By TCN News,

Aligarh: Sagar Bhardwaj and Abhay Mittal, both students of Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University have been selected as the Google Student Ambassadors for the session 2013-2014.

Training & Placement Officer (General), Mr. Saad Hameed, in his efforts to strengthen the AMU-Corporate interface, approached the leading IT giant Google to accommodate AMU students in its activities. As a result, two students from AMU, Sagar Bhardwaj and Abhay Mittal, went through three rounds of personal assessment and were selected to represent Aligarh Muslim University on national level.

Both the students were invited at the Google India Community Summit held at The Leela, Goa. It was one of the largest Global Google Community Summit in the world and speakers from different nations participated in the gathering.

The selected students interacted with entrepreneurs, country heads from prestigious universities of the world like Harvard and Stanford. They received training for application of various Google products in US, Egypt, UK, France etc. These students have been entrusted with the task to popularize Google products in AMU campus through events and workshops. The team will help the students to sharpen their internet skills make better use of Google products.

By TCN News,

Aligarh: The Aligarh Movement monthly magazine and the Millat Bedari Muhim Committee (MBMC), Aligarh will jointly held an Sir Syed Essay Writing Competition-2013 on ‘Importance of Sir Syed Movement in 21st Century’ for school, college and University students on Sunday, 06 October, 2013 at Aligarh.

Elaborating on the competition, Secretary of MBMC Jasim Mohammad told media persons that the main aim of the holding competition is to make youngsters aware about life and work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. He said that the competitors should be bonafide students of any school, college and university. The competition will be held in two sections. In first section students of class 8th to 12th will take part while the students of Graduation to Research will fall in section 2. They may write essay in Hindi, Urdu or English language and Modern Indian Languages. Jasim Mohammad told that in each section, first prize of Rs. 1500/-, Second Prize of Rs. 1100/- and the Third Prize of Rs. 800/- along with a memnto & certificate will be awarded.

The interested Students/Institutions may get themselves registered in Media Centre, 15-16, (1st Floor) Muzammil Manzil Complex, Dodhpur, Aligarh before 01st October 2013. He hoped that large number of students will take part in competition this year.

By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati,: Along with the entire country Assam Photojournalists’ Association (APJA) has also condemned the incident of rape of a fellow photojournalist which took place in middle of Mumbai on Thursday evening while she was in an assignment.

The members of APJA stand firmly behind the fellow journalist who is undergoing treatment and expressed solidarity with the trauma under which she is going. It also demanded proper treatment care from the government and from her employer.

Staging a silent protest in Guwahati on Saturday APJA also demanded stern action against the culprits and asked the government to take appropriate measures to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future.

“We are raising our voice against such a heinous crime. We want proper actions to be taken against those accused who have been nabbed by police. If our country continues to be so, people will fear to visit our country and we will feel ashamed in front of the world that a country where people do not know how to respect a woman,” rued APJA president and senior photojournalist Rajib Bhattacharjee.

Members of Assam Photojournalists Association stage a silent protest in front of Guwahati Press Club on Saturday.

The photojournalists’ body staged a silent protest in front of Guwahati Press Club with their mouths covered by black piece of cloth. All the journalists from different organizations both from print and electronic media participated in the protest.

By Mahboob A. Khawaja,

The Arab people live in a fantasy bubble being floated by the transitory oil revenues, controlled and managed by the Western nations. Oil revenues are not the outcome of Arab’s hardwork but a planned scheme of things carried out for several generations to distract from the real problems. The ultimate aim has been to destroy the Arab’s originality of Thinking and their culture and civilization with delusional prosperity instead of poverty. Poor people always maintain live conscience, think and strive to survive but prosperity gives them false amenities without working for it to become useless and die on their own without external intervention.

Arabs have lost the moral and intellectual capacity to THINK intelligently of the self, about their culture, their global presence and about their future. With massive killings, daily bloodbaths across the Arab world, the leaders are happy that people are occupied in their own follies and that America and Britain are sheltering their role-play with increased militarization of the Arab world.

All major public institutions in the Arab world are dominated by the Western thinking and agents of influence. The tragedy of Arab authoritarianism and economic militarization of the oil producing Arab nations is more complex and full of individualistic horrors, societal complacency and political blunders. Almost at every opportunity offered by time and history, the absolute rulers took wrong turns and slipped into the vices and ruins of self- generated corruption.

The US and some of the West European nations have played central role in institutionalizing the authoritarian corruption. The new educated and thinking generations of Arabs must make a navigational change and set priorities to detach the economy and politics from the oil fed thinking and consequential militarization and interdependency on the Western nations unto social and economic-political reconstruction of the Arab societies for a sustainable future. Time and history shall not wait for their tangible actions but they should be conscientiously powerful and skilled enough in time management to share new and moving vision and to plan strategies and actions for a new Arab world dedicated to informed and responsible people’s governance and living in harmony with the rest of the global community.

In 1920, Robert Briffault, Professor at Cambridge University (The Making of Humanity). made the following historical observation: “It was under the influence of Arabian and Moorish revival of culture and not in the fifteenth century, that the real Renaissance took place. Spain not Italy, was the cradle of the rebirth of Europe…It is highly probable that but for the Arabs modern European civilization would never have arisen at all; it is absolutely certain that but for them, it would not have assumed that character which has enabled it to transcend all previous phases of evolution. For although there is not a single aspect of European growth in which the decisive influence of Islamic culture is not traceable, nowhere is it so clear and momentous as in the genesis of that power which constitutes the paramount distinctive force of the modern world and the supreme source of its victory.”

For over eight hundred years, the Arabs produced an advanced civilization morally, intellectually and scientifically unparalleled in modern history. When the European lived in the dark ages and fought within themselves for nationalistic identities and symbols, the Arabs were the most progressive people articulating a model civilization to pursue balanced human development (material and spiritual) to give meanings to freedom, peace and equality and clear purpose to global sense of humanity called Ummah. The message of Islam was meant for the whole of the mankind to be One Humanity living on one planet in peace and progress. But when the Europeans crusades colonized the Islamic world, they destroyed Islamic institutions and divided the Arabs and Muslims and made them fight for their existence as was their own history of the European cultures. Despite of the oil generated paper wealth and transitory economic prosperity, Arab people lack Islamic unity and force of being one Ummah to restore their own historical linkage to change and human progress. The Western media views them as source of entertainment and one track business deals to sell the obsolete weapons and consumer products but not valuable partners in global community. We live in an information age of images carved up by the few for business and human exploitation. The Western media networks portray their own manufactured images of the contemporary Arab and Muslim world – more so of the oil exporting Arab nations – twisting tail of the camel, women covered in burkhas or splendid shopping malls full of walking black veils versus bikinis.

The past decade has occupied the minds and strategic priorities of the Western leaders in their support of the War o Terrorism. Terrorism originates from the Western colonial powers but none would dare to concede it for the fear of unknown intellectual, moral and political consequences in contemporary history. When the European businessmen explored new world markets for diminishing resources and their armed forces invaded and occupied the vast Islamic world, there were no television, internet, video cameras and stone throwing public and voices of reason to call them foreign mercenaries, aggressors and terrorists. The colonization scheme of things was not outcome of the Western democratic values to spread freedom, liberty and justice but ferocity of violence and killings of millions and millions of human beings for the Empires to be built on colored bloodbaths. The European crusaders crossed the channels and unknown time zones to subjugate the much divided Muslim people as part of their superior nationalism perception and values that Muslims were inferior to the European race and could be used as subjects without human identity and as raw material to build the new Empires. Many centuries past, if there was a global organization like UNO, it would not have dared to call the European intruders as terrorists because it would have been their own organization as Muslims lived in slavery and denial of basic human rights and identity. In an information age, knowledge–driven global culture of reason, ignorance is no longer a requisite to learn from the living history.

British author and producer Adam Curtis (The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear: BBC documentary challenging the American version of the “War on Terrorism”), spells out the myth with clarity: “international terrorism is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians. It is a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services and the international media.”

Ron Suskand - a White House insider (The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of its Enemies Since 9/11, 2007) shares intriguing and fact-digging perspectives how George W. Bush acted like an egomaniac and sadistic president and his immediate colleagues looking for excuses to re-enact the crusade against the Muslim World. Many Arab and Muslim rulers were willing partners and complacent in this project to safeguard their powerhouses and to ensure continuity of the neo-colonial governance. America lives in continued insecurity maintained by the corporate world and instigated by the former Bush administration. Paul Craig Roberts (“9/11 After A Decade: Have We Learned Anything?” Global Research: 8/24/2011) shares the prevalent perspective:

“Today Americans are unsafe, not because of terrorists and domestic extremists, but because they have lost their civil liberties and have no protection from unaccountable government power. One would think that how this came about would be worthy of public debate and congressional hearings.”

In a peak oil stage, the prosperity oil bubble is fast diminishing and the illusion of borrowed happiness and good time is already in ruins. Human development was neglected and economic man and women could not generate the Darwinian scenario of change and development. All of the Arab Middle East more so the oil exporting nations consist of the client states managed by puppets rulers, hand picked by the ex-European colonial masters and transferred onward to the US political hegemony. The trade-off was kept under check by the subsequent US administrations to launch economic development programs and make the Arab societies believe that they are progressive and will have new prosperous “imaginative communities” carved out of the dry and non-productive and ruined deserts by time and history. The real game was to ensure continued supplies of cheap oil to the Western military-industrialized complexes and in return militarization of the Arab Middle East under the aegis of fraudulent illusion of economic development and prosperity. The compulsive planned strategy was to see the backward Arabs inundated by the economic prosperity and die on their own. Whereas political strategy was that one war will destroy the economic infrastructures and another follow-up planned scheme will rebuild them to be destroyed again by another emerging conflict. For over a decade, the unending and bogus War on Terrorism continues throughout the Arab world onward to Pakistan. Daily bloodbaths and torture of the people paint a picture of the Arabs as if living in the draconian age without any recourse to civilization, reason and Islamic system of governance. Was the discovery of oil a conspiracy (“Fitna”) to dehumanize the Arabs and Muslim people and to destroy their sense of originality, culture and values? But in Egypt and some parts of the Middle East, people are getting organized and rising to the political atrocities which have been imposed on them by the sadistic rulers. It is obvious that the Arab world of today will not be the same for tomorrow. In Egypt, out of a terrible sense of helplessness, people have emerged with political imagination, courage and strength to challenge the authoritarian rulers on solid grounds and reasoning and attract global support and appreciation for their cause of peace and freedom from oppression.

There are more daunting challenges and opportunities ahead for concerned Arab-Muslim scholars and thinkers to grasp the momentum and try to sort out feasible remedies and workable solutions. The role and tasks of the people dealing with change and management of development is painfully challenging and progressive over certain period of time. The societal problems are complex and there is no single pill to diagnose the cancerous sickness. Professor Fouad Ajami (Arab Predicament) said it right: “the problems of the Arab world are the result of self-inflicted wounds.” If the one track rulers were open to listening and learning (vital traits of effective modern leadership), the current catastrophic wars against the Arab people - firing on demonstrators in streets, funeral processions and worshippers in Masjids, killings of innocent citizens and destruction of the social environment and political horrors could have been avoided. From Syria onward to many Arab lands, people are the victims of cruelty and planned brutality against the mankind.

The common Arab folks are cultured and civilized people with immense tolerance for diversity as the European and now American have capitalized their life, markets and governance. Historically, Arabs were leaders in progressive culture and development of human civilization, whereas, the West was in infancy learning from the Arab knowledge, explorations and scientific achievements. They remained the single most contributors of 1000 years of advanced civilization in Al-Andalusia (Spain). When the Arabs left Islam and stopped listening to voices of intellectual reasoning, they fell in disgrace. Money can not buy the honor and integrity lost because of the modern ignorance and arrogance of the neo-colonial Arab ruling elite. If the Arab leaders could change and reform themselves and return to their originality of Islamic Thinking and behavior, they are the best people to invite towards goodness and forbid evil. Arabs exponents of peace do speak but are unable to reach the majority of the media controlled humanity. The Arab religious scholars have not played any significant role in changing the societal aims and priorities except seeing the light only in mosques, whereas the people live in darkness. Their barricaded Islam is supplemented by matching regular salaries and making it non-active part of the distant history.

The question is how to encourage change and emerging new and challenging opportunities to undo the political and economic chaos and return to normalcy? It requires soul searching and foresight and strong commitment more than bringing a revolution to set the proper strategies and to initiate planned solid actions for the future. Do the Arabs have the proactive visionary leaders and competent people and institutions to deal with change and conflict management?

For over half of a century, there is an unending list of critical problems ignored by the Arab rulers. The oil pumping rulers and the people live in multiple conflicting time zones unable to see the prevalent facts of life. Nobody can question the authoritarian Arab rulers; they live in palaces, not with people. From the forcible displacement of millions of people from Palestine when the State of Israel was created to the coming of several millions of more refugees from the war torn Syria, the establishment of an independent State of Palestine, moral and intellectual decline of the Islamic precepts, institutionalized corruption, lack of public institutions and staunch indifference to the rights and freedom of the masses and so on and on….The Arab rulers have no rational mind to care for the interests of Islam and the people –ALNAS - the essence of people’s governance. The oil-fed prosperity bubble has served its purpose to transform the Arab rulers into dummies in global affairs. Some twenty-five years earlier while this author was teaching in the Arab world, took initiatives to share new ideas and foresights which were envisaged in “Towards Muslim Unity” - “Why Muslims are a Divided People?” and “Approaches to Comparative Strategic Policy Planning: Muslims World and the West” published original in English and Arabic translation in the Muslim World League Journal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, AlMujtama, Kuwait and other papers/magazines in Egypt and elsewhere. The proactive thoughts essentially dealt with some of the political issues and tragedies encountering the Arab world today as I could see them coming while working in the Arab world. Strangely, nobody paid attention, not even the people who were supposed to be tracking the global developments affecting the interests of the Muslim Ummah. In a nutshell, a reformative system of governance based on legislative body - Ummah Council (Parliament), comprised of the elected/chosen scholars-thinkers and professionals from the Islamic world to devise economic and political priorities for change and reformation of the neo-colonial governance by keeping intact the existing infrastructures and figureheads, encouraging and enlisting participation of new and educated generation to assume the leadership role in policy making, decision making, development of public institutions, banking, common currency, enhanced trades between the Muslim world and the Western nations, interactive relationships with the Western institutions and reassuring the Arab rulers of recognition and respect without revolution, and a gradual phase-out and phase-in process of new governance for the future building - sustainable economic and political life of the Muslim Ummah as One People, One Nation existing in peace and harmony with the rest of the world and of course, without the authoritarian and despotic rulers. Is this not what is desperately needed in the contemporary Arab world to avoid further bloodsheds, innocent killings of people and devastation of the social and economic infrastructures built with oil revenues?

Imagine what would the history say about the Arab rulers complacent in America’s led bogus War on Terrorism - a crusade against Islam and about their leadership role model for the future generations to come? Take a moment and have a cool breathe and THINK if you can, of the on-going planned massacres and killings of innocent people, political horrors and physical injuries, intellectual and moral insult to Muslim conscience, and deaths and devastation these monsters have caused to the traditional and valued culture of the Arab people - how should the world view the Arab people, societies, Islam and their sense of moral values? Were there no conscientious and intelligent folks, scholars and thinkers to Think of the Navigational Change and challenge the absurdity of anti-Islamic authoritarianism? Was there nothing else other than handful of sadistic rulers, oil pumping and militarization as the culture and economy of the Arab people? These questions MUST be answered to the demands of history and future generations.

Devoid of knowledge and basic leadership traits, the rulers appear defiant and paranoid to encounter the voices of reason – organized and effective people’s revolutionary movements for freedom and new leadership. President Obama dashed away all the optimism for rethinking and rebuilding Anew America – different than the perpetuated insanity of the Bush era, more akin to peace and co-existence with the rest of the global community in particular, the Arab-Muslim world. It was a political myth that Obama used to get elected for the first time, not to govern and work out a new way of thinking for the future of the US policy behavior and relationships. Who is going to write the closing chapter of the history of the bogus “War on Terrorism?” Is the history going to wait for the cessation of the aggressive hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan? Would the American-led war achieve its agenda priorities or meet the same destiny as it happened to the Romans, German Nazis and the USSR Empires? Ostensibly, history will judge the nations and leaders by their actions, not by their claims.

In his farewell address President D. Eisenhower (01/17/1961), made the following foresight, political and intellectual priorities known to the people of America:

“…. Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent, I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and lingering sadness of war – as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years…… We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied, that those who denied the opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full…….. That the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.”

(Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: Global Peace and Conflict Management: Man and Humanity in Search of New Thinking. Lambert Academic Publishing Germany-May,2012)

By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,

Kolkata/Berhampur: The aspiration to work abroad of a Mechanical Engineer from Jadavpur University Salman Hossain hangs in balance after he refuses to pay Rs 1000 bribe for Passort verification. He has now filed a complaint against the erring Police Officer of District Intelligence Branch.

Salman Hosain, is from a remote village Kumrai under the Baroan Police Station in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, and son of a farmer, who graduated from the reputed Jadavpur University in Kolkata in 2013. As his father Dildar Sheikh could not bear the cost of higher education of three daugthers and two sons, Hossain, a meritorious student, took educational loan from a bank and also from West Bengal Minority Development and Finance Corporation.

Salman Hossain with his mother and sister at his home in the village Kumrai in Murshidabad.

In the hope of better salary Hossain was planning to go abroad and hence applied for Passport in the regional Passport Office (Window) at Berhampur Town in Murshidabad on July 2. He was called at the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the Intelligence (DIB) at the Kandi Police station for verification.

According to Hossain, on July 31 when he reached the Distrcit Intelligence Branch, Mr Sanjib Dhar demanded Rs 1000 from him as bribe and when he refused, the concerend Police Officer threatened him that his verfication process will not be completed.

He has now filed a complaint against the said Police Officer to the Superintendent of Police of Murshidabad district IPS Humayun Kabir.

According to Salman he came out from the DIB office and sent a mail cmplaining to the regional Passport office at Kolkata and Delhi. On 7 August he also lodged a written complain to the Superintendent of Police of Murshidabad district.

Hossain has allegedly recorded the conversation between him and Dhar in his mobile phone. He produced the CD purportedly containing the recording of his conversation with DIB Dhar, where he demanded bribery and had threatened him on August 23 to the Superintendent of Police.

Speaking to media, Sanjib Dhar, has denied seeking any bribe.

SP Humayun Kabir has, however, assured proper investigation into the matter and said that if found guilty actions will be taken against the erring Police officer.

According to sources, an internal enquiry has already begun into the matter and CD has been forwarded to the competent authority for testing voice samples.

By Sheikh Qayoom, IANS,

Srinagar : The annual Urs of Lalbab Sahib in the Zakura area here witnessed very few artists performing the Dambali - the Kashmiri equivalent of Persian Whirling Dervish dance - this year.

For years, Dambali at the shrine of this Sufi saint has been the highlight of the annual Urs. Dambali artists whirl and swing to the accompaniment of drum beaters. Fellow performers carrying long wooden masts called 'alums' form a circle around the Dambali dancers to provide a mystic ambience to the performance.

The wooden alums have scarves tied to their tops like flags atop wooden masts.

"Dambali artists come from all over the Valley to the saint's annual Urs to pay obeisance and perform. In fact, Dambali is the chief attraction at the Urs and some people come to see the performance from far off villages", said Abdul Gani Mir, 53, who lives in Saidpora village, two kilometres from the shrine.

After the conclusion of the Urs, the Dambali artists carrying drums and alums walk to the shrine of Sheikh Humza Makhdoom atop the Koh-e-Maran (The Serpent's Hillock) in Srinagar's old quarters.

The artists again perform at the shrine before dispersing for their native places in the Valley.

Many locals believe Dambali as a traditional devotional art is fast vanishing.

"Even in Iran and Iraq you do not see so many Dervish dances now. It has definitely a direct connection with the lack of attention and sponsorship of traditional Kashmiri arts in modern times", said local resident Ghulam Nabi, 46.

It is not just Dambali which is vanishing as a performing art in Kashmir. The once immensely popular local street theatre known as Bhand Pather has fewer takers now.

Troupes of Bhands (local folk theatre artists) would move from village to village when the Valley did not have cinema halls, television sets and modern theatres.

The Bhand Pathers would highlight social issues like dowry, other evils and even the atrocities by the erstwhile autocratic rulers.

One of India's best known theatre directors, M.K. Raina has been doing his bit to revive and preserve the traditional Bhand Pather.

"These artists are great performers and Bhand Pather as a great heritage of Kashmir needs support, Raina told IANS.

"No doubt the government is giving them some support by inviting them to perform during tourism festivals and the like. But that is not enough. We need to set up institutions for their training and give them scholarships for their education as a concerted effort," Raina added.

"That the artists are prepared to sacrifice everything to preserve this performing art is proved by the fact that four of our Kashmiri Bhand Pather artists got national awards in the last one year.

"But awards are not everything; these artists need to earn enough to support their families and at the same time continue the family tradition," Raina contended.

Raina seriously believes there is no dearth of performing artists for either Dambali or Bhand Pather, but he has misgivings about the seriousness of the state and the central governments to help preserve the arts.

(Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in)

By TCN News,

New Delhi: Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, President, of Zakat Foundation of India and former OSD Sachar Committee, has sought further amendments in the porposed Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2010.

The Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was passed in the Upper House of the Parliament on August 19 and is now slated to be discussed in the Lok Sabha.

Questioning the proposed leasing process, which was not suggested either by the Sachar Committee or the JPC, Dr Mahmood says, “This way the entire leasing process has been placed at the mercy of the State Government curtailing the original powers of the State Waqf Board. This is in gross violation of standard practices prevalent in the country in respect of religious establishments pertaining to different faiths. This proposed provision needs to be deleted from the Bill.”

He further added, “Both Sachar Committee and JPC have recommended that the Waqf properties should be leased out on the prevailing market rate of rent. This has to be included by way of statutory provision in the Waqf Bill. However, this has not been done. This omission will lead to loss of thousands of cores of rupees of Waqf revenue, every year.”

He has also questioned the ‘undefined status of the Secretary, Central Waqf Council’ and demanded amendments “to provide that the Secretary, CWC shall be of the minimum level of Joint Secretary to the Government of India. That will enable him to effectively monitor the CEOs of the State Waqf Boards.”

Amendments proposed during debate in Lok Sabha in The Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2010

(Monsoon Session, 2013)

(A) In Section 32 of the Bill:

(I) IN CLAUSE (c):

FROM THE PROVISO PROPOSED TO BE ADDED, DELETE THE FOLLOWING:

"a lease or sub-lease for any period exceeding one year and".

(II) AFTER CLAUSE (c), ADD THE FOLLOWING CLAUSE:

"(d) No lease or sub-lease shall be granted other than on market rate of rent as prevalent at the time of granting the lease."

(B). IN SECTION 11, CLAUSE (c), AFTER THE PROPOSED NEWLY INSERTED SUB-SECTION (5), ADD THE FOLLOWING NEW SUB-SECTION:

"(6) Secretary to the Council - There shall be a full-time Secretary to the Council, who shall be a Muslim and shall be appointed by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette, from a panel of three names suggested by the Council and who shall not be below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India and in case of non-availability of a Muslim officer of that rank, a Muslim officer of equivalent rank may be appointed on deputation. The powers and functions of the Secretary shall be provided for in the Central Waqf Council Rules."

---------------------

Explanatory Notes:

A(1) Lease : Ratification
Though not recommended either by JPC or Sachar Committee, the Bill provides for every proposed lease for a period exceeding one year or more to be forwarded by State Waqf Board to the State Government. In this way the entire leasing process has been placed at the mercy of the State Government curtailing the original powers of the State Waqf Board. This is in gross violation of standard practices prevalent in the country in respect of religious establishments pertaining to different faiths. This proposed provision needs to be deleted from the Bill.

A(2) Lease : Fair Market Rate of Rent
Both Sachar Committee and JPC have recommended that the Waqf properties should be leased out on the prevailing market rate of rent. This has to be included by way of statutory provision in the Waqf Bill. However, this has not been done. This omission will lead to loss of thousands of cores of rupees of Waqf revenue, every year.

B. Undefined Status of the Secretary, Central Waqf Council
Acting on the recommendations of the Sachar Committee, the Bill provides that the official status of the CEO of the State Wakf Board shall be at least of the level of Dy. Secretary to the State Government. On the other hand, regulatory powers have been given in the Bill to the Central Waqf Council by which it can monitor the activities of the State Waqf Boards.

However, the official status of the Secretary, Central Waqf Council remains undefined. This creates strong possibility that the Secretary, CWC may be an officer below the rank of the CEO of the State Waqf Board. This will create avoidable incompatibility.

In order to pre-empt this anomaly, Sachar Committee recommended that the Secretary of Central Waqf Council should be of the status of at least Joint Secretary to the Government of India. However, the Bill is silent in this regard.

The Bill needs to be amended to provide that the Secretary, CWC shall be of the minimum level of Joint Secretary to the Government of India. That will enable him to effectively monitor the CEOs of the State Waqf Boards.

By IANS,

New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for arresting VHP leaders ahead of a religious event.

BJP spokesman Bizay Sonkar Shastri said the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists and religious leaders wanted to carry out the "84 kosi parikrama yatra" and it was their fundamental right to do so.

"The Samajwadi Party government ... wants to give out a message that it is a messiah of Muslims," Shastri told IANS.

He said the decision to ban the yatra and arrest VHP leaders had created needless tension in Uttar Pradesh.

The VHP leadership was Sunday arrested in the temple town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh as they tried to proceed for "Saryu Pujan", ahead of the "84 kosi parikrama yatra".

The government had earlier banned the yatra, set to begin from the banks of Saryu river.

The VHP had said the yatra would pass through Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Gonda, Basti and Bahraich districts.

The Aug 25-Sep 13 yatra seeks to seek a grand Ram temple at the site of the razed Babri mosque in Ayodhya.

By TCN News,

Aligarh: Celebrating freedom of the Indian nation, the General Education Centre of Aligarh Muslim University today presented “Tiranga-2013” at the Kennedy Hall Auditorium. On this occasion, a four-member American music band “The Corn Potato String Band of American Appalachian” folk music presented a unique slice of American culture.

The American band played banjo, guitar, piano, bass and mandolin and covered different antiquated styles including ballads “ho-down”, country rags and “southern gospel”.

American Band performing at Kennedy Auditorium

Mr. Joshua Polacheck, Director of the American Centre, New Delhi appreciated the efforts of AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Brig. (Retd.) Syed Ahmad Ali and Coordinator, General Education Centre, Dr. F. S. Shirani helping the musical evening take place.

Mr. Joshua said that the American String band is dedicated to continuing the traditional fiddle and banjo music and will travel other parts of India also.

AMU Western Music Club presented Allama Iqbal’s “Sare Jahan Se Achha” and Khusro’s “Sakal Ban Phool Rahi Sarson”.

AMU Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor with American Band

The Vice Chancellor, Gen. Shah and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Brig. Ali presented mementos to the members of AMU Music Club and visiting American Band and appreciated their performance that took place for the first time in the history of the University.

It may be noted that the Aligarh Muslim University has conferred D. Lit. degree honoris causa on Mrs. Eleanor D. Roosevelt, wife of US President Roosevelt on March 14, 1952.

By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: Prominent personalities from different walks of life raised their voice against the concept of separate states to be curved out of Assam.

Politicians, intellectuals, social workers, journalists and various organizations who attended a convention organized by Sanmilita Janagosthiya Sangram Samiti (SJSS) in Guwahati on Sunday also advocated for a united Assam where people from different caste and communities can live peacefully for a bright future.

Senior advocate the Samajwadi Party Assam president Hafiz Ahmed Rashid Choudhury addressing the gathering during a convention to discuss the ways of solution against a separate state in Guwahat on Sunday, August 25, 2013.

The convention also urged upon the government to address the genuine problems of all the tribes and communities in a bid to their overall development.

“What all of us want is all round development of all the people of the state barring caste and communities. The government should take the initiative to come forward and hold discussions with all the tribes and communities to address their genuine problems so that the state can prosper,” said prominent lawyer and the state president of Samajwadi Party Hafiz Ahmed Rashid Choudhury addressing the gathering in Guwahati on Sunday.

He also stressed on to find out the root cause of the problems through the state is undergoing at the moment. “This is not a problem of the Bodos or the Karbis, it is a problem of the state and it should be dealt accordingly to find a solution at the earliest,” Choudhury added.

Former Cotton College principal and Social activist Deven Dutta addressing the gathering during a convention to discuss the ways of solution against a separate state in Guwahat on Sunday, August 25, 2013.

While, social worker and former Cotton College Principal Deven Dutta slammed the role of the politicians and the parties in this regard. “They seemed to be lacking interest in solving these problems of the people. This is high time to think and act smartly before we head for a dangerous future. If it continues to be so we are going to see a dark future,” Dutta said.

Representatives of more than 15 organizations including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, Aboro Suraksha Samiti, Nath Jogi Sanmilan, All BTC Minority Students Union, Asomiya Aikya Moncho and others took part in the convention.

By Syed Hasan Zia Rizvi, TwoCircles.net,

Lucknow: On the occasion of birth anniversary of a great Urdu Poet and writer, Raghupati sahay, better known by his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, Lucknow Society organized Sham-e-Adab, a literary seminar on Firaq at Rai Amarnath Bali Prekshagrah, Qaiserbagh.

Emerging in the era of Josh Malihabadi and Jigar Akbarabadi, the prominent Urdu poets of the time, Firaq captivated the essence of a prolific poet and a writer who was almost the master of all languages Urdu, Hindi and English but he personally promoted Urdu.

Kailash Joshi

He was a Lecturer of English Literature at Allahabad university and and awarded with the most prestigious literary award of India, Jnanpith Award. Later he was also awarded with Padma Bhushan.

He had written more than a dozen volumes of Urdu poetry, a half dozen of Urdu prose, several volumes on literary themes in Hindi, as well as four volumes of English prose on literary and cultural subjects.

Seminar started with the photographic presentation on the life of poet made by Atif Hanif and anchored by Nirmal Darshan. Many prominent poets, writers and lecturers were present at the event like Ghazaal Zaigham explained the aspects of drama in Rubayi of firaq as he was used to be the expert in rubaiyaats.

Fazle-Imam shared his experiences with poet in Allahabad University; he describes poet as an egoist and a poet who had done a lot for urdu in spite of being an English teacher.

Mohammed Sabir, the freedom fighter was the guest of honour as he was also contemporary with Firaq.

Other people who attended the seminar included Ms.Manjula tripathi whose family was close to fIraq, Mirza shafiq Husain shafaq, Justice Haider Abbas Raza, Shahnawaz Qureshi and Sharib Rudaulvi who highlighted the use of Sanskrit and urdu words in Firaq’s poetry.

The seminar ended on a melodious note as Kailash Joshi sang beautiful ghazals of Firaq.

“Ab aksar chup-chup se rahe hain yun hi kabhu lab khole hain
Pahle "Firaq" ko dekha hota ab to bahut kam bole hain

Hum log ab to paraaye se hain kuchh to bataao haal-e-"Firaq"
Ab to tumhi ko pyaar kare hain ab to tumhi se bole hain”

After the seminar the winners of World Photography day contest was awarded in three categories:-

1. Architectural Wonders of Lucknow – The unique angles of the heritage monuments [ approx 200 entries ]- Trilochan Singh

2. Emerging Lucknow – The new architecture in Lucknow which emerged post-independence [ approx 155 entries ]- Arun Khanna

3.Cultural Life of Lucknow – Nazakat, Nafasat & Tehzeeb to be captured in frame [ approx 170 entries ]- Raktima Banerjee

By TCN News,

Aligarh: Hakim Abdul Qavi Khan, former Aligarh Muslim University faculty, and reputed Unani physician passed away on Sunday, August 25.

Hakim Abdul Qavi Khan, born on 20 May 1926, belonged to a family of Unani physicians from Shahjahanpur. His grandfather Hakim Abdul Qadir Khan was Afsar al-Attiba, Bhopal State during the era of Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum. His cousin Hakim Abdul Muqtadir Khan was also Afsar al-Attiba at Bhopal State.

He was a student of BUMS 1946 batch and was later on appointed as lecturer at the Department of Ilmul Advia from where he retired in 1986. After retirement, his services were hired as a consultant (Unani) at Dawakhana Tibbiya College.

Hakim Abdul Qavi Khan is survived by his wife and one sonFaisal and two daughters Darakhshan and Afshan.

Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, President Ibn Sina Academy and former colleague of Hakim Abdul Qavi Khan, expressed his condolence, adding that he shares the grief with the family members.

He was buried on Sunday itself, after which a small condolence meeting was held. The condolence meeting was attended by Dr. Abdul Latif (Associate Professor, Ilmul Advia), Dr. Abdur Rauf (Assistant Professor, Ilmul Advia), Mr. Mohd Nafees, Dr. Tassawwer Hussain, Dr. Masroor Ahmad, Dr. Mohd. Rizwan, Dr. Yasir Alvi, Dr. S. Ziaur Rahman, Mr. Zahoor Mohammad and Mr. S. Zahid Jamal.

By Manish Tiwari and Rajan Pandey,

Excerpt – Pages 178-186

Title: Battleground U.P.: Politics in the Land of Ram

Publisher: Tranquebar-Westland, 2013

According to the 2011 census, Muslims constitute 18.49 percent of Uttar Pradesh's total population. UP has always been a big centre of Muslim culture and politics. After Partition, a large section of Muslims acted as a vote bank for the Congress till 1992, when the Babri Masjid demolition by a RSS and BJP-led mob caused disillusionment with the Congress. Mulayam Singh Yadav became the new favourite of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, so much so that he was called 'Maulana Mulayam'. The fiery SP leader Azam Khan was one of the first politicians in UP to demand the reconstruction of the Babri Masjid at the same site and together with the MY (Muslim-Yadav) combination, SP continued to remain one of the main players in UP politics.

The demolition also created a unique phenomenon - BJP fear psychosis. With this event, the Muslims had witnessed what BJP could do if in power and all they wanted now was to keep it under check so that it could not cause further harm to the community. The fear of BJP scoring a win became so big in the minority circles that they were ready to align with any other formation and vote en bloc for it to defeat BJP. This fear psychosis became a very useful instrument in the hands of non-NDA (National Democratic Alliance, an alliance of parties led by BJP at the national level) parties who exploited this fear to secure chunks of minority votes in elections, across the nation.

Gradually, BSP too emerged as a key player in attracting minority votes and in the 2007 assembly elections, it attracted a sizeable percentage of the total Muslim votes. The Congress had been making many attempts as well to win back the electoral support of the Muslims, while the BJP had been claiming that all parties wanted to appease the minorities to gain votes, in the hope of polarising Hindu votes. However, in this routine hullabaloo, newer and more radical voices emerged this time, claiming to be the new champions of minority cause.

In September 2008, the Delhi police shot dead two teenagers, Atif and Sazid, in an alleged encounter at Batla House in the Jamia Nagar area, where a police inspector, Mohan Chand Sharma, was also killed. Police alleged that the youngsters were terrorists belonging to the Indian Mujahideen organisation that was responsible for many bomb blasts across the nation. This was the time when a number of bomb blasts had shaken the nation from Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad to Malegaon in Maharashtra, and Ajmer Dargah and Jaipur in Rajasthan to the Sarojini Nagar market blast in Delhi.

Under pressure, police arrested a number of people, most of whom were from Azamgarh, christening the district ’Atankgarh’ (terror citadel). However, a number of people alleged that the youth from Azamgarh arrested or killed in connection with these blasts were innocent. This theory started gaining currency when, despite many attempts, the police could not provide enough evidence to implicate them. Bizarre situations emerged when anti-terrorism squads (ATS) of different states paraded different individuals arrested by them before the media as masterminds for the same bomb blasts. Investigations carried out by the Maharashtra ATS later revealed that most of the terror acts, like the Ajmer blast and the Malegaon blast, were conducted by some ex-RSS functionaries who had confessed to the bombings. This produced a sense of betrayal and victimisation in the minds of the Muslims in the state and the clerics of Azamgarh called the Ulema, built an umbrella formation in September 2008 to resist this injustice. The formation was named Rashtriya Ulema Council.

Claiming to draw inspiration from the freedom struggle, when a number of Ulemas countered colonial power, the Ulema Council pledged to seek justice for the minority community, which was being targeted by the police machinery of different governments, be it the UP ATS of Mayawati's regime or the Delhi police and other national agencies under the Congress's rule. Accusing the ATS of extorting money from Muslims in the name of terror investigations, the council led a series of rallies in Azamgarh, Lucknow and Delhi including the one in Delhi in January 2009, demanding a judicial probe into the Batla House encounter.

A combination of energies of educated Muslim professionals and students, with the traditional authority of clerics gave it a unique character and unlike other minority groups, it talked of Hindu-Muslim unity, asserting the legacy of the 1857 revolt. The Ulema Council also refused to bow down before the fear psychosis of the BJP scoring a win, that always succeded in uniting minority votes behind parties like SP-BSP or Congress who could defeat BJP and discouraged people to vote for smaller Muslim formations, who would act as “spoilers”(vote-katwa in local language) in terms of dividing the anti BJP vote, making it win.It claimed that governments of other parties, like Congress and BSP had been equally bad in terms of neglecting the minorities.Hence it asserted that the Muslims need to come out of the tag of anti-BJP vote bank. They need to vote for a party that takes up their issues more pro-actively unlike Congress and SP, and must support it with all their might, leaving behind the fear that this could help BJP in coming to power, for the SP and Congress were no better than BJP. Thus it called the Muslims to raise a genuine political alternative of theirs, from within their own ranks. For these reasons, political parties who claimed to command minority support were jittery, as the Ulema Council defined democratic rights of minorities in a more modern and nuanced manner. We attended one of their rallies in Delhi where a number of students and teachers from different central universities of the city echoed their support for the cause of the Ulema Council, questioning the government on why it could not guarantee the protection of the rights of its Muslim citizens. The Ulema Council's rallies pulled huge crowds and a number of burqa-clad women were seen partipating, a phenomenon that was quite rare until then.

The party fielded five candidates in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, including two Hindus. Its Azamgarh candidate, Dr Javed Akhtar polled 59,270 votes, while BSP's Akbar Ahmad (Dumpy) was defeated by BJP's Ramakant Yadav by an almost equal number of votes. Though the party could not win any seats, its performance was not to be ignored. However, the victory of BJP in Azamgarh (due to Ulema Council acting as spoiler) demoralised a number of council supporters and as the momentum around the anti-victimisation drive weakened due to a decline in such cases, the Ulema Council started losing ground.

In the 2012 assembly elections, the party failed to win any seat, not even coming second for any of the ten seats at its headquarters in Azamgarh. While the Ulema Council was becoming obsolete, another minority group was raising its head. But unlike the council which had tried to unite the Muslims, this group highlighted its differences, sabotaging the very conception of the Umma (brotherhood).

In February 2008, Dr Ayub, a senior surgeon from Badhalganj, Gorakhpur floated the Peace Party of India (PPI) which targeted a unique factor of Islam in India – caste among Muslims. Islam denies any kind of discrimination between the faithful, but when it entered India, it could not remain untouched by the caste system which entered Islamic ranks as well; the main groups being forward Muslims or Ashraf and the backward Muslims or Pasmanda.

Ansaris, who are mainly associated with weaving, constitute the most vocal and radical section of the Pasmanda Muslim community in Eastern UP. This community became the flag bearer of the Peace Party. A local journalist in Balrampur told us, 'Ansaris are the main force of Muslim politics in the region, but are least represented in leadership and their socio-economic condition is not very good either. That's why they are attracted to Dr Ayub's Peace Party as it seems to be their own party and promises them a bigger share in the pie.' At a number of places in Eastern UP, we encountered upper caste minority leaders who waxed eloquent against the Peace Party and its crazy Ansari supporters who were so jahil (illiterate) that they could sabotage the interest of the entire Muslim community while supporting 'their own leader'.

The PPI fielded twenty-one candidates in UP in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, but failed to make any noticeable impact on most of the seats, not winning even one though it polled approximately five lakh votes in total. However, it devised a unique campaign line and election strategy during the 2012 elections. Using its strong hold over the Ansari and other backward caste Muslims, it also fielded candidates from Hindu castes dominant in the constituency to create a winning combination. The party's slogan Ekta ka raj chalega, Hindu-Muslim saath chalega (Hindu-Muslim will march together and their unity will rule)symbolised this arrangement. Its unique approach attracted many unlikely elements; from ex-bureaucrats like former Uttar Pradesh DGP Yashpal Singh to Jitendra Singh Babloo, the suspended BSP MLA from Bikapur who was accused of burning UP Congress president, Rita Bahuguna Joshi's house.

Furthermore, PPI urged Muslims to break free of BJP's fear tactics. Party president Dr Ayub targeted all parties, be it Congress, BSP (to a lesser extent) or SP for neglecting the development of Muslims, acting not very differently from the BJP and declining to implement recommendations of the Sachhar Committee, which had advised separate reservation and other affirmative actions for Muslims.

His extensive tours to different areas of UP helped the party create an environment for itself and develop an efficient organisational structure. Dr Ayub asked Muslims to look beyond the Babri Masjid demolition issue, a subject sub-judice in the court. The Peace Party made the progress of Muslims a central concern and speeches by its leaders virtually lacked any inflammatory content.

The party decided to cut into the minority vote base of the Samajwadi Party as Dr Ayub told India Today in an interview, 'We are looking at building ourselves by taking away the SP votes.' Promising to strive to have a Muslim chief minister in the state, the party gained a lot of attention in the run-up to the elections, with allegations of working for BJP hurled against it by other parties. Infact BJP leaders were very excited about PPI's good performance as this would have caused a split in the minority votes, giving BJP an opportunity to improve its chances in Poorvanchal. A BJP leader in Barabanki said, Peace Party musalmano ka vote khayegi, aur hindu vote ka dhruvikaran karke hum is bar Poorvanchal main pachas se jyada seat jitenge (Peace Party will divide Muslim votes and by polarisation of Hindu votes we will manage to win fifty seats in Poorvanchal alone).

The calculations however did not work.

The Peace Party formed a front known as Ittehad Front or Ekta Manch in alliance with other smaller caste-based parties like Apna Dal, Bundelkhand Congress, and Bhartiya Samaj Party and fielded about 208 candidates of its own in UP.

By the time of the 2012 elections, Peace Party's initial hype started to dwindle, some reasons being infighting among its members, frequent changes in candidates and allegations of taking money to give party tickets. In places like Kapilvastu (SC) in Siddharthanagar district, a last-minute ticket denial brought humiliation to the PPI as there were two candidates from the party there. First, the ticket was given to Moti Lal Vidyarthi and the party’s symbol – a ceiling fan – was allotted to him, but on the last day of the nomination, Moti Lal was sidelined and Manju Singh was given the ticket. However, as time was short, the party could not allot her the symbol. Thus, there were two PPI candidates in Kapilvastu – the unofficial candidate Moti Lal Vidyarthi who contested on the official election symbol, and the official candidate Manju Singh who contested on an unofficial symbol. When we spoke to some local Muslim youth about it, they said, Dr Ayub ne dukaan khol rakhi hai; jo jyada paisa le ke pahuch jata hai usi ko purane se cheen ke ticket de dete hain (Dr Ayub has opened up a shop; anyone who goes with more money is given a ticket to replace the old candidate)!

The party's electoral performance fell far short of its expectations. SP had swept much of the minority votes. PPI did manage to win four seats, with one winner, Akhilesh Singh of Rae Bareli, being from the Hindu community. However, Akhilesh Singh's victory cannot be attributed to the Peace Party as he was already a dominant figure in Rae Bareli, winning this seat for a number of years as an independent because of his groundedness and strongman image.

Even so, PPI is the sixth biggest party in the UP assembly in terms of seats, polling 2.35 percent votes in the state, coming second on three seats and third on eight more. BJP's hopes were shattered though, as it could win only eight of those sixty-one seats where PPI won a sizeable number of votes.

Another experiment of creating a Muslim party was carried out by Mukhtar Ansari, the infamous criminal politician of Ghazipur who launched the Quami Ekta Dal (QED) in Ghazipur and nearby districts. As its name implied, the party talked about Hindu-Muslim unity, and refuting media reports claiming that Ansari was only a communal leader, the people of Ghazipur told us that he was supported by Hindus and Muslims alike. A number of educated Ghazipur residents told us with pride that this was the home district of the famous writer Rahi Masum Raza and had never witnessed any communal riots – a fact that frequently appeared in Raza’s writings as well. They also said that the riots that had broken out in nearby Mau had been triggered by BJP-RSS functionaries and the alleged killing of BJP MLA Krishnand Rai by Ansari supporters was more because of underworld rivalries than communal targeting. However, the party did not have a distinct agenda or a mass-base and revolved around the personal charisma and influence of Mukhtar Ansari. In the 2012 elections, it fielded forty-three candidates and managed to win two seats, one in Mohammadabad in Ghazipur where Ansari's brother Sibgatullah Ansari won and the other in Mau, where Mukhtar Ansari himself romped home.

Though a couple of these new experiments presented a new brand of Muslim politics, which adopted communal harmony and development as their propaganda, it did not mean that communalism and fanaticism were out of the picture. In the hullabaloo of modern minority parties, a primarily religious outfit of a Barelvi sect known as Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) decided to rely on the time-tested recipe of hatred and fanaticism. What is surprising is that this party, centred only in Bareilly was part of the Ittehad Front led by PPI and was supported by Mukhtar Ansari's QED as well.

Bareilly is a city with a credible history of Hindu-Muslim unity, though attempts have been made by a number of forces to spread communal hatred and violence. However, the common people of both religions have always tried to prevent this from happening. Some people have tried to change the name of the famous Ayub Khan Chauraha to Patel Chowk, in an attempt to Hindu-ise it by using Sardar Patel's name, but the people of Bareilly refused to communalise spaces in this manner. Ayub Khan Chauraha is still called by that name by the majority of Bareilly's citizens, irrespective of religion.

On 2 March 2010, the day of the Baravafat procession, a riot broke out in Bareilly on a minor issue of brick-batting between Hindus and Muslims. Curfew was imposed, which continued for fifteen days, but when the police arrested IMC president Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan on charges of inciting riots, his supporters came out in thousands on the roads, breaking curfew to demand his release. Succumbing to the pressure, the BSP government released him and lifted all charges against him, after which fresh riots and arson broke out in the city. Dozens were arrested and many more were injured.

Maulana Tauqeer saw a political opportunity in this incident like his BJP counterparts, and used the moment to rally people behind him. Newspaper reports and statements of a number of people we spoke to alleged that he had incited the riots with hate speeches, while some BJP leaders had allegedly tried to do the same with the Hindus.

In the assembly elections, Maulana Tauqeer's IMC party fielded eighteen candidates and resorted to all sorts of attempts to polarise minority votes, with BJP doing the same. While the IMC managed to win only the Bhojipura seat of Bareilly, the older and more experienced player of such politics, the BJP, proved to be more successful, winning three seats in Bareilly and losing the Baheri seat by a margin of only eighteen votes.

(....)

In the absence of a distinct agenda, programme or urge for the betterment of their own caste voters, these opportunistic parties (like several other smaller political parties) were more like vehicles for individual leaders desperate to shape their own political careers and the voters showed little interest in helping them accomplish this objective.

(This article in part of a chapter on “Politics of Social Engineering” in a new book Battleground UP: Politics in the land of Ram. )

The official launch of book in scheduled to be held on September 4, 2013 at the Constitution Club at 5.0 pm.

Authors Bio:

Manish Tiwari

Manish Tiwari has been associated with electronic and print media for almost fifteen years in different places, capacities and institutions and has intermittently taught sociology, journalism and media & cultural studies at different colleges and universities in the country since 2006. He is a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi on UGC–Research Fellowship and has presented papers and delivered lectures in several universities in India and abroad. Manish has co-edited a book on participatory democracy with Prof. Anand Kumar in 2009 and another book on social aspects of water-management would be out in print in 2013. He now works independently in fields of communications and social research and lives in New Delhi with his wife and eight months old daughter, Twitter.

Rajan Pandey

Rajan Pandey is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Political Studies JNU, and has a diverse range of interests- from literature to strategic affairs, traveling, cooking and but of course, eating. He grew up in UP’s Mainpuri district and is currently in Goettingen, Germany on a Doctoral Visiting Fellowship at the Centre for Modern Indian Studies. Associated with student politics for seven years, Rajan intends to take up politics after finishing his PhD.

By TCN News,

Lucknow: Leaders of the Welfare Party of India (WPI) today participated in the Rihai Manch indefinite dharna outside the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on the 96th day.

Since May 20 Rihai Manch (Forum for the Release of Innocent Muslims imprisoned in the name of Terrorism) is on indefinite dharna 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.

WPI President Mujtaba Farooque alleged that the Samajwadi Government government has not just just killed Khalid Mujahid, but also betrayed the trust of the Muslim community. Party General Secretary SQR Ilyas has appealed to the people to “become part of history by participating in the historic indefinite fast on the 100th day on August 29.”

CPIM leader Subhasini Ali, senior journalist Anil Chamadia, Mohammad Salim of Muslim Conference, among others are expected to participate in the demonstration on the 100th day.

Chairman of the Rihai Manch, Advocate Mohamamd Shoaib earlier said that for over three months protesters have stood scorching summer heat and heavy monson rain and they will stand firm till their demands are met with.

On the occasion of Eid, Rihai Manch had organised a public hearing on the theme “where are the pride sons of the nation” on the 67th Independence Day outside the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, where family members of those Muslim youths who have been behind bar on ‘fabricated’ terror changes, where they pleaded for justice.

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 arres.

Khalid’s family and civil society groups are 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.

Rihai Manch is leading a sustained demonstration against the UP government for last three months now demanding actions on its poll promise of releasing innocent youths languishing in jails in fabricated terror charges.

Several rights groups and and politicians, including Prakash Karat, Subhasini Ali, film maker Anand Patwardhan, Anusha Rizvi, among others have also expressed their solidarity with the Manch demonstration and on different days made token participation.

Related:

Rihai Manch dharna completes 3 months

By IANS,

New Delhi : Both houses of parliament saw repeated adjournments Monday following noisy protests by BJP memebers over the Uttar Pradesh government not allowing the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Ayodhya march and the SP protesting against an attack on its office here.

The Rajya Sabha saw two adjournments during the question hour before being adjourned till 2 p.m.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members sought to register their protest over the ban on the VHP's "84 kosi parikrama yatra" by the Akhilesh Yadav government, while SP members continued to shout slogans over the attack on their party office.

Samajwadi Party (SP) members sought to repeatedly raise in the house the issue of vandalisation of its party office in Delhi Sunday.

Chairperson Hamid Ansari repeatedly requested the members to allow the house to run.

As pandemonium continued, the house was first adjourned for 15 minutes and then till noon.

When the house met, the SP members were again on their feet raising slogans against the BJP. Many BJP members also got up from their seats.

In the din, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the house till 2 p.m.

Naresh Agrawal of the SP later accused the BJP of the attack on the party office.

"The way party office was attacked, anything could have happened. Delhi Police has so far not registered a FIR. The BJP and Congress are one on this," Agrawal told IANS.

In the Lok Sabha, the Samajwadi Party (SP) moved a notice for suspending question hour to discuss the attack on its office.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar requested it to take up the matter in zero hour but SP members resorted to sloganeering.

Following this, the speaker allowed the Samajwadi Party to speak on the matter.

But chaos prevailed as many members started speaking, forcing the speaker to adjourn the house till noon.

When the house met at noon, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and BJP's Yogi Aditya Nath respectively spoke on the VHP march and the attack on the SP office.

Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav made a critical reference to the VHP, leading to a din in the house.

As the noisy scenes continued, the house was adjourned till 2 p.m.

By IANS,

New Delhi : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Monday condemned the "communal polarization" around the Ayodhya dispute and urged the people to reject attempts to mix religion with politics.

"The AAP calls upon all honest, nationalist and peace loving people of the country from all communities to reject and defeat this dangerous politics of using religion for cynical electoral gains," it said.

A party statement accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party of attempting to rake up communal issues for political mileage.

"Fortunately, the people of Uttar Pradesh and the country, especially both Muslims and Hindus, after having understood the intention of these parties, have ignored communal politics played by them."

The statement accused the BJP and related rightwing groups of unleashing "a barely concealed conspiracy aimed at polarising Hindus and Muslims, especially in UP".

It said the Samajwadi Party government in UP was "also playing a cynical game of counter-polarisation by appearing as the saviour of Muslims...

"This is a very dangerous game and, if it succeeds, it will lead the country to enormous social disorder and communal conflict."

By IANS,

Srinagar : Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq Monday urged the prime ministers of India and Pakistan to meet in New York and to end hostilities along the Jammu and Kashmir border.

The chairman of the moderate separatist Hurriyat group also asked both countries to start a dialogue process that would actively associate people of Jammu and Kashmir -- to achieve lasting peace in the region.

"We urgently appeal to both of you to proceed with plans to meet in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September," he said in a letter sent to Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India and Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan.

"It is very important that you do not allow the recent developments to hold back a renewed effort to engage in a process of dialogue," he said in reference to the clashes between Indian and Pakistani troops on the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between the two countries.

"Even if it involves some political risks and even if there are additional negative incidents, you must proceed ahead and meet directly with each other and start working to reduce the current level of mistrust and defuse the present tensions along the LOC and elsewhere in the region."

The Mirwaiz released the letter send to the prime ministers at a press conference in Srinagar.

He expressed concern over the clashes between the Indian and Pakistani militaries on the LoC that have left soldiers and civilians dead on both sides.

"With great distress we have observed daily military confrontations along the LOC over the past few weeks along with increasing tensions, accusations and counter accusations," the Mirwaiz said.

"We believe that the decision to put an end to such hostilities along the LoC in 2003 ceasefire was an act of great wisdom and courageous statesmanship on the part of your predecessors.

"Except for those who do not want peace to prevail in the region, nobody will gain if the present situation along the LoC is allowed to worsen," the letter said.

Saying permanent peace between India and Pakistan was not possible minus the engagement of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he said: "India and Pakistan must evolve a formal mechanism to directly involve Kashmiris in substantive dialogue and negotiations on Kashmir."

By TCN News,

Aligarh: Samajwadi Party (SP) Supremo Mr.Mulayam Singh Yadav has dented the communal harmony of State by banning the 84 Kosi Parikarma Yatra of VHP. In fact VHP should have been allowed to carryon its Parikarma Yatra said Prof. Razaullah Khan while presiding over a meeting of Forum for Muslim Studies & Analysis (FMSA) Aligarh at Media Centre Aligarh. He pointed out that only 200 Sadhus were expected to participate in the Parikarma but by banning it Akhilesh Government has turned the atmosphere of state in favour of VHP.

Secretary of forum Jasim Mohammad said that on one hand Mulayam Singh Yadav is sharing tea with VHP leaders and on the other banning its Parlikarma Yatra. He said that this drama of Noora-Kushti was pre-planned but the real face of SP has been exposed otherwise why Akhilesh government failed in talking action in 19 riots of state?

Prof. Humayun Murad said that the Hindus of state are peaceful and if the yatra were not banned then nothing could have happened. Prof. Shahabuddin Iraqi pointed out that religious rights are enshrined in Constitution and everybody should be allowed to perform them. Dr. Mohammad Shahid said SP has tried to mobolise its vote bank by banning the yatra but the muslims have understood game plan of Mulayam Singh Yadav. Dr. Naseem Ashraf said that the way in which VHP leader and activists have been arrested was not proper and has impacted the communal harmony of state.

In the end of meeting FMSA passed a resolution condemning the ban on VHP Parikarma Yatra. In another resolution FMSA has demanded that all arrested VHP leaders and activists should be released at once.

By Dr.Ved Pratap Vaidik,

Indian Cultural Revolution remained unfulfilled. Though, national awareness spread after independence, many important societies were untouched from this wave. Jyotiba Phule, Swami Dayanand, Vivekanand, Raja Ram Mohan Roy started reformist movement in India, but Muslims and Christians had not witnessed similar movements.

Christians have been fettered in the slavery of past. In such a situation of inertia, people like Francis Ram Lubhaya (R L Francis) are like Martin Luther for Indian Christians. As Martin Luther King had challenged the freedom of church in Europe, Francis has been doing the same thing in India by exposing misdeeds of church establishments in India. His lastest Book ‘Bhawar mein Dalit Isaai’ written in Hindi is Released by Ambassador J C Sharma, IFS (Retd.) and me which is a huge testimony of his ideas. This book is compilation of various essays written by him time-to time.

Francis says a Dalit remains dalit forever even after conversion. There are hardly four dalit Bishops among 160 in “Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI)” Children of dalit Christians don’t get admission in missionary schools. Thousands of dalit nuns and priests have no social recognition in the dalit society.

Thousand crore rupees come each year from outside and not even one percent is spent on the development of dalit Christians. Francis has raised many revolutionary ideas in this book such as Christians should avoid eating beef and their dead bodies should be allowed to be burnt.

Catholic Bishops should be elected democratically in India and not by Vatican/ Rome. He has also protested conversion through fear and greed. He has exposed characters of priests and tortures being done over women within church system. R L Francis says dalit Christians should first get rightful place in the Christians society if they have to get reservation.

(By Dr.Ved Pratap Vaidik is an Eminent Journalist, Ideologue and Political Thinker, Social Activist & Orator)

By IANS,

Aligarh : The Uttar Pradesh government has dented communal harmony in the state by banning the "84-Kosi Parikarma Yatra" of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Muslim intellectuals here said.

Razaullah Khan and others stated this at a meeting of the Forum for Muslim Studies and Analysis.

Khan pointed out that only 200 Hindu holy men were expected to participate in the event. But by banning it, the Akhilesh Yadav government had turned the situation in favour of the VHP.

Humayun Murad said Hindus of Uttar Pradesh believed in peace and nothing would have gone wrong if the VHP yatra had been allowed.

Another professor, Shahabuddin Iraqi, said religious rights were enshrined in the constitution and everybody should be allowed to perform their rituals.

Naseem Ashraf said the arrest of VHP leaders and other activists had impacted the communal harmony in the state.

The Forum passed a resolution demanding the release of all VHP leaders and activists.