Thursday, February 17, 2011
Some Muslim Organisations in Mumbai to boycott ETV Urdu’s Seminar on Problem of Minority Communities
ETV Urdu under Jagdish Chander has sent out invitations for a Seminar in Mumbai on Sunday, February 20, 2011 in Hotel Kempski, Andheri. Though it was supposed to be building bridges between political parties and common people from minority communities, the line up of celebrities from the two Brahmin political groups, BJP and Congress, under the Presidentship of former BJP President, Rajenath Nath Singh, MP, has sufficiently irked the rank and file of Muslim organisations to canvass for a boycott of the event by Muslims.
The argument against the line-up is that ETV Urdu is acting like paid media to soften Muslims towards BJP’s leadership while the sentiments against Sangh Parivar, especially after Swami Aseemanand’s confession implicating RSS cadre to be involved in several bombing events, in which local police authorities from Congress and BJP governments have ruthlessly rounded up innocent Muslims and unleashed torture on them in prisons. ETV’s invitation lines up only Congress and BJP political bigwigs, like Parthavi Chavan, the Maharashtra Chief Minister to inaugurate, Salman Khursheed, the Union Minister as Special Guest. Four Honourary Guests: Praful Patel (NCP), Union Minister, Arif Naseem Khan, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister, Mohan Prakash, Secretary, AICC and Bheuji Maharaj, a spiritual saint. ( Note – No balancing by inviting any Muslim Maulana of standing as guest or speaker that could have honored the invitation card).
On the face of it, there seems to be cartelization of the political power between the two major Brahminical parties – Congress and BJP to cooperate, now publicly, once again to fool the minorities especially the Muslim Minority in a public exercise to open lines of communications with minorities. Congress appears to be introducing BJP to their Muslim constituents, so that both Political parties together can use them as football between them, kicking them all over the country.
No major Muslim leader of any independent standing in the community has been invited and mentioned as a guest to be interacting with the both political groups. The entire exercise is being treated as most humiliating and insulting by the Muslims. The general feeling is that those that have been shamelessly involved in brutalizing Muslims and reducing them to lowest of low in the nation, have now shown their real colours, by sitting side by side on one single platform.
The most astonishing feature was the involvement of ETV URDU that rather innocently behaves as if it is doing a big favour to Muslims to provide them an opportunity to listen to the harangues of the people who have been their constant tormentors. At least as organizers of the Seminar, they should have drawn on their vast experience judging the sentiments of Muslim minority to be more sensitive than to expect them to tamely appreciate the coming together of Congress and BJP in a single united attempt to tune their responses to the minorities. As if it was meant to threaten them with a united front of their tormentors, with which they will have to confront in seeking justice for their legitimate grievances.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
