24 pages ` 15 ISSN 0972-3366 FORTNIGHTLY Vol. 15 No.6 Issue Serial # 340 facebook.com/milligazette www.milligazette.

com 16-31 March 2014

Campaign against UAPA 8
BJP & Muslims 2,3
Aam Admi Party 4,9
J&K 10 Analysis 11 Special Reports 3,13
Issues 2,11,13 Speaking Out 11 Books 21
Newsmakers 12 International 16-20
Community News 14-15 Islamic Perspectives 20
Our Publications 19 Classifieds 22 Letters 23
Inside
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WITHER AMBEDKARITES...6 RIOTS ARE ENGINEERED...9
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ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN
The Union Cabinets decision on 4 March to return 123 Delhi
waqf properties, occupied by various Central and Delhi govern-
ments depar tments, has been hailed as a great gesture.
Congratulations and even advertisements are regularly appearing
in the Urdu press thanking the UPA government for this historic
gesture. Is this gesture really great and historic or is it too-little-
too-late kind of step usually taken to woo Muslim voters in the
eleventh hour?
True, an amended waqf law was passed last August but Waqf
Properties (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupation) Bill 2014 is still
not passed which means that illegally occupied waqf properties
still cannot be rescued. A waqf development agency, National
Waqf Development Corporation Ltd (NAWADCO) was announced
last January but it is still not clear if this agency will be a boon or
a new mechanism to occupy and devour waqf lands.
There are an estimated 800,000 registered waqf properties in
India which include 600,000 acres of land, the largest in the
world. But the story of waqfs in Delhi and elsewhere in the coun-
try is painful. Way back in 1867, the British colonial government
in a bid to punish the Muslim community for its leading role in the
1857 revolt, took over all waqf properties in areas under its con-
trol. Muslims protested and refused to accept any compensation
for these properties. Ever since these properties are shown in rev-
enue records as government properties although in the use
column, mosque or graveyard is written. Later, in 1911-14, when
the British started to build New Delhi as the new capital of India,
many of these waqf properties were used to build this new city
adjacent to the Mughals Dilli. According to an estimate, around
77 percent of New Delhi stands on waqf lands, many of which
have been totally transformed while some, like mosques, dar-
gahs, mazars and madrasas, still stand in some form.
Since 1915, the ASI controls 174 Delhi waqf properties,
around 90 percent of which are disputed. After the creation of the
DDA in 1955, around 75 percent of Delhis remaining waqf lands
were given to this housing agency although Section 54-D of the
DDA Act clearly said that it will not acquire any land belonging to
any religion, i.e., graveyards, mosques, temples etc.
According to Azim Anwar, a former secretary of the Delhi
Waqf Board (DWB), no one ever went to court against the govern-
ment ordinances to acquire waqf properties starting from 1867.
He said that in 1996, when he was secretary of the Board, he tried
and failed to locate the file/documents under which the govern-
ment had acquired waqf lands.
An estimated 600 such Delhi waqf properties are still trace-
able. According to an RTI reply early this year, the Delhi Waqf
Board said that 114 of its lands are occupied by the DDA, 156 are
occupied by the ASI and 388 are occupied by other government
departments and agencies. Many cases about these properties
are pending in courts and in the Waqf Tribunal.
Some of the well-known cases of Delhi waqf lands occupa-
tion are CGO Complex, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi High
Court, Oberoi Hotel, Delhi Public School on Mathura Road, Anglo-
Arabic School, newspaper offices on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
IGI airport and umpteen central government offices. Over ten
acres of Delhis 34-acre Millennium Park, inaugurated by
LK Advani in 2002, are Waqf lands belonging to a graveyard.
Waqf suffered the most in West Bengal which has 184,000
waqf properties amounting to 31 percent of all waqf properties in
India. Some of them have been taken over by the CPIM to build its
offices.
The central and state waqf boards, all government agencies,
have been dens of corruption and tools for misappropriation of
waqf properties. Over the years many scams have come out from
West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra etc. Some of the most
famous include the prime waqf land in Bombay which was sold to
Mukesh Ambani for a mere 21.05 crore in 2003 when the market
value of the same was Rs 500 crore. Likewise, the Windsor
Manor Hotel of Bangalore, standing on land worth Rs 600 crore,
is leased out for a paltry Rs 12,000 per month. A staggering 70
percent of waqf lands have been encroached upon in Punjab
including 1600 acres of waqf land in Bhatinda. In 1997, the Tamil
Nadu Waqf Board took the decision to outright sell 1,710 square
feet of prime land in the commercial Triplicane High Street in
Madras for a paltry Rs 3 lakh. In Haryanas Faridabad, the Waqf
board has been leasing out about five acres of land on 11-month
leases for several years at ridiculously low rents ranging between
Rs 500 and Rs 1,500 per month. A factory was built at the place
and the land use altered. In Kolkata, Shaw Wallace was paying a
miniscule amount as rent for the palatial building at the BBD Bag
business district in Kolkata until the new Mutawalli of the Prince
Ghulam Mohammed Waqf Estate dragged the corporate house to
the court.
The situation did not change after independence. Demands
and protests continued but to no avail. When the DWB notified
some of its properties in 1970, the Central Government hastened
to file declaratory suits claiming the ownership of these proper-
ties despite the fact that most of them were mosques, graveyards,
graves and mausoleums.
As protests continued, Indira Gandhi government appointed
Burney Committee in 1984 which identified 247 such properties
and recommended their return to the DWB, a government agency
created to manage the registered waqfs in Delhi.
As a result of the controversy over the Burney report, anoth-
er committee headed by Mir Nasrullah was constituted soon
thereafter. Nasrullah Committee identified 321 waqf properties
under government occupation in Delhi and recommended their
return to the DWB.
The Central government, however, agreed to return only 123
of the properties listed by Burney Committee. But the order issued
by the Union Ministry of Works and Housing on 27 March, 1984
was so flawed that an early transfer could not take place. The
order, in particular, had said that these lands will be given to DWB
in perpetual lease on an annual charge of Re. 1 per property. In
other words, the Central government was to remain their owner
and the DWB was to use them only as a tenant. Soon the VHP
jumped into the fray and filed a case in the Delhi High Court
objecting to the transfer of government properties to a religious
community although the DWB too was a government agency
fully controlled by the government. The Delhi HC ordered a stay
which continued for the next 27 years.
Finally, the judges formed the opinion that the Waqf properties
are vested in the name of God and therefore the Government of
India cannot be the owner of these properties. Therefore, they
said, such properties should be transferred to the Waqf Board as
Waqf properties and not on perpetual leasehold basis. The
Court asked the Addl. Solicitor General to get the opinion of the
Central government on this mater. But since the Government failed
to come out with a clear stand, the judges on 12 January 2011
disposed of the Writ Petition (C) No. 1512/1984 and directed the
Central government to decide the matter within six months during
which status quo was to be maintained.
Ever since the Minority and Urban Affairs Ministries dragged their
feet and sought extension after extension of the six-month period
given by the Delhi HC. The issue of the remaining 124 properties
identified by Burney Committee remains conveniently forgotten.
The Central governments 4 March decision has come with
two unjust and cruel conditions: the government will not pay any
compensation for occupying and using those properties for all
these years, and the Delhi Waqf Board will have to withdraw all
court cases filed in this regard.
Continued on page 9
List of the 123 Waqf properties to be returned to DWB, p. 9
Return of 123 Waqf properties no reason to rejoice
There are an estimated 800,000 registered waqf
properties in India which include 600,000 acres
of land, the largest in the world. But the story of
waqfs in Delhi and elsewhere in the country is
painful. Way back in 1867, the British colonial
government in a bid to punish the
Muslim community for its leading role in the
1857 revolt, took over all waqf properties in
areas under its control.
...where in all the length and breadth of India
prayers are prohibited in churches, temples and
gurudwaras? This honour is reserved only for
mosques under the control of ASI and other
government departments.
A Delhi waqf property: let them rot, crumble and vanish
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JAVED JAMIL
A few months back, I had predicted that Narendra Modi will apol-
ogise some day close to the date of polling. Raj Nath Singh, the
President of Party, has already offered what people are not even
ready to accept as an apology. Modi is so desperate to become
Prime Minister, and feels so close to his ambition, that he can take
an extreme step for bridging whatever gap remains in his calcula-
tions between ambition and reality. By choosing to apologise, he
may win or neutralise enough Muslims votes to make sure that his
party touches the 272-plus mark.
But the focus on Modi or his role in Gujarat or his apologising
or not apologising are of no consequence in the background of
what BJP stands for in ideological terms.
The only big thing about Modi is that he can be regarded as
currently the most dangerous bowler of an old team that aims to
unite the religious majority of the country not on the basis of the
religion it professes but on the basis of the hatred towards
Muslims. It knows that there are so many contradictions in the
religious ideology Hindus profess and so many colours of the
people they represent in terms of caste and other identities that
they cannot be politically and socially united simply on the ground
of common faith. They have solid reasons to believe that their
political graph can rise only through creating and sustaining a fear
psychosis in the minds of Hindus related to Muslims. Their graph
rose when they demolished Babri Masjid. The polarization follow-
ing the 2002 Gujarat riots ensured that they would keep Gujarat
under their belt for a long time to come. Bringing the Hero of
those riots to the national stage would expand their political space
and now they are making last ditch efforts to include 7 Race
Course in this map.
Everything about BJP is farce. From ideology to practice, it is
draped in deception. Religion is an important part of human life;
it must in fact be the most important. Secularism in the Indian
context is not the negation of religion but synthesis of religious
values enshrined in different religions. Every community in India
has the right to practice and profess its religion. I do not agree
with those who want separation of religion and politics. Negation
of religion as such means total negation of the goodness of reli-
gion and the moral values that are associated with it. What is bad
is not the religionalisation of politics but politicisation of religion,
which often breeds communalism. If BJP had been preaching
religious values enshrined in Hindu Dharma, there was nothing
bad about it. If it had been fighting for the rights of Hindus, even
then it would not have created much of havoc. The problem with
BJP is that its definition of Hindutva, in practice if not in theory, is
based on its aversion of Muslims and Christians and everything
that is or can be made to look linked to them. They are not inter-
ested in introducing a Hindu vision to the constitution but in
demolishing the Muslim personal laws. They are not much fond
of building temples; they are more concerned about demolishing
existing mosques. They love singing Vande Mataram not
because of its inherent beauty but only because it irks Muslims
who find it hard to worship the land instead of the Creator of the
land. Even if they do not read their scriptures with any regularity,
they would want to impose it on Muslim pupils in schools. They
are not concerned about saving Hindu lives from fellow Hindus;
they derive pleasure if Muslims are killed. They are not campaign-
ing for bringing comfort to their fellow religionists; they are more
interested in teasing and harassing the Muslim populace. Even
their hatred towards Pakistan is based not on nationalism but on
hatred because Pakistan is a Muslim country. They count only the
Hindu dead or displaced. The Muslim counts hardly bother them.
When talking of Gujarat riots, they will shout about the deaths in
Godhra, the blame for which they have put on the heads of
Muslims without any proof, and would not want to count the dead
in the engineered riots that followed.
They forget that even for the deaths in the train, whoever the
killers or the victims, Gujarat government was responsible. First it
failed to protect the kar sevaks, and then allowed their deaths to
be used to provoke the carnage of thousands of Gujaratis, most
of whom were Muslims but also included some Hindus. In
Kashmir, they will keep counting the number of the Pandits killed,
which does not cross even a few hundreds mark, and would keep
mum on the killings of more than 40,000 Kashmiris.
The media is doing everything to help Modi. It is overplaying
the recent BJP attempts to appease Muslims and downplaying
Modis recent outbursts against Muslims. The national media and
to my amazement even the Muslim media has remained tight-
lipped on his outburst against meat marketing and exporting,
what he described as Pink Revolution. At least twice, he spoke
negatively about the facilities provided by the government to the
meat exporters.
When Modi or his folks talk of terrorism being a grave threat
for the country, it almost always means Muslim Terrorism. They
forget that more than 95 pc of the deaths in terrorist attacks in
India have been caused by terrorists who are identified as Hindus
in the Indian Constitution. Sometimes, they talk of Naxalites to
counter the Muslim-specific allegation because they regard
Naxalites and other leftists as the enemies of their self-styled
Dharma. Of course, the Tamils and Aseemanands do not weigh
much in their calculations. They always need some Muslim villain
to sustain their anti-Muslim psychological warfare. If they dont
find any, they manufacture them. During the last few years, they
took the name of Afzal Guru so many times that the people of the
country perhaps knew him better even than their President and
Union ministers. None in India happens to remember who killed
Rajiv Gandhi. They did not talk of 1984 riots till 2002. How can
they tolerate Hindus being punished for killing Sikhs? They start-
ed making it an issue only as a propaganda tool to silence the
Congress after the 2002 Gujarat riots. Nobody is reminding them
that the 1984 riots were the result of the brand of majorityism
which Hindutva Parivar has been propagating since
Independence, or to be more precise, since Partition. In the face
of Sikh militancy, this brand engulfed Congressmen too. But I am
sure, if the identity of rioters is fully disclosed, many of them will
be recognised as fathers of those who are active BJP protago-
nists today.
Modi has recently unfurled another flag of Hinduism. He vows
to take back every Hindu from any country of the world, if he or
she happens to migrate to India. And of course he would expel
every Muslim from this land whatever the reasons of his migra-
tion, even if his human rights have been violated in his country of
origin. Not only Bangladeshi Hindus are welcome and
Bangladeshi Muslims unwelcome, he may be thinking in terms of
preempting any possibility of Myanmar Muslims migrating to India
in the face of extreme levels of persecution there.
I can also not understand how secular people including
Muslims can be so appreciative of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Of
course, he might not have been as dangerous a bowler as Modi
is. But, of course, he was a member of the Hindutva team, a kind
of an all-rounder who can do something in all the matches.
Vajpayee was also a shrewd captain. He let the blame of Babri
Masjid demolition stick to Advani. He expressed anguish in the
evening of that black day of Indias history when Babri Majid was
demolished. But he never expelled Advani and others involved in
the act from the party. Advani became his Deputy Prime Minister
instead. He only reminded Modi of Raj Dharma in the wake of
Gujarat riots but did never punish him. Neither was he dismissed
from office nor expelled from the party. Advani has now settled
into the shoes of Vajpayee. If Modi becomes Prime Minister,
sooner or later, he will step into the shoes of Advani. Hopefully, he
does that before presiding over any countrywide riots that can
ensure him the highest post in the government till he is alive or till
a new faster bowler emerges in the ranks of Hindutva.
Dr Javed Jamil is a Delhi-based thinker and writer. He can
be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com
Recently some European exper ts of genetics and DNA (Dr
Colin Butcher, Dr Andrew Slater etc.) concluded that con-
trary to the derogatory belief, spread by rabid Hindus, that
all Sub- continental Muslims have the same ethnic DNA
pattern, i ts been found that nearl y 17 percent
Subcontinental Muslims have DNA affinity with Arab and
Central Asian Muslims.
People like Subramanyam Swami, Praveen Togadia and
some other Hindu zealots belonging to RSS have been say-
ing ad nauseam that all Muslims of India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh have genetic roots in the Sub-continent. In
other words, all had HINDU ancestors. While its par tially
true, its not a fact corroborated by recent ethnic studies
and genetic structuralism involving DNA patterns and gene
pools.
Many Indian and Pakistani Muslims do have Arab and
Central Asian DNA in them. Though its undergone dilution,
the gene roots and remnants are too strong to be denied
and completely erased.
Im against some Muslims showing unnecessary Arab
affinity, but an umbilical attachment with the Arab roots of
a few Muslims cannot always be called Arabification of the
Indian Muslims or Arab ethnocentrism of Subcontinental
Muslims.
Lastly, Rahul Sankrityayan, a Hindu Brahmin, who
embraced Buddhism, wrote in his celebrated book Volga
Se Ganga Tak that all Subcontinental Muslims were not
conver ts from Hinduism. Many of them embraced Islam
directly from paganism, which was different from the
paganism of Hinduism. So its erroneous to say that all
Muslims of India and Pakistan had Hindu ancestors.
Its wor thwhile to state that there was parallel pagan-
ism prevalent in the Subcontinent when Islam came into
being in the Arab peninsula some 1400 years ago. Those
followers of parallel paganism accepted Islam and they had
nothing to do with Hinduism. Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
mentioned this fact in one of his lectures at Oxford
University when he was the Spalding Professor of Eastern
Religions & Ethics. This was corroborated by Dr Ramdhari
Singh Dinkar in his book Sanskriti Ke Chaar Adhyay.
Some people must study before opening their mouths and
displaying their awful ignorance.
Is Cheering For Pakistan A Felony?
Nearly 60 Kashmiri students of the Swami Vivekananda
Subhar ti University in Meerut have been booked for sedi-
tion by the Uttar Pradesh government af ter they allegedly
cheered for the Pakistan cricket team against India in the
Asia Cup match between the two sides.
The students were al so expel l ed for three days after
they al l egedl y supported the Paki stan team. If the
Kashmi ri students fel t affi ni ty for Paki stan cri cket team,
i s i t that bi g an offence as to deserve rusti cati on from the
i nsti tute?
The legendary English cricket scribe Sir Neville Cardus
wrote in his book Cardus On Cricket that despite being a
true-bl ue Bri t, whenever there was a cri cket match
between England and Australia, he prayed that Victor
Trumper (Aussie batsman) must score a century but the
Australian team should lose the match!
In my case, though I happen to be an Indian, my
favourite team has always been West Indies, so much so
that even when theres a match between India and West
Indies, I unabashedly want the latter to win. My favourite
cricketers have never been Indian, though I like Sunil
Gavaskar a bit. The cricketers Ive idolised in life have
been the peerless Sir Gary Sobers, Conrad Hunte, the
famous 3Ws, Malcolm Marshall (all West Indians) and
Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan. Am I a traitor?
Should a person or groups fondness for other play-
ers and country be deemed as a felony (a very grave
offence)? Im unable to figure out.
SUMIT PAUL
sumitmaclean@hotmail.com
Subcontinental Muslims Do Have Genetic Affinity With Arabs
Apology or no apology, BJP remains untouchable
Modi has recently unfurled another flag of
Hinduism. He vows to take back every Hindu
from any country of the world, if he or she
happens to migrate to India. And of course he
would expel every Muslim from the land
whatever the reasons of his migration, even if
their human rights have been violated in their
country of origin.
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 3 www.milligazette.com
SM Mushrif refutes claim
in BJP advertisement,
threatens legal action
New Delhi: Celebrated author and former IG Police Maharashtra S.M. Mushrif has
strongly objected to an advertisement published by the Vapi unit of the BJP in some
newspapers including the Delhi edition of the Indian Express, 27 February. He has
stressed that he has been quoted out of context and sentences have been added to
what he actually said about Modi in an article in the Milli Gazette in April last year.
Mr Mushrif has demanded an apology and publication of denial in the same newspa-
pers where the said advertisement was published. Failing this he has said that he will
take legal action against the persons responsible for this advertisement which has
lowered his image in the public eye and has defamed him. Following is the full text of the letter which
has also been sent to the Indian Express, Chairman, Press Council of India, Election Commission of India
and President, BJP, Gujarat State:
S.M. Mushrif
IPS (Retd.)
Date: 28-02-2014
To,
The National President,
Bhartiya Janta Party
This has a reference to the advertisement published by Vapi unit of the BJP in the Delhi edition of the
Indian Express dated 27th Feb. 2014 (copy is attached). In the advertisement, apparently aimed at pro-
jecting Gujarat C.M. Mr. Narendra Modi as the BJPs Prime Ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha elec-
tions 2014, following sentences have been attributed to me:
The most safe place for Muslims today is Gujarat. I dealt with several states. But no Chief Minister
is as good, as strong and determined as Modi. Now even Muslims realize that Modi is good for them.
I would like to point out that the part of the above quote viz. I dealt with several states. But no Chief
Minister is as good, as strong and determined as Modi. Now even Muslims realize that Modi is good for
them is absolutely wrong. I have never said so or written so anywhere.
So far as the first sentence, viz., The most safe place for Muslims today is Gujarat is concerned,
it was only a part of a sentence from my article published in the English fortnightly The Milli Gazette
in its issue dated 1-15 April 2013. But this is not the full sentence and hence does not correctly convey
my point of view. The full sentence was as follows: The most safe place for Muslims today is Gujarat,
only because its Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has banned entry to the IB in Gujarat. This sen-
tence is followed by three sentences, viz., After spending more than 40 years in the RSS, Mr. Modi has
now understood the games the hardcore elements in the RSS have been playing in the guise of the IB.
After banning IB, the Muslim atrocities in Gujarat have stopped. That is what is required to be done if
we want to put a full stop to fake encounters, false terror attacks, their fabricated investigations and
arrests of innocent Muslim boys. These four sentences taken together bring out my point home cor-
rectly.
But by quoting only a part of the sentence from my article out of context and also by wrongly attribut-
ing many more sentences to me, your Vapi unit has lowered my image in the public eye and has
defamed me. Moreover, courtesy demanded that the office-bearers concerned obtained my prior per-
mission before using my name and photograph in the advertisement of your political party. But they
have failed to do so. Thus, they are liable for action, both criminal & civil.
You are hereby requested to give suitable clarification in this regard and ensure that the same is
prominently published in all the newspapers in which the above advertisement has been published, fail-
ing which I shall be constrained to take criminal and/or civil action against the party.
Thanking you,
With regards,
S.M. Mushrif
Copy to : 1) The Editor, Indian Express
2) The Chairman, Press Council of India
3) The Election Commission of India
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 few months and to release it in a
big convention at Delhi as a combined effort of major Muslim and civil rights organisations, and
thereafter present this huge document of over 600 large format pages to politicians, media,
human rights organisations, especially outside the country, in order to enlighten public opinion
at home and abroad as well as to build pressure on our blind and deaf government.
The estimated cost of this white paper is Rs 35 lakh divided as follows: Rs 15 lakh cost of
preparation and payments to contributors plus six months salaries to researchers and experts;
Rs 15 lakh for designing and printing the document in a world-class format; while the grand 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
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Basic requirements: good command over English, interest in and knowledge
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New Delhi: More than half
and annual budget of his
ministry is spent on schol-
arships and fellowships
programme, Minority
Affairs Minister K. Rahman
Khan said here on
4 March.
During 2012-13 and 2013-14 so far, the
ministry has spent more than Rs. 3,600 crore to
award scholarships to more than 1.58 crore
minority students, he said.
The minister was speaking after launching
the Maulana Azad Sehat Scheme, a health
scheme for minority institutions.
Under it, a health card would be issued to
every student of minority institutions financially-
aided by the Maulana Azad Education
Foundation.
Preventive health check-up camps would
be organised twice a year through government
or private hospitals or nursing homes.
Health care centres will also be set up in
the educational institutions to provide daily
medical facilities to the students.
The minister also launched a project for ori-
entation and development of faculties of minor-
ity institutions.
The Nalanda Project will be run by Aligarh
Muslim University for orientation and develop-
ment of faculty.
The need for faculty development pro-
grammes in higher education is immense for
several reasons, like increases in the com-
plexity of higher education, demands from
internal and external constituencies and the
necessity to balance teaching, scholarship,
service and personal responsibilities, the
minister said.
Multi-lingual dictionary of the
Quran released
New Delhi: Third edition of Multi Lingual Dictionary of the Holy Quran written by Zameer Ahmad
Muzmir, journalist was released by JDU-MP Ali Anwar Ansari at a function held here on
16 January. Speaking on this occasion the MP said that Zameer Ahmad took 17 years to prepare
this dictionary. Its first edition was released by Bihars chief minister Nitish Kumar on 20 April
2011 whereas its second edition was released by Prof Manal Shah Qadiri in Kolkata in which
Bengali language was also added and today its third edition is being released. Zameer Ahmad
while speaking on this occasion said that this dictionary, which is the first of its kind in the world
has been very much appreciated in 26 countries of the world and the objective of compiling this
dictionary is that people should study the Quran. In addition to Ali Anwar Ansari, this dictionary
was simultaneously released by Uttam Sen Gupta, N. K. Singh and Rashtriya Sahara (Urdu)s edi-
tor Syed Faisal Ali. (N. A. Ansari)
Mr Abdur
Razzaque son
of Abdul
Qayyoom, age
36, resident of
Nayapura,
Indore is miss-
ing since
12 November
2013. Please contact if you find him or
know anything about him at mobile no.
0-9826091775
MISSING
Half of minority affairs ministry funds go for scholarships
4 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
N
ew Delhi: A National Convention of Minorities sponsored
by All India Minority Intelligentsia Forum was held at
Aiwan-e Ghalib, New Delhi on 22 February in which repre-
sentative of Aam Admi Party were also invited. Draft of a
manifesto including problems and difficulties of Muslims was also
presented to AAP leaders. In his keynote address the Forums con-
vener Prof Anwar Pasha while explaining the aims and objectives of
this convention said that we want to cooperate and render our
support to the war against corruption and injustice started by the
Party and it is our duty to give our full support to them. He said that
though in addition to corruption there are many other issues in
AAPs political agenda, many important issues and problems per-
taining to Muslims are not in this agenda. Hence we want these
problems of Muslims also to be brought to their notice.
Prof Pasha said that Muslims are the biggest minority of
this country but in many spheres discrimination is meted out to
them deliberately because of which problems of Muslims
demand special attention. He said that since AAP wants real
swaraj to be established it is necessary that problems of this
section of the countrys population also should be taken up hon-
estly so that their confidence could be restored. He said that
security, educational and economic empowerment, their repre-
sentation in government jobs, removal of discrimination against
them etc are problems which need immediate attention. He said
that innocent Muslims, par ticularly educated and promising
youths are falsely implicated in fabricated terrorist and other
unlawful cases because of which the entire community is pro-
jected in a negative and suspicious light. For Muslims neither
good educational institutions are available nor suitable represen-
tation in government jobs is given to them because of which
even 65 years after Independence they have perforce to lead a
life of penury, fear and helplessness.
AAPs spokesperson Anand Kumar said while speaking on this
occasion that the problems raised in this Forum were really very
important which they would raise strongly. He said that they would
not allow injustice to be meted out to any section of the country,
adding that Aam Aadmi Party is a movement against any kind of
oppression, injustice and exploitation. Delhis former law minister
Somnath Bharti said in response to the issues raised by Prof Anwar
Pasha that AAP will not allow injustice against Muslims at any level
and they (AAP) will not have to come to them for demanding their
rights. Rather, they themselves would go to them and give them
their rights.
In his speech he also made many interesting revelations and
described how the law ministrys officers mislead the minister.
Speaking about the secretary to the law ministry he said that he
wanted to send forward many files without showing them to me
but I stopped this. He said that when I personally saw the files I
came to know what strange ways and tactics they have been
adopting for indulging in corrupt practices. He said that in some
cases big amounts of Rs 2 lakh were being given to lawyers for
handling and pleading cases which were never filed in courts. He
reiterated that they would not allow injustice to be done to Muslims
at any level and they would not have to come to them for demand-
ing their rights but they themselves would go to their doors to give
them their rights. He said that both Congress and BJP were once
again trying to mislead oppressed sections of this country.
Attacking Narendra Modi he said that they would never allow him to
be the prime minister of the country. He also said that he was try-
ing to learn things from the life of Prophet of Islam and these days
he is also studying the Holy Quran.
Irfanullah Khan, a member of AAPs political affairs committee
said while expressing his views that his party is paying serious
attention to Muslim issues and finding out the views of Muslim
leaders and intellectuals. He said that the entire system has become
so bad that without improving it neither Muslims nor Hindus can get
justice. Many others also including Abdur Rahman Aabid, MS Bhat
of Jamia Teachers Association, Luqman Nadvi etc expressed their
views at this Convention.
SIT enquiry demanded into
pre-poll surveys
New Delhi: A sting operation on pre-poll surveys has created a stir
in national politics and has exposed political parties as well as the
media, particularly electronic media. Aam Admi Party (AAP) has
questioned the so-called electronic media and has demanded that
together with the sting operation on pre-poll surveys, all opinion
polls conducted in the past should be got enquired into by a SIT
appointed by the Supreme Court to find out what kind of conspira-
cy was being hatched and by whom and the motive behind such
opinion polls. AAP leaders have gone to the extent of saying that
media houses should introspect as to what they were doing.
It may be stated that recently a private news channel had
shown a sting operation on pre-poll survey in which, according to
political parties it was claimed that political parties arrange such
surveys and show them on news channels. A press conference on
sting operation was arranged in the Constitution Club, Delhi in
which Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, par-
ticularly Kejriwal had demanded of the Election Commission, that all
opinion polls conducted during the past one year should be inves-
tigated into. He is also stated to have said in reply to a question that
if his party forms the government after the Parliamentary elections,
it will get all opinion polls or poll surveys investigated. Also, what
dubious tactics the media was adopting will also be investigated
because many irregularities and dubious means were being adopt-
ed by media houses. He also demanded that sources of income of
media authorities and editors should also be found out and if they
do not cooperate in disclosing their incomes and their sources,
legal action should be taken to compel them to disclose their
incomes and sources. He also demanded that the tape of sting
operation regarding pre-poll surveys should also be examined. If
the sting operation is wrong, action should be taken against such
bogus surveys and surveyors.
Regarding large crowds in Modis rallies he said that it is no
longer a secret now that huge amounts of money were spent for
arranging crowds not only in Modis but also in Congress leaders
rallies. AAPs spokesperson Yogendra Yadav said that we are
against banning of poll surveys because he himself is an expert on
poll surveys and such surveys are conducted all over the world but
Election Commission should lay down suitable rules for poll sur-
veys and action should be taken against those who violate these
rules.
At the end it may be stated in this connection that demand for
enquiry into pre-poll surveys by SIT has been raised because alle-
gations have been made that pre-poll survey companies, after get-
ting money (bribe) from political parties can, and do change the fig-
ures in favour of concerned parties so as to create a psychological
effect in the voters minds that if a party is shown in a winning posi-
tion, in many cases voters change their mind and tend to believe
that if a particular party is likely or most likely to win, they also tend
to vote for that party on the election day. The companies or agen-
cies that conduct pre-poll surveys do sometimes indulge in jugglery
of figures and on pretext of margin of error can increase or
decrease the number of seats a particular party can capture in the
polls.
When the Chief Election Commissioner V. S. Sampath was con-
tacted in this connection he did not say anything about the news
regarding the role of money in opinion polls surveys but said that
he had sent his views on the opinion polls long back to the govern-
ment. It is now for the government to take action on his views as it
deems fit. He said that the Commission would consider the claims
made by a TV channel which had carried out sting operations
against some companies which conduct opinion poll surveys
before elections. He said that as regards opinion polls, the commis-
sion had expressed its views a decade ago after holding an all-party
meeting and listening to their views and had made its own recom-
mendations, adding that the ball was now in the governments
court.
N. A. ANSARI
AAP assures, it will include Muslim
problems in its election manifesto
Reality of Gujarats development
model: debt of Rs 1,53,000 crores
Ahmedabad: BJP and Gujarats chief minister Narendra Modi
are presenting Gujarat as a model of progress and develop-
ment but the truth is that this state is facing a debt of
Rs 1,53,000 crores, Rs 33000 crores more than its total
budget of Rs 1,20,000 crores. According to the Reserve Bank
of India, by the end of the current financial year (march 2014)
the debt of the state will be Rs 1,53,000 croes, annual inter-
est on which will be Rs 12,000 crores which the state will
have to pay. According to RBIs estimate, the estimated annu-
al budget of the state for the financial year 2014-15 will be
Rs 1,20,000 crores and by March 2014 the states debt will
be approximately Rs 1,45,000 crores which will become more
than Rs 1,53,000 crore by the end of the year and with this,
its will become one of the 5 states of the country which are
heavily indebted.
The States finance minister Nitin Patel says that Gujarat is
taking loans for increasing facilities in the fields of education,
health, Narmada Canal, Sardar Sarovar Dam, irrigation and for
other basic requirement so that along with facilities in these
fields, employment will also increase. He feels that because of
the Narmada Canal and additional facilities of irrigation, agri-
cultural production will increase and Gujarats progress also
will become faster.
It may be stated that states like Maharashtra, UP, West
Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are more indebted than Gujarat
but the population of these four states is also more than that
of Gujarat as is evident from the following table
Maharashtra Total debt of Rs 2,94,000 crores
U P do Rs 2,35,100 - do -
West Bengal do Rs 2,54,300 - do -
AP do Rs 1,85,300 - do -
Gujarat do Rs 1,53,000 - do -
It is also worth mentioning that from 1991 till date there have
been ups and downs in Gujarats rate of progress. During the
period of former chief minister Keshavbhai Patel the ratio of
progress was the maximum i.e. 19.33 percent and during the
period of former chief minister Chamanbhai Patel the ratio of
progress was 16 percent. During Shankar Singh Vaghelas
regime this ratio was 7.58 percent, and in 2001 when Modi
was the chief minister, the ratio of progress was 02.89 percent
which went up to 11.25 percent in 2010 and now it stands at
8.53 percent.
In Gujarat, daily wage earners who
earn Rs 11 in villages and Rs 17 in
cities are not poor
Ahmedabad: Gujarats Food and Civil Supplies Department
said in a circular that people earning more than Rs 11 in vil-
lages and Rs 17 in cities will not be considered poor and will
not be covered under Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. In
other words, only those earning less than Rs 324 a month in
villages and less than Rs 501 a month in cities (per head) are
eligible to be considered under the BPL category. These guide-
lines have been put on its official website.
In 2011 when the Planning Commission had informed the
Supreme Court in 2011 that the poverty line for the urban and
rural areas could provisionally be placed at Rs 965 per capita
per month or, say about Rs 32 per day and Rs 781 per capita
per month or, say about Rs 26 per capita per day respective-
ly, Narendra Modi himself and the BJP had criticised and made
fun of the Planning Commissions figures. Now the Modi gov-
ernment in Gujarat is in the same position but both Modi and
BJP are silent on this new definition of rural and urban poor
but it has earned the ire of some political parties, including
Congress and CPI. Whereas Congress spokesperson Ms
Shobha Oza said that Modi and BJP raised a big hue and cry
when the Planning Commission had stated Rs 32 and
Rs 26 as the standard of poverty in urban and rural areas
respectively. CPI leader Atul Anjan said that the Gujarat model
of development should be dismissed as these figures are
shocking. If this Gujarat model is what Modi wants to bring for
the nation, the country will be in grave danger. Ali Anwar, Janta
Dal (U) said that the new guidelines have exposed Modis tall
claims about poverty alleviation.
AAPs intense
struggle against BJP
can help Muslims
KALEEM KAWAJA
T
he unfortunate happenings in the last few days in Delhi and
Lucknow, where BJP workers attacked and brutalised AAP
workers when they were protesting against BJP, are a sad
event for democracy in India. The totally unwarranted
detention of Kejriwal by the police in Modis Gujarat, and the vio-
lent attack on a car in which AAP volunteers were travelling, was
obviously meant to scare away AAP workers who were on a fact-
finding tour of various cities in Gujarat to verify Modis claims of
big development in the state.
When AAP workers protested against that in New Delhi and
Lucknow, they were brutally beaten up by BJP workers. Also the
police sided with the BJP and arrested several AAP volunteers and
leaders while turning a blind eye to the violence of the BJP goon-
das.
For the Indian Muslim community such BJP violence and
police high-handedness is not news as they have repeatedly
suffered from it in many cities over decades. The memories of
Muzaffarnagar, Gujarat, Mumbai, and the many fake police
encounters that have continued to cause havoc in the Muslim
community in recent years are only too fresh. And in each of
those violent incidents the mainstream media stopped covering
them just a couple of days after they occurred. In many
instances they did the same to the BJP and uppercaste brutal-
ities against Dalits.
What is new this time is that the national media is giving full
coverage to BJPs violence on AAP volunteers and police bias for
BJP; the AAP volunteers being mostly upper caste Hindus.
These unfortunate incidents in Gujarat, Delhi and Lucknow
have also made AAP broaden its attack from mostly Congress
Party so far, to the BJP.
In the weeks to come AAP is likely to expose more of the lies
that BJP and Modi with the active help of the mainstream media,
have been dumping on the nation for many years.
Much as this awful scenario is most repulsive and a black
stain on the very institution of democracy in India, its continu-
ing wide coverage in the media is a relief and good news for
the beleaguered Muslim community. For sure it will validate the
hues and cries of the suffering Muslims who have been simi-
larly brutalised for so long in the minds of many an upper-
caste and secular Hindu and the middle class Indians. And the
attention of the middle class Indians, who have been ignoring
such bad news about the core characteristic of the BJP and
their allies - the police and media, will focus on those grievous
ills.
It is also worth noting that one of the prominent AAP leaders
in the protests who is receiving good media coverage in the last
few days is Shazia Ilmi, a Muslim TV journalist, who is also one
of the top leaders of AAP. That will also ingrain in the minds of the
TV audience that indeed Muslims are taking prominent role in
major national movements. It may help rebut the allegation that
Muslims are unconcerned about national happenings.
Let us hope that these unfortunate events will also help more
middle class Muslims get over their suspicions of AAP to become
active in AAPs programmes to reform the political system in the
nation.
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 5 www.milligazette.com
New Delhi: A historical Jama Masjid in Gurgaons Naurangpur vil-
lage of Haryana, stated to be about 300 years old of the Moghal
period was demolished by some unknown persons on the night of
12 February. It is also stated that the Masjids Imam, Maulana
Muhammad Qasim who used to lead Namaz had to run away for
fear of his life. When the news of the demolition of this mosque
came to be known in Delhi, Hafiz Muhammad Javed a social
worker who is also working for the protection of mosques, along
with a few other persons visited the place of demolition and in
meetings with Police Commissioner Alok Mittal and Joint
Commissioner (Crime) Mr. Vivek conveyed the deep shock and
anger of Muslims over the demolition of this mosque. He demand-
ed the registration of an FIR against all those responsible for the
demolition of this mosque and their arrest. According to local
Muslims a local person Hoshiar Singh is said to be the main per-
son responsible for demolition of this mosque. It is also said that
JCB (machine) was used for the demolition of this mosque which
took several hours.
Imam Bukhari of Delhis Jama Masjid, after coming to know
about the demolition of this mosque talked over the phone to
Police commissioner Mittal and told him that such things would
not be tolerated. He also blamed Haryana Waqf Board for its neg-
ligence which led to the demolition of this mosque. Surprisingly,
people who are accused of the demolition and are being held
responsible for it, have themselves filed an FIR. What is equally
surprising is that in this FIR there is no mention of the demolition
of the mosque but that of a paathshala which has been demol-
ished. It is stated in the FIR registered by the police on the com-
plaint of local people that formerly a paathshala used to be run at
this place which was shifted from here after some time. After
shifting of the pathshalla the place became uninhabited and turned
into ruines. Waqf Board also laid claim to this land for which a
case is going on in the Collectors court. Any way, the police
statement is that some unknown people demolished this patshala
on the night of 12 February with the help of JCB machine. Hence
an FIR should be filed against unknown people. In any case police
had filed a case under sections 448, 427 and 120 B of IPC,
though Hafiz Javed again claimed that this is not a pathshala but
Shahi Masjid and only yesterday, while touring this place, he had
led Namaz at this place.
Jamat Islami Hinds Ameer of Delhi and Haryana regions,
Abdul Hameed and Head of Muslims for International Peace
and Brotherhood, M. Shahab Haidar also strongly condemned
the demolition of this mosque and asked Manmohan Singh,
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to take strong notice of this
illegal act and question the Bhoopendra Singh Hooda govern-
ment for such illegal activities. He also demanded these peo-
ple to identify those black sheep in the Congress who are fan-
ning communalism which resulted in the demolition of this
mosque.
Countrys bureaucracy has
a biased mindset
Aligarh: Former president of AMU Students Union, Khalid
Masood, who has now been appointed Chairman of Fakhruddin
Ali Ahmad Committee said while talking to media persons in AMU
Old Boys Associations Conference Hall on 19 February that com-
munal riots of Muzaffarnagar and its suburban areas are a black
spot on the country, for which every respectable citizen of the
country is ashamed. He said that it is unfortunate that our coun-
trys bureaucracy itself is biased and communal minded, adding
what would be a greater misfortune than that of a home secretary
of the country (and a top police officer) holding a very important
post immediately after retirement joining communal bodies like
RSS and BJP? He said that this mindset needs to be changed
because when top bureaucrats of the country have a communal-
ist mentality, how the country can be governed justly and impar-
tially.
In reply to a question he said that Congress during its rule
has disappointed Muslims and AMU because if it would have
been serious and honest, it could have got a bill passed in
Parliament giving minority character to AMU but it did not, in
spite of many requests by Muslim leaders and organisations.
He said that they wanted Mulayam Singh, who had given all
cooperation to Muslims, to include minority character of AMU
in his par tys election manifesto. He said that though they may
belong to any place or par ty but when the question of interests
of AMU arises all work jointly for its welfare. He said their other
demands to Mulayam Singh are to exclude electric supply of
AMU from commercial category because this is an education-
al institution and hence AMU campus should be included in the
domestic category for the purpose of electric supply. In addi-
tion to this they want that Kendriya Bhandar in AMU should be
exempted from VAT (Value added tax) so that students could
get cheaper food. At the same time they would also try and
request him to find a solution so that the government colony
adjacent to Sayyad Gate, named Ganga Colony, could be shift-
ed somewhere else so that this place would be made available
to the university. He also strongly pleaded for restoration of
AMU Students Union because it has always struggled for the
progress of Muslims and also made way for Muslim leadership
and in the absence of Students Union there is a void in Muslim
leadership in the country.
N. A. ANSARI
G
uwahati: The University of Science &
Technology Meghalaya (USTM) hosted
a national seminar on Educational sta-
tus of Minority Women in North East
India: Challenges & Future Prospects in Techno
City on the outskirts of Guwahati on 1 March.
The event was supported by the Union Ministry
of Minority Affairs.
Shamsul Hoque Mazumdar, former Director,
Planning & Development, Govt of Assam offered
a presentation on the role of govt departments
and organisations in promoting education
among minority women. Prof Monirul Husain of
the Depar tment of Sociology of Gauhati
University gave in his keynote address a per-
spective of the historical and political aspects
that affect the spread of education among the
minority communities of the region.
Prof PK Abdul Azis, VC, USTM lamented that
even after 65 years of independence, the vast
majority of Muslim men and women in the inte-
rior areas of Assam still remain illiterate as a
result of which they are not only deprived of all
schemes the Govt has introduced over the years
for their uplift but also their patriotism and citi-
zenship are put to question for this reason.
All together 25 papers on diverse topics and
relating to different states of the North East were
presented in the technical sessions.
Among the papers that drew appreciation
were Reproductive health needs of Assamese
Muslim women: a case study of Bongaon Block
by Prateeti Barman; Minority Muslim girls in
Manipur: an analytical study of their enrolment in
elementary education by Anu Devi; Issues and
concerns of women workers at brick kilns: case
study of a brick kiln at Panikhaiti by Abdul
Kalam Azad; and Need for counselling among
minority women affected by ethnic violence in
Assam by Tahera Hoque Mazumdar.
(Excerpted from Nurul Islam Laskar, muslimmir-
ror.com)
Govt at sea over ISIs
secret contacts with
riot victims
New Delhi: Union minister of state for home
affairs, RPN Singh said in written reply to a
question by Pradesh Javdekar in the Rajya
Sabha that government has no information about
ISI contacting some riot-affected people of
Muzaffarnagar, adding that according to infor-
mation available from the central secret agency
(IB) he has no information to suggest or give the
impression that ISI was in touch with the youth
or family members of the minority community
who were affected by the Muzaffarnagar com-
munal riots. It may be recalled that Delhi police
had claimed in January that two suspected
members of Lashkar-e Taiyyaba had met two
persons in Muzaffarnagar area but it also denied
that the two concerned persons were riot-affect-
ed people or that they were in any way connect-
ed with the riots. It may also be recalled that
Rahul Gandhi also had claimed in October last
year (2013) that an intelligence bureau member
had told him that after the riots ISI agents had
tried to contact some members of the minority
community to recruit them. This statement of
Rahul Gandhi was severely criticised by many
Muslim as well as BJP leaders and had demand-
ed that he names those persons with whom ISI
was in touch. UP police also had denied any
information about ISI or any Pakistani terrorist
organisation getting in touch with members of
the minority community to recruit them.
Seminar on minority womens education in North East
Historical mosque demolished in Gurgaon
Israel of the East taking shape while India sleeps
Solomans Temple
being built quietly for
the past 30 years
A new sect of Christians has been building a temple in Aizwal,
capital of Indias north eastern state of Mizoram, thousands of
miles away from Jerusalem in a lush green forest. This new edi-
fice is named by this sect as Solomans Temple, a sort of alter-
native to Israels proposed Solomans Temple which they plan to
build after demolishing Al Aqsa Mosque, conspiracy for which is
being hatched for the past many decades.
This temple in Aizwal continues to be built rather unnoticed for the
last three decades. The building of this temple of white stones is
spread over about 3000 sq. metres and is visible from a great dis-
tance. This sect of Christians which calls itself Holy Church
claims that this Mizo Soloman temple is double or an alternative
of the real Solomans Temple which was demolished by the
Roamns in the year 70 CE. This sect firmly believes that in the
Bible, Mizoram is the eastern city where Jerusalem is hidden and
where resurrection of Jesus Christ will take place.
It is indeed surprising that a rather unknown sect has been
quietly building a grand place of worship in Mizoram for the past
30 yeas or so but it has gone unnoticed by the people, media and
authorities although it could result into a great controversy and
become a catalyst for cession from India. It is surprising that the
Indian government and umpteen secret agencies have failed to
take serious notice of this development so far.
It is equally surprising that a new Christian sect is building a
place of worship of Jews. It is still a mystery as to who is financ-
ing this huge project, wherefrom and how the money is coming to
India and what is the ultimate object of building the temple.
The story of the building of this place of worship and the fol-
lowers of this sect is also strange. A state government official
L. B. Sylo had introduced this new sect. He claimed in his book,
The Mystery of Elects, that Mizos are favourites of God. In proof
of his claim he has given references of history and religious
books. Mizo people had embraced Christianity in the last decade
of the 19th century under protest and now Dr Sylo claims that he
is born to carry this mission forward.
Two years after the publication of his book he had claimed
that God had appeared to him in his dream and ordered him to
build a place of worship. He even claims that in his dream God
had given him the map and design of this place of worship in
which indications were given about the minarets, pillars etc and
entry gates on all sides were also indicated.
The foundation stone of this place of worship was formally
laid on 25 December 1996 though minor works had been going
on for years in the past. The temple is expected to be completed
by 2016. This project will cost 3 million US dollars which is
claimed to be coming as gifts and donations from the believers of
this faith.
It is still not known what the population of the believers of this
faith is, where they live and how much money they donate for this
project. It is also not known if the government has ever tried to
enquire into all this dubious activity. The believers and tourists
who visit this temple are given an 8-page write-up which states
that Solomans Temple is reborn and in this the dream of Gods
slaves has materialised. It is further
stated in this pamphlet that since God
has abandoned Israels Solomans
temple, a new community has built
this new Solomans Temple in a new
land. It also says that for about two
thousand years followers of
Christianity have built temples, cathe-
drals and churches but no one built
Gods abode. Hence this Solomans
temple will now serve as His abode.
Building of this temple in a sensi-
tive region of India, thousands of miles
away from Israel, has created a stir
everywhere. After the coming into light
of this place of worship the question
arose if the Indian government is
unaware of the construction of this
huge building which is being con-
structed for the past 30 years. Effort is being made to make this
temple an architectural marvel, Stones are being brought from
Rajasthan and the temple will enjoy all kinds of modern facilities.
There will also be an underground parking for 300 cars. The
Central Hall with a capacity of 3000 devotees will be fully air-con-
ditioned. A small loud-speaker will be installed on each bench.
For the past few years this place of worship is a centre of
attraction for tourists. According to the supervisor of this temple,
HT Derbo in addition to tourists from Meghalaya and Mizoram,
tourists from Britain, Germany, US, France, Portugal, Japan,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and African countries regularly
go there.
According to Derbo, who is a retired agricultural officer, this
temple has been honoured with Green Mizoram Award because
hundreds of trees have been planted in the precincts of this place
of worship. According to him, when an appeal was made for vol-
untary work and cooperation for expediting the construction work,
about 700 persons had been voluntarily working daily on it. The
followers of this new faith claim that the fame of this place of wor-
ship is spreading far and wide and that the number of followers of
this faith is also increasing by the day. (N. A. Ansari)
Soloman Temple at Aizwal - the Jewish Star of David adores the main minaret
RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
On 28 February Ramvilas
Paswan of Lok Janshakti
Party joined the NDA
alliance. Same Paswan had
left the NDA twelve years
ago after the Gujarat car-
nage, saying that with the
violence in Gujarat he can-
not be part of NDA. This time his son offered the
face-saver when he said that Modi has received
a clean chit in the Gujarat carnage. Few days
later another Dalit leader, Udit Raj, joined BJP
with the assurance of being given a ticket for the
forthcoming elections. In Maharashtra, Ramdas
Athwaley of the Republican Party of India has
become part of NDA, and succeeded in being
nominated for Rajya Sabha, the upoer house of
Parliament. There are many others Dalits in the
fold of BJP directly or via the NDA for a pre-poll
alliance.
Most of these leaders claim to be working
on the path shown by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
Ambedkar was committed to the annihilation of
caste and was totally opposed to the concept of
Hindu nationalism, as propounded by the RSS.
During the freedom struggle when three
types of nationalisms were in vogue, Indian
Nationalism, Muslim Nationalism and Hindu
nationalism, the majority of the people of India
supported and followed the path of Indian
nationalism. Majority Hindus were for Indian
nationalism, the majority of Muslims were also
for Indian nationalism. It was the elite, the land-
lords, the princely rulers who began communal
streams and were later joined in by a section of
affluent upper castes of those religions. The
British manipulation kept fuelling the fire of reli-
gious nationalism. Muslim nationalism turned in
the separatist direction and their demand for
Pakistan came to the forefront. Hindu national-
ists accepted the religion-based nationalism but
denied the demand of Pakistan on the ground
that this had been a Hindu nation from times
immemorial.
This whole formulation of a Hindu nation
from ancient times is an invalid concept, as the
very idea of a nation-state is a modern concept.
So in the revised edition of his book, Partition of
India, Dr. Ambedkar opposed the formation of
Pakistan on the ground that formation of
Pakistan may pave the way for Hindu Raj and If
Hindu Raj becomes a reality, it would be the
greatest menace to this country. Whatever
Hindus may say does not make a difference
because Hinduism is a danger to Independence,
Equality and Brotherhood. Thus it is an enemy of
democracy. We should make all out efforts to
stop Hindu Raj from becoming a reality
(Pakistan or Partition of India, p. 358).
Here what Ambedkar is referring to as
Hinduism is the Brahmanical Hinduism, the ide-
ological ground of Hindutva, the agenda of the
RSS combine.
Ambedkar did lay the foundations of the
Dalit movement, and went on to form Scheduled
Castes Federation (SCF) in due course before
conceptualising the Republican Party of India.
On the eve of First General elections in 1952
which was to begin the process of adult suf-
frage, the SCF, forged an alliance with Praja
Socialist Party (PSP) led by Jaya Prakash
Narayan. The manifesto of SCF ruled out
alliance with any reactionary party such as
Hindu Mahasabha and Jan Sangh (the previous
avatar of BJP) (quoted from Gopal Guru citing
Ambedkars letters to Gaikwad, EPW, 16 Feb.,
1991, pp. 280-296). He was the one who could
see the long-term agenda of Jan Sangh-Hindu
Mahasabha of Hindu Rashtra which was totally
opposed to secular democratic India. His basic
motto was educate, organise and struggle for
caste annihilation and for the values of substan-
tive Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. He was
aware that this process -- educate and organise
to struggle is possible only in a democratic set
up, so alliance with Hindutva political outfits was
ruled out, out of hand.
But what is happening today? Since the last
several years a new Dalit leadership has
emerged, which on one hand represents a fac-
tion of this group and on the other has personal-
family electoral ambitions. So in the short term,
for their personal benefits they have been sitting
in the lap of communal parties. Namdeo Dhasal,
the great poet went with Shiv Sena, which had
created hell with the publication of Amdekars
Riddles of Hinduism. Ramdas Athwaley is
again with the communal forces which have
given him a Rajya Sabha seat. Udit Raj has
embraced the party of Hindu raj and Ramvilas
Paswan, guided more by personal political ambi-
tions rather than the long-term benefit of the
downtrodden, has shamelessly allied with BJP.
In the short-term these Dalit politicians may
benefit but at the same time they will strengthen
the politics of Hindutva-Hindu raj, the system of
inherent hierarchy of caste and gender.
A single example will tell us about the
approach of BJP towards the Dalit question.
Recently a book, Karma Yoga, penned by the
BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi
has been withdrawn. Modi in his book wrote I
do not believe that they (Valmikis) have been
doing this job just to sustain their livelihood. Had
this been so, they would not have continued with
this type of job generation after generationAt
some point of time, somebody must have got
the enlightenment that it is their (Valmikis) duty
to work for the happiness of the entire society
and the gods, that they have to do this job
bestowed upon them by gods, and that this job
of cleaning up should continue as an internal
spiritual activity for centuries. This should have
continued generation after generation. It is
impossible to believe that their ancestors did not
have the choice of adopting any other work or
b u s i n e s s .
(http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp
?Ref=VE9JQS8yMDA3LzExLzI0I0FyMDA3MDA%
3D&).
On this same issue of scavenging,
Dr. Ambedkar made a scathing critique of the
social order where a section of people have to
do such demeaning and humiliating jobs. While
claims are made about the development and
concern for all communities the conditions of
dalits in Gujarat are abysmal, temple entry is
denied at places, there is low rate of conviction
for anti-Dalit atrocities, manual scavenging is still
prevalent and this receives glorification from
Modi. There is denial of access for water to the
main sump at places. Cases of intimidation of
Dalits wanting to convert to Buddhism have
been reported from Gujarat. These are few
examples of the phenomenon prevalent in the
Laboratory of Hindu Rashtra, Gujarat.
What should one say of leadership of Dalits
who compromise with the values of
Dr. Ambedkar, the values of the long-term goals
of social justice and annihilation of caste for their
short term greed for electoral power for their
own self? There is a need for introspection by
these leaders and their followers about the
opportunism and lack of principles of such peo-
ple in the positions of leadership of the commu-
nities.(pluralindia.com)
Contemporary Dalit Politics and
Ambedkars Goal of Caste Annihilation
6 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
A
ntony vetoed AFSPA revocation J&K
Chief minister Omar Abdullah said on
21 February that defence minister A K
Antony had vetoed the proposal of par-
tial revocation of AFSPA even as the prime min-
ister had agreed to it.
The then home minister P Chidambaram
and I were on the same page on this issue.
Even the Prime Minister had agreed to walk with
us. But the defence minister vetoed the propos-
al on the advice of the army, Omar Abdullah
told the state assembly while replying to the
debate on the grants of ministries headed by
him, including home, health and power.
The defence minister agreed to listen to the
army. We cant do anything about it, he said.
Omar had, in October, 2011, said partial revoca-
tion of Armed Forces Special Powers Act
(AFSPA) would take place before opening dur-
bar (civil secretariat) in Jammu, which starts its
six-month functioning here in the first week of
November.
The CM had proposed revocation of AFSPA
from only four districts where incidents of terror-
ism had come down. However, it had not hap-
pened till now. Omar said even though there
has been 71 per cent decline in the incidents of
militancy in the last five-years, we are being
threatened against pushing this proposal on the
plea that security situation in the state is likely to
worsen after the US pull-out from Afghanistan in
2014.
We will see how situation turns when pull-out
takes place, said Omar. US led foreign troops are
scheduled to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of
this year. In the state even though incidents of vio-
lence have come down there has been increase in
terror strikes on security forces. In 2013, incidents
of violence had declined by 23 per cent, but 53
security personnel were killed in 2013 against 15
such casualties in 2012.
The process of revocation of AFSPAwill start
during the term of this government. There is still
time to it, he said. Omar said revocation of AFSPA
will not be an insult to martyrs, as suggested by
some MLAs. Rather it would be a tribute to those
who by laying their lives brought normalcy to a
state wherein this Act can be revoked.
WELCOME SURRENDERED MILITANTS
Omar said people should welcome militants
who are coming back to the state under the gov-
ernments rehabilitation policy. Pak doesnt
want them to come back. But their return shows
that all terrorist infrastructures are intact across
the border .It exposes them (Pakistani authori-
ties). So we should welcome the surrendered
militants.
The CM said till now 308 militants have
come back to the state and not even one of
them has taken up arms again. Claiming the
success of the rehabilitation policy, Omar even
dared BJP to stop this process. God forbid if
your (BJP) government comes to power at the
Centre, then we will see if your government will
change the policy, he added.
AP Wakf Board to
go hard on
defaulters
Hyderabad: In a bid to catch hold of those occu-
pying its properties but evading to pay their
dues, the Waqf Board has thrown its dragnet far
and wide.
The latest in the line of fire are the Anwarul
Uloom Educational Association, which manages
a string of institutions, and the Dargah Hazrat
Yousufain.
The secretary of the Anwarul Uloom
Educational Association, Mr. Mahboob Alam
Khan, has been issued a show-cause notice for
taking over institutions under its direct manage-
ment. The Association runs a degree college at
Mallepally and a junior college at Nampally,
besides a school at Chaderghat. It also has five
houses at Habeenagar under its control.
All these are notified registered Wakf prop-
erties, but the board is not getting any income
for decades, said special officer Shaikh
Mohammad Iqbal.
Mr. Iqbal told reporters that a notice had
been served on the Association in 2001, but no
satisfactory reply was forthcoming. The board
had no intention of running the educational insti-
tutions, but would make the managements its
tenants, and collect the prevailing market rate as
rent.
In the case of the Madinal Educational and
Welfare Society, the Board had suggested a
monthly rent of Rs. 30 lakh, Mr. Iqbal said.
He said the board had ordered an enquiry
into the allegation of collection of Rs. 1 lakh by
Mohammad Faisal Ali Shah, Mutawalli of Dargah
Yousufain at Nampally for allotting land for burial
in the graveyard attached to the dargah. The
High Court ordered an enquiry on the matter in
2012.
The Dargah, spread over 30,834 sq. yds, is
a notified Wakf property, and has 96 shops. In
the last five years, however, the board received
only Rs. 82,000 by way of contribution to the
Wakf fund, Mr. Iqbal said.
The board had also ordered an enquiry into
a complaint against the Mutawalli of Baba
Fakhruddin Dargah in Penukonda in Anantapur
district, and the 39-acre Wakf land at
Nidumanuur village in Krishna district since there
is a move to dispose off the Wakf land to ten-
ants.
Besides, a notice was issued to the
Charminar Educational Society, which is in pos-
session of 27 acres of Wakf land at
Pahadishareef.
The Society had not begun any institution,
but built a farm house. Legal opinion was also
being sought about Sensation theatre at
Khairatabad, which has come up on 5,535 sq.
yd of Wakf property.
The whole formulation of a Hindu nation
from ancient times is an invalid concept,
as the very idea of a nation-state is a
modern concept. So in the revised edition
of his book, Partition of India,
Dr. Ambedkar opposed the formation of
Pakistan on the ground that formation of
Pakistan may pave the way for Hindu Raj
and If Hindu Raj becomes a reality, it
would be the greatest menace to this
country.
The then home minister P Chidambaram and I were on the same
page on this issue. Even the Prime Minister had agreed to walk with us.
But the defence minister vetoed the proposal on the advice of the
army, Omar Abdullah told the state assembly while replying to the
debate on the grants of ministries headed by him, including home,
health and power.
The defence minister agreed to listen to the army. We cant do
anything about it, he said. Omar had, in October, 2011, said partial
revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) would take
place next month before opening durbar (civil secretariat) in Jammu...
Antony vetoed AFSPA revocation: Omar
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 7 www.milligazette.com
Equal Opportunity Commission: two steps backwards
IRFAN ENGINEER
Half a step forward, two steps backwards would be an appro-
priate phrase to describe the measures taken by the UPA I & II
towards ensuring justice and equality for the marginalized sec-
tions, particularly the religious minorities in India. It takes half a
step and then seems to lose courage, perhaps fearing the much
hyped backlash of the majority community and takes two
steps backwards in penance for having taken half a step in the first
place.
The UPA misleads the minorities with the ineffective and often
counterproductive half a step taken, while the BJP and the RSS
blow whistle and go to the town claiming it to be appeasement of
minorities and huge injustice to the majority community. This
leaves minorities more vulnerable, insecure demoralised and dis-
criminated than ever before.
The latest decision of the Union Cabinet taken on 20 February
to constitute an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is yet
another example of such an approach.
EOC was one of the recommendations of Sachar Committee
Report presented in the Parliament in 2006. A group of experts
was constituted under the chairpersonship of Prof. N R Madhava
Menon on 31st August 2007 to examine and determine the struc-
ture, scope and functions of an Equal Opportunity Commission.
Experts gave their recommendations on 28 February, 2008 along
with a draft bill on Equal Opportunity Commission after studying
similar legislations in other democratic nations and the provisions
of Indian Constitution, social reality and jurisprudence. The draft
bill provided for constituting EOC which was to be pro-active and
autonomous of the government. EOC was to be a body that would
develop, gather and publish evidence of discrimination of any
group. It was to undertake evidence-based advocacy role involv-
ing many functions, including research and data gathering.
Besides, the EOC was to undertake monitoring and auditing func-
tion in order to assess the impact of laws and policies; it was to
have advisory and consultative function for various organs and
levels of government, policy intervention and grievance redressal
function. EOC was also to be an equal opportunity watchdog and
undertake shaping of public opinion.
In order to discharge these functions, the EOC was to have
powers of a civil court for its inquiries and investigations, viz. to
issue summons to individuals to appear before the Commission,
issue summons for production of documents and things and to
examine witnesses on oath; power to give orders and directions
to demand information and to inspect records. EOC was also to
have powers to utilise any officer or agency for its investigation
and to provide legal assistance to complainants. The draft bill
invested powers with EOC to intervene in any judicial proceedings
in which cases of discriminations were being heard. The main
function of the EOC would, however, be to prepare Good Practices
Code (GPC) for establishments after consulting all stake-holders.
The GPC would lay down ground rules and practices for educa-
tional institutions, employers and other establishments (e.g.,
housing societies) that would provide for more transparent proce-
dures and eliminate possibilities of discrimination.
The GPC would be like the statutory standing orders which are
binding and violations of the same punishable. After two years of
implementation of GPC, learning from the experiences of imple-
mentation of the GPC and after consulting stakeholders, the EOC
would formulate Equal Opportunity Practices Code (EOPC). The
EOC would not normally entertain individual complaints of dis-
crimination, however, they could if exceptional circumstances
warranted, particularly, when it manifested group dimension.
Finally, the EOC would have power to require compliance of
equal opportunity practice codes and to take violators to the
court.
The salient feature of the draft bill was that EOCs jurisdiction
was not confined to just equal treatment by the State, but it also
extended to private enterprises and institutions, including indus-
tries and business, if they have denied equal opportunity to the
deprived groups, particularly in reference to access to employ-
ment, education and such other areas which the appropriate gov-
ernment may decide. Article 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution
mandates equality and equal opportunities only as far as State is
concerned. The Constitutional guarantee of equality does not
operate on private bodies, organisations or individuals. State
apparatus, state-run or -funded educational institutions and pub-
lic sector forms hardly 1-2 percent of total employment or educa-
tional institutions. With the ideology of privatisation, and market-
driven growth, capacities of public institutions shrunk drastically
and so did the space for mandatory equal opportunities.
Therefore, the deprived groups experiencing discrimination have
no constitutional guarantee to enforce equal opportunity. The draft
EOC bill remedied the situation.
The second important feature was that EOCs mandate was
not confined to any one community defined by religion or lan-
guage. It extended to all the deprived groups that experienced dis-
crimination which could be women, adivasis, dalits, minorities,
LGBT community, handicapped persons, HIV-AIDS patients, North
Easterners or absolutely any deprived group that feels discriminat-
ed. Though the SCs and the STs have reservations in educational
institutions and Government employment, and enjoy some protec-
tive measures and affirmative actions, these do not extend to
housing (when dalits and adivasis are excluded from buying flats
in housing societies) and private institutions, employment and
other areas, which forms the large chunk of spaces where dis-
crimination against dalits and adivasis are practiced. EOC bill
drafted by the experts extended that protective cover. The
Atrocities Act, even assuming its sincere and efficient implemen-
tation contrary to experience, protected dalits and adivasis against
atrocities and not discrimination which operated subtly but sys-
tematically and was difficult to establish in courts.
The Third feature of the EOC bill was that the individuals
belonging to the deprived group that experienced discrimination
by the State had the remedy to approach constitutional courts,
i.e., high courts or Supreme Court and seek writ orders of the
court against discrimination. However, the burden of proof was on
the individual to prove his case.
Those practicing discrimination would cover their tracks with
paper work and hide behind technicalities making the task of vic-
tim of discrimination difficult. The EOC was mandated to step in,
collect evidences on behalf of the discriminated groups and for-
mulate appropriate codes to ensure equal opportunities.
However, the problem area was that the EOC was not vested
with powers to issue binding orders and try the violators for con-
tempt. It was vested with less teeth than it should have been,
given that equality is absolutely sine qua non of a peaceful and
harmonious society, and is also a Constitutional mandate.
The EOC approved by the Cabinet
Now that the Lok Sabha election is only months away, the UPA
suddenly woke up to the Sachar Committees recommendation of
EOC. The minority affairs ministry prepared a cabinet note to put
in place an EOC, but one that confines itself to address discrimi-
nation against religious minorities. There is no logic why EOC
should not address discrimination against other deprived groups.
The EOC cannot discriminate amongst the discriminated. Such an
EOC is less meaningful and discriminatory inviting the charge of
Muslim appeasement. It gives the communal forces a handy tool
to demonise Muslims, besides, it does not address the real sys-
temic injustice experienced by the Muslims or other deprived
groups.
The major site where discrimination is experienced by the
deprived groups, including religious minorities is in private sector,
which has not been included in the jurisdiction of the EOC creat-
ed by the Union Cabinet.
The EOC created is merely an advisory body without any pow-
ers to impose penalties. It will be another forum where the victims
will keep visiting hoping that they will get justice but knowing little
that the EOC has no powers to give them justice, as it is yet anoth-
er forum to give retirement benefits to some retired high court
judge.
We should reject such an EOC which is more like a hook on
which hopes of the victims of discrimination will be permanently
hanging.
Why EOC is important
Proponents of Hindutva claim India to be a five thousand year-old
nation. The word nation itself was used and coined in the 19th
century. Nation was a political community sharing common lan-
guage, religion, culture, traditions, customs within a geographical
territory and desiring to organise itself into and be governed by a
state. The definition is not comprehensive but a working definition.
Though the political boundaries of the territory between river Indus
and the seas kept changing, there was one constant - the caste
system with its deeply rooted hierarchies remained intact. The
caste system was suffered and resisted by over 85% of the pop-
ulation. Among the victims of caste system were the women from
upper castes. The rigid inequalities were guarded by the social
institutions and the state. Dalits, adivasis and women were
excluded from enjoying equal rights. Dalits were even forced to
stay outside the boundaries of their villages. During the British
rule, some opportunities opened up for the dalits and women.
During the freedom struggle people across caste and region came
together to resist the British rule. Caste and gender hierarchies
persisted despite the freedom struggle. During the Independence
movement, the competition between communal parties for greater
share in the colonial doles deepened communal identities and
communal discourse. The competition for share in political power
was based on stigmatising the other community and spreading
hatred against them. The Hindutva followers still continue the tra-
dition of spreading hatred against the minorities and subtly, even
against the dalits and adivasis.
Denial of equal opportunities to dalits and adivasis is as ram-
pant with some changes. Untouchability in various forms is still
practiced and dalits and adivasis are excluded from leadership in
social and religious institutions.
India can survive as a nation only if its citizens learn to
embrace diversity and pluralism on the basis of the constitutional
principle of equality for all.
Equal Opportunity Commission with effective powers and
resources could be an important instrument to ensure diversity as
well as equality. If we want democracy to survive, we should
struggle to have one through instruments that make state
accountable. (Secular Perspective)
Legal notes
Option to Adopt a Child
Has the legal position changed after the Judgment?
M R SHAMSHAD
The recent judgment of the Supreme Court about the right of a
Muslim to adopt a child has been reported with different view-
points. However, the core issue is whether a Muslim could adopt
a child in the present legal position and at the same time not go
beyond the restrictions imposed by the Muslim Personal Law. The
grievance of Shabnam Hashmi was that, being a Muslim, she was
told that she could not adopt a child.
Before one goes to state what is the effect of the judgment on
personal law, it should be pointed out that the petition was filed in
the year 2005 and thereafter there have been various amend-
ments in the existing general laws and guidelines in relation to
adoption of a child and the Supreme Court has decided the mat-
ter on general laws without affecting the personal law governing
the field, but it cannot be said that the judgment has no implica-
tion on it.
Earlier, in 1984, the Supreme Court had converted a letter of
a practicing lawyer into Writ Petition wherein the stand of a
Muslim being opposed to this definition of adoption was record-
ed and further stated that owing to strong opposition of Muslims
against a uniform law of adoption, the proposed legislation of
1972 had to be dropped. However, it had laid down various gen-
eral guidelines regarding adoption. In addition to the 1956 legis-
lation for adoption by Hindus, like 1972 proposal, in the year 2006
a general non-religious legislation defined adoption and its con-
sequences and that paved the way for framing consequential
guidelines in the year 2007.
The 2006 definition of adoption states that the adopted child
gets permanently separated from his biological parents with all
rights, privileges and responsibilities attached thereto and the
child becomes legitimate child of his adoptive parents. The con-
sequences are obvious. This puts the adoptive parents under
obligation to call the child as their child like any other biological
child of that parent and the child shall have the other civil rights,
including right to inheritance of property, flowing from the person-
al law of the adoptive parent. The objective behind such guide-
lines is to rehabilitate the children who are orphan, abandoned or
surrendered. The mechanism put in place are to ensure that the
adopted child is not subjected to vulnerable situation and pro-
vides complete dignity with reasonably secure future to them.
In this background, the concern of a practicing Muslim has to
be seen. The legal system in India recognises Muslims personal
law, including intestate succession, guardianship etc to be gov-
erned through their personal law (Shariat). The Shariat law in
relation to adoption is stated in the Holy Quran (33:4) as follows:
neither He (God) has made your adopted sons as your own
sons and call them after their own fathers; that is closer to jus-
tice in the sight of God. It is further stated that if his father is not
known, then treat the adopted person as brother. This injunc-
tion of the Holy Quran came after a freed slave Zaid was being
called Zaid ibn [son of] Mohammad, after the Prophet
Mohammad who had adopted him. The Quranic injunction cor-
rected this practice and again Zaid became Zaid ibn Haritha
(4782, Al Bukhari).
The Quran has justification on this issue as the concept of
making the adoptive father and mother as the substitute to biolog-
ical parents does not fit with the scheme of creation of the human
beings as the human beings have got one heart and one brain
which cannot be compelled to think non-biological child to be the
biological one. The same principle shall apply to the child who
cannot forget their biological parents in the same manner. Its a
divine law and the same cannot be impeached by logic and
changing human perceptions. This does not mean that the
orphans and abandoned children have not to be fully protected
under the same divine law. There are strict Quranic injunctions to
remain good to orphans, to spend on them, to be kind to them
and bestow all love and affection to them. Hence, an obligation
has been created on persons who could afford to be providers
under the principle of kafaala, a voluntary undertaking to pro-
vide full care to a childs welfare and his education with material
and emotional support.
But the question is whether kafaala is under exception to
the general and wide definition of adoption in the Act of 2000?
The answer is: no. The judgment states that the general law is an
optional provision and if a person so desires to adopt a child, he
may do so. This means that if you opt to adopt a child, there is a
mandatorily applicable general law and the said law is conceptu-
ally different from the kafaala. The result is that if a follower of
personal law wants to adopt a child, as per kafaala, there is no
scope except entering into the domain of general law by implied-
ly surrendering the personal law. The option of choosing kafaala
is missing here and the only option is adoption, an expanded
and conceptually different version of kafaala.
Comparing this position with the special marriages would be
improper as there is no concept of limited definition of marriage in
personal law, hence a person choosing to opt that way would not
need any protection or exception of personal law as he/she has
chosen to surrender the personal law.
Even prior to Shabnam Hashmi judgement, since 2006, the
position was not different. Earlier also, one had option to adopt or
choose not to do so. The reports about a change in the legal posi-
tion after the judgment are far from reality. In fact, the change
came when the adoption was defined in general law by way of
amendment on 22 August, 2006, in effect bringing part of the
1972 proposed legislation.
The situation would have certainly become different, in case
the Supreme Court was of the view that where the parties were
Muslims they had option to adopt a child under general law but
the said adoption shall be limited to the definition of kafaala of
their personal law.
The author is Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India
ABDUL BARI MASOUD
New Delhi: Ahead of the forthcoming general
elections, a group of prominent lawyers,
activists, intellectuals, social, religious and polit-
ical leaders from across the country on 5 March
in a mammoth convention here asked the politi-
cal parties to clear their stand on the draconian
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They
warned that if the Congress-led UPA and other
political parties do not commit to repealing the
Act, they should be ready to face the wrath of
the Muslim voters in the forthcoming elections.
More than 5000 delegates and victims from
various parts of the country had assembled at
Talkatora Stadium here under the banner of
newly formed platform "People's Movement
Against UAPA" to voice their strong protest
against the misuse of the controversial law
against minorities and weaker sections of socie-
ty. Sharing their tear-jerking experiences under
police custody and in jails with the gathering,
many victims said they were falsely implicated
in terror cases by the law-enforcement agen-
cies.
Coming down heavily on the government,
veteran CPI leader A B Bardhan said the
Communist party has been opposing the Act
from the very beginning. Assuring the gathering,
he said that CPI will include the demand in its
manifesto, he stressed the need of joint struggle
against the dreaded law.
While Imam of Delhi's Fatehpuri Masjid,
Mufti Mukarram Ahmed suggested that if the
demand is not met, minorities especially
Muslims should use the NOTA option in the
coming elections.
Veteran journalist and Christian activist
John Dayal said not only Muslims but also
Sikhs, Christians and tribals are being targeted
under the UAPA. We should make all efforts that
the withdrawal of this black law will become an
important election issue, he said.
General Secretary of Welfare Party Dr.
Qasim Rasool Ilyas put the UPA government
and its predecessor NDA government in the
dock by saying that "terror attacks on the Indian
Parliament and Akshardham Mandir were
stage-managed. Quoting a meeting of Muslim
leaders with a senior minister of the UPA gov-
ernment and affidavit of an under-secretary in
the Home Ministry, he said that the real problem
is 'State terrorism'. Asking the government why
senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar was not
arrested despite his name appearing in
chargesheets, Dr Ilyas said 90 percent Muslim
youths were arrested under the UAPA only
because of their link with the Students Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) but no proceedings
have been initiated against them. In order to
please the US, the then BJP-led NDA govern-
ment first banned the SIMI without any evidence
and the ban continues till date, he added.
While addressing the audience, Waman
Meshram, National President of BAMCEF, said
the UAPA is just a problem like other problems
Muslims are facing but it is not the most impor-
tant problem. The most important problem, he
said, is non- representation of Muslims in leg-
islatives and other policy-making bodies. Earlier
there was the TADA, then came POTA and now
the UAPA. Mr Meshram challenged that after
UAPA there will be another draconian law and
Muslims will be protesting against that law and it
will continue in different forms unless and until
they get proportionate representation in legisla-
tion. Mr Meshram cautioned Muslims not to be
deceived and deluded by the so-called
'Secularists' .There is no difference between
Secularists or Communists, in fact both are
same and both are cheating Muslims in different
ways.
The resolution passed by the Convention
pointed out that "the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act of 1967 after successive
amendments made in 2004, 2008 and 2012
contained clauses that are against the basic
tenets of Indian constitution and principles of
human rights and natural justice."
The Conference reminded that the basic
reason for arbitrary arrests and continued
detentions and torture of innocents is the legal
sanction contained in UAPA. It is evident that
unless and until this law is withdrawn, the terri-
ble stories of jailed innocents will continue as
they are even denied statutory bail. And those,
who dare to raise voice against it, are being tar-
geted under this draconian act. The Act is detri-
mental to the plural structure of society.
Speakers said when people stood up
against repressive laws such as TADA and
POTA, the government was forced to abandon
those black laws. They also slammed secular
parties for not voicing their protest against the
massive misuse of UAPA against innocent
minority and weaker section youth. Renowned
activist and former IIT Professor Ram Puniyani,
who presided over the convention, cautioned
that the coming elections are very important as
the fascist forces are trying to grab power by
any means. Without taking the name of
Gujarat's controversial chief minister Narendra
Modi, he said he is pawn in the hands of fascists
and corporate forces. If these forces come to
power, this conference will be the last one in this
hall as they won't allow any dissenting voice, he
warned.
Convener of the Movement Kamal Faruqui
said the Central and state governments failed to
take notice of large-scale misuse of UAPA
against minorities.
The conference was addressed by lawyers,
activists and community leaders including
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Mohammad Adib (MP),
Guru Charan Singh, Adv. Ashok Agarwal,
human rights activist Lenin Raghuwamshi, , Prof
Manisha Sethi of Jamia Millia and others.
Before the conference, a meeting of victims
was held at the same venue. A group of lawyers
and activists interacted with them and collected
details with an intention of follow up support.
The People's Conference was concluded with a
firm declaration that the movement will be fur-
ther strengthened across the country till the
black law is scrapped. (muslimmirror.com)
Convention against UAPA warns political parties
8 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Resolution passed by the convention against UAPA
Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi / 5 March 2014
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 as it remains today after successive amendments
made in 2004, 2008 and 2012 contains clauses that are against the basic tenets of Indian constitu-
tion and principles of human rights and natural justice. By making amendments to the original act
in the name of fighting terrorism, the parliament has incorporated the draconian provisions of lapsed
special laws such as TADA and POTA into a general law, that too without a sunset clause usually
coming with special security legislations. Basic democratic rights like freedom of speech and
expression and right to form association are being violated by the clauses of this law. Thus UAPA
has become a more serious threat to people's rights than the previous special laws. In this context,
we are against all types of terrorism by non-state and state actors.
All the right thinking people now realise that the basic reason for arbitrary arrests and continued
detention and torture of innocents is the legal sanction contained in UAPA. Now it has become evi-
dent that unless and until this law is withdrawn, the lamentable stories of jailed innocents will con-
tinue. A large number of innocent people mostly hailing from marginalised Tribal, Dalit, Muslim,
Buddhist, Sikh and Christian communities are languishing in different jails in India under UAPA with-
out even getting statutory bail. It is widely targeted against people involved in raising legitimate
protest and democratic resistance from marginalised sections and even the working classes.
The former repressive laws like TADA and POTA were withdrawn when people stood up and
acted against the severe and drastic abuses under those laws. The Congress Government allowed
TADA to lapse in the wake of criticisms. The UPA Government withdrew POTA as they promised
before 2004 General Elections. But in spite of the frequent and large scale persecution of innocents
by administration and police under UAPA, most political parties have not yet taken a strong stand in
favour of the victims. The governments at the Centre and States have so far ignored the demand for
the repeal of UAPA. We feel that this Act is detrimental to the plural structure of society and count-
er-productive.
This People's Conference Against UAPA organised by the People's Movement Against UAPA
demands an immediate withdrawal of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and calls
upon all political parties to declare their commitment to this demand on the eve of Lok Sabha
Elections 2014.
Patna org announces
scholarships
Patna: The Patna-based Peace Foundation on 6 March declared its
list of successful candidates for free coaching for preparation for
competition examinations conducted by Staff Selection
Commissions (SSCs), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) etc. In
all, thirteen candidates have been selected in the first batch. Peace
Foundation has decided to select two batches this year. Talking to
this reporter, M. Naushad Ansari, Gen. Secretary of Peace
Foundation, informed that lakhs of vacancies are filled up for
Group 'B', Group 'C' and Group 'D' jobs in government services
every year through various competition examinations. Many of
Muslim students, after passing their matriculation or Intermediate
or even graduation, join the labour market at paltry wages and
remain backward. This is mainly because of ignorance about job
opportunities, starting from matricualtion level. Peace Foundation,
a non-profit NGO, is trying to bring awareness about these oppor-
tunities and also to groom Muslim students for these jobs. "For
achieving success, a proper planning, firm determination and per-
spiring preparation is required," Mr Ansari added. The coaching
will be in the form of loan scholarship which is to be refunded to
the Foundation on attainment of economic independence in easy
instalments so that same may be utilised for future needy student
of the society. The written test and interview were conducted in
Patna on 27 February.
Amn Conf held in Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar: 'Amn Conference' jointly sponsored by Jamiatul
Ulama-e Hind (JUH) and Shanti Mission was held at S. D.
Engineering College at Jansath on 23 February in which thou-
sands of Hindus and Muslims participated. Speaking on this
occasion Hindu religious leader Swamy Pramod Krishnan, presi-
dent of All India Sant Samiti said that Moghuls, British and other
nations ruled in India for centuries but during their rule national
unity and harmony was not as much harmed as our national
leader have harmed it during 65 years of independence. He said
that in the name of politics they worked for dividing us on the
basis of caste, fraternity and religion. Regarding Muzaffarnagar
riots he said that it was in fact an attack on Ganga-Jamuni civili-
sation, adding that neither Hindu nor Muslim was killed but
humanity was killed in these riots. Referring to the Qur'an he said
that God had sent Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) for the entire
humanity. He is not the heritage of Muslims alone but is mercy and
blessing for us also. He expressed his determination to promote
and carry forward the mission of brotherhood. Muhammad
Adeeb, independent MP, while speaking at this meeting said that
those people and forces who killed Gandhiji are trying today to
destroy his thinking and ideology of communal peace and harmo-
ny also. He said that the politics of today is working for dividing
Hindus and Muslims. He further said that today matters and chap-
ters which were symbols of national harmony have been removed
from history books. Giving examples he said that Rana Saanga's
commander was a Muslim and the man who had saved Shivaji
Maharaj was no other than his Baloach Muslim Commander. After
Independence Muslims, he said, accepted Gandhiji as their leader,
instead of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Speaking about government's
dishonesty and double standard he clearly said that if the inten-
tions of politicians are sincere and their acts and policies are
based on honesty and justice there will be no discriminations and
disputes. Manzoor Ahmad, VC of Subharti University, speaking
about his association with Muzaffarnagar said that about 45 years
ago when he was the SP of this place the unity and communal
harmony between Hindus and Muslims that he saw there was not
seen anywhere today. He recollected that Muslims Jats, Hindu
Jats, Muslim Goojar and Hindu Goojar, maulvis and pundits
shared each others joys and sorrows but politics had entirely
changed the situation today. About Muzaffarnagar riots and the
civilian officers he said that they greatly lacked moral courage and
emphatically said that the process of talks and discussions
between Hindus and Muslims should continue so that
Muzaffarnagar could again be made the Mohabbat Nagar as it was
in those days. Many other speakers also expressed their views in
this meeting. Somansh Prakash, who chaired this meeting and
Samrath Prakash, Convener of this meeting repeated their resolve
that their efforts to tie the district in the string of brotherhood and
national harmony would continue.
Christian Prayer Hall damaged by radicals
Kandhamal: Armed forces were deployed at Pradhanpada village
in Odisha's Kandhamal district on 2 March as tension prevailed
following damage to an under-construction prayer hall on
27 February. Two platoons of armed police (about 70 personnel)
were deployed in the village as part of measures to prevent further
trouble and to restore normalcy. A group of anti-Christian people
had attacked the under-construction structure. Two persons were
arrested in connection with the incident while a manhunt was on
for others as efforts were made for an amicable settlement to the
issue. According to a complaint made by local Christian leaders,
the accused persons threatened 15 persons of eight families
involved in the construction work of the prayer house. All the 15
persons met the SP Kunor Bilash Singh and apprised him of the
situation. The SP issued directives for necessary action against
those involved.
Only 5.87 pc women in police force
The government had set an ambitious target of having 30 per cent
women in police forces across the country, but fresh statistics
show that the target is nowhere near with personnel from the fair-
er sex being a miniscule 5.87 per cent. The figures at the top level
are more pathetic with just 15 women occupying the posts of
Director General, Special DG or Additional DG rank out of 382
while there are 28 women in the rank of Inspector General as
against 566. The statistics came at a time when the country will
be celebrating International Women's Day. According to the Data
on Police Organisations (as on January 1, 2013) released on
Thursday, there are 97,518 women personnel in police forces
across the country which has a strength of 16.60 lakh.
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 9 www.milligazette.com
Riots do not happen in this country on their own
AAP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal said on 7 March that the
modus operandi of BJP PM nominee and
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and
Congress president Sonia Gandhis son-
in-law Robert Vadra are similar. Speaking
at the session Dharna, Democracy and
Demographies: Making Government Work
at the 13th India Today Conclave, Kejriwal
said the Modi government has been
indulging in illegally acquiring land from
farmers for corporate groups like Adanis.
Kejriwal said farmers in Modi land were the
worst victims of illegal land acquisition. If
farmers elsewhere in the country come to
know their brothers plight in Gujarat, no
farmer in India will vote for him. Listing
out examples of village after village,
Kejriwal tore into Modis governance model and said that his
three-day tour of Gujarat had laid bare before his eyes all develop-
ment claims of Modi.
No riots in Gujarat in 10 years. Really?: Tearing into Modis
claim that no riots have happened in Gujarat in the past decade,
Kejriwal said at least 12 big riots have occurred in Gujarat ever
since. The AAP leader said, Riots do not happen in this country
on their own. They are orchestrated. Kejriwal said if a single riot
case is investigated properly, no other riot
will ever happen.
Mukesh Ambani running Gujarat, India: On
Modis alleged ties with Ambanis, Kejriwal
said that he had made a son-in-law of
Ambani family a minister in his cabinet.
Listing out the failures of Modi government
sector by sector, Kejriwal said, Modis own
constituency does not have proper roads,
schools and cleanliness. Kejriwal said that
the country today was not run by PM
Manmohan Singh or, when the government
changes, even by Modi. He said that Mukesh
Ambani was instead running the country.
Gujarats criminal minister: He also raised
questions on the issue of corrupt ministers
in the Modi government and alleged that the chief minister has a
bond with Mukesh Ambani. Why have you included Babu
Bokhiria as a minister who has been convicted in a mining scam
and sentenced to three years and is out on bail now? he asked.
Whereas another minister Purshottam Solanki, who has been
convicted in Rs. 450 crore fisheries scam, is also a minister in
your cabinet, Kejriwal said.
What security model?: Kejriwal said his convoy was attacked
three times during his three-day tour. That speaks volume for
Modis security model. Kejriwal said Gujaratis were living under
fear of Modi. He said when he met people, they were interrogated
by police soon afterwards. Kejriwal said, In Gujarat, the opposi-
tion is non-existent. Its members are threatened, coerced into
submission or even killed. The former Delhi CM said, Gujarat is
run by Adanis and Ambanis and not by Modi.
Am I a Congress agent?: On the accusation that Kejriwal is an
agent of Congress, the AAP leader said, We exposed Robert
Vadra. BJP did not despite they having the same set of papers for
close to a year-and-a-half. We exposed Salman Khurshid. BJP did
not. We defeated Sheila Dikshit. The BJP knowingly fielded weak
candidates against her for the past 15 years. Kejriwal said,
Though the UPA government has harmed this country as much
in a decade as the British did in a century, we should not change
one evil with another.
Corruption, communalism two sides of a coin: Maintaining that
corruption and communalism were two sides of the same coin,
Kejriwal said, One government indulges in scams of all sorts for
five years. And then another political player orchestrates a riot to
polarise votes. They do nothing and votes are evenly divided.
Appealing to people to join the AAP, the former Delhi CM said,
Until a few years ago, people of this country had given up hope.
After the Anna Hazare movement and the subsequent formation of
AAP, that cynicism has come down.
Properties with the Land &
Development Office
Sl.No.Name & Location of property
1. 1/1, Abdul Nabi Mosque, Mathura Road.
2. 2/1, Babar Shah, Mosque & Takia, near Tilak
Bridge.
3. 6/1, Babar Road Mosque near Railway Line and
School.
4. 47/1, Nizam Gali House Mosque inside Nizam
Palace.
5. 61/1, Abdul Haq Mosque, opposite Vidya Bhavan,
Curzon Road.
6. 64/1, Graveyard, behind Indian Express, Mathura
Road.
7. 57/1, Mosque and Dargah Sayed, Babar-uddin
Smaj Gandhi, behind Ferozeshah Kotla.
8. 68/1, Qabristan Quadim South Indraprastha,
Mathura Road.
9. 72/1, Dargah Hazrat Qutab Hadev Sheikh Mohd.
Chisti Mohd. Ki Bai near Vikas Minar.
10. 3/1, Minto Bridge Mosque between K & L Block,
Connaught Place, New Delhi.
11. 9/1, Mosque behind (Inside) Irwin Hospital
Compound.
12. 29/1, Pucca Mazar near Mosque inside
J.P.Hospital.
13. 11/1, Ghosian Mosque alias Jheel ki Piao, oppo-
site Link House, Mathura Road.
14. 20/1, Tomb of Shah Sardulla Gulshan near Plaza
Cinema, `H Block.
15. 27/1, Mirdard Road Mosque & Mazar of Shah
Walivia Mohd. Behind Irwin Hospital.
16. 39/1, Dargah Sheikh Kalimullah Shahib Jahana
Badi Delhi Parade Ground near Red Fort.
17. 40/1, Dargah Sadauddin Ibas Bhorey Shah
Sahib, Delhi Parade Ground near Red Fort.
18. 46/1, Mosque Inside Maulana Azad Medical
College Compound, Mathura Road.
19. 49/1, Masjid & Graveyard Fazal Mohd. Ramlila
Ground, Turkman Gate
20. 58/1, Mirdard Mosque Dargah & Masjid Khwaja,
Barron Road.
21. 67/1, Dargah Pare Bharey Sahib, `A Ward-II,
opposite Jama Masjid.
22. 66/1, Graveyard, Ludlo Castle, Delhi.
23. 69/1, Rasaleywali Mosque, Civil Line Area
Timarpur.
24. 50/1, Masjid Karnal road near Gurudwara.
25. 55/1, Dargah Shah Bade, Civil Line Zone, Bela
Road.
26. 42/1,Pahari Wali Mosque, near Khyber Pass,
Civil Lane, Mall Road.
27. 34/1, Masjid Tibia College, Ajmal Khan Road,
KarolBagh.
28. 24/2, Mosque & Graveyard, Chausath Khamba.
29. 18/2, Muslim Graveyard containing Mazar Sayed
Lala-ud-Din, behind Kothi No.4, Curzon Road.
30. 7/1, Zapta Ganj Mosque, near India Gate, Man
Singh Road.
31. 23/1, Willesly Road Mosque, inside Kaka Nagar.
32. 33/1, Masjid Motilal Nehru Marg, New Delhi
between Kothi No.13 & 15 (Bujia & Mosque)
33. 43/1, Kaka Nagar, Welleslay Road, New Delhi(
Mosque & Mazar Bibi Fatima), New Delhi
34 44/1, Kaka Nagar Welleslay Road, New Delhi
(Mosque & Mazar Bibi Fatima).
35. 62/1, Babri Mosque, Pandara Road, New Delhi.
36. 3/2, Mosque, Lajpat Nagar in front of Frank
Anothony Primary School, New Delhi.
37. 4/2, Mosque Maqbara Basti, Basti Sewa Nagar-
VIII, Aliganj, New Delhi.
38. 5/2, Masjid & Dargah Fateh Shah Abdul Quadir,
Basti Nizamuddin, New Delhi to
The West of Maqbara Humayun, New Delhi.
39. Muslim Graveyard, Village Aliganj adjacent to
Kalan Masjid, Ferozeshah towards South Graveyard
Area.
40. 13/2, Muslim Graveyard, Village Aliganj, opposite
Southern Gate of Dargah Nizamuddin Aulia alongside
Lodi Road.
41. 19/2, Muslim Graveyard, Village Aliganj along-
with Link Road.
42. 20/2, Masjid Chakkar-wali, Basti Nizamuddin.
43. 21/2, Muslim Graveyard, Jangpura.
44 1/3, Muslim Graveyard, Village Aliganj, Khasra
No.529.
45. 4/1, Mosque near Hanuman Mandir, Irwin Road.
46. 5/1, Western Court Mosque, Janpath.
47. 12/1, Dhobian Mosque near Link Road.
48. 13/1, Mazar Khudanuma, New Link Road on the
Hill.
49. 14/1, Masjid Munirka Village, close to Market V,
R.K.Puram.
50. 22/1, Ashoka Road Mosque.
51. 32/1, Masjid Chitra Gupta Road.
52. 45/1, Sunehri Bagh Road near Udyog Bhawan
Mosque.
53. 59/1, Kalali Bagh Mosque near Albert Square,
R.K.Marg.
54. 60/1, Jama Masjid I Red Cross Road near
Parliament House.
55. 73/1, Dargah & Mosque Abdul Saleem opposite
Naraina Hotel near Lady Harding Hospital .
56. 25/2, Imamia Hall, NDMC Block IX on P.K.Road.
57. 35/1, Masjid Shanti Niwas, Connaught Place
58. Grave near `H.10 todarmal Lane, Bengali
Market.
59. 48/1, Mohalla Qabristan, Turkman Gate (Grave).
60. 47/1, Mosque Hazi Ismail Japanwala.
61. 51/1, Muslim Graveyard near Wazirabad Bridge.
Properties with the Delhi
Development Authority
S.No. Name & location of property
1. Dargah Hare Bhare Kh.No. 152, inside city wall
bearing H.No.29G to 39G
Ward No.II, Opp. Jama Masjid
2. Masjid Boriwali Kh.No.45, H.No.5052 Ward II,
Daryaganj North.
3. Madarsa Islamia Kh.No.199, 408/199 H.No.552 to
557 Ward No.XIII, Sadar Bazar North.
4. Masjid Takiawali, Kh.No.334, H.No.6435 Sadar
Bazar South.
5. Masjid Kaptanwali Kh.No.611/514, H.No.90,118
to 120, Ward No.XVI, Karolbagh, Faiz Road.
6. Masjid Aamwali, Kh.No.109, H.No.1617 to 1619,
1699 to 1703 Ward No.III, B.B.Road.
7. Bara Hindu Rao, Kh.No.12, H.No.7831, Ward
No.XIV, Shidipura.
8. Dargah Mammu Bhanja, Kh.No.16, Ward No.XV,
Jhandewalan.
9. Mazar Bholu Shah, Kh.No.168 Ward No.III,
H.No.4297/2, Sadar Bazar North.
10. Mosque Belanwali, Kh.No.28 Ward No.XI,
H.No.5033 to 5034, Daryaganj North.
11. Qadam Sharif Bagichi Alluddin, Kh.No.31,
H.No.10394 to 10398, Ward No.XV.
12. Lal Mosque, Kh.No.1, Property No.5161 to 5163
and 5170, Ward No.VII, G.B.Road, Lahori Gate.
13. Dargah graveyard in Hind Park, Kh No.18-19,
Ward No.XI, Daryaganj South.
14. Tomb and grave, Kh. No.139, inside city wall,
H.No.2116, Ward No.X, Turkman Gate near Police
Post.
15. Masjid Khajoorwali, Khajoor Road,
Kh.No.559/256-257, H.No.456 to 459, 472 to 475,
Ward No.XVI, Karolbagh, Khazoor Road.
16. Chuja Mem Kh.No.223 in H.No.6686, Ward
No.XIII, Sadar Bazar North Mohalla.
17. Naiwala Estate, Kh.No.934, H.No.1608 and 1609
Ward No.XVI, Karolbagh.
18. Quadam Sharif, Kh.No.94, H.No.3666, Ward
NoXIV.
19. Naiwala Estate, Kh.No.1319/298/I and 299.
H.No.2522, Karolbagh.
20. Naiwala Estate, Kh.No.277-278, 279,
H.No.2551-57 Ward No.XVI, Karolbagh.
21. Quatab Road, H.No.3507 and 3531 to 3534,
Ward No.XIV, Khasra No.28 1/1, Sadar Bazar South.
22. Dargah Hazarat Khwaja Bakibillah, Kh.No.119,
Qadam Sharif, H.No.5659 and 5712, Ward No.XV
Qutab Road.
23. Masjid & Graveyard, Kh.No.201/169/36,
H.No.8694 to 8695 and 8827, Ward No.XVI, Sahi-
Shidipura.
24. Kh.No.442/372, H.No.6052 to 6053 Ward No.XIII
Gali Matke Wali, Sadar Bazar North.
25. Bachon ka Ghar, Kh.No.89/48-49-50, H.No.5028
and 5029, Ward No.XI, Daryaganj North.
26. Hari Masjid, Kh.No.215, H.No.2185 Ward No.XV,
Paharganj.
27. Mosque Khwaja Khumari, Kh.No.764/218/1,
H.No.2039,2039-A,2041, 2041-A, 2042, 2044/2,
2044-2047 and 2038, 2042A, 2043, 2043A,
Paharganj.
28. Sahidipura, Kh.No.114/34, 115/34, 116/34
117/34-35, H.No. 8798/6, 8799,1003, 1304, Ward
No.XIV, Shidipura.
29. Masjid Darjian, H.No.7884 to 7884 C, 4 houses,
Bara Hindu Rao, Shidipura.
30. Ghata Masjid, Kh.No.72, H.No.4414, 4414-A,
4417 and 4418, Ward XI, Daryaganj North.
31. Imam Bara, Kh.No.40, Property No.5051-3659,
3696, 3702, Ward No.XI, Daryaganj North.
32. Masjid Sherkhan, Kh. No.184/48, H.No.7975,
7992 to 8013, 8023, 8024 and 8066 to 8070, Ward
No.XIV, Bara Hindu Rao, Shidipura.
33. Masjid Imliwali, Kh.No.280, H.No.656 to 653
and 661, Ward No.XIII, Chowk Teliwara, Sadar Bazar
North.
34. Inside Badi Maker, Kh. No.452/374 and 453/374,
H.No.6103, Ward No.XVI, Sadar Bazar North.
35. Qadam Sharif, Kh. 81 Min.H.No.6695, Ward
No.XV, Qadam Sharif.
36. Kh.No.153/56, Ward No.XV, Daryaganj, North.
37. Mosque Sang Trashan, Kh.No.98, H.No.3180,
House No.3180, Ward No.XV, Paharganj.
38. Mosque & Dargah No.876/526-527, H.No.2500-
2501, Ward No.XV, Paharganj.
39. Qadam Sharif, Kh.No.156/1, H.No.7228-30,
Ward No.XV (Masjid Choonawali).
40. Graveyard Chamelian Kh.No.201/163/36, Ward
No.XIV, Shidipura.
41. Masjid Bandirawali, Kh.No.165, H.No.11386,
Ward No.XV, Qadamsharif.
42. Shanili Mosque, Tarkiyan Graveyard, Kh.No.203,
H.No.1953 to 1954, Ward No.XIII, Sadar Bazar North.
43. Mosque ruins Shikandaria Masjid Kh.No.221/2-
3-5 to 7 (min) Mpl. No.6515, Ward XIV, Jhandewalan.
44. Kh.No.140, H.No.3450, Jangpura.
45. Basti Nizamuddin close to Ganda Nala,
Kh.No.607, Jangpura.
46. Masjid Bhim Kurana, Kh.No.126/22, 127/22,
Chiragh South, Jhil Khuranja, Shahdara.
47. Naiwala Kh.No.1203/1140, Naiwala
48. Masjid Mahal, Chimni Mill Ward No.XIV MPI
No.8212 to 8218, Kh.No.13 Min.Bara Hindu Rao.
49. Dargah Shah Abdul Hussain Kh.No.82/65,
H.No.4875-B, Ward No.XI, Daryaganj, South.
50. Dargah Abdul Khadus Kh.No.221/2-3-5 to 7
(Min.) Mpl.No.6552-A, Ward No.XIV, close to Idgah
Jhandewalan.
51. Karbala, aliganj, Kh.No.28, Aliganj.
52. Masjid Lane, Kh.No.187, Jangpura.
53. Chowkidarwali, Kh.No.185, 187, Sadar Bazar
South.
54. Masjid Jungaliwali, Bara Hindu Rao, Kh.No.214,
Sadar Bazar South.
55. Q.Sharief, South of Quila, Kh.No.20, South of
Quila.
56. Q.Sharief, Kh.No.73 (Min.), H.No.389A,
Q.Sharief.
57. Q.Sharief Teen Burj, Kh.No.73 (Min) MPL. No.A-
389/Ward No.XV, Q.Sharief.
58. Q.Sharif Masjid Babar Kh.No.146/2, H.No.B-311
& 312 Q.Sharif.
59. Kh.No.91, Pan Mandi, Sadar Bazar South.
60. Kh.No.295/80-81 and 296/82-83, G.B.Road.
61. Naiwala, Kh.No.1026, Naiwala
62. Q.Sharief, Kh.No.154, Q.Sharif.
List of the 123 waqf properties to be returned to Delhi Waqf Board
Most of the 123 properties returned by the Central Government
to another government agency are of religious nature as is clear
from the following classification of these properties:
Mosques 52
Graveyards 13
Dargahs/mazars/Qadam Sharifs 20
Mosques/Mazars 6
Mosques/graveyards 3
Mosques/Dargahs 3
Imambaras/Karbalas 3
Madrasas 1
Unspecified properties 18
Could anyone, then, claim that it was a favour to the Muslim
community? Even if we take 1914 as the benchmark of the
usurpation and occupation of these (and many more) properties,
the government sat on them, disallowed their use for the purpos-
es for which they were endowed and let them decay. Even after
the court order to dispose of this issue within six months, the gov-
ernment took over three years to finally take a decision and that
too only due the forthcoming elections and to woo Muslim voters
who it seems have reached a point of no-return in their disen-
chantment with the Congress Party.
Muslims are not allowed to pray in these protected
mosques while all kinds of unethical activities go on in their prem-
ises. Kamal Faruqi, then chairman of the Delhi Minority
Commission, had prepared a list of 31 such mosques in Delhi
where all sorts of shameless practices were going on while
Namaz was prohibited although the ASI Act does not prohibit
namaz in protected mosques.
This is a kind of peculiar discrimination where in all the
length and breadth of India prayers are prohibited in churches,
temples and gurudwaras? This honour is reserved only for
mosques under the control of ASI and other government depart-
ments.
List of the 123 properties below
Continued from page 1
AFSANA RASHID, SRINAGAR
Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal organized its maiden rally
here, at the beginning of this month. Leading the partys first road
show, March 1, its candidate for Parliamentary elections from
Srinagar-Budgam constituency here, Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat, an
RTI activist said that the party would resolve all issues concern-
ing the masses.
The party announced its mandate to Bhat, February 27. Bhat
is contesting the election against National Conference president,
Dr Farooq Abdullah and PDPs senior leader Tariq Hamid Karra, in
the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due on April 30.
The party claims that it has registered 10 lakh members from
Kashmir. The party convener for Kashmir and Ladakh affairs,
Samir Sar, February 27, has been quoted as saying that the
partys mission is to end corruption in the state. He has further
said that the party will contest all Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal, March 5, said that the Army must not stay in
the Valley for long as, according to him, it can have many reper-
cussions. He has been quoted in the media saying We dont need
lathis and guns in Kashmir. What we need is a positive approach.
Weve to win their hearts. He has been further quoted as saying
that Article 370 must stay and shouldnt be abrogated. Hurriyat
(G) led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani has said the party is no different
from other mainstream parties. Its spokesperson, Ayaz Akbar,
March 1, said that the party can be new or revolutionary for India
but for Kashmiris it isnt any different. We consider both Kejriwal
and Narender Modi as two sides of the same coin.
Justice eludes Kunan-Poshpora victims
As Kashmir commemorated the 23rd anniversary of Kunan-
Poshpora mass rape of 1991 on February 23 and observed the
day as Kashmiri Womens Resistance Day, justice continues to
elude the victims. Despite many years passing horrific memories
still haunt them.
The victims considered it, an opportunity to raise their voice
against the double standards of India and the deafening silence of
International organizations.
The victims said that the incident had changed the course of
their life. They confided that they had been ignored by their own
people. Marriage proposals of their girls are turned down and
theyve crossed the marriageable age due to the stigma of being
the kin of rape victims, they said.
They added many victims suffer psychological disorders and
fear that like the Pathribal case; the accused might get away, cit-
ing AFSPA.
A shutdown was observed in Kunan-Poshpora and Trehgam
areas of north Kashmirs Kupwara district, February 23, to mark
the anniversary. Locals said when a girl was gang-raped in Delhi
recently, the entire country stood up against it. But there has been
complete silence in their case. They reiterated that they didnt
want money or jobs, only justice. We will not stop until the per-
petrators of the crime are brought to book. That has been our first
wish, and that is our last wish.
Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani, February 22, accused
New Delhi of using rape as war weapon in Jammu Kashmir.
Weve been demanding reopening and reinvestigation of this inhu-
man and shameful act, but till date nothing has come out. We
know the Army is using its special and unlimited powers to pro-
vide a safe passage to these criminals of humanity but well con-
tinue our demand till the criminals are brought to justice.
Meanwhile, police foiled a protest march of Hurriyat Conference
Jammu Kashmir, February 22, and detained its senior leaders. The
protestors were scheduled to stage a sit-in here to express soli-
darity with Kunan-Poshpora victims and to press for justice to
them. Police detained several JKLF leaders, February 23, when
they were on their way to Kunan-Poshpora to
express solidarity with the victims. However, the
party spokesperson said that a party delegation
led by its senior leader Sheikh Mohammad Afzal
reached Kunan-Poshpora and led a protest rally.
Per tinently, Kunan-Poshpora incident
occurred on the intervening night of February 23-
24 in 1991 when personnel of 4 Rajput unit of the
Army allegedly raped 50 women during a search
and interrogation operation in the twin villages in
border district Kupwara.
Militants killed, villagers dispute
army claim
Seven militants were allegedly killed by the Army
in an encounter at Lolab-Kupwara in north
Kashmir, February 24. Villagers claim that they were not militants,
whereas the Army and police reiterate that they were foreign mili-
tants.
Agitated protestors attacked Lalpora police station in
Kupwara, torched two sentry posts and damaged some vehicles.
Police and security forces resorted to aerial firing and tear gas
shelling to quell the protests, resulting in injuries to several people
and armed personnel.
Restrictions were imposed in the area and a shutdown called.
Life was thrown out of gear and people werent allowed to move
out. Life however, returned to normal on March 1.
A shutdown was observed across the Kashmir valley against
an encounter, February 28. A strike call was given by Hurriyat (G)
led by Syed Ali Geelani. Demanding an impartial probe, Geelani, in
a tele-statement from New Delhi, February 25, termed the incident
fishy and said that the seven people have been killed in a suspi-
cious manner.
Hurriyat (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, too demanded
an independent probe into the incident, March 1. He said security
forces in the past have killed innocent Kashmiris by labeling them
Pakistani militants. We cant rule out the fact that security estab-
lishments in Kashmir are trying to institutionalize the killings by
selling them at national level in order to support their arguments
that they need black laws in Kashmir to prevent militancy.
Mirwaiz added more than 600 mass-graves and 90,000 dis-
appeared persons, in the valley which went unreported before the
world community.
Hurriyat Conference Jammu Kashmir alleged that the armed
forces were killing innocents in fake encounters for the past 25
years in Kashmir. Questions raised on the identity of those killed
should be answered, demanded JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin
Malik, February 25. We know the fate of hundreds of probes
ordered in the past 25 years, so we demand the identity of all
those killed.
High Court Bar Association, February 26, also demanded a
probe by international agencies.
Meanwhile, GOC Kilo Force, Major General S.K Saina
addressing media at the headquarters of 8 Sector RR in Lolab,
said these militants had infiltrated some time before, apprehend-
ing that more militants were hiding in Dardpora forests in
Kupwara. He added that the said militants belonged to Lashkar-e-
Toiba.
Opposition PDP created an uproar in the Legislative
Assembly, February 28, against the governments mishandling
of the situation after the incident. The opposition members joined
by independent legislator from Kupwaras Langate Er Rashid
staged a walkout from the House, February 26.
Minister of State for Home, Sajjad Kichloo, told the Legislative
Assembly at Jammu, February 26, that the persons killed were
militants.
Police, March 1, said six of the seven militants were Pakistani
and theyve been identified as Sufian, Rehman, Qari, Kashif,
Dawood and Arqam. The identity of the seventh militant hasnt
been established yet, but he is also a foreigner, DIG North,
J P Singh told media at Baramulla in north Kashmir, adding that
the militants were affiliated to Lashkar-e-Toiba. He added the mili-
tants were responsible for the killing of a police head constable,
Sanaullah in Handwara.
7 out of 10 subscriptions are through WORD OF MOUTH
You know we dont have the resources to advertise & promote ourselves, so
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THE MILLI GAZETTE
First English Newspaper of Indian Muslims. Telling the Muslim side of the story fortnight after fortnight since January 2000
10 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Penguin Books India has withdrawn all published
copies of Wendy Donigers The Hindus: An
Alternative History (2009) as some zealot
Hindu organisations are extremely unhappy with
the contents and interpretations of the erudite
writer.
This is yet another example of fascistic
manipulation of Hindu outfits. Just a few days
earlier, copies of Caravan magazine were burnt
by RSS workers because Aseemanand had
accused Bhagwat and RSS of many explosions
that took place in India, for which innocent
Muslims were arrested, tortured and killed.
Now I come back to Wendys interpretation
of Hinduism through modern psycho-analysis.
Though this book has a few factual errors which
should have been rectified by the publishing
house and the writer herself as five years have
elapsed, Wendy cannot be accused of malign-
ing Hinduism. She has stated and interpreted as
she has perceived this religion.
I reviewed her book in 2009 and wrote that
Hinduism was a perpetuation of paganism.
Being polytheistic, its full of pagan and obscure
symbols whichre throwbacks to a benighted
era. Its many crude symbols like male and
female reproductive organs (in the forms of
shivling/yoni) can be interpreted only through
modern Freudian psycho-analysis.
In fact, the ignorant Hindus must be eternal-
ly beholden to Wendy for trying to analyse and
justify many such symbols and deities whichre
emblems of collective ignorance of Hindu com-
munity.
Mythological plots and sub-plots of
Hinduism are sheer stories which dont appeal
to reason. Therere 3639 interpretations of
Ganesh (Elephant god) for having a human
body but the head of an elephant! Does TRUTH
require so many interpretations? That thou-
sands of interpretations are put forward to
understand a single divine phenomenon in a
religion is a conclusive proof of its obscurantism
and highly superstitious nature.
Poor Wendy just tried to assimilate different
theories and added modern psycho-analysis to
crack the complexities that abound in Hinduism.
Hinduism is a perfect example of primitivism
or else how can you explain the existence of
one monkey god worshiped by legions of cred-
ulous worshipers? Years ago, Bengals popular
columnist Nityapriya Ghosh wondered in his
write-up in Anand Bazar Patrika that its possible
only in Hinduism and among its followers to
deify someone (read Hanuman) who was Rams
servant and elevate him to godhood!
Agreed, religion is a private and very per-
sonal issue but shouldnt it be analysed and
interpreted by scholars whove no axe to grind?
Wendy also wrote in her book that RSS was
responsible for Gandhis assassination and
called it a militant outfit.
Now in these times of growing militancy and
intolerance among various Hindu organisations,
no wonder if this book is at the receiving end of
the Sanghis and RSS goons.
Sahara now besahara
Theres an apt Danish saying, Some people are
destined to spend their lifetime in jail. This applies
to Saharas Subroto Roy, whos been ordered by
the SC to refund 20,000 crore (200 billion) to the
poor and middle-class investors. This man has
been cheating the masses as well as the law for a
long time by giving lame alibis like his own illness
and now the illness of his mother.
Mario Puzos famous novel Godfather
begins with a telling statement that all empires
are founded on crimes and deceptions. A man,
who till 1979 rode a second-hand Lambretta
scooter, is now living in clover and sponsoring
Indian cricket team.
Hows it possible? How can a person accu-
mulate so much wealth in just three decades?
His dubious chit-fund business was always
viewed with enough suspicion. Yet he continued
to amass mind-boggling wealth. Why were not
his fly-by-night tactics stopped before becoming
hydra-headed?
It stands to reason that he had clear political
back-up. People like Mulayam Singh and now
his estranged friend Amar Singh let him grow in
stature. So much so that today, hes one of the
richest men in the country. The masses must
also take a lesson from this incident that their
hard-earned money is not meant to add to such
unscrupulous individuals already inflated bank
balance. Let him remain behind the bars before
he escapes to some other country. Lastly, cant
his erstwhile best friend Amitabh bail him out of
this mess?
SUMIT PAUL
sumitmaclean@hotmail.com
Banning Donigers book on Hinduism: Yet another fascistic move
Aam Aadmi Party reaches Kashmir
How closely should communal and/or secular
cards being used during the ongoing elec-
toral campaign be linked with their populari-
ty? There is no guarantee that voters give
them the same importance that politicians
and their parties try to display. Without
doubt, popularity of leaders during election-
phase is usually judged by crowds they
attract, position in various opinion polls and
media coverage gained by them. Yet, the final verdict is decid-
ed only by votes cast in their favour. Voters decision is based
on their respective individual analyses, which is also influ-
enced by interpersonal communication among themselves.
Communication revolution has contributed to the Indian
voter today becoming more critical than he/she was twenty
years ago of what is projected before him/her through the tele-
vision screen and other means of communication.
Thus, irrespective of how aggressively politicians in the
electoral fray target each other, this does not imply that todays
voters can easily be taken for a ride by these political ploys.
Narendra Modis success is not going to be decided by his
party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s willingness to apologise
for Muslims targeted in Gujarat-carnage (2002). It is not going
to be decided by voters agreeing to Modis claim about Uttar
Pradesh (UP) being home to numerous riots during the past
decade. Nor should it be expected to be influenced by Modi
describing Bihar as a terrorist haven and other similar
claims.
Of late, during their respective campaigns in UP, Modi and
Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh have tried adding
fire in their speeches by blaming each other for inciting com-
munalism in their respective states. The two have certainly
succeeded in attracting substantial media coverage. But this
does not guarantee either success from UP in Lok Sabha polls.
How can whatever is stated by these and other politicians be
assumed as correct by their rivals as well as the targeted recip-
ients that are the voters?
In essence, willingly or unwillingly, Modi has exposed the
weakness of his own secularism by giving too much impor-
tance to his rivals communal record. Whether he has played
this card deliberately or not, one is intrigued as to what mes-
sage Modi is trying to convey by going overboard in adding
communal and terrorist tags to the names of his rivals? What
is Modi trying to cash on electorally? Is he trying to convince
media and voters that his rivals are more communal and prone
to using violence than he is? Sadly, in the process, Modi
expects voters to take their political decisions by deliberating
on the communal background of politicians and parties in the
fray.
Usage of this political card naturally sidelines the impor-
tance expected to be given to secular values in Indias multi-
religious society.
Without doubt, secularism and communalism are oppo-
site ends of rhetoric as well as other political values put to
use in the Indian electoral campaign. Constitutionally and as
per political ethics, parties and politicians in the electoral
race are expected to highlight their respective secular val-
ues. Modi is trying to display his own secular credentials
by indulging in exposing his rivals communal background.
Of course, this practice of indulging in negative campaign
against rivals is exercised by practically all politicians. But
there is a major difference in the impact that this campaign
indulged in by various politicians can have on voters. For
instance, anti-corruption rhetoric indulged in by new politi-
cal entrants like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) can influence vot-
ers. Yet, the same cannot be said about Modis attempt to
expose his rivals communal and/or terroristic inclina-
tions.
The noise made by Modi about his development-agenda
can be more easily accepted by voters than this card. The
explanation is simple. Indian voters are well aware about anti-
Muslim communal violence that raged in Gujarat for several
months, when Modi was the state chief minister.
Certainly, Modi has the right to claim that he was not
responsible for Gujarat-carnage. Legally and politically, Modi
can convince himself and some of his supporters about his not
being answerable for Gujarat-carnage. The political legitimacy
of this stand of Modi, however, is confined to his own narrow
circle, which does not include all his party members. The last
point is supported by the BJP chief expressing willingness to
apologise for the Gujarat-carnage. The underlying message is
that BJP has accepted that irrespective of what Modi claims,
the people still hold him and his party as responsible for the
Gujarat-carnage. BJP understands that to win polls it has no
other option but to bow down before the electorates mood.
Voters secular-agenda has apparently prompted BJP to
try apologising for the communal card used aggressively dur-
ing the Gujarat-carnage. Modi has not yet understood fully
that Indian voters cannot be totally guided by his claims. They
cannot be fooled by his claiming to be not as communal as his
rivals. In his attempt to thrash at his rivals communal back-
ground, Modi has invited voters criticism of his own secular
agenda. Nowadays, political questions have also begun being
raised on claims made by Modi about development of
Gujarat!.
Speaki ng Out
Modis
Communal Card
NI LOFAR SUHRAWARDY
ANALYSIS The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 11 www.milligazette.com
Ahmedabad:
The following
are the 16
q u e s t i o n s
Aam Admi
Par ty head
A r v i n d
Kejriwal posed
to BJP prime
mi n i s t e r i a l
c a n d i d a t e
Narendra Modi
in a hand-writ-
ten memoran-
dum he read out to the media on 7 March in
Ahmedabad:
(1) Should you become the PM, will you raise
price of the KG Basin gas, already doubled by the
UPA Government to USD 8 per unit, to USD 16
per unit?
(2) Why is Gujarat buying solar power at the
price of Rs 13 per unit although Madhya Pradesh
and Karnatka are buying the same at the rate of
Rs 7.50 and Rs 5, respectively?
(3) On what basis do you claim agriculture
growth at 11% while your own governments sta-
tistics say that production has declined at minus
1.18% annually and revenue declined from Rs
27,815 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 25,908 crore in
2012-13?
(4) Would you hand over all industries to a few
big houses as two-thirds of SMEs have closed
down in the last 10 years, particularly in
Mehsana district (Modis home district) where
140 units out of 187 vanished?
(5) How can you claim to have eradicated cor-
ruption as it has infested all levels and depart-
ments? Up to Rs 10 lakh are demanded for
appointment of a talati (revenue official)?
(6) Why have you inducted in your ministry peo-
ple like Babu Bokhiria, convicted for three years
in a mining case, and Purshottam Solanki,
accused in a Rs 450-crore fishing scandal?
(7) Why have you virtually surrendered natural
resources of Gujarat to a minister who is son-in-
law of the Ambani family, with whom you are
said to be close?
(8) How can you claim to have solved unemploy-
ment problem when 13 lakh people in Gujarat
applied for 1,500 posts of talatis recently?
(9) Is not your government exploiting young
graduates by paying them only Rs 5,300 per
month for five years on contract basis?
(10) The state of government schools can be
gauged from the fact that only three teachers
teach 600 students at some places. What is your
comment?
(11) Medical and health services in Gujarat are in
a shambles and in grip of corruption?
(12) At least 800 farmers have committed sui-
cide in Gujarat in recent years as the government
has stopped subsidies and is not paying support
prices. What is your reaction?
(13) Four lakh farmers are waiting for years to
get electricity connection. How can you claim
24x7 electricity availability? Farmers have not
been paid adequately for acquisition of their land
for industry while the Ambanis and Adanis have
got it for just one rupee per square meter. Some
farmers have not been paid any compensation at
all.
(14) Despite raising the Sardar Sarovar dams
height in 2005, the Kutch people have not been
provided water but industries have been. Why?
Also Saurashtra & North Gujarat (face the same
proble).
(15) Despite assuring Punjab that the Sikh farm-
ers of Kutch will not be deprived of land allotted
to them, the Gujarat Government has not with-
drawn court cases against them. Why? and
(16) How many aircraft and helicopters do you
have? And who owns these? How much do you
pay or someone else pays? Why dont you make
public these air expenses?
Ravinder Singh (Progressindia008@
yahoo.com) added the following questions:
(17) How is it possible, as reported by CAG, RIL
is drilling in ONGC exploration block and RIL
Production Control Platform & Pipes are located
but there is practically no production in 15 years
despite promises of World Record discoveries?
(18) What was the technical justification of Solar
Farms and Canal-Top Solar power projects?
Purchasing power at Rs.15 per unit when
Rooftop Solar power is to cost Rs.5 per unit and
no grid connectivity is required? One MW of
Solar Rooftop cost around Rs.10 crore in 2012
and produced 50 MU in its lifetime or 5 crore
units costing Rs.2 per unit, even cheaper earlier
when a dollar cost Rs.45 or say Rs.1.50 per unit
when consumers themselves fund the panels
and do not have to pay bills. Solar Power compa-
nies are paid Rs.15 and delivered cost is Rs.20
or more and consumers are to pay Rs.100
crores per MW. Already 950 MW capacity is
installed and more units are coming up which is
an over Rs.100,000 crore scam.
(19) Sardar Sarovar Project is ultra mega cor-
ruption: (a) Narmada Canal has 40,000 cusecs
of water but (b) capacity required as per
Narmada Tribunal is 10,000 cusecs, even less as
just 7,000 cusecs was required after diversion of
three maf for piped water supply, (c) As given in
CAG report, Narmada Canal system is substan-
dard and leaky and (d) Saurastra, Kutch and
North Gujarat get little or no water.
(20) 50 percent children in Gujarat are malnour-
ished.
(21) Slum-dwellers in Ahmadabad are denied
electric connection - three lakh domestic con-
nections are refused.
(22) Corporate Gujarat revenue exceeded
Rs.1,000,000 crores but 6.25 crore Gujaratis
have no equity in these companies and no share
in natural resources.
(23) All farmers in Gujarat are required to get
drip irrigation even for low value field crops.
Kejriwals 16 questions to Modi plus more
The truth of the
hugging saint
The Indian
Express (Feb.
20) has reported
that a former
aide of the dubi-
ous spiritual
leader Mata
Amritanandmayi,
known as
Amma or the
hugging saint,
has come out
with a book which alleges sexual exploitation at
her ashram.
In the recently published Holy Hell, A
Memoir of Faith, Devotion and Pure Madness,
Gail Tredwell alias Gayatri describes how she
was sexually abused at the ashram, where,
according to her, senior inmates had physical
relations. Tredwell, an Australian national, wit-
nessed how the young, rank uneducated woman
from a fishing village in Kerala, grew into a tow-
ering spiritual leader.
She alleges that in order to keep up her
faade of innocence and purity, Amritanandmayi
had a small team of trusted individuals doing her
dirty work, and she (Tredwell) was one of them.
I dont understand, how this hugging saint has-
nt yet been put behind the bars despite Savvy
(Magna Publications, Bombay-25) unmasking
her charade and revealing her dirty deeds nearly
a decade ago? Who had those explosive copies
confiscated immediately after hitting the stands?
In recent years, theres been a deluge of
Hindu spiritual frauds like Nirmala Devi, who
preached Sahaj Yog and still has a sizeable num-
ber of asinine devotees in Delhi and northern
India, Sex-guru Asaram, whos cooling his heels
in the slammer, extremely sissy Ravi Shankar,
this Amritanandmayi and many others. The
question is: Why people dont understand that
these spiritually evolved people are actually
goons and criminals and they are even worse
than those who believe in them? Is it because of
the collective superstitious mentality of the peo-
ple of India?
One modern Sai Baba of Puttipuram built a
empire. Many male followers openly declared
that he sodomised them. A doctor, who was
once his follower, later admitted that Puttipuram
Sai was oversexed. Yet he was never arrested
because all politicians (P V Narsimha Rao, Mrs
Gandhi), celebrities, cricketers like Gavaskar,
VVS Laxman were his staunch followers. These
people fly business class and live in air-condi-
tioned mansions and villas. They talk about
abstinence but indulge in all sorts of sensual
luxuries and pleasures. All of them are unmit-
igated sex perverts, nay fiends.
The government of India is the most spine-
less and it allows these swindlers to run their
spiritual businesses without ever questioning
them.
The superstitious masses deify these char-
latans as gods and goddesses. If you write or
say anything against them, you must be pre-
pared to face the music because Hindus have
become too volatile and theyve begun to react
very quickly the moment you cast aspersions on
their spiritual gurus and guides. This is indeed
a dismal scenario.
India has been hijacked by people like
Amritanandmayi, Ravi Shankar, Asaram,
Nirmala, Murari Bapu, Aniruddh, Narendra
Swami, Bhayyuji Maharaj of Indore, to name
only a few.
Theres a whole bunch of spiritual clowns
and characters in this country whore groveling-
ly worshiped by the most credulous Hindu
majority, whove permanently mortgaged their
brains.
SUMIT PAUL
sumitmaclean@hotmail.com
SYED MUHAMMAD
ASHRAF (an IPS officer
of 1979 batch), Income
Tax Commissioner, Delhi
on promotion has been
made Chief Income Tax
Commissioner and post-
ed to Kolkata. He is also
counted as a noted short
story writer. He probably is the first Muslim offi-
cer to have passed civil services examination
with Urdu medium. He has held different posts
in Income Tax Department in Aligarh, Kanpur,
Mumbai, Delhi etc. He was also honoured with
Sahitya Academy Award in 2004 for his collec-
tion of short stories titled Baad-e saba ka
Intezaar. His family belongs to Qadiriya dynasty
and under the auspices of Khanqah Barkatiyah
he set up the famous Al Barkaat Institution at
Aligarh which is a famous institution of modern
and religious sciences education.
Prof AKHTARUL WASEY,
Vice Chairman of Delhi
Urdu Academy and
Director of Jamia Millia
Islamias Zakir Husain
Institute of Islamic
Studies has been appoint-
ed is Commissioner for
Linguistic Minorities by the President of India
Pranab Mukherjee, on the recommendation of
union ministry of minorities affairs. Last year he
was honoured with Padma Shri Award. It may
be stated that Commissioner for Linguistic
Minorities is a statutory post and was created in
1957. He is the 12th Commissioner of this
statutory body ever since its creation.
QAMAR AHMAD ZAIDI, IPS (Retd) and social
worker has been appointed Chairman of Delhi
Minorities Commission. He was known as an
honest, kind hearted and capable police officer.
His appointment as Chairman of Delhis
Minorities Commission is in place of Safdar
Husain Khan whose term was completed on 3
February and has been welcomed by many
organisations.
AL HAJ ATA KARIM, a social worker who has
also worked a lot for Janta Dal (U) Party has
been appointed chairman of Bihar State Food
Corporation by Nitish Kumar government.
NASEEM AHMAD, former
VC, AMU has been
appointed as the new
chairman of the National
Commission for Minorities.
Naseem Ahmed, hailing
from Azamgarh was an
IAS officer of Haryana
cadre. During his tenure as
IAS officer, he earned a lot of accolade for putting
in place water management system. He was a
close confidant of former Chief Minister of the
state Chaudhary Devi Lal. As Chairman of the
Haryana Waqf Board, Ahmed not only restored
many pre-Partition mosques but was also instru-
mental in creating a minority engineering college in
Mewat. Moreover, with his honest and able admin-
istration, he increased the revenues of Haryana
Waqf Board more than ten times. Ahmed served
AMU VC during 2002-2007.
MEN & WOMEN IN NEWS OBITUARIES
12 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 NEWSMAKERS www.milligazette.com
Dr. JAMSHED KAMAL AMROHI, poet and intel-
lectual was honoured with Josh Malihabadi
Award at an All India mushaira held at Amroha.
Along with him, poet JAVED IQBAL was hon-
oured with Faiz Ahmad Faiz Award MASROOR
JAUHAR was honoured with Meer Taqi Meer
Award and MIRZA SAJID AMROHI was hon-
oured with Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi Award.
NADEEM AKHTAR, Deputy City Qazi of
Saharanpur has been selected by Nagar Shanti
Samiti for being honoured this year with Aman
(Peace) Award in connection with Holi on the
occasion of Holi Milan function to be held on 17
March. The amount of this Award will be Rs
5001 in cash, a shawl and a commendation cer-
tificate. President of the Award Committee said
that Nagar Shanti Samiti gives this Award to a
Muslim on the occasion of Holi and this Award
i.e. Aman Award to a Hindu on the occasion of
Eid Milan. He said that the objective behind this
is that a religious festival should not be limited
to one particular community and all communi-
ties should celebrate the festivals jointly.
TAHSEEN MUNAWWAR, noted journalist, news
anchor, columnist, litterateur, poet and actor
was honoured with Madan Mohan Varma
Memorial Award 2014 by Uttarakhand chief
minister Harish Rawat in recognition of his serv-
ices in the field of media and Urdu journalism.
The Award was given to him at a function organ-
ised by journalists Association of Electronic and
Print Media of Uttarakhand at Dehradun on 19
February.
BEKAL UTSAHI, famous Urdu, Hindi poet and
former MP who has been honoured with many
literary awards, has been honoured, along with
23 others, with Yash Bharti Award by UP gov-
ernment. This Awards carries a cheque of Rs 5
lakh, a shawl and a certificate.
NASRUL HASAN HALI, a senior TV journalist
was honoured with Shining Image of India Gold
Medal Award by All India Economy Survey
Award Council at a function held in Delhi on 23
February.
MUSHIR ALTAF, a research scholar in AMUs
Agricultural Microbiology Department who read
out his research paper in the International
Conference on Agricultural and Horticultural
Sciences held at Hyderabad on 28 February has
been honoured with Best Paper Award Before
this also he was honoured with Best Poster
Presentation Award by the Association of
Microbiologists of India at a function held at
Rohtak (Haryana).
The Mumbai-based CENTRE FOR STUDIES OF
SOCIETY AND SECULARISM has been awarded
the National communal harmony award, 2013.
This award has been the collective result of hard
work put in CSSS for the last twenty years under
the leadership of its founder late Asghar Ali
Engineer. His son Irfan Engineer now runs the
institution while the chairperson is Prof. Ram
Puniyani. The long journey that CSSS has been
able to sustain is because of the support of its
staff and donors who have shown tremendous
trust and supported the cause for which CSSS
has stood for and worked towards. CSSS may
be contacted at csss@mtnl.net.in,
csss2work@gmail.com. www.csss-isla.com
Mr. S. AHMED MEERAN, Chairman of Unity
Group of Schools, Chennai, is a B.Com gradu-
ate. Earlier, he worked in the Telephone depart-
ment. He resigned from the government service
in 1981 and started travel business. In 1985 he
started The Professional Couriers which is now
one of the top courier services in the country.
He dedicated himself for services to humanity in
general and for education in particular. He pro-
vides scholarships every year to hundreds of
poor and needy students pursuing higher stud-
ies in the fields of Arts, Science, Engineering,
Medicince, etc. He is also the Secretary of
Organisation of Muslim Educational Institutes
and Associations of Tamil Nadu (OMEIAT). This
organization is supporting the poor and needy
Muslim students for their higher studies.
Late Moulana M. A. Jameed Ahmed, in
whose memory this award is instituted, was the
head of IFT which may be contacted at iftchen-
nai12@gmail.com. www.ift-chennai.org
CARAVAN Wins Dubai Award
Caravan Daily, the young online news magazine
(http://caravandaily.com/), received its first
accolade last month when it clinched the Dubai
Shopping Festival Journalism Award in online
media category. Caravan received the DSF 2014
Award for the Best Online Feature by Raziqueh
Hussain. The DSF Media Awards were given
away at a glittering ceremony marking the clo-
sure of the celebrated Shopping Festival.
Published on 2 January, 2014, the feature
titled Dubai Catches Em Young (http://cara-
vandai l y. com/ por t al / dubai -cat ches-em-
young/) by Raziqueh Hussain, the former
Khaleej Times journalist who is now based in
Norway, talked about how the Dubai Shopping
Festival reached out to children and young
people.
The Dubai Shopping Festival functions with
the overall theme of One World, One Family,
One Festival, and offers every member of every
family the best shopping and entertainment feel
available in the region. More than 3,500 retail
shops and 40 state of the art shopping malls
offer huge discounts on international brands.
With so much to see and do, its no surprise that
attendance is in the 3.5 million range, wrote
Hussain.
Locals love children and Dubai has long
been attracting expat families, so the young are
well catered for - many hotel crches and clubs
are used by non-guests. If your kid is a water
baby, you might consider a day at a water park.
The Indian journalist expressed her delight
at winning the coveted DSF Award once again.
This was her third DSF Award.
Padma awardees
Of the 127 awardees of Padma Vibhushan,
Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, which were
announced on the eve of the 65th Republic day,
no Muslim received the Padma Vibhusahn while
Gulam Mohammed Sheikh (Ar t-Painting,
Gujarat), Begum Parveen Sultana (Art-Classical
Singing, Maharashtra), Prof Anisuzzaman
(Literature and Education, Bangladesh) received
Padma Bhushan. Padma Shri awardees are:
Mohammad Ali Baig (Ar t-Theatre, Andhra
Pradesh), Ustad Moinuddin Khan (Ar t-
Instrumental Music-Sarangi Player, Rajasthan),
Prof Hakim Syed Khaleefathullah (Unani
Medicine, Tamil Nadu), Dr Naheed Abidi
(Literature and Education, Uttar Pradesh),
Parveen Talha (Civil Service, Uttar Pradesh).
AWARDS
ALLAMA USAIDUL HAQ
QADIRI AZHARI, great
Islamic scholar, litterateur,
researcher and intellectual
and heir to Khanqah Aalia
Qadiriya, Bodayun who
had gone to Iraq along
with a 25-member dele-
gation including his father
Maulana Abdul Hameed Salim Al Qadiri, Sajjada
Nashin of the Khanqah and his younger brother,
was killed on 4 March along with many others in
a terrorist attack at the very young age of 27
years. His father Maulana Abdul Hameed and
younger brother Maulana Atif had a miraculous
hair-breadth escape. The news of his tragic
death sent a shock wave in religious circles, par-
ticularly in his native place Badayun where peo-
ple observed a complete strike and all shops
remained closed. He along with the delegation
had gone there on 26 February and was to
return on 6 March. Many condolence meetings
at different places in Delhi and other places were
held when rich tributes were paid to him. He is
survived by his parents, wife and younger broth-
ers. He was laid to rest in the compound of the
mazar of Ghulam Ghaus in Baghdad on 6 March.
SYED YUNUS ALI
Samar Jamshedpuri,
noted naatiya poet died
on 1 March. He was
equally popular in India as
well as in Pakistan and
his naatiya poetry is
sung by well known
singers and qawwals of India and Pakistan
including Jani Babu of Mumbai, famous Saabri
brothers of Pakistan. Shamim Naeem Ajmeri etc.
He left behind his six publications of naats and
poetry.
DR. SHAKIR MUKHI,
AFMIs trustee and
former president, died
on 7 February, 2014.
Dr. Shakir Mukhi was
an important member
of our organization
who was always con-
cerned with the plight
of underprivileged masses in India. His contribu-
tions are many and he will sorely be missed by
one and all. May Allah (swt) grant him maghfi-
rah and give perseverance to his family, said Dr.
A. R. Nakadar, founding trustee of The American
Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI -
www.afmi.org). A philanthropist to the core, Dr.
Mukhi was an active participant in AFMIs edu-
cational mission in addition to various other
charitable and community activities. He served
as the executive VP of Nargis Dutt Memorial
Foundation, VP of Indian National Overseas
Congress, and board member of AAPI for Asian
communities. He was a Human Rights
Commissioner for Nassau County Long Island
since 2001. A graduate of M. P. Shah Medical
College, Jamnagar, he was serving the Long
Island and Queens communities for the past
several years as a Family Physician. He was
popular among his patients for his compassion
and kindness.
M. A. Jameel Ahmed Award
I
slamic Foundation Trust (IFT), Chennai, presented its M. A. Jameel Ahmed Award to two
prominent personalities of Tamil Nadu. IFT had instituted M. A. Jameel Ahmed Award for out-
standing personalities in Service to Humanity. The first award ceremony was organised on 1
February, 2014 at Rajah Annamalai Hall, Chennai.
The Chief guest, noted Tamil scholar Dr. Silampoli Chellappan, presented the award to Human
Rights Activist PROF A. MARX for his remarkable contribution in the field of human rights since 30
years and MR. S. AHMED MEERAN for his remarkable contribution in the field of education.
Further he felicitated the awardees and congratulated IFT for instituting this award. He said that it
was his privilege to award the outstanding activists in the field of Human Rights and Education.
Prof. A. Marx served as a Professor of Physics for over 37 years. He was born on 4 October,
1949 at Papanadu, Tanjavur District. His father Mr. Antony Samy went to Malaysia and was one of
the founders of the socialist movement there. Prof Marx could not go to school till his 4th grade,
then he pursued his studies at government-run schools, colleges and universities. Since 30 years
he has been striving to protect human rights. Now he is the Tamil Nadu State President of Peoples
Union for Human Rights (PUHR) for Tamil Nadu Chapter and National Executive Member of
National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO). He has penned more than 50
books mostly in the field of Human Rights. Islaamiyarukku Ethiraana Kattukathaikal (the allega-
tions against Muslims), Naan Purinthu konda Nabikal (The Prophet: I understood), etc. are some
of his important books. Prof Marx is among the first who visit people facing human rights violation
and provides legal assistance to them. Prof A. Marx not only works in Tamil Nadu but has also vis-
ited Ayodhya, Odisha, Sri Lanka and other riot / communal violence hit areas.
Communalism has permeated into all walks of life: Shastri
SPECIAL REPORT The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 13 www.milligazette.com
MG/Yusuf
BY MG CORRESPONDENT
Malerkotla (Punjab): Addressing a seminar collec-
tively organised here by three local NGOs, namely
Al-Furqan Foundation, Association of Youth Affairs
and The Truth at Amina Park, the head priest of the
Suryakunj Dorahi Kuan temple of Ayodhya Yugal
Kishor Shastri, said that communalism has gained
deep access into public institutions such as
media, judiciary and beaurocracy of the country.
As a result, most of the government policies have
been badly effected. Appealing to the people to
react on humanitarian grounds to every social
issue, he stressed that any particular community
or group should not be held responsible for a
crime committed by an individual. He suggested to
the higher government authorities to teach for at
least six months the message of humanitarian
brotherhood taught by great sufis and sants to
every IAS and IPS officer prior to his formal
appointment. Claiming to be the true follower of
the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and Sant Kabir,
he demanded that communalism must be declared
an equally serious crime at par with sedition and
must be dealt with strictly. Speaking on the same
theme, noted scholar and editor of The Milli
Gazette, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan said that there was
no history of communal tension in any part of the
country prior to 1957, but the united struggle by
the countrymen during the first war of independ-
ence led the British rulers to adopt the divide-and-
rule policy by which separate histories were
invented and Muslims were pitted against the
Hindus. Touching the post-independence history
of the countrymen, he said that the well-organised
communal forces converted their techniques of
engineering communal riots into a highly profitable
industry giving huge political dividends. Stressing
that communalism was an equally serious chal-
lenge for the country as that of corruption, he
argued that it has slowed down the march of
development and was the main force behind the
rise of terrorism.
Noted Sikh scholar Prof. Inder Singh Ghagga
also spoke on the issue. In his presidential
address, Seminar Mufti Fuzailur Rahman Hilal
Usmani, an eminent Islamic scholar, appealed to
the people to remain united against the evil com-
munal forces and turn every communal event into
a movement for the benefit of the humanity. The
seminar was made possible by the untiring efforts
of Aijaz Farooq (convener) Anas Altaf (Al-Furqan
Foundation), Naeem Ilyas (Association of Youth
Affairs) and Muzammil Ali Khan (The Truth). The
seminar attracted a large gathering from all walks
and communities. The first Islamic website in
Punjabi (www.rabbibani.com) was launched on
this occasion.
Urdu Girls High School Gaya Celebrates
Golden Jubilee
Gaya: Magadh University Vice Chancellor Dr Mohammad Ishtiaque made the occasion of the
Golden Jubilee of the Urdu Girls High School Gaya, an aided minority school, an occasion for
introspection not only for the school but for the community in the area. He prompted the commu-
nity leaders, particularly those behind the affairs of any minority educational institution in the
country, to self analyse and do whatever they can to improve the conditions and advised them not
to be much dependent on government aid. The VC exhorted the school committee to learn the les-
sons from Christians and Sikhs in running their institutions.
The VC felt pity for the school that even in its golden jubilee year the school did not have its
own land and was running from a building constructed on waqf land (though built by its own
resources). The landbelongee to the 100-year-old Madarsa Anwarul Uloom which had spared a
small portion of its land 50 years ago for the school while it imparts education in Urdu. He said
that the community itself should come forward to manage its space crunch first, then only aid
should be expected from the government.
The VC said Urdu is the best medium of education but one should not remain content with
this and should endeavour to join the mainstream by acquiring other language skills.
These thoughts were expressed while the VC was delivering his presidential address on the
occasion of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Urdu Girls High School, one of the first schools
for girls belonging to the linguistic minorities in Bihar.
Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, SC/ST welfare minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi
promised all help to the school management in its struggle to get land and building. Dr Syed Zafar
Imam, a New York-based medical consultant, had come down from the US to grace the occasion.
He advised the guardians of the students to focus much on the skills of math during study as this
could guarantee bright careers in future.
The coordinator of the Golden Jubilee programme, Tameemuddin Humble, organised and pre-
sented about a dozen items of schools cultural programme staged by its students, in which a
drama on women education was appreciated by all.
On this occasion, the foundation stone of the Golden Jubilee Bloc, the building to be built
pulling the old one, was laid by the chief guest, Mr Jeetan Ram Manjhi. A website of the school,
www.urdugirlshighschool.com was also launched by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mohammad
Ishtiyaque. A 68-page souvenir focusing on Girls Education was released during this function.
TAMEEMUDDIN HUMBLE
Lucknow: Prathiba Patil, former
President of India, said that empower-
ment of women and effective check
on criminal acts against them can
only be possible if the mindset of our
society is drastically changed and
perver ted minds of the so-called "old
values" are dealt with firmly by social
activists. She was addressing a select
gathering of intellectuals at Raj
Bhavan, representing Media
Foundation and Sir Syed Scientific
Society last month. Patil observed
that not much can be done for the
security and honour of women by laws and legislations alone. Only people like Raja Ram Mohan
Roy can do this. In his time, he stoond up against old customs against women and succeeded in
removing many ills of society.
Dr. Sultan Shakir Hashmi presented a Memorandum to Mrs Patil on behalf of Sir Syed Scientific
Society. It contained several suggestions for the uplift of Indian Muslims including establishment
of a University of Science and Technology in the name of Sir Syed and helping madarsas to star t
vocational training courses in their campuses. Mrs. Patil was pleased to receive a copy of the book
"Plants of Quran" authored by Dr. M. I. H. Farooqi. She was happy to know that such work on the
scientific aspects of Quranic plants is available.
Seminar on Islamic civilisation and politics
Aligarh: A two-day academic
seminar on "the role of Islam in
building civilisation and politics"
was held here by the Idarah
Tahqiaq-o Tasneef Islami of
Jamaat-e islami Hind durig 23-24
February. The seminar was inau-
gurated by the chairman of the
Idara and President of JIH
Maulana Jalaluddin Umari and
was presided over by Dr Zafarul-
Islam Khan. Over 30 papers were
presented during the seminar on
the history of Islam in building
civilisation, its ideological bases
and future prospects. Dr Khan quoted Muhammad Asad who had said in a private meeting in
Tripoli four decades ago that the world will not accept Islam unless a working model of Islam was
presented to it. He called for a robust think tank for Indian Muslims.
Mindset of Society needs to be changed: Patil
The deed-prayer
mismatch
O God!
Get me to the
destination.
Yugal Kishor Shastri, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Prof. Inder Singh Ghagga and Mufti Fuzailur
Rahman Usmani addressing the seminar.
Harshad gets bail in Sunil Joshi murder
Jabalpur: MP High court granted bail to Harshad in the Sunil Joshi
murder case. Justices AK Shrivastav and Subhash Kakade heard
his petition who argued that following the Supreme Court guide-
lines he could not be detained by NIA any longer.
Documentary Killing Field of Muzaffarnagar released
New Delhi: A documentary film named Killing Field of
Muzaffarnagar made by Gopal Menon and depicting the com-
munal riots that had erupted in Muzaffarnagar and other neigh-
bouring places in September last year (2013) was shown at the
Delhi Press Club on 19 February. In these riots which intermit-
tently continued for several days and even weeks in many dis-
tricts and villages of western UP in which more than 60
Muslims were killed and about 1.5 lakh people were rendered
homeless who had to be accommodated in dozens of refugee
camps under inhuman conditions. In such communal riots in
India social and political leaders and organisations generally
blame governments and political par ties and leaders also blame
each other. In this film it is also shown that communal riots take
place not only because of mismanagement or inaction by gov-
ernments and government authorities like the police and civilian
officers but also because of conspiracies pre-planned in an
organised way and how people and mobs were instigated
against Muslims. The conspirators, not only communal groups
but also print and electronic media distor ted facts simply to
project Muslims in a bad light so as to depict them as villains of
the piece.
Shaikhul Hind Medical College lacking instruments and staff
Saharanpur: Though Shaikhul Hind Medical College has been built
at a cost of about Rs 358 crores, it was inaugurated this month
(February) but a bit too soon because neither the necessary
equipment and machinery nor the number of staff nor facilities that
are normally available in hospitals are available, though a few
patients are coming to the OPD (Outdoor Patients Department).
Many important and common machines like X Ray, machines for
different testings of blood, operation theatre, ICU etc could not be
arranged and built so far. Educational session is expected to be
started in July in which, admissions will first be given to those
who are selected in CPMT. There is no canteen also here for
patients or others who come here along with them from distant
places, though claims were made that a 4-storey building for
accommodating those who come along with patients will be made
together with other facilities like bank, post office etc but nothing
has been done so far. Three officers of CMO cadre have however
been appointed to improve the conditions in and around the hos-
pital.
Markazul Maarif says it fulfilled its mission
Mumbai: The Final round of the second Elocution Competition
2013-14 was held in Markazul Maarif Education & Research
Centre on 10 February in which 29 students had participated of
whom 8 finalists namely Habib Aslam, Muhammad Abdur Rahim,
Muhammad Rashid, Muhammad Ehsaan, Taha, Shaghir Ahmad,
Inamul Hasan and Muhammad Asjud demonstrated their profi-
ciency in speaking English. Three of these finalists namely
Muhammad Inamul Hasan, Taha and Shaghir Ahmad stood first,
second and third, were honoured with prizes. What is, in fact,
more important to note is that this institution i.e. Markazul Maarif
Education and Research Centre was set up in 1994 by Maulana
Baruddin Ajmal Qasmi with the objective of familiarising Ulama
with English languge and literature. Till date, 17 groups or jamats
of Ulama have acquired perfect knowledge of English and devel-
oped English speaking power and are doing preaching and propa-
gating Islam in foreign countries.
At present ten religious institutions in the country have intro-
duced 2-year special syllabus prepared by this Research Centre in
their respective institutions. President of Markazul Maarif Education
& Research Centre, Ahmad Kamal Khusro and former Professor of
Akbar Peerbhai College say that knowledge of English language is
very essential for dawat and Tabligh of Islam and by taking the initia-
tive in this field this institution has been doing a very important job
and providing useful service. Special guest in this function, Ehsanul
Haq Khan said while speaking on this occasion that there are three
ways of taking ones views to others i.e. through the pen (writing), the
tongue (speaking) and practice or practical or physical work and
Markazul Maarif is active in all these fields. Yet another speaker,
Faizan Zaveri (who had also served as a judge in this declamation
competition) said that he is extremely surprised to see how the
Ulama or students have acquired such proficiency in English speak-
ing in such a short period (of 2 years).
Nazim to oversee the distribution of donations at Ajmer:SC
New Delhi: Supreme Cour t bench consisting of Justice
K. S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Vikramajit Sen has upheld the
verdict of the Rajasthan High Court of last year which directed the
government-appointed Administrator called Nazim at the Dargah
of Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer to ensure that all
donations received in cash or kind at this Dargah are distributed
among the Dargah Committee, Khadims (clerics who perform rit-
uals) and Dewans, who are descendents of Saint Khwaja
Moinuddin Chishti, all of whom are dependent on the Dargahs
incomes for earning their livelihood as they have no other source
of income.
The High Court (of Rajasthan) in its verdict last year had
directed that the Nazim shall be in-charge of all donations, offer-
ings, gifts etc either in cash or kind (like chaadars, gold or silver
objects like utensils etc). The High Court had also stated that gifts
or donations in kind like chaadars, utensils etc will belong to
Dargah Committee and offerings or donations in cash (which are
normally put by devotees in donation boxes) would belong to
Khadims and Dewans and would be divided between them. The
judges of the Supreme Court Bench felt that the verdict of
Rajasthan High Court was in the larger public interest because
the pilgrims and devotees from all parts of the world visited this
shrine and hence upheld it (High Courts verdict). Before the High
Courts verdict, the Khadims used to get the offerings, donations
etc by the pilgrims / devotees directly but because of disputes
between Khadims and Dargah Committee etc and malpractices
the matter was taken to the High Court which gave its verdict last
year. The Khadims also felt that donations by pilgrims in donation
boxes kept outside the shrine belonged exclusively to them which
they did not want to share with Dewans.
The High Court, however, gave its verdict on the reasoning
that pilgrims who make offerings or give donations do so, for bet-
ter arrangements, development, facilities etc provided by the
shrine. The High Court had also ruled that donations in cash by
pilgrims in donation boxes inside the shrine should be shared
between Khadims as well as Dewans. This was not acceptable to
Khadims i.e. sharing of the donations or offerings between them
and the Dewans. This also necessitated the matter to be taken to
the High Court. The Supreme court, as stated above, upheld the
verdict of the Rajasthan High Court.
Group marriage of 21 couples performed without dowry
Ghazipur: Group marriages of girls whose parents could not
marry them because of pover ty were organised in Sadaat vil-
lage of Ghazipur district of (eastern) UP. According to available
information, group marriages of 21 poor girls were performed
in Dhorwarjan villages Chomukh Nath Temple under the aus-
pices of Jagriti Foundation Sanstha. This Foundation had earlier
conducted a survey in this village and its neighbouring villages
and identified 21 such girls whose parents, because of pover ty
found it difficult to get their daughters married, and also
searched suitable grooms for them. In this group marriage not
only were the relatives of brides and grooms but thousands of
other people were also present who personally saw the unique
marriages in which no dowry was either demanded or given.
The Foundation or Sanstha from its own funds, however,
provided necessary houshold goods like beds, chairs, tables,
utensils etc. to each girl or bride. The Sanstha also arranged
meals for all people in the marriage parties as well as hosts and
some special guest. Brides and grooms garlanded each other
and the marriages were performed with all religious and social
ceremonies. Organisers i.e. Sansha members said that it was
a small initiative from their side and if village people and elders
want and approve of their initiative, they would arrange still big-
ger programmes like this one.
Government to set up Equal Opportunities Commission
New Delhi: Union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Manmohan
Singh in its meeting held on 20 February cleared the proposal to
set up the long-pending Equal Oppor tunities Commission, a
statutory body to check discrimination of minority communities
in jobs, education and other spheres. This step is in accordance
with the recommendations of Justice Rajinder Sachar
Committee. This Commission will also deal with grievances like
denial of accommodation or right to buy houses by Muslims
and other minorities in Housing Societies. It may be noted that
such a recommendation was made during the period of UPA-I.
The government had been delaying it on some pretext or
the other but the government has taken this decision at a time
when the process of holding Parliamentary elections is to start
barely in about a month. However, clearance of this proposal
by the cabinet is not enough. It has to be finally passed by the
Parliament as an Act. It is also not certain whether the present
government will get this proposal passed as an Act during the
brief period. It may be stated that a commission or agency of
this type is already working in many western countries where
people from different countries, races etc also live in addition
to natives.
Book on Qutubuddin Ansaris experiences in Gujarat riots
Kinnor (Kerala): A book on the life and experiences of Qutubuddin
Ansari, whose photo showing him as a helpless victim of human
barbarity begging for mercy with folded hands, which became
symbol of Gujarat 2002 riots and which was published in most of
the Indian and foreign newspapers and shown on TV almost in all
countries of the world was released at a CPI seminar held in this
city on 5 March. It is not his autobiography. Surprisingly, one of
the rioters who were thirsty of Muslims blood, Ashok Mochi was
also present on this occasion along with Qutubuddin who sincere-
ly apologised to him (Qutubuddin), saying that he was incited and
mislead by some one. (Both are friends now). This book is in
Malayalam and its title till is Najaan Qutubudin Ansari (I am
Qutubuddin Ansari).
Fiqh Academy seminar concludes
Jambusar, Bharuch (Gujarat): In the backdrop of thriving busi-
ness of surrogacy, prominent ulama and Muftis have urged the
government to bring legislation to curb this immoral and unnat-
ural practice. On the last day of the 23rd Fiqh Seminar of the
Islamic Fiqh Academy India here at the Jamiah Uloom-ul-
Quran, ulama on 3 March, described the practice as Haram
(prohibited) and against the established moral values of all reli-
gions.
Passing a number of resolutions and decisions at the con-
cluding session of the three-day seminar, Shariah experts and
scholars were unanimous in their opinion that surrogacy is
against all norms of human life and is morally and physically
devastating to the society. The seminar noted that surrogacy
has now come out of the shadows and many women are offer-
ing their wombs on rent out of choice. Some of them are not
even from impoverished families. Many are quite open about
surrogacy and offer their services with the full knowledge of
their husbands, parents or relatives. Scholars were concerned
about the complete erasure of the mother in these acts of
womb renting by wealthy westerners. The resolution said that
womb renting will destroy ones family-identity and will blur the
institution of marriage. For infertile couples its a chance to
have a child but it is blurring the parenthood.
The seminar also passed some resolutions unanimously
on inheritance rights for a converted Muslim, Hiba (Gift),
Wasiat (will), Aqd-e-Istasna (contract for manufacturing to
order) and citizenship and its related problems.
The seminar took a serious note of the refugee issue as
majority of the world refugees are Muslims. The latest UN
report stated that the Syrian refugees have become the largest
group of refugees in the world. The resolution in this regard
said that Muslim countries should open their borders to those
Muslims who have been victim of state oppression or civil wars
and give them all rights and provisions as enjoyed by their own
native citizens. Urging the Islamic world to shun the narrow
concept of nation-state, the seminar suggested that it should
follow the universal concept of Islamic brotherhood. It also
said that except Makkah and Madina, non-Muslims can be
allowed to settle in Muslim countries. The resolution asked
Muslims who are living in non-Muslim countries to strive
peacefully for bringing Shariah laws in regard to family and
other civil matters. Scholars were unanimous in their opinion
that in those non-Muslim countries where Shariah law of inher-
itance is not recognised, Muslims can make "will" for distribut-
ing inheritance.
Addressing the session, All India Muslim Personal Law
Board President Maulana Syed Rabey Hasani Nadwi said that
it is the responsibility and obligation of Islamic theologians to
solve problems and difficulties arising in every age. There is
no doubt that the present era has brought multi-dimensional
changes in the societies that have created new problems and
have thrown up new challenges. He said people who want to
follow Islam and make Shariah the standard guide in all the
spheres of life are confronted with a number of questions for
which they seek guidance from theologians.
Fiqh Academy general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah
Rahmani urged the scholars that they not only should specify the
issue but should also provide its solution. He said it is the hall-
mark of the Islamic Fiqh Academy that it provides solution of an
issue and follows utmost caution and moderation in issuing any
decree. The Academy has so far organised 23 fiqhi seminars on
more than 100 issues of contemporary nature. It is a dynamic
platform of leading Islamic jurists who sit together and try to
resolve pressing issues collectively, he added.
More than 300 scholars, jurists, and new graduates of
madrasas took part in the deliberations. For the first time, ulama
from Afghanistan had also attended the seminar. Besides India,
scholars from South Africa, Britain, Algeria and UAE participated
in the seminar. (Abdul Bari Masoud, muslimmirror.com)
Lucknow: Union minister for steel, Beni Prasad Verma accused
Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav of entering into a
private and secret deal with BJP for the forthcoming Lok Sabha
election. While talking to media persons he said at a function here
on 25 January that Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh, rather
both SP and BJP have privately agreed to polarise Hindus and
Muslims so that both of them could benefit in the election. He
also said that verbal criticism of Modi by Mulayam Singh and vice
versa is just a political stunt to deceive common people particu-
larly Muslims and that, according to the information received by
him, their speeches at Varanasi and Gorakhpur recently were
cleverly written by Amit Shah who has been made UP election
incharge by BJP. He said that Shah is playing the role of a medi-
ator between the two. It may be stated here that Beni Prasad
Verma was previously in the Samajwadi party but subsequently
quit it and joined Congress party in 2009 after which he was
made a minister in the Congress-led UPA government.
He (Beni Prasad) said that the understanding between the
SP and BJP is very old and that is why he (Mulayam) renamed
Tedhi Bazar police station in Ayodhya as Janmabhoomi Thana
and when he (Mulayam) was UPs chief minister previously
his government submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Cour t
giving a clean chit to LK Advani in Babri Masjid demolition
case. He described the secret understanding between
Mulayam Singh and BJP (Narendra Modi) as a match
between the two which is already fixed as they held their ral-
lies in Varanasi and Gorakhpur respectively on the same day
(23 January).
In an out of the context reference he hinted of Mulayams
involvement in a controversial defence deal when he (Mulayam)
was defence minister in the union cabinet. He (Beni Prasad) said
that at the time a Rs 600 crores deal for the purchase of Tatra
trucks for the military was struck. He said that though each truck
cost Rs 35 lakh, it was tagged at Rs 1.15 crore, and added that
the concerned file about this deal which had the signature of
Mulayam Singh, is still with the CBI. (N. A. Ansari)
Secret deal between SP and BJP, says Union minister
14 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 COMMUNITY NEWS www.milligazette.com
Urdu-Arabic Dictionary published
New Delhi: A standard and fine Urdu dictionary named Al Qamoos
Al Azhar Dictionary to meet the long standing requirements of
madrasa students has been complied and published by noted reli-
gious scholar Dr. Muhammad Zakarya Azhari which contains
about 70,000 old and modern Urdu words and terms, including
technical terms. In a press release Dr Zakarya Azhari said that in
this dictionary words and terms used in banking, medicine, infor-
mation technology, mobile, engineering and other sciences and
fields have been included. He said that more than 5000 meanings
of words used in modern Arabic, more than 5000 Urdu idioms,
expressions, phrases and proverbs and their Arabic equivalents,
different parts of the human body, educational and academic
degrees, ministries, government and non-governmental institu-
tions and Arabic translations of more than 4 thousand English
short forms and abbreviations and phrases used in regional lan-
guages along with their uses and various other important informa-
tions have been included because of which this dictionary is
unique from all other dictionaries published so far.
Dr Azhari who graduated from Al Azhar University, Cairo in
2002 and secured a Doctorate in Arabic from Jamia Millia Islamia
in 2009 said that this dictionary will prove to be a milestone to
meet the requirements of those madrasa students who want to
build their future as translators and other related jobs. He hoped
that this dictionary will meet all the requirements of students who
in spite of consulting many other dictionaries could not get what
they wanted. He said that the price of this dictionary is Rs 595
and is published by Maktaba Al Faheem, Mau Nath Bhanjan (U.P.)
Women dominate Kashmir Valleys business
Srinagar: Contrary to common belief that business in Jammu &
Kashmir is male-dominated, official figures indicate that there are a
very large number of women entrepreneurs in the state. In response
to a question by Congress MLA Ms Indu Pawar in the state assem-
bly, minister of state for industries and commerce Sajjad Ahmad
Kichloo said a total of 10,700 women entrepreneurs are registered in
the state. He further said that 10355 of these women are from the
Kashmir Valley, 295 women from Jammu and 50 from Laddakh
region. Out of Kashmir region, about 2.75 percent of women entre-
preneurs are from Jammu and 0.5 percent of the women entrepre-
neurs are from Laddakh, Leh and Kargil. Of the 10,355 women entre-
preneurs from the Kashmir Valley, the number of those from Srinagar
is 4293. According to the minister, most of the women entrepreneurs
in Kashmir have set up business units in the fields of handoom and
shawl weaving and readymade garments.
123 Waqf properties come under Wqf Boards possession
New Delhi: The Central government, in a parting gift to Delhi Waqf
Board denotified 123 Waqf properties which were in the posses-
sion of DDA and Land & Development Office (L&DO) to enable
Delhi Waqf Board to take possession of these landed properties
which are located at prime locations in Delhi. The decision to
denotify these properties, after repeated requests and demands
by the Waqf Board and Muslim organisations was taken by the
union cabinet on 2 March. After denotification all these properties
will now be under the ownership of Delhi Waqf Board. Most of
these properties are located in up end areas like in and around
Connaught Place, Ashoka Raod, Lodhi Road, Mathura Road,
Janpath, Parliament House, Pandara Road, Qarol Bah, Sadar
Bazar, Darya Ganj, Jangpura, Man Singh Road (near India Gate).
Sixty of these 123 properties are owned by Land & Development
Office and the remaining by DDA. Manish Tiwari, Union minister
for information & broadcasting said that after denotifications
approval by the union cabinet, the title of these 123 properties will
revert to Delhi Waqf Board. He also said that it was a very old dis-
pute which has now been settled in favour of Delhi Waqf Board. It
may be mentioned that all these properties in fact belonged to
Delh Waqf Board but were under the unauthorised possession of
L&DO and DDA which are purely government bodies and the dis-
pute between Waqf Board and these government bodies had been
lingering for many years. Union minister for minorities affairs
K. Rahman Khan who had been trying hard for restoration of
these properties to Delhi Waqf Board described the cabinets
decision as historic. He said that with proper utilization of these
properties Delhi Waqf Boards income will increase greatly. He
also said that on the directions of late prime minister Indira
Gandhis these properties were identified and a decision was
taken to hand these back to Delhi Waqf Board but in 1984 VHP
filed a case against this in court because of which these were
taken over by the government.
It may further be stated in this connection that at the begin-
ning of this year on Delhi High Courts direction and reminder
order the Attorney General of India, Ghulam Vahanvati had put his
seal of approval on urban development ministrys file, thereby
paving the way for denotification of these properties. While sug-
gesting denotification he had also stated that there is no legal
hitch now about these properties.
Darul Iftas branches at 8 places in Jharkhand approved
Ranchi: A special meeting of Muftis and Ulama of Jharkhands
Idara Sharaiyya was held here on 23 February which was attend-
ed by Maulana Ghulam Rasool (of Ballia), rector of Markazi Idara
Sharaiyya of Patna as the special guest. Maulana Ghulam Rasool
while speaking on this occasion said that this Idara or institution
was set up by Allama Arshadul Qadiri in 1968 and today the
branches of this institution have been set up in almost half of all
Indian states which are working for the benefit of the people and
religion. He said that this institution i.e. Idara Sharaiyya is the reli-
gious, milli and educational institution of Muslims. He said that in
view of the fact that creating religious and educational awakening
among Muslims is the most important need and removal of mutu-
al differences and promoting unity among them is also equally
necessary, branches of Darul Ifta are being set up in different
parts of the country. It was also unanimously agreed in this meet-
ing that branches of Darul Ifta of Idara Sharaiyya should be set up
at eight places in Jharkhand including Jama Masjid Baghadadia in
district Kharsavan, Anjuman Islamia, Lohar Daga, Chhoti Masjid
Navatoli, Daltonganj district etc. He said that this proposal (of set-
ting up Darul Iftas at 8 places) will be sent to the Chief Qazi of
Darul Qaza for final approval after which these Darul Iftas will be
set up.
One dead in communal riot in Azamgarh
Varanasi / Azamgarh: Communal riot erupted in village
Muhammadpur of Azamgarh district on a minor issue on 24 February
in which one person, who was severely beaten, died on the way to
hospital. According to available news, a dispute between people of
different communities arose on the night of 24 February over the con-
struction of a small platform beneath a banyan tree. People of the vil-
lage (Muhammadpur under Thana Gambhirpur) objected to this say-
ing that the land which was disputed belonged to their village where-
as the person building the platform belonged to another village. This
led to a verbal dispute and the people of Muhammadpur thrashed the
builders. Those building the platform went back to their village but
returned after sometime accompanied by many people and equipped
with lathis and other arms. A fight between the groups ensued in
which one person Vijay Yadav was severely beaten who subsequent-
ly died while being taken to a Varanasi hospital where he was referred
to by the district hospital. Another man was shot in the stomach after
which he was under treatment in the district hospital in a serious con-
dition. Azamgarh SP Anant Dev Suspended Muhammadpurs SHO
Shamim Ahmad Siddiqui for failing to control the riots. Last rites
of the deceased Vijay Yadav were performed under heavy police
security. Complaints and counter complaints were filed in the
police station by both parties. One Wasim Ahmad was arrested
and cases have been filed against 4 others namely Faisal, Ishtiaq
Ahmad, Naved and Arif under different sections of IPC. On the
other side on complaints by minority community members, 5
brothers of the deceased Vijay Yadav and about 30 others have
been named but had not been arrested till the completion of this
report. PAC and additional police force have been posted in
Muhammadpur. Police officers assured the people belonging to
the deceased persons village that those responsible for the mur-
der will soon be booked and that a compensation of Rs 5 lakh
would be given to the family members of the deceased.
23 persons of AMU Kishanganj centres movement get bail
Kishan Ganj: Twenty-four persons, among whom are ministers, MP,
MLAs, etc against whom cases were registered for starting dharna,
demonstration, stopping of rail and road traffic etc to procure land for
AMUs Kishanganj centre were granted bail by Chief Judicial
Magistrate Manoj Kumar on a personal bond of Rs 5000 each on 28
February. It may be stated in this connection that thousands of peo-
ple of Bihar, West Bengal and other places had started a movement
against the Bihar government to force it to provide land for AMUs
Kishanganj centre. These people were led by milli and political lead-
ers among whom were union ministers, MPs, MLAs and social lead-
ers and workers. On 12 October 2011 thousands of people under the
leadership of Kishanganj MP Maulana Asrarul Haque Qasmi, union
minister Tariq Anwar of Katihar and Deepa Das Munshi of Rai Ganj,
MLAs Ali Imran Ramz (of Chakolia), Akhtarul Iman (Coocha
Dhaman), Tauseef Alam (of Bahadur Ganj), Ghulam Rabbani (West
Bengal), Ghulam Ghaus (Patna), Prof Tanveer Hasan, Shafi Ahmad,
media incharge and many others had staged a demonstration, dhar-
na etc and had stopped road traffic and railways for about a whole
day. Many important trains including Rajdhani Express etc were also
held up for many hours. There was great confusion and chaos all
round. Traffic on many national highways was also stopped for many
hours. Local authorities were helpless and failed to persuade the
demonstrators to give up their agitation. A high official of local
Fisheries Department, Saroj Kumar registered cases against all
the leaders and many important persons, vide case No. 561 dt
13/01/11 under sections 143, 147, 290, 427 etc of IPC for organ-
ising the dharna, demonstration, stopping of rail and road traffic
etc. The case was taken up for hearing by CJM Manoj Kumar and
as many as 24 persons were called to the court. CJM Manoj
Kumar granted bail to all of them on a personal bond of Rs 5000
each. Almost all persons named above, including union ministers,
MPs, MLAs etc were present, and were granted bail.
After getting bail union minister of state for agriculture Tariq
Anwar said that this agitation or movement for the acquisition of
land for Kishanganj centre was peaceful and legal but in spite of
this the state government had filed cases against us. He said that
the government had assured that all cases would be withdrawn
but were not withdrawn hence they had to organise this demon-
stration and dharna. Anyway, almost all these people were grant-
ed bail but some who could not come to the court were denied
bail.
Centre for learning Urdu online being set up
Badayun: Chairman of UP Urdu Academy, Nawaz Deobandi who is
also an Urdu poet said while talking to media persons here that some
new schemes for the progress and promotion of Urdu have been pre-
pared including one under which a software will be prepared to learn
Hindi and English languages through online and offline Urdu. At the
same time he said that a proposal to open hundred centres for learn-
ing Urdu in the whole state was sent to the chief minister which he
has been approved. He said that during the past few years the condi-
tion of Urdu Academy has become like that of an orphan. Therefore,
first pending works have to be completed and side by side steps have
been taken for the progress of Urdu. He said that the proposal to
associate Urdu with new technology was sent to the chief minister
which has been approved under which complete arrangements will
be made to learn other languages through Urdu and also to learn Urdu
through other languages. He said that an online system is being pre-
pared for learning Urdu under which any body sitting anywhere can
learn Urdu through other languages (like English, Hindi) and other lan-
guages through Urdu. He said that a one-year diploma course in
journalism will also be started and in addition to this, a multi-lin-
gual Academy will also be set up through which youngmen will be
able to get jobs easily in export companies in different regions. He
further said that the initiative to link or associate Urdu with both
languages (English and Hindi) will serve as a bridge for commu-
nal harmony. Hindi knowing people can read books about Islam
and remove their misunderstandings and in the same way Ulama
and other Urdu knowing people can study and understand
Sanatan and Hinduism and Hindu culture. He said that in addition
to improving the financial condition of Urdu Academy it will also
be made online.
Rs 6000 crores for cleaning of river Jamuna went down the drain
New Delhi: A huge amount of Rs 6000 crores was drowned in the
dirty river Jamuna, not because some one or group threw away
this huge amount in it but in spite of spending Rs 6500 crores to
clean this river it remained as dirty as before. This has been
admitted by the Parliamentary Committee in its report. This
Committee set up by the ministry of urban development has
advised the concerned ministry to complete the Intercepter Sewer
Project, which was started for large drains of Delhi, at the earliest
so that the process of failure of the campaign of cleaning of this
river could be stopped. The urban development ministry had start-
ed Interceptor Sewer Project under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban
Development Mission, the objective of which was to stop the inflow
(of effluents) into the Jamuna; but because of delay in this project, the
cleaning mission of the river Jamuna (or Yamuna) was not success-
ful in spite of the fact that thousands of croes of rupees had been
spent. The Parliamentary Committee had presented its report after
reviewing the Interceptor Sewer (IS) projects of 3 large drains of Delhi
i.e. Najagfarh Drain, Supplementary Drain and IS project of Shahdra.
The Committee said that IS Project should be completed at the earli-
est so that the inflow of effluents whould not make the river dirty. The
Committee further said that only after completing this project at the
earliest, cleaning operation of Jamuna would succeed because with-
out it, Jamuna would continue to be a drain, and not river Jamuna in
the true sense.
New Delhi: Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi
Arabia who is also the deputy prime minister and defence minis-
ter of Saudi Arabia signed an important defence cooperation
agreement with India under which exchange of defence-related
information and military training, education and cooperation in
different fields like hydrography, security and logostics will be
promoted. This agreement was signed after talks between Indias
Vice President Hamid Ansari and the visiting Crown Prince were
held. In addition to this, other agreements for bilateral, regional
and economic cooperation were also signed in consequence of
which more investments, joint ventures and transfer of technol-
ogy in the fields of petroleum, petrochemicals, energy, modern-
izatin of oil refineries etc will be promoted. Union minister for
commerce and industry Anand Sharma also had talks with Saudi
minister for commerce & industry Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah
in which the need to change the buyer-seller relationship
between the two countries into deeper energy partnership with
investments in these sectors was stressed.
The need for signing free trade agreements between India
and Gulf Cooperating Council (GCC) countries (which include
United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah etc), Oman,
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) in the fields of oil and
gas, fertilizers and information technology was also stressed.
They also discussed diversification of Indias exports to Saudi
Arabia in the fields of drugs and pharmaceuticals, automobiles,
textiles, sugar, cereals and so on. Saudi delegation laid stress on
cooperation in the fields of logistics and transportation also.
Anand Sharma pointed out the need for Saudi Arabia to invest in
the construction of projects, highways, ports, airports, metros,
warehousing and power plants etc which are regularly being
launched in India.
It may be stated incidentally that Saudi Arabia is the fourth
biggest business and trade partner of India and bilateral trade
between the two countries has increased from about 42 billion
dollars in 2012 to more than 48 billion Dollars in 2013. Saudi
Arabia is the biggest supplier of crude to India and in the finan-
cial year 2012-13, one fifth i.e. 20% of Indias total import of
crude oil was from Saudi Arabia.
Earlier, the Saudi Crown Prince and heir to the Saudi throne
had arrived in Delhi on 4 March and was received by Vice pres-
ident Hamid Ansari and E. Ahamed, union minister of state for
foreign affairs. He had met, in addition to prime minister
Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee and foreign min-
ister Salman Khurshid and other dignitaries also. (N. A. Ansari)
Defence and other agreements signed
between India and Saudi Arabia
COMMUNITY NEWS The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 15 www.milligazette.com
KHALID AMAYREH
in Occupied Palestine
In a relentless effort to undermine Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic
liberation organisation, Fatah, the rival political party led by
Mahmoud Abbas, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA),
has been trying unceasingly to turn the military coup authority in
Cairo against the legitimate government in Gaza.
According to reliable data that has been accumulating for the
past six months, Fatah operatives have employed every conceiv-
able lie and every piece of disinformation to incite the Sissi junta
against Hamas.
The disinformation campaign is based on the scandalously
mendacious assumption that Hamas is involved in the internal
insurrection facing the military authorities in Cairo ever since the
30-June coup against the democratically-elected President
Mursi.
Both the Sissi regime's intelligence and Fatah leadership do
know that Hamas is totally innocent of all the concocted "intelli-
gence" reports and other insinuations and innuendos fabricated
by Fatah.
Indeed, the Egyptian authorities are yet to produce any piece
of credible evidence indicting Hamas. Yes, some "suspects" have
been arrested but these suspects turned out to be agents of the
PA and had absolutely nothing to do with Hamas.
Now, Fatah is instigating the Cairo junta to declare Hamas a
terrorist organisation. Fatah is hoping that such a measure by
Cairo would further narrow Hamas horizons and might eventually
precipitate unrest in the Gaza Strip.
To be sure, Fatah had used a variety of mean tactics to unset-
tle Hamas and force it to agree to return the coastal enclave to the
status quo ante, when various Fatah militias, including that of
Muhammad Dahlan, spread chaos, insecurity, corruption and
even promiscuity. (See for example David Hirst's investigative
ar ticle in the Guardian in 1999 'Shameful in Gaza,' " -
https://groups. google. com/forum/#!topic/misc. activism. pro-
gressive/jLuPvYyBXW4
Hamas has always said and continues to say it doesn't and
will not interfere in the internal affairs of Arab countries. Even in
Syria, where the manifestly murderous sectarian regime of
Bashar Al-Assad has been slaughtering his own people en masse
for three consecutive years, Hamas has adopted more or less a
neutral position, which made the movement incur a barrage of
scathing criticisms from several quarters.
But Hamas cannot and will not commit blasphemy and apos-
tasy by embracing a regime that claims to be trying to liberate
Palestine and destroy Israel by dropping cluster bombs on
women and children waiting in long queues outside bakeries in
Aleppo and Hama and other Syrian cities.
The same thing can be said about Hamas' stance toward the
Egyptian crisis. Hamas cannot and does not speak for 90 million
Egyptians. Hamas cannot tell the people of Egypt which political
party they ought to elect or whom to elect as their president. This
is none of Hamas' business. In the final analysis, Hamas is too
small and too weak to intervene or interfere in Egypt.
However, this doesn't mean that Hamas should give legitima-
cy or bless the massacres committed by the Sissi gang against
his own people at Rabi'a and Nahda squares in Cairo and the
streets of Egypt.
Hamas, like honest people all over the globe, will not commit
a moral suicide by supporting a fascist regime that all signs indi-
cate is at Israel's beck and call.
More to the point, Hamas has no interest whatsoever in
antagonising Egypt, irrespective of which government rules in
Cairo. The Gaza Strip is too dependent on Egypt to alienate any
regime in Cairo.
This leaves us with the logical conclusion that the Egyptian
military regime, which lacks any legitimacy save the legitimacy of
the coup, is punishing Hamas out of ideological vengeance, e.g.,
because of the group's Islamic ideology and historical bonds with
the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest and most authentic Sunni
Islamic movement in the Arab world now being hysterically witch-
hunted by the Sissi regime on Israel's behalf.
This is not a pro-Ikhwan propaganda. We, who live in occu-
pied Palestine, do read and watch the Israeli media and we know
the deep Israeli infatuation with Abdul Fatah Sissi for "doing the
job on Israel's behalf."
It is no secret that the charlatan general is being celebrated in
Israel for carrying out a bloody coup against a democratically-
elected President who refused to give Israel a green light to gang
up on the Palestinians and who effectively created a linkage
between Egyptian compliance with the Camp David peace treaty
with Israel on the one hand and Israeli behavior toward the
Palestinians on the other.
There is no doubt that any vindictive measure by the Egyptian
"courts", which we all know act as a rubber stamp in the hands
of the military rulers, would be done in the service of Israeli inter-
ests, probably in the hope that such a treachery would prompt the
American Jewish lobby, which tightly controls Congress, to issue
a certificate of good conduct for the tottering regime that is fast
leading Egypt to a failed state.
But the free men and women of the world as well as the
Egyptian, Arab and Muslim masses are closely watching the
unethical, indeed the treasonous conduct of Sissi and his nefari-
ous regime. It is hoped that this treason which is taking place in
broad daylight will accelerate the process of consigning this
regime to the dustbin of history.
16 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Hamas is not a terrorist organization
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Hamas has always said and continues to say it doesn't and will not interfere in the internal
affairs of Arab countries. Even in Syria, where the manifestly murderous sectarian regime of
Bashar Al-Assad has been slaughtering his own people en masse for three consecutive years,
Hamas has adopted more or less a neutral position, which made the movement incur a barrage of
scathing criticisms from several quarters.
UNITED NATIONS: Most Muslims have been driven out of the west-
ern half of conflict-torn Central African Republic, where thousands
of civilians risk of being killed "right before our eyes," the U. N. High
Commissioner for Refugees said on 6 March.
The bleak warning came as the country's foreign minister
pleaded with the U. N. Security Council to urgently approve a U. N.
peacekeeping force to stop the killing.
Widespread violence in the former French colony has claimed
thousands of lives since Seleka, a coalition of mostly Muslim
northern rebels, seized power a year ago. Attacks intensified in
December when "anti-Balaka" militias drawn from the majority
Christian population stepped up reprisals on Muslims.
"Since early December we have effectively witnessed a
'cleansing' of the majority of the Muslim population in western
CAR," U. N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told
a meeting of the 15-nation U. N. Security Council on the crisis in
the impoverished and landlocked country.
"Tens of thousands of them (Muslims) have left the country,
the second refugee outflow of the current crisis, and most of those
remaining are under permanent threat," he said.
The council is considering a U. N. proposal for a nearly
12,000-strong peacekeeping force to stop the country from sliding
toward what a top U. N. rights official called "ethnic-religious
cleansing." If approved, the U. N. force would likely not be opera-
tional before late summer.
"Just last week, there were about 15,000 people trapped in 18
locations in western CAR, surrounded by anti-Balaka elements and
at very high risk of attack," Guterres said.
"International forces are present in some of these sites, but if
more security is not made available immediately, many of these
civilians risk being killed right before our eyes."
Guterres said that until last year CAR "was largely a stranger to
religious conflict." But the worsening bloodshed has enabled
armed groups to use religion as a pretext for violence.
"The demon of religious cleansing must be stopped - now," he
said. Guterres' spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said western CAR
was roughly half the country.
'SURGE' OF PEACEKEEPERS NEEDED
Central African Republic's Foreign Minister Toussaint Kongo-
Doudou told the council that his country's survival depended on the
urgent deployment of a U. N. force. U. N. peacekeeping chief Herve
Ladsous also spoke about the dire need for U. N. troops.
"The state has virtually no capacity to manage the massive
array of threats it is facing," Ladsous said. "There is no national
army and the remnants of the police and gendarmerie lack the
basic equipment and means to exercise their duties, while state
administration is largely absent."
The European Union is already deploying 1,000 soldiers to join
6,000 African and 2,000 French troops. Those forces have so far
not been able to halt the killings and restore stability.
U. N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told the council that
there are more than 650,000 people internally displaced in CAR
due to the conflict, over 232,000 in the capital Bangui alone. Nearly
300,000 people have fled to neighboring countries.
"The violence has led to the total breakdown of the state, local-
ly and nationally," she said.
Ladsous said he hoped to include as many of the African con-
tingents as possible in a future U. N. force. U. N. officials have told
Reuters on condition of anonymity that few of the African contin-
gents are trained and equipped to U. N. standards.
Ladsous said the initial phase of a peacekeeping operation
would have to focus on helping to establish security.
"This will require an initial surge of military personnel and cor-
responding military enablers," he said. "Alongside this initial mili-
tary surge, essential civilian capacities will be deployed, phased in
gradually as the situation stabilizes." Ladsous said it will cost hun-
dreds of millions of dollars.
The force will need to be approved by the Security Council.
Diplomats said France will submit within the next few weeks a draft
resolution to authorize a peacekeeping force in line with U. N. rec-
ommendations.
French Ambassador Gerard Araud said Paris suppor ts
Ladsous' call for some 10,000 troops and 1,820 police but he pre-
dicted a "very difficult negotiation" on the resolution. Diplomats say
the United States and Britain are especially concerned about costs
due to national requirements for legislative approval.
But U. S. Ambassador Samantha Power voiced support for U.
N. chief Ban Ki-moon's call for a U. N. force in CAR. "We are pre-
pared to work closely with partners starting immediately to move
forward in developing a peacekeeping operation that can meet the
challenges in the Central African Republic," she said. (Louis
Charbonneau,reuters.com - 6 March, 2014)
Saudi: Muslim Brotherhood
a terrorist group
Saudi Arabia through a royal decree on 7 March blacklisted the
Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, along with three
other Middle East-based militant groups including the kingdom's
branch of the Shiite movement Hezbollah and Syria-based militant
groups the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the al-Qaeda
linked al-Nusra Front. Hundreds of Saudi fighters are believed to
have joined ISIS and al-Nusra in Syria. The royal decree gives fight-
ers a 15-day ultimatum to return home. The declaration came after
King Abdullah announced on Feb. 3 tough penalties for activities
deemed as terrorism.
Under the previous decree, Saudi citizens fighting abroad face
up to 20 years in jail. Similar punishments will be applied to
"extremist religious and ideological groups, or those classified as
terrorist groups, domestically, regionally and internationally," the
state news agency SPA reported at the time.
The royal decree also criminalized taking membership in, sup-
porting and sympathizing with any of those groups "through
speech or writing."
Abdel Latif Al-Sheikh, head of the Saudi religious police, said
the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, ISIS and al-Nusra Front were
blacklisted in Saudi Arabia because "they were ruled from outside
to serve political purposes." "They are groups that fight moderate
Muslims and are causing troubles around the world. This is what
we consider against Islamic principles and has given a negative
impression about Muslims in the West," Al-Sheikh said.
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and the general manager
of the upcoming Al Arab News Channel, said blacklisting the
Muslim Brotherhood was "the news" among the decisions revealed
in the Saudi royal decree.Khashoggi said unlike ISIS, al-Nusra Front
or Hezbollah, which are all armed groups, the Muslim Brotherhood
would pose a particular challenge to authorities in Riyadh because
it is not so easy to identify and condemn its members.
"What are the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in the king-
dom?," asked Khashoggi. "These are not so easy to describe and
the authorities will need to answer the question of how they plan to
respond the group," Khashoggi said. "There is also an important
question that needs to be answered and is related to how the
authorities would respond to a Muslim Brotherhood official visiting
from Jordan or Tunisia for example," he said.
The Egypt-army backed government had declared the Muslim
Brotherhood as a terrorist group in Dec. 2013, after accusing it of
carrying out a series of bomb attacks in Cairo. The 80-year old
powerful Islamist group, from which former President Mohammad
Mursi hails, has been gradually pushed underground by Egyptian
authorities since Mursi's ouster. Many of its members and top sup-
porters have found refuge in Turkey and in the Gulf state of Qatar.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain withdraw their
ambassadors from Qatar to protest Doha's support for the
Brotherhood, a group seen by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi as a threat to
their national security. (Excerpted from en.ammonnews.net)
MG: The Saudi decision is height of ingratitude and selfishness.
It is the Muslim Brotherhood which saved the Saudi and Gulf
monarchies in the 1960s when they were tottering in front of the
Nasserist assault. Yemen had already fallen and parts of the
peninsula were in revolt. Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Libya and oth-
ers had fallen or were about to fall. At that juncture the Muslim
Brotherhood stood by the Saudis and worked as their aides and
envoys all over the world. It is a shame that an enlightened,
open, honest and moderate movement is being so shabbily
treated in its hour of trial and need (Zafarul-Islam Khan).
Slaughtered under the watch of the UN and France
West of Central African Republic 'cleansed' of Muslims
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INTERNATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 17 www.milligazette.com
AHMED HAMMUDA
"Glorified be He (Allah) Who took His
slave (Muhammad salla Allahu 'alayh
wasalam) for a journey by night from al-
Masjid al-Haram (at Makkah) to Al-
Masjid-al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem), the neigh-
bourhood whereof We have blessed, in
order that We might show him of Our
signs. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-
Seer."[1]
Few of us stop to ponder over the cir-
cumstance this blessed chapter was
revealed in and the implications of the
Prophet's great journey (salla Allahu
'alayh wasalam). This chapter, having
been revealed in Makkah contains topics
that are inherent to Islamic 'Aqidah, cen-
tral to our focus and concern. The gather-
ing of every Prophet in al-Aqsa Mosque,
led by the final Messenger (salla Allahu
'alayhi wasalam) indicates his position as
their great Imam and leader[2]. It signifies
the relationship between their messages
and emphasises the final divine designa-
tion of the land to the monotheistic nation
of the descendant of Ibrahim ('alayhi al-
Salam): Muhammad, (salla Allahu 'alayh wasalam)[3].
It therefore becomes extremely painful that we need to dis-
cuss the identity of an area that exemplifies the very core of
Islamic belief. This is more and more typically becoming the
Israeli Parliament's main point of debate in its quarters; extending
its authority in Jerusalem to encompass al-Aqsa Sanctuary in
replacement of Jordan. The latest episode of this Zionist fanati-
cism was led by Moshe Feiglin, a Jewish extremist member of
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far right Likud party.
Unsatisfied with the current level of Israeli annexation of
Palestinian land, Feiglin expressed resentment at why Israeli
fanatics have no access to the sanctuary and are barred from
unfurling on it the Israeli flag[4].
According to Feiglin: "Al-Aqsa belongs to the Jews and the
Arabs should go back to Saudi Arabia where they belong. The
golden dome is part of a Jewish temple and does not belong to
the Muslims."[5] These claims have already been proven fictitious
from religious, historical and geological grounds. Israeli and inter-
national archaeologists have been excavating tunnels under the
Aqsa sanctuary extensively since 1967, confirming through rigor-
ous exploration that claims to a Jewish temple in that area are
baseless[6]. These fabrications have nonetheless led to signifi-
cant damage to the structural integrity of al-Aqsa mosque, caus-
ing walls to crack, floors to cave in and others to completely give
way[7]. Demands for sovereignty over the Mosque, however, are
not purely driven by the dreams of 'extremist Zionists', they are the
stepping stone to something more catastrophic. These demands
should never be deemed in isolation of the surrounding, concur-
rent events in the Muslim world. As the Muslim world continues
in turmoil Israel is pushing forth in the dark, realising its ambitions
of uprooting and replacing what remains of Islamic endowments
in the holy land. These simultaneous events have largely diverted
the attention of Muslims around the world, allowing the Zionist
regime to double its rate of settlement expansion in 2013 while
demolishing 390 Palestinian homes in the West bank in the same
year[8], 50% more than in the previous year amidst no interna-
tional resistance[9].
On Wednesday the 19th of February, extremist Moshe Feiglin
"ascended to the Temple Mount" and "toured all corners",[10]
provocatively offering a 'prayer' in claim of al-Aqsa sanctuary and
by full sanction of Israeli police. In essence, Feiglin's action while
a member of the Israeli Knesset does not differ to when Ariel
Sharon desecrated the holy sanctuary by intruding into it sur-
rounded by hundreds of Israeli police. This symbolic attempt at
declaring ownership to the sanctuary sparked the second Intifada,
claiming around 5,500 Palestinian lives[11]. More recently, reper-
cussions to Israel's debate on formal ownership has been lent
dangerously less attention, besides the Jordanian Parliament's
useless unanimity on expelling the Israeli Ambassador[12]. The
Zionist regime, in fact, effectively controls access to the Mosque
and persists in banning anyone under the age of 50 from entering
it, all the while radical Jewish settlers storm the Mosque unimped-
ed[13].
The almost unconscious 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud
Abbas and his negotiation team continue to demonstrate the pin-
nacle of naivety and absurdness in continuing negotiations, sup-
posedly attempting to secure East Jerusalem as the capital of
Palestine as opposed to Beit Hanina[14]. Geopolitically, these
negotiations are foolish as the Palestinian Authority is frail and
ineffectual on the ground. As such, its presence as the main
'authority' is to the betterment of Israel. Evidence of this is its
threats to disband itself if Israel continues in its settlement expan-
sion in East Jerusalem (imagine if Hamas did the same). With
more than 53,000 settlement homes in East Jerusalem[15],
prospects for a state through negotiation have been eradicated.
Religiously, Jerusalem being an endowment renders any negotia-
tion over its ownership void and as thus "bargaining over
Palestine means bargaining over our faith."[16]
The Zionist entity is actively utilising the events across the
Muslim world to swiftly achieve its expansionist goals. Out of the
spotlight, it is pressing forward in an attempt to uproot al-Aqsa
while the Palestinians struggle to defend this collective endow-
ment all alone. Israel is not oblivious to
the impending danger in the Middle-East
and understands that bringing its invasion
to an end is in the scope and objective of
some of its neighbours.
Nonetheless, allowing oneself to be
preoccupied by the means while disre-
garding the objective (the end) will lend
Israel time to cause the objective to
become more and more unreachable.
Indeed the destruction of al-Aqsa, God
forbid, is something that will cause the
zeal and energy of many Muslims to fet-
ter, even in making progress in the
means. Keeping awareness and full
recognition of the position of al-Aqsa,
while embodying it like one embodies
elements of his or her creed is vital for
every Muslim. Every effort should be
expended in defending it, emphasising its
sanctity and embedding its status in the
heart in this challenging time.
For more of the latest news surrounding
al-Aqsa please visit http://foa.org.uk/
Notes:
[1] Al-Qur'an 17:1
[2] Tafsir ibn Kathir, Surat al-Isra'
[3] Sayyid Qutub, in the Shade of the Qur'an, Surat al-Isra'
[4] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-
east/mounting-tension-israels-knesset- debates-proposal-to-
enforce-its-sovereignty-at-alaqsa-mosque-a-move-seen-as-an-
extreme- provocation-to-muslims-worldwide-9155575. html
[5] http://www.almoslim.net/node/203214
[6] http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2013/06/28/al-aqsa-mosque-
foundation-declares-all-signs- pointing-to-jewish-temple-pres-
ence-are-lies/
[7] The Holy al-Aqsa Sanctuary under Threat - Friends of al-Aqsa.
Available here: http://foa.org.uk/uploads/al-aqsa-report2013.pdf
[8] http://electronicresistance.net/palestine-news/israel-demol-
ished-390-palestinian-homes- in-2013-un/
[9] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/03/israel-
doubles-west-bank-outpost- construction-
201433143850913282. html
[ 1 0 ]
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/177628#.
UxTdZs4fyH8
[11] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-
east/mounting-tension-israels-knesset- debates-proposal-to-
enforce-its-sovereignty-at-alaqsa-mosque-a-move-seen-as-an-
extreme- provocation-to-muslims-worldwide-9155575. html
[12] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/26/jordan-
expels-israeli-ambassador-jerusalem
-holy-site-row
[13] http://en.ammonnews.net/ar ticle.aspx? ar ti-
cleno=24487#.UxTlsc4fyH8
[14] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?
ID=678057
[15] https://www. middleeastmonitor. com/ar ticles/middle-
east/10024-disbanding-the-palestinian
-authority
[16] http://www.pij.org/details.php? id=646 quote by
Muhammad Hamid Abu al-Nasr
Zionist Extremists Have Stormed Al-Aqsa
Israeli soldiers protect settlers storming the mosque al-Aqsa
KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI
k_k_ghori@yahoo.com
The phantoms of Egypt have struck again.
The victim, this time, is Hamas. The
Palestinian body, representative of millions
of Palestinians in Gaza and the Occupied
Territories has been declared a terrorist
organisation by a court in Cairo. And
when one talks of a court of justice in
Egypt under its besotted generals what
comes instantly to mind is a kangaroo
court going through the motions of dis-
pensing justice but making a mockery of it.
Its hard, if not impossible these days to figure out if Egyptian
policies are made in Cairo or in Tel Aviv and Washington. But irre-
spective of provenance of these policies they are specifically
meant to target anything with the name of Islam associated with it.
Another special target is to zero in on collective interests of the
Palestinians, in particular, and of progressive Arab movements, in
general.
Why target Hamas-which is more representative of the collec-
tive Palestinian aspirations than the Palestinian Authority with a
puppet Mehmoud Abbas at its head-at this juncture is also under-
standable. Secretary of State John Kerry is back in action to put
some flesh on Obamas last ditch effort to win some rudimentary
form of statehood for the oppressed Palestinians who have far too
long been at the mercy of Israel. Obama is desperate to post some
success on this front to go down in history as his legacy in foreign
policy-where he has more black spots on the dossier than stars of
achievement.
However, Obamas nemesis, the war-mongering and expan-
sionist Israeli PM Netanyahu, is as keen to foil any Obama move to
give comfort to the Palestinians. Gaza, in particular, has been in the
Israeli clutches since Hamas moved on to that sliver of land. The
Israeli blockade of the territory-which doesnt cause any ripples on
the placid conscience of the Western leaders who are, otherwise,
quick to jump to their feet at any perceived instance of injustice in
a Muslim land-has turned Gaza into the worlds largest open-air
prison. But Netanyahu still hasnt had his fill of turning the screws
even tighter on its hapless denizens. So he turns to his new
friends in the revived Pharaonic dynasty for help.
The Egyptian Bonapartes havebeen busy digging their teeth
into the copse of the Arab Spring of the Egyptians. Having snuffed
out any lingering vestiges of the still-born Spring from amongst
the Egyptians, General Sisi and his colleagues are ready to admin-
ister the same on the people of Gaza. How could they not oblige
their Israeli or western mentors by treating the Palestinians as chat-
tels?
Gaza has been into the cross-hairs of those whod overthrown
the elected President Morsi last July, with the tacit consent, if not
encouragement, of their minders in Israel and U.S. The generals
moved with alacrity to dismantle dozens of tunnels between Gaza
and Egypt which had been life-lines to the incarcerated Gazans.
One of the crimes Morsi has been accused of by the generals is
his collusion with the terrorist Hamas and easing the noose
around the neck of the people of Gaza.
The litany of charges against Morsi is long. It includes, among
others, a risible charge that he allowed criminals to escape from
jails during his presidency in order to allegedly bolster the ranks of
his Muslim Brotherhood terrorists. Any intelligent and perceptive
mind can instantly see that the brain-dead and power-drunk
Egyptian generals are not only incapable to sift truth from hearsay
and rumours but they are also being led down a blind alley by their
foreign sponsors and mentors to serve their agenda-an agenda
thats clearly at cross-purpose with the aspirations of the people of
Egypt.
The only intelligence Egypts inebriated soldiers of fortune pos-
sess tells them that they can keep their stranglehold over the
Egyptian people only by recourse to wanton brutality. So, they have
let loose a reign of terror which no other Egyptian autocrat had
come even close to implementing. According to a report by
Amnesty International, at least 1400 people have been killed since
July last year-when Morsi was bundled out of power-in the brutal
crackdown by the military regime on its opponents and followers
of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. One hardly need to be a
rocket cientist to know that these figures, on the conservative side,
are only the tip of the heinous use of force against dissenters to the
regime.
The new Egyptian pharaoh, General Sisi and his besotted
cohorts are clearly incapable of understanding the mechanics of
the Western and Israeli game-plan against the Egyptian people.
What has been sprung on Egypt and its befuddled people, on the
foot-steps of their subverted Spring is a rehash of the old
Kissinger plan, which has quickly been dusted and brought forth
on to the front burner in the wake of the Arab Spring.
The Kissinger Plan-named after its author who was US
Secretary of State when the first oil embargo was imposed on the
West, in 1973-made it almost mandatory for the powers-that-be
stunned by the swiftness and out-reach of the oil embargo by
OPEC, to subvert, one-by-one, those Arab countries with a poten-
tial to undermine Israel. Kissinger exhorted his western audience-
which included policy makers as well as politicians in power-to
focus on those, in particular, that possessed what to him was a
twin-menace: their physical proximity to Israel and, two, their
potential to harm Israel and its core agenda to lord over the Arab
Lilliputians like a giant.
Egypt was on top of the list of Arab countries to be targeted,
and fell first to the guiles of Kissinger and those who succeeded
him. Egypt under Anwar Sadat fell into the American and Israeli lap
like a ripened fruit; Syria was as good as completely sidelined and
isolated under the minority Alawite rule. Iraq under Saddam-and
possessing both elements of danger to Israeli hegemony over the
region-was, finally, pulverised and fragmented under the Neocon-
inspired invasion of George W. Bush.
It is interesting and educative to note that of all those Arab
states in which the so-called Arab Spring made an attempt to
infuse a new life into the minds and attitudes of the people, the only
one that has come close to a modicum of success is tiny Tunisia.
Why has Tunisia been spared the wrath and fury of those-from
within the Arab camp as well as those from outside of it-who shud-
dered at the thought of Arabs being emancipated, viscerally and
intellectually from the oppression of autocrats and hereditary
rulers, is no brain-teaser. Tunisia is distant from Israel and is too
small and powerless to pose any danger to Israel. In other words,
Tunisia doesnt carry the twin cross of proximity to Israel and
potential to pose a threat to it. So, Tunisia has been left to itself,
which explains its modest success, so far, on the democracy front
and on the related course of empowering its common man.
Of course it must be added as a footnote to the success of the
Tunisian Spring-where others failed and crumbled-that the peoples
movement there was anchored in the teachings of the moderate
and reformist An-nahda Party, which is in the vanguard of piloting
and guiding the Tunisian peoples awakening to a fruitful outcome.
The only outcome, a logical one, the Tunisian people aspire to is
the transformation of their society into a democratic and progres-
sive polity. An-nahda is on the watch to ensure that Islams pristine
philosophy of a people-oriented and open welfare society takes
roots in Tunisia, and to serve as a model to other Arab states.
But enemies of the Arab peoples are at work to subvert that
ideal and make it as onerous and difficult for Arabs to reach it.
Thats where the Kissinger model still has its relevance and attrac-
tion to those out to turn the Arab dream into anightmare.
The Kissinger plan was, and still is, anti-Arab peoples; it isnt
against autocratic and tyrannical rulers, such as General Sisi and
his cabal in Egypt. In fact, the success of the plan has always been
contingent-from its very inception and implementation-on loyal
Arab rulers and potentates serving as Western surrogates and
Trojan horses in the Arab camp.
Israels expansionist Netanyahu is a firm and ardent practition-
er of the Kissinger philosophy: bank on Arab autocrats and use
them to crush the aspirations of their people for emancipation and
salvation. Having Egypts purblind generals in his corner serves a
dual purpose: their brutal subjugation of their own people ensures
that there would be no organised dissent to their autocratic rule;
they would also serve to stifle any Palestinian move to gain a deal
from Israel and its principal supporter and ally, U.S.A., that may
have some modicum of respect and dignity for the Palestinian aspi-
rations.
Using Sisi to drive the hapless people of Gaza further into des-
peration and penury would break their back to stand up to Israel, or
force it to make concessions that Netanyahu would be reluctant to
make. One wonders if Sisi has the brains to realise that in doing
Netanyahus bidding and forcing the besieged people of Gaza
deeper into the hole where Netanyahu wants them hes inflicting a
mortal blow to Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu is, of course, losing no sleep over Kerrys resump-
tion of the mission given to him by Obama. He knows he is capa-
ble of forcing Obama on the back-foot, as he did some time ago on
the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Netanyahu, on top of it, has the additional asset of AIPAC at his
beck-and-call and can press this unquestioning Zionist lobby into
service-at any time-to checkmate Obama. His star billing at the
AIPAC annual conference in Washington this week-where Kerry tilt-
ed at all the windmills to assure Israels Zionist partisans that U. S.
would never leave Israel alone against its enemies-was intended
to send a clear message to Obama to not press Netanyahu against
his will. Netanyahus will, in fact, is the will of AIPAC and, by impli-
cation, of U.S. Congress whose denizens are beholden to AIPACs
largesse for success at the polls.
Netanyahu and his powerful American supporters and under-
writers are in a win-win position, given the present arrangement of
pawns on the chess-board of the Arab world. Egypts purblind and
besotted generals are doing a great service to their foreign masters
by putting new fetters on the Egyptian people. Sisi is getting all suit-
ed-up to get elected by a cowered Egypt people. The propaganda
says-with favourable commentaries in the western news media-
that Sisis crack-down on the terrorists of the Muslim
Brotherhood is winning him more loyalists among the people
every day. So, now, he can crush his own people as well as the
people of Gaza with total impunity and unaccountability. One
shouldnt be surprised, at all, when he gets elected by at least 98
percent of yes vote in his favour and he hangs Morsi to celebrate
his success. The pharaohs have always enjoyed celebrating on
piles of severed heads.
And dont you sweat, friends of Israel, over the prospects of
rapprochement between Iran and U.S. Netanyahu has the U.S.
Congress lined behind him to oppose it tooth-and-nail. And, then,
theres Saudi Arabia leading the pack of Arab autocrats, putting
their money where their mouth is to buttress regional Arab opposi-
tion to any easing of tension with Iran. Look at their astounding
success in making a hell of what used to be Syria. The Arab world
is in tatters-as the West always preferred to see it in that fashion-
and theres the Israeli camel occupying the tattered and deserted
tent of the Arab Spring. The scenario is just too mind-boggling and
disconcerting for words.
The Pharaohs Strike Again in Egypt
18 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
The new Egyptian pharaoh, General Sisi and his besotted cohorts are clearly incapable of
understanding the mechanics of the Western and Israeli game-plan against the Egyptian people. What has
been sprung on Egypt and its befuddled people, on the foot-steps of their subverted Spring is a rehash of
the old Kissinger plan, which has quickly been dusted and brought forth on to the front burner in the wake
of the Arab Spring.
The Kissinger Plan-named after its author who was US Secretary of State when the first oil embargo
was imposed on the West, in 1973-made it almost mandatory for the powers-that-be stunned by the
swiftness and out-reach of the oil embargo by OPEC, to subvert, one-by-one, those Arab countries with a
potential to undermine Israel...
IHH files case in ICC against
Israel for Mavi Marmara
The State of the Union of
Comoros has officially
referred the case at the
International Criminal
Cour t in The Hague,
Netherlands on May 14,
2013 against Israeli per-
petrators of the attack on
Gaza Freedom Flotilla in
May 31, 2010. The refer-
ral of The Union of Comoros which has the right to refer the case
to the ICC, as a State Party to the founding treaty of the ICC, the
Rome Statute and the flag country of Mavi Marmara vessel, has
now been accepted and the proceeding has been started. The rel-
atives of the Mavi Marmara martyrs and the humanitarian activists
who have been victimized by the Israeli attack have also filed their
applications. Currently in The Hague, the delegation of IHH
Humanitarian Relief Foundation officially filed its institutional appli-
cation to the ICC on 6 March as one of the leading organizers of
Gaza Freedom Flotilla. For more information, contact Rabia Yurt at
+31 6 42398909 / law@ihh.org.tr.
Israeli lawyer is an unlikely
champion for Palestinians
Growing up in Jerusalem, Michael Sfard had no contact with
Palestinians who lived just across the street from him in the Arab
part of the city. In high school, he studied French and English, not
Arabic. It was a fairly typical Israeli upbringing, largely insulated
from the harsh realities of Israel's half century of rule over the
Palestinians next door. Yet, since opening his own law practice,
Sfard has emerged as one of the most effective defenders of
Palestinian rights, arguing and winning high-profile cases in
Israel's Supreme Court. Major victories include forcing the gov-
ernment to dismantle a large rogue settlement in the West Bank
and rerouting Israel's separation barrier along some stretches to
restore farmland to Palestinian villages. The unlikely champion of
the oppressed says he is trying to make Israel better, not advance
the Palestinian national cause. "I'm not a Palestinian freedom fight-
er," Sfard said. "I'm an Israeli human rights attorney who fights to
strengthen human rights in Israel and in the occupied territories
and I represent my clients the best I can." It's an outsider's role in
a country where a majority seems either indifferent to what hap-
pens in the West Bank and East Jerusalem or supports the gov-
ernment's settlement expansion on the lands the Palestinians want
for a state. But it's a role that suits Sfard's temperament.
Grassroots groups began to fill the political vacuum. Israeli
women founded the group Machsom Watch, standing at Israeli
army checkpoints to monitor the treatment of Palestinians. Sfard
and several Machsom Watch women set up Yesh Din - Hebrew for
"There is a law" - to take the human rights battle to the courts..
Sfard continues a tradition begun decades earlier by legendary
lawyers Felicia Langer and Leah Tzemel, still widely respected
among Palestinians for their dedication. (news.yahoo.com/israeli-
lawyer-effective-voice-palestinians-140103964.html)
Danish slaughter ban unites Jews and Muslims
Representatives from Denmark's Muslim and Jewish communities spoke
to the country's food minister on 22 February about the new slaughter
laws that are contrary to their religious practices. Earlier that week,
Denmark passed a new law forbidding the animal slaughter of live or non-
anesthetized animals, angering Muslims and Jews in Denmark because of
their religious dietary practices. The representatives voiced their concerns
to Danish Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Dan Jorgensen, saying
the government never consulted the two religious communities about the
bill. They also emphasized that they will have to import meat if halal and
kosher meat production is banned in Denmark. A Muslim organization pre-
sented some 20,000 signatures of against the introduction of the law they
garnered. The draft law was first proposed in Denmark after a 2012 man-
date that legalizes slaughter according to religious practices.
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20 The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES www.milligazette.com
KHALID BAIG
... For only then we truly live.
Otherwise we only pretend to live....
It happened at an international inter-faith conference. The
organisers decided to end the conference with readings from
the scriptures of major religions, done by followers of other reli-
gions. As it happened, an Arab Christian read a passage from
the Quran. He was a good reciter. Every one seemed to be
moved by his heart-rending reading, including the reciter him-
self. Immediately afterward, prominent Muslim thinker and
writer, Maulana Waheeduddin Khan, who narrated this story,
asked him: Do you think Quran is the Word of God? In a
moment of truth he said: Yes. But, then, he had second
thoughts so he added: But only for the Arabs.
Actually not only the Quranic message keeps attracting
people all over the world, its words also move people who may
not know a word of Arabic language. Famous Egyptian reciter
Qari Abdul Basit reportedly once accompanied President Gamal
Abdul Nasser to a meeting with the Soviet leaders. During a
break in the meeting, Nasir asked him to recite the Quran
before the top Soviet leaders. When he finished the recitation,
Qari Abdul Basit saw four of them shedding tears. We dont
know what it was, they later explained. But there was some-
thing touching in those Words!
Ironically, at that time Quran was the forbidden tree for the
Muslims in the Soviet Union. Reading, teaching, or even pos-
sessing a copy of the Quran resulted in the most severe pun-
ishments. The KGB was always on the lookout. Its agents could
enter any house, any time, if they suspected anyone inside of
reading Quran or offering prayers. Religious leaders were draft-
ed for compulsory labour. Mosques and Islamic schools were
closed down and turned into cinema houses, factories and
offices. One could not find a copy of the Quran anywhere. The
ruthless state machinery did everything within its power to extin-
guish the flame of Quran from the empire. Yet during those sev-
enty dark years Muslims kept the flame burning. They devel-
oped elaborate camouflage mechanisms, at tremendous risks,
to teach Quran to their children. Little children had to stay away
from their parents for months at a time as they retired to secret
hujras (rooms) where they memorised Quran and received reli-
gious instructions without ever having looked at a printed page.
Their stories remain a neglected but extremely bright part of our
recent history.
What kind of Book can command such devotion and sacri-
fices? Only the Book that begins by asserting:
This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to
those who fear Allah. (Al- Baqarah 2:2).
And then each and every line of it attests to that assertion.
It declares:
The Most Gracious! It is He Who has taught the Quran.
(Al- Rahman 55:1-2).
It challenges: Say, If the whole of mankind and Jinn were
to gather together to produce the like of this Quran, they could
not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other
with help and support. (Banu Israel 17:88).
It claims: Verily it is We Who revealed the Remembrance
and verily We are its guardians. (Al-Hijr, 15:9).
Quran is the first document in the Arabic language. There
is no other language of the world that has withstood the pas-
sage of over fourteen centuries. Over the centuries, rivers
change courses, civilisations rise and fall, and languages
become extinct and new ones develop. Consider the expression
faeder ure on heofonum from Lords Prayer in Matthew 6 from
a Bible of 900 CE. We are told it means: Our father in heaven.
It also means that any writing from that time cannot be read by
an English speaker today. But any Arabic speaker can open the
Quran today and understand its message, as did all the people
in the intervening centuries!
Prominent scholar Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah tells of an
effort in Germany by Christian scholars to gather all the Greek
manuscripts of Bible as the original Bible in Aramaic is extinct.
They gathered all manuscripts in the world and after examining
them reported: Some two hundred thousand contradictory nar-
rations have been found... of these one-eighth are of an impor-
tant nature. When the report was published, some people
established an Institute for Quranic Research in Munich with
the goal of examining Quran the same way. A gigantic research
project was started that continued for three generations. By
1933, 43,000 photocopies of Quranic manuscripts had been
collected. A report published shortly before World War II showed
the results of the examination of these manuscripts. While some
minor mistakes of calligraphy were found, not a single discrep-
ancy in the text had been discovered!
Of course, the love, devotion and care that Muslims showed
toward the Quran, and that became the immediate cause of its
miraculous preservation, was inspired by the Prophet
Muhammad, peace be upon him. On one occasion he asked the
companions in Suffa: Which of you would like to go out every
morning to Buthan or Al-Aqiq (two markets near Madina) and
bring two large she-camels without being guilty of sin or without
severing the ties of kinship?
Camels were the most valuable commodity of the time, she-
camels even more so. Its equivalent today may be a brand new
automobile. As they showed their interest, Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) explained: To teach or recite two verses of the Quran is
better than getting two she-camels. And three verses are better
than three she-camels (Muslim).
And so, for centuries this Ummah displayed an unprece-
dented love and devotion for the Book of Allah Taala. It began
the education of its children by teaching them how to read
Quran. It began its day by reciting from the Quran. Quran was
divided into seven parts, each called a manzil, so it could be
read completely every week. It was divided into thirty parts,
each called a juz, so it could be read completely every month.
Quran is the most read and memorised book in the world!
Today, though, we see a change. Thanks to the twin
scourges of a colonial education system and the television,
today we find millions of Muslim children for whom learning to
read the Quran is not part of their education. We find millions of
Muslim homes where Quran is read only on special occasions
when someone dies, for example. This despite the fact that
in most parts of the world today, unlike the Soviet Union of yes-
terday, reading the Quran is no longer a high risk proposition.
How unfortunate is the person who should die of thirst while
holding the refreshing glass of water in his hands! How unfortu-
nate the person who should die of disease while holding the
perfect medicine in his hands!
Of course, we must read it, understand it, and put it into
practice. But we must also remember that reading with full def-
erence and proper etiquettes is a pre-requisite for understand-
ing the Quran, just as understanding its message is a pre-req-
uisite for practicing it. Our goal must be to live by the Quran.
For only then we truly live. Otherwise we only pretend to live.
The Miracle of the Quran
Famous Egyptian
reciter Qari Abdul
Basit reportedly
o n c e
ac c o mpani e d
President Gamal
Abdul Nasser to a
meeting with the
Soviet leaders.
During a break in
the meeting,
Nasir asked him
to recite the
Quran before the
top Soviet
leaders. When he
finished the
recitation, Qari
Abdul Basit saw
four of them shedding tears. We dont know what it
was, they later explained. But there was something
touching in those Words!
Ironically, at that time Quran was the forbidden tree
for the Muslims in the Soviet Union. Reading,
teaching, or even possessing a copy of the Quran
resulted in the most severe punishments. The KGB
was always on the lookout. Its agents could enter any
house, any time, if they suspected anyone inside of
reading Quran or offering prayers.
Germany by Christian scholars to gather all the Greek
manuscripts of Bible as the original Bible in Aramaic
is extinct. They gathered all manuscripts in the world
and after examining them reported: Some two
hundred thousand contradictory narrations have been
found... of these one-eighth are of an important
nature. When the report was published, some people
established an Institute for Quranic Research in
Munich with the goal of examining Quran the same
way. A gigantic research project was started that
continued for three generations. By 1933, 43,000
photocopies of Quranic manuscripts had been
collected. A report published shortly before World
War II showed the results of the examination of these
manuscripts. While some minor mistakes of
calligraphy were found, not a single discrepancy in
the text had been discovered!
BOOKS The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 21 www.milligazette.com
RAUF PAREKH
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third president of the USA, is
said to have compiled several lists of great books or best
books. Since then, the concept of a list of 100 best books or
1,000 great books has been popular in the western culture.
Some have prepared a list of books they wish to read before they
die. Many have prepared their own lists of best books. Also, there
are best book lists that have been prepared by teams of scholars.
Last week a friend of mine asked if there were any such lists
in Urdu. I said as far as I could recall there were none and there
could hardly be any list on which everyone agreed. She suggest-
ed somebody should start compiling a list of best Urdu books and
others would join in. My idea was to start a list of the best books
on the basis of genres.
So here is a list of the 10 best Urdu autobiographies.
Compiled in chronological order and not in order of preference, it
is based on the importance, relevance, readability and literary and
cultural value. A good book does not have to be a bestseller and
may not be liked by everyone. You may differ or even be surprised
at some of the titles that others declare as favourites, as Andre
Maurois has said: "In literature, as in love, we are astonished at
what is chosen by the others". But you have a right to prepare your
own list or amend this one.
Kaala paani: First published in 1884, the full title is Tavaareekh-
i-Ajeeb almaroof be kaala paani. Jaafar Thanesari (1838-1905)
penned this slim volume when he returned from Andaman Islands,
where he was imprisoned in January 1866 for about 20 years on
the charges of treason against the British. It may not be a com-
plete autobiography in the real sense of the term, but it is a first-
hand account of the life on these islands and gives a political and
historical background of the 1857 war of freedom. It is one of the
earliest Urdu autobiographies and makes a good reading, too.
Recently, Sang-i-Meel Publications, Lahore, has reprinted it.
Aamaal nama - Known for its chaste Urdu and literary style, the
book discusses political, social and literary issues of the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. Written by Sir Raza Ali (1880-1849),
who held important posts such as a member of the Indian
Legislative Council and Agent General in South Africa, the book
was first published in 1943. The author has described his life in
detail and in such a candid manner that few Urdu autobiographies
can offer such frank insights. The book had been out of print for a
few decades but Patnas Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library
published a new edition in 1992.
Mushahadaat: One of the Urdu books banned because of their
contents is the autobiography of Nawab Hosh Yaar Jang Hosh
Bilgirami (1894-1955). The book (1955) describes, in addition to
other things, the royal courts and royal lives in princely states of
Hyderabad Deccan and Rampur. Since it revealed some parts of
personal lives of those who mattered, its publication provoked
uproar from readers. Many pages had to be removed and stickers
had to be pasted to hide many lines. But the high-ups were not
satisfied and it was finally banned and confiscated in Deccan. The
writer was shocked and died a few days later. Today its copies are
extremely hard to find.
Naqabil-i-Faramosh: Sardar Divan Singh Maftoon (1890-1975),
a journalist, began writing his memoirs while in jail in 1943. It was
serialised in his newspaper Riyaasat in 1944. When published
later in a book form it became much popular. Maftoon decided to
rewrite it and the second, expanded edition was published in
1957. It narrates some very interesting, and true to the books
name, unforgettable events. Maftoon had written the sequel, titled
Saif-o-Qalam, but it could not get published. A Lahore publisher
had reprinted Naqabil-i-Faramosh a few years ago.
Khoon baha: Hakeem Ahmed Shuja (1893-1969), a playwright,
journalist and poet, grieves in this autobiography the death of
some friends, relatives and dear ones. This in some ways has
overshadowed the entire book but still it is an interesting account
of his era and contemporaries. It has a literary and scholarly touch
and is valued for its flowing prose, too. First published in 1962, it
ran into multiple editions, but is now out of print, though some
public libraries treasure it.
Sarguzasht: Syed Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari, popularly known as Z. A.
Bukhari, began writing his autobiography in 1962. Serialised in the
daily Hurriyet, it was published in book form in 1966. A witty and
somewhat naughty fellow as Bukhari was, the book offers good
glimpses of his wit, repartee and pranks. It is also part a history
of broadcasting in India and Pakistan, not to mention the beautiful
language.
Yaadon ki dunya: It is a well-thought-out and well-written autobi-
ography by Dr Yousuf Hussain Khan, an Indian scholar. Published
in 1967 and beginning from the Mughal era, the book describes
the authors life and then the vast canvass reflects the entire soci-
ety. A beautiful combination of literature, history and sociology,
the book is not easy to come by these days.
Yaadon ki baraat: Often dubbed as a controversial book by Josh
Maleehabadi (1898-1982), it appeared in 1970 and was criticised
for some of its contents that discuss Joshs innumerable love
affairs. Known for his command of the Urdu language, Josh has
definitely written beautiful and inimitable prose. The narration of
his early life and the environment is absorbing. Recently, Dr Hilal
Naqvi found its missing pages and published them. "Yaadon ki
baraat" is definitely one of the most interesting biographies of
Urdu.
Jahan-i-Danish: Ehsaan Danish (1914-1982) was a self-made
poet who earned his bread as a labourer. A self-taught man, he
was ultimately recognised as a poet and scholar. The autobiogra-
phy teaches lessons in courage. One learns to face the world in
extreme poverty and rise. First published in 1975, a few years ago
it was reprinted with its second part.
Zarguzasht: Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi is today considered Urdus
foremost humorist. His autobiography first appeared in 1976 and
has been reprinted many times over. Yousufi Sahib believes that
sense of humour is in fact the sixth sense and if one possesses
this sixth sense, one can go through all the hardships of life smil-
ingly. That is exactly what he has done while narrating his career
as a banker: he smiles at difficulties and laughs troubles off. Its a
"must read" for anyone.
Shahab nama: Qudratullah Shahab (1917-1986) was a top
bureaucrat, but in essence he was a fiction writer. This has also
reflected in his autobiography and Mushfiq Khwaja, a close friend
of Shahabs, has also called it fiction. Some unbelievable inci-
dents apart, it reveals the sorry state of affairs of a nascent coun-
try whose people were deprived of democracy. The early portion
describing the British Raj also makes an absorbing reading. It is
one of the bestsellers in recent history. (dawn.com)
MG: We would like to add to this list Karamatullah Ghoris
Baar-e Shanaasaaee, just published by Pharos Media.
Though not a complete autobiography, it contains personal
experiences of the author with some of the top people who
ruled and influenced Pakistan. The refreshing style and the
authors command over pristine Urdu is refreshing and sel-
dom seen these days. This book has now been published in
Pakistan too.
The 10 best Urdu autobiographies
Godse ki aulaad
Bharat mein Bhagva dahshatgardi
First exhaustive work on Hindutva terror
Urdu translation of Godses Children
by Subhash Gatade
Pages: 388 Price: Rs 300
(English edition: 446 pages/ Rs360)
To order please see page 19 of this issue
A good book does not have to be a best-
seller and may not be liked by everyone.
You may differ or even be surprised at
some of the titles that others declare as
favourites, as Andre Maurois has said: "In
literature, as in love, we are astonished at
what is chosen by the others". But you
have a right to prepare your own list or
amend this one.
Developed societies and developed minds own and
deserve developed countries. India was always in
shambles for ages due to a discriminatory and
caste-based society. There is no integration of
Indian society and economy - we all think in differ-
ent directions.
The book "India in Shambles, Only the
Judiciary can save us" by KC Agarwal is in itself in
shambles. Not a single page in the book reflects
developed and matured thoughts. All chapters
reflect very low level of understanding of the real sit-
uation.
Knowledge is built brick by brick, step
by step, and to write about a society one
must be interacting with society on day-
to-day basis and problems of India are to
be addressed one by one and India
needs to organise 1250 million brains
with many billion problems to be
addressed and managed in an organised
and systematic manner applying right technologies.
It is true, all four pillars of the Indian Republic can individually
address most of our problems but they all are very weak and
incompetent. Press, Judiciary, Executive and Legislature are all
very weak and immature.
How can we consider our judiciary strong when it cant
improve consumer courts, for example, which come directly
under their domain at the lowest level? Other than constitution,
judges know little else or pretend to know little else - it is peti-
tioners and professional pleaders, whom we call advocates,
who guide them through the case to procure court orders for
their clients.
This is weakness of our judiciary which KC Agarwal didnt
experience so far. For example, riots in Gujarat or UP were broad-
cast in real time but Supreme Court was silent until some petition
was moved. Occasionally judges do take suo moto actions which
are just initiation of investigation but orders follow only on the basis
of evidence.
SY Quraishi, former CEC, the chief guest
during the release of this book on 7 March, 2014
disappointed people by first claiming that con-
ducting elections and counting of votes is the
ultimate level of governance but did nothing to
first keep out incompetent and criminals from
contesting elections, second, failed to make
party politics transparent and, third, refused to
make registered political parties release their
Election Manifestos & Party Constitution Public,
say six months in advance.
EC had failed to act on petitions directly or
indirectly to make party politics transpar-
ent and election manifestos and party
constitution public.
Things rather progressed in the
backward direction. Topics of contest in
this forthcoming election are Sardar Patel
or who organised more riots or who is
more corrupt, etc.
Indian governors, ministers, judges, civil servants of secretary
level do not present their credentials to the superior appointing
authority and this lets in incompetent and corrupt assume impor-
tant positions in government. This alone shall clean up 90 percent
of our constitutional authorities and functionaries.
Few good lines in the book are per capita income of small
farmers or labourers is Rs. 5000 and Rs. 6000 which is $90 to
$100 annually for over 70% population. But the chapter on distri-
bution of wealth is weak. Black money is generated due to leak-
ages in tax collections (72%), middlemen not adding value and fail-
ure of banks to serve the people of India who have to depend on
moneylenders. Indians have practically no equity in listed compa-
nies and no share in natural resources, otherwise the minimum
income of Indians would have been over Rs. 20,000 per capita
which is well above poverty line.
RAVINDER SINGH
Progressindia008@yahoo.com
Book: India in Shambles - Only the Judiciary Can
Save Us
Author : K.C. Agrawal
Year : 2013 Price: 370
ISBN : 9788192816609
Distributor: Jain Book Agency
India in shambles, only the Judiciary can save us
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Urdu Ghazal
Dont tinker with Ghazal. Marathi is no need to follow any language for
ghazal... We have our own essence and understanding of ghazal...
Basically, we should not compare any language for any music genre...
Urdu is different and Marathi is different.. Let them grow separately with
their own colours.
S Panjari
spanjari@gmail.com
Media exposed by former media persons
Ashutosh, the eminent journalist of IBN-7 group, joined AAP. While in a
debate on Aaj Tak (13/02/14 / 11 am), he said: when you take on
Ambani, Modi and Rahul head on, then you be ready to face planted
news in media to malign your image. S. Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP)
Rajiv Shukla (Cong) were present in the debate. Another former media
debater, Yogendra Yadav, said about media: it was very fruitful of being
in media because media person had both cards in their pockets and
media is spreading false and fake news against AAP. He dared media if
they insist on naming the mediamen who are spreading false he would
name them in a press conference.
S. Haque, Patna
The Whole Truth About AIDS
In my opinion, it is very important that parents talk to their children
about the dangers of using condoms, contraceptives and abortion
methods, as the morning-after pill or RU-486. Today, young people are
constantly besieged from the media and schools. They tell them that
using condoms will prevent unwanted pregnancies, AIDS and other sex-
ually transmitted diseases. Likewise, they are besieged by television
programs where it is normal to see infidelity, pornography, explicit sex
and all those degrading programs of junk TV. Health campaigns based
on condoms distribution to prevent AIDS led into deception. These con-
ceal information and do not contribute towards prevention, but a greater
spread of risk behaviours, since they imply that health authorities are
giving their approval to the behaviours and lifestyles that are responsi-
ble for the epidemic. It has long been known that the condom has a rel-
ative effectiveness as a contraceptive. Statistics show that this prophy-
lactic failure in 15% of cases as a contraceptive and therefore we can
not believe that AIDS virus that is 450 times smaller than sperm can be
stopped by the latex barrier as if by magic. Uganda is the only African
country where this problem has decreased because the system of
abstinence and faithfulness to one partner was adopted. When sexual
promiscuity decreased, the HIV infection rate dropped from a peak of
15% in the early 90s to approximately 4% in 2003. Would it cost so
much to educate young people in this regard? In this very sensitive mat-
ter, the numbers prove it.
Isabel Costa, Fraga, Huesca (Spain)
antonio@aplicaciones.info
Aah Naogaonavi!
May the noble soul of Br. Kaif Naogaonvi rest peacefully in Jannatul-
Firdos and may all of his near and dear ones have Sabre-Jameel. That
the mentality of the rulers who hesitate to ban the RSS but continue to
suppress SIMIi has not changed at all can be seen from the fact that, at
the time of the first Indo-Pak war of 1965, when thousands of
Maharashtian Muslims, including the khadi-clad and gandi-capped
ones were imprisoned for months, Kaif was not allowed even to attend
his wifes funeral!! Down with such stone-hearted secularism.
S. Akhtar, Khanpur Deh - 392150
The myth of Modis clean chit
Those who have been brandishing the "clean chit" to Narendra
Damodardas Modi do not understand the situation. The S.I.T., as its
name tells us, was only a team of investigators, not a court of law; and
the court which accepted that body's recommendations was merely
that of a Metropolitan Magistrate. When passing judgment the MM told
Zakia Jafri's lawyer that his team "have the liberty to approach a higher
court" (Indian Express, 27 December 2013). This tells us that India's
judicial structure has many levels, with an appeal possible at each.
Thus it is absurd to see any kind of finality in the MM's judgment. The
door is wide open through which Mr. Modi and many of his "parivar" will
walk to the gallows.
Mukul Dube, Mayur Vihar 1, Delhi 110091
dube.mukul@gmail.com
Episode of ND Tewari & Islam
ND Tiwari was bestowed by God with three important characters 1)
handsomeness 2) sexual vitality 3) political power. To satisfy his sexu-
al desire he had number of ladies were at his disposal. The political
power helped him and no authority could stop him. But in his old age
when he was governor of AP he was caught red-handed and was com-
pelled to resign. The important part of this episode was his illegitimate
wife and son who claimed in the court if law that he was the biologi-
cal son of Mr. Tiwari .But Tiwari denied. After six years court litigation
Tiwari accepted Rohit Shaker is his son his mother was his keep. One
cannot imagine the disrespect and mental torture the mother and son
had to bear years to gather. Still Rohit and his mother has to get share
in his property .The dignity and honour can never be restored. The
question arise why Tiwart did not dare to marry the mother of Rohit ?
it is only because Hindu Dharma does not allow second marriage. But
the history reveals that Lord Ram had three wives and Lord Krishna had
thousands of Gopies. According to historical examples every Hindu
could marry more than one wife. The Hinduism has been modified
many times and its teachings are not in its original form .The Hindus are
following wrong version of dharma which cannot safeguard the rights
of people like Rohit and his mother. There are millions of such examples
in the society leading the life of disrespect If you look into the teachings
of Islam it has permitted such men like ND Tewari to marry four wives
and have legitimate children. All Mughal kings had more than one wife.
In Islam whoever develops illicit sexual relations is punished. With this
rule one can understand how Islam has safeguard the respect and mod-
esty of women folk. It is in practice since last1400 years
Dr AH Maqdoomi, Hyderabad
Half historical truths are in school syllabus
Kids are taught in schools that Shershah built the grand trunk road from
Kolkata to Peshawar but it is half fact. Shershah built the G.T Road from
Chitogong (now Bangladesh) to Kabul. Prabhat khabar (Hindi daily)
published this fact.
S. Haque, Patna
Comparison between - they - and - we
Just or unjust, right or wrong is not the matter or subject of considera-
tion but importantly the way the weird and warmly played tactics adopt-
ed by crooked Hindutva fraternity with the object to turn vengeances
into voraciousness and vice-versa which is under process since the
dawn of Independence in all respects. Soon after the arrest of Hindutva
elements in bomb blasts in Samjhouta Express, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer
Shareef, Malegaon and other places, RSS, BJP and other allied forces
immediately came out openly with the denial of involvement of any
member of their family in any terrorist and disruptive activity claiming
themselves to be innocent, peace loving and patriotic. They also want
to the length of turndown the admission of Aseemanad before the Court
and media calling the same absolutely false. Recently, a delegation of
LT. Col. Prasad Prohit which includes Aparana Prohit and VAsanti Prohit
met President of India at RAshtrapati Bhavan on 18th, Fem: 14 and
sought his intervention towards the immediate disposal of the case
relate to Malegaon blast couple with other maters relate to accused.
Such tactics are continue in practice since long obviously to prove the
culprits innocent by hook or crook. Back to home, hundreds of inno-
cent, educated and well settled Muslim youths have been implicated
and languishing behind bars by the anti Muslim bias men in khaki under
the nose of union and state home ministries without any trial for years
to gather whereas many have been killed in the name of fake encoun-
ters and the process continued but no public (Muslim) agitation or even
strong country wide protest is held or even no bandh and other mode
of agitations have been adopted by general members of Ummah which
is a matter of great concern. The so-called Muslim leaders, MPs, MLAs,
dared not to speak on the subject or went or raising the voices the floors
LS, RS, and state assemblies atleast for name sake. Baring JIH, JUH
and one or two such organisations like AIMPLB no organisation specif-
ically taken up the matter seriously objectively to represent the Muslim
grievances before higherups IUML, claimant of only Muslim represen-
tative political organisation of National status appeared to have taken U
turn from its basic object and virtually not exists. Muslim representation
in L.S., R.S., or state assemblies look like soulless creature, a show
cased commodity hold no water are always at the heels of their party
bosses acting in scion fashion. Notably with the aim was drawn, this
time, in M. P., Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra to arrest Muslim youths in the
name of anti National activities being members of SIMI to level the
ground for extension of ban which is done ultimately but no Muslim rep-
resentative, minister, leader, organisation, group and activists came
openly to condemn the illegal action of Central government which
shows where we stand.
Faheemuddin, Nagpur - 13
Somnath temple - facts versus lies
Mr. Narendra Modi - the BJPs prime ministerial candidate who has
earned notoriety for his colossal ignorance of facts and coming out with
fabricated statements has said in one of his speeches that the Somnath
temple had been reconstructed by Sardar Patel. But says Sardar Patel
last year when I came to Saurashtra, I went to Somnath. I was then
accompanied by Jam Saheb (Ruler of Nawa Nagar) and Mr. Gadgil (a
central minister and father of Mr. V. N. Gadgil, a union minister in the
Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi Govts.) when we saw the ruined temple
of Somnath and walked on those sacred precincts and surveyed that
historical and religious place, vision of the past spread itself before us.
We then resolved to renovate its ancient glory. The Jam Sahib con-
tributed a lakh of rupees, Samal Dass (The chief minister of Saurashtra)
on behalf of the provincial Govt. contributed rupees 50,000 But to
implement our decision we felt necessary to take expert opinion. We
also sought the advice of elderly people of Jaunagarh. We have now
decided to constitute a committee to draw up plans and to create a trust
for the supervision of the work. Two trustees will be nominated from the
centre, two by the Saurashtra Govt., two will be selected from the
donors and the remaining will be nominated from the rest of India. After
my visit to Jaunagarh I went to Calcutta and spoke to some friends
there. They have promised to donate Rs 25 lakhs. We have Rs 21 lakhs
already. Our aim is to collect a crore atleast so that not only would we
be able to renovate the temple but also to improve its surroundings and
open certain institutions as well. (Sardar Patel in tune with millions
edited by G. M Tendulkar, Volume-III pp.52-3). Earlier Jawaharlal Nehru
himself and contradicted Mr. Advanis contention that the inaugural
function of the temple was a governmental function. This is evident
from the following quotation from Nehrus letter to chief minister of May
2, 1951, you must have read about the coming ceremonies at the
Somnath temple. It should be clearly understood that this function is not
governmental and the Govt. of India as such has nothing to do wit it (let-
ters to chief minister volume - II pp. 388-389).
Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai, ex-MP, New Delhi - 110091
Aam Aadmi Party - a party opposed to our system
Our media has been showering praises on the newly formed Aam Admi
Party ignoring the fact that this party has neither a glorious past which
can nor a charismatic precedent which can inspire Indian people.
Communal fascism or politics of communal hatred which is being prac-
ticed by BJP is the gravest menace not only to Indian democracy and
secularism but to be very existence of our country, but this party and
neither condemns it nor intends to fight it. Minorities, especially
Muslims and OBCs are extremely backward in all aspects of life and
therefore they need reservations in government jobs, educational insti-
tutions and other walks of life and welfare majors but this party has not
a work about minorities and OBCs. Bureaucracy is the main hurdle in
the second working of Indian democracy. But this party has no plan of
effectively controlling it or scrapping red-tapism. The party has rightly
been described by Mr. Salman Khurshid, External Affairs Minister as an
anarchist party with Jurassic ideas deadly opposed to our system it is
extremely harmful to the country.
Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai, ex-MP,
Delhi - 110091
RSS stalwarts, no chagrin please
In an interview to Caravan Magazine, Aseemanand an accused in
Samjhouta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Shareef blast confessed
that planning for blast was evolved and sanctioned by the RSS
Leadership thus admitting the direct involvement of fascit Organisation
in disdainful act of blast at the said places. The statement sparked of a
controversy leading RSS big-wig to reject and rebut the interview in
usual stereotype manner by questioning its veracity and publication in
Caravan. Soon followed by Hindutva fraternity from low to high level the
interview came to be attacked in defence or the parental body under the
habitual denial of truth by charging the Caravan Magazine and authen-
ticity of the interview in question. On the other side the so-called secu-
lar political groups like Congress, BSP, SP supported by CP-I spared no
time by condemning the RSS and its involvement in the anti-National
and terrorist activities. The condemning appears to be a drama to get
Muslim favour during the ensuing election on one hand and to prove
that till this date they were unaware of the disruptive incursion of RSS
and that for the first time they have come across the devilished
designed of RSS. What is the necessity of staging such drama as
Muslims have full knowledge that all are birds of same feather. Such
denial and condemnations are not new as they are the part and parcel
of old strategy as far Muslims are concerned. It is admitted position that
very foundation of RSS is laid on distortion, distraction, deception and
decaying plannings and demureness can go any extent to achieve its
goal in a most ugly way. It is to be noted with all drearily that on vari-
ous occasions, specially gathering of National importance, our intelli-
gence agencies are bulging out with fake inputs of terrorist activities
which they gleefully beefed to the Union and state home ministries with
around the clock publicity by electronic media which later on reach
them to well educated and well settled innocent Muslim youth under the
instruction of the said ministries and thus trap them maliciously.
However in the case of blast on Samjhouta Express, Mecca Masjid,
Ajmer Shareef, Malegoan, Gujarat, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Patna the
same intelligence agencies are bulging out with fake inputs of terrorist
activities which they gleefully briefed to the union and state home min-
istries with around the clock publicity by electronic media which later on
reach them to well educated and well settled innocent Muslim youth
under the instruction of the said ministries and thus trap them mali-
ciously. However in the case of blast on Samjhouta Express, Mecca
Masjid, Ajmer Shareef, Malegaon, Gujarat, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore,
Patna the same intelligence agencies failed to get any input.... so sur-
prising. Whereas Congress and other parties continued to remain in
darkness. It is therefore advisable to RSS and other Hindutva forces
need no apprehension for any legal action against the out-fit being
patronized and protected by police around the Country, Law of the Land
and all major political parties by making the State a safe heaven for the
Saffron Brigade despite it stigmatized for the assassination of the Father
of Nation, still no one is there to question the patriotism of RSS and
allied forces. Jai Bharat.
Faheemuddin, Nagpur - 13
Advertising campaigns about the false paradises of drug evasin
Dance Music for you not to dance is the slogan of the last campaign
of the Spanish Foundation Against Drug Addiction (FAD) to raise aware-
ness of the risks associated with driving under the influence of drugs ,
for young people aged 16 to 24.. According to the National Department
of Traffic (DGS), about 23 % of drivers up to 30 years who died in a traf-
fic accident had consumed drugs. Bad night. Tonight may be your
turn is the slogan of another FAD campaign, which seeks to educate
the youth against the alkaloids that cause hallucination or distress and
can lead to suicide. Out partying until dawn can move in a bad experi-
ence because these concentrates, can be your worst enemy. Drugs
have stayed in the fun of teenagers. Reaching a state of rapture in a few
minutes and feel the effect of joy for an hour, is the type of hallucina-
tions that causes fentanyl a synthetic drug derived from opium that
has set off alarms at the UN, so that the International Narcotics Control
Board, in its annual report, devotes a chapter to this concentrate, a
synthetic opioid 80 times more potent than heroin, and that is causing
serious damage in the United States and Mexico. The European
Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, also exhibited a painful
horizon, whereby drugs are cheaper than ever in all countries of the
European Union, a circumstance that has led to a frightening increase
in cocaine use, particularly among adolescents. The investigation
exposes the rawness of the situation in Europe: each year alkaloids
consumption causes more than 8,000 deaths. Drugs, sex, terror and
fanaticism spiral will not succeed in his claim to be havens of escape.
Young naive believe the drug will lead to Heaven and what it gives to
them is their own self-destruction, a physical and mental deterioration
that will transform the paradise of a moment, in a prolonged and
unbearable hell.
Clemente Ferrer
antonio@aplicaciones.info
Animal slaughtering: different action
There is a picture of four headless Bali (Slaughtered religiously) of he
buffaloes at Dariyapur areas of Ahmedabad on public road thorough-
fare. The G. T. report datelined, Ahmedabad, 25th January 14 inter
alia, states that ten Devi Pujak Samaj people did the slaughtering (Bali)
quite openly; that the police mute a mockery of justice by merely not-
ing a complaint under CRPC 157; that people here discuss a serious
community-based discrimination because, day in and day out, Muslim
butchers are being wrongly arrested after allowing the so-called Gau
Rakshak (cow savers) to bent the qassabs who are then severely beat-
en by police who also clamp PASA etc. etc.
S. Akhtar, Patna
BJP carved Modi into Ram
Through Ram Rath, Ram mandir, etc BJP could not achieve absolute
power, therefor it shunned Ram mandir agenda to achieve power shar-
ing with other parties. Now BJP is again perusing Ram issue not by
mandir but by carving Modi as Ram. BJP national president Raj Nath
Singh said bhagwan ram ki tarah avatar puruhi hein Modi
S. Haque, Patna
Batakh Mians family in great distress
Batakh Mian was a British officers cook. Under his English employers
pressure he mixed poison in the milk which was to be served to
Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Motihari (Champaran) to experience
oppression of farmers in 1917. But Batakh Mian silently revealed the
English secret plan to Gandhiji. Rajendra Prasad was witness of the
episode. English government sent Batakh Mian to jail and badly treated
him and confiscated his land. In India followers of the killers of Gandhi
are prospering but descendents of Gandhis saviour are reeling under
poverty and their family is in great distress. Government promised to
give Batakh Mian agricultural land as token of gratitude but the promise
was forgotten.
S. Haque, Patna
Left as third alternative
The Left must be applauded for trying to bring as many as eleven polit-
ical parties to come together as a third alternative in the 2014 General
elections. One need not pooh-pooh the idea, as we have seen how a
novice in politics like Arvind Kejriwal has proved in the Delhi assembly
elections that there is a vast political space for new experiments. The
common man is disgusted with the policies of the neo-liberalism pur-
sued by the UPA and the erstwhile NDA government and there is hard-
ly a thin line between the two as regards corruption. It would be desir-
able if Aam Admi Party can be drawn in the third-front.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa - 516001
sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in
Politicians involved in riots
Rahul Gandhi in his first-ever interview said that some Congressmen
were involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Former CM of Bihar
Satayandera Narayan Sinha in his autography Meri yadein meri bhulein
wrote that some Congress leaders were involved in 1989 Bhagalpur
anti-Muslim genocide. Gujarats Narendra Modis cabinet minister Maya
Kodnani supervised killings of Muslims and she is languishing in jail.
S. Haque,
Patna
REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March 2014 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
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PUBLISHED ON 11 MAR 2014 POSTED ON 11,12 MAR 2014
ADV. FORTNIGHTLY AT NDPSO-110002
The Milli Gazette
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24 The Milli Gazette,16-31 March 2014
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
Without your support CHARITY ALLIANCE cant complete the above
Donations, Zakat, Sadaqat, Charity and bank interest.
Accepted by cheque / online Internet Banking transfers
or credit card payments / Money Order. See page 17 inside.
CHARITY ALLIANCE
Registered trust
Alliance School Murshidabad
needs your help
With great pleasure. we inform you that West Bengal Board of Secondary Education
has issued a one-year provisional No Objection Certificate to Alliance School
Murshidabad thereby giving us a one-year provisional CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION
as an upper primary school (Classes V to VIII). This provisional certificate lays down
certain criteria which have to be met within a year. Alliance School in Murshidabad
(West Bengal) needs your help to get pucca classrooms for students and to be able to
get permanent certificate of recognition. Please donate for this cause. Approx. Rs 10
lakh is needed to start construction work for the first phase. Please see page 17 inside.
Construction of homes for Muzaffarnagar
riot victims by Charity Alliance
On 18 February 2014, by the grace of Almighty, and support of our donors, we were
able to start the construction work on the 38,642 square feet land purchased in
Kairana. We started the work only once the purchase process was officially over. All
labourers are from the relief camps and hence a source of livelihood for some of the
victims.
Earlier we had planned to make tent-like sheds for the victims. But now we intend
to make small pucca dwellings for most deserving families among the riot victims.
Depending on the amount of funds raised, we are studying what type and kind of
dwellings we can afford. See page 17 inside. Donations in kind are also welcome, like
bricks, cement, iron bars, drainage pipes, doors, windows, sanitaryware etc.
If you are an architect/engineer you may want to give your inputs in the
design/planning/execution and also volunteer to visit the site and oversee the work.
Construction of homes near Sunethi Camp (Shamli) for Muzaffarnagar riots victims, 9 March 2014
Does your research involve the Palestinian issue
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Fire in Forajipara,
Murshidabad District (West
Bengal): your kind and
generous help is awaited
The village has turned into ashes by a blazing fire on 28 February
2014. About 125 people (45 families) have been affected. Many
domestic animals were burnt to death by the fire. Food grains, clothes,
furniture including cash and other materials household things have
been converted into ashes. All the 125 people have become shelter
less and without any spare clothes to change. Food is being arranged
by the locals. At the moment now they need immediate help.
Government officials have visited but no compensation has been pro-
vided yet. A set of galvanised corrugated iron sheets will help them
construct their bamboo dwellings again. As the existing sheets get
crumbled and get holes due to fire. Some clothes also need to be pur-
chased. The cost will be about Rs 7000 per family, that is a total of
Rs 315,000 is needed. Please see donation details on page 17 inside.
These are verses of the Qur'an, a book that makes (things) clear;
A guide: and glad tidings for the believers. Those who establish regular
prayers and give in regular charity, and are sure of the Hereafter.
Quran 27:1-3