Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Indian Muslims were feeling left out in this very historical debate as
how to control corruption in public life with an independent
institution which can ensure free and unhindered prosecution of the
corrupt.
For good or bad, the one person that has vowed to bell the cat, is a
life long fighter against corruption. It did appear on the first day
of his appearance in Jantar Mantar, that Hindutva elements had
visibly cornered the entire movement. However, soon the other left
liberal participants were able to convince Anna that if his movement
has to succeed as a united voice of the people, he must shun
politicians of all hues. The presence of people like Bhushan father and
son, Kiran Bedi at the top of the movement is assurance enough that
Anna Movement can not be hijacked by the fascists and anarchists.
These are seasoned people and are connected fully with a mass networking all over
the country. Already there are occasions, where the crowd of
protestors have booed BJP leaders out of their midst. That happened in
Mumbai's Azad Maidan. The independent line being followed by Anna Team
has forced BJP to publicly announce its own separate strategy on Lok
Pal bill. As it is, both Congress and BJP have common vested interest
to keep all loopholes open to continue to milk their rule for their
own and their supporters' enrichment. No politician will voluntarily
agreed to go under the kind of scrutiny and prosecution challenges
that Anna's Jan Lokpal bill is proposing. If people have to succeed in
forcing the political mafia to accept control over their decision in
monetary and licensing affairs, only public's united and most
aggressive protest can achieve the goal.
It is unfortunate that either Muslims have kept out of the entire
debate and protest movement or being kept out, the first voice that is
now on record coming from a Muslim organisation like Milli Council
Secretary General's, is steeped in Congress lingo. The old scare
tactic with which Congress has always threatened Muslims, is no longer
valid as there are any number of alternatives that are opening up and
Muslim need not mortgage their fortunes with a Congress that has been
directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of communal riots and
had kept Muslims so deprived that 3 generations of Muslim since
independence have been the most unfortunate victims of Congress
discrimination at all levels of their living in supposedly secular
democratic India.
All major Muslim organisations, Jamiatul Ulama, Muslim Mushawarat,
Milli Council (IOS), are heavily indebted to Congress for their
existence and continued relevance. They do not have any spine to free
themselves from Congress yoke. It is for individuals in the community,
to figure out, how forced are the proclamations of these prominent
Muslim organisations and what chances they hold for Muslims to advance
towards a free, independent, dignified and effective role in the
future of India, through the good offices of these Congress controlled
Muslim organisations.
I would urge Muslims to keep an open mind on Anna Hazare's movement
and participate in his deliberations so that any historical changes
that may come in the governance of India should have a deserving
Muslim role in its institution and effective working. After all,
Muslims did participate and sacrificed in the First Freedom Struggle.
Why shirk the challenges of a Second Freedom Struggle? We must
develop a longer term historical strategy to empower our community
with full participation with our compatriots at all levels. This is
not a time for isolationist or slavish response to the challenges the
nation is going through. We must rise up to the challenges and join
the mainstream.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
------------
As a
On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 4:06 PM, Institute of Objective Studies
<manzoor@ndf.vsnl.net.in> wrote:
>
>
> Short Takes
>
> Anarchy is not the option
>
> Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam on the dangerous brinkmanship of Anna Hazare and
> Co.
>
> When Anna Hazare stood up against official corruption, I was there, along
> with other Indians, including Muslims, supporting him and his cause.
>
> Sadly, like many other mass movements, we soon started to have a spectacle
> in which all kinds of fascists and shady characters had encircled Anna.
>
> Today, many of us are forced to reconsider our position of backing Anna
> Hazare’s campaign. We do respect him and the enduring work he has done in
> Ralegan Siddhi as well as scores of villages around it.
>
> We still stand by Anna’s complaint that there is too much of corruption in
> our public life and it must be done away with. However, the fact remains
> that Anna Hazare is being a little too simplistic.
>
> It is quite obvious now that opportunistic elements are trying to come
> riding to power on an Anna wave like they did on the Jaiprakash Narain
> bandwagon in 1977. This sabotage of democracy and the replacement of the
> state by the mob cannot be allowed.
>
> We have to remember that hundreds of millions of Indians gave a mandate to
> the UPA, not Anna Hazare and his team, to run the country. Thus, it is the
> authority of the Union government and the responsibility of Parliament to
> make law, not Anna Hazare’s.
>
> To be fair to the government, it has been constantly interacting with Anna
> Hazare and his associates. In fact, the government has been so considerate
> that it accommodated 36 out of their proposed 40 points in the Lokpal Bill.
> That, possibly, is as far as any government can go without abdicating the
> authority that the people and the Constitution have conferred on it.
>
> As the dangerous elements lurking in the shadows behind Anna Hazare and the
> circle of his friends try to inflame the masses with time-tested propaganda
> tactics (they have already released audio-cassettes of Anna Hazare), the
> rest of us have to think whether it is nationwide unrest and possible
> violence on our streets that we really want.
>
> Let us keep it in mind that this is what the evil men lurking in the shadows
> want. They want violence and anarchy. They cannot wait till the general
> elections when they can get elected in sufficient numbers (if they really
> enjoy the support of the people) and amend the law.
>
> Some of these people are inspired by the Arab Spring, which is quite
> inappropriate for the Indian Monsoon. To begin with, Manmohan Singh has not
> been ruling for four decades like the tyrants of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
> We have a system of peaceful transfer of power based on elections every five
> years. There is very little in common between India and the Arab Spring
> countries. Hence, the analogy is not correct.
>
> It is precisely for the reason that India is a democracy, demagoguery and
> rabble-rousing is absolutely uncalled for here. Our advice to Anna and Co:
> please wait for the elections and come to Parliament in large numbers to
> have your way. Till then, please have patience.
Indian Muslims were feeling left out in this very historical debate as
how to control corruption in public life with an independent
institution which can ensure free and unhindered prosecution of the
corrupt.
For good or bad, the one person that has vowed to bell the cat, is a
life long fighter against corruption. It did appear on the first day
of his appearance in Jantar Mantar, that Hindutva elements had
visibly cornered the entire movement. However, soon the other left
liberal participants were able to convince Anna that if his movement
has to succeed as a united voice of the people, he must shun
politicians of all hues. The presence of people like Bhushan father and
son, Kiran Bedi at the top of the movement is assurance enough that
Anna Movement can not be hijacked by the fascists and anarchists.
These are seasoned people and are connected fully with a mass networking all over
the country. Already there are occasions, where the crowd of
protestors have booed BJP leaders out of their midst. That happened in
Mumbai's Azad Maidan. The independent line being followed by Anna Team
has forced BJP to publicly announce its own separate strategy on Lok
Pal bill. As it is, both Congress and BJP have common vested interest
to keep all loopholes open to continue to milk their rule for their
own and their supporters' enrichment. No politician will voluntarily
agreed to go under the kind of scrutiny and prosecution challenges
that Anna's Jan Lokpal bill is proposing. If people have to succeed in
forcing the political mafia to accept control over their decision in
monetary and licensing affairs, only public's united and most
aggressive protest can achieve the goal.
It is unfortunate that either Muslims have kept out of the entire
debate and protest movement or being kept out, the first voice that is
now on record coming from a Muslim organisation like Milli Council
Secretary General's, is steeped in Congress lingo. The old scare
tactic with which Congress has always threatened Muslims, is no longer
valid as there are any number of alternatives that are opening up and
Muslim need not mortgage their fortunes with a Congress that has been
directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of communal riots and
had kept Muslims so deprived that 3 generations of Muslim since
independence have been the most unfortunate victims of Congress
discrimination at all levels of their living in supposedly secular
democratic India.
All major Muslim organisations, Jamiatul Ulama, Muslim Mushawarat,
Milli Council (IOS), are heavily indebted to Congress for their
existence and continued relevance. They do not have any spine to free
themselves from Congress yoke. It is for individuals in the community,
to figure out, how forced are the proclamations of these prominent
Muslim organisations and what chances they hold for Muslims to advance
towards a free, independent, dignified and effective role in the
future of India, through the good offices of these Congress controlled
Muslim organisations.
I would urge Muslims to keep an open mind on Anna Hazare's movement
and participate in his deliberations so that any historical changes
that may come in the governance of India should have a deserving
Muslim role in its institution and effective working. After all,
Muslims did participate and sacrificed in the First Freedom Struggle.
Why shirk the challenges of a Second Freedom Struggle? We must
develop a longer term historical strategy to empower our community
with full participation with our compatriots at all levels. This is
not a time for isolationist or slavish response to the challenges the
nation is going through. We must rise up to the challenges and join
the mainstream.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
------------
As a
- Hide quoted text -
On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 4:06 PM, Institute of Objective Studies
<manzoor@ndf.vsnl.net.in> wrote:
>
>
> Short Takes
>
> Anarchy is not the option
>
> Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam on the dangerous brinkmanship of Anna Hazare and
> Co.
>
> When Anna Hazare stood up against official corruption, I was there, along
> with other Indians, including Muslims, supporting him and his cause.
>
> Sadly, like many other mass movements, we soon started to have a spectacle
> in which all kinds of fascists and shady characters had encircled Anna.
>
> Today, many of us are forced to reconsider our position of backing Anna
> Hazare’s campaign. We do respect him and the enduring work he has done in
> Ralegan Siddhi as well as scores of villages around it.
>
> We still stand by Anna’s complaint that there is too much of corruption in
> our public life and it must be done away with. However, the fact remains
> that Anna Hazare is being a little too simplistic.
>
> It is quite obvious now that opportunistic elements are trying to come
> riding to power on an Anna wave like they did on the Jaiprakash Narain
> bandwagon in 1977. This sabotage of democracy and the replacement of the
> state by the mob cannot be allowed.
>
> We have to remember that hundreds of millions of Indians gave a mandate to
> the UPA, not Anna Hazare and his team, to run the country. Thus, it is the
> authority of the Union government and the responsibility of Parliament to
> make law, not Anna Hazare’s.
>
> To be fair to the government, it has been constantly interacting with Anna
> Hazare and his associates. In fact, the government has been so considerate
> that it accommodated 36 out of their proposed 40 points in the Lokpal Bill.
> That, possibly, is as far as any government can go without abdicating the
> authority that the people and the Constitution have conferred on it.
>
> As the dangerous elements lurking in the shadows behind Anna Hazare and the
> circle of his friends try to inflame the masses with time-tested propaganda
> tactics (they have already released audio-cassettes of Anna Hazare), the
> rest of us have to think whether it is nationwide unrest and possible
> violence on our streets that we really want.
>
> Let us keep it in mind that this is what the evil men lurking in the shadows
> want. They want violence and anarchy. They cannot wait till the general
> elections when they can get elected in sufficient numbers (if they really
> enjoy the support of the people) and amend the law.
>
> Some of these people are inspired by the Arab Spring, which is quite
> inappropriate for the Indian Monsoon. To begin with, Manmohan Singh has not
> been ruling for four decades like the tyrants of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
> We have a system of peaceful transfer of power based on elections every five
> years. There is very little in common between India and the Arab Spring
> countries. Hence, the analogy is not correct.
>
> It is precisely for the reason that India is a democracy, demagoguery and
> rabble-rousing is absolutely uncalled for here. Our advice to Anna and Co:
> please wait for the elections and come to Parliament in large numbers to
> have your way. Till then, please have patience.
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