Terrorism 7

State terrorism 5,6,8,10

Kazmi case 8-9
Waqf 4
Gujarat riots 2,4,11
Internal security 5
Bangladeshis 6
Assam crisis/Bodoland 7
Muslims and media 11
J&K 10
Analysis 11
Special Reports 3,13
Issues 2,12-13
Books 21
National 3-10
International 16-18
Speaking Out 11
Newsmakers 12
Community News 14-15
Islamic Perspectives 20
Our Publications 19
Classifieds 22
Letters 23
Indian Muslims Leading English Newspaper, published since January 2000
www.milligazette.com
THE MILLI GAZETTE
www.milligazette.com
ISSN 0972-3366
Fort ni ght l y
Rs 10 Vol. 13 No. 18 Issue Serial # 304 16-30 September 24 pages
Inside MG
NA ANSARI
New Delhi: A commemorative postal
stamp for Shaikhul Islam Maulana
Husain Ahmad Madani, a pioneer of
the freedom struggle and Darul Uloom
Deobands Shaikhul Hadees and a
strong opponent of Indias partition
and the two-nation theory of the
Muslim League and Hindu
Mahasabha, was released here by the
Union HRD, communications and
information technology minister Kapil
Sibal at India Habitat Centre on 29
August before a distinguished gather-
ing which included Maulana Husain
Ahmad Madanis grandson and
Jamiatul Ulama leader Maulana
Mahmood Madani, K. Rahman Khan,
former deputy chairman of Rajya
Sabha, film director Mahesh Bhat,
Pandit N. K. Sharma, founder of
Universal Association of Spiritual
Awareness and many political and reli-
gious leaders.
Kapil Sibal, while paying rich tributes to
Maulana Madani for his important role and sac-
rifices in the national and freedom movement,
admitted that forgetting this great freedom fight-
er and not issuing even a postal stamp in his
memory earlier was a lapse on the part of the
government but now, with the release of this
stamp in his memory, this lapse has been
removed. He hinted, while speaking on this
occasion that a study on the life and services of
Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani will be made
part of Indian schools syllabus so that young
generations of students could learn about the
important services rendered and great sacri-
fices made by him and other religious leaders of
the Muslim community for Indias freedom.
This function at India Habitat Centre was spon-
sored by Jamiatul Ulama-e Hind and the release
of the postage stamp in memory of Shaikhul
Islam was significant in that it was for the first
time that such a stamp was released in the
memory of a person who was very closely asso-
ciated with Jamiat Ulama-e Hind and Darul
Uloom Deoband, both of which played a pio-
neering role in the freedom movement of the
country.
However, this function was virtually blacked
out by national dailies and electronic media.
Pro-BJP English daily Pioneer, however, pub-
lished this news briefly.
Postage stamp
in the honour of the
great Maulana Madani
MG/Yusuf
YUGAL KISHORE SHASTRI...3
The Saudi connection
Of late, every "terror" story in India ends up with a "Saudi" connection. Every so-called
"module" or false arrest is incomplete without a Saudi tale. The IB and other agencies
went to town when "Abu Jundal" was repatriated to India by a cooperative Saudi Arabia.
All kinds of leaks were made to the press and electronic media about the Saudi connec-
tion. Any self-respecting agency would think twice in future before cooperating with such
roguish and childish elements who run roughshod over others in the belief that their own
agenda is supreme. All these leaks were made unofficially because it is easy for the
rogues to deny everything if serious questions are raised later, especially in courts.
Apart from their vested interests, it is clear that elements in IB, in cahoots with the
Mossad and CIA-FBI, are trying to hit two birds with one stone. On the one hand, they
want to prove that Saudi Arabia is a haven for terrorists and thereby pave the way for a
future American crackdown on the Saudis in the name of fighting terror. The Israelis will
be most grateful if their Indian pals could pull off such a coup. On the other hand, Indian
Muslims are the target. It is very difficult for these fascists to see Indian Muslims flour-
ish, build houses, afford good education for their children and start new businesses using
the income of their sons working hard in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
The fascist plan is to make the whole Indian Muslim community suspect at home and
abroad. Here, inside the country, the results of this age-old conspiracy are now visible.
Read Sachar report if you do not believe me. Muslims are finding it difficult to find jobs
and even good accommodation in our metros and towns. Riots and all kinds of discrim-
inatory behaviour are normal events in one's life today. The plan is to render Indian
Muslims suspect even in the eyes of the Gulf Arabs. If this succeeds, the avenues which
opened up since early 1970s will close and Indian Muslims will return to the situation the
fascists worked hard to land them in after Independence. The IB, Police, PAC and other
security agencies are so deeply infected by the communal bug that Indian Muslims can
expect only the worse from them. There is no love lost between the twain. The Indian
Muslim nurses complete distrust of security forces, especially IB and Police which has
units like Special Cell which specialises in fabrication of cases and evidence and excels
in manufacture of "confessions" through third degree torture. We sincerely hope that our
Gulf Arab brothers will read through this vicious Hindutva fascist plan and frustrate it.
ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN
This is the
progress we
have made in
investigating
the role of
Muslims in
terrorism
y
PROF. M.N. FARUQI...12
SC petition stalls AMU
Kishanganj campus
An RTI application has revealed that a writ petition (No. 5329/2010) filed by one Jai Narayan Kumar
challenging the establishment of an AMU centre at Kishanganj, currently pending in the Supreme
Court, is the cause of the two year-long-and-continuing delay in the construction of the Kishanganj
centre. The President of India, in his capacity as the Visitor of the university, asked the Union
Ministry of Human Resource Development to seek the opinion of the law ministry about whether to
proceed without waiting SC directions.
In accordance with the Presidential directive, the HRD ministry referred the matter to the law
ministry. As there was no stay in the petition, the HRD ministry asked the law ministry if it is alright
to release funds for the proposed centre on the lines of AMU centres already opened at
Murshidabad in West Bengal and Mallapuram in Kerala. The law ministry replied that, It will be
advisable to await the outcome of special leave petition pending before the court since it was sub-
judice.
The SC had heard the petition on July 11, 2012 and advised the Petitioner to remove the
University Chancellor as one of the Respondents and to send a compliance to the Court by August
16, 2012 for the subsequent hearing. On July 12, 2012 the MHRD wrote to the Law Ministry and
asked to send a reply to the Prime Ministers Office on the legal aspect of issue for delay in
approval. The PMO had received the same suggestion from Law Ministry to put a hold on the issue
till judgment comes from Supreme Court.
The HRDM also mentioned the provision contained in the AMU Act with regard to establish-
ment of the University centres as per Section 12 (2). Its under the same Act that the Kerala and
West Bengal centres are functioning. It should be noted that the Law Minister Salman Khurshid
denied being kept in the loop about correspondence between his ministry and the HRDM regard-
ing the matter, making it clear that the establishment had been kept on hold without the knowledge
of the law minister. The Bihar government has allotted 224 acres of land and the HRD has given
its nod to it, waiting to release the budget. Meanwhile, people in Seemanchal patiently wait for the
verdict. The area MP, Maulana Asrarul Haq Qasmi is pressuring the central government not to wait
for the SC and release funds so that the building the infrastructure starts. He warned that as there
is no activity on the allotted land, people are illegally encroaching on the land.
AALIYA KHAN
1
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ISSUES / OPINION
2 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
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Sanjiv Bhatt is an Indian Police Service
officer in Gujarat. He is known for his role
in filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court
of India against the Chief Minister of the
Government of Gujarat, Narendra Modi,
concerning the latters alleged role in the
2002 Gujarat riots
Dear Narendra Modi,
You must have been apprised
about the punishment meted
out to your loyal lieutenants
Dr. Maya Kodnani and Babu
Bajrangi, as well as the mis-
guided foot-soldiers of mis-
conceived Hindutva, who
have now been condemned to
spend a life in prison. Was it
perchance that you smartly
distanced yourself from all
these unfortunate people at an opportune moment? Have you
spared a thought for the innocent family members of the accused
who have been sentenced to a lifetime behind bars? It is
believed that you were once a married man.
At some point in your life, like all normal humans, you might
have been touched by the magic of love, even thought of having
children starting a family, perhaps! Have you even once thought
about the plight of the wives and children of your onetime adula-
tors who have been condemned for life?
Mr. Modi, have you ever looked at your actual image,
stripped of the designer dresses that you are so enamoured
with? Have you ever looked at the reflection of the real face
behind the mask? Have you ever introspected about your true-
self concealed behind the meticulous imagery created by your
media managers?
Have you even once thought whether it is really worth it to
sustain power, even if it requires sacrificing fellow human beings
at the altar of expediency? Have you ever considered, even
once, whether it is alright to facilitate or connive in the killing of
another human being just because he does not conform to your
beliefs? Is it really worthwhile to deceive your own self. or, is it
only a small price to pay for your political ambitions?
I hope and pray to God that you get the time, wisdom and
opportunity to find honest and truthful answers to some of these
questions during this lifetime.
God bless!
Sanjiv Bhatt
II
Dear Maya Kodnani,
You are a woman and a practicing gynaecologist. How could you
participate in butchering innocent and helpless women and chil-
dren? You never felt the pain of the people who were screaming
for mercy, who were begging for their lives, who were ripped
apart in cold blood, who had images of their dear ones in eyes
when they were being slaughtered? Did you ever sleep in peace
after that night? Did you cele-
brate any birthday ceremonies
of your own after that?
Could you ever smile after
that butchery? Do you still
enjoy red colour? Could you
look at a meat shop without the
religious repugnance, if any?
Did you touch a baby with love
ever after? Did you look at your
own image in your own mind in
the early hours of morning with-
out a chill running down your spine?
Dear Maya Kodnani: are you a mother, a sister, a grand-
mother, perhaps? Are you human? Were you ever human?
Dear Maya Kodnani, have you ever thought whether it is
alright to kill another human being just because someone direct-
ed you to wreak vengeance on a particular community? Have
you ever wondered whether it is acceptable to kill another human
just because he or she is not like you? Did it ever occur to you
that slaughtering fellow human beings is a gruesome crime, even
if it is committed under State patronage? Did it ever occur to you
that those who patronised you might one day betray and sacri-
fice you for political expediency?
We can feel your pain and distress. We sincerely hope and
pray to God that you get the time and opportunity to find honest
and truthful answers to some of these questions during this life-
time.
God bless!
Sanjiv Bhatt
Sanjeev Bhatts Open Letters to
Modi and Kodnani
Blood-bath at
Naroda Patiya
Maya Kodnanis 28 years in jaill and Babu Bajrangis
imprisonment till death in Naroda Patiya massacre in
2002 will certainly restore common mans dwindling
faith in our judiciary. What these two butchers along
with 29 others did on that fateful day, February 28,
2002, can unnerve even those for whom indulging in
sanguinary delights is no big deal. They crossed all
limits in barbarism and savagery.
Reducing human beings to grilled meat is unthink-
able. It was deaths dance macabre; a free for all show
of extreme cruelty. The fanatically polarised Hindus of
Gujarat were waiting for an opportune moment to
pounce upon Muslims and butcher them. Godhara inci-
dent (it was fabricated as the coach was gutted from
inside by Hindus; Banerjee report clearly states this)
provided that alibi to Hindus for going on an unprece-
dented rampage.
We talk about conscience and humanity. But the
entire vegetarian Gujarat with Hindu and Jain majority
chose to keep mum. Man loves blood-bath because
somewhere in his existence, still lies the element of bru-
tality uneradicated by the so-called progress, education
and cosmetic refinement, aptly said German Nobel
laureate Gnter Grass. Not only did the Hindus kill help-
less Muslims, they shamelessly ravaged Muslim
women in public. Its time, Modi must also be booked for
his implication in the riots. When judiciary can send a
state minister (Kodnani) to slammer for 28 years, why
cant this man also meet with the same ignoble fate?
DR. SUMIT S. PAUL
Nominal representation
of Muslims in the
police force
causing difficulties
NA ANSARI
New Delhi: Appointment of Muslim police officers in Muslim majority
areas / localities in accordance with union home ministrys secretary-
level directions is found difficult to implement in the country, because
of extremely small number of Muslims in police service. Their number
is so small in police departments of the whole country that they are
proving totally insufficient for being appointed in Muslim populated
areas. According to the latest statistics of the union home ministry, out
of the total police force of 16.6 lakh in the country, Muslim police offi-
cers and constables are 1.08 lakh. This means that their representa-
tion in this department is only 6 percent but the ground reality is that
on the whole, in accordance with total population it is even less than
4 percent because out of 1.08 lakh Muslim officers, about half i.e.
46,250 are on duty in Jammu & Kashmir.
Further, according to official statistics, representation of Muslim
police officers is worst or least in Delhi because out of a total of 75,117
officers in Delhi police, Muslim police officers are 1521 only which
means that their representation in the police is about 2 percent only
and hence appointment of Muslim police officers (of inspector or sub-
inspector rank) in accordance with home secretarys directive, is not
possible. An English daily, referring to the latest statistics of police offi-
cers, has written that senior officers of the home ministry are worried
about the low representation of Muslims in the police force.
It may be pointed out that Sachar Committees November 2006
report also has identified low representation of Muslims in police force
alongwith government departments. This committee had recommend-
ed that in Muslim majority areas, appointment of Muslim officers is
necessary for assessment of peoples opinion in general. Keeping
these recommendations in mind, the government had recently
instructed all the states through a circular that they should appoint
Muslim police officers in police stations in Muslim majority areas.
Chairman of National Minorities Commission, Wajahat Habibullah
has put the responsibility of low representation of Muslims in the
police force on the states. He said that the process of recruitment of
Muslims (in police) by states is very slow. He said that in Prime
Ministers 15-point programme, all the states were advised to give
preference to candidates belonging to minority communities for
recruitment in police force but very few states implemented these rec-
ommendations. According to this report, the number of Muslim offi-
cers is extremely small in states like U.P. and Bihar where the popu-
lation of Muslim minority is fairly large. Representation of Muslims is
1 percent in Rajasthan Police because of which police very often
becomes partial in dealing with any situation. He says that the pres-
ence of Muslim officers at I.P.S. level is necessary but even more nec-
essary is the recruitment of Muslim officers at constable level.
Muslim representation in Police
States Total number No. of Muslim Percentage
of police force officers
Delhi 75,117 1,521 2
Maharashtra 1,82,971 1,945 1
U.P. 1,87,425 9,166 4.8
Bihar 65,476 3,084 4.5
A. P. 89,404 8,933 10
Karnataka 74,699 4,796 6.4
Rajasthan 76,356 954 1.2
J&K 76,805 46,250 60
All India 16,60,151 1,08,389 6
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 3
NATIONAL
Here are excerpts from an interview given by
Yugal Kishore Sharan Shastri, the famous
Ayodhya mahant and tireless amity worker
who is fighting against communal forces and
conveying the message of peace and harmo-
ny to many parts of the country through
yatras:
What, according to you, are the obstacles to
Hindu-Muslim unity in India?
For the better part of India, the biggest obsta-
cle to the unity is Brahmanism. Let alone
Muslims and Hindus, it creates divides even
among Hindus.
The communal forces of the country are a
result of this purposeful divide. They divide
people for petty political gains. Moreover,
secularism and freedom of religion arent
implemented properly in this country.
Officials political leanings are reflected in the
posts they hold. Blessings from Hindu gods
are evoked at the inauguration of government
buildings and offices. Temples spring up on
government properties. Had governments
really been secular, they wouldnt have
allowed this. They would have preserved
Hindu-Muslim unity,
instead. Muslims
would feel secure in
the country. Theyre a
victim of majority ter-
rorism in several
states. It was under the
patronage of the state
government that Babri
Masjid was demol-
ished and innocent
Muslims killed and the
culprits were allowed
to roam free. Narendra
Modi was never
brought to book and
the victims werent
compensated.
Are Indo-US relations in Indias interest?
No, theyre not. No imperialist nation ever forms rela-
tions with others on an equal footing. These relations
are their covert instruments of enslavement. Then,
too, you never see the face of Obama in the midst of
all this. They tempt locals into backstabbing their
nation. Indias relations with America cause terrorism,
communalism and Hindu dominance over others. Its
in Americas interest to fuel unrest among nations so
it goes on selling weapons to support its economy.
What is your take on the arrests of Muslim youth?
A vast majority of the boys in custody are innocent. At
least the probes by human-rights activists prove this.
Muslims have lost faith in the democratic system. The
judiciary, police, STF, ATS and investigative agencies
have become communal in nature and are controlled
by foreign powers. A majority of the officers are com-
munally biased and dont see Muslims as humans.
Theyre influenced by Shiv Sena, RSS, VHP and
Israeli ideology. This has eroded the social fabric and
the constitutional system of the country.
How do you view journalist Mohammad Kazmis
arrest?
This is the first time an important journalist has been
treated like this. This is an imperialist attack on
democracy and an attempt to discourage Muslim
intellectuals to share their opinion on Indias affairs.
Kazmi was a promi-
nent journalist and
held deep knowledge
of Western affairs.
He was labelled a
terrorist and charged
with treason at
Mossads prodding.
You are a prime wit-
ness in the Babri
Masjid case and you
have authored many
books. Would you
like to share your
views on the issue?
I live behind the
Masjid compound
and have a temple there. I saw that act of terrorism
with my own eyes. Karsevaks with their daggers had
surrounded my temple and were out to kill journalists
and social workers present there. I testified in the CBI
court and explained that America had used VHP, BJP
and Bajrang Dal to carry out the crime. These right-
wing organizations even tried to tempt me into not
presenting my account in the court. When I wrote
about the Babri Masjid and about Sanghi terrorism, I
received threats from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
They called me anti-Hindu and anti-Ram. Fighting
them gives me more pleasure than worshipping God.
What is your outlook on the growing Indo-Israel rela-
tions?
Strong relations between the two countries are
extremely dangerous. India buys 30% of its weapons
from Israel and this casts a doubt about our future
plans in the minds of our neighbouring countries. Its
because of Indias relations with Israel that our coun-
try cannot speak up against the atrocities Israel inflicts
on the Palestinians. India becomes a collaborator with
the oppressors.
The Arab world is evolving. Do you think the changes
would affect India in any way?
The changes wont mean much to India since a major-
ity of the countries undergoing political change
havent had much to do with India in the past.
Translated from Hindi by AALIYA KHAN
Yugal Kishore speaks
Quote, Unquote
The recent massacre of Muslims has reopened the debate over the wisdom of signing peace
accords with agents of violence wearing a fig-leaf of ethno-nationalism, to quote Ravindra Narayan
Ravi, one of the Intelligence Bureaus foremost experts on the Northeast....since 1993 when the
state started appeasing radical ethno-nationalists for political gains and inaugurated as many as 21
ethnic-centric constitutional, statutory and administrative autonomous councils. Hiteswar Saikia (for-
mer CM) spawned seven. Gogoi has fathered 14. The BLT, responsible for much of the recent
bloodshed, was supposed to have disarmed itself in 2003 but its core armed capability has
remained intact with the tacit nod of the state. The governments patronage of non-state agents of
violence, alluring them with incentives for their smash-and-grab politics and the total collapse of the
criminal justice system have created a criminogenic environment in Assam. The new councils have
overnight created a large mass of disgruntled others who share the habitat but feel institutionally dis-
criminated against by the state. Innumerable faultlines, hitherto latent or non-existent, emerged and
unleashed centripetal forces of varying magnitude. ...the Centre that underwrites Gogois misadven-
tures is a partner in his sins; the state government today is like a zombie with a Kalashnikov in one
hand and wads of cash in the other-both generously supplied by the Centre!
ANRAVI, former Special Director, IB, quoted in Outlook
White Paper on Terrorism:
calling out readers and
researchers
The most important and burning issue facing Indian Muslims at present is the con-
tinuing arrests and widespread fake implication of our youth in trumped up terror
cases masterminded by saffron elements in the government, IB and Police. Now
almost all Muslim organisations are up in arms against this state terror. People are
organising dharnas, meetings, conference etc all over the country.
As a long-term solution and serious response to this problem thrust upon us,
All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM) has decided to bring out a white
paper on the Muslim-related terrorism in the country. This was discussed and
passed during the Working Committee meeting on 7 July. But since AIMMM does
not have the required funds and staff, I have undertaken the responsibility of
preparing this white paper which will be comprehensive in around 600+ large for-
mat pages covering the whole history and genesis, communalism, vested inter-
ests in various fields, analysis of various laws like TADA, POTA and UAPA, fake
encounters, acquittals, IB & Police role, media attitude, case studies, statewise
studies, SIMI and so-called Indian Mujahidin, Hindutva terror, individual
tragedies of victims, Azamgarh, Bhatkal, Malegaon, Darbhanga modules, some
basic documents, etc.
The target is to bring it out during the next six months and release it in a big
convention at Delhi as a combined effort of all Muslim organisations, and there-
after present the white paper to politicians, media, human rights orgs, especially
those abroad, in order to enlighten public opinion as well as to build pressure on
our blind and deaf government.
The estimated cost of this white paper is Rs 25 lakh divided as follows: Rs 10
lakh cost of preparation and payments to contributors plus six months salaries to
three persons including an expert; Rs 10 lakh for designing and printing the doc-
ument in a world-class format; and Rs 5 lakh convention costs. The first two con-
cern the undersigned while the last (convention) concerns AIMMM.
To finance this effort which will be a watershed in this struggle against state
terrorism in India, I need and solicit your full support. This may be either by direct
contribution for the effort or by buying copies in advance which could later be sent
to you or to others at your behalf. The estimated price of the white paper is
Rs 2000 at least. Our well-wishers can pay Rs 1000 only per copy as advance
purchase (plus any actual postal or courier charges which will be indicated and
payable later). Payments for the copies may be made to our publishing company
(Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd, D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar,
New Delhi 110 025 - Email: books@pharosmedia.com). Individuals and organisa-
tions ordering a minimum of 100 copies will be included as sponsors of the White
Paper. Contribution towards the organisation of the convention may be sent to the
All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, D-250 Abul Fazal Enclave, part 1, Jamia
Nagar, New Delhi 110 025.
Experts who can contribute to this white paper may kindly write to me
with some detail about their past experience and work.
ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN, Editor, The Milli Gazette - edit@milligazette.com
Muslim organisations
form coordination
committee on Assam
New Delhi: In a meeting held here on 10 August at the
Jamat-e Islami Hind headquarters, a coordination
committee on Assam was formed under the conven-
ership of Mujtaba Farooq, President of Welfare Party.
The meeting decided to continue efforts to bring the
Assam crisis to an end with the peaceful repatriation
of all the displaced people to their homes and lands.
It also decided to continue the relief work being
undertaken in relief camps by Muslim organisation, to
seek a dialogue with Bodo leaders and to press upon
the central and state governments to repatriate the
displaced as quickly as possible and to seize the ille-
gal arms in the hands of Bodos and other militants in
the BTC area. A delegation of the coordination com-
mittee will meet central and Assam state govern-
ments leaders. The meeting was attended by repre-
sentatives of Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Muslim Majlis-e
Mushawarat, Milli Council, Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees,
Muslim Political Council, Majlis Ulama-e Hind and
S.I.O. etc.
Bombay riots accused
exonerated after 20 years
Mumbai: Mono Ali Mansab Ghausi, an accused in the
1992-93 Bombay communal riots, was set free on 25
August this year following his re-arrest last July for
violation of bail conditions. He was accused of failing
to attend court on his case dates while on bail. His
case was taken up by lawyers appointed by Jamiat
Ulama-e Islam (Arshad group) who argued that there
is no case against Ghausi. The court accepted their
arguments and set him free honourably.
Rally proposed from Ayodhya
for national unity and harmony
New Delhi: A rally is proposed, from Ayodhya to Bodh Gaya in Bihar, on 2 October, in
order to promote communal harmony and preservation of peace in the country. This
yatra will terminate on 10 October. According to the convener and leader of this rally,
to be called as Manav Ekta Rally, Yugal Kishore Shastri who is also the editor
Ayodhya ki Awaaz, at the present time communal harmony and unity and understand-
ing between different religions is very essential and hence this rally will include people
from all sections of society without any discrimination. He said that this is not a politi-
cal rally but an attempt to maintaining the countrys unity and integrity. He said that
some mischievous and communal elements, particularly in U.P., are engaged in spoil-
ing and destroying communal harmony but he is confident that these people will not
succeed in their evil intentions because people have now become conscious and
awakened and they will not be misled by mischievous and unsocial elements.
Referring to U.P. assembly elections in this connection he said that communal forces
in Ayodhya itself had to eat humble pie, seeing that their MLA not only was defeated
but the party (BJP) also was wiped out in this area. He said that conditions in Ayodhya
are now good and peaceful and people of all religions are equal partners in their mutu-
al joys and sorrows and they have no bitterness against each other.
After the High Courts verdict on Babri Masjid-Ramjanambhoomi dispute in 2010,
secular leaders and people of all religions had planned to take out rallies all over the
country to maintain peace and during this period Yugal Kishore Shastri tried his best
to promote peace, creating awakening among the people, particularly in and around
Ayodhya foiling attempts by mischievous elements to spoil the communal atmosphere.
According to Shastri, whereas through this yatra national harmony, survival of peace
and the message of humanism will be popularised, emphasis would be laid on Indias
old tradition of peace and understanding. (NAAnsari)
I live behind the Masjid compound and have a
temple there. I saw that act of terrorism with my
own eyes. Karsevaks with their daggers had sur-
rounded my temple and were out to kill journal-
ists and social workers present there. I testified
in the CBI court and explained that America had
used VHP, BJP and Bajrang Dal to carry out the
crime. These right-wing organizations even tried
to tempt me into not presenting my account in
the court. When I wrote about the Babri Masjid
and about Sanghi terrorism, I received threats
from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. They called
me anti-Hindu and anti-Ram. Fighting them
gives me more pleasure than worshipping God.
NATIONAL
4 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
Farmer suicides in Gujarat continue
Ahmedabad: One more farmer committed suicide in the
Saurashtra region of Gujarat bringing the total number of
suicides to 11 in the last one month in the state, sources
said. At a press interaction, BJP chief R C Faldu
remarked that in neighbouring Maharashtra and Andhra
Pradesh, farmers are committing suicide in thousands.
Dinesh Mokariya, 45, a farmer in Keshod village con-
sumed poison on 21 August night reportedly upset over
his failed crop and non availability of cheap fodder for his
cattle.
Animals clean toilets, Apex Court told
New Delhi: In the cleaning of nearly 13 lakh insanitary dry
toilets across the country, human beings and animals play
an almost equal role, the Supreme Court was told on
3 September. Petitioner NGO Safai Karmachari Andolan
culled out data from the 2011 census report to inform the
court that 4.97 lakh dry toilets were serviced by animals
while another 7.94 lakh were serviced manually.
With the government introducing a bill to prohibit
employment of manual scavengers in Parliament, it would
be left to animals - pigs and dogs - to clean dry toilets in
the rural areas.
Appearing for the NGO, senior advocate P S
Narasimha and advocate K Parameshwar informed a
bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and S J
Mukhopadhaya that of a total 24.6 crore households in
India, over 26 lakh toilets were termed insanitary as they
discharged excreta directly into open drains (13.14 lakh
toilets) or were cleaned manually or serviced by animals
(12.91 lakh). The census figures showed Delhi had 583
toilets cleaned by manual scavengers and 633 serviced
by animals. There are no surprises in the list of poor per-
formers. Uttar Pradesh had 3.26 lakh dry toilets which
were cleaned by manual scavengers, which is more than
41% of the national aggregate. It also had the highest
number of insanitary toilets (80,291) serviced by ani-
mals. West Bengal was a close second, with 72,289
insanitary toilets serviced by animals and another 1.3
lakh cleaned by manual scavenging. In Odisha, an almost
equal number of toilets were serviced by animals and
manual scavengers, the numbers being 24,222 and
26,496 respectively.
Bihar, despite its impressive development initiatives,
still had 13,587 toilets cleaned by manual scavengers and
35,009 serviced by animals. In Assam, 35,394 toilets
were serviced by animals while 22,139 were cleaned
manually. But in Gujarat, toilets serviced by animals out-
numbered the manual scavenging ones. While 4,890 toi-
lets were serviced by animals, 2,566 were serviced
manually. Neighbouring Maharashtra, counted among the
economically affluent states, had the dubious distinction
of allowing 45,429 toilets to be serviced by animals while
engaging manual scavengers to clean 9,622.
Andhra Pradesh had 52,767 toilets serviced by ani-
mals, while Karnataka had 28,995 and Tamil Nadu
26,020 of them. Toilets cleaned by manual scavengers in
these three southern states were 10,357 (AP), 7,740
(Karnataka) and 27,659 (TN) respectively.
While giving four weeks time to the defaulting states
to furnish relevant details, the court, which has been mon-
itoring the PIL for abolition of manual scavenging, warned,
It is time for the states to wake up.
YUNUS CHITALWALA
The Naroda Patiya verdict has for the first
time convicted a minister in the Modi gov-
ernment. Maya Kodnani got 28 years in
prison. Babu Bajrangi, a boastful and psy-
chopathic murderer, was sentenced for life
imprisonment till death. Atotal of 32 accused
received various sentences for their role in
the massacre while 29 were acquitted due to
lack of adequate evidence.
The brutal killing of 97 people during
2002 Gujarat carnage, including men,
women and children, had shocked the world.
It was one of the nine cases investigated by
the SIT under Supreme Court orders. The
veridct has raised the hope of other victims
who still await justice. The faith of the minori-
ties in judiciary has been reaffirmed across
the country. The mischief mongers are
aghast at the turn of events and are forced
to hide or cower under the weight of guilt.
The BJP in Gujarat endlessly justifies
its shameful failures in controlling the com-
munal conflagration that nearly engulfed the
entire state. Now judicial activism witnessed
in the recent court verdicts has unnerved it
and its apologists claim credit that it was
under the BJP regime that the courts are
active. It is forgotten that the Supreme Court
had to step in to order special investigations
in some cases to frustrate the state govern-
ments attempts to interfere in the investiga-
tions.
For too long the state government had
been hunting with the hounds and running
with hares. Its spokespersons hide their
embarrassment behind cliches and plati-
tudes. They now very fondly recall what
Modi said recently in an interview to an Urdu
paper, Hang me if I am found guilty. It is a
clever way of saying catch me if you can.
Modi did not go around killing people with a
gun smoking at the barrel in 2002. He was
the chief minister of the state. He allowed
Hindutva goons to slaughter Muslims. His
ministers, who had no business to be pres-
ent in police stations and police control
rooms, were directing the police. The then
home minister (Zadaphia) who was expect-
ed to oversee the police to control murder
and destruction, is himself facing serious
allegations.
The cumulative consequences of riots
cannot be swept under the carpet. They
include murders of 2000 innocent persons
including women and children, a huge loss
to property (described by the then chairman
of Human Rights Commission, Justice
Verma as war zone), displacement of hun-
dreds of thousand of refugees (some are still
displaced a decade later), lack of proper
camps and lack of compensation, riot-relat-
ed truma to thousands, fear stalking the
Muslim community for months, failure of
police to save them from murderous mobs,
sudden closing of 4000 cases against the
rioters (which have now been reopened),
Modis pre-poll uttarances and the testimony
of police officers that he wanted them to let
Hindus vent their anger on Muslims.
The Naroda Patiya case was the result
of the probe conducted by SIT under orders
from the SC and not because the state
administration was keen to pack off Kodnani
to jail. Her name was not allowed to be men-
tioned in early FIRs. She was made a minis-
ter though there were accusations against
her for committing grievous crimes.
Whenever the issue of Gujarat riots
pops up, the BJP puts up the self-serving,
lame defence by citing the anti-Sikh riots
of 1984 and the failure of the Congress
government to book and punish culprits. It
is like you scratch my back, I scratch
yours. The convoluted logic is that if Sikhs
could be killed, why not Muslims? The
moot point is: why any Indian citizen
should be killed at all? Congresss failure
need not be replicated by the BJP. Are the
minorities just cannon fodder condemned
to suffer endless torments resulting from
the failures of government to protect them
which is a constitutional duty of the state
chief minister irrespective of his ideologi-
cal moorings?
While citing anti-Sikh riots, the BJPs
memory plays tricks and it forgets the
Mumbai riots of 1992, Baroda, Bhiwandi,
Meerut, and many others (the list could be
endless) where Muslims suffered and cul-
prits went scot-free. Almighty God knows
what happened to Madan and Shrikrishna
commissions reports.
The reason why the 2002 riots have
resulted in convictions are:
1. The brutality and extent of communal
carnage were unprecedented and it attracted
national and international attention.
2. The media, especially the TV channels,
played a major role in bringing details of killings
and mayhem to every house-hold in India. This
was not the case during the anti-Sikh riots.
3. A host of applications were filed in
courts including the SC against the Gujarat CM
for his failure to control the riots, e.g., the
Gulberg Society killings.
4. NGOs and brave individuals like Teesta
Setalvad and Mukul Sinha did an excellent job
by collecting evidence and representing the
victims in the courts inspite of the fact that wit-
nesses were fearing for their lives. Teesta
Setalvad was even harassed and threatened.
5. In several cases, prosecutors with
rightist leanings had to be replaced with neutral
lawyers.
6. The dilly-dallying by the police in regis-
tering crimes and collecting evidence suggest-
ed of a communally charged atmosphere
which was not conducive to prompt delivery of
justice. This led to SCs intervention.
7. The cases against the accused were
specific crime-related but what loomed large in
the background was the failure of the state
administration in controlling those crimes. The
moral responsibility lay with the Gujarat CM but
he never expressed any regret. This was also
the reason for the SC to order fresh probes
under specially formed SITs. In the end, it
needs to be pointed out that at the Nuremberg
trial held after the Second World War, Nazi offi-
cials were sentenced for their crimes. Though
a huge body of evidence was brought to bear
on the delivery of justice, what essentially
clinched the trials was their membership in the
Nazi party and its fascist ideology, their public
speeches and their angst against the Jews.
As of now, Naroda Patiya has shown the
way. Things might move further and peg a
benchmark in the delivery of justice in India
in similar cases.
Naroda Patiya Case: Victims
Faith In Justice Reaffirmed
Whenever the issue of Gujarat riots pops up, the BJP puts up the self-
serving, lame defence by citing the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and the failure
of the Congress government to book and punish culprits. It is like you
scratch my back, I scratch yours. The convoluted logic is that if Sikhs
could be killed, why not Muslims? The moot point is: why any Indian citi-
zen should be killed at all? Congresss failure need not be replicated by
the BJP. Are the minorities just cannon fodder condemned to suffer end-
less torments resulting from the failures of govenment to protect them
which is a constitutional duty of the state chief minister irrespective of
his ideological moorings?
Concerned Muslims renew
efforts to reclaim 123 prime
Waqf properties
New Delhi: Under the aegis of the New India Foundation, con-
cerned Muslims have decided to intensify efforts to reclaim 123
prime waqf properties spread across Delhi which are still in legal
tangle due to the apathy of the Union Ministry for Minority Affairs
(MMA). They said that there is an urgent need for the community
to take up the matter as it is a long pending issue. A representa-
tive delegation of Muslims would approach Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in this
regard.
At a meeting held here to chalk out a strategy for reclaiming
the said properties, participants expressed their disappointment
over the inept handling of the problem by the MMA. Former
Cabinet Secretary Zafar Saifullah, who presided over the meeting,
observed that it was the duty of every Muslim to protect and care
for waqf properties. If we fail in this task, we would not be entitled
to call ourselves Muslims. He said the community needs to be
vigilant about the waqf issue as these properties are vested in the
name of God.
It is to be noted that the problem of 123 waqf properties that
ought to be transferred to the Delhi Waqf Board from various gov-
ernment departments has been lingering since 1984 when the
central government, in accordance with the Burney Committee
recommendations, had decided to hand over these properties to
the Delhi Waqf Board. Although, the Burney Committee had iden-
tified 250 waqf properties, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
had announced that only 123 properties would be given to the
waqf board. These included Masjid Abdul Nabi at ITO, Ghata
Masjid at Daryagnaj, a huge land adjacent to the Delhi Public
School at Mathura road, a graveyard at the outer circle of the
Connaught Place. On March 27, 1984, the Centre had issued a
notification but it was a flawed one. It was immediately challenged
in Delhi High Court. The court stayed the transfer and it had con-
tinued so for more than a quarter century. However, during the
course of hearing in early 2008, learned judges enquired about
the paraphrasing of the notification of the Ministry of Works &
Housing dated March 27, 1984 stating, The transfer will be on
perpetual leasehold basis. The judges were of the opinion that
the Waqf properties are vested in the name of God and therefore,
the Government of India cannot be the owner of such properties.
Therefore, in case the Government considers these properties as
Waqf, which are stated to be religious in nature such as Mosque,
Dargah, Graveyard etc., they should have transferred/handed
over the properties to the Waqf Board as Waqf properties and not
on perpetual leasehold basis.
From the facts on record, it was clear that there was an inher-
ent contradiction in retaining the ownership of the Waqf properties
while transferring them to the Delhi Waqf Board on lease basis.
The Court was surprised by this clause and desired that the
Additional Solicitor General may get specific advice from the
Government of India and convey the stand of the Government to
the Court. Immediately, on the initiative of Central Waqf Council, a
meeting was held on April 7, 2008 at the (then) Minister of Urban
Affairs Jaipal Reddys office. He indicated that the necessary deci-
sion in this regard could be taken only by a group of ministers to
be constituted for this purpose.
Former Secretary, Central Waqf Council, Dr. M R Haque said
the CWC vigorously pursued the matter during his tenure but
nothing came out of it. Terming the wording of the notification as a
deliberate attempt, Zafar Saifullah said the government should
be persuaded to issue a new notification as these properties were
taken over by the British government to build the new capital in
1913-14.
Since the decision of Centre clarifying its stand was not forth-
coming, the Delhi High Court, on January 12, 2011, disposed of
the Writ Petition (C) No.1512 of 1984 related to the 123 waqf prop-
erties of Delhi, directing the Government to take a final decision in
the matter within six months and parties were also directed to
maintain status-quo till then. The Government has taken exten-
sions since but has not come out with its final stand so far. In the
meantime, there are reports of encroachments on these proper-
ties. Criticizing the MMA over its silence on the issue, the meeting
observed that it is the nodal ministry in matters related to waqf.
Welfare Party president Mujtaba Farooq suggested forming
an action committee in order to pursue the matter in a coordinat-
ed way. While lambasting the ASI for its dereliction of duty, former
Delhi state minority commission chairman Kamal Faruqi said he
had a list of 31 mosques where all sorts of unethical practices
were going on. He insisted that the ASI act did not prohibit offer-
ing namaz in these protected mosques.
Speakers came down heavily on the Delhi Waqf Board for its
lack of concern for these 123 properties. Jamiat Ulema-e Hind
(Arshad) leader Maulana Abdul Razzaq charged Minority Affairs
Minister Salman Khurshid with misusing his powers. He said the
minister has written a recommendatory letter to the Lieutenant
Governor of Delhi to hand over a piece of waqf land situated at
Mehruli to a Congress leader. When we contacted the Minister,
he told us that the said Congress worker helped his Party a lot in
winning the election, he added. Reportedly, the Waqf Board is
not pursuing the case properly because of the ministers recom-
mendation. The meeting was attended by a representatives of a
number of Muslim organisations and prominent individuals of
Delhi including Dr Qasim Rasool Ilyas, Maulana Fazalur Rahman
Mujadadi, Dr Shakil Zaman and others.
ABDUL BARI MASOUD
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 5
NATIONAL
FIRDAUS AHMED
Dark clouds gathered since the early nineties have not
quite dissipated. Inevitably so, since the actions that
should have been taken were never taken up. The major
plank of employment, recommended in the Sachar
Committee report, has been stymied by the governments
under-prepared brief in the Supreme Court for inclusion of
the backward groups of the minority in the quota system.
In the wake of the Gujarat carnage ten years ago, my debut col-
umn in India Together (http://www.indiatogether.org/
opinions/fahmed/fa0802.htm) addressed the issue of security for
Indias largest minority. I believe now, as I did then, that the mul-
tiple Muslim communities across Indias geography can enhance
their security, by, among other measures, relying on the state and
the vast liberal majority among the non-Muslims. We must be
wary of becoming pawns in political games at the subcontinental
level, and also pawns of party politics. The only ones who gain
when we fail to strengthen our internal conversations are mafia
dons, Pakistani intelligence operatives and the propaganda
apparatus of the Sangh Parivar.
In the light of the events over the past month beginning with
the riots in Bodo areas of Assam and culminating in a mass exit
of Northeasterners from south Indian cities, it is apt to revisit this
point.
There will always be provocative members, as seen in the
mob violence at a solidarity meeting in Mumbai. This precipitated
the wider fallout of a social media-triggered exodus of citizens
belonging to the North East from other cities. It would be easy to
resort to the conspiracy theory that usually does the rounds in
such instances that the violence was work of agents provoca-
teurs. Even if an understandable recourse - since it is difficult to
believe reports of mindless behaviour on part of ones own side
- the needless violence in Mumbai has been rightly deplored by
community leaders like Asghar Ali Engineer. The organizations
involved in the rally have also expressed regret. The problem,
however, is wider.
As apprehended, the Home Secretary confirmed that the ISI
has managed to get into the act. Their inflammatory use of social
media has been designed to target hotheads in the community.
However, this is only one part of the story. The other part is about
inciting the perceptions of threats among fellow citizens from the
North East. This can only have an indigenous origin.
It is here that the conspiracy theory can be given the benefit
of doubt. The departure of Northeasterners, beginning in
Bangalore, spread to Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. While the
police are investigating the origin of the rumours that instigated
the flight, they would do well to include majoritarian extremists in
their ambit.
Such groups have profited under the rightist government in
Karnataka, evident from periodic reports of depredations ranging
from moral policing to more insidious exploits. The alacrity of the
arrival of workers of the rightist formation, RSS, on to railway sta-
tion to commiserate (some of them wielding canes!) with the vic-
tims, suggests a potent line of investigation. Their message was
no doubt one of religious solidarity with Hindu Bodos, even
while deprecating Muslims for being just like that only.
Shifting to the wider issue of minority security, it can be pre-
dicted to figure prominently in the long run up to the elections two
years hence. The first shots have been fired with the Gujarat
chief minister unambiguously using the term Bangladeshis in his
Independence Day onslaught on the prime minister. The issue of
infiltrators has returned. It was last in the news when BJP-ruled
Rajasthan rounded up a few in the wake of the bomb blasts in
Jaipur. Clearly, the land issue in Bodoland will have an all-India
resonance, yielding up as it does a stick for the otherwise politi-
cally bereft opposition.
It, therefore, seems prescient on part of the MIM MP from
Hyderabad to have led a medical relief mission to the camps of
internally displaced people in Assam. Such expression of solidar-
ity is a useful broadcast that Muslim communities cannot be put
upon in isolation. It is useful deterrence of another Nellie mas-
sacre or Gujarat carnage. While it does give courage to vulnera-
ble communities, there is no call to restrict access to this aid to
the minority alone as the MIM at its self-congratulatory best
states.
That said, to revert to the theme of ten years back. Is the
minority more secure today? Or, to frame a better question: Is the
nation more secure today? From the foregoing, it is clear that the
dark clouds gathered since the early nineties have not quite dis-
sipated. Inevitably so, since the actions that should have been
taken were never taken up.
First, the interest of the global community in the South Asia
region during the last decade was an opportunity to resolve the
problems between India and Pakistan, with a global stamp to a
mutually agreed way forward. But this opportunity was wasted,
and now that the West is preparing to exit its war in Afghanistan,
the two South Asian countries await the impending departure with
bated breath and preparations for a return to rivalry. While the
implications for Kashmir are easily comprehended, Indias other
Muslims too will be affected.
The second direction along which the government was hesi-
tant to proceed was in pursuing right wing terrorists. A significant
feature of the past decade was terror bombings. These were pop-
ularly attributed, by a media that should have known better, to
Muslim perpetrators. Enlarging the line up of suspects to include
hyper-nationalists would have helped greatly, but the Centre
decided to let sleeping dogs lie. This strategy will probably come
home to roost in the run-up to elections. Sleeper cells, particu-
larly those with Bengali (read Bangladeshi) features, will once
again be in the news as fifth column.
The lack of any notable progress in other promising areas
keeps the communal scene fertile for disruption.
The major plank of employment, recommended in the Sachar
Committee report, has been stymied by the governments under-
prepared brief in the Supreme Court for inclusion of the backward
groups of the minority in the quota system. Second, the
RK Raghavan-led SIT has inexplicably made any hope of justice
recede. The eventual outcome will be akin to apprehending the
sailors on Haji Mastans ship even as Haji Mastan remains free.
Lastly, recompense for minority members wrongly arrested
for terror attacks has only been done in a few cases in
Hyderabad. Some youth apprehended for the Malegaon attacks
are still in jail despite better knowledge of the perpetrators. This
brings to fore the fourth and last point, that the wheels of justice
have been slow and unsteady in nailing Hindutva-inspired terror-
ists. Lt Col Purohit is mounting a counter-attack presenting him-
self as a mole, while a lead conspirator turned approver, Swami
Aseemanand, has reneged.
The government, fearing the electoral price of the tag of
minority appeaser, is unlikely to take any of its own initiatives
any further. This may seem politic, but a resulting loss of the
minority vote may end up helping its rival to power, bringing back
the toxicity of its philosophy and endangering the nation, if not the
state.
So to answer the question directly, India is indeed less
secure. It is the price of a wasted decade. But two years being a
long time in politics, the government can yet turn to complete its
unfinished agenda.
This article first appeared on indiatogether.org
A secure minority, for a secure nation
The wheels of justice have been slow and unsteady in nailing Hindutva-inspired terror-
ists. Lt Col Purohit is mounting a counter-attack presenting himself as a mole, while a
lead conspirator turned approver, Swami Aseemanand, has reneged.
The government, fearing the electoral price of the tag of minority appeaser, is unlikely
to take any of its own initiatives any further. This may seem politic, but a resulting loss of
the minority vote may end up helping its rival to power, bringing back the toxicity of its
philosophy and endangering the nation, if not the state.
MUSTAFA KHAN
T
hose who criticize Islams position on woman as witness
have their memory faultline. True, two women are
required to give witness. But in numerous cases within
India the single woman witness is dismissed and yet we
call ourselves democratic and law-abiding. Several years have
passed when a woman challenged the police to prove her son as
terrorist for she would hang him by her hands if he was indeed
a terrorist. They have not found any proof and yet he languishes
in jail. That seems what the police wanted, proof or no proof.
Political parties including the ruling alliance know which side
is their bread buttered. Does the majority community also see
that way despite how the country is sliding down in the abyss of
misrule, the law of the jungle and sure disintegration?
Afsanas saga of suffering reads like the woeful mourning
over the slow death of conscience within our society. Her hus-
band Shakeel was brutally murdered just before he was again
found not involved in another of the sixteen false cases slapped
against him. She wails: He was about to be released from jail.
Why would he take such an extreme step? He was in jail for 14
long years. The man who accused him as a bomb-maker was
alleged by the police as the mastermind himself. Yet, Amir was
acquitted and Shakeel remained in Dasna jail until his alleged
suicide on June 19, 2009.
Afsanas reason to suspect the police involvement in the mur-
der of her husband resurfaces three years later. Mohammad
Qateel Siddiquis most pathetic murder on 1 June, 2012 tells the
same story of police atrocity. Afsana had accused the police why
she suspected what must have been done to her husband. He
was very scared and kept telling that the jail authorities were trou-
bling him and would kill him one day. Excruciating third degree
torture was given to him towards the end in the 14th year of his
imprisonment. There could not have been any reason to believe
that this was justified. He was already acquitted and discharged
in four cases. Suspicion deepens and it becomes cogent that the
authorities played foul. They had already decided to finish him off,
as the reasons would emerge. This is detailed hereunder a little
later.
Siddiquis wife smelt the rat in the last week of May 2012.
Yerwada jail is a high security prison. What is many times more
disturbing than this is that her husband was in the so-called
anda jail where only one prisoner is kept and observed by the
security guards round the clock. How could two so-called ultra-
nationalist criminals breach this tight security is one reason why
independent and fair-minded judges should be asked to inquire
into.
Five days earlier, on May 27, Siddiqui had told his wife that it
was their last talk on phone. What could be the basis of this fear-
ful premonition should also be investigated to unearth the truth.
This investigation also needs a broader term of reference. Were
the ultra-nationalists nurtured on extremism and outsourced the
murder for the justification of their extremist ideology? Hindutva
infiltration into the security forces like the army, police, prison and
intelligence agencies, is well-established and authenticated in
this so-called war on terror.
Abrar Ahmads allegations in his affidavit, Hemant Karkares
mysterious death, Khwaja Yunus extra-judicial murder and a host
of other such events do no credit to India. What have the ultra-
nationalists to gain by discrediting India in the eyes of the world?
As the world focus on Indias human rights situation grows, it
drove the then Home Minister P. Chidambrum to take up the mat-
ter of the murder of Siddiqui. But instead of pulling up the black
sheep, the state home minister, RR Patil, on the rug he went to
the official residence of the chief minister of Maharashtra. Patil is
the most notorious of all home ministers of Maharashtra so far.
He made a very stupid remark when he dismissed 26/11 attack
on Mumbai as another usual event day of the routine crimes in
Mumbai. Even so he was reinstated after the election subse-
quently held after the Mumbai attack. He reinstated former ATS
chief KP Raghuvanshi, another black sheep notorious for his
direct involvement in framing Muslim youth in 2006 blasts as well
as in arms haul cases of Malegaon, Ankai, Aurangabad, etc.
These rewards of official promotion speak volumes vis--vis
Narendra Modi doing the same in the cases of atrocities commit-
ted on Muslims in which his state police were directly involved.
He has flagrantly rewarded police officers for their active abet-
ment to violence against Muslims in the genocide of 2002. He
does not care a hoot for world opinion. It is immaterial if the US
gives him a visa or the British foreign office rejects to open a con-
sulate in his state. Now he wants to rope in the Chinese dragon
and has shown other states gleefully what he could do in his
state.
There is clear evidence available now. The police have
turned a Nelsons eye to it. For example, if they are serious and
honest in their investigations, they can still call the records of the
telephone conversations of Afsana and her husband in jail, or the
last conversation between Siddiqui and his wife. Let the world
judge what is truth.
Shakeel was arrested when his daughters were hardly a cou-
ple of years old. Now they are in their adolescence. Their mother
is woebegone what with finding prospects for matches for them
and the cost of their marriage. The mother ekes out existence by
weaving carpets in Pilkhua, a village near Delhi and the daugh-
ters help her in the only sources of livelihood and support they
have. In the maze of the patterns they weave in the warp and
woof what chance of weaving a dream of ones own for a future
in this harsh world!
Accused innocents, traumatized spouses and broken families
As the world focus on Indias human rights situation grows, it drove the then Home Minister P.
Chidambrum to take up the matter of the murder of Siddiqui. But instead of pulling up the black sheep,
the state home minister, RR Patil, on the rug he went to the official residence of the chief minister of
Maharashtra. Patil is the most notorious of all home ministers of Maharashtra so far. He made a very stu-
pid remark when he dismissed 26/11 attack on Mumbai as another usual event day of the routine crimes
in Mumbai. Even so he was reinstated after the election subsequently held after the Mumbai attack. He
reinstated former ATS chief KP Raghuvanshi, another black sheep notorious for his direct involvement in
framing Muslim youth in 2006 blasts as well as in arms haul cases of Malegaon, Ankai, Aurangabad, etc.
NATIONAL
6 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
The Assam violence
between Bodos and
Muslims, alleged by some
to be Bangldeshi infiltra-
tors, has a long chain of
repercussions. The num-
ber of dead is nearly nine-
ty. Killings are continuing
and the people who have been displaced are
over four lakh. There is no exact statistics to tell
us how many of the displaced are Muslims and
how many are Bodos, still roughly some investi-
gators have put the figure of Muslims at 80 %
and Bodos at 20 %.
The few reports which have come out tell us
that the condition of all refugee camps is
abysmal, much worse are those where Muslims
are living. Meanwhile many a voice has come
up to express opinions. BJP leaders have
strongly asserted that the whole violence is due
to the Bangladeshi infiltrators, whose number is
estimated as per the flight of ones imagination
ranging from 10 million to 20 million or even
more. It is alleged that they have encroached
upon the land of the local natives and this is
causing dissatisfaction and hate for them. This
hate in turn is at the root of violence. This is one
case where displacement overshadows the vio-
lence.
The Election Commissioner H.S. Brahma, a
Bodo himself, went to the extent of claiming that
these infiltrators have gone up in number and so
have become aggressive and attacked the local
Bodos.
The other point of view is that despite the
formation of Bodo Territorial Council, the Bodos
did not surrender their arms, which was one of
the conditions for accepting the demand of this
regional council. There are voices from BJP sta-
ble that this is an issue of Nationalism, one of
Indians and the other of Bangladeshis.
Some of them have voiced that these
Bangladeshis should be disenfranchised and
not be permitted to vote. As such already many
of them are not allowed to vote by putting them
in the category of D voters, i.e., doubtful voters.
As per BJP & company, it is Congress which
has been encouraging the Bangladeshis to infil-
trate so that they can be used as the votebank
by the Congress. Not to ignore that since major
number of those in relief camps is that of
Muslims, some Bodo groups have warned that
Muslims should not be permitted to return to
their original places.
National Minorities Commission in its
report has pointed out that there is no infiltration
of Bangladeshis as such and the issue is that
between the Bodo ethnic groups, on one side
and the Muslims, who have settled here since a
long time, on the other.
Before we come to the issue whether these
are Bangladeshi infiltrators, Bangldeshi
migrants or Muslims settlers from Bengal over a
period of time, lets register that the Assam
episode had a very painful after events. There
were hate emails, hate websites which warned
the Northeastern people that revenge of Assam
will be taken against them and this caused a
mammoth exodus of Northeastern people from
all over, more particularly from Bangalore. Many
of the websites, which did this dirty job and have
been blocked, are said to be based in Pakistan,
some 20% of the blocked sites are the ones run
by Hindutva groups. Through leaflets and other
mechanisms, VHP and other groups are propa-
gating that Hindus are being attacked by Muslim
Bangladeshi infiltrators.
Not to be left behind, some orthodox, fanat-
ic Muslim groups organized a protest rally in
Azad Maidan of Mumbai, in which in a pre-
planned act, a section of Muslims attacked the
OB vans of media and police officials. The
restrained and effective leadership of Police
Commissioner Arup Patnaik was not to the lik-
ing of the communal elements and those poli-
ticking on the issue within the ruling party and
so Mr. Patnaik was punished by being kicked
up. As such secular activists and large sections
of Muslims are in deep appreciation of
Mr. Patnaiks handling of the episode.
Coming back to the propaganda of
Bangladeshi infiltrators, many a researcher has
proved on the basis of demographic data of the
last century in particular that the Muslims in the
region are settlers from pre-Partition Bengal to
begin with, later at the time of partition in 1947
and lastly at the time of Bangladesh war in
1971. Assam accord of 1985 recognizes all
those living in this area as legal setlers, most of
the Muslim fall in this category. Not to deny that
some small number of illegal immigrants, the
ones forced to migrate for economic reasons, is
also there.
The change in demographic profile of
Assam has taken place over a period of more
than a century. It was mainly the British policy to
release the pressure from the then Bengal
province that they encouraged Bengalis to set-
tle in Assam. The last major migration took
place around 1971 during the the Bangladesh
war. After that, the trickle has been there but the
alleged infiltration never took place. Assam
accord does recognize that all those who settled
before 1971 are legal Indian citizens, which
most of the Muslims in Assam are. This is
shown by the pattern of decadal growth in the
region, more particularly from 1950 onwards.
The census figures clearly point out that after
1971, there is no major increase in the popula-
tion of the area. The decadal growth in Assam,
Dhubri, Dhemaji, and Karbi Anglong from 1971
to 1991 had been 54.51, 54.26, 45.65, 107.50,
and 74.72 respectively. While the same in the
decade of 1991-01 became 21.54, 18.92,
22.97, 19.45, 22.72 and in the decade of 01-11
it became 17.64, 16.93, 24.40, 20.30 and 18.69
respectively. Shivam Vij in Myth of Bangla
Deshi and Violence in Assam
(http://kafila.org/2012/08/16/the-myth-of-the-
bangl adeshi -and-vi ol ence-i n-assam-ni l i m-
dutta/) shows that the migration has taken place
over a period of time and the increase of popu-
lation stops after 1971.
If we just look at the decadal growth rates
of population in two other districts of Assam,
Dhemaji and Karbi Anglong, we will see that
their growth rates in comparison have been
more than twice that of Assam and substan-
tially higher than even the Muslim majority
border district of Dhubri. Yet, the Muslim
population in Dhemaji and Karbi Anglong is
minuscule. The Hindu population in these two
districts is 95.94% and 82.39% respectively.
Muslims constitute merely 1.84% and 2.22%
respectively of their total populations in spite
of having consistent high decadal growth
rates - Dhemaji touching 103.42% between
1961-71 and Karbi Anglong having a similar
high of 79.21% between 1951-61. This should
be testimony enough to show that there could
be reasons apart from illegal immigration of
Muslims behind a high decadal growth rate of
population. In Assam there is a decline in the
population in Kokrajhar, which is the seat of
Bodo Territorial Council. It has the lowest
population growth of 5.19%, from the earlier
14.49 per cent in 2001.
Understanding the truth and deeper
analysis of the demographic pattern of Assam
is very essential to understand the nature of
the present carnage, which is more of a sec-
tarian nature, a group trying to assert ethnic
domination in the region at the expense of
others. The underlying causes, lack of devel-
opment of the region, absence of jobs, is cre-
ating more pressure on the land, and the
sons of the soil politics is being brought up in
a very painful manner. Not only do we need to
condemn the present violence, there is a
need to bring in amity between different com-
munities with proper development of infra-
structure, which gives the opportunities to all
the citizens of the area. (Issues in Secular Politics)
Bangladeshis in India: myth and reality
The change in demographic profile of Assam has taken place
over a period of more than a century. It was mainly the British poli-
cy to release the pressure from the then Bengal province that they
encouraged Bengalis to settle in Assam. The last major migration
took place around 1971 during the the Bangladesh war. After that,
the trickle has been there but the alleged infiltration never took
place. Assam accord does recognize that all those who settled
before 1971 are legal Indian citizens, which most of the Muslims in
Assam are. This is shown by the pattern of decadal growth in the
region, more particularly from 1950 onwards. The census figures
clearly point out that after 1971, there is no major increase in the
population of the area.
Aatankwaad ke Naam pe Qaid Nirdoshiyon ka Rihaai Manch
(Forum for the release of innocent detainees in the name of ter-
rorism) criticised the U.P. state government for delaying the report
of the RD Nimesh Commission which was constituted to probe
the arrests in the UP courts blasts case. The Forum leaders,
advocate Mohammad Shoaib, Rajiv Yadav and Shahnawaz
Alam, said in a statement here that on the one hand the state
government claims to be the protector of the rights of minority
communities and on the hand is passive about its pre-poll prom-
ises of looking into the arrests of innocent youth arrested on false
charges. They said it exposes their communal mind-set.
The Forum had demanded that the government release the
innocent persons before Independence Day but it was observed
that the SP leaders where misguiding the families of the prison-
ers at the individual level. The Release Forum sent out letters to
Muslim MPs and MLAs enquiring why they did not raise this crit-
ical issue in the parliament session. The Release Forum repre-
sentatives also said they felt that the MPs and MLAs failed and
lacked courage to question these matters of grave importance.
They said theyll gherao the residences of the SP leaders.
Accusing the SP of inciting riots in the state, the Forum said
that Kosi Kalan riots prime accused is a district SP representa-
tive while the minister of state Raja Bhaiyas minions torched
Muslim houses in Pratapgarhs Asthan village. Yet Muslim lead-
ers choose to keep mum.
Personal Law Board to campaign for
Waqf Bill amendments
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), citing delays
by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Law Ministry, has
announced its plans to campaign for the Waqf Bill (2010) amend-
ments, terming Salman Khurshids behavior as uncooperative in
the matter.
Amendments to the Waqf Bill have been proposed with a
view to preserving, protecting and recovering Waqf properties
and making the Waqf Board representative of the Muslim commu-
nity, Abdul Rahim Quraishi, the Boards assistant general secre-
tary and spokesperson, told reporters at the executive committee
meeting of the AIMPLB. He said an AIMPLB delegation had met
Salman Khurshid and that he had agreed to the amendments. But
when the final report came, their suggestions had not been
accepted. The Select Committee had also ignored the Boards
recommendation that if a Waqf property is encroached upon, the
District Magistrates and Collectors should be held responsible for
removing the squatters, as according to the Justice Rajendra
Sachar Committee report a Waqf proprerty is public premises.
VHP, Bajrang Dal set deadline to ban
cow slaughter
Vishwa Hindu Parishat and Bajarang Dal Mangalore units have
warned a massive state-wide protest across Karnataka if cow-
related crimes are not stopped completely by November 15.
Addressing a press meet at Mangalore on 5 September, Zilla Go
Rakshaka Pramukh Dinesh Pai said that even though cow-
slaughter is banned and is considered a violation under the
Karnataka Preservation of Cow Slaughter and Preservation of
Cattle Act 1964, the illegal slaughtering continues in many places
such as Kannur, Suralpadi, Jokatte, Kattipalla, Handelu,
Kalabettu, Moodumurnadu, Kudroli, Ullal Sevanthi Gudde,
Chembu Gudde, Alaykala, Dabbel, Angara Gundi and Venur. In
many places illegal slaughter takes place inside houses. The
Kudroli slaughter house which has violated norms of the Pollution
Control Board is still functioning, he alleged adding that cows are
illegally taken to Kerala for slaughter through Talapady, Mudipu,
Devandha Paddu, Devipura and Huhakuva Kallu. The cows are
transported in a violent and pathetic condition. Pai also alleged
that many cows that are slaughtered are stolen. Many beef shops
mix cow meat and mutton shops mix calf meat, he alleged.
Compensation for Custodial Torture
The Supreme Court awarded a compensation of 5 lakh to
Mehmood Nayyar Azam, an Ayurvedic doctor who was tortured in
the custody of Chattisgarh Police in September 1992.
The said amount shall be paid by the respondent state with-
in a period of six weeks and be realized from the erring officers in
equal proportion from their salaries as thought appropriate by the
competent authority of the state, the bench added.
The Court noted that the Chattisgarh High court, in categori-
cal terms, had found that the appellant was harassed, and said:
There are some megalomaniac officers who conceive the per-
verse notion that they are the Law forgetting that law is the sci-
ence of what is good and just and, in [the] very nature of things,
protector of a civilised society. On the contrary, they are under
obligation to protect his human rights and prevent all forms of
atrocities, Justice Misra said.
NIA chargesheets two more saffronites
In a supplementary chargesheet in the Samjhauta Express blasts
case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) accused two more,
adding up to a total of seven accused in the case, all of whom
have Hindu right-wing connection. Kamal and Ashwani Chauhan
have been charged with murder and conspiracy in addition to
planting suitcase bombs in the Indo-Pak train that claimed 68
lives. The statement said that the accused undertook training in a
jungle near Bagli in district Dewas, Madhya Pradesh.
NGOs protest against Hindu Marriage Act
The amendment, initiated by the Oppositions demand to make
divorce women-friendly has once again turned the Hindu
Marriage Act (HMA) into the power see-saw it used to be, only
that its man-unfriendly now.
In case of divorce, the woman will get half share in her hus-
bands immovable property, regardless of whether the property
was acquired before or during the marriage.
If passed, a wife would now be eligible to oppose the hus-
bands plea for divorce under the new irretrievable breakdown of
marriage clause. The husband, on the other hand, will not have
such a right if the wife moves the court on the same grounds.
Convinced that the new law would create disharmony, huge
litigation in courts for property disputes and increase in crime
rates, NGOs have submitted their objections to a parliamentary
committee and plan to organize a protest at Jantar Mantar.
The amendments havent gone down well with the BJP, which
has opposed it since the process started.
Compiled by AALIYA KHAN
Release of Nimesh report demanded
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 7
NATIONAL
ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN
The so-called Bodoland consists of four lower Assam districts
(Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri) which together are
known as Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) and
are administered by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) which
came into existence on December 7, 2003 following a
Memorandum of Settlement signed on 10 February, 2003
between Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) and the Union and
Assam state governments.
BTAD is an autonomous region spread over 8795 sq. kms,
with its own legislative body which is dominated by the Bodos
although they constitute only 27% of the 2.92 million population of
BTAD area, while Muslims constitute 30% of the BTAD popula-
tion. The Bodo militants were given huge funds to lay down arms
and shun militancy but they never surrendered their sophisticated
arms which are a root cause of the present and earlier violence
by Bodo militants against Muslims, tribals and Adivasis who con-
stitute 73% of the BTAD population. Under the accord, the BTC
consists of 46 members out of which 30 are reserved for Bodos,
5 for non-tribal communities, 5 are open for all communities
including Bodos and 6 are nominated by Governor of Assam from
the unrepresented communities of the BTC area.
The non-Bodo majority of BTAD was never happy with this
undemocratic and unconstitutional accord which gave political
supremacy to a minority at the expense of the vast majority of the
area. At present there are 10 writ petitions filed in the Guwahati
High Court against this accord (none of which is filed by Muslims).
The Bodos, led by All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), had
started their agitation for a separate and independent state
demanding half of Assam, raising the slogan Divide Assam 50-
50 which is still visible on walls in BTAD areas. A spate of terror-
ism led to the signing of the Bodo Accord. But before it could be
implemented, a vertical split took place in ABSU ranks leading to
more violence by Bodo militants which resulted in the displace-
ment of 70,000 people from the area.
While leaders of ABSU and erstwhile BLTF are ruling BTAD
now, a strong Bodo outfit called National Democratic Front of
Bodoland (BDFD), also known as Bodo Security Force,
remains active with around 1000 armed militiamen. BDFD
demands a sovereign Bodoland for the Bodo north of the
Brahmaputra river. It came into being in October 1986. BDFD
supporters are mainly Christians who form between 10 to 15% of
the Bodo population. BDFD is allied with the Naga miltants of
NSCN. BDFD concluded a ceasefire agreement with Government
of India in June 2005. Under this agreement, NBFB agreed to
refrain from attacking civilians and security forces. The agree-
ment stipulated that NDFB armed men will disarm and live for a
year in camps protected by the army. But they never disarmed
and surrendered only some old and useless guns. Despite this
ceasefire, NDFB continued its attacks on Bodo rivals as well as
on security forces and civilians. On 4 October 2009, NDFB mili-
tants fired indiscriminately at villagers of Bhimjauli in Sonitpur dis-
trict killing 14 persons. In November 2010, NDFB announced its
plan to kill at least 20 Indians to avenge the death of their com-
mander Mohan Basu Matary. On 8 November 2010, they killed 19
persons by firing at a bus and in a market. On 14 March 2011,
NBFB militants attacked a BSF patrolling party, killing eight sol-
diers.
BTAD suffers from two major problems:
1. BTC is undemocratic, as a minority artificially overlords the
majority. This minority is very conscious of this fact and wants to
get rid of as many non-Bodos as possible from BTAD areas. They
have tried it in the past just as they tried it in July 2012, by
unleashing unprovoked violence on unarmed Muslims killing over
90 and driving close to 0.5 million of BTAD population to refugee
camps, a vast majority of whom is Muslim. The refugees are now
prevented from returning to their homes and villages on the pre-
text that illegal immigrants will not be allowed to return. Even the
state government has now bought this specious argument and
supports it.
The fact is that the current strife is a clear case of ethnic
cleansing in which Muslims have been targeted. Next targets will
be other tribals and Adivasis in BTAD areas. The state and BTC
policies will render a majority of the current refugees displaced for
ever in their own homeland just as a majority of the displaced dur-
ing 1993-94 strife are still refugees in Assam. This state of affairs
necessitates a re-look at the Bodo Accord in order to make it
democratic.
2. The second big problem in BTAD areas is abundance of
sophisticated arms in Bodo hands, which should have been long
seized and confiscated but the state government finds it political-
ly expedient to turn a blind eye to this blatant threat to security.
The illegal arms are liberally used against non-Bodos and even
against rivals Bodos.
The current strife is a clear case of ethnic cleansing which the
RSS family, with the help of media, has turned into an issue of ille-
gal immigrants. It is now a highly exaggerated issue made emo-
tive by the media and local players. Government figures do not
support these wild claims. According to Union Home Ministry fig-
ures, there are only 83,484 Bangladeshis in India, out of whom
10,602 were deported in 2009, 6290 in 2010 and 6,761 in 2011
(Asian Age, 21 August 2012).
The saffron communalists want to brand all Assam Muslims
as infiltrators in order to deport them all or at least disenfranchise
them. Today 32% of Assam population is Muslim while way back
in 1935, Muslims constituted 35% of Assams population. Some
of them speak Bengali because their ancestors were encouraged
by the British to settle in Assam to work in agriculture and tea
plantations. Moreover, when Assam was formed in 1911 as a sep-
arate state, some areas of Bengal were transferred to it in order
to make it viable. The issue of illegal immigrants or
Bangladeshis should be treated separately with strong judicial
oversight; otherwise it will amount to playing in Sangh Parivar
hands.
(Prepared on the occasion of the dharna and all-party conference on
Assam, New Delhi, 6 September 2012)
The Current crisis in Bodoland
The non-Bodo majority of BTAD was never happy with this undemocratic and uncon-
stitutional accord which gave political supremacy to a minority at the expense of the vast
majority of the area. At present there are 10 writ petitions filed in the Guwahati High
Court against this accord (none of which is filed by Muslims).
People struggle at Forbesganj
Thousands of villagers armed with traditional weapons offered
shramdaan and volunteered as labourers in order to construct the
Bhajanpur-Sheetalpur road at Forbesganj on 16 August. This is a
victory for the peoples struggle who have braved the severest
repression and communal encirclement.
This public road, which has been in existence for the past 60
years or so, connects Bhajanpur village (mainly inhabited by 1000
families of the minority community) to the Karbala, Idgah, hospital
and local bazaar. Last year, on June 3, police fired on a demon-
stration by local people protesting against this public road being
blocked off for the benefit of a private factory owned by a BJP
MLCs son. The factory itself was being constructed on BIADAland
that had been illegally allotted. Police not only fired on unarmed
protestors, they also stomped viciously fallen bodies displaying
deep communal hatred. Four people - Mustafa Ansari, Mukhtar
Ansari, Sajmin Khatoon and 8-month old Naushad - were killed in
the police brutality.
More than a year has passed - but the people of Forbesganj
are yet to get justice. The one-man enquiry commission has bare-
ly taken off the ground.
Following the firing, the villagers constructed the road once
last year at the time of Ramadan but, under pressure from higher
authorities, the road was again destroyed. And the road continued
to remain closed in spite of repeated appeals to the local adminis-
tration.
Recently, even the Home Secretary of Bihar was approached,
but the state government and administration did not act. Faced
with a Government that obstinately closed its ears to pleas for
restoration of the road, the villagers decided to construct the road
on their own.
Eid was approaching, and this road was needed by the vil-
lagers to approach the Idgah. Because of the condition of the road,
they were even unable to reach the Masjid, though it was the
month of Ramadan.
The construction of the road took place in the presence of a
large gathering of adivasis and minorities, as well as CPI(ML) cen-
tral committee member and former MP Rameshwar Prasad.
21 sentenced to life term in Gujarat
A local court sentenced 21 persons to life imprisonment setting 61
free in Deepda Gate carnage. 85 persons were accused of the
riots in which 11 persons were brutally killed.
The court of special judge S.C. Shrivastav found 22 persons
guilty of the crime. One of them has expired while the case of a
minor accused has been sent to a children court. Muhammad Iqbal
Baloch who had lodged the complaint expressed his disappoint-
ment, because none were sentenced for murder. They were found
guilty of offences such as attempt to murder, misuse of position
and power and possession of arms. The victims felt that the SIT
constituted by the Supreme court failed to produce substantial evi-
dence.
It may be recalled that in Visanagar town of Mehsana district
of north Gujarat rioters had killed 11 persons of a family including
an aged lady of 65 years and two children on 28 February 2002.
The Visanagar police had began a probe against 83 persons
including three women. Later on, on Balochs complaint a former
MLA Gosa and police inspector M.K. Patel were also included
among the accused. While Gosa has been given benefit of doubt
Patel has been sentenced for misusing his position. (AG Khan)
Homestay attack
backed by top RSS
leaders
The July 28 attack on a Mangalore homestay, on the lines of pre-
vious ones, took place due to the local Hindu right-wings disap-
proval of the pub-culture in the city and the suspicion that young
boys were misleading girls.
The attack was carried out by Hindu Jagaran Vedike workers
who were not named in a report filed by the Karnataka State
Commission for Women. Local Janata Dal (S) and Congress
leaders blamed RSS and BJP strongmen for protecting and
egging the workers on. They also pointed out that the report filed
mentioned that cannabis was found on the premises while the
police probe revealed that only beer bottles were recovered.
Meanwhile, in a letter signed by representatives of 15
womens rights and human rights organisations demanding with-
drawal of the report, activists said they felt betrayed by
C. Manjulas hard-line stance of pointing a finger at the use of
alcohol and drugs playing a role in provoking the attack and fail-
ing to name the assaulters in her report.
An independent probe is required because the commission
has become an extended wing of the BJP, Sadhana Rao, con-
venor, Centre for Womens Rights said.
The man blamed for the rogue behaviour of the party work-
ers, Prabhakar Bhat Kalladka, is believed to exercise great mus-
cle-power in the administrative and political circles not just in
Mangalore but also in neighboring areas, deciding on candidates
for ministerial berths and providing local leadership to Bajrang
Dal, Sri Ram Sene and the Hindu Jagran Vedike ever since the
BJP came to power in 2008. (Aaliya Khan)
Film on the lawyer who chose to
defend the imaginary terrorists
New Delhi: A film on Shahid Azmi, the
lawyer who was working to defend a per-
son falsely accused in the 26 November
2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai but could
not do so because he was shot dead in
his office at the young age of 32 years,
is ready for screening at the Toronto
International Film Festival to be held this
month (September). The film is produced by Anurag Kashyap
and Sunil Bohra and directed by Hansal Mehta and the role of
Shahid is played by one Raj Kumar Yadav who acted in some
earlier film. The film itself is named Shahid. Shahid Azmi, at the
minor age of 14 years was arrested by the Mumbai police for his
alleged complicity in the communal riots that had taken place in
Mumbai towards December 92 end and early January 93 follow-
ing the Babri Masjid demolition. Again, in 1999 he was arrested
under the then TADA for a conspiracy to kill Shiv Sena chief Bal
Tackeray and others but subsequently acquitted. While impris-
oned in Mumbais Arthur Road Jail he completed his college edu-
cation and thereafter when he was released he got his law
degree. During his incarceration in Arthur Road Jail his life under-
went a drastic change and he set off to work as a lawyer and
human rights activist to defend Muslim youths most of whom
were falsely implicated and jailed for alleged complicity in cases
of violence and terrorism. During his 7 years life as a lawyer he
took up cases of persons falsely held in connection with bomb
blasts in Mumbais local trains, Aurangabad arms seizure case,
Malegaon bomb blast cases of 2005 and 2008, Gateway of India
Mumbai bomb blasts etc. It was in February 2010 when he was
preparing to take up cases of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin to
defend them against their alleged role in 26/11 terrorist attack that
he was shot dead in his office. With this the career of this prom-
ising lawyer came to an end. It is said that when Director Mehta
came into contact with Shahid Azmi in 2008, he (Shahid) had
asked him to make a film on Muslim youths who were falsely
being accused and jailed in cases of terrorism by the police and
an establishment with a biased mindset but after his assassina-
tion he changed his plan and decided to make the film on Shahid
himself, his life and work. Though he found it difficult to gather rel-
evant information and material for this film and took full two years
he somehow completed it. He says that names of many charac-
ters in this film have been changed but adds that those who read
newspapers regularly can easily know the persons who are with
changed names. He says that it was the inequality of our social
system that led to Shaids death. He believes that we work in a
system where some laws are applied differently for different peo-
ple. There exists an invisible layer of segregation. It is this system
that is killing people like Shahid. Probably this is the message
that he wants to give to the people through this film.
As regards the killers of Shahid, initially it was shrouded in
mystery. Subsequently, it was found (though not conclusively)
that one gangster Bharat Nepali was behind his murder and had
got him (Shahid) killed. The case against them is going on but
probably it will take quite sometime to unravel the broader net-
work of vested interests responsible for such killings.
Director Mehta says that he got full support and cooperation
from his (Shahids) family members as well as neighbours of
Fahim Ansari (for whose legal defence he was preparing) in
Nagpada area of Mumbai when they came to know that a film on
Shahids life was being made. They not only urged and encour-
aged him to make the film on Shahid but also offered their local-
ity and houses for shooting, if needed, without claiming any
money. (NAAnsari)
NATIONAL
8 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
Below is a three-part investigative report done by
the American historian and investigative journalist
GARETH PORTER and published by the well-
known Wasghington-based news agency, Inter-
Press Service, on 28-29 August 2012. The award-
winning investigative journalist Gareth Porter dis-
sects the Delhi police accusation against journalist
Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi and four Iranians of
involvement in the Feb. 13, 2012 bombing of an
Israeli embassy car.
Washington: New Delhi police officials have released hundreds
of pages of documents from their investigation into the Feb. 13
bombing of an Israeli Embassy car. The documents aimed to
show that a well-known Indian Muslim journalist aided an Iranian
conspiracy to plan and carry out the bombing.
But a review by IPS of the evidence filed in the case sug-
gests that the Indian journalist accused in the case has been
framed by the police, at least in part to implicate the Iranians in
the terror plot.
The charge sheet on the embassy car bombing filed by the
Special Cell (SC) of the Delhi police July 31 claims Indian jour-
nalist Syed Mohommed Ahmad Kazmi confessed to helping offi-
cials from Iran plan the bombing plot in return for payments
totalling 5,500 U.S. dollars.
It also says that a moped used for reconnaissance by the
Iranian said to have carried out the bombing was found in
Kazmis residence and that forensic bomb-making evidence was
discovered in the hotel room of that same Iranian.
But an analysis of the documentation included in the filing
reveals that the evidence is highly questionable.
The SC has a long history of cases against alleged terrorists
that were rejected by the courts as involving framing people and
planting false evidence.
Kazmi is an unlikely candidate for participation in an Iranian
terrorist plot. A 50-year-old senior Indian journalist, he had his
own web-based news service, a regular job as a columnist for a
leading Urdu-language weekly and a retainer as Urdu newscast-
er for Indias state-owned television channel Doordarshan.
He did not need the 5,500 U.S. dollars police claim he
received for helping the Iranians plan the bombing. Nor did he
need the 2.26 million rupees (40,000 U.S. dollars) in foreign
remittances that Delhi police chief B. K. Gupta asserted in a
press conference in mid-March that the journalist and his wife
had received in their bank accounts. Gupta declared that Kazmi
and his wife had been unable to explain those remittances.
But Kazmis family has produced bank documents showing
that the remittances had come from relatives in the UK and
Singapore in 2009 and 2010. Furthermore, the Economic
Directorate of the Indian Police assigned to investigate the
remittances could find nothing incriminating in them, the Indian
press has reported.
A more serious problem with the SC case is that it depends
heavily on Kazmis alleged confession of guilt. That confes-
sion, consisting of five separate statements between March 6
and 24, is inadmissible as evidence under Indian law on the
assumption that police will inevitably coerce those in their cus-
tody to make confessions.
Kazmi has denounced all the disclosure statements attrib-
uted to him as false. He charged in a handwritten petition to the
court on Apr. 16 that the SC had coerced him into providing his
signature on blank pages. He said the police threatened that his
family will face dire consequences if he did not do as they
directed.
Except for the very first disclosure statement dated Mar. 6,
all of them are followed by the handwritten notation Accused
refused to sign.
Most of the five disclosures were clearly written by the
Special Cell in order to implicate both Kazmi and three Iranians
in the bombing plot. The disclosures make Kazmi appear eager
to incriminate himself, even though the police account offers no
reason for considering Kazmi a suspect, except that his mobile
phone number was said to have been called by one Houshang
Afshar Irani, who in turn was said to have been contacted by an
Iranian involved in the Feb. 14 explosion in Bangkok.
The disclosure dated March 6, and supposedly given to
police before Kazmi was even under arrest, confesses to having
been informed of the plot for a bombing in Delhi by one Seyed Ali
Mahdiansadr during a visit to Tehran in January 2011, and hav-
ing agreed to help the plotters.
Kazmi is also portrayed in the statement as admitting to hav-
ing been given a Kinetic brand moped by Irani for safekeeping at
his home during the first week of May 2011. The police cite that
statement as the justification for immediately arresting him and
for allegedly seizing the moped from Kazmis residence.
There is good reason to believe that the police had already
followed Iranis trail during his two-week visit to Delhi in late April
and early May 2011 and had learned before Kazmis arrest that
he had purchased a used black Kinetic moped at a commercial
showroom in Delhi on April 26.
Kazmis family and lawyer Mehmood Pracha say the moped
taken away from his residence March 6 was not the one identi-
fied in the police seizure memo, which has the same identifica-
tion number as found on the receipt for Iranis purchase of the
scooter, but one left by Kazmis brother two years ago and never
used during that time.
The memo for the scooter is signed and dated by Deputy
Chief of Police Sanjeev Yadav, the senior police official in the SC
investigation, and one other officer. It is signed but not dated by
a third officer. The fact that Kazmis signature is on the document
without any date suggests that he signed a blank sheet of paper.
The Kinetic moped is crucial to the SC effort to link Kazmi to
Iranis alleged reconnaissance of the Israeli embassy to prepare
for the bombing, because there is no other evidence except
Kazmis own discredited disclosures. But the story about the
moped raises serious questions about its plausibility.
It would have made no sense for a terrorist to purchase a
moped for that purpose, since Kazmi owned a car that would
have made the task far easier as well as more secure.
The alleged turnover of the moped to Kazmi by Irani at the
end of his two-week visit makes even less sense, because it sug-
gests that he was planning to use it again for the actual bombing
operation. But someone contemplating an operation to affix a
magnet bomb to a car would never have considered using a
moped for the job. A Kinetic moped normally cannot go faster
than 20 miles per hour and is notoriously poor in acceleration,
making a getaway for the bomber highly problematic.
In the event, Irani rented a motorcycle when he returned,
suggesting that he had probably disposed of the moped by
reselling it cheaply.
Another sign that the police had trouble linking Kazmi to
Iranis reconnaissance of the Israeli Embassy is the statement
attributed to him in one of the disclosures. Whenever he met
with Irani, his supposed disclosure says, I used to leave my
mobile phone at my residence.
That sentence was evidently included to explain why a
search of Kazmis mobile phone records would not reveal any
activity in the area where the disclosure claims Kazmi and Irani
were carrying out reconnaissance of the Israeli Embassy during
Iranis two-week stay.
The police used the same argument in a 2007 terrorism case
in which they had alleged that the accused had taken a trip to
Kashmir to collect explosives but had left his mobile phone at his
guest house.
The Court did not find the assertion credible, however, and
threw out the charges.
*This story is the first in a three-part series, The Delhi Car
Bombing: How the Police Built a False Case, in which award-
winning investigative journalist Gareth Porter dissects the Delhi
police accusation against an Indian journalist and four Iranians of
involvement in the Feb. 13 bombing of an Israeli embassy car.
II
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police has identified an Iranian,
Houshang Afghan Irani, as the man it believes carried out the
Feb. 13 car bombing at the Israeli embassy in New Delhi that
injured the wife of an embassy official. The police believe three
other Iranians were also involved in the plot.
But major questions about the integrity of the evidence put for-
ward to prove the existence of an Iranian bomb plot cast doubt
on that claim, which is the centrepiece of the Israeli accusation
that Iran has been waging a campaign of terrorism against
Israelis in as many as 20 countries.
Evidence shows Kazmi has been framed
Police stories about Terrorism
cases are full of loopholes, yet alleged
terrorists remain behind bars for
years because courts fail to take
notice of these loopholes. With this
issue we will highlight some of these
glaring cases
Shabbir Masihullah of Malegaon was running
a battery shop when ATS people picked him up
and accused him of taking part in the Malegaon
2006 blasts. He had to spend five years behind
bars for no crime committed. He is now out on
bail, trying to put his life back on track. He has
re-started his battery business selling Marshal
batteries which used to be popular in Malegaon.
While in bail, his shop in the towns Machli
Bazar was closed down and his family had to
exhaust all its savings trying to survive and fight
his legal case. The family was doubly hit when
robbers cleaned up their belongings in 2008.
Shabbir has also started an acupuncture
clinic next to his battery shop. He had learnt
acupuncture and pressure techniques while in
jail basically to treat torture effects he himself
was suffering from. Now he is treating even
policemen.
Father stripped and beaten in front of son
Mumbai: Maharashtra
ATS officers stripped
a father in front of his
son who is accused in
a terror case, beat
him up mercilessly
and forced him to sign
on plain sheets of
paper. This is the
story of Abdur Raheem, a resident of
Malegaons Yaqoob Shahar locality. He says
that in the evening of 7 May 2003, he was wait-
ing at home for his son Ansari Muzammil Akhtar
so that they may have dinner together. But his
son never returned home. Next day he went out
to search his son. After exhausting all places in
Malegaon, he went to Mumbai where he met
some of his sons friends who at first hesitated
to tell him anything. On his insistence, they
informed him that his son has been arrested by
the police. Now he started visiting one police
station after another enquiring about his son.
His visits finally led him to ACP Parveen
Ramakant. Next day he managed to reach ACP
Ramakants office, where he was strip-
searched, made to sign on a paper and told to
wait. He sat there waiting all day only to be
turned away in the evening without a hint of
information about his son. He kept visiting the
police for some information but in vain. Some
days llater he read in a Mumbai newspaper that
his son has been arrested by the Mumbai ATS.
Until then he had visited 12 units of the Mumbai
Police Crime Branch without managing to get
any trace of information about his sons where-
abouts. Days later he again read in a newspa-
per that his son will be produced in POTA court
on 14 May 2003. So he went to the POTA court
on that day but ATS officers did not allow him to
meet his son who was remanded to police cus-
tody. On hearing this news, his wife fell uncon-
scious.
Ansari was brought to the POTAcourt again
on 29 June where Abdur Raheem managed to
meet him. Ansari informed his father that he was
kept in illegal detention for nine days and then
jailed under a case about which he has no
knowledge. He was being pressurised to sign
on blank papers which he refused, after which
he was subjected to a lot of torture in order to
force him to sign the blank papers.
Abdur Raheem beseeched ATS officers to
allow him to meet his son in the lockup. He was
asked to come to the ATS office where he was
first welcomed with a good measure of thrash-
ing, then thrown into a room where his son
Ansari was later brought. Now Abdur Raheem
was stripped naked and mercilessly thrashed in
front of his son who was told to sign on the
blank papers if he wanted his father spared. He
was further told that we have done this to your
father now, next we will bring your mother and
sisters and will strip them in front of you and
beat them up. By now Ansari was a broken man
so he signed the blank papers as asked by the
ATS officers.
Abdur Raheem says that his son Ansari
was to get married soon. He was told by the
ATS people to sign the papers, otherwise he will
spend his whole life in jail and will never get
married.
According to Abdur Raheem, all his children
are educated. Three daughters hold B.Ed
degrees and are teachers. Two younger daugh-
ters could not continue education due to these
circumstances and dropped out after 12th class.
Ansari is a mechanical engineer, while one
younger son is a librarian, the third son is a
mechanical craft teacher, the fourth is IT pas-
sout while the fifth is a plastic engineer. Abdur
Raheem says that this incident has shattered
his family. His relatives and neighbours have
shunned him. Marriages of his daughters have
broken down and one daughter has died as a
result of this trauma. He says that his son Ansari
got bail four times during these past years but
ATS people appealed every time and got the
bail revoked. A broken man, he wonders when
his family life will return to normal.
Compiled by ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN
Sacrificial Lambs - ii
Kazmi is an unlikely candidate for participation in an Iranian terrorist plot. A 50-year-old senior Indian
journalist, he had his own web-based news service, a regular job as a columnist for a leading Urdu-
language weekly and a retainer as Urdu newscaster for Indias state-owned television channel
Doordarshan.
He did not need the 5,500 U.S. dollars police claim he received for helping the Iranians plan the
bombing. Nor did he need the 2.26 million rupees (40,000 U.S. dollars) in foreign remittances that Delhi
police chief B. K. Gupta asserted in a press conference in mid-March that the journalist and his wife
had received in their bank accounts.
Continued on the next page
Only Indian journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi has been
officially charged in the case, and even the treatment of Irani and
the other Iranians as suspects depends very heavily on disclo-
sure statements supposedly made by Kazmi but denounced by
the journalist as police fabrications.
Although the Special Cell (SC) also claims to have forensic
evidence of Iranis link to the bombing, the evidence appears to
be tainted by improper police procedures.
Acentral problem for the SC case is that it has no eyewitness
testimony for its contention that Irani planted the bomb on the
Israeli embassy car.
A hotel security camera showed that Irani left the hotel the
morning of the explosion wearing a black jacket. Irani had also
rented a black Honda Karizma. But eyewitness Gopal Krishanan,
who was driving the car that was directly behind the embassy car
and thus had a clear view of the motorcycle rider when he
attached the bomb to the rear of the car, said he was certain the
rider had a red motorcycle and was wearing a red helmet and red
jacket.
The police were convinced by his testimony. Tal Yehoshua-
Koren, who was injured in the attack but was able to get to the
Israeli embassy without assistance, later told investigators she
thought the attacker had been riding a black motorcycle and
wearing a black jacket and helmet. Asenior police officer involved
in the case told the Indian Express, however, that Yehoshua-
Koren could not be certain of the colour of the motorcycle.
The police continued to search for a red motorcycle after
obtaining her statement, as was widely reported in the Indian
press. Only after the SC decided that Irani was the bomber did
the police switch to the position that the bomber had been riding
a black motorcycle and wearing a black helmet and jacket.
Irani became a target of the investigation after the SC learned
that a phone number associated with Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh,
one of the three Iranians staying in a Bangkok house where an
explosion occurred Feb. 14, had allegedly contacted the Indian
mobile phone number being used by Irani.
The chargesheet does not include documentation for the
claim that Iranis phone had been called by that of the accused in
the Bangkok explosion. And Iranis receipts shown in the
chargesheet for the moped purchased in April 2011 and for the
motorcycle rented in early 2012 list Indian mobile phone numbers
different from the one cited as having been contacted by Zadeh.
Irani made no effort to hide his identity in either of those
transactions, so there would be no reason for him to write a false
number on the receipt.
The police claim to have recovered from Iranis hotel room
seven items on which the governments Central Forensic Science
Laboratory found traces of TNT - the same explosive that the
bomb affixed to the embassy car contained.
But the SC violated several police procedures in regard to
that evidence, suggesting that it may have been planted by the
Special Cell.
It was not until Feb. 29, sixteen days after Irani had left the
hotel, that the room was sealed by police. Even worse, another
two weeks passed before it was actually inspected by the Special
Cell on Mar. 13, according to the chargesheet. Ordinarily, the pas-
sage of that much time between the date the items were alleged-
ly left behind and their discovery would call into question the
authenticity of the
evidence.
On Jul. 28, a
few days before
the chargesheet
was made public,
the manager of
the hotel pro-
duced an occu-
pancy chart
showing that
Iranis room had
not been used
during the 16
days between his departure and the police order to seal the room.
The chart, which the hotel manager had plenty of time to pre-
pare for the police, makes the highly unlikely claim that Iranis
room was not occupied by any guest during the 16-day period.
The effort to show that the room had not been altered after Irani
left it still fails to address the awkward question of how so much
evidence could have been found in Iranis room long after it would
have been cleaned up by hotel staff.
The belated occupancy chart only makes the forensic evi-
dence claimed by the police appear even more suspicious.
The Kazmi disclosures portray an alleged plot that lacked
either clear delineation of responsibility for reconnaissance of the
embassy or the communication one would expect between the
plotters in Tehran and their one local collaborator in Delhi during
the crucial months before the explosion.
At one point in a statement attributed to Kazmi but not signed
by him, he is portrayed as having returned to Delhi from a trip to
Tehran in January 2011 committed to intensive research on
security arrangements and the movement of vehicles and routes
travelled to Israeli Embassy.
In discussing Iranis visit to Delhi in April 2011, however, it
does not mention any debriefing of Irani by Kazmi on such recon-
naissance. Instead, Irani is said to have carried out the entire
reconnaissance operation, with Kazmis help, all over again.
When Kazmis disclosure comes to the visit of his Tehran
contacts, Seyed Ali
Mehdiansadr and
R e z a
Abolghasemi, to
Delhi in May and
June 2011, it
makes no refer-
ence to any dis-
cussion of the
r econnai ssance
Irani had suppos-
edly already done.
The two visitors
and Kazmi are
said to have repeated the same reconnaissance on the embassy
yet again, even noting the licence plate numbers of embassy
cars.
An even more dramatic divergence from a coherent account
of a terror plot is found in the long final Kazmi statement dated
March 23 but unsigned by Kazmi. In describing Kazmis trip to
Tehran in June 2011, the statement says Kazmis alleged key
contact in the plot, Mehdiansadr, inquired about the progress of
the task assigned me.
But the disclosure statement then says the task in question
was not gathering detailed information on potential Israeli
Embassy targets, but sending reports on the political develop-
ments in the Gulf region, like Syria, Bahrain, Iraq, etc.
In July and August, the same disclosure recounts, Kazmi
travelled to Dubai and Syria, and when he communicated with his
Tehran contacts, it was not about intelligence for a bombing plan
but about his Dubai trip.
Kazmis disclosure asserts, in fact, that he did not report to
his Iranian contacts on any intelligence gathered on the Israeli
Embassy between June 2011 and January 2012, despite alleged-
ly having been given a mobile phone specifically for that purpose.
The questionable character of the police case that the four
Iranians conspired on the Delhi bombing does not rule out the
possibility that it was an Iranian government operation, but it does
indicate that SC investigators could not find convincing evidence
of such an Iranian role.
*This story is the second in a three-part series, The Delhi
Car Bombing: How the Police Built a False Case, in which
award-winning investigative journalist Gareth Porter dissects the
Delhi police accusation against an Indian journalist and four
Iranians of involvement in the Feb. 13 bombing of an Israeli
embassy car.
Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist spe-
cializing in U.S. national security policy, received the UK-based
Gellhorn Prize for journalism for 2011 for articles on the U.S. war
in Afghanistan.
III
The Delhi Police Special Cell, which has accused an Indian jour-
nalist and four Iranians of conspiring to bomb an Israeli embassy
car in Delhi Feb. 13, has a long history of planting evidence on
those it has accused and of obtaining false confessions, accord-
ing to court records now cited by critics of the police unit.
The Special Cell (SC) was organised in 1986 to investigate
terrorism and major crimes, but it has been given such wide lati-
tude in its opera-
tions that it has
violated legal
norms with com-
plete impunity,
critics say.
But the units
efforts to frame
those it accuses
have been so
obvious - often
employing the
same tactics over
and over again -
that a significant majority of its cases have been rejected by
judges in recent years.
Of the 174 individuals against whom the SC has brought
charges from 2006 through 2011, 119 of them - nearly 70 percent
- have been acquitted, according to official figures obtained under
Indias Right to Information Act by activist Gopal Prasad.
The SC response to that development has been to leak false
confessions and evidence to the news media in a largely unsuc-
cessful effort to sway judges.
Confessions falsified by the SC are routinely leaked to the
press to establish the guilt of the accused, Manisha Sethi, an
assistant professor at Jamia Millia University in Delhi and an
activist with the civil rights organisation Jamia Teachers Solidarity
Association, told IPS. She described the result as a vicious trial
by media that indicts the accused well before the trial even
begins.
In the recent embassy car bombing, the first wave of leaks to
the press about the alleged confessions of Indian journalist Syed
Mohommed Ahmad Kazmi was timed to generate a wave of sen-
sational articles in March portraying Kazmi as admitting to having
been a participant in the embassy car bomb plot just before his
bail application, as Sethi pointed out in an e-mail to IPS.
That maneuver prompted the court that was hearing Kazmis
bail application to admonish the public prosecutor to refrain from
such leaks.
A report, soon
to be published by
the Jamia
T e a c h e r s
S o l i d a r i t y
Association and a
copy of which has
been obtained by
IPS, on 16 terror-
ism cases brought
by the SC from
1992 to 2008 doc-
uments a consis-
tent pattern of
irregularities in police procedures that led the courts to conclude
that the police had framed those who had been accused.
The reports detailed accounts of the cases are based entire-
ly on conclusions reached by the judges in rejecting the central
claims of the SC.
Among the most prominent irregularities documented in the
report are those relating to incriminating evidence said to have
been seized from suspects and to alleged confessions.
Typical of the SC terrorism cases described in the report is
the case of Salman Kurshid Kori. The SC claimed that it arrested
Kori and two other Muslim men as operatives of the militant
Islamic group Lashkar-e-Toiba in December 2006. The SC report-
ed seizing explosives, detonators and hand grenades from bags
carried by each of the three men.
But the judge for the case heard evidence that the accused
had been detained much earlier than the dates cited by police.
He also pointed out that there were no public witnesses to the
seizure of the weapons, contrary to normal police procedures,
despite the fact that a crowd had gathered to witness the arrest.
Even more telling, the seizure memo, which should have
been written at the site of the seizure well before the First
Information Report (FIR) was filed in the case, was found to have
been written in the same handwriting and ink as the FIR.
Those obvious signs of police deception convinced the judge
that the SC had framed the three men.
The SC officer who supervised the interrogation and arrest of
the three men was then-Assistant Commissioner of Police
Sanjeev Yadav, now an Additional Deputy Commissioner of
Police and in charge of the embassy car bomb case.
The Kori case is not the only one over which Yadav presided
to have been rejected by a judge because of indications that inno-
cent people were framed. The report documents a total of four
such cases - all from 2006 and 2007 - in which the seizure memo
was signed at the same time and by the same person as the FIR.
Also, no public witnesses attested to the seizures, and the sus-
pects were found to have been detained much earlier than
claimed.
Yadav is also under investigation by the Indian government
for the deaths of five people who were said to have been killed in
a violent encounter in May 2006 in Delhis Sonia Vihar district
between an SC team and what was believed to be a criminal
gang. Relatives of two of the dead alleged in a petition to the
National Human Rights Commission that the victims had been
taken from their residences by police and then killed in Delhi.
After examining the forensic evidence surrounding the sup-
posed encounter, the NHRC concluded in a mid-2010 report that
no cross firing had occurred - and thus the police account had
been falsified. That report led to the launch of an investigation by
a magistrate into the incident last September.
In a separate investigative report published last February on
SC abuses in terrorism cases, Sethi described a common pattern
in one case after another: alleged secret information from an
informant about the arrival of a terrorist in Delhi, followed by dis-
patch of a police party to the point of arrival; unsuccessful efforts
to get civilians to be public witnesses; the apprehension of the
terrorist; and subsequent recovery of arms or explosives, which
were displayed to the press.
Only when each of the cases went to trial was the SC narra-
tive found to have been bogus, according to Sethis investigation,
which was also based on court documents.
In the 2005 case of Moinuddin Dar and Bashir Amad Shah
described by Sethi, the SC claimed that the two men were
Kashmiri terrorists who had come to Delhi from Kashmir carrying
450,000 rupees (8,000 U.S. dollars) in a car loaded with arms
and ammunition, after the SC had been informed by a confiden-
tial source when and where they were arriving. Upon arrest, the
two men had allegedly confessed to their terrorist plan.
But Sethi recounted that the case soon fell apart in court
when the judge found that the car full of arms and ammunition
had been planted and used as a tool to falsely implicate the
accused persons in this case. He found that the police vehicle
that was supposed to have taken the police team to the site of the
arrest had actually not moved that day, and that the two men had
been held illegally by police in a hotel room for two weeks.
After investigating another 2006 SC terrorism case, Indias
Central Bureau of Investigation called for three SC officers to be
charged with lying under oath and creating false evidence. But
despite several instances in which courts directed the Delhi
Police Commissioner to initiate legal action against officers of the
SC for various abuses, none have yet been
punished.(ipsnews.net)
Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist
specializing in U.S. national security policy,
received the UK-based Gellhorn Prize for journalism for 2011 for
articles on the U.S. war in Afghanistan.
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 9
NATIONAL
Continued from the previous page
The chargesheet does not include documentation for the claim that Iranis
phone had been called by that of the accused in the Bangkok explosion. And
Iranis receipts shown in the chargesheet for the moped purchased in April
2011 and for the motorcycle rented in early 2012 list Indian mobile phone
numbers different from the one cited as having been contacted by Zadeh.
Irani made no effort to hide his identity in either of those transactions, so
there would be no reason for him to write a false number on the receipt.
The police claim to have recovered from Iranis hotel room seven items on
which the governments Central Forensic Science Laboratory found traces of
TNT - the same explosive that the bomb affixed to the embassy car contained.
But the SC violated several police procedures in regard to that evidence,
suggesting that it may have been planted by the Special Cell.
In the recent embassy car bombing, the first wave of leaks to the press
about the alleged confessions of Indian journalist Syed Mohommed Ahmad
Kazmi was timed to generate a wave of sensational articles in March portraying
Kazmi as admitting to having been a participant in the embassy car bomb plot
just before his bail application, as Sethi pointed out in an e-mail to IPS.
That maneuver prompted the court that was hearing Kazmis bail application
to admonish the public prosecutor to refrain from such leaks.
A report, soon to be published by the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association
and a copy of which has been obtained by IPS, on 16 terrorism cases brought
by the SC from 1992 to 2008 documents a consistent pattern of irregularities in
police procedures that led the courts to conclude that the police had framed
those who had been accused.
NATIONAL
10 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
AFSANA RASHID, SRINAGAR
Raising serious doubts over the governments intention to probe
the unmarked graves issue, APDP, on the eve of International
Day of Disappeared, August 30 submitted a fresh petition in
SHRC with around 507 documented cases of disappearances
belonging to different villages of Baramulla and Bandipora dis-
tricts.
It is imperative that the government carries out investigations
into unmarked graves through DNA testing and other forensic
methods, reads the memo of the petition. The State government
recently submitted a 27-page Action Taken Report in SHRC say-
ing that matter would be investigated by, a yet-to-be constituted
Truth and Reconciliation Commission that has been awaiting
establishment for the past many years.
Scores of young artists used art as a weapon to protest
against alleged disappearances in state. They expressed the pain
and agony of relatives of disappeared through paintings, graph-
ics and poems to mark the International Day of Disappeared.
Along with families of victims, APDP activists and volunteers
proceeded to Narbal on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway, where
the Association has been donated a piece of land for erecting a
memorial dedicated to people who have been victims of disap-
pearance.
JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, August 30 said dis-
closure of the whereabouts of the disappeared could be most
valuable confidence building measure.
Rejecting wide-scale DNA testing, state Home departments
report September 5 said all those buried in graves are militants
and insisted if families wanted DNA tests, they would have to
identify the graveyard and the exact grave where they think their
disappeared relatives are buried. Random DNA testing of graves
would take years as only 16 labs in the country have the capaci-
ty to do these tests. It could attract undesired media-attention,
cause prolonged trauma and act as trigger-point for causing seri-
ous law and order disturbances.
Interlocutors are back in the Valley
Former interlocutors, Dileep Padgaonkar and Radha Kumars
arrival in the valley, August 29 to seek a feedback on the report
that they submitted to the Centre on October 12 last year and was
made public on May 24, has drawn widespread flak. Describing it
as a futile exercise, Additional General Secretary of National
Conference, Dr Mustafa Kamaal said that the report has no con-
stitutional relevance. It is high time that New Delhi realizes that
wounds of Kashmiris need to be healed. They should stop using
Jammu Kashmir as a battlefield.
Their credentials are well-known. It hardly matters whether
theyve come in an official or unofficial capacity, said Hurriyat (G)
spokesperson, Ayaz Akbar.
There is no need to talk to them as theyve not done justice
to their job, said Hurriyat (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,
adding theyve lost their credibility.
JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik said, Theyve
ignored the historical perspective of Kashmir issue. By doing so
theyve proved that they are dishonest.
Their meeting with civil society members witnessed heated
exchange of words, August 30. Most participants were of the
opinion that New Delhi had appointed interlocutors in 2010 to
pave the way for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute but their
report ignored this vital aspect and instead focused on adminis-
trative issues.
After meeting them, August 29 chief minister Omar Abdullah
said that the report should form the basis to initiate dialogue
between the centre and state. It has been formulated after con-
sultation with different groups across the state and discussion
with various shades of opinion.
Centre, August 8 had said that it isnt planning any mecha-
nism to implement interlocutors recommendations. The Centre
had appointed three interlocutors on Kashmir following eruption
of mass-protests here in 2010 resulting in the killing of about 120
youth allegedly in police and CRPF firing.
Child arrested on Eid day
Twelve-year-old Faizan Sofi, a sixth standard student was arrest-
ed on Eid-ul-Fitr last month for allegedly taking part in anti-gov-
ernment protests and burning police vehicles near Eidgah in the
old city.
After being produced before the Court, Faizan was sent to a
juvenile home at Harwan on the city outskirts. Later, he was
granted bail August 28. Police later released a photograph show-
ing him throwing stones at a police vehicle. Denying charges of
ill-treatment meted out to Faizan, Superintendent Juvenile Home,
Ghulam Ahmed said, Weve got good facilities and try to engage
children in different works.
Police had slapped PSA on him on reasonable grounds and
under provisions of the law. Offence is an offence whether com-
mitted by a school going child or by any other person, said
Minister for Science and Technology, Aga Syed Ruhullah on the
sidelines of a function here September 4.
Countering police accusations against her son, Faizans
mother, Parveena says he was framed by police to save their skin
after they failed to nab the real culprits. We had to sell our two-
rooms to fight the legal battle after Faizans arrest.
Police September 6 said that Faizan wasnt detained under
PSA. Giving details police said Faizan was detained after photo-
graphic and video-graphic evidence and sent to a juvenile home.
Later, he was released after taking an undertaking from his father.
It has been reported that Faizan was the 124th minor
detained in a juvenile home since its inception in 2011. Out of 124
minors, 99 have been detained on charges of stone pelting, five
on murder charges, three on rape charges and 17 for theft. Acan-
dle light sit-in was staged here by civil society September 1 seek-
ing upgradation of juvenile justice law and an end to juvenile
detentions, here.
Two bills Juvenile Justice Act and State Commission for
Protection of Child Rights Act are gathering dust over the
past two years, with authorities showing no intention of passing
them.
7 out of 10 subscriptions are through WORD OF MOUTH
You know we dont have the resources to advertise & promote ourselves, so
please ask your friends to get their copy now
THE MILLI GAZETTE
First English Newspaper of Indian Muslims. Telling the Muslim side of the story fortnight after fortnight since January 2000
More cases of disappearances documented
Controversy over
Amarnath road
Amid controversy over building of infrastructure along
Amarnath yatra route, the government here has made it clear
that it hasnt received any direction or proposal from the
Supreme Court or Government of India about construction of
road to the cave shrine.
The ministry hasnt received any proposal for construction
of road or other infrastructure to the shrine, Minster for Forest
and Environment, Mian Altaf Ahmad told local news agency
KNS, here September 3.
Even Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, while address-
ing the media, here August 19 said it doesnt have any plan to
construct a road to Amarnath cave or invest in any big infra-
structure in Baltal or Pahalgam that could be detrimental to the
eco-system. Expressing doubts over the governments inten-
tions, valley-based civil society groups August 22 decided to fol-
low developments and decided to file representation with the
government urging it to include their views in its response to the
Supreme Court.
The group, August 29 said if the state government under-
takes any constructions in eco-fragile areas in and around the
cave it has the potential of snowballing into major trouble.
The Apex Court August 13 asked the state government to
finish construction of roads and widening of passage to
Amarnath shrine before snowfall, after taking suo-moto note of
media reports of pilgrims deaths allegedly due to lack of prop-
er facilities and medical care.
Meanwhile, life across the Kashmir valley remained para-
lyzed, September 4 owing to a shutdown call by Hurriyat (G)
against what it termed religious, social, cultural and environ-
mental aggression by New Delhi.
Equal Opportunity Commission Bill
Still In Process
ABDUL BARI MASOUD
New Delhi: The much-talked about Equal Opportunity Commission may not see the light
of the day soon as the Congress-led UPA Government is still in the process of finalizing
the draft of the EOC. However, it has said that the recommendations of the Group of
Ministers (GoM) have been taken into account while preparing the draft Equal
Opportunity Commission Bill, 2011. In a written reply to a question in the lower house of
Parliament during the monsoon session, Minister of Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid said
that the Bill was again circulated to various concerned ministries/departments and com-
ments of most of the ministries have been received. As the comments received need fur-
ther consultation, some more time will be required for its finalization before its introduc-
tion in Parliament, he added.
Giving the background for the creation of an EOC, he said that in accordance with
the Sachar Committee recommendations, the Government constituted an expert group to
recommend the structure, scope and functions along with advice on an appropriate leg-
islative framework of the proposed EOC. The expert group consulted a number of institu-
tions, stakeholders and experts across the country and after taking on board their views
submitted their report to the Central Government. The expert group also submitted a draft
Bill. The report of the expert group was examined and a draft note for the Cabinet for set-
ting up of an EOC was circulated to the ministries/departments for comments.
The Cabinet while considering the draft Bill on EOC, constituted a GoM to examine
all issues related to the setting up of an EOC including those related to its jurisdiction. The
GoM has since made its recommendations, which were taken into account in preparing
the Draft Equal Opportunity Commission Bill, 2011. He said the proposed EOC would look
into the grievances of the deprived groups. It is to be mentioned here that the National
Commission for Minorities under the then chairman Mohammad Qureshi was not in
favour of such a commission on the ground that it would make the NCM redundant.
Abdul Naser Maudany
Is Not The Only One
K.P SASI
I met Abdul Naser Maudany,
who is an accused in the
Bangalore blast case, in jail
a few months back with
friends. What struck me was
the peace which flowed
from his eyes. At that time
his eyes were becoming dim
because of lack of proper
treatment. Now he is more
or less blind. For me, the
conflict between
Islamophobia and the way
secularism is expressed in
Kerala was explicit from my
memory of his eyes.
I asked him what people
like us can do for him. He
said: I am not the only one.
There are thousands of innocent people who are
fabricated in jails. I receive some moral support at
least once in a while. But they dont. So do some-
thing for them.
As an example, he requested the boy who was
helping him with the wheelchair in jail to call another
boy named Zakaria who is around 21 years old. That
boys case is one of the stupidest cases of Indian
judiciary. He doesnt know why he is in jail. He is
already mentally and physically affected because of
this harassment.
I have recently heard that the man who was
helping Maudany with the wheelchair (he was
around 35 years old) is already dead because of
lack of proper treatment.
Perhaps, Maudany will
be the next to die. Perhaps,
the Kerala opinion-makers
are waiting for his death so
that he can be projected as a
hero, the way he came back
after nine and a half years
innocent stay in Coimbatore
jail.
But one thing is certain.
The inteligentsia, activists,
political parties and media
with vested interests are
responsible for this gravest
fabricated case. Perhaps we
can all sing a line from John
Lenons Imagine: I am not
the only one. If John Lenon
dealt with dreams in this song, we will have to deal
with guilt in our song. Strangely, Maudany is also
saying: I am not the only one.
To know more about the fabricated case against
Abdul Naser Maudany visit: Farbricated.in
K.P Sasi is an award winning film director and
a political activist
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 11
ANALYSIS
The judgment delivered recently by judge Jyotsna
Yagnik, convicting 32 accused for Naroda-Patiya mas-
sacre of 97 people in anti-Muslim Gujarat pogrom of 2002
has been welcomed across the country. Certainly, though
it has taken Indian judicial system around 10 years, at
least this judgment does send the message that commu-
nal criminals are not likely to be spared. It is a warning
for other rioters who were also responsible for brutal tar-
geting of Muslims but have yet to face any punishment.
Sadly, the slow speed with which the judicial process
is moving cannot be ignored. It may be recalled that riot-
ers had their way in Gujarat for several months, from end
of February to mid-June. Despite being well aware of
Muslims being brutally targeted, why were the rioters
allowed to indulge in this communal violence for such a
long period of time? Why did the national and state polit-
ical as well as administrative system fail to take adequate
action to prevent continuance of such communal activi-
ties?
It is not as if the Indian system is not well equipped to
take needed action when and if situation demands. But
continuity of anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat only suggested
that during that period Indian secularism was deliberate-
ly allowed to bow down before what the communal rioters
desired. True, the situation may have been different if
Bharatiya Janata Party was not in power in the state with
Narendra Modi as chief minister. And this raises ques-
tions on whether the state machinery, including the gov-
ernment, judiciary as well as the police are expected to
give importance to the constitution ruling the country or
to communal whims of rioters and their sponsors?
There is the fear that if judicial conviction of rioters is
allowed to move at a slow pace, secularism may always
remain to a degree subdued by communal actors. In fact,
considering the alacrity with which action has been taken
against alleged terrorists and actual terrorists before,
during or after actual or fake encounters, India has the
required capacity to control and check rise and spread of
communal violence. Why was this not put to use when
Muslims were being literally butchered in Gujarat?
Naturally, one is posed to raise the question as to why
is swift action taken when Muslims are assumed to be
criminals, particularly terrorists, but it is delayed when
they happen to be victims? Perhaps, the time has come
when the government should ensure, irrespective of the
nature of criminal activity, whether it is described as ter-
rorist or communal rioting, that swift action is taken
against perpetrators of such activities. Humanitarianism
demands that prime importance should be given to the
nature of crime, number of persons killed, harmed and/or
dislocated. Irrespective of whether the criminals are
defined as terrorists or as communal rioters, their crimi-
nal activity should be graded in accordance with the
havoc, loss of lives, homes and injuries that the same has
led to.
It is indeed a shame that little time was spent in gun-
ning down alleged terrorists in Batla House encounter,
without there being any substantial proof of the criminal
activities that they had supposedly indulged in. Yet, it has
taken 10 years for a few of rioters responsible for killing
more than thousand Muslims in Gujarat carnage to be
judicially convicted. Yes, many of the rioters are still
roaming around freely.
Besides, punishment announced for a few and that
too after a long gap does not suggest that the Muslim vic-
tims have finally been ensured some justice. No, it does
not. The dead cannot be brought back to life. But what
about the property damages suffered by Muslims?
Whenever a serious accident takes place, the government
does not take long in announcing compensation for the
injured and relatives of those dead. How much compen-
sation have the central and state governments actually
handed out to date to the sufferers of Gujarat-carnage?
Barely any.
More than 21,000 people are still living in transit relief
camps in Gujarat. In other words, 10 years have passed
by and they are still awaiting to return to their homes and
lands. Earlier this year, according to an Amnesty report,
these people were facing forced evictions as the transit
relief camps were built on land claimed by government
authorities as that of the state. The authorities wanted
them to vacate the land. Where does the state govern-
ment expect these victims to move to, without their hav-
ing received any adequate compensation? Is this the
nature of justice being assured for victims of Gujarat
carnage?
The situation would have been different if Gujarat had
not witnessed the heinous scale of violence against
Muslims. This should be regarded as sufficient to ensure
speedy trial and adequate compensation for the victims.
Communal terrorists had their way in 2002 and Muslims
have yet to recover even partially from what they faced
then in Gujarat. Against this backdrop, punishment
announced for a few criminals can be held at most just a
symbolic display of efforts being made to ensure jus-
tice for victims of Gujarat carnage.
Speaki ng Out
Gujarat: Muslims
Still Await
Justice
NI LOFAR SUHRAWARDY
Why Muslims are
critical of the media
The Indian Muslims must get out of the syndrome of victim-
hood and persecution and do some self-introspection. They
must change their attitude towards national issues and
political parties. The media can only mirror a reality, it can-
not change it, says SHAHID SIDDIQUI, Editor of Nai
Duniya Urdu weekly.
What happened in Mumbais Azad Maidan was symptomatic of a
much larger problem both with the media and Muslims. The media
generally is today looked down upon with suspicion and doubt.
Muslims generally have a long standing love-hate relationship
with the media. They want the media to highlight their grievances
and sufferings at the same time they are angry with the national
media for sensationalising anything to do with Islam or Muslims.
What happened at Azad Maidan is not something new.
The media has been at the receiving end of a crowds irrational
emotional anger; however it was for the first time that a Muslim
crowd attacked and burned media vans. It is necessary for all of us,
specially the media, to understand why a section of Muslims
behaved this way and why Muslims in general are critical of the role
of media, especially the electronic media. Media being the most
powerful organ of the political system has to respond to the griev-
ances of the people even if they are misplaced.
Media, the enemy: A section of Muslims has held onto the belief
that national media is largely prejudiced against them. It paints them
in a bad light and highlights their small faults. The crime committed
by an individual of the community is projected onto the entire com-
munity by the media and every Muslim is made accountable and
answerable for the actions of an individual. This perception about
the media is present in the minds of even highly secular and liberal
Muslims I have met and spoken to. As always, this is only a partial
truth which a community suffering from a sense of insecurity and
discrimination for a long time easily believes in. It is important that
we learn from the violent incident of Mumbai and try to analyze and
dissect various aspects of this belief.
The role of the media: The truth is that national media whether
print or electronic has played an instrumental role in highlighting the
atrocities committed against the minorities, especially Muslims.
From the Meerut/Hashimpura riots back in the 1980s to the
Bhagalpur riots and more recently Gujarat, it is the national media
which has brought out the truth through its rigorous investigative
journalism and exposed those responsible for committing commu-
nal atrocities.
All this has not been accomplished without any risks. I have
myself seen young men and women putting their lives at risk in
order to bring us closer to the truth in extremely harsh and difficult
circumstances with limited resources and support at their disposal.
The Indian media, both vernacular and English, print and visual,
have in their own way tried to bring out the stories of struggle and
injustice faced by the minorities, particularly Indian Muslims.
It is the media which has repeatedly taken the government to
task for not fulfilling its secular duties. If it were not for the media,
then the atrocities committed in Gujarat in 2002 would have been
conveniently forgotten. Same was the case in 1983 in Nellie mas-
sacre in Assam or 1993 riots in Mumbai. The national media despite
its own limitations, perversions, biases and shortcomings, has tried
to play the role of a successful communicator.
Muslims and the relationship with the media
The relationship between Muslims and the Indian media has
always been complicated. The negative perception of Indian
Muslims towards the media has been partly fuelled by a sense of
victimhood and persecution, propagated largely by the vote loving
pseudo-secular parties. Of course, we cannot give a clean chit to
the media.
There are elements in the media that give a negative twist to
the coverage of events and happenings related to Indian Muslims.
Attempts have been made by the media to project Muslims as a
monolithic block and downplay the various economic, cultural and
regional differences.
Today, some sections of the Indian Muslims are asking why the
killings in Assam were not given the same weightage the way
Gujarat riots were. Is there a conscious effort to play down the vio-
lence in Assam? The feeling is that the media seems to be more
preoccupied and concerned about covering the plight of people of
the Northeast who left the cities of Bangalore and Pune, largely due
to rumour mills and concern about their safety. The same media
does not seem to be highlighting the plight of the lakhs of Muslims
who without any proof are being tarnished as Bangladeshis?
There is some truth in the allegations but the reality is that the
media which had all the resources at its disposal while covering the
riots in Ahmadabad and other parts of Gujarat, does not have the
same kind of resources and personnel to do an honest job in the rel-
atively remote areas of Kokrajhar and the Bodo tribal belt.
Still, a large section of the media, both electronic and print, has
been trying to bring out both sides of the story but the problem is
that people only want partial truth to be made palatable for their own
consumption.
The media is playing an extremely important and delicate role
of a communicator in a fragile and fragmented social and cultural
environment. Those media anchors and media personalities, who
believe in a knee-jerk reaction and express their views and opinion
at the drop of a hat, have to understand that few words and nega-
tive ideas can play havoc with the minds of the people.
The Indian media has often been accused of oversimplifying
and sensationalising reality. The concept of news as entertainment
where images of misery and suffering are directly brought to our
drawing rooms and news is consumed by the people as passive
spectators often loses its objectivity and fact-based orientation.
Blaming the media is not the only answer: The electronic and
print media are doing a great job but there is a conscious need to
bridge the gap between the perception of Muslims and the media.
A concerted effort needs to be made so that Muslims believe that
media is their friend, not their enemy.
Educated Muslims have always lamented the fact that they
dont have an English newspaper of their own or a channel to voice
their views on their social and economic issues. They must realise
that having a media platform in the form of a newspaper and news
channel is not the only answer to their problems.
Indian Muslims must get out of the syndrome of victimhood and
persecution and do some self-introspection. They must change
their attitude towards national issues and political parties. The
media can only mirror a reality, it cannot change it. It can only act as
a vehicle for dissemination of information but the relations between
various communities will depend on their own enlightened leader-
ship. (rediff.com)
More than 21,000 people are still
living in transit relief camps in Gujarat.
In other words, 10 years have passed by
and they are still awaiting to return to
their homes and lands.
Discrimination will cost
Congress dearly
Political parties may be shedding crocodile tears over the plight of
Muslims in India but they have done little to address the suffering
of the community. There are shocking reports of excesses against
the community members in Congress-governed states, let alone
those ruled by the BJP, where anti-minority statute is a reality.
Congress is doing in Assam precisely what the BJP government
did in Gujarat, post-Godhra.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs warning not to label
minority communities in India hasnt been of much help. Despite
his admonition against such labelling that fans communal senti-
ments, he, too, like former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, is
unsure of his partys political offensive in states like Assam,
Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
It seems Congress hasnt got enough inkling of what has been
happening in these states, particularly Assam and A.P., where a
large number of cases of Muslims being tortured, beaten up and
discriminated against are surfacing in human rights records. With
parliamentary polls not far, it could become tough for Congress,
which is known for using Muslims as a mere votebank.
Muslims in these states are often being harassed on the
charge of conniving with terrorists. A.P. and Maharashtra have
been largely holding Muslim youths responsible for the spate of
terror incidents. These states are victimising the minority commu-
nity in the name of combating terror.
Akin to BJPs Gujarat, where the state government allowed
state-sponsored excesses on Muslims, the Congress-ruled
states, particularly Assam and Andhra Pradesh, are doing some-
thing similar, if not actually encouraging a communal bloodbath
for political gains. Scores of Muslim youth are missing without any
legal trace in A.P. Even women are reportedly being picked up and
questioned by states police on the pretext of acting against those
supporting radical views. There is covert surveillance on predom-
inant Muslim localities in Hyderabad, and other small towns of the
state. In Maharashtra, it is the same story, whereby refusing to
implement Srikrishna Commission report on December 1992 and
January 1993 communal riots, Congress has antagonised
Muslims who till date have been struggling to seek justice. The
families of 1,500 people killed, 1,829 injured and 165 missing in
the gruesome riots so far have been denied a fair deal. Instead,
they are being hounded for their alleged links with terror groups.
In Assam, the situation is equally alarming. But it is A.P. that
has fared terribly on Congress partys report card. There are pro-
longed detentions of Muslim youths in college campuses, streets
and there are strip searches being done publicly in residential
localities. Analysts and human rights activists suggest that what
has been happening in the name of combating global terror in
London or Washington, is now happening in India. After every
bomb blasts, a large number of abductions and illegal detention of
Muslim youths has reportedly been taking place.
The Minorities Commission, in its report, points out that hun-
dreds from the Muslim community have been questioned and
interrogated, kept under surveillance, even beaten up and merci-
lessly tortured. Those who are being rounded up have no criminal
background and are as blameless as anybody with no evidence in
the court of law.
ZAFAR ALAM KHAN, Bhopal
SYED MUSTAFA SIRAJ, famous octogenarian
Bengali fiction writer and novelist died in
Kolkata on 4 September after a brief illness.
Born in a village in Murshidabad district of the
undivided Bengal in 1930 he was a prolific
writer who wrote more than 300 short stories
and as many as 150 novels, including some
detective ones. He wrote for children as well as
adults and unlike most of his modern contempo-
raries who are urban-conscious, almost all his
works depict rural background, people and
landscape. His short stories and novels have
been translated into many languages including
English, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Dogri and others.
He was honoured with Sahitya Academy Award
in 1994 for his novel Aleek Manush. His body
was taken from Kolkata to his native village, in
accordance with his wishes, for burial on
5 September. He leaves behind his wife, two
sons and two daughters.
ABDUR RASHID, noted Urdu journalist of
Mumbai died of heart attack in a Mumbai sub-
urb on 21 July at the age of 76 years. Born in
Bihar Sharif city of Bihar, he was educated at
Calcutta University and being associated with
progressive movement of India, he was an
active member of Communist Party of India for
a long time. After migrating to Mumbai around
1960 he started his journalistic career with the
daily Khilafat as its news editor. Shortly there-
after he started his own daily Urdu Reporter
which became very popular.
Justice ALTAMAS(H) KABIR, senior-most judge of Supreme Court of
India is tipped to become the next Chief Justice of India after retirement
of the present incumbent, Chief Justice S. H. Kapadia on 28 September
and on his recommendation of Justice Kabirs name as his successor.
His elevation to the highest office in Supreme Court will however be for
a very brief period of about 10 months only till 18 July 2013. The 64-year
old Justice Kabir will be the third Muslim CJI after Justices Muhamad
Hidayatullah and Justice A.M. Ahmadi. He is the nephew of late
Prof. Humayan Kabir, who was secretary in the union ministry of educa-
tion under Maulana Azad and subsequently a union minister.
QADRI HAFIZULLAH, special secretary in J&K governments home min-
istry has been appointed new Additional Commissioner of Kashmir in
place of Abdul Majeed Wani who has been appointed Additional
Registrar of Kashmir Cooperative.
Twenty-one year old RASHID KHAN of Delhi won the PGTI Players
Championship Award at Coimbatore Golf Club, Coimbatore by defeating
his rival Vikrant on 25 August. With this victory he earned an amount of
Rs. 3,23,000 and moved up from 10th to 5th position on Rolex ranking.
He now plans to participate in Asian Championship to be held in Malaysia
this month (September). Four others above him on Rolex rankings (as of
2012) are Anirbhan Lahiri of Secundarabad, Digvijay Sing of DLF,
Shamim Khan of Delhi and Muhammad Siddiqur Rahman of Bangalore.
Fifth is, as stated above, Rashid Khan himself.
MANZAR SHAHID ABBAS RIZVI, CDO of Sitapur and interim D.M. of
Sitapur has been appointed Controller of Shia Waqf Board after dissolu-
tion of Shia Central Waqf Board and consequent resignation of its chair-
man Wasim Rizvi. It may be stated in this connection that the prominent
Shia leader and religious scholar Maulana Kalbe Jawad had been per-
sistently demanding removal of Shia Waqf Boards chairman Wasim Rizvi
because of corruption rampant in this Board. In deference to his persist-
ent demand U.P. government dissolved Shia Central Waqf Board and
after reconstitution, appointed PCS officer Manzar Shahid Abbas Rizvi,
reputed to be an officer of clean image, as the controller of this Board.
Dr. ASADULLAH KHAN, Associate Professor in AMUs Inter Disciplinary
Biotechnology Unit has been appointed Units Coordinator by AMU-V.C.
Lt. Gen. Zamiruddin Shah till further orders. Dr. Asadullah Khans
appointment is in place of Prof. M. Salimuddin who retired on 9 August.
MAULANAABDUL HAKEEM QASMI, Chairman of the famous pharma-
ceutical company, Rex Remedies (P) Ltd. has been appointed a Member
of union health ministrys Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine
(CCRUM)s Scientific Advisory Committee by the government of India.
MAULANA KAUSAR HAYAT KHAN, U.P. state President of Indian
Union Muslim League has been appointed by union HRD ministry a
member of the 31-member National Advisory Council for improving
educational system of madrasas which is headed by HRD minister
Kapil Sibal, whose Vice President is E. Ahmad, union minister of
state.
Nawab KAZIM ALI Khan of Rampur, mutawalli (Trustee) of seven Shia
Waqf Boards including that of Husaini Sarai Waqf Board of Rampur
has been sacked from his post by Shia Central Waqf Board in pur-
suance of courts order. He (Nawab Kazim Ali) was accused of illegal-
ly occupying Waqf properties, collecting money and acting against the
wishes of Auqaf.
Ms. TAMANNA AZIZUL HAQ BOBAIRAY, a former student of KEM
School, Bhiwandi has achieved the distinction of becoming the first
Muslim lady of Bhiwandi to become a Chartered Accountant by
achieving marvellous success in C.A. examination. She started her
primary education from KEMS High School and achieved distinctive
success in all examinations.
DR AKMAL HUSAIN, Sr Scientist, Govt of India, has been appointed as
CEO UP Sunni Central Waqf Board at Lucknow. He joined his new post
on 27 August 2012.
NEWSMAKERS
12 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
MEN & WOMEN IN NEWS
OBITUARIES
A.A. KHAN, Executive Director-cum-Asset
Manager of Rajahmundry Asset of Oil & Natural
Gas Corporation (ONGC) was honoured by
ONGCs Chairman & Mg. Director, Sudhir
Vasudeva with an Award under whose leader-
ship and control ONGCs Rajahmundry Asset
was declared the Best Onshore Performing
Asset for scoring excellent performance in all
the important fields such as drilling, production
(crude and gas), health and safety, environ-
ment, sale of gas, finance and human resource.
The award, instituted for the first time, was pre-
sented to him (A. A. Khan) on the occasion of
Indias Independence Day celebrations at
ONGCs Head Office at Dehradun.
ZAFRULLAH KHAN, noted social and political
worker has been appointed national general
secretary of Janta Dal (S) by its President H.D.
Deve Goda, former Prime Minister of India.
RAHMANI FOUNDATION of Maulana
Muhammad Wali Rahmani has, in view and
appreciation of its valuable services in social,
educational, environmental, health and welfare
fields, been honoured by All India Business
Development Association with its Bhartiya
Vikas Ratn Award. This Award, consisting of a
Trophy and Letter of Appreciation was given by
Dr. Bhishm Narain Singh, former Governor of
Tamil Nadu and Assam to Rahmani
Foundations representative, Maulana Zafar
Abdur Rauf Rahmani, secretary of Rahmani
Foundations Department of Education at a
function held at Constitution Club, New Delhi on
3 September.
Ms. REHANA AKHTAR working at Sher-e
Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar
was honoured with Presidents National
Florence Nightingale Award 2012 for her out-
standing contribution in Nursing Research at a
grand function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi. The Award consisted of Rs. 50,000,
a Medal and Certificate of Merit. She received
many other awards and honours on earlier
occasions. She is highly qualified in different
disciplines of medical therapy and has more
than 20 publications to her credit.
Dr. PIYA ELIZABETH, noted intellectual of
Copenhagen who is actively trying to promote
Urdu in Denmark, OWAIS JAMAL SHAMSI,
famous poet who wrote the tarana (song) of
Jamia Urdu and Dr. KHALID AMEER, Principal
of M.A.H. Inter College of Ghazipur (U.P.) were
honoured with Jamia Urdu Excellence Award
at a function held at AMUs Kennedy Hall, spon-
sored by Jamia Urdu. In addition to these peo-
ple, Jamia Urdu Excellence Award was also
given to Johnny Foster for composing the
tarana of Jamia Urdu and many others for their
specialization in their respective subjects.
Mrs. JAMILA FIRDAUS, Special Educator &
Psychologist of Navrachana School, Baroda
and Mrs. MANJU ARIF, Principal of Delhi
Public School, Bangalore are among the 67
prominent Principals, Teachers and Mentors
who were honoured with Central Board of
Secondary Education National Awards 2011
by union HRD, communications and
Information Technology minister Kapil Sibal
at a function held at India International
Centre, New Delhi on 4 September on the
occasion of Teachers Day which is celebrated
on 5 September every year.
Mrs. SHIELA DIKSHIT chief minister of Delhi
state, has been honoured alongwith some
others like MULAYAM SINGH Yadav,
Bollywood actor of yesteryears DILIP
KUMAR (Yusuf Khan), senior Urdu poet
GULZAR Dehlvi and journalist ASAD RAZA
(of Rashtraya Sahara Urdu) by Jamia Urdu,
Aligarh with its Ductoor-e Adab (D. Litt.) 2012
Degree in recognition of her / their services
and contribution for the promotion of Urdu
language and Literature. The Degree
(Honoris Causa) was presented to her on
behalf of Jamia Urdu (Aligarh) by Delhi
Minorities Commissions Chairman Safdar
H. Khan personally in her office on
3 September in the presence of her cabinet
colleagues and some others.
AWARDS
Prof. M. N. Faruqi, the
Vice Chancellor of
AMU during 1990-94,
passed away on Friday
24 August 2012. The
year of his arrival and
my enrolment at AMU
coincided. I was struck
with the kind of warm
reception he was given
by the students. I had
never even heard of
such pomp and show
despite the fact that I come from a family of an academic, an
alumnus of one of the most prestigious universities of India.
Prof. Faruqi had to quit prematurely. He had brought a bright,
Professor Yahya, of IIT Delhi as his Pro-Vice Chancellor who was
forced out soon after joining. The one who succeeded him was
considered good at his academic accomplishments but his
tenure is remembered only for having sandwiched the AMU
between the warring groups of the lumpens supposedly patron-
ized by him and the Controller. The lumpen students had turned
dangerously violent against Prof. Yahya. Bombs were also used
in the frequent shows of muscle strength. Soon, frequent group-
clashes among the students became order of the day. Regional
and sub-regional polarizations were the ideological fodder given
to the beastly student upsurges and mobilizations. Each of the
SS Hall, Sulaiman Hall, SZ Hall, M. M. Hall, and the R. M. Hall
came to be identified as dens of the lumpens from specific
regions/sub-regions. They were determining which teacher will
get what kind of academic-administrative assignment, which
Department will have Selection Committee, and who will be
recruited/ promoted. The notoriously patriarchic orientations of
the AMU people started having lewd gossips about the male VC
and the female Controller, who was also supposed to be patron-
izing a group of lumpens. The ring-leader of this group contested
AMU Students Union elections not to win
even once; still he went on to accumulate
much wealth.
Prof. Faruqi, a bulky, tall, handsome
man with husky voice was a kind-hearted soul with lots of sym-
pathies for the human beings in general and for the students in
particular. He had much larger heart with deep spirit of forgive-
ness for the erring students, and even teachers. This good qual-
ity of him proved to be a liability for his image as it was exploited
by the crooks of the campus to the hilt. I have mixed memories
of him. Arguably, many recruitments done during his tenure con-
tributed towards breaking the academic backbone of AMU.
Contemporary insiders know it pretty well that many people owe
their jobs in AMU to Mrs. Faruqi; the access to the VC Lodge was
too democratic; few visionaries had made their way to the
aunty and her kitchen.
Students came to know it more clearly than ever before that
there existed deeply entrenched vested interests in AMU where-
by the lobbies of the teachers made use of student groups for
their dirtiest possible narrow self-interests, not to say of the nexus
with the land mafia. This is how the administration was paralysed;
the heartrending lawlessness overshadowed his academic con-
tributions and vision. His close associates tell that he had the tact
of obtaining funds for AMU. He was the one who computerized
the campus, brought new professional courses like the B.Tech. in
Computer, M.F.C., and M.T.A.; and the Institute of Agriculture
when Balram Jakhar, the Union Minister of Agriculture, was made
the chief guest on the Sir Syed Day; added Urdu medium sec-
tions in the AMU schools.
He had to face turbulent days: 1990 and 1991 had commu-
nal riots in Aligarh; 1992 was the horrific year of the demolition of
the Babri Masjid, when he went on to say, refer the matter to the
UNO; this was either an innocent or a bold statement, unflatter-
ing to the government of the day; contrast it with the pliant VCs;
1993 had huge student upsurge; and in 1994 he had to quit.
Prof. Faruqi had to contend with many problems: The Leftists
on the campus were undergoing moral and academic degenera-
tion (they soon split), Rightists were in ascendance; few years
before his arrival, they had already demonstrated their stick-
wielding strength in protest against the youth festival; a consider-
able number of the students, teachers, and waiting-to-become-
teachers came from an upstart, neo-rich, first generation entrants
to the university education; they had their own cultural-behaviour-
al specificities.
Prof. Faruqi should be appreciated for having opened up the
rot of AMU hidden since long. New groups of students got
access to the files and workings (rules of the games) of some
offices. He, sort of, democratized the disorder in AMU, and the
loot was no longer the monopoly of a few; it was rather much
broad-based. He, perhaps wittingly, exposed the rot, laid the
things bare open. This expos has had an implication. The holy
and sacred image of AMU started taking back-seat, creating
spaces for airing criticism against its ailments, and its plunderers.
Prof. Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqis flattering chauvinism about AMU
had to give way to some iconoclastic critique about its academic
and political culture. There started emerging a climate of opinion
to enable AMU speak if not fight against such evils. The morbid
logic of Dont expose the ills of AMU as it will bring a bad name
to the university was damned. The task, of course, remains still
unaccomplished. Prof. Faruqi did a big job by publishing, My
Days at Aligarh, even though he spoke in disturbingly good words
for a particularly notorious section of the lumpen students oper-
ating during his tenure. He has been appreciably candid and
unambiguous in putting many records of AMU straight. Even bet-
ter thing about him is that he had courage of conviction, and had
no hesitation in confessing his mistakes of having recruited a
large number of incompetent people and kept reminding some of
his successor VCs and other Aligs that such mistakes should not
be repeated. He was so sad about this, that he remained reluc-
tant about visiting AMU after having left it in utter disgust.
Dil mein zauq-e-wasl wa yaad-e-yaar tak baqi nahin
Aag is ghar mein lagi aisi ke jo tha jal gaya (Ghalib)
Notwithstanding, his human frailties, this feeling of contrite,
remorse, and repentance should hopefully add to his merit of
being a noble and kind-hearted human being, besides his many
good contributions not only to AMU but also to the IIT Kharagpur
which resurged back to number one with his gigantic efforts.
MOHAMMAD SAJJAD
Asstt. Prof., Centre of Advanced Study in History, AMU
(Excerpted from a posting on AMU Network)
PROF. M. N. FARUQI
Indian Muslim organisations continue to tour the
riot-affected refugee camps in Assam. A five-
member team from Khudai Khidmatgar led by
Faisal Khan visited the area during 16-25
August to spread the message of peace. The
team visited Dhubri district where a huge num-
ber of refugees are stationed. The team met
there some religious leaders as well as some
local political leaders and visited nearby camps
on the same day. Next day (19th August), they
met local youth, volunteers and a team of advo-
cates at the Dhubri divisional court. On 20th
August, the Eid day, the team met some clerics
and mohalla representatives, and discussed
with Trinamool Congress Assam state general
secretary Mr. Noorul Ameen and with otherl
office-bearers of the party. On the same day
they visited some other camps in nearby vil-
lages. The visited areas included
Madusalmadi, Khaskhama, Goi Bazaar,
Dumordaha and Khasbari. On 21st August, the
team visited camps at Bilasipara, Hapapara,
Tiapara and Kasipara and started visiting Bodo
camps at Kokhrajar. At Kokhrajar, some of the
friends advised the team to go to Bodo camps
with proper Police security only, even the
District Administration Strictly ordered them to
get security. Raju Nurjery, a Bodo friend, invited
the team to his office and then accompanied the
team to the camps where some members from
communal forces were present and were mis-
guiding Bodo people. Before a critical situation
could develop the Police officers advised the
team to leave the place. The same day the team
went to Tamalpur village at Rangiya District
where a mosque has been attacked by
granades and explosives but the team could
not visit the mosque due to curfew in the area.
On 22nd August, the team went to Guwahati to
discuss the issue with peace activists and
Gandhians. The team also visited UST
University and had a discussion with its
Chancellor Mr. Mahbubul Haque. The team had
an excellent meeting with eminent personalities
and intellectualsat Guwahati.
SPECIAL REPORT
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 13
Khudai Khidmatgar in
Assam camps
President of India Pranab Mukherjee receives Bohra leader Prince Dr. Qaidjoher
Ezzuddin at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on 3 September. Prince Ezzuddin
conveyed felicitations and blessings from HH Dr.Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin.
Coal scam
MG/Yusuf
Mumbai Police earned laurels for
its restraint at Azad Maidan but
bared its ugly face inside police
stations and Arthur Road jail with
the youth arrested in the wake of
the rioting at the Maidan. One of
its victims is 26-year-old Abbas
Ujjainwala who was picked up by
the cops for no rhyme or reason
and seven of his teeth knocked
out. Later, CCTV footage estab-
lished that he was in Kurla at the
time riots erupted at Azad
Maidan.
According to a report in Free Press Journal (29 August), on August 11,
it was not just the rioters who behaved like hooligans but the law enforcers
too behaved like rioters, going on mindless rampage of their own and
breaking seven teeth of a young boy who wasnt even part of the riots. The
Rapid Action Force beat up 26-year-old Abbas Ujjainwala on the night of
August 11 when he went to Azad Maidan looking for a friend. Abbas, who
was at home when the riots took place early in the evening, had gone to
Azad Maidan at 9:30 PM after the riots stopped, to look for his friend who
hadnt returned from the protest meet.
On seeing him, the RAF men thrashed him with batons, knocking out
seven of his teeth. He was arrested and, incidentally, acquitted by the
court on 28 August. A CCTV installed in Taxi Mens Colony, Kurla, where
he resides, came to his rescue. The footage showed Ujjainwala shopping
near his house at the time van-
dals were wreaking havoc at
Azad Maidan.
Apart from Abbas, three
more acquitted youth were beat-
en black and blue by the RAF
and the Arthur Road Jail authori-
ties before being set free nearly
14 days later. All the 23
accused, who were acquitted
owing to lack of evidence, were
to be sent for an immediate med-
ical check up after Advocate
Khalid Azmi filed an application
on 25 August on behalf of their family members stating that they d were
beaten up in Arthur Road Jail. Abbas said he was verbally abused and
threatened by the Arthur Road Jail authorities. I was beaten up in such a
manner that they left no visible injuries on my body. They mostly assault-
ed us with punches and kicks, Abbas added.
Another acquitted youth, Anees Dawaray (23), a garage mechanic,
also said the police at Arthur Road jail beat him up. Aslam Ali Shaikh (19),
a FY B.com student at MD College in Dadar, who was also wrongly picked
up by the police on the eve of the riots, has a harrowing account to nar-
rate. Immediately after releasing me from Taloja jail on 28 August, I had
to be rushed to a private nursing home for dressing of wounds. I can bare-
ly walk. They beat me on my legs with a stick at Arthur Jail Road, said a
visibly shaken Shaikh.
Irans connection to Indias Sikhs
Tehran: It could simply be lore now, but if the story Jugal Kishore, the principal of Tehrans new
Kendriya Vidyalaya told us is true, Irans province of Zahedan was named after Sikh gentlemen,
called Zaheds - the pious - by the Shah at the time. Earlier it was called Dozdab meaning a town of
bandits by the water. When the Shah visited, he found Sikh gentlemen in white robes, and flowing
beards and asked what they were doing among the thieves. And thats how Zahedan got its name.
For the Sikhs, Iran is sacred ground, in their Taqdeer as the priest in the local Gurudwara says,
while addressing the sangat and its special guest, Mrs Gursharan Kaur. They believe that Guru
Nanak crossed through Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq on his way to Mecca, and thats why Sikh popu-
lations, dwindling as they may be, go back centuries.
Narender Kaur tells us when her parents arranged her marriage to Santok Singh Saini, 55 years
ago, she could never have imagined considering any place other than Iran home. Although their reli-
gious freedom wasnt curbed by the Islamic Republic, things changed after the revolution.
Restrictions on women- their clothes and movement, the difficulty in owning property or getting busi-
ness licenses meant that several of Tehrans nearly 3500 strong Sikh community began to leave.
Today their numbers have fallen to about 50 or 60 families, and they still make up the bulk of the
Indian diaspora in Iran. Narender Kaurs is one of them. Her husband has a small business, but her
three children have long left the country for greener pastures. For younger families, who still have
strong business ties here, many have made their peace with the changing situation. Their children go
to the school Jugal Kishore runs. He tells us, the Sikh community approached the Indian government
after the Islamic revolution in 1979 to help run the school, as the community that had started and paid
for its upkeep and resources was beginning to leave.
During this visit to Tehran, as the Prime minister met with representatives of the Indian commu-
nity, his wife, Mrs Gursharan Kaur gave grants of 2 crore rupees for the upkeep of the school and 20
lakh rupees to the Gurudwara for its running. The small community, many of whom continue to be
Indian citizens continues to look towards Delhi to safeguard its interests. (Excerpted from a story by
Maya Mirchandani on ndtv.com)
Source: Free Press Journal
The Gurdwara at Tehran
Bombay Polices ugly face
COMMUNITY NEWS
14 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
AMU VC donates blood
Aligarh: AMU VC
Lt. General (retd)
Zameer Uddin
Shah donated one
unit of blood in a
bl ood- donat i on
camp organized
by the Resident
D o c t o r s
Association (RDA)
in collaboration with the Blood Bank, Department of Pathology, J.
N. Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University here on 1
September.
In order to inspire students and staff of AMU, Shah donated
blood in spite of the age limit suggested by the medical science.
Later, Shah visited the Blood Bank, Department of Pathology and
Medical College Library. He said that the Medical College and
University schools were on his top priority and he was trying hard
to garner more and more financial support from different channels
for the hospital and hoped there will be remarkable up-gradation
in the facilities at the Medical College hospital. About 60 resident
and junior doctors donated blood at the camp adding around 60
unit blood to the blood bank.
AMU to have separate students union for girls college
Aligarh: The Aligarh Muslim University will have a separate stu-
dents union for girls instead of a single union as administered
during the last academic session. This is in accordance with the
Lyngdoh Committee recommendations which provided that if
there was a separation between two campuses, the institution
could have two separate unions. AMU V.C. Zameeruddin Shah
said there was no discrimination against girls as the elected
President of Womens College Students Union would be ex-offi-
cio member of the Executive Committee of the AMU Students
Union.
School established in memory of Kausar Farooqui
Pune: Rasheed Kausar Farooqui Nursery School and Madrasah
was inaugurated here on 15 July this year in memory of the leg-
endary poet, scholar and mufassir of the Holy Quran, late Prof.
Rasheed Kausar Farooqui. He had nurtured a team of dedicated
workers through his organisation, Al-Shubbanul Muslimoon. The
school is located in Muhammadwadi area of Pune and is run by
Al-Shubbanul Muslimoon Trust.
One dead, many injured in Delhi violence
New Delhi: One person was killed and many people were injured
here on 2 Sept as police fired at a mob which went on a rampage
after two men on a two-wheeler were injured when police tried to
forcibly stop them. The protesters set fire to a police booth, a DTC
bus and many other vehicles in Mayur Vihar phase-III, police said.
While police refused to say if the man was killed in the police fir-
ing, residents insisted it was so. Police said that the two-wheeler
was stopped at the checkpoint as both riders were not wearing
helmets. They were drunk and fled when a traffic policeman tried
to stop them. They also indulged in an argument with the police-
man, said a police officer. Awitness, however, said when the vehi-
cle did not stop at the check point, a traffic officer threw a stick at
them, which hit them and making them fall on the road. One of the
two injured was identified by police as Kamruddin, in his 20s, who
was in critical condition at Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital. The
police officer said a mob collected at the spot and started pelting
stones at the police team. They also set a DTC bus, a mini truck,
a car, three bikes and the police booth on fire. Police said that
they had to fire shots in the air and use tear gas to restrain the
crowd. Following the incident, around 20 companies (1,600 men)
of Delhi Armed Police have been deployed in and around the
Mayur Vihar area, across the Yamuna, while thousands of people
continued protesting at different places. To avoid further tension,
roads to the area were blocked by police and pickets set up every
500 metres. Ambulances and fire tenders were stationed for any
emergency situation. Police said the situation was under control
after midnight.
Mamata bans IPS officers critical book
Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress govern-
ment in West Bengal has banned IPS officer Nazrul Islams book,
Musalmander Ki Karaniya (What Muslims Should Do), in which he
has highlighted the plight of Muslims in the state and the double
standard of the present government in improving their condi-
tion. The book, which was released a month ago, has been pub-
lished by Kolkata-based publisher Mitra and Ghosh. On 1 Sept,
officials from the Enforcement Branch of Kolkata Police raided the
office, sales counter and godown of the publishing house and
took away copies of the book.
The intellectuals of the state have come out against the gov-
ernments move, calling it draconian. We are shocked to know
about the state governments decision of banning the book, said
filmmakerMrinal Sen. Noted littrateur Sunil Gangopadhyay also
minced no words to protest the governments decision. This cul-
tural policing should be condemned by everybody, he said.
The IPS officer, who was an ardent critic of the Left Front gov-
ernment, has penned down several books, a few of them criticis-
ing the role of the Marxists in controlling the police. He was cen-
sured by the Left Front government at that time and was alleged-
ly denied promotions. When Mamata Banerjee became Railway
Minister, she made him an official of the Railways in charge of
safety. But after Trinamool Congress came to power in the state,
Mamata made him an officer on Special duty in the Home
Department, which he refused.
AMU Vice Chancellor welcomed at Womens College
Aligahr: No socie-
ty or country can
progress without
e m p o w e r i n g
women and no
change in the
direction and con-
dition of Muslim
community can be
envisaged without
the educational
development of its
women, said the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University,
Zameeruddin Shah while addressing the felicitation programme
at the century-old Womens College.
Shah said that his emphasis will be on providing better aca-
demic and residential facilities to the women students of the
University so that they are able to enjoy a dignified position in the
society. He said he considered the girl students of the University
as his daughters and this is why he started addressing them with
the prefix of my daughters.
The Vice Chancellor observed that Islam gave special regard
to the womenfolk and he wished that the female students of the
University contributed in spreading enlightenment. He urged the
girls to pay special attention to English language and get
acquainted with spoken English as it was the basic qualification to
get on par with others in the current career market. He said that
Indian labourers learn to speak Arabic within a few months when
they go to Saudi Arabia, then why cannot they learn speaking in
English fluently. He said that he has initiated upgradation in library
and dining hall facilities for female students.
AMUs All India Essay Writing Competition
Aligarh: AMU has announced an all India essay writing competi-
tion in English on Do the new AMU Centres of Malappuram and
Murshidabad come within the ambit of Sir Syeds vision of spread
of modern education throughout India. The essay carries three
cash prizes of Rs. 25,000, Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 10,000 respective-
ly. Besides State level toppers of aforesaid competition will also
be given a sum of Rs. 5,000.00 as consolation prize. The essay
must be sent to the Public Relations Officer, AMU; Aligarh latest
by 25th September 2012. More information about the competition
are available from the AMU PRO Dr. Rahat Abrar, email:
rahatabrar@gmail.com.
Pamphlet on Ibn Safi
New Delhi: A pamphlet on
the life and works of the
great Urdu novelist Ibn Safi
(d. 1980) was released
here on 1 September by
known Unani physician
and Urdu activist Dr. Sayed
Ahmad Khan. The pam-
phlet is a precursor of a 500-page special issue to be published
soon Urdu Book Review. Dr. Khan commended Ibn Safis efforts
to offer novels free from pornography and unethical elements.
Schools and colleges open in Bareilly after 40 days
Bareilly: With conditions almost back to normal in Bareilly, day-
time curfew in 4 sensitive Thana areas was completely lifted from
5 in the morning till 7 in the evening in the whole city on 21 August
and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.
Accordingly all schools and colleges re-opened on 21 August
after 40 days which had been closed from 12 July during which
period major and minor incidents of rioting and violence at some
places or the other were taking place. District Magistrate
Abhishek Prakash said that the situation is peaceful and under
control and day-time curfew has been finally lifted from curfew-
bound areas. People celebrated Eid on Monday 20 August peace-
fully. Till that time around 350 people accused and suspected of
rioting, violence and breach of peace had been taken into cus-
tody. Rapid Action Force and PAC personnel alongwith district
police are however patrolling and keeping vigil in the city and sub-
urban areas.
Windfall for Muslims of Uttrakhand on the occasion of Eid
Dehradoon: Uttrakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna announced
a number of steps to be taken by his government for the benefit
of Muslims on the occasion of Eid. These include constitution of a
fund for the development of minorities, arrangements for impart-
ing of Urdu education in schools and universities, provision of
facilities under sarva shiksha abhiyan in Islamic madrasas, con-
cessions and facilities for 12th pass girls belonging to poor fami-
lies, subsidy for unemployed (Muslim) youth, promotion of Urdu,
development of Klair Dargah on the pattern of the Ajmer Sharif
Dargah and so on. Congratulating the people of the state on the
occasion of Eid, he said in a press conference that in view of the
spirit of this festival in which kindness and large heartedness is
shown towards the needy and deprived people, his government
had decided to take steps for promoting education and providing
employment opportunities among people belonging to the minor-
ity community for their overall progress and development.
He further said that in Klair near Roorki a Haj House at the
cost of Rs. 4 crores will be built. In addition to developing Klair
Sharif Dargah on the pattern of Ajmer Sharif Dargah, a Minority
Development Fund of Rs. 25 crores will be created for people
(Muslims) living in far off places. A self-employment scheme will
also be started for minorities (Muslims) under which they will be
given a subsidy of 2.25 percent. In addition to these, Urdu teach-
ers will be appointed for teaching Urdu in 6th class and arrange-
ments will also be made for teaching and promoting Urdu in
degree colleges.
Hindu groups doctor images for inciting
New Delhi: When Pakistan is accused of doctoring images and
videos showing alleged atrocities on Muslims in Assam, Hindu
groups too encashed the opportunity to fan communal passion
among the Hindus. Captioned as atrocities against Assamese
Hindus by illegal migrant Muslims.
According to agencies a large number of SMSes that spread
panic among people from the north-east living across the country
were generated by fringe Hindu groups. The panic resulted in
mass exodus from Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. An official has
been quoted saying Everyone is trying to ride the Assam conflict
bandwagon for their own parochial and political gains. Right-wing
Hindu groups have played a major role in spreading panic. The
portrayal of all Bodos as Hindus is also inaccurate as some are
Christians. About 20% of the web pages - blocked by government
agencies - were uploaded by the right wing Hindu fundamentals
seeking to polarize the country along communal lines. (AG Khan)
Maha pro-active police implicates innocents
Mumbai: Having acquired notoriety for falsely implicating innocent
Muslims again and again the Maha police tried to implicate many
more. In two such cases documentary proof of their absence from
the Azad Maidan violence has been provided.
Aslam Ali (19) son of a businessman Ahmad Shaikh was
arrested for his alleged involvement in the Azad Maidan violence.
Ahmad Shaikh submitted CCTV clippings to prove that on 11
August the accused was at home. I have submitted 13 CDs and
photographs of the society to claim that Aslam was very much at
his house when the riots broke out at Azad Maidan. Himanshu
Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime) promised, If he is
proved innocent we will release him.
In another instance Syed Khalid Ashraf, a cleric whose name
is included among the 17 people against whom FIR has been
lodged, claimed that he was at Mecca for Umrah. He substantiat-
ed his claim by submitting the arrival and departure entries on his
passport. He left on 5 August and returned on 13 Aug. while the
riot took place on 11 August. His name was given by an informer
and his name would be dropped after verification
Dehradoon: Uttrakhand, called Devbhoomi i.e. land of gods and
is famous for its pilgrimage centres, its Dehradun also has the
honour of being the centre of a large rare collection where differ-
ent manuscripts, calligraphic and artistic samples of the Quran
and other related things and memorials are preserved in Tasmia
Holy Quran Library. This Library also contains the first, seven-
coloured manuscript which was published in Ludhiana in 1907
which the king of Afghanistan Ameer Abdullah Khan Bahadur got
published. In addition to these, there is also the large metallic
globe in this Library on which verses of the Quran are inscribed.
It is believed that this globe proved very auspicious for this king
because his kingdom had spread far and wide and had become
larger than the kingdom of Moghul emperors and rulers.
This Library contains manuscripts of Qurans of all sizes,
shapes and weights. If one is pocket size, the other is as large as
a big board; if the weight of one leaf of a Quran is 2 grams, there
is another Quran one leaf of which weighs 4 kilos, it is of copper
and the Quranic verses are written on it. Total weight of this
Quran is about 2 quintals. One surprising thing is that there is
a Quran in this Library which is sweet-smelling. Every leaf of this
Quran emits a sweet smell. What is even more surprising and
marvellous is that it has been lying in this Library for 64 years but
its sweet smell has not at all diminished. The Holy verses of the
Quran are written and inscribed on different kinds of mediums
such as leaves of coconut, wood, metals, cloth and even on ani-
mal skins like those of goats, camel, deer, horse, sheep and fish.
Qurans with translations and exigesis of different ulama and
scholars are also kept in this Library. These translations are in dif-
ferent Indian and foreign languages. There is even a Quran in a
language which even blind people can also read (Braille print).
This Library also contains large number of janamazs (prayer
carpets or mats) of different kinds and materials as well as caps
of different types and materials. Different kinds of perfumes are
also stored in this Library. A big box prepared out of a peepal tree
is also here on which names are inscribed in carved wood. In this
wooden box different herbs, spices, fruits, wood, roots and other
things are safely kept which are mentioned in the Quran. In this
library, every year an exhibition sponsored by Tasmia All India
Educational & Social Welfare Society is held since 2005 under
the title Quran Majeed in the light of the art of calligraphy. This
exhibition is held in the month of Ramadan. This year this exhibi-
tion was inaugurated by Uttrakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi. In his
speech on this occasion, he appreciated the initiative taken by S.
Farooq, President of Tasmia All India Educational & Social
Welfare Society to popularise the message of peace and harmo-
ny through calligraphy and arts. (NAAnsari)
Tasmia Library houses rare Quran mss
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 15
COMMUNITY NEWS
JUH to build Jamiat Nagar in Assam
New Delhi: President of Jamiatul Ulama-e Hind (JUH), Maulana
Arshad Madni said while speaking at a one-day conference of
JUHs executive committee, held at its head office at Bahadur
Shah Zafar Marg (near ITO) that loot and massacre of Muslims
by Bodo terrorists has been going on in Assam from 22 July and
that even at present Muslims were being shot and killed in
Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Dhubri etc. They were being burnt
alive also and their houses were being bulldozed. Proofs and
documents of their being Indian citizens were being destroyed
because of which conditions were becoming more explosive day
by day but instead of controlling this situation, Assams Gogoi
government while pursuing BJPs ideology and agenda appears
to be siding with the Bodos. Hence the executive committee of
Jamiatul Ulama once again has emphatically demanded that the
Indian government control this situation on a war footing, arrest
Bodo terrorists, confiscate their illegal arms, make arrangements
for the return of more than 5 lakh uprooted and homeless
Muslims who were living in refugee camps, to their homes with
foolproof security and till that time make suitable arrangements
for their meals and accommodation in refugee camps and foil all
conspiratorial attempts and activities of the Assam government
and BJP and its outfits against Muslims.
He further said that in this meeting of the executive commit-
tee many proposals were approved, most important of which was
that Jamiat Nagar would be set up in riot-hit areas of Assam
where arrangements would be made for the accommodation of
uprooted and homeless Muslims. He said that in Kokrajhar,
Chirang, Baksa and Dhubri, not only were Muslims shot and
killed but according to his information, they were also burnt alive
on a large scale. He said that when all indications and proofs of
Assam Muslims being Indian citizens were being, and have been,
destroyed they do not understand whether the government would
be able to give them homes. Hence Jamiatul Ulama has decided
to provide homes to such homeless people in Jamiat Nagar. He
said that on earlier occasions also Jamiat Nagars were set set up
in Kashmir, Bihar, Gujarat etc. He said that Jamiats executive
committee has also unanimously decided that a hundred help-
less and weak children will be selected from affected areas of
Assam and arrangements would be made for their primary and
higher education for which a annual budget of Rs. 50 lakh has
been drawn up.
He said that arrangements were already being made by JUH
for the eating and drinking of lakhs of Muslims in refugee camps
and right from day one they have been expressing their worries
about these victims after the massacre in Assam and were also
warning the central and Assam governments to bring the situa-
tion under control at the earliest. He further said that after the
executive committee meeting a delegation of Jamiatul Ulama
would meet UPAs chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress general
secretary Rahul Gandhi and home minister Shinde and put for-
ward their demands to them.
He said in his presidential address that the on-going racial
discrimination and violence in Assam, frightening Muslims by
spreading rumours among the people with the help of social net-
working media and putting the blame on Muslims, indiscriminate
arrests of innocent Muslim youth by ATSs, of different states,
planned campaign of their character assassination and chain of
communal riots in UP are different aspects of conspiracies by
anti-Muslim forces whose objective was to divide the people
along communal lines to occupy the seat of power in Delhi at all
cost in the 2014 general election. Hence they had to foil these
objectives of communal forces. Most of the important leaders and
office bearers of JUH (Arshad group) participated in this confer-
ence in addition to many special invitees and observers.
Communal riots
Belgaum: Communal riots broke out in this city on 27 August in
which two persons were killed and one person is reported to have
been injured who has been admitted to a hospital. According to
Supdt. of Police Sandeep Patil riots erupted when some people
of a community started exploding crackers in front of a place of
worship. This minor incident took a serious communal turn lead-
ing to the death of two persons. Twenty-eight persons have been
arrested in this connection. No loss of property, cases of arson,
damage to vehicles etc. were reported. According to Sandeep
Patil, the situation was under control, though as a precautionary
measure all schools and colleges of the city have been ordered
to be closed till further orders. According to police sources, no
other such case was reported from any other part of the city.
Jamia Rizvia of Bareilly to be upgraded to a university
Bareilly: Aala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Fazil Bareilvi in
pursuance of Gods message as revealed in the Quran through
His Messenger Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the form of Iqra
and in furtherance of which Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself
had asked his followers to acquire knowledge and learning right
from the mothers lap to the grave, and realising the lack of edu-
cation among Muslim, had set up a madrasa named Darul Uloom
Manzar-e Islam in Bareillys muhallah Saudagran in 1904.
Subsequently Maulana Rahman Raza Khan had changed its
name to Jamia Rizvia Manzar-e Islam because he wanted to
make it a university. Sajjada Nashin of Aala Hazrats Dargh
Maulana Subhan Raza Khan, in view of the shortage of space in
Jamia Rizvia declared on the occasion of Aala Hazrats urs last
year that it would be shifted to a new place for which 50 bighas
of land near Sona on the Shahjahanpur Road would be pur-
chased. Building plan of the new Jamia has been prepared.
In the new building of the Jamia there will be separate rooms
for all departments, a central hall and separate hostel, library and
computer room buildings. The objective of shifting Jamia Rizvia
Manzar-e Islam is to enable prospective students from all over
the world to come to Bareilly to take admission in this Jamia. In
the present Jamia there is room for 400 students only but after its
expansion and upgradation to a university, the number of stu-
dents will shoot up many times and additional branches could
also be opened. In this Jamia students will get Aalim and Fazil
degrees/certificates in eight years and moreover, they will also
get the opportunity of learning about the Aala Hazrats life, works
and valuable services. He (Aala Hazrat) wrote more than 1100
books including Tajruma-e Quran Kanzul Eeman, Fatawa Rizvia,
Tajdeed-e Eeman, Hidayat-e Nau. It may also be stated that in
addition to religious and theological books he also wrote books
on science and mathematics.
U.P. Shia Board chairman expelled from S.P.
Lucknow: Wasim Rizvi, chairman of Shia Waqf Board, U.P. who
is also a former corporator of Lucknow Municipal Corporation
was expelled by Samajwadi Party for six years because of indis-
cipline and anti-party activities. He had joined Samajwadi Party
after it was voted to power in the assembly election last March.
Independent observers however feel and say that truly speaking
he was not guilty of indiscipline and anti-party activity. It was
because of mutual recriminations between him (Rizvi) and Shia
religious leader Maulana Kalbe Jawad. Both were accusing each
other of misuse of Waqf properties. Maulana Kalbe Jawad had
also been persistently demanding his removal as chairman of
Shia Waqf Board. S.P. supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav as well
as chief minister Akhilesh Yadav could not afford to displease
Mualana Jawad. Wasim Rizvi was therefore an easy target and
he was expelled. Subsequently Shia Waqf Board was also dis-
solved by the state government and Wasim Rizvi had to resign as
its chairman.
Progress of Gujarat Muslims is laudable
New Delhi: In spite of official apathy and bias against Muslims,
extremely unfavourable and hostile communal environment in
Gujarat, progress made by Muslims, by dint of hard work in edu-
cational and economic fields without any help from the govern-
ment, is really laudable. After the genocidal riots of 2002 under
alleged overt and covert state sponsorship the biggest problem
for the Muslims was to bring justice both to victims of oppression
and violence as well as to the perpetrators of violence. In Gujarat,
according to official statistics the population of Muslims is about
50 lakh which is about 10 percent of the states total population.
Prof. J.S. Bandukwala who was at one time a professor in
Barodas M.S. University and who was himself a victim of the
riots, has in a recent article reviewed the progress of Muslims
during the past one decade. According to him the past decade
had been extremely painful and trying for them (Muslims) but par-
adoxically, in a way it was very useful also to them because the
progress made by them on the principle of self help, self reliance
and hard work was unsurpassed in any other decade.
Bandukwala had limited his area of attention to four points i.e. to
bring justice to victims of genocidel and riot-affected people, to
provide standard education to all Muslims, to promote their own
business and industry and to play a political-cum-constructive
role so as to ensure that Muslims become an integral part of
Gujarat society.
He has succeeded to some extent in his first objective, see-
ing that a large number of criminals and perpetrators of genoci-
dal violence are sentenced by courts and imprisoned, though he
thinks that Justice Nanavati Commission which is looking into the
Gujarat riots is not expected to do justice or do any thing good to
Muslims. Also, there is little or no hope of its report becoming
public. The Modi government has appointed both sons of
Nanavati, who is a retired judge of the Supreme Court, special
official prosecutors. Similarly, another judge, Akshay Mehta has
been appointed a member of the enquiry commission as a
reward for freeing the notorious goon, Babu Bajrangi on bail so
that he would not be put behind bars even for a single day. He
(Babu Bajrangi) is the same brute who, after killing the 9 month
pregnant Kausar Bano had cut open her stomach, taken out the
embryo and tossed it on the point of his sword. By this barbarous
act he thought that he had performed a great feat.
In the field of education the progress made by Muslims is
marvellous. Till 2002 Muslims had not paid much attention to
modern education. In southern Gujarat there were 23 institutions
of higher education. Compared to this there were only three
degree colleges of Muslims but riots taught them the lesson that
they cannot confront and compete with Hindutva forces unless
they are equipped with modern education. Today the number of
Muslim schools in this state has gone up from 250 to 700.
Similarly Barodas Zidni Ilma Charitable Trust is paying special
attention to higher, modern, technical and vocational education
which, for the moment, is fully supporting 60 medical and 150
engineering students. Girls too are making wonderful progress in
the field of education.
They (Muslims) are now paying special attention to increas-
ing their sources of income, though there is so much bias and
discrimination against them that getting jobs in government
departments is almost impossible for them. Recently, vacancies
for 980 revenue officers were filled up in which only 24 Muslims
were appointed. Hence Muslims are paying attention to self
employment, though because of very tough competition they
have to excel others in every field. Nationalised banks have now
opened their branches in Muslim areas but again Muslims are
victims of bias. The share of Muslims in Bank deposits is more
than their population i.e. 12 percent but the total value of loans
being given or actually given to them is only 2.6 percent.
The other side of the picture is that all Muslim localities of
this state are deprived of basic facilities. Because of recur-
rence of riots and unwillingness by non-Muslims to sell hous-
es and other properties to Muslims, Muslims are compelled to
live in ghettoes resulting in much pressure on Muslim popula-
tion.
Prof. Bandukwala while impressing upon Muslims the
need to take part in elections advises them to use their votes
honestly and fearlessly. At the same time he advises people of
the Bohra community and other religious leaders who offer
caps to Modi, to keep a distance from Narendra Modi and not
stoop low so as to touch his feet. He, in particular advises
people of the Bohra community to take lessons from the bold-
ness, fearlessness and valour of Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Imam
Husain who never surrendered to the forces of evil and
untruth. It may be added incidentally that Bandukwala too
belongs to the Bohra community.
Busy Modi keeps Habibullah waiting
New Delhi: Gujarat C.M. Narendra Modi has been keeping
NCM chairman Wajahat Habibullah waiting for the past six
months. Despite his persistent efforts the NCM chairman has
not been granted an appointment to meet the busy C.M.
Habibullah wants to discuss with the CM, issues like scholar-
ships of minority students and riot victims.
A date was fixed in January which the NCM chief could not
avail himself of because of some sudden emergency. Since
then he has been making efforts to see the CM but in vain. It
is interesting to note that while Modi has time for interview
with Shahid Siddiqui, he has no time to spare for the NCM
chairman. (AG Khan)
New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamias Zakir Husain Institute of
Islamic Studies organised an extension lecture by Dr. Ataullah
Siddiqi, Visiting Professor in Britains Gloucestershire University
and former Director of Markfield Institute of Higher Education of
Britain on 27 August. This function was chaired by Father
Thomas Concle who, as President of Islamic Studies
Association, an association floated by Roman Catholic sect of
Christians. It is trying to promote a better and mutual under-
standing and cordial relations between Christians and Muslims.
Dr. Ataullah Siddiqi said while speaking on this occasion that
there were indications of a positive change in the general trend
of understanding of Islam in western (Christian) countries and
hopeful progress was taking place about mutual understanding
between the followers of the two religions. He said that though
misunderstandings and suspicions about Islam still persist in the
minds of many Christians of different western countries but at
academic and popular level efforts are being made to promote
the concept of mutual understanding and co-existence between
followers of the two religions whose positive results were being
seen and felt. Presenting the views of many important Christian
thinkers, academicians, men of letters and intellectuals about
Islam which he had gathered during his association with them
for about four decades, he said that contrary to their earlier
unpalatable views and hostile attitude towards Muslims, their
attitude and thinking about Muslims was sympathetic and bal-
anced now. He said that in Britain Islamic Studies have now
been included in educational syllabus and these studies, syl-
labus materials and views about Islam have been, and are being
prepared with the approval of competent Muslim authorities and
intellectuals. At the same time he regretted that even today
understanding and knowledge of Muslims about Christians and
Christian studies was very limited. He further said that there was
great shortage of persons among Muslims who could instil bet-
ter understanding and correct image of Islam in the minds of
westerners.
Earlier, Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, Director of Zakir Husain
Institute of Islamic Studies while introducing Dr. Ataullah Siddiqi
said that he belonged to Allahabad and for about three decades
he had been trying to project a better image of Islam in Britain
and other western countries and making arrangements for pro-
moting inter-religion dialogues between Muslims and Christians.
Father Thomas Concle in his presidential address while
agreeing to Dr. Siddiqis views laid emphasis on the need to pro-
mote the understanding between the followers of Islam and
Christianity and to further strengthen the efforts to bridge the
gap of misunderstanding between them. He said that the
process and efforts of organising inter-religious dialogues
should be taken out of the limited circle of academicians and
intellectuals and brought nearer to common peoples lives so as
to make it a living reality. (NAAnsari)
Indications of positive change in western
worlds understanding of Islam
INTERNATIONAL
16 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
American Muslims remain in the dock 11 years after 9/11
ABDUS SATTAR GHAZALI
Seven million-strong American Muslim community remained in
the dock 11 years after 9/11 with Republican Partys witch-hunt
against Muslims in the U.S. government and meteorite rise in
anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric in the 2012 election cam-
paign.
This is an election year and for many hysteria-peddling
politicians fear-mongering remains the best tool to exploit the
fear among masses fomented by the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim
rhetoric by media and extreme right politicians as well as some
religious leaders.
Not surprisingly, the Republican Party has adopted
Islamophobia by including a plank in its platform that opposed
the imagined threat of Sharia. It will not be too much to say that
just as the threat of undocumented immigration is used to justify
discrimination against Hispanics, the specter of Shariah is used
to justify discrimination against Muslims.
Tellingly, Kris Kobach, Kansas secretary of state who may
be best known as the brains behind Arizonas show me your
papers law, also pushed an amendment to the GOP platform to
support a ban on foreign law (read Islamic law). Kobach hopes
that will give anti-Muslim activists a tool for pressuring more
states to pass their own anti-Sharia laws. In 2011 and 2012, 73
anti-Islam bills were introduced in 31 states. So far, six states
have passed the bills.
Hate speech and rhetoric continue to add to the culture of
hate and violence and lead to a dramatic surge of violent activity
and harassment directed at places of worship. In a climate of
increasing fear-based rhetoric, we have seen a rise in hate
crimes not only against American Muslims and but also fellow
Americans perceived to be Muslim. On August 5, 2012, a gun-
man killed six people at a Sikh temple south of Milwaukee and
critically wounded three others, including a police officer. The
gunman was later identified as Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-
old Army veteran with reported links to the white supremacist
movement. The Southern Poverty Law Centre reported that the
number of anti-Muslim hate groups in the United States tripled in
2011.The SPLC also reported dramatic expansion in the radical
right groups.
Within 10 days of the Sikh Temple shooting there were at
least eight attacks and harassment were directed at Mosques,
Islamic Institutions and an Arab-Christian church.
Few days after Rep. Walsh told a room of people at a town
hall meeting that Islam is a threat, an assailant launched a
homemade bomb at The College Preparatory School of America
-- A private Islamic school in the 8th Congressional District of
Illinois, represented by Rep. Walsh. The bomb exploded outside
of the mosque, and did not cause any injuries. It was not a coin-
cidence. The facts are clear -- By proclaiming to the public that
Muslims are trying to kill Americans every week, Walsh raised
suspicion of the American Muslim community and incited fear.
Hence, Rep. Walsh is responsible for the assailants actions.
Muslim Americans are not the only ones impacted from the
hate and bigotry. Shortly after vandals defaced the Mother of the
Savior Church in Dearborn, MI, the Rev. Rani Abdulmasih wrote
to Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) stating,
As a Christian Arab and Middle Eastern congregation, we have
sensed the profiling in more ways than one. [...] It is unfortunate
that racial profiling, bigotry and racism continues to exist and
flourish in our beloved country, as we live under a Constitution
that supports freedom, justice and equality for all.
According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) with its manufactured controversy over the Park51
Muslim community centre in New York City also known as the
Ground Zero Mosque, at least 88 American mosques and Islamic
centres have been targeted by hate, including 13 acts of violence
and 31 acts of vandalism since 2010.
GOP leaders rhetoric against Islam and Muslims
A succession of Republican candidates have attempted to run to
the right of party favourite Mitt Romney by asserting that only a
true conservative can defeat Obama in November, says John
Feffer, the author of the just-published Crusade 2.0: The Wests
Resurgent War on Islam. He went to say that most of them boast-
ed of the same powerful backer. Michele Bachmann, Herman
Cain, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum all declared that God asked
them to run for higher office. Together with Newt Gingrich, they
have deployed various methods of appealing to their constituen-
cies, but none is more potent than religion. ..ugly Islamophobia
has already insinuated itself into the 2012 elections in a poten-
tially more damaging way than the 2008 elections.
In a national security debate in November 2011, Rick
Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator and once GOP pres-
idential candidate said he would support profiling Muslims at air-
port checkpoints as a tactic to protect against terrorist attacks.
Obviously Muslims would be someone youd look at, absolute-
ly, Santorum said.
Herman Cain has consistently held a hostile discourse on
Islam, belittling almost anything or anyone resonating Muslim.
Among many instances we may take as example Cains opposi-
tion to the construction of an Islamic Centre in Murfreesboro,
Tenn., unreasonably arguing that its not religious discrimination
for a community to ban a mosque.
Tennessee state Republican legislator, Rick Wommick in
November last called for the removal of all Muslims serving in the
military. In an interview on the sidelines of an anti-Shariah con-
ference in Nashville, TN, Womick told ThinkProgress that he
doubts that any devout Muslim could be loyal to the US military.
Personally, I dont trust one Muslim in our military, he said.
In July last, Connecticut Republican congressional candidate
Mark Greenberg questioned whether Islam was a peaceful reli-
gion and said he believed it was a cult in many respects.
Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, a Republican congressional can-
didate from Arizona questions
the presence of Middle
Easterners in the US by asking,
Why do we want them here,
either legally or illegally.
In July also, Michele
Bachmann and several other
members of Congress insinuat-
ed that Huma Abedin, one of the
few American Muslims in a high-
level government job, was an
agent of Egypts Muslim
Brotherhood. John McCain,
Marco Rubio, and John Boehner
criticized Bachmanns smear
campaign, but Gingrich, Rush
Limbaugh, Eric Cantor, and
Romney adviser John Bolton
defended it. To borrow Peter Benart of the Newsweek, Romney,
predictably, tried to have it both ways, saying that Bachmanns
attacks are not things that are part of my campaign, but that Im
not going to tell other people what things to talk about. In other
words, I wont defame American Muslims myself, but if other
prominent Republicans want to, go ahead. After receiving
threats, Abedin now receives FBI security protection.
Exponential rise in the U.S. anti-Muslim hate groups
Not surprisingly, such anti-Muslim and anti-Islam rhetoric has
fomented discrimination, hate and intolerance against the
Muslims and prompted the rise of anti-Muslim groups. According
to Southern Poverty Law Centre (SLPC) the number of anti-
Muslim groups tripled in 2011, jumping from 10 groups in 2010 to
30 last year. In a special investigative report released in March
2012, the SLPC said:
Anti-Muslim hate groups are a relatively new phenomenon
in the United States, most of them appearing in the aftermath of
the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Earlier anti-Muslim groups tended to be religious in orientation
and disputed Islams status as a respectable religion. All anti-
Muslim hate groups exhibit extreme hostility toward Muslims.
The organizations portray those who worship Islam as funda-
mentally alien and attribute to its followers an inherent set of neg-
ative traits. Muslims are depicted as irrational, intolerant and vio-
lent, and their faith is frequently depicted as sanctioning
pedophilia, marital rape and child marriage.
These groups also typically hold conspiratorial views
regarding the inherent danger to America posed by its Muslim-
American community. Muslims are depicted as a fifth column
intent on undermining and eventually replacing American democ-
racy and Western civilization with Islamic despotism. Anti-Muslim
hate groups allege that Muslims are trying to subvert the rule of
law by imposing on Americans their own Islamic legal system,
Shariah law. Anti-Muslim hate groups also broadly defame Islam,
which they tend to treat as a monolithic and evil religion. These
groups generally hold that Islam has no values in common with
other cultures, is inferior to the West and is a violent political ide-
ology rather than a religion.
Americans need to wake up to attacks on U.S. Muslims, is
the title of Peter Benarts recent article published by the
Newsweek in which he argues that in the 1950s, Joseph
McCarthy-believing that it was too difficult to fight communism
abroad-declared that the real threat came from communists at
home. In so doing, he fueled a hysteria that ruined the lives of
countless Americans who had dabbled in leftist politics but never
remotely posed a threat to their fellow citizens, he said adding:
Today, with the Bush eras epic war on terror ending with a
whimper, a new generation of anti--Muslim -McCarthyites is
doing something similar.
The more American politicians insist that Islam is inherently
hateful and violent, the more hate and violence they foment
against Muslims in the U.S. Benard argues.
American Muslim community remained under surveillance
Eleven years after 9/11, the American Muslim community
remained under surveillance.
Since August 2011, the Associated Press has been reporting
how the New York Police Departments (NYPD) infiltrated
mosques, eavesdropped in cafes and monitored Muslim neigh-
bourhoods with plainclothes officers. The NYPD even conducted
surveillance of Muslim businesses, mosques and student groups
in New Jersey.
Tellingly in more than six years of spying on Muslim neigh-
bourhoods, eavesdropping on conversations and cataloguing
mosques, the New York Police Departments secret
Demographics Unit never generated a lead or triggered a terror-
ism investigation. The Demographics Unit is at the heart of a
police spying program, built with help from the CIA, which assem-
bled databases on where Muslims lived, shopped, worked and
prayed.
But in a deposition by NYPD Assistant Chief Thomas Galati
conceded that in the six years he has commanded the NYPD
Intelligence Division, he never got a single lead from a demo-
graphics unit report and none of the conversations the officers
overheard has ever led to a terrorism investigation. Galati was
questioned in a lawsuit challenging the spying as a violation of a
1985 court-monitored agreement that set federal guidelines pro-
hibiting the surveillance of political activity when there is no indi-
cation of unlawful activity.
In March last, a group of 110 advocacy and activist organiza-
tions teamed together to send a letter to Attorney General Eric
Holder asking him to investigate whether the NYPD violated the
constitutional rights of American Muslims with its widespread
Muslim surveillance program.
However to their disappointment, John Brennan, President
Barack Obamas Homeland Security adviser, supported the
NYPDs surveillance of Muslim American communities. Brennan
said during a law enforcement conference in April: I have full
confidence that the NYPD is doing things consistent with the law,
and its something that again has been responsible for keeping
this city safe over the past decade the Muslim community here
is part of the solution to the terrorist threat, and they need to be
part of that effort, and that dialogue needs to continue.
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Hate speech and rhetoric continue to add
to the culture of hate and violence and lead
to a dramatic surge of violent activity and
harassment directed at places of worship. In
a climate of increasing fear-based rhetoric,
we have seen a rise in hate crimes not only
against American Muslims and but also fel-
low Americans perceived to be Muslim. On
August 5, 2012, a gunman killed six people
at a Sikh temple south of Milwaukee and crit-
ically wounded three others, including a
police officer. The gunman was later identi-
fied as Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old
Army veteran with reported links to the white
supremacist movement. The Southern
Poverty Law Centre reported that the num-
ber of anti-Muslim hate groups in the United
States tripled in 2011.
Continued on the next page
Nonaligned bloc backs Iran
Tehran: The summit of emerging nations has supported Irans
right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The support for
Iran's nuclear energy program was one of many articles
approved in the final Tehran Declaration on 31 August at the
end of the two-day meeting of the 120-nation Nonaligned
Movement.
Iran says allegations about its nuclear programme are
based on fabricated intelligence from the U.S., its Western
allies and Israel. It also denies that its public nuclear work --
uranium enrichment -- is meant to create nuclear missile war-
heads, saying it is enriching only to make reactor fuel, medical
isotopes and for research.
But it has deflected IAEA attempts to probe other alleged
weapons research and development for over four years, as well
as rejecting offers of enriched reactor fuel from abroad. Its defi-
ance has heightened suspicions about its ultimate nuclear
aims, led to U.N. and other multinational sanctions, and
increased threats of armed action from Israel, which says it will
never accept an Iran armed with nuclear weapons.
Iran and its supporters share distrust of the U.S. and its
allies -- a platform at the conference. Many members of the
120-member nonaligned group also support Tehran's calls to
increase the authority of the U.N. General Assembly at the
expense of Security Council, which has imposed sanctions on
Iran for its refusal to stop enrichment and cooperate with the
IAEA. The Islamic Republic insists that the Western-backed
agency probe of its nuclear work is nothing more than an
attempt to keep nuclear technology out of the hands of devel-
oped nations.
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 17
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FBIs friendly visits to mosques were for spying
American Muslim community was shocked to know that for sev-
eral years, the FBIs San Francisco office conducted a Mosque
Outreach program through which it collected and illegally stored
intelligence about American Muslims First Amendment-protected
beliefs and religious practices. This was revealed by the govern-
ment documents released on March 27, 2012 by the American
Civil Liberties Union from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit
brought by the ACLU of Northern California, Asian Law Caucus
and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
The San Francisco FBIs
own documents show that it
recorded Muslim religious
leaders and congregants
identities, personal informa-
tion and religious views and
practices. The documents
also show that the FBI
labelled this information as
positive intelligence and
disseminated it to other gov-
ernment agencies, placing
the people and organiza-
tions involved at risk of
greater law enforcement
scrutiny as potential national
security threats.
The Mosque Outreach
documents, from between 2004 and 2008, detail information and
activities including: FBI visits to the Seaside Mosque five times
in 2005, documenting the subject of a particular sermon and con-
gregants discussions regarding a property purchase for a new
mosque.
Despite an apparent lack of information related to crime or
terrorism, the FBIs records of these discussions show they were
classified as secret, marked positive intelligence and dissem-
inated outside the FBI. FBI meetings with members of the South
Bay Islamic Association four times from 2004 to 2007, document-
ing discussions about the Hajj pilgrimage and Islam in general.
At the same time many Muslims are approached by the FBI
to become informants. According to the Council on American
Islamic Relations, it is getting regular calls from people across
the country who are being approached by the federal govern-
ment to act as informants. Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR spokesman
says we are concerned about what kind of pressure is being
used to get that cooperation.
In April, Yonas Fikre, 33, from Oregon said he was impris-
oned and tortured for 106 days last year in the United Arab
Emirates after he refused to become a U.S. government inform-
ant and answer agents questions about Portlands largest
mosque. Fikre tells Willamette Week that Emirates officials
denied him sleep, kept him in a freezing cell, beat him with wood-
en sticks and plastic pipes, and threatened to kill him if he didnt
cooperate with U.S. agents. A U.S. citizen, Fikre says his captors
repeatedly grilled him with the same questions Portland-based
law enforcement agents had asked him a year earlier about his
mosque, the Islamic centre of Portland, Masjed As-Saber. AState
Department spokesman also confirmed to WW that one of the
agents who questioned Fikre works for that agency, employed in
diplomatic security.
In May, Fikre was indicted on allegations that he conspired to
smuggle money to Sudan. Federal prosecutors contend that
Yonas Fikre conspired with his brother Dawit Woldehawariat, of
San Diego, Calif., and Seattle resident Abrehaile Haile to illegal-
ly wire $75,000 to United Arab Emirates and Sudan. The allega-
tions came two weeks after Fikre, 33, and Portland attorney
Thomas Nelson held a news conference in Sweden where they
alleged Fikre had been tortured by police acting at the behest of
the FBI. Fikre has been living in Sweden since his release from
a United Arab Emirates prison.
Campaign against building of new mosques
Where there are Muslims, there are problems. This alarmingly
sweeping comment by the New York Post best reflects the dilem-
ma of the American Muslim community. The New York Post com-
ment came amid heated discussion and opposition to the pro-
posed Sheepshead Bay (NY)
Mosque. In a hard hitting article
titled New Yorkistan? Dont rule
it out! Shavana Abruzzo wrote:
Theres no denying the ele-
phant in the room. Neither is
there any rejoicing over the
mosques proposed for
Sheepshead Bay, Staten Island
and Ground Zero because
where there are mosques, there
are Muslims, and where there
are Muslims, there are prob-
lems. However, in November
2011, opponents of the
Sheepshead Bay mosque lost
their case when the Board of
Standards and Appeals gave
approval of the mosque. However, still protest continued as late
as last month while construction of the mosque goes ahead. In
the post-9/11 America, it has become difficult to build new
mosques/Islamic institutions or expand the existing places of
worship which became frequent target of hate attacks.
In February, the Michigan Islamic Academy (M.I.A.) filed a
lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Pittsfield Township, saying it
violated federal law by denying a zoning change that would allow
construction of a 360-student school. In March, a Southern
California mosque filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the small
suburban city of Lomita engaged in religious discrimination when
it rejected an application to rebuild and expand the worship facil-
ity. In May, a judges ruling has stopped construction of a
Nashville (Tenn.) suburban mosque that has been at the center
of a rowdy debate for more than two years.
Concerned that prejudice rather than genuine zoning issues
might be at work, the U.S. Department of Justice has opened 28
cases nationwide involving local denials of mosque construction
applications since 2000. Of the 28 cases, 11 have resulted in full
investigations and four remain open, according to The Hour
online.
Mosque attacks common nationwide
The anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric has created a hostile cli-
mate for the Muslims that resulted in discrimination, hate crimes
and attacks on their religious places.
On August 6, a mosque in Jolpin, Missouri, was burned to
the ground in the second fire to hit the mosque in little more than
a month. A fire reported on July 4 has been determined to be
arson. One simply has to type the words mosque fires into a
search engine to determine how common fires like the Islamic
Society of Joplin (Missouri) mosque are. The American Civil
Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations
have tracked dozens of fires, fire bombings and incidents of van-
dalism at mosques around the country over the past five years.
Afew examples: Amosque in Queens, N.Y., was firebombed
in January with worshippers inside. There were no injuries. An
arson attack on a Houston, Texas, mosque was reported in May
2011. Construction equipment was set afire at the site of a
mosque being built in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in August 2010. An
Oct. 31, 2011, arson fire at a mosque in Wichita, Kan., caused an
estimated $120,000 in damage. Someone in April 2011 burned
three copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and left a
threatening letter near the entrance of the Islamic Centre of
Springfield mosque (Missouri). The anonymous letter claimed
that Muslims would stain the earth and that Islam wouldnt sur-
vive. The mosque had earlier been vandalized with graffiti.
American Muslim response
The seven-million strong American Muslim Community has
responded to the post-9/11 challenges with intensive outreach by
building bridges with all ethnic and faith groups, holding interfaith
peace picnics and interfaith iftar (fast breaking) during the month
of Ramadan. At the same time the community is more proactive
politically. The CAIR and other American Muslim civil advocacy
groups have launched voter registration campaigns to encourage
Muslims to participation in the countrys political process.
This years Democratic National Convention (DNC) hosted a
record number of American Muslim delegates representing some
20 states. It is estimated that around 100 Muslim delegates
attended the convention. At the 2008 Democratic convention 43
Muslim and Arab-American delegates were present while in 2004
only 25. Not surprisingly, only a handful of Muslim delegates
attended this years Republican National Convention (RNC), dur-
ing which the RNC adopted a platform plank targeting the reli-
gious practices of Muslims.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America
(www.journalofamerica.net) Email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com
Continued from the previous page
Concerned that prejudice rather than genuine zon-
ing issues might be at work, the U.S. Department of
Justice has opened 28 cases nationwide involving
local denials of mosque construction applications
since 2000. Of the 28 cases, 11 have resulted in full
investigations and four remain open, according to The
Hour online. The anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric
has created a hostile climate for the Muslims that
resulted in discrimination, hate crimes and attacks on
their religious places.
On August 6, a mosque in Jolpin, Missouri, was
burned to the ground in the second fire to hit the
mosque in little more than a month. A fire reported on
July 4 has been determined to be arson.
Israeli killer given 45 days
An Israeli soldier accused of killing a Palestinian mother and
daughter carrying a white flag during Operation Cast Lead will
serve only 45 days in prison. He agreed to a plea bargain and
had his charge downgraded to "illegal use of weapon".
The investigation into the killing of a 64-year-old mother
and her 35 year-old daughter, shot while walking with a group
of Palestinians holding white flags after their home was
bombed, was opened following a complaint filed by Israeli
human rights group B'Tselem.
The incident happened on January 4, 2009, during the
Israeli Operation Cast Lead. It happened when a group of Gaza
civilians carrying makeshift white flags approached an IDF posi-
tion manned by Givati soldiers, including the unnamed infantry
sergeant, identified by Israeli media as "Staff Sergeant S".
"S" opened fire on the group, without an order from his
commanding officer. The younger woman was killed on the
spot, while her mother was severely wounded by the gunfire
and later died of the wounds.
"S" later admitted he had fired shots and reported hitting
one of the people in the group. He explained his actions by
describing the incident as a "threatening situation endangering
the lives of the soldiers" and claimed he fired at the legs of the
advancing crowd. The military said there were discrepancies
between the troops' accounts of the incident and the details
reported widely by human rights groups. The troops reported
shooting one man at the site, not two women, and on a differ-
ent date.
The lawyers of "S" then argued there was no connection
between the shooting he admitted to and the killing of the
Palestinian women, as no conclusive proof was presented. In
particular they demanded the bodies be presented to the
court.
INTERNATIONAL
18 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI
Were he to come back to life and revisit the
country he founded with his indomitable
grit and determination, Mohammad Ali
Jinnah would be a very depressed man.
Hed have difficulty recognising the land
hed bequeathed to his ungrateful follow-
ers, for they have turned it upside-down
and made a mockery of the blue-print hed
given them for a forward-looking and vigor-
ously secular state.
Jinnah was a man of contradictions, no doubt. He fought for
Pakistan on a religion-oriented agenda and argued that Muslims
of India were different from its majority on the basis of their reli-
gious beliefs. However, once Pakistans creation was assured he
donned a secular mantle and gave a progressive template to his
new state. He articulated his agenda for Pakistan in categorically
secular terms even before the birth of the country-three days
before, in fact, on August 11, 1947-in addressing its Constituent
Assembly. He wanted to see a Pakistan in which all of its citizens
would be equal irrespective of their creed, colour or religious
beliefs. He went so far as to insist that in his ideal Pakistan peo-
ple would cease to be Muslims, or Hindus or Christians-not in the
literal sense, he said-but in respect of their being citizens of a
democratic state.
However, Jinnahs Pakistan, today at 65, seems just the
antithesis of what its great architect wanted it to be. Its in the
hands of fanatical obscurantists, Jihadis, bigots and murderers
who arent prepared to let anyone not in sync with their dogmas
and beliefs to live. Murder is their tool of trade and blood-letting is
their creed. Not to mention Pakistans non-Muslim minorities,
these terrorists arent even in favour of letting the sizeable Shia
community of Muslims (at least 15 to 20 % in Pakistans 180 mil-
lion) live or survive as citizens in their Land of the Pure.
Nothing couldve brought Pakistans tryst with an aggravated
paranoia and religious bigotry into a sharper focus than the mass
murder, in broad daylight, of a bus load of Shia passengers at
Lalusar, a place in the idyllic valley of Gilgit-Baltistan, nestling in
the lap of the Karakoram Mountains, last August 16.
The bus was stopped by the terrorists masquerading as
security services agents. 21 Shias were separated from the rest
of the passengers with the help of names appearing on their
national identity cards; they were then shot in cold blood with a
bestiality that could easily shame the beasts of the jungle.
This wasnt an isolated incident of its kind, not the first wan-
ton massacre of Shias, and most certainly not will it be the last in
the series of mayhem that has been going on for several years.
As Pakistan sinks ever-deeper under the rising tide of religious
orthodoxy, bigotry and fanaticism, all those segments of its popu-
lation perceived by dogmatic gurus of radicalism as being outside
their pale of Islam, are being dealt out very bad hands. It may not
be an exaggeration to say that theyre coming increasingly under
existential threats.
The minority Shias are being targeted for special treatment,
particularly in the wild-west provinces of Baluchistan and
Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa-both bordering with Afghanistan-because
they arent regarded as Muslims in the book of the bigots. Wall-
chalking in every major city of Pakistan has been denouncing
them for years as Kafirswho should be removed from the face of
Pakistan under religious injunctions (fatwas) handed out by the
zealots among the clergy.
Hundreds of Shias have been mercilessly butchered in tar-
geted killings in this year alone; the latest victim of this rampant
blood-letting was a sitting judge of Baluchistan who was gunned
down-along with three of his security guards-in Quetta as
ManmohanSingh and Asif Ali Zardari confabulated in Tehran on
the sidelines of the NAM summit.
In Baluchistan alone-according to the database maintained
by South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP)-over 90 Shiites have been
killed in 34 incidents of targeted-killing since the beginning of
2012.
Overall, according to SATP, Pakistan has recorded 2,642
sectarian attacks since 1989, with a casualty toll of 3,963 inno-
cent victims of a religious frenzy apparently out of control.
The Shias mayve been targeted by fanatical terrorists of the
Taliban or their Pakistani templates-Sipah-e-Sahaban or Lashkar-
e-Jhangvi, both rabidly indoctrinated by the Wahabiphilosophy of
religious intolerance and exclusivism. However, sectarianism is
apparently running deep even among those Sunni Muslims
belonging to Pakistans majority sectwho may not condone of or
subscribe to blood-letting of minorities. A recent survey by the
Washington-based Pew Research Centre found that 50 percent
of Sunnis in Pakistan believed Shias to be non-Muslims. This
contrasts sharply with even Afghanistan-commonly perceived as
the hub of Muslim fanaticism-where 83 percent of Sunnis accept
Shias as Muslims.
But while Shias of Pakistan may still have a lot of bleeding
hearts crying over their plight, the non-Muslim minorities have far
fewer voices drawing the outside worlds attention to their imper-
illed existence in an ideological state whose denizens take pride
in their religious moorings as a hallmark of their national identity.
The western world anchored in its Christian faith despite its
faade of secularism-or the separation of church from the state-
has recently been given an axe to grind with Pakistan over the
treatment being meted out to a 14-year old Christian girl accused
of disparaging the Quran, and burning its pages in an act of sac-
rilege. The case has raised the alarm in several western govern-
ments including the Vatican.
The accused girl, Rimsha, has been clinically diagnosed for
suffering from Downs syndrome. A medical board constituted by
the government has determined that her mental age is consider-
ably lower than her chronological age, But the girl also belongs
to that class of wretched- of- the- earth in Pakistans exploitative
and highly stratified feudal society which is supposed to remain
faceless and go voiceless.
Rimsha has been accused of Blasphemy, which in simple
language translates as intentionally showing disrespect to Islamic
canons and icons. This particular law was promulgated under
Pakistans most fanatical and bigoted military ruler, General
ZiaulHaq, and has been a source of controversy and disputation
in the community of jurists and legal experts. However, it has
been a boon to religious fundamentalists and orthodox clergy.
The Blasphemy law has been routinely abused in Pakistan to
settle old scores and perpetrate vendettas. However, such is the
galloping hold of religious bigotry that anyone, high or low, daring
to question its relevance in Pakistans deeply divided-along so
many fault-lines-social ambience is dealt with vengeance and
brutality. Murder is the name of the game; blood sport is the pre-
ferred choice of bigots against anyone daring to call their bluff.
Salman Tasir is so far the most celebrated case of this jun-
gles law operating in Pakistan with impunity; he was Governor of
Punjab when he was gunned down, in January 2011, in broad
daylight in Islamabad, by his own body-guard. Tasir had raised
the hackles of the fanatics by suggesting the need to revisit the
Blasphemy law.
A few weeks after Tasirs murder, ShehbazBhatti, a junior
minister of religious affairs hailing from the Christian minority of
Pakistan, was likewise gunned down-again in the capital,
Islamabad-by gunmen who havent been caught, to date. Bhattis
crime was the same in the eyes of his assailants: hed proposed
amendments in the Blasphemy law.
The incumbent Pakistani ambassador in Washington, Sherry
Rehman, was quickly whisked out of the country and given her
current assignment when she started receiving death threats for
daring to move a bill in the parliament to suitably amend the law.
But the accusation against an unlettered and mentally hand-
icapped girl is so outrageous and preposterous that even the
head of the All Pakistan Ulema Council (a powerful figure in the
clerical hierarchy) AllamaTahirAshrafi,has been forced to
denounce her torture-and the persecution of her community on
trumped-up charges-as law of the jungle.
However, despite a rising crescendo of condemnation from
human rights activists of the blatant haunting of a minor girl, the
courts of law have not yet found it feasible to release her from
police custody on bail. Those dispensing justice are also in awe
of the fanatics and scared of judgments that may raise their ire.
This is despite the latest development in the case where the cler-
ic leading the prayers in the mosque of the village where Rimsha
lived-on the periphery of Islamabad-has been detained by the
police for framing the girl by slipping pages of the Quran in the
garbage dump scrounged by the girl.
The obvious apathy of Pakistani authorities to act decisively
and swiftly has impelled the Geneva-based World Council of
Churches has taken a strong exception to the situation: in its
communique on the issue, it has faulted the Pakistani govern-
ment for its failure to protect its minorities and lamented that they
are living in fear and terror in Pakistan.
Worse compounded, however, is the plight of Pakistans 3
million Hindus, almost all of them living in the province of Sindh
bordering on Indias Rajasthan.
For a number of years, these loyal Hindu subjects of Pakistan
have been at the receiving-end of a special kind of fanaticism
from the countrys Muslim zealots embarked on an orgy of pros-
elytizing.
Young Hindu girls, approaching marriageable age, have been
specially targeted by these frenzied zealots to quench their pros-
elytizing thirst. According to the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan, at least 20 to 25 Hindu girls-from villages and small
towns of Sindh-are abducted each month by rampaging mission-
aries and forcibly converted to Islam. Most of these girls are,
then, betrothed to Muslim men, much against their will.
This practice-of which little trickles down into Pakistans
mainstream media-is spawning a steady exodus of Hindu fami-
lies-those with young girls approaching the dangerous age-to
neighbouring India in order to escape the long arm of the mis-
sionaries and their conniving accomplices in the law enforcement
machinery of the state. Several thousand Pakistani Hindus are
believed to be living in India for years on visitor visas and biding
their time to become eligible for Indian citizenship.
According to a report in the Deccan Chronicle of August 31,
at least 919 Pakistani Hindus waiting in the queue in Rajasthan
have become eligible to apply for Indian citizenship. However,
according to Hindu Singh Soda, head of an advocacy group of
Pakistani Hindus living in Rajasthan, the actual figures have been
fudged by Indian authorities. He remonstrated in a recent inter-
view to BBC that the list of his people kept by the Indian authori-
ties was too short.One wonders if India is trying to be diplomat-
ic or is nave on the issue.
Its an aggravating situation that the Pakistani missionaries
unbounded zeal is conjuring up for both India and Pakistan at a
time when the two countries seem seriously engaged in putting
a sordid past of trust-deficit behind them and giving positive
indications to turn a new leaf in their bilateral relations. Political
leaders of India and Pakistan seem to be rising to the need and
have accelerated the process of face-to-face dialogue. Zardari
visited Manmohan in Delhi, earlier in April this year and the two
have met again in Tehran last week. Indian Foreign Minister,
Krishnan, is due to visit Islamabad in mid-September. The bilat-
eral scene is looking good and promising. However, the obscu-
rantists and fanatics of Pakistan are marching in the opposite
direction and pulling all stops to revisit the sorry saga of the
Partition.
Sadly, none of this seems to make any impression on
Pakistans evasive Interior Minister, Rehman Malik. Talking to the
media on the issue he sounded regrettably in sync with the mis-
sionaries when he brusquely dismissed the forced flight of
Sindhs harassed Hindus as a conspiracy to defame Pakistan.
Malik, a highly controversial and tainted minion of Zardari, is
either horribly misinformed or is simply passing the buck for his
appalling failure to some unseen forces. This is typical of
Pakistans errant leaders: when cornered, they always see a for-
eign hand working against them. In Rehman Maliks case, he
sees an Indian hand working behind every tragedy in Pakistan.
His myopia is writing a new script of cynicism.
But I.A. Rehman, Secretary-General of the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan, suffers from no delusion or lack of touch
with reality in succinctly summing up the plight of Pakistans per-
secuted minorities without mincing his words. Lambasting the
insouciance of the officialdom and the puzzling silence of the
majority populace over this ongoing outrage against minority
rights, Rehman had the last word on the subject when he said:
There is no outrage because Pakistan has passed into the hands
of intolerable bigots.
Its obviously a very depressing time for all those Pakistanis ,
as well as well-wishers of Pakistan, who still value Jinnahs dying
vision of a secular Pakistan where the minorities would share
space with its majority on a footing of equality. Its about time
Pakistans silent majority broke its stultifying reign of silence,
spoke up and rose to the rescue of the countrys besieged minori-
ties; it will be a service to humanity and Pakistans bruised image
in the world. Or else, Jinnahs secular Pakistan may soon mutate
into a killing field of minorities at the hands of fanatics out to prove
Jinnah horribly wrong.
Pakistan is becoming a Hell for its Minorities
Nothing couldve brought Pakistans tryst with an aggravated paranoia and religious
bigotry into a sharper focus than the mass murder, in broad daylight, of a bus load of
Shia passengers at Lalusar, a place in the idyllic valley of Gilgit-Baltistan, nestling in the
lap of the Karakoram Mountains, last August 16.
The bus was stopped by the terrorists masquerading as security services agents.
21 Shias were separated from the rest of the passengers with the help of names
appearing on their national identity cards; they were then shot in cold blood with a
bestiality that could easily shame the beasts of the jungle.
This wasnt an isolated incident of its kind, not the first wanton massacre of Shias, and
most certainly not will it be the last in the series of mayhem that has been going on for
several years. As Pakistan sinks ever-deeper under the rising tide of religious orthodoxy,
bigotry and fanaticism, all those segments of its population perceived by dogmatic
gurus of radicalism as being outside their pale of Islam, are being dealt out very bad
hands. It may not be an exaggeration to say that theyre coming increasingly under
existential threats.
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The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 19
Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss), was born in Livow, Austria
(later Poland) in 1900. At the age of 22, he made his first visit
to the Middle East. After his conversion to Islam he travelled
and worked throughout the Muslim world, from North Africa
to Afghanistan and Kashmir. After years of devoted study, he
became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age.
Following is an excerpt form the introduction to his book
The Road to Mecca in which he outlines a discussion about
the root causes of bias against Islam and the Muslim world in
the West with a non-Muslim friend. He describes his friend as
an American friend of mine - a man of considerable intellec-
tual attainments and a scholarly bent of mind. Although he
wrote this in 1954, it is still valid today.
MUHAMMAD ASAD
When it comes to Islam, Western equanimity is almost invariably
disturbed by an emotional bias. Is it perhaps, I sometimes wonder,
because the values of Islam are close enough to those of the West
to constitute a potential challenge to many Western concepts of
spiritual and social life?
I went on to tell him [the non-Muslim friend] of a theory which I
had conceived some years ago - a theory that might perhaps help
one to understand better the deep-seated prejudice against Islam
so often to be found in Western literature and contemporary
thought. To find a truly convincing explanation of this prejudice I
said, one has to look far backward into history and try to compre-
hend the psychological background of the earliest relations between
the Western and the Muslim worlds. What Occidentals think and
feel about Islam today is rooted in impressions that were born dur-
ing the Crusades.
The Crusades! exclaimed my friend. You dont mean to say
that what happened nearly a thousand years ago could still have an
effect on people of the twentieth century?
But it does! I know it sounds incredible; but dont you remem-
ber the incredulity which greeted the early discoveries of the psy-
choanalysts when they tried to show that much of the emotional life
of a mature person and most of those seemingly unaccountable
leanings, tastes and prejudices comprised in the term idiosyn-
crasies- can be traced back to the experiences of his most forma-
tive age, his early childhood? Well, are nations and civilizations any-
thing but collective individuals? Their development also is bound up
with the experiences of their early childhood. As with children, those
experiences may have been pleasant or unpleasant; they may have
been perfectly rational or, alternatively, due to the childs naive mis-
interpretation of an event: the moulding effect of every such experi-
ence depends primarily on its original intensity. The century imme-
diately preceding the Crusades, that is, the end of the first millenni-
um of the Christian era, might well be described as the early child-
hood of Western civilization . . .
I proceeded to remind my friend - himself an historian - that this
had been the age when, for the first time since the dark centuries
that followed the breakup of Imperial Rome, Europe was beginning
to see its own cultural way. Independently of the almost forgotten
Roman heritage, new literatures were just then coming into exis-
tence in the European vernaculars; inspired by the religious experi-
ence of Western Christianity, fine arts were slowly awakening from
the lethargy caused by the warlike migrations of the Goths, Huns
and Avars; out of the crude conditions of the early Middle Ages, a
new cultural world was emerging. It was at that critical, extremely
sensitive stage of its development that Europe received its most for-
midable shock - in modern parlance, a trauma - in the shape of the
Crusades.
The Crusades were the strongest collective impression on a
civilization that had just begun to be conscious of itself. Historically
speaking, they represented Europes earliest - and entirely success-
ful - attempt to view itself under the aspect of cultural unity. Nothing
that Europe has experienced before or after could compare with the
enthusiasm which the First Crusade brought into being. A wave of
intoxication swept over the Continent, an elation which for the first
time overstepped the barriers between states and tribes and class-
es. Before then, there had been Franks and Saxons and Germans,
Burgundians and Sicilians, Normans and Lombards - a medley of
tribes and races with scarcely anything in common but the fact that
most of their feudal kingdoms and principalities were remnants of
the Roman Empire and that all of them professed the Christian faith:
but in the Crusades, and through them, the religious bond was ele-
vated to a new plane, a cause common to all Europeans alike - the
politico-religious concept of Christendom, which in its turn gave
birth to the cultural concept of Europe. When, in his famous speech
at Clermont, in November, 1095, Pope Urban II exhorted the
Christians to make war upon the wicked race that held the Holy
Land, he enunciated - probably without knowing it himself - the
charter of Western civilization.
The traumatic experience of the Crusades gave Europe its cul-
tural awareness and its unity; but this same experience was des-
tined henceforth also to provide the false colour in which Islam was
to appear to Western eyes. Not simply because the Crusades
meant war and bloodshed. So many wars have been waged
between nations and subsequently forgotten, and so many animosi-
ties which in their time seemed ineradicable have later turned into
friendships. The damage caused by the Crusades was not restrict-
ed to a clash of weapons: it was, first and foremost, an intellectual
damage - the poisoning of the Western mind against the Muslim
world through a deliberate misrepresentation of the teachings and
ideals of Islam. For, if the call for a crusade was to maintain its valid-
ity, the Prophet of the Muslims had, of necessity, to be stamped as
the Anti-Christ and his religion depicted in the most lurid terms as a
fount of immorality and Perversion. It was at the time of the
Crusades that the ludicrous notion that Islam was a religion of crude
sensualism and brutal violence, of an observance of ritual instead
of a purification of the heart entered the Western mind and
remained there; and it was then that the name of the Prophet
Muhammad - the same Muhammad who had insisted that his own
followers respect the prophets of other religions-was contemptuous-
ly transformed by Europeans into Mahound [My hound].
The age when the spirit of independent inquiry could raise its
head was as yet far distant in Europe; it was easy for the powers-
that-were to sow the dark seeds of hatred for a religion and civiliza-
tion that was so different from the religion and civilization of the
West. Thus it was no accident that the fiery Chanson da Roland,
which describes the legendary victory of Christendom over the
Muslim heathen in southern France, was composed not at the time
of those battles but three centuries later-to wit, shortly before the
First Crusade - immediately to become a kind of national anthem
of Europe, and it is no accident, either, that this warlike epic marks
the beginning of a European literature, as distinct from the earlier,
localized literatures: for hostility toward Islam stood over the cradle
of European civilization.
It would seem an irony of history that the age-old Western
resentment against Islam, which was religious in origin, should still
persist subconsciously at a time when religion has lost most of its
hold on the imagination of Western man. This, however, is not real-
ly surprising. We know that a person may completely lose the reli-
gious beliefs imparted to him in his childhood while, nevertheless,
some particular emotion connected with those beliefs remains, irra-
tionally, in force throughout his later life -and this, I concluded, is
precisely what happened to that collective personality, Western civ-
ilization. The shadow of the Crusades hovers over the West to this
day; and all its reaction toward Islam and the Muslim world bear dis-
tinct traces of that die-hard ghost ...
My friend remained silent for a long time. I can still see his tall,
lanky figure pacing up and down the room, his hands in his coat
pockets, shaking his head as if puzzled, and finally saying: There
may be something in what you say . .. indeed, there may be,
although I am not in a position to judge your theory offhand ... But
in any case, in the light of what you yourself have just told me, dont
you realize that your life, which to you seems so very simple and
uncomplicated, must appear very strange and unusual to
Westerners? Could you not perhaps share some of your own expe-
riences with them? Why dont you write your autobiography? I am
sure it would make fascinating reading!...
In the following weeks and months my joking response imper-
ceptibly lost the aspect of a joke. I began to think seriously about
setting down the story of my life and thus helping, in however small
a measure, to lift the heavy veil which separates Islam and its cul-
ture from the Occidental mind. My way to Islam had been in many
respects unique: I had not become a Muslim because I had lived for
a long time among Muslims - on the contrary, I decided to live
among them because I had embraced Islam.
Might I not, by communicating my very personal experiences to
Western readers, contribute more to a mutual understanding
between the Islamic and Western worlds than I could by continuing
in a diplomatic position which might be filled equally well by other
countrymen of mine?... but how many men were able to talk to
Westerners about Islam as I could? I was a Muslim - but I was also
of Western origin: and thus I could speak the intellectual languages
of both Islam and the West...
ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES
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Origins of poisoning of the Western mind against Islam
20 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
The traumatic expe-
rience of the
Crusades gave
Europe its cultural
awareness and its
unity; but this same
experience was des-
tined henceforth
also to provide the
false colour in which
Islam was to appear to Western eyes. Not
simply because the Crusades meant war and
bloodshed. So many wars have been waged
between nations and subsequently forgot-
ten, and so many animosities which in their
time seemed ineradicable have later turned
into friendships. The damage caused by the
Crusades was not restricted to a clash of
weapons: it was, first and foremost, an intel-
lectual damage - the poisoning of the
Western mind against the Muslim world
through a deliberate misrepresentation of
the teachings and ideals of Islam.
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 21
BOOKS
Book: Kashmir: The undeniable Truth - A Social and Political
Analysis of Kashmir
Author: Hashim Qureshi
Publisher: Iqra Publications, Srinagar, Kashmir
Year of Publication: 2010
Price: Rs 350
Pages: 352+16 plates
MUSHTAQ UL HAQ AHMAD SIKANDER
In Kashmir, sentiments of Azadi and resistance have always been
an inseparable part of the people's struggle, but the forces of
resistance have failed to evolve and articulate their version of his-
tory. Hence we either have a history which depicts a chain of
events from the perspective of State or of those who are at the
helm of affairs. In the process, peoples history of resistance dies
down unsung in oblivion.
Kashmiris may boast about the most ancient recorded histo-
ry in the whole South Asia but they have failed to produce a his-
torian of international repute who could pen down the political his-
tory of Kashmir since 1931. Regarding politicians who are the
main players in the political life, whether mainstream or sepa-
ratists, have failed to produce any documented proof of their pol-
itics, barring a few exceptions here and there. Very few politicians
are there who write regularly on current issues, concerns and
problems facing the common man.
Hashim Qureshi is one such soul whose articles keep
appearing regularly in Urdu press on a wide range of issues from
culture to civilization, politics to privatization, education to equali-
ty, justice to juvenile delinquency, transport to trees and Wazwan
to water. The present book under review is a collection of his
translated Urdu articles which were written from time to time and
deal with a wide range of issues.
In his foreword to the collection, Maulana Ahmad Khizir,
President of Tanzeem-e Ulama-e Hind deplores the dilemma
being faced by a Kashmiri. He says, "Everyone is talking of a
solution and resolution of this vexed problem but it is truly difficult
in Kashmir to call a spade a spade. If you dare to become honest
and speak truth, you will be labelled either Indian agent or
Pakistani agent and you are no more Kashmiri, resulting in the
causality of truth and facts".
The loyalty of Kashmiris is always suspect in the eyes of both
India and Pakistan and even Sardar Qayyum of Muslim
Conference, Azad Kashmir said, "Maqbool Bhat was an agent of
India. When India, did not need him, they executed him". (p. 124).
Hashim himself is a victim of this dichotomy which is replete in his
book at various occasions.
In his long introduction to the collection, Hashim takes cue on
a variety of issues from the Muslim history to the current world
scenario.
Debating the reason and faith in the Muslim world, Hashim
writes "Ghazali, the traditionalist, wrote Tahafut al-Falasifa in
which he strongly underrated those who called logic the mother
of all sciences. Thus from 12th century A.D onwards, feudalism
and orthodoxy became complementary to each other, establish-
ing inseparability of religion and politics for the inheritors of
Caliphate. This marked the beginning of the decline of the age of
reason in Islamic societies, belief and tradition arched over the
institutions of Islamic State". (p. 13). But the Muslim world was so
vibrant and intellectually rich that Ibn Rushd wrote Ghazali's cri-
tique as Tahafut al-Tahafut. It is no true that Ghazali was respon-
sible for the decline of reason in the Muslim world. Hashim
Qureshi must read Dr Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi's paper,
"Ghazzali & Revival of Islamic Sciences" to correct this orientalist
myth.
Coming back to this debate, Hashim goes on to say, "A major
part of the struggle lies within the broad Islamic fold itself. It is the
revival of the long drawn struggle between the istidlaliyoon and
muttakallimoon of 12th century in its new avatar of "pure" and
"counterfeit" Islam. Taliban and Al Qaeda are also the product of
same thinking. They are spokespersons of orthodox Islam. Thus
entire Islamic polity has become a victim of dissensions, strife
and differences". (p. 14).
Hashim unnecessarily drags the mutakallimoon and istad-
laliyoon in the discussion as these haven't given rise to the
Taliban and Al-Qaeda, but the dragon seeds sown by Uncle Sam
during the Cold War when USSR invaded Afghanistan. The vio-
lent, exclusivist staple diet of Islam fed to those cadres at the CIA-
run madrasas on the Pak-Afghan borders was prepared in the
University of Nebraska on the orders of the American govern-
ment. And now when they have served their purpose, these yes-
terday's heroes have became today's terrorists.
Hashim strongly criticizes the upholders of political Islam and
appreciating secular India, writes "Islam has tremendous capaci-
ty of accommodation and adjustment. Its ethos has also the qual-
ity of adaptability. Political Islam has, over the centuries, taken a
heavy toll of our progress. The instruments that assist political
Islam have to be blunted and replaced by reforms that harmo-
nizes tradition with modernity. The example of India in this
respect is appreciable because she is trying to harmonize
extremist elements of many faiths with national imperatives.
Some stray events such as in Gujarat, Orissa and Karnataka may
induce us to think that India is a non-secular state, but this all is
a temporary situation which melts with time". (p. 22).
Hashim to some extent is factual about political Islam but sur-
mising that the temporary situation in India will melt away with
time seems quite exaggerated. The state and sections of popula-
tion and polity seem to be growing extremely intolerant and rights
of people are being trampled under extremists' jackboots.
Hindutva and fascist communalism haven't receded but are fast
spreading their tentacles. Even if Globalization, Liberalization and
Privatization will make these challenges wither away, yet the eco-
nomic disparity which fuels Naxalism will remain and grow
stronger resulting in grave, severe and hostile consequences for
whole of India.
Hashim Qureshi is of the Ganga plane hijacking fame. In its
aftermath, he was sent to prison in Pakistan where he spent
many years. Commenting on his return to Kashmir, he says
"Thirty years of exile had begun to freeze my blood in my veins.
One's native land and family members and relatives are a big
boon. They may be people of different temperaments. That does
not matter. They have an identity. In a foreign country one is lost
as a stranger. The land which contains the graves of one's ances-
tors has some rights and the natives of the land have some duty.
I have come to repay the debt of my motherland. I want to share
the pain and pleasure with my people. I want to understand their
troubles and travails. It is the 21st century but our condition is
akin to what prevailed in 12th century. This pain and this suffer-
ing induced me to return to my land. I want to serve my people
and rest in my own land". (p. 220).
Hashim is progressive in his views and wishes his people to
benefit from modernity, education and technological progress but
is disheartened to find hypocrisy among people, apathy of the
administration and government plus exploitation by leaders of
every shade of opinion. Hashim isn't cowed down. He carries his
efforts of awakening without rest. He has the wit and spine to take
a stand against the politicians, because he himself is active in
politics, though rarely politicians find time and courage to give
vent to peoples feelings and concerns..
Coming down heavily on the land grabbing mafias, timber
smugglers and those polluting the water bodies with impunity as
all of them enjoy the patronage of ruling cliques, he says, "It has
become the practice of National Conference to grab custodian,
state and nazul lands and allot contracts to their relatives and
friends and solve their personal problems". (p. 107).
Hashim is concerned about Roti, Kapda and Makaan prob-
lems of the people but is displeased at their pathetic attitude and
cautions them saying, "The unfortunate thing is that whenever
people come on streets to protest against non-availability of elec-
tric power or firewood or against unemployment or police excess-
es, they do not strictly restrict themselves to these problems.
Some elements within the protesting crowd stick out their necks
and raise slogans such as, "What do we want: Pakistan or What
do we want: Azadi," thereby inviting official machinery to perpe-
trate excesses and high handedness. The real problems, for
which people had come out on the streets to protest, get sub-
merged in these slogans". (p. 23).
Here Hashim fails to understand that the sentiment for Azadi
is embedded in the collective conscience of Kashmiris and they
articulate it whenever they are vocal. They consider Azadi the real
goal to be achieved, whose realization would make these small
issues of governance vanish in thin air.
Hashim comes down heavily against those who brand them-
selves as separatists. He bases his criticism and anger on brutal-
ly honest facts. Hashim is of the opinion that separatists have no
progressive programme for achieving Azadi: "Today when the
days of gun wielding are gone, these separatists parties have vir-
tually no programme to pursue that would drag the people out of
morass of destitution. They just wait to see that a Kashmiri is mar-
tyred somewhere and his blood spills over the earth or where
human rights are violated so that they would assemble a small or
big crowd to deliver a speech and get their photographs clicked.
They have no plan of how to accede to Pakistan or how to be
practical in winning freedom, what is the methodology, what is the
programme and how the people are to be dragged into this resist-
ance movement? Obviously, they have no programme whatsoev-
er?" (p. 229).
Hashim describes Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as a puppet of
Pakistan who has no stance or ideology of his own and changes
his colour every season: "Miwaiz should know that he has no
stand of his own whatsoever. Whenever he received a telephon-
ic call from Pakistan, some people and parties from his group
were shifted to Geelani-led Hurriyat. When need arose, they were
shifted back to Mirwaiz faction by a simple telephone from
Islamabad. Mirwaiz's stand on Kashmir is essentially the stand of
Pakistani military regime. His group works as spokesperson of
that regime in Kashmir". (pp. 104f).
Hashim speaks about the plight of common man in the
power politics and gimmicks, as the separatists have made no
institutions which could support the families of the victims who
suffered at the hands of the State and are still facing the wrath of
the State while seeking a job or obtaining a passport. They are at
the dead end, though Hashim has started an institution called
"Maqbool National Welfare Association" which caters to the
needs of widows and orphans and runs some vocational centres
for women.
Coming to the vexed question of Kashmir, Hashim is for an
indigenous solution of the problem which must be generated
within, not imposed from above. He wants the leadership and
people to be self-reliant and independent instead of pinning their
hopes on Uncle Sam or the Muslim World: "Is this very America
going to solve the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan?
Will those who project themselves as leaders of Kashmiri people,
and under the pretext of medical treatment for headache, enjoy
trips to the US and meet with the PRO in the State Department,
whom anybody can meet at any time, come back and befool their
compatriots by conveying to them "the good news of American
support" to the Kashmir cause, be able to solve the Kashmir
issue? What concrete steps did the US or the OIC take till date to
redeem the problems of Kashmiris? Far from solving the
Palestinian question, OIC could not muster support for Hizbullah
against the attack of Israel". (p. 70).
Hashim offers a novel and innovative roadmap for sepa-
ratists, i.e., of participation in elections and then resigning, thus
achieving freedom (p. 135), and "I may mention when the
oppressed and the enslaved people of the world were engaged in
earning their freedom at the point of gun in 1970s, the people of
Kashmir including some from among the separatists were fighting
elections. But when in 1990s most of the enslaved peoples of the
world were engaged in winning their rights through elections, the
people of Kashmir took up the gun. Today the exploitative sys-
tems in Ireland, Kosovo and Nepal are crumbling under the pres-
sure of elections; the stalwarts of Kashmir freedom and inde-
pendence are shunning elections. Are we not sidelining ourselves
from the ways and methods of the people of the world? Are we
not misleading our nation? Are we not confining ourselves to our
four walls? Who should reply these questions?" (pp. 168f).
It is a fact that Centre can never afford democracy, free and
fair elections in Kashmir and the last 63 years bears a testimony
to the same fact and even if separatists win elections, they can't
pass the 'unconstitutional' resolution on Kashmir. The fate of
Autonomy report is a witness to the same. The fact is that the
Centre uses elections to discredit the separatists, hence elections
under India regime aren't possible as well as feasible.
Overall, the book is thought-provoking and covers the social,
economic, political, environmental and educational problems,
issues and concerns of contemporary nature and is a laudable
read. Hashim is among the rare breed of Kashmiri politicians who
write regularly.
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar
An Insight into Kashmiri problems
Sachar Committee Report
English Rs 1000
Hindi Rs 1000
Urdu Rs 1000
Ordering details on page 19
Hashim is progressive in his views and
wishes his people to benefit from modernity,
education and technological progress but is
disheartened to find hypocrisy among people,
apathy of the administration and government
plus exploitation by leaders of every shade of
opinion. Hashim isn't cowed down. He carries
his efforts of awakening without rest. He has
the wit and spine to take a stand against the
politicians, because he himself is active in pol-
itics, though rarely politicians find time and
courage to give vent to peoples feelings and
concerns.
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I am seventy three years old. I have been reading the Milli Gazette
since long. The truth is that I am its fan. I wait for it every fortnight
with great impatience. When I receive it, my happiness knows no
bounds. I feel that I have received a very precious gem of knowledge
from worldly and religious point of view. Its reports, articles, rejoin-
ders, letters by letter writers, the editorial, etc. are worth-reading,
interesting, useful, informative and upto the mark. Undoubtedly, it is
one of the best English fortnightlies of India. The credit goes to Dr.
Zafarul-Islam Khan and the MG team for taking much pains to beau-
ty it; and to make it much more informative in the interest of the read-
ers. I pray to God for longevity of Dr. Zafarul- Islam Khan to serve
the readers. (Amen)
Shakeel Ahmad Frank, Gorakhpur (U. P.)
Demonizing: Indian Muslims
The main goal of chauvinistic Hindu communal organizations that is
R. S. S., Bajrang Dal, Visva Parishad, Shiv Sena, Ram Sena,
Abhinav Bharat Sansthan, Sanatan Sansthan and BJP - the stan-
dard bearer of Hindutva is to demonize Indian Muslim community by
lumping all Muslims as terrorists and equating them with violence
prone Muslims lunatic fridge with all Indian Muslims They are thus
creating among non-Muslims wholly irrational and entirely baseless
fear from Muslims and consequently hostility towards all Muslims. It
is most unfortunate that a large section of the press and most of the
TVs offer platform to Muslims haters who spread malicious canards
and lies against Muslims. Several activists of Abhinav Bharat
Sansthan and Sanatan Sansthan have been arrested for bomb
blasts and other terrorist activities yet only Muslims are called as ter-
rorists. This is rising concern across the country on the large num-
ber of arrests and harassment of Muslim youths by security forces.
They are punched up, taken into police custody and are subjected to
inhuman third degree tortures and eventually thrown into jails and
awaiting trial for years. This amounts to state terror. On this account
Muslim community no longer feels safe.
Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai Ex-M. P., Mayur Vihar, Delhi - 92
Is medias agenda to protect scamsters?
In political scenario, media plays a dirty game as if media has its own
agenda. On 17th August CAG report presented in Parliament in
which total loot of 3.00 lac crore exposed in many department like in
coal scam Rs. 1.86 lac crore reported which more than Rs. 1.76 lac
crore 2 G scam. Earlier the coal scam was Rs. 10.67 lac crore.
Media always targets government and political leaders. Though the
culprits are big industrialist and business houses. They digest major
chunk of scam money but media never exposes big houses why?
Even supreme S. Court had delivered harsh comments about the
beneficiaries in 2 G scam that because of the companies CEOs
were in forbes list they were getting liberty Big Industry Houses &
Companies are real culprit of scams why media not exposes them?
Who gulped what amount of ransom?
S. Haque, Patna
Deceitful democracy
Is it not a deceitful democracy wherein a group comes to power even
if it is voted by even much less than 50% of people?! Then only 51%
of the elected ones get power to rule and to do whatever they like
including to give away crores of rupees from tax-payers money to
game-winners of their choice and also to turn moles into mountains
and mountains into moles with an eye on next election?
S. Akhtar, Khanpur Deh - 392150
If a Muslim were in place of Rajesh Jaiswal...
Police raided a rented house of fruit supplier Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal
in Vikramshila colony under Tilka Manjhi P.S. at Bhagalpur. Police
seized Rs. 2.57 lakh in denomination of Rs. 500, and Rs. 1000 fake
notes with an Italian make pistol, 30 cartiges of SLR and two maga-
zines. SSP K. S. Anupam said Rajesh Kr. Jaiswal managed to
escape (HT, 21 August, page 5). If in place of Rajesh any Muslim
were involved or house or colony were Muslim locality, this news
would be given page 1 exposure. Satyendra Yadav of village Pidra
Dist. Gopalganj was cheated in the name of job in foreign country by
giving fake visa by Ashok Yadav and Rajkishore Yadav. This news
was published on page 14 in 2x2 so to diminish the gravity of dan-
gerous news. If any Muslim was involved, the news would have been
blown out of proportion. This is the dubious character of media.
S. Haque, Patna
Muslim behaviour
We Muslims have many charitable trusts among us. Unfortunately
we are divided in different Firqas in different countries. Our social
workers fight among themselves over trivial matters. Their ego does
not allow them to work with happiness and affection. They help the
poor to create a show. Our social workers are not trained and are not
willing to learn new things. They never welcome different views.
They have no knowledge of Islam so they do not help others to
please Allah. They are narrow minded and do not appreciate work of
others. They do not believe in learning every day. They are not hum-
ble. Well there are some good people but we need more people to
devote their lives to help the community. We need more women to
create awareness. It is a true Jehad. Five hours every week should
be given for social work. It can bring big change among Muslims. We
can work to help students, widows, orphans, sick people.
Nazneen O. Saherwala, Surat
Are dalits told of saffron brigade
Mahadalit Vijay Rajvanshi was thrashed and beaten by Manuwadis
for entering Shyam mandir at Fatehpur village of Akbarpur thana,
Newada District of Bihar. Rajvanshi was threatened to be killed if he
enter mandir next time and his rupees 10,000 were stolen by the fol-
lower of Manu (case no. 184 / 12), On the other hand, Sukhdeshlal
Harijan and Jagdish son of Amar Lal both of the dalit community
were caught by police for torching Tidhari Masjid of Poakhali,
Kishanganj. At the behest of saffron brigade, dalits and adivasis are
illegally erecting huts under the communist banner at allotted land of
AMU camps and 385 acre bought by Maulana Wali Rahmani for edu-
cational institutions. Dalit leaders must explain to their people the
saffron conspiracy.
S. Haque, Patna
Will Abdul Nasir Maudani not be freed before his death?
The rulers are enjoying day by day with more savage in the case of
Muslims. Abdul Nazar Madhani is a Muslim by birth and a religious
teacher as well as a preacher. He always stands for good deeds and
object against evil deeds because he is a God fearing man. His only
fault in the eyes of fascists is he spoke harshly here and there
against he barbarism, demolition of the ancient mosque at Ayodhya
in the day light with the full support of police, politicians, judiciary,
ministers etc. Madhani condemned and spoke provocatively against
the heinous crime. The nation as a whole witnessed this terrorism
against the peace loving God fearing Muslim community.
Subsequently many fake cases charged on Muslims and thousands
and thousands were slaughtered across the country charging fake
Godhra Train accident Bomb blasts, attacking Nagpur RSS centre
etc. In the meantime Madhani was attacked by bomb and his one leg
lost. He was wounded brutally. But none of the culprits neither
charged nor arrested. By Gods grace and continued prayers
Madhani recouped his health to the tune of 50% and pulling on his
life with agony and dreadful future, the unkind judiciary arrested him
from his house at late night on the suspicious ground of Coimbatore
bomb blast and detained him in Coimbatore jail for about ten years
without any specific charges. Poor Madhani possessing all ailments
was rotting in the jail without proper treatment and food without prov-
ing his crime or charges he was acquitted from Coimbatore jail after
nine and half years. Knowing the consequences keeping him in
Kerala, police arrested him and keep him in Karnataka jail framing
bomb case without any trial. This is another conspiracy against
Madhani for his long incarceration. There is a logic i.e., the demol-
ishers of the mosque or the killers of thousands of innocent Muslims
are not booked or charged instead they are being treated as nation-
alists and VIPs. Abdul Nazar Madni has not advised to kill anybody
or to demolish any temples or churches or make sabotage in the
country as was done by the fascist. Release Abdul Nazar Madhani
from Karnataka jail forth with and allow to live as L. K. Advani and
Modi.
Haji M. A. Khan, Trivandrum - 695009
How can problems be solved?
Can our problems ever be solved if, on one hand, we advise people
to avoid corruption but on the other, exhort them to drink wine by fix-
ing eyes on Direct to Home [or Hell?] T. V. which only multiplies lust,
greed, passion, desire and sin? A firm belief in a permanent life after
this temporary one is the only remedy for the ailing human brother-
hood. The Holy Quran also explains everything.
Sultan A. Patel Khanpur Deh - 392150
Brilliant thoughts
Apropos of Worship: A Medium of Self-realization (Milli Gazette 16-
30 Aug) was a highly commendable attempt by the writer to propa-
gate the universal values and ideals for a harmonious, healthy soci-
ety in Islamic perspective in the light of worship (Ibadah). Amazing
how Islam in accordance to the teaching of the Koran and the
Prophet of Islam consider patriotism and seeking knowledge to be
part of Moslem faith and not merely a way of life. The concept of wor-
ship so elaborately mentioned by the writer brings forth the fact that
regardless of which religion one follows, if practiced in its true spirit,
one benefits to exist in harmony with ones self, fellow beings and
mother nature as one family of the Lord/ Allah. I believe this attitude
and aptitude to be self-realization itself. It was a pleasant surprise to
read in the article the strong emphasis given to Moslem women to
pursue for education. The Western media need to educate people on
this rather than resort to cheap propaganda against women in Islam.
The striking familiarity of Islam with Christianity was the statement of
HH Dr. Syedna Mohammed to follow the path that leads to complete
devotion to the Lord and humility- true essence of worship.
Dr. Kathreen Jones, Kathreen@australiamail.com
Superstitious all
At the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library today, there was a
meeting in memory of a scholar who died only three months ago.
Placed just inside the door of the seminar room was a photograph of
the dead person. As is customary in this land, it was garlanded.
There was also the usual ornate brass stand, but with multiple small
electric lamps on it in acknowledgment of modernity. The tables
around which people sat were arranged in a hollow square, and it
will have been because of the absurd restrictions placed by the fire
department, and perhaps by the contractor who maintains the air
conditioning, that there was no havan fire at the centre. Three hours
before midnight of 14/15 August 1947, Perry Anderson writes,
Nehru and his colleagues sat cross-legged around a sacred fire in
Delhi while Hindu priests - arrived posthaste from Tanjore for the rit-
ual - chanted hymns and sprinkled holy water over them.... How
unspeakably fitting that ritual of religion-related form should be prac-
tised in an institution devoted, at least nominally, to the memory of
Jawaharlal Nehru, he of the scientific temper.
Mukul Dube Mayur Vihar 1, Delhi 110091
dube.mukul@gmail.com
Instant triple Talaq un-Islamic
The ex Dy. Chief minister of Haryana Chandra Mohan (Chand
Muhammad) had given his second Muslim wife Fiza triple Talaq in
one sitting which is again in news. It is against the Quran which pre-
scribes a period of three months, after the expiry of which alone a
divorce could become final. In Islam marriage is a sacred bond and
a contract which both enjoy rights and shoulder responsibilities. Both
marriage and divorce are easy in Islam. There is no frequency of
divorce in Muslim society in spite of facility there in Islam has pre-
scribed conditions for divorce with a view to protect womens rights.
If quarrels take place and all efforts at a compromise fail, the hus-
band should set his wife free i. e. divorce her. Divorce should be
given gradually in stages. It gives an opportunity to the couple to
ponder and patch u. The relatives should intervene and try to keep
the wedlock. As a last resort divorce is permitted. According to the
Quran divorce cannot be given without a valid reason. It can only be
given when wife is not in period of menstruation. Divorce will take
effect not immediately but after the expiry of the prescribed period.
Wife would stay with her husband for full period of Iddat i. e. three
months. If husband has divorced under severe provocation and
regrets having done so, he has every opportunity to take her back
during Iddat period. But he forfeits this right if he divorces his wife for
the third time.
G. Hasnain Kaif, Bhandara, Maharashtra
Mamata has shown mamata to Muslims of Assam
It is a good news that at least one high ranking non Muslim leader
came out to help the Muslims of Assam .She proved a good
Samaritan .Muslims of Bengal in special and Muslims of India in gen-
eral be rejoiced with the gesture shown by sister Benerji .Renowned
Poet has said bertar az gardoon maqam-e-Adam ast asle tahzeeb
ehtrame Adam ast .The position of human beings is superior than
sky the real civilization is to respect human beings .The killers and
their supporters can never under stand the moral lesson incorporat-
ed in the poetry of great poet of east Allama Iqbal (converted
Brahmin of Kashmir) If the Brahmins understand his poetry they
bound to embrace Islam .But today they are mad after the political
power .They know well that this worldly life is purely temporary .We
can remind the death of Vilas Rao Deshmukh who died just in a
week he had amassed hundreds of crores . No one knows the fate
of great leader .We salute Mamata Didi and pray Almighty to make
her Prime Minister of India She deserve this high ranking assign-
ment.
Dr AH Maqdoomi, Hyderabad
An open letter to Mr Asaduddin Owaisi MP
Quaed-e Mohtaram Asaduddin Owaisi Saheb: Asssalam Alaikum,
The arrests of 11 Muslims in Karnataka (being ruled by BJP ) and a
quick message of congratulations by our new Home Minister of
Central Govt. Mr. Shinde, shows that the matter of arresting Muslim
youths seems to be never ending. After the arrest of Mr. Kazmi,the
famous Urdu journalist, now a journalist from English media too has
become a victim. He is Mr. Maseehur Rahman from a Karnataka
English newspaper. I very humbly request you to raise this issue
once again in Lok Sabha, I believe you have courage and guts to do
so. Now there is an attempt to defame Saudi Arabia too, by saying
that those arrested used to get directions and help from the
Kingdom! Now the name of Saudi Arabia is frequently being taken in
connection with terror activity, probably with the advice of Moosad
and Israel, so as to create a fear in the minds of talented Muslim
youth to go Saudi Arabia. This should be seen in the background of
difficult time being faced by Congress Govt.
Rasheed Ansari, Free lance Journalist, Hyderabad
II
Its being a trend to arrest Muslims in any case what the govt. exact-
ly wants. it is the 13th arrest of educated boys as well as established
professionals why media is silent on it
ghunchaster@gmail.com
Islam & Muslims
The spread of Islam amidst down fall of people having Muslim
names appears very surprising except to those having in sight.
Despite being born in any community they can realise that Islam has
no racial connection. Notwithstanding their parents belief or unbe-
lief, proper use of God given brain convinces them that HE is not at
all racially related with any one. HE can raise people loyal to HIM
even from those who were born in non-Muslim homes. Anti-Islamic
bomb blasts by the name of universal Islam.
S. Akhtar Khanpur Deh - 392150
Sack Tarun Gogoi and hand over Assam to army
According to P. M. Dr. Manmohan Singh Assam - violence is a blot
on the fair name of India. The C. M. and Home Minister Tarun Gogoi
is mainly responsible for large scale one sided Assam violence. He
has failed to control well planned and organised anti Muslim riots in
several districts and prove in efficient in nabbing the Bodo rioters
and perpetrators. The role of Assam is partial and condemnable. The
Congress leader ship should remove Tarun Gogoi and should hand
over Assam to the army. Central home minister Sushil Kumar shinde
said The problem is neither communal nor of Indians and non-
Indians. Infact Bangla speaking Muslims and Hindus of this area are
all Indians. Bodos want to make this area Bodoland like Nagaland.
Infact quarrel is between 27% Bodos and 73% non-Bodos compris-
ing of Muslims non-Bodo santh al tribe and other non-Bodo tribes. In
2003, during NDA regime Bodo Territorial Council Act (B. T. C. A.)
was enacted. In this area population of Bodos is 27% while popula-
tion of non Bodos i. e. Muslims, non Bodo santhal tribe and other
non Bodo tribes is 73%. This majority 73% population has no politi-
cal representation in the B. T. C. Act. This is gross injustice and total-
ly undemocratic. Non Bodos should be given 73% representation in
B. T. C. A. There are terrorists, militants and law breakers in Bodos.
A Bodo terrorist organisation was banned by central govt. long ago.
They have fire arms etc. They support Gogoi govt.. They want to
drive out non Bodos which constitute 73% of the population to make
majority of Bodos.
G. Hasnain Kaif, Bhandara, Maharashtra - 441904
Assam carnage
It is absurd to brand one sided N. E. genocide of helpless, un-pro-
tected and defenceless Muslims as communal clashes. In fact, the
happening in Assam appeared to have been designed and engi-
neered by congress and implemented by Hindutva groups, Bodo
inclusion with Israel agents who are very active in N. E. part of India,
Myanmar and one or two other places. The conspiracy against
Muslims in Bodoland Territorial Area District was probably (as
appeared under the present scenario) hatched since long as BJP
president Nitin Gadkari, senior BJP leader L. K. Advani and others.
Ashok Singhal, RSS personalities were paying regular visits to that
part of the country to finalise the plan incollusion with Israeli agents
for the extradition of Muslims in the name of foreigner and
Bangladeshi infiltrators. The congress regime continued to allow
them to make inflammatory speeches, spitting venom spitefully
against Muslims. Persons like Togodia and others were freely
allowed to march ahead with their communal mission against
Muslims. The Israelis have their strong footing in N. E. which fact is
well within the knowledge of congress and Tarun led government of
Assam. Hence it is false to claim that bursting out against Muslim
was of a sudden nature. It is a well known fact that prominent Bodo
leaders like Borgoyri and Maya alongwith associates since long
making false and fabricated stories of Bangladeshi infiltrators,
Pakistans the masses against Muslims thus levelling way for butch-
iery of Muslims but the congress kept on watching the whole pro-
ceeding like mute operate as if the party had no knowledge about
the on-going episode against Muslims which appeared to be a trail-
er for the big event in future. Many of the Muslims and extended all
help to the victims but the absence of Indian Union Muslim League
and is leaders at all level felt very much
Faheemuddin, Nagpur
Pak power
Is not extraordinary prominence being given to Pakistan by suggest-
ing that they can disturb peace in India through mobiles? They are
unable to maintain peace in their own country even for an hour even
in places of worship. Not a single day passes without soldiers being
blasted and civilians being shout. In Karachi, every family feels good
luck if their working members return home safely at night.
S. Akhtar Patel
Khanpur Deh - 392150
The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012 23
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24 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 September 2012
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