosphere.
But the same Hindutva brigades forget the Hindu
animal sacrifice festivals in which thousands of
animals are killed ruthlessly attract media attention
world over.
Theres a ritual of sacrificing cows which is still
performed in some temples of Himachal Pradesh.
Surprisingly, the high court had to intervene to stop
the animal killings in the premises of temples,
especially the Pashupatinath Temple.
Recently, in Nepal around a quarter million animals
were killed during Gadhimai Hindu festival.
Ironically, many Hindu businessmen are among the
largest beef suppliers of India. Following are the
four largest beef exporters who are Hindus:
1) Al-Kabeer Exports Pvt. Ltd.

Communal tension in Kalol

BJP gains in polls after every riot: Yale study

ysms of Hindu-Muslim violence during the partition of the subcontinent in 1947; there were fears
following independence that enmity stemming
from this cleavage would again tear the country
apart, the paper notes.
It adds: The paramount importance of
Congresss role is underscored by the fact that
our estimates likely place a lower bound on its
true impact. Taken in conjunction with the main
result, our secondary finding that riots reduce
subsequent Congress vote shares raises the possibility of a feedback loop or multiplier effect,
whereby the outbreak of Hindu-Muslim violence
causes Congress to lose votes and seats, which
in turn leads to more riots, and so on in a vicious
cycle.

The paper maintains that while the Hindu-Muslim

riots are electorally costly for the Congress, these
riots in effect strengthen the ethno-religious parties.
Gandhinagar: While many within the Congress
blame its electoral debacle to the partys obsession with minority appeasement, a recent study
conducted by three political scientists of the Yale
University of the US claim that had Congress lost
all close elections between 1962 and 2000, there
could have been 10% more communal riots in the
country.
Gareth Nellis, Michael Weaver, Steven
Rosenzweig, political scientists from the Yale
University in their paper titled Do parties matter
for ethnic violence? Evidence from India, have
maintained that the election of a single Congress
MLA in a district brought about a 32% reduction in
the probability of a riot breaking out prior to the
next election. Simulations reveal that had
Congress candidates lost all close elections in our
dataset, India would have faced 10% more riots
and thousands more riot casualties.
The pacifying effect of Congress incumbency appears to be driven by local electoral considerations, in particular the partys exceptionally
strong linkages to Muslim voters during the period

we investigate, they have written. They further

maintain that riots produce ethnic polarization
that benefits ethno-religious parties at the expense
of the Congress. The paper maintains that while
the Hindu-Muslim riots are electorally costly for
the Congress, these riots in effect strengthen the
ethno-religious parties at the expense of multiethnic ones like the Congress.
Analysing the effect of riots on the vote share
of Hindu nationalist parties, the paper notes that
the BJS/BJP saw a 0.8 percentage point increase
in their vote share following a riot in the year prior
to an election. The polarization of the electorate
induced by riots disadvantages Congress in subsequent elections, making it counter-productive
for the partys affiliates to instigate riots following
an electoral loss, the paper notes.
In addition, local Muslim voters - on whom
the Congress depended for votes - would presumably have looked unfavourably towards Congress
orchestrating riots in which Muslims were the
principal victims. This would make instigating
riots a high-risk strategy where there are large
Muslim populations, yet this is precisely where we
find the effect of Congress to be strongest, the
paper adds.
India itself underwent traumatizing parox-

Communal clashes down by

19 percent in 2014: Minister
New Delhi: The number of communal clashes in
India went down from 694 in 2013 to 561 this
year, a drop of 19 percent, Parliament was
informed on 3 December.
As per available information, 694 communal
incidents were reported during January-October
2013, while 561 were reported during JanuaryOctober 2014, Minister of State for Home Affairs
Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply in the Rajya
Sabha.
There has been a decline of 19 percent in
communal incidents, he said.
Though police and public order are state subjects, the central government assists the states
and Union territories by sharing intelligence
inputs, sending alerts, providing central armed
police forces to deal with communal situations,
Rijiju said.
In addition, advisories are also sent from
time to time on important developments having
bearing on communal harmony, he said.
The requests received from states and other
quarters to ban any organisation for its alleged
activities prejudicial to the security of the country
are carefully examined before taking any final view


in the matter, he added.

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

Voice for madrasas raised in Parliament

New Delhi: The problem of madrasas being targeted by communalists from time to time was
raised in Parliament on 25 November and
demand was made that if government has got
any proof against madrasas, these should be
presented in the House, otherwise strong legal
action should be taken against those who
always defame madrasas and describe them as
breeding grounds and dens of terrorism.
Samajwadi partys MP, Chaudhary Munawwar
Saleem, BSPs MP Muhammad Salim Ansari,
Arvind Kumar Singh, Alok Tiwari, Dilip Tarkey
and some other MPs raised this problem in
Parliament.
Chaudhari Munawwar Saleem in his special mention raised in the Upper House (Rajya
Sabha) the problem of repeatedly raising an
accusing finger against Islamic madrasas.
Other members also raised their voice in support. Chaudhari Saleem, referring to the composite culture or Ganga-Jamuni civilization of
the country said that the sacrifices made by
madrasas and their unique role in Indias independence movement cannot be forgotten. He
asked in a strong and emotional voice: who
can forget the electrifying slogan of Inqilab
Zindabad that was raised in 1924 from a
Bareilly madrasa and the martyrdom of molvis

for the sake of the countrys freedom?

Continuing his speech he said, in 1857
Faizbads Molvi Ahmadullah Shah had instilled
fear in the hearts of the British for which the
government in revenge had announced an
award of Rs 50,000 on his head. He said that
during the freedom struggle Darul Uloom
Deobands fatwa in favour of the countrys
independence from the British had greatly
encouraged and strengthened Congress in its
fight against the British government in India as
well as England. He said that in 1913,
Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmood Hasan had
issued the fatwa of Jihad against the Firangis
for which he was banished and imprisoned in
Malta for seven years. Again, he said I want
to tell those who always raise accusing fingers on madrasas that the first President of
India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sachchidanand
and the great social reformer, Raja Ram
Mohan Roy and others were products of
madrasas. In the countrys freedom, sacrifices of the ulama of Darul Uloom, which too
was, and is, a madrasa, stand out prominently and was a bright chapter. He said if the government has got any information or proof of
madrasas imparting education and training in
terrorism, it should be presented before the

Government claims
and the real picture
Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam talks about the
performance of NDA
Thanks to Indias strong democratic tradition, even Narendra Modi
came to power after a regular vote. This tradition requires that new
legislators and governments are allowed a fairly long grace period
before their performance is evaluated. This is why no legislator is
interrupted in his or her maiden speech in assembly or Parliament.
Now that the Modi government is six months old in power, it is
open to evaluation as it has crossed the grace period. On a careful examination, its track record calls for a mixed response. In the
light of BJPs tall electoral promises, its performance does not
have much to write home about. However, from a general reckoning its functioning has been average.

The performance on the economic front is particularly underwhelming. In a brazen attack on Indias pro-poor, socialistic,
planned economy, the Prime Minister abruptly folded up the
Planning Commission. What will replace it is not clear, nor do we
know how it will be better than what it replaced.
Although a slow nibbling at the benefits to the poor has been

country and if not, strong action must be

taken against all those who for their narrow
political interests falsely accuse these
madrasas of terrorism.

BJP Gem 1: Taj Mahal is part

of ancient temple
Bahraich: U.P. states BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai
on 7 December sought to drag the famed mausoleum of love into a row by claiming that it was
a part of an ancient temple. Bajpai told reporters
that Mughal emperor Shah Jahan purchased a
part of Tejo Mahalaya temples land from Raja
Jai Singh and claimed that documents to prove
it still exist.

BJP Gem 2: Declare Gita as

a national scripture
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj demanded on 8 December that Gita
should be recognised as a national scripture
while Haryana CM Khattar said that Gita was
above the Constitution. Swaraj said only a formal announcement to this effect was pending.
The Prime Minister has already given it the
stature of national granth by gifting it to US

going on, the major subsidies that the Right-wing party of the
Prime Minister had been carping about before the polls, remain
intact. In fact, despite the World Bank, IMF and international capitals disapproval the subsidies are still there because the Prime
Minister, who has reserved the PMs chair for ten years, cant
afford to annoy the poor. However, he will try to remove the propoor programmes slowly.
Many of the present governments plans for the people and
their details are the same as those of the UPA (with cosmetic
changes in the nomenclature). The Jan Dhan Yojna, a much-touted programme of financially mainstreaming the masses, has a
big contradiction at its heart. It intends to get everyone a bank
account for direct benefit transfer and for distribution of loans to
the hitherto unbanked. This has to be linked to the Adhar Card,
which the BJP criticised and demanded its scrapping before it
came to power. Now it turns out the BJP was opposed to it merely because it was a brainchild of the UPA. In power, the BJP-led
NDA supports it.
The real problem has come in the form of a warning to the
banks by the Reserve Bank governor to desist from liberally distributing loans to people who may not be able to repay it. Here is
a clear conflict between politics and economics, and the losers
will be simple-minded folk who have built great hopes of a financial bonanza coming their way, a bonanza of larger size than what
they got under UPA.
The claims to great performance on the economic front will

President Barack Obama.

Speaking at an event on Red Front grounds
to mark the 5,151st anniversary of the Gita,
organised by RSS-affiliate Global Inspiration and
Enlightenment Organization of Gita (GIEOGITA),
Swaraj advised psychiatrists to read and prescribe the Gita to patients suffering from depression.
Soon after her statement, VHP president
Ashok Singhal demanded that PM Narendra
Modi declare the Gita a national scripture.
At the same event, Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar said the religious book has
been considered above the Constitution. Gita ke
sandesh ko jab hum dhyan se padhte hain to
to jaisa kaha hai hamare desh ka samvidhan hi
Gita hai. Gita ko samvidhaan se upar maan liya
gaya hai. Kisi bhi desh ka samvidhan kaal aur
paristhithi ke hisab se badalta rehta hai, lekin
Gita aisa saar hai jo sahasvat hai (When we read
the Gita carefully as has been said, our
Constitution is the Gita itself. In fact, the Gita is
considered above the Constitution. Any countrys constitution changes with time and circumstances, but the Gita is eternal), said Khattar. He
added that Haryana had doubled the budget for
Gita Jayanti, and requested the PM to issue a
postal stamp on Gita Jayanti celebrations.

not be true till the economy starts growing at the rate it was growing in the 2000s. More brazen-faced promises like bringing home
all the black money parked in foreign banks have turned out to be
a cruel joke on the voters. Much of the effort to bring home that
money was initiated by the UPA, and this government has not
gone beyond that. In BJP side shows Swami Ramdev used to
draw in his breath (yoga style), puff his chest and declare that he
would bring back all the money from abroad the day Modi government comes to power. He promised to give Rs. 5 lakh to every
Indian. We are still waiting for Rs. 1500 to come from him, as the
first instalment. A Swami is not a brazen liar. There must be some
other reason for his silence.
The government has been taking pride in the lower prices of
fuel. It is not because of any effort on its part. The simple fact is
that the Saudis are selling oil at lower prices because America
has become a great producer of energy and is scheduled to be
the largest producer, leaving behind the Saudis, by 2016.
The governments Make in India programme has the potential to create a lot of jobs as opposed to IT, which creates wealth
without creating jobs. However, for foreign investment to come in
manufacturing we have to improve our score on Ease of Doing
Business parameters. So far India has been at a miserable 140th
position in the world. To make matters worse, the country has
slipped to the 142nd position now. We must work to improve it
without losing time. It is time for the government to work hard and
stop coining catchy slogans every other day. (iosworld.org)

The pebbles ahead in Mr Modis comfortable ride

FIRDAUS AHMED
Mr. Modi is so comfortably in power that he can ride out the storm
ineffectually put up by the opposition and intellectual class over
the deplorable remarks of one of his ministers.
There are three legs to Mr. Modis stool. The first is the one from
which springs the minister in question, the Sangh. The second is corporate India and the third is the international community. Even so,
Mr. Modis comfort levels can be upset, and given the prohibitive
prospective cost of this, requires timely warning against.
Over the short term, the corporate India and its middle class is
the more critical leg of Mr. Modis stool. Mr. Modi is its hatchet man
and has played his part thus far admirably. He has rolled back environmental legislation, gone global with his Make in India campaign,
kept the autarchists of the loony brigade in check, firmed up his
fences and in doing so given a boost to the defence sector.
Corporate India awaits Mr. Modis bolder roll out of the second generation economic reforms that are perhaps wisely pended by him to the next budget. This gives him time enough to firmin in saddle so that he can then proceed with confidence. This will
enable the corporate to get back the investment they have made
in him over the past decade, culminating in the rupee imparted
ballast to his election campaign. Mr. Modi needs to deliver on their
demands in order to be able to fulfil his ideological inclinations.
Arguably, over the longer term it is the ideological agenda of
the right wing that carries greater significance for Mr. Modi. For
the present, rightist oddballs that embarrass corporate India and
its Modi-supporting middle class have to be managed. They lent
their legs to his campaign as well as generated the polarisation to
make of the Hindu vote a bankable vote bank for Mr. Modi. They
will have their pound of flesh and therefore the politician in Mr.
Modi is unlikely to mess with them. This explains his reticence in
the case of the eminently sackable minister in question. It is the
cultural nationalist agenda to which Mr. Modi will turn once his
economic agenda is on course. This will not merely keep the
Sangh placated but will help keep Mr. Modi in power well into his
dotage; besides ensuring his place in Hindutva history books as

the one who rolled back a millennium of humiliation. And well in

time for the birth centenary of the RSS that conveniently for his
project coincides with 500 years of Baburs invasion.
Mr. Modis comfort levels are enhanced by India being the
cynosure of the international community due to its strategic and
economic significance. His economic agenda will be supported
by global capital and Indias diaspora that has helped him to
power for precisely this purpose. The strategic scene is also Modi
friendly. Obama is enroute to India since India is important for the
containment and balancing of a rising China. It is also useful to
cover the US flank as it moves out of the region. Obama would
not like another Iraq-style return to square one when he pulls out
of Afghanistan. Whereas India would have been significant, with
or without Mr. Modi, Mr. Modis attributes are useful, particularly
for the US.
Mr. Modis Pakistan policy suggests as much. He has put
Pakistan on notice and that helps the US cover its tracks as it bails
out of Afghanistan. Mr. Modis attributes are useful for the US. It
is not unhappy in the temporary turn to majoritarian politics in
India and its corollary of incipient authoritarian rule. History
repeatedly reminds that being a friend of the US is worse than
being its enemy. For China and Russia, India assumes importance
owing to his importance to the US. Both want to keep India out of
the US firmament.
If life were a fairy tale, it could be said that such comfort levels can breed hubris that can bring Mr. Modi down. However, analytical rigour precludes such wishful thinking. It is unlikely that
Indias justice system that alone could have made a difference
can catch up with him. On the contrary, a commission report has
pronounced him guiltless and the courts have asked for speeding
up of the Gujarat trials in order to put them behind him. This suggests India will race into a Modi-led future comprising of a Ram
Temple, status of third largest economy and other middle class
ego enhancing gimmicks such as Indian on the moon and ocean
going boomers.
To think that political midgets in Indias opposition comprising
has-beens and would-bes can get Modi is a laugh. Also,

Maoists are unlikely to be able to break out of the jungles in the

timeframe till 2025 to build bridges with disempowered have-nots
left behind by Mr. Modis gifting of India to corporate interests.
Since Mr. Modi strides the internal domain unchecked, the seeds
of possible upsetting of Mr. Modis applecart are in the external
domain. His aggressive regional policy has potential to cause unravelling of his two-step strategy: economy followed by socio-cultural
engineering. Developments on the Pakistan front are somewhat
unsettling, with Pakistans national security adviser pronouncing that
normalisation is ruled out so long as Mr. Modi is in the chair. Mr.
Jaitley has in response indicated that it is Pakistan that has instead to
appreciate Indias trajectory is such that Pakistan cannot escape
falling in line. On the China front, Indias proximity to the US is such
that it may get the message that India has been unresponsive to its
premiers visit. China could prop up Pakistan, as it has all along, to
keep India tied down, just as the US is propping up India to keep
China tied down. Given military preparations, including nuclear developments, and a strategic scene set to get interesting in the Chinese
sense of the word in AfPak and Indias increasing footprint in
Afghanistan, there is scope for instability.
The scenario of a mega terror attack being followed up by an
Indian Cold Start attack leading to tactical nuclear use by Pakistan
is by now trite, but Indias aggressive posture, perhaps intended
for deterrence, under Mr. Modi, may lead up to its inevitable
unfolding in case terrorists wanting to set India back, try him. In
effect, Indias aggressiveness makes this more likely, even if
Indias posture is intended to achieve the opposite.
The place of the minority in this is rather delicate. In case
India is upset in this manner, Mr. Modi and his backers will need
a scapegoat. Muslims, scattered in isolated local communities
across the Indian landmass, have proven handily vulnerable.
Finally, the higher he soars the more resounding the fall; implying
he will take much else down with him. Since he will likely go only
in pulling the house down with him, there is no cause for Muslims
to want to figure in the debris. Self-preservation impels wishing
him well, though seeds of possible alternative futures need warning against.
The author blogs at http://www.subcontinentalmusings.blogspot.in

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

Mischievous misappropriation of a
respected leader
RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
Those resorting to communal
politics have not only perfected
their techniques of polarising
the communities along religious
lines, but have been constantly
resorting to new methods for
dividing society. In the backdrop
of Muzzafarnagar, where Love Jihad propaganda was used to push the divisive agenda, now in
Aligarh an icon of matchless virtues, Raja
Mahendra Pratap Singh, is being employed for
similar purposes.
Attempts by the BJP and its associates to
hold a memorial function in his honour on Aligarh
Muslim University (AMU) campus were successfully deflected by the Vice-Chancellor of the university with a plan for a seminar befitting the contribution to the freedom movement of this AMU
alumnus. The BJP dug up this icon from pages of
history, trying to exploit the prevalent respect for
him decades after his death. The answer to why
such enthusiasm for the man now at this particular juncture is revealing.
Mahendra Pratap died on 29 April 1979, and
now out of the blue the BJP seems to have felt that
his Jat Hindu identity can be pitched as a flag of
their politics. Raja Mahenra Pratap was a freedom
fighter extraordinaire, a journalist and a writer. He
was a humanist, believing in international federation of nations transcending national and religious
boundaries. He was a Marxist who called for
social reforms and empowerment of Panchayats.
He was president of Indian Freedom Fighters
Association. He was also the first one to form a
provisional Indian government in exile by establishing it in Kabul in 1915. The Indian National
Congress adopted the goal of complete freedom
for India much later in its 1929 session. This provisional government was called Hukumat-iMuktar-i-Hind, and was constituted with Raja
Mahindra Pratap as the president, Maulvi
Barkatullah as prime minister and Maulana

This episode has many lessons for society. To begin with,

national icons are being modulated to suit communal
politics. Be it Sardar Patel, Swami Vivekanand, Mahatma
Gandhi or, in this case, Raja Mahendra Pratap, they are
being presented in a light which suits communal politics.
Mahedra Pratap, who was a Marxist internationalist, is
being presented as a mere Jat leader. He was a person
who opposed politics in the name of religion, as is
evident from his electoral fight against BJPs previous
Raja Mahindra Pratap
avatar, Bhartiya Jan Sanghs Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Obaidullah Sindhi as interior minister.
After independence, he also participated in
the electoral arena where he defeated Atal Behari
Vajpayee in Mathura in the 1957 Lok Sabha election. His commitment to oppose communal forces
could not be more evident than his opposition to
the leader of Bhartiya Jan Sangh, Vajpayee.
Ironically, the same person who opposed them is
being projected by the BJP as their icon. BJP leaders like Yogi Adityanath are claiming that had
Mahendra Pratap not donated land the AMU would
not have come up.
This is contrary to facts. The predecessor of
AMU, Mohamedan Anglo-Oriental College was
created in 1886, on land bought from British cantonment (nearly 74 acres). Much later, in 1929,
Raja Mahindra Pratap leased 3.04 acres of land,
which is called Tikonia ground and is used as a
playground by the City High School of AMU. He
joined the Mohamedan Anglo Oriental College in
1895, but could not complete his graduation. He
left MAO College in 1905. MAO became Aligarh
Muslim University in 1920, which regards Raja
Mahendra Pratap Singh as an alumnus. In 1977,
AMU, under V-C Prof A M Khusro, felicitated
Mahendra Pratap at the centenary celebrations of
MAO.
He wasnt born when MAO College was
established, and there is no record of any donation
of land from him. Mahendra Prataps father, Raja
Ghanshiam Singh of Mursan, had got a hostel
room constructed, which continues to stand as

Room Number 31 in Sir Syed Hall (South).

BJP demanded that Mahenra Prataps birthday should be celebrated as AMU celebrates the
birthday of Sir Syed, the founder of the University.
RSS functionaries and BJP leaders put pressure
on the V-C, who pointed out that AMU cannot celebrate birthday of every donor or alumnus, while
duly recognising their contribution to the building
of the university. Already the AMU, in recognition
of Raja Mahendra Prataps contribution to the university, has put up his photo in the University
along with the photo of Sir Syed.
Last month UP BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai
and general secretary Swatantra Dev Singh visited
Aligarh and directed their district unit to celebrate
the birthday of Mahendra Pratap on the AMU campus. The raja is also a Jat icon, In popular perception, AMU is seen as a Muslim institution. The JatMuslim conflict, instigated by communal forces,
which erupted in the form of violence in
Muzaffarnagar, continues to affect the western
part of UP. The BJP, through its machinations,
probably wants to restore the glory of a Jat king.
As such the idea is to appropriate one more icon
and, in the process, if the state government puts
curbs on the celebration, the BJP can benefit by
accusing the state government of Muslim
appeasement.
V-C Gen. Shahs suggestion about celebrating the birth anniversary of Raja Mahendra Pratap
by organising a seminar on his contribution to
freedom movement of India is a welcome initia-

Hindutva: a ceaseless anti-Muslim campaign

After twelve years of investigation Justice Nanavati saw no such level of barbarity. By the way,
it was Justice Akshay Mehta (the other member of the inquiry commission) who had sanctioned
bail to Babu Bajrangi. Later Bajrangi was re-arrested and tried and sentenced to long
imprisonment. This proves that Modi not only played an active role, but also the chain of
command principle implies his complicity in the genocide.
MUSTAFA KHAN
Hindutva is a relentless crusade against religious minorities, especially Muslim. It engages Muslims through acts of belligerence calculated and focused on its object of obliterating or submerging the
minority into a larger Hindu identity. The main force behind Hindutva
is the hate ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). This
organisation of extremist Hindus did not take part in the struggle for
freedom of India. Instead, it instructed its cadre to save their energies for mounting an assault on Muslims after Independence in
1947.

The door of the Muslim community and that would lead to their
massacre. Given VD Savarkars record of complicity in mounting
terrorist attacks during the British rule and the assassination of
Mahatma Gandhi this is not a farfetched idea.
When Najma Heptulla was appointed Minister for Minority
Affairs in May 2014 she remarked that Muslims are so large in
numbers that they could not be called a minority and they ought not
to demand reservation or other concessions. She said Parsis were
a real ministry. Within six months her ministry created a huge fund
for increasing the population of Parsis by floating a scheme called
Jiyo Parsi.[1]
In contrast, there has been no such scheme to protect the life
of Muslims who are frequently killed in riots, pogroms and genocide. There is no adequate help for families of Muslims who have
lost their life or lost their houses in riots. Modi government in
Gujarat refused to pay even stipends to Muslim boys and girls for
education as recommended by Sachar Committee. Rupa Mody
and her daughter were rescued from the besieged house of Ahsan
Jafri while the former Member of Parliaments plea to Modi and
Sonia Gandhi to save the life of all who had sought refuge in his
house fell on deaf ears and the house, with several people inside
it was burnt down. All this shows how Hindutva cannot brook the
existence of Muslims in society.
In the pogroms by Hindutva a good deal of the enthusing by
Savarkar went in the rape and killing of Muslim women and girls.
As Babu Bajrangi proudly claimed, he and his horde felt like Rana
Pratap when they were perpetrating manslaughter. He claimed in

the sting operation tapes of Tehelka that even those eating rice and
pulse (Hindus) could do that, namely rape and kill Muslim women
and girls.[2] Modi took a cue from this when he praised the Chharra
community in the late evening of February 28, 2002 that their mothers had given birth to brave males. The chief minister even went
further and instructed them not to slacken their campaign of murder and mayhem on the following two days given them to finish the
genocide
After twelve years of investigation Justice Nanavati saw no
such level of barbarity. By the way, it was Justice Akshay Mehta
(the other member of the inquiry commission) who had sanctioned
bail to Babu Bajrangi. Later Bajrangi was re-arrested and tried and
sentenced to long imprisonment. This proves that Modi not only
played an active role, but also the chain of command principle
implies his complicity in the genocide.
The statement of Ambedkar (The Hindus has been a life of
continuous defeat. It is a mode of survival of which every Hindu will
feel ashamed.) is in the context of simmering anger and persistent
conflict between the Brahamanical order and oppressed Dalits.
Lord Ram had cut the hands of a Dalit youth, Shambuk, and then
beheaded him. Shambuks sin was that he had learned the art of
playing flute and practiced it in defiance of this being forbidden to
the Dalits.[3]
Whose pride and shame is this?
The anti-Muslim crusade acquired a new dimension in the last
decade and half. First, Dalits were pitted against Muslims during the
2002 pogrom and then came the reward of BJP growing in strength
in Gujarat election. Ashok Singhal of VHP boasted about the successful experiment. He said that it would be replicated all over the
country. It was. Muzaffarnagar, Assam and Trilokpuri followed in
succession. Bal Thackeray claimed that it was he and his men who
had shown the way to Modi drawing on the memory of early eighties and nineties of the previous century. We have not yet seen the
last of Hindutva atrocity.
[1] www.jiyoparsi.org.parzor.com
[2] Tehelka, November 3, 2007.
[3] See Ambedkars book Riddles of Hinduism.

tive. The situation seems to have been diffused for

the time being. The BJP had planned a rally outside the gate of AMU, which could have precipitated unwarranted incidents.
This episode has many lessons for society.
To begin with, national icons are being modulated
to suit communal politics. Be it Sardar Patel,
Swami Vivekanand, Mahatma Gandhi or, in this
case, Raja Mahendra Pratap, they are being presented in a light which suits communal politics.
Mahendra Pratap, who was a Marxist internationalist, is being presented as a mere Jat leader. He
was a person who opposed politics in the name of
religion, as is evident from his electoral fight
against BJPs previous avatar, Bhartiya Jan
Sanghs Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Secondly, the BJP is manipulating peoples
identity as primarily being religious - Hindu or
Muslim. In case of Muzzafarnagar, the Jats who
were instigated in the name of Love Jihad came
to stand more for Hindu identity. This identity is
then made to stand opposed to the other religious identity, in particular, Muslim identity and
sometimes, Christian identity. The same game is
being played in parts of Delhi, where Dalits are
being pitched against Muslims.
Communal politics not only manipulates the
identity of the people, but also that of the icons, as
is clear in the case of Raja Mahendra Pratap. The
third major lesson for society to learn is that the
search is on to find more and more issues to pitch
one religious community against the other to
strengthen the politics of a particular type. While
the top leadership will talk of moratorium on violence, the associates of the same leadership will
stoke the processes which will lead to violence in
due course.
Restraint is needed to ensure that we learn the
values of the icons, e.g., the likes of Raja
Mahendra Pratap teach us the basic lessons of
love and amity, peace and universal humanism. To
exploit conflicting religious identities for electoral
processes is a gross violation of human morality,
irrespective of the religion in whose name it is
done.

Judiciary fails again

On 8 December, I witnessed an event in the NIA Special Court,
Patiala Dist Court of Delhi, which was not expected from the
judiciary and investigation agencies. At about 4:00 pm,
National Investigation Agency (NIA) Team produced a Kashmiri
youth before the Special Judge Ms. Neena Bansal Krishnan.
The Kashmiri youth immediately after his production complained to the Judge that just before coming to this court these
NIA personnel kept him completely naked and took his signatures on blank sheets. The youth clearly identified the officer
present in the court who had the said blank sheets having the
youths signatures in a file he was holding. Even after repeated
requests and complaints, the Special Judge ignored the youth.
In the meantime, the identified officer rushed outside the courtroom. The Kashmiri youth saw him rushing outside and again
told the judge that the identified officer is leaving the courtroom, please check his files but again the judge ignored the
youths repeated requests.
I followed the NIA officer outside the courtroom and witnessed him handing over the said papers to another NIA officer.
When the other officer noticed that I am observing these activities, he immediately rushed out from the place.
Though the proceeding was announced as in-camera, I was
not allowed to sit inside. After the proceeding, I heard a senior NIA
officer saying to the Public Prosecutor for NIA, Advocate Shipra,
that what happened in the courtroom was normal.
A complaint has been filed by the Defence Lawyer after getting the signature of Kashmiri youth. But, unfortunately, I was
again an eye witness of the failure of the judicial system including the Judge, Public Prosecutor and the Defence Lawyer, as
they all failed to catch the culprit officer who successfully managed to escape with the evidence of his crime from the socalled temple of justice.
Creation of fake evidences to implicate someone and robbing his right to life and liberty seems to be a normal matter for
an NIA officer in the discharge of his official duties.
I am feeling disenchanted that again I was only a silent
spectator of the crime that was being perpetrated by our judiciary and security agencies.
A belief that percolated as a result of such experiences is
that the goonda elements in criminal justice system are not
self-growing but the judiciary is feeding and watering them to
grow.
ABUBAKR SABBAQ SUBHANI, MSW, LLB
Asst. National Coordinator, APCR

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

RSS claims reconversion of 200 Agra Muslims

Agra: Members of at least 57 Muslim families were converted
to Hinduism at a ceremony called Purkhon ki ghar vapsi, a mass
conversion jointly organized by Dharma Jagran Samanvay Vibhag,
an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and
Bajrang Dal in Agra on 8 December.
RSS regional head Rajeshwar Singh said more than 200
Muslims were brought back to Hinduism in the mass event held
in Madhunagar area of the city. According to organizers, the converts will soon be given new names.
According to Times of India (9 December), Singh claimed that
around 5,000 more Muslims and Christians will be brought back into
Hindu fold in Aligarh this Christmas. The grand event will be held at
Maheshwari College in Aligarh, he said, daring anyone to stop it.
According to media reports, members of as many as 57
Muslim families washed feet of Hindu idols to mark their return to
Hinduism. Long vermillion marks were put on their foreheads and
they were given Prasad to eat. Later, RSS and Bajrang Dal activists
gave them a mantra to chant the whole day and prepared a list
of all the converts, to get their voter IDs and Aadhaar cards
made, with their new names. According to some reports these
converts are all Bangladeshi migrants for whose expulsion RSS
and allied outfits have been crying hoarse for years. It is illegal for
such persons to get Aadhar and ration cards.
Rajeshwar Singh told Times of India (9 December) that RSS
spends Rs 50 lakh every month on conversion of an average 1,000
families. It spends Rs 8-10 lakh per month on fuel costs alone in
west UP, he added. We have re-converted 2.73 lakh Muslims and
Christians in Braj region that includes Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Mathura,
Firozabad, Etah, Meerut, Mainpuri and Uttarakhand since 2003. The
upcoming mass re-conversion event in which some 5,000 Muslims
and Christians will be brought back into Hindu fold will be headed by
Yogi Adityanath on December 25 in Aligarh, Singh said.
Singh also claimed that RSS has taken possession of as
many as 60 churches across the state, where no Christians worship now, as they have all been re-converted to Hinduism.
Ek din in girijagharo ki deewarein bhi gir jayengi aur hamara
desh sirf hinduon ka hoga (one day even the walls of these
churches will crumble and our country will belong to the Hindus
alone), he added.
Ajju Chauhan, the Bajrang Dal leader who zeroed in on the

5.41 lakh minority youths

got govt. loans in 5 years
New Delhi: In the last five years, around 5.41 lakh unemployed
youths from six notified minorities have got government assistance in form of loans from the National Minorities Development
and Finance Corporation (NMDFC). While about 73% of the beneficiaries are from the Muslim community, Christians form 25%.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of State for Minority Affairs,
informed Rajya Sabha today that in 5 years (from 2009-10 to
31.10.2014), State Channelising Agencies of NMDFC disbursed
loans among 5,41,209 youths from minorities communities.
Some 73.32% of the beneficiaries were Muslims and 25.08% of
them were Christians.
Under NMDFC scheme, as per the eligibility criterion for disbursement of loan, the candidate should belong to any of the 6 notified
minority communities viz. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists,
Jains and Parsis. The Annual Family income of the person should not
exceed Rs.81,000 in Rural Area and Rs.1,03,000 in the Urban area.
According to 2001 census, there are 25 districts with more
than one million Muslims. The largest was Murshidabad (3.7 million) followed by Malappuram and South and North Twenty-Four
Paraganas. All the three most Muslim populated districts are outside the cow-belt. Only 9 out of 593 districts of India could be
considered as predominantly Muslim with over 75% population.
These include Lakshadweep and 8 districts of J & K. In 11 disc-

MG comment: India is slowly becoming a Hindu state for all

practical purposes where religious freedoms of other religions
are not respected. In recent years, a number of Indian states
have introduced freedom of religion laws which in fact
restrict and inhibit religious freedom of Indian citizens. If
someone converts to Islam or Christianity he and his helpers
are usually arrested and put behind bars alleging that they
used monetary allurement to convert that person, while Hindu
groups like RSS and VHP do this with impunity offering all
kinds of inducements though they are not very successful and
use deceit and monetary and other inducements to achieve
this. Many instances like the present Agra one and earlier
events have turned out to be hoax where illiterate and poor
people were lured to attend functions with the promise of
certain services and monetary help; photos were taken and
published as conversion of Muslims and Christians to
Hinduism. Administration does nothing against these
elements. Most of such cases are fraudulent. Hindu
organisations use such fake events to gather funds and
enthuse their supporters. (Zafarul-Islam Khan)
slum in Madhunagar and organized the mass re-conversion event,
was overwhelmed after the puja. More than three dozen RSS and
Bajrang Dal members were guarding the pandal to avoid any untoward incident.
However, a day later, many of the converts said they were
tricts, Muslims are between 50% to 75% of the population - six of
these are in Assam, two from J & K and one each from Kerala,
Bihar and West Bengal. There are 38 districts with Muslim population proportion ranging from 25% to 50% - 12 districts in UP, 5
in WB and Kerala each, 4 in Assam, 3 in Bihar, 2 in Jharkhand, two
in Delhi and one each in AP, Haryana, J & K, Uttaranchal and
Pondicherry. In 182 districts, proportion of Muslim population
was between 10% and 25%. Muslim population in these 182 districts accounts for 47% of total Muslim population and 65% of
Muslims live in districts where their population is less than 25%.
(Excerpted from IndiaTomorrow.net)

New system to check suspicious passengers

New Delhi: According to a PTI news, an electronic system for
alerting authorities about suspicious travellers was launched on
27 November at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New
Delhi.
The new electronic system called Indian Customs
Advanced
Passenger
Information System, (APIS)
is said to have been developed by the National
Informatics Centre with the
help of the Directorate General
of Systems under the Finance

Muslims will learn to live as second class citizens

Muslim leaders during the freedom struggle did know that democracy being the numbers game,
Muslims being in the minority will never gain power to rule over India. However, they had never
experienced the actual working of democracy and the electoral shenanigans. If fact, it is the minority that rules over the majority. Modi with only 31 percent vote is ruling over rest of the 69 percent
majority. At another level of analysis, the 3 percent Brahmins are actually ruling over India with a
designer majority manipulated by demonizing Muslims as the7 OTHER. With due respect to our elders like Sir Muhammad Iqbal and MA Jinnah, they had never got the experience or practice of how
democracy is being manipulated so that only the minority rules over the majority. They only stuck
to an academic study of Democracy. They did not get the chance to observe the actual practice of
democratic and electoral process to overcome the fear of Muslims never becoming the rulers of
India, ever again.

This was a big misconception that became the misfortune of the Muslim community. They lost
all self-confidence and struggled only to not being relegated as second class citizens.
They are not prepared to even think, imagine, strive, plan and strategize, how this largest
minority could in fact rule India, either overtly or covertly.
We have lost half a century in trying to defend the status-quo that Congress had imposed on
us. With the Brahmins now in disarray and the foreigners in fact becoming the masterminds to
decide and dictate where India could or should go, Muslims stand a chance to review their outlook
and their ambitions for a brighter future, with no holds barred in their thinking and their actions.
No need to once again go into depression. The kaleidoscopic world is bringing forth new permutations and combinations of power equations. With worlds super-power becoming an expert in
regime-change strategies and bringing in democratic majority with a clever sleight of hand day in
and day out, the old shine of democracy is now a myth.
Muslims should prepare themselves for future leadership of India, just as Brahmins did prepare themselves even when they were under British colonial rule.

GHULAM MUHAMMED, Mumbai

ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com

still Muslims, with some admitting that they had joined the RSS
and Bajrang Dal-organized ghar vapsi ceremony after being
promised ration cards and houses (Times of India, 10 December).
Farhan, a slum-dweller, said, If 40 people in saffron scarves
come and stand on your head, you will do just as they want.
Farhan was among those who had taken part in the puja, washed
the feet of Hindu gods and also briefly worn vermillion on his forehead. Farhan said it was all for getting those men in saffron
scarves off his back.
Ismail, who led the 200-odd Muslims in the event, said he
offered namaz next day after no one from the saffron outfits turned
up in their neighbourhood. Were poor people and anyone can do
anything with us. We cant afford to lose our lives over religion and
conversion, Ismail said, adding that the promise of ration cards
and houses had drawn many people. They first threatened to get
us to vacate our homes. The land is owned by a Hindu. Later, they
said that if we converted, we would get houses and better schooling for children, Ismail said. The women who had posed before
cameramen the previous day appeared withdrawn the day after
and would not even allow the kids out to play.
An FIR has been filed in Agra against the persons who organized this fraudulent event but no particular organization was mentioned in the FIR.
Prof. Nafees Ahmad, living in an adjacent area, said in an
email, Everything is clear by now. This is totally baseless that the
Bangladeshi Muslims of Nagla Vednagar of Agra have converted
to Hindus. Being Bangladeshis, they have no ground, such as
Adhar Card or Ration Card etc, to stay in India, One Ajju Chowhan,
a Bajrangdal/RSS activist, promised these very poor and illiterate
Muslims to get them prepared Adhar and Ration cards and provide money and a piece of land for homes if they fill a form and
attend a ceremony being organised in a Mandir and get it photographed. Thus, these poverty-ridden and illiterate people got
ready to do so in order to get the said documents which are necessary for becoming an Indian National. They say they were
bluffed by this person.
They have offered Salat on Tuesday (9 Dec.) and denied to
have converted to Hinduism, Alhamdulillah. Muslim organisations
have demanded his arrest and action against the said Ajju
Chowhan.


Ministry, official sources said. The system, along the lines of one
in place in the US, would act as an electronic database of all passengers, crew and other airline staff entering and exiting the international airport here, they said.
APIS automatically red flags suspicious passengers on the
basis of their movement and other parameters and gives a lead to
customs officials for follow up, the sources said.
The system was developed on the model of the Electronic
Advanced Passenger Information System used by Customs and
Border Protection officials in the US, they added. APIS is also capable of handling information such as the issuance of red corner
notices against wanted persons and warrants issued by Interpol
and other law enforcement agencies, the sources said. The system
is being run as a pilot at the airport here and produced satisfactory results, they said, adding that APIS would be helpful in checking
the instances of smuggling at the airport, which have seen a rise


so far this year.

Help ood affected

people of Kashmir

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

How the Sangh Parivar systematically attacks the very Idea of India ii
Following is the second and last part of
award-winning documentary filmmaker
Anand Patwardhans Rajendra Mathur
Memorial Lecture before the Editors
Guild on 17 Nov. (Editor)

ANAND PATWARDHAN

The Modi development model will

drive India over the cliff
The rise of Hindutva violence and
Hindutva terror coincided with the
introduction of World Bank-IMFLed economic reforms in India. In
the wake of the Ayodhya movement, BJPs number in
Parliament climbed from two
MPs to 88 MPs. IN tandem, these two trends
brought ? Modi to absolute power at the centre.
The two trends are deeply connected.
From Independence till the 1970s, India was at
the forefront of the Non-Aligned Movement, equidistant from the USA and the Soviet Union.
Internally, the economy followed a Nehruvian mix
of public and private sectors.
Indira Gandhis Emergency nationalised banks
and favoured the public sector. After Indiras assassination, the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi inched
back towards the US, ushering in liberalisation as
per the orders of the International Monetary Fund
and the World Bank.
In 1979, United States President Jimmy Carter
signed the first directive for covert financial aid to
the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. As
Soviet troops entered to defend the Afghan government under rebel attack what followed was a proxy
war between the USSR and Islamic militants promoted by the USA.
In India, the fallout was seen in rising religious
strife. Islamic militancy grew violent in Kashmir and
a Sikh separatist movement in Punjab resulted in a
horrific anti-Sikh massacre in 1984. That year was
also marked by a Sangh Parivar meet which decided that razing a 16th-century Babri Mosque in
Ayodhya to build a Hindu temple to Lord Ram
would be the fastest method of mass Hindu mobilisation. In the wake of mayhem, BJP grew from
two to 88 seats in parliament.
The beginning of the liberalisation era thus
curiously coincided with the rapid, though zigzag,
rise of Hindutva. The culmination of these twin trajectories is Narendra Modi, an RSS man who is
also a darling of big business and the corporate
media.
Modis ascent from a Sangh pracharak to
prime minister and "world leader" needs to be seen
operating in two correlated ideologies, Sanghs and
the other related to global environmental changes
post 1985.

Health

In 2002 Celia Dugger of the New York Times had

interviewed Modi a couple of months after the riots. "I
asked [Modi] if he had any regrets about what had
happened in his state in that period: Women openly
raped, hundreds of people killed. He told me his greatest
regret was that he didnt manage the media very well."
It is a mistake he would never repeat. No media, from TV
to radio, print to internet is now left out of the ambit.
Paid advertising has been taken to new heights. If the
funds available seem inexhaustible so do the acolytes.
Even with an X-ray machine, it is hard to spot a
backbone.
Rapidly decreasing natural resources led to the
consolidation of business interests and their alignment with Western super powers. Oil drove the
industrial revolution. the world has already consumed half the available supply on the planet.
Potable water is also running out, as are other raw
materials. The logic that "only if the rich get richer
will the poor live better!" has been popularised by
an oligopolistic media enterprise.
The sovereignty gained by Asian, African,
South American countries during the 1950s presents an impediment for profit-mongering for global
business. The concept of citizenship and sovereignty that emerged during the 17th century are a
threat in the path of wresting complete control of
fast-dwindling resources. The New World Order
under the World Trade Order-General Agreement on
Trade and Tariffs was launched to ensure that the
rich would continue to get richer even as the pie
began to crumble.
The financial power of the multi-nationals private business is huge. For example, in 2007, the
total volume of trade by private corporations the
world over was over $1,171 trillion; the sum of the
earnings of all countries was a mere $66 trillion,
almost 20 times less.
Modis "development" ideology is not an accident. Nor were Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh
Ahluwalia and P Chidambaram accidents. It is just
that they could not quite keep pace with the everincreasing demands of resource capturing corporates. So, if a Modi did not exist, he would have
been invented.
Assurances of rapid environmental clearances
for mega-projects, weakening safeguards in the
Land Acquisition Act, withdrawal of the Gram
Sabhas right to decide the fate of mega-projects
by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, handing over large tracts of reserved forest land to corporates like Adani, amending the Coastal
Regulation Zone to allow coastal lands to fall into
the hands of builders, promoting the production of
petrol and diesel-driven consumer cars and
expanding the already vast network of expensive
highways and flyovers, increasing the Foreign
Direct Investment in Defence and Retail, accompanied by the dismantling of elements of welfare like
the withdrawal of free medicines in Maharashtra

merely two days after the new BJP government is

sworn in and the alarmingly high rate of malnutrition in the model state of Gujarat - these are a few
symptoms of a phenomenon reminiscent of the
close embrace between Hitlers Germany and the
mega-business of his day.
In India it was image makeover time. For Modi
to become PM or even, just to get a USA visa, the
first requirement was a clean chit about the massacre in Gujarat. What he got instead was the
absence of a clear guilty verdict. The Supreme
Courts amicus curie had found enough evidence
to prosecute Modi but the Special Investigation
Team did not agree. The SIT report confirmed that
while Modi claimed to have been unaware of the
Gulbarg Society massacre, in a contrary finding,
Modi was shown to have held meetings with police
officers throughout the day in order to continuously monitor the violence. The SIT also confirmed that
Modis Gujarat state government was guilty of
destroying a huge amount of incriminating evidence, including completely destroying the records
of police communications and government meetings during the riots. For a relieved corporate
media, all this passed as "a clean chit".
The "clean chit" for Modis closest aide Amit
Shah, is more astounding. He is accused of being
a key player in the cold-blooded false encounter
killings of Sohrabuddin, Kauser Bi and Tulsi
Prajapati. The case is still going on even though
Amit Shah has been strangely allowed to skip court
on a regular basis.
Under Shahs watch there was communal riot
in Muzaffarnagar and polarised voters gave BJP a
landslide victory.
In 2005, US officials denied Modi a visa just as
he was preparing to travel to New York to address
Indian-Americans at a rally scheduled in Madison
Square Garden.
With Modi unable to go to the US, his place
was filled by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art
of Living Foundation. During a long interactive session with nearly 4,000 delegates of the Asian
American Hotel Owners Convention Sri Sri was
asked his views on Modi. He said "I dont comment
on individuals because individuals are just part of
one wholeness."
Sri Sri then went on to talk about the unprece-

Great tips to take care of heart!

An Interview with Dr. Devi

Shetty, one of the most
renowned heart surgeons in
India today and a world-class
cardiologist. It was arranged
by WIPRO for its employees.
Question: What are the thumb rules
for a layman to take care of his heart?
Answer: 1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil. 2.
Exercise - Half an hours walk, at least
five days a week; avoid lifts and avoid
sitting for a longtime. 3. Quit smoking.
4. Control weight. 5. Control blood
pressure and sugar.
Q: Is eating non-veg food (fish) good
for the heart? A: No.
Q: Its still a grave shock to hear that
some apparently healthy person gets a
cardiac arrest.. How do we understand
it in perspective?
A: This is called silent attack; that is
why we recommend everyone past the
age of 30 to undergo routine health
checkups.
Q: Are heart diseases hereditary?
A: Yes.
Q: What are the ways in which the
heart is stressed? What practices do
you suggest to de-stress?
A: Change your attitude towards life.
Do not look for perfection in everything
in life.
Q: Is walking better than jogging or is
more intensive exercise required to
keep a healthy heart?

A: Walking is better than jogging since

jogging leads to early fatigue and
injury to joints
Q: You have done so much for the
poor and needy. What has inspired
you to do so?
A: Mother Theresa , who was my
patient.
Q: Can people with low blood pressure
suffer heart diseases?
A: Extremely rare.
Q: Does cholesterol accumulate right
from an early age (Im currently only
22) or do you have to worry about it
only after you are above 30 years of
age?
A: Cholesterol accumulates from
childhood.
Q: How do irregular eating habits
affect the heart?
A: You tend to eat junk food when the
habits are irregular and your bodys
enzyme release for digestion gets confused.
Q: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?
A: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.
Q: Can yoga prevent heart ailments?
A: Yoga helps.
Q: Which is the best and worst food
for the heart?
A: Fruits and vegetables are the best
and the worst is oil.
Q: Which oil is better - groundnut,
sunflower, olive? A: All oils are bad.
Q: What is the routine checkup one
should go through? Is there any specific test?
A: Routine blood test to ensure sugar,

cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill

test after an echo.
Q: What are the first aid steps to be
taken on a heart attack?
A: Help the person into a sleeping
position , place an aspirin tablet under
the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if
available, and rush him to a coronary
care unit since the maximum casualty
takes place within the first hour.
Q: How do you differentiate between
pain caused by a heart attack and that
caused due to gastric trouble?
A: Extremely difficult without ECG.
Q: What is the main cause of a steep
increase in heart problems amongst
youngsters? I see people of about 3040 yrs of age having heart attacks and
serious heart problems.
A: Increased awareness has increased
incidents.. Also, sedentary lifestyles,
smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in
a country where people are genetically
three times more vulnerable for heart
attacks than Europeans and
Americans.
Q: Is it possible for a person to have
BP outside the normal range of
120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?
A: Yes.
Q: Marriages within close relatives can
lead to heart problems for the child. Is
it true?
A: Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may not
have a software engineer as a child.
Q: Many of us have an irregular daily
routine and many a times we have to
stay late nights in office. Does this

dented progress that was

occurring in Gujarat under
the Modi administration. He
noted that more than
40,000 dams had been
constructed in just one
year. "The water level has
come up in Gujarat so
much. People are so
happy". No one seems to
have told him that dams do
not create water, they just
take it away from those
who cannot pay and give it
to those who can.
"People are so happy" is now the theme song
of our corporate-controlled media. Those who
refuse to sing it, or sing it out of tune occasionally
are already getting the boot. I will not list the casualties.
In 2002 Celia Dugger of the New York Times
had interviewed Modi a couple of months after the
riots. "I asked [Modi] if he had any regrets about
what had happened in his state in that period:
Women openly raped, hundreds of people killed.
He told me his greatest regret was that he didnt
manage the media very well."
It is a mistake he would never repeat. No
media, from TV to radio, print to internet is now left
out of the ambit. Paid advertising has been taken to
new heights. If the funds available seem inexhaustible so do the acolytes. Even with an X-ray
machine, it is hard to spot a backbone.
In 2009, Modi hired the American APCO company. Infamous for doing public relations for dictatorships, APCO is a strong advocate of expanding
armaments and the US military role in world affairs.
Amongst its many notorious business clients is
Monsanto. Its network and affiliates include conservative pro-Zionist lobbyists and consultancy
groups including Henry Kissinger Associates,
Heritage Foundation and the Jewish Policy Centre.
The makeover is remarkable. Modi wears different cultural hats (though his upbringing made
him rebel when offered a Muslim one), garlands the
statue of Ambedkar, talks to children on TV, picks
up a broom to clean India, a feat that will remain
purely cosmetic until the caste system itself is
destroyed.
Not only was Gandhi one of his mentors murdered, the spinning wheel was the symbol of
Gandhis challenge not just to the corporate world
but to the industrial revolution itself. It anticipated
peak oil, global warming and the ravages of mad
consumerism. I dont suggest that we go back to
the charkha literally, but it clearly points to an ideal
of sustainability. The development model that Modi
follows can only speed us along our way, over the
edge.
For the full version and more related materail, please
visit the authors website www.patwardhan.com

affect our heart ? What precautions

would you recommend?
A: When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older,
respect the biological clock.
Q: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs
cause some other complications
(short / long term)?
A: Yes, most drugs have some side
effects. However, modern anti- hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.
Q: Will consuming more coffee/tea
lead to heart attacks? A: No.
Q: Are asthma patients more prone to
heart disease? A: No.
Q: How would you define junk food?
A: Fried food like Kentucky, McDonalds
, samosas, and even masala dosas..
Q: Does consuming bananas help
reduce hypertension? A: No.
Q: Can a person help himself during a
heart attack (Because we see a lot of
forwarded emails on this)?
A: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put
an aspirin tablet of any description
under the tongue and ask someone to
take you to the nearest coronary care
unit without any delay and do not wait
for the ambulance since it may not turn
up or just not turn up in time.
Q: Do, in any way, low white blood
cells and low hemoglobin count lead
to heart problems?
A: No. But it is ideal to have normal
hemoglobin level to increase your
exercise capacity.
Q: Sometimes, due to the hectic
schedule we are not able to exercise.
So, does walking while doing daily
chores at home or climbing the stairs
in the house, work as a substitute for

(Concluded)
exercise?
A: Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously
for more than half an hour and even
the act of getting out of the chair and
going to another chair and sitting helps
a lot.
Q: Is there a relation between heart
problems and blood sugar?
A: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart
attacks than non-diabetics.
Q: What are the things one needs to
take care of after a heart operation?
A: Diet, exercise, drugs on time,
Control cholesterol, BP, weight.
Q: Are people working on night shifts
more vulnerable to heart disease
when compared to day shift workers?
A: No.
Q: What are the modern anti- hypertensive drugs? A: There are hundreds
of drugs and your doctor will choose
the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the
drugs and go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to
reduce weight and changing attitudes
and lifestyles.
Q: Does dispirin or similar headache
pills increase the risk of heart attacks?
A: No.
Q: Why is the rate of heart attacks
more in men than in women?
A: Nature protects women till the age
of 45.
Q: How can one keep the heart in a
good condition?
A: Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food,
exercise everyday, do not smoke and,
go for health checkups if you are past
the age of 30 (once in six months rec

ommended).

NATIONAL

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

Fact-Finding Report on Burdwan Bomb Blast

Following is an abridged fact-finding report
prepared by Dr Suresh Khairna, Convenor of the
All India Secular Forum, after visiting the site of
the blast in Burdwan and related localities. The
report was released on 2 December 2014:
On October 2, 2014, around 11 p. m. a deafening explosion rocked
the middle-class locality of Khagragarh in Burdwan town. When the
police forced their way into the first-floor flat, where the explosion
had occurred, they found three people lying in a pool of blood. Two
women and their children had escaped unhurt as they were in an
adjoining room. The explosion had ripped apart Shakil Ghazis body
while Swapan, alias Sobhan Mondal, and Abdul Hakim were bleeding profusely.
Mondal died on his way to hospital, but Hakim survived. Gazis
wife, Razia, and Hakims wife, Amina Biwi, were taken into custody.
A large quality of chemicals and explosives were also recovered
from the spot, the house of Haji Hasan Chowdhury, in mohalla
Khagragarh of P.o. Rajbati, Vardhaman.
House owner Haji Hasan Ali Chowdhry, a retired engineer) of
West Bengal Electricity Department, said about the incident that the
blast occurred at the residence opposite his house which had been
rented by him on June 2 to Shakeel Gazi and Kausar Ali for Rs
4,200 per month, a written agreement for which was not made. It
was the first floor of the house where the blast took place.
According to Hasan Ali, the ground floor was given temporarily to
TMC as an election office.
Khagragarh Madrasa Dinia Madania: The other ground floor
rooms adjoining TMC office is a homeopathic dispensary and a
garage. Two persons killed on the spot of the blast were
(1) Shakeel Gazi and (2) Shobhan Mondal. Besides these two, one
person whose name was given as Abdul Hakim was hospitalised
and was in the custody of National Investigative Agency (NIA). One
of these women is wife of Shakeel Gazi and the other one is the wife
of Abdul Hakim.
The Anand Bazar Patrika on October 9 gave the names of these
two women as Razia and Amina. Investigators soon said the five in
the house were involved in making crude bombs and IED in guise
of running a burqa tailoring unit. NIA director Sharad Kumar has
raised a question after the Burdwan incident : Why have Burdwan
and surrounding areas become an explosive hub?
But as The Sunday Express pieced together a picture of the
region from talking to people and officials, it is clear that of this
blast has relation to other places like Burdwan, Nadia, Birbhum and
Murshidabad. These areas have for long been volatile regions in the
state, the site of pitched political turf wars, and are regarded as
sensitive. Extortion rackets connected with political parties are
active here, which result in intense competition and violence
between political parties at present going on between BJP and
TMC.
Blasts in Khagragarh have led to growing anti- Muslim propaganda in the state. Such incidents related to political violence have
their roots in the political-economic structure of central Bengal
where rural labour surplus has led to uneven economic growth,
paving the way for political domination of one class over another.
This can be seen from the class structure of the rice belt of
Burdwan, Hoogly and part of Birbhum district, where the proportion
of agricultural labour is still very high, There is an urgent need to
separate such instances of criminal activities, related to the political economy, from those of the alleged Islamic Jihad.
There is a madrasa situated within a distance of around 200
meters from the blast site. The name of the madrasa is Madrasa
Dinia Madania, near GT Road, a kilometre away from the main road
at Khagragarh. It was established in 1968. This is spread on a 4
bigha plot of land donated by the locals. At present the number of
students is 31, between the age group of 9-22. This madrasa had
remained closed between October 2 and October 17 2014 due to
Eid vacation. Madrasa authorities have maintained that they do not
have any relation to the blast and no one from the media had met
them.
They said that we were the first persons from civil society to
meet them. But the print and electronic media have highlighted this
madrasa as the epicentre of the blast conspiracy whereas no one
from the Madrasa has been arrested and interrogated so far. The
Madrasa is still working normally. It is surrounded by houses. It
does not have a proper compound wall, and is open from one side.
Madrasa authorities have also said that no one from the Anand
Bazar Patrika came to them. But the story which appeared on
October 8 in the Anand Bazar Patrika says that the police were looking for 8 people who were absconding. Simultaneously, 5 students

Leadership

were reported to be absconding from this madrasa as well, who

were said to have gone over to Bangladesh. Madrasa authorities
have also said that no one from NIA had approached them so far.
Another place under the scanner is Simulia village situated
between Burdwan and Katua Road which is 30 km from Burdwan,
block and police station Mangalkot.The population of this village is
over 7 thousand, which is divided between 50% Hindus and 50%
Muslims. A girls madrasa has existed here since 2010, which had
40 girl students from out of the village (since villagers cannot afford
to send their girls due to high cost of education here) and 4 lady
teachers. One Anis Sheikh, who is no more, had donated two
bighas of land to the madrasas. The Madrasa was built of mud. The
teachers cultivated the remaining land. This madrasa is being targeted as a sleeper cell of women jihadis. The media arrived on the
scene for the first time on October 8followed by the police. After a
week the NIA arrived and the police of Mangalkot police station
have been camping there since then.
But neither the state CID nor the NIA found any explosives in the
half a dozen madrasas they raided since the blast. The only seizure
they made was air gun pellets that were found in the Simulia
madrasa along with volumes of religious texts and literature written
in Arabic, which the investigators described as jihadi. Air gun
pellets are sold in open market and are not banned items. The
police pumped out the water of two ponds adjacent to the madrasa
and found a black umbrella handle. A villager heard them saying
that it could be the butt of a gun.
One Burhan, 35 is absconding. He is a marginal farmer.
Others in the family are construction workers and carpenters and
had given away the land to the madrasah to earn religious virtue.
His elder brother Suleman has been summoned to the police station repeatedly. The NIA visited their place twice and confiscated
their voter card. The police enquired from their relatives as well.
Asura Bibi said the madrasa had nothing to do with Jihadi activities.
For saying this to the police, she was beaten. The villagers we met
also corroborated the story given by this family and were angry at
their village being targeted by the security agencies.
More than 500 young men of this village are in Kerala to earn
their livelihood. Burhan, along with his wife Shanaz and their children have left their home since the day of the blast, but the villagers
have no suspicion about them and have said that they would have
themselves handed them over to the police if they had any doubts
about their character and activities. Aakash Rahman, a resident of
Simulia and a construction labourer now working in Ernakulum,
Kerala, was disturbed and said that he was made to vacate his rented room in Ernakulam after the incident. It was only after arguing
with the house owner that he could not have been involved in the
incident since he was in Ernakulam on the day of the blast that he
was allowed to stay there.
He said that he was being looked at with suspicion by people
who had heard or read about the news. Another 3 persons from
Simulia working in Kerala as construction workers were not allowed
to leave Simulia by Simulia railway station authorities and are
denied railway tickets because of the ongoing probe.When Hara
Sheikh, Khairul Sheikh and Azaur Sheikh, all in their twenties, went
to the Simulia railway station to buy tickets to Kerala, where they
work as construction workers, the man behind the counter took a
look at their identity cards and said they couldnt leave. The three
men had come home for Eid and were hoping to get back to work,
but the October 2 blast in Burdwan town, about 30 km from their
village, upset their plan. Till last week, on the Durgapur Expressway
that is part of the Golden Quadrilateral road network that connects
Burdwan with Kolkata on one side and Dhanbad on the other,
search parties flagged down men on motorbikes and meticulously
searched their belongings.
The lack of subtlety was evident: most of the men who were
stopped had beard or other distinct faith identity markers. The
police held similar searches on buses and other vehicles. A top district police officer, who did not want to be named, admitted the
search operations seemed to be making a point to Muslims: you
are a suspect. (Indian Express, 26 October) Word has spread
that mobile phone SIM cards should be given to Muslims only after
proper identification and verification of their antecedents(I.E. 26
October).
After a conversation with Aakash Rahman we decided to meet
the Hindus of the village at the village centre. They also corroborated the story told by the Muslim residents that they did not find anything suspicious in the madrasa and that their village was being targeted without any reason. They were sad because of that. We suggested to them to file a defamation suit along with Muslim residents
against the media and the administration and to submit a joint
memorandum to the dist. Administration regarding this defamation
of their village and they agreed.

It is beyond doubt that a bomb exploded at the house of Haji

Hasan Chowdhuri on October 2, but linking it with madrasas and
Bangladesh Mujahideen can cause a deviation in the investigation
from the real situation in West Bengal. It is well-known that there is
a tradition of bomb-making from the70s in West Bengal (coinciding
with the Naxal movement) and there is no monopoly of Muslims
over it. Bomb-making has become a cottage industry in the state
and these are used by political parties against each other.
The investigation, so far, has focused on an alleged Jihadi plot
in Burdwan as part of a larger cross-country terror campaign
involving outfits such as Jamaatul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. The
BJP, too, found a perfect pitch that involves Muslims, madrasas,
infiltration, Bangladesh and terror networks to attack the Trinamool
Congress government and mount enough pressure on the Centre
to step in and order an NIA investigation into the incident.
But as The Sunday Express pieced together a picture of the
region after talking to people and officials, it is clear that the theatre
of this blast, Burdwan has for long been part of one of the most
volatile regions in the state, the site of pitched political turf wars and
extortion rackets.This100-sq-km agrarian and semi-industrial belt,
hemmed in by a number of Jharkhand districts, has a large number
of crime syndicates that deal in sand quarrying, stone crushing and
illegal mining. Over 80 per cent of the states recorded seizure of
explosives comes from Burdwan and nearby districts like Nadia,
Birbhum and Murshidabad. Of the 9,000 bombs seized in 2013 in
the entire state, nearly7,000 were from the districts of Burdwan
(1,485), Birbhum (2,910) and Murshidabad(2,910). Of the 2,285
kg of explosive substances seized from the state, 1,701 kg were
from Burdwan and 143kg from Murshidabad.
The explosives and bombs that are crudely put together here
do not travel too far to find a market. Statistics show how Burdwan,
Birbhum and Murshidabad account for a large number of cases in
wich explosives were used. For example, between January 2012
and June 2014, Burdwan recorded 357 incidents involving explosives. Birbhum had 264 such cases and Murshidabad 600.
Besides, this region abuts Jangalemahal, the Maoist areas spread
across Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapur wich witnessed largescale violence from 2008 to 2012. During those troubled years, the
region saw the use of improvised multi-dimensional mines, that
were made out of huge iron pipes. Bomb-making units in
Purbastali, Mongalkot, Raina and Ausgrm in Burdwan; Beledanga
and Lalgola in Berhampore; Karimpur in Nadia; and villages in
Birbhum cater to this ready market. Hence, if there is a proper
enquiry of the Kharagarh bomb blast it might lead to the root of the
politics of violence in West Bengal. Pointing merely towards the
madrasas and the jihadis is likely to mislead the investigation. The
low credibility of most of the investigating agencies has been
revealed in many of the previous incidents of terror in this country.
Misdirected and biased Investigations into the incidents of
Malegaon, Nanded, Samjhauta Express, Macca Masjid
(Hyderabad), Ajmer are examples of such folly.
The media has not played a positive role either. It has not met
the minimum discipline of investigative journalism, and has played
the role of P.R.O. of investigative agencies (with some noble exceptions).Mostly the media carries uncritically the reports of investigative agencies as they are doled out without the trouble of crossexamination. This has increased communal animosity.
We are surprised that no one from the civil society of West
Bengal has yet visited the place of the blast in Burdwan. It is doubly surprising since West Bengal is a state with a tradition of human
rights activities pioneered by Rabindranath Tagore, a state which
gave birth to innumerable human rights organisations in the 70s
and 80s.Why have these organisations chosen to remain silent
today? What has happened to the major opposition parties in West
Bengal like the CPM and the Congress and the intelligentsia who
have played a positive role in different phases of social life in West
Bengal like during Kanoria workers struggle, Singur and Nandigram
movements?
There has to be concerted efforts to bring the two communities together in order to remove their misunderstandings towards
each other. However, this cannot be achieved merely through law
and order approach. This cannot also be done by the people in
power alone although they also have a role to play.
The responsibility for this lies squarely upon the shoulders of
all peace-loving citizens who dream of an equality-based sane society and it is they who must make an all-out effort to free our society from this nightmare of communal polarisation. It is only by collective efforts by writers, artistes, intellectuals, social activists and
all other conscious, active citizens, that we may overcome this
communal crisis which is looming large over West Bengal as well
as the entire country.
Dr Suresh Khairnar may be contacted at sureshkhairnar59@gmail.com

Great Use of 200 Rupees

While driving back home I found 200 rupees in

my cars dashboard. I thought that most of the
time I dont really care how much money is in
the dashboard or in my laptop bag or in my
home drawer. The reason for this probably is
that usually the amount is so small that it does
not grab my attention at all. However, the very
next moment I thought that this small cash
can definitely make a BIG difference in someones life. For example:
1. Buying three times meals for a person
or one time meal/flour for a small family
remembering the fact that there are hundreds

and thousands of families who cannot afford

to have three meals a day.
2. Buying a small blanket/sheet or a pillow
for a poor who can sleep properly or by buying a sweater for a poor to keep him warm in
the winter season while we enjoy warm
heaters inside our homes.
3. Giving this amount to a hospital to support their free medical services.
4. Giving this amount to cover half day
electricity bill for an orphan house.
5. Taking responsibility for the monthly
education fee for one orphan or poor kid.

ell, we can think of many other genuine

causes to spend such a minor amount in
order to make a BIG Difference in our society,
especially considering the fact that millions of
families are living below the poverty line
around us or in this world. I personally think
that if we dont ponder like this then we have
quite a cruel attitude towards our society. So I
urge all of you to find a good reason to spend
your money instead of keeping the money in
your car dashboards, home drawers or laptop
bags. Never underestimate your little efforts.
Remember that service to the society is the

tax we must pay for living in this world and

indeed this is one of the ways to thank God
Almighty for the blessings He has showered
upon you and your loved ones.
o in summary here is how you can be an
effective member of humanity: a) by
spending small amounts for social causes, b)
by allocating 5% of your earnings for feeding
poor and supporting social causes, c) Sharing
this article on Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter
and/or forwarding to your family, friends and
colleagues to generate the ripple effect and
spread awareness.

JUNAID TAHIR
www.DailyTenMinutes.com
mjunaidtahir@gmail.com

10

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

www.milligazette.com

NATIONAL

Brisk voting amid violence continues in J&K

AFSANA RASHID
Braving chill, long queues of voters dressed in traditional attire,
could be seen anxiously waiting for their turn to exercise their
adult franchise, outside polling stations in the first two phases of
the five-phased State Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Polling in 87 constituencies in the state will be completed by
December 20 and counting will take place on December 23.
Voters, especially the first time electors, were enthusiastic
about their right to vote. Due to the severe cold and foggy weather conditions, as winter has already set in Kashmir Valley, voting
in both phases, November 25 and December 2, started on a dull
note and gathered momentum as the day proceeded. Mostly, voters claimed that they voted for the purpose of development and
for bringing a positive and noticeable change.
Brisk voting was reported in both phases with voter turnout
around 71 percent in each phase. Around 75 percent voter turnout
was recorded in the three constituencies of north Kashmirs
Bandipora district that went to polls in the first phase. Sonawari
constituency recorded the maximum voter turnout (80 percent)
closely followed by Gurez (77 percent) and Bandipora (70 percent) constituencies. Lowest voter turnout was witnessed in
Ganderbal constituency with only 53 percent of the electorate
exercising their adult franchise. Kangan constituency in Ganderbal
district witnessed 76 percent of voting.
Around 68 percent voter turnout was recorded in Ladakh
region with 75.6 percent votes polled in Nubra constituency followed by 71 percent in Zanskar, 66 percent in Leh and 60 percent
in Kargil constituencies, respectively. Around 71 percent of votes
were polled in six Assembly segments of Chenab Valley in the
Jammu region. Doda witnessed 79 percent voter turnout followed
by Inderwal constituency with 72.54 percent; 70 percent in
Bhaderwah and Banihal constituencies, each; 68.83 percent in
Kishtwar and 68 percent in Ramban (SC).
First phase of polls was held in 15 Assembly segments
spread across seven districts of the state; Bandipora and
Ganderbal in Kashmir Valley; Kargil and Leh in Ladakh region;
Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban in Jammu region. More than 10 lakh
electorates were expected to exercise their franchise at 1,787
polling stations, which included 85 critical and 558 hypersensitive
polling stations. Out of 1061275 electorates 558178 were males,
503086 females and 11 third gender voters. 123 candidates,
including several ministers and legislators were in the election
fray.
The highest percentage of voting in the second phase of elections was witnessed in all the three constituencies in Reasi district
in Jammu region whereas the lowest percentage was recorded in
Homshalibugh in south Kashmirs Kulgam district, December 2.
Gulabgarh Assembly segment in Reasi district witnessed the
highest of 80.73 percent of voting followed by 80.28 percent in
Gool Arnas constituency and 80 percent in Reasi segment of the
district. This was followed by Udhampur district with 79.74 percent of voting recorded in Udhampur Assembly segment followed
by 75.48 percent in Chenani (SC) and 75.19 percent in Ramnagar
Assembly constituency. 73.39 percent of voting was witnessed in
Poonch Haveli constituency in Poonch district followed by 72 percent in Mendher and 65 percent in Surankote Assembly constituencies of the district.
Karnah Assembly constituency in border district Kupwara in
north Kashmir reported 75 percent of voting followed by 71 percent, each, in Handwara and Langate constituency of the district;
62 percent in Kupwara and 55 percent in Lolab segments of the
district. Noorabad segment in Kulgam district in south Kashmir
witnessed 77.60 percent followed by 60.03 percent in Devsar,
55.44 percent in Kulgam and 36.50 percent in Home Shalibugh
Assembly constituency.
A total of 175 candidates were in the election fray in the 18
Assembly constituencies spread across nine Assembly constituencies in Kupwara and Kulgam districts in Kashmir Valley
along with an equal number of Assembly segments in Udhampur,
Reasi and Poonch in Jammu region. Out of the total of 2186
polling stations set-up for the purpose in the poll bound areas,
143 were critical. About 15, 42, 737 electors including 818025
males, 724703 females and 09 third gender voters were eligible
to cast their votes.
Meanwhile, several militant attacks were reported across the
Valley ahead of the third phase of polls slated for December 9. 21
persons including eight Army personnel, three police men, eight
militants and two civilians were killed in three militant attacks
across the Valley within 12 hours on December 5.
The third phase of elections is going to be a challenging task
for security grid as highly volatile areas including Sopore and
Pattan in Baramulla district and Tral in Pulwama district are going
to polls. Media reports here have said that voters in Sopore,
Sangrama, Pattan and Baramulla constituencies have requested
election officers not to apply indelible ink on their fingers after they
exercise their adult franchise to avoid backlash as some anti-poll
posters have appeared in these areas. Militant outfits; Jamiat-ulMujhadeen and Al-Shohda Brigade have reportedly put up posters

Voters casting their votes at Kulgam Assembly constituency

in south Kashmir in the second phase of five-phased Jammu
and Kashmir State Assembly elections on December 2.
at different places in Sopore town asking people to refrain from
the poll process.
Police says it has started investigations in this respect and a
few suspects are being questioned. A case under FIR No198/201
under section 153-A/RPC and 134 RP Act has been registered by
the police. Pertinently, some persons who had cast their vote in
north Kashmir during Parliament elections this year were
searched and stripped by groups of masked youth at various
places.
The third phase of election is confined entirely to Kashmir
Valley as seven constituencies of Baramulla district in north
Kashmir, five constituencies of Budgam district in central Kashmir
and four constituencies of Pulwama district in south Kashmir are
going to polls. 138 candidates are in the election fray and more
than 13 lakh people are eligible to exercise their adult franchise at
an allotted 1781 polling stations.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is one of the contestants
in the third phase, will for the first time try his luck from Beerwah
Assembly constituency in Budgam district. He is also contesting
from Sonawar Assembly seat that will go to polls in the next
phase. Omar quit Ganderbal assembly seat, the stronghold of
National Conference, after more than three and a half decades. He
was defeated by PDPs Qazi Mohammad Afzal in 2002 but he
regained the seat in the last Assembly elections (2008).
Addressing an election rally in Soibug in Budgam Assembly
segment, December 3, the Chief Minister reiterated that Jammu
and Kashmir had conditionally acceded to India and his party will
never give up its demand of reversing the erosions in Article 370
and will keep striving for the restoration of internal autonomy in
the state. Furthermore, Omar, while addressing election rallies in
Uri, Baramulla and Tral, December 4, reiterated that his party will
not rest till the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is
revoked. Accusing PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of
imposing the Act in the state (as the then Home Minister of India),
Omar added AFSPA is Muftis gift to the people of Jammu and
Kashmir.
In her turn, PDP president and Member Parliament, Mehbooba
Mufti, while addressing a series of election rallies in Pulwama district in support of the party candidate, November 26, accused ruling National Conference of being the fountainhead of corruption.
In her words, Omar has not only presided over the most corrupt
regime in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, but is himself under
scrutiny for promoting political corruption in the state. She
alleged that the present government would be remembered as
the darkest era in the state.
Mehbooba further added that Omar is so panicked by the
prospects of a PDP government taking shape in the state that he
is once again seeking refuge in the lap of BJP by offering to align
with them in any post-poll arrangement, November 29.
Seeking a decisive mandate in support of his party, leader of
Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam
Nabi Azad, November 29, asserted that the mandate would enable
them to script a new chapter of hope, prosperity and optimism in
the state. The former Chief Minister said that his party ensured the
states all round development in a short span of three years from
2005 to 2008.
Senior Congress leader and veteran actor, Raj Babbar,
addressing the media here, November 29, emphasized that people of Jammu and Kashmir are feeling dejected on the development front only because central funds have never reached them
over the past many decades. The State unit of Congress has
roped-in the famous Bollywood star for holding a series of election rallies across the Valley.
Even the Prime Minister Narender Modi, while addressing rallies in different parts of the state over the past few months, has
been very critical of the states successive regimes blaming them
for corruption and under-development and claiming that funds
released by the Government of India never reached the people of
Jammu and Kashmir. In this backdrop, his visit to the Valley on
December 8 is viewed as significantly important especially for the
party cadres contesting the ongoing elections in the state. The

Srinagar rally would be Modis fourth visit to

Kashmir and eighth to the state after he took
charge as Prime Minister in May this year.
Security has been beefed up in view of
an election rally, the first of its kind, to be
addressed by the Prime Minister in the heart
of Srinagar city (Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket
Stadium) on December 8. Around 2500
vehicles would be used to ferry people to the
venue and around 6000 hoardings would be
installed in and around the stadium.
Political parties are using rallies, road
shows and door-to-door campaign as
means to reach out to electors and motivate
them to throng the polling stations. Political
bigwigs devise strategies and counterstrategies and level charges and countercharges on their adversaries to get the maximum voter turnout in their favour.
Apart from big promises of development, employment
opportunities, income generating schemes, transparency; political parties discuss issues like AFSPA, Public Safety Act,
Autonomy and Self Rule in their respective election rallies to woo
voters. Use of muscle and money power in the elections cannot
be ruled out. Election Commission has banned publication and
dissemination of exit polls of any kind in the state.
Apart from cut-throat competition between National
Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), particularly in
the Kashmir region, and Congress and Bharatiya Janta Party
(BJP) in Jammu and Ladakh region, many new political parties
that have emerged on the political horizon of the state in the recent
past are expected to play their decisive role in the polls.
Many small political parties came together, in September last
year, to forge an alliance to form the Third Front which was later
named as Peoples United Front (PUF). Similarly, floating of new
political parties, Kashmir Democratic Front, by retired bureaucrat
and Congress leader, Farooq Renzu Shah, Awami Ittehad Party led
by independent legislator Er Rashid and Jammu and Kashmir
Tahreek-i-Haq led by a prominent civil society member, Dr.
Mohammad Ashraf Bhat and others who may be participating as
independents are bound to affect the electoral space in the ongoing polls and are expected to cut the vote share of bigger players.
Even Peoples Conference led by Sajjad Gani Lone may prove to
be a decisive factor as the party has strong footprints in few
Assembly constituencies in border district Kupwara.
In another twist, All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee here
has extended its full support to PDP in view of the inclusion of
their demands in the partys manifesto. Its chairman Jagmohan
Singh Raina has said that the party deserves a clear mandate by
the people to carry out its developmental agenda, unhindered,
November 30.
Meanwhile, reiterating his poll boycott call, Hurriyat (G) led by
Syed Ali Shah Geelani urged people to stay away from the poll
process. Ridiculing the claims of those, justifying their participation in the elections by saying that it was vote for development
and change, Geelani said development and change of hands are
two different things, November 26. Our objectives are clear and
we strive for a cause.

Nine soldiers indicted

Army has indicted nine soldiers including a Junior Commissioned
Officer (JCO) of the 53 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) for killing two youth
in Chattergam area of Budgam district, recently.
Faisal Yusuf son of Mohammad Yusuf and Mehraj-u-din Dar son
of Ghulam Mohammad of Chattergam were killed while two other
youth were critically injured after the Armys 53 RR personnel
opened fire on a Maruati car at Chattegam, November 3, triggering wide spread protests and condemnation. Soon after the incident, a case was registered by the police and a court of inquiry
was ordered by the Army.
Terming the incident unfortunate Army promised to thoroughly investigate the matter. General Officer Commanding-inChief of Northern Command, Lt General D S Hooda has been
quoted as saying, We take responsibility for what has happened
at Chattergam. Legal action will be taken if we find out that rules
of engagement have been violated. We will complete the inquiry
within 10 days.
Later, media reports suggested that the involvement of nine
people has been established involved in the killing of two youth
and the court martial proceedings have been recommended
against the Army personnel, November 26. The file has been sent
to GOC-in-Chief northern Command for final approval, which is
expected by next week, reports added.
The Army personnel are likely to face life imprisonment and
lose all service benefits, media reports further added, while stating that all the Army personnel have been detached from the parent unit and arent involved in active duty now. Pertinently, the
Army unit was relocated soon after the killings.

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

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

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

ANALYSIS
Speaking Out

www.milligazette.com

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

Ayodhya &
Communal Frenzy
Twenty-two years have passed and the issue
concerning the demolition of the Babri Masjid
still remains unresolved legally as well as politically. Prospects of actual justice being rendered in this matter in the near future remain
practically non-existent. At the same time,
there is no denying that political parties and leaders, desperate
to display their stand against anti-Muslim, extremist, communal parties still mark the demolitions anniversary with protests
and demonstrations demanding justice. With due respect to
their stand, would it be fair to assume that making political
noise over this issue will actually speed up the judicial process
linked with the demolition of Babri Masjid and communal riots
that occurred during that period?
Certainly, these demonstrations and similar activities have
played the role of reminding the government and rest of the
country that justice is still awaited for in this case. These activities have also helped the participants gain substantial media
coverage. The last point tempts one to deliberate on the actual
motive behind these demonstrations: is it demand for justice or
desire for media coverage?
Undeniably, each year since Babri Masjids demolition, as
its anniversary approaches, a strange tension clouds the
atmosphere practically all over the country. There still remains
the fear of communal tension over Ayodhya-issue disturbing
normal life. It is indeed a strange irony that though Ayodhyaconflict remains unresolved, it has ceased to provoke commu-

nal conflict. Nevertheless, as not too long ago, certain parts of

Delhi were gripped with communal tension, this year there prevailed the risk of communal panic affecting peace. Besides,
with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heading the Central government, the tension was greater. After all, veteran leaders associated with this party played a major role in heading a movement leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid and spreading communal tension in most parts of the country. This years
anniversary having passed peacefully conveys a certain message that cannot be sidelined or ignored.
The BJP appears to have finally accepted that howsoever
hard its extremist saffron brigade associates try and spread
communal venom over religious issues, its impact is least likely to be as severe as it was 22 years ago. Yes, to a degree certain saffron brigade activists have become over-confident that
with their political wing in power, they can pursue their communal agenda without any risk. This feeling was perhaps partly
responsible for their trying their hand at spreading communal
tension in Trilokpuri and other parts of Delhi. Yet, if communal
tension clouds the socio-political atmosphere while BJP is in
power at the Centre, it can also prove damaging for the political image of this party. At present, BJP probably cannot afford
to take this risk.
In 22 years, India and Indians have come a long way from
where they were when Babri Masjid was demolished. Around
two decades ago, it was not a difficult task for the BJP leader
LK Advani to attract crowds of devotees and supporters to his
Ram Janambhoomi yatra. That is now history for him and his
party members. A major role has been played by several
means of communication technology in changing the sociopolitical attitude of ordinary citizens. These include the television, mobile phone and Internet. Yes, television existed even
when Babri Masjid was demolished. However, television pro-

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

11

grammes were confined to only official Doordarshan channel

and that too on a black and white screen. Now, hundreds of
channels are available round the clock and that too in full
colour. Almost every Indians lifestyle is now strongly influenced by one or all of these communication services. Most
Indians werent even aware of mobile phones and Internet, 22
years ago.
Thanks to television and Internet, it is no longer an easy
task for most political leaders to convince people about their
goals and agenda. When Babri Masjid was demolished, Indian
television services werent developed enough to make possible
a live telecast of this activity for the Indian audience. Perhaps,
if clock is turned backwards to the period when Babri Masjid
was not demolished and television services of the present time
prevailed then, the Ayodhya-issue may have failed to provoke
any communal tension. It may be recalled that when Gujaratcarnage took place, television and other means of media
played a major part in updating people constantly about what
was happening there. Rather than be provoked to a similar
stage of communal frenzy, people exercised caution and wisely refrained from falling victim to any communal conflict.
Similarly, though certain miscreants did not refrain from using
every possible means to provoke communal tension in
Trilokpuri and several parts of Delhi, their attempt failed
against wisdom exercised by people. Yes, communal panic was
created but it did not lead to any major communal conflict in
disturbed areas.
Over the past two decades, communication revolution has
played a major role in influencing socio-political attitude of
ordinary Indians. Thanks to this change, irrespective of whether
demonstrations demanding justice are held each year on 6th
December or not, Ayodhya-issue is now devoid of communal


fire with which it raged 22 years ago.

We have failed to meet the challenges: Ansari

Following is the English text of the speech
delivered by Vice President of India Mohammad
Hamid Ansari at the inauguration of the
International Seminar to mark the Centenary of
Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy, Azamgarh at
1500 hours on November 29, 2014.
I am grateful to the Shibli Academy, and to Professor Zilli, for inviting me today to inaugurate this conference being organised on the
centenary of the Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy. I am myself
no stranger to this region:
Ab yaad-e-raftagaan ki bhi himmat nahin rahi
Yaaron ne kitni door basaai hain bastiaan
Maulana Shibli was an encyclopaedic and iconic figure who dominated the intellectual and literary scenes in a critical and formative period of Muslims of India. The world in which he lived and
worked was a very different one, perhaps beyond our comprehension today. His life, his travels, his circle of friends, and above
all his scholarship all testify to a searching mind. His great scholarly work, Al Farooq, was translated in many languages. Another
work, Shairul Ajam, on the history of Persian poetry, was
described by E.G. Brown in his four volume Literary History of
Persia as the best critical estimate of leading Persian poets from
the earliest times to the latter part of the seventeenth century.
One of the questions Maulana Shibli Nomani confronted related to education in the context of a particular brand of modernity
that was thrust on India and Indians in the wake of the establishment of the British rule. Underlying the quest for change was a
deeper, psychological perception reflective of dispossession.
Shibli expressed this distress in his long poem Shehr-e-aashobe-Islam. Its last couplet reflected the despondency:
Jo hijrat kar ke bhi jaaen to Shibli ab kahan jaaen
Ki ab amn-o-amaan-e-Shaam o Najd o Qairawan kab tak
Many years later a sympathetic outsider, Wilfred Cantwell Smith,
gave his own interpretation of this:
The fundamental malaise of modern Islam is a sense that something
has gone wrong with Islamic history. The fundamental problem of
modern Muslims is how to rehabilitate that history: to set it going
again in full vigour, so that Islamic society may once again flourish as
a divinely guided society should and must.

It was the same question that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, and many
others of that generation, faced. Their answers varied; the content
did not. Distress and lamentation soon gave way to action. Sir
Syed established the MAO College at Aligarh. Maulana Shibli
worked with him in this venture for sixteen years. Though coming
from different backgrounds, their views converged on many critical issues but diverged on others. The Maulana continued his
constructive work at Nadwa and finally laid the foundations of this
renowned institution devoted to scholarship.
For a century now, the Shibli Academy has contributed to
scholarship, particularly in the field of Seerat-un Nabi, early
Islamic history, Quraniyaat, Indian history with a focus on the
medieval period, and Urdu, Persian and Arabic literature and literary personalities. The compendium of its publications is impressive, and is a tribute to the past and present scholarship.
institution, along with some others in the country, has
itself specifically to the culture and history of Islam.
TIndiahisdevoted
and Indians rightly consider it an essential ingredient of their
heritage and an aspect of their multi-dimensional identity. By the
same token, it is expected of them to sustain this inheritance and

The past sixty-seven years show

that we have not responded to the
challenge fully. We have cited
tradition and social custom as
reasons for this. We have failed
to walk in step with our fellow
country men and women. We
have, as a result, exhibited all the
signs of social, educational and
economic backwardness.
Each of these can be
surmounted,
given
the
organisation and the will to
succeed.
add to the scholarship that helps do it. A pre-requisite for this is
education and it is here that we have lagged behind despite frequent and accurate diagnosis time and again. A century back,
Allama Iqbal summed up the situation, and the challenge, in two
couplets:
Aaen-e-nau se darna, tarz-e-kohan pe arnaa
Manzil yahe kathin hai quamon ki zindagi main
Yeh karwaan-e-hasti hai tez gaam aisa
Qaumain kuchal gai hain jis ki rava ravi main
He then offered the corrective:
Is daur main taleem hai amraz-e-millat ki dawa
Hia khoon-e-fasid ke liye taleem misl-e-naishtar
In the difficult days of October 1947, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
had urged the community to adjust to changing times. His words
need to be recalled: Azizo, apne ander aik bunyadi tabdeeli paida
karo. Tabdeelion ke saath chalo, yeh na kaho ki hum tagayyur ke
liye tayyar nahin thai.
The past sixty-seven years show that we have not responded to
the challenge fully. We have cited tradition and social custom as
reasons for this. We have failed to walk in step with our fellow
country men and women. We have, as a result, exhibited all the
signs of social, educational and economic backwardness. Each

of these can be surmounted, given the organisation and the will to succeed.
Any segment of our vast and diverse population has the right as citizens to demand
from the State four essentials:
* Social peace, physical security and protection of identity;
* Empowerment through appropriate education;
* A fair and equitable share in employment
and the largesse of the State since unequal
economic opportunities lead to unequal outcomes which in turn lead to unequal access to
political power; and
* Participation in decision-making.
am aware, as you are, that there are shortcomings in the realisation of each of the
Iabove.
The challenge is to overcome these

within the framework of the law of the land and

the constitutional rights of life and dignity, equality, and affirmative
action in favour of the socially and educationally backward to
ensure equality of opportunity. This is a matter of right, not of
charity. The quest for it has to be patient but persistent, and within an approach and framework of inclusiveness rather than of
exclusion and alienation.
The objective of sab ka sath, sab ke vikas is valid and commendable; an essential requirement for this is a common starting
point and an ability in all to walk at the required pace. This ability
has to be developed through individual and social initiative, and
governmental initiatives that fructify on the ground. Programmes
have been made; the need of the hour is their implementation.
I felicitate the Shibli Academy on its centenary and thank it for
inviting me today. I am confident that having completed a century, it will bat even more purposefully in the coming decades.
History shows that in times of need, scholars also become
advisors; perhaps the need of the hour is for this dar-ul ilm to dispense sound advice for public good in addition to the scholarship
that come forth from it.
Jai Hind.
This speech was delivered in Urdu. to read the Urdu text, please
visit: http://vicepresidentofindia.nic.in/content.asp?id=514

Muslims can progress only through education: Nadwi

Azamgarh: Stressing on the need to
carry forward revolutionary effor ts
made by Muslims in the past, the
Chairman of the All India Muslim
Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)
Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi said
the community could progress only
through education.
Addressing an international seminar here on 29 November on the
100th foundation day of Darul
Musannefeen Shibli Academy, Nadvi
said education was the key to remove
the backwardness among the community.
The community could progress only
through education and for that revolutionary efforts made earlier should be

taken forward, he said.

Maulana Nadwi said the country is
once again facing a situation similar to
1857. At that time Sir Syed and Shibli
Nomani saw that Muslims and Islam
are being defamed and Muslims are
looked down upon as a backward community. They thought that only through
education the community can progress.
Hence they laid the foundation of revolutionary institutions like Aligarh Muslim
University and Shibli Academy. Shibli,
in particular, attracted personalities
which brought change in the community and changed minds. Now since the
country is facing a situation like 1857,
their heritage should be expanded and
the light of education.

12

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

NEWSMAKERS

www.milligazette.com

OBITUARIES

MEN&WOMEN IN NEWS
RAIES UL HAQ AHMAD SIKANDER,
a student of 3rd year LL.B. year in
University of Delhi created history
by being elected as the first-ever
Kashmiri Muslim President of
Mansarowar Hostel Students
Union. Prior to joining the DU, he
completed his BBA from the Islamia
College of Science and Commerce,
Srinagar in 2012. Out of the total 107 votes cast for the
post of President, Sikander got 59 and his opponent got
48. This is for the first time we had such a huge voter
turn-out and such a record winning margin. I look forward towards the betterment of the hostel during my
tenure, said Sikander who, besides this, has a rich academic profile and has many national and international
publications on armed conflict, anti-terror laws, women
rights, etc. He is currently interning with the Special
Public Prosecutor (SPP) for Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) at
High Court of Delhi. It is pertinent to mention here that
Raies is the brother of Writer-Activist Mushtaq Ul Haq
Ahmad Sikander, an MG columnist, and author and
director of Inspire Me Global, Yaqeen Ul Haq Ahmad
Sikander.
MUZAFFAR HUSAIN (of Mumbai), litterateur and journalist has been appointed by HRD ministry Vice
Chairman of NCPUL in place of the previous incumbent
Wasim Barelvi for 3 years. In recognition of his literary,
academic, journalistic and social services Muzaffar
Husain has been honoured by Indian government with
Padma Shri national award. He is alleged to be associated with RSS and frequently writes in RSS magazine
Panchjanya. Hence it is doubtful what he can do for the
promotion of Urdu. This is all a part of BJP-led NDA governments strategy to openly as well as surreptitiously
promote Hindutva oriented personalities and views
though he (Muzaffar Husain) has declared to implement
Hamidullah Bhatts, a former head of NCPUL plans and
policies for the promotion of Urdu: HRD minster
Ms Smriti Irani will be ex-officio chairperson of NCPUL
under whose ministry NCPUL works.
Mrs TAZYEEN FATEMA and JAVED ALI KHAN, both
blonging to Samajwadi Party (UP), have been elected as
Rajya Sabha Members along with many others, most of
whom belong to Samajwadi Party, and were sworn in on
26 November. Mrs Tazyeen Fatema is the wife of UP cabinet minister Azam Khan.
SANIA MIRZA, badminton celebrity has been appointed
United Nations Womens Goodwill Ambassador for
South Asian Region so as to join the campaign to end

AWARDS
Prof (Dr.) NOORUZ ZAMAAN, former Head of
the Department of Botany in Ranchi University
was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award
by Krishnamurthy Institute of Algology, Chennai
at a function held at Bharti Seva Sadan
University on 23/11/14. Prof Nooruz Zaman is
an eminent plant scientist who has so far discovered about two dozen chromosomes pertaining to the cells of different plants and vegetations which is a world record in botanical
research, in recognition of which he was considered a deserving person for the 2014 Award of
this Institute which is given every year to an eminent plant scientist. Algology is the science that
studies algae of different kinds such as self
growing sea and other weeds.

violence against women and girls and also to raise

awareness on gender equality. She is the first South
Asian woman to be appointed the Goodwill Ambassador
in UN womens history. After her appointment by the UN
she called her new assignment as the most important
battle off the field i.e. tennis court. She says that there is
much gender inequality in the country and all women
face discrimination and expressed her resolve to try to
do every thing possible to bring about gender equality.
FAIZUR RAHMAN has been appointed Secretary of UP
Urdu Academy by UP government. He has taken over the
charge of his post on 27 November.
ZEESHAN, an eighth class student of Gangohs Heroes
Memorial School has devised an alarm bell which starts
ringing when the water storage tank is full and will continue ringing unless the motor is switched off. This will
be helpful in preventing wastage of water because very
often when people switch on the motor, after some time
the water tank becomes full but people forget to switch
off the motor and water goes on flowing without the
household members knowing about it. For this device
Zeeshan has used the alarm and timer of his houses old
and worn out washing machine, a battery for measuring
water level and inverter relay. In case of automatic submersible motor, the alarm bell will automatically stop
ringing as soon as the water tank is full. For this alarm
bell he used all the accessories of worn out and unusable gadgets. For making the alarm bell with new parts
and accessories, the cost will be around Rs. 300,
according to him.
Dr. SHAHID NAVKHEZ AZMI, Associate Professor in
Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabads
Department of Persians book titled Maulana Azad ki
Farsi Khidmaat has been selected by UP Urdu
Academy for being awarded First Prize for the year
2012. Author of about a dozen books he has also
been honoured with Awards by many Urdu Academies
of the country like UP Urdu Academy (2009), Iqbal
Academy (2010), Shibli Academy Kolkata (2008),
Azad Academy, Mumbai (2011) and Andhra Pradesh
Urdu Academy (2012). University Grants Commission
has assigned him a project of Rs 10 lakh. NCPUL
Delhi also has assigned a major research project to
him. He was also honoured with Young Scholar
Award by President of India in 2012 in recognition of
his overall valuable literary services.
SAMIUR RAHMAN, who was earlier executive editor of
the Urdu daily Azizul Hind has been appointed as media
consultant in the Union ministry for minorities affairs. He
also worked earlier with ETV as senior reporter and
Sahara print and electronic media.

Dr. ZAKIR ALI RAJNEESH of Lucknow was

honoured with first Hari Krishn Devsaray
Childrens Literature Award in recognition of his
valuable works in the field of childrens literature.
Hari Krishn Devsarai Childrens Literature Trust
was set up to promote his (Hari Krishns) ideas
of promoting scientific and modern thinking and
vision in children so as to enable them meet new
challenges of modern times. A PhD Degree
holder in childrens literature, and author of
about 65 books on childrens literature, he has
been working for about two decades on this. The
Award consisting of a cheque of Rs 75000 and
a certificate was presented to him by former
union HRD minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi at a
function held at India Internatinoal Centre, New
Delhi on 21 November. Dr. Zakir Ali has earlier
been honoured with a number of awards by

ABDUR RAHMAN ANTULAY, veteran

Congress leader who was the first-ever
Muslim chief minister of Maharashtra
and subsequently a Union minster died
of kidney failure in Mumbai on
2 December at the age of 85 years. A
good administrator; he was very much
mindful about the poor, destitute and
deprived sections and their rightful
place in society and did a lot of work for
them, during his brief stint as
Maharashtras chief minister in early
1980s. His name cropped up in cement
scandal which cost him chief ministership, though subsequently he was honourably acquitted by the Supreme
Court. As union minister his praise of
Hemant Karkare, Mumbais ATS chief,
and unpalatable remarks in connection
with terrorist attack in Mumbai on
26 Nov., 2008 made him unpopular
among vested interests and he was
defeated the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
Thereafter he led a retired life. He was
laid to rest in his home village in
Maharashtra on 3 December. He leaves
behind his wife Nargis, son and three
daughters.
SYED MUHAMMAD ALI KAZMI, former
Advocate General of UP died in a road
accident
near
Pratapgarh
on
25 November. According to police,
while coming to Lucknow form
Allahabad by car he tried to save two
motor-cyclists, his car hit a tree, turned
turtle and he died on the spot. He leaves
behind his wife, one son, one daughter
and one sister. He was around 60.
Belonging to Kanpur, in addition to being
the Advocate General, he had also held
the posts of Chairman of UP Minorities
Commission and a member of All India
Muslim Personal Law Board. He was
also a fearless columnist, writer and
social leader.
Air Commodore (Retd) Parvez
Khokhar, a test pilot of Indian Air Force
was found murdered in his residence at
Bangalore on the morning of
24 November. According to police he
was strangulated by some unknown

many Hindi literary organisations

Dr. (Hakeem) ASLAM JAVED, general secretary
and founder of Hakeem Ajmal Khan Memorial
Society has been selected by Maulana M A
Jauhar Academy for being honoured with
Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar Award for being
the best and high tech Unani physician in recognition of his efforts to popularise Unani Tibb with
the help of modern information technology in
India as well as in the world on the occasion of
26th annual Muhammad Ali Jauhar Award at a
function to be held at India Islamic Cultural
Centre on 10 December. Dr. (Hakeem) Aslam
Javed has been actively working for the promotion of unani tibb and treatment system for more
than 20 years. He is also the editor of the monthly Rex Tibbi Magazine.
SHAMSUR RAHMAN FAROOQI, author, poet

person/s during his sleep. Air

Commander Khokhar, a native of Punjab
had retired from Indian Air Force and
was working as chief advisor to a
Tokyo-based firm and also as a consultant for another firm in HAL (Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd) in the field of defence
production. The incident came to light
when his wife, who was sleeping in an
adjacent room, found that his bedroom
was locked from outside. Police believe
that the motive of murder seems to find
some important documents as the two
rooms were found ransacked but no
cash, jewellery or other costly items
were found lost. He was 70.
SYED MUHAMMAD UMAR KALIMI
HASANI HUSAINI, noted religious
scholar, exegesist who helped in setting up many mosques, madrasas and
other educational institutions named
after him died in Chennai on
24 November. His family tree goes
back to Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani. He
belonged to the Saints 30th generation. Thousands of his disciples and
mourners from within and outside the
country participated in his last rites.
He was laid to rest in the compound
of Aamir Kalimi Arabic College in
Sangachitram.
RASHID ALI SHIFA, noted Urdu poet of
Delhi died of heart attack at his residence in Delhi on 23 November. He
leaves behind his widow and one adopted daughter. He was laid to rest at
Welcome Colonys graveyard on
24 November.
SUFI MUHAMMAD SHAFI, religious
preacher and associated with Haryanas
spiritual institution Khanqah Bodia died
on 29 November at the age of 95 year.
He spent greater part of his life in
preaching Islam and equipping poor
children with religious education for
which he set up many maktabs and
madrasas in many villages. He helped in
bringing hundreds of Muslims within
the fold of Islam who had virtually
become apostates in the wake of parti

tion of the country.

and cirtic of India is among the five men /

women of letters of South Asia who have been
short listed for next years (2015) DSC South
Asian Literary Award of 50 thousand US Dollars.
The short listed names were announced in
London on 27 November. The others in this list
are Jhumpa Lahiri also of India but who lives in
USA, Pakistani litterateurs Bilal Tanveer,
(Ms) Kaamila Shamsi and Romesh Ganeshkara
of Sri Lanka who is settled in London. Shamsur
Rahman Farooqi has been short-listed for this
Award for his novel The Mirror of Beautry which
is translated into English from his novel in Urdu
which describes the decline and fallof of Moghul
empire in India. The final results about the Award
will be announced in the Jaipurs Literature
Festival which will be held next year on


22 January.

ABDUL RAHMAN ANTULAY

Former Maharashtra chief minister Abdul Rehman Antulay passed
away in Mumbai on 2 December at the age of 85. He was the last
of the old guard of the Congress party in Maharashtra, and an
Indira Gandhi loyalist. He is survived by son Naved and daughters
Neelam, Shabnam and Mubina, said nephew and son-in-law
Mushtaque Antulay, a Congress leader. The state declared a threeday mourning. The funeral was held next day in his native district
of Raigad.

Antulay was the first chief minister of the state to have to battle a prolonged court case following the cement scandal that led
to his exit from the top post, simultaneously marking the decline
of his political career in Maharashtra.
Antulay, the states first Muslim chief minister, headed the
government between 9 June, 1980 to 12 January, 1982. But in
this short time span, he left his mark as a decision-maker
whom bureaucrats feared. Known for his outspokenness,
Antulay was a party loyalist who was handpicked by Indira
Gandhi to lead Maharashtra. But he got embroiled in a controversy after the Bombay High Court ruled that he had illegally
led builders in Mumbai to make donations to the India Gandhi
Pratishthan Trust, one of several trust funds he established,
allegedly in exchange for extra cement than the quota allocat-

ed to them by the government. As a result, Antulay was forced

to quit as chief minister in January 1982. Antulay fought a
legal battle over this for more than a decade. He took up the
matter in the Supreme Court and was acquitted due to lack of
evidence. But by then his career in Maharashtra had waned
and he shifted to Delhi as a Lok Sabha MP. He served as a
Union Minister in 1995 and again as Minister for Minority
Affairs in UPA-1.
Calling the veteran Congressman a thoughtful and
aggressive leader, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said,
Beginning his public life as a social worker, Antulay remained
firm on his principles, and even took on the administration on
occasions.
Antulay was born in Ambet village in Raigad district. After
graduation from Bombay University, he studied Barrister-At-Law
at Lincolns Inn, London.
After the 26 November, 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, he
sparked a controversy, saying that the then ATS chief Hemant
Karkare, who was killed in the attack, may have been targeted for his probe into the 2006 Malegaon blasts. He had said at
the time that there were cases of Hindu groups faking terrorist attacks and then routinely blaming Muslims afterwards.

SPECIAL REPORT

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

13

VP Hamid Ansari inaugurates Shibli Centenary

BY MG CORRESPONDENT
Azamgarh (UP): Stating that the Indian Muslims have failed in responding to
modern challenges and adjusting to the changing times, Vice President of
India Mohammad Hamid Ansari said here on 29 November that this is why
they are exhibiting all the signs of social, educational and economic backwardness. He was inaugurating the 3-day Shibli Centenary celebrations.
VP Ansari said, The past sixty-seven years show that we have not
responded to the challenge fully. We have cited tradition and social custom
as reasons for this. We have failed to walk in step with our fellow countrymen and women. We have, as a result, exhibited all the signs of social, educational and economic backwardness. Speaking on the Shibli Academys
contribution, he said, for a century now, the Shibli Academy has contributed
to scholarship, particularly in the field of Seerat-un Nabi, early Islamic history, Quraniyaat, Indian history with a focus on the medieval period, and Urdu,
Persian and Arabic literature and literary personalities. The compendium of
its publications is impressive, and is a tribute to the past and present scholarship.
Ansari used the occasion to advise the goverment to work for faster
implementation of its schemes, especially those meant for the backwards.
He said, The objective of Sab ka Sath Sab ka Vikas is valid and commendable; an essential requirement for this is a common starting point and an ability in all to walk at the required pace. This ability has to be developed through
individual and social initiative, and governmental initiatives that fructify on the
ground. Programmes have been made, the need of the hour is their implementation. (Read the full text on page 11 in this issue).

Vice President Ansari delivering his address

arul Musannefin Shibli Academy was founded a century ago by the great
historian and litterateur Allama Shibli Nomani in Azamgarh alongwith
Shibli School which has now grown into Shibli National Degree College.
Incidentally, the occasion is also the hundredth death anniversary of Allama
Shibli.
The centenary was attended by a galaxy of scholars from across the
country as well as from foreign countries like Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
South Africa, US and Canada. A cause of disappointment was the absence of
Pakistani scholars and academicians who were very keen to attend. The Union
Home Ministry denied permission to 13 Pakistani scholars but one Pakistani
scholar was able to attend because, being a judge of his countrys Supreme
Court, he is exempt from visa regulations under SAARC agreements.
Director of Shibli Academy Prof. Ishtiaq Ahmad Zilli welcomed the chief
guest and others saying that the grand-father of Vice President Ansari was
Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari whose boot was kissed by Allama Shibli Nomani
Prof. Zilli presenting the sapasnama to the VP
when the former returned from his medical mission during the Balkan wars.
VP Ansari inspecting rare
Prof. Zilli thanked the Vice President for gracing the occasion and presented
manuscripts in the Shibli
him a traditional sapasnama.
Academy library.
UP minister and MLA from Azamgarh district, Balram Yadav also welcomed the VP and guests. He suggested that the alumni of Shibli College
should assemble in yearly functions like some other colleges and universities. Chairman of Darul Musannifins executive committee, Dr Zafarul-Islam
Khan offered vote of thanks.
Celebrated guests included judge of Pakistan Supreme Court Prof.
Muhammad Al-Ghazali, Maulana Muhammad Rabey Hasani Nadwi (chairman
Prof. Muhammad Al-Ghazali
of the AIMPLB), Dr Saeedur Rahman Azmi (principal of Darul Uloom Nadwatul
Ulama), Alam Badi Azmi (MLA), Wasim Ahmad (minister, UP), Professor
Akhtarul Wasey (commissioner for linguistic minorities), Prof, Khalid
Mahmood (vice chairman, Delhi Urdu Academy), teachers and students of
Shibli College as well as many people from Azamgarh and nearby areas.
Academic sessions spread over three days were held in which Shibli,
his academy. students and related subjects were discussed. Scholars
stressed on translation of the academys books into English and Hindi languages as well as publication of new research in history and comparative
Prof. Salman Nadwi
religion and other issues thrown up by the new age. They also stressed that
the government of India should come to the rescue of this national heritage (son of Syed Sulaiman Nadwi)
which since Independence is surviving on contributions from ordinary citia mushaira (poetic meet) were also organised.
zens.
The celebrations had a special session on Hindustani Sanjhi Sanskriti aur Allama Shibli which was
Prof. Zilli said in his concluding speech on the third day that the academy has contributed a lot
during these past hundred years but we realise that a lot of Shibli Academys projects and plans are chaired by educationist Prof Devendra Raj Ankur, while Kashinath Singh, Mukesh Bhushan and Liladhar
still unrealised. He said we want to publish books on the history of Islam in Europe, Indonesia and Mandloi were among speakers. We need to inculcate the vision of Allama Shibli. He was a great thinker
and had advocated Hindu-Muslim unity, said Mukesh Bhushan while presenting a paper during the speMalaysia as well as responding to the allegations made against Islam and Muslims these days.
Prof. Muhammad Al-Ghazali said that it is more important to author men than to author books cial session. It is not the function of only Shibli Academy but of whole Azamgarh. We are proud of Allama
Shibli, said Ravinder Rai, a retired principal who attended the event.


and it goes to the credit of Allama Shibli that he prepared persons like Syed Sulaiman Nadwi
and a whole group of scholars who continued his work after his death. He said there is no
institution in Pakistan where the services of Shibli and his students are not discussed.
A number of new books were released on the occasion and a books exhibition as well as

Yusuf/MG

Delegation led by E Ahamed

visits vandalized Delhi church

Punishment posting
for officers who
exposed Girirajs
relations with
Ranvir Sena

New Delhi, 4 December, 2014: E. Ahamed, Member of Parliament & National President, Indian Union
Muslim League, along with his colleagues and Members of Parliament, Prof. K.V. Thomas and Shri. E.T.
Mohammed Basheer, National Secretary, IUML today visited the St. Sebastians Church which was subjected to fire in Dilshad Garden, Delhi. Mr. Ahamed held a detailed discussion with the priest and other
members of the church management regarding the incident. Mr. Ahamed conveyed all support and
assistance to them on behalf of his party, and assured that the issue will be taken up at highest level.

14

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

Suicide due to harassment for dowry

Bhagalpur: Bibi Nasreen (20), daughter of one Muhammad Abbas
of Brahpura in Bhagalpur died mysteriously when her body was
found hanging from a ceiling fan in her parents house. Information
about this gruesome incident was conveyed to local police station
at Isa Chack Thanaa after which SP, (Ms) Veena Kumari, Thana
Chak Incharge Manoranjan Bharti and others reached her house
along with a police force. Her body was sent by police to medical
college for post mortem. According to her relatives, Nasreen was
married to Muhammad Aiyyub son of Muhammad Qasim of Bhopal
on 21 October 2014. According to the relatives, though a lot of
dowry was given yet there were frequent and repeated demands for
more dowry from her in-laws. Even on the day of marriage some
disputes had arisen about dowry. However, on the intervention of
senior and responsible persons the marriage was solemnised.
When she reached her in-laws house, complaints about not enough
dowry were made to her after which it became almost a routine to
demand for more dowry and her harassment on some pretext or the
other. On 3 November she came to her parents house in Brahpura.
Her husband Aiyyub also came to her house after her. On the night
of 8 November again there was a quarrel between her and her husband. Next morning (Sunday 9 November) when she did not come
out of her room, her brothers opened the door and found her body
hanging from the ceiling fan. When Aiyyub came to know about this
he immediately fled form there. Nasreen's father lodged an FIR in
Isa Chack Thana after which police officers reached her residence.
City SP, Veena Kumari said that the incident is being investigated
and many places have been raided. Nothing is known about her inlaws but the city SP said that this is a very serious crime and the
guilty will in no case be spared.
New Delhi's Jama Masjid of Moghul era renovated
New Delhi: Jama Masjid of New Delhi district near Parliament Street
which was built sometime in the Moghul era and considered to be
about 300 years old has been renovated recently. Earlier, it was renovated in 1946 by Bharat Chemical Works of Calcutta. During the
period of about six decades since then this mosque was crumbling
at different places. Part of its roof had collapsed and its walls and
gates were in dire need of repair. The latest renovation completed
last month, (October), was done by Padma Shri M. A. Yousuf Ali, a
businessman of Kerala. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad used to regularly pray in this mosque as well as all former Presidents Zakir Husain,
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad and APJ Abul Kalam and now Vice President
Hamid Ansari is a regular visitor to this mosque for Namaz, particularly Friday Namaz. Muslim employees of central government
offices nearby also visit this mosque particularly for Friday Namaz.
Being, almost in the centre of New Delhi most heads of states, PMs
and other top personalities from Islamic countries used to offer
namaz in this mosque. Hence it was essential that this mosque be
of the required standard.
Zakir Husain Memorial School best aided school of the region
New Delhi: Delhi government has started many schemes and
announced many awards for the promotion of education, improving
educational standard of schools and also to encourage students
and teachers to work hard in their studies and teaching jobs. Under
this programme Indira Gandhi Awards 2014 were given to government and government aided schools for their good performance in
a function held at Tyagraj Stadium and sponsored by Delhi government's Education Directorate this month (Nov.). In this programme
Dr Zakir Husain Memorial Sr. Sec. School, Jaffarabad (North-east
Delhi) was declared the best among the government aided schools
and in recognition of its educational standard and services the
Indira Gandhi Award was presented to it under which a certificate
and a cheque of Rs 21,000 was presented to its Principal Dr.
Muhammd Ma'roof Khan. Also, Muhammad Naeem, a student of
this very school was honoured with a cheque of Rs 5000 and an
award. The awards and cheques were presented by Special Guest
(Ms) Anandoo Majumdar, Principal Secretary (Education), (Ms)
Padmini Singla, Education Director; (Ms) Neelam Varma, Addl.
Director and others. In addition, Ms. Anandoo Majumdar also honoured 38 other schools with the Indira Gandhi Award, 230 students
and 35 teachers with other awards. It may be mentioned in this
connection that every year Rs one lakh and a trophy are given to a
school whose performance is found best in the year, Rs 50,000 and
a trophy given to the best school among the 11 districts and Rs
21,000 and a trophy to the best school at the regional level.
Similarly, Rs 25,000 and a medal are given to the best teacher at
district and regional level and Rs 5,000 and an award (a medal) to
the best students at regional levels.
NCPUL's Governing Body reconstituted
New Delhi: Governing Body of National Council for the Promotion of
Urdu Language (NCPUL) which is working under the union HRD
ministry has been reconstituted by this ministry after the expiry of
the previous body's term about six months ago i.e. on 12 June
2014 in the absence of which many projects and plans of this
Council for the promotion of Urdu came to a stand still. Hence in
order to speed up the Council's work most of the new members
numbering about 30 have been appointed and some are yet to be
appointed. Some of the members already appointed are: Syed
Muhammad Ashraf Marahravi, Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, P. A. Inamdar
(of Pune), Rafiq Bhandari (Bijapur / Karnatak), Prof Muhammad
Iqbal of JMI, New Delhi; Prof Sagheer Ifrahim (AMU), Prof. Shahab
Inayet Malik (Jammu University), S. Munawwari Begum, Krishna
Giri, Prof. Shafiq Qidwai (AMU), Hafizah Muzaffar, Dy Registrar, NIT,
Hazratbal (Srinagar); Ehtesham Aafridi, advocate (Varanasi), Ms.
Shaaista Yousuf (Bangalore), Mazharuddin, (IPS (Retd) officer and
others. As per NCPUL or Simply Council's rules, among other
members two should be Lok Sabha MPs, one Rajya Sabha MP
(their names have not so far been announced) and union HRD min-

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Maulana Azad's birth anniversary

celebrated as National Education Day
New Delhi: Independent India's first education minister Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad's birth anniversary on 11 November, is celebrated as National Education Day in India. This year on 11 November
was his 126th birth anniversary. A number of official as well as
non-official functions were held at various places in various
cities. Surprisingly, though he was one of the most important
leaders of Congress Party, his birth anniversaries on this date
were virtually ignored by Congress-led government but BJP-led
NDA government observed his birth anniversary, apparently, with
much enthusiasm. President Pranab Mukherji speaking at a function held in Vigyan Bhavan on 11 November said that India's
National Educational Day is celebrated on the day which is the
birthday of Maulana Azad who was a great nationalist, a great
champion of education and Hindu-Muslim unity. As education
minister promotion of an educational system as a national policy
which was different from the colonial system was a big challenge
but he started such a system with a national approach with syllabus books. Describing him as an architect of an institution he
said that University Grants Commisison, Indian Institutes of
Technology, Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy,
Sahitya Academy etc owe their origins to his untiring efforts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a tribute to him on his birth
day said that I offer 'lakhs of salutations' to this great crusader of
freedom who devoted his entire life for building the country and
nation. Union minister for minorities affairs Mrs Najma
Hepatullah, as a tribute to him, laid the foundation stone of
Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS) and inaugurated Pilot Trainng Programme under MANAS which, she said, is
a great tribute to him under which children and trainees will be
associated with employment. She said that till date the government's policy regarding scholarships under minority schemes
was that only those children can benefit from scholarships whose
parents annual income is Rs 1,30,000 or less but Modi government has now increased this limit to rs 6 lakh so that maximum
number of children could benefit from this. Paying tributes to
Maulana Azad she said that his life was like a carved or cut diamond which had the characteristic that from whichever angle one
sees, he will see the light in him.
Chairman of National Minorities Commission, Naseem
Ahmad said while speaking at Maulana Azad National Urdu
Universitiy at Hyderabad on the occasion of National Education
Day and Maulana Azad's birth anniversary as a special guest that
Gandhiji had described him (Maulana Azad) 'King of Knowledge',
Pundit Nehru had described him 'Symbol of Indian unity' and Mrs
Sarojini Naidu used to say that when he was born, he was '40
years old'. Only Muhammad Ali Jinnah had contemptuously
described him as 'Show boy of Congress'. He (Azad) was
undoubtedly above praise and criticism, loss or gain etc. He said
that even in his very young age he had the farsightedness of a
statesman. His views and advices in political and national affairs
were of great value and was considered a reliable negotiator.
At government level, many central ministries including PMO
organised different programmes on the occasion of Maulana
Azad's 126th birth anniversary. In Delhi 3 special programmes
were organised. First one, as stated above, was at Vigyan Bhavan
where President Mukherjee and HRD minister Ms Smriti Irani paid
tributes to him and described him as a great personality of India.
At Maulana Azad Road (near Udyog Bhavan) and Janpath big
hoardings and his life-size photos were installed. Second programme was held at SCOPE Building where also HRD minister,
ister will be ex-officio chairperson of the Council. In addition to
these, other members will be Commissioner for Linguistic
Minorities (Prof. Akhtraul Wasey already named), two representatives of HRD ministry, Chairman of the Commission for Scientific &
Technical Terms, Delhi, Director of Central Institute of Indian
Languages, Mysore; Director of Central Hindi Directorate; Director
of Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (Agra), Director of NCERT, one representative of UGC, Chairman of Indian Council for Cultural Relations,
Chairman of Sahitya Academy, Chairman of National Book Trust
(NBT), Director General of Doordarshan. Representatives of the
ministry of law and justice will also be members of this Council or
Governing Body. Muzaffar Husain, an old supporter of RSS, has
already been appointed new Vice Chairman of NCPUL. It may also
be stated that the term of the reconstituted Governing Council and
new members of the Council will be 3 years.
Rs 3 crores grant to Bihar Urdu Academy
Gaya: Bihar government headed by chief minister Jeetan Ram Manji
has increased the annual grant to Bihar Urdu Academy from Rs. 1.3
crores to Rs 3 crores. Expressing his happiness and gratefulness to
the chief minister over the increase of this nominal grant to the
Academy Dr. Syed Ahmad Qadiri, noted fiction writer and journalist
said that with this increase he (Jeetan Ram) has won the hearts of
the entire Urdu speaking population which is extremely happy. He
has also requested the chief minister to reconstitute the state Urdu
Academy at the earliest because its activities are in the doldrums
and the Academy is a victim of inaction and uncertain future.
However, commenting on Dr. Qadiri's joy and thankfulness to the
chief minister, state Congress leader Bari Azmi, expressed his disappointment, saying that though this government has announced
free education of SC and ST boy and girl students upto graduation,
for Muslims only girl students, and not boys, will enjoy this benefit
in spite of the fact that in various survey reports Muslim students
because of their poor economic and financial condition, are far

minorities affairs minister and minister for skill development paid

tributes to him. Third programme was held at Nehru Memorial
Museum and Library at Teen Moorti Bhavan where Vice President
Hamid Ansari delivered Maulana Azad Memorial lecture sponsored by Indian Council of Cultural Relations.
At Patna at a function held at Prem Chand Rangshala, Prof
Arun Kanwal, Sahitya Academy awardee, said that Maulana Azad
was the architect of the present educational policy and the present generation is also benefiting from the educational policy
framed by him. He didn't bow to fascist forces. Today when fascist forces are trying to disintegrate the country, his relevance has
increased all the more. He admitted that minorities in this country are passing through great difficulties and are facing hostile circumstances. He said that both Mahatma Gandhi and Azad were
strongly against partition but ultimately they bowed before Sardar
Patel but the blame for the partition of the country was put on
Muslims which is totally wrong. He also said that Dr Rajendra
Prasad and Patel did not allow Muslim leadership to play its constructive role. Gandhi Sangrahalay's Director, who is a Gandhiite,
said that the scientific approach of education the he (Azad) tried
to promote is being destroyed today and effort is being to replace
it by mythology which is dangerous for the country's security.
Another speaker, Imteyaz Ahmad said while speaking on this
occasion that the initiative of observing Maulana Azad's birthday
as National Education Day was taken by Bihar and now the whole
country is observing this.
However, some new developments that have taken place now
cast doubts on the government's intentions and sincerety about
Maulana Azad's 126th birth anniversary as National Education
Day. A lot of banners, boards and publicity materials were there
in Hindi but virtually nowhere these could be seen in Urdu, his
preferred language of which he was a scholar. He wrote as many
as 37 books, the last being Hindustan ne Azadi jeeti, all in Urdu.
In Delhi three official programmes were held in connection with
his birth anniversary and National Educaion Day but everywhere
Urdu was ignored. One programme was held at his mazar near
Jama Masjid also but there too no banner in Urdu was installed.
Was it proper to totally ignore his favourite language on such an
occasion?
In yet another case Maulana Azad's Portal Site which was
started by the previous government on the occasion of his 125th
birth anniversary was mysteriously stopped when the new government was formed in May this year. No answer is found to the
question as to who stopped it, how it was stopped and why?
Heritage portal (website) to promote his nationalism, patriotism
and the idea of united or undivided India was released on 11
September 2013 by the former UPA government on the pattern of
Mahatma Gandhi portal site. On that occasion Manmohan
Singh's adviser Sam Pitroda, Sayeda Hameed (Planning
Commission member), Wajahat Habibullah, Mrs Mohsina Qidwai,
Mrs Najma Heptullah and many others were also present. This
portal site www.maulanaazadheritage.org was suddenly stopped
even before it could complete one year, though many other portals like Gandhi Heritage Portal, India Biodiversity Portal,
Teachers of India Portal, India Energy Portal, India Water Portal
and so forth are working normally but Maulana Azad Portal is
stopped. Even the National Innovation Council also which runs
such portals is unable to answer the above questions. What all
these incidents indicate about the intentions of the new government? (N. A. Ansari)
below their SC and ST counterparts in matters of higher and professional education. He said that whereas for students of 22% SC
and ST population more than Rs 100 crores will be allocated, for 18
percent Muslim minority population only Rs 3 crores has been allocated to state Urdu Academy for the promotion of Urdu education
but even then some short-sighted intellectuals cross all bounds in
making complimentary and sycophantic statements. He said that in
the present regime Bihar Urdu Academy is working without any
managing committee and some government official, who is already
burdened with the work of many other departments has been made
temporary secretary of this Academy, with the result that instead of
the common man benefitting by the works of the Academy, people
of some special class benefit. He said that though Urdu has been
made second official language of Bihar but the actual position is
that because of the government officials biased mentality the position of Urdu is getting from bad to worse. Whether it is the question
of appointment of 27000 Urdu teachers, giving financial powers to
Urdu directorate or government advertisements to Urdu newspapers, everywhere the government's intentions are not sincere.
Government's intentions even towards the Muslim population are
not sincere. Urdu speaking population does not benefit at all from
the grants being given to Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu. Appointments to
sanctioned but vacant posts of Urdu translators, assistant translators and Urdu typists etc remain unfilled since years. Urdu cells at
block and district levels are totally closed. Urdu Advisory
Committee has lost its necessity and usefulness. Government Urdu
Library is totally neglectd and its progress is, naturally, held up.
He further said that governments in some other states where
Urdu has not even been given the status of second official language
give much more grants than Bihar and much better work is being
done for the promotion of Urdu there than in Bihar. In these states
Urdu teaching and training centres have been opened from muhalla to muhalla and from village to village for the promotion of Urdu,


he said.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Joshi to inaugurate a madrasa
Lucknow: Veteran BJP leader and former HRD minister in the BJPled NDA government of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
and who was indicted by court in the demolition of Babri Masjid
case, Murli Manohar Joshi has received a surprising and unexpected invitation from a Muslim group to inaugurate an upgraded
madrasa in Kanpur and address its students. According to a local
BJP leader, MM Joshi has accepted the invitation and would inaugurate the madrasa, Al Jamiatul Nooria Madrasa in Kanpurs Noori
locality where (Sunni) Mulsims constitute about 60 percent of the
population. According to Madrasa authorities they want to give
him (MMJ) an opportunity to speak to madrasa students, teachers and Muslims and also to inform them about the BJP governments plans for the welfare and progress of minorities (Muslims).
After receipt of the invitation, local BJP leaders and authorities visited the madrasa to inspect its campus. They admitted that it was
a surprising and unexpected invitation. An official said for the first
time in my life Muslims have invited a BJP leader to inaugurate a
madrasa and Joshiji has agreed to it when he visits Kanpur. The
madrasa is run by a 10-member committee of Sunni Muslims. It
may incidentally be stated that Shias normally support BJP but the
Sunnis in general do not. One Maqsood Ahmad of the madrasa
said that this madrasa is being run for about 15 years but so far it
was offering Fauqania and Tahtania courses (upto 8th calss) but
now the madrasa has been upgraded to X class (Munshi and
Maulvi). So now we want this upgraded madrasa to be inaugurated by Joshiji because he and other BJP leaders often speak in
meetings that BJP wants development and progress for all. So we
want to hear from him what BJP government can and will do for
Muslims. When some people asked him (Maqsood Ahmad) about
Joshis role in Ram Janmabhoomi movement and Babri Masjid
demolition, he said whatever has happened is past now. We need
to forget and move forward. It may be stated, by the way, that MM
Joshi now has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Kanpur.
Darul Uloom Deobands annual budget
Deoband: A two-day conference of Darul Uloom Deobands
Majlis-e Shoora was held here on 30 November and 1 December
when the annual reports on its educational and administrative
activities, performances and achievements were presented which
were unanimously approved and satisfaction was expressed.
Annual budget for the next year (2015) to the tune of rs 27 crores
including building and construction expenses was also approved
in which, among other things, 5 percent annual increments in pay
of teachers and employees was also approved. In addition to
annual increments, increase in special scholarships to students
was also approved. Political, social and economic conditions prevailing in the country were also reviewed and special prayers were
offered for the welfare, peace and progress of the community and
country. Among the important personalities who attended this
conference were Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, Maulana Sayeed
Palanpuri, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. Among the notable persons
who could not attend this conference because of personal or other
reasons were Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi, Maulana Ghulam
Muhammad Wastanvi, Mufti Nizamuddin (Patna) etc.
A beacon of light in the educational darkness in Old Delhi
New Delhi: Tamir-e Millat Institute in Old Delhis Pul Bangash area
(near Faraash Khana / G B Road) is probably a unique educational institution where students are imparted education and training
in computer, English speaking and Urdu but no fee is charged.
Presently there are about 250 boy and girl students, and happily,
majority of them are girls. The institute is being run by one
Muhammad Aamir, a social worker who was implicated in many
fake cases and had spent about 14 years in jail for uncommitted
crimes, not one or two cases but more than his age at that time.
Since police could not prove even a single case, he was acquitted
by the court but after about 14 long years.
After his ba izzat acquittal he devoted himself to the service of
people. He associated himself to many persons and organisations, particularly to one Abdul Hannan Chandna, Chartered
Accountant who immediately agreed to donate his land for the
proposed institution or school, and Zahiruddin Khan, editor of
Hyderabad-based Urdu daily Siyasat. He says that after the
Muzaffarnagar riots, the problem of education, among many other
problems, of Muslim children arose. To partly solve this problem,
a centre was set up there for continuing their education. After the
successful working of this educational centre, he thought of doing
the same thing in Old Delhis congested area where mostly poor
Muslims live who were not very particular about the education of
their children mainly because of their weak economic and social
position, so as to keep them abreast of modern technology and
needs but there was the great problem of land for the school.
When he contacted Abdul Hannan Chandna, he willingly agreed to
gift his land for this. Zahiruddin Khan had already assured him of
his help for this noble cause. With the help and cooperation of
these two people the Tamir-e Millat Institute was opened in
February this year (2014). In the beginning there were very small
number of children but gradually their numbers began to increase
and now there are, as stated above, about 250 boy and girl students who are imparted free education and training. Muhammad
Aamir says that he has asked his wife and children to continue his
work even when he is no more, considering it a sadqa-e jaaria.
He now wants to introduce Arabic also in this institute.
National seminar on inclusive development of minorities
Aligarh: Dr. Arvind Mayaram, Secretary, Ministry of Minority
Affairs, Government of India pointed out that the challenges of
inclusive growth have become more complex while dealing with
minority communities. This is because of reasons such as lack of

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The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

15

Najma Heptulla lays Foundation stone of MANAS and

inaugurates of Academys office
New Delhi: Union minister for minorities affairs Mrs Najma
Heptulla laid the foundation stone of Maulana Azad National
Academy for Skills (MANAS) on 10 November at Maulana Azad
Bhavan complex at Chelmsford Road near Connaught Circus,
after which she also inaugurated the Academys office on the
occasion of Maulana Azads 126th birth anniversary. In a brief
speech on this occasion she said that the first education minister
of independent India (Maulana Azad) because of his farsightedness had laid emphasis on promotion of art and skill in children
in fulfilment of which we have constituted MANAS so that children
of minority communities who are deprived of higher education
would find no difficulty in earning their livelihood and in building
and improving their own and their country's future.
Speaking about the importance and utility of MANAS she said
that the main objective of this institution is to brighten the future
of children belonging to minority communities, particularly
Muslims by providing assistance and guidance to them in their
education, academic achievements and their skill development so
as to step up the progress of the country because if one large
section of the country remains backward, the country as a whole
cannot progress much, neither can it be called a developed country. Regarding national unity and communal harmony she said
that Maulana Azad was a great champion of Hindu-Muslim unity
because if there is no Hindu-Muslim unity and harmony, it will be
harmful for humanity as a whole. About syllabus texts she said
that even before independence of the country Maulana Azad had
presented the educational guidelines for the country and had
pleaded for a uniform education for all. At the same time he had
laid emphasis on strengthening higher academic education along
with secondary education i.e. technical and professional educa-

tion, to which end Maulana Azad Education Foundation is playing

an important role today.
Expressing her sorrow over the condition of Maulana Azad
Bhavan and its surroundings she said that the condition of this
Bhavan and its surrounding areas was in extremely bad condition
because of years of neglect in improving which the officers of her
ministry, are now playing an important role. In reply to a question
she said that in future this building can be expanded and re-built
also in view of the shortage of space being felt now. It may be
stated that in Maulana Azad Bhavan which is near New Delhi
Railway Station on Chelmsford Road the office of Maulana Azad
Education Foundation also is housed which runs different educational and other schemes like scholarships etc for minority communities children, particularly Muslim children. In the compound
of this Bhavan office of MANAS is also being built for which the
minorities affairs ministry had obtained land from Maulana Azad
Bhavan on lease. There are already four rooms in the Bhavan
compound in which other offices are accommodated and for the
time being MANAS will also works from here. Training Centres for
different trades will also be opened in this complex for which
shortage of space is being felt.
Earlier, she had unveiled a life size portrait of Maulana Azad.
Incidentally, it may be added that as she was speaking on this
occasion there was the call of prayer (Azaan). Hearing this she
covered her head with her sari and kept quiet till the call for prayer
came to an end, after which she resumed her speech. Among
those present on this occasion were secretary of minorities
affairs ministry Arvind Maya Ram, Director of National Minorities
Development & Finance Corporation D. S. Bisht, Prof Akhtarul
Wasey etc. etc. (N. A. Ansari)
minority communities in India. But nothing concrete was done for
enhancing the legal basis for providing equal opportunities, said
Mr Adeeb.
Presiding over the Seminar, the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Aligarh
Muslim University, Brigadier S Ahmad Ali (Retd) said that Muslims
are nearly 13.43 percent of the countrys population and count for
20 percent of more of its 675 districts. However, 12 out of those
86 districts are among the countrys most backward. It is high
time that we should do something about it, stated Brigadier Ali.
Seerat Conference in Gorakhpur

Dr Arvind Mayaram speaking at the seminar

opportunities to access quality education, which is more pronounced in the minority concentration areas, low enrolment at
secondary and higher education level and high dropout rates,
especially of girl students, high cost of acquiring suitable skills for
better employment and sometimes a sense of insecurity in the
minds of the minority communities. These factors, combined with
poverty and financial backwardness, exacerbate the problem. Dr
Mayaram was delivering the keynote address at a two-day
National Seminar on Inclusive Development and Mainstreaming of
the Minority (Muslim) Community in India, organized by the
Department of Commerce, AMU.
Defending the policies of the present Government, Dr.
Mayaram said that the Minister of Minority Affairs is taking up special programmes for uplifting and mainstreaming of the economically weaker section of the country, especially the minorities.
He said that our effort is to mainstream the minorities, which
will enable them to benefit from the resurgence in Indian economy. He hoped that AMU shall continue to provide intellectual leadership to the community to strive to achieve full partnership with
all others in making India a truly prosperous and modern nation.
Addressing the inaugural session, Prof. Faizan Mustafa, Vice
Chancellor, NALSAR Law University, Hyderabad, said that at a
time when the rightist BJP rules the country and it does not
believe in the group rights, the worst fears of minorities are coming true in the statements of top RSS leadership. BJP leaders
involved in minority bashing have been awarded with ministerial
berths.
Prof. Mustafa said that in an atmosphere when talks of
Uniform Civil Code, saffronization of education, provision of
Sanskrit as third language and, of course, creating controversy
about his alma mater, AMU, is a daily affair, talks about minority
rights and their philosophical and legal justifications is the need of
hour. Prof. Mustafa added that even the talk of mainstreaming
Muslims comes with suspicions. Mainstreaming is assimilation
as somewhere it puts the blame on people of an underprivileged
community for the lack of development, said Dr Mustafa. He
emphasized that Minority communities in India should be encouraged for the setting up of their own civil society organizations.
With the sombre past of several committees reports, talk of
inclusive development of Muslims has dwindled as the nation
focuses on other priorities, pointed out Mr Mohd Adeeb, a former
Rajya Sabha member and former President of Aligarh Muslim
University Students Union. Adding that this issue simply wont
go away, Mr Adeeb said, Development programmes started after
independence and Muslims in India who constitute the largest
minority community are lagging behind in comparison to other
communities on human development indicators such as literacy,
education and health. He also pointed out that since independence; no systematic effort was made to evaluate the conditions of
minorities in the country. A wide variety of policy initiatives and
programmes have been launched by successive governments to
promote the economic, social and educational development of the

Gorakhpur: The image of Muslims and Islam portrayed by the

western media makes us believe that Islam and Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) propagated terrorism and violence and that
the cult of violence owes much to these teachings. These assertions have no iota of truth as Islam and Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) gave the concept of peace, tolerance and co-existence and
the Prophet always advised his followers to eschew violence,
said Aligarh Muslim University professor and President Sir Syed
Awareness Forum, Dr. Shakeel Samdani while speaking at a conference on Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Global Peace at
Miya Sahab Islamia Inter-College here on 2 December. He said
that the last Prophet emphasised on justice and education and his
life is full of the examples of justice. When Prophet Muhammad
(SAW) declared his prophethood, there were only 17 literate persons in Mecca but exactly 23 years later, when he left this world,
there were tens of thousands who were not only literate and civilized but also experts in Quran, Hadith, legal knowledge, literature,
history etc. The most important feature of the Prophets life was
democratisation of knowledge/education. This achievement of the
Prophet is unique in history. Dr. Samdani further said that most of
the early Islam wars were defensive in nature and the total causalities from both the sides were around one thousand only. Had
Prophet Muhammad believed in violence and killing, the figures
would have been much higher. History stands witness that most
of the Islamic rulers, especially the Rightly-Guided Caliphs spread
love, tolerance and peace after their conquests. Dr Samdani
added that Islam has given equal protection to men and women
and for the first time in the history of the civilized world women
were declared as owners of their bodies, souls and properties.
Their status was enhanced to such an extent that the Prophet proclaimed that the road to Paradise goes through good behaviour
with mothers, wives and daughters. Due to the successful mission of the Prophet non-Muslim scholars have acknowledged him
as the most successful person in the history of mankind.
In a well-attended conference, Dr Samdani urged the audience
to lead their lives in accordance with the teachings of the Prophet
Muhammad and devote their time and energies for constructive
activities and spend their money and time for social work. He
requested the audience to abstain from difference on the basis of
schools of thought and remain united.
Replying to a question, Dr Samdani said that India is a democratic country where everyone is free to participate in political
activity and the freedoms and liberties which we are enjoying in
this country are not available in many countries.
Inaugurating an Islamic exhibition on the occasion,
Dr. Samdani congratulated the Manager, Rashid Kamal Samani,
Principal, Zafar Ahmad Khan and Convenor, Mukhtar Ahmad. A
three-day Seerat Conference and state level competition was
organized by the college in which large number of students from


all over the state participated.

16

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

INTERNATIONAL

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Fighting phantoms in the Middle East

AIJAZ ZAKA SYED
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Has the good ol'
war on terror that President George W Bush unleased on the world
in response to the spectacular September 11 attacks achieved
what it had ostensibly set out to do? It appears instead of rooting
out terror, the coalition of the willing has actually fueled and
helped it grow to frightening proportions.
According to the Global Terrorism Index of the Institute for
Economics and Peace, 13 years after the 9/11 attacks and the US
spending of $4.4 trillion on the forever war and all-consuming
invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, terrorism and casualties and
fatalities attributed to terror have grown fivefold.
In 2000, the year before 9/11 strikes on New York and
Washington, stray acts of terror around the world claimed 3,361
lives. In 2013, it claimed nearly 18,000 lives.
Not surprisingly, most of the terror victims around the world,
as much as 80 percent, are said to be Muslims. And in most
cases, they were sent to heaven by their overzealous fellow
believers. A vast majority of victims belonged to Muslim countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Somalia
etc.
In the wake of September 11 attacks, Bush promised to deliver swift and summary justice--the way they did out in the
American West. The terrorists will be brought to justice; they will
have no place to hide, proclaimed the 43rd president ad infinitum.
Sure enough, America's justice has been swift and effective.
A small bunch of militants, essentially armed and trained by US
agencies and who were holed up in the caves and mountains of
Afghanistan and Pakistan, are now spread and to be found all over
the Middle East and beyond.
Millions across the region have been killed or uprooted from
their lands as a direct result of the war without end. The vast
region stretching from Afghanistan to Arab Maghreb is on the boil
with the militants on the march everywhere. Borders have become
irrelevant as city after city falls like a house of cards to the rebels.
It looks like the end times are already here in the Middle East.
In the terrifying words of Yeats:
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

The state of chaos seems to have given a new lease of life and
sense of purpose to the war whose end remains as distant as ever
even though a second US president is nearing the end of his second term. This is a war truly beyond borders. Its goal posts
remain as ephemeral and shift as frequently as its battlefronts.
You would have thought having fought the 'enemy' all these
years and achieving precious little to show for it, the least of all
eliminating terror, the West would realize the futility and sheer folly
of this crusade whatever its stated and imagined objectives.
While their policies and actions in Muslim lands remain as
self-serving and hubristic as ever, they appear awfully intrigued,
even hurt, at the angry response they are generating from their
victims.
Einstein explained insanity as doing the same thing over and
over again and expecting different results. The West has been
there and done that over and over again--from Korea to Vietnam
and from Afghanistan to Iraq--and yet expects different results.
Why is it so hard to get that if radicalism and violence continue to roil the Muslim world, mutating into myriad forms and faces
of terror, from Al Qaida to Taliban to ISIS, it is chiefly because of
the continuing oppression, injustice and aggression?
In the words of Gwynne Dyer, "the invasions, the drone strikes
in Pakistan, Yemen, and Africa, the whole lumbering apparatus of
the "global war on terrorism" have not killed the terrorist beast.
They have fed it, and the beast has grown very large."
Else why would young people, brought up in Western climes
with the best of education, careers and a cozy, comfortable life,
give it all up to fight and die in distant lands? Some of the ISIS
fighters are said to be doctors and academics and apparently
went to Ivy League universities.
This is a most disturbing situation for everyone concerned
and demands urgent answers and solutions from both Western
and Muslim governments and societies. Angry sermons from
clerics and religious scholars and authoritarian measures from
governments have failed to produce any results.
The dangerous radicalization of young Arabs and Muslims
that many of us have been warning about for years seems to have
finally become a frightening reality. The lure of transborder fight
for justice and to avenge all that has gone wrong over the decades
and centuries appears to be increasingly irresistible for the young
and restless, drawing recruits from as far as Canada and Australia
and hitherto passive India. And the West has no one to blame but

Israel must renounce nuclear arms: UN

United Nations: The U.N. General
Assembly overwhelmingly approved
an Arab-backed resolution on 2
December calling on Israel to
renounce possession of nuclear
weapons and put its nuclear facilities
under international oversight.
The resolution, adopted in a 1615 vote, noted that Israel is the only
Middle Eastern country that is not
party to the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It
called on Israel to "accede to that
treaty without further delay, not to
develop, produce test or otherwise
acquire nuclear weapons, to
renounce possession of nuclear
weapons" and put its nuclear facilities
under the safeguard of the U.N.'s
International Atomic Energy Agency.
The United States, Canada, Palau Israels Dimona nuclear reactor: Israel is the only nuclear power in the
Middle East and wants to remain so forever and at any cost
and Micronesia joined Israel in
opposing the measure, while 18
countries abstained. Israel is widely considered to pos- arenas. Israel's U.N. Mission did not immediately return
a request for comment Tuesday.
sess nuclear arms but declines to confirm it.
The U.N. resolution, titled "The risk of nuclear proThe resolution, introduced by Egypt, echoed a simliferation
in the Middle East," pushed for the establishilar Arab-backed effort that failed to gain approval in
ment
of
a
nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East
September at the Vienna-based IAEA. At the time, Israel
criticized Arab countries for undermining dialogue by and lamented that U.S.-backed efforts to convene talks
repeatedly singling out the Jewish state in international were abandoned in 2012.
Israel has long argued that a full
Palestinian-Israeli peace plan must precede
any creation of a Mideast zone free of
weapons of mass destruction. The country
also argues that Iran's alleged work on nuclear
arms is the real regional threat. Iran denies
pursuing such weapons. General Assembly
resolutions are not legally binding but carry
moral weight because it is the only body where
all 193 U.N. member states are represented.
The flow of news never ceases, so between our
U.S. representative Robert Wood, in voting
fortnightly print issues we send out email newslet- against the resolution at the committee-level
ter - MG e-Alerts. Get our eNewsletter FREE! last month, said the measure "fails to meet the
fundamental tests of fairness and balance. It
write to us at sales@milligazette.com
confines itself to expressions of concern about
the activities of a single country."
Become a fan of MG on Facebook
Wood said the U.S. will continue pushing a
visit: facebook.com/milligazette
Middle East free of weapons of mass destrucFollow us on twitter: twitter.com/milligazette
tions, but he warned that such resolutions only
undermine prospects for progress. (AP)

Weve got

mail.....

for you!

itself for this state of affairs.

By now it is clear like daylight that it is a
deadly combination of historical wrongs and the
havoc wreaked by hastily cooked up wars, not
to mention the duplicity displayed in dealing with popular aspirations, that gave birth to the Leviathan called ISIS.
Instead of facing up the past though, those who gave us the
'shock and awe' are busy repeating and reliving its horrors all over
again.
Their one and only solution to all Middle East problems is
bombing it back to the Middle Ages. Bomb, bomb and bomb
some more!
Doubtless, fighting the violent obscurantism of groups like the
ISIS is more critical than ever. The incredible brutality and savagery of the casual ISIS violence demonstrated in recent weeks
and months has brought nothing but shame to Islam and its followers. And more than its cancerous growth and deathly spell on
young and impressionable minds, it is its claim to represent and
speak on behalf of the so-called Ummah that needs to be challenged.
However you cannot fight the radicalism and appeal of groups
like these without clearing the swamps that breed them. We have
been here before but it is the same old chicken and egg question
that cannot be avoided, if you have to fix it once and for all. The
world cannot go on playing the same old cynical game and expect
dramatically different results.
President Barack Obama has turned out to be little different
from his predecessor whose wars and neocon agenda he seemed
to so tenaciously oppose in the run up to the historic, 'Change We
Can' elections.
Of all the people, the Nobel laureate president should have
known that bombs alone cannot fix any problem, especially
something as complex as this one.
With a clear and visible ISIS threat on their doorstep, Arab and
Muslim countries had been left with no option but to promptly join
the latest US campaign to 'save the Middle East.' But now that they
are part of this war, they would do well to advice the world powers that without justice there is no peace.
This has been said before and needs to be said again. Without
addressing the source and underlying causes of this ever widening conflict, you cannot bring peace to this ancient land. ISIS and
Al-Qaida are but mere symptoms of the disease, not the disease
itself. They will continue to show themselves in some form or the
other as long as there's no cure for the malaise.
Aijaz Zaka Syed is a commentator on
South Asia and Middle East affairs.
aijaz.syed@hotmail.com

Israels own tunnels of

dread in Jerusalem
While everyone is preoccupied with the
Hamas tunnels in
Gaza, Israel continues
to
dig
under
Palestinian houses in
Jerusalem. With the
Hamas tunnels dominating the Israeli narrative for the past several weeks, their
inherent danger horrifying the entire state
and sometimes leading to apocalyptic
Entrance to the Israeli tunnels under the Aqsa Mosque
visions, the state of
Israel persistently continued digging its own underground tunnels - in Jerusalem.
These tunnels, like those of Hamas, are being dug under a heavy cloak of secrecy.
They should serve as a tool for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They are being
dug under the houses of uninvolved civilians, in this case Palestinians.
However, while the Hamas tunnels are described as serving terrorist purposes, these
tunnels have been authorized by the Supreme Court of Israel, and all the relevant arms
of the state have been mobilized in their support. The inhabitants of Silwan live in a village where Israeli settler activity has been ongoing for 20 years, and then one day, they
discovered that there had been digging going on underneath them. They always knew
they were being "dug under" in the metaphorical sense, and one day they discovered
it was physical, too. We are afraid. We do not know who is digging, how much, how
deep, how this threatens the house, what will happen tomorrow." Will tomorrow a
settler emerge from under and say, "This room is mine?
This happened to the Abbasi family house.
Settlers descended on ropes from the
roof into the house occupied the house and expel the residents. The ultimate goal of
these tunnels is to create an Israeli-Jewish Jerusalem by digging under reality and
strengthening the national narrative. The tunnels are a central tool to prevent a political solution in the area of the Historic Basin. Since for the Elad association, Silwan is
the City of David, no justification is needed. The state of Israel has excavated the entire
area adjacent to the Temple Mount. These tunnels are a basis of existential danger.
When the flames will erupt and how high will they reach? (972mag.com)

New York Times plans to start an Arabic edition

Abu Dhabi: Americas reputed newspaper The New York Times plans to start its Arabic
edition to promote its access in the Arab World. This was announced by the newspaper companys chief executive Mark Thompson, who was earlier the Director General
of BBC, in an interview on the occasion of Media Summit held in Abu Dhabi. He said
that presently this newspaper is being published in English and Chinese languages but
it plans to publish it in some other world languages also, including Arabic, from next


year on an experimental basis.

INTERNATIONAL

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

www.milligazette.com

17

John Kerry, please read this article

KHALID AMAYREH
Occupied Jerusalem: Voicing his frustration over the visibly
moribund "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinian
Authority (PA), U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been
making some interesting remarks of late. These remarks,
however, seem to reflect not only American frustration, but also
American inability to pressure Israel to end its decades-old
occupation of Palestinian land.
Addressing the Saban Forum in Washington D.C. this week,
Kerry claimed that there was still a chance for a peace settlement
in the region, based on the two-state solution strategy.
He also reiterated several platitudes pertaining to the
American Middle Eastern policy, including reemphasizing
unrestricted support for Israel, despite the latter's recalcitrance
and insolence, and denouncing Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic
liberation movement, for resisting Israeli aggression and
bellicosity.
Kerry also repeated calls on the weak PA to guard Israeli
security, even as Israel continues to torment the Palestinians,
seize their land, and build still more settlements, effectively
decapitating whatever remaining chances for saving or salvaging
the two-state solution strategy.
I don't really know what type of advisors Kerry listens to when
deciding his approach to the enduring Palestinian plight. However,
from the choice of words he has been using, it seems amply clear
that Kerry is sidestepping the truth, contenting himself with
resorting to the same failed tactics employed by most of his
predecessors.
Kerry thinks, erroneously of course, that if only the
Palestinians terminated their resistance to Israel and if only Arab
states normalized relations with the Jewish state, Israel would
display generosity and everything would be fine ever after.
The truth of the matter, however, is that Israel would never
ever give up the occupied territories and agree to the repatriation
of Palestinian refugees unless it is pressured to do so.
Indeed, a country that truly desires peace with its neighbors
doesn't build hundreds of colonies on occupied land.
A country that truly wants peace doesn't transfer hundreds of
thousands of its citizens to live on a land that doesn't belong to
them. Why doesn't Kerry understand these outstanding facts?
Does he worry about losing his job due to Jewish pressure on the
White House? I am invoking these questions because dealing with
the Palestinian plight requires honesty, first and foremost. But, as
we all know, honesty has always been and continues to be
conspicuously lacking or completely absent from the American
approach to the Middle East.

Indeed, the US tried every conceivable diplomatic feat to get

Israel to agree to end its occupation of Palestinian land, but to no
avail. In fact, the US effectively transformed Israel into a regional
superpower in the hope that it would feel secure enough to end its
occupation of Palestinian land. However, instead of getting Israel
to walk in the path of peace, massive and unrestricted aid and
backing served to enable Israel not only to consolidate the
occupation itself but also to defiantly reject American peace
efforts.
Thus, Israel continued to fly in the face of the international
community, including its guardian-ally, using American taxpayers' money to bolster its lebensraum policy against her
neighbors. This is because Israel doesn't really take the U.S.
seriously or seriously enough. Indeed, numerous Israeli officials
admitted on several occasions that Israel took the U.S. for granted
thanks to the almost complete domination of the American
government, especially Congress, by the American Jewish lobby.
We don't need to reinvent the wheel to prove America's
ignominious subservience to "the shitty" apartheid state that
endangers the security and stability of the world like no other state
does. Mr. Kerry: Let me communicate to you the following
outstanding facts, which I hope will help you chart your plans in
this troubled spot.
First, the two-state solution strategy is irreversibly over. Israel
has simply decapitated this possibility once and for all, as there is
no room left for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state,
thanks to the ubiquitous expansion of Jewish settlements.
Second, the U.S. cannot pressure Israel to end the
occupation due to domestic American considerations. Mr. Kerry
probably knows this reality better than this writer does. However,
we all know that there are serious limits to what American officials
can say, especially in public. Words like "political incorrectness"
and "political suicides" are often invoked when U.S. leaders and
officials are demanded to tell the truth with regard to Israel and its
disproportionate influence on successive American
administrations.
Third, Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups are no
more than pretexts or
"red herrings" used by
the Israeli (hasbara)
propaganda machine to
justify
Israeli
intransigence
and
rejectionism. The PLO,
which recognized Israel
rather unilaterally and
v i r t u a l l y

unconditionally, more than 20 years ago,

got absolutely nothing from Israel in
return. Indeed, instead of obtaining a
viable Palestinian state with East
Jerusalem as its capital, the PA (PLO)
was effectively reduced to a vanquished supplicant that is much
worse than a beggar.
Fourth, we must be honest, at least with ourselves. There is
no political solution to the conflict in Palestine. Israel, with
American complicity, simply killed this possibility.
The elimination of this possibility leaves us with two
remaining alternatives: The establishment of a unitary state in all
of mandatory Palestine where Jews and Arabs can live together
in peace and equality in the context of a truly democratic state.
But human equality on the one hand and Zionism on the other
are an eternal oxymoron, as the Zionist leadership would never
accept to grant non-Jews equal rights since doing so would
cause Israel to lose its Jewish identity, which leads us to the
second and only remaining alternative: The open-ended conflict.
Today, the Israeli Jewish society continues to drift toward
Jewish racism and fascism. In fact, a fleeting glance at the Israeli
media, including the social media, is sufficient to discover that
Israel in 2014 is very much similar to Germany in the early or
mid-1930s.
Racist hatred of the native Palestinian is everywhere in Israel
today and Israeli political leaders are trying to endear themselves
to Jewish voters by shamelessly emulating the Nazi leadership's
approach to Jews.
Three months from now, Israelis will go to the polls to elect a
new government which is expected to be even more extremist and
more fascist than the present one headed by Binyamin
Netanyahu, a pathological liar by any standard of imagination.
This means that unless the world community adopts a
meaningful and decisive stand against Jewish apartheid and its
numerous evil manifestations, Israel could embark on the
unthinkable against the unprotected Palestinians, including the
possibility of committing genocidal ethnic cleansing.
I am sorry to give a gloomy description of the present
situation in Occupied Palestine. However, I hope that knowing the
truth would free people like John Kerry from the illusion that
things are moving in the right direction.
Khalid Amayreh is a veteran journalist and current affairs commentator

Halal Food Authority

The Symbol of Halal Authenticity

Israeli soldiers attempt to detain 2-year-old for rock-throwing

Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem on 28 November attempted
to detain two Palestinian children, a two-year-old and a nine-year old, on suspicion of throwing rocks.Israeli soldiers were conducting a raid on the home of the Jaber family in the Silwan
neighborhood in order to search for an individual suspected of throwing rocks at them from
the roof, the family told Ma'an. When the soldiers ascended to the roof to detain the alleged
culprit, however, they found a two-year-old named Mimati Asaad Jaber who was playing with
his mother. While they were playing, apparently, a rock had fallen into the street below. The
boy's grandfather, who was in the house during the raid, said that the boy was only playing
and that he did not know there were soldiers in the street below the building when he tossed
the stone. Upon seeing the two-year-old with his mother, however, the Israeli soldiers shifted their attention to a nine-year-old member of the family nearby. Members of the Jaber family told Ma'an that once Israeli soldiers found out the nine-year-old boy's name - Izz al-Din alQassam, also the name of a famous Palestinian national hero and used by Hamas as the
name for its military brigades - they began questioning him. The Israeli soldiers attempted to
detain the nine-year-old boy based on the fact that he had "colored rocks" in his pockets, presumably to throw at soldiers, but when they searched the child they found that the "rocks"
were in fact candy. (Maan) .

REGULATORS FOR HALAL MEAT,

POULTRY & FOODSTUFF

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endorsing meat & poultry slaughterhouses, cutting plants for
halal supplies and has nationally and internationally
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London N12 OBT, UK Tel: 020 8446 7127,
email: info@halalfoodauthority.com

www.halalfoodauthority.com

CONSTRUCTION OF HOMES FOR MUZAFFARNAGAR RIOT

VICTIMS BY CHARITY ALLIANCE
Work in progress, roof of new homes coming up as seen in
this picture dated 7th December 2014
We appeal to to you to come forward to make this project possible. We plan to build some 60 self-contained small houses but
CHARITY ALLIANCE, with the active support of MG and like-minded people, is helping the victims of starvation in Murshidabad since
our funds after buying the land scarcely suffice for 20 houses.
April 2005. More tasks are being undertaken in some of the most deserving areas and most backward sections of our community. This
Each house costs around 1.5 lakh rupees
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.

CHARITY ALLIANCE
Registered trust

Charity Alliance is headed by Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Editor of The Milli Gazette,

current President of All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat and Chairman, Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd.

CHARITY ALLIANCE
D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110 025 India Tel.: (+91-11) 2694 7483, 2695 2825, 0-9868656614
How to make payments: We prefer cheques to bank drafts. Cheques/Drafts should be crossed / marked account payee and payable
to Charity Alliance. Individuals are welcome to pay cash in our office or send M.O. In some cities we may be able to arrange to collect cash from your doorstep. If you want to contribute through credit card or internet-banking visit www.charityalliance.in for secure
online payment.
List of donors may be seen on Charilty Alliance website (www.charityalliance.in).

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

Zakat, Sadaqat and bank interest accepted

See www.charityalliance.in for detailed reports on our work.

18

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

www.milligazette.com

INTERNATIONAL

ISIS is a Greater Danger to the Muslim World

KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI
k_k_ghori@yahoo.com
Addressing a large gathering of the American allies
against ISIS, on December 3 in Brussels, US
Secretary of State, John Kerry, described ISIS as a
danger to the world.
For once, Kerry's rhetoric had a ring of truth. But
it's not the whole truth. To understand and appreciate
the whole truth a recapitulation of history of ISIS and
its genesis would well be in order.
ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) or ISIS (Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria) is hand-maiden of those wealthy Arab states of the
Gulf that aspired to use it as their ramming rod to bring down the
much-loathed regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. They
used their ample petro-dollars with munificence of a weird kind to
bankroll its creation with the singular aim of subverting the status
quo in Syria. The Western world-with its own anti-Syria, anti-Iran
and pro-Israel agenda underpinning their policies for ME-lent its
unconditional support to the move. To them, it was a win-win
situation: the coveted subversion of the Assad regime coupled with
the dismemberment of present-day Syria that could only add on to
the Israeli supremacy in the region.
The ISIS plan was, to the West, a logical extension of the policy
that had led to the unprovoked invasion of Iraq. The overriding
objective in the Iraqi invasion was exactly the same: weaken Iraq-if
not dismember it-to the extent where, with all its natural resources,
it would no longer pose any threat to the Israeli over-lordship in the
region.
Weakening Iran by proxy was seen as an extra dividend of
baptising ISIS. Knock out Syria, and Iran would be bereft of its
beach-head in close proximity of Israel. Needless to say that
Hizbullah, Iran's principal protg in Lebanon-within hailing distance
of Israel-would be cut off from its source of supply and left at the
mercy of those who feel deeply inconvenienced at its presence.
What the god-fathers of ISIS hadn't taken into reckoning was its
proclivity to shed innocent blood with impunity. ISIS embarking on
its gory mission of head-chopping-a hark-back to the days of the
pagans and the vandals-must have been an eye-opener to its
baptisers, whose incontinent urge to get rid of the Assad regime had
blinded them to the fallout from their ill-conceived initiative. The
Frankenstein unleashed soon became hard for its architects to cage
back.
However, the Western attitude to ISIS's bestial carnage of
innocent people in Syria and Iraq was one of 'couldn't-care-less.' It
was Muslim blood spilled by Muslim predators with their own
warped and crooked interpretation of religious dogmas. In a sense,
it still served the Western agenda well because it was grievously
hurting the Islamic sense of the unity of the Muslim Ummah and
causing deep rifts within the body-politic of the Islamic world. Even
the over-running of a city as important as Mosul, in Iraq, by ISIS
didn't quite provoke the West into action, although it did sound the
alarm bells.
The Western take on ISIS changed dramatically the moment the
predators turned their ire on the western hostages in their custody;
these were mainly journalists and human rights volunteers and
workers who'd flocked to Syria to provide succour to hapless
civilians uprooted from their hearths and homes as a result of the
civil war. In the western eyes, ISIS had crossed the red line. It was
time for the threat to be met head-on and neutralised. Hence the
formation, with alacrity, of an American-led coalition to launch a
military operation against ISIS; the time to take it on had arrived in
the Western calculus. President Obama-who prided himself for
having pulled US military out of Iraq-took it upon himself to order
American bombers back to a terrain it was only too familiar with
from the Bush era.
An early success of the American-led coalition was that it
brought Turkey on board. President Tayyip Erdogan had earlier been
reluctant to allow the use of Turkish territory to the Western coalition
for military operations against ISIS. But he became convinced of the
need to throw in his lot with it when the Syrian city of Kobani-within
shouting distance of Turkey-was besieged by the ISIS predators.
With danger inching close to Turkey and virtually knocking at its
door, Erdogan decided that it was time for Turkey to strike common
cause with the coalition.
The Western resistance to ISIS is basically anointed by the
concern that ISIS's threat must be checked at its source before it is
transplanted in the western soil. In other words, the Western agenda
is to keep the ISIS threat away from western shores. It's the same
concern that had been made the reason for the license George W.
Bush granted himself to take the battle to wherever the threat was

Muslim Brotherhood is
not a terrorist group: US
Washington D.C.: In what may shock Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
United Arab Emirates, the United States has refused to declare the
Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group saying it doesn't have credible evidence that the Egypt-based group of ousted President
Mohammad Morsi has resorted to violence. Since the General Sisiled military coup sacking the Morsi government in July 2013, three
Arab countries have declared the Islamist organization as a terrorist group.
The US reaction has come in response to a year-old public petition seeking the Barack Obama administration to declare Muslim
Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
The petition was uploaded on the website of the White House

The ISIS plan was, to the West, a logical

extension of the policy that had led to the
unprovoked invasion of Iraq. The overriding
objective in the Iraqi invasion was exactly the
same: weaken Iraq-if not dismember it-to the
extent where, with all its natural resources, it
would no longer pose any threat to the Israeli
over-lordship in the region.
perceived. The invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq were legitimised by
that license.
Concern in the West about the spill-over of ISIS's predatory
agenda has been ratcheted by revelations of young, Western-born,
youths-Muslims by birth as well as neo-converts-have been
flocking to ISIS call and joining its ranks. That's a threat which is real
and present. It's palpable danger knocking at the door in the West.
To combat the threat, all western governments, without exception,
have come up with new legislations and laws to check the spread
of ISIS influence in their societies. None should grudge the laws
crafted in the face of real and present danger. It makes complete
sense for governments to take pre-emptive measures to thwart the
danger posed by a predatory cabal that has shown little or no
respect for the law of any land.
The western governments have every legitimate reason to take
preventive measures to meet the challenge posed to their polities by
a blood-thirsty cabal of murderers. Which prompts the question
what the Muslim world is doing to combat the threat so clearly
posed to the harmony and peace of the Ummah by the ISIS
murderers?
Arguably, the new western legislations are a product of
exaggerated fears deliberately being fed to a gullible people in
extension of Islamophobia holding western regimes in thrall since
9/11. It has been said so, if not in so many words, by governments
and in the establishment media that ISIS poses a danger
reminiscent of the one Al Qaeda posed in the wake of 9/11. Human
rights advocates and activists are also remonstrating that in the
guise of these new laws the process of chipping away at
fundamental rights and civic liberties of the people, begun on the
foot-steps of 9/11, is being taken to further heights; that, it's argued,
flies in the face of western claims of their societies being havens of
human freedoms and liberties.
But while Islamophobia may be a knee-jerk response to the
threat from impugned Islamic terrorism, reactions in the Muslim
world show no trace of any serious preparation to meet the radical
and dastardly threat mounted to Muslim polities by the predators of
ISIS. In fact, repressive and undemocratic regimes in the Arab world
are still bent upon pursuing policies calculated to further diminish
respect for individual freedoms and civic liberties.
The day John Kerry was extolling the virtues of the coalition led
by US to combat the ISIS threat, the Grand Mufti and Rector of AlAzhar, in Cairo, Egypt, also issued an edict condemning ISIS for its
anti-Islamic agenda of repression. But he has been tight-lipped, to
date, in saying anything that could be remotely critical-not to
mention, condemnatory-of the wanton repression let loose on the
people of Egypt by the brutal military regime of General Sisi.
Hundreds of innocent Egyptians have been killed-murdered in cold
blood-by their inhumane and autocratic regime; tens of thousands
have been jailed for the 'crime' of protest against the brazen theft of
their democratic rights.
There's no limit to how myopic these undemocratic Arab
regimes can still be in the face of mounting challenge of ISIS. They
continue to blindly pursue the callous course of robbing their people
of freedoms taken for granted in the west and in the pursuit of which
the Arab Spring had made an attempt to sprout in the stifling
ambience of ME.
That Arab Spring is dead and done with in most countries
where it had tried to make a difference. The only exception to this
nihilistic proclivity is Tunisia where the experiment is still on with
visible success. Elsewhere, the repression is on in full swing, which
is an ideal milieu for the cancer of ISIS to thrive on. It's the festering
frustration of the Arab masses and their utter disillusionment with
the prospects of democratic change in their moribund societies that
has been furnishing an un-interrupted line of volunteers to the
growing legions of ISIS. One is at a loss to understand the logic of
purblind Arab autocrats in blatantly refusing to trim their sails to suit
the new winds. Indeed they have unalloyed loyalty and approbation
of the clergy in their anti-people and anti-democratic policiesanother name for bigotry and hypocrisy that religious leaders are
well known for.
How stridently and triumphantly the ancient regimes of the Arab
on 7 July, 2013 soon after the military coup in Egypt. The petition
gathered
over
2.13
lakh
signatures
(https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/)
The petition reads: "Muslim Brotherhood has a long history of
violent killings & terrorizing opponents. Also MB has direct ties with
most terrorist groups like Hamas. A book by one of their prominent
figures, Sayyid Qutb, called Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq is the bible for many
terrorist groups. The Muslim Brotherhood has shown in the past
few days that it is willing to engage in violence and killing of innocent civilians in order to invoke fear in the hearts of its opponents.
This is terrorism. We ask the US government to declare MB as a terrorist group for a safer future for all of us."
he White House response to the petition is: "We have not seen
credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood has renounced its
Tdecades-long
commitment to non-violence. The United States does
not condone political violence of any kind and we continue to press
actors of all viewpoints to peacefully engage in the political process.

world are still asserting their capacity to subvert the will of their
people has come up in its most mind-boggling dimensions in the
recent exoneration of Hosni Mubarak in all those murder charges
brought against him in the wake of the Arab Spring. Egypt's
kangaroo courts have not only absolved Mubarak of murdering
hundreds of protesting Egyptians-mainly its youths-but also cleared
his two sons of corruption charges. The two younger Mubaraks are
well known to have looted and robbed Egypt of hundreds of millions
of dollars. That amply manifests the rebounding power of retrograde
status quo factions in much of the Arab world in response to the
threat of ISIS. Liberalism-minuscule by any measure-in the Arab
lands is being squeezed from both ends.
Hypocrisy is also writ large on the much-touted Obama agenda
to 'degrade' and eventually 'destroy' ISIS. But every two-bit political
pundit knows that ISIS can't be defeated without the active help of
Iran. However, the 'grand coalition' cobbled by Obama to combat
ISIS is conspicuous by the absence in its ranks of Iran.
Iran has been kept out of the loop of the coalition because the
'bankers' of the coalition-the petro-dollar-wealthy Gulf states-are
allergic to any proposition to make Iran a partner in the coalition.
The Brussels conclave, too, didn't have any Iranian presence.
Which, then, presages the failure of the mission to check the bloodthirsty predators of ISIS in their tracks. The retrograde Gulf States
would rather see ISIS wreaking ever greater havoc on the region but
aren't prepared to rise above their petty prejudices feeding their
sectarianism.
With so much palpable parochialism ruling the roost, it's hard
to come up with any reasonable scenario of an early breakthrough
in the struggle to rid the region, and the world, of the scourge of
ISIS. The Muslim world's tragedy goes on being compounded at the
hands of its myopic rulers and self-anointed 'leaders' who simply
can't look beyond their noses. Suffering of their hapless peoples
fails to make any impact on them. ISIS predators have ample reason
to laugh to their hearts' content.
The bottom line is that ISIS's rampant march across what was
once the Arab world's 'Fertile Crescent' poses a twin danger to the
Muslim world. On the one hand, it exacerbates the threat of
terrorism engulfing it-which would only further feed the
Islamophobic paradigm of terrorism being endemic to Islam and
Muslims-and on the other, it threatens to enlarge the already
disturbing sectarian divide, exponentially. In either case, it's a
damning prospect.

Leaked Audio Shows Egypts Coup

Leaders as a Criminal Syndicate
The Watergate scandal in the early 1970s exposed Richard Nixon
and his inner circle as conspirators who were trying to cover up
their criminal involvement in spying against their political opponents. Once it was uncovered, Nixon had to resign in disgrace, as
many of his assistants and senior government officials were convicted and served many years in prison...
Now a series of audiotapes involving Egypt's top military
brass, which ousted former President Mohammad Morsi in a military coup in July 2013, were publicly leaked this week. The proMuslim Brotherhood satellite channel Mukameleen (Arabic for
"We'll Continue") released the six audio recordings in a special
nightly program on 4 December. Shortly thereafter, the recordings
went viral on Arabic-language websites, though most foreign language media outlets have yet to cover them.
The contents of the audio recordings (31 minutes in total) are
shocking, as they involve the highest-ranking military rulers in
Egypt, including coup leader Gen. Abdelfattah Sisi, conspiring
together, falsifying evidence, forging documents, and admitting to
criminal behavior on tape, while acknowledging that the legal
case concocted against Morsi was in danger of collapsing. The
question of who released the recordings is still a mystery but
rumors abound. The program presenter at the satellite channel
Mukameleen insinuated that the leak came from a source within
Sisi's inner circle that is sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood
and the January 25 revolution. Haitham Abu Khalil, a prominent
human rights advocate, tweeted that since the recordings came
from within the Defense Ministry, the leaker must be a rival to
Gen. Sisi, such as former Chief of Staff Sami Anan who declared
his presidential candidacy last spring only to be sidelined by Sisi
and ridiculed by his propaganda machine. Meanwhile, opposition
leader Ayman Noor told Al Jazeera from his home in exile in
Lebanon that the tapes are authentic because he has known the
players and could easily identify their voices.
To read the fuill story, please visit:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/05/leaked-audio-showsegypts-coup-leaders-as-a-criminal-syndicate/

The United States is committed to thwarting terrorist groups that

pose a threat to U.S. interests and those of our partners."
In June 2012, after President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in
the wake of a historic public outrage, Mohamed Morsi won the
presidential election with 51.73% of total votes to become the first
democratically -lected president of Egypt.
In July 2013, a coalition led by the Egyptian army chief General
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi removed President Mohamed Morsi from power
and suspended the Egyptian constitution.
In December 2013, Egypt's military-backed interim government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, criminalising all its activities, its financing and even membership to the group
from which the country's ousted president hails.
In March 2014, Saudi Arabia also declared Muslim
Brotherhood a terrorist group. In November 2014, UAE followed suit
with its cabinet including Muslim Brotherhood in the list of 86 terrorist groups which has aroused wide condemnation across the
globe. (indiatomorrow.net)

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The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

www.milligazette.com

ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES

Why Shia-Sunni unity does not materialise?

MALIK ASHTAR NAVGANVI
Some four years ago a conference on Ittehaad bainal Muslimeen
(Unity between Muslims) was held in the Engineering College
auditorium of Jamia Millia Islamia. In this conference, sponsored
by a famous international organisation, ulama and intellectuals
from all over the country in addition to delegates from foreign
countries were present in large numbers. On the last day of this
conference, like other days, fiery and impassioned speeches by
ulama and religious leaders were delivered. Slogans of Ittehad
bainal Muslimeen were raised. Ulama in their speeches repeatedly asked people to hold Allahs rope firmly, i.e., be united. They
also repeatedly said that Europe and America are conspiring to
make Shias and Sunnis fight each other, hence in order to foil
these conspiracies Muslims must avoid fighting each other.
Such speeches continued from morning till Zuhr prayers after
which the participants, both Shias and Sunnis, with great enthusiasm stood in rows outside the conference hall in open air without
any difference between them. It was a pleasant sight to see people
offering Namaz according to their respective maslak, some placing
both their hands on their stomachs, some on their chests while some
with their hands hanging, yet all were following one Imam and all
were standing shoulder to shoulder. It appeared as if ulamas
speeches had deeply influenced them. When there was a brief
opportunity between prayers, I chanced to go into the conference
hall. I found that some people were still sitting there, probably waiting for the people outside to finish their joint prayers and then to start
their own prayers according to their own masklak. Later, I saw the
same actually happening. When the joint Shia-Sunni prayer ended,
these people started their own prayers in separate groups.
Surprisingly, they were none others but some of the speakers who
earlier were untiringly urging the audience to maintain Ittehad bainal
Muslimeen and promote Shia-Sunni brotherhood.
In spite of a cold war like situation in the world, efforts are
being made to settle differences through inter-religious, inter-civilizational and other peaceful means and discussions. Men of foresight
have realised that the overall human welfare and security lies not in
differences, confrontations and disputes but in unity, cooperation and
understanding. As far as Muslims are concerned, Quran teaches
them to have strong faith in Allah and avoid mutual differences.
I had stated earlier in one of my articles that if a list of persons who fan Shia-Sunni disunity in the Subcontinent is made,
most of them will be the products of religious madrasas. The
question is: why, after all, responsible authorities of some
madrasas cannot understand that fiery speakers who describe
Muslims of other sects as kafirs can be popular but they can
never be helpful in bringing about inter-sectarian or broader
Muslim unity. One may very well ask: why only ulama and
preachers should be held responsible for creating confusion and
differences among Muslims? This is because they are considered as the communitys religious eyes and minds and we generally accept their leadership meekly without questioning them. If
they preach or advise people to avoid people of other sects, a
simple minded person will accept their advice. If someone propagates inter-sectarian differences, why do our senior ulama and
religious leaders and social reformers not start a movement
against such people? I wish to make it clear here that by ulama,
I certainly do not mean all ulama nor do all ulama and religious
leaders preach differences and confusion but, undoubtedly, there
are many such ulama who try to add fuel to the fire.
One will be surprised to know how false and misleading

propaganda by people of one sect against another is generally

made. It is unfortunate and deplorable that our respectable ulama
and molvi sahibs are not lagging behind in making baseless
propaganda against other sects. If less educated people, who
have superficial knowledge about religion, make statements
which will harm Ittihad bainal Muslimeen it can be ignored but it
is a great pity if learned muftis of reputed religious institutions
pronounce fatwas which create rift or add to the already existing
schism. For example, here are some fatwas which exist on the
website of Darul Uloom Deobands Online Darul Ifta. Someone
asked (question No. 1495): I am a Sunni but have married a
Shia girl. I want to know the accuracy or validity of the
Nikahnama given to me by the molvi who solemnised the marriage. In reply to this question, Darul Iftas fatwa says that a
Muslim cannot marry a Shia girl because, according to the faith
or belief written in their (Shias) books, they are outside the fold
of Islam; hence Shia-Sunni marriage is not possible. It is surprising how you married a Shia girl and how your parents agreed to
it? You can think how in the light of such a fatwa, the dream of
Ittihad bainal Muslimeen can materialise? After this fatwa if some
one holds America and Europe responsible for hatching conspiracies to make Shias and Sunnis fight against each other, what
you or anyone else can say?
Here is another such fatwa: In reply to a question (No. 1566)
on the website of the same Darul Ifta of Darul Uloom: whether
we can meet Shias and what are the instructions about sharing
meals with Shias? In reply to this question, Darul Iftas fatwa is:
Beliefs of Shias and Sunnis are in conflict with each other. It is
not proper to meet each other, but yes, on the basis of human
relationship we can meet them and if one is sure that their meals
are alright, one can eat it, but as it is generally said that they mix
something (dirt etc) in the food (for Sunnis), one should avoid
eating their food.
These are matters not of one particular group but such things
are found in all groups, hurting the feelings of other groups and
sects. Recently, one of Irans leading scholar-politicians, Ayatullah
Hashmi Rafsanjani, emphasised in an statement that Shias and
Sunnis should avoid making statements which give rise to more differences.
According to Alarabia.net, Rafsanjani had stated that by making
audacious statements in respect of respected Sahabas, elements
like ISIS and Taliban get opportunity to thrive and prosper. Earlier,
Ayatullah Ali Khamnei had stated that making derogatory and audacious statements about Sahaba and wives of the Prophet (pbuh) is
unlawful (haram). Such statements should be welcomed. Shia-Sunni
differences are not so minor. Rather, they are serious problems
which are widespread from Pakistan to Iraq and from Syria to Saudi
Arabia and other countries and can clearly be seen, read and felt.
Another important thing is that we have made our mentality
such that for all or most of our ills we blame America, Israel or
others at home. We should coolly think that if our Imam or other
so-called religious leaders say that some people offer dirty food
to Muslims of other sects or after spitting in it or if some preachers say that Muslims of other sects are kafirs and they will go to
hell, how America or Europe can be blamed for this? Our ulama
and muftis are very respectable people for us and we value what
they say or preach and we want to follow their advice but we also
want that we all should follow Qurans message of unity and
understanding among all Muslims in our daily lives and for this
we want correct advice and sincere help of our ulama, preachers,
muftis. (Translated from Urdu by N. A. Ansari)

Eight hadiths on neighbours

1) Prohibition of Harming Neighbour: The Prophet, (Peace and
blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah, he is not a believer! By Allah,
he is not a believer! By Allah, he is not a believer. It was asked,
"Who is that, O Messenger of Allah? He said, "One whose neighbour does not feel safe from his evil" (Sahih Bukhari).
2) Recommendation to treat neighbour well: The Messenger of
Allah, (Peace and blessings be upon him), said: "Jibril kept recommending me to treat my neighbour well until I thought that he would
tell me to make him one of my heirs" (Bukhari: 6014).
3) Caring for your neighbours: Abu Dharr, May Allah be pleased
with him, reported: The Messenger of Allah, (Peace and blessings be
upon him), commanded me thus, "O Abu Dharr! Whenever you prepare a broth, put plenty of water in it, and give some of it to your
neighbours" (Sahih Muslim).
4) Co-operation with your neighbours: Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be
pleased with him, reported that the messenger of Allah, (Peace and
blessings be upon him), said: "No-one should prevent his neighbour
from fixing a wooden peg in his wall." Abu Huraira said (to his companions), "Why do I find you averse to it? By Allah, I certainly will
narrate it to you" (Sahih Bukhari),
5) Do not eat your full while your neighbour is hungry: The
Messenger of Allah, (Peace and blessings be upon him) says:" He is
not a believer who eats his fill whilst his neighbour beside him goes
hungry" (Bukhari).
6) Never scorn your neighbours gift: Sahih Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet, (Peace and blessings be upon him), used to say:
"O Muslim women! No one should scorn the gift of a neighbour, even
if it is (only) a sheeps foot" (Bukhari: 6017).
7) Harming a neighbour may lead to Hell-fire: Abu Hurayra, may
Allah be pleased with him reported: A man asked, "O Messenger of
Allah! There is a woman who prays, gives charity and fasts a great
deal, but she harms her neighbours with her speech (by insulting
them)" He said: "She will go to hell". The man said: "O messenger of
Allah! There is (another) woman who is well-known for how little she
fasts and prays, but she gives charity from the dried yoghurt she
makes and she does not harm her neighbours". He said: "She will go
to paradise" (Ahmad, vol. 4, p. 166, Ibn Hibban, hadith no. 2054).
8) Tolerance when treating neighbours: Mutarrif said: "I heard that
you (he means Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him) have said
that the Prophet, (Peace and blessings be upon him), said: "Allah
loves three and hates three."
Abu Dharr said, "I do not think that I would tell lies about the
Messenger of Allah."
Mutarrif said, "Then who are the three whom Allah loves?" Abu Dharr
(quoting the Prophet, (Peace and blessings be upon him)) said: "A
man who fights for the sake of Allah, with perseverance and hoping
for reward from Him, and fights until he is killed, and you find this in
the Book of Allah. Then he recited: Truly Allah loves those who fight
in His cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure. [al-Saff 61:4] Mutarrif asked, Then who?
He said, A man who has a bad neighbour who annoys and disturbs
him, but he bears it with patience and forbearance until Allah ends
the matter either during his lifetime or upon the death of either of
them.


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BOOKS

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

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21

Unique Album on Muslim Freedom Fighters

Book: The Immortals
Author: Syed Naseer Ahamed
Publisher: Azad House of Publications
House No. 3-506, Apnaghar, Undavalli Center - 522501,
Tadepalli Mandalam, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh
Mobile No: 9440241727
Mail Id : naseerahamedsyed@gmail.com
Pages: 352 (Royal (A3))
Price: Rs 1000

DR. YADAVA RAGHU

ogi Vemana University, Kadapa
India is a unique nation in many ways. No nation in the world is as
blessed as India. Indian contribution to the world is unparalleled and
over the centuries it has shaped the course of civilizations in the
world. The Indian civilization and society evolved thanks to the contribution of people belonging to all religions, regions, languages,
castes and social groups.
The Indian civilization was at the crossroads when Muslims
entered the Subcontinent, first through the Malabar Coast and then
through Sindh, almost 14 centuries ago. Muslim seers, scholars,
poets, kings, nobles, writers, sufis and artists gave Indian civilization a new meaning and a new direction. The arrival of the British in
India threw up more determined Muslim leaders who stood firm in
their fight against the foreign rule. Their contributions to Indias freedom struggle and modern Indian thought and history is second to
none. In fact, it were Muslims who first raised the banner of revolt
against the British rule and gave the most powerful of slogans, Jai
Hind, Quit India, Inquilab Zindabad, Simon Go Back and Sare Jahan
se Accha Hindustan Hamara, etc. There were thousands and thousands of Muslims who actively involved themselves in the movement to free India from the clutches of the foreign rule. But, unfortunately, post-independence, Muslims are relegated to political and
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the heroic fights of the Muslim freedom fighters.
At a time when saffronisation of Indian history is attempted
from all corners in a bid to deny Muslim freedom fighters their due
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bilingual book, in English and Telugu, sets to rest all doubts about
the Muslim contribution. It clearly spells out that Muslims were at
the forefront of Indias freedom struggle. In fact, many of the strug-

It were Muslims who first raised the banner of

revolt against the British rule and gave the most
powerful of slogans, Jai Hind, Quit India, Inquilab
Zindabad, Simon Go Back and Sare Jahan se
Accha Hindustan Hamara, etc. There were
thousands and thousands of Muslims who actively
involved themselves in the movement to free India
from the clutches of the foreign rule...
gles against the British, both non-violent and violent, were inspired
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Syed Naseer Ahamed is the first author from the Andhra
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Earlier, he had brought out a book in Telugu on Muslim women freedom fighters in 1999. Since then Naseer continuously writes on the

New book on
Babri
Book: Destruction of the Babri Masjid: A
National Dishonour
Author: A. G. Noorani
Publisher: Tulika Books, New Delhi
Published: December 2014
Pages: 506 pages h/b
Price: Rs 995
ISBN: 978-93-82381-47-1
Destruction of the Babri Masjid: A National
Dishonour is a sequel to The Babri Masjid
Question 1528-2003: A Matter of National
Honour, published in 2003 in two volumes a
compilation by the celebrated commentator.
A. G. Noorani of documents and primary source
material on various aspects of the Ram

role of Muslim in the struggle for the freedom of India.

In the presentation of the present album, he has carefully
selected the period 1757-1947 and has listed as many as 155
Muslim heroes of the Indian subcontinent who fought against the
British colonial rule. Naseer took almost a decade and a half to write
this book after exchanging thousands of letters with experts, family
members of freedom fighters, surviving Indian heroes and
researchers. The result is a unique gift to the Indian history which
dispels historical myths and clarifies half truths about Indian
Muslims as a whole, and the Muslim freedom heroes in particular.
The Immortals contains portraits and brief biographical
sketches of Muslim heroes of the Sub-continent who fought against
the British colonial rulers between 1757-1947. It is a historical
treasure which every true student of Indian and world history should
keep with him or her. It also serves as a ready reference to
researchers, historians and everyone who is in search of information and photos of great Indian Muslims, for whom the love of the
motherland was above self, family, career, wealth, and life. It is also
a must for every library, university and history museum.
Naseer throws light on little known facts like the rocket technology invented by Tipu Sultan. How many of us know that Batak
Mia Ansari had saved the life of Mahatma Gandhi in 1917 by exposing a conspiracy. Khilafatwale Haji Usman Sait was nicknamed
the cash bag of the Indian National Congress. Imam Saheb Abdul
Qadir Ba-wazir left his lucrative horse-business in South Africa and
settled in Sabarmati Ashram to run a printing press. Abid Hasan
Safrani had coined the term Jai Hind and Yusuf Maherally had
given the slogans Quit India and Simon Go Back.
Naseer is perhaps the first author to give detailed notes on the
contribution of Muslim women freedom fighters. Syed Naseer
Ahameds is the most singular effort in the world of Telugu literature
to provide forgotten Muslim freedom fighters their rightful place in
the history of the country, and in the hearts of people, both Muslims
and Hindus.
As he points out, his effort has been to bridge the gap between
Muslims and Hindus and to build bridges of understanding between
all communities in the country, promoting unity in diversity.
By highlighting the role played by Muslims in the struggle for
the freedom of India, Naseer makes a strong attempt to tell the
Indian society at large that all groups and communities contributed
their mite to the freedom of the motherland. As noted historian Prof.
Shamsul Islam of Delhi University, points out, Naseer has presented historical facts honestly and in right perspective. It demolishes
the case of prophets of disharmony and bigotry who believe in the
two-nation theory and are working overtime to undo a democratic
and all-inclusive India.
This work also demolishes the canard against the largest
minority of the country that they represent a danger to the country. To put Naseers work in a perspective, as another noted historian Prof Vakulabharanam Ramakrishna of the University of
Hyderabad, observes, the author spared no efforts in making
the publication comprehensive and attractive. Syed Naseer
Ahamed indeed sheds new light on Indias struggle for
Independence.

Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, covering

the demolition of the Masjid on 6 December
1992, and the legal proceedings in the civil suits
and criminal cases up to mid-2003. The present
volume brings the narrative up to date. It covers
the three Allahabad High Court judgments, the
Liberhan Commission Report, the tortuous
course of the criminal cases, and disclosures
and developments in the last decade - from
2003 till the end of 2013. An Introduction surveys the events before and after the demolition
of the Babri Masjid, and analyses the judgments
delivered by the three judges of the Allahabad
High Court in 2010. In the courts of law and
justice, the civil and criminal cases concerning
the title to the Babri Masjid and accountability for
its destruction, on 6 December 1992, have all
but run their course. Neither legality nor justice
has been conspicuous in the proceedings or in
the many judgments delivered. On past form,
there is little hope for redress in legal proceed-

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Another path-breaking publication from the publishsers of Who Killed Karkare?

Pharos Media will very soon bring out a well-researched book
on the Akshardham Temple attack 2002 episode which was used
to legitimise and lionise Narendra Modi

Operation Akshardham (Only in Hindi / Urdu)

by celebrated journalists and Human Rights activists

Rajiv Yadav & Shahnawaz Alam

Pre-launch price : Rs 200 Urdu

Rs 200 Hindi

PHAROS MEDIA (See page 19 for ordering details)

ings after that grave and utterly wasteful crime....

The forces of Indias secularism can ignore the
challenges ahead only at the nations peril. At
stake is the survival of Indias democracy and its
corollary, secularism. (From the authors preface)
A. G. Noorani is an Advocate, Supreme Court of
India, and a leading constitutional expert and
political commentator. He is a regular columnist
for Frontline and the author of numerous books,
including The Destruction of Hyderabad (2013), The
Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 (2013), Islam, South
Asia and the Cold War (2012), Article 370: A
Constitutional History of Jammu and Kashmir (2011),
Jinnah and Tilak: Comrades in the Freedom Struggle
(2010), India-China Boundary Problem 1846-1947:
History and Diplomacy (2010), Indian Political Trials
1775-1947 (2006), Constitutional Questions and
Citizens Rights (2006), The Muslims of India: A
Documentary Record (editor, 2003), and Islam and
Jihad: Prejudice versus Reality (2003).

New Arrival

ON THEIR WATCH:
Mass violence and State apathy in
India, Examining the record
Edited by Surabhi Chopra & Prita Jha
Pages: 394, Paperback: Rs 500
Contents: 1. Introduction Part I: Extracting State Records
2. Exercising the Right to Information; Part II: Four
Episodes of Mass Violence 3. Nellie 1983 4. Delhi 1984
5. Bhagalpur 1989; 6. Gujarat 2002; Part III: Examining
the States Record 7. Access to Criminal Justice
8. Holding Public Officials Accountable 9. Relief,
Compensation and Rehabilitation 10. Conclusion
Appendix: Battling a Corrosive Menace

To order please see page 19

22

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

FAMILY

www.milligazette.com

Aaliyas kitchen

Word Jumble

Bhaji for Pav Bhaji

He belonged to the generation of freedom fighters who played an important role in early twentieth century
in kindling the fire of freedom among the people of the Subcontinent. Born in central India on 7 July, 1859.
On the instructions of Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmood Hasan, he went to Afghanistan and after much
struggle he secretly set up Indias first government-in-exile there to topple the British rule in India, with
Raja Mahinder Pratap as the first President and himself as the prime minister of this government-in-exile.
He is considered a champion and symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity.

Preparation & Cooking: 50-60 minutes, Serves 7-8

Ingredients:
1 large carrot, grated or chopped
2 potatoes, peeled, cubed
1-2 medium sized capsicum, sliced chopped
1/2 cup cauliflower florets, chopped
10-15 french beans, stringed and chopped
1/4 cup green peas, pressured cooked to two quick whistles and then
opened
2 onions, finely chopped, fried, strained
2 green chillies, chopped
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/4 tsp haldi
1/2 tsp kutaa laal mircha
1 1/2 tbsps Pav Bhaji Masala
3/4 tsp sugar (optional)
1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
2 tomatoes, finely chopped or pureed
1 tbsp lemon juice/vinegar/khatai
3 tbsp ghee
fresh coriander leaves for garnish
1 1/2 tbsps oil
16 pav toasted in butte/ghee

T R A L A U H B L K A
Answer at the bottom of the page.

Whats in Gods Names? Word Search

Allah has described Himself in the Quran through His Names and Attributes. Understanding these names
is an effective way of strengthening ones faith in God. Meanings associated with the names:
Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim, Al-Malik, Al-Quddus and As-Salam are hidden in this puzzle.
There are 12 words. See how many can you find.
www.pharosmedia.com / www.milligazette.com

(Answers are at the bottom of this page)

M W

W W

Method:
1. Pressure cook potatoes and cauliflower with 1/2 cup of water once.
Then add beans, peas and carrots and pressure cook twice, or till soft.
Keep aside. Mash the vegetables with a slotted spoon.
2. Heat oil in a vessel. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for a
minute.
3. Add the dry spices. Combine well. Add the tomatoes and cook until
soft, approx 5 mins.
4. Add the mashed vegetables and cook for 20 minutes on low flame.
5. Allow the gravy to thicken. Adjust the salt/spice if required. Turn off
heat and add butter and lemon juice and combine.
6. Cook the chopped green chillies in ghee, add to the mix. Garnish
with fresh coriander leaves.

AALIYA KHAN

Queries/Feedback: aaliyah.khan@gmail.com

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ANSWER TO THE WORD JUMBLE: Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali

ANSWER TO THE ABOVE WORD SEACH:
Ar-Rahman: The Exceedingly Compassionate, The Exceedingly Beneficent, The Exceedingly Gracious;
Ar-Rahim: The Exceedingly Merciful; Al-Malik: The King, The Sovereign; Al-Quddus: The Holy,
The Divine, The Pure, The Purifier; As-Salam: The Peace, The Source of Peace and Safety

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REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS
MG
Please continue. Ummat needs you. It has been our tragedy that the first
Quranic verse that was revealed to this Ummah was Iqra (read!) but we
have turned into a non reading community. Now people are awaking
InshaAllah at precipice we change and we are changing. Please continue..
With ur trust in Allah subhanahu wa taala.
Ahsanul Haque, Jalandhar 144022
haque.a.s@gmail.com
Whtie Paper on Terrorism
You have announced in the Milli Gazette announced your target of
producing the White Paper on Terrorism to be released during the next few
months at a big convention in Delhi. I doubt that you will have necessary
support because the issue is no longer as hot as it used to be. However,
I strongly urge that the details that you have collected may be published in
a small paper giving number of Muslim youths detained or arrested,
statewise since 2001, number of those killed in custody, number of those
prosecuted and penalized and number of those who were finally released.
I doubt if any compensation was paid to any one of those released, the age
of those who were released with the number of years spent in prison may
also to be given. This would be useful for mounting pressure on the
government for suitable compensation
Syed Shahabuddin, Ex-MP, New Delhi
Complex challenge in Kashmir
It is a good news that 71% of KashmirIs have turned up for voting.They
have interest in elections to this extent. But we want a guarantee that no
militants should intrude from Pakistan and attack our armymen and kill 34 Jawans and one-two army officers each time. Militants sacrifice their
precious lives and call themselves Shaheed. The question is how long
this tragedy will continue. Can the government give the guarantee that after
the elections are over all the seven lakh armymen will return to Delhi and
the new elected government will peacefully run the government like UP,
Bihar, and Odisha. The government should not forget that we are
surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Taliban, Al-Qaeda and 60 Muslim
countries which are dead against Indias anti-Muslim and anti-Islam policy.
The government should allow RSS to stay in Kashmir and play its role to
seduce the separatists to live amicably in India.
Dr AH Maqdoomi, Hyderabad
drmaqdoomi@gmail.com
Mainstream Medias double standards
An acquittal of Muslim terror accused after spending over a decade in
jails does not mean that the accused is not guilty. It just means that Police
did not investigate properly and did not collect evidence properly. The
public prosecutor was not good, etc. The media seldom talks to the
acquitted person. Just a small news is buried in the inside pages. Now see
the case of Shweta Basu Prasad. Where does media ethics go when a
Miyaan Bhai is acquitted?
M. D. Khaiba
mdkhaiba@gmail.com
Muslim alienation
The emergence of AIMIM by some Political Analysts is seen as the
beginning of a new Militant Muslim Culture with Indian Polity . This is true
to some extent because now after 67 years of freedom Muslims are
realizing that Secular Ruling Elite had failed them to serve the community
Interest. The way state machinery was used 2002 Gujrat Carnage and the
Central Govt. headed by Liberal PM Atalji miserably failed to stop the killing
of innocent Muslims and on the top of all the failure of of UPA-1 and UPA
-2 to provide justice to the victims and punishment to perpetrators of the
crimes further alienated the the Muslims. As a result secularism has
become the suspect in the eyes of Muslims Under these circumstances
AIMIM has provided a political platform to the Muslims. Barrister Owaisi is
a liberal Middle class Muslim Leader. He can not be branded Communalist
.His thrust is on unity of Muslims, Dalits and OBCs as an alternative to
existing Secular Parties. His politics is Identity Based instead of
personality based. May be Owaisi does not get much seats in coming
elections but he is a big threat to Secular Parties. BJP is very happy to see
AIMIM to contesting elections in many states which will result in division
of Secular votes to the benefit of BJP.
Prof. Shamim Ahmad, AMU
profshamim@gmail.com
Why dubious character is in central cabinet?
SP of Bihar Human Rights Commission, Amitabh Das, requested the
government to enquire into the tacit relationship between cabinet minister
Sri Griraj Singh with the banned Ranbir Sena and his name in IT loop
appeared in the one crore rupees theft from his official residence. Griraj
Singh during MP election delivered speeches against Muslims saying that
those who oppose Modi must be sent to Pakistan.
S. Haque, Patna
Minister killed, 40 years to deliver justice
If the team of Guinness Book of World Records is invited, they will
certainly publish this shameful case as the worlds longest lasting court
matter in the world of criminal jurisprudence. Delhis Karkardooma District
Court has convicted the accused on 8th Dec. 2014 but they will appeal in
the High Court which may take 5 years to pronounce the judgement and
the last appeal will be filed in the Supreme Court which will take another 5
years to beat half century score for a government case. Shri Lalit Narayan
Mishra, Railway Minister was shot dead by then a 27 years old advocate
Ranjan Dwivedi, an Anand Margi youth in January 1975 at Samastipur
Station. He is 67 years old now and a heart patient. As 31 defence
witnesses out of total 40 died during this 4 decades of hearing, how many
of 4 convicts of whom one already died, will be alive when the final
judgement is delivered? Why criminals in the Society and politics should
afraid of such court cases? A case of justice delayed is justice denied (or
died)? The remedy? Only to unite and fight for right of fair and fast justice
under the banner of Save judiciary-save nation.
Bhagvanji Raiyani, Forum For Fast Justice
judiciaryraiyani@gmail.com
Abdul Rahman Antulay
Among the only few Muslims who got to serve as Chief Minister of any
Indian State, Abdul Rehman Antulay, the enfant terrible of Maharashtra
politics, was felled by his own Congress Party for just being a Muslim.
Indian Express did a hatchet job in exposing corruption in Antulays Indira
Gandhi Parthisthan funding, through unofficial arm twisting of builders
against cement quotas while Indira Gandhi ditched him, even though the
entire project was known to her, even though possibly not with her express
instructions. He finally won the case against him in Supreme Court, as
cleared for lack of evidence. However, Indian Express had enough
evidence with them to hold a Kangaroo court trial and indict him in
peoples court. Today, the same Indian Express is coming out with eulogy

23

www.milligazette.com

The Milli Gazette, 16-31 December 2014

with tail behind the hind legs, admitting in so many words that it had
wronged the man. Similarly, a mere sentence in the cabinet meeting,
uttered by Antulay to institute a deeper inquiry in the death/murder of SIT
Chief Karkare, got entire Congress leadership to demote him summarily
and even manufacture his defeat in his own constituency. Antulay was
hinting at Hindu Terror, for which Advani has warned Karkare one day
earlier than his death. This is enough to prove that Congress and
Hindutvatis had some understanding on the terror front, at highest levels.
Antulays rise and fall is a sad chapter of Indias invidious communal
politics that has not yet run out of its course.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com

former J&K separatist leader Sajjad Lone as he fits into the BJP-strategy
of causing electoral loss to Mehbooba Muftis PDP. The BJP had been
shouting from the rooftops over the abrogation of Article 370 till recently.
But in its vision document released in the State, the party chose to
conveniently keep silence on the subject. While the BJP was vehemently
speaking against religious-based quotas till the other day, it chose to ditch
its avowed policy by announcing quota to the Kashmiri Pandits and the
refugees of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Perhaps, no other political party
can match with the BJP visavis double standards.
S. Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa (A. P)
sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in

Why saffron brigade targets madrasas?

Madrasas are cradles of humanity where poor and destitute students are
given free food, lodging and tuition. Lakhs of madrasas are run on Zakat
and charity. Saffron brigades are afraid that madrasas may start teaching
science, maths and modern education to Muslim children and empower
them. That is why saffron brigade targets madrasas.
S. Haque, Patna
Muslim blood has no value
Probably brutalities, murdering and killings of Muslims in large number
through communal frenzies, atrocities, humiliation in various ways, fake
encounters, chain of arresting of highly educated well settled Muslim
youths in the name of fabricated terrorist stories, interfering in the
performance of religious obligations, venomous and false propaganda at
regular interval through all type of available medias were proved
insufficient, now anti-Muslim elements comprising Congress and Hindutva
family have adopted another mode of operation against helpless and
unsaved Muslims with all force and power to vandalisd, malgn, butchering
and destroying their properties with livelihood under the full vigilance,
guidance and protection of custodian of law and legal process. Every now
and than we come across posting images, comments on social media
under Muslim identity by creating fake pages thus involving Muslims is at
high peak in different forms from one place to another after which
hooliganism begins against the second grade citizens alleging them
responsible for causing hurt to religious sentiments of Hindus hence they
deserved to be punished not by the law but by Hindutva forces themselves
as the country is now hindu nations for all reasons and purposes.
Faheemudidn, Nagpur
How Iranis photo with astrologer became public?
It refers to news-item with photo of Union Minister for Human Resource
Development Smriti Irani having visited an astrologer Pandit Nathulal Vyas
in Karoi village of Bhilwara (Rajasthan) along with her husband Zubin Irani
on last Sunday for a four-hour long meeting, where the astrologer has
reported to have predicted Smriti Irani to become President of India in
future! Astrologer has claimed to have earlier made a correct forecast of
Smriti Irani getting a prestigious post which she got as Union Minister
despite her losing Lok Sabha elections. Smriti Irani has objected, and
rightly too, against making the issue a topic of public debate while it was
purely her private affair. But big question is how photo of her showing hand
to the astrologer, and astrologers prediction reached to media if she
wanted privacy in this regard.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal, Chandni Chowk, Delhi
subhashchandraagrawal@gmail.com
Check corruption
Presently manufacturers deliberately leave a big gap between printed
Maximum Retail Price (MRP) or list-price and actual ex-factory price of
commodities mainly to be used as bribe for purchase-officers in offices
including those in government and public-sector. Most of the times, actual
ex-factory price is just one third of printed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) or
list price. To overcome such bribes for purchase-officers, Union
government should impose excise-duty on basis of printed Maximum
Retail Price (MRP) or list price rather than ex- factory price. Even presently
such a system is prevailing for some selected commodities only, which
should be compulsorily extended for all commodities in general. These
observations are based on information provided by some manufacturers
whose products are mainly supplied to various departments of Union and
state governments including also to public-sector undertakings and local
bodies as also can be practically observed in wholesale markets. Union
government should also make appropriate changes in Packaged
Commodities Act to check menace of gimmick packaging by
manufacturers to cheat consumers. India should follow South Africa in
extending Right-To-Information Act in private sector too.
Madhu Agrawal, Delhi
madhuguinness@gmail.com
Modi promise on black money
In his speech after speech during the last general elections campaign,
BJPs star compaigner Narendra Modi had promised that the colossal
black money stashed in foreign banks would be brought back to India
within 100 days after the BJP comes to power. In one such pre-poll
meeting he went to the extent of enticing the gullible masses that after the
kala dhan is brought back, each poor person can be given Rupees Fifteen
to Twenty lakh. Having failed to fulfill the promise even after six months in
power, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should have the humility to
seek an apology from the people and the opposition parties, instead of
trying to defend the indefensible.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa, AP
sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in
Iqbal
The great poet Dr. Allama Iqbal is a phenomenon of the spiritual literary
world. Unparalled and unforgettable poems are still alive in the hearts of
the crores of fans which is a remarkable momentum of greatness and his
glory. The master piece of Iqbals work remains with the title Shikva Jaabe
Shikva which is the spontaneous and remarkable questions and answers
between two pure hearts. The famous poem, Sare Jahan se Acha
Hindustan Hamara triumphs the patriotism among the whole Indians
without any partiality. That song should be selected as our national
anthem. But unfortunately it was no selected as our national anthem
because of some narrow minded politicians conspiracy Our MG gains and
wins the hearts of justified humans, because of the extreme publication of
Iqbals article.
Haji. M. Anwardeen, Titachery - 609703
BPJs lust for J&K
The thirst for coming to power in J&K, by hook or by crook, seems to have
prompted the BJP to trounce its own set principles. Not long ago, the talks
between Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan were cancelled by the
BJP government, raising strong objections to consultations held by the
Pakistan High Commissioner with separatist Hurriyat leaders. However, in
the run-up to the Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir, senior leaders
of BJP including Prime Minister Narendra Modi were seen warming up to

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

Haramzada
Sadhvi Niranjan has proved that the reservation for women should not be
more than 10%. The other reason is her abnormal lifestyle (being
estranged from husband). This way of life affects the psychology and
normal behaviour of women. If a man does not marry within a particular
age, his behaviour will also be abnormal. Muslims give due respect to Sri
Ram but they cannot worship him. There is every possibility that he might
have been a messenger of Allah who sent around one lakh and forty
thousand messengers throughout the world. We came across hundreds of
sadhus like Rampal, Asaram, Nithyanand, Pragya Thakur, Uma Bharati etc,
Haram-zada is a purely Islamic terminology. All boys and girls who are
born out of illegitimate sexual relations are called harazadas (bastards).
This term cannot be used for non-Muslims. I shall advise Sadhvi Niranjan
to discard her abnormal lifestyle and get married to an able gentleman and
lead a happy married life. If not, better resign without embarrassing the
government.
Dr AH Maqdoomi, Hyderabad
Terror blasts
WB CM Mamta Banerjee accused Centre for stage-managing Bardwan
blast whcih she a conspiracy. The TMC version appeared in an English
daily as Bardwan blast was programme of BJP divisionary game plan
approved by RSS (TOI, 23 Nov., 14). Narendra Modis rally in Gandhi
Maidan saw serial balsts in which many innocent persons died and many
were injured. Bihar cabinet minister Mr. Ramai Ram said on 16 Nov. 13
why the bombs exploded in Modis rally? Cabinet minister Narendra Singh
explained that Modi is biggest terrorist and BJP was having close links
with the Patna serial blast terrorists who were used to gather public
sympathy.
S. Haque, Patna
Death Penalty
Islam allowed death penalty 1400 years ago. If death punishment is given
to a killer, It will be a lesson to other criminal minded elements but if he is
given 20 years imprisonment, it will not be beneficial to the criminal.
Instead, his expenditure shall have to be borne by the public.
AH Maqdoomi, Hyderabad
drmaqdoomi@yahoo.com
Indias relations with Israel and Muslim nations
No secrecy is made hitherto either by Congress or continued by BJP being
its fundamental policy for establishing and maintaining thick relations with
Israel at each and every front at the cost of Muslim nations with whom it
has still hostile relations. Baring the reins of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and Smt.
Indira Gandhi the favourable turning of India began soon with the
appearance of Rajiv Gandhi on Indian political horizon with Mrs. Sonia
Gandhi behind the curtain and BJP went ahead and openly shook hands
with the rogue country which is never appreciated by Indian Muslims. Now
the question is as to why blame India only. Look at Muslim countries like
Egypt and others who have same friendly relations with that rogue state
though they get no advantage from it. In such circumstances in case India
fails to condemn Israel for brutality, massacre and all sorts of inhumanity
against Palestinians but what the Muslim countries doing in this
connection whereas hundreds of innocent children in Palestine dying
every day by way of shuddering of blood and butchery by Israel. The
existence of countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other so-called
Muslim nations significantly a great shame for their motionless attitudes
and anti Palestinian policies, so why to blame India a country with antiMuslim majority, feelings, policies and hatred.
Faheemuddin, Nagpur
Crime Against Women
The Supreme Court has done well by awarding death sentence to a 53 year old man from Maharashtra after he was found guilty of raping a four
year old girl and stoning her to death. A three -Judge bench of Justices
Dipak Misra, Rohinton Nariman and U. U. Lalit held the crime as the rarest
of rare as the child had always addressed the man from her
neighbourhood as uncle and trusted him. They further stated that The
rape of a minor girl child is nothing but a monstrous burial of her dignity
in the darkness. It is against the holy body of a girl child and the soul of
the society and such a crime is aggravated by the manner in which it has
been committed, Such incidents have become the order of the day.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2013 report, 24,923 rape
cases were reported across India in 2012. Out of these, 24,470 were
allegedly committed by relative or neighbour. In other words, the victim
knew the alleged rapist in 98% of the cases. Why there is so much
eruption in this crime. There are so many reasons behind it. (1)
Immodesty, (2) Parents negligence in upbringing of their children, (3)
Alcohol and (4) Ineffective law in respect of it appear to be the causes of
such odds. Immodesty: It is such a menace which leads one towards
adultery, fornication, rape, molestation and other obscene acts. Both male
and female are responsible of allowing such circumstances to crop up. In
past they were rare. Ever since the western culture has its effects situation
has taken an ugly turn. This is western culture which has dampened Indian
culture and smashed its social fabric. It is modesty that keeps us away
from indulging in a host of evil deeds and absurd acts. There is much
emphasis in Islam on observing modesty holy Prophet says: Every
religion has a distinctive quality and the distinctive quality of Islam is
modesty (Muwatta). He again says: Modesty and faith exist together and
when one of them goes out, the other, too, goes out. (Baihaqi) Modesty
brings nothing but good (Bukhari and Muslim).
Obaidur Rahman Nadwi, Nadwa College, Lucknow
nadwi2000@gmail.com
BJP is rumour-monger
Former CM of Bihar Nitish Kumar has said that the BJP is an outfit of
rumour-mongers. After two decades, Mr Kumar could open his mouth
revealing the facts about Sangh Parivar. Whereas the current CM of Bihar
Sri Jitan Ram Manjhi said forwards are outsiders. In facts, historians and
Dalit scholars branded them Manuwadis while Mr Manjhi called them
forwards. These Manuwadis are Aryan invaders. That is why revolutionary
thinkers called them rumour-spreading society and Mayawati had said
Dalits are not Hindus
S. Haque, Patna

Read more letters on MG website

Email: letters@milligazette.com

24

The Milli Gazette,16-31 December 2014

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