Monday, July 12, 2010
Book Review : President Carter's Book on Palestine - Review by Dr. Habib Siddiqui
President Carter’s Book on Palestine
By
Dr. Habib Siddiqui
Book Review: Palestine Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter, Simon & Schuster, New York (2006)
No American president has probably touched the lives of so many outside in a positive way than Jimmy Carter – the 39th president. For the past three decades, since leaving the White House, he has been a resolute voice for human rights and democracy. It was for such activism in the world arena that the Nobel Committee honored him as the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office. To most of his admirers he genuinely deserved the award, something that cannot be said of President Obama, who earned the award in 2009.
President Carter is very vocal about the Palestine-Israel conflict and believes that the USA has a strong role in any peace effort involving the Middle East. Is America ready to play its historic role for peace-making? Can it be trusted by all the parties to the dispute? President Carter’s book “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid” makes it abundantly clear that America has failed in that task rather miserably. Still, his observation is right. After all, the USA has been Israel’s greatest benefactor since the Jewish state was recognized by President Truman. Had it not been for America’s economic aid and security guarantees, plus the abuse of the veto power inside the UN Security Council, the rogue state would have long been a distant memory, much like the short-lived crusader state in the 12th century.
Most people would have hard time realizing that in spite of such blind (and often criminal) support, rendered by the USA, the official U.S. policy in matters relating to the Palestine-Israel conflict is predicated on a few key UN Security Council resolutions, notably 242 of 1967 and 338 of 1973. In his book, president Carter says, “Approved unanimously and still applicable, their basic premise is that Israel’s acquisition of territory by force is illegal and Israel must withdraw from occupied territories. More specifically, U.S. policy was that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza were “illegal and obstacles to peace.”” (pp. 38-39)
Israel, however, has always put confiscation of Palestinian land ahead of peace. It was these illegal settlement activities during the Bush Sr. administration that provoked an official White House statement: “The United States has opposed, and will continue to oppose, settlement activity in territories occupied in 1967, which remain an obstacle to peace.” From the State Department, Secretary Baker even added, “I don’t think there is any greater obstacle to peace than settlement activity that continues not only unabated but at an advanced pace.” (pp. 131-2) After George H.W. Bush was no longer in office, a major settlement between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, previously halted because of U.S. threat of cutting aid to Israel, was rapidly completed. (p. 132)
After Carter’s presidency ended, there was no sustained American leadership in the Middle East peace process until the Gulf War against Iraq in the spring of 1991, when Secretary Baker made several trips to the region. During Clinton-era there was a 90% growth in the number of settlers in the occupied territories, with the greatest increase during the administration of Prime Minister Ehud Barak. By the end of the year 2000, Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza numbered 225,000. The best offer to the Palestinians – by Clinton, not Barak – had been to withdraw 20% of the settlers, leaving more than 180,000 in 209 settlements, covering about 10% of the occupied land, including land to be “leased” and portions of the Jordan River valley and East Jerusalem. (pp. 150-1)
According to Carter, “The percentage figure is misleading, since it usually includes only the actual footprints of the settlements. There is a zone with a radius of about four hundred meters around each settlement within which Palestinians cannot enter. In addition, there are other large areas that would have been taken or earmarked to be used exclusively by Israel, roadways that connect the settlements to one another and to Jerusalem, and “life arteries” that provide the settlers with water, sewage, electricity, and communications. These range in width from 500 to 4000 meters, and Palestinians cannot use or cross many of these connecting links. This honeycomb of settlements and their interconnecting conduits effectively divide the West Bank into at least two noncontiguous areas and multiply fragments, often uninhabitable or even unreachable, and control of the Jordan River valley denies Palestinians any direct access eastward into Jordan. About 100 military checkpoints completely surround Palestine and block routes going into or between Palestinian communities, combined with an uncountable number of other roads that are permanently closed with larger concrete cubes or mounds of earth and rocks. There was no possibility that any Palestinian leader could accept such terms and survive, but official statements from Washington and Jerusalem were successful in placing the entire onus for the failure on Yasir Arafat.” (pp. 151-2)
A new round of talks was held at Taba in January 2001, during the last few days of Clinton presidency. It was later claimed that the Palestinians rejected a “generous offer” put forward by PM Barak with Israel keeping only 5% of West Bank. Carter says, “The fact is no such offers were ever made.” (p. 152)
In April 2003 a “Roadmap” for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was announced by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on behalf of the US, the UN, Russia and the EU (known as the Quartet). This was before George W. Bush invaded Iraq. Annan stated, “Such a settlement, negotiated between the parties, will result in the emergence of an independent, democratic Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbors. The settlement will end the occupation that began in 1967, based on the Madrid Conference terms of reference and the principle of land for peace, UNSC Resolutions 242, 338 and 1397, agreements previously reached by the parties, and the Arab initiative proposed by the Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and endorsed by the Arab Summit in Beirut.” (p. 159)
As we all know, the Palestinians accepted the roadmap in its entirety, but the Israeli government announced 14 caveats and prerequisites, some of which would preclude any final peace talks. According to Carter, “The practical result of all this is that the Roadmap for Peace has become moot, with only two results: Israel has been able to use it as a delaying tactic with an endless series of preconditions that can never be met, while proceeding with plans to implement its unilateral goals.” (p. 160)
In October 2003, seeing no progress with the “Roadmap”, with involvement of the Carter Center, a final draft for a new initiative was concluded, which was later disclosed by Carter in Geneva. A majority of the Israelis and Palestinians approved the Geneva principles, despite strong opposition from some top political leaders. Sharon condemned the Geneva Initiative and there was silence from the White House, but Secretary Powell supported the Initiative and met with key negotiators – Yasser Abed Rabbo and Beilin. (p. 167) Later George W. Bush, a born-again Christian, mindful of not repeating his father’s “mistakes” (in chiding the Jewish state), had no interest in any peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Taking advantage of diplomatic vacuum left by GW Bush, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon came up with a unilateral decision to encircle Palestinians by constructing a wall that’s at least 3.5 times Israel’s international recognized border. According to Carter, the wall effectively divided Palestinian villages, separating the farmers from their fields, and not just separating Palestinians from Jews but rather Palestinians from Palestinians. (pp. 189-194) He observes, “There has been a determined and remarkably effective effort to isolate settlers from Palestinians, so that a Jewish family can commute from Jerusalem to their highly subsidized home deep in the West Bank on roads from which others are excluded, without ever coming in contact with any facet of Arab life.” (p. 190) In July 2004, the International Court of Justice determined that the wall was illegal and called on Israel to cease construction of the wall, to dismantle what has already been built in areas beyond Israel’s international recognized border, and to compensate Palestinians who have suffered as a result of the wall’s construction. But Israel has ignored the ICJ verdict.
During the Israel-Lebanon conflict of 2006, the Bush administration strongly supported Israel, encouraged their bombardment of Lebanon, and blocked the efforts of France and other nations to impose an immediate ceasefire. According to Carter, during this period of conflict, while world’s attention was in Lebanon, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killed more than 200 Palestinians, 44 of them children, in Gaza. (p. 200) In September 2006, Prime Minister Olmert authorized construction bids for another 690 homes in the occupied West Bank. He also rejected an offer from Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, to negotiate an exchange of prisons. (p. 202)
According to Carter, from September 2000 until March 2006 (before the book went for publication), some 3,982 Palestinians and 1,084 Israelis were killed in the second Intifada and these numbers include many children: 708 Palestinians and 123 Israelis (p. 206). President GW Bush shares great responsibility for letting such massacre to continue.
The question of land – who owned what percent before the infamous Partition plan was announced in 1947 – is very important to understand the root cause of the ensuing conflict. Zionist leaders have always claimed that the Partition plan in which the Jews were given a bigger share of the pie was fair. Land records, however, show that Jewish ownership was only 2.5% of the land before Israel declared its independence in 1948. Carter reminds us that in 1880 there were only 30,000 Jews in Palestine, scattered among 600,000 Muslims and Christian Arabs. When Britain conducted a census in Palestine in 1922, there were about 84,000 Jews and 670,000 Arabs, of whom 71,000 were Christians. By 1930, thanks to the British policy of Jewish immigration from Europe to Palestine, their numbers had grown to more than 150,000 (p. 65). By the time the area was partitioned by the UN, these numbers had grown to about 600,000 Jews and 1.3 million Arabs, 10 percent of whom were Christians (p. 58). That is, there were two Palestinians for every Jew, and yet, the Jews were given 56% of the land! It does not require a genius to understand the reasons behind Arab rejection of the unfair plan.
As a result of the war of 1948, more than 710,000 unarmed Palestinians were expelled by the Zionist terrorists from their ancestral land. The return of these refugees and their children and grandchildren, born in Diaspora, now remains a serious bone of contention. Israel is adamant about disallowing return of the Palestinian refugees while it remains open to Jewish immigration from anywhere in the world to the holy land.
Carter reminds us that by 1964 when the PLO was formally organized, there were, according to the UN estimate, 1.3 million Palestinian refugees, with one-fourth in Jordan, about 150,000 each in Lebanon and Syria, and most of others in West Bank and Gaza refugee camps (p. 58). Nor should we forget that when Israel launched pre-emptive strikes on June 5, 1967 and within six days occupied the Golan Heights, Gaza, the Sinai, Jerusalem, and the West Bank another 320,000 Arabs were forced to leave the additional areas in Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine that were occupied by Israel. A number of UN resolutions were adopted with U.S. support and Israeli approval, reemphasizing the inadmissibility of acquisition of land by force, calling for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories, and urging that the more needy and deserving refugees be repatriated to their former homes (p. 59).
In the popular Jewish-owned western media the Palestinians, and their political leadership, are portrayed as the “bad guys,” who aspire to drive the Jews into the sea and reject the two-state formula. President Carter discloses that in a 1990 meeting the PLO chief Yasir Arafat stated, “The PLO has never advocated the annihilation of Israel. The Zionists started the ‘drive the Jews into the sea’ slogan and attributed it to the PLO. In 1969 we said we wanted to establish a democratic state where Jews, Christians and Muslims can all live together. The Zionists said they do not choose to live with any people other than Jews… We said to the Zionist Jews, all right, if you do not want a secular, democratic state for all of us, then we will take another route. In 1974 I said we are ready to establish our independent state in any part from which Israel will withdraw.” (p. 62)
According to president Carter, PLO Chairman Arafat sent a letter to PM Rabin in September 1993 in which he stated unequivocally that the PLO recognized the right of Israel to exist in peace and security, accepted UN Resolutions 242 and 338, committed itself to a peaceful negotiated resolution of the conflict, renounced the use of terrorism and other acts of violence, affirmed that those articles of the PLO covenant that deny Israel’s right to exist were not longer valid. Although Israel recognized the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people in the Oslo Peace negotiations, Arafat failed to obtain other specific concessions concerning a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territories. (pp. 134-5)
Hamas has been portrayed as a Palestinian resistance group that is totally opposed to peace, and rejecting the so-called two-state formula for co-existence. According to Carter, much in contrast to Israeli claims about Hamas’s intention for a Palestinian state in all the territories, the Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh stated in June of 2006, “We have no problem with a sovereign Palestinian state over all our lands within the 1967 borders, living in calm.” (p. 203)
Well, such shocking revelations may sound unbelievable, but fact remains that Israel has never been serious about letting Palestinians live in an independent state of their own.
In the popular western media, Israel is portrayed as a model state with equal rights for all its citizens. However, facts are much uglier. It remains the last of the apartheid states in our world. During his many trips to Israel, President Carter met with local Palestinians who emphasized that they were deprived of their most basic human rights. They claimed that that any demonstration against Israeli abuses resulted in mass arrests of Palestinians, including children throwing stones, bystanders who were not involved, families of protesters, and those known to make disparaging statements about the occupation. Once incarcerated, they had little hope for a fair trial and often had no access to their families or legal counsel. Most of these cases were tried in military tribunals, but 90% of the inmates were being held in civilian jails. One of the attorneys told, “Here there is one system under civil judges and another under the military. Most of our cases, no matter what the subject might be, fall under the military. They are our accusers, judges, and juries, and they all seem the same to us.” (pp. 118-9)
The apartheid character of the Israeli state is too visible through its persecution and harassment of the Palestinian people. International human rights organizations estimate that since 1967 more than 630,000 Palestinians (about 20%) of the total population) in the occupied territories have been detained at some time by the Israelis. According to President Carter, in addition to time in jail, the pre-trial periods can be quite lengthy. Palestinian detainees can be interrogated under special laws for a total of 180 days and denied lawyer visits for intervals of 90 days. Accused persons are usually in military courts in the West Bank, and incarcerated in prisons inside Israel, in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention. (pp. 196-7)
Access to water, e.g., remains a persistent issue. Each Israeli settler uses five times as much water as a Palestinian neighbor, who must pay four times as much per gallon. There are Israeli swimming pools adjacent to Palestinian villages where drinking water had to be hauled in on tanker trucks and dispensed by the bucketful. Most of the hilltop settlements are on small areas of land, so untreated sewage is discharged into the surrounding fields and villages (p. 121).
Only in an apartheid state can one expect to see such outright discrimination and harassment of a people! Israeli state policy forces exodus upon the Palestinian people.
Consider also the disproportionate privilege enjoyed by the settler Jews in the Gaza Strip before June 2004 when Israel’s cabinet approved a plan for disengagement from the territory. Living among 1.3 million Palestinians, the 8,000 Israeli settlers were controlling 40% of the arable land and more than one-half the water resources, and 12,000 troops were required to defend their presence. (p. 168) According to Carter, the Palestinian people had little freedom of movement or independent activity. (p. 170)
In 1948 there were 90,000 natives in Gaza. The population more than tripled by 1967, and there are now more than 1.4 million – 3,700 people living per sq. km, making it one of the most densely populated places in our planet. Israel does not allow air and sea transportation from Gaza. Carter observed that fishermen were not allowed to leave the harbor, workers were prevented form going to outside jobs, the import or export of food and other goods was severely restricted and often cut off completely and the police, teachers, nurses, and social workers were deprived of salaries. Per capita income decreased 40% during 2004-06, and poverty rate reached 70% (pp. 175-6). This was the situation before reinvasion of Gaza in July 2006 and its latest demolition in December 2008 – January 2009 by the IDF (during the last days of Bush administration).
A reading of Carter’s book reveals that the US government, far from being an honest peace-broker, has actually aided in strengthening Israel’s apartheid character. As to the reality of settlements in the West Bank, Carter observes, “It is obvious that the Palestinians will be left with no territory to establish a viable state, but completely enclosed within the barrier and the occupied Jordan River valley. The Palestinians will have a future impossible for them or any responsible portion of the international community to accept, and as Israel’s permanent status will be increasingly troubled and uncertain as deprived people fight oppression and the relative number of Jewish citizens decreases demographically (compare to Arabs) both within Israel and Palestine.” (p. 196)
There is no denying that the unwavering support of the US government has emboldened the Israeli leaders to believe that they are above the international law and have the right to confiscate and colonize Palestinian land, and sustain subjugation and persecution of increasingly hopeless and aggravated Palestinians. The latter see that suicidal activities are ways to shorten their pathetic condition. This madness on both sides must come to an end.
Carter concludes, “Peace will come to Israel and the Middle East only when the Israeli government is willing to comply with international law… It will be a tragedy – for the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the world – if peace is rejected and a system of oppression, apartheid, and sustained violence is permitted to prevail.” (p. 216) He is absolutely right.
Palestine Peace Not Apartheid is a courageous work of a man who is sincere about finding peace in one of the most troubled areas of our world. President Carter has visited the Occupied Territories many times and has firsthand knowledge about America’s failed and half-hearted diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East. I strongly recommend this book to anyone serious about understanding the root of the Palestine-Israel conflict and the fallacy of the American ‘balanced’ diplomacy in the Middle East.
Dr. Habib Siddiqui is a peace and human rights activist, and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bangladesh Expatriate Council, USA. He writes from Pennsylvania.saeva@aol.com
Kashmir's most knowledgeable journalist, Muzamil Jamil catches India bull by the horns
Kashmir's most knowledgeable journalist, Muzamil Jamil catches India bull by the horns
No more denials, please
Is the present turmoil in the valley a manufactured crisis created by separatists and the opposition PDP, or an outcome of systemic failure? Has the Centre rushed to a conclusion about the trigger behind the current phase of the crisis here? Is the Jammu and Kashmir government hiding its own failures on the ground behind unconditional support from the Centre?
A look at how the events leading to the current strife unfolded provides a logical explanation. The strife began when the Machil fake encounter was exposed on May 30. Then, on the evening of June 11, 17-year-old student Tufail Ahmad Mattoo was returning home from tuition. It was Friday, and police were chasing a dozen stone throwers, when they found Mattoo alone inside a football stadium. A policeman fired at him from such close range that the plastic pellet made a half-inch hole in his skull, killing him instantaneously. And as shock overwhelmed the city, the police began a familiar cover-up. First, they claimed that a sharp stone had hit Mattoo’s head and killed him. A few hours later, they termed it “deliberate murder” and sought public help to identify two men who had driven Mattoo body to hospital. But once eyewitnesses came forward and public pressure mounted, the police admitted responsibility. The separatist leaders joined the bandwagon, hoping to take over the streets swelling with anger. The mourners, however, resisted; and three senior separatist leaders had to leave Mattoo’s funeral to escape their ire.
On June 12, even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ordered an enquiry and promised action, CRPF men caught hold of another young man Rafiq Ahmad Bangroo (25) and thrashed him. He was in intensive care for eight days, where he finally died. Over those eight days, life had returned to normal. On June 20, tempers were high among mourners returning after burying him; a group threw stones towards the CRPF bunker where Bangroo had been thrashed. The CRPF men opened fire, killing Bangroo’s 20-year-old cousin Javaid Ahmad Malla. Abdullah, in Gulmarg on vacation, rushed back to Srinagar, held an emergency meeting, replaced the SSP of Srinagar and returned to join his family in the picturesque resort. What infuriated people was that there was no official regret over the killings.
On June 25, calm was setting in again when CRPF men opened fire at a protest in Sopore in which people were seeking the bodies of two local militants killed in an encounter, alleging that one of them was a civilian. The protests grew louder but instead of intervening sensibly, the government used force. The separatists moved; the Mirwaiz called for a Sopore march on June 29. The CRPF men opened fire at a procession in the outskirts of that town, killing a 17-year-old student Tajamul Bashir. Within a few hours, they again opened fire; a nine-year old school boy Asif Hassan at Delina in Baramulla, when he stepped out of his home to look for his mentally challenged older brother, was killed. The following day when Abdullah finally decided to appear before the media, three teenage boys were killed in the most gruesome manner by the J&K police. While chasing a group of protestors, a police party barged into two houses and shot dead these three teenagers — all hit in the head and chest.
With unconditional support from the Centre, the state government started pushing the theory that “anti-national elements” were responsible for the crisis, and that the protestors were rented. Abdullah’s assertion that the protestors are themselves responsible if they die defying curfew sent out a dangerous message to his own police. On July, 6, police chased a half a dozen stone throwing children at Tengpora in the city outskirts and caught hold of 17-year-old student Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat, hitting him in the head with rifle butts. The police denied his arrest, which led to massive protests. In the morning, his body was found in a nearby stream; the autopsy determined he died of “blunt trauma on head”. The CRPF opened fire at his funeral procession too, killing another man, 35-year old Fayaz Ahmad. Survived by two little daughters and a wife, Ahmad’s tragic death provoked massive protests across Kashmir. A few hours later, a 25-year-old woman who had dared to open the window of her house during curfew was shot and killed.
The civilian death toll had reached 15 and Srinagar was in absolute turmoil with everyone out on the streets and Azadi songs being played over mosque loudspeakers. Abdullah panicked and hurriedly decided to hand over the city to the army. The move was unprecedented, because the army was not asked to take over the city even during the peak of militancy. Abdullah swamped Srinagar with more than 40,000 men of the police and central forces, to strictly confine its 13 lakh residents to their homes, closing down hospitals and newspapers.
It is a fact that the separatists as well as the opposition PDP are taking political advantage of the situation. But blaming them for manufacturing the crisis is factually inaccurate, and an attempt to cover up the government’s own blunders — in not first preventing these avoidable deaths, and then the delay in containing their fallout. If separatists were so keen to organise a crisis, why didn’t the protests against the army’s fake encounter put the whole valley on a boil? The opposition may fuel the fire but the spark that lit it was the government’s own folly.
Omar Abdullah is an elected CM, and has said that the current issue is “not a simple law and order problem but a battle of wits, ideas and ideologies.” Why does is his government failing to communicate directly with his people? Why is there no political response? Where are the elected legislators? Srinagar city has eight and all of them belong to his National Conference. After all, as elected representatives they claim a greater connect to the people than the separatists — this was the moment for them to affirm that connect. Abdullah’s plan to convene a meet of all the mainstream parties is too little too late.
The current protests, however, have exposed the collective amnesia of the ruling elite and have once again brought into focus the importance of a responsive political initiative to address the larger Kashmir issue. The crisis has also reaffirmed how essential is a process for a political solution, typically put in cold storage as soon as calm descends over the valley. A strategy of denial will only complicate matters, because every folly of the government provokes a public reaction that soon turns into an “Azadi” groundswell.
muzamil.jaleel@expressindia.com
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Times of India does it right with Muslims this time – I - By Ghulam Muhammed
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Times of India does it right with Muslims this time – I
The Times of India has put its arch Muslim-baiter, Mohammed Wajihuddin to shift his focus from Masjids and Mullahs to Muslim professionals and Muslim progress in education field. Its full page Special Report, is gung-ho over how highly educated Muslim professionals, long shunted out of Indian Mainstream, are gradually seeping back into an expanding economic sector that just cannot afford to discriminate against right candidate, even with a Muslim name. The ‘Leap Talk’ organized by a group of Muslim NGOs to motivate Muslims towards opportunities opened up by the new emerging India, was not the first of its kind. But Times of India would rather concentrate on publishing sensational news about Fatwas and social inanities about Muslims, trying to prove as if other than Muslims, no other community in India has problems with KHAPS or crackdowns on women in general.
It is intriguing how after a full century, the old lady of Bori Bunder, had become aware of the existence of its most immediate neighbor, Anjuman e Islam, which was established about the same time as TOI and is now catering to over ‘100,000 students in 100 institutions’. Anjuman has diversified into establishing new professional education institutions, thanks to its benefactors like Haji Kalsekar, who has donated crores to construct new professional colleges. Anjuman is now more poised for future educational strides to parallel with India’s modern needs. It is no longer a favorite stepping stone for would be politicians, who were more interested in their own political careers than the careers of their students. One sincerely hopes that phase has lapsed.
Wajihuddin has traced Muslims through their existential migrations from 'crime' to gulf employment and now a return back home to participate in the exploding world of opportunities in the coming years, where communalism would and should take backseat. But it will take lot of doing by the movers and shakers of the new leaders in the corporate world to make real restitution of the community after more than 60 years of malign targeting. The Ambanis, Tatas, Godrej, Birla, Premjis and Singhanias, will have to clear up the cobwebs of their minds and start to look within if they can pick up the threads from where the State has left and accept Muslims as equal citizens, worthy of equal opportunity on meritocratic basis. The statistics cited by Wajihuddin, is bare minimum. The real expansion is not only in State enterprises, but in private sector too where the new investment is overwhelmingly routed. Thankfully the western investors themselves are legally bound to avoid any semblance of discrimination on the basis of religion, ethnicity or origin. The employment potential of the new expanded corporate economy has to find a new HRD mantra that lacked the earlier State stranglehold in socialistic pattern of managed economy. Communal politics messed in electoral politics sowed seeds of hatred in a nation that has survived with multiethnic tapestry underlining its polity for millenniums. The advent of mass politics and mass media has completely changed the terms of engagement between people. The nation of millions of mutinies got subverted to wage one single-faceted civil war. The whole continent is now suffering from those communally divisive policies and the very integrity and security of the Idea of India is now under serious threat. Media has great responsibility and potential to do right with the masses. To use their power to sow seeds of hatred and divide is the very antithesis of its noble profession.
Muslims who have read today’s Wajihuddin’s introduction to MUPPIES, are highly appreciative of his new focus on constructive role that media can play in the lives of people. In contrast with his 'groupie' journalism, he has found a more effective niche to highlight how Muslim community is coping with adverse conditions prevailing in their own country, thanks to the very media that was the medium of their constant demonization. The community will certainly welcome positive moves to acknowledge their potential in the wider polity and will look forward to both ideas and implementation that should go hand in hand.
Times of India has finally acknowledged the existence of the silent majority of Muslims who refused to become the fodder of divisive forces and are laboriously slogging to earn a better and dignified life among the comity of their pears in the land.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
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Meet the Muppies
Mohammed Wajihuddin, TNN, Jul 11, 2010, 12.09am IST
MUMBAI: Last week, a group of Muslim NGOs organized a motivational talk in a city hall for aspiring engineers, doctors and other professionals. It was called 'Leap Talk' and had half-a-dozen achievers — academics, technocrats, businessmen and bureaucrats — sharing their mantra of success with aspirational young people. "The hall was packed and we were surprised by the enthusiasm the Muslim youth showed to join the job market," says Farid Khan, one of the organizers. Surprising though it may sound, Muslim youth is increasingly motivated and career-conscious, defying the 1990s stereotype of being an angry, uneducated, unemployable and unemployed bunch. The communal and polarized atmosphere of the 1990s is a thing of the past. Instead of picketing thanas and staging protests, Maharashtra's Muslim youth are joining others on the highway to cushy jobs and a comfy life.
Imran Khan, 31, is managing director of the Rs 180-crore Western India Metal Processors Ltd. He recalls the jeers he and two Muslim classmates — actors Zayed Khan and Arif Khan — faced at a prestigious school in Mumbai. "Tum teen khan/Gadhe pe ho sawar aur jao Pakistan (You three Khans, ride an ass and go to Pakistan)," his classmates would say. When he finished school, Khan worked hard to turn the moribund family business into a multinational company. "Perhaps no Muslim child today has to suffer those humiliating remarks," he says, an unlikely victim in his smart clothes and with his swanky car.
Khan's parents did not allow him to head to a US university because he was "the only male child in my family" but he says he has not suffered from it. "In retrospect, I think I was lucky to stay back in India and be part of the inclusive growth the country has witnessed in the past few years." Khan is the stereotypical Muppie and Muslim upwardly mobile professionals are pushing the boundaries like never before. A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for a Muslim woman scientist to work alongside non-Muslim men at the prestigious Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Today, Meher Tabassum, a scientific officer with the Centre's research and development wing, is a role model for many. "Muslims, especially girls, are looking beyond home science courses and making careers in pure science and technology. Globalization has opened limitless opportunities and Muslims too are grabbing them," says 36-year-old Tabassum, who has a gross salary of Rs 85,000 per month.
Clearly, today's young Muslims are dreaming of lives far removed from the cloistered, ghetto existence of yesteryears. Their dreams are being nurtured by Muslim-managed institutions such as the Anjuman-e-Islam in Mumbai. With more than 1,00,000 students in its 100 institutions, including colleges of catering, pharmacy, engineering and polytechnic, the Anjuman symbolizes Muppiedom or Muslim aspiration for educational and economic advancement.
The Anjuman's president Dr Zaheer Kazi is emphatic about the change. "This year one of our students topped the diploma engineering exams in Maharashtra while most of the toppers in various engineering branches are from our college." He adds, "Our engineering and catering students are getting 100% placement."
Armed with good degrees, Muslim youth are now knocking on the doors of public sector enterprises such as the Indian Railways and banks. Salim Alware, member of the standing committee on National Monitoring Committee for Minority Education (an HRD wing), sees a definite surge in Muslim interest in public sector jobs. "The underworld used to fascinate Muslim youth three decades ago. Then came the Gulf boom and many Muslims went to the Gulf. But now, as the charm of the Gulf has waned, many Muslims have turned to opportunities in the railways, banks and bureaucracy," says Alware who writes a column on careers for the Urdu daily Inquilab.
As education becomes a priority for young Muslims, more and more doors are opening to them. Shezan Ali Hemani, 18, cracked the IIT Joint Entrance Exam as well as MBBS entrance test this year. "I chose the latter as I always wanted to become a doctor," says Hemani whose father runs a successful shipping business. He wants to follow his own dreams. "My father turned stone into silver. I am trying to turn it into gold," he says.
These individual success stories are good news for the entire community. Salil Bubere, an international student counsellor who holds a degree in computer science from the University of Wales, chose to counsel students rather than becoming a computer engineer because "I love to help others find avenues of knowledge." About his non-Muslim sounding first name, Bubere, 25, says, "My father named me Salil, a common name among Hindus and Muslims, because he was worried about the discrimination in Indian society. He was needlessly worried. Our society has changed. The job market evaluates you on the basis of your qualification, not your religion."
This monsoon it's raining opportunities and Muslims too are grabbing them. if they need just a little push, career camps and sessions such as Leap Talk are steps in the right direction.
Imran Khan, 31, is managing director of the Rs 180-crore Western India Metal Processors Ltd. He recalls the jeers he and two Muslim classmates — actors Zayed Khan and Arif Khan — faced at a prestigious school in Mumbai. "Tum teen khan/Gadhe pe ho sawar aur jao Pakistan (You three Khans, ride an ass and go to Pakistan)," his classmates would say. When he finished school, Khan worked hard to turn the moribund family business into a multinational company. "Perhaps no Muslim child today has to suffer those humiliating remarks," he says, an unlikely victim in his smart clothes and with his swanky car.
Khan's parents did not allow him to head to a US university because he was "the only male child in my family" but he says he has not suffered from it. "In retrospect, I think I was lucky to stay back in India and be part of the inclusive growth the country has witnessed in the past few years." Khan is the stereotypical Muppie and Muslim upwardly mobile professionals are pushing the boundaries like never before. A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for a Muslim woman scientist to work alongside non-Muslim men at the prestigious Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Today, Meher Tabassum, a scientific officer with the Centre's research and development wing, is a role model for many. "Muslims, especially girls, are looking beyond home science courses and making careers in pure science and technology. Globalization has opened limitless opportunities and Muslims too are grabbing them," says 36-year-old Tabassum, who has a gross salary of Rs 85,000 per month.
Clearly, today's young Muslims are dreaming of lives far removed from the cloistered, ghetto existence of yesteryears. Their dreams are being nurtured by Muslim-managed institutions such as the Anjuman-e-Islam in Mumbai. With more than 1,00,000 students in its 100 institutions, including colleges of catering, pharmacy, engineering and polytechnic, the Anjuman symbolizes Muppiedom or Muslim aspiration for educational and economic advancement.
The Anjuman's president Dr Zaheer Kazi is emphatic about the change. "This year one of our students topped the diploma engineering exams in Maharashtra while most of the toppers in various engineering branches are from our college." He adds, "Our engineering and catering students are getting 100% placement."
Armed with good degrees, Muslim youth are now knocking on the doors of public sector enterprises such as the Indian Railways and banks. Salim Alware, member of the standing committee on National Monitoring Committee for Minority Education (an HRD wing), sees a definite surge in Muslim interest in public sector jobs. "The underworld used to fascinate Muslim youth three decades ago. Then came the Gulf boom and many Muslims went to the Gulf. But now, as the charm of the Gulf has waned, many Muslims have turned to opportunities in the railways, banks and bureaucracy," says Alware who writes a column on careers for the Urdu daily Inquilab.
As education becomes a priority for young Muslims, more and more doors are opening to them. Shezan Ali Hemani, 18, cracked the IIT Joint Entrance Exam as well as MBBS entrance test this year. "I chose the latter as I always wanted to become a doctor," says Hemani whose father runs a successful shipping business. He wants to follow his own dreams. "My father turned stone into silver. I am trying to turn it into gold," he says.
These individual success stories are good news for the entire community. Salil Bubere, an international student counsellor who holds a degree in computer science from the University of Wales, chose to counsel students rather than becoming a computer engineer because "I love to help others find avenues of knowledge." About his non-Muslim sounding first name, Bubere, 25, says, "My father named me Salil, a common name among Hindus and Muslims, because he was worried about the discrimination in Indian society. He was needlessly worried. Our society has changed. The job market evaluates you on the basis of your qualification, not your religion."
This monsoon it's raining opportunities and Muslims too are grabbing them. if they need just a little push, career camps and sessions such as Leap Talk are steps in the right direction.
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Calistus (Kuwait)
11 Jul, 2010 11:07 AM
11 Jul, 2010 11:07 AM
I wonder at times how they have finished their Graduation or higher studies when they can not talk proper english. Looks like they have purchased their certificates from some of the muslim universities in Hyderabad or its a fake certificate. But overall they ...
Bingo KVP, ur on the spot, keep politics away everything will be fine even if you blatantly follow your religion others will respect you, enter the politician your party is spoiled.Alas we cannot do without politicians, so we have to suffer and suspect everyone and make ours and others life hell. woe to the politician (All colours and outfits)
There were many Muslim boys and girls in the convent school I went to in the 70's. They weren't ridiculed any more than any other child was. Maybe that was because they didn't maintain a separate, in-your-face identity that the current day Muslims do, especially the girls with their 14th century outfits. When you stick out like a sore thumb, you are asking to be ridiculed. With all due respect to all, the Muslims in India ought to return to the pre-9/11 days, instead of living by the rules of the Taleban.
There are millions like Maurya who suffers from an uncured disease called Hatred and Revenge. If you see people wearing saffron glass, everyone looks like a jaundice patient. Remove saffron glass and wear crystal clear glasses and see through people without bias and injustice. As President Obama's envoy said yesterday that 'All Indian muslims are not terrorist'.
i agree to disagree with you my dear. No Muslim can ever be a terrorist. Those who blow up themselves in civilian areas with bombs round their chests do not adhere to the basic tenets of ISLAM(which does not allow indiscriminate killing). While one is allowed to wage a war against the army under certain conditions but even during that time, the non-combatant forces are not supposed to be subjugated to torture(forget about cold blooded murders as wesee in blasts).
I hope many more have thinking like you. It will do lot of good.
I appreciate your views Mr. Maaurya, Dubai. You are really an intelligent person with secular views. Do you know, the so called Mullahs are responsible for the downfall of Muslims and the education is the only way to overcome the situation? We all can only bring our country in the category of developed nation. Come let us continue to play our role ignoring a few like Mr. Maurya of Delhi. God bless you.
Good article and good to know Muslims have a diffrent approach too and not just the AL Quaida one.But one question that crosses my mind is why so mucch importance is given to Muslims in India when it is evident that Non Muslims in particular Hindus and Sikhs are isolated and mistreated in Peshawar,NWF province and most parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, they are made to pay additional tax to survive.I am happy that Muslims In India are working in BARC and making a good life for them, would it be considered as being treating equal to charge Muslims in India a additional tax as non muslims pay in Islamic countries? Do these Muslims who feel offended that they get told to pack their bags and go and settle in Pakistan will ever have the courage to talk back to Islamist fundamentalists in Pakistan and ask them not to trouble the Hindus ther and give them a equality locus standing in business communities?
Mr. Puru there are millions of Hindus families are living in Gulf countries happily and they prefer to continue their children to live there than your dirty Mumbai.
Name a single Gulf State who tax non-muslims when the remmit billions of dollar every year. Puru, you should travel to Saudi Arabia and see how Hindus celebrate Diwali and Holi within there compounds. My Hindu friends here are much happier than in India.
You are the agent of the enemies of India, who can’t see the development of India.and wish to create problem among the communities. More that 170 Million Muslims are the part of India and it is not possible to get maximum benefit of development without Muslims. Our ancestors were Hindus but after the rise of Islam, they accepted Islam. I never talk in term of communities but love all. Do you know, number of non Muslims terrorist groups in India is much more than Muslim group. How you forget Naxalbadi, Maoist, Mr. Kolkata?
Look at the Muslim women on the pictures dressed like Arabs. Make no mistake, this is the new face of Jihadi Islam. A Political modern facade to fool the civil society. They talk and act modern(like Zakir Naik) and talk against imperialism etc...But if you dig deeper you will find that they are all Al Qaeda leaning pan islamist. Be careful.....VERY CAREFUL.
u must be afraid,Very afraid, by the size and visual you have created; it must make u go back to your home and lock door and start ringing some bells.
SMELL OF ABHINAV BHARATH... ANOTHER TERRORIST IDENTIFIED... THANKS TOI. CBI WILL FOLLOW YOU MAURYA... LOL
I have been fortunate to work in Islamic countries (UAE/Syria/Egypt/ Oman/Iran/Kazakhstan to name) and in the past 20 years have known many many people in the course of my work. Have visited Pakistan too on work. The majority are honest, law abiding and good human beings. Unfortunately, it is the vocal minority thats gets coverage. India is always regarded with respect in these countries and so India should set an example to the world in tolerance and respect for fellow human beings no matter which religion/caste they belong to. There has been no better time to do this than now. After all, every human being (few exceptions) wants a peaceful and happy life for himself/herself and for the loved ones and does not want to discriminated against for reasons of religion or caste. If this can be acheived, peace will largely prevail and the vocal minority will just remain that - vocal minority. I have known a number of muslim colleagues (some of whom are my very good friends) who are very intelligent and as ambitious as any other person. They love their country and families and only want the best for them - just like every body else. It is media's creation that every muslim wants to bring about destruction and mayhem. And the developed countries which kick up the theory of muslim take over. They are so ill informed with no first hand knowledge. We are all humans and I hope and pray for a time when future generations can co-exist in peace. Life and the World are too b'ful.
I totally agree with Mr. Venkat, who wrote the truth from his experience of 20 years of living along with Muslims. Great, appreciate your efforts……
I too work in a gulf contry to support my family back home, I agree with Mr. Venkat.
dude do u know how many muslim presidents India had? Go read the books...Who gave India the nulceaar bomb? Dr Abdul Kalam..ignorant fool..wake up and smell the coffee..
Nice slap on the Stupid Rajiv's face..This guy is uneducated and bears an ugly communal mind..
Moron, Abdul Kalam has nothing to do with the Nuclear bomb? Ever heard of Dr.Home Bbaba, Dr.Raja Ramanna et al? Abdul Kalam is just a bachelor's in aerospace engg from a 3rd grade university! How can he be a nuclear scientist?
I suppose you people are educated and enjoying the life in the cool surroundings of office somewhre in USA. But it looks your so called education is still not completed. How you can fight like these. One is claiming APJ is a nuclear man while other complaining about his 3rd grade. Sure, You need to learn a lot from your mother (if at all...)
What a nice comment.Yes, some of the educated people still need to refresh their mind.Indirectly, scuh type of people are pulling India back.
yes dude now these fellows have double plan. On one side try to educate a part of Muslims and attain imp jobs and positions and on other hand attack and kill through Talibani Muslims and then take over India !
Its about Time that we call them Indian Youth than to put emphasis on Muslim. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was the first Education Minister in Free India, and Sir Sayyad Ahmad Khan preceded him as a great educator establishing Aligarh University in British India. Its a gross injustice to the youth of a particular group to be singled out as trouble makers. The responsibility entirely rests on the exploitative and power monger leaders of communities who for personal gain ruin the minds and lives of its youth by isolative preachings and divisive propaganda. Muslim leaders are the most guilty of this. It is obvious that if it wasn't for the divisiveness the country would have progressed enormously, and all would have enjoyed the progress. Those who think that only a privileged few benefit they should look at the Communist China, Democratic England, and U.S. to find that it is universal regardless of Political System. However, the majority benefits. Just look at Pakistan, its a Muslim Country, yet its divisive tendencies have left it in political and economic ruins, besides social chaos.
Brother I don't know about everyone but I m feeling proud if somebody calls me indian and I feel extremely proud if some1 calls me Indian muslim..I m not ashame of being muslim it is my identity..and it will remain..if I will grow my identity of being indian muslim will grow..and if I will do bad work my identity of being indian muslim will also suffer..
It’s good start for Muslim youth to think in right direction. References about discrimination in the article which may be real but solution for this is Muslim community’s responsibility as they created it(disrespect to other religions). Not looking in past, I appreciate effort by these young MUSLIM INDIANs to awake and participate in India’s growth. India provides a perfect opportunity for these hardworking people as a secular country with biggest democracy and non aggressive majority Hindus providing them the best platform.
Muslim community was always forward looking. We had muslim girl classmates in early sixties working sideby side boys without any of these burkhas and even participating in complex experiments involving three or four boys and girls. We even had a Moulvi's son in the class. If the Muslims were not so forward looking how would we have two as a Presidents and lady mninisters. Indian society is all inclusive. If some people are made to be exclusive and made backward by some self interested establishments how can the society help. I hope that the youth in Kashmir also take these as roll models and progress on the path of development of the state so rich in natural beauty and resource.
Proud to be an Indian Muslim, Hurray, a great news indeed, May the almighty shower success and happiness to all the brothers and sisters, In bangalore too we find lot of changes, just focus on development, Politicians wants to divide the country for their own, by providing shelter to anti social. I strongly think that our country is united. ( who knows to dumb the bhopal waste in indore, the communal violence is created.) might be it is legally or illegally, again the tool is communal violence. Leap talk team- congrats and with best wishes
"Surprising though it may sound, Muslim youth is increasingly motivated and career-conscious, defying the 1990s stereotype of being an angry, uneducated, unemployable and unemployed bunch. The communal and polarized atmosphere of the 1990s is a thing of the past. Instead of picketing thanas and staging protests, Maharashtra's Muslim youth are joining others on the highway to cushy jobs and a comfy life. "
It is a good report. Things are bound to change when there is work and future for everyone as it is now happeningin India. One little realized positive thing for the Muslim community in India is it is largely urban based and therefore have much better chances of making best of educational facilities compared to rural folks. What is needed is to make sure everyone has opportunity to get quality education.
Who says,,Indian Muslim supports pakis when they play against india..brother look into reality Indian muslims are as loyal and patriot as any other indian youth..we contribute everywhere we can..take it medical, engineering, science or sports..dont forget there are lots of Muslim cricketers who r playing for india..just take this thing out of ur mind that we dont support india..yes every muslim is brother of every other muslim that is true but similarly every human is also brother of every other human..we all belong to same gene..and on top of that every indian is brother of every other indian..instead f having misconception lets be united...
loyalty, love for one's own country/roots is or should be similar to the emotion one feels to his or her mother. There is no rationality involved .It is simply an unquestioned and unexplainable emotional bond irrespective of religious background. A change of passport change it. That is why a vast majority of muslims in India root for India and UK citizens of Indian origin ( of all shades of religions ) support India.People like Mr. Khalid are the real INDIANS and patriots!!
I don't think religion should matter when it comes to sports. Why should Indian muslims celebrate if Pakistan wins? When they don't treat their own muslim brothers well back there in Pakistan, and keep killing each other, why should we even consider supporting them? A few communal hindus like Modi aside, I believe the majority of hindus are the most tolerant people you could find anywhere. We, Indian muslims, are far better here than we would ever have been in Pakistan, trust me! So, we should join hands with our hindu brothers in celebrating whatever India achieves, whether it be in sports, or anywhere. Afterall, this is as much our country as theirs.
Thank you Khalid. Indian muslims and Hindus are in this together as brothers and sisters. Together we can make our country like no other. An example for the rest of the world. Yes - Indian muslims are Indian first and Hindus should come first for them. Similarly, Hindus should never sell out their muslim brethren with others. We can fight among oursleves, criticize each other but it should all be within the family.
Cradling body of newborn, man in Srinagar hospital waits for a curfew pass to go home
A muslim of India is Indian first and Muslim later.If Pakistani muslims are their brothers then what are Indian hindus?
Wow, what a shallow response ! Friday talks are based on topics like encouragement of brotherhood amongst people , the need for charity and giving back to the society and the likes – Fyi . I live in an Arab country and although I am not a muslim, I still catch on the Friday sermons which are equivalent Moral Science classes (heard of those , or were you too busy being an idiot back then as well?)
So do you want them to Listen to your RSS or Bajrang Dal or Sri Ram Sena or Christian Missionaries? Have you ever heard what is being taught every friday? You guys will never change because you don't want to. Hope you get well soon.
Thank you Dr. Z(AK)IR for the prescription. If I should learn what's being taught on a Friday, would you pls be kind enough to say if your class is 'segregated' or not?
I think that is the only thing you are worried about GK. "A segregated class room."
This is the problem with you people, if these youths being muslims can work hard and come up in life, why can't the others. Don't expect to be spoon-fed all the time, India has more opportunities to people of minority religions than any other country, and all you do is moan. Do some work on your own and then come up in life.
if you see the people who spoke ere, all have parents who are well to do.There are thousands and thousands of poor family battling for food for once in a day. We need the upliftment those.
it is very true that muslim youths specially girls are working hard to achieve success in the field of science and technology.i am a proud father of daughter who had successfully competed for junior research felloship at ACTREC this year.Muslim youths both boys and girls need more guidance and motivation from muslim NGOs, educationists and technocrats.
Such a fantastic news. I am a Hindu and I still congratulate these boys and girls. This clearly shows that India is a secular country. I hope these people will support India in every walk of life and will not celebrate when Pakistan wins against India in cricket. We should also ask how many Hindus are at this level in Pakistan?
I had an oppurtunity to study with a Hindu Bangladeshi boy. He used to rejoice everytime India wins even against his own country. Will you go and ask him how his fellow country men feel about it? I guess you will never complain about this.
But Hindus have been butchered and discriminated in Bangladesh. They have been forcibly converetd and their lands taken away. They are afraid even to claim that they are Hindus for fear. Muslims are not treated that way in India.
Good to see your comment focussed on the development of the country.
I really do not understand why this question is being raised to Muslim youths when Pakistan is of no relevance to them and why after 60 years of independence they have to answer for whats's happening in Pakistan which is neither thir country nor their concern . I suggest if somebody has to ask this question he should go and ask the Gov. Of Pakistan rather than any Indian whether Muslim or hindu.
its not all muslim celebrate when pakistan, they are very few in number, out of 1000 maybe 5, but those crackers are heard far far away and all 1000 are blame for it. I hope that other should stop them, I think India is a far far better country then pakistan, yes there are some politician who want some personal gain and they create divide on religion, but they are also going away. I hope we become a better country if we don't to them.
I am sure this one called SAUD3DK has problem with this too....this kind of people are always against muslim people who has a dream to have a good career. Thanks TOI to remove his comment.
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