MUSTAFA KHAN

Muslim-scattered section of the old city, Konark theatre,

Venkatadri theatre, time 7 pm, Thursday 21 February 2013, two
bombs exploded killing 18 people and injuring more than 50. A
third bomb remained unexploded at a footbridge. All this happened
within a hundred meters from each other.
It is eerie realization but true that the city had it coming, what
with the frequent visits of Praveen Togadia to the city and his
threats to turn Hyderabad into Ayodhya, Akbaruddin Oweisi open-
ly and defiantly challenging the Hindu right to a face-to-face con-
frontation for 15 minutes sans police. In this faceoff, everyone
would hold his breath in expectation as to who throws the gaunt-
let and who takes it up first.
Zee News reported that it was the Indian Mujahideen behind
the blasts. This is the preprogrammed auto-reply. Doubts will be
raised later and the case would prolong.
This is beginning at square one unless an early breakthrough
changes the set scene. Beginning in default of the real. It did not
take long to come. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi asked his
state ATS and state Intelligence Bureau (the collusion between
Modi and Rajedra Kumar of IB is a known fact in many cases
including the intelligence input from the Central Government on
Ishrat Jehan as terrorist) to contact their counterpart in
Hyderabad. In all the fake encounters of Gujarat, Hyderabad police
colluded with the Gujarat police with impunity, be it the murder of
Haren Pandiya, Sohrabuddeen, or even the Ahmadabad blasts.
Police officer Narendra Amin not only was involved in killing
Sohrabuddin/Tulsiram Prajapati but he had also killed with his
service gun a Maulanas son when the Muslims of Hyderabad
protested against the arrest of innocent people including the
Maulana. Till today the Andhra Pradesh police has not bothered to
make forensic examination of the service gun of Narendra Amin,
let alone question him in this case.
However, the police in Gujarat is on high alert and asked to
keep tight vigil and watch the crowds, perhaps a hint that the
planters of bomb in Hyderabad may have fled there as they might
have revenge for 2002 massacre of Muslims in Gujarat as moti-
vation.
The central government had two days before the Hyderabad
blasts sent an advisory asking all states to tighten security in sen-
sitive places as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Hizbul
Mujahideen may launch attacks to avenge the hanging of Ajmal
Kasab and Afzal Guru. This is also reaction in default of the real.
Even newspapers carry several reports of the same nature. The
Delhi police claims ipso facto that the IM-accused Syed Maqbool
and Imran (arrested in October 2012) had recced the sites at
Abids Road, Dilsukh Nagar, in July 2012. That they had done it for
Riyaz Bhatkal, as usual in all the recent attacks including the
13 July, 2012 attack in Mumbai and the Pune low-intensity blasts
(Asian Age, 22 February 2013).
There is more disturbing news of how the Gujarat police in
association with the Andhra/Maharashtra police forces is doing its
official work. To save Yashpal Chadda from arrest in Sohrabuddin
case, Nitin Shainai and Rajesh Ranjan had given three crore
rupees to Amitabh Thakur, a cop.
This was paid ultimately to the CBI chief Kanda Swamy. Thus
the under-table business in vibrant Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh
went on. What is even more ominous, Rs one crore was trans-
ferred to a central government officer (Asia Express, Feb 22,
2013). Of course, Thakur and Kanda Swamy denied the charges.
But interestingly, a Home Guard officer had told Kanda Swamy at
Nasik that Vijay Neelkanth Pophale (RSS activist) had kept two of
the bombers of 8 September, 2006, in Tulsi Lodge at Satana Naka,
Malegaon. No heed was given to this information. The lead was
lost.
Even in Malegaon, a rich man called Mahesh Patodiya had
paid Rs one crore 65 lakh for the blasts to a police officer. But the
lead was not taken up for consideration. The police had called
Patodiya and twenty Hindus for questioning but let them off. Even
if this was part of grapevine, there was need to investigate it seri-
ously because the police had taken the Home Guard to Nasik
specifically at the instance of Kanda Swamy, an IG level officer of
CBI. Instead, the Malegaon terror attacks of 2006 and 2008 were
subsumed under jehadi terrorism and innocent people were
wrongfully accused and thrown behind bars. In the case of the lat-
ter attack, after a suspenseful lull, Hemant Karkare did what no
one had done before.
The game of hunting for Muslims is again on. If Riyaz Bhatkal
and Imran are indigenous terrorists, then seeking their higher-ups
in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a preposterous proposition. That is
where the investigation agencies go astray. Their home-work is
incomplete and inadequate.
So the Indian foreign secretary on a tour in the US was less
than ingenuous like the erstwhile National Security Advison MK
Narayanan when the latter derailed the Samjhauta Express attack
investigation in the larger context of fighting terrorism in the after-
math of the attack on the Indian embassy in Afghanistan. Ranjan
Mathai for the same reason perplexes others rather than clarifying
anything when he says while touring the US: Terrorism is and will
remain a pre-eminent security challenge for both our countries.
Our convergence on the source and the nature of the threat in our
region has never been greater. It is, therefore, a challenge that pro-
vides us an opportunity for enhanced cooperation in combating
terror and protecting our people from it. This is even more of an
imperative today, as we move into a period of significant uncer-
tainty in the next few years. He finds the source and the nature
of the threat in Afghanistan, and of course, Pakistan. And now
you have it.
The third attack in Hyderabad coincided with the Indian
Parliament going into the budget session and the home minister
apologizing for his remark that BJP and RSS have been training
youths in their camps on waging terror attacks.
The big question now is who mounted this attack in
Hyderabad? Another big question is the source of the RDX. In
Pakistan, RDX is easily available in the market while in India it is
used by the army. So the terror attacks of 2006 have the prove-
nance of RDX in the explosive substance seized by the ATS in the
so-called arms haul case of Aurangabad. Zabiuddin Ansari or Abu
Jundal is involved, the police claims. But the man who reported-
ly gave him the Tata Indica in Aurangabad denied in the MCOCA
court before the judge, SV Modak, that he ever rented out the car
to Zabiuddin. This also came out on the day of Hyderabad blast.
Who will now clear all this murk?
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that BJP and RSS
are training youths to explode bombs but now he says that he
regretted it while Congress leaders reassert that Shindes accusa-
tion was based on facts!
Whatever ultimately turns out to be the case whether it was
the United Jihad Council or the face-off between Togadia and
Akbaruddin it gave an opportunity to deepen the gulf between
India and Pakistan.
As long as I
am there,
nothing will
harm you,
my master!
Democracy
Equality
C
onstitution
Justice
MG/Yusuf
THE
MILLI
GAZETTE
INDIAN MUSLIMS LEADING ENGLISH NEWSPAPER SINCE 2000
Innocent, framed....3 Maulana Saeedur Rahman Nadwi...6
24 pages ` 15 ISSN 0972-3366 Fortnightly Vol. 14 No. 5 Issue Serial # 315 facebook.com/milligazette www.milligazette.com 1-15 March 2013
Afzal Guru 6,8-9,10
Terror witch-hunt 4,11
Modi & EU 7
J&K 10 | Analysis 11 | Special Reports 3,13 | Issues 2,11,13
Books 21 | Speaking Out 11 | Newsmakers 12
Community News 14-15 | Islamic Perspectives 20
Our Publications 19 | Classifieds 22 | Letters 23
Inside
MG
The game of hunting for Muslims is again on. If Riyaz Bhatkal and Imran are indigenous terrorists,
then seeking their higher-ups in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a preposterous proposition. That is
where the investigation agencies go astray. Their home-work is incomplete and inadequate.
Hyderabad: Composite Culture Targeted Again
Hyderabad blasts: no lessons learnt
Hyderabad was hit again by a terror strike. Over a dozen precious
lives have been lost and dozens have been injured. Memories of
Makka Masjid blast are still fresh, three dozen Muslim youths then
implicated and framed by the A.P. Police are still crying for justice
and rehabilitation. And yet, media, especially electronic channels,
wasted no time to proclaim Muslim names, the ubiquitous
Indian Mujahidin and Bhatkal bros, as responsible for the blast.
While the state government, Hyderabad Police Commissioner,
Union Home Ministry were saying that they still do not have any
clues, unnamed Police and security sources were feeding the
channels and media that all clues point to the IM. A.P. Police wast-
ed no time to dispatch teams to Azamgarh and Darbhanga etc,
people already incarcerated in Delhis Tihar Jail were dragged
back to the infamous Delhi Police Special Cells torture chambers
to confess that a year back they had done recce of the affect-
ed area in Hyderabad. The whole history of Hyderabad, Makka
Masjid blast, Togadias venom-spitting and threat to turn the city
into Ayodhya was all forgotten. Worse, the same boys who
were exonerated by court in the Makkah Masjid blast case, com-
pensated and given certificates by the Hyderabad Police commis-
sioner that they are innocent were re-arrested after the latest
blast and at this point are being tortured in the infamous A.P.
Polices torture chambers to confess.
The Union Home Minister with his retraction and apology to
the Hindutva forces had already paved the ground for this
renewed persecution of innocent Muslim youths. From now on,
no Police and security agency will dare accuse any Hindu of
committing an act of terror, otherwise the whole hell will break.
RSS and BJP will be out on the streets and in Parliament with their
tricks to force Shinde or his successor to eat humble pie. Perhaps
to pre-empt this, Shinde did not waste time to blame IM and LeT
to be behind the blasts while officially his ministry and A.P. Police
were still saying that they do not have any solid clue as yet. Home
Ministers quick capitulation and putting the blame on the weak-
est chain in the system, demonstrates that the fight is long to
force the Union government to accept the fact of Hindutva terror.
ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN
2 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 ISSUES / OPINION
DISTRIBUTORS: (Alphabetical - statewise and then citywise ) Become an MG distributor Call/SMS: 09818120669 / 09868656614
A.P.: Cuddapah 9866927380 Adilabad 9849173988 Nellore 9885827745; ASSAM: Guwahati 9435541136; Dispur 9864096688; Kamrup
9864986680; Silchar 9435207683; BIHAR: Al-Kitab (Araria) 09934788628; A. Wadood Alam (Bhagalpur) 9939071026; Sayeedur Rahman,
Vill. Abdullah Pur, Dt. Saheb Ganj; West Champaran 9470438842, 9097197306; Patna Faiza News Agency 9835421193; DELHI Batla House
- Choudhary Book Store GOA: Margao 0832-2734442; GUJARAT: Farooq A. Gaffar Bawani, Rajkot 9879188179 MADHYA
PRADESH: Satna 09926587087 MAHARASHTRA: Aurangabad: Maktaba Islami 9028938695; Dhule Maktaba Islami 241941,
9221392722; Latur: Yousuf 9960749675 Malegaon: Faran Books, Md. Ali Rd; Nagpur: Muniba Book Agency 9373797681 Saleha Book Traders
2721069 Noor Book Depot 9370978825 Nanded: Habib (Degloor) 9403662310; Venkateshwara 9689078710 ; Pusad: Star-N-Services 8983001645,
9922247444, 9689888252; JHARKHAND: Hazaribagh 9955175039 Dhanbad 9507552862; JAMMU & KASHMIR: Srinagar: Janta
2474755; Sikander 9419512762 KARNATAKA: Bangalore: Mahboob Book Depot 080-22867138 Bijapur 9916108194; Dandeli
9900834792; Chintamani 08154-50304, 9845228652, Dharwad 9342211155, Hubli Islamic Book Centre, Dharwad 09242527896, 2260273
Gulbarga 9731230430; Mangalore: Moulana Book Stall 9901639856 Tumkur F. Ahamed 9342624304 KERALA: Calicut Other Books
2306808; PUNJAB: Mohd. Naseer, Maler Kotla 9988236310; TAMIL NADU: Chennai Quality Book Centre 28527118; Vaniyambadi:
Fizza 7418714117, 8825952559 Iqra 9952675123; UTTAR PRADESH: Aligarh: 9412562972; Educational Book House 2701068;
Allahabad: Asad Book Depot 9335153647, A2Z 9838460613; Azamgarh: Al-Bader Book Centre 9839591434; Kitab Mahal 9936704118; Bhadohi
9307572914 Ballia Jamal Alam Taleemi Markaz 9839714567, 8543917808; Etawa: 09456412482; Gorakhpur: Maktaba Nasir 9451846364; Jhansi
9793049545; Kanpur: 9305255273; Lucknow Dr. SR. Khan, 9795515909; Mirzapur.: M Ali, 9450886580; Moradabad: 9897248111; Rampur
9675798490 Shahjahanpur: 9889989990; Varanasi: Akhalaqi Corner 0542-2503361; WEST BENGAL: Murshidabad Md. Asfaq Hussain
9733522436 Kolkata Islamic Bookstore 09331001823; Horizon 9831311918; Ash Shams Study Centre 9051392427
Central News Agency, New Delhi
INDIAN MUSLIMS LEADING ENGLISH NEWSPAPER
THE MILLI GAZETTE
REGISTERED NEWSPAPER
CHIEF EDITOR: ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN
EDITORIAL TEAM: HABIBAAZIM,
NAANSARI, NADIM AHMAD, AALIYA KHAN
D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar,
New Delhi 110025 India Tel.: 2694 7483, 26952825
Email: edit@milligazette.com
Website: milligazette.com; Group: pharosmedia.com
Media database support: Orient Press International
Subscription rates: p. 20
Advertisements rates: p. 22
SUMIT PAUL
In December 2012, I went to meet my dear
friend Mr Mushtaque Madni along with my now
estranged Maharashtrian Hindu Brahmin girl-
friend. Shes pursuing English Hons at a presti-
gious Delhi college. After meeting, she told me
that Mr Madni appeared to be a hardcore Muslim
and a rabid Hindu-basher. I laughed. I laughed at
the limited scope of her thinking. In my love, she
became an atheist and a vegetarian but she
couldnt drop her Hindu identity and it surfaced
when she stereotyped an individual, who didnt
belong to her faith. This is the problem with all
Hindus, nay with all those who belong to faiths
other than yours.
Mr Madni didnt say anything objectionable
about Hindus. We were just discussing.
Mr Madni is a committed Muslim. I belong to no
faith and condemn Islam and Hinduism in the
same breath and if I find a good feature in any
religion, I eulogise that as well.
Since Im neither a Hindu nor am I a Muslim
or belonging to any religion whatsoever, I can
feel and see the stereotyping were all more or
less afflicted with. A Muslim means a terrorist, a
Christian means a subtle evangelist and a Hindu
is a Muslim-hater (from a Muslim perspective).
Why do we segregate, compartmentalise and
pigeon-hole communities and people on the
basis of their religions? Why someone writing in
favour of a Muslim cause is called a Muslim
sympathiser like Arundhati Roy writing against
Afzal Gurus unlawful hanging? When in 2009, I
reviewed former IG of Maharashtra Mr Mushrifs
book Who killed Karkare (arguably the first
review of the book anywhere in India) and wrote
that Mushrif was right in his assessment of the
role of Hindu outfits in eliminating Karkare and
others, people thought that I got money from
Muslim organizations for writing a review that
favoured the book and the Muslim community.
No Muslim organisation paid me even a penny.
The abovementioned girl and her hare-
brained friends also thought that I was a terror-
ist. The problem with all of us is that we dont
know anything about others and their faiths. We
dont know our own religion that well and fumble
when it comes to explaining something intricate
to those belonging to other faiths.
Therere so-called atheists among us. I
know one, who calls himself a non-believer. His
parents are Hindu Brahmins. This non-believer
leaves no stone unturned when it comes to con-
demning Muslims and Christians. To him, all
Muslims are pests on earth. But he seldom crit-
icises his parents faith! This other people syn-
drome has completely alienated mankind and
were living in small and suffocating clans and
groups and still find it infeasible to have a bound-
less ocean of seamless humanity with no ran-
cour. Can we ever have one? Am I expecting too
much or day-dreaming?
Religious Stereotyping (of Muslims)
At the very outset, let me clarify that like most of the Indian
Muslims I too hate BJP, but I do not have love for other parties
either, as the former is representing naked fascism while the lat-
ter represent nothing but hypocrisy in the name of secularism.
The result of this artificial confrontation between these two
notions has been that since independence Indian Muslims are
trapped in this whirlpool, as if their only agenda and fate are con-
centrating on Stop BJP. The situation is quite clear and needs
no elaboration.
I am really anguished at the prevailing scenario which offers
no constructive programme for Muslims while the fake secular
parties are thriving on the communitys psyche. How long Indian
Muslims will allow themselves to be deceived by this fake secular-
ism is the most crucial question which requires an introspection by
our intellectuals. Congress, having brought Muslims to the present
position and also having demolished Babri Masjid, is secular.
Mulayam Singh embracing Kalyan Singh is secular, Mayawati can-
vassing for Narendra Modi immediately after Gujrat carnage is sec-
ular, and the similar story, individually and collectively, in the whole
country is interminable.
Sometimes we talk of Muslim-based political parties and there
are also long debates on this aspect as the way out of the present
precarious condition of the community. We also established All India
Muslim Forum after the demolition of Babri Masjid. But, in brief,
ours as also of others who undertook such adventures, experiences
speak of the same phenomenon, i.e., if the Muslim vote is divided
then BJP will come to power, whereas the (so-called) secular par-
ties fight with each other, without caring for who wins and who loses.
The same practice will be repeated in 2014 parliamentary elections
and the atmosphere for it has started building up.
What under these circumstances Indian Muslims think about the
option to switch over to BJP just to explode the myth of secularism
for ever. After all BJP has remained in power both at the Centre and
other states and that too not because of Muslims or Muslim parties.
If once again BJP comes to power with full majority and even if it exe-
cutes its anti-Muslim agenda, we will be satisfied that our real enemy
is before us and will devise the means to take the bull by its horns.
Worst of all, if it replicates Gujarat carnage, how many Muslims it will
kill - one lakh, two lakh, one crore? The remaining will learn the les-
son to live as a living community, having the strength to survive with
dignity. At least they will seek riddance from their present despicable
position of cowards, buffoons and slaves.
MUSTAFA KAMAL SHERWANI
sherwanimk@yahoo.com
Indian Muslims why not B.J.P.?
www.milligazette.com
Dear Justice Katju,
Like many others in India and abroad, I too have
been religiously following and admiring your
courageous endeavours against the approved
tyrannies by the collective conscience of the
nation and am deeply touched by your efforts
and fearless comments on the Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi and the pogrom of 2002
that he masterminded so meticulously.
In an extremely polarised, nay commu-
nalised, atmosphere where a mass murderer is
being blatantly portrayed as the darling messiah
of a nation that aspires to be a world power, your
stunning piece came as a silver lining against
the backdrop of the hugely suffocating atmos-
phere.
But Mr Katju, may I dare state: is Modi, basi-
cally a shudra and his charismatic leadership,
the only problem secular India is facing? You
should be aware that at the time of Gujarat
pogrom, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a Brahmin,
was the Prime Minister of India and if the
pogrom could not be executed without the con-
sent of the shudra chief minister of the state,
how could it be carried out without the nod of
the Brahmin prime minister who happened to be
a lifetime committed RSS pracharak whose only
doctrine, over the years, had been to kill and
spread violence against minorities? Isnt it a his-
torical fact that much before Muslims, Jains,
Buddhists, Dalits, Adivasis, scheduled castes
and tribes et. al. had to face the violence and
genocides unleashed by Brahmins? Didnt Adi
Shankaracharya openly egg on Brahmins to
eliminate Jains and Buddhists whom he called
pests on earth?
In my humble view, Narendra Modi, the ser-
vant, is less blameworthy than the master,
Vajpayee. Moreover, Narendra Modi, however
popular and emerging national figure he may
be, is apparently a small fry in the huge ocean of
RSS communalism and terrorism stemming
from the sacred teachings of its revered Gurujis.
Given the international condemnation of the
Gujarat pogrom 2002, Modi may have, evident-
ly for political reasons, shifted his focus to a
development agenda but the fact remains that
even if his dreams come true, he will have no
choice but to remain a slave to the RSS ideolo-
gy that is determined to keep the minorities mar-
ginalised despite the ironical fact that RSS
Brahmin ideologues represent a tiny minority in
the country and these select few keep the igno-
rant Bahujans pitted against the minorities and
continue with their Aryavart Superiority agenda.
Justice Katju, recently the Union Home
Minister Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde stated in
Jaipur that RSS and BJP were training terrorists
in their camps. As expected, the poor dalit min-
ister had to tone down his words probably at the
behest of his shrewd boss Mrs. Gandhi. But you
being a Brahmin and visibly concerned with the
well-being of the country, should come forward
demanding an immediate ban on RSS, especial-
ly when the Maharashtra Government had
already recommended to the Centre to ban
Sanatan Sanstha, an offshoot of RSS, which is
involved in many bomb blasts and some of
whose low-ranking cadres are now behind bars
for the blasts at Nerul and Thane theatres in
Maharashtra.
Again, the issue of hundreds of innocent
Muslim boys keeps haunting the collective con-
science of the nation. They have been framed,
damned and acquitted after having spent years
in hell-like jails in India for crimes actually perpe-
trated by the RSS cadres. Given the transparent
bias and extremely discriminating attitude of our
police personnel, who have been repeatedly
proving to be more dangerous to Muslims than
RSS terrorists, is it not a rational demand to
punish officers found guilty of having framed
innocent youth? In 15 out of 16 cases in Delhi,
Muslim boys were acquitted without any
charges and the Honble Judge, in one of the
judgments, wrote that my judgment should be
considered as an FIR against such guilty offi-
cers. But no action was taken against those offi-
cers by the administration. So in the name of
humanity and fair justice, I humbly implore you
to take the issue of punishing the guilty officers
so that more innocent lives can be saved from
the state-sponsored terrorism against Indian
Muslims.
Yours sincerely
MUSHTAQUE MADNI
...the issue of hundreds of innocent Muslim boys keeps haunting
the collective conscience of the nation. They have been framed, damned
and acquitted after having spent years in hell-like jails in India for crimes
actually perpetrated by the RSS cadres. Given the transparent bias and
extremely discriminating attitude of our police personnel, who have been
repeatedly proving to be more dangerous to Muslims than RSS terrorists,
is it not a rational demand to punish officers found guilty of
having framed innocent youth?
An Open Letter to Justice Markandey Katju
If once again BJP comes to power with full majority and even if it executes its anti-Muslim agenda,
we will be satisfied that our real enemy is before us and will devise the means to take the bull by its
horns. Worst of all, if it replicates Gujarat carnage, how many Muslims it will kill one lakh, two lakh,
one crore? The remaining will learn the lesson to live as a living community, having the strength to
survive with dignity. At least they will seek riddance from their present despicable
position of cowards, buffoons and slaves.
The problem with all of us is that we dont know anything about
others and their faiths. We dont know our own religion that well and
fumble when it comes to explaining something intricate to those
belonging to other faiths.
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 3
New Delhi: The com-
munal riots that shook
Faizabad city and the
adjacent areas of
Rudauli, Sohawal and
Bhadarsa last October
were a pre-planned
conspiracy, said the
Inquiry Report of the
Press Council of India.
PCI chairperson Justice
Markandey Katju
released the 19-page
report here last month.
The report prepared by
veteran journalist
Sheetla Singh, editor of
the Faizabad Hindi daily
Jan Morcha, who
formed the one-man
committee, was sub-
mitted to the PCI on 8
Feb.
The repor t said,
The communal riot in
Faizabad and neigh-
bouring areas was not
the result of any sudden incident, but it was the
result of a conspiracy based on communal ideol-
ogy, that is why the riot did not limit to a place,
but spread to an area of 50 kms. Administrative
failure and lack of will power to tackle communal
riots is also responsible for it, said the PCI
report. It further said that The attack on the bilin-
gual weekly Aap ki Taaqat was not because of
any article or ideology but because of the religion
of the editor.
Chairperson of the Press Council Justice
Markandey Katju had set up the inquiry on 30
October last year following a complaint filed by
Teesta Setalvad, co-editor of Communalism
Combat on the violence and attacks on a local
Faizabad weekly Aap ki Taaqat. The enquiry
committee held 18 meetings over one and a half
months. It has recommended that a judicial com-
mission should be formed to probe the riots.
The inquiry report condemned the unprofes-
sional reporting in newspapers which is due to a
trend in media not to follow any code of conduct
on riot reporting. It has also recommended that
irresponsible and communal-minded officers
should not be posted in sensitive positions. It
took to task Ram Chandra Yadav, Rudauli MLA
(BJP) for his biased activities in instigating the
riots and protecting rioters.
Editor Sheetla Singh has made some sug-
gestions in his report. These include a demand
to prosecute the guilty police and administrative
officers, action against communal media and
organizations.
The PCI commission of enquirys sugges-
tions are:
- Prosecute officers accused of dereliction of
duty, inability and lack of will-power to control
communal riot, and do not give them decision-
making posts in future;
- Order judicial enquiry into the Faizabad riots,
punish all the culprits;
- Pass the Prevention of Communal And Targeted
Violence (Access To Justice And Reparations)
Bill, 2011;
- Implement reports of riot commissions to con-
trol communalism in police and administration;
- Act against communal organizations;
- Act to control communal propaganda, publica-
tion and promotion;
- After the 1990s, riots are spreading from cities
to villages. The psychology of this mentality
should be studied;
- Take away government facilities from the media
if they do not follow the guidelines on ethics of
journalism passed by the Press Council in
1969, 1991 and 1993.
Faizabad communal riot
was pre-planned: PCI
Respond now if you care about your community
White Paper on Terrorism:
calling out readers & researchers
The most important and burning issue facing Indian Muslims at present is the continuing
arrests and widespread fake implication of our youth in trumped up terror cases master-
minded by saffron elements in the government, IB and Police. Now almost all Muslim
organisations are up in arms against this state terror. People are organising dharnas,
meetings, conference etc all over the country.
As a long-term solution and serious response to this problem thrust upon us, All India
Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM) has decided to bring out a white paper on the
Muslim-related terrorism in the country. This was discussed and passed during the
Working Committee meeting on 7 July. But since AIMMM does not have the required
funds and staff, I have undertaken the responsibility of preparing this white paper which
will be comprehensive in around 600+ large format pages covering the whole history
and genesis, communalism, vested interests in various fields, analysis of various laws
like TADA, POTA and UAPA, fake encounters, acquittals, IB & Police role, media attitude,
case studies, statewise studies, SIMI and so-called Indian Mujahidin, Hindutva terror,
individual tragedies of victims, Azamgarh, Bhatkal, Malegaon, Darbhanga modules,
some basic documents, etc.
The target is to bring it out during the next six months and release it in a big conven-
tion at Delhi as a combined effort of all Muslim organisations, and thereafter present the
white paper to politicians, media, human rights orgs, especially those abroad, in order to
enlighten public opinion as well as to build pressure on our blind and deaf government.
The estimated cost of this white paper is Rs 25 lakh divided as follows: Rs 10 lakh
cost of preparation and payments to contributors plus six months salaries to three per-
sons including an expert; Rs 10 lakh for designing and printing the document in a world-
class format; and Rs 5 lakh convention costs. The first two concern the undersigned
while the last (convention) concerns AIMMM.
To finance this effort which will be a watershed in this struggle against state terror-
ism in India, I need and solicit your full support. This may be either by direct contribution
for the effort or by buying copies in advance which could later be sent to you or to oth-
ers at your behalf. The estimated price of the white paper is Rs 2000 at least. Our well-
wishers can pay Rs 1000 only per copy as advance purchase (plus any actual postal or
courier charges which will be indicated and payable later). Payments for the copies may
be made to our publishing company (Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd, D-84 Abul Fazal
Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025 - Email: books@pharosmedia.com).
Individuals and organisations ordering a minimum of 100 copies will be included as
sponsors of the White Paper. Contribution towards the organisation of the convention
may be sent to the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, D-250 Abul Fazal Enclave, part
1, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025.
Experts who can contribute to this white paper may kindly write to me with some
detail about their past experience and work.
ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN, Editor, The Milli Gazette - edit@milligazette.com
www.milligazette.com
Juvenile injustice in Kashmir
A study by the Delhi-based Asian Centre for
Human Rights has come out with a report titled
Juveniles of Jammu and Kashmir: Unequal
before the law, denied justice in custody which
highlights violations of human rights of children
in J&K who are booked as young as 12 and 15
and are charged of sedition and waging war
against the state and are booked under the dra-
conian Public Safety Act and imprisoned with
adults in the states jails. Another serious con-
cern for the children of J&K is that the legally
defined age of juveniles is 16, while in the rest
of India it is 18.
The report cites cases of, among others,
Omar Maqbool, aged 13 years, detained on
October 27, 2010 under the PSA and Mushtaq
Ahmad Sheikh, aged 14 years, detained under
the PSA on April 9, 2010. He was granted bail
after eight days, but was re-arrested on April
21, 2010. He was finally released on February
10, 2011.
When it comes to draconian laws like
Armed Forces Special Act, New Delhi imposes
these despite opposition from every political
party in the state. But when it comes to laws
that help provide rights, like the national Juvenile
Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act,
there is no urgency, Dr Rouf Malik, who heads
Koshish, a child rights group, in Kashmir, said.
Indian intelligence inputs baffling
The Indian intelligence agencies operating in
various high-alert areas are facing a crisis due
to lack of verifiable inputs being fed by sources
along the border areas.
A verifiable source payment mechanism is
yet to be introduced in the agencies to assess
input and source dependability.
A pattern noticed by insiders reveals multi-
ple agencies filing the same inputs simultane-
ously. This phenomenon suggests the same
source fed all the agencies and was paid by all
of them. In May 2012, sources spread the sen-
sational news of an imminent terror attack on
Mumbai to RAW which found out it was a hoax.
Rushdie keeps off Indian affairs
Author Salman Rushdie, whose book
Midnights Children has been made into a
commercial film, had to cancel a promotional
event in Kolkata recently. The All India Minority
Forum and the All India Bengal Minority Youth
Federation came together to protest the writers
visit to the City of Joy. Many organizations hold
strong opinion and disapprove of Rushdies
writings, opposing writers like him and
Tasleema Nasreen from speaking in their cities.
Joint commissioner of Police PS Ghosh said
organisers of the Kolkata Book Fair denied invit-
ing him.
Modi acknowledges Muslim heritage
Narender Modis Viberant Gujarat Summit which
saw its sixth edition this year acknowledged
something BJP governments in Gujarat have
been systematically denying, that the city had
been founded by Sultan Ahmed Shah as his
capital. Ahmedabad has been earlier renamed
Karnavati and is repeatedly called Amdavad.
A list of golden facts about Gujarat given to
delegates included that it was the state with the
highest number of protected mosques.
The brochure also claimed that one-fourth
of the Indian population in America is Gujarati
and two-fifths of the richest Indians are
Gujaratis.
It is also claimed that Gujarat has the lowest
crime rates and is the safest state in India. It
made no mention of the 2002 pogrom, commu-
nal tensions and socio-economic disparities in
the state.
ZFI candidates pass UPSC exam
Following seven ZFI Fellows (out of 12 who
appeared) have passed the UPSC Civil Services
Mains Examination (result declared today 22
Feb 2013): 1.Sayyid Rabbi Hashmi (Kerala);
2. Safeer Karim (Kerala) 3. Abdul Salam M
(Kerala); 4. Waseem Akram UP); 5. Anees C
(Kerala); 6. U Udaya Kiran (A.P.); 7. Naieem
Mustafa (Rajasthan). They will now appear for
interview.
Compiled by AALIA KHAN
Bangalore: A
journalist with
Deccan Herald
English daily
and a scientist
with Defence
Research and
Devel opment
Or gani zat i on
(DRDO), who
were arrested
last year by
B a n g a l o r e
police along with more than a dozen Muslim
youth in a controversial anti-terror operation,
have been excluded from the chargesheet filed by
the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the
case on Feb 20, for lack of evidence.
Hubli-based Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui (26)
working for the Deccan Herald in Bangalore, and
Aijaz Ahmed Mirza (25), a junior research scien-
tist in DRDO, were arrested along with 16 others
spread across Bangalore, Hubli, Hyderabad and
Maharashtra on controversial charge of allegedly
plotting to kill Kannada journalists and political
leaders linked with right-wing Hindu organiza-
tions.
Apart from these two, two other arrested
youth, viz., Syed Yusuf Nalaband and Syed
Tanzeem, have been kept out of the chargesheet.
The NIA chargesheet, however, has been filed
against 12 persons including one Zakir who is
absconding. Of the 12, one is from Nanded in
Maharashtra while others are from Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh. A total of 25 youth are being
investigated in the case.
The agency is hoping to get more informa-
tion from Zakir when he gets arrested. As of now,
it does not have evidence against the DRDO sci-
entist and the journalist, said an official privy to
the investigations.
According to the chargesheet, the group was
being handled and supported from Saudi Arabia
by Farhatullah Ghori, maternal uncle of slain
Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI) operative Shahid
Bilal hailing from Hyderabad.
The chargesheet also said that two of
those arrested, Dr Zafar Iqbal Sholapur and
Abdul Hakim Jamadar, had travelled to Pakistan
and met Ghori. The duo first went to Iran and
then made a 50-hour road trip to Pakistan in
January-February 2012, the chargesheet
claimed. The accused not only received funds
from Ghori but also planned robberies to raise
funds to carry out their tasks, the chargesheet
claimed.
No proof against arrested
Deccan Herald journalist,
DRDO scientist
Faizabad Riots, October 2012
Sheetla Singh
Sidi Sayed (Jali) Mosque, Ahmedabad
Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui
Hyderabad: Hyderabad Police, which had killed Muslims when they
came out to protest against the Makka Masjid blast of 18 May, 2007
and then implicated nearly a hundred in false terror cases, is out again
to implicate the citys Muslim youths in the twin blasts which occurred
on February 21 due to this communal forces utter unprofessionalism.
These blasts killed 16 people. The citys East zone task force team has
started detaining and calling for questioning Muslim youths at their sta-
tions in the name of blast investigation. At least six persons have been
detained or questioned so far by the police. On February 23 Arshed
Khan, acquitted in the Makka Masjid blast conspiracy case, was called
in Malakpet police station and questioned for three hours. Another
youth Abdul Kareem was called and questioned in the same manner.
Abdul Raheem, another youth acquitted in the Makka Masjid terror
case, was called by the police on 23 Feb. He refused to oblige, hence
he was detained next day.
Another youth, Mohammed Azmath, MIM activist from Malakpet
constituency, is being detained along with another youth Mohammed
Rayeesuddin of Malakpet, who too is one of those acquitted in the
Makka Masjid case.
Another such youth, Dr. Ibrahim Ali Junaid, said that the task force
police Sub-Inspector Madhusudhan Reddy is continuously calling him
and asking him to meet Police under Chandrayangutta flyover, near his
house at Hafiz Baba Nagar. Dr. Junaid refused to oblige and has asked
police to question him in a proper legal manner by providing prior
notice for interrogation. All these youths were awarded compensation
and good character certificate by the government as an act of repen-
tance for implicating them in false cases in connection with Makka
Masjid blast case.
When asked about the detentions, Hyderabad Police
Commissioner Anurag Sharma claimed he didnt know about them.
They may have been called for questioning by our officers but we
have not arrested anybody, he said. When asked why the men who
have been found innocent of wrongdoings in the past have again
been picked up, he said he needed to verify the facts before comment-
ing on the issue.
The youth arrested after the Makka Masjid blast were subjected to
torture and forced to confess to their involvement in the blast. While 26
were later booked on terror-related charges, others were released.
When the investigations were handed over to the Central Bureau of
Investigation, it was found that the blast was the handiwork of some
right-wing elements. All the local youth were later acquitted by the
court but some of them had to languish in jail for more than one-and-
a-half years before being exonerated. On the rec-
ommendations of the National Commission for
Minorities, the state government had to pay a com-
pensation and issue a good character certificate to
these men. Mohammed Rayeesuddin lost his job
and his fiance when he was wrongfully accused of
being involved in the Mecca Masjid blast.
Mohammed Rayeesuddin s/o Mohammad
Sayeeduddin r/o Hashimabad, Chandrayanguta
(35 years) was arrested by plainclothes while he
was walking on Chandrayangutta Road at around
9:30 am on 24 Feb. He is missing since. Senior
Police officials denied that he was picked up by
any team of Hyderabad Police.
This is the same Mohammad Rayeesuddin
who was picked up post-Mecca Masjid Blast and
was kept in illegal custody, tortured and shown as
culprit in two crimes (cases 100/2007 &
107/2007 - Hussainialam Police Station) and was
in jail for eight months. After attending trial for 22
months, he was set free by the court. After the
confesion of Swami Aseemanand about the
involvement of Abhinav Bharat in different blasts
across India including Makka Masjid, Andhra
Pradesh Police gave a Good Conduct Certificate
to Mohammad Rayeesuddin who was also list-
ed for Rs two lakh compensation. He could not
get the sanctioned compensation as one case is
still pending against him. Mohammad
Rayeesudddin is a key witness in a case against
the Gujarat Police booked in Saifabad Police Station related to the mur-
der of Mujahid Saleem Islahi s/o Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi by
Narender Kumar Amin (ACP Gujarat Police) during the arrest of
Maulana Naseeruddin at DGP Office at Lakdi Ka Pul. The Andhra
Pradesh Police time and again arrested and filed fake cases against
Mohammad Rayeesuddin in order to pressurise him to withdraw as a
witness in the case against Gujarat Police related to the murder of
Mujahid Saleem Islahi. Narender Kumar Amin (ACP) is now in judicial
custody in Sabarmati Jail in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. The
Andhra Pradesh Police did not bother even once to bring the accused
who is in judicial custody in Gujarat.
Terror witch hunt in Hyderabad
4 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Crime on the rise in Delhi
Delhi Legal Services Authority, which maintains data on
crime in Delhi has reported that a total of 54,287 cases of
crime were filed in Delhi in 2012 and molestations and
attempt to murder saw a 10.65% and 13.75% increase,
respectively. Incidences of extortion (136) and abductions
(274) went up by 35% and 15%. Delhi reported a total of
3,675 cases of kidnapping. A whopping 14 children go
missing in the city each day. An Anti-Human Trafficking unit
has been set up in each district to tackle the cases.
Rapes rise, conviction dismal
A public interest litigation filed by lawyer Omika Dubey has
raised pertinent questions about the nature of the Indian
democracy where men facing prosecution in heinous
crimes such as rape are members of legislative assemblies
and Parliament and hold a seat of power.
The petition brought to light the horrifying figure of
1,448 MPs and MLAs facing charges of rape and other
offences, out of a total of 4,835 in the country.
Over 2.38 lakh cases were registered for crime against
women in 2009, chargesheets were filed in about 1.64 lakh
cases and there were only 27,977 convictions. More than
2.13 lakh cases were registered in 2010 leading to nearly
1.72 lakh chargesheets and 30,270 convictions. In 2011,
over 2.28 lakh cases were registered, 1.78 lakh
chargesheets were filed and only 30,266 convictions
secured.
Gadkari in investigative mesh
The Indian Revenue Services Income Tax Department has
demanded an apology from former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari
for his public threat to income tax officials and remarks that
were aimed at hindering a free and fair probe into Purti
Group investments and sought security for officials handling
the case.
Mr. Gadkari had remarked that once BJP comes to
power in the 2014 General Elections, there would be no one
to protect the IT officials. Earlier, facing corruption charges,
Mr. Gadkari had to refrain from contesting for a second term
as BJP President.
The first phase of investigation into Purti Group finances
ended recently and the investigative wing of the IT depart-
ment is expected to submit its report and in case the pro-
moters or directors of companies that invested in Purti are
not able to sufficiently explain their source of funds, their
investments could be added to the tax liability of Gadkari. He
started the company in 1995 while serving as Maharashtra
Minister for PWD, and now his son Nikhil runs the compa-
ny. However, this is not the only reason Gadkari appears
vexed, a seven-year-old Yogita Thakres dead body was
found in the compound of Gadkaris Nagpur residence in
May 2009. The city police had initially registered a case of
accidental death and the postmortem report showed
smothering as the cause of death and also mentioned
several abrasions and wounds on the girls body. The CID,
investigating the case, has submitted various closure
reports which the court has rejected and has directed the
state CID to carry out relevant investigation as requested by
the counsel of victims parents. The CID probe report has
repeatedly concluded that it was an accidental death.
Dalit lecturer beaten up by VHP goons
Six men associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the
Bajrang Dal were arrested in Dhule for thrashing a lecturer at
the Ambedkar College of Social Work. The police said the
lecturer, Pramod Bhumbe, had upset some of his students
with his views. The lecturer, when contacted, said the boys
objected to a lecture he delivered on casteism and social
reform in India. He added that the boys invited external ele-
ments to the college for this purpose. The six men beat him
up and pushed him from the stairs. The lecturer has ten-
dered an apology to resolve the issue.
Operation Bluestar was a wrong decision
Amritsar: Former Army Chief General VK Singh said here on
February 21 that Operation Bluestar was a wrong political
decision and that the then Chief of the Army Staff had
declined to attack the holy shrine. The retired General was in
the city to garner support for the Jantantra Morcha, a cam-
paign against corrupt practices, to be launched on March
31. He paid obeisance at the Golden Temple. Asked if
Operation Bluestar was a hasty decision, he said: I was a
Major at that time, but I am cent per cent correct in saying
that the Armys point of view could never be against its own
people and the then leadership should have opted for anoth-
er alternative to get things done. He said the then Army
Chief had said no to the operation but when it was
ordered, he had no choice but to obey. He emphasised that
the operation was solely a political decision.
On the alleged kickback in the AgustaWestland deal, he
maintained: The Services role has always been miniscule
and there could be negligible corruption at that level. He
said for arms procurement, the lowest bidder requirement
was not right as the lowest may not be the best.
On Indo-Pak relations, he said: India should review its
approach. J&K is witnessing a proxy war. It is not an indige-
nous movement, but is financed and abetted by inimical
forces across the border.
A four-member fact-finding team
of the Human Rights Forum
(HRF) went to Nimmalagudem
village on January 16, 2013. It
was told by tribal residents that
the two women of the village --
Madvi Parvathi (aged 21, wife of
Madvi Bhaskar) and a minor
Kovasi Somidi (aged 15, daugh-
ter of Kovasi Idma and Kovasi
Aite) were forcibly taken away
by policemen from Andhra
Pradesh at about 7 am on
January 12, 2013 from the vil-
lage itself. Their whereabouts are
still not known. According to
Parvathis mother Punam
Jogamma and her husband
Bhaskar, Parvathi is also preg-
nant.
Nimmalagudem, with about
30 tribal households, is in Konta
block of Sukma district,
Chattisgarh. It is located about
three kms from the Andhra
Pradesh border. Residents, who
are all farmers, said a huge
police party from AP consisting
of over 100 personnel, including
the Greyhounds, came to the vil-
lage at daybreak on January 12.
On seeing the police from a dis-
tance, most men fled into the
forest in the opposite direction.
The policemen began abusing
and beating up residents includ-
ing several women and children.
Among those beaten up were
Sodi Devi, a 10-year-old girl and
Madvi Venkatesh, a 12-year-old
boy. The boy lost three teeth as a
result of the beating.
The policemen then picked
up a farmer called Podium
Chukkaiah and his minor son
(aged about 11) P Bhimaiah as
well as Parvathi, Somidi and
another woman called Madkam
Saramma. Their hands were tied
and they were taken to a spot
about half a kilometre away from
the village below a hillock where
there were remnants of a camp
set up earlier by the Maoists.
Accusing the four as well as the
entire village of providing food
and help to the Maoists, they
beat them with their hands and
sticks. Bhimaiah was slapped
repeatedly.
Several women including
Parvathis mother Jogamma, her
aunt Punam Somamma,
Somidis mother Aite followed
the policemen pleading with
them not to harm their daugh-
ters. The policemen instead
abused them and also beat up
the three women and even
kicked them. Aite and Jogamma
tried to give some water to
Parvathi and Somidi but the
policemen did not allow it.
Soon after, the police par-
tially disrobed Parvathi and
Somidi and forcibly took the two
away with them. They let go of
Saramma, Chukkaiah and
Bhimaiah. Chukkaiah was
bedridden for two days from the
beatings and is now better. A
week after their abduction by the
AP police, there is still no trace
of Parvathi and Somidi.
The incident was reported in
the Telugu media after the tribals
went to Cherla, a mandal head-
quarter in Khammam district of
AP, and narrated the events to
local reporters. When contacted
by repor ters, police officials
have kept denying knowledge of
the whole thing.
On January 16,
Nimmalagudem villagers again
walked to Cherla and met the
Bhadrachaslam sub-collector
Narayana Bharat Gupta. They
told him what had happened on
January 12 and pleaded with
him to help them locate their
daughters. They told him that
every-time there was movement
of Maoists in the area or any
incident involving the Maoists,
the Andhra police targetted
Nimmalagudem and harassed
them. Gupta promised to take up
the matter with higher officials.
Two days have passed and yet
there is no word about the
women.
Fax messages have been
sent to the Chief Justice of the
AP High Court as well as to the
Chattisgarh CJ seeking their
intervention.
An appeal was made by HRF
through the media to immediate-
ly set the two women free and
hand them over to their families.
Members of the HRF fact-
finding team: 1. VS Krishna (HRF
state general secretary),
2. SK Khadar Babu (HRF
Khammam district president),
3. D Adinarayana (HRF
Khammam district general sec-
retary), 4. N Amar (HRF
Nalgonda district vice-president)
(countercurrents.org)
A Woman and a minor girl kidnapped by Police in A.P.
Rayeesuddin
MBTs Amjadullah with Rayeesuddins family
Certificate issued to Rayeesuddin by
the Hyderabad Police Commissioner
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 5 www.milligazette.com
AG KHAN
Ujjain: Thanks to determined and untiring efforts of the administra-
tion, the city managed to brave the onslaught by saffron outfits
which tried to hold the city to ransom. Sushasan (good gover-
nance) credentials of Shivraj government in M.P. were at stake at
this juncture when both Friday prayer and Basant Panchami coin-
cided. In spite of clear-cut instructions from the Archeological
Survey of India, the saffronites were adamant that Muslims would
not be allowed to pray nor shall the Hindus vacate the premises
between 1 to 3 p.m. As a relaxation, the A.S.I. had permitted one
more day (14 February) for Basant Panchami. Not only did the saf-
fronites take out a rally to demonstrate their valour on 10th
February but also threatened violence should the Friday prayer be
attempted. Even a children brigade was pressed into action for
taking out a procession.
To add fuel to fire, sants at Allahabad Kumbh threatened to
abandon the Kumbh and march to Dhar. State minister for cultural
affairs was rushed to Allahabad to dissuade them from such an
action lest it create a problem in maintaining law and order. All
except one, the Shankaracharya of Sumaru peeth kashi,
Narendranand, were convinced and remained in Allahabad.
Narendranand arrived in Indore where two other ministers tried to
dissuade him but in vain.
Prayers were allowed on 14 & 15 February. However, when the
administration tried to get the premises vacated, the saffron
activists refused to budge. This compelled the police to resort to
physical force. When forced out of the premises, these people
resorted to pelting stones and damaging vehicles. Teargas shells
and lathi-charge had to be resorted to, leaving several injured.
The administration, meanwhile, managed to escort a few
Muslims inside and ensured that Friday prayer was held between 1-3
p.m. as per the directions of the A.S.I. The towns Qazi said that about
a dozen outsiders were brought by the authorities and allowed to
pray. The administration has released a photograph to assert its claim.
The Qazi, however, demanded a probe into the matter - about who
prayed and who was their Imam. He left for Bhopal to lodge a protest.
While Muslims maintained utmost restraint throughout the
fortnight and responded positively and cordially to the administra-
tions efforts, saffron volunteers and organisers did their utmost to
intimidate the administration.
A few arrests had to be made. Naval Kishore Sharma (con-
venor) and former RSS pracharak, was arrested as a precaution-
ary measure and sent to Indore MY Hospital where he was not
allowed to meet anyone. His brother, Neelash, was arrested on
charge of distributing arms. A few more arrests were made to
ensure peace, taking the total to 12.
With elections round the corner, Shivraj government was deter-
mined to maintain law and order. On popular demand, Kailash
Vijavargiya, at the eleventh hour, was asked to leave for Allahabad
because everyone at Dhar declared him a persona non grata. The rea-
son behind so much enthusiasm of volunteers was attributed to the
forthcoming elections with prospects of securing tickets from the BJP
as had been the practice in the past. Thanks to the untiring efforts of
Anuradha Shankar, I.G., Indore range, Divisional Commissioner Indore
division, CB Singh District collector Dhar and 7000 policemen, peace
was maintained. Saffron organisations declared Dhar bandh on the
next day and threatened that the matter would be discussed by the
high commands of RSS and the BJP which they felt, would suffer a
debacle in elections for such handling.
Terror After Terror
Nothing Learnt
If there is terror, it has to be a Muslim. If he is
a Muslim, he has to be from the IM. If it is the
IM, it must have acted at the instance of
Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)...
B. RAMAN
It is less than 48 hours since the two blasts in the
Dilsukhnagar area of Hyderabad on the evening of
February 21, 2013, resulted in the death of 16
innocent civilians.
The police and the intelligence agencies are
still in the preliminary stages of the investiga-
tion. They have not yet done a reconstruction of
the act of terrorism. The collection and exami-
nation of the forensic evidence have not yet
been completed. No arrests and interrogation
have been made yet.
Instead of waiting till the investigation makes
substantial progress, the police and the agencies,
with the help of sensation-hungry media, have
already started pointing the finger at the Muslim
community, the Indian Mujahideen and Pakistan.
If there is terror, it has to be a Muslim. If he is
a Muslim, he has to be from the IM. If it is the IM,
it must have acted at the instance of Pakistans
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). That seems to be
the thinking reflex of the police and the agencies.
In October last, according to the Delhi Police,
a Muslim suspect belonging to the IM told them
during his interrogation that the IM had recced the
Dilsukhnagar area as a possible target. From this,
one could have reasonable suspicion that the IM
might have carried out the attack. To strengthen
the suspicion, one must have additional evidence
which has not been forthcoming till now. Despite
this, the police and the agencies in their mind have
already turned the suspicion into certainty. Almost
the entire investigation is now focused on the IM,
overlooking other possibilities.
One cannot think of a more unprofessional
way of dealing with terrorism. Very often, our ini-
tial hasty conclusions remain unproved or uncor-
roborated. That is why the investigation of so
many of our terrorism cases has reached a dead
end. Many of the cases remain undetected or
unprosecuted or unsuccessful even if prosecuted.
After every few months, we are taken by
surprise by a new act of terrorism because we
didnt investigate professionally the previous
acts of terrorism. Our track record has been one
of hur tling from one hasty conclusion to anoth-
er.
Instead of learning lessons from the past, we
continue repeating the same mistakes. Imprecise
intelligence, alerts not followed up by ground
action to strengthen physical security, lack of beat
patrolling by the police despite our talking about it
for years, absence of professional reconstruction
of an act of terrorism to determine how the terror-
ists managed to succeed, cover-up of the sins of
commission and omission of our police and agen-
cies--that has been our track record. Unless we
get out of this unprofessional rut, terrorists will
continue to strike with impunity and innocent civil-
ians will continue to die. (outlookindia.com - Feb 23,
2013)
B. Raman is Additional Secretary (Retd), Cabinet
Secretariat, Govt of India, New Delhi, and, presently,
Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and
Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies
Jamaat ventures into broadcasting
Jamaat Islami Hind Kerala has come out with its own television
channel called MediaOneTV. Furthering its political and religious
agenda, it will air content in line with its Malayalam mouthpiece
Madhyamam and will also produce movies. A production which
it has already started working on is based on the life of Kunhali
Marakkar, a naval chief who fought the Portuguese invaders in the
15th century. The channel, launched on 10 February, will have a
tie up with Al Jazeera for sharing content on world affairs. At pres-
ent it will broadcast news and programmes in Malayalam on a
24x7 basis and will later start other channels as well as will
branch out into other Indian languages. Jamaats Deputy Amir
(Kerala) Sheikh Mohammed Karakunnu, an Islamic scholar, said
MediaOne would follow the same principles practiced by
Madhyamam. Like the daily, the TV channel will give due
space to issues of minorities, Dalits and the marginalised. The TV
channel will also have regulations on accepting advertisements,
(and on) content of the programmes, he said. (Aaliya Khan)
Rajendra Choudhari confesses murder
Rajendra Choudhari has confessed his role in the Sunil Joshi
murder case of 2007. This was disclosed at a press conference
by the N.I.A. According to Subhash Bhattacharya, his statement
has been videographed and the whole conspiracy would be
exposed soon. He refuted BJP allegation of working under politi-
cal pressure. Sunil is believed to be the mastermind behind eight
bomb blasts between 2006-2008. He wanted to take credit for the
operations and this led to feud among members. He even threat-
ened to divulge the conspiracy to the police any time. Choudhari
was presented before the court of Neena Aashapure after the
expiry of remand. A fresh remand was sought for handing him
over to the Panchkula Special court of N.I.A. in connection with
Samjhauta Blast. The court sent him to judicial remand till
21 February pending a final decision. (AG Khan)
Dhar under saffron seige
I
ndian media on 24 February used an image of the late Manzar Imam, MPA, as a suspect
involved in the recent blasts in Hyderabad. Imam, a member of the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM), and member of the Sindh legislature, was killed in a targeted attack
on January 17 this year, for which the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility.
An Indian news channel aired a programme identifying eight alleged terrorist suspects
who are purported to have been behind the attacks in Hyderabad. The news channel used
Imams photo while referring to a member of the Indian Mujahideen who was claimed to be
the alleged mastermind behind the bombings. (The Express Tribune with IHT, 25 February
2013)
Blasts handiwork of Satans: Swami
Lakshmi Shankaracharya
Hyderabad: Swami Lakshmi Shankaracharya
emphasized that the twin blasts in Hyderabad
was executed not by humans but by Satans. The
60-year-old Swami, who was well-known for
his venom spitting against Islam and Muslims
but changed his outlook regarding Islam after
reading Holy Quran and the Prophets life and
since then he made promotion of national
integrity and communal peace his mission.
Talking to Siasat, over the phone, Swami
Lakshmi Shankaracharya said on 23 February
that no religion teaches violence and surely vio-
lence is Satans act. He said that Hyderabadi
Muslims are compassionate. Whenever he arrived at Hyderabad, he felt that Hyderabad is
the only city in the country which can be rightly called as the symbol of Ganges-Yamuna
culture.
Condemning the blasts, he asked the police and investigative agencies not to jump to
any conclusion without carrying out investigation, lest real culprits will escape the law.
Swami Lakshmi Shankaracharya was initially very critical about Islam and Muslims. He
considered Islam to be the root cause of global terrorism. He wrote a book The History of
Islamic Terrorism to support his views. However, on being urged to study Islam from its
original sources, Swami Lakshmi Shankaracharya read the Holy Quran from cover to cover
besides the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Finally, he realised that he misunderstood
Islam. He accepted his mistake and decided to write a rejoinder of such negative materials
in a book titled Islam- Terror or Ideal Path.
Indian media shows deceased
MQM legislator as Hyderabad
blast suspect!
Saffronites clash with the Police in Dhar
Manzar Imam
RAM PUNIYANI
ram.puniyani@gmail.com
Protests are being organised
and threats to stall the pro-
ceedings of the next Lok
Sabha session are being
dished out to oppose the
Home Minister Sushil Kumar
Shindes statement about
Hindu terrorism, its links
with BJP and RSS (23 Jan
2013). There are two major components of this
statement. One is the use of the prefix Hindu for
terrorism, and two about RSS-BJP links with ter-
ror training camps. What Shinde called Hindu
terrorism has also been called Saffron terror-
ism or Hindutva terrorism. This prefix is to
point out to acts of terror indulged in by the likes
of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Swami
Aseemanand, Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit,
Kalsangara, Sunil Joshi and many like them who
were either actively associated with the ideology
of Hindutva, or even were organizationally asso-
ciated with the RSS. Others were at that time or
previously linked with some progeny of RSS like
ABVP, Bajrang Dal etc. Many of them were part of
allied organizations like Sanatan Sanstha,
Abhinav Bhararat, which too aim at the goal of
Hindu Nation or are ideologically inspired by the
agenda of RSS.
The home ministers remarks are based on
investigations done by the Anti-Terror Squads of
different states and by the National Investigation
Agency. Earlier, a similar announcement was
made by the then Union home minister
P. Chidambaram, in July 2010, to Parliament that
the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probe
the terrorist attacks on the Samjhauta Express
and examine the conspiracy behind the attack,
including the links of the accused in terrorist
attacks at Malegaon (September 8, 2006),
Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad (May 18, 2007) and
at the Ajmer dargah (October 11, 2007). He had
used the term Saffron terror.
Various such acts of terror in which these
people have been involved have been coming to
light since the last ten years or so. In 2003, in
Parbhani, Jalna and Jalgaon districts of
Maharashtra; in 2005, in Mau district of Uttar
Pradesh; in 2006, in Nanded; in January 2008, at
the RSS office in Tenkasi, Tirunelveli; in August
2008, in Kanpur etc. Some of the details of some
of these acts are very revealing:
1. On 6 April 2006, two Bajrang Dal work-
ers died while fabricating bombs. The place where
they died belonged to an RSS worker and saffron
flag was hoisted atop the house. There was also a
board of Bajrang Dal Nanded Branch on the outer
wall of the house.
2. In Thane on 4 June 2008, two Hindu
Jagran Samiti workers were arrested for exploding
bombs in the basement of Gadkari Rangayatan, due
to which seven people were injured. The same
group was involved in the blasts in Vashi and Panvel
also.
3. In Goa, a bomb kept in a scooter went
off on the eve of Divali (17 Oct 2009) in Margao. It
killed Malgonda Patil and seriously injured Yogesh
Naik. Another bomb was detected in Sancoale in a
truck carrying 40 youth for Narkasur competition.
Both the activists belonged to Sanatan Sanstha. The
second aim of this blast was to create communal
tension in Margao, which has a history of commu-
nal violence. This group takes inspiration from
Savarkar (Hindu Mahasabha) and Hedgewar (RSS)
and indoctrinates its members into hating Christians
and Muslims.
4. On 24 August, 2008, two Bajrang Dal
activists died in Kanpur while making bombs. The
Kanpur zone IGP S.N. Singh stated that their inves-
tigations have revealed that this group was planning
massive explosions all over the state.
5. Indian Express (23 Oct., 2008) reported
that those involved in the bomb blast in Malegaon
and Modasa (Sept. 2008) had links with Akhil
Bhartiya Vidhyarti Parishad. Similarly in Tenkasi,
Tamil Nadu, the pipe-bomb attack on RSS office in
January 2008 was projected to have been done by
Jehadi Muslims.
The common pattern of these acts of terror
has been two-fold. One, that in few of such cases
the activists related to Bajrang Dal or fellow trav-
ellers were killed while making the bombs.
Second, these acts of terror were targeted to kill
Muslims and therefore these acts were organized
at times when Muslims congregations take place,
at the time of namaz or festivals like Shab-e-Barat
in Malegaon, or in Ajmer Sharif where they come
in large numbers, or Samjhauta Express where
the major number of travellers was Muslim.
In the initial phase police authorities working
under the prejudice that all terrorists are
Muslims misdirected their probe. But the probe
came on the proper track after the Malegaon
blasts when the motorcycle of Sadhvi Pragya
Singh Thakur, the former activist of Akhil Bhartiya
Vidyarthi Parishad, a wing of RSS, came under
the scanner and her links with many of those
who have been named above and are currently in
jail, came to the surface. These facts came to
light due to the initiative and immaculate investi-
gation done by the then chief of Maharashtra
ATS, Hemant Karkare. He pursued the investiga-
tions professionally putting together the threads
due to which today most of these terrorists are in
jails. While pursuing these investigations, Karkare
came under immense pressure from the politi-
cians belonging to BJP and its close cousin, Shiv
Sena. During this time Narendra Modi said that
Hemant Karkare is an anti- national (deshdrohi)
and Bal Thackeray in his daily, Saamana, wrote
that we spit on the face of Karkare. Later
Karkare got killed during the Mumbai terror attack
of 26/11, 2008.
People involved in these terror acts were
associated to the affiliates of RSS or the RSS
itself. Mr. RK Singh, Union home secretary, has
given out the following names from the RSS sta-
ble who have been involved in acts of terror:
1. Sunil Joshi (dead) was an activist of RSS in
Dewas and Mhow from 1990s to 2003; 2. Sandeep
Dange (absconding) was RSS pracharak in
Mhow, Indore, Uttarkashi and Sajhapur from 1990s
to 2006; 3. Lokesh Sharma (arrested) was RSS
nagar karyavahak in Deogarh; 4. Swami
Assemanand (arrested) was associated with RSS
wing Vanavashi Kalyan Parishad in Dangs, Gujarat,
from the 1990s to 2007; 4. Rajender alias
Samunder (arrested) was RSS Varg Vistarak; 5.
Mukesh Vasani (arrested) was an activist of RSS
in Godhra; 6.Devender Gupta (arrested) was a RSS
pracharak in Mhow and Indore; 7. Chandrasekhar
Leve (arrested) was an RSS pracharak in
Shajhanpur in 2007; 8. Kamal Chouhan (arrested)
was an RSS activist and 9. Ramji Kalsangra
(absconding) was an RSS associate.
The above is in addition to Sadhvi Pragya Singh
Thakur, Swami Dayanand Pandey, Lt Col Prasad
Shrikant Purohit, Major (Retd) Upadhyay who have
been close to the Sangh Parivar.
While some beans were spilled by many of
these accused, the whole picture was pieced
together by Swami Aseemanand, when he decid-
ed to confess in front of a magistrate. In his con-
fession, Swami gave the details of the whole set-
up raised under his coordination and involving
many RSS workers and their associates.
The major reason for this whole planning, as
per Aseemanand, was to counter the Islamic terror-
ism as witnessed in Sankat Mochan temple etc.
Their second goal was to pave the path of the
Hindu nation. Later investigations of ATS and now
NIA have unearthed the linkages due to which
these activists are cooling their heels in jails now.
Meanwhile, in the wake of most of these terror
blasts many a Muslim youth was arrested, some
were later released for lack of any credible evi-
dence. So this whole series of terrorists are Hindus.
Does this then justify to label this type of terrorism
as Hindu terrorism? By no means. Shinde is
wrong to label this terrorism as Hindu terrorism.
Now, is the term saffron terrorism correct?
No way. This term was used by many including
the then Home minister P. Chidambaram in the
wake of the investigations done by Hemant
Karkare in the case of Malegaon blasts. While
one does not approve the term Hindu terrorism
or saffron terrorism at all, one will like to see
the background in which this term came to be
used.
The RSS routinely adopts resolutions seeking
to curb Islamic terrorism with an iron hand. The
term Islamic terrorism was first coined by the
American media in the light of 9/11 act of terror.
This was the first major attempt to label an act of
terror with a religion. This became the most pop-
ular word and all and sundry started parroting this
word. This was a deliberate mischief by the US to
target Muslims and thereby legitimise its attacks
in West Asia to control the oil resources. In India
also large sections of media picked it up. RSS and
its progeny in particular highlighted the religious
nature of this terrorism, and the word Jehadi ter-
rorism was the common one to be used by these
elements. In a way associating terrorism with reli-
gion became a norm and it became part of the
popular perception.
In this backdrop, when acts of terror com-
mitted by some Hindus came to light, it some-
how came to be labelled with the prefix of
Hindu or Saffron. The term Islamic terror-
ism and Jehadi terrorism is as much wrong as
the term Hindu or saffron terror. The right word
for the first one may be Al Qaeda-type of terror-
ism and for the second, Hindutva terrorism. Here
again using Hindutva terrorism is fraught with
misunderstanding. As such, Hindutva is a politi-
cal theory aiming at creation of a Hindu nation
but due to its containing the word Hindu in it, it is
also taken to be a religion in popular understand-
ing. So the dilemma for Shinde! How to label this
group of terror deeds? Probably one will like to
make it clear that it is Hindutva terrorism, it has
nothing to do with Hindu religion and the differ-
ence between the terms Hindu (a religion) and
Hindutva (a political theory) needs to be made
clear in popular parlance.
So its hypocritical to make the intense noise
while the word Hindu-saffron terrorism is used.
Same set of people are using the word Islamic
terrorism, Jehadi terrorism and propagating that
all terrorists are Muslims. One has to know that
the phenomenon of terror has been promoted in
the madrasas specially set up by the CIA in
Pakistan to indoctrinate the Afghan Muslim youth
and bring up Al Qaeda-type formations. So why
demonize Islam, Muslims and use the term
Jehadi terrorism? Both such abuses of religion
run parallel to each other.
What about the statement that training camps
run by RSS and BJP? In all fairness one conceded
that the training camps run by RSS have gone to
give the training in rifles but the training centres of
bomb making and use are not directly conducted by
RSS-BJP. Surely these activities are done by those
associated with RSS-BJP. One cant take lightly the
picture making rounds on social media, which
shows Rajnath Singh and Shivrajsingh Chowhan
with Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. One also cant dismiss
the fact that Lal Krishna Advani and Sushma Swaraj
had gone to see the prime minister to plead the case
of Pragya Singh Thakur in particular. One cant
ignore that those running these training camps had
or were associated with RSS in some way, actively
at that time or in the past.
So all these protests and threats of BJP to
disrupt the session of Parliament are their usual
political tactics and do not have any meaning, as
their indirect or direct association with the terror-
ists is so much obvious. What Shinde is stating
is fact but terminology he uses is confused, and
thats not due to his own fault. We as a society
have not been able to come to coin correct termi-
nologies for different acts of terror anyway. Why
one should get away using the word Jehadi ter-
rorism and haul Mr. Shinde on the coals for using
a similar term.? (Issues in Secular Politics)
Shinde on Hindu Terror: Terminological Confusions
6 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Afzal Guru: The Man
Who Knew Too Much
FIRDAUS AHMED
A wits answer to the question that is set to
become an eternal one: Why did they hang Afzal
Guru?, reads: Afzal Guru was hanged because
the Indian law doesnt allow electric chair, lethal
injection, stoning to death, guillotine or any other
form of execution. However, there is another
straight answer: He knew too much. He had
already exposed the Indian States behaviour in
Kashmir in his pleadings for justice over the years.
But the true face of the State is unremarkable. He
knew more. He was the exposed link into a chain
of subterfuge leading into the STF (Special Task
Force) controlling a unit of Kashmiri rebels who
turned coat.
He had pointed this out while alive referring to
a certain Tariq in the shadowy world of the rene-
gade rebels who set the stage for India to prevail in
Kashmir by systematically killing their former com-
rades and their supporters using fair means and
foul. The outfit called Ikhwan was inducted into
the J&K Police to regularize them. Their notoriety
was such that one campaign promise of a political
party that won in the polls in 2002 was that they
would be disbanded. They were rechristened
instead, regularized and hopefully more disciplined
since. That Pakistani-trained jihadis were degener-
ate and their terror acts reprehensible, the clich
fight fire with fire provided legitimacy to such ille-
gal paramilitary outfits. In that troubled era in their
heyday, they served to undertake the dirty war
on behalf of the Indian State.
The conspiracy theory needs airing at this
juncture. Was the STF used, and did it, in turn, use
Afzal Guru for a nefarious purpose? Spelling out
the conspiracy theory is necessary. This has been
done competently elsewhere by the likes of
Arundhati Roy and Nirmalangshu Mukherjee. It is
with reason they have titled the volume in which
their case appears: 13 December, a Reader: The
S t r a n g e
Case of
the Attack
on the
I n d i a n
Parliament (Penguin India, 233pp, Rs. 200, 2006).
The very term conspiracy is a way to mar-
ginalize what could well be the truth. The fact that
no inquiry has gone into the attack on the
Parliament, the truth has not been plumbed. With
Afzal gone, it is now probably beyond reach.
As with any strange case, it is best to begin
with the motives. Parliament attack led up to the
Indian military mobilization on the borders with
Pakistan. That the mobilization stopped at the bor-
der and did not cross it suggests more than just
statesmanship on Prime Minister Vajpayees part.
It indicates a strategy, one premeditated and not
one thought up at the spur of the moment in the
crisis brought on by the dastardly attack. Crisis
environments do not lend themselves to cool
heads. Stopping at the border was cool-headed
decision. That can only have been induced by a
predetermined plan of action. In effect, the conspir-
acy theory has it that the Parliament attack was a
doing of the intelligence agency put to it by the
national security apparatus at the apex level. The
one who could have more information on this, the
then national security adviser and principal secre-
tary, Mr. Brajesh Mishra, is now no more to con-
firm this. That in his absence his denial can be
anticipated makes the theory a conspiracy theo-
ry.
The diplomatic coercion - coercive diplomacy
in strategic terms - mounted thereafter also need-
ed a trigger. Pakistan had crept back into the
American good books with 9/11. India that had
begun courting the US ever since it burst its way
into the nuclear
club, felt left out
in the cold. It
needed to
e m b a r r a s s
Pakistan, snap America out of its Musharraf infat-
uation. India needed a trigger. A trigger could not
have waited for a bunch of terrorists to come
round and storm Parliament. It required, instead, to
manufacture a trigger. This is where the STF
comes in.
Given the nature of the violent conflict on in
Kashmir at the time, the existence of secret deten-
tion centres is well-known. That these would have
had inmates with very little chance of seeing free-
dom once again can also be conceded. Consider
that in case a few of these inmates - who were
incarcerated since they wanted to harm India - were
given a choice of dying a death they had always
imagined for themselves, one of a jihadi -- many
would have agreed to the proposal. It is obvious
that there would be at least some wanting a crack
at India, dying in a blaze of imagined jihadi glory
rather than blindfolded to a death squad. It can be
surmised that there would have been no shortage
of recruits from those dark chambers. All it needed
now was to put together the supporting cast and
the equipment, and have a cover story. It is here
that unfortunate Afzal figures in the story. The rest
as they say is history; but most of it unwritten,
deliberately kept unknown, and now, unknowable.
Afzal, therefore, had to go. The shortcomings
in his trial are now well-known. The unacceptable
reason for his hanging - the demand of the collec-
tive conscience - is reversion to the bygone days
of human sacrifice. He would have gone earlier
had the ruling formation and its lead party of the
period of the Parliament attack returned to power in
2004. They had much to hide. The Congress that
has been around since needed him alive to keep
the pressure on that party, now in opposition.
However, the tide having turned against the
Congress to the extent the writing is on the wall, a
human sacrifice was decreed for its revival. This
explains the timing of Afzals departure. As for the
Congress, it will prove an insincere act equivalent
to the opening of the locks of Babri Masjid the last
time it was under siege.
Perhaps dark clouds overhead in that era -
nuclear tests, Kandahar hijack, fidayeen attacks,
Srinagar assembly bombing, right wing rule, 9/11,
military rule in the neighbourhood etc - made the intel-
ligence games necessary. These are games nations
play since Chanakyan times. Machivelli testifies that
these are indulgences of princes. When elephants
fight, grass suffers. However, there is a silver lining.
Intelligence Services (Powers and Regulation) Bill,
2011 has been in the works for some time now. It
seeks parliamentary supervision on three major intel-
ligence agencies -- Research and Analysis Wing
(R&AW), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the National
Technical Research Organisation (NTRO). A National
Intelligence Tribunal is to be set up for the investigation
of complaints, a parliamentary committee for effective
supervision, and an intelligence ombudsman. All this
will hopefully dispel the shadows. It is too late for Afzal
Guru, but never too late for those who can yet be sim-
ilarly beset.
The very term conspiracy is a way to marginalize what
could well be the truth. The fact that no inquiry has gone
into the attack on the Parliament, the truth has not been
plumbed. With Afzal gone, it is now probably beyond reach.
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 7 www.milligazette.com
At Moneylife Foundations 3rd anniver-
sary event, CAG Vinod Rai said that the
government has been too used to paid
audiences at political rallies and is now
starting to be terrified of the silent
majority. In a powerful speech, Mr Rai
reminded the citizens the responsibility
of ensuring good governance, saying
that too much is at stake for this duty to
be ignored.
Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai
delivered a shor t but powerful speech on Government
Accountability is the key to a Vibrant Democracy to a packed
audience at Moneylife Foundations 3rd anniversary event in
Dadar (Mumbai) on 15 February.
Mr Rai addressed the topic in clinical fashion, first defining
what is required of the government, moving on to why the govern-
ment is finally taking notice of us-the silent majority-and finally
why we shouldnt fall back to sleep.
Mr Rai believes that government accountability has been as
critical in India as it is today. He said, Government accountabili-
ty is an issue that is alive. But before we can understand what we
require of the government, lets find out what it means for it to be
accountable. Accountability is the obligation of those holding
power to take responsibility for their behaviour and actions.
While private institutions as well as individuals also need to be
accountable, Mr Rai said that more is required of the government.
He said, Accountability becomes more important when public
funds are involved. This is because public funds come from taxes
which we have to pay. Because there is compulsion to pay, we
need to know how the money is spent. This is why governments
have higher accountability to their citizens.
Democracy without accountability is a body without a soul
After years of slumber, Mr Rai believes, citizens are finally
waking up to find that they need to demand good governance
themselves, rather than expect it. Value-for-money in provision of
public services, he said, is the basic tenet of democracy.
Democracy without accountability is a body without a soul. But
the public perception indicates that elements of ethics and integri-
ty are lacking in our system. The public has come to realise that
governance is too important to be left only to the government.
Each stakeholder is now vociferous, discerning and demanding.
Mr Rai particularly noted the waking up of the urban middle-
class in the last year. He said, In 2012, the citizens took centre-
stage, debunking the myth of the silent majority. This shows the
maturing of Indian democratic forces. Citizens now seek a dia-
logue and this is the old order changing. Perhaps the urban mid-
dle-class united because of corruption at every government
office. They have grown united and strong.
This has taken the administration by surprise. They were
never prepared. The government was too used to paid crowds at
political rallies. This is the very reason for the insensitive and mis-
guided response you saw in December and January.
If the government doesnt perform, we have none other than
ourselves to blame
Toward the end of his speech, Mr Rai revealed what he
believes is the key to a successful democracy. He said, We are
often told by those in charge that the law should take its own
course. Unfortunately, this doesnt happen in our country. In suc-
cessful democracies, the rule of law prevails. This needs to hap-
pen here, as well. We need the role of accountability of institutions
to be enhanced, as has recently been done in the US.
Finally, Mr Rai said what we need to do to ensure that the gov-
ernment doesnt forget what its job is: The judiciary ensures hor-
izontal accountability. What we need is vertical accountability,
from the citizens, mass media and society in general. We need to
remember that we ourselves give the government. If the govern-
ment doesnt perform, we have none other than ourselves to
blame. But it now looks as if the people are waking up again, as
is evidenced by, for example, the reopening of Jessica Lal case.
India demonstrated its ability to rise up at the time of independ-
ence, then again when democracy was snuffed out in 1975, when
the economy was liberalised, and now again. We need to keep this
up. There is too much at stake to give up.
The CAG finally urged the citizens of India to continue to speak
up against corruption, saying that tomorrow belongs to the peo-
ple who prepare for it today. He ended his speech with a quota-
tion from Shakespeares Julius Caesar:
There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood,
leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in
shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ven-
tures.
M GHAZALI KHAN
London: Not to be left behind in the race to win businesses in
Gujarat, the scene of worst anti-Muslim pogroms in 2002, follow-
ing the UK, on 7 February, ambassadors of member countries of
European Union hosted a lunch for Chief Minister Narendra Modi
at the residence of German ambassador Michael Steiner in Delhi.
Mr Steiner justified this insensitive and salt-rubbing on the
wounds of the victims of Modis fascism, by saying, We are now
in a new phase. This respect from us towards India is what the
people of India expect from us. (Mr Ambassador, Gujarat is not
India and not all Gujaratis have voted for this fascist.) And in the
display of this, respect from us towards India, according to
Modis blog, he has been invited to attend the European
Parliament that will convene in Brussels in November this year.
The Parliament will be attended by representatives of over 27
nations. He also received an invitation to attend the European
Business Meet in Brussels later this year.
Strangely for EU, especially Germany, it is worth reminding
the readers that after visiting Gujarat in April 2010, two of German
MPs, Ute Granold and Pascal Kober, had called Modi, a dictator
and drawn parallels between Germany under Hitler and Gujarat
under Modi. They further said, Eight years have passed and a
probe about his [Modis] role is in progress and hence Modi cant
be allowed into the European Union countries, including Germany.
It is unacceptable... Gujarat seems to be doing quite well econom-
ically but our understanding is that economic development cannot
be at the cost of human rights. So enraged was Modi at their
statements that he wrote a strong letter to the Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh seeking an apology from the German
Embassy.
Notwithstanding, does the Indian Government also see this
gesture as EUs respect towards India? This is how Indias
Information & Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari commented
on twitter, It has been reported that the European Union ambas-
sadors have told the Gujarat chief minister that accountability
must be fixed for the Gujarat pogrom... Why does the chief minis-
ter not step up and take responsibility for what happened under his
watch rather than the country is subjected to homilies by foreign
diplomats... Does the buck not stop with their lunch guest?
Ignominious to be reminded by foreigners.
Indians, in general, and Indian Muslims, in particular, have
been campaigning and appealing to the British Government not to
let Modi in the UK. However, while well-known Muslims, none of
whom was even remotely involved in violence, have been refused
visas for their alleged extremist views, in 2003 Modi was allowed
to be welcomed by his supporters on British soil and so have been
other politicians belonging to BJP, including L. K. Advani, Sadhvi
Rithambra and Uma Bharti, who were directly involved in the
destruction, on 6 December 1992, of Babri Mosque, have been
issued visas. (Muslims protests and appeals may be seen on
www.coimuk.org).
In October last year, as the news of British Governments
courtship with Modi broke, the Council of Indian Muslims-UK
(CIM) sent an open letter to Foreign Secretary William Hague
equating this move with, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlains
unwise move to try to please Hitler in 1939 and repeating, a
similar blunder has gone out of its way to engage and rehabili-
tate Gujarats Chief Minister Narendra Modi who does not only
belong to a fascist party but is responsible for the massacre of
more than two thousand Muslims.
Reminding Mr Hague that among Modis casualties were two
British Muslims of Indian descent, CIMs Chairman Munaf Zeena
wrote, We are particularly disappointed because no consultation
was done with British Indian Muslims in general and in par-
ticular the families whose members were butchered by
Modis foot soldiers.
The letter was responded to in December 2012 by
Minister of State Rt. Hon Hugo Swire MP in which he said,
We continue to provide the families with full consular assis-
tance...Our decision will have no impact on our determination
to seek justice for the victims. (This may sound an extreme
reaction but one wonders if the victims were not Muslims and
did not have non-white background would the decision have
been as casual?)
With regard to allowing entry to Modi, the Minister said,
...our policy is clear that entry shall be refused for immigra-
tion purposes or to any individual who may present safety or
security risk; where their presence in the United Kingdom
would not be conducive to the public good; or if there is inde-
pendent, reliable and credible evidence that they have com-
mitted human rights abuses [emphasis added]...
One hopes that the learned Minister does not regard as
unreliable and incredible the leaked report of its own High
Commission in Delhi saying, British officials in India say the
recent widespread violence in the Indian state of Gujarat was pre-
planned and carried out with the support of the state government
[emphasis added].
In a damning internal report obtained by the BBC, British offi-
cials say the violence had all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing
[emphasis added] and that reconciliation between Hindus and
Muslims is impossible while the chief minister remains in power.
(BBC online, 25 April 2002)
The son, daughter, grandson and son-in-law of former MP
Ahsan Jafri, who was insulted and sworn at by Modi when he
phoned Modi to seek his help to stop and disperse the frenzied
mob that had gathered around his locality and was later dismem-
bered live, had particularly welcomed the courage the two German
MPs had shown. We applaud the courage your MPs have shown
and commend your determination in helping the course of justice
in Gujarat. That determination and courage are the valuable source
of strength for the thousands of victims of Gujarat massacre who
are working towards getting justice for their losses. They had
said in a joint letter to the German Chancellor Ms Angela Merkel.
How does the family, specially late Jafris widow, a key wit-
ness to what her husband and other Muslims had to endure, feel
now? This is how her son-in-law summarised her reactions, We
just saw off Zakia saheba at Philadelphia airport... Every help
Narendra Modi gets from national, or international bodies, making
him advance towards Indias prime-ministership, breaks Zakias
heart. She sees it as one more nail in the coffin of our justice sys-
tem. She feels disappointed that the advanced countries of the EU,
which often admonish developing countries on the issues of jus-
tice and sermonise to ensure justice is held supreme, in their own
pursuit of economic interests, are willing to feign ignorance about
Modis crimes. Although Zakia saheba does not speak much, we
know her feelings, that do not need a language for those of us who
love her so much and read in her eyes and tears everything she
wants to say.
So what has changed since then? The answer is that money-
power is making all the difference. Modi is being backed by big
corporate families and wealthy supporters of BJP who have been
lobbying for him in UK, EU and US while the role of Indian Muslim
diaspora, as far as lobbying and political activism is concerned, is
abysmally disappointing. So much so that no sooner the news of
UKs changed stand was broken than the only Indian Muslim in
the House of Lords, Adam Patel, who had once actively participat-
ed in the campaign to have Modi declared a persona non grata in
UK, welcomed it. "There is nothing wrong in meeting Modi. In fact,
the discussions may lead to getting justice for the victims fami-
lies. he said. Last month Mr Patel travelled to Gujarat and shook
hands with Modi. He reportedly mollified his bewildered support-
ers in Blackburn that he had taken the lesson to reconcile with a
brute from the treaty of Hudaibiya (sic).
When confronted by an old friend, Mr Patel was honest to
confess that behind his change of heart was the private dental col-
lege he was to establish in Gujarat. So if a Muslim Gujarati could
embrace Modi, why would anyone else care about the atrocities
and injustice Gujarati Muslims had to endure? Lord Dholakia and
Lord Meghnad Desai, once vehement opponents of Modi, also
welcomed the decision.
It is not only big Indian businessmen who are supporting
Modi and investing in his projection as future Prime Minister of
India. He has his supporters inside the British Parliament one of
whom is Barry Gardner Labour MP from Brent North. In a Vibrant
Gujarat function organised by Modi Government on 12-13
January, 2008, Mr Gardiner praised him as the lion of Gujarat.
However, surpassing his previous records during his election
campaign, Barry Gardiner published on the front page of his per-
sonal website (www.berrygardiner.com) a testimonial from Modi
along with his photograph that read, Gujarat has no greater friend
in Britain than Barry Gardiner. Imagine the outcry if a Muslim
politician had published such a recommendation from an Iranian
leader or a politician belonging to Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas or
Jamaat-e-Islami.
Without organising themselves and without being politically
active, Muslims will not get anywhere. To quote poet Iqbal,
Taqdeer ke qazi ka ye fatwa hai azal se, Hai jurm-e-zaeefi ki saza
marge-mufajaat! (It is the eternal decree of the Judge sitting in
Judgement on destinies-That punishment for the crime of weak-
ness is sudden death.
European Union & Gujarat
Economic interests overshadow quest for justice
Govt was unprepared for peoples awakening: CAG
After years of slumber...citizens are finally waking up to find that they need to demand good gover-
nance themselves, rather than expect it. Value-for-money in provision of public services, Mr Rai
said, is the basic tenet of democracy. Democracy without accountability is a body without a soul.
L/R: Sareshwala, Lord Patel and Modi
British MP Gardiner boasting proximity with Modi
New Delhi-based Journalist Vinod K. Jose had met Parliament
attack convict Afzal Guru inside the high security Tihar Jail in New
Delhi in February 2006. Below are excerpts from this rare inter-
view with Afzal.
New Delhi: A rusted table, and behind it stood a well-built man
in uniform holding a spoon in his hand. Visitors, all of them looked
habituated, queued up to open their plastic bags containing food,
allowing it to be smelt, sometimes even tasted. The security mans
spoon paved its way through the thick grease floating curries-Malai
Kofta, Shahi Paneer, Aalu Baingan, and mixed vegetables. As the
visitors opened tiny bags of curries the spoon separated each piece
of vegetable from the other, quite mechanically. Frisking the food
of a middle-aged woman the spoon took a dip at the water in the
steel bowl nearby. It then moved to the plastic bags of the next in
the queue, an early teenage boy. By now water in the steel bowl has
all kinds of colours. The floating oil gave it a vibgyor effect when
light hit at it on the winter afternoon. Around 4.30 my turn came.
The man left the spoon on the table and frisked my body top to bot-
tom, thrice thoroughly. And when the metal detector made noise I
had to remove my belt, steel watch, and keys. The man on duty
bearing the badge of Tamilnadu Special Police (TSP) looked satis-
fied. I am allowed to enter now. This is the fourth security drill I had
to go through to get into the High Risk Ward of Prison No 3 in Tihar
Central Prison. I am on my way to meet Mohammad Afzal, one of
the most talked about man in the contemporary times.
A room with many tiny cubicles. The visitors and inmate are
separated by a thick glass, and iron grills. The two connected
through a mike and a speaker fixed on the wall. Poorly audible, peo-
ple at both sides of the glass strained their ears out touching the
wall to listen other. Mohammad Afzal was already at the other side
of the cubicle. His face gave me an impression of unfathomable
dignity and calmness. A little short man in his mid thirties wearing
white kurta paijama had a Reynolds pen in his pocket. Very clear
voice welcomed me with the best of all mannerisms.
How are you Sir?, he said.
I said, Im fine. Am I to return the same question to a man on the
deathrow, was apprehensive for a second, but I did. Very fine.
Thank you Sir, he answered with warmth. The conversation went
on for close to an hour, and continued a fortnight later with a sec-
ond Mulaqat. Both of us were in a hurry to answer and ask what-
ever one could in the time. I went on scribbling him in my tiny pock-
et book. He seemed to be a person who wanted to tell a lot of
things to the world. But repeated his helplessness to reach people
from the current stature of condemned for life. Excerpts of the
interview:
There are so many contradicting images of Afzal. Which Afzal am I
meeting?
Is it? But as far as Im concerned, there is only one Afzal. That is
me.
Who is that Afzal?
A moments silence. Afzal as a young, enthusiastic, intelligent, ide-
alistic young man. Afzal a Kashmiri influenced like many thousands
in the Kashmir Valley in the political climate of early 1990s, who
was a JKLF member and crossed over to the other side of Kashmir,
but in a matter of weeks got disillusioned and came back and tried
to live a normal life, but was never allowed to do so by the securi-
ty agencies who inordinate times picked me up, tortured the pulp
out of me, electrified, frozen in cold water, dipped in petrol, smoked
in chillies, you name it, and falsely implicated me in a case, with no
lawyer, no fair trial, finally condemned to death. The lies the police
told was propagated by you in media. And that perhaps created
what the Supreme Court referred to as collective conscience of
the nation. And to satisfy that collective conscience Im con-
demned to death. That is the Mohammad Afzal you are meeting.
After a moments silence, he continued.
But I wonder whether the outside world knows anything about this
Afzal. I ask you, did I get a chance to tell my story? Do you think
justice is done? Would you like to hang a person without giving him
a lawyer? Without a fair trial? Without listening to what he had to
go through in life? Democracy doesnt mean all this, does it?
Can we begin with your life? Your life before the case
It was a turbulent political period in Kashmir when I was growing
up. Maqbool Bhatt was hanged. The situation was volatile. The
people of Kashmir decided to fight an electoral battle once again to
resolve the Kashmir issue through peaceful means. Muslim United
Front (MUF) was formed to represent the sentiments of Kashmiri
Muslims for the final settlement of the Kashmir issue. The
Administration in Delhi was alarmed by the kind of support that
MUF was gaining and in the consequence we saw rigging in the
election on an unprecedented scale. And the leaders, who took part
in the election and won with huge majority, were arrested, humili-
ated and put behind bars. It is only after this that the same leaders
gave call for armed resistance. In response, thousands of youth
took to armed revolt. I dropped out from my MBBS studies in
Jhelum Valley Medical College, Srinagar. I was also one of those
who crossed to the other side of Kashmir as a JKLF member, but
was disillusioned after seeing Pakistani politicians acting the same
as the Indian politicians in dealing with Kashmiris. I returned after
a few weeks. I surrendered to the security force, and you know, I
was even given a BSF certificate as a surrendered militant. I began
to start the life anew. I could not become a doctor but I became a
dealer of medicines and surgical instruments on commission basis
(laughs).
With the meagre income I even bought a scooter and also got
married. But not a day passed by without the scare of Rashtriya
Rifles and STF men harassing me. If there was a militant attack
somewhere in Kashmir they would round up civilians, torture them
to pulp. The situation was even worse for a surrendered militant like
me. They detained us for several weeks, and threatened to impli-
cate us in false cases. We were let free only if we paid huge bribes.
Many times I had to go through this. Major Ram Mohan Roy of 22
Rashtriya Rifles gave electric shock to my private parts. Many
times I was made to clean their toilets and sweep their camps.
Once I had to bribe the security men with all that I had to escape
from the Humhama STF torture camp. D.S.P. Vinay Gupta and
D.S.P. Davinder Singh supervised the torture. One of their torture
experts, Inspector Shanti Singh, electrified me for three hours until
I agreed to pay one lakh rupees as bribe. My wife sold her jewelry
and for the remaining amount they sold my scooter. I left the camp
broken both financially and mentally. For six months I could not go
outside home because my body was in such a bad shape. I could
not even share the bed with my wife as my penile organ had been
electrified. I had to take medical treatment to regain potency
Afzal narrated the torture details with a disturbing calmness on
his face. He seemed to have lots of details to tell me about the tor-
ture he faced. But unable to hear the horror stories of security
forces that operate with my tax money, I cut him short and asked:
If you could come to the Casewhat were the incidents that led
to the Parliament attack Case?
After all the lessons I learned in STF camps, which is either you and
your family members get harassed constantly for resisting or coop-
erate with the STF blindly, I had hardly any options left, when D.S.P
Davinder Singh asked me to do a small job for him. That is what he
told, a small job. He told me that I had to take one man to Delhi.
I was supposed to find a rented house for him in Delhi. I was see-
ing the man first time, but since he did not speak Kashmiri, I sus-
pected he was an outsider. He told me his name was Mohammad
[Mohammad is identified by the police as the man who led the five
gunmen who attacked the Parliament. All of them were killed by the
security men in the attack].
When we were in Delhi, Mohammad and me used to get phone
calls from Davinder Singh. I had also noticed that Mohammad used
to visit many people in Delhi. After he purchased a car he told me
now I could go back and gave me 35,000 rupees saying it was a
gift. And I left to Kashmir for Eid.
When I was about to leave to Sopore from Srinagar bus stand,
I was arrested and taken to Parimpora police station. They tortured
me and took to STF headquarters and from there brought me to
Delhi. In the torture chamber of Delhi Police Special Cell, I told them
everything I knew about Mohammad. But they insisted that I should
say that my cousin Showkat, his wife Navjot, S.A.R. Geelani and I
were the people behind the Parliament attack. They wanted me to
say this convincingly in front of media. I resisted. But I had no
option than to yield when they told me my family was in their cus-
tody and threatened to kill them. I was made to sign many blank
papers and was forced to talk to the media and claim responsibili-
ty for the attack by repeating what the police told me to say. When
a journalist asked me about the role of S.A.R. Geelani, I told him
Geelani was innocent. A.C.P. Rajbeer Singh shouted at me in the full
media glare for talking beyond what they had tutored me. They
were really upset when I deviated from their story and Rajbeer
Singh requested the journalists not to broadcast that part where I
spoke of Geelanis innocence.
Rajbeer Singh allowed me to talk to my wife the next day. After
the call, he told me if I wanted to see them alive I had to cooperate.
Accepting the charges was the only option in front of me if I want-
ed to see the family alive and the Special Cell officers promised
they would make my case weak so I would be released after some-
time. Then they took me to various places and showed me the mar-
kets where Mohammad had purchased different things. Thus they
made the evidence for the case.
Police made me a scapegoat in order to mask their failure to
find out the mastermind of Parliament attack. They have fooled the
people. People still dont know whose idea was to attack the
Parliament. I was entrapped into the case by Special Task Force
(STF) of Kashmir and implicated by Delhi Police Special Cell.
The media constantly played the tape. The police officers
received awards. And I was condemned to death.
Why didnt you find legal defence?
I had no one to turn to. I did not even see my family until six months
into the trial. And when I saw them it was only for a short time in
the Patiala House Court. There was no one to arrange a lawyer for
me. As legal aid is a fundamental right in this country, I named four
lawyers whom I wished to have defended me. But the judge, S.N.
Dhingra, said all four refused to do the case. The lawyer whom the
Court chose for me began by admitting some of the most crucial
documents without even asking me what the truth of the matter
was. She was not doing the job properly and finally she moved to
defend another fellow accused. Then the Court appointed an ami-
cus curiae, not to defend me, but to assist court in the matter. He
never met me. And he was very hostile and communal. That is my
case, completely unrepresented at the crucial trial stage. The fact
of the matter is that I did not have a lawyer and in a case like this,
everyone can understand what it means not to have a lawyer. If you
wanted to put me to death what was the need for such a long legal
process which to me was totally meaningless?
Do you want to make any appeal to the world?
I have no specific appeals to make. I have said whatever I wanted
to say in my petition to the President of India. My simple appeal is
that do not allow blind nationalism and mistaken perceptions to
lead you to deny even the most fundamental rights of your fellow
citizens. Let me repeat what S.A.R. Geelani said after he was
awarded death sentence at the trial court. He said, peace comes
with justice. If there is no justice, there is no peace. I think that is
what I want to say now. If you want to hang me, go ahead with it
but remember it would be a black spot on the judicial and political
system of India.
What is the condition in jail?Im lodged in solitary confinement in
the high risk cell. Im taken out from my cell only for a short peri-
od during noon. No radio, no television. Even the newspaper I sub-
scribe reaches me torn. If there is a news item about me, they tear
that portion apart and give me the rest.
Apart from the uncertainty about your future, what else concerns
you the most?
Yes, a lot of things concern me. There are hundreds of Kashmiris
languishing in different jails, without lawyers, without trial, without
any rights. The situation of civilians in the streets of Kashmir is not
any different. The valley itself is an open prison. These days the
news of fake encounters is coming out. But that is only the tip of a
big iceberg. Kashmir has everything that you dont want to see in a
civilized nation. They breathe torture. Inhale injustice.
He paused for a moment.
Also, there are so many thoughts that come into my mind; farmers
who get displaced, merchants whose shops are sealed in Delhi and
so on. So many faces of injustice you can see and identify, cant
you? Have you thought how many thousands of people get affect-
ed by all this, their livelihood, families? All these things too,
worry me.
Again a longer pause
Also global developments. I took to the news of the execution of
Saddam Hussain with utmost sadness. Injustice so openly and
shamelessly done. Iraq, the land of Mesopotamia, worlds richest
civilization, that taught us mathematics, use a 60 minute clock, 24
hour day, 360 degree circle, is thrashed to dust by the Americans.
Americans are destroying all other civilizations and value systems.
Now the so-called War against Terrorism is only good in spreading
hatred and causing destruction. I can go on saying what worries
me.
Which books are you reading now?
I finished reading Arundhati Roy. Now Im reading Sartres work on
existentialism. You see, it is a poor library in the jail. So I will have
to request the visiting Society for the Protection of Detainees and
Prisoners Rights (SPDPR) members for books.
There is a campaign in defence for you
I am really moved and obliged by the thousands of people who
came forward saying injustice is done to me. The lawyers, stu-
dents, writers, intellectuals, and all those people are doing some-
thing great by speaking against injustice.
The situation at the beginning was such in 2001 and initial days
of the case that it was impossible for justice-loving people to come
forward. When the High Court acquitted SAR Geelani, people start-
ed questioning the police theory. And when more and more people
became aware of the case details and facts and started seeing
things beyond the lies, they began speaking up. It is natural that
justice-loving people speak up and say, injustice is done to Afzal.
Because that is the truth.
Members of your family have conflicting opinion on your case?
My wife has been consistently saying that I was wrongly framed.
She has seen how the STF tortured me and did not allow me to live
a normal life. She also knew how they implicated me in the case.
She wants me to see our son Ghalib growing up. I have also an
elder brother who apparently is speaking against me under duress
from the STF. It is unfortunate what he does, thats what I can say.
Afzal Guru on Afzal Guru
8 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Muslim United Front (MUF) was formed to represent the sentiments of
Kashmiri Muslims for the final settlement of the Kashmir issue. The
Administration in Delhi was alarmed by the kind of support that MUF was
gaining and in the consequence we saw rigging in the election on an
unprecedented scale. And the leaders, who took part in the election and won
with huge majority, were arrested, humiliated and put behind bars. It is only
after this that the same leaders gave call for armed resistance.
After all the lessons I learned in STF camps, which is either you and your
family members get harassed constantly for resisting or cooperate with the
STF blindly, I had hardly any options left, when D.S.P Davinder Singh asked
me to do a small job for him. That is what he told, a small job
Continued on the next page
The Day Afzal Died
NATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 9 www.milligazette.com
NIRMALANGSHU MUKHERJI
There are days in which streaks of hope shine through dark clouds
of misery. The 9th of February, 2013 was such a day.
The day broke with the news that the noose of the Indian state
had finally seized the throat of Mohammad Afzal Guru after years
of careful conspiracy. With ill-concealed admiration, the television
screens reported the military swiftness, the secrecy, and the per-
fection with which a nuclear-powered state with one of the largest
armies in the world escorted an unarmed, hapless Kashmiri to the
gallows, performed its rituals, and pulled the bolt. As the murder
was officially videographed with full legal sanction, the body was
kept dangling for thirty minutes before it was pulled down and
immediately buried in an unmarked grave, protected by layers
and layers of impenetrable walls. The case of Afzal Guru was thus
brought to a closure. So hoped the state.
Soon the grip of the State came fully in view. Life in Kashmir
was shut down with nearly universal curfew with television and
the Internet switched off. All states were ordered to maintain full
alert. Police forces spread out into every nook and corner of pos-
sible resistance. In strict compliance of the ruling order, television
screens dug up and started playing old films of Afzals confes-
sion. All lies, falsities, and fabrications, that were rejected even by
the courts, were back on the streamers and mainframes. It looked
as if years of resistance to the machinations of the State-from the
attack to the court judgments-were once again lost under the glare
of propaganda. The right-wing was in total command.
Afzal Guru was said to have been stunned and dazed when
he was told of his proximal hanging. As we watched television that
morning, many of us shared his feeling in helpless solidarity. The
noose of fascism was coming down on us, around us, with full
legal sanction. In the solitary confinement of our homes, we stood
under the beam in the gallows, waiting for the mask. My wife just
asked feebly about Tabassum and Ghalib. I had no news, except
that they were under virtual house arrest. A colleague called, bare-
ly able to speak, ab kya hoga? I had no wisdom to offer, no plans
for the next hour or the day. Another colleague just called to say,
It is disgusting, and hung up.
As the sickness built up from watching television images, I
dragged myself to the computer. I found more people in solitary
confinement. A friend wrote in desperation, I hate this country. I
hate this fucking country. I fucking hate this country. Many were
sad, anguished, desolate, and helplessly angry with nothing to
hold on to, not even in imagination. The unmarked grave was
final, definitive.
Then the clouds parted ever so slightly. There was a call for a
demonstration at Jantar Mantar within a few hours. Action.
When the US finally attacked Iraq with the savage shock and
awe, one reporter asked Noam Chomsky if he thought that the
resistance to the war was a failure. With his usual historical can-
dour, Chomsky said that even here there is progress. He recalled
that, four years into the Vietnam war, Chomsky and some students
tried to organise an anti-war meeting in Boston. The meeting could
not take place as it was attacked by other students. It took three
more years and deaths of thousands of US soldiers before any
meaningful anti-war movement could be organised. In contrast, a
huge movement ensued against the possibility of a war in Iraq
much before the actual war started.
I vividly recall that nearly two years after the 2001 event the
first concerted effort to resist the State was organised. Before that
there were odd cautionary notes from the likes of PUDR and some
courageous report of the proceedings by Anjali Mody (so happy
to see her write again for The Hindu). The mass hysteria generat-
ed by the media, the genocide in Gujarat, war preparations against
Pakistan, and the vicious trial that unfolded in the POTA court,
combined to numb the minds of the people to the point that any
critical question on the official story was judged to be directly in
support of terrorism. A Police State functioned under internal
emergency.
A small group, collated by Nandita Haksar, was formed under
the chairmanship of Rajni Kothari. Soon there was an attempt to
form another committee of Delhi University teachers directly in
support of SAR Geelani. In the first informal meeting, just about a
dozen people showed up, all known radical faces in the universi-
ty mostly associated with PUDR. In her briefing, Haksar pointed
out clearly that the police had no case against Geelani. Even then
there was hushed silence initially when she proposed a signed
poster to start off the campaign. The campaign did take off even-
tually and Geelani was acquitted. Most people did not want to
extend the struggle anymore to fight for Afzal and Shaukat. So a
very different and difficult campaign had to be organised largely
afresh.

In contrast, now there was a call for street protest within

hours of Afzals hanging. Many, including myself, could not attend
because the information reached late. However, about three dozen
people gathered. The State was ready with a huge deployment of
police. They were soon reinforced with a large army of saffron
goons. The small group of hastily assembled protesters was com-
pelled to retreat. They were pushed and abused. There was a
protest but the State had the upperhand.
Suddenly the clouds parted further. A very small group of
young Kashmiri people, mostly women, turned around, stood their
ground, raised their fists, and started screaming azadi, azadi, leke
rahenge azadi. The curfew in Kashmir was broken in the streets
of Delhi as the determined youthful voices rented the air above the
filthy abuses dished out by the saffron goons.
The protesters were dispersed from Jantar Mantar, but they
reassembled in the Gandhi Peace Foundation later in the day. The
news of the earlier protest and the attack on it had spread. Many
more gathered in GPF, the voices grew stronger. Soon there was
news of street protests in Kashmir, Hyderabad and other places.
By late evening, scores of press statements were released and
resolutions were adopted by PUDR, PUCL, CRPP, the meeting at
GPF, the meeting at Indian Law Institute, and others.
In fact, within hours of the State propaganda on television, the
Internet was flooded with articles, reports, and statements that
depicted years of hard work by a range of people during the strug-
gle years. Just as television channels dug up their old footage, the
resistance retrieved the massive documentation that tore the
States case against Afzal apart. Nothing was lost. The Internet is
seething with anger. Despite the curfew, the barbed wires, the
numbing cold, and the ferocious deployment of arms, the streets
of Kashmir are filling up once again.
It is a long way to go before the prisons are razed to the
ground and the impenetrable walls are shattered forever. But the
resistance is back. People are on the march again. Someone
wrote, Ek Afzal ko maroge, to har ghar se niklega
Afzal.(kafila.org)
Nirmalangshu Mukherji is a Professor of Philosophy at Delhi
University, his book December 13: Terror Over Democracy,, Promilla
Publishers, New Delhi 2005 remains one of the most definitive accounts
and analyses of the of December 13 Trial that resulted in the conviction
and execution of Afzal Guru in Tihar Prison.
...within hours of the State propaganda on television, the Internet was flooded with articles, reports, and statements that depicted
years of hard work by a range of people during the struggle years. Just as television channels dug up their old footage, the resistance
retrieved the massive documentation that tore the States case against Afzal apart. Nothing was lost.
See, it is a reality in Kashmir now, what you call the counter-
insurgency operations take any dirty shape-that they field brother
against brother, neighbour against neighbour. You are breaking a
society with your dirty tricks.
As far as the campaign is concerned, I had requested and
authorized SPDPR, which is run by Geelani and group of activists,
to do the campaign.
What comes to your mind when you think of your wife Tabassum
and son Ghalib?
This year is the tenth anniversary of our wedding. Over half that
period I spent in jail. And prior to that, many a times I was detained
and tortured by Indian security forces in Kashmir. Tabassum wit-
nessed both my physical and mental wounds. Many times I
returned from the torture camp, unable to stand, all kinds of tor-
ture including electric shock to my penis, she gave me hope to
liveWe did not have a day of peaceful living. It is the story of
many Kashmiri couples. Constant fear is the dominant feeling in
all Kashmiri households.
We were so happy when a child was born. We named our son
after the legendary poet Mirza Ghalib. We had a dream to see our
son Ghalib grow up. I could spend very little time with him. After
his second birthday I was implicated in the case.
What do you want him to grow up as?
Professionally, if you are asking, a doctor. Because that is my
incomplete dream.
But most importantly, I want him to grow without fear. I want
him to speak against injustice. That I am sure he will be. Who else
knows the story of injustice better than my wife and son?
[While Afzal continued talking about his wife and son, I could
not stop recollecting what Tabassum told me when I met her out-
side Supreme Court in 2005 during the cases appeal stage.
When Afzals family members remained in Kashmir, Tabassum
dared to come to Delhi with her son Ghalib to organize defence
for Afzal. Outside the Supreme Court New Lawyers Chamber, at
the tiny tea stall on the roadside, she chatted in detail about Afzal.
While sipping and complaining the tea for excess sugar, she told
me how Afzal enjoyed cooking. One picture she painted struck me
deep-one of those dear private moments in their lives, he would
not allow her to enter kitchen, make her seated on the chair near-
by and Afzal would cook, holding one book in his hand, a ladle in
the other and read out stories for her.]
If I may ask you about Kashmir issuehow do you think it can be
solved?
First let the government be sincere to the people of Kashmir. And
let them initiate talk with the real representatives of Kashmir. Trust
me, the real representatives of Kashmir can solve the problem. But
if the government considers peace process as a tactic of counter
insurgency, then the issue is not going to be solved. It is time
some sincerity is shown.
Who are the real people?
Find out from the sentiments of the people of Kashmir. I am
not going to name x, y or z.
And I have an appeal to Indian media: stop acting as a prop-
aganda tool. Let them report the truth. With their smartly worded
and politically loaded news reports, they distort facts, make
incomplete reports, build hardliners, terrorists et. al. They easily
fall for the games of the intelligence agencies. By doing insincere
journalism you are adding to the problem. Disinformation on
Kashmir should stop first. Allow Indians to know the complete his-
tory of the conflict, let them know the ground realities. True
democrats cannot turn down the facts. If Indian government is not
taking into account the wishes of Kashmiri people, then they cant
solve the problem. It will continue to be a conflict zone.
Also you tell me how are you going to develop real trust
among Kashmiris when you send out the message that India has
a justice system that hangs people without giving a lawyer, with-
out a fair trial?
Tell me, when hundreds of Kashmiris are lodged in jails, most
of them with no lawyer, no hope for justice, are you not further
escalating the distrust in Indian government among Kashmiris?
Do you think if you dont address the core issues and do a cos-
metic effort, you can solve Kashmir conflict? No, you cant. Let
the democratic institutions of both India and Pakistan start show-
ing some sincerity, their politicians, Parliament, justice system,
media, intellectuals...
Nine security men were killed in the Parliament attack. What is
that you have to tell their relatives?
In fact, I share the pain of the family members who lost their dear
ones in the attack. But I feel sad that they are misled to believe that
hanging an innocent person like me would satisfy them. They are
used as pawns in a completely distorted cause of nationalism. I
appeal to them to come out of it and see through things.
What do you see is your achievement in life?
My biggest achievement perhaps is that through my case and the
campaign on the injustice done to me, the horror of STF has been
brought into light. I am happy that now people are discussing
security forces atrocities on civilians, encounter killings, disap-
pearances, torture camps, etc...These are the realities that a
Kashmiri grows up with. People outside Kashmir have no clue
what Indian security forces are up to in Kashmir.
Even if they kill me for no crime of mine, it would be because
they cannot stand the truth. They cannot face the questions that
arise out of hanging a Kashmiri with no lawyer.
An ear-splitting electric bell rang. Could hear hurried up con-
versations from the neighbour cubicles. This was my last question
to Afzal.
What do you want to be known as?
He thought for a minute, and answered:
As Afzal, as Mohmammad Afzal. I am Afzal for Kashmiris, and I
am Afzal for Indians as well, but the two groups have an entirely
conflicting perception of my being. I would naturally trust the judg-
ment of Kashmiri people not only because I am one among them
but also because they are well aware of the reality I have been
through and they cannot be misled into believing any distorted
version of either a history or an incident.
I
was confused with this last statement of Mohammad Afzal, but
on further reflection I began to understand what he meant.
History of Kashmir and narration of an incident by a Kashmiri is
always a big shock for an Indian whose sources of knowledge on
Kashmir happen to be confined only to the textbooks and media
reports. Afzal did just that to me.
Two more bells. Time to end Mulaqat. But people were still
busy conversing. Mike put off. Speaker stopped. But if you
strained your ear, and watched the lip movement, you could still
hear him. The guards made rough round-ups, asking to leave. As
they found visitors not leaving, they put the lights off, mulaqat
room turned dark.
In the long stretch of walk out from the Jail No 3 of Tihar jail
compound to the main road, I found myself in the company of
clusters of twos and threes, moving out silently-either a cluster of
mother, wife and daughter; or brother, sister and wife; or friend
and brother; or someone else. Every cluster had two things in
common. They carried an empty cotton bag back with them.
Those bags had stains of Malai Kofta, Shahi Paneer and Mixed
Vegetables, often spilled over by the rash frisking of the TSP
mans spoon. The second, I observed, they all wore inexpensive
winter clothes, torn shoes, and outside Gate No 3 they waited for
Bus No 588, Tilak Nagar-Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium bus, that per-
haps took them to Dhaulakuan main junction-they are the poor cit-
izens of this country. Remembered President Abdul Kalams mus-
ing how poor people were the awardees of capital punishments.
My interviewee is also one. When I asked him how much tokens
(the form of currency allowed in the jail) he had, he said enough
to survive.(Kashmir Newz Specials)
Vinod K. Jose is a foreign correspondent attached with
Radio Pacifica Network, USA. He is based in New Delhi. vinod-
kjose@gmail.com
If there is no justice, there is no peace. I think that is what I want to say now. If you want to hang me,
go ahead with it but remember it would be a black spot on the judicial and political system of India.
how are you going to develop real trust among Kashmiris when you send out the message that India
has a justice system that hangs people without giving a lawyer, without a fair trial?
Continued from the previous page
AFSANA RASHID, SRINAGAR
Demand to return 2001 Parliament attack convict Mohammad
Afzal Gurus body is pouring in from all quarters. Mainstream
politicians, separatists as well as human rights organisations and
civil society groups have been unanimous in this demand.
Gurus family has been repeatedly demanding his body since
he was executed, February 9. The family had repor tedly
approached Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla in this connection,
but was outrightly rejected the reports that they would visit Tihar
jail to offer Fateha (prayers) at Gurus grave. State government is
said to have forwarded the familys representation to Union Home
Ministry. It has even been reported that hours after Guru was exe-
cuted, his family asked Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah
Geelani if he could help them bring his body. Guru is survived by
his wife, Tabassum and 13-year old son, Ghalib.
Valley was abuzz with rumours that Gurus body would be
returned anytime, February 17. However, Gurus family, February
18, said theyve no information whether his body would be
returned or not. Even officials in the Prison department of New
Delhi and Tihar Jail, February 18, have been reported as saying
that theyve neither such information nor any such direction.
Independent legislator from Langate, Er Rashid, February 17,
called for All Party Meeting of mainstream political parties to
frame a joint strategy for return of Gurus body. Addressing media
here, February 18, he said mainstream parties stayed away from
the meeting as they had been asked by Intelligence Bureau to do
so. He said Guru was murdered by Congress to appease
Hindutva constituency in order to make Rahul Gandhi the Prime
Minister of India. He accused chief minister of being a collabora-
tor in Gurus murder.
He claimed that he has submitted a resolution in the forth-
coming budget session scheduled to commence from February
28 for seeking return of Gurus body. He even suggested re-nam-
ing of Lal Chowk as Shaheed Afzal Chowk.
Rejecting the proposal, National Conference spokesperson,
Tanvir Sadiq, February 17, said the chief minister was personal-
ly monitoring post-Guru hanging situation, here and doesnt need
anybodys advice. PDP stated it wasnt aware of any such pro-
posal. The party claimed it wouldnt have allowed Gurus execu-
tion, if it was in power and demanded the return of mortal remains
of Guru.
JKLFs acting chairman advocate Bashir Ahmad Bhat,
February 17, said, No international and human laws, democratic
values and ethics allow anybody to refuse a dead person his last
rites. Terming Gurus hanging against all international legal
norms, political ethics and international political conventions, High
Court Bar Association, February 13, announced that it would take
all steps to ensure the return of Gurus body. The Association,
February 14, said Gurus political will lies with them and theyll
make it public at an appropriate time.
It further reiterated, February 16, that chief minister had col-
laborative role in Gurus political assassination. Lashing out at
Bar, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar, February
16, questioned the role of the Bar in Gurus case, stating that it
never made an attempt to plead his case in the Apex Court and
neither did it approach Guru.
UJC chairman Syed Salahuddin, February 18, while speaking
to local news agency, KNS, said, We should and will continue to
demand the return of Gurus body through a popular movement
but never request or beg for it.
Mohammad Ahsan Untoo, chairman International forum for
Justice and Human Rights Forum, February 17, threatened to go
on an indefinite hunger strike with human right activists from India
and other countries outside Parliament, if Gurus body wasnt
handed over to his family within two weeks.
Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, February 20,
said Guru was executed for political gains and by hanging him,
New Delhi has given people of Kashmir another monument of
freedom.
Sajad Lone, chairman Peoples Conference, February 17, said
that it was the fundamental right of Gurus family to receive his
body and bury him in Kashmir, according to religious rites.
Peoples Student Union, Februry 17, held a candle-light protest
demanding Gurus body to be returned to his family. All Parties
Sikh Coordination Committee chairman, Jagmohan Singh Raina,
February 17, said people in Kashmir arent happy with Gurus exe-
cution and denial of handing his mortal remains to family. Kashmir
Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, February 17, demanded Gurus body to
be returned to his family members, stating that it is their constitu-
tional right.
Pertinently, the last letter written by Guru to his wife before his
execution was delivered to her, February 12. The letter that was
released by his family, February 17, read, My request to my fam-
ily is that instead of grieving over my end, they should respect the
status I have achieved.
T
hree people were killed and scores injured, including police-
men, in various protest demonstrations across the valley that
followed the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict,
Mohammad Afzal Guru in New Delhis Tihar jail on February 9.
Curfew was imposed across the valley for almost a week and
simultaneous shutdown threw normal life out of gear. Internet
facility was snapped, media gagged and railway services sus-
pended.
Life returned to normal here, February 18 with the re-opening
of shops and business establishment and resumption of public
transport. Hurriyat (G) led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, February 18,
issued a protest calendar asking people to observe a strike on
February 20 and 21 and to stage protests after Friday prayers,
February 22. JKLF called for shutdown on February 22.
During curfew, people especially in the old city faced acute
shortages of food and essential commodities; milk and vegetables
and medicines and baby foods. Residents said that the problem
was compounded by firing of pepper gas shells by police and
CRPF. Health experts say that excess use of pepper gas can lead
to serious ailments, complicate problems of asthma patients, and
can cause death.
Local dailies hit the stands, February 13, after remaining sus-
pended for three-days. Media reports suggest that publications
were suspended, February 9, after newspaper organizations man-
agement were verbally told by officials to stop publishing dailies
as they wouldnt be allowed to circulate. Reports added online
editions were however, updated.
Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah February 13 wrote on micro-
blogging site, Twitter, that there was no ban, but dailies had cho-
sen not to print as curfew had made distribution impossible.
Internet service was restored here after remaining suspended
for six days. Though broadband connection was functional, inter-
net service on data cards and mobile phones wasnt available.
Moreover, authorities had put separatists and independent
legislator from Langate, Er Rasheed under detention. Pertinently,
Er Rasheed had moved a resolution in the Assembly seeking
clemency for Guru in 2011. But, the same wasnt taken up for dis-
cussion.
7 out of 10 subscriptions are through WORD OF MOUTH
You know we dont have the resources to advertise & promote ourselves, so
please ask your friends to get their copy now
THE MILLI GAZETTE
First English Newspaper of Indian Muslims. Telling the Muslim side of the story fortnight after fortnight since January 2000
Valley erupts after Afzal execution, demands body
Case registered against
CRPF for killing civilians
A case has been registered by the police against CRPF for open-
ing fire on pedestrians in Watergam in north Kashmirs
Baramulla district and subsequent killing of a youth and injuring
four others. FIR number 08/2013 under section 307 has been
registered against 92 Bn CRPF at Dangiwacha police station.
Five persons sustained injuries when CRPF personnel
opened fire on protesters in Watergam, February 10, condition
of two of the injured was stated to be critical and they were shift-
ed to SKIMS hospital. Later, one of the injured, Ubair Mushtaq,
succumbed to his injuries.
Amid screams and sobs, Ubair, 15, was laid to rest at
Watergam. His father, Mushtaq Ahmad, a mason by profession,
said that their life has almost come to an end. Life is meaning-
less for us now.
Ubair was preparing for his Class 10th exams and was
recently discharged from hospital after he had met with a road
accident.
Even the preliminary investigation into the killing of a teenag-
er, February 12, revealed Standard Operating Procedure wasnt
followed by CRPF as they fired at people, leading to death of a
student and serious injury to another.
10 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 NATIONAL www.milligazette.com
An appraisal report filed by the gov-
ernments think tank, Institute for
Defence Studies & Analysis, has sug-
gested that the status quo on the dra-
conian Armed Forces Special Powers
Act cannot be maintained any more.
The law, which has mostly protected
the Armed Forces assault on the peo-
ple of the North-East and Kashmir,
needs to be either severely diluted or
replaced by another law, the institute
said.
The India military is unwilling to
change it as they maintain it would
severely harm their cross-border
counter-terrorism operations.
The law could become symbol of
state terrorism, the IDSA warned in its
report. It has only been continuously
deepening the divide between the peo-
ple and the Army as the locals face
harassment and pressure from the
Army on a day-to-day basis. AFSPA
gives full discretion to the armed per-
sonnel of all ranks to shoot, arrest,
search without any warrant. Hence
the act has been regarded as a threat
to right to life by its critics.
The report recommends that opera-
tions be carried out by the Army or
Central forces with the knowledge of
the state government, and that
women should not be searched by
troops, and that detailed records be
maintained of all operations, including
the names of all personnel involved in
the operation. These guidelines also
forbid torture of persons arrested by
the Army.
The IDSA report seeks time-bound
investigations into all human rights
complaints, reasons for delay
explained and the status put on web-
sites. The letting off of high-profile
violators of human rights like in the
Machhil killings in 2010 is a case in
point.
Paid news violations to
be made public
A meeting of the Election Commission
chaired by VS Sampath, following
paid news reports during Gujarat and
Himachal Pradesh elections, has
decided to upload accepted cases of
paid news on the EC website.
A large number of cases have been
coming up since the EC institutional-
ized a mechanism which operates at
the grassroots level to identity such
cases. A total of 581 cases were
accepted in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and
Uttarakhand during the recent elec-
tions and 276 cases during the
Gujarat Assembly polls. A Press
Council of India report on the matter
prompted the decision.
Rehabilitate acquitted
youth: CPI(M) to UP
CM
Following a large number of acquittals
and failing to convict despite resorting
to torture and long imprisonment,
many Muslim youths in Uttar Pradesh
and the rest of India face social and
employment hurdles.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash
Karat, in a meeting with U.P. Chief
Minister Akhlesh Yadav urged the
Uttar Pradesh Government to formu-
late a policy for the benefit of innocent
persons persecuted by the Police and
the administration. Mr. Karat also sub-
mitted a memorandum detailing nine
such cases. Ms. Suhasini Ali, who
was part of the delegation, said Yadav
promised to consider their demand
sympathetically.
Compiled by AALIA KHAN
Government think tank recommends AFSPA dilution
CPIM delegation with CM, UP
C
apital punishment given to Afzal Guru is likely to be
deliberated upon for quite some time. Just as the view
that Guru was denied a fair trial cannot be ignored, the
agitation of Kashmiris over his death cannot be side-
lined. Despite there being legal doubt about Guru deserving
capital punishment, his hurried and hush-hush execution
exposes a very serious lapse in the Indian system.
Even if it is accepted that Guru was a party to the conspir-
acy, because of which Parliament was attacked by terrorists in
December 2001, it cannot be ignored that he was not caught at
the site while the terrorist operation was on. If one of the ter-
rorists, who had participated in the attack against the
Parliament, had been awarded capital punishment, it would not
have been questioned on any legal ground. None of them sur-
vived the brief battle with security forces that their terrorist
endeavour led to. Guru was arrested later and charged with
having indulged in a conspiracy to attack India.
Equally significant is the fact that questions being raised
regarding Gurus capital punishment cannot be linked with the
execution of Ajmal Qasab. He was charged for terror strikes in
Mumbai (2008). Qasabs presence in Mumbai with weapons
has been telecast innumerable times. He was there while the
terrorist operations were taking place.
It would be incorrect to justify capital punishment for Guru
by citing the example of the punishment awarded to Qasab. The
two cases are totally different. During the course of legal pro-
ceedings, even judiciary has at times commented on their
being insufficient evidence against Guru. At one point, Guru did
confess to crimes he was charged with. However, later, he with-
drew his confession, a fact that was noted by the judiciary.
One is also forced to wonder as to what prompted
President Pranab Mukerjee to send Gurus file back to Home
Ministry for reconsideration. The file was returned to him with-
in two months this January. Subsequently, Mukerjee did not
waste much time in sealing Gurus fate. If he wanted, he could
have refrained from taking any action on Gurus case for as
long as he wished. Two earlier Presidents had already returned
the file.
There is no denying the fact that terrorists attack on
Parliament was a dangerous attack on Indian democracy.
However, this does not justify awarding capital punishment in
absence of sufficient evidence against Guru. Perhaps, if parlia-
mentary elections were not round the corner, Guru may still
have been alive in Tihar jail. Had Home Minister Sushil Kumar
Shinde not provoked a controversy recently over his comments
regarding Hindu terrorism, Guru may not have been hung. If
political pressure led Guru to gallows, one is forced to deliber-
ate on whether legal proceedings in India are decided by poli-
tics or by law?
Guru was an Indian Kashmiri. Undeniably, his death led to
tension in the Valley. A week-long curfew in all parts of the
Valley is a proof of the fears entertained by the state govern-
ment. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has
voiced anger and opposition regarding Gurus death sentence.
He has adopted this approach more out of political necessity.
Omar has no other option but to give greater importance to sen-
timents of Kashmiris, who seem fairly agitated against the cap-
ital punishment of Guru. Omar could have voiced this opinion
earlier too.
Kashmiris opposition to Gurus death indicates their
attempt to assert that even today they remain deprived of a fair
trial, justice and freedom to fully exercise their democratic
rights. Thousands of Kashmiris have been targeted by bullets
for decades. Even today, an ordinary Kashmiris life is held at
stake by guns. Innocent Kashmiris have been labeled as terror-
ists innumerable times. However, ever since Indian media has
started paying serious attention to this issue, there has been a
notable decline in this trend. When it is election time,
Kashmiris have started come out in increasing numbers, dis-
playing their courage to exercise their right to vote. They are
guided by a hope of receiving their due share in Indian democ-
racy. If Gurus death was decided by political factors, it expos-
es the degree to which a Kashmiri Muslims life is still played
with.
Certainly, Congress has scored a political victory by defy-
ing its rival party, BJPs charge that it was not taking serious
action against terrorism. And this brings us to square one. Was
decision regarding Gurus capital punishment taken to silence
BJP?
Unfortunately, wrong decisions, including capital pun-
ishments devoid of substantial evidence, provide opportuni-
ty to elements bent on creating tension in the country. In
Gurus case, the Valley has been affected. Restraint has
been exercised on local media and other means of commu-
nication to prevent the situation from turning volatile. Where
Omars opposition against Gurus death is concerned, it may
be viewed as his attempt to control the situation in Kashmir.
His anger and opposition has not prompted his party
(National Conference) to move out of Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance. If Gurus capital punishment was
decided by political factors, the Congress-led government
has erred by giving Kashmiris a reason to be agitated. The
agitation may be checked but tension shall prevail for long
over politics having decided Gurus fate!
Speaki ng Out
Afzal Gurus Fate
Sealed By Law
Or Politics?
NI LOFAR SUHRAWARDY
MUSTAFA KHAN
W
hy Hyderabad was bombed can be surmised
though it is still too early to answer the second
question as to who did it.
Till early 1970s, Hyderabad had no communal tension. As
a student there this writer had a pleasant surprise. Hailing from
Malegaon, he had come to Hyderabad. There was a ruckus at
Kothi in a local bus; people had started using Urdu expletives
while speaking Telugu. In a reflex, fearing riot, I got up to rush
out with my friend but he pulled me down and assured me that
there was no riot. It was customary for the Telugu people to
use their language and resort to Urdu for pet abuses.
All that changed soon. The riots over Babri mosque made
matters worse. Since then the Hindu right has nursed the city
by infusing hate ideology. The MIM appeared in response.
More recently, the VHP stepped up its spade-work of commu-
nalizing politics and militarizing Hindus. Phalanx of cadres of
Bajrang Dal and RSS appeared in impressive display with
arms. The state Congress government did nothing to check it.
Akbaruddin Owaisis hate speech of daring to face Hindu
extremist hordes for 15 minutes with police withdrawn is the
outburst of exasperation over the proactive role of violence
against Muslims by the Police in communal riots.
The international president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad
Pravin Togadias riposte did not take long to come. He said:
Muslim vote bank kay aadhar par desh mein loot machi hui
hai. Isi vajehsey Hyderabad ka ek kutta apne aap ko sher
samajhnay laga hai. Ek nay kaha ki police hatalo. Mainey kaha
ki 20 saal mein jab jab police hati hai, tab desh ka itihaas dekh
lo. Agar tujhe pata nahin hai, to aainey mein itihaas dikhadun.
Andhra mein jab police hati to saikdon lashein bich gaye thi.
In mein ak bhi Hindu nahin tha aur Bihar kay Bhagalpur mein
jab plice hati thi to lakhon lashen bich gayei thin jo bahti hui
samundertak pahunch gay thin. In mein ek laash bhi Hinudun
ki nahin thiKoi hamen chunauti na dey (On account of the
vote bank politics there is plunder in the country. Due to this a
dog of Hyderabad has assumed himself to be a lion. One
asked the police to move away. I answered that whenever the
police moved away, look at the history of the country at such
a time. If you dont know it, I will show it to you in the mirror.
When the police moved away in Andhra Pradesh there were
scores of dead bodies piled up. There was not a single Hindu
body there. In Bhagalpur of Bihar, when the police moved
away, many lakh were killed. They were washed away into the
sea. Not a single body was of a Hindu. Remember Nellie in
Assam, where the police was removed. Over 3000 people
died, not one of them was a Hindu. Remember Bhagalpur,
where the police was removed, so many people died that it
was difficult to count, not one of them was a Hindu. Dead bod-
ies flew into the sea. Remember Meerut, Moradabad, Gujarat.
Let no one dare to challenge us!).
This is a most audaciously ferocious challenge and could
and did find an illustration or retaliation. It could produce an
instant illustration by the Hindu fanatics or retaliation by their
counterparts. But the circumstances leave no doubt what is
behind the scene. Actually realizing it as it did, this threat con-
stitutes one of what VD Savarkar had called super atrocious
reprisal. In his book The Six Glorious Epochs, Savarkar
praises Vir Banda Bairagi as a martyr for what he did as the
most appropriate retaliation for the molestation of the Hindu
womenthe burning of the Muslim localitynot to speak of
the subject parade of Muslim men, women and children, bare-
footed under the hot Sunand finally the proclamation of a
Hindu state in the whole of the Punjab.
That super atrocity for Hindu Rashtra is of the vintage
1857. In between, Hyderabad changed from Nizam to the
Indian rule and what happened in the Police Action of Sardar
Patel was also a matter of atrocity matching that of the parti-
tion of the country a year ago.
What Togadia envisages vis--vis Bhagyalakshmi Temple
abutting the Charminar is compounded atrocity.
He did not mince his words when he told the
Muslims that VHP will convert Hyderabad into
Ayodhya if Hindus are not allowed to perform
Puja. (This despite the fact the prayers by
Hindus go on uninterrupted.) The VHP will teach
Muslims of Hyderabad a lesson that they will never forget. This
is similar to what Narendra Modi also had said in the late night
meeting at his residence on February 28, 2002. He translated
his words into deeds as Togadia saw it in Naroda Patia sitting
and watching in his plush clinic what the Bajrang Dal, RSS
under Babu Bajrangi were doing to the Muslims in Gujarat.
Togadia like his Secretary in the VHP Ashok Singhal want-
ed to replicate it in Hyderabad.
The preparations for such an eventuality had begun long
ago. LK Advani said on February 23, 2013 that it was Pakistan
behind the Hyderabad attack. But first note how many times he
refers to the neighbour: The neighbouring country has not
been successful in waging a war against India in the last few
decades, so it has resorted to proxy war. The neighbouring
country has taken recourse to terrorism to trouble India. There
is no doubt that there is the hand of the neighbouring country
in Hyerabad blasts. Pakistan should abide by the commitment
made during the meeting between Vajpayee and Musharraf,
whereby Pakistan undertook not to allow its soil to be used for
terror acts against India. This is the Nazi version of under-
scoring the truth you want others to believe. Even before any
clues were found, the truth was established ala BJP and RSS.
As in the case of the attack on Parliament on December 13,
2001, Advani again showed how best he knew the country of
his origin and birth!
Converting Hyderabad into Ayodhya matches converting
attack on Parliament into a full fledged war on Pakistan. Advani
in his rath yatra and the demolition of Babri did the latter while
Tagodia is aiming at the former emulating Advani.
In the aftermath of the attack on Parliament, the govern-
ment under Advani and Vajpayee had mobilized the army to
attack Pakistan. That was also super atrocity reprisal. So the
question is: who in India is always itching for it?
This must remain un-answered for a time. However, what
is irrepressible is the kind of communal tension built up around
last Diwali, the hype over the temple at Charminar, the cycle
march of Togadia carrying the statue of Hanuman and curtain-
ing off with cloth the houses from the road view of it, etc, have
built upto a flash point. It is reminiscent of the partition era.
Sardar Patel, who is so much cherished by some in
Hyderabad, also reminds the role of such build up. Writing in
a letter to Shyama Prasad Mookherji on July 18, 1948 he says:
As regards the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha, the case relating
to Gandhijis murder is sub judice and I should not like to say
anything about the participation of the two organizations, but
our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these
two bodies, particularly the former, an atmosphere was creat-
ed in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became pos-
sible. There is no doubt in my mind that the extreme section of
the Hindu Mahasabha was involved in the conspiracy.
The question now is: who is the leader of which extremist
group involved in this tragedy of Hyderabad, Togadia of VHP or
Akbaruddin of MIM?
That super atrocity for Hindu Rashtra is of the vintage 1857. In between, Hyderabad
changed from Nizam to the Indian rule and what happened in the Police Action of Sardar
Patel was also a matter of atrocity matching that of the partition of the country a year ago.
ANALYSIS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 11 www.milligazette.com
Hyderabad bombed: why and by whom
A complicated conspiracy
Soon after the blasts in Hyderabad, BJP and anti-AIMIM ele-
ments started to link the blasts with the so-called hate speech
of Akbaruddin Owaisi. Even in Parliament, BJP leaders raised
this issue. The Hyderabad (Dilsukh Nagar) blast is a part of a
big conspiracy. Consider the following:
(1) Shinde held BJP & RSS responsible for terrorism in a
statement. His statement was meaningless in the absence of
any action against Sangh Parivar. If he was having proof, he
should have taken action, which was not done. It was just to
please Muslims.
(2) BJP made the most of Shindes blunder. By resorting
to strong protest, it forced Shinde to withdraw his statement.
(3) By withdrawing his statement, Shinde provided a clean
chit and a license to the Sangh Parivar to continue carrying
out terror activities as usual.
(4) Now it will be awkward for any agency to even doubt
Sangh Parivar, leave alone taking any action against its terror-
ists. BJP is doing everything as per agenda, which includes
blaming AIMIM. A.P. Government too seems much pleased to
see AIMIM being targeted by the BJP.
Many of us were asking those who were unnecessarily
and baselessly opposing and criticising Akbaruddin. They did
not know that anti-Muslim forces have their own agenda. Now
they might be feeling the consequences of their emotional
action and timidness. Sycophants too grabbed this opportuni-
ty to show their shameless mentality. They could not even
sense the extraordinary hostility. Opponents of Akbaruddin did
a disservice to their own community. It is also interesting to
see our Electonic Media blaming AIMIM even before BJP.
RASHEED ANSARI, Hyderabad
rasheedmansari@ymail.com
MAULANA (Dr.) SYED AZMI ALNADWI, prominent religious
scholar, author and Chancellor of Lucknows Integral University
was honoured with Fifth IOSs Lifetime Achievement Award, a
memento and Address of Welcome at IOS function held at Delhis
Constitution Club on 14 February. This Award, consisting of Rs.
one lakh was presented to him by Maulana Khalid Saifullah
Rahmani, General Secretary of Islamic Fiqh Academy and others.
On this occasion a documentary film on Maulana (Dr.) Alnadwi
was also inaugurated by former Chief Justice of India, Justice
A.M. Ahmadi who also chaired this function.
Prof. GOPI CHAND NARANG, noted Urdu critic and litterateur and
former chairman of Sahitya Academy, has been honoured by
Pakistan government with its third highest civilian Award, Sitara-
e-Imtiaz for his valuable contribution to Urdu language and litera-
ture. This award for Prof. Narang was in fact announced by
Pakistan on 14 August last year (2012) but because of certain
political formalities Indian foreign ministry sought the views of
Delhi government for its acceptance by Prof. Narang. Chief min-
ister Shiela Dikshit recommended her governments approval for
acceptance of this award by Mr. Narang. This Award will now be
given to him (Prof. Narang) by Pak government on 23 March,
Pakistans Republic Day.
Dr. ASIF BAREILVI, President of International Intellectual Peace
Academy and ambassador of peace was honoured with Aaina-
e Urdu Award by Hindustani Urdu Culture, Varanasi at a function
held in Varanasi in recognition of his untiring efforts for the pro-
motion of Urdu and Urdu literature.
Union minister for health and family welfare GHULAM NABI AZAD
was honoured with UNICEF Award in recognition of his efforts for
prevention of polio in India. It is reported that there were no fresh
cases of polio in India during the past two years. The Award was
given to him jointly by UNICEF and WHOs top officials at a func-
tion held at Mamlapuram near Chennai on 8 February.
Mahbubul Hoque gets Edupreneur award
New Delhi: Chairman of ERD Foundation (Education, Research &
Development Foundation)
Edupreneur Mahbubul Hoque on
15 February received Edupreneurs
Award 2013 by Engineering Watch.
Mr. Hoque was given the award for
his extraordinary work in the field of
technical education in northeast in
last 10 years. He has established a
chain of technical institutions in
North East, particularly in Assam and
Meghalaya during the last 10 years.
Mr Hoque was only 27 when he left
Aligarh Muslim University in the year
2000 with two degrees, B.Sc.
(Hons.) and MCA. Next year he
opened a computer training institute
in Guwahati and went on to establish three technical colleges and
one technical university besides several other education institutes
in Assam and Meghalaya. Today his computer training institute is
a Central IT College with 3500 students. He is Founder and
Chancellor of University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya. He
is Founder & Chairman of Regional College of Higher Education,
Guwahati. He is also the Founder & Chairman of Regional Institute
of Science & Technology, Guwahati. (For more on Mr Hoque, see
the previous issue of MG or visit www.erdf.edu.in, www.rist.ac.in,
www.ustm.ac.in)
AWARDS
MAULANA (Dr.) HAMIDUL ANSARI
ANJUM JAMAL ASARI, great reli-
gious scholar, orator, poet, author
and journalist died in his home town
in Sant Kabir Nagar district (U.P.) on
17 February at the age of about 84
years. Author of many books includ-
ing about a dozen collections of
naats, he leaves behind 5 sons and
two daughters.
Prof. TANVIR AHMAD ALVI, noted
Urdu researcher and litterateur who
was President of Delhi Universitys
Department of Urdu died in Delhi on
20 February at the age of 90 years.
Born in Kairana, District Muzaffar
Nagar, he was an author of about two
dozen books. He compiled Poet
Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauqs
Diwan in the field of research. He is
survived by two sons (wife had died
earlier).
NOOR MIAN ANSARI, a noted physi-
cian and a senior khanqahi preacher
died in Pilibheet (U.P.) on 28 January
at the age of 105 years. He travelled
widely within and outside the country
for preaching Islam. He wanted to
serve common people and for this he
chose the profession unani physician
and used to treat sick people free of
any charge. He is reported to have
visited Harmain Sharif 14 times for
performance of Haj. He leaves
behind about half a dozen sons and
daughters.
Prof. SYED AMEEN ASHRAF, AMUs
famous teacher, poet and critic of
English literature died in Aligarh on 7
February at the age of 80 years. He
was honoured with Ghalib Award by
Ghalib Academy, Delhi and also by
U.P. Urdu Academy in recognition of
his valuable contribution to Urdu liter-
ature. He wrote in Urdu as well as in
English and was equally proficient in
both languages. His three literary
anthologies have so far been pub-
lished. His body was taken to
Kachhochha, his home town where
he was buried. His wife too is a pro-
fessor in AMU.
QAIYYUM Nashaad, noted poet
died in his home town Hardoee (U.P.)
recently but it is a pity that literary
politics denied him the honour and
position he deserved. His death has
created a vacuum in literary circles.
He was a poet of folk songs and his
songs were popularly sung on mar-
riages and other happy occasions.
Deaths took place of spouses of two
important Muslim personalities of
Delhi. In the first place KHALIQUR
RAHMAN QIDWAI husband of Mrs.
Mohsina Qidwai, chairperson of Haj
Committee of India and a former
union minister died around 16
February. In the second place, Mrs.
SURAIYYA HAMID, wife of Saiyid
Hamid, Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard
and a former Vice Chancellor of
AMU, died on 17 February at the age
of 83 years.
Dr. (Ms.) AAISHA SIDDIQI, a student
of radiology in AMUs J.N. Medical
College has the honour of winning as
many as 14 Gold Medals which were
given to her on the occasion of
AMUs Convocation held on 16
February. She is also the topper in her
batch of students. Of the 14 Gold
Medals won by her are Gold Medals
for Bio-chemistry, University Medals
for Pharmacology, Ophthalmalogy,
ENT, Community Medicine,
Paediatrics, Surgery, Dr. Madhu
Saxena Memorial Medal in
Physiology, Dr. Hadi Hasan Memorial
Medal for First Position in MBBS,
Prof. Shaaista Bano Gold Medal for
securing First Position in MBBS, Dr.
Gita Bajaj Memorial Gold Medal for
highest marks in Paediatrics etc. etc.
UZMA QAZI, daughter of a poor rick-
shaw driver Yasin Qazi of Nasik
(Maharashtra) has passed Chartered
Accountancy (CA) Examination with
very good marks. Her father who
lives in a small 10X10 room along
with wife and five children realises the
importance of education and in spite
of his meagre income and hard life
has provided good and higher educa-
tion to all his children. All of them are
the products of Nasiks famous edu-
cational institution, National Campus
with Urdu medium. President of Nasik
Char tered Accountants Council,
Sanjiv Mehta has offered to send her
to U.S.A. for advanced education and
taken the responsibility of meeting her
entire expenses. It may be recalled
that Prema Jayakumar, daughter of an
ordinary auto-rickshaw driver in
Mumbai, who belongs to Tamil Nadu
had topped in this CA Examination.
Tamil Nadus chief minister Jaya
Lalita had awarded Rs. one million to
her for her feat.
ARMAN JAFFER, 14-year old stu-
dent of Rizvi Spring Field School,
Mumbai scored a record 473 runs in
Harris Shield final cricket match
between Rizvi Springfield vs. IESVN
Sule Guruji School on 14 February.
He scored 473 runs on 359 balls and
includes 65 boundaries and 16 six-
ers. With his 473, his team scored an
impressive 823 for 5 wickets. About
3 years ago i.e. in December 2010 he
had scored 498 runs i.e. short of only
2 runs to complete quintuple century.
He is the nephew of former test crick-
eter waseem Jaffer.
ANJUM AARA has become the sec-
ond Muslim lady I.P.S. (Indian Police
Service) officer of the country.
Daughter of Aiyyub Sheikh of
Azamgarh district he was posted in
engineering service department in
Saharanpur where she was born but
brought up in Gangoh. After passing
B. Tech in 1st class from an engineer-
ing college of Lucknow she qualified
in UPSCs IPS examination in 2011.
She is to be posted in Manipur. Before
her, Gujarats Sarah Rizvi had
become the first Muslim lady IPS offi-
cer who was posted in Mumbai.
AL HAJ BADRUL ISLAM has been
elected new Patron of Aligarhs
Maqbool Social Health and
Educational Society. Haji Badrul Islam
is also the President of All India
Minorities Front and earlier was
Principal of Muslim University
School, Member of AMUs Court and
also member of Jamia Urdu Board.
SAFDAR HUSAIN KHAN, chairman of
Delhi Minorities Commission has
been appointed chairman of Ghalib
Memorial Movement. The decision to
appoint him chairman was taken in a
meeting of Indian Council for Cultural
Relations chaired by this Councils
Director General S.K. Goel. Earlier,
(late) Abid Husain who had held
many important government posts
was chairman of Ghalib Memorial
Movement.
Prof. ABU SUFIYAN ZILLI, President
of AMUs Department of Psychology
and Prof. IRFAN AHMAD, President of
the Department of Zoology have been
appointed Members of AMU Court on
the basis of seniority. Their appoint-
ments are for three years or till the
time they are heads of their respective
departments whichever is earlier.
Prof. WAHAJUDDIN ALVI has been
appointed President or Head of Jamia
Millia Islamias Department of Urdu in
place of Prof. Shahnaz Anjum whose
term expired on 14 February.
MEN & WOMEN IN NEWS
OBITUARIES
Hamdard University Karachi awarded an hon-
orary D.Lit. to Prof Zillur Rahman, a retired pro-
fessor of AMU, on 23 Feb. It is for the first time
that a teacher of AMU has been awarded an
honorary D.Lit Hon Causa by a foreign universi-
ty.
Prof Zillur Rahman was born at Bhopal in
1940 in an educated family. After graduating
from Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in 1955, he
joined AMUs Tibbiya College and graduated
from there in 1960 and joined Tibbiya College as
lecturer and retired as Professor and Dean of
Unani Medicine. He has authored 45 books. His
research on Ibn Sina is considered an authentic
work. He established Ibn Sina Academy in
2000. It is the largest single-man collection of
books in Aligarh. He is widely travelled all over
the world. The Academy has (1) Publication
Division, (2) Division of History of Medicine &
Sciences, (3) Centre for Safety & Rational Use
of Indian Systems of Medicine (CSRUISM).
He was awarded Padama Shree in 2006,
President of India award in Persian in 1995. He
was Consultant, World Health Organization
(WHO), to the South East Asia Region for devel-
opment of Unani Medicine in Bangladesh and
was Visiting Professor, Hamdard University,
Karachi, Pakistan in 1997.
Prof Zillur Rahman is also active in milli
activties and is an active member of the All India
Majlis-e-Mushawarat.
In 1958, he edited Shaikh al Rais (Ibn Sina)
Special number, Tibbia College Magazine, AMU.
His first book Daur Jadeed Aur Tibb was pub-
lished in 1963. Two years later he started edit-
ing AI-Hikmat (Monthly), Delhi which continued
till November 1970. His other works are Tarikh
llm Tashrih (1967), Ilmul Amraz (1969),
Resalah Judia (1971), Tajdeed Tibb (1972),
Bayaz Waheedi (Published), Matab Murtaish
(1976), Tazkerah Khandan Azizi (1978), Kitabul
Murakkabat (1980), Safvi Ahad Main Ilm
Tashreeh Ka Mutala (1983), Hayat Karam
Hussain (1983), The Azizi Family of Physicians
(1983), Aligarh Key Tibbi Makhtootat (1984),
Qanoon lbn Sina Aur Uskey Shareheen wa
Mutarjemeen (1986), Risalah Nabidh (1986),
Tibb Feroz Shahi (1990), Research in Ilmul
Adwia (1990), Risalah Atrilal (1993), Studies in
Ilmul Advia (1994), Delhi aur Tibb Unani (1995),
AI-Adwia al-Qalbia (1996), Iran Nama (1998),
Tibbi Taqdame (2001), Aina-e Tarikh Tibb
(2001). In 2001, he started editing the newslet-
ter of Ibn Sina Academy (NISA) which is a quar-
terly Newsletter . He published
Asmaul Advia (2002),
Maqalat Shifaul Mulk Hakim
Abdul Latif (2002),
Hakim Ajmal Khan (2004, pub-
lished by the National Book Trust), Qanun Ibn
Sina and its Translation and Commentators (in
Persian, 2004), Musalmanon Ke Sainsi
Karname by Zakaria Wark (edited, 2005), Safar-
nama Bangladesh (2006), Jawami Kitab Al-
Nabd Al-Saghir of Galen; Risalah Fi Auja Al
Niqris of Qusta Ibn Luqa (2007).
Prof. Zillur Rahman has organised as well as
attended many conferences in India and abroad.
His contributions in the field of Unani Medicine
have been recognised at home and in foreign
countries. He introduced this ancient system of
medicine to other parts of the world. His main
contribution is in the field of the history of Unani
medicine.
PROF ZILLURRAHMAN
12 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 NEWSMAKERS www.milligazette.com
Mahbubul Hoque receiving award
Prof. Zillur Rahman receiving Padma Shri award from President APJ Abdul Kalam
IOS holds two-day international conference on
India and Muslim World in the 21st Century
SPECIAL REPORT The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 13 www.milligazette.com
New Delhi: Institute of Objective
Studies (IOS), a Delhi-based research
centre, organised here a two-day
international conference at the
Constitution Club during 15-16
February on "India and the Muslim
World in the 21st Century" with a
galaxy of speakers and participants
from across the country and abroad,
especially the Arab World.
The conference was formally
inaugurated by Union Minister of
Minority Affairs, K Rahman Khan, who
hoped that India and the Muslim
World would unite to prevent the mis-
takes of the 20th century, which was
marked by colonial exploitation and
monumental violence. He said India,
"the largest and highly successful
democracy", had a long history of
relationship with the Muslim world
and Islam, which preaches peace and
unity of humanity.
The guest speaker Union Minister
of Water Resources Harish Chandra
Rawat, said: "Indian Muslims are an
integral and most shining part of our
composite culture." He regretted that
Sachar Report notwithstanding, chal-
lenges facing the Muslim community
were yet to be addressed coherently.
In many cases, direct Central inter-
vention was required to set things
right. He said divisive issues like tem-
ple-mosque controversy were the cre-
ation of people who thrived on such
division. "The time for such politics is
over," he reiterated adding that people
from all segments, including minori-
ties and SCs-STs, had an equal right
to the country's resources. He said
that the same law that applied to
Muslim terrorists had to be applied to
the perpetuators of Jaipur, Malegaon
and Samjhauta Express blasts, who
were not Muslims. "The law of the
land should be the same for everyone.
We cannot have two sets of laws; one
for Col. Purohit, another for Muslim
youth," he concluded.
Dr Aftab Kamal Pasha, Director
Gulf Studies Programme, Centre for
West Asian and African Studies, JNU,
observed that for centuries the Indian
Ocean was called a "Muslim Lake."
Even before Islam, people from
Yemen, Oman and other Arab lands
had close trade and cultural ties with
India.
With the advent of Europeans in
the Indian Ocean, a divide and rule
policy began which set one group of
people against another. The
Portuguese landed in Kerala in 1498
and began a campaign against
Muslims, creating divisions between
them and other faith communities.
The guest of honour, Abdur
Rahman Ghannam M. al-Ghannam,
Under Secretary of the Saudi Ministry
of Islamic Affairs, said India and Saudi
Arabia had a long history of friendly
relations. In India, Arabic language
and literature flourished over cen-
turies. Dr Ghannam was educated in
in India. He said, Saudi Arabia saw
scope for co-operation in science and
technology with India, including med-
ical education. He also talked about
the coming together of all faiths for a
peaceful, prosperous world. He men-
tioned King Abdullah's tireless efforts
at global interfaith dialogue.
Principal of Darul Uloom
Nadwatul Ulama, Chancellor of
Integral University and editor of the
Arabic monthly al-Ba'th al-Islami,
Maulana Dr Sayeedur Rahman Nadwi,
received the IOS Lifetime
Achievement Award. He chose to
speak in Arabic on trade and cultural
relations between India and the Arab
world.
T
he first session of the conference
was "Islam in India: Historical
Perspective and Cultural Heritage." In
his opening remarks, noted historian
Prof. Sheik Ali said that the early
Muslim rulers of India had known only
the Abrahamic faiths -Judaism and
Christianity - besides their own faith,
Islam. In India they came face to face
with eastern faiths like Hinduism and
Buddhism, which gave them a differ-
ent understanding of the Shari'ah. In
the new, non-Abrahamic environment,
they set their religious perspective
afresh, giving 'adl (justice) a primacy
over other things. 'Adl is a major goal
of the Shari'ah. Ghyasuddin Balban,
the Delhi Sultanate ruler, said famous-
ly that "he would not be able to imple-
ment the entire Shari'ah, but he would
be happy to ensure justice for every-
one". As usual, he had a tense rela-
tionship with the ulama. Prof. Ali said
that conversions to Islam did not take
place because of Muslim force of
arms, but because a lot of lower-caste
Hindus felt oppressed by an iniquitous
caste system and wanted to get away
from it. In the deep south, Islam was
brought in by traders who came by
sea as this region had maritime con-
tacts with the Arab world since long
before the advent of Islam. India then
had a rich intellectual tradition and a
richer civilisation than most other
lands.
Prof. Shahid Mahdi said that the
coming of Muslims to India led to the
establishment of Bhakti-Sufi move-
ment, which later culminated into the
birth of a new faith, Sikhism. He quot-
ed Maulana Rumi's couplet: "Tu brai
wasl kardan amdi / na brai fasl kardan
amdi" (you have come to unite people
/ not to sow divisions among them) as
a mission statement of Islam.
The second business session had two
themes: (a) "Economic and Financial
Relations" and (b) "Islamic Banking
and Finance: Global Trends and India."
Rudy Yakscik from Massachusetts,
US, spoke on disruptive technologies
and business strategies as per Islamic
finance and business rules.
T
he second day's programme began
with the third business session.
Prof. S.R. Mondal, professor of
anthropology at Jadhavpur University,
Kolkata, said India had both civilisa-
tional and genetic relationship with the
Arab world. India, with its growing
knowledge society had a lot to offer
the Muslim world in a co-operative
arrangement. The IITs and IIMs were a
valuable resource to be shared. Of
advantage for the Muslim world in
establishing co-operation with India in
education, he said, was that education
in India was low-cost, compared to
Western countries. Its high quality
was attracting a lot of students from
Europe and America where it was
unaffordable for many, he said.
Dr Mohammad Imran, assistant
professor, depar tment of
Microbiology, Integral University,
Lucknow, said "Arabs and Turks are
the natural allies of India in terms of
culture and history. Twenty three per-
cent of India's business is with the
Muslim world, out of which the GCC's
share is 90 percent."
Prof. Manzoor Ahmad, vice-chan-
cellor, Vivekanand Subharti University,
Meerut, said a country's foreign rela-
tions reflected domestic policies and
priorities. For years, India had been
receiving a sizeable number of foreign
students in its universities. However,
of late the number of foreign students
had declined and foreign guest hous-
es of several universities were lying
vacant. Pune University and Lucknow
University were famous for accom-
modating a good number of foreign
students, but both are now almost
devoid of them. He pleaded for raising
the teaching standards of Indian uni-
versities. He regretted that in the rating
of 500 universities by the Shanghai
Group not even one Indian university
was there. He pleaded that three for-
eign universities - Al-Azhar of Egypt,
International Islamic University of
Malaysia, and King Abdul Aziz
University of Saudi Arabia - should
open branches in India. He thought
several Indian universities, IITs and
IIMs would fulfill most of the needs of
Muslim countries.
Prof. Allauddin, former vice-chan-
cellor of Jamia Hamdard, advocated
placing of knowledge in Islamic per-
spective. He said upto 10th century
Hijrah Muslims took knowledge seri-
ously. Over the last 400 years pursuit
of knowledge had declined in Muslim
societies as a dichotomy between
deeni (religious) and 'asri (contempo-
rary) knowledge evolved. He pleaded
for restoration of unity of knowledge.
The theme of the fourth session
was "Foreign Policy and Diplomatic
Issues." In his opening remarks Dr
Pasha observed that even before free-
dom, Indian leaders had close rela-
tions with the Muslim world. Under
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations was
established after independence. The
first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru, had close interaction with
Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. During
his 1956 visit to Saudi Arabia, the
Saudis called him the "prophet of
peace." The largest number of minis-
terial visits and delegations come
annually from the Muslim world", Dr
Pasha said. When sanctions were
imposed on Iraq and Libya, India
worked hard to provide enough room
for reducing hardship. India regularly
used its diplomatic clout to reduce
suffering of people in the Muslim
world. India's relations with the entire
Muslim world are robust, he
remarked.
Dr Sani al-Faraj, President, Kuwait
Centre for Strategic Affairs, Kuwait,
sought a broad based relationship
with India in economic, political and
military affairs. He compared Kuwait
to a mouse surrounded by three ele-
phants-Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Only amicable relations with the three,
and among the three, elephants would
ensure the safety and security of the
mouse. "India as a naval power
should help secure the maritime
routes from piracy and other threats
for oil and other trade. India's interests
in GCC-oil and other economic inter-
ests should also be secured. The Gulf
as a business hub, should be of par-
ticular interest to India."
Dr Arshi Khan, associate profes-
sor, deptt. of political science, Aligarh
Muslim University, said that America
and Europe were in steady decline as
India, China and some others were
steadily rising. It was time for greater
mutual co-operation between non-
Western countries for a better future.
In the fifth session, the valedicto-
ry address was delivered by Dr Jasir
Auda, deputy director, Centre for
Islamic Legislation and Ethics, Qatar.
He said that the Muslim world had
always had a close relationship with
India. Now was the time to expand the
contacts further on government to
government and people to people
level.
MG/Yusuf
Bihar schools
to conduct
surya
nam
askar
C
o
m
m
un
a
l
i
s
m
Senior journalist Syed Mansoor Agha delivering a lecture on Hindutva terror
at Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarats headquarters on 22 February
Maulana Saeedur Rahman Nadwi
Syed Shahid Mahdi Prof. B. Sheik Ali
Muslim literacy, incomes higher in Gujarat
Gandhinagar: Gujarats Governor, Mrs. Kamla Beniwal, while
addressing the opening session of 13th Legislative Assembly of
Gujart on 23 January said that literacy rate of Muslims in the state
is 73.5 percent against the national rate of 59 percent and that the
minority community (Muslims) is better off financially than most
of their brethren in other parts of the country. She said that per
capita income of Muslims in rural parts of the state is Rs. 668
while the national per capita income of Muslims in rural areas is
Rs. 553. Similarly, the national per capita income of Muslims in
urban areas is Rs. 804 while in Gujarat it is Rs. 875, dispelling the
common belief that they (Muslims) are oppressed and neglected
in this BJP-ruled state. She further said in her speech that my
government has shown that no section or community in the state,
be it linguistic minority or religious minority is deprived of the ben-
efits of development. She said that chief minister Narendra Modi
had made an heartfelt appeal to promote harmony among differ-
ent castes and communities and had observed a 3-day fast and
sadbhavna mission from his birthday (Sept. 17) in 2011. After
that he organised 36 more such missions which helped in build-
ing peace, unity and harmony in the state.
It may be stated in this connection that speeches and
addresses made on such occasions by state governors or
President of India on opening sessions of assemblies and
Parliament are, truly speaking, not their own independent views
but their speeches are prepared by the respective state or central
governments and obviously all governments, states or central,
blow their own trumpets and keep mum on negative points.
Jharkhand Govs order to implement Sachar opposed
Ranchi: Jharkhand Governor, Dr. Syed Ahmads order for imple-
mentation of Sachar Committees recommendations in the state
has invited the strong disapproval of communal parties and organ-
isations like BJP, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Swadeshi
Jagran Manch etc. and they all are not only strongly opposing this
order but condemning it also. Whereas ABVP members burnt
copies of governors order, BJP activists burnt the effigy of gover-
nor Syed Ahmad. State president of BJP Dr. Dinesh Anand
Goswamy reacting to this order said that in the garb of Sachar
Committees report / recommendations he (governor) is promot-
ing Congresss hateful policy. He said that this is not the popular-
ly elected government but this is simply a temporary arrangement
under which Presidents rule has been imposed and this step of
the governor will spoil the social atmosphere which will affect
communal harmony between the two communities, adding that
categorising people of a particular community in some special
class can in no case be permissible. Hence BJP strongly oppos-
es this step.
Another BJP leader Anant Ojha said that there is no justifica-
tion for the enforcement of Sachar Committees recommendations
in a state like Jharkhand. This is part of Congress policy of creat-
ing and promoting dissension and hatred in the name of religion,
adding that people in Santhal are angry over this decision. ABVP
members burnt copies of the governors order and also burnt effi-
gies of officers of the administration in Jamshedpur. Members of
these organisations described the governors instructions of
appointing officers on religious basis in particular areas in the light
of Sachar Committees report are against the Constitution.
Leaders of Swadeshi Jagran Manch also burnt the effigies of offi-
cers and said that administrative decision in matters of public
services should not be on the basis of caste, language, region and
religion because such decisions will create problems in maintain-
ing unity and integrity of the country.
Human bondage
Ahmedabad: An unusual gesture of goodwill was witnessed when
two families exchanged kidneys to save the lives of two persons
belonging to two different faiths. This has more warmth because
this happened in the Modiland infested with communal hatred. A
businessman from Vadodara, Mayur Gandhi, needed a B-positive
kidney: whereas Irfan Sindhiya needed A-negative while Irfans
wife Jayshree had A-negative kidney and Irfans mother Zubeidas
was B-positive. The hospital authorities suggested an exchange
and the two parties readily agreed. A happy Gandhi observes: In
Gods factory when a body is made He does not label it Hindu or
Muslim. That label is given by us. Similarly Irfan is grateful to
Jayshree-been for her kind gesture.
Book on Aaftaab-e Marsia Khwani: Haider Nawab Jafery
Syed Haidar Nawab
Jafery is the famous
elegiac poet and singer
who has been given the
title of Aaftaab-e Mercia
Khwani i.e. Sun of
Elegiac writing. He is
probably the first elegiac
composer and singer on
whom a book has been
written,not by some
ordinary person but this
book has been compiled
with the joint efforts and
labour of two great per-
sonalities of India and
Pakistan. The book con-
tains rare photos, views
of prominent intellectuals
and litterateurs and is full
of good wishes and
quotes of Ulama for Haidar Nawab Jafeery which are clear proof
of his being expert in his art as well as his boundless popularity.
If Meer Anees and Mirza Dabeer are called the sun and moon of
elegy composing, Lucknows Syed Haidar Nawab Jafery is
known by the title of Aaftaab-e Mercia Khwani. Dr. Zameer Akhtar
Naqvi has taken great pains and shown great devotion in compil-
ing and publishing the book on Haidar Nawab Jafery who sings
and recites elegy in all corners of India and who is also very
respectfully invited to foreign countries for rendering soulful mer-
cias. The author (Dr. Zameer Akhtar Naqvi) has diligently men-
tioned each and every thing of Lucknow and has also included
photos and writings of Ulama of every school of thought which
clearly indicates Allama Zameer Akhtars devotion to Jafery
Saheb and his extreme love for Lucknow even after settling down
in Pakistan. This book compiled under the title of Aaftab-e Mercia
Khwani Syed Haidar Nawab Jafery has been published by Allama
Zameer Akhtar in Pakistan which is distributed in India as a holy
gift (tabarruk). Whoever has received this book is a fortunate per-
son. Running into 300 pages, every page of this book is coloured.
Articles and writings in this book are rare and photos are equally
rare. Price is only Rs. 300 which is not much for any lover of mer-
cia. (Manzar Mehdi Faizabadi)
Muslim locality gives BJP absolute win
Ahmedabad: BJP scored a 27 - 0 win against Congress in Salaya
Municipal election. While 24 Muslim candidates contested elec-
tion on BJP ticket remaining three went to non-Muslim BJP candi-
dates giving the Congress complete defeat. This place is 90%
Muslim concentration and had been a stronghold of Congress for
decades. BJP captured 47 out of 76 municipalities for which elec-
tions were held leaving nine cities for the Congress. These have
since been captured by independents while ten do not have a clear
cut verdict. Elections were held on 10 February. Result of one city
has been withheld. Division of seats is as follows. Total Seats -
1921; BJP - 1153; Congress - 447; Guj. Parivartan - 54
Escape tunnel in Sabarmati jail?
Ahmedabad: An attempt to escape from the Sabarmati jail has
been reported. It is alleged that 14 prisoners accused of the
Ahmedabad blast were trying to dig a tunnel for the past two
months. Convinced that their chances of release were neglible
they decided to plan an escape. Hafiz Husain, a civil engineer from
Karnataka, is alleged to be the brain behind the idea others include
Usman Ggarbatti, also an engineer. This 10 feet deep and 18 feet
long tunnel was dug by using utensils provided for meals. They
used to throw away the soil in the plantation part of the jail. They
are reported to have confessed their crime. It is believed that they
would have succeeded in escaping had the operation continued
for a few more days. However, there are a few who suspect that
such an operation cannot be conducted without the connivance of
a few persons among the jail staff. Whether this was a ploy to
deliberately involve them in a crime to seal their fates permanent-
ly or because of other temptations is yet to be established. Later
reports reveal that the tunnel is 16 feet deep and 26 feet long in
form of an L. Abu Bashr, Hafiz Mulla and Shivli Abdul Karim are
also allegedly involved in the project.
Urdu sections opened in 32 Delhi schools, teachers appointed
New Delhi: As per Delhi government plans, Urdu sections were to
be opened in those 55 schools where Urdu was not taught earlier
and at the same time a 100 Urdu teachers were to be appointed
but even after about 3 months Urdu sections could be opened
in 32 schools only and instead of 100 teachers, only 66 have so
far been appointed. What is a matter of relief and satisfaction is
that according to Sachar Committee, in north-east Delhi which is
an extremely backward area, Urdu sections have been opened in
all schools except one or two and Urdu teachers also have been
appointed but what is regrettable is that in schools where Urdu
sections have not so far been opened, Deputy Director of
Education is being held responsible. According to a survey con-
ducted by the Society for Educational Development the statistics
given above have come to light. After the above details were pub-
lished in newspapers and lapses pointed out, Department of
Education woke up and took steps to open Urdu sections and
appoint Urdu teachers. A delegation of Society members including
Shahadat Ali Nizami and Abdur Rahman Zinjani, coordinator of
NCMEI, social worker Amanullah Khan etc. met Education Director
Amit Singhla and showed him the statistics published in Urdu
newspapers. He (Amit Singhla) passed on this matter (lapses etc.)
to Regional Education Director Neelam Verma who said that they
would work to remove this (lapses) in the next session but on the
insistence and pressure of delegation members, Verma agreed to
work during the current session itself.
Let us now see how much progress has been made by the
Department of Education in one month: In Eastern Zone, 16 teach-
ers were to be appointed in 8 schools but (Urdu) teachers were
appointed in 6 schools but no teachers were appointed in the
remaining two schools. In North-East Zone 38 (Urdu) teachers
were to be appointed in 19 schools (two in each school). This
Zone, according to Sachar Committee report, is the most back-
ward. Previously, Urdu teachers were appointed in 8 schools only
but no teachers were appointed in 9 schools but now, except two
schools including Khajooris Girls School, Urdu sections have
been opened in all schools in this Zone. This is considered a big
success.
In North-West Zone 15 teachers were to be appointed in 8
schools but only 5 have been appointed and 7 have not been
appointed. In the remaining i.e. West Delhi (B-Zone), South West
(B-Zone), South Delhi Zone, Central Delhi (Rouse Avenue or Deen
Dayal Upadhya Marg) virtually no progress has been made.
Puja and Namaaz to be held on Basant Panchmi
Turning the ire of the Hindu organisations against the central gov-
ernment, the state government trouble-shooter, Kailash
Vijayvargiya, stated that in view of the central governments direc-
tive the state administration has to abide by it. He stated that
Bhojshala is under the archeological department of the central
government on which the state has no control. Hence the state
has to comply with the Union governments instructions to allow
both the parties to conduct their prayers. Thus Friday prayer on
8 February was offered under tight security. District administration
had made elaborate security arrangements. It had orders that no
object except those meant for worship shall be allowed to be car-
ried inside. While the district administration banned processions
and rallies till 20 February, Hindu organisations decided to take out
a rally on 10 February on two-wheelers. Hotels and lodges were
kept under strict vigil. Proprietors were asked to report to police
stations about the lodgers. (AG Khan)
Shehla murder: CBI to renew investigation
Indore: A special court allowed the CBI to conduct separate inter-
rogation of Zahida Parvez and Saba Farouqui. Fresh investigations
were sought by the agency. Special judge Anupam Shrivastav
allowed the agency to go ahead under three conditions. A team of
interrogators arrived from New Delhi to conduct investigation. The
team comprising Addl. S.P. A.G.L. Kaul and Inspector Shahnaz
Khan and one more officer arrived at the district jail. Zahida was
interrogated for about 35-40 minutes followed by Saba who was
grilled for some time. Since the material seized was from Zahidas
cabinet, she was asked to explain the human hair, used condoms
with blood stains, and handkerchief.
Police Head of Bijnor dist orders employment of Urdu knowing
people in police stations
Bijnor: ]Police chief of Bijnor district (U.P.) Sunil Chander Vajpayee
has issued orders to all heads of police stations of the district to
recruit / appoint Urdu knowing people so that Urdu knowing peo-
ple do not face any difficulty in bringing their grievances to police
authorities. It was reported that Urdu knowing people have been
facing such difficulties and they have to go from one place to
another to get letters / applications etc. to police authorities for
redressal of their grievances. This information was given by an
Urdu translator posted in the police chiefs office. It was also
reported that letters and applications written in Urdu are ignored
on the excuse that employees in police stations do not know Urdu
and hence no action can be taken on such letters.
It is also reported that representatives and correspondents of Urdu
newspapers also are not given information of any kind. Some
newspapers in memorandums to all district officers had com-
plained that Urdu knowing people do not know about various gov-
ernment schemes and orders and hence representatives of Urdu
newspapers also should be given relevant information so that
readers of Urdu papers also are able to know about government
orders and schemes and for this purpose Urdu knowing people
should be appointed in all government offices. However, no other
department or office has paid any attention to Urdu so far. Sunil
Chander Vajpayee is the first officer who, realising the difficulties
of Urdu knowing people, took the initiative in this direction.
Mumbai: Salman Rushdie is much hated by Muslims all over the
world and his presence at any function is disliked by them.
However some Muslim intellectuals and scholars are now feeling
that instead of boycotting him he should be allowed to engage in
a debate on Islam and the life of its Prophet. One of these schol-
ars is Yusuf Muchhala, a lawyer by profession who is also a
member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board and head of its
legal cell who thinks that he should be taken on in a face to face
discussion. While speaking in a seminar on Azmat-e Rasool
(Prophets greatness) organised by Wahdat-e Islami Hind, an
NGO in Mumbai last month (January 13), he proposed that
instead of opposing his visit to Mumbai (where he was expected
to come to promote a film based on his novel Midnights
Children), he should be invited to a discussion and made to
answer some questions. If he has the guts, he should explain to
us why he wrote such a blasphemous book (Satanic Verses),.he
said. In this seminar he also made an appeal to Muslims not to
resort to violent protest against him.
Another speaker, Dr. Shakil Samdani, a professor of law at
AMU, while agreeing to the views of Mr. Muchhala said that
Rushdie should listen to the sane views of Muslims. Instead of
issuing death threats against him and opposing his visit to
India Muslims should engage him in a debate, he said.
It may be recalled that last year (2012) at the Jaipur
Literary Festival Rushdie was invited, the Wahdat-e Islami
members were also among those Muslims who had com-
pelled the Rajasthan government to ask Rushdie not to par tic-
ipate in that literary meet.
It is not known whether such an invitation was sent to
Rushdie and if so, what was his response. (NA Ansari)
Muslim scholars challenge Rushdie to a
debate on Islam and its Prophet
14 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 COMMUNITY NEWS www.milligazette.com
Lecuture on Yusuf Alis Quran Translation
Aligarh February 17: Professor Bruce B. Lawrence of Duke
University, USA, said while delivering a lecture on Abdullah Yusuf
Alis Translation of the Quran An 80 Year Retrospective, that
his lifetime dedication to the Holy Quran has to be honoured
whenever his name is cited or his work quoted. Pervading and
guiding his labour is the larger spirit of Quranic inclusivism, and
despite the array of critiques - some major, some quibbling - that
have been brought against him, it is due to this same generosity
of purpose that his translation still excites many readers, scholars
and believers from numerous perspectives.
The lecture was organized by the K. A. Nizami Centre for
Quranic Studies on Sunday, February 17 at ZH College of
Engineering and Technology. AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. Gen.
(Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah presided over the lecture.
Prof. Lawrence said that in the huge North American market,
the modified Yusuf Alis translation established its pre-eminent
position when Amana Publications reprinted the original edition in
1977, re-titling it as The Meaning of the Holy Quran. He said
ninety percent Muslim students, whether from Middle East or
from the Subcontinent, read the English translation of the Holy
Quran by Yusuf Ali.
Prof. A. A. Nizami, Director, K. A. Nizami Centre for Quranic
Studies in his welcome address said that Prof. Lawrence has
spent twenty years working on Mysticism, especially, Chishtis,
that resulted in his popular book Morals from the Heart, a trans-
lation of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulias conversations. His major
research interest included comparative study of religion and Indo-
Pakistan Sufism. He has authored a book, Islam beyond
Violence: Religion in Cyber Space and over 200 articles.
Demands of Ghausia Colony residents accepted
New Delhi: Residents of Ghausia Colony near Mehrauli, whose
mosque and most of the residential properties were demolished
by the D.D.A. about two months ago were greatly relieved when
Delhi Lt. Governor Tejinder Khana assured them that this mosque
(Ghausia Masjid) would be rebuilt and that legal action would be
taken against those who had unauthorisedly demolished the resi-
dences of the people of this colony. Residents of this colony,
which is mostly inhabited by Muslims, had staged a dharna and
organised protest demonstration in front of the residence of union
minister for urban development, Kamal Nath for about 36 hours
against the demolition of the Masjid and their locality. On minister
Kamal Naths asking the Lt. Governor to meet these people, a del-
egation consisting of Samajwadi Partys general secretary
Kamaal Farooqi and a few others met him (L.G.) on 6 February
and he accepted all their demands. The L.G. assured these peo-
ple that Ghausia Masjid would be rebuilt, legal action would be
taken against D.D.A. people and officers who had illegally demol-
ished the mosque and their houses etc. and a committee would
be constituted to decide whether the land in question i.e. where
houses and mosque etc. were built belongs to the D.D.A. or Delhi
Waqf Board. This Committee would include DDA officials and
advocate Mahmood Paracha representing the residents. He also
assured that as long as the report of this committee is not sub-
mitted, no action would be taken and the residents will live there.
After 36 hours of dharna at minister Kamal Naths residence,
by force police put them into buses and took them back to
Ghausia Colony. In the meeting with L.G., in addition to delegation
members D.D.A. officials including OSD Ranjan Mukherjee, DDAs
Kataria and Commissioner of Land Management Brijesh Mishra
were also present. The delegation members apprised the L.G. of
DDAs activities going on there for about two months, including
demolition of the Masjid and residents homes etc. They told the
L.G. that this was Waqf Boards land where the Ghausia Masjid
and a graveyard also existed along with their homes etc. but DDA
claimed that it was its land and demolished all structures there
including the graveyard. They demanded that the Masjid should
be rebuilt, their homes also should be rebuilt and strong action
should be taken against those who destroyed all this illegally.
They also demanded that valuable grave stones at the place that
were taken away by D.D.A. officials should be returned to them.
Kamal Farooqi said that as per rules, without governments reli-
gious committees permission no religious place or place of wor-
ship can be demolished, why then Ghausia Masjid was demol-
ished by D.D.A., he asked. He further said that in the graveyard
destroyed by D.D.A. there are graves of 40 saints about whom it
is believed that they have been protecting the whole of Delhi, but
D.D.A. officials who misguided us should be prosecuted for their
illegal and unauthorised actions for which F.I.R. should be filed
against them. He said that this matter should be enquired into and
if it is a graveyard, it should be returned (to the Waqf Board).
After hearing the delegation members L.G. said that he had
been told that Ghausia Masjid was rebuilt but even then it will be
rebuilt if not already done. He further said that a committee would
be constituted to enquire into the whole affair and till the reports
are submitted, these people will live there and during this period
no action whatsoever will be taken. He also assured that legal
action would be taken against all those who have done this work
and in any case stones of the graves would be returned.
Darul Uloom (Waqf) wants to set up English-medium Schools
Lucknow: Darul Uloom Deoband (Waqf)s Deputy Rector Maulana
Sufiyan Qasmi in his letters to Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi
Partys President and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has request-
ed the U.P. government to help Muslim community in setting up a
full fledged English medium school at par with renowned English
medium schools in the country. It is understood that Maulana
Sufiyan Qasmi has written in his letter that his institution plans to
set up such a school with the aim of helping Muslim students to
keep pace with the strong competition in the outside world and to
keep abreast of modern times in practical life. It may be stated in
this connection that Darul Uloom (Waqf) is a break-away unit of
the original Darul Uloom Deoband, which was set up more than
hundred years ago. It was however split sometime in 1980s and
Darul Uloom Deoband (Waqf) came into being. Both these reli-
gious institutions share the same syllabus but have separate man-
agement and offices and their sources of income are contribu-
tions and donations from the community or other benevolent
organisations. So far none of these institutions has accepted gov-
ernments financial help because they do not want government
interference in their management and educational system and
have confined themselves to religious education, though both
have now adopted modern methods like computer etc. in educa-
tion and training of their students.
In order to reach out to non-Muslims in the country in order
to remove the misconceptions by them about Islam they have
been publishing books and booklets etc. about Islam, Islamic
teachings and Islamic sciences in Hindi and English and selling
and distributing them at different centre like book fairs etc. which
are being held in different cities in addition to markets. Darul
Uloom (Waqf) thinks that once a standard English medium school
is set up, it will be helpful in familiarising the world about Islam
and its related aspects to remove misconceptions and wrong
notions about Islam. This institution would also seek the help of
other organisations within and outside the country in setting up
more of such schools and organisations. It may be stated in this
connection that there is another religious organisation, Jamat-e
Islami Hind which has already been doing such work by publish-
ing books and literature on Islam not only in English and Hindi (in
addition to Urdu) but in almost all important regional languages
also. In another letter to Mulayam Singh, Maulana Abdullah Ibn Al
Qamar of Darul Uloom (Waqf) Deoband has requested him to
facilitate the setting up a standard M. Tech and B. Tech institution
which could be helpful in improving the economic condition of its
products. Another demand by him is to set up a modern hospital
equipped with all modern facilities and equipment for the people
of this and neighbouring areas as there is no such hospital in this
area and people per force have to go to distant places for costly
treatment.
Minority scholarship in Gujarat: conflicting claims
Gandhi Nagar: There are contradictory statements with regard to
scholarship to minority students. ON the one hand the state refuses
to grant even central govt scholarships to minorities on the ground
that it does not discriminate between Gujaratis on the basis of religion
while on the other it claims in the legislative assembly that it has spent
the budget on disbursing scholarships to the minorities. In its first
session of the newly constituted assembly the governors address
records the fact under minority welfare programme in which scholar-
ship to minorities has specifically been mentioned. Claiming that it
has spent till December 2012 Rs. 4.17 crores on 1750 students
under the merit cum means scheme and 9.75 crores on 18,000 stu-
dents on post matric scholarship, it also records that Rs. 7.88 crores
on 4770 students have been spent on technical (professional) schol-
arships.
Aligarh: UPA Chairperson,
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi on
16 February assured the
Aligarh Muslim University
community that she would
lend support to AMU to pre-
serve its historical character
and autonomy. Addressing
the 60th Annual Convocation
of the AMU through tele-con-
ferencing, Mrs. Gandhi said
that she was well aware of
the history and the contribu-
tions of the AMU and the role
it played in the freedom
struggle of the country. She
said that the minority charac-
ter issue of the University
was pending in the Supreme
Court, yet she would extend
her cooperation to maintain
the autonomy of the
University.
Mrs. Gandhi, regretting
her inability to participate in person in the convocation proceed-
ings due to adverse weather conditions, congratulated the stu-
dents who were awarded medals and degrees for their educa-
tional accomplishments. She offered her compliments to the par-
ents of these students who would be happy to witness this his-
torical moment.
Mrs. Gandhi said that no assessment of Muslims education-
al development could be made without discussing the life and
contributions of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. The role Sir Syed played
for the educational empowerment of his community was exem-
plary. Sir Syed felt the importance of education and dreamt of a
university that would be a sign of wisdom and ration. He worked
for the propagation of scientific quest and knowledge by estab-
lishing Scientific Society and publishing a reform journal,
Tahzibul Akhlaq, Mrs Gandhi said adding that the AMU has also
contributed remarkably to the freedom struggle of the country
and has produced a number of nationalist leaders like Khan
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Maulana Mohammad Ali, Maulana Shaukat
Ali, Dr. Zakir Husain, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Abdul Majeed Khwaja
and Saifuddin Kichlu.
Mrs. Gandhi appreciated the role of Sheikh Abdullah in the
promotion of womens education in the country and expressed
happiness that eminent progressive writers like Rasheed Jahan
and Ismat Chughtai were the products of this great institution.
Appreciating the secular foundation of this great seat of
learning, Mrs. Gandhi said that it has contributed a lot in nurtur-
ing the democratic and pluralistic culture of the country. She
remarked that the University stood as an epitome of secularism
and communal harmony. Mrs. Gandhi said that Islam has com-
pletely merged into the Indian characteristics and its services to
the development of the Indian culture and civilization are remark-
able.
She said that she had received a memorandum of the
Students Union of the University and she would talk to the gov-
ernment to take appropriate actions to implement the sugges-
tions.
The UPA Chairperson acknowledged the special relationship
of Nehru-Gandhi family with this institution. She said that Indias
first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, despite his press-
ing engagements, visited AMU five times and the University
awarded him honorary degree of D.Lit. while the AMU Students
Union felicitated him with its life membership. The University has
always lent its support to the Nehru family and there are several
buildings in the University named after members of the Nehru
family.
Terming students as the builders of the nation, Mrs. Sonia
Gandhi urged the AMU students to rely on their wisdom and
remember there were so many worlds beyond the stars. She
assured that no injustice will be done against them.
Former Indian Hockey Captain, Mr. Zafar Iqbal was conferred
an honorary D.Lit. degree on this occasion. He said that it was
for the first time in the history of AMU that it has awarded an hon-
orary doctorate degree to a sportsperson and it was a good sign
for the future of sports in the country. He urged the University to
include sports in the University curricula. Mr. Iqbal said that he
has been a student of this University from Abdullah Nursery to
Minto Circle and was a Hockey Captain of the University in 1982.
He said it was a proud moment for his family to receive this great
honour.
Presenting the Annual Report on this occasion, the Vice
Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University, Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin
Shah said that this 60th Annual Convocation of the University was a
historic one. The last time a lady, Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum of
Bhopal, delivered the Convocation Address was in 1925 and today
was the second time when another distinguished lady, Mrs. Sonia
Gandhi, was invited to deliver this address.
Gen. Shah said that restoration of the minority status was the
biggest issue for the University at present and it is his lifetimes
dream that the Universitys minority character was restored at the
earliest and it became the number one university of the country. He
urged the government for a special grant to the University for hostel
accommodation and making the AMU a totally green University. On
this occasion, 223 students were given medals for their exemplary
results in various undergraduate and postgraduate courses and
about five thousand research, PG and Undergraduate students were
awarded their degrees.
Sonia Gandhi assures AMU
COMMUNITY NEWS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 15 www.milligazette.com
AMU convocation; inset: Zafar Iqbal receiving honorary D.Lit.
America Shamed Again: A Colonized People
PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Americans have been shamed many times by their elected repre-
sentatives who cravenly bow to vested interests and betray the
American people. But no previous disgraceful behavior can match
the public shame brought to Americans by the behavior of the
Senate Republicans in the confirmation hearing of Senator Chuck
Hagel as Secretary of Defense.
Forty Senate Republicans made it clear that not only do they
refuse to put their service to America ahead of their service to
Israel, but also that they will not even put their service to America
on a par with their service to Israel. To every American's shame,
the Republicans demonstrated for all the world to see that they are
wholly owned subsidiaries of the Israel Lobby. (The Israel Lobby
is not their only master. They are also owned by other powerful
interest groups, such as Wall Street and the Military/Security
Complex.)
The most embarrassing behavior of all came from the craven
Lindsay Graham, who, while in the act of demonstrating his com-
plete subservience by crawling on his belly before the Israel
Lobby, dared Hagel to name one single person in the US
Congress who is afraid of the Israel Lobby.
If I had been Hagel, I would have written off the nomination
and answered: "You, Senator Graham, and your 40 craven col-
leagues."
Indeed, Hagel could have answered: The entire US Congress,
including Rand Paul who pretends to be different but isn't.
The real question is: Who in the Congress is not afraid of the
Israel Lobby? The hatchet job on Hagel is driven by fear of the
Israel Lobby.
Perhaps the worst affront Israel's American representatives
ever inflicted on the US military was the coverup of the Israeli air
and torpedo boat attack on the USS Liberty in 1967. The Israeli
attack failed to sink the Liberty but killed and wounded most of the
crew. The survivors were ordered to silence, and it was 12 years
before one of them spoke up and revealed what had happened
(James Ennes, Assault On The Liberty). Not even Admiral
Thomas Moorer, Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff could get Washington to own up to the facts.
The facts are now well known, but as far as Washington is
concerned they are dead letter facts. The entire event has been
moved to some parallel universe.
Why are the Senate Republicans out to destroy Hagel for
Israel? The answer is, first, back when Hagel was a US Senator
he refused to be intimidated by the Israel Lobby and declared, "I
am a US Senator, not an Israeli Senator." In other words, Hagel did
the impermissible. He said he represented US interests, not
Israel's interests. Hagel's position implies that the interests of the
two countries are not identical, which is a heresy.
The second part of the answer is that Hagel doesn't think that
it is a good idea for the US to start a war with Iran or for the US
to permit Israel to do so.
But a US war with Iran is what the Israeli government and its
neoconservative agents have been trying to impose on the
Obama regime. Israel wants to get rid of Iran, because Iran sup-
ports Hizbollah in Southern Lebanon, thus preventing Israel from
annexing that territory and its water resources, and because Iran
supports Hamas, the only Palestinian organization that tries to
oppose Israel's total theft of Palestine, although Iran has never
supplied Hamas with effective weapons.
The two organizations that oppose Israel's territorial expan-
sion, Hizbollah and Hamas, represent large numbers of Arab peo-
ples. Nevertheless, both are declared, on Israel's orders, to be
"terrorist organizations" by the servile US Department of State,
which in all reality should be called the Israeli Department of
State, as it never puts US interests before Israel's.
In other words, Hagel did not grovel. He did not say how
much he loved Israel and how it would be his great honor to sac-
rifice all other interests to Israel's, how he has waited his entire life
for the chance to serve Israel as the US Secretary of Defense.
Hagel is not an opponent of Israel. He merely said, "First, I am
an American." His lack of craven subservience is unacceptable to
the Israel Lobby, which has branded him an "anti-semite."
Lindsay Graham, in contrast, has what it takes to be Israel's
perfect choice for US Secretary of Defense.
Graham will go out of his way to please the Israel Lobby. He
will pull out all stops and behave with maximum servility to a for-
eign power in his effort to embarrass the President of the United
States and his nominee, a war veteran and former US Senator
who simply thinks that the US Congress and the executive branch
should put American interests first.
Senate Majority Leader Reid has used Senate rules to keep
Hagel's nomination alive. If Lindsay Graham succeeds in doing
the Israel Lobby's dirty work, he will have handed a defeat of the
US President to the Israeli Prime Minister, who has demeaned the
President of the United States for not doing Israel's bidding and
attacking Iran.
Americans are a colonized people. Their government repre-
sents the colonizing powers: Wall Street, the Israel Lobby, the
Military/Security Complex, Agribusiness, Pharmaceuticals,
Energy, Mining, and Timber interests.
Two elected representatives who tried to represent the
American people--Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich--found repre-
sentative government to be an inhospitable place for those few
who attempt to represent the interests of the American people.
Like Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, and Gerald Celente, I stand
with our Founding Fathers who opposed America's entanglement
in foreign wars. In an effort to prevent entanglements, the
Founding Fathers gave the power to declare war to Congress.
Over the years Congress has gradually ceded this power to the
President to the extent that it no longer exists as a power of
Congress. The President can start a war anywhere at any time
simply by declaring that the war is not a war but a "time-limited,
scope-limited, kinetic military action." Or he can use some other
nonsensical collection of words.
In the first few years of the 21st century, the executive branch
has invaded two countries, violated the sovereignty of five others
with military operations, and has established military bases in
Africa in order to counteract China's economic penetration of the
continent and to secure the resources for US and European cor-
porations, thus enlarging the prospects for future wars. If the
Republicans succeed in blocking Hagel's confirmation, the
prospect of war with Iran will be boosted.
By abdicating its war power, Congress lost its control of the
purse. As the executive branch withholds more and more infor-
mation from Congressional oversight committees, Congress is
becoming increasingly powerless. As Washington's war debts
mount, Washington's attack on the social safety net will become
more intense. Governmental institutions that provide services to
Americans will wither as more tax revenues are directed to the
coffers of special interests and foreign entanglements.
The tenuous connection between the US government and the
interests of citizens is on its way to being severed entirely. (infor-
mationclearinghouse.info)
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for
Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was
columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and
Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His
internet columns have attracted a worldwide following.
Weve got mail.....
for you!
The flow of news never ceases, so between our
fortnightly print issues we send out email newslet-
ter - MG e-Alerts. Get our eNewsletter FREE!
write to us at sales@milligazette.com
Become a fan of MG on Facebook
visit: facebook.com/milligazette
Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/milligazette
16 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
Believe it or not...
Mississippi finally ratifies
Constitutional amendment
banning slavery
A middle-aged recent immigrant from India recently set into
motion a series of events that eventually led to Mississippi final-
ly ratifying the Constitutional amendment banning slavery. The
rousing finale of the movie Lincoln served as inspiration. It
sounds like a joke, but it's true. And even though it's been nearly
150 years since that fateful day in the Capitol in 1864,
Mississippi's becoming the final state to officially ratify the
Thirteenth Amendment serves as the final punctuation mark on a
dark chapter in American history.
The circumstances for Dr. Ranjan Batra almost inadvertently
inserting himself into Mississippi state history are accidental at
best. After seeing Lincoln in theaters last November, he went
home and did a little bit of Internet research only to discover the
Mississippi never got around to actually ratifying the amendment.
The state did vote to ratify the amendment back in 1995, nearly
20 years after Kentucky, the second-to-last state to ratify the
amendment, held its vote. However, through an apparent clerical
error, Mississippi never officially notified the United States
Archivist of the ratification, meaning that they've officially been on
the side of slavery for a century-and-a-half. (That sounds kind of
sensational when you put it like that, but heck, you'd think the
state would double check on an issue as big as this.) Batra and
his friend Ken Sullivan reported the mistake up the chain of com-
mand, and this month, Mississippi finally sent in the paperwork
to complete its belated ratification of the Thirteen Amendment.
In a funny way, Batra's adventure fact-checking his state his-
tory is the opposite of what Connecticut congressman Joe
Courtney's fact-checking the movie. Courtney recently noticed
that the movie showed a pair of Connecticut congressmen voting
against the amendment, an unthinkable thing for a staunchly abo-
litionist state like Connecticut. Now, the congressman is wrestling
with Steven Spielberg and the studio in an attempt to get the film
fixed so that it doesn't cast his state in poor light. But when it's
your state that's already cast itself in poor light, like in
Mississippi's case, things get serious. Sullivan even got a certifi-
cate for setting this one straight.
When all was said and done, Mississippi state officials were
pretty humble about their government's little blunder. Said
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, whose office filed the final
papers this year, "It was long overdue." (Adam Clark Estes,
news.yahoo.com)
Survey Reveals Most Israelis are
Ultra-Nationalist and Anti-Arab
A recent survey conducted in Israel reveals that Israeli society is
racist to the core. According to the survey, the majority of the
Israeli Jewish public, 59 percent, wants preference given to Jews
over Arabs for admission to jobs in government ministries.
Almost half of Israeli Jews, 49 percent, want the state to treat
Jewish citizens better than Arab ones, and 42 percent don't want
to live in the same building with Arabs. A full 42 percent also don't
want their children in the same class with Arab children. A third
of the Jewish public wants a law barring Israeli Arabs from vot-
ing for the Knesset (parliament) and a large majority of 69 per-
cent objects to giving the 2.5 million Palestinians in the West
Bank the right to vote if Israel annexes the West Bank. A sweep-
ing 74 percent majority is in favour of separate roads for Israelis
and Palestinians in the West Bank. A quarter - 24 percent -
believe separate roads are "a good situation" and 50 percent
believe they are "a necessary situation." Almost half - 47 percent
- want part of Israel's Arab population to be transferred to the
Palestinian Authority (PA) and 36 percent support transferring
some Arab-Israeli towns from Israel to the PA, in exchange for
keeping some of the West Bank settlements.
The survey distinguishes among the various communities in
Israeli society, categorizing them as secular, observant, religious,
ultra-Orthodox and former Soviet immigrants. The ultra-Orthodox
hold the most extreme positions against the Palestinians. An
overwhelming majority (83 percent ) of them are in favour of seg-
regated roads for Jews and Arabs in the occupied territories and
71 percent are in favour of forcibly transferring Arabs out of Israel
and the occupied territories.
Human rights groups have long decried existing Israeli poli-
cies that discriminate against Arabs, citing classroom shortages,
smaller municipal budgets, and unequal property ownership
rights as proof of Israeli Arabs' status as second-class citizens.
Now the survey reveals that many Israeli Jews openly acknowl-
edge that Israel has adopted "apartheid" policies. However, this
self-awareness does not mean that Israelis are ashamed of this
policies. Quite the contrary.
Writing about the poll results, Israeli journalist Gideon Levy
stated that the survey "lays bare an image of Israeli society, and
the picture is a very, very sick one.Israelis themselves are
openly, shamelessly, and guiltlessly defining themselves as
nationalistic racists." (Adapted from articles published in The
Independent and Ha'aretz)
America training MKO
terrorists Afghanistan
The United States is training the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq
Organization (MKO) operatives in its military bases in
Afghanistan, a senior Iranian MP says.
"Currently, a limited number of MKO forces are receiving
training in the US military bases in Afghanistan to carry out ter-
rorist operations," Baqer Hosseini, member of Majlis Presiding
Board, noted.
The lawmaker referred to the US and Canada's delisting of
MKO, saying, "The move by the US and Canada [to delist the
MKO] and the support provided to the MKO grouplet by the
European Union (EU) are aimed at protecting the remnants of this
cell in order to take advantage of them for their own interests."
Hosseini stated that the MKO terrorists know no other way
but to serve as mercenaries, and they are now mercenaries serv-
ing the US, Canada and the EU.
The Canadian government removed the MKO from its official
list of terrorist organizations on Thursday, December 20, 2012.
Ottawa's move followed similar moves by the United States
and the European Union.
The MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support
of Iraq's executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up its camp
near the Iranian border.
The group is known to have cooperated with Saddam in sup-
pressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and carrying out the
massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
The MKO has carried out numerous acts of violence against
Iranian civilians and government officials as well. (presstv.com)
CHARITY ALLIANCE, with the active support of MG and like-minded people, is helping the victims of starvation in Murshidabad since
April 2005. More tasks are being undertaken in some of the most deserving areas and most backward sections of our community. This
charitable trust is channelising this long-felt effort. Almost every paisa is reaching the deserving people as MG is providing office and
administrative facilities free of cost as well as free advertising space, and the trustees are barred by the trust deed from receiving any
remuneration for their work and time.
CHARITY ALLIANCE
D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar,
New Delhi 110 025 India Tel.: (+91-11) 2694 7483, 2695 2825
How to make payments: We prefer cheques to bank drafts. Cheques/Drafts should be crossed / marked account payee and payable
to Charity Alliance. Individuals are welcome to pay cash in our office or send M.O. If you want to contribute through credit card or
internet-banking visit www.charityalliance.in for secure online payment. In some cases we may be able to arrange to collect cash from
your doorstep.
List of donors may be seen on Charilty Alliance website (www.charityalliance.in).
Zakat, Sadaqat and bank interest accepted
See www.charityalliance.in for detailed reports on our work.
CHARITY ALLIANCE
Registered trust
Donations to Charity Alliance are eligible for tax liability deduction in India under Section 80G
Invest
and save
tax!
Is Free Speech a Licence to Promote
Islamophobia and Protect the Zionist Narrative?
If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people
we despise, we don't believe in it at all. (Noam Chomsky)
YAMIN ZAKARIA
yamin@radicalviews.org
In defence of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, the Danish
Car toons and the recent YouTube movie, the liberals argued
that Muslims should not get too upset over the offensive con-
tents, because this was about the 'sacred' free speech or free-
dom of expression; the right to express a cer tain viewpoint, no
matter how offen-
sive or accurate.
The problem is this
is not applied con-
sistently across the
board. Why it is free
speech to mock reli-
gious values, and
yet a similar tone of
language is not tol-
erated against a par-
ticular racial group
or a group with a
cer tain sexual orien-
tation?
The usual sus-
pects lecturing
about free speech
are not the ones on
the receiving end,
and when the tables
are turned, free
speech conveniently
transforms into
incitement to vio-
lence or threats to
national security.
The persecution of
Julian Assange is a
classic example of
America behaving with such duplicity.
It is a travesty of justice to expect the voiceless victims to
tolerate the inflammatory material produced without provoca-
tion, and instead of accounting the perpetrators they are
shielded. The liberal brigades respond by citing the usual
phrase: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words
will never hur t me". The stark reality is words do hur t, in fact
much more than sticks, as the pain from words can linger on,
unlike the temporary physical pain experienced from the stick.
Therefore, there are libel laws, censorship, and numerous leg-
islations in place to prevent inflammatory material being pub-
lished. In our private lives, we are cautious and selective in
our words and expressions, so as not to hur t our loved ones.
At present, free speech is primarily defined by
Islamophobia and one of its limits is to protect the Zionist nar-
rative. In another words, free speech has licensed
Islamophobia, but not anti-Zionism. One of the most eminent
British Historian, David Irving, has been convicted for denying
the Holocaust back in 1989, and faced a
10-year prison sentence under Austrian law. How does
this conviction compare with the freedom of expression given
to the Danish and other European newspapers, to openly
injure the feelings of billions of Muslims? You can see ques-
tioning the Holocaust instantly generates a critical response;
those lecturing the Muslims to tolerate offensive materials are
now intolerant of a view questioning the magnitude of the
Holocaust. The far right are inciting hatred and violence
against the Muslims, using the free speech licence.
If freedom of expression can be used by racist hooligans,
then surely academics like David Irving at least deserves an
equal oppor tunity. He did not resor t to using offensive lan-
guage or incite
v i o l e n c e
against a par-
ticular group of
people. He may
have differed
with the popu-
lar or official
version of the
Holocaust, but
he has never
called for the
targeting of the
Jews, or has
been known to
make disparag-
ing comments
about them. His
work was
based on aca-
d e m i c
research. A
g e n u i n e
expression of a
v i e w p o i n t ;
therefore, it
should have
easily passed
the free speech
test. Other
Historians are free to come forward and prove him to be
wrong, and that would have made the case for the other camp
even stronger.
One can see the merit in questioning the magnitude of the
Holocaust, because it is very likely to have been exaggerated
by the victorious Allied forces, as par t of the post-war propa-
ganda. However, we are in 2012, why is it beyond the limits
of free speech to question the magnitude of the Holocaust, as
if it is something sacred? It implies the Zionists have a strong
influence in determining the boundaries of free speech; hence,
topics like the Holocaust or legitimacy of Israel have almost
become a taboo. The West cannot even tolerate constructive
criticisms of the Holocaust based on research and study, and
yet expects the Muslims to tolerate crude insults under the
banner of free speech!
It is no secret that Zionists have sponsored individuals and
groups to promote offensive Islamophobic materials. Many of
the far right openly fly the Israeli flag in their drunken rallies.
The connection between Zionist and Islamophobia is decisive
and substantial. Therefore, apar t from the Zionist inspired
Islamophobia, the test for free-speech is also determined by
compliance to their narrative and for this reason David Irving
was penalised for it, as if he was a heretic being tried by cour t
set in medieval Europe. The Zionist grip over the media has led
to a climate of fear, as one faces the prospect of being sub-
jected to an anti-Semitic inquisition, which star t with demo-
nization and can led to loss of employment. Now, observe the
cowardly liberal brigades, they are no longer waging their holy
war for free speech, not enough courage to challenge the
mighty Zionist lobby to have an open debate on the issues; it
is far easier to take on the defenceless and voiceless
Muslims!
INTERNATIONAL The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 17 www.milligazette.com
It is no secret that Zionists have sponsored individuals and
groups to promote offensive Islamophobic materials. Many of the
far right openly fly the Israeli flag in their drunken rallies. The
connection between Zionist and Islamophobia is decisive and
substantial. Therefore, apart from the Zionist inspired
Islamophobia, the test for free-speech is also determined by
compliance to their narrative...
INVASION MALI: XXI
CENTURY COLONIALISM
The Humanist International rejects and condemns French military
intervention in the Republic of Mali, with the purported excuse to
stop the advance of groups accused of terrorism.
The governments of the United States of America (USA) and
France have armed such groups accused of terrorism and have
contributed to form a climate conducive to such group's interests
by providing help, support and weapons to sectors accused as
fundamentalists. The current pretext used to justify these violent
actions is yet again the "war on terrorism." There is no excuse for
military, economic or policy enactions that justify the use of
force in international relations.
Is control of uranium, gold, oil, gas, ... the real reason for this
war? This happened after the military intervention in Libya, Ivory
Coast, and the coup in Niger; all leading to corrupt governments,
and related to NATO.
As for the Tuareg people, by their choice of a nomadic life,
they are discriminated against and have been neglected for cen-
turies, often without access to health services or education.
Victims of such violence and injustices, they are now managed
and caused to slaughter entire populations in Mali on the altar of
capitalism.
We are in 21st century Colonialism, based as always on mil-
itary force. The holders of international financial capital, mis-
aligned industry, traders in weapons and certain business
groups are the real powers that have the organizational tools for
plunder, using NATO.
Led by US-aligned European countries in NATO they are
determined to overcome their own economic crises by invading
countries regardless of causing damage to the civilian popula-
tions. In other words, trying to reverse the crisis of the capitalist
system with a savage colonialism.
Mali does not need bombs, corruption or submission.
Regardless of ethnicity and cultures, the Malian population needs
democracy, dignity, respect and prosperity. The Malian people's
need to decide its own future.
Humanists repudiate any foreign intervention in the territory
of the Republic of Mali, repudiate its neocolonial attitude of gov-
ernments, of the US, British and the French government particu-
larly, representatives of a false alternative to neoliberalism, called
"European socialism."
Humanists defend the right of peoples to self-determination,
and put forward the core values of the human being - human
rights and respect for life.
Issued by the Humanist International - International
Federation of Humanist Parties - 20 Jan. 2013
LATUFF
KARAMATULLAH K. GHORI
K_K_ghori@yahoo.com
The English lexicon defines cancer as a
malignant growth or tumor. True to this
definition, the tumor of sectarianism
has been diagnosed as malignant all
over the world. However, in Pakistan it
has apparently been growing
unchecked in the body politic of the
country that prides itself on being an
'Islamic Republic.'
Anyone doubting Pakistan's rapid
and dangerous slide into morbid paralysis because of untram-
meled growth of religious fanaticism-of which sectarianism is
but a vicious side-growth-need only look at the plight of the
minuscule Hazara community of Shiites in the province of
Baluchistan, particularly in the capital city of Quetta.
Baluchistan is the largest province of Pakistan in terms of
the land mass coved by it; it comprises 40 % of the Pakistan ter-
ritory. However, in terms of the country's population, Baluchistan
is the smallest unit of the federation. Hazaras, numbering just
about 600,000 make up only a tiny segment of the Baluch pop-
ulation.
The Hazaras are descendants of the Mongols who came to
what is known as the region of Hazarajat, a hilly terrain in the
centre of Afghanistan, as part of the marauding Mongol invaders
led by Genghis Khan. Three generations later, as the Mongol
rulers of present-day Afghanistan and Iran embraced Islam the
Hazaras, too, converted to the Shiite faith of Islam. So, histori-
cally, they have been an integral feature of both Afghanistan and
the adjacent areas of Pakistan, on the other side of the Durand
Line.
The Hazaras had enjoyed complete religious freedom and
equality in Pakistan until its lurch into religious fanaticism and
intolerance-a hall mark of today's Pakistan beset by all kinds of
intolerance fanned in the name of religion, par ticularly a
macabre religious orthodoxy.
The plight of the Hazarasat the hands of a bigoted, increas-
ingly ferocious and blood-thirsty cabal of terrorists masquerad-
ing themselves as proponents of 'true Islam' began, in right
earnest, in the new century as Pakistan turned itself into a bat-
tle-ground of conflicting interpretations and dogmas of Islam.
Pakistan's nihilistic flirtation with fanatical Islam became a
national malaise as its erstwhile militaryruler, General Pervez
Musharraf-besotted with dreams of glory-agreed to become a
front-line state in George W. Bush's 'war against terror.'
The ugliest face of the backlash against Pakistan's heavy
and overt involvement in the western military adventure in
Afghanistan is informed by a ruthless campaign against reli-
gious minorities. Initially its targets were Christians and
Ahmedis-a deviant sect among the Muslims of Pakistan.
However, the Shiites have been targeted with intense hatred and
venom by fanatics and terrorists who subscribe to their majori-
ty view that Shiites are heretics and, because of it, don't belong
to a Pakistan where Wahabipropaganda of hate against the
minorities has been dictating an agenda of doom against them.
The campaign seems intently focused on making the Shiite sur-
vival in Pakistan's mainstream religious fraternity an increasing-
ly onerous task.
It's axiomatic-given the geo-political dynamics earlier
unleashed by the Islamic Revolution in Iran and, over the subse-
quent years, intensely compounded by the US invasion of Iraq
and its occupation of Afghanistan in the guise of fighting its war
against terror---that Pakistan has been turned into a battle-
ground of conflicting Islamic dogmas piloted by a Wahabi-led
Saudi Arabia and the Shiite-influenced Iran. It's a proxy war that
has been waged relentlessly on Pakistan's soil for one-upman-
ship of a weird kind that would be hard to justify in the 21st cen-
tury.
Wedged in-between the feuding doctrinaire agendas of the
two combatants, the people of Pakistan, in general, and the
minority Muslim sects of Pakistan, in particular, have been made
to pay a stiff and compulsively exacerbating price. But this ongo-
ing battle of sectarian ideas has exacted, to date, an exorbitant
price from Pakistan's Shiite minority.
And, among the Shiites of Pakistan, it's the innocent and
hapless Hazaras who have been paying a kind of 'religious ran-
som' far in excess of their minuscule presence in Pakistan's 180
million people.
Observers of the Pakistani political landscape, especially the
one spawned in the wake of 9/11 and Pakistan casting its lot
with the neo-western imperialism in Afghanistan, vouch to it that
as far as its Shiites are concerned there has been an open sea-
son on them. Thousands of Shiites have been butchered at the
hands of myriad fanatical religious outfits sponsored and
financed by the Wahabi-influenced rich Arab states of the Gulf.
Thousands of religious seminaries dotting the Pakistani heart-
land are the nurseries, or hatcheries, turning out indoctrinated
fanatics brainwashed into believing that the Shiites are non-
Muslims and, thus, fair game for them. Slogans plastered, in
bold letters, on the walls of major cities of Pakistan extoll the
virtues of killing Shiite heretics that would earn their killers a
place of pride in Paradise.
In 2012 alone-the calendar year for which statistics have
already been compiled-at least 500 Shiites were killed in various
incidents of terror; almost half of this number were killed in
Quetta, where the hapless Hazaras are located in a few localities
where they prefer to be huddled close to each other for safety.
However, these closely-knit Hazara urban areas have become
easy targets for the religious terrorists hunting them down like
the beasts of prey.
However, the onset of the current year, 2013, looks like to
have ushered in a period of intense trial and tribulation for the
Hazaras of Quetta. 92 of them were killed-and more than 120
injured-when bombs were blasted in a billiards parlor of a
Hazara locality on January 10 of the New Year. That incident had
come on the heels of a number of earlier targeted attacks on
buses carrying Shiite pilgrims to, or from, pilgrimage to holy
sites and shrines in Iran.
The January attack was so heinous that it blew the top off
the Hazara patience. They refused to bury their dead and sat
down to a peaceful protest blocking Quetta's main thorough-
fares. At the peak of an inclement Quetta winter, their suffering
triggered a Pakistan-wide demand, which soon turned into an
uproar, for the insouciant ruling hierarchy to jog into action. The
Hazaras demanded the dismissal of Baluchistan's corrupt and
incompetent government (There were 62 ministers and advisers
in the 65-strong provincial Assembly of Baluchistan). Islamabad
had no choice but relent. PM Raja Ashraf rushed to Quetta, dis-
missed the provincial government and imposed Governor's rule
over the province. The Hazaras agreed to bury their dead.
But the respite for the Hazaras from the demonic terrorism
of the fanatics sworn to wiping out Shiites from Pakistan was
short-lived. More of the same was in store for them and terror
didn't take long before raising its ugly head with devastating
vengeance and ferocity, once again.
On February 16, the blood-thirsty terrorists struck again. A
water-tanker laden with one thousand kilograms of explosives
rammed into a Hazara-intensive residential bloc of Quetta. In the
resultant mayhem, another 91 Hazara men, women and children
were killed and more than 160 injured. Dozens of the seriously
wounded were subsequently flown out to Karachi for intensive
care not available in Quetta.
So intense was the targeted bomb blast that it left a crater,
of 8 ft by 6 ft. at the venue. But the international reverberation of
the dastardly crime was even greater: UN Secretary-General Ban
ki Moon deplored it and demanded of the Pakistan government
to ensure safety of the country's minorities.
The culprit of the carnage, proudly and provocatively
accepting responsibility in both cases, was none other than
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) a militant outfit closely associated with
Al-Qaeda and its principal Pakistani of-shoot, Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP).
LeJ and its equally notorious and blood-thirsty comrade-in-
arms, the Sipah-e-Sahaba, or Par tisans of the Prophet's
Companions (SSP) have long been proscribed in Pakistan. In
fact, these and several other terrorist groups were banned by
Pakistan's erstwhile military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf,
back in 2002. Musharraf had banned these terrorist cliques
under pressure from his American patrons who had found in him
a loyal satrap willing to do their biddings to their hilt in the wake
of the American invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
However, it's an open secret in the Pakistani context that its
endemically-corrupt ruling cabal has been turning a blind eye to
the terrorist activities of LeJ and SSP partisans, largely under the
pressure mounted from the petrodollar-rich potentates of the
Arabian part of the Gulf. Little wonder that these outfits, plied
with generous funding from their wealthy patrons and mentors
have been roaming Pakistan with impunity, and armed with mod-
ern weapons and other lethal perquisites of terror. The poor
Hazaras have borne the burden of their blood-letting for a num-
ber of years. But the Hazara suffering, in particular, has spiked
lately in keeping with a spate of terror against the Shiites of
Pakistan, in general.
There's no doubt that the scourge of religious terrorism in
Pakistan refuses to go away for a variety of reasons, both inter-
nal and external.
A corrupt ruling elite-addicted to its limited agenda of loot
and wholesale plunder of the nation's wealth---is simply not
geared to combating the menace of religious fanaticism and its
fellow-traveler, the scourge of terrorism.
Politicians are myopic all over the world but in Pakistan the
myopia of its political leaders defies standard definitions.
Religious bigotry and fanaticism has smitten two of the four
provinces of Pakistan---Punjab and the north-western province
recently re-christened as Khyber-PakhtoonKhwa (KPK). The lat-
ter province not only borders with Afghanistan but also shares a
long common history with its strife-torn and Taliban-infested
neighbour.
Both Punjab and KPK witnessed the birth of a surfeit of reli-
gious seminaries, or Madressasduring the long Afghan Jihad
against the Russian invaders. Of course, money for these semi-
naries poured in, in abundance, from US and its rich Arab client
states of the Gulf. Patronage from the latter source has remained
unstinted, to date, while US has not only withdrawn its erstwhile
mentoring of these seminaries but now also regards them as the
breeding ground of religious terrorists.
Besides domestic political compulsions-especially in
Punjab where fanatics of LeJ and SSP have been treated with
kid-gloves because they are seen as a potential second-line of
defence against arch-rival India-the American factor also looms
large over the government's inability or reluctance to rein in the
religious fanatics and terrorists.
American plans to pull out of Afghanistan, in humiliation if
not defeat at the hands of the Taliban, spawn a major element of
uncertainty for Pakistan's defence establishment. The Pakistani
intelligence paraphernalia, in particular, feels its hands full,
already, on account of preparing for the post-US period in
Afghanistan, at the end of 2014. It doesn't want to open another
front at home by taking on the anarchic gangs of religious mili-
tants and terrorists, especially with their rich Arab mentors
breathing down their necks.
And, on top of it all, is the American phobia with both Iran
and China. Containing and crippling Iran, simultaneously with
encircling China and trying to keep it in a box, is an agenda in
which Pakistan's Baluchistan province occupies a pivotal role,
whether Pakistan may like it or not.
Pakistani pundits and crystal-ball gazers can't help putting
two-and-two together and smell something terribly unsavoury in
the fact-which may be purely co0incidental in the end-that the
second murderous attack against the hapless Hazaras within a
span of a month came precisely on the day when Pakistan had
awarded the contract of operating its strategically-sensitive Port
of Gwadarto China. It was China which had earlier spent 400
million dollars of its own money to build a modern, deep-chan-
nel, port at Gwadar for Pakistan. In the fitness of things, it may
be quite natural for Pakistan to let the Chinese run and operate
the port as efficiently as only they could.
However, that disturbs the US strategy to keep China boxed
in. Keeping the Chinese away from the warm waters of the
Arabian Sea is as much an American dream as that of India. It
may seem quite normal and feasible for China to plan a mod-
ern highway-and subsequently a railway-to link up Gwadar with
the Karakoram Highway that connects China with Pakistan. But
that thought could easily turn the American dream into a night-
mare.
A week before that, Pakistan had also signed a historic
agreement with Iran under which the Iranian natural gas will be
flowing into Pakistan to relieve its crippling shortages of gas and
power. But Washington has long been cajoling and nudging
Pakistan to not build the projected gas pipeline from Iran. It has,
after all, succeeded in thwarting India from becoming part of the
pipeline deal. But Pakistan's economy is on the brink of total col-
lapse because of its perennial power shortages and Iranian gas
is the best option available to avoid the abyss. Hence Pakistan's
resolve to get on with the pipeline project despite open threats of
sanctions from Washington.
It's a new Great Game going on in Pakistan and in the region
around it. The unsuspecting and hapless Hazaras of Baluchistan
are pawns caught in the cross-manoeuvres between a super-
power and a country caught in a time warp. But whatever the
outcome of this unnerving battle of wits, they are bleeding and
with them all other minorities of Pakistan are victims of a vicious
cloak-and-dagger operation. The stakes couldn't be more daunt-
ing for them.
Cancer of Sectarianism
is Devouring Pakistan
Pakistani pundits and crystal-ball gazers can't help putting two-and-two together and
smell something terribly unsavoury in the fact-which may be purely co0incidental in the
end-that the second murderous attack against the hapless Hazaras within a span of a
month came precisely on the day when Pakistan had awarded the contract of operating
its strategically-sensitive Port of Gwadarto China. It was China which had earlier spent
400 million dollars of its own money to build a modern, deep-channel, port at Gwadar
for Pakistan. In the fitness of things, it may be quite natural for Pakistan to let the
Chinese run and operate the port as efficiently as only they could.
18 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 INTERNATIONAL www.milligazette.com
ENGLISH
Russian Military Intelligence (GRU) daily reports on the Iraq war (Compiled
by Zafarul-Islam Khan) 112pp, Rs 75/d 10
Shamsul Islam, Golwalkars We or our nationhood defined: A critique
with the full text of the book, 200pp, Rs 150/d 15
Islamic economics, banking and finance (Special issue of MAP),
200pp., Rs 175/d 15
Irfan, Punchline (cartoons), 112 pp., Rs 50/d4
Zafarul-Islam Khan (ed.), Palestine Documents 1897-1998
894 pp. (HB), (Out of print)
Ram Puniyani, Terrorism: Facts Vs Myths 96 pp (Out of print)
Zafarul-Islam Khan, At the threshold of a new millennium 32 pp., Rs 20/d3
Zafarul-Islam Khan, Hijrah in Islam 398 pp (Out of print)
ARABIC
Zafarul-Islam Khan, Waliullah al-Dihlawi 50 pp., Rs 20/d3
Iqbal Ahmad Khan Suhail, Ma Huwa al-Riba? 196 pp. (HB), Rs 180/d 9.5
Mustafa A.R.A. Roshash, Ahkam al-sharikat fil-fiqh al-Islami - dirasah
fiqhiyah muqaranah 312 pp., Rs 600/d20
URDU
Naseema Hurzuk, Sitaaron se Aagey [autobiography],
272 pp., Rs 150/d15
Malik Ben Nabi, Jadid Islami fikr par mustashriqin kay asarat,
50 pp., Rs 30
Zafarul-Islam Khan, Milli masael - chand aham sawalon ke jawabat
42 pp., Rs 20
Ahmad Muhammad Kani, Maghribi Afriqa ki tahrik-e jihad
(Sokoto Caliphate), 106 pp., Rs 40/d4
HINDI
S.M. Mushrif, Karkare ke Hatyare Kaun? - Bharat
mein aatankvaad ka asli chehra 368pp, Rs 250/d 20
Yugal Kishore Sharan Shastri, Ram Janmabhoomi banaam Babri Masjid
- Mithak ewam tathye 64pp, Rs 40/d 5
GUJARATI
S.M. Mushrif, Karkare na Qatilo Kaun?
Bharitya aatankvaad no asli chehro 352pp, Rs 200/d 20
BOOKS DISTRIBUTED
Sachar Committee Report, Ministry of Minority Affairs, English Rs 1000/d50
Urdu Rs 1000/d50; Hindi Rs 1000/d50
T.M. Mani, End of Casteism (Ordeal of a Dalit leader
who finally accepted Islam) 134 pp.(PB), Rs 50/d8
Tahir Mahmood, Uniform Civil Code 208 pp.(PB), Rs 175/d20
Full text of the Misra Commission Report, National Commission for Religious &
Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, 428 pp.(PB), Rs 500/d25
Imam Muslim, Sahih Muslim (Arabic/English) 8 Vols. Rs 1800
Colour Coded Quran (English Tajweed Rules) Rs 400
Colour Coded Juzu Amma (Part 30) (Eng Tajweed Rules) Rs 75
Colour Coded Ahsanul Qawaid (Arabic/English)
Laminated-Qaida with Namaz Rs 85
Noorani Qaidah (Arabic-English) Rs 30
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, The Prophetic Medicine Rs 200
Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, Stories of The Prophets Rs 250
Stories of The Prophets - Ibne Kathir Rs 250
Dr. Aid Al-Qarni, You can be the Happiest Woman in the World Rs 150
Prof. S. A. Rahman, A Dictionary of Muslim Names Rs 100
I. A. Ibrahim, A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam Rs 120
A.Q. Zalloom, How the khilafah was destroyed Rs 450
Taqiuddin an-Nabhani, The Economic System In Islam Rs 490
Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari, Sufism And Shariah Rs 240
See last page for other information/books
PHAROS MEDIAPUBLISHING PVT LTD
D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave - I,
Jamia Nagar
New Delhi 110 025
Tel.: 011-26947483, 26942883, 26952825
E-mail: books@pharosmedia.com
MO/Cheque/ payable to Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd
***Add Rs 20 postage on orders less than Rs 200
VPP/Cash on Delivery orders accepted.
To pay by credit/debit card, internet banking visit our website.
Visit us at www.pharosmedia.com
Meani ng l i ghthouse, Pharos of Al exandri a was one of the Seven
Wonders of the Worl d
Subhash Gatade
Godses Children:
Hindutva Terror in India
440 pages
Rs 360/d 15
Kamaluddin Ahmed
Assams Doubtful Citizens :
Fact or Fiction?
62 pages
Rs 60/d 5
Afsana Rashid
Widows and Half Widows:
Saga of extra-judicial arrests &
killings in Kashmir
192 pages
Rs 200/d 15
Farooque Ahmed
Manipuri Muslims:
Historical Perspectives
615-2000 CE
192 pages
Rs 200/d 15
Dr E Kazim
Scientific Commentary Of
Suratul Faatehah
562 pages (Large format),
Rs 250/d 20
S.M. Mushrif
Who Killed Karkare? -
The real face of terrorism in
India
336 pages
Rs 300/d 20
Iqbal Ahmad Khan Suhail
What is riba?
208 pages
Rs 200/d 13
M.A. Roshash
Islamic Company Law
(Rule of companies in Islamic fiqh - a
comparative fiqhi study
302 pages
Rs 600/d20
IK Shukla
Hindutva: Treason & Terrorism
184 pages
Rs 130/d10
Mustafa Kamal Sherwani
Secular Horror:
15 years ordeal with Indian sec-
ularism
96 pages
Rs 80/d10
Nur Ali Qabobe
Somalia:
From Nation-State To Tribal
Mutiny
152 pages (HB) ,
Rs 300/d20
Zafarul-Islam Khan
Usul-e tahqiq
[on methodology of modern research],
192 pages
Rs 120/d10
Feza Aazmi
Azab-e-Humsaigi
(The Agony Trail)
(with English Translation)
224 pages
Rs 120/d10
Iqbal A Khan Suhail
Riba kya hai?
230 pages (HB),
Rs 120/d10
Tahir Mahmood
Minorities Commission:
minor role in major affairs
viii+286pages
Rs 300/d 15
S.M. Mushrif
Karkare ke qatil kaun -
Hindustan mein dahshatgardi ka asl
chehra
312 pages
Rs 200/d 20
Allama Muhammad Iqbal
Islam & Ahmadism
48 pages
Rs 30/d5
Shamsul-Islam
RSS Primer:
Based on Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh documents
32 pages
Rs 30/d 4
NEWARRIVAL
Books from Pharos Media, publishers of MG The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 19 www.milligazette.com
As a child, I remember my mother keeping a
meticulous record of things she bought with the
housekeeping money my father gave her. I often
wondered why; and when I asked, shed say she
needed to make hisaab, or be accountable for the
money she used. Since the money was entrust-
ed to her by my father, she had to use it respon-
sibly. As I entered my teenage years, I thought the
idea almost laughable - would I be willing to keep
track of every cent I spent? Then I became an
adult, entered the corporate world and started
earning my own money. Stark reality hit me like a
bucket of ice cold water in the face on a cold win-
ters day! I gained a greater respect for the
tedious system my mother had applied to our
housekeeping finances during my childhood. I
finally understood it and much to my own amaze-
ment, I too, started keeping a hisaab kitaab
(record book) of almost every cent I spent,
though mine was the new-age version in the form
of an Excel spreadsheet. During my entrance into
adulthood and my introduction to big, scary
words such as budgeting, accountability and
responsibility, the method behind my mothers
madness became evident - I had learned the
secrets to saving money and the art of spending
it wisely. Saving, however, is a term not neces-
sarily restricted to money and finance. There are
many different avenues where you could poten-
tially save. If I had to sum up the lessons Ive
learned over the years, it would come down to
this: Use your wealth to your benefit, So youre
thinking Jimmy Choos and Louis Vuitton hand-
bags, shopping sprees in Paris, Milan and New
York, right? Wrong! As a Muslim, it is our duty to
acknowledge that whatever wealth we have been
blessed with, is indeed a blessing from Allah
(glorified and exalted be He). Use your wealth to
cater to your own needs and halaal (permissible)
desires, but always remain mindful that Allah
(glorified and exalted be He) has given you a
measure of wealth to test what you will do with it,
whether you will hoard it selfishly or spend an
amount for His pleasure: And spend of your sub-
stance in the cause of Allah, and make not your
own hands contribute to (your) destruction; but
do good; for Allah loveth those who do good
[Quran: Chapter 2, Verse 195].
Dont be wasteful A visit to any restaurant or
eatery presents the same scene: a family of four
order enough food to feed an small army. The
same thing happens in most of our homes.
Weve become thoughtless in our disregard for
the less fortunate; weve become extravagant
and wasteful without batting an eyelid. Many of
us, myself included, go into shopping frenzies
and literally shop until we drop, but my prayer
for each of us is that we become aware of what
we are spending, how much we are wasting and
what the consequences of our actions are. O
children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at
every time and place of prayer: eat and drink, But
waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the
wasters [Quran: Chapter 7, Verse 31].
Thankfulness leads to untold treasures When a
person says Alhamdulillah (All praises are due
to Allah) for everything that he has been granted,
Allah (glorified and exalted be He) says: If you
are grateful I will grant you increase (in your
bounties) and if you are ungrateful then verily my
punishment is very severe [Quran: Chapter 14,
Verse 7]. The message is simple: give thanks to
your Creator and you shall be rewarded in abun-
dance, In sha Allah. Islam is a practical religion,
and Allah (glorified and exalted be He) has made
it easy for us to incorporate our religion and its
teachings, into our daily lives. Now that we know
what the Quran and Hadith say about saving and
wastefulness, lets look at some practical tips to
saving:
1. Know your money: Sounds fairly simple but
many people get caught in the trap of not know-
ing what their disposable income is. It is impor-
tant to know exactly how much you have so that
you know how much to spend.
2. Learn to save: Ditch the credit cards if you can
- spend cold, hard cash only, and my golden rule
is If I cant afford it right now, then I probably
dont need it right now. This also serves as a
motivation, so when I see a pair of heels that I
really want, I cut back on some other luxury and
save towards getting them!
3. Beat the budget blues: Sticking to a budget is
an integral part of managing your familys
finances effectively. Cheating on your budget is
cheating yourself. Be honest when you reflect
amounts (i. e., income and expenses) on your
budget - you cant spend money you dont have!
Also, be mindful of saving - remember to save
something every month, for those rainy days.
4. Get street-smart: Watch your local stores
prices. Most stores have special offers from time
to time - capitalize on these! They usually offer
great savings and allow bulk purchasing. This
means that you get more bang for your buck if
you shop during these special offer promotions.
5. Saucy secrets: Most people claim NOT to eat
leftovers. I beg to differ! Has anyone ever eaten
biryani the next day and complained?! If your
family is fussy about food, prepare just enough
for one meal. You might also want to consider
using last nights left-over roast chicken for your
kids school sandwiches.
6. Out of the closet: Ladies, ladies I know - this
is a weak spot for most of us. Rule number one:
if you havent worn it in the past six months, its
highly unlikely that youre ever going to use it!
Consider giving things that you dont use (that
are still in good condition), to charity. And if you
want to be really creative and make a quick buck,
consider a jumble sale in your front yard.
(Source: http://productivemuslim.com)
1
Dont miss
an issue
DELIVERED AT YOUR DOORSTEP
MG
SUBSCRIPTION
RATES
24 pages per issue
24 issues per year
1 YEAR
(24 issues)
India
Individual Rs 320
Gift a friend @ Rs 250
Students* Rs 200
Foreign**
By Airmail : US$ 45
THE MILLI GAZETTE TELLING THE MUSLIM SIDE OF THE STORY SINCE JANUARY 2000
AEFX-315
MG SUBSCRI PTI ON FORM
I would like to subscribe to The Milli Gazette in the following ways:
SUBSCRIBE / Renew @ Rs 320 by paying one year subscription [24 issues]
I am a student (undergraduate or below), Subscribe / Renew @ Rs 200 a year (attach a copy of your School/College Identity Card)
GIFT a subscription to a friend by paying Rs 250
(first fill your address in the first part below and then fill gift subscription address below it, as indicated)
With your Rs 320 subscription (new or renewal) payment you can INTRODUCE MG to a friend for 3 months absolutely free.
(Give address in gift subscription part below)
Please complete the subscription order form and send it to:
THE MILLI GAZETTE, D-84 Abul Fazal EnclavePart-I, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025 Tel. 011-26947483
Mr/Dr/Mrs/Ms........................................................... .............................................................................Profession:................................................
Address: .................................................................. ..................................................................................................................... .........................
.............................................. ..............................................................................State.............................................Pin Code................................
Tel.(................).....................................Mobile ...............................................E-mail:..............................................................................................
Gift subscription or Free introduction recipients Name & address:.................................................................... ............................
................................................................................................................................................................................. ............................................
.............................................. .........................State...............................Pin Code.........................Tel.(................)..................................................
ENCLOSED Cheque/DD payable to The Milli Gazette for Rs*......... ...................No............................................dated......................................
Or Cash on Delivery/VPP or M.O. No. .................dated......................Booked from P.O........................................... ..........................
* For Indian rupees cheques payable outside Delhi/Mum/Hyd/Bang/Chn/Kol please add bank charges of Rs 20
** For US$ / UK/Euro and other non-rupees cheques please add bank charges of US$ 5
*** Cash on Delivery only possible within India. The postman will come and collect the payment.
T
H
E
M
I
L
L
I
G
A
Z
E
T
T
E
I
n
d
i
a
n

M
u
s
l
i
m
s

L
e
a
d
i
n
g

E
n
g
l
i
s
h

N
e
w
s
p
a
p
e
r
A lot can happen with-
in the community and
beyond in a fortnight.
Riots erupt, wars blow
up, reputations are won
and lost, scandals
blow over and pretty
much everything in
between can take a dif-
ferent turn. Make sure
you get your hands on
the real picture
subscribe to
THE MILLI GAZETTE.
Well keep you
posted wherever
you are.
Visit
www.milligazette.com
to pay by
Credit / Debit
Itz Cash Cards
Net banking
PLEASE PHOTOCOPY OR CUT THIS FORM
OR SEND THE REQUIRED DETAILS
ON A PLAIN PAPER
ALONG WITH YOUR PAYMENT
Muslimahs Guide to Saving Smarter
20 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES www.milligazette.com
Ladies, ladies I know - this is a weak spot for most of us. Rule
number one: if you havent worn it in the past six months, its
highly unlikely that youre ever going to use it! Consider giving
things that you dont use (that are still in good condition), to
charity. And if you want to be really creative and make a quick
buck, consider a jumble sale in your front yard.
The Prophet Mohammed
through Western eyes
SARWAT HUSAIN
Prophet Muhammed was born on the 12th day of Rabi-Al-Awwal, the
third month in the Islamic lunar calendar, more than 1,400 years ago.He
remains misunderstood in much of the Western world and, especially in
the post-9/11 era, a target of fero-
cious attacks. To honour his birth-
day, I present these assessments
by non-Muslim historians and writ-
ers: "Like almost every prophet
before him, Mohammad (was) shy
of serving as the transmitter of
Gods work, sensing his own inade-
quacy, author James A. Michener
wrote in Islam the Misunderstood
Religion in Readers Digest in
1955. When his beloved son
Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred,
and rumours of Gods personal
condolence quickly arose.
Whereupon Mohammad is said to
have announced, An eclipse is a
phenomenon of nature. It is foolish
to attribute such things to the death or birth of a human being.
In his 1992 book The Hundred: A Ranking of the Most Influential
Persons in History, Michael H. Hart wrote that his choice of Mohammad
to top the list may surprise some readers and may be questioned by oth-
ers, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on
both the religious and secular level.
LaMartine, in his history of Turkey published in 1854, wrote, If great-
ness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three
criteria of human genius, who would dare to compare any great man in
modern history with Mohammad?
The most famous men create arms, law and empire only. They
founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers ... This man
moved not only armies, legislations, empires, people and dynasties, but
millions of men in the one third of the then-inhabited world.
Edward Gibbon and Simon Ocklay, in their History of the Saracen
Empire, published in 1870, stated, It is not the propagation but the per-
manency of his religion that deserves our wonder.
Mahatma Gandhi remarked, in
a statement published in Young
India, in 1924, I wanted to know
the best of the life of one who
holds today an undisputed sway
over the hear ts of millions of
mankind. I became more than ever
convinced that it was not the
sword that won a place for Islam in
those days in the scheme of life. It
was the rigid simplicity, the utter
self-effacement of the Prophet, the
scrupulous regard for pledges, his
intense devotion to his friends and
followers, his intrepidity in his own
mission, his fearless, his absolute
trust in God.
The Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, led a hard life even after
gaining power and authority. We the community of the Prophets are not
inherited, he said at his death. Whatever we leave is for charity.
Sarwat Husain is president of the Council on American Islamic
Relations-San Antonio.
Mahatma Gandhi remarked, in a statement published
in Young India, in 1924, I wanted to know the best
of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway
over the hearts of millions of mankind. I became
more than ever convinced that it was not the sword
that won a place for Islam in those days in the
scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter
self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard
for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and
followers, his intrepidity in his own mission, his fear-
less, his absolute trust in God.
Book: Eighteen fifty-seven [English]
Author: Surendra Nath Sen
Publisher: Publications Division, Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting, Govt. of India
Year: 1957
Reprited: 1995
Pages: 470
Price: Rs 200
AMITABHA MUKERJEE
mukerjee@gmail.com
A number of Indian historians have written histories of the events
of 1857, reconstructing the mutiny from the extensive (British)
records. These provide a more balanced history than the main-
stream British texts and certainly compared to the fanatical writ-
ings of Savarkar, or even the more nuanced position of RC
Majumdar. The British mainstream narrative tends to view the
rebellion as a mutiny by the sepoys owing to a rumour about ani-
mal fat in the cartridge.
Starting with the work of S. B. Chaudhuri in the 1930s, a num-
ber of texts by Indian historians have taken a more Indian view. In
particular, the events have been portrayed to have been broader
than a mutiny by a group of disgruntled sepoys, with support from
a wide section of the population, including a number of local kings
and zamindars, and particularly the role of the class of north
Indian villager (peasant), from whom the sepoy was drawn, has
been widely analyzed in the subaltern histories. While not quite a
war of independence, it was clearly much more than a military
mutiny.
In 1956, on the eve of the centenary of the rebellion, Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad, himself a respected scholar, and then the
Minister for Education in Indias second Lok Sabha, commis-
sioned the historian S. N. Sen to write a history of 1857, remov-
ing the prejudices of British historiography. The resulting text is
well-balanced, and gives a very broad analysis of the causes
behind the event.
Subsequent texts, such as Ranajit Guhas British Imagination
and Rudrangshu Mukherjees Awadh in Revolt, build on this view
with additional material emphasizing the broad discontent with the
Company rule, and the many strands of causes that led to that
great upheaval. Unfor tunately this book, printed by the
Government of India, remains out of print...
A balanced look at the Kanpur massacre
On the morning of the 27th sixteen elephants and seventy to
eighty palanquins came to convey the fugitives to the boats. But
all of them could not be accommodated, and Captain Moore, who
was supervising the operations, had to come for a second time.
The women and children were put on the elephants, and into bul-
lock carts; the able-bodied walked down indiscriminately, after the
advance had gone. It was after the first batch had left that the
sepoys came to the entrenchment. Inquiries were made by men
after their old officers whom they had missed, says Mowbray
Thomson, and they appeared much distressed at hearing of their
death. I inquired of another sepoy of the 53d, Are we to go to
Allahabad without molestation? He affirmed that such was his
firm belief; and I do not suppose that the contemplated massacre
had been divulged beyond the councils of its brutal projectors.
Poor old Sir Hugh Wheeler, his lady and daughter, walked down to
the boats. The rear was brought up by Major Vibart, who was the
last officer in the entrenchment. Some of the rebels who had
served in this officers regiment insisted on carrying out the prop-
erty which belonged to him. They loaded a bullock cart with
boxes, and escorted the Majors wife and family down to the
boats, with the most profuse demonstrations of respect.59 By 9
oclock the last boat had received her complement. If anything had
happened on the way Mowbray Thomson and Delafosse were
unaware of it. The river was low, the boats had no gangway, and
the passen-gers, men, women and children, had to wade through
the water. What followed, let Mowbray Thomson relate. No one
was likely to know the whole truth, for no one could possibly have
witnessed everything. There was a huge crowd on the river banks
that morning, and thousands of spectators had gathered to see
their former rulers leave. But there were no more reliable wit-
ness-es than Mowbray Thomson and Delafosse, two of the four
sur-vivors, who escaped the massacre and lived to record their
un-happy experience. They were both of them trained observers,
but while Delafosses account is very brief, Mowbray Thomsons
narrative is more detailed. Neither of them had complete
con-fidence in Nana and his counsellors.
Thomson writes, As soon as Major Vibart had stepped into
his boat, Off was the word; but at a signal from the shore, the
native boatmen, who numbered eight and a coxswain to each
boat, all jumped over and waded to the shore. We fired into them
immediately/0 but the majority of them escaped, and are now ply-
ing their old trade in the neighbourhood of Cawnpore. Before they
quitted us, these men had contrived to secrete burning char-coal
in the thatch of most of the boats. Simultaneously with the depar-
ture of the boatmen, the identical troopers who had escorted
Major Vibart to the ghat opened upon us with their carbines. As
well as the confusion, caused by the burning of the boats, would
allow, we returned the fire of these horsemen, who were about fif-
teen or sixteen in number, but they retired imme-diately after the
volley they had given us.61 Then followed pandemonium. Most
of the boats could not be moved, though the passengers jumped
into the water and tried to push them afloat. Fire was opened from
ambushed guns and the thatched roofs of the boats were in
flames. Women and children crouched behind the boats and
stood up to their chins in the river to avoid the thickly falling bul-
lets. Vibarts boat, however, drifted into deep waters with its
thatched covering unburnt. Mowbray Thomson swam to this boat
and was pulled in. A second boat also got away from the ghat but
a round shot below the water mark sent it down. The survivors
were rescued and taken in Vibarts boat. With the help of spars
and pieces of wood the passengers tried their utmost to move the
boat out of the danger zone, but grape and round shot fell all
around. About mid-day the fugitives got out of range of the big
guns but they were fol-lowed by musket fire the rest of the day. At
night burning arrows were shot and a fire boat was sent down
stream with a view to setting fire to the boat.
They had a brief respite in the morning, but they learnt from
some villagers, who were bathing in the river, that Babu Ram-
baksh, a powerful zamindar, was waiting at Nazafgarh ready to
intercept them. At about 2 oclock they reached the dreaded place,
and, as 111 luck would have it, the boat ran aground and offered
a fixed target for the musketeers on the banks. A gun was later
brought, but a lucky shower put it out of action. At sunset a boat-
load of armed men came from Kanpur but their boat also got stuck
on a sand bank. The fugitives anticipated their attack and com-
pletely routed them. The boat ran aground for a second time;
though a strong hurricane released it soon afterwards. But their
trial was not yet over. The morning reveal-ed that the boat had
drifted out of the navigable channel and the pursuers were not
long in coming. Two successive days and nights of Incessant toil,
without a morsel of food and any drink, except what the river
offered, had completely exhausted them, but they were fighting for
their lives and were sustained by the primitive instinct of self-
preservation. Vibart directed Thomson and Dela-fosse to get
down with twelve others and charge the assailants. The mixed
crowd of sepoys and rustics could not stand their mad onslaught,
but when they had cut their way out of the mob, they found that
the boat was gone. Unable to evade their pur-suers, the desperate
band next took shelter in a temple. There was no food in the tem-
ple, but some putrid water, held In a hollow, helped to quench their
thirst. They had to abandon this shelter and betake themselves to
the river. By this time their number was reduced to seven. Two of
them were shot while swimming and a third got to a sand-bank
where he was knocked on the head. The pursuers at last gave up
the chase. After three hours of swimming the survivors decided to
take some rest. They sat by the shore, with water up to the neck,
when they were hailed by friendly voices from the bank. At first
they could not believe in their good luck, but when they were con-
vinced that they were safe at last, they found that they had lost all
their energy so long sustained by fear of life and had to be helped
out of the shallow water. Thomson was clad in a shirt only,
Delafosse had a sheet about his loins, Sullivan and Murphy had no
clothing of any kind. Their host was Digvijaya Singh of Murar Mau,
a zamindar of Oudh, whose residence they reached in the evening
of the 29th June.
Delafosses brief account differs in some detail from that of
Mowbray Thomson. We got down to the river and into the boats,
without being molested in the least; but no sooner were we in the
boats and had laid down our muskets, and taken off our coats, in
order to work easier at the boats than the cavalry gave the order
to fire two guns that had been hidden; they were run out and
opened fire on us immediately, whilst sepoys came from all direc-
tions, and kept up a heavy fire. The men jumped out of the boats,
and instead of trying to get the boats loose from their moorings
rushed to the first boat they saw loose; only three boats got safe
over to the opposite side of the river, but were met there by two
field pieces guarded by numbers of cavalry and infantry. Before
the boats had gone a mile down the stream half of our small party
were either killed or wounded, and two of our boats had been
swamped.
Thomson and Delafosse had obviously boarded two different
boats. Their accounts make it clear that if any outrage had been
committed on the way, they were unaware of it. Mowbray
Thom-son positively states that the sepoys were quite courteous
before the embarkation was completed, and as he says, nothing
happen-ed until Major Vibart, the last man to leave the camp, had
boarded his boat.
It can be assumed that the story of Colonel Ewart being killed
in the rear of the column and General Wheeler being beheaded as
he was getting out of his palanquin does not rest on any substan-
tial evidence. Ewart would have been missed at the ghat and
Wheeler did not ride a palanquin, but walked with his wife and
daughter all the way to the river. 63 It is not clear who fired the first
shot, men from Mowbray Thomsons boat or the horsemen on the
banks. For, he is definite that when the boatmen deserted they
were immediately fired on, and simultaneously the horsemen,
who had accompanied Major Vibart, fired a volley. (p. 147-149)...
The boats were collected and fitted on very short notice. They
did not belong to the boatmen, but to banias of Maheshwari and
Agarwal section. The proprietors were duly compensated for their
loss* On the evening of the 26th when the Committee of
Inspec-tion went to see them, many of the boats still lacked their
bamboo platforms and roofs of straw. But thousands of labourers
work-ed all night to remove these deficiencies. If Nana meditated
treachery from the first, one wonders why so much money and
labour were wasted on the boats, for once out of the entrench-
ment, the English would be as helpless in the midst of a hostile
crowd on land, as they were on the river. They had their arms, and
it could not be expected that they would let their women and chil-
dren be slaughtered without a des-perate fight. (cse.iitk.ac.in)
[A rather shoddy and unprofessional Urdu translation of this
book with the same title [Attarah sau sattawan - 1857] is
available from the same publisher at Rs 556]. Another book
of interest from the same publisher is Yaden mujahidin-e
azadi ki [Urdu] compiled by Rakeshrenu at Rs 180 - for
details visit: http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/
others/FreedomStruggle.pdf - editor]
Eighteen fifty-seven
Sachar
Committee
Report
English Rs 1000
Hindi Rs 1000
Urdu Rs 1000
Sachar Ki Sifarishein (Hindi)
Pages - 280 By Abdur Rahman (IPS) Price : Rs.210
Ordering details on page 19
BOOKS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 21 www.milligazette.com
In 1956, on the eve of the centenary of the
rebellion, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, himself a
respected scholar, and then the Minister for
Education in Indias second Lok Sabha, com-
missioned the historian S. N. Sen to write a his-
tory of 1857, removing the prejudices of British
historiography. The resulting text is well-bal-
anced, and gives a very broad analysis of the
causes behind the event.
Subsequent texts, such as Ranajit Guhas
British Imagination and Rudrangshu
Mukherjees Awadh in Revolt, build on this
view with additional material emphasizing the
broad discontent with the Company rule, and
the many strands of causes that led to that
great upheaval.
REACH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
READERSHIP: International India, Gulf, North America and Western Europe, especially
among Indian Muslims and NRIs of Indian Muslim origin.Your ad will also appear on the
newspapers website www.milligazette.com until the next issue. Banners with links to your
websites may also be placed on MG website with prior arrangement.
ADVERTISEMENT RATES: THE MILLI GAZETTE
B/W Full page (24.4 x 37) cm Rs 31,000
B/W Half page (12 x 36.6 cm) Rs 18,000
B/W Half page (24.4 x 18.5 cm) Rs 16,000
B/W Qtr page (12.2 x 18.5 cm or 225 cm
2
area) Rs 8,500
B/W Custom size (per sq. cm space) (B/W) Rs 40
Colour Custom size (per sq. cm space) Rs 80
Classifieds (minimum 20 words) Rs 25 / word
Any right page: 20% extra; or details email to sales@milligazette.com
Learn the Language of
the Quran
www.understandquran.com
www.lqtoronto.com
www.zekr.org Free Quran
Study Software
Get a A verse a day, from the Quran,
in English in your inbox, send a
blank email to
quran.avad@ilmpedia.net
Advertisers alone are responsible for the claims and contents in their ads. The Milli Gazette doesnt vouch for any claims made
by advertisers. You are recommended to make appropriate enquiries and seek appropriate advice. MG shall not be held liable
for any consequences, in the event such claims are not honoured by the Advertisers.
CLIPPINGS SERVICE
O P I N E WS & F E AT U R E S S E R V I C E
Unique clippings, database and
documentation service
covering a vast range of subjects.
Over 5000 individual subject-files on almost any
aspect, especially India, Islamic issues, Palestine,
Kashmir, Muslim minorities etc. etc.
PHAROS MEDIA
D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave-I,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025
Email: opi@pharosmedia.com
http://www.pharosmedia.com/opi.htm
For Muslim Indias
2003 & 2004
volumes contact
PHAROS MEDIA &
PUBLISHING P LTD
D-84 Abul Fazal Enc-I, Jamia Nagar,
New Delhi 110025
Email: info@pharosmedia.com
Complete Set of Vol. 21 (2003) Rs
550 / Euro 70 (Including postage)
Complete Set of Vol. 22 (2004) Rs
550 / Euro 70
(Including postage)
BACK
ISSUES
AVAILABLE
THE MILLI GAZETTE
D-84, Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar,
New Delhi-110025 India Tel.: (+91-11) 2694 7483
Email: sales@milligazette.com
a ` f Z ; y Q . > + 7 _ ] ; Z G G S ; G k Z k
G S Z n ; G k Z Z [ ; ^ ; Z G ] ^ + 7
] New Arrivals G ] a + 7
Index ; G . Z ; ; ` G ) G 5 7 ]
i > k G 7 , Obituaries Z >
96 > ; Z G
______
g ; S `
. . I G Z Y
G Z 100 G Z . X & 120
G Z 5000 G Z > 180 . Z ; k ; G ]
G Z . . 400 _ Y # k ^& W
; , 2 E ; . . . 25 G Z Z Y { . 10,000 >
; , 2 E ; . ; k Z . W 100 6 Z Y
; , 2 E ; . 500 >
URDU BOOK REVIEW
1739/3 (Basement) New Kohinoor Hotel,
Pataudi House, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002
Tel.: 011-23266347 / 09953630788
Email:urdubookreview@gmail.com
Website: www.urdubookreview.com
. g
| j a q a a , | | | , U a a a j a j m | I o
@ D h o

O
. G S ; ' W
_ ^ ` f G , 1995
MATRIMONIALS
GROOMS WANTED
SM 4 Sunni Pathan Deendar Girl MSc. B.Ed. 22/ 53
from well educated U.P. based family seeks well settled
General caste religious boy. Professionally Educated and
govt employ would be preferable.
khanmatrimony7@gmail.com, 08604249165
SM4 Sunni Khan Girl 27/52 Bful, M.Com, Convt. Edu.
from Educated family Delhi seeks qulfd. settled Boy #
09899714020 E-mail: kyasir90@gmail.com
SIDDIQUI/ Sheikh Match for 27/53Science Teacher UP
Govt. M.Sc girl seeks settled boys. M: 9919564367 BP to
naazma.siddiqui@gmail.com
SUNN1 KHAN 25/53 Convnt Edu B-Tech fair slim bful
girl wkg TL - HR at Gurgaon.Lucknow based family seek
stld prof qlfd boy #9450455086 farrukh@godrej.com
SM Khan 25/53 fair, bful BBA MA highly educated Rep
bness fmly seeks edu Boy from bness fmly 09l66359268
Em: nuptial2013@gmail.com
PQM for bful, slim Sunni girl 27/51 Asst. Prof. in D.U.
West U.P. based family. Prefer edu family. Cont:
09412345861 E: farah39_2000@gmail.com
RLGS edu Sunni u/c parents seeks match 4 their
Daughter 26/53 MCA fair smart wkg in Rptd MNC #
0972l889933, me.shamatahir@gmail.com
SM Sheikh Fair, Slim Smart religious dentist 27/52 from
Lucknow seeks qualified decent match Send BP to drmo-
hd2701@gmail.com
BRIDES WANTED
Sunni Syed, 28, 57, Fair, Handsome, MBA, Working in
Dubai, family hailing from M.P. seeks Fair, Beautiful, edu-
cated, religious girl from respectable family. Email
ms.uzma@gmail.com Mobile: 0-9893198913
30 Yrs 510 MBBS MS Ortho Doctor own Multi Health
Care Hospital seeks for Medico grl. Com. 6360218202 E:
shuaibnori20@gmail.com
SUNN1 Muslim Hsome 30/5l0 Boy MBA.wrkg.US
MNC in lndia. Fthr. Sr Police Offcr Seeks V.Fair.Tall. Edu
Girl E:zfkhan786@rediffmail.com
SM/ Handsome/Athletic/37, well setled with estb buss in
Del. Highly educated and cultured boy, seek alliance for
beautiful. slim. educated girl with good family back-
ground. imran.nutmeg@gmail.com
22 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 CLASSFIEDS / DISPLAY ADS www.milligazette.com
Classifieds: Rs 25 per word per insertion. Minimum charges Rs 500. Display (B/W): Rs 40 per sq. cm
Send your ad to by email to sales@milligazette.com or by post to The Milli Gazette D-84 Abul Fazal Encl-Part -I, New Delhi-110025 with cheque/DD/postal order/M.O. payable at Delhi
Form IV
Place of publication : D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New
Delhi-25
Periodicity of its publication : Fortnightly
Printers Name : Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
Whther citizen of India : Yes
If foreigner, state the country of origin : Not Applicable
Address : D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-25
Publishers Name : Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
Nationality : Indian
(i) Whether citizen of India : Yes
(ii) If foreigner, state the country of origin : Not Applicable
Office: D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-25
Editors Name : Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
Nationality : Indian
(i) Whether citizen of India : Yes
(ii) If foreigner, state the country of origin. : Not Applicable
Name and address of individuals who own the newspaper:
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New
Delhi-25.
MG
You have been doing great service to the Ummah for years togeth-
er. You brought out news/information that were ignored/suprresed
by the so called National papers. I am sure, Allah, with his unseen
hands, will keep it alive. May Allah take care of the Management.
Dr. E. P. Sharafuddin, Port Blair, A&N Islands
Mahmood Madni interview
I am pained at the Aaj Tak interview of Mehmood Madani Sahab.
I am equally unhappy at his defence by my good friend, Dr. Zafarul
Islam. We are the victims of Modi, and we have seen his murder-
ous politics at very close range. To just quote two examples, the
Naroda Patia killings lasted about ten hours. The place is barely a
few kms from the Police Commissioners office, and also from the
Chief Ministers residence. The principal figure in the murderous
assault and rapes of our sisters , was Maya Kodnani an MLA. The
Court has convicted her after a decade of being protected by BJP
leadership. But the unusual aspect is that this lady was promoted
after the riots and made a Minister. Does Mehmood Madani agree
with the BJP/ RSS explanation that Modi was unaware of what
happened in Naroda Patia? Incidentally one of the most brutal inci-
dents occurred there, when a six year old child, separated from
his family, during the killings, begged for water. These killers
asked him to open his mouth, the innocent child did so, and these
satans poured petrol into his mouth and then ignited the child. He
just exploded . Even after eleven years Modi has not once said
that what happened here was wrong and that he is sorry for it. Can
Mehmood Madani persuade him to atleast follow the path of Ram
? Secondly The Central Government pre matric scholarships
amounting to 13.5 crores is held up in Gujarat. It can benefit about
one lakh Muslim boys and girls. The Gujarat High Court full bench
has just thrown out the Gujarat Government writ against it. Can
Mehmmod Madani persuade his new friend Modi to not take the
matter to the Supreme Court ? For that will drag the issue by
another two years, hurting our poor boys and girls. Finally I never
thought a day will come when the grandson of the great Hussain
Ahmed Madani will become an apologist for Narendra Modi.
J.S.Bandukwala, Vadodra
MG: It is not correct that I have given Modi a clean chit or that
I supported Maulana Mahmood Madni in doing so. My under-
standing was based on a clip shown on Ajtak TV in which he said
that his people in Gujarat said that some Muslims had voted for
Modi or BJP in the last elections; and he reasoned that some
may be afraid while others may be simpletons or acting under
local considerations. My understanding of the phenomenon of
some Gujarati Muslims voting for BJP is the same and I know
that even in 2002 some Muslims had voted for BJP. Acceptance
of this fact and trying to undestand it does not mean giving Modi
a clean chit or forgiving him. I was the first to disagree with
Millat and Mushawarat's senior leader Syed Shahabuddin when
he sent a letter to Modi on the eve of elections. I am constantly
writing and speaking against Modi and warning against his
prime ministerial ambitions. (Zafarul-Islam Khan)
II
I strongly condemn Shree Saiyed Mehmood Madni for making
anti-Muslim statement so far as Gujarat is concerned. Without
verifying the ground realities, he has made the statements. It
seems that he has some axe to grind with the present dispensa-
tion. He has exposed his selfish mind. Such so-called leaders
have done more damage to Muslims than good.
Farooq Abdul Gaffar Bawani, Rajkot Gujarat
mohammed.galeriya@yahoo.co.in
Article on Arabic
I have read your article on Arabic in India in the latest issue of the
Milli Gazette. It has much useful information but for some reason
you have not given any idea of the number of universities and affil-
iated colleges where Arabic is being taught at the under-graduate
or Honour and Post-Graduate level degree and research Activities.
This would be useful to promote Arabic studies in the country and
to encourage foreign scholars.
Syed Shahabuddin
syedshahabuddinexmp@gmail.com
MG: So kind of you to have taken time to read my article on
Arabic in India. Since I had only 25-30 minutes for the address,
it was not possible to go into detail. I believe Arabic is taught
in about 20 universities across India while there are Arabic
departments in may be 200 colleges. I do not have any official
figures. In general, Arabic study in our universities and col-
leges is very weak. Both teachers and students are not able to
write or speak modern Arabic fluently. One reason is that there
is little interaction with Arab universities. We should adopt text-
books in vogue in Arab universities, our teachers should be
able to visit Arab countries on study tours and our students
should be facilitated to go to Arab univeristies for further edu-
cation. Both Al-Azhar and Saudi universities, which used to
welcome a few dozen of Indian students every year, are now
almost closed because they have trimmed scholarships to
Indian students. The situation will change if our government
officially takes up the matter with the Egyptian and Saudi gov-
ernments. There are good facilities for the study of Arabic as a
foreign language in many other Arab countries like Sudan,
Tunisia and Jordan.
Misinterpretation of freedom of expression and secularism
Indian constitution has conferred a number of fundamental rights
to all Indian citizens irrespective of their religion, race, region or
caste and also has declared India a secular estate which gives
equal respect to all religions. Bu at the same time no right is
absolute and is subject to reasonable restriction. How strange and
shocking is that whenever any author or writer or film producer
through his books, writing or films attacks any religion and hurts
the feeling of any community or section of Indian people especial-
ly Muslims and Dalits, media and intellectuals most of whom are
atheists and have scanty knowledge about Islam support these
writers and film producers in the name of freedom of expression
and secularism as is evident from their staunch support to Nandi,
Kamal Hassan, Rushdi and Taslima Nasreen. They completely
ignore the religious feelings of Muslims and completely forget that
Indian secularism is quite different from European secularism
which is the enemy of religion.
Dr. M. Hashim Kidwai, ex-MP, New Delhi - 110091
Hyderabad blasts
A complicated conspiracy! Soon after blasts in Hyderabad BJP
and anti AIMIM elements began to link blasts with the so called
hate speeches of Akbaruddin Owaisi, even in Parliament BJP lead-
ers raised this issue. The Hyd. ( Dilsukhnagar ) blast is a part of
a big conspiracy How------ Consider following: (1) Shinde held
BJP & RSS responsible for terrorism in a statement. His statement
was meaningless in absance of any aceion against Sangh Parivar,
If he was having proof he should have taken action, which was not
done. It was as per his idea it was just to please Muslims. (2) BJP
made the most of Shindes blunder. By strong protest and forcing
Shinde to withdraw his statement. ( 3 ) By withdrawing his state-
ment Shinde provided a CLEAN CHIT and a licence to SANGH
PARIVAR for carrying out Terror activities as usual ( 4 ) Now it is
awkward for any agency to even doubt Sangh Parivar, leave alone
taking any action. BJP is doing every thing as per her agenda,
which includes blaming AIMIM! Govt. too seems to be much
pleased to see AIMIM being made target of BJP Many of us were
asking those who were unnecessarily, unwantedly and baselessly
opposing and criticising Akbar. They were not knowingly that anti
Muslim forces have their own agenda . Now they might be feeling
the consequences of their emotional action and timidness.
Sycophants too grabbed this opportunity to show their shameless
mentality. They even could not sense the extra-ordinary hostility.
Opponents of Albar did a disservice to their own community. . It
is also interesting to see our Electonic Media blamed AIMIM even
before BJP. Many might have seen Asad Owaisis rebuff
Rasheed Ansari
rasheedmansari@yahoo.co.in
II
The beastly terror attack in Hyderabad is condemnable in
strongest words. The police should piece together the intelligence
inputs and the perpetrators should be nailed down at the earliest.
But what was reprehensible was that, while on one hand the Union
Home Minister was telling that responsibility couldnt be fixed on
any outfit as of now; on the other hand, almost all the TV news
channels were jumping the gun to announce IM imprint in the
blasts. This wanton collective conscience of the TV news chan-
nels would invariably put pressure on the police to find easy
scapegoats. Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa.
hazrathayesha@gmail.com
Guidelines needed for media
As Press Council Chief Justice Katju could and should lay down
procedure that media should follow by not printing gossip, paid
news, news supplied by state agencies with record of planting
spurious allegation without any proof or evidence. Any violation of
such common sense journalistic practices should immediately
attract judicial review and strictures and media should be made
criminally accountable in planting such divisive and anti-national
propaganda by vested interests.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com
Hazrat Alis words
Hazrat Ali A.S. spoke beautiful words 1400 years ago. Here are
sparks: (1) There is no wealth like wisdom, no destitution like
ignorance, no inheritance like refinement and no support like con-
sultation; (2) The person who is most capable of pardoning is he
who is the most powerful to punish; (3) The tongue is the beast ;
if it is let loose, it devours; (4) Do not feel ashamed for giving lit-
tle, because refusal is smaller than that; (5) As intelligence
increases, speech decreases; (6) Loving each other is half of wis-
dom; (7) He who guards his secrets retains control in his own
hands; (8) Greed is a lasting slavery; (9) Belief means apprecia-
tion with the heart, acknowledgement with the tongue, and action
with the limbs; (10) O people fear Allah Who is such when you
speak He hears and when you conceal (a secret) He knows it.
Prepare yourself to meet death which will overtake you even if you
run away, catch you even if you stay and remember you even if
you forget it. Nazneen O. Saherwala (Surat)
nazsita@yahoo.co.in
Is Muslim community timid coward and incapable?
The pious and powerful Muslim community is getting fooled in the
name of terrorism and anti-nationalism. Muslim population in
India is more than 25 crores i. e., among five citizens one will be
a Muslim. But the govt. and media stupids will never publish the
actual figures and they will minimise the figures to satisfy
Hindutva! The English daily Times of India, the Pune-based Sakal
etc. are the guides for lies and pioneers to create terrorism to cre-
ate fake encounters. Ajmer dargag, Hyderabad mosque,
Malegaon, Nanded, Samjhauta Express bombings, subsequent
killings, all were carried out by Hindutva beasts and rogues.
Aseemanda saffronist revealed that he himself and his associates
carried out all the bomb blasts in India and accordingly wrote
apology letters to the presidents of India and Pakistan. But the saf-
fron judiciary and police acting as dumb and deaf and no knowl-
edge desist from releasing thousands of innocent Muslims in jails.
Where are the stupid and fanatic media to highlight these injustice
and nonsense against the Muslim community. Dont add fuel to
the fire. The country has to exist for long.
Raj Mohan, SIF, Kochi, Kerala
Sectarian shame
Liked the article titled In barelvi-deobandi tussle, elderly woman
denied burial in rajanandgoan (cttgh) cited on pg. 10 of Milli
Gazette of 1-15 feb issue. Thanks for highlighting the matter. It is
a matter of great shame on the part of Muslims as we pose our-
selves as the followers of Muhammed (S. A. W) and yet practice
differentiation amongst ourselves. The Muslim Ummah should
wait and think that by doing so, are we not ourselves weakening
our deen ?
Rehana Shabbar Hussain
rrrangwala@gmail.com
Haj Subsidy
As common men on the street, we are made to listen to these
taunts from saffronised public regarding Haj subsidy. While I
believe that Haj subsidy is a myth, and that the govt passes off the
discounts received from carriers as fake subsidy. And this excuse
is used to spend thousands of crores of govt money to organise
melas and pujas and temple / mutt dole-outs like in Karnataka.
This subject is really bothering me as a common Indian Muslim
citizen. What are our elders doing? Why this has not been contest-
ed in the last 65 years? If there is subsidy, why have we not
approached the govt. to stop it? We surely dont need any subsidy!
It is time to clear off things from ground level. I wonder what our
tall leaders like Rahman Khan, Khurshids and all the Jamaats are
doing about this deceitful subject.
Sabeel Ahmed
ahmedsabeel@gmail.com
Katjus candid article
Markandey Katjus article All the perfumes of Arabia published
by The Hindu (Feb 15) is an eye-opener. The second paragraph
reflects the dangerous mindset encompassing the so-called edu-
cated amongst the Hindus, who think that Muslims deserved the
punishment of the post-Godhra carnage. Therefore, it is not the
thought that a man like Narendra Modi could become the future
Prime Minister which bothers the Muslims per se, as much as the
brazen defiance by some elite Hindus to the secular spirit of our
nation. Justice Katju has rightly echoed the fears in the Muslims
of Gujarat to raise their voices against the horrors of 2002.
Maulana Umarji who died recently had to face the wrath of
Narendra Modi government and jailed for about nine years on fic-
titious charges, for providing food and shelter to the refugees of
Gujarat riots.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin, Kadapa
sultan_awaz@yahoo.co.in
Kashmir situation
Every Kashmiri has to rise to the occasion to save his identity and
live honourably. The following points need our immediate atten-
tion: 1. All the organizations fighting for the cause of Kashmiris
should work united, belittling their individual existence and merg-
ing into collective grand alliance. 2. Intellectuals, academicians
and scholars should device ways to mitigate the problems faced
by widows, orphans and destitute. 3. Special rehabilitation centres
should be created for drug addicts whose number is increasing
day by day. Presently it is estimated to be two lakh involving girls
as well. 4. A joint charity alliance (based on collection from
zakat/sadaqa/donation) should be formed for helping the poor and
deserving, delinking it from any political or sectarian affiliation. 5.
The religious preachers should come out from parochial
approach. They should understand the universal and tolerant
teaching of Islam. Sectarian approach has to be dispensed with.
Please stop exploiting innocents without wasting further time and
energy. 6. Every learned and capable person should develop a live
interaction in his locality to educate the people about our ethos
and culture. 7. Instead of showing extravagance on marriage cer-
emonies, the money could have been utilized for helping the poor,
building the hospitals and educational institutes. 8. WE have to
safeguard our economic resources and have to be judicious
enough in preserving our fertile land, forests and water resources.
Nasir Hussain Peerzadah, Malla Bagh Srinagar
nhpzd07@gmail.com
Muslims are easy prey for police
S. P. of Shaikh Pura transfered and whole P. S. police investigation
instituted, report submitted for the police brutality on Mukesh but
no one is ready to take notice of police brutality on the headmas-
ter of Khujuria high school of Gaya, Sherghati Ashraf Ali. D. M.
Gaya did not take any cognizance and senior police officers are
not ready to listen the complain. Saddam, class 9 student of Deo
inter school, Danapur, was locked up in police station of Danapur
where he was harshly beaten in the lock up and fell unconscious
and then taken to hospital. When Saddam was arrested on 30
December, his mother Shakila Bano complained to senior officials
but justice is not done. Bihar minority commission is silent. Let N.
M. C. take action so that justice is done.
S. Haque, Patna
Why double standards?
I register my full sympathy with the hapless young lady who was
gang-raped brutally in a moving Delhi bus on 16 December. It is
highly condemnable and a blot on the fair name of India. This
tragedy has stirred the sleeping conscience of the nation. There
has been an increase in the number of rape cases, particularly
against Dalit ladies like khairlanji in Bhandara district of
Maharashtra and against Muslim women in anti Muslim riots, par-
ticularity in Surat and Naroda Patia etc. in Narendra Modis Gujarat
in 2002. Had the nation risen as one voice against what happened
in khairlanji, in Surat, in Naroda Patia etc.? There should not be
double standards. Woman is mother of mankind. She must be
respected and protected irrespective of religion, caste and creed.
G. Hasnain Kaif, Bhandara, Maharashtra - 441904
Do the Iranians gain or lose by the Arab Awakening?
Any Arab government that becomes more representative of its
peoples beliefs, concerns and preferences will be less enthusias-
tic about strategic cooperation with the United States, but more
open to the Islamic Republics message of foreign policy inde-
pendence. What will happens if Bashaar Assad falls? Unless
Assad were replaced by a Taliban-like political structure -- which
would be at least as anti-American as it was anti-Shiite and anti-
Iranian -- the foreign policy of post-Assad Syria would be, on
most major issues, just fine for Iran. But the US policy of under-
mining the Islamic Republic by encouraging Saudi-backed jihadis
to fight Assad may ultimately damage US security, That was what
happened for Saudi-backed jihadis did in Afghanistan and Libya.
So who eventually loses? Moreover, right now the Islamic
Republics most important Arab ally isnt Syria; its Iraq -- the first
Arab-led Shiite state in history, an outcome made possible by the
US invasion and occupation. How about Egypt?.Before meeting
with President Obama, the countrys first democratically elected
president, Mohamed Morsi, traveled last year to Tehran, where he
met with President Ahmadinejad. Iranian military ships now go
through the Suez Canal -- something that Washington could have
vetoed just two years ago. Because of these developments, Iran
doesnt need Syria today in the same way it once did. Tehran does
not need Arab governments to be more pro-Iranian; it just needs
them to be less pro-America, less pro-Israel and more independ-
ent. Americans miss a broader reality that is the Arab Awakening
is accelerating the erosion of Washingtons strategic position in
the Middle East, not Tehrans. On the eve of 9/11, just over a
decade ago, every Middle Eastern government -- every single one
-- was either pro-American (e. g., Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the
smaller Gulf Arab monarchies, and Tunisia), in negotiations to
realign toward the United States (Qaddafis Libya) and/or anti-
Iranian (Saddams Iraq and the Talibans Afghanistan). Today, the
regional balance has turned decisively against Washington and in
favour of Tehran. Muslims should get united forgetting Sunny-
Shiah political differences.
Kodimirpal, Via e mail
REJOINDERS/OPINION/LETTERS The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013 23 www.milligazette.com
The Milli Gazette, P.O. Box 9701, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025 Email: letters@milligazette.com Read more letters on MG website
RNI No. DELENG/2000/930 REGISTERED DL(S)-01/3215/2012-14
LICENCED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT U (SE)-57/2012-14
PUBLISHED ON 26 FEBRUARY 2013 POSTED ON 26,27 FEBRUARY 2013
ADV. FORTNIGHTLY AT NDPSO-110002
The Milli Gazette
D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave-I, Jamia Nagar,
New Delhi 110025 India Tel.: 011-26947483 Email: edit@milligazette.com
24 The Milli Gazette, 1-15 March 2013
Printed, published and owned by Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan and printed at Vibha Publication Pvt Ltd., D-160B, Sector-7, Noida, U.P. and published at D-84 Abul Fazal Enclave-I, New Delhi 110025.
Editor: Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
With best compliments
from
Kaleem Kawaja , Washington DC
Want your friend to read what you read?
Gift MG
at just Rs 250
You like MG so much that you want your friend to also read us regularly? With this
limited period offer you can gift your friend a one year subscription at just Rs 250
instead of the normal Rs 320. Valid only for Indian addresses.
Use a copy of the subscription form on page 20 of this issue.
STUDENT?
Read The Milli Gazette at just 45%
The Milli Gazette is glad to announce a 45% discount on the cover price to under-
graduate or below students on one years subscription. Valid only for Indian
addresses. Attach a copy of your I-card. You may use a copy of the subscription
form on page 20 of this issue.
WHOSE COPY
ARE YOU READING?
If this copy is not yours, please get you own copy, see page 20
Businesses dont support
The Milli Gazette
with advertisements.
We are a reader-
supported newspaper.
Our survival is at sake.
Three ways to help us
survive are listed here.
Please act now.
JazakAllah Khairan.
1
2
3
The bookwhich says it in black and white that its Brahminical Terrorism of brahminists and
not Islamic Terrorism of Islamists...
WHO KILLED KARKARE?
BY SM MUSHRIF (Former I.G. Police, Maharashtra)
This 335 page book smashes Islamic terrorism mythin India.... Turn to page 19
Mumbai/Delhi 0-9820114771
Foodsmiths
Specialised turnkey catering services for all
occasions: Parties, Wedding, Corporate, Non
Veg Cuisine, Biryani, Continental, Birthday
Parties, Exotic Cakes & Consultancy
CRESCENT SCHOOL
Vandalur, Chennai-600 048, Tamilnadu, India
Phone: +91-44-22750350, 22750351 Fax: +91-44-22750391
Email: info@crescentschool.net Website: www.crescentschool.net
Recipient of
British Council's International School Award
ADMISSION NOTICE 2013-2014
FOR YOUR SON ONLY!
Our vision is to develop the all round personality of your son and bring out the
best in him through faith in God, self discipline and meaningful education.
A forty six year old, fully Residential, International Boys School
IGCSE & A level (Cambridge Univ.) / Matric, Higher Sec.(Tamil Nadu)
From this year onwards applying for CBSE Stream for Stds. VI to VII
A world class teaching and learning process
Boys from India and Abroad
For Muslim boys - Prayer, Fasting, Quran Reading - part of school life
Medium of Instruction: English. Languages: Tamil/Hindi/Arabic
Students Teacher ratio 15:1 Average Class Strength 25
Smart Classrooms, Multimedia & Internet facilities
Swimming, Tennis, all other games and Spare Time Activities
Comfortable Hostel, Nutritious Food & 24 hr Medical Centre
Affordable fee & Admission open for stds. VI to IX and XI only
Cost of Application: Rs. 750. It can be downloaded from our website.
Apply with name, date of birth & class for which admission required
Arabic
for
beginners
A full-colour book for teaching your
kids reading and understanding
Arabic (like those A-B-C books with
writing activities and other exercises)
Rs 175
Ordering details on page 19