CAIR Welcomes Ruling in Support of Muslim Charity's Due Process Rights

August 19, 2009 Forward to a Friend Support CAIR Contact Us Update Your Profile

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAIR Welcomes Ruling in Support of Muslim Charity’s Due Process Rights (WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/19/09) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed a federal judge’s ruling in support of the due process rights of KindHearts, an Ohio-based Muslim charity that had its assets frozen by the government more than three years ago. U.S. District Judge James Carr ruled yesterday that the government had an obligation to explain the asset freeze and to give KindHearts an opportunity to respond to any allegations. Judge Carr also said the treasury department should have obtained a probable cause warrant before it could legally seize the charity’s assets. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represented KindHearts in its challenge to the government’s actions. SEE: Judge Rules Against Freeze on Assets “This is a victory for all Americans who value the constitutional rights to due process and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “We thank the ACLU for defending American Muslim civil liberties, even in the politically-charged post-9/11 environment.” In 2006, the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT), a coalition of national Muslim organizations, wrote to then Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow to request a meeting to discuss growing concerns “about the continued targeting of Muslim charities without due process of law.” AMT’s letter said government closures of Islamic charities, such as the shutdown of KindHearts, impaired the ability of American Muslims to carry out their religious obligation to help the needy in this country and overseas. When the government froze KindHearts’ assets, most of the funds were earmarked for earthquake relief in Pakistan and for KindHearts’ recently-established South Asia Division. In its letter, AMT stated: “As leading American Muslim organizations, we note that although we understand the political climate of our country and support our government's efforts to thwart terrorist financing; we find it unfair that our government has yet made another extrajudicial decision to effectively wipe out more than five years of humanitarian assistance to the world's needy by the mere stroke of a pen. The immediate effects of KindHearts' closure have already been felt in orphanages, schools, shelters, and medical centers around the world.” CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. - END - CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787 or 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com Update email preferences | Unsubscribe | Forward to a friend | Visit our web site Council on American-Islamic Relations 453 New Jersey Ave, S.E., Washington, D.C., 20003 Council on American-Islamic Relations Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.

Action: CAIR Asks Muslims to Join Ramadan Anti-Malaria Effort

August 19, 2009

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CAIR Action Alert #587: Action: CAIR Asks Muslims to Join Ramadan Anti-Malaria Effort (WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/19/2009) - CAIR is urging American Muslims to increase the spiritual benefits of the upcoming Ramadan fast by participating in a “United Against Malaria” event on September 5 near Washington, D.C. SEE: United for Change CAIR, along with other major American Muslim organizations led by United for Change and Islamic Relief, is sponsoring the day-long event that will feature speakers such as Shaykh Muhammad Ninowy, Imam Mohamed Majid, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Suhaib Webb, Imam Siraj Wahhaj, Dr. Fatimah Jackson, and Imam Zaid Shakir. WHAT: Muslims United Against Malaria WHEN: September 5, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Gaylord National Resort & Conventional Center, 201 Waterfront Street, Fort Washington, MD 20745 CONTACT: CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, E-Mail: csaylor@cair.com See the Muslims United for Change Against Malaria video. “Ramadan is not only a time for prayer and fasting, it is an opportunity to strengthen and renew one’s faith through positive actions that benefit society,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “Malaria is a serious concern in Africa and American Muslims can play an important role in helping to alleviate the suffering caused by this disease.” United for Change notes that malaria affects some 420 million individuals in Africa annually, resulting in one million deaths. Children under five are among those hardest hit by malaria. One African child dies every 30 seconds as a result of the disease. CAIR’s participation in the anti-malaria effort is part of its “Muslims Care” campaign, an ongoing program designed to encourage community service by American Muslims. Muslim communities are being asked to plan new volunteer community service initiatives, to expand existing activities and to report all such efforts to the Muslims Care website. Muslims Care is one response to President Obama’s “United We Serve” initiative and is being coordinated with “Muslim Americans Answer the Call,” a nationwide grass-roots campaign to mobilize American Muslims to answer the call to service. SEE: United We Serve SEE: Muslims Care “United We Serve” Project Submission Form Muslim Americans Answer the Call The data gathered by CAIR and Muslim Americans Answer the Call will be submitted to United We Serve for inclusion in its final report and for recognition on the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11, 2009. IMMEDIATE ACTIONS REQUESTED: 1. JOIN THE STRUGGLE to ease the suffering of those afflicted with malaria by registering for the United Against Malaria event here. A separate iftar dinner featuring speakers from the event is also scheduled. Register here. 2. PLAN new community service initiatives based on the president’s United We Serve campaign. Suggested community service activities: “Green mosque” programs to make mosques and other Islamic institutions more energy efficient Health screenings and health fairs at mosques designed to promote public health awareness and prevention Individual and group tutoring and literacy initiatives by Muslim professionals for youth and adults Feeding the homeless and needy at Ramadan iftars Food and blood drives at mosques and Islamic schools Visiting the sick and elderly Educational programs designed to promote entrepreneurial activities and economic recovery SUBMIT your event information or volunteer opportunity to Muslims Care here. 3. EXPAND existing community service initiatives. Many Muslim communities have existing volunteer service programs that are already scheduled to take place this summer. These programs should be expanded and integrated into the president’s United We Serve campaign. 4. REPORT all volunteer community service efforts to Muslims Care for inclusion in the final report United We Serve report and for recognition on the “National Day of Service and Remembrance” on September 11, 2009. 5. BUILD COALITIONS with others carrying out positive volunteer community service projects in your area. You may seek volunteers for your programs or volunteer for service programs organized by others. Go to: http://www.serve.gov/ PLEASE POST, COPY AND DISTRIBUTE Update email preferences | Unsubscribe | Forward to a friend | Visit our web site Council on American-Islamic Relations 453 New Jersey Ave, S.E., Washington, D.C., 20003 Council on American-Islamic Relations Copyright © 2007 All rights reserved.

Jaswant Singh’s Incomplete Truth by Rajinder Puri - boloji.com

http://www.boloji.com/myword/mw145.htm

Jaswant Singh's Incomplete Truth
by Rajinder Puri 

Jaswant Singh, former cabinet minister, has written a book on Mohammed Ali Jinnah which has become a talking point across India. I have not read the book. I have heard Jaswant Singh on TV expounding his views on Jinnah. The main thrust of his work seems to be:

1. Jinnah has been unnecessarily demonized. He was a great man and not wholly responsible for the Partition of the subcontinent.

2. Pandit Nehru was primarily responsible for the Partition because he believed in a centralized India which left no space for the Muslims to protect themselves against Hindu domination.

3. Mahatma Gandhi, and other Congress leaders were opposed to the Partition and would not have allowed it if it were not for Nehru.

The view about Nehru's role in the Partition is not new. This scribe wrote about it in a book of just 107 text pages, not over 600 pages, which were published twenty years ago. Others, such as former ADC to Lord Mountbatten and later India's ambassador abroad, Narendra Singh Sarila, wrote on the subject of the Partition at greater length. Let us consider the three main postulates of Jaswant Singh's views outlined above.

1. Jinnah was not a "great" man. He was articulate, highly intelligent and focused. He missed greatness by a wide margin because he willingly colluded with the British to create a Pakistan about which he had not even determined boundaries or shape. He mainly fulfilled British goals while satisfying his own vanity. Independence came first; the boundaries of the divided nations came later. The British had decided on Partition to serve their own strategic ends. On 29 March 1945, after Viceroy Lord Wavell met Prime Minister Churchill in London he recorded: "He (Churchill) seems to favor partition of India into Pakistan, Hindustan and Princestan." Sir Martin Gilbert, the British biographer of Winston Churchill revealed that Churchill had asked Jinnah to dispatch secret letters to him by addressing them to a lady, Elizabeth Giliat, who had been Churchill's secretary. This secret interaction continued for years. Jinnah's key decisions between 1940 and 1946, including the demand for Pakistan in 1940, were taken after getting the nod from Churchill or Lord Linlithgow and Wavell, both Churchill's admirers. Jinnah admitted during the Simla Conference in 1945 that he was receiving advice from London. In other words, Jinnah was as much the British puppet on a string as were the top Indian leaders.

2. Yes, Pandit Nehru was primarily responsible for the Partition. This was not because he was emotionally committed to a centralized India but because he too was thoroughly programmed by the British since his school days. His proximity to Lord Mountbatten has been recorded by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and historian Shashi Joshi among others. Even before Mountbatten's arrival in India Lord Wavell had complained that Nehru was often informed by Whitehall before he was!

3. Mahatma Gandhi and other Congress leaders may have been unhappy about the Partition. They did not oppose it. When the resolution to accept Partition was taken by the Congress on June 3, 1947 Gandhi observed his day of silence. He assured Mountbatten on June 2 that he would not oppose Partition. It can be nobody's case that Nehru was so powerful that he could override Gandhi and the rest. The truth was that Gandhi lacked the gumption to oppose Partition when it came to the crunch because he knew that his adversary was not Nehru but Britain. At Mountbatten's bidding he could undertake a fast unto death to compel the Indian government to pay adequate compensation to Pakistan. He made no such protest when his life's work of creating a united independent India was being destroyed. Gandhi's belated attempt to undo his mistake by wanting to settle in Pakistan and by demanding the dissolution of the Congress in his last will and testament was aborted by his death.

These judgments may appear cruel. Truth is seldom kind. Any assessment about the causes that led to the Partition of India would be flawed unless the central role of the British in creating it and the compliant role of the Indian and Pakistani leaders in accepting it are recognized. The most clinching evidence of this is provided by the recorded views of Christopher Beaumont who was private secretary to Sir Cyril Radcliffe, chairman of the Indo-Pakistan Boundary Commission. His private papers were recently released by his son, Robert Beaumont. The elder Beaumont wrote in 1947: "The viceroy, Mountbatten, must take the blame - though not the sole blame - for the massacres in the Punjab in which between 500,000 to a million men, women and children perished…The handover of power was done too quickly." Christopher Beaumont was most scathing about how partition affected the Punjab. He wrote: "The Punjab partition was a disaster… Geography, canals, railways and roads all argued against dismemberment… The trouble was that Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs were an integrated population so that it was impossible to make a frontier without widespread dislocation… Thousands of people died or were uprooted from their homes in what was in effect a civil war… By the end of 1947 there were virtually no Hindus or Sikhs living in west Punjab - now part of Pakistan - and no Muslims in the Indian east… The British government and Mountbatten must bear a large part of the blame for this tragedy."

A few Britons are beginning to confront the truth. Will Indians ever start doing the same?

GHULAM MUHAMMED ADDS:  The only way Britons will confront the truth, is when the victims of partition carnage, both side of the border, or each singly or severely, demand monetary claims from the Government of United Kingdom for their acts of commission and/or omission leading to huge loss of human lives and ethnic cleansing. 

Jews have always striven for compensations and had survived to enjoy the largess.