tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post6716350724890226157..comments2024-03-18T16:01:13.871-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: Tarek Fatah vs Riaz Haq on India, Pakistan and MuslimsRiaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-20613800965783390932020-01-28T19:09:00.884-08:002020-01-28T19:09:00.884-08:00Tarek Fatah, the unrelenting #FakeNews peddler who...Tarek Fatah, the unrelenting #FakeNews peddler who targets #Indian #Muslims and #Pakistan regularly<br /><br />POOJA CHAUDHURI 28 January, 2020 9:00 am IST<br /><br />https://theprint.in/hoaxposed/tarek-fatah-the-unrelenting-fake-news-peddler-who-targets-indian-muslims-regularly/355214/<br /><br />Tarak Fatah tweeted a video of Burqa-clad women dancing at a wedding, asking if it was from Shaheen Bagh. Fatah had tweeted the same video three years ago, twice.<br /><br /><br />prominent name on social media, Tarek Fatah is an active Twitter user with over 6 lakh followers. But on numerous occasions, the Pakistani-Canadian writer has been found circulating misinformation along communal lines, particularly targeting Indian Muslims. A matter of even more concern is Fatah’s failure to take down misleading tweets despite being made aware of the misinformation. In fact, in the latest spree, he took an extra effort to ensure that his followers remain misled.<br /><br />Fatah tweeted a video of Burqa-clad persons dancing to a Bollywood number. He questioned – “Could someone confirm if this video is from the #CAA_NRCProtests at #ShaheenBagh or nor?” There are enough hints in the video which suggest that it does not represent protests at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The group is dancing around a woman dressed as a bride. Quite ironically, Fatah had tweeted the same video three years ago…twice. When he was slammed for the same, Fatah quietly took down his tweet from August 2017. However, he missed doing the same for the video tweeted earlier in May 2017.<br /><br />1. Tweeted morphed image to claim Madrasa teacher portraying Islam superior to Hinduism<br />Last year in June, Tarek Fatah tweeted a photograph claiming that it depicts a madrasa teacher coaching his students that Islam is superior to Hinduism. He later took down the tweet, however, not before it drew numerous retweets.<br /><br />The image tweeted by Fatah was morphed. In the original photograph, published by several media organisations including ANI, the blackboard has words written in Sanskrit. The teacher was giving the students a lesson on the language. Incidentally, this piece of misinformation had been debunked by Alt News just days before Fatah’s tweet.<br /><br />2. False claim that a girl was assaulted for not wearing Hijab<br />Similar to the earlier misinformation, Fatah had claimed that a girl was hit on the head by a man who disapproved of her cycling without wearing a Hijab (archive).<br /><br />Alt News found multiple Turkish reports which stated that the man had indeed assaulted the 9-year-old. However, none of the reports mentioned a lack of Hijab as the motive of the crime. The incident had gained much prominence in Turkey after the perpetrator was released from jail and referred to a mental health facility. Despite Fatah’s tweet being debunked two years ago, he is yet to take it down.<br /><br />3. Tweeted video of Islamic flags being raised during Ramzan as Pakistani flags<br />In his latest bout, Fatah tweeted a video where bike-borne men can be seen waving green coloured flags. The Pakistani-Canadian writer claimed that the flags were of Pakistan and were raised during Ramzan in Tamil Nadu (archive).<br /><br />However, the flags were not of Pakistani but were Islamic flags often used by the Muslim community in the sub-continent. Alt News’s detailed fact-check can be read here.<br /><br />4. Tweeted old video to claim Muslims celebrated Congress’s victory by waving Pak flags<br />The “Pak flags” theory has been propagated by Fatah several times. Last year, after Congress won the assembly polls in Rajasthan, he claimed that the victory was celebrated by Muslims in the state by raising Pakistani flags. Fatah later deleted the tweet but an archived version can be accessed here.<br /><br />The flags in the video were actually representative of the ‘Indian Union Muslim League’ and not Pakistan. Alt News’s fact-check can be read here.<br /><br /><br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-67285135819207276932017-07-12T19:54:55.318-07:002017-07-12T19:54:55.318-07:00Excerpts of Audrey Truschke's Aurangzeb
http...Excerpts of Audrey Truschke's Aurangzeb<br /><br /><br />https://books.google.com/books?id=oUUkDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=aurangzeb+by+audrey+truschke&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibz_Hvn4XVAhUS32MKHdNlAKIQ6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q=British&f=false<br /><br /><br />Across the border in Pakistan, too, many endorse the vision of an evil Aurangzeb. As Shahid Nadeem, a Pakistani playwright, recently put it: " Seeds of partition were sown when Aurangzeb triumphed over [his brother] Dara Shikoh". Such far-fetched suggestions would be farcical, if so many did not endorse them. <br /><br /><br />British colonial thinkers had long impugned thew Mughals on a range of charges, including that they were effeminate, oppressive, and Muslims. As early as 1772, Alexander Dow remarked in a discussion of Mughal governance that "the faith of Mahommed is peculiarly calculated for despotism; and it is one of the greatest causes which must fix for ever the duration of that species of government in the East". For the British the solution to such an entrenched problem was clear: British rule over India. While the Indian independence leaders rejected this final step of the colonial logic, many swallowed the earlier parts wholesale. Such ideas filtered to society at large via textbooks and mass media, and several generations have continued to eat up and regurgitate the colonial take that Aurangzeb was a tyrant driven by religious fanaticism. <br /><br />Over the centuries, many commentators have spread the myth of of the bigoted, evil Aurangzeb on the basis of shockingly thin evidence. Many false ideas still mar popular memory of Aurangzeb , including that he massacred millions of Hindus and destroyed thousands of temples. Neither of these commonly believed "facts" is supported by historical evidence although some scholars have attempted, usually in bad faith, to provide an alleged basis for such tales. <br /><br />-----------------------<br /><br /><br />Such views have roots in colonial-era scholarship, where positing timeless Hindu-Muslim animosity embodied the British strategy of divide and conquer. Today, multiple websites claim to list Aurangzeb's "atrocities" against Hindus (typically playing fast and loose with the facts) and fuel communal fires. There are numerous gaping holes in the proposition that Aurangzeb razed temples because he hated Hindus, however. Most glaringly, Aurangzeb counted thousands of Hindu temples within his domain and yet destroyed, at most, few dozen.....A historically legitimate view of Aurangzeb must explain why he protected Hindu temples more often than he demolished them. <br /><br />----------------------<br /><br />The bulk of Mughal histories are written in Persian, the official administrative language of the Mughal empire but a foreign tongue in India today. Out of necessity and ease, many historians disregard the original Persian text and rely instead on English translations. This approach narrows the the library of materials drastically, and many translations of the Mughal texts are of questionable quality, brimming with mistranslations and abridgments. Some of these changes conveniently served the agendas of the translators, especially colonial-era translations that tend to show Indo--Muslim kings at their worst so that the British would seem virtuous by comparison (foremost here is Elliot and Dowson's History of India as Told by Its Own Historians). Such materials are great for learning about British colonialism, but they present an inaccurate picture of Mughal India. <br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-61805911235499200412017-04-26T17:38:32.189-07:002017-04-26T17:38:32.189-07:00#Indian State At War With Its "Own People&quo...#Indian State At War With Its "Own People" Since 1947. #Kashmir #Nagaland #Manipur #Mizoram #Talangana https://youtu.be/M6Y3H1WdkMk via @YouTube<br /><br /><br />Indian writer Arundhati Roy says that the Indian upper caste Hindu state has been perpetually at war with people in Kashmir, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Talangana since 1947. Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-5440409941822681082017-03-25T20:20:43.846-07:002017-03-25T20:20:43.846-07:00Tarek Fatah was quick to exploit the tragic terror...Tarek Fatah was quick to exploit the tragic terror attack by Khalid Massod by the following tweet:<br /><br />"Jihadi #KhalidMassod ws born in UK in 1963, but remained loyal to Pakistan, Islam and ISIS. Food for thought, isn't it?"<br /><br />https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7oiMWKXUAE0uGa.jpg:large<br /><br />Fact: Khalid Masood was born Adrian Elms and converted as an adult. HE had a prior criminal record. He was not of Pakistani origin. <br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-74104024288212384722017-02-09T19:24:40.100-08:002017-02-09T19:24:40.100-08:00Analysis: #India, #Pakistan in race to destroy you...Analysis: #India, #Pakistan in race to destroy young minds with false #history #textbooks<br />http://www.dawn.com/news/1313938/analysis-india-pakistan-in-race-to-destroy-young-minds<br /><br />Consider the latest attempt at subversion from India. According to reports on Thursday, ministers in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled (BJP) Rajasthan state have proposed that the outcome should be rewritten in the mediaeval battle of Haldighati that was fought between the forces of Mughal emperor Akbar and Rajput chieftain Rana Pratap.<br /><br />It ended in a stalemate with the latter retreating deeper into Mewar, but Hindutva historians are determined to show him as the clear victor.<br /><br />It is less widely admitted that his Rajput General Mansingh led Akbar’s 1576 campaign.<br /><br />If Hindutva historians have their way they would project even Alexander of Macedonia as an anti-India Muslim marauder.<br /><br />Cinematic versions of Alexander’s war with King Porus have already attempted this in a way, showing the foreigner speaking in Urdu, implying a Muslim language, while the vanquished Indian ruler spoke chaste Hindi, erroneously projected as a Hindu language.<br /><br />It would be equally embarrassing for Hindutva historians to admit that Maratha king Shivaji communicated with his arch-foe Emperor Aurangzeb in Persian while conducting his Maratha empire’s administration in Modhi, a less discussed precursor of Marathi.<br /><br />It is routine among Hindutva historians to claim mediaeval monuments as Hindu structures grabbed by Muslims. According to P.N. Oak, an early myth-maker in this genre, Taj Mahal was a Hindu palace as was the Asafi Imambarha of Lucknow.<br /><br />According to Oak, Christianity is Chrisn-nity, an ascription to Lord Krishna. “Christianity is in fact a popular variation of the Hindu, Sanscrit [sic] term Chrisn-neety, i.e. the way of life preached, advocated or exemplified by the Hindu incarnation Lord Chrisn, spelled variously as Crsn, Krsn, Krishn, Chrisn, Crisna or Krisna also,” Mr Oak wrote.<br /><br />To keep the spirit from flagging, even Wagner’s theory of continental drift was harnessed to claim that light-skinned Indians originally came from the border of Bihar and Orissa.<br /><br />Later, the border drifted away to form the North Pole, thus implying that Caucasian and Central Asian genes travelled from India to their current abode, not the other way round.<br /><br />As in India, rigging the chronology of history has been honed into a craft in Pakistan too, and it is difficult to say who between the two is better in conjuring myths that exhort young minds to violence.<br /><br />A recent study in Pakistan found that the country’s public school textbooks negatively portrayed religious minorities, including Hindus, Christians and Ahmadis, as “untrustworthy, religiously inferior, and ideologically scheming”.<br /><br />The report, “Teaching Intolerance in Pakistan: Religious Bias in Public School Textbooks”, analysed 78 textbooks from all four provinces covering grades five through 10.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-37705874978613700312017-01-09T11:10:11.741-08:002017-01-09T11:10:11.741-08:00How the #American #CIA Infiltrated the World's...How the #American #CIA Infiltrated the World's #Literature Using Famous Writers as Tools https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/how-the-cia-infiltrated-the-worlds-literature … via @VICE<br /><br />"The CIA's influence in publishing was on the covert ops side, and it was done as propaganda. It was a control of how intellectuals thought about the US."<br /><br />The new book, Finks, reveals how great writers such as Baldwin, Márquez, and Hemingway became soldiers in America's cultural Cold War.<br /><br />When the CIA's connections to the Paris Review and two dozen other magazines were revealed in 1966, the backlash was swift but uneven. Some publications crumbled, taking their editors down with them, while other publishers and writers emerged relatively unscathed, chalking it up to youthful indiscretion or else defending the CIA as a "nonviolent and honorable" force for good. But in an illuminating new book Finks: How the CIA Tricked the World's Best Writers, writer Joel Whitney debunks the myth of a once-moral intelligence agency, revealing an extensive list of writers involved in transforming America's image in countries we destabilized with coups, assassinations, and other all-American interventions.<br /><br />The CIA developed several guises to throw money at young, burgeoning writers, creating a cultural propaganda strategy with literary outposts around the world, from Lebanon to Uganda, India to Latin America. The same agency that occasionally undermined democracies for the sake of fighting Communism also launched the Congress for Cultural Freedoms (CCF). The CCF built editorial strategies for each of these literary outposts, allowing them to control the conversation in countries where readers might otherwise resist the American perspective. The Paris Review, whose co-founder Peter Matthiessen was a CIA agent, would sell its commissioned interviews to the magazine's counterparts in Germany, Japan, and elsewhere. Mundo Nuevo was created to offer a moderate-left perspective to earn trust among Latin American readers, effectively muting more radical perspectives during the Cuban Revolution. Sometimes the agency would provide editors with funding and content; other times it would work directly with writers to shape the discourse. Through these acts, the CCF weaponized the era's most progressive intellectuals as the American answer to the Soviet spin machine.<br /><br />While the CIA's involvement in anti-Communist propaganda has been long known, the extent of its influence—particularly in the early careers of the left's most beloved writers—is shocking. Whitney, the co-founder and editor at large of the literary magazine Guernica, spent four years digging through archives, yielding an exhaustive list—James Baldwin, Gabriel García Márquez, Richard Wright, and Ernest Hemingway all served varying levels of utility to Uncle Sam. (Not that the CIA's interest were only in letters: Expressionists Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko were also championed by arms of the agency.)<br /><br />But don't let that ruin Love in the Time of Cholera. Whitney explains with methodical clarity how each writer became a tool for the CIA. This nuance not only salvages many of the classics from being junked as solely propaganda, but it serves as a cautionary tale for those trying to navigate today's "post-truth" media landscape. In an era where Facebook algorithms dictate the national discourse, even the most well-meaning journalist is prone to stories that distract on behalf of the US government. <br /><br />"It was often a way to change the subject from the civil rights fight at home," Whitney said of the CIA's content strategy during the Cold War. We can easily draw parallels to today, where the nation's most dire issues are rarely our viral subjects. With Donald Trump's presidency just weeks away, Finks arrives at a crucial time, exposing the political machinery that can affect which stories are shared and which are silenced. Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-78070559789030092862016-08-08T10:47:57.619-07:002016-08-08T10:47:57.619-07:00Indian history is a mountain of complexity. Not on...Indian history is a mountain of complexity. Not only does it relate to a HUGE number of kingdoms and rulers but all kinds of interpretations, which only a professional historian can unravel. I am no professional historian, but each time I attempt to take India forward India blocks the way by asserting PRIMITIVE hatred amongst the two religions of Islam and Hinduism.<br /><br />India likes to remain a medieval nation, and no amount of prodding it to become a modern nation shows signs of being actualised. The BJP, which is in power today, is ENTIRELY there because of its ability to strengthen the Hindu-Muslim divide. People in India feed off the Hindu-Muslim divide.<br /><br />India seems to be a lost cause.<br /><br />I don't know whether there is anything of value in my trying to enter this deep and dirty water of the history of India's communal past.<br /><br />EVEN IF there was the greatest bigotry in the past, that doesn't mean modern India should have anything to do with it. There was the most vicious hatred and internecine killings amongst Christians in Europe, in the past. That doesn't mean modern USA or Europe are obliged to do anything about these ancient killings, apart from have historians study it for the record.<br /><br />However, there distorted histories cause deep confusions. It is possible that by picking up this topic, I'll merely add to the confusion. I hope not to add to the confusion but to increase clarity. At least the history should be known properly, in all its complexity.<br /><br />http://www.sabhlokcity.com/2014/06/what-is-the-truth-about-the-somnath-temple-and-mahmud-of-ghazniwhat-is-the-truth-about-the-somnath-temple-and-mahmud-of-ghazni/<br /><br /><br />Mahmud Gazni on way to Somanth encountered the Muslim ruler of Multan (Abdul Fat Dawod), with whom he had to have a battle to cross Multan. In the battle the Jama Masjid of Multan was badly damaged. Further on way he struck compromise with Anandpal, the ruler of Thaneshwar who escorted his army towards Somanth with due hospitality. Gazni’s army had a good number of Hindu soldiers and five out of his 12 generals were Hindus (Tilak, Rai Hind, Sondhi, Hazran etc). Before proceeding to damage the temple he took custody of the gold and jewels, which were part of the temple treasury. After the battle he issued coins in his name with inscriptions in Sanskrit and appointed a Hindu Raja as his representative in Somnath.<br /><br />http://www.sabhlokcity.com/2014/06/what-is-the-truth-about-the-somnath-temple-and-mahmud-of-ghazniwhat-is-the-truth-about-the-somnath-temple-and-mahmud-of-ghazni/<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-46080024375784104072016-07-10T20:08:56.917-07:002016-07-10T20:08:56.917-07:00The legend of #India Occupied #Kashmir's Slain...The legend of #India Occupied #Kashmir's Slain Hero #Burhan #Wani https://kashmirobserver.net/2016/opinions/legend-burhan-wani-8305 …<br /><br />Five-year-olds in Bijbehara, a town in South Kashmir, like to play a game. One person pretends to be Burhan Muzaffar Wani, the most wanted commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen. Three or four others pretend to be soldiers of the Indian army. The game revolves around how Wani escapes from the clutches of the army.<br /><br />Kashmiris who are now in their late-20s remember playing the same game in the 1990s, when thousands joined the militancy. Branches or pieces of wood did duty as rifles and the two sides engaged each other in fierce battle. Now these games seem to have returned to the Valley. Except the militant has a name. <br /><br />Burhan Wani is a legend in these parts. He’s a local boy, after all, born in Tral, in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Six years ago, when he was 15, Wani left home to take up arms against the Indian state. Since then, the government has announced a Rs 10 lakh bounty on his head and taken out most of his close associates. But Wani survives, defying all expectations and leaving a trail of stories behind him.<br /><br />Some say he visits his home dressed as a girl. Posts on social media claim Hindu girls from Kanpur want to marry him and write his name in their blood. If your name is Burhan, it’s best to stay off the streets at night – security forces might hear people calling out for you and mistake you for the Hizbul commander. Friends meeting up over chai trade stories about him.<br /><br />One involves the time Wani went to the town of Anantnag. He called up Tahir Sheikh, a commander of the Territorial Army, to say he was in town and bathing in the Jhelum, using Lifebuoy soap. By the time Sheikh reached the river, there was no one to be seen. But there on the river bank lay a bar of Lifebuoy soap.<br /><br />“What do I say?” said Burhan Wani’s father, Muzaffar Ahmed Wani, when asked about the legends surrounding the young Hizbul commander. “He is my son. I can only call him my son. Other people can call him a hero or something else.”<br /><br />Celebrities and folk heroes<br /><br />And so they do. “Burhan has become a narrative,” said a journalist in Bijbehara, who asked to remain unidentified. It is a narrative of heroism constructed around the new militancy that is said to have taken root in four districts of South Kashmir: Pulwama, Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian. Local boys, mostly educated, mostly from affluent families, are taking on the might of the Indian state and security forces. <br /><br />Wani and his cohort signed up with the Hizbul Mujahideen, an indigenous, pro-Pakistan militant outfit. A number of others are joining the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba. Ask young men in Anantnag why they admire the new militants and they ask you why Bhagat Singh is considered a hero. Even police officers ruefully refer to the Robin Hood aura surrounding the new crop of militants. "We wish he comes out alive," said one senior police officer. <br /><br />These are not the nameless multitudes who crossed over in the 1990s and came back as masked men. There was always a certain glamour attached to becoming a militant. But now, individual figures are thrown into sharp relief. Local memories and personal ties are hopped up on technology. This is the age of celebrity militants who are also folk heroes.<br /><br />To begin with, their numbers are much lower than in the 1990s. Accordingto the ministry of external affairs, 14,356 “terrorists” and 2,358 “foreign militants” were killed in Jammu and Kashmir between 1990 and December 2001. According to data compiled by the criminal investigation department, 143 militants were active in the Valley this year. Of these 89 were local militants, 60 of them from South Kashmir. Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-13916591819072109582016-07-10T19:59:39.265-07:002016-07-10T19:59:39.265-07:00#JNU's Umar Khalid compares slain leader of #I...#JNU's Umar Khalid compares slain leader of #India-Occupied #Kashmir Burhan #Wani to Che Guvara via @CatchNews<br /><br />http://www.catchnews.com/national-news/umar-khalid-compares-wani-to-che-faces-social-media-rage-1468201435.html<br /><br />JNU student Umar Khalid who had been arrested for sedition earlier this year compared slain Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani to Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara, kicking off a massive troll attack on social media.<br /><br />Khalid said in a Facebook post on Saturday: "I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting. These were the words of Che Guevara, but could have just been #Burhan Wani's too."<br /><br />He added: "Burhan wasn't scared of death, he was scared of a life lived in subjugation. He detested it. He lived a free man, died a free man. Doomed is the occupation! Indian state, how will you defeat a people who have defeated their own fears?"<br /><br /><br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-23998632805311499882016-06-19T12:37:46.123-07:002016-06-19T12:37:46.123-07:00Changing of Map of #India : A year by year map his...Changing of Map of #India : A year by year map history of #India from the 4th century BC to date https://youtu.be/QN41DJLQmPk via @YouTube<br /><br />Bottom Line: What we call India today was never one united country before the British Raj. The closest it came to it briefly was under Chandragupta Maurya and then Mughals. Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-29718763014066256712016-05-24T08:01:38.650-07:002016-05-24T08:01:38.650-07:00By comparing Akbar to Hitler, BJP shows there’s no...By comparing Akbar to Hitler, BJP shows there’s no place for even a 'good' Muslim in India’s history<br />by Shoaib Daniyal <br /><br /><br />While Akbar and Aurangzeb are attacked for their faults – an easy enough thing to do given how different modern values are from medieval times – Pratap is let off. Temple destruction is a hot topic of debate but untouchability and caste is silently forgotten. Tsunamis of uninformed outrage crash onto the internet over the Mughal treatment of Hindus but there is pin-drop silence on the Rajput treatment of Dalits. If one is objective about using 21st century values to judge 16th century potentates, no one will come out smelling of roses.<br /><br />------<br /><br /><br />Akbar made alliances with Hindu Rajputs, who were the backbone of his army – even at Haldighati, Akbar entrusted his forces to a Rajput, Man Singh (who has his own Delhi road). He had a Khatri, Todar Mal, for his finance minister, whose revenue system more than anything, ensured that the Mughals ruled for three centuries. Theological debates were organised by the emperor at a time when religious-driven prejudice was so strong that most Indians wouldn’t even so much as touch each other for fear of losing their jati and "upper" castes thought most of their countrymen subhuman. Jalaluddin, it seems, even left formal Islam, founding a religion called the Deen-e-Ilahi, angering the Muslim clergy – a grudge held till today by conservative Muslims.<br /><br />The clamour to rename Aurangzeb Road was pinned on the man being a tyrant. However, in spite of these spades of liberalness, why is Akbar in the cross-hairs today?<br /><br />The answer is simple: the powerful demand to strike out Akbar Road shows rather clearly that the move to rename Aurangzeb Road had very little to do with the character of Aurangzeb itself. While modern scholarship has shown that the colonial binary between Akbar and Aurangzeb was a false one, making cardboard cut-outs of complex historical figures and administrative systems, at the end of the day, in the public sphere, Akbar or Aurangzeb really doesn’t matter: any Muslim ruler simply has no place in the popular historical imagination as an Indian anymore.<br /><br />http://scroll.in/article/808377/by-comparing-akbar-to-hitler-bjp-shows-theres-no-place-for-even-a-good-muslim-in-indias-historyRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-81580300786339434152016-05-14T22:54:58.873-07:002016-05-14T22:54:58.873-07:00US-based Separatist Baloch journalist Malik Siraj ...US-based Separatist Baloch journalist Malik Siraj Akbar lambastes "nasty" Tarek Fatah #Balochistan #Pakistan #India http://www.balochhal.com/2016/05/11/dangerous-interlocutors/ …<br /><br />The Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organization (UNPO) organized an excellent conference on Balochistan on Tuesday in Washington D.C. I describe it as a successful conference because the organizers managed to bring some notable speakers, including Senator Paul Strauss of the District of Columbia and representatives from globally respectable organizations such as the Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The conference discussed various aspects of the conflict in Balochistan but, unfortunately, it turned ugly at the end when panelist Tarek Fatah used extremely filthy language against a Pakistani reporter whom he accused of being “an ISI agent” even before the poor reporter from the ARY News could ask his question. When a Baloch father present at the conference felt uncomfortable with the use of vulgar language in front of two of his daughters and insisted that this was not the Baloch way of conducting dialogue even with one’s worst enemies, an unapologetic Fatah lambasted him too.<br /><br />While the UNPO had provided the Baloch a unique opportunity to voice their grievances, it is entirely upon the Baloch people to take advantage of these opportunities to put their case forward. Washington is undeniably the most important world capital for the Baloch if they want to get international support for their movement. Emotional and abusive supporters of the Baloch cause, such as Mr. Fatah, certainly look entertaining on an Arnab Goswami talk-show but they will have a damaging effect on the Baloch movement.<br /><br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-83427078086696548122016-04-21T10:00:52.518-07:002016-04-21T10:00:52.518-07:00Tarek Fatah, who's received a lot of adulation...Tarek Fatah, who's received a lot of adulation by the Indian Hindu diaspora and been an honored guest Hindu Nationalists in India, called for dissolution of India in an interview a few years ago:<br /><br />Tarek Fateh calls for dissolution of India into multiple nations<br /><br />"India, the whole sub-continent, you see it was never been one country....even during the British, India has not been one country under Ashoka, not even under Aurangzeb <br /><br />The future that I see, if I had my dreams come true, something like Europe, the entities that exist are Bengal. Punjab with no borders, common currency, <br /><br />there's more in common between someone in Lahore and Delhi than between someone between Delhi and Madras.<br /><br />Break-up of India, that's my analysis of what will happen in the future, if it's ever dissolved voluntarily, would be best thing to happen to India, like Europe has. <br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4RaqAzcmFs<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-6926877113800917682016-04-21T08:45:11.391-07:002016-04-21T08:45:11.391-07:00#Balochistan separatist Naela Qadir in #Canada: #I...#Balochistan separatist Naela Qadir in #Canada: #India is our friend,no problem being called #RAW agents" #Pakistan<br />http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/india-lacks-the-political-will-to-take-an-initiative-in-balochistan/<br /><br />Baloch separatist Naela Qadir Baloch, now living in exile in Canada, is touring India for the past several days to talk about Balochstan<br /><br />"Every other day the construction activities of this corridor (CPEC) come under attack from our boys. The roads which are being built are destroyed and recently a radar station was destroyed due to which the visit of Chinese Prime Minister to Gwadar was cancelled casuing much embarrassment to Pakistan government. China is looting the resources of our province including the gold reserves and turning a blind eye to the genocide of the Baloch"Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-36932358771445774332016-04-14T19:29:29.657-07:002016-04-14T19:29:29.657-07:00#India occupied #Nagaland drowning in taxes and co...#India occupied #Nagaland drowning in taxes and corruption @AJEnglish<br /><br />http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/04/india-nagaland-drowning-taxes-corruption-160411062725238.html<br /><br />Rose Dukru, 32, and her family belong to a new generation of businessmen in India's northeastern state of Nagaland. <br /><br />But a few years ago, they decided to go back to their farming roots and began to cultivate vegetables in the village of Zhavame, unaware of the difficulties they would soon face.<br /><br />"Our cabbages are famous throughout the state. In a year, the village contributes to a market value of about 17 million [rupees, or $254,000] through its produce," she said.<br /><br />Yet her family, like other farmers in the region, only see a small percentage of the revenue. When they send their vegetables to be sold in Dimapur, the state's commercial centre, its municipal council levies transportation taxes on the vehicles bringing the produce to market - as do several armed groups along the 140km-long route from Zhavame to Dimapur.<br /><br />When the cabbages finally reach the wholesale market, traders set the price of the produce, irrespective of the farmers' production cost.<br /><br />"The traders have formed a syndicate and they pay something known as 'protection tax' to armed groups that gives them the power to dictate over the poor farmers. There's price monopoly here when there should be a free market. If we're lucky, we make a small profit. Otherwise, most days end with deficits," Dukru explained.<br /><br />Last July her father, Sanyi Dukru, 54, was assaulted by traders and found unconscious by the police at midnight. As the chairman of a local farmers' committee, Sanyi Dukru spent his days in Dimapur inquiring about the market prices of vegetables and updating farmers back home. That day was no different.<br /><br />"There was an argument, and the traders attacked him with the furniture lying around. A few suspects who were taken into custody have been bailed. I don't know whether to expect any justice from the system," said Dukru dejectedly.<br /><br />Multiple taxation layers<br /><br />Nagaland, a state in northeastern India, has long been a restive region, with many demanding sovereignty or full independence from the central government.<br /><br />The Naga National Council (NNC) declared the area to be independent a day before India's independence in 1947, and later claimed that a plebiscite it held found that 99.9 percent of people favoured sovereignty.<br /><br />The Indian government rejected the plebiscite, and after several failed attempts by the government to resolve the issue, the NNC took up arms in 1955. The Indian army retaliated with counterinsurgency operations, and in 1958, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was passed, which controversially gave Indian security forces immunity in conflict-ridden areas.<br /><br />When the state of Nagaland was formed in 1963, it was given a special status and exempted from taxes, but disturbance in the area continued. Although separatist groups signed ceasefire agreements with the Indian government, there remain four major, and at least five small, separatist groups in Nagaland today.<br /><br />Each runs a parallel government of sorts in the state, fights against the others, and levies taxes on state residents.<br /><br />In 2013, a people's movement called Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) was formed to protest against the taxation by armed groups and corruption in the state government.<br /><br />Joel Nillo Naga, a social activist and the co-chairman of ACAUT, said that in the past, Nagaland residents voluntarily helped provide NNC fighters with rations and other supplies. "But now, we're asked to pay several taxes to several groups. People are being exploited on the pretext of nationalism," he said.<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-67080529729792002922016-04-12T21:19:08.546-07:002016-04-12T21:19:08.546-07:00#UK ex-diplomat in #Karachi #Pakistan says #MQM le...#UK ex-diplomat in #Karachi #Pakistan says #MQM leader #AltafHusain acknowledged working for #India's #RAW http://www.thenews.com.pk/print/111645-UK-ex-diplomat-says-Altaf-accepted-working-for-RAW …<br /><br />Britain’s former deputy head of Mission in Karachi Shaharyar Khan Niazi has claimed that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s leader Altaf Hussain voluntarily told the British government that he worked for the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).<br /><br />Shaharyar Khan Niazi worked for the British High Commission in Karachi for over a decade but importantly he remained at the heart of the policymaking as far Britain’s dealing with the MQM was concerned during the most crucial period – from 2010 until 2013 – after he was promoted to the position of Deputy Head of Mission.<br /><br />In his first ever exclusive interview for ‘Geo News’ with this correspondent after quitting his post in the middle of 2013, Shahryar Khan Niazi revealed that Altaf Hussain confessed to his involvement with RAW during a high-profile diplomatic meeting in late 2011/early 2012. Niazi claimed that the British government and Scotland Yard had evidence that a written agreement existed between the MQM and the Indian premier spy agency RAW.<br /><br />The former UK diplomat is privy to crucial information and was witness – as well as a part of it being in his important position - to the sensitive and important communications went on between the UK authorities and the MQM. According to Shahryar Khan Niazi, there is evidence linking Altaf Hussain with the Indian government.<br /><br />“The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is well aware of the fact that Altaf Hussain has links with RAW.”<br /><br />When asked what the evidence was that the UK had on Altaf Hussain's links to RAW, the former deputy head of mission told Geo News: “There is a lot of evidence but let me share with you the most important one. Firstly, a member of Her Majesty’s diplomatic service officially called on Altaf Hussain around 2011/12 and during that meeting Altaf Hussain voluntarily confessed and accepted that he worked for RAW. Secondly, there is evidence that Altaf Hussain’s team facilitated contacts between the RAW and Baloch insurgents. Hussain’s team helped bring the two together. Thirdly, there are financial trail of links with the RAW; and fourthly, confessional statements about these links exist and one of these has been leaked already, there are on-the-record interviews and confessions. What has come out in the public domain so far is only a tip of the iceberg.”<br /><br />The former deputy head of mission made the most damning revelation that Altaf Hussain and his team had a documented agreement with RAW and the police had evidence of that. “Altaf Hussain and his team have a Service Delivery Agreement with RAW. Basically, an agreement as to what Altaf Hussain and his team will deliver for the RAW. There are communication exchanges, including emails. This evidence was found by Scotland Yard during the murder investigation of Dr Imran Farooq and the money-laundering investigation.”<br /><br />The former top diplomat made startling revelation that the then interior minister of Pakistan under Pakistan People’s Party government Rehamn Malik was briefed by the British government that Altaf Hussain had links with RAW”.<br /><br />Shaharyar Khan Niazi told Geo News: “Rehman Malik was briefed officially by the British government about Altaf's links to RAW a couple of times".<br /><br />Shahryar Khan Niazi also said that "there was credible information to suggest that the Interior Minister (Rehman Malik) met Altaf Hussain and told him that he had spoken to the British Home Secretary (Theresa May) and that on his (Malik’s) intervention all the police investigations in relation to the MQM leader would be terminated and all charges would be dropped against Altaf Hussain.<br /><br />The former deputy head of mission said that the British government confronted Rehamn Malik on this issue, based on information. “The interior minister was confronted by the UK government and asked not to make false statements or claims.”Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-45153119852691007142016-03-26T09:58:36.879-07:002016-03-26T09:58:36.879-07:00Stanford scholar Audrey Truschke on #Muslim rule i...Stanford scholar Audrey Truschke on #Muslim rule in #India: #Mughal rulers were not hostile to #Hindus https://shar.es/1YGNDz via @Stanford<br /><br />Truschke, one of the few living scholars with competence in both Sanskrit and Persian, is the first scholar to study texts from both languages in exploring the courtly life of the Mughals. The Mughals ruled a great swath of the Indian subcontinent from the early 16th to the mid-18th centuries, building great monuments like the Taj Mahal.<br /><br />Over several months in Pakistan and 10 months in India, Truschke traveled to more than two dozen archives in search of manuscripts. She was able to analyze the Mughal elite's diverse interactions with Sanskrit intellectuals in a way not previously done.<br /><br />She has accessed, for example, six histories that follow Jain monks at the Mughal court as they accompanied Mughal kings on expeditions, engaged in philosophical and religious debates, and lived under the empire's rule. These works collectively run to several thousand pages, and none have been translated into English.<br /><br />Truschke found that high-level contact between learned Muslims and Hindus was marked by collaborative encounters across linguistic and religious lines.<br /><br />She said her research overturns the assumption that the Mughals were hostile to traditional Indian literature or knowledge systems. In fact, her findings reveal how Mughals supported and engaged with Indian thinkers and ideas.<br /><br />Early modern-era Muslims were in fact "deeply interested in traditional Indian learning, which is largely housed in Sanskrit," says Truschke, who is teaching religion courses at Stanford through 2016 in association with her fellowship.<br /><br />Hybrid political identity<br />Truschke's book focuses on histories and poetry detailing interactions among Mughal elites and intellectuals of the Brahmin (Hindu) and Jain religious groups, particularly during the height of Mughal power from 1560 through 1650.<br /><br />As Truschke discovered, the Mughal courts in fact sought to engage with Indian culture. They created Persian translations of Sanskrit works, especially those they perceived as histories, such as the two great Sanskrit epics.<br /><br />For their part, upper-caste Hindus known as Brahmins and members of the Jain tradition – one of India's most ancient religions – became influential members of the Mughal court, composed Sanskrit works for Mughal readers and wrote about their imperial experiences.<br /><br />"The Mughals held onto power in part through force, just like any other empire," Truschke acknowledges, "but you have to be careful about attributing that aggression to religious motivations." The empire her research uncovers was not intent on turning India into an Islamic state.<br /><br />"The Mughal elite poured immense energy into drawing Sanskrit thinkers to their courts, adopting and adapting Sanskrit-based practices, translating dozens of Sanskrit texts into Persian and composing Persian accounts of Indian philosophy."<br /><br />Such study of Hindu histories, philosophies and religious stories helped the Persian-speaking imperialists forge a new hybrid political identity, she asserts.<br /><br />Truschke is working on her next book, a study of Sanskrit histories of Islamic dynasties in India more broadly.<br /><br />Indian history, especially during Islamic rule, she says, is very much alive and debated today. Moreover, a deliberate misreading of this past "undergirds the actions of the modern Indian nation-state," she asserts.<br /><br />And at a time of conflict between the Indian state and its Muslim population, Truschke says, "It's invaluable to have a more informed understanding of that history and the deep mutual interest of early modern Hindus and Muslims in one another's traditions."<br /><br />- See more at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/september/sanskrit-mughal-empire-090915.html#sthash.Y7zZog9s.dpufRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-41620768904544999962016-03-23T12:40:14.258-07:002016-03-23T12:40:14.258-07:00A pact to end Europe’s Thousand Years’ War
Rejoic...A pact to end Europe’s Thousand Years’ War<br /><br />Rejoice, rejoice. The occasions to celebrate are scarce these days. So let’s not be parsimonious with the good news: at their summit on Tuesday France and Britain embarked on a sweeping co-operation on defence in all fields, from joint expeditionary forces to unmanned air systems, from cybersecurity to aircraft carriers. Why such a miracle? Even if budgetary constraints have played a role, they do not explain the signing of a formal treaty and a detailed declaration that goes so far as to express a shared will to co-operate even on the sensitive area of nuclear deterrence.<br />It may seem surprising given their prickly history over the centuries, but it should not be. France and Britain account for half of Europe’s defence budget and two-thirds of its research and technology spending in this area. It is about time they co-operated.<br /><br /><br />Nor is it a complete revolution. Twelve years ago Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair made the St Malo declaration, which resulted from a painful realisation: the end of the cold war meant less American military involvement in European affairs and more responsibilities for the Europeans. Sadly, as we experienced in the Balkans, Europeans could not handle a conflict even in our own backyard and had to call on the Americans through Nato. So the two countries decided to take the lead. The arrival of George W. Bush, the Iraq war and the deterioration of relations between France and the UK that followed slowed the momentum but did not alter a reality which is even harder and more urgent today: the two ex-colonial powers, although priding themselves as nuclear powers and Security Council permanent members, can no longer pretend to have real influence in the world unless they join forces.<br />But there is a difference. Then, the whole issue of European defence became quickly and bitterly poisoned by the ideological and futile debate about the relationship and hierarchy between Nato and the European Union. As usual, the French were suspected of trying to weaken Nato, the British of killing any ambitious European design. How much the world has changed: France is back in the military structure of Nato and Britain is ready to talk not only about pooling and sharing its military means with France but also about “harmonising timelines and requirements” and “consulting before taking any decision” on programmes, which is quite revolutionary.<br />So now what? For the UK and France, all will depend on implementation. The distinct military needs and culture on each side, the industrial and employment problems posed by co-operation in defence procurement and the technical complexities in each area of collaboration are formidable obstacles. Political authority from the French president and the UK prime minister will be essential to prevent spoilers on each side from making difficult problems impossible to resolve. Leadership will also be required for a similar vision in foreign policy. If the two countries can collaborate on nuclear deterrence, one can only hope they can share objectives and join forces in the international arena.<br /><br /><br />http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9a2bed24-e6b5-11df-99b3-00144feab49a.html#axzz43kyOll8D<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-25765416321848698042016-03-21T21:45:23.672-07:002016-03-21T21:45:23.672-07:00#China leases #Australia Darwin port, making it pa...#China leases #Australia Darwin port, making it part of 2 doz China leases overseas, #Pakistan's #Gwadar among them http://nyti.ms/1XFSbeG <br /><br />DARWIN, Australia — The port in this remote northern Australian outpost is little more than a graying old wharf jutting into crocodile-infested waters. On a recent day, there was stifling heat but not a ship in sight. “Our pissy little port,” as John Robinson, a flamboyant local tycoon, calls it.<br /><br />The financially hurting government of the Northern Territory was happy to lease it to a Chinese company in October for the bargain price of $361 million, raising money for local infrastructure projects.<br /><br />“We are the last frontier; you take what you can get,” said Mr. Robinson, who is known as Foxy. “The Northern Territory doesn’t have the money for development. Australia doesn’t have it. We need the major players like China.”<br /><br />But the decision has catapulted the port of Darwin into a geopolitical tussle pulling in the United States, China and Australia.<br /><br />This month, the United States said it was concerned that China’s “port access could facilitate intelligence collection on U.S. and Australian military forces stationed nearby.”<br /><br />It may not look like much, but the scruffy port is a strategic gateway to the South China Sea, where China is challenging the United States, and it serves as a host base for the United States Marines, who train here six months a year.<br /><br />Critics contend that the Chinese bought a front-row seat to spy on American and Australian naval operations.<br /><br /><br />“There is a deep Chinese interest, driving interest, in understanding how Western military forces operate, right down to the fine details associated with how a ship operates, how it is loaded and unloaded, the types of signals a ship will emit through a variety of sensors and systems,” Peter Jennings, a former Australian defense official who is now the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told a parliamentary inquiry.<br /><br />China has invested in more than two dozen foreign ports around the world, including a port in Djibouti adjacent to an American military base. But the 99-year Darwin lease was the first time the Chinese had bought into a port of a close American ally hosting American troops.<br /><br />The Australian government did not consult with Washington, and the parliamentary inquiry showed that the corruption-plagued and unpopular government of the Northern Territory, of which Darwin is the capital, had rushed to lease the port to raise money for new projects before an election.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-74888896017731890212016-03-20T19:43:05.711-07:002016-03-20T19:43:05.711-07:00Raj: "At 27:20 he starts comparing the names ...Raj: "At 27:20 he starts comparing the names of weapons of India to India's old rulers & Gods. I guess there is no such weapon/missile in India which is named to old rulers. Agni, Prithvi, Shaurya, Dhanush, Akash etc. are all named on elements of nature & personal high moral traits & not on some ancient Kings let alone dictators & looters like Ghauri, Ghaznavi."<br /><br />Agni is Hindu goddess of fire, Prithvi is Prithvi Raj Chahuan who ruled Ajmer & Delhi, Akash the god of sky and Trishul, the trident used as a weapon by Lord Shiva.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-48527940445022494152016-03-20T19:42:03.927-07:002016-03-20T19:42:03.927-07:00At 27:20 he starts comparing the names of weapons ...At 27:20 he starts comparing the names of weapons of India to India's old rulers & Gods. I guess there is no such weapon/missile in India which is named to old rulers. Agni, Prithvi, Shaurya, Dhanush, Akash etc. are all named on elements of nature & personal high moral traits & not on some ancient Kings let alone dictators & looters like Ghauri, Ghaznavi.Rajnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-67874489129285371372016-03-18T22:31:32.120-07:002016-03-18T22:31:32.120-07:002 #Indian #Muslims herding buffaloes thrashed, han...2 #Indian #Muslims herding buffaloes thrashed, hanged in #Jharkhand #India by #Hindu radicals #BJP http://toi.in/kmdrlZ via The Times of India<br /> In an incident reminiscent of the Dadri lynching, two Muslim men herding eight buffaloes on their way to a Friday market were beaten up and hanged to death from a tree by suspected cattle-protection vigilantes in Balumath forests in Latehar district, 100km from the state capital, early on Friday.<br />The deceased, Muhammad Majloom, 35, and Azad Khan alias Ibrahim, 15, were cattle traders and related to each other. Their bodies were strung up with their hands tried behind their backs and their mouths stuffed with cloth.<br />"The manner of their hanging showed that the assailants were led by extreme hatred," said Latehar SP Anoop Birthary.<br />Local MLA from the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) Prakash Ram claimed that Hindu radicals were behind the killings. Reports said villagers who protested the deaths claimed the victims were targeted as they were cattle traders.<br />Birthary, however, did not identify the assailants. "We are gathering leads to verify whether personal or business enmity led to the murder or it was due to some other motive. The buffaloes were freed. It is yet to be known if the buffaloes were taken away by the assailants or they strayed into the forest," Birthary said.<br />The hanging sparked protests by people in Jhabbar village that turned violent when police tried to take down the bodies. The situation poses a serious political and law and order challenge for the BJP government in Jharkhand. In the case of Dadri case when a Muslim man was killed over rumours of beef eating, BJP had said law and order was under the SP government.<br />But in the Jharkhand incident, the buck stops with the state and central leadership. SDO Kamleshwar Narayan and six cops were injured when villagers threw stones at officials who arrived in the morning to manage the situation and ensure that it did not take a communal turn. Injuries to senior officials forced police to fire in the air and lathi charge the villagers.<br />Sources said protesting villagers have periodically claimed that assailants have targeted them in the past because they are engaged in cattle trade. "Four months ago, a group of men tried to kill a cattle trader in Gomia village of Balumath. The man managed to escape," Latehar MLA Prakash Ram said.<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-3039227583029965672016-03-15T10:09:33.775-07:002016-03-15T10:09:33.775-07:00#India is second most ignorant nation of the world...#India is second most ignorant nation of the world after #Mexico: Survey http://dnai.in/d3Yc via @dna<br /><br />India has the "dubious honour" of being the second most ignorant nation in the world after Mexico, according to a survey which posed questions on issues like inequality, non-religious population, female employment and internet access.<br /><br />The survey conducted by Ipsos MORI, a London-based market research firm, polled 25,000 people from 33 countries and found that while people "over-estimate what we worry about", a lot of major issues are underestimated.<br /><br />Mexico and India receive the dubious honour of being the most inaccurate in their perceptions on these issues, while South Koreans are the most accurate, followed by the Irish," the survey said.<br /><br />The rankings of the nations were based on the "Index of Ignorance" which was determined by questions about wealth that the top 1 % own, obesity, non-religious population, immigration, living with parents, female employment, rural living and internet access.<br /><br />Most Indians "underestimate" how much of their country's wealth is concentrated in the hands of the top 1%, the survey said, adding that the top 1% actually own an "incredible" 70 % of all wealth.<br /><br />The survey also found that most Indians "hugely overestimate" the proportions of non-religious people in the country to be 33% when the true figure is under 1 %.<br /><br />While Israel significantly underestimates the proportion of female employment (by 29 % points), people in countries like India, Mexico, South Africa and Chile all think of more women in work than really are, it said.<br /><br />India fell in the list of nations which overestimate representation by women in politics.<br /><br />Countries like Columbia, Russia, India and Brazil all think there is better female representation than there really is, the survey said.<br /><br />However, the Indian population seriously underestimates the rural population of the country and thinks more people have internet access than in reality.<br /><br />In India the average guess among online respondents for internet access is 60 per cent - an overestimation of the true picture of 41 percentage points, the survey added.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-51926760971790738032016-03-10T22:29:19.582-08:002016-03-10T22:29:19.582-08:00JNU Professor Nivdita Menon says India illegally o...JNU Professor Nivdita Menon says India illegally occupies Kashmir, Maniur and Nagaland:<br /><br />On February 22, 2016, professor Nivedita Menon (Jawaharlal Nehru University) speaking at a student event organized by Democratic Student Federation at JNU said: “Everyone knows India is illegally occupying Kashmir. Everybody accepts it.”<br /><br />“The map of India in foreign publications like TIME magazine and Newsweek show a different map of Kashmir. The copies of these magazines always create a lot of controversy and are censored and destroyed. When the whole world is talking about India’s illegal occupation of Kashmir, then we should think the pro-independence slogans in the valley are justified,” Dr. Menon added. Listen her speech below.<br /><br />“India is an imperialist country. Here 30-40 percent of the country is under control of the army in the name of special forces laws, which are used to crush the people. Atrocities are being committed from Kashmir to the northeast and in Chhattisgarh,” Menon noted, adding that “Manipur and Kashmir have been illegally occupied by the Indian state.”<br /><br />The ruling party BJP’s student wing has demanded an apology from Dr. Menon for her so-called ‘anti-national’ statement. However, Dr. Menon has refused to apologize claiming that her statement was based on facts, and were not anti-India.<br /><br />The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus has been scene of killing, arrests and protests since last month. Its student union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on February 16, 2016, and charged with sedition in relation to a student rally organised in JNU Campus on 9 February against the hanging of Mohammed Afzal Guru convicted over the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.<br /><br />On December 15, 2006, in an article, entitled India’s Shame, Indian author Arundhati Roy claimed that Afzal Guru was most probably framed to demonize Muslim struggle against Hindu occupation of Kashmir Valley.<br /><br />Dr. Menon is a feminist activist, editor, writer and author. She is quoted saying that Hinduism is a deeply violent religion, that’s its very foundation is violence towards women and castes declared low – the Dalit. Listen to her below and read her articles (here).<br /><br />On Women’s Day, JNU students burnt copies of the Manusmriti to protest against derogatory verses in the Hindu religious text.<br /><br />India’s award-winning author Arundhati Roy has been saying that Kashmir Valley is not part of India for years.<br /><br />“Kashmir’s accession to India was accepted by us at the request of the Maharaja’s government and the most numerously representative popular organization in the state which is predominantly Muslim. Even then it was accepted on condition that as soon as law and order had been restored, the people of Kashmir would decide the question of accession. It is open to them to accede to either Dominion (India or Pakistan) then,” wrote Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in a telegram to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, October 31, 1947.<br /><br />New Delhi never kept its promise and had been terrorizing Kashmiris like Tel Aviv does to Palestinian.<br /><br />India is basically an Artificial state. Since its independence from British Raj on August 15, 1947 – there are close to one hundred local resistance groups fighting against Hindu upper-class dominated Indian government. Most of these religious and ethnic minority resistance groups beget their violence from the rising Hindu religious terrorism based on racism. These groups operate in Assam (31), Nagaland (21), Meghalaya (5), and Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (34). Two of India’s prime ministers, Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi were assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards and a Tamil Hindu woman.<br /><br />https://rehmat1.com/2016/03/10/hindu-professor-kashmir-illegally-occupied-by-india/<br /><br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYJF4-qigjQRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-37313572531709305312016-03-09T12:23:40.696-08:002016-03-09T12:23:40.696-08:00Are the two NSAs, Doval and Janjua, scripting the ...Are the two NSAs, Doval and Janjua, scripting the new #India-#Pakistan lexicon of peace? #Modi #Sharif via @htTweets http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/are-our-nsas-scripting-the-new-india-pakistan-lexicon-of-peace/story-kzYBVeJeMuRDK3PEAeYgfP.html …<br /><br />They’re talking but not through the media — which they’ve used only to let their actions speak. It’s a relatively new experiment in Indo-Pak relations bedevilled historically by vituperative slugs. Gentle nudges seem to be working for now. The etymology of the new lexicon could be in the growing chemistry — and suggestions of trust — between the two national security advisers.<br />Their off-camera engagements have yielded results — including a terror alert last week to New Delhi from Islamabad. The optimism stems as much from other signals: Pakistan lodging an FIR on the Pathankot attack; its foreign minister saying a phone number the attackers used was traced to Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Bahavalpur base; the information that JeM chief Masood Azhar is in custody.<br />Against this backdrop has come a bigger straw in the wind— the hanging on February 29 of Mumtaz Qadri, a police commando who pumped bullets into West Punjab governor Salman Taseer for seeking reforms in the country’s blasphemy laws. Politically, the execution is a big deal for the Sharif brothers — Nawaz and Shahbaz — given its religious-political implications in their home province.<br />Qadri was deified after the 2011 killing by a rabid assortment of Mullahs and advocates. They feted and garlanded him for taking out the very person he was assigned to safeguard.<br /><br />------<br /><br />Imtiaz Gul of the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) underscored the need for an outcome-oriented dialogue to “disincentivise (sic) the theory of victimisation” in Kashmir the militants exploited for popular traction. He didn’t go into details. What’s well known is that Pakistan’s security forces aren’t untouched by the exponential rise of the religious middle-class in the Islamic Republic.<br />Even the army cannot but pay heed to internal feedback on its anti-terror campaign, said a Lahore-based commentator. The officers promoted to higher ranks now come from the deeply religious middle-class. From Islamabad’s standpoint, that makes advances on the political front with New Delhi ‘imperative’ to balance out action against anti-India jihadists.<br />So what’s doable in the immediate future? Cognizant though of our army’s position against withdrawing from strategic heights it occupies in Siachen, Pakistani experts consider the glacial confrontation ‘resolvable’ — what with a blueprint inherited from 1989 and revisited in Track-2 military to military engagements. “The psychological factor of an understanding on Siachen will be huge,” said former Pakistan high commissioner to India Aziz Ahmed Khan. But for that to happen the two sides have to develop an equally huge reservoir of trust!<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.com