Did the Babri Masjid demolition shake the Indian Muslims' faith in the ability of the State to protect the lives and rights of its citizens?

http://ibnlive.in.com/chat/syed-shahabuddin/did-the-babri-masjid-demolition-shake-the-indian-muslims-faith-in-the-ability-of-the-state-to-protect-the-lives-and-rights

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Syed Shahabuddin

Convener, Babari Masjid Movement Coordination Committee

Dec 06, 2012 | Closed

Did the Babri Masjid demolition shake the Indian Muslims' faith in the ability of the State to protect the lives and rights of its citizens?

Twenty years down, Syed Shahabuddin looks back.

• 18 questions answered

This chat is over. Thanks for joining.

Q: What was wrong in the demolition of Babri Masjid as it was constructed on Lord Rama Temple? Asked by: Arjun Singh

A: I wish it could be proved. The HC got the place excavated and no trace of the temple was found. You can't say something without proving it. I have said these right outside Deoband that if it is proven that Muslims brought down a temple and built a mosque, it is not a masjid and I will bring it down personally. In Ayodhya there are dozens of places where people say Ram was born.

Q: Is it not that a long time has passed and the concept of revisiting Dec 6 should stop. Eminent people like you should motivate younger generation towards productive things like education and employment. These things build the nation whereas "Dec 6" creates ill will. Your views please Asked by: Kumar Ajay

A: I have been trying to educate the Muslim youths from the beginning that the answer to babri masjid is not violence. I have called on them to disist from taking out processions and to escalate tensions.

Q: The incidents like the one of Babri Masjid,godhraa,Mumbai serial blast,26/11 ( mumbai ) create a fear amongst the citizens,irrespective of the religion and also the limitations of the state in protecting its citizen.Do you relate it to Intelligence failure ?? Asked by: sundar1950in

A: There is no doubt in my mind that Babri masjid was not a case of intelliugence failure but govt's inaction based on intelligence. But in the other cases, yes.

Q: Is minority phobia the binding force for the unity of India? Asked by: Faisal Mahboob

A: I don't think so but a Muslim phobia is slowly entering our veins. The majority of Hindus are tolerant but a few bad apples can spoil the atmosphere. RSS has always tried to push people into positions of power. But people including Hindus, and specially them, have resisted such attempts.

Q: People from minorities section are reaching the highest positions,one example,MMS. The trend has picked up in the last decade more than before.Yes aberrations happen,but why cant we move ahead? Asked by: Kamal Agg

A:The point is not about individuals. There have been Muslim President, Vice-President, cabinet secretary. Indira Gandhi asked IK Gujral to find out how many Muslims were there in his dept. They were just a handful though two of the top guys were Muslims.

Q: Hello Sir, For Indian Muslims, is Roti, Kapada & Makaan is important or being strict religious is important ?. I am asking this question with a view in my mind. India has got Independence in 1947 & from the day # 1 Congress claims it is "Secular". What is your honest view on this ?. Don't you think just to keep BJP away from power, Indian Muslims by and large ignore the development politics and stay in emotive world and thereby vote to "so-called" Secular parties which use Muslims as vote banks ?. Asked by: aditya.yanamand

A: This is a complex question. For every citizen, roti kapda makan is important, so it is for Indian Muslims. I think Partition was disastrous and a great tragedy for Indian Muslims. Today, my friends in Pakistan are saying the same. If our country was not divided, they would be better off. Every political party in our present system uses every minority as votebank. This is common. As far as secularism is concerned, even BJP claims it is secular. Secularism means the State can not prefer one side to other on the basis of religion, community or caste.

Q: Sir,suppose the Sc supports the high courts judgement,As far as I understand,you can not give away or barter waqf land on religious grounds(shariyat law).If yes then what? Asked by: Kamal Agg

A: We insist that whatever is the judicial decision, we will. Let there be no doubt about that.

Q: Why is it that in such conflicts both parties take a hard stand and a spirit of give & taake does not happen.??Is it the politicians or the religious leaders who should take the blame for this ?? Asked by: sundar1950in

A: It was not a religious matter. It was a legal issue. The Muslim leadership only said that. We just said that on our own, we won;t give an inch of the masjid land, the area of actual worship. The court can but as Muslims can't do this of their own will

Q: Why one community gets worked up on demolition of a disputed structure and none from them say a word when thousands of members of other community from Kashmir are forced to leave their homes??? Why is a structure built on land important than human beings? Asked by: A NATIONALIST INDIAN

A: I am perhaps the only Muslim leader who visited Kashmiri refugees. But the demolition of a place of worship can't be compared to this.

Q:Do you agree both with the observation as well as the recommendation of Sachar committee? Asked by: Faisal Mahboob

A: I had many sessions with the committee. There are certain things I do not agree with. Some things must change for sure. We have been talking about reservations. You measure a backward community and see what can be done. Quota is a tool which can be used to ensure equity.

Q: Sir, after all these years, do u still believe that the issue will be resolved and we will get justice?? Asked by: Anonymous

A: I have no doubt except you need patience and tolerance. We trust our judiciary.

Q: Do we need sharp and pointed legislation against religious discrimination? Asked by: Faisal Mahboob

A: We have a UN law and convention against religious discrimination. Minority rights are established norms across the world. As member of UN, India has voted and accepted them. There is no need for separate legislation and our Constitution is extremely modern and progressive in that regard.

Q: Hello Sir, I temporarily live in the US. I visited Europe. In this part of the world, Muslims fear to show their identities like for example they don't wear veil or i hardly see Muslims with beard & without Mustache like they do in India. In that sense, don't you think Indian majority people are open minded and don't you think instead of telling that you are a Muslim, we have to live together in India ?. Asked by: aditya.yanamand

A: We all believe now in freedom and whenever there is a conflict of social nature, it's important to grant freedom. It is the only way to resolve such conflicts.

Q: Why cant we think of aving a university, hospital etc at the site.?This indeed would be a true pace of worship which would benifit all of us specially the poorer of the poor. I am sure the god almighty be it Ram, Allah, Christ or any oythe would be very happy and bless all of us. Asked by: Arun

A: In India, we are not short of land but why at the cost of a masjid? It is a place of worship. How can you take it away? Moreover, the Hinduvta forces do not want that.

Q: Don't you think that the life of minorities in India is much better than that of minorities in Pakistan? Asked by: Shyam Vadalker

A: I do not wish to make any comparison. We are Indians under a democracy and we have the Indian Constitution. Pakistan does not have these benefits. In my opinion, this is not a relevant thing. We have to better ourselves. The govt has not used tanks or big guns in Kashmir like the Chinese and Russians have done. Though Muslims have suffered in India, today they are better off than they were twenty years back.

Q: Don't you think that communal elements in both communities are trying to use this issue and polarising the people of this country? Asked by: Nasir

A: This is right but on this issue, Muslims have not been communal. When the doors have been opened, we requested the matter to be handed over to the court. But the other side resorted to yatras, bhashans etc. But it's good majority of India does not think that way.

[20 years on] 'Still struggling to file FIR against cops who killed son!' - The Free Press Journal, Mumbai, India

http://freepressjournal.in/still-struggling-to-file-fir-against-cops-who-killed-son/




 December 6, 2012 12:41:26 AM | By Zeeshan Shaikh

Still struggling to file FIR against cops who killed son!

Mumbai : Tahir Wagle, a 62-year-old resident of Mazgaon, is fighting a relentless battle since the last 20 years to file an FIR against Byculla police officials who shot dead his son Shahnawaz Wagle on January 10, 1993.

Tahir Wagle and his wife Akhtari display the picture of their son Shahnawaz who was killed by cops

On one hand, the police claims that Shahnawaz was shot while being part of a rioting mob while on the other side, Wagle’s family maintains that Shahnawaz was dragged out of his home in Pathan Chawl, Mazgaon and shot at point blank range in the compound in front of their neighbours.

Inspite of an eyewitness Yasmin Wagle, elder sister of the victim who had seen a police constable shooting Shahnawaz from the balcony of second floor where the Wagle family resides, the police has refused to register a case, says Tahir a retired employee.

The day when Shahnawaz was killed his father Tahir was in Ratnagiri. “Early morning on January 10, 1993, a curfew was declared and we were at home. Then suddenly many officers came to our chawl and arrested 81 persons including my son Shahnawaz. I requested and begged in front of police officers to leave my son and in return the officers beat me with the stick”, said Akhtari Wagle, 58, mother of Shahnawaz.

Akhtari added, that my daughter Yasmin who had seen the whole incident from the balcony called saying that the police had shot Shahnawaz.

Kishore Mabkar was poking my son at the place of the gun shot injury with his rifle’s bayonet again and again, as my son lay on the ground, said Akhtari.

After Shahnawaz was shot, the mother and the sister begged in front of police officers to hand over the body to them “But the officers took the body of Shahnawaz and dumped it in the JJ hospital”, alleges Akhtari.

The Srikrishna Commission in its report submitted in February 1998, had referred the killing of Shahnawaz as a “cold blooded murder” by police officers and had asked for a special investigation into it.

Tahir said, “We decided to file a complaint against the police after four years as my wife and my daughter were mentally shocked seeing Shahnawaz dying in front of them. And the day when I decided to register an FIR against the police everyone started misguiding us”.

Whether it was police officers from Byculla police station, IPS officers of Mumbai, or Muslim leaders, everyone made Tahir run from pillar to post to register an FIR against Byculla police officials who were present at the spot in 1993.

Some four years back, Tahir received the post-mortem report of Shahnawaz from JJ hospital at the behest of MLA Bala Nandgaonkar who asked JJ hospital officials to provide him the report.

Some four months back, Tahir decided to file a writ petition in the high court and approached the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Maharashtra’s legal cell to fight his case, but after three months Tahir was kept waiting and later the general secretary of Jamiat, Gulzar Azmi, refused to file a petition in his case, alleges Tahir.

Later the Wagle family approached Abu Azmi, the Samajwadi president who assured that financial aid would be given to the family by him in filing the writ petition seeking an FIR by CBI against police officers and Rs 25 lakh compensation. He also hired a lawyer for them.

The petition filed by Akhtari Wagle through her lawyer advocate Ejaz Naqvi, stated the whole incident and requested the court seeking an FIR by CBI and investigating the role of some Byculla police officers and their superiors, including DCP K L Bishnoi, ACP Jadhav, SPI Ulhas Patankar, PI B B Patil, PI Vaivle, PI Bhalme, PSI Phartade, PSI Ram Desai, PSI Gora Sawant, along with other police staff of Byculla police station.

“Inspite of 20 years having passed, the Shahnawaz murder is been exploited by Muslim leaders, who never helped, made me kept waiting outside their offices for several hours and no one stood beside me”, said Tahir.

Four months back, a report on Shanawaz murder was submitted to the Mumbai police commissioner by additional commissioner Pravin Salunke, who asked Tahir to collect the report from the Chairman of Minority Commission but Tahir is upset with the attitude of the Chairman, Munaaf Hakim.

Zeeshan Shaikh

Why al-Qaeda finds no recruits in India - By Andrew North - BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20590302

5 December 2012

Why al-Qaeda finds no recruits in India

By Andrew North

BBC News, Mumbai and Delhi

India's 180 million remain one of its poorest communities

Habiba Ismail Khan can't forget the day her eldest son ventured out to get food and water.

Their Mumbai slum had been overcome by communal rioting, sparked by the destruction of the Babri Mosque by Hindu hardliners in faraway Ayodhya.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of that event, one of the biggest tests since independence of India's secular ideals.

After days trapped inside, the sounds and smells of killing around them, he made a dash for supplies.

"He was 18, the only earner," says Habiba. "My heart cries for him every day."

Caught by a Hindu mob he never had a chance.

No headway

He was one of nearly 600 Muslims killed in the Mumbai riots, the bulk of the victims. At least 275 Hindus died too.

But far from being spontaneous, a government commission later concluded much of the violence was an organised pogrom by Hindu extremists.

Two decades later, Muslims remain a marginalised minority - although minority seems the wrong word for a group that numbers nearly 180 million, making India the third largest Muslim nation in the world after Indonesia and next-door Pakistan.

Yet while its neighbour is in constant turmoil because of Islamic extremism, it's striking how little it has emerged in India.

"Fundamentalism has not taken root here" says Vikram Sood, the former head of India's foreign intelligence service.

Habiba Ismail Khan's son was killed in religious riots

While there have been bombings claimed by indigenous groups such as the Indian Mujahideen, they have been few and far between and there is no sign it has significant support.

The biggest attacks in India involving Muslims have had clear evidence of Pakistani involvement.

Despite having 10% of the world's Muslims to recruit from, al-Qaeda has made no headway here.

And no Indian Muslim has gone to fight in Afghanistan with the Taliban. "Or even Kashmir," adds Sood.

Yet the provocations have continued - with hundreds more Muslims dying in the 2002 Gujarat riots, when there was again clear evidence of Hindu extremists orchestrating the killing.

After the death last month of Bal Thackeray, the leader of a right-wing Hindu party accused of a central role in the 1992 Mumbai riots, Habiba was bracing herself for a repeat.

Little hope


"Things can go wrong any time. We are just counting the days".

One thing has changed though in Jogeshwari - a sprawling slum area with lanes so narrow residents often have to walk single file.

Mixed areas have largely disappeared and there is now a clear division between Muslim and Hindu neighbourhoods. A road marks the "border" between what Hindus call "Little Pakistan'"and their side, Hindustan, or India.

People in the Muslim part of Jogeshwari see little hope of their lives improving.

Hindu and Muslim areas in Jogeshwari are clearly demarcated

"Only Hindus get good jobs, in banks or government," complains Habiba's neighbour Marzina, who moved into a cramped two-room house with her family after the riots for safety.

The figures back her up - showing Muslims bumping along the bottom with Hindu untouchable castes and tribal groups in income, employment, literacy and access to education.

While they make up 14-15% of the population, they hold barely 4% of government jobs and they are far more likely than other groups to be in informal employment, running street stalls or the like.

Some Muslims are doing well: Indian movie stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan.

But they don't emphasise their heritage.

Another big industry name with Muslim origins, film-maker Mahesh Bhatt, believes it helped him that his mother covered them up.

She was Muslim but says she gave him a Hindu name to prevent his identity from becoming "an albatross"

He now uses his movie fame as a platform to speak out for Muslim causes.

India pretends to be more secular and inclusive than it is, he maintains.

"Why does India celebrate a black man in the White House?" he demands when we meet at his Mumbai office.

"I'll celebrate only when we have a Muslim in the prime minister's chair in India."

'Another world'

To critics, Bhatt is a habitual controversialist with a gift for a headline.

But he is unusual in speaking up at all for India's Muslims. Unlike Hindus, they have no national political party representing them.

There is a stronger tendency to keep quiet and work with the system.

Muslims hold barely 4% of government jobs

"We can't go and live in another world" says Dr Mohammed Khatkhatay who runs a charity providing education and training in Mumbai's slums, mostly to Muslims.

In some ways, this is just common sense. However many there are, Muslims are still a minority. "If I pierce someone's eye," says Dr Khatkhatay, "the result will be the whole of our community goes blind."

It's much harder for any cohesive Islamic identity - let alone militant ideology - to gain ground in India's huge and diverse society - where Muslims share little except their faith.

So a Muslim from Kerala in the south who may be descended from seafarers has more in common with Hindus or Christians in the state than he does with Muslims from Uttar Pradesh in the north.

The widespread adherence to more moderate, inclusive Sufi Islamic teachings have also helped stall the emergence of militancy.

The government also has a tighter hold on madrassas or religious schools, which in Pakistan have become a bedrock of recruits for the Taliban and others.

Looking across their borders to its majority-Muslim neighbours, Indian Muslims have concluded they are better off here argues Najeeb Jung, Vice Chancellor of Delhi's Jamia Millia University.

"The big watershed was 1971" he says, when Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan. "If ever there was a romance with Pakistan, it was over then"

Dr Jung is less gloomy about Muslims here, believing "they are faring as well or as badly as everyone else."

But therein lies the danger. The economy has sagged badly in the past year with no sign yet it has bottomed out.

"If we get the economy going again," says Vikram Sood, "all these issues will wither away. If it doesn't happen, they will multiply, disproportionately"

CBI may have erred in Malegaon [bomb-blast] probe - By Deeptiman Tiwary - Times New Network

http://mobiletoi.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=9&sectid=edid=&edlabel=TOIM&mydateHid=29-11-2012&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Mumbai&edname=&articleid=Ar00900&publabel=TOI



CBI may have erred in Malegaon probe

Outgoing Chief Denies Govt Pawn Charge
Deeptiman Tiwary TNN

New Delhi:Outgoing CBI director A P Singh on Wednesday admitted that there may have been errors in the agencys investigation of the 2006 Malegaon blasts,where nine alleged SIMI men were initially arrested by Maharashtra ATS only to be later bailed out after the role of Hindu extremists came to light.

He,however,denied that the agency was used by the government to coerce allies and opponents,saying cases involving political heavyweights like BSP leader Mayawati and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav are in the courts and the agency has nothing to do with them.

The Malegaon case had seen some sensational developments after Swami Aseemanand,close to the Abhinav Bharat group,confessed that the blasts were carried out by the Hindu outfit.The blasts case was handed over to CBI by the Maharashtra government in December 2006,on the same day that the ATS filed a chargesheet against the nine arrested men.In February,2010,CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet,almost toeing the ATS line.

Post-Aseemanands confession,CBI started a reinvestigation in the case in 2011 on the saffron terror line before the case was handed over to National Investigation Agency.

On the two lines of investigations,Singh said,At that time (during the first investigation ) there was not even a hint of Hindu terror angle.However,after the Aseemanand confession,new information was revealed and the agency began to act on this information.Now the case is with the NIA.Once it completes its investigation,we will know what,if any,mistakes were made by the CBI.

On charges of the government using the CBI for political ends,Singh said,Nobody can direct us.We investigate our cases and take them to court.I will maintain CBI is not a handmaiden of the government.I keep hearing that Mayawati and Mulayam are manipulated through CBI.All cases against them are now with the court.We have nothing to do with them.

Singh,however,agreed that there was a perception that CBI was a whip wielded by the government and this needed to be addressed.The best way to do that would be making the appointment of CBI director through the collegium system.That way,no one will allege that the CBI chief is a government appointee, Singh said.

Interestingly,his successor Ranjit Sinhas appointment has been hit by a controversy with BJP leaders arguing that the decision should be kept on hold until the collegium system recommended by the select committee on the Lokpal bill is implemented.

Cases involving UP chieftains Mayawati and Mulayam Singh,who are important outside supporters of the government,have made news in the past with the CBI reported to have changed its position before the court.Singhs remarks may indicate that the cases are now beyond any intervention.

On the issue of extending the CBI directors tenure,Singh said,It takes one year just to understand what is happening.By the time one puts things in motion,the tenure is over.If I had more time,I could have accomplished a few more things such as filling all the vacancies,posting my officers abroad for speedy processing of letter rogatories (LRs) and get a state-of-the-art forensics laboratory sanctioned.

The outgoing director said he was satisfied with the way CBI was functioning but stressed that the agency needed to speed up investigations.For that to be achieved,LR processes have to be quick and government needs to expedite sanctions, he added.



A P Singh said the NIA investigation would reveal what mistakes,if any,were made by the CBI in the 2006

Will some big calamity hit Indian Muslims, now that a Muslim will head Intelligence Bureau - By Ghulam Muhammed

Will some big calamity hit Indian Muslims, now that a Muslim will head Intelligence Bureau

Congress government in particular and other governments following Congress pattern, are known to front a Muslim to do a hatchet job on Muslims. This is the theme of a news analysis by Aalam Naqvi, former editor of Urdu Times-Mumbai, who still writes for Urdu Times, from his base in Lucknow. Mr. Naqvi points out how when Urdu was cleansed out of the entire North India, to give prominence to Hindi, Congress had put Maulana Abul Kalaam Azad at the Union Education Ministry. The message coming out was, that if the gross injustice to Urdu is to be systematically carried out, let the blame be on a Muslim, and that too on the head of such a prominent leader of Muslims. The communal Congress leaders, thus tried to escape direct blame. Similarly, when Indira Gandhi had plans to take out minority status of Aligarh Muslim University, she used another Muslim name, that of Noorul Hasan who was appointed Education Minister to do the dirty job. A Muslim name became Indira Gandhi's shield to divert any adverse reaction to her government. In the aftermath of  Babri Masjid demolition and the widespread riots, PV Narasimha Rao picked up Syed Sibte Rizvi and included him in his cabinet, to placate Muslim anger by giving out the signal that Narasimha Rao is not against Muslims. He further promoted Zafar Saifullah to the very important post of Cabinet Secretary. All this was supposed to be a public relations exercise to project Congress as a secular political party. The short term of V.P. Singh witnessed another balancing act, when the extremist Hindutvadi, Jagmohan was made governor of Jammu and Kashmir, while the Union Home Ministry was given to Mufti Mohammed Saeed. The way Jagmohan carried out his Tuglak like campaign clearing Kashmiri Pandits to flee Kashmir, as he was planning to do a big crackdown in Kashmir. He was to be a savior of Kashmiri Pandit. Later the blame for the forced exodus fell on Kashmiri Muslims.

The latest entry of another Muslim name --- Syed Asif Ibrahim, as new Chief of the IB (Intelligence Bureau), has been applauded by many Muslim commentators, who are in the habit of routinely praising such token exercises of appointment of Muslims in high places as a favour to Muslim voters. However, according to Aalam Naqvi, it is time for Muslims to brace for some possibly another nefarious Congress plan to hit Muslims, with the convenient Muslim name at IB, giving appropriate cover to communal elements in Sonia Congress.

With Sonia Congress now tottering in the wake of corruption scandals, it has to plan some big communal event to consolidate Hindu votes in order to dent BJP's constituency. IB may be in the background of any such vicious strategy. Muslims better be warned.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>

‘Why is papa not home despite SC acquittal?’ - Zeeshan Shaikh | The faceless State - Seema Mustafa - The Free Press Journal, Mumbai

http://freepressjournal.in/why-is-papa-not-home-despite-sc-acquittal/



 November 26, 2012 12:31:00 AM | By Zeeshan Shaikh

‘Why is papa not home despite SC acquittal?’

Mumbai : 26/11 has a tragic resonance not only for the families of the 166 victims but also for the family of a man who was falsely implicated on charges of preparing ground for the terrorists.

Yasmeen Ansari (36), wife of Faheem Ansari, a 26/11 accused who was acquitted by the Supreme Court in August this year, went through hell in the last four years trying to remove the tag of terrorist from her husband’s name.

Yasmeen and her daughter Iqra (9) who are living with the family of Fahim’s elder brother Usman Ansari in Mumbra said, “After Faheem’s arrest, the stigmatised family faced so many losses that his elder brother was reduced to a rickshaw driver from a businessman.

 ”Thanks to our faith in Allah and people like late advocate Shahid Azmi and general secretary of the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Maharashtra Gulzar Azmi, who stood by us even when relatives started distancing themselves from us, we were able to clear our name,” said Yasmeen, who now makes a living as a seamstress.

 Yasmin, who has studied till the 10th standard at Madanpura in Central Mumbai, was married in 1997 to Faheem, the youngest among nine siblings, who lived at Hanuman Nagar, Goregaon (W).

 He was arrested in Rampur district on February 9, 2008 by the special task force of the UP police in connection with the attack on the CRPF camp on the night of December 31, 2007 in which several CRPF personnel were killed.

 Yasmeen said her husband didn’t even go to Rampur. “Faheem had gone to Lucknow to buy dresses to sell in Mumbai. I am not sure if it was February 1 or February 3, but it was somewhere between these dates that Faheem went to Lucknow after which his phone was unavailable.” Yasmeen said she was on the way to Bareilly jail to meet Faheem when 26/11 happened and TV channels started saying that he was one of the accomplices of the terrorists.

 February 11, 2010, was one of the worst days in Yasmeen’s life when she received a call from her brother who asked her to switch on the television. “As soon as I switched on the TV, everywhere there was news that Shahid Azmi, the lawyer of Faheem Ansari, was shot in his office. After learning about his death, I was worried about the ongoing case as only the final argument was left but my husband was acquitted by the Sessions Court in 2010.”

 The Supreme Court acquitted Faheem Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed on August 29 this year for their role in 26/11. Faheem’s family has demanded compensation from the Central Government for the financial losses they had suffered in last four years.

 The Jamiat-Ulema-e-Maharashtra, which is fighting cases for more than 100 terror accused, had not charged a single penny in Faheem’s case which was fought in Sessions Court then challenged in the High Court and later in the Supreme Court. “We believe in our judiciary and we are sure that we will succeed in getting an acquittal from Allahabad High Court in Rampur CRPF camp firing case,” said Yasmeen.

 In October, the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh had appealed to the court asking if the case against Faheem and the other accused in the CRPF camp attack along with three more terror attack cases can be withdrawn, discharging the accused. However, Faheem’s family is waiting for the response of the court, which will come on November 29 on Akhilesh’s appeal.

 ”My nine-year-old daughter Iqra who stood first in her school is confused and keeps asking me the same question: since the court had acquitted her dad, why is he not coming home,” said Yasmeen.

Zeeshan Shaikh

--------

http://freepressjournal.in/the-faceless-state/

Edit    November 26, 2012 12:43:34 AM | By SEEMA MUSTAFA

The faceless State

The Indian State seems to have lost its compassion somewhere along the way. Its first reaction, as the Mumbai incident indicates, is to use its brute might to suppress even innocent and minimalist dissent.

A Facebook post said it all. The young man, a Muslim, “hailed” the hanging of Pakistan terrorist Ajmal Kasab saying that his death would at least put an end to the weight that some political parties and groups were making Indian Muslims carry. And that while they basically did not give a damn they were made to carry the cross through insinuations and direct comments by communal forces always looking for shadows where none exist.

Kasab’s hanging has not stirred a leaf in India, or for that matter even in Pakistan amidst society that one generally acknowledges as sane. Except for extremists like the Lashkar e Tayaba whose reactions are expected, even the villagers in Faridkot in Pakistan where Kasab ostensibly lived, chased away reporters saying they were not interested in the issue at all. The young man had crossed every civilized line when he, along with nine others, picked up the gun to shoot down Indian citizens in Mumbai in one of the worst terror attacks this country has ever seen.

In fact the debate post Kasab is not about whether he should have been hanged, but about the death penalty per se and whether it should be abolished or not. The one intelligent move that the UPA government made was to ensure that the hanging took place without the media being informed, as that prevented the 24-hour news channels from sensationalizing the issue to a point where it could have taken a nasty turn. Immature commentary, jingoism, ridiculous interpretations before the hanging by hysterical anchors, would have vitiated the atmosphere and given a handle to vested interests to make communal hay.

As it is India was already reeling under the shock of the arrest of two young girls for an innocuous Facebook post on the death of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray. The news channels with their incessant coverage turned a political leader at best into a hero, with not a single worthwhile analysis in the mainstream media of his contribution to Indian politics, his declared admiration for Adolf Hitler and how that had influenced his politics. An atmosphere had been created by the television channels where the innocuous post allowed the government and its police to arrest them after sundown, in an action that sent tremors of fear through the city and anger through the country. They were charged with inciting communal hatred, with not a word about those who had forced a shutdown with the simple threat of physical retaliation that did not want anyone taking chances.

In one stroke the Congress-NCP government demonstrated that it was on the same page as the Shiv Sena insofar as even mild dissent was concerned. Two, it had the authority and the reach to monitor Facebook posts and three, with the arrests it sent out the message to all others using the social media that they should be careful of airing their views lest they meet with a similar, or worse fate. The public outcry forced the government to release the girls and dilute the charges, but last heard the cases had not been withdrawn and they had to appear before the courts every week. In fact the Shiv Sainiks maintained more discipline in the death of Thackeray than the Congress party and the NCP who bent over backwards to prove their loyalty with the arrests and the decision to give him a state farewell.

The State fails when its citizens live in fear. And not fear of each other but of the state’s inability to provide them security, protect them from violence, and give them justice as and when required. All over the country more and more sections of society are being added to those who have lived a fearful existence for decades now, with the percentage of the oppressed and victimized growing as India supposedly marches forward towards economic growth and emergence as a world power. Both goals cannot be realised by leaving behind large sections of Indian society from the map of growth, equality and justice but this is a point that our politicians seem to be in denial mode about.

Fear of arrest, fear of attack, fear of violence has crept into daily life along with all the other crippling problems of food security. Those living in the big bungalows in state capitals have little idea of this, and how this fear is generating helplessness, resentment, disaffection amongst those at the receiving end of the stick. This is evident from the outpourings in the social media that of course insecure governments, not just in India but elsewhere too want to curb. But it is also evident in the scale of protests breaking out at different levels in this country, and the tendency of the protestors to stay out on the streets for longer and longer periods. The fishermen who stood in the water for days on end to demand their just basic livelihood rights withstood the agony of swollen feet, blisters and bites as their life outside had become so meaningless, and were worthless without some compensation and support.

The Indian State seems to have lost its compassion somewhere along the way. Its first reaction, as the Mumbai incident indicates, is to use its brute might to suppress even innocent and minimalist dissent. And unfortunately, unless the people are present in sufficiently large numbers to beat back the authority of the state there is never a second reaction. There is a severe disconnect between the politicians and the people, with the first unable and unwilling to appreciate the sensitivities and aspirations of the second. This has led to a divide that expresses itself in violence by the state, and every now and again by the people seeking redressal and justice.

In Delhi one becomes aware of a small clique, as against the burgeoning humanity of India, that lives in another world where the rich (industry) make common cause with the powerful (politicians) and the influential (media) as all seek to get into this exclusive group of power brokers. They protect each other, and also determine the levels of indifference and callousness to the ‘other’ India to ensure that it does not impinge on their consciousness in any significant manner. The funeral of known thugs and mafia dons attracts the politicians and the film stars and the industrialists, but there was not one person standing to hold the hands of the traumatized girls still wondering what they had done that was so wrong.

SEEMA MUSTAFA

Gujarat Waqf Scam By: Rafat Nayeem Quadri

http://www.bilkulonline.com/gujarat-news/political/113-gujarat-waqf-scam

Gujarat Waqf Scam

Broad daylight loot of worth Rs 15 lakh crores

Wake-up Call for Muslims, time to act before it is too late

(Part -1)

Bilkul Special Report:

By: Rafat Nayeem Quadri

Ahmedabad:  Each Muslim of Gujarat is worth Rs. 0.19 lakh crores, even if he is starving and is totally upset about his life. But, thanks to his visionary forefathers and ancestors who left vast Waqf property (if assessed at prevailing rates) for him which could have been used for brightening his past present and future.

80 lakh Muslims of Gujarat inherit 55,000 acres ( or roughly 266 200 000 sq yards) of  Waqf land in the form of 11,428 properties. Majority of these properties situated in prime locations of Gujarat cities can fetch billions of rupees while the rental premises can fetch decent figures of crores of rupees. Most of the properties are housing religious and worshipping places like mosques, dargahs, Idgahs, Madresa, orphanage, musafirkhanas, jamat khanas, grave yards, Imambadas, khankhah .

This is the official number of properties on paper in Gujarat Waqf Board files. These figures have been varying every year, if newspaper reports of past are seen, you find inconsistency in facts of GWB figures.

There is no authentic and complete record available with the 
Gujarat Waqf Board  (GWB).  GWB has no idea whatsoever as to how much is really existing there in reality, whether it is there or not. Whether the rent and sale amount they received (as percentage for administrative contribution) of the Waqf properties all these years and now are really existing, they are not sure.

No fencing, surveying or photo and video shoot has been done to preserve a complete record and maintain it by physical checks of these properties. 

According to a former member of the GWF, off record, hundreds of acres of land and property of Waqf across Gujarat is not registered or shown in record. Whether it exists anymore or not, even that is not known.

On the face of it, if Waqf properties’ proper management and development was done, Muslims state of affairs would have been dramatically different, glorious and shining.
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