MORAL FOR INDIA : CORRUPTION NEVER PAYS

MORAL FOR INDIA : CORRUPTION NEVER PAYS

http://www.freepressjournal.in/news/71058-pak-hurtling-towards-poll.html

Pak hurtling towards poll
FRANKLY SPEAKING SEEMA MUSTAFA

• India


• Jun 25, 2012

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President Zardari seems to be the main obstacle in the way of smooth executive- judiciary ties. He is certainly part of the problem, and not the solution

The people of Pakistan are helplessly watching their government and the judiciary slug it out in a drama that would have been farcical had it not been so dangerous. On the one day Pakistans Supreme Court disqualified Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The Pakistan Peoples Party went into a huddle and emerged, after some debate, with Textiles Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin as its choice for Prime Minister. Almost immediately a lower court issued an arrest warrant for him over a drugs scandal. A day later the PPP named Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as the replacement for the Prime Ministers post. It remains to be seen whether he survives as in an earlier stint as the power and water minister Ashraf had been dogged with allegations of corruption, and is certainly not seen as a particularly honest man in his country.

 His future, thus is uncertain with even the Pakistan media questioning Ashrafs stability in office. The loud talk after the Supreme Court has subsided as a rather chastened PPP is now clearly worried.

After the initial ruling Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, in a rather defiant mood, had declared that the era of " packing Parliament through the back door" is over and " no back doors or side doors will be allowed to be reopened for sending the elected Parliamentarians home." However, he had to eat his words and sent Makhdoom home, and perhaps even to jail if the courts have their way.

The Supreme Court is clear that it wants Pakistans Prime Minister who so it might be, to write to the Swiss authorities for details of President Zardaris accounts.

And it will not doubt raise the issue again as soon as a Prime Minister is in place. So any Prime Minister of the PPP will again have only one of two options: to either defy the courts directives, and be disqualified. Or to crack down on the judiciary, arrest all independent judges, and establish the power of the executive and the legislature over the judiciary through the use of brutal force.

Short of this the cases against President Zardari stand, and the Supreme Court clearly in no mood to reconcile with the government, will continue pursuing the cases of corruption against him. The chaos over the disqualification is thus not temporary, and the clouds are not going to pass. The government led by a President widely acknowledged to be corrupt, from the taxi driver to legislators in Pakistan, is not in a position to resist a firm judiciary without the seams cracking open. PPP legislators dubbing the court verdict as a " conspiracy" to prevent the Zardari government from completing its five years in office till February 2013 are actually admitting the writing on the wall: early elections are around the corner.

Zardaris brave talk is not convincing.

And while the worry in battle- torn Pakistan is real about the outcome of this clash between the executive, legislature and the judiciary there is not much left in the system to check it. The only way out of the mess, and that too not as a certain option, are early polls. Imran Khan has already called for elections. The others, more crafty in their politics, are seeking new alignments. Former Prime Minister and head of PML( N) Nawaz Sharif has become active in trying to make friends of old enemies, including some who he had sworn never to speak to as long as he lived. Zardari has already spoken to MQM chief Altaf Hussain and made a bid to persuade JUI- F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to come back into the PPP- led coalition. Rehman has reportedly refused.

The point is that Pakistan seems to be hurtling towards an election with breakneck speed. There is a growing feeling within that country that these might provide a fresh start by bringing a new, and perhaps less corrupt and more responsive, government in power. It is clear that the Pakistan Army under General Pervez Kayani is not going to seek power, preferring to let the so- called institutions of a fragile democracy battle it out in the field. Imran Khan has perhaps the least to lose and the most to gain, as from a tally of zero he hopes to rise to the position of at least a ''''king- maker" if not the king himself. It is true though that his popularity has grown tremendously, and the young people seem to now look upon him as their preferred option. To what extent this translates into votes has to be seen and Pakistanis in any drawing room in Islamabad for instance remain divided between a " he will sweep" position to a " he will definitely get a few seats." His relations with the military seem to be good, and he is not likely to face any real opposition from this all important constituency in Pakistan.

PML- N chief Nawaz Sharif seems to be coming out of his slumber to make a bid to power. He has waited for long, and is now said to have approached several political parties including individuals in PML- Q if Pakistan media reports are to be believed. The former Prime Minister is believed to be in touch with MQM and ANP as well as smaller groups in the National Assembly like JUI- F and PPPSherpao.

No one has rushed out in his favour but the process, as politicians like to say, is on.

The manipulative skills of Zardari that Pakistanis recognise as " highly successful" in keeping him and the PPP in power have alienated many in government, and even his party. Even at this moment while the men around him are paying the price, Zardari himself has managed to stay out of the legal loop, at least until a Prime Minister writes to the Swiss, and the Swiss agree to provide the necessary information to the Pakistan courts.

Seems very much like the Bofors or Black Money trail that Indian governments have pursued over decades with little to no results! Democracy in Pakistan has been taking knocks, over and over again. The desire of the people has been countered several times by the Army through direct rule; and now by this unseemly row between the pillars of democracy over a President who has refused to step down and allow the law to take its course. It is interesting to note that there is little to no questioning in the Pakistan media about Zardari and what he should do to restore the rule of law and with it levels of democracy in Pakistan. Instead, even leading luminaries have got involved in the judiciary versus executive debate, with the latter now threatening to take the matter to the legislature as it has in the recent past. Articles about the role of the judiciary etc have appeared in the media, but while it is important to have a debate as we have here in India over the role of the judiciary or judicial activism as many call it, it is also important to understand the reasons for the row, and what can be done for smoother functioning of these important institutions.

President Zardari seems to be the main obstacle in the way of smooth executive-judiciary relations. He is certainly part of the problem, and not the solution that will emerge on its own if he removes himself from the seat of power. But then this is highly unlikely, and being possessed of manipulative skills he is still moving the pawns in a bid to outmanipulate the judiciary in this game of nerves and power.

 
FRANKLY SPEAKING SEEMA MUSTAFA

Day after, Pratapgarh village tense; 2 FIRs but no arrest - By Prashant Pandey - The Indian Express

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/day-after-pratapgarh-village-tense;-2-firs-but-no-arrest/966315/0

Day after, Pratapgarh village tense; 2 FIRs but no arrest

Prashant Pandey : Asthan, Pratapgarh, Mon Jun 25 2012, 02:04 hrs
The residents of Asthan village in Pratapgarh, UP, whose houses were torched on Saturday by a mob protesting against the rape and murder of a girl, are living in fear and not even thinking of returning to their homes to begin life afresh. The situation remains tense.

Two FIRs have been registered and 68 people identified. No arrests have been made so far. The police said 46 houses had been torched.

The Station Officer of Nawabganj police station, Arun Kumar Pathak, has been placed under suspension. Senior officials have also sent negative reports against Circle Officer (Kunda) V S Rana.

The violence had erupted when the body of the girl, who was allegedly gangraped and murdered on June 20, was being taken for cremation on Saturday.

The incident comes close on the heels of riots in Kosi Kalan in Mathura, where the Muslim localities were targeted on June 3.

One of the more than 125 “refugees” — put up at T P College in Kunda since Saturday evening — Akhtar Ali (80) said: “The mob came suddenly and surrounded us from all directions. They set our house on fire. My sons and some other residents somehow managed to save me.”

At the time, Ali’s four sons and three daughters, besides his wife, were present in the house. Three of his sons live in Bhiwandi where they work in powerlooms. Fourth one sells clothes brought from there. Together, they claimed to have lost goods worth over Rs 2.5 lakh.

“More importantly, we feel that the police simply aided the attackers. Give us that much time and we too can teach them (the attackers) a lesson,” said an angry Afsar Ali, son of the old man.

The Muslim hamlet houses mostly Ansaris who are employed in the powerloom industry in Bhiwandi. The victims could mostly have been women, children and old men, but for the fact that the many male members had come home to attend marriages. Their cattle, grains and other belongings were either taken away or burnt, they said.

All the “refugees” were shifted in the evening to a madrasa in nearby Barai for better care.

“They were facing problems at the college and the members of the Muslim community said they would be much at ease in madrasa, following which permission was given,” said Pratapgarh SP O P Sagar.

Asthan, with blackened houses, smoke still rising from a couple of houses, resembled a ghost village. A heavy posse of policemen guarded it. They also prevented this correspondent from visiting the hamlet in which the Dalits, who allegedly attacked the Muslim locality, lived.

Niyaz Ahmed Ansari, brother of Asthan’s pradhan Nizam Ansari, said the incident was waiting to happen. “When the incident of murder of the girl came to light, there were a few persons who told us that we should escape from the village if we were to save our lives,” said Niyaz.

He took refuge in Pariyawan village, about 4 km from Asthan. Niyaz said the issue could have been sorted out, but the visit of Shailendra Singh (Samajwadi Party’s MP from Kaushambi) and Vinod Saroj (independent MLA, Bihar Assembly constituency) a day before the violence led to the escalation of tension. 

Kaushambi’s two Assembly segments — Bihar and Kunda — fall in Pratapgarh.

“Although, it is matter of investigation, it is true that Singh and Saroj visited the area on Friday. They both belong to the same community as the attackers,” said Sagar.

Shailendra Singh said he had visited the Dalits and also the Muslims after the incident. “Why will any MP create strife in his own constituency? People who have a vested interest are spreading such rumours,” he said.

UP announces relief

The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 each to residents of 46 houses which were torched by a mob in Pratapgarh’s Asthan village on Saturday. It also declared to provide ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the11-year-old Dalit girl whose rape and murder allegedly led to the arson and violence.

Morsi Is Winner of Egyptian Presidency - By David D. Kirpatrick - The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/world/middleeast/mohamed-morsi-of-muslim-brotherhood-declared-as-egypts-president.html

Morsi Is Winner of Egyptian Presidency

Andre Pain/European Pressphoto Agency

Supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate for president, gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo to await the declaration of a winner on Sunday.

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: June 24, 2012 39 Comments

CAIRO — Election regulators named Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood the winner of Egypt’s first competitive presidential elections, handing the Islamist group a symbolic triumph and a new weapon in its struggle for power with the ruling military council.

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Mohamed Morsi, the candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, was declared the winner of the Egyptian presidential election on Sunday.

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After an hourlong speech in which he detailed dozens of specific inquiries down to the ballot-box level, the chairman of the election commission, Farouk Sultan, announced that Mr. Morsi had won 51.7 percent of the runoff vote completed last weekend. The other candidate, the former general Ahmed Shafik, won 48.3 percent.

In Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands had gathered to await the result, the confirmation of Mr. Morsi’s win brought instant, rollicking celebration. Fireworks went up over the crowd, which took up a pulsing, deafening chant: “Morsi! Morsi!”

Mr. Morsi now becomes the first Islamist elected to be head of an Arab state. But his victory is an ambiguous milestone in Egypt’s promised transition to democracy after the ouster 16 months ago of President Hosni Mubarak.

After an election that international monitors called credible, the military-led government has recognized an electoral victory by an opponent of military rule over Mr. Shafik, who promised harmony with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. But Mr. Morsi’s recognition as president does little to resolve the larger standoff between the generals and the Brotherhood over the balance of power over the institutions of government and the future constitution. Under the generals’ plan, Mr. Morsi, 60, will assume an office stripped of almost all authority under a military-issued interim constitution.

Having dissolved the democratically elected and Brotherhood-led Parliament on the eve of the presidential vote, the generals who seized control after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster abrogated their pledge to hand power by June 30, eliciting charges of a new military coup.

After 84 years as an often outlawed secret society struggling in the prisons and shadows of monarchs and dictators, the Brotherhood is now closer than ever to its dream of building a novel Islamist democracy. And its leaders vowed to fight on for the restoration of Parliament regardless of Mr. Morsi’s win.

Although it was clear as early as Monday morning that Mr. Morsi had won more votes than Mr. Shafik, the weeklong delay in the official results stirred widespread fears that the military-led government might seek to name Mr. Shafik as a decisive blow in the generals’ power struggle with the Brotherhood.

Before the results were announced, the capital was as tense Sunday as on any day since the two and a half week revolt that brought down Mr. Mubarak. Army tanks and soldiers were deployed around the election commission, the Parliament and other institutions to prepare for possible violence. Foreign embassies warned their citizens to stay away from downtown. Banks, government offices and schools all closed early to allow students and employees to get off the streets.

His designation as president-elect will hand the Brotherhood and its allies a bully pulpit to use the struggle for power with the military. The Brotherhood has sought to rebuild the partnership with more secular and liberal advocates of democracy that came together in the uprising against Mr. Mubarak, and Brotherhood leaders have vowed not to hold any negotiations with the generals without the participation of the other groups in their so-called “national front.”

But on its own, the Brotherhood’s control of the presidency will do nothing to reduce the calm the fierce polarization of Egyptian society. On Saturday night, a counter protest that reportedly grew to over 10,000 gathered in a neighborhood with a heavy concentration of military personnel to demonstrate in support of the ruling generals, Mr. Shafik and secular government. Mr. Shafik, Mr. Mubarak’s last prime minister, has campaigned with the support of the old ruling party elite as a new strongman who can bring back order after the 16 months of chaos.

Earlier in the day, a group of secular political leaders and lawmakers who call themselves liberals had held a televised news conference to declare their support for the generals and the dissolution of the Brotherhood-led Parliament. The praised the shutdown of parliament as a victory for law and order, citing an unusually rushed court decision announced the day before. (The Brotherhood has respected the ruling but challenged its implementation.)
The secular politicians also accused the Brotherhood of “hijacking” the revolution and called it a threat to the “civil” character of the state. They dismissed the Brotherhood’s pledges to govern in coalition, respecting individual and minority rights, and instead accused the group of plotting to impose religious rule.

Incongruously given Washington’s history of antagonism with the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood, the secular block argued that the United States was improperly attempting to sway the presidential race in favor of the Brotherhood, although American officials and the embassy have said they support only the democratic process regardless of the result.

Mr. Morsi is an American-educated engineer who received his doctoral degree at the University of Southern California. He used to lead the Brotherhood’s small bloc of lawmakers in the Mubarak-dominated parliament.

TISS report points to anti-Muslim bias of police [in Maharashtra, India] - By Meena Menon - The Hindu, Chennai, India

http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/article3563333.ece/?page=all

TISS report points to anti-Muslim bias of police

23 June 2012 , By Meena Menon

“Most of prisoners in Maharashtra jails victims of prejudice”

A report on Muslim prisoners in Maharashtra jails by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) establishes that most of them do not have connections with criminal gangs, and points to an acute bias of the police for arresting them in some cases only because they belong to a particular community.

A Study of the Socio Economic Profile and Rehabilitation Needs of Muslim Community in Prisons in Maharashtra, 2011, by Dr. Vijay Raghavan and Roshni Nair from the Centre for Criminology and Justice School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), states that 96 per cent of the respondents have not been held under preventive detention charges, thus indicating that they are not viewed as a threat to law and order.

The study which surveyed 339 Muslims, mostly between 18 and 30 years of age, in 15 prisons says this implies that most respondents do not have connections with criminal gangs or have any record which may be a threat to law and order. About 25.4 per cent of those imprisoned don’t have lawyers to represent them in their cases.

The police’s bias against Muslims led to some of the arrests under the erstwhile Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) and even under the Official Secrets Act.
 
‘Two types of laws’

An agent in textile export, Murtuza, arrested under the Official Secrets Act on charges of spying, says in his interview to the research team: “There are two types of laws in this country. One is for Hindus and the other is for Muslims. The policeman is first a Hindu and then a policeman. The judge is first a Hindu and then a judge and the lawyer is first a Hindu then a lawyer. People who work against the State, indulge in rioting, kill thousands of innocent people, and harass women and children roam free in this country. They are not punished. I am suffering only because I am a Muslim.”

Murtuza strongly feels that the discriminatory attitude is one of the major reasons for his arrest. He says that the police do not have enough evidence against him and yet he remains in prison. Two years have passed and the case is dragging on in court. He misses his court dates because the escort to take him to court is often not available. He has applied for bail thrice, but it has been rejected each time. He also applied for transferring the case to a different judge, but nothing has happened yet.

Poor victimised

Another prisoner Moiz says that “every time he tries to start life afresh, the police arrest him in some false case. They also demand money from criminals and those who can pay are set free. The poor are victimised. The police are very powerful and can do anything.”
Some interviews reflect the deep despair and alienation of the people interviewed. Muneer feels that after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the rift between Hindus and Muslims has widened. Due to the riots and bomb blasts in 1992-93, the police perception of Muslims has become negative. The police view them as criminal minded. Migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are viewed with prejudice by the police.

Shoaib expressed his fears about the breakdown of the social fabric if the bias against Muslims continues. “The police have a negative perception of the Muslim community and act with bias. Due to the actions of the police and fundamentalist politics, the perception of Muslims is negative in society. If the situation continues to be like this, the next generation may get into further crime and vested interests could use them. Society’s perception and the negative feelings of hatred have to be reduced. Only then there is hope for a better tomorrow. Otherwise the situation will get worse for individuals, their families and society.”

About 70 per cent of the 3,000 Muslims prisoners in 15 jails were under trials and 30 per cent were convicted prisoners. What is of concern is that 52.8 per cent are charged with violent crimes mainly murder, attempt to murder, rape, assault and kidnapping. Among the under trials interviewed charge sheets have only been filed in 47.4 per cent of the cases and a mere 3.8 per cent have reached judgement stage, indicating the slow pace of trials. Of those interviewed 75.5 per cent were arrested for the first time and 25.5 per cent are repeat offenders.

The percentage of Muslims in jails is also a high 36 per cent, says Dr. Raghavan, quoting recent official figures. Along with Gujarat and Kerala, Maharashtra is one of the States with the most disproportionate number of Muslims in prisons.

The Sachar Committee report says that in Maharashtra, Muslims account for 10.6 per cent of the general population; yet they comprise 32.4 per cent of the prison population. For those incarcerated on terms of less than a year, the figure rises: 42 per cent of prisoners on short-term sentences in the State are Muslims.

This study was done at the behest of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission in response to the charge of a disproportionate number of Muslims in jail. It makes a slew of recommendations relating to rehabilitation and correctional programmes, and the need for steps to sensitise the police and prison administration.

Last month the findings were presented at a meeting with Arif Naseem Khan, State Minister for Minority Affairs.

The Minister accepted most of the recommendations, especially those relating to legal aid, adult education, vocational training, release on probation, and awareness and counselling centres in Muslim areas.

The Additional Chief Secretary of Minority Development will call a high-level inter-departmental meeting soon to work out ways to implement the recommendations.

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
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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>
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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.”

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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.

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‘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.]