By TCN News,

New Delhi: Activists and civil society members from Khudai Khidmatgar, NBA, NAPM and other civil society groups today gathered outside the Maharashtra Sadan in the national capital to protest against demolitions and evictions of slums in Golibar and Chandivalli demanding an urgent dialogue with the movement.

Medha Patkar has undertaken an indefinite hunger strike in solidarity with the victims of Golibar. Today is the 8th day of her hunger strike protest.

Justice Rajinder sachar in the Protest.

Justice Rajendra Sachar, Vimal Bhai, Khudai Khidmatgar Secretary Inamul Hasan, Roshan Lal Agarwal, Maduresh Kumar and several other social activists participated in the protest.

The Delhi Solidarity group came out in support with the struggle undertaken by Patkar in Mumbai, protested against the inaction by state government on the urban slum demolitions and apathy to Medha Patkar’s and Madhuri Shivkar’s indefinite fast.

Justice (Retd) Rajinder Sachar led the delegation and handed over a letter signed by Aruna Roy, Swami Agnivesh, Prashant Bhushan, Sumit Chakravarty, Sanjay Parikh, Dayamani Barla, Chittaroopa Palit, K B Saxena, Manoranjan Mohanty, Vimal Bhai, Rajendra Ravi and many others.

Medha Patkar is on indefinite fast since April 4, joined by Madhuri Shivkar on April 6th, against the illegal demolition of the slum dwellers in Golibar Mumbai. Today it is 8th day of fast but the government has not taken any cognizance. Signs of weakness and deteriorating health like vomiting, body ache, back ache are now visible on their health.

They started their fast after Maharashtra Government betrayed people's faith in rule of law. On April 2-3, 43 houses of the Ganeshkrupa Housing Society were demolished, in spite of a letter from Shri Ajay Maken, Union Minister from Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; and an ongoing investigation by Principal Secretary, Housing, Government of Maharashtra into the Golibar (Slum Rehabilitation Authority) SRA project being developed by Shivalik ventures.

People of the slums have been fighting for their rights since 2004, when vast areas of slums in Mumbai were razed to the ground by the Vilasrao Deshmukh government to convert Mumbai to Shanghai. The Adarsh Housing Scam, Hiranandani Developers Land grab are examples of the extent to which a handful of powerful people are robbing the common man of a basic right to shelter.

Khudai Khidmatgar Secretary Inamul Hasan and Social activist Vimal Bhai and Roshan Lal Agarwal in the Protest.

Demands of the protesters:
1. The enquiry in respect of 6 S.R.A. Projects, under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary, Housing, is in progress since 13th January, 2013. We demand that the work in all these projects should be stopped until the report of the enquiry is completed and actions taken on the recommendations.

2. If demolitions are being carried out in accordance with court rulings but the preconditions put forth are not met, main issues and allegations of corruption through forgery, fraudulent consent are not resolved etc., then in such cases project work should be stopped and no further demolitions be carried.

3. In cases where the residents have submitted self development projects or wish to submit the same, they should be sanctioned and encouraged and started immediately.

4. S.R.A. should ensure that in case of ongoing S.R.A. Projects all conditions in L.O.I. should be complied with.

5. The L.O.I. of the developer should be withdrawn wherever the developers have submitted forged / false documents or wrong information in violation of the L.O.I – as in case of Shivalik builders.

6. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra has agreed to implement 'Rajeev Awas Yojana' in the slums of Mumbai instead of S.R.A., on 2nd January, 2013. However these very slums are being buldozed even today. So, the displacement of these slums should be stopped till R.A.Y. is implemented. The same was conveyed to the State Government by the Union Minister Ajay maken on April 2, 2013.

7. Pilot projects in respect of slum at Mandala, Mankhurd under the R.A.Y. Have already been submiited to the state as well as Central Governments. That should be approved and implemented at the earliest.

8. Civic amenities (like water, toilets, nallahs, roads) should be provided to all the slums immediately as per the written assurance given by the Municipal Commissioner.

9. The Chief Secretary had given a written assurance on 25th May, 2011 that 19 bastis as agreed in the list, after 9 day fast by Medha Patkar, will be declared slums within 3 months. There is no action on this assurance till date. The same should be done. The Chief Minister, and the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Housing had promised again in January, 2013 to complete this action during discussions held with them. They also gave a written assurance to that effect. The displacements that are being carried out at present are, therefore, grossly unjust and hence should be stopped forthwith.

10. Shri Ajay Maken, Minister for Housing and urban poverty alleviation, Government of India has written a letter to the Chief Minister, Maharashtra state on 2nd April, 2013. The Chief Minister should declare his stand on the letter in writing. 11. The land of Sathe Nagar should be given for R.A.Y . This land is currently under the hold of Bombay Soap company.

Create a pension funds for Indian workers returning from Gulf countries

By TCN News,

Kuwait City: Indo-Kuwait Friendship Society(IKFS), a non-profit socio-cultural friendship association in Kuwait has written letters to 38 Indian multimillionaires residing and working in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries requesting them to contribute 10% of their wealth for investments in Indian infrastructure development projects.

Letter written by Dr. Ghalib Al-Mashoor, president of IKFS also asks the multimillionaires to establish a pension fund for Indian who have worked more than 10 years in GCC countries. The fund should help them when they return back to India.

IKFS letters were addressed to each of the NRI Multi-Millionaires (whose assets are USD215 million to 4,500 million) such as P Mohamed Ali, Vice chairman, Galfar. LT Pagarani, Chairman, Choithram. Tony Jashanmal, Founder, Jashanmal Group. Sunny Varkey, Founder, GEMS Education. Ravi Pillai, Founder, RP Group. BR Shetty, Chairman, NMC Group. Yusuffali MA, Managing director, EMKE Group. Raghuvinder Kataria, Chairman, Kataria Holdings. Feroz Allana, Founder, Allana Group. Mohan Valrani, Vice chairman, Al Shirawi Group. Sarah Belhasa, Vice chairperson, Belhasa Group. Joy Alukkas, Owner, Joyalukkas Group. Ramesh Ramakrishnan, Chairman, Transworld Group. Thumbay Moideen, President, Thumbay Group. Azad Moopen, Chairman, DM Group. Kabir Mulchandani, CEO, SKAI Holdings. Khurshid Vakil, Founder, Marine Exotic Home Interiors. Deepak Babani, CEO, Eros Group. Nilesh Ved, Founder, Apparel Group . Rizwan Sajan, Chairman, Danube Group.

Vasu Shroff, Chairman, Regal Group. PNC Menon, Chairman, Sobha Developers. Dhananjay Datar, Managing director, Al Adil Trading. JR Gangaramani, President, Al Fara’a Group. Maghanmal Pancholia, Chairman, Arabian Trading Agency. Paras Shahdadpuri, Chairman, Nikai Group. Yogesh Mehta , Managing director, Petrochem ME. Khimji Family, Directors, Khimji Ramdas. Hitesh Bodani, Chairman, Bond Investment Group Holdings. Dilip Rahulan, Chairman, Pacific Controls. Ram Buxani Director, ITL-Cosmos Group. Santosh Joseph ,CEO, Dubai Pearl. Dr Shamsheer, Managing director, Lifeline Hospital Group. CK Menon, Chairman, Behzad Group.

No word yet on how multimillionaires are reacting to this letter.

By IANS,

New Delhi : The Bangladesh government may consider banning the Jamaat-e-Islami if armed cadres of the Islamist party continue to indulge in violence and terrorist acts, the country's Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said here Thursday.

The Jamaat, a constituent of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led 18-party opposition alliance, is a registered political party. Its cadres have been on the streets, indulging in violence, to protest the conviction of some of its leaders by a war crimes tribunal for killings and rapes committed during the 1971 war of liberation.

According to Inu, the Jamaat as a political party has to abide by the Election Commission's directives. The Bangladesh Election Commission can ban the Jamaat if it violates rules, so can the courts and the government, said Inu during a talk on the "Current Situation in Bangladesh" at Jamia Millia Islamia here.

"The Jamaat is indulging in armed activities," said Inu.

The Sheikh Hasina government is also watching to see how a case in the Bangladesh High Court challenging the registration of Jamaat as a political party will turn out, said Inu, who heads Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, a constituent of the ruling alliance.

A larger bench of the Bangladesh High Court division Thursday fixed April 16 for hearing the writ petition against registration of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party. The Bangladesh Tarikat Federation had in 2009 filed a petition challenging legality of Jamaat's registration.

"If the Jamaat practices terrorism, then the government will positively be considering banning the Jamaat," said Inu, adding that the government wanted inclusive and participatory politics. "Hope Jamaat will take care of its armed hooligans," Inu added.

He also said that "political Islam is a threat to Islam" and the Hasina government is focusing on the real teachings of Islam "to defeat militant Islam".

In order to counter the Islamist parties like the Jamaat and the Hefazat-e-Islam, the Bangladesh government is asking "all the scholars and ulemas to come out with the real and practical teachings of Islam", said Inu.

He said the Shahbag movement, which started earlier this year to demand "justice" for the war crimes committed during 1971, is now attended by people from all walks of life. "It is a youth started movement, but now grandparents come with grand-children and attend and shout slogans for Bengali nationalism."

The minister said there had been no attack on mullahs or madrassas during the Shahbag protests.

Inu said the editor of a Bangladeshi daily who was arrested Thursday had printed "objectionable" postings of Facebook and Twitter. "Reprinting objectionable material that could incite people is against the law," said Inu, adding that the editor would get a fair trial.

Mahmudur Rahman, 59, the editor of anti-government Bengali daily Amar Desh, was arrested from the newspaper office on charges that the daily published stories violating the country's laws. The newspaper has been publishing material questioning the independence of the war crimes tribunal set up by the Hasina government.

Inu said the war crimes tribunal was an "open trial" and the defendants, including Senior Islamist leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi who was sentenced to death by the tribunal, were free to appeal their sentences to the country's Supreme Court.

The talk was organised by the Academy of International Studies and Department of Political Science, Jamia Millia Islamia.

By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: The prime accused of the ill-famed October 30 bomb blast of India’s northeastern state Assam Ranjan Daimary was granted bail by Court of District and Sessions Judge, Kamrup on Thursday in Guwahati.

Daimary’s counsel Manas Sarania told reporters that the court has imposed certain conditions while allowing Daimary to go on bail, which include restriction on the movement of the accused outside Assam, without prior permission. The Court also asked the banned militant outfit leader to deposit his passport and driving license at the earliest.

Ranjan Daimary

Further, he was asked not to involve in any anti-national activities or act on behalf of the banned outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). Daimary was granted against a bail amount of Rs 3 lakh with two sureties of the like amount. However, NDFB chief is to get bail from five other cases.

The bail petition of Ranjan Daimary, who was arrested on May 2010 in Bangladesh, was moved on December 20 and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was recently asked to reply as whether it had any objection if the NDFB chief is allowed to go on bail.

October 30 of 2008 happens to be one of the deadliest day in the history of the state as more than 100 innocent people lost their lives in a series of explosions across the state causing major damage in the capital.

By TCN News,

Mumbai: Stung by criticism for its secret circular that asked police in the state to keep a close eye on Girls Islamic Organization (GIO), Mumbai Police has announced prize for information that will identify the source of the leak of the secret circular.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) who criticized the police for its circular against its affiliate GIO has curiously welcomed the announcement of the prize to find out who leaked the circular. Mumbai Police has apologized for the leak but has not punished the officers responsible for it.

Engineer Taufique Aslam Khan, President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Maharashtra said, “We welcome the announcement, at the same time we believe that it’s the internal matter of Mumbai Police that their Secret Circular is leaked.” An easy way would be to ask directly with the reporter of Samna Ashish Bansode, from where and whom he got the circular, he added.

He said, “Our main objection is the circular itself and it remains.” He explained that the text and the language of the circular is defamatory, unconsitituional and are dividing the society on the religious ground.

He said, “The circular is an attempt to tarnish the image of Muslims, the second largest population in India, among fellow citizens and demonizing of one of the great religion of the World, Islam.”

JIH is planning to take legal action in this matter.

Khan also volunteered his organization to educated the officers about Islam and Muslims, “We also like to correct the mindset of the Intelligence and Security personals.We believe that the circular might be a result of ignorance among our Security personals, we offer our services to teach them about Islam as and when required.”

By IANS,

Guwahati : An Assam court Thursday granted bail to chief of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary in connection with the Oct 30, 2008, serial bombings that killed over 100 people and injured over 500 others.

The Kamrup district sessions court granted bail to the NDFB leader, who was charge sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the main culprit behind the serial blasts.

The court, however, said Daimary would not leave Guwahati without obtaining prior permission from the judge and attend the hearing regularly.

The NDFB leader had been languishing in the Guwahati Central Jail here since mid-2010 when he was arrested in Bangladesh and subsequently handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF).

The CBI charge sheeted 22 accused in the case. Fourteen of them, including Daimary, are in judicial custody.

Daimary's sister and a prominent women rights activist Anjali Daimary, who was also present in the court, welcomed the decision and said it would help expedite the proposed peace talks with the NDFB.

By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,

Kolkata: Dalits and Muslims have to suffer from systematic targeting by police officials, across country. Several innocent people are thus languishing in jails, said Choton Das, State Secretary of `Bandi Mukti (Prisoner relief) Committee’, during the book release of `Left to Right’ by TG Jacob at Hotel Park Inn in Kolkata on 11 April, 2013.

The program was organized by the publisher Empower Press of India, Delhi.

Abdur Razzak Molla, Ex-Minister of West Bengal and Veteran CPIM leader was also present in the programme.

Das cited the example of Mustak, Hasanuz Zaman and several such young boys, who are languishing in jails although police has so far failed to produce any evidence against them.

He pointed out that in Kanimozhi case, Supreme Court had observed that `Bail is rule, jail is expectation’. However, several Dalits and Muslims are denied this basic right.

He informed that his `Bandi Mukti (Prisoner relief) Committee’ has written to the Human Rights Commission on several occasion, but to no avail.

Bikram Sarkar, Ex MP of Tranamul Congress and IAS speaking during the program.

Mustak, Hasanuz Zaman, former members of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, were arrested in 2008 from Murshidabad, along with another boy, on charges that they were in possession of and distributing leaflets in English, instigating them against state.

Das questioned that the Jangipur locality of Murshidabad is one of the most backward area, with low literacy, where most people cannot even read Bengali. He wondered why then leaflets were in English.

Das, who has met Hasanuz Zaman’s mother, said that she is widow and lives in a shanty hut and hence she has no means to move to the Apex Court.

Choton Das, State Secretary of `Bandi Mukti (Prisoner released) Committee speaking during a book launch in Kolkata.

Former Minister and veteran CPIM leader Abdur Razzak Molla said, power politics can change the situation of the Muslim, Dalits and schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe, and backward classes people in the state.

He said, even in CPIM Brahmins are majority, though they are minority according to census. All the leading political party is based on Brahmins leader including CPIM, Trinamul Congress, and Congress.

From Jyoti Basu to present Mamata Banerjee all state chief ministers in the state were Brahmanis.
He said that only if the Muslims, Dalits and other backward communities join hands can they emerge as strong force and influence the policies of the state.

Audience during the book launch of `Left to Right' at Hotel Park Inn in Kolkata.

Two times Member of Parliament from Trinamul Congress and retired IAS, Bikram Sarkar alleged that as he comes from a Dalit family, like several others he did not get the opportunities he deserved, even within his own party.

He remined that if Muslims, comprising 30 % of population, and Dalit and other backward communtites join hands together they will comprise of about 90 % population.

Writer Swapan Kumar Biswas, Educationist Dr Samsul Alam, Journalist Joynul Abedin and many other renowned persons were also present at the book launch and spoke on the subject.

On behalf of the publishers `Empower Press of India’ of Delhi senior executive Md Ismail was also present on the dais. They described in brief the contents of the book Left to right: From Marxism to Gandhism, the politics of India as stated in the book.

Some of the speakers urged the publisher to bring the Bengali translation of the book too.

By TCN News,

Aligarh: Dr. Anis Afzal, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering section, University Polytechnic of the Aligarh Muslim University has been appointed as Nodal Officer to take necessary action for implementing the scheme of Community College in the University Polytechnic.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has desired that all the central universities take crucial lead in setting up community Colleges in at least one of their constituent or affiliated colleges.

AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. General (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah on behalf of the Academic Council and Executive Council has approved the setting up/implementation of the scheme of Community College in the University Polytechnic. He has also approved on the recommendation of the Principal, University Polytechnic, appointment of Dr. Anis Afzal as Nodal Officer.

By Sanu George, IANS,

Kochi (Kerala) : Thirty-year-old Rasad Muhammad would never have thought that his desperate search for a kidney would end in a bus journey.

Muhammad, whose both kidneys have failed, was on his way to a hospital here for dialysis Feb 25 when he met 41-year-old Catholic priest K. Sebastian, who was sitting next to him in the bus.

After chatting for a while, the Christian priest came to know about Muhammad's travails and much to his disbelief offered him his kidney for free.

"I was under severe mental pressure because both my kidneys have stopped functioning. I was on my way to hospital for dialysis. After we started talking and I told him (Sebastian) about my trouble, the first question he asked me was: 'if I give you my kidney, will you accept?'" Muhammad told IANS.

When contacted, Sebastian was at the hospital here where the kidney transplant will be performed. He was accompanied by Muhammad's father Muhammad Kunju.

Muhammad used to work in a shop in Saudi Arabia and returned to India after his kidneys failed.

"When I heard that this young man was forced out of Saudi Arabia after he went blind in December last year, I felt that I could help him by donating one of my kidneys," Sebastian said.

However, it was not an instant decision. "It was at the back of my mind for a while that given an opportunity I would help a person by donating my kidney. When I met this young Muslim youth in the bus, it turned out to be a god-sent opportunity for both of us," Sebastian added.

"I felt his life was ending and I decided that it would be worth while if I could give him a new life through my efforts. I seized the opportunity. The very next day I phoned him and the day after reported for a medical check-up," the priest said.

But Muhammad did not believe Sebastian when he said he would phone him.

"Honestly, when the priest said that he would call me I did not believe it fully. But the call came the very next day and I could not believe it. Soon things started moving fast and the results of all the tests for the transplant have been positive," he said.

Sebastian added that he had to get the consent of his family too. His father immediately gave him the nod and thereafter he met Bishop Mar Mathew Arackal.

"The bishop gave me his blessings. We are now awaiting the mandatory clearance from the state medical board which is expected to come later this month. Since all the medical tests are positive, the clearance is only a formality and the transplant is likely to take place in May," Sebastian said.

Muhammad said the noble gesture of the priest has become a talking point in his home town Haripad in Alappuzha district.

"This has opened the eyes of many. I wish members of my community will come forward to at least help their relatives, who are in desperate need of organs," said Muhammad.

He said the surgery would cost Rs.500,000 and that his friends and well wishers were chipping in to make it possible.

(Sanu George can be contacted at sanu.g@ians.in)

By TCN News,

New Delhi: Act now for harmony and democracy, famous by its acronym ANHAD, is going to celebrate a decade of “safeguarding democracy, celebrating diversity and community work.”

ANHAD was formed in the first week of March 2003, conceived less as an organization and more as platform and a very loose movement, which is absolutely action oriented.

ANHAD has since tried to combine the elements of a structural organisation as well as that of a large scale movement by collaborating with existing organisations and movements and by undertaking local level activities. It enables ANHAD to develop creative co-operation with people's organisations and social movements working in different areas of social and cultural concerns.

Shabnam Hashmi and Prof Apoorvanand with the victims’ families from Dhule at the Press Club, New Delhi. [TCN file photo]

ANHAD actively works on issues related to democracy, secularism, communal harmony, gender equality, women empowerment and justice. It fights for human rights and rights of the marginalised communities.

ANHAD is involved in relief, rehabilitation, livelihood, women empowerment, vocational training, literacy and education. It celebrates cultural diversity and pluralism and intervenes at the policy level and is a strong advocacy group at the national level.

Formed in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riot in March 2003, ANHAD has seven eminent personalities as trustees:

K N Panikkar, historian and social commentator, Founding Trustee
Shubha Mudgal, musician, Trustee
Kamla Bhasin, activist and writer, Trustee
Saeed Akhtar Mirza, film maker and writer, Trustee
Harsh Mander, activist and writer, Founding Trustee
Ram Puniyani, writer, social activist, Trustee
Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, Founding and Managing Trustee

ANHAD has working offices in Delhi, Gujarat (Ahmadabad), Haryana (Hathin), Kashmir (Srinagar, Uri & Tangdar) and Bihar (Purnia).

ANHAD is a unique experience in activism and it is perhaps the only organisation of its kind with such a huge and diverse canvas of work.

ANHAD is known nationally for its work on human rights and minority rights. Everyone who works in ANHAD comes from very ordinary backgrounds with no formal qualifications like MSW or any other. Many are school and college drop outs, who did not have the opportunity to finish studies; there are women activists who coming out of their own difficult circumstances have become part of the organisation.

Areas of Work
1. Experiments in Secular Democratic Education

ANHAD organizes residential training camps to create awareness on issues related to democracy, secularism, communal harmony, pluralism and diversity, to counter prejudices, to plan actions and strategies for building an atmosphere of peace and justice.

In the past 10 years it has organised over 100 camps and discussion sessions and film screenings in colleges, schools and at its offices which has yielded quite encouraging results. These camps have been organized in Delhi, Gujarat, Goa, UP, Rajasthan, Kerala, Andhra, Orissa, Goa, Maharashtra, MP, Karnataka and other states.

2. Publications for Disseminating the Values of Democracy, Secularism, Equality and Justice

ANHAD realizes that giving intensive inputs to the activists does conscientise them but is not sufficient to equip them permanently. The arguments and the data that effectively opposes the prejudices has to be put in black and white. Anhad started producing material in easy and understandable language to inculcate the values of democracy, justice, pluralism and secularism. Anhad’s material- books, posters, Video CDs, exhibitions, leaflets, audio CDs, tribunal and fact finding reports have been very extensively used by various groups, colleges, institutions across India as well as in the Diaspora. Anhad has produced and disseminated thousands of books, video CDs, major exhibitions, close to one lakh posters and at least 50 lakh leaflets over the past 10 years and close to 100 small and big documentaries.

Anhad started an independent media production unit, which is now a separate organisation. Anhad uses social media including facebook and youtube for dissemination of ideas.

3. Organizing Seminars, Workshops, Conventions to Generate Intellectual Debate at the National and State Level

In order to stimulate intellectual debate as well as to respond to the political conditions in the country Anhad regularly organises seminars, workshops and conventions. Intellectuals, activists, members of the civil society, young students and youth from all over the country are invited to these programmes. About 60 seminars, conventions have been organised by Anhad over the last 10 years across the country. ANHAD has fearlessly spoken out in times of hopelessness and fear. It has given voice to the unheard at crucial times.

4. Celebrating Cultural Diversity

Anhad actively celebrates the secular, multi-layered cultural traditions of India, emphasizing that all creative endeavor upholds the values of secularism and pluralism. Anhad also provides platform to folk artists where they lack opportunities to conserve their art practices. Anhad actively engages with performing and visual artists to produce new repertoire around themes of peace and harmony.
Anhad has organised over 60 major cultural events across the country in the last 10 years.

5. People's Action for Public Policy and Law & a Pressure Group Safeguarding the Rights of Minorities and other Marginalized Sections & Freedom of Expression

Apart from its direct work on secular education, cultural action for pluralism, secularism and democracy, and youth activism, Anhad sees a major role for itself in building continuous civil society pressure for public policy and law for secular democracy and social justice. ANHAD works as a strong pressure group and is constantly intervening in policy making, organizing media campaigns, releasing statements, sending fact finding teams and organizing tribunals, sending memorandums, organizing protests, demonstrations, dharnas and so on. Anhad directly assists a large number of people in taking up their cases of discrimination at the political level and administrative level. Anhad activists continuously assist various national, international human rights teams, activists, journalists and researchers with their studies in Gujarat and other parts of India.

6. Relief and Rehabilitation Work

Anhad came into being in response to the Gujarat carnage and when the idea of Anhad was still generating different members of Anhad worked extensively in Relief camps in Gujarat providing relief to victims. Anhad has responded to the best of its abilities to provide relief and help in rehabilitating victims of both natural and manmade disasters. Anhad helped raised funds for victims of Tsunami and has directly provided livelihood support to 700 quake affected families in Kashmir, 500 flood hit families in bihar, livelihood support to 100 flood hit marginalized families and relief material to 1600 displaced families from the riverfront in Gujarat.

7. People’s Campaigns for Safeguarding Democracy

Anhad has actively worked since its inception to defeat communal forces in the country. We have organised huge campaigns and have reached out to lakhs of people through these campaigns in many states and across India. Hundreds of young people have given their free time almost round the clock to work, travel, perform, distribute leaflets, speak and interact with ordinary people across India in small villages, towns and cities. These campaigns have not only reached out to a huge number of people and made an impact but they have also produced wonderful activists by the sheer exposure to the ground realities. About 15 major state and national level campaigns have been organized by Anhad. In 2010 Campaign Reservation Express in support of 33% women reservation was organised. It covered 30,000kms and 60 cities touching lakhs of people across India. In 2012 a unique Rediscovering Gandhi campaign was organised where 60 young people started from Porbandar with Gandhi’s 10 new posters and took them to every district of Gujarat spreading the message of non-violence and peace.

8. Community Work

Anhad has done a huge amount of community work during the past ten years. It includes Literacy, Computer Education, Vocational Training, and Supporting Education of children from families of victims of conflict, Sports and cultural activities at village level, village development through building pressure groups at the village level, running youth clubs, women empowerment centers and resource centers at the village, Tehsil level. Anhad has also organized many health camps in places where there are no health facilities available. Awareness camps on various issues such as health and hygiene, literacy etc are organized on regular basis with the community. All youth clubs run after school coaching for village children. Daily newspapers, employment news, indoor and outdoor sports material is available at the youth clubs and women empowerment centers. Anhad has made over 10,000 women literate, gave vocational skills to over 3000 women, enabling them to earn a livelihood, took computer literacy to the remote corners of Kashmir. Today Anhad has a presence in approximately 30 villages. From getting the road made to forcing administration to build schools and providing water and electricity, to taking the areas problems up to the planning commission, everything is done by handful of the activists on the ground.

Shabnam Hashmi talking to media during the dharna [File photo TCN]

TEN YEAR PROGRAMME

APRIL 17, 18, 2013
ANHAD is organising a two day National Convention ‘Descent into Fascism: How Do We Stop It?’ at the Constitution Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi on April 17 & 18, 2013.

The convention will have representatives from a large number of states to present an over view of the situation from their states, experts who have worked on the questions of how terror has been used as a tool to demonise the minorities, communalisation of public and private spaces, culture, educational institutions and media & different segments of the society, it will look at recent cases of communal violence and the way forward.

A special panel of academicians, jurists, activists will at the end come out with recommendations for the government and the civil society.

Convention Schedule
APRIL 17, 2013
8.00-9.00am Breakfast for outstation participants and Registration
9.00-9.30am- Welcome
9.30-11.15- Session 1: Voices from the Ground: An Overview of the Situation from different states:
Chair: Gagan Sethi
Speakers : Deepak Bhatt- MP, Dr Anil Panikkar-Haryana, Faisal Anurag- Jharkhand, Kedar Misra-Orissa, Ramzan Chodhury-Haryana, Prof Haragopal- Andhra Pradesh, Dr. A Suneetha, Andhra Pradesh
11.15-1.00pm: Session 2: Voices from the Ground: An Overview of the Situation from different states:
Chair: Aruna Roy
Speakers: Anwar Ali- Kerala, Mohd Arif _UP, Neeraj Jain-Maharashtra, Pritha Kejriwal- West Bengal, Rajendra Sail- Chattisgarh, Shujaat Bukhari-Kashmir , Eric Pinto – Goa
1pm-2pm: Lunch
2pm-3.45pm-Session 3: Voices from the Ground: An Overview of the Situation from different states:
Chair: Prof. Rooprekha Verma
Speakers : Zakia Soman-Gujarat, Uttam Parmar-Gujarat, Yusuf Sheikh-Gujarat, Zamser Ali-Assam, Kavita Srivastava-Rajasthan, Arshad Ajmal-Bihar
3.45-5.30pm: Session 4: Terror a Tool to Demonise Minorities and Sangh Terror Network
Chair: Dr. Ram Puniyani
Speakers: Manisha Sethi, Shahnawaz Alam, Subhash Gatade, Rajeev Yadav, Ajit Sahi
5.30pm -TEA

April 18, 2013
8.00-900am: Breakfast
9.00- 11.15: Session 5: Communalisation of Public and Private Spaces, Cultural, Educational institutions and Media, Globalisation and Communalism
Chair: Colin Gonsalves
Speakers: Amit Sengupta, Anil Choudhry, Dr. Anupam Gupta, Avinash Kumar, Dr Harvardhan Hegde, Prof Atul Sood, Sukumar Muralidharan
11.15-1.00pm: Session 6: Political Response to Growing Communalism
Chair: Mahesh Bhatt
Speakers: D Raja-CPI, Digvijay Singh-Congress, DP Tripathi-NCP, Kavita Krishnan-CPI(ML), Ramvilas Pawan-LJP, Sitaram Yechury-CPM
1.00pm-2pm-Lunch
2.00-4.30pm: Session 7: The Way Forward and Recommendations
Chair: Prof KN Panikkar
Speakers: Syeda Hamid, Vrinda Grover, Seema Mustafa, Dr. KM Shrimali, Harsh Mander, Dr John Dayal, Dr. Apoorvanand

April 17, 2013
Celebrating Diversity- An Evening of Poetry, Music and Dance

7.00- 10pm

Welcome: Safeguarding and Celebrating Cultural Diversity: Kamala Bhasin

ANHAD Cultural Group, Uri, J & K
They will be giving two performances of folk Kashmiri Dances Chakri and Ruf.

Shabnam Hashmi and Navaid Hamid talking to press in Delhi after returning from Assam on 9th August 2012 [TCN file photo]

Joint Performance by Avni Sethi & Dhruv Sangari

In the syncretic and secular imagination the experience of India has ever been that of a river. Both cyclical and linear, singular as well as plural. With streams separating and merging, sometimes blending with other rivers arriving from faraway, occasionally changing course creating a whole new journey in the process. Traveling in solitude yet belonging to all simultaneously.

Embodiments of that river like nature have always cast long shadows across the space and time of the social and cultural history of the subcontinent. Be it Kalidas, Khusrau or Farid, Bulleshah, Tukaram or Kabir, Meera, Tulsi or Raskhan, Ratanbai, Tyagaraja or Akkamahadevi , Iqbal, Premchand or Faiz... Through their interventions in music, art, scholarship and literature they have influenced the discourse and values of generations, widened and deepened the flow of the river and birthed altogether new rivulets.

To mark the 10 years of ANHAD and celebrating the vibrant diversity and streams of consciousness that flow all around us, Interdisciplinary artist Avni Sethi and Sufi musician Dhruv Sangari present 'Dialogues across time'. A collaborative dance and music recital narrating the stories of poets and thinkers speaking to each other through the ages.

Anwar Ali, poet, essayist and film-script writer, is very active in today's Malayalam literary scene.He has published a collection, Mazhakalam, and has won awards for his film scripts.He works as an auditor with the Kerala State Audit Department.

Gauhar Raza is a scientist by profession, and a leading Urdu poet, social activist and documentary film maker working to popularize the understanding of science among general public, known for his films like Jung-e-Azadi, on the India's First War of Independence, and Inqilab (2008) on Bhagat Singh and Zulmaton Ke daur Main on Fascism.

GOVT GIRLS SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL, BHALOUT, ROHTAK
A group of young girls will perform Haryanvi Folk Dance on questions of dowry, women subjugation and the fight for gender equality.

KHURSHID AKRAM
Poet from Bihar

MANGLESH DABRAL
He is an established Hindi writer, poet and well know journalist. Manglesh Dabral will recite his poems. He is a major voice in contemporary Hindi poetry. His poetry has been translated into major Indian and foreign languages.

MAXFORT SCHOOL, DWARKA

Students from Maxfort school will perform a song: Barabari- which was specially written for the One Billion Rising campaign for Dwarka event.

NAMRATA PAMNANI

Born in 1980, Namrata Pamnani began her training in Kathak with Guru Smt. Bharti Gupta with later specialization under Pt. Jaikishan Maharaj at the National Institute of Dance, Kathak Kendra, in New Delhi. A graduate in Economics from Delhi University, Namrata decided to take up her passion as a profession. She has also taken formal training in Hindustani classical music and holds a diploma from Prayag Sangeet Samiti; she is also learning the nuances of dhrupad singing from the Gundecha brothers. Namrata believes that dance is a form of self purification.

Some of her major overseas performances have been at the Lincoln Centre in New York, the International Kathak Festival in Chicago, the Avignon Festival in France, and at venues in Switzerland, Estonia, Finland, South Korea, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Moscow, Sri Lanka and Germany.

Within India she has been featured at the Kathak Mahotsava (Baroda), Konark Festival, Pt. Lacchu Maharaj Utsav, Kalakshetra Festival, Natya Vriksha Festival, Taj Mahotsava and Kathak Yatra by Sangeet Natak Academy. Namrata has been a member of the renowned Kathak Kendra Repertory, New Delhi where she had the opportunity of working under some of the best gurus.
Namrata will be performing a piece on non-violence specially conceived for Anhad.

Siddi Goma Tribal Dance Group

The Siddis of Gujarat are a tribal Sufi community of East African origin which came to India eight centuries ago and made Gujarat their home. They carried with them their exceptionally rich musical tradition and kept it alive and flourishing through the generations, unknown to the rest of the world.

A traditional occupation of African-Indian Sufis in Gujarat has been to perform sacred music and dance as wandering faqirs, singing songs to their black Sufi saint, Bava Gor.

Sidi Goma perform in a group of twelve: four lead musicians (drummers and singers) and eight dancers. While the music gradually gets more rapid and excited, the dances unfold with constantly evolving individual and small-group acts of animal imitations, climaxing in a coconut-breaking feat.

The exuberant energy and joy Sidi Goma brings to the stage is captivating and powerful, their unique African-Indian heritage a fascinating discovery, and every performance an exhilarating experience!

VIDYA SHAH is a singer, composer and writer from New Delhi, India. She was initially trained in Carnatic music, and later received guidance in the North Indian genres of Khayal (from Shubha Mudgal and Mujahid Hussain Khan) and Thumri Dadra, and Ghazal (from Shanti Hiranand). She has performed at several national and international forums, including the Tansen Samaroh in Gwalior,
The Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C, The Asia Society in New York and the Bode Museum in Berlin.

A popular performer and a prolific composer, she is a recipient of the Charles Wallace Award, a Senior Fellowship from the Government of India and is Director of "Women on Record", a performance highlighting the contributions of the forgotten women performers in the Gramophone era. She will be singing progressive poetry from Faiz, Ibn e Insha, Ali Sardar Jafri.

VISHNU NAGAR
He is an established Hindi writer, poet and well know journalist. Vishnu Nagar will recite his poems.
Documentaries by Mohan Kumawat & Sania Hashmi (Anhad Production House) and Arma Ansari (Anhad)

By TCN News,

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Union government, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Health, Central Board of Secondary Education, Medical Council of India etc. on exclusion of Urdu as a medium of examination for admission to MBBS/BDS and allied medical courses through National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)-2013.

A Division Bench of Justice A.K. Patnaik and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyay asked the respondents to file their replies within a week.

Jamiat Ulama-i Hind and other petitioner Ansari Mahin Fatema, a girl aspirant hailed from Beed Maharashtra in their petition, urged the court to issue a direction, in the interest of thousands of Urdu medium students, to respondents to include Urdu as medium of examination like other eight national and regional languages were included.

Senior advocate Anoop George Chaudhari, assisted by Shakil Ahmad Syed, Mohd. Parvez Dabas and Shuaibuddin, appearing in the aforesaid case argued that the respondents’ decision of conducting the NEET in English, Hindi and other 6 regional languages excluding Urdu language is “discriminatory, arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution.”

They further maintained that even Marathi language was included even though there is not a single Marathi Medium Science Jr. college all over Maharashtra, whereas, there are more than 7800 Urdu medium students and the number of junior colleges in which the medium of instruction is Urdu is as high as 227 in the state. The total number of such junior colleges in the entire state is thus much higher, whereas Marathi medium students are only about 350.

Referring to the petitioner student, they said he Petitioner is an Urdu medium student of intermediate/XIIth and could not fill up forms of NEET an entrance test mandatory for admission to medical courses due to exclusion of the Urdu language from medium of question papers.

In petition it was also asserted that The Maharashtra Government and other State Govt. prior to 2013 conducted entrance test for medical courses in regional languages including Urdu. And on 03.12.2012 Govt. of Maharashtra issued notification that it is mandatory to appear in NEET for admission to medical courses and State Govt. will not conduct any test for admission to MBBS and 12 other medical courses.

The CBSE issued notification regarding admission to the medical courses MBBS, BDS etc. making provision that candidates who have passed XII and equivalent qualifying exam from State Board Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil nadu and west Bengal under state quota can opt for Question paper in regional languages i.e. Telugu, Assamese, Gujrati, Marathi, Tamil and Bengali. The CBSE excluded the Urdu language from the medium of language of question papers.

Maulan Mahmood Madani, general secretary Jamiat Ulama –i-Hind, who is providing finance for fighting the case said this issue is not limited to Urdu students aspiring to compete in the NEET exam but its effect will extent to future of thousands of Urdu medium colleges. In view of sensitivity involved when the issue came to our information we asked our advocates to immediately move to the Supreme Court. He is optimistic that the decision would come in his favour.

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,

Patna: Over two years after the Forbesganj police firing on the protesting villagers against the blocking of a road for a proposed factory, arrest warrants have been issued in the name of fifty persons, including six dead in the police brutality, for vandalism.

On 3rd June 2011, residents of Rampur and Bhajanpur villages under Forbesganj block in Araria district came out, after Juma Prayer, to protest against blockade of the connecting road between the two villages for a factory. The police not only opened fire on the protestors but chased them to their homes, entered in and killed even women and infant pointblank. Six people including two women and a six-month-old infant of the two villages of 90% Muslim population were killed.

TwoCircles.net had got an exclusive video of the bodies of all six victims including the infant and was the first one to break the story that in many ways, forced the national media to take cognigence.

Of those against whom warrants have been issued include 6 dead persons, and other 14 members of the victims’ families as well as 23 witnesses who deposed before the inquiry commission and also included their names in the court complaints.

The horror of police brutality has come back to haunt the villagers, many of whom have now fled. Some villagers also held a press conference in Patna on April 10 and alleged that the police is doing so to force them to agree to some kind of compromise with the company, whose shareholders include a BJP leader.

Interestingly the state government appointed Judicial Commission, that is inquiring the police firing has not yet completed its report. There is another petition pending in the Supreme Court seeking CBI probe. Surely these arrest warrants will create undue pressure on the witnesses.

Related:
Special series on Forbesganj police firing

By M Naushad Ansari,

Patna: “Initiation of positive work results into a real success. Allah helps those who help themselves,” said Syed Saeed Ahmed, eminent personality development trainer and motivator.

Saeed was on 14 days trip to Bihar from 29 March to 9 April. He conducted extensive workshops, sometime two in a day, on personality development at different places. During the trip he addressed students, teachers, social workers, da’ees, women and technocrats.

At Khuda Bakhs Library, Patna - ( Mr. Saeed addressing, Mr. Imtiaz, Director, Khuda Bakhs Library & Dr. Khursheed Mallick - L to R).

While conducting a personality development workshop for social activists and da’ees (preachers) at Shanti Sandesh Kendr, Patna, Saeed, said that Allah loves excellence. One must endeavour hard to do work in the best way.

“Social work is a challenging task. One must possess high level of self esteem, which will inflate one’s confidence level. If you have confidence you will discharge your duties successfully. Building self confidence is the first step towards your path of social work, which will throw open all the doors to success,” he added.

At Khuda Bakhsh Khan Library

We must work to alleviate the hardships we, our families and our communities face. Muslims must never become fatalistic. Although we know only Allah is in control and that He has decreed all things, we are responsible for making the right choice and doing the right thing in all situations of our lives. Our sincere effort and supplication will surely affect our fate. ‘Allah doesn’t change a person until one changes oneself’, he asserted.

Saeed involved the participants in serious meditation, taught methods for enhancing concentration and enhancing memory power. His powerful presentations were electrifying, motivating people to think and analyse themselves.

At Oriental College, Patna

He enjoined them to explore possibilities and opportunities that lie within. He emphasized that for our empowerment Allah has bestowed us with four powers viz., body power, heart power, spiritual power and mind power. We should take care of all these powers in a balanced manner. He also briefed the method for their usage and upkeep. Indeed, it is the body wherein other three important powerful tools are fitted, he explained. If body is healthy, all other organs will work well. Our heart should be strong enough to absorb and accept only those which are positive and healthy for the self and for the society.

For development of spiritual power one need to pray to Allah (SWT) with full sincerity and concentration. Other forms of meditation too will be very helpful. Mind power is, finally, the most important tool which, indeed, makes the person to be active in life and to take right decision at right time. Our weaknesses are fear, hate, back-bitedness, jealousy etc. One needs to get rid of these through positive thinking.

At Rahbar Coaching, Hajipur

Addressing students at Patna Muslim High School, he stressed that a good listener is always a good learner. Proper planning is basic need for your success. Those who plan well succeed in their life and reach to the zenith of success. You need to plan for your success in this world and also in the world hereafter, which is eternal. If you don’t plan for your success, by default, you are planning for your failure. Forget your past. Start planning today. Have a healthy dream for your success. Get up early, thanking Allah that He has given you another day. Every day starts with new opportunities. Your success depends on your sincere effort to the best of your abilities. Efforts, not results, count in the Eyes of Allah.

“Life is too short to be wasted in gossiping or hating anyone. Make peace with your surroundings. No one is in charge of your happiness except you alone” emphasized Saeed while interacting with women at Shanti Sandesh Kendr, Patna. We will carry load of ourselves. Most people also blame paucity of time. But most of us have the same amount of time at our disposal. Some use it profitably to reach the goal of success. It is important that we don’t waste our time. Problems are simply part of our life, which will disappear with the passage of time and with a proper planning. When your heart feels heavy with stress or grief, remember Allah and surround yourself with His Zikr. Zikr refers to all forms of the remembrance of Allah, including Salat, Tasbeeh, Tahmeed, Tahleel, making supplication (Dua), and reading Quran. He emphasized that women are, indeed, architects of personality of individual. It is women who affect the children most during their first five years of development. It is the age when children grasp maximum knowledge, behaviour and attitude. It is the most crucial period of personality development and, hence, full care needs to be taken to implant good behaviour and positive attitude by mothers. Women need to maintain peace and positive environment at home.

Audience at Khuda Bakhsh Library, Patna

In his address at Learning Centre, Anand Place, Patna he emphatically declared that every individual has been divinely gifted with ability to achieve in his life what he dreams for himself. This needs correct identification of one's purpose of life, passion, aptitude and focused action. Success requires that one keeps learning all through. Fear of unknown and fear of uncertain conditions and questions like 'what if' bothers most individuals. Most of such fears are unreal. One should not dwell in the past as it cannot be rewritten. Start each day with a new enthusiasm, hope and courage. Hopelessness is ‘kufr’ in Islam, he said.

These Personality Development and Motivation workshops were sponsored by Dr. Khursheed Mallick of Indian Muslim Educational Foundation, North America and was co-organised by Bihar Anjuman and Imarat-e-Shariah, Bihar.

(M Naushad Ansari is the President of Shanti Sandesh Kendr, Patna)

Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood,

Charged with the urge to ensure better and deeper relationships with fellow citizens across the world, members of Muslim minority communities - representing twenty countries spanning six continents - gathered in Paris, 29-31 March 2013. They assembled in their diversity - scholars, academics, professionals, entrepeneurs, leaders, activists and media practitioners - to find a common voice for more than 25% of the global Muslim community that exists in almost every country of the world. The objective of infusing in these societies greater dynamism, creativity, cohesiveness, respect and a cosmopolitan character is what brought the participants together, they being mindful of the Quranic injunction: God created the earth for the entire humanity (55.10).

The Colloquium was conscious of it's collective concern that, in some parts of the world, Muslims and their fellow citizens are drifting apart, that the space for inter-group engagement is diminishing, and that, at the heart of this process are the twin challenges of Islamophobia and extremism. The perpetrators of both of these misguided movements blame and disgrace each other and both need to be confronted and checked. Yet the Colloquium did not convene in despair. Instead, it convened because Muslims are seeing an opportunity to reposition themselves, rethink their relationships with fellow citizens, and better harness the resources at their disposal to participate in the decision-making processes in and mutually share the ownership of their countries.

This opportunity presents itself in the surge for more realistic freedom, democracy, human rights and dignity across the world - including in overwhelmingly Muslim societies. This opportunity also comes from a world drained and exhausted with decades of militarism and violence - to resolve political, social and economic problems. Most importantly, there is an opportunity as the world community emerges from the long night of suspicion, fear, antipathy and hostility after the tragedy of 9/11 - to reach out to each other in a spirit of empathy, healing and reconciliation.

The Colloquium resolved it's determination to mitigate the mutual concerns, explore together where the opportunities will take them, and through honest dialogue – free of platitudes - find ways to enrich the spaces already occupied jointly: where Muslims live, work, pray and play and where their diversity enables their uniquenesses to form a creative whole.

Realising that these goals are not easy to achieve, the experiences shared by the participants over three days of deliberations spoke of multiple challenges ranging, among others, from immigration practices to rhetoric on Shariah. But the Colloquium was far more aware of the need for leadership. A transition may be afoot, if there is collective will. Leadership for Muslim minorities entails, amongst others, that:

- Muslims dialogue with fellow citizens about eliminating Islamophobia in attitude, word and deed – even as they reflect on how their existence - in name and often their silence - helps make them objects of fear;

- Muslims engage their societies about the contribution they continue to make to the nations they share – even as they evaluate whether their differences and number, that constitute them as a minority, are not in danger of casting them as the constant outsider;

- Muslims reassure the fellow global citizens - through verbal expression and praxis - that the teachings of their faith are unequivocal about the need to respect the intrinsic value, honour and dignity of all humans irrespective of difference; and

- Muslims invite the fellow citizens to walk the road of courage with them, together, as they manage the uncertainties of globalization and the vulnerabilities of a world mired in recession.

Deliberating upon it's theme Living where we don’t make the rules, the Colloquium trawled the scripts and scholarship of Islam, reignited the values and objectives of the faith and reinvigorated the valuable traditions and treasures of Muslim history. It was convinced of the utility to live by the Maqaasid-us-Shariah (objectives and values of Islam), guided by the internal religious ethics and principles and accessing God’s promise of providing ease. Accordingly, the Ummah can (a) through intense internal consultation, arrive at a jurisprudence of citizenship and a paradigm of shared spaces to bring comfort to over 300 million Muslims living as minorities in varied historical and social circumstances and (b) partner with and warmly reassure all fellow citizens of the world. For this purpose, the participants renewed their awareness that the Quran 'defines for us both the rights we should expect, and the responsibilities we should fulfill': God enjoins you to be kind towards non-hostile co-citizens and, indeed, God loves those who are just (Quran 60.9).

The Colloquium realized that even as Muslims assert the right for the profession and practice of their faith, they must ensure the mutual enjoyment of that right; and as they seek the peace and security for themelves, they need to guarantee it to others. In their quest to be kind and just to those with whom they enjoy such mutuality, they express it through integration in society, sharing a common national identity and through practices of reciprocation. The Colloquium noted the good example of South Africa where Muslims participated in the struggle against apartheid, integrating with democratic values, mutual dignity and enrichment, thus demonstrating the potential for harmonizing the relationship between faith and society.

The Colloquium resolved to transform emotions into strategy, intentions into actions, and ambiguity into decisiveness. Guided by Islam, learning from an array of best practices drawn from a variety of countries and programs, and inspired to be ideal citizens of respective countries, the participants found themselves on the road to the 'imaginative and creative rethinking of our identities and roles, committed to meeting the common social, economic and political challenges for the betterment of all our respective societies, and mustering the courage to defuse the potential for both Islamophobia and extremism'.

The Colloquium participants left Paris equipped with a network across the six continents to realize the vision of shared societies and a commitment to harness the power of a jurisprudence of citizenship. This network is charged with convening a broader and more representative gathering of Muslim minorities, to utilize the current moment of opportunity, to conceptualise and construct such shared spaces in which peace and security for all will be the basis of mutuality of faith and the plurality in citizenship. Such a positive and constructive approach will manifest in the methodologies that are developed for (a) the education of the community, (b) training of its religious leadership to ensure an effective response to the lived realities and the challenges faced by the emerging generations, and (c) the deployment of all forms of media for the correct projection of Muslim image and message.

This network will also be charged with structuring Muslim dialogue with fellow citizens of other faiths and cultures, ensuring 'our engagement with people made vulnerable in a difficult and - sometimes harsh - world, and finding solidarity with those who are marginalized and alienated because they are different. In doing so, we exert ourselves, and exhort all Muslims, to rise above the heartburns and injuries we may harbor, and rather, to respond to the call of God to cooperate with each other in pursuit of the good and piety'.

Participants in the Colloquium:
Australia - Dr Sven Schottmann; Belguim - Dr Beddy Ebnou; Brazil - Sheikh Hassan Hammadeh; Canada - Dr Ingrid Mattson; France - Prof Ahmad Jaballah, Rim-Sarah Alouane; Germany - Prof Ibrahim El-Zayat; Hungary - Sultan Sulok; India - Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood; Nigeria - Imam Nurudeen Lemu; Qatar - Sheikh Ali Al-Quradaghi; Romania - Dr Abu al Ola Al Ghithy; Russia - Ahmad Azimov; Singapore - Dr Albakri Ahmad, Feisal Marican; Mohammed Nassir; South Africa - Dr Waheeda Amien, Imran Garda, Haroon & Yasmeen Kalla, Munier Parker, Amb Ebrahim Rasool, Tahir Salie, Rosieda Shabodien, Sheikh Hendricks Seraaj; Switzerland - Prof Tariq Ramadan; Tunisia - Sheikh Rashid Ghannouchi; United Kingdom - Mudassar Ahmed, Dr Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali, Dr Mohamed Ashmawey, Khatija Barday-Wood, Sarah Joseph, Br Faruq Murad, USA - Salam Al-Marayati, Dr Mohammed El-Sanussi, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Dr Saieed Syeed, Dr Najeea S-Miller, Haris Tarin, Tayyibah Taylo,; Imam Pelamin El-Ami, Prof Ebrahim Moosa.

(Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, President, Zakat Foundation of India info@zakatindia.org)

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,

New Delhi: Syed Zahid Ahmad, Founder of Economic Initiatives, has written a letter to Shri K. Rehman Khan, Minister for Ministry of Minority Affairs as rejoinder to a meeting held with him earlier, and emphasizing on the restructuring of National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC).

In the letter he thanked the Minister for discussion over ‘restructuring of NMDFC’ and scope of introducing ‘Windows for Interest Free Banking in India’. While appreciating efforts to restructure NMDFC so that corrupt practices can be checked and the funds through NMDFC can be appropriately utilized and refunded back, he also expressed dissatisfaction in appointing banks as channelizing agency for NMDFC and discarding community based financial institution, since the banks are often found to be ignoring the Muslim community.

“Appointing banks as channelizing agency for NMDFC (and disallowing societies and NBFCs) would mean that we target to serve less than 50% national population and less than 10% Muslim population who are connected with banks,” he wrote.

He hence demanded, “If the Government of India intends to say that the PM 15 point programme has helped eliminating any sort of discrimination in extending finance to Muslims in India, the figures on community wise credits and deposits at different scheduled commercial banks should be published periodically and put on public domain.”

He added, “Unless demand for financial services is improved, mere increase in supply of credit through banks cannot promote financial inclusions of Muslims. Genuine demand for finance among Muslims cannot be build unless we allow participatory banking model wherein Muslims can transact banking activities without indulging into ‘interest’ which is strictly prohibited in Islam.”

Pitching for the interest free banking, he wrote, “We accept that Interest free banking has yet to prove its safety standards. But that requires involvement of qualified and experienced professionals dealing in risk management of assets. Unprofessional management in a framework with number of regulatory hurdles for interest free banking has caused failures in past."

You are supposed to represent the Government view point, but the community holds lot of expectations from you and hope that you would always do justice with the community striving hard to get faith based financial services, he added, urging him to “arrange healthy discussion over the issue between RBI, and financial experts serving the community under adverse regulatory conditions for interest free banking to get best possible way out under present regulatory framework.”

Zahid Ahmad has hence urged the Minority Affairs Minster to constitute a special task force or working group in MoMA to “improve its working efficiency with regard to prepare and execute genuinely sound annual plans, optimally utilize allocated budgetary resources, help achieving financial inclusion of Muslims and to coordinate with inter ministerial task forces for better results.”

By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,

New Delhi: India is writing a new literary chapter in Marrakesh with a boutique bookstore, "Kathakali", which is opening up the world of South Asian, Indian and world literature to Moroccan readers.

The bookstore - the first to be owned by an Indian business conglomerate, the Apeejay Surrendra Group - is managed by director of the group Priti Paul, who also looks after the affairs of the Oxford Bookstore chain across the country.

"I have just opened my bookstore in Marrakesh. It is like a boudoir of books offering readers selections from French, Arabic and English languages. The shop has a huge section devoted to African books as well," Priti Paul, director of the Apeejay Surrendra Group told IANS in the capital.

Paul, who lives in Africa, divides her time between India and Morocco to conduct her book business.

"The literacy rate in Morocco is low and books are expensive. They do not have special-priced editions like in India. But Moroccans' passion for books is amazing. Even the expensive books in my shop are selling," Paul said.

The bookstore has a distinctly Arab feel to it with a rich Islamic decor in bright red bases and Moroccan furniture.

The highlight of the store is the collection of Indian writing that has been received well people in Marrakesh, Paul said.

"I have taken Indian authors who write on relevant and universal subjects like Gandhi and children's books published by Katha, a Indian publisher with a strong commitment to tradition. It has more than 150 titles for young readers," Paul said.

The director of the Apeejay Surrendra Group said "the books by Katha were an introduction to Indian cultural and literary heritage for Moroccans".

"There is no Indian diaspora in Morocco. But why can't African and Moroccan readers buy Indian books when we are familiar with African literature. It is difficult business proposition given the competition from bi-lingual bookstores and publishing houses in the country. French and Arabic are the two predominant languages in Morocco," Paul explained.

"I am trying to bring African books to India written or translated in English," Paul said.

Paul believes that children must know where they come from. "I am doing a Young Zubaan imprint for children with the APJ Press of highly visual graphic novels with Indian content. There are four titles," Paul said, citing Indian contexts for books.

"If a child is shown grappling with an animal in a book, it should be a crocodile rather any other foreign beast because a crocodile is an Indian animal," she said.
Paul's target audience is children.

Bookstores need to redefine itself to stay afloat in the future. "Those big bookstores have shrunk in US. The large chainstores of books with racks upon racks of books are soul-less. Where do you go," Paul said.

The new bookstores should be "breakaway spaces, interactive and entertainment spaces that will promote literature with related cultural and reading events. It should be holistic combination of books, culture, arts, fashion and food," Paul said.

The Apeejay Surrendra Group that built its bookstore chain with the acquisition of the 1919 Oxford Bookstore and Stationary Company, an iconic heritage landmark of Kolkata, has revived a 100-year-old British Raj relic in Connaught Place to relocate its bookstore in the national capital.

A sprawling white colonial mansion in the N-Block of the capital's commercial district has been extensively restored and renovated over the last 18 months to make room for the store, Paul said.

The bookstore was earlier located in The Statesman building.

"It is our contribution to the capital's built heritage - and model of heritage regeneration. The space was in disrepair. It was difficult. We have restored three heritage structures so far - the Jantar Mantar in the capital, the Park Mansions in Kolkata and the colonial building in Connaught Place," she said.

(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)

By V.S. Karnic, IANS,

Bangalore: The people of Karnataka are either enigmatic or intelligent voters - they have a litany of complaints against national parties and the central government but have been reluctant to vote a regional party to power in the state.

They believe that their neighbours - mainly Tamil Nadu and to some extent Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa - are always favoured over Karnataka by the central government in matters ranging from water to power.

However, this grouse, often expressed through demonstrations and shutdowns, has not translated into love for regional or smaller parties.

The main reason is no strong regional party has taken root, though the attempts continue.

Three attempts in the past were made by stalwarts of Karnataka politics D. Devaraj Urs, S. Bangarappa and Ramakrishna Hegde.

But there was a major drawback in their attempts.

All three were part of national parties like Congress or Janata Dal and had enjoyed power in various capacities - ending up as chief ministers.

Their attempts were also not sustained for long as they seemed to lose enthusiasm after electoral defeats in their first attempts as heads of regional outfits.

This lack of voters' enthusiasm has not deterred the Bharatiya Janata Party's first chief minister in Karnataka, B.S. Yeddyurappa, to try his luck.

Yeddyurappa, who heads the Karnataka Janata Party after quitting the BJP, is confident that the time is now ripe for the success of a regional party in the state.

The fate suffered by Urs, Bangarappa and Hegde shows Yeddyurappa's confidence seems misplaced as he too suffers from the same faultline as these three leaders, who have since passed away.

In the case of Yeddyurappa, it is actually a double-fault.

He claims only a regional party in power in Karnataka, and not a national party, can get justice for the state from the central government.

At the same time, he is reluctant to pull out his son B.Y. Raghavendra, from BJP. Raghavendra is BJP Lok Sabha member and was suspended from the party only early this week for "anti-party" activities as he has been openly working for his father's outfit.

Raghavendra, too, has not shown any inclination to quit his Lok Sabha membership and claimed after his suspension that he can now work harder for the development of his constituency, Shimoga, about 280km north of Bangalore!

Another prominent KJP leader is Yeddyurappa loyalist and former BJP minister C.M. Udasi. His son Shivakumar Udasi is also a BJP Lok Sabha member from Karnataka and has been suspended for working for KJP. Like Raghavendra, Udasi junior is also not keen on giving up his Lok Sabha membership.

Going to the voters on regional sentiments while suffering from such serious contradiction of allowing sons to remain in a national party is more like testing the intelligence of the electorate rather than seeking their mandate.

This, perhaps, is the reason for the widespread belief in the state - and across the nation - that the KJP will fare poorly in the May 5 poll for the 225-member assembly, which includes one nominated member.

The people of Karnataka seem destined to live with national parties and see their list of complaints against central government grow as only disgruntled leaders from those parties keep floating regional outfits.

(V.S. Karnic can be contacted at vs.karnic@ians.in)

By IANS,

Panaji: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the industrial might of the state stole the show Saturday at a corporate brainstorming session here to throw up suggestions for Goa's proposed investment policy.

Nearly every speaker at the 'Industrial growth through new Investment Policy-2013' extolled the virtues of Modi and how he attracted and cleared the road for industrial investment in his state.

"This was the first time that the allotment of plots by the IDC (Industrial Development Corporation) was carried out in a fair and transparent manner. It was based on the Gujarat model," said Anil Kher, former chairman of the Goa unit of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), one of the early champions of Modi at the meeting.

Allotment of plots by the IDC has been wrought with controversy over decades in Goa, with the government-run corporation being accused of opaque functioning and industrial scale corruption.

According to Kher, an educationist, the transparency advocated by the Modi model did the trick this year, something even the president of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Manguirish Pai Raikar acknowledged.

"This transparency in plot allotment is what we learnt from Gujarat government. This was perhaps the first time that the allottee was allowed to choose a plot, instead of being allotted one. The latter method kept doors open for partisanship," Raikar said at the seminar, where some of the top Goan industrialists and corporate honchos were present.

The objective of the meeting was to draw up a charter of ideas and suggestions for the Goa government, which is in the process of formulating an investment policy, before making a push for investments into the state.

Arun Naik, managing director of the Goa-based Merit Parmaceuticals and former head of the Goa Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (GPMA), said that while there was a huge chunk of people who were critical of Brand Modi, it was imperative to see how he had actually managed to attract investment worth billions to the western state.

He recounted an instance of a Goan businessman, who had set up an industrial unit in Gujarat, who was actually received at the airport by the Gujarat chief minister himself.

"He makes people feel wanted. That is why he has attracted so much investment there," Naik said.

However, former Congressman and now an independent legislator Vijai Sardessai, said that the story of Gujarat's success lies in the Godhra riots.

"We do not want a replication of Modi's model here because his success story began with Godhra. We do not want that kind of development here," Sardessai said, who alleged that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was only keen on following Gujarat's mode of development.

By IANS,

New Delhi: Exhibiting its antipathy to the projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the NDA's prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the JD-U Saturday found fault with the alliance management of the BJP but did not signal that it was moving closer to the Congress.

Janata Dal-Untied (JD-U) spokesperson K.C. Tyagi raised questions over Narendra Modi's role in containing the 2002 riots in the state as chief minister.

"As chief minister, Narendra Modi had not shown the alacrity and sensitivity in dealing with the riots which occurred in 2002," Tyagi said after the first day of national meeting of the party here.

Answering questions on the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA, he indicated that the issue would be answered in the party's political resolution at the meeting of national convention Sunday.

The JD-U is opposed to Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. There has been growing clamour in the ranks of the BJP for projecting Modi as the candidate for the post.

Tyagi Saturday did not put a timeframe for the BJP to declare its prime ministerial candidate, which will clear the air on Modi.

Asked if the party would give a timeframe to the BJP, Tyagi said: "The BJP is a friendly party and there is no business and pressure tactics which is adopted with an ally."

He said that the BJP had not named a prime ministerial candidate yet.

"Until the BJP's parliamentary board takes a decision on the prime ministerial candidate, we will not comment," he said.

Citing speeches of party leaders from states such as Karnataka, Jharkhand and Rajasthan at the Saturday's meeting of national executive, Tyagi said they had said the BJP had been "not honestly followed the coalition dharma".

Also distancing his party from the BJP's stance on Kashmir, he said the political resolution will spell out the differences.

Tygai said the party's national executive meeting Saturday discussed organisational matters.

Answering queries, he said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was not a claimant to the prime minister's post.

About the Congress, he said "it was not our friendly party".

He said Congress did have right to speak on secularism like the JD-U as the 1984 anti-Sikh riots took place when its government was in power in Delhi.

Reaffirming the JD-U's commitment to secularism, Tyagi said that the erstwhile Janata Dal leaders had been instrumental in arrest of BJP leader L.K. Advani during his yatra to Ayodhya.

He said party's alliance with BJP was 17 years old and was formed after an agreement on national agenda that did not include issues like Ram temple at Ayodhya, uniform civil code and Article 370.

Tyagi had earlier in the day given indications that his party could give the BJP time to declare the prime ministerial candidate.

Sources said that there had been back channel talks between the senior BJP and JD-U leaders as tensions were simmering over the issue of prime ministerial candidate.

They said BJP president Rajnath Singh had spoken to JD-U president Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar on the issue.

Nitish Kumar has expressed reservations over Modi's candidature for prime ministership over the 2002 Gujarat riots that happened under his watch.

BJP president Rajnath Singh Saturday said that the alliance with the JD-U was firmly in place and any issues between the two parties would be sorted out.

"The JD-U is an old ally. If there is any issue, it will be sorted out mutually," Rajnath Singh told reporters here.

The JD-U is the largest constituent of the NDA after the BJP, with 20 members in the Lok Sabha. The party leads the government in Bihar, with the BJP as its junior partner.

By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: Probably for the first time in India’s north-eastern state Assam has witness this incident that a girl has been asked not to come to school wearing a hijab (a scarf which covers the head which is particularly worn by Muslim women). The incident took place at Kristo Jyoti School, Bokakhat in Golaghat district.

Fathima Beebi, a four year old Nursery student was served notice by the school authority to remove the hijab which she wears around her head or to stop from coming to school anymore.

Fathima Beebi a four year old Nursery student was served notice by the school authority to remove the hijab

Now, the parent of the student has knocked the door of court seeking justice to follow their tradition. The girl who was admitted in the school in the month of November in 2012 was asked by the school authority on March 21 this year not to wear the hijab. But when she disobeyed the authority, the principal Father Jose Vargsees served a notice to the parents on March 28 to remove the hijab within 15 days of time or not to come to school.

“We were shocked at the behaviour of the school authority. They have serious problem with my daughter wearing a piece of cloth around her head which is a tradition for ages. They were adamant with their say which is quite baseless. So, we have no other option left but to seek justice from the judicial system of the country,” an angry Shanamon AR, the father of Fathima Beebi, told Twocircles.net as he files a Writ Petition at Gauhati High Court.

Kristo Jyoti School, Bokakhat in Golaghat district

Shanamon who is posted in Nagaland in Assam Rifles originally hails from Kerala. However, her mother, Alee Ahmed is a local resident of Bokakhat area. The parents also alleged that they were even threatened by the school principal to follow his orders.

“I know that India is a secular country and every citizen has its right to follow its own tradition. I have not seen such type of thing anywhere in the country. I hope justice will be done to my daughter,” he added. Accordingly, advocate Jayanta Kumar Goswami has filed a Writ Petition on April 8.

However, the school authority is adamant with their stand of expelling the girl if she continues to wear the hijab. “Her dress code violates the norm of our school. We wanted that her parents send her to school respecting the rules and regulations of the school,” said principal Father Jose Varghese.