Orissa: Joint National Fact Finding Team On Gender Violence In Kandhamal

February 26, 2013, 9:32 pm

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• Concern at rise in gender violence against juveniles in Kandhamal
• Administration, police far away from “zero tolerance” of rape; compensation still not paid to victims
• Need for fast track courts, help line and counselling

Bhubaneshwar: "The Government of Orissa needs to take urgent steps to enforce a“Zero Tolerance Regime” against rape cases in the State, specially in vulnerable hinterland districts such as Kandhamal with large populations of marginalized Dalit and Tribal people," said Dr John Dayal, Member National Integration Council and Secretary general, All India Christian Council, who recently headed an All India Fact Finding Team on Gender Violence and presented a comprehensive report after touring Kandhamal.

An All India Fact finding team on gender violence which toured Kandhamal and interacted with State and District authorities from 23rd to 26th February 2013 discovered that despite the national focus after the New Delhi rape and murder case, Orissa has not yet assimilated the administrative recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee into the functioning of district police and units of the Women and Child Welfare Department. There is also a feeling that since the anti Christian violence in 2007 and 2008 and the very large number of acquittals in criminal cases, the people seem not to fear the law as much as they should. The fact finding ream consisted of representatives of CBCI Women’s Desk, National council of Churches in India, All India Christian Council, EFI, ADF, and YWCA National Council.

A grass roots survey involving interviews with victim-survivors and families of murdered girls shows a shocking state of affairs typified in the rape of a six year old of K Nuagaon Blockin one case, and 13 to 14 years old girls attacked in Darringbadi. The situation demands that senior officials be held accountable for dereliction of duties by the subordinate police.

None of the rape victims have yet received any of the statutory compensation. It is absurd that the victim has to make an application pleading for compensation. The authorities must give such compensation suomotu, as was done in the case of the Delhi victim.

However, in the case of the murder of the 13 year old girl in Doddomah-Simanbadi village, the police have filed a charge-sheet in the court against two men. A third accused is a juvenile.
Police have not been able to explain the high number of acts of sexual violence against young girls. One senior officer dismisses them as “failed love affairs”. The team expresses disappointment at official statements that they register FIRs because of the pressure of parents “even where no actual rape had taken place.” Many parents insist there has been refusal to register complaints, or long delay at the police station. In some cases, police and village committees have sought to force the victims into compromising with the assailants instead of dealing with the crime under law.

According to data given by District Superintendent of Police J.N.Pankaj, the number of rapes has come down in 2012 to 21 cases from a high of 32 cases in 2011 and 25 cases in 2010.
However, NGO groups have saidthey had recorded at least nine cases from 24th October 2012 till 15th February 2013 and there were many other cases they were probing.

The absence of a forensic science laboratory in the Kandhamal district, the absence of women personnel in many police stations, the fact there is no Special Juvenile Police Unit, and skeletal staff with almost no facilities in the women’s welfare units in the district aggravates the situation,making women more vulnerable.

Thefact finding group was also disturbed at the very large number of women in Kandhamal who had been deserted by their husbands. In most cases, the women were from Dalit or Tribal communities, and the men from other castes, specially “outsiders” including many traders doing business in the small towns.

Another area of concern was the situation in the government–run hostels in the district where as many as 10,000 tribal and Dalit girls stay and study inattached schools. The security of these schools and hostels has not got the attention it deserves from the authorities, and there have been cases of girls from hostels being lured and seduced by outsiders.

There is an urgent need for a gender situation survey in Kandhamal district which should cover the girls hostels, the issue of abandoned women and the crisis of human trafficking in Kandhamal girls in particular and Orissa girls in general. Police admit they haveidentified the vulnerable blocks and villages, but there is no system in place to check the crime. Step need be taken to ensure change in the mindset of all people, specially officials.

In its suggestions, the team has called for urgent steps to sensitise police and officials at all levels on gender violence issues, apart from launching education programmesthrough mass media, TV and extension services. Sex education as a subject in schools, orientation of village committees and gram panchayats need to be taken up immediately. Local hospitals must carry out medical examinations by women doctors whenever a victim comes, instead of making the girl and her parents to go from one place to another.

In prevention of crime, patrolling has to be intensified where large crowds congregate in the urban areas for fetes and fairs and people have to return home in the dark, making young girls specially vulnerable to sexual predators.

Other measures suggested include steps for counseling and rehabilitation of victims of gender violence, specially very young children apart from legal services percolating to the grassroots. The Helpline for women must be activated.

The fact finding team consisted of Dr John Dayal, Member National Integration Council and Secretary general, All India Christian Council, Advocate Sr. Helen Saldanah [CBCI office for Women] Advocate Sr. Mary Scaria, Advocate Loreign Ovung [ADF_EFI], Sr. Justine, Ms. Lena Chand [YWCA India], Sukant Nayak and Ashish Bhasin [Light Foundation] and Mr Kasta Dip [India Peace Centre - National Council of Churches in India]

Copies of their suggestions are being forwarded to the State and Central governments and the Commissions for Women and Children.

Annexures

Findings And Suggestions Made By The Fact Finding Team On Gender Violence In Kandhamal

Basic Findings:

1. Sexual violence against women in Kandhamal is due to the breakdown of the law and order situation in the district that gives a feeling to the culprits that they can get away with the law easily.
2. Gender violence including child molestation, rape and murder has led to moral breakdown and manifested in incest, adultery and bigamy with desertion coupled with cruelty.
3. Lack of medical examination facilities for the victims impede and delay the process of justice.
4. An imposed culture of silence in which victims are not willing to voice the assault on them is due to threats from the accused and their families and friends.
5. Lack of fast track courts for women, Mahila Thanas (Women Police Station) and women police officers discourage the victims of sexual violence to follow up their cases.
6. Lack of juvenile homes in the district while the juvenile crimes are on the increase is a violation of the human rights of the juvenile criminals.
7. Lack of education and awareness about their rights especially among the dalit and tribal communities lead to their sexual exploitation by Upper Caste people.
8. Absence of payment of compensation, lack of rehabilitation facilities and trauma counselling centres for victims of rape continue to traumatize them
9. Prevalent dowry system and patriarchal mind set of people make them utterly vulnerable to sexual violence.
10. Lack of gender sensitivity among the police officials leads to further humiliation, insults of the victims of rape.
11. Negligence and passive role on the part of the police to accelerate the process of justice by refusing to register the FIRs destroys the confidence of the victims and their families to speak out against the atrocities being committed against them
12. After the communal riots of 2008, the minority communities are being threatened especially targeting their women and children for sexual exploitation.
13. Forcible inter caste marriages happening for acquisition of the tribal property and desertion of the women after acquiring their property seems to be a common phenomenon.

Suggestions To The Administration:

1. Adopt Zero tolerance policy to curb violence against minor girls and women.
2. Justice Verma Commission Report to be implemented with immediate effect.
3. Adequate compensation to be given to the victims.
4. Set up Fast Track courts to try the rape victims.
5. Conduct a survey on Gender violence in Kandhamal and bring out statistics in order to take adequate measures to prevent sexual assault and rape against minor girls and women.
6. Organize awareness programs regarding the rights of the victims and their families.
7. Make medical examination of rape victims mandatory.
8. Filing of FIRs to be made compulsory in every police station and officers who fail to perform their duties should be prosecuted.
9. Establish child care centres/crèche for children of daily labourers and wage earners.
10. Adequate women police officers to be posted in every police station and establish Mahila Thana (Women’s Police Station) in order to protect the integrity and dignity of the victim.
11. Sex education should be given to the children from Class I onwards.
12. Special focus on abandoned and deserted women and set up homes for women in distress.
13. Establish self defence schools for girls and women.
14. Establish and maintain help lines for women and children.
15. Establish trauma counselling centres and rehab centres in every block for the victims
16. Make provision for rehabilitation and employment opportunities including vocational training and education to victims of rape and other forms of gender violence.
17. Juvenile Homes and cells to be set up for rehabilitation and reformation of the juvenile offenders.
18. Review existing security measures of the girl’s hostels run by the government and ensure security for the girls. Establish hostels for working women.
19. Implement and utilise Govt. funds for the benefit of victims of rapes and gender violence.
20. Deploy adequate police force both male and female during major festivals and ensure frequent patrolling in sensitive areas and hamlets
21. Provide financial help to run minority women’s and girls’ hostels.
22. Village Committees to have 50% of women participants and to ensure that the justice process is carried out.
23. Activate all Government Commissions with adequate representation of women.
24. Adequate representations of SC, ST, SCBC communities in State Legislature and all women’s commissions.

For further details, please contact Dr John Dayal 09811021072

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Neo-fascism on the rise in Sri Lanka

March 3, 2013, 9:15 pm

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If Buddhist extremism is left unchecked, the existing peaceful ties between the island’s Sinhalese and Muslims could only lead to violence and an ethnic war

By Tariq A. Al Maeena

In shades reminiscent of Nazi fascism of yesteryear, Buddhist militancy in Sri Lanka has lately begun to rear its ugly head of intolerance towards the island’s minorities. A massive rally was held in the capital city of Colombo last week by the belligerent Sinhalese Buddhist group, the Bodu Bala Sena, and the message was very explicit.

‘This is a Government created by Sinhala Buddhists and it must remain Sinhala Buddhist.This is a Sinhala country, Sinhala Government. Democratic and pluralistic values are killing the Sinhala race.”

In speeches charged with provocative rhetoric, the group’s party leaders demanded that President Mahinda Rajapaksa ensures the protection of the ‘sacred Sinhala franchise’ that swept him into power. Extremist monks denounced Muslim practices, such as their use of conservative clothing referring to it as ‘gorilla’ outfits, and have called for a total ban on halal products for the community. Clad in white or t-shirts bearing a ‘No-Halal’ slogan, the supporters carried Buddhist flags and cheered enthusiastically when extremist Bodu Bala Sena monks denounced particular Muslim practices.

The word ‘halal’ means permitted or lawful. Halal foods are foods that are allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines. According to these guidelines extracted from the Quran, Muslim followers cannot consume certain foods that include pork, animals that were dead prior to slaughtering, carnivorous animals and birds of prey. The rulings also include animals not slaughtered properly or humanely.

Whipping the mob into frenzy during the demonstration in the capital, the mob leaders exhorted the crowds to become a vigilante Sinhalese self-appointed civilian police force against Muslim practices and businesses.“From today onwards, each of you must become an unofficial civilian police force against Muslim mannerism. These so-called democrats are destroying the Sinhala race,” Gnanasara Thero, one of the mob leaders exhorted at the frenzied crowds. He also vented anger against evangelical Christians who, he claimed, were attempting to perpetuate Christian extremism in the country.

Another leading Bodu Bala Sena monk said that pluralistic values had robbed the Sinhala people of money, jobs and enterprise. “This is a Sinhala country; there is a global principle that minorities must reside in a country in a manner that does not threaten the majority race and its identity.”

Issuing a direct challenge to the government, the Bodu Bala Sena general secretary said the organisation would give the administration until March 31 to ban the halal certification.

“Don’t make us take the law into our own hands,” the monk announced in his ultimatum, pledging to commence a relentless anti-halal campaign until the government announced the ban halal products by March 31.

The Buddhist extremist group has been leading the charge on virulent anti-Muslim sentiment spreading in Sri Lanka that has led to several incidents against members of the Muslim community in recent weeks. Last week, Muslim shop owners in Narammala in the Kurunegala district received letters threatening them with death if they fail to vacate their places of business by March 31.

In January at another rally, orchestrated demonstrations against ‘halal’ labelled foods, Muslim owned businesses and Muslim places of worship were targeted by organised groups of Buddhist militants in the northwestern province of Wayamba.

Those protesters were more ominous in their intentions. Taunting and cheering, they carried highly provocative effigies. The demonstrators who went in procession with these offensive placards and effigy attempted to taunt and provoke the Muslims of the town. The police would not take action against such highly provocative taunts, assuming that it was sanctioned by high levels of the government.

If left unchecked, the actions of such fringe group of fanatics trying to inflame the existing peaceful relations between the island’s Sinhalese and Muslim population could only lead to violence. Although the Muslims in the north watched, muted and restrained, it is only a matter of time before these fanatic radicals go berserk with their pent up resentment and hatred towards Muslims, and lead the island into an ethnic war.

While the majority of Sinhalese Buddhists is indeed peace-loving and has been living in harmony with other minorities over the centuries, the plague of militant Buddhists in recent days is gaining a strong foothold throughout the country. These are dangerous times. History so often tells us of how the good conscience of a silent majority has been swept away by the vicious rhetoric and actions of a militant minority.

In sharing a common religion with the island’s minority Muslims, Gulf Cooperation Council countries have a vested interest in ensuring their safety and security. The persecutions that have begun to form against them can in no certain terms be tolerated. The benign tolerance exhibited by the Sri Lankan government towards these militant groups must be viewed with alarm.

Sri Lanka is a recipient of a sizable mass of its national budget from the remittances of its workers in GCC countries. The GCC also provides most of the island’s energy needs. Many in the Gulf have been frequent visitors for tourism and business. So far relations have been harmonious.

But Gulf leaders must get the message across to the Sri Lankan government: The island must not embark on the perilous road of violent racial and ethnic divisions that could lead to unrestrained violence against not only the Muslims, but the other minorities on the island as well. Failure to heed that message must be compensated by strong action.

This is not an issue of sovereignty, but one of humanity.

[Tariq A. Al Maeenais a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.]

(Courtesy: Gulf News)

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Islam Embraces Australia’s Indigenous People

March 3, 2013, 9:22 pm

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By Selma Cook

It is now acknowledged that Australia was built on the ashes of a nation that has had more than 18,500 generations.

Australian society raises each successive generation to etch out a place for themselves in the world.

Doing so has become a prerequisite for success in our time. Yet, despite being engulfed in the culture of white society, Australia’s Indigenous people are struggling to create a space for themselves in a country that has been theirs for over 40,000 years.

It is now acknowledged that Australia was built on the ashes of a nation that has had more than 18,500 generations, while since the first fleet arrived on Australia’s shores in 1788 there have only been eight generations of settlers.

Connecting with Muslims

Indigenous Australians have been in contact with Muslims from various parts of the world for centuries. It began with Muslim fishermen from Indonesia in the 1700s and these visitors left a lasting imprint. Islamic motifs have been in found in some north Australian Aboriginal mythology and ritual.

In funeral ceremonies in Elcho Island today, the Galiwinku community refer to ‘walitha’walitha’; an adaptation of the Arabic phrase ‘Allah the Exalted’. It is confirmed that from the mid-1880s, Muslim Malays came to northern Australia to work in the pearl-shelling industry.

The famous Afghan Cameleers came to Australia between the 1860s and the 1920s to help expedite the development of the inner regions of Australia. They were easily able to cope with the rugged conditions in Australia’s interior and facilitated the development of train lines throughout the country and overland telegraph lines. They were also hawkers; mobile department stores and were friendly faces in outback Australia and for this reason they came in close contact with Indigenous people and made lasting relations. They built the first mosque in Australia in Adelaide and after that, small and very simple mosques opened up in many places, like Broken Hill.

The Afghans were known as upstanding and hospitable people who were willing to share whatever they had and many married into Indigenous communities.

At that time in Australia’s history, it was illegal for Indigenous people and Afghans to marry into white society without permission. At the same time, it was common for white men to hunt down Indigenous people, raping the women and committing murder. The Afghans took up arms to defend the Indigenous people. Australia failed to acknowledge and respect their unions, and deported many Afghans and they were not permitted to take their families with them.

Some Afghans went back home, but some did not and are buried in Australia. There are many tombstones scattered throughout central Australia with Arabic script.

Within the Muslim community there is increased acknowledgement and respect for the past and present Indigenous population in Australia.

Back to the Roots Through Islam

As both the Malays and the Afghans intermarried into the Indigenous population, until now some still carry Muslim names like Khan, Sultan and Akbar. Today, many Indigenous Muslims see that in embracing Islam they are, in fact, returning to their origins.

The 2006 census indicated that 1014 people identified themselves as both Muslim and Indigenous. Islam and Indigenous Australians have three hundred years of history. They have traded, socialized and intermarried. The number of Indigenous people embracing Islam is on the rise.

In the past, white society wanted Indigenous people to live like them, and because of harsh and oppressive laws they lost much of their identity. However, Islam spares people from being restricted to one cultural standpoint and deferring one group of people over another.

The Qur’an states (what means): “I have created you into nations and tribes to know one another.” (49:13).

Therefore, Islam recognizes the differences between groups and nations and sees these differences as enriching. Islam rejects racial distinctions and instils a sense of universal brotherhood in the hearts of believers. In adopting such beliefs Indigenous Australians are able to rethink their roles in their families and communities with increasing self-esteem and solidarity.

Indigenous Australians do not have to ‘assimilate’ in order to be accepted into the fold of Islam, as they are expected to do in white society.

Excluded in Their Homeland

Indigenous Australians have been immersed in every aspect of white society. Yet, despite being entangled in this society they are excluded, degraded and at times enslaved mentally. Many feel they are denied their basic rights to land, authority, and justice and because they did not move to anywhere, they have nowhere to return to as Australia is their homeland.

In this oppressive context, Islam offers them a way to deal with their intense anger as it teaches that justice will eventually come.

Islam also offers a strict code of conduct in a moral and ethical framework that links Indigenous Australians to their traditional heritage. Moreover, as Islam sees all people as intrinsically equal, adherents experience increased self-esteem.

Indigenous Australians do not have to ‘assimilate’ in order to be accepted into the fold of Islam, as they are expected to do in white society.

Within the Muslim community there is increased acknowledgement and respect for the past and present Indigenous population in Australia. Notably, at the beginning of all its events, Al-Ghazzali Centre, and Benevolence Australia, publicly acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which every event they organize takes place.

(Courtesy: OnIslam.net)

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Cowards disguised as clerics spew venom

March 3, 2013, 9:29 pm

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They spread forth their brand of Islamic interpretations through edicts which are not necessarily substantiated by the scriptures

By Tariq A. Al Maeena

In most dictionaries, a cleric is simply defined as a priest or a religious leader. In ancient times the role of a cleric was a vital one. The role of clerics has been particularly significant in the Christian, Muslim and Jewish civilisations in times past.

From priests to shaikhs, from rabbis to mullahs, theirs was a calling of reading, studying and analysing religious scriptures and presenting them in current day language to their societies.

As the rate of literacy within the societies rose, so did individual interpretation of religious scriptures and significant historical events. Questions were often raised, some which led to the formation of different sects within the same religion. As access to information grew, so also did the number of interpretations, some in direct conflict with each other.

The end of the Twentieth century perhaps signalled the greatest foray into the study of religion by many; individuals who were now enabled by the advent of the internet and the general ease of access to scriptures and manuals in databases from around the world.

In the Saudi society, edicts and fatwas came in bunches, covering diverse subjects from the understanding of the basic pillars of Islam to the correct application of the veil in pursuit of modesty.

As social networking began to take off at the beginning of this century, some preachers and self-appointed guardians of the faith who had previously rejected all forms of modernisation as the work of the devil began to gradually realise the value of this medium in the propagation of their message.

Many began sounding off their own understandings of the Quran and other scriptures and began attracting a great number of like-minded followers. There were those who had the qualifications to do so, as they had been diligent students of religion for years and also had a fair understanding of the role of religion in modern society.

But then there was also another breed. They were the ones using the medium to spread their brand of Islamic interpretations through edicts which were not necessarily substantiated by Islamic scriptures, but more so by traditional mores these individuals were brought up with.

The fact that many of these same people who in the past had dismissed the advent of the internet as the West’s grand design to subjugate the Muslim world was quickly forgotten by them. These so-called clerics with no meaningful religious credibility other than to attract the attention of those with similar inclinations began to take on the media with vigour.

Suddenly the net was flooded with all manners of fatwas or edicts. Some seemed sound and rational while others bordered on the ridiculous. There was a fatwa which called for the separation of the genders to prevent the mingling of the sexes at Islam’s holiest worship site in Makkah by adding extra floors around the Kaaba and dedicating one solely for women.

Another fatwa which defied foundation and drew a lot of ridicule was the one that called for working women to breast feed their male associates at the workplace, thus developing a symbolic bond between unrelated men and women who regularly come into contact with each other and making it permissible for women to mingle with the males there. And then there was the fatwa against women driving.

Women have been on the short end of many such edicts. Some of the extreme fatwas may be attributed to hatred towards women, as claimed by some psychologists. These specialists insist that such clerics conceal their venom behind the self-promoted cloak of religious morality.

It is fair to say that many of the outrageous fatwas in recent times have been disguised attacks against the growing empowerment of women in Saudi Arabia.

The recent appointment of 30 women to the Saudi Shura council was greeted by angry self-appointed clerics who crowded the Royal Court to express their discontent. Other such figures followed up their attacks on social media, some going to the extreme of labelling these women as “prostitutes”.

There was never a justifiable religious argument to support their objections; only foggy statements claiming the “specialness” of our society.

The Western media, unable to distinguish the credibility or reception of one fatwa from another began to take notice and react to some of the most outrageous ones, leading to further misunderstandings of Islam. Human rights organisations joined the bandwagon, assuming that these clerics were in fact setting up government policies, especially when it came to the oppression of women.

It came to a point that led the Saudi Islamic Affairs Minister to issue directives that Saudi scholars intending to publish religious edicts (fatwas) on contemporary issues must contact experts at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs or Dar Al Ifta (the Saudi fatwa authority) before releasing their edicts to the public through the media.

The minister pointed out that many of fatwas issued by individuals recently lacked balance or proper study. They were not to publish fatwas except after consulting with other experts. Members of the public were also advised to accept a religious edict only from authentic sources such as the Presidency for Scholastic Research and Religious Edicts (Dar Al Ifta).

That has, however, not stopped many self-styled clerics, who by sporting a beard and a Twitter or Facebook account, continue to release a barrage of their unsubstantiated interpretations, many of which that target the rights of women. The net allows that form of cowardice to continue.

[Tariq A. Al Maeenais a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You can follow him at www.twitter.com/@talmaeena]

(Courtesy: Gulf News)

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Halal-friendly travel

March 5, 2013, 8:53 pm

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By Rushdi Siddiqui

The “Muslim travellers” is an important segment in the travel industry, however, not many hotel chains or destinations haven taken a serious look at their needs. So, many travellers have to manage their requirements while travelling or stick to familiar holiday destinations.

Now the media is full of reports on Muslim Travel market, as there are a host of destinations, hotel chains, tour operators etc., all targeting the billions of dollars of these travellers.

One company stands out for driving this change of attitude by the global travel industry. Crescentrating, the Singapore startup, coined the term “Halal friendly travel” back in 2008, and launched a dedicated rating system to rate travel services and a travel portal. In hindsight, a bold move seen as a pivotal event in facilitating the development of the ignored Muslim consumer segment.

After the Halal food industry and the Islamic banking industry, the rise of the Muslim consumer market is having an impact on the global travel industry.

Meet the founder/CEO of Crescentrating, Fazal Bahardeen, commenting on the rise of Muslim consumer dollars and implications to global travel industry.

What was your motivation and objective to start this venture?

Simple, we wanted to make it easier for Muslims to explore any part of the world with peace of mind. This meant that the travel industry needed to take into account their particular needs. For this to happen we had to bring awareness of the size of the opportunity to the industry, and, concurrently, give Muslim travellers needs based information and trip planning tools. Thus, launched travel site www.crescentrating.com. This allowed both the service providers to highlight their services catering to this segment as well as let travelers make travel choices based on the services provided.

From a social perspective, the ability for Muslims, as ‘ambassadors,’ to travel to many destinations will bring the much needed understanding and two-way communication between communities and Muslims.

To better equip the Muslim travellers, we also launched our annual ranking of holiday destinations and airports. This year we also released a score out of 10 for 50 destinations on Halal friendly holiday destinations to better assist Muslim travelers in planning trips.

Do you think the travel industry understood the importance of Muslim segment?

More destinations have now realised the purchasing power of Muslim consumers. In 2012, Muslim travellers spent more than $130 billion, or about 13 per cent of global travel expenditure. By 2020, this will grow to be a $200 billion market, based on the world’s first comprehensive study on this segment, ‘Muslim Lifestyle Travel Market Study,’ co-authored study by Crescentrating and DinarStandard in 2012. Around 70 per cent of travel expenditure from these travellers in 2012 came 15 outbound markets; Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Indonesia, Kuwait, Turkey, Nigeria, Malaysia, Germany, Qatar, Russia, Egypt, Lebanon, France and UK.

Muslim segment has become increasingly important with the drop of European travellers, hence, many destinations are starting to include this segment in their planning. We have worked with a few of those destinations to help them understand the market and build capabilities.

The global landscape of the travel industry is changing fast with impact of Muslim and Chinese travellers taking the lead.

The Muslim majority countries remain the top destinations for this segment. In 2012, the top three destinations were Malaysia, Turkey and the UAE.

To attract Muslims, what is the most important requirement for travel services?

We developed our rating system for travel services and destinations based on the availability of Halal food, prayer facilities, water usage in washrooms, ability to cater during Ramadan, the level of non-Halal activities and privacy in the use of recreational facilities.

The single most important service is accessibility to Halal food for hotel guests, as majority of Muslims will not comprise when it comes to food! Thus, if Halal food availability not included in the plan, the hotel starts with a disadvantage.

What are your challenges and plans going forward?

In 2009, the biggest challenge was launching the rating service and the website, as a new concept, and, now, we have become the segment leader.

Furthermore, we are to scaling up the work, both in terms of bringing in new services and features to help Muslim travellers plan their trips as well as helping the industry understand and building capacities and capabilities. We are planning to raise a second round of funding in the next couple of months.

From a rating service point of view we plan to cover other services such as theme parks, cruises etc. We will also continue to expand our Halal friendly holiday destination score to cover more than 50 destinations.

As for our website, we have been continuously bringing in new features and services to help the Muslim (and all those interested) travellers. Last year we launched the world’s first Air Travel Prayer Times Calculator to get prayer times and direction for flights. The mobile application for this calculator will be launched soon. In the next few months we will also go multi-lingual with our website, starting with French and Arabic.

[The writer is Global Head of Islamic Finance and OIC Countries for Thomson Reuters.]

(Courtesy: Khaleej Times)

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Spying on Law-Abiding Muslims

March 5, 2013, 9:01 pm

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Nearly 30 years ago, the federal courts had to place limits on New York City police surveillance to protect law-abiding citizens who happened to be politically engaged on civil rights and other issues. Based on new court filings in a longstanding suit challenging police surveillance techniques, the courts may need to intervene to stop the New York Police Department from spying on law-abiding citizens once again, this time Muslims.

The city’s police came under court scrutiny starting in 1971 for what civil rights lawyers described as illegal surveillance by the department’s infamous Red Squad, including its surveillance of Black Panthers who were acquitted on charges of conspiring to blow up police stations and department stores. The case, named for a plaintiff, Barbara Handschu, became a class action, spreading to other politically active groups, and was settled in 1985. The city agreed to follow court-ordered investigation guidelines that were loosened after Sept. 11 to ensure that the police had ample flexibility to ferret out terrorist threats.

The revised agreement allowed police officers to attend political and religious events, but barred them from retaining information unless it was related to potential terrorist acts or other unlawful activity. The restrictions had two purposes: to prevent the department from unfairly targeting entire political or religious groups, and to make sure that records were kept only when the police found “reasonable indications” of potential law breaking, not as an intrusion into the private affairs of innocent citizens.

A motion filed in federal court last week by the lawyers in the Handschu case makes a strong case that the city has simply ignored those guidelines in its antiterrorism fight and is targeting Muslim groups because of their religious affiliation, not because they present any risk.

In a particularly striking declaration, a Queens man who said the Police Department paid him to spy on Muslims last year also said he was assigned to spy on a lecture at the Muslim Student Association at John Jay College of Criminal Justice even though the police did not think the group was “doing anything wrong.” He said his handler told him that the department considered “being a religious Muslim a terrorism indicator.”

The man said he took pictures of those in the John Jay group and recorded their license plate numbers. While visiting mosques, he photographed worshipers and recorded cellphone numbers of people who attended Islamic instruction classes, forwarding all of it to his handler. At no point did his handler say he was going too far.

The Police Department’s agent said he used what the police called the “create and capture” method. He pretended “to be a devout Muslim and start an inflammatory conversation about jihad or terrorism and then capture the response to send to the N.Y.P.D.”

According to court documents, the New York City police routinely selected Muslim groups for surveillance and infiltration, even when they did not sponsor unlawful or terrorist acts and were not accused of contributing to them. Rather, the motion says, “they were all under investigation by undercovers or other infiltrators based on their theological views, status and association.”

Despite deploying an army of spies, the plaintiffs say, the Police Department never uncovered one of the so-called “incubators” of radicalism they set out to find. The lawyers also say that commanding officers criticized a detective for returning from spying expeditions without inflammatory information on the people he had been watching. If true, that could easily lead officers to hype their findings so they remain in good standing with their superiors.

The motion charges the city with violating the Handschu agreement by systematically retaining records of conversations in public places that do not pertain to “potential unlawful activity.”
Plaintiffs lawyers say they found scores of cases in which innocuous conversations recorded in public places were maintained in police records. One such conversation involved two Bengali speakers, one of whom spoke favorably of the United States government, discussing the president’s State of the Union address.

The court documents offer more than ample reason to be concerned about possible overreach and unconstitutional activity by the Police Department investigators. If the assertions by the Handschu lawyers are borne out in court, the judge should consider appointing an independent monitor to review department investigations.

(Courtesy: The New York Times)

↧

Export agreements worth Rs.1,201 crore signed as 5th MP Exportech concludes

March 5, 2013, 9:13 pm

≫ Next: “Muslims most Civilised, yet not Enough”: Interview with Dr Javed Jamil about his forthcoming book

≪ Previous: Spying on Law-Abiding Muslims

By Pervez Bari

Bhopal: Over 55 export agreements worth Rs.1,201 crore were signed between Madhya Pradesh’s entrepreneurs and foreign buyers at the three-day Reverse Buyer-Seller Meet MP Exportech which concluded here in Bhopal on Sunday.

As many as 77 foreign buyers from countries which include Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso (Western Africa), DR Congo, Ghana, Malaysia, Republic of Cameroon, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tanzania, UAE, Uganda, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Thailand, United States of America, UK, Brazil, Israel Senegal etc. participated in the fifth Madhya Pradesh Exportech.

Ambassadors/High Commissioners of 21 countries namely Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Benin, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Congo, Eritrea, Gabon, Lesotho, Namibia, Niger, Seychelles, Slovakia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Yemen participated in the Exportech.

As many as 6 agreements were signed on the third day in the presence of Laghu Udyog Nigam Chairman Akhand Pratap Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Industries P.K. Dash and Commissioner Industries T. Dharma Rao.

Sharing their experiences at the concluding function of the event organised jointly by the Union Industries Department and Madhya Pradesh Laghu Udyog Nigam, (MPLUN), some foreign buyers described Exportech as a very meaningful initiative. The foreign buyers also lauded arrangements made at the venue, hospitality of Madhya Pradesh government and work culture in the state.

At the Exportech, maximum agreements worth Rs.628.23 crore were singed in engineering & machine tools sector followed by over Rs.331.38 crore agreements in power & energy products, Rs.199.59 crore food, agro and herbal products, Rs.17.14 crore for packaging & plastic products, Rs.16.50 crore for products & services technology transfer sector and agreements worth Rs.8.48 crore were singed in textiles sector.

Indore remained on top in export agreements. Foreign buyers singed agreements worth Rs.750.50 crore with entrepreneurs of Indore followed by Rs.394.75 crore with Bhopal, Rs.30.25 crore with Mandsaur, Rs.13.75 crore with Jabalpur, Rs.10.51 crore with Dewas and export agreements worth Rs.1.11 crore were signed with entrepreneurs of Betul district. Besides, Rs.14 lakh agreements each with entrepreneurs of Dhar and Ujjain districts were also signed.

Agreement between MPLUN and Uganda

During the Exportech, Madhya Pradesh MPLUN signed an agreement with Uganda Consumer Cooperative Union for products, services and transfer of technology. As per the agreements, the union will provide marketing channel for sale of Madhya Pradesh’s products in Uganda. In turn, MPLUN will provide market in and outside the state to products of Uganda. Besides, the corporation will also provide packaging technique to Uganda Consumer Cooperative Union.

It may be pointed here that the 4th Exportech was held last year at Gwalior during which agreements worth Rs.629 crore were signed. The delegation from South Korea had entered into an agreement at the 4th Exportech with Madhya Pradesh Laghu Udyog Nigam for providing latest technology for indigo dyeing. This delegation also came to Bhopal. It would inspect indigo clusters at Neemuch and Jawad along with officers of the Handicraft Development Corporation. This would provide better business opportunity to the State’s artisans in indigo dyeing sector.

Meanwhile, as many as 84 MoUs, (Memorandum of Understandings), worth Rs.120.37 crore were signed during the conference of Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs, (MSME), of Bhopal and Narmadapuram divisions alongside on March 1 when the fifth Madhya Pradesh Exportech began. These will provide jobs to about 6,500 persons. Besides, 106 industrialists have expressed interest in investments under which Rs.577.81 crore investment is proposed with possibility of jobs to about 11,500 persons.

While Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that Madhya Pradesh’s contribution in the country’s development has been significant. Now, Madhya Pradesh is among progressive states. Apart from big industries, a network of small and cottage industries will also be spread with a view to further boosting state’s economy. Chief Minister Chouhan said this while addressing MSME conference on March 1. On the occasion, he had also inaugurated the 5th MP Exportech.

Chouhan said that at present state’s agriculture growth rate is 18.9 per cent against the national growth rate of 3 percent. Madhya Pradesh’s growth rate is 11.98 per cent while the country’s growth rate is 5 per cent. In this way, Madhya Pradesh’s contribution in the country’s development is remarkable. Small and medium industries have an important role in the state’s development.

[Pervez Bariis a senior Journalist based at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He is associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Madhya Pradesh). He can be contacted at pervezbari@eth.net]

↧

“Muslims most Civilised, yet not Enough”: Interview with Dr Javed Jamil about his forthcoming book

March 5, 2013, 9:23 pm

≫ Next: SPECIAL REPORT: Gujarat Riots justice exceedingly low

≪ Previous: Export agreements worth Rs.1,201 crore signed as 5th MP Exportech concludes

By M. Assad

Dr Javed Jamil has a well earned reputation as one of the most innovative thinkers of modern times. He has already produced more than a dozen of hard-hitting books and hundreds of articles to prove how disastrous the New World Order has been for the mankind. These works have virtually led to the development of a new discipline of Islam dealing with the application of Islam in various fields, which he calls Applied Islamics. His latest book, “Muslims Most Civilised, yet not Enough” is now set to launch. When some chapters of this work had been serialized last year on several social forums, it had generated an intense and lively debate. Several commentators had described it as a revolutionary piece of work that would destroy the claims of the votaries of the modern civilization. It will also help Muslims in coming out of the inferiority complex in which they are being perpetually kept, both by friends and foes, and will also help them in overcoming their deficiencies. We talked to Dr Javed Jamil about his latest book.

Recently your roadmap about Indian Muslims attracted huge attention. Now you have come up with an entirely new kind of work. What made you write “Muslims Most Civilised, yet not Enough”?

I decided to write this book because a false and vicious propaganda about Muslims being uncivilised, violent and backwards is being purposely run throughout the world by certain forces, mainly in the Western world and India. I wanted to counter this propaganda and present the truth. The purposes of this study are:

1. To contest the claim of the Western propaganda of its being civilized and Muslims being uncivilised;
2. To highlight the issues that are largely buried under the carpet by the motivated interests despite their playing havoc with the peace and security of human beings as individuals, families and society;
3. To bring Muslims out of inferiority complex in which they are being perpetually pushed by both friends and foes;
4. To make them realise that they need not blindly follow the Western models; and that qualities like education, good health and comfortable life are not the monopoly of any ideology.

There are people who would say that Muslims have many weaknesses. Do you not agree with them?

As the title itself suggests, I have not merely portrayed the positives of Muslims; I have also discussed in detail about their shortcomings. The purposes of this book is also to make them realise that despite their many qualities and admirable achievements at various levels, there are still many shortcomings, some very big, which they have to understand and address; they have to find their solutions within the parameters of Islam.

The first question that immediately comes to mind is: what does civilisation mean. How have you defined it?

Civilisation carries different meanings for different people, ideologies and forces. But the definition, which is acceptable to the forces that rule at a particular time, usually gets the popular approval. If the forces are selfless, the civilisation assumes meanings that favour the mankind as a whole; if the forces are self seekers, it assumes meanings that cater to a minority of the mighty. Unfortunately, we are living in a world where the forces that dominate are not merely self seekers but are also mighty and ruthless. To them, civilisation means nothing more than a state of affairs that helps them sustain and expand their power. Their hegemony continues to be unabated because they have not been adequately challenged. The glamour of their “civilisation” has been too overpowering to allow its hidden dirt to unveil itself. Consequent on this, mankind continues to suffer.

To me, civilisation includes peace and prosperity, and it is a comprehensive state of affairs where individuals, families as well as society live in peaceful and comfortable conditions. If a country or society does not give security to the individuals and crimes abound, if it does not have a peaceful family system and if it does not safeguard its members against dangerous and life threatening practices, and it is recurrently engaged in destructive wars across the world, it cannot be called civilised.

Presumably, you have argued that Western world has no right to claim itself as civilised. Is it true? And considering the fact that they are most advanced in terms of power and technology, how can you say this?

West can certainly claim that it is the most developed part of the world in terms of scientific and technological advancement, quality of infrastructure within their countries and prosperity and power. Had these attainments resulted in any appreciable freedom from violence, within and abroad, righteousness among people with clear distinction between beneficial and harmful practices and attitudes, respect and loyalty to relationships, value of human life, particularly of the other people, and just and sympathetic behaviour towards smaller nations, West could definitely have also laid its claim to civilisation. But ah! Its economic, political and military power was not only achieved through genuine as well as wrongful ways, it has also misused them with colossal destruction of human lives and desecration peaceful family and personal peace. Within about 200 years, the “stars” of the horizon of Westernism have all degenerated into black holes – Democracy into Corporatocracy, Secularism into negation of religious conscience and morality, “freedom” into license to commit evils and “human rights” into defence of criminals and perverts. Despite its success in achieving prosperity and power, West has been responsible for

• most of the wars in last century and most of deaths in those wars, consuming more than 160 million lives;
• most invasions; including colonisations at a massive scale;
• most attacks on countries including attacks on civilians;
• the only nuclear attacks made on the surface of the earth;
• destruction of aborigines in big numbers;
• most deaths in Muslim countries including more than 1million in the last decade;
• deaths of at least 500 million foetuses in last 10 and about 1 billion in last 25 years;
• huge number of murders (about 20 million in last 10 years);
• rapes (one fourth to one half of women having experienced rapes or attempted rapes) within their countries;
• huge numbers of alcohol and gambling related deaths (more than 40 million in last 10 years);
• rising number of deaths related to AIDS; and
• several million suicides (highest in the world).

Western system has also led to behaviours leading to total disintegration of family system with

• up to 50 pc of abortion rates;
• up to 50 pc children born out of wedlock;
• at least 30 pc children living in single parent homes; and
• ever increasing number of gay couples.
Western system has also been responsible for
• huge increase in business related to sex, alcohol, gambling and organised violence; with huge destructive effects on health, family and society;
• maximum damage to environment, causing massive damage to health;
• maximum economic disparity within the countries and among the countries;
• monopolisation of world resources; and
• stockpiling of weapons of massive destruction.

Can anybody deny these facts? How can then West make even any claim to civilisation? How can you say that Muslim World is Most Civilised?

In absolute terms, civilisation is almost absent. But still Muslim World can be regarded as most civilised because:

1. Most of them are not known to have attacked any other country or invaded any land;
2. The level of violence in these countries has been extremely low with lowest rates of murders, rapes and abortions in the world;
3. They have not been threatening any nations;
4. Family system has been extraordinarily strong with problems like children born out of marriage nonexistent, relatively much lower divorce rates, very few children living in single parent families, low incidence of abortions and child abuse;
5. The common people are not indulging in vices like alcohol, gambling, which are creating markedly less social problems than in West; (if as alleged the elites do indulge in certain vices they do not let it affect the public; and the record of the rulers of these countries is certainly much better than Sarkozies, Clintons and Berlucossinis;)
6. Most of these countries are enjoying almost as good comforts of life as Western people;
7. Despite democracies not being there in many of them, people in general are happy. Life Expectancy at birth and literacy rates are almost comparable with the best and life expectancy at conception is far better than that in West.

Why should then these countries not be called the Most Civilised Nations of the World?

There has been a debate in India recently on a Kamal Hassan problem that deals with the issue of terrorism.

Have you discussed the issue of international terrorism?

I have discussed terrorism as a part of the violence. Terrorism is not the only form of violence. Al-Qaeda’s terrorism has killed hardly around 5000 people. American war on terror has killed more than 2 million innocent Muslims. Why there is no discussion on America’s role? I condemn all forms of violence. That being the principle, if I have to condemn al-Qaeda 5000 times, I will have to condemn America 2 million times. Moreover, in Indian context, people must know that “Muslim” Terrorists have killed much less number of people than “Hindu” terrorists (Tamils) in Sri Lanka, and Naxalites, Sikhs and Ulfa activists in India and “Hindu” Maoists in Nepal.

What has been your methodology in arriving at these results?

I have collected statistics related to crimes, impact of social vices, criteria related to family peace, wars and civil wars, criteria related to health and economic prosperity. I have used international sources for these statistics. The results speak for themselves.

Which part of the Muslim World do you feel concerned about?

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Somalia are some of the Muslim countries that have huge problems. Muslims in India also need to develop in terms of socioeconomic empowerment.

What are the major deficiencies of the Muslim world?

They are not militarily powerful enough yet to face the West. They have been late in adopting technology and have to improve very fast. They have to unite among themselves and have to develop a cohesive foreign policy.

You have also spoken about India’s relationship with Muslim world?

Yes, I feel, a close cooperation to the point of strategic relationship between India and Muslim World is the need of the time. It will be mutually beneficial for both. Muslim world can have technology from India, and India can have money from Muslim world. Together, they can become a big economic and political power capability of thwarting the designs of the West. The only obstacle is the strained relationship between India and Pakistan. If they both can understand the importance of cordial relationship, things will improve very fast.

What impact do you foresee as the result of your work?

This work is an attempt to show to the world the reality that is being purposely kept hidden from the public view. This is necessary because hopes of any appreciable change cannot be realised unless the masses recognise the reality.

I hope the world will receive this work with the attention it deserves. The forces that have been exposed in the work will surely try their best to dismiss this effort. I can only request the right thinking people of all religions and nations to study the work with the care it demands, realise the dangers ahead and come up with an adequate response so that the whole mankind bathes in peace.

I strongly believe that religions should unite against “Economic Fundamentalism” and must form an alliance against commercialisation of human susceptibilities, Economic Disparity and hegemony of certain nations in the world. This is a challenge that Muslim minorities all over the world must accept. If they are able to do it on ideological and not on communal foundations, taking all the right minded people of all religions along them, we will surely see the emergence of a new world order: a world order that will bring peace and security along with prosperity.
Any message for humanity?

Let the civilisation be freed of the mischief that is rapidly devouring it! Let the pigeon fly without fear of being shot or captured!

[Dr Javed Jamilcan be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com]

↧

SPECIAL REPORT: Gujarat Riots justice exceedingly low

March 5, 2013, 9:30 pm

≫ Next: There’s more to Bangladesh than manpower

≪ Previous: “Muslims most Civilised, yet not Enough”: Interview with Dr Javed Jamil about his forthcoming book

By Abdul Hafiz Lakhani

Ahmedabad: The 2002 riots were obviously the worst. More than 1,000 people, according to the government's own estimate, were killed. Property worth nearly $60m was destroyed. An estimated 200,000 people were displaced. 11 years later, around 25,000 of them still languish in relief camps - this, in a state which won international plaudits for rehabilitating victims of a massive earthquake in 2000.

Many have moved into newer ghettos. Ahmedabad is the most ghettoised city in India.So is it easy for Gujarat's minorities to forget 2002 and move on, I ask Noorjehan Abdul Hamid Dewan, a 38-year-old woman, who lives in Johapura, Ahmedabad's biggest Muslim ghetto?

During the riots, Noorjehan risked her auto-rickshaw driver husband's ire to come out of purdah to help survivors in a relief camp in her neighbourhood. Since then she has been working tirelessly with them."How can people forget the riots and move ahead?" she asks.

"People don't forget. They simply remain quiet in fear. We haven't forgotten a thing. We want justice and we will keep fighting for it."This is a difficult task in what political scientist Christopher Jaffrelot calls the "dysfunctional" justice system in Gujarat.If you are poor, fighting for justice can wear you out, rob you of your daily wage, and force you to cave in and compromise with the perpetrators of the violence in exchange for a little money.

This is one of the ways you "move on".Ahmedabad's Muslim community wants to move on, seeing justice done is part of that for manySocial activist Harsh Mander calls such compromises a "mode of survival for victims, in their highly unequal battle to rebuild their lives after mass violence".The other way to move on is to have faith in a broken judiciary, and keep hoping that some justice, however incomplete, will happen.

Activists point out how more than 2,000 cases of violence were closed within months of the riots because of partisan investigating agencies and prosecutors and brazen intimidation of witnesses, even earning the opprobrium of the Supreme Court.It was only in 2006, after the Supreme Court stepped in and ordered the reopening and a re-investigation of nearly 1,600 of these cases, that some hope was rekindled.

Complaints were lodged. More than 40 police officers involved in the riots indicted and more than 600 people arrested for violence.Two years later, the Supreme Court appointed a special team to investigate half a dozen key cases of violence.

It also asked a trial court to decide whether Mr Modi should be probed in one of the cases. Even this intervention has had its share of problems - half of the investigators were selected from the already discredited local police force, for example. Moving on a few trials have been completed - in two major cases over the burning of the train in Godhra and an episode of violence in Sardarpura - among the 151 towns and 993 villages which were convulsed by riots - 11 people have been sentenced to death and 51 others sentenced to life in prison.

"Justice," says activist Gagan Sethi, has been "exceedingly slow."The 2002 riots were some of the worst India has ever experiencedJustice may be elusive, but Muslims, who comprise fewer than 10% of Gujarat's population, have moved on in their own small, meaningful ways in a state which many say does not do much to support them.More and more Muslims are sending their children to schools and colleges. In 2002, there were 200 Muslim educational trusts in Gujarat. Now, there are more than 800."The reaction of the Muslim community has been very positive," says social scientist Achyut Yagnik. "Muslim women are also talking about more education. It's all about moving forward with education.

"He is right. Everywhere I went, Muslim men and women spoke about the importance of education.In Godhra, I met telecommunications engineer Mohammed Yusuf, 51, who spent a year in prison after being falsely implicated in bomb attacks.

He is a soft-spoken man with a flowing beard."For long, we have lived as frogs in the well. Now we need to get out, educate and inform ourselves, know what our rights are, find our place in the world and defend our rights," he says.11 years.

More than 1,000 lives lost. Broken lives. Scant justice. But in Gujarat's frayed social fabric, hope still beckons.

The ‘internally displaced people’ (IDP) in the Ahmedabad have decided to launch a campaign for own land on which they can live as they were rendered homeless in the 2002 riots. These people are currently living on land given to them by some NGOs but they are still not the owners of the land. There are 8.000 to 14,000 IDPs in the city, most of who live in Citizen Nagar, Faisal Park and Ektanagar in Vatwa.

Residents of Citizen Nagar and Faisal Park will start a signature campaign from Thursday, the 11th anniversary of the massacres in the city. They will write to the state government demanding that they be given land by the authorities or ownership of the land on which they currently live.

Activist Hanif Lakdawala said that IDPs had been provided land by NGOs but were never given ownership of the land. According to an estimate by Centre for Social Justice, there are around 12,000 to 15,000 IDPs in the state. Sources said that till a few years back, there were around 50,000 IDPs in Gujarat but many had later acquired land in their name.

Activist Teesta Setalvad said that residents of these areas are worried that they may not get the land on which they had tried to build a new life in Citizen Nagar and Faisal Park after the riots. “What if they are forced to leave these places in the future? The land should be transferred to their names,” she said.

The riot survivors will be writing to Gujarat’s revenue minister Anandiben Patel to allot them the land.

For Muslims in Gujarat, 2002 is a watershed year after which developments have been largely negative for the community. The communal divide has deepened and apparently become permanent. The ghettoisation of Muslims accelerated after 2002 with both Hindus and Muslims shifting to localities dominated by their community.

Further, communalismceased to be a largely urban phenomenon and spread with the riots to villages where there were some gruesome massacres.

Creation of new ghettoes and the continuing growth of the old ones continue to bother a majority of Muslims. Muslim auto-rickshaw drivers, daily wage earners, builders, doctors, teachers and many more believe that may be peace but Muslims live in great fear.

“It started with the 1985, grew in 1992 and matured in 2002,” said Adil Bagadia, chairman, Bagadia Infrabuild Ltd. He said that after the 2002 riots, he had never had queries from a Hindu client for houses in his schemes and no Muslim had the courage to purchase a house in a Hindu locality.

The spread of communalism tohitherto untouched areas of the state, particularly the villages, is another development that has the ordinary members of the minority community very worried. A Muslim teacher said on the condition of anonymity that there are many villages where Hindus and Muslims do not trust each other anymore.

“It was the communal violence of 2002 which had created a communal divide in villages also,” the teacher said.

The 2002 riots also had an impact on how ordinary Muslims earned their livelihood. Strangely, many from the lower income group believe that after 2002 it had become easier for them to work in the city.

Tausif Malek, a part-time carpenter, said that he has been working with a group of Hindus at a city-based auditorium. “I came to Ahmedabad from Anand five years back. I have worked for different firms with many Hindus but so far I have not faced any problem anywhere,” he said.
Social activist from Baroda, J.S. BAndukala said on the eve of 11th anniversary of riots, “We are the victims of Modi, and we have seen his murderous politics at very close range. To just quote two examples, the Naroda Patia killings lasted about ten hours. The place is barely a few kms from the Police Commissioner's office, and also from the Chief Minister's residence. The principal figure in the murderous assault and rapes of our sisters was Maya Kodnani an MLA. The Court has convicted her after a decade of being protected by BJP leadership. But the unusual aspect is that this lady was promoted after the riots and made a Minister.”

Incidentally, one of the most brutal incidents occured in Baroda when a six-year-old child, seperated from his family during the killings, begged for water and these killers asked him to open his mouth, the innocent child did so, and these satans poured petrol into his mouth and then ignited the child. He just exploded.

Secondly, the Central Government’s pre matric scholaships amounting to 13.5 crores is held up in Gujarat. It can benefit about one lakh Muslim boys and girls. The Gujarat High Court full bench has just thrown out the Gujarat Government writ against it. Can Mehmmod Madani persuade his new friend Modi to not take the matter to the Supreme Court? For that will drag the issue by another two years, hurting our poor boys and girls.

[Abdul Hafiz Lakhaniis a senior Journalist based at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He is associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Gujarat). He can be reached at lakhani63@yahoo.com or on his cell 09228746770]

↧

There’s more to Bangladesh than manpower

March 11, 2013, 9:38 pm

≫ Next: Surrogacy gaining acceptance in India

≪ Previous: SPECIAL REPORT: Gujarat Riots justice exceedingly low

By Tariq A. Al-Maeena

There are positive indications that the Kingdom will resume the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers after the recent establishment of a special committee to study all the issues related to the workforce from that country. Among them has been the sensitive issue of a few cases of criminal activity by Bangladeshi workers in the past.

According to Dr. Ahmed Al-Fihaid, the foreign ministry’s undersecretary for international affairs, the committee has been tasked with reviewing and recommending all measures related to the resumption of recruitment. He added: “The committee will also recommend that the criminal records of Bangladeshi workers be probed to ensure that they are clean before reopening the doors for recruitment.”

A Saudi-Bangladeshi joint commission meeting the same week in Riyadh also focused on a number of political, security, commercial and legal issues between the two countries. The Kingdom was represented by several ministries including interior, foreign affairs, labor, health, and agriculture. During the meeting, it was agreed that the security agreements previously signed between both countries be revived which will include exchanging security data and addressing the problem of Bangladeshi over-stayers in the Kingdom.

There were also demands and pledges undertaken by both sides. The Saudi team requested Bangladesh to free its market so as to allow major petrochemical giants, such as the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), to market products there.

On the Bangladeshi side, there were pledges backed by their government to protect Saudi citizens in Bangladesh and top priority was given to this duty. This was in response to the killing of a Saudi diplomat in Dhaka a year ago. The five perpetrators were eventually caught and jailed and are currently facing the death sentence. The Bangladeshis also asked that investment opportunities be granted to their businessmen, with both sides agreeing to increase "cooperation in food security, combating trade fraud, facilitating trade exchange and other areas."

These are encouraging steps indeed. I have long advocated that we should not place collective guilt on a specific nationality based on the crimes of a few. We should not automatically categorize Bangladeshis by the criminal activities of some guest workers. If we are to consider the number of Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom, and the number of crimes at the hands of some of their nationals, the percentage would be very low. To generalize in such a sweeping and derogatory manner against an entire people is disgraceful and un-Islamic.

The Bangladeshis are a very hardworking and earnest people. I do not write this without substance. I have been there and spent some time among their people. I have witnessed their professional ethics in all stages of industry. I have seen with my own eyes a country that is moving ahead in spite of limitations, such as land and some other resources. Through their industrious activity, they are one of the few countries in the world that is almost totally self-reliant in terms of food. Bangladesh should not be looked at as simply a source of cheap labor. The country also offers attractive investment opportunities that GCC businessmen should sit up and take notice of.

With a population of 152 million, and with almost 60 percent under the age of 25, the country has produced consistent economic growth for the past decade. This has resulted in a burgeoning middle class with increased purchasing power and economic clout. The country boasts of a well-educated, highly adaptive and industrious workforce with the lowest wages and salaries in the region. English is widely spoken, and ongoing government programs are continually developing and upgrading the skills of the workforce.

One of the sidelights of my trip was that unlike India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka where a tourist may be surrounded by alms seekers, I did not experience any of that during my visit to the country. It is a tribute to those who may be poor but do not seek charity as the easy way out. They will accept any job, pitiful as the wages may be and try to get on with their lives.

The political climate is by and large positive to foreign investment with broad bipartisan support. The legal and policy framework for business is conducive to foreign investment.
Bangladesh also enjoys tariff-free access to the EU, Canada and Japan. In Europe alone, Bangladesh is the top manufacturing exporter among 50 less developed countries. With the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement coming into force, foreign investors to the country will benefit from duty-free access to India, the EU, Japan and the US markets.

Bangladesh is developing industrial enclaves with infrastructural facilities and logistic support to attract foreign investors. The country is also developing its core infrastructure, including roads, highways, surface transport and port facilities for a better business environment.

Potential investment sectors include IT technology, textiles, electronics, ship-building, leather products, agro-based industries, pharmaceuticals and tourism among a host of others. The competitive edge the country offers in these sectors can guarantee exceptional returns to investment.

It is time we looked at Bangladesh not simply as a source of cheap manual labor. Instead we must recognize the country as one in which the value and potential of our direct investment can be driven toward a prosperous future.

[The author can be reached at talmaeena@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @talmaeena]

(Courtesy: Saudi Gazette)

↧

Surrogacy gaining acceptance in India

March 11, 2013, 9:49 pm

≫ Next: Caste off: The plight of Catholic Dalits in India

≪ Previous: There’s more to Bangladesh than manpower

By Syed Ali Mujtaba

In a significant order, the Madras High Court on March 5, 2013 has held that a woman who had a child through surrogacy is entitled for maternity leave.

The ruling was given by Justice K Chandru while allowing a petition by a woman employee of the Chennai Port Trust (CPT) seeking to quash an order of the management rejecting her plea for maternity leave in 2011.

"This court does not find anything immoral and unethical about the petitioner having obtained a child through surrogate arrangement," the judge said in his order.

The Court directed the CPT to grant leave to her in terms of Rule 3A of the Madras Port Trust (Leave) Regulations, 1987 (applicable for those going in for adoption) recognizing the child obtained through surrogate procedure and to include the name of the newly born in the insurance scheme.

Justice Chandru noted the purpose of the said rule was for proper bonding between the child and parents.

The woman, an assistant superintendent in the Chennai Port Trust, preferred to have a child through a surrogate mother, with the consent of her husband, after her 20-year-old son was killed in a road accident in 2009.

She applied for maternity leave to look after the new born after the surrogate mother gave birth to a girl baby on February 8, 2011. She also applied to include the child under the family medical insurance scheme.

Her application was rejected on the ground that there was no provision in the rules for granting such leave to those who have child through surrogacy.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Chandru said, "Even in the case of adoption, the adoptive mother does not give birth to the child, but yet the necessity of bonding of the mother with the adoptive child has been recognized by the Central government, therefore, the petitioner is entitled for leave in terms of Rule 3A," he said.

Global Surrogate Mothers Advancing Rights Trust (G-Smart) a NGO, www.surrogatemotherstrust.org, based in Chennai welcomed the Madras High Court Judgment on Women with babies through surrogacy are entitled to maternity leave.
Reacting to the judgment, A.J.Hariharan, Chairperson G-Smart said this kind of judgments will help and enable the environment on protecting rights of surrogates.

He added; ‘since ‘Assisted Reproductive Technology’ (ART) procedures are not regularized, the judgment may throw significant light on critical issues around surrogacy’.

G-Smart demanded from the State and Central government to extend all kind of support to surrogate mothers and make sure that surrogate mother will get insurance for Rs 10 lakh and 10 years of free medical support for Gynecological problems after surrogacy.

Central government should table the ‘Assisted Reproductive Technology, Regulation Bill 2010’ immediately in the Parliament Mr.A.J.Hariharan said.

Surrogacy in India is estimated to be a $445 million business with the country becoming a leading service provider in such cases. This is because of the low cost of treatment and the ready availability of women willing to rent their wombs. In comparison to USA where surrogacy cost is about $70,000, it costs only $12,000 in India.

The issue shot into limelight in 2008 when a surrogate mother gave birth to a girl ‘Manji’ in Gujarat. The baby's parents, Ikufumi, 45, and his wife Yuki, 41, came to India and hired the service of a surrogate mother from Anand town in Gujarat.

However, before the baby was born the couple separated and divorced. Manji's father claimed the custody of the child but laws in India do not permit this and the issue got entangled in legal battle.

The Supreme Court finally granted Manji's custody to her 74-year-old grandmother but this was contested by an NGO named ‘Satya.’ The NGO claimed that Manji was an abandoned baby.
This made the Supreme Court to ask the central government to clarify its stand on issues related to surrogacy, particularly parentage and citizenship.

Even though still there is not much clarity on Surrogacy issue Manj case kicked of a debate in India. The government took cognizance of the matter and went on to draft a bill called ‘Assisted Reproductive Technology, Regulation Bill 2010.’

The opinion seems to be building for having relevant laws regarding this issue that should not only protect the surrogate mothers, but also check the foreigners who come to India looking for renting wombs.

The, British and American laws forbid surrogate mothers to charge a childless couple, whereas in India there is no such law. It raises the question whether surrogate mothers should be allowed to charge a fee.

All these issues and many more are suppose to be addressed through ‘Assisted Reproductive Technology, Regulation Bill 2010.’ However, when this bill will be passed by the Parliament is only a matter of guess.

[Syed Ali Mujtabais a Journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com]

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Caste off: The plight of Catholic Dalits in India

March 11, 2013, 9:58 pm

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By Megan Sweas

Catholic Dalits (untouchables) in India are divided over how to improve their lot.
Franklin Caesar Thomas and R. L. Francis both attend Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi. Though the two lay activists with similar backgrounds may be polite on Sundays, they don’t like each other.

Like 70 percent of Catholics in India, Thomas and Francis are Dalits—untouchables. For thousands of years, Indian society has been structured by caste, divided into four main groups and thousands of sub-groups. A family’s caste still largely determines one’s social standing and opportunities, and Dalits fall at the bottom.

Untouchability—the idea that coming into contact with a Dalit would make an upper-caste individual impure—was made illegal in India’s 1959 Constitution. However, discrimination and segregation continue in many parts of India, and efforts to correct the inequalities continue to spark debate, including within the church. Caste is so embedded in Indian culture that it has seeped into every religion in the country.

Today Thomas and Francis may sit next to upper-caste Christians in Delhi’s cathedral, but only decades ago a Southern Indian church built a wall down its middle so that castes could worship at the same time without seeing each other. Many churches had separate vessels for communion.

Caste also affects educational and economic opportunities. As a fourth-generation Catholic and son of a teacher, Thomas was relatively well off. Still, his family didn’t have electricity until 1995. “If this is the life of the son of a teacher, what about our neighbors?” he asks.

His neighbors are more like Francis, who didn’t have access to the church’s excellent schools. Francis attended a government school through the seventh grade. “Like Jesus, never got any study,” he says with a laugh in halting English. As the language of business, English is essential to get ahead in India, but Dalit children still rarely have access to an English education.

Both Thomas and Francis want to give Dalits greater opportunities to succeed. A pending case in India’s Supreme Court, however, divides the two Catholics. Thomas, working with the church, brought a lawsuit to help Christian Dalits gain access to government benefits. Francis, on the other hand, wants the church to take care of its own.

A government commission in 2007 reported that denying to Christian and Muslim Dalits benefits that Dalits of other faiths receive violated the Constitution, although the Supreme Court has deferred a ruling several times. Last August supportive bishops, priests, and nuns joined a protest march in New Delhi, urging the court to finally issue its ruling.

The case, however, is about more than the classic debate between government and private charity. It also represents the struggle of the church to address social structures: Should Christians deal with caste, class, and racial divides practically or prophetically?

“One encounters that anywhere when one works in the developing world,” says Michael La Civita, vice president of communications for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA). “One has to be respectful of social structures but one can’t compromise the gospel, either.”

Government solutions

Thomas, a large man in a country where poverty is visible in the stringy arms and legs of bicycle rickshaw drivers, didn’t need government benefits. He was educated as an engineer and got a job in recruiting at Indian Railways despite being a Dalit.

But at work he noticed that he was luckier than most Dalit Christians. “With my own eyes I saw how Dalit Christian applications were rejected,” he says.

Hindu Dalits, meanwhile, got coveted government jobs through the “reservation” system. Like affirmative action, the system aims to correct past discrimination by giving previously excluded groups access to greater opportunities. As outlined in the Constitution, India holds spots for Dalits in government posts, schools, and political bodies.

Only Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs have access to these spots. Christianity and Islam—“foreign religions”—preach equality and therefore do not have caste. The ideals of Christianity, though, do not match the experiences of Christian Dalits.

Missionaries historically conformed to caste rules, says Father G. Cosmon Arokiaraj, who until last June served as executive secretary of the Office of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. “They didn’t see it as diametrically opposed to the Christian faith,” he says. Winning souls was more important than opposing caste.

Thanks to the tradition of missionary schools, Dalit Christians are slightly better educated than other Dalits, but sociological research shows their economic status to be similarly dismal. Most importantly for the church, economic disparities between Dalits and the upper caste are higher among Christians than in any other religious community.

In the northeastern countryside of the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Dalit Catholics of St. Francis Parish in Swar continue to struggle. In one of India’s poorest areas, 33-year-old Savriti is one of the estimated 1.3 million Dalits who are still forced to work as “manual scavengers,” removing human excrement. Every day Savriti cleans out the dry latrines of 60 families in several different villages. Although illegal since 1993, the practice continues throughout India.

“I started this work when I got married,” Savriti told the international Catholic mission magazine Kontinente. “There is no other way for us to make a living. … When we take a break, we are not allowed to sit on a stool, only on the floor. We’re not allowed to touch the water pump. When we ask for water, they pour it into our hands.”

She works all day without eating, but the worst part, she says, is the shame. “When someone sees me working, I am very ashamed. I don’t really like to talk about these things. I pray that I will find a different kind of work.”

Savriti is a member of St. Francis Parish, and a group of sisters of the Clarist Franciscan Missionaries of the Most Blessed Sacrament have helped her build a solid house, provided medicine for her husband’s heart ailments, and enrolled her children in a Catholic school.
Though the separate cemeteries, chalices, and pews may be history in India’s Catholic parishes today, an invisible form of discrimination continues, says Arokiaraj, who as a Dalit priest has had to struggle to gain the acceptance of upper-caste parishioners.

Even though Dalits make up 70 percent of the church, only 600 of India’s 17,000 priests and six of the 160 bishops come from the Dalit community.

When Thomas saw the discrimination at Indian Railways, therefore, he didn’t think to go to the church. “The church will not … fulfill our needs. They don’t have the mindset,” he says. “We are not in the power structure.”

Instead, Thomas challenged the government, arguing that restricting scheduled caste benefits to Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs was unconstitutional. With the help of a prominent public interest litigator, he brought a lawsuit to the Supreme Court in 2004 in hopes of getting rid of the religious qualification for the reservation system.

Despite Thomas’ doubts about the church, when he told the Catholic bishops’ conference and the Protestant organizational body about the lawsuit, both lent their support and helped Thomas form the National Council of Dalit Christians.

The case is clearly religious discrimination, says lawyer Prashant Bhusan, but public interest litigation often takes years. Thomas and his allies are confident the case will be decided in their favor—and soon. Politics have delayed a decision, Thomas says.

Don’t call me Dalit

Though also a Catholic Dalit, R. L. Francis is among the opponents trying to derail Thomas’ case. The problem with Thomas’ approach, Francis says, is evident in the name of his organization. “We converted to Christianity in the hopes that we would get self-respect, dignity, and equality. Why are they calling us Dalit, Dalit, Dalit? We are Christian only,” he says.

Francis’ organization, the Poor Christian Liberation Movement, intentionally avoids the term “Dalit Christian” because caste is not a part of Christianity.

If Christians gained government benefits, they would have to register with the government as Dalits. “They want to fix the stigma of Dalit on our forehead,” Francis says.

The reservation system has solidified Dalit identity among Hindus. Dalit political parties are strong, but this isn’t always good, says Rajiv Malhotra, the U.S.-based author of Breaking India (Amaryllis), a critical analysis of the Dalit identity. Identity politics create tensions between communities as groups fight for limited resources.

“Once affirmative action is based on caste, then caste becomes a tool,” Malhotra says. Extending the reservation system to non-Hindus “will perpetuate the caste system against them even worse.”

With access to reservations, Francis might have been able to continue his education past seventh grade. But he would rather see his daughter earn a spot in a Catholic school than in a government school.

For that, the church needs an internal reservation system, he says. It could direct financial resources, jobs, and seats in its top-ranked schools to the poor.

The Bible “says everybody is equal in the name of Jesus Christ,” Francis says, but the church doesn’t live up to this standard of equality. Worse, Francis thinks Indian churches have joined Thomas’ cause so they can gain access to government resources instead of directing their own resources to the poor. It’s about money, he says.

Conversion politics

Millions of dollars flow from the United States and Europe into Dalit ministries—particularly from evangelical churches. “It’s a total money-making program of the church from U.S., European countries,” Francis says.

The more people the church converts, the more money it can raise overseas. There are doubts about whether those funds make it to the poor, but the promise of financial support can lure converts. Hindu nationalists, who work for an India united by Hindu culture, feel threatened by conversion. Access to government reservations would give Hindus more incentive to convert, they worry.

While he lauds the Christian message of equality, Francis worries that Hindu Dalits are converting for the wrong reason. The church should take better care of its own before reaching out to non-Christians, he says.

Thomas, on the other hand, thinks the church loses people because of the religious discrimination in the reservation system. Some Christian Dalits have “reconverted” to Hinduism, at least officially, to regain the government benefits.

Even if Hindus convert for material support, it’s a good thing, Thomas says. “I’m very particular: One religion calls all these people as illegitimate children; the other religion calls these people as sons and daughters of God.”

The debate is not unique to India. The church always struggles with the question of whether people convert for material or spiritual sustenance, La Civita of CNEWA says.

Whether it be caste, class, race, tribe, or gender, the church encounters social injustices all around the world. Interracial marriages were once as unthinkable in the United States as intercaste marriages are today in India. The challenge for the church is to walk the fine line between working within and challenging such structures.

“One can say that the reason that these churches even exist is because of the social outreach,” La Civita says. On the other hand, the Catholic way of dealing with inequality and poverty is not “handing people a bowl of rice and baptizing them.”

Instead, sisters, priests, and laypeople build the church over time by demonstrating the message of Christianity through their work. “These are relationships that are being developed and nurtured for years,” La Civita says.

Even after the Supreme Court makes its decision, it will take years to determine whether the case will result in greater conversions or simply in corruption; in the uplifting of Christian Dalits or in the codifying of their status as Dalits.

There may be no perfect solution, but Arokiaraj, the Dalit priest who worked for the bishops, says that to create a society in which there is no caste, both the church and government need to do more than just say Dalits are equal. “Mere preaching won’t do,” he says.

Preaching, however, is all he can do while waiting for a Supreme Court decision. On Dalit Liberation Sunday, held in December each year, Arokiaraj says Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Thomas, Francis, and Catholics of all castes listen from the pews to prayers that push them to acknowledge the sinfulness of caste and do something to change it.

“As followers of your beloved son Jesus, we have failed to challenge attitudes, practices, and structures that are contrary to the values of equality, justice, and freedom that are integral to the gospel of Christ our Savior,” one prayer reads. “Through your abiding presence, give us the courage to persevere in our struggles for equal rights.”

[Megan Sweasis a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.]

This article appeared in the March 2013 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 78, No. 3, pages 23-27)

(Courtesy: U.S.Catholic.org)

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Islamic Da’wah Centre Organizes Reverts’ Meeting

March 11, 2013, 10:03 pm

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By Manzar Imam

New Delhi: As against the general perception that people have been increasingly staying away from religion, religious practices and traditional way of living, it was worth seeing many people find religion the greatest source of peace and happiness. The occasion was the 3rd annual programme of the Delhi-based Islamic Da’wah Centre which the organizers named as “Reverts’ Get-Together”. It was held at Masjid Al-Noor, Nafees Road in Jamia Nagar on Sunday 3rd March 2013.

As the name suggests, dozens of reverts or people who by their own conviction and understanding had embraced Islam as they found it as a source of their search for truth and God. These reverts came from different religious backgrounds and a cross-cultural spectrum of society. They shared their stories of what led them to accept Islam.

Some were as new as two months to have embraced the new belief system which according to them was the result of their restlessness to find the real meaning and purpose of life and the Creator of world. Among them were doctors, engineers, chartered accountants and people from other professions.

Speaking on this occasion, Mohammad Umar Gautam, chairman of IDC and chief organizer of the programme, said that the objective of the get-together is to know, understand and share each others’ experiences and problems. This is also to let the world know that people are not embracing Islam by force and compulsion but their own will and volition after they go through experiences which bring to them the realization that there is Only One Creator God who deserves to be worshipped.

One participant said, “It is hard when you embrace Islam and you are forsaken by your parents, brothers and sisters, other members of the family and friends. It is painful when your own leave you and you are not accepted by the new community of believers.”

Losing one’s social base of support is actually a very painful experience for most people who accept a faith other than their parents’ or of the families that they were born in. One of the prime objectives of this get-together, said Umar Gautam, is to provide them some social support so that they do not feel left alone.

For Abdullah, earlier known as Kartik Kumar Gupta, what created curiosity is one of his Muslim friends’ giving credit to Allah for everything that he did for him. In his analogy he said that the real benefit of freedom is enjoyed most by one who has ever remained subject. He added that the reason for many misconceptions about Muslims and Islam was the general inertia of Muslims to practice and preach what Islam stood for.

Another participant Abdur Rahman urged the audience to shed inhibitions and present the real Islam to the world and also to extend their emotional and economic support to those who entered Islam.

For yet another participant, it was the religious ritual of burning his own father after his death that drew him closer to Islam. And it was also Islam’s teaching about caring for others that left great impression in his mind. Another revert Amit Soni, a chartered accountant, stressed the need for cleanliness to be followed as Islam placed great emphasis on it.

Poet and author Dr. Tabish Mehdi recited a beautiful na’at which highlighted Prophet Muhammad’s concern and sacrifice for the betterment of society. Izharul Haque Qasmi spoke about the qualities of Da’ee i.e. one who coveys the message of Islam to others. Retired IAS officer Rashid Ahmad Khan also spoke on this occasion.

The services of Maulana Syed Abdullah Hasani Nadwi, a famous Muslim scholar who died on 30th January 2013, and who was chairperson of the IDC since its inception were also remembered. Speakers expressed sorrow over his demise and prayer for him. Over five hundred people – both men and women – attended the programme which apart from 50 reverts comprised of imams of mosques, heads of madaris and other educational institutions from Delhi and outside. Participants included Maulana Saghir Ahmad Qasmi, Mufti Obaidullah Qasmi, Maulana Mohibbullah Nadwi, Qari Sulaiman Qasmi, Maulana Shamim Ahmad Qasmi, Sirajuddin Shaikh of Imphal-based Islamic Research & Da'wah Centre, Dr. Noor, Dr. Amit Kumar, Mohammad Inam Qasmi Nadwi of the Institute of Higher Studies, Jamia Nagar, some Non-Residential Indians and students.

[Manzar Imam, a Delhi-based Journalist, is Special Correspondent of IndianMuslimObserver.com. He can be reached at manzarkhalil@gmail.com]

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Al Qamar Academy outstanding institution in developing scientific attitude among students: CMPA

March 11, 2013, 10:06 pm

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IMO News Service

Chennai: The Centre for Media & Public Affairs (CMPA) celebrated the birthday of Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, the first human to journey into outer space on March 9 at Chennai.

Born on March 9, 1934 in Klushino, Russia, Yuri Gagarin is recognized as the international hero in the history of space science! On April 12, 1961, aboard the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1), Gagarin became both the first human to travel into space, and the first to orbit the earth. Yuri Gagarin's birthday is celebrated all over the world by students, academicians, scientists and media people as the most significant day to promote Scientific Outlook among the young people!

"On this significant day, the Governing Body of Centre for Media & Public Affairs (CMPA) has chosen and announced Al Qamar Academy, Chennai, as the Outstanding Institution (2013) in developing scientific attitude among the students," said V. Venkat Raj, National President of CMPA.

Al Qamar Academy provides world class education with the aim of creating independent thinkers, all round personalities and creative human beings who fully contribute to their society. CMPA congratulates and appreciates the commendable vision and accomplishments of Al Qamar Academy in promoting scientific outlook and methodical values among the budding new generation!

[V Venkat Raj, National President, Centre for Media & Public Affairs, Chennai 600033 can be contacted on Mobile # 09884554656. Website : http://www.cmpaindia.com]

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Need to look into role of India & Muslim world in new perspective: Dr. Arshi Khan

March 11, 2013, 10:14 pm

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By Pervez Bari

New Delhi: Dr. Arshi Khan, Associate Professor of Political science, Aligarh Muslim University, (AMU), Aligarh, has said that there is a need to look into the role of India and the Muslim world in a new perspective different from Western epistemological framework of understanding.
Dr. Arshi Khan said both India and the Muslim world possess a good number of population, professionals and natural resources in addition to a long history of multiple pattern of relationships for centuries. Both of them have to set their agenda to direct their actions outside their national boundaries so that they could play a role in their own interests. They have to rebuild symbiotic relationship with respective levels of governance with the recognition of the needs of the people.

Dr. Khan was addressing the business session entitled “Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Issues” in the two-day International Conference on “India and the Muslim World in the 21st Century” which was held here in New Delhi at the Constitution Club recently. The New-Delhi based Institute of Objective Studies, (IOS), had organized the conference in cooperation with the Government of Saudi Arabia. This session was chaired by Prof. Aftab Kamal Pasha, Director, Gulf Studies Programme, Centre for West Asian & African Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

In his opening remarks Prof. Pasha observed that even before freedom, Indian leaders had close relations with the Muslim world. Under India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations was established after independence. The first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, had close interaction with Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. During his 1956 visit to Saudi Arabia the Saudis called him the “prophet of peace.”

“The largest number of ministerial visits and delegations come annually from the Muslim world”, Prof. Pasha said. When sanctions were imposed on Iraq and Libya, India worked hard to provide enough room for reducing hardship. India regularly used its diplomatic clout to reduce suffering of people in the Muslim world.

“The visit of Saudi King Abdullah bin Adul Aziz in 2006 as the chief guest at Independence Day celebrations and the return visit of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia were high marks in mutual relations. India’s relations with Egypt, Syria, Algeria and “the entire Muslim world is robust,” Prof. Pasha remarked.

Meanwhile, it may be mentioned here that the International Conference had discussed various issues, including Islam’s role and relevance in India, economic and financial relations, Islamic banking and finance, scope for educational cooperation, international and diplomatic relations. The need for Saudi Arabia to invest in India’s education, healthcare, low-cost housing, public transport social and infrastructure sectors were also another area of focus at the conference.
Apart from all over India the conference was attended by more than a dozen foreign delegates, especially from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, USA, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.

Apart from the inaugural and valedictory functions the conference had five business sessions on “Islam in India: Historical Context and Cultural Heritage”; “Economic and Financial Relations”; “Islamic Banking and Finance: Global Trends and India”; “Prospects for Educational Cooperation”; “Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Issues” & “India and Saudi Arabia: World Peace through Dialogue”.

Referring to Hegel, Dr. Arshi Khan said that they have to realise their own potentials that they possess without realising their utility. He gave the example of 1973 Arab Oil Embargo which had been very painful to the US for supporting Israel. Today they can use this power to pressurise the West to streamline the Zionists entity in accordance with the UN Charter. Both India and the Muslim world should not become the constituent elements of the Uni-polar forces as it would be detrimental to peace, security and development. They must assert not for the purpose of coercion but for setting the fair rules in international politics in the larger interests of the humanity.

Dr. Khan also talked about the economic collapse of the US which will continue and the same trend will occur in Europe with the exception of Germany and Turkey. Asia and Africa must rethink over their foreign policies goals not to be influenced by the declining powers but engineer a global coalition to resist the Revisionist forces in the world, he added.

Prof. Khwaja Abdul Muntaqim, Visiting Professor, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Amity University, NOIDA, speaking on the subject said that there is no reason to raise the eyebrows or to frown if multi-religious, multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country like India with large Muslim population density and other Muslim countries come closer in future particularly when it is clearly stated in UN Global agenda for dialogue among civilisations. That the globalisation is not only an economic, financial and technological process but it also presents the challenge of preserving and celebrating the rich intellectual and cultural diversity of humankind and of civilisations despite obstacles of intolerance, aggression, non-co-operation, arrogance etc.

Prof. Abdul Muntaqim said that there has been constructive interaction throughout history among various civilizations. It has led to the solution of many a political and non-political problem and United Nations New Millennium declaration (2000) inter alia provides that it is only through broad and sustained efforts to create a shared future based upon their common humanity in all its diversity, can globalization be made fully inclusive and equitable.

He said that any close & sincere relationship between India & the Muslim world may be beneficial to both the quarters in areas like diplomacy, trade and commerce, strategic ventures etc. India’s political and diplomatic support to the Muslim world and reciprocal gestures by the latter may help each other in winning over many a diplomatic battle particularly when India is at the threshold of being a permanent member of UN Security Council. Both the quarters can be instrumental in getting various bilateral and multi-lateral issues resolved at regional and international fora and assume the status of a formidable group like other global powers thereby ‘de-monopolising” the diplomatic sector, he added.

Dr. Naseema Akhtar, Associate Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, spoke on “The Growing Links between GCC states and Central Asian Republics within the Indian context” emphasised on four points namely (i) The three regions are situated at the tri-juncture of Euro-Asia India can strengthen the “Look East” policy more pronouncedly and definitely can play a major role in implementing this policy. Within this context J & K geo-politics provide a special status which no other states can provide it; (ii) Kashmir had been connected with Central Asian region since 1420 AD and Zain-ul-Abideen King of the time utilised these connections for socio-economic and political prospects and benefits to common masses of Kashmir; (iii) Kashmir is connected to the Caspian Sea area through Silk route and Khanjar-pass roads. This Khnjar road goes to China, Central Asian states and backdoor to the Indian Union through Laddakh which serves as a binocular telescope to this Euro-Asian continents & (iv) It is not only that Kashmir will be prosperous but India will be in a win-win position in terms of economic and political aspects particularly within the context of
Dr. Sani al-Faraj, President, Kuwait Centre for Strategic Affairs, Kuwait, sought a broad based relationship with India in economic, political and military affairs. He compared Kuwait to a mouse surrounded by three elephants–Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Only amicable relations with the three, and among the three, elephants would ensure the safety and security of the mouse. His area, he said, had been known for trade which linked Muslim holy places to big markets across a stretch of 6,400 miles even in early medieval times. Caravans of 1,000 camels used to traverse the entire trade route from Arabia to India, China and Japan. He pleaded for making it a zone of peace.

“India as a naval power should help secure the maritime routes from piracy and other threats for oil and other trade. India’s interests in GCC-oil and other economic interests should also be secured. The Gulf as a business hub, should be of particular interest to India”, Dr. Sani al-Faraj emphasised.

He said a new Kuwait City was being built to accommodate new needs. He made a power-point presentation of the new city called City of Silk. The layout was inspired by the intricate patterns of a silk carpet, which represented some of the finest elements of Islamic art and craft.
Dr. Zakir Khan, a former Indonesian diplomat and chairman, World Muslim Solidarity Forum of Dewah Dawah Islamiyah, Indonesia, said big power politics and American hegemony had harmed the Muslim world immensely. However, if the Islamic and other developing countries made a common cause to resist foreign interference they would be able to restore their freedom. He gave the example of Indian Muslim soldiers of the British army who had been sent to Indonesia by the British rulers to support the Dutch rulers of Indonesia to crush the independence struggle of the people. The Indian Muslims soldiers refused to crush the Indonesian freedom fighters and crossed over to their side.

Islam did not support violence, much less terrorism. However, the Muslim aspiration for freedom from foreign dominance had to be respected. He condemned the so-called War on Terror, which had led to the unjustified death of a large number of Muslims. On the other hand, Muslims had been helping non-Muslims all over the world in times of trouble, Dr. Zakir Khan pointed out.

Islam in India: Historical Perspective and Cultural Heritage

Meanwhile, the theme of another session was “Islam in India: Historical Perspective and Cultural Heritage”. The presidium consisted of Prof. B. Sheik Ali, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Mangalore and Goa, and Syed Shahid Mahdi, Former Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia.

In his opening remarks Prof. Sheik Ali in this session said that the early Muslim rulers of India had known only the Abrahamic faiths–Judaism and Christianity-besides their own faith, Islam. In India they came face to face with eastern faiths like Hinduism and Buddhism, which gave them a different understanding of the Shariah (Islamic law). In the new, non-Abrahamic environment, they set their religious perspective afresh, giving “Adl” (justice) a primacy over other things. “Adl” is a major goal of the Shariah. Ghyasuddin Balban, the Delhi Sultanate ruler, said famously that he would not be able to implement the entire Shariah, but he would be happy to ensure justice for everyone. As usual, he had a tense relationship with the Ulema, he added.

Prof. Ali said that conversions to Islam did not take place because of Muslim force of arms, but because a lot of lower-caste Hindus felt oppressed by an iniquitous caste system and wanted to get away from it. In the deep south, Islam was brought in by traders who came by sea as this region had maritime contact with the Arab world since long before the advent of Islam. India then had a rich intellectual tradition and a richer civilisation than most other lands.

Prof. Shahid Mahdi said that the coming of Muslims to India led to the establishment of Bhakti-Sufi movement, which later culminated into the birth of a new faith, Sikhism. He quoted Maulana Rumi’s couplet: “Tu brai wasl kardan amdi / na brai fasl kardan amdi” (you have come to unite people / not to sow division among them) as a mission statement of Islam.

Prof. Omar Hasan Kasule, Sr. Faculty of Medicine, King Abdullah Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, talked about Islam’s project of knowledge. Under this project there had been great interaction between India and Arab Muslim world. He referred to Abu Rehan al-Beruni’s formidable scholarship on India, which is objective and non-judgmental. Initially, the pundits, India’s scholars, shunned him. However, he persevered and got ultimately admitted into the circle of scholars. He became such a great scholar of Sanskrit and the Puranas that he was given the title of “Vidya Sagar,” (Ocean of knowledge).

While Prof. Hamidullah Marazi, Director, Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, presenting a paper on the above theme stated that prior to Central Asian influences on Indian sciences said: “We find some interaction between Indian and Arab scholars also, as they would from Baghdad to Sindh and Multan after its conquest by Mohammad Ibn Qasim. But after that the Central Asian scholars were the most frequent visitors to India.

Prof. Hamidullah said that in the fifth century A.H. Abu Rihan Al-Biruni arrived India and he not only mastered Indian philosophy and astronomy but also taught Indians Mathematics and astronomy. He is remembered by the world as a great and outstanding Astronomer, Physician, Physicist, Mathematician, Geographer, Geologist and Astrologer. Among all his books Kitab al-Hind is very famous so far as the Indian religious life and belief system is concerned. It gives a detailed account of the Indian life, religion, languages, cultures and also, observations on geography. He was the first Muslim tourist of India who learnt Sanskrit and studied Hindu religious and philosophical books in their original language on his own. He spent around 15 to 20 years or according to some scholars around 40 years and travelled throughout whole India.
The most outstanding Central Asian intellectual at Akbar’s court was Mir Fathullah Shirazi. He first immigrated to the court of Abdul Shah of Bijapur, but in 1582 moved to Akbar’s court and became the spearhead of all the intellectual movements there. Excellent in all branches of philosophy, he was an eminent authority on Avicenna’s works and Ishraqi theosophy. In mathematics astronomy, and mechanics he was unique both in Central Asia Iran and India.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Iqbal Rather, a research scholar in the Department of Islamic Studies in AMU Aligarh, while intervening during a business session said since 2006 Indo-Saudi Arabia relations have reached new heights. However, there is still scope for diversifying these relations including culture. The nature of the relationship, particularly Indian advantage of oil imports from Saudi Arabia, the significance and benefits of Indian expatriates working in Saudi Arabia whose remittances to India should be widely disseminated in the media channels of the country which could be helpful in dispelling the stereotype images of the Muslim world in Indian public’s mind.

Another research scholar Showkat Ahmed Dar in the Department of Islamic Studies in AMU in his paper entitled “The contemporary Indian Muslims: A review of their educational status” pointed out that the Muslim World, of which Indian Muslims are integral part, is falling behind many other countries in education, science and technology and the data is not pretty. He quoted the 20th century great Islamist thinker Abu A’la Maududi who had said: “Today we need an educational system which can produce Muslim philosophers, Muslim jurists, Muslim statesmen, in brief, Muslim experts in all fields of knowledge who would reconstruct the social order in accordance with the tenets of Islam”.

Meanwhile, delivering the valedictory address Dr. Jasir Auda, deputy director, Centre for Islamic Legislation and Ethics, Qatar, said that the Muslim world had always had a close relationship with India. Now was the time to expand the contacts further on government to government and people to people level.

Malaysian intellectual Datuk Seri Mohammad Iqbal said that India and Malaysia were “Joined together by emotional ties.” Besides cultural and social similarities between the two countries they enjoyed close economic and educational ties. In Malaysia’s Islamic University several Indian academics had been working. Islamic Shariah, halal food and Islamic banking could be some of the shared aspects between the two, Datuk Iqbal concluded.

Dr. Abdul Majeed Mohammad S. Al-Umri, director, external services in the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, said that the heavy representation of Saudis in the conference showed its significance. He hoped that the conference would pave the way for the two countries coming together on practical issues. Now that Saudi Arabia had made giant studies in educational and economic fields, it would be easier for the two countries to establish world peace through dialogue.

[Pervez Bariis a senior Journalist based at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He is associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Madhya Pradesh). He can be contacted at pervezbari@eth.net]

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Citizens for Justice And Peace condemn attack on Hindus in Bangladesh

March 11, 2013, 10:16 pm

≫ Next: Pakistan failed to create a lasting democratic system: Husain Haqqani

≪ Previous: Need to look into role of India & Muslim world in new perspective: Dr. Arshi Khan

IMO News Service

Mubai: The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), Mumbai condemns the attack on innocent Hindus in Bangladesh over the past week and Christians in Pakistan yesterday by a angry mob of 7,000 and more. We appeal to all Indians and the wider human rights community to join us in condemning these dastardly attacks.

While condemning the targeted and violent attacks against Bangladesh's minority Hindu community, the CJP calls upon the Indian government and international organisations to ensure that the Bangladeshi authorities provide them with better protection. There have been disturbing reports that individuals taking part in the protests called by supremacist Islamic parties (including reportedly led by Jamaat-e-Islaami, Bangladesh) have vandalised more than 40 Hindu temples across Bangladesh, scores of Hindu homes and shops have also been burned down, leaving hundreds homeless. The attacks have come in the wake of protests to implement the findings of the country's ongoing war crimes tribunal, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The role of the Jamaat-e-Islaami-Bangladesh has been pointed to in the recent anti-minority attacks. In Pakistan, regarding the targeted attack against a group of Christians in Lahore, the CJP urges the Indian government and international organisations to lend voice to their demand that the the Punjab government should have given the Christian community more protection in Lahore following the false allegations of blasphemy.

All of us undersigned condemn these dastardly attacks and call for the immediate punishment of those guilty. It is long overdue that the demands of human rights activists from all countries in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal. Afganistan, Srilanka, Burma and Bhutan are met and a South Asian Commisison/Authority for Human Rights Protection is established that looks into all instances of cross border human rights violations, atrocities against women and children and traffking, caste atroctries and attacks on identities, ethnicities and religious minorities. CJP has been part of efforts to set up this kind of mechanism for over a decade.

Teesta Setalvad
Secretary & Trustee

Other trustees: IM Kadri (Vice President), Raghunandan Maluste (Vice-President), Arvind Krishnaswamy (Treasurer), Alyque Padamsee, Cyrus Guzder, Javed Akhtar, Taizoon Khorakhiwala, Anil Dharkar, Rahul Bose, Javed Anand, Ghulam Pesh-Imam, Cedric Prakash

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Pakistan failed to create a lasting democratic system: Husain Haqqani

March 11, 2013, 10:20 pm

≫ Next: Muslim Girls: Bottom of the rung

≪ Previous: Citizens for Justice And Peace condemn attack on Hindus in Bangladesh

By Manzar Imam

New Delhi: The MMAJ Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) under its Pakistan Studies Programme recently organized a talk by Husain Haqqani, a former ambassador of Pakistan to the United States of America, on the topic “Democratic Pakistan: Vision and Reality” at the Edward Said Hall, JMI.

Haqqani, who is also a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, spoke on a range of issues and suggested that India and Pakistan needed to understand each other and find ways to resolve their problems peacefully. He said that India and Pakistan had a great interest in each other, but also suffered from a serious paucity of information about each other.

Normally, the prism in India usually is a prism of looking at Pakistan from the historic context of Partition, he said. Adding, that “India needs to go beyond that. Pakistan on the other hand also needs to go beyond a narrative that has been built up over the last sixty years of India as an existing threat.”

Historically, nations that have been enemies in the past are working together in the present. Some underlying disputes unresolved can still have a working relationship, he said.
Pakistan will soon have a second consecutive democratic election and hopefully will result in a second consecutive democratic government for the first time in its history, he said.

India’s greatest achievement, Haqqani said, has been its democracy. The democracy in India that has managed its way for pluralism. People have forgotten during the 1960s there was a perception that India is taking a socialist route whereas Pakistan has embraced a capitalist road. But we see that India has become a more successful capitalist democracy than its neighbor.

India’s democracy has worked. It has enabled India to be pluralist and espouse different vision for India. Pakistan was not that lucky, we were not able to “create a democratic system” that lasted, said Haqqani, the former East Asian correspondent for Arabia: the Islamic World View.

We have had a long period of struggle against the restoration of democracy against military dictatorship.

What is the problem with military dictatorship, asked Haqqani, and said that some newspapers even described him as a critic of Pakistan’s army. But the truth is, he said, I like anybody who loves his country, want the army of my country to succeed, but my concern is their area of responsibility. The armies of nations are raised primarily to defend their frontiers. They are not raised to tell their leaders what to do inside the country.

The great genius of democracy is that it enables nations to change course without necessarily having major confrontations. “We all have confrontations but do not necessarily have to resort to violence in different degrees,” he said.

The battle of ideas in Pakistan is between those who do not consider military rule as a problem and those who do, he said. Having an opinion and being able to express it is the essence of democracy, and I think Pakistan is moving towards that, he said.

He also spoke about the critical issue of national interest. What represents Pakistan’s national interest? The parameters of that are narrow and that is our next battle, said Haqqani who also served as Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and covered two wars in Afghanistan. My argument is that why people of Pakistan cannot decide what their national interest is. National debate should determine what national interest is, he said.

One of the biggest concerns in India as regards to Pakistan or any other country is terrorism but there are more terrorist attacks in Pakistan than in India. Thus we are the victims and we need to deal with it, he said.

Our problems are not anybody else’s and they have to be resolved by the Pakistanis. We will still have difficulties to resolve our problem. He however, did not rule out that terrorism affects neighbors and others.

He also talked about the poor role of Pakistani media and said, “Our media is young and immature”. So far as the issue of democracy, its vision and reality is concerned, Haqqani said, “The reality is that there is a Parliament and my vision should be why more students are not in school.” Why Pakistan Human Development Indicators are below than their neighboring countries, he said.

The diplomat also hinted towards strengthening trade relations between the two countries. Most successful nations are those whose larger trading partners are their neighbors because it’s easier. But it’s different in case of Pakistan which doesn’t make economic sense, he said.
While problem will persist and they should be resolved through dialogue and discussion but “political issues should not hold up the potential economic avenues of cooperation,” he said.

Haqqani, the author of “Pakistan Between Mosque and Military” showed optimism about Pakistan’s turning to democracy and democratic means to accommodate differences. People who articulate a vision which is different from the government’s, will come to us later, he said. He described it as an immaturity. Pluralism as a nation has also diminished over time which has resulted into a serious problem.

He said that certain issues like the length of the beard and what to and what not to wear are not the 21st century issues and they impeded development. On the question of judiciary, Haqqani said that “Pakistan’s judiciary has disappointed the people of Pakistan” and has stepped out of what was under its purview like defining what should be the ideology of people and try to implement and impose it.

The journalist-turned diplomat-academician also made a tacit appeal to both India and Pakistan not to consider each other as enemies and said that India and Pakistan needed to recognize that their existential enemy was poverty, ignorance and disease.

Prof. Rashmi Doraiswamy, officiating director of the Academy coordinated the talk which was chaired by Vice-Chancellor Najeeb Jung. Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar; chairperson of National Commission for Minorities, Wajahat Habibullah; human rights activist and wife of Haqqani, Farahnaz Ispahani were also present among the audience.

[Manzar Imam, a Delhi-based Journalist, is Special Correspondent of IndianMuslimObserver.com. He can be reached at manzarkhalil@gmail.com]

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Muslim Girls: Bottom of the rung

March 11, 2013, 10:27 pm

≫ Next: Muslim Sermons That Offend Instead of Inspire

≪ Previous: Pakistan failed to create a lasting democratic system: Husain Haqqani

Acute poverty coupled with State apathy disenfranchises Muslim women from pursuing higher education, says a report

By Victoria Rossi& Mohammad Ali

Something happens when Muslim schoolgirls turn 14 -- they stop showing up in class. The steadily increasing absence of Muslim girls from secondary schools is worrying and exploring reasons for this has thrown up a range of critical socio-economic factors.

“Muslim girls leave schools faster than any other community,” says a 500-page report on minority girls’ education, released in December by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI).

In elementary school, the picture is different -- girls go to class as often as anyone from another minority group, and just as frequently as Muslim boys, sometimes outstripping them in enrolment rates in some parts of the country. The same goes for academic performance, according to the report.

“Up to elementary level, minority girls, particularly Muslim girls, are almost at par with their male counterparts in strength as well as performance,” says the report which was prepared by the NCMEI’s sub-committee on girls’ education. But then, “the state of Muslim girls’ education worsens fast.”

The problem has been 60 years in the making. In 1947, 8.5 per cent of Muslim women attended college, compared to just 2.4 per cent today, the report says. “Clearly, Muslim women were quite ahead of Hindu women at the time of partition.”

Now, Muslim girls attend elementary school at higher rates than girls from other minority groups, but fall to last place in their secondary school completion rates and beyond, causing the reports’ authors to conclude, “Muslim women are the worst off, especially the rural ones.”
As per the 2001 Census, only one in 101 Muslim women is a graduate, whereas one out of 37 women in the general population is a graduate. Muslim women at the graduate level are fewer by 63 per cent.

Though popular perceptions may point to cases where Islamist groups have sought to prevent female schooling — such as the October 2012 assassination attempt on 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girls education advocate, in India, the more insidious obstacle has been a phenomenon much older than the Taliban – poverty.

Arguing that low levels of education of Muslim girls owe not to religion but to poverty, Dr. Shabistan Ghaffar, Chairperson of the NCMEI’s Sub-Committee on Girls Education, told The Hindu that only 16.1 per cent of Muslim girls from poor families attend schools, while 70 per cent of Muslim girls from economically better-off families do so. Over all Muslim girls’ school enrolment rates continue to be low -- 40.6 per cent, as compared to 63.2 per cent in the case of upper caste Hindus. In rural north India it is only 13.5 per cent, in urban north India 23.1 per cent, and in rural and urban south India, above 70 per cent, which is above the all-India average for all girls.

“Less than 17 per cent of Muslim girls finish eight years of schooling and less than 10 per cent complete higher secondary education. In north India the corresponding figures are 4.5 per cent and 4.75 per cent respectively, compared to the national female average of 17.8 per cent and 11.4 per cent. Only 1.5 per cent rural Muslims, both boys and girls, and 4.8 per cent urban Muslim children are enrolled in senior secondary schools,” Elaborating further, he says, “The average number of years that Muslim girls study is a dismal 2.7 years, as compared to 3.8 years in the case of Hindu girls.”

With Muslim families often poorer than other minority religious groups, parents find it difficult to send their daughters to higher levels of schooling—nor do they think an education beyond basic reading and writing skills will help the family’s finances.

And so far, the report says, the government has not done much to convince parents otherwise.
One government scholarship offers, on average, Rs 120,000 each year to minority students pursuing a professional course, which is 90 per cent lower than the average allocation for scheduled castes, of Rs 963,507. “This is a stark difference in the state support of two different weaker sections of the country,” the report concludes. “The picture will be more or less the same as regards the planning and performance of other government schemes meant for this class of Indian people.”

Though states have significantly expanded schools in rural areas, the report argues that minority communities have largely been left out of that expansion.

Concerns which discourage Muslim girls and their parents to access the available educational systems include lack of girls’ hostel facilities, distance of schools and colleges, lack of transport facilities for girl students, their security and sexual harassment.

The report, which was compiled over a period of three years, draws from accounts of educational experts who spoke at conferences throughout the country, and relies heavily on census data as well as the 2006 Sachar Committee Report, whose survey data debunked many common stereotypes about Indian Muslims and said, “While the education system appears to have given up on Muslim girls, the girls themselves have not given up on education. There is a strong desire and enthusiasm for education.”

(Courtesy: The Hindu)

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Muslim Sermons That Offend Instead of Inspire

March 17, 2013, 2:02 pm

≫ Next: Challenges of Muslim Converts in Britain

≪ Previous: Muslim Girls: Bottom of the rung

By Shahla Khan Salter

Muslim prayer services are offered all over the world, every Friday. Prayers are led by the Imam, while the Khateeb is the person who delivers the sermon, which is called the Khutbah.
Traditionally, the form of the Khutbah is set. Content, on the other hand, may vary.

Having heard many Khutbahs during my lifetime, the quality also varies.

Some Khutbahs have been beautiful. They have made my heart sing or brought tears to my eyes.

Some have been interesting in parts and made me chuckle.

Others have been simply adequate.

There were a few, in response to which, I worked hard to refrain from open heckling.
And one in particular, during my university days, over 20 years ago, was so offensive, it filled me with rage. More than two decades later I still remember I was startled by the sound of the doors I slammed myself when I ran out of the room.

Some things don't change -- not at the speed we demand.

On February 15, 2013, Muslim students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, attended a Friday prayer service, seeking enlightenment and spiritual comfort. Instead they were delivered a Khutbah filled with offensive comments against sexual minorities and women.

In response, Muslim students at Cornell wrote an open letter to the Cornell Community asking that they be allowed to deliver the sermons themselves, not be excluded from services and provided a reminder that the views of one Khateeb did not reflect the view of all Muslims.
Unfortunately, the Cornell incident is not an isolated one.

Though not all Khutbahs are regularly filled with homophobia and misogyny, a common complaint among mosque-goers and mosque-quitters is about the quality of the Khutbah at some mosques.

And those complaints are becoming more commonplace as the times they are a-changing.
The views and values of the Ummah -- as we Muslims call our community -- are no longer always in line with conservative mosque leadership.

Examples?

While the Khateeb at Cornell littered his sermon with homophobia and misogyny, many American Muslims hold an unwavering solidarity behind American Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison, also a supporter of same sex marriage.

While British Muslim MPs, like Sadiq Khan, come under fire from conservative Muslims for supporting same sex marriage, other members of the UK Muslim community express their support for him and the four other Muslim MP's who voted for it. (Most of those Muslim MPs now face death threats.)

And while our media here in Canada is busy searching for but rarely finding "moderate" Muslims (please report on Bill S-7 before Harper Conservatives make it legal for police to detain someone for three days without charge), Ontario Minister of Labour, Yasir Naqvi, a Canadian Muslim, has marched at Pride, staunchly supported anti-bullying provisions to help queer youth and led the way for an amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Act that now includes transgendered persons.

Similarly, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, Canada's first Muslim mayor, was also the first Calgary mayor to serve as grand marshal at Calgary Pride festivities .

So to the Khateebs who haven't gotten it yet -- wake up! Khutbahs should be enlightening and informative or at the very least un-offensive to a broad audience and aligned with the values of the Ummah.

Without change, it appears, according to the American documentary film, "Unmosqued", (to be released) the mosque will soon be empty.

(Courtesy: Huffington Post)

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Challenges of Muslim Converts in Britain

March 17, 2013, 2:07 pm

≫ Next: Qur'an, Bible Clear Islam Misconceptions

≪ Previous: Muslim Sermons That Offend Instead of Inspire

“We have endeavored to describe the experience of women converts to Islam in contemporary British society,” Professor Suleiman said.

Dubai: Facing pressures from family members after their conversion and public opposition to their dress, a new study is looking into challenges facing new Muslim converts in Britain.

“I was born and brought into a Catholic family of 10 children. I chose to accept Islam,” Mary Batool Al Toma, a Muslim convert, told a symposium at the American University of Sharjah on Sunday, March 10, reported 7Days in Dubai website.

“How I was treated at that time was extremely painful to the point where my mother, just a few days before she passed away, when she was dying of cancer, put her arms around me and I could feel her squeezing the life out of me as she apologized to me for the way that the family had treated me during the time of my conversion.”

The event saw the launch of a report into challenges facing new Muslim converts in Britain.
Themed “Narratives of Conversion to Islam in Britain - Female Perspectives”, the study highlighted cultural pressures facing new Muslims in Britain and the lack of support for them.

“We have endeavored to describe the experience of women converts to Islam in contemporary British society,” Professor Yasir Suleiman, founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center of Islamic Studies at University of Cambridge, told Zawya Emirati website.

“The relationship between the convert and the heritage Muslim communities and wider society is explored with reference to their political, social and religious contexts.”

The study, co-prepared by AUS and University of Cambridge in association with The New Muslims Project, looks into challenges facing new Muslim converts from family pressures to issues as hijab, marriage, divorce, polygamy, domestic violence and mosque provisions for female converts.

It also sheds light on challenges facing children of convert mothers and the role new Muslims play as bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims in British society.

“The question of dress, the hijab is an important one,” Professor Suleiman said.

“I think there is a difference between wearing the hijab and being ‘worn’ by the hijab. Not every convert wears the hijab. It depends on how you feel about the faith and the culture you live in.

“Locality is a factor. If you live in a small town, initially it’s harder to wear the hijab than if you live in London, because you can just disappear in London.”

Identity

The report also highlights that the issue of identity stands as a major challenges for new Muslims in Britain.

“For many converts identity is a fluid and continuous process of self-evaluation and re-evaluation, aligned with the possibility of arriving at a comfortable sense of Self,” said professor Suleiman.

“Perceptions of identity change or evolve as converts develop their own understanding of their faith.”

The report has won plaudits for portraying a realistic picture of women converts in Britain.
“The report shows the need to help converts integrate into Muslim society, in order to enable them play a positive role,” said Nawar Golley, Associate Professor in Literary Theory and Women's Studies at AUS and panel moderator.

Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.5 million.

The majority of the multi-ethnic minority has Indian, Bengali and Pakistani backgrounds.
The 2011 census showed that the proportion of Muslims rose from 3.0 percent to 4.8 percent, becoming the fastest growing faith in Britain.

In 2011, think tank Demo found that Muslims in the United Kingdom are more patriotic than the rest of population.

Responding to the statement “I am proud to be a British citizen”, 83% of Muslims said they are proud of being British.

(Courtesy: OnIslam.net)

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