Abdul Gani, TwoCirlces.net,

Guwahati: When they feel neglected most of the times. When they feel their voice is not heard even though it was loud and clear. It’s time they create their own way of sending the message. Thus, the outcome is The Alternative Voice.

Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad (CCSP) president Hafiz Ahmed along with a few young and dynamic individuals have come together with an effort to make the voice of the marginalized section of the society heard with this monthly magazine.

GU Professor Monirul Hussain, CCSP president Hafiz Ahmed and Ram Puniyani at the launch of the magazine.

“I hope our efforts would be helpful for thousands of marginalized people whose voice is never heard. I would to thank the young individuals who have come forward for this noble cause,” said Hafiz Ahmed, the honorary editor of the magazine.

The inaugural edition of the 25 page edition was formally released by noted activist and scholar Ram Puniyani at the Sociology Department of Gauhati Department. Puniyani appreciated the efforts of the team to bring out such a magazine and wished good luck.

“This kind of initiative is needed for the marginalized people of our society. This is praiseworthy and I hope it would continue to provide voice to the voiceless,” he said.

The first edition which carries several articles on the socio-economic condition of the state and country at the present time will focus on the areas which are often left out by the main stream media. “We have very often noticed that there are several important issues are left out by the television and the newspapers. This is really important to highlight so that the thinking process can be changed or affected. That is our main agenda,” said Abdul Kalam Azad, a member of the editorial team of the magazine.

By TCN News,

New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia has issued a rejoinder to the news report published in the Indian Express on July 30, 2013 under the heading ‘Caught in pincer………tough moves, reforms’ by Seema Chishti, where Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Lt Gen (retd) Zameeruddin Shah is quoted as saying, “The situation faced by AMU or Jamia Millia are different………..Did you know that Najeeb Jung (former VC of Jamia Millia) was nearly murdered?...”

The university clarifies in “no uncertain terms that the above statement is untrue and that there has never been any attempt made on Mr. Najeeb Jung’s life while he held the office of Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia.”

Further, there has been no Law and Order problem in Jamia Millia Islamia in the past several years and the university has been functioning absolutely peacefully and has been making many a stride in the academic world, it added.

A press statement added, “The Jamia fraternity i.e. the students, staff and faculty take pride in Jamia’s history and remain committed to its foundational principles of nationalism and secularism. The university remains more committed than ever to achieving excellence in teaching and research.”

By TwoCirles.net Staff Reporter,

Lucknow: Rihai Manch has launched post card/ Email campaign demanding tabling of action taken report on Nimesh Commission Report in the Monsoon session of the Assemlby.

Rihai Manch (Forum for the Release of Innocent Muslims imprisoned in the name of Terrorism) is on indefinite dharna since May 20 outside the UP Assembly demanding arrest of police officers involved in Khalid Mujahid's murder, issuing the RD Nimesh commission report and action report, and the immediate release of innocent Muslim youth imprisoned in the name of terrorism.

The post-card/Email is addressed to the UP CM seeking attention on the Nimesh Commission: “As per your promise please call the monsoon session and table the action taken report on Nimesh Commission report and guarantee the release of Tariq Qasmi, taking action against those police men who falsely fabricated Tariq and Late Khalid Mujahid in terror cases. Rihai Manch is on an indefinite dharna on this issue for the last two and half months at Vidhan Sabha dharna sthal. Take notice to it.”

Khalid had died under mysterious circumstances on his way back from Faizabad near Ram Sanehi Ghat on May 18. He was declared brought dead by the doctors at district hospital in Barabanki. Later, on the complain of his uncle Zahir Alam Falahi, a case was registered against 42 police officers including former DGP Vikram Singh, ADG Brijlal and others who were on duty during the time of Khalid's arrest.

Khalid along with Tariq Qasmi was arrested by Special Task Force (STF) on 20 December 2007 from Barabanki. Huge explosives were also shown as recovered from his possession. STF claimed that he was involved in the serial blasts which occurred in Gorakhpur, Faizabad and Lucknow. Later, Nimesh Commission was constituted headed by Justice R D Nimesh who in its report raised fingers over STF's claim about the place of arrests.

Khalid’s family and civil society groups are also demanding CBI probe into Khalid’s custodial death and has compared his case with the fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan by the Gujarat Police. They have also questioned the role of the IB. They have also been raising the issue of the Batla House 'encounter' and alleged the recent judgement was aimed at protecting the police officials and regarded the verdict as "judicial encounter of justice."

Rihai Manch is leading a sustained demonstration against the UP government for over two months demanding actions on its poll promise of releasing innocent youths languishing in jails in fabricated terror charges. As the holy month of Ramadan is in progress, Manch also makes arrangements for iftar and prayers.

Several rights groups and and politicians, including Prakash Karat, Subhasini Ali and other left leaders have also expressed their solidarity with the Manch demonstration and on different days made token participation.

By IANS,

Srinagar: Four militants were killed Tuesday in north Kashmir when the army foiled a second infiltration bid in two days from across the Line of Control (LoC).

"Based on specific information from intelligence agencies regarding likelihood of terrorists attempting infiltration in Machil sector in Kupwara (north Kashmir), alert troops detected move of 5 to 6 terrorists in a 'nala' (ravine), on our side of the LOC at about 6 a.m.," said a defence spokesman.

He said on being challenged by the troops, the terrorists opened fire. The troops retaliated, resulting in the killing of two terrorists.

"Operations were simultaneously launched to eliminate the remaining terrorists, leading to subsequent killing of two more terrorists. Till the last information received, a total of four terrorists were killed in the operations," the spokesman said.

"The alert troops engaged the terrorists by bringing down accurate fire with grenade launchers, claymore mines and small arms. Search operations by the troops in the area are still on and are likely to continue throughout the night," he added.

Earlier, Srinagar-based 15 Corps' general office commanding, Lt. Gen. Gurmeet Singh told a media conference here that two guerrillas had been killed in Machil sector where the army had foiled the second infiltration bid in two days.

He said operations were continuing.

By IANS,

Agra: As Mamnoon Hussain was declared the new president of Pakistan Tuesday evening, residents in Agra, the city of Taj Mahal, erupted in jubilation.

Hussain was born in Agra March 3, 1940.

As the news reached localities of this old city, particularly Nai ki Mandi area, Mantola, and Dholi Khar residents began celebrating the occasion by bursting firecrackers and distributed sweets.

Also, groups of people came on the streets with drums and greeted one another.

The 73-year-old leader, who was fielded by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, will be sworn in Sep 9 at the presidential palace due to be vacated by incumbent Asif Ali Zardari at the end of his five-year term.

But Mamnoon Hussain's victory in the presidential poll appeared to have offered a special joy and hope to the residents across this city.

According to Dr. Shiraz Qureshi, a local resident, Mamnoon Hussain was born in the Badi Hatai area of Nai ki Mandi. His family migrated to Pakistan after India's partition.

He said it is hoped Mamnoon Hussain would soon plan a trip to Agra and meet his relatives."Quite a few are still around and remember him."

Sameer Qureshi of the Qureshi Society told IANS: "People are so happy and very optimistic about a turn around in relations between the two countries."

By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: Students who have brilliant track records but faced problems to carry forward their mission due to financial crisis in some rural areas of Assam including violence hit Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) can relax now. They have got a helping hand from Rehab India Foundation.

The foundation has recently distributed Rs 1, 38, 000 among 33 economically backward yet meritorious students especially belonging to the minority community of Goalpara, Kamrup, Gossaigoan, Bijni, Bongaigoan, Kokhrajar and Chirang in a function held at Bidya Bikash College, Gossaigaon, Kokrajhar, Assam.

According to the officials of the foundation the programme mainly focuses on providing opportunities for academically meritorious and financially backward students who are pursuing Higher Secondary, Degree or Diploma courses or any other Professional Course after class X.
Abdul Baten, general secretary of Rehab Assam chapter, Shamsul Haque, professor of Gossaigaon College, Gaju Rahman, assistant project manager and several others who were present during the occasion laid emphases on the importance of quality of education for poor.

Besides, as a part of the 5th Phase of calamity relief programme in Assam, Rehab has identified four villages -- Jounamma camp at Kokrajhar district, Paataimari at Chirang, Solamari and Jaraguri villages at Bongaigoan district. These villages have been adopted for rehabilitation and wholesome development.

By IANS,

Agra: The decision of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Telangana has struck the right chords in Uttar Pradesh political circles.

Now, supporters of former chief minister Mayawati and those of Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal have begun rallying around the demand for splitting Uttar Pradesh into two, three or even four states.

Mayawati has been frantically looking for an issue that could galvanise her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Just before her electoral defeat in the 2012 assembly polls, the BSP supremo had played a political gamble by proposing in the assembly that the sprawling state be split into four parts.

Many people welcomed her proposal, though the Samajwadi Party leaders opposed the idea.

The debate continues on whether smaller administrative units open the way to accelerated economic growth and help bridge communication gap.

At the local level, BSP leaders see political opportunities and a broad-basing of the party organisation. "From just one now, the BSP could rule four states in the future," says a party leader, echoing a widespread feeling.

It was Dr B.R. Ambedkar who in 1954 advocated splitting of bigger states into smaller units.

Later, socialists like Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Jai Prakash Narain, Acharya Kripalani and others favoured re-drawing of the administrative map of India. But, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then prime minister, supported the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) recommendation of re-forming states on linguistic basis.

Choudhary Charan Singh also favoured smaller states. Later, his son and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh launched a movement for Harit Pradesh, comprising 22 districts of western Uttar Pradesh.

Dr K.M. Panikkar, in his dissenting note to the SRC report, however, opposed linguistic states and favoured formation of a state of west Uttar Pradesh. For years, socialist leader Hukum Singh Parihar alone carried on the movement for a Braj Pradesh with Agra as its capital.

During the 1975-77 Emergency, Sanjay Gandhi almost succeeded in carving out a new state of western Uttar Pradesh with Agra as capital. The new state was to include parts of Haryana too.

The issue came in sharper focus when Agra lawyers, in the early 1980s, launched a mass movement for a Allahabad High Court bench in Agra. The union government set up the Jaswant Singh Commission, which supported the demand.

In the 1990s, Surekha Yadav's Braj Pradesh Party did a lot of work on this front, but response from public was not enthusiastic.

Almost all political parties have at one point or the other supported the restructuring of the federal polity on a more scientific line, taking into account the area and population, says political analyst Rajeev Saxena.

"The time has come when a comprehensive exercise to redraw the political map of India should be carried out through a new SRC," suggests social scientist Paras Nath Choudhary, former researcher at the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University.

"Size does make a difference. For political reasons, the Congress party has been averse to splitting bigger states into smaller ones and pointlessly dragging feet on such demands as is happening in Andhra Pradesh. Earlier the Uttarakhand movement was unnecessarily prolonged for years," he added.

With Telangana now becoming a reality, people in the Taj city are excited and looking forward to a whole lot of new opportunities, should the dream for a separate state of West Uttar Pradesh take shape.

"With the unwieldy size of Uttar Pradesh, Agra region has always got a raw deal, with all the funds and tax revenues siphoned off to eastern districts. A new state of West Uttar Pradesh, whatever its name, would definitely spur growth and also inculcate a sense of pride and identity," says Sudhir Gupta, an activist.

By TCN News,

Aligarh: The National Foundation for Communal Harmony, an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has awarded a grant to the UGC Academic Staff College, Aligarh Muslim University for organizing programmes on communal harmony and national integration.

Prof. A. R. Kidwai, Director, UGC Academic Staff College said that programmes will be organized to sensitize the participants of UGC sponsored courses for teachers from Higher Education Institutions. He said that around 1000 University/ College teachers from all over India belonging to a variety of cultures and speaking different languages attend courses every year at the UGC ASC, AMU.

Prof. Kidwai said that under the programme, the Vice Chancellor of AMU, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Brig. (Retd.) Syed Ahmed Ali will be invited to address the participants to encourage them for working for promoting communal harmony in the society. Further, eminent local and outside resource persons will be invited to deliver lectures on the relevant topics.

Prof. Kidwai pointed out that the major activities, however, would include conduct of seminars on plurality in India and multiculturalism in AMU; visit to a site upholding the ethos of composite culture, slogan writing/ poster making/ essay writing competition and an all-state cultural evening. Prizes and participation certificates will be awarded to the participating teachers on behalf of the NFCH, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

By TCN News,

Mumbai: CJP, Muslims for Secular Democracy and Communalism Combat are disappointed and ashamed at the gagging of Ms. Amina Wadud.

“We, who are fighting for justice in Gujarat amongst others, are disappointed and ashamed at the reported intolerance of Muslim groups from Chennai threatening to create a law and order problem resulting in the cancellation of the lecture on ‘Gender and Reform in Islam’ by the internationally renowned African American follower and scholar of Islam, Dr. Amina Wadud scheduled for July 29 at the University of Madras,” a joint press statement said.

They condemned the feeble capitulation of the Tamil Nadu state. The Chennai police reportedly sent a text message to the university’s vice-chancellor, R Thandavan stating: “Police cannot allow this (the lecture) considering law and order. Please take action to suspend/cancel the programme”.

The vice-chancellor timidly complied, they added. All three stakeholders of our society have made us less proud as Indians.

Ms Wadud is a practising, devout Muslim, one of the founders of Sisters in Islam, an international women’s group fighting for gender-justice. In 2005, Ms Wadud became the first woman in modern times to lead a mixed-gender Friday prayer in New York. She has done so again on several occasions outside the US on the invitation of Muslim groups. It is her battle for gender justice within Islam (as in all societies) that is being opposed, her voice being denied and her views sought to be blanked out.

After being stranded for hours at the Calicut airport waiting to catch a flight to Chennai, Ms Wadud was left with no choice but to return to her hotel from where she has sent out a message, “Clearly, India and I are not destined to be partners in the struggle for human dignity. I accept that and surrender.”

By IANS,

Lucknow: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Wednesday renewed its demand for breaking up Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous, into four states: Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Harit Pradesh and Awadh Pradesh.

A day after the UPA gave the go ahead for the formation of Telangana as India’s 29th state, Mayawati said her party was always a votary of smaller states.

"We have traditionally been in favour of small states. Our government passed a resolution in the assembly to split (Uttar Pradesh) into four parts," she told reporters.

She said the resolution, passed Nov 23, 2011, was with the central government for consideration.

Saying a break-up of Uttar Pradesh would expedite development and make governance manageable, Mayawati said she expected the central government to look afresh at the proposal.

She also demanded the creation of Vidarbha and Gorkhaland states.

The former chief minister slammed the Akhilesh Yadav government for suspending Gautam Budh Nagar sub divisional magistrate Durga Shakti Nagpal, who had cracked down on the sand mafia.

This, Mayawati said, would demoralise the bureaucracy and dim the zeal of honest officials.

By Mohammed Shafeeq , IANS,

Hyderabad: Hyderabad is all set to add another chapter to its 422-year-old history by becoming the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years.

Located in the heart of Telangana, the city will also serve as the capital of Andhra Pradesh, the name which the non-Telangana region called Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra) is likely to retain.

Under the formula worked out by Congress, Hyderabad will serve as joint capital for 10 years and during this period, Andhra Pradesh will build its own capital.

Hyderabad does not share a contiguous boundary with Seemandhra or future Andhra Pradesh. Anybody coming from that state will cover a distance of at least 200 km to reach the capital.

Though Chandigarh is a joint capital of Haryana and Punjab, it shares boundaries with both the states. When news states were carved out of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, they built their own capitals.

However, it was not easy for the central government to ask Seemandhra to immediately give up Hyderabad, a city in whose development over the last 56 years they claim to have played a major part.

A decision on the state's division was delayed as Hyderabad was the bone of contention.

Since Hyderabad is historically and geographically a part of Telangana, its leaders were not ready for a state without this city, which also contributes bulk of the state's revenues. Seemandhra leaders were demanding union territory or special status to Hyderabad to protect their interests.

The industrialists and businessmen from Andhra are estimated to have invested Rs.50,000 crore in Hyderabad. The bulk of this investment came since 1995 when the city emerged as an IT hub, triggering an infrastructure boom with unprecedented increase in real estate prices.

Hyderabad has a population of about seven million and an estimated 30 percent of them are from Seemandhra. They include government employees, students and businessmen. The city is also the hub of the Telugu film industry, dominated by actors from Andhra.

The Congress has promised to take care of their concerns by asking the government to take steps for the safety and security of all residents.

The Congress also requested the government to take legal and administrative measures to ensure that both state governments can function from the common capital for 10 years.

Andhra Pradesh may not have to build separate buildings for assembly and secretariat as the existing buildings can accommodate them. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has already indicated this.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which had once given a slogan of 'Telangana wale Jago, Andhra wale bhago', has assured people of Seemandhra living in Hyderabad that they need not have any apprehensions.

Only 50 percent of Hyderabad's population comprise of native residents and people from other parts of Telangana.

"When people from other states and of many nationalities can come and settle here, why our Telugu-speaking brothers should have any problems?" said Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.

The cosmopolitan character of Hyderabad existed since the times of Qutub Shahis and Asaf Jahis (Nizams) when people from Iran, Yemen and Arab countries made Hyderabad their home.

Known for its long history of multi-linguistic, religious and cultural heritage, it is the fifth largest city in India. A key destination for IT and ITeS companies, it is home to giants like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, IBM, Oracle, Dell, Motorola, HSBC and Deloitte.

It is also known as the bulk drug and pharma capital of India and is home to a large number of central public sector undertakings, scientific research institutes and defence establishments.

By IANS,

Hyderabad: The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Wednesday said it will have its presence in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states and will fight for protecting the rights of Muslims.

MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who had opposed the division of Andhra Pradesh, demanded that the governments in both the states continue four percent reservation being currently provided to Muslims in jobs and education.

The MP from Hyderabad also sought first language status to Urdu along with Telugu in Telangana and hoped that Urdu will enjoy the status of second official language in the other state.

Owaisi wanted both the states to continue the increase in the budget for the welfare of the minorities.

In his first reaction to the Congress party's decision to carve out a separate Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh, the MIM chief said while the decision was taken for political mileage, the biggest beneficiary will be the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The MP said the Congress would not get electoral benefit as it can't discount 35 percent of the people (from Seemandhra) who have made Telangana their home.

He predicted that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) would lose its political base by merging with the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) would also get weakened.

"The MIM always stood up against the BJP's policies and we will stand against them," he said.

He demanded amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code to make use of the term "settlers" an offence. He said this was a derogatory term used for people who migrated to Hyderabad and other places from Seemandhra.

Owaisi said the Congress had opened a can of worms by conceding the demand for Telangana state. "Demands for formation of smaller states will come from several parts of the country," he said.

The MIM, a key political force in Hyderabad, has one MP and seven legislators in the present state assembly.

By Saiyed Danish

The unfortunate and unforgivable Bodhgaya bombings were much more than a series of nine/ten low-intensity terror attacks which targeted the premises of the ancient Mahabodhi temple. As we know, that, in their aftermath, more than threatening the sovereignty of our country, such unacceptable and condemnable events including the gallant ‘encounters’, imperil the innocent, have-to-do-nothing-with lives hailing from the minority communities residing in the cities chosen for such attacks.

The horrid memories of the near consensual and unanimous branding of the town of Azamgarh as ‘Atankgarh’ by our mainstream media are still fresh in the minds of the people hailing from that town. When (following the hours of the Batla House killing of two terror suspects) the broad, flashy strips of almost all the TRP-starved news channels got illuminated with their flash-fiction theories about Azamgarh as breeding home for terrorists in large Hindi and English fonts; my parents warned me about my possible friends from Azamgarh, “Azamgarh walon se door rehna, waqt theek nahin hai, (Avoid people from Azamgarh, times are different).”

It’s been approximately five years since I received that warning from my parents. What is left in the retrospect is the rear-view mirror image of the chagrining narrative of a town and its transformed imagery from a city of celebrated poets and intellectuals to a den of ‘jihadi’ and ‘dreaded’ terrorists. In many localities of the town, following the grisly stigmatization of Azamgarh post-September 2008, the schools remained shut, local business suffered, people remained locked in their homes, many people who were studying or working in Delhi did not want to go back leaving their families behind in the town for they had no idea who could be picked up from where during the Holocaust-fashioned round up of Muslim youths which ensued, the local Muslim population lived in a state of unremitting horror for months to come.

Come Gaya, the second largest city in Bihar with a bustling population of more than 4 million inhabitants and a commendable ‘first division’ literacy rate of 66%. For decades, Gaya has enjoyed a historically gifted atmosphere of peaceful religious co-existence and cultural heterogeneity. Muslims of Gaya extract complete satisfaction as residents of the city. Their businesses have continued to thrive in the past decades. They dominate commercial areas like Chhatta Masjid and Chowk while the areas of GB Road and Bajaja Road are the commercial hubs mainly operated by Marwaris. The city’s large, one hundred eighty year-old Jama Masjid mosque is a tangible, long-standing proof of eras of composite culture of the city. It is also a centre for Tabligh missions in Bihar. The Muslims have hardly seen any communal riot in the city in the last two decades. But now, frighteningly for them, the post-July 2013 Gaya may have a spate of unseen and unwanted events coming its way.

The hours following the Bodhgaya blast, a battery of security and defence analysts affiliated to their respective media houses came out of their hibernation to amplify IB’s claims that the blasts were carried out by Indian Mujahideen (IM). But then the theory still did not qualify for the best-selling fiction so by the next day IB conjured up its ‘very-IB-ish’ theory that the attack was carried out by Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar in tandem with LeT and IM, the idea was that since the Rohingyas were being brutally oppressed by radical Buddhist leaders in their own country, they saw in Bodhgaya a golden opportunity to avenge for what had been inflicted upon them.

Thus Gaya fall straight before the IB’s crosshairs and the process of making it the new Azamgarh, henceforth began with some of the leading national newspapers commencing their own trials before even the sketch of the possible suspects could surface in the media. Numerous reports in the print media appeared on the role of LeT and Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar having possibly being involved in the attacks and quite Dan Brown-ishly, all the sub-plots traced back their roots to the one.

The black shadow of IB’s skulduggery over financially weak and now, for some years, educated Muslim youths has by now ably educated us also on how to determine the modus operandi of IB itself.

Gaya

The first tenet of their belief is that IM exists in all those places where bombs go off and all such places are home for IM and at least one mastermind of the attack hails from the venue of the terror attack. Hence we must assume that IM runs the best ever operational sleeper cells in the world and its presence in our country is far better networked than all the post offices put together and the home-grown outfit recruits only masterminds and no ground cadres which equate it with the likes of blockbuster Hollywood franchise like Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen or The Expendables. Another apocryphal feature of IB’s cryptic narrative is that almost all of the suspected IM operatives are also its founding members. Perhaps IB assumes, and correctly, that public memory in our times is suffering from the worst kind of wilful dementia but the headcount of those who, against all odds, choose to resist this popular form of amnesia is now growing. Although the alleged IM terror module was set up at Darbhanga, Gaya becomes the latest pretext for IB whose own credentials are under scanner as Rajinder Kumar, a top officer in the agency has been named in the detailed charge-sheet filed by CBI in Ishart Jahan ‘fake’ encounter case who, along with other three was inebriated and murdered in cold blood by security agencies on 15 June, 2004 only to be thumbnailed as an LeT operative out to kill Gujarat’s chief minister Narendra Modi.

Gaya blasts gave NDA, a fresh pretext to push hard for the formation of Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) in Bihar. In a politically unwise attempt to silence the opposition’s claims of slackness in state’s security arrangements. Nitish government approved the creation of ATS on July 8 after a presentation on ‘terror hubs of Bihar’ was given by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a multi-agency meeting immediately after the bombs went off at Mahabodhi Temple. It had already announced vacancy of 343 seats in the state. Once filled, Bihar may become like Gujarat and Gaya may become worse than Darbhanga or Forbesganj or Azamgarh.

What could happen? We all know. The freshly formed ATS units could repeat the worst form of psychological torture it has so far inflicted on the residents of other towns: abductions by cops in plain clothes and vehicles with no number plates, visiting their homes mostly during the nights. Families grilled about their works, sources of livelihood and possible relatives living in Pakistan or in Middle East. Police peeping inside homes with raised eyebrows looking for terror trails, their weapons glimmering in the eyes of frightened women from time to time, pages of Urdu books and literatures suspiciously flipped, rounds of mock interrogations and intimidation emanating from their unaccommodating body language before the jeeps leave for the residence of another terror suspect.

By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: Even as different communities are demanding separate states within Assam after the central government gave green signal to Telangana, chief minister has strictly said that the state government does not want any more bifurcation.

If the Bodo people are demanding for separate Bodoland for several years from now the Karbi people in Karbi Anglong has also started to agitate for a separate Karbi land beside a Kamatapur for the Koch-Rajbongshi people in Assam.

“Telangana issue is different than ours. Andhra Pradesh has different problems than ours. So the Congress working committee through discussions has decided something which they know and found to be right. I also know that they have been demanding it for more than 60 years,” Gogoi told reporters on Wednesday in the sidelines of a workshop on Food Security Bill in Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati.

He also said that whether it is Bodoland, Karbi-Anglong, North-Cachar or the Koch Rajbonshi – all the problems should be addressed in a proper way.

“But at the same time we want them to stay together and our thing is that the centre should be given the financial package up to the standard of what financial grant is given to a independent state be it Karbi-Anglong or Six schedule and even to those development councils so that the tendency of separation does not arise and people feel justice is not done to them. And that is what we are trying to solve,” he added.

Moreover, he said that the state government’s stand is very clear on this matter and it has been said earlier also. Meanwhile a delegation of Bodo leaders has already reached Delhi under the leadership of BTADC Chief Hagrama Mohilary to press for their demand of separate state of Bodoland.

By TCN News,

Aligarh: The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of Greater Chicago (AMUAA-GC), USA has donated a sum of Rs.10,00206.75 in the Alumni Fund established by the Aligarh Muslim University recently. The fund will be utilized for developing a Smart Classroom in the Women’s College.

It may be noted that, early June this year, the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah had issued an appeal to the alumni of this University spread all over the globe to raise an endowment of Rs. 100 Crore to conduct various developmental works in the University that cannot be undertaken merely from the funds provided by the government.

Raising to the call by the Vice Chancellor, the AMUAA-GC made the contribution of Rs.10,00206.75 for construction of a Smart Class Room in Women’s College of the University. A suitable plaque will be placed outside the classroom to remind visitors of the generous contribution of the alumni and their concern for the upcoming generations.

Mr. Tausif Alam, a Member of AMUAA-GC, Madison, USA said that the Association emphasizes on education of girls and their endowment for construction of a Smart Classroom in Women’s College will help young students to carry their studies and researches in a manner compatible to modern times.

By TwoCircles.net Special Correspondent,

Lucnow: Violence erupted during the procession of Hazrat Ali's shahadat on 21st Ramzan in old city of Lucknow on Wednesday. Situation turned worse in presence of police as people indulged in stone pelting, arson and firing.

Nearly 15 vehicles were damanged and one dozen shops were set afire. Nearly 35 people were injured in the incident but police is denying any serious injury. When the situation turned worse, police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), PAC resorted to lathi charge on several places to control the situation.

The procession was proceeding from Ustam Nagar, Saadatganj towards Karabala Talkatora. It is reported that when procession reached Bhadewa Telephone Exchange, few stones were hurled from a nearby lane. After that tension gripped between two sects. The stone pelting and firing even engulfed the adjoining areas. People came face to face at Billauchpura, Bulaki Adda, Nakhas, Patanala, Akbari Gate, Haiderganj and other lanes adjoining the area. In between some people torched three shops at Bhadewa. Similar incidents were reported from other parts also.

As the message about violence in old city was flashed, Director General of Police (DGP) Devraj Nagar, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arun Kumar, IG Subhash Chandra, DIG Navneet Sekera and several other senior officials personally reached the spot. Acting tough police and RAF chased away the miscreants at several places.

SSP Lucknow, J Ravindra Goud informed media that someone had thrown a stone when the procession was at Bazarkhala kotwali. It resulted in an altercation between two sects. Some people started throwing stones on a three storeyed house of tobacco merchant Farzan on grounds that stone was thrown from this place. The other sect claimed that stone was first thrown from the procession. Situation kept on deteriorating.

Women and Children were to be kept safe:
SSP stated that large number of women and children were in the procession and after stone pelting started it was the first responsibility to cover the women and children. Due to this police could not react immediately and chase away the miscreants. Police took the women and children in their cover for their safety.

Stone pelting from inside the house:

As per the police, stone pelting was done from inside the houses. The worst retaliation was from Billauchpura area. Miscreants also damaged a car near Bazarkhala Kotwali. Three youths sitting in the car ran for their life after it was damaged.

Tension:
From Bulaki Adda to Nehru Chowk, the whole stretch was deserted. Even people passing by were afraid. Police marched on the road while those visiting Tudiyaganj hospital were also looking afraid. Amidst this, small incident also took place at Shia College which was immediately controlled by the police.

Recovered:
Police recovered several empty shells from the road and lanes thus establishing that fire arms were also used in the violence.

By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: The declaration of Telangana as the newest Indian state seems to a never ending effect in Assam. On the second day of the declaration Assam has witnessed several violent protests which left at least 10 people injured in Karbi Anglong district.

On Wednesday hundreds of protestors took the streets demanding separate state status for the hill district. As the protestors turn violent setting vehicles on fire and pelting stones on policemen, security personnel had to open fire to quell the mob at district headquarter Diphu.

Police said that more than 300 protestors locked the office of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) and ransacked the secretariat of the council. Later they also launched an attack on the houses of Lok Sabha MP from Diphu Biren Singh Ingty, the Diphu MLA Bidya Sing Engleng and Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the council Joyram Engleng with stones and shouted slogans demanding separate state status for the district.

The protestors demanded the resignation of the representatives of the government from their position.

Later, the district administration had to impose curfew for indefinite period and officials said that more forces are being sent to the district to help the police in containing the situation and stop recurrence of further violence.

By TCN News

Mumbai: International al-Quds Day, an annual event on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and the holy mosque Al-Aqsa, located in Jerusalem (Palestine) will be observed in Mumbai. Quds Committee gave information to that effect today in a press conference.

The Committee has decided to organize a mass rally on the coming Friday August 2nd, From Khoja Masjid, Dongri; in order to get support from the people and ask the govt to take strong steps soon.

Members of the Committee who were present at the Press Conference are: Maulana Hasnain Kararvi, Maulana Fayyaz Baqri, Mr. Sarfaraz Arzoo, Maulana Husain Mehdi Husaini, Mr. Aliraza Namdar, Maulana Farman Sahab and Maulana Abulqasim.

Quds Committee condemned the terror act taking place around the world, specifically, Iraq/Syria & Palestine. The speakers condemned the 17 serial blasts in Iraq which took place on Monday & the ongoing terror activities in Palestine & Syria. They said that Islam being a religion of peace; respects Freedom for all Countrymen and secure life.

They also condemned the Israeli and American activities in the Land of Palestine, which has been colonised by the Israeli occupants since many years. Quoting the statement of Mahatma Gandhi, “Palestine belongs to the ARAB, as France belongs to French & Britain belongs to the British,” They asked the Government of India to send a petition to the UN and take some active steps in international political scenario to make US stop funding and supporting in the terror activities.

By Swastik Pal, TwoCircles.net

Not everyone is lucky to have family and friends close by. Md Aslam stays in the Central part of Kolkata. He is a migrant worker from the neighboring state. He calls his family from a local phone after the Taraweeh Namaz.

Link:

TCN Ramadan series: http://twocircles.net/Special_Reports/ramadan_1434.html

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,

Hyderabad: Muslim politicianss of Andhra Pradesh welcomed the center decision on separate Telangana state, though they are skeptical on the future developments in the interest of the community.

Majlis-e-Itehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who was passionately opposing any move to bifurcate the state, today in a press conference accepted center’s decision but reiterated that he stand on his statement that BJP will gain due to the bifurcation, either in immediate way or in the long run.

MIM chief who got a sigh of relief after center restrained from making Hyderabad as Union Territory which could have potentially led to disaster for MIM which is majorly a city base party. But Mr. Owaisi demanded clarity on proposal of Hyderabad as joint capital for 10 years.

MIM has now started taking steps which Muslims in the region believed would have been good if it had taken in the immediate process. MIM has begun lobbying for special measures for the community in both the new states; it demanded justice with Urdu on par with Telugu in both the new future states, and continuity of 4.5% reservation and the high monetary budget allocation for minorities.

Celebrations at Osmania University after UPA's resolution on Telangana. OU has been the epicenter for Telangana statehood protests.

MIM now in next few months will be a key factor in Telangana region and with properly exploiting electoral situation it can easily build pressure on Congress. Elections was scheduled to be held in April 2014 in Andhra Pradesh, even after AP turns into two separate states congress hopes to call elections only in April. As UPA is hoping to divide the state in next 6 months after completing all constitutional formalities, Congress which has 48 MLA’s in Telangana will require support of 7 MLA’s from MIM and few independents to form its first new Government in 119 member Telangana assembly. MIM chief also stated that his party will try hard to build up presence in Muslim electoral politics of new proposed state of Seema Andhra.

Majlis Bacho Tehreek (MBT), a break way faction of MIM too welcomed the decision of UPA. Its president Dr. Khayam Khan, speaking with TCN, said finally justice has been done to the people of Telangana. He added that Telangana was always has been in the Muslim interest as the region has strong Muslim influence.

He also criticized MIM for changing its stances and for not properly utilizing situation in the interest of Muslims. Dr. Khan said although many promises were made to Muslim community by Telangana separatist groups but there are fears that those promises will never see the light of the day when those same groups will come to power. MBT president said more than before now Muslim community needs its leadership to act, to lobby for the community and save its interest in both the new states.

After showing good debut performance in Karnataka Muslim electoral politics, Social Democratic Party of India was trying hard to make its base in Andhra Pradesh by keeping Rayalseema region neighboring Karnataka with considerable Muslim population in focus.

SDPI state president Abdul Warris told TCN that his party support formation of separate Telangana state but he added that his party is upset a bit because they were hoping for a separate Rayal-Telangana state which would have consisted of two Muslim populated districts of Anantapur and Kurnool where SDPI has some presence.

Mr. Warris, who himself belong to Rayalseema, argues that Rayal Telangana would have been good in Muslim interest as it will boost Muslim population ratio in the new state, in the same way other two districts of Rayalseema Cudappa and Chittor which also has sizeable Muslim population added with new Andhra state would have helped Muslims of that new state in increasing their political clout. SDPI cautioned that by making Telangana state with just 10 districts will lead to many political problems and regional chaos.

Jamat-e-Islami Hind was in the forefront of separate Telangana movement since it picked up gear in 2009. Through its NGO Movement for Peace and Justice JIH organized many massive public meeting in Telangana to assert the support of Muslim community for a separate state. Its political front Welfare Party of India which was launched in the state few months ago was quick to welcome India’s 29th state. WPI state general secretary Mohammad Azharuddin told TCN that UPA’s decision has done some justice over 60 years of injustice done to the people of Telangana, he added cautiously that WPI supported demand for separate Telangana not on regional lines but for the cause of justice.

WPI holds a strong believes that Muslims of all regions will be benefited in the new state as their population ratio will increase with smaller states. But WPI state general secretary added that formation of a new state is not just a solution it is the mean to achieve the goals which were drafted and accepted unanimously in the statehood movement that is the power and justice to the oppressed.

Mohd. Azharuddin also made an interesting point he considers separate Telangana state will benefit more to Muslims of Rayalseema and Andhra who were made electorally irrelevant in Muslim politics. He hoped Muslims of Andhra and Rayalseema will be able to raise its own leadership which was for decades dominated by Muslims from Hyderabad.

Apart from Muslim base political parties, other Muslim politicians from mainstream major political parties were divided on the regional lines on welcoming and opposing separate Telangana state with every one of them espousing different theory on the benefits and setbacks to the Muslims in the state.

While some Telangana Muslim leaders from major political parties saw the new state making Muslims electorally more powerful and step ahead to protect its Deccani culture, other Muslim leaders from Seema Andhra feared about minorities’ reservation, maintenance of higher budgetary allocation for the community, and the safeguard of Urdu in Seema Andhra which after the separation of Telangana will become a pure telugu assertive state.

MIM still holds that BJP will gain in the interim or in the long run but other Muslim political parties were ready to dismiss the notion. While MBT out rightly dismissed it as MIM rhetoric, SDPI claimed that BJP raise will always be questionable in the Telugu region which has strong regional movements, and where BJP hardly has any cadre base support. WPI claimed that Telangana wasn’t something that has to be stopped with the fear of BJP, WPI stated that after Congress BJP is the second strongest national party in India they will definitely try to gain in the new state of India but it will be the responsibility of the Muslim leadership to stand against supposed BJP’s rise with adopting counter strategies.

Muslim population in Telangana is estimated at 12.43%, where as in united Andhra Pradesh it was 9.17%.

Related:

Telangana and the Muslim question with MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi