Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Religious Jews’ Migration from Quebec: A Lesson for Ontario Muslims - By Jawed Anwar - Editor - dailymuslims.com

How does the religious Hijab for Orthodox Jewish women, differ from Hajib of Muslim women? Muslims will fight on rather than surrender to the secularization of the society in undemocratic nations.
GM

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http://www.dailymuslims.com/2013/12/30/religious-jews-migration-from-quebec-a-lesson-for-ontario-muslims/

Seerah West



Religious Jews’ Migration from Quebec: A Lesson for Ontario Muslims

Posted by on Dec 30th, 2013 and filed under FEATURED. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry


By JAWED ANWAR

Lev Tahor Jewish community in Niqab andf beard-sharing same religious culture of Muslims Lev Tahor Jewish community in Niqab andf beard-sharing same religious culture of Muslims

RELEGIOUS Jews of Lev Tahor (“Pure Heart”) community of Quebec had not been sending their children since long to secular public schools that corrupted the heart, mind and soul of the children. Their children had been unschooled, and parents had been homeschooling them with the help of independent teachers, tutors, and moral educators.

These Jews are doing same thing as 3 million Americans are doing: un-schooling; i.e. managing your children’s education by quitting the school.

Watch the importance of Un-schooling by John Taylor Gatto (Part 1 and Part 2)

Quebec government recently ordered the homeschoolers to teach the secular curriculum in home schooling. This was the good reason and compulsion for these Jews to make hijrah (migration) from the province.

On Monday, November 18th, morning moonlight at 1 a.m., 40 families comprising 200 people boarded a convoy of the buses to flee from their homes. New destination of these families was Chatham-Kent, a town in Southwestern Ontario.

Nacham Helbrans, the son of Shlomo Helbrans, the group’s leader and a rabbi, told the Toronto Star that they were forced out of Quebec over a clash with education authorities regarding the secular curriculum they were being ordered to teach their home-schooled children. Failure to comply could have led to children being placed in foster care —an unthinkable outcome for them, Nacham Helbrans said. The problems began when another of Shlomo Helbrans’ five children, Nathan, reportedly fled the community after a dispute in which he was forcibly separated from his children, and the brood was farmed out to live with other families, according to the Times of Israel. Nathan complained to Quebec’s child protection services.

“To go to the Director of Youth Protection against your own wife, against your own children, just to show that you are the stronger one is not welcomed in our community,” Nacham Helbrans said.

With that threat over their heads for the last six months, they evaluated moves to various provinces across Canada but opted finally for Ontario, whose relative liberty for faith-based schooling and home schooling has been an enticement for other religious communities in Quebec, including Mennonites. In 2007, Mennonite deacon’s small community was locked in a year-old fight with Quebec’s education ministry over their desire to teach their children according to their faith. More than 30 of the group’s women and school-aged children have gone into self-imposed exile in Alexandria, Ont., just over the Quebec-Ontario border, to ensure they can do so.

Lev Tahor sect began in Israel, where Shlomo Helbrans founded his anti-Zionist movement in the 1980s. After the first Gulf War, Helbrans moved his community to New York, where he was convicted of second-degree kidnapping after a young follower fled from his parents.

Upon his release from prison, he eventually re-established his community in Canada.

The men and boys are indistinguishable from other orthodox Jews, women and girls who, from the age of 3, are shrouded head to toe in black robes, showing only their faces, a complete Hijab exactly what Muslim women wear.

Lev-Tahor Hijabi girls are playing. Lev-Tahor Hijabi girls are playing.
The resemblance to the group’s Muslim counterparts is what inspired the “Jewish Taliban” tag, but it is not one that the adherents of Lev Tahor shy away from.

“We are not ashamed of this name,” said Nacham Helbrans, 31. “Just as orthodox is a name for non-Jews beating up on the Jewish path of religion, they do the same thing today with the Taliban.”

However, I feel ashamed when I see the approach of Muslims of Ontario including pure religious and Islamic community who are in post Bill 13 (new Accepting Education Act) era still debating of “disadvantage” of not sending to their children to the public schools.  Several Imams and leaders argued in favor of the public schools and fooled Muslims about the Liberal agenda (several of them are members, party paid workers, and liberal gate keepers in the Islamic organizations) of brainwashing the children of public schools from KG.

This is the situation for which a great poet of Islam Allama Muhammad Iqbal by criticizing once said, “Ye who Musalamn hain jinhen dekh ke Sharmayen Yahood” (Jews will be ashamed by seeing these Muslims).

Ontario Public Schools are now perfectly fit not only to change the heart and mind but gender of your children. Watch the Video.
In this scenario Jewish Lev Tahor has shown Muslims a path of Tahoor (Taharah).

It may be surprising for many but that is the fact.

Jawed Anwar can be reached at jawed@seerahwest.com

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Friday, December 27, 2013

6 Has AAP derailed Modi's campaign? By Chetan Bhagat - The Times of India | 2 comments by Ghulam Muhammed

My comments posted on Times of India article: Has AAP derailed Modi's campaign?


kalpin (Vadodara) says:
December 28,2013 at 10:17 AM IST 27 Followers
Gold : 7909
I think CB is making a valid point.. It's true that Mr Modi is miles ahead, but AK is capturing imagination of many who are sick & tired of corrupt congress.. And they will perceive that BJP & congress are the same, if BJP reacts to AK in a similar manner as congress is reacting.. BJP's response to AAP needs to be more constructive, if they want to be seen to be more on AK's side than on congress's side.. I think in 2014 AAP is only going to improve congress's chance by breaking BJP votes.. It's going to be a matter of only a few seats and AAP can spoil the party for BJP, just as it did in Delhi! On the other hand, I think AAP will do great injustice to the people of India, if it decides to fight Loksabha election on a large scale and derails Mr Modi's march to Delhi..
(Reply to (Vadodara) )-Ghulam Muhammed(Mumbai) says:
December 28, 2013 at 11:20 AM

Much that Kalpin sees AAP spoiling Modi's chances of turning the table on Congress and winning PM's position, Modi's own relevence was more when it was a straight BJP/Congress fight. BJP's apparent win could have been mainly due to Congress defeat. On its own BJP neither could get a simple majority of 271 seat in the Lok Sabha, nor it had any chance with its possible coalition partners, mainly from regional parties coming to BJP aid, as all were scared of Muslim backlash to Modi's 2002 Gujarat genocidal communal riots in which Muslims were targeted. The more relevant public issue is now corruption and on that count, both Congress and BJP are sailing in same boat. In the best interest of Indian republic at this juncture, both these parties are so rooted, and that too institutionally, in corruption, that people have more or less already rejected them and pinned their hope on Kejriwal's determination to rid the governance of all corruption. Before Delhi Assembly election, Kejriwal was untested. However, after people from all sections flocking to him for his brand of idealism/pragmitism, rather than the ideology driven BJP and Congress, there is strong possibility that Kejriwal could sweep the Lok Sabha poll and even chalk up simple majority. In that case, people need not lament the demise of both Congress and BJP. They will welcome the new anti-corruption ideals of Kejriwal. Though Rahul Gandhi has now found the courage from Kejriwal results, to crack the whip on dubious elements in his party, the result of the inner party politcs will cause so much upheaval, that by the end of the day, he may not have achieved much to impress the people of the nation. Both these parties now should call it a day and phase out like old soldiers.

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Nirmesh Mehta (Mumbai) says:
December 28,2013 at 04:41 AM IST
I think this article is naive. It presumes a lot of things without trying to verify - or even account for variance with obvious inconsistencies. For instance, I am against BJP's stand on article 377. But would it be a factor on my vote? Of course no. I think there are more pressing problems than symbolism - I see the court statement that there have been very few convictions under article 377 as an eminently practical one. As far as Modi's stand on personal freedom and choice is concerned, it is enough to my mind that Bajrang Dal and VHP done create any scenes in Gujarat on Valentine's day. To sum up, the urbane voter will vote for BJP because (s)he wants to get rid of the Congress. The real fence sitters are either the urban poor or the rural voters. And even their, the real fight is in UP and Bihar. If the BJP does well here, it will cross 180 - maybe even 200 and form the government; if it loses here, it has lost anyways. As far as the AAP goes, yes their performance was unexpectedly good in Delhi and BJP has not exactly taken it well. But consider, the BJP won 32 seats and couldn't form the government - and is instead asked to UNCONDITIONALLY support AAP - which goes pillar to post saying that BJP is the same as Congress. Remember that BJP had tried to make overtures to AAP which it soundly rejected. I think that is pretty ridiculous. What happens in the general elections will be clear a few months from now but my sense is that AAP will win only token seats. If the BJP forms the central government, then the real issue will be whether Modi delivers or Kejriwal. BJP may just be happy ensuring that the AAP government runs its full term, bankrupting Delhi in the process - Everyone knows that both BJP and Congress were caught off guard with the AAP's victory; the question is whether AAP was also caught off guard, and if so, whether it will be able to recover in time.
(Reply to Nirmesh Mehta (Mumbai))-Ghulam Muhammed(Mumbai) says:
December 28, 2013 at 11:33 AM

@Nirmesh Mehta writes "To sum up, the urbane voter will vote for BJP because (s)he wants to get rid of the Congress." His summation is outdated, in as much as Kejriwal factor has hugely impacted the TINA factor favouring BJP, with all its faults. Now when Kejriwal is ready to position on corruption and decidedly poised to 'get rid of Congress', who needs BJP with that hatchet job from the birds of the same feather indulging in fixed fight and hoodwinking the electorate while stealing the national treasures with impunity and in broad daylight. Maharashtra governments move on Adarsh report is an open affront to the voters of Maharashtra. Why they would vote Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP when they openly observe them dipping in public funds without so much as 'with your kind permission' formalities. Kejriwal has a distinct edge in bringing in change and offering a clean government, both at state as well as national level.

[Highlighting mine]
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http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/The-underage-optimist/entry/has-aap-derailed-modi-s-campaign#comment-058cbc468542482e9269c58f9b8e76a5

The Times of India


THE UNDERAGE OPTIMIST

Has AAP derailed Modi's campaign?

Chetan Bhagat

27 December 2013, 09:48 PM IST

Whether in Bollywood or in politics, one of the disadvantages of being a star is that people often don`t tell you when things go amiss. As a result, the star doesn`t realise it early enough to take corrective action. A key reason for this is the circle of people surrounding the star. They continue to sing his praises or come up with conspiracy theories to explain away problems.

Eventually, it is too late. It is for this reason we see some massive flops in the film industry, which make the audience scratch their heads and go `but didn`t anyone tell them?` In politics it comes out as an unexpected defeat, leaving the party wondering how they could have read the signs so wrong. Cong-ress`s recent four-state defeat or the 2009 NDA defeat are examples of so-called `shocking` results, when in retrospect the signs were there for all to see.

Similar enough is BJP`s current situation. Over the past month the Narendra Modi campaign has been derailed somewhat. There is little acknowledgment or effort to fix it, indicating denial. Whether chamchas and sycophants convey this or not, AAP and Arvind Kejriwal have taken a bit of sheen off Modi`s campaign.
BJP swept the recent assembly elections in four states, winning almost 80% of seats. However, media — both social and mainstream — kept their focus pri-marily on AAP and every action it took. Even Kejriwal's viral fever became news.

AAP's moment in the sun would have passed, if BJP kept doing its own thing but gave a genuine pat on the back to Kejriwal and company. For AAP can have limited impact on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections if it has national ambitions, especially if it has to run Delhi as well.

BJP's praise for AAP would have helped Modi. Even though politics is eventually a zero-sum game, many Modi supporters are also AAP supporters. These are the new fence-sitting voters, the change seekers, the aspirational class, the influencers, and the people with a soft spot for the underdog. These are progressive Indians who want to embrace the new — and that alone is enough for them to connect Modi and Kejriwal.

This is a vital, deciding set of voters in this election. Given how polarising a figure Modi is, it is well established that the BJP campaign would focus on these new, fence-sitting voters (Modi fans will vote Modi, Modi haters won't — preaching to either of them is a waste of time).

However, what did BJP do instead? One, they took an old-school RSS stance on Section 377. BJP`s stance, and their bizarre rationale for it, which included words like `unnatural` and 'against Indian culture', sent a scare down the spines of many young voters. They brought back the worst fears young voters have of BJP — that some frustrated old uncles will place restrictions on us in the name of what they feel is natural, Hindu or Indian.

I am sorry if this is unpleasant to hear, but it is exactly what young voters, especially women, think when they decide not to vote for BJP. Its trying to please the hardline Hindu set all the time is a big mistake. This segment will vote BJP anyway, but history has shown hardliners are not sufficient in number to bring it to power.

For the moment there is a risk to personal freedom, young voters cringe. Do you really think they care about the agricultural growth rate in Modi's Gujarat when there is a morbid fear of someone telling them not to wear jeans or celebrate Valentine`s Day (against Indian culture, no?). Sure, these issues are urban. But everyone knows even 10-20 seats could make the difference between whether Modi makes it to PM or not.

The second mistake was BJP`s immediate hostility to underdog AAP. Modi was himself an underdog a few years ago, with few in the party top leadership making space for him. People backed Modi just as they did Kejriwal to make them both rise. To that effect, Modi and BJP should have been more gracious about AAP's victory.

AAP may well compete with BJP one day. But it represents hope — exactly the same quality people see in Modi. BJP should have, in fact, offered unconditional support to AAP to run Delhi. Instead, BJP offers constant jibes on AAP and their newness, as if nobody new should ever try to be in politics. Sounds progressive to you?
All this can be fixed. However, at this stage, it will require Modi`s intervention. BJP`s stance on personal freedom has to be made clear on an urgent basis. It has to be progressive. The rest of the party has to back Modi. Also, do not attack AAP. In fact, find some common ground with it.

Overall, BJP needs to focus on delivering all that people see in Modi — hope, progress and freedom. Modi still remains the front runner for 2014, and it is still his election to lose. However, the 2014 game is in the slog overs now. This is often the stage where BJP messes up. Can Team Modi make sure that doesn`t happen this time?

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Saturday, December 21, 2013

Hindu priests condemn Ayodhya incident, appeal for peace - By Abu Zafar - www.indiatomorrow.net

http://www.indiatomorrow.net/eng/one-year-of-nirbhaya-rape-case-why-crimes-still-continue




Hindu priests condemn Ayodhya incident, appeal for peace

21 Dec 2013 05:12 PM, IST


Hindu priests condemn Ayodhya incident, appeal for peace

By Abu Zafar, India Tomorrow,
New Delhi/Ayodhya, 21 Dec 2013: As news spread about attack on a Muslim shrine and murder of a 22-year-old undergraduate student in Uttar Pradesh’s town Ayodhya last evening, several Hindu saints of the ancient religious town have come out condemning the incident and appealing to both communities to maintain peace and calm.
Acharya Satyendra Das, chief priest of makeshift Ram Janmabhoomi temple, Ayodhya termed the incident very sad.
“It is a very sad incident. I condemn it,” Satyendra Das told India Tomorrow.
He said that Hindus and Muslims live here peacefully and the shrine is respectable for both communities.
“Police is investigating the matter and I hope the guilty persons will be caught soon,” he added
About six unidentified men on Friday evening entered Jinnati Mosque and brutally killed moazzin (azan caller) who was a 22-year-old undergraduate student. Then the attackers barged into an ancient Muslim shrine housing a large grave which is popularly believed to be of Prophet Shis, and damaged the boundary wall of the grave. The slain youth Mohammad Danish hailed from Rohtas district of Bihar. He was the first year student of Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) at Shree Paramhans Shikshan Prashikshan PG College in Ayodhya.
Some Hindu priests see it as a political conspiracy for electoral gains.
Condemning the incident, Mahant Udar Das, president of Kabir Math in Ayodhya said: “It is a very unfortunate incident, I strongly condemn it. It may be a conspiracy to gain political mileage. I appeal to both Hindu and Muslim brothers to maintain calm and peace.”
Naga Damodar Das, priest of Hanumangarhi, said: “I don’t like violence any way. People are doing such things for political gain. Even whatever happened in 1992 was very sad and unfortunate. People from both communities must treat it gently.”
Talking to India Tomorrow earlier in the day, Faizabad Superintendent of Police Ram Sewak Gautam had said some people have been taken into custody for questioning. “We have detained some people for questioning in regard with the murder and attack on the shrine,” SP said.

All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat Markazi Majlis (Central Committee) meeting - Press Statement


ALL INDIA MUSLIM MAJLIS-E-MUSHAWARAT
[Umbrella body of the Indian Muslim organisations]
D-250, Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar
New Delhi-110025 India

All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Markazi Majlis (Central Committee) meeting
21 December, 2013

PRESS STATEMENT
New Delhi, 21 December, 2013: The Markazi Majlis (Central Committee) of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM), umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations and eminet personalities, held its second meeting of the year here today at the central office. The meeting, the first after the reunification of the two factions of Mushawarat last October, was chaired by the AIMMM National President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan and attended by the following members: Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, Janab Mohammad Jafar (Vice President), Syed Shahabuddin,  Maulana Junaid Ahmad Banarasi, Dr. Anwarul Islam,  Janab Nusrat Ali, Janab Abdur Rahman Kondoo, Dr. Javed Jamil, Dr Jawed Ahmad, Prof. Mateen Ahmad Siddiqui, Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi, Janab Mujtaba Farooq, Janab Amanullah Khan, Janab Masoom Moradabadi, Janab Abdul Khaliq, Janab Manzoor Ahmad, IPS (Retd.), Janab Shahid Sharif Shaikh  and Janab Akhtar Husain Akhtar.
he meeting offered condolences to the millat and families of prominent leaders of the community who passed away recently and prayed for their souls, especially to MUFTI MUHAMMAD ASHFAQUE HUSAIN NAEEMI of Rajasthan, MUSHTAQUE MADNI, editor of Usool, Pune, Dr WAZARAT RASOOL KHAN, KHWAJA MUZAFFAR HUSAIN RIZVI, SYED HASNAIN MIAN NAZMI MARAHRAVI, sajjadanashin of Khanqah Barkatiya Marahra, MAULANA IBRAHIM MIAN SAHEB of South Africa, a khalifa of Shaikhul Hadees Maulana Zakarya, PROF NOORUL ISLAM of Aligarh, and SHEIKH HAFIZ ZUBER ALIZAI Mau Nath Bhanjan.
The meeting discussed organisational, milli, national and international issues and passed the following RESOLUTIONS: 
Muzaffarnagar riots
The one-sided anti-Muslim violence, which erupted in the rural areas of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Baghpat districts of western Uttar Pradesh last September, is a blot on the face of India in general and the Samajwadi party ruling the state in particular. The state government alongwith its local machinery failed to anticipate or even to take action as soon as the riots started and has since continued in denial of the enormity of the event and its tragic fallout for close to one lakh Muslims who had to flee their villages and take refuge in over 30 refugee camps in Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts. Many have since returned to their villages or settled elsewhere while still there are around 15,000 people living in some two dozen camps in sub-human conditions, surviving in plastic tents while their children are not accepted by local schools and colleges and both Jats and local administration are pressurising them to withdraw FIRs and drop legal cases against the criminals who killed, burnt alive, raped and uprooted a large population within a span of two days on 7-8 September this year. 
AIMMM appeals to the state and Central governments to work in seriousness for the long-term rehabilitation of these refugees who do not wish to return to their villages. Their children must be admitted to local schools and colleges, their FIRs and legal cases should be seriously pursued to punish the criminals and they should be provided with free land to settle as they are camping at present on forest and private lands which they will have to vacate sooner or later.
AIMMM lauds the services of the local madrasas and mosques which sprang to the help of the victims and appreciates the services of the civil society, especially Muslim organisations like Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind, Zakat Foundation and Charity Alliance etc which have offered timely help and are busy in the difficult work of the refugees’ rehabilitation. AIMMM appreciates the efforts of Jamaat-e Islami Hind to bring Jats and Muslims of the riot-hit area around Muzaffarnagar closer in a bid to allow the return of the uprooted to their villages with honour and dignity.
Politics of Communal riots
Over two hundred communal riots have been recorded within a few months before the recent elections in five states. It is now clear that communal riots are engineered by certain, especially Sangh Parivar, forces while other political and administrative forces allow this to happen. It is the responsibility of the civil society and media to come forward to expose this nexus which is a blot on the face of our democracy. There is a movement now against corruption but the equally dangerous poison of communalism continues to be ignored and tolerated.
Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill
The AIMMM notes with regret that both Congress and BJP conspired to prevent the passage of the Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill in the current session of Parliament while both cooperated to get the watered-down Lokpal bill passed. The Communal violence bill too has been watered-down but even in its present form it will make the local administration accountable, which will be an important step to check riots. AIMMM believes that both BJP and Congress have an interest to let things continue as they are as both benefit from the outcome of communal riots and both are united to prevent the Muslim community from enjoying peace and communal harmony needed for progress and prosperity.
Islamic finance
Islamic, or ethical, finance and banking has become an accepted mode of alternative finance in many parts of the world. Of late, UK has decided to become the hub of Islamic finance which offers an alternative to the interest-based exploitative commercial lending. Despite various assurances by Indian politicians including Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and recommendations of the Committee on Financial Sector Reforms of the Planning Commission (2008), whose chairman is now the governor of RBI, the Indian government continues to drag its feet in this field. It is time India took a brave step to allow this form of financial activity to break the vicious circle of private and corporate money-lenders and offer a large segment of the Indian population a chance to invest and participate in the financial sector with clear conscience.
Article 370
BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate has suggested  a debate over Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which binds Jammu & Kashmir with India. AIMMM reiterates that no attempt should be made to change the constitutional guarantees given to J&K. Any attempt to do so will only antagonise a large section of J&K people, both Muslims and Hindus, which in turn will reopen the question of the accession of the state to the Indian Union. Such a mayhem suits BJP since it marvels in fishing in muddy waters, but the whole country will suffer from the repercussions of such an attempt to tamper with Article 370 which binds J&K with India.

Homosexuality -- Article 377
The AIMMM welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court of India to overturn the 2009 Delhi High Court decision and order to continue criminalisation of unnatural sexual relations under Article 377. The AIMMM warns certain elements in Indian civil society and political parties to desist from removing or altering Article 377 as it will be a betrayal to the customs, traditions and beliefs of an overwhelming majority of Indians and rejection of the teachings of all religions and creeds prevailing in India.
Village Defence Committees
Government-sponsored and protected VDCs in J&K, especially in Chenab valley, are terrorising the local population. Out of 12,709 armed members of the VDCs in Chenab valley alone, 11,745 are Hindus which does not reflect the ground reality. This illegal militia openly misuses its officially-provided arms and this was very clear during the Eidul Fitr riots in Kishtwar last August. For communal peace and tranquility, this illegal entity should be disbanded forthwith and the state should desist from relegating the role of police and security agencies to unaccountable entities.
Persian and Arabic
AIMMM notes with pain and dismay that the UPSC has dropped Arabic and Persian languages from the list of permitted languages for public service exams while almost dead or limited-use languages are kept on the list. Persian is very important for our country as it was the official language for almost seven centuries and all our official and private records of the pre-1857 period are in Persian. Arabic, on the other hand, is the official language of 23 countries in the Middle East and North Africa with which we have strong commercial and cultural relations. Any dilution of the importance of these two languages will only harm our own country.
Bangladesh
AIMMM condemns the judicial murder of Abdul Qadir Molla by the government of Hasina Wajed in Bangladesh using a controversial verdict issued by a discredited tribunal. The hasty execution of a prominent leader of Jamaate-Islami Bangladesh is a scandal and crime committed by an unpopular government which is about to be overthrown by the people of Bangladesh in the forthcoming general elections. The present government by its hurried execution of a controversial order by a politicised tribunal is only seeking to weaken opposition forces. AIMMM believes that it was totally unfair to revive closed cases after four decades defying the decision of the first President of Bangladesh. AIMMM appeals to international human rights organisations to take the Bangladesh government and its discredited tribunal to the International Court of Justice as sanity and good counsel have failed to bring the present rulers of Bangladesh to their senses.
Angola
AIMMM is deeply concerned about the treatment of Muslims in Angola and the reported outlawing of Islam in Angola on the plea that the believers of Islam are less than one hundred thousand in that country. AIMMM believes that the criterion fixed by the Government of Angola to recognise a religion is artificial if not outright malicious. AIMMM appeals to the Government of Angola to revise its decision and to accord its Muslim citizens the freedom of religion which is part of the universally-agreed human and civil rights of people in all countries.
Egypt
AIMMM notes that the ruling junta in Egypt is trying to create a new constitution while only last year the country had voted for and adopted a constitution in a free and fair referendum. Overthrow of elected governments is unacceptable in today’s world and popular forces cannot be outlawed by a constitution written by a narrow-based “liberal” westernised elite. The Egyptian army should unconditionally return to the barracks and allow the elected and legal president of the country to resume his duties. 
Gaza Strip
The inhuman and illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza strip continues since 2007. The people in Gaza Strip are suffering and dying as a result of this illegal siege. The people of Gaza had a brief respite under President Morsi of Egypt but since the military coup last July, things have returned to a situation worse than Mubarak days because the army has destroyed most of the tunnels between Gaza and Sinai which were a lifeline for the people of Gaza. Gaza is in dire need of world support to survive and to defeat the brutal Israeli blockade.
  
Syria
AIMMM observes with pain the continued civil war and blood-letting in Syria as a result of foreign support to both sides of the conflict. The situation is worsened by the entry of Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists of the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq & Syria” who have muddled a just struggle against a sectarian and dictatorial regime. The AIMMM supports the struggle of the people of Syria to free themselves from the yoke of the sectarian Ba’athist dictatorship and appeals to foreign forces to stop meddling in the affairs of Syria and desist from giving it a sectarian colour.
[end]
Photographsof this meeting are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mushawarat/  [first two rows]

Our Indian Feudal Service - By Shekhar Gupta - The Indian Express, New Delhi, India.

Some questions in public arena:
1.Was Sangeetha a professional maid, or accepted a position with Devyani, with intent to somehow immigrate to US? Her father being in US Consulate in New Delhi, could be fully aware if not helpful in forming an apparent illegal modus operandi to circumvent US immigrant laws. Was there some involvement of New Delhi US consular offices, in aiding and abetting Sangeetha with clear intent to save her and save her entire family by facilitating the rest of the families prompt departure to the US.The case against Devyani could have been an afterthought, when Devyani would have objected to Sangeetha's intent to leave her job with her and try to seek her fortune in US. It is a typical case, how majority of Indian immigrants in Gulf employed by one employer, try illegally to change their employment and immigrant status, by any means available and often fail. In Sangeetha's case, her US lawyer has probably come forward with a clearly ingenious scheme to keep her in US, by making her a victim of employer abuse.

2. Devyani and her consular colleagues and adviser seem to have gone extra vengeful, in first revoking her Indian passport to send her back to India, besides using Indian Judicial process to punish Sangeetha for leaving her job with the 'original sponsor' --- as Gulf people will say. The denial of chances for intending immigrants to find alternate employment or career, may be not legal or contractual, but still very cruel. Why Indian consular authorities have resorted to such heavy handed methods. Is there some personal tiff involved.
3. Why the unusual and un-proportional media and political outrage was unleashed without any need to run the whole affair through usual diplomatic deliberations. Was there any local issues were to be covered up through this hullabaloo?
GM
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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/national-interest-of-course-they-have-a-right-to-fleece-a-maid-break-the-law-and-claim-immunity/1210149/0

The Indian Express

Our Indian Feudal Service

Shekhar Gupta : Sat Dec 21 2013, 10:35 hrs
Of course, they have a right to fleece a maid, break the law — and claim immunity
Indian diplomacy has a well-deserved reputation for conservative understatedness. You've rarely seen a professional Indian diplomat grandstanding or headline-hunting. Not even Mani Shankar Aiyar, when he enjoyed diplomatic immunity. Probably no one after Krishna Menon's days of acid filibustery more than half a century ago. Not for any "proper" Indian diplomat the arrogant, stupid swagger of the occasional Pakistani — if anybody can recall an Indian insult to rival the unspeakable Munir Akram (later Pakistan representative to the UN) dismissing Salman Khurshid as a rented Muslim, and India as the sick man of Asia, please do let me know and I will stand corrected. To my recollection, the funniest Indian diplomatic comment came from K. Natwar Singh. When asked if he was a hawk or a dove, he said, "I am running foreign policy, not a bird sanctuary." For someone who represented Bharatpur in the Lok Sabha, that was really smart. And the most cutting in recent memory was also possibly the most subtle. As India and Pakistan seemed to be drawing close to war in 2001-02 following the attack on Parliament, Pakistan responded by test-firing several "new" missiles, all named after medieval invaders of India: Abdali, Ghazni, Ghori, etc. Asked for comment at her daily press briefing, Nirupama Rao, then MEA spokesperson, simply said, "We are not impressed". Just four brilliant, inoffensive words were enough to infuriate Pervez Musharraf.

What is to explain such a radical shift in the style and manner of such a classy, sophisticated and patient foreign service bureaucracy? Words like barbaric, despicable, inhuman, perfidy, betrayal, withdraw-all-charges-and-apologise and so on do not belong to the usual diplomatic vocabulary. These are the last resort of editorial writers and TV anchors always short of ideas or a clever turn of phrase. The same foreign service has handled three relatively recent incidents that amount to enormous perfidies — the torture and killing of Captain Saurabh Kalia and his patrol of five in Kargil (June, 1999), the beheading of an Indian soldier and disfiguring of the other on the LoC (January, 2013) and, in between, the greatest and continuing betrayal of all, the American double games over David Coleman Headley — with such mature equanimity.

It is not even as if Indian diplomats haven't been put through harassment and worse in the past. Ravindra Mhatre, our assistant high commissioner in Birmingham, was kidnapped and killed by the JKLF to free Maqbool Butt and much later, following the destruction of Babri Masjid, the residence of our consul-general in Karachi, Rajiv Dogra, was ransacked. But never did our hallowed foreign service reach for the holster as they have done now. Nothing, not the CIA, PLA or ISI has roused this country to come together against a common enemy as this. It took just one perfidious, conspiring maid to stand up and ask for her rights.

This paper hasn't been spared either for daring to advise against going overboard, and for pointing out the inconvenient fact that there is another person, a poor maid, also involved and probably (and I use this line with trepidation as it's been in bad odour lately) there are two versions of this story. Or put it another way. If you wanted to see an entirely new manifestation of journalism of courage, you should have been an Indian Express editorial writer walking through the lawns of Delhi's Hyderabad House on Thursday, peopled by a bevy of MEA officers at the minister's annual year-end lunch for the media. Having survived many sniper alleys in my career, my instincts recognise one almost immediately.
The Devyani Khobragade, or rather the Devyani-Sangeeta (remember, the maid?), case is complex as it involves three tricky factors: class, caste and caste. Wait a few moments for me to explain why I use "caste" twice. Class, because in a row between master and servant, class will always triumph and so Khobragade must be right. Caste, first because Khobragade is from a Dalit family and so the insult is compounded. And caste for the second time because, in the caste hierarchy of sarkar-i-hind, the highest caste of all, the Brahmins of Brahminism, is the Indian Foreign Service. If that upstart Preet Bharara dares to read his rotten Manhattan law to an Indian diplomat, he will be made to pay. Uski naani yaad dila denge. Or maybe even get some uncle of his in Jalandhar or wherever charged with atrocities under the SC/ST act and show him how effectively India's legal reform works. If only when it chooses to. Truth to tell, instead of cursing Bharara, we should try and import him as our first lokpal.

It is early for us to pronounce on the merits of the case yet, except that you cannot deny that there is a case, there are two sides, two versions and two victims. The maid, prima facie, is a victim of awful, callous exploitation, and the diplomat of being subjected to the horrible indignities of America's arrest procedures. We, by the way, are a nation of other extremes. We can't handcuff anybody, not even Ajmal Kasab, so you see these curious pictures of dreaded terrorists and policemen walking to courts hand-in-hand as if in some Jai-and-Veeru bonding. But of course, we make up by routinely torturing, raping and murdering in custody.

It will not be out of place to quote here a comment that New York Times columnist Roger Cohen made to me on a visit to Delhi last week. "Please explain your country to me. You have a Scandinavian rape law and the Russian homosexuality law." But then all our awful laws, sick thana culture, abusive policemen and creative FIR writers are not for PLUs. Definitely not for those on the top of the PLU pyramid. All these are for Sangeeta Richard and her type. Stupid, thieving, lying, free-booting maid types. India's original, and sadly most enduring, idea of our below-stairs class. At least that much that clown Bharara should have known! What happened to his Indian DNA? That is what we are so angry about. Just because they got away with arresting Dominique Strauss-Kahn moments before take-off, in spite of his high diplomatic status, they thought they could touch an Indian. We aren't the bloody French.

Of course, as an Indian, I would also wish that Khobragade is brought back to India, but made to face charges here of allegedly cheating her maid and bringing disrepute to her country by lying on the maid's visa form, if she did that. Chances are, in today's primetime-fuelled hyper-patriotism, she will be hailed as some kind of Jhansi ki Rani. We all know the oft-repeated truism that diplomats are sent abroad to lie for their countries. But are they also paid to lie to their maids, the visa authorities, and then claim immunity? Please tell me another. And please think twice before you can accuse an honest taxpayer like me, armed with no immunity other than what Article 19 of the Constitution gives 120 crore Indians, of carrying a chip on the shoulder about the IFS ('It's a chip', Rajiv Sikri, IE, December 19) for raising these simple points. Sangeeta Richard is Indian too, and poor or rich, must have the same rights as Khobragade.

This case has stumped the political establishment as well. The UPA displays so much fake anger, you wonder when will it rescind the nuclear deal. Khurshid said he won't come to Parliament until Her Excellency the Acting Consul General's honour is restored. Did he think of making some similar sacrifice to restore the dignity of 50,000 Muslims in the camps of Muzaffarnagar, 150 km away? Particularly when he represents Farrukhabad, not so far from there. As for our left-liberal bleeding hearts, they still can't figure out whether to fight for a poor member of The Great Unwashed or take on The Great Satan. And, since I am being so reckless, let me also ask another trick question. Where did your Indian pride and self-respect go when you silently congratulated the same Americans for denying a visa to Narendra Modi? Whatever your political differences, he is a leader elected to a high political office in India. If he can visit 7 Race Course Road or Vigyan Bhawan, he cannot be barred from visiting Washington. And if he is, we should at least make the pretence of protest. So let's not talk again about national pride and diplomatic propriety. Let's also not kid ourselves into believing that employing house maids is some kind of universal human right.

In a conversation the other night with a greatly respected former Indian civil servant, I learnt the history of the barricades in front of the US embassy in Delhi. A security review was carried out after the US embassy in Nairobi was bombed on August 7, 1998. The Delhi mission had no protection from such an attack, so a joint India-US team suggested putting up "Jersey" barriers, the heavy but movable concrete blocks so called because they were first used on the New Jersey turnpike. The MEA objected because it feared that every embassy would demand this. But L.K. Advani was advised by his key aides to overrule it, and he wisely did. Sushilkumar Shinde should have checked the files before getting these removed. And our churlish incompetence is only matched by America's stupidity. Why didn't they simply retaliate by shutting down the visa section until security was restored? The tone of primetime discussions would have changed overnight. How would you keep all those mummyjis, daddyjis and auntyjis away from their betajis in Christmas season?

sg@expressindia.com


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Monday, November 25, 2013

For Muslims, the USP of Kejriwal is his effective challenge to Congress/BJP cartel - Ghulam Muhammed


Monday, November 25, 2013

For Muslims, the USP of Kejriwal is his effective challenge to Congress/BJP cartel

As the Delhi assembly elections are nearing, both Congress and BJP have gone into an overdrive to attempt and wipe out the first effective challenge to their hegemonic cartelization of Indian politics, by filing complaints after complaints with the Election Commission, in a desperate attempt to debar Kejriwal and his AAP party from the election itself. Though the Election Commission is an independent body, the pressure on it to go strictly by the rules, in the case of AAP shows how discriminatory Indian system could be when high stakes for ruling class is involved.

In this context, the Muslims are still undecided if they can hazard their votes on AAP or go the traditional way of blindly voting in Congress. However, in wider perspective of this development of an alternative, that has dared to challenge the two corrupt national parties, should not be missed by them, to ‘teach a lesson’ to Congress, that they too can deal with Congress the way it deals with them. This is a golden chance for Muslim voters of Delhi, to break the logjam of political monopolization by these two Brahminical formulations, that have no regard, no respect for the people of India and are in the business of politicking merely to amass their illgotten wealth by robbing the national assets without any fear of accountability. Both parties are committed to Corporates, who are funding them openly and reserve their quid pro quo in award of opportunities to them through illegal means.

For Muslims, the antecedent of Kejriwal may not be clear; whether he is a RSS man, or Congress proxy, or foreign agent and they are not willing to junk Congress. However, as long as Kejriwal with all his ambiguities and alleged warts, is giving the two giants a run for their money; he should be wholeheartedly supported.

If Muslims want to be liberated from Congress stranglehold, this is their golden chance to pull Congress down to a level, that it may have to beg Muslim support for the coming Lok Sabha election and should be forced to earn their votes. There does not have to be free lunch for Congress now on.

As portents are clear that Kejriwal will be made to suffer through dramatic intervention by Election Commission, neither Kejriwal nor Muslim voters of Delhi will be able to gauze their electoral strength through the polls. But if he survives, Muslim should not miss a chance to humble Congress in its den.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

Is India's potential prime minister driven by anti-Muslim prejudice? - By Sarmila Bose - Aljazeera



 

 

Is India's potential prime minister driven by anti-Muslim prejudice?

Narendra Modi's use of the 2002 Gujarat violence in electoral campaigning is not an isolated case.

Last updated: 24 Nov 2013 10:07
Sarmila Bose

Sarmila Bose is Senior Research Associate, Centre for International Studies, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford.


Since 2002, when violence against Muslims racked the state of Gujarat in India, its Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, has been tainted with the allegation of complicity in a pogrom. Riots had occurred in Gujarat before, but 2002 acquired a particularly dark reputation. Despite being elected thrice as chief minisiter of Gujarat, Modi was widely believed to have ruined his chances ever to lead the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the national level. But a decade later Modi is leading the BJP's 2014 campaign as de facto prime-ministerial candidate.

Modi's political rehabilitation was predictable. Gujarat enjoys a reputation for enterprise and commerce, independent of its politicians. While being vilified on human rights grounds, Modi focused on building an image of encouraging pro-business economic development. Money talks and public memory is short. Within a short time, for business it was business as usual in Gujarat. This may not have been sufficient to capture national leadership, but the failure of the incumbent Congress-led government and the lack of a rival within the BJP contributed to Modi's success.

If Modi wins next year, would India have elected an allegedly murderous anti-Muslim bigot as its leader?

Sectarian beginning

I visited Gujarat in early 2002 amid the still smouldering violence, again mid-year and finally at the end of the year during the state election campaign. For a better understanding of what Modi's rise means, we need to remember what his goals were in Gujarat in 2002, what his party represents, and the polarising electoral politics in India and other countries.
When the Godhra train incident, in which dozens of Hindus were killed and which triggered the anti-Muslim violence, happened in February 2002, Modi had been chief minister of Gujarat for only about four months. He had been dispatched to replace the sitting BJP chief minister, to stem the slide in support. Before that Modi had been a party strategist, but had never been fielded in electoral politics and had no experience of governance. He had only a year to ensure BJP's re-election. As he put it, he had come to play a "one-day match".

Modi's party has long been accused of whipping up religious conflicts to win votes. In his book The Politics of India since Independence, Paul Brass observed that in 1990-91 the BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) played a significant role in deliberately instigated violence in north India. In 1990 BJP President L K Advaniwent on a "rathyatra" - a "chariot" procession - across several states, triggering riots in its wake. Using religious mobilisation for political ends, the BJP went from practically no presence in parliament in 1984 to becoming the second largest party by 1991.

However, the manipulation of incidents of violence for electoral gain is not unique to the BJP. Brass found that it is a central feature of Indian politics by the 1980s, with Indira Gandhi adept at the "politics of crisis".

Riding to power on violence is also an established practice elsewhere. Paul Collier found that where the "bottom billion" lives, violence has been the predominant route to power, and democracy tended to increase political violence. Incumbents who wanted to remain in power found "scapegoating a minority" a strategy that "worked". Steven Wilkinson has argued (in Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India) that it was not institutional weakness that explained the variations in state response to riots in India, but instructions given by politicians whether or not to protect minorities. When multiple parties compete, minority votes have more value than where there are only two contenders, like Gujarat.

In 2002 I found Godhra itself subdued during the campaign, while the state election was fought in its name. T-shirts bearing a photo of the burnt-out train had the slogan (in Gujarati): "We won't let our village become Godhra." Godhra had become a concept, which had little to do with the neglected town.

To many people thronging to hear Modi during his campaign in 2002, he was a hero. Some told me that the previous chief minister had been too "soft"; in Modi they had found the "strong" leader they sought. The charismatic demagoguery of Modi was on full display in that campaign. It may not be obvious to those who have only heard him speak in slightly halting English, but in 2002 I found Modi to be an immensely effective orator in Gujarati. He played the crowds' emotions skilfully, and stoked their prejudices with bone-chilling messages about "enemies of the state". Modi's campaign was unabashedly "communal" - he campaigned as though he was running against "Mian Musharraf", the military ruler of neighbouring Pakistan, ignoring the Congress candidate who was actually his opponent. The manoeuvre blended aggressive Hindu nationalism with jingoistic patriotism for a potent, toxic mix.

Given his campaigning skills, it was astonishing that the BJP had not fielded him in elections before. If such a politician had chosen to work for all citizens, he could have done much good, and Muslims would have voted for him too. But in 2002 Modi was focused on winning the "one day match" he had come to play. To ensure sufficient consolidation of the Hindu vote, he seemed prepared to write-off the Muslim minority altogether. He did not need, or want, their votes.

National elections are a different game, with numerous parties and the high likelihood of another coalition. Modi has shifted focus to governance and development. However, as Christophe Jaffrelot detailed in his work on the Hindu nationalist movement, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), where Modi was "pracharak" (activist), was built on the stigmatisation of "others". RSS leaders openly drew inspiration from European fascism.

A 'common' practice

Perhaps there is nothing special about Modi, except that he seems more capable, and more ruthless, than others. The use of violence for electoral gain is widespread in the world and in India.

The BJP was already in power in India from 1998 to 2004 and has been the main opposition since. Former BJP Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had the image of everybody's favourite uncle, even though he too had been an RSS "pracharak". So had L K Advani, former deputy prime minister and home minister, who had undertaken the "rathayatra". 

Gujarat was known for religious riots long before the BJP or Modi. The ugly truth about India's democracy is that life is cheap here and Indian voters have long been used by politicians as expendable pawns in their battles for power.

Modi may have anti-Muslim prejudices, but that did not seem to be his primary motivation for failing to protect Muslims in 2002. Rather, it seemed to be his single-minded focus on winning by manipulating the Godhra incident and its violent aftermath to consolidate the Hindu vote. He seemed callously indifferent to the fate of the victims of this strategy. In this regard he has plenty of company in India and in other countries. Many politicians who practise the politics of hate do not necessarily hate any group personally as much as they incite their followers. Yogendra Yadav - an Indian political analyst who has entered politics -argues that while Modi is not the only one to indulge in authoritarianism or majoritarianism, multiple flaws of India's democracy appear to converge in him.

Logically, if Modi let Muslims in his state die in 2002 to ensure victory through Hindu consolidation, he would protect them if he needs Muslim votes in multi-cornered contests, or if he is likely to win without resorting to polarisation. Equally, if sacrificing some other group might better serve his electoral purpose, perhaps they would be at risk rather than Muslims. 

The cold-blooded nature of these calculations is chilling. 

Repugnant when practised by run-of-the-mill politicians, it seems terrifying in the hands of a man of high-ability.

There is no effective humanist opposition to this phenomenon in Indian politics. The only bulwark might be the sheer heterogeneity of national politics in India. Modi's rise may be a troubling prospect, but the problem is bigger than Modi.
 
Sarmila Bose is Senior Research Associate, Centre for International Studies, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.