tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post6058656298357078717..comments2024-03-27T15:36:44.737-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: Gujarat Muslims Ignored by Indian PoliticiansRiaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-49407366513724103952019-12-02T22:52:32.381-08:002019-12-02T22:52:32.381-08:00Narendra Modi’s India
The Prime Minister’s Hindu-n...Narendra Modi’s India<br />The Prime Minister’s Hindu-nationalist government has cast two hundred million Muslims as internal enemies.<br />By Dexter Filkins<br /><br />https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/blood-and-soil-in-narendra-modis-india<br /><br />The morning of Shah’s arrest, Ayyub awoke to find that her reporting was the top of the news. A popular television anchor read the entirety of one of her pieces on the air. “I was just a twenty-six-year-old Muslim girl,” she said. “I felt people would finally see what I can do.” Her stories, along with others, set off a series of official investigations into the Gujarati police, who were suspected of killing more than twenty people in “fake encounters.” But, she thought, even Shah was not the ultimate kingpin. Her source had told her that the police were under intense pressure to stall the investigation and to hide records from federal investigators—suggesting that someone powerful was trying to squelch the case. The headline of one of her stories was “so why is narendra modi protecting amit shah?”<br /><br />Despite the evidence piling up around Modi, he only grew stronger. Increasingly, he was mentioned as a candidate for national office. In 2007, while running for reëlection as Chief Minister, Modi taunted members of the Congress Party to come after him. “Congress people say that Modi is indulging in ‘encounters’—saying that Modi killed Sohrabuddin,” he told a crowd of supporters. “You tell me—what should I do with Sohrabuddin?” he asked.<br /><br />“Kill him!” the crowd roared. “Kill him!”<br /><br />Within a few weeks of Shah’s arrest, Ayyub hit on an idea for a new article: “If I can go after Shah, why not Modi?” She told her editors at Tehelka that she suspected Modi of far graver crimes than previously reported. If she went undercover, she argued, she could insinuate herself into his inner circle and learn the truth.<br /><br />In the United States, it is a cardinal rule of journalism that reporters shouldn’t lie about their identity; undercover operations tend to be confined to the industry’s yellower margins. In India, the practice is more common, if still controversial. In 2000, Tehelka sent a former cricket player, wearing a hidden camera, to expose widespread match-fixing and bribery in the sport. Later that year, two reporters posing as representatives of a fake company offered to sell infrared cameras to the Ministry of Defense. Thirty-six officials agreed to take bribes; the Minister of Defense resigned.<br /><br />Tarun Tejpal, Tehelka’s editor, told me that he authorized stings only when there appeared to be no other way to get the story. In this case, he said, “Modi and Shah were untouchable. The truth would never come out.” He told Ayyub to go forward.<br /><br />As she began reporting, Ayyub created an elaborate disguise, designed to appeal to the vanities of Gujarat’s political establishment. “Indians have a weakness for being recognized in America,” she said. “The idea that they would be famous in the United States—it was irresistible to them.” She became Maithili Tyagi, an Indian-American student at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles, visiting India to make a documentary. She invented a story about her family, saying that her father was a professor of Sanskrit and a devotee of Hindu-nationalist ideas. Ayyub, who has distinctive curly hair, straightened it and tucked it into a bun. She rehearsed an American accent, and, for added verisimilitude, hired a French assistant, whom she called Mike. Only her parents knew what she was doing; she stayed in touch on a separate phone.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-68449075723881184882015-09-18T15:56:07.721-07:002015-09-18T15:56:07.721-07:00#India Police FIR brands #Ahmedabad's #Muslim ...#India Police FIR brands #Ahmedabad's #Muslim area as #Pakistan http://toi.in/fh9SeY via @TOIAhmedabad<br /><br /><br />AHMEDABAD: In a communally polarized city of Ahmedabad, references to Hindu ghettos as 'India' or 'Hindustan', Muslim ghettos as 'Pakistan' and roads which divide these as 'border' is common-place.<br /><br />The largest Muslim ghetto at Juhapura is commonly referred to as 'Mini Pakistan' that shares a 'Wagah border' — the arterial road that divides it from Hindu dominated Vejalpur.<br /><br />However, this street lingo is now being legitimized in official records. An FIR filed by Rakhial police against four involved in a brawl mentions two accused — Bablu Azizbhai and Faizan Azizbhai — as residents of 'Vatva, Pakistan'! Much like Thane's Nallasopara, where some of the 500-odd Muslim families have reportedly been getting electricity bills that list their address as 'Chota' or 'Little Pakistan'.<br /><br />The reference is to a housing enclave where 2,500 Muslim families have been rehabilitated from slums on the Sabarmati river-bed for development of a riverfront. The other block houses 1,500 families from both communities. The 4,000-unit colony was constructed five years back by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and allotted along communal lines on owners' request.<br /><br />Rakhial police inspector Barkat Ali Chavda said, "The writer wrote Pakistan as the address in FIR because it was dictated to us by the city control room. This is quite normal here. Those who live there also identify themselves as residents of Pakistan".<br /><br />In AMC records, the mixed block is called 'Sadbhavna Nagar' while the entirely Muslim block is called 'Vasant Gajendra Gadkar Nagar after a local icon of communal harmony. In the middle of 'Hindustan' and 'Pakistan', a police post named 'Sadbhavna chowky' was set up two years back after an incident of stone-peltin.<br /><br />"We are used to this, even auto-rickshaw drivers ask whether we want to go to 'Hindustan' or 'Pakistan'", says local resident Samir Sheikh.<br /><br />"Complainants many a times dictate information in such lose manner. Here, complainant must have recorded his statement in this manner; he may have played some mischief. However, cops should have cross-checked before making it part of the FIR. After all, during investigation, such anomalies are removed. Beyond this, I cannot comment much on this because I have not seen the FIR," said secretary (home), G S Malik.<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-14711220461984098752015-08-31T13:25:33.003-07:002015-08-31T13:25:33.003-07:00Trivedi was a former colleague of Jyotsna Yagnik, ...Trivedi was a former colleague of Jyotsna Yagnik, the judge responsible for convicting Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi for the Naroda Patiya massacre, before he resigned on moral and ethical grounds and emigrated to New Zealand. His post reads as follows:<br /><br />“Teesta Setalvad. Hats off. I have always admired you and your courage and outspokenness on these issues. I also take this opportunity to state that I am indeed pained (and I am the one who had QUIT Gujarat’s Judiciary. I was a district cadre judge in Ahmedabad City Civil and Sessions Court – once a colleague of the bravest judge Ms Jyotsna Yagnik who handed out the judgments to Babu Bajrangi and Kodnani and now lives in fear of her life) … because they (the State of Gujarat) wanted us (the judges and the judiciary) of Gujarat to be acting against the minority community (albeit with no written orders but DEFINITELY communicated in loud and clear messages to us). I could not be part of it as I was sworn to the Constitution of India …”<br /> http://thewire.in/2015/08/04/former-gujarat-judge-says-he-quit-judiciary-over-governments-anti-muslim-bias-7822/Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-31421462728717323152015-08-31T13:18:00.402-07:002015-08-31T13:18:00.402-07:00Apart from granting anticipatory bail to Teesta Se...Apart from granting anticipatory bail to Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand in the case against them for violating foreign funding rules, the Bombay High Court has obliquely warned the Modi government and its agencies not to allow a citizen’s “different point of view” to colour the investigation process.<br /><br />In her written judgment, released in writing on Wednesday, Justice Mridula Bhatkar held that “A citizen may conduct social activities and may have a different point of view, which may not be liked by the government. However, in a democratic state, a citizen may have his or her point of view.”<br /><br />The court also made it clear that the activist couple’s remaining free would not amount to a threat to “national security and public interest” as the Central Bureau of Investigation had charged.<br /><br />The judge said there was in fact no need for custodial interrogation of Setalvad and Anand at all since the CBI’s case was based entirely on documents which they said they already had in their possession.<br /><br />Organisations led by Setelvad which have been at the forefront of the fight to secure justice for the victims of the 2002 riots in Gujarat. They became the target of close financial scrutiny by the CBI after an FIR was lodged against them following a letter from the Gujarat government to the Union Home and Finance ministries alleging violations of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act.<br /><br />Among the allegations levelled against them is a case of fraud related to a proposed plan to build a memorial for the victims of the Gulberg Society killings, as well as embezzlement of funds, none of which have been proven despite the raid conducted on Setalvad’s premises on July 8, 2015.<br /><br />Setalvad and her supporters have alleged that the CBI was seeking her custodial interrogation in order to ensure she was not able to devote time to the crucial Zakia Jafri case, in which the widow of a former MP killed by riotous mobs in Ahmedabad in 2002 has demanded the prosecution of Narendra Modi, who was Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time. The Special Investigation Team set up by the Supreme Court to probe the charges decided there was not enough evidence to charge Modi; Jafri and Setalvad are currently appealing this finding, and a lower court’s decision to close the matter, before the Gujarat High Court.<br /><br />Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh argued in court that Sabrang Trust run by Setalvad was not only acting against the interest of the state but was also receiving foreign contributions to do the same. This, he stated, was a “threat to national security”, and therefore both Setalvad and her husband should be detained for custodial interrogation.<br /><br />In its verdict, the court stated that “Prima facie it appears that there is some misuse of amount they received from the (Ford) Foundation for which (Teesta and Javed) are undoubtedly answerable”, but went on to reject the CBI’s claim that their activities amounted to any threat to sovereignty and integrity of the nation. It further declared that since the case is largely based examination of accounts and documents, custodial interrogation of the accused was not necessary.<br /><br />http://thewire.in/2015/08/13/why-the-bombay-high-court-ruling-on-teesta-bail-is-a-big-blow-to-the-cbi-8405/Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-28914652448154015872014-06-01T07:21:49.386-07:002014-06-01T07:21:49.386-07:00BK: "I don't know how a person without ev...BK: "I don't know how a person without even coming to india and spending time here becomes an authority on India."<br /><br />What makes you think I am a "person without even coming to india and spending time here becomes an authority on India"? <br /><br />How well do you know me and my travels? Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-58971768810996854182014-06-01T06:24:33.037-07:002014-06-01T06:24:33.037-07:00Dear Riaz, Since I am convinced that you will pro...Dear Riaz, Since I am convinced that you will proabably never write an un-biased article about India, I now think it is probably better to read your investor blog rather than your political ideas. I don't know how a person without even coming to india and spending time here becomes an authority on India. Muralihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04636126184382530581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-29774054532037980392014-04-18T21:49:04.734-07:002014-04-18T21:49:04.734-07:00The U.S. Congress doesn't usually weigh in on ...The U.S. Congress doesn't usually weigh in on domestic politics in other countries, but a resolution recently introduced in Congress by Rep. Keith Ellison is designed to put pressure on Narendra Modi, the front-runner to be India's next prime minister.<br />The resolution suggests that the State Department should continue to deny him a U.S. visa. Many hold Modi responsible for one of the worst episodes of religious violence in India's recent history — riots in the state of Gujarat in 2002, which left more than a thousand Muslims dead.<br />http://www.npr.org/2013/12/01/247946506/in-gujarat-anti-muslim-legacy-of-2002-riots-still-loomsRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-90724000484608248962014-04-18T08:15:54.794-07:002014-04-18T08:15:54.794-07:00Ghettoization, discrimination against and segregat...Ghettoization, discrimination against and segregation of #Muslims in @narendramodi's #gujarati #India http://nyti.ms/1eH0qFQ #IndiaElections<br /><br />Even as candidate for prime minister, Mr. Modi has not given up his sectarian ways. Nor has his party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Of the 449 B.J.P. candidates now running for seats in the lower house of Parliament, all but eight are Hindu. The party’s latest election manifesto reintroduces a proposal to build a temple to the Hindu god Ram on the site of a medieval mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya, even though the destruction of that mosque by Hindu extremists and B.J.P. supporters in 1992 devolved into violence that killed several thousand people.<br /><br />Continue reading the main story<br />Amit Shah, a former Gujarat minister and Mr. Modi’s closest aide, is awaiting trial for the murder of three people the police suspect of plotting to assassinate Mr. Modi. (Mr. Shah calls the charges a political conspiracy.) He has made speeches inciting anti-Muslim sentiment among Hindu voters, including in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India, despite an outbreak of sectarian violence there last September.<br /><br />The problem isn’t just about rhetoric. Judging by the evidence in Gujarat, where Mr. Modi has been chief minister since 2001, a B.J.P. victory in the general election would increase marginalization and vulnerability among India’s 165 million Muslims.<br /><br />Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s largest city, has become a wealthy metropolis of about six million people and three million private vehicles. Office complexes, high-rise apartments, busy markets and shopping malls have replaced the poor villages that once dotted the land. The city has a mass transit system called People’s Path, with corridors reserved for buses.<br /><br />But Ahmedabad ceases to swagger in Juhapura, a southwestern neighborhood and the city’s largest Muslim ghetto, with about 400,000 people. I rode around there last week on the back of a friend’s scooter. On the dusty main street was a smattering of white and beige apartment blocks and shopping centers. A multistory building announced itself in neon signs as a community hall; a restaurant boasted of having air-conditioning. The deeper we went into the neighborhood, the narrower the streets, the shabbier the buildings, the thicker the crowds.<br /><br />The edge of the ghetto came abruptly. Just behind us was a row of tiny, single-story houses with peeling paint. Up ahead, in an empty space the size of a soccer field, children chased one another, jumping over heaps of broken bricks. “This is The Border,” my friend said. Beyond the field was a massive concrete wall topped with barbed wire and oval surveillance cameras. On the other side, we could see a neat row of beige apartment blocks with air conditioners securely attached to the windows — housing for middle-class Hindu families.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-72330419257450151432014-02-05T16:47:35.290-08:002014-02-05T16:47:35.290-08:00Anti-#Muslim riots in #India UP(247 incidents),77 ...Anti-#Muslim riots in #India UP(247 incidents),77 dead. Maharashtra(82) MP(84), Karnataka(73), Gujarat(68)..2013 data<br /><br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article5656627.eceRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-2389228551597525012013-12-04T07:47:08.150-08:002013-12-04T07:47:08.150-08:00The Muzaffarnagar riots have stopped, but the deat...The Muzaffarnagar riots have stopped, but the deaths haven’t. A grave humanitarian crisis is unfolding, and (Muslim) victims lodged at the many relief camps say that official neglect, terrible living conditions and the onset of the bitter north Indian cold have already claimed almost as many lives as the riots, which left 60 dead. <br /><br />http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/muzaffarnagaraftermath/cold-death-stalks-muzaffarnagar-riots-victims-hounded-out-of-home/article1-1158297.aspxRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-77896988454724235892013-10-22T07:12:27.383-07:002013-10-22T07:12:27.383-07:00Does it really matter which party was in power? Th...Does it really matter which party was in power? The minorities suffer. It is Hindu goons whether belonging to the BJP or the Congress in case of the Sikh riots who do the damage. The RSS indirectly encourages all Hindus including those in the police. So what if the SP was in power when the Muzaffarnagar riots took place. They were incited by politicians from the BJP. Gujarat is different altogether since the BJP government looked the other way. The riots lasted for three whole months. Muzaffarnagar was brought under control in three days.<br />Pavannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-56763892640754663702013-05-02T10:13:18.888-07:002013-05-02T10:13:18.888-07:00HWJ:
The BBC report you quote concludes as follow...HWJ:<br /><br />The <a href="www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22356306" rel="nofollow">BBC report</a> you quote concludes as follows:<br /><br />Christian crusaders, Islamist militants, or the leaders of "freedom-loving nations", all justify what they see as necessary violence in the name of a higher good. Buddhist rulers and monks have been no exception.<br /><br />www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22356306Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-15079273913592419862013-05-02T10:02:47.342-07:002013-05-02T10:02:47.342-07:00MAY 1, 2013, QUOTE: "The global climate is cr...MAY 1, 2013, QUOTE: "The global climate is crucial. People believe radical Islam to be at the centre of the many of the most violent conflicts around the world. They feel they are at the receiving end of conversion drives by the much more evangelical monotheistic faiths. And they feel that if other religions are going to get tough, they had better follow suit....."<br />----<br /><br />http://alturl.com/gup6nHopewinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07885301987622998733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-89219999908262211552012-08-02T16:35:07.540-07:002012-08-02T16:35:07.540-07:00"A couple of years ago, when rising Bollywood..."A couple of years ago, when rising Bollywood star Emraan Hashmi complained of facing religious discrimination at the hands of a housing society in Mumbai, he had invited instant derision and ridicule. Known as the “serial kisser” for his onscreen shenanigans, Hashmi was accused of hunting for cheap publicity.<br />Wagging tongues fell silent only when Shabana Azmi, one of India’s finest actresses and a liberal activist, came out in Hashmi’s support saying she and her distinguished writer husband Javed Akhter faced a similar predicament when they went house hunting in Mumbai’s posh neighborhoods.<br />More recently, Saif Ali Khan, one of the country’s top 10 superstars, talked of facing a similar problem. The fact that Saif’s mother happens to be Sharmila Tagore or the fact that he is set to marry Kareena Kapoor, the reigning screen queen, didn’t help at all. This in a city that is home to the world’s biggest movie industry. Mumbai is considered the most cosmopolitan of Indian cities bringing together as it does dream chasers from across the country and beyond. <br />As Emma Lazarus said for New York, Mumbai seemed to implore: “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/The wretched refuse of your teeming shore/Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.” Not anymore. And it’s not just Mumbai; the state of affairs in Delhi or for that matter in other metros and major cities is little different. "<br /><br />http://www.arabnews.com/muslims-face-housing-apartheid-big-indian-cities <br />Muslims face housing apartheid in big Indian cities<br /><br />"Agents told us it was not possible to get a flat in Gorai,” Mr. Khan told The Hindu. “They said Muslims are not preferred. I am married to a Hindu woman. So they suggested purchasing a flat in my wife’s name. But living anonymously is not possible. Letters and bank statements will be in my name.”<br /><br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article3613986.ece <br />In Mumbai, a ‘no rent, no sale’ policy<br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3613994.ece <br />Housing apartheid flourishes in Delhi<br />http://dawn.com/2012/07/30/in-india-non-hindu-parents-face-adoption-prejudice/ <br />In India, non-Hindu parents face adoption prejudice<br /><br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3614070.ece <br />Chennai claims stronger secular credentials<br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3614002.ece <br />India’s IT powerhouse is mired in social prejudice<br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3613976.ece <br />Ghetto? What ghetto? We’re British <br />http://infochangeindia.org/human-rights/analysis/persistent-exclusion-of-muslims-in-india.html <br />Persistent exclusion of Muslims in India<br />http://twocircles.net/2012apr08/curfew_imposed_hyderabad.html <br />Curfew imposed in Hyderabad<br />http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_insecurity-drives-up-realty-rates-in-surats-muslim-areas_1487664 <br />Insecurity drives up realty rates in Surat’s Muslim areasMayrajnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-16715869686058337012012-08-02T16:29:14.258-07:002012-08-02T16:29:14.258-07:00Here's a Twocircles.net review of Laurent Gaye...Here's a <a href="http://twocircles.net/2012apr04/book_review_muslims_indian_cities_trajectories_marginalisation.html" rel="nofollow">Twocircles.net</a> review of Laurent Gayer and Christophe Jaffrelot's book "Muslims in Indian cities - Trajectories of Marginalisation":<br /><br /><i>The book adds to the debate and discussions on the condition of Muslims following the publications of Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Committee reports. This book is a worthy addition in understanding the abysmal situation of Muslims in cities. The book covers Muslims in 11 cities - Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Aligarh, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Delhi, Cuttack, Calicut and Bangalore through 11 chapters apart from the Introduction and an erudite Conclusion. Each chapter also has a concise conclusion.<br /><br />As these cities have distinct dynamics the book has used several variables and different approaches to best contextualise the lives of Muslims living there. For Mumbai, it has chosen the decrepit Shivaji Nagar area and not the cliched Muslim localities of Bhendi Bazaar and Mohammed Ali Road. In Lucknow the author has focussed on the Shias of the Kashmiri Mohalla. Thus for each of the cities it has chosen an area/locality/theme that could provide the best opportunity to present the differences in historicity, aspirations, thinking and mentality of the Muslims.<br /><br />Though the book primarily brings out the routes towards ghettoisation (due to violence or combination of circumstances - as it says) it also goes a long way in puncturing the illusion of Muslim homogeneity that some people have. The dependence on land, willingness to take up new employment, hereditary occupation, asserting the distinctness of religion all have a bearing in defining the condition of Muslims across India - just like any other community. The book does well to draw upon these factors to bring out their role in the current situation of Muslims.<br /><br />A good part of the chapters deal with how the people chose to vote and the choice of candidates. It lays threadbare the degree of receptivity of the political class and how the Muslims have been able or unable to extract the benefits from the state. It also discusses the contribution of Gulf remittances especially in the cities of Aligarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kozhikode and what that has meant for the Muslims - socially and politically.<br /><br />The book also captures the intrinsic flavours of the cities which come out through the acute observations of the authors. Thus, Arif Sheikh a municipal school teacher at Mumbai's Shivaji Nagar 'takes a lot of pride...in his fluency in English and Marathi'. This is true for any slum or ghetto in Mumbai. Knowledge of Marathi means the ability to deal with local municipal ward officers enhancing ones prestige and standing.<br /><br />The chapter on Aligarh talks about Sir Syed Nagar, an elite colony housing the Aligarh Muslim University professors. 'While they hardly visit other parts of the city' writes Juliette Galonnier, 'Sir Syed Nagar residents travel a lot to foreign countries'. Someone told Galonnier that Sir Syed Nagar is among the most educated colony of Asia but representing another point of view one AMU professor told the author that it is the 'largest Muslim intelligentsia ghetto'. The book is replete with many such interesting comments and observations - all well referenced and attributable to sources.<br /><br />The book reveals that Muslims in Kozhikode are 'choosing to extend into the city's mixed localities'. In Gujarat's Ram-Rahim Nagar, which is a mixed neighbourhood, there has not been any riot for decades. In Cuttack the bhaichara (brotherhood) culture has ensured that Muslims have not suffered much physical harm.<br /><br />-..</i><br /><br />http://twocircles.net/2012apr04/book_review_muslims_indian_cities_trajectories_marginalisation.htmlRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-15249120721946436592012-06-26T13:55:12.766-07:002012-06-26T13:55:12.766-07:00HopeWins: "If Hindu-India was horrifically op...HopeWins: "If Hindu-India was horrifically oppressing Muslims in 2002, why did they elect Abdul Kalam, a Muslim, as their President that same year?"<br /><br />Have you ever heard the word "token"? Abul Kalam fits that description more than any other Muslim official who has helped maintained the facade of secularism in India.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-91626748593406388312012-06-26T12:42:08.588-07:002012-06-26T12:42:08.588-07:00Dr. Haq,
There is something that I don't seem...Dr. Haq,<br /><br />There is something that I don't seem to follow here. Perhaps you can help me understand it.<br /><br />1) If Hindu-India was horrifically oppressing Muslims in 2002, why did they elect Abdul Kalam, a Muslim, as their President that same year? Why is it not illegal for a non-hindu to become President in Hindu-India as it is illegal for a non-muslim to become President in Islamic-Pakistan?<br />2) After the burning of train by a Muslim mob, some Mullahs in Gujarat began giving fiery speeches saying "yeh to bas shuruwat hay, hum in hinduwon ko sabak sikhayen gay"; this led to angry mobs of Right-wing goons going on a rampage against Muslims in Ahmadabad.<br />3) After more than a decade, Muslims still remember that massacre in which hundreds of innocent Muslims were killed. In fact, even the militants who attacked the Taj Hotel in 2008 seemed to cite it as justification for indiscriminately killing Jews, Christians, Westerners, Koreans, Japanese and foreigners amongst a few Indian Hindus and Muslims.<br /><br />This is tragic, but not an uncommon sequence of events amidst all the communal riots in world history.<br /><br />But how do you explain the 2009 Anti-Christian massacre in Gojra?<br />http://www.pkhope.com/when-gojra-became-godhra/<br /><br />Did some vengeful Christians go and burn a train carrying other Pakistanis? Did some Christian Pastors or Deacons give fiery speeches threatening continued violence against the majority of other Pakistanis? Did the Christians gloat over any act of violence against other Pakistanis? Did the Christians resort to (or threaten) any kind of violence whatsoever?<br /><br />No. That does not seem to be the case. As far as can be ascertained, the Christians were just going about their lives peacefully and were just as patriotic as any other Pakistani community. In fact, the Christians specifically preach the forgoing of vengence and exalt non-violence as a pillar of their faith.<br /><br />So what was the background of the events leading up to the 2009 Anti-Christian Massacres?<br /><br />Do the few minorities remaining in Pakistan still remember it? What about the minorities who have fled Pakistan to escape the increasing Islamization of the State and are now being given refuge in England/Canada/Australia? Do they still remember the 2009 massacre?<br /><br />Would you please do some more in-depth research and blog about this too?<br /><br />Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-37768814514512781522012-03-03T08:54:54.555-08:002012-03-03T08:54:54.555-08:00Here's a DNA report describing Gujarat Muslims...Here's a <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_muslims-are-gujarats-new-outcastes-survey_1657290" rel="nofollow">DNA report</a> describing Gujarat Muslims as "outcastes":<br /><br /><i>The 2002 communal riots not only drove Muslims into new ghettos all over the state, they also reduced them to the status of second-class citizens who do not seem to exist for the government. This is the finding of a city-based NGO, Janvikas, which conducted a survey on the status of the minority community in the state after the riots.<br /><br />The survey has revealed that Muslims are the new outcastes who, more often than not, are denied basic facilities which are available to people of other communities. Not only that. It appears that this neglect of the community is officially sanctioned for the riot victims find no mention in government records as people who need help.<br /><br />The neglect of the minority community is evident even in efforts to resettle them as little has been done to provide them access to government schemes, health facilities and loans.<br /><br />About 16,000 Muslims displaced by the riots are still living in relief colonies that are denied even the most basic amenities.<br /><br />The riots displaced more than 2 lakh people across the state.<br /><br />These people remained displaced for almost two years after 2002. However, NGOs and Muslim relief organisations settled a total of 16087 people in 83 different relief colonies.“These are the people who cannot or dare not return to their original place of residence and have been living in shelters for the last 10 years,” said Vijay Parmar, CEO of Janvikas.<br /><br />The 83 relief colonies that were built after the riots are almost all located in Muslim majority areas. Fifteen of them are situated in Ahmedabad and the support they receive from the state government is negligible.<br /><br />"The government did next to nothing for creating awareness about social security schemes meant for Internally Displaced People (IDP)," said Khatunben, a resident of Citizen Nagar, a relief colony in Ahmedabad.<br /><br />The houses in which the displaced people have been living since 2002 have not been formally transferred to their names.<br /><br />There has also been a sharp decline in the earnings of almost every displaced individual. The survey has revealed that the average annual income of displaced Muslims in Ahmedabad has come down by 31% as compared to their income before the riots.</i><br /><br />http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_muslims-are-gujarats-new-outcastes-survey_1657290Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-66782696649879729302011-12-15T21:20:22.267-08:002011-12-15T21:20:22.267-08:00Here's a recent Op Ed by Aijaz Zaka Syed publi...Here's a recent Op Ed by Aijaz Zaka Syed published in <a href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=82386&Cat=9" rel="nofollow">The News</a>:<br /><br /><i>...Law Minister Salman Khurshid suggests the government is considering a six percent quota for “backward Muslims” under the 27 percent quota allocated for economically backward communities.<br />------------<br />Things could get more exciting when other communities that come under the 27 percent quota join the protests. The Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav, that great messiah of Muslims, is vehemently opposed to the idea and could go to any extent to protect its constituency. There will be many others. In the end, the government may be persuaded to withdraw the proposal.<br />------------<br />The less said of Dr Singh’s ‘leadership’ the better. One is yet to discover what he really stands for and believes in. If this government had been serious about the predicament of the Muslims, it wouldn’t have slept all these years on the recommendations of the Sachar Committee.<br /><br />In a fleeting moment of generosity and apparently to acknowledge the Muslim role in returning Congress to power after years in wilderness, the prime minister had picked up eminent jurist Justice Rajinder Sachar to probe the condition of the community. You didn’t need a Supreme Court judge to assess the state of Muslims. It’s there for everyone to see all across the length and breadth of the country.<br /><br />Yet the findings of the Sachar committee were astounding. Weighed down by the so-called guilt over the Partition and faced by antipathy and often open hostility by successive administrations since Independence, the Muslims have gone from being the ruling class to the lowest of the low in six decades.<br /><br />In a country that they ruled for nearly a thousand years, Muslims today find themselves struggling on the farthest fringes of the world’s greatest democracy. According to the Sachar panel, the Muslims’ condition today is worse than that of the Dalits, the low caste Hindus who have for centuries suffered the worst possible discrimination and exploitation.<br /><br />Demolishing the myth of Muslim appeasement, Justice Sachar’s findings actually exposed systemic discrimination and complete injustice at all levels against the community. Justice Sachar repeatedly talks of the disturbing “development deficit” the community suffers from in all walks of life.<br />-------------<br />Let’s face it. The Muslims are India’s new untouchables. It’s all very well to showcase the cool Khans of Bollywood and sport icons like Sania Mirza as the new faces of India’s Muslims. The larger reality of the community unfortunately is different. Facing political and economic marginalisation and security concerns on the one hand and being perpetually under the scanner of security agencies as usual suspects, they find comfort in numbers and in their ghettoes and slums in urban India. Poverty in small town India and rural areas is even worse. Little of the government benefits and programmes, targeting the vast majority of the economically struggling communities, trickles down to them.<br /><br />It’s five years since Justice Sachar submitted these findings and possible solutions to the government. We are yet to discover what Dr Singh, or the Congress leadership, thinks about them, let alone act on the urgent recommendations to address the dangerous deprivation and dispossession of the country’s largest minority.....</i><br /><br />http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=82386&Cat=9Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-73215747422144674782011-06-30T08:15:51.795-07:002011-06-30T08:15:51.795-07:00Modi the mass murderer, the friend of those who ho...Modi the mass murderer, the friend of those who hounded out MF Husain, has detroyed the official records from 2002 Gijarat massacre of Muslims, reports the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13970748" rel="nofollow">BBC</a>:<br /><br />Official records relating to the 2002 riots in India's Gujarat state were destroyed in line with regulations, the government tells a panel probing the riots.<br /><br />Documents with records of telephone calls and the movements of officials during the riots were destroyed in 2007, five years after their origin<br /><br />Officials say this is standard practice and in line with civil service rules.<br />----<br /><br />The Supreme Court set up a panel to investigate the riots in 2008, after allegations that the Gujarat government was doing little to bring those responsible to justice.<br /><br />Government lawyer SB Vakil told the Nanavati panel probing the riots that some records relating to the riots had been destroyed according to the rules.<br /><br />"As per general government rules, the telephone call records, vehicle logbook and the officers' movement diary are destroyed after a certain period," Mr Vakil was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.<br /><br />In April a senior police officer alleged in a sworn statement to India's Supreme Court that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi deliberately allowed anti-Muslim riots in the state....<br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13970748Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-77803516219758567422011-06-19T16:41:00.434-07:002011-06-19T16:41:00.434-07:00Here's an excerpt from a post by Indian blogge...Here's an excerpt from a <a href="http://www.shunya.net/Text/Blog/OnCastePrivilege.htm" rel="nofollow">post by Indian blogger Namit Arora</a>: <br /><br />Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, continues to thrive after calling the Dalits ‘mentally retarded children’ who gain ‘spiritual experience’ from manual scavenging. The media has little interest or insight into Dalit lives, nor hires low-caste journalists.[11] Major atrocities against Dalits still go unreported. Law enforcement is often indifferent or worse. There is no effective prosecution for discrimination in employment and housing. A Dalit politician can’t get a majority of upper-caste votes even in South Mumbai. Even among those few elites who read books, how many have read a single novel or memoir by a Dalit? In what is perhaps the most diverse country in the world, there is no commitment to diversity in the elite institutions that decide what is worthy art, music, and literature, or what is the content of history textbooks. In book after book of stories for children, both the protagonist and the implicit audience are elite and upper-caste.[12] Much the same is true of sitcoms, soap operas, and commercials on TV. Dalits are invisible from all popular culture that gets any airtime. The Indian army still has many upper-caste-only regiments. There is nothing like an Indian ACLU. Or a Dalit history month on public TV, or exhibits in museums, that seek to educate the upper-castes about a long and dark chapter of their past (and present). Unless a sizable proportion of elites, benumbed by privilege, open their eyes and learn to see both within and without, can there be much hope? <br /><br />http://www.shunya.net/Text/Blog/OnCastePrivilege.htmRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-91268744229622956612011-06-09T16:24:01.240-07:002011-06-09T16:24:01.240-07:00Now that MF Hussein has passed away in exile, Indi...Now that MF Hussein has passed away in exile, India's hypocritical politicians - from left and right are paying lip service to his memory. How dishonest!<br /><br />This shows that in the so-called "world's largest democracy", the Indian politicians continue to appeal to the religious fanaticism of the Hindu majority.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-35180079536009980062011-04-22T17:25:20.883-07:002011-04-22T17:25:20.883-07:00Here's a BBC story on damning testimony agains...Here's a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13170914" rel="nofollow">BBC story</a> on damning testimony against Narendra Modi by an Indian intelligence official:<br /><br /><i>A senior police officer's sworn statement to India's Supreme Court alleges that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi deliberately allowed anti-Muslim riots in the state.<br /><br />More than 1,000 people were killed in the violence in 2002.<br /><br />Sanjiv Bhatt says he attended a meeting at which Mr Modi is alleged to have said that the Hindus should be allowed to vent their anger.<br /><br />Mr Modi has always denied any wrongdoing.<br />'Vent their anger'<br /><br />The riots began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died when a train carrying them was set on fire.<br /><br />Sanjiv Bhatt was a senior police officer in the Gujarat intelligence bureau during the 2002 riots.<br /><br />In a sworn statement to the Supreme Court, he said that his position allowed him to come across large amounts of information and intelligence both before and during the violence, including the actions of senior administrative officials.<br /><br />He also alleges that, in a meeting in the night before the riots, Mr Modi told officials that the Muslim community needed to be taught a lesson following an attack on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims.<br /><br />The Gujarat government has responded to the allegations by saying they have already testified before a special panel investigating the riots and will wait for the court's verdict. </i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-50778568478052832382011-04-17T17:03:25.821-07:002011-04-17T17:03:25.821-07:00Muslim rulers deliberately projected as intolerant...Muslim rulers deliberately projected as intolerant: Katju<br /><br />Vidya Subrahmaniam, <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1704204.ece" rel="nofollow">The Hindu</a><br /><br />New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju on Sunday attributed simmering Hindu-Muslim tensions to a deliberate rewriting of history to project Muslim rulers as intolerant and bigoted, whereas ample evidence existed to show the reverse was true.<br /><br />The judge also said that Indians were held together by a common Sanskrit-Urdu culture which guaranteed that India would always remain secular.<br /><br />Justice Katju said the myth-making against Muslim rulers, which was a post-1857 British project, had been internalised in India over the years. Thus, Mahmud Ghazni's destruction of the Somnath temple was known but not the fact that Tipu Sultan gave an annual grant to 156 Hindu temples. The judge, who delivered the valedictory address at a conference held to mark the silver jubilee of the Institute of Objective Studies, buttressed his arguments with examples quoted from D.N. Pande's History in the Service of Imperialism.<br /><br />Dr. Pande, who summarised his conclusions in a lecture to members of the Rajya Sabha in 1977, had said: “Thus under a definite policy the Indian history textbooks were so falsified and distorted as to give an impression that the medieval period of Indian history was full of atrocities committed by Muslim rulers on their Hindu subjects and the Hindus had to suffer terrible indignities under Islamic rule.”<br /><br />Justice Katju said Dr. Pande came upon the truth about Tipu Sultan in 1928 while verifying a contention — made in a history textbook authored by Dr. Har Prashad Shastri, the then head of the Sanskrit Department in Calcutta University — that during Tipu's rule 3,000 Brahmins had committed suicide to escape conversion to Islam. The only authentication Dr. Shastri could provide was that the reference was contained in the Mysore Gazetteer. But the Gazetteer contained no such reference.<br /><br />Further research by Dr. Pande showed not only that Tipu paid annual grants to 156 temples, but that he enjoyed cordial relations with the Shankaracharya of Sringeri Math to whom he had addressed at least 30 letters. Dr. Shastri's book, which was in use at the time in high schools across India, was later de-prescribed. But the unsubstantiated allegation continued to masquerade as a fact in history books written later.<br /><br />Justice Katju said the secular-plural character of India was guaranteed both by the Indian Constitution and the unmatched diversity of the Indian population. The judge attributed the diversity to the fact of India being a land of old immigrants, dating back to 10,000 years (Justice Katju and fellow judge Gyan Sudha Misra first propounded this thesis in a judgment, excerpts from which were carried as an op-ed article in The Hindu edition dated January 12, 2011). The diversity, reflected in the wide range of religions, castes, languages and physical attributes found among the descendants, led the founding fathers to draft a Constitution with strong federal features. “Diversity is our asset and our guarantee for staying secular,” said Justice Katju.<br /><br />Earlier, a resolution passed at the conference urged the government to forthwith set up an Equal Opportunity Commission as recommended by the Rajinder Sachar Committee.<br /><br />The resolution said: “The conference resolves that inclusive growth is not possible without equal opportunities being given to all sections of society, particularly minorities and other marginalised communities.”<br /><br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1704204.eceRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-13797552918252331412011-04-02T07:38:04.980-07:002011-04-02T07:38:04.980-07:00A new Wikileak revelation by The Hindu quotes BJP ...A new Wikileak revelation by <a href="http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/26/stories/2011032657430100.htm" rel="nofollow">The Hindu</a> quotes BJP leader Arun Jaitly calling Hindutva as an Opportunistic issue for the party that exploits anti-Muslim sentiments and India-Pak tensions:<br /><br /><i>CHENNAI: Is Hindu nationalism the raison d'être of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), or just another vote-catching device? In a private conversation with American diplomats in May 2005, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley articulated the view that Hindu nationalism was an opportunistic issue for the party.<br /><br />Mr. Jaitley, who is now the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, met with Robert Blake, the Charge at the U.S. Embassy, on May 6, 2005, and provided him and the Political Counsel an insightful exposition on the politics of Hindutva. “Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism ‘will always be a talking point' for the BJP. However, he characterized this as an opportunistic issue,” the Charge wrote in a cable dated May 10, 2005 ( 32279: confidential).<br /><br />“In India's northeast, for instance, Hindutva plays well because of public anxiety about illegal migration of Muslims from Bangladesh. With the recent improvement of Indo-Pak relations, he added, Hindu nationalism is now less resonant in New Delhi, but that could change with another cross-border terrorist attack, for instance on the Indian Parliament,” Mr. Blake reported on the interaction with Mr. Jaitley.<br /><br />On the basis of these remarks on Hindutva made by Mr. Jaitley, the diplomat concluded that his “credentials with the Sangh Parivar are weak, and he may not have what it takes to mobilize the BJP base.”<br />--------<br />On the issue of revocation of the visa of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Jaitley complained that he could not understand how the United States could take such an action against the party that began the transformation of U.S.-India relations.<br /><br />When Mr. Blake explained the “rationale and legal basis” for the U.S. decision, “Jaitley agreed with the Charge's point that Modi was a polarizing personality, but argued that it would have been better for the US to let the Chief Minister visit the US, where he would have attracted a few demonstrators and then nothing more would be said.”<br /><br />The Modi issue aside, the BJP leader was upbeat on U.S.-India relations, “emphasizing that ties with the U.S. were no longer a point of controversy in Indian politics.” Citing his own situation as typical, “Jaitley noted that he has several nieces and sisters living in the U.S., and ‘five homes to visit between DC and New York.'”<br /><br />In private, Mr. Jaitley appeared more willing to give credit to his political rivals where due. “Putting on his hat as a former Commerce Minister, Jaitley confessed that the BJP's opposition to a Value Added Tax (VAT) at the state level was based on a narrow political calculus, and predicted that the BJP states would adopt the VAT soon in order to protect their revenue streams. He gave the Congress government generally positive marks for its handling of economic policy issues, but focused on the contradictions inherent in the UPA coalition.”<br /><br />In response to the “Charge's pitch for opening of the Indian services sector,” Mr. Jaitley, a Senior Advocate, agreed that legal services should be opened to foreign competition, “noting that the performance of the Indian bar has begun to improve, even though the quality of judges suffers from a ‘Gandhian' mindset that leads to unreasonably low salaries.” On the retail sector, Mr. Jaitley “argued that foreign competition should not seriously hurt the mom and pop stores that form a BJP constituency.”</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.com