US PRESIDENT BARACK HUSAIN OBAMA'S MUMBAI VISIT IGNORES 4 MILLION CITY MUSLIMS
By Ghulam Muhammed
Obama's visit to Mumbai has left out any contacts with a 20 percent strong Muslim presence in the city, that projects an All India mix of relocated Muslims from practically every state in the Republic. That makes a very broad but very vibrant consensus of Muslims, especially when it comes to any reference to the USA.
Compared to 2006 Bush visit to India, when Mumbai Muslims staged a very strong protest rally against Bush visit over his illegal invasion of Muslim countries, this time around, even though privately Muslims feel Obama has belied all hopes of the promised change, he is still recognized as defusing the crisis centers of Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and recently Kashmir.
The city Muslim is calm and observant as to what Obama has to offer to Mumbai's heady mix of Hindu-Muslim cosmopolitinism that can forestall tragedies like the post-Babri communal riots, the Shiv Sena carnage and holding the city to ransom after the infamous Bombay Blasts, the train bombings and lastly the 26/11 tragedy.
It is evident that as local issues started taking back seat, when the international scenarios seem to dominate the danger of inflammations. Death of Karkare, the Anti Terrorist Squad Chief that exposed Saffron Terror and instantly became target of death threats from the Hindutva extremists, seems to be uncannily inserted in the 26/11 terror scenario; giving strong doubts of common authorship of the two distinct and disparate streams of terror, intermingling to achieve some common agenda.
It is uncertain, if Obama will touch on the deep malaise that exposes the city to such meticulously planned terror events. His focus is only cursorily on 26/11 carnage and possibly more on economic agenda that will take more of his time interacting with India's top business and industry leaders gathered in the Commercial Capital of India.
His cultural forays in this city of most vibrant and thriving cultural diversities, has pointedly ignored Mumbai Muslims, the overwhelming majority of whom have remained peaceful, even after their gross and wanton victimization by communal elements, especially in Security establishments and political opportunists circles. In a total city population of over 20 million, Muslims are about 4 million. That is as big a population as possibly half the population of Muslim in the US. The diversity of regional origins of the relocated Muslims in Mumbai only gets superseded when a common threat on their Muslim identity is organised by political elements. The Muslim reaction to such victimization has potential for great disruption in national and international peace atmosphere. If Obama had been rightly advised by the Mumbai’s American Consul General, a visit to a nearby 100-year old educational institution, Anjuman Islam, with student strength of over 100,000 Muslim boys and girls, right next to CST Railways Terminus, where Obama is scheduled to visit to pay homage to the innocent, would have symbolized as America’s big endorsement of moderate and secular Muslim’s one institution that is relentlessly struggling to offer modern and professional education to the masses as the bulwark against any uncivil activities that could threaten national or international peace.
Showing posts with label OBAMA'S OPENING TO MUSLIM WORLD - REAL OR FAKE?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OBAMA'S OPENING TO MUSLIM WORLD - REAL OR FAKE?. Show all posts
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
LETTER TO THE EDITOR- RE: US SPECIAL ENVOY FARAH PANDITH'S VISIT TO INDIA AND INDIAN MUSLIMS
Friday, February 19, 2010
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
US special envoy Farah Pandith's meetings with Muslims in Delhi and Mumbai, could not be rated more than a propaganda exercise by Obama to pacify Muslims, who are deeply agitated and distressed over US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and the continued shedding of blood of innocent civilians. As per reports, by her own account, she is not authorised to even discuss the most important issues that are agitating the Muslims all over the world: Israel-Palestinian peace and withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. She referred one issue to George Mitchell and the other to Richard Holbrooke. So what is there for her to explain to her selected audience in American Centers? In fact, it would appear that she is an innocent victim of abuse by the Obama and Clinton administration as she has not been entrusted with any policy decision making and merely asked to perform a parrot like role to advance America's false propaganda about a new thinking towards Muslim world. Mere words don't count. Muslim world expects action on both issues that is the main cause of alienation of Muslim from US administration's armed actions that kills innocent Muslims and destroys Muslim lands. That action is not forthcoming --- neither in short term nor in long-term USplanning!
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
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US is a friend of Muslims, says Obama envoy
By IANS,
New Delhi : Farah Pandith, the Kashmiri-born US special representative for the Islamic world, Wednesday said her country wanted a "long-term relationship" with Muslims, based on "mutual interest and mutual respect".
Addressing an invited gathering mostly of Muslims in Delhi's India Islamic Cultural Centre, Pandith said the US wanted to invest in building a relationship with Muslim youth and establish people-to-people contact.
"Secretary (Hillary) Clinton has asked me to work with the Muslim community around the world as much as we can," she said on the second day of her first official four-day trip to India that will also take her to Mumbai.
"We want to build a long-term relationship and engage with young Muslims in a dialogue based on mutual interest and mutual respect," Pandith said.
She said President Barack Obama's administration wished to reach out to the grassroots of Muslim masses in countries where the Muslims "are either in majority or minority".
Pandith said Muslims formed one-fourth of the world population and the US wanted to negotiate future relations with young Muslims.
"I am focused on the young generation in the Muslim world and we are engaging young Muslim generation in dialogues and conversations to build trust and remove misunderstandings," she said.
Pandith highlighted Obama's "vision to build partnerships with Muslim communities across the globe".
Pandith is an American Muslim born in India's Jammu and Kashmir. Her parents immigrated to the US in 1969. She was nominated the Muslim envoy June 23, 2009, by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She was sworn in Sep 15 last year.
Addressing an invited gathering mostly of Muslims in Delhi's India Islamic Cultural Centre, Pandith said the US wanted to invest in building a relationship with Muslim youth and establish people-to-people contact.
"Secretary (Hillary) Clinton has asked me to work with the Muslim community around the world as much as we can," she said on the second day of her first official four-day trip to India that will also take her to Mumbai.
"We want to build a long-term relationship and engage with young Muslims in a dialogue based on mutual interest and mutual respect," Pandith said.
She said President Barack Obama's administration wished to reach out to the grassroots of Muslim masses in countries where the Muslims "are either in majority or minority".
Pandith said Muslims formed one-fourth of the world population and the US wanted to negotiate future relations with young Muslims.
"I am focused on the young generation in the Muslim world and we are engaging young Muslim generation in dialogues and conversations to build trust and remove misunderstandings," she said.
Pandith highlighted Obama's "vision to build partnerships with Muslim communities across the globe".
Pandith is an American Muslim born in India's Jammu and Kashmir. Her parents immigrated to the US in 1969. She was nominated the Muslim envoy June 23, 2009, by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She was sworn in Sep 15 last year.
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