SUBHASHINI ALI

S
ome years ago, I had met Ishrat Jahans mother, Shamima,
at a meeting in Azamgarh. We did not have much opportu-
nity to speak, but her quiet dignity impressed me. This year,
as soon as I knew that I would be in Mumbai for Eid, I con-
tacted her and asked her if I could visit her home and wish her and
her children on an occasion that is celebrated with so much joy and
festivity all over the world but which can also be an occasion of sor-
row and longing for a loved one who is not present. And for this
family the sorrow and longing must be so much more intense
because of the tragic and brutal way in which their young and inno-
cent Ishrat Jahans life was sniffed out.
Shamima welcomed my proposal and Sonya Gill, Maharashtra
President of AIDWA, and I reached Mumbra just as the Eid prayers
ended. Mumbra is part of Thane district which has become a
Muslim-dominated area. It is home to Muslim migrants to Mumbai
from all parts of India. Many came here several years ago when
they first migrated from their homes; many more followed them
after the 1992-93 riots and now it has become a destination for new
migrants every year.
When we reached Mumbra, the streets were overflowing with
young and old people on their way home from the prayer or on their
way to visit friends and relatives or just enjoying walking around
with their friends. The sidewalks had plenty of shops selling biryani,
kababs, sewain, toys and all kinds of bric--brac. The children all
around looked especially festive in their new clothes, fancy shoes
and many different kinds of dark glasses!
We found the apartment where Shamima has been staying
for the last few months with her children. They have had to leave
their old and crumbling set of rooms which were too well known
and too exposed for their safety. Ever since the CBI court in
Ahmedabad started hearings of the encounter case and espe-
cially after the CBI filed its first chargesheet against senior offi-
cers of the Gujarat police indicting them for their role in the
encounter (all the accused have been in jail since 2004 because
of their involvement in the Sohrabuddin encounter case),
Shamima and her supporters have felt threatened. Once, men
claiming to be policemen, tried to force open her door in the
middle of the night. On another occasion, the car in which she
was returning from a hearing in Ahmedabad was shot at. A deep
sense of insecurity forced her and her children to leave their
home and take refuge in a flat belonging to a sympathetic sup-
porter for a few months.
Shamimas face was wreathed in warm and welcoming smiles
when we entered. She hugged us Eid Mubarak and was followed by
her daughter, Masarrat. Two younger daughters were a bit shy to
begin with but soon regained their lively, youthful exuberance. Their
brother, Anwar, was very much the young man of the house, con-
scious of his role as the only earning member of his battered fami-
ly. Very soon we were eating delicious sheerkhorma and listening to
several chattering voices.
Both Shamima and her husband belonged to Patna. Masarrat
and one of her sisters were sent to their nani there soon after
Ishrats death. They have been studying there since. But, like all
Mumbai girls, they consider Patna to be little better than a village!
Masarrat has a serious point. She says that for members of a
poor family like theirs it is much easier to find work in Mumbai.
Anwar maybe the only family member with a job he works
in a call centre after having given up his education because of lack
of money but everyone contributes to the household. Shamima
and her daughters take in sewing and embroidery work and they
told us, quite proudly, that, of course, they had stitched their new
clothes for Eid.
Speaking of working of course, brings memories of Ishrat
flooding back. It was the necessity of finding work to pay for her
own education and for her familys expenses that had made her take
up a job with Uncle Javed. Two months later, her bullet-ridden
body lay next to his and to the bodies of two other men on a road
outside Ahmedabad. An AK47 lay next to her. It did not, however,
have her fingerprints.
Shamima wipes away just the one uncontrollable tear and com-
poses herself. She says, my daughter could earn only two months
salary. She gave me all the money she received but made sure that
her college entrance fees for the next academic year were paid well
in time. Once college started again, she would stop working for
Javed and go back to studying and then taking tuitions for the chil-
dren of the locality. Something she had been doing for several
years.
Masarrat will soon finish her studies and maybe getting married
after that. She is determined to work, however. The two younger
girls too dream of studying and then working. All three girls are
determined to lead happy, normal lives and to see at least some of
their dreams fulfilled. Anwar is already quiet for his age. He feels the
burden of his responsibilities but does not resent them.
Shamima is the quiet and still centre of the family. She is the
lightening rod that has absorbed the shock and trauma of her
daughters cold-blooded murder. From a woman leading a life of
seclusion, she has grown into a woman who has faced police inter-
rogation, heart-rending encounters with the cold and unfriendly cor-
ridors of justice, the suspicion, indifference and hostility of her
neighbours and the intrusive cross-examinations of the media.
Through it all she has retained her innate graciousness. Her unshak-
able belief in her daughters innocence and her absolute determina-
tion to fight for justice so that the black stain of being a terrorist
can be wiped off forever from her childs innocent, angelic face has
given her the immense and incredible courage that was necessary
to face what were, truly, insurmountable barriers.
Today, justice seems within her grasp but she knows only too
well that it may yet prove elusive. Still, the knowledge that millions
all over the country are now convinced of her daughters innocence
fills her with the hope that her sons and daughters will be allowed
to live the dreams that were so tragically snuffed out in Ishrats
young heart.
We take leave of Shamima, happy that we have been able to
participate in the celebrations of this brave band of unarmed war-
riors and humbled by the courage they display despite the cruel
strength of the enemy that they know only too well.
A former member of Parliament, Subhashini Ali is president of
the All India Democratic Womens Association
24 pages ` 15 ISSN 0972-3366 Fortnightly Vol. 14 No. 17 Issue Serial # 327 facebook.com/milligazette www.milligazette.com 1-15 September 2013
Riot after riot 5,10,11
Waqf Bill 3,7
Egypt 5,13,16-19
J&K 10 | Analysis 11 | Special Reports 3,13 | Issues 2,11,13 |
Speaking Out 11 | Newsmakers 12 | International 16-20
Community News 14-15 | Islamic Perspectives 21
Classifieds 22 | Letters 23
Inside
MG
Eid with Ishrat Jahans mother
THE
MILLI
GAZETTE
INDIAN MUSLIMS LEADING ENGLISH NEWSPAPER SINCE 2000
DR ABDULLAH...12 MAULANA RAHMANI...12
pheku.in*
Shamima is the quiet and
still centre of the family.
She is the lightening rod
that has absorbed the
shock and trauma of her
daughters cold-blooded
murder. From a woman
leading a life of seclusion,
she has grown into a
woman who has faced
police interrogation, heart-
rending encounters with
the cold and unfriendly
corridors of justice, the
suspicion, indifference and hostility of her neighbours and the intrusive cross-
examinations of the media. Through it all she has retained her innate graciousness. Her
unshakable belief in her daughters innocence and her absolute determination to fight for
justice so that the black stain of being a terrorist can be wiped off forever from her
childs innocent, angelic face has given her the immense and incredible courage that was
necessary to face what were, truly, insurmountable barriers.
M
G
/
Y
u
s
u
f
Ishrat Jahan (left) and Shamima
* See page 11
2 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 ISSUES / OPINION
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INDIAN MUSLIMS LEADING ENGLISH NEWSPAPER
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The dastardly killing of the rationalist
Narendra Dabholkar in Poona on
August 20 has stunned all. A ratio-
nalist in the mould of Sri Lankas leg-
endary Abraham Kovoor and the
socialist M N Roy, Dabholkar was in
the forefront of a campaign to per-
suade Maharashtra government to
pass an anti-superstition and black
magic (a vestige of Pagan Hinduism) bill in the
state legislature. Dabholkar was a man who
dedicated his life to eradicating all superstitions
and irrationalities that have plagued our lives,
especially the Hindu society. He was a crusader,
who never played to the gallery and tried to hog
the limelight. In a country like India, where
superstitions are galore and religion is a regulat-
ing factor, Dabholkars indefatigable crusade
against religious anomalies, aberrations and
abominations was indeed highly commendable.
I remember when I met him a few years ago in
Kolhapur, he told me that the removal of super-
stitions like black magic, human and animal
sacrifices, belief in antediluvian rituals, regres-
sive practices and blind faith in fake gurus was
indeed an uphill task. He was particularly
against black magic, which he termed a legacy
of dark age. Despite science reiter-
ating that theres no such thing as
black magic and jadu tona, Hindus
are still steeped in superstitions and
saddled with beliefs that arent just
primitive but pernicious as well.
Though an atheist, Dabholkar wasnt
against peoples faith. He was at log-
gerheads with their rank irrational
beliefs. His opposition to black magic was
opposed by certain sections of Warkari sect and
many people, even educated Hindus and oth-
ers, were unhappy with his tireless tirade
against superstitions. What pains me no end is
peoples intolerance. Instead of arguing with the
rationalist par excellence, some miscreants
killed him. But, can the voice of reason be
squelched? Can we ever silence the truth?
II
Therere certain realities that take time to sink in.
Im still unable to come to terms with
Dr Narendra Dabholkars dastardly murder, who
was killed in Poona on August 20, the Day of
Rakhi. Being a rationalist and anti-obscurantism,
Id meet Dr Dabholkar whenever hed visit Poona
from Satara in western Maharashtra. My innu-
merable meetings with him strengthened my
belief that if most of the people in our society
were steeped in extremely obscure and irrational
practices, there were a few, like him, who really
wanted to root out all such superstitions. When
on July 22, 2010, some Hindu activists thrashed
me for writing something that didnt appeal to
them, Dabholkar phoned me and said that I
should be mentally prepared for more such
attacks because truths forever on the scaffold.
Hed himself translate my Hindi and English
pieces into Marathi for his magazine Sadhana,
committed to extirpating superstitions from the
society. He wasnt anti-religion but he vehe-
mently militated against unfounded beliefs and
exploitative practices of babas, occultists,
tantrik etc. He loved to rationalise every phe-
nomenon and could explain every esoteric
issue in a cogent manner. I remember how sci-
entifically he explained the hysterical phenome-
non of Ganapati drinking milk in Maharashtra
way back in September 1993. His scientific
background (he was a medico), facilitated peo-
ple to see through such miracles. His explana-
tion of capillary suction behind Ganesh drink-
ing milk, antagonised many devout Hindus and
Hindu outfits. He received threats to his life but
nothing could dampen his indomitable spirit of
seeking truth. Somewhere he knew that one day
a violent end would befall him. Yet he remained
unflustered and unfazed.
The most wonderful quality that he had was
his boundless patience. I never saw him lose his
temper and abuse anyone. He was trying tooth
and nail to pass an anti-superstition and black
magic bill in the state legislature. To him, black
magic was a legacy of the Dark Ages.
Its really worth condemning that such a
tireless crusader was seen by some obscuran-
tists as a thorn in the flesh. Our society has
become too intolerant. The voice of reason has
disappeared. Instead of challenging ideas, weve
begun to challenge individuals.
A famous writer recently said that we tend
to get offended at the drop of a hat. Yes, we
cant reason it out and resort to violent meas-
ures to silence the voice of reason and intellect.
This is a very dangerous sign. The ideological
differences mustnt culminate in sanguinary
ends. We, as a part of the society, must intro-
spect as to where were heading and where
weve gone wrong.
SUMIT PAUL
sumitmaclean@hotmail.com
Murder of Narendra Dabholkar: muzzling the voice of reason
www.milligazette.com
SALMAN SULTAN
It is human nature to blame others for our shortcomings. It is not
to state that we are perfect and are supposed not to err. We must,
however, learn from our mistakes and try not to repeat them in
future. Only great men can overcome pretensions through self-
critical appraisals. Individuals who cant think beyond their nose
cause great harm to themselves and to the institutions they hap-
pen to administer by a quirk of fate.
We are blessed with a wonderful constitution which has given
ample rights to all including religious minorities. We must, there-
fore, strive for its implementation. Limiting our discussion to our
country only, has the Muslim community not been empowered
through article 30 of the Constitution to establish and administer
institutions of its choice? Does this not allow us to preserve and
propagate our ideas through establishing our own institutions?
Let us go back into history to ponder over the demoralised
state of Muslims after the first war of independence (1857). We
come across visionaries like Sir Syed and Allama Shibli who
thought and acted upon improving ways for the uplift of a rudder-
less community. It was through institutions like MAO College (later
AMU), Nadwatul-Ulama, Madarsatul Islah, Shibli National
School/College, Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy, that Muslim
Indians could preserve their identity and develop self-confidence
necessary to participate in the nation-building.
One shudders to think of the post-Partition Muslim communi-
ty without these institutions. The present author is overwhelmed
with gratitude for these giants of their time (Syed Ahmad and
Shibli). The independent subcontinent (India and Pakistan) has yet
to see community leaders/reformers like Sir Syed and Allama
Shibli Nomani.
Though the educational movement in north India, in particu-
lar U.P., had taken roots in the late 19th century, our generation
failed to even maintain the inherited legacy of our forefathers,
leave alone its further progress and enrichment in a continuous
upward trend.
Almost all Muslim-managed Institutions (MMI) are embroiled
today in litigations due to in-fighting in the management. These
institutions are managed mostly by unscrupulous businessmen
and local busybodies who hardly have any feel for academics or
community. People who established or later worked for the
progress of MMIs in their infancy were honest, integral, dedicated
and well-respected gentlemen of the community. They toiled hard
and were always ready to part with their personal resources in
order to open new avenues in tune with a progressing world. They
didnt consider MMIs as revenue-generating shops but as impor-
tant citadels of learning at the service of the community and soci-
ety. As a whole region benefitted from newer faculties imparting
teacher training (B.Ed) or professional Law courses, respect for
these MMIs in society grew manyfold. In turn, people associated
with these MMIs either in management or employees also earned
respect of society. Early years after independence were really dif-
ficult for these privately managed institutions. Even disbursement
of salaries to the employees on time was a big deal. Ways to raise
fund was a constant worry for the management. Those who could
contribute through their time, energy and personal savings came
forward to be associated with managing body of these MMIs.
However, when shrewd businessmen penetrated the ranks and file
of these MMIs either in management or as employees, things
started to deteriorate. Membership of the managing bodies of
these MMIs not only brought recognition but also personal gains
for the members. Instead of striving hard to work towards the
development of MMIs, members started intervening in adminis-
trative process of admissions, examinations and appointments.
Naturally, this petty thinking damaged the reputation of the MMIs
and resulted in declining academic standards. Unscrupulous,
shrewd and petty businessmen, who had not much respect in the
society and who, perhaps, nurtured a deep rooted jealousy
against academicians and honest entrepreneurs, manoeuvred to
creep into the managing bodies of these MMIs. Thus, started a
steep decline in the quality of service imparted to society by these
MMIs.
Once these nincompoops tasted power and recognition
through membership of governing bodies of these MMIs, they
made it a point to continue their tenure either by hook or by crook.
Thus, started wranglings and the complicated process of never-
ending court litigation. Individuals having high self-opinion criti-
cised the trend of rushing to a court of law at the drop of a hat but
when they themselves were denied prestigious positions, they
didnt bat an eyelid before rushing to file suits throwing to winds
all sane counsel. Presiding over meetings of managing bodies,
they forcefully imposed their opinions and resorted to all kinds of
unethical practices to help their cronies.
The founding members of MMIs were no doubt fully devoted
to the cause and constantly worked to achieve their goal and
strove to protect and nurture the seeds sown for the future vision
of their giant tree. This quality of membership was less maintained
later when MMIs were perceived as great revenue generating
machines.
Various ways were devised to fleece parents/guardians
through their wards to fill the coffers. This also became evident in
the choice of projects for development for MMIs. Well-equipped
laboratories/libraries no longer enthused manipulating administra-
tors. All type of services which should have been freely available
to students were priced. Since the number of students admitted
was in direct proportion to income, nothing was done to accom-
modate students as per facilities available. Discipline, prerequisite
for academic environment, was the casualty leading to indifferent
teaching in crammed class rooms. While scarcity of funds was a
problem for managing bodies of growing MMIs, enormously
increased revenue generation became a bone of contention and
caused havoc to these MMIs.
As stated in the beginning, we blame others for our wrong
doings and gain a false sense of satisfaction by pointing organi-
sations like RSS for all our troubles. To some extent it may be true.
Rightist communal forces from their inception are growing
through hate-mongering and Muslim bashing. Political aggran-
dizement of such forces is achieved through the British legacy of
Divide and Rule. In order to have a say in the national politics,
these forces dont hesitate to pit one against the other without
remorse for bloodshed and enormous loss of life and property.
End justifies means is their motto. Having highlighted the ugly
side of these forces let us critically analyze other reasons for their
growing importance in polity.
I have no brief for RSS, the self-appointed organisation of vol-
unteers in the service of the Nation, but I cant help admiring dis-
cipline in their cadres and the hold their top brass exercise in pol-
icy making-decisions of their political front.
Years ago reporting proceedings of a convention of RSS in
U.P., TOI published a photograph on its front page. At that time
Kalyan Singh was the CM and Mr. Rajnath Singh was the State
President of BJP and both were shown in khaki half pants with
thalis in their hands standing in a queue. Actually, it was lunch
break and these two gentlemen, though holding important portfo-
lios, were just like any other cadre. Also, in the function only two
chairs were on the stage. Remarkable! Wherefrom they got this
inspiration? Of course, from the conduct of our beloved Prophet
(pbuh) and his companions (RA).
Suffice to say that in order to better run MMIs we will have to
emulate the practices of the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions
(RA). This will enhance the reputation of the MMIs and they will
be perceived as institutions in the way of Nation building.
Time to introspect about our community institutions
Almost all Muslim-managed Institutions (MMI) are embroiled today in litigations due to in-fighting in
the management. These institutions are managed mostly by unscrupulous businessmen and local
busybodies who hardly have any feel for academics or community. People who established or later
worked for the progress of MMIs in their infancy were honest, integral, dedicated and well-respected
gentlemen of the community. They toiled hard and were always ready to part with their personal
resources in order to open new avenues in tune with a progressing world...
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 3
Respond now if you care about your
community
White Paper on Terrorism
The issue of fake terrorism charges and the unjust arrests and defamation of our community,
especially since 2001, is the biggest challenge facing the community ever since. A grand con-
spiracy hatched by the powers that be, IB, Police and media, has sullied and defamed our com-
munity. This campaign has affected our lives, peace of mind and has thwarted our efforts to
progress and educate our children to join the national mainstream.
Our efforts so far to present our case, to bring out our innocence and force the national and
state governments to listen to our grievances have mostly failed. All we have received are a few
words of solace which have no real meaning and have not changed the situation on the ground.
Our children by their thousands are still languishing in jails on the basis of fake confessions
obtained through torture and blackmail.
As a long-term solution and a serious response to this problem thrust upon us, AIMMM
decided last year to bring out a white paper on the Muslim-related terrorism in the country.
The work is going on with all seriousness and many researchers, scholars and journalists are
busy preparing writeups on various aspects of this issue, covering the history, genesis, com-
munalism, vested interests in various related fields, analysis of various laws like TADA, POTA
and UAPA, fake encounters, narco tests, torture, acquittals, IB & Police role, media attitude,
case studies, statewise surveys, SIMI, Indian Mujahidin, Hindutva terror, individual tragedies
of victims, Azamgarh, Bhatkal, Malegaon, Darbhanga modules, some basic documents, etc.,
etc.
The target is to bring out this white paper during the next seven months and to release it in
a big convention at Delhi as a combined effort of major Muslim and civil rights organisations,
and thereafter present this huge document of over 600 large format pages to politicians, media,
human rights organisations, especially outside the country, in order to enlighten public opinion
at home and abroad as well as to build pressure on our blind and deaf government.
The estimated cost of this white paper is Rs 35 lakh divided as follows: Rs 15 lakh cost of
preparation and payments to contributors plus six months salaries to researchers and experts;
Rs 15 lakh for designing and printing the document in a world-class format; while the grand con-
vention at Delhi will cost at least 5 lakh. Effort will be made to release the White Paper in some
state and world capitals also.
You can help this effort in four ways,
1. To buy copies of the White Paper on Terrorism in advance to help defray part of the huge
cost of research, printing, publication and distribution of at least one thousand complimentary
copies. The estimated price of the white paper is Rs 2000 per copy in India. You may place an
advance order by paying Rs 1000 only per copy in India including postal charges). Payments
for the copies may be made to The Milli Gazette, D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar, New
Delhi 110025. Email: edit@milligazette.com. Individuals and organisations ordering a minimum
of 100 copies in advance will be included as Sponsors of the White Paper.
2. Contribute to the cost of the grand convention to be held at Delhi towards the end of 2013.
This should be payable to the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, D-250, Abul Fazal Enclave,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025. Tel.: 011-26946780 Fax: 011-26947346. Email:
mushawarat@mushawarat.com.
3. Donate your time: If you are a scholar, researcher, journalist: join our team for a few
months working in our Delhi office or from your own home to complete this project - write
to the Editor, MG now at edit@milligazette.com.
4. Contact us if you have vital information/documents about this issue.
www.milligazette.com
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requires EXECUTIVE EDITOR,
JUNIOR JOURNALISTS
write with details in the first instance to the Editor at edit@milligazette.com
Basic requirements: good command over English, interest in and knowledge
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New Delhi: The Rajya
Sabha on 19 August
passed a bill that seeks
to prevent misuse of
Waqf properties and
make them commer-
cially viable by provid-
ing for their fair leasing
and provisions to res-
cue usurped and ille-
gally occupied proper-
ties. In deference to Muslim community
demands, the bill also bans sales of waqf prop-
erties as well as prohibits their mortgage.
Minority Affairs Minister K. Rahman Khan
said the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2010 will prevent
misuse of waqf (charitable endowments) proper-
ties. He said the bill provides for penal action
against public servants who fail to prevent
encroachment of Waqf properties. The bill was
earlier passed by Lok Sabha. It was, however,
referred to a select committee when it came up
in Rajya Sabha.
Khan lauded the efforts of the select com-
mittee as well as the Joint Parliamentary
Committee which suggested several amend-
ments. "The opposition cooperated with us fully.
I hope the amended bill is passed by Lok Sabha
soon. It will have salutary impact on minority
welfare, he told reporters later.The minister said
huge tracts of waqf lands are either in posses-
sion of encroachers or leased or rented out at
ridiculously low prices.
Once the new law comes into force, waqf
boards can register FIRs against people or
institutions who are in possession of their
lands without due authorisations. Getting them
evicted would also take much less time, he
said.
Khan said his ministry is also working to
make waqf properties public premises under a
separate law which will make any encroach-
ment automatically illegal and a penal offence.
A controversy had risen in the Muslim commu-
nity because some people in the Muslim
Personal Law Board had approached the gov-
ernment with a request to allow sale of waqf
properties which were under adverse posses-
sion or which became useless for some rea-
son. A section of the community felt that this
provision will open the floodgates of sales of
waqf properties at a pittance and therefore
should be deleted from the draft bill. An amica-
ble settlement was made in a meeting of both
groups in Delhi in which it was decided to
approach the government with a consensus
request to delete the provision for sale and
mortgage of waqf properties. This was con-
veyed to the Union Minority Minister who
expressed his happiness that the matter was
amicably solved. He further said that the gov-
ernment has no vested interest of itself and
wants only to safeguard whatever is left of waqf
properties most of which have been lost forev-
er due to adverse passion and encroachment.
See also page 7
Rajya Sabha passes Waqf bill
4 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Mumbai: Ten months after being arrested for his
alleged role in the 2002 bomb blast case in
Mumbai, a techie from Hyderabad has been dis-
charged of all the charges. Much before his
arrest, for 10 years, Mumbai police had been
claiming that Taj-ul Kazi Siddiqui, 40, was the
main conspirator in the 2002 Ghatkopar bus
blast case. In a charge-sheet filed in 2003, he
was named one of the 29 accused in the case
and shown as wanted. For a decade, he was
nowhere to be found and in November 2012 a
team of Mumbai police arrested him from
Hyderabad in a swift operation and booked him
under stringent sections of Prevention of
Terrorism Act (POTA) and various sections of
Indian Penal Code. He was released on bail in
April 2013. Settled in Hyderabad for almost a
decade, Mr. Siddiqui was a senior employee with
HCL. For ten months, his family repeatedly
claimed that he was innocent. On August 1,
Mumbai police informed the special POTA court
that they have found no evidence against Mr.
Siddiqui. After studying the mirror image of his
laptops hard disk, no evidence of his involve-
ment in the case or objectionable matter was
found, said the application submitted by
Mumbai police. It also said that his e-mail
accounts were checked and no evidence linking
him to the blast was found and so it will be
appropriate to discharge him from the case.
Following the submission by Mumbai police,
special judge P. K. Chavan, discharged him from
the case on August 8. He lost his job and repu-
tation after the arrest. After causing such damage
to his life, they finally admit that there is no evi-
dence against him, said Rebecca Gonsalves, Mr.
Siddiquis lawyer.
Two persons were killed and 49 injured in a
blast inside a bus near Ghatkopar railway station
in suburban Mumbai in 2002. Right from the
start, the investigation of this case has brought
nothing but embarrassment to Mumbai police. In
2004, the court had discharged nine accused
from the case due to lack of evidence. In 2005,
eight others were acquitted by a special court for
want of evidence. According to prosecution, Mr.
Siddiqui was named an accused after one of the
arrested men, who was working in an
Aurangabad-based IT company started by him,
indicated his involvement in the case. The dis-
charge of Mr. Siddiqui has also put Nationalist
Congress Par ty, which handles the Home
Department in Maharashtra, on a back foot. Party
spokesperson Nawab Malik said that Home
Minister cannot take care of day-to-day things. It
is necessary to accept the mistake. If he was
falsely implicated, he should be compensated for
the trouble, he added. Meanwhile,
Ms. Gonsalves said that the family of Mr. Siddiqui
has not decided yet on their future plans.
Whether they will ask for compensation or not is
their decision. But till then we must protect their
privacy, she said. (Alok Deshpande, The Hindu,
13 August 2013)
Muslim minority
discriminated at Ahmedabad
shopping mall
No where one ever heard that in festive seasons,
shopping malls are collecting an entry fee from
Muslim customers, as happened this past Eid in
Narendra Modis Ahmedabad.
In Ahmedabad, Muslims were asked to pay
an entry fee of Rs.20 to enter a certain shopping
mall during the Eidul Fitr festival.
The Muslim minority became the only group
ever asked to pay such a fee to enter a commer-
cial area. Times of India (August 10, 2013)
reported that The Himalaya Mall, one of the five
biggest in the city of Ahmedabad, resorted to levy
this fee which as refundable if purchases were
made, otherwise the money was forfeited.
In Chennais Purasawalkkam and Mamblam,
shopping malls are owned by Muslims. They
behave gently with customers of all communities
though the majority are Muslims. Here customers
are surprised to receive small souvenirs like
diaries, calendars and key-holders as a token of
respect. Malls such as Madhar Sha groups, Nalli,
Kumaran, all have similar attitude towards cus-
tomers. More pleasing is that almost all the shop-
ping malls arrange iftar refreshments for fasting
Muslims and also a place to say the Magrib
prayer during Ramadan.
Gandhiji, Father of Nation, hailing from Gujarat,
taught us not to discriminate against customers: A
customer is the most important visitor on our prem-
ises; he is not dependent on us. We are dependent
on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is
the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our busi-
ness. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour
by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us
an opportunity to do so.
It is pity that a shopping mall in Ahmadabad
chose to inflict such treatment on the minority
Muslims which mirrors a notorious perspective
of Gujarat. Its an affront to Muslim society as a
whole, and Muslims should not in future visit this
particular mall for shopping. Will the National
Commission for Minorities look into the matter?
(Shafee Ahmed Ko)
Hyderabad techie absolved of terror charges
Indian Muslims have
lowest living standard
New Delhi: Muslims are at the bottom in
rural areas, with an average monthly per
capita expenditure of Rs 833, followed by
Hindus at Rs 888, Christians at Rs 1,296
and Sikhs 1,498. Among various religious
groups, Muslims have the lowest living
standard with the average per capita expen-
diture of just Rs 32.66 in a day, says a gov-
ernment survey. At the other end of the
spectrum, Sikh community enjoys a much
better lifestyle as the average per capita
spending among them is Rs 55.30 per day,
while the same for Hindus is Rs 37.50. For
Christians it is Rs 51.43.
At all-India level, the average monthly
per capita expenditure (MPCE) of a Sikh
household was Rs 1,659 while that for a
Muslim household was Rs 980 in 2009-
10, said an NSSO study titled Employment
and Unemployment Situation Among Major
Religious Groups in India. The average
household MPCE is a proxy for income and
reflects the living standards of a family.
According to the study, the average
MPCE for Hindus and Christians were Rs
1,125 and Rs 1,543, respectively. The sur-
vey said that average monthly per capita
consumption at all-India level was Rs 901
in villages and Rs 1,773 in cities. Overall,
the average MPCE was Rs 1,128.
Muslims were at the bottom in rural
areas, with an average MPCE of Rs 833,
followed by Hindus at Rs 888, Christians at
Rs 1,296 and Sikhs 1,498. In urban areas,
Muslims average MPCE was also the low-
est at Rs 1,272 followed by Hindus at Rs
1,797, Christians Rs 2,053 and Sikhs at Rs
2,180. (PTI Aug 20, 2013)
Suicide by more than 43
thousand farmers in three years
New Delhi: Union minister for agriculture
Sharad Pawar said in a written reply to a
question in the Lok Sabha on 6 August that
as many as 43,745 farmers committed sui-
cide in the country during the past three
years because of different reasons. Giving
break-up figures yearwise he said that
15964 farmers committed suicide in 2010,
14 627 farmers in 2011 and 13754 com-
mitted suicide in 2012. He further said that
maximum number i.e. 10,264 farmers
committed suicide in Maharashtra, followed
by 8,560 in Karnataka, 7303 in Andhra
Pradesh, and 3735 farmers in Madhya
Pradesh. He said that among the reasons
for suicides were family problems, illness,
the curse of drugs and intoxicating drinks,
unemployment, failure of crops and result-
ant financial losses, inability to repay loans,
property disputes, bankruptcy, poverty etc.
He said that government (his ministry) has
given a package of a total of about Rs
20,000 crores to Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra towards rehabilitation and
removal of difficulties of farmers.
India has one govt hospital
bed for 879 people
India has one government hospital bed for
879 people on average, a ratio that starts
looking nearly 10 times as bad in a state like
Bihar, but improves dramatically in Manipur.
Andhra Pradesh, where every tenth Indian is
a student of medicine studies, has a gov-
ernment hospital bed for every 2,230 peo-
ple. The numbers - estimates for January 1,
2013 - were given to the Lok Sabha by
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on
Friday. As per the goals of the 12th Plan,
India needs another 5,96,589 hospital beds
to reach the target of 500 beds per
10,00,000 people. This goal is far below the
world average of 30 hospital beds per
10,000 population, but above the World
Health Organisations recommendation of
1.9 beds per 1,000 population.
The report of the high level expert
group of the Planning Commission headed
by Dr K S Reddy which was released in
2011 noted that of the 1.37 million hospital
beds available in the country, 8,33,000
were in the private sector.
India spends a little over 4 per cent of
its GDP on healthcare, but the bulk of it
comprises pocket expenditure.
N
ew Delhi: A day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi asked the party to reach out to Muslims, BJP
inducted a Muslim in its partyfold on 19 August. It
was a big day for BJP as hundreds of other Muslims
also joined the party. BJP President Rajnath Singh welcomed
M J Khan, until now the general secretary of the Peace Party,
and around 200 of his supporters into the party in New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said BJP does not do
any politics of religion, sect or caste. Today, Muslims
believe they are the most secure and progressing in all sec-
tors in BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Goa and Gujarat, he said.
The party President maintained it is not BJP but
Congress which needs to answer why Muslims have been
lagging behind in all aspects inspite of 60 years of Congress
rule. To meet the target of winning more than 272 seats, the
party will run a campaign to reach out to youth, especially
Muslim youth, Singh said.
He claimed M J Khans joining BJP is a big step in this campaign of
the party. Slogans in the name of Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi were
raised at the programme after Khan joined BJP.
MJ Khan, who is more known for his activism in the field of agriculture
and edits Agriculture Today, said in an email to his acquaintances on 20
August (a copy of which also landed in the Milli Gazette email box), said,
Something that I believed and I advocated over the last 6-7 years, I felt I must
do myself. Muslims need to join and engage with BJP and be seen engaged,
voting or no voting. Ideally voting 10% to BJP will be ideal, as that will create
a situation of fear and greed. Greed in BJP of getting 20% Muslim votes from
10% by talking good and doing something. Fear among secular brands of los-
ing 10% today and if not going beyond lip service, may lose 20% tomorrow.
But, even if no votes, mere engagement itself will help neutralize the commu-
nal elements and hardliners, bring the community out of fear that is marketed
by secular brands and help the community to tread on new paths, than the
beaten one, on which we have treaded 14 times in 65 years and results are
for all to see There may be debate on this, whether Muslims should join
BJP or keep distance, as they did all these years. But I am convinced that dia-
logue and engagement will be good for the community. More Muslims need
to join and engage to influence decisions not only in secular-branded parties
but also in communal parties, as the Indian State has been giving chances to
both. And it will be good if some Muslims are in all set of political parties.
Hope, I am able to do some good to the community while in the BJP.
An organisation headed by Dr MJ Khan, indicated that he has been
working for the BJP for the last 14 years. The National Economic Forum of
Muslims (NEFM), headed by MJ Khan, said in a statement on the day Khan
joined BJP: In his address Sh. Rajnath Singh said that Dr. Khan has been
a strong support to BJP during the last 14 years and his formally joining
would greatly help the party to strengthen its farmers agenda as well as in
reaching out to the Muslim community, especially the Muslim youths
across the country. It may be recalled here that there have been allegations
in the past that the Peace Party was in cahoots with the BJP, but the Peace
Party always denied this charge.
RSS, IB biggest terror
organisations: Mushrif
Mumbai: Former Maharashtra inspector general of police S.M. Mushrif has
made a sensational allegation against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) calling them the biggest terrorist organisa-
tions of the country, which in connivance with the local police, plotted the
implication of innocent Muslim youth in the Malegaon bomb blast case.
He was speaking at the inaugural function of the 26th state convention of
the All India Backward (SC, ST, OBC) And Minority Communities Employees
Federation (BAMCEF) in Pune on 27 July.
Until now, office bearers and activists of the RSS were found involved in
around 17 bomb blast cases that occurred in several cities of the country. It
is being revealed that they were involved in the Hyderabad bomb blast case
too, Mr Mushrif claimed. He went on to say that innocent Muslims were
being framed by these organisations in collusion with the local police.
The former IPS officer was in a major controversy pertaining to the death
of former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, who was
killed in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
In his book Who Killed Karkare-The Real Face of Terrorism, Mushrif had
blamed some right-wing groups of being the masterminds behind Karkares
murder, alleging that keeping him alive would have invited more probes into
the right-wing terror.
In December 2010, the Bombay high court had also sought a reply from
the state government on whether it had investigated the issues raised in Mr
Mushrifs book. The division bench of Justice B.H. Marlapalle and Justice U.D.
Salvi had observed that the issues raised in the book were relevant and that
Mr Mushrif as a citizen has a right to air his views.
Former Bihar MLA Radhakant Yadav and another Jyoti Bedekar in their
petitions had also alleged that ATS chief Hemant Karkares death was orches-
trated by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) personnel and members of the right-
wing terrorist outfit Abhinav Bharat.
Peace Party leader joins BJP
MJ Khan with BJP chief Rajnath Singh
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 5 www.milligazette.com
N. A. ANSARI
New Delhi: The month of August, particularly the week from 9th
onwards, which was the day of Eid, was far from peaceful. It wit-
nessed a number of communal riots and clashes took place in
Kishtwar in J&K, Nawada and Betia in Bihar, Khurja and
Secunderabad in UP, Delhi, Assam and Indore etc. Communal riots
in Kishtwar drew the maximum attention of media and politicians
where the effects of riot-like tension and curfew continued for
about a week.
Riots in Kishtwar, southern district of J&K, erupted on
9 August, the festive occasion of Eid in which, sadly two persons
died, after which curfew was imposed. The ratio of Hindus and
Muslims in this district is 40:60 respectively. According to eye-
witnesses, when Muslims in groups were going for Eid namaz in
the morning, some Hindu youths made fun of them and threw
stones. At that time Muslims did not react but after the Eid namaz
they took out a protest demonstration and set fire to some shops
belonging to Hindus. The other group retaliated and set fire to
some shops belonging to Muslims after which it turned into a full
fledged communal riot and pelting of stones started by both
groups when as many as 60 persons from both sides including
many police personnel were injured, over a dozen vehicles and
nearly a hundred shops and houses were set on fire. The Army
was called out. This ugly incident on a festive, religious occasion
sent shock waves in other parts of the state. In order to control the
situation police resorted to firing when lighter steps like lathi-
charge and tear gas etc had no effect, in which one Arvind Kumar
died. In more clashes that followed a Muslim died. In this way two
persons died on the first day of the riots. Govt transferred civil
administrators and police officials and ordered a judicial inquiry
into these riots. In Jammu, Shiv Sena and Hindu organisations
gave a call for a bandh on 10 August in protest against the vio-
lence. Some posters of Afzal Gurus hanging were also seen
which provoked both groups. Some people allegedly raised anti-
national slogans and in favour of Azadi. This further provoked
members of BJP and allied groups. Nearly a hundred buildings,
including about a dozen houses belonging to both communities
and a few hotels were set on fire. Anti-Indian demonstrations took
place in Srinagar. J&Ks home minister Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo was
accused by BJP and Hindi outfits of bias and a lackadaisical atti-
tude in curbing violence and his sacking was demanded. On chief
minister Omar Abdullahs advice, Kichloo resigned but claimed
that the Kishtwar riots on the Eid day were planned over the past
two months. In his defence, he said that the toll in these riots
would have been much higher had he not taken effective steps.
Referring to criticisms and accusations by BJP and its allied out-
fits of not properly handling the situation, he taunted them and
made counter-accusations saying that he had resigned but asked
that in Gujarat 2002 riots when thousands were killed with state
support, did Modi or any of his ministers resign or did these peo-
ple who are now asking for his resignation ever ask those people
to resign?
Muslim organisations and leaders described Kishtwar riots as
part of a planned conspiracy by communal elements to harass
Muslims in different ways and to push them out of Jammu to the
Valley or to Pakistan. They praised Omar Abdullah for tactfully
handling the situation by not allowing politicians and mediaper-
sons to go there and fish in troubled waters.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley wanted to visit Kishtwar but was
detained at Jammu airport and not allowed to go to the troubled
area. Consequently, he had to return to Delhi. Congress general
secretary Digvijay Singh held BJP responsible for the riots in
Kishtwar, Tonk and many other places. Among the Muslim leaders
who described Kishtwar riots as part of a planned conspiracy by
communal parties were Dr Zafarul Islam Khan, President of All
India Muslim Majlis Mushawarat, Mujtaba Farooq, President of
Welfare Party of India, Jamat Islamis secretary Muhammad
Ahmad, Dr Taslim Rahmani and others. Intelligence and secret
agencies reports had already informed the government about the
possibility of communal riots in Kishtwar. Union minister P.
Chidambaram also had informed the Union cabinet in Delhi about
this possibility.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court bench directed J&Ks chief sec-
retary to file an affidavit in the court giving a detailed account of
the steps taken by the state government to control the situation.
The court also directed the state government to pay compensa-
tions of Rs 2 lakh to the injured persons and Rs 5 lakh to the fam-
ilies of persons killed in these riots. According to latest report, one
more person among the injured died, bringing the total number of
deaths to three. The curfew continued intermittently for about a
week.
After Kishtwar, communal riots erupted in two towns of Bihar:
Nawada and Betia. On 10 August tension arose in a road-side eatery
when some customers wanted non-veg food which the owner of the
eatery refused on religious ground. Angered at this, they ransacked
the olace. The situation became serious when one person was killed
in clashes and the fights that followed. On Monday, 12 August, mem-
bers of one community opened fire on the other community members
in which a second person died. One of the persons killed, Iqbal, had
died due to firing. The identity of the other person could not be known.
As the situation began to take a serious turn, curfew was promulgat-
ed and shoot at site order was also issued.
In another Bihar town, Betia, three shops and some vehicles were
set on fire. At least six persons were injured. On 12 August a group of
Kanwarias picked up a fight with local people in Nawada which led to
a clash. On 13 August during curfew another person, a lawyer, was
injured and eight rioters were arrested. Since the riots broke out on 10
August, three persons were killed. Nawada police registered cases
against one BJP, one Bajrang Dal activist, a news channel journalist
and against four others on a complaint lodged by the father of 20-year
old Iqbal who was killed on 10 August.
In Betia, a religious procession on the occasion of Nag-
Panchmi turned violent when stones were pelted which led to a
Hindu-Muslim clash. Vehicles of police officers were burnt. In this
procession a placard with provocative slogans angered Muslims
which caused the clashes. The posters ridiculed and made fun of
Congress Chairperson, Prime Minister and Nitish Kumar. This was
obviously politically motivated, even though it was a religious pro-
cession. The fact that BJP and its outfits are bent upon creating
communal trouble and dividing people along religious lines is clear
seeing that after Nitishs JD (U) severed relations with BJP, at least
five major clashes and cases of communal violence took place in
Khagaria, Betia, Nawada and two cases of violence in Jammu.
In Delhi, riots erupted in Tilak Vihar on 15 August in which 27
pepole, including five policemen were injured, more than two
dozen vehicles and a police post were damaged. This, however,
was a clash between a group of Sikhs and the Valmiki Dalit com-
munity. The trouble started when two or three boys belonging to
the Sikh community passed through the locality inhabited by the
Valmikis. They were doing stunt on their motorbikes to which area
people objected. This led to a verbal duel which soon progressed
to stone-pelting by people of both communities. As this news
spread, the situation took a serious turn. To control the situation
police took recourse to lathi charge and firing of tear gas shells.
As many as 27 injured persons were admitted to Deen Dayal
Upadhya Hospital. The condition of one person who had received
a bullet wound was critical. As the two localities inhabited by
Sikhs and Harijans are very close to each other, police in order to
avoid them facing each other, made separate entry and exit points
for the residents of each locality. Similar clashes between two
groups, both Muslim, took place on 14 August in Sikandarabad in
which one person was killed in firing. This too was not a commu-
nal clash in the traditional sense.
Earlier, sectarian clashes had erupted between people belong-
ing to Shia and Sunni sects in Lucknow on 31 July when tension
and curfew continued for many days. This might have been a part
of the election strategy of communal parties as Subramaniam
Swamy, who merged his Janta Party with BJP recently, had pub-
licly declared that their policy to win the elections should be to
consolidate Hindu votes and divide Muslim votes. In Lucknow as
many as 32 cases of violence were registered by police and 47
persons were arrested.
As if riots in the above places were not enough, communal
riots erupted in Indore (MP)s Chandan Nagar area on 19 August.
After the discovery of a dead cow and its mutilated limbs in a
Muslim locality, passions ran high and Hindus attacked Muslims.
Clashes and incidents of stone pelting between people of the two
communities led to a serious situation and curfew was clamped.
According to Police Supdt Anil Kushwaha, as many as 50 persons
of both communities were injured, including about 20 policemen,
in these violent incidents. Some houses were attacked and house-
hold goods were thrown out. One jeep, a Maruti van and many two
wheelers were set on fire. All schools were closed and a large
number of police force, RAF personnel etc were posted in the
affected and surrounding localities.
In addition to above, minor clashes were reported from some
other places like Khurja, Bulandshahar etc.
As polls approach, communal riots erupt all over
New Delhi, 19 August 2013:
The All India Muslim Majlis-e
Mushawarat, the umbrella
body of Indian Muslim organi-
sations, held a press confer-
ence today at the organisa-
tions headquarters in New
Delhi to express the Indian
Muslim communitys reaction
to the unfolding events in
Egypt since 30 June this year.
Speakers said the 180-mil-
lion-strong Indian Muslim
community is one on con-
demning the military coup in
Egypt and calling for the
immediate restoration of the legitimate and elected President of
Egypt.
AIMMM President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan said that mobocracy
has been used to unseat an elected President and his government
in Egypt. Egypts so-called liberals, remnants of the Mubarak
regime and the army in cahoots with the West, especially America,
and Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE, have nullified a
legitimate government which is a bad omen for democracy in the
region. He said a ballot box result can be invalidated only by a bal-
lot box result. The Egyptian army has now started wholesale mas-
sacres of the supporters of the ousted President to crush all oppo-
sition and this, without doubt, will push the country to a civil war
on the lines of the neighbouring Algeria where too a popular man-
date was nullified by the army in 1991 which resulted in a civil war
which continues till date and has devoured close to two hundred
thousand lives. He said successive elections and a referendum
during the last one year in Egypt, have proved that the Muslim
Brotherhood enjoys the trust of the majority in Egypt and this is
why we see millions of people still protesting in all big and small
towns of Egypt since President Mursi was ousted on 3 July. He
said any attempt to delegitimising the popular Muslim Brotherhood
will only worsen the situation. Condemning the American,
European and Gulf states policy of supporting a military coup, Dr
Khan expressed his anguish that the Indian government has not
taken a strong stand against the coup despite our clear policy of
supporting democracy and human rights all over the world.
The Amir (President) of Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maulana
Jalaluddin Umari said that there is no solution for the Egyptian
problem except by reinstating the elected President. He said the
whole Indian Muslim community without any exception whatsoev-
er supports President Mursi and demands his return to power
without any delay.
Syed Shahabuddin, veteran community leader and former
member of Parliament, said that with the exception of 1857, the
British colonial rulers never even during the height of the freedom
struggle committed such massacres as are being committed in
Egypt these days. Jalianwala Bagh massacre, he said, was a
dwarf compared to what is taking place now in Egypt. Yet,
Jalianwala massacre became the turning point in the Indian strug-
gle for freedom. He said army has ruled Pakistan for many years
but even there it did not resort to such mass killings. He con-
demned the Indian governments lukewarm expression of regret
toward the events in Egypt. He said, I was sure that a new light
would come out of Egypt under Mursi but that light has been
snuffed out. He said India should place an embargo on Egypt,
recall the Indian ambassador from Cairo and take the issue to the
United Nations.
Noted scholar Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi, chairman of the
Shah Waliullah Institute, said we are pained especially by the stand
of the Arab rulers towards the Mursi regime which was free from
corruption and was working for the progress and emancipation of
the whole region.
Welfare Party president Mujtaba Farooq supported the call for
India to recall its ambassador from Egypt in order to effectively
demonstrate its displeasure at what is taking place there. He fur-
ther demanded that India should stop all transactions with the
Egyptian military government.
Noted political scientist Dr Javed Jamil said that America, which
destroyed so many countries after 9/11, has now changed its strate-
gy and it now wants to destroy countries through fomenting civil wars.
He said the US wants to push Muslims fight each other by raking up
the Shia-Sunni issue. He said the most condemnable and alarming
aspect of the Egyptian crisis is the stand taken by some Arab rulers.
He said that the least India can do if it really believes in democracy is
to recall the Indian ambassador from Cairo.
Earlier in the day, Muslim leaders visited the Egyptian embassy in
Delhi with a view to convey the feelings of the Indian Muslim commu-
nity to the ambassador and deliver to him a memorandum to be for-
warded to the Egyptian interim government. They had earlier on 14
August requested for an appointment but when they did not receive
any communication from the embassy, they intimated the ambassa-
dor this morning that a small delegation will come to the embassy to
have a short meeting with him. However, upon reaching the embassy
in Chanakyapuri, the ambassador as well other officials of the
embassy refused to meet the delegation which was told over phone
to leave the memorandum at the window on the outer gate of the
embassy which they did.
Muslim leaders condemn the coup, call
for reinstatement of the elected President
L/R: Mohammad Ahmad, SQR Ilyas, Maulana Jalaluddin Umari, Zafarul-Islam Khan,
Mufti Ataur Rahman and Mujtaba Farooq
RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
Narendra Modi is trying
these day to dominate the
media, print, social and elec-
tronic through his carefully
constructed propaganda
machinery and his potential
of being nominated as the
BJPs Prime Ministerial can-
didate by RSS-BJP. Modi has
openly used words like "puppies dying under the
car wheel" while referring to the victims of
Gujarat carnage of 2002. He has also asserted
that he is a "Hindu nationalist". While most of the
older allies are deserting NDA, RSS-BJP hope
that he will be able to win the 2014 elections due
to his image of a non-corrupt and efficient
administrator who has taken Gujarat to the
heights of development. In social media and
other platforms, the polarized section of Hindus
and a section of the middle class are very appre-
ciative of Modi and are creating a delusion of
him becoming the next prime minister.
All this is mostly a pipe dream. One knows
that Modi is totally disliked by the victims of
communal violence and most sections of the
religious minorities. Those who have gone
deeper to the issue of Gujarat development
model, point out that it is more of a propaganda
than reality.
We still need to understand as to why "Modi
phenomenon"
has arisen on the Indian scenario and the dan-
gers of ignoring the politics represented by Modi
as such. Even though he may not be able to be
the PM after 2014 elections, we need to realize
that politics represented by Modi and his ilk is
the politics of Communal Fascism which, on the
surface, looks to be just against minorities, but
as a matter of fact, it aims to abolish democracy
after usurping power through democratic
means. Its agenda is to do away with the human
rights of the dalits, adivasis, workers and
women in the Indian context.
RSS-BJP: Rise in 1980s
Modi is a trained pracharak (propagator) of RSS,
deeply soaked in the ideology of Hindu national-
ism, working for the agenda of Hindu nation. In
the decade of 1980, multiple factors at global
and local levels led to the rise of conservative
middle classes, the petty industrialists, the rich
farmers, the affluent professionals, who are
always for the politics of status quo. During this
time, the global changes, especially the creeping
globalization, was on and the attacks on working
class movement were stepped up worldwide.
RSS-VHP during this phase started promoting
religious politics. Using the Shah Bano judgment
as the pretext, RSS launched the tirade against
secular values by putting forward the word
"Pseudo secularism" and phrases like appease-
ment of minorities.
In this backdrop, Advani started his Rath
Yatra for Ram Temple. In a country where the
dire need of basic amenities for life and the need
for protection of the human rights of weaker sec-
tions of society are paramount, the RSS com-
bine deliberately brought forward the issues
related to the identity of a section of Hindus. At
the same time, their propaganda targeted the
religious minorities, a mix of distorted version of
history, and presenting the victims as culprits.
The rath yatra of Advani created an atmosphere
of Hate towards minorities and this led to a
series of acts of violence against minorities,
especially Muslims and Christians.
The major outcome of this campaign for
Ram Temple was that the issues related to
human rights and the bread, butter, shelter and
employment got relegated to the background
and the social-political scene started revolving
around identity issues. As a part of the commu-
nal politics unleashed by the RSS combine, the
anti-Christian violence in Adivasi areas also got
stepped up. In these areas the corporate giants
want to have a free hand and have been able to
encroach upon the lands of adivasis.
RSS Combine: Epitome of Communalism
RSS began in India during the freedom move-
ment as an organization opposed to the freedom
movement, opposed to the concept of inclusive
Indian Nationalism and harping on the glory of
ancient Hindu kings, era of pastoral Aryans and
ancient Hindu scriptures. RSS began as a
response to the struggle of dalits for their human
and land rights and the rising opposition to the
values of Brahminism prevalent in the Hindu
society. The non-Brahmin movement was
inspired by Jyotiba Phule and Dr. Ambedkar. As
the average people started coming up in the
society, started participating in the freedom
movement, the elite upper caste sections felt
threatened and they came together to form
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to protect
their interests. This organization began by hold-
ing shakhas and developed a training module
according to which India is a Hindu nation from
times immemorial. The freedom movements
values of incorporating people of all religions in
the movement were not acceptable to them.
They trained young boys into swayamsevaks,
who took oath to work for Hindu nation. They
also kept totally aloof from the freedom move-
ment and ridiculed it. RSS was founded by the
Chitpvan Brahmins and is an exclusively male
organization.
RSS went on to form various subordinate
organisations like Rashtra Sevika Samiti (for
women). In this name the word swayam is miss-
ing as RSS being a male dominated patriarchal
organization, it believes in the inherent subjuga-
tion of women as secondary beings. Later, RSS
went on to form Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi
Parishad (Student wing), and then in collabora-
tion with Hindu Mahasabha it formed Bhartiya
Jansangh, the previous avatar of the present BJP,
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (for bringing together dif-
ferent Hindu sects under the control of RSS)
Vanvasi Kalyan Ahsram (to work amongst
Adivasis to Hinduise them), Bajrang Dal as its
foot soldiers (for unleashing street violence
against religious minorities) and many other
organizations like Durga Vahini etc.
On similar lines it began many an institution
to propagate its views (weeklies like Panchjanya
and Organiser), started Sarswati Shishu Mandirs
and Ekal Schools for Adivasi children. Its ideo-
logical spread was achieved through spread of
Brahminical norms through various channels.
Infiltration of its RSS swayamsevaks into the
state apparatus, police, military, bureaucracy is
also very deep.
The ideological indoctrination
Through its shakhas, RSS started spreading the
hate for minorities, opposition to the values of
secularism and Indian Constitution. This relent-
less opposition went on through many other
channels also. It also made inroads to the IT pro-
fessionals by the IT techies meetings called "IT
milans". The social media is being used by the
RSS combine in a very effective way. To add to
all this, many a godmen of the likes of
Pandurang Shastri Athwaley, Asaram Bapu,
Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishnkar etc., started
propagating the social concepts of RSS, the val-
ues of Hindu Nation through their subtle and
direct activities. The result has been that the
social scene has come to be dominated by the
conservative thinking. Meanwhile, RSS also
popularized the word, Hindutva which stands for
the politics based on Brahimincal values of caste
and gender hierarchy. Mistakenly, the politics of
Hindutva is supposed to be a way of life by
some.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, there
were sporadic episodes of violence. This led to
the polarization of the religious communities and
provided the ground for the rise of electoral
strength of the communal party. In the 1980s,
with the Ram Temple campaign picking up, the
intensity of violence also started going up. Major
episodes of violence took place in various cities
of north India. All this was dwarfed by the com-
munal violence post-Babri demolition. The vio-
lence in cities like Mumbai, Bhopal and Surat
was too horrific for words to describe. The vio-
lence unleashed in Gujarat on the pretext of
Godhra train burning shamed the nation as a
whole, as it crossed all previous acts of vio-
lence.
Modi: Gujarat Violence and After
The post-Godhra violence was a sample of the
way the State can actively promote violence. So
far in the communal violence in India, the police
and the State had been by and large an onlook-
er, mostly police siding with rioters. In Gujarat
the equation worsened much further with the
state, led by Modi, actively promoting violence.
Though it is claimed that Special Investigation
Team has given the clean chit to Modi, the fact is
that based on the same report, the Supreme
Cour t appointed Amicus Curie Raju
Ramchandran who feels the report has enough
evidence to prosecute Modi for his role in 2002
violence. After the violence, the state of Gujarat
totally washed its hands off the responsibility to
compensate and rehabilitate the riot victims. The
process of marginalization of religious minorities
went quite far. A large section has been living in
ghettoes in Ahmadabad itself, while their civic
and political rights have been trampled and they
are living like second class citizens.
There is an intense propaganda that Gujarat
is most developing state, the fact is that Gujarat
was already amongst the more developed
states, the claims of huge investments through
Vibrant Gujarat summits have little substance in
them, promises have been more than the actual-
izations. The real indices of social development
are lagging behind. The rate of employment gen-
eration is very low. Gujarat is low on the per
capita spending, the Hemoglobin level of preg-
nant women is on the lower side and sex ratio
has also fallen during the last one and a half
decades.
Hindutva: electoral Strategy
The RSS combine has been entering into the
electoral arena by and by. While in the 1984
elections, when it was raising the slogan of
Gandhian Socialism, it had only two MPs in Lok
Sabha. In 1996, it went on to bag more than 150
parliamentary seats and emerged as the largest
single party. That time no other electoral party
was willing to ally with it due to its communal
background. The BJP government fell as a result
within two weeks. After going through a couple
of third-front experiments, BJP managed to
cobble up the National Democratic Alliance
coalition. For this it had to give up the core
issues of Ram Temple, abolition of Article 370 in
Kashmir and Uniform Civil Code. This strategy
worked and the BJP-led NDA ruled for nearly six
years. During this time it communalised the text
books and pushed RSS workers and volunteers
into various government offices and schemes
and supported many NGOs with the RSS agen-
da. As a result, RSS got a big boost in the polit-
ical arena and its dominance was painfully per-
ceptible in different walks of life.
The Hindutva combine knows that it was so
far not able to come to power on its own. Now it
is hoping that it will push an aggressive Hindutva
agenda and by coming to power on its own it will
bring in the Hindu Rashtra.
Agenda of Hindu Rashtra- Hindutva Politics
Modi is the aggressive face of the Hindutva
agenda. He has openly started saying that they
believe in Hindu nationalism. This is a subtle and
open hint at the communal fascism which RSS
combine, of which Modi is the major leader now,
wants to bring in. The major support base for the
RSS combine, more so with Modi at the helm is
the corporate sector on one hand and the middle
level corporate employees, the Information
Technology-MBA groups on the other. Modi has
demonstrated in Gujarat that he can open the
state coffers for the industrialists offering them
land, loans and necessary paraphernalia. This
has impressed the corporate sector and they are
pitching for him in a large way. The corporate
media has uncritically propagated his claims
about development. The social welfare schemes
have been kept in abeyance due to which the
poorer sections are suffering. As far as minori-
ties are concerned, all the central schemes relat-
ed to Sachar Committee are not being imple-
mented in Gujarat, the scholarship funds for the
Muslim students is being returned unspent to the
Centre year after year. Modi in this sense is ruth-
less as far as schemes related to religious
minorities are concerned.
He is the choice of corporates, middle class-
es, the traders and the RSS support base. Each
of these has its own understanding of Modi and
he fits into the bill of them all. Corporates think
he will give them a free hand to plunder, the mid-
dle classes know Modi is the best guarantee
against social change favouring the deprived
sections and religious minorities. The RSS dis-
carded Advani on two grounds, one that he
made that statement about Jinnah being secular
and the other that he is on the wrong side of the
age. RSS, the real controller of BJP and other
affiliated Hindutva organisations, see in Modi a
ruthless, youthful swayamsevak out to bring in
Hindu Rashtra.
Way Ahead
While Modi and RSS agenda is being projected
and Modis rise is being anticipated, it is clear to
most that Modis climbing to the top power lad-
der will be the prelude for his following into the
footsteps pf Hitler. Our country is rich in diversi-
ty, with varying interest groups who know that
Modi-RSS are going to impose a Hindu Rashtra
which is a synonym for communal fascist state.
The diversity of the country and the realisation of
the implications of a Modi win amongst large
sections of Indian voters should be enough for
the rest of us to wake up to this danger to our
democracy and ensure their defeat in the elec-
toral arena. While the RSS combine and corpo-
rates will try their best to prop him up, a large
section of the Indian electorate should not be
taken in by such propaganda, as Modis reality is
now too well known to most of us by now.
Though Modi is trying to project as if he is
changing his profile and becoming liberal, one
knows that a leopard cannot change its spots.
And that is the reason why Modis tricks on the
electoral arena should be made to fail in the
coming elections.
The responsibility of ensuring that disas-
ter of a Modi victory does not take place will
also rest on the progressive sections of soci-
ety, the sections which will be affected by the
agenda of communal politics and the religious
minorities which have experienced Modis
deeds of commission and omission. Such a
realisation will be in the centre-stage of the
progressive sections of society and it is crys-
tal clear that they have to come up to fulfill this
historic responsibility to understand the Modi
phenomenon and to make the large sections
of population aware about this truth. This truth
they are trying to mask by the propaganda
unleashed by Modi and his minions. Some
facts are known and others will have to be
made known to the struggling masses. This is
the need of the hour for the democratic move-
ment in our country. While we have to intensi-
fy the struggle for human rights of all, we may
have some differences, we also have to come
together on this common goal of saving
democracy which is being attacked by the
communal fascist forces as represented by
Modi and those who are prostrating in front of
him.
Some people try to argue that more violence
has taken place in non-BJP ruled party, that other
parties are not truly secular. What we have to
remember is that BJP as a party cannot and should
not be compared with any other party, as BJP is
not just an electoral party, it is basically the political
face of the RSS, whose agenda is opposed to the
agenda of the secular democratic India, the dream
of Indian nationalism, the dream of those who con-
tributed to the making of the Nation-India, the
diverse streams represented by Gandhi, Bhagat
Singh and Ambedkar.(pluralindia.com)
Modi Phenomenon: an attack on Indian Democracy
6 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Modi is a trained pracharak (propagator) of
RSS, deeply soaked in the ideology of Hindu
nationalism, working for the agenda of Hindu
nation. In the decade of 1980, multiple factors
at global and local levels led to the rise of
conservative middle classes, the petty
industrialists, the rich farmers, the affluent
professionals, who are always for the politics of
status quo. During this time, the global changes,
especially the creeping globalization, was on
and the attacks on working class movement
were stepped up worldwide. RSS-VHP during this phase started
promoting religious politics. Using the Shah Bano judgment as the
pretext, RSS launched the tirade against secular values by putting
forward the word "Pseudo secularism" and phrases like
appeasement of minorities.
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 7 www.milligazette.com
(The following writeup was sent by the author to the Union
Minority Minister K Rahman Khan on 30 July, 2013. We are pub-
lishing it at the request of the author. The bill cited below has now
been passed by the Rajya Sabha - MG Editor)
SYED SHAHABUDDIN, EX-MP
The Select Committee Report on the Waqf
(Amendment) Bill, 2010 along with a draft law
has been circulated. An Amendment Bill, one
presumes, shall now be placed by the
Government before the Rajya Sabha and then it
will go to the Lok Sabha.
The Select Committee Report has led to
much controversy, particularly on the alienation of Waqf property.
Going through the history of Waqf Acts from 1954 to 1995,
the present form of the Waqf Act was perhaps inevitable, as
designed to protect the Waqf properties in East Punjab (now
Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh) and Delhi after
Partition when Muslims en masse migrated from this area to
Pakistan, including the Mutawallis. The abandoned Waqf proper-
ties were taken over by incoming refugees and converted into res-
idences or places of worship. The real object of the legislation
was to identify the abandoned Waqfs, lands and buildings and to
manage them, as and when they were released by the Controller
of Evacuee Properties, through State Waqf Boards of Punjab and
Delhi which were also vested with the powers of Mutawallis. The
Waqf papers were also not traceable, because all important
papers were lying in Lahore, the Capital of pre-Partition Punjab.
Subsequently, Punjab was trifurcated and the original Punjab Waqf
Board which looked after all the Waqf properties in the area was
divided into four Waqf Boards. The new Waqf Boards were natu-
ral successors to the Punjab Waqf Board and exercise the same
powers.
All these Waqf Acts from 1954 onwards relate to the power
and responsibilities of the State Waqf Boards and not to the Waqfs
per se and that is why they suffer from inherent weaknesses. In
particular, the Masjids restored to the Muslims who remained but
were unable to look after them, received grants from the Waqf
Board to pay suitable emoluments to the Imams and the Moezzins
which continues. Thus, the existing Waqf Act, a product of spe-
cial circumstances, was misconceived and thus unsuitable for
normal situations.
I reached some conclusions which need to be considered seri-
ously:
1. By definition Waqf of any private property is meant to stop its
circulation and, therefore, in principle its alienation, or transfer of
title thereof, is not permissible, except in extraordinary circum-
stances. An invalid Act cannot be validated by a State Waqf Board
even in exceptional circumstances but only by the State
Government.
2. The law should state clearly that Waqfnama is not essential for
establishment or evidence of existence of a Waqf and the Waqifs
intention to declare a property as a Waqf can be established visu-
ally or by their customary use, or by such evidence as may be
available in revenue and property records and testimony of local
witnesses.
3. The word Waqf stands for the act of dedication and needs to
be differentiated from the object of dedication, i.e., the property
which is declared to be Waqf.
4. Waqfs should be divided into two basic categories - the core
Waqf property which is generally of a religious nature, e.g., Masjid
or Qabristan or Dargah, and the subsidiary Waqf property whose
income is meant to support the upkeep and maintenance of the
core Waqf.
5. There should also be a clear distinction between public and
private Waqfs depending upon general and exclusive access. All
public Waqfs must be declared to be public premises for purpos-
es of removal of unlawful encroachment by state in accordance
with law.
6. The Mutawalli forms the arch-stone as the keeper or the
guardian or the manager of the Waqf property. The Waqf Boards
are established by the Governments primarily to supervise the
work of the Mutawallis, not to substitute them, nor to dislodge
them from their basic and functional authority over the Waqfs, or
subordinate them to any official, or body unless they act criminal-
ly or against the interest of the Waqf and its beneficiaries; as in
that event they may be removed by the State, on advice of the Zila
Committee and State Board.
7. Next to the Mutawalli, the responsibility for protecting and pre-
serving a public Waqf is that of the beneficiaries who in theory
may include any Muslim from anywhere in the world or at least
from within the country. But primarily it is the responsibility of the
immediate beneficiary and, therefore, the term beneficiary has
to be re-defined in a more limited and pointed manner so that the
responsibility for ensuring that the Waqf is properly managed can
be vested in them. For example, in the case of a Masjid, the local
Muslims who regularly perform congregational Namaz in it are its
local beneficiaries and protectors and have to get full support of
the law of the land and, therefore, of the State.
8. In exercise of its natural authority, the State may form, first,
the local Management or Advisory Committees for each Waqf, fol-
lowed by a District Waqf Committee to supervise them and then
the State Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council.
9. Their respective areas of authority should be clearly delimited
and the full support of State machinery at all levels must be
extended. But the community, i.e., the beneficiaries have to be
always fully involved directly, not exclusively, through nomination
by the Government, but with the representation of the well-estab-
lished and publicly accepted eminent Muslim organizations and
institutions at the local, district, State and national levels.
10. In order to enable the State Governments to fulfill their respon-
sibility, there should be a Department of Waqfs under the Waqf
Commissioner with the rank of Secretary to the Government,
under the Waqf Minister, so that he has the full authority to direct
the local or district executive officials, with or without the prior
approval of the State Waqf Boards.
The Waqf Commissioner should have two Deputy Commissioners
of the rank of Additional Secretary to the State Government to look
after Registration and Survey of Waqfs. Both these should be
continuous processes. The Register must be maintained perma-
nently and the Survey Report should be corrected as and when
necessary, till re-survey is undertaken say after 25 years.
11. Coming to the current controversy about the sale of a Waqf
property, since sale means transfer of title, it is, therefore, not per-
missible by definition. This equally applies to gift and also to
mortgage except when a Waqf estate needs a loan from a bank for
repair or renovation of a Waqf property.
12. Alienation of Waqf land or a graveyard (a Waqf by user) which
has over time lost its character of graveyard and become a flat
land should be restricted in rural areas to lease on a year to year
basis or from one agricultural season to another.
13. In case of land generally inaccessible to the Muslims or land
surrounded by the non-Muslims, it is the responsibility of the
State, through its law and order machinery to come to the assis-
tance of the beneficiaries and liberate the Waqf property.
Therefore, mere inaccessibility cannot be a justification for out-
right sale and permanent loss. Also situations and circumstances
may change with time. To preserve title, recovery suits must be
filed by the local or zila Waqf committees in every case.
14. Every effort must be made by the Mutawalli and the entire
Waqf hierarchy to maximize the recurring income of the Waqf
property and in case the total annually available income exceeds
the amount required to fulfill the intent of the Waqif, as certified by
the State Government, a part of the Waqf property may be leased
on a long-term basis, say 25 years, especially in urban areas, for
using the surplus for the promotion of educational, social and eco-
nomic progress and development of the local community, not for
a commercial purpose only, to Muslim institutions/organizations
with inbuilt safeguards.
Similarly, expenditure may be incurred by the Waqf estate with the
support of the Government, to build boundary walls to protect
graveyards and renovate Masjids, Dargahs etc.
15. In the present circumstance, the provision of exchange of
Waqf property does not make sense because there can be no par-
ity between urban and rural property in the same district and in
fact between one Waqf property and another in the same place.
All that must be done is honestly to ensure that whenever any
Waqf property is to be let out on long-term or short-term lease,
this should be done only by open auction. Also in all such leases
the rent fixed must be subject to annual increase and in accor-
dance with the current market value.
It must be kept in mind that Waqfs are forever and, therefore, the
interest of the future generations must be kept in view.
16. Waqf properties in the hands of Government or local authori-
ties must be returned to the Waqf or duly purchased or leased by
the government authorities in accordance with the letter of the
then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi No. 74-PMO/76 dated 26
March, 1976 which has been reproduced in the Sachar Report.
To summarize, it is urged that a completely new Waqf Act be draft-
ed setting aside the misconceived models of 1954, 1986 and
1995 which should be more logical, consistent and systematic in
its content. And apart from defining the basic terms Waqf,
Mutawalli and beneficiaries, the focus of the new law should be
the Waqfs and not the Waqf Boards. The management of the
Waqfs should be vested in the Mutawalli who should be monitored
and advised locally by a Waqf Advisory Committee consisting of
notable local Muslims who should elect their own Chairman. The
Chairmen of the local Waqf Committees should form the Zila Waqf
Committee. The Zila Committees, the State Waqf Boards and the
Central Waqf Council should be organically linked to each other
and have appropriate government representation.
What is important is that the Act should eliminate detailed regula-
tions for the working of the Waqf Committees, State Waqf Boards
or the Waqf Council and release the waqfs , the Mutawallis and the
immediate beneficiaries from the total control of the government.
The Waqf Committees and Boards at all levels must receive full
support of the law and order machinery and not only facilitate a
local beneficiary but encourage him to file an FIR if the Waqf prop-
erty is mishandled or mismanaged or exploited by the Mutawalli.
There should be a cut-off limit in terms of number of Waqf prop-
erties and their total annual income before any State or U.T. has
a separate State Waqf Board, with all its paraphernalia. In due
course, the Muslim community should itself manage the Waqfs
just as the Sikh community manages its Gurudwaras.
In practice, it has been found impossible to manage the Waqf
either from the State or national capital. Perhaps the new arrange-
ment will be more effective.
We need a new waqf act for normal situation
Amendments required
in Waqf Bill passed by
Rajya Sabha
DR SYED ZAFAR MAHMOOD
Bill No. 53-CA of 2010, viz.,
the Wakf (Amendment)
Bill, 2010 was passed by
the Rajya Sabha on 19
August 2013. It amends
the Wakf Act, 1995. We
propose the following
amendments when the bill
goes back for debate in Lok Sabha during the
current monsoon session:
(A) In Section 32 of the Bill:
(i) in clause (c): from the proviso proposed to
be added, delete the following: a lease or
sub-lease for any period exceeding one year
and.
(ii) After clause (c), add the following clause:
(d) No lease or sub-lease shall be granted
other than on market rate of rent as prevalent
at the time of granting the lease.
(B). In section 11, clause (c), after the pro-
posed newly inserted sub-section (5), add the
following new sub-section: (6) Secretary to
the Council - There shall be a full-time
Secretary to the Council, who shall be Muslim
and shall be appointed by the Central
Government by notification in the Official
Gazette, from a panel of three names suggest-
ed by the Council and who shall not be below
the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government
of India and in case of non-availability of a
Muslim officer of that rank, a Muslim officer of
equivalent rank may be appointed on deputa-
tion. The powers and functions of the
Secretary shall be provided for in the Central
Waqf Council Rules.
Explanatory Notes:
A(1) Lease: Ratification
Though not recommended either by JPC or
Sachar Committee, the Bill provides for every
proposed lease for a period exceeding one
year or more to be forwarded by State Waqf
Board to the State Government. In this way
the entire leasing process has been placed at
the mercy of the State Government curtailing
the original powers of the State Waqf Board.
This is in gross violation of standard practices
prevalent in the country in respect of religious
establishments pertaining to different faiths.
This proposed provision needs to be deleted
from the Bill.
A(2) Lease: Fair Market Rate of Rent
Both Sachar Committee and JPC have recom-
mended that the Waqf properties should be
leased out at the prevailing market rate of
rent. This has to be included by way of statu-
tory provision in the Waqf Bill. However, this
has not been done. This omission will lead to
loss of thousands of cores of rupees of Waqf
revenue, every year.
B. Undefined Status of the Secretary, Central
Waqf Council
Acting on the recommendations of the Sachar
Committee, the Bill provides that the official
status of the CEO of the State Wakf Board shall
be at least of the level of Dy. Secretary to the
State Government. On the other hand, regula-
tory powers have been given in the Bill to the
Central Waqf Council by which it can monitor
the activities of the State Waqf Boards.
However, the official status of the Secretary,
Central Waqf Council, remains undefined.
This creates strong possibility that the
Secretary, CWC, may be an officer below the
rank of the CEO of the State Waqf Board. This
will create avoidable incompatibility.
In order to pre-empt this anomaly, Sachar
Committee recommended that the Secretary
of the Central Waqf Council should be of the
status of at least Joint Secretary to the
Government of India. However, the Bill is
silent in this regard.
The Bill needs to be amended to provide that
the Secretary, CWC, shall be of the minimum
level of Joint Secretary to the Government of
India. That will enable him to effectively mon-
itor the CEOs of the State Waqf Boards.
The author is the Former OSD, Prime Ministers High
Level Committee (Sachar Committee) and President,
Zakat Foundation of India. He may be contacted at
info@zakatindia.org
Going through the history of Waqf Acts from 1954 to 1995, the present form of the Waqf Act
was perhaps inevitable, as designed to protect the Waqf properties in East Punjab (now Punjab,
Haryana, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh) and Delhi after Partition when Muslims en masse
migrated from this area to Pakistan, including the Mutawallis. The abandoned Waqf properties
were taken over by incoming refugees and converted into residences or places of worship. The
real object of the legislation was to identify the abandoned Waqfs, lands and buildings and to
manage them, as and when they were released by the Controller of Evacuee Properties, through
State Waqf Boards of Punjab and Delhi which were also vested with the powers of Mutawallis.
The Waqf papers were also not traceable, because all important papers were lying in Lahore,
the Capital of pre-Partition Punjab. Subsequently, Punjab was trifurcated and the original
Punjab Waqf Board which looked after all the Waqf properties in the area was divided into four
Waqf Boards. The new Waqf Boards were natural successors to the Punjab Waqf Board and
exercise the same powers.
MUSTAFA KHAN
In just over a year after Noam Chomsky pub-
lished his Rogue States - the rule of force in
world affairs (2000), the state of Gujarat in
India began a widely feared and carefully
thought Hindutva laboratory experiment. In plain
terms, it was designed to show the Muslims that
they were at the sufferance of the Hindu majori-
ty and must learn to know their place and cease
to be nuisance in their equation with the majori-
ty. The pogroms that followed and the subse-
quent fake encounters fall into this pattern. The
Chief Minister of the state Narndra Modi and the
then Prime Minister of India AB Vajpayee and his
deputy and Home Minister LK Advani manoeu-
vred to let Modi continue his rule despite world-
wide condemnation of the slaughter of more
than two thousand Muslims, the inhuman boy-
cott, the social and economic apartheid forcing
the uprooted Gujarati Muslims to live a dehu-
manized life in relief camps, disempowering
them further and dispossessing them of whatev-
er property they had in the holocaust that sud-
denly changed their lives. Even a decade later
their life has not returned to normal and there is
no hope and scope left to them to improve their
lot.
The two convincing examples of Cuba
blockade and Indonesia attack on East Timor
compare and contrast with what Modi did with
tacit approval and later open approval of the then BJP-NDA gov-
ernment at the Centre. The blockade made the Cubans suffer inhu-
man conditions of poverty, disease and starvation. This was vehe-
mently condemned by the UN, the European Union, the
Organization of American States, etc. but the US did not relent. In
the same way, in the East Timor war of 1975 the US supported
the Indonesian generals to the hilt. Within two months, 60, 000
people were killed, within years the numbers rose to 200,000
thanks to the blind support US gave to Indonesia. Americas
Ambassador at the UN, Daniel Patrick Moyanihan, was given the
task to make UN ineffective. The US wanted things to turn out as
they did, and worked to bring this about. The Department of States
desired that the United Nations prove utterly ineffective in whatev-
er measures it undertook. This task was given to me, and I carried
it forward with no inconsiderable success, he later said.
In the pogroms of Gujarat Muslims in 2002, Modi government
rejected the declaration of the collector of Godhra that the fire in
the S6 compartment of the Sabarmati Express on February 27,
2002 was an accident and chose Intelligence Bureau joint direc-
tor Rajendra Kumars insinuation that it was a terror conspiracy of
the ISI of Pakistan to sabotage India. For three days, the chief min-
ister allowed Hindus to take revenge upon the Muslims of the
state. The systematic planning to wreak havoc upon Muslims is a
well-documented fact. The discrimination in paying relief, closing
the relief camps, subverting judicial process through the RSS-
tainted public prosecutors, using the Advocate General Tushar
Mehta to send information to S Gurumurthy how best to deprive
Muslims legal aid and instead of defending them, help the perpe-
trators of the genocide, etc. Next came the fake encounters and
the social and commercial boycott.
In the case of the fake encounters, the Gujarat police in cohort
with the police in Maharashtra, Andhra Pardesh, Rajasthan, and
Jammu and Kashmir abducted Muslims and took them to Gujarat
and kept them in illegal detention in private houses, tortured them,
killed them and dumped their bodies at roadsides proclaiming
them to be Muslim terrorists on mission to kill Modi, Advani and
Tagodia. This in essence is the three extraordinary renditions. The
Prime Minister, the Home Minister of India gave cover to Modi and
issued clean chits and called him the best chief minister in India.
So tightly was the whole operation conducted that even a decade
later the perpetrators and the architects of the genocide are
untouched except in some prominent cases.
As this was going on in Gujarat, India started its war on ter-
rorism in the manner of the US. Bombs exploded for almost a
decade intermittently all over the country in which Muslims were
falsely implicated and Gujarat had its due share in this, like the
Modasa blasts of September 29, 2008.
The intention in arresting most of the innocent Muslim victims
of this war on terror is unquestionably doubtful. Himayat Baig,
accused and convicted to death in Poona German Bakery blast,
was and is innocent. If he had collected money it was through
tuitions he was giving. He was, moreover, in Aurangabad when the
blast took place. Ishrat Jahan was in Mumbai when she was kid-
napped and taken to Gujarat and killed. Sohrabuddin and his wife
were kidnapped from Maharashtra and so was Sadiqu Jamal
Mehtar. Tulsiram Prajapati was transferred from Rajasthan.
Detailed report of Justice Nimesh in the case of Khalid Mujahid
and Tariq Qasmi shows that the police had abducted them and
later showed them arrested from somewhere else and much later
framed them in bomb blasts. In the same way, the intention behind
Nutin Thakur filing a court case against the offer of 6 lakh rupees
by the UP government to the family of Khalid Mujahid as compen-
sation could be either a purely legalistic concern or a demonstra-
tion of majority communalism. Jawaharlal Nehru had rightly
feared majority communalism as more dangerous to the country
than minority communalism. But majority communalism, thanks
to relentless RSS-VHP-BJP groundwork, has permeated into the
administration at all levels. An example is what the senior cop in
Dhule said in 2008 that all the masterminds are automatically
Muslims and therefore those arrested in the communal riots of
October 5, 2008 were also terrorists. Hindus too were arrested in
that incident but the cop did not apply the term terrorists or mas-
terminds to them. It is this intention that shows predilection of the
police and investigation agencies.
It is not that all the police and sleuths are biased. But they are
controlled by repor ts and instructions they get from the
Intelligence Bureau in Delhi. A newspaper report, according to the
Nimesh Commission, said that the IB had kept Khalid Mujahid
under its surveillance for the last six months ending on his arrest
on December 22, 2007. If this was really so, why did not IB pre-
vent the serial blasts in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi? Where
is the corroborative evidence? If Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist, why
was she not caught alive and where is the blue car she was sup-
posed to be travelling in? The apologetic statement of Rajendra
Kumar is an attempt to whittling down the false report he doctored
and fed the same not only to Indian agencies but ever to the
American agency, FBI. If Arun Jaitly thinks that the CBI is harass-
ing Narendra Modi since he has moved to the centre-stage as the
in-charge of 2014 elections and is the potential candidate of the
post of prime minister, what is there in his past still hidden from
public knowledge? If Modi felt proud at the killing of Ishrat Jahan
and considered it as another feather in his cap to flaunt, then what
about the series of such fake encounters which have added up so
many feathers in his cap on top of the gruesome pogroms of
Muslims in 2002? What is his message in remaining unrepentant
when the whole world knows so much of what really happened in
Gujarat? What is also the intention of the extremist Hindus to vote
him to become the next PM?
It is highly poisonous of Arun Jaitley to cast aspersions on the
very few police officers who stood up to Modi and opposed his
misrule especially in relation to the 2002 genocide. They refused
to genuflect before Modi. In contrast with them is PP Pandey and
a host of others who towed Modi and his line of thinking of vent-
ing anger on the Muslims. Until recently Pandey was absconding
from law in the case of Ishrat Jahan. Should PP Pandey like PC
Pandey be allowed to rule Gujarat as far as the law and order is
concerned? Why the majority of the people in Gujarat still stom-
ach such hogwash of people like Jaitley who says: Over the
years, the political strategy of the Congress party in Gujarat is
hardly guided by its state leadership. It has been guided by a few
disgruntled police officials who have been accused of indiscipline
by the state Government.
This is the rot in the whole system of Modis Gujarat. Will the
people of India go according to what Jaitley says and allow the
likes of PP Pandeys take the law in hand as Modi only because
supposedly leading in the poll forecasts and is going to be the
PM? PC Pande, Mysorewalla, DG Vanzara and their likes were the
henchmen of the kingpin in the encounter cases, Modis own lieu-
tenant Amit Shah. Can the fate of India be safe in the hands of
such immoral men as Modi and Shah but not safe in the hands of
such men of probity and honesty as RB Sreekumar, Sanjiv Bhatt
and Rahul Sharma whom Jaitley calls undisciplined. How can the
Gujarat government be in the hands of the disgruntled officers
when their boss was and still is no other than Modi, the Home
Minister and also the Chief Minister?
Jaitley is a lawyer. How could he dub the evidence against
Amit Shah negligible? It was Shah who had ordered the arrest of
Sohrabuddin. When Kauser Bi resisted the arrest, he ordered her
arrest too. She was raped and killed in the bungalow owned by the
Jirawala brothers and Amit Shah. This cannot be negligible evi-
dence. If BJP leaders like extremist Hindus continue to talk like
this, the case should be handed over to a foreign intelligence
agency under the aegis of the UN. Because as long as Gujarat is
under the control of BJP and Modi, there is no chance of truth ever
coming to surface. The mass atrocities suffered by Muslims real-
ly need investigation by the UNO through the optional protocols of
the Security Council. India is a signatory to the covenant against
genocide. The fake encounters were also a part and parcel of the
genocide.
The notings on the files of the police officers were seen and
approved by the Home Minister who was Modi. Vanzara was
transferred to the border region which touches Rajasthan in order
to facilitate the fake encounter of Tulsiram Prajapati. This was
done with Modis approval and Modi had a lot at
stake in the case of Tulrsiram Prajapati. He was the
sharp shooter who had killed Haren Pandya as far as
the available testimonies go and therefore he had to
be eliminated. When Sanjiv Bhatt expressed this, he
was immediately arrested, suspended and
demonised. But no effort was made to ascertain and
inquire whether what he had said was true? IBs
Rajendra Kumar was as much tainted with right
wing ideology of hate when he and his pal Modi
were in Chandigarh where Modi was in-charge of
the Punjab elections. In the case of the genocide of
2002, RB Sreekumar says, Then DGP told me that
Central IB joint director, Ahmedabad, Rajendra
Kumar had come out with the theory of ISI conspir-
acy behind the Godhra incident and he had cajoled
the DGP to pursue investigation, treating the Godhra
incident as a conspiracy. Coming to make a full cir-
cle, Kumars statement is worth vetting in the com-
pany of his apologetic statement to CBI that he had
warned the Gujarat police but had not told them to
kill Ishrat Jahan in a fake encounter. But the crucial
point is: why did they abduct her to Gujarat and then
kill here, and at whose instance?
But case after case involving terror incidents
and arrests of Muslims show a pattern: that educat-
ed Muslim youths accused of terrorism charges are
imprisoned but finally declared innocent of the
crimes they were accused of and honourably
released. Why? Or, what is even worse, they are
killed in custody. Khalid and Ishrat fit in the same
mosaic pattern of hunting and framing Muslims.
There is s slight flicker of light at the end of the tunnel that
Ishrat Jahan murder will expose the Achilles heel of Modi. It is
quite likely that at long last the CBI will reach Modi through the
disgruntled and undisciplined police officers and intelligence
wing. Another flicker of light is Advanis anagnorisis in narrating
what he said to Kamal Haasan on 9 June, 2013 when the BJP
executive conclave was electing Modi as the chairman of the elec-
tion campaign 2014:
The story is about a meeting Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini
had during the Second World War, in which Hitler tells the Italian
supremo that the sins committed by the two of them would prove
very costly for them after death. When Mussolini said to his friend
that so far as he was concerned, when his own end came, he
would go to the Vatican and seek help from the Pope who was
believed to have a pass for Heaven. Hitler asked him to commend
to the Pope his name also. Narrating this, Advani remarked, the
story ends with both the Fascist leaders landing in Hell, and only
the Pope reaching Heaven.
The events may take a dramatic turn if the Supreme Court
seriously asks the so-called disgruntled cops to present the whole
truth of the cases for a comprehensive assessment as to who was
behind the murders of Ishrat Jahan, Haren Pandya as well as the
2002 pogrom. There is still some meaning in what the Congress
spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad twitted in this regard: Advani hints
in his blog that you have to pay for your sins in your lifetime itself.
Is he repenting his role to save Modi in 2002?
The roguery of state in the Indian Union is nuanced from the
United States, Somalia, Indonesia and a host of other countries. In
India, it is how a state government applies a rule of law or ignores
it in discrimination, based on the local composition of the popula-
tion. For example, the J&K government can order retrial of a case or
exhume bodies of innocent killed and appeal for harsher punishment
to those who are found guilty irrespective of the religion of the guilty.
In Gujarat of Modi, a different system of judicial dispensation and
police administration came into practice. Maya Kodnani deserves
hanging at the gallows for her role in Naroda Patiya mass murders,
but the state government does not want it at all. Even after deciding
to appeal against the lenient sentence in the high court, the govern-
ment balked from it. The government of Modi is still willfully refus-
ing to pay equal compensation to the families which lost their mem-
bers in the pogroms. The Gujarat government has not budged to
offer to the Gujarat Muslims the concessions sanctioned by the
central government with the recommendation of the Sachar
Committee. A judge (Dholakia) had told Babu Bajrangi that he would
sentence him to hanging several times for the enormity of killing
nearly 800 Muslims in Naroda Patia. Modi not only changed this
judge but kept on changing judges until judge Akshay Mehta who
agreed to give him bail. Snooking his nose at the world opinion,
Modi appointed Mehta as one of the judges inquiring into the geno-
cide cases. What more roguery can the state of Gujarat under Modi
practice than the chief minister himself harbouring Bajrangi by allot-
ting him the Mount Abu state guest house to cool his heels after
having killed Muslims after which he felt like Rana Pratap?
Such is the topsy-turvy world in India that there are groups
clamouring vociferously for Modi to take the reign of India and rule
the country the way he has been ruling Gujarat! One such group
organized a concert in Delhi where a participant, Shilpi Tiwari,
declared: He is the perfect candidate because he has shown how
rogue elements from both sides (Muslims and Hindus) can be
reined in so that his state could prosper. Thats the template India
needs.
In the light of Modis dispensation in Gujarat 2002, he is a
rogue himself, so how could he control rogues on both the sides
of the great divide in India? In fact, he had decided in the late night
meeting of 27 February, 2002 that he would forever tilt the equa-
tion between Hindus and Muslims in favour of the former for good.
Thus, the subversion of law and order under his dispensation con-
stitutes Gujarat as a rogue state. Multiplying evidence since then
in other cases support this belief.
Gujarat is a rogue state and the man who made it so
The move to make Modi PM is fraught with dangers to all and not
just Indian Muslims. He is autocratic, self-willed, and intolerant of
opposition. The Gulbarg Society pogrom, in which Ehsan Jafri was
killed, was the personal vendetta quintessentially. Ehsan Jafri had
opposed him and had warned the voters including Hindus that Modi
was tainted with RSS hate and divisive ideology that bodes ill for
the country. Modi did receive the last call from the MP and refused
to save him, nay, he abused him on the phone. The people
sheltered in Jafris house heard it. This could be the other Achilles
heel if his wife Zakias appeal in the apex court is allowed to
proceed fully and the real culprits tried and punished.
The third instance of the Achilles heel is: who is behind the murder
of Haren Pandiya. Since these events, Modi followed a policy of
what today Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower describes:
They say it is better to kick someone out of a plane than let these
people have a day in court. It is an authoritarian mindset in
general. The same mindset led to the murder of the Muslims who
were eye-witnesses to Naroda Patia atrocities and had found a
mobile phone of the satrap leading the attacks.
Continued on the next page
8 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 9 www.milligazette.com
And the concert in Delhi on the eve of the conclave meet in Goa
included the proven rogues of Indian society. There was Tejinder
Pal Singh Bagga with a long record of attacks on proven secular
figures like Arundhati Roy. Another figure in the same cast as
Bagga was Suresh Albella, a winner of The Great India Laughter
Show on telelvision. His macho jokes include the one that he as
usual lifted from the RSS texts on nationalism: Jaane kis din Lal
Kille mein mardangi bhasha bolengee (God knows on which day
we will hear masculine language spoken from [the ramparts of]
the Red Fort). In the same vein, he remarked about Prime Minister
Mohan Singh, Dr Singh: remained silent like a teddy bear unless
he was prodded by the high command. The intention and percep-
tion of such people in the pro-Modi camp speaks volumes about
what they expect Modi to do if he really manages to don the man-
tle of the prime minister. Already the postulate towards which the
momentum of BJP campaign is moving is for a strong Presidentt
to head Indian government and not a parliamentary democratic
prime minister.
The move to make Modi PM is fraught with dangers to all and
not just Indian Muslims. He is autocratic, self-willed, and intoler-
ant of opposition. The Gulbarg Society pogrom, in which Ehsan
Jafri was killed, was the personal vendetta quintessentially. Ehsan
Jafri had opposed him and had warned the voters including
Hindus that Modi was tainted with RSS hate and divisive ideology
that bodes ill for the country. Modi did receive the last call from
the MP and refused to save him, nay, he abused him on the phone.
The people sheltered in Jafris house heard it. This could be the
other Achilles heel if his wife Zakias appeal in the apex court is
allowed to proceed fully and the real culprits tried and punished.
The third instance of the Achilles heel is: who is behind the
murder of Haren Pandiya. Since these events, Modi followed a
policy of what today Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower
describes: They say it is better to kick someone out of a plane
than let these people have a day in court. It is an authoritarian
mindset in general. The same mindset led to the murder of the
Muslims who were eye-witnesses to Naroda Patia atrocities and
had found a mobile phone of the satrap leading the attacks.
Now it is time to turn back to Jaitley:
Coming back to the Ishrat case, the CBI arrested some offi-
cials of the Gujarat police. They were released on bail since the
chargesheet was not filed within the statutory period. Since the
participant in the liquidation of the module was a Central intelli-
gence agency, the CBI has now decided to uncover the function-
ing of the Intelligence Bureau. The cost of the Modi-phobia will
now be paid by the Intelligence Bureau. Its senior officials will be
grilled. They will be asked details of their intelligence collection
methodologies. They could be questioned on the legalities of the
means deployed by them to collect intelligence. They will be asked
questions with regard to the authenticity of the intelligence which
is collected. Motives could be attributed to them for having col-
lected materials against the Lashkar-e-Taiba and passed it to the
Gujarat police. Only Pakistan and LeT would have the last laugh.
The myopic political regime in Delhi has not realized the signifi-
cance of destroying institutions. Harass Gujarat government even
if it means destroying Indias security apparatus, the object of the
Congress party is clear. This circumlocution constitutes what
Albert Camus says: lie is telling more than the truth.
Jaitley calls the murder of four including Ishrat Jahan as liq-
uidation of a module. Little does he know that it was not a mod-
ule! These were different people unknown to each other who were
killed and dumped together. Two of them were not even
Pakistanis as claimed by the Gujarat police. Exposing the link
that leads to Modi from Vanzara is not what Jaitley mistakenly or
tongue-in-cheek thinks is uncover(ing) the functioning of the
intelligence bureau [as Snowden has done in the case of the
National Security Agency in the US or as Shamiur Rehman has
done about the create and capture theory of framing Muslims
from the mosques in America by the New York Police Department,
NYPD].
Regarding the questioning of the legalities of intelligence gath-
ering which Jaitley fears, Vice Presiden Hamid Ansari is on record
in recommending a supervisory committee of Parliament to over-
see the intelligence gathering. He was not speaking at a rock con-
cert of the Constitutional Club of Delhi but at the Kao memorial
lecture.
Jaitleys fear is that of Advani in the past and the Hindutva for
all time. They want to use intelligence gathering to shield Hindu
extremists perpetuating terrorism. This is the old way and the new
is not different. Highlighting this difference Farrukh B Hakeem, MR
Haberfeld and Arvind Verma observe in their book Policing
Muslim Communities: Globally, scholars of policing have wit-
nessed a shift in focus from the traditionally reactive, law-and-
order and crime control model of policing to one that is more just
and equitable and is accountable to the community so as to
ensure support. This is well illustrated in how Advani, Bal
Thackeray and others rushed to support Sadhvi Pragyasingh
Thakur and the armys hesitation to name the remaining dozen
officers involved in terrorism in addition to Lt Col Prasad Purohit
and also the attempt of the then national security advisor MK
Narayanan (now governor of West Bangal) to forestall investiga-
tions in the Samjhauta Express terrorist attack and Modis own
brazen attempts to put hurdles in so many cases of which Satish
Vermas pioneering finding in Ishrat Jahan case deserves atten-
tion. This is corroborated in Modi trying to placate GL Singhal and
others in the Ishrat Jahan case and CBIs doing another turn of
favour to him, Singhal and his group. To crown their role in the
fake encounters and the pogroms, DG Vanzara claimed that it was
the work of the brave men, mardon ka kaam. So the rogue state
of Gujarat was engaged in roguery which they perceived as
deshbhakti or patriotism.
At long last Modi is still at it when he targets the central gov-
ernment by levelling such broadside that National Counter
Terrorism Centre (NCTC) is a poorly conceived idea: It is not clear
how big it is going to be, what forces are going to comprise it,
how exactly it is going to function and which statute will it derive
its powers from. I think such poorly conceived ideas which tinker
with age old existing systems rather than strengthening them are
going to do irreparable loss to our internal security apparatus. In
reinventing himself as a hero from his past villain role, Modi is dis-
regarding the inventive venture in true policing. So within one
decade he has become a hero! How? To borrow the mythology
from the remark of Advani on Modis elevation: how could the vil-
lains of the past: Hitler and Mussolini (Vajpayee/Advani/Modi)
have become Arjuna/Bhishma Pitamaa of today? A rogue is a
rogue forever.
However, the perception of Jaitley is more sinister because he
has spun a brand-new theory to save a rogue ruler by blaming the
disgruntled police officers to be conducting the affairs of the state
without the knowledge of Modi. According to his logic, from the mur-
der of Haren Pandya and the pogroms down to Sanjeev Bhatts dis-
closures, they are responsible and not Modi. This is strange in the
sense that Modi relied on the spy network akin to that of Shivaji. He
knew every movement of Haren Pandya and what he said and did.
When did disgruntled police officers like RB Sreekumar, Sanjiv Bhat
step in? If he had ordered Sreekumar to pay ten lakh rupees to Sanjiv
Bhatt for sabotaging the PIL of Malika Sarabhai, their telling this truth
in an affidavit to court does not constitute what Jaitley the lawyer
calls: Harass(ing) Gujarat government even if it means destroying
Indias security apparatus.
What Indias Muslims Really Want
Jaitley calls the murder of four including Ishrat Jahan as liquidation of a module. Little
does he know that it was not a module! These were different people unknown to each other
who were killed and dumped together. Two of them were not even Pakistanis as claimed
by the Gujarat police. Exposing the link that leads to Modi from Vanzara is not what Jaitley
mistakenly or tongue-in-cheek thinks is uncover(ing) the functioning of the intelligence
bureau [as Snowden has done in the case of the National Security Agency in the US or as
Shamiur Rehman has done about the create and capture theory of framing Muslims from
the mosques in America by the New York Police Department [NYPD].
KALEEM KAWAJA
The column with the above title in India Abroad (August 2) by an
individual who used the pseudonym Zafar Shah Alam surprised
me. First, I wonder why the person who wrote on such a sensitive
issue has concealed his identity? Second, in contrast to the title of
the essay, the writer said almost nothing about what Indias
Muslims want.
The writer has completely ignored the numerous positive
actions that many Muslim organizations in India have taken over
the last four decades to bring the community in the national main-
stream, to improve communal harmony, to improve education and
skills in the youth, and has instead spent a lot of words to vent his
negative views of Muslims, and to rehash several decades-old
derogatory allegations that have already been proved false. Today
Muslims definitely do not want to go back into acrimonious pub-
lic disputes of the past decades.
What Indias Muslims want foremost is help to develop the
currently very poor infrastructure in their communities in various
cities, namely roads, sanitation, schools, medical clinics, parks
and opportunities for education and employment. The OBC
Muslims and Dalit Muslims want that they should be given the
same affirmative action help, like reservation in education and
jobs, that their counterparts in the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist com-
munities have been given since 1950, but which they and
Christians have been denied unfairly.
Muslims want that the government implement the recommen-
dations of the Governments own Sachar Committee report which
highlights specific areas of socioeconomic uplift that the commu-
nity acutely needs. They want security from the violence of anti-
Muslim forces and police brutality, and just treatment from the
government institutions in their daily lives. Muslims want to enthu-
siastically participate in the nations political processes at all lev-
els. Muslims have full faith in the nations secular and democrat-
ic structure and its secular citizens who are no less than at least
three-fourth of the majority Hindu community.
The writer has alleged that honour killings are not uncommon
in the Muslim community, but there has not been even a single
instance of honour killing in the Indian Muslim community at least
since 1947.
The writer makes the mischievous allegation that Muslims
hold themselves apart from the rest of the country, but ignores the
fact that everywhere in India Muslims mingle freely with others in
schools, colleges, places of work, sporting and entertainment
events, government events etc.
Browse the Indian newspapers, electronic media etc. and you
will find adequate number of Muslim faces in every mix of Indians
in proportion to their population. In higher level positions there is
a shortage of Muslims based on the fact that Muslims do not have
as much access to higher education as others.
The writer makes the derogatory remark that Muslim ghettoes
exist in every nook and cranny. Go to any city and see for yourself
that of the poor Indians who are more than a quarter of the popu-
lation, there are people of all religions. Go to the slums in Mumbai
or Delhi or Calcutta or Chennai or other cities and see for yourself
that no more than one-third of the population there are Muslims.
Yes, there are more poor Muslims in comparison to their popula-
tion, but that is because of the communitys lack of access to
higher education and denial of affirmative action programmes to
the deserving among them. It is offensive that the writer has tried
to put a religious label on the face of Indias poor.
On the issue of Babri mosque, the writer is again repeating the
false allegation of the anti-Muslim forces that the Babri mosque
was not a place of worship for Muslims; it was so until govern-
ment stopped Muslims from praying there in December 1949
when the idols were surreptitiously placed inside the mosque and
the mosque was locked by the local administration. As to the
demolition of Babri mosque, the Liberhan Commission report of
2009 has clearly indicted several senior leaders of anti-Muslim
political parties for this crime and has recommended that they be
tried in a court of law.
The writer again repeats the provocative allegation that during
the 600-year-long Muslim rule, Muslim rulers demolished Hindu
temples and built mosques on them. Research by several reputed
non-Muslim historians, including Prof Richard Burton, Prof Paul
Brass and Prof Romilla Thapar has proved conclusively that bar-
ring a couple of such incidents by a couple of rogue rulers in six
centuries, as a rule Muslim kings did not desecrate Hindu tem-
ples. In fact, the same research shows that in the era before the
Muslim rule some victorious Hindu kings demolished temples of
the favourite deities of the other Hindu kings whom they defeated.
The writers calumny against the Muslim Personal Law Board
is galling indeed. This Board established in 1973 simply conducts
advocacy that Muslims be allowed to live their lives according to
the precepts of their religious scripture in matters of personal
laws, i.e., marriage, inheritance etc. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists,
Christians have their own religious panels to oversee the imple-
mentation of their respective personal laws. Why does the writer
want to force the Muslims alone to abrogate the guidance to them
from their scriptures in areas which do not concern others?
The allegation that the Board supports child marriage and
opposes the right of children for free and compulsory education is
patently false. Why should the Board endorse Salman Rushdie
who has identified the wives of Prophet Muhammad with whores
in a brothel in an Arabian desert? Have any Hindu or Buddhist or
Christian organizations in India ever applauded any author who
insulted their deities in such an obscene manner?
It is strange that in applauding Narendra Modi of Gujarat, and
questioning Muslims as to why they do not support him, the writer
does not even mention the mass killings of 2000 Muslims in cen-
tral Gujarat towns in 2002 abetted by the Modi administration,
including several key ministers in Modis cabinet and his top
police officials from that period, who have been now convicted in
Indian courts-of-law by Hindu judges and have been jailed.
Additionally, since 2002 Modi administration has systemati-
cally cut off most municipal services like sanitation, transporta-
tion, repair of roads etc. in various Muslim-majority areas in vari-
ous cities in Gujarat, and has throttled the previously thriving
economy of the Muslim community by imposing sanctions and
encouraging boycott. Does any community anywhere vote for its
oppressor? So why should Muslims be an exception?
Indeed today the biggest political opponents of Modis attempt
to revive the sectarian and divisive politics in India are secular
Hindus, many senior Hindu politicians including top political lead-
ers in more than a dozen major states in India and even senior BJP
leaders like LK Advani, Yashwant Sinha et al are opposed to him.
Today, Indias Muslims are focusing on resolving their core
issues of backwardness in education and socioeconomic status
by working closely with the majority Hindus and with the govern-
ment. Today, Muslims are cooperating with Hindus and others and
are contributing to the building of a modern and prosperous India.
They have no desire to get entangled in the religion-based politics
of the past.
The author is head of the Association of Indian Muslims of America
in Washington DC. The above is a rejoinder to India Abroad, an
American publication
Continued from the previous page
Does any community anywhere vote for its oppressor? So why should Muslims be an exception?...
today the biggest political opponents of Modis attempt to revive the sectarian and divisive politics in
India are secular Hindus, many senior Hindu politicians including top political leaders in more than a
dozen major states in India and even senior BJP leaders like LK Advani, Yashwant Sinha et al are
opposed to him.
AFSANA RASHID, SRINAGAR
Three persons were killed and several injured after communal
clashes broke out in Kishtwar district in Jammu province of the
state, over 220 kilometres from here, after Eid-ul-Fitr prayers on
August 9. Authorities clamped indefinite curfew and the Army was
called in. Army staged flag march after incidents of arson and vio-
lence in the area. Curfew was later extended to eight districts of
the province, wherein it was later lifted after almost a week
(August 16). Curfew in Kishtwar was lifted after 12 days, August
21. Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was closed, Amarnath
yatra suspended (for three days) and internet services too
remained suspended for almost four days.
Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar
were immediately removed after the incident, August 9. Minister
of State for Home, Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo resigned, August 12 and
a judicial probe was ordered by state government, August 12.
Tension is believed to have started after a group of people,
raising anti-national slogans after the Eid prayers, was attacked by
another section of people in the area, media-reports say. In the
meantime, ugly scenes were witnessed on the streets, with peo-
ple of the two communities attacking each other and indulging in
widespread arson and torching shops and vehicles, reports
added. It was reported that for seven hours, mobs from the two
communities fought pitched battles as there was hardly any pres-
ence of police or security forces. Few youth from a particular
community were allegedly seen firing with automatic weapons,
which aggravated the situation. This put Village Defence
Committees (VDCs) under the scanner.
Immediately, after the incident Hurriyat (G) led by Syed Ali
Shah Geelani called for shutdown in Kashmir, whereas BJP called
for Jammu bandh, August 10. Calling for a shutdown on August
17, as a symbolic resentment and protest against high-handed-
ness and dissolution of VDCs, Geelani, August 12, said, We
wont allow anybody to repeat 1947-like mayhem. Many
unscrupulous elements are hell-bent to repeat Gujarat-like distur-
bances, but well strongly oppose and foil such designs.
Geelani, August 16, declared VDC as terrorist arms of Sangh
Parivar. He, August 20, said until VDCs are disarmed and dis-
solved threat will haunt and prevail in Chenab valley and Muslim
community will feel insecure.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, August 12, tweeted after Arun
Jaitely and other BJP leaders werent allowed to visit Kishtwar,
Would the BJP care to recount 2002 response? Would (Arun)
Jaitley be so kind as to inform Parliament whether the Gujarat
Home Minister or MoS Home resigned or even offered to in
2002? He further wrote Oh thats right they cant because their
star PM (Modi) hopeful waited days to call out the army and has
yet to apologize. Hypocrites.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, addressing media here
August 12, said National Conference seems to have revived its old
bonds with BJP to cut Congress vote-bank in Chenab valley in
Jammu region. She added though resignation tendered by MoS
Home was a welcome move, but it wasnt as if the chief minister
has done wonders.
Awami Itihad Party president and independent legislator,
Er Rashid visited Kishtwar, August 12, along with his delegation
and demanded that killers should be arrested and VDCs disband-
ed. He filed a Public Interest Litigation in the High Court seeking
disbanding of VDCs and quashing government order that accord-
ed sanction for creation of VDCs. The petition states by virtue of
government order No. Home-293 in 1995, sanction was accord-
ed to the creation of Village Defence Groups in various districts of
the state and a scheme Village Defence Group Scheme formu-
lated.
About 16 crore rupees is being annually drawn by the militia
as honorarium, reports the media-. Police, August 20, recovered
nine of the 22 guns looted from a local gun-shop by rioters on
August 9 and some arrests have also been made.
A four-member group of ministers led by deputy chief minis-
ter, Tara Chand, arrived in Kishtwar, August 17, to take stock of the
situation. State government, August 19, deputed an All Party
Delegation to Kishtwar to restore peace in the region. Opposition
PDP however, wasnt part of it. The delegation, August 21, organ-
ized a peace march in the region.
Hurriyat rejects compensation for army crimes
The decision of the state cabinet to compensate families of rape-
victims and those killed in police custody has drawn flak as both
separatists and mainstream politicians have criticized the govern-
ments move saying no price tag can be put on life and chastity.
Justice is more important than compensation. You cannot
rape and kill people keeping in mind that compensation would
compensate your crime. Instead of harping on compensation,
why doesnt the government punish culprits and deliver justice,
said PDP spokesperson Naeem Akhtar, August 17.
Describing the act as shameful Hurriyat (G) led by Syed Ali
Shah Geelani, August 17, said the government has cast a slur on
the entire Kashmiri nation. The spokesperson of the conglomerate
said instead of attaching a price-tag to life and chastity of Kashmiri
people, the government should have filed cases against men in uni-
form, who are involved in war crimes and brought them to justice.
Government is trying to institutionalize and legalize rape,
deaths and torture, says JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik,
August 17. This country is turning out to be a fascist country
where blood has become cheaper than water.
Senior separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah, August 17, said
it is an irony that the government is encouraging police and Army
to go for custodial killings and rape inside the four-walls of torture
camps. Instead, it should hang the culprits involved.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, August 18 wrote on the micro-
blogging site Twitter that compensation wasnt meant to be a sub-
stitute for punishment to perpetrators. The law will follow its own
course as was the case earlier.
The state cabinet, during a meeting chaired by the Chief
Minister, August 16, accorded sanction to revision of compensa-
tion payable to victims or their dependents under Jammu and
Kashmir Victim Compensation Scheme-2013. The revised com-
pensation for loss of life (death) would be two lakh rupees, for tor-
ture in police custody rupees three lakh, for loss of any limb or
part of body resulting in 80 percent disability rupees two lakh, loss
of limb or part of body resulting in forty percent and below 80 per-
cent disability Rs 1.5 lakh.
Similarly, a minor rape-victim or rape in police-custody shall
be paid rupees three lakh, for rape rupees two lakh, acid victims
who suffer complete damage/burns rupees three lakh and those
who suffer partial damages and burns shall be paid rupees two
lakh. The Home Department spokesperson, August 18, said fol-
lowing the Supreme Court direction, preparation of compensation
scheme was mandatory for each state and Union Territory.
Clashes in Shopian over police excesses
Amid shutdown, clashes erupted in south Kashmirs Shoipan dis-
trict for several days against alleged police-excesses and deten-
tion of several youths in the area.
Trouble started, August 17, when locals alleged that police
went berserk and barged into their houses beating up inmates
and ransacking household items, following clashes between
protesting youth and police. Hurriyat (G) had called for shutdown
across the valley, August 17, to press for disbanding of Village
Defence Committees in Jammu division of the state.
Following the incident, announcements were made from pub-
lic address systems in mosques in the area, urging people to
come out and protest against alleged police high-handedness,
the reports say. Soon after the announcements, additional
deployment of police and CRPF was made in the area and peo-
ple werent allowed to move out of their houses.
Denying these allegations, police August 18, said they were
fabricated by some youth to evade arrest. It exercised maximum
restraint while dealing with protesters and didnt enter residential
houses, added the police.
Police have already identified the youth who had spread
rumours through social networking site, Facebook about alleged
desecration of the holy Quran, said Mumtaz Ahmad,
Superintendent of Police, Shopian, August 19, adding, that a few
of them have been arrested.
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
Kishtwar riot exposes the ugly face of VDCs
10 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
T
he National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the serial bomb
blasts at Bodh Gayas Mahabodhi temple arrested a Hindu
priest, Arup Brahmachari, police said on Wednesday, 14
August. The NIA team, with the help of the police, arrested
Arup Brahmachari who was absconding after the blasts, an officer of
the Bodh Gaya police station said. Brahmachari, hailing from West
Bengal and staying at Bodh Gaya, has been lodged in Rampur police
station of Gaya town due to security reasons, the officer said. The
NIA team will interrogate him, he added. A breakthrough still eludes
the NIA, investigating the July 7 blasts in which 10 bombs exploded
while three other devices were defused. The NIA had interrogated sev-
eral persons, including members of the Bodh Gaya Temple
Management Committee and the temple watch and ward staff as well
as one Vinod Mistri who was picked up at least three times during the
last one month before being released (IANS, 14 Aug 14, 2013).
The above IANS agency story was published the same day on
the news websites of various newspapers around the country includ-
ing Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times and Times of India and by many
others including Hindi and Urdu newspapers. Times of India groups
Hindi newspaper, Navbharat Times, too published it on 14 August on
its Hindi wbsite (http://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/
state/bihar/other-cities/bodh-gaya-blasts-hindu-priest-arrested/arti-
cleshow/21828106.cms). The Hindi newspaper Jagran published on
its English website (http://post.jagran.com/bodh-gaya-blasts-nia-
arrests-hindu-priest-1376475360 a similar story from its own
sources on 14 Aug 2013 at 04:09 pm. Dateline Patna, it said In a
significant development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA)
probing the Bodh Gaya serial blasts on Wednesday arrested a Hindu
priest Arup Brahmachari...The NIA team, with the help of the police,
arrested Arup Brahmachari who was absconding after the blasts.
The NIA team will interrogate him, an officer of the Bodh Gaya police
station said.
Times of India news website (timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
i ndi a/ Bodh- Gaya- bl ast s- Hi ndu- pr i est - ar r est ed/ ar t i -
cleshow/21822949.cms) had published the IANS report on August
14, 2013 at 17:36 IST headlined Bodh Gaya blasts: NIA arrests
absconding Hindu priest. But when MG News Desk tried to access
this news next day (15 August at 12.30 pm), the news items had
been removed from the Times of India website. The Hindu, in a
story datelined Patna, published next day published a denial head-
lined NIA, cops deny arrest of priest for Bodh Gaya blasts. It quot-
ed a NIA source as saying about the reported arrest of a sadhu
called Arup Brahmachari: No such person is being questioned in
NIA case. The newspaper quoted Gaya senior superintendent of
police (SSP) Vinay Kumar told The Hindu, that Brahmachari was
detained for sending offensive emails to the district administration.
Thus the story of the sadhus was conveniently killed just like Vonod
Mistry was so easiless let off, and the search continues to find some
innocent Muslim youth who will be later paraded as IM master-
minds.
NIA quizzes Delhi Police officials in Liyaqat case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is closing in on the Delhi
Police in its investigation into the arrest of Liyaqat Shah. The agency
on Monday questioned two officers of the Delhi Polices special cell,
including DCP Sanjeev Yadav. It was under Yadav that a special cell
team had arrested Shah in March from near Gorakhpur alleging him
to be a Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorist planning attack in the
national Capital. Besides Yadav, ACP Manish Chandra was also
quizzed by NIA officials as they were probing the circumstances
leading to the arrest of Shah, who was returning fromPakistan-occu-
pied Kashmir (PoK) as per the surrender policy of the Jammu &
Kashmir government, sources said. The statements of the two offi-
cers were recorded by the NIA, the sources said, adding the focus
of the questions by the probe agency was on the source of the intel-
ligence input received by the Delhi Police. The two officers were
allegedly not forthcoming with the information and NIA may again
summon them along with other members of the Special Cell who
were engaged in the operation. We have questioned some witness-
es in the case and further investigation is on, said a senior NIA offi-
cer. The development comes days after a non-bailable warrant was
issued against an alleged Shah aide Sabir Pathan who according to
the Delhi Police had kept arms and ammunition in an old Delhi hotel
for Shah. Interestingly, he had mentioned the Special Cells address
on Lodhi Road in the hotels register as his while booking the room.
Centre rejects ban on Abhinav Bharat
New Delhi: The Union home ministry on 22 August turned down
Maharashtra government's plea to ban Abhinav Bharat - the radical
Hindutva outfit linked to man acts of saffron terror, on grounds of
insufficient evidence of its "terror activities" over the last two- three
years. The MHA wrote to the state government about a month ago
rejecting its proposal for proscribing Abhinav Bharat, named in the
2006 Malegaon blasts chargesheet, under the Unlawful Activities
Prevention Act (UAPA). Reportedly the MHA said there wasn't sub-
stantial material at hand to establish Abhinav Bharat's "terror activi-
ties" over the last two-three years. It also cited the absence of any
clear information on the organizational structure of the Hindutva out-
fit, including its leaders and cadre still at large, or its offices and
hideouts. The security agencies had no track of its continued terror
funding either. "To ensure that a ban under UAPA stands the court's
scrutiny and is also upheld by a UAPA review committee, we have
to have exhaustive material documenting the terror activities of the
outfit sought to be banned," a home ministry official explained,
adding that no such background was available for Abhinav Bharat.
This is a clear case of double standards seen all along in terror
cases. Does the MHA possess this kind of material and proofs about
SIMI, Deendar Anjuman and the so-called Indian Mujahidin? The
same is the case of Muslim boys who are arrested and kept in jails
for years on end while persons like Indresh Kumar, Todadia and
Adityanath roam around free, mostly enjoying official security.
ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN
BODH GAYA BLASTS: Hindu priest who was arrested, but not arrested
Of late, Indian media appears to be giving a
new importance to the increase in commu-
nal clashes in several parts of the country.
From one angle, the media certainly has an
important role to play where reporting news
is concerned. Yet, when it comes to the cov-
erage of communal clashes, from minor dis-
cord to major riots, the media bears a
greater responsibility. At this stage, when several assembly
elections are due and parliamentary polls are scheduled for the
next year, a little importance needs to be given to the nature of
this coverage.
If parliamentary elections were not round the corner and
BJPs main campaigner was not Narendra Modi, this analysis
may not have been necessary. There is a difference between
clashes taking place as being actually communal, their being
projected as communal and their being specifically described
as communal for political gains. A clash, conflict or even a riot
can be provoked when religious sentiments of any particular
community are hurt or abused. But then there is no guarantee
that provoking communal disturbance was initiated by reli-
gious fanatics. The provocation may have been inflamed for
entirely political reasons.
If political interests have led to the inflammation of peoples
religious sentiments, what does this indicate? Religious senti-
ments have been deliberately provoked to help certain political
groups. In fact, there is no guarantee that reported communal
clashes have been incited only and only by religious groups and
for religious reasons. It is possible that they have been provoked
by political factions to lead to a polarization of Indian votes
along religious lines.
By putting forward Modi as its key campaigner, it is obvious
that BJP is counting on polarization of Hindu votes in its favour.
Reports about increasing communal clashes in different parts of
the country are apparently expected to further inflame the polit-
ical atmosphere. From this angle, reports about the increasing
frequency of communal clashes are expected to help political
parties in the electoral fray indulge in rhetoric, communal as
well as secular, to convince targeted vote-banks about their
politico-religious agenda. This naturally implies that political
noise about communal clashes also exposes that they have
been apparently engineered for political gains. In other words,
they may not actually be communal but have been inflamed to
this level by concerned political parties.
Yes, to a degree, religious as well as communal passions of
certain people have been provoked. This only suggests that con-
cerned political groups have to a degree succeeded in inflaming
religious passions along communal lines. They have further
succeeded in receiving substantial media coverage.
Unconsciously or perhaps deliberately, people whose commu-
nal passions have been inflamed and sections of media, which
have given the same more than necessary coverage, have let
themselves to be used to serve political interests of groups
behind these communal incidents.
This demands a deliberation on: should all clashes, riots
and other incidents involving people of different communities be
instantly labelled as communal? Certainly, there is sufficient
ground for sentiments of a Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh or a
person of any religious community to be inflamed if the person
and others of his religious group find that their place of worship
has been deliberately damaged or desecrated. But before jump-
ing to the conclusion that such a criminal activity has been
indulged in by a religious group and moving to the stage of
clashes or even riots, some attention must be paid to whether
the damage was politically motivated, was it a terrorist act or a
menacing incident of some other nature.
The motive may be to arouse religious passions along com-
munal lines for political gains. If such is the case, why should
religious identity of groups involved be tarnished by their being
held responsible for communal clashes? Their fault lies in being
unconsciously provoked to be a party to a politically-designed
game charted by politico-communal fanatics.
Here, one must take note of the fact that though the recent
past has witnessed reports of communal clashes taking place in
different parts of the country, there is yet another side to the
same. The entire nation still remains unmoved to being pro-
voked to the same degree. And this also raises a question about
the ease with which clashes between different groups in various
parts of the country are labelled as communal? Even if it is
believed that they are communal, one is moved to pose the
question: communal along which lines, religious, regional or
plainly political?
True, communalism still prevails in India. It may take a few
more generations before communal prejudice held between dif-
ferent religious groups towards each other ceases to exist. But
if politicians continue to indulge in their nature of communal
politicking, they are least likely to allow communalism to ever
totally disappear from the country. It is for the people and also
the media to remain alert against the nature of such politicking.
They need to remain on guard on whether they are falling victim
to communal politics or not. Clashes deliberately provoked by
political fanatics may be presented as communal but may not
actually be so!
Speaki ng Out
Increasing Clashes:
Political or
Communal?
NI LOFAR SUHRAWARDY
www.pheku.in is a new and forward-moving engagement with
Indias new struggle for democratic space. The last five years have
seen a significant and often angry civil society mobilization against
what is perceived as a descent into anarchy and authoritarian actions
by the State. The decade-long rule of the UPA government has not
only led to the sporadic ignition of youth anger but also created the
space for the emergence of a fascist politician in Narendra Modi on
to the national stage.
Like all fascists Modi presents a model of efficiency and effec-
tive rule to a beleaguered nation and like most fascists this model of
efficiency and growth is based on lies, half-truths and a million dol-
lar PR industry.
But such a moment when a fascist alternative is being sold to
civil society, is also the moment which can produce a creative chal-
lenge. Www.pheku.in offers such a challenge by putting every cre-
ation of the Modi PR machinery under the scanner. The website edi-
tors have collected a vast range of data on the Gujarat model of
development. They have also commissioned several new investiga-
tions on claims that he has made publicly. Thus, pheku.in will serve
simultaneously as a clearing house for publicly available information
and as a breaking news site through the election season.
The objective of pheku.in is two-fold: to build a new democratic
imaginary by exposing the record of the most authoritarian politician
in India today and simultaneously produce a new level of engage-
ment for the youth in Indian politics. Pheku.ins team is located in 15
different states across India and four cities outside the country.
The unique combination of Modis authoritarianism, his deeply
communal record, and his ability to lie smoothly is the fertile ground
on which pheku.in will flourish.
Already some exposures of his smooth lies - such as his
Himalayan miracle - have been exposed. Pheku.in editors have found
hundreds more that need to be unveiled. These lie along several
dimensions - his destruction of democratic institutions in Gujarat,
scams of enormous proportions and needless to say, his Pheks -
from which the website gets its name. Any politician responsible for
the slaughter of over 2000 people from the minority and dozens of
encounter killings to bolster his image should be beyond the pale of
even aspiring to be a Prime Minister of India.
www.pheku.in was simultaneously launched on 23 August in
over 20 cities across India including Ahmedabad. The website is
endorsed by Amit Sengupta, journalist, Delhi, Anjum Rajabali, script
writer, Mumbai, Anuradha Chenoy, professor, JNU, Delhi,
Apoorvanand, Prof, DU, Delhi, Arma Ansari, filmmaker, UP, Ashok
Vajpaye, poet, Delhi, Avni Sethi, Designer, dancer, Ahmadabad, Azam
Khan, entrepreneur, Hyderabad, Biju Mathew, Hyderabad, Cedric
Prakash, Director Prashant, Gujarat, Dev Desai, social activist,
Ahmadabad, Ganesh Devi, Bhasha, Baroda, Gauri Lankesh, Lankesh
Patrike, Bangalore, Gautam Thakkar, Harsh Mandar, writer, activist,
Delhi, Harvardhan Hegde, Surgeon, Delhi, Indu Kumar Jani, writer,
Ahmadabad, Irfan Engineer, social activist, Mumbai, Kalpana
Kannabiran, Hyderabad, Kamal Chenoy, Prof JNU, Delhi, Kavita
Krishnan, Kedar Misra, journalist, writer, Bhubaneswar, KM Shrimali,
historian, Delhi, KN Panikkar, historian, Trivandram, Lawrence
Surendra, Bangalore, Mahesh Bhatt, filmmaker, Mumbai, Mahesh
Pandya, Mallika Sarabhai, artist, Ahmadabad, Manan Trivedi, social
activist, Ahmadabad, Manisha Trivedi, Social Activist, Ahmadabad,
Mansi Sharma, activist, Delhi, Nandini Sundar, Naseeruddin Shah,
actor, Mumbai, Neena Vyas, Noorjahan Diwan, Social activist,
Ahmadabad, Parvateesha, Lankesh Patrike, Bangalore, Prakash
Shah, journalist, Ahmadabad, Purnima Joshi, journalist, Delhi, Rahul
Roy, filmmaker, Delhi, Ram Puniyani, writer, Mumbai, Ram Rahman,
designer, photographer, Delhi, Seema Mustafa, journalist, Delhi,
Shabnam Hashmi, activist, Delhi, Sukumar Muralidharan, journalist,
Delhi, Tanzil Rahman, Delhi, Vani Subramanian, activist, Delhi, Vivan
Sundaram, artist, Delhi, Yadavan Chandran, artist, Darpana
Academy, Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, Hyderabad, Zakia Soman, BMMA,
Gujarat and Zulekha Jabin (Chattisgarh).
F
ollowing is a FACT SHEET about Modi prepared by the pheku.in
team:
* In 10 years 60,000 small scale industries have been closed down.
* Gujarat ranks 5th in F.D.I.
* The states total debt was less than Rs 10,000 crore when the BJP
first came to power in Gujarat in 1995. Gujarats actual debt has
mounted from Rs 45,301 crore in 2001-02 when Modi took over to
Rs 1,38,978 crore on December 30, 2012. The debt would mount to
Rs 2,07,695 crore as per the state governments budget estimates by
2015-16.
* Gujarat is at 8th position in agricultural growth. Gujarat has never
achieved 10% growth in Agriculture sector. As per Government of
Gujarats own statistics from year 2005-2006 to 2010-2011, growth
in GSDP in Agriculture and Allied sector is 3.44% only-not double digit
or 10%.
* In Gujarat VAT on fertilizer is 5% - highest in India.
* In Gujarat 26 districts have 225 blocks in which 57 are dark zone
blocks.
* 455885 applications were pending for agricultural power connection
as on March, 2011.
* Close to half of the states children under the age of 5 (44.6 %) are
known to be suffering from malnutrition. 70 per cent are said to be
anaemic while 40 per cent are underweight.
* In eight districts and three talukas of Gujarat, 2494 teachers posts
are vacant.
* In four districts of Gujarat, approximately 978 schools are running
with only one or two teachers.
* Health expenditure by Gujarat fallen down from 4.25% in 1990-95 to
0.77% in 2005-2010. Gujarat occupied second position from bottom
in terms of allocation of health in state budget.
* Gujarat ranks 20th (the bottom) among the 20 major states in the
percentage of women with severe anaemia.
* Gujarat ranks 15th in malnourishment in children.
* Gujarat ranks 16th in childrens anaemia.
* Gujarat ranks 14th in rural IMR and 10th in urban IMR.
* According to report on Global Hunger (2009), among the major 17
states in India, Gujarat ranks 13th with a Hunger Index of 23.3. The
state has been declared as an alarming state along with MP,
Jharkhand and Bihar.
* The data show that 67 per cent of rural households in the State ranks
10th in the use of latrines.
* Data collected during the National Census 2011 reveals that around
29 per cent of the total number of households in Gujarat is receiving
untreated drinking water. Approximately 1.75 crore people are not get-
ting clean drinking water.
* Gujarat has 32% poverty in 2001 and it reached 39.5% in 2011. of
every 100 persons, there are 40 persons poor. Statistics of the NSSO
show that the percentage of reduction of poverty between 2004 and
2010 was the lowest in Gujarat, at 8.6 per cent.
* 52,260 number of scholarships minority students should have got in
Gujarat, through the Centre started a scholarship scheme for minori-
ties; to be shared in 75:25 ratio between the Centre and state to
encourage students from poor families to complete schooling. Since
the scheme started, Gujarat has let the funds lapse by not sending any
proposal to the Centre for giving these scholarships.
* 12% Muslims share of total bank accounts in Gujarat, but their loan
amount outstanding is only 2.6 percent. This proves they dont get
loans.
* UNDP has observed that poverty head count ratio for Muslims is
highest in the states of Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and
Gujarat.
* Of 1,958 riot cases reopened after the Supreme Court order, the
Gujarat Police made arrests in only 117 cases - 5 percent of the total
* Gujarat stands 11th in implementing Forest Rights Enactment, 2006.
* One rape takes place every three days in Gujarat.
* The Deputy Speakers post is left vacant by the Gujarat Government
for a decade. (As per article 178 of Indian constitution, it is compulso-
ry)
* Assembly runs on an average for 30-32 days a year.
* No Lokayukta appointed since last 10 years.
* Gujarat has organized 3716 employment festivals. As per
Government of Gujarat own record 10 lakh educated youth are unem-
ployed and a total of 30 lakh people are unemployed.
* NSSO data show that in Gujarat, growth in employment has dropped
to almost zero in the past 12 years.
A recent CAG review on accounts of the states is an eye-opener
when it comes to Gujarat, the latters high claims notwithstanding.
Allegedly there are Rs 16,706.99 crore worth of financial and land
allotment irregularities with resultant negative impact on delivery on
economic and development fronts.
ANALYSIS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 11 www.milligazette.com
Inauguration of www.pheku.in
Already some
exposures of his
smooth lies
such as his
H i m a l a y a n
miracle have
been exposed.
Pheku.in editors
have found
hundreds more
that need to be
unveiled. These
lie along several dimensions his
destruction of democratic institutions in
Gujarat, scams of enormous proportions
and needless to say, his Pheks from
which the website gets its name. Any
politician responsible for the slaughter of
over 2000 people from the minority and
dozens of encounter killings to bolster his
image should be beyond the pale of even
aspiring to be a Prime Minister of India.
M A U L A N A
A B D U L
H A M E E D
R A H MA N I ,
noted religious
scholar and
President of
D e l h i s
Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad
I s l a m i c
A wa k e n i n g
Centre died on 20 August at the age
of 73 years. He was quite well-known
in Arab and Islamic countries
because of which important person-
alities in those countries as well as in
India paid rich tributes to him. He
started dozens of religious institu-
tions for boys and girls like Khadijatul
Kubra Lilbanat, Madrasa Kullia
Aaisha, for boys Jamia Islamia
Sanabil, Idaratul Joos Al Islamia,
Mahad Usman bin Affan etc He is
survived by his wife, 5 sons, one
daughter and a large number of grand
sons and daughters. He was laid to
rest in Batla House graveyard.
Dr FARMAN
FATEHPURI ,
r e n o w n e d
scholar, critic,
researcher and
linguist of Indo-
Pak subconti-
nent died in
Karachi on 3 August at the age of 87
years. Born in Fatehpur (UP) in 1926,
after par tition he along with the
famous literary magazine Nigar, edit-
ed in India by Allama Neyaz Fatehpuri
shifted to Karachi and was editor of
this monthly magazine for about four
decades. Author of more than 60
books on Ghalib and Allama Iqbals
poetry, literary criticisms, biographies
etc he was honoured by Pakistan
government with Nishan-e Imteyaz
Award in recognition of his valuable
services to Urdu literature. He also
served as a teacher in Karachi
University for about 30 years. In
India, a book titled Iqbal sub ke liye
(Iqbal for every body) was extremely
popular in India. He also did cred-
itable work on Urdu spellings, script
and Rani Ketaki. Literary figures in
India paid rich tributes to him on his
death. Naya aur Purana Adab,
Tahqeeq wa Tanqeed, Tadrees-e
Urdu, Urdu ki Natiya Shairee also
were among his more than 60 literary
works.
ZAFAR FUTEHALLY, one of Indias
best known naturalists, a conserva-
tionist and an ornithologist died at his
residence in Kihim in Maharashtra on
11 August at the age of 93 years. He
had in fact been living in Bangalore
but had shifted recently to
Maharashtras Kihim. He was also
associated with Bombay Natural
History Society for about six decades
before shifting to Bangalore where he
lived for about four decades. He
leaves behind his wife Laeeq who too
is an ornithologist and author of a
book on Indian birds, his daughter
and grand children. His (late) elder
daughter Shama was a novelist.
SAKAR KHAN, renowned Rajasthani
folk musician and exponent of
melodius bow and string instrument
called Kamaicha (Like sarangi) died
in Jaisalmer on 10 August. He
belonged to the traditional
Manganiyar community of folk musi-
cians of Rajasthan and was honoured
with many awards like Indian govern-
ments Padma Shri, Tulsi Samman by
M P government and Sangeet Natak
Academy Award. He had also per-
formed with some renowned musi-
cians and instrumentalists of the
world like (late) Yehudi Menuhin,
American violinist, George Harrison
of the once famous Beatles of
England and also had appeared in
many musicial performances and
festivals in USA, France, Japan and
former Soviet Russia.
Prof SHAH ABDUS SALAM
FAROOQI, former Professor of Arabic
in Lucknow University, former OSD of
Rampurs Raza Library and a noted
researcher and Arabic Scholar died
recently. He was an author of dozens
of books. In spite of being a learned
scholar, it is unfortunate that his
death did not receive much attention
even by many Urdu newspapers
though many condolence meetings at
different places were held after his
death.
MASTER GHULAM MUHAMMAD
SHERWANI, a noted religious personal-
ity of Barahmulla died in Srinagar on 4
August at the residence of his son Dr
Abdur Rashid Sherwani. His Namaze
Janaza was lead by Muhammad Ashraf
Sehraee, as desired by the late Master.
During his lifetime he had desired that
his funeral prayer should be lead by
Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Gilani
or by Muhammad Ashraf Sehraee. Ali
Shah Gilani, in a telephone talk to his
son Dr Abdur Rashid Sherwani
expressed his regret for not being able
to lead the funeral prayer because of his
house arrest. Hence Ashraf Sehraee
lead his funeral prayer in Srinagar after
which his body was taken to his native
place for burial. Late Master Ghulam
Sherwani was the teacher of both Syed
Ali Shah Gilani and Ashraf Sehraee.
S. M. LALJAN BASHA, a former MP,
leader and colleague of Telugu
Desam Par tys founder (late) NT
Rama Rao and Muslim face of TDP
died in a road accident near
Hyderabad on 15 August. He was 57.
AZIM FIROZABADI, noted litterateur,
researcher and critic who was also
known for knowledge about history,
mysticism and other sciences died at
his residence in Firozabad on 12
August at the age of 93 years after a
protracted illness.
HAJI HUSAIN ANSARI, a senior leader of Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha (JMM) and Chairman of Jharkhands Haj
Committee was inducted as minister for buildings and
construction in the state cabinet. He will also take charge
of the ministry for industries in a couple of days.
Mrs GULSHAN AARA, former Up-Pramukh of Arraria
(Bihar) was elected Pramukh (Chief or Head) of this dis-
trict of Bihar by defeating her rival Rudra Nand Mishra. The
elections were held under tight security and Arrarias BDO
(Block Development Officer) and CO (Circle Officer) were
kept away and the election was held under the supervision
of SDO Sanjay Kumar.
NADEEM ASHRAF, a research scholar of AMUs
Department of Sunni Theology was conferred PhD Degree
for his research treatise on a sensitive topic like Ghair
Muslim Maaashray mein Musalmaanon ki Deeni wa
Ekhlaqi Zimmedari which he completed under the supervi-
sion of Prof Muhammad Saud Alam Qasmi.
MAQSOOD ILAHI SHEIKH, noted Urdu poet, novelist
and fiction writer who has been residing in Britain was
conferred Honorary Doctorate Degree by Bradford
University in recognition of his valuable services to
Urdu literature in Britain. He is also known for introduc-
ing Pop Stories in literary world. He is also the editor of
the voluminous literary magazine Makhzan which is
popular among the literary figures of Indo-Pak subcon-
tinent as well as Urdu men of letters spread in many
other countries of the world. He is also a well-known
journalist, essayist and author of many books and hon-
oured with many literary awards by many organisations
and countries including Pakistan which honoured him
with Nishan-e Imteyaz Award. Pop stories are his own
inventions or creations which he introduced in litera-
ture.
MEN & WOMEN IN NEWS
OBITUARIES
12 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 NEWSMAKERS www.milligazette.com
MAULANA ABDUR RAHEEM who completed Kamil Saqafi
course from South Indias famous religious-cum-modern
Islamic University, Jamia Markaz Al Saqafat Al Sunniya in
2009 and thereafter took admission in AMUs Malappuram
Centres MA (Arabic) secured first position and also
topped in the entire University. For this and other achieve-
ments he was awarded 4 Gold Medals by the University. It
may be stated that a student of Markaz Al Saqafat Al
Sunniya, Calicut who gets a certificate of Kamil Saqafi is
considered eligible for admission in MA-Arabic in AMU
which recognises Calicut Centres certificates.
(Dr.) Prof. SHARIF AHMAD QURAISHI Associate
Professor and Chief Proctor of Raza PG College has been
honoured by Bihar Urdu Academy with an Award which
consists of Rs 7500. In addition to this he has also been
honoured with other awards by Bihar and UP Urdu acade-
mies and U P governments Shikshak Shri Samman. So
far his 14 books have been published and many more are
under publication.
SYED HAIDAR RAZA, artist and painter along with famous
classical dancer Birjoo Maharaj was honoured by Bihar
governments Art Culture & Youth Department with Bihar
governments recently introduced award Bihar Kala
Samman at a function held at Delhis India International
Centre on 15 August.
Mrs SABA ANJUM, hockey player is
among the 14 sports persons who
have been recommended by the
Select Committee for being honoured
with awards like Khel Ratn, Arjun
Award etc. Saba Anjum has been
selected and recommended by this
Committee for being honoured with Arjun Award for hock-
ey.
A photo by Urdu daily Inqilabs senior photographer SYED
SAMIR AABDI exhibited in a national level photographic
competition held in Mumbai was adjudged the Best Photo.
As many as 5760 photographs by professional as well as
amateur photographers from all over the country were
exhibited in this competition of whom the one by Syed
Samir Aabadi, as stated above, was selected the Best
Photograph. This photograph shows the very busy and
hustle and bustle life of Mumbai. The awards for selected
photographs were given away by Thanes Mayor
Maheshwar Patel.
USTAD ABDUR RASHID KHAN, Padma Vibushan, famous
classical musician and Mrs Anjali Ila Menon, Padma Shri,
famous artist and painter were honoured by Delhi govern-
ment with Lifetime Achievement AWard 2013 at a function
jointly sponsored by Delhi governments Department of
Languages and Sahitya Kala Parishad at Kamani
Auditorium on 11 August. Ustad Abdur Rashid Khan, aged
105 years, is an expert in khayal, dhamal, thumri, dhrupad
and in addition to all this he is also a noted poet and
author. The Award, consisting of a cheque of Rs 11 lakh
and a certificate each, was given to them by chief minis-
ter Mrs Shiela Dikshit at a function held on 11 August.
President of India, Pranab Mukherji honoured a total of
128 scholars of classical languages Arabic, Persian,
Sanskrit and Pali Prakrit with Presidential Award on the
occasion of Indias 67th Independence Day on 15 August.
Among the scholars of Persian are Prof (Dr) QAMAR
GHAFFAR (of Jamia Millia Islamia) and M. H. SIDDIQI.
The three scholars of Arabic who were honoured with
Presidential Award are MUHAMMAD AZIMUDDIN, PROF
ZIKRUR RAHMAN and Prof AHMAD NASEEM SIDDIQI.
As many as 15 scholars of Sanskrit were honoured with
Presidential Award on this occasion. In addition to above,
BISHOP ANWAR ALI, Persian scholar and Dr ASHFAQ
AHMAD, Arabic scholar along with many Sanskrit schol-
ars were honoured with Maharishi Badrayan Vyas
Samman on this occasion.
Jharkhand governor Dr Syed Ahmad presented the best
creative fiction award in the form of a memento to the
Urdu fiction writer DR AKHTAR AZAD on 19 August. He
also released Dr Azads latest noevl "Laminated Girl". Dr
Azad has received many awards for his writings including
the Saadat Hasan Manto Award for young talent in Urdu in
September 2012.
DR. ZAKIR NAIK received
the Dubai International
Holy Quran Award for The
Islamic Personality of the
year 1434H last month in
Dubai. The award commit-
tee headed by Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al-
Makhtoum, The Vice
President of UAE and Ruler
of Dubai, has appreciated
Dr Zakir Naiks service to
Islam in par ticular and
humanity at large. The
award was presented to him in a ceremony in Dubai on 20
Ramadaan (29 July 2013).
AWARDS
Dr. Abdullah, once a notable atheist, who hero-worshiped the
popular rationalist and atheist Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
(EVR), later conver ted to Buddhism and, at long last,
embraced Islam In November 2010, winning the hear ts of
millions of Muslims around world, par ticularly in Tamil Nadu.
He died on 19 August, 2013 as a devout Muslim. He suc-
cumbed to a shor t illness in a private hospital in Chennai. He
was 68. He is survived by his wife Vasantha (62), and two
sons, Valavan (35), and Suradha (32). Dr. Abdullahs parents
named him as Seshachalam. In youth he was a bright boy, a
voracious reader and writer with a probing mind. In later
years he served as professor in Pachiappas College in
Chennai. He propagated atheism aggressively around for ty
years as a staunch disciple of Periyar to the point of adopt-
ing "Periyar Dasan" as par t of his name.
Decades later, Seshachalam met his childhood friend
Sirajuddin in Dubai who advised dont perish as a disbeliev-
er, have faith in One God who is Allah". Since then this ana-
lyst of different faiths such as Hinduism,
Budhism and atheism, did a scrupulous
study of Holy Quran and the Prophets
sayings and deeds (Hadees) until he
became cer tain that Islam is the true
way of life and Allah is omnipotent,
omniscient, and Prophet Muhammad
(pubh) is Allahs last messenger. He
embraced Islam and became a celebrity
Muslim known as "Dr. Abdullah". He
wrote nearly for ty books on Islam. As
token of love and respect, his funeral
prayer was offered at Chennais promi-
nent mosque, Makkah Masjid. It was
attended by a large number of Muslims
as well as some politicians including
Vaiko (Gopal Samy), the founder of the
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (MDMK), Thol Thiruma
Valavan, renowned Dalit activist and a
former Member of Parliament and
President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal
Katchi (Liberation Panther Par ty).
Prominent Muslims par ticipated in the
funeral prayer including Dr.
M. H. Jawahirullah (MLA and leader of
Manithaneya Makkal Katchi). Moulana
Shamsudeen Qasimi, Chief Imam of
Makkah Masjid, performed the funeral
prayer.
It is understood from a source in his
family that Dr. Abdullah donated his eyes
to the Eye Bank, Nungbakkam, Chennai,
and his body as cadaver to Madras
Medical College, Chennai. (Shafee
Ahmed Ko, Chennai)
Periyar Dasan Dr. ABDULLAH
Massive demo in Delhi against the coup in Egypt
SPECIAL REPORT The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 13 www.milligazette.com
MG/Yusuf
New Delhi, 23 August, 2013: A massive protest
demonstration was held today at Egyptian
embassy in New Delhi. It was organised by
Welfare Party of India in association with many
social, political and civil society organisations.
Around 2000 people gathered in the high securi-
ty diplomatic area and raised slogans against the
military regime and demanded the reinstatement
of the elected government and President of
Egypt.
The protestors demanded restoration of
democracy and arrest and persecution of Gen.
al-Sisi for crimes against humanity. Those who
spoke on the occasion include Mr. Mujtaba
Farooq, President of Welfare Party of India,
Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, President of the All India
Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Mr. Ravi Nair,
Executive Director of the South Asia Human
Rights Documentation Centre, Mr. Abdul
Waheed, president of Jamaat-e Islami Delhi &
Haryana, Maulana Jalal Haider Naqvi, Joint
Secretary of Majlis Ulema-e Hind, Maulana
Mohsin Taqawi, Imam of Delhi Shia Jama
Masjid, Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi,
Chairman of Shah Waliullah Institute, Mr. P.M.A.
Salam of Wahdat-e Islami, Dr. Tasleem Rahmani,
President of Muslim Political Council of India,
Dr. Baseer Ahmad of the Indian Union Muslim
League, Mr. Shariq Ansar, National Secretary of
the SIO of India, Mr. Omar Anas, Chairman of the
Egypt Solidarity Forum, Mr. Irfanullah Khan,
Convenor of Jamia Nagar Coordination
Committee, Ms. Bonu Jyotsna of DSU, JNU, and
Dr. SQR Ilyas, national general secretary of
Welfare Party of India.
Speakers unanimously condemned the ille-
gal overthrow of Egypts elected government,
gross human rights violations by the army and
security forces, massacre of thousands of
peaceful demonstrators, arrest of the democrat-
ically-elected President and continuous attacks
on innocent protestors. Speakers also con-
demned the role of King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia, in particular. Speakers attacked the
silence of USA, European Union, UN and other
world bodies and human rights movements.
Speakers asked the Government of India to pass
a strong-worded resolution in Parliament con-
demning the coup and the massacres in Egypt.
They demanded the restoration of democracy
and reinstatement of the elected government and
President. Speakers also asked the Government
of India to recall the Indian Ambassador from
Egypt and close the Egyptian embassy in India
until democracy is restored in Egypt.
A memorandum was also submitted to the
Ambassador of Egypt at the end of the demon-
stration.
Bohra women tie rakhi on Modi, call him brother
Narendra Nero Modis hands are
soiled in complicity of killing of about
5,000 Muslims that include a Dawoodi
Bohra former member of Parliament,
Ehsan Jafri and scores of others who
were burned alive by Modi-inspired
mob. Ehsan Jafris widow Zakiya Jafri is
still fighting her battle for justice since
2002. However, she is hindered at every
step by Modi-influenced courts and offi-
cials. Modi calls Muslims as Babar ki
Aulad (Progeny of Babar). Yet Bohra
head known as Syedna, and Kothar, his governing apparatus, send Bohras to events honouring Modi,
for being cozy with Mr. Modi to protect their own wealth. As such, Mansoos Mufaddal Bhaisaheb
recently while addressing Bohras, strongly advocated that Bohra women should stay home, work in
kitchen, and stitch clothing. He said to Bohra women: Rotli banavo ne kapda sivo pan bahar na jao.
Yet, you see in this picture, those rida-clad Bohra women were sent for tying rakhi to Modi and call him
bhai (brother) and expect him to protect them knowing well that he did not protect Muslim women
during 2002 riots when they were being raped and killed and roasted alive. The Bohra leader claims to
be the vicegerent of Mola Ali (A.S.) who never gave up on principles even in the face of death; yet his
followers actions are opportunistic and different. (Asghar Vasanwala)
Abu Dhabi: Quaide Millath Forum (QMF) a wing of Indian Union
Muslim League Tamil Nadu organised a reception to Tamil Nadu State
Women Wing convener Prof Mrs Thasreef Jahan on 9 August at Abu
Dhabi. Mrs Thasreef Jahan was honoured with memento. In her
speech, Jahan thanked the organizers for the wonderful event. She
requested the organizers to strengthen the partys women wing in
Tamil Nadu and to support the needy. Jahan is a former principal of
Meenakshi Govt College for Women in Madurai. She is also the vice
president of Federation of Muslim Women Aid Societies of Tamil Nadu
and secretary of Madurai District Muslim Women Society.
Aligar th: A symposim on Murder of
Democracy in Egypt was organised here by
the AMUs Faculty of Theology on 17 August, in
which a large number of teachers, scholars and
students participated. Prof. Saud Alam Qasmi,
Dean of the Faculty of Theology gave the inau-
gural speech in which he condemned the brutal
massacre of civilians by the Egyptian armed
forces. He criticized the unlawful dismissal of
the elected government of Dr. Mohammad
Morsi. He urged that democracy and justice
must be restored without any delay. He said that
the Muslim world should come out openly to
favour democratic voices of the Brotherhood
leaders and followers.
Prof. Mohsin Usmani, former dean of the
Faculty of Languages at the EFL University (Hyderabad), explained the
democratic struggle of the Ikhwanul Muslimeen for decades which
was always suppressed by repressive regimes. He said that Al-Sisi is
following the policy of the United States to dislodge any government
democratically formed by the followers of Islam. Dr. Arshi Khan of the
Department of Political Science said that the US and the West are not
interested in democracy for Muslim countries as their agenda is to
create failed states in Muslim countries. He said that the CIA is
deeply involved in alliance with Mossad to create an unstable and
insecure Egypt like Iraq. Dr. Aftab Alam, Secretary, AMUTA lamented
that Muslim countries are silent over the killings in Egypt.
Prof. Ali Mohammad Naqvi, Chairman, Shia Theology said that
the international community should come out with a strong protest
against so many killings of Muslims in one day, which did not hap-
pen under the regime of the Shah in Iran. Dr. Shakeel Samdani of
the Faculty of Law said that the West speaks of democracy, free-
dom and human rights but prefers dictators, particularly in Muslim
countries. Military intervention has caused the violations of dem-
ocratic principles and the UN Charter.
Prof. Razaullah Khan and Prof. Abdul Qayyum, former
Presidents of AMUTA, condemned the massacre by the military
regime. Prof. Ishtiaq Ahmad Zilli, director of the Shibly Academy at
Azamgarh, said in his presidential remarks that the Muslim
Brotherhood has been offering sacrifices for many many decades
for the restoration of the will of the people and they would finally
succeed in their efforts for making Egypt a democratic and peace-
ful country. He said that their sacrifice would enlighten democrat-
ic forces in Gulf countries.
A resolution was passed at the seminar condemning the sup-
pression of peaceful democratic demonstrations and massacre of
thousands of civilians in Egypt. It also denounced the illegal arrest
and detention of President Mohammad Morsi and other leaders.
The resolution urged the Government of India, United Nations,
European Union, Russia and China to take appropriate measures
at the international level to protect the lives and rights of the peo-
ple in Egypt in addition to holding free and fair elections at the ear-
liest.
IUML women leader felicitated AMU community condemns the massacre in Egypt
PHOTO: AAMENA KHAN
PHOTO: AAMENA KHAN
Eid Milan party at the Jamaat-e Islami Hind headquarter on 17 August
This world is for action
we will succeed if we try!
This world is temporary!
There is no point in
working hard!
MG Ediitor speaking during the demo
Admission rush in Darul Ulooms
Deoband: These days there is a great rush of students for admis-
sions in Deobands Darul Ulooms. According to available informa-
tions thousands of prospective students from Afghanistan,
Australia, Indonesia and African countries among foreign coun-
tries and from Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir etc are in
Deoband for seeking admissions in Darul Uloom, Darul Uloom
(Waqf), Darul Uloom Sheikh Zakaria, Jamia Imam Anwar etc
because of which this small citys lanes and bylanes, hotels etc
are full of students and their crowds can be seen everywhere, so
much so that guest houses and hundreds of rooms of all these
institutions also are occupied by admission seekers and these
institutions are also providing all available facilities to them.
According to Maulana Abdul Khaliq Sambhali, Deputy Rector of
Darul Uloom, about 4.5 thousand new students have filled up their
admission forms so far and this number is likely to reach about 8
thousand within the next few days. He said that among the foreign
students admission is given to those students only who have one-
year educational visa. Those students who get admissions after
securing the required marks are given accommodations, food,
books etc free of charge and, depending upon the season, they are
also given clothes twice a year, scholarships and quilts in winter.
According to Maulana Muhammad Sufian, Deputy Rector of
Darul Uloom (Waqf), in two days only about 3000 applications
were received for admissions. He says that the presence of
admission seekers in Deoband is a matter of good luck for the
people of Deoband because the arrival of students for acquisition
of religious education is a matter of blessing.
Armys missing lady doctor traced in Mumbai
Meerut: Major Rahmani S. Khan, a doctor in the army at Meerut
Cantt, married to Danish Khan and mother of 2 minor sons,
appears to have applied for 2 months leave sometime in the mid-
dle of May. Her leave was to expire on 15 July after which she was
to rejoin her duty but she neither reported on the duty nor sent any
information to the army office about her inability to join the duty.
After applying for 2 months leave she suddenly disappeared mys-
teriously from her residence in the Cantt area along with her two
sons. Her husband Danish Khan, an employee of a merchant ship-
ping company in Korea lodged a complaint about her disappear-
ance in Meeruts Lal Kurti police station on 27 May, accusing her
driver and some others of kidnapping her. Her driver also was
found missing. Since she had applied for two months leave, army
officers also took no serious notice of her disappearance but when
after the expiry of her leave she did not send any information,
army authorities also got alarmed. However, with the help of local
police she was somehow traced along with her sons in Mumbai
on 4 August in the house of her drivers brother in Kurla (Mumbai).
Meanwhile, after the news of her disappearance, her father L
R Khan, a retired judge of Allahabad High Court also lodged a
complaint in the same Lal Kurti police station in Meerut, blaming
Danish Khan for harassing his daughter about dowry and his com-
plicity in her disappearance. However, when army authorities were
informed about her whereabouts in Mumbai, they visited her and
brought her back to Meerut Cantt. No further reliable news is available
about her mysterious disappearance. According to newspaper
reports, she is facing a court of inquiry for her long absence without
informing army authorities.
Blind PhD-holder fails to get a job even under disabled quota
Indore: Dr Fatima, a PhD holder blind woman who failed to get a
job in spite of applying at various places even under the reserved
quota for disabled persons resorted to a hunger strike in front of
the Divisional Commissioners office. She was forcibly shifted by
police to a hospital and made to end her fast on 19 August,
according to police sources. She had done her doctorate in
Political Science in 2010 after which she applied in many govern-
ment offices for a job but failed to get any even under the special
quota for disabled persons. Failing to get a job anywhere she final-
ly took recourse to this step. She hails from Madhya Pradeshs
Bhabra in Alirajpur district. On Monday 19 August while she was
on strike, women police personnel forcibly took her to a hospital
when her condition began to deteriorate and compelled her to end
her fast. No further news is available.
UNI Urdu website launched
New Delhi: UNI (United News of India)s Urdu website was launched
in Delhi on 12 August in the presence of union minister for informa-
tion and broadcasting Manish Tiwari, and other union ministers
K. Rahman Khan, Oscar Fernandez, Shri Kant Jaina and other digni-
taries, K. Rahman Khan said while speaking on this occasion that
UNIs Urdu service has played an important role in strengthening,
upgrading and popularising Urdu newspapers and brining them on par
with mainstream newspapers of other languages and hence it should
be appreciated and supported by one and all. He said that since he
too has brought out a newspaper, he knew very well the difficulties
faced by those engaged in this profession. He said that he wants
NCPUL to extend its activities for the promotion of Urdu to this Urdu
website also and the government should cooperate with UNI and
sponsor this news agency for this purpose because efforts are being
made at various levels to marginalise and discourage Urdu.
Shrikant Jaina, who also holds independent charge of pro-
gramme implementation, while speaking on this occasion praised
UNI for supplying news to three national languages newspapers
i.e. Hindi, English and Urdu. Speaking about UNI he said that this
agency which is one of the important news agencies of the coun-
try was set up in 1961 and is probably the only news agency
which provides news in Urdu also. He said that as this agency ini-
tially started with only 4 or 5 buyers of Urdu newspapers and is
now providing news to about a hundred Urdu newspapers in a
short period is really praiseworthy.
Assams 4500 Muslim families still in very bad condition
New Delhi: A year has passed since large scale communal riots
took place in Assam but because of the state governments insen-
sitivity and half-hearted attitude, about 4500 Muslim families in
spite of having homes, are homeless and have perforce to live in
tents and refugee camps. This was stated by Jamiatul Ulama chief
Maulana Arshad Madni who has consistently been raising his
voice for the Muslims of Assam. He said that lakhs of Muslims
were rendered homeless when riots had erupted there and both
the central and state governments had assured milli organisations
that suitable compensations will be given to the affected persons
at the earliest and houses will also be built for them. He said many
of the homeless persons have by now gone back to their house
but those living on forest lands have neither been given compen-
sations so far nor have houses been built for them. He said that
because of the governments apathetic attitude, such a large pop-
ulation of Muslims is compelled to lead life in plastic camps. In
addition to difficulties being faced by them about food and proper
shelter etc, their children are also deprived of education.
It may be stated in this connection that communal riots between
Muslims and Bodos in Assams 5 districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang,
Dhobri etc had broken out on 20 July last year in which more than a
100 people, a large majority of them being Muslims, were killed and
about 5 lakh Muslims were compelled to migrate to other places.
Governments (central and state) had set up about 400 camps.
Jamiatul Ulama and some other Muslim organisations also had set up
camps for them and made arrangements for food and other necessi-
ties and basic facilities. Prime minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia
Gandhi, home minister P Chidabmaram etc had visited those places
along with chief minister Tarun Gogoi and had declared that suitable
compensations will be given to them and arrangements for their reha-
bilitation will also be made at the earliest but in the absence of their
rehabilitation, people had taken out protest demonstrations which are
still going on. Interestingly Bodos also had participated along with
Muslims in these demonstrations. Maulana Arshad Madni said that
talks with Assams chief minister are going on but the difficulty is
that Bodoland region is not safe for Muslims even today because
Bodos are virtually rulers here and the Assam government has
very little say in Bodo affairs but even then it is the governments
responsibility to provide safety to Muslims. He said that Jamiatul
Ulama is planning to purchase land there for building houses for
Muslims.
A new course for madrasa products started in AMU
Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University has started a new one-year
abridged course from the current academic year for the pass outs
of religious madrasas so as to enable them take full advantage of
the Universitys academic life. This course has specially been
introduced for boy and girl students of madrasas who have com-
pleted the Aalim course of madrasas so that they could seek
admissions in most of the departments of the University such as
those of law, social sciences, arts, commerce and like 12th pass
students of modern schools they also may be able to seek admis-
sions in under-graduate classes. Admissions in these special
classes will be on the basis of written competitive examinations at
All India level and interview. Promising students will be given
scholarships also on merit basis. This abridged course will be
under the Universitys Centre for the Promotion of Science. Last
date for submission of application forms for this course is 30
August. Further information for this course can be had from the
Centre for Promotion of Science.
New Delhi: Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI)s Prsident A.
Sayeed and Tehelka magazines editor Ajit Sahi on different dates
and forums expressed almost the same views, that government
officials and their own security and secret agencies are involved
in terrorist acts and they themselves plan and execute such ter-
rorist acts, bomb blasts and other subversive activities at differ-
ent places and on different occasions with or without the com-
plicity of RSS and other fascist forces to accuse and trap inno-
cent Muslims simply to demonise the Muslims community in the
eyes of our countrymen and to block their progress and destroy
their future.
In a press conference at SDPIs head office in Delhi on
3 August its President A. Sayeed said that in recent months and
years the problems with which people, particularly Muslims, are
faced are extremely unfortunate and a matter of great concern
which, among others, include fake encounters and NHRCs
reports on them, disclosures made by SR Darapuri, retired and
former IG of Police regarding Muslim youths, recent revelations
by the former under secretary RVS Mani according to which gov-
ernments themselves were and are complicit in terrorists attacks
on Parliament in 2001 and in Mumbai on 26 November 2008. He
said that these startling revelations have put the people of this
great democracy of the world at their wits end. What is even more
surprising is that the government has not contradicted or denied
these allegations so far. (This obviously means that the accusa-
tions made by RVS Mani are true).
NHRCs reports about fake encounters
SDPIs President A Sayeed said that according to NHRC (National
Human Rights Commission)s reports during the past 4 years as
many as 555 persons have been killed by police, army and para
military forces. Of these, the number of persons killed in U P
alone is 138.
Darapuris revelations
Recently, UPs former IG of Police SR Darapuri (now retired),
revealed while speaking about Khalid Mujahids custodial death
that secret services and investigating agencies of the country ille-
gally kidnap Muslim youths and keep many innocent youths in
secret places and mercilessly torture them in different ways and
falsely implicate them in fake or real bomb blasts and arrest them
under fictitious names claiming they belong to different terrorist
organisations. It may be noted that Maharashtras former IG, S.
M. Mushrif has also made such disclosures in detail as to how
state and central security and secret agencies arrest hundreds of
Muslim youths illegally from different parts of the country and
after registering many false cases against them, put them in jails
for long periods. In addition to all these, many of them are also
killed in fake encounters. He further said that justice Nimesh
Commissions report also has revealed that all Muslim youths
whom the investigating agencies implicate in bomb blasts or
other terrorist acts are innocent which prove that partial and
biased attitude is adopted against people of the Muslim commu-
nity.
Manis statement regarding complicity of the government in
Parliament and Mumbai terrorist attacks
SDPIs President A. Sayeed, referring to the revelations made by
union home ministrys former under secretary, RVS Mani in
which he in turn referred to the startling revelations made by IPS
officer Satish Varma that the then respective central and state
governments themselves had planned and executed Parliaments
attack in 2001 and Mumbai attack on 26 November 2008. After
these attacks the POTA bill was passed in 2001 and after Mumbai
attack in November UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act)
was amended and made more stringent. He said that it is
extremely surprising that after such startling revelations govern-
ment/s are completely silent and not a single statement of denial
has been made. He asked if it is not the responsibility of the gov-
ernment to constitute a high power independent inquiry commit-
tee or judicial commission to investigate all terrorist attacks in
which Muslims have been falsely or rightly implicated so that the
truth may be made known to the people of the country? He also
spoke about Ishrat Jahan and Batla House fake encounters about
which much has been written and need not be repeated here.
He said that it has now come to the knowledge of people
through many newspapers, magazines, blogs etc that at the time
of Parliament attack NDA government consisting of RSSs com-
munal outfits was in power at the centre and complicit in this
attack so that draconian laws like POTA and amended UAPA
could be invoked mainly against Muslims. He said that so far no
one has been able to reply to the question as to how the so-called
terrorists sitting in the Ambassador car of a BJP-MP were able to
reach the main Parliament building after hoodwinking a 3-tier
strong security set-up? He said that not one but 13 penetrating
questions were raised in this connection but the government has
not been able to reply to these questions or is deliberately avoid-
ing doing so. Why? He further said that peoples representatives
in the Parliament also are not prepared to raise their voice against
such injustices and asked whom these people (MPs) were repre-
senting?
In a meeting held at JNUs Godavari Hostel in connection with
the murder of Khalid Mujahid organised by All India Students
Federation on 4 August he (Ajit Sahi) said that the Indian (administra-
tive) system is completely drowned in the sea of corruption, and
added that even the judiciary is not free of this malady. He said that
the situation has deteriorated so much that a silent agreement
between lawyers and judges appears to have been arrived at that
innocents (Muslims) should go on being punished in this way. Giving
the example of Khalid Mujahid he said that he was kidnapped in full
view of the people and news of his kidnapping was published in local
newspapers the very next day but police announced his arrest after
six days, and that too from a different place. He said that justice lov-
ing people of the country had described the whole incident as fake.
Raising questions about Shahzad he said that the judge did
not even try to investigate the claims made by the police about
him. He said that police had first claimed that Shahzad had
jumped out from the building and had then fled but when it was
argued that it is not possible to flee after jumping from such a
height, police changed the theory of jumping and running away
and said that he had run away by the stairs, though as many as
14 armed policemen had taken up positions at the stairs. The
judge blindly accepted this fallacious argument. He said that
today our entire system has become rotten. He said that the only
solution of all these problems is to bring about a social revolution
and he made an appeal to the youth to rise above all considera-
tions of caste, creed, region, language etc and constitute a unit-
ed front against oppression and injustice. Another speaker, advo-
cate Randhir Singh Suman who had come from Lucknow said
that because of lack of intelligent and honest people in the judici-
ary, innocent people are suffering in jails for years for uncommit-
ted crimes. He said that 42 police personnel of U P were involved
in the process of Khalid Mujahids kidnapping and murder but no
one has so far been arrested. He said that our system has dete-
riorated so much that communal elements are dominating this
system and Bar Associations and Hindutva forces are issuing
diktats that no one should fight the cases of Khalid Mujahid and
his companions in courts. (N. A. Ansari)
Government and its secret agencies themselves plan
and execute terrorist acts: Ajit Sahi, SDPI
14 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 COMMUNITY NEWS www.milligazette.com
Caps go viral in Bhopal
If Namos refusal to don the skull cap could upturn the sadbhav-
na boat in Gujarat, Shivrajs donning of cap also created a similar
tremor. While the C M wore a saffron cap on the eve of Iftar party
that he hosted; he did not mind wearing a skull cap at the Idd
Milan as a gesture of good will. However, it created a storm fol-
lowing actor Raza Murads comments. The BJP as well as the
congress camps reacted strongly to the remarks as well as to the
gesture. Raza Murad was all praise for Shivrajs all inclusive
approach. He indirectly referred to Namos refusal and emphati-
cally asserted that one who covets the top most must be ready to
don any cap and should not be allergic to such gestures.
While Uma Bharati, the former CM, condemned Raza for
bringing politics in Idd rating him as a third grade actor; the actor
considered her remarks as khisiyani billi khamba noche.
The congress, which wanted to encash the case of the Gita
being compulsory in Madrasa becme nervous when Shivraj
promptly revoked the order and frustarated Congress campaign.
The cap episode also made the party accuse the CM of appeas-
ing the minority by resorting to topi-talak politics. Moral of the
story: Uneasy remains the head that wears the crown (read
cap). (A. G. Khan)
Mystery of the missing pilgrim
Indore / Ratlam: Chief Minister Shivraj Sinh Chouhans scheme of
free pilgrimage for the elderly people proved disastrous for a fam-
ily which lost an aged lady, who remains untraceable for the past
eleven months. Khatoon Bi (68) was among a group of 72 per-
sons who boarded the train for Ajmer on 13 September 2012
accompanied by administrative machinery as care taker. The train
reached Ajmer on 14 Sept. However, at the time of ziyarat at the
dargah she got separated from the group. The officers and other
employees did not bother to locate her and returned. Members of
Khatoon Bis family registered a missing person complaint on 16
Sept at the Ajmer police station. The complaint letter kept moving
from one table to another for nine months. The family, later on,
filed a petition in the high court accusing the administration of
serious lapse and callous negligence. The S P in response to
judge Modis query said that 4-5 search teams were sent in addi-
tion to missing person ad on news channels, in newspapers
and posters. When asked what should be done now the petetion-
ers advocate Bhatnagar said that only her son could answer the
question. Wahid, Khatoon Bis son, accused not only the admin-
istrative machinery of negligence but even holds the C M respon-
sible for this scheme. Like the maxim tooth for tooth; nail for
nail; he says I must get a mother for one I lost.
AMUs grants reduced
Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University had drawn up many plans
for the progress and expansion of the University during the
year but the central government in one move has reduced its
grant. It has been reduced by an amount of Rs 33 crores in the
12th Five Year Plan for this University. This will cer tainly upset
many development and expansion plans of the university.
University Grants Commission, which sanctions grants to uni-
versities in the country, had demanded the grant to the AMU be
increased by 3 to 5 times for the 12th 5-year Plan as com-
pared to 11th 5-Year Plan. The university, in response to this,
had submitted a demand for grant of Rs 975 crores. Under
11th Plan the University was given a grant of Rs 195 crores
but for the 12th 5-Year Plan an amount of Rs 162 crores only,
i.e. Rs 33 crore shor t of that was sanctioned. Union HRD min-
istry itself has given lesser amount to it for AMU. In addition to
all this, the University had submitted a demand of Rs 100
crores for repair of hostels and universitys buildings but no
money for this purpose was sanctioned. If UGCs claim of HRD
ministrys sanctioning smaller amount is accepted, even then
the question arises as to why the concerned ministry has
reduced the grant? Is it because the University has made the
study of Urdu compulsory in BA, B.Com and B.Sc and that
marks of this subject (Urdu) will be included in the total marks
which will affect students divisions also. 75 percent atten-
dance also has been made compulsory for students in Urdu
classes. Unless the ministry offers some convincing and logi-
cal reasons for reducing the Universitys grants this doubt will
prevail among the people.
Demand for abrogation of 1950 order gaining momentum
Mumbai: Muslim representatives from many political parties in a
unique meeting held in Mumbais Khilafat House Hall on the mid-
night of 1 and 2 August decided to start a joint campaign for the
abrogation of Presidential Order of 1950 which denies reservation
and other privileges and facilities to Muslims and Christians or to
suitably amend it so as to include them also for deriving benefits
of these facilities and to seek the cooperation of all political par-
ties for this. This meeting was unique in the sense that it was held
at almost midnight and after which a sehr party (unlike the
common iftar party) was also arranged. In this meeting Ulama of
different schools of thought, Muslim leaders of different political
parties, NGOs etc participated. Some of the participants included
Abu Aasim Azmi, local SP leader, Awami Vikas Partys President
Shamsher Khan Pathan, Congress MLA Amin Patel, All India
Ulama Councils general secretary Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi,
All India Ulama Associations President Maulana Syed Athar Ali,
Sarfaraz Arzoo, editor of Hindustan and others.
Mahmood Parvez Ansari, who is fighting legal battles for
Muslim backward classes said while speaking in this meeting that
in Maharashtra people belonging to 57 different castes are includ-
ed in SCs category and Muslims form part of about 40 different
castes but they are excluded from or deprived of 15% reservation
for SCs, because of this Presidential Order. Though many of the
participants expressed their ignorance of Presidential Order of
1950 and discrimination and deprivation of Muslims (and
Christians) because of this Order, when they were told about it
they expressed their full cooperation and determination to partic-
ipate and strengthen this campaign. Also, those who know about
this discriminatory Order, do not know that it was done at the
instance of the first prime minster Jawaharlal Nehru who is pro-
jected as a very secular and totally non-communal person. It is
not known under whose pressure he got the discriminatory provi-
sions approved by his cabinet at that time. In accordance with this
Presidential Order of 1950, reservations and other facilities and
benefits were given to backward and poor Hindus only but subse-
quently on parotests and demands by Sikhs and Buddhists, these
benefits and facilities were legally and constitutionally extended to
them also but Muslims and Christians were still deprived of the
benefits of reservation and other facilities in government jobs,
educational institutions etc. This unconstitutional, illegal and
biased Order of 1950 was challenged by Christians through a
petition in Supreme Court in 2004 and by Muslims in 2008.
Supreme Court, in response to these petitions directed the central
government to file its reply through an affidavit but the central
government is avoiding this issue. The Supreme Court, in the
absence of any affidavit by the central government, is fixing new
dates after dates for taking up these petitions for hearing but the
central government is maintaining a stony silence on the SCs
directives. In view of Congress-led central governments totally
indifferent attitude towards filing it response to SCs directives for
abrogation of this Presidential Order or its amendment so as to
include Muslims and Christians also among the beneficiaries of
Article 341 (which grants reservation and other facilities to all
backward and poor sections of the country including Muslims and
Christians) like backward classes and castes of Hindus, Sikhs
and Buddhists. This meeting of Muslims was held on 1-2 August
in Mumbai to popularise and strengthen the movement for abro-
gation of Presidential Order of 1950 or its suitable amendment
and to continue its campaign till their demands are met. It may be
added that the Presidential Order was promulgated on 10 August
1950. Hence about 3 months before 10 August 2013 Muslims
had written letters to President and Prime Minsiter of India, chief
ministers and governors of states demanding the abrogation of
this Order before 10 August 2013, failing which, at the call of
Peace Party of India Black Day would be observed all over the
country on this date i.e. 10 August 2013. Since, as expected,
nothing was done to abolish or amend the Presidential Order nor
any assurance was given by the central government or President
to consider this demand sympathetically or otherwise, Black Day
was observed by Peace Party of India and others by wearing
black bands on their arms and taking out processions on 10
August 2013. The response to this call was however very poor,
though some people did observe 10 August 2013 as a Black Day,
particularly in Delhi.
Many Muslim organisations and individuals including
Dr M. Aejaz Ali, former MP and founder of Dalit-Muslim move-
ment greatly welcomed the movement started in Mumbai by
Muslim leaders on 1-2 August. He said that United Muslim
Morcha (formerly Backward Muslim Morcha) had first started this
movement in Bihar in 1994 after which demand for for abolition
of this (Presidential Order) was also passed by Bihar, Jharkhand,
UP and Andhra Pradesh legislative assemblies and requests made
by them to NDA government as well as the present UPA govern-
ments at the centre.
Another meeting in this connection was held in Mumbai by
these leaders on 7 August when it was decided that people, par-
ticularly Muslims, will be familiarised with the losses and injus-
tices being meted out to them (and also Christians) because of
this Order and to carry forward and strengthen this movement. It
was also decided in this meeting that the law minster would be
requested to file the governments affidavit on petitions of 2004
and 2008 in the Supreme Court on the next date of hearing of this
case. A high level delegation of Muslims should also meet the
President of India and request him to impress upon the central
government the need to abolish the Order of 1950.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Ms Jaya Lalita, speaking on this
demand, said that people of all religions belonging to SC catego-
ry, irrespective of any religious discriminations, including
Christians, should be given reservations in jobs as well as all
other benefits as prescribed in Article 341.
Over 80,000 children have no Urdu books
Najibabad / Noorpur: Like many other places and institutions,
governments step motherly attitude is clearly visible in gov-
ernment primary and junior high schools because of which
Urdu is being neglected. In spite of the fact that academic ses-
sions have star ted more than a month ago, more than 80,000
Urdu reading children in more than a hundred schools are
deprived of Urdu books and there is no hope also that Urdu
books will be made available to them even in the next one
month or so. Not only this, there are also no Urdu teachers in
schools and wherever they are in a very small number, they
are forced to teach subjects other than Urdu. According to
Saadat Husain, a Presidential award winning teacher, there
are more than a lakh boys in primary schools of Bijnor district
who want to read in Urdu and the Department of Education
has about 15000 Urdu teachers but it is the misfortune of
these boys that not Urdu but English and Hindi teachers are
teaching them Urdu. One can very well understand what type
of Urdu they will teach. And wherever there are Urdu teachers
for teaching Urdu, there are no Urdu learning students. What
else can it be called except deliberate attempts by the school
or government administrations to make Urdu totally stranger
to these students. On the whole, it is all a formality on paper
in the name of teaching Urdu. According to a table given in
this newspaper there are 7 primary and junior high schools in
Noorpur and the number of Urdu reading students is more
than 700 but not a single Urdu teacher has been appointed in
any of these schools. It is also stated that in spite of very large
percentage of Muslim population in U P, where Urdu has also
been made the second official language of the state but in
spite of all this every year supply of Urdu books invariably is
delayed by at least two or three months. Can the lovers of
Urdu or more appropriately, government officers in the states
Department of Education or even the education minister give
any logical explanation for this delay which has become a
perennial feature?
A tale of two families for communal harmony
In an unusual gesture of friendship a daughter born in a Muslim
family of Mhow was gifted to a next door neighbour who adopted
the child and brought her up as his legal child. However, when the
father, after 12 years, tried to claim back the child the matter was
taken to the police station where a compromise formula was
evolved by the police staff and the two families.
Abdul Gaffar and Anil Pal had been neighbours for long.
Fatima d/o Abdul Gaffar used to live with her father as her hus-
band Muhamad Zakir was working in Saudi Arabia. The two fam-
ilies had extremely cordial relations, sharing pains and sufferings.
Since Anil Pal was childless he was in great agony. Abdul Gaffar
decided to gift the child (his grand daughter) to Anil Pal who rea-
dity adopted the child Amreen and gave her a new name Swati.
He got her admitted in a school with new documents. However,
when Zakir returned from Saudi in 2009 after four-year term, he
took the child and got her admitted in another school with his own
name as legal father. The matter was taken to the police. After four
hours of consultation in the presence of SDOP Arun Mishra and
police station in charge Dinesh Chouhan the two families decided
that the child would spend her time in both the families. She would
live with Zakir during Eid and with Pal for Diwali (A. G. Khan)
Bangalore: Karnatakas minister for Haj, Waqf and minorities
welfare, Haji Qamrul Islam while expressing his deep sorrow
over the millats insensitivity about the serious problem of mar-
riage of poor Muslim girls said that in Bangalore citys three
muhallas alone there are about 26,000 such poor girls whose
parents are not in a position to get their daughters married
because of their weak financial position and added that no esti-
mate can be made about the number of such poor Muslim girls
in the entire state who are waiting to get married. He expressed
these views in his presidential address on the occasion of 23rd
function of Qirat-e Quran sponsored by Markazi Seerat
Committee on 5 August. He said that because of lakhs of poor
Muslim girls not getting married many evils of different kinds are
spreading in society. He said that because of this situation he has
got Rs. 50, 000 approved by the state government as assistance
for the marriage of each such girl. At the same time he said that
by making the government agree for such help he has not done
any thing great but has simply taken the initiative in finding a
solution to a serious problem of the millat.
He said that through this scheme he also wants to sensitise
the wealthy sections of the millat for playing an important role in
the solution of this vital social problem. He said that whereas
wealthy people spend millions of rupees for the marriage of their
sons and daughters to demonstrate their wealth, it would be very
kind of them to also arrange the marriage of some poor girls.
This would not only be a good service to the millat but would
also please God greatly and His Prophet and they may also be
rewarded for this.
Peerzada Shabbir Ahmad Naqshbandi, the moving spirit
behind the Quranic Qirat and President of All India Anjuman of
Religious Leaders, was the chief guest in this function. While
speaking at this function in which Iranian and Egyptian Qaris in
particular, in addition to Indian Qaris, greatly impressed the audi-
ence, Peerzada Saheb exhorted the people to rise above sectar-
ian and regional differences and get united firmly, on the basis of
Kalima. Utilising this occasion when the minister Qamrul Islam
had also hosted an iftar-dinner and in which chief minister of
Karnataka, Sidaramaiyya was also a guest, Peerzada Saheb
brought the problem of Rajaji Nagar, Bangalores Masjid Noor to
the CMs notice whose lease period had expired and wanted his
help to extend the lease. The chief minister who also was highly
impressed and spell bound with the Qirat, and expressed his
keen desire to study the Quran ordered then and there that the
land on which this Masjid was built should be made the proper-
ty of this mosque and entrusted the responsibility of taking nec-
essary steps for this on Haji Qamrul Islam. At this Peerzada
Saheb said that they were expecting the chief minister to help in
the lease being extended but instead, it was made a permanent
property of the mosque. This indeed is the miracle of the Quran,
he said. (N. A. Ansari)
Rs. 50,000 approved by Karnataka govt for
marriage of poor Muslim girls
COMMUNITY NEWS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 15 www.milligazette.com
TARIQ RAMADAN
My recent analysis of the Arab uprising and
the evolving crisis in Tunisia and Egypt has
drawn abundant critical comment. My position
with regard to the Arab uprisings, their history
and the issues they raise, is quite precisely
that expressed in my book Islam and the Arab
Uprising. Recent events have confirmed its
accuracy. I urge readers seeking clarification
to read or re-read it.
To those who claim that my critical view of political Islam and
its historic development is a new and opportunistic one, I refer my
previous works (in addition to the latest) Islam, The West and the
Challenges of Modernity (1995) and Radical Reform (2007),
written well before the uprisings, which give a clear exposition of
my views on politics, liberation, and on the objectives of econom-
ic and social counter-power. My most recent articles are synthe-
ses of those earlier writings, and reassert and sharpen my posi-
tion in the light of recent events.
Since the late 1980s with regard to Sudan, then Algeria,
Egypt and Palestine, I have returned to the subject time and time
again, all the while maintaining the same analytical line.
I have, at the same time, developed a detailed critique of the
polarization of debates between secularists and Islamists, partic-
ularly in Egypt and Tunisia. My latest stance on the military coup
dtat has caused some intellectuals and anti-Morsi activists to
label me as pro-Morsi, pro-Muslim Brotherhood and pro-Islamist,
and to fire up the propaganda machine. How nice it would be if
things were so simple. But it is impossible, in all decency, to crit-
icize me for lack of clarity toward the actions of the Morsi govern-
ment and the ideological positioning of the Muslim Brotherhood. I
have said it once, and say it again, but the liberal apologists of
the coup dtat and the friends of the military who pretend to have
heard or read nothing and who dismiss their opponents as
Islamists and terrorists would be better off paying close atten-
tion to substance and providing answers to a range of key ques-
tions.
The women and men who have been demonstrating for more
than five weeks now have been presented as pro-Morsi, as
essentially members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The categoriza-
tion is as false as it is tendentious: a tissue of lies tightly woven
by the official media and disseminated by 80% of Western press
agencies, which employ the same terms to describe the ongoing
and massive street demonstrations.
In fact, the demonstrators march under the banner of opposi-
tion to the coup dtat; they include women and men who are not
members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who are neither Salafis or
Islamists. Among their number are youthful bloggers, secularists
and Copts.
The Egyptian army never withdrew from the political scene.
Its strategy of repression can be best explained by its concern to
preserve its political, economic and financial interests, as well as
by its close links to the American government. Certain European
capitals-as well as Israel-clearly find the strategy to their liking.
The timid Western condemnation, US President Barack Obamas
half-hearted remarks (canceling joint war games, confirming
American financial support and implicitly backing the coup d-
tat), along with the media bombardment have granted the military
carte blanche to carry out full-scale repression under cover of the
newly declared State of Emergency. The crackdown is far from
over; death, torture and mass imprisonment lie ahead for Egypt.
Nothing new, alas. State media broadcast lies and manipulate
information: all time-tested tactics. The police and the armed
forces claim to be acting in legitimate self-defense: they use live
ammunition to target demonstrators and the number of dead is
systematically underestimated. Mosques that housed the bodies
of murdered demonstrators have been burned to eliminate the evi-
dence. Other mosques, such as al-Iman, were surrounded as
families were preparing to mourn their dead. In order to proceed
with the burial, the bereaved were forced to attest that the cause
of death was suicide, or to post-date the decease. New horrors,
old methods. It came as no surprise that caches of weapons were
discovered, filmed and broadcast worldwide. Meanwhile, the dull-
witted demonstrators, after six weeks of mass marches and a
week of threatened military intervention, could not find the time to
use them. Just as plainly, the church burning strategy reminds us
of the methods of al-Sisis predecessors: turn the people against
one another and present the Islamist terrorists as enemies of
the Copts. Thus they kill two birds with one stone: justify repres-
sion while winning the hearts and minds of the West. All those
who oppose the coup are presented as displaying astounding stu-
pidity: non-violent and disciplined for weeks on end, and even fol-
lowing the massacre of July 8, suddenly they have turned violent
as if to please the military, right on cue. Who are they trying to
fool? Who are those who pretend to believe them trying to fool?
The central question was and remains that of freedom and
democracy for the Egyptian people. What is happening today in
Egypt is a travesty and a horror. The country is now at the mercy
of the Armed Forces; Egypt will now experience summary execu-
tion, arbitrary imprisonment, torture and lying at the highest state
level. The generals are fully supported by the West, the United
States and Israel. This is the only reality. Those who, in their vis-
ceral hatred of the Islamists, today support the military and the
police as they kill and repress must one day answer for their
choice. They must also reveal to us their analysis, their demo-
cratic political program drawn up in the shadow of the barracks,
at the heart of corruption, at the storm center of a Middle East that
is now adrift. Their responsibility is immense, over and above the
bitter taste of the words they use to encourage and to justify the
violent repression of unarmed civilians. Wretched liberals,
pathetic progressives. (tariqramadan.com)
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16 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Horror in Egypt : Saying it once, saying it again
What is happening
today in Egypt is a
travesty and a horror.
The country is now at
the mercy of the Armed
Forces; Egypt will now
experience summary
execution, arbitrary
imprisonment, torture
and lying at the highest
state level. The
generals are fully
supported by the West,
the United States and
Israel. This is the only
reality. Those who, in their visceral hatred of the Islamists, today support the military and
the police as they kill and repress must one day answer for their choice.
DR JAVED JAMIL
The feared Day of Death has finally arrived in Egypt. The world
was waiting for it for the whole Holy Month of Ramadan. The
international communitys efforts were limited to convincing the
world that it is playing its peacekeeping role as always. This
time this was aimed at bringing parties to a peaceful settlement
without any talk of the reversal of the Original Sin - the ouster of
the only elected
President of Egypt
with a margin, which
is enviable for most
of the democracies
of the world. Their
game plan was sim-
ple. Democracy in
Muslim countries is
acceptable only if it is
able to keep Islam
and Islamic forces
away from power. If,
instead, democracy
brings Islam at the
centre stage, there is
no way it could be
allowed to function.
First every possible
trick will be
employed not to let it
function. And then the whole blame will be put on its head for fail-
ing to satisfy the masses. Then it will use its supporters to hold
massive protests which would within a couple of days give the
military a reason sufficient enough to stage a coup. While the 48
hour-long protests would mean a clear call for change, six week-
long sit-ins would have no meaning at all. Another one-day call for
the supporters to give mandate for action, and the plans for
massacre would be ready. In an unprecedented show of resolve,
the Islam-lovers would demonstrate defiance and courage that
has hardly any parallel in recent years with the sole exception of
the Iranian people who completed Islamic Revolution more than
30 years back.
The Holocaust that was feared has now truly begun. The
massacre of unarmed lovers of God has reddened the face of the
earth. The whole world is watching. Many will be rejoicing. The
real lovers of humanity will be full of tears though. If those who
are rejoicing feel that this will prove to be a final nail in the coffin
of what they call Islamism, they will be proved wrong sooner
than later. This day will prove to be another milestone, perhaps
bigger than any in
recent history, in the
rise of Islam as a
global force. The
mar tyrdom does
never go waste, and
the mar tyrdom of
Egyptians will not go
waste either. The
Western strategy of
switching from wars
against Muslim lands
to civil wars is now
for all to see. The
Satans are planning
but the Lord of the
Universe is also plan-
ning.
The massacre is
still in its early phase.
The death toll,
according to unofficial figures, has already touched one thousand.
By tomorrow, it may rise to new highs. People are on the streets
throughout the country. The military has no choice: kill the inno-
cent people or leave. If they leave, the revolution will be complete.
If they stay to kill, they will write another bloody episode of histo-
ry, which will not be forgotten for centuries. But they must
remember that the Divine wrath will not spare them for too long.
Dr Javed Jamil is Delhi-based thinker and writer with over a dozen
books including his latest, Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough and
Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map. He may be
contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com
Lets Salute Egyptians Defiance
US in alliance of
convenience with
Salafists in Egypt
The United States and Salafists in Egypt are in an alliance of con-
venience which helps Washington strengthen its foothold in the
African country, says an American analyst.
When you have an empire every place is strategic and every-
bodys business is considered to be your business and Egypt is a
very important country and the United States certainly will inter-
fere as much as it can in that country and in the whole of the
Middle East, said Glen Ford, executive editor of Black Agenda
Report, in an interview with Press TVs US Desk on Wednesday.
He added that Washington has been in a decades-old alliance
with the Egyptian military which is dependent every year on hun-
dreds of millions of dollars in aid from the US.
But the United States needs more. It needs troops on the
ground especially in places that it wants to destabilize and for that
it needs an alliance with Salafists and jihadists, he said.
However, Ford added, evidence shows that such alliances will
not last long. This is an alliance of convenience that will certain-
ly lead as it has already led in many cases to a huge blowback.
The US needs to continually augment its shaky alliances in
the Middle East to advance its interests in a region where nations
are fiercely opposed to its policies, Ford added.
Nobody in the Middle East, nobody in that part of the world
likes the United States. If there were a referendum of the peoples
of those countries, certainly the United States and the British and
the French would be kicked out of those countries right away, he
said.
The Egyptian military toppled the democratically-elected gov-
ernment of Mohammed Morsi on July 3.
The military has resorted to deadly force to disperse the pro-
testers who stage daily demonstrations to call for Morsis rein-
statement. Hundreds of people have been killed in the violence so
far. (presstv.ir)
The mosque at Rabia Adawiya Square burnt by the raiding army on 15 August
Brave Egyptian woman trying to stop an army juggernaut
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Below is an interview MG Editor DR ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN
gave to Radiance Viewsweekly which carried it in its 25-31
August 2013 issue. Dr Khan has spent seven years in Egypt
as a student at Al-Azhar and Cairo Universities during 1966-
1973. He maintains contact with Egyptian people and their
issues.
Almost one and a half months have passed since the military
coup in Egypt and the situation is worsening every passing day.
Whom do you think is responsible for these calamities?
This is a very complex situation. We cannot say that this or that
one party is responsible. The military, the Egyptian liberals and
those who are supporting the military within the country and out-
side are responsible for the unfolding tragedy. America and other
western countries are responsible because they approved the
coup. They might be saying something else now because of these
continuous killings which are impossible for anyone to justify. In
fact, western power gave the green signal to the military to do
what they are doing now. And the Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, UAE and others also are responsible because they are
politically and financially backing the new military regime. There
is the news coming out of American sources that the Gulf rulers
even financed the coup itself with one billion dollar paid in
advance. So you cannot say that only one party is responsible.
The Gulf countries are doing so for their own political aims and
survival. Also, the Egyptian Army has maintained a very strong
relationship with America since Anwar Sadats time. This allows
the US to use the army to influence local politics as we have seen
earlier in the cases of Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey.
Egypt is one of the most important players in Arab World. Post-
change of guard and induction of democracy, it was hoped that
the country will lead the Arab world. Do you think prosperity will
prevail in near future?
Egypt is not one, but thee most important player in the Middle
East and North Africa. Egypt is the biggest power in Arab World
in terms of population, army, in terms of achievements, history,
manpower etc. and any development in Egypt influences the
whole region. Egyptian policies have always been pivotal for the
whole area. Whenever it takes an initiative, it becomes a fashion
in the whole region to follow. Western powers and Gulf rulers do
not want any democratic and free government in this area so that
their policies and hypocrisy is not challenged in the region which
will lead to a great loss in their business. In earlier days also,
colonial forces had tried to grab power in Egypt but they could not
because the Ottoman State was very strong those days.
Do you think President Mursi had taken a wrong decision when
he appointed General Sisi as the minister of Civil Safety?
It was the mistake of Mursi and his group, not just Mursis alone.
When the military ousted Mursi they at once arrested at least 300
people because they knew they were the core group the
President. These people thought that now that a new president
has been elected democratically and freely, everything would be
under his control including the police apparatus and the army. But
this was their mistake. I think the main reason behind this failure
is that the Muslim Brotherhood could not estimate the situation on
the ground because of their segregation from politics for decades.
They just thought it was good and enough that people elected
their party and presidential nominee and he will be able to exer-
cise power democratically. But the reality was that though
Mubarak had gone, his people were there in every department,
like the ministry of interior, police, Army and even judiciary. Since
Gamal Abdel Nasser, all spheres of Egyptian life and government
have been controlled by the Army. Mursi and his people were
wrong in their thinking that they have tamed the big elephant. In
fact, they never did. The Mubarak-men, since the first of day
Mursi in office, used all kinds of tricks and tactics to make him
fail, using the military and police and by using the judiciary which
too was all Mubarak-appointed. The President did not realise the
gravity of the matter till his last days in office. I think Muslim
Brotherhood members should have adopted the same policy what
was practiced in Iran and should have cleansed the whole sys-
tem, especially the police and intelligence.
Can we say Mursi failed in Egypt given that he could not avert
what had been expected since day one?
I think this is not the correct way to describe what happened in
Egypt. In fact, the elected government failed to understand the
complexity of the situation and they took things on face value. The
ruling party also failed to take lessons from others somewhat
experiences like Iran and Turkey. They should have deeply studied
the situation at local as well as international levels and how oth-
ers tackled potentially counter-revolutionary forces.
It has been said that some super-powers have been actively
involved in this coup because they feared the new regime might
be a threat to them in future. So at this stage can
one say that no government can run without the
consensus of super-powers?
No, this is wrong. The best example is that of Cuba
which is almost as tiny in dimension as Gaza but it
is not only surviving but also flourishing despite continuous sanc-
tions and several American attempts to overthrow the revolution-
ary regime these past five decades. Also, you have the example
of Gaza where all the super powers-the USA, Israel and even the
pro-west Arab world- is hell-bent to overthrow the Hamas gov-
ernment but did they succeed? Zimbabwe is another example
where the western powers have been active against the govern-
ment for some thirty years. But did they succeed? Same is the
case with a number of countries in South America like Nicaragua,
Chile and Venezuela. Same is the case with the current govern-
ments of Iran and Sudan. These examples prove that determined
government and people can weather the oddest
situations in the contemporary world. But this
needs strong strategy which was lacking in the
Egyptian case.
How do you see the hostile role of media, espe-
cially in the Egyptian case?
It is understood that the media, especially the
western media, is hostile to Muslims everywhere.
I think the MB should have taken more care about
it and should have established some good media
houses not only in Egypt but also outside Egypt so
that it could function even in situations like the
present one. I used to get daily emails from some
news sources in Egypt but the very day the mili-
tary overthrew Mursi, it all stopped. The army
people must have gone to the places from where
such services were running and shut them down
like the four local television stations of MB and
allied forces which were immediately closed down
after the coup. Undoubtedly, MB men had estab-
lished some local Arabic channels but this was not enough. They
should have extended their media presence to other languages,
especially English, in order to reach out to the common man all
over the world. Also the Mursi regime gave unbridled freedom to
the press which was not justified in a country which had not
known freedom of expression for six decades. The freedom of
press under Mursi was unprecedented in the whole world and the
President himself was being attacked and ridiculed every single
day by newspapers and TV channels which no one could even
dream of during Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak days. That is why the
media was exploited by opponent of democracy and used to dis-
credit the Mursi regime in the eyes of the Egyptian people. What
people read in newspapers and watch on TV channels matters in
any society as it shapes their understanding and mindset.
Thousands of common men have been killed so far and the toll is
constantly rising. So, in your opinion, should MB change its strat-
egy?
No. I think their strategy is working. Sorrowfully, some people are
losing their lives, becoming martyrs for the cause of legitimacy
and democracy. But their agitation is peaceful despite all these
grave provocations. It is the other side which is resorting to naked
violence. I am confident, the MB will remain peaceful but ele-
ments from the MB will soon ditch them and form violent groups
like we witnessed earlier in Egypt under Sadat when violent
groups like Jihad Organisation and Al-Gamaa al-Islamia got frus-
trated and took the road to violence. I think we are facing an spec-
tre of civil war in Egypt which will continue for quite a long time
as we have earlier seen in Algeria in 1991 when the Islamists
there were similarly robbed of their electoral mandate and some
of them turned violent and continue to this day which has result-
ed in over one lakh deaths. We fear the same tragedy might be
repeated in Egypt as well as a result of unseating an elected
President and government.
Ikhwan strategy is working
I am confident, the MB will remain peaceful but elements from the MB will soon
ditch them and form violent groups like we witnessed earlier in Egypt under
Sadat when violent groups like Jihad Organisation and Al-Gamaa al-Islamia got
frustrated and took the road to violence. I think we are facing an spectre of civil
war in Egypt which will continue for quite a long time as we have earlier seen in
Algeria in 1991 when the Islamists there were similarly robbed of their electoral
mandate and some of them turned violent and continue to this day which has
resulted in over one lakh deaths. We fear the same tragedy might be repeated in
Egypt as well as a result of unseating an elected President and government.
KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI
It would be massacre and a bloodbath
by any name, in any lexicon. Egypts besot-
ted, power-drunk and murderous generals
are on a relentless rampage. But the out-
side world is witnessing the orgy of blood-
letting like mute spectators. Not only that
but powerful and affluent mentors of these
murderers are, in fact, egging them on with
tacit, and often articulated, endorsement of
their crimes against their own people, if not
against humanity.
The orgy of blood started on August
14 is still on with unrelenting ferocity and bestiality as these lines are
being written.
August 14 will go down in Egyptian history as a day of infamy
when Egypts power-addicted generals-at the behest of their power-
ful supporters in the western world, as it now transpires-went berserk
in their bloodlust. That was the day when the six-week-old peaceful
protest by the supporters of deposed President Mohammaad Morsi
was set upon by Egypts foreign-armed forces as if they were not
people but beasts of prey.
Used against unarmed protestors-men, women and children-
were every weapon in the American-supplied arsenal of the Egyptian
army: tanks, armored personnel carriers, helicopter gun-ships, mor-
tars, tear-gas shells et. al..
As per the officially admitted figures of the army-controlled pup-
pet interim regime of President Adly Mansour, at least 578 people
were killed in what was casually described as a security operation
against terrorists and Al-Qaeda supporters. But the actual casu-
alty toll, according to the rough estimates compiled by the Muslim
Brotherhood-the real target of the military and security operation-was
at least 2600.
It doesnt matter how many innocent people were
killed, maimed or arrested by the military thugs and
rogues of the disgraced Mubarak regime, who have
been given a new lease of life by the Egyptian
Bonapartes, because of their well-honed tactics of ter-
rorising the Egyptian people.
But the carnage of August 14 wasnt the end of the
story. A conniving, corrupt and criminal bureaucracy-
which had honed its skills under Hosni Mubaraks thirty
year-long unrelenting tyranny-waded in the next morning
by refusing to give death certificates to the relatives and
survivors of those killed. Instead of individual funerals,
the authorities insisted on mass burials of the dead so
that individual memories associated with the bloodbath
may not coalesce.
Funerals were fired upon by goons of the regime,
just as ambulances were shot at to thwart them from
taking the injured to hospital. Al Jazeera Television, with
its copious coverage of the massacre, showed doctors
inside hospitals being fired on by thugs of the regime to
prevent them from treating the wounded.
The 14 August carnage in the Brotherhood strong-
hold of Nasr City and the vicinity of Cairo University-
which some commentators have compared to the
Holocaust-was followed two days later, on August 16,
with unrelenting cruelty when mourners and protestors
against the massacre were targeted with impunity, as if
the security forces of the regime were on a partridge
shoot. More than a hundred mourners were killed in
Cairo and Alexandria. But more was still to come when
more than 700 of the mourners were besieged inside the
historic Al Fatah mosque in the heart of Cairo, close to
the famous Ramses Square. On their refusal to surrender to the secu-
rity goons and vigilante thugs, they were terrorised as tear-gas shells
were lobbed into the mosque, which was subsequently invaded by
soldiers wearing full military gear and shoes.
Had a mosque, a house of god, been desecrated like this in a
non-Muslim state, the Ummah would have risen as one in violent
protest and condemnation of the act of sacrilege. But there was vir-
tually a dead silence throughout the Muslim world as the sanctity of
a grand mosque in the heart of the Arab worlds largest and most
populous city was brazenly violated by the boots of Muslim soldiers
at the service of a regime that apparently has no sanctity for shrines
or human life.
However, the military junta ruling the roost in Egypt since July 3-
when the popularly elected President Morsi was unceremoniously
overthrown and taken hostage-has absolutely no remorse at its black
deeds, or how casually it has shed the blood of its innocent people.
In his first televised address to the Egyptian people since the
wanton massacre, General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi sounded as defiant
and aggressive as he was the day he deposed the man who had
anointed him from obscurity and elevated him to the head of the
Egyptian armed forces in August 2012. Al-Sisi, sounding like a born-
again Pharaoh warned that his security operation would go on
against what he dismissed as a group of terrorists challenging his
lawless regime.
It isnt hubris or arrogance of unbridled power that alone could
explain the murderous behaviour of the upstart Al Sisi and his min-
ions, who quickly seem to have adopted the language and abrasive
articulation of their foreign masters. Borrowing a leaf from his men-
tor-in-uniform, the pigmy puppet installed as Egypts interim PM,
Hazem El-Beblawi, arrogantly informed the world that there will be
no reconciliation with those whose hands have been stained with
blood.
This is exactly the kind of phraseology that Israel has been using
for decades in refusing to treat humanely the Palestinians at its mercy
in the Occupied Land. And just as Israel and its western friends would
have expected, the first act of the military junta was to close down
dozens of those underground passages and tunnels linking Gaza with
Egypt, which have been vital life-lines of much needed food and other
essentials denied to the incarcerated Palestinians of Gaza under the
Israeli blockade of their territory. Israel quickly complemented the
juntas treachery by using its drones to hound the people of Gaza and
Egyptians of the Sinai friendly to them.
Taking cue from their Israeli and western mentors and pay-mas-
ters, the brutal military junta and their civilian cohorts-mainly hailing
from Hosni Mubaraks purblind and corrupt Deep State-have now
been referring to the Muslim Brotherhood and its followers as fas-
cists and terrorists deserving no mercy because they are con-
spirators who must be ruthlessly crushed and wiped out. They
are calling the Brotherhood legions of observant and dutiful Muslim
followers as venomous serpents who must be decapitated.
This is Islamophobia worse than the one afflicting the western
world since the beginning of the 21st century. But it also informs the
curious what is that makes the hectoring generals and their supine
minions from Mubaraks ancient regime so truculent and unremitting
in their hostility to what they deride as Islamists.
What most succinctly explains the intransigence and arrogance
of Al Sisi and his illegitimate military regime is the endorsement it has
been given by an Islamophobe west and the Muslim Brotherhood-
hating autocratic Arab rulers presiding over the petro-principalities of
the Gulf.
Barack Obama tacitly welcomed the Egyptian generals putsch
when he seemed to throw his weight behind all those renegade
Egyptians who had flooded the streets of Cairo and demanded the
military to intervene against Morsi. From that point on, Obama has
studiously avoided using the word military coup to describe the
treachery of Al Sisi & Co. Obama wouldnt condemn the generals
because if he did he would be obliged to cut off the $ 1.3 billion doled
out by Washington to bolster the Egyptian Bonapartes, and also keep
the American military industrial complex that furbishes the Egyptian
arsenal in business.
The only punitive measure so far taken by Obama to manifest his
token-but palpably hollow-displeasure over the Egyptian generals
antics is the cancellation of biannual joint military exercises between
the US and Egyptian forces. Other than that its business-as-usual.
Egyptian Bonapartes are redoubtable clients of Washington and
keeping them happy ensures the success of the policy of keeping the
Arab masses crushed under their bayonets, and Israel safe.
Obama couldnt careless how the people of Egypt fared under
their bumbling and bombastic generals. All that matters to him is that
these servants of Washington remain firmly tethered to a policy of
subservience to Israels agenda of expansionism in the region, which
is, euphemistically described as Israels security interest.
Other western powers taking their lead from Washingtons exam-
ple have, likewise, been at best lukewarm in their condemnation of
the militarys dismissal of democracy and a democratically elected
president. Their concern is more focused on whats to them plight
of the Coptic Christian minority of Egypt. British Foreign Secretary,
William Hague, as also his Canadian counterpart, John Baird, have
both shed tears at the alleged arson against Coptic churches in Egypt.
The Cross is more sacrosanct to them than the blood of the Egyptian
people. Muslim lives, in any case, are cheap and have no value in
the eyes of the civilised west.
The American agenda for the Arab and Muslim world is a bi-focal
lens. One part of it is Islamophobia, which has been the bed-rock of
policy since 9/11; the other part is Israels supremacy in the Middle
East at the expense of all its neighbours. US has been bolstering
Israel all the time, winking at Netanyahus lust for expansion of Israeli
settlements on land stolen from the Palestinians, while paying lip-
service to a two-state chimera. In the latest instance, Palestinian lead-
ers loyal to a quisling Mahmoud Abbas have been bamboozled into
resuming, once again, the farce of a peace dialogue with Israel while
agreeing to yet another settlement frenzy of Netanyahu. An addition-
al 1200 homes for settlers were commissioned the
very day that the hopeless drama of peace parleys
was staged for global consumption.
Nothing serves the Israeli and western agenda
better than the Egyptian people being robbed of their
dream of a democratic and just society at the hands of
their saviours in uniform whose loyalty to their for-
eign pay-masters needed no further proof or elabora-
tion after what they have done to President Morsi.
Little wonder that what the world is witnessing, in
the wake of the Egyptian generals brutal crackdown
on the Muslim Brotherhood and its loyal followers, is
the coming together of American, European, Saudi,
Jordanian and Israeli interests on just one point: back
to the dictatorial military junta committed to keeping its
own people in chains, just as Mubarak or Sadat,
before him, did for so many decades.
The Jerusalem Post, of August 18, reported
remarks of an unnamed high Israeli official gloating
over the murder of democracy and democrats in Egypt
and regaling that democracy is not the name of the
game in Egypt. Israel and its western and regional
cohorts are jubilant that the Egyptian security appara-
tus-given a free hand by trigger-happy soldiers and
generals-is going after the so-called terrorists allied
to Al-Qaeda.
The western countries and leaders, dutifully abet-
ted by their tyrannical and autocratic Arab potentates,
have honed a weird mantra of treating the oppressor
and the oppressed at par with each other. So the same
mantra is being harped on in the increasingly sick and
revolting plea by inane and clueless leaders for
restraint by all sides to defuse the crisis. Restraint by those being
killed and swatted down like flies is a macabre demand of minds
deluded and befogged by lack of sympathy for the oppressed and
down-trodden. Those putting the torturer and the tortured on the
same page seem wilfully ignorant of the historic fact-as reminded by
a well-known American pollster of Egyptian origin, Dalia Mogahed
who has surveyed Muslim societies around the world-that Al Qaeda
was conceived in the prisons of Egypt and, contrary to conventional
wisdom, not the caves of Afghanistan.
So General Al Sisi-a reincarnate of Hosni Mubarak and Anwar
Sadat-is stuffing the prisons of Egypt, blindly and indiscriminately,
with the followers of Muslim Brotherhood not bothering, at all, to pon-
der over the severity of his crimes or the gravity of consequences that
certainly would flow from them. But he is being cheered on by his
western and regional mentors for meeting the terrorist challenge.
As these lines were being finished, word has come of the arrest
by Egyptian police of the Guide (Chief) of Muslim Brotherhood,
Mohammad Badie. The witch-hunt of the Brotherhood is on with a
reckless determination. Along with it another irony of ironies has hap-
pened: the disgraced Hosni Mubarak is a free man, again, as all
cases against him have been thrown out by a supine judiciary work-
ing at the pleasure of the junta.
Egypt is back to square one. Its back to that point , in January
2011, when the Egyptian people had risen against the tyrant Mubarak
and kicked off their own Spring. Egypt at this sensitive juncture is
looking, increasingly, like Algeria of 1991 when the Algerian peoples
peaceful march to democracy was stopped in its tracks by Algerias
power-hungry generals at the beck- and-call of American and French
interests. What followed that brutal sundering of democratic ambi-
tions of the Algerians is a lesson that the Bonapartes of Egypt and
their pay-masters will be wise to acquaint themselves with. They will
also be served well by refreshing their minds with a Greek adage from
antiquity: those whom gods wish to destroy they turn them mad,
first.
Murderous Egyptian Bonapartes
Pampered by Hypocrite Mentors
18 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Egypt is back to square one. Its back to that point in January
2011, when the Egyptian people had risen against the tyrant
Mubarak and kicked off their own Spring. Egypt at this sensitive
juncture is looking, increasingly, like Algeria of 1991 when the
Algerian peoples peaceful march to democracy was stopped in
its tracks by Algerias power-hungry generals at the beck- and-
call of American and French interests. What followed that brutal
sundering of democratic ambitions of the Algerians is a lesson
that the Bonapartes of Egypt and their pay-masters will be wise
to acquaint themselves with. They will also be served well by
refreshing their minds with a Greek adage from antiquity: those
whom gods wish to destroy they turn them mad, first.
SIGN OF THE FOUR is now the
sign of revolution in Egypt - an
indicator to Rabia which
means fourth in Arabic
THEY LED FROM THE FRONT: Ammaar Badie, 38 years (son of the Supreme
Leader of MB), Asma Baltagy, 17 years, daughter of top MB leader, Habiba Abdel
Aziz, daughter of the press adviser of President Mursi and Gulf News correspon-
dent in Cairo -- all were killed by the army during its attack on Rabia Adawiya
Square on 14 August.
INTERNATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 19 www.milligazette.com
Document
Statement of Saudi
Scholars on Egypt
Below is an English translation of the statement issued by Saudi
scholars about the military coup in Egypt.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
More than a month has passed since the coup. The perpetrators
of the coup have committed acts of violence and aggression wit-
nessed by the world resulting in hundreds dead and thousands
wounded. (The world has also witnessed) an evil arraying of ranks
from the army and the police and a minority of the people who
were driven to support the coup either under the influence of devi-
ous media campaigns or for sectarian or ideological interests with
the goal of imposing a new order by force.
In the face of these perilous developments-for now and in the
future-it is the responsibility of the people of knowledge-with the
obligation that Allah has placed upon them of speaking the truth
and by virtue of the position of leadership that He has granted
them over the matters of the Ummah-that they clarify the position
of the Shariah with regards to what is happening in Egypt, the truth
about the conditions that preceded the coup and its expected out-
come, as follows.
1. Deposing of the elected president by the minister of
defence is an all-out coup. This is an action that is outlawed and
criminal. We reject it, as it is a rebellion against a legitimate elect-
ed ruler and a clear transgression against the will of the people.
We emphatically declare that all subsequent proceedings are null
and void.
We register our protest and astonishment at the behavior of
some governments that were quick to recognize the coup despite
its being contrary to the will of the people and a rebellion against
an elected legitimate ruler. This is an act of aiding sin and trans-
gression, which is forbidden in the Shariah. It will have serious
negative consequences on everyone if Egypt-God forbid-were to
descend into anarchy and civil war.
2. It is proven by looking at all the happenings, statements,
and attitudes of regional and international players that this coup
occurred with connivance between regional and international par-
ties. And preparations for the coup had been in place from the
moment Dr. Muhammad Morsi was elected the president of Egypt.
3. It is no longer a secret for anyone that the failure of the
government of Morsi was deliberately and systematically engi-
neered by way of stirring unrest, suspension of the wheels of pro-
duction, and highhanded control of the elites of the deep state over
basic services such as electricity, fuel, and flour with the goal of
turning public opinion against him and against his government.
4. The reality of the matter is this coup was not a coup for
reform but a coup meant to oust the Islamic and national move-
ments and to prevent true independence and sovereignty for
Egypt.
5. We deplore and condemn the acts of horrific violence and
murder carried out deliberately by the army and security forces
against hundreds of Muslim demonstrators during salah and in the
public squares merely because they demonstrated against the
coup-despite the fact that the job of the army and security forces
was to defend them and to ensure their safety. Have they never
come across this verse? Whoever kills a believer deliberately, his
recompense is Hell in which he will dwell forever and Allah has
become angry with him and has cursed him and prepared for him
a great punishment.
And the statement of the Messenger of Allah, The loss of the
entire world is lighter in the sight of Allah than the unjust shedding
of the blood of one Muslim.
6. We reiterate for everybody that deposing of President
Morsi and the bringing down of his government under the pretext
of stopping the betrayal of the nation amounts to clutching at
straws. The fact is that his government was overthrown because
it was oriented Islamically and nationally.
In our stance of rejection of the coup and its aftermath, we
are not defending the Muslim Brotherhood but rather seek to
defend the truth and stand with the oppressed and with the rights
of the Egyptian masses that have been transgressed against. We
will never stand for one day with a party or individuals for their
own sake, but if they are in the trenches on the side of the truth,
we will stand with them and we will never forsake defending the
truth just because they happen to be on its side.
7. Thus we deplore the stance of some parties and move-
ments and individuals that are supporting this coup. We say: Our
Shariah rejects rebellion against a legitimate ruler and rather calls
for advising him and holding him responsible through legal
means. Our faith requires us to fulfill our contracts and pledges
even if they be against us.
We thus call upon them (the parties supporting the coup) to
revoke their stance and to disassociate themselves from the coup
makers, to remove the cloak of legitimacy from them, to condemn
all actions of violence and aggression, to attribute them (these
actions) to their true perpetrators, and to reconcile with their
Islamic milieu, which is their mainstay. Similarly, we applaud the
stance of the scholars that have sided with the truth and stood by
it.
8. As is its habit, the West has proven again that it will side
with tyranny and violence against the Muslim masses whether it
be in the form of a war of annihilation as in Syria or a coup and
confiscation of rights as in Egypt. We declare to the West that the
people have understood its games and soon it will have to pay the
price of violating values and principles. The West, with its double
standards, is driving the region into anarchy and establishing a
culture of violence.
9. We commend the stance of the Ulama of al-Azhar and other
ulama from Egypt who have openly spoken the truth and rejected
the coup. And we remind all the scholars, activists, and intellectu-
als of the necessity of taking a firm stand against the coup.
10. We call upon the entire world and media that they fear
Allah with regards to Egypt and its people and to side with the
truth and to recant their positions, especially after the coup-mon-
gers have shed sacred blood, divided the people, and sought to
spread mischief by inciting the people to fight each other.
To remain silent in the face of the crimes of the military is (in
reality) betraying them and to support them is betrayal of the
Ummah and the aspirations of the people to freedom and dignity.
There is only one way to help them-that is to prevent them from
oppression.
11. We emphasize our support for everyone who calls for the
restoration of the elected President Dr. Muhammad Morsi. We call
upon them to stand firm and hope for reward from Allah, for they
are on the truth and their demand is legitimate. We also implore
them to restrain themselves and to block off the paths of those
who seek mischief and will create means for further killings.
We supplicate to Allah to accept those that passed away from
amongst them, to heal their wounded, to bestow upon their fami-
lies patience and consolation, and grant them hope of reward
(from Him).
12. We remind ourselves and our brethren in Egypt and else-
where that whatever is happening is occurring with the decree of
Allah; it is but a chapter from the annals of conflict between truth
and falsehood, between secularism and Islam, between leader-
ship and subjugation. Gird yourselves and stand firm in opposing
the coup that began with the suspension of your constitutional
institutions and followed with the massacres of people in
prayer.
Finally, we must be brave enough to see our own shortcom-
ings that undoubtedly have been the weak points that the enemy
took advantage of, foremost amongst them being our own inner
division and party politics.
We advise our brethren in Egypt to be conscious of Allah and
to hold fast to His strong rope and to stand firm on the straight
path. Allah says: And verily this my straight path, so follow it,
and do not follow the (other) ways, lest they separate you from
His way. That is what He has enjoined upon you so that you may
be God-fearing.
Issued on 28/9/1434 (5 August 2013)
Signed by Shaikh Dr Muhammad Bin Nasir Al-Sahibani and 55
others
(Translated by Shaikh Muneeb Baig -- to read the Arabic text and the full
list of the signatories, please visit: http://www.saaid.net/fatwa/f131.htm)
KHALID AMAYREH
Occupied Jerusalem: I never thought I would ever portray Israel,
our ultimate tormentor and existential enemy, in good light, even
in comparison to the worst human rights offenders under the sun.
However, in light of the pornographically gruesome images
that keep coming from Egypt, I feel I have to admit that the mur-
derous Egyptian junta of Abdul Fattah Sisi has exceeded by far the
benchmarks of murderousness and nefariousness reached by
Israel in the course of the long bitter conflict with the Palestinians.
I know that what I am saying will be viewed by some people
as politically incorrect and detrimental to the Palestinian national
cause, a cause I spent the prime of my life defending.
I know myself quite well, and I dont think that anyone, Arab
or otherwise, is in a moral position to accuse me of pandering to
the Zionists or seeking a certificate of good conduct from them.
But one has to exercise intellectual and moral honesty in
order to be faithful to ones conscience. In the final analysis, one
must be answerable to his or her conscience.
Yes, Israel committed untold crimes and killed many innocent
Palestinians and non-Palestinians. Israel, after all is our enemy
and enemies should not be expected to behave charitably toward
their enemies.
Yes, we are all aware of Dir Yasin, Sabra and Shatilla and the
Ibrahimi Mosque carnage of 1994, just to mention a few of
Israels numerous atrocities.
However, it never happened that the Israeli army liquidated
political detainees by way of suffocating them to death or execut-
ing them on their way to jails and detention centers.
Even Palestinian guerillas who survived difficult martyrdom
operations were arrested, even hospitalized, and then prosecuted,
irrespective of the nature of the Israeli justice system. But, at the
very least, they were kept alive, which really would make the
Egyptian victims of the Egyptian armys brutality wish they were
being dealt with by the Israeli army, not their own army.
Yes, there were some cases when the Israeli army and Shin
Bet agents did liquidate Palestinian freedom fighters captured dur-
ing or following bloody resistance operations against Israelis.
But these cases were quite rare and represented the excep-
tion rather than the norm. More to the point, ostensibly serious
investigations would always follow such incidents.
But as far as I know, it never happened that dozens of protest-
ers were deliberately massacred or made to suffocate to death as
they were being transferred to jails and detention centers as hap-
pened in Egypt on Sunday.
Indeed, the fact that Israel eventually released from its jails
and detention centers Palestinian freedom fighters who had been
involved in killing Israelis, and given Israels unusual sensitivity to
shedding Jewish blood, shows that Israel, our enemy, has
behaved and is behaving in a less barbaric manner toward her
enemies in comparison to the way the Egyptian army and police
have been treating their own citizens. This is really more than
scandalous.
Israel is our enemy. Israel murdered my three uncles in one
installment in 1953, effectively exterminating my entire family.
Israel condemned my family to live in a cave in abject poverty for
30 years. Yes, I dont forget that.
But, in all honesty, Israel never reached the level of barbarian-
ism and savagery that we see in Egypt today.
There were violent intifadas (uprisings) against the occupa-
tion army in the late 1980s and 2000s , but we never saw Israeli
helicopter gunship shower peaceful protesters with bullets rather
indiscriminately as the Egyptian armed forces are now doing to
their own people in broad daylight.
But again, Israel is our existential enemy and there ought to
be no comparison between the way the Israeli army treats the
enemies of the Jewish state on the one hand and the way Arab
armies treat their own people on the other. After all, Arab armies
are supposed to protect, not murder their people.
In the past few weeks we all saw how the heroic Egyptian
armed forces showered with bullets
totally peaceful demonstrators
protesting the bloody coup by the
Sisi gang, even without the slight-
est provocation, murdering hun-
dreds and maiming thousands,
without the slightest compunctions
Indeed, in a few weeks of bru-
tal violence against opponents of
the bloody coup, more Egyptians
have been killed and maimed than
Palestinians were killed by Israel
since the 1967 war. I dont have the
exact figures, but the rivers of blood
now flowing through Egypt makes
any analogy a mere academic task.
Apart from the pornographic
killing itself, it is noted that the
Egyptian army lies as often as it
breathes the oxygen of life.
They murder thousands, set corpses on fire, bomb mosques,
torch churches in order to blame the crime on the Islamists, and
let the Baltagiya ( state-paid cutthroats) do the armys dirty
tasks, and then claim that the victims committed all of this in
order to besmirch the armys image.
In fact, the Egyptian armed forces have been so pornograph-
ically mendacious so much so that whatever they say can no
longer be taken seriously. I am one of those journalists who have
stopped listening or watching the Egyptian media. It is a media
whose modus operandi is lying in the most brazen and obscene
manner. I am sorry for having reached this conclusion so belat-
edly.
Criminal Western Stance
A last word. The conspicuously hypocritical American-western
stance vis--vis the Nazi-like atrocities in Egypt is actually a
badge of eternal shame on the conscience of most westerners.
One day, when the dark clouds have dissipated and bright
skies have replaced the darkness, Muslims will remember the
criminal role of the West in this tragic episode..
Yes, the direct murderers are Sisi and cohorts, but the ulti-
mate enabler is America, without whose green light and behind-
the-scene conspiracies and connivances this massive mayhem
wouldnt have taken place.
Even Israel didnt reach this level of barbarianism
The reality of the matter is this coup
was not a coup for reform but a coup
meant to oust the Islamic and national
movements and to prevent true inde-
pendence and sovereignty for Egypt.
Egyptian armys prey on 14 August
20 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
GORDON DUFF
The story hangs there, a week now, no one will touch it other
than the Times of Israel, their answer to ,Veterans Today, a publi-
cation run by former spies.
American reporting of the talk carefully edited out General
Mattis references to Israeli settlements and his use of the word
apartheid entity.
This wasnt just any general, not one of the kooks and mal-
contents who have sold a colorless military career for a payoff
from the Israel lobby, hot running girls or boys and a condomini-
um on a top-rated PGA golf course.
This is James Mattis, former commander of CentCom, a
Marine general with 41 years experience, the most respected
combat leader of the last two American generations.
So, when Mad Dog Mattis addressed the Aspen Security
Forum and called Israel unsustainable, even Israel listened.
Many people talk the talk and Mattis talks that talk better
than anyone. He also walks the walk as well. Below are select-
ed quotes from Mattis, some of the few that can be published as
most contain language only Marines use, a bit too specific for
civilians:
Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody
you meet.
The most important six inches on the battlefield is between
your ears.
You are part of the worlds most feared and trusted force.
Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.
There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline,
cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a
hunter or a victim.
No war is over until the enemy says its over. We may think
it over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote.
You cannot allow any of your people to avoid the brutal facts.
If they start living in a dream world, its going to be bad.
It was this last quote that may well have pushed the Times of
Israel to note, finally, that Israels dream world may be coming
to an end.
Apartheid bomb
Censored from news around the world, edited from broadcasts,
the July 25, 2013, Times of Israel drops the Apartheid Bomb,
the first time this term has been used with authority. On the dais
with Mattis was CNNs Wolf Blitzer, coined the voice of the
Mossad by author Jeff Gates.
From the Times of Israel:
Mattis then described a hypothetical in which 500 Jewish settlers
live among 10,000 Arabs, and the implications of where Israel
draws the border. He called it a choice between giving up the idea
of a Jewish entity or becoming an apartheid entity.
The message of the destructive role of Israels illegal set-
tlements, not just in territories occupied after the 1967 war but in
violation of the 1949 Armistice Demarcation Lines as well, territo-
ry guaranteed as Arab only, making up nearly one third of
Israels legally accepted borders.
Over 95% of that territory has been seized and its Palestinian
population ethnically cleansed.
Thus, Mattiss statement on apartheid when placed in the
context of his strong support of Secretary of State John Kerrys
current initiatives, places additional pressure on Israel, pressure
not seen since the Carter presidency.
When taken with European Union moves in July, a vote
authorizing broad trade sanctions against Israeli entities located
on Arab land, not just those termed occupied territories, Mattis
use of unsustainable to describe Israels future is meant to be a
wake up call for a nation Mattis clearly believes has been living
in a dream world.
Israels lone wolf policy against Syria
It has become increasingly obvious that the US and European
Union see the fall of the Assad government in Syria as unlikely.
Moreover, forces dedicated to the war on Syria are finding green-
er pastures in Iraq with over 600
killed last month alone by terrorists
under Israeli-backed al-Qaeda
groups moving back and for th
between Iraq, Jordan and Syria.
Increasingly, despite broad finan-
cial and military aid from Saudi
Arabia and Qatar, Assads forces are
consolidating gains across Syria and
inflicting devastating casualties.
Israels response, one that has
frightened some military leaders
there, has been to commit to direct
military intervention. Israel has
already lost one Dolphin submarine
and at least one combat aircraft and
crew.
Confrontation with Russia
Military analysts failed to note something very important about
Russian weapons deliveries to Syria. One key point was the S300
system, 250 missiles delivered by April 1, 2013, confirmed by
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
More missiles with mobile launchers and command modules
have been delivered since, estimated at nearly 400 by mid-July.
Israel has fewer than 400 first-line combat aircraft in its entire
air force. The number of air defense interceptor missiles allocated
to Syria, missiles that represent an addition to their current
embedded inventory, is highly asymmetrical.
There is no remote hope of Israel ever gaining air supremacy
over Syria should the conflict widen, yet it is obvious that these
are Israels plans.
With a Russian naval force off Syrias coast, continued mis-
sile attacks, cited by Janes as using Tomahawk cruise missiles
launched from Israels remaining German-donated Dolphin
nuclear-armed submarines, put Israel at risk of military confronta-
tion with Russia.
We may well have not only supported General Mattiss use of
the word unsustainable but have shown it to be an understate-
ment.(presstv.ir)
Gordon Duff is a Marine Vietnam veteran, a combat infantry-
man, and Senior Editor at Veterans Today. Gordon Duffs articles
are published around the world and translated into a number of
languages.
Israel, an unsustainable and apartheid entity
KHALID AMAYREH
Occupied Jerusalem: There is no doubt that the manifestly feck-
less world reactions to the chemical massacre on the outskirts
of Damascus this week will not auger well for the future. This is
to put it extremely
mildly.
Assad, the
nefarious Syrian
tyrant, must be quite
satisfied with the
clear Western espe-
cially American
reluctance to act
against his regime
despite the latest
obscenity.
His rationale
sounds like this: If
the West and the rest
of the international
community allow the
regime to murder
150, 000 Syrians by
way of conventional
weapons, it wouldnt
actively intervene in case the regime managed to exterminate a
few thousands or tens of thousands of Syrians, even using chem-
ical weapons.
Assad is carefully watching the direction of the political winds
in Washington and European capitals.
He must have been dazzled by the weak American-
European reactions vis--vis the recent bloody coup in Egypt and
subsequent pornographic killings of so many innocent Egyptians
at the hands of the Sisi gang.
Hence, he must be feeling quite secure, even immune, and
quite free to go to further extents to annihilate as many Syrians
as it takes to keep his family and sect in power for a few more
years.
There are many serious observers who think that Assad is
justified in harboring such sickening hair-raising feelings and in
adopting these macabre calculations.
The Obama administration is treating the chemical attack on
the outskirts of Damascus, which killed more than 1500 Syrian
civilians, mostly women and children, and injured several thou-
sands, with utter flaccidity.
Yes, there have been some condemnatory statements from
Western capitals. But inaction remains the prevalent reality.
In fact, the Oboma administration is trying to consider every
conceivable doubt and extenuating circumstances to give
Assad the benefit of the doubt. This is really despicable beyond
the pale.
In fact, this effectively amounts to encouraging the criminal
regime to go on and
on and on, totally
unconcerned about
any actual or potential
consequences of his
genocidal onslaught
against his people.
Moreover, the
apparently criminal
stand of Assads
allies, including
Russia, Iran, the Iraqi
government and the
Lebanese militia,
Hizbullah, will make
Assad more confident
than ever that he will
eventually be able get
away with impunity.
More to the point,
the shockingly pathet-
ic reaction to the massacre by many Arab and Muslim states
toward the massacre, which ranged from utter silence to tacit
acceptance of the Assad regimes narrative about the massacre,
must be music to Assads ears.
In the final analysis, this will make the murderer of Damascus
conclude that he could exterminate as many Syrians as it takes to
keep his evil regime in power with out worrying about any serious
consequences.
The existing international order is simply too unethical and
too immoral to allow for a meaningful protection for helpless
civilians against the genocidal urges of hateful dictators such as
Bashar El-Assad.
This is why Assad is likely to emerge somewhat victorious
in this crisis as the West-led international community is nearly
completely paralyzed to take pro-active measures to check his
madness, especially in the foreseeable future.
That is really lamentable and scandalous since it sends an
unmistakable message to the victims and potential victims of
genocide and ethnic cleansing everywherethat you only have
two choiceseither die quietly or die noisilybecause the world
community is going to let you down regardless what happens to
you.
American people addicted to violence
An American journalist says the problem surrounding gun own-
ership in the United States is that American people are addicted
to violence.
Mark Glenn told Press TV that the US media and Hollywood
are responsible for the high rate of crimes in the country.
The American media and particularly Hollywood and televi-
sion have become the new church for America, they have
become the new classroom for Americans, especially young peo-
ple, and this is where their values are formed, he said.
If you look at American media and particularly what comes
out of Hollywood, it is a deliberately concerted effort on the part
of those who control Hollywood and American media to change
the value system of the United States in order to create, I think, a
nation of people who are very comfortable with the application of
violence, he added.
Glenn said that the culture of violence that the Zionist-con-
trolled Hollywood creates is in the interest of Israel.
Clearly this would be in Israels interest to do this to America
and to the West in general; to reformat the moral landscape of
these countries so that these countries would be willing to go to
war in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Iran, etc,
he said. Many critics blame the notoriously liberal gun control
laws in the US for the high rate of gun murders in the country.
(presstv.com)
World inaction encourages Assad to be more genocidal
Both sides are adamant: no let up until whole Syria is destroyed
Israeli settlements on stolen land
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JAVEED AKHTER
Amina Wadud Muhsin, who is one of the gurus of the
Progressive Muslim movement in the US, is reported to have
declared recently that she could not intellectually or spiritually
accept some injunctions in the Quran. For example, some of the
hudud punishments like amputating hands or the permission to
beat ones wife. She made it clear that she was denying neither
the religion nor the revelation. It is the Quran, she said, that gives
me the means to say no to the Quran. The obvious contradiction
in her statements seems to escape her. Paraphrasing her, she
appears to be saying; I believe some parts of the Quran and reject
other parts and the Quran allows me to do so. The argument
defies logic.
Her discomfort with some of the hudud punishments is
understandable and shared by many Muslims of both the current
and previous generations. According to noted scholar Fazalur
Rahman, who called himself a modernist, the punishment of
amputating hands for theft, part of hudud mentioned in the Quran,
does not apply in modern times, as theft in earlier times was an
attack on persons honour (ird), not merely taking of property, and
was therefore a much more serious affront. To bolster his argu-
ment, he invokes the concept of ratio legis. Each legal or quasi-
legal pronouncement is accompanied by a ratio legis explaining
why a law is being enunciated. To understand a ratio legis fully,
an understanding of the socio-historical background, including
what Quranic commentators call occasions of revelation, is
necessary. (Major Themes of the Quran). He suggests if the sit-
uation changes (such) that the law fails to reflect the ratio, the law
must change. This is in contrast to the principle enunciated by the
traditional lawyers that although the law is occasioned by a spe-
cific situation, its application nevertheless becomes universal and
unchangeable. The ratio legis of amputating hands was attack on
honour.
Amin Ahsan Islahi, well-known exegete and author of the
Urdu tafisr, Tadabbur al-Quran, rejects the stoning to death as
punishment for adultery on different grounds. He points out
that this specific punishment is not mentioned in the Quran.
There is, in fact, a very different punishment, lashing, that is
prescribed in the Quran for this crime. Accepting and imple-
menting the stoning would set the precedent of a hadith being
used to abrogate a Quranic verse. This, he points out
emphatically, is unacceptable. A Quranic verse may abrogate
another Quranic verse, a hadith may abrogate another hadith,
Quran may abrogate hadith, but a hadith may not abrogate a
Quranic verse.
The testimony of two women equalling that of one man has
been questioned by scholars on many grounds. Recently
Indonesian courts passed a law stating that the testimony of both
men and women should be treated as equal. They argued the
verse dealing with testimony (2:282) of two women-one man
applied only to business transactions. They argued that the stip-
ulation must have had to do with the fact that the vast majority of
women at the time of the Prophet were not in the business space
and therefore may not have been familiar with these transactions.
This, the Indonesians pointed out, is not true in their country
where for example a Batik workshop is frequently managed or
owned by a woman and many of the workers may be men.
Mohammed Fadel in his essay Two women, one man (Int.
J. Middle East Stud. 29 - 1997) notes that Al-Qarafi, a Sunni
jurist, used a different argument to explain the one man-two
women edict. Al-Qarafi argues that unlike being a transmitter of a
saying like a hadith, the act being a witness in a dispute would
expose women to the ire of the losing party. This resentment
would be greater, Al-Qarafi notes, if the loss in the dispute was
perceived to be due to a womans testimony. The Quran appears
to be alluding to this issue when it says, The witnesses should
not refuse when they are called on (for evidence) (2:282). It is as
if the Quran is fearful of the fact that the witness may be a no-
show.
This separation of private space for women and public for
men has changed irreversibly. As womans role in society has
changed, it is unlikely that the social disorder that may have
occurred in the past from the violation of the private space would
occur now. This takes away Al-Qarafis justification for two
women-one man being needed for witness instead of two men.
Additionally, the Indonesians point out that the strict separation of
men in public space and women in private space never existed in
Indonesia to the extent it did in the traditional Arab culture.
Although a progressive like Wadud Muhsin is dealing with
legitimate problems that have become par t of widely accept-
ed Muslim practice, her contention that she will accept only
par ts of the Quran is untenable with the Muslim credo that
Quran is the divine word of God that has to be accepted in its
totality. In contrast, what Modernists have done in the past
and continue to do so today is to re-interpret the verses using
the well-established principle of Ijtehad. This type of dynam-
ic re-interpretation of the Quran is both valid and essential to
keep the religion alive and relevant. If Wadud-Muhsin and her
suppor ters continue down the path of accepting the Quran
piecemeal, they run the risk of becoming another heterodoxic
sect of Islam. They would serve their cause better if they
used arguments based on the well-established principles of
Ijtehad. As the recent Indonesian example shows, things do
change.
Javeed Akhter is the director of the International Strategy and Policy
Institute at http://www.ispi-usa.org/
If Wadud-Muhsin and her supporters continue down the path of accepting the Quran piecemeal, they run the risk of becoming another
heterodoxic sect of Islam. They would serve their cause better if they used arguments based on the well-established principles of Ijtehad. As
the recent Indonesian example shows, things do change.
Amina Wadud an
Islamic feminist scholar?
With many intellectuals issuing statements supporting Ms.
Wadud, one would have thought that Muslim women would have
been at the forefront in supporting Ms. Waduds right to speak.
Their glaring absence should make people wonder if Ms. Wadud
is really the popular champion of Muslim womens rights. Or was
this simply a case where a local quack is being projected as the
next Christian Bernard.
Islam has a large tradition of female scholarship starting
from Aysha, the wife of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), to our
local Alimas. Even today, there are many women studying in dif-
ferent Islamic seminaries around the world - memorizing the
Quran, learning the intricacies of Islamic law, the history of tradi-
tions or the interpretations of the Quran. Once these women fin-
ish their courses, they are approached for clarifications on points
of Islamic rules. This is because scholarship in Islam is not lim-
ited to men or male intellect. Anyone, even an elderly woman,
can acquire formalized religious training by enrolling herself in a
seminary and graduating 6-10 years later as a scholar.
There has also been a weighty tradition of female secular
scholarship in the Muslim community -where women like
Fathima al Fihri established one of the oldest universities in the
world in 800 AD, where women like Rufayda, Nusayba, Sutayta,
Nana Asmau, Aysha bin Ahmed, Rasa, Maryah al Qibtiyyah have
been activists, scientists, writers, poets and artists. These
womens contribution is recognized and celebrated by Muslims -
men and women. In fact, the idea that a woman cannot be an
intellectual would be quite surprising to many Muslims - since it
is so contrary to the Islamic religious tradition and endorsed in
the Quran and many sayings of the Prophet (pbuh).
However, Muslims - men and women - dont consider Ms.
Wadud to be a feminist or Islamic, or even a scholar. This is
because Ms. Waduds viewpoints are based on whimsical per-
sonal opinions rather than objective intellectual research or
thought. And these opnions are so out of touch with Islamic
thought. Not only in India, but world over, including in the USA,
Amina Wadud is considered to be a fringe element rather than a
proponent of the mainstream thought in Islam.
And when the mainstream media, which typically has
ignored Muslim women scholars, starts touting Ms. Wadud as
an Islamic feminist scholar, Muslims are bound to take umbrage.
The mainstream medias definition of Ms. Wadud as an Islamic
feminist scholar is part of the broader issue where the main-
stream Muslim womens voices are silenced by the media. The
media often decides who the right Muslims are - with ideolo-
gies and stances that are in line with media outlook. The media
decides who the valid spokespersons are. In fact the media
even decides what are the issues to be debated in the communi-
ty. Whether a women leads men in prayer is frankly a non-issue
raked up to divert peoples minds from the greater Muslim issues
of poor access to education and jobs, lack of representation in
the government and private sector and the inordinate targeting of
Muslim youth by the police in the name of fighting terror.
Feminism is about giving women a voice, not speaking for
them, enabling women to make their choices, not making choic-
es for them, respecting womens intellect, not assuming that
women are unable to think for themselves. The secular intellec-
tuals by supporting Ms. Wadud against the overwhelming major-
ity of Muslim women have, in one fell swoop, disempowered
Muslim women. Thanks, but no thanks.
Finally, comes the issue of whether Ms. Wadud should have
been allowed to speak. Definitely she should have been
allowed to speak. But not as an Islamic feminist scholar. And in
the interests of intellectual honesty and given the nature of her
outlandish opinions, a space should have been also given to
Muslim women speakers to counteract her view. Today, we are
left with an unfinished business of wondering at the validity of
Ms. Waduds claim to scholarship. Giving her a podium would
have clearly highlighted the poverty of her intellectualism and
fragility of her claim to representing Muslim women.
ANEESA JAMAL
Chennai
Progressive Muslim Dilemma
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Oosman Sait
I was thrilled after reading a write-up on Haji Oosman Sait. Such sacrifices
have been removed from public domain with a strategy that all Muslims
were for Pakistan. Please publish more on such individuals. I am working
on a major project titled Muslims Against Partition to be completed in
2014 and such inputs are going to immensely enrich my work.
Prof. Shamsul Islam
notoinjustice@gmail.com
II
Apropos of the report in MG of 16-31, August (page 12). You have pro-
vided very good information about Freedom Fighter Haji Oosman Sait. But
After seeing this brief information, I went to search for more details about
Oosam Sait. Lucky I got the contact of his grandson Mr Javeed. I spoke
to him. He promised to send all the details and a good photo of his grand-
pa to me. Thanks to your and MG Team.
Syed Naseer Ahamed
naseerahamedsyed@gmail.com
MG: Thank you Br Naseer saheb. I hope, Insha Allah, one day the
whole community will appreciate and benefit from your tireless efforts
to collect and write the history of Muslim freedom fighters (Zafarul-
Islam Khan)
Avoid Community Profiling Of Rapists
The names of the five guys who brutally raped a photojournalist in
Bombay suggest that they belong to a specific community (minority, to be
precise). Now people have got an opportunity to scarify an entire commu-
nity. But tell me, are all rapists Muslims? Who raped Nirbhaya in Delhi on
December 16? All the six guys were Hindus. One of them Ram Singh, who
was found hanging at Tihar, had Ram (the Hindu deity) in his name. My
point is: Religion must not be brought in while dealing with such cases.
Anyone can rape, irrespective of his religion, caste or community. This is
stereotyping of sexual offences and restricted community profiling. Rape
is a heinous offence that can be perpetrated by any lowly creature.
Sumit Paul
sumitmaclean@hotmail.com
MG: We think time has come to demand death sentence for violent,
including gang, rape crimes.
SP: Yes, the way summary punishments are meted out to the perpetrators
in Saudi Arabia.
Murder of Dabholkar
Murder of the renowned rationalist and anti-superstition activist Mr.
Narendra Dabholkar is not only a crime and act against progressive
thinking and modern outlook but a serious violation of Indian Constitution.
Not many people know that cultivating and promoting scientific temper,
humanism, spirit of inquiry and reform are the fundamental duties of
every citizen of the secular democratic republic of India under its consti-
tution. According to the Article 51A (h) of the Indian constitution one of
the important obligation of Indian Citizen is To develop the scientific tem-
per, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform I am amazed and
shocked that the sad death of Narendra Dabholkar has not aroused anger
and wide coverage in the Media, particularly the Electronic Media.
Strangely Electronic Media made Durga suspension a great issue of
national importance but not the same attitude for Dabholkar Murder. As a
tribute to the memory of late Narendra Dabholkar, the Central Govt.
should bring legislation against obscurantism, superstitions and exploita-
tion in the name of religion. One such legislation is currently debated in
Maharashtra Assembly. On behalf of the Members of Urdu Scientific
Society and Sir Syed Scientific Society , I offer my condolences to the
family of Dabholkar and also to multitude of Indians who wish to live in
Twenty First Century and do not want to live the life of Dark Ages of
Europe. It is high time to revive the Movement of great men like Raja Ram
Mohan Roy and Sir Syed who fought all their lives for Modern Education,
Rationale and Scientific Temper. Dr. M.I.H. Farooqi, Lucknow
mihfarooqi@gmail.com
Engage with Political Islam
Political Islam cannot be detached with other Islam .If a Muslim avoids
political Islam he cannot be called as true Muslim. Political Islam needs
number of sacrifices. If the government is based on divine laws then
Muslims have the obligation to safeguard and maintain it and see the
Caliph is following Islamic laws in the true sense .No caliph or his consul-
tative body can amend or suspend the laws. for example eating of pork is
strictly banned .A Muslim is permitted to eat it only he did have any other
edible since last three days. He is permitted to eat just safeguard his life
but not as fete .The God is the creator of this universe, therefore it is His
right to rule the whole universe .The sun, moon earth, stars air. water,
herbs and shrubs, animals, insects reptiles fire. rivers ,mountains and
all other creatures are obeying the laws of God .They cannot disobey ,God
has given freedom only to mankind to obey and abide by His laws or dis-
obey .It is test of men .God has given the authority on all other creatures.
He can make use the sun, moon earth, air ,water, etc must be utilized
according to the will of God . Dr AH Maqdoomi Hyderabad
Teaching of yoga in MP schools
Following its notification of July, 2013, adding a chapter based on inci-
dents in Bhagvad Gita to textbooks of Special Hindi prescribed for Class
IX to Class XII and Special English for Class XI and XII, it has now issued
a notification on 1 August, 2013 which permits adding one chapter each
based on Bhagvad Gita to textbooks of General Hindi prescribed for Class
III to VII and Special English and Special Urdu in Class I and II. This noti-
fications cover not only government schools but all schools/ Madrasas
affiliated to the State Boards. These notifications amount to Hinduisation
of the secondary school courses. Earlier the Government had made Yoga
education compulsory in all schools from Class I to Class V.
Syed Shahabuddin, Ex-MP, New Delhi
syedshahabuddinexmp@gmail.com
CJI Altamash Kabir missed a chance to create history
Few Muslims could reach the CJI post. By sheer hard labour, Justice
Ahmadi could reach that post and he delivered the historical decision
about KMCH (Katihar Medical College) awarding it minority status and
allowing it to be run by minority. Nowadays we see judges passing sar-
castic remarks like caged parrot to CBI and Forbes-listed CEOs would
not be spared, etc. CJI Altamash Kabir enjoyed a golden opportunity to
pass remarks like Are Muslims not Indians and dont they deserve equal-
ity; Muslims as sons of soil deserve equal share etc which could have
paved the way for justice, equality and reservation. But Mr. Kabir missed
the bus to create history.
S. Haque, Patna
Muslims for Modi
A picture has been published showing the Dawoodi Bohra women tying
rakhi to the mass murderer of Muslims of Gujarat in 2002 [see page 13].
Dr. Syedna Saheb should issue instructions to his followers not to have
any contact with anti-Muslim forces. Secondly, Dawoodi Bohras or his
religious leader Syedna Saheb have no right to speak on behalf of all
Muslims.
Farooq Abdul Gaffar Bawani, Rajkot
mohammed.galeriya@yahoo.co.in
Courts decision in Batla House fake encounter
Delhi Additional Sessions Judge Rajendra Kumar Shastri has followed the
principle of courts to satisfy the collective conscience while declaring
the Batla house fake encounter as genuine on 25 July 2013. It seems that
the court was least interested to find the reality as it ignored circumstan-
tial evidence, the murdered boys character and did not apply scientific
methods etc. Otherwise, the court would have asked for NARCO/Poly
Graphic Tests of the two constables Balwant Singh & Rajvir Singh who
accompanied Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma on the Batla house mis-
sion on 19 Sept. 2008. The two are only the living eye-witnesses of the
incident. Even Hollywood will fail to produce the imaginary views of an
encounter in which police bullet pierce the heads from the top as in Batla
House fake encounter.
S. Haque, Patna
Modi Is A Dictator
Modi is a dictator. He was all in all in Gujarat .He is using the same tem-
perament in his behavior .It seems that he wants to drive the party behind
him .He does not want to be driven by the party .BJP needs his services
but he does not need the party support. Man like Modi behaves like a king
of some state. The recent criticism on prime minister was uncalled for
.The speech given by Dr Manmohan Singh was not as a party man but as
Prime minister of great Indian nation .But Modi treated him as a congress
man ..The BJP has the first bitter experience .If he is not gagged. In future
he will put the party in trouble .If he is made prime minister of India he
treat the country as Moghal Emperor. India is democratic country .The
secularism is the basic principle. If Modi does not abide by the constitu-
tion of India he will break this country into number of pieces.
Dr AH Maqdoomi Hyderabad
II
This refers to Narendra Modis speech on 14th August when he said that
the country would hear two speeches on the Independence Day; one that
he would make from Gujarat and another the PM will make from Red Fort.
Sycophancy and arrogance have always been repulsed by the Indian vot-
ers. The India shining slogan aggressively marketed by the then-ruling
BJP led NDA had actually caused more harm than good to it in the 2004
general elections. The idea boomeranged as the aam admi perceived it
as a hollow slogan filled with unbridled egotism. Narendra Modi must
understand that the people of India would be loathing his haughtiness
rather than comparing his speeches with those of Prime Minister.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa (A.P)
sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in
Hindustan Or Rapistan
Thehonourable judges of supreme court will give their judgment on young
rapist famous rape case of Delhi of hype was made on this case but so
far no accused was punished .If India had been an Islamic state the mar-
ried rapists would been killed by stoning and young rapist boy would have
whipped 80 times on his back ,But the kind judges are taking 12 days
more to impart their judgment ,They know very well the judiciary system
of India is lethargic .The judgment is given years after crime, The crimi-
nals before getting punishment they commit more crimes. If you read
news paper you will come across number rape cases are .Now a new
trend has started the young girls mostly immature are gang raped. Now
I am afraid The Kind hearted judges might have taken a lenient view of the
crime and a short of regress imprisonment was awarded. The young boy
,sexual maniac will commit further crime in his future life .Let us over-
haul our entire judiciary and enforce some Islamic laws to eradicate the
sexual crimes .The honourable judges will honourably explain the genuine
reasons for additional delay in announcing the judgment .Crores of
Indians are waiting .
Dr AH Maqdoomi Hyderabad
Saffron media deserves strict action, not speeches
Muslims have been complaining against media and medias modus
operandi to demonize Muslims. Since independence, media took a line
against Muslims and still carries on the same fake parchar against
Muslims. During anti-Muslim riots, newspapers carry false news like the
claim that Muslim doctor injected Hindus with poisonous injection in
Medical College (Aligarh riot) but no action was taken against these
papers. Now whenever any blast takes place, media starts oozing out
Muslim names, how they did recce, how they carried out the blast, some
Muslim org claimed responsibility etc via email. All this goes on as if the
bomb blast was planned in their studios. Muslims have been complaining
against the saffron mentality of media, Now justice Katju has joined in this
protest. Let it be known that without strict action media will not mend its
ways.
S. Haque, Patna
Egypt
The mayhem in Egypt is a corollary to the deliberate silence by the inter-
national community to a series of pro-democracy protests since the
ouster of the elected President Mohammad Morsi. In a sheer display of
hypocrisy, the Western powers which promoted coloured revolutions and
tried to install democracies in some parts of the world have remained
mute as the military in Egypt dismissed and arrested a man who was
elected by the people through a democratic process. It is a great misfor-
tune that the U.N has descended to be a powerless entity.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin Kadapa - A.P
sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in
II
The whole world is wonder-struck on the martyrdom of Egyptian Muslims
who are in favour of ex president Dr Mohammad Morsi. The military top-
pled the Morsi regime which was democratically elected government, the
aim and object of Dr Morsi was to enforce the Islamic Laws which were
in practice in the Khilafat regime. Man loves his life more than everything,
The Prophet wanted that a Muslim must love Allah and his prophet
Mohammad must be loved more than his own love .This stance is very
very difficult. But if he goes deep into the ideology of faith and highly
noble character of the prophet, a Muslim bound to love him so sincerely
and so seriously. The other religions which lack monotheism and high
character personality of Prophet Mohammad. The belief of Islam induces
in the heart so deeply that no other belief can do this .A true Muslim can
sacrifice his life for the cause of Islam. In Egypt the brotherhood was
elected in the general election after dethroning of Hosni Mubarak who
ruled the country as a dictator.Morsi was elected as president. He had the
legal right to enforce Islamic Laws.
Dr AH Maqdoomi, Hyderabad
III
Indian Muslim should support Mursi and his brotherhood party, but I
would caution to create unnecessary rift between civilian and milltary
leadership in MiddleEast. I would say first to focus on our internal apathy
/condition rather than focusing on Egypt.
Analyst Khan (on MG website)
analystmind@gmail.com
MPs letter to Obama re. Modi
I have read letter of Mr Mohammad Adeeb M.P.(Rajya Sabha) published in
MG,1-15 August,2013.The reasons enumerated by Mr Adeeb are plausi-
ble enough to convince a person of even ordinary prudence that the sig-
natures in question are genuine and authentic.Mr Adeeb is right in asking
a probe so as to establish truth authoritatively.
Syed Khurshid Anwar, Advocate, Allahabad
anwarkhurshid7@gmail.com
Veiled threat by Sangh to JD (U)
RSS media head of state Rajesh Kumar Pandey has said that if JD (U)
issues a statement against Sangh in Bodhgaya bomb blast & mid-day
meals issues, Sangh will drag JD (U) to court for irresponsible statements
about RSS. Earlier Nitish Kumar had said that if he opened his mouth, BJP
would land in bigger trouble (MG/16-31 July 2013). This is shadow box-
ing which serves to divert attention. Certainly Indian democracy is not
transparent and parties and organisations bank on veiled threats to warn
others not to cross the limit. This has spoiled India democracy.
S. Haque, Patna
Perpetrators of mandir blast & Masjid demolishers
Mr. Uday Narain Choudhry, speaker Bihar assembly before monsoon ses-
sion, said: perpetrators of Bodh gaya mandir blasts were deshdrohi
(26/07/13). We agree but what about Masjid demolition? Are they
heroes? JD (U) shared powers with them for 17 long years. This is noth-
ing but pseudo-secularism. S. Haque, Patna
MG is proved right about Bihar media
The previous issues of MG explained how media was managed in Bihar
and for the lust of government ads and tender notices etc, media has sur-
rendered to the state government. It was a self-imposed censorship on
media by media people themselves. Urdu media too has become a pup-
pet of the state government. The three member committee set up by PCI
to inquire into the medias freedom in Bihar submitted a report to its coun-
cil on 23 July which PCI accepted. It is about how government imposed
censorship on media and media knelt down for ads. What MG has been
exposing proved right.
S. Haque, Patna
Riot in Kishtwar
That a trivial incident on the Eid day in Kishtwar had flared up into a major
communal strife is most unfortunate. Omar Abdullah was right in stop-
ping the BJP leader Arun Jaitley and Mehbooba Mufti of PDP from enter-
ing the affected areas, as both of them had apparently intended to fish in
the troubled waters. But Mr.Arun Jaitley had a chance to blow the entire
episode out of proportion in the Parliament. His diatribe that there is a
threat to Indias integrity and sovereignty and that the riots should not be
seen as merely an inter communal strife (meaning that there was Pakistan
hand) was outlandish. He also tried to mislead the house by saying that
one community was selectively targetedwhile it became clear through
print media that both the Hindus and Muslims were affected in the com-
munal riots. The Hindu carried a report, as how Muslims escorted the
Hindus and helped in performing a marriage in the midst of the riots. It is
obvious the BJP wants to leave no stone unturned to convert anything
under the sun into political opportunism as the general elections are draw-
ing closer.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin, KADAPA - 516001 (A.P)
sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in
U.S.As heinous crime against humanity
Jonathan Schells renowned book The Fate of The Earth (Picador, 1982)
on the horrors of nuclear weapons is scholarly and worth reading. He
begins with a graphic description of what happened when a 12.5 kiloton
fision bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 which trans-
formed a city of some 340000 people into hell in a few seconds. The
blast waves, the fires created by thermal pulse, the deadly black rain of
the mushroom cloud and radio active fall out took toll of 130000 people
who were killed instantly. Schell further writes The alternative is to sur-
render ourselves to absolute and eternal darknessin which no nation, no
society, no ideology, no civilization will remain, in which never again will
a child be born, in which never again will human beings appear on the
earth and there will be no one to remember that they ever did. Science
and technology should be utilized for removal of poverty, hunger, disease,
unemployment etc and not for bloodshed, death, destruction in
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Iraq, Afghanistan etc.
G. Hasnain Kaif, Nagpur - 13
Babas are leeches
The controversial godman Asaram Bapu is again embroiled in a case of
allegedly raping a minor in Jodhpur. This man is constantly in news but
for all wrong reasons. Dabholkar died fighting against all superstitions and
babas, whove hijacked peoples sense, sanity and sensibility. The ques-
tion is: why we believe in such spurious elements, who thrive on our gulli-
bility? This is indeed intriguing. All our education and sense of discretion
go to dogs when we genuflect before such frauds. Its time, we realised
that these babas are leeches, who suck the blood, money and modesty of
their credulous devotees.
Sumit Paul sumitmaclean@hotmail.com
Mohammad Rafi
Rafi was the best and will remain the best singer India will ever witness.
Lata is just a jealous woman who needs to get real and stop taking a pot
shot at a man who died many years ago. who not only is famous for his
impeccable singing but a great down to earth human being, maybe she
should take a leaf out of his book, shame on her !!!!!!!!.
Ravinder Singh (on MG website)
simplyzohrashamim@yahoo.co.uk
Indian Muslim leaders?
Indian Muslim leaders? Are they only so many? Look at the empty chairs
and the unrepresentative nature of the people on the 'dais'. Please change
the caption at least. This also shows how miserably the Jamaat-e-Islami
has failed in winning the confidence of Muslims and its leaders.
Khalid (on MG website) - khalidchinoy@gmail.com
MG: It is upto you to define and decide who are Indian Muslim leaders
in your view. The hall was jam-packed with journalists of both print and
electronic media and the reason why you see empty chairs in the front
row may be understood from the second photograph. It is due to the
TV cameras who require that no one sits in front of them so that they
get unhindered access to the speakers.
REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 September 2013 23 www.milligazette.com
The Milli Gazette, P.O. Box 9701, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025 Email: letters@milligazette.com Read more letters on MG website
RNI No. DELENG/2000/930 REGISTERED DL(S)-01/3215/2012-14
LICENCED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT U (SE)-57/2012-14
PUBLISHED ON 26 AUG 2013 POSTED ON 26-27 AUG 2013
ADV. FORTNIGHTLY AT NDPSO-110002
The Milli Gazette
D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar,
New Delhi 110025 India Tel.: 011-26947483 Email: edit@milligazette.com
24 The Milli Gazette,1-15 September 2013
Printed, published and owned by Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan and printed at Vibha Publication Pvt Ltd., D-160B, Sector-7, Noida, U.P. and published at D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave-I, New Delhi 110025.
Editor: Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
With best compliments from
Kaleem Kawaja , Washington DC
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