Comments posted on Indian Express website over Tavleen Singh's article: Not Secularism again - Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

Comments posted on Indian Express website over Tavleen Singh's article: Not Secularism again:

"Tavleen Singh is welcome with her contention that communal riots are now a thing of the past. Unfortunately she is ill-informed. The very state of UP, that she felt is riot-free, has witnessed two very serious communal riots in the past two weeks: Kosi Kalan and now only yesterday: Partapgarh where a Muslim majority village was totally burned down in the presence of the Mulayam Singh police. Fire Brigade was not allowed by the mob to enter the village. So communalism in all forms, overt and covert, is alive and kicking all over India. Has Tavleen not aware of how in Goa, Hindutva elements had gathered to pledge new vigour into their Hinduising [Brahminising] of India? What has prompted RSS and its affiliates to reignite the fire of communalism once again, so soon after Gujarat. Why blame Nitish?


Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>

Follow GM on Twitter @ Ghulam Muhammed
-----------------
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/not-secularism-again/965967/0

Not ‘Secularism’ again

Tavleen Singh : Sun Jun 24 2012, 03:18 hrs

Now that the Chief Minister of Bihar has dragged ‘succularism’ into the political discourse, it is time to deconstruct it so that we can end this pointless debate once and for all. I have deliberately misspelt the word because when said in Hindi that is how it is usually pronounced. It is a hard word to write in devnagri and the Hindi and Urdu equivalents do not quite mean what secularism has come to mean in the Indian political context. It is a foreign word that evolved in a European context when the powers of the church and the state were separated. In India, since none of our religions were led by pontiffs who controlled armies, or had vast temporal powers, we had no need to make this separation. But, the word secularism is used in India more than almost any other country. Why?

Well, because when we entered our current era of coalition governments, political parties of leftist disposition found it convenient to keep the BJP out of power by saying they would only ally with ‘succular phorces’. The BJP became a pariah after the Babri Masjid came down and so whenever someone like Nitish Kumar wants to hurl abuse at the party he is in alliance with in Bihar, or one of its leaders, the ‘secularism’ debate gets revived.

Currently, he appears to be positioning himself for prime minister in 2014 and seems to believe that he will only be in the running for this job if he can eliminate Narendra Modi before the race begins. He is not alone in this endeavour. On my wanderings in Delhi’s corridors of power last week, I ran into journalists and politicians who went on and on about how Modi could never be prime minister because of the violence in Gujarat in 2002.

They said pretty much what the Chief Minister of Bihar, and his cohorts, have said which is that the prime minister must be a man who is ‘clean and secular’. So how do we explain Rajiv Gandhi? How should we understand why he was given the biggest mandate in Indian parliamentary history after justifying the pogroms that killed thousands more Sikhs in 1984 than Muslims were killed in Gujarat in 2002? Were Indian voters un-secular when they gave him more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha?

If there were still a chance of major communal riots in the future, there may have been some point to reviving this talk of secularism. But, there has not been a single major Hindu-Muslim riot since 2002 despite Muslims from next door having been responsible for the worst terrorist attack on Indian soil in 2008. Before 26/11, there were other attacks by Islamists on Hindu temples, commuter trains in Mumbai, stadiums in Hyderabad and bazaars in Delhi. None of these ugly acts of violence caused riots. Our 24-hour news channels have made communal riots impossible and the average Muslim has begun to understand this. I noticed this while travelling in Uttar Pradesh during the recent elections.

So let us stop this silly talk of secularism and communalism and start demanding from those who want to become India’s next prime minister that they tell us what they can do for this country. Here is my own list of questions. What will the next Prime Minister do to end the licence raj that prevents the education system from achieving its full potential? What will he do to fix our broken public healthcare system? What will he do to make sure that every Indian has enough electricity to at least light a few bulbs and run a ceiling fan in his home? What will he do to create new jobs for the estimated 13 million young Indians who enter the job market every year? What will he do to revive the Indian economy? What steps will he take to ensure that India becomes a fully developed country by the middle of this century?

When I heard Aung San Suu Kyi’s address to both houses of Britian’s Parliament in Westminster hall last week, what impressed me was the clarity with which she spelt out her vision for her country. But, throughout her speech, something kept bothering me and by the time she finished, I discovered what it was. What bothered me was that I could not think of a single Indian leader who could make such a speech.

The Indian political landscape today has become a desert in which only the stunted progeny of stunted political leaders bloom. We need our political parties to throw up real leaders and we need a political discourse in which real political problems are discussed. So can we stop fishing ‘secularism’ out of the dustbin of history and holding it up as a shining ideal? Its relevance faded a long time ago.


Follow Tavleen on Twitter @ tavleen_singh

WAKE UP CALL FOR INDIA - Ghulam Muhammed

WAKE UP CALL FOR INDIA

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a career banker, is fully aware of the development potential of Islamic Banking. He cannot deny the strides that Islamic Banking has made all over the world. However, India, hampered by deeply communal minded bureaucrats and Hindu extremist politicians, continue to deny Islamic Banking facilities to not only their 150 million Muslim citizens, but the entire one billion Indians, who are sure to benefit from the ethical banking practices of Islamic Banking that will impact the 500 million poverty level population to bring them into the mainstream of Indian Banking. India could take a leaf from its more enterprising neighbours in the East, who have taken to Islamic Banking without any religious prejudice but based mainly on merits that distinguishes Islamic Banking from the exploitative and reckless Western Banking system that is now in its deepest crisis ever. Though India is suffering from a greatly acknowledged political stagnation, that has halted its liberalization and reduce its GDP growth prospects from earlier 9% to present 5%; Indian planners should overcome their unjustified and unproductive prejudice against Islam and Muslims, and rise to the occasion to offer their citizen what they want and what is of immense benefit for their future development.

Like Singapore and Hong Kong in the East, Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, could become a thriving conduit for global Islamic investment movements in the entire area.

Prime Minister should show some spine at least at the probable fag end of his stay at the head of Indian Government.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>
------------

http://www.chinadailyapac.com/article/banking-difference

Banking with a difference

By Sudeshna Sarkar
June 22, 2012 - 11:04am http://www.chinadailyapac.com

Muddassir Siddiqui, a Dubai-based Islamic finance lawyer who advises financial institutions, narrates a moving story he heard while attending a conference in Oman, the latest Middle East State set to amend its banking laws and allow full-fledged Islamic banks.
“A senior bank official told me on the day they opened an Islamic window at his bank, there were people who brought bundles of money in cash,” Siddiqui says. “One depositor brought notes yellowed with age and no longer in circulation. Another brought a bundle that was literally frozen because he had kept it in a freezer to protect it from decaying.
“There are many people with cash worldwide who do not deal with conventional banks for religious reasons. By opening up Islamic banking, a country can facilitate the circulation of a large sum of idle money for use on good projects.”

Almost four decades after the world’s first Islamic bank was established in Dubai — the Dubai Islamic Bank — the parallel banking industry has spread globally. Islamic transactions are thriving in Europe, Africa and the US while three countries, Iran, Pakistan and Sudan, have converted fully to Islamic banking. The phenomenon has also taken root in South and Southeast Asia, where the Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines, formed by a presidential decree in 1973, is the oldest Islamic bank in the region.

“The size of the Islamic finance industry in 2012, as per the World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, is estimated at $1.13 trillion,” says Dr Hatim El-Tahir, leader of the Bahrain-based Islamic Finance Knowledge Centre of Deloitte & Touche. “The growth rate per annum is 10 percent.”

The burgeoning industry has compelled conventional western banks to open Islamic windows, like HSBC, ABN Amro and American Express Bank, while Citibank established a separate Islamic bank, Citi Islamic Investment Bank, in Bahrain in 1996. Even financial consultants and other institutions have Islamic finance branches, like Deloitte & Touche.  
According to Dr El-Tahir, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (comprising Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait) accounts for nearly 60 percent of global Islamic finance assets. The UK and US have also became centers of Islamic transactions and now, following on the heels of Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong are vying to become Islamic investment hubs.

“The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) aims to develop Islamic finance leveraging on its existing strengths in banking, trade finance, wealth management, insurance and capital markets,” a MAS spokesperson tells China Daily Asia Weekly. “As an international financial center in Asia, Singapore-based financial institutions should be able to offer a complete suite of financial products and services, including that of Islamic finance… The expansion of Shariah-compliant (Quranic law-compliant) activities in Singapore is likely to attract both Muslim and non-Muslim investors who are interested in ethical investing and therefore diversify financial institutions’ sources of funding and deepen the investor base.”
In 2005, MAS became a full member of the Islamic Financial Services Board, the Malaysia-based standard-setting organization that issues global prudential standards and guiding principles for the industry. In 2010, to promote greater awareness of Islamic finance domestically, it hosted the first Islamic banking and finance seminar with the Singapore Business Federation, an annual event that had its third edition on June 5-6.
In his opening address at that conference, MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon said Islamic finance has shown remarkable resilience during the last five years. Though the eurozone crisis has curtailed economic growth and capital inflows to many emerging economies where Islamic finance has taken root, it still has a “window of opportunity”.
“With its strict prohibition on excessive leverage, Islamic finance has been spared the worst of the financial crisis,” Menon said. “Islamic banks are well positioned to reach out to new customers who are in need of financing as many global institutions pull back on their lending due to the need to repair their balance sheets.”

Some banks in Singapore have been offering Islamic financial services since 1998. In 2007, Singapore got its first fully Islamic bank, the Islamic Bank of Asia, a joint venture between DBS Bank and private investors from the Middle East. Islamic finance was boosted further when HSBC Insurance started Islamic insurance or takaful fund management for the domestic market and Japan’s largest non-mutual private insurance group Tokio Marine Holdings set up Tokio Marine Retakaful (Islamic reinsurance) in Singapore in 2004 to serve the region.

The icing on the cake was the establishment of the International Islamic Law and Finance Centre by Singapore Management University in June 2010 to promote professional education in Islamic finance and nurture Islamic bankers.

The government has also been an active patron. “In 2005, MAS refined its regulations to facilitate the growth of Islamic finance,” adds the spokesperson. “We also removed the additional stamp duties for certain Islamic transactions involving real estate… In 2006, clarifications were made on the tax treatment for Islamic financing using (certain) structures, in 2007, retail murabaha (an Islamic financing structure) investors were accorded the same regulatory protection as conventional depositors. In 2008, a concessionary tax rate was introduced for qualifying Shariah-compliant lending, fund management, takaful and retakaful activities.”

Though Singapore has a headstart, Hong Kong is now getting its act together. Its advantage is being the gateway to the Chinese mainland.

“As a gateway to the mainland, Hong Kong can provide an ideal platform for Islamic investors in the Middle East to tap the tremendous investment opportunities on mainland China,” a spokesperson of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) tells China Daily Asia Weekly. “At the same time, Hong Kong can also provide a platform for issuers from the Middle East to tap the funds of mainland investors.”

In 2007, Hong Kong’s outgoing Chief Executive Donald Tsang said at a public address that Islamic finance offers huge potential for development.

A year later, during a visit to Kuwait, he reaffirmed the thought, saying: “A unique advantage is our unrivalled role in bridging the mainland, the world’s fastest-growing large economy, to the international market. The potential requirement for capital on the mainland, especially for infrastructure development projects, lends itself well to Shariah-compliant financial structures. Hong Kong can play a significant role in structuring and financing Islamic investment products to meet the needs of mainland Chinese borrowers.”
Further developments followed in 2008 with the introduction of a new Dow Jones Islamic Market Index along with a Hang Seng Shariah-Compliant China Index Fund, comprising 30 of the largest Shariah-compliant companies within Hong Kong and mainland China. To be Shariah-compliant, a company should not be involved in activities prohibited by the Quran, like gambling, drinking, weapons dealing, and pornography. Islamic banks also eschew the use of interest, instead running operations on the basis of profit or loss-sharing.
 
Islamic bond market

The same year, HKMA approved the first Islamic banking window and the Dubai Financial Services Authority announced a joint regulatory initiative with the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong to promote and facilitate the distribution of Islamic funds in Dubai and Hong Kong.

This March, the Hong Kong SAR government launched a two-month consultation on proposed amendments to the Inland Revenue Ordinance and Stamp Duty Ordinance to promote an Islamic bond market in the city. The proposed amendments seek to level the playing field for common types of sukuk (Islamic bonds) vis-a-vis their conventional counterparts in terms of profits tax, property tax and stamp duty liabilities.

“The consultation exercise seeks to gauge market views on the proposed legislative amendments to ensure they are practicable and able to meet the latest market development needs,” according to K.C. Chan, secretary, Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB). “The legislative exercise would be conducive to the development of a sukuk market in Hong Kong. This will in turn help diversify our financial platform and consolidate our role as an international financial center.”

“We are close to finalizing the draft amendments,” an FSTB spokesperson adds. “Our current plan is to introduce the amendment bill into the Legislative Council in the legislative year 2012-13.”

Like MAS, HKMA too is working to develop an Islamic finance platform in Hong Kong.
“Our efforts include putting in place necessary infrastructure, encouraging product development, raising market awareness of Islamic financial products and strengthening cooperation with other Islamic financial markets,” the spokesperson adds. “We have been supporting the government in its work on (the) legislative exercise to amend and clarify the tax laws.”

Pending implementation of these amendments, the government has put in place administrative mechanisms for granting tax exemption and stamp duty remission in relation to sukuk issuance on a case by case basis, she adds.

The government has also conducted a study on the legal, regulatory and tax regimes in Hong Kong to ascertain whether a sukuk market could be accommodated in the existing framework.

“The findings suggest there are no fundamental legal and regulatory obstacles to sukuk issuance and transactions in Hong Kong,” she says. “However, the more complex structures of sukuk may give rise to undue tax implications and tax uncertainty when doing so. Thus, changes or clarifications in the tax laws are needed. The government is now actively pursuing modifications to the tax regime to deal with these additional implications.”

-----------

http://www.chinadailyapac.com/article/china-gulf-investors-radar

‘China on Gulf investors’ radar’

By Sudeshna Sarkar
June 22, 2012 - 10:55am http://www.chinadailyapac.com

Hui Chinese Muslims leave a mosque following afternoon prayers in Yinchuan in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Ningxia Hui is home to 2.17 million Muslims and accounts for more than 10 percent of the Chinese mainland’s total Muslim population of 20 million. (Agencies)

“Investment opportunities on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong have always been on radars of Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council investors,” says Harun Kapetanovic, economic adviser, Department of Economic Development, Government of Dubai.
“The potential of financial and economic cooperation between the two regions is evident. Establishing strong understanding of local business practices, opportunities and risks is important for successful cross-border investments.”

The availability of Islamic finance is an important enabling factor in facilitating cross-border investments, he says: “Islamic banks typically not only extend financing to their clients but also act as partners and facilitators in many of the ventures. (While) lack of Islamic financing is not a deterrent per se, it is a mechanism that would allow business and economic relations between the regions to move to the next level.”

When Islamic banking started expanding geographically and Middle East banks took the lead in setting up joint ventures in other countries, China was not among the immediate destinations due to the lack of knowledge of Islamic finance on the mainland as well as its low Muslim population.

“Geographic expansion of Islamic banks has normally followed the demand for Islamic financial products and services,” Kapetanovic tells China Daily Asia Weekly. “Hence, markets with more demand for Islamic finance solutions, such as Pakistan for example, were among the first ones to attract regional Islamic financial institutions. However, as the awareness of Islamic finance increases globally and benefits of Islamic finance become more apparent, new opportunities are arising as well.”

While the Dubai government is primarily looking to support and develop local financial markets, its specialized agencies, such as Dubai FDI (the foreign investment office of the Department of Economic Development), Dubai Export Development Corporation (DEDC), and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) are facilitating international investments into the country and supporting exports of Dubai’s products and services, including Islamic finance.

Realizing the potential of China, the second-largest economy in the world, the DIFC hosted a conference — Developments along the New Silk Road - Venturing with and Investing in Chinese Companies — in Dubai last December.

“The purpose of the conference was to initiate further development and deepening of financial and economic relationships between the two regions,” Kapetanovic says. 

“Exporting Islamic financial services is typically supported in cases where evidence of strong demand exists. For example, DEDC recently led and facilitated missions to Australia and Germany with representatives of Islamic financial services from Dubai. 

Similarly, DIFC (had an agreement) with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to provide support, advise and cooperate in the development of Shariah-compliant (following Quranic laws) financial products and the financial infrastructures in their respective jurisdictions.”

The Chinese mainland is expected to have its first home-grown pilot Islamic banking project after the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) gave permission to the Bank of Ningxia in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to start Islamic transactions. Ningxia is home to 2.17 million Muslims and accounts for more than 10 percent of the mainland’s total Muslim population of 20 million.

In 2009, a feasibility study was done taking into consideration the Islamic banking experience in other countries and the result was submitted to both CBRC and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region’s Party committee. Reports said there were suggestions that instead of a fully Islamic bank, either an Islamic department or Islamic window offering select Islamic financial services be introduced.

However, almost three years later, there is little update on the trial project. Still, a new push came this March with Malaysia’s Affin Bank announcing it would start Islamic banking on the mainland in partnership with the Hong Kong-based Bank of East Asia.

“This is a good step although the effect will be bigger if other larger banks like Maybank, the largest in Malaysia, and CIMB Bank are also committed,” says Mohd Yazid Zul Kepli, an Islamic finance expert and doctoral student with the University of Hong Kong. “Islamic finance is sustainable and competitive. Cross-country joint ventures will be useful to enable the transfer of expertise.”

The mainland, he says, has a sizeable Muslim community in certain areas, like the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwest, where Islamic banking could find ready takers.

“By opening Islamic branches in this area, banks will actually do a great service to the community there,” he says. “Although this area can be a bit volatile sometimes, the opening of Islamic banks will be a very positive step.”

First, he says, it will improve the economic development among both Muslims and non-Muslims. Secondly, it will increase understanding between people from different religions as non-Muslim traders will also be attracted to Islamic financial services as long as these are competitive and cater to needs.

Contrary to general belief, Islamic banking is not attractive to Muslims alone. “In countries like Malaysia, non-Muslims, particularly Chinese traders, are very inclined to Islamic financial products,” he says.

Thirdly, the market in China is booming and there is a great potential for growth. “If international Islamic banks dare to seize the market at this stage, their important role in developing the region will be rewarded as the economy prospers,” he says. “Islamic finance is here to stay. Its market is huge and its insistence on ethical financing will make it attractive to non-Muslims and Muslims alike. However, proper legal and regulatory frameworks must be in place, in addition to attractive promotions.”

Kapetanovic says the recent resurgence in sukuk (Islamic bond) issuance as well as the viability of Islamic finance as a concept indicates the potential of Islamic banking is increasing strongly.

“The global financial crisis and current eurozone crisis highlight the need for realignment and changes in the architecture of financial system as we know it today,” he says. “The solutions and alternatives offered by Islamic finance provide strong support for more systemic adoption and promotion of Islamic finance. Strong alignment with economic development objectives, avoidance of proliferation of debt as well as incentive mechanisms aligned with risk-taking function are some of the hallmark features of Islamic finance that promote economic and business sustainability.”

In spite of challenges, like lack of qualified and trained professionals well versed in Islamic product structuring, awareness among investors and general public, and liquidity management tools, Islamic finance has grown remarkably, he points out: “It grew to a global industry represented in more than 70 countries and amounting to more than $1 trillion in size. It is expected that a growth trend of about 15 percent will continue in future.”

‘Gilani verdict shows Pak SC has gone berserk’ By (Justice) Markandey Katju - Comments by Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Gilani-verdict-shows-Pak-SC-has-gone-berserk/articleshow/14329728.cms

Comments posted on The Times of India website over news report:

‘Gilani verdict shows Pak SC has gone berserk’

Markandey Katju | Jun 22, 2012,

Ghulam Muhammed (Mumbai)

7 hrs ago

Justice Katju is right when he bases his comments on British and Monarchic traditions to award, the King absolute immunity. However, in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the growing importance of Sharia perspectives on public affairs cuts through British legal ethos. Children are taught how Caliph Omar was asked to step down from his pulpit to first answer the charge of corruption, over how he was wearing a dress from the war booty distribution measure that was not enough for a dress. Omar stepped down and let his son come to his aid confirming that he has gifted his share of cloth to his father. When the old lady was satisfied, Omar resumed his duty. An Islamic republic cannot just wish away such open and enormous day-light robbery by those in-charge in the top posts of government or state; all in the name of British judicial and/or royal traditions. Besides, the Prophet himself asked a Zakat collector, to give the 'gift' he had received while doing his duty. Prophet said, the gift was not given to you, but was a bribe to your position as Zakat collector. All such traditions of Islamic jurisprudence are not dead and each day millions are learning about Islamic sharia and history, to blindly and slavishly follow colonial justice, just so that they are practical for a dynastic monarchy. In Sharia there is no time bar loophole. That illegal loot will be collected even in the after-world, if it is not paid back by the heirs of the looter or some other benevolent source. Justice Katju is literally and judicially right, but he had been a Supreme Court judge and has the background how justice at that level takes in the ground realities and public mood at a given time.

--------

‘Gilani verdict shows Pak SC has gone berserk’

Markandey Katju | Jun 22, 2012,

When I was I was a student of law in the Allahabad University I had read of the British Constitutional principle 'The King can do no wrong'. At that time I did not understand the significance of this principle and what it really meant. It was much later, when as a legal practitioner its real significance dawned on me.

The British were experienced and able administrators. They realized from their own long, historical experience that while everybody should be legally liable for his wrongs and made to face court proceedings for the same, the person at the apex of the whole Constitutional system must be given total immunity from criminal proceedings, otherwise the system could not function. Hence the King of England must be given total immunity from criminal proceedings. Even if he commits murder, dacoity, theft, or some other crime the King cannot be dragged to Court and made to face a trial.

One may ask, why should the King be given this immunity when others are not? The answer is that in the practical world one does not deal with absolutes. The British were one of the most far sighted administrators the world has known. They realized that if the King is made to stand on the witness box or sent to jail the system could not function . A stage is reached at the highest level of the system where total immunity to the person at the top has to be granted. This is the only practical view.

Following this principle in British Constitutional Law almost every constitution in the world has incorporated a provision giving total immunity to presidents and governors from criminal prosecution. Thus, Section 248(2) of the Pakistan Constitution states: "No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or governor in any court during his term of office."

The language of the above provision is clear, and it is a settled principle of interpretation that when the language of a provision is clear the court should not twist or amend its language in the garb of interpretation, but read it as it is. It is baffling, therefore, how proceedings on corruption charges (which are clearly of a criminal nature ) can be instituted or continued against the Pakistan president.

Moreover, how can the court remove a prime minister? This is unheard of in a democracy. The PM holds office as long he has the confidence of parliament, not confidence of the supreme court.

I regret to say that the Pakistan supreme court, particularly its chief justice, has been showing utter lack of restraint which is expected of the superior courts.

The court is playing to the galleries for long. It has clearly gone overboard and flouted all canons of Constitutional Jurisprudence.

The constitution establishes a delicate balance of power among the three organs of the State, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. Each must respect the other, and not encroach into their domain, otherwise the system cannot function. It seems to me that the Pakistan supreme court has lost its balance and gone berserk. If it does not now come to its senses I am afraid the day is not far off when the constitution will collapse, and the blame will squarely lie with the Pakistan supreme court, particularly its chief justice.

(The author is the chairman of Press Council of India)

[GM adds: The author is a retired Justice of the Indian Supreme Court.]

Indian Muslims discuss reforms to Haj pilgrimage management after SC judgment to abolish Haj subsidy

http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Indian-Muslims-discuss-reforms-to-Haj-pilgrimage-management-after-SC-judgment-to-abolish-Haj-subsidy/articleshow/14275122.cms

20 Jun 12 1702hrs ISTFull site

---

Home | More Sections | Scorecard | Most Read | Videos | mPaper | Apps

---

Indian Muslims discuss reforms to Haj pilgrimage management after SC judgment to abolish Haj subsidy

Jun 19, 2012, 08.07PM IST TNN[ Manash Pratim Gohain ]

NEW DELHI: Forum for Haj Pilgrimage Management in India (FHMI) organized a one day Conference that deliberated on the issues and concerns related to Haj Pilgrimage Management and suggested options for a subsidy-free Haj Management in India on Tuesday. The primary objective of conference organized by FHMI under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament K Rahman Khan (former deputy chairman, Rajya Sabha) was to understand the functioning of Tabung Haji, a successful Haj Pilgrim Management Institution of Malaysia, and to create a consensus among the Indian Muslims on the possibility to establish an institution in India on the lines of Tabung Haji. Such a fund will not only help better Haj Pilgrimage Management but also work towards inclusion and social betterment of the Muslim community in India.

The Conference focused on the need to devise a sustainable institutional mechanism to minimize the impact of gradual withdrawal of Haj subsidy on the majority of poor Indian Haj Pilgrims, in the event of the recent judgement of the Supreme Court to phase out subsidy in the next 10 years.

Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, president, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and senior officials from Tabung Haji, Malaysia, participated in the conference and made their presentations on Haj Management. Tabung Haji, a unique Haj Management and financial institution established in the year 1960, having a meagre capital of USD 15,400 with the aim of mobilizing savings of individuals and prospective Hajis and successfully managing an investment fund on Shariah principles in order to fulfill the life-long desire of the individuals to undertake Haj Pilgrimage. The depositors are able to save their money under Shariah principles and able to obtain Halalreturns which can be used either to perform Haj or for any other purpose. Today, Tabung Haji, is considered as the best Haj Management organization in the world having seven subsidiaries and fund base of over USD 11 billion.

Khan said: "India being the second largest Muslim populated country in the world and with more than 180,000 pilgrims from India performing Haj every year, there is need for a reform in the entire Haj Pilgrim Management for a long sustainable Institutional system. Under the circumstances, the example of Tabung Haji, as practiced in Malaysia, seems to be the most viable answer to the problems of Indian Hajis ."

"Through a unique financial institution, our aim would be to mobilize savings of millions of prospective Hajis and successfully manage their funds under Shariah Principles to fulfill their life-long desire to perform Haj. Since, these savings will create a huge corpus, the Institution will not only assist Indian Muslims for Haj Pilgrimage at an affordable cost but also bring it into the mainstream economy which will further help in the development of the community and the country," added Khan.

The chief guest, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali appreciated FHMI's initiatives under the leadership of Khan in this area and said that they would like to extend all help to create such an institution. He also pointed out that a sustainable financial management system is the only way to face the possibility of discontinuation of Haj Subsidy. In fact, through this channel even a poor Indian Muslim can fulfill his/ her lifelong dream of undertaking the Holy Haj Pilgrimage.

Like the Islamic Development Bank, Tabung Haji, the original creators for the model in Malaysia, also assured to share their experience if a Tabung Haji like institution comes into existence in India.

Dr Aziz Qureshi, Governor of Uttarakhand, Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law and Justice and Minority Affairs, E Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs, several other Union Ministers, Members of Parliaments, Senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, RBI, eminent Ulema from various parts of the country, prominent community leaders, intellectuals and scholars were present on the occasion.

Email this article to a Friend

(Courtesy: Email received from Abdur Raqeeb <abdraqeeb@gmail.com>)

---

Open letter to P Chidambaram on 'unfair' targeting of Muslims in the war against terror

For long I had followed P. Chidambaram's career and was impressed by his maturity and serious political image. However, recent disclosures, especially about his alleged role preceding Hashimpura massacre of innocent Mulim civilians at the hand of security forces, has shaken my confidence and I find a hidden monster of communal bigotry in him. He is not fit to be India's minister, much less India's Home Minister.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>

-------------

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: S.M. Farooq <hellofarooq@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, Jun 17, 2012 at 2:31 AM
Subject: [nrindians] Open letter to P Chidambaram on 'unfair' targeting of Muslims in the war against terror
To:

http://www.gulfindiatimes.com/full_news.php?id=4848


New Delhi: A protest against what the activists called the 'unfair' targeting of Muslim men in the name of fighting terror was called by various civil society organizations on Thursday at the residence of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the national capital. The activists had planned the protest outside Chidambaram's house, but they were detained by the police as soon as they gathered at the venue.

On May 13, a Bihar engineer Fasih Mahmood was picked from his home in Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia, and his whereabouts are still unknown. The government on Monday told the Supreme Court that Mahmood went missing in Saudi Arabia last month, was not in police custody in India and the Saudi authorities were not co-operating in tracing him. Mahmood hails from Barh Samaila village in Darbhanga district of Bihar.

Only last week another terror suspect, Qateel Siddiqui, who wasn’t yet chargesheeted seven months after his arrest, was murdered in Pune Jail. In the last week of May, two students of Jamiatul Falah were picked from Kaifiyat Express at Aligarh. They were produced in court seven days later. Concerned over what the activists called a growing and unfair trend, the activists released the following letter to Chidambaram during the protest.




To,
The Home Minister,
Government of India.
Mr Chidambaram,

We are forced to gather outside your residence today. We have broken with our tradition and etiquette of protest, i.e., to demonstrate at public offices rather than private residences because a large section of our population no longer feels safe in their own homes. Disappearances and illegal detentions have become rampant in the name of fighting terrorism. It is as though a new wave of counter-terrorism has been launched to terrorize the youth belonging to a community.

In this Kafkaesque world over which you preside, young men are picked up, some times snatched by one agency from another and presented to the world as dreaded terrorists. You may remember the case of Naquee Ahmed who was aiding the Special Cell in tracing two suspects in Mumbai when the Mumbai ATS abducted and kept him in illegal custody before announcing that a sensational arrest had been made. The Special Cell of course abandoned him. Competition between the agencies is costing innocents their life and liberty and when these squabbles spill into the media, your Ministry merely considers them bad PR rather than genuine concerns of a democracy.

You have stated, Sir, that Fasih Mahmood, the engineer picked up from Jubail in Saudi Arabia, is not in the custody of any of your agencies. Is it of no relevance that Indians accompanied the Saudi Arabian police when Fasih was taken away from his home? It is another matter that a red corner notice was issued for his arrest after his wife moved a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court. Another matter also that an affidavit submitted by the Karnataka police in the SC had details of his employment and an itemized list of his alleged guilt. And still, the Government of India claims to be clueless, even as to whether he is alive or dead.

Talking of death, Qateel Siddiqui, alleged IM operative arrested last November in Delhi, was killed in the Yerwada Jail, Pune by fellow inmates. Taken to Maharashtra by the Mumbai ATS on remand, to probe his role in a blast in a temple that did not take place (and of which there is no evidence except of course in now-dead Qateel’s disclosures). But this non-existent blast ostensibly enraged his fellow inmates to the extent that they strangulated him the day his remand was to end. A murder in broad day light in a high security prison. And what a convenient answer. An inmate booked for murder takes all blame. ‘Nationalist’ and ‘patriotic’ Mafiosi have been attributed with such killings in the past. Remember Shahid Azmi, Sir? The courageous lawyer with his own troubled past?

We think it’s important to recall the deep links of these ‘nationalist’ forces of the underworld with our very own Intelligence Bureau. In 2005, when the Mumbai Police swooped down on Vicky Malhotra, close aide of Chota Rajan, whom did they find sitting next to him in the car? Mr Ajit Kumar Doval, recently retired head of the IB. And the man who pulled the trigger on Azmi was himself eliminated later. So certainly, the theory that these were lone hit men, out to avenge their nationalist hurt, must be treated with a lot of circumspection.

Is it too much to ask that DK Basu guidelines for arrest be followed by your agencies? Is due process of investigation and law only to be followed in its violation? We are not opposed to any investigation, but surely, the law of the land must be followed? Agencies cannot be handed over a license to pick and detain anyone at will. Will we continue to pick one Muslim dominated town after another, branding it the hub of terrorism?

In the meeting of the Chief Ministers held to discuss the NCTC — whose unbridled powers to arrest suspects under UAPA will further aggravate the situation — you lamented that “in practically every case, a small section of the people springs to the support of persons who are detained for interrogation or arrested and charged. There is no apparent reason for such support other than the affinity of religion or sect.” With one sentence, you dismissed the genuine fears and demands about the rife misuse of powers by agencies being articulated by civil rights groups as sectarian (and as though the articulation of such fears by religious groups somehow rendered it illegitimate).

You ask us Sir to “observe caution and restraint and place faith in the integrity and impartiality of the investigation.” How can we, when the lessons from Malegaon and Mecca Masjid are not being heeded? When the NIA drags its feet in the cases of Hindutva terror? When we see that the Special Cell, despite its claim of a water-tight case against the senior journalist Syed Qazmi, asks for 90 more days to file a chargesheet?

From a poor construction worker like Qateel to a veteran journalist like Syed Qazmi, respected for his vast experience and bold views, all Muslims appear to be under the scanner. We have come here today to say to you that this ceaseless assault must end. Investigating agencies’ reign of terror must stop. This is not a sectarian issue, Sir. The very future of justice and democracy rests on this.

All India Students Association (AISA),
Aman Biradari,
ANHAD,
Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan,
Centre for Policy Analysis,
Champa - The Amiya & B.G. Rao Foundation,
Citizens for Democracy,
Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association (JTSA),
JNU Students' Union,
Movement for Empowerment of Muslim Indians (MOEMIN),
National Campaign against Fabrication of Cases ( www.fabricated.in),
NCDHR (National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights),
PUCL (Delhi unit),
Revolutionary Youth Association,
Syed Kazmi Solidarity Committee.

--

A HIGH VOLTAGE DRAMA By Seema Mustafa - The Free Press Journal, Mumbai, India

http://www.freepressjournal.in/news/69857-a-high-voltage-drama.html

A high voltage drama

• India


• Jun 18, 2012
• Seema Mustafa

•      

  

Sonia was caught between VP and Pranab. She preferred the VP, but could not get away from Dadas declared keenness. Thats when he felt the tension of possible rejection and told scribes ''''If the Congress let him down at this stage then…

The medias obsessive coverage of the Presidential election lost sight of a few pertinent points thrown up in the chaos and confusion. The mood in television studios shifted with the minute, with the morning heralding a doomsday scenario for the Congress party and the afternoon screaming 'victory'for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her party managers. Every little comment was seized upon to draw wild conclusions, often quite contrary to the truth.

The woes of India - including the massive water shortage staring us in the face - were discarded for 24- hour coverage of not even the election, but the selection of a candidate for Rashtrapti Bhawan.

The story began somewhere here: Mrs Sonia Gandhi could not really make up her mind whether the party candidate should be her Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari. She seemed to prefer the VP, but could not get away from Mukherjees declared keenness to get into Rashtrapati Bhawan now that he was certain he would never be her choice for Prime Minister.

So the party did not formally announce either, but the adept managers were instructed to let it be known to the media that these were the two chosen ones. However, the process of consultation continued and in her talks with the allies the Congress president left the issue wide open, seeking their views without really indicating her preference. If anything she seemed to be leaning a little in favour of Ansari.

Mukherjee felt the tension of possible rejection and started meeting select journalists to let them know that he was a determined candidate and if the Congress let him down at this stage then……. The rest was never really spelt out but the enthusiastic media rushed to fill in the blanks and let it be known that Mukherjee could walk out of the party if it did not support him.

Meanwhile another hopeful PA Sangma became the choice of two regional parties, the Biju Janata Dal and the AIADMK in a clear indication that they were quite in the mood for a contest. And that in the confusion created by Congress vacillation Sangma could become a serious candidate.

The BJP did not quite reject this move, and indicated possible support for Sangma if the circumstances worked out in his favour. The Left of course continued to maintain a studied silence, and except for Comrade AB Bardhans suggestion that someone should field a Dalit woman, there was no move from the Communists to even float a worthwhile name.

They had decided not to muddy the waters, including their own, by joining the cacophony.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee sensed an opportunity. And fed up with the Congress efforts to woo the Samajwadi Party to negate her influence on the UPA, she rushed to Mulayam Singh Yadav to work out a 'deal'. The wily Yadav was also willing to give the Congress a jolt and joined Mamata Banerjee in declaring three candidates for the presidential post, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, and former President Abdul Kalam. The first was to light a fire under the Congress and critique the performance of the Prime Minister by suggesting he was fit for the ceremonial post; the second was of course a non serious attempt to irritate the Left whose relationship with Chatterjee remains strained; and the third was a plausible name with the intention of convincing the skeptics that the two were serious in contesting the Congress choice for President.

The Congress party that was till then taking no position at all, was galvanized into action. In the rush and hurry, the party finally announced Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate but that too after he made a few telephone calls and was able to convince Sonia Gandhi that he had the necessary support. One of the newspapers was not too far wrong in quoting a 'source'as saying that Pranab Mukherjee was of the view that he had done all the work to make himself the President- elect with little help from the party. Mulayam Singh, happy that he had succeeded in making the Congress aware of his power and influence, agreed to go along, leaving Mamata Banerjee isolated.

Till last heard of she was lashing out at all, but again the media has gone wrong in presuming that her relationship with the UPA is over. Far from it, neither she nor the Congress at the Centre will let this relationship end.

Several political signals emerged from the entire drama. One, the Congress is its own worst enemy and its indecisiveness is proving extremely costly, to the party and often to the nation. A simple issue assumed the dimensions of a war, created solely by the Congress that could have declared Pranab Mukherjee at its candidate right at the very beginning, and spared him and itself much grief.

Two, the regional parties are quite confident of their own strength and although it was a momentary ruse, they again made it clear to the Congress and the BJP that they were quite able to make their own decisions now.

Three, that no one is willing to rock the boat for an early election at this stage. The possible exception could be Mamata Banerjee but when the chips are down it is not certain whether she too will plunge into the vagaries of an early poll.

Four, the BJP is in no position to turn a Congress mistake into an opportunity. It has been at best a bystander in this issue, trying to fire from the shoulders of individuals and the state parties without much success. Bereft of a strategy and sufficient support it has been unable to mark its presence in the presidential polls, at least so far.

Five, Sonia Gandhi has not left either Pranab Mukherjee or her Prime Minister too happy in the process. Her unwillingness to defend her colleagues in times of crisis has cost her considerable goodwill within the party, although of course no one has the independence or the ability to even indicate this. Mukherjee might have thanked her and the party for selecting him but in a sense he selected himself with the support of others; and Prime Minister Singh could not be happy with the total silence of the party when he was virtually humiliated by the SP- TMC who wanted him to be, as the popular phrase goes, " kicked upstairs." 

What should have been a routine, sober election - with or without contest - was turned into a high voltage drama with the media of course at its voyeuristic best.

Perhaps Mulayam Singh and Mamata Banerjee did everyone a favour with their announcement, as otherwise the drama would have dragged on till the penultimate day with speculation driving the news completely.

The Empire Strikes Back - By Ghulam Muhammed | Egypt elections: Voting enters second day - bbc.co.uk

Sunday, June 17, 2012

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

There is widespread feeling in the Muslim world, that the West and Israel were caught by surprise at the winning streak of Islamists, both Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists in the Egypt's first free democratic elections ever held. The Egyptian military in cahoots with the West and Israel, was bound to strike back ---in the old manner of the Empire Strikes Back.

The Empire got the Mubarak appointed constitutional court to struck down the Parliamentary Elections on mere technicality and that too within 2 days of the upcoming Presidential Elections, seriously undermining the public confidence, if the army will ever let free democratic process to succeed. It may contrive to see that Mubarak’s chosen former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, wins a majority.

BBC in its hourly news coverage already proclaims a ‘turnaround’ favoring Shafik. Surprisingly BBC gets Egyptian women in scarf lining up to vote, to be vouching not for Mohammed Morsi, but Ahmed Shafik. That is BBC’s contribution to the ‘turnaround’ based on blatant disinformation.

If Morsi wins, the court may struck down this election too, with the spacious argument that there is no approved constitution to legitimize any handover of power to Morsi, if he wins.

The liberals who had shared much in conjunction with the Islamists, to make the Egyptian revolution a historical success, now apparently disillusioned by their own scanty representation in the new democratic set-up, would probably resigned to a West sponsored Army coup. This time around Islamists will have to fill the Tahrir Square on their own.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18475207

Egypt elections: Voting enters second day

Correspondents say the turnout appears to be lower than the first round

Continue reading the main story

Egypt votes

• Polarising race
• Vote in pictures
• State of flux
• Alexandria dilemma

Polls have opened in Egypt for a second and final day of voting to elect the country's first president since Hosni Mubarak was forced from office in 2011.
Islamist candidate Mohammed Mursi is up against former Mubarak official Ahmed Shafiq in a second-round run-off.
The vote also comes amid a bitter row over the dissolution of parliament following a court ruling on Thursday.
Mr Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood has denounced the step as unlawful and a coup against democracy.
The movement urged Egyptians to protect their revolution after the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (Scaf) declared the parliament null and void on Saturday.
Two days earlier, the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that last year's legislative polls were unconstitutional, in a decision made by judges appointed under Mr Mubarak.
The dispute has laid bare the fears of some that the military council is trying to consolidate power and resist the democratic changes demanded during last year's demonstrations.

Continue reading the main story

Mohammed Mursi

• Aged 60
• US-educated engineering professor
• Head of Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)
• Served as independent MP 2000-05
• Quietly spoken, viewed by some as lacking charisma
• Has promised "stability, security, justice and prosperity" under an Islamic banner

• Profile: Mohammed Mursi
• Q&A: Supreme Court rulings

'People's will' Mr Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister, has campaigned on a platform of a return to stability and law-and-order which, correspondents say, many find attractive after months of political turmoil.
But to his critics, the former air force officer is the army's unofficial candidate and a symbol of the autocratic days under Mubarak.
Mr Mursi, meanwhile, has cast himself as a revolutionary and part of the movement that overthrew Mubarak, and has promised economic and political reform.
He has also softened his religious stance in an attempt to attract liberals and minorities.
His Freedom and Justice Party won almost half of seats in the legislature in the 2011 polls.
The BBC's Jon Leyne says that there is less enthusiasm in the run-off election than there was for previous rounds of voting, and some have called for a boycott or spoiled ballots.
Our correspondent says that the lack of young people voting on Saturday was particularly noticeable.

Continue reading the main story

Ahmed Shafiq

• Aged 70
• Veteran fighter pilot and former air force chief
• Appointed Egypt's first aviation minister, earning reputation for competence and efficiency
• Promoted to PM during February 2011 protests
• Associated with Mubarak regime, though denies being backed by ruling military council
• Campaigned on a promise to restore security

• Profile: Ahmed Shafiq
• Guide to presidential election
• Presidential candidates in quotes

While state TV has been urging people to vote, some activists have been distributing flyers in several Cairo metro stations calling for a boycott.
On Saturday, the top official in parliament, Sami Mahran, said he had received a letter from the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) confirming for the first time that the lower house, the People's Assembly, had been dissolved.
In response, the Muslim Brotherhood said the move was a "coup against the whole democratic process".
"We are asking for the people to be the ones who decide that the parliament gets dissolved, as such a decision should be taken by the people's will and not the executive authority," FJP deputy leader Essam el-Erian told Reuters.
The move followed Thursday's supreme court ruling that the law governing Egypt's first democratic elections in more than six decades was unconstitutional because party members were allowed to contest seats in the lower house reserved for independents.
Scaf officials have told state media that it now plans to issue a new interim constitution and potentially select a replacement constitutional panel itself.
The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) has vowed to hand over power to the winner by 30 June.
But the decision to dissolve parliament so swiftly means that the new president could take office without the oversight of a sitting parliament and without a permanent constitution to define his powers or duties.
On Saturday afternoon, Mr Mursi's campaign held a news conference in which it said several electoral violations had been reported, and urged voters to report any incidents.
Mr Shafiq came second in last month's first round, in which turnout among the 52 million eligible voters was only 46%. Official results gave Mr Mursi 24.8% and Mr Shafiq 23.7%.
Final results from the Higher Presidential Election Commission (HPEC) are due by 21 June, but are expected to arrive much earlier.