September 21, 2013, 2:10 pm
IMO News Service
New Delhi: At 11 am IST at Nehru Park, New Delhi, which is situated in the diplomatic area surrounded by embassies of many countries, a group of youths gathered on 21st September 2013 to observe World Peace Day through paintings/ sketching on the theme "Painting for Peace (India-Pakistan-Afghanistan)". This was a culminating program of the week-long Tree for Harmony campaign, an annual initiative of India-based organization Mission Bhartiyam. This painting for Peace-India-Pakistan-Afghanistan was done in collaboration with The catalyst and Xeebiz International, two organisations based in Pakistan.
Tree for Harmony is a campaign where Peace and Environment were clubbed together and tried to symbolize a Tree as a strong symbol of harmony. "Under this initiative the symbolic 'Harmony Tree' is planted and people are encouraged to do so. Along with that, a discussion is also organised or a medium like painting/ essay competition is used to spread awareness as well as thinking initiated on cause for Peace or/and Environment", remarked Ms. Devika Mittal, one of the organizers.
The programme began with a small discussion on environment and some issues or causes for harmony. There was a discussion on the theme of the programme i.e. peace for India-Pakistan-Afghanistan.
Moenam Hossain, a postgraduate student of Sociology at South Asian University, talked about the scenario in his country, Bangladesh. He highlighted the problem of communal tensions in the country.
Rohit Bhardwaj, an architect by profession, talked about the need to think about environment during designing and construction of buildings.
The discussion was followed by the expression on the sheets.
Dilmeet Singh, a student of architecture, through his art asked that when God made us all equal, why do we create difference? Why is there a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority? Why are some lives considered to be less precious than others?
There were several paintings on borders acting as barriers for peace and prosperity.
Ravi Nitesh, founder of Mission Bhartiyam and engineer by profession, in his work remarked that peace cannot be produced out of the barrel of a gun.
In the programme, the paintings on Indo-pak peace made by school students for the annual Indo-Pak peace calendar were also exhibited.
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September 21, 2013, 2:15 pm
IMO News Service
New Delhi: Kaval village is about three kilometres away from Jansath in Muzaffarnagar district. Hindus and Muslims have always lived in amity in this village, whose population is around 15,000. On 27 August 2013, Shahnavaz, a youth from Kaval, had an argument with Gaurav, a Jat youth from Malikpura, a village two kilometres distant. Media reports and rumour have linked this argument with “eve teasing”. However, at this time there is no evidence of any such association. The Uttar Pradesh D.I.G. (Law and Order), Rajkumar Vishwakarma, has said that there is no evidence of “eve teasing” having been the cause.
Around 1 p.m. that day, Gaurav arrived at the centre of Kaval village with his relative Sachin. The argument took a physical form, with Gaurav and Sachin stabbing Shahnavaz, who died in a short while. The two assailants could not run away. A crowd collected to beat them and the two died after sharp edged weapons were used. After the deaths of the three youths, senior officials of the Muzaffarnagar administration came to Kaval and promised an impartial enquiry.
So far, the matter was seen as a fatal fight between two groups. The police registered the FIRs of both sides. Family members of Gaurav and Sachin were also implicated in the death of Shahnawaz. At the same time, the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, Manjul Saini, were transferred out of Muzaffarnagar.
Members of the Hindu community regarded these steps as showing bias. They were further incensed when, the next day, photos of the two Jat youths appeared in the newspaper, with prominence given to the caption that they were killed when they objected to the teasing of their sister.
At this point a video was released by Sangeet Som, a BJP MLA. This video showed Muslims putting to death a youth and was described as a recording made in Muzaffarnagar. It came to be known later that the recording had actually been made in Sialkot two years earlier. However, being said to show Muzaffarnagar it had been sent to nearly all the mobile phones in the area, and the actions of local leaders served to put Hindus and Muslims against one another.
There were small meetings of the Hindu community. The Muslim community had a public meeting on 30 August which was chaired by Qadir Rana, MP of the BSP. The next day there was a large meeting of the Hindu community.Anger grew with every passing day. On 5 September the BJP called a bandh across Muzaffarnagar. Even a week after the incident the district administration had made no attempt to curb the spreading of rumours.
Even without evidence of “eve teasing”, on 7 September and with the aid of political parties, khap panchayats called a Beti Bachao meeting which was attended by many. A crowd of people going towards the panchayat set fire to the car of a Muslim family and beat up another family. When news of this spread, people heading towards the panchayat were attacked in Bassi village. Then a Muslim youth was beaten to death at the panchayat venue. By this time Hindus and Muslims were ranged against one another.
Rumours spread over social media made the atmosphere more anarchic. People believed these rumours and attacked one another. There was much violence in many villages.
Two conclusions are inescapable: the local administration failed to gauge the seriousness of the situation; and leaders put people against one another by the spreading of rumours. Votes have now been polarised not just in Muzaffarnagar but across the whole of western U.P. A small incident has grown into a communal conflagration. Official estimates are that more than ten thousand people are living in government-run refugee camps and around fifty thousand people have been compelled to flee from their homes.
The father of the Hindu boys who were killed said, “We do not want that there should be bloodshed. While the corpses of our sons lay before us we appealed to people to control their anger. We said that no other innocents should be killed.”
It seems that a planned conspiracy was behind the transformation of a minor quarrel into a full blown conflagration. The widespread use of weapons and the looting and destruction of homes clearly tells us that the “riots” had been planned and prepared for and that only a convenient excuse was needed. All this is reminiscent of what happened in Gujarat in 2002.
That the Kaval incident was used as the spark for mass violence makes it clear that so far the government of U.P. has failed to deal with communal conspiracies. Perhaps this is not a mere administrative failure but the outcome of a carefully planned political strategy.
Since the coming to power of the Samajwadi Party there have been more than a hundred instances of religious violence. It is clear that the SP and the BJP are engaged in consolidating their vote bases for the general election of 2014: and there are indications that more such violence may be expected in the State.
We, ordinary citizens, through the Aman Ekta Manch, appeal to the people of Uttar Pradesh and the entire country to recognise the forces behind this fresh flaring up of communalism. We must work towards restoring normalcy to the lives of the people of U.P. We must also be alert and combat the spreading of hatred over the social media and by other means. The responsibility for containing the fire that is spreading from Muzaffarnagar rests with the Central Government and the Government of U.P. It is our duty as citizens.
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September 21, 2013, 2:25 pm
By M Ghazali Khan
Only once have I heard Narendra Modi telling the truth and admitting, in a television interview to a British filmmaker few weeks after the Gujarat genocide in 2002 and admitting, indirectly though, that he is not a fool. “Koi moorakh mukhya mantri hi apne rajya men arajakta phelwai ga (only a foolish chief minister will allow rioting and lawlessness in his state).” Modi was denying his role in the dance of death and destruction demonstrated on the streets of Gujarat under his rule. Not that he is now a reformed man and regrets his foolishness in allowing that program. The fact is that, as the old saying goes, “everybody is wiser after a bad experience”, Modi realised the blunders of his strategy only after facing condemnation from all over the world. There is no change in his anti-Muslim stance in the least. He is still spreading the misconception that Muslims are being, “appeased”. Praising and congratulating himself he still insists, as he has been saying in his speeches and interviews that his Gujarat experiment has proved, “appeasement ke baghair bhi sab ko saath le kar chala ja sakta hai” (without being appeased any, everyone can be taken aboard).
The narrow-mindedness and foolishness of Modi and his party hardly needs any comment. However, what is really strange is the lack of vision and wisdom of someone like Mulayam Singh who has allowed his solid Muslim support, especially in western UP to evaporate.
His courtship with Hindutva group — praise for Advani, meeting with VHP leaders, allowing anti-Muslim riots, 104 in his one and half year rule in UP, and now the bizarre display of complete disinterest and shameful unwillingness in controlling one of the most horrific riots in the state—is in sharp contrast to the praise he had showered upon Muslims after his overwhelming victory in assembly elections a year ago. Not only had he thanked the Muslims for their support but had even asked his party workers to keep this fact in mind.
But then there is nothing new about this coquettish behaviour of once “Mulla” Mulayam Singh. Before the elections he hadflirted with Kalyan Singh, much to the annoyance of his party’s Muslim face Azam Khan and making some of his MLAs to say goodbye to his Samajwadi Party. Realising how damaging this courtship could be for his party, Mulayam parted his ways and was accused by Kalyan Singh of being an opportunist. What the readers would, however, be surprised and shocked to learn is that even few days after ordering the shooting on karsevaks in Ayodhya in 1990, Mulayam Singh was seen embracing with great warmth Mr Kalyan Singh inside the parliament building. This was reported by none other than M. Afzal, now Congress’s spokesperson, who used to edit Urdu weekly Akhabar-e-Nau. According to Mr Afzal when he expressed his astonishment at what he was witnessing, Mulayam Singh lost his temper and dared him, “aap ko jo likhna hai likh lena.” (Go on, write whatever you want to write).
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Far from keeping his pre-election promise to release innocent Muslim youths languishing in jails for the fabricated terror charges, his government suppressed the publication of Nimesh Commission’s report on the arrest of Tariq Qasmi and late Khalid Mujahid. His Government went out of its way in protecting guilty officers in Faizabad riots.
Muzaffarnagar riots did not flare up suddenly. Hindutvaites have been busy in polarising the social and political climate in western UP for the last one or two years. Urdu newspapers have been constantly reporting on the provocative activities of Hindutvaites in the region. Few of such events that I can recall are: a maha panchayat and highly poisonous speeches in Manki, a village near Deoband; two Muftis of Darul Uloom Deoband travelling from Roorkee to Deoband, dragged out of a bus and beaten up resulting in tension and violent incidents in the town; two maha panchayats in Deoband and highly provocative speeches made, including by a former BJP MLA; riot between Muslims and Valmikis in Kairana; attack on Tableeghi ijtima in Kairana; a man from Khatauli attacked in a train and his beard shaved off; Muslims stopped from offering Shabeena prayers during Ramazan outside a mosque in Meerut leading to a riot like situation; and students of Darul Uloom travelling to and from Deoband assaulted in trains.
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In this background Mayawati’s comments that, "Every time elections are near, Mulayam Singh and the BJP and its affiliates, come together and plan political strategy," cannot be dismissed.
[M Ghazali Khancan be contacted at mkhanghazali@gmail.com]
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September 21, 2013, 3:01 pm
[This fact-finding exercise was coordinated by the Centre for Policy Analysis. Team members comprised human rights activist and former civil servant Harsh Mander, former Director-General of the Border Security Force, E N Rammohan, Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University, National Integration Council member John Dayal, senior journalist Sukumar Muralidharan and CPA Director and senior editor Seema Mustafa. This report was sent on September 17, 2013.]Muzaffarnagar 2013: Violence by Political DesignIntroduction and OverviewThe first impression of the Muzaffarnagar countryside, now green with the sugarcane ripening for harvest, is of utter desolation. Villages are tense with fear. Kasbas and hamlets are purged of their Muslim presence and the Hindu quarters have also emptied out in a self-imposed curfew even at midday, as women and children peep out from behind closed doors and windows, their menfolk having fled to avoid arrest as criminal complaints are made out against them. Fear is in the air. The atmosphere reeks of embitterment and betrayed trust, with neighbour now unwilling to trust neighbour, and apprehensive of ever returning to their accustomed lives. All the evidence points towards people who were forced to flee their habitations in sheer terror and seek out the safety of gathering among others of their own faith, occupying any vacant space in areas where they could be sure of not being targets just because of who they were.“We will never go back to our villages”, say Muslim women refugees in a makeshift camp in the tehsil town of Budhana, some twenty kilometres from Muzaffarnagar. They are among two thousand five hundred men, women and children who fled their villages to seek safety in the town, among members of their own community. In the blazing post-monsoon heat, they are camped under a shamiana, where local community organisations scrape together the means to feed them twice a day. An open drain runs nearby, fetid with stagnant water. There is no water source and no doctor or health-care worker has visited them in the week that they have been there. The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) visited them close to a week since they were uprooted from their villages. Police patrols are at a distance and seem mostly static. There is a clear message that is held out to them: that they can only call upon members of their own community for sustenance and assistance in this hour of dire need.Though the Home Secretary in the Government of Uttar Pradesh has claimed that those displaced from their villages had been sheltered in state-run camps, there was a conspicuous absence of any official at the Budhana camps. Sanitation seemed to be the least priority since meeting the basic needs of food was itself a challenge.Inmates of the camp spoke of being attacked without warning with seeming intent to terrorise and drive them out of their villages. Several among them reported being sundered from their families and not knowing their whereabouts. A week into the violence, hopes were fading of ever finding those missing alive.There were complaints of milk being unavailable for the many children in the camp, though nobody really spoke of a food scarcity. For those of the Muslim faith in Budhana, it was a matter of honour to ensure that nobody seeking their protection at a time of danger should suffer want. The local community leadership seemed especially proud of the manner in which they had stepped up at the time. By the same token, they were rather disdainful of the absence of any official assistance.At the District Magistrate’s office, staff were neck-deep in work preparing for the visits of the Chief Minister the next day, and of the Prime Minister on September 16. Personnel of the Special Protection Group (SPG) which attends to VVIP security, had landed in the sole helipad available in the district and were examining all arrangements being made for the Prime Minister’s visit. Since the Prime Minister intended to summon top officials from the district for an evaluation meeting, arrangements were being made in the vicinity of the helipad for the gathering. Part of the district administration’s attention was diverted towards ensuring that the helipad and the adjoining conference hall were in appropriate condition to host a VVIP visit and conference. And there also seemed to be a strenuous effort underway to ensure that at least some of the camps would be given the veneer of efficiency and good cheer that could uplift VVIP spirits.![]()
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ANNEXUREThe Role of Political PartiesThe trajectory of communal riots in Uttar Pradesh has always displayed political hand/hands behind the violence. The incident said to be triggering off the violence is usually preceded by days or even weeks of rumours seeking to spread distrust and suspicion between the targeted communities that eventually erupt in communal clashes. This has been documented in reports over the years.It was no different in Muzaffarnagar, a district and parliamentary constituency with a high proportion of Muslims, Jats and Dalits peppered with other castes. Estimates place the number of Muslims in the district as close to 47 per cent, although most of them are not land owners, according to the District authorities, but work as labour on the land owned by the Jats, or have petty businesses such as selling cloth from village to village.Significantly, the relationship between the Jats and the Muslims has been fairly stable with both voting together for the same political parties in the past. Unlike the Dalits, the Muslims, while poor have not faced discrimination at the same levels in this district, with Muzaffarnagar not experiencing communal violence in the past. It has also been one of the first districts to move away from the Congress monopoly of Uttar Pradesh after Independence, searching for parliamentary alternatives as early as 1967.A glance at the voting pattern bears this out. The Congress party held sway in the initial years after Independence but in 1962 Muzaffarnagar departed from the political norm to vote for the Communist Party of India in two successive elections for the fourth and fifth Lok Sabha in 1967 and 1971 respectively. Latafat Ali Khan of the CPI was the first Muslim MP from Muzaffarnagar in 1962. The Janata Party won the seat in 1977 and the Janata party (S) in 1980. The 1984 election after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, brought back the Congress to Muzaffarnagar but only for one term in office. It returned to the Janata Dal whose candidate Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was elected from this constituency in 1989 and since then Muzaffarnagar constituency has remained with the opposition. The BJP came to power for the first time in 1991 and stayed for three terms till 2004. The Congress returned for one term, followed for the first time by the Samajwadi party and currently in the 15th Lok Sabha by Qadir Rana of the Bahujan Samaj party. In the 15th Lok Sabha Muzaffarnagar has returned only five Muslim MPs to Parliament, despite the high percentage of the minority vote.Secular voting has largely characterized this constituency until recent years, since 1991 to be precise, when the BJP came to power for three consecutive terms on the non-Muslim vote, followed then by a succession then of three Muslim MPs albeit from three different parties, the Congress, Samajwadi and BSP respectively.It is clear from the political history of Muzaffarnagar that the Rashtriya Lok Dal under Ajit Singh is not a factor here. His party has never won the seat, and in the battle for the Jat vote between the RJD and the BJP in western UP, the Muzaffarnagar Jats have clearly opted for the BJP as the political parliamentary trajectory indicates.The Political PlayersBahujan Samaj Party: its sitting MP Qadir Rana has not been seen since the violence broke out. Muslims in relief camps are highly critical of his absence. An FIR has been filed against him for hate speech at a public meeting addressed by different political parties on August 30.The BSP has asked for the dismissal of the Akhilesh Yadav government, and the imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh. But apart from this one demand and criticism of the state government’s role, the BSP seems to be following a “hands off” policy with the party remaining out of the current conflict. Although some Jats in one of the worst hit villages, Kutba said that the Dalits had attacked the Muslim homes, there was no confirmation of this from the affected Muslims who were categorical that they had been attacked by their Jat neighbours and not the Dalits.The BSP stands to gain politically if the Muslim vote that seems to be shifting from Samajwadi Party at this point in time gravitates towards it, as it has done in the past. Muslims in relief camps recalled the peaceful days under the Mayawati government, and insisted individually that her administrative policies were inclusive and not divisive.Congress Party: Clearly in the assessment of the party leadership, the violence provides an opportunity for garnering the votes. As a result of this Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi paid a flying visit to Muzaffarnagar, with the former taking the unprecedented step of having a meeting with district and state officials at the helipad itself. A day before the district authorities were busy renovating two rooms near the helipad for this meeting by the Prime Minister to send out the message that the Congress party was monitoring the situation closely.The police field an FIR against Congress leader Saeedujjama for allegedly provocative speeches on August 30.Bharatiya Janata Party: The BJP has been actively involved in the violence and could emerge, when the embers die down, as the major gainer. Its leaders have been active in organising the panchayats and the mahapanchayats in the villages where hate speeches pushed the crowd to take revenge against the Muslims for harassing their women. Slogans against Muslims for killing cows and assaulting Hindu women mixed with slogans in support of Narendra Modi rent the air after the series of meetings and mahapanchayats in the villages. Several Muslims, including women, in the relief camps told the team that the mobs were shouting Har Har Mahadev and slogans in support of Narendra Modi when they attacked the villages.After speaking to the district authorities and the residents of Muzaffarnagar, the team came to the conclusion that the BJP had played a major role in spreading lies and rumours across the countryside. There is concrete evidence of:1) A video of an over two-year-old incident in Pakistan was posted on the social media by legislator Sangeet Singh Som from Sardana assembly constituency as an act of violence perpetrated by Muzaffarnagar Muslims. A warrant is out for his arrest but he has so far not been nabbed.2) Hate speeches by BJP leaders inciting crowds to attack the Muslims and teach them a lesson. FIRs have been registered against at least four senior BJP leaders and many others who have still to be apprehended. BJP workers have successfully blocked the police from arresting these leaders so far.3) Of rumours spread through the villages based on lies, and calculated to stir passions. These spread like wildfire across the belt, with villagers running for shelter for fear of impending attack. In most of the affected villages, the men armed themselves with sticks, broken glass, guns and daggers to attack the Muslims and prevent them from harassing their women, while in a few the Jats also ran for shelter believing they would be attacked by the Muslims. Here the theme was “save our women” and not “Muslims are terrorists”.4) Tension was already brewing in Western UP before the alleged eve teasing and subsequent murder incident. The panchayats and in particular the last mahapanchayat held on September 7 openly incited the mobs to violence so as to "save" their women. Leaders belonging to the BJP, according to eyewitness accounts, were in charge.The BJP stands to gain substantially through the polarisation of votes. Uttar Pradesh is an important state with 80 parliamentary seats, for the forthcoming general elections. Jats dominate western UP and the violence in Muzaffarnagar has had impact across the belt. The consolidation of the Jat and other caste vote with a fractured minority vote, will allow the BJP to reap in huge electoral dividends.Samajwadi Party: The Samajwadi Party now has the most to lose. The level of violence in Muzaffarabad has taken away whatever advantage it could have had through a polarisation of the vote.The inability of the Akhilesh Yadav to prevent and control the violence has turned the Muslims completely against the Samajwadi party in Muzaffarnagar. Muslims forced to leave their homes and villages attacked the state government for not protecting them, with some even maintaining that it was working along with the BJP for electoral gains.The Muslim vote in western Uttar Pradesh that has been impacted by the violence is likely to move away from the Samajwadi party, and look at other alternatives. This is one of the major reasons why the Congress has already stepped in for benefits, while the more cautious BSP is still testing the waters.One of the main rumours circulating not just in Muzaffarnagar but in UP and Delhi as well is that Mulayam Singh and the BJP have been working together to ensure the consolidation of the vote bank. There is not sufficient evidence on the ground to support this except for the fact that: (i) despite information the state government did not move to prevent the mahapanchayat and subsequent panchayats that vitiated the secular atmosphere in the villages; and(ii) till date its police, despite supposed instructions, has not arrested a single BJP leader despite the FIRs against them.The district authorities told the team that they had expected some violence in Muzaffarnagar but had not expected the flames to engulf the villages. Here, the authorities said, they were completely taken by surprise.The Samajwadi Party, for the moment at least, has factored itself out of this belt and has lost the support of the Muslims.
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September 21, 2013, 3:09 pm
By Abdul Hafiz Lakhani
Ahmedabad: Whether we like it or not, the fact is that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has after all taken a giant step to 7 Race Course Road after crushing the opposition of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwarts and on the specific directives of the nationalist Hindu right wing organisation and BJP's parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) when BJP chief Rajnath Singh, much like a dutiful son, formally announced Modi's name as party's Prime Ministerial candidate for the ensuing 2014 Lok Sabha election. What is significant and simply cannot be brushed under the carpet is that it is for the first time ever in the history of independent India the rabidly anti-Muslim, communal organization RSS has directlly thrown its hat in parliamentary election ring through its proxy candidate Narendra Modi, who doesn't feel shy in being at the doorsteps of RSS every now and then. For RSS and its sister organizations like BJP, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and others, the currrent parliamentary elections is a do or die battle. For them, the simple motto is NOW or NEVER. The BJP has been out of power for nearly 10 years now, and it cannot afford being out of pwer anymore. The already vertically-divided BJP and its chief patron RSS fear that if they don't return to power by hook or crook, then their very existence will be at stake.
It is absolutely wrong to assume that BJP is still at the helm of affairs. On the contrary, it is the RSS that is calling the shots and has indeed overtaken the BJP in this forthcoming election and is directly fighting elections with BJP as its mask. Being another faithful son Modi is fully committed to RSS ideology, perhaps he is slight ahead of his guru L.K. Advani, now the eternal rebel who has been left sulking seeing his long-held Prime Ministerial dreams being dashed miserably before his own eyes.
The BJP had ruled India in the past, but was not able to saffronise the country fully. However, the elevation of Modi as party's PM candidate has once again raised renewed hopes, and at the same time raised several unanswered questions that have long term implications for the already fragile communal harmony and overall well being of India. After all, why would it be different if Narendra Modi ever becomes the next Prime Minister of India with the BJP having a majority of its own in the parliament?
Actually, Modi is confronted with many challenges. For him it's the issue of being between the devil and deep blue sea. With the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) setting crucial preconditions and thrusting every decision down his throat, the dominance of one leader in the BJP is passe. It reinforces the Hindutva ideology even more and effectively symbolises the dictatorial style of functioning of the RSS. It also highlights RSS confidence in Modi and the belief that once you appoint a leader you have to have complete faith in his actions. This has been completely lacking in BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani and another BJP ideologue Jaswant Singh after both of them praised Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah for being secular, whose ideology the BJP had constantly battled ever since the partition of the subcontinent.
And, Modi is a firm believer of this concept. This combined with his natural stubbornness — a quality that has no doubt helped him reach where he is — may pose the biggest problem for him in his ambition to be the next Prime Minister. To begin with, Gujarat is not India, and Modi knows tis only too well.
Hence the biggest challenge for him will be to ensure that he brings together the varied interest groups to build up a coalition. For Modi, BJP gaining a two-third majority or a simple majority is a distant dream.
From his RSS days, Modi has known how to get his way. Modi the politician is astute in gauging who will aid his plans and who will not. He is also notorious for leaving behind those who are of no use to him. Even as he is criticised about his autocratic style of functioning, this same quality in him is what appeals to the youth. In Modi, they see a man who delivers irrespective of the cost. But his uncompromising nature may not be of much use in building bridges for the party.
He has so far worked with the RSS and BJP. These organisations have more or less similar styles of functioning, but working towards building a coalition of parties with each fighting for its own agenda will be the true test of his ability to compromise. Here, he is better advised to follow Atal Behari Vajpayee than his mentor LK Advani.
To give him credit, Modi has shown an ambition that few BJP or RSS leaders in Gujarat have ever shown. Most of them were happy to win a state for the party and rest on the laurels. Even if they ever had an ambition to go beyond the borders of the state, they rarely displayed it. And few ever had the appetite to make it big, the way Modi has. It all boils down to a can-do attitude.
The battle has only begun for the BJP, a party that has almost no presence in the North-East and is minimal in southern India. The party is in power in some states, but the popularity of its CMs will not be enough to help it install a prime minister of its own choice in Delhi. But, more importantly the Indians of all hues need to decide whether they are going to vote for the rabidly communal, RSS-BJP combine or the secular, humane Congress Party which has managed the country and its people so well. It is only on the decision of the sane Indian public that India will be able to progress and be prosperous, or else the fate of Indian nation is doomed under RSS-BJP dispensation.
The reactions of some prominent Gujaratis is indicative of what lies in store for the Muslims, Christians and other minorities if RSS-BJP combine is elected to power.
Zuber Gopalani, an academician, says that In Gujarat Muslims are clearly discriminated against. "If we look into the government schemes, a number of schemes except those related to minorities have been implemented. There are schemes in which economical backward class have benefited, but what about Muslims who are being contantly deprived of these. Muslim officers are being sidelined in IPS, IRS, IAS, GAS cadre," he said.
"Even in Gujarat, how many Muslim officers are on key positions in spite of their ability, capability and sincerity. Land of Muslims are being grabbed, Muslim NGOs have been put on radar, Muslim institutions are being harassed, sectarian riots among Muslim sects, Muslim organisations being deprived of government land - these are some of the peculiar hallmarks of Narendra Modi government in Gujarat," said Gopalani.
Prof. J. S. Bandukwala, prominent human and civil rights activist, opined that the elevation of Narendra Modi as the BJP's Prime Minister candidate is a cause of serious concern for the Muslims of India.
"Modi is obssessed with the Prime Ministership. He is a ruthless political operator, who will go to any extent to secure his goals. The RSS has backed him totally, and in return he has accepted the Hindutva platform of building the Ayodhya temple, abolishing Article 370, Uniform Civil Code and a total ban on cow slaughter. All these issues will bring him in a direct clash with Muslims. Modi can succeed by polarising Hindus against Muslims. Muzaffarnagar-type incidents will be repeated in non-BJP ruled states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh," said Prof. Bandukwala.
"Muslims may pay a heavy price in the next few months. Yet much may depend on three factors: (1) Corporate support for Modi may weaken, because big business cannot afford widespread communal riots. It hurts their interests. (2) The economy may improve, the rupee may strengthen and employment opportunities may increase. This is likely as we have had a good monsoon, and the economies of the US, Europe, China and Japan are in an upswing. This will improve the situation in India, and conversewly weaken Modi. (3) Finally much would depend on the average Hindus of the country," pointed out Prof. Bandukwala.
"If they see through Modi's hate politics and media, internet hype build up, Modi will be finished. Muslims must strive to maintain calm, yet be vigilant. Muslim leaders must be most balanced and composed in their public expressions. As far as possible do not give Modi a chance to whip up passions against Muslims," said Prof. Bandukwala.
Social activist and 2002 Gujarat riot victim, Zakia Jafri, was not happy with the BJP's choice. "It is the BJP's decision, obviously I don't feel good about it. He was involved in the 2002 riots," she told this Correspondent.
Mufti Rizwan Tarapuri, All India Milli Council, Gujarat, who was recently accused of backing Modi during his U.S. visit, said that Modi's elevation was no surprise, especially after he got blessings of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's ideological fountainhead. "I doubt if he can win the polls (for the BJP). I doubt he will have acceptability in the whole country. In a country like India, with its vast ethnic diversity, people have always backed 'an inclusive leader', said Tarapuri.
[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]
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September 23, 2013, 9:34 pm
IMO News Service
JSC Kazan Meat Factory has become the Official Sponsor of "The Longest Halal Kebab" show which will take place on October 5, 2013 during the International Trade Fair EURO-ASIA EXPO 2013. The expo will be held from October 3-6, 2013.
JSC Kazan Meat Factory is one of the largest enterprises of the meat industry in the Republic of Tatarstan. The company is a major supplier of meat, meat products and canned meat for the people of Kazan city and the surrounding districts of Tatarstan.
JSC Kazan Meat Factory produces meat products, convenience foods, canned stewed in the tradition of Islamic Sharia law, the so-called Halal products. Today the assortment of Halal meat products is more than 60. The process of production is controlled by Halal Standardization Committee.
The Organizing Committee of EURO-ASIA EXPO 2013 is going to set a world record with the longest Halal kebab of 180 m to be cooked in Kazanskaya Yarmarka Expo Centre. The new record is going to be registered in The Russian Book of Records and Guinness World Records.
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September 23, 2013, 9:48 pm
By Pervez Bari
Bhopal: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Madhya Pradesh in order to put up a secular image at the time of state Vidhan Sabha elections which are round the corner has taken two steps consciously.
The BJP Government with strategy of elections to state legislative assembly weighing heavily on its mind allotted 6.44 acres of land, virtually free of cost while not only waiving off premium to the tune of Rs.13.75 crores but also exempted from the annual lease rent of Rs.27 lakh, for the satellite campus of the Hyderabad-based Maulana Azad National Urdu University, (MANUU), at Bhopal. Prior to this a few days back it appointed Anthony JC D’Sa, a Christian, as the Chief Secretary to the State government.
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Free land for Urdu varsity MANUU
It is after much dilly-dallying the State government waived off the premium but also exempted from annual lease rent. Now, only a token annual rent of Re. 1 per year would be payable on the 6.44 acres of plot allotted to MANUU’s satellite campus in Bhopal at Peepalner village about 12kms on the outskirts of the city. The decision to this effect was taken at the cabinet meeting of Madhya Pradesh Government chaired by the state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday last.
Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Laxmikant Sharma after the cabinet clearance of land to MANUU Bhopal regional centre said: "Maulana Azad National Urdu University is a central university. We have cleared the proposal on receipt of their application for the purpose. The land allotment is cleared for the promotion of Urdu." He explained that since the state government had started Atal Bihari Hindi and Baudh universities land was allotted to them free of cost and now free land has been allotted to MANUU after receiving request from it, though no request for land was received from the Central government.
It may be pointed out here that while the Indira Gandhi National Open University and the School of Planning and Architecture were given land by the Madhya Pradesh government within five months of applying for it, it has taken seven years for MANUU to get the same. All three institutions come under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.
It may be mentioned here that MANUU applied for land for its regional centre at Bhopal in 2008 and in 2010 after overcoming various procedural hurdles and roadblocks 6.44 acres of land was earmarked at Peepalner village on the outskirts of Bhopal. It took another two years when on October 30, 2012 this piece of land was allotted on the precondition that a sum of Rs.13.75 crore as premium and Rs.27.5 lakh as annual rent had to be deposited before taking over its possession.
With no funds allocated to MANUU for the purchase of land and a demand of an exorbitant premium and annual lease rent by the state government, it thereby applied for a waiver citing the examples of other Central institutions in the State namely IGNOU, School of Planning and Architecture, Sanskrit Vidya Sansthan.
Case of partiality and disparity
It may be noted here that it was a clear case of partiality and disparity, on one hand the State Govt. in allotting land free of cost to some institutions of the same ministry for same purpose while on other hand it was asking a very huge amount for a small piece of land (6.4 acres) from MANUU, only because of its beneficiaries being the most deprived minority i.e. Muslims.
Here it must be borne in mind that UGC (Union Grant Commission) had allocated Rs.120.55 crores to MANUU for the development of all its 13 satellite campuses across the country. If this amount is divided equally amongst the 13 campuses then each one of them would get less than Rs.10 crores. This amount alone would have been even less than the premium and the annual rent demanded by the state government. If the Urdu university had some how managed from its resources to fulfil the demand then it would have left with no funds for developing infra-structure for B.Ed. College, Polytechnic, ITI, model schools etc. for which the UGC had allocated the funds. At present the University has established a Regional Centre and B.Ed. College at Bhopal, which are being run from rented buildings for last so many years.
A section of the media, especially a vernacular daily and a leading national English daily, played a crucial role as they highlighted prominently the biased approach of the state BJP government in keeping in limbo for several years in allocating land to MANUU while granting land to other Central institutions in the state within months of their applications.
The real hero
However, the real hero in the saga of land allotment to MANUU is its Bhopal Regional Director Dr. Mohammad Ahsan, who ran from pillar to past along with his aides Dr. Mohammad Sadat Khan, Dr. Saheel Mohammad Khan and others, to get the work done. Dr. Ahsan and his aides made innumerable rounds of Vallabh Bhavan, the state secretariat, at each level in the process of allotment in last five years and many a times faced humiliation when Secretaries and Principal secretaries to the State Government refused to meet them after kept waiting for several hours.
The functionaries of MANUU lied low while keeping their ego buried fathom deep and bore the brunt of the bureaucracy as they strived relentlessly for a big cause so that the coming generations could benefit most. It is said that it was a bureaucratic ploy of levelling such high premium and annual rent to deprive MANUU of the required land so that no satellite campus could come up in Bhopal. It will not be out of context to state here that once even a top bureaucrat reportedly passed a sarcastic remark saying as to who invited you (MANUU) to Bhopal while he was handling the case of this land allotment. It is the political leadership which checkmated the bureaucracy, though to harvest political gains, and saved the day for MANUU campus at Bhopal.
MANUU Vice Chancellor Prof. Mohammad Miyan and its Bhopal Regional Director Dr. Mohammad Ahsan have thanked Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state Revenue & Rehabilitation Minister Karan Singh Verma for allotting the land free of cost for promotion of Urdu language.
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Christian Chief Secretary
Meanwhile, in a deft move a few days back the BJP Government announced the appointment of Additional Chief Secretary Anthony JC D’Sa, a Christian, as Chief Secretary in place of his predecessor R. Parashuram, who is retiring in an over a week’s time on September 30. This unpredictable step was taken by the government while superseding senior Additional Chief Secretary IS Dani, who is known for his RSS background. A leader of the RSS had lobbied in favour of Dani but that was not enough to neutralise the support of the bureaucrats given to D’sa, who is said to be close to the Union minister Kamal Nath. The bureaucrats did not want Dani to become chief secretary and that is why certain officers, who were close to chief minister, lobbied against Dani.
Dani, who is considered to be a stickler for rules, had not approved certain files coming from chief minister’s secretariat in the recent past. In several cases, Dani used to approve files coming from CM secretariat only after confirming about them from chief minister. This had made certain officers at CM secretariat, who are known to be powerful, annoyed. The outgoing chief secretary R. Parashuram was also said to be in favour of D’sa as his successor. This led to Dani not becoming chief secretary, although he was senior to D’sa. Not only this, Dani has been sent to Academy of Administration, known to be a loop line posting.
[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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September 23, 2013, 9:53 pm
By Rohail Khan
Back in 1995, I recall my exuberance when I travelled all the way from Malibu, California to Saddar, Karachi, to watch and experience the Premiere of Urdu Film “Jeeva”. Directed by Syed Noor, this remarkable movie introduced Babar Ali and Resham into Lollywood and instantly turned them into stars. The film was indeed a “re-awakening of Pakistan Film Industry in the 1990s”. It received international fame at all foreign festivals. Jeeva also proved a milestone for my dear friend Anwar Rafi whose singing career was re-launched through the splendid songs he rendered for Jeeva.
Alas. After the great Pakistani movie Jeeva, we had little to brag !
Not anymore. “Main Hoon Shahid Afridi” has got all that it takes to put the Pakistan Film Industry back into action. The movie has been officially released on 23rd August 2013 all over Pakistan.
I was fortunate to witness the pompous premiere of "Mein Hoon Shahid Afridi" at The Atrium, Karachi. The red carpet event was packed with VIPs from Pakistan, India, UAE, UK, France, and USA. The arena looked like a fashion show with hundreds of DSLR cameras keen to capture the reaction of the socialites on the revival of Pakistani Cinema.
Humayun Saeed (Pakistan’s most-versatile model, actor, director, producer) , his esoteric partner Shahzad Nasib of 'Six Sigma ' (production house set-up in 2010 by Raju Jamil social media expert, senior banker, and son of Pakistan’s top poet Jamiluddin Aali), film director Ali Reza, renowned film distributor Nadeem Mandviwalla, Haji Abdul Rauf of ARY TV Network, and top celebrities were present to upkeep the premiere’s glory.
Simply put. The movie is spell binding ! Seeing is believing !. The hard work by actors, director, and the entire team, is clearly reflected from start to finish.
The premiere drew loud cheers and standing applause from all participants. The fervour of cricket (one of the few things that binds the Pakistani nation) was duly supported with the burning desire to produce a successful movie with its own identity.
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Humayun Saeed, initially had asked the legendary cricketer Shahid Khan Afridi himself to act in the lead role. “They offered me the role but my elders did not let me act, but I happily gave them permission to use my name as this film will bring a positive message,” Shahid Afridi formally confirmed.
The music of Main Hoon Shahid Afridi is done by famous South Indian Music Director: Devi Sri Prasad (well known as DSP). He has recently composed the music of blockbuster Indian movie “Main Hoon Surya Singam 2”. The soundtrack consists of five songs, penned and composed by the duo Shani-Kami. The melodious song “Jera Vee” by Shafqat Amanat Ali is my favourite. “Malaal” is a love song by Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan which actually hit my soul. I found the item song “Teri Hee Kamee” performed by Mahnoor Baloch and Mathira as hillarious and technically promising.
Film distributor Nadeem Mandviwalla appeared confident that Main Hoon Shahid Afridi will excel at the box office. He candidly shared his views: “On all such jubilant occasions, we should never forget to pay tribute to our super stars like Nadeem Baig and Javed Sheikh who have seen the industry go through thick-and-thin and have been resilient”.
Super star Javed Sheikh proudly assured: “Humayun Saeed and his team has brought a pleasant surprise. The new wave of Pakistani cinema will come from Karachi and the new film-makers will make better films in much more limited circumstances”.
British-Indian Choreographer Sheetal Virani, who came specially from London, joyfully expressed: “The choreography of some recent Bollywood films would be taken as a joke after you watch the dazzling scenes filmed on Mahnoor and Mathira”.
Pride of Pakistan Television Samina Peerzada appeared jubilant: “Main Hoon Shahid Afridi is a real trend setter. Its a punchy movie with a definite appeal for people from all walks of life. It’s about struggling for success and progress whilst keeping the socio-cultural values intact”.
Comedy super star Umer Sharif remarked: “Every one should watch this great movie. It has everything one can ask for as entertainment required by every one of us in our daily life”.
Superstar Nadeem Baig opined: “There is nothing wrong about going to Bollywood, but not at the cost of your own cinema. Respect your soil and culture because it’s a part of you and you are a part of it.”
Director Ali Reza had a proactive approach: “We are not here to compete but to walk hand-in-hand with our neighbours, for the cause of entertainment. Whether you win or lose doesn't matter, but play with such a spirit that you can look into each other’s eyes after the game,” said Ali Reza, using one of the lines from the film.
A top Bollywood film producer (name with held on request) who flew from Singapore to attend the ceremony, confessed: “Main Hoon Shahid Afridi is a well-rounded attempt by Humayun Saeed and Shahzad Nasib. The duo and their team deserve kudos for an outstanding achievement”.
Ever-green media personality Bushra Ansari proudly giggled: “If that's what the Pakistani cinema goer wants, that's exactly what they will get. This movie shoots a clear message to the Divas not to mess with the Pakistani Film Industry any more !”.
Let us promote all promising efforts.
[Rohail Khanis a Senior Banker and CFO based at Jeddah. He is also Chairman, Urdu Academy International (UAI), Washington, D.C. He can be contacted at rohailkhan00@gmail.com]
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September 23, 2013, 10:00 pm
Wisdom seldom prevails in an atmosphere of criminal frenzy
By Dr Javed Jamil
The concept of “Original Sin” originated in Genesis, the Semitic scripture that blamed Eve for the “fall of Man from Garden”. It took several thousands years for this concept to be rectified when Quran blamed both (Adam and Eve) for their mistake. The forces of Hindutva have mastered the art of blaming Muslim community as the original sinner. For all their crimes of hatred and violence, they always declare Muslims as the original sinners. This game has become too obvious in their recent history. When Advani embarked upon Ayodhya rath, which ultimately led to the demolition of Babri mosque, the Hindu ideologues were quick to blame Rajiv Gandhi’s enactment Of Muslim Women Act (in wake of Shah Bano Case) as the reason why Hindus felt embittered. And their propaganda machinery is so strong that nobody would listen to the argument that the maintenance issue was purely an internal matter of Muslims and had nothing to do whatsoever with Hindus or any other community. Rajiv Gandhi had acted only in response to the demand of the overwhelming majority of Muslims – both clerics and intellectuals, and was based on the simple premise that any financial dealings between a husband and wife can continue only till they are husband and wife.
When some Hindus were killed in Godhra, again without even a preliminary investigation the blame was put on Muslims, and this became the justified cause for the communal elements to enact the most heinous pogrom of the Independent India. They would again not listen to any sensible argument that if at all some Muslims were responsible for Godhra, these individuals would have been booked and punished accordingly.
The same story has been repeated at Muzaffar Nagar. Again Muslims are being blamed as the original sinners. The harassing of a Hindu girl by a Muslim boy became a justified reason for going on the rampage against the Muslim community. Dozens were killed and tens of thousands have been made homeless in their own district.
In India, like in most countries of the world, hundreds of thousands of cases of crimes occur every year. There are cases where both culprits and victims of murders or assaults are Hindus. There are cases where both are Muslims. There are also a number of cases where the culprit happens to be a Hindu and the victim a Muslim. Similarly there are cases where the culprits are Muslims and the victims Hindus. Will these individual cases of crimes become fertile grounds for retribution against a whole community? When both the culprit and the victim happen to be Hindus, there is hardly any problem,. But if the culprit happens to be a Muslim, the Hindutva organizations do not waste a minute in using the incident to hilt to further their communal agenda.
This is indeed a sorry state of affairs. We as Indians will have to learn that crimes are more often than not committed by individuals with personal motives. There is no point in using these cases as ground of further violence. The protagonists of violence must remember that in almost all such cases, the ultimate death toll even on their side is much greater than the original number of casualties, even if the other side suffers more. If Godhra killed 60 Hindus, the Gujarat riots killed more than 200 Hindus even if they had the satisfaction of killing more than 1500 Muslims. Similarly, if 2 Hindus were killed in the Muzaffar Nagar riots in the beginning, some more Hindus might have been killed even if the number of Muslim casualties was much larger.
If we act with wisdom, all these killings and destruction can be avoided, and the perpetrators may be duly punished by the court of law to the satisfaction of all. But wisdom seldom prevails in an atmosphere of criminal frenzy.
[Dr Javed Jamilis India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”. Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com or 91-8130340339]
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September 23, 2013, 10:15 pm
Kandhamal justice and Karnataka rising persecution of Christians raised; call for SC rights to Dalit Christians
[The following is the text of the statement by All India Christian Council Secretary General Dr. John Dayal in the meeting of the National Integration Council, held on 23rd September 2013 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi and presided over by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. Dr. Dayal called for the enactment of a Communal and Targetted Violence Prevention Act. He also called for fresh investigation and trial of murder cases in Kandhamal in 2008, and Scheduled Caste rights for Dalit Christians. Dr. Dayal brought to the attention of the Prime Minister and the NIC the rising trend of persecution of Christians in the rural areas of Karnataka in recent months].
Honourable Prime Minister, Honourable Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Honourable Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and other Members.
Greetings from my community and my organisation, the All India Christian Council, which was founded in 1998 in the wake of large-scale persecution of our community in several parts of the community at the hands of misguided fringe elements of a militant right wing fundamentalist and hyper-nationalist organisation that seeks to convert this secular democracy into some sort of a mono culture theocracy.
Thank you, Prime Minister, Sir, for convening this meeting, but after such a long gap. A meeting of the NIC, of course, is not a panacea for the violence against, and general persecution of, religious minorities, Dalits, Tribals and other marginalised people. But frequent meetings – at least once a year would be the bare minimum – would send a signal to the victim groups that the nation at large, present here in the presence of the leaders of the Union and State governments, had not forgotten them, was deeply concerned about them, and was determined to end their trauma and restore them to a life of peace and happiness.
In recent days, I have once again witnessed the aftermath of targetted mass violence. I was part of a Fact Finding group organised by the Centre for Policy Analysis, which a week ago visited Muzaffarnagar, and in particular its villages, make-shift refugee camps, burnt out mosques and its despairing people. Earlier, at a People’s Tribunal in Bangalore, victims and witnesses told us of the widespread persecution of Christians in the villages of Karnataka since 2008, attacks on small and home churches and the molestation of women, which was continuing.
Muzaffarnagar and Kandhamal, Odisha, in 2008 have striking parallels – the spread of violence to the villages through a sustained hate campaign carried out by extremist political vested interest, and the involvement of politicians.
Anti-Christian violence is also visible in Andhra, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and specially Madhya Pradesh. Karnataka is now reporting an anti Christian acts of violence every third day. In all cases, the police look on passively, or was itself complicit in the violence. Senior officers chose to remain deaf to the warnings of growing communalism and tension, and imminence of violence.
Both Kandhamal, 2008, and Muzaffarnagar, 2013, saw large scale attacks on places of religious worship in the villages. There was massive internal displacement, with village upon village purged of all presence of the minority communities. Police and governance systems were found wanting before, during and after the violence. In both cases conditions in refugee camps were dismal and inhuman. And in both cases, killers and fomenters of violence roamed about free, taming both victim and police.
Kandhamal has also seen a gross miscarriage of justice and extremely tardy and incomplete rehabilitation and reparations. In 32 of the murder cases – the total according to the survivors is more than 100 – there have been only two convictions. An MLA accused in nine of these cases and convicted in one is roaming free on bail in a highly questionable judicial decision.
It is no surprise therefore to go through the agenda of this meeting of the NIC, and learn from it that there has been a steady rise in recent years in the number of communal violence cases, and the number of dead and injured. We learn there were 640 cases of actual violence and 716 of communal tension in 2012, which left 2012 killed and 2,129 injured across the country. In the nine months of 2013, we have already seen almost 490 cases of violence and 433 cases of tension, with 152 injured. These are including the separate figures given for Assam and the North East. These figures do not reflect the cases of anti Christian violence. The police for their own reasons do not register them under the “communal” heading.
These call for urgent action. Short term response from the government and long term correctives which have still not been put into place after more than six decades of experience with communal violence need to be devised and activated,
SUGGESTIONS:
1. The long-term solution is to have a comprehensive and effective Act against Communal and Targetted Violence, which favours the victim and has a national Code to standardize the current Relief, Rehabilitation and Reparation. Impunity must end, and officials must be held accountable. I was part of the last exercise under the National Advisory Council to formulate such a Bill. I was a witness when the draft Bill was targetted and all but destroyed in the last meeting of the NIC by some States and political leaders. The Union government did not intervene at any stage to disclose its mind. Civil society feels this Bill is imperative if communal violence and its aftermath are to be averted, and victims rehabilitated with human dignity. The Bill was not against any particular community. Nor was it meant to encroach on federal values. With the protection of victim at the centre, and as the reason, of its theme and jurisdiction, Civil Society is willing to listen to governments and other stakeholders to device an acceptable version of the Communal and Targetted Violence [Relief, Rehabilitation and Reparation Bill] which is implementable and which will punish the guilty and hold police and civil officials responsible for their actions, or their failure to act.
It is also important that:
2. The guilty are arrested, including those who were part of the hate campaign by spreading rumours an false information through posters, word of mouth and social media
3. Government identify and prosecute and stop those involved in communalizing and radicalizing innocent people, specially in the villages by perverted concepts of identity formation.
4. Government Provide adequate and well equipped and well trained police with arms and communication equipment and transport in communally sensitive villages. There must be some code of postings to ensure that police are biased in favour of their own community.
5. Government ensure Rapid action police at block level
6. Government hold village panchayat leaders culpable for communal violence in their region, and hold block and district senior officers of the police and administration, similarly, responsible for the occurrence of communal violence.
7. At the state and national level, police reforms and training continue to be a work in progress, and progress is exceedingly slow. Ensure commensurate presence of minority and marginalised in police forces.
8. In Muzaffarnagar, ensure government takes over all relief camps and makes them humane with adequate security, medical relief especially for women and children including newborn babies, with adequate provisions and sanitation. The survivors must understand they are under the government’s protection and care.
9. Ensure that detailed FIRs are registered and the crimes investigated painstakingly with adequate modern forensic scientific methodology, supervised by senior police officers, and tried in special courts so that justice is swift. There must be witness protection in place.
10. Every internally displaced person must be resettled in his or her home village with a sense of security and compensated adequately to rebuild his and her home and life. If required, employment must be provided. Special care must be taken for the rehabilitation of women victims of gender violence.
11. In Karnataka and other states, ensure that violence against Home churches, Pastors and others is registered and investigated as an act of communal violence.
12. In Kandhamal, ensure fresh investigation of all murder cases by trained investigating officers, followed by fresh trials of these cases. Witness protection systems must be put into place to reassure victims and survivors. Government must also help survivors rebuild their lives, and provide jobs to those now forced to work in distant places as casual labour.
The Christian community has been distressed at the government attitude to their demand that Dalit Christians be given the same rights as are given to Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh Dalits. In affirmative action, there cannot be any discrimination on basis of religion. Government must issue an ordinance to remove Article 341 Paragraph 3 as soon as possible.
Government must also ensure an end to the so called Freedom of Religion Acts in some states which encourage extremist and fundamentalist elements to harass, torment and persecute innocent Christians.
Thank youDr. JOHN DAYAL[John Dayalis Secretary General of All India Christian Council, New Delhi. He can be contacted at john.dayal@gmail.com. His works can also be seen on his website at www.JohnDayal.com]
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September 23, 2013, 10:27 pm
Syed A. Asim has over 16 years of experience in selling software products in Indian financial industry. In his previous roles, prior to Dion, he has also worked across Middle East and was instrumental in growing the business tremendously.
Asim is Chief Operating Officer at Dion Global Solutions. He is widely known across the industry and has a great reputation across capital market in India. His passion for the industry is what led him to bring new revolutionary concepts in technology and client servicing, winning him several prestigious awards in return. He is veteran in creating awareness and taking the concept of CTCL trading to the masses across India & Middle East.
He is B. Tech. in Mechanical and MBA. His vast experience in sales has enabled him to conduct multiple trainings in sales, soft skills, corporate etiquettes, negotiations, etc. for various organizations and institutes. He also published many white papers on Trading Technology Solutions.
Previously, Asim has worked as Head of Sales for Direct FN Ltd. (Mubasher), Dubai, National Sales Head at Financial Technologies (India) Ltd. and Regional Head (North) for MCX.At Dion, Asim is based in NCR (India) and heads business development activities and operations across South Asia, Middle East & Africa. He reports to global CEO & Managing Director, Ralph J Horne based at London, UK.
Mr. Asim also holds forthright views about Muslims and their entrepreneurship skills. He says, "Muslims have the history of being more into business but very few could scale up their business to the level of a company or beyond. Some of the reasons are that they do not adopt best management practices, latest technological tools and do not know good consultants who can help them in getting sync with modern ways of doing business."
Here are excerpts of interview conducted by Shahabuddin Yaqub, Managing Editor of IndianMuslimObserver.com for the benefit of readers.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: You have associated with global brand, does it give you comfort or make you loaded with lots of responsibilities?
Syed Asim: Association with global brand changes your thought process by making you think multi dimensional and with respect to different frame of reference. One needs to keep in mind various practices, cultures, time zones, climates, etc. while interacting or even addressing on mails with people of different counties.
Feeling of comfort or load of responsibility depends on whether you enjoy your work or just carrying out as a task. I have always enjoyed my work that keeps me energetic even at the end of the day.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: You have been champion of sales. It is said that you can sell anything to anyone. How did you get this mastery, as it does not happen to be so easy?
Syed Asim: I believe sales is an art of first believing very strongly into your own product/service, then understanding the need of the customer very clearly and finally proposing something that can benefit him. I always sold trust; product/services got sold on its own. To become better sales person, one should have thorough knowledge of the product/service and how it can benefit the customer. The key is innovation and out of box thinking. To quote an example, once I was traveling in an inter-state transport bus on a hot summer afternoon. The bus stopped in between for the meal and it was terribly hot. A small boy came selling newspaper and asked me if I want to buy it. In the state I was, I could never imagine reading newspaper so I said, no. He took out a newspaper and said it will help you in waiving air. I immediately bought it. He actually figured out my need and suggested a different application of the same product.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Today very few people have this rare combination of experience in Information Technology, Capital Markets and Sales. Could you tell us how did you achieve this rare combination of expertise especially when you come from Mechanical Engineering background?
Syed Asim: I always had passion for capital markets and started doing small investments (that I used to earn from tuitions) into stocks since school period. Joined stock broking after Engineering. IT was growing rapidly in India and I realized that technology would become key differentiator for any business in future. Apart from my responsibilities, I started spending time with our IT vendors till late evening or on weekends implementing newer technologies, understanding IT networks, and testing different softwares, which gave me good knowledge of the field. My interest gave me a new opportunity and a software company approached me for helping them in developing their new derivatives trading platform. Later I got an offer to join their sales team. Initially I took it as a challenge but very soon I realized that having practical knowledge of both the domains (IT and Capital Markets) gave me an edge of suggesting various solutions to my prospective customers.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: If anyone wants to achieve a good growth for his company, what steps would you suggest him?
Syed Asim: I would like to share two of my principles for achieving good growth in the company:
1. Work in such a way that COMPANY SHOULD NEED YOU MUCH MORE THAN YOU NEED THE COMPANY.
2. Leave such legacy that YOU SHOULD BE REPLACED BY MULTIPLE PEOPLE, NOT ONE, in case you part from the company.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Today youth seems to be more inclined towards job rather than business whereas many of them can turn to be a successful entrepreneur. How do you read this trend?
Syed Asim: Maybe because more workers are required than owners (joking). If you ask majority of the people at any stage, whether at the time of joining any course or even taking up any profession, they do not have clear goals. They would have taken call based on someone’s experience or suggestion. Goal setting exercise involves many steps, which starts from self-realization session. Once you are fully aware about your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, it becomes much easier to decide the direction and goal.
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Shahabuddin Yaqub: Many people start their business and put lots of money in it nevertheless they receive failure at the end. Where do they make mistakes?
Syed Asim: Though there are numbers of reasons, but some very common mistakes that leads to failures are:
1. Insufficient Market Research: Choice of business, market size, target segment, positioning of product, timing, competition, etc. are important factors that need to be thoroughly studied before start of business. In absence of these it is based on certain assumptions, which may fail.
2. Early Give-up: Every business has gestation period in which it requires special attention before it can turnaround into a profitable venture. Most of the time it is seen that people either exhaust their money and energy or lose hope and quit when they may be very close to achieving success.
3. Lack of Sound Distribution Model: I very frequently come across many people who have a very good product but they are not able to sell it well. Sales and Marketing is a very essential part of a successful business. On the contrary there are some people who do not have any product but have very strong distribution setup so they make money by trading (selling others product at profit margin).
Shahabuddin Yaqub: There are many people who are having good business ideas and marketing skill but they need money to start, where they can get finance from and how?
Syed Asim: Every society have two sets of people, one who have money and looking for options to invest, other who have ideas and skills to do good business. The challenge is to connect both into a successful partnership model.
There is need of some experiences people to validate the ideas and business projects of the budding entrepreneurs and connect them to the financiers who are interested in investing into their projects on ownership sharing basis.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Majority of Muslims do not understand business. Is it because they are not in sync with modern world or some other reasons do you see?
Syed Asim: I would say that Muslims have the history of being more into business but very few could scale up their business to the level of a company or beyond. Some of the reasons are that they do not adopt best management practices, latest technological tools and do not know good consultants who can help them in getting sync with modern ways of doing business.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Muslim businessmen generally do not prefer to get finance if it is based on interest what are the other ways they can try for?
Syed Asim: Solution to the problem is Islamic Banking. Many organizations claimed interest free business model and then broke the trust of the people. Now its difficult for people to trust anybody unless there is provision in the banking laws for Islamic Banking and either existing banks start separate Islamic Banking window or new banks come up.
In absence of Islamic banking system Muslims willing to get interest free finance will have to find financers who can lend them money against equity in their company or profit / loss sharing agreement by appointing a reliable auditor.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Some Muslim businessmen are concerned as they have good products but their sale is not increasing despite making every effort. Where do they need to focus?
Syed Asim: They need to focus on the following:
1. Market feedback – get feedback and analyze with unprejudiced mind
2. Sales strategy – ways of attracting target customers
3. Right Positioning – deciding your competitor & customer segment
4. Correct Pricing – pricing according to your positioning
Shahabuddin Yaqub: For any product and company, branding, advertising and marketing how does it help to improve sale? Do small products also need good promotion or they are treated differently?
Syed Asim: For any product or company, branding, advertising and marketing plays very critical role as it forms the image or perception. Need of promotion, more depends on existing demand than the size of the product.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Non-banking system without depending upon interest can work and survive? What is your opinion about it?
Syed Asim: Banking and non – banking interest free systems have huge potential. In fact it is the need of Muslim populated countries. But in order to build trust on the new system a strong regulatory system is essential.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: There are many businessmen who have inherited business either from their father or family and they are not well equipped with modern business modules. Do you want to help them if they show their interest?
Syed Asim: Yes, I feel pleasure to contribute to all such friends who are blessed with the businesses and looking for the guidance.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: There are ample opportunities and multiple choices available in India but Muslims are still impoverished. They are somewhat far behind to capitalize on these opportunities. How they can be empowered in such a way that they could become able to get benefit out of it?
Syed Asim: First step towards taking benefit from ample opportunities available in the country and outside is to open up for accepting the changes, which is a major change in itself. It is advisable to go through some training programs, which can help in changing the mindset and opening up for new ideas.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Many personality development workshops are conducted by companies for their employees. Does it help to any extent?
Syed Asim: Yes, it helps a lot but its most effective if it starts from the top most level. Top-bottom approach helps in changing the culture of the organization. Training needs may be assessed and planned accordingly.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: How compulsory it is for professionals to get them equipped with new skills and technology in their respective as well as new field in order to grow faster?
Syed Asim: Quality of people plays the most important role in the success and growth of any organization. Quality has two components: Attitude and Skill (technical & non technical). As we invest on updating and upgrading tools and equipments (infrastructure) of the organization, it is equally important to invest in upgrading attitude and skills of the professionals.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Do you agree with me that Muslim Community as a whole has a problem as far as attitude is concerned? Some workshops should be conducted for them so as to improve their attitude towards community and towards themselves.
Syed Asim: I wouldn’t say that Muslim Community as a whole has attitude problem as there are always different types of people in every community but I would agree that attitude plays major role in the growth and development of any individual or community. Conducting workshops to improve attitude will help in changing the outlook. Quran gives us a clear principle: ‘Allah does not change the condition of the people (community) until they (first) change that which is in their hearts’ [Ar-Ra’d, 13-11]
Shahabuddin Yaqub: When you think about present Muslim leadership what kind of thoughts come to your mind?
Syed Asim:‘Whom should I follow?’ is a big question, for which every Muslim is trying to find an answer.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Without leadership community gets astray and we have been witness to this bitter reality. Now the big challenge in front of community is to develop able leaders who can lead the community as well as nation. Where do you see hope?
Syed Asim: I agree that it’s a big challenge for the whole community but we will not be able to realize and recognize these leaders till we completely change our way of thinking (our thought process) and connect ourselves with the Book of Guidance, The Holy Quran, a common link between every Muslim.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Do you have any message for youths?
Syed Asim: Youth should keep in mind that it’sresponsibility of every Muslims to excel in education, jobs and businesses without compromising their ethics and Islamic values so as to project a right image of the community both in India and internationally.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: Where do you see yourself in coming ten years?
Syed Asim: In coming ten years I would share my knowledge and expertise with those who require guidanceand further make efforts to create my identity on national and international level.
Shahabuddin Yaqub: As a chief operating officer what are challenges you have ahead?
Syed Asim: As COO I have a challenge of growing my organization, in spite of a prolong economic slow down. I am quite confident that my dynamic and dedicated team of professionals will take any challenge head-on that will come in our way to achieve success.
[Shahabuddin Yaqubis Managing Editor of IndianMuslimObserver.com. He can be contacted at skyaqub@indianmuslimosberver.com]
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November 4, 2013, 1:57 am
By TK Arun
At the recently concluded national executive meet at Kochi, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh joint secretary Dattatreya Hosabale called upon Hindus to start having more children. The RSS fear is that Hindus will become a minority in India in the not-too-distant future. This rests on a number of population myths the RSS has assiduously been propagating over the years. These myths are ridiculous to the rational mind but have currency, due to vocal assertion repeated over time and space.
"...in 2035, Muslim will become absolute majority in India (total population: 197.7 crore). Conversion, threatening, rioting, slaughtering, terrorism, intrusion, polygamy, no birth control are being the major tools for Muslim to reach that figure within the said period," says the Sangh Parivar website.
Are Muslims particularly prone to explosive population growth? Countries with the largest Muslim populations show otherwise. But that is rational contestation. How does one address the fear that a man marrying multiple women would lead to a rise in the population (never mind that data shows more polygamous Hindus than Muslims)?
Population growth depends on the number of children each woman has, whether from one man or many. The measure that demographers use for the purpose is the total fertility rate, TFR. It is the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with current age-specific fertility rates.
If a woman has two children over her lifetime, these two would replace herself and her husband when they pass on, neither depleting the population nor adding to it. However, given the likelihood of some children not living to adulthood, the TFR that is required to achieve replacement has to be marginally higher and is generally accepted as 2.1.
Global Trend
As societies become more prosperous, healthy and women gain agencyand more and more control over their own lives, their TFR comes down. This is so, regardless of religion or geography. It used to be thought that Catholics would resist contraception. Devoutly catholic Spain and Italy today have a TFR of 1.2, tying with Hong Kong for the lowest rate among countries.
Poorer regions tend to have higher TFRs. But poverty is not the only determinant of people's decisions on how many children to have. Cultural values and practices matter a lot. But no Muslim country is immune to the larger trend. TFR has been declining in every major Muslim nation. It is below the replacement level in Iran. Indonesia and Bangladesh are fast approaching that level. Bangladesh's TFR of 2.2 in 2011 is significantly lower than India's 2.7. And in India, backward states like Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh still have high TFRs: 3.5, 4.2 and 3.6 respectively.
Goa (1.5), Kerala (1.6), Tamil Nadu (1.6) and Puducherry (1.6) have TFRs significantly below the replacement level. Soon, their populations will stop growing - as past young cohorts enter the reproductive age, population will continue to grow for some time - and they can soon apply for UN funds for endangered species.
Does this mean that Muslim populations will stabilise at the same rate as Hindu ones? It does not. To the extent cultural and religious factors inhibit progress of the global trend for TFR to fall with social development, the pace of change will vary. In Kerala, in Muslim majority Malappuram district, the TFR has dropped only to 2.2 even as it has been coming down. At the same time, in Muslim majority Lakshadweep and several districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the TFR is below the replacement level.
RSS' Irrational Fears
What of the RSS fear of Muslims becoming more than half of India's population by 2035? To make this claim, its number crunchers have to project a total population of 198 crore by 2035. By most estimates, India's population would peak at 154 crore by 2050. The simple extrapolations used for demographic scaremongering have no basis in science.
To the extent social backwardnesshas been identified as the reason for high TFRs, whether in regions or in communities, the need is to investmore in things that create development: skills, awareness, education, healthcare, roads, power, broadband, teledensity. But any move to step up investment in Muslim-majority areas, as the Planning Commission has made, is immediately branded as minority appeasement by the Sangh Parivar.
BJP's Ties to the RSS
India cannot progress as a nation with the Sangh brand of scaremongering about the nation's largest minority moving from the fringes of national consciousness right to the centre. It is the same RSS, which carries on this kind of false and irrational propaganda, that controls and guides the principal Opposition party, the BJP.
And so long as the BJP remains part of the Sangh Parivar, the family of organisations ideologically inspired and controlled by the RSS, its ability to respond to the polity's natural pressure towards the middle ground would remain muted.
(Courtesy: The Times of India)
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November 4, 2013, 2:05 am
By Shamsul Islam
The blood of innocent Sikhs massacred in 1984, spilled in different parts of the country and seen on the cuffs of the then rulers has not been erased from the memories despite ganging up of almost all parliamentary political parties in seeing to it that perpetrators are not punished. It is undeniable fact that since 1984 all kinds of political parties, left, right (which include BJP & Akali Dal) and centre ruled this country but the search for culprits is still on. It is in total conformity to what happened in cases of mass violence against Dalits, Muslims and Christians in different parts of the country. However the reality is that despite ‘national consensus’ over keeping incidents of violence against minorities under wrap, the blood of innocents keep on crying; unkaa lahoo pukarta hae! 1984 massacre is in news once again. This time it is a matter of acrimony between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RSS choice for prime-ministership, Narendra Modi.
It started with Rahul. In a speech in Alwar in Rajasthan, Mr. Gandhi said it had taken 15 years to overcome his anger over the assassinations of his paternal grandmother, Indira Gandhi, the then PM of the country. He, though, remained criminally silent about anger of Sikhs and democratic sections of the country who were angry on the massacre of Sikhs and still are after almost 3 decades.
Modi was quick to decry Rahul’s anger and reminded him that due to this hatred against Sikhs thousands of Sikhs were killed. Speaking in Jhansi, UP, Modi, Hindutva icon and RSS whole-timer lamented the fact that culprits are yet to be booked and tried for this massacre. Thus the blame game continues but Modi did not tell the nation what NDA governments which ruled this country from 1998 to 2004 did to bring to justice the culprits. Modi also forgot to share the fact that as per the autobiography of LK Advani (page 430); it was his Party which forced Indira Gandhi to go for army action named as Blue Star which killed large number of pilgrims.
It is true that despite innumerable high-power committees, police investigation teams and commissions these are few small fries who have been booked; the real culprits are still eluding the call of justice. The reality is that almost in last 3 decades though the country has been ruled by every shade of political opinion there has been no political will to prosecute the culprits.
It is generally believed that the Congress cadres were behind this genocide. This is true but there were other forces too which actively participated in this massacre and whose role has never been investigated. Those who were witness to the genocide of 1984 were stunned by the swiftness and military precision of the killer marauding gangs (later on witnessed during the Babri mosque demolition, burning alive of Dr. Graham Steins with his two sons, 2002 pogrom of the Muslims in Gujarat and cleansing of Christians in parts of Orissa) who went on a burning spree of the innocent Sikhs. This, surely, was beyond the capacity of the thugs led by many Congress leaders.
The author has in his possession a crucial document which may throw some light on the hidden aspects of the genocide and identify the overall forces which executed it.
It was authored and circulated by veteran ideologue of the RSS, Mr. Nana Deshmukh on November 8, 1984. Interestingly, this document was published in the Hindi Weekly 'Pratipaksh' edited by Mr. George Fernandes (Defence Minister of India 1999-2004, and presently a great pal of BJP/RSS) in its edition of November 25, 1984 titled ‘Indira Congress-RSS collusion’ with the following editorial comment:
'The author of the following document is known as an ideologue and policy formulator of the RSS. After the killing of Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) he distributed this document among prominent politicians. It has a historical significance that is why we have decided to publish it, violating policy of our Weekly. This document highlights the new affinities developing between the Indira Congress and the RSS. We produce here the Hindi translation of the document.'
This document may help in unmasking the whole lot of criminals involved in the massacre of innocent Sikhs who had nothing to do with the killing of Indira Gandhi.
This document may also throw light on where the cadres came from, who meticulously organized the killing of Sikhs. Mr. Nana Deshmukh in this document is seen outlining the justification of the massacre of the Sikh community in 1984. According to him the massacre of Sikhs was not the handiwork of any group or anti-social elements but the result of a genuine feeling of anger among Hindus of India.
This document also shows the true degenerated and fascist attitude of the RSS towards all the minorities of India. The RSS has been arguing that they are against Muslims and Christians because they are the followers of foreign religions. Here we find them justifying the butchering of Sikhs who according to their own categorization happened to be the followers of an indigenous religion.
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| Nanaji Deshmukh |
The RSS often poses as a firm believer in Hindu-Sikh unity. But in this document we will hear from the horse’s mouth that the RSS like the then Congress leadership believed that the massacre of the innocent Sikhs was justified. Mr. Deshmukh in this document is seen outlining the justification of the massacre of the Sikh community in 1984. His defence of the carnage can be summed up as in the following.
The massacre of Sikhs was not the handiwork of any group or anti-social elements but the result of a genuine feeling of anger among Hindus of India.
Mr. Deshmukh did not distinguish the action of the two security personnel of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who happened to be Sikhs, from that of the whole Sikh community. From his document it emerges that the killers of Indira Gandhi were working under some kind of mandate of their community. Hence attacks on Sikhs were justified.
Sikhs themselves invited these attacks, thus advancing the Congress theory of justifying the massacre of the Sikhs.
He glorified the ‘Operation Blue Star’ and described any opposition to it as anti-national. When Sikhs were being killed in thousands he was warning the country of Sikh extremism, thus offering ideological defense of those killings.
According to this document it was Sikh community as a whole which was responsible for violence in Punjab.
Mr. Deshmukh argued in the document that Sikhs should have done nothing in self-defence but showed patience and tolerance against the killer mobs.
According to Mr. Deshmukh's thesis these were Sikh intellectuals and not killer mobs which were responsible for the massacre. The former had turned Sikhs into a militant community, cutting them off from their Hindu roots, thus inviting attacks from the nationalist Indians. Moreover, he treated all Sikhs as part of the same gang and defended attacks on them as a reaction of the nationalist Hindus.
He described Indira Gandhi as the only leader who could keep the country united and expressed the opinion that on the murder of such a great leader such killings could not be avoided.
Rajiv Gandhi who succeeded Mrs. Gandhi as the Prime Minister of India and justified the nationwide killings of Sikhs by saying, 'When a huge tree falls there are always tremors felt', was lauded and blessed by Mr. Nana Deshmukh in the following words: 'it is not to deny the truth that sudden removal of Indira Gandhi from Indian political scene has created a dangerous void in the Indian common life. But India has always displayed a characteristic inner strength in the moments of such crisis and uncertainty. According to our traditions, responsibility of power has been placed on the inexperienced shoulders of relatively young person in a lively and peaceful manner. It will be hasty to judge the potentialities of his leadership at this time. We should give him some time to show his ability. On such challenging juncture of the country, in the meanwhile he is entitled to get full cooperation and sympathy from the countrymen, though they may belong to any language, religion, caste or political belief.'
There was not a single sentence in the Deshmukh document demanding, from the then Congress Government at the Centre, remedial measures for controlling the violence against the minority community. Mind this that Deshmukh circulated this document on November 8, 1984, and from October 31 to this date Sikhs were left alone to face the killing gangs. In fact November 5-10 was the period when the maximum killings of Sikhs took place. Deshmukh was just not bothered about all this.
Deshmukh document did not happen in isolation. It represented the real RSS attitude towards Sikh genocide of 1984. The RSS is very fond of circulating publicity material, especially photographs of its khaki shorts-clad cadres doing social work. For the 1984 violence they have none. In fact, Deshmukh’s article also made no mention of the RSS cadres going to the rescue of Sikhs under siege. This shows up the real intentions of the RSS during the genocide.
There is not a single sentence in the Deshmukh document demanding, from the then Congress Government at the Centre, remedial measures for controlling the violence against the minority community. Importantly, Deshmukh circulated this document on November 8, 1984, and from October 31 to this date Sikhs were left alone to face the killing gangs. George Fernandes while making this document public in 1984 wrote that it showed ‘Indira Congress-RSS collusion’. All those interested in finding the real culprits of 1984 must also investigate whether this collusion was confined to political sphere or went beyond to killing fields.
For perusal of the full RSS document see the following Link[Shamsul Islamis Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Satyawati College, University of Delhi. He can be contacted at notoinjustice@gmail.com]
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November 4, 2013, 2:23 am
Dear Shri Narendra Modi ji,HAPPY DIWALI to YOU and ALL MY COUNTRYMEN!! I decided to write this letter to you on this Special Day of Diwali. There's a specific purpose of writing this letter as I believe and hope that just like this festival spreads light and dispels the darkness of ignorance and acrimony, my appeal through this letter would enlighten millions of countrymen and bring sanity to your mother organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), sister organization Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and wisdom to You and all your actions.Shri Narendra Modi ji, I am writing to you as a concerned and aggrieved Bihari, Indian and a Muslim. Modi ji, first of all accept my congratulations over being anointed as Prime Ministerial nominee of RSS. I don't consider you a nominee of BJP as the party didn't play active role in selecting you, but it is the RSS which played the important role in anointing you the Prime Ministerial candidate. To my knowledge this has happened for the first time in BJP's history that party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani and other senior leaders were completely sidelined and humiliated at the insistence of RSS with its direct and active participation in the electoral politics. To me and scores of Indians as well, BJP as a political party has ceased to exist as it has been completely usurped by RSS. This goes contrary to the very foundations and principles of RSS because it came into being as a cultural organization, and not a political one. The RSS has shunned direct participation in politics so far, but to utter dismay it has now decided to take in the plunge itself in 2014 parliamentary elections considering it a Do or Die battle knowing fully well that if it is not Now then it will be Never. The RSS fully acknowledges the fact that its political affiliate BJP has been out of power continuously for 10 years and can't afford to any further.Shri Narendra Modi ji, I am not against you personally nor I am against the RSS or BJP for that matter. But I am completely against the communal politics that you, RSS and BJP have been continuously practicing creating strife and disharmony between the country's largest majority Hindus and the largest minority Muslims. I adore you for your administrative capabilities and the way in which you continue to bind Gujarati Hindus remarkably.Modi ji, for You it's GUJARAT First and INDIA last!!Shri Narendra Modi ji, I am addressing you as a BIHARI first. I have been closely observing You and your actions for the past several days now. After being dumped by your former ally Janata Dal (U) from the Bihar government after being together in power for 17 years, it's simply great that you finally succeeded in entering the state with a bang with your Hunkaar Rally. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was completely wrong in not letting you enter Bihar even though your BJP was a partner in the state government. But, entering Bihar at what cost?? Your presence in Bihar on October 27 was ominous and a bad omen for the state. The way in which BJP leaders continued to assure people from Hunkaar Rally podium that fire crackers and tyre bursts were taking place in the rally venue at Patna's Gandhi Maidan, while the fact being that low-intensity crude bomb blasts were actually taking place, spoke much about the (ill) intentions of your party's leaders. The bomb blasts at the Hunkaar Rally venue was highly condemnable, and the culprits whosoever they are be apprehended, tormented, brutalised and killed without any trial. Such attempts to disturb peace must be dealt with sternly. Having said this, I must also in the same breath say that the organizers of the rally chose to put the lives of lakhs of people at stake by not calling off the rally even though people were becoming victims of the blasts before their own eyes. One would simply say that the action of rally organizers was equally condemnable and questionable. It seemed that the organizers were of the firm belief and knew beforehand that the bombs had been planted only for the people and they were not going to be targeted or harmed in any way whatsoever. The onus of the security of the people also lies on the organizers of the Hunkaar Rally. What were the organizers and private security guards doing when bombs were planted across the rally venue? Did they turn blind eye towards all this or were they also complicit in the dastardly crime? Modi ji, You also need to investigate the matter at your end, while the NIA and state intelligence agencies should also probe the matter and question the organizers of the rally.![]()
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November 4, 2013, 2:58 am
By Danish Ahmad Khan
Dr. G.N. Qazi, the Vice Chancellor of Hamdard University (Jamia Hamdard), seems to have developed the bad habit of breaking rules. He has gathered cronies around him who advise and assure him that he has absolute powers and can even overrule the rules. They have filled his mind with the idea that the Vice Chancellor is authorized to do whatever he wants. Little he realizes that such advices normally come from incompetent persons whose sole purpose is to fool authorities with their flattery and curry favour from them. But it would be wrong to blame the cronies for the irregularities Dr. Qazi has committed. And the irregularities in appointments abound indeed. We cite a few examples below.
Jamia Hamdard published its advertisement No. 4/2010 in Indian Express dated May 18, 2010 seeking applications for the post of Director, Distance Education. In response the University received some applications. One candidate was Dr. A.A. Firdousi, who probably did not apply on the prescribed form, and instead sent his bio-data with a covering letter addressed to the Vice Chancellor. In response to a request made under RTI Act 2005, the University has given a form apparently filled up by Dr. Firdousi. The form requires candidates to mention the relevant advertisement number, the post applied for and give the details of draft attached with the application. But Dr. Firdousi has not given these details. Also from the details given in the form, it appears that he has been a poor student and researcher. He has only five research papers and four articles to his credit. There is no details of journals in which his articles and research papers were published.![]()
The members of the selection committee were Prof. S.A.A. Zaidi (Chancellor’s nominee), Prof. Siddiq Wahid, Prof. Muhammad Mian and Dr. Latha Pillai – all experts. The selection committee was presided over by Dr. G.N. Qazi and it made two recommendations: a certain Dr. Sanjay Mishra was appointed on the post of Director, Distance Learning for which the interview was held. Strangely the committee considered Dr. A.A. Firdousi in absentia for the post of Professor in Coaching Academy and recommended his selection for the same. Obviously Dr. Firdousi had not applied for the post on which he was being appointed. Next, the experts were not called to interview candidates for the position of Professor in Coaching Academy. It is also not clear if any advertisement was published in newspapers seeking applications for the post of Professor in Coaching Academy. If the appointment has been made without advertisement, it amounts to denying the people of India the right to equal opportunity, a fundamental right in our constitution.
Dr. Firdousi’s appointment in contravention of rules is not an exception. In fact, the G.N. Qazi administration seems to have developed the bad habit of violating rules while making appointments. Another example is that of Dr. Ravichandran.
The Times of India (Ascent) carried out an advertisement (No. 10/2009) by Jamia Hamdard on June 10,2009. Applications were sought for a post of Professor in Health Management along with other positions. Dr. Ravichandran applied for the post, though he did not have any degree in Health Management. He holds Masters in Math and Population Science and M.Phil and PhD in Social Sciences.
Information provided by Jamia Hamdard in response to RTI applications shows Dr. Ravichandran possessing PhD and M Phil in Health Science while copies of his degrees available with Indian Muslim Observer prove beyond doubt that he obtained these degrees in social sciences.
From the record available with the Indian Muslim Observer it appears that Dr. Ravichandran made contradictory claims about his work experience. For instance he claims to have worked at Indian Institute of Management and Research, Jaipur from June 2006 to December 2009. Then he also claims to have worked at international institute of Health Management from April 2007 to May 2008. How he managed to be working in Delhi and Jaipur on the same date and time is a matter that we fail to understand. Even more surprising is his claim of having worked in Philippines from October 2008 to June 2009.
A selection committee was held on June 29, 2009 for the post of Professor in Health Management. The members of the selection committee were Prof. Abdul Nafey, Chancellor’s nominee, Prof. Mirza Saiyadain, expert, Prof. Furqan Qamar, expert and Dr. Talat Haleem, expert. It appears from the record that probably Dr. Haleem was not present in the Selection Committee, though he was probably the only expert of Health Management. Dr. Ravichandran was the only candidate called for interview and, therefore, he alone was interviewed and selected as Associate Professor with three advance increments. The above details suggest that all has not been right with Dr. Ravichandran’s appointment.
Equally surprising is the case of Dr. Reshma Nasreen. She was appointed as Associate Prfessor while still on probation as a lecturer. She applied for the post of Professor in Management Studies. The advertisement for two positions of Professor had appeared on Jamia Hamdard’s website. The candidates applying for the position were required to have PhD in Management with at least 10 papers in peer reviewed /referred research journals. At the time of application the candidates were also required to possess 10- year teaching experience at PG level including last five years as Associate Professor with experience of research guidance.
Being still on probation as Assistant Professor with only two publications to her credit, Dr. Reshma Nasreen should not have applied for the post. But she applied, appeared at interview and was appointed on the position of Associate Professor which was never advertised.A post is advertised to fulfill the constitutional requirement of giving equal opportunity to all citizens. But here it is clear that Jamia Hamdard has violated this fundamental right enshrined in the constitution.Dr. S. Raisuddin is the blue boy of the administration. Jamia Hamdard created a post of Advisor ( Research) in Professor grade. The post was advertised in Hindustan Times on May 5, 2009. We do not have yet information about the number of candidates who had applied for this position. However, Dr. Raisuddin, Associate Professor in Toxicology Department, was selected for this position.
From the advertisement referred to above it is clear that the post he had applied for was one of Advisor (Research) in Professor grade. But his appointment letter dated 30-04-2010 contained the expression Professor/Advisor (Research) which was an unethical change, to say the least.
For about two years Dr. Raisuddin called himself Professor and official University communications also treated him as such. Then suddenly in 2013 he became head of his Department and started drawing the salary of Associate Professor. It is also said that he has also applied for Professorship under promotion scheme.
Dr. Raisuddin has been holding several positions and for each position he has been receiving honourarium, the total amount of which exceeds the limit permissible under rules. His is indeed a case that deserves to be investigated by CBI.
Another example of wrong appointment is that of MS Vasudha Sharma. In response to a University advertisement, she applied for the post of Assistant Professor in Department of Food Technology. There were other applicants who had the degrees of M.Tech in food technology which was an essential qualification as per the advertisement. One applicant had even PhD in Food Technology but the University appointed MS Vasudha Sharma on the post although she did not have the essential qualification as she holds MSc in Food Technology. It must be remembered that there is a sea difference between M.Sc. and M.Tech. degrees. Dr. Sharma has not only wrongly been appointed on the post of Assistant Professor, she is also being favoured by the University in many ways which is discouraging for other faculty members.
The most inappropriate appointment was that of Dr. K.B. Sood. He was appointed as Director, Hamdard Institute of Medical Science and Research when the University set out to establish its medical college. Dr. Sood had no experience in the field and yet Dr. Qazi entrusted him with setting up the Medical College.
Besides his regular salary he was to receive 2% commission on equipments purchased or services rendered. From the few documents we have with us Dr. Sood submitted bills to Dr. Qazi and evidence suggests that he received huge amounts in addition to his regular salary. In fact, Dr. Sood is said to have employed the time-tested method of delaying the purchase of equipments, and other related things necessary for setting up a medical college so that he can buy them at high prices in the 11th hour was a strange appointment, and when he failed to deliver, and people started murmuring against him, Dr. Qazi, instead of prosecuting him, gave him window to slip out.
The medical college project has witnessed several other irregularities such as appointments without advertisement, changing designations of selected candidates or making alteration in their salaries. For example Dr. M. Haroon was appointed as Deputy Medical Superintendant in the pay scale of Associate Professor. After he joined, the University administration sought to coerce him to accept a lower position of Assistant Professor. He had to file a case in the High Court of Delhi (WPCC)6076/2011). Similarly Dr. Qazi appointed several Junior Lab Technicians on the basic pay + pay band of Rs. 2800/-. These people received their salaries several months but, then, suddenly Dr. Qazi lowered their pay band from Rs. 2800/- to Rs. 1800/- . The technicians, too have filed a case in the High Court (WPCC)5789/2011).
It is a common knowledge that the selection committees make recommendations to the Executive Council which it can reject or accept but cannot make amendment in them. But Dr. Qazi has a knack for doing illegal things. Instead of taking the matters listed above, to the Executive Council or some other appropriate bodies, he decides them in an arbitrary fashion. He indulges in illegalities even in matters which can be done legally.
Dr. Qazi is known for taking decisions in arbitrary manner. It is said that he has manipulated the UGC Guidelines 2010 (for Deemed Universities) and made hour and make good money as commission. His changes in them which allow him to work like a dictator. Even under the old statutes, he broke rules with impunity. For instance under the old statutes, Heads and Deans were appointed from among the professors for a specific period on the basis of their seniority. Dr. Qazi has broken this rule time and again. He appointed Prof. Rasheeduzzafar as Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy ignoring the statutes then in practice. He was allowed to work as Dean even when his two-year term had expired. After unceremonious exit of Prof. Zafar, Dr. Qazi has asked Prof. Asghar Ali to work as Dean and no University Order has been issued in this regard.
Similarly, Prof. Zainul Abideen is still working as Dean, though his tenure expired about a year ago. Prof. Javed Ahmad completed his three-year term as Head, Department of Botany about a year ago but he continues to work as Head even today with the blessing of Dr. G.N. Qazi.
Dr. G.N. Qazi’s dictatorial functioning is taking place under the very nose of HRD Ministry and the University Grants Commission. It is the later, the UGC which has helped Dr. Qazi in his illegal activities. Dr. Shimla, the wife of the incumbent UGC Chairman has recently obtained PhD from Jamia Hamdard, though she was not eligible to get admission in the first instance. Some NGO dragged her in the court, which curiously has given a strange verdict in her favour on the ground that she has now completed her studies and secured her degree.
Jamia Hamdard is among the few Universities which has large number of cases against it. The President of the Teachers’ Association filed a case even against Dr. G.N. Qazi , because he felt that he was continuing in office illegally after August 2011. As the matter is still in the court, the Indian Muslim Observer cannot comment on it. But a careful perusal of this case clearly suggests that how highly-paid lawyers can manipulate courts to delay a case to the extent of making it irrelevant. The Indian judiciary needs immediate reform if it really wants to serve the cause of justice and end corruption from India. Otherwise people like G.N. Qazi will continue to break rules with impunity.
[Danish Ahmad Khan, a Delhi-based Journalist, is Founder-Editor of IndianMuslimObserver.com. He can be contacted at danishkhan@indianmuslimobserver.com]
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November 8, 2013, 10:23 pm
By Timucin Engin
Gulf Islamic banks continue to grow faster than their conventional peers, but profitability rates are converging, according to new S&P reportHighlights:
• GCC Islamic banks continued to capture market share and outgrow their conventional peers despite the 2008 crisis, and we expect them to continue to grow fast.
• Low interest rates and lower capital market-related gains than 2008 pre-crisis levels are impairing revenue growth for most Islamic banks in the region
• Strong government support is the key to the rapid growth of Islamic banking in the region.
• Qatari Islamic banks expected to grow especially fast because of the country's large infrastructure needs and investments, including the 2022 soccer World Cup.
• Operating environment over the next two years expected to remain supportive for Islamic banks' credit quality.
A recent report by Standard and Poor indicates that while Islamic banks in the GGG are likely to grow faster than their conventional counterparts, profititability rates for the two banking models are converging as Islamic banks take a hit from comparatively lower interest rates and non-core banking revenues. The report by Timucin Engin released before S&P's October "Developments in Islamic Finance" conference, is summarized below.
According to our analysis of some conventional and Islamic banks in the Gulf region, the GCC Islamic banks in S&P's sample of banks outgrew their conventional peers between 2009 and 2012. Their asset bases showed a compound average growth rate of 17.4 percent compared with conventional banks' 8.1 percent, while their net lending and customer deposits grew by an average of 18.2 percent and 19.9 percent compared with conventional banks' 8.1 percent and 10 percent.
The economies of the countries that make up the GCC are showing robust recovery after the 2008 economic crisis, with Qatar looking particularly strong. The region has one of the world's largest Islamic banking markets and the sector has healthy performance metrics.
Additional state support means S&P predicts that Islamic banking in the region will continue to increase its market share, and they expect the operating environment over the next two years to remain supportive for Islamic banks' business and credit quality.
How We Reached Our Conclusions
Strong government support is key to rapid growth of GCC Islamic Banking
S&P believes that GCC Islamic banks have grown very fast because of significant direct and indirect support from governments, ruling families, and authorities, and we expect this support to continue (see "Islamic Banking Has Reached Critical Mass In The Gulf After Sustained Growth, And Expansion Is Set To Continue," published on Dec. 4, 2009 on RatingsDirect).
For example, the granting of banking licenses is a discretionary power of the state authorities, and most of the new banks in the GCC region are Islamic. State authorities also control the system allowing conventional banks to change into Islamic ones; Bank of Kuwait & The Middle East in Kuwait, and Sharjah Islamic Bank and Dubai Bank in UAE have all done this. In addition, the authorities control the opening of dedicated business lines in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE, and the acquisition of Islamic banking subsidiaries, as happened when National Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. acquired a controlling stake in Boubyan Bank.
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Differences in local credit conditions lead to divergent Islamic asset growth rates
S&P expects GCC Islamic banks' overall credit growth to remain strong over the medium term, with Saudi and Qatari Islamic banks accounting for a big chunk of the increase because of their planned infrastructure investments. We also think Abu Dhabi-based banks will show healthy growth, given their stronger balance sheets relative to their Dubai-based peers.
GCC banking system assets have risen by a compound average growth rate of 6.9 percent a year since 2009 to reach $1.6 trillion at the end of 2012, as the positive effects of strong oil prices offset the fragile global operating environment.
However, when we look at growth rates among individual countries using our sample of selected banks, we see quite a bit of divergence. The strongest compound average growth rate was in Qatar, where strong state support and a buoyant economy helped Islamic banks expand their loans by 32 percent compared with system-level domestic credit growth of 23.7 percent. The country's youngest Islamic bank, Barwa Bank, began operations after 2009. If we were to exclude Barwa Bank from our analysis, the lending growth for Islamic banks would still remain at 26 percent for the period.
Saudi Arabia was the second-fastest-growing Islamic banking market, with a average 22.3 percent growth rate in 2009-2012, as banks were able to capitalize on strong local economic conditions. Alinma Bank, the country's newest Islamic bank, began operations in 2008.
The compound average growth rate for the Islamic banks in our sample for the UAE over the same period was around 14.5 percent, but this falls to 9.3 percent if we exclude Al Hilal Bank, which began operations in 2011. Most of the growth was generated by Abu Dhabi-based banks and the contribution from Dubai-based banks was minimal as they had to focus on cleaning up their balance sheets due to real estate and government-related entity (GRE) lending exposures
In Kuwait, the compound average growth rate of 10.5 percent was largely driven by Kuwait Finance House, whose rise came mostly from overseas businesses, predominantly in Turkey. That's why Islamic banking growth was significantly above domestic credit growth.
Bahrain has experienced political and economic upheaval over the past two years, and central bank data show total assets for Islamic retail and wholesale banks unchanged at $25.5 billion from 2009-2012. Total Bahraini banking system assets contracted by about 16 percent between 2009 and 2012.
In Oman, the regulator approved Islamic banking from Jan. 1, 2013. The country's first Islamic bank, Bank Nizwa, opened in January 2013. Oman's biggest lender, Bank Muscat, has begun to sell Islamic banking products through an Islamic window. Despite this recent push, we do not expect the Islamic banking segment in Oman to represent a meaningful portion of the regional Islamic banking market because Oman's banking system, at around $37 billion at the end of 2012, is small.
Deposits are the main source of funding, and overseas borrowing is very limited
Most GCC banks have traditionally funded themselves through customer deposits, and the overall role of non-depository funding is limited. This is more visible with Islamic banks, where debt capital markets issuance has historically been very limited.
About 72 percent of Islamic banks' total assets were funded by customer deposits as of Dec. 31, 2012, and 14 percent were funded by shareholders' equity. Most GCC banks also have high levels of non-remunerated current accounts, and Islamic banks generally have stronger access. In addition, most Islamic banks in the region traditionally employ more capital than their conventional peers in funding their assets.
Given the larger equity base and current account deposits, Islamic banks' interest bearing liabilities to total liabilities are generally lower than their conventional peers.
The Gulf region's currencies, with the exception of Kuwait, as its currency is pegged to an undisclosed basket of currencies, are pegged to the U.S. dollar, so regional interest rates have tracked the decline in global interest rates over the last few years. Islamic banks are able to operate with strong net interest margins in a high interest rate environment because of their funding advantage. The impact of declining interest rates was therefore more obvious on their performances. Conventional banks were able to mitigate some of the pressure on their yields on earning assets as they were able to capitalize on the lower cost of funding opportunities in debt capital markets.
The corporate and infrastructure related nature of lending in the Gulf region means the average tenor of loans for most Islamic banks is substantially higher than a year. Furthermore, the average tenor for customer deposits is generally very short-term. This results in a contractual asset liability mismatch for Islamic banks similar to their conventional peers. Although these deposits have a very high roll-over rate, we believe that under the incoming Basel III regulations, the region's banks will be further incentivized to issue longer term paper. We therefore expect Islamic banks in the region to adopt a more active stance in debt capital markets.
Islamic banking returns are converging with their conventional peers
Unless we see a cycle of higher interest rates that would help Islamic banks to expand their net interest margins, we expect to continue to see convergence between conventional and Islamic banking returns in the GCC region over the next few years.
Islamic banks have continued to outgrow their conventional peers since the beginning of the crisis, but their margins have been eroding and their return on average assets converging with conventional banks. Between 2008 and 2012, Gulf Islamic banks' average return on average assets declined by around 100 basis points (bps), and operating revenues to average assets declined by 130bps. The main driver behind the lower revenue generation was the significant contraction in net interest margins, but this was also accompanied by a significant contraction in revenues some Islamic banks had traditionally generated from non-core banking activities. These factors mean that Islamic banks' revenue generation is now falling to their conventional counterparts' levels.
Conventional banks have been able to reduce their provisioning requirements substantially since NPL formation began to stabilize, as they entered the crisis with substantially higher loan loss reserve coverage. Islamic banks have continued to operate with higher levels of credit losses, which has also contributed to the convergence of Islamic and conventional banks' profitability.
As with asset quality, profitability depends significantly on country of operations, so banks in Qatar and Saudi Arabia are operating with better metrics than their peers in the UAE and Kuwait.
We believe the convergence of returns between the conventional and the Islamic banking models in the GCC region is here to stay. Islamic banks used to be able to rely on strong returns from non-banking activities such as capital markets and real estate owing to the inflationary asset valuation cycle in the region. After their recent credit losses we now expect them to have similar provisioning levels to their conventional peers.
(Courtesy: Zawya)
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November 8, 2013, 10:33 pm
Economic and ethical focus of fast expanding Islamic banks could be good news for green investments
By Nilima Choudhury
The growing Islamic finance sector could spell good news for investments in clean energy according to experts RTCC has spoken to.
Islamic finance is growing 50% faster than the traditional banking sector, and it has huge growth potential, with assets expected to increase by 250% this year.
Its profile was boosted last week when UK Prime Minister David Cameron told the World Islamic Economic Forum he wanted the country to be the “first western sovereign to issue an Islamic bond”.
In an interview with RTCC, Professor Habib Ahmed, a World Bank author and Professor in Islamic law and finance at the University of Durham said the principles and values on which Islamic finance is based could contribute to sustainable economic development.
“There is an increasing demand from different stakeholders that Islamic finance should also reflect the ethical, social and environmental aspects in their financing,” he said.
“Many non-Muslims are attracted to Islamic finance because they find it sound from economic and ethical perspectives.”
This could be positive news for the clean energy sector that in 2012 suffered a 14% drop in investment as Europe curbed green subsidies and the USA’s attention was diverted from renewables to fracking.
Last month analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported that annual investment in renewables and energy-smart technologies will fall for the second consecutive year.
Emerging sector
There are already signs the clean-tech sector is starting to benefit from Islamic finance.
The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is already a major player in the clean energy sector investments of around $1 billion between 2010-2012.
The top five beneficiary countries of IsDB’s renewable energy sector financing were Morocco ($908 million), Pakistan ($896 million), Egypt ($886 million), Tunisia ($764 million) and Syria ($668 million).
Last month the IsDB agreed a $100 million investment with the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey for the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
On a wider scale, a report by Ernst & Young published in December 2012 valued Islamic assets at about $1.8 trillion in 2011, representing about 1% of the global financial market.
Green shoots
Some analysts believe Islamic finance will be good for the environment because it values more than just profits.
Western banks are required by law to provide the best return on investment for their clients regardless of where that investment goes.
But according to Asad Zaman from the International Institute of Islamic Economics in Pakistan, while green growth in the west is secondary to economic growth, this is not the case in Islamic financial circles.“Natural resources are a sacred trust and protecting them for future generations a primary responsibility,” he said.
“Economic growth is not (directly) a goal at all, though it may be desirable as a means to (say) poverty alleviation.”
It’s a view shared by the heir to the British throne Prince Charles, who recently said Islamic banking could provide the answers where conventional banking could not, given Islam’s emphasis on a “moral economy”.
Where large Western banks have divested from oil and gas, it has generally taken place not because of ‘green’ reasons, but as a result of long term investment planning.
“Scottish Widows divested from these [fossil fuel] companies not on ethical grounds but because we think they’re not a very good investment decision. That view is shared very widely in the investment community,” said the bank’s head of sustainability Craig Mackenzie.
New investment model
The Islamic financial structure is so attractive that the UK Treasury is now investing about £200 million to work on the practicalities of issuing “sukuk”, or Islamic law compliant bonds in the country.
Sukuk bonds do not pay interest, but instead offers the investor a share of ownership in the project they are supporting.
In order to develop an environmentally friendly sector financed by Islamic banks, the Green Sukuk Working Group was launched last year by think tanks Climate Bonds Initiative, NGO Clean Energy Business Council of the Middle East and North Africa and the Gulf Bond & Sukuk Association.
“Interest in both Shari’ah compliant and ethical investing is on the rise. Green sukuks can support this trend by expanding the range of available financial instruments,” said the GBSA’s Michael Grifferty at the group’s launch.
“Green sukuks also support national development strategies by offering longer term finance for essential infrastructure.”
The group aims to develop best practices and promote the issuance of sukuks for the financing of climate change investments and projects, such as renewable energy projects.
Banks like UK-based Islamic investment bank Gatehouse Bank offer people the opportunity to invest in sustainable companies that offer technology, products and services throughout the water industry to help with water desalination, a burgeoning sector in the Middle East.
According to Professor Ahmed, the Islamic financial sector’s growth is likely to continue because it has proven to withstand events like the 2008 global financial crisis.
“After the crisis, Islamic finance came to light because it had features that would have lessened the intensity of the crisis,” he said.
Social responsibility
A paper published in July this year by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) argues that increasing levels of debt in the ‘West’ will make Islamic banking a safer bet for many investors.
“Islamic finance principles serve to insulate the Islamic financial system from excessive leverage, speculation and uncertainty, which in turn contributes toward promoting financial stability and long-term sustainability,” the authors say.
“As a result, the implementation of Islamic finance principles is anticipated to grow, not only in Muslim countries’ financial markets, but also in those markets concerned with socially responsible objectives and ethical financial solutions.”
Muhammad bin Ibrahim, the Central Bank of Malaysia’s deputy governor, argued earlier this month that it was an Islamic bank’s duty to “enhance the general welfare of society.”
“The teachings of Islam basically promote preservation of natural resources and the need to respect all living things. Failure to do so would be detrimental…where severe destruction of the land and sea would come upon those who mistreat the environment,” said Ibrahim.
There are, of course, plenty of examples of Islamic banks lending to oil and gas companies. Money based in Saudi Arabia and Qatar is, in all likelihood, derived from the extraction of fossil fuels.
But the rapid growth of a financial sector underpinned with strong ethical and environmental leanings indicates that the damage investments may do to the planet may come under increasing scrutiny.
Ahmed argues that currently there is little sign of a “green” culture in the Islamic financial sector, perhaps not a surprise given its relatively small size.
But he says there is a debate among bankers over what the sector’s role should be moving forward, and how it can be a force for the global good.
“As the industry moves forward it will be expected that they consider social and environmental issues as the values on which Islamic finance is based on [these] demands,” he said.
(Courtesy: RTCC.org)
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November 8, 2013, 10:42 pm
London/Mumbai: Britain has more than 10,000 millionaires from the among 2.72 million Muslims who live and work in the country, contributing 31 billion pounds (Rs.3 trillion) to its economy, a new report says.
“The Muslim Pound – How Muslims Add Value to Britain’s Prosperity” was released by the Muslim Council of Britain ahead of the just-concluded 9th World Islamic Economic Forum Meet 2013 in London.
Stunned by the report, a group of Muslim intellectuals in Malegaon, a Muslim-dominated town in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, held a seminar Tuesday) to discuss its content, said one of their leaders, Aleem Faizi, executive editor of Unmid.com.
“We plan to invite some of the people (involved with the report) to help us and implement measures to make the Muslims here also prosperous,” Faizi told IANS on the phone.
The report said that when many Muslims left their native countries to choose an alien land, they started out as labourers in industries like cotton mills, looms, steel and automobiles to re-shape post-war Britian – unsure if their dreams would ever materialize.
Five decades on, there are more than 10,000 millionaires and thousands of others are engaged in higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations.
“From coffee houses in Elizabethan London to curry houses in modern day Britain, thousands of Muslim-owned businesses have made a significant contribution to the UK economy, and, by extension, the cultural life of Britain,” the report said.
In London alone, an estimated 33.6 percent of small to medium enterprises are Muslim-owned. With over 13,400 Muslim-owned businesses, they have created more than 70,000 jobs and some have gone to become big household brand names.
“There is an estimated 10,000 Muslim millionaires in the UK with liquid assets of more than 3.6 billion pounds. And there are more than a dozen British Muslims listed in the 2013 Sunday Times Rich List of the most affluent in the UK. Some estimate the amount that the community is contributing to the UK economy to be about 31 billion pounds,” the report revealed.
Another 114,548 Muslims in England and Wales occupy higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations with successful British Muslim entrepreneurs contributing not only to the country’s prosperity but also to the fabric of British society and act as role models, the report said.
As per the 2011 Census, London had a total population of around eight million including one million Muslims.
Presenting a global diversity, the report said that it is only matched by the diversity of the Hajj where Muslims from all over the world converge on Islam’s holiest city Makkah for the annual pilgrimage.
Muslim connections from the Atlantic to the Pacific have helped Britian facilitate trade to new and emerging markets and the community has created new drivers for growth due to the the requirements of the Muslim faith.
Citing an example, the report said that the need to have food adhering to Muslim dietary requirements has led to a burgeoning Halal food industry to cater for this, and a major share in the $1.2 trillion global halal lifestyle market.
According to a study in 2001, the British halal industry is estimated at 700 million pounds, though it is expected to be far higher – in excess of one billion pounds – given that the world halal food market is estimated at $685 billion, the report pointed out.
In addition, Muslims in Britain contribute to the growth of the $1.3 trillion “non-interest based Islamic finance sector”, making London as one of the major centres for global Islamic finance services outside the Muslim world.
“The sophistication and experience of the UK professional service industry has meant that it has long since been a partner in the Islamic finance movement. In particular, English law is the governing law of choice for many cross-border Islamic finance transactions. The success of the Islamic finance sector in the UK is in no small part attributed to the concerted partnership of Government for the past thirty years”, the report said.
Supplementing this are Britain’s world-class law firms and accountancy practices which have thriving divisions in Islamic Finance, and Britain’s universities compete globally to offer exective education in the industry and Shariah-compliant products.
Britain’s Islamic finance sector services the world and also invests in the massive infrastructure projects taken up in the country, said the report.
It quoted British Prime Minister David Cameron, who acknowledges the contribution of Muslims in helping transform London’s skyline by financing in whole or part developments such as The Shard, Chelsea Barracks, Harrods and the Olympic Village.
The 9th WIEF met Oct 29-31 in Britain, in a non-Muslim country for the first time and launched the report offering a deep insight into the contribution of Muslims to the country.
The report has pegged the spending power of the British Muslims at a staggering 20.5 billion pounds per annum, adding to the country’s economic prosperity.
According to Muslim Council of Britain secretary general Farooq Murad, it is the country’s largest Muslim umbrella body with over 500 affiliated national, regional and local organisations, mosques, charities and schools.
(Courtesy: IANS, November 5, 2013)
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November 8, 2013, 10:52 pm
By Muhammad Jameel Yushau
Last week at the World Islamic Economic Forum in London, the first time such Forum took place outside the Muslim World, showcases how Islamic financing is growing around the world. According to the British Prime Minister David Cameron, Islamic finance is growing fifty percent faster than conventional financing. Of course more needs to be done to strengthening what is gradually appearing to be an alternative to the conventional model.
But my take while listening to the speeches of different world leaders was a statement from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Nawaz Sheriff. Mr Sheriff briefly lamented on the state of the Muslim world, and how far the Muslim world is left behind, and what needs to be done to revive its hitherto compelling spirit, which greatly contributed in scientific and technological advancement of the world. According to the speech by Mr Sheriff, in the Middle Ages Muslim scientists produced ninety percent of the literature the world over, yet at the moment, Muslim scientists produced just one percent.
The message of Mr Sheriff was clear, for the Muslim world to regain its position globally; it has to revert to what made it ahead of its contemporaries in the past. Just have a quick look at the list of Muslim scientists and their inventions as listed by the website www.famousscientists.org , you are talking about the likes of Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, known as Alpharabius, Albattani known as Albatenius, a famous mathematician and astronomer, Ibn Sina or Avesina famous for his contribution to medicine and philiosphy, Ibn Battuta, Ibn Rushd also called Averroes, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khawarazimi, famous for the invention of Arabic numerals and Algebra, Omar Alkhayyam, Abubakar Alrazi "considered one of the greatest physicians in history" according to the famous scientists website; Jabir ibn Alhayyan "the father of Arab chemistry known for his highly influential works on alchemy and metallurgy", Ibn Ishaq Alkindi, also called Alkindus "who is known as the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers.", Ibn Alhaytham (Alhazen), "Arab astronomer and mathematician known for his important contributions to the principles of optics and the use of scientific experiments."
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These are just a selection of the famous Muslim scientists who contributed to the development of science and technology that is sometimes ignored or even assumed such contribution never existed. It does not even included such giants like Iman Attabari, who is both a scholar of Tafseer (Quranic exegesis) and a medical doctor, or the likes of Imam Al-Ghazali whose contribution would make you hide your face in shame when you see what some of our universities are producing as professors.
But this is the past; we have to think about the present. The Muslim world does not lack the people who will conduct research and regain the glory of the civilization that was once the leading light of the world. What the Muslim world lacks are the institutions that support the development of these scientists to produce the knowledge that our world will continue to desire. The Muslim scientists of the past were successful because of the support they receive from the State and through philanthropists who understand that for a civilization to stand on its feet, it has to be mounted on the pedestal of knowledge.
Research has shown that the Muslim world led the way in the past, because of how endowment funds (Awqaaf) and other philanthropic activities support people to study and produce the best literature without worrying about the hassles of life, which may take away their attention. In fact other civilizations learned about the institution of Waqf from the Muslim world, a point that was made clearly by Tim Wallace-Murphy in his book "What Islam Did for Us: Understanding Islam's Contribution to Western Civilization". Wallace-Murphy explained how the West learned from the Muslim world how to establish these endowment funds, a factor that critically contributed in the development of institutions like Oxford and Cambridge. Unfortunately, the institution of Waqf has been neglected or at best left to the background in the Muslim world, and reviving it, and making to function in line with current challenges will contribute greatly in producing the Muslim scientists that can bring back the lost glory of the Muslim world.
(Courtesy: allAfrica.com)
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November 8, 2013, 11:01 pm
How Narendra Modi got both his facts and his strategy wrong in making the Patna speech
By Arun Sinha
His Story Lessons
Separating the fiction from the Gujarat CM’s ‘facts’
Fiction: “Nehru did not attend Sardar Patel’s funeral”Fact: PM Nehru and President Rajendra Prasad attended the funeral in Bombay on December 15, 1950
Fiction: “Alexander was defeated by brave Biharis on the banks of the Ganges.”Fact: Alexander was turned back from Punjab
Fiction: Taxila was in BiharFact: Taxila or Takshashila is in Pakistan
Fiction: India grew at 8.4 per cent during NDA ruleFact: India grew at less than 6 per cent during NDA rule
Fiction: “Gujarat attracts the highest FDI inflow in the country.”Fact: Gujarat received $7.2 billion FDI between 2000-2011; Maharashtra received $45.8 billion, Delhi $26 billion in the same period
Fiction: “China spends 20 per cent of its GDP on education but India doesn’t.”Fact: China spends 3.93 per cent on education, NDA spent 1.6, UPA 4.04
Fiction: “People will get free electricity once Narmada dam is built.”Fact: People of course will have to pay for the electricity
For months (rather years), both the supporters and opponents of Narendra Modi had waited to hear his first speech in Patna. But the speech that everybody expected to devastate Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and sweep Biharis away from his hold turned out to be a poor speech. It was as if he had walked into his most-awaited performance relying on tricks, not study or practice.
His ‘historic’ address proved clownishly unhistoric. His references to Bihar’s history included glories—such as thwarting the march of Alexander’s army and about Taxila university—that rightfully belonged to other peoples and parts of early India. And he picked Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan dynasty and grandfather of Ashoka, out of his dynasty and placed him in the Gupta dynasty of a few hundred years later.
Not long ago, he told a gathering of teachers and students of Fergusson College, Pune, that the first mention of a university convocation was in “our Taittirya Upanishad”. He cited this as an evidence of Hindus being the original source of all knowledge and creators of educational institutions which the world was to adopt later. “I am proud to say,” he went on, that of the 2,600 years of university education in the world, “1,800 years were centrally led by us.” It showed his total ignorance of history. First of all, there were no universities in the Vedic or Upanishadic period. Secondly, the universities we are so proud of—Nalanda, Taxila, Vikramshila, Odantapuri and Vallabhi (in Gujarat)—were not universities in the sense of universities that developed in medieval Europe, such as Oxford, but were centres of high learning. Thirdly, they didn’t exist for 1,800 years, but each for a few hundred years. Fourthly, most of them, including Vallabhi, were centres of Buddhist religious learning and not of secular education for arts and sciences.
Modi’s speech at the Patna rally, much like his speeches elsewhere, was very weak in study and facts: he mainly concentrated on wordplay, innuendo and hyperbole. He obviously ran a great risk of being found out, especially by the youth, whom he is going out of the way to court, for they are an iconoclastic tribe. Bihar’s youth might recognise his shallowness even more quickly, for this is a land of revolutions that has seen great visionaries and leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan in recent history.
Modi’s competition here was with Nitish, and people were looking for a speech in form and content that could beat the latter, but he disappointed them, reminding them more of Laloo Prasad Yadav. Much like Laloo, he has developed an oratorical language and style that would appeal to John Does. An evidence of this is the wordplay he flings about—“The one who betrayed JP, couldn’t mind deserting the BJP”, for instance, or “Gujarat offers no red tape, only the red carpet, to investors.”
He flaunted his humble origins, just as Laloo used to do; only we have a teaboy instead of a cowboy. His target obviously was the constituencies of the backward castes Nitish and Laloo share. (The great Hindu nationalist even appealed directly to the Yadavs, invoking their emotional connection with Krishna, who made Dwarka in Gujarat his home).
Nitish’s main base is among the extremely backward castes, whose population is over 40 per cent of the total, the Mahadalits, and of course Kurmis and Koeris. But flaunting the teaboy image might not help Modi gain the sympathy of the underdog in Bihar for three reasons: one, the poor in the state might find it difficult to relate to him in terms of caste rankings that are specific to the Gujarat context; two, he does not come from a socialist or communist background, whose leaders and workers are oriented towards the poor; and three, he is more famous for keeping company with rich investors than for communing with people of the huts.
However, Modi could see the rally as a ‘success’ for some reasons. For example, the serial bomb explosions at the Gandhi Maidan. Muslim fanatics, and the ‘secularists’ who defend them indiscriminately, have helped him tremendously in achieving the titanic status he enjoys today. Had Godhra not happened, Modi would not have emerged as a political giant. Already, Muslim partisans and secularists have jumped in to say the suspects taken into custody after the rally blasts are “innocent children”.
Modi’s camp too has gone into overdrive. They have declared those who died in the blasts as “martyrs”, paid their families Rs 5 lakh each as compensation (matching Nitish’s grant) and are going to instal their statues in the villages they came from. They are propagating the idea that the target was Modi. They are going to milk as much Hindu sympathy from the blasts as possible in the run-up to the 2014 elections.
The second thing for Modi to be happy about was that the rally was very huge. Much of it was RSS-BJP mobilisation, but the thing to worry for Modi’s rivals could be the presence in the crowd of those from outside the Sangh parivar. The challenge for Nitish is posed not only by the loss of the committed Hindu vote on account of the split with the BJP but also a possible, incremental enlargement of that vote from non-traditional sources.
This potential enlargement owes to the situation across the country, the economic circumstances especially, that are today in Modi’s favour. In a crisis, people look for a ‘strong’ leader. Two sections have already endorsed Modi as a strong leader: the business class and old Sangh loyalists, both for different reasons, of course. Businessmen admire him for downsizing government to one; Hindu nationalists love him for putting the ‘pampered’ minorities in place. Whether they are the effect of one and the same instinct or not is a moot point—in the current situation of economic crisis, they are threatening to fuse into a cumulative notion of ‘strength’. What may make this fusion lethal is the addition of a large number of rural and urban middle-class voters. Today’s situation has some parallels to the economic crisis of the mid-1960s, caused by growth-stunting Nehruvian policies. Then also a boom—in economic opportunities in the first flush of growth after Independence—was followed by a bust. Job and business opportunities shrank, and for the first time major communal riots took place, especially in cities where Hindus and Muslims competed for scarce openings. Towards 2014, Hindu consolidation might happen more distinctly in such towns in Bihar and other states.
Modi has harnessed two horses, the development horse and the Hindu nationalist horse, to his electoral chariot. He has become quite adept at using a seemingly odd, dichotomous pair after successfully driving them in three assembly elections in Gujarat. The question is whether he can repeat the feat in Bihar. His inherent qualities and the favourable context would help him cover some distance, but it doesn’t seem possible for him to go the full length.
In India, one can safely venture that an overwhelming majority of sufferers of the economic crisis are Hindus. In times of economic stagnation, hostility and rivalry grows among social groups for scarce jobs, subsidies and shrunk markets. Hindu aspirants under such circumstances, one could assume, would tend to support a man who has a proven record of favouring Hindus. Modi brings them hope of a double benefit: one, he holds out the alluring promise of developing Bihar and the rest of India as he has developed Gujarat, thus creating many more opportunities than the Congress could provide; and two, unlike the Congress, he would not be seen dead ‘appeasing’ the minorities in the distribution of the spoils of development.
The RSS’s strong, if grudging, endorsement of Modi suggests they see him as their champion missionary on the basis of his heroic deeds in Gujarat, and have high expectations from him in carrying out their project of enforcing uniculturalism and making India a Hindu nation. Recently, when Modi proudly described himself as a ‘Hindu nationalist’ to a media interviewer, the danger bells of the liberals began to peal out, but the RSS was elated. It reflected, an RSS leader said, the “ideological commitment of a person who is likely to reach the highest office of the country”.
Modi has taken political, administrative and legislative measures to fulfil the mission in Gujarat. He has denied scholarships to Muslim school students; he has placed impossible conditions for inter-religious marriage; he lent administrative support to RSS campaigns against Christian conversions in the Dangs district; and he introduced a law making it compulsory for anyone making or seeking religious conversion to obtain prior government permission.
These measures were intended to convey an overt message to the followers of other faiths that being Hindu was being privileged and not being Hindu was not. Modi wouldn’t make a policy of positive discrimination to benefit disadvantaged Muslims and Christians. This tendency could work to his disadvantage in Bihar where Nitish has crafted several policies and programmes for social and economic development of backward (Pasmanda) Muslims. Modi’s claim at the rally that he believed in inclusive development had therefore no grain of truth. But from the rest of his speech, it didn’t appear that he was much worried even if it didn’t work.
The JD(U) and UPA are going to accelerate the incipient Hindu consolidation behind Modi by announcing measures for protection and welfare of Muslims—skill development, employment, subsidies, special helplines, warning to police not to implicate ‘innocent’ Muslims in terror cases et al. The Congress dalliance with demagogic puritans from the Muslim clergy has long supplied raw material to the Hindu communal factory.
However, that is not going to stop Nitish, who has been competing for Muslims’ votes with Laloo ever since he separated from him. Despite his alliance with the BJP, the share of Muslim vote for the combine increased in the last assembly elections, largely owing to their faith in Nitish. Ground reports suggest support for him among Muslims has tremendously increased after his break with the BJP.
That much about Modi’s Hindu nationalist plank. Could his development plank possibly fill up the gap?
Modi is working to entice as much subaltern vote away from Nitish (and Laloo) as possible in order to compensate for the loss of that vote owing to the break of alliance. He is hoping his ‘vikas purush’ image will work among the poor, who are looking for employment opportunities. And here the clash of two development ehtusiasts might become very engaging. Who will the Bihar youth bet on for generating opportunities—Modi or Nitish? So far they have believed in Nitish and despite a thousand complaints, credited him for creating employment opportunities, so much so that labour out-migration has reduced.
Bihar has been a labour-supplying state. It needs labour-intensive industries, whereas Modi is known for encouraging investments in capital-intensive industries, such as petrochemicals. No wonder, total employment in Gujarat during 2007-12 remained stagnant. In the absence of employment, poverty reduction didn’t take place, increasing income disparity between the rich and the poor. The percentage of STs in organised sector employment was seven per cent in 1993-94 and it remained the same in 2009-10. For whom, therefore, is high growth in Gujarat?
The reality about high growth in Gujarat might or might not be known to the poor in Bihar, but the influence of Modi’s development propaganda notwithstanding, they would have to weigh great risks in voting for him. Development depends on capable and effective state governments, and 2014 is about central governance, not state governance. Will it be wise to vote for someone who might destabilise the government and development process in the state to settle his scores with the incumbent?
Nationally, Modi enjoys some distinct advantages: he has no strong challenger. Nitish is concentrating his attention on Bihar, and Rahul Gandhi sparkles on occasion but mostly offers damp squibs. Nitish will do everything possible to defeat Modi in Bihar. But across the country, it can only be Modi who might defeat Modi—Modi the reality submerging Modi the illusion.
The illusion has it that he alone has the secret mantra to beat all the global odds and bring India back on a high growth trajectory; he alone can take the country’s youth to El Dorado; he alone can put Pakistan and China in place; and he alone can liquidate Muslim separatism and drive them to such a condition that they will have no option but to join as members of this Hindu nation. What can beat an illusion but disillusionment?
[Arun Sinha, a senior journalist, is the author of Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar, a Penguin book.]
(Courtesy: Outlook)
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